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Tuesday 29 June 2021

Reviews: At The Gates, Lustmord & Karin Park, Nemophila, Mycelium (Reviews By Paul Hutchings & Matt Bladen)

At The Gates – The Nightmare Of Being (Century Media Records) [Paul Hutchings]

Two albums in ten years could have been viewed as a meager return from the Swedes, following their reformation in 2011. Both 2014’s At War With Reality and 2018’s To Drink From The Night Itself proved that the band could still deliver, with the latter showing a different, more complex evolution to the band’s song writing and playing. The Nightmare Of Being, their seventh release, makes a mockery of all that has gone before, because it may well be the most complete album of their entire career. Concept albums are always a minefield for artists, and one that explores dark revelations contained in pessimist philosophy is hardly a light subject to explore. And yet, within these 45 minutes, there is a vibrant, adventurous and expressive At The Gates, unafraid to take chances, mix things up whilst all the time retaining that gritty, Swedish melodeth style.

The signs are good from the start. Spectres Of Extinction is full of atmosphere and anticipation, a dramatic soundscape that builds dramatically before powering into some formidable melodic death metal, all racing guitar and blistering drumming, huge chunky riffs and of course, Tomas Lindberg’s distinctive gravel-soaked roar. With Lindberg supplying such dark lyrical matter, chief songwriter and bassist Jonas Björler has excelled with a wide range of sonically challenging soundscapes which vary from the King Crimson-esque Garden Of Cyrus, with its jazz saxophone and lower key feel providing a progressive edge maybe not that common with the band, to more traditional explosive death metal. There’s something distinctly Swedish about the album.

There’s a haunting orchestral introduction on Touched By The White Hands Of Death which then erupts in a frantic melee of brutality before settling into a hook laden piece that is both melodic and fiercely heavy. Or the funked-up collaboration with American author and pessimist philosopher Eugene Thacker on Cosmic Pessimism, which is as left field as the band have written but still distinctly At The Gates. It’s this deep dive into their sound, delivered organically and progressively without losing the traditional At The Gates flavour. There is still ample opportunity to be smacked across the cranium should you drop your guard.

Unsurprisingly, the inclusion of Jens Borgen the recording of Adrian Erlandsson’s drums and legendary guitarist and producer Andy La Rocque manning the decks for guitars and bass, The Nightmare Of Being is crisp and crystal clear. There is a chemistry on this album that rarely occurs. This is a pivotal and crowning moment for At the Gates. A truly majestic release. 9/10

Lustmord & Karin Park - Alter (Pelagic Records) [Matt Bladen]

Lustmord for those who may not know (I didn't) is and electronic music pioneer, the Welsh (now living in California), is a master of industrial, esoteric, musical much of which is born out of his extensive filed recordings. He is no stranger to the rock and metal world having recorded with Melvins and multiple times with Tool, most recently on Fear Inoculum, but is probably best known as part of a sound design team on films such as The Crow and Underworld along with games such as Far Cry: Instincts. He has a massive discography but for this latest release he has added the haunting, beautiful voice of Årabrot's Karin Park for added drama on top of an already dense, often unsettling soundscape. 

This is the first collaborative effort but one that bears fruit very quickly the opening salvo of Hiraeth pairing mournful, religious chants with Eastern influenced brass, it's the start that welcomes you into the dark, hypnotic world of this record, the electronic sound beds made of pulsing rhythms, numerous samples and in places Park adds piano for additional atmospheric depth to an album that is already deeper than the Marianas Trench. Alter is the record that would be made if Portishead knuckled down with Tool in a recording studio with every type of sample known to man to channel years of sadness and depression into a cathartic, expression of atmospheric music where tracks like Twin Flames wash over you with a sound akin to a religious experience.

Alter is about as far away from the metal tag as we get here but heaviness is certainly a state of mind when approaching Alter. I suggest you give it a listen if you want something intriguing and unique. 7/10

Nemophila - Oiran: Extended Edition (JPU Records) [Matt Bladen]

When I read the PR for this record it mentioned a word that brought a shudder of fear to me. Babymetal. I bloody hate Babymetal, however I do like many of the J-Metal bands such as Lovebites and Mary's Blood. Happily Nemophila (something about loving small forests) don't actually sound a lot like Babymetal, yes they have the upbeat pulsating J-Pop thrust, with big singalong choruses and everything being played at over 120 bpm but their music is more akin to metalcore and even pop punk with enough guitar heroics to keep the Japanese fans happy! Guitarist SAKI is the band leader and a well established artist in her own right having recently formed a band with Frédéric Leclercq of Kreator (ex-Dragonforce) she is joined in Nemophila by other well established musicians in mayu (vocals), Hazuki (guitar), Haraguchi-san (bass) and Murata Tamu (drums) all with decades of experience between them. 

So musically this album is built upon the well traveled musicians making for some great songwriting such as the anthemic Sorai and the heavy battery of the title track Oiran. Now Oiran was only released as single in their native country but here they have included the Oiran singles' b-sides and added all of their previous singles to create a compilation album only available in the rest of the world. This is all of their recorded works in one place, in order to show those outside of Japan what Nemophila are about. It works well as Oiran is a great track to kick things off with it's melodic metalcore sound but personally I think Dissention is better, which the band have also recorded in English and has a real Trivium sound to it from the blasting double kicks and plenty tasty dual leads. 

I approached this album with trepidation but I shouldn't have. It's a great slice of modern melodic metal brimming with enthusiasm and attitude. Let's hope this compilation gets them noticed on these shores and over here for some shows! 8/10   

Mycelium – Scream, Bloody Spore (Self Released) [Paul Hutchings]

It’s appropriate that this album sounds as if it was recorded underground, for that is where you’ll find the acres and acres of the fungal kingdom that forms the themes for this half hour voyage of extreme fungi-influenced death metal. Mycelium is a solo project from Glaswegian Greg Edwards of Necronoclast. Exploring the dark side of mycology, Scream Bloody Spore is educational if nothing else. Few know the dark world of decay, the dangers and the benefits of the parasitic forms which provide such an essential element of nature. It’s a fascinating topic, one which could engross, and envelope should one wish to explore. Influenced by the old school 90s death metal, Scream Bloody Spore somehow manages to combine mycology with death metal in a way that whilst being almost unlistenable at times, is also quite compelling, through a level of morbid fascination. It’s like staring at a corpse. It’s macabre, dark, and yet informative. 

All the tracks either have their roots deep with real fungi or touch on fungal characteristics. It’s no surprise that opening track Virosa, a savage, almost uncontrolled explosive piece which disappears in a muffled production of almost damaged quality, is based on Amanita Virosa, the Destroying Angel and the deadliest mushroom in the world. Abhorrent Entomopathogen is based on Cordyceps Militaris, the parasitic fungus that feasts on insect pupae, before sprouting forth from the body as an orange/scarlet structure. Nature at its rawest and similarly the pulsing drumming, distortion of riffing and savagely delivered death roars capture these ferocious fungi. By now you’ll have the picture, and if you can tolerate the decaying aural stench, you’ll be aware that you’ve arrived at the Stench Of Impudicus. One of the most well-known fungus, this is one that develops into a penis-shaped mushroom and a rotting meat smell. 

It’s an album that I’ve struggled with. The production values are so low it’s almost impossible to capture the vocals, whilst the mix is dreadful, but true to those early influences. The topics are a delight, especially as Edwards clearly knows his subject matter. Punishing, brutal and oh so basic, this is a niche record for a niche audience. 6/10

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