Denner's Inferno: In Amber (Mighty Music) [Matt Bladen]
In Amber is the debut album from Denner's Inferno, the new band formed by ex Mercyful Fate/King Diamond guitarist Michael Denner. Now for those expecting the over the top 80's speed metal sound of The Fate/King Diamond and even his previous Denner/Shermann project with his axe slinging Mercyful Fate cohort, you'd be sadly mistaken. In Amber has its roots in 70's hard rock the bouncy opener Matriarch has a nod to Lizzy, while Fountain Of Grace is a bit more Sabbath, with it's doom sound and crunching riff. Denner had to get a band for this record and he's chosen his old friends Flemming Muus (bass) and Bjarne T Holm (drums) as the engine room for the band, on vocals he hasn't gone for a high pitched screamer of previous acts, here he's opted for New York vocalist Chandler Mogel of Outloud.
His soulful classic rock tinged vocals fit this more retro sound ideal for tracks such as Taxman (Mr Thief) which has bubbling organs that permeate through much of the record, as well as Run For Cover and Pearls On A String, two atmospheric tracks It's odd to hear Michael Denner playing music like this as there are currently a whole host of bands playing a similar style of retro proto-metal who would have been inspired by Denner's playing with Mercyful Fate, so this is almost like the master paying it forward while also saluting his heroes. Great piece of retro heavy music well worth your time. 7/10
Mammoth Mammoth: Kreuzung (Napalm Records) [Paul Hutchings]
We’ve covered a couple of this band’s filthy scuzzy releases in recent years. The Aussie outfit blasted the craniums with 2017’s Mount the mountain, when I eulogised that one could quite easily get spannered whilst enjoying a set by this powerful Melbourne outfit. Well, the buggers are back with their latest piece of filth, Kreuzung, which picks up where they left off. New members Marco Gennaro and Kris Fiore join Mikey Tucker and Frank Trobianni on the band’s fifth album. It’s greasy, it’s dirty and it’s full on rock n’ roll. Tracks include Motherfucker, Tear It Down and God’s Gonna Hate Me. They are all full-on stomping mud hole types, demanding you crack open a brew or two and come party. It may be badged as stoner, but I’d say most of this album is too fast to wear that badge. Instead, enjoy the punk fused Motörhead style of Mammoth Mammoth for what it is. A rocking rollercoaster onslaught that kicks as hard as that ole’ government mule. 7/10
Cyhra: No Halos In Hell (Nuclear Blast) [Matt Bladen]
Back in 2017 I reviewed Cyhra's debut album Letters To Myself, back then I gave the band formed by ex-Amaranthe vocalist Jake E, ex-In Flames guitarist Jesper Strömblad along with drummer Alex Landenburg (Rhapsody & Annihilator), a not-so-great 6/10. So has this second record done anything to change the score of the debut, has there been any improvement? Well actually yes, a heavy start on the Out Of My Life, a punchy fist pumping rocker along with the title track which has more melody to it, the first part of this record is full of arena ready anthems that are dying to be sung back to the band by ranging crowds. The curse of too many ballads creeps still lingers and when this happens things get weaker musically in the middle of the album.
However the folky Blood Brothers is an absolutely brilliant track that washes away any maudlin from the ballads, Elsewhere numbers like I Am The One and Bye Bye Forever are heavy nodding to Jake's previous work in Amaranthe as the electronic twitches are part of the heavy rhythms, there's even a bit of melodeath on Hit Me which will appeal to those who want a bit of that old Jesper Strömblad magic. I will also say that Jake E.'s lyrics have improved a lot since the debut album, making this a much easier on the ears than the first albums simplistic sound, though Hit Me is very uninspired. All in all much better from this Swedish powerhouse, it's modern melodic metal ripe for live stages. 7/10
Edge Of Paradise: Universe (Frontiers Records) [Paul Hutchings]
US hard rock/metal outfit Edge of Paradise are currently on tour supporting Sonata Arctica in Europe, promoting their latest album Universe. If I had a ticket, I’d probably stay in the pub until the main act. Elements of symphonic and industrial metal means plenty of loops and samples within their sound, something I’m becoming increasingly challenged by. Margarita Monet’s auto tuned vocals, her high-pitched poppet delivery is something that you either love or hate. The title track is ghastly, a blend of Eurovision and rock pop which leaves no memory. Better stuff awaits on occasion, with the guitars of Dave Bates and David Ruiz at least heard on Alone but those vocals. Oh dear. Possibly fans of In This Moment, Halestorm and Paramore may like this but its sugar coated, glossy, polished and generic in every way, there is little to commend. Produced by Mike Plotnikoff (Halestorm, Three Days Grace) and mixed by Jacob Hansen (Amaranthe, Volbeat, Pretty Maids) tells you just about all you need to know. A late entry into my top ten worst of 2019 3/10
Tuesday, 19 November 2019
Monday, 18 November 2019
Reviews: Zinc Bukowski, Woodhawk, Stoned Jesus, Paricia's Patience (Matt, Paul H & Zach)
Zinc Bukowski: Care For This? (Red Sun Sounds) [Matt Bladen]
Zinc Bunkowski are something of an enigma in terms of sound, they fuse together snot nosed punk, open chord alt rock and spacey desert rock sounds on this 8 track album. It's the follow up to their 2012 debut album Nature Finds A Way In The Face Of Woe and it benefits from years of touring between the two releases as the duality of the bands sound meshes together well, Zero Sum Game has the jangling guitars of the Manics This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours but with a driving rhythm section and the spoken/shouted vocals from singer/guitarist David Foley, it leads into the crawling title track which builds layers of dissonance over Chris Baker's bass and Carl Richards' drums, taking you to those more otherworldly realms. Autopsy has more surf rock riffs, paired with a defiant vocal, it's a bit Pixies and that's no bad thing.
Care For This? was recorded in March 2019 with Phil Smith at One Louder Studios, Newport and he's done a bang up job of capturing Zinc's intense musical fusion as aggression comes across on Shoot The Messenger while Port Talbot is a lot breezier than it's town namesake, Engulfed does just that with the repeating riff evolving into First Fail Forward, two songs that are clearly two parts of the same number as they both have samples, open clean guitar riffs as First Fail Forward changes into a pogoing punk number at it's climax. I've mentioned The Pixies in this review but these Pontypridd dwelling rockers have a lot of similarities to to Sonic Youth with their musical experimentation and even at their most expressive they even move into Hüsker Dü realms. One word of advice though is give this album time, preferably listening to it in one sitting rather than individual tracks and you'll be rewarded with an album that has its influence in the early to mid 90's and is brilliantly realised. 8/10
Woodhawk: Violent Nature (Self Released) [Zach Williams]
I don’t quite know what it is about autumn that makes me want to sit in a dark room and listen to Carcass until I can wear shorts outside again. I call it S.A.D.D (Seasonal Affective Death-Metal Disorder), and I think it is why on my first listen to Violent Nature – the third offering from Canadian riff trio Woodhawk – my first thought was ‘this is too poppy for my liking’. How wrong I was. This album has more hooks that a cenobites tackle box. It is REALLY catchy. From the opening track Snake In The Grass which has riffs for days, to the closing number Our Greatest Weakness which starts off with an almost Neil Young vibe, and ends by battering you across the head with a chorus you won’t soon forget. And just to clarify, please don’t be put off by the word ‘poppy’. This album is plenty heavy. There are two things that will get my attention on a record; big rockin’ riffs and a filthy bass tones and Violent Nature’s got ‘em both to spare. Thank you, Woodhawk, for breaking my autumnal funk. 7/10
Stoned Jesus: From The Outer Space (Napalm Records) [Paul Hutchings]
Those stoner dudes from Ukraine are back, a mere 14 months after Pilgrim blew a hole in the living room wall with it’s massively down tuned vibe and lengthy sojourns into the abyss. This time the trio from Kyiv have decided to blow another hole in the wall with a five-track album that lasts just shy of 50 minutes. That means that we have some lengthy shit going on here, with three tracks way over the ten-minute mark. Occult is the longest, drawn out, sludgy grinding riffs; the death throes of a dying leviathan would surely be accompanied by this soundtrack. As well as the unearthly musical crawl, the pained tortured croak of Igor Sidorenko adds significantly to the overall feel. It’s heavy as the bag of anvils dropped from the tenth floor and when the band let rip the neck aches without moving. It doesn’t have to be fast to be heavy and the Ukrainians know how to cave your cranium without breaking a sweat. Bludgeoning stuff. 6/10
Paricia's Patience: Self Titled (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
The Self Titled debut EP from Puerto Rican prog metal band Paricia's Patience is one that will impress fans of thunderously heavy riffs and old school metal flavour. They've been categorized as prog metal and while there are some progressive touches to this album, mainly on opening track Headless Horseman which has a choppy, trad metal riff and a solo that takes you away to a dream. They are difficult to categorise as Rise Of The Old Ones which is a swaggering doom as the title track brings some proggy rock sounds. Where Paricia's Patience shine is with the dual guitar prowess of brothers José Luis and José Miguel Vázquez on guitar and the brilliantly full bodied vocals of bassit/singer Damaris Rodríguez, who brings Latin flavours to Modern Prometheus a song that also has some great harsh vocals. A strong debut EP from Paricia's Patience that hints at more to come. 7/10
Zinc Bunkowski are something of an enigma in terms of sound, they fuse together snot nosed punk, open chord alt rock and spacey desert rock sounds on this 8 track album. It's the follow up to their 2012 debut album Nature Finds A Way In The Face Of Woe and it benefits from years of touring between the two releases as the duality of the bands sound meshes together well, Zero Sum Game has the jangling guitars of the Manics This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours but with a driving rhythm section and the spoken/shouted vocals from singer/guitarist David Foley, it leads into the crawling title track which builds layers of dissonance over Chris Baker's bass and Carl Richards' drums, taking you to those more otherworldly realms. Autopsy has more surf rock riffs, paired with a defiant vocal, it's a bit Pixies and that's no bad thing.
Care For This? was recorded in March 2019 with Phil Smith at One Louder Studios, Newport and he's done a bang up job of capturing Zinc's intense musical fusion as aggression comes across on Shoot The Messenger while Port Talbot is a lot breezier than it's town namesake, Engulfed does just that with the repeating riff evolving into First Fail Forward, two songs that are clearly two parts of the same number as they both have samples, open clean guitar riffs as First Fail Forward changes into a pogoing punk number at it's climax. I've mentioned The Pixies in this review but these Pontypridd dwelling rockers have a lot of similarities to to Sonic Youth with their musical experimentation and even at their most expressive they even move into Hüsker Dü realms. One word of advice though is give this album time, preferably listening to it in one sitting rather than individual tracks and you'll be rewarded with an album that has its influence in the early to mid 90's and is brilliantly realised. 8/10
Woodhawk: Violent Nature (Self Released) [Zach Williams]
I don’t quite know what it is about autumn that makes me want to sit in a dark room and listen to Carcass until I can wear shorts outside again. I call it S.A.D.D (Seasonal Affective Death-Metal Disorder), and I think it is why on my first listen to Violent Nature – the third offering from Canadian riff trio Woodhawk – my first thought was ‘this is too poppy for my liking’. How wrong I was. This album has more hooks that a cenobites tackle box. It is REALLY catchy. From the opening track Snake In The Grass which has riffs for days, to the closing number Our Greatest Weakness which starts off with an almost Neil Young vibe, and ends by battering you across the head with a chorus you won’t soon forget. And just to clarify, please don’t be put off by the word ‘poppy’. This album is plenty heavy. There are two things that will get my attention on a record; big rockin’ riffs and a filthy bass tones and Violent Nature’s got ‘em both to spare. Thank you, Woodhawk, for breaking my autumnal funk. 7/10
Stoned Jesus: From The Outer Space (Napalm Records) [Paul Hutchings]
Those stoner dudes from Ukraine are back, a mere 14 months after Pilgrim blew a hole in the living room wall with it’s massively down tuned vibe and lengthy sojourns into the abyss. This time the trio from Kyiv have decided to blow another hole in the wall with a five-track album that lasts just shy of 50 minutes. That means that we have some lengthy shit going on here, with three tracks way over the ten-minute mark. Occult is the longest, drawn out, sludgy grinding riffs; the death throes of a dying leviathan would surely be accompanied by this soundtrack. As well as the unearthly musical crawl, the pained tortured croak of Igor Sidorenko adds significantly to the overall feel. It’s heavy as the bag of anvils dropped from the tenth floor and when the band let rip the neck aches without moving. It doesn’t have to be fast to be heavy and the Ukrainians know how to cave your cranium without breaking a sweat. Bludgeoning stuff. 6/10
Paricia's Patience: Self Titled (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
The Self Titled debut EP from Puerto Rican prog metal band Paricia's Patience is one that will impress fans of thunderously heavy riffs and old school metal flavour. They've been categorized as prog metal and while there are some progressive touches to this album, mainly on opening track Headless Horseman which has a choppy, trad metal riff and a solo that takes you away to a dream. They are difficult to categorise as Rise Of The Old Ones which is a swaggering doom as the title track brings some proggy rock sounds. Where Paricia's Patience shine is with the dual guitar prowess of brothers José Luis and José Miguel Vázquez on guitar and the brilliantly full bodied vocals of bassit/singer Damaris Rodríguez, who brings Latin flavours to Modern Prometheus a song that also has some great harsh vocals. A strong debut EP from Paricia's Patience that hints at more to come. 7/10
Reviews: The Dark Element, Human Fortress, Idlewar, Crisix (Matt & Paul H)
The Dark Element: Songs The Nights Sings (Frontiers Records) [Matt Bladen]
The collaborative project between ex-Nightwish vocalist Annette Olzon and Jani Liimatainen (ex Sonata Arctica/Cain's Offering) brings yet more symphonic metal following on from their 2017 debut album. It's poppy, dramatic and heavier than the previous album but this has come from both members of the band gelling more due to having already released an album, so the cohesion comes easy. Liimatainen is a particularly good writer, there is a reason that Sonata Arctica's output declined after he left as he manages to find the right balance between galloping power metal guitar playing, fuzzy synths and sweeping orchestrations.
It's the perfect setting for the musical theatre styled vocals of Olzon, she has such clarity to her voice that she carries emotion on numbers like Silence Between The Words, or the ballad To Whatever End and also brings drama to the anthemic title track, that has twitchy keys throughout it along with a neat little bass break from Jonas Kuhlberg. When It All Comes Down ramps up the histrionics again as the synths get heavier for Pills On My Pillow a song about mental health, it's I Have To Go that proves one of the most interesting songs on the record, with it's jazz stylings. Songs The Night Sings is an ideal follow up for this band, taking what they did well on the debut and refining it, as Rolf Pilve's drums anchor the driving, pop-tinged compositions of Liimatainen and Olzon's voice glides over the top. A more cohesive second album that shows where the band will be heading on further records. 7/10
Human Fortress: Reign Of Gold (AFM Records) [Matt Bladen]
Ah power metal! It's always a go to genre for me when I'm feeling shit, it was the first kind of metal I got into after my youthful obsession with Iron Maiden and Judas Priest (outside of the prog love). I've listened to literally 1,000's of power metal records and it's very rare that they are just meh, it's one of those genres where it can either be very good or complete crap. Reign Of Gold by Human Fortress falls into the middle category, their style of epic battle metal sound, features choirs, folk instruments and some fist raising metal anthems such as Lucifer's Waltz, where Gus Monsanto can show his gruff vocal style on this slower theatrical number, however the band really shine on the pacier offering such as Thunder where they can go into the realms of Hammerfall.
Now Human Fortress have had a bit of potted history with members but this is their third record for AFM record and the third to feature Monsanto with the only constant in these years being guitarist Torsten Wolf who duels with Volker Trost (the second founding member) throughout as Dirk Liehm provides the keys and orchestrations. There is something missing here though, it doesn't really have that epic sound of a band like say Orden Ogan (who's Seeb has worked with the band before), the production of Tommy Newton is a little thin meaning that for all the folk trappings of Bullet Of Betrayal, Surrender, Martial Valour and mega ballad Shining Light, the record sounds a little thin and never really immerses you. Still as a mid-level power metal record it's enough to get your head nodding but nothing that will last more than one listen. 6/10
Idlewar: Cede (Self Released) [Paul Hutchings]
The fourth album from Orange Country fuzzsters and their fourth in quick succession, a mere year after last year’s thumping Fractured. James Blake, Rick Graham and Pete Pagonis clearly never got off the horse as Cede continues where Fractured left off. After two fuzzed up riff heavy openers in Pound and Bullet, the blues soaked My Hesitation brings out everything that is so good about this band. Blake’s soulful vocals, the tight and deep rhythm section of Graham and Pagonis and the heavy duty riffing that Blake brings to the table. Although the band remain devout in their stoner style, the Alice In Chains feel on Hey Old Man varies the direction. Whilst most of Cede is face melting hard riffing, Scratch slows the pace, delicate, gentle passages fluctuate with crashing riffs that pound like waves on the beach. Idlewar are quickly developing a distinctive sound, the thick chunky riffs and Blake’s soaring vocals distinctive in a congested stoner world. Any band whose inlay card reads “Thank you for buying this CD. You are an awesome person for supporting music” scores highly with me. Idlewar are a band who never fail. 8/10
Crisix: Session #1: American Thrash (Listenable Records) [Paul Hutchings]
The collaborative project between ex-Nightwish vocalist Annette Olzon and Jani Liimatainen (ex Sonata Arctica/Cain's Offering) brings yet more symphonic metal following on from their 2017 debut album. It's poppy, dramatic and heavier than the previous album but this has come from both members of the band gelling more due to having already released an album, so the cohesion comes easy. Liimatainen is a particularly good writer, there is a reason that Sonata Arctica's output declined after he left as he manages to find the right balance between galloping power metal guitar playing, fuzzy synths and sweeping orchestrations.
It's the perfect setting for the musical theatre styled vocals of Olzon, she has such clarity to her voice that she carries emotion on numbers like Silence Between The Words, or the ballad To Whatever End and also brings drama to the anthemic title track, that has twitchy keys throughout it along with a neat little bass break from Jonas Kuhlberg. When It All Comes Down ramps up the histrionics again as the synths get heavier for Pills On My Pillow a song about mental health, it's I Have To Go that proves one of the most interesting songs on the record, with it's jazz stylings. Songs The Night Sings is an ideal follow up for this band, taking what they did well on the debut and refining it, as Rolf Pilve's drums anchor the driving, pop-tinged compositions of Liimatainen and Olzon's voice glides over the top. A more cohesive second album that shows where the band will be heading on further records. 7/10
Human Fortress: Reign Of Gold (AFM Records) [Matt Bladen]
Ah power metal! It's always a go to genre for me when I'm feeling shit, it was the first kind of metal I got into after my youthful obsession with Iron Maiden and Judas Priest (outside of the prog love). I've listened to literally 1,000's of power metal records and it's very rare that they are just meh, it's one of those genres where it can either be very good or complete crap. Reign Of Gold by Human Fortress falls into the middle category, their style of epic battle metal sound, features choirs, folk instruments and some fist raising metal anthems such as Lucifer's Waltz, where Gus Monsanto can show his gruff vocal style on this slower theatrical number, however the band really shine on the pacier offering such as Thunder where they can go into the realms of Hammerfall.
