This is an album that has certainly taken its time to get here. A long-awaited and extremely overdue sequel to the Time I album by Finnish band Wintersun that was originally released in 2012 that has hit delays and setbacks to the point where it has become a running joke amongst the heavy metal community and seen as the Chinese Democracy of the metal world. Wintersun were formed by Jari Mäenpää in 2003 upon his departure from Ensiferum and their debut self-titled album was released in 2004 to universal praise and in my opinion is one of the finest metal albums to come from Finland with its sprawling mix of folk, power and melodic death metal album.
Time I followed in 2012 and expanded upon the sound of the debut with more technical and progressive songwriting and a greater emphasis on symphonic sounds. A stop gap album The Forest Seasons was released in 2017 but wasn’t too well received as the Wintersun fans just wanted Time II but now in 2024 Time II is FINALLY being released. Anyway enough on the history of the band and circumstances of this album, the all important question is how does it sound? The answer is rather fucking good!
Time II builds upon what has come before with Wintersun and especially on Time I with epic sprawling compositions, symphonic soundscapes and folk melodies incorporated with melodic death metal ferocity and power metal passion. Japanese folklore plays a big part in this album as it did on Time I with luscious Japanese folk instrumentation and melodies seeping their way through the entire album. The album is only six songs but each song has a different mood and feel to it.
Time II builds upon what has come before with Wintersun and especially on Time I with epic sprawling compositions, symphonic soundscapes and folk melodies incorporated with melodic death metal ferocity and power metal passion. Japanese folklore plays a big part in this album as it did on Time I with luscious Japanese folk instrumentation and melodies seeping their way through the entire album. The album is only six songs but each song has a different mood and feel to it.
Only four of these are proper songs as well with there being an instrumental intro and an instrumental interlude but the four proper songs of the album are all sprawling epics from the triumphant power of The Way Of The Fire to the atmospheric melancholy of One With The Shadows to the progressive complexity of Storm to the gorgeously epic and melodic album closer Silver Leaves. The other two compositions also have their merit with album intro Fields Of Snow being a real scene setter with some absolute gorgeous orchestration and folk melodies whilst Ominous Clouds is a nice stop gap and breather with some gorgeous guitar playing.
The musicianship on this album is at staggering levels from the sublime guitar playing of both Jari Mäenpää and Teemu Mäntysaari with exquisitely intricate solos and plenty of neoclassical shredding. Jari also performs all keyboards on the album and it has some of the orchestration and folk instrumentations sound absolutely breathtaking. This is also a prime demonstration of just how good of a drummer that Kai Hahto is with complex shifting rhythms and a powerhouse display of extreme metal drumming. The bass playing of Jukka Koskinen is a bit buried under the layers of guitars and keyboards but he also has his moments to shine. The vocals from Jari are the mix of lovely cleans and ferocious snarls that we have come to expect on a Wintersun album but his clean vocals sound better than ever.
Time II is a complex and intricate album that really requires multiple listens to fully digest and it is one that definitely gets better with more listens much like its predecessor. It is a worthy follow up to Time I but doesn’t really offer many surprises. There will be many that will question whether this album was worth the 12 year wait and might feel a bit short-changed with only four full songs (albeit long songs) but removing the anticipation and long wait that surrounds Time II, it is another superb album from Wintersun.
The musicianship on this album is at staggering levels from the sublime guitar playing of both Jari Mäenpää and Teemu Mäntysaari with exquisitely intricate solos and plenty of neoclassical shredding. Jari also performs all keyboards on the album and it has some of the orchestration and folk instrumentations sound absolutely breathtaking. This is also a prime demonstration of just how good of a drummer that Kai Hahto is with complex shifting rhythms and a powerhouse display of extreme metal drumming. The bass playing of Jukka Koskinen is a bit buried under the layers of guitars and keyboards but he also has his moments to shine. The vocals from Jari are the mix of lovely cleans and ferocious snarls that we have come to expect on a Wintersun album but his clean vocals sound better than ever.
Time II is a complex and intricate album that really requires multiple listens to fully digest and it is one that definitely gets better with more listens much like its predecessor. It is a worthy follow up to Time I but doesn’t really offer many surprises. There will be many that will question whether this album was worth the 12 year wait and might feel a bit short-changed with only four full songs (albeit long songs) but removing the anticipation and long wait that surrounds Time II, it is another superb album from Wintersun.
