Reviews: Existence Dysphoria, Light Creates Shadow, Misgivings, Of Our Design (Reviews By Paul Scoble, Quinn Mattfeld, Zach Scott & Zak Skane)

Existence Dysphoria - Minus Negative (Sludgelord Records) [Paul Scoble]

Hailing from London, Existence Dysphoria have been making huge and heavy music since 2017. The three piece, made up of James Bullock on Bass, Nick Harley on Drums and Ben Ambrose on Guitar and Vocals, have released a single named Cascade Of Limbs, and a demo called Shattered in 2018, Minus Negative is the bands first EP. The EP opens with a short intro called The Stage Is Set, which is made up of samples and weird noises. Next we get the first full track, Sculpted Into Nothing, a song made up of huge and heavy riff that lurch and stagger, the style is simple, but very heavy and with a very pleasing groove. The song has a softer, more minimal section with a nice bluesy solo, before returning to the thunderingly heavy. The song gets a bit more driving, purposeful and pointed nearer the end. 

Next up is the track You’re Worse, which mixes heavy as anything riffs with short softer sections that feel minimal and introverted, in direct opposition to the heavy riffs. The heavy riffs have a choppy feel to them, and also a little bit of Alternative Rock and maybe a little Grunge. The track has a higher tempo and pace compared to the song that came before it, a perfect tempo to bang your head to. The final track is the title track, Minus Negative. After a soft and introverted intro the song kicks into some very heavy doom with a little stoner influence, the Bass in more dominant than on the other tracks and in places it reminds me a little of Weedeater. 

The second half of the track picks the pace up with some serious grooving, before the track slows down for a crushingly slow and heavy ending. For a first Ep Minus Negative a great piece of work. Thunderingly heavy sludgy Doom that has a great groove, and riffs so heavy they’ll hammer you into the ground. For a first try at a release this feels like a very mature piece of work, if they can keep up this level of quality for a full album, then Existence Dysphoria should definitely be going places. 8/10

Light Creates Shadow - Ghost Pass Through, Running From The Body (Self Released) [Quinn Mattfeld]

When someone approaches you on the street and informs you that they are “on a mission” at best, you now have an awkward exit to make; at worst, you’re an accomplice. But when newly reformed Portland Oregon based post Metal trio Light Creates Shadow says about their third LP Ghosts Pass Through, Running From The Body, “We feel there is an absence and misuse of depth within the art form as a whole. We are on a mission to uncover and illuminate the path if the listener wants to embark...” you should embark: sign the petition, buy the T-Shirt, get on the rainbow-colored bus and go wherever it is they want to take you. 

The best music teaches you a new way of listening and Ghosts Pass Through has me hearing metal in a different way. The journey begins with the shape shifting Sensed Presence, the first of four seven-minute plus tracks on the album that builds to a transcendent, exhilarating conclusion and left me wondering where the band could possibly go next. Inexplicably, the album only continues to soar from here on out, following their monumental opener with the thrilling and melodic Post Truth. Dark Triad adds new layers through a combination of complex riffs and stark, raw emotion, before Casual Horizon delivers the album’s heaviest sound yet, a refreshingly simple and driving riff under lead singer Marc Changnon’s most aggressive, un-tethered vocal performance thus far. 

The album closes with Outlier floating in like a radio-friendly alternative hit from the 90s and ultimately blossoming into yet another entirely unique and sublime offering on this inspired and transformative album. Whether the transformation is that of Light Creates Shadow from an underground post metal act to an avant-garde musical juggernaut delivering Ghosts Pass Through, Running From the Body as serious contender for Album of the Year or that of the listener who is open and willing to hear with new ears, will be up to us, the audience. In my case, the latter is certainly true and I hope for the Northwestern metal trio, the former will also come to pass. Light Creates Shadow is on a mission and I, for one, am a willing accomplice. 10/10

Misgivings – Misgivings (Dolorem Records) [Zach Scott]

Dating back to 1991, Misgivings has been around since the early days of death metal, despite having no official releases to their name. This first album, a self-titled offering, showcases this very old school style and is a refreshing exploration into the genre’s raw and bloody roots in an age where death metal can often be over-produced and sterile. Misgivings kicks off this album with some seriously old school riffs in Deny The Divine Praise, with tremolo picking and pinch harmonics galore – the use of chromatic and diminished scales again harkens back to the early to mid-90s output of bands like Deicide and Cannibal Corpse. 

The production is very gritty and aggressive, the only real complaint being that the bass is not particularly audible, which is a shame as the bass playing is often one of the best parts of this style. Guilhem Auge’s drumming is worth noting – it is relentless in his use of blast beats and incredibly fast fills (such as the one that opens in Masquerading As God), and the production work of BLR Studio’s Olivier Jobin plus the mastering by Raphael Henry (Heldscalla Studio) compliments the very natural and raw sound of his drumming. 

The same goes for Esteban Martin’s powerful – albeit monotonous – vocals and the guitar work of duo Infamist and David B., which combines breakneck riffs with shredding solos and slower groovier sections, which create a nice sense of contrast. As the album continues, the songs do begin to get slightly similar to each other, with that very trademark old school guitar sound becoming more of a crutch than a technique – the riffs begin to lose their impact the further the album goes on as there just isn’t much separating the songs in terms of sound. The songs are still well-written, but they do have a tendency to just blend into one another. 

That said, there are still some interesting sections such as the almost hardcore-influenced call and response vocal sections in Stormblood and the more ambient intro to Disgraceful Lust that leads into a very South Of Heaven-esque death-doom section with some evil-sounding harmonies, before heading back into the previously established breakneck speed. Another cool moment is the intro to the album closer, Ancient Fear, which creates an excellent sense of foreboding and impending doom. 

Unfortunately, the last half of the album suffers from a sense of monotony – the riffs and songs are good but simply aren’t different enough from the other songs to make a lasting impact. There’s clearly a high level of instrumental ability but the songwriting skill just isn’t up to par with it, making this album slope off as you get further in. That’s not to say it’s not enjoyable – it just doesn’t have that replay value because of this. 

Overall, a solid album with a raw and aggressive feel that showcases the brutality old school death metal but fails to meet the modern levels of songwriting that contemporary bands are operating. 7/10

Of Our Design – The Worst Of Me (Self Relased) [Zak Skane]

From just looking at the colour schemes of their six tracks artwork I can just tell from looking at the yellow, orange and pink pastel colours that I am going to be listening to modern metalcore. Beginning with The Void In Me I’m introduced with electronic 808 beats accompanied with string sounding synths and ambient guitars to build us up to some classic breakdowns followed by atmospheric verses. Through out the track we get introduced with how George Rangers vocal lines can swoon from Emo-tinged cleans to throaty harsh vocals, whist the guitarists Kieran and Hayden trade haunting melodies with machine stabbing breakdowns. 

The bouncy sounding Misery shows the bands balance of technical djent riffery and melodic song writing, whist showcasing us the tight musician ship of Oli and Antony locking it in with the rest of the band. Other highlights on this six track is the swinging lead single Jaded that combines 6/8 djent riffs with anthemic choruses and the nostalgic sounding closer Wonderland which contains some 2010 stutter vocal effects and bouncing synths sounds. Even though this was a pleasant listen due to how things were orchestrated and produced, it’s just…I could blindly throw a rock over my shoulder and find five bands that have been doing this sound longer with more of than an original flare. If your into bands like Motionless In White and I Prevail it’s a suggestible listen 6/10.