From The New World is the first full length album from Swedish progressive metalcore band Allt. This album is full of sick breakdowns, epic guitar riffs and some really great vocals, while the rhythm parts jump from groovy to thrashy and chaotic with ease. The album starts with the intro track A Flash Of Light. It has what sounds like a droning synth, playing one held note or chord, along to some spoken word vocals which sound like a voice message on a phone. The synth starts to sort of flash loudly towards the end of the track, getting you ready for the chaos that’s to follow.
The next couple of songs, Remnant and Aquila, have elements of death metal, progressive metal and huge sounding metalcore choruses, with some really great breakdowns thrown in to keep throwing you off your expectations of what’s coming next. You think you’re going straight back in for a second verse after the chorus? Well BOOM, guess again, here’s a breakdown! Memory Of Light shakes things up with throwing in a bit of a nu-metal sound into the mix. Still keeping it heavy and even giving us some nice guitar harmonics to keep things fresh. Echoes starts off a bit softer, but this song has perhaps my favourite bass and vocal parts on the whole album.
The Orphan Breed and Dissect Yourself pick things up again and both retain that nu-metal vibe thrown in from Memory Of Light. The Orphan Breed has a great use of vocals with low growls and fried screaming and Dissect Yourself has a nice bouncy guitar riff leading into the first verse. Emanate is my favourite song on the album. Again quite groovy and bouncy with a lot of guitar harmonics thrown in for good measure. Ephemeral has a very creepy sounding piano intro and outro. It also has some really cool lead guitar parts. Cycles sounds a bit like Architects with the vocals. There’s not much else to say about it.
One of the weaker songs on the album but that’s because the other tracks are so damn good. Not a bad track to end it on but could have been a bit better perhaps. The only major criticism I have for this album is that although the tracks are pretty solid by themselves, the album as a whole doesn’t seem to flow very well from start to finish. It might just be me, but the pacing just doesn’t quite hit the right mark. Maybe the intros and outros for the songs could have done with a little bit more work so that each song leads into the next to feel more connected, rather than having several pieces of a puzzle and not being able to see the full picture.
Another minor criticism is that the vocals could have done with being turned up just a bit on most of the tracks. But apart from all that, it’s a very good album, it’s got some really great tracks, more breakdowns than I thought was possible for an album that’s only just over half an hour long, and some great performances by each member of the band. Go check it out! 9/10
Fixation – Speak In Tongues (Indie Recordings) [Liam Williams]
Here we have Speak In Tongues, the second album from Norway metalcore group Fixation. Although it’s closer to being an EP rather than a full length album since it is only 8 tracks long and really only 4 proper tracks with the rest being interludes. But with that being said, this is a great album to listen to. Especially if you’re fans of Bring Me The Horizon and Architects. The main tracks are full of energy and the mix is pretty strong from start to finish. Random Acts Of Violence is epic when the full band kicks in. Blue Skies has a really cool guitar intro and a groovy section in the first verse.
Fixation – Speak In Tongues (Indie Recordings) [Liam Williams]
Here we have Speak In Tongues, the second album from Norway metalcore group Fixation. Although it’s closer to being an EP rather than a full length album since it is only 8 tracks long and really only 4 proper tracks with the rest being interludes. But with that being said, this is a great album to listen to. Especially if you’re fans of Bring Me The Horizon and Architects. The main tracks are full of energy and the mix is pretty strong from start to finish. Random Acts Of Violence is epic when the full band kicks in. Blue Skies has a really cool guitar intro and a groovy section in the first verse.
There’s a good build up to the breakdown followed by a calmer bridge section which then builds up again for the final chorus and epic outro. Tyrannical Miracle is my favourite track. It has a nice groovy intro and calmer verses before coming in with another massive chorus. The breakdown in this song reminds me of the breakdown in Kingslayer from Bring Me The Horizon. Fever Dreaming is the last track and it is also the longest, being around 6 and a half minutes long. It starts off slow with just the guitar and vocals but builds up as the song progresses. It even has a little bit of a progressive metal part after the first chorus. I really like the bridge section of this song too.
Not much can be said about the other tracks, they’re just filler, although the intro track (grow a flower) almost sounds like the intro to The Greatest Show from The Greatest Showman soundtrack which I thought was quite funny. This album is short and sweet. It sounds great, the mix is pretty spot on and the songs themselves (apart from the interlude tracks) are well paced and great to listen to. It’s good but it leaves me wanting just a little bit more! 9/10
Hell Is Other People - Moirae (Transcending Obscurity Records) [Mark Young]
Another busy week, another cracker for its respective genre. Hell Is Other People are from Canada and have quietly dropped an album of black metal that is so much more than that. It’s the sort of album that warrants multiple plays because it of the layers it possesses. Its five tracks come across, cloaking you within its darkened atmosphere. Moirae leads us off on this journey, traditionally in its approach with a standard full rhythm that is set against a simple melodic guitar line.
A little departure from the high protein, all things death metal diet with the stoner stylings of Bozoo and that change of pace is a welcome one. This is one of the perks of reviewing, there is a varied stream of genres that come to you and gives you a little break from the norm. Since forming in 2019, this is the three-pieces debut album that follows on from a successful EP Three Heads and in all honesty their release is a solid collection of tracks that are mined successfully from the stoner/alternative scene.
Hell Is Other People - Moirae (Transcending Obscurity Records) [Mark Young]
Another busy week, another cracker for its respective genre. Hell Is Other People are from Canada and have quietly dropped an album of black metal that is so much more than that. It’s the sort of album that warrants multiple plays because it of the layers it possesses. Its five tracks come across, cloaking you within its darkened atmosphere. Moirae leads us off on this journey, traditionally in its approach with a standard full rhythm that is set against a simple melodic guitar line.
