It’s been 3 years since The Acacia Strain released new music and to make up for that time away, they have decided to treat us to a double release. One, Step Into The Light has what seems to be more straight forward songs and the other Failure Will Follow is 3 tracks that clock in at almost 40 minutes and we all know about my attention span but that’s what they have recorded and that’s what I need to review. I will have 2 separate reviews but give the albums a combined score just to complicate my life a bit.
Step Into The Light
Flourishing starts everything off in a gloriously down tuned and droning fashion that mixes the dark and emotive side of The Acacia Strain with the furious anger they always show and its all done in just over 1 minute, Calf’s Blood comes out of the blocks swinging and settles down into a bass lead groove that hits a guitar lick so delicious you want to eat it and then grooves and smashes its way in and out before fading away on a line of noise, Chain continues the non-stop onslaught and is basically a grinding death metal song but done with enough of the signature sludge that they never stray too far from what you have come to know of The Acacia Strain.
Weathers - Are We Having Fun (Sumerian Records) [Zak Skane]
The quote Alt Metalers Weathers have released their angst filled new album Are We Having Fun. The album stems from classic pop rock to retro styled rock. From their opening track One Of A Kind the band brings in retro sounds from bit crushed lead guitar tracks to 90’s sounding fuzzy rhythms to Moog synths sounds.
Step Into The Light
Flourishing starts everything off in a gloriously down tuned and droning fashion that mixes the dark and emotive side of The Acacia Strain with the furious anger they always show and its all done in just over 1 minute, Calf’s Blood comes out of the blocks swinging and settles down into a bass lead groove that hits a guitar lick so delicious you want to eat it and then grooves and smashes its way in and out before fading away on a line of noise, Chain continues the non-stop onslaught and is basically a grinding death metal song but done with enough of the signature sludge that they never stray too far from what you have come to know of The Acacia Strain.
Fresh Bones finally clocks in at over 2 minutes but that does nothing to dumb down the fury that is being unleashed on you and you feel almost claustrophobic because the song just envelopes you and suffocates any hope out of you in a glorious cacophony of noise and brutality, Teeth Of The Cursed Dog is probably the most recognizable sounding song so far and follows the later path of the sound they have been creating which is slow droning riffs that mesmerize and brutalize in equal fashion, distorted vocals and a huge drum and bass mix to make everything sound ten times heavier than it should be.
Open Wound then dials back into the grinding death vein and pummels all the way with some nicely placed double bass drumming and the riffs are a thing of distressing beauty, Sinkhole begins with a stripped back sound of bass drums and vocals and then when the guitars do come into play they are stripped back and let everything else take the lead midway, it kicks into gear but without ever being out of control, the way they measure and focus the attack on this track is remarkable.
Is This Really Happening is another familiar sounding track that could be picked off any later day The Acacia Strain release and that’s not to talk it down in anyway, if anything it helps the whole flow and feel of the album and reminds you just how good they sound still, 20 plus years into their career. Untended Graves is another full throttle track but is more hardcore infused than anything else that has been on show so far and again throws another shade of violence into the melting pot, None Of Us Asked to be Here closes part 1 of the album on a glorious wave of subtle yet savage ugliness and has a mix of a bit of everything that has been on this album so far and shows us that when they are on point there aren’t many better bands in the game than this lot.
Failure Will Follow
Next up but as a totally separate entity Pillar Of Salt starts with an atmospheric and haunting beauty that then drops into a big sludge infused riff that twist and contorts its way into your mind followed by a droning and slow rhythm that is a showcase of how to create a feeling of distress and loss within music the whole track interweaves these feelings and makes for a thoroughly uncomfortable listen throughout, highlighted especially in the closing minute or 2.
Failure Will Follow
Next up but as a totally separate entity Pillar Of Salt starts with an atmospheric and haunting beauty that then drops into a big sludge infused riff that twist and contorts its way into your mind followed by a droning and slow rhythm that is a showcase of how to create a feeling of distress and loss within music the whole track interweaves these feelings and makes for a thoroughly uncomfortable listen throughout, highlighted especially in the closing minute or 2.
Next up is the gargantuan 17-minute Bog Walker which starts with a subdued but groove infused stoner riff that almost lifts the mood slightly but you know there is no light on offer here because as soon as the main body of the song kicks in its back to the misery and suffering with the same beginning riff slowed down and repeated throughout but mixed in with some equally depressive tones this is not for the faint hearted and takes a lot of dedication to put yourself through this much unnecessary punishment but as someone who doesn’t usually listen to this style of music there is always enough to keep me listening which is what is needed to fully invest this much of your time.
It falls on Basin Of Vows to round out this part of proceedings which of course is done in a suitably slow, dark and bleak manor out of the tracks on this album this part of the release this is probably the best as it just has the most urgency, it still clocks in at over 10 minutes though but its just a massive wave of misery that drags you along for the ride and spits you out at the end, a truly wonderfully bleak ending.
