Reviews: Riverside, Black Star Riders, Hollow Hour, The Lightbringer Of Sweden (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Riverside - ID.Entity (InsideOut Records)

Who are we? Why are we here? What's the purpose of it all? These questions and more are what Polish prog mavens Riverside are trying to answer on their eighth studio album ID.Entity (ID/ Entity/Identity get it?). A 53 minute exploration of life, the universe and everything, these questions broached not with the humour of Arthur C Clarke but instead it's wrapped in a melancholy that I last experienced on Porcupine Tree's most recent outing.

Perhaps due to their 20th Anniversary compilation, Riverside seem to have regressed back to their earlier sound with this new album, the heaviness of more recent output having been stripped back to the basics of just Mariusz Duda's emotive vocals and rhythmic bass/electric and acoustic guitar, Piotr Kozieradzki's excellent drumwork, the wide ranging keys/synths/Rhodes/Hammond of Michał Łapaj, used to brilliant effect on Big Tech Brother, and the debut of Maciej Meller on electric guitar, taking the position of Piotr Grudziński, for the first time on an album.

I say that these are the 'basics' as they have always been the key sounds of Riverside, but throughout their career, they undulated and evolved in a multitude of different way, but as I've said it seems as if Riverside have looked back to their initial style that was closer to bands such as Porcupine Tree or Pineapple Thief, but also looking forward with the 'next' chapter of the band. It's the Warsaw band re-establishing their identity, thus the title of the record. With lyrical inspiration drawn from the divisions, the reliance on technology, propaganda and various other depressing aspects of today.

Duda especially interested in conspiracy theory's on tracks such as the grooving, brooding but melodic Post-Truth, the sometimes upbeat attitude of the Riverside of the past now wallowing in the claustrophobic sneer of Steven Wilson or even Mikael Akerfeldt, the mellotron-meets-acoustic driven The Place Where I Belong sees Riverside, truly shift into the darkness with a song that could come from Fear Of Blank Planet or even Pink Floyd's Animals, the paranoia upped to another level as Michał Łapaj and Maciej Meller dual with their respective instruments as Duda gets as nasty and poetic as Roger Waters in both the lyrics and delivery. 

The only part of the album that really could be considered as being 'happy' is the final song Self-Aware where there is more of Peter Gabriel/Rush sound due to the quirkiness of the music behind the consolidating lyrics that close this conceptual release. Fully established in their current guise and finally recording as such, ID.Entity is a new dawn for Riverside, one that is more thoughtful, more accomplished and more aware than before. 9/10

Black Star Riders - Wrong Side Of Paradise (Earache Records)

Despite only being around for a decade the Black Star Riders have plenty of experience as a group. Initially starting as the reactivated Thin Lizzy guitarists Scott Gorham and drummer Brian Downey recruited The Almighty frontman Ricky Warwick to weave his Northern Irish charm all over Phil Lynott's impeccable songwriting. As the band toured and gelled they wanted to write and record their own music so in 2013 changed their name to Black Star Riders in order to leave the Lizzy legacy in place. 10 years and four albums later BSR are still pumping out British rock to packed houses around the globe.

As they gear up for the release of their fifth studio album and their 10th anniversary tour, the band now only features Warwick (vocals/guitar), but it's his guiding hand that leads BSR into their second decade along with guitarist Sam Wood, bassist Robert Crane and drummer Zak St. John. Warwick is a rock n roll lifer and his blue collar, sometimes observational, slightly whimsical, often nostalgic style of songwriting are key to his love of the genre. Across the previous four albums this style has pervaded, with the blues based hard rock drive is the cornerstone, the slithering Hustle full of street smarts, harmonica and percussion. While the lilting Celtic acoustics are often the heart of songs such as Green And Troubled Land. 

Both sides of their style along with a wide range of others colliding together from some anthemic rocking. BSR create music to be played live in front of a crowd, sung back by a chorus of voices all welcomed as friends, wearing their hearts on their sleeves. Track such as Riding Out The Storm exemplify this, a poppy number laced with Americana ala Tom Petty, the dirty rock n roll of Catch Yourself On but even with the title track there are big soulful backing vocals set against the twin leads and fuzzy rhythm riffs. There's also a cover of The Osmonds Crazy Horses which lends itself to the muscular rock of Black Star Riders and Warwick's rough vocals.

Of course the Lizzy hangover still there on Better Than Saturday Night and Don't Let The World (Get In The Way), both featuring more twin axes and Zak St. John's pumping drums. Wrong Side Of Paradise continues a purple streak that Black Star Riders have been riding since their 2013 debut, almost perfect radio friendly rock n roll with more grit than a local council. Watch out for them on their UK tour where former members Scott Gorham (guitar) and Jimmy DeGrasso (drums) will join the band in celebration of their milestone. Always teetering on the Wrong Side Of Paradise, there's a lot that's right with this fifth record. 8/10

Hollow Hour - Till The Grey Skies Are Gone (Self-Released)

Danish prog carves something of a niche for itself with bands such as Beyond Twilight, Pyramaze and of course VOLA all bands of note but very different to each other. Hollow Hour is the latest Danish prog metal act and they dispel any notions of the more power metal side with a rhythmic, heavy, modern style of prog metal that has more in common with VOLA along with Tesseract, Leprous and Rendezvous Point. Down tuned guitars and a keening, emotive vocal performance, are set to chunky djent basslines and poly-rhythmic drums. 

It's hard to believe that Till Grey Skies Are Gone is the debut from Hollow Hour as it's extremely mature, the band clearly very disciplined and experienced players of their instruments, captured brilliantly by Claudio Andersen and Nicklas Sonne (Defecto, Between Oceans), behind the producers chair while the album was mix and mastered by Chris Kreutzfeldt (CABAL, Møl, Ghost Iris), the result sounding powerful and dense on tracks such as Deafening but beautiful when they take the melodic route on The Canyon. Formed in 2015, it was only during the multiple lockdowns that this album finally came to life and was ready to impress a wider audience. It flows well which for me is a sign of a band who know they are doing musically, each track lends itself to previous one but stands on its own merit. 

The tapping that leads you in on I Am No God, then gives way to electronic pulse of I Got The Knife and punchy Cipher, Ember being a muscular slow burner that works its way into the jangly The Canyon, while a song such as the Gemini brings back the palm muted riffing (and a refrain that very Einar Solberg). With bands such as the aforementioned VOLA and Leprous getting a lot of attention from the music press, it’s only a matter of time before Hollow Hour get similar treatment, especially on how good this debut is. 8/10

The Lightbringer Of Sweden - The New World Order (Self Released)

Drawing from his love of Tobias Sammet, Kai Hansen and others, Swedish songwriter/guitarist/creator Lars Eng started to put down ideas for The Lightbringer Of Sweden back in 2017. From here the ideas based heavily around power/classic heavy metal shifted into a wider concept that dealt with The Devil (the Lightbringer) and his soul collecting right hand man called Skeletor (wonder if Mattel will be in touch?) in their battle with The Silver City. Originally wanting Niklas Stålvind of Wolf for the vocalist by the time work had been done for their 2019 album Rise Of The Beast, it was current Firewind singer Herbie Langhans who was behind the mic. 

Because of this obviously you can draw a lot of comparisons to Firewind, Avantasia and any other band he has sung with. He is once again on the mic for this follow up album The New World Order which is a continuation of the storyline and thankfully has nothing to do with the WCW Faction that rapidly went out of control. Both Lucifer and Skeletor return and so does the classic metal sound of the debut, Eng's songwriting taking from is influences as I said but they feel more coherent on this album. 

Eng's rhythm section with bassist Johan Bergqvist and drummer Tobbe Jonsson thrashing out the riffs on tracks such as Free The Angels, or the more melodic Heroes Of The Past where Langhans' vocals are used well, as they are to on ballad Where The Eagles Fly. Carsten Stepanowicz's lead guitars finally add the final layer with some widdly solo playing on the stomping Lucifer. The New World Order is one of those concept albums you can cherry pick songs as there's very little of spoken word stuff that often makes them feel bloated. Taking from the Avantasia's blueprint, The Lightbringer Of Sweden have arrived with this second album. 8/10 

Reviews: Great Cold Emptiness, ten56, Endtime & Cosmic Reaper, Oleka (Reviews By Matt Cook, Matt Bladen, David Karpel & Mark Young)

Great Cold Emptiness - Immaculate Hearts Will Triumph (Self Released) [Matt Cook]

Great Cold Emptiness doesn't do anything halfway, and they don’t subscribe to cash grabs. Their music is intricately written and each record is a massive undertaking, both independently and within the scope of their discography.

