Reviews: Powerwolf, Silent Monolith, Matt Mitchell & The Coldhearts, The Elder Flame (Reviews By Zak Skane, David Karpel, Matt Bladen & Matt Cook)

Powerwolf – The Monumental Mass (Napalm Records) [Zak Skane]

Powerwolf have made a name for being one of the most accredited European acts of the current era, tackling festival stages like Wacken and Bloodstock with their powerful and immersive stage set ups and energetic crowd participation. This year the band has release their visual effort the The Monumental Mass which takes their music to a more visual medium. 

Through out the 22 tracks that are split into 2 CDs I assume acts 1 and 2, the band takes us on this immersive set list throughout orchestral cinematic soundscapes of the title track Monumental Mass and Confession that helps the listener transcend to each chapter of the setlist to the next whilst throwing some of the bands most catchy and uplifting choruses featured within fan favourites such as Demons Are A Girls Best Friend, Dancing With The Dead and We Drink Your Blood. The energy and bravado of the band is captured perfectly whilst being complemented with a stellar production. 

Even though this review was quite short and to the point don’t let that fool you, this band do power metal extremely well; the vocals are clear and powerful whilst delivering some in depth story telling on songs like Fire And Forgive, those triplet feel driven drum grooves accompanied with rhythm guitars and soaring melody lines provide a tribal like feel that will inspire any army of cowards into battle. The only criticism that I would mention is that even though the audio production on this album is brilliant it doesn’t capture the image of the stage that is accompanied with the setlist 8/10

Silent Monolith - Empty Kingdom (I'll Get Ya Drunk) [David Karpel]

A silent monolith, a la 2001: Space Odyssey, is a dark and imposing thing of foreboding mystery often foreshadowing epic change. Nashville’s Silent Monolith can be dark and imposing, but they’re no mystery. What you hear is who they are: at once a raging slab of crunchy riffs that smoothly transition into soulful stoner blues with undeniable grooves, bourbon soaked vocals, and thoughtful lyrics. And while Empty Kingdom may not signify an epic change in the direction of the Southern-smoked genre, it does stand out for its passion, skill, and power– and it will change your listening habits by insinuating itself into your regular listening rotation.

There’s a main guy, Kenneth Johnson (guitar/vox/keys/lyric writer/producer), and many other collaborators who’ve made up Silent Monolith, and it seems this album’s been a long time coming (since 2015). Currently a trio, they’ve put some songs together that you need to hear. The recording captures their scorched raw power, especially on the bottom end, which gives the album a live, in-your-face feel. Terrible Day Of The Lord starts with a slow and surly groove over which Johnson narrates a fire and brimstone sermon in a brutish, prison-cell-recording tone. When Burn rips a driving riff and the crunchy groove sinks in, I’m hooked. Almost immediately their sound reminds me in the best possible ways of Corrosion Of Conformity and Clutch. The title track gets me turning the volume dangerously high. Add Sasquatch to those comparisons. 

Johnson menaces on the mic and the band kicks into high gear. After the first three songs, I feel like I know what to expect next: more high octane riffing and grooving. This is a good thing. While I’m right, I’m also wrong. The Sin-Eater, perhaps predictably one of my favourite tracks on the album, starts with a solo bass line that sets a foundation for the melody, all coming through in a slow burn with keys under there holding the mood to a sizzle. Johnson’s clean singing is soulful and seductive here, giving life to the lyrics. This builds, crescendos into some more of that high volume riffing and grooving, the band making the quiet-loud formula work for them, and work well. It’s a ripper of a song and I lose it every time it comes on, especially of course when they jam through to the bass driven conclusion. 

