Reviews: U.D.O, Velvet Insane, Creak, Misanthropic Torment (Reviews By Simon Black, Rich Piva, Zak Skane & Mark Young)

U.D.O. – Touchdown (Atomic Fire Records) [Simon Black]

You have to give it to Udo Dirkschneider, he’s not a man to give up easily. That brutally distinctive voice he is known for is not a style that’s easy on the vocal chords as you get older. To be fair, AC/DC’s Brian Johnson and G'N'R’s Axl Rose are the only other singers who have made that intense technique both commercially successful and equally distinctive. The question is can you really cut that intense vocal pressure after all these years?

The jury’s out on Johnson, as it’s been a few years since Power Up (an album that for obvious reasons did not get toured) and although glacier’s move faster than G’N’R studio albums, it’s clear from recent live performances that Rose really struggles to keep the screaming intensity up throughout a full show these days. Udo, at least in the studio, has lost none of his power and intensity. I’ve not really followed much of his studio output in recent years, but I would argue that Dirkschneider is not alone when it come to these struggles live, but unlike Johnson at least he’s still out there and recent slew of live releases have demonstrated that even if the live delivery is not quite as fireproof as it was in the 80’s, that he’s still able to give it a damned good try.

Ah yes, a try. Now, given that I and this blog are based in rugby-obsessed South Wales, we need to raise a finger and an eyebrow at the title of the album. I could start ranting about how American Football doesn’t involve feet and is basically rugby with plastic armour and better sponsorship, but outside of Wales no-one really gives a toss, and since the USA is clearly a more lucrative market than round here, Touchdown it is.

Despite the combination of the pandemic and line-up challenges he hasn’t really slowed things down at all. With no less than two studio efforts and a live release since the world went to hell in a hand cart, and now this. OK, one of those was the slightly off target covers pack My Way as an indulgent treat for his 70th birthday, but it’s still an impressive rate of production for any artist a fraction of his age.

And then we come to this, which to be fair, is something of a goal to the back of the net (sorry). For fifty-four minutes, Udo belts out a series of frankly blistering traditional heavy metal belters with an intensity and consistency that the other two stadium acts should really try and emulate one of these days rather than wrapping a couple of hits with far too many fillers to pad out the run time. Touchdown, is the reverse of this, with nearly every track having a raucous and catchy anthemic quality to it that could work well live. 

The material is all original (well apart from the Mozart Neo-Classical interlude in Fight For The Right) and is consistently stronger than a fair chunk of material from Accept’s heyday and I found myself more than happy to go back and spinning beyond the bounds I normally set myself when scribing, which is a good sign that this may well make it into regular circulation. Unexpectedly, a palpable hit (not a try, a goal or a home run), Touchdown is very aptly named. 9/10

Velvet Insane - High Heeled Monster (Wild Kingdom) [Rich Piva]

There are so many bands that “worship” some of the classics. I listen to so much Sabbath worship (I am not complaining, bring it all on). There is a ton of Zeppelin worship (see Van Fleet, Greta). All sorts of thrash and NWOBHM love too. But when it comes to Bowie worship, there are just not enough bands playing the glam style today, and even less who do it well.

That is why I was super excited upon my first listen of the new album, High Heeled Monster, from glam flag wavers Velvet Insane, who are not afraid to bring the glitter, the spandex, and the cheese in all the perfect amounts. If you need a point of reference, let’s go with Bowie/T. Rex/Slade/Mott The Hoople to start with. There are worse bands to be influenced by for sure. Velvet Insane is not subtle about their worship as the track Boogie Star is an ode to Bowie, shamelessly mentioning Diamond Dogs and Honky Dory while borrowing some Ziggy/T. Rex bop musically. 

The opening track is just pure fun, I mean it is called Bamalama Breakout for crying out loud. It is just the right amount of cheese without it being cringey. Musically and sound wise the word I can think of to describe High Heeled Monster is clean. It is not overproduced but it is very clear sounding, in that you hear subtle little notes and background vocals that would get lost in a more muddled production. Damage Control is so catchy it is painful. I hear both T. Rex and Electric Light Orchestra in this track. Try to keep the chorus out of your head. 

Sweat As Can Be adds some piano to the party, reminding me of watching the Bang A Gong video from Top Of The Pops on Headbangers Ball (yes, they played it on there) with the then up and coming Elton John playing keys with Bolan. This could even pass for one of the good Ringo solo songs. High Heeled Monster excels most with its upbeat glam party anthems, like Looking For A Rock (About To Roll) with its fun harmonies and falsetto background vocals and Jemmy which undeniable pop rock candy that I can’t get enough of…and dig that piano solo. 

The good solo Ringo stuff is underrated, and Runaway Bride reminds me a bit of that, especially in the verses. It is just sugary pop goodness. How can you not feel better listening to the song Act Together? Try it and tell me it doesn’t have a positive impact on your mood. I know I have mentioned lots of 70s Glam in this review, but I also hear a lot of the Canadian pop masters Sloan interestingly enough. Saturday Night Till Sunday Morning is a great rocker to close out this over-the-top pop rock glitter party.

If you read any of my reviews, I almost always lean towards the stoner/doom riff fests, but I cannot stop listening to High Heeled Monster in all its glam rock glory. I am addicted to this album. It has crawled into my head and refuses to leave. There is nothing new or groundbreaking here, but at the same time it is refreshing to have a band who wear their 70s glam rock love on their sleeve. Velvet Insane has delivered a great surprise to my 2023 listening habits. 8/10

Creak – Depth Perception (Prosthetic Records) [Zak Skane] 

The opening track comes in with a harsh slap in the face of roaring low tuned riffs that will grab you from the insides, whilst the ever evolving drum beats leave the listener intrigued but energised. The lyrical themes based on mental wellbeing are writing and preformed with poetic nuance but preformed with snarling aggression. The jarring frantic energy continues with the following track Hare In the Woods, with it’s rhythm shifting riffs, jarring discord and gospel chopped drumbeats. Once the retro horror video game soundscape descends to the mathematical assault still continues with Doomed with intercut rhythms that would any member of Messhuggah. 

The punchy but yet melodic Loathe inspired Restless Dreams packs melodic choruses up tempo grooves and eerie lead effects. The eerie Left To Heaven packs nostalgic sonic goodness from the 2000’s sounding electronic drums and the detune effected guitars, it reminds me of Akira Yamaokas’ compositions for Silent Hill. The chosen vocal effects for this song really add more emphasis on the emotional delivery that the singer is aiming to deliver. Other highlights on this album is The Early Hours with it’s Korn sounding textures and vocal passages combined with 12 riffs and rhythms per hour. The Dillinger Espae plan inspired fever dream sounding I’m Not Alone In The Dark and the sludgy closer of A Head Of Rain. 

Through this 12 track album the band has shown us how they can be chaotic and unique whilst still keeping a sleek and accessible to the casual listener. One of the main things that I have to compliment on the album is the writing style of the lyrics. Even though the subject matter is not original, the way the lyrics were written provides genuine emotion whilst containing poetic nuance. From the ever evolving riffs and gospel chopped opener Crossroads to the Komami inspired chilled track Left To Heaven to the sludgy closer A Head Full Of Rain, this band will twist your mind, whilst also snapping your neck. For fans of Loathe, Lotus Eater, Ten56 and Meshuggah. 7/10

Misanthropik Torment - Declaration Of War (Earache Digital Artists) [Mark Young]

Hailing from Lexington, Kentucky Misanthropik Torment’s bio makes it extremely clear where they sit in terms of their view of the world. Declaration Of War is their latest full-length release and further supports their view in calling for the execution of terrorists, rapists and paedophiles as well as a reset of the political system in the States (at least) because neither side can provide an effective way of governing for all.

Going further online, they have been tagged as black metal, extreme dark metal amongst others and you can be in no doubt that it is a brutal experience to sit through. The question is though, is it worth your time?

I think it’s a case of how you approach it, and what you get from music in general. On the one hand it has all of the growls, blast beats, super-fast guitars you could possibly want and comparing against black metal / extreme metal releases as a whole it sits within that genre well. It will appeal to those who think along the same lines as them, as well as those curious types who love to have that superiority of listening to the most extreme material as a metric for how cool they are. You know the ones, musical snobs. To those who just listen and judge music on if they like it, on how it affects them they may just pass this on by.

The music itself is competently played, often reaching those speeds where the songs blur by. And hereby lies the problem, you can’t actually make out what the instruments are playing. It sounds as though it was recorded in an underground bunker with the microphones located outside. To these ears it is easily the worse sounding in terms of production I have heard this year. Its muted, and very low. Its possible that was the desired effect because as we know muted / muffled = brutal sound. This turns me off it almost instantly (maybe I’m the snob?) because there have been other brutal releases this year that sound like a million dollars compared to this.

So, having chance to read this back, I am conscious that I want to make it clear that this review is based purely on the music on offer, nothing else. For me, it doesn’t do an awful lot other than wear its brutal heart on its sleeve. Just being brutal is not enough (for me at least) to warrant any further interest in it. 5/10

Reviews: Celestial Sanctuary, Monasteries, Course Of Fate, Dec Rocs (Reviews By Richard Oliver, Mark Young, Matt Bladen & Rich Piva)

Celestial Sanctuary - Insatiable Thirst For Torment (Church Road Records) [Richard Oliver]

The UK death metal scene continues to thrive with a steady stream of new bands and new releases arriving like an ever flowing stream. Releasing their second album through Church Road Records are Cambridge based four piece Celestial Sanctuary and Insatiable Thirst For Torment is definitely a big step up for the band.