In conclusion, I preferred Step Into The Light as it was just a savage and punishing listen with a decent mix of everything the makes a great The Acacia Strain album, however I really enjoyed Failure Will Follow as it follows on and creates another side to the story and the whole feel of the 2 together is something that really needs to be listened to so it can be appreciated in full. It may be the length that puts people off and makes them not bothered but, if you give this a chance then you will not be disappointed, it’s an absolute must listen and with all the heaviness you expect but also mixed with a truly bleak beauty that will leave you crushed, dumbfounded, and lost in equal measures.
In conclusion, I preferred Step Into The Light as it was just a savage and punishing listen with a decent mix of everything the makes a great The Acacia Strain album, however I really enjoyed Failure Will Follow as it follows on and creates another side to the story and the whole feel of the 2 together is something that really needs to be listened to so it can be appreciated in full. It may be the length that puts people off and makes them not bothered but, if you give this a chance then you will not be disappointed, it’s an absolute must listen and with all the heaviness you expect but also mixed with a truly bleak beauty that will leave you crushed, dumbfounded, and lost in equal measures.
Stunning work and 100% recommended. 10/10
The quote Alt Metalers Weathers have released their angst filled new album Are We Having Fun. The album stems from classic pop rock to retro styled rock. From their opening track One Of A Kind the band brings in retro sounds from bit crushed lead guitar tracks to 90’s sounding fuzzy rhythms to Moog synths sounds.
The Tik Tok sounding ALL CAPS brings in the Modern Pop Punk production with layers of sampled pitch altered vocal samples, bright punchy drums, whilst She Hates Me bring influences from both Blink 182 and the 1975 with delayed riddled guitars, throbbing synths, walking bass lines to carry along the anxty driven choruses. Nothing To Say brings in The Cure and The Offspring vibes with muted drums, phased out guitars and 80s sounding lead guitars. The acoustic ballad Goodbye To My Friends that will get the feels going and lighters flailing.
Even though this is definitely classed as pop rock, this ten track album can take you from past and present with it’s modern and retro mash up. From ALL CAPS to Nothin To Say this band will make you feel like you are wearing your best Atticus T-shirt whilst wearing some classic 80’s high tops when starring in a Netflix Teen drama. 7/10.
Death Of Giants - Ventesorg (Self Released) [Paul Scoble]
There are many reasons to start a musical project. Simply wanting to make music and have a creative outlet, must be the most common, along with desires to move music forward, or create groundbreaking new art. Sometimes the reasons behind certain projects are much more personal, Death Of Giants is one of these projects. Death Of Giants is a musical tribute from Morten Søbyskogen’s to his late wife Sandra, who lost her fight against Cancer in May 2018 aged just 31. This album is his eulogy to his wife and their life together, and a coping mechanism, to allow him to deal with his grief. The title of the album, Ventesorg, means Anticipatory Grief.
Since 2005, Morten Søbyskogen has been the singer and main composer of progressive metal band Frail Grounds, as well as collaborating on other projects. In Death Of Giants Morten plays most of the instruments and sings, he is joined by guest artists on Ventesorg; Magnus Nødset plays drums, Sondre Søbyskogen performs guest vocals on the song Distance, The song A Sense Of Urgency features a solo by Lars Ivar Stranden, a solo on the song Only The Good Die Young is performed by Jack Roger Olsen and the Cello on the song Distance is played by Ingeborg Skomedal Torvanger.
After reading Morten’s story I must admit to being a little nervous when I first listened to the album, if I’m being honest what I was worried about was that the album might not be very good. As a reviewer I have to be honest about an album, having something as tragic as what happened to Morten and his family happen to you, does not necessarily mean you can write and record good music, what was I going to do if the album was shit? Well, luckily for this reviewer Ventesorg is a very good, very heartfelt, very affecting album of Funeral and Epic Doom, which Morten Søbyskogen has chosen to refer to as Grief Metal.
The album starts with a very short introduction called Premonition that features keyboards and vocals. Next comes the first full track, Was It All A Dream, which concerns Sandra’s diagnosis. The song has two main styles, one that is very heavy and dense with harsh vocals, and this is juxtaposed by sections that are softer but are full of melody and very sad tunes with clean vocals, Morten has a good clean voice and this allows you to hear the lyrics clearly. A Sense Of Urgency is closer to epic doom, there is a very heavy and angry feeling section in the middle of the song, but that returns to the huge and melodic epic doom. The song is very emotional, it is about being told by Doctors that Sandra was terminal and had less than two years to live. The chorus has the line “How can we live a lifetime in less than two years” in it.
