Inside Out is one of those labels where 9 times out of 10 you know exactly what you’re walking into before you even start with a record. You immediately expect mature, adult prog that is sometimes skewed toward the MOR/ AOR fan base (Poverty’s No Crime, Vanden Plas and so on). Having said that, the label is also known more recently for some absolutely stellar output from the likes of Devin Townsend, Pain Of Salvation, Sons Of Apollo, VUUR and the mighty Dream Theater. Rikard Sjöblom's Gungfly (Gungfly from here on out, for the purposes of saving me trying to find the umlaut on my keyboard!), occupy and traverse both extremes of this Inside Out dichotomy. Opening with the 13 minute prog odyssey that is Traveler, Gungfly set their stall out immediately. Twisting single-note riffs, organs and the odd crazy time signature meld together with some creative and solid drumming as we are taken on a voyage through 70’s era Yes, a smattering of Genesis and some Pink Floyd styled quieter moments. At first it seems like it could be quite a dense offering, but it quickly all snaps into place and you find yourself very happy to go along for the journey as it twists and turns.
By the first solo it is clear that Gungfly have created something heartfelt, genuine, and worthy of your attention. Happy Is Somewhere In Between is a quirky jaunty experience, with some fantastic bass work and Wakeman-esque keyboards. Clean As A Whistle lurches from the aforementioned Floyd to some sort of Rush/Styx hybrid, all psychedelic 80’s keys and swirling guitars. Closing with the Blue Oyster Cult sounding On The Shoulders Of Giants, with its interstellar, intricate riffing, piano breakdown and full speed prog jam at the end. It is clear that if 70’s prog given a modern facelift scratches your itch, then this is absolutely your bag. For me the vocals throughout, and possibly the middle few tracks are the only thing letting this down. Vocally Rikard sounds like an obscure mix of Mikko Von Hertzen (from the, always great Von Hertzen Brothers) and Neil Young.
They are most definitely the most marmite part of the album and could be make or break in terms of your enjoyment. So, as I said at the start of this review. Gungfly carefully tread the line between the blander side of Inside Out’s output and the great side of it. There is much to admire here, but also some immediately forgetful tracks, and that is if the vocals agree with you.7/10
Foretoken: Ruin (Prosthetic Records) [Matt Bladen]
Ruin is the debut album from extreme metal twosome Foretoken. The band is made up of Steve Redmond (guitars and orchestral compositions) and Dan Cooley (lyrics and vocals) with Hannes Grossmann (Triptykon, Hate Eternal, ex-Obscura, ex-Necrophagist) brought in on the sticks. Now despite their only being two members (officially) the music here is dense, symphonic, extreme metal this is a twisting maelstrom of folk, melo-death, tech and black metal with lyrical focus on various, often tragic, myths and legends from the past including Greek, Hindu and Norse. Foretoken use these mythologies to inform their cinematic sound that is bolstered by the always near flawless mixing/mastering from Jacob Hansen who has worked with Black Dahlia Murder and Fleshgod Apocalypse and Steve Redmond.
With Grossmann's drumming never really letting up from explosive double kicks Redmond piles on not just the blistering riffage but also the orchestral swells that put you in mind of Dimmu Borgir and Satyricon. At just six songs this record may seem a little short but when you consider that the melodic classically influenced Hamartia and Indelibility Of Inequity are both over 10 minutes and that the rest of the album tracks rarely go under 5 minutes, with the exception of His Rage Made Manifest, meaning that there is plenty of time to explore the themes of despair and tragedy on this record as Dan Cooley screams with an excellent black metal roar that is clear and powerful with A Deathless Prison having a doomy vibe and duelling guitar solo from James Malone (Arsis). It's on the longer more progressive songs that Foretoken show their steel as a cohesive unit, creating some very interesting, heavy yet melodic music that is broad in scope. 8/10
Black Elephant are an Italian four piece, who have been together since 2010. Seven Swords is the band's fourth album. Black Elephant released their first album, Spaghetti Cowboy in 2012, 2 years later in 2014 came Bifolchi Inside and four years later in 2018 we got Cosmic Blues. So, how have Black Elephant spent the last 2 years? Well, the sound on Seven Swords in fairly doomy and sludgy. However, Black Elephant have chosen to infuse their sound with lots of blues influences and the odd bit of Hard Rock as well. The other notable aspect of this album is that approximately half of it is instrumental.
The album opens with the track Berta's Flame. It has a slow bluesy buildup to a melodic blues riff, before a huge sludgy riff comes in and batters the audience for a short while. The track then goes back to minimal and melodic blues before the heavy comes back, the track then goes into a great up-tempo driving sludge riff which bring the track to an end.
Next up is The Last March Of Yokozuna which is a soft and very bluesy instrumental, it does have a driving blues rock part to it, but is mainly, melodic and minimal. Yayoi Kusama is the first track to have vocals on it. The vocals in question are clean, and have a nice amount of personality. The track is a mix of riffy Doom and Hard Rock, there's a similarity to some of Clutch’s more recent material. Mihara is mix of blues and heavy sludge, it’s instrumental and features a very good solo. Red Sun And Blues Sun is another instrumental, it’s a mix of driving heavy Doom and Hard Rock. The last 2 tracks on the album both have vocals on them. Seppuku has a soft and mellow introduction before it morphs into a huge blues infused Doom track. The track has loads of energy to it and in one of the stand out tracks on the album. The album is brought to an end by the longest track on the album; Govinda. Govinda is a mix of soft, mellow and very relaxed blues, and up-tempo driving rock.
The song feels as if it has a bit more depth than the other material due to the length of the track and how it builds and diminishes. Seven Swords is a very enjoyable album. Black Elephant have made an album packed with great riffs, some very impressive guitar solos and simple but very entertaining Hard Rock. It’s a fairly simple album, but in many ways that is a large part of it’s charm. 7/10
The Order Of Chaos: Maniacal (Method Music Productions) [Rich Oliver]
Maniacal is the new album from Canadian metallers The Order Of Chaos. Not a band I have come across before but they feature Amanda Kiernan from Into Eternity on vocals and Jonathan Webster from Striker on the drums so there is a hefty amount of talent in the band. Maniacal is the fourth album from the band and is ten songs of thrash and power metal with driving crunchy riffage, tasty lead guitar work, strong melodies and catchy choruses. The vocals by Amanda are a mix of harsh and clean with a blackened edge to her screams and a traditional heavy metal style to her cleans. The riffs all have that thrashy edge to them whilst they have that power metal melodic sheen to them with a mix of both US and European power metal styles permeating through.
The first three songs are the strongest of the bunch with both Breakpoint and Twist Of Fate being fast, catchy and melodic whilst lead single Believe In The Demon is a far crunchier, heavy and hard hitting number. The rest of the album follows in the same style and can get a little on the repetitive side but songs such as Dangerous Games and Eve Of Destruction are strong, fast and melodic tunes. The title track slows things down slightly and has a far more melodic sense about it than the rest of the songs on the album whilst the closing song The Downfall Of Belief works more as an instrumental outro for the album. This is a nice album from The Order Of Chaos with the thrash and power metal sounds merging to form a great bunch of melodic yet headbanging tunes. It lacks a little bit of staying power but this is still a fun and enjoyable listen. Fans of melodic thrash and power metal will find plenty to enjoy here. 7/10
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