Full disclosure here, I listened to the self-titled Revocation album back in 2013 and didn’t much enjoy their mixture of thrash and death metal. In retrospect I can’t even remember why it just didn’t engage me. So, pleasantly surprised am I to give the game away in the first paragraph and say that Netherheaven has impressed itself upon me quite significantly. Still based around that thrash/death core this release has a rather textured feel amongst the smashing brutality and delivers impressively in its scope.
From the beginning of Diabolical Majesty with its splendid rolling drums there’s very little quarter given in terms of aggression, but there’s such a significant amount going on from track to track that the album demands repeated listens. For example the second time through I started to really notice the clarity of David Davidson’s (great name) vocal approach, sounding equally raw but also intelligible so that when you hear the throaty gasps of “Champions of hell have been invoked to crush the cursed creatures of the Christian right” it has a decided impact.
On first inspection it is the furious nature of the album that appeals, take Strange And Eternal that begins with the very definition of a winding solo which unfurls into a frantic galloping guitar rhythm underpinned by a progressively aggressive drumming. Everything about the first half of the track is frantic and precise, then suddenly there’s an ascending breakdown riff that leads into the solo section.
From the beginning of Diabolical Majesty with its splendid rolling drums there’s very little quarter given in terms of aggression, but there’s such a significant amount going on from track to track that the album demands repeated listens. For example the second time through I started to really notice the clarity of David Davidson’s (great name) vocal approach, sounding equally raw but also intelligible so that when you hear the throaty gasps of “Champions of hell have been invoked to crush the cursed creatures of the Christian right” it has a decided impact.
On first inspection it is the furious nature of the album that appeals, take Strange And Eternal that begins with the very definition of a winding solo which unfurls into a frantic galloping guitar rhythm underpinned by a progressively aggressive drumming. Everything about the first half of the track is frantic and precise, then suddenly there’s an ascending breakdown riff that leads into the solo section.
On repeated listens though the strange, intense vocal stylings towards the of this banger start to sink their hooks in. The Intervening Abyss Of Untold Aeons is curious in that, much like its song title, it leans heavily into black metal territory, particularly Wolf’s Lair Abyss-era Mayhem, that same kind of bleak melody insinuated in the viciously picked lines. Unlike Mayhem, Revocation stick a Cynic-styled progressive section smack bang in the middle. Who does that? Who does that this seamlessly?
The strangest track on the album is surely The 9th Chasm, this is the where the worlds of heaven and hell collide in the most obvious way, it moves from as unsettling progressive section that stumbles along in off-kilter fashion and gives way to the lengthy and mesmerising guitar lead that itself goes from the heavenly to the raucous in its over-a-minute length. From here it takes in knuckle dragging primacy, textured progression and closes out on a staccato ascension.
This is one of those releases that’s hard to really describe clearly, there’s so much going on that I find my head spinning at times trying to keep up. I look at the page and a half of notes on my pad next to me, just from that first listen, and try to recall what I was writing about because since then I’ve picked up on more and more and at this point “Godforsaken…wicked guitar harmony section!” seems like weeks ago.
The strangest track on the album is surely The 9th Chasm, this is the where the worlds of heaven and hell collide in the most obvious way, it moves from as unsettling progressive section that stumbles along in off-kilter fashion and gives way to the lengthy and mesmerising guitar lead that itself goes from the heavenly to the raucous in its over-a-minute length. From here it takes in knuckle dragging primacy, textured progression and closes out on a staccato ascension.
This is one of those releases that’s hard to really describe clearly, there’s so much going on that I find my head spinning at times trying to keep up. I look at the page and a half of notes on my pad next to me, just from that first listen, and try to recall what I was writing about because since then I’ve picked up on more and more and at this point “Godforsaken…wicked guitar harmony section!” seems like weeks ago.
If there is a downside it’s that it can almost feel like too much; how can one absorb something so dense? It’s a small criticism though, because the joy here is in discovery and in how many ways Revocation can assault your ears. 9/10
Tad Morose – March Of The Obsequious (GMR Music Group) [David G]
Ole Devil & The Spirit Chasers - Apocalypse Blues (Apollon Records) [Matt Bladen]
Hailing from Oslo in Norway and featuring members of Cumshot, Gothminister, Tsjuder, Narrenwind while frontman Ole Teigen has paid his dues in Superlynx, Dødheimsgard, Teigen Munkvold. Now with one exception this means bugger all to me so I can only judge the music that's on this second record. Unlike many of the bands they have been in before, that come from the black metal scene, Ole Devil & The Spirit Chasers are a rough, end of the world blues band in the same vein of Tom Waits, Nick Cave and even Captain Beefheart.