The band's debut album Soul Diminished was a quality death metal release and a solid debut which incorporated punishing grooves with an element of hardcore in the sound and those elements are still prevalent here but the songwriting is stepped up, the music and song structures are less predictable and the nastiness is definitely amped up. The fast parts sound infinitely furious, the slow parts increasingly oppressive and the sludgy breakdowns are far filthier. Songs such as Swivel Eyed And Gurning In The Shadows with its ever shifting rhythm, Biomineralization (Cell Death) with its lumbering pace and disgusting groove and The Lurid Glow Of A Dead, Burning Body which mixes a sinister atmosphere with crushing ferocity before the album closes in absolutely savage style with the unrelenting Gutted With A Blunt Blade.

Celestial Sanctuary have ticked a lot of boxes in what I like in a death metal album with Insatiable Thirst For Torment. It sounds suitably old school but has a nice modern and meaty production to it, knows when to speed things up but also slow them down and has that depraved groove that is so essential for good death metal. This won’t break any boundaries within the genre but is absolute proof that you don’t need flashy technicality and uncontrolled levels of brutality when it comes to a fucking great death metal sound. Unhinged, disgusting and unrelentingly heavy, Insatiable Thirst For Torment is death metal done right. 8/10

Monasteries - Ominous (Seek And Strike Records) [Mark Young]

This is great, reviewing local bands, especially where no two bands are the same. Last week, doom tinged, this week Super-tech Deathcore.

Ominous (Enter) starts us off with a suitably grandiose melody, with guitar stabs booting straight into a mental riff that seems to want to rip one way whilst the drums go another. Its full of those absolute guitar motifs that I can’t even describe as they jump between screams and cleans whilst the heavy continues. Final Note 2 You throws in some fiendish beats whilst approaching attempting to pummel you into submission. There is a real human element to the vocals as there are moments when its breaking between styles. This one has one of the heaviest breakdowns, moving so slowly it’s like watching amber drip.

Spiralled Icon (ft Jason from Ingested) has those dervish guitar moments in and amongst the riff / drum pounding. It’s an exercise in instrument supremacy as each riff, passage is controlled with surgical precision. I should say now that technical metal can leave me cold, as there is sometimes a concentration on the technical side whilst forgetting about the core requirement is that the music has to move you. Monasteries haven’t forgot this, and it is fully on point. Orphan Halls weaves a web of riffs into the slow, air expelling crushing break that gradually speeds up until it implodes under its own weight. More of this is captured on Six Behind Bars, which I think has maybe the most traditional riff / arrangement on the album, in that it feels the most conventional, but in their hands it’s a belter, It rips, just rips.

Fatal Design (ft Sven from Aborted) stands out as an almost funky / groove monster but no less heavy. Possessing some of the lowest growls and deepest, densest riffs it rolls along crushing all in its path before returning to the start and closing that circle. They just keep on with H.E.A.V.Y. (ft Monte Bernard of Emberthrone) which comes in with riffs that seemed to be stretched and some of the most vitriolic screaming I’ve heard in a while. Reflective State see’s them restart the tech attack, with the preceding two tracks possibly acting as a circuit break. This one has a storming arrangement that just moves, it’s just full-on perpetual motion but I’ve no idea how you would headbang to this.

And then they decide to drop Heaven Failed Us, which is astounding. It represents a subtle change in tack, with some what can be described as uplifting melody that combines with some clean vocals and is just absolutely royal. Alone Against takes us back onto that technical express but it feels like its running out of steam a little now and is probably one song too many. Ominous (Exit) is a different proposition again, this one just moves with purpose as opposed to a vehicle for tech wizardry, which I what I felt about Alone Against. It closes out the album on a suitable high point.

The fact that people can write music like this astounds me. The fact that they can write this and make it interesting to those who could practice every day for a millennium and still get nowhere near this level of proficiency. What I would say is that this presents a lot to digest in one take especially for those like me with no more than a passing knowledge of this genre. What I know is that it is one song too long, that is the only real negative I can see. Purveyors of technical metal will LOSE THEIR MINDS over this. 8/10

Course Of Fate - Cognizance EP Reissue/Somnium (Rock Of Angels Records) [Matt Bladen]

Scandi prog metal band Course Of Fate announce their return with a new album and a reissue of their debut EP. The album is a tribute to their bass player Jan Daniel Nygaard who passed away between their 2020 record Mindweaver and Somnium.

Cognizanace

So let's deal with the EP first and this is a straight up reissue of Cognizance, which was out of print on previous record label Fateroom Records. To celebrate its 10th anniversary new label ROAR! Rock of Angels Records have made it available once again so for anyone who got hooked on the band with Mindweaver can rediscover where the band started.

It's four tracks that establish the progressive metal sound of Course Of Fate, like fellow Norwegians Conception, Spiral Architect, Leprous and even Pagans Mind, although they have less of the power metal influences, their style comes from the style that comes from pioneers such as Fates Warning, Shadow Gallery and Queensryche, intelligence and heaviness put together. At just four tracks Cognizance is not so much a brief (it's 25 minutes) intro to Course Of Fate. Paralyzed Mind and Perpetual Fate both brining the chuggy sound of Queensryche as Eivind Gunnesen's vocals are quite similar to Geoff Tate. The Last Day goes into power metal strains before Premonition brings back that Queensryche/Fates Warning sound. For anyone who has followed the band, this will be a dream to add to their collection and will show you where things began. 7/10

Somnium

From here Course Of Fate added to their musical style on Mindweaver, so now how does Somnium measure up? Well it's a sadder, darker record dealing with the pandemic and the loss of their bandmate. It flows into heavier modern prog metal, sort of Dream Theater post Train Of Thought, the lyrics introspective and emotional, with plenty of other influences coming in. The line up remains mainly unchanged except for the drummer who is different to the EP and of course it contains the last recording of Daniel Nygaard on bass, is intricate grooves and rhythmic force creating the muscular bottom end for this new album.

The increase in skill and composition obvious from the instrumental Prelude and first song Morpheus Dream, the acoustic guitars segued into Wintersong, a track that is classic prog rock but with heavy guitars from guitarists and main songwriters Kenneth Henriksen and Marcus Lorentzen, they trade off riffs and solos as the keys and on this track organs of Carl Marius Saugstad, he’s more than just background noise though similarly to the way Jordan Rudess adds layers Saugstad is an additional lead and backing for the tracks especially in the solo sections, where of course he gets some solos on tracks like Valkyries or the piano piece Echoes. Behind everything Per-Morten Bergseth, who is a drum marvel, I did find myself often just listening to his drumming on tracks, like Valkyries (again), as it’s flawless.

Delicate but powerful on tracks such as Blindside, he conveys power and emotion through just the percussion, the rest of the emotion coming from Eivind Gunnesen’s vocals which improve greatly from the EP, the traces of Geoff Tate (Blindside again) still there but much more of his own style too, deeper and more pained but richer and trained. A step up not just from the EP but the previous album too, Somnium is a major step up in every direction. The grief on Remembrance stopping the album dead in its tracks, but it gave me chills, especially as it probably takes a new importance after losing their friend, as the anthemic Vile At Heart builds things up again with atmosphere and a huge chorus. Somnium is a top class prog metal record, rife with emotional power, it’s the best place to start with Course Of Fate. 9/10

Des Rocs - Dream Machine (Sumerian Records) [Rich Piva]

Can you be a band that puts the word “fuzz” in all the descriptions of your style but be so slickly produced it’s like you are listening on a Slip n’ Slide? Or be considered a band that brings the fuzz if you are produced by big time rock producers? Or just because one of the producers is also a member of Queens Of The Stone Age does that qualify you to lead with fuzz in your bio? The answer is no, no it does not allow you to fall into any sort of fuzz category. I am putting my foot down right now, because the new album by Des Rocs, Dream Machine, is anything but fuzzy. When I saw this, I was all in, ready to kick and claw and bite to be the guy to review this. Tell me this doesn’t sound awesome:

“Produced by Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, PJ Harvey), Matt Wallace (Faith No More, Maroon 5) and Des Rocs mastermind Danny Rocco, Dream Machine plays like a bolt of energy coursing through the glory days of rock, metal, and grunge, united within his signature “bedroom arena rock” sound.”

Well don’t get too excited, because you can use buzz words like fuzz, grunge, metal, and arena rock and still ultimately sound like an antiseptic retread Muse cover band. The title track with the cheesy spoken word parts and the single, I Am The Lightning which sounds like a more produced overdone The Black Keys track, and anyone who reads my reviews knows that this is not a compliment. White Gold is a try at a Jack White track which is not quite a swing and a miss but more of a foul ball. Never Ending Moment is the best song on here, but nothing I would want to revisit. Bad Blood is cringy 80s stuff and is not something I enjoyed. In The night was enough to turn this off for the last time.

I am sorry, but there is some false advertising going on here. I did not like Dream Machine at all and Des Rocs is not a purveyor of fuzz in any way. Avoid if you don’t like really over produced stuff that you have heard all before. 3/10

Reviews: Orbit Culture, Warmen, The Circle, Orphalis (Reviews By Mark Young, Matt Bladen, Rich Piva & James Jackson)

Orbit Culture - Descent (Seek and Strike Records) [Mark Young]

Descent is the latest from Sweden’s Orbit Culture. They have all the tags in place, death metal, groove metal, melodic death metal and perhaps more importantly, just plain metal which suggests that its either going to be a genre striding colossus or a mixed bag where nothing quite fits and is unsatisfying in the end. I’ve not come across them before, so I have no expectation of what they are going to be like. Or if I’m going to like them but reading online they have generated a buzz with their previous releases so I’m quietly confident that this will be a good one.

So, lets go.

After a short, cinematic introduction (Descending) we are into the album properly with Black Mountain, a fairly frenetic and very grand opening track. Early signs are promising of a stomping riff, with those guttural roars sliding into those impassioned cleans courtesy of Niklas Karlsson and some impressive footwork from Christopher Wallerstedt who places a marker of some incredible skills to come. Its certainly heavy, with all the right parts in the right places but its just feels a bit sterile, like a dentist. As we progress through the tracks, all of which are well crafted and they sound great but I cannot get past that feeling that there is something not there, or rather there is something that I am not connecting with.

