Black Capricorn - Cult Of Blood (Majestic Mountain Records) [Finn O'Dell]
This band hails from Sardinia, Italy and started in 2008. They have released 4 previous full length albums and a handful of EPs. This new album fits nicely into the genre of psychedelic doom metal. A couple of sisters (Rachela on drums and Virginia on bass) handle the rhythm section while Fabrizio Monni dominates the vocals and guitar work (also produced and engineered the album). The album opens with Secret Society Of Seven and what I am hearing is pure Sabbath worship riffs, with a bit more fuzz to amplify things. The title to the next track, Worshipping The Bizarre Reverend, is the band paying homage the the great doom act Reverend Bizarre as they incorporate song titles from the legends into their lyrics.
The guitar tone here can't be overstated - fuzz paradise. Giants Of Prama takes its time getting going and eventually sees Fabrizio taming things down with some lower range singing in this longer plodding track. Godsnake Djamballah is a shorter instrumental piece that goes full on psychedelic with choppy reverb riffs. Snake Of The Wizard bounces back with your regularly scheduled doom. Witch Of Endor proceeds to pummel with that infectious doom and the closing track, Uddadhaddar, brings an eastern type sound with song vocals that are more akin to chant. All in all, a doom masterpiece. You gotta get this for sure. 9/10
Ashenspire – Hostile Architecture (Aural Music) [Rick Eaglestone]
For an album entitled Hostile Architecture I wasn’t expected the smooth jazz start of it akin to something from the Howard The Duck soundtrack but this track is eight and a half minute in length which once the violins take hold it takes an ominous turn leading into all out chaos which is something my brain wasn’t ready to digest and then we black metal beats with saxophones for the start of Beton Brut which also has a Irish Folk feel at times and I am intrigued to and compelled to deep dive into the complexity of this album and were only at track 2.
Fortunately, Plattenbau Persephone Praxis does give the listener and bit of breathing space, but the narration style of vocal is something you really need to stay on top as I feel if you don’t you can almost lose your way, the is the very moment that a curveball is served in the form of How The Mighty Have Vision which is then followed by the furiously short Tragic Heroin. It was quite tricky to pin down a highlight track but after a few listens I felt the same with Apathy As Arsenic Lethargy As Lead, vocally it just seemed to connect with me the most.
The album finishes off with the soothing instrumental Palimpsest before utter annihilation ensues with final track Cable Street Again which given the albums aesthetic is just as extreme as much of the album. It’s certainly an album that really need a good couple of listens to appreciate it. Complex and compelling 6/10
Mike Hill and his New York/New Jersey collective Tombs have released a digital only EP in support of their new single Ex Oblivion, it's based around the H.P Lovecraft story of the same name and features a few covers and a remix thrown in that are inspired by death and suicide. Ex Oblivion itself is a brooding post-metal assault that Hill has been delivering with Tombs for a while now but the EP is a showcase for new member Todd Stern (Psycroptic) who brings additional guitar to Hill and Justin Spaeth's multi instrumentalist ways fleshing out the band with bassist Drew Murphy. He shows his mettle on the thrusting punk of Commit Suicide originally by GG Allin.
Tombs - Ex Oblivion (Season Of Mist) [Matt Bladen]
Mike Hill and his New York/New Jersey collective Tombs have released a digital only EP in support of their new single Ex Oblivion, it's based around the H.P Lovecraft story of the same name and features a few covers and a remix thrown in that are inspired by death and suicide. Ex Oblivion itself is a brooding post-metal assault that Hill has been delivering with Tombs for a while now but the EP is a showcase for new member Todd Stern (Psycroptic) who brings additional guitar to Hill and Justin Spaeth's multi instrumentalist ways fleshing out the band with bassist Drew Murphy. He shows his mettle on the thrusting punk of Commit Suicide originally by GG Allin.
Frenzied guitars are also the order of the day on Motorhead cover Killed By Death which had Dan Higgins of Hammerfight peeling off those Phil Campbell/Würzel leads, it's a song that has been covered a lot but Tombs give it some venom (both metaphorically and actually) with the song transformed into something of Black Metal. Sombre Ruins Nothing Remains gets a dark synth remix with bleeps an drum loops from Hill and Spaeth, while Murder Legendre ends the record with a noise/ambient offering that has Dwid Hellion giving piano and noise. It's a bit of mixed bag but then it is essentially a stopgap release until the next album. Still there's a mix of music here that will display the full range of what Tombs do. 7/10
The recent unveiling of the stunning in-color images captured from the James Webb Space Telescope depicts mesmerising, alien-like features millions of light years away from us. In other words, the possibility and likelihood of finding extra-terrestrial life is only further strengthened. It’s only a matter of time before the JWST locates Conner, the frontman that heads Voluntary Mortification, because the vocals on Suffer To Rise are downright out of this world, something conjured up from a distant, as-yet-discovered planetary body.
It makes perfect sense that the five-piece deathcore troupe felt inclined to push the envelope and stand out in 2022. As has been chronicled ad nauseam, the metal music that’s been released since the pandemic has been utterly needle-moving. Suffer To Rise is HIIT-inspired in its musical cacophonies, and the record becomes heavier with each playthrough over the 44-minute duration. But back to Conner, because a lot of this album stands out thanks to the certified-brutal vocal range. Vindicator is a fucking ripper that should be charged with attempted murder (oh, and Johnny’s drum blasts could trigger a tsunami).
Valley Of Slaughter slows the tempo instrumentally but still wields guttural inhumanity. Demoncratic Society opens with a fuzzy production before putrid bubbling and gurgling takes over. To put it plainly, it’s a frog being blasted by an industrial water hose. As for Abomination, it might warrant a trigger warning. Its build-up of temp is anxiety-inducing. Fret not, though, because if it really scratches the chalkboard inside your chemically imbalanced brain, Conner is here with words of encouragement:
“Now shut your filthy mouth!”
So jack up the volume, warn the neighbours and lock up the children and pets. Suffer To Rise can only be properly consumed with a vitriol and vengeance that has been bottled up your whole life. Give it a minute or two and you’ll soon be bashing your skull against your rickety cabinet that barely works in the first place because your cruel-and-unusual rent payments don’t actually lead to maintenance being done on the walls-closing-in apartment you actually can’t even afford to live in despite signing the lease five months ago. 8/10
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