I may not be any kind of expert when it comes to the German language, but I know a damned fine Folk Metal album when I hear one - despite the fact that the band prefer ‘Medieval Metal’, this has deep veins of pure Folk Metal running through and through. Like many bands of the genre, the line-up of this incarnation is huge, with no less than eight musicians involved. I had not come across them before, but their back catalogue is extensive and their output prolific (this is their twelfth studio album since 2001, plus five live ones and a compilation for good measure). But then you can be prolific and distinctly average. This album, which translates to Forever Free, is anything but.
Like all good Folk, the music is deeply angry and political, and in this instance seems also to have taken a good snort of Norse mythology to spice things up. Freedom has become a hot topic of the moment, and the deep root of so many folk influenced rock acts since the Levellers started, err Levelling things… and it’s used as an emblematic theme throughout (and we’re really pushing my pigeon German to its limit here). For those who haven’t got a hope of unpicking the lyrics, the musical locus is absolutely spot on. What we have there are thirteen lively, emotive and thoroughly banging tracks (plus an intro) whose 46 minutes of run time fly by in a moment.
The production is absolutely spot on, with every single one of those eight musicians clearly present in the mix without detracting from the emphasis of the songs, or risking descending into a cacophony of chaos, and this comes down to darn well-focussed song-writing and phrasing. Every single track is catchy and would stand up well to a live rendition. The metal aspects are subtly melded in and allow the tracks to rock out when they need to, without sounding like the folk instruments have merely been bolted on the side like some bands I could mention. The band have done incredibly well in their native Germany, with three number one albums in the rock charts to date, and I have no doubt that this one will be joining them in what is an absolutely cracking release to deliver for their twentieth anniversary. 9/10
Sons Of Otis: Isolation (Totem Cat Records) [Matt Bladen]
Sons Of Otis have been making a heavily reverbed, colossal riffage since 1993. This trio sound as if they have come straight from the bowels of hell, led still by the down-tuned to oblivion guitars and wild vocals of Ken Baluke the band have been through ten drummers between their 1996 debut and 1998. They are a band that bring little and often, their releases are reasonably consistent however they are a band that languish in underground with supports of Electric Wizard (a major soundalike), Voivod, Fu Manchu and Kyuss they have achieved semi-legendary status due to their crushing ethereal psychedelic stoner doom, which is doom in BIG letters as the bass and guitars are indistinguishable from one another both carving huge furrows with their crushing waves of thunderous riff, slowly dragging these songs such as Blood Moon into a weed-smoke induced fug. Isolation is an ideal name for this record as we are deep in quarantine so this claustrophobic record will punctuate those extended periods of silence with an eardrum shaking heaviness that is an acquired taste but one that will leave doomsters wanting much much more. 7/10
Ramblin’ Roze: Howl Of The Coomb (SloomWeep) [Simon Black]
When I receive these lovely items for review, one of the first things I try and do if I am not familiar with them is find out a little more about the band, other than what the press release would like to tell me (when we have one). So, about these guys I can find nothing – nada, zip, even though they’re on their fourth album. I guess that’s because we don’t get too many Southern Rock bands from Beijing in China.
The musicians seem more than competent, although sometimes the high notes seem a little forced as singer Tone pushes his voice to its limit, but at the same time the honest rawness of this works in their favour. In fact, the production is a little unusual and probably needs a more experienced hand in the final mix down. Sound levels tend to jump up for certain musicians significantly during solos for example, but then this might be the norm in Chinese recording circles, but it has the net effect of emphasising very clearly the part of the song that they want you to focus on right at that point. To be honest I think that’s the way their news media works as well.
It's Southern/Stoner Rock with a distinctly early metal mixed with punk edge, so has a very mid-70’s feel. It’s also raw as hell, with the atmosphere of an expensive demo, rather than a full album, which actually really helps because this style of music always sounds far more fun, dangerous and live than the frankly over-produced approach that USA bands in the genre favour. Lyrically there’s many of the usual genre tropes and clichés, as titles like Devil Woman and Space Cowboy make clear, but things can also take a distinctly darker lyrical tone, as the most Stoner epic Mountain Of The Dead highlights well. This is the standout track on the album, and an epic eight and a half minutes long. To be honest the Stoner elements work better than the Southern Rock even though it successfully fuses the two, although might not have a market in their home territory, but it’s their strength and should be played to a bit more. Raw, but honest, 6/10
It's Southern/Stoner Rock with a distinctly early metal mixed with punk edge, so has a very mid-70’s feel. It’s also raw as hell, with the atmosphere of an expensive demo, rather than a full album, which actually really helps because this style of music always sounds far more fun, dangerous and live than the frankly over-produced approach that USA bands in the genre favour. Lyrically there’s many of the usual genre tropes and clichés, as titles like Devil Woman and Space Cowboy make clear, but things can also take a distinctly darker lyrical tone, as the most Stoner epic Mountain Of The Dead highlights well. This is the standout track on the album, and an epic eight and a half minutes long. To be honest the Stoner elements work better than the Southern Rock even though it successfully fuses the two, although might not have a market in their home territory, but it’s their strength and should be played to a bit more. Raw, but honest, 6/10
System Decay: Crown (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
Metalcore/Groove Metal has always been a little hit-and-miss for me for every band such as Architects who impress there are bands such as Killswitch Engage who have never excited me at all. I always tread carefully when reviewing a metalcore album as I try not to let my own bias influence my decision. However I didn't have to do this on the third album from Athenian's System Decay, they are very much in the category of bands such as Architects, Parkway Drive, While She Sleeps and Northlane skillfully balancing pit-inducing heavy grooves with Freefall standing out, with soaring lighter phases on the more melodic numbers such as No Quarter Given as the vocals move from frankly disgusting (in a good way) harsh screams to powerfully gritty cleans on songs such as Engage which bring to the record the technical ferocity of bands such as Trivium, while Waves has the thunderous grooves of Lamb Of God. System Decay take their name from a Kreator song, and you will find some little flashes of classic thrash on the title track but most of Crown is fiercely modern metalcore that shifts from thumping heaviness to huge hooks with ease. 7/10
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