Reviews: Abrams, High Tone Son Of A Bitch, Sedate Illusion, Heart Attack (Reviews By Rich Piva & Matt Bladen)

Abrams - In The Dark (Small Stone Records) [Rich Piva]

Abrams fall into that stylistic sweet spot of 90s grunge, stoner rock, and psychedelic influences that bands say they bring to the table but rarely can pull it off where they are hitting all those elements synergistically. Abrams has historically been a band that consistently can, and with their latest effort, In The Dark, they may have created their best album to date. 

The Denver, Colorado (now) four piece have perfectly captured the sounds of 90s heroes that they call out in their bio (Failure, Quicksand and Hum which are good reference points) but put their own Abrams touches on their songs adding more psych leanings than you heard from those 90s legends. I think of the three bands mentioned there I would call out Fantastic Planet era Failure as the closest reference point, but I also hear some of the later period 90s Seattle sound and a newer band like Sandveiss as a comparison. 

Regardless of who they remind me of, In The Dark absolutely kills, and you know this right of the bat with the opening track, Like Hell which could be an outtake from Fantastic Planet. The difference here is the tempo, where Abrams pretty much drives ahead on more of their tracks while Failure tend to slow it down a bit more often than not. Run Like Hell is just a straight up ripper. Death Tripper would have been a radio rock hit in 1995 and should be today too. 

 There is a bit of a QOTSA groove going on and a catchy as hell chorus paired with some excellent psych drenched guitar work. I am also hearing some of the massively underrated 90s band Chavez on In The Dark as well. Abrams does veer close to the alt rock mainstream with songs like Better Living and Fever Dreams, which reminds me a bit of Chevelle. 

In The Clouds is where we get some 90s heaviness with a bit of a later period Soundgarden feel. This may be my favourite track on an album chock full of excellent ones. Tracks like Body Pillow and Leather are also tracks that lean towards Failure in the best possible way but with a bit of a more modern-day heavy rock feel to it. Black Tar Mountain is a great up-tempo closer with a sweet breakdown that brings that 90s alt rock feel home in the best possible way.

I am all about the new Abrams record and you should be too. They leverage not just the very well know influences from the 90s, but some of those more influential bands that took rock to a new place and continue to influence these bands today. Abrams has produced a top notch, potential top 20 AOTY record with In The Dark. 9/10

High Tone Son Of A Bitch - Live At The Hallowed Hills (Ripple Music) [Rich Piva]

Another example of why Ripple music rules. I had no idea who High Tone Son Of A Bitch was prior to the announcement of this live in the studio release from the band. So, upon announcement, the research commenced. These guys are a supergroup of sorts with connection to the deity named Matt Pike (more on him later) and other luminaries is the stoner/doom community. 

They have released a series of absolute killer EPs, which Live At The Hallowed Hills consists of live versions of some. They do a killer doom infused cover of the Alan Parsons hit Eye In The Sky which is a must listen. So, I did my due diligence going in so I could be prepared for the sonic blast I was about to be hit with, but HTSOB has takes their material to the next level live, and this record blew my head clean off.

Live At The Hallowed Hills has HTSOB in their element which is turning shit up to 11, but never without some melody (for a doom band) and nuance. Can doom be catchy? If so, then the two opening tracks, Silhouette (with a ripping solo from Rob Wrong of Witch Mountain and The Skull) and Wicked Threads are just that. I love the vocals on this record, especially given how great they sound live, but the keys make what HTSOB is blasting standout. 

These guys are pretty much a collective, so you always get a wide array of guests when they play. I love that community mentality, and it works so great with Andrea Vidal of the also amazing Holy Grove performing vocals on the epic and emotional track John The Baptist. The aforementioned Mr. Pike lends his talents to the ripping cover of one of his bands, Kalas, track, Monuments To Ruins which must have been amazing to be in the room for. Great set and a perfectly produced live record that sounds top notch.

This is meant to be listened to at very high volumes as is anything that HTSOB puts out there. But do not lose any of the details amongst all the riffage and doomy goodness. Soak each track in and pay attention to the details; the keys, the collaboration, the complexities, just sit back and let it take you over. This is an epic release and I hope the HTSOB collective hops in a van and brings this experience to a town near you and me. A must listen. 9/10

Sedate Illusion - Time Is Not The End - Black Untold (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

The progressive metal band from Corfu led by vocal/synth/keys Vangelis Kakarougkas have been dealing out their synth heavy style of prog for a while now having five previous albums behind them the latest released in 2020. In that time they have now written this record, essentially an album split into two EP's, thus the split name. Time Is Not The End is more progressive, with an upbeat anthemic nature while Black Untold is more darker and introspective. 

It's almost like two parts of a psyche brought together meaning that Sedate Illusion can use their exploratory attitude to create differing soundscapes for each. As per normal it's Kakarougkas' keys/synths and aching vocals that lead the songs, giving a cinematic feel as strings, piano and electronics are all combined. Though of course he's backed by the technically excellent, undulating grooving rhythm section of Vangelis Glavinas (bass) and Andreas Alamanos (drums), Anastasios Kibizis meanwhile is a guitar maestro, duelling with Kakarougkas throughout this 8 track slice of modern progressive metal. 

On the 'up' side rockers such as Does It Matter and the more dramatic Time Is Not The End set the tone of this first EP, while on the 'down' side Breathe has some trip hop to start us off leading into an instrumental but the real climax I'd say is the reverberating, industrial tinged Black Untold which features guest vocals from Lia Kolita. There is a much darker tone on this second half for sure and for me I enjoyed this side more. Still another quality progressive release from Sedate Illusion. 8/10

Heart Attack - Final Attack (Symmetric Records) [Matt Bladen]

Founded in 2010 by singer George Drimilis and Sterogois Ntikos, Heart Attack are a band that draw heavily from the classic/trad metal sound with European power metal influences too. Though their 2015 was more akin to classic rock, this follow up is very much for Fans of bands such as Hammerfall, Accept, Helloween etc. Still led by Drimilis (and seemingly without a drummer now) Heart Attack have teamed up with Bob Katsionis for their sophomore album, Katsionis producing/mixing the record at his Sound Symmetry Studios as well as adding the keys and guitar solos. He tips of the skillful guitar work of guitarists Steve G and John Morris as the rhythms are driven by Nikos Michalakakos' bass. 

Lyrically it's epic fantasy mixed with modern politics and social issues, Songs such as Warriors Return and Last Samurai from the former Time = God (which along with Broken Sceptre is very Helloween) and Universal Mind from the latter. There's also lighter moments such as Bring Metal Back - The Final Attack where classic metal legends fight modern metal stars for supremacy. It's very silly and done as a less than serious tribute to heavy metal in general but it's still a great song to raise your fist and shout along too especially for metal aficionados (read: nerds) such as myself to try and pick up all the references. 

With some special guest vocals from Lila Moka, I do hope that this isn't the last album from Heart Attack as there's still a lot of potential in their anthemic heavy metal sound! 7/10