As if reviewing the confusing, abstract and mesmerising release from Igorrr wasn’t enough, the Ed in his wisdom dropped the debut release from Omega Infinity in the review list as well. An album defined as ‘extreme void metal’, Omega Infinity combines the unimaginable blackness beyond the known universe with the endless cycle of birth and death, of creation and destruction. Formed in 2018 by Tentakel P after Todtgelichter was put on ice, Omega Infinity was initially as a studio project to serve as an outlet to his own musical and conceptual vision. When Xen, vocalist from Australian progressive metallers Ne Obliviscaris joined, it was evident that this project would be an opportunity for both musicians to explore and expand their desire for extremities through music, in a way that would have been too dark and aggressive for either’s mothership.
Solar Sphere is firmly rooted in the black metal of the 1990s. Breakneck blastbeats, jarring spherical guitar lines reign supreme, whilst the exploration of the darkness between galaxies leads to an intensive journey through our solar system and beyond. The album begins with Uranus, a gentle opening that leads to the fiery fury of Mars, seven-minutes of raging, boiling emotions. Then we have jarring Jupiter, its crashing echoing funeral feel occupying a central position, the jolting percussion and the guttural roaring screams from C.Kolf (Valborg, Owl, Gruenewald a.m.m) never reaching a crescendo but maintaining a cacophony of unnerving noise. Sol is bone crushing in intensity, the croaked agonised vocals scream in anguish, the blastbeats fuel the fire and the riffing explosive and incendiary.
Solar Sphere is firmly rooted in the black metal of the 1990s. Breakneck blastbeats, jarring spherical guitar lines reign supreme, whilst the exploration of the darkness between galaxies leads to an intensive journey through our solar system and beyond. The album begins with Uranus, a gentle opening that leads to the fiery fury of Mars, seven-minutes of raging, boiling emotions. Then we have jarring Jupiter, its crashing echoing funeral feel occupying a central position, the jolting percussion and the guttural roaring screams from C.Kolf (Valborg, Owl, Gruenewald a.m.m) never reaching a crescendo but maintaining a cacophony of unnerving noise. Sol is bone crushing in intensity, the croaked agonised vocals scream in anguish, the blastbeats fuel the fire and the riffing explosive and incendiary.
By contrast Neptune is captured as vast and cold, the haunting vocals of Marta (Todtgelichter, Vyre) echoing in the cavernous void before the colossal heaving eruption of crushing doom merges. Saturn spans electronic beats with terrifying black metal explosions, Xen’s raging howls adding to the sheer frightening maelstrom. Concluding the album, Omega Infinity provide a cover of the bleak Killing Joke classic Hosanna from The Basements Of Hell. It’s as dark and frightening as you’d have expected by now but fascinating in its sheer power and force. Solar Spectre promises to be merely the start of the duo’s explorations into The Deep Dark Void. It’s a journey many may not wish to take. 8/10
Torchia: The Coven (Rockshots Records) [Liam True]
Given the name, the artwork & the putrid vomiting of harsh vocals of Edward Torchia, you’d expect this to simply be either a Death Metal or Black Metal album. Think again. Being an album that twists genres so seamlessly from the riffs and song writing of Melodic Death Metal to the evil vile Black Metal vocals, it’s a wonder how this band isn’t bigger than they already are. Only on their second album the Finnish quintet just unload into this alum. Full of big riffs that have you air guitaring and drum work that’ll have you failing your arms to the beat. The part I find more interesting is how well the vocals collide with the instrumental portion. With fretwork destined for the big stage you wouldn’t think harsh vocals have a place beside it. That’s where Torchia keep themselves from the crowd by being able to distort them together to churn out this impressive & truly experimental sounding release. If anything, these guys are aiming for the big arenas. And they’ll be there one day. And I'll be looking up in awe. 10/10
Raider: Guardians Of The Fire (Self Released) [Paul Hutchings]
A fiery debut album from the death thrashers from Waterloo, Ontario, Raider who have been in existence for around three years. This is a brutal combination of Testament, Lamb Of God and Overkill and Raider (one of a gazillion bands with the same name) have merged those influences into a snarling, feisty 47 minutes which will satisfy most thrash fans desire for slashing, gutsy and aggressive metal. Duel guitar work always allows the power to remain at maximum, with Gabe Rosa and Ira Lehtovaara trading vicious riffs and solos to good effect. Elsewhere, Kevin Withers drumming is intense, varying from blistering blast beats to steady thrash timekeeping with ease. Locked in tight with Withers, bassist Brandon Sanders is concrete steady. Whilst the visceral musical assault is relentless, a decent thrash band always lives or dies by the vocal delivery and in Angelo Bonaccorso Raider have unearthed a gem, his range switches between D. Randall Blythe and Chuck Billy [get well soon dude] with ease, the snarling roars decisively to point. Guardians Of The Fire doesn’t disappoint in any department and tracks such as Endless Dawn, Ravenous Hydra and the punishing Destroyer which ends the album are all blisteringly heavy, chunky slabs of death thrash. Plenty to get your teeth into, this is a ferocious release which should be on your playlist. 8/10
WuW: Retablir L’Eternite (Prosthetic Records) [Liam True]
Avant-garde. Doom Metal. Space Rock. A few genres that WuW fit into. And I'll be brutally honest. It isn’t my cup of tea at all. With 5 songs clocking in at 49 minutes, it feels like the French two-piece is just dragging it out and building to something. Only for you to be let down when the entire album just falls flat. I like experimentational music, don’t get me wrong. But there’s a fine line between being experimentative with music, and just slapping a few elements into an album that don’t go together just for the sake of it. I did like a few parts of the album as it did start to groove for me, but alas, it just fell very flat again. If you’re into Avant-garde or even Space Rock, then by all means give it a try and see how it affects your musical palette. But for me it does nothing and leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth. 1/10
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