Like emerging from a dreamstate, the echoed clean guitars wash over you as the cymbals are deftly crash like waves on a shore. This is opening passage of Earthless latest offering Night Paradise Of One Hundred Demons, made up of just three songs the first part of the title track, is almost pastoral, bringing you into the ethereal world of Earthless, starting the record off slowly and hazily before the pace quickens a little into a percussive gallop and keening guitar, the song shifting almost into a theme from an imaginary western as Leslie West once put it.
It's almost as if Earthless are deliberately trying to distance themselves from the previous record Black Heaven where they had shorter songs and vocals. Here the return of gargantuan instrumentals can only lauded as it's certainly Earthless' wheelhouse. A record based on a Japanese legend of a sleep demon, comprised of a 41 minute title track split into two parts and a third song that is 20 minutes in length. It's Earthless at their most experimental and downright impressive. Apparently the title track took on a life of its own in the studio each time they thought they were done with it it took on a new life and they went into another direction.
Part 1 becomes an impressive guitar display from Isiah Mitchell, featuring lots of emotional lead playing that culminates in an almost joyous conclusion. In stark contrast Part 2 opens with a creeping, windswept introduction Mario Rubalcaba's marching drumbeat in sync with Mike Eginton's rumbling bass lines, the short touches of keys and occult soundscapes letting those nightmarish visions build. If they were one band who have turned the Covid lockdown into a positive as Isiah Mitchell moved back to San Diego so was able to get into the studio with the other two members and jam this record out.
Part 2 of the title track is much creepier, at the beginning but towards the end it explodes into a wild guitar driven psych/doom exploration packed with riffs and solos that stay in that occult realm. The 2 part title track is magnificent kick off to the album, telling the story of the Yōkai while the third song, Death To The Red Sun is equally as epic falling into Earthless' early sound as it brilliantly harks back to their heydey of psychedelic rock jamming, the trio locking in for grooves upon tasty grooves. Night Paradise Of One Hundred Demons is glorious return to form for Earthless. 9/10
Opensight – Mondo Fiction (Self Released) [Simon Black]
OK, so this is a bit different.
Opensight are an independent act from London who’ve released a few EP’s over the last decade but have now finally got around to a debut full length album. Clearly these guys grew up in the kinds of homes where TV and movie soundtracks were a thing (guilty your honour), because this comes across as a hybrid of a soundtrack music LP from 1960’s ITC golden TV era mixed with a bit of early 70’s progressive rock and proto-metal. Once you get past the initial “what the actual fuck” moment when starting to listen this is actually quite a positive experience, because believe me in this reviewing game true originality is a rare and blessed thing. The band prefer the sub-genre cinematic metal though, which is a more grandiose and marketable way of saying the same thing.
It’s an eclectic but effective mix, not least because there’s some really skilful playing and instrumental work here and the eclectic style means that it constantly keeps you on your toes, because like any good piece with progressive elements it constantly surprises. Let’s face it, when the opening track In Here With Us includes a horns section, you know anything can and will happen. There’s touches of jazz (light ones mind) to the full blown progressive instrumentalism of longer tracks like Villain, this record does not keep stylistically still. There’s also a good use of semi-acoustic guitar arpeggios at key moments to control the pace rather than just using them as a means of gently starting a song and again these pace and time shifts do not jar but help keep the flow interesting.
Ivan David’s voice works best when trying to keep things moody and haunting, but his range adopted for the bulk of this record is a little limited. To be clear, that’s a stylistic choice in the approaches he takes, because when he does vary the tone and style a little, for example in the opening verses of Secrecy, you can hear that range is definitely there, just not always being used. If there was a little more of that variation in the vocal tones and styles to go alongside what the instrumentalists are doing then this might be rather unstoppable, as the material on this record is exceptionally well written and performed.
OK, so this is a bit different.
Opensight are an independent act from London who’ve released a few EP’s over the last decade but have now finally got around to a debut full length album. Clearly these guys grew up in the kinds of homes where TV and movie soundtracks were a thing (guilty your honour), because this comes across as a hybrid of a soundtrack music LP from 1960’s ITC golden TV era mixed with a bit of early 70’s progressive rock and proto-metal. Once you get past the initial “what the actual fuck” moment when starting to listen this is actually quite a positive experience, because believe me in this reviewing game true originality is a rare and blessed thing. The band prefer the sub-genre cinematic metal though, which is a more grandiose and marketable way of saying the same thing.
It’s an eclectic but effective mix, not least because there’s some really skilful playing and instrumental work here and the eclectic style means that it constantly keeps you on your toes, because like any good piece with progressive elements it constantly surprises. Let’s face it, when the opening track In Here With Us includes a horns section, you know anything can and will happen. There’s touches of jazz (light ones mind) to the full blown progressive instrumentalism of longer tracks like Villain, this record does not keep stylistically still. There’s also a good use of semi-acoustic guitar arpeggios at key moments to control the pace rather than just using them as a means of gently starting a song and again these pace and time shifts do not jar but help keep the flow interesting.
Ivan David’s voice works best when trying to keep things moody and haunting, but his range adopted for the bulk of this record is a little limited. To be clear, that’s a stylistic choice in the approaches he takes, because when he does vary the tone and style a little, for example in the opening verses of Secrecy, you can hear that range is definitely there, just not always being used. If there was a little more of that variation in the vocal tones and styles to go alongside what the instrumentalists are doing then this might be rather unstoppable, as the material on this record is exceptionally well written and performed.
