Reviews: God Is An Astronaut, Sirenia, Simulacrum, Joel Hoekstra's 13 (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

God Is An Astronaut - Ghost Tapes #10 (Napalm Records)

Having had their previous efforts reviewed by sometime collaborator Mr Rhod Davies, I have to apologise now that my review of instrumental band God Is An Astronaut is not going to be anywhere near as eloquent as his efforts, I just don’t have his poetic mind I’m afraid. A shame really as there is something quite poetic and poignant about this Irish quartet’s music, on this 10th album there is also a feeling of completeness as Jamie Dean returns on guitar and piano, rekindling the bands ‘classic’ line up. With him on board the band didn’t want to just coast from where they were in 2018, the release of their previous album. They made conscious effort to make Ghost Tapes #10 a much more intense listening experience keeping the ambient and ethereal qualities that has always been part of their post-rock toolkit but adding some cascading heavy turbulence to balance out the moments of quiet clarity. 

A song like In Flux really makes this point with a driving insistence that shifts between quiet and loud dynamics that’s broken by the ‘poppier’ tones of Spectres, which evolves into some very modern prog riffing . As with so many instrumental acts, this has to be digested as one piece each song almost set to follow the previous creating a mood as they go, all the instrumentation at the highest of level, keeping you hooked to their post-metal mastery. After 20 years and 10 albums God Is An Astronaut mange to keep things fresh and interesting, in what can be quite a limiting genre. A word of warning though this record is quite cyclical, the last song easily seguing into the first so you may lose yourself in it. 8/10

Sirenia – Riddles, Ruins & Revelations (Napalm Records)

10 studio albums in and Symphonic metal stalwarts Sirenia seem to have jumped on the Amaranthe bandwagon, infusing their Gothy, symphonic sound with massive 80’s synths. The Norwegian band have shifted their sound closer to the Swedes on this album above any of their others. Yes they still have the bombast of riffs, backing choirs and the operatic vocals on Towards An Early Grave (which also has death vocals) but even here the pulsating electronics are present, along with male clean vocal added on Downward’s Spiral. Its here I need to get something off my chest. Back in the early 2000's there were literally thousands of bands in the 'female fronted' (sorry I hate that term too) symphonic metal style. So much so that rather rapidly it became a pastiche of itself, some of the most well-known acts adapted into more hard rock or traditional metal sounds, adding extensive use of electronics, however the arrival of Amaranthe made this style explode so much so that many of the symphonic bands have adopted it to ‘change’ their sound. 

However this has now become so over-used that it too is a pastiche meaning that when a band does turn up sounding like early-Nightwish, early Within Temptation or even early Sirenia, they actually sound fresh and exciting. I know you can say this about numerous bands jumping on a bandwagon, but in the symphonic metal realms it’s almost like it was wholesale move to 80’s synths and EDM beats leaving behind only little resemblance to their early styles. This isn’t necessarily Sirenia’s fault they are going with what is currently poplar (which Amarnathe are), it’s just frustrating that so many of these bands have decided to move to this sound that they sound like copycats rather than originators. That being said (and it is a rant) if you love this new EDM influenced style of symphonic metal then Riddles, Ruins & Revelations will be an album you’ll be playing continuously, for me though it’s got the feeling of déjà vu. 6/10

Simulacrum – Genesis (Frontiers Music)

Simulacrum is the creation of keyboardist Christian “Chrism” Pulkkinen who has been a part of the band since its inception in 1999, however their first album wasn’t released until 2012 with a second coming in 2015. More than 5 years later the third record from this Finnish prog metal act comes through Frontiers Music and like its predecessor it has a conceptual nature to it but unlike Sky Divided there have been a few changes to the band that have influenced how this record differs. Firstly they a new drummer who joined after the last album and they have also expanded the band to include a second singer. Erik Kraemer has be brought into to fuse his voice with original singer Niklas Broman, expanding on their creative step up for the second album with a more experimental sound here that has archetypal prog metal sounds along with some more orchestral leanings. 

Much of the really experimentation comes on the 4 part Genesis Suite that makes up the second half of the album with Chapman Stick, Bowed Harp etc used in addition to the standard metal instrumentation. Now there is an issue to my ear with this record, despite the virtuoso playing, neither really vocalist really appeals to the ear, which does defeat the object of having two as they both have quite a nasal quality to their voices, when they move into the higher reaches, even becoming a little strained. It’s a bit of let-down really as the first two tracks are affected by it, even Arrhythmic Distortions which starts out well with a chunky modern prog sound is spoilt when the higher vocals come in on the chorus. I wanted to like this record but for me the vocals are just too much of a hurdle to get over. 5/10

Joel Hoekstra’s 13 - Running Games (Frontiers Music)

We’ve noted before about Frontiers love of a collaborative effort well Joel Hoekstra’s 13 has one of the most star studded I’ve seen for a while. The current Whitesnake/Trans Siberian Orchestra/ex-Night Ranger guitarist’s second solo record features vocals from Russell Allen (Symphony X), Vinny Appice (Sabbath/Dio) behind the drums, Tony Franklin (Blue Murder) on bass, Derek Sherinian (Sons Of Apollo/Black Country Communion) adding keys and also features Jeff Scott Soto just on backing vocals and Lenny Castro of Toto on percussion! 

It’s a mad line up playing classy hard rock tunes composed by Hoekstra to reflect a lot of the issues in the world in a number of ways, but mainly it’s about escapism into a world of big, sing along rock tunes, led by the incredible guitar playing of Hoekstra who always has neat head nodding riff or explosive solo ready to go giving tracks like Hard To Say Goodbye an edge over most ballads though Lonely Days is a proper AOR ballad. Mostly though Running Games is built on modern tinged classic rock, Reach The Sky has as chug to it, I’m Gonna Lose It is a bouncy soulful rocker.

Heart Attack is as bluesy as this record gets while Take What’s Mine is a proper workout between Hoekstra and Sherinian. Running Games is bolstered by its all-star membership and great performances. Musically this is 80’s American hard rock but it makes for an enjoyable record that you’d assume will be played ad-nauseum on rock radio stations. 7/10

Reviews: Illuminae, Durbin, Indica Blues, Revulsion (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Illuminae - Dark Horizons (Self Released)

As lifelong devotee of the almost incestuous British prog scene I've been following every project from every member as much as I can. Bands such as Karnataka and Mostly Autumn have made way for acts such as The Reasoning, Three Colours Dark, Panic Room, Breathing Space and Chasing The Monsoon amongst countless others that aren't intrinsically linked such as Lonely Robot and Touchstone. For many though the archetypal band in this style are South Wales stalwarts Karnataka, they brought that wonderful fusion of 70’s folk/prog rock to a newer audience, complete with banks of analogue synths from Jonathan Edwards (Panic Room, Luna Rossa and Three Colours Dark), folk instrumentation, explorative guitar playing and the emotional fragility of female singers such as Rachel Cohen (The Reasoning, Three Colours Dark). Along with Cohen and Edwards the third founding member of that seminal band (who continued after those members left) is Bassist/Keyboardist Ian Jones, now Karnataka have been on a hiatus for a while now but Jones is still keeping himself busy. Firstly with Chasing The Monsoon, which consisted of himself and Lisa Fury (Karnataka) on vocals and was a very synth driven, reflective album with cinematic flourishes.

On the back of that though Jones has formed another project called Illuminae, this time teaming up with vocalist Agnieszka Swita for a much more bombastic scope of music. Anchored by the British prog sound Illuminae moves things into more theatrical realms with a huge nod to symphonic bands such as Epica, Nightwish and even a couple of the Anneke Van Giersbergen projects. Dark Horizons has been called a collection of “dark twisted symphonies” and “sweet lullabies” which is a better description than this writer could come up with as it pretty much nails what songs such as Black Angel sounds like as it shifts between an almost John Barry-like orchestral ballad into the jittering electronics, leading into the gorgeously melodic Sign Of Infinity which is built on delicate strings, a solo piano and acoustic guitars. These two tracks give you a great overview of the magic present on Dark Horizons. An album that is bookended by the two emotionally powerful epics, Lighthouse and the title track, which have those swathes of melodic synths, David Gilmour-esque guitar solos, plenty of rhythmic shifts and a balance between darkness and light. 

Along with Jones and Swita there are numerous guests on the record with Gonzalo Carrera (Karnataka) and John Helliwell (Supertramp) giving piano and sax to Sign Of Infinity. The ever present Troy Donockley (Uilleann Pipes/Nightwish) imbuing Lullaby with wonder. Keeping the the beat throughout is Craig Blundell (Frost) while guitar-wise Steve Hackett adds his string genius to The Lighthouse with Luke Machin the main lead player for the whole record. Two brilliant songwriters and an all star supporting cast make make Dark Horizons a brilliant progressive rock record that's not just for fanboys like me! 9/10

Durbin - The Beast Awakens (Frontiers Music)

James Durbin is an American Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist from Santa Cruz and some of you may know him from his appearance American Idol where he sang primarily heavy metal classics. He has been signed to Frontiers for a multi-album deal with The Beast Awakens being the debut solo outing. It continues his abject love of classic heavy metal by writing an album that is so entrenched in that sound that you'll feel like you've been taken back to the 80's. More specifically you'll think that this was a long lost album from Judas Priest or Dio, Into The Flames especially sounds like it could be on Holy Diver such is the strutting riff and fist-in-the-air chorus. It's gloriously silly very much in the vein of the NWOTHM but with more of Hollywood slickness rather than a D.I.Y ethos, much of the enjoyment of this record not only comes from the almost 'jukebox' nature of the music but from Durbin's brilliant vocals, he moves between Dio-like mids into Halford screams at will. 

