Heart Of Gold - Beautiful Dangerous (Sharptone Records) [GC]
Ok, so it’s time for some honesty! Going in I thought I was going to 100% hate this album! It is usually everything I can’t stand in music it’s all saccharine lyrics, heartfelt emotions, and musically not in the slightest bit heavy! It’s like being trapped in an emo’s dream and not being able to wake up but, despite all the above this album was pleasantly surprising and I 100% did NOT hate it!
Abaddon Incarnate – The Wretched Sermon (Transcending Obscurity) [Matt Cook]
Six full-length releases since 1994 isn’t exactly a case study in consistency. It’s an average of roughly a record every half decade. To say Abaddon Incarnate’s output is few and far between is accurate, but it’s not a product of lackadaisical muck-raking. The Dublin four-piece have carved out a tumultuous brand of grindcore which might seem redundant, however it’s fitting because their music increasingly surpasses that moniker, and aches for a more devastating genre.
Coming at us with a mind full of introspective thoughts, endless pages of diary notes and years of collected memories we are presented with a collection of highly personal music that is here to speak to you and tell you stories. It all starts with a subtle and brooding build up on opener To the Blue, you don’t hear any actual music until a couple of minutes in and what you hear is a mix between Jimmy Eat World and the modern day A Day To Remember mixing atmospherics and electronics it simmers away and creates a pop like sound with Michael McGough’s vocals really emphasising the beauty of it all.
The next couple of tracks Headache and Patience up the pace with some catchy up tempo summery slices of pop goodness and I still can’t actually believe I’m listening to this and enjoying it but you just seem to get lost in the songs and let them embrace you so you cant stop listening, this is really emphasised on next track Bright Lights, which is based on a minimal musical presence and really carried on a fantastic vocal performance.
We then get onto the lead single Leave Just Yet, which is just a huge sun kissed slice of power pop that is flawlessly delivered! The next couple of songs we are presented with, September Sunburn & Backseat Daydream are both upbeat and keep the album flowing along nicely until Hometime takes the tempo back down with another beautifully stripped back atmospheric song lead purely by Michael’s vocals and its beautiful.
Bad Habit is another single in the making and then Co-Dependent could be lifted directly from the 80’s it’s all airy verses filled with synths and saxophone to bulk the sound out which takes us onto the last track of the album Time Spent Driving which is a slow burn lament on the pains and problems of growing up and its really the best way for this to finish as it feels so heartfelt and raw that after this it’s almost like you need a break from all the emotions you have been made to feel while listening to Beautiful Dangerous.
As previously alluded to, this album really took me by surprise and is really is a beautiful and striking piece of sun kissed pop perfection which will take you away to a place of pure emotional rawness and makes you just need to sit back and listen to it to really appreciate just how good it is and if you give this a chance I promise you that you won’t regret it and will be coming back to it time and time again. 8/10
Abaddon Incarnate – The Wretched Sermon (Transcending Obscurity) [Matt Cook]
Six full-length releases since 1994 isn’t exactly a case study in consistency. It’s an average of roughly a record every half decade. To say Abaddon Incarnate’s output is few and far between is accurate, but it’s not a product of lackadaisical muck-raking. The Dublin four-piece have carved out a tumultuous brand of grindcore which might seem redundant, however it’s fitting because their music increasingly surpasses that moniker, and aches for a more devastating genre.
The Wretched Sermon comes eight years after Pessimist and stands as the band’s debut on the label. In proper fashion, the artwork is colourfully clean yet also abstract in its intensity. The same can be said about the 13 simmering tracks. For 37 minutes, the vocals of Bill Whelan (high) and Steve Maher (low) pummel, bombard and defy logic. Abaddon Incarnate excel at tackling both death metal and grindcore interchangeably, and their pair of guitarists manage to musically equate the feeling of getting pebbles stuck in your socks while enjoying a day at the beach or hiking.
