Fronted by vocalist.violinist Eddie Berge, alongside guitarists Harald Barrett and Alex Arnoldsson. Imminence also features drummer Peter Hanstrom and bass player Christian Hoijer. They have become the fastest rising prospects in metalcore with their symphonic laced sound captivating audiences globally with their unique take of the genre. Now with their new album Heaven In Hiding the band are taking us on an emotional journey exploring themes such as depression and self reflection. This record kicks off with I Am Become A Name, which starts off with a throbbing deep sub bass sound before other layers are introduced like the slickly sci-fi sounding synths. The fluttering string sections and this eerie reversed vocal soundscape before the first song on album begins.
When Ghost kick in get you classic modern metalcore bouncy riffs before you are introduced with some cinematic string sections. The stomping riffs in the chorus with the top staying “Can you tell my ghost” does remind me a lot of In Flames. This is followed by Temptation, which features some guitar melodies that reminisce of the band Breaking Benjamin mixed with the Architects sounding modern metalcore. Surrender is when the band start playing with dynamics by stripping away to just drums bass and vocal in the verse sections before coming with soaring choruses. Moth To A Flame starts off with these subtle plucking strings that you would hear in a lullaby accompanied with a subtle 808 pulse before it ramps up with the heavy riffage.
Alleviate reminds me of Dead By April's approach of writing ballads with the piano accompanied by metal instrumentations and clean sung vocals that feature lyrical themes of heartbreak and self despair. Enslaved pushes the strings sections front and center driving the song in a more a electronic symphonic direction. The final highlight is the song that is in این نیز بگذرد, translated from Persian to This Too Shall Pass, is the most cinematic song on the this album, the way the band composed the instrumentation of the strings and applying the pounding percussion means it can easily fit on a movie score. Even the vocals play a great part the emotional trip that the song is producing.
If I can describe this albums sound in a nutshell I would call it moving, with the combination of modern metalcore laced with theatrical orchestrations, it really makes for an enjoyable listening experience, especially through headphones. With the nods to other bands in the industry like Breaking Benjamin, In Flames and Dead By April the band win fans over with their mature captivating sound. 9/10.
Italian brutal death trio Vomit The Soul are not a name I’d heard of before, and given they’re named after a Cannibal Corpse song of the same title, hopes were high going into the record. Immediately launching into a brow furrowing bombardment of blast beats, bass twangs, guitar flurries, and indecipherable gutturals, my initial reaction was Cold is going to be unreasonably heavy. And it is. Monstrous gutturals throughout accompany punishing riffs that don’t stay any longer in the air than necessary. Explosive drums clatter about in the soundscape, giving a chaotic and disorienting aura. While the guitars are generally chugging along in the typical slam/brutal death style, occasionally lifting out of the musical gutter to play flourishes and lead lines, it really is the bass tone and lines that grabs the most attention.
Whatever bassist Stefano Ciucci chose to play on this record, renowned engineer Stefano Morabito made sure you knew about it - both rhythmic chugs to compliment Max Santarelli’s riffage, and taking his own flamboyant path of counter melody. It’s all placed expertly in the mix, alongside Ycio Orsanigo’s terrifying drumming, which rarely gives the ear a break from blisteringly quick double kicks and assertive snare shots. It’s through this relentless barrage of brutality that I find myself yearning for something to latch on to musically. A hook, a melodic line, something to remember once the record is done other than “christ that was heavy”. And maybe that’s the point of this style, but for my own personal preferences I think the best songwriting has distinct staying power. While the record is indeed unreasonably heavy, it’s lack of variation stops me from rating it higher. Clocking in at just 33 minutes, it gets in, blasts its way through the material and gets out - no filler, no samples, just riffs and blasts. 7/10
King Buffalo – Acheron (Stickman Records) [Simon Black]
New York Progsters King Buffallo have like everyone else thrown their planning completely out of the window in recent years. Acheron is the second in an unintended series of 3 albums that started with The Burden Of Restlessness, with a final part to follow next year. This one however had the advantage of being the product of the whole band being co-located in a studio, as opposed to via the computer-plus-musicians-in-an-airing-cupboard method that everyone has been honing over the last two years. I say ‘studio’, I mean ‘cave’. I mean that literally, their studio was in a cave - to the point where background running water noise spill can be heard in places, so presumably at least one of the band members is a student of the classics and has chosen the album title with no small amount of irony.