Next comes the song Distance, which features a lush strings introduction, before going into big, heavy melodic doom. The strings adds some beautiful melody, and richness to the sound that is very affecting. The song has a faster mid-paced section, but this is mainly about emotional melodic doom.
The next track is a bit of curve ball, and was not something I was expecting; a cover version of the Iron Maiden track Only The Good Die Young. When I first heard this I thought it was as incongruous as you are probably thinking it is now, however, after giving it a proper listen it does fit the album. This version is much slower than the original and the chorus has become a staggeringly huge and heavy affair that is wider than the sky. Lyrically it does fit as well, and it allows you to hear the vocals better, so it is a little unusual but it is a really good cover and done in this way, it is apt.
The album comes to an end with the song Das Ende Ist Da. This track is very heavy Funeral doom with some synths in places giving it a little bit of a Mesmur feel. The song is about Sandra's death and Mortens musings on how will deal with the future. The lyrics go through the minutiae of a life coming to an end, the details making this feel so real, immediate and almost unbearable.
Ventesorg is staggeringly powerful album. Morten Søbyskogen has shown us his grief and sadness at his wife's passing in a totally unflinching, and courageous way. The amount of pain contained in this album is palpable, it is so full of sadness and sorrow that in places it is almost too painful to bare. This album is so affecting I would advise caution if you have been recently bereaved, but after reading what inspired the album, it could not have been any other way. In many ways my main emotion from listening to it is that I hope Morten will be ok, and can find a way to move on with his life and be happy again. 8/10
Hex A.D. - Delightful Sharp Edges (Apollon Records) [Rich Piva]
Hex A.D. are a prolific prog/doom/metal act out of Larvik, Norway that bring the kitchen sink to their records. These guys go in all sorts of directions, and this holds true on their latest album, Delightful Sharp Edges. There is a lot going on here for a long time…lets see if it can keep my attention over the sixty plus minutes of the album. Historically they have for the most part been able to keep my attention, but you do find the band straying in some crazy directions to the point where you just want to pull them back to focus on what they do best.
For the first twelve minutes plus of the album we are on target, with the great opening track The Memory Division. This is some straight up heavy prog with some killer organ work and clean vocals throughout. This is an excellent track and one the proggies are going to love. I love this track as the set up for what is to come, almost the overture of this record. Murder In Slow Motion and …By A Thread are shorter but continue the prog leanings of this record, which trends towards being much more mellow than their other offerings to start off. But this record is a long journey with lots of twists and turns. Speaking of turns, we get Nar Herren Tar Deg I Nakken (in English, when the master takes you by the neck) which is a mostly instrumental with some Danish spoken work thrown in. I have no idea what he is saying but the music is cool.
It’s a bit long, a bit scattered, and a bit confusing, but that is not to say Delightful Sharp Edges was not a fun listen, because it was. This may be a case where I need more time with the album, or I am just not prog enough to understand, but if you are a fan of Hex A.D.’s prior work or dig the metal (but not too metal) leaning prog stuff check this out but be ready to invest in it to get the most out of it possible. 7/10
Death Of Giants - Ventesorg (Self Released) [Paul Scoble]
There are many reasons to start a musical project. Simply wanting to make music and have a creative outlet, must be the most common, along with desires to move music forward, or create groundbreaking new art. Sometimes the reasons behind certain projects are much more personal, Death Of Giants is one of these projects. Death Of Giants is a musical tribute from Morten Søbyskogen’s to his late wife Sandra, who lost her fight against Cancer in May 2018 aged just 31. This album is his eulogy to his wife and their life together, and a coping mechanism, to allow him to deal with his grief. The title of the album, Ventesorg, means Anticipatory Grief.
Since 2005, Morten Søbyskogen has been the singer and main composer of progressive metal band Frail Grounds, as well as collaborating on other projects. In Death Of Giants Morten plays most of the instruments and sings, he is joined by guest artists on Ventesorg; Magnus Nødset plays drums, Sondre Søbyskogen performs guest vocals on the song Distance, The song A Sense Of Urgency features a solo by Lars Ivar Stranden, a solo on the song Only The Good Die Young is performed by Jack Roger Olsen and the Cello on the song Distance is played by Ingeborg Skomedal Torvanger.
After reading Morten’s story I must admit to being a little nervous when I first listened to the album, if I’m being honest what I was worried about was that the album might not be very good. As a reviewer I have to be honest about an album, having something as tragic as what happened to Morten and his family happen to you, does not necessarily mean you can write and record good music, what was I going to do if the album was shit? Well, luckily for this reviewer Ventesorg is a very good, very heartfelt, very affecting album of Funeral and Epic Doom, which Morten Søbyskogen has chosen to refer to as Grief Metal.