Take Immaculate Hearts Will Triumph, the atmospheric/post-black metal trio’s third full-length and the last instalment of the “The Becoming Of A Man Trilogy.” The second record released during the dreaded pandemic, it’s “about forgiveness and companionship among friends,” according to Great Cold Emptiness’ Bandcamp. “An album about understanding the self, and its place in the modern world, as well as the reminder that you are never truly alone.”

The crux of Immaculate is confronting the reality of having to leave one’s home, either figuratively, literally or both. Inspired by songwriter Nathan Guerrette’s 2020 magic mushroom-fuelled pilgrimage to his ancestral landing spot of Quebec, he was able to come to grips with life as it is, not as it was or as it may or may not be. In other words, Nathan 1, COVID 0.

Musically, the record incorporates a solid tempo throughout the 48 minutes. Muffled production is offset by stout guitars. Frosty cries of desolation give way to invigorating arrangements and symphonics. Spectral atmospherics become rummaging madness.

Amplified by Preston Lobzun (bass, guitar) and Meghan Wood’s eccentric vocals, Immaculate Hearts Will Triumph demands attention, promotes introspection and provokes feelings of content isolation. Far from what most records of this genre introduce, Great Cold Emptiness utilises atmospheric black metal as a driver for deep thoughts of acceptance and blissful understanding.

In only four carefully constructed compositions, a playthrough is a journey more suited to be undertaken alone. It’s how Guerrette came to grips with the rugged landscape of society while firmly supplanted within the rugged landscape of Canada. 8/10

ten56 - Downer Part. 2 (Out Of Line Music) [Matt Bladen]

Returning with their second EP Parisian metalcore mob ten56 bring 7 more cuts of crushing heaviness to your ears with Downer Part 2. Brimming with vitriol and bite, this second EP is an intimate portrait of what makes the band tick. Delivered through paint stripping vocals and concrete bottomed breakdowns such as Yenta. They have some of the heaviest breakdowns of 2023 so far but they can also utilise space and wider soundscapes to be just as effective.

Traumadoll features some rapid fire vocals, as does the more atmospheric electronic thump of RLS, both changing the course of the EP with songs that don't subscribe totally to the violent metalcore, the ghosts of nu-metal and hardcore come diving in too. Over the course of 19 minutes ten56 showing why they have had so much hype around them, the EP changes pace and tone a few times across the seven tracks but maintains its heaviness throughout. 

Even the songs that don't have beatdowns still carry a weight to them. This second EP is ten56 announcing their intent to destroy, get caught up in the wake. 7/10

Endtime & Cosmic Reaper - The Doom Session Vol 7 (Heavy Psych Sounds) [David Karpel]

The Doom Sessions splits released by Heavy Psych Sounds have featured some great underground bands like Hippie Death Cult, High Reeper, Bongzilla, Tons, and others. Volume 7 brings us two songs from Swedish horror-doom stompers Endtime and three from Charlotte, North Carolina’s own Sabbathian psych-doom riffers Cosmic Reaper.

Endtime’s singer Christian Chatfield doesn’t make an appearance until almost three minutes into the opener, Tunnel Of Life. Eighties horror-movie synth sounds open a theatrical introduction emphasised with crashing chords over slow-doom beats. The keys lead us with tempestuous suspense, like a horror movie dragging you to the edge of fear. Chatfield’s snarling breaks through like an ax, “Heeere’s Johnny!” The allusion is appropriate. Same energy. 

Much like Jack Nicholson’s performance, Chatfield’s over-the-top, idiosyncratic delivery is jarring and throttles the listener with its intensity. Beyond The Black Void demonstrates Endtime’s dedication to consistency. Minus the keys this time around, the band bashes into this beyond at a steady doom-laden pace. Two-thirds of the way in, things get darker, Chatfield rages, and the band crashes through to the end.

On the flip side, Cosmic Reaper stretch their leathery black wings for a cold hug of dark psychedelic riffs. Sundowner lets us know immediately that while this too is doom, Cosmic Reaper includes classic structures, with choruses, catchy riffs, and melody. While we’re in familiar territory (I keep thinking Hazemaze), coming to Cosmic Reaper’s offerings after listening to Endtime emphasises the slightly more dynamic nature of the former. 

Dead And Loving It sets up a steady swing of dead solid doom riffs sung over with almost ethereal touches on the pain drenched, soaring vocals. King Of Kings finishes the side depicting a sense of darkness and ruin in its own rolling tides of riffs and steady drumming. The brief solo that kicks off of the song-ending jam is a lightning show revealing the hidden layers of the band’s arsenal.

Splits work best when bands, juxtaposed, have their strongest qualities emphasised as a result. Here that works in spades. Endtime’s dark and gloomy, head-bashing suspenseful horror is evermore apparent in the context of a shared space with the psychedelic nature of Cosmic Reaper. And while Cosmic Reaper’s trippy shadows and mist on Side B appeals more to my personal taste, Endtime’s smashing embrace of the horror-sphere is admirably unrelenting. 7/10

Oleka - Driftwood (Wormholedeath Records) [Mark Young]

There is something in the water in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Driftwood is the first release which started to take shape in 2019 finally being released via Bandcamp in May 2022. This two-piece consisting of Aaron Reurink on vocals and all guitars and Byron Shuflita on drums create a heavy groove which reinforces their mission statement to STAY METAL. 

Driftwood has 4 songs and on first listen there is a distinct Lamb Of God vibe, with intricate guitar work and propelling drums that suggests that there is a lot of talent at play with just the two members here. Two Years kicks off proceedings and continues at a decent pace with the normal double bass and de-tuned guitars front and centre which fly along until it drops into the quiet section which echoes the musical refrain from the start and then bang back into the heavy which brings it back on track with the finish line in sight. 

The Manufactured Truth comes at you next and doesn’t want to let the pace drop vocals are spat with intent and Byron’s drums just holding everything together just enough to finish. Pulse slows down to show some of the groove that was promised and sounds the most like Lamb Of God which I suppose is unavoidable given that they are a yardstick to measure against. There are also hints of Pantera in here which is great because if you are going to borrow then borrow from the best.

Dead Echoes finishes off and sounds vocally the closest to death metal with the guitar behind it sounding like Necrophagist. Again, this is another track that get’s the head moving and like the others before it is just the right length, so they do not overstay their welcome. I’d love to see them do a full-length album to see if they can sustain this level of quality over 9 or more songs without it being a rehash of the ones before it or sounding too much like their influences.

Its new without sounding like a rip on a thousand groove metal bands, it has an almost European style to it (If that is such a thing) which makes it just different to me. Its produced well, guitars and drums are heavy. 7/10

Reviews: Seether, Gra, Death Engine, Abyssal Worm (Reviews Matt Bladen, Erick Willand, David Karpel & Mark Young)

Seether - Disclaimer (Craft Recordings) [Matt Bladen]

To coincide with the 20th anniversary of South African grunge rockers Seether's acclaimed debut album Disclaimer, Craft Recordings has reissued it as a deluxe edition featuring the album in its entirety as it originally was, along with a previously unreleased live show from New Hampshire's Hampton Beach Casino in 2003. The album also features new cover art as the band have admitted they hated the original cover. The record features some of the songs that are still in Seether's setlist to this day, the Nirvana influences stronger here than on any subsequent albums. 

From the sexually aggressive Gasoline, to the percussive Driven Under which goes deep into Nirvana/Pearl Jam moodiness while the disparate Fine Again will transport you back to the early 2000's with just that reverbed guitar. Recorded on the album vocalist and guitarist Shaun Morgan, bassist Dale Stewart and drummer Josh Freese, Disclaimer put Seether on the map as a band who drew from the scene that then was 10 years ago, but doing it with as much emotion and catharsis as that initial Seattle scene. 

