Firebreather have been making huge music since 2016. The 3 Swedes have previously released one, self titled album in 2017. There is an elephant in the room with this album, and that elephant is called High On Fire. Firebreather sound an awful lot like Matt Pike’s heavy doom and Motorhead inspired side project. It’s not all about High On Fire, there are some influences from other places; some of the vocals remind me a little of Crowbar, there is a little bit of Cathedral in some of the riffing, and the over all production, hugeness and filthiness of the album, is a little bit reminiscent of Electric Wizard. There is also a certain Black Sabbath influence, particularly in the solos, but that goes without saying in this sort of thing. However it is the High On Fire worship, that is most obvious. So, it’s very influenced by Matt Pike and friends, but it is a very good album, heavily influenced by HOF. The riffs are mountainous, the rhythms are absolutely spot on, the solo’s are beautifully bluesy and emotive. Dancing In Flames is mid-paced but driving and purposeful and boasts one of those great, mournful solos.
Our Souls They Burn is massively slow and heavy, with a fantastic swagger to it. The track starts slow, but builds to a mountainous 6:8 that beats the living crap out of the audience. Closed Gate is slow and swaggery sludge, it’s powerful and unrelenting, and boasts a chorus that is quite similar to Crowbar. Eponymous track Firebreather has a great up-tempo opening, with enough melody to feel quite NWOBHM in the middle of the song, and a fast, aggressive ending. We Bleed starts with feedback, before some excellent mid-paced riffing, the track has a controlled and measured feel to it, but drops that for a faster and nastier ending. The album is brought to an end by the track The Siren. This track has a looser sense to the rest of the album, there is more melody and some very nice bluesy touches. The track and album comes to a close with a faster, more driving and aggressive section. OK, this sound a lot like High On Fire, but once you get beyond that, you’ll find a great piece of Heavy as anything, sludgy doom. The riffs and grooves will get into your head, the choruses are immense, and the solo’s are fantastic, what more do you want? 8/10
Ancient VVisdom: Mundus (Argonauta Records) [Paul Hutchings]
Their second outing with Argonaut records, Ohio occult rockers Ancient VVisdom follow up 2017’s 33 with Mundus, a critical comment on the state of the world. The lyrics throughout the album focus on the hate, hypocrisy, bigotry and injustices of modern society. Kicking off with Human Extinction, the heavy riffs and Hammond organ are back with a stoner riff which immediately grabs the attention. Plague The Night returns to the band’s earlier acoustic style, whilst I Am Everywhere contains a slab of punk aggression. I wasn’t oversold on 33, the Satanic lyrics a bit tiresome but on Mundus the band have focused on other subjects and it works well. A harder edge and cynicism underpin the album, and whilst the stoner side of things remain, there is more variation here.
The dark gothic edge to the band is apparent on Will To Destroy, the acoustic elements that were the backbone of A Godlike Inferno. Nathan Opposition’s haunting vocals chilling in their delivery. For the Glory Of The Grave brings the riffs, another gothic tinged track appears on Desensitized whilst Severed Ways almost touches on country. Atmospheric and evocative, Edget Of The Abyss concludes this album, the simple acoustic and Opposition’s dark vocals slowly joined by some lead guitar and harmonies. I can’t argue with the lyrical content, it echoes many of my sentiments and the musical approach gives something different. At 31 minutes in length it isn’t a long release but there is plenty to ponder and digest. 7/10
Pyramido: Fem (The Sign Records) [Paul Scoble]
Hailing from Malmo in Sweden, Pyrimido have been making music since 2006. The five piece have released 5 albums in that time, the last being Vatten in 2016. The band play a very individual style, which is a mix of Sludge, Post Metal, Post Rock, Noise Rock and Alternative Rock. That sounds complicated, but all I’m really trying to get over is the fact that this band have a very unique sound, they mostly sound like themselves, which is an admirable thing to pull off these days. Vocally this is closest to sludge, musically it’s closest to Post Rock, so let’s go with Post Sludge. The album kicks off with Född Till Att Springa which features a huge riff, that would fit in with a sludge template, except that the guitar sound is much cleaner than you would expect. This gives the track a post rock feel that is a little reminiscent to Mono or In Circles. The vocals are harsh, much more sludgy than the music. Levande Döda has a looser, more open feel to the opening track, there is a softer edge to the vocals, the song as a whole has a feel more akin to Alternative Rock. Utvägen is much more aggressive than Levande Döda (showing that these Swedes clearly understand dynamics, and how albums can ebb and flow), it’s tauter, faster and feels much more driving and purposeful. Fänrik Källbacks Sägner again has a looser, more relaxed sense than the preceding track. It’s a simple song, but its strength lies in its simplicity.