He also cranks out the riffs on both rhythm and acoustic guitars. As this is Frontiers release there is a huge amount of special guest musicians though the core band are Durbin, bassist Barry Sparks (Yngwie Malmsteen, MSG, UFO) and drummer Mike Vanderhule of Y&T (another key influence on this album), Earl Salindo giving keys and electronics come from Paul Grimm. Taking the special guest slots are mainly guitarists, the most high profile of which being Phil Demmel (Vio-Lence & ex-Machine Head) who shreds like a bastard on Kings Before You which also features Le Champion/Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho on co-lead vocals. Many of the songs feature fantasy, swords and sorcery lyrics that Joey DeMaio would get excited over (The Sacred Mountain and Riders On The Wind), but the riffage while rarely straying from the traditional metal sound does bring in doom on Evil Eye and Necromancer the latter having a Ghost feel to it. There's a place here to be massively cynical about this record, but you know what the world is currently in a shit state and sometimes what you need is a big healthy dose of anthemic heavy metal to make you smile and The Beast Awakens certainly does this. Put on your leather crank up the volume and annoy your neighbours. 8/10

Indica Blues - We Are Doomed (APF Records)

We're Doomed! - the words of worry shared by Private James Fraser and C3PO in their respective series. It's also how Oxford heavies Indica Blues see the world. A pandemic, the environment, fake news, America etc the most obvious threats but there are also currently a multitude of dangers that can wipe us all out at any moment! So on that happy note we dive into We Are Doomed the second album from Indica Blues that once again brings a mind expanding psychedelic doom that has seen them tour with Elder, Samsara Blues Experiment and Mars Red Sky. So they know a thing or two about how to open up your third eye, and once again they are ona  quest to take you on their cosmic journey, driven by fuzzy riffs, groovy rhythms and passages of atmospheric experimentalism. 

So as we put down the needle on We Are Doomed the acoustic intro to Inhale is quickly forgotten in some filthy riffs from Tom Pilsworth and John Slaymaker as it has that Monster Magnet groove, Andrew Haines-Villalta's slinky basswork getting the hips and your neck moving. It's a slow burning opening that shifts into the heavy doom of the title track, a song about Nuclear War, that shows just how fucked we are! Driven by the accomplished, deft drumming of Rich Walker the 7 often labyrinthine tracks on this sophomore record really up things from the debut with a really forward thinking style of bluesy psych-drenched doom rocking that also has some expressive vocals from Pilsworth. Pack that bong, turn up the volume and press play. Yes We Are Doomed but let's go out with a bang. 8/10

Revulsion - Self Titled (Transcending Obscurity Records)

Signing to the same label as their Finnish comrades Sepulchral Curse and Sadistik Forest, Revulsion are a death metal band with a sharp modern edge that brings in the technical ferocity of Dying Fetus and Suffocation. Filled with blistering blast beats from Atte Karppinen, on tracks such as Walls there is very little slowdown on the record it races through the 10 tracks of powerful death metal. Even though it is a inherently quick record on Mustaa Hiilta they bring things down to trench digging grind Tuomas Alatalo's bass pulling the track along in a dissonant dirge before the rage comes again on Wastelands where Jari Toppinen and Jarkko Viitasalo's substantial riffs pulverise, with Silence also smashing everything within earshot. For a debut record this is full of strong, filthy death metal. Nothing revolutionary but as soon as that death metal battery roars out and Aleksi Huhta's grunts sit astride you get you head banging and aching to start a pit which is really all that matters. 6/10 

Reviews: Loathe, Sacred Reich, Wig Wam, Jorogumo (Reviews By Liam True, Richard Oliver, Simon Black & Matt Bladen)

Loathe - The Things They Believe (Sharptone Records) [Liam True]

In a world where ‘elitist’ online commenters decide what’s ‘Metal’ and what’s not, there are few bands that transcend the genres they’re known for and actually explore other musical standpoints. And thank god for bands like Loathe who are spearheading the genre bending movement. Even though it’s a direct follow up from their previous album I Let It In And It Took Everything it bears none of the hallmarks of their previous outputs.

Gone are the grinding riffs, hulking vocals and booming backdrops the band is accustomed to delivering, and are replaced by an atmospheric, ambient soundscape that takes you on a journey through the mind of the Liverpudlian’s and their escape from the world that we know today. An almost eerie vibe fills the album that makes you think they’re going to bound back into their signature wall of sound that has blown many minds. But nothing.

Although the album is a soothing relaxing vacation away from the struggles we’re all undertaking, it’s soft sound isn’t all that it seems to be. As the album presses on it has some violent, contorting moments. The first being toward the end of Don’t Get Hurt. The static loops and implodes in itself before Do You takes you back on the soft synth pattern of the album. It’s an absolute dazzlingly ambitious performance that encapsulates the minds of the band. As they’re not strangers to producing this kind of structure, having introductions and interludes of this caliber on their previous albums, it’s actually quite cathartic and mesmerising that they’ve put out a full 12 song ambient record that spans longer than their debut, albeit only by mere minutes.

It’s a atmospheric love affair with their traditional sound that actually transcends the landscape of what we thought the band was capable of. We knew they could twist a genre. But we didn’t know they could actually take an already mind bending genre and weave it to their personal gain and make it sound so haunting and alive. It’s a complete mind fuck from the band. And that’s what makes it so beautifully brilliant. 10/10

Sacred Reich - Reissues (Metal Blade Records) [Richard Oliver]

When it comes to old school thrash metal bands Sacred Reich aren’t the first band that comes to mind for most people but they are one of the most respected and beloved bands to come from the 80’s thrash scene. They formed in Phoenix, Arizona in 1985 and word quickly spread about them in the underground scene with their 1986 demo Draining You Of Life becoming one of the most sought after tapes in the tape trading scene. They were also a very politically aware band and were not afraid to put across their political ideals in their lyrics and it is something they are still passionate about to this day. The band soon signed to Metal Blade Records and put out a string of highly successful and influential releases. These have been reprinted in 2021 both on CD and on vinyl (in a variety of different colours and limited editions). So let’s go back and delve into a bit of thrash metal history…

The first of these reissues is of course the now classic debut album Ignorance (8) which was originally released back in 1987. This album is a lean mean killing machine full of absolutely no nonsense thrash metal that is full of crunching riffs, ripping lead solos, relentless drumming and the passionate and enraged vocals of singer and bassist Phil Rind. This isn’t an album that reinvented the wheel when it came to thrash metal but just did it in absolutely crushing style with several absolute bangers such as the weighty title track, the speed attack of Rest In Peace and the absolute classic Death Squad which is one of the finest opening songs on any thrash metal album. Ignorance is a cult thrash classic and quite rightly so.

The second reissue is the Surf Nicaragua EP (7) that was originally released in 1988. Like a lot of EP’s of this era it is a mixing pot of original material, re-recorded material, a cover song and live material. The new material comprises the now classic title track which is probably the most well known Sacred Reich songs with its goofy mix of thrash metal and surf rock whilst One Nation is a chunky mid paced thrasher. You get a passable cover of the Black Sabbath classic War Pigs followed by a ripping re-recording of Draining You Of Life from the bands 1986 demo of the same name. The live recordings of Ignorance and Death Squad sound great and burst with the energy of their live shows. This isn’t an essential Sacred Reich release but it’s still a very enjoyable one.

The third and final reissue is of the 1990 album The American Way (8). Whilst a lot of fans consider this an inferior album to Ignorance I think it is equally as enjoyable. It’s just a different beast. Back in 1990 thrash metal was at its height of popularity and a lot of bands cleaned up their sound and made it somewhat more accessible for the casual listener. The American Way is very much a cleaned up sounding Sacred Reich with a far more mid-paced feel but the songs on offer are absolutely brilliant from the catchy onslaught of Love...Hate and The Way It Is, the snarling attack on the PMRC on Who’s To Blame and the stomping headbanging anthem that is the title track. It also has possibly the most derided Sacred Reich song which is the funk fusion of 31 Flavors. It’s meant to be nothing more than a bit of fun and I personally like it (sorry fellow thrash metal maniacs!). Although a different sounding Sacred Reich I think The American Way stands up just as well as Ignorance.

These reissues are enjoyable but ultimately are very bog standard reissues. The material hasn’t been remixed or remastered and there is no bonus material on offer. Although these albums have been reissued many times over the years for European audiences there hasn’t been a reissue in the US for a very long time so the main reason for these reissues is to allow US customers to finally get their hands on these on shiny new CD or vinyl without having to pay to have them imported from Europe. Nonetheless I’m sure there are vinyl collectors who will be snapping up these limited edition repressings of these thrash metal classics.

Wig Wam – Never Say Die (Frontiers Records) [Simon Black]

Norway’s Wig Wam have been on hold for quite a few years, having officially called it a day in 2014. Given the resurgence in popularity in all things 1980’s at the moment it is perhaps not surprising that a band whose look could have come straight off the front of any Hair Metal favouring publication from that decade, this may not be surprising. Having become something of a hit in their home country after successfully representing it and coming a respectable fifth place in the 2005 Eurovision contest the year before Lordi famously won it (so have a think about who stole the idea from whom…) and despite getting some support slots with Kiss, Wig Wam haven’t really reached their full potential. Perhaps this record may change that….