Now Human Fortress have had a bit of potted history with members but this is their third record for AFM record and the third to feature Monsanto with the only constant in these years being guitarist Torsten Wolf who duels with Volker Trost (the second founding member) throughout as Dirk Liehm provides the keys and orchestrations. There is something missing here though, it doesn't really have that epic sound of a band like say Orden Ogan (who's Seeb has worked with the band before), the production of Tommy Newton is a little thin meaning that for all the folk trappings of Bullet Of Betrayal, Surrender, Martial Valour and mega ballad Shining Light, the record sounds a little thin and never really immerses you. Still as a mid-level power metal record it's enough to get your head nodding but nothing that will last more than one listen. 6/10
Idlewar: Cede (Self Released) [Paul Hutchings]
The fourth album from Orange Country fuzzsters and their fourth in quick succession, a mere year after last year’s thumping Fractured. James Blake, Rick Graham and Pete Pagonis clearly never got off the horse as Cede continues where Fractured left off. After two fuzzed up riff heavy openers in Pound and Bullet, the blues soaked My Hesitation brings out everything that is so good about this band. Blake’s soulful vocals, the tight and deep rhythm section of Graham and Pagonis and the heavy duty riffing that Blake brings to the table. Although the band remain devout in their stoner style, the Alice In Chains feel on Hey Old Man varies the direction. Whilst most of Cede is face melting hard riffing, Scratch slows the pace, delicate, gentle passages fluctuate with crashing riffs that pound like waves on the beach. Idlewar are quickly developing a distinctive sound, the thick chunky riffs and Blake’s soaring vocals distinctive in a congested stoner world. Any band whose inlay card reads “Thank you for buying this CD. You are an awesome person for supporting music” scores highly with me. Idlewar are a band who never fail. 8/10
Crisix: Session #1: American Thrash (Listenable Records) [Paul Hutchings]
After 2018’s Against The Odds, the fourth album from the Spanish thrashers, the band have now released the first album in the ‘Crisix Sessions’. American Thrash pays homage to a few of the more influential songs that inspired the band in their early days. Interestingly they steer clear of the bigger guns in the main, kicking off with a rousing version of Vio-lence’s World In A World and finishing with a solid attempt at the underrated Demolition Hammer’s Infectious Hospital Waste, a straightforward thrash masterpiece. Whilst a few of the names on the album are less surprising it’s pleasing to hear the still massively relevant Critical Mass by Nuclear Assault included. There isn’t a bad cover on this release although Imitation Of Life from Anthrax’s 1987 album Among The Living is a tough one to capture. Juli Bazooka’s rasping vocals are pitched at the right level for most of the songs, whilst the riffage of B.B. Plaza and Albert Requena is relentless. With tracks from Forbidden, Testament, EvilDead and Exodus also given the once over, this album will prompt you to dig out the originals and relive some of thrash metal’s most important releases. 7/10
Sunday, 17 November 2019
A View From The Back Of The Room: Lacuna Coil (Live Review By Paul Hutchings)
Lacuna Coil, SWX, Bristol
Editor's Note: Due to the 6pm start time (club night afterwards) we weren't able to get to SWX for either Infected Rain or Eluveitie meaning we arrived just before the headline act took to the stage
Back in 2016 the Milanese gothic rockers had dropped Delirium, a darker and heavier album than the previous Broken Crown Halo. The supporting tour was superb, full of emotion and passion. I caught the band at The Marble Factory, a mere mile or so from tonight’s venue and they were brilliant. Roll forward three years and we arrive at Black Anima, a further step down the dark and heavy path that the band started to follow. Black Anima is a solid album, but it’s also massively sonically polished. It’s taken all the rough edges out and smoothed them.
An imposing stage set, with the band’s name stencilled in black against a foil red background dominating the back of the stage was revealed as Lacuna Coil (7) took their places. New drummer Richard Meiz taking his place first, swiftly joined by bassist Marco Coti Zelati and guitarist Diego ‘Didi’ Cavalotti, all in their gothic horror outfits. Very scary. The band launch into Blood, Tears, Dust, one of four songs from Delirium. Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro arrive, in matching outfits to a hero’s welcome. Hands and iPhones in the air. A sea of phones, capturing those blurred images that will be placed on social media which no-one will look at. But at least you were there. That’s what matters. Fuck.
Editor's Note: Due to the 6pm start time (club night afterwards) we weren't able to get to SWX for either Infected Rain or Eluveitie meaning we arrived just before the headline act took to the stage
Back in 2016 the Milanese gothic rockers had dropped Delirium, a darker and heavier album than the previous Broken Crown Halo. The supporting tour was superb, full of emotion and passion. I caught the band at The Marble Factory, a mere mile or so from tonight’s venue and they were brilliant. Roll forward three years and we arrive at Black Anima, a further step down the dark and heavy path that the band started to follow. Black Anima is a solid album, but it’s also massively sonically polished. It’s taken all the rough edges out and smoothed them.
An imposing stage set, with the band’s name stencilled in black against a foil red background dominating the back of the stage was revealed as Lacuna Coil (7) took their places. New drummer Richard Meiz taking his place first, swiftly joined by bassist Marco Coti Zelati and guitarist Diego ‘Didi’ Cavalotti, all in their gothic horror outfits. Very scary. The band launch into Blood, Tears, Dust, one of four songs from Delirium. Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro arrive, in matching outfits to a hero’s welcome. Hands and iPhones in the air. A sea of phones, capturing those blurred images that will be placed on social media which no-one will look at. But at least you were there. That’s what matters. Fuck.
Ferro’s vocals take time to level, Scabbia’s initial notes are also wobbly and the first questions come to mind about the number of samples, loops and effects that the band are relying on. Trip The Darkness follows, the light show impressive, smoke and dry ice creating the required atmospheric effect on stage. The first chatter with the crowd. It’s all a bit stadium style. Unsurprisingly. Our Truth, the first real oldie arrives, Ferro and Scabbia appear slightly less connected than on previous times. The synths, loops and harmonies on the vocals are becoming an irritant now. From the rear of the venue it’s hard to tell who is playing what. Cavalotti’s guitar sound is thin, the bass and snare drums dominating the mix.
The show progresses. It’s slick. It’s polished. It’s totally scripted. A minor technical problem dealt with without challenge. Layers Of Time arrives. The first from Black Anima and it sits comfortably into the set. Maybe too comfortably. There is little here to get too excited about. Scabbia’s scripted intros lack feeling. Reckless, a real fist pumper on vinyl is flat, devoid of the power it has on record. Does Scabbia hit those notes or is it the tapes? I can’t tell. Attention is lost, the band go through the motions, and the chatter near the bar distracts. Sword Of Anger does provoke some response, Ferro returns to form and roars his way through it; the duel with Scabbia a brief highlight. We reach song 12 in under an hour. It’s that fast, like a production line. Bang ‘em out.
Then it’s time for that cover. The one everyone knows. Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence. It’s the one everyone apparently has come to see. Even the bar flies stop chattering and join in. It’s good but a sad reflection that the reception tops anything else on the night. Time to leave. I miss the horrendous Naughty Christmas. Thank fuck. Three of their best songs follow. I don’t really care. Nothing says you have to stay ‘til the end.
The show progresses. It’s slick. It’s polished. It’s totally scripted. A minor technical problem dealt with without challenge. Layers Of Time arrives. The first from Black Anima and it sits comfortably into the set. Maybe too comfortably. There is little here to get too excited about. Scabbia’s scripted intros lack feeling. Reckless, a real fist pumper on vinyl is flat, devoid of the power it has on record. Does Scabbia hit those notes or is it the tapes? I can’t tell. Attention is lost, the band go through the motions, and the chatter near the bar distracts. Sword Of Anger does provoke some response, Ferro returns to form and roars his way through it; the duel with Scabbia a brief highlight. We reach song 12 in under an hour. It’s that fast, like a production line. Bang ‘em out.
Then it’s time for that cover. The one everyone knows. Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence. It’s the one everyone apparently has come to see. Even the bar flies stop chattering and join in. It’s good but a sad reflection that the reception tops anything else on the night. Time to leave. I miss the horrendous Naughty Christmas. Thank fuck. Three of their best songs follow. I don’t really care. Nothing says you have to stay ‘til the end.
But let me take a moment to balance this largely negative review. I didn’t enjoy this gig. The venue was massively oversold. Arriving 30 minutes before they were due on stage, it was impossible to get further than the bar area. Would have been more enjoyable if I’d had a good vantage point with clearer sound? Well, obviously. But my observations about the band remain. Their stadium sized show was too big for the venue. Or at least that’s how it appears. The fact that Enjoy The Silence is still the best received song is a massive irritation. But people are lazy, people are fickle. Maybe I’m an elitist. Who the fuck knows?
A final observation: Pinned at the back of the venue for Lacuna Coil’s set, it was astonishing how many ‘fans’ were prepared to chatter loudly rather than watch the band. Crap beer, shouting at your mate to be heard whilst some annoying Italian band blathers away in the background. Sounds like a great night out to me. What? We’ve mentioned it before on here but why people spend £25 on a ticket to do that mystifies me. As does the steady stream of people who even though Lacuna Coil were on stage for a mere 75 minutes felt the need to head back and for to the bar rather than watch one of Italy’s premier metal outfits.
A final observation: Pinned at the back of the venue for Lacuna Coil’s set, it was astonishing how many ‘fans’ were prepared to chatter loudly rather than watch the band. Crap beer, shouting at your mate to be heard whilst some annoying Italian band blathers away in the background. Sounds like a great night out to me. What? We’ve mentioned it before on here but why people spend £25 on a ticket to do that mystifies me. As does the steady stream of people who even though Lacuna Coil were on stage for a mere 75 minutes felt the need to head back and for to the bar rather than watch one of Italy’s premier metal outfits.
Saturday, 16 November 2019
A View From The Back Of The Room: Trep (Live Review By Paul Hutchings)
Trep, Excursia, NO:IR UK & Lead By Lies – Fuel Rock Club
A filthy night followed a filthy day. Womanby Street eerily quiet; devoid of people except for those scurrying between buildings. The sound of jazz from Bootleggers and the occasional blast of indie from The Moon permeating the silence. Welcome to Cardiff’s beating musical heart with only five shopping weeks before the visit of the fat man in a Santa suit.
Yet step behind the doors on this usually most vibrant of streets and the heart is still beating. In Fuel, four bands have travelled to the Capital through Christmas shoppers laden with pointless commercially driven purchases, rush hour traffic and who have heaved and struggled their gear through load in and sound check. The bands that in the main have bulked the audience into double figures by remaining to watch their peers. This is South Wales metal at its most raw.
Headlining the evening are Trep (8). Familiar to most of us now, the three-piece are the most assured outfit of the evening, with their recent pedigree including finalists in the Bristol M2TM 2019 event. Rhys Evans (guitar and vocals), drummer Max Hill and comedian Sam Green (bass and backing vocals) deliver 40 minutes of their progressive wonderment. Tracks from the Lucian EP are now old friends. The band is competent, smoothly entwined, and the sparse crowd applauded hard. Green has a distinct style of banter between and during songs whilst his constant gurning at Evans throughout failed to put the frontman off his stride. A typically muddy sound in Fuel never helps a band like Trep whose clean lines deserve a crisp sound. Although I’ve seen Trep in more majestic form than this, they still won the night. Easily.
It’s been a turbulent year for the thrash vehicle that is Excursia (6). Recruiting and then having to fire a vocalist in such traumatic style has rocked their very foundations but the band has retained bite and fire. A choppy set sees the band a little disjointed, clearly still reeling from the recent events. A’Dan Shide has stepped up to the vocal plate in recent weeks and does a manful job, but it was fair to say that despite the lyrics on a stand in front of him, this isn’t his comfort zone and the change in demeanour when Lewis Temby steps up to deliver the final song of the night was clear. Whilst the talent remains, Excursia need tightening up between songs; developing their own style of banter and ironing out the joins. The next viewing will be interesting.
Trep aren’t the only Bristol M2TM Finalist alumni on show as the Nu-Metal stomp of NO:IR UK (6) take the centre night slot. I’ll be honest here; I don’t like their fusion of hip hop and Nu-metal but I cannot fault the effort the band puts in. Working off little response from the sparse numbers in front of them, the five-piece ignored the absence of crowd feedback and exploit the opportunity for a decent work-out. Hip hop, nu-metal and hardcore fuses in a schizophrenic sound which swerves and changes at will. Soaring, screaming and roaring vocals combine, sometimes pleasingly, sometimes more awkwardly. The band’s style relies heavily on movement, but the Korn style antics haven’t aged well. Add in a rather idiosyncratic image and it doesn’t quite gel for me.
The evening opens with Lead By Lies (6), who have gigged hard throughout the year. I was impassive about their metalcore style at a previous viewing and the unenviable task of playing to a room of about eight punters doesn’t energise them much. Full marks for their efforts though, as they filled their 30-minute slot with tracks from their recent EP release Punch, Fall. Ryan Griffiths remains the centre of attention, especially on such a small stage and once again vocals range from excellent to ropey; his roars far more impressive than the cleans where he struggles to maintain clarity and tone. Lead By Lies remain enjoyable without being captivating.
A filthy night followed a filthy day. Womanby Street eerily quiet; devoid of people except for those scurrying between buildings. The sound of jazz from Bootleggers and the occasional blast of indie from The Moon permeating the silence. Welcome to Cardiff’s beating musical heart with only five shopping weeks before the visit of the fat man in a Santa suit.
Yet step behind the doors on this usually most vibrant of streets and the heart is still beating. In Fuel, four bands have travelled to the Capital through Christmas shoppers laden with pointless commercially driven purchases, rush hour traffic and who have heaved and struggled their gear through load in and sound check. The bands that in the main have bulked the audience into double figures by remaining to watch their peers. This is South Wales metal at its most raw.
Headlining the evening are Trep (8). Familiar to most of us now, the three-piece are the most assured outfit of the evening, with their recent pedigree including finalists in the Bristol M2TM 2019 event. Rhys Evans (guitar and vocals), drummer Max Hill and comedian Sam Green (bass and backing vocals) deliver 40 minutes of their progressive wonderment. Tracks from the Lucian EP are now old friends. The band is competent, smoothly entwined, and the sparse crowd applauded hard. Green has a distinct style of banter between and during songs whilst his constant gurning at Evans throughout failed to put the frontman off his stride. A typically muddy sound in Fuel never helps a band like Trep whose clean lines deserve a crisp sound. Although I’ve seen Trep in more majestic form than this, they still won the night. Easily.
It’s been a turbulent year for the thrash vehicle that is Excursia (6). Recruiting and then having to fire a vocalist in such traumatic style has rocked their very foundations but the band has retained bite and fire. A choppy set sees the band a little disjointed, clearly still reeling from the recent events. A’Dan Shide has stepped up to the vocal plate in recent weeks and does a manful job, but it was fair to say that despite the lyrics on a stand in front of him, this isn’t his comfort zone and the change in demeanour when Lewis Temby steps up to deliver the final song of the night was clear. Whilst the talent remains, Excursia need tightening up between songs; developing their own style of banter and ironing out the joins. The next viewing will be interesting.
Trep aren’t the only Bristol M2TM Finalist alumni on show as the Nu-Metal stomp of NO:IR UK (6) take the centre night slot. I’ll be honest here; I don’t like their fusion of hip hop and Nu-metal but I cannot fault the effort the band puts in. Working off little response from the sparse numbers in front of them, the five-piece ignored the absence of crowd feedback and exploit the opportunity for a decent work-out. Hip hop, nu-metal and hardcore fuses in a schizophrenic sound which swerves and changes at will. Soaring, screaming and roaring vocals combine, sometimes pleasingly, sometimes more awkwardly. The band’s style relies heavily on movement, but the Korn style antics haven’t aged well. Add in a rather idiosyncratic image and it doesn’t quite gel for me.
The evening opens with Lead By Lies (6), who have gigged hard throughout the year. I was impassive about their metalcore style at a previous viewing and the unenviable task of playing to a room of about eight punters doesn’t energise them much. Full marks for their efforts though, as they filled their 30-minute slot with tracks from their recent EP release Punch, Fall. Ryan Griffiths remains the centre of attention, especially on such a small stage and once again vocals range from excellent to ropey; his roars far more impressive than the cleans where he struggles to maintain clarity and tone. Lead By Lies remain enjoyable without being captivating.
Friday, 15 November 2019
A View From The Back Of The Room: Dragonforce (A Live Review By Matt Bladen)
DragonForce & Lovebites, The Tramshed, Cardiff
Back to The Tramshed for the originators of Extreme Power Metal. First though it was Lovebites (5) from Japan. Unfortunately we had missed synthwave/virtuoso McRocklin & Hutch, but we were there in enough time to see all of Lovebites set who h failed to ignite any excitement in this writer. The guitar/video game loving crowd were well into it but Lovebites' speed metal style is a little one dimensional, the vocals are pitchy and their entire set was mired by too much dry ice and muddy sound.
With a change over finished and photographers warned about the CO2 cannons and confetti explosions it was time for a band who will be forever known as "the ones who did that song on Guitar Hero" yes Through The Fire And The Flames was their final number but they have embraced their video gaming based audience fully decking out the stage with two huge arcade machines that played loops of old Sega games on top of which guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman would climb for a few of their guitar solo duels (of which there are many). Kicking off the evening with Highway To Oblivion from their latest album Extreme Power Metal and oldie Fury Of The Storm, they had the crowd eating out of their hands from the off, fists held high voices full singing back every fantasy tinged lyric. The video game theme was continued The Last Dragonborn, which is based around Skyrim and Heart Demolition, which apes some Whitesnake lyrics against the frantic power metal assault.
Back to The Tramshed for the originators of Extreme Power Metal. First though it was Lovebites (5) from Japan. Unfortunately we had missed synthwave/virtuoso McRocklin & Hutch, but we were there in enough time to see all of Lovebites set who h failed to ignite any excitement in this writer. The guitar/video game loving crowd were well into it but Lovebites' speed metal style is a little one dimensional, the vocals are pitchy and their entire set was mired by too much dry ice and muddy sound.
With a change over finished and photographers warned about the CO2 cannons and confetti explosions it was time for a band who will be forever known as "the ones who did that song on Guitar Hero" yes Through The Fire And The Flames was their final number but they have embraced their video gaming based audience fully decking out the stage with two huge arcade machines that played loops of old Sega games on top of which guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman would climb for a few of their guitar solo duels (of which there are many). Kicking off the evening with Highway To Oblivion from their latest album Extreme Power Metal and oldie Fury Of The Storm, they had the crowd eating out of their hands from the off, fists held high voices full singing back every fantasy tinged lyric. The video game theme was continued The Last Dragonborn, which is based around Skyrim and Heart Demolition, which apes some Whitesnake lyrics against the frantic power metal assault.
