Wyatt E are a band which presents a unique blend of Doom and Drone Metal, hailing from Belgium. They return with holy scriptures that present their third full-length album called Zamaru Ultu Qereb Ziqquratu Part 1, released on the legendary Metal label, Heavy Psych Sounds.
I had first heard of them when I saw them at ArcTanGent Festival last year after a recommendation from a friend and they both surprised and impressed me with their inventiveness and the power that they possessed. It’s safe to say that from that performance, I was excited to see what Wyatt E could come up with in the future and that leads me to now with this new record of theirs.
The album opens with Qaqqari La Târi Part 1, a slow and unwinding instrumental which is constantly adding in new layers in overtime. One of the things that makes Wyatt E stand out from the crowd is their use of multiple percussionists which make their presence felt here, being sparse yet intense, making moments matter. Qaqqari La Târi Part 1 makes me picture an overgrown flower which is touching the skyline.
Going into track three with Im Leyla, for the very first time Wyatt E has brought a vocalist into the mix with Tomer Damsky. The bass echoes history within its rhythmic stylings, everything in the song builds from this element. The guitars strike like a ship colliding with an iceberg whilst Tomer sounds like they are screaming out for their dear life.
Next we have track four, The Diviner's Prayer To The Gods Of The Night, which introduces a singer with Nina Saeidi (of Lowen). This song presents the softest thing to grace us so far with a fluffy cloud for us to lay our head on, compared to the jagged rocks which we’ve narrowly avoided before. We are taken by the hand on an acoustic and hypnotic journey where every nook and cranny of space is made use of, being filled by gentle strumming here and a tabla beat there. The right channel genuinely feels heavenly in its approach, you might as well be sat in front of someone playing a gigantic church organ. The Diviner’s Prayer To The Gods Of The Night is beautiful and is definitely my favourite song on the album.
Overall with Zamaru Ultu Qereb Ziqquratu Part 1, Wyatt E has crafted the first part of a film and that’s what every song here has echoed so far. The ideas that are being presented here have made this a very visual album for me. Although not everything has hit me, this record is great and makes me incredibly excited for Part 2. 8/10
Beriedir – Liminal Spaces (Rockshots Records) [Liam Williams]
Liminal Spaces is the spectacular third album from Italian proggers Beriedir. This album has 10 great tracks of groovy, heavy prog goodness. Solid song writing, great playing from the instrumentalists, some really good vocals and all mixed to near perfection. If you couldn’t already tell, I really liked this album!
We kick things off with track 1, Halo. This track is a solid album opener, straight into the action. The guitars sound great and there are some symphonic metal elements with the addition of some synth. Really groovy first verse quickly followed by a guitar solo before the chorus. There’s a quieter bridge section followed by a really cool section where the rest of the band comes back in for the final chorus.
Then we have Neon. It starts off pretty strong then calms down a bit with some clean guitar and vocals for the first verse. The first chorus is a little bit weak vocals wise but the second and last choruses make up for it, being more upbeat and heavy. There’s another calm bit for the bridge section before building back up for the final chorus.
In The Corner Of My Eyes has a cool synth intro and quickly gets very fast and heavy. There’s a calmer yet more haunting sounding pre-chorus but things get heavy again for the chorus. The second part/bridge section is pretty cool and after the second chorus there’s an excellent instrumental break. The guitar accompanies the vocal melody for the outro of the track.
As Tight As Phantoms Hold is a very cool track. Really good intro before slowing things down for the first verse. The second verse changes things up a little bit with an almost lo-fi sounding drum beat grooving along which works really well. This track has an epic breakdown section before the final chorus, which is then followed up with another breakdown for the outro.
As Tight As Phantoms Hold is a very cool track. Really good intro before slowing things down for the first verse. The second verse changes things up a little bit with an almost lo-fi sounding drum beat grooving along which works really well. This track has an epic breakdown section before the final chorus, which is then followed up with another breakdown for the outro.
Track 5 is the aptly titled F.I.V.E. and this track is perhaps my favourite. It’s got a very Muse vibe to it but heavier, but in terms of the song structure, chord progression and vocal melodies, it sounds a lot like Muse. There’s a couple of cool synth solos and the parts where the guitars and synth play together sound spectacular.