For a start, this is definitely not a Glam record and although the costumes still look of the period, it’s definitely more the Girls, Girls, Girls Crüe era street look this time around. That’s a useful analogy in other respects, because this is a much harder, more Melodic Hard Rock / Metal sounding album than I was expecting and a distinct change of direction for Wig Wam. It’s much heavier and moodier than their back catalogue and completely avoids the late 20th Century tropes, because let’s face it, they have been done to death and the double entendre has been replaced by the thundering double bass. The title track kicks things off and proves that point, and despite its catchy melody intro line is a solid and full on door kicker, with enough melodic hooks to appeal to a more mainstream audience, but plenty of heaviness and full-fat crunchy guitar work to keep old farts like me nodding along. 

There’s also a deep richness to the rhythm section that clearly marks the change in direction. Hypnotized is a bit more traditional, but no less heavy in its delivery, which is what prevents it from being too mundane, despite the by-the-numbers radio-friendly melody chorus line (not that it would have got played on radio back then with lyrics like “Lucifer in the skies”). There’s plenty for the Power Ballad fans as well, as after a few all out rockers the tempo slows a little to allow space for these – Kilimanjaro is the first and probably most successful of these as it keeps the tempo mid-range and avoids being insipid. (Rises like Olympus you could say - AOR Ed)

There are some pleasant musical surprises in here too, as the unexpected instrumental Northbound illustrates – one of the strongest all out pieces of music here and one that illustrates that guitarist Trond Holter would have been completely wasted in the Glam bands of old, many of who would have rankled at this sort of virtuosity. I was expecting to hate this, but found myself being pleasantly surprised. You may be too. 8/10

Jorogumo - Rot (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

From the grimy depths of Glasgow's gutters Jorogumo (a shapeshifting woman-spider from Japanese folklore) are a raging beast of heaviness that mercilessly swing between brutal death metal, aggressive hardcore beatdowns and earth shattering doom. Rot is their debut EP and it gets you by the jugular from the opening seconds, the powerful riffing and guttural vocals immediately bringing to mind bands like Eyehategod and Crowbar but also they give you glimpses of Obituary too. Tracks such as Peaks, Altar and Raised By Wolves also manage to bring in some clean vocals which balances out the filthy death growls, adding a more melodic edge to the EP. On the Raised By Wolves especially things shift into a punishing breakdown as the final track Pyre closes this lesson in aggression. Very much on the extreme side of sludge Jorogumo with towering highs and thundering lows, these Glaswegians are ready to unleash their wicked Yōkai upon you. 6/10

Reviews: Foo Fighters, Transatlantic, Todd La Torre, Sins Of Magnus (Reviews By Alex Swift & Matt Bladen)

Foo Fighters: Medicine At Midnight (RCA/Roswell Records) [Alex Swift]

At this point, Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters – regardless of your opinion on their ‘song-oriented’ take on hard rock, are an institution within their genre. For my money, I’ve always found them likable enough to defy some of the harsher criticisms that get doled out to them – everyone rightly seems to agree that The Colour And The Shape is a classic, and you are likely to get begrudging nods of agreement when you point out that 2011’s Wasting Light was frankly far more memorable than anyone was expecting. 

Although for all the indifference that other records of theirs are met with I often find myself in a position of defending them: In Your Honour and Echoes, Silence, Patience, And Grace are two personal favourites of mine, and I can even appreciate works like Sonic Highways as well as Concrete And Gold for expanding on their sound in a way which honoured their place as an ‘arena rock’ act while refusing to become creatively stagnant. And one fact I think everyone can agree on is that Grohl doesn’t seem like he wants to make music for cynical reasons. That’s why they are still such a great live act – they believe every word they're saying and haven’t lost that zealous passion for making music, even after 25 years. That said, I do understand the criticisms that get levelled their way. For all their focus on albums from a promotional point of view, they are very much a singles act: One By One, The Pretender, Run, all pieces which casual listeners may point to as favourites. And while they try and make changes with each release to stop them from becoming homogenous they do have a ‘sound’ that has served them well throughout the years and shows no sign of being changed.

All these factors are present across Medicine At Midnight. Put simply, this is meant to be the Foo’s ‘dance rock’ album. That feat is noticeable across maybe half of the songs here, and again this is still very definitely these musicians. Like the more theatrical experimentation on the last couple of records the vibe has changed but the approach to songwriting and musicianship has stayed very much the same. Not to say that the record is bad. Opener Making A Fire beguiles with exuberant melodies and an overall sense of triumph, the choir vocals and classic rock strut make this a joyously fun anthem to start us off on. The appropriately titled, Shame Shame brings down the mood significantly. This was also the first single and like many, I’ve got no idea why. With its lethargically slow beat you can’t dance to the track, nor does the lack of distinctive chorus make for great excitement. 

Worst of all, I think this piece could have worked – the strings are enchanting, and the percussion provides an interesting rhythmic approach. Had the piece developed over a few minutes, using that groundwork of tension and sadness, I think we could have had a genuinely emotional anthem. However, there is no attempt to engage dramatically, meaning that not until Cloudspotter, which follows, do we get a true moment of catharsis, worth returning to. If all Foo Fighters records do indeed include flashes of greatness, this is one for this record – the verses are rhythmically textured in a way that proves energetic while living up to the dance influences eloquently before the spirited chorus provides that moment of liberation that was missing through the previous song. Look out for this one live.

Waiting On A War is the album's emotional centre-point. The acoustic guitar sees us in on a sanguine note, while the development lends brilliantly to the feeling of mounting fear at the political landscape of the world around us. The tone of the track is one of contemplation, with the ardent refrains of ‘there’s got to be more to this than that’ speak to the passion at the heart of the inspired instrumentation and rising and falling crescendos. Equally the title track is likeable with the funk undertones, and sense of enveloping darkness, which makes for a danceable yet thoughtful staple in the tracklist – although elements like the looped drum patterns might catch the listener off guard at first, this is one of the most unique pieces here and is all the better for that. 

No Son Of Mine was written in tribute to Lemmy and is the most distinctly ‘loud’ track here, as exemplified by the seething nature of the verses, and the frenzied chorus which packs the energy of a firecracker while remaining outstanding! Songs like this and the following Holding Poison which takes us back to more familiar territory, suffer from the production – these musicians have rarely been able to fully capture the feel of their live performances on record, and these are no exception to that rule! We end on Chasing Birds and Love Dies Young. The former falls low on the list of acoustic Foo’s songs that I would think about returning to – very pretty, don’t get me wrong, but not quite up to the level of Friend Of A Friend or even Stranger Things Have Happened. That said, the closer is an inspiring one with some fantastic instrumental work and melodies which I found myself singing along to after a few listens.

Overall this is a piece that will likely confirm any preconceptions you had about Foo Fighters. Do you love them? If yes, then you’ll probably relish the listening experience. Do you, like me, really like them, while acknowledging their flaws? In that case, you’ll probably see this as patchy yet solid. While they are an act that most people agree are likeable, if you have never got into them, then Medicine At Midnight is unlikely to change your opinion. They’ll see that as another success. 7/10

Transatlantic – The Absolute Universe (InsideOut Records) [Alex Swift]

Brevity rarely enters the progressive rock dialect. As a genre focusing on majestic compositions that unfurl and play out with the stylistic formula of classical music, being quick and to the point sort of defeats the objective. Indeed, few people are more synonymous with contemporary prog than the four gentlemen in this supergroup – Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings), Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater), Pete Trewavas (Marillion), and Neal Morse (ex-Spock’s Beard). On their new album, Transatlantic has taken the ambition principle to heights that are either committed or self-indulgent, with an ambitious album in two different versions; A 90 minute ‘extended’ version called Forevermore, and an ‘abridged’ version spanning an hour called The Breath Of Life. Here’s the twist. While they essentially contain many of the same songs, they are not the same album with different lengths. Oh no, that would be far too simple. See, the thing you need to know about the decision to release the ‘experience’ in this somewhat confusing format is that the idea arose from a band dispute. 

First came the original hour and a half piece. Morse suggested pairing this length back slightly to which the other members vehemently disagreed. So, a compromise was reached. They would make a shorter cut of The Absolute Universe and Morse would have the freedom to change some of the instrumental passages, lyrics, and production elements to his vision. The idea was given label backing on the precondition that both versions be packaged in a third ‘ultimate’ edition, available for purchase. Putting both together, this amounts to an insane 150 minutes of music, a lot of which is the same in composition, except containing enough differences to give the most devoted of prog fanatics an auditory maze to explore. I think it’s excessive, but I still think this is a brilliant work, and…much as I might be one of the few prog fans that appreciate a degree of conciseness…I recommend Forevermore as the superior release.

I’m not going to pour over all of the differences here. I think there are failings and successes to both of the experiences on offer, which is why I think it’s a shame that once both were finished, the band didn’t decide to fashion a single great record themselves, instead of choosing to be overly prolific and expecting the listener to put the pieces together for themselves. Issues with the release aside though, the key difference, and the reason I prefer Forevermore over The Breath Of Life, is that while the latter seems preoccupied with bringing out the songwriting above all else, the former is about the unified involvement: the songs working in tandem with the soaring instrumentals, the technical yet deeply affective musicianship and the theatrical transitions which allow the piece to come together. Take the dramatic Overture and the instantly optimistic Heart Like A Whirlwind. These are similar across both versions, yet it’s the immersive production, tension setting rhythmic accentuations, and swell across several minutes that enable these to truly make a statement about the nature of the ‘extended’ disc. 