These comparisons coming mainly from the liberal use of sax on the title track, the smoky Mouth Of Hell, and the grooving dark jazz of Soundwave Surfer which is full Beefheart oddness. There's very little else I can say about this album, if you like that Beefheart and Waits sound with a bit of the occult then you'll like Apocalypse Blues. That's about the size of it. 5/10
Tad Morose – March Of The Obsequious (GMR Music Group) [David G]
Tad Morose, now there’s a name that takes me back to the Century Media of late-90’s early-00’s with a class leading roster of Power/Progressive Metal. Then this Swedish five-piece were nestled in amongst groups such as Nevermore, Iced Earth, Jag Panzer, Angel Dust and Radakka. Now on GMR Music this is the band’s tenth album, which is certainly a testament to their dedication/ It's quite a modern brew of the style that the band are playing these days, crunching guitars and wailing vocals present, but the tracks are quite tidy. The opening title track to this release is a nice summation of approach, under four minutes in length and varied in tempo it delivers a rather compact experience.
Opening with a thumping drum intro, a spiraling riff and then bang into the verse; March Of The Obsequious is an effective number that acts as a nice mission statement. That is not to say there isn’t plenty of flair here - it takes 41 seconds for the first solo to fly - but the songwriting feels tight. I’m routinely struck by the vocal range of Ronny Hemlin, be it the Dane-styled drawl of Phantasm to the histrionic wails in Pandemonium.
I would go so far as to say the best songs on this release are the ones that really play off those vocal dynamics. For example, Witches Dance, with its slow verse is given presence by the writhing between the raw power of the lower register, and the scarily piercing highs. Likewise Dying has a pleasantly effective chorus highlighted by punctuating vocal hooks over a mid-paced powerchord chug (and bonus points for the neck-climbing lead).
Sadly, the second half of the record is less inspiring, for example A Quilt Of Shame despite rather nice bridge feels stodgy and laboured. Closer This Perfect Storm starts with a rather natty, choppy riff but soon drifts into this rather ponderous and un-affecting clean verse; the chorus attempts to kick some dirt up again but lacks the presence and dynamism of earlier cuts. Taken in its whole, March Of The Obsequious is a decent album that in moments impresses in its contained power but also disappoints in how it seems to lose steam and trails off. 6/10
Ole Devil & The Spirit Chasers - Apocalypse Blues (Apollon Records) [Matt Bladen]
Hailing from Oslo in Norway and featuring members of Cumshot, Gothminister, Tsjuder, Narrenwind while frontman Ole Teigen has paid his dues in Superlynx, Dødheimsgard, Teigen Munkvold. Now with one exception this means bugger all to me so I can only judge the music that's on this second record. Unlike many of the bands they have been in before, that come from the black metal scene, Ole Devil & The Spirit Chasers are a rough, end of the world blues band in the same vein of Tom Waits, Nick Cave and even Captain Beefheart.
These comparisons coming mainly from the liberal use of sax on the title track, the smoky Mouth Of Hell, and the grooving dark jazz of Soundwave Surfer which is full Beefheart oddness. There's very little else I can say about this album, if you like that Beefheart and Waits sound with a bit of the occult then you'll like Apocalypse Blues. That's about the size of it. 5/10
Nightblade - Hope To Be There (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
Yeah, no sometimes, quantity is not is a watchword for quality. Hope To Be There is the third album in three years from Brit rockers Nightblade, unfortunately it's the most basic kind of store-bought rock you can think of. It's pretty by the numbers across the 12 songs here. Gruff vocals are used on the pacier tracks such as Head In The Clouds and Erratic, while there's a bit of drawl that come on the slower tracks such as Something Inside but nothing is really that inspiring.
That's not to do the band down, musically they know how to perform a rock song, there's enough crunch to the guitars, it's paced OK as an album so I can't fault the performance much. It's just for me there are a million bands playing music like this across the country so while they have received kudos from various other publications, unfortunately I can only really go on what I can hear and I lost interest at about track 6. I'm sure they'll get a following at their next HRH event or something similar but I won't be there no matter how much they hope. 5/10
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