Up next is an epic ballad sounding track, More Than Starlight. This track kind of sounds like a theme song for a JRPG. It starts with a nice lead guitar led intro before the first verse comes in with just piano and vocals. There’s a cool heavier part before a clean guitar solo that leads into the second chorus. After the final chorus, there’s a really great outro with the lead guitar and vocals harmonising. As the track comes to an end, there’s a build-up to the next.
Burnout kicks off immediately where the last track ended. Another great track with more harmonising between the guitars and vocals. The second verse is a bit heavier before a really cool groovy instrumental break with some nice funky bass playing comes in followed by a nice chuggy section. There’s an ominous sounding synth section which is joined by some drums before the rest of the band come in for the final part of the song which ends with a guitar solo for the outro.
Burnout kicks off immediately where the last track ended. Another great track with more harmonising between the guitars and vocals. The second verse is a bit heavier before a really cool groovy instrumental break with some nice funky bass playing comes in followed by a nice chuggy section. There’s an ominous sounding synth section which is joined by some drums before the rest of the band come in for the final part of the song which ends with a guitar solo for the outro.
Anemoia begins with a variety of anxiety inducing long notes before the piano comes in, joined by appregiated synth and eventually, the rest of the band. It has a pretty groovy first verse, but the second verse is a little bit heavier with the addition of more guitar. There’s a really cool guitar/synth solo, some great drumming and then the track ends with the piano coming back in with some strings.
Track 9 is Massive, and it quite literally lives up to that name. Great intro and first verse. Then some nice groovy chugging for the second verse. There’s another cool heavy breakdown/bridge section and then the song ends with some strings playing the vocal melody from the choruses for the outro.
Track 9 is Massive, and it quite literally lives up to that name. Great intro and first verse. Then some nice groovy chugging for the second verse. There’s another cool heavy breakdown/bridge section and then the song ends with some strings playing the vocal melody from the choruses for the outro.
Then we come to the final track, In The Liminal Space. There’s some nice bass in the first verse, some great lead guitar in the choruses. A little guitar break going into the first bridge before the second chorus comes in. This is followed up by another epic heavy instrumental break at about the halfway mark. He final chorus starts with just vocals and acoustic guitar before the rest of the band come back in and then the track ends with an acoustic guitar solo for the outro.
Fantastic album from start to finish. My only little nit-pick is with the vocals being a little bit weak in a couple of parts, but overall, there’s nothing else I can think of which brings the quality of this album down in any way. Really well written and performed and a strong mix. The guitars are very good, the bass has a few groovy moments to shine, the drumming is solid, all the other additions like synths/strings/piano is done well and the vocals are really good for most of the runtime, both clean and screams. They absolutely smashed it! 10/10
The Halo Effect - March Of The Unheard (Nuclear Blast) [Mark Young]
The Halo Effect are here with their take on melodic death metal and it’s remarkable that given it’s members have served their time at the very forefront of the Gothenburg sound and you would think that they would know how to create music that would reflect the core aspects whilst bringing something new to the table. The band DNA is one that takes from In Flames and Dark Tranquillity, two of the most well known to come out of that scene and with the benefit of going in blind I was looking forward to hearing what they had to say.
Fantastic album from start to finish. My only little nit-pick is with the vocals being a little bit weak in a couple of parts, but overall, there’s nothing else I can think of which brings the quality of this album down in any way. Really well written and performed and a strong mix. The guitars are very good, the bass has a few groovy moments to shine, the drumming is solid, all the other additions like synths/strings/piano is done well and the vocals are really good for most of the runtime, both clean and screams. They absolutely smashed it! 10/10
The Halo Effect - March Of The Unheard (Nuclear Blast) [Mark Young]
The Halo Effect are here with their take on melodic death metal and it’s remarkable that given it’s members have served their time at the very forefront of the Gothenburg sound and you would think that they would know how to create music that would reflect the core aspects whilst bringing something new to the table. The band DNA is one that takes from In Flames and Dark Tranquillity, two of the most well known to come out of that scene and with the benefit of going in blind I was looking forward to hearing what they had to say.
OK, so before I get into it, both In Flames (Foregone) and Dark Tranquillity (Endtime Signals) released new material over the last two years which didn’t set my world on fire. March Of The Unheard falls into that camp and so if you loved those two albums, then you should be happy with this. If on the other hand you didn’t warmly receive both albums then I don’t think you will find much here. It feels ‘light’ in execution and is no way as heavy as it should be. The melodic touches are all there, the hooks and a vocal delivery that is as good as you would expect from Mikael Stanne and it moves at a decent pace.