Pairing them back, and applying different compositional logic in the way that ‘abridged’ does, upsets the sense of balance and cohesion, which is another vital element utilised by its counterpart. There are also some very strange decisions made about the track-listing. Among them, the absolute nonsensical decision to cut the majestic double epics of The World We Used To Know, and The Sun Comes Up Today from the shorter version while keeping the pointless interludes and moments like the self-indulgent yet mercifully brief Belong. Indeed, for evidence of how the chopping and changing of the original product disrupt the flow, look to the brilliant way Swing High, Swing Low transitions into Bully on one, vs. the lopsided transition seen on the other, left by the unforgivable emission of the later mentioned number. Few of the musical changes contribute anything overtly unique or stunning.

Before we get to some of the elements I do prefer about the abridged version, let’s talk about lyrics. Mostly, the focus is one of inspiration and encouragement for us to see ourselves as one species, not as warring factions. It’s a positive message which most can relate to…but - and here’s another reason I prefer Forevermore – in case you hadn’t guessed, The Breath Of Life contains several Morse-ism’s. Look, there’s no disrespect to any faiths meant when I say that Neil is a divisive guy, and just as I prefer him when he is working with others on a musical basis, I also prefer when someone else is writing lyrics for him. From a strictly personal perspective, the born again Christian messaging takes me out of the headspace for enjoying this version, and lines like ‘take now my soul’ just make me want to retreat to the safety of the originally intended release, where subtlety and personal interpretation play a huge part. That said, the cutting down of certain songs like the impressive albeit overly long Owl Howl is greatly appreciated. So is the decision to change Solitude into a darker, more ethereal piece, on the amended cut. More than that, wearing my non-cynical hat for a second, I guess I admire the commitment to giving fans a meaningful choice between which albums to listen to, even if I do think it’s disproportionate.

Rating The Absolute Universe is difficult as, as I said, there is a perfect album, somewhere within the combination of these discs. Forevermore on its own is close to perfect, and even The Breath Of Life earns a decent score. However, looking at the piece as a whole means I must take into account its brilliance as a creation, yet its flaws as a complete piece. This is still one of my favourite albums of the year so far (well, the longer one). I just hope that Transatlantic can better combine their competing visions in the future. 8/10

Todd La Torre - Rejoice In Suffering (Rat Pak Records) [Matt Bladen]

Ah Todd La Torre, the man who has been behind the mic of American Prog Metal stalwarts Queensrÿche since 2012. Well as global touring halted in 2020, it meant that he had a lot more free time. This has led to him not only contributing drums to the recent Jason Bieler record  reviewed but also completing his debut solo record. On Rejoice In Suffering La Torre plays the drums, (h was a drummer before he was a singer) and obviously uses those stratospheric pipes to full effect. I'd say actually to greater effect than he does with Queensrÿche. There he is trying to stick close to the Geoff Tate style meaning here he can let loose a little more, putting his vocals somewhere between King Diamond, Rob Halford, Warrel Dane and Mark Tornillo. 

The music too moves away from Queensrÿche, with a focus on much more classic heavy metal sound, evoking memories of famous meaty solos projects Halford and Beyond Fear. La Torre is joined by longtime collaborator Craig Blackwell (guitars, bass, keyboards) who also co-produces while Zeuss handles mixing and mastering for the huge sound on this record. So yes very much in the style of the Halford solo project there's influence coming from all the major classic metal acts, adding gritty thrash on Hellbound And Down, some occult Mercyful Fate-like speed metal on Darkened Majesty, Vexed brings a bit more of muscle, Apology sounds like Nevermore (as does Fractured), the grinding Critical Cynic is a much more epic number while the title track is full of down-tuned aggression and gives Jordan Ziff (Ratt) a chance to unleash some six string wizardry. 

Rejoice In Suffering is a great traditional metal record Todd La Torre only not showing that he's a versatile singer, but also a great drummer and songwriter too. Even in the midst of a pandemic there are some upsides as who knows when this album would have seen the light of day with the rigorous touring schedule of his main band but it's great that it has come out. A quality metal album that I urge you seek out. 8/10 

Sins Of Magnus - The Circus (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

Eric Early (vocals/bass), Rich Sutcliffe (guitars) and Sean Young (drums) make up Philly riffmeisters Sins Of Magnus, a slightly avantgarde heavy rock band that shift between slimy biker rocking, desert rock, doom and aggressive punk all played by three Viking's, they mention acts like Motorhead and Black Sabbath. The Circus is the band's third album (I believe) and it's got several genre changes throughout making it hard to classify but really the songs are all about trying to pack in as many riffs as possible, led by the heavy bottom end. With as many varying sounds on the record, though keeping it very much in the stoner rock vibe, it's quite a jarring listen occasionally, Unfettered Journey is crunching sludge rock, the punky False Flag, Ymir brings a doomier style as Flux Capacitor is a wild ride through madness. The Circus has a Faith No More vibe to it throughout, a snotty, doomy slice of riffing from the East Coast. 6/10

Reviews: Cult Of Luna, Appalooza, Emptiness, Trivax (Reviews By JT Smith & Matt Bladen)

Cult Of Luna - The Raging River (Red Creek) [JT Smith]

You always know where you are with Cult Of Luna. You know it’s going to be heavy, ponderous to the point of almost sludgy, with nods to both doom and post metal atmospherics, and this EP is no different. Three Bridges is a nearly nine minute behemoth with a slow to anger, nearly two and a half minute build up of unsettling, sparse guitar lines and a huge payoff when the whole band jumps in. What I leave behind leans a bit more heavily on the post metal atmospherics, giving a reverb heavy, swirly feel to the crushing heaviness. This would probably be the sound of falling through Jupiter's atmosphere; layers of swirling, empty clouds and high winds yet still with enough pressure to crush you into a diamond. Inside Of A Dream shows off that the band is still as experimental as they were as when they collaborated with Julie Christmas for The Mariner. 

Mark Lanegan tends to be perfect in whatever he does, but it is shocking how well he fits with the sparse loneliness of Cult Of Luna’s quieter moments. Simultaneously the least and the most Cult Of Luna track I’ve ever heard. I Remember is a mirror image of the EP opener, starting with an incredibly heavy payoff and morphing into an unsettlingly sparse guitar line, and Wave After Wave has a looser, slightly jammy feel to it. Less heavy than the rest of the album, with a few more interesting dynamics. The slow to crushing heaviness that they usually display is eschewed for stabs of heaviness, deciding to build atmosphere instead in an awful, unsettling way for its twelve and half minutes. Consistent as always Cult Of Luna remain one of those bands that hit nothing but net on every release. 9/10

Appalooza - The Holy Of Holies (Ripple Music) [Matt Bladen]

With a name taken from the US breed of spotted horse, Appolooza deal with the irony of the divine on their second full length record The Holy Of Holies. It’s their first record on Ripple music and yet again that label show that they can pick a great psych driven grungy stoner rock band from a mile away. While the lyrical content looms into the existential and is a comment on how religious fervour is seen as freedom, yet it is quite the opposite, but it does this through demonic possession and the question of our own morality and reality. It’s the sort of high level thinking you need additional help to reach, luckily musically the band can get you there with their desert rock infused AIC worship as the reverbed vocals of Sylvain often hit Layne Staley levels getting nastier as the riffs get heavier. 

Though the shamanic percussion and shimmering clean guitars are there to, shift from thick grunge riffage into a more ethereal place giving them a musical palette somewhere near that of Baroness (the album cover from Wild Horse Artwork is very John Baizley). In fact you would definitely think that Appalooza come from the desolate Midwest of the USA but in fact this trio come from Brest, France. They conjure the spirits of the old west on tracks such as the closing moments of Snake Charmer, while odd riff from Reincarnation brings to mind multiple Josh Homme projects. A colossal slice of mind-expanding heavy rock from Appalooza that culminates in the explorative Canis Majoris ending the record brilliantly. Really a record to experience in one sitting that pick at The Holy Of Holies is an ideal follow up/Ripple debut for Appalooza. 8/10

Emptiness - Vide (Season Of Mist) [JT Smith]

The bleak, minimalist sound of Emptiness is trying to capture the better moments of acts like Portishead and Massive Attack (and according to their press release for this LP, if you’re a fan of those two acts you’ll be a fan of Emptiness), but it’s falling short of that on their sixth record Vide. Far too much effort has been put into making the atmospherics have a swirly, ethereal, ghostly feel. Similarly, the same effect has been layered, nay, smothered, onto the vocals. Picking one or the other would have greatly increased the impact of that, but applying it to both makes the record feel washed out, and lifeless. 

Much of this was recorded during the height of the pandemic, and if they were trying to capture the bored, listlessness and endless days of lockdown where time ceased to have any meaning and your netflix queue had finally been exhausted, then bravo, mission accomplished, but I suspect that this wasn’t their aim. I think something has gone wrong when someone listening to your record finds the 30 second long Le sévère the most compelling track on the album, and only because of how much it reminds him of something you might hear on a Silent Hill soundtrack. 