Sorrower, has another spot on stomper of a riff that sits well with the death growls but I seem to miss something once they switch over to the cleans in that verse – chorus – verse – fast breakdown formation that musically is top notch. From The Inside, to these ears seems to repeat that trick and from there on in it becomes a slog. Vultures Of North comes in and tries to kick things up, with a tight riff and a tempo that wants tear holes in you. This is what I expected here, just an absolute battering but it doesn’t last. There is a drop off in attack that feels as though it was a form of padding out the song. It didn’t need it, just drop a 3 minute kicking and go onto the next one. Alienated grabs this opportunity, adding in swelling keys against some inhuman BPM’s from that man Christopher W. The man is on fire here, managing to keep that forward movement going and is a high point here for me.

The following tracks come without really impacting upon me; there is no denying that from a skill point of view they have an abundance of it and more. From an actual writing point of view it felt as though they were torn between two paths as there is a number of those slower paced songs that have the pre-requisite sections that speed up as called upon, with Undercity being an example of this. I’m not sure how well the clean switch worked as for me it took some. Technically gifted like the best oral hygienist but leaving you slightly worse off due to the throbbing in your mouth.  6/10

Warmen - Here For None (Reaper Entertainment) [Matt Bladen]

Formed by keyboardist Janne Wirmen, who will forever be known as Janne from Children Of Bodom, Warmen is his solo project that he started with his brother Antti in 2000. Mainly instrumental when they stared out, there were many guest vocalists on previous albums but Here For None features new singer Petri Lindroos of Enisferum, he has a snarl similar to that of Alexi Lahio, which means that Here For None is the album closest to the Children Of Bodom sound than any other.

Janne puts this down to an increase in a more aggressive style of songwriting he and his brother bringing more of the thrashy riffs, the lead guitars of Antti and the keys of Janne in perfect unison on tracks such as Night Terrors and the thrashy Hell On Four Wheels, as the rhythm section of bassist Jyri Helko and drummer Mirka Rantanen blast away on The Driving Force or add the chug to Too Much, Too Late. Death's On It's Way goes into the realms of Slayer, though the cover of Dancing With Tears In My Eyes by Ultravox is odd but then CoB always did some crazy covers. 

Here For None is another great slice of melodeath/power/symphonic metal from the brothers Wirman, Warmen continue the legacy of Alexi Lahio better than that other project attempting to. 7/10

The Circle - Of Awakening (AOP Records) [Rich Piva]

So how can I resist something labeled “Symphonic Doom” in the promo bin? This is how my journey with the second release from Hamelin, Germany’s The Circle begins. The band was founded by ex-Wintersun vocalist Asim Searah, so if you are familiar with them this should give you a starting point. But let’s just say this is bigger than anything they have put out there before. This is dark, bleak, blackened, death, doom. So, a little of a lot, but the songs are huge sounding and there is a lot going on across the five tracks of this concept album.

Kicking us off is Ruins, My Dying World, which rips you up from the death doom side until about five minutes in you are mesmerized by the violin and the soft, spoken word. I love how the tempo changed on this track seamlessly without losing the heaviness. The shotgun drums and gang vocals at the end of the track are very cool and set up the story nicely. I don’t always love the growl vocal style but in the context of this album it works for me. The title track is up next, and it has a lot going on. We are still on the epic death/doom tip, but musically you can hear all sorts of stuff happening, which I guess is where the symphonic description comes from. 

The drum work on Of Awakening stands out, as does the use of strings. Violin/viola or whatever can be more of a gimmick than a necessity on albums like this, but The Circle makes the strings crucial to their sound and the title track is a perfect example, especially the solo at the end of the song. Afflux is up next, and it starts with a quick rumble into a clean singing whisper, reminding me of his old band at times or maybe Paradise Lost. That whisper doesn’t last, as the gigantic screams take the slow burner over as the heavy rhythm section works in tandem with the strings nicely. I’m not going to try to recreate the story in this review, but the next track, Reign Of Terror is where the stuff is about to go down. 

Epic, gothic doom and a haunting female siren call leads the way, until we go full on blackened death/doom with insanely fast drumming and a big back wall of sound. The growl/clean vocal combo is in full action here and works perfectly as does the guitar solo to close it out. Ashes And Fading Tides is some epic, symphonic black metal goodness partnered with the gothic doom vibes that of Awakening consistently gives off. I love the strings and clean vocals slow down at the five-minute mark. Good stuff.

I don’t always love the death growls, but used with what The Circle brings musically, the on and off clean vocals, and the perfect use of strings, I am all about Of Awakening. This random grab from the promo folder is a really nice surprise that I will be listening to on the regular. These guys can really play and write some epic stuff. Worth checking out for sure. 8/10

Orphalis - As The Ashes Settle (Transcending Obscurity Records) [James Jackson]

First impressions count and yet you should never judge a book by its cover, life is so full of contradictions; judging this particular book by its cover however leads to exactly what you’d expect, the death metal style logo and the bleak image of blood red skies and a desolate structure doesn’t give the impression that this is going to be easy on the ear. And with the title track firing straight into an assault of guttural vocals and the fury of death metal’s atypical drum and guitar playing this is exactly as expected; it brings back memories of my teenage years buying albums purely based upon the song titles and generally hideous looking artwork. 

The second track opens in pretty much the same fashion, there’s an interesting bridge that unfortunately isn’t used as much as I’d have liked it. It’s at this point that after listening to the first four or five tracks that the novelty is wearing thin, any feeling of nostalgia has dissipated and given way to indifference; we’ve all heard someone say that heavy metal is just noise and each and every Metalhead on the planet has turned round and said “X song by X band on X album is an absolute masterpiece, it’s deep and moving on so many levels”, knowing fully well that’s it’s really grunt, bleugh, bleugh, expletive, blood, gore, death, blegh, expletive. And that’s absolutely fine, but not for me, not today. 

I drifted away from the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Obituary and the like after discovering bands that are slightly less one dimensional; acts like My Dying Bride who upon their Turn Loose The Swans album took that brutality of death metal and seamlessly melded it with violin infused doomy goodness. This album is every death metal fans wet dream, it’s got the apocalyptic album cover, the nightmare inducing song titles and all the hallmarks of the genre, all the guttural vocals and chainsaw riffs that you could possibly imagine. 

They play well, the songs are as well crafted as any other in this genre that I’ve ever heard and if I were 30 years younger looking to expand upon my collection of albums to piss my parents off with, then this is definitely something I’d have picked up and ultimately lent to my peers all of whom were doing the same thing. For me now though, the nearly half a century old, grumpy git that my children so affectionately call me; it’s not working. 4/10

Reviews: Moon Coven, Marc Hudson, Noveria, Gary Del Vecchio (Reviews By Rich Piva & Matt Bladen)

Moon Coven - Sun King (Ripple Music) [Rich Piva]

I don’t think anyone would be surprised if at the end of the year my album of the year comes from Ripple Music. The editor of this fine blog has deemed me Ripple Music’s Biggest Fan, (Tell me when I'm telling lies - CM ED) and I will accept that title with honor. I am not sure, however, if you looked at this list of 2023 releases from the best label in rock you would pick out that the one atop my leader board would be the third album from Malmo, Sweden’s Moon Coven. 

The band has taken their occult tinged stoner rock to the next level with Sun King, which has it all and is pretty much perfect. The band sounds like no other band while giving me everything I love about heavy music. Killer riffs, catchiness without compromising the heaviness, cool/weird lyrics, unique vocals, and an aura of mystery. All of this comes together on Sun King, which has all the stars and planets align, creating a stoner/psych masterpiece.

Right away you know this is going to rule when the first note of the riff from Wicked Words In Gold The Wrote blasts from your speakers, never mind the guitar work towards the end of the track. There is a wall of psych/stoner sound that pulls you in and doesn’t let go for all nine tracks on Sun King. Seeing Stone has one of the riffs of the year and will be the track that seals the deal for the listener. The tack has that occult rock feel that is mentioned in their bio, but it is the catchiness of the melody in the vocals that gets you and guides you to the next time they break it all down with that killer riff. Glorious. 

The guitar tone on Sun King is awesomely unique and blows me away every time. The title track brings another killer riff and a “chorus” that will leave an earworm (“Let’s Behead The King!”). The riffs are not just chunky goodness, as they pair with a killer rhythm section for some pretty complex musical compositions. I absolutely love the dual guitar solo in this track, bringing us some classic metal vibes (maybe they were listening to Ride The Lightning right before they recorded this?) along with the stoner psych goodness. Behold The Serpent is the doomiest track on Sun King, but more hypnotic doom (a new genre!) as the pace is slowed but the riffs never stop. The rhythm section kicks us off on Below The Black Grow, setting an ominous and spooky scene around more riffs and a catchy as hell vocal pattern. The dual solo on this track is my favorite on Sun King. 

Gilden Apple is a stoner/doom ghost story with more of that killer guitar work and a riff and melody that stays with you always. This is not a demon you will want to exercise. There is no lapse in quality as Sun King rises and sets, with The Yawning Wild and the brief instrumental interlude Death Shine Light On Life nicely setting up the absolute ripper of a closer, The Lost Color which has a riff that will tear you head off and another unique vocal pattern that are perfect examples of why these songs stand proudly together atop of the heap of stoner rock mountain kneeling to the deity the album is named after. 