That simple line distracts from the subtle work that is being done. Its descending line hinting at that darkened motif to follow. It is unhurried, controlled and we hit the half-way mark before the vocals kick in. Sparse in delivery as they build, expanding the velocity giving you a taste of the traditional before they drop it back. It’s an exercise in restraint, a mature and worthwhile opener that doesn’t forget to bring the heaviness in amongst the melodic touches. It only scratches the surface of what is to come.
That controlled focus is brought to bear on Fates, and this time it’s a more immediate affair. Guitars are picked in that classic style; vocals are more prominent, and that dark sentiment settles over us once more. I think I’ve said this before, but with some songs they seem shorter than they actually are and that is the case here. The way this, and Moirae before it is put together is just so good so that when you reflect on them with a critical eye its uncomplicated and that is its attraction. They get the basics right, those little guitar moments and the changes in attack that carry it along and you don’t even notice. Fates leads us into Degrade, isolated chords strummed, joined slowly, that atmosphere building until they hit. It’s not delivered at super-speed, just the right speed. When they pick it up, it means something. Instead of stupidly fast beat downs, the tempo makes sense providing it with a sense of urgency.
As we progress, the songs get longer, but with no drop off in quality. Loss is off the mark quickly, and yet they still imbue it with those special melodic touches that offer a satisfying counterpoint to the guttural vocals. I mean it when I say you need to listen to this a few times to pick all of those touches up. Moreso, I’m struggling at this point to establish my favourite track, which says something to what they have delivered here. Loss takes us on a winding path, leading us to the final destination of Atropos, which comes in after a prolonged measure of guitar lines that appear to be folding in on themselves. This time, they really hit the ground running, subtle chanting and then we are off.
Atropos is a 13-minute tour-de force that takes all of the groundwork built and proclaims, ‘look upon me and see’. Its balance of the traditional, of atmosphere, speed everything is perfection. The transition from about 4.40 onwards into the introspective is a welcome reprieve before they wind back up again. It’s not with speed, but with feeling and emotion. Again, when they do go fast, it means something in the context of the song and that is what I love about this. Everything they do is for the song, to make it the best they can, and they succeed with every track here.
Its October and we are seeing a late surge in what should be held up as defining statements of their relative genres. Undeath and Maul last week, Heriot the week before and now these. Moirae rightfully joins that select group as one of the standard bearers of this genre. 10/10
Bozoo - Bozoo (Argonauta Records) [Mark Young]
Bozoo - Bozoo (Argonauta Records) [Mark Young]
A little departure from the high protein, all things death metal diet with the stoner stylings of Bozoo and that change of pace is a welcome one. This is one of the perks of reviewing, there is a varied stream of genres that come to you and gives you a little break from the norm. Since forming in 2019, this is the three-pieces debut album that follows on from a successful EP Three Heads and in all honesty their release is a solid collection of tracks that are mined successfully from the stoner/alternative scene.
My experience with this genre is admittedly limited, but here it that alternative aesthetic is driven through a European filter, it is definitely an immediate start with Mayday, with a simple arrangement that is meant for rocking out to. Guitars are crisp, stabbing power chords and effective backline and we are off to a good start, but I have to say that on Flushing Action they hit it out of the park. Great vocals and a build that flows. I’ll temper this by saying that the shadow of QOTSA amongst others (maybe the Lemonheads too?) looms large and I suppose it is difficult to escape that. There is a fantastic bass tone to this, and putting those comparisons to one side they have crafted what should be a great live track to bounce to. It has enough in it to lift it beyond mere homage material and leads onto Cut, which has a 90’s alt feel which is no bad thing.
What they have shown on these opening tracks is that they have a knack for building simple but incredibly effective songs that stick with you after listening. On this one, they do leave room for live expansion with a pre-closing section of just pounding drums and bass, just as the guitar starts to rise again. The idea isn’t new by any means but when it is done well like this it still works. Any criticism of this one is that you could argue for the length probably stretching it too but then they hit you with that up-tempo funky start to Scott Mary and things take a little detour into latter day Arctic Monkeys in terms of the vocal delivery. Again, this isn’t a bad thing and shows that they aren’t afraid to mix it up. The riff building here lands firmly in classic rock territory and for me it’s a definite high point.
Rolling shows that willingness to further change things around, with a guitar part that I can best describe as bouncy. They depart / return to more traditional stoner ground with higher register vocals along with the barest of riffs before picking it up and giving it a shake around the three minute mark with a decent lead break that fits tonally with the arrangement around it whilst on later tracks they channel 70’s rock, maybe even early 70’s solo John Lennon material (Not Imagine) in how it sounds and how they phrased it (I just can’t put my finger on it) on They Call Me Nobody, in its early moments until they lean back into that alternative approach favoured earlier on, and that approach is front and centre on Two Holes which mixes in the quick and filthy to carry it along whilst Over You opts for the melancholic.
Both offer different sides to Bozoo, and both are crafted well, with Over You providing a more expansive sound and experience and is a quality song. Choked Noise is their closing statement and is a solid track to end on. It has a traditional build which leans more into early QOTSA (to these ears) and has all the right ingredients to it and caps a fine album from them. Generally speaking, this is a decent full-length album and there are definite indications that they are able to forge their own path as their career progresses. It shows promise for the future and should appeal to fans of early 90’s alternative rock. 7/10
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