It’s *definitely* gone wrong if it compels you not to listen to your record further, but seek out more Silent Hill/Akira Yamaoka. It’s entirely possible that I’ve missed something here with this album, and that this could be someone’s favourite record, but it left me cold, unengaged, and confused. It’s not a *bad* record, per se. It’s just not exactly an interesting one. 5/10

Trivax - Into The Void (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

Originally recorded during their sessions for album number 2 in 2019, Into The Void is a nine minute opus from Iranian/UK based black metal act Trivax. A band who definitely fly in the face of his birth countries religious dogma, Trivax are a major name on the UK underground scene, led by the fearless, creative mind of Shayan, who wrote both song on this two track EP along with mixing and mastering them as well. As I've said the title track came out of album recording sessions but when this was interrupted by the pandemic, the song went through a few audio changes, before coming out a week ago! It's a colossal, atmospheric blackened metal track full of dense layered instrumentals Sully's bass and Matthew's drumming flitting between doom passages and periods of intense blasting as Shayan riffs like a mad man, slithering into some lead breaks towards the end. 

His vocals conjure rage and mysticism moving between English and I believe Sanskrit. Not content with just this one track though (perhaps knowing we don't review singles) you also get a second track called Black Nirvana which is also 9 minutes long and was recorded by Shayan by himself in the lockdown (though which one?) and is a cacophonous, haunting, fuzzy instrumental with occasional shifts to Middle Eastern sounds, that really is more akin to an intro/outro than a proper 'track'. It adds balance to this mini-EP though and keeps Trivax's very stirring type of black metal in the front of your mind. 7/10 

Reviews: Humanity's Last Breath, Immortal Guardian, Detritus, Starforger (Reviews: Paul Hutchings, Alex Swift, Simon Black & Matt Bladen)

Humanity's Last Breath - Välde (Unique Leader Records) [Paul Hutchings]

Within a minute of the fear-inducing intro Dödsdans finishing, HLB launched into their complex technical maelstrom of Glutton; there was no hiding place. The extreme black death juggernauts from Sweden started shaking foundations. But it wasn’t simply a full-frontal aural assault that confronted me, but sheer slabs of iceberg sized riffs, punctuated by elements of industrial, all coming at me in challenging and dysfunctional angles. It’s awkward, uncomfortable, and astonishingly interesting. It’s difficult not to drift to comparisons with the intensity of Meshuggah and Ulver when you are first exposed to HLB. Although the band have been around for over a decade, there is little to prepare for the harrowing dissonance that erupts from the speakers. I’m not sure exactly what is the game plan of band mastermind, guitarist, and producer Buster Odeholm (Vildjharta, Born Of Osiris, Oceano), but a more claustrophobic, overwhelming, and strangely compelling album I’ve rarely encountered. At times, its sheer sonic suffocation is hugely disruptive. 

Descent sounds like Devin Townsend if he’s been absorbed into a death metal vortex and remerged minus all the zaniness you’d expect. Pulsing bass passages, unrestrained guitars and thunderous blasts of double bass kicking all support a horrifically gruesome vocal delivery from Filip Danielsson. As the album progresses, a strange pattern of acceptance begins to emerge. The atmosphere is bleak, the darkness closes, its ethereal fingers close tightly. There is nothing to prepare you for the terror of Dehumanise, the terrifying guitar riffs hanging and shimmering for an age before everything explodes in an onslaught of relentless savagery. It pounds, it drives and it hammers. It’s astonishing and leaves the listener gasping for breath. This in the live arena must be overwhelming. I was rocking back and fore, clutching my abdomen and skull as if possessed. Music that moves you … but not by your own choice. The juxtaposition of industrial, orchestral, and sheer weight of harshness that crashes throughout Välde is beyond comprehension. 

The battering of Klas Blomgren’s high intensity drumming provides little respite, Odeholm and fellow guitarist Calle Thomer create a sonic soundscape of horror, and as you move towards the finale, if there isn’t blood underneath the nostrils from bursting vessels then you have failed this album. The bizarre and unorthodox expand further on Väldet, an industrial grind that incorporates the kind of sounds nightmares are made of. Shrieking chord progressions, metallic air horns and no lyrics all combine in a melting pot of carnage. Välde is an album that produces almost indescribable emotion. The panic, loss and fear that emerge early on render it rather dangerous. It’ll scare the living daylights out of anyone not braced for the extreme. But it is compelling, seductive and something to return to time and again if the mood is right. It’s possibly the most challenging release I’ve reviewed for many moons, but it’s also one of the most exhilarating and impressive and only the minor irritation of repeated fadeouts prevented an even higher rating. 9/10

Immortal Guardian - Psychosomatic (M-Theory Audio) [Alex Swift]

An exhilarating fusion of progressive and power metal, Immortal Guardian's second album combines sweeping theatrics, with a strong sense of quirky experimentation. Take the opening title track which begins on an almost oriental note in the ceaseless and exploratory intersection of lead guitars and keyboards. All the while the percussion charts an exploratory and textured course. As you might expect from this genre, Carlos Zema’s vocals are exaggerated and can be an acquired taste with their wild alterations between operatic and cathartic. ‘Quarantine can make your mind reality’ runs one line here’ – rather than being eerily appropriate as so many lyrics have seemed this past year, this entire album is inspired by their emotions surrounding the pandemic, making the piece one of the first of many albums poetically inspired by 2020. 

The track Lockdown – a word I’m fatigued from even hearing at this point – is a visceral piece, capturing the sounds of frustration and anger, through gnashing instrumentals and constantly alternating tempos, representing the uncertainty and anxiety which have confounded so many people’s lives over the past years. And yes, while hearing the word Lockdown being crooned with this much dramatism has something of ridiculousness, the conviction and the desire to create a record that would truly represent people’s tumultuous emotional states is undeniable. Other tracks such as Clocks or even the haunting interlude of Self Isolation create ethereal and ambient soundscapes to represent the passage of time and the effects of solitude. As dark as some of the realities confronted on this record are, Immortal Guardian, like many of us, are clinging to the hope that the storm we’ve been caught in will pass, hoping for a better world on the other side. Goodbye To Farewells is the massive centrepiece of the album. By utilizing rapidly shifting time signatures, they capture the sensation of being locked in turgid battle or being on a journey on which the course remains uncharted and uncertain. 

The message through all the majestic melodies and relentless rhythms is one of camaraderie. Equally, Find A Reason employs brilliant neoclassical vibes in capturing that sensation of desperately trying to cling to the glimmers of positivity that are ever-present, and proves all the more unique for these efforts. Finally, New Day Rising beguiles the listener with an overstated yet inspiring sense of ambition that evades even the most negative feelings that you could level at the anthem! Simply put, this is an album of hope in dark times! That might sound cliché but so is a lot of Psychosomatic. Whatsmore, it’s all the better for bringing that sense of excitement and animation into people’s lives at a time when that feeling is so desperately needed! 8/10

Detritus - Myths (Embryo Industries) [Simon Black]

Having lived through Thrash first time round in the 80’s, I continue to be pleasantly surprised at quite how many acts from that period that I wasn’t actually aware of at the time have recently returned from their early grave at the hands of Grunge and all that followed it. As the current trend seems to be for many much younger acts to tip their hats to the past, this has led to labels rummaging in their archives for old material from acquisition back catalogues and giving them a fresh airing. Personally I’m all for it, as in this digital age this means that stuff that only existed on hard to find limited pressing vinyl is now much more widely available and the interest generated inspiring some of these progenitors to dust down their instruments and have another go. 

Enter Detritus with album number three. A lot of water has flowed under a good many bridges since Detritus released their original two records Perpetual Defiance (1990) and If But For One (1993) and that maturity shows clearly in this record. For a start this is not really what I would class as Thrash – say compared to their local Bristol peers Onslaught, who fundamentally sound as fast and brutal as they ever did, this is a much more slow and heavy affair closer in style and sound to Icon era Paradise Lost or Savatage than anything that came out of the Bay area. This is no bad thing and that distinctive, heavy and moody style works really well for an album that explores modern life in the context of mythical tales and hammers the point home that those who fail to learn the lessons myths contain are destined to repeat them. Add to this some really melodically progressive and experimental sounds and musical tropes and I know that I have found a record that I am likely to keep spinning for some time to come. 

This five piece have crafted a clever and well layered sound that certainly does not sound obviously like a band with three guitar players in its ranks. To get the benefit of the layering going on here you need a really good set of speakers or headphones, at which point the subtly epic mix which wouldn’t sound amiss on a good Stoner record comes right to the fore. Add to this the rough and raw but emotionally effective voice of Mark Broomhead and you have an album which is a completely pleasant surprise and a great way to start the year. 8/10

Starforger - Wreath Of Frost (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

Do you remember that wonderful feeling of listening to Wintersun’s Time I back in 2012, the majesty of the compositions effortlessly fusing cinematic song writing with technical ferocity? As we all know after this there was a lot of issues and we are still waiting for the follow up (no The Forest Seasons doesn’t count!) however it seems that these is a band from Leicestershire that want to capture that neoclassical, symphonic style of melodic death metal with their first full length record Wreath Of Frost. From the opening moments of the record all I could think was Wintersun as the keys are layered so thickly that you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a videogame sound track, in fact if you take away the guitar and vocals nearly everything else here is keyboards or programing as Starforger is the just two guys; Robb Skyborn (guitar, keys, prog) and Frazer Skyborn (vocals, keys, prog), together they have really treated this like a ‘proper’ studio project, not thinking how it would translate live, instead trying to make everything sound as bombastic as possible, much like Time I. 