I listen to a lot of new music. Before a review I spend somewhere between three and six listens up to the start of my writing. I have listened to Sun King 25 times since I have had it, and it has gotten better and better each time. I keep hearing new and exciting elements to the album, and the killer riffs never, ever get old. Stoner/psych/doom that borrows but is unique, Moon Coven has a modern classic and an (my) album of the year candidate with Sun King. Who would have thought it… 10/10

Marc Hudson – Starbound Stories (Napalm Records) [Matt Bladen]

12 years after taking the role of Dragonforce frontman Marc Hudson releases his debut solo record. Named Starbound Stories, its inspired by anime, videogames and of course power metal, a two of the tracks featuring Ryoji Shinomoto (RYUJIN, previously known as Gyze) on traditional Japanese instruments/vocals, Freedom Heart featuring virtuoso guitar player Syu (Galneryus), two tracks feature Galen Stapely of Azure, joined on Call Of The Martyrs by Youtuber Stevie T, while Dracula X has Jacky Vincent (ex-Falling in Reverse, ex-Cry Venom) and vocals by Adrienne Cowan (Seven Spires) as Stars has the violin of Mia Asano. 

It’s star studded but the focus is on Hudson, who uses his full vocal range here, soaring like Marc Boals did back in the day, even going higher on the galloping first track proper Freedom Heart. This will entice Dragonforce fans, as it’s at a ridiculous BPM, there’s lots of solos and huge choruses but leans heavily on the Japanese neo-classical/power metal scene, a style of music that often incorporates film scores, melodic rock/AOR and also pop. 

Hudson not only sings he plays guitar, joined by Dragonforce alumni Frédéric Leclercq (Kreator) who takes guitars and bass, while Shaz D is on keys and Rich Smith is behind the kit. Starbound Stories, is eclectic in true Japanese style, with the Celtic/Seafaring Stars, followed by the funky electro pop of The Siren, there’s some balladry with Swansong, melodic rocking on Call Of The Martyrs, much of the album sticking to that kind of sound, so if you’re waiting for blistering ‘extreme power metal’ you may be a bit underwhelmed. 

Still if you know the Japanese metal style where ‘mainstream’ music meets virtuosity, ala Loudness or the many Visual Kei acts out there, Starbound Stories will prick up your ear, Hudson even singing final song One More Sight Of The Sun With You does a lot to show his reverence for Japan and the musical and artistic culture. Anime metal from the Dragonforce frontman, it's that simple, you’ll either love it or avoid it completely. 8/10

Noveria - The Gates Of The Underworld (Scarlet Records) [Matt Bladen]

On a bit of a prog metal kick this week, with a load of bands that rely on virtuoso playing and complex song arrangements are all releasing albums. One of the highlights for me is this fourth album from Italian progressive/power metal band Noveria. Featuring members of DGM, Ethernity and Epysode, the Noveria style is similar to that of fellow Italians, DGM, Virtual Symmetry, Even Flow and two of the premier bands in this genre Symphony X and Evergrey. 

Produced by DGM’s Simone Mularoni, the bombastic nature of his production makes The Gates Of The Underworld a pin sharp expression of precision and power. The interplay between Francesco Mattei’s guitar and Julien Spreutels keys is present on every single track, the solos from both duelling each other on tracks such as Revenant. The atmospherics created by Spreutels keys bring cinematics and dramatic changes of pace on Overlord and Anima. 

Matteri’s heavy riffs are anchored by the grooving modern metal bass of Andrea Arcangeli, the drumming of Davide Calabretta offering various changes to the flow of the songs from spatial thumps to blasts of aggression. You expect this kind of playing from prog/power metal bands where the technicality is driven into moments of heaviness but also huge melodic hooks, it usually needs a great singer to pull it off and with Francesco Corigliano, Noveria have a great singer. 

From the 8 minute Origins, he displays his Russell Allen-like passion, set against a track that sounds like middle period Symphony X. He’s a hell of a vocalist, dealing with the darker edged prog/power that Noveria deal in. The album is inspired by stories of the human condition, each featuring real life stories form the band and fans, full of struggles, emotions and also the mysteries of life and the universe, there’s tracks about a psychotic break, escaping a narcissistic relationship, the aftermath of surviving a heart attack and also a near death experience. 

Both Descent and Venom are highly orchestrated, the former featuring guest vocals from Fabio Lione, while the latter is the albums heaviest cut, featuring some growls, though it retains the ear for melody. The title track has growls in it again displaying the versatility of their singer, but the large instrumental sections too are brain melting pitched perfectly in the prog metal/power metal vein. If this is the soundtrack to the underworld then send me on the Styx to Hades as, Noveria have impressed the hell out of me here. 9/10

Gary Del Vecchio - Buzzin (RidingEasy Records) [Rich Piva]

I love how RidingEasy Records has become the go to label for all things lost late 60’s and 70’s proto. The fact that there is so much lost late 60’s and 70’s proto is amazing, and how the label keeps unearthing these amazing pieces of rock history is something to behold. Starting with the Brown Acid series that is currently sixteen volumes strong and now taking some of the artists that we are discovering on said compilations and releasing “grail” full lengths from those bands of stuff no one has heard or thought of in decades. The latest is Buzzin by Gary Del Vecchio, an Ohio teenage prodigy who unleashed some killer early heavy rock starting at 16 years old. Gary never went on to superstardom, but he certainly could of considering the talent he displays on the nine tracks from Buzzin.

The title track, which we first heard on the Brown Acid thirteenth trip, is absolute killer proto, with amazing guitar work and a killer rhythm section, particularly whoever he had behind the drum kit for this session. It mentions in the bio that Del Vecchio was influenced by fellow Ohioan Joe Walsh, and you can hear the James Gang love in this track for sure. The next track, Head On has a nice crunchy riff and I get a Zeppelin/Kiss hybrid feel to this song (this track may have predated Kiss by a few months, so maybe they sound like him). Check out the solo on this bad boy too. What You See Is What You Get has more Ace vibes to it but coupled with a more of a heavy psych feel to it. This is the default for all nine tracks, but young Gary can certainly play that guitar, and there is no better example than this track. 

Laid Back Street starts with some cowbell and has more of a boogie to it than some of the more rockers on Buzzin but that doesn’t mean Gary holds back on the shredding. Buzzin checks just about everything off of my 70’s proto albums need to have list, as the next track Red Bird Fly kicks in with some organ as we start to get into some prog territory with some sax partnering with those keys with excellent results. There is at times a spacey feel to this one, where I can hear some elements of Hawkwind when the band kicks in at around the halfway point. I mentioned the prog direction, and the next two tracks solidify this as his next music direction as the song lengths and instrumentation take a further leap. I believe these tracks are in age order, so it cool to see his musical journey. 

Wasted King is first, and the bio doesn’t lie when it mentions some Pink Floyd love here. But it is way edgier than Floyd, as Gary doesn’t tone down his guitar work and his heavy riffing, but there is a lot going on musically in this song, as there seems to be multiple layers of sound going on here, with the rhythm section and piano pushing his guitar to do amazing things. Starman is his best track, an epic eight minute plus proggy/space adventure with all sorts of soundscapes, some killer organ, and is something to behold. The last two tracks, Dream Woman and Dreamland take a more of a folk psych vibe, showing the mail can chill you out and freak you out in addition to rocking your face off.

RidingEasy has given us so many gifts with the Brown Acid Series and then with unearthed releases from Fraction, Brotherhood Of Peace, Edge, and Randy & The Goats, and that is just from the last few months. The Gary Del Vecchio album may be the best of the lot, as this is something all fans of proto should seek out. Great stuff again from Riding Easy, and I can’t wait to hear what’s next. 8/10

Reviews: Cyhra, Neal Morse, Devilsome, Induction (Reviews By Manos Sideris & Matt Bladen)

Cyhra - The Vertigo Trigger (Nuclear Blast) [Manos Sideris]

Cyhra’s third studio album is The Vertigo Trigger released from Nuclear Blast in August 18th. I did not know this band and upon seeing that most band members had existed in important heavy metal bands such as In Flames, Kamelot and Amaranthe, I thought that I would be in for a very good record. I started listening as open-minded as I could.

Starting off I can tell that production is very good. You can hear all instruments clearly. Also, the use of synth and samples complimenting the guitar riffs and the chord progressions and seem to be doing wonders for this band. Of course I do not know if they play it live or they use samples. I hope they do without pre-recorder tracks. Anyway, most songs have typical forms, guitar-driven with catchy choruses and this god-awful 1-6-7 chord progression repeated on almost every freaking song. 1.000.000 Fahrenheit is the first song that I manage to hear different things on, with a wicked riff in the middle section. After that Buried Alive takes the turn with its twin lead bridge and a nice sing-along part coming up.

The Voice You Need To Hear comes at the perfect timing. Good song-writing here, probably the best track of the album for me at least. Life Is A Hurricane and If I are both good tracks. We‘ve got a rhythm going here. These guys are serving the music at all times without needless parts, they’re actually on to something, despite the fact that this damn 1-6-7 chord progression keeps popping off all the time. I will call it the In Flames Chord Progression! Too Old For Fairy Tales is the last track of the record with it’s nice twin lead in the middle and the catchy chorus. I had hoped for a grander outro but that’s life.

To be honest I am not a man to talk or write about 3 minute modern heavy metal songs with a hooky riff and a chorus strung together and the In Flames Chord Progression raving on and on in every other song, as my musical taste is much more elaborate than that. However, upon appealing to my younger self with simpler tastes I can see that the guys in Cyhra have done a good job and this is a very good album for that specific genre. 8/10

Neal Morse - The Dreamer: Joseph Part One (Radiant Records) [Manos Sideris]

Neal Morse is known to most people as a great musician and songwriter in progressive rock having participated successfully in many groups (Spock’s Beard, Transantlic, Neal Morse Band and many others). For those who want to know more he is also a devout Christian spreading the word every chance he gets. He does so through his music as well. According to his multiyear discography this is his 11th solo album. Joseph Part One out in August 11th from Radiant Records is an album about Joseph’s story, son of Jacob and Rachel, a biblical figure known as “the righteous one” who ultimately rose to become vice-ruler of Egypt. He wore a special multicolored robe, one you can also see on the artwork from the album’s cover. Joseph Pt Two has already been announced to drop in 2024.

