Given the bands I usually review, if you did not know any better you would think a band called Suncraft would be some kind of desert rock band with riffs and fuzz for miles and a stoner rock groove.
It is partially true, but add things like punk, black metal, thrash, and whatever the hell else they want to include and that is what you get on The Oslo band’s second record, Welcome To The Coven, which is delightfully all over the place, going from genre to genre seamlessly and always keeping the listener engaged and interested.
You get this right away on Welcome To The Coven with the opener, Ragebait, which is killer stoner thrash with some seriously angry punk vocals. Is that some blackish metal I hear about half way through the track too? It sure is. Cool stuff. Love’s Underrated is, dare I say, almost pop punk, but in the good way, like Face To Face or something like that, even the more melodic stuff Angel Du$t is up to these days, which is right in my wheelhouse.
Suncraft is way more punk than desert/stoner or whatever their band name makes you think, but no matter what you call them these guys rip in up on Welcome To The Coven. Punk stoner thrash goodness for all to enjoy. 8/10
Depravity - Bestial Possession (Transcending Obscurity Records) [GC]
On first glance the cover of Bestial Possession by Depravity screams brutal death metal, you know what I’m talking about, unreadable band logo, questionable title and monster artwork.
You get this right away on Welcome To The Coven with the opener, Ragebait, which is killer stoner thrash with some seriously angry punk vocals. Is that some blackish metal I hear about half way through the track too? It sure is. Cool stuff. Love’s Underrated is, dare I say, almost pop punk, but in the good way, like Face To Face or something like that, even the more melodic stuff Angel Du$t is up to these days, which is right in my wheelhouse.
Suncraft gets melody for sure, which is probably why I am digging this so much. I get a similar punk vibe on Greed Battalion, but leaning more towards melodic hardcore, and they kill it, especially when the real hardcore part kicks in. Fear not stoner rock fans, the title track has an up-tempo killer stoner groove to it while also being punk as fuck.
Melodic punk is what Wizards Of Anger Magic is all about while Charlatan Killer has these cool hardcore tempo changes to go along with some harmonized vocals, creating quite the interesting five-minute experience. Your more straight up stoner stuff is a track light High On Silence, but vocally there is always this punk thing hanging around. It’s not just hanging around on Forgotten Silence, which is a straight up punk ripper with mild stoner vibes, and it rips.
Suncraft is way more punk than desert/stoner or whatever their band name makes you think, but no matter what you call them these guys rip in up on Welcome To The Coven. Punk stoner thrash goodness for all to enjoy. 8/10
Depravity - Bestial Possession (Transcending Obscurity Records) [GC]
On first glance the cover of Bestial Possession by Depravity screams brutal death metal, you know what I’m talking about, unreadable band logo, questionable title and monster artwork.
I could be completely wrong of course and should never judge before I have heard a note of the music and it’s on a label that is usually very dependable when it comes to metal of the death variety, Transcending Obscurity, so now its time to see what I have to review and fingers crossed its NOT brutal death metal!
I greet opener Engulfed In Agony with a huge sigh of relief because its nothing like I was expecting, don’t get me wrong it its brutally heavy but not in that awful brutal death metal way, this is a tidal wave of unrelenting drumming that just keeps on going and driving forward with force, the guitars are crisp and cutting and not lost in the mix and the vocals bounce off everything beautifully.
I greet opener Engulfed In Agony with a huge sigh of relief because its nothing like I was expecting, don’t get me wrong it its brutally heavy but not in that awful brutal death metal way, this is a tidal wave of unrelenting drumming that just keeps on going and driving forward with force, the guitars are crisp and cutting and not lost in the mix and the vocals bounce off everything beautifully.
Eunuch Maker somehow picks the pace up even more and is a blitzkrieg of a song that just blows up and comes from an all out attack angle, the guitars rattle you and the drumming is once again a force of nature and really needs to be heard to be appreciated fully, there is never really much let up in the song until the end where it makes you think it will be fading out before one last blast of savagery and it could maybe get slightly overwhelming for some listeners but that’s definitely the highlight for me and I want more of the same all the way!
It’s on Call To The Fallen where we get a slight change of pace at the beginning of the track and while it’s not a drastic left turn and now sounds like funeral doom, the pace has been pegged back a notch or two which is fine and it lets the song breath more and prepares you for the inevitable thundering barrage you come to expect and once again the sheer force of what is being played really is breathtakingly good!
For some reason I fail to really connect fully Awful Mangulation, it just feels like there is something missing to really push it on fully, the musicality is not lacking I just feel that the delivery is slightly less full on than I want and it feels a bit forced, a bit to straight forward thinking compared to everything else.
