They're called Helms Deep. They. Are. Called. Helms. Deep. So it's battle metal, but the early days of battle metal as 70's dinosaur rock gave way to 80's speed metal, the music that was popularised by the likes of Judas Priest, Savatage (Necessary Evil), Riot, Virgin Steele and Manowar and Helms Deep do it bloody well indeed.
Chasing The Dragon is their second album and it's not about that (you know what I mean), it's very literally about chasing dragons and various other fantasy inspirations and metal clichés and space (insert Tim Curry voice) on Red Planet. It's different from Raven, who bassist John Gallagher is a founding member of, this has a much more epic side to it and while Raven drummer Mike Heller who was on their debut Treacherous Ways, has now been replaced by Hal Aponte, the thick basslines of Gallagher stick around as the foundation for Helms Deep founder Alex Sciortino.
Alex's has newly improved range in his vocals in the mould of Rob Halford and Jon Oliva and but also plays electric, acoustic and 12-string guitar joined by his old guitar teacher Ray DeTone who comprises the other side of this guitar duo. As Helms Deep love the more classic style of metal the record was recorded in an old school way with DeTone and Sciortino in each speaker as the rhythms bleed into both.
With their rapid grooves of Black Sefirot, the street, speed metal of Flight Of The Harpy, the classical influence of Craze Of The Vampire, the strutting Cursed or the epic instrumental finale Shiva's Wrath which features tabla and erhu and showcases that Helm's Deep can broaden their approach musically from just straight speed metal. Not that there's anything wrong with that as Helms Deep do speed metal with style! 8/10
Deciduous Forest - Fields Of Yore (Gutter Prince Cabal) [Spike]
Deciduous Forest isn’t a band that shouts for attention. It doesn’t need to. Fields Of Yore quietly pulled me in and hasn’t really let go since.
Snjór, the one-man force behind this Australian project, has crafted something that feels more like a memory than a record. Across five tracks, he blends atmospheric black metal with just enough melody and texture to create something deeply affecting and sometimes even beautiful, in that bleak, weather-beaten way the best atmospheric metal can be.
Opening track The Formless Dark sets the tone: restrained, mournful, but confident. It doesn’t rush. The riffs drift in like fog, underpinned by ambient synths and pained vocals that are more felt than heard. It’s not trying to be brutal, it’s trying to make you feel something. And it succeeds.
Ghost Of Lies and the title track Fields Of Yore build on that with more variation and layering. These tracks stretch out without losing focus. There are moments that reminded me of Panopticon, others that wouldn’t be out of place on a Wolves In The Throne Room record, but the identity is all Deciduous Forest, nostalgic, introspective, and very sure of its direction.
The standout for me, though, was Ages Past. It’s the longest track on the album and feels like the emotional heart of the whole thing. At over thirteen minutes, it manages to explore doom, post-black atmospheres, and acoustic passages without ever feeling indulgent. Everything has a place, everything serves the mood. I listened to it twice back-to-back on headphones and caught something new each time.
Anemoia closes the album in a softer, more reflective tone. It’s a gentle goodbye rather than a finale, and it suits the overall feel perfectly. Fields Of Yore is an album I’ll come back to — probably alone, probably on a grey day, and probably when I need reminding that not all heaviness has to come with aggression. Sometimes, it’s in the weight of silence, of memory, of the spaces between the notes.
For fans of atmospheric black metal with emotional depth and a genuine sense of space, this is awesome. 9/10
Kokeshi - Doukei (Moment Of Collapse Records) [Mark Young]
In the latest episode of ‘I am so late with this review’ our hero grapples with the re-release of Kokeshi’s debut album, Doukei which is available for the first time in Europe (physical and streaming) following an independent release in 2020. Self-labelled as ‘brutal-blackgaze’ which means I have no idea what I’m stepping into.
