It’s been 13 years since William DuVall joined Alice in Chains. In that time the former Comes With The Fall vocalist has completed numerous tours, formed the Giraffe Tongue Orchestra with Brent Hinds of Mastodon and been part of two of the best AIC albums in Black Gives Way To Blue and last year’s Rainier Fog. One Alone sees DuVall deliver his debut solo album, a stripped back heart on sleeve release which features DuVall acoustically bear his soul. Songs such as Chains Around My Heart, Keep Driving Me Away and the opening Til The Light Guides Me Home are beautifully performed, intimate and honest. A self-reflection on heartbreak and triumph, this is DuVall at his best. At times smouldering, at times vulnerable and delicate, just one voice and one acoustic guitar. An album for late night meditation, warm fires and long drinks, this is a beautifully crafted and composed album which reveals another side to one of rock’s underestimated vocalists. 8/10
Car Bomb: Mordial (Self Released) [Liam True]
Experimental. Explosive. As heavy as dark matter. And totally bat-shit crazy. Few of the many ways to describe Car bomb, and the list to do that is endless. Much like previous album Meta, Car Bomb have taken everything you know about modern metal, flipped it on it’s head, pulled it apart and started anew. With the explosive barrage of mathematical madness pounding your eardrums, it’s a thrill ride through the minds of the turbo-thrash Long Islanders. When first confronted with the album, it’s a lot thrown at you at once. But once you get the style and groove of the band, it’s a masterpiece of aggressive Mathcore and brutal punishment of the instruments they use. While not being conventional by any means, the polyrhythmic style they use is ultimately interesting to say the least. Playing riffs backwards, reversing them and even messing with the tempo, Car Bomb have a strange and unusual approach to handling the music they create. Which makes them stand out in the slowly deteriorating stale scene at the moment. The band have proven since 2007 that they are the rising force of the modern metal scene. And with the release of Mordial, there’s no doubt in my mind that when these guys cross the ocean and hit the UK next, they’ll be headlining bigger places. And pummelling them to the ground. 10/10
Necrophagia: Here Lies Necrophagia - 35 Years (Season Of Mist) [Paul Hutchings]
Formed in 1983 in Wellsville, Ohio, Necrophagia were one of the early US death metal pioneers alongside Possessed and Death. This album closes the lid on the coffin of a band whose debut release Seasons Of The Dead remains a revered slab of thunderous death metal. With numerous line-up changes and several periods of inactivity, this is the band that also housed a guitarist named Anton Crowley (better known as Phil Anselmo) between 1998 -2001. With the death of original member Frank ‘Killjoy’ Pucci in 2018, the band finally drew its last fetid breath. Drawing off the band’s seven studio releases, this release allows you to immerse yourself once more in the brutal Cannibal Holocaust, the pulverising Flowers Of Flesh And Blood and the explosive Beast With Feral Claws. Killjoy’s vocals remain a thing of vile repugnance, his spewing guttural style comfortably supporting by the chainsaw riffage raging around it. This is a fitting tribute to a seminal band. 7/10
Crossbones: The Awakening (Blasphemous Records) [Liam True]
Becoming big in the modern day Metal scene is a difficult thing to master. Crossbar however are rising up to that mark. With the perfect blend of hard-gritty riffs, catchy melodies and singalong chorus’, they’re currently rising up through the ranks of the Hard Rock/Metal scene with their blend of toxic gutturals, furious fretwork and crushing drums. The album itself is versatile in the way it goes from being a fast thrash paced record, to almost a ballad filled journey through the minds of the Albanian based wrecking crew. Not a country you’d usually associate with Metal bands, but this demolition effort shows the true nature of the bands performance. With the machine gun legs of drummer Theodhoraq Napoloni taking centre stage for me, the band are as furious and intertwined with their taken places, showcasing they’re not a band to be taken lightly. Throughout the album the band are on top performance taking you through the adrenaline ride that is The Awakening. And with this mammoth of an album. There needs to be a mammoth tour following. 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment