Lord Dying: Mysterium Tremendum (eOne)
Lord Dying are Erik Olson - guitar/vocals, Chris Evans - guitar, Matt Price - bass and Chase Manhattan - drums and their press release states that the reasons to listen to this is that it has beards and long hair, it's a concept album about death, and that the band hail from Portland Oregon home of the worlds smallest park "the grassy area has a diameter of 0.6 meters and a total area of 0.29 square meters." Mysterium Tremendum is as I've said a concept record about death (double LP of course) and it's their third album and you get the sort of knuckle dragging riffs you'd expect from a band that has toured with Red Fang, Voivod and Crowbar. Billed as progressive sludge merchants, they have got the ferocious sludge riffs and barked vocals but musically this conceptual piece has explored new soundscapes that bring to mind the ambient guitar prowess of Pink Floyd especially on Saying Goodbye To Physical Form.
It's full of riff worship moments the guitars kick in on Envy The End, the crushing low end has some phasered melodic guitars across it, reminding me of Mastodon but with a bit more pace. Vocally Olson has perfect balance between booming cleans and snarling roars as he and Evans' guitar playing brings a wide soundscape that moves from blistering solos, dreamlike states (Tearing At The Fabric Of Consciousness) and of course groove-laden riffage as the rhythm section of Price and Manhattan (great name by the way), can punish but also bring a nuanced sound to this album of towering anthems. Heavy subject matter is dealt with with experimental musical explorations, anchored by stoner/doom/grooves of High On Fire, Mastodon and Baroness, the heaviest of which lyrically being Lacerated Psyche which is about the death of Evans' sister.
For every heavy hitter there are floating beautiful interludes such as Even The Darkness Went Away. Which beautifully roll into tracks such as Severed Forever which skillfully pairs the life affirming ambience with crunching distortion. It's unlikely to be like any other sludge record this year. Brimming with beautiful compositions and rawness both musically and lyrically Mysterium Tremendum has been added to my album of the year list already! 10/10
Final Coil: The World We Left Behind For Others (WormHoleDeath)
Persistence Of Memory the debut album of Final Coil received an 8/10 from Rich when it was released as he called it "a cross between Porcupine Tree, Tool and Alice In Chains" so when this dropped in our inbox I wondered what would album two hold for this atmospheric, prog/post rock band. Well it all starts well enough as The Last Battle bringing those downtuned, chunky Tool riffs in from the beginning for a straight ahead opening that leads into Scattered Dust which has a guitar sound not to dissimilar to SOAD and flows into an instrumental outro that's washed away by the riffs of Empty Handed which had those Alice In Chains grooves and dual vocals on the chorus.
Final Coil are Phil Stiles (lead Vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, synths and programming), Richard Awdry (lead guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals and programming) and Jola Stiles (bass guitar and flute) with Barry French adding the drums to the record. As with a lot of prog records this is concept album that is a sequel to their debut, full of rallying political/social/economical cries and in true Roger Water's style the opening notes of The World We Left... are the final notes of Persistence Of Memory, it's a moodier, heavier affair than the debut, with pulsing electronics that cut through the sometimes doom-like heaviness of this impressive album, if you like your prog with a much more alternative, brooding style that can't be listened to on shuffle (as you'll lose the 'feel') then Final Coil could be the band for you to listen too while the new Tool album is still in gestation. 8/10
Desert Near The End: Of Fire And Stars (Total Metal Records)
Having not released an album since 2016 Greek power/thrashers Desert Near The End return in 2019 with their fourth record and it's as destructive as a ballistic missile assault. Of Fire And Stars has heavy thrash riffs and screamed vocals but also brings some classic metal riffs to the table. It's this balance of heavy and melody that brings to mind Iced Earth, Nevermore and even Testament, a track such as A Call Of Stars could have come off Burnt Offerings as it has viciousness but also enough melodic clean guitars to move away from thrash, a theme which continues on the blistering Light Long Dead.
In fact the entire record could be described as blistering with Alexandros barking away as the riffs roar away at the pace of an artillery barrage, only on Earth And Water do we get a break from thrash metal riffs with a nice stomping number that features some killer guitar work on the solo that powers into the lumbering The Highest Hill. Desert Near The End are a three piece of vocals, guitar and bass so as such they have quite a cast of backing musicians including a drummer, guitarists, keys and backing vocals but this record is coherent and brutal while also having some complex compositions towards the end of the record. If heavy power/thrash is your bag crank up the stereo and reach for that Desert Near The End. 8/10
Tillian: Lotus Graveyard (Self Released)
Formed by singer-songwriter Leah Marcu in 2014 when she started working on a solo album, drawing from her personal turmoils as well as her background in psychology and mysticism. Shoot forward to 2017 and Israeli band Tillian now has 7 members which makes them a musical force as they pair epic orchestral movements with metal instrumentation. It's a slow building record with Leah's vocals at the forefront, Reborn is primarily vocals while Touched layered acoustics, ivory tinikling and some stirring cello occasionally revealing the metal riffs but they really get to shine on Frozen Sun which sees the band and Leah at their bombastic best their theatrical music putting me in mind of Magenta but with a dramatic edge of bands such as Queen and even early Genesis.
Produced by Erez Yohanan (Orphaned Land, Amaseffer), recorded in Tel-Aviv and mastered by Forrester Savell (Karnivool, The Butterfly Effect). As I've said the band is built around the eclectic vocal style from Leah especially on Black Holes but the band are also brilliant with particular props going to cellist Alexandra and Inbal's keys. On Love Or Heaven they even add some harsh vocals giving moving them into the Orphaned Land territory. Lotus Graveyard is a difficult album if you like the straight ahead meat and potatoes metal, this is something a bit more interesting and overblown with careening ballads and punchy riffs as is dances between metal and musicals. 7/10
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