With a much bigger production value than ever seen from them before and also the best sound I've heard from them for a few years (let's not talk about that disastrous show at The Globe) things became rather weird in the middle of the set due to vocalist Marc picking up a guitar to play the themes from Castlevania & Final Fantasy 7, after which Herman quipped that "the one thing we need is more guitars" before he introduced the girls from Lovebites and Sam in tweed and carrying a Banjo to run through the theme tune of Farming Simulator (yes this actually happened) Herman then made the best joke of the night after Marc asked how it felt to be out played by two Japanese women, I won't repeat it here but needles to say Herman was the only person that could make it. As the set wore on with Black Fire from Valley Of The Damned they introduced Damien Rainaud on bass, who not only produced Extreme Power Metal but had learnt the entire set in 2 weeks!
With time running short Cry Thunder led into the last track of the main set was ballad Remembrance Day which was more emotive due to the show taking place one day removed from Armistice Day itself, leaving the arcade machine screens on during the song was a little crass, however this may have been an oversight. Before 'that song' came their ridiculous cover of Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On which incited a pit building the excitement for Through The Fire And The Flames. This was probably one of the best Dragonforce (9) shows I've seen, sublimely silly, full of virtuoso performances, big anthems and now a stage show with ambition it seems like Dragonforce have levelled up before our eyes!
A View From The Back Of The Room: Buckcherry (Live Review By Matt Bladen)
Buckcherry & The Treatment, The Tramshed, Cardiff
Arriving a little tardy we missed the opening act for the evening. The Tramshed was probably half full with a mix of sleaze lovers, classic rockers, a smattering of punks and what is still an odd sight at a gig (but shouldn't be) a huge amount of women (Buckcherry have quite a big female following) in their best leather and lace.
As the stage was cleared it was up to The Treatment (8) to get the crowd fired up for the headliners and they are a band that can do this with an ease a lot of bands haven't got. Having seen them with pretty much all of their singers their latest Tom Rampton is a mix of all their previous frontmen with a touch of Axl and Bon in his voice too. He was flanked by the rest of the band who have remained since day one. The tattooed leather jacket wearing brothers Tagore and Tao Grey swung their guitars like Slash and Izzy back in the day, with a louchness that is undeniably cool. Bassman Swoggle still is a bundle of energy switching sides of the stage numerous times and in the middle squashed a little is drummer Dhani Mansworth keeping the pace a fast one.
Arriving a little tardy we missed the opening act for the evening. The Tramshed was probably half full with a mix of sleaze lovers, classic rockers, a smattering of punks and what is still an odd sight at a gig (but shouldn't be) a huge amount of women (Buckcherry have quite a big female following) in their best leather and lace.
As the stage was cleared it was up to The Treatment (8) to get the crowd fired up for the headliners and they are a band that can do this with an ease a lot of bands haven't got. Having seen them with pretty much all of their singers their latest Tom Rampton is a mix of all their previous frontmen with a touch of Axl and Bon in his voice too. He was flanked by the rest of the band who have remained since day one. The tattooed leather jacket wearing brothers Tagore and Tao Grey swung their guitars like Slash and Izzy back in the day, with a louchness that is undeniably cool. Bassman Swoggle still is a bundle of energy switching sides of the stage numerous times and in the middle squashed a little is drummer Dhani Mansworth keeping the pace a fast one.
They stormed through tracks from every album (I think) however it was the 2 from their debut, The Doctor and Shake The Mountain that got the best reception, still the newer stuff is just as hard hitting getting the crowd moving, helped by Tom telling everyone to take 3 steps forward at the beginning of the set. For the final number they welcomed Stevie D from the headliners on to the stage to play guitar with them eliciting a big cheers from the crowd. Firey and hard hitting following The Treatment is always a challenge mainly due to their youth and talent.
Unfortunately it was little bit of leap too far for the headliners Buckcherry (7) who despite being one of the leading lights in that Cali sleaze rock scene seemed like they were going through the motions a little (perhaps because this was the last show of the UK tour) they opened with a cover (dangerous) but Head Like A Hole suits Josh Todd's scarred vocals well and it was received positively though most of the audience were more impressed with Lit Up, Radio Song, Somebody Fucked With Me and Too Drunk. It was these originals that brought about mass dancing and sing alongs though both the cover of Footloose and their stripoer anthem supreme Crazy Bitch cut with Jungle Fever and Proud Mary were probably the songs that had the loudest response. There were a few technical gremlins, creeping in (last date of the tour things start to fail) but Buckcherry have been doing this long enough to overcome these giving the small bit loyal fan base exactly what they wanted. It's not going to change the world but it's all rock n roll to me.
Unfortunately it was little bit of leap too far for the headliners Buckcherry (7) who despite being one of the leading lights in that Cali sleaze rock scene seemed like they were going through the motions a little (perhaps because this was the last show of the UK tour) they opened with a cover (dangerous) but Head Like A Hole suits Josh Todd's scarred vocals well and it was received positively though most of the audience were more impressed with Lit Up, Radio Song, Somebody Fucked With Me and Too Drunk. It was these originals that brought about mass dancing and sing alongs though both the cover of Footloose and their stripoer anthem supreme Crazy Bitch cut with Jungle Fever and Proud Mary were probably the songs that had the loudest response. There were a few technical gremlins, creeping in (last date of the tour things start to fail) but Buckcherry have been doing this long enough to overcome these giving the small bit loyal fan base exactly what they wanted. It's not going to change the world but it's all rock n roll to me.
Thursday, 14 November 2019
Reviews: Jakub Zytecki, Necronomicon, Buck & Evans, Bloody Unicorn (Matt, Rich, Steve & Val)
Jakub Zytecki: Nothing Lasts, Nothing's Lost (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
There are thousands of solo guitar players around today so it's quite burgeoning genre to try and stand out in. Jakub Zytecki does this by having a very expressive soundscape that incorporates ambient electronica, funk, jazz fusion and soul on opener Somewhere Quiet all of which is driven by his mastery of his instrument managing to merge technical dexterity with an almost primal accessibility. Much like his peer and touring partner Plini, Zytecki crafts sounds that may see 'metal' fans reaching for the off button but if you have more than a passing interest in more diverse music then Nothing Lasts, Nothing's Lost will be an album to discover. That isn't to say there's nothing heavy on it as the thumping synths do their work on Creature Comfort especially which also features Meshuggah guitar legend Fredrik Thordendal who provides a trademark solo to this slab of buzzing electronica-influenced number.
He's one of two guests the other being Polish singer Paulina Przybysz who lends her voice to the surf styled Bonsai. Everything else you hear here is Zytecki, from the euphoric Spring, which features some classic Motown samples, to the soulful Light A Fire (Fight A Liar) which gives us a chance to head Zytecki's excellent vocals too. Nothing Lasts, Nothing's Lost owes as much to the current wave of guitar heroes such as Plini, Guthrie Govan or even Jon Gomm and John Mayer as it does to acts like Foals, Anna Calvi and Vampire Weekend. An interesting listen that requires headphones for full effect, Jakub Zytecki has created a record for those times when you just take any more blastbeats or aggression, laid back, (mostly) upbeat this ambient/indie/virtuoso album is a rewarding listen. 8/10
Necronomicon: Unus (Season Of Mist) [Val D'Arcy]
Keeping the recent theme of new releases from Canada going, one of the country's more long-standing metal institutions Necronomicon present their latest studio album, Unus. Historically they've been more of a straight up Death/Blackened Death Metal band. In the last five or six years they've leant more of the symphonic elements which are prevalent here. In many ways this album continues on the path Advent Of The Human God set them on in 2016, maybe taking it a step too far in my opinion. The first track, From Ashes Into The Flesh starts with a synthesised intro, which leads into a spoken word passage that (when combined) screams Dimmu Borgir. Indeed, it doesn't stop here, frequent moments of choral backing, and the lead vocal effects over the spoken passages are equally reminiscent of the aforementioned Norwegian band's modern day sound. On top of this, Unus has a production quality unlike any of its predecessors. The overtly punctuated and defined sound to the drums was a trademark of Dimmu Borgir's 2001 album Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia and on top of everything else it does contribute to something of a copy-cat sound. That said, the clean production is a welcome development from the almost unbearable finish on their 2010 album Return Of The Witch.
Symphonic elements are stripped back for first two minutes of Infinitum Continuum to a more traditional form of Blackened Death metal, after a brief respite it kicks back in again, there's even a single handed synthesised piano to be heard in the background. The guitar solo at the end of this track is quite glorious and the way it rides over the melodic background riff is really pleasing. I should stress that if you ignore the (unfortunately unavoidable) parallels and similarities with that Norwegian Band, the musicianship, melodies and general sound of this album is first class. Once more as we enter the third track, Paradise Lost we're treated to a cleaner Blackened Death Riff and ear-splittingly fast blast beat (what is this, like, 320bpm? Not sure.. I can't count that fast, but its speedy!) before settling into a more old-school Death Metal chug of riff. Despite the furious start this is one of the more reserved and guitar led melodic songs, there's less of a dependency on synths and backing, quite enjoyable. Following a fairly short, synthesised interlude Singularis Dominus presents a track that is broadly, more of the same but a solid piece.
Ten Thousand Masks which follows takes something of a Middle Eastern detour that leaves you feeling like you may have briefly slipped in and out of a Septicflesh song. If I can get over how much this album sounds like other bands (bands I really like!) then it's really not bad at all. The production is spotless, the songs are catchy, full of hooks and the instrumentals are all world class. But it is very hard to see (or hear) past the similarities with certain contemporary artists. Artists who, were doing all this stuff long before this album came along. Originality pulls this score down, on what is otherwise a really well executed recording. 6/10
Buck & Evans: Write A Better Day (Cargo Records) [Steve Haines]
Though this is a debut album in 2019, it could quite easily have been a ‘found album’ in an archive from the 1970s. With a very bluesy sensibility driven by Chris Buck’s excellent guitar work and Sally Ann Evans’ vocals sounding like Joss Stone with a bit of extra rock oomph, they have created a very strong debut album. Opening track Slow Train is a banger. A belter. A tour de force. Unfortunately, the rest of the album does not match the standard this sets – not that the rest of the album is crap by any means, just not as good as the opening track. While some tracks feel like fillers between stronger songs like Trail Of Tears, Sunrise and Fix You, there is still an infectious and chilled ambience that creates a cohesiveness that unites all the tracks as a body of work and this is rare to find. There are very strong elements here.
The guitar work in the outro to Sinking and the almost disco-esque feel to Ain’t No Moonlight elevate the rest of the album but in opening the album with their best track, they almost set the rest of the album up to fail as it never reaches the heights of Slow Train. There is more than enough here from the Cardiff-based band to suggest that they have a strong future in music and their style makes them a shoo in to be included on Radio 2 playlists if they continue at this level. My complaint, if you can call it that, is purely in the arrangement of the tracks on the album. I would perhaps have scored it a little higher if the standout track was later in the album because the songs all hang together really well in terms of vibe and general ambience and you don’t often find this with albums these days. It is a strong debut and it has a chilled feel that can really carry you like a wave but, as I say, it peaks far too soon. 7/10
Bloody Unicorn: Of Monsters Under The Bed EP (Self Released) [Rich Oliver]
Of Monsters Under The Bed is the debut EP from Italian melodic death metal band Bloody Unicorn. Previously known as Azra’il the band split and some of the members came back together to form Bloody Unicorn. This short EP is a release that shows plenty of promise from an up and coming band but there are areas that also need some improving. As well as a vicious melodic death metal style the band incorporate a symphonic metal influence with a use of keyboards which give the songs a dark and epic atmosphere. The band are seamlessly able to fuse the two styles together though you have some songs such as Crushing Down and Faith which lean to be bands more savage side whilst Running Out Of Time has a more epic gothic atmosphere to it. Frontwoman Irene “Eva” Scapin has a ferocious death metal growl on her but her clean vocals really need improving either being flat or completely out of tune. These need to be either worked on or ditched altogether. Of Monsters Under The Bed is a promising EP definitely showing the bands potential and with some improving and tightening of the bands sound that potential could definitely be realised. 7/10
There are thousands of solo guitar players around today so it's quite burgeoning genre to try and stand out in. Jakub Zytecki does this by having a very expressive soundscape that incorporates ambient electronica, funk, jazz fusion and soul on opener Somewhere Quiet all of which is driven by his mastery of his instrument managing to merge technical dexterity with an almost primal accessibility. Much like his peer and touring partner Plini, Zytecki crafts sounds that may see 'metal' fans reaching for the off button but if you have more than a passing interest in more diverse music then Nothing Lasts, Nothing's Lost will be an album to discover. That isn't to say there's nothing heavy on it as the thumping synths do their work on Creature Comfort especially which also features Meshuggah guitar legend Fredrik Thordendal who provides a trademark solo to this slab of buzzing electronica-influenced number.
He's one of two guests the other being Polish singer Paulina Przybysz who lends her voice to the surf styled Bonsai. Everything else you hear here is Zytecki, from the euphoric Spring, which features some classic Motown samples, to the soulful Light A Fire (Fight A Liar) which gives us a chance to head Zytecki's excellent vocals too. Nothing Lasts, Nothing's Lost owes as much to the current wave of guitar heroes such as Plini, Guthrie Govan or even Jon Gomm and John Mayer as it does to acts like Foals, Anna Calvi and Vampire Weekend. An interesting listen that requires headphones for full effect, Jakub Zytecki has created a record for those times when you just take any more blastbeats or aggression, laid back, (mostly) upbeat this ambient/indie/virtuoso album is a rewarding listen. 8/10
Necronomicon: Unus (Season Of Mist) [Val D'Arcy]
Keeping the recent theme of new releases from Canada going, one of the country's more long-standing metal institutions Necronomicon present their latest studio album, Unus. Historically they've been more of a straight up Death/Blackened Death Metal band. In the last five or six years they've leant more of the symphonic elements which are prevalent here. In many ways this album continues on the path Advent Of The Human God set them on in 2016, maybe taking it a step too far in my opinion. The first track, From Ashes Into The Flesh starts with a synthesised intro, which leads into a spoken word passage that (when combined) screams Dimmu Borgir. Indeed, it doesn't stop here, frequent moments of choral backing, and the lead vocal effects over the spoken passages are equally reminiscent of the aforementioned Norwegian band's modern day sound. On top of this, Unus has a production quality unlike any of its predecessors. The overtly punctuated and defined sound to the drums was a trademark of Dimmu Borgir's 2001 album Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia and on top of everything else it does contribute to something of a copy-cat sound. That said, the clean production is a welcome development from the almost unbearable finish on their 2010 album Return Of The Witch.
Symphonic elements are stripped back for first two minutes of Infinitum Continuum to a more traditional form of Blackened Death metal, after a brief respite it kicks back in again, there's even a single handed synthesised piano to be heard in the background. The guitar solo at the end of this track is quite glorious and the way it rides over the melodic background riff is really pleasing. I should stress that if you ignore the (unfortunately unavoidable) parallels and similarities with that Norwegian Band, the musicianship, melodies and general sound of this album is first class. Once more as we enter the third track, Paradise Lost we're treated to a cleaner Blackened Death Riff and ear-splittingly fast blast beat (what is this, like, 320bpm? Not sure.. I can't count that fast, but its speedy!) before settling into a more old-school Death Metal chug of riff. Despite the furious start this is one of the more reserved and guitar led melodic songs, there's less of a dependency on synths and backing, quite enjoyable. Following a fairly short, synthesised interlude Singularis Dominus presents a track that is broadly, more of the same but a solid piece.
Ten Thousand Masks which follows takes something of a Middle Eastern detour that leaves you feeling like you may have briefly slipped in and out of a Septicflesh song. If I can get over how much this album sounds like other bands (bands I really like!) then it's really not bad at all. The production is spotless, the songs are catchy, full of hooks and the instrumentals are all world class. But it is very hard to see (or hear) past the similarities with certain contemporary artists. Artists who, were doing all this stuff long before this album came along. Originality pulls this score down, on what is otherwise a really well executed recording. 6/10
Buck & Evans: Write A Better Day (Cargo Records) [Steve Haines]
Though this is a debut album in 2019, it could quite easily have been a ‘found album’ in an archive from the 1970s. With a very bluesy sensibility driven by Chris Buck’s excellent guitar work and Sally Ann Evans’ vocals sounding like Joss Stone with a bit of extra rock oomph, they have created a very strong debut album. Opening track Slow Train is a banger. A belter. A tour de force. Unfortunately, the rest of the album does not match the standard this sets – not that the rest of the album is crap by any means, just not as good as the opening track. While some tracks feel like fillers between stronger songs like Trail Of Tears, Sunrise and Fix You, there is still an infectious and chilled ambience that creates a cohesiveness that unites all the tracks as a body of work and this is rare to find. There are very strong elements here.
The guitar work in the outro to Sinking and the almost disco-esque feel to Ain’t No Moonlight elevate the rest of the album but in opening the album with their best track, they almost set the rest of the album up to fail as it never reaches the heights of Slow Train. There is more than enough here from the Cardiff-based band to suggest that they have a strong future in music and their style makes them a shoo in to be included on Radio 2 playlists if they continue at this level. My complaint, if you can call it that, is purely in the arrangement of the tracks on the album. I would perhaps have scored it a little higher if the standout track was later in the album because the songs all hang together really well in terms of vibe and general ambience and you don’t often find this with albums these days. It is a strong debut and it has a chilled feel that can really carry you like a wave but, as I say, it peaks far too soon. 7/10
Bloody Unicorn: Of Monsters Under The Bed EP (Self Released) [Rich Oliver]
Of Monsters Under The Bed is the debut EP from Italian melodic death metal band Bloody Unicorn. Previously known as Azra’il the band split and some of the members came back together to form Bloody Unicorn. This short EP is a release that shows plenty of promise from an up and coming band but there are areas that also need some improving. As well as a vicious melodic death metal style the band incorporate a symphonic metal influence with a use of keyboards which give the songs a dark and epic atmosphere. The band are seamlessly able to fuse the two styles together though you have some songs such as Crushing Down and Faith which lean to be bands more savage side whilst Running Out Of Time has a more epic gothic atmosphere to it. Frontwoman Irene “Eva” Scapin has a ferocious death metal growl on her but her clean vocals really need improving either being flat or completely out of tune. These need to be either worked on or ditched altogether. Of Monsters Under The Bed is a promising EP definitely showing the bands potential and with some improving and tightening of the bands sound that potential could definitely be realised. 7/10
A View From The Back Of The Room: Pity My Brain 5th Birthday (Live Review By Matt Bladen)
Pity My Brain 5th Birthday, Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
Having been slogging away trying to bring shows to the South Wales scene for 5 years it was probably only right that Pity My Brain gathered together some of their most booked acts into one gig for their fifth anniversary. Taking place in Clwb Ifor Bach (upstairs for a change) it was supposed to be headlined by the greasy rockers The Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell however they pulled out, luckily they were replaced by Henry's Funeral Shoe, unfortunately on the night Heavy Flames also pulled out meaning that this is went down to a four band show on the day, however this didn't deter the Pity My Brain faithful for heading up to Clwb and grabbing a beer ready for some big riffs.