Drummer Olan Parkinson – who represents the third original member – leaves a vapour trail in his wake (Gateways) while contributing to the record’s expected, ferocious pacing. Epic Desecration doesn’t even sound like guitar notes, which is to say, it’s grindcore at its apex. Irene Siragusa (bass, vocals) rounds out the foursome. The band doesn’t take prisoners – or a break. Rising Of The Lights is the vocal version of eating rusty screws drenched in aluminium shavings. There is of course layering and an obvious craftsmanship to The Wretched Sermon, but that’s not what you came here for. Let’s crack some fucking skulls. 8/10
Evil In - Age Of Immortal Darkness (Self Released) [GC]
I have got to say that Evil In are an intriguing prospect as there’s just the 2 of them and they look to cross a blend of furious 80’s thrash and lo-fi death metal into just six full tracks on their first full length album Age Of Immortal Darkness. In all honesty, I was dubious that this was going to be anything worth listening to and I admit I was wrong, sort of!! All the tracks here are everything you would expect from a cross between thrash & death metal although I do think its leaning more onto the death metal side of things!
I have got to say that Evil In are an intriguing prospect as there’s just the 2 of them and they look to cross a blend of furious 80’s thrash and lo-fi death metal into just six full tracks on their first full length album Age Of Immortal Darkness. In all honesty, I was dubious that this was going to be anything worth listening to and I admit I was wrong, sort of!! All the tracks here are everything you would expect from a cross between thrash & death metal although I do think its leaning more onto the death metal side of things!
Opening things off with the eerie and unsettling intro 2437, we are then into Merciless Ancient Evil and its buzzsaw riffs and thunderous drumming really prick your ears up and take you hurtling towards Demon Grave Robbers which is another solid slab of death! Next song is the highlight for me Holy Innocent Cemetery has some mid-tempo sections that really fill the song out well and has a catchy chorus thrown in for good measure! Exo Possession is probably the weakest track on offer so far as it’s a bit slow a meandering and doesn’t really go anywhere or add anything to the whole feel of what’s been previously, and all it seems to do is slow down the momentum that has been building and is a bit messy in places, which is a shame really but after that we are into Salvage Or Die, which is two minutes of pure thrash fury in the early Megadeth vein and is a really smart move as you forget what has come before it, another highlight!
Then before we know it album closer Destination Earth is here, and this has is another slow and brooding track building up with chugging mid-tempo riffs but unfortunately this is another track that kind of goes nowhere and is probably a strange choice for a closing track as its without a doubt the slowest track on the whole album? Listening to Evil In is really a bit of a frustrating affair as over the short amount of time you get with them on Age Of Immortal Darkness you can see that there is some real potential for some good music here, but they also make some odd song and musical choices in some places that seems to hold this album back and makes it not jump out at you as you would expect. With time they will no doubt get everything together and make those better choices and I look forward to hearing more from them in the future. 6/10
Moonshade – As We Set The Skies Ablaze (Self Released) [Matt Cook]
Guest appearances can enhance a song every bit as likely as it can sink the entire ship. Think of when you bring a mate with you to the pub only to have them leave with a hook-up while you sit there alone with your schmenzer in your hand. Moonshade’s As We Set The Skies Ablaze features guest vocals from Sandra Oliveira (Perennial Dawn, Blame Zeus), who peppers two tracks with angelic vigor and hellacious harmony. Oliveira takes charge before an all-instruments eruption ensues (A Treatise Of Human Nature). Additionally, Artemis is melodically astute, rife with thick and voluminous riffing.
Ricardo chips in with eloquently berserk and satisfying harsh sections, as is also the case on the title track, his strongest performance. But three songs in and therein lies the conundrum: there are six tracks left, except the tank has already been emptied. The flash and pugnacity taper off. Ricardo displays an animalistic proclivity on Epitaph, although Everlasting Horizons appropriate drones on longer than hoped for. Pedro Quelhas and Luís Dias lay down hearty licks and serviceable intro pieces, but without the captivating contribution from Oliveira – who is unsurprisingly also a vocal coach - the rest of the album plays out like eating dessert before the main course.
A highly regarded tone was set (perhaps too early), only to see the remainder flutter into nothingness. As We Set The Skies Ablaze emerges with promise and anticipation, before petering out, leaving the listener alone at the bar only 10 minutes into the night, one wing man down and a deflated feeling of dissatisfaction. Not to speak from experience or anything. 6/10
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