Everything is there but there is an unpalatable sheen to it. There is no grit and opener Conspire To Deceive comes and goes delivering a perfectly functional piece of melodeath that you will consume and move on from. Detonate is next and is fine. I never want to describe any metal as just ‘fine’, but it sums this up for me. There is a fast section, a slow section but it’s nothing we haven’t heard before. Don’t get wrong its played well with a high level of skill but that feeling of playing safe is looming larger and larger and after two songs I’m almost convinced that this will not change.
Our Channel To The Darkness continues in that vein, another variation on a theme: fast verse, slower chorus and like Detonate it does its job but it’s almost like they are hemmed in being who they are and its sent them down a path that they have trodden so many times they cannot find a new way to go. The rest unfold in much the same way and I would have dearly loved to say otherwise. Again, you cannot fault their playing or Mikael’s vocals but none of the material grabbed me in that way that game changing music does.
The title track is not the killer you want it to be and there isn’t a single ‘oh yes’ moment on here. As I’ve said each song does what it needs to do without exciting and I think that is criminal. I know that I’ve been critical of recent melodeath releases and its purely down to the high regard I have for it. I think sometimes that bands forget about the death part in melodeath, it needs that grit and needs to be aggressive sounding and positively has to kick your face in. 6/10
Children Of The Sün - Leaving Ground, Greet The End (Lovely Eyes Records) [Dan Sierras]
Children Of The Sün release its third album, Leaving Ground, Greet The End, via their own label Lovely Eyes Records, with a folksy, rocker that ebbs and flows from beginning to end. Josefina Berglund Ekholm’s vocals are the highlight throughout.
The first track, Sugar (Shape Of A Gun) is a groovy little tune. It’s very catchy with some nice drum fills in between. Ekholm’s vocals soar on the next track Lilium, a haunting ballad where she shows her strength with her vocal range. Starlighter comes in as another mellow addition, really cementing this release as a call back to their ‘60s, hippie influence. Come With Us picks up the pace a bit, with Jacob Hellenrud showing off his guitar chops with a nice solo.
Glaskogen is a little interlude that leads into the slow paced Lovely Eyes that builds up towards the end, with Ekholm’s vocals really shining and Hellenrud finishing up with some nice guitar work. Children Of The Sün take a stab at covering the mighty Led Zeppelin with their rendition of Whole Lotta Love. A much slower, bluesy take on the classic. My opinion on covering huge bands like Led Zeppelin, is you really need to knock it out of the park, and I don’t feel they quite hit the mark.
Gateway ends the album quite the opposite of how it started with a hypnotic, mellow track that ends this trip down ‘60 nostalgia. If you’re into bluesy, folk-rock, that beckons the Woodstock- Era of music, then this album is for you. As for me, it’s not really my cup of tea, but I give lots of respect to the vocals throughout. 6/10
Children Of The Sün - Leaving Ground, Greet The End (Lovely Eyes Records) [Dan Sierras]
Children Of The Sün release its third album, Leaving Ground, Greet The End, via their own label Lovely Eyes Records, with a folksy, rocker that ebbs and flows from beginning to end. Josefina Berglund Ekholm’s vocals are the highlight throughout.
The first track, Sugar (Shape Of A Gun) is a groovy little tune. It’s very catchy with some nice drum fills in between. Ekholm’s vocals soar on the next track Lilium, a haunting ballad where she shows her strength with her vocal range. Starlighter comes in as another mellow addition, really cementing this release as a call back to their ‘60s, hippie influence. Come With Us picks up the pace a bit, with Jacob Hellenrud showing off his guitar chops with a nice solo.
Glaskogen is a little interlude that leads into the slow paced Lovely Eyes that builds up towards the end, with Ekholm’s vocals really shining and Hellenrud finishing up with some nice guitar work. Children Of The Sün take a stab at covering the mighty Led Zeppelin with their rendition of Whole Lotta Love. A much slower, bluesy take on the classic. My opinion on covering huge bands like Led Zeppelin, is you really need to knock it out of the park, and I don’t feel they quite hit the mark.
Gateway ends the album quite the opposite of how it started with a hypnotic, mellow track that ends this trip down ‘60 nostalgia. If you’re into bluesy, folk-rock, that beckons the Woodstock- Era of music, then this album is for you. As for me, it’s not really my cup of tea, but I give lots of respect to the vocals throughout. 6/10
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