Openers were Peter Greene (8) who kicked off with some 60's style rocking that also had some stoner and grunge sound, it was lots of lovely grooves right from the off. Opening with a cover of Hendrix's Foxy Lady these young uns prove there is still life in this style of music as they clearly have old souls to play the kind of music that gets you moving. From then it was all originals that got the audience moving as much as their cover. Climaxing their set with some crunching doom this four piece named after the founder of Fleetwood Mac (before they went Hollywood) started the evening in style. There's lots to come from this band, mark my words.
With Heavy Flames pulling out last minute it was Lacertilia (9) up next to keep things moving and in true Lacertilia style they ripped the roof of the place. A band who get better with every viewing, (and I've seen them alot) if you're sleeping on them then you're missing out. They have thick riffs for days from Mike and Lukas as Tom and Ed layer things with syrpy bottom end. There aren't many band who can get a crowd going with such ease, frontman Fry conducted the audience in his own unique way, as he also writhed on the floor during their final song. The set was drawn mainly from their new as yet unreleased album and despite Lukas breaking a string on the first song, they weren't put off their stride, it was a little jam then ready again for some absolute riffs. Once again it was these madmen who nuked the room, making near impossible to follow them.
It was lucky then next up were Dead Shed Jokes (8). The band had impressed in HMV earlier in the day stripping back songs from their new album All The Seasons to a crowd of devotees and also some slightly bewildered punters. In Clwb everything was amped up properly showing DSJ in full flight and playing tracks from their amazing new album to a grooving crowd. Opening with Phantom Pains it was a rifftastic way to begin, they continued on fine style playing tracks mainly from the latest release as they blended the sound together for one hazy set. Always a delight to watch especially from an instrumental perspective as Nicky, Kristian and a guitarist Nathan who was filling in for a few gigs for Chris. They all swapped between guitar and bass for the duration of the show as frontman Hwyel shifted across the stage feeling the vibes as he unleashed that unique powerhouse voice leaving the beat to Sean behind the kit, though he does do some singing as well like a Welsh Taylor Hawkins. I've been watching DSJ for a few years now and they have morphed into a monster of band with songs that resonate through every person's soul, with a fantastic album behind them 2020 looks bright.
Finally it was time for our headliners, the brotherly duo of Aled and Brennig Clifford make up Henry's Funeral Shoe (9) and they brought the Delta Blues to Clwb drawing the evening to a close with the fury of a band who have been doing this for long time (since 2008). The slickness was off the charts as they got the room grooving to some swaggering blues riffage that was far too easy for the hips. This wasn't supposed to be their gig, but they played it like it was, dropping in some self-deprecating humour in between the punchy blues rock. It had been left to these Ystrad bluesers to close the night and they did so in fine style playing to an inebriated audience they absolutely smashed it with a set of rockers that got the crowd moving for the whole set.
All in all a great showcase of South Wales rock scene, these bands have been supported by Pity My Brain since the beginning, here's hoping that going forward that they bring more great gigs to South Wales, while also retaining their place as the champions of the overlooked side of the scene. When your better half says she'd have all of the bands at your wedding you know they are doing something right!
Having been slogging away trying to bring shows to the South Wales scene for 5 years it was probably only right that Pity My Brain gathered together some of their most booked acts into one gig for their fifth anniversary. Taking place in Clwb Ifor Bach (upstairs for a change) it was supposed to be headlined by the greasy rockers The Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell however they pulled out, luckily they were replaced by Henry's Funeral Shoe, unfortunately on the night Heavy Flames also pulled out meaning that this is went down to a four band show on the day, however this didn't deter the Pity My Brain faithful for heading up to Clwb and grabbing a beer ready for some big riffs.
Openers were Peter Greene (8) who kicked off with some 60's style rocking that also had some stoner and grunge sound, it was lots of lovely grooves right from the off. Opening with a cover of Hendrix's Foxy Lady these young uns prove there is still life in this style of music as they clearly have old souls to play the kind of music that gets you moving. From then it was all originals that got the audience moving as much as their cover. Climaxing their set with some crunching doom this four piece named after the founder of Fleetwood Mac (before they went Hollywood) started the evening in style. There's lots to come from this band, mark my words.
With Heavy Flames pulling out last minute it was Lacertilia (9) up next to keep things moving and in true Lacertilia style they ripped the roof of the place. A band who get better with every viewing, (and I've seen them alot) if you're sleeping on them then you're missing out. They have thick riffs for days from Mike and Lukas as Tom and Ed layer things with syrpy bottom end. There aren't many band who can get a crowd going with such ease, frontman Fry conducted the audience in his own unique way, as he also writhed on the floor during their final song. The set was drawn mainly from their new as yet unreleased album and despite Lukas breaking a string on the first song, they weren't put off their stride, it was a little jam then ready again for some absolute riffs. Once again it was these madmen who nuked the room, making near impossible to follow them.
It was lucky then next up were Dead Shed Jokes (8). The band had impressed in HMV earlier in the day stripping back songs from their new album All The Seasons to a crowd of devotees and also some slightly bewildered punters. In Clwb everything was amped up properly showing DSJ in full flight and playing tracks from their amazing new album to a grooving crowd. Opening with Phantom Pains it was a rifftastic way to begin, they continued on fine style playing tracks mainly from the latest release as they blended the sound together for one hazy set. Always a delight to watch especially from an instrumental perspective as Nicky, Kristian and a guitarist Nathan who was filling in for a few gigs for Chris. They all swapped between guitar and bass for the duration of the show as frontman Hwyel shifted across the stage feeling the vibes as he unleashed that unique powerhouse voice leaving the beat to Sean behind the kit, though he does do some singing as well like a Welsh Taylor Hawkins. I've been watching DSJ for a few years now and they have morphed into a monster of band with songs that resonate through every person's soul, with a fantastic album behind them 2020 looks bright.
Finally it was time for our headliners, the brotherly duo of Aled and Brennig Clifford make up Henry's Funeral Shoe (9) and they brought the Delta Blues to Clwb drawing the evening to a close with the fury of a band who have been doing this for long time (since 2008). The slickness was off the charts as they got the room grooving to some swaggering blues riffage that was far too easy for the hips. This wasn't supposed to be their gig, but they played it like it was, dropping in some self-deprecating humour in between the punchy blues rock. It had been left to these Ystrad bluesers to close the night and they did so in fine style playing to an inebriated audience they absolutely smashed it with a set of rockers that got the crowd moving for the whole set.
All in all a great showcase of South Wales rock scene, these bands have been supported by Pity My Brain since the beginning, here's hoping that going forward that they bring more great gigs to South Wales, while also retaining their place as the champions of the overlooked side of the scene. When your better half says she'd have all of the bands at your wedding you know they are doing something right!
Wednesday, 13 November 2019
Reviews: Slayer, Reign Of Fury, Laura Cox, Eleine (Paul H & Matt)
Slayer: The Repentless Killogy (Nuclear Blast) [Paul Hutchings]
Recorded at the Forum, Inglewood, CA as the soundtrack to the recent motion picture (which I haven’t seen although reviews of the actual short film are mixed to say the least), this double disc full concert captures the power and majesty of the seminal thrash band on their farewell tour. For anyone who caught the band on that tour, which is racing to its conclusion on November 30th at the same venue, it was hard not to be overwhelmed by the intensity that the band put into each show.
The set list, whilst retaining the nucleus of the songs that fans would have seen in the UK last November, contains a few variations with the inclusion of The Antichrist, You Against You, Cast The First Stone and Bloodline in favour of Jihad, Blood Red, Dittohead and Black Magic. With Holt and King firing on all cylinders, the guitar work is a ruthlessly jagged and cutting as ever, searing work on Dead Skin Mask, the pulverising War Ensemble and of the smouldering Seasons In The Abyss. Tom Araya definitely can’t hit those piercing screams anymore, but he manages to maintain the pulsing breakneck speed delivery necessitated on Born Of Fire; unfortunately, he doesn’t fare so well on Bloodline and his struggle on South Of Heaven sees him pushing every sinew and come up short. However, Paul Bostoph’s drum work is as immense as ever, the double bass battery in constant action and one of the few highlights on a laboured Cast The First Stone where Araya again struggles.
A Slayer live album will never capture the blistering intensity of their live shows. In fact, it’s galling to even try as I know that in the live arena the band simply bulldozer. I listened to Americans whooping and hollering whilst the band spill their guts and I was jealous; despite having seen the band three times last year and despite Araya’s croaking performance here. Slayer have repeated this week that they will continue in some shape or form. One can but hope that the legacy remains intact. This band mean too much to too many. The Repentless Killogy is a record of a moment in time for one of the most important metal bands of all time. Enjoy it, relieve those gigs, ignore the occasional struggling vocals and thank Satan that you got to see them. 7/10
Reign Of Fury: Exorcise Reality (Self Released) [Paul Hutchings]
It’s been a while since the Midlands thrashers wowed us with Death Be Thy Shepherd; 2015 in fact. Well, the good news is that the band are back and firing on all cylinders with their latest, hybrid thrash/NWOBHM style release, Exorcise Reality. A band that relies heavily on melody to support their sound, they also possess Bison Steed, one of the best sets of vocal pipes on the circuit and he has delivered a majestic performance once more. The band have released the album via YouTube and then music platforms such as Spotify due to the changes in the way music is delivered. I am fully appreciative of the implications of this, but financially we all know that this is merely a reflection of how the world has changed.
Recorded at the Forum, Inglewood, CA as the soundtrack to the recent motion picture (which I haven’t seen although reviews of the actual short film are mixed to say the least), this double disc full concert captures the power and majesty of the seminal thrash band on their farewell tour. For anyone who caught the band on that tour, which is racing to its conclusion on November 30th at the same venue, it was hard not to be overwhelmed by the intensity that the band put into each show.
The set list, whilst retaining the nucleus of the songs that fans would have seen in the UK last November, contains a few variations with the inclusion of The Antichrist, You Against You, Cast The First Stone and Bloodline in favour of Jihad, Blood Red, Dittohead and Black Magic. With Holt and King firing on all cylinders, the guitar work is a ruthlessly jagged and cutting as ever, searing work on Dead Skin Mask, the pulverising War Ensemble and of the smouldering Seasons In The Abyss. Tom Araya definitely can’t hit those piercing screams anymore, but he manages to maintain the pulsing breakneck speed delivery necessitated on Born Of Fire; unfortunately, he doesn’t fare so well on Bloodline and his struggle on South Of Heaven sees him pushing every sinew and come up short. However, Paul Bostoph’s drum work is as immense as ever, the double bass battery in constant action and one of the few highlights on a laboured Cast The First Stone where Araya again struggles.
A Slayer live album will never capture the blistering intensity of their live shows. In fact, it’s galling to even try as I know that in the live arena the band simply bulldozer. I listened to Americans whooping and hollering whilst the band spill their guts and I was jealous; despite having seen the band three times last year and despite Araya’s croaking performance here. Slayer have repeated this week that they will continue in some shape or form. One can but hope that the legacy remains intact. This band mean too much to too many. The Repentless Killogy is a record of a moment in time for one of the most important metal bands of all time. Enjoy it, relieve those gigs, ignore the occasional struggling vocals and thank Satan that you got to see them. 7/10
Reign Of Fury: Exorcise Reality (Self Released) [Paul Hutchings]
It’s been a while since the Midlands thrashers wowed us with Death Be Thy Shepherd; 2015 in fact. Well, the good news is that the band are back and firing on all cylinders with their latest, hybrid thrash/NWOBHM style release, Exorcise Reality. A band that relies heavily on melody to support their sound, they also possess Bison Steed, one of the best sets of vocal pipes on the circuit and he has delivered a majestic performance once more. The band have released the album via YouTube and then music platforms such as Spotify due to the changes in the way music is delivered. I am fully appreciative of the implications of this, but financially we all know that this is merely a reflection of how the world has changed.
Is Exorcise Reality any good then? Well, the truth is yes, it’s a blinder. Opening song To Fight And Conquer sets the pace, intensive riffing kicking matters off at accelerated speed, the duel guitars racing each other in a seemingly crazy race, whilst Steed’s vocals soar above the cacophony. I May Be A Bastard But I’m Not A Fucking Bastard wins best song title of the month but is also a roar of frustration. Perfect harmonies dominate without ever impacting on the sharp, raging delivery, very much the trademark of the Cheltenham based outfit. New guitarist Joey Jaycock (I say new, he’s been with the band for over two years) slots into the Reign Of Fury line-up with easy, the Maiden style guitar work laced with hooks and catchy elements, such as on Addiction Hymn, a melancholic theme but a raging hard rocker. CapitalJism needs little interpretation but it is certainly worth drawing attention to the ferocious pace which will insight circle pits with ease. A pulsing, throbbing runaway horse, Steed (sorry, no equine pun intended!) demonstrates his class with a vocal masterclass.
And it continues. Destroy The Night is pumped up and jumping, the fresh approach supported by shouted backing vocals which do not detract in anyway. A little BFMV in style, Reign Of Fury have created a style which bridges both the old and the new; it could be the early 1980s or the 2000s. It is solid, charismatic and rewarding metal. Chunky riffs on Haunt The Murderer give way to a Megadeth’s style rampage, whilst the title track strays into the territory of Slayer for a brief minute before the slow, pounding stomp of the track slowly builds, the guitar work once more sharp as anything. This leads to the final song, the title track and about as anthemic a song as you could get. Powerful, mighty and clearly demonstrating that when it comes to thrash Reign Of Fury remain at the forefront of the UK scene. 8/10
Laura Cox: Burning Bright (Verychords) [Matt Bladen]
Parisienne guitar slinger Laura Cox returns with her second album which is big step up from her debut record, she's found her niche and yes it's bluesy hard rock but it does well as she stays true to the album title by burning brightly up and down the fretboard on rockers like As I Am where she shows off her guitar prowess, but also on this album the vocals are better wrapping Cox up as the full package now as she's developed a Beth Hart drawl on numbers like the Southern soulful River and the closing ballad Letters To The Otherside. Cox and her band state their influences as AC/DC, ZZ Top, Aerosmith and Blackberry Smoke fusing Southern American rock with Australia boogie, these influences shine through on this record making it ideal Planet Rock fodder, though there is a authenticity here especially on the sultry Looking Upside Down. Hopefully on the back of Burning Bright we'll be seeing Laura crossing the channel to play some gigs here which will probably be as incendiary as this album suggests. Très Bon! 7/10
Eleine: All Shall Burn (Black Lodge Records) [Matt Bladen]
I reviewed Eleine's second record Until The End and I was impressed by it's modern/symphonically-tinged metal sound and powerful vocals from singer/alt model Madeleine Liljestam so while we wait for another full length we have this five song EP made up of three new songs, one remix and a cover. Enemies blows things away as it opens with fat riffs and the symphonic style as the title track brings things back to modern metal aggression. Again it's Madeleine's vocals that bewitch though guitarist and band co-founder Rikard Ekberg has a great roar on him which gives a death metal sound to their cover of Rammstein's Mein Herz Brennt which on the whole sounds like the orginal. The best song for me is Hell Moon (We Shall Never Die) a stirring cinematic song that could be a Bond theme as both singer's duet on top of the totally orchestral song, it's brilliant to see them show that their symphonic stylings are not an addition, this is where the band start adding the metal to it afterwards, the symphonic version of the title track shows this brilliantly as it's probably better all symphonic than it's metallic counterpart. A neat little interlude as we wait for a new full length. 6/10
And it continues. Destroy The Night is pumped up and jumping, the fresh approach supported by shouted backing vocals which do not detract in anyway. A little BFMV in style, Reign Of Fury have created a style which bridges both the old and the new; it could be the early 1980s or the 2000s. It is solid, charismatic and rewarding metal. Chunky riffs on Haunt The Murderer give way to a Megadeth’s style rampage, whilst the title track strays into the territory of Slayer for a brief minute before the slow, pounding stomp of the track slowly builds, the guitar work once more sharp as anything. This leads to the final song, the title track and about as anthemic a song as you could get. Powerful, mighty and clearly demonstrating that when it comes to thrash Reign Of Fury remain at the forefront of the UK scene. 8/10
Laura Cox: Burning Bright (Verychords) [Matt Bladen]
Parisienne guitar slinger Laura Cox returns with her second album which is big step up from her debut record, she's found her niche and yes it's bluesy hard rock but it does well as she stays true to the album title by burning brightly up and down the fretboard on rockers like As I Am where she shows off her guitar prowess, but also on this album the vocals are better wrapping Cox up as the full package now as she's developed a Beth Hart drawl on numbers like the Southern soulful River and the closing ballad Letters To The Otherside. Cox and her band state their influences as AC/DC, ZZ Top, Aerosmith and Blackberry Smoke fusing Southern American rock with Australia boogie, these influences shine through on this record making it ideal Planet Rock fodder, though there is a authenticity here especially on the sultry Looking Upside Down. Hopefully on the back of Burning Bright we'll be seeing Laura crossing the channel to play some gigs here which will probably be as incendiary as this album suggests. Très Bon! 7/10
Eleine: All Shall Burn (Black Lodge Records) [Matt Bladen]
I reviewed Eleine's second record Until The End and I was impressed by it's modern/symphonically-tinged metal sound and powerful vocals from singer/alt model Madeleine Liljestam so while we wait for another full length we have this five song EP made up of three new songs, one remix and a cover. Enemies blows things away as it opens with fat riffs and the symphonic style as the title track brings things back to modern metal aggression. Again it's Madeleine's vocals that bewitch though guitarist and band co-founder Rikard Ekberg has a great roar on him which gives a death metal sound to their cover of Rammstein's Mein Herz Brennt which on the whole sounds like the orginal. The best song for me is Hell Moon (We Shall Never Die) a stirring cinematic song that could be a Bond theme as both singer's duet on top of the totally orchestral song, it's brilliant to see them show that their symphonic stylings are not an addition, this is where the band start adding the metal to it afterwards, the symphonic version of the title track shows this brilliantly as it's probably better all symphonic than it's metallic counterpart. A neat little interlude as we wait for a new full length. 6/10
A View From The Back Of The Room: Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons (Live Review By Paul Hutchings)
Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons, Tramshed, Cardiff
On a night when you could have attended several top quality gigs in the Welsh Capital and surrounding area, for me there was only one place to be as one of Wales’ favourite sons finished off his latest tour in style at a bouncing Tramshed. It’s been a bizarre and remarkable four years since the passing of Lemmy, and his right hand man for 30 years, Phil Campbell. The grief which at times remains viciously raw for fans and which Campbell spelt out in Rocking Chair on his recently released solo album has spurred Campbell onward to a new career and direction. The All Star Band morphed into The Bastard Sons, much to Mrs Campbell’s displeasure, and Campbell, vocalist Neil Starr and Campbell’s three sons, Dane, Todd and Tyla have forged a reputation as one of the most exciting bands in the UK today. Hard working bands are in plentiful supply in the UK right now but PCATBS must be in the top division with their relentless tour schedule.