While A Million Miles Away is a mid tempo redemption song with a cool, addictive riff, and a sweet melody, All The Same solidifies how premature my early (and dumb) assumptions were. Bluesy, anthemic, cynical, and soulful, the song allows us to hear Johnson at his most disheartened. Given this misanthropic perspective to consider, sequencing the cool Karma To Burn-like instrumental Qui Decipitur before the concluding Sabbath-y banger Lost Hope was a stroke of genius. The social commentary and beliefs weaved into some of these songs lend them weight and give Johnson’s vocals a sense of passion and urgency. With all of its riffs and grooves and raw power, Empty Kingdom has been on repeat in my playlist for days, where it will remain for the foreseeable future. 8/10

Matt Mitchell & The Coldhearts - Mission (Earache Distribution) [Matt Bladen]

The second studio album from Matt Mitchell & The Coldhearts is drawn from the same place of catchy, melodic hard rock as the first Coldhearts album in 2019. Matt Mitchell has often been referred to as one of the best modern classic rock singers around having fronted bands such as Furyon, Colour Of Noise and Pride. His vocal style can fit many genres so it's no wonder that Mission brings inspiration from a multitude of genres. Holed up at home as the pandemic hit the new album stalled a little but the worldwide stop in touring made Mitchell refocus a little. Mulling over the journeys and missions we face on our own lives after being inspired by the migration of the Arctic Tern (not many albums can claim to be inspired by bird migration). 

This refocus also meant that Mitchell looked back on his early days bringing in guitarist Mark Alberici who co-produces the record with Adrian Hall engineering, the three putting in long hours to get this album to be as good if not better than the debut. Mitchell has also tapped former Colour Of Noise bandmate Bruce Dickinson (the other side one) and keyboard player Jimmy Dickinson on second track Razor Tongue. I may of said this in my previous Coldhearts review but to me the band sounds like a any project Slash has been involved in outside of Guns N Roses, this is mainly due to Mitchell having a voice that is pitched between Scott Weiland and Myles Kennedy and while G'N'R do their thing bands such as Velvet Revolver and his solo project spread their wings a little. 

Just Like I Knew You Would has that driving VR style from their debut album, as Sending Out My Love is very Zeppelin though the opener and the closer are both big radio rockers in the vein of Kennedy's two bands. On Mission Mitchell has returned with another quality heavy rock album, with Steelhouse on the horizon, it'll be on Planet Rock's heavy rotation list for a long time. 8/10

The Elder Flame – Undead Tales (Self Released) [Matt Cook]

Everything about the one-person Atmospheric Black Metal project The Elder Flame is par for the course. The band is unsigned, the lineup consists of an entity known only as Hero Of The Black Marsh. What isn’t par for the course is the measured approach taken on Undead Tales, The Elder Flame’s debut full-length and third release since 2019. Unlike other acts of the sub genre that rely heavily on rocket-charged, super fast programmed drums or an intensity and speed that masks inadequate performances, Hero Of The Black Marsh challenges listeners to dispose of any preconceived notions. There are the requisite sounds of nature, be it birds chirping, thunderstorms or someone (or something) wading through a swamp or a bog. 

The record starts with droney reverberation to set the mood. But HOTBM implements a drum sound more akin to rock than metal, and does so with grace and confidence. There is even a marching snare drum which mimics the approach of a bloodthirsty army. Vocally, the notes escape HOTBM’s mouth with cheese-grating gruff and muffled growls. Wander Of Saburac (Pt. 2) is their strongest performance and most appealing of the six-pack of tracks. But When Good Men Die gives that title a run for its money, creating a formidable rhythm and flow. The pacing overall is worth mentioning, because as previously touched upon, Undead Tales doesn’t hit the ground running. It instead keeps steady and relies on poised tactics. Ruined City Of A Forgotten Time, however, ends rather anti-climatically considering how satisfying it began with a towering melody and choral overtone. A dramatic tale instead festers into a wispy memory. 

Undead King Of Endma additionally fails to find its footing or stand out. But Hero Of The Black Marsh redeems himself on closer When Good Men Die. An inspiring piano composition moulds nicely into a sturdy melody which returns to end the song, a fantastic choice which ties up not only the song but also the album, an album that wields sophisticated arrangements delivered in a modern way from a mysteriously cloaked entity. 7/10