Gorgeously melodic, breathtakingly epic and with moments of relentless ferocity, there is no denying that this is a fantastic album. It would have probably just been a more effective release if it had come out ten or so years ago as originally intended. 9/10
Uniform – American Standard (Sacred Bones) [Dan Bradley]
On their 5th album American Standard, New York industrial metal and noise rock act Uniform drag their demons into the light. Singer Michael Berdan says, “I’m done with creating surface-level art. If it doesn’t kill me a little bit, there’s no point committing to it.” In this harrowing yet transcendent full-length, Berdan opens up about a lifetime of bulimia, alcoholism and the destruction that has wrought on his mind, body and relationships.
The album opens with the ambitious 21-minute American Standard, confronting you immediately with over a minute of Berdan’s snarling vocals, rendered vulnerable by the absence of the band. He shrieks desperately into a cavernous space – “A part of me/ but it can’t be me.” – but every horrified yell is echoed mockingly back by a crowd of Berdans, creating a perverse call-and-answer that evokes the splintered mind, self-loathing, and conflicting impulses of his illness (The track is named after the plumbing company name that’s often stamped on toilet bowls: “I’ve spent countless hours of my life with my head bowed before that clumsy blue script etching. I will doubtlessly spend countless more.”).
Uniform – American Standard (Sacred Bones) [Dan Bradley]
On their 5th album American Standard, New York industrial metal and noise rock act Uniform drag their demons into the light. Singer Michael Berdan says, “I’m done with creating surface-level art. If it doesn’t kill me a little bit, there’s no point committing to it.” In this harrowing yet transcendent full-length, Berdan opens up about a lifetime of bulimia, alcoholism and the destruction that has wrought on his mind, body and relationships.
The album opens with the ambitious 21-minute American Standard, confronting you immediately with over a minute of Berdan’s snarling vocals, rendered vulnerable by the absence of the band. He shrieks desperately into a cavernous space – “A part of me/ but it can’t be me.” – but every horrified yell is echoed mockingly back by a crowd of Berdans, creating a perverse call-and-answer that evokes the splintered mind, self-loathing, and conflicting impulses of his illness (The track is named after the plumbing company name that’s often stamped on toilet bowls: “I’ve spent countless hours of my life with my head bowed before that clumsy blue script etching. I will doubtlessly spend countless more.”).
A rising wall of unsettling glitch and noise threatens to overwhelm his voice, before the track builds and lifts him on a wave of fuzzed-up arpeggios and synths from cofounder and guitarist Ben Greenberg. But you’re never allowed to get too comfortable, and this lighter-toned shoegaze is soon sucked back down into sludge with monstruous riffs, the song slowly collapsing under its own weight into chaos, and silence. And then, out of the depths, the song ascends again into searing black-gaze and a euphoric climax. I’m only at the album’s halfway mark, and I’m already emotionally wrecked.
Across previous albums, and essential collabs with The Body and Boris, Uniform have always borrowed from other heavy genres. Here that openness to testing the limits of their sound creates a powerful emotional counterpoint between the voice-shredding howls, bleak industrial soundscapes and harrowing lyrics co-written with cult writers BR Yeager and Maggie Siebert, on the one hand, and sections of uplifting and rich melodic textures that prevent the whole piece from collapsing into nihilism and despair. The breadth of dynamics on show is a huge step up for the band too, aided by Interpol bassist Brad Traux, and drummers Michael Sharp and Michael Blume, who combine to form a brutal assault on This is Not A Prayer.
The album closer and main single Permanent Embrace opens with familiar territory for the band –relentless industrial beats and Greenberg’s brash guitar led by Berdan’s belligerent snarl – but the song suddenly slams to a halt around 90 seconds in, Berdan lets out an incredible scream, and then the whole track ascends into soaring, transcendent synth-led blackgaze. It’s an exhilarating and cathartic shift, but as with other sections in the album, this respite from the horror never lasts long. The heart-stopping shock of its ending, and the devastating impression of the album as a whole, is one that’s reverberated long after I finished listening. 9/10
Erronaut - The Space Inbetween (London Doom Collective) [Rich Piva]
Of course, I am going to angle to get my grubby paws on an album labeled “stoner grunge” in the promo bin. This is how the boss labeled the debut record from the UK’s Erronaut. On their Bandcamp page they take it one step further, calling out a “fusion of Stoner, Grunge and Desert influences.” Where do I sign up? The real question though is how the band lives up to their labels and if The Space Inbetween is something memorable and/or remarkable or just another band using tags to get clicks.