Closing out with the double hit of the raging F**k It and the brilliant ballad Broken (later re-recorded with Amy Lee for much bigger success). I haven't listened to this album probably since it was released and it still packs a punch but what should persuade you to buy it again is the additional content of the live show which captures the band on their inaugural US tour and you can hear that even at the beginning of their career they were destined for bigger things such is their professionalism. 

If it wasn't for the crowd and segues from Morgan you'd think this was the album versions, they're that good. The final addition to the collection is a timely and rare acoustic cover of Nirvana's Something In The Way, which was first issued as a B-Side, recorded in 2002 the original has just been used in the latest Batman movie and reminded a whole new generation what a great song it is. 

Morgan does it brilliantly just as seductive and slithering as the original they make it like it's their own. A band with a great debut record will always be one that triumphs (unless of course it's their only good record) thankfully for Seether it was the start of a very successful career so, why not stick on the rose tinted shades, throw on baggy jumper and rage like it's 2003. 8/10

Gra - Lycaon (Avantgarde Music) [Erick Willand]

Gra burst onto the scene in 2010 with the Helfard EP and has been consistently releasing music since then with a series of singles and splits, Lycaon is their fourth full length and follows previous album Vasen, a personal favourite of mine from 2018. So, let's see if these blackened war metal mad men can crush the front lines and march on to victory once again.

Opening track White City Devils kicks right off with fantastic riffs and before the vocals even kick in my head is moving. Always a good sign. This is a ripping good song with thunderous drums and clear lyrics delivered with just enough gravel. A fine opening track indeed and it leads right into track 2 Flame Of Hephaestus that starts with a cool swinging riff that I really dig. Again it’s the vocal delivery here that catches my attention and holds it, at 2:40 when everything stops but the lyrics “Cleansed by the fire and smoke” then kicks back in. Love stuff like that. Torn Asunder is the following track and continues the march ever forward with equal riffage and clear drumming topped by deeper, clearly more personal lyrics.

Lycaon is the title track and it shows in the clear effort put forth here. Lycaon is a genus of wild dog but also holds some mythical aspect from the story of an Arcadian king who was turned into a wolf. Felt like mentioning that. The song opens slower than previous tracks for effect but quickly kicks in with a sense of urgency that never fails to catch my attention. Special mention here goes to drummer Dimman who has a laundry list of previous bands and that experience shows, I feel like this album would not be nearly as strong as it is without him. Now comes Chariots Of Fire with its lure of an ambient opening that breaks out with all the aggression and whirling wheel blades of a straight up Egyptian chariot charge. 

This is 2 minutes and 50 seconds of blasting thrash infused violence and feels like it splits the album in two. Evidenced by track 6 Ett Avskedsbrev with its vibrant bass line and Amon Amarth vibes and Swedish lyrics. A fun song even if I have no idea what’s being sung about. Which goes for Brannmarkt as well, which translates as ‘Branded’. Opening up with the sound of distant horns and barked out Swedish through a megaphone while the band does their best to musically mimic the sound and feel of a crashing high tide during a storm. The longest track of the album at 6:17 it also carries the doomeist vibe punctuated at the 4 minute mark by the sound of tank rolling by while the song itself marches on.

The final track to me is just as important as the opening track and Gra does not disappoint with an ominous ambient piece with organic horns this time flavoured with a … tambourine I think. This song really gives me Heilung vibes as it is not a metal song but a proper Scandinavian flavoured outro. This caps the album off nicely for a satisfying 35 minutes of blackened Swede-death made by gentlemen that know the game well. And the cover art this time around, much better then Vasen, sporting a machine gun blasting bi-plane of a fictitious design diving in for a strafing run, great design for t-shirts. All told Gra earns a solid 7/10

Death Engine - Ocean (Code Records) [David Karpel]

Ocean is Death Engine’s third full-length and it comes after a break up, reunion, and line-up change. It seems this tumultuous, semi-recent history may play a part in the album’s tight delivery of grinding energy and stratified atmospherics. Admittedly, this is my first exposure to the French band, and their post-metal sludge, immediately blasting in the form of the record’s first ripper, Hyperion, hearkens some 90s post metal bands bands like Shai Hulud, Coalesce, early Cave In, Will Haven, and Botch.

Harsh, pained vocals given the full saturation treatment in most songs, the album can at times feel like a relentless, chaotic assault, but there are polished moments peeling back layers, revealing ethereal moments and depths of melody. While Hyperion, the powerful crusher Lack, and the closer Empire keep the walls of sound thick and craggy, and the energy as up front as the intense rhythms, standout tracks like the single Leaden Silence, Pulled Down, and Mess give the atmospheric spaces room to breathe. Dying Alone is my favourite and the most dynamic song on the album, including clean, melodic vocals and the emotive jangle of a tambourine.

Pain, anger, and disappointment come through the fiery lyrics in songs written with the backdrop of the global pandemic, continuing inaction on global climate change, and the unrelenting war in Ukraine. Bleak times that call for compelling voices calling attention to the problems at hand. While Ocean sounds more like a personal response to these issues, it’s that more effective because of it. The rage comes through wholeheartedly. The audience must pay attention. 

In that vein, Death Engine is releasing Ocean on their own label, in conjunction with long-standing collaborators Throatruiner. This sense of independence, collaboration, and loyalty are attributes that have driven the careers of many idealistic bands and demonstrates a sense of mission. While it’s not their opening statement, if Ocean is any indication, Death Engine have much to say and know how to say it with infectious urgency. 7/10

Abyssal Worm - Kingdom Of Decadence EP (Self Released) [Mark Young]

11-minute blast of brutality!

The EP from Abyssal Worm starts with an intro with discordant noise that runs for just over half a minute which then segues into Final Descent with blast beats, fizzing guitars and barely made out growls and it continues in this vein for the next 1 minute and 58 seconds. Negation Of Grace slows down to throw some groove in there and then hits top gear and stays in that zone. 

Conquest Of Submission, Denial Of Blood all follow that same path so there is no slowing down or variety in attack or approach. Title track seems to be slower then gets faster but there is a riff in there, but the production is a little muted, which could have been what they were going for with this release. It ends with Supreme Antichrist as it began with Final Descent, just foot to the floor play as fast as possible and make sure the song is less than two minutes long. 

It's like the audio equivalent of Speed, if the BPM’s drop below super speed your stereo will implode, sucking civilisation with it in an audio black hole. The intent here is to pummel you until it finishes or until you turn it off. This is not for the faint of heart, this is aimed at those who like their death metal to be as brutal, as fast, and as uncompromising in attack as can possibly be. There are no solos, no soft passages and it is better for it. I have not tried listening to this whilst driving for fear of writing my car off. 

For eleven minutes, this is certainly worth your time 7/10

Reviews: Leper Colony, Dryad, Skáld, Immortalizer (Reviews By Matt Cook, Paul Scoble, Richard Oliver & Matt Bladen)

Leper Colony - Leper Colony (Transcending Obscurity) [Matt Cook]

It doesn’t take long after sifting through Leper Colony’s self-titled debut before it’s abundantly clear: these guys know what the fuck they’re doing. Marc Grewe (vocals), Rogga Johansson (guitars, bass) and Jon Skare (drums) boast a qualified resume as a group as well as independently. And if their aim was to play thrashy death metal from days of old, they absolutely nailed it. Grewe - of Morgoth and Insidious Disease fame - is straight-up impossible to tame in the blistering 34 minutes. Be it hellacious howls or hard-hitting heavy-metal huffs, he ensures the record is covered in grime ‘n roll goodness. When called upon, Grewe acrobatically navigates the ship. 

Additionally, the versatility Johansson (Paganizer, Revolting) provides cannot be overstated. The guitar fills are magnificently placed and executed. Rock-solid guitar huffs give way to Carcass-esque licks (The Surgical Undeadvors). And the riff from Rapture Addict is as deviant as it is straight-to-the-face. And finally, Skare (Consumption, Reek) masters the kit and tears down the house on ‘Perdition’s End’ before helping to rebuild it from the scraps left behind. Tar And Feathers is equal parts grit and groove. Even when the trio pumps the brakes (Leper Colony), the outcome is fluid and complementary.