Treading in classic Neal Morse footsteps this record does a great job at telling the story. Upon listening I googled for so I could find out more about Joseph’s story and as it turns out music fit along perfectly in my search all the way in this classic progressive / gospel / bluesy rock record. Neal and all musicians taking part are doing a very good job. Guest musicians are Steve Morse (Deep Purple, Dixie Dregs), Erik Gilette (NMB), Ted Leonard (Spock’s Beard), Matt Smith (Theocracy) and Jake Livgren (Kansas) among others. As for separate tracks, this entire record is fleshed so the story comes first and no specific track really stands out among the rest. I personally liked the outro guitar solo on Wait On You, the sinister feel of Liar, Liar, the seductive groove on Slave Boy and the outro song Heaven In Charge Of Hell, but truthfully no track got me super-super excited. However, all tracks musically really did transpire the feeling of the part of the story that was on display at the moment.

Overall, to be honest when I saw it was a Neal Morse solo album I had to review, I was a little terrified of all the religious overtones. It turns out I was wrong because the music is really good (if you are not a listener extremely hung on to any one genre), and serves the story of this concept album really well. Also, despite being atheist, I am open-minded enough to end up liking the story as well! Now if religious overtones are the problem for you, I am just sorry that you are missing out on good music because of that. 8/10

Devilsome - Devilsome (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

From Northern Ireland, Devilsome are an occult heavy rock band featuring Joe McGuigan of Gama Bomb on guitar, Garth Kidd on vocals/bass and John McSherry on guitar. As you can see, there's no drummer in the main line up so Chris Williams of (Shrapnel/Gama Bomb) came in as a guest behind the kit, Kenry Canavam provides keys and Richard Shaw of Cradle Of Filth brings a special guest solo on the thrashy 7th Seal. 

The trio are influenced by gothic rock, heavy metal, punk and horror movies, with a sound that straddles Type O Negative (Necromantic Girl), Ghost (Children Of The Night), Danzig/Misfits (Charge Of The Nephilim) and Black Sabbath (Morning Star). 

Spooks, spectres and sinister affectations are abound on this debut record and the dark, gothy sound is what is overarching, I struggled a little with the vocals thoughout and there is a weird cover of Time Of The Season by The Zombies, but Devilsome is a spooky introduction to the band of the same name. 6/10

Induction – The Power Of Power (Atomic Fire Records) [Matt Bladen]

Having come off the back of playing Helloween’s Hello Feast in Slovakia, Induction release a digital only EP as a reminder of their commitment to proper power metal. For 6 tracks across 30 minutes, you’ll be pumping your fist in time to the speedy gallops, twin axe harmonies and music influenced by the German pumpkins and Finnish neo-classicists Stratovarius. It’s a compilation of tracks from their previous albums; Born From Fire (2022), Induction (2019), a single from this year A Call Beyond and a new song Set You Free. 

The constant between these is guitarist Tim Hansen who founded the band, the rest of the band having been members since 2022. It’s quite interesting to compare the vocals of Nick Hollerman on the 2019 takes and the vocals of current singer Craig Kearns (Tailgunner) as Kearns is the better vocalist so it’s definitely a positive change. Listen closely and the songs since 2022 are actually much better wholesale, the brand new track Set You Free a rollicking romp through power metal past. If this is a glimpse of what is to come then Induction will soon be near the top of the power metal pile. Love it! 8/10

A View From The Back Of The Room: Eyehategod & Church Of Misery (Live Review By Richard Oliver)

Eyehategod & Church Of Misery, The Fleece, Bristol, 15.08.23

Doom, stoner and sludge metal shows always seem to do well in Bristol with these subgenres of metal having a big following in the city. This was certainly the case for this show which was completely sold out with The Fleece absolutely crammed full and boiling hot.

Unlike the previous two shows, there was no local support which was a lost opportunity for an up and coming band to get their music exposed to a good audience which meant a lengthy wait for the first band to hit the stage which definitely benefited the bar takings at The Fleece as a metal crowd does like to drink. Opening up the show were the tour support - Japanese doom metallers Church Of Misery (8). These are one of the best doom metal bands going in my humble opinion and despite having been going since 1995, they don’t have a massive following in this part of the world outside of doom and stoner metal circles. 

The band have not long released their new album Born Under A Mad Sign and there were a few songs lifted off said album as well as a handful of tunes from the band's discography. Despite all their songs being named after and lyrically all about serial killers, Church Of Misery pack a severe amount of groove which got the crowd moving. Frontman Kazuhiro Asaeda also got in on the action waving his hands through the air and riding the waves of groove which his fellow bandmates blasted out with a barrage of Sabbath-esque riffs and solos from Fumiya Hattori and groovy psychedelic bass lines from the sole original member of the band Tatsu Mikami whilst drummer Toshiaki Umemura kept everything together. 

The sound engineer for the evening really knew their craft as the band sounded absolutely perfect with songs such as Come And Get Me Sucker (David Koresh) and Born To Raise Hell (Richard Speck) shaking the venue to its foundations whilst also sounding crystal clear. There were a few in attendance this evening who were new to the Church Of Misery experience but by the end of their set the band had definitely earned a lot of new fans.

As soon as the headliners Eyehategod (9) walked onto the stage you could feel the anticipation building and the hunger of the crowd growing in intensity. The NOLA sludge legends initially jammed to make sure that everything was sounding perfect before frontman Mike Williams greeted the crowd and a wall of feedback and distortion rang out and lingered leaving everyone waiting with baited breath for the music to start and things to erupt. And erupt they certainly did. For the entirety of the set, the front of the crowd were throwing themselves around without care or abandon whilst there was also a steady stream of crowd surfers and stage divers which the band seemed to appreciate. 

The music was the acerbic and unhinged sludge metal which is Eyehategod’s calling card with guitarist Jimmy Bower ripping out riffs that were equally biting and vicious as well as having that unmistakable NOLA groove whilst bassist Gary Mader and drummer Aaron Hill pounding out those deranged and unpredictable rhythms. Mike was in fine form with his deranged and tortured screams adding to the levels of aggression that his bandmates were bringing forth and he is a great frontman to watch who is really in the zone and in the moment when on stage. It was the anniversary of the bands seminal Take As Needed For Pain album so we were treated to some tunes from that as well as others that were dug out of the discography such as Jack Ass In The Will Of God, Every Thing, Every Day and Agitation Propaganda which really got the crowd going for it. 

 After a brief departure from the stage the band returned for an encore of Lack Of Almost Everything and Dixie Whiskey giving the crowd one last opportunity to unleash chaos on each other. I’ve seen Eyehategod perform plenty of times but this was probably the finest show I’ve seen them play to date with the sound engineer again ensuring that the band sounded perfect and a band and audience that were equally up for it. It was a fine evening of music and a fine reminder of why Eyehategod have such a loyal following. I expected to enjoy Church Of Misery more tonight being my preferred band on record but Eyehategod just absolutely smashed

Reviews: Ringworm, Imperial Tide, Shadow Smile, Robert Jon & The Wreck (Reviews By GC, Mark Young, James Jackson & Rich Piva)

Ringworm - Seeing Through Fire (Nuclear Blast) [GC]

Having been around for over 30 years and releasing 8 albums already, Ringworm have found a new home at Nuclear Blast for their latest album Seeing Through Fire having already firmly established themselves as a fan favorite in the in both the metal and hardcore worlds lets see what they have to offer on this release.

Storming straight in with title track Seeing Through Fire it’s a lot more thrashy than I was expecting, but it still has the hardcore tinge to it, but the thrash influence here is undeniable and when James ‘Human Furnace’ Bulloch vocals do kick in it forms a more hardcore rhythm and absolutely savages you with razor sharp riffing from Matt Sorg & Mike Lare and some impressive drum work from Ed Stephens. You then barely have time to take a breath before Carved In Stone smashes its way forward and this is a full throttle metal track and mixing hardcore but not really metalcore but whatever you want to call it, it’s done WELL, its urgent and gripping and the power behind the music is phenomenal! No Solace, No Quarter, No Mercy is another devastating mix of hardcore and metal and leaves you in a heap in the corner and does indeed show no mercy to the listener, a truly beautiful lesson in audio violence! 

Death Hoax then keeps the frantic pace going with a more thrashy offering and it completely flattens you as its about as subtle as a brick to the temple and has some lovely mid pace groove metal thrown in for good measure another breathtaking song! Thought Crimes is an unashamed hardcore stomper and will have you 2-stepping and windmill kicking your nan through windows and not caring! The pure unadulterated energy and savageness through these songs is an absolute delight. Unavoidable Truth is another magnificently executed and wonderfully brutal hardcore attack, the way they refuse to drop the pace or relent on the savage nature of everything is the best thing about this album so far, nothing has made me think oh, that could have been left out, there is one aim here and that is to brutalize and destroy everything in its path, so far its mission accomplished. 

House Of Flies follows on from everything else and provides no let up or relaxation and once again shows that when they put their minds to it that Ringworm really are one of the best around and also there are some wonderful solos just chucked in to add more texture and depth then You Want It To adds a bit of a grind tempo to the song but never falls out of line and of course mixes in some more delicious hardcore violence before Mental Decontrol reminds me of Discharge due to the uncompromising approach to the verses and blasting D-beat punk feel of the song, I’ve said it before if you want to copy Discharge do it at you own risk, here Ringworm do it and it pays off in absolutely glorious fashion! 

The attack of Power And Blood doesn’t take its foot of the pedal for even one second and there is devastating brutality on show until the very last second of this song and just when you think you can’t take anymore, Playing God actually stops everything in its tracks and is unfortunately a bit of a stunted ending with subtle guitars and samples that kind of kicks into a groove at the end, the only bonus about this track is it FINALLY lets you finally catch your breath and compose yourself but, I didn’t want it to end like that, I just wanted MORE!!

