Leeched: To Dull The Blades Of Your Abuse (Prosthetic Records) [Paul Scoble]
Manchester 3 piece Leeched have been making very loud, very nasty noises since 2017. Aside from being one of the most incendiary live acts currently active in the UK, they have also produced 1 EP; Nothing Will Grow From The Rotten Ground in 2017, and an album; You Took The Sun When You Left in 2018. So, just over a year since their first album, are Leeched still one of the most angry, intense hardcore acts going? Well, the short answer is yes, massively. The one overriding feeling that comes from this album is intense anger. However, unlike a lot of Hardcore acts, this is not shown through huge speed. Most of the tracks on this album would come in at mid-paced or slow, that isn’t to say that this is a sludge album, but this is not about blasting as fast as they can. The anger and extremity is expressed through a rather more difficult to quantify quality of Intensity. Even when this album is really slow (For example on the track Let Me Die), the intensity is off the scale. The vocals throughout the album are so aggressive and angry it’s almost frightening. Musically things are very intense as well; the guitar riffs are interspersed with nasty pinch harmonics and feedback, at times it feels like things aren’t controlled at all.
All this violent anger doesn’t feel like anything as lightweight as angst, this is well informed rage at the evils of the world, and my god Leeched’s timing is perfect for that anger. I’m writing this review 4 days into 2020; many countries have descended into fascism, the mutant Umpa Lumpa in the White House is trying to start world War 3, all the while Australia is burning. All these things are reasons to feel angry and helpless, and To Dull The Blades Of Your Abuse is the perfect soundtrack to a world that is collapsing. There isn’t a single moment on this album that is not informed by this rage, but it is also an anger that is driven by depression, and knowledge of the darkness. At times the rage is obvious, in the track Earth And Ashes, one of the few songs that is really fast; approaching Grindcore, the anger is palpable and in your face. The blast beats feel staccato, you feel every snare beat, there is no smoothing out that can sometimes happen with a blast beat. However, the track The Grey Tide isn’t nearly as fast as Earth And Ashes, but the lurching off kilter feel of the song is no less intense.
The album has some parts that feel industrial as well, Now It Ends has a definite industrial sense to it, whilst also not having any aspects that are obviously electronic or traditionally industrial. This is done by those pinched harmonics and feedbacky parts that I mentioned earlier. To Dull The Blades Of Your Abuse is a fantastic album. It’s a very impressive follow up to You Took The Sun When You Left, the songs have more depth and variety whilst still keeping the rage and intensity that was so impressive on the bands debut. If you are looking for a soundtrack for the end of the world, this is it! 9/10
Serious Black: Suite 226 (AFM Records) [Rich Oliver]
Power metal supergroup Serious Black return with their new album Suite 226. Having previously featured power metal figureheads such as Roland Grapow, Alex Holzwarth and Bob Katsionis, Serious Black have drummer Ramy Ali joining singer Urban Breed, guitarist Dominik Sebastian and bassist Mario Lochert for their fourth album. If you haven’t heard Serious Black before they play a style that veers between power metal and melodic heavy metal and this style is continued on Suite 226. Most of the album sticks to a steady pace and this is its downfall. Despite sounding nice and being performed really well (with the vocals by Urban Breed being at the usual exceptional standard) the songs on Suite 226 on the whole just didn’t grab me.
Things are played way too safe and are generally unremarkable and forgettable. There are songs which stand above the others such as melodic opener Let It Go with its energetic chorus and Castiel and We Still Stand Tall add a bit of much needed urgency and excitement to the album. The rest of the songs such as the flat Heaven Shall Burn and the token slow ballad-esque Come Home failed to inspire much interest. Serious Black have been a good and steady yet slightly unremarkable power metal band with their past releases but this one feels very much like the band going through the motions. Not an awful albi, but not one that I would revisit in a hurry. 5/10
Bad Radiator: V (Crazy Feelgood Music) [Paul Hutchings]
Formed in 2011, Bad Radiator is a reformation of Swedish 80s melodic rock outfit Grace. Their sound sits very much in the 1980s, with keyboards and saccharine coated vocals very much the order of the day. V is the follow up to 2017’s IV, and unsurprisingly is the band’s fifth release in nine years. Now a four-piece, vocals and keyboards are handled by main songwriter Mikael Lundgren, with guitarist Klas Begrall, drummer Roger Hansson and bassist Jal Persson completing the line-up. The band stick to a traditional melodic rock style, short punchy songs which follow a rather routine format. No doubt this will please those who like the AOR style of Toto, Saga and MSG. Plenty of melodies, the odd shining guitar break, sweet harmonies and hooks that will be enjoyed by those that enjoy the lighter side of rock. A bit bland for my tastes, but it is solidly written and performed. 5/10
Diabology: Nobody Believes Me (Self Released) [Paul Hutchings]
Raw, aggressive and full of youthful enthusiasm, Nobody Believes Me is the debut album from Diabology, a teenage quartet from Los Angeles. 41 minutes of at times quite rough thrash metal which varies in quality and style. The odd ripping lead stands out from a poorly produced release, the muddy mix on tracks such as Deicide and the dire vocals of Jesse Bergen don’t enhance the overall sound. Ember To Ash is particularly dreadful. It’s a bit of a hotchpotch of tracks, sounding more like a compilation of underground bands rather than a cohesive unit. Whilst the musicianship has potential, there is plenty of improvement to be had. 5/10
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