Mind you, all of this expertise and musicianship is presented in the most late 1990s-early 2000s way possible without ever feeling like a ripoff from 20 years ago. Far from hoping to grab the lowest-hanging fruit, Leper Colony imbue the current death-metal landscape with a ferocious, diaphragm-exhausting record. It sounds clean, polished and disgusting. 8/10

Dryad - The Abyssal Plain (Prosthetic Records) [Paul Scoble]

Iowa based band, Dryad have been making music together since 2017. In that time the band have made 2 EP’s; a self titled one in 2017, the second EP, The Silurian Age was released in 2018, and in 2019 they released a split with Acid Leather. The Abyssal Plain is the bands first full length album. Dryad is made up of Oli on drums, Claw /Clair on guitar and vocals and Grimtooth on guitar. Dryad's style of music shows quite an amount of extreme metal nostalgia, something that I am definitely on board with due to being a heavy metal obsessed teenager for part of the eighties. So I have a lot of love for the early extreme metal era, when death metal and black metal were far less defined, and metal reviewers classed everything fast as thrash, I remember reading reviews of early albums by Bathory, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost and early Death were being described as ‘Thrash’.

The style present on The Abyssal Plain fits into this style of early extreme metal, a mix of early black and death metal styles, it also has the same necro sound with nasty lo-fi production and loads of echo on everything. The album also has the other factor that was present in the early days of Metal being hazardous and dangerous, it is full of an infectious energy and excitement (the early days of extreme metal were amazingly exciting, every week there was another album pushing the boundaries of speed and extremity, each time thinking that that was as far as extreme metal could go, only to be shocked and amazed by the next album that pushed things even further).

In many ways this album goes for an earlier sound that a lot of OSDM, which goes for a sound that was came from a death metal scene when the music was defined, this album is more like mid-eighties where death, black and thrash metal weren’t completely specified, I can hear influences from early Bathory, Hellhammer, Venom, Early Sodom, early Kreator and even some early Wrath Of The Tyrant-era Emperor.

The album is split into 13 short tracks, four of which are instrumentals, two are an intro and outro the other two form brief breaks from the chaotic, lo-fi savagery. All the full tracks are fast, some have fairy basic prehistoric blast beats, such as opening song Bottomfeeder, a primitive piece of death metal nastiness. There is also a tempo used on The Abyssal Plain that is far closer to mid-Eighties thrash, like the track Pompeii Worm, which is nasty echoed early black thrash, or the excellent piece of choppy thrash that is Black Smoke, with influences from early Sodom or Kreator.

Vocally, Claw/Clair has a savage and shrill high register harsh voice that I find reminiscent to first three albums Bathory, the vocals work very well with the style of music presented on The Abyssal Plain. The album also features the heavy use of old sounding, massively echoey keyboards, which give a nice atmosphere to several of the songs. The style of keyboards reminds me of Wrath Of The Tyrant-era Emperor, adding another old school element to make a very effective sound. Probably the best example of this is on the song Eutrification, which is the last song on the album and feels very dramatic in parts due to the use of keyboards.

The Abyssal Plain is a great album, full of nostalgia for the early days of extreme metal. It’s a blast of old school nastiness that turns up kicks you in the knackers and runs away giggling, it isn’t a particularly long album, but with this much positive energy and high speed necro fun it doesn’t need to be long. If you are feeling a little bit nostalgic for extreme metal that is simple, direct and full of great caveman riffs, primitive blasts and old school punky thrash tempos and savage vocals, then this is the album you’ve been looking for. 8/10

Skáld - Huldufólk (Universal) [Richard Oliver]

French neofolk collective Skáld return with their third album of Nordic tales Huldufólk. Like previous albums Huldufólk is sung in Old Norse, the ancient language of Scandinavia, with the title translating to the Hidden People.

Although I have heard similar artists this is my first exposure to Skáld. Similarities can be drawn to other bands who have a similar sound and structure from the traditional folk instrumentation, use of ambience and atmospheric, tribal rhythms and range of vocal styles from the harsh to the ethereal. Huldufólk is made up of twelve songs with ten of them being original compositions followed by two bonus cover songs. Out of the original material the latter part of the album is the strongest with the stirring Då Månen Sken and the rousing Elverhøy being particular highlights though Troll Kalla Mik is a suitably impressive opening song for the album. The bonus cover versions include interesting reinterpretations of Rammstein’s Du Hast and The Cure’s A Forest.

There are plenty of bands performing this modern take on Nordic folk music right now and whilst they don’t quite reach the heights attained by some of the more popular and well known bands doing similar things, Skáld are still a very solid and enjoyable folk collective and Huldufólk should definitely appeal to and please fans of the genre. 7/10

Immortalizer - Born For Metal (BrainLab Records) [Matt Bladen]

Produced, mastered and mixed by Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), who also appears on the track We Were Born For Metal, Immortalizer is actually a one man band from Ontario Canada. The sole creation of Dave D.R. he plays every instrument and performs the vocals on every one of these 10 odes to the glory of heavy metal. From the look, the title and the cover art you'll probably be thinking Manowar histrionics but Immortalizer is more akin to Accept, Grim Reaper and even Megadeth due to the shredding twin guitars and Dave's snarled vocals. Having been releasing singles since 2016, they are all featured on this debut album with a couple of more tracks thrown in to maximise the metal. 

Kicking off with Out In The Streets, were straight in with some Teutonic metal galloping, Cut Loose bringing a bit of thrashing before we get to We Were Born For Metal which pairs Metallica with Primal Fear due to Scheepers scream. It's with Lemmy that the style changes into to bass led hard rocking in the tribute to one Mr Kilmister as Back In Time goes back into the classic metal galloping and we carry on from here with some classic metal stylings. If bands such as Accept, Firewind, Grim Reaper et al appeal with their guitar heavy classic metal/thrash metal then you to will be Born For Metal. 7/10

Reviews: Obituary, Beyond The Black, Defy The Curse, Wothrosch (Reviews By Matt Cook, David G, Erick Willand & Matt Bladen)

Obituary - Dying Of Everything (Relapse Records) [Matt Cook]

Simply glancing at Obituary’s exhaustive discography, one would be forgiven for assuming the pivotal, keystone death metal band had already died long ago. With album names like The End Complete (1992), World Demise (1994) and Frozen In Time (2005), the Floridian five-piece took the very idea of death and regurgitated whatever came to their sadistic minds.

Dying Of Everything is the group’s latest foray into the themes of permanent finality, and is unsurprisingly encumbered by a brand-new slab of sticky, floor-of-a-dive-bar metal. Frontman John Tardy apparently is married to the concept for life. His trademark guttural singing has been carrying the OSDM torch since the late 1980s, when it all started, and here it’s no different. It’s also his uncanny ability to come off as a vicious, psychotic person while still emanating an air of pacifism and personality that separates him from the pack.

Maybe it’s that juxtaposition that has endeared fans for so long. Or it could also be Obituary’s flourishing rhythm section, spearheaded by axemen Kenny Andrews and Trevor Peres, bassist Terry Butler and John's brother Donald on the kit. Thrashy tremolo fills and down-tuned riffing is Obituary’s bread and butter. And even though the production value isn’t as primitive sounding, the record still expertly captures the veterans’ identity.

Opening on the barn-burner that is Barely Alive, Dying is 45 minutes of intensity. War literally begins with sounds of a destructive battle and the eerie distorted voice featured on the title track is but a mere jumping off point for one hell of a damn good riff. Lucky for fans, Dying Of Everything is a six-year answer to Obituary’s self-titled record from 2017. At this rate, Tardy and Co. might still be doing this well into their 60s.

And who wouldn’t want to watch a quartet of near-octogenarians tearing it up on stage, screaming and hollering about death? 8/10

Beyond The Black – Beyond The Black (Nuclear Blast) [David G]

On the first spin I have to admit that this self-titled album, by German quartet Beyond The Black, felt a little on the weak side. There was a slight weary resignation on my part to another one of those symphonic metal bands that I seem to spend a curious amount of time being dismissive of. With each successive listen I’ve found myself torn between excitement, frustration and exasperation.

Where Beyond The Black truly excel on this release is when they decide to unleash, what I believe is called in the modern parlance, “bangers”. First instance of this, Is There Anybody Out There, opens the album invitingly. The star of the show is unquestionably the revved-up Mel C-alike Jennifer Haben, having a similar kind of timbre and edge to her voice as the former Spice Girl, and really keen to belt it out over the slick chords.

The title of Best Banger is reserved however for Winter Is Coming; move past the it-has-gotten-tired-now Game Of Thrones ephemera and you have verses that deploy jagged shards of hard rock guitar. Rather quickly the band build to a glorious earworm of a chorus that spins around Haben’s spiralling vocals and short but powerful descending chord pattern. It’s really early in the year, but I’d be surprised if something this catchy comes along again in 2023.

Naturally the album is interspersed with power balladry, the more interesting exemplar of this approach is Free Me, verses punctuated by juddering guitars with a backdrop of symphonic wash. Naturally less on edge here, the singing is no less powerful but the rougher edge falls away and it neatly shows how well Haben can inhabit or take over the space of the song. Less successfully Wide Awake begins with an effete acoustic section that ponderously layers a few cliches on, leading to the inevitable squealing guitar solo and cries of “WOAHOHHH”. No. NOHOAHHH.

Elsewhere Into The Light is a rather enjoyable mid-tempo romp that has a solid stomp and catchy vocal hook. Reincarnation integrates a bit of folksy nonsense that just reads as a hackneyed. Dancing In The Dark opens with some throat singing, and whilst not particularly strong is a bit nod-worthy. I Remember Dying is a gradual song; building, building and building but not really finishing, perhaps more I Remember Edging?

It’s frustrating to hear an album with such a stunner as Winter Is Coming housed alongside such something so vapid as Wide Awake. I can’t fault the band for playing to such a significant strength in Jennifer Haben’s voice, but there are tracks when they show they can add to that energy with the songs backing her up. Then there are moments where they fall into easy, well-trodden ground that sounds trite. 5/10

Defy The Curse: Horrors Of Human Sacrifice (Hammerheart Records) [Erick Willand]

Oh yeah! This album wastes no time what-so-ever and comes a-blasting the second you hit play. No creepy intro ambience, no screams with chainsaws wailing just ... BOOM and song one, Leading Into The Realm Of Torment punches you in the gut as it runs right past you. It’s rolling and thunderous, a good indication of what’s to come.

Defy The Curse are four old dudes who clearly know what they’re doing with a collective death metal pedigree stretching over a dozen bands including Legion Of The Damned and Mangled. And that experience is clear as track two continues the rolling death assault on your eager eardrums. Existence Consumed rocks on in with swagger like an early Bloodbath song and your skull will move in time, you can’t help it. 

The Tower Of Suffering (my favorite title on the album) slows the pace but only briefly as it lures you in with a nice swaying crunchy riff that leads into the meat of the song and quickens the pace. It’s a song that ‘feels’ shorter than it actually is and that’s a good thing. 

Track 4, Endless Curse starts with my fave death metal cliche, a horror movie clip, and yeah they do it again and I’m still here for it. I love that stuff and this song rocks, this is death metal done right...short, fun, and packed with energy. And the next few songs stick to this with purpose fueled by talent built on experience. 

Swarms starts with a great punchy drum beat that stomps through the song nicely, tied up with the most urgent vocal delivery so far and it’s a song that goes right into my personal playlist. The Oppressor on the flip starts with a slicing guitar riff that rolls like a tide and makes for one of the more fun songs here. Title track Horrors Of Human Sacrifice just ‘feels’ heavy and gives me Incantation vibes, not a bad thing. 

Eidolon The Blind is the second song that starts with a clip, from the same source too. (I recognize it but just can’t place it.) Good death metal, yes. Memorable song, no not really. Track 9 is Desolate Void, the shortest punkiest song on offer, a quick 1 minute and 56 seconds. I dig it but something about it feels out of place, like it should have been the last track I think. 

Serpent Cult and Panopticon, 10 and 11 respectively are both solid songs with Serpent Cult having a wicked ending and Panopticon having a great galloping mid section that keeps your head moving until the riff slips right back into the slower starting riff that then guitar bleeds slowly into the opening of the final track, Dreameater. 

This is the top shelf song of the album with committed vocals and perfect guitar tone that makes me think of razors. Add the howling wind in the background of it all and I’m sold. I dare say, maybe Dreameater should have been the title track, regardless it’s another song in my personal playlist and that means it wins. 

Cover art by Rafal Wechterowicz, aka ‘Too Many Skulls’ is great and in the new age of AI art any band that uses real art at this point gets an extra point in the end. If you dig your Death Metal with a bit of swagger and a touch of doomy riffage then this is a clear buy. Which brings the total for Defy The Curse to a respectable 7/10

Wothrosch - Odium (Hammerheart Records) [Matt Bladen]

Inspired by extreme soundscapes, Athenian band Wothrosch are very much on the extreme end of the musical spectrum. The sludge/black metal assault similar to brutalists such as Anaal Nathrakh and fellow Greeks Septicflesh (perhaps more in their early years). 

Just a trio of guitars, bass and vocals there's a veracity to this album that even comes in on the slower doom dirge of Disease where the tremolo picked clean leads are in opposition to the crushing, knuckle dragging sludge rhythms. The title of the album comes from “the state or fact of being subjected to hatred and contempt as a result of a despicable act or blameworthy circumstance” so this album is accusatory in it lyrics rallying against the those who are determined to step on the masses. 

Atmospherics abound come on the defining black metal crush of Sinner, Purge again continuing the full on assault but brings in more melody. It's distressing and introspective in its style, the heaviness and pace of the music making for hard going until it speeds up Mass which features Niklas Kvaforth, supplying additional vocals and misery. Odium is a very intriguing album, it's loud and noisy but possibly lingers a little too long in the slower realms for some, though that makes for more discomfort and distress, which is their ethos. 7/10

Reviews: Anti-Flag, VV, Jared James Nichols, Draken (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Anti-Flag - The Lies We Tell Our Children (Spinefarm Records)

Nearly thirty years of being embodying the true spirit of punk, Pittsburgh legends Anti-Flag return with their 13th record and a while host of guest who have been influenced by them over the years. With Jesse Leach of Killswitch Engage on the heavy Modern Meta Machine, Tim McIlrath of Rise Against and Brian Baker of Bad Religion on the riotous Fight Of Our Lives, Shane Told of Silverstein comes on the anthemic Laugh. Cry. Smile. Die and even Campino from German punk legends Die Totem Hosen on the Celtic influenced Victory Or Death (Give'Em Hell). 

A sprawling line up of guests but it's the defiant chorus driven punk rock of Anti-Flag that will be what brings their fans and hopefully new listeners to this thirteenth album. Never afraid to take risks The Lies We Tell Our Children is their first concept album dealing with the biggest issues that face society today focusing on universal healthcare, financial division and the environment, things that are so often taken for granted around the world especially in their native America. Though it's a concept record they aren't going prog any time soon and neither is their commitment to highlighting issues a new thing, Anti-Flag have been the flag-bearers for numerous causes throughout their career. 

However with the world the way it is, their optimistic position that if unity can make it better is both timely and welcome. Sing along punk rock with enough heaviness and folksiness to appeal to a broad spectrum. Pittsburgh's finest are still pumping out the anthems! 8/10

VV- Neon Noir (Heartagram/UMG/Spinefarm Records)

As a man in his 30's I remember a time where every one of your High School crushes were more interested in AFI's Davey Havok and Ville Valo of HIM their dark romanticism, unique vocals and bewitching presence was enough to light the fire if every teenage 'alt' girl I knew and secretly pined for. It also meant that Vallo in particular suffered a lot of ire from the 'metal' crowd as I'm sure most of their girlfriends would rather be at HIM than another Slayer gig. 

Personally I had nothing against HIM, I think Buried Alive By Love still has a killer riff, but after having retired his previous band in 2017 there was a time in music without the creator of the Heartagram (which was on every single desk in my school), but after such a long career it was inevitable that he Vallo would return, such is his ever presence in the late 90's early 2000's. So VV is that return, Finnish Love Metal returning to not only his adoring audience, those teens now women who probably still hold a candle for their fallen hero, but also to a whole new audience of Goths searching for a hero. 