Written over the course of four years, lyrically we’re in the Swords and Sorcery realms of high fantasy with folk flourishes rampant throughout the melodic death metal assault, the tinkling keys, the nod to Hans Zimmer on the two instrumentals March Of The Winter Moon and Horizons Cursed By Wintertide. Mostly though there’s a metric fucktonne of galloping double kicks and time changes, as they smash through the very power metal Starlight Song it’s hard not to have huge grin on your face. With celestial backing on the 9 minute title track which is followed by another 9 minute epic Spine Of The Ice Wyrm, this record really brought the memories of top quality symphonic melodic death metal. Wreath Of Frost will make you forget all about Time II's delay and concentrate on loving Starforger and their magnificent record! 9/10

Reviews: DeWolff, Arcaeon, The Pretty Reckless, Haunt (Reviews By JT Smith, Liam True, Simon Black & Matt Bladen)

DeWolff - Wolffpack (Mascot Records) [JT Smith]

Wolffpack, by Dutch Trio DeWolff, is another satisfying throwback of an album that I’ve had the pleasure to review in the short time I’ve been here, but not just of one genre. You get obvious Southern driving rock as the spine and skeleton of the album, but there’s flashes of fun, acid-blues experimentation like on the excellent Treasure City Moonchild, where there’s a fun call and response between the vocals and guitar, a time signature change and a pretty ripping solo, and a dabbling in old school, crooning R&B on Do Me. There’s also a satisfyingly old school feel to the production on the album. If you’d told me that this had been recorded, produced and released in the 70’s, I wouldn’t have batted an eyelid, and they wear it extremely well.

Between the strong songwriting, the gorgeously harmonised vocals, the fuzzy, lo-fi guitars, and the slightly woolly tub-thumping of the drums, everything about Wolffpack just screams ‘satisfying.’ It scratches a number of itches at the same time. If you want that driving, Southern Rock, it’s present all the way through (like the extended solo on Lady J). If you want to slow down with something smooth and sexy, it’s there. If you want a bit more of a trippy, slightly psychedelic feel, it’s there too. While DeWolff aren’t reinventing any of the wheels that they’re spinning, they’re spinning them with such accomplished ease that it doesn’t matter, because you’ll be spinning this record many more times. 8/10

Arcaeon – Cascadence (Self Released) [Liam True]

Hailing from the south of the UK, split between both Reading & London, Arcaeon have now unleashed their debut album, which is the follow up from their critically acclaimed 2018 EP Balance. And the question on my mind, is can the band replicate the sound and drive they had from the EP that gave them the push to play festivals and tours across the UK & Europe? And they 100% have nailed it with their unique blend of Progressive Metal, Djent & almost divulging into Death Metal with the vocal range of Stuart Sarre that transcends from the mountain peak highs of James LaBrie to the tectonic plate shattering lows of Phil Bozeman and everything in between.

Album intro and instrumental, Infernum Demergeris, only gives you a taste of the minds of Arcaeon as it’s mainly programmed with the guitars flourishing toward the end of the track but somewhat soothing and eerie. Until Origin Of Dreams hits full force with the drive of the band showing how they manipulate, distort and twist their sound around multiple genres at once. The rhythmic guitars of both Rhys Tomas & Sam Machin entwine with the pounding bass of Eifion Sweet to create a near perfect sound that slides beautifully into Ghost In The Machine as they show off their technical prowess as drummer Joe Farrell leads the band in terms of timing and speed as Sarre shines his vocals bright on this track and Replicant as he plunges his vocals low and slow to the electronic pulse in the background as the band keep the chaos from spiralling out of control. Ezekiel’s Wheel & Zenith l & ll are the band at their most experimentative with the band fusing the electronic programming with the mixture of the bands beating Djent background and Sarres’ soaring vocals on point.

Heretic & An Endless Sky bring the band to a slow as they still give their signature blends but to a more melodic sound which is both heavy & catchy. Ode To Unknown is a perfect track for the album to end on as it shows the band as a whole at their most aggressive and also at their most melodic as they weave in and out of the growls and high pitches that you’ve become all too familiar with. From start to finish it’s an absolute eruption of genre bending Progressive Metal that has put the band at the forefront of the British Prog Metal Scene as they’ve crafted an absolute behemoth sound that is only backed up by the heaving amount of effort they’ve put into this. And it’s an astonishing album to say the least. 8/10

The Pretty Reckless – Death By Rock And Roll (Century Media Records) [Simon Black] 

Whilst although not something many Metal fans might necessarily gravitate towards, The Pretty Reckless have been fairly successfully cranking solid Hard Rock albums out since 2010 and seemed on the point of exploding to a much wider audience off the back of their North American support slot for Soundgarden back in 2017, but got kicked into touch by the sad and pointless deaths of both Chris Cornell and then their long-time friend and producer Kato. This completely knocked the wheels off of the Reckless bus and the band floundered in the doldrums of sadness, depression and substance abuse until the wise decision to focus that negative energy in a creative direction has led to this their fourth and quite frankly superb new album Death By Rock And Roll.  

Nothing summarises that process more than the opening title track itself, a bluesy slab of high octane energy that kicks the listener up the backside and drags them kicking and screaming down the Reckless road. The lazy backbeat belies a really tight musical delivery and a vocal performance from former actress Taylor Momsen that is little short of spectacular. Only Love Can Save Me Know is positively Grungy, with a down and dirty guitar sound and one of the most hauntingly catchy singalong choruses I have heard in a while. This is damn fine stuff. 

Getting equal billing on this disk are a bunch of much more radio-friendly ballads which should mean their mainstream upward trajectory is fairly safe, for which the poignant Rock And Roll Heaven - with all its heavily laden references and bold ‘Fuck you’ to the notorious 27 Club of talent taken before its time, gives me the feeling that this is band with longevity in mind having stared so very deeply into the abyss. These dark moments haunt this album (particularly what happened to Kato), which crops up lyrically on several tracks, not least on the almost Country sounding closer Harley Darling with its heart-rending subject matter directly contrasting with the soft-ballad delivery and slightly up-beat tempo.  

 Although this is the first time I’ve come across their material, I know this is a record that is going to get a lot of spins in the weeks to come. It’s moody, it’s catchy, it’s soulful and has some of the most poignantly delivered and downright gutsy vocals I’ve heard since I first heard Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black album. Although they have a reputation of being less effective live, I would be interested to see how this much more from the heart material is delivered by an act who have pulled themselves up by their emotional boot straps from a very dark place to deliver one of the best records I have heard in a while. Pretty Reckless maybe, but in this instance Pretty Damned Awesome as well. 9/10

Haunt: Beautiful Distraction (Church Recordings) [Matt Bladen]

Trevor William Church, is a man who is clearly influenced by the work ethic of men like Bruce Springsteen, he has a relentless creative streak, when he's not producing or guesting on albums for other bands, most of which release their records through his record label, he is writing and recording albums with his doom band Beastmaker and his NWOTHM project Haunt. Just last year alone he released two records and in February of 2021 he is dropping his fifth Haunt album, with a particularly apt title for a record created in the height of a pandemic. It bursts out of the stereo with the title track a four minute gallop through that 80's metal sound that came out the UK and influenced the thrash and speed metal bands of the West Coast.

Church I believe takes the lion's share, if not all of the instrumentation here as it is essentially his solo project so the level of virtuosity is very high but in keeping with the original ethos of the NWOBHM there is a focus on making the songs in a D.I.Y way with a huge amount of melody that come through the sing along choruses and directness of the songwriting. Beautiful Distraction has got a little more depth than some of the earlier Haunt records with a lot of background keys (Sea Of Dreams) and addition to the dual guitars that is normally so associated with NWOTHM (Face Of Danger). This record also features two re-records songs from previous records, Hearts On Fire from Mind Freeze and
It's In My Hands from If Icarus Could Fly rounding out this fifth record. Beautiful Distraction is another top quality journey into the mind of Trevor William Church. 8/10

Reviews: Aliceissleeping, Seven Doors, Death Kommander, Trapped In Purgatory (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Aliceissleeping: Completely Fine (Mandrone Records)

One listen to this record, you get the feeling that that Alice is doing anything than sleeping. This debut full length follows on from a 2018 EP and it leads this prog/grunge trio on to their next stage. The very awake Alice Dionis conducts a cacophony attitude that this record has with a sneering vocal delivery and five-string bass, giving the songs a throbbing bottom end along with drummer Jon Hare-Winton as they shift through a sound influenced by bands such as 90's alternative rockers like Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies and Sonic Youth but with the theatrics of a band like Queen and the psychedelic flourishes of Jefferson Airplane. Alice's vocals regularly moving into operatic ranges, like on the end of Felix as Twilight brings a dissonant eeriness where the bass and drums carry the shamanic chanting. On the heavier rockers Dan Murroni's guitar playing has some Nirvana-meets-blues riffage on Scary Mary but has a Sci-Fi punk sound on Alien. The sound shifts across the nine songs, it's the sort of band Hole wanted to be, switching musical styles while also retaining an adherence to the alternative 90's sound. A really intriguing listen Aliceissleeping are a band that I'd be keen to see live as I think they would really bring fire to these tracks on stage. However even on this record you can hear that they are a focussed, hard rocking trio with a perfect amount of oddness. 8/10   

Seven Doors: The Gates Of Hell EP (Self Released)

The Gates Of Hell is a 3 track EP full to the brim with evil sounding, occult/horror influenced OSDM. Over the course of these three tracks you get pummeled by blastbeats, have you flesh ripped by the grinding guitars and the growled vocals reverb through your head. You'll be surprised to know that all three of these, and of course bass, come from Ryan Wills the guitarist of Deadwood Lake and Wolves In Exile. Yep Seven Doors is his solo project where he plays and writes everything. According to his Bandcamp, the record is aimed at fans of bands such as Goreguts, Asphyx and Skeletal Remains and from the kick off of Into The Tombs I'd say that these bands are definitely major influences. 

