Though many of us are loathe to admit it, most metalheads are a sucker for a good, catchy and well written pop song. The 70’s and 80’s were chock full of infectious pop anthems that still stand tall to this day and it is that era and spirit that The Night Flight Orchestra tap into. Formed by Soilwork singer Björn “Speed” Strid and guitarist David Andersson through a mutual love of AOR, The Night Flight Orchestra are now on album number five of retro, pop-infused rock anthems which is titled Aeromantic. It is 12 songs of synth-infused, feel good anthems that hark back to the era of Foreigner, Journey, Survivor, Night Ranger and REO Speedwagon but done with enough style and flair that they stand out from the sea of identikit AOR bands pouring out of Europe (and usually signed to Frontiers Records).
The album is full of so many bangers that it is hard to keep count. Opener Servants Of The Air is a piece of pure hard rocking joy followed the double strike of rabid catchiness that is Divinyls and If Tonight Is Our Only Chance. You also have the funky slickness of Curves, the driving synth of Transmissions, the classic rock of the title track and the monstrous power ballad that is Golden Swansdown. Speed’s vocals are absolutely on fire throughout the whole album and he is ably assisted by ‘The Airline Anna’s’ backing singers Anna-Mia Bonde and Anna Brygård. The guitars range from classic rock riffs to stadium sized solos though the driving forces on the album are the in your face bass and the slick retro synths. If you’ve heard The Night Flight Orchestra before you know exactly what you are going to get. The formula hasn’t changed and over the 12 songs there isn’t much in variation but this is a formula that is working wonders for the band and with the songwriting still as strong as ever nothing needs to change.
Speed has proven with Soilwork that he has a knack for writing catchy tunes and with The Night Flight Orchestra this skill is taken to the next level. Aeromantic is another incredibly solid and immensely fun outing from The Night Flight Orchestra. 12 massive anthems that all need their own 80’s style montage to accompany. You really can’t go wrong with this. 8/10
Regarde Les Hommes Tomber: Ascension (Season Of Mist) [Paul Scoble]
Regarde Les Hommes Tomber have been making loud noises since 2011. The french five piece, who have initials rather than names (AB, RR, AM, JJS, TC) have made 2 albums before Ascension; Exile in 2015, and a self-titled debut in 2013. The bands sound is a mix of Black Metal, Post Black Metal and droney Doom. The album features 2 short instrumentals, and 5 much longer, more complex songs. The album opens with a short intro/instrumental called L’ascension, which has a slow build that leads into the first song, A New Order. A New Order is a mix of frantic, fast Black Metal blasting, with tremolo picked riffs, and slower brooding sections. The blast sections are very fast and aggressive, but also have lots of layers, so at times there is a sense of the music swirling around your head. The vocals in these sections is very impassioned and fervent, whether the style is harsh or clean. The slower sections have some elements of Drone in them, they feel brooding and dramatic. On A New Order the blasting sections have more prominence that the slower, doomy parts. This is reversed on the next track The Renegade Son which has a similar feel, but the slower sections take more prominence, and in one part have some very effective chanting, which fits in with the impassioned feeling from the main vocal.
The Crowning opens with a very brooding mid-paced section, before the blast beats and tremolo picked riffs return to batter the listener. The mid-paced mood is back, but this time it feels massive, with those very impassioned vocals again, this then leads into another blast section, but this keeps the hugeness of the preceding part, and so feels huge and expansive; it’s still tight and aggressive, but somehow also sweeping and effusive. The track then goes back to the slower, brooding feeling till the end of the song. The blast/slow and brooding balance of Stellar Cross is firmly on the side of slow, brooding and hypnotic. As the song gets closer to its end it does get tauter and more aggressive, but Stellar Cross feels more about contemplative meditation. Next is La Tentation, the second instrumental that is quite droney, and leads the listener into the final track Au Bord Du Gouffre.