Apart from the frustrating end, this album was insane! Full of energy, violence, brutality, and pure aggression, it is everything I want in an album, minus the end track and I really can’t find any other fault in it anywhere. If you like your metal thrashy and with a huge dollop of hardcore thrown in then this is for you, if you don’t then this might just be the band to change your mind! Seeing Through Fire is really THAT GOOD! And even with that little hiccup on the last track this is probably the easiest score I have given all year. 10/10

Imperial Tide - Existence In Crisis (Mascot Records) [Mark Young]

With BC tags that suggest hardcore, metalcore and Las Vegas flavoured metal, it’s a heady brew that Imperial Tide have produced on what is their first EP. Rather than being anchored in one genre, they jump across and take influence from where they see what is best to fit the song, and the result is a rather energetic if shouty affair that is definitely aimed at those looking for something new.

It’s a quick EP, hitting quickly without pausing for breath, coming at you in that way that rolls over you in wave after wave until its done, and its pretty good in that respect. King Of The Guitar starts with that urgent Hip-hop beat, ushering in some down tuned riffing. Vocal phrasing and arrangement remind of early Skipknot, with a loose melody to it. The backing arrangement is heavy but really moves and you know that when they drop this live it will go off. It's not reinventing anything, but like all music it’s taking from what comes before and sharpens it up. 

Off The Leash soon follows with a more trad metal approach segueing into Slip, which is an absolute monster of a thing, and really highlights the genre leaps that they are capable of. This goes extremely hard, and the short length works well here. It doesn’t get chance to settle or give you chance to do so. R.A.T. sees them going back to that early Slipknot vibe, all dense breaks and pinched harmonics and will cause carnage live. Blood On The Streets see a change with a more restrained opening into a slow grind riff giving the space to Landon Hill to spit his venom until the guitars come back around to reinforce and then we into Malice In The Palace, all gang vocals and some rock-hard riffing going on.

It’s a frenetic 15 minutes, that as a showcase for their talents is pretty good. Its an unapologetic rush of energy that comes from youth, and that sheer belief in that what they are doing is unique and that it should be heard. The real test will be getting a full-length album together and seeing if it can maintain that fire all the way through, or will it be a case that they can’t sustain it. On the six songs here, there is evidence that they can. Its possible that they may need to mine their influences a bit more to really make a unique sound, but they are certainly on the way. In terms of a score, it is a difficult one because it’s an EP, but it is a very good one. 

It will find a vocal audience with our younger viewers and that is no disrespect because Metal always needs new faces to come in and upset people. Go and give them a listen, you and they deserve it. 7/10

Shadow Smile - Signed In Blood (Self Released) [James Jackson]

Upon reading the bio for Shadow Smile I discovered that they’re from Sheffield and apart from being the birth place of Def Leppard and having the UK’s only Lego Cafe, I know very little about the area; well it turns out that most of the Top 65 interesting facts about Sheffield are either about football, steel or how far it is from other parts of the UK.

Far more exciting though, the town does hold the record for the most pancake tossers and the most people playing hopscotch; though unfortunately not at the same time. Oh and a herd of cows escaped a field in 2015 and again in 2019; so it’s no wonder that Shadow Smile are doing their bit to put Sheffield on the map for more creative reasons.

They’re described as playing alternative/modern metal, a blend of old and new pulling influences from modern metal and the classic rock of old and that “classic” influence is most notable in Connor McGovern’s vocal style, especially upon title track Signed In Blood whereas Hellbound Heart leans, at times, towards a more metalcore style and sound. Within each track Shadow Smile bounce from arena rock with sing a long chorus lines into a more in your face approach, channeling the influence of acts like Bring Me The Horizon and Bullet For My Valentine.

There’s a confident competence on display and it’s no wonder that the band has, according to their bio, been going from strength to strength, they’ve opened for Skid Row and been featured upon a multitude of rock based radio stations and programmes. There are a few tracks on the album that are more instrumental and experimental than the rest and the chorus line to final track Suck The World Dry sounds more Steel Panther than it probably should and there may just be a trumpet solo towards the end which only makes it sound more cringey than it really ought to be.

Up until the last song Signed In Blood is a pretty solid piece of metal and rock, Shadow Smile wear their influences on their sleeve and for the most part due them proud. For fans of pretty much anything really, just avoid the last song.7/10.

Robert Jon And The Wreck - Ride Into The Light (Journeyman Records) [Rich Piva]

As I start to grab more albums from genres outside of my usually wheelhouse of doom, stoner and hair bands from the 80s with new albums out now, I am finding I have more questions than answers on some things. For example, what the hell is “Blues Rock” supposed to be these days? I think my definition, or what I want blues rock to be, is different than reality in 2023. I want something filthy. 

Something that sounds like it’s coming from a dirty, dark bar. Something from someone who has lots of troubles and wants to tell us all about them. The reality is blues rock seems to be more like what we get from the latest album from Robert Jon And The Wreck, which is clean, very slickly produced, and at times sounds more like country rock than blues. What am I missing here, because blues would not be in the top ten categories I would place Ride Into The Light in. OK fine, but is it any good regardless of the genre that is does or should fall into?

Well, if you like your blues rock over produced and with a singer with a very distinct modern country twang, Ride Into The Light may be for you. Unfortunately, it I not for me. I mean I like the riff in the opening track, Pain No More, but I am struggling to find the blues part. Maybe in the solo there is some Stevie Ray love? These guys could very easily open for one of the big county acts on the road today and fit in nicely. Listen to the next track, Who Can You Love and tell me this is not a country song, which is fine, it is just not blues rock. 

When I say fine, I mean fine for someone who likes modern country, which is not your reviewer. This is mostly my fault, since I went in with a certain idea of what I was getting myself into. Even the title of the next track, Come At Me, sounds like a track for the modern country crowd. The closest we get is Bring Me Back Home Again, which is far and away the best track on this album. I listened to this album four times and each time it more and more felt like these guys should be opening for Morgan Wallen or someone of that ilk, which is not for me.

This all may be my issue, but this was not blues rock. I am still trying to figure out what that means in 2023, but it is not Ride Into The Light. Robert Jon And The Wreck may have a niche somewhere, but to me this is sterile, overproduced heavy modern country that I have zero appetite for. 4/10

Reviews: Godthrymm, Reformat, Borracho, Unblessed Divine (Reviews By Matt Bladen, Mark Young, Rich Piva & Evil Spider)

Godthrymm - Distortions (Profound Lore) [Matt Bladen]

The follow up to 2020's Reflections, Distortions is more misery from Halifax, seemingly the epicenter for death/doom. Inspired by the Peaceville Three, featuring members of My Dying Bride, Anathema as well as Paradise Lost offshoot Vallenfyre, and doom veterans Solstice. Distortions is an hour of introspective, cavernous doom metal. Letting go of the Eldrich Horror approach of their first record, into something that is more earthly, but still as frighting. They do away with Lovecraft for the dark romanticism of Edgar Allen Poe. 

Lyrics etched with sadness and despondency, the vocals of Hamish Glencross, ringing out with sorrow and emotion, joined at times by Catherine Glencross' ethreal soaring, on tracks such as Obsess And Regress. Her keys/synths are an atmospheric companion to Hamish's maudlin guitar harmonies. Distortions expands on the sound of their first album (and their EP) adding the gothic elements you can hear, creating a mood of distance or introspection, but with added complexity to highlight the darker and lighter phases. The direction they are travel in now hinted at by their 7 inch Flexi single from last year. Full realised here as the crushing rhythmic force of Sasquatch" Bob Crolla (bass), and Shaun "Winter" Taylor-Steels (drums) on top form on the evil sounding Devils. 

Echoes meanwhile is back to the gothic styled doom with plenty of spiraling lead guitars. Follow Me features My Dying Bride man Aaron Stainthorpe reflecting the legacy that Godthrymm come in the stead of. With the third part of their trilogy, Projections, already in the works Godthrymm strengthen their foothold in the UK gothic/doom scene with Distortions. 8/10

Reformat - Precursed (Fearbone) [Mark Young]

Right, so I’ll be honest, I have no idea what is going on here with this. It’s a mix of metal, electronica, auto-tuned voices, despair and hope all put through a manic blender and sent out to an unsuspecting public for consuming. It has those arrangements that seem to have been trawled from classic Science fiction and home entertainment systems of the 80’s and 90’s and once you hear it you will know exactly what I mean by that.

And I’ll tell you something else it is royal. If you asked me what genre this is, you would be met with a shrug and a response like “don’t know. A good one?” because the songs themselves have that little bit of everything that comes together and just works. Whether it’s the urgent Obsolethal or Paroxysms that stomp or the key swells at the start of Detrusa, it’s the soundtrack to the greatest boss fight ever so when the guitar does come in (and it does) it lifts everything up. Put this on whilst engaging some of the bosses in Elden Ring (other epic games are available) and you just go mental.

Each song takes you somewhere, and I get from it a major 80’s vibe in terms of the arrangements the synths take (looking at you J Carpenter, and Vangelis) with no two the same. This is music if it was made by evil geniuses who wear long white lab coats and have taken time off from world domination to scratch an instrumental music itch. Even better is that the level of quality doesn’t drop as we get into the later songs, the one-two of Dead-Place and Astromanx are just spot on, but for me Prince Valium shades it as the best one here (personal opinion and all that).

This is the second instrumental album I’ve reviewed this month, and the two of them could not be more different, but both are superb in their own right. With Din Of Celestial Birds, I talked about how it would be to see them perform live, given the emotion in the arrangements they have. Here, I would love to see HOW they do it live and what reaction they would get, it’s just a quality record that manages to finely balance the guitar with the electronica aspects so that both get that opportunity to shine here. Its 38 minutes of quality music that you should get onto immediately. Going back to Din... these are two of my favourite releases this year because they hit so differently. I’ve no idea if from reading this you are inspired to get hold of this album. But Mr Young tells no lies. Its excellent. 9/10

Borracho - Blurring The Lines Of Reality (Kozmik Arifactz) [Rich Piva]

There are not a ton of protest songs in stoner rock that are not legalize it related or that are political leaning but are more subtle references than flat out political statements. There even less full protest albums in the genre, and maybe zero CSNY Ohio level protest albums. There is a first time for everything however, because here we are with the Washington D.C. trio Borracho’s new album, Blurring The Lines Of Reality. 

