The Breathing Method are a new Scottish band who definitely love Therapy? This is, of course, a really good thing, and those good things shine though nicely on their debut record, After Everything Else. The record is eleven tracks of grunge with hints of punk and metal thrown in, but also with a keen sense of melody. Sound familiar?
Take the song Secrets, for example. If it was a bit cleaner it could be a B-side from the Troublegum sessions. They have this Therapy? + Husker Du thing going on which is wonderful. The production is very fuzzy and lo-fi, but not in a bad way, but on purpose (I assume), and it certainly works. The first two tracks show off the band’s ability to rock and understand melody at the same time. The opener, Hope For A Better Day, certainly shows the lads can rock and combine the wonderfulness of the Irish band I have mentioned before with the more raw Seattle bands of the 90s.
The melody shines through on All Of My Dreams, which is right out of the Therapy? playbook. Their version of the Du’s Hardly Getting Over It is called Demons, an acoustic driven track that shows off the band’s ability to quiet down when they want to. Unbearable is more of the same in the best kind of way, while Burden reminds me of their version of Hellbelly. I really dig the closer, Jupiter, a straight-ahead heavy alt rock track that channels The Replacements. You don’t veer of the tracks style-wise on After Everything Else, and that is just fine with me and will be with you if you dig the bands I have been mentioning.
You into Therapy? early Nirvana, Mclusky, Husker Du, and the fuzzier side of the Seattle scene circa the early 1990s? If the answer is yes, you will really dig the debut album from The Breathing Method. 8/10
Sisters Doll - Scars (Self Released) [Liam Williams]
Australian glam rockers Sisters Doll are back with their brand new album Scars. The third full LP in their discography. This album is fun. It’s quite cheesy, but the music more than makes up for it.
We start with an instrumental intro track called Purgatory. This track features some really nice Spanish style acoustic guitar with some duel guitars joining in about halfway through. It’s short but it’s a really good intro track. Climbing Out Of Hell follows up and gets straight into action. It has a great guitar riff for the intro.
The verses calm down a bit with the addition of clean guitars. Halfway through the verses the lead guitar comes in which sounds really nice. There’s a cool guitar solo which ends with a bit of duel guitars for the bridge leading into the final chorus. Track 3 is Prisoner. The verses are broken up with the main guitar riff dropping in and out. I really like the bass and the choruses are quite punchy.
We then get to a few tracks which I felt were a little bit weaker than the rest. Change is a bit softer and cheerful but quite cheesy. First Time and Don’t Give Up On Us both start off with some acoustic guitar in the intros. Both songs build up with the rest of the band joining in to turn these ballads more into power ballads which, to be fair, the band does quite well.
Tracks 7-9 (Babydoll, United and Take You Away) go back to the cool riffing and slightly heavier tone and style. I particularly liked track 9, Take You Away quite a lot. Not much of a fan of the cheesy lyrics bit the vocals are done well and the rest of the band sounds great, which pretty much describes this entire album in my opinion.
Tracks 10 and 11 (Kiss Me and You Can’t Bring Me Down) are both very cheesy but I do really like the intro in You Can’t Bring Me Down. And again, the guitar parts in general sound brilliant. Then we’re on to the last track of the album, title track, Scars. This one is quite interesting. It starts with just some acoustic guitar and strings.
We then get to a few tracks which I felt were a little bit weaker than the rest. Change is a bit softer and cheerful but quite cheesy. First Time and Don’t Give Up On Us both start off with some acoustic guitar in the intros. Both songs build up with the rest of the band joining in to turn these ballads more into power ballads which, to be fair, the band does quite well.
Tracks 7-9 (Babydoll, United and Take You Away) go back to the cool riffing and slightly heavier tone and style. I particularly liked track 9, Take You Away quite a lot. Not much of a fan of the cheesy lyrics bit the vocals are done well and the rest of the band sounds great, which pretty much describes this entire album in my opinion.
Tracks 10 and 11 (Kiss Me and You Can’t Bring Me Down) are both very cheesy but I do really like the intro in You Can’t Bring Me Down. And again, the guitar parts in general sound brilliant. Then we’re on to the last track of the album, title track, Scars. This one is quite interesting. It starts with just some acoustic guitar and strings.
The vocals come in for the first verse and the overall mood of the first half of this track is quite melancholic. Things build up with the rest of the band joining in for the third and final chorus before dropping out again, leaving just acoustic guitar, bass and backing vocals playing on until fading out for the outro.