King Buffalo – Acheron (Stickman Records) [Simon Black]
New York Progsters King Buffallo have like everyone else thrown their planning completely out of the window in recent years. Acheron is the second in an unintended series of 3 albums that started with The Burden Of Restlessness, with a final part to follow next year. This one however had the advantage of being the product of the whole band being co-located in a studio, as opposed to via the computer-plus-musicians-in-an-airing-cupboard method that everyone has been honing over the last two years. I say ‘studio’, I mean ‘cave’. I mean that literally, their studio was in a cave - to the point where background running water noise spill can be heard in places, so presumably at least one of the band members is a student of the classics and has chosen the album title with no small amount of irony.
At first I thought this was an EP, given that there’s only four tracks on here, but they are properly progressive and meaty in intent, averaging around the ten minute mark each. This length and the classical thematic touches lend this quite a soothing and melodically laid back air, although you never hear it in quite the same way again once you take on board the circumstances of its recording (unlike the more punchy approach of the first part of the trilogy). An equally large influence seems to be Meddle-era Pink Floyd still suffering from a post-psychedelic era hangover as well, as things take a while to build, but have and despite the meandering sound actually have fairly robust musical structures underpinning that.
I will be honest in that the story elements completely pass you by, as this is mood music to ambiently draw you in and over time peel away and reveal its depths, but I’m impressed enough by the quality of the song-writing and performances to want to go back and hear more from these guys. 7/10
I will be honest in that the story elements completely pass you by, as this is mood music to ambiently draw you in and over time peel away and reveal its depths, but I’m impressed enough by the quality of the song-writing and performances to want to go back and hear more from these guys. 7/10
Sainted Sinners – Taste It (Roar! Rock Of Angels Records) [Alexander Hay]
There's nothing wrong with being nice, even though that might not be the first thing that comes to mind with the heavier types of rock 'n roll. Especially on this album, whose cover art has a random woman licking a bottle of bourbon in a suggestive manner. (If nothing else, it's unsanitary.) And this is probably the best way to sum up the new record by Sainted Sinners, a retro rock band from Germany, joining the legions of other retro rock bands who think history ended somewhere on the Sunset Strip in the late 1980s.
Maybe 'nice' is damning with faint praise, of course. But it's a pleasant album to listen to. If anything, despite the attempts to capture that sleaze and rock vibe, the band can't help themselves by sounding constantly upbeat. There's the track where they celebrate being able to go back on tour (new Covid strains notwithstanding), an REM cover, and a certain joie de vivre, even if that's centred on getting bladdered and shagged a lot. Some of the riffs aren't bad either, and there are even some inventive moments, like the interesting blend of chords and keyboards on one track, Never Back Down.
This may sound like a glowing review, but that would be to overlook how ruthlessly above average it all is. There are good moments here and there, as said, but this is in the midst of hard rock that's a little too sterile, a little too - agreeable? This is an album you can take home to meet your parents; it would even vomit on the carpet in a charming manner. But if you're buying this record, you're probably not doing it for the thrill of the cutting edge anyway. Or the hygiene. 6/10
There's nothing wrong with being nice, even though that might not be the first thing that comes to mind with the heavier types of rock 'n roll. Especially on this album, whose cover art has a random woman licking a bottle of bourbon in a suggestive manner. (If nothing else, it's unsanitary.) And this is probably the best way to sum up the new record by Sainted Sinners, a retro rock band from Germany, joining the legions of other retro rock bands who think history ended somewhere on the Sunset Strip in the late 1980s.
Maybe 'nice' is damning with faint praise, of course. But it's a pleasant album to listen to. If anything, despite the attempts to capture that sleaze and rock vibe, the band can't help themselves by sounding constantly upbeat. There's the track where they celebrate being able to go back on tour (new Covid strains notwithstanding), an REM cover, and a certain joie de vivre, even if that's centred on getting bladdered and shagged a lot. Some of the riffs aren't bad either, and there are even some inventive moments, like the interesting blend of chords and keyboards on one track, Never Back Down.
This may sound like a glowing review, but that would be to overlook how ruthlessly above average it all is. There are good moments here and there, as said, but this is in the midst of hard rock that's a little too sterile, a little too - agreeable? This is an album you can take home to meet your parents; it would even vomit on the carpet in a charming manner. But if you're buying this record, you're probably not doing it for the thrill of the cutting edge anyway. Or the hygiene. 6/10
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