Well, if the first full track, Way Down Below, is any indication, then yes, this kicks all sorts of heavy ass. This has a sick riff and a grungy slow burn while bringing an out of space like atmosphere to the ear that lives up to and incorporates all of those buzz words listed earlier. Lost Cause has an Early Soundgarden feel and just assaults you with its riff. The fuzzy bass drives this one and partners perfectly with the vocals until that riff returns and destroys your world.
Across previous albums, and essential collabs with The Body and Boris, Uniform have always borrowed from other heavy genres. Here that openness to testing the limits of their sound creates a powerful emotional counterpoint between the voice-shredding howls, bleak industrial soundscapes and harrowing lyrics co-written with cult writers BR Yeager and Maggie Siebert, on the one hand, and sections of uplifting and rich melodic textures that prevent the whole piece from collapsing into nihilism and despair. The breadth of dynamics on show is a huge step up for the band too, aided by Interpol bassist Brad Traux, and drummers Michael Sharp and Michael Blume, who combine to form a brutal assault on This is Not A Prayer.
The album closer and main single Permanent Embrace opens with familiar territory for the band –relentless industrial beats and Greenberg’s brash guitar led by Berdan’s belligerent snarl – but the song suddenly slams to a halt around 90 seconds in, Berdan lets out an incredible scream, and then the whole track ascends into soaring, transcendent synth-led blackgaze. It’s an exhilarating and cathartic shift, but as with other sections in the album, this respite from the horror never lasts long. The heart-stopping shock of its ending, and the devastating impression of the album as a whole, is one that’s reverberated long after I finished listening. 9/10
Erronaut - The Space Inbetween (London Doom Collective) [Rich Piva]
Of course, I am going to angle to get my grubby paws on an album labeled “stoner grunge” in the promo bin. This is how the boss labeled the debut record from the UK’s Erronaut. On their Bandcamp page they take it one step further, calling out a “fusion of Stoner, Grunge and Desert influences.” Where do I sign up? The real question though is how the band lives up to their labels and if The Space Inbetween is something memorable and/or remarkable or just another band using tags to get clicks.
Well, if the first full track, Way Down Below, is any indication, then yes, this kicks all sorts of heavy ass. This has a sick riff and a grungy slow burn while bringing an out of space like atmosphere to the ear that lives up to and incorporates all of those buzz words listed earlier. Lost Cause has an Early Soundgarden feel and just assaults you with its riff. The fuzzy bass drives this one and partners perfectly with the vocals until that riff returns and destroys your world.
The Space Inbetween is filled with excellent grungy heavy slow burns, with Per Contra being another one that stands out, where you also get the best vocal performance of the ten tracks on the record. What to be crushed by riffs some more? The check out the opening of 1202. This one has a post rock feel to go along with its heavy grunge vibes, a heavier Failure perhaps, a vibe I get with the next one too, Underneath The Sun. I think my favourite part of The Space Inbetween is the last part, the two tracks that make up Beyond Sleep: The Insomnia and The Subconscious. What a way to close out, and makes me think that Erronaut could be the stoner/grunge answer to Rush.
Another excellent debut record in a year with a whole bunch of them, Erronaut has make a huge splash with The Space Inbetween. My only real complaint is the spelling of the title, as Inbetween is making my spell check go crazy, but other than that, this record is chock full of heavy riffs, grungy goodness, and some serious space via post rock goodness to combine together to create what will be one of the debut records of the year. 9/10
Another excellent debut record in a year with a whole bunch of them, Erronaut has make a huge splash with The Space Inbetween. My only real complaint is the spelling of the title, as Inbetween is making my spell check go crazy, but other than that, this record is chock full of heavy riffs, grungy goodness, and some serious space via post rock goodness to combine together to create what will be one of the debut records of the year. 9/10
Elkapath - The Twisted Jester (Self Released) [James Jackson]
Gloucester based female fronted Goth Electro Metal act Elkapath, started off as a solo project by vocalist Carla Elkapath in 2004, during the next decade or so the project developed into a more metal sounding band releasing the Black Spiders album in 2021.
Follow up EP The Twisted Jester is preceded by two singles, Fakery and Show Me, the first and last tracks respectively; both showcasing the songwriting style of the band, Fakery is an energetic assault on an unknown protagonist whose lies are are being called out within catchy riffs and a pretty solid solo.
Show Me has a synth led slower pace at its core, a tale of love, quite befitting for an almost ballad like piece.
The rest of the album plays out in various versions of these tracks, balanced between a driven pace one moment and indulging in Goth tinged melodic notes through the next, The Twisted Jester may only sit at six tracks long but each is well crafted and worthy of a listen, there are a few tour dates left through the year, promoting the EP which may well be worth checking out. 7/10
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