I did like this album, yes it’s cheesy in some parts but it’s all done quite well and there were no moments which killed my enjoyment. At times when I was a little put off by the lyrics, I focused more on the rest of the band and they carried me through it, so massive props to them. The vocalist is a really good singer, I just felt that the actual lyrics let him down a bit in some parts. Overall, really good album, not exactly my cup of tea but like said, it is a fun album. 8/10
Voidfallen – The Rituals Of Resilience (Noble Demon) [Liam Williams]
Here we have the brand new 2nd studio album from melodic death metal group Voidfallen. This album has 10 fantastic tracks which all range from gut punchingly brutal to very cinematic and epic from start to finish.
The album kicks off with Threads Of Blood. It begins with some ominous synth and guitar playing in the background. Things get heavy when the rest of the band come in. I love the pre-chorus sections with some choir vocals accompanying the guttural screams of the lead vocalist. There’s a really nice guitar solo which leads into the final chorus before the band fade out, leaving just the synth and keys to end the song.
I did like this album, yes it’s cheesy in some parts but it’s all done quite well and there were no moments which killed my enjoyment. At times when I was a little put off by the lyrics, I focused more on the rest of the band and they carried me through it, so massive props to them. The vocalist is a really good singer, I just felt that the actual lyrics let him down a bit in some parts. Overall, really good album, not exactly my cup of tea but like said, it is a fun album. 8/10
Voidfallen – The Rituals Of Resilience (Noble Demon) [Liam Williams]
Here we have the brand new 2nd studio album from melodic death metal group Voidfallen. This album has 10 fantastic tracks which all range from gut punchingly brutal to very cinematic and epic from start to finish.
The album kicks off with Threads Of Blood. It begins with some ominous synth and guitar playing in the background. Things get heavy when the rest of the band come in. I love the pre-chorus sections with some choir vocals accompanying the guttural screams of the lead vocalist. There’s a really nice guitar solo which leads into the final chorus before the band fade out, leaving just the synth and keys to end the song.
The Original Wound starts with the synth from the last track bleeding in before the band come back in for a really epic build-up to the first verse with some very fast drumming. The verses and choruses are really great in this track. There’s a nice duel guitars section leading into the bridge. The track ends with some very haunting synth. Hymn For The Fallen starts with a brief swell of strings before the band come in and bring the chaos. This track has some more duel guitars action for the solo. It ends with more choir vocals and an uneasy feeling piano.
Starved For Martyrs starts with more choir vocals, piano and synth. I love the lead guitar part in the pre-choruses. The band go straight into verse 2, leaving out the first chorus and subverting expectations. This track also ends with some eerie piano. Track 5 is Thread With The Ghosts. This one starts with a bit of spooky synth before the band come in thrashing. There’s another creepy synth section which leads into the epic bridge section. From The Towers Of Ivory does not mess around and gets straight to the epic and heavy. There’s 2 verses before we get to the chorus with the intro riff coming back in before the second chorus.
Ritual Of Resilience has a strange and unique song structure. This song has no verses. Just 3 choruses and a bridge section. All broken up by some more epic instrumental sections. Next is Pyre Of Vengeance. There’s immediately a moody atmosphere introduced with the sounds of rain and thunder accompanied by piano and some strings. When the band come in, the guitars momentarily take over the piano part before dropping back out for the spoken word first verse. This is easily my second favourite track on the album.
Starved For Martyrs starts with more choir vocals, piano and synth. I love the lead guitar part in the pre-choruses. The band go straight into verse 2, leaving out the first chorus and subverting expectations. This track also ends with some eerie piano. Track 5 is Thread With The Ghosts. This one starts with a bit of spooky synth before the band come in thrashing. There’s another creepy synth section which leads into the epic bridge section. From The Towers Of Ivory does not mess around and gets straight to the epic and heavy. There’s 2 verses before we get to the chorus with the intro riff coming back in before the second chorus.
Ritual Of Resilience has a strange and unique song structure. This song has no verses. Just 3 choruses and a bridge section. All broken up by some more epic instrumental sections. Next is Pyre Of Vengeance. There’s immediately a moody atmosphere introduced with the sounds of rain and thunder accompanied by piano and some strings. When the band come in, the guitars momentarily take over the piano part before dropping back out for the spoken word first verse. This is easily my second favourite track on the album.