These three dudes are pissed off and are not afraid to air their grievances for all to consume via some killer stoner rock riffage. The last Borracho album was leaning in the political direction, but this is some next level stuff on the new one. I am not going to get into the politics in the review, but let’s just say I am here for everything this album brings to the table from start to finish with Borracho delivering one of the stoner albums of the year.

The first three tracks are like a play in three acts, Architects Of Chaos. I like how this is split into three songs, as the parts work very well separately and gives the listeners with short attention spans the ability to consume one track at a time without the feel of the album dragging. Part 1 is straight ahead stoner riff goodness, with some cool call and response vocals (RESIST) that make this heavy and catchy all at once. Oh, and the riffs remind me of some Wo Fat goodness so there is that too. 

I think Wo Fat is the best comparison here, especially as we move into track two, the song of the year contender and Part 2 of the act. The short attention span crew will have to deal here because this is eleven minutes of some of the best heavy rock you will hear all year. I mean the slow burn into that riff at the three-minute mark is perfection and when the heavy kicks in at around the 4:15 mark look out all of you on the opposite side of what’s about to be delivered, never mind the back-and-forth guitar work around the five-minute mark. Killer. This is all before the vocals kick in and the real anger smacks you across the face (…a plastic deity). Oh, then the last two minutes when the old school dial up freaks me out as I write this just riffs you to death. I am out of breath typing this, that is how impactful this track is. 

Part 3 brings another killer riff and has an almost haunting vibe to it, especially in the vocals. All three acts are very different songs, but they are alike in theme and awesomeness. The quality doesn’t decrease after the first three tracks, as Loaded brings a nice three-minute instrumental stoner jam to the party (rally, demonstration, sit in?) where the guitar work gets to shine through. Loaded seamlessly transitions to This Great War, which brings both the heavy riffs and heavy subject matter (oh, and cowbell). There is Wo Fat/Fu Manchu hybrid action going on here, but only if both those bands read the Washington Post, like a lot. Check out the solo too…so good. Speaking of heavy, check out the closer, Burning The Goddess, which brings the riff destruction like the hurricanes and wildfires they mention in the lyrics.

The only thing that will not make this album a top ten of the year, if you love riffs, is if you cannot separate the politics from the music, either because you don’t like to mix your rock with the news or you don’t feel the same way the band does and can’t get over their leanings versus your own. I have no such issue, because Blurring The Lines Of Reality kicks so much ass nothing else matters. Borracho brings so much awesome riffage and gives zero you-know-whats about what people think about their politics that it makes the point moot. This is a top ten AOTY for me. I’ll proudly stand with Borracho when they burn it all down. 9/10

Unblessed Divine – Portal To Darkness (Massacre Records) [Evil Spider]

This is the first album from this Polish/South African 3 piece and it gives us pure, old-school death metal heaviness but also quite a new school flavour.

 
Setting the tone for the album is opener, Book Of Lies, supplying us with those chunky OSDM style riffs delivered like a sledgehammer but with precision, couple that with a really strong vocal performance and brief little sample sections, well, you can colour me interested.

 
To my delight, the onslaught continues, but there’s something more to this. It's not just a throwback to a revered genre and time. The use of keys gives the album an intangible, an atmosphere if you will, that a lot of heavier bands lack. They’re not in your face, but they bring so much to the table, you’d definitely miss them if they were taken away.

Whilst I’m talking about atmosphere I must give a mention to the production, I’m not usually one to comment on such things but at it's core, this is OSDM, but the production choices really give this a modern sound without moving too far away from the blueprint, something I find is hard to come by.

Four tracks in and Blacken The Soul shows us that the band are aiming for something more with their song writing, using the foundations of what they clearly love but trying to push a bit further. This 7.5 minute track has a light and airy solo, a Burton C Bell style clean vocal leading into a hair spinning, circle pit inducing frenzy. And that’s just the first half.

 
God Of Darkness continues the fury and seems to pull on more contemporary influences. The guitars both batter and caress. The double bass drum pummels throughout whilst maintaining that steady rhythm which brings to mind Demigod era Behemoth. A headbangers dream.

 
The Glorious Flames really puts an exclamation point at the end of the album by fusing all of the talking points that I’ve mentioned into another 7 minute epic that leaves you wanting more.
This is far from a masterpiece but there are so many exciting talking points and I am firmly along for the ride. 7/10

Reviews: Mairu, Temple Of Dread, Claret Ash, Royal Deceit (Reviews By Mark Young, Erick Willand, Rick Eaglestone & Zak Skane)

Mairu - Sol Cultus (Trepanation Records) [Mark Young]

A local band!! Hailing from Liverpool Mairu bring you their blend of post-metal and atmospheric sludge that leans more into the instrumental approach and is an absolute belter. Just before we get into the review, don’t let atmospheric sludge or instrumental put you off. The music here is in turns heavy, subtle but always top class. It is one of the releases of the year, made all the better for the fact they are from the UK (and Northern, although I’m not in any way biased).

Torch Bearer begins silently building into a solid, downright dense riff structure that takes you on a journey through slow, measured moments to then move with more pace to put you smack in the middle of the final, closing act of the song. It’s a keen arrangement, putting emphasis on keeping that flow movement going into a fine ending riff. It’s a good start and moves into the quiet opening bars of Perihelion which unfolds in an unhurried manner again keeping that balance present with the stark melody set against a heavy riff which goes into heavier places. It’s a brilliant opening, which goes a long way to set up what follows next.

I mentioned being unhurried, which is the order of the day here. Songs are built with their core ethos in mind – What do they want to hear? Wild Darkened Eyes mixes it up by hitting the heavy switch from the get-go, death growls and monolithic riffs that hit without being overly complex. The real gravy is in the arrangement, knowing when to ease up and when to drop the hammer. One thing to note is that there are degrees of heaviness on display here. Its not one note / one sound running through it so that these differing shades of black really stand out. The Scattering Dust is another prime example of apparently effortless song building, Wah soaked passages, that sliding scale of heaviness that suddenly breaks out a fast section, taking you by surprise and eliciting head nods at the desk. 

Atar bursts forth, back and to, building and regressing but continually moving forward and not daring to stand still and we then hit the end, with Rite Of Embers with a suitably epic feel that acts as a bookend and closes the album on a high. A mark of the music here, is that this is a ten-minute song that doesn’t feel like it which for me is a massive and is generally something that turns me off this genre normally. This is a cracking release, the compositions and approach making light of some of the track lengths, which makes this an enjoyable experience as opposed to one of endurance. 

Fans of sludge should go mad for this, and its great to know that there are bands of this quality practically on my doorstep. Within each song there is a story, some are narrated others aren’t, but all are absolute stormers. The best is that there is no repetition, no rehashing of ideas you recognise elsewhere. Its as striking as anything I’ve heard this year which is fantastic given the wide range of music released this year. If this is the direction that the slower, sludge genre (Instrumental PM Sludge?) is moving in then I’m all for it. For me, music needs that urgency, and this has it down to a fine art as they move from song to song, journey to journey all keeping that level of engagement high. 

Its really, really good stuff and you should check them out because excluding them from your listening choices because of a tag or genre you are going to miss out. 9/10

Temple Of Dread - Beyond Acheron (Testimony Records) [Erick Willand]

Temple Of Dread seemingly sprang to wretched life from some dark forgotten shadow hole in fabled 2019 and have been raging prolific ever since, averaging an album almost every year save 2022. All three members either spent time in or are currently in Slaughterday, a band that catches high praise from this reviewer for tight production and fantastic cover arts.

We’ll talk about cover art later, let’s get to the sounds. Beyond Acheron opens with a solid intro track smartly kept tight and short, just long enough to set the stage and then vamoose. Right into the first track and also title track Beyond Acheron, a bold mover that is pulled off with calm confidence. The song is packed with intense thundering drum work and what I can only describe as ‘proper OSDM’ vocals. 

This album grabs you with swirling guitar attacks that are almost hypnotic, especially when combined with musicians that clearly know how to build a death metal song. The little thrash flourishes just add to the style here, you can feel the experience and forethought. The meat of this album, tracks like World Below, Dance Of Decay, and The Plague are tight, rumbling and more importantly fun DM songs that will definitely end up in a ton of playlists. Like Asebeia, the 9th track that went right into my personal list nearly immediately.

It’s not all twisted skulls and reeking graveyards though and once again I’m visited by my personal nemesis, ‘unnecessary song length’. (That dastardly bastard!) The first track to suffer from this is Damnation at a numbing 7:30. To be clear, it’s not a bad song, it’s just a bit bloated. Song length is so important because keeping a listener's attention is so important in an age when information is shoveled into us at alarming rates. If you’re going to have a DM song over the 4 minute mark it had better be interesting..or weird. Is Damnation a good song, yes, the guitar work alone is fantastic. Could it have been trimmed by a good 2 minutes…also yes. And the same goes for All Consuming Fire and Carnality Device. My dudes, when in doubt, trim it.

However, in the grand scheme of things this kind of thing is a me problem and I see that. Putting that side and also admitting that I am absolutely buying this myself I can’t fault it that deeply. Of course there is also the cover art by absolute legend Paolo Girardi to consider, a personal favorite of mine that’s plus a point right off the top. So, solid death metal songs, good production, and great cover art land Beyond Acheron at 8/10

(After - I ended up adding All-Consuming Fire to my personal list after a third listen) 

Claret Ash – Worldtorn:Anemoia (Hypnotic Dirge Records) [Rick Eaglestone]

Weaving together narratives among common threads of collapse, resiliency, symbiosis, and renewal, Australia’s Claret Ash present the second instalment of the Worldtorn series with Worldtorn: Anemoia.