The familiarity of biting guitar tones and slower death grooves are infused with a technicality that musos will appreciate. Drawing from horror imagery and taking the band name from the Louisiana hotel featured in Italian Horror film The Beyond, where a warlock is lynched opening a portal to hell. (Covered in detail on Seven Doors Hotel by Europe of all people). There is a definite move towards the macabre here ideal for that old school death sound. A powerful debut EP giving a brief introduction to what Seven Doors is all about, if or how Ryan will translate this live (it may remain a studio project) I'm unsure but get ready for your walls to rattle when you open The Gates Of Hell. 7/10

Death Kommander: Pro Patria Mori (Warhorn Records)

Don't worry! There are no National Socialist overtones to this band despite their Germanic spelling. No this Edinburgh based death metal crew are very much based in the horrors of WWI's mechanised warfare. Think flamethrowers, tanks and the appalling bloodshed of trench warfare and you'd be on the right track. Even the album title comes from the Wilfred Owen poem about the futility of war. Inspired mainly by UK OSDM gods Bolt Thrower and by association Memoriam, the record musically and conceptually owes a huge debt of gratitude to Karl Willetts and co as Death Kommander devote half the album to grinding, crushing grooves and the other half to faster more ballistic death metal concussion battery. Starting out with a ominous intro you are brought into the hostility of this album with tracks such as Shock Trooper has a relentless battery driving it ever forward into your eardrums as Unnamed Grave and Flanders Blues has that edge of grindcore/punk to it that brings back the Bolt Thrower comparisons. The D.I.Y production of the record adds to its underground feel, Pro Patria Mori sounds a lot like the sort of album that was traded on cassette tapes back in the club scene. Very promising indeed. 7/10   

Trapped In Purgatory: Damned Nation (Self Released)

"Trapped in purgatory
A lifeless object, alive
Awaiting reprisal
Death will be their acquittance"

Yep a band who have a name that is opening line of Slayer's seminal Raining Blood, you'd pretty much guarantee they're going to be thrash. However there's more to it than that, Trapped In Purgatory's membership comes from 3/5ths of UK thrash band Purgatory (not to be associated with the precursor to Ic*d E*rth). Chris Neighbour (vocals), Jason Coombs (guitar) and Andy ‘Jock’ Jamieson (lead guitar) are the three members from that original band but here they have brought in a totally new rhythm section of Jon Hoare (bass) and Marc Paling (drums). But what does it sound like? Well what we have on Damned Nation is that original thrash sound with a modern edginess, Beyond The Rubicon is a great example of this evolution, having a blasting thrash riffage that breaks down into a serious stomp, Chris' raw vocals mixing with Theresa Smith from Metaprism for a song full of melody and aggression. Elsewhere you have a lot 21sr Century thrashing as the production brings everything up to 11. Out Of The Fire (Into The Pit) a serious thrasher, inciting that titular pit even in your front room as does Hung Out To Die but as I alluded to earlier it's not all speedy thrashing as there are more melodic and even atmospheric elements on the title track. As I've said before thrash is not usually one of my most listened to genres but Damned Nation has enough variety to entertain throughout. Damned Nation is a very good modern/retro thrash record. 8/10 

Reviews: Korpiklaani, Yoth Iria, Sarin, Black & Damned (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Korpiklaani: Jylhä (Nuclear Blast)

Now eleven albums into their career the Finnish band can be considered to be the leading act in folk metal having been citing vodka and beer fueled party pits at festivals and gigs since 2003. The band have fully embraced their niche so with so many records under their belts they were able to take a few risks on this record. The albums title doesn't translate properly but can be considered to be close to "rugged in a beautiful way" and that's the sort of sound they are going for here. 

According to singer/guitarist/songwriter Jonne Järvelä this is the most planned Korpiklaani record since the beginning, they have made a point of trying to bring in as many different musical concepts as possible from biting speed metal on Verikoira but elsewhere there's reggae touches, Spanish guitar melodies and even some swampy banjos that add to their already dense sound cultivated by the use of accordion and violin against the traditional backing of electric guitar, bass and drums, new drummer Samuli Mikkonen giving a freshness to the compositions that make the heavy numbers heavier but also adding a deftness to slower, torchlight anthems. 

Lyrically as well Tuomas Keskimäki (poet and the bands lyricist) has dealt with some darker content including the Lake Bodom murders on Kiuru adding a new dimension to the band's Suomi lyrics. Jylhä shows that Korpiklaani are the most recognisable folk metal name for a reason. 7/10

Yoth Iria: As The Flame Withers (Pagan Records)

I reviewed Yoth Iria's EP Under His Sway back in January 2020 and it seems that it takes a year and global pandemic to create yet another slice of Authentic Hellenic Black Metal, I say authentic as Yoth Iria is made up of Jim The Mutilator, founding bassist of Rotting Christ and vocalist The Magnus founding member of Necromantia so it's about as authentic towards the original Hellenic black metal sound as possible. This record much like the EP before it has been conjured with the Old Gods in mind, defying the religious conventions of their home country with a much more pagan outlook that is very much In League With Satan, just check out final track The Luciferian if you want that link to show strongly. 

Obviously with the band basically a duo, you will guess that the rest of the band are guests and you'd be right as ex-Rotting Christ man George Emmanuel plays guitar, Dephosphorus man JV Maelstrom is behind the kit as John Patsouris adds the Gothic keys. Musically it's exactly what you would want from any band that is so intrinsically linked with Hellenic Black metal for every raging torrent of furious riffs and punishing blast beats there's also clean melodic soloing and more atmospheric tracks such as the excellent Hermetic Code, which also has some nifty guitar work from Emmanuel. The Mantis too is exactly the sort of explosive fierce extreme metal you'd want from everyone involved as Red Crown Turns Black adds to things with a grinding doomy sound. As The Flame Withers is a welcome return for Yoth Iria, building on that EP for a more rounded, epic, sound. As The FLame Withers could be one of the pinnacles of Hellenic Black metal this year. Well worth the investment! 8/10

Sarin: You Can't Go Back (Prosthetic Records)

From the Great White North of Toronto Canada, Sarin's third album is a unique one, their sound is described as post-metal, but this 35 minute shot-in-the-arm manages to be both dynamic and direct. Musically sitting somewhere between, Gojira, Cult Of Luna and Mogwai, the intense down-tuned heaviness of tracks such as the disturbing Reckoner where you are subjected to a ear-bashing from the outset are offset by the more euphoric moments of shimmering ambience and clean lines at the end of the crushing Thick Mire and all the way through Otherness. It's music that has been meticulously crafted to be listened to in one sitting the clean atmospheric phases never hanging around shifting into the heaviness as often as possible. The record deals with crumbling relationships and it's full of dense emotion but also self-realisation, it's a cathartic record where the music is used to convey these feelings to the listener. I'd never heard of Sarin before this record but on the back of it expect them to become a much more prominent name to audiences outside of their native Canada. 7/10 

Black & Damned: Heavenly Creatures (ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records)

Coming from that heavy metal heartland of Germany Heavenly Creatures is the debut full length from Black & Damned formed by axe man Michael Vetter and singer Roland Seidel this album was pretty much recorded through the 2020 global lockdown all the songs written by these two men with additional instrumentation from Axel Winkler (drums), Axel Mackenrott (keys) Ali Gözübüyük (bass) and Aki Reissmann (rhythm guitar) Heavenly Creatures is a multi-layered record that has more than a whiff of Andi Deris fronted Helloween due to the heavier guitar sound (Born Again) and huge keyboard swathes that add a cinematic quality to War Is Just Another Word For Hell. The whole record plays on religious iconography adding a darker element to it and they have some well written and performed songs however mostly this record is your middle of the road heavy metal that as I've said is very similar to the latter period of Helloween, though some of the songs are a little too long. Not much else I can say about it really, it's a heavy metal by the numbers but entertaining enough. 5/10

Reviews: Komatsu, Omination, Tortured Demon, To Kill Achilles (JT Smith, Paul Hutchings, Matt Bladen & Alex Swift)

Komatsu: Rose Of Jericho (Heavy Psych Sounds) [JT Smith]

Rose Of Jericho from Eindhoven based Komatsu is the band's fourth offering, and is a slick, accomplished album showing off that the band has really hit their stride with this collection of songs. There are a lot of things about the album and the band’s overall sound that are supremely satisfying, but one of the first things we have to address is that guitar tone, which is just simply excellent. Fuzzy, but with enough clarity to give it a lovely, crunchy bite, it shows itself off from the album’s very first riff, the kickass opening and main bending riff of Stare Into The Dawn, and on the slightly predictable, (but no less enjoyable for it) slowdown ending of The Suit. It adds to the overall aural and sonic density of the album, which makes singer Mo Truijens' easy, lazy, Bowie-esque inflections really stand out. 

