Hypermania the first track on this third album by Jeff Scott Soto (Sons Of Apollo/Talismen), sort of an overview of this record, it's a thoroughly modern mix of crunchy riffs, huge synths and Soto's brilliant vocals. The SOTO project was derived from Jeff wanting to return to the heavier styles of Talismen, they released two albums in 2015 and 2016 with his more hard rock solo self titled solo project taking precedence. After fronting Sons Of Apollo he has once again brought back the heavier sound of SOTO, with more of the progressive sound he has been involved with recently. Hypermania has got the most poppy sound on the record (and the lyrics are a little suspect) but when you get the chunky title track, Afterglow which has got a grooving riff to it and a chunk of parping brass. Vanity Lane however is slower but still heavy, while World Gone Colder is a massive rock track and Torn is a big ballad.There's so many stylistic changes on this record that it will appeal to any fans of metal/rock music but it never strays to far from it's big bouncy hard rock roots. Origami is a joyous record with one of the biggest and best voices around, it's not going to change the world but it'll certainly get it grooving. 7/10
Five minutes into the opening seven-minute opening track When You Stare and I was ready to heave this into the bin. Demonic vociferation to the point of pain, more time changes than a Great Western bank holiday train timetable, combined with asymmetric song structures and staccato rhythms; this was a combination of metalcore, hardcore, Djent and I wasn’t having any fun whatsoever. Having toughed it out though, Spotted Horse improved dramatically. The album is the second release from Glassing, a three-piece from Austin, Texas, who by all accounts are gaining a reputation in their field and are certainly favourites with the Kerrang readership. That might make my opening sentence understandable now. What Glassing are is a complex entity. Bassist and vocalist Dustin Hoffman has stated that neither band or listener should ever be allowed to be comfortable when listening to them, and I think he’s captured that completely.
This was no easy listening session. At times disturbing, at others distressing and yet completely surprising. The frantic explosive opening to Sleeper provided a wall of noise so extreme that it sounded like a military firing range but then evolved into ambient soundscapes although soundscapes complete with harrowing vocals. The post hardcore style is evident throughout but there are a myriad of influences and styles contained within this 44-minute piece of work. A Good Death would resonate with fans of Alcest and similar ambient shoegaze outfits, the haunting feel at odds with the frenetic intensity contained elsewhere. At every moment, uncertainty about the next steps was prevalent, and that is what allowed this album to remain in play. It’s unconventional, challenging and texturally fascinating. Not something I would usually give the time of day to, Glassing has delivered a sophomore release which intrigues, frightens and confuses. 8/10
Abaddon: Angelic Scorn (Self Released) [Paul H]
Formed in 2016 in El Paso, Texas, Abaddon are a four-piece outfit who deliver bestially foul death metal in the style of early Cannibal Corpse. One of about a million bands with the same name meant that even tracking down this vile outpouring details was challenging. However, if you like your death metal older than my socks and just as disgusting, then this 35-minute debut will probably make you smile with venomous joy. Deliberately anti-religion, tracks such as Burning Sermon, Purgatory and Icon Of Sin simply flatten. Vocalist Michael has clearly styled himself on the squeal of Corpsegrinder and the old school monsters, such is his indecipherable delivery.
Abaddon: Angelic Scorn (Self Released) [Paul H]
Formed in 2016 in El Paso, Texas, Abaddon are a four-piece outfit who deliver bestially foul death metal in the style of early Cannibal Corpse. One of about a million bands with the same name meant that even tracking down this vile outpouring details was challenging. However, if you like your death metal older than my socks and just as disgusting, then this 35-minute debut will probably make you smile with venomous joy. Deliberately anti-religion, tracks such as Burning Sermon, Purgatory and Icon Of Sin simply flatten. Vocalist Michael has clearly styled himself on the squeal of Corpsegrinder and the old school monsters, such is his indecipherable delivery.