Au Bord Du Gouffre features a mix of the different sounds that the rest of the album contains. It starts slow, heavy and brooding, before going into a mid-paced and very heavy section. The track then goes into some very fast blasting with an incredible feeling of speed and inertia, this slowly morphs into that huge and expansive blasting, featuring lots of layers. The track then gets very slow and quiet with soft vocals, this builds to a blast beat before a slow and very heavy section brings the track to a very abrupt ending. Ascension is a fantastic Doomy Black Metal album. In fact this is probably one of the best Black Metal albums that will be made this year, I know it’s only February, but if anything better than this comes out this year, this will be one hell of a good year for Black Metal! The layered tremolo picked riffs are just stunning, and the droney, doomy parts are brilliantly affecting. This is one of those albums that is so well done it’s difficult to find anything wrong with it. The only band doing this sort of Black Metal even close to this good is Ultha, and if you are aware of Ultha you will appreciate how huge a compliment that is. If you have any kind of interest in Black Metal, you need this album in your life. Sublime! 9/10
Au Bord Du Gouffre features a mix of the different sounds that the rest of the album contains. It starts slow, heavy and brooding, before going into a mid-paced and very heavy section. The track then goes into some very fast blasting with an incredible feeling of speed and inertia, this slowly morphs into that huge and expansive blasting, featuring lots of layers. The track then gets very slow and quiet with soft vocals, this builds to a blast beat before a slow and very heavy section brings the track to a very abrupt ending. Ascension is a fantastic Doomy Black Metal album. In fact this is probably one of the best Black Metal albums that will be made this year, I know it’s only February, but if anything better than this comes out this year, this will be one hell of a good year for Black Metal! The layered tremolo picked riffs are just stunning, and the droney, doomy parts are brilliantly affecting. This is one of those albums that is so well done it’s difficult to find anything wrong with it. The only band doing this sort of Black Metal even close to this good is Ultha, and if you are aware of Ultha you will appreciate how huge a compliment that is. If you have any kind of interest in Black Metal, you need this album in your life. Sublime! 9/10
Neaera: Neaera (Metal Blade Records) [Paul Scoble]
Neaera have a slightly complicated history. The band formed in 2003 under the name The Ninth Gate, they changed their name to Neaera in 2004 and in 2005 released their debut album The Rising Tide Of Oblivion. The band then released 5 other albums before disbanding in 2015. Clearly, the 5 band members started getting bored; as in 2018 they reunited for some shows and stayed together, and this self-titled, seventh album is the result of that reformation. Neaera play (fairly) Melodic Death metal, so tight riffs that have a bit of an old school feel to them, whilst having a more modern execution. However, sometimes things are a little heavier than you would expect from Melodic Death Metal. For example the track Rid The Earth Of Humans is driving death metal, with lots of inertia and pace. The track has a heavy, slow and dramatic section, before going back into the fast, frenetic death metal.
The album has elements of thrash in as well, Resurrection Of Wrath has a definite thrashy feel to it, it reminded me in places of Kreator, which also fits with the vocals, which are all harsh, and have a higher register pitch that fits in nicely with the thrash feel. The track Carriers also feels quite thrash metal.
The album has elements of thrash in as well, Resurrection Of Wrath has a definite thrashy feel to it, it reminded me in places of Kreator, which also fits with the vocals, which are all harsh, and have a higher register pitch that fits in nicely with the thrash feel. The track Carriers also feels quite thrash metal.
It isn’t all good though. This is a great album, but it is let down in a few places by bad pacing. In a small number of places the tempo drops, and the result is an uninspiring plod, that lets the whole affair down. It doesn’t happen often; the first half of the song Sunset Of Mankind has this plodding feeling, as well as the centre section of the track Tourchbearer. It’s a shame, as both the songs I mentioned have other sections that have plenty of drive and energy. Neaera is a very good Melodic Death Metal album. However, if it hadn’t have had those few Plodding parts it could have been a great album. Most (95%) of this album is cracking good, uptempo death metal, with a few thrashy influences. I hope it isn’t coming across that I didn’t like this album, it’s a really great, enjoyable piece of death metal, but this was very nearly a classic, so it’s a shame they came so close, and just missed the mark. 7/10
Burning Witches: Dance With The Devil (Nuclear Blast) [Paul H]
There’s been a couple of line-up changes since I reviewed the debut release by Swiss band Burning Witches. A release I gave a high score to back in 2017. I’m now scratching my head about that rating as I listen to the third release by the band, because Dance With The Devil is insipid stuff. Maybe they caught me in a moment of benevolence back then, or maybe it’s the change of vocalist with Seraina Telli replaced by Laura Guldemond. Whatever the reason, Dance With The Devil is a bit of a stinker and has you questioning why the hell Nuclear Blast are involved. The first few songs are routine, standard heavy metal with relatively few redeeming features but not unpleasant to listen to. Arriving at the mandatory ballad, Black Magic, and all bets are off. Guldemond wails her way through five minutes of utter bilge, a song that I never want to hear again. Elsewhere, whilst the music is solid, thick riffs and pounding drums fitting neatly into the classic heavy metal style. Regardless of this, the double tracked vocals are the Achilles heel on this album and even a rousing cover of Battle Hymns with Ross The Boss and Symphony X bassist Michael Lepond can’t rescue it. 3/10
Burning Witches: Dance With The Devil (Nuclear Blast) [Paul H]
There’s been a couple of line-up changes since I reviewed the debut release by Swiss band Burning Witches. A release I gave a high score to back in 2017. I’m now scratching my head about that rating as I listen to the third release by the band, because Dance With The Devil is insipid stuff. Maybe they caught me in a moment of benevolence back then, or maybe it’s the change of vocalist with Seraina Telli replaced by Laura Guldemond. Whatever the reason, Dance With The Devil is a bit of a stinker and has you questioning why the hell Nuclear Blast are involved. The first few songs are routine, standard heavy metal with relatively few redeeming features but not unpleasant to listen to. Arriving at the mandatory ballad, Black Magic, and all bets are off. Guldemond wails her way through five minutes of utter bilge, a song that I never want to hear again. Elsewhere, whilst the music is solid, thick riffs and pounding drums fitting neatly into the classic heavy metal style. Regardless of this, the double tracked vocals are the Achilles heel on this album and even a rousing cover of Battle Hymns with Ross The Boss and Symphony X bassist Michael Lepond can’t rescue it. 3/10
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