They’re a really nice touch, and it lets you know that you’re not listening to a Sludge-by-numbers™ album. That idea, that this is not a typical Sludge metal album is also showcased by Son Of Sam and by title track Rose Of Jericho. The former has a riff that wouldn’t be out of place on a Rival Sons album, lulling you into a false sense of security before hitting you with big crunchy stabs to remind you you’re listening to a very heavy band, and the latter being a meandering, jammy instrumental with an interesting, hypnotic bassline that morphs into a crushing, snarling beast from 1.50 onwards. It’s a bit of a gamble for a title track, but it pays off in spades.

Ending track Om is an absolutely thunderous, more traditionally sludgy offering with a dissonant, atonal riff to lead you into it, and smothered sounding vocals almost chanting in the background. It suddenly drops in intensity to a delicate, clean guitar line, with layers gradually building up as the storm gradually gathers for the song’s ending. When the drop hits, as you’ve been anticipating for about a minute and a half, it hits with a dive bomb and ‘thump,’ as the rest of the band re-erect the wall of noise. At certain points when you’re listening to a record, you can’t help but smile and say “...fuck yeah.” *This* is one of those moments. Rose Of Jericho is a really strong record with a lot of interesting ideas, proving that the band continue to deserve the plaudits and the rave reviews they’ve been thus far enjoying. It’s definitely worth your time, and worth several hours of repeated listens. 8/10

Omination: The New Golgotha Repvbliq (Hypnotic Dirge Records) [Paul Hutchings]

Sometimes you really must stand outside of that comfort zone and challenge your aural senses. With my preferences dipping into a good bit of doom, I didn’t think that Omination’s latest release would present too much difficulty. But then I checked the band’s history and the lights dimmed. Tunisian Apocalyptic Funeral Doom Metal loomed large. Omination’s debut album Followers Of The Apocalypse ran for over 90 minutes. The second full length The Whirlpool Of Ignorance, also released in 2018 contained a slightly easier 53 minutes … but it only comprised four songs. In 2020 their EP The Pale Horseman was one track. It lasted 26 minutes. Having established that I was in for the long haul, I settled down to experience the band for the first time. I think experience is the best word for Omination because it best describes what followed. 

Two tracks lasted over ten minutes whilst the title song clocked in at a massive 20 minutes. Huge swathes of church organs and soaring choirs battle with a thunderous bass drum as the album opened with the dramatic Crossing The Burning Wasteland. Vocals that appeared to blend Sakis Tolis and Nergal erupt into a storming fireball of rage. They surface and then continue on Apocalyptic Ignis Fatuus. If one song ever epitomised Apocalyptic Funeral Doom Metal, then this would be it. Harrowing, disturbing, stunning, and explosive all at the same time. The haunting echoing keyboards drift in a ghostly fashion, the choral effects and the huge organ chords combine with darkened guitar riffs to create an atmospheric concept impossible to ignore. Blasts of black metal surged out of the black, before the pace slows to the glacial pace that had preceded it. 

Over the next 70 minutes Omination slowly, and I mean slowly, crawl and blast their way through huge time changes, murderous mixing of styles, soaring melodies combined with huge banks of church organ, chanting, and pounding drums. There is no way to describe each track, but this whole experience is moving, emotional and almost spiritual in parts. There is no way to prepare for the sheer scale of the title track, which is strategically placed to anchor the whole album. It is a beast of a song, at 20 minutes long it moves with the pace of a Brachiosaurus herd until the final minutes when it speeds up with astonishing pace. Drenched with all the formerly described input, the cultural influences are rich and welcoming. 

And then there is a volley of blistering blast beats that last mere seconds, like a sudden hailstorm, before the tempo drops and solo notes ring out once more. At no time during this album does anything feel comfortable. The riffs are abrasive, the atmospheric feel tingling the skin and bewitching in equal measure. It’s a difficult listen, but the rewards are worth it. If you can tolerate the sheer intensity of this work, then absorbing oneself into The New Golgotha Repvbliq is an amazing and wondrously blackened experience. 8/10

Tortured Demon: In Desperation's Grip (Self Released)

Hey you kids! Stop making all that racket! Words that really anyone that reads or writes for this blog would never say but you can just imagine such words being shouted by old people at this, disgustingly young band. I mean their average age is 15 years old so it's no wonder that they cite influences as Machine Head, Trivium, Children Of Bodom and Slipknot but the Oldham band are certainly not a kid band, they are a very tight, focused riff machine that have already won a M2TM Heat in Manchester and already have supports booked with Xentrix and Badgerfest for whenever these gigs happen. 

They had an entire year if gigs booked for 2020 but obviously with the pandemic their focus shifted towards recording this debut full length record, which has already been picked up by Spiritual Beast records in Asia. Made up of Jacob Parkinson (vocals/guitar), Freddie Meaden (bass) and Joe Parkinson (drums). They call themselves 'thrashcore' and they really live up to that post-millennial style of American heavy metal, from the opening atmospherics of In Desperation's Grip through The Invasion which has the sort of melodic chant along sound that Trivium have mastered, as Usurper has a Nu-Metal groove to it. 

There's a lot of seriously heavy music here with these young musicians tracks such as the epic final song My Terror brings you a death metal styled rip snorter that shifts into a monsterous slow moving heaviness. Now it's not perfect the clean vocals aren't that great on Sufferers Of The New Plague but mostly this debut record is seriously good. The future of metal seems to be in good hands! 8/10

To Kill Achilles’: Something To Remember Me By (Arising Empire) [Alex Swift]

Music that deals in sorrow and misery has long been seen as the most uplifting, yet treads a fine balance between poignant and disrespectful to the emotions or experiences that the songs claim to represent. To aim to capture joy and fail, can leave the listener cold, or at worst make them feel patronized. Yet to try and fail to capture that feeling of turbulent inner grief and sorrow, either because you can’t truly replicate them in song or because you have never experienced those sensations yourself is an entirely different kind of failing, which can quite often enter serious ethical territory. When I read the description to Something To Remember Me By, I became nervous. Put simply, the concept record tells the story of a year in the life of a man who wakes up on his twenty fifth birthday to begin a year which leads him to take his own life, on his 26th birthday. 

Each song represents a month in the year. Influenced in part by personal circumstance from each of the band members, the messaging emphasises that ‘without support, even the strongest of people can be driven to contemplate taking their own lives’. And look, despite the noble intentions, I went into this record terrified of how oversimplified the piece was shaping up to be, and how the concept could commit what I see as the sin of robbing the affected character of any agency or sense of individuality. And yeah, as someone who’s recently turned 26 and is finding the reality we currently occupy increasingly hard by virtue of having my routines and support networks ripped out from beneath my feet, the assertion laid out in the albums written content that “contained within, is the solution” felt particularly galling.

In terms of the records lyrical content, the experience presents itself as a harrowing ‘suicide note’ and the story is entirely told from the perspective of a character recalling their hardships and struggles, on the edge of ending their own life. Moments in the vein of "Oh God, I’ve Never Felt This Low" merge sentimental atmospherics with relentless rhythms and violent if strangely distant vocals, aimed at emphasising our characters sense of alienation. I’m not claiming it’s not possible to carry this style off with grace and eloquence. Look to an act like Svalbard or Touche Amore who capture in vivid detail the sound of existential dread. On Luna Et Altum we are presented with images of someone looking in the mirror and not seeing themselves, or being pushed away by the tide. 

And while I can appreciate this record for being detailed and immersive both through its lyricism and the instrumental soundscapes, I don’t find myself connecting in the same way as I do to a Lament or a When I Die Will I Get Better. By structuring the narrative and the character arc in a way which leaves little space for interpretation, we are left with a story of someone who is not in control of their own life, and who has no chance to fight off the anxieties of aging or a lack of direction in life.

The underlying message presented from start to finish appears to be “don’t let anyone you know end up where the character does”. Despite that, the piece gives us no reason to believe there are any alternatives. In choosing to write the lyrics from the young man’s perspective and then still failing to present him as anything other than an actor in a play struggling forward towards a doomed finale, we get no chance to see what messages we should be applying to our own lives. On Venom, where our character finally decides to commit suicide, he asks “So let me ask you what's worse, to live in fear from the bite of the snake, or to present your hand, watch its fangs pierce your skin, and know in that moment, that you'll never be scared again”. 

True, from a truly technical perspective this record could be interpreted as excellent and I do understand why many have praised the mercurial and impassioned playing, which seems to rise and fall in a way which understands the torrential nature of emotion. Still, for the most part the lucid nature and the inability to tie the compositions up into satisfying progressions, speaks volumes about the problems which permeate Something To Remember Me By. Like that lyric implies, if there is no future and no hope of anything ever getting better, than why continue to look for hope? Aren’t we all just notes in a dissonant song, destined for nothing except to one day fade away?

Presuming that this is the message on display here, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, regardless of what the true intention might have been, the#n I have no reason not to see its core ideas as incredibly dismissive towards the experiences of me, and many other people with mental health difficulties. I only hope that those struggling through the kind of experiences like the ones alluded to here, one day feel like they have enough control over their lives, to chart a different course, out of the shadows of hopelessness. 4/10