Dawn Ray’d - Wild Fire (Prosthetic Records) [Paul Scoble]
Dawn Ray’d have been at the forefront of the Anti-Fascist Black Metal scene since 2015. The three members, Simon, Fabian and Matthew, have released 2 albums and an Ep in their time together; First was the Ep A Thorn, A Blight in 2015, next came the album The Unlawful Assembly in 2017 and they released the follow up album in 2019 with Behold Sedition Plainsong. So now this release, which is either an Ep or a Single depending on your point of view (I see it as a single as it is available on 7 inch).
The single features 2 songs Wildfire I and Wildfire II, but don’t worry if you are a kid of the eighties, this isn’t the song on side A, instrumental version of the same song on side B rip off that always annoyed me when I spent my saved up pocket money on vinyl when I was 12; Wildfire I and Wildfire II are very different.
Opening with a blast of Horns, Wildfire I is a nice bit of fairly Orthodox Black Metal, it is similar in style to the material from the bands last album, Behold Sedition Plainsong, and has a similar fantastic guitar sound. The track has a softer, folkier part where the horns return briefly before the blasting Black metal reasserts itself and takes the song to an end. Lyrically the track is about standing up against fascism, and the hypocrisy of anyone who sees authoritarian ideologies as radical. Wildfire II is a dark folk song that features violin and acoustic guitar. It’s a beautiful if melancholy sound that is deeply affecting, the track has less lyrics than Wildfire I but shares a similar chorus. Wildfire is a great single! I is savage and blasting, II is beautiful, introverted and sublime. Together the two songs make an excellent EP. 8/10
Pop Evil - Versatile (eOne) [Matt Bladen]
If ever there was an album that lives up to it's title, it's the sixth release from Pop Evil. Featuring the most eclectic collection of songs in the band's career, these 12 numbers were whittled down from an original 30 and it features big sing alongs like Fire Inside, the anthemic djent-styled Breathe Again which brings to mind Breaking Benjamin with it's pairing of technical riffage and melodic choruses. There's an overall style here that keeps the band in the sound of modern American rock/metal but they often move to the very fringes of this sound, Work especially is almost like industrial/rap, the opening duo of Let The Chaos Reign and Set Me Free mate me immediately say "hey that sounds like Saliva" the rapid fire lyrics joined by groovy riffs.
The band have worked with a fresh production team to make this record as varied as possible, crafting anthems that are there to played live and moves the band into their maturity as an act. Take a song such as Raise Your Flag and it's obvious that this is a dead on show closer built on Matt DiRito's bass and Hayley Cramer's drumming it's a great slow number that splits the record ready for the poppier Human Nature to bring back the pace. The latter half of the record is a little weaker than the first but you still have that heavy-meets-melodic guitar sounds of guitarists Nick Fuelling and Dave Grahs interweaved with pulsating electronics. Versatile is as polished as a Stately Home bannister, but the tracks are all well delivered and Leigh Kakaty still has an excellent voice. So another modern rock/metal record from Pop Evil who live up to their name and tick the right boxes on Versatile. 7/10
Impure Wilhelmina - Antidote (Season Of Mist) [Matt Bladen]
Michael Schindl founded Impure Wilhelmina in 1996 and their existence has been turbulent to say the least but also very creatively fertile, the band known for their numerous collaborations changing their sound through the years to incorporate a multitude of sounds from the more extreme side of music while also bringing in additional rock touches. Much of this coming from Schindl's shift towards clean vocals however on this seventh release a track such as Dismantling still has some post-black tremolos and screams, in stark contrast to Jasmines which has post rock vibes. Antidote builds upon their higher profile now with this seventh album.
Their previous effort receiving a prestigious Swiss music award so they approached this record with a huge amount of momentum, unfortunately due the pandemic, it's been much longer in development than previously thought but this frustration and adversity has made sure that the band have tried as much as possible to stretch their musical wings with their latest collaborator being Yvan Bing, noted engineer/producer who has worked with Phil Collins, M.I.A, Coldplay, soprano Angela Gheorghiu and even The Wu-Tang Clan, along with numerous films and television projects. He accompanied the band through their creative process, so for every lilting lighter-edged track such as the instrumental title track, there's an all-encompassing, dissonant number to follow it, the biggest of these is the closing Everything Is Vain. They're still something of an acquired taste but if you're looking for what I would call emotionally intelligent music that's dark and heavy then you should be seeking out Antidote. 7/10
Siniestro - Vortexx (Black Lodge) [Paul Scoble]
Stockholm based duo Siniestro have been making music since 2012. The band are made up of Commander on Vocals, Guitar, Bass, and Organ, and The Machine on Drums (I’m pretty certain the band has a member called The Machine, rather than this title alluding to the use of a Drum Machine). The pair have released 2 Ep’s and an Album in their career before Vortexx; first was the EP Oppression Of The Sunlight in 2014, then in 2016 the band released their debut album Revelations In Mayhem and 2018 saw their second EP Arctic Blood released. Siniestro’s style is mainly Thrash with a bit of a Crossover feel to it. in some places this is really good, fast and aggressive; for example the opening track One Last Bullet One Last Ride is a blast of fast and frenetic Thrash Metal with a fantastic chorus, that is air punchingly good. Title track (sort of) Vortex is another high energy blast that has a little taste of Death Metal added to the Thrash goodness giving it a bit of a D-Beat vibe. However, it isn’t all good, Thrash is a style that is very easy to get wrong, pacing in particular can be a critical factor in whether it works or not and pacing is an issue on some of this material.