Rot In The Pit starts the same and I don’t feel it but, as it goes on it does get my attention and really delivers what I have been loving so far, just all out brutality, some of the solos slightly stunt the pace and that’s not ideal but overall it doesn’t suffer too much, Aligned With Satan does its best to not sound like Deicide but does exactly that in every way!
The pacing, the riffs, the vocal content and delivery could be lifted directly off any Deicide album and you wouldn’t bat an eyelid, now this is of course fine to sound like a band that is synonymous with the style you are playing but it just feels like I’m listening to a totally different band, I suppose its lucky I like Deicide!?
After a bit of a lull in proceedings its down to Blinding Oblivion to really get things back on track and it does so in sterling fashion with the faster, blasting sections mixed with the wailing and screeching soloing to devastating effect we even get some of the slower parts, not many, but they are in there and it all combines to really create a monstrous sounding song. Legacy is a no-nonsense death metal barnstormer with absolutely no room for subtlety or delicate time changes, this is just a pure and simple bludgeoning from start to finish and really gets the blood pumping!
Catastrophic Contagion comes in with another mix of styles and is full of the scathing and horrible death metal that has made most of this album a blast to listen to but it also has a few sections that slow it down again and bounce new ideas about and it works well as they never really miss a beat and close us out in triumphant way.
I am so glad that Bestial Possession wasn’t what I was expecting at the start, it was crisp, precise and wonderfully heavy on all fronts. Depravity have delivered an album that any self-respecting death metal fan will love and fans of heavy music in general should definitely check it out as you will not regret it. 9/10
Gloombound - Dreaming Delusion (Gruesome Records) [Mark Young]
Well, I can’t think of a better description for a band than this: Cavernous, grinding abyss of massively dark psychedelic sonic sorcery which adorns their Bandcamp page. I think that is a fabulous and quite fitting too, especially once you have sat down and given this a spin. It should be noted that the copy I have been given for review has three bonus tracks which form the body of their debut EP release from 2023. With that in mind, let’s run through the 5 tracks on Dreaming Delusion and see what time we have left once that is done.
Now, a word of warning. The songs are long, the road is a hard and rocky one so from the outset I feel it is only fair that I should point this out. If long songs aren’t your thing, well you should probably leave the hall now. If you are still reading then it means that you are a fan of funeral doom or doom in general or you fancy dipping a toe into new realms. If it’s the latter, I applaud you.
At The Precipice To Longinquity is the definition of expansive, a sprawling and unhurried opener that brings in a feeling of the cosmos. The initial crawl, with its repeated guitar line that finds support from single note keys has an epic build to it. Its one that they gradually develop that runs through just what you expect from Doom, and then they turn the script and dial everything back, bringing a beautiful section to life that is almost uplifting in its effect.
I am so glad that Bestial Possession wasn’t what I was expecting at the start, it was crisp, precise and wonderfully heavy on all fronts. Depravity have delivered an album that any self-respecting death metal fan will love and fans of heavy music in general should definitely check it out as you will not regret it. 9/10
Gloombound - Dreaming Delusion (Gruesome Records) [Mark Young]
Well, I can’t think of a better description for a band than this: Cavernous, grinding abyss of massively dark psychedelic sonic sorcery which adorns their Bandcamp page. I think that is a fabulous and quite fitting too, especially once you have sat down and given this a spin. It should be noted that the copy I have been given for review has three bonus tracks which form the body of their debut EP release from 2023. With that in mind, let’s run through the 5 tracks on Dreaming Delusion and see what time we have left once that is done.
Now, a word of warning. The songs are long, the road is a hard and rocky one so from the outset I feel it is only fair that I should point this out. If long songs aren’t your thing, well you should probably leave the hall now. If you are still reading then it means that you are a fan of funeral doom or doom in general or you fancy dipping a toe into new realms. If it’s the latter, I applaud you.
At The Precipice To Longinquity is the definition of expansive, a sprawling and unhurried opener that brings in a feeling of the cosmos. The initial crawl, with its repeated guitar line that finds support from single note keys has an epic build to it. Its one that they gradually develop that runs through just what you expect from Doom, and then they turn the script and dial everything back, bringing a beautiful section to life that is almost uplifting in its effect.
They don’t stay in that space for long, the lure of distortion is too much to withstand and they are back on familiar ground. It’s a majestic start. An Eternity Of Complete Acquiescence takes you on a different path, one that is haunting and restrained until they break out the speed trap. Its whole vibe is darker now, fizzing guitars and rising keys. Like the opener they show that they aren’t content to stay in one place and do the same thing over and over to pad that run time out. It’s a complete work, a tale that has a defined start and end. In the space of 18 minutes or so they have dropped two belters. Just class.