Neon Noir is a electro throbbing, goth rocking, 12 track album that amalgamates everything Vallo has spent a career establishing in one place, from the poppy, poetic balladry of Baby Lacrimarium, to the synthy Echolocate Your Love and Zener Solitaire which is synthwave. Of course there are classic HIM strains on the title track, Salute The Sanguine and Loveletting. It's a how-to guide for those that have yet to discover their goth side, cloaked in a maudlin veil but with glimpses of hope on In Trenodia and others. 

VV let's you experience those halcyon days of gothic rocking yet again, donning your darkest clothes, daubing on some mascara and pulling some shapes all with a smirk on your face. Perhaps no longer infernal but still magisterial. 8/10

Jared James Nichols - Jared James Nichols (Black Hill Records)

Self Titled records so often mean a rebirth, a change of sound or focus, they are very much what bands and artists do when they want to make a point that the music contained within them is their most personal and reflective of who they are as a performer. So when Nashville, singer, songwriter and Gibson brand ambassador chose to title his third album Jared James Nichols, he is probably trying to showcase who he is now not where he has been. 

This third record is a mixture of influences as driving blues rock (My Delusion) moves into syrupy grunge (Down The Drain), the album is seen by Nichols as a tasting menu for his live show. Fuzzy, resonant rock n roll driven through Gibson humbuckers that get your toes tapping, head bopping and hips shaking. Lyrically he's focussed on some more personal lyrics, following his life as an artist but wrapped up in some signature blue collar rocking. After dealing with a broken arm (that left him with a plate and screws) he recorded this record mere months after his recovery ended, fuelling the songs with that fire to perform again. 

The excellent Hard Wired is a rock guitar fans dream as the swaggering riffs, Hendrix inspired lead guitars and hypnotic groove will win you over immediately, he can seemingly turn his hand to any style, maximum R&B on Easy Come, Easy Go, bass-driven Bad Roots, while the brooding Shadow Dancer seems more serious in contrast to Good Time Girl. It's on the introspective balladry of Our Of Time dedicated to Nichols' deceased father where the personal lyrics really stand out. 

Nichols is a firebrand on the live scene so the warm production of Eddie Spear who recorded this album live in the studio, means that it reflects his talents well. Self titled and packed with dirty riffs and smoky vocals, this is the epitome of the JJN sound. 8/10

Draken - Book Of Black (Majestic Mountain Records)

Formed in Oslo in 2018, bassist/vocalist Hallvard Gaardløs, drummer Andre Drage Haraldsen and jazz/progressive virtuoso guitarist, Even Helte Hermansen, this prog metal trio follow up their self titled debut in 2021 with their new record Book Of Black again through Majestic Mountain Records. They have tried to take a forward step on this record creating something altoghgehr heavier and more brutal than their debut album. It means that there is less Rush more Mastodon on this album. 

The punky tones of Bastards leads into the thundering We Deserve To Suffer, both come from the Atlantan bands songbook. It sticks in this sort of style as the groove metal riffs are driven by odd time signatures, the powerful, dextrous percussion lays down a strong foundation against the more aggressive vocals of Gaardløs who barks, shouts and growls across this 8 track record. 

The trio have brought in some help though as the bluesy House Of Horrors features organs from Vegard Lien Bjerkan and some guest vocals come from Anita Kaabøll on the woozy Symbiote. Book Of Black is Draken increasing the noise and the techincality on their second album. 7/10

Reviews: Lord Of The Lost, Screamer, Concrete Age, Turmion Kätilöt (Reviews By James Jackson, Simon Black, Matt Bladen & David G)

Lord Of The Lost - Blood & Glitter (Napalm Records) [James Jackson]

“Blood & glitter, sweet & bitter, we’re so happy, we could die”

And so begins the latest album, Blood & Glitter, from dark rock/industrial/gothic metal act Lord Of The Lost, vocalist Chris Harms’ rather distinctive tones filling the emptiness acapella style before instrumentals kick in for the title track. Throughout the album Chris’s vocals are as ever, varied; from the funereal dirge you’d expect from any band tinged with gothic influences to a more thrash like, bordering upon death metal style befitting of the music it accompanies.

Musically this, their 8th studio album so far, is as varied and potentially crowd pleasing as those that have come before it; though I must admit that it’s taken a few listens to really get into it.; for it’s not as instantaneous a liking as I felt with 2021’s Judas or Thornstar released in 2018; but I’m not hating it.
There has always been an element of experimentation within their material, as they’ve blended genres into their music throughout their 16 year career so far and sometimes, most of the time it works, I’m not so sure about the 80’s inspired synth led verses of Destruction Manual which at times doesn’t seem the right choice given the expletive riddled fist pumping chorus.

It’s a good album and stands up with their back catalogue, so far there are only a few standout tracks for me, the anti trolling anthem Leave Your Hate In The Comments and their cover of Roxette’s The Look featuring German Pop singer Blumchen amongst them, though I’m sure with a few more listens I’ll be able to add more to the list. 7/10

Screamer – Kingmaker (Steamhammer/SPV) [Simon Black]

There’s a reason why four plus decades after the breakout of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s that bands continue to produce music in that distinctive style: that’s because it still works when done properly. Given the number of splits, divisions and sub-genres NWOBHM ultimately spawned, in any other musical umbrella genre the original movement would by now have been completely lost through fragmentation. 

However, not only are many of the original progenitors still going strong, but the generation of their children (and indeed their grandchildren) are still continuing the charge as if nothing had changed. Well, fortunately some things have changed, but let’s hope that casual sexism, mullet cuts and spandex stay in the past…

Sweden’s Screamer have been at this a while too, with Kingmaker being their fifth studio rodeo since their inception thirteen years ago. By this point in their careers many acts are often struggling to keep momentum, but not so Screamer. Another current challenge is that this genre has had a lot of retro nostalgia surrounding it recently, with many acts who either never made it first time round dusting things down trying to cash in one last time, or really young acts trying to recreate a sound long gone through technical cheats in the studio. 

Screamer though simply focus on writing good songs in the style of the period but with the attitude, values and technology of the present day. They were doing this before the 80’s retro fad came along, and will no doubt be doing it afterwards, as let’s face it this honest to your roots, but of the moment approach has not held back stalwarts like Saxon or Maiden after all this time.

The ten tracks on here do exactly what you want a traditional heavy metal album to do – belt out the tunes catchily, anthemically and with the perfect balance between heaviness and melody, and without overstaying their welcome, so keeping the average run time below four minutes. The band is formed around vocalist / songwriter Andreas Wikström, who is a man more than capable of crafting a good structure to his tunes. Vocally his voice is the clean end of the register, but with enough grit to keep things down and dirty, despite his quite good range. 

I can’t fault anything on here but the standout moments for me are the belting title track, which you just know is going to work well live and the more thoughtful and complex Ashes And Fire. The latter is a good minute longer than anything else on here, with a more epic feel and that extra minute allowing things to build slowly and add a little weight and introspection along with the roaring riffage that sets the tone.

Overall, this is nothing new stylistically, but then nothing in this genre has been truly new since 1982, but it’s done well, with workmanship and deference and makes a great start to the new musical year. 7/10

Concrete Age - Bardo Thodol (Independent Release) [Matt Bladen]

Compared to bands such as Tengger Cavalry, Sepultura, Moonsorrow and Eluveitie the Russian formed now London based Concrete Age follow up their 2020 album Spirituality with this new record named after the Tibetan book of the dead. On the first listen to Bardo Thodol you can definitely here why they have the 'ethnic metal' tag utilising the folk traditions and instruments of the Balkan regions to augment their metal baseline. They're just at home with death metal bands as they are with folk metal acts having played alongside both frontman Ilia Morozov, providing some great harsh/clean vocals, the Balkan instruments and guitars along with Boris Zahariev. 