Drummer John is unstoppable, a crashing powerhouse who batters the shit out of his kit whilst bassist Oscar and guitarist Ray pound away with iceberg sized riffs. With a production which is stripped back, Angelic Scorn could strip paint if pointed in the right direction. It may be modelled on the older styles, such as on the blistering Justified Homicide but sometimes it is simply too enjoyable to listen to anything other than a pure maniacal battery which melts your face. This is perfect for when the mother-in-law has overstayed her welcome. 7/10
TheNightTimeProject: Pale Seasons (Debemur Morti Productions) [Matt]
A melodic/progressive rock 'supergroup' Thenighttimeproject is made up of Fredrik (guitars) and Mattias Norrman (bass), former members of Katatonia and currently October Tide. Along with them are guitar/vocalist Alexander Backlund and drummer Jonas Sköld from Letters From The Colony. It means that this second album the Swedish group has the overwhelming melancholy of Katatonia fused with an unshakeable similarity to Opeth. Now I'm talking the post-Watershed era of Opeth so if you want growls then stop reading, however if the more ethereal sounds of current Opeth then I really recommend picking Pale Seasons as it does sound like a lost Opeth record. Backlund's sombre and expressive vocal tone mirrors that of Mikael Akerfeldt, filling every word with emotional depth. Musically it's intricate and ornate in it's setting, delivering music that draws you into to it from the first notes taking on it's evocative gloomy journey as organs wind their way in under the fluid resonant guitars that occasionally dip into heavier realms but for the most part are happy with their ambience.
Pale Seasons is an album that builds, conceptually it deals with how the longer you live the more Pale Seaons you get, it's large patches of your memory where nothing happened that you don't remember as vividly as you do your childhood and youth, this will echo with older readers and it makes the album even more poignant. I've said it builds which is one of the reasons I absolutely adore this record Hound is ghostly, just a solitary guitar and vocal with an echo pedal, it sets the mood for the album which becomes more forlorn as it progresses. Rotting Eden has a marching riff and lots of Moogs swirling in the background and you know when I said about harsh vocals well I lied (to get rid of the posers) as Rotting Eden has those as well. It moves into some synth drenched propulsion on Binary which is an ominous track due to the relentless drumming and phased guitar it's built around, before it drifts into some Floyd-like dreaming, huge organs creep on the gothic Final Light, as first single Embers is more straightforward matching a hooky chorus with darker riffs.
I was hooked so much that by the time the cathartic Signals In The Sky came around, with it's lilting female vocals and almost Portishead-like electro-ambient a tear was shed leading to the twitchy outro of Meridian which lets you relax for the first time. As soon as it finished I played it again immediately, Pale Seasons is going to be in my top albums of the year no doubt about that, it's beautiful and brilliant. 10/10
TheNightTimeProject: Pale Seasons (Debemur Morti Productions) [Matt]
A melodic/progressive rock 'supergroup' Thenighttimeproject is made up of Fredrik (guitars) and Mattias Norrman (bass), former members of Katatonia and currently October Tide. Along with them are guitar/vocalist Alexander Backlund and drummer Jonas Sköld from Letters From The Colony. It means that this second album the Swedish group has the overwhelming melancholy of Katatonia fused with an unshakeable similarity to Opeth. Now I'm talking the post-Watershed era of Opeth so if you want growls then stop reading, however if the more ethereal sounds of current Opeth then I really recommend picking Pale Seasons as it does sound like a lost Opeth record. Backlund's sombre and expressive vocal tone mirrors that of Mikael Akerfeldt, filling every word with emotional depth. Musically it's intricate and ornate in it's setting, delivering music that draws you into to it from the first notes taking on it's evocative gloomy journey as organs wind their way in under the fluid resonant guitars that occasionally dip into heavier realms but for the most part are happy with their ambience.
Pale Seasons is an album that builds, conceptually it deals with how the longer you live the more Pale Seaons you get, it's large patches of your memory where nothing happened that you don't remember as vividly as you do your childhood and youth, this will echo with older readers and it makes the album even more poignant. I've said it builds which is one of the reasons I absolutely adore this record Hound is ghostly, just a solitary guitar and vocal with an echo pedal, it sets the mood for the album which becomes more forlorn as it progresses. Rotting Eden has a marching riff and lots of Moogs swirling in the background and you know when I said about harsh vocals well I lied (to get rid of the posers) as Rotting Eden has those as well. It moves into some synth drenched propulsion on Binary which is an ominous track due to the relentless drumming and phased guitar it's built around, before it drifts into some Floyd-like dreaming, huge organs creep on the gothic Final Light, as first single Embers is more straightforward matching a hooky chorus with darker riffs.
I was hooked so much that by the time the cathartic Signals In The Sky came around, with it's lilting female vocals and almost Portishead-like electro-ambient a tear was shed leading to the twitchy outro of Meridian which lets you relax for the first time. As soon as it finished I played it again immediately, Pale Seasons is going to be in my top albums of the year no doubt about that, it's beautiful and brilliant. 10/10
No comments:
Post a Comment