Opening proceeding with a flurry of fury is Cascadence Of The Twilight, which also contains nice, crisp basslines along with wonderful atmosphere and varying vocal styles. There are a lot of pieces that gel together well to give an indication of who Claret Ash are. This is then followed by the releases longest track Invocation Of The Dream Weavers unlike the previous track this takes a more doom-laden approach with melodic piano pieces and folk elements that weave in and out of the heavier parts that follow. 

Following this in a reworking of Ground Dweller from the band’s debut album of the same name, this version is faster and more aggressive, more in line with how is performed live, this is complimented well an acoustic version of The Wolves Have Fed Again. Completing the release is a sweeping Orchestral version of lead track Cascadence Of The Twilight which is wonderfully gothic in presentation and its woeful nature really closes of the EP nicely. A triumphant example of atmospherics. 7/10

Royal Deceit – Ill (Prime Collective) [Zak Skane]

Fading with some phaser sounding lead lines Ill brings an upbeat opening to the metalcore outfits 10 track album, with it’s classic tom grooves and two step rhythms following with some Darkglass clanking bass tones, chunky downtuned guitars accompanied with modern poppy sounding sing-along choruses and raw emotionally lathed harsh vocals. 

The following track The War Inside brings in some electronic crossover elements in the introduction with it’s 90s sounding electronic beats and filtered sample guitars, which is then followed by foot stamping drum beats and heafty chugging and discord lathed guitar riffs that lead us into Wage War and Slipknot territory especially collaborated with the vocalist laying his heart on the line with an emotionally driven performance. Let Me Burn lead us into the dirty depths of half time groove hell, whilst the harsh vocals takes the lead role and demonstrate some naughty transitions from hefty gutturals to throaty fries. 

Undertow packs polyrhythmic intellectual arrangements whilst still packing poppy choruses for the general listener to grab on to. Low Life still carries on the mainstream catchiness whilst being armed with a nu metal edge and layered with ambient string sections. Other highlights on this album is This Hell which pacts modern metalcore vibes with it’s technical interval jumping riffs and anthemic choruses which would please any Architects and I Prevail fan. 

Self-Destruction and Wolves packs some awesome modern Nu-Metal riffs that would please fans of the likes of Cane Hill and Graphic Nature. Overall does this album reinvent the wheel, no. but does it wear it’s influences on it’s sleeve with artistic swagger abso-fucking-lutely. For fans of Wage War, Architects and I Prevail. 7/10.

Reviews: Horrendous, Spirit Adrift, Pyrogaric, Oblivion Protocol (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Horrendous - Ontological Mysterium (Season Of Mist)

Oh shit, this is fucking brilliant. Sorry to swear but it really is. It the accompanying stuff mentions that it's for fans of bands such as Death, Morbid Angel, Pestilence, so that's already a win in my book. Weirdly I'd never heard of this band before this fifth album but I wish I had as Horrendous tick so many boxes for me musically. 

They play incredibly technical death metal that finds itself thinking outside of the box with inventive compositions, virtuoso instrumentals, expansive vocals and nothing being off limits. Following up their very off-kilter 2018 album The Idol, Ontological Mysterium streamlines it all for a 37 minute rampage though varying styles that are kept within the extreme metal remit, the album recorded by the band jamming and just recording before refining to what you hear now. 

Harking back to their 2015 album Anareta, Ontological Mysterium is inspired by classic metal in the dual leads especially as Matthew Knox and Daminan Herring trade off on every song, both with their guitars and their vocals too, from the opening 2 minutes of The Blaze Horrendous, win you over with the nasty vocals and guitar playing, diving into the blistering shred of Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology Of Dawn), as Jamie Knox's drums set a unnatural pace; slowing, quickening and adding jazz flourishes to the death metal blasts. As the 7 minute epic continues pay attention to Alex Kulick, going on flights of fancy with the bass playing, not content with just giving rhythm, at times he's playing a different song entirely. 

The lack of fear in what a death metal band should sound like is obvious on Ontological Mysterium, the intense guitar work outs of the title track, joined by the occult knuckle dragging of The Death Knell Ringeth while Neon Leviathan sounds like Voivod meets Motorhead. The shifts in sound can be a little jarring as Aurora Neoterica is a 2 minute jazz/AOR instrumental as Cult Of Shaad’oah comes as the albums proggiest number with Slayer bleeding into Mastodon as there's also a bit of Nile too on the solo driven outtro, Exeg(en)esis meanwhile is just weird but intriguing, as it goes into intergalactic realms. 

I was completely in awe of this record, it sounds like everything you've ever liked and nothing yiuved heard at the same time. I'm obsessed with Horrendous and I'm kicking myself I've missed them before this. Get on Ontological Mysterium if you don't know the band as this is a stunning record. 10/10

Spirit Adrift - Ghost At The Gallows (Century Media)

Like Trevor William Church of Haunt/Beastmaker, Spirit Adrift mainman Nate Garrett, has been releasing albums that capture the brilliance of classic metal for a number of years now. Prolific and always well received, Garrett has evolved from the doom metal beginnings into a chest beating classic metal machine following a similar path to Grand Magus, employing more use of melody and hooky choruses but keeping his status as a riff worshipper, witnessed on the chunky title track (which is absolutly stunning), while that Magus stomp is used on Death Won't Stop Me.

Much of the trad metal posturing of the Priest-like Barn Burner, a long way from his history in the extreme metal scene although tracks such as Hanged Mans Revenge bring lots of speed and tremolo picking. However where as Church is still very much a solo worker Garrett brought in bassist Sonny DeCarlo, drummer Mike Arellano and ex-Carcass guitarist Tom Draper early to make Spirit Adrift a fully fledged band from the beginning, though on record it is still Garrett, with this record, he brings live drum tracking with Mike, both of them in the studio to capture the live feel.

After documenting his sobriety on previous records Ghost At The Gallows moves towards the dealing with the grieving process and ways to morn. Nate pays homage to family friends, pets, contemporaries such as Riley Gale and Trevor Strnad as well as those lost through the pandemic, it's a defiant record with Nate beating his chest and welcoming any hardships head on with his guitar strapped to him, cranking out riffs as he goes. 9/10

Pyrogaric – Home (Self Released)

Hard blues rock storytellers? Psychedelic dreamers? Proto-metal marvels? The bastard offspring of Haight-Asbury by way of Malpas Road? Newport (South Wales) two-piece Pyrogaric are all of these things. Having been featured in these pages a few times now, the songs on this debut album feel like old friends, I mean yes a couple of them appear on their EP but most are new, though have been kicking around the live shows for a while.

With Keelan on guitar and Jamey-Leigh on drums and vocals, Pyrogaric a born from the 60’s blues rock explosion of John Mayall and Cream that took itself over to the States and evolved into the counter culture explosion of free love and kaleidoscopic colour that was the summer of love and Hendrix, Blue Cheer and even The Grateful Dead.

Pyrograic take it further though brining in the forays into witchcraft with the likes of Coven and of course Black Sabbath as well as the prog/folk sounds of Camel and Jethro Tull, the latter very evident on the title track which relies on low slung bass and lots of flute. (Though I’m unsure if it was played on one leg?). This cacophony of fuzz guitar riffs, blues rock riffs, wailing spectral vocals and percussive precision has excited me when I’ve seen the band live and on record they manage to capture the same feeling wrapping it up in warm analogue production that shouts about patchouli oil and paisley shirts.

The driving fuzz rock of When I’m With You is simple yet effective, Critical Borders too brings some echoed riffing and drums, leading to the spectral Persephone, offering a look at both sides of Pyrogaric, the earthy rocking and ethreal soaring. The heavy comes back on the hefty Sabbath worship of duo Don't Open The Door and Bury My Soul before that brooding title track. Anyone who was brought up in the music from the 60's and 70's like I was will find a lot to like on Home, it welcomes you into the Pyrogaric fold and locks the door behind you, warm but unnerving, welcome home. 8/10

Oblivion Protocol - The Fall Of The Shires (Atomic Fire Records)

I may have done a little squee when I read the members and overview/concept of this album. Oblivion Protocol is a prog supergroup led by Richard West founding keyboardist of British prog metal legends Threshold, he wanted to follow up his bands epic Legends Of The Shires but democracy is a funny thing and it was vetoed by Threshold. West though fell in love with the story so wrote his own sequel to that record and decided to record it with an all star cast under this moniker. So we get The Fall Of The Shires, a concept record that follows up the 2017 record.

Taking the songwriting, keyboards and vocals, West's deeper softer tones meant that the record is darker and more orchestral, swelling the cinematic themes of the first record, retaining that sparkle of Threshold magic, along with nods to the first part strewn throughout but bringing in the likes of Rush, Pink Floyd, Steven Wilson and Ghost to continue the story. Joining West is guitarist Ruud Jolie (Within Temptation), bassist Simon Andersson (Darkwater) and drummer Darby Todd (Devin Townsend), as West's Threshold cohort Karl Groom brings some solos. With the lyrics focusing on the main character from Legend Of The Shires becoming a King and his descent into being a malevolent one.

The dystopian themes of Operation Mindcrime or The Wall, along with inspiration from Orwell's 1984. Bookended by The Fall Parts 1 and 2 The Fall Of The Shires, starts exactly as you'd want with some dreamy acoustics and scene setting, before the heavy riffing joins on the propulsive Tormented, the Steven Wilson comparisons can be made here, as well as on the claustrophobic, electronic Vertigo. Threshold sound comes in on Public Safety Announcement, the tasty guitar/keyboard solo duel from Groom/West, the keys especially potent on This Is Not A Test. It concludes with the Pink Floyd vibes of The Fall 2.

It could be risky following up a record from your main band as a solo record however with Oblivion Protocol and The Fall Of The Shires, Richard West has curated a worthy sequel that any fan of progressive rock/metal will love. 9/10