It starts off with what I can best describe as being a gentle melody with a narrative that has a traditionally oriental arrangement to it, now the problem I have is that the track listing is in Japanese, so unfortunately, I’ll have to describe it as ‘track 2, 3’ and so on. I appreciate that may sound lazy (it probably is, but its warm and anyway you don’t come here for the song titles, you want to know if it’s good) so as Propaganda fades track 2 comes steaming in and it is a massive gear change.
Snjór, the one-man force behind this Australian project, has crafted something that feels more like a memory than a record. Across five tracks, he blends atmospheric black metal with just enough melody and texture to create something deeply affecting and sometimes even beautiful, in that bleak, weather-beaten way the best atmospheric metal can be.
Opening track The Formless Dark sets the tone: restrained, mournful, but confident. It doesn’t rush. The riffs drift in like fog, underpinned by ambient synths and pained vocals that are more felt than heard. It’s not trying to be brutal, it’s trying to make you feel something. And it succeeds.
Ghost Of Lies and the title track Fields Of Yore build on that with more variation and layering. These tracks stretch out without losing focus. There are moments that reminded me of Panopticon, others that wouldn’t be out of place on a Wolves In The Throne Room record, but the identity is all Deciduous Forest, nostalgic, introspective, and very sure of its direction.
The standout for me, though, was Ages Past. It’s the longest track on the album and feels like the emotional heart of the whole thing. At over thirteen minutes, it manages to explore doom, post-black atmospheres, and acoustic passages without ever feeling indulgent. Everything has a place, everything serves the mood. I listened to it twice back-to-back on headphones and caught something new each time.
Anemoia closes the album in a softer, more reflective tone. It’s a gentle goodbye rather than a finale, and it suits the overall feel perfectly. Fields Of Yore is an album I’ll come back to — probably alone, probably on a grey day, and probably when I need reminding that not all heaviness has to come with aggression. Sometimes, it’s in the weight of silence, of memory, of the spaces between the notes.
For fans of atmospheric black metal with emotional depth and a genuine sense of space, this is awesome. 9/10
Kokeshi - Doukei (Moment Of Collapse Records) [Mark Young]
In the latest episode of ‘I am so late with this review’ our hero grapples with the re-release of Kokeshi’s debut album, Doukei which is available for the first time in Europe (physical and streaming) following an independent release in 2020. Self-labelled as ‘brutal-blackgaze’ which means I have no idea what I’m stepping into.
It starts off with what I can best describe as being a gentle melody with a narrative that has a traditionally oriental arrangement to it, now the problem I have is that the track listing is in Japanese, so unfortunately, I’ll have to describe it as ‘track 2, 3’ and so on. I appreciate that may sound lazy (it probably is, but its warm and anyway you don’t come here for the song titles, you want to know if it’s good) so as Propaganda fades track 2 comes steaming in and it is a massive gear change.
It cherry picks from a number of genres and pulls those threads into one cohesive ball, including one section that sounds like Knocked Loose before they did it. It’s such an irresistible sound, changing with speed and doing it in a way that is just completely natural. It’s heavy, melodic and not what I was expecting at all. It’s followed by some of the most cathartically sounding screams I’ve heard in ages, with a build that seems to be the follow-on twin of track 2. Black metal screams give way to death metal growls amidst the blast beats, and then they change it around again, moving at speed whilst delivering an authentic experience. The riffs are rooted in tradition, you can just about make that out and as a result of that makes this a unique form.
Kairai takes those traditional forms and sets them on fire. They are incredibly simple but super effective at hammering you, and again the vocals are something else. This is like turning the tap on and never-ending flow of pain is spewed forth. They have to dial it back otherwise they would blow themselves out but they were merely taking a breath as they step it back up again. You can see where that ‘brutal-blackgaze’ comes from because as they detonate the vocals on you, there is an almost gentle melody behind it that provides a great counterpoint.
Kairai takes those traditional forms and sets them on fire. They are incredibly simple but super effective at hammering you, and again the vocals are something else. This is like turning the tap on and never-ending flow of pain is spewed forth. They have to dial it back otherwise they would blow themselves out but they were merely taking a breath as they step it back up again. You can see where that ‘brutal-blackgaze’ comes from because as they detonate the vocals on you, there is an almost gentle melody behind it that provides a great counterpoint.