The album starts with a very short introduction called Premonition that features keyboards and vocals. Next comes the first full track, Was It All A Dream, which concerns Sandra’s diagnosis. The song has two main styles, one that is very heavy and dense with harsh vocals, and this is juxtaposed by sections that are softer but are full of melody and very sad tunes with clean vocals, Morten has a good clean voice and this allows you to hear the lyrics clearly. A Sense Of Urgency is closer to epic doom, there is a very heavy and angry feeling section in the middle of the song, but that returns to the huge and melodic epic doom. The song is very emotional, it is about being told by Doctors that Sandra was terminal and had less than two years to live. The chorus has the line “How can we live a lifetime in less than two years” in it.
Next comes the song Distance, which features a lush strings introduction, before going into big, heavy melodic doom. The strings adds some beautiful melody, and richness to the sound that is very affecting. The song has a faster mid-paced section, but this is mainly about emotional melodic doom.
The next track is a bit of curve ball, and was not something I was expecting; a cover version of the Iron Maiden track Only The Good Die Young. When I first heard this I thought it was as incongruous as you are probably thinking it is now, however, after giving it a proper listen it does fit the album. This version is much slower than the original and the chorus has become a staggeringly huge and heavy affair that is wider than the sky. Lyrically it does fit as well, and it allows you to hear the vocals better, so it is a little unusual but it is a really good cover and done in this way, it is apt.
The album comes to an end with the song Das Ende Ist Da. This track is very heavy Funeral doom with some synths in places giving it a little bit of a Mesmur feel. The song is about Sandra's death and Mortens musings on how will deal with the future. The lyrics go through the minutiae of a life coming to an end, the details making this feel so real, immediate and almost unbearable.
Ventesorg is staggeringly powerful album. Morten Søbyskogen has shown us his grief and sadness at his wife's passing in a totally unflinching, and courageous way. The amount of pain contained in this album is palpable, it is so full of sadness and sorrow that in places it is almost too painful to bare. This album is so affecting I would advise caution if you have been recently bereaved, but after reading what inspired the album, it could not have been any other way. In many ways my main emotion from listening to it is that I hope Morten will be ok, and can find a way to move on with his life and be happy again. 8/10
Hex A.D. - Delightful Sharp Edges (Apollon Records) [Rich Piva]
Hex A.D. are a prolific prog/doom/metal act out of Larvik, Norway that bring the kitchen sink to their records. These guys go in all sorts of directions, and this holds true on their latest album, Delightful Sharp Edges. There is a lot going on here for a long time…lets see if it can keep my attention over the sixty plus minutes of the album. Historically they have for the most part been able to keep my attention, but you do find the band straying in some crazy directions to the point where you just want to pull them back to focus on what they do best.
For the first twelve minutes plus of the album we are on target, with the great opening track The Memory Division. This is some straight up heavy prog with some killer organ work and clean vocals throughout. This is an excellent track and one the proggies are going to love. I love this track as the set up for what is to come, almost the overture of this record. Murder In Slow Motion and …By A Thread are shorter but continue the prog leanings of this record, which trends towards being much more mellow than their other offerings to start off. But this record is a long journey with lots of twists and turns. Speaking of turns, we get Nar Herren Tar Deg I Nakken (in English, when the master takes you by the neck) which is a mostly instrumental with some Danish spoken work thrown in. I have no idea what he is saying but the music is cool.
Fife tracks in and we are at about 35 minutes, so prepare to stay awhile with Delightful Sharp Edges, especially when the nine-plus minute Radio Terror starts. It is a slow, slow burn that includes bongos that takes about four minutes before the rock kicks in, with some cool organ that you get in most of the songs on here. Cut this track down to five minutes and it may be my favorite on the album. There is a concept happening here, but I am struggling to grasp it. Maybe the more prog of us will catch on to the story more than I am able to. Another skippable instrumental interlude leads into Throwing Down The Gauntlet which has a cool riff and has some Deep Purple meets Voivod vibes to it.
The Burmese Python is another song that could have been trimmed by a couple of minutes as we have eight plus minutes of a track that takes four to get going. I don’t need to rock all the time but there is a balance between a lead in effectively getting you to the meat of a track or that lead in creating a drag on the rest of the album, but when you get to them rocking out it is pretty great, especially the organ solo. The album closes with another interlude into the heaviest track on the album, Hell Today, which is much more like their early work with some screams and is the most ominous and metal track on the record but was also a few minutes too long. Its counterpart, Gone Tomorrow could have been the three minutes I would take off the previous track because it is a pretty sweet instrumental.
It’s a bit long, a bit scattered, and a bit confusing, but that is not to say Delightful Sharp Edges was not a fun listen, because it was. This may be a case where I need more time with the album, or I am just not prog enough to understand, but if you are a fan of Hex A.D.’s prior work or dig the metal (but not too metal) leaning prog stuff check this out but be ready to invest in it to get the most out of it possible. 7/10
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