None more cvlt? Well it seems that occult murder pop act seem to be aiming at the Smiling Satan worshippers that Ghost have so easily bewitched. Case in point the marching, flirty Hellbound will be blaring out of a DJ Booth for certain when restrictions allow. Their music very much falls into the 'Proper Goff' sound. Pairing the industrial thump of Sisters Of Mercy, with the dark sexuality of Type O Negative, they even mention Roxette as an influence but I tried to find some on this record but couldn't. We Are The Dragon is the Finnish band's debut record, the slinky Dancing With The Devil is dripping with seductive synths, ideal music for Midnight rendezvous in your best fishnet. The band themselves are as mysterious and alluring as their music, masked, hooded and all in black Cvlt Ov The Svn are slotting neatly into the vacuum left by Marilyn Manson with the sinful I'm Gonna Find Out really working for the vocalists throaty croak. Strictly Goth boppers for this record, it'll be huge in the clubs but for me, all of the tracks were a little too similar for me to really get into it. 6/10
Wretched Incarnate - Wretched Incarnate (Self Released) [Richard Oliver]
Wretched Incarnate is the solo project from Ash Cotterill who is the vocalist and guitarist of Pemphigoid and also a member of As The World Dies. Wretched Incarnate sees the exploration of an old school death metal sound paying homage to death metal greats such as Benediction, Vomitory and Six Feet Under.
This self titled album definitely delves into that murky death metal sound with thick grooves, pummelling rhythms, blast-beats and bowel rupturing low death growls. It is a very raw and unrefined death metal sound here with emphasis on the grim and ugly. There is an abundance of filthy riffs on songs such as the fetid Narcissistic Siren, the thrasher edge of Hypodermic Syringe Theory and the relentless Purgatory. A putrefying guitar tone and lots of low end help add several layers of scum and filth to these songs. The vocals by Ash are very much in the guttural style though the inclusion of guest vocalists Sam Fowler (Raised By Owls) on Creatures Of The Underworld and Kieran Scott (Ashen Crown/Grimorte) on Undeathly Conception vary things up a bit on the vocal front.
Wretched Incarnate is a fun homage to death metal, the genre that has influenced Ash the most musically. The world of old school sounding death metal is getting very overcrowded lately and although Wretched Incarnate is an enjoyable album it is likely to get lost amongst the countless other acts doing a similar thing. Although there isn’t much to differentiate from a lot of other similar bands here Wretched Incarnate is still a fun listen and chock full of slimy death metal filth. 7/10
Terminalist - The Great Acceleration (Indisciplinarian)
Classed as hyperthrash Danish/American Terminalist are a progressive thrash metal band led by guitarist/vocalist/lyricist Emil Hansen who along with co-guitarist Morten R. Brunn shred their asses off from the first few seconds of this record. Clear influence drawn from Testament, Voivod and even Coroner they also have the aggression of bands such as Bloodshot Dawn. The songs are densely packed with six string heroics, shifting time signatures and a relentless rhythm section made up of Kalle Tiihonen (bass) and Fredrick Amris (drums) both of whom are absolute beasts on their respective instruments. They are key to the aggression on this album highlighting the technical guitar playing perfectly, while also adding some black metal extremity to the thrash sound.
Thus hyperthrash. Much like Canadian genre leaders there's a concept to this album one that is very sci-fiction based around the Dromology (theory of speed) by Paul Virilio, Invention Of The Shipwreck and Dromocracy are the songs that really highlight the concept which at it's core is based around pessimism of the future. At just 5 songs in length the album doesn't outstay at all pacing the two longer tracks with blistering speedsters. The Great Acceleration is hyperthrash unleashed, the last time something had this much speed and drama to it, Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock were on board. 7/10
Kings Winter - Edge Of Existence (Self Released) [Simon Black]
King’s Winter is a side project from couple Jule and Tobias Dahs, which is how they fill the gaps between Living Abyss work plus guest drummer Marco Vanga and follows on from their dipping their toes into the water with 2019’s Forging The Cataclysm EP. This is much darker and heavier than that first release, with keyboards barely detectable but is still clearly and firmly in the Heavy with a slight hint of Melo-Death Metal box.
The record doesn’t out stay its welcome and keeps the eleven songs to a relatively punchy thirty eight minutes of run time. That said there’s a samey-ness about the feel of some of the tracks, with the vocal phrasing in particular coming across as a bit repetitive in places. The actual voice itself is another story entirely, as Jule Dahs clearly has an impressive range and timbre to her, with no inconsiderable amount of power either, as well as being unafraid to drop in a few growls alongside the clean and high notes. Given that the Dahs self-recorded this before sending off for mixing, this feels to me like the classic example of what happens when you don’t spend a bit more time in pre-production with the fresh ears of a producer, who can often polish the arrangements and challenge the players to move out of their comfort zone.
There’s some good catchy melodies in here, and some damn fine fretwork too and all in all it’s easy to listen to. And to be fair the song-writing is pretty robust too, with some great musical arrangements, soulful lyrics and nifty playing, it just feels a little unfinished – but then lockdown is as lockdown is, and it’s way better than many have managed during this challenging period of history. Jule’s voice is the high spot here and with just a slight bit of variety in some of the phrasing this would have been a harder hitter. 6/10
Kings Winter - Edge Of Existence (Self Released) [Simon Black]
King’s Winter is a side project from couple Jule and Tobias Dahs, which is how they fill the gaps between Living Abyss work plus guest drummer Marco Vanga and follows on from their dipping their toes into the water with 2019’s Forging The Cataclysm EP. This is much darker and heavier than that first release, with keyboards barely detectable but is still clearly and firmly in the Heavy with a slight hint of Melo-Death Metal box.
The record doesn’t out stay its welcome and keeps the eleven songs to a relatively punchy thirty eight minutes of run time. That said there’s a samey-ness about the feel of some of the tracks, with the vocal phrasing in particular coming across as a bit repetitive in places. The actual voice itself is another story entirely, as Jule Dahs clearly has an impressive range and timbre to her, with no inconsiderable amount of power either, as well as being unafraid to drop in a few growls alongside the clean and high notes. Given that the Dahs self-recorded this before sending off for mixing, this feels to me like the classic example of what happens when you don’t spend a bit more time in pre-production with the fresh ears of a producer, who can often polish the arrangements and challenge the players to move out of their comfort zone.
There’s some good catchy melodies in here, and some damn fine fretwork too and all in all it’s easy to listen to. And to be fair the song-writing is pretty robust too, with some great musical arrangements, soulful lyrics and nifty playing, it just feels a little unfinished – but then lockdown is as lockdown is, and it’s way better than many have managed during this challenging period of history. Jule’s voice is the high spot here and with just a slight bit of variety in some of the phrasing this would have been a harder hitter. 6/10
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