Impure Wilhelmina - Antidote (Season Of Mist) [Matt Bladen]
Michael Schindl founded Impure Wilhelmina in 1996 and their existence has been turbulent to say the least but also very creatively fertile, the band known for their numerous collaborations changing their sound through the years to incorporate a multitude of sounds from the more extreme side of music while also bringing in additional rock touches. Much of this coming from Schindl's shift towards clean vocals however on this seventh release a track such as Dismantling still has some post-black tremolos and screams, in stark contrast to Jasmines which has post rock vibes. Antidote builds upon their higher profile now with this seventh album.
Their previous effort receiving a prestigious Swiss music award so they approached this record with a huge amount of momentum, unfortunately due the pandemic, it's been much longer in development than previously thought but this frustration and adversity has made sure that the band have tried as much as possible to stretch their musical wings with their latest collaborator being Yvan Bing, noted engineer/producer who has worked with Phil Collins, M.I.A, Coldplay, soprano Angela Gheorghiu and even The Wu-Tang Clan, along with numerous films and television projects. He accompanied the band through their creative process, so for every lilting lighter-edged track such as the instrumental title track, there's an all-encompassing, dissonant number to follow it, the biggest of these is the closing Everything Is Vain. They're still something of an acquired taste but if you're looking for what I would call emotionally intelligent music that's dark and heavy then you should be seeking out Antidote. 7/10
Siniestro - Vortexx (Black Lodge) [Paul Scoble]
Stockholm based duo Siniestro have been making music since 2012. The band are made up of Commander on Vocals, Guitar, Bass, and Organ, and The Machine on Drums (I’m pretty certain the band has a member called The Machine, rather than this title alluding to the use of a Drum Machine). The pair have released 2 Ep’s and an Album in their career before Vortexx; first was the EP Oppression Of The Sunlight in 2014, then in 2016 the band released their debut album Revelations In Mayhem and 2018 saw their second EP Arctic Blood released. Siniestro’s style is mainly Thrash with a bit of a Crossover feel to it. in some places this is really good, fast and aggressive; for example the opening track One Last Bullet One Last Ride is a blast of fast and frenetic Thrash Metal with a fantastic chorus, that is air punchingly good. Title track (sort of) Vortex is another high energy blast that has a little taste of Death Metal added to the Thrash goodness giving it a bit of a D-Beat vibe. However, it isn’t all good, Thrash is a style that is very easy to get wrong, pacing in particular can be a critical factor in whether it works or not and pacing is an issue on some of this material.
The track Buried In The Bog has this issue, despite a few decent up tempo parts the song is mainly plodding along at a slow to mid pace that is very uninspiring. Anti Human Commando is another song where slow, lumbering riffs spoil some really fun, fast thrash. Earlier I said Siniestro were ‘Mainly’ Thrash, when I said this I was referring to the track Blod eld dod, which sounds much more like a piece of Pagan or Folk Metal, the style could even be some sort of drinking song. It’s a completely different style to the rest of the album and sounds more like Alestorm. In another rather idiosyncratic move the albums nearly five minute long outro is a piece of Pipe Organ music called My Innermost Sun, I did wonder if the record company had mistakenly included the Outro to a Funeral Doom album by mistake, but apparently the best way to end an album of (mainly) Thrash Metal is nearly five minutes of Pipe Organ Noodling.
Vortexx has some great moments, unfortunately it also has some rather plodding and uninspired moments, and some down right bizarre moments, which averages out at an album that is merely ok. If they can take the fast and frenetic and build from that they could be a really great Crossover Thrash band, however if they try to build from the other aspects of their sound, I for one would rather they didn’t bother. 6/10
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