How about a double live album of one of the greatest metal bands of all time, stripped back and acoustic and all for charity? Yeah, well, if you can ignore the ramblings of Papa Het throughout this show because he can’t hear himself well enough, and the usual ‘Tallica slapstick routine that has become such a distraction at latter day shows, what you actually find is the band playing a range of old classics, some deeper cuts and a range of covers with some sweet steel guitar work (not from any of the band I hasten to add). Typical unnecessary input from Lars doesn’t add anything, the yapping crowd irritate massively but musically there are a few gems on here. A rare version of Bleeding Me works well whilst the BÖC cover of Veteran Of The Psychic Wars makes a change. The familiar Nothing Else Matters is routine; Enter Sandman is dirge whilst Disposable Heroes should never be played without a bank of amps and everything cranked to 11. Recorded on 3rd November 2018 at the Masonic in San Francisco for the All With My Hands Charity, this release will no doubt delight the Metallica legions who lap up everything they put out. For me, I’m afraid it’s all just a bit self-indulgent. 5/10
Downfall Of Gaia: Ethic Of Radical Finitude (Metal Blade Records) [Paul H]
Whilst I had heard of Downfall Of Gaia I was not that familiar with the band’s work. This is 40 minutes of the most incredibly crafted extreme metal you will hear. At times spine splittingly heavy, at other times melancholic and thoughtful, it is always stunningly intense. Formed in Germany in 2008, Ethic Of Radical Finitude is the follow up to the 2016 album Atrophy. The band sit very much in the same bracket as Winterfylleth, Fen, Wiegedood and Wolves In The Throne Room, with intricate acoustic passages followed by the most penetrating batteries of blistering pace and energy. The whole album bristles with energy, exploding into life with a regularity that draws sharp intakes of breath, but which also allows the listener time to breathe. Guitarist and vocalist Domink Goncalves dos Reis confirm the position: “It combines elements from our earlier releases with the path we took on Atrophy.
There are long atmospheric parts with enough time to breathe, enough time to unfold, and on the other side there are harsh and melodic blastbeats. Each song is some kind of journey, with emotional ups and downs.” With two flagship tracks forming the backbone of this release, the nine-minute plus We Pursue The Serpent Of Time and the haunting, Guided Through A Starless Night with its narrative by Nikita Kamprad from Der Weg Einer Freiheit, and eerie feedback which closes the song, this is a complex piece of work which is what fans have come to expect. Utilising clean vocals and spoken word for the first time, the band’s fifth release is another stunning piece of work which should be close to the top of the pile come the end of the year. 9/10
Ed Wynne: Shimmer Into Nature (Kscope) [Paul H]
With a career spanning over four decades, Ed Wynne is a rock maverick. A multi-instrumentalist, Wynne has led the space rockers Ozric’s Tentacles for over 30 years but has now arrived at that time when the first solo album is delivered. As his promo states, the man sits outside all mainstream concerns, in a cosmic universe where rock, electronica, world music and other genres all co-exist. What we get has Wynne’s style all over it; five lengthy tracks that shimmer and shine, fade and repeat and capture the psychedelic feel so apparent in OT. Glass Staircase opens the album, the electronics dominating without being overpowering and Wynne’s soaring guitar allowed time and space to explore which ever direction it delights in taking. Another eight-minute track follows, the similarly meandering but just as enjoyable Travel Dust, with its reggae percussion feel and psychedelic space sounds. With Wynne performing all the music (minus some very minor help on percussion from son Silas and Ex-OT members Paul Hankin and a little synth input from Tom Brooks), and producing the material, it’s an amazing piece of work, even if it isn’t your thing.
Ed Wynne: Shimmer Into Nature (Kscope) [Paul H]
With a career spanning over four decades, Ed Wynne is a rock maverick. A multi-instrumentalist, Wynne has led the space rockers Ozric’s Tentacles for over 30 years but has now arrived at that time when the first solo album is delivered. As his promo states, the man sits outside all mainstream concerns, in a cosmic universe where rock, electronica, world music and other genres all co-exist. What we get has Wynne’s style all over it; five lengthy tracks that shimmer and shine, fade and repeat and capture the psychedelic feel so apparent in OT. Glass Staircase opens the album, the electronics dominating without being overpowering and Wynne’s soaring guitar allowed time and space to explore which ever direction it delights in taking. Another eight-minute track follows, the similarly meandering but just as enjoyable Travel Dust, with its reggae percussion feel and psychedelic space sounds. With Wynne performing all the music (minus some very minor help on percussion from son Silas and Ex-OT members Paul Hankin and a little synth input from Tom Brooks), and producing the material, it’s an amazing piece of work, even if it isn’t your thing.
Wynne crafted the outline of the songs whilst living high in the mountains of Colorado, hence the title and the natural organic feel to each piece of music. Hiding from the current political shit storm that is raging across the entire planet can be hard, but Wynne appears to have managed a perfect solution. “I do hide from that stuff,” he says. “I’m a bit of an escapist. Political stuff comes and goes as far as I'm concerned, and a lot of it is fairly full on. But I think I can help people by giving them a little bit of a break from that every now and then.” Ironic then that his father, David, designed the interlocking hands on the 1973 fifty-pence piece coin which commemorated the UK’s entry into the EEC! Shimmer Into Nature allows you to relax, sit back and escape. It’s not intense, it’s not gnarly and it certainly isn’t metal. A combination of a myriad of influences and styles picked up over a lifetime of following his own path, creatively it can’t be matched. With no vocals, you can let the likes of Oddplonk and Shim, with its fabulous guitarwork just enclose you in a safe space where life can be left behind. If you are looking for a refuge from the drain of humanity, lock yourself away with this release. It’ll be a trip well worth taking. 8/10
Damnation Army: Death Macabre (Self Released) [Rich]
Death Macabre is album number three from Swedish blackened death metallers Damnation Army. Not a band I am familiar with but Damnation Army have a sound that takes you back to the early 1990’s recalling the early albums by bands such as Swedish extreme metal luminaries such as Marduk, Dissection, Necrophobic and Unanimated. This is pure old school blackened death metal which means old school death metal riffage, dark melodic guitar leads and nasty tremolo riffs all combined together in this nasty package. The production is nicely rough and raw which adds to the dirty atmosphere of the album. If you like the early blackened death metal albums and the bands mentioned above then this is album is definitely worth your time. It’s not an original sounding album by any means and the style has been done better by other bands but this is still a very decent slab of nasty old school blackened death metal. 7/10
Damnation Army: Death Macabre (Self Released) [Rich]
Death Macabre is album number three from Swedish blackened death metallers Damnation Army. Not a band I am familiar with but Damnation Army have a sound that takes you back to the early 1990’s recalling the early albums by bands such as Swedish extreme metal luminaries such as Marduk, Dissection, Necrophobic and Unanimated. This is pure old school blackened death metal which means old school death metal riffage, dark melodic guitar leads and nasty tremolo riffs all combined together in this nasty package. The production is nicely rough and raw which adds to the dirty atmosphere of the album. If you like the early blackened death metal albums and the bands mentioned above then this is album is definitely worth your time. It’s not an original sounding album by any means and the style has been done better by other bands but this is still a very decent slab of nasty old school blackened death metal. 7/10
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