On the basis of these, I’ll give them a pass for the instrumental Salvation, which is perfectly fine. Its back to normal service with Luminary Dissolution which gives a strong nod to classic death metal. A tightly focused, more darkened guitar orientated approach on this one and compared to the others is like a sledgehammer. Its uncomplicated, simple (in comparison) and a great way to tee up the last track.
Dreaming Delusion represents this albums ‘wow’ moment. It is that good they could have just dropped this on its own and that would have been enough. Its opening minutes sees them step into the clean singing arena, a melodious guitar line underpinning it. It serves as a light counter to the darkened notes that follow. The tricks they dropped into play with At The Precipice make a return. Keys that ring out forever, measured arrangements that are forever on the edge of toppling over but always manage to right themselves.
I should give mention to the vocal performances on this because they are pitched so well, the speed of their delivery from Mina Halvorsen and Emma Theneus Sønstebø (bass) is spot on to the music behind it. The lead and rhythm guitars are matched so well, with the lead break on Dreaming Delusion one that sounds like the chains have been removed from Nate Gundersen who turns in a scorching solo. In terms of an album of standout material, this clears the others by a mile.
So, do we want to talk about the bonus tracks? Mist, is 50 seconds of rising strings, and as an introduction I’m going to move directly onto Pulled Towards Sepulchre Slumber. To compare them to those contained on Dreaming, you can hear almost straight away that the DNA is there, the approach, the way they can build these sweeping musical statements is present and correct. If anything this, and Astral Exhalation are a little rough around the edges, but are still incredibly well put together and worthy of inclusion here and are welcome too.
So, do we want to talk about the bonus tracks? Mist, is 50 seconds of rising strings, and as an introduction I’m going to move directly onto Pulled Towards Sepulchre Slumber. To compare them to those contained on Dreaming, you can hear almost straight away that the DNA is there, the approach, the way they can build these sweeping musical statements is present and correct. If anything this, and Astral Exhalation are a little rough around the edges, but are still incredibly well put together and worthy of inclusion here and are welcome too.
This is exceptional stuff from them, and I implore you to check them out. Expansive, epic and intelligent songs that are just top class. 9/10
Beast Eagle – Sorceress (Golden Robot Records) [Cherie Curtis]
Hailing from Nebraska, Beast Eagle brings us a short and sweet Midwestern hard rock album. Though only five tracks, their newest album; Sorceress, is substantial and striking with a fierce and groovy rhythm. Every track on the album has resounding and textured vocals, complimented with riff heavy distorted instrumentals as well as rhythmic drums which serve as a steady pulse and provide a dynamically gripping build.
What I really like about Beast Eagle - and it’s pulled off well within this album, is that less is more. They keep it simple without sacrificing the integrity of their original sound and their experience. Though they are a relatively new band, they have a rock veteran feel. They all play superbly with obvious passion that is catching. But the overall composition is simple; there isn't anything technically complex or innovative in the way we expect (for example; there's no 10-minute picking drill mid song)
Beast Eagle – Sorceress (Golden Robot Records) [Cherie Curtis]
Hailing from Nebraska, Beast Eagle brings us a short and sweet Midwestern hard rock album. Though only five tracks, their newest album; Sorceress, is substantial and striking with a fierce and groovy rhythm. Every track on the album has resounding and textured vocals, complimented with riff heavy distorted instrumentals as well as rhythmic drums which serve as a steady pulse and provide a dynamically gripping build.
What I really like about Beast Eagle - and it’s pulled off well within this album, is that less is more. They keep it simple without sacrificing the integrity of their original sound and their experience. Though they are a relatively new band, they have a rock veteran feel. They all play superbly with obvious passion that is catching. But the overall composition is simple; there isn't anything technically complex or innovative in the way we expect (for example; there's no 10-minute picking drill mid song)
However, Sorceress as an album itself is refined. The album is still interesting and enjoyable in a way that feels effortless. The instrumentals take the back seat and let the vocals and dark lyrics provide mighty substance. There's a clear decisive sound to them, Sorceress as a whole, feels charged and alluring.
All in all, Beast Eagle’s new album is a satisfying one. It’s fun and catchy and can appeal to everyone. It may not be my favourite of all time, but I do see myself revisiting this one. 8/10
All in all, Beast Eagle’s new album is a satisfying one. It’s fun and catchy and can appeal to everyone. It may not be my favourite of all time, but I do see myself revisiting this one. 8/10
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