Reviews: Heriot, Caliban, Dorothy, Church Of The Sea (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Heriot - Profound Morality (Church Road Records)

'Next big thing?' possibly. A vicious, visceral delight from the brightest new stars in the UK hardcore/metal scene? Most definitely. Comprised of Debbie Gough (guitar/vocals), Jake Packer (bass/vocals), Erhan Alman (guitar) and Julian Gage (drums), Heriot draw inspiration from UK bands like Svalbard (whom they recently supported) and Employed To Serve but also American acts like Nails and Code Orange. Profound Morality is a deafening, aggressive record, built around a mix of hardcore and extreme metal the dual vocals of Gough and Packer, shifting between raging screams, guttural growls and haunting croons, making for a vocal style that's as varied as their music. 

They will build the the industrial atmospheres on Mutagen and Abattoir but then will wash away any ominous, arty notions with blasts of severity such as the face melting Enter The Flesh. Having built a substantial following with their singles releases, along with the cover of Ten Tonne Hammer, Profound Morality is an EP that doesn't stick around, building layers of distortion and dissonance, that are met with sludge/hardcore brutality. Heriot's music is very multidimensional doing a lot more than the sludge/hardcore tags would do them credit. The title track a wall shakingly heavy, dirge through the mire while Coalescence is a furious, firebreather, like the rest of the record at out corrupted morals, the vast gulf between rich and poor and how many with the power cannot be trusted to do the right thing. 

Profound Morality is a extremely strong debut from Heriot, expect to hear much more from them in future as they could well be your new favourite band. 8/10  

Caliban - Dystopia (Century Media)

German metalcore stalwarts Caliban have been busy during the live hiatus. They released an album that had them re-record old songs in their native language and set to work on their 13th studio album. Dystopia. Clearly a title inspired by current events, the isolation and anxiety can be felt throughout this record, making for a dark brooding listen but one that fans will recognise as the signature Caliban style of grooving metal and hardcore aggression. There's also lots of electronics scattered throughout the record moving them into the more accepted style of metalcore. 

However for me, I did find the record to be quite one dimensional, it does what it needs to but the electronics seem a little tacked on and half way through my attention was wandering as I struggled towards the end. Despite guest contributions from members of Job For A Cowboy, Annisokay and Heaven Shall Burn, along with an idea that Caliban are somehow darker and harder edged, for me though Dystopia is just another record that sits comfortably in the metalcore mold. 6/10

Dorothy - Gifts From The Holy Ghost (Spinefarm/Roc Nation)

A hip shaking, riff slinging, whisky swigging throwback to when rock n roll was dangerous, Dorothy's new album Gifts From The Holy Ghost continues mining that rich seam of hard rock that made their hometown of L.A so famous. Their third album is built on the idea of triumph, singer Dorothy Martin in a role reversal since their previous album, using this record as an ode to healing and recovery rather than one of destruction and sadness, like so many record from the Sunset Strip are based on. Inspiration for Gifts From The Holy Ghost came from her guitar tech taking an overdose, Dorothy found herself praying to a higher power for his survival and after he made a unheard of recovery. Dorothy had a spiritual awakening due to this incident and her rehab for drug and alcohol addiction so this new outlook on life has shifted the focus to a more positive focus for this third record, just listen to the anthemic Top Of The World if you want confirmation. 

Now this is very modern, radio friendly rock, aimed at the American audience mainly, as co-writers come in the shape of Keith Wallen, Jason Hook, Scott Stevens, Phil X, Trevor Lukather, Joel Hamilton, while the revered Chris Lord Alge gives this record it's big production value. If I was to make comparisons, I would say that there's a massive nod to the work of Sixx A.M, Halestorm, Shinedown align with the bluesy swagger of Buckcherry on Hurricane. Most of the album is brimming with confidence, it's upbeat modern rock, the unifying call of Black Sheep but of course there's a couple of ballads, the biggest being Close To Me Always. With a new focus to her life, the musical side of Dorothy, remains similar to what has come before but with the mission to unite anyone who feels lost or isolated together, Gifts From The Holy Ghost proves rock n roll is the answer. 7/10

Church Of The Sea - Odalisque (Self Released)

Formed in Athens in 2017 Irini (vocals), Vangelis (guitar) and Alex (synth/samples) Church Of The Sea have now released their debut album, three years after their first EP. Church Of The Sea play a style of dark, introspective, doom music that sets glacial electronics against distorted heaviness as haunting ethereal vocals float over the top conveying every nuance if emotion contained in these songs. 

With some excellent engineering/production/mixing from Alex Bolpasis and mastering from Nick Townsend Odalisque is a record that brings influence from bands such as Alcest, Chelsea Wolfe and Emma Ruth Rundle where they skillfully mix doom metal, shoegaze, noise and electronic industrial textures, it's those textures that set this record apart from others, taking from the field recording artists as well, they add odd samples such as broken piano strings or a bow of a violin on a cymbal. At only 6 tracks, you may expect long, labyrinthine tracks but much of this record is concise, based around building atmosphere rather than trying to take things into long winded exploration. 

The title track for instance has a throbbing drumbeat that anchors a mystical rhythm flavoured by Balkan/Middle Eastern influences. The album apparently an ode to unfulfilled desire, wrong choices and self fulfilling prophecies, it feels dark and mysterious with the industrial rumble of Mirror feeling desolate and inhuman. Overall if you think that Tori Amos fronting Nine Inch Nails sounds like a great idea, which I do, then you'll love Church Of The Sea, like I do. 8/10