Cornwall’s King Creature (6) were one of several surprise packages a couple of years ago at a freezing HRH in Pwllheli. They had sufficient cutting edge to stand out from the crowd with an energy and fire that spiced up their generic classic rock style. Whether the effects of the current tour had caught up with them or whether it was the somewhat muted response from the Welsh crowd I don’t know, but Creature were rather flat. New song Desolation didn’t last long in the memory, whilst early sing-a-longs to Lowlife elicited a response which whilst rousing didn’t take the roof off. King For A Day upped the intensity a little but despite plenty of sweat and no little effort, the band failed to really ignite the partisan crowd to the extent one might have expected.
Unsurprisingly, a heroes welcome awaited PCATBS (9) as they took to the stage following a roaring Highway Star. The band are sharper, tighter and simply a rock and roll juggernaut. A setlist that mixed tracks from The Age Of Absurdity, two songs from the brilliant Old Lions Still Roar and a scattering of Motörhead classics raced by and by the time Lost Woman Blues and final encore Killed By Death had finished, there was limited oxygen left in the venue. Campbell may be carrying slightly more weight than when he first linked up with Lemmy back in 1984, but he remains a masterful guitarist, his calm and easy style belies his blues values which had always been allowed to shine in Motörhead. Plenty of opportunity to share the axe work with son Todd, whose own fretwork improves on every showing. Neil Starr’s honest working of the crowd harks back to the old school style, the audience participation on Get On Your Knees honed from hundreds of gigs. Phil’s forays to the microphone were brief, mainly a humbled “thank you” but he did bring a tear to the eye when dedicating a ferocious Ace Of Spades to all who had ever sailed in the good ship Motörhead. As a band, PCATBS get better every time I see them, and judging by the roar of the crowd in the venue, most in attendance would agree.
The setlist for those interested: Step Into The Fire, Freak Show, Rock Out, These Old Boots, High Rule, Born To Raise Hell, Dark Days, Get On Your Knees, Rockaway Beach, R.A.M.O.N.E.S, Straight Up, Silver Machine, Ace of Spades, Ring Leader. Encore: Big Mouth, Lost Woman Blues, Killed by Death.
On a night when you could have attended several top quality gigs in the Welsh Capital and surrounding area, for me there was only one place to be as one of Wales’ favourite sons finished off his latest tour in style at a bouncing Tramshed. It’s been a bizarre and remarkable four years since the passing of Lemmy, and his right hand man for 30 years, Phil Campbell. The grief which at times remains viciously raw for fans and which Campbell spelt out in Rocking Chair on his recently released solo album has spurred Campbell onward to a new career and direction. The All Star Band morphed into The Bastard Sons, much to Mrs Campbell’s displeasure, and Campbell, vocalist Neil Starr and Campbell’s three sons, Dane, Todd and Tyla have forged a reputation as one of the most exciting bands in the UK today. Hard working bands are in plentiful supply in the UK right now but PCATBS must be in the top division with their relentless tour schedule.
Cornwall’s King Creature (6) were one of several surprise packages a couple of years ago at a freezing HRH in Pwllheli. They had sufficient cutting edge to stand out from the crowd with an energy and fire that spiced up their generic classic rock style. Whether the effects of the current tour had caught up with them or whether it was the somewhat muted response from the Welsh crowd I don’t know, but Creature were rather flat. New song Desolation didn’t last long in the memory, whilst early sing-a-longs to Lowlife elicited a response which whilst rousing didn’t take the roof off. King For A Day upped the intensity a little but despite plenty of sweat and no little effort, the band failed to really ignite the partisan crowd to the extent one might have expected.
Unsurprisingly, a heroes welcome awaited PCATBS (9) as they took to the stage following a roaring Highway Star. The band are sharper, tighter and simply a rock and roll juggernaut. A setlist that mixed tracks from The Age Of Absurdity, two songs from the brilliant Old Lions Still Roar and a scattering of Motörhead classics raced by and by the time Lost Woman Blues and final encore Killed By Death had finished, there was limited oxygen left in the venue. Campbell may be carrying slightly more weight than when he first linked up with Lemmy back in 1984, but he remains a masterful guitarist, his calm and easy style belies his blues values which had always been allowed to shine in Motörhead. Plenty of opportunity to share the axe work with son Todd, whose own fretwork improves on every showing. Neil Starr’s honest working of the crowd harks back to the old school style, the audience participation on Get On Your Knees honed from hundreds of gigs. Phil’s forays to the microphone were brief, mainly a humbled “thank you” but he did bring a tear to the eye when dedicating a ferocious Ace Of Spades to all who had ever sailed in the good ship Motörhead. As a band, PCATBS get better every time I see them, and judging by the roar of the crowd in the venue, most in attendance would agree.
The setlist for those interested: Step Into The Fire, Freak Show, Rock Out, These Old Boots, High Rule, Born To Raise Hell, Dark Days, Get On Your Knees, Rockaway Beach, R.A.M.O.N.E.S, Straight Up, Silver Machine, Ace of Spades, Ring Leader. Encore: Big Mouth, Lost Woman Blues, Killed by Death.
Tuesday, 12 November 2019
Reviews: Hypno5e, Seven Kingdoms, Metal De Facto, Devil Rolling Dice (Paul S,Rich & Matt)
Hypno5e: A Distant (Dark) Source (Pelagic Records) [Paul Scoble]
French band Hypno5e have been in existence since 2003. The four piece based in Montpellier have made four albums before A Distant (Dark) Force, the last one being 2018’s film soundtrack Alba - Les Ombres Arrantes. The band play progressive metal, but these days that label covers a lot of ground; so let's be a bit more accurate: Hypno5e play a very Djent and Meshuggah influenced brand of Progressive Metal. The band also refer to their style as ‘Cinematic’ progressive metal. Although there isn’t anything on this album that sounds like the soundtrack to Lawrence Of Arabia, or Out Of Africa. There are samples of voices talking, which have a definite cinematic feel to them, very French New Wave, I can almost smell the Gauloise! These samples do add to the songs, they aren’t just tacked on, I wished I had tried harder in French lessons at school so I could tell you what they all mean, I feel like I might have missed out on a great story. If you are french, or can speak french, then you will probably get a little more out of the album than I did, maybe you could contact the blog with a story synopsis?
Metal De Facto: Imperium Romanum (Rockshots Records) [Matt Bladen]
Now this is more like it! Formed by Esa Orjatsalo (ex-Dreamtale) and Sami Hinkka (Ensiferum), Metal De Facto has been formed to "Make Power Metal Great Again" this Finnish act have brought the bombast back to power metal definitely with this Roman themed album. Now Roman's have been done by a few bands (Ex Deo for example) but the fanciful, extravagant sometimes unbelievable nature of Roman history makes it prime content for power metal bands. There's war, political strife, betrayal and even a lot of sex/romance, it's full of heroes and villains (sometimes one and the same) and for many it's a very popular part of history. Now this album is a concept record based around the Roman Empire (thus Imperium Romanum - Latin Ed) dealing with the ideologies, stories, culture and mythology of one of the largest Empires in history.
From the total loyalty of the soldiers on Legionnaires Oath, the sheer debauchery of Bacchanalia (which sounds like Helloween), the pomp and drama of the Colosseum (which admittedly is an instrumental) and of course the murder of Caesar on Ides Of March. These are all delivered in a no nonsense power metal style with galloping riffs, widdly solos and soaring vocals that just bring a goofy grin to your face (bigger for me due to the lyrical content). Now I mentioned Ex Deo earlier who are probably the leaders in 'Roman Metal' so it's only fitting that their singer/mastermind Maurizio Iacono provides the spoken word for the finale of Germanicus, the epic tale of a prominent Roman general. Imperium Romanum is a brilliant first shot by Metal De Facto, slick keys, swelling orchestral backing, powerful vocals, thundering rhythms and some nifty guitar work.
It's bloody silly but so entertaining dammit! I'd put this in the same category as Helloween, it doesn't take itself too seriously and is all the better for that. Now if they could follow it up with a full metal opera about Caligula that would possibly push me over the edge into euphoria. 9/10
Devil Rolling Dice: The Catastrophic Sequence (Self Released) [Rich Oliver]
The Catastrophic Sequence is the debut album from Greek thrashers Devil Rolling Dice. With this album Devil Rolling Dice have recorded just over an hour of stomping mid paced thrash metal which varies little throughout its duration. As an avid thrash metal maniac I’m very particular about my thrash metal and The Catastrophic Sequence unfortunately did very little for me. One of the overriding factors for thrash metal is the speed and Devil Rolling Dice very rarely venture from a mid paced chug which means virtually every song sounds identical or at least extremely similar. The band do kick up the tempo in a couple of songs opener Prison Dead and closer Judas Paradox have a bit of speed and velocity to them but everything else in between those two songs is pretty much monotony. The band play as a tight unit and frontman Dimitris Stathopoulos has a bark similar in style to Max Cavalera but the material recorded just sent me on a one way journey to boredomville. Thrash is meant to be fast, vibrant and exciting but The Catastrophic Sequence is a catastrophic failure in how to do thrash metal. 3/10
French band Hypno5e have been in existence since 2003. The four piece based in Montpellier have made four albums before A Distant (Dark) Force, the last one being 2018’s film soundtrack Alba - Les Ombres Arrantes. The band play progressive metal, but these days that label covers a lot of ground; so let's be a bit more accurate: Hypno5e play a very Djent and Meshuggah influenced brand of Progressive Metal. The band also refer to their style as ‘Cinematic’ progressive metal. Although there isn’t anything on this album that sounds like the soundtrack to Lawrence Of Arabia, or Out Of Africa. There are samples of voices talking, which have a definite cinematic feel to them, very French New Wave, I can almost smell the Gauloise! These samples do add to the songs, they aren’t just tacked on, I wished I had tried harder in French lessons at school so I could tell you what they all mean, I feel like I might have missed out on a great story. If you are french, or can speak french, then you will probably get a little more out of the album than I did, maybe you could contact the blog with a story synopsis?
The structure of the album is quite complex. We get 11 tracks, the opening and closing tracks are stand alone songs (On The Dry Lake & Tauca - Part II (Nowhere)), but the other 9 are 3, 3 part songs named In The Blue Glow Of Dawn Parts I, II & III, A Distant Dark Source Parts I, II & III and On Our Bed Of Soil I, II & III. Most the tracks are a mix of very rhythmic and choppy Djent riffing, with some genuinely beautiful softer sections that have clean guitar and vocals that are smooth and deeply melodic, there is a shimmery quality to these softer parts. Sometimes the riffing falls into fairly simple chugging on one note style djent, which is unfortunate, but a lot of the heavier riffs have more complexity than this regressive, simplistic Meshuggah worship. A Distant Dark Source Part I and On Our Bed Of Soil I are purely soft and beautiful.
If I’m being totally honest I’m more of a fan of the Enslaved/Opeth style of progressive metal, rather than this Djent and Meshuggah influenced style. I’m a fan of melody rather than rhythmic dynamics; but this is not Hypno5e’s fault. So, some of this isn’t to my taste, however I would be being remiss if I criticised this for simply being a different style to what I’m a fan of. For example I’m not that keen on the harsh vocals, they are a little to emotional, maybe a little too like Metalcore; but if you like vocals like that, then you’ll love this (The clean vocals are to my taste, and they are very good!). Again, I’m not that keen on one note chugging, but most of the riffs have more complexity than that, and I’ve quite enjoyed them, which is a very good sign if you are a djent fan. A Distant (Dark) Source is a very good album, I’ve enjoyed listening to it, and that is a big compliment, as I’ve discussed. If you are into Meshuggah and Djent then this is an album you should dive into, you’ll find a lot to enjoy. I have to be honest in the mark I give this album, but if you’re a fan of this sort of thing, then you could probably add a point or two. 7/10
Seven Kingdoms: Empty Eyes EP (Self Released) [Rich Oliver]
Empty Eyes is the new EP from US metallers Seven Kingdoms. Not a band I am familiar with but Seven Kingdoms have four albums under their belt and have toured with some very prolific bands. From reading about the band they are described as having a power metal sound with heavy influences from thrash so this EP must be a bit of a departure as this is a straightforward heavy metal sound with some leanings towards power metal. The songs are all slow to mid paced and whilst melodic never really take off and go anywhere but all whilst showing promise whilst to be ultimately isn’t delivered. The opening title track has too slow of a tempo to muster much enthusiasm, Monster whilst mid paced does have enough of a catchy melody to hold some interest whilst The Water Dance kicks up the tempo a little bit with its power metal gallop before things slow right down for the snoozefest Valonqar which leans of the ballad side of things but without going anywhere or doing anything. The EP closes off with a fairly redundant cover of Heart’s classic Barracuda. The band put in decent performances despite the lacklustre material they are working with and singer Sabrina Valentine has a fine voice at times sounding very reminiscent of Simone Simmons from Epica. This EP was a disappointment as whilst reading up on the band I had read many promising things but this release ultimately just does not deliver. 5/10
If I’m being totally honest I’m more of a fan of the Enslaved/Opeth style of progressive metal, rather than this Djent and Meshuggah influenced style. I’m a fan of melody rather than rhythmic dynamics; but this is not Hypno5e’s fault. So, some of this isn’t to my taste, however I would be being remiss if I criticised this for simply being a different style to what I’m a fan of. For example I’m not that keen on the harsh vocals, they are a little to emotional, maybe a little too like Metalcore; but if you like vocals like that, then you’ll love this (The clean vocals are to my taste, and they are very good!). Again, I’m not that keen on one note chugging, but most of the riffs have more complexity than that, and I’ve quite enjoyed them, which is a very good sign if you are a djent fan. A Distant (Dark) Source is a very good album, I’ve enjoyed listening to it, and that is a big compliment, as I’ve discussed. If you are into Meshuggah and Djent then this is an album you should dive into, you’ll find a lot to enjoy. I have to be honest in the mark I give this album, but if you’re a fan of this sort of thing, then you could probably add a point or two. 7/10
Seven Kingdoms: Empty Eyes EP (Self Released) [Rich Oliver]
Empty Eyes is the new EP from US metallers Seven Kingdoms. Not a band I am familiar with but Seven Kingdoms have four albums under their belt and have toured with some very prolific bands. From reading about the band they are described as having a power metal sound with heavy influences from thrash so this EP must be a bit of a departure as this is a straightforward heavy metal sound with some leanings towards power metal. The songs are all slow to mid paced and whilst melodic never really take off and go anywhere but all whilst showing promise whilst to be ultimately isn’t delivered. The opening title track has too slow of a tempo to muster much enthusiasm, Monster whilst mid paced does have enough of a catchy melody to hold some interest whilst The Water Dance kicks up the tempo a little bit with its power metal gallop before things slow right down for the snoozefest Valonqar which leans of the ballad side of things but without going anywhere or doing anything. The EP closes off with a fairly redundant cover of Heart’s classic Barracuda. The band put in decent performances despite the lacklustre material they are working with and singer Sabrina Valentine has a fine voice at times sounding very reminiscent of Simone Simmons from Epica. This EP was a disappointment as whilst reading up on the band I had read many promising things but this release ultimately just does not deliver. 5/10
Metal De Facto: Imperium Romanum (Rockshots Records) [Matt Bladen]
Now this is more like it! Formed by Esa Orjatsalo (ex-Dreamtale) and Sami Hinkka (Ensiferum), Metal De Facto has been formed to "Make Power Metal Great Again" this Finnish act have brought the bombast back to power metal definitely with this Roman themed album. Now Roman's have been done by a few bands (Ex Deo for example) but the fanciful, extravagant sometimes unbelievable nature of Roman history makes it prime content for power metal bands. There's war, political strife, betrayal and even a lot of sex/romance, it's full of heroes and villains (sometimes one and the same) and for many it's a very popular part of history. Now this album is a concept record based around the Roman Empire (thus Imperium Romanum - Latin Ed) dealing with the ideologies, stories, culture and mythology of one of the largest Empires in history.
From the total loyalty of the soldiers on Legionnaires Oath, the sheer debauchery of Bacchanalia (which sounds like Helloween), the pomp and drama of the Colosseum (which admittedly is an instrumental) and of course the murder of Caesar on Ides Of March. These are all delivered in a no nonsense power metal style with galloping riffs, widdly solos and soaring vocals that just bring a goofy grin to your face (bigger for me due to the lyrical content). Now I mentioned Ex Deo earlier who are probably the leaders in 'Roman Metal' so it's only fitting that their singer/mastermind Maurizio Iacono provides the spoken word for the finale of Germanicus, the epic tale of a prominent Roman general. Imperium Romanum is a brilliant first shot by Metal De Facto, slick keys, swelling orchestral backing, powerful vocals, thundering rhythms and some nifty guitar work.
It's bloody silly but so entertaining dammit! I'd put this in the same category as Helloween, it doesn't take itself too seriously and is all the better for that. Now if they could follow it up with a full metal opera about Caligula that would possibly push me over the edge into euphoria. 9/10
Devil Rolling Dice: The Catastrophic Sequence (Self Released) [Rich Oliver]
The Catastrophic Sequence is the debut album from Greek thrashers Devil Rolling Dice. With this album Devil Rolling Dice have recorded just over an hour of stomping mid paced thrash metal which varies little throughout its duration. As an avid thrash metal maniac I’m very particular about my thrash metal and The Catastrophic Sequence unfortunately did very little for me. One of the overriding factors for thrash metal is the speed and Devil Rolling Dice very rarely venture from a mid paced chug which means virtually every song sounds identical or at least extremely similar. The band do kick up the tempo in a couple of songs opener Prison Dead and closer Judas Paradox have a bit of speed and velocity to them but everything else in between those two songs is pretty much monotony. The band play as a tight unit and frontman Dimitris Stathopoulos has a bark similar in style to Max Cavalera but the material recorded just sent me on a one way journey to boredomville. Thrash is meant to be fast, vibrant and exciting but The Catastrophic Sequence is a catastrophic failure in how to do thrash metal. 3/10
Reviews: Avatarium, A Pale Horse Named Death, Nightglow, The Lone Madman (Paul Hutchings)
Avatarium: The Fire I Long For (Nuclear Blast)
Written during and after the arrival of the first child of singer Jennie-Anne Smith and guitarist Marcus Jiddell, album number 4 from the Swedes is another impressive opus which builds on the fantastic Hurricanes And Halos. Rickard Nilsson’s thick Hammond organ threatens to dominate the opening track Voices, but Jiddell ensures that his signature guitar work is heard. First single Rubicon allows the band to flex, a muscular almost metal track which skilfully retains the essential doom feel that has been the soundtrack to this most captivating of bands. Lay Me Down has a Catch The Rainbow feel to it, and there are plenty of old school influences evident here whilst the band manage to retain their own sound with comfort. Lay Me Down also allows Avatarium to depart from their usual bone crushing doom with a more psychedelic piece that also echoes The Doors and Zeppelin in parts.
