Anti-Mortem: New Southern (Nuclear Blast)
Oklahomans Anti-Mortem are down home
Southern metal filled with swagger and lashings of groove along with some
serious aggression. Imagine if you will a mix of Black Stone Cherry, Hellyeah,
FFDP and yes (of course) Pantera. The band are all windmilling hair, Dean
Razorback's, groove riffage, southern soul and some strong vocals from Larado
Romo who is backed by his brother Nevada Romo and Zain Smith both of whom
provide the riffage that Dime would be proud off. Corey Henderson and Levi
Dickerson on bass and drums respectively anchor the heaviness with some serious
hard hitting rhythm. The band are being hailed as BSC with an angry streak and
this is true to a point but I think the band are a broad spectrum of influences
meaning that yes Pantera will come to mind from the opening of Words Of
Wisdom which has thrash like aggression. This is before the more
soulful title track goes down like a bottle of Southern Comfort and things get
stompy with the groove laden 100% Pure American Rage which
show off Romo's snarl. The change in style comes on Black
Heartbeat shows off his Romo's clean crooning on a ballad BSC would be
proud of before things get back to normal on the chest beating I Get
Along With The Devil which is pure Death Punch. A very good album from
this Oklahoma mob, some pit inciting metal with serious groove and some killer song
writing insure that if you come from the Pantera/FFDP school of Southern Groove
metal, then you will love Anti-Mortem its powerful and melodic metal full of
Southern grit!! 8/10
Lesser Key: Lesser Key (Sumerian Records)
The Lesser Key is a new project from
former Tool bassist Paul D'Amour and in his words "represents an
exploration into personal and artistic freedom." This is a bold claim from
anyone especially someone coming from an abstract place like Tool, D'amour has
rounded up a band in the shape of guitarist Brett Fanger, drummer Justin Hanson
and they are rounded off by vocalist Andrew Zamudio. So does this self-titled
EP live up to D'Amour's words or is it all just hyperbole? Well yes the album
is very free flowing, full of experimentation and shifting dynamics, along with
angular guitars, cascading drums and D'Amour's pulsating bass at the forefront.
Yes there is a lot of artistic freedom but then D'Amour hasn't come from a band
that were narrow minded as a result Lesser
Key is not far removed
sonically from the Tool mothership, the creeping doom like riffage of Intercession kicks things off nicely showcasing
all the elements I have mentioned before you hear Zamudio's emotional vocals.
Obviously Tool is not the only reference point the band also have nods to
modern progressive champions Tesseract with their ambient-yet-heavy delivery
(see In Passing Through and Pale Horse) as well as the more
laid back emotive power of Anathema. This album ebbs and flows throughout its
six songs, yes there is a similarities between them all but that’s part of the
point, much like with Tool, this is all about the feel, it’s all about the
pictures painted and visions created by the sonics. A heavy trip of an EP over
too soon, not the exploration into artistic freedom mentioned but certainly an
exploration into psychedelic modern prog! 8/10
Gloryful: Oceans Blade (Massacre Records)
Coming out of nowhere (well North-Rhine
Westphalia) with a critically acclaimed last year (stupidly missed by your
reviewer). Power metal troubadours Gloryful have returned with their sophomore
album. The title and artwork scream Dragonforce and Gloryhammer style silliness
but Gloryful are more restrained in their power metal madness. The band
have a sound not too dissimilar to Grand Magus with some heavy riff based
traditional metal. Whereas the debut was swords and sorcery things get
nautical this time, bringing to mind Rock N Rolf and Running Wild. Hiring
The Dead has the fist
pounding riff, melodic lead breaks and solos galore from Vito Papotto and the
aptly named Shredmaster J.B. The vocals of Johnny La Bomba are indeed good, he
has a grizzled vocal that can go to growls and high croons, similar to Matt
Barlow however after 10 songs his vocals can grate a little bit as they are not
a varied as Barlow’s. The musicianship however is amazing throughout, check out
the drumming on E Mare, E
Libertad and you will be
floored by the blast beats, as for the rest of the songs they are all suitably
trad metal with some scorching riffs, galloping bass lines and big gang choirs,
there is no let up until the acoustic Black
Legacy which aims at Blind
Guardian campfire mistraling. Yes a great album for anyone that likes galloping
trad metal, however I feel the vocals let it down a little. 7/10
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