Speaking of favourites, we get to my pick for #1 favourite track on the album with track 9, Branding Of Souls. This one straight up sounds like some epic final boss fight music from a game. It’s chaotic and heavy from the moment it starts. Really great use of choir vocals, strings and other parts to accompany the band.
The album ends with The Mourning Shores. A more sombre sounding track with strings and piano in the intro, accompanied by the only bit of clean vocals for the first verse. The band come in to bring the heavy again for the pre-chorus and chorus. The second verse is led with spoken word and strings but with the drums sticking around this time. We get a repeat of the heavy pre-chorus and chorus before the piano and strings play on for the outro to end the song.
This was a truly epic album. The band know when to add more or hold back when they need to so that each song can stand out on their own and still hold up as one cohesive collection of tracks. There was never a point where I got bored listening to this album or started to feel that things were sounding too much of the same thing on repeat. The songs are great, I especially love the guitar work. The rest of the band were awesome too and other parts like strings, piano, choir and etc... were all done really well and never felt out of place. Great job! 10/10
TFNRSH - Book Of Circles (Broken Music) [Rich Piva]
TFNRSH are an Instrumental Psychedelic Prog-Rock trio from Tübingen, Germany who are bringing you part two of their long trip. Four more mind-bending blasts of heavy when they want to be psych prog for those who like to lose themselves in instrumental bliss.
Their first record, TIEFENRAUSCH, garnered a ton of buzz and praise, and for good reason. Book Of Circles is right there with their debut. For me, I will sometimes struggle with instrumental bands. The key for my listening is if there is enough going on to keep me engaged. These four tracks are expertly played, go in all sorts of directions but never seem scattered, and have the cleanest, but not overproduced sound I have heard in a while. TFNRSH are experts in setting you up for blasts of heavy prog, surrounded by some chill moments and even some grooving.
This was a truly epic album. The band know when to add more or hold back when they need to so that each song can stand out on their own and still hold up as one cohesive collection of tracks. There was never a point where I got bored listening to this album or started to feel that things were sounding too much of the same thing on repeat. The songs are great, I especially love the guitar work. The rest of the band were awesome too and other parts like strings, piano, choir and etc... were all done really well and never felt out of place. Great job! 10/10
TFNRSH - Book Of Circles (Broken Music) [Rich Piva]
TFNRSH are an Instrumental Psychedelic Prog-Rock trio from Tübingen, Germany who are bringing you part two of their long trip. Four more mind-bending blasts of heavy when they want to be psych prog for those who like to lose themselves in instrumental bliss.
Their first record, TIEFENRAUSCH, garnered a ton of buzz and praise, and for good reason. Book Of Circles is right there with their debut. For me, I will sometimes struggle with instrumental bands. The key for my listening is if there is enough going on to keep me engaged. These four tracks are expertly played, go in all sorts of directions but never seem scattered, and have the cleanest, but not overproduced sound I have heard in a while. TFNRSH are experts in setting you up for blasts of heavy prog, surrounded by some chill moments and even some grooving.
Take the opener, Zemestan, as the perfect example. I especially like when the guitar gets all trippy towards the end. You get chunky riffs to start on WRZL, showing that the band can bring the heavy when they want to, but also show how they have mastered the loud-quiet-loud dynamic with multiple tempo changes throughout the ten-minute track. The guitar work at about 3:50 is excellent, and the rhythm section enhances the experience even further. I also really love around 6:00 when you feel like you are about to enter a moment of bliss only for the riffs to bring you out of that spell.
Zorn continues the overall vibe of Book Of Circles, this time with some German spoken word over some sparse instrumentation (which may be a minute or two too long), led by the drums, but you just know and some point the crunch is coming, and boy does it. The back half of this track is just killer. At just under eight minutes, Ammoglÿd is the shortest track on the record but that doesn’t mean that it is not the engaging journey the other three songs are, grabbing you with the beauty of the track, with anticipation building throughout, waiting for the moment the hammer will fall, and in a very cool change, you never get there, leaving you wanting more.
I don’t generally reach for the instrumental bands (CTS is a major exception) but when I do, I need to feel like I am in it. TFNRSH does that for me on Book Of Circles. It never loses my attention, bringing the story alive with zero singing and expert playing. Exactly what I need from an instrumental record. 8/10
I don’t generally reach for the instrumental bands (CTS is a major exception) but when I do, I need to feel like I am in it. TFNRSH does that for me on Book Of Circles. It never loses my attention, bringing the story alive with zero singing and expert playing. Exactly what I need from an instrumental record. 8/10
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