The use of traditional melodies in their music adds another layer, as it is completely limited to them. That gentle theme is blown to bits with the last two tracks that mix in those gorgeous melodies again but with some high-quality riffing. The guitar sound on these is exceptional, providing a crunching bottom end with a clarity so that everything shines through.
As an independent/self-released album, this has an incredible level of production to it and if you are new to Kokeshi, as I am then you should jump onto this immediately. 9/10
Kokeshi - Reikoku (Moment Of Collapse Records) [Mark Young]
On reflection, it might have been easier to combine both Kokeshi reviews into one, but as similar as Reikoku is, in comparison to their re-released debut Doukei it would have been doing both albums a grave wrong. It does continue to provide that ‘brutal blackgaze’ that was delivered so efficiently on the debut but rather than trying to go off in a different direction they simply pick up where the former left off as if this constitutes part 2 of a double album. Its practically seamless too, as the ending of one will segue into the next. And this is what is giving me a problem. A nice problem, but a problem, nonetheless.
Again, I don’t have the translations for some of the tracks and it feels quite poor on my part that I am unable to find them, but if you look at the album as a whole it has that vibe that there has been subtle tweaks here and there which make the songs hit that much better. And there hasn’t been a backward step in how it sounds. When the opening tracks explodes, you can pick everything up from the guttural into the screams into the crunching guitar which has this warm timbre. As this one warps its way to the end it is like they threw caution to the wind and just freaked out.
Kokeshi - Reikoku (Moment Of Collapse Records) [Mark Young]
On reflection, it might have been easier to combine both Kokeshi reviews into one, but as similar as Reikoku is, in comparison to their re-released debut Doukei it would have been doing both albums a grave wrong. It does continue to provide that ‘brutal blackgaze’ that was delivered so efficiently on the debut but rather than trying to go off in a different direction they simply pick up where the former left off as if this constitutes part 2 of a double album. Its practically seamless too, as the ending of one will segue into the next. And this is what is giving me a problem. A nice problem, but a problem, nonetheless.
Again, I don’t have the translations for some of the tracks and it feels quite poor on my part that I am unable to find them, but if you look at the album as a whole it has that vibe that there has been subtle tweaks here and there which make the songs hit that much better. And there hasn’t been a backward step in how it sounds. When the opening tracks explodes, you can pick everything up from the guttural into the screams into the crunching guitar which has this warm timbre. As this one warps its way to the end it is like they threw caution to the wind and just freaked out.
Those turn on a penny changes are here once more, meaning that you don’t get chance to settle on one pattern and it makes for an unsettling experience. Track 2 decides that now, all bets are off and that they will drive the song where they want it to go. Black metal, sure. Muscular groove? Ok. Subtle introspection, definitely. It shouldn’t work, absolutely shouldn’t and by rights I should abhor it but I don’t. Go Figure.
I could go on in trying to describe the twists and turns that each song takes but that would be largely pointless. What Reikoku has is more of a leaning into the heavier, discordant side. Melody lines vibrate like flies caught in a spiders web and then they are cut free as they drop prime extreme metal on you. This is a vocal performance for the ages, pitched to suit each riff. I can sum it up by simply saying that if you haven’t come across Kokeshi yet, then you need to change that very quickly.
I could go on in trying to describe the twists and turns that each song takes but that would be largely pointless. What Reikoku has is more of a leaning into the heavier, discordant side. Melody lines vibrate like flies caught in a spiders web and then they are cut free as they drop prime extreme metal on you. This is a vocal performance for the ages, pitched to suit each riff. I can sum it up by simply saying that if you haven’t come across Kokeshi yet, then you need to change that very quickly.
Don’t let the term ‘brutal blackgaze’ put you off. Instead, prepare yourself for a 40-minute battering, rammed full of some of the most vocal performances you will hear this year. Even better, listen to both of the albums together. Just make sure you check them out. 8/10
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