Hailing from Malmo in Sweden, Pyrimido have been making music since 2006. The five piece have released 5 albums in that time, the last being Vatten in 2016. The band play a very individual style, which is a mix of Sludge, Post Metal, Post Rock, Noise Rock and Alternative Rock. That sounds complicated, but all I’m really trying to get over is the fact that this band have a very unique sound, they mostly sound like themselves, which is an admirable thing to pull off these days. Vocally this is closest to sludge, musically it’s closest to Post Rock, so let’s go with Post Sludge. The album kicks off with Född Till Att Springa which features a huge riff, that would fit in with a sludge template, except that the guitar sound is much cleaner than you would expect. This gives the track a post rock feel that is a little reminiscent to Mono or In Circles. The vocals are harsh, much more sludgy than the music. Levande Döda has a looser, more open feel to the opening track, there is a softer edge to the vocals, the song as a whole has a feel more akin to Alternative Rock. Utvägen is much more aggressive than Levande Döda (showing that these Swedes clearly understand dynamics, and how albums can ebb and flow), it’s tauter, faster and feels much more driving and purposeful. Fänrik Källbacks Sägner again has a looser, more relaxed sense than the preceding track. It’s a simple song, but its strength lies in its simplicity.
Insikten is discordant, particularly at the beginning, however the discordant parts give way to some very simple, but uplifting riffs that are extremely enjoyable. There is a feel right through this album of positivity, despite the fairly angry vocals the music does always seem to have a positive, or uplifting aspect to it. The album is brought to an end by the title track Fem. Fem is soft and gentle at the beginning of the track. The soft and gentle slowly gives way to the slow and heavy, but with a growing sense of aggression. The slow and heavy slowly builds to a huge ending, battering the listener, and massively increasing the intensity till the end of the album. Fem is a very enjoyable album. There's a mix of styles, but the band effortlessly bind them all together, into a very pleasing whole. Although there are harsh, angry, and extreme feelings in the makeup of this album, it always seems to end up feel uplifting and positive, a hopeful, welcoming feeling. That feeling isn’t that common in heavy music, but I am very glad it is present on this album. 8/10
Endseeker: The Harvest (Metal Blade Records) [Val D'Arcy]
Endseeker: The Harvest (Metal Blade Records) [Val D'Arcy]
Endseeker return with their second full length album The Harvest. This is something of a step up from their 2017 debut Flesh Hammer Prophesy and a move towards a heavier, more old-school sound but still displaying plenty of melody and enough hooks to hang your hat on. Endseeker have developed a modern sounding melodic death metal with influences from Swedish ancestors Dismember, Bloodbath, some newer Hypocrisy through to their contemporaries Demonical and God Dethroned. The latter of course being the odd one out in that they're not Swedish, but then neither are Endseeker. The German quintet hail from Hamburg, home of St Pauli, some great beers, Wacken Open Air, Kai Hansen and lots of other cool stuff including Eike Freese, who whilst may work with a bunch of bands I'm not a massive fan of, knows what he's doing when it comes to production. The sound on this record is massive and each component is sharp, defined and feels rightly a part of the whole. What's particularly great about the production on The Harvest is that it achieved all this without compromising at all on real heaviness. A lot of modern day melodeth bands (typically the type that crop up in my Facebook suggestions, with a cheesy music video shot in some industrial warehouse) are polished to the point of sterility; sure you can appreciate the clean lines which does allow for maximum melody consumption, but ultimately lacks any grit or real emotion once you scratch beneath the surface.
The first track, Parasite kicks your doors down without warning and barrages your eardrums for two minutes and forty seven seconds. Which, honestly feels long enough when packed as full as it is with brutality, pace and enough chuggy riffs to pull a steam train. The melodies are catchy without being predictable, the vocals are deep and raspy without being totally devoid of tune (an aspect of some death metal I'm not too keen on) and the drumming is fast, tight and strong enough, technically to support the whole thing. There are a couple of mid paced songs that give some respite to what is otherwise a pretty intense ride. I can fairly say there's no real downtime in this record, no filler, indeed the end product whilst being something of a feral torrent of metal, is considered and disciplined. Having already shared stages with some of the genre's heavyweights over the last few years, this latest release puts Endseeker firmly in the category of one's to watch. 7/10
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