Leif Edling may no longer tour with the band he created, but my recent conversation with Jiddell revealed that the Candlemass legend is still fully involved in the band, contributing three songs to the album. It’s Jennie-Anne Smith’s soulful vocals that give Avatarium an edge to so many other doom-filled outfits and her performance here is superb. The racy rocking Shake That Demon, possibly my favourite track on the album allows the band to kick out the jams, as it thunders along with thick riffs and a drive that is impossible not to react to. Elsewhere, there is unexpected variety across the album with the powerful Porcelain Skull at odds with the mournful Great Beyond and the epic title track. Stars They Move closes the album, a solitary piano and minor effects accompanying Smith’s melancholic vocal. One of the most impressive releases of the year and hopefully some live dates to come in 2020. 9/10
A Pale Horse Named Death: Uncovered (Long Branch Records) [Paul Hutchings]
A two-track single from Brooklyn’s APHND, Uncovered features two covers, the first Three Dog Night’s One, which retains the melancholic echoes and the song structure of the original but inevitably adds the unique elements that make APHND such an interesting band. Crushingly heavy at times, APHND ensure that the psychedelic elements are in situ. Track two is Prayers For Rain, from The Cure’s 1989 album Disintegration. A brave move to cover such a revered song from the band’s bestselling album, APHND manage to capture the gloom and depression that lay over the creation of Disintegration as Robert Smith faced the realisation that he was approaching 30. Contrasting styles of songs, covered with respect and panache, and well worth a listen once you have checked out their superb When The World Becomes Undone from earlier this year. 7/10
Written during and after the arrival of the first child of singer Jennie-Anne Smith and guitarist Marcus Jiddell, album number 4 from the Swedes is another impressive opus which builds on the fantastic Hurricanes And Halos. Rickard Nilsson’s thick Hammond organ threatens to dominate the opening track Voices, but Jiddell ensures that his signature guitar work is heard. First single Rubicon allows the band to flex, a muscular almost metal track which skilfully retains the essential doom feel that has been the soundtrack to this most captivating of bands. Lay Me Down has a Catch The Rainbow feel to it, and there are plenty of old school influences evident here whilst the band manage to retain their own sound with comfort. Lay Me Down also allows Avatarium to depart from their usual bone crushing doom with a more psychedelic piece that also echoes The Doors and Zeppelin in parts.
Leif Edling may no longer tour with the band he created, but my recent conversation with Jiddell revealed that the Candlemass legend is still fully involved in the band, contributing three songs to the album. It’s Jennie-Anne Smith’s soulful vocals that give Avatarium an edge to so many other doom-filled outfits and her performance here is superb. The racy rocking Shake That Demon, possibly my favourite track on the album allows the band to kick out the jams, as it thunders along with thick riffs and a drive that is impossible not to react to. Elsewhere, there is unexpected variety across the album with the powerful Porcelain Skull at odds with the mournful Great Beyond and the epic title track. Stars They Move closes the album, a solitary piano and minor effects accompanying Smith’s melancholic vocal. One of the most impressive releases of the year and hopefully some live dates to come in 2020. 9/10
A Pale Horse Named Death: Uncovered (Long Branch Records) [Paul Hutchings]
A two-track single from Brooklyn’s APHND, Uncovered features two covers, the first Three Dog Night’s One, which retains the melancholic echoes and the song structure of the original but inevitably adds the unique elements that make APHND such an interesting band. Crushingly heavy at times, APHND ensure that the psychedelic elements are in situ. Track two is Prayers For Rain, from The Cure’s 1989 album Disintegration. A brave move to cover such a revered song from the band’s bestselling album, APHND manage to capture the gloom and depression that lay over the creation of Disintegration as Robert Smith faced the realisation that he was approaching 30. Contrasting styles of songs, covered with respect and panache, and well worth a listen once you have checked out their superb When The World Becomes Undone from earlier this year. 7/10
Nightglow: Rage Of A Bleedin’ Society (logic(il)logic)
Badged as a thrash band, Italian four-piece Nightglow were a lot more melodic than I was expecting. There is certainly a thrash element to the band, their power and pace suggests that they could fit into that category. However, at times, such as on the quite bizarre On My Own, the band veer closer to the path that Disturbed follow. I’ve listened to this album several times and I still can’t decide if it is anything more than average (which suggests not). Musically tight, there’s nothing that irritates or annoys me, but I can’t say that it grasps me tightly screaming “this is brilliant” either. In part it’s the vocal delivery of Daniele ‘Abba’ Abate, which is an acquired taste and one which I’m not over fussed on. His raspy, full-throated style sits in the nu-metal arena as do several of the band’s songs, such as Fuck@looza and the unimpressive album closer MOFO Social Club. Overall this album tries hard but doesn’t light the spark. 5/10
The Lone Madman: Let The Night Come (Self Released)
Formed in Helsinki in 2014, The Lone Madman is a four-piece doom outfit whose heavy dark riffs belong in a hammer horror film. Sinister, evocative and cranium-crushingly heavy, this album contains a mere four songs which combined total 42 minutes. Yes, they are massively long. Häxan, the shortest song on the album at a mere 7:29 is based on the 1922 film of the same name and deals with how magic and witchcraft have been misrepresented over the ages. It’s gloomy, intense and old school, with a freakish flute solo reminiscent of 1970s occult outfits at the three-minute mark. The remaining three songs all pass the 11-minute mark and for a debut release are impressively constructed, full of heavy, low end riffs and gargantuan slabs of stoner doom rock. Heavy as the bus full of elephants, if you like your doom in the style of Crypt Sermon then allow The Lone Madman into your head. 7/10
Monday, 11 November 2019
Review: Schammasch (Big Review By Paul Scoble)
Schammasch: Hearts Of No Light (Prosthetic Records)
Schammasch have been in existence for a decade. In that time they have made 3 albums; 2010’s Sic Luceat Lux, 2014’s Contradiction and 2016’s Triangle, and one EP. The five piece who are clearly fans of truncation as they only have initials are: C.S.R. Vocals and Guitar, B.A.W. Drums, M.A. Guitars, A.T. Bass and J.B. Guitars. The band is based in Basal in Switzerland, and the name Schammasch is taken from the name of the Sun God from Akkadian/Babylonian mythology.
The album gets underway with a short (ish) instrumental called Winds That Pierce The Silence, which opens with a very florid, romantic piece of piano, before huge and heavy guitars come crashing in to a brooding build up, a melody guitar lead drives the track forward until it arrives at the first song Ego Sun Omega. Ego Sun Omega opens with dissonant echoey guitar riffs and spoken, harsh vocals. The riffs keep coming, until we have a multi-layered tremolo picked riffs, over blasting drums. This is our first taste of what I think is this albums signature feeling; huge stacks of layered tremolo picked riffs. The feeling that initially comes with this is chaotic and hypnotic: insane swirling chaos; but after 3 or 4 listens you start to be able to feel order in the chaos. After enough listens you realise that : Yes there is chaos, but it’s controlled chaos.
A Paradigm Of Beauty is in some ways the strangest song on the album as it is the most normal. It’s a gothic, slightly new wave feeling track. It has clean vocals throughout, although without the manic lunacy of the previous track. In some ways it’s most like something The Cure would do, mid-paced but always driving forward, and with a great chorus. The guitar sound has that slightly twangy gothic feel of The Mission or Fields Of The Nephilim, or, well, The Cure. This might seem incongruous, on an album with so many blast beats, but in many ways it acts like a palette cleanser after the manic feeling of the proceeding track, and the extremity that coming next.
Katabasis has a long, brooding opening that slowly builds, drums are added before going into an almost ridiculously fast, blasting section. The track then adds insanely fast vocals that are almost deranged and out of control, at this point the blasting takes on the chaotic but deliberate feel that is sooooo good on this album. This is one of the most aggressive and savage parts on this album, it’s ferocious and wild, it borders on scary how savage this band can be when they want to. This much intensity couldn’t last too long, and the track crashes into a slow, meditative section for a while before the blasting savagery returns for a short time, but this too drops to a much more melodic and tuneful section with some nice chanting, before a dissonant ending.
Innermost, Lowermost Abyss brings the album to a quite strange ending. The track opens with clean, but dissonant atmospherics. A clean, classical guitar is added and this slowly builds to become full on Flamenco classical guitar, with tribal drumming behind it. This section feels expansive and huge, there is a feeling of ritual and ceremony about it. The track then goes into an ambient drone section where different tones are mixed in a deeply meditative way. After a few minutes, just as it feels as if it is coming to an end, the tones get more layers, get louder, more aggressive and some distortion is added, this then builds quickly to a huge crescendo, and then; Silence, as the final note. This might sound like a strange way to end an album, but in the context of THIS album; it fits perfectly.
Hearts Of No Lights is a massive, sprawling, contemplative, aggressive, viscous, beautiful, engaging, hypnotic, disturbing and cathartic album. It feels like Schammasch's career to date has been building to this album. For me the central feeling is of balance. This is about equilibrium, everywhere it gets dark, there will soon be light, wherever there is feverish chaos there will soon will be calmness and piece. The structure of each individual song, as well as the structure of the album as a whole seems to be based on this feeling of balance. Even the end of the album; insanely huge crescendo followed by several seconds of silence, a final yin and yang to end the album. There is a huge sense of religious fever (although it is undefined which religion, I get the feeling that Schammasch wouldn’t lower themselves to getting denominational about this) running throughout this album.
Schammasch have been in existence for a decade. In that time they have made 3 albums; 2010’s Sic Luceat Lux, 2014’s Contradiction and 2016’s Triangle, and one EP. The five piece who are clearly fans of truncation as they only have initials are: C.S.R. Vocals and Guitar, B.A.W. Drums, M.A. Guitars, A.T. Bass and J.B. Guitars. The band is based in Basal in Switzerland, and the name Schammasch is taken from the name of the Sun God from Akkadian/Babylonian mythology.
The album gets underway with a short (ish) instrumental called Winds That Pierce The Silence, which opens with a very florid, romantic piece of piano, before huge and heavy guitars come crashing in to a brooding build up, a melody guitar lead drives the track forward until it arrives at the first song Ego Sun Omega. Ego Sun Omega opens with dissonant echoey guitar riffs and spoken, harsh vocals. The riffs keep coming, until we have a multi-layered tremolo picked riffs, over blasting drums. This is our first taste of what I think is this albums signature feeling; huge stacks of layered tremolo picked riffs. The feeling that initially comes with this is chaotic and hypnotic: insane swirling chaos; but after 3 or 4 listens you start to be able to feel order in the chaos. After enough listens you realise that : Yes there is chaos, but it’s controlled chaos.
There is an underlying sense of structure to the pandemonium, the maelstrom has a controlling intellect behind it. This is a staggering piece of composition. After our first taste of this controlled maelstrom (which does return), the track gets more direct and driving, everything points in the same direction, until the whole thing drops for a quiet brooding section, a brief pause for breath before things get extreme again. With blasting drums and those direct, attacking riffs again, but again, more and more riffs are added till Insane Swirling Chaos is once again achieved, the maelstrom then slowly fades till the end. The next track A Dream Ablaze is a short track which feels like an instrumental, even though there are vocals they are spoken and low in the mix and echoey, so it feels like a piano led, trip hoppy instrumental.
Next track Qadmon's Heir is a complex beast, it’s almost an exercise in confusion and misdirection, as a listener, you feel pulled in all directions. It opens with direct, aggressive blasting, but as time goes by, dissonance is added, the blasting becomes less direct. We then reach a section where the vocals come in and it’s immediately slower and much more choppy, and staccato in rhythm. This feel then gets faster and faster and clean, chanted vocals are layered into the track. We are then catapulted into a very fast and nasty blasting section that is some of the most extreme music on this album. After battering us for a while the band bring everything down again with a soft and melodic section, after a little chanted, clean vocals are added, this section then slowly fades to the end of the song.
Rays Like Razors starts slowly and quietly, with dissonance being added as the song progresses. Aggressive vocals come in, and the intensity builds. This intensity is answered by incredibly nasty blasting, and a menacing vocal line that is repeated over and over, once this gets too much the song heads into insane swirling chaos territory and the vocal lines become hypnotic; this whole section is verging on oppressive, but never strays over the line, again, amazing composition. The song ends with a slow, dissonant section that slowly fades. I Burn Within You opens with a very high register guitar riff and impassioned, verging on manic vocals. Everything gets nastily dissonant, with more of those clean, impassioned vocals. This tracks stand out feature are those clean vocals that are ardent and passionate, almost dervish-like, at the height of religious fervour. They cut through the music and give it a near hysterical, raving quality, that is the main emotive driving force behind the song. So, when we get some very direct riffs the song still feels unhinged and out of control, a similar feeling to the controlled chaos sense that the band do so well musically. After this direct section, the song becomes solely manic, out of control piano, with ‘those’ vocals, before one final blast and dissonant piano and chanting end the track. The songs on this album are massive and sprawling, but always under control, and after a few listens, nothing feels jarring or out of place; no matter how strange and otherworldly this becomes.
Next track Qadmon's Heir is a complex beast, it’s almost an exercise in confusion and misdirection, as a listener, you feel pulled in all directions. It opens with direct, aggressive blasting, but as time goes by, dissonance is added, the blasting becomes less direct. We then reach a section where the vocals come in and it’s immediately slower and much more choppy, and staccato in rhythm. This feel then gets faster and faster and clean, chanted vocals are layered into the track. We are then catapulted into a very fast and nasty blasting section that is some of the most extreme music on this album. After battering us for a while the band bring everything down again with a soft and melodic section, after a little chanted, clean vocals are added, this section then slowly fades to the end of the song.
Rays Like Razors starts slowly and quietly, with dissonance being added as the song progresses. Aggressive vocals come in, and the intensity builds. This intensity is answered by incredibly nasty blasting, and a menacing vocal line that is repeated over and over, once this gets too much the song heads into insane swirling chaos territory and the vocal lines become hypnotic; this whole section is verging on oppressive, but never strays over the line, again, amazing composition. The song ends with a slow, dissonant section that slowly fades. I Burn Within You opens with a very high register guitar riff and impassioned, verging on manic vocals. Everything gets nastily dissonant, with more of those clean, impassioned vocals. This tracks stand out feature are those clean vocals that are ardent and passionate, almost dervish-like, at the height of religious fervour. They cut through the music and give it a near hysterical, raving quality, that is the main emotive driving force behind the song. So, when we get some very direct riffs the song still feels unhinged and out of control, a similar feeling to the controlled chaos sense that the band do so well musically. After this direct section, the song becomes solely manic, out of control piano, with ‘those’ vocals, before one final blast and dissonant piano and chanting end the track. The songs on this album are massive and sprawling, but always under control, and after a few listens, nothing feels jarring or out of place; no matter how strange and otherworldly this becomes.
A Paradigm Of Beauty is in some ways the strangest song on the album as it is the most normal. It’s a gothic, slightly new wave feeling track. It has clean vocals throughout, although without the manic lunacy of the previous track. In some ways it’s most like something The Cure would do, mid-paced but always driving forward, and with a great chorus. The guitar sound has that slightly twangy gothic feel of The Mission or Fields Of The Nephilim, or, well, The Cure. This might seem incongruous, on an album with so many blast beats, but in many ways it acts like a palette cleanser after the manic feeling of the proceeding track, and the extremity that coming next.
Katabasis has a long, brooding opening that slowly builds, drums are added before going into an almost ridiculously fast, blasting section. The track then adds insanely fast vocals that are almost deranged and out of control, at this point the blasting takes on the chaotic but deliberate feel that is sooooo good on this album. This is one of the most aggressive and savage parts on this album, it’s ferocious and wild, it borders on scary how savage this band can be when they want to. This much intensity couldn’t last too long, and the track crashes into a slow, meditative section for a while before the blasting savagery returns for a short time, but this too drops to a much more melodic and tuneful section with some nice chanting, before a dissonant ending.
Innermost, Lowermost Abyss brings the album to a quite strange ending. The track opens with clean, but dissonant atmospherics. A clean, classical guitar is added and this slowly builds to become full on Flamenco classical guitar, with tribal drumming behind it. This section feels expansive and huge, there is a feeling of ritual and ceremony about it. The track then goes into an ambient drone section where different tones are mixed in a deeply meditative way. After a few minutes, just as it feels as if it is coming to an end, the tones get more layers, get louder, more aggressive and some distortion is added, this then builds quickly to a huge crescendo, and then; Silence, as the final note. This might sound like a strange way to end an album, but in the context of THIS album; it fits perfectly.
Hearts Of No Lights is a massive, sprawling, contemplative, aggressive, viscous, beautiful, engaging, hypnotic, disturbing and cathartic album. It feels like Schammasch's career to date has been building to this album. For me the central feeling is of balance. This is about equilibrium, everywhere it gets dark, there will soon be light, wherever there is feverish chaos there will soon will be calmness and piece. The structure of each individual song, as well as the structure of the album as a whole seems to be based on this feeling of balance. Even the end of the album; insanely huge crescendo followed by several seconds of silence, a final yin and yang to end the album. There is a huge sense of religious fever (although it is undefined which religion, I get the feeling that Schammasch wouldn’t lower themselves to getting denominational about this) running throughout this album.
I definitely feel that this album has a sacerdotal function; it is channelling energy to the listener from somewhere higher, or maybe it would be more accurate to say ‘Other’. The band are an intermediary between the listener and a greater power. In a purely musical sense, this is a stunning album, it’ll take a few listens to get really into it, it’s a complex beast that deserves some effort from the listener, but if you do give it some time and energy, you will be rewarded by one of the best ‘Spiritual’ Black Metal albums I have ever heard. Absolutely stunning! 9/10
Reviews: Tribulation, Lionize, Wilderun, Vikram (Paul H, Matt & Alex)
Tribulation: Alive & Dead At Söndra Teatern (Century Media) [Paul Hutchings]
Recorded before a seated audience at one of the most prestigious and revered venues in Stockholm, Tribulation delivered a two-part set which would have been an exciting event to have attended. The first half of the show focused on 2018’s album Down Below, the album delivered in full before a mix of songs from their catalogue completed part 2. Whilst the audience is relatively muted throughout the album, there is nothing wrong with their dark, gothic style of metal. Of the nine tracks from Down Below, the ten-minute Here Be Dragons is the epic standout track, the darkness permeating through the speakers as the track unfolds majestically. Elsewhere, The Motherhood Of God hits the gothic elements perfectly and there is plenty elsewhere to get the hearing weapons engaged. It’s a good introduction to a band whose slightly obscure style may well cause a few scratches of the head when they link with Ghost in the next couple of weeks. Whether it’s as epic in terms of live albums as their press release say is of course down to personal tastes. To me it isn’t anywhere near the legendary live albums of years gone by, but it captures the essence of a wickedly underrated band. 7/10
Lionize: Panic Attack (Electric Reckoning Music) [Paul Hutchings]
I’ve been waiting for this one for a while; well, since shortly after their last album Nuclear Soul landed to be honest. I am completely absorbed by the groove and funk of this band. Their mix of genres, styles and general approach just tick all my boxes. Lionize has also been drip feeding this release to social media, almost to the point of irritation so it’s been a joy to final receive the signed CD that I ordered months ago. If you don’t know who Lionize are, the band hail from Maryland with the current line-up being Nate Bergman (guitar and voice), Henry ‘Hank’ Upton (bass) and Chris Brooks (keys). Drummer Chase Lapp left the band at the turn of the year and the assured beat master Jean-Paul Gaster of Clutch, a band indelibly linked with Lionize, stepped in to add his unique drumming style to the album. This is full length album number 7 and it’s another cracker to add to the discography.