The only weak song on here is a cover of the theme for Thunderball, which whilst absolutely summarising where this band are coming from does not work because the original song just simply is not strong enough in comparison to their original material. Thoroughly and unexpectedly enjoyable, which let’s face it is why I do this gig. 7/10
Lalu - Paint The Sky (Frontiers Music Srl) [Matt Bladen]
Vivien Lalu is a French keyboard player specialising in the prog genre mostly. He is the son of Noelle and Michel Lalu who were members of French 70's proggers Polène. Prior to this he has released three albums that were collaborative efforts that were more driven by cinematic progressive metal, that was heavily inspired by Dream Theater and Devin Townsend. For his debut on Frontiers he want to write an album that was very much in keeping with his 70's prog rock roots. To this he needed a vocalist with an exemplary back catalogue in the genre so Vivien approached Damian Wilson who has served time in Threshold, Headspace and Arena so is in my opinion the perfect singer for this style of 70's melodic prog that draws from Yes, Genesis and King Crimson, while also retaining that metal edge of Dream Theater and Italian band DGM.
Lalu - Paint The Sky (Frontiers Music Srl) [Matt Bladen]
Vivien Lalu is a French keyboard player specialising in the prog genre mostly. He is the son of Noelle and Michel Lalu who were members of French 70's proggers Polène. Prior to this he has released three albums that were collaborative efforts that were more driven by cinematic progressive metal, that was heavily inspired by Dream Theater and Devin Townsend. For his debut on Frontiers he want to write an album that was very much in keeping with his 70's prog rock roots. To this he needed a vocalist with an exemplary back catalogue in the genre so Vivien approached Damian Wilson who has served time in Threshold, Headspace and Arena so is in my opinion the perfect singer for this style of 70's melodic prog that draws from Yes, Genesis and King Crimson, while also retaining that metal edge of Dream Theater and Italian band DGM.
In fact Simone Mularoni of DGM played on the previous Lalu releases and is one of the many guests on this record. However rounding out the band here along with Wilson and Lalu are guitarist/bassist Joop Walters (previously a live second guitarist) and drummer Jelly Cardarelli. The four members here are ina brilliant unison concocting technically impressive but ultimately entertaining and accessible music. Swathes of keys and clean guitars are the order of the day as Wilson's melodic voice soars like Jon Anderson, Jelly never wobbling behind the kit as his expressive style anchors these musical flights of fancy.
As with the previous outings there are a number of guests, as I've mentioned with Jens Johansson (Stratovarius), Alessandro Del Vecchio (every Frontiers band), Steve Walsh (Kansas), 'The Fretless Monster' Tony Franklin (The Firm, Whitesnake etc), Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) and Simon Phillips (Toto) joining Mularoni on the guestlist, to all add their experience and techniques to this record. Clocking in at just over an hour, Paint The Sky is a prog rock force of nature, perfectly capturing the 70's progressive rock sound of bands like Yes with a modern flair. 8/10
SOM: The Shape Of Everything (Pelagic Records) [Rich P]
SOM: The Shape Of Everything (Pelagic Records) [Rich P]
The term “Shoegaze” gets thrown around a lot these days. Seems like any band that slows it down a bit and adds lush vocals and soundscapes are lumped into the genre that was brought to us and perfected in the 90s by bands like Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, and thought by many to have started with Jesus And Mary Chain’s landmark classic Psychocandy. We have bands seemingly in every genre incorporating aspects of the underrated style, especially those black metal bad boys whose dad saw Lush on that Lollapalooza so many years ago. Then, somehow, The Deftones became the torchbearer for shoegaze, for reasons I will never fully grasp. Sure, you can hear that Chino and the boys had a few Cocteau Twins records in their collection, but nothing to me has ever screamed shoegaze on any of their albums.
Bringing me to The Shape Of Everything by SOM, who’s promotional materials throw around terms like “For Fans of The Deftones”, which to me shortchanges what they bring to the table. SOM leans all the way into the heavy Shoegaze, with the shining and shimmering vocals, MVB guitar effects, slowed down pace on many of the eight tracks, but keep enough of the crunch to appeal to the heavy music crowd. Songs like the opening track Moment or the sprawling, lush Clocks could fit into any modern or even 90s era Shoegaze playlist. Heart Attack, my favorite track on the album, goes into full MVB mode in a really good way. You get this throughout all eight tracks of The Shape Of Everything, never really veering too far away from the original formula.
Rather than that Deftones comparison that I think will disappoint fans looking for some more of the same, I think more of bands like Mew (if you never heard their classic And The Glass Handed Kites do yourself a favor and track it down), Spotlights (who have opened for The Deftones, so you have that…) Astronoid who incorporate shoegaze elements with some prog metal thrown in, and a top album of 2021 for me the debut from Slowshine. I enjoyed The Shape Of Everything, but the album can be a bit repetitive at times. While SOM have really focused and executed on what they do well, The Shape Of Everything suffers from some repetitiveness end to end and could use something to set them apart from the throngs of bands who are incorporating Shoegaze in their music today. SOM has given us a worthy debut that has a lot of promise of what’s to come from them as they keep the spirit of Shoegaze alive. 7/10
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