As it's their eighth album, they aren't going to vary wildly from an established format so what you end up with over 10 tracks and 41 minutes is something akin to Machine Head going folk metal (the title track), though True Believer the vocals move towards Disturbed. High concept lyrics put to powerful modern metal riffs and the use of "ethnic" instrumentation, the band rounded out by bassist Giovanni Ruiu and drummer Davide Marini. Concrete Age manage to keep your attention on these 10 tracks, the symphonic melodeath of Threads Of Death, the folk metal of Lullaby For A Deadman and the out an out thrashing of Ridges Of Suffering all bring enough variation to maintain interest. With 2023 starting out this is a unique heavy treat to start the year off. 7/10

Turmion Kätilöt – Omen X (Nuclear Blast) [David G]

What can you really say about a band that counts amongst its members people using the pseudonyms “Master Bates” and “Shag-U”? Juvenile? Eye-roll worthy? Finland’s Turmion Kätilöt boast such a claim. Founded by a DJ and MC this might also inform as to what you should expect (though I should stress that for this part, at least, I hold no judgement).

 
The first 23 seconds of the album inspire a sense of dread, banging techno underscoring a statement of “motherfuckers drop the bass”. When the militant guitar riff kicks in you’ve kind of got a sense of what this band is about, industrial metal pulling in wider dance influences and croaking vocals that combine to a rather sleazy effect.

At various points through the album I’m reminded of Animatronic by The Kovenant, such as in the stomping riff that opens Vie Se Pois or the keyboard touches that highlight Puoli Valtakuntaa. With that said on the whole the music of Omen X is largely more straightforward, leaning into the tightly regimented rhythms and stomping beats as the order of the day with electronic flavourings added for taste. There are some curious sprinkles of an oddball nature through the album, for example Käy Tanssiin’s Hawaiian guitar interlude that soon descends into a catchy little melody. This little segment doesn’t really serve any significant purpose in the wider song, of which the main riff is pretty solid and the effects-laden outro is highly effective.

Closing track Kuolettavia Vammoja is probably the highlight of the album, with a nice little keyboard melody echoing through the track and the more natural variation in approach working quite well. This relies less on the spitting, vitriolic vocals and reining this in for a more considered approach with some strong backing singing. After the initial shock of the album has died down there’s some nice moments inside, it took a few listens to appreciate what is on offer and, frankly, to get over some of the more ridiculous aspects. I’m still not entirely sold as the basic approach does get a bit repetitive after a while, and it is the straying outside of the base formula that brings the most enjoyment. 6/10

Reviews: Polar, Ashen, Beneath My Feet, Slog (Reviews By GC & David G)

Polar - Everywhere, Everything (Arising Empire) [GC]

Hello everyone and welcome to 2023. My first review of this year is from the UK and its Polar’s new album Everywhere, Everything. I know these guys have been around for quiet a while and I caught them when they first came onto the scene and saw them live a few times but then kind of just lost them for no good reason, so lest see what they have been up to recently.

They begin this album by building the atmosphere on the opener Winds Of Change, its full of sombre reflection and a dark brooding menace mixed with a post-hardcore feel to the main bulk of the song which is a nice starting point before Burn kicks into gear in a flurry of chaotic drums and a wall of guitars that then forms into more of a metalcore sound than I was expecting but its done well enough to not be a problem and you can feel the genuine passion that is wrapped up in Polar’s music. 

Gods And Heathens then continues in the same vein and introduces a genuinely massive sing a long chorus that really hits the mark and builds towards a beautiful and jarring end section that keeps you hooked till the very last seconds, next up is title track Everywhere, Everything which starts with another haunting beginning and then introduces more of the post-hardcore feeling that echoes throughout the whole body of the song and creates the platform for this song to be totally lead forward by the vocals which really grab hold of the heart strings and push everything forward with a genuine passionate beauty that sometimes can be lacking in heavy music. 

The Greatest Sin however is a totally different beast full of big chugging riffs almost like Hatebreed have decided to try and be emotional, it again packs a real gut punch but will also see you windmilling round your house and smashing everything to pieces whilst crying, probably!? This is both beautiful and devastating in equal measures! Rush then comes with another pace change and begins with an 80’s post-punk band vibe and has some beautiful female vocals mixed into the sound to really add that texture to the whole song it continues to veer in and out of light and dark but never misses a point and is a curveball of a song but doesn’t sound out of place at all.

Dissolve Me is then back to the heavy business and it has a huge riff to kick everything off and then fury and rage runs the whole thing and is unrelenting in the pace and picks up the pace nicely before Deliverance slows the pace back down but not in a detrimental way, it’s definitely more calculated as this is another mix of furious metalcore riffs and impassioned vocals but the tempo and feel of previous raging songs seems to be slowed down to be able to deliver maximum impact and the last minute or so of it is just perfect. 

Snakes Of Eden continues in more of the same form but doesn’t dull any of the impact previously shown and carries the pace and feel along nicely until its closing time and Baptism Of Fire which is full of big vocals and beautiful soundscapes of music that enfold you and don’t every want to let you go, there’s a warmth and feeling to this song that is so refreshing and just makes you want to press repeat as soon as it’s over, a beautiful gut punch of a finish.

First album of the year and it is an absolute beauty to start off with as from the very first note all the way to that beautiful ending there wasn’t anything I didn’t like, and I can see this doing big things for Polar going forward. If you already like this band, I imagine this is nothing new for you and you will have that smug satisfaction and you will be over the moon with this record but, if you don’t already like them then this is a must listen as it will open your eyes and introduce you to some truly beautiful and devastating music. 9/10

Ashen – Ritual Of Ash (Self Released) [David G]

Providing a surprising album of modern death metal with many nods to classics, Australian four-piece Ashen start 2023 with a bang with their debut album Ritual Of Ash.

Ritual kicks things off with a film sample before kicking into a disgustingly effective groove, the menacing lurch has a fantastic fuzzed-up and dense, yet gritty sound. It leans towards more of the American school in feel through the first half before kicking into a synth-backed section the pushes on with waves of aggressively picked notes that hints more towards the Hypocrisy style.

As the album progresses, we see that style palette repeatedly being reached for, whether it be the frantic opening section of Deadsight that reminds slightly of latter-day Cannibal Corpse or the following track Harbinger that again mainly leans into the Hypocrisy approach with a slightly sentimental and melodic motif that reoccurs throughout. 

It has the potential to sound disjointed, flitting between these approaches that push an obvious melodic or groove-driven aspect up against head-smashing aggression, but Ashen feel like they mostly pull these things together in a cohesive form. There’s a nous to the songwriting package that often shows a sense of when to push forward and when to pull back and how to reintroduce motifs.

With all that said there are a few times when that doesn’t quite work, Gravemind begins by setting an atmospheric scene through heavy cymbal splashing and a pulsing alarm of a riff, but this is quickly discarded by a bit of solid, old-fashioned Swedish fuzz that eschews atmospheric feel, despite being very bloody catchy. When the pulsing approach does appear later in the track it is backed by a faster beat and lacks the same punch.

Another thing that stands out is just what effective riff-creators the band are and how they pull influences from different death metal strands to create something like Blood that has moments which more subtly stick in the mind, but also Cursed Rebirth with its nod-along stagger.

Overall Ritual Of Ash is an engaging and fun listen, there’s some moments that don’t quite work, but generally this is a fine collection of riff-oriented death metal that is vibrant and energetic. 8/10

Beneath My Feet - In Parts, Together (Noble Demon) [GC]

Second review for this week is from Beneath My Feet, they are from Sweden and combine American metal and British hardcore apparently? They claim this produces a loving, rhythmic punch to the face and that their music brings together heavy rhythm, pop influenced melodic choruses with catchy riffs that is an intense blend that has earned the band a steadily growing name within the scene? Big and bold claims from them, so lest see if they can back it up.

Caught in a hurricane is first up and unfortunately it doesn’t back up the hype it’s all played and produced well enough, and the melody is there for sure but it is just so pedestrian and run of the mill it doesn’t inspire or bond with me like I was expecting but there are still another TWELVE tracks to listen to so who knows I could be judging this way to early? 

Dig My Grave is thankfully a much better track, and it is pretty decent full of punchy riffs and battering drums and it doesn’t rely on the sing/shout method and is just a full-on anger fest which is much better and does relieve me a bit! BUT Our Worlds Collide then seems to fall directly back into the cut/paste nature of heard it all before metalcore and combines the good cop/bad cop vocals straight back into things, but it just doesn’t hit hard enough to make its point. 