Soaked with the blues groove of previous albums, rich with harmonies and Brooks’ thick Hammond organ and Rhodes piano sound, it’s a 35-minute adventure which is soaked with punchy, addictive songs that demand your attention and movement. Upton’s bass lines fuse funk, reggae and rock, Bergman hits the high notes on the vocals in that sweet style of his, whilst adding deft touches on the guitar. The Loneliest Whale is a fabulous opener, building in tempo to explode into a right old rocking tune as the story unfolds; we’ve all been that whale, looking for our pod but not being on the right frequency to find it. The title track grabs the attention. Throughout the album the clever lyrics weave tales and stories which engross the listener. Giant Spiders Of The Universe wins on title alone but it’s also a stomping funk fuelled fist pumper, guaranteed to get the head nodding.
Recorded before a seated audience at one of the most prestigious and revered venues in Stockholm, Tribulation delivered a two-part set which would have been an exciting event to have attended. The first half of the show focused on 2018’s album Down Below, the album delivered in full before a mix of songs from their catalogue completed part 2. Whilst the audience is relatively muted throughout the album, there is nothing wrong with their dark, gothic style of metal. Of the nine tracks from Down Below, the ten-minute Here Be Dragons is the epic standout track, the darkness permeating through the speakers as the track unfolds majestically. Elsewhere, The Motherhood Of God hits the gothic elements perfectly and there is plenty elsewhere to get the hearing weapons engaged. It’s a good introduction to a band whose slightly obscure style may well cause a few scratches of the head when they link with Ghost in the next couple of weeks. Whether it’s as epic in terms of live albums as their press release say is of course down to personal tastes. To me it isn’t anywhere near the legendary live albums of years gone by, but it captures the essence of a wickedly underrated band. 7/10
Lionize: Panic Attack (Electric Reckoning Music) [Paul Hutchings]
I’ve been waiting for this one for a while; well, since shortly after their last album Nuclear Soul landed to be honest. I am completely absorbed by the groove and funk of this band. Their mix of genres, styles and general approach just tick all my boxes. Lionize has also been drip feeding this release to social media, almost to the point of irritation so it’s been a joy to final receive the signed CD that I ordered months ago. If you don’t know who Lionize are, the band hail from Maryland with the current line-up being Nate Bergman (guitar and voice), Henry ‘Hank’ Upton (bass) and Chris Brooks (keys). Drummer Chase Lapp left the band at the turn of the year and the assured beat master Jean-Paul Gaster of Clutch, a band indelibly linked with Lionize, stepped in to add his unique drumming style to the album. This is full length album number 7 and it’s another cracker to add to the discography.
Soaked with the blues groove of previous albums, rich with harmonies and Brooks’ thick Hammond organ and Rhodes piano sound, it’s a 35-minute adventure which is soaked with punchy, addictive songs that demand your attention and movement. Upton’s bass lines fuse funk, reggae and rock, Bergman hits the high notes on the vocals in that sweet style of his, whilst adding deft touches on the guitar. The Loneliest Whale is a fabulous opener, building in tempo to explode into a right old rocking tune as the story unfolds; we’ve all been that whale, looking for our pod but not being on the right frequency to find it. The title track grabs the attention. Throughout the album the clever lyrics weave tales and stories which engross the listener. Giant Spiders Of The Universe wins on title alone but it’s also a stomping funk fuelled fist pumper, guaranteed to get the head nodding.
Andy Kaufman’s Not Dead allows the reggae funk to kick in while penultimate song Break Out keeps the tempo high, with some lovely keyboard work before final track Heavy On The Mind slows things down with a reflective feel. Lionize can do no wrong in my book. Their seventh long player is technically clever, intuitive and instantly recognisable. A band who deserve wider exposure, this is a late entry into the top ten for 2019. 9/10
Wilderun: Veil Of Imagination (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
This album is a masterpiece. An absolute masterpiece. I could end the review there give a score and be done with it but you probably want me to quantify why I think this record from Bostonian prog metal band Wilderun will be very near the summit of my Top 10 of the year. So I want to take you on a journey similar to the one the album itself takes you on, imagine a place where Opeth didn't grow into the 70's worshipping progsters they are today imagine if that at the time of Blackwater Park where they brought in more of the pastoral folk sounds to their death metal assault they also began to forge a partnership with Blind Guardian and add huge a full orchestra to everything they do.
What you would have is a band who dive between lilting folk passages, death metal aggression, power metal gallops all finished of with a cinematic orchestral score and the mournful introspective . What you would get is Wilderun. From the spoken word segments that are readings of works by William Wordsworth and T.S Elliot, to the music itself an awful lot of time, thought and passion has been put into this album. I said earlier it was a journey and like with all great conceptual pieces this record seamlessly flows between each song segueing one into another as the blastbeats explode before turning into deft jazz drumming while guitars grind with tremolo picking then in a instant lull you with some acoustic fireside melodies.
It's a huge heap of praise that needs to be levied on the mixing and mastering of Dan Swanö and Jens Borgen along with the bands own production ear with additional assistance from Justin Spaulding and Andrew Greacen. Vocally the low lilting clean vocals carry emotion well and the harsh style is from the bowels of hell (very Akerfeldt) as Evan Anderson Berry casts magic with his vocal prowess along with bringing guitars (mainly rhythm/acoustic) along with piano, though due to the classical overtones of this record there are also two additional piano players on the album. Bookended by a 14 minute and an 11 minute track this 8 song record is breathtaking from the spoken word first moments of The Unimaginable Zero Summer through to the last spoken words and acoustic refrains of the final track When The Fire And The Rose Were One. We get the a dynamic boiler room from Dan Müller (bass/synths) and Jon Teachey (drums) who lead the huge sounding Far From Where Dreams Unfurl, a song Amon Amarth would raid a thousand villages for, as Joe Getter's lead guitar prowess is brilliant when he's left to shine on O Resolution! and Far From Where Dreams Unfurl.
But even on more delicate moments such as Scentless Core (Budding) and Scentless Core (Fading) the instrumental mastery is at the highest level aided as always by the thrilling orchestrations of Dan Müller and Wayne Ingram which fortify's these compositions with huge walls of classical instrumentation, choirs and all manner of tricks to make sure Veil Of Imagination keeps you enthralled for it's one hour plus runtime. My advice is clear your schedule and settle in for this record, if you do you will be rewarded with quite possibly one of the best albums of 2019, well worth it's four year gestation period, Veil Of Imagination is as I said at the beginning a masterpiece. 10/10
Vikram: Behind The Mask I (Rockshots Records) [Alex Swift]
In ambitious, progressive fashion, Behind The Mask I is the first part in a trilogy of stories, the details of which will be laid out in three novels of the same name. Speaking as someone who admires the multimedia experience and really appreciates when acts take their work to that next level, the ethos here really excited me. Thankfully, the music on display. So does the music impress? Well, yes and no. I appreciate the scale on display and from the opener, The Mortal Dance Of Cali, it’s abundantly clear that these musicians are aspiring to create a bombastic and different sound that honours their influences in prog and metal while trying for a weird middle-eastern play on those concepts. Alas, the baffling composition or lack thereof, mixed with the questionable performances leaves much to be desired. Requiem For Salem tries to give flight to a medieval, gothic feel, yet fails to pin down the instrumental and vocal tones, that would stop the instrumental passages clashing at visceral force - the prevailing sensation is one of watching a train crash, while generic, middle-east inspired music plays in the distant background.
Burn In Hell has an extreme, metal theme prevailing, yet the gnarled vocals of Siervi, don’t so much as add to the sense of bombast, as to make Behind The Mask seem yet more embroiled in a deluded sense of epicness and grandiloquence. In fairness, this piece actually has decent piano and electric guitar breaks, and Andaluzia makes beguiling use of acoustics. However, the insistence on taunting you with excruciating extremities resumes on Hassan Tower and Forsaken Death. The worst part, when the album isn’t force-feeding you with self-importance, it's boring you with clichés and tropes. Occasionally a glimpse of ambition shows through, yet I need to be able to pick the technicalities and subtleties out from the barrage of jarring melodies and phrases, that drag these songs from the plain of competence, straight into the gaping mouth of hell. If this is only part I in their adventure epic, I wont be clamouring for the complete experience 3/10
Wilderun: Veil Of Imagination (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
This album is a masterpiece. An absolute masterpiece. I could end the review there give a score and be done with it but you probably want me to quantify why I think this record from Bostonian prog metal band Wilderun will be very near the summit of my Top 10 of the year. So I want to take you on a journey similar to the one the album itself takes you on, imagine a place where Opeth didn't grow into the 70's worshipping progsters they are today imagine if that at the time of Blackwater Park where they brought in more of the pastoral folk sounds to their death metal assault they also began to forge a partnership with Blind Guardian and add huge a full orchestra to everything they do.
What you would have is a band who dive between lilting folk passages, death metal aggression, power metal gallops all finished of with a cinematic orchestral score and the mournful introspective . What you would get is Wilderun. From the spoken word segments that are readings of works by William Wordsworth and T.S Elliot, to the music itself an awful lot of time, thought and passion has been put into this album. I said earlier it was a journey and like with all great conceptual pieces this record seamlessly flows between each song segueing one into another as the blastbeats explode before turning into deft jazz drumming while guitars grind with tremolo picking then in a instant lull you with some acoustic fireside melodies.
It's a huge heap of praise that needs to be levied on the mixing and mastering of Dan Swanö and Jens Borgen along with the bands own production ear with additional assistance from Justin Spaulding and Andrew Greacen. Vocally the low lilting clean vocals carry emotion well and the harsh style is from the bowels of hell (very Akerfeldt) as Evan Anderson Berry casts magic with his vocal prowess along with bringing guitars (mainly rhythm/acoustic) along with piano, though due to the classical overtones of this record there are also two additional piano players on the album. Bookended by a 14 minute and an 11 minute track this 8 song record is breathtaking from the spoken word first moments of The Unimaginable Zero Summer through to the last spoken words and acoustic refrains of the final track When The Fire And The Rose Were One. We get the a dynamic boiler room from Dan Müller (bass/synths) and Jon Teachey (drums) who lead the huge sounding Far From Where Dreams Unfurl, a song Amon Amarth would raid a thousand villages for, as Joe Getter's lead guitar prowess is brilliant when he's left to shine on O Resolution! and Far From Where Dreams Unfurl.
But even on more delicate moments such as Scentless Core (Budding) and Scentless Core (Fading) the instrumental mastery is at the highest level aided as always by the thrilling orchestrations of Dan Müller and Wayne Ingram which fortify's these compositions with huge walls of classical instrumentation, choirs and all manner of tricks to make sure Veil Of Imagination keeps you enthralled for it's one hour plus runtime. My advice is clear your schedule and settle in for this record, if you do you will be rewarded with quite possibly one of the best albums of 2019, well worth it's four year gestation period, Veil Of Imagination is as I said at the beginning a masterpiece. 10/10
Vikram: Behind The Mask I (Rockshots Records) [Alex Swift]
In ambitious, progressive fashion, Behind The Mask I is the first part in a trilogy of stories, the details of which will be laid out in three novels of the same name. Speaking as someone who admires the multimedia experience and really appreciates when acts take their work to that next level, the ethos here really excited me. Thankfully, the music on display. So does the music impress? Well, yes and no. I appreciate the scale on display and from the opener, The Mortal Dance Of Cali, it’s abundantly clear that these musicians are aspiring to create a bombastic and different sound that honours their influences in prog and metal while trying for a weird middle-eastern play on those concepts. Alas, the baffling composition or lack thereof, mixed with the questionable performances leaves much to be desired. Requiem For Salem tries to give flight to a medieval, gothic feel, yet fails to pin down the instrumental and vocal tones, that would stop the instrumental passages clashing at visceral force - the prevailing sensation is one of watching a train crash, while generic, middle-east inspired music plays in the distant background.
Burn In Hell has an extreme, metal theme prevailing, yet the gnarled vocals of Siervi, don’t so much as add to the sense of bombast, as to make Behind The Mask seem yet more embroiled in a deluded sense of epicness and grandiloquence. In fairness, this piece actually has decent piano and electric guitar breaks, and Andaluzia makes beguiling use of acoustics. However, the insistence on taunting you with excruciating extremities resumes on Hassan Tower and Forsaken Death. The worst part, when the album isn’t force-feeding you with self-importance, it's boring you with clichés and tropes. Occasionally a glimpse of ambition shows through, yet I need to be able to pick the technicalities and subtleties out from the barrage of jarring melodies and phrases, that drag these songs from the plain of competence, straight into the gaping mouth of hell. If this is only part I in their adventure epic, I wont be clamouring for the complete experience 3/10
Sunday, 10 November 2019
A View From The Back Of The Room: Opeth/Vintage Caravan (Live Review By Paul Hutchings)
Opeth/The Vintage Caravan, 02 Bristol Academy
A mere 24 hours after they started their headline set at Damnation Festival 2019, Opeth (10) brought a majestic two hours to a close at the 02 Academy in Bristol with the same ferocity they had delivered the night before. The punishing Deliverance, long-time standard set closer remains one of their most loved and complex songs; a devastating blend of death metal power and progressive jazz exploration is almost un-droppable.
Why Opeth are still playing 1500 capacity venues is beyond me but selfishly I’m glad as cavernous arenas may not be kind to their need for clean sound lines. Few in the venue were popping the Opeth cherry; most were devoted fans, committed to the twists and turns of an intriguing musical journey that the Swedes have explored in nearly 30 years as a band, reaching back to those formative days before Orchid. 13 albums have given them sufficient gravitas to use the 02 screens and employ huge platforms which elevated keyboard player Joakim Svalberg, drummer Martin Axe Axenrot and bassist Martin Mendez high above the audience. Mood enhancing lighting added atmosphere throughout; the cold blue spotlights cutting an icy path for opening songs Svekets Prins and old favourite The Leper Affinity, the oldest song in the set list from 2001’s Blackwater Park; gentle warmth for Hope Leaves and a stunningly beautiful Nepenthe, drawn from the much-maligned Heritage album and the most delicate piece of the night.
And then we had Mikael Akerfeldt. Dressed to impress in Fedora, crisp white shirt and velour jacket, matched with jeans and white Adidas trainers. The ringleader, joker, frontman and all-round nice guy, who possesses a steely determination to direct the good ship Opeth in the direction he wants. Deflecting the hecklers with ease; “Have my babies” screamed one female fan. “Have you brought them?” he quips without hesitation. Later in the evening he adopts a Bercow style “order, order”, and puts a joker back in his place when challenged about hat wear. “I wore a baseball cap with the VoiVod logo on years ago” he replies, “so you are fucking wrong!” Akerfeldt is no slouch on the guitar either, trading lead breaks with Fredrik Akesson stage right for fun, although Akesson does get the rip roaring lead break on Svekets Prins as well as the dynamic solo on Moon Above, Sun Below, one of three tracks to survive from their 02 performance almost exactly two years before. Akesson deals with some pedal issues confidently, fending off the inevitable “are you ready yet?” enquiries from his fellow axe partner. Akerfeldt has the confidence to sing the songs from In Cauda Venenum in Swedish; Svekets Prins, Hjärtat Vet Vad Handen Gör and Allting Tar Slut sound amazing, Akesson and Svalberg adding perfect harmonies with Akesson sharing vocal duties on the latter track.
It’s a vintage performance combined with a fresh, modern approach. The Lotus Eater is as creepy as ever yet remains a fan favourite. My only disappointment of the evening is the change in the list of Sorceress for The Moor. But such is life and I won’t complain about an Opeth set list anytime soon.
Earlier in the evening The Vintage Caravan (9) had proved to be a wise choice of support. The Icelandic trio were also at Damnation, playing an hour long set full of joy, riffs, humour and oh yes, riffs. Pushed to the front of the stage in Bristol, nothing phased them. Their brand of classic psychedelic hard rock pushing the right buttons. Bassist Alexander Örn Númason quipping before On The Run that “this song features a bass solo, and there’s nothing you can do about it”. During Expand Your Mind vocalist and guitarist Öskar Logi Ágüstsson demonstrated exactly how to handle a broken string, a manic leap into the photography pit, racing to the other side of the stage to grab a spare guitar; drummer Stefán Ari Stefánsson and Númason holding a steady beat until Ágüstsson returned and the band picked it back up. Over 13 years in the business, The Vintage Caravan are seasoned professionals, even if they forgot completely that they had played the same City a mere 12 months before. Although the 02 was once again uncomfortably overcrowded, the audience were for the most part exemplary; no mean feat in such challenging times. As I write Opeth have just been announced for ArcTangent in Bristol in 2020. I’ll see you there.
A mere 24 hours after they started their headline set at Damnation Festival 2019, Opeth (10) brought a majestic two hours to a close at the 02 Academy in Bristol with the same ferocity they had delivered the night before. The punishing Deliverance, long-time standard set closer remains one of their most loved and complex songs; a devastating blend of death metal power and progressive jazz exploration is almost un-droppable.
Why Opeth are still playing 1500 capacity venues is beyond me but selfishly I’m glad as cavernous arenas may not be kind to their need for clean sound lines. Few in the venue were popping the Opeth cherry; most were devoted fans, committed to the twists and turns of an intriguing musical journey that the Swedes have explored in nearly 30 years as a band, reaching back to those formative days before Orchid. 13 albums have given them sufficient gravitas to use the 02 screens and employ huge platforms which elevated keyboard player Joakim Svalberg, drummer Martin Axe Axenrot and bassist Martin Mendez high above the audience. Mood enhancing lighting added atmosphere throughout; the cold blue spotlights cutting an icy path for opening songs Svekets Prins and old favourite The Leper Affinity, the oldest song in the set list from 2001’s Blackwater Park; gentle warmth for Hope Leaves and a stunningly beautiful Nepenthe, drawn from the much-maligned Heritage album and the most delicate piece of the night.
And then we had Mikael Akerfeldt. Dressed to impress in Fedora, crisp white shirt and velour jacket, matched with jeans and white Adidas trainers. The ringleader, joker, frontman and all-round nice guy, who possesses a steely determination to direct the good ship Opeth in the direction he wants. Deflecting the hecklers with ease; “Have my babies” screamed one female fan. “Have you brought them?” he quips without hesitation. Later in the evening he adopts a Bercow style “order, order”, and puts a joker back in his place when challenged about hat wear. “I wore a baseball cap with the VoiVod logo on years ago” he replies, “so you are fucking wrong!” Akerfeldt is no slouch on the guitar either, trading lead breaks with Fredrik Akesson stage right for fun, although Akesson does get the rip roaring lead break on Svekets Prins as well as the dynamic solo on Moon Above, Sun Below, one of three tracks to survive from their 02 performance almost exactly two years before. Akesson deals with some pedal issues confidently, fending off the inevitable “are you ready yet?” enquiries from his fellow axe partner. Akerfeldt has the confidence to sing the songs from In Cauda Venenum in Swedish; Svekets Prins, Hjärtat Vet Vad Handen Gör and Allting Tar Slut sound amazing, Akesson and Svalberg adding perfect harmonies with Akesson sharing vocal duties on the latter track.
It’s a vintage performance combined with a fresh, modern approach. The Lotus Eater is as creepy as ever yet remains a fan favourite. My only disappointment of the evening is the change in the list of Sorceress for The Moor. But such is life and I won’t complain about an Opeth set list anytime soon.
Earlier in the evening The Vintage Caravan (9) had proved to be a wise choice of support. The Icelandic trio were also at Damnation, playing an hour long set full of joy, riffs, humour and oh yes, riffs. Pushed to the front of the stage in Bristol, nothing phased them. Their brand of classic psychedelic hard rock pushing the right buttons. Bassist Alexander Örn Númason quipping before On The Run that “this song features a bass solo, and there’s nothing you can do about it”. During Expand Your Mind vocalist and guitarist Öskar Logi Ágüstsson demonstrated exactly how to handle a broken string, a manic leap into the photography pit, racing to the other side of the stage to grab a spare guitar; drummer Stefán Ari Stefánsson and Númason holding a steady beat until Ágüstsson returned and the band picked it back up. Over 13 years in the business, The Vintage Caravan are seasoned professionals, even if they forgot completely that they had played the same City a mere 12 months before. Although the 02 was once again uncomfortably overcrowded, the audience were for the most part exemplary; no mean feat in such challenging times. As I write Opeth have just been announced for ArcTangent in Bristol in 2020. I’ll see you there.
A View From The Back Of The Room: Y&T (Live Review By Matt Bladen)
Y&T & Bare Knuckle Messiahs, Tramshed, Cardiff
So once again it was into Cardiff's Tramshed and this time it was awash with double denim and questionable haircuts as everyone got ready for the pretty much yearly visit of the Los Angeles classic rock band now on their 45th anniversary.
First though it was the support act...Cardiff based band Bare Knuckle Messiah's (4) who are a band made up of three ex-members of Tigertailz, fronted by that bands long term singer Kim Hooker augmented by JJ of the infamous band S.E.X. on bass. Now I'm going to try and be nice here and say that they were not enjoyable for me, their own songs are bog standard glam-lite, trying to sound dark and they played a two Tigertailz numbers and a song written by Pepsi Tate to make the nonplussed majority of the crowd recognize who they are. This was the band's debut show but with so much experience you could expect more.
Anyway on to the main event which was probably the best value for money you can get in a band, 21 songs, 2 hours (just about) and slick professionalism on display from the opening riff of Hurricane to the closing anthemic Forever Y&T (8) always give a heck of a show. Now this was part of their 45th anniversary tour so the setlist was probably one of the most eclectic I've seen as they endeavoured to play at least one song from every album they have released. Of course the bulk came from Mean Streak, Down For The Count, Earthshaker, Black Tiger and Facemelter (their last studio record) but we did get one song from each album, with some real deep cuts meaning that this show was for the hardcore rather than those wanting the greatest hits. With Dave Meniketti leading from the front it's his affable manner, vocal and guitar prowess that drives this band as they move through their huge rockers like Black Tiger, Hang Em High and Midnight In Tokyo, as we got some of the poppier 80's numbers like Summertime Girls, Come In From The Rain, Face Like An Angel and Anytime At All showing his bluesy side on the early Struck Down and of course the axe magic of I Believe In You. There was a bit of between song chat mainly around the setlist and some interaction with the rowdy audience, who were putting away the beer a bit too quickly for a Sunday night, but mostly it was Y&T doing what they do best, hard rock that is laser focussed but with soul that gets you singing along, perfect rock music for a Sunday night, I will be seeing them next time I wager.
So once again it was into Cardiff's Tramshed and this time it was awash with double denim and questionable haircuts as everyone got ready for the pretty much yearly visit of the Los Angeles classic rock band now on their 45th anniversary.
First though it was the support act...Cardiff based band Bare Knuckle Messiah's (4) who are a band made up of three ex-members of Tigertailz, fronted by that bands long term singer Kim Hooker augmented by JJ of the infamous band S.E.X. on bass. Now I'm going to try and be nice here and say that they were not enjoyable for me, their own songs are bog standard glam-lite, trying to sound dark and they played a two Tigertailz numbers and a song written by Pepsi Tate to make the nonplussed majority of the crowd recognize who they are. This was the band's debut show but with so much experience you could expect more.
Anyway on to the main event which was probably the best value for money you can get in a band, 21 songs, 2 hours (just about) and slick professionalism on display from the opening riff of Hurricane to the closing anthemic Forever Y&T (8) always give a heck of a show. Now this was part of their 45th anniversary tour so the setlist was probably one of the most eclectic I've seen as they endeavoured to play at least one song from every album they have released. Of course the bulk came from Mean Streak, Down For The Count, Earthshaker, Black Tiger and Facemelter (their last studio record) but we did get one song from each album, with some real deep cuts meaning that this show was for the hardcore rather than those wanting the greatest hits. With Dave Meniketti leading from the front it's his affable manner, vocal and guitar prowess that drives this band as they move through their huge rockers like Black Tiger, Hang Em High and Midnight In Tokyo, as we got some of the poppier 80's numbers like Summertime Girls, Come In From The Rain, Face Like An Angel and Anytime At All showing his bluesy side on the early Struck Down and of course the axe magic of I Believe In You. There was a bit of between song chat mainly around the setlist and some interaction with the rowdy audience, who were putting away the beer a bit too quickly for a Sunday night, but mostly it was Y&T doing what they do best, hard rock that is laser focussed but with soul that gets you singing along, perfect rock music for a Sunday night, I will be seeing them next time I wager.
Friday, 8 November 2019
A View From The Back Of The Room: Damnation Festival (Live Review By Paul Hutchings)
Damnation Festival, Leeds University
My third visit to the festival and another cracking line-up to entice those whose tastes verge towards the extreme. The day was as exhausting as ever, doors at 12:00 and festivities ceasing some 15 hours later. In between, opportunity to catch bands whose appearances on these shores are often infrequent. A quick word about the chaotic organisation inside the venue. The absence of simple signage telling patrons which stage was which confused many including me, despite my previous visits. Security staff were unhelpful and at times downright rude, with reports of fans being refused re-admittance upon leaving the building. However, the music excelled and made the day worthwhile once more.
Matt and I spent much of the day camped out at the Eyesore Merch Stage. The 600 or so capacity sports hall offered close views, relatively decent sound and a more relaxed atmosphere throughout the day. I’d seen Alunah (8) a few weeks ago at HRH Doom v Stoner and the Birmingham outfit impressed once more. A 30-minute set didn’t allow for much due to the length of the band’s songs, but their doom-laden melancholy was the perfect lunchtime treat, with Sian Greenaway’s deep and soulful delivery as impressive as her red cat suit. Tracks from the new album Violet Hour are already established in the band’s set list, with Trapped & Bound a highlight. Finnish/English outfit Wheel (9) continued with the infectious riffing which we had last been stunned by in the Sophie Tent at BOA back in August. A recent change in personnel saw Aki Verta join the band on bass but you’d never have gathered he was the new boy with an assured and energetic performance, his bouncing locks cascading up and down as he charged around centre stage. It’s intensity to the max with Wheel, vocalist James Lascalle coiled with nervous energy and an attempt to ingratiate himself with the locals by revealing he’d been to university at Scarborough some years ago. Despite some horrific feedback and technical challenges, Wheel owned their 30 minutes and captivated the audience with tracks from Moving Backwards, surely one of the best albums of 2019.
One band I’d been especially keen to catch was Oregon’s sludge riff maestros Lord Dying (8) whose latest release Mysterium Tremendum is a magnificent opus. The band didn’t disappoint, pummelling with an onslaught of heaving riffs. Even a broken guitar strap couldn’t slow down man mountain Eric Olsen who played the set with his guitar tucked tightly under his arm whilst bassist Alyssa Morcere, all spit and fire and “fuck yeahs” roared her encouragement. Envy The End, Nearing The End Of The Curling Worm and a fiery Severed Forever from Mysterium Tremendum were stunning. A quick break from the Eyesore Stage as we headed to the bowels of the venue for 20 minutes of dark thick stoner doom courtesy of Berlin trio Earth Ship (7) on the Cult Never Dies stage. Guitarist Jan Oberg’s rasping vocals and raging guitar work were well worth the amble down the corridor, with bassist Sabine Oberg laying down the thunder with drummer Sebastian Grimberg. Whilst unfamiliar with their material, you can’t go wrong with good thick doom riffs and Earth Ship possessed these in spades. One to look out for again.
Grabbing a sustaining pasty and an overpriced beer, we hot footed it back to the Eyesore stage to catch Jo Quail (7) deliver something a little different. The internationally acclaimed composer and virtuoso cellist strode confidently onto the stage to a packed room. Her innovative looping style combined with her avant garde style and approach allowed a welcome breather, but the intensity remained high. With the crowd respectful in their silence whilst she played, Quail confidently moved through a couple of pieces before introducing Nick Sampson to join her on stage to play Madrel Cantus. An interesting performer, Quail is worth catching. Our first forage into the Jagermeister Stage saw Primordial (7) running later than advertised. A lengthy sound check had hopefully ironed out the gremlins but no, a mere one verse and chorus into the epic Nail Their Tongues and the power died, leaving frontman AA Nemtheanga bemused. To their credit the band addressed the issues quickly and soon elevated the temperature in the venue with their high impact aggressive primordial metal. The delay meant missing a good chunk of the Irishmen’s set but that was a price worth paying as we crammed into the Eyesore Stage once more for A Pale Horse Named Death (8). The New Yorkers were stunningly good, with frontman and driving force of the band Sal Abruscator humble and enthusiastic, his mournful vocals fusing with the band’s gothic leanings. Joe Taylor took the take stage left and add to the three-guitar onslaught. Earlier this year the band released When The World Becomes Undone, and it was no surprise that several songs were selected from this release. Captivating from start to finish, A Pale Horse Named Death deserved their massive ovation.
Cramming back into the main stage for Alcest proved a poor decision, the French outfit’s intense post metal riffing failing to capture the usual atmosphere they generate in smaller, more intimate venues. We grabbed another drink and headed for the Eyesore once more, in time to watch the arsing around of Icelandic trio The Vintage Caravan (9) through their soundtrack. Egged on by their sound engineer, the band powered through some ridiculous renditions of Careless Whisper as well as tracks by The Police, Paul Simon and a montage of Toto. When we’d finished laughing, the band exited before returning to provide possibly the most enjoyable set of the weekend. High energy from start to finish, the two ‘outfield’ members of the band, Alexander Örn Númason and Öskar Logi Ágüstsson proved to be as comedic during their main set as they were during the soundcheck with numerous little quips which had the audience chuckling loudly. The Vintage Caravan’s riff propelled psychedelic classic rock sound appears simple, the hooks and riffs snaring you with ease. But the band work incredibly hard to do this and tracks such as Babylon, On The Run, Expand Your Mind and the sing-a-long to Midnight Meditation all ooze class and quality.
Class and quality have never been in question when it comes to Opeth (9). Four dates into their latest European tour, the Swedes were slowly easing into their set list. A boorish crowd fuelled by all-day drinking heckled and crowd surfed from the opening bars of Svekets Prins, their limited knowledge of the new material a little frustrating to the hundreds of Opeth fans in the crowd. Once more the behaviour of some fans left us bemused, as people forged their way to the front way after the show had commenced; no excuse me or thank you, just a shoulder barge and a God-given right to get to the position they wanted regardless of everyone else. It’s one reason why larger gigs are becoming less attractive as I get older. On stage, Mikael Akerfeldt handled the barracking with his usual droll delivery. Restricting tracks from In Cauda Venenum to Svekets Prins and Hjärtat Vet Vad Handen Gör allowed old favourites The Leper Infinity and Harlequin Forest to please the old school, even inciting a few skirmishes in the pit.
My third visit to the festival and another cracking line-up to entice those whose tastes verge towards the extreme. The day was as exhausting as ever, doors at 12:00 and festivities ceasing some 15 hours later. In between, opportunity to catch bands whose appearances on these shores are often infrequent. A quick word about the chaotic organisation inside the venue. The absence of simple signage telling patrons which stage was which confused many including me, despite my previous visits. Security staff were unhelpful and at times downright rude, with reports of fans being refused re-admittance upon leaving the building. However, the music excelled and made the day worthwhile once more.
Matt and I spent much of the day camped out at the Eyesore Merch Stage. The 600 or so capacity sports hall offered close views, relatively decent sound and a more relaxed atmosphere throughout the day. I’d seen Alunah (8) a few weeks ago at HRH Doom v Stoner and the Birmingham outfit impressed once more. A 30-minute set didn’t allow for much due to the length of the band’s songs, but their doom-laden melancholy was the perfect lunchtime treat, with Sian Greenaway’s deep and soulful delivery as impressive as her red cat suit. Tracks from the new album Violet Hour are already established in the band’s set list, with Trapped & Bound a highlight. Finnish/English outfit Wheel (9) continued with the infectious riffing which we had last been stunned by in the Sophie Tent at BOA back in August. A recent change in personnel saw Aki Verta join the band on bass but you’d never have gathered he was the new boy with an assured and energetic performance, his bouncing locks cascading up and down as he charged around centre stage. It’s intensity to the max with Wheel, vocalist James Lascalle coiled with nervous energy and an attempt to ingratiate himself with the locals by revealing he’d been to university at Scarborough some years ago. Despite some horrific feedback and technical challenges, Wheel owned their 30 minutes and captivated the audience with tracks from Moving Backwards, surely one of the best albums of 2019.
One band I’d been especially keen to catch was Oregon’s sludge riff maestros Lord Dying (8) whose latest release Mysterium Tremendum is a magnificent opus. The band didn’t disappoint, pummelling with an onslaught of heaving riffs. Even a broken guitar strap couldn’t slow down man mountain Eric Olsen who played the set with his guitar tucked tightly under his arm whilst bassist Alyssa Morcere, all spit and fire and “fuck yeahs” roared her encouragement. Envy The End, Nearing The End Of The Curling Worm and a fiery Severed Forever from Mysterium Tremendum were stunning. A quick break from the Eyesore Stage as we headed to the bowels of the venue for 20 minutes of dark thick stoner doom courtesy of Berlin trio Earth Ship (7) on the Cult Never Dies stage. Guitarist Jan Oberg’s rasping vocals and raging guitar work were well worth the amble down the corridor, with bassist Sabine Oberg laying down the thunder with drummer Sebastian Grimberg. Whilst unfamiliar with their material, you can’t go wrong with good thick doom riffs and Earth Ship possessed these in spades. One to look out for again.
Grabbing a sustaining pasty and an overpriced beer, we hot footed it back to the Eyesore stage to catch Jo Quail (7) deliver something a little different. The internationally acclaimed composer and virtuoso cellist strode confidently onto the stage to a packed room. Her innovative looping style combined with her avant garde style and approach allowed a welcome breather, but the intensity remained high. With the crowd respectful in their silence whilst she played, Quail confidently moved through a couple of pieces before introducing Nick Sampson to join her on stage to play Madrel Cantus. An interesting performer, Quail is worth catching. Our first forage into the Jagermeister Stage saw Primordial (7) running later than advertised. A lengthy sound check had hopefully ironed out the gremlins but no, a mere one verse and chorus into the epic Nail Their Tongues and the power died, leaving frontman AA Nemtheanga bemused. To their credit the band addressed the issues quickly and soon elevated the temperature in the venue with their high impact aggressive primordial metal. The delay meant missing a good chunk of the Irishmen’s set but that was a price worth paying as we crammed into the Eyesore Stage once more for A Pale Horse Named Death (8). The New Yorkers were stunningly good, with frontman and driving force of the band Sal Abruscator humble and enthusiastic, his mournful vocals fusing with the band’s gothic leanings. Joe Taylor took the take stage left and add to the three-guitar onslaught. Earlier this year the band released When The World Becomes Undone, and it was no surprise that several songs were selected from this release. Captivating from start to finish, A Pale Horse Named Death deserved their massive ovation.
Cramming back into the main stage for Alcest proved a poor decision, the French outfit’s intense post metal riffing failing to capture the usual atmosphere they generate in smaller, more intimate venues. We grabbed another drink and headed for the Eyesore once more, in time to watch the arsing around of Icelandic trio The Vintage Caravan (9) through their soundtrack. Egged on by their sound engineer, the band powered through some ridiculous renditions of Careless Whisper as well as tracks by The Police, Paul Simon and a montage of Toto. When we’d finished laughing, the band exited before returning to provide possibly the most enjoyable set of the weekend. High energy from start to finish, the two ‘outfield’ members of the band, Alexander Örn Númason and Öskar Logi Ágüstsson proved to be as comedic during their main set as they were during the soundcheck with numerous little quips which had the audience chuckling loudly. The Vintage Caravan’s riff propelled psychedelic classic rock sound appears simple, the hooks and riffs snaring you with ease. But the band work incredibly hard to do this and tracks such as Babylon, On The Run, Expand Your Mind and the sing-a-long to Midnight Meditation all ooze class and quality.
Class and quality have never been in question when it comes to Opeth (9). Four dates into their latest European tour, the Swedes were slowly easing into their set list. A boorish crowd fuelled by all-day drinking heckled and crowd surfed from the opening bars of Svekets Prins, their limited knowledge of the new material a little frustrating to the hundreds of Opeth fans in the crowd. Once more the behaviour of some fans left us bemused, as people forged their way to the front way after the show had commenced; no excuse me or thank you, just a shoulder barge and a God-given right to get to the position they wanted regardless of everyone else. It’s one reason why larger gigs are becoming less attractive as I get older. On stage, Mikael Akerfeldt handled the barracking with his usual droll delivery. Restricting tracks from In Cauda Venenum to Svekets Prins and Hjärtat Vet Vad Handen Gör allowed old favourites The Leper Infinity and Harlequin Forest to please the old school, even inciting a few skirmishes in the pit.
The inclusion of Nepenthe from Heritage was a brave decision and beautifully delivered, a demonstration that if there is one band who will choose their own set list then it is Opeth. Still, some things are predictable, and the crushing Deliverance as the final song ensured those still thirsting for the heaviest Opeth were sated. It might not have been the most impressive performance I’ve ever seen from the Swedes but there is no such thing as a bad Opeth show. They are enormously impressive as a unit, with the additional vocal support from Fredrik Akesson and Joakim Svalberg adding harmony and melody. And that was that. Another Damnation Festival closed. It’s a great festival and with a bit more tweaking, it could be even better.
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