Manchester black metal horde Necronautical have been a dependable force in the UK underground scene since the bands inception in 2010. With three full length albums under their belts, Necronautical have now decided the time is now to stir things up a bit with the release of their fourth album Slain In The Spirit. Their previous three albums have been extremely solid black metal albums but on Slain In The Spirit the band have decided to wholly embrace other influences and styles. Whilst still very much rooted in the black metal sound the band have incorporated huge elements of death metal, progressive metal and symphonic metal into their sound.
The symphonic elements have appeared previously but here they are ramped up to the max and comparisons to bands such as Dimmu Borgir, Cradle Of Filth, Fleshgod Apocalypse and Septicflesh can easily be made. Necronautical use the symphonic elements to give their sound a far more cinematic and grandiose scale. This is evident from the very start with the opening song Ritual & Recursion sounding absolutely massive and it doesn’t stop there. The use of operatic vocals and choirs in Hypnagogia and clean vocals in Contorting In Perpetuity elevates the songs to a bombastic scale. There is also a greater use of melody especially in songs such as Occult Ecstatic Indoctrination and Necropsychonautics where the melodies are plentiful but very dark in nature. Slain In The Spirit is a masterful album. It feels like a natural succession for Necronautical and the material on offer is nothing less than spectacular. It is quite a long album running at just under an hour yet the songwriting and musicianship throughout are expertly crafted ensuring that that hour of listening absolutely flys by.
The only weak song in my opinion was a rather unnecessary cover of Slayer’s Disciple which closes the album but that is a very minor criticism as the cover does sound great. Slain In The Spirit is sure to catch the ire of ‘trve’ black metal fans who will dislike the new approach by the band but for me it is an absolutely winning formula. I always find myself drawn to melody mixed with extremity and add in all the bombastic symphonics and this album absolutely floored me. 9/10
Gama Bomb - Thunder Over London (Prosthetic Records) [Paul Scoble]
Gama Bomb shouldn’t need any introduction for regular readers of these pages, the Irish band have been making tight, high energy Thrash since 2002. In that time Joe McGuigan, Philly Byrne, Domo Dixon and John Roche have made 7 albums, the last one being Sea Savage last year, which was a great album. The band have now released this 3 track EP to keep them busy as Covid is cancelling tours. The EP features 3 tracks, the title track being a song about the evil of Nuclear Weapons. I grew up during the Eighties, Thrash Metal was a big part of my life as a child and early teenager. Fear of nuclear annihilation was also a big part of my childhood, I had stress nightmares about nuclear war, as did most of my friends. Then the cold war ended and we all forgot about it, but we shouldn’t have. There are twice the number of nuclear armed countries as there were before, and the weapons have continued to be developed; the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima was a 20 Kiloton bomb, the equivalent of 20 thousand tons of TNT, modern nuclear warheads are measured by the Gigaton. It wouldn’t take many missiles to wipe out all life on earth, and let’s remember that all of this technology is designed, made and maintained by the lowest bidder. We live one piece of human error, short circuit or computer glitch away from annihilation. So I think this Ep is a timely reminder that we live a hairs breadth from the end of the world, and in my head Thrash Metal and fear of Nuclear Warfare go together so well.
Gama Bomb shouldn’t need any introduction for regular readers of these pages, the Irish band have been making tight, high energy Thrash since 2002. In that time Joe McGuigan, Philly Byrne, Domo Dixon and John Roche have made 7 albums, the last one being Sea Savage last year, which was a great album. The band have now released this 3 track EP to keep them busy as Covid is cancelling tours. The EP features 3 tracks, the title track being a song about the evil of Nuclear Weapons. I grew up during the Eighties, Thrash Metal was a big part of my life as a child and early teenager. Fear of nuclear annihilation was also a big part of my childhood, I had stress nightmares about nuclear war, as did most of my friends. Then the cold war ended and we all forgot about it, but we shouldn’t have. There are twice the number of nuclear armed countries as there were before, and the weapons have continued to be developed; the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima was a 20 Kiloton bomb, the equivalent of 20 thousand tons of TNT, modern nuclear warheads are measured by the Gigaton. It wouldn’t take many missiles to wipe out all life on earth, and let’s remember that all of this technology is designed, made and maintained by the lowest bidder. We live one piece of human error, short circuit or computer glitch away from annihilation. So I think this Ep is a timely reminder that we live a hairs breadth from the end of the world, and in my head Thrash Metal and fear of Nuclear Warfare go together so well.