Dead Equal is then at it again and now adding effects onto the vocals and it just really annoys me if I am honest as there is no variation on offer and it’s all just too safe and plain to make me pay attention, One More Time then adds some much needed pace and swag to the record and seems to mix what is needed in here, genuine anger and savage guitar attacks and most importantly the mix of vocals is gone which shows that they are not always needed as when they want to they can rage hard and the soft vocals always seem to just disappoint and don’t add much?! 

Sink To The Bottom or Swim For The Shore then proceeds to shut me up completely and adds the singing vocals in to spectacular effect, this song is what a record like this should sound like, the riffs are jagged and savage, drums unrelenting and punishing and the vocals grab you and envelope you and it makes for a truly fantastic listen! FINALLY! Best track on the album hands down.

Is This Really You? is a bit too Nu-Metaly for my liking its sounds like it could have been lifted directly from any Roadrunner album circa 2003-2004 which I guess isn’t the worst thing in the world but in 2023 we don’t need songs like this and again the vocals just get on my nerves! Far From Home slows everything down and is a full of nice melodies and builds a song with some genuine feeling and beauty, and you notice that separately they can do all the things needed to create a great song but when they mix it all together it generally seems to get lost and not work, it’s all very frustrating. 

The Uprising then finally absolutely fucking nails it! The mix here is spot on with big choruses mixing expertly into the furious vocal delivery and throw in some lovely chug filled breakdowns and it really is a relief and also new best song on the album!! 

Final official closing track (there are 3 bonus tracks to listen to yet) Departure unfortunately isn’t much to write home about, its fine in a lighter in the air sort of way but they should have ended this a song earlier to go out on an unexpected high! Unfortunately, all 3 ‘’bonus tracks’’ Roads, Vindicta & Lost Sailors Graves are rubbish and should have been left on the cutting room as they all offer nothing and just remind you of some of the godawful tracks from the start of this marathon of an album.

Ultimately this album should have been shorter as 13 tracks was too much and meant that the quality varied wildly, I enjoyed some of it and hated some of it with there not being any middle ground for me, a really frustrating listen. 6/10

Slog – Divination (Morbid And Miserable Records) [David G]

Slog has various definitions, but this one from Mirriam-Webster seems most apt: “A prolonged arduous task or effort”. Slog is also an American duo (Nicholas Turner and Jared Moran) and this, their second album, is hard work.

Playing some mixture of early-style death metal, perhaps indebted to Autopsy’s drawn-out gurgling, and a painstaking doomy atmosphere this is most definitely not an easy listen. Opener Illuminated Expansion is perhaps a good indicator of one side of that equation which Slog present. Beginning with a couple of minutes of stark, echoing guitar picking, that drags bass notes in its footsteps. 

The lack of polish or refinement is clear to hear with the string ringing and the layering of an extra guitar part coming in to partially blot out the part that is already in progress, both becoming one within the mix in an entirely awkward fashion. There’s a pretty discomforting atmosphere already in place by the time the string scrape introduces the distorted and resonant power chords and hollowed out, flat snare beat. From here it’s a funeral procession slowly lumbering along without grace, where even the false hope of crescendo building serves only to reiterate the torturous march.

Synthesis Sequencer shows the more aggressive side of the duo, more in that classic death metal mode opening with the awkward blastbeat and the increasingly out of control thrashes of guitar. It is all topped off by the guttural vocal wrenching of Jared Moran, completely unintelligible and serving mostly to provide that extra sonic layer of vulgarity. The track shows also more dynamic range, the solo section having a nice cut and thrust feel, before an echoing clean section leads into the slow fade out.

I would point to closer, Eucharistic Purification, as a particular highlight from the album, buried under the stuttering rhythm there is a faint echoing guitar that adds a sense off decaying majesty, this continues on under the slow, poignant groove that soon comes in. Here we see Slog at what appears their most constructive, despite the rasping throat-clearing that occurs just after half way through in the middle of a slow guitar waltz. 

A truly impressive rain of guitar distortion builds up underneath a confused solo that doubles back on itself, a blastbeat then ensues with the most effective and cavernous-sounding death metal thrust of the album. The track then closes on an echoing, icy section that seems to nod ever so slightly in the direction of Immortal.

With Divination Slog have created something that is a hard listen, there’s a cold feeling that persists through the tracks, whether it be in the regimented chugging on Theurgy Equinox or the discordant crawl of Bequested Endowment. The curious thing is I’m not sure how much I actually enjoy what the duo are doing and whether this is an album I would return to in full by choice, but I do find myself appreciating what I’ve heard. 

Divination is messy, it is ugly and it creates quite a grim and hostile environment, it does this so effectively that I’m not sure it being enjoyed is of real concern. In a general sense I’m conscious of the fact that I’m constantly referring to the feel and struggling to describe the feel of the music I hear, and this is an album that certainly feeds that tendency. Its rough-hewn nature lends it a feel that is worth experiencing, even if it doesn’t allow it to be loved. 7/10

Top 20 Of The Year: Erick Willand

Erick Willand's Top 20 Of The Year

*In No Particular Order*

1. GWAR - The New Dark Ages

2. Wiegedood - There's Always Blood At The End Of The Road

3. Temple Of Void - Summoning The Slayer

4. Venom Prison - Erebos

5. Power Paladin - With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel

6. Immolation - Acts Of God

7. Amorphis - Halo

8. Bloodbath - Survival Of The Sickest

9. Ghost - Imperia

10. Tribal Gaze - The Nine Choirs

11. Undeath - It's Time...To Rise From The Grave

12. Deathhammer - Electric Warfare

13. Hath - All That Was Promised

14  Crippled Black Phoenix - Banefyre

15. Lunar Blood - Twilight Insurgency

16. Midnight - Let There Be Witchery

17. Chestcrush - Apechtheia

18. Maul - Seraphic Punishment

19. Gaerea - Mirage

20. Goatwhore - Angels Hung From The Arches Of Heaven

Top 50 Albums Of The Year: Matt Bladen

Matt Bladen's Top 50 Albums Of The Year

1. Porcupine Tree - Closure // Continuation 
2. Marillion - An Hour Before It's Dark
3. Cardinal Black - January Came Close
4. Adharma - Mirror Mirror
5. White Ward - False Light
6. MWWB - The Harvest
7. Stray Gods - Storm The Walls
8. Gaerea - Mirage
9. Elder - Innate Passages
10. Fury - Born To Sin

11. Crippled Black Phoenix - Banefyre

12. Dim Gray - Firmament

13. Borealis - Illusions

14. Oceans Of Slumber - Starlight & Ash
15. Sergeant Thunderhoof - The Sceptred Veil
16. Tómarúm -Ash In Realms Of Stone Icons
17. Envy Of None - Envy Of None
18. Thy Listless Heart - Pilgrims On The Path Of No Return 
19. The Rusty Nutz - We Tried To Make It Big But Something Somewhere Went Wrong, We Can't Work Out What That Something Is
20. Terra Atlantica - Beyond The Borders

21. Fellowship - The Saberlight Chronicles
22. Arena - The Theory Of Molecular Inheritance
23. Avatarium - Death Where Is Your Sting?
24. Conjurer - Páthos
25. Pure Reason Revolution - above Cirrus
26. Lonely Robot - The Model Life
27. Darkest Era - Wither On The Vine
28. Megadeth - The Sick, The Dying...And The Dead!
29. Gospelheim - Ritual & Repetition
30. Absent In Body -Plague Of God

31. Isafjørd - Hjartastjak
32. Power Paladin - With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel
33. RXPTRS - Living Without Deaths Permission
34. Alunah - Strange Machine
35. Naxatras - IV
36. Threshold - Dividing Lines
37. Evergrey - A Heartless Portrait [The Orphean Testament] 
38. Vass/Katsionis - Ethical Dilemma 
39. Star One - Revel In Time
40. Cage Fight - Cage Fight

41. Amorphis - Halo
42. Cult Of Luna - The Long Road North
43. De Profundis - The Corruption Of Virtue
44. The Same River - Weight Of The World
45. Konvent - Call Down The Sun
46. Audrey Horne - Devil's Bell
47. Earthless - Night Paradise Of One Hundred Demons
48. Charlie Griffiths - Tiktaalika
49. Author & Punisher - Krüller
50. Vanquisher - An Age Undreamed Of