The EP opens with the title track Thunder Over London, which is fast, tight as fuck Thrash with a slight crossover, Hardcore feel to some of it. The chorus is slower than the rest of the song but is still driving and purposeful. Reveal The Shrieking Skull is more mid-paced, but with a great bouncy tempo to it, the chorus is faster and again a little bit crossover in feel. There is a cracking solo with some lovely harmonies. The track is called Reveal The Shrieking Skull, so does Philly shriek? Of course he does, in places he goes Ultra-Sonic, every time I play it my next door neighbours dogs go nuts. Final track Shut Up And Shout was initially disappointing, however that is not the fault of Gama Bomb or the song. I am severely Dyslexic so when I looked at the track listing I thought it said STAND Up And Shout, the Dio song, so I thought Gama Bomb were covering my favourite Dio song, and got very excited. I wasn’t disappointed for long though as Shut Up And Shout is a great track featuring more of those ultra tight Gama Bomb, riffs a cracking chorus and another really great guitar harmony solo. Thunder Over London is a great EP, superb songs, lots of energy and a timely reminder that the Human Race has spent the last 70 years sowing the seeds of its own destruction. 8/10
Nothing Noble – Modern Dismay (Prime Collective) [Megan Jenkins]
I’m going to be brutally honest here and say that progressive music isn’t exactly my thing. The new album from Nothing Noble falls under the progressive metal category and when I learned that fact my first thought was ‘oh god, I’m used to 4/4 time and songs under eight minutes long’, but my opinion has been swayed. The opening tracks, (of doom) and Modern Dismay, set the tone of the album perfectly. They’re both full of crisp drums, vocals that seem effortless, and guitar riffs that make you want to bounce. I couldn’t help but become hooked by their unique writing style.
My personal favourite track on the album is Carnation – a slower song but nonetheless heavy like the rest. It's an instrumental track that lulls you into a false sense of security with clean guitars and technical, expressive drum work, but then the soft nature of the track is dropped for a driving drumbeat and djent-y guitar riffs. It splits the album up perfectly and allows you to have a break from vocals and just focus on the music and how truly impressive it is for a little while. It then fades into the next track and my close second favourite, Eternal Change’.
It immediately brings you crashing back down to Earth and throws a riff that I can only describe as ‘chunky’ at you from the get-go. For self-confessed novices of the genre, this album is a perfect place to start. It doesn’t have the usual features of progressive music that would usually turn me off. Instead, it introduced me to a whole new genre that I won't be afraid to listen to anymore. 8/10
Cold Comforts – Living In Relative Obscurity (Self Released) [Alex Swift]
With a stripped-back yet commanding sound, Cold Comforts will undeniably appeal to anyone who adores the style of rock championed by modern acts in the vein of Royal Blood and Nothing But Thieves. That’s not to say these musicians don’t have a unique flair of their own though. Opener, Meditation seizes your attention with a blues-laden, desert rock riff and precise, rhythmic drumming. This momentum is carried over onto songs like the raucous and anarchic Anything At All and the broodingly dusky Lost In The Way. Meanwhile, moments like Turn Back Time and Slow Down soothe and inspire with production and melodies which despite being nothing awe inspiring, continue a proud tradition in this genre of aesthetics which sound discernibly independent and humble in quality. These anthems showcase this acts potential as one who are inspired by trends which they have witnessed and grown up with in music, that are also prepared to make these influences their own, with the instrumental skill and writing to back up those ambitions.
Sadly, there are also some moments here where the writing noticeably fails to grab me. I Don’t Really See The Point is aptly titled, and despite being a criticism of a music industry that capitalises on tragedy and saddening stories, fails to be lyrically or melodically interesting, based largely around the same words and phrases repeated for three minutes. Fake It All is one of the slower songs that actually feels like a slog to get through, despite the three minute running length. The transitions from the slower moments into the faster ones works about as well as the angry lyrics playing over a sultry and pleasant guitar line. There are some other criticism I have –on the production, the muddy nature of the mixing sometimes obscures the detail to such an extent that parts of the record become unlistenable, the records overall flow feels unnatural at times, and while my point about these players making their style their own still rings true, some of these songs might be too derivative for some audiences.
That said, these are all criticisms which may become resolved over time as Cold Comforts go from living in relative obscurity to becoming a recognised and appreciated act. With their clever yet also accessible writing and impressive on-record charisma, they might find themselves in that position sooner rather than later. 6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment