No Terror In The Bang - Heal (Klonosphere Records) [Patches]
Progressive metal/ cinematic metal band No Terror In The Bang release their second album Heal.
In recent times a lot of the more interesting side of metal to cross my audio appendages appears to have arrived from France, and this one is no different.
The album opens with Hostile a meticulously composed mishmash of cinematic circus chromatics, horror inspired discordant stabs, ethereal phantasmagorical dark fantasy piano lines and of course… crushing metal guitars and drums.
Retch’s immediate metal groove instantly rattles your skull into a familiar head jerking frenzy, using a glitching effect on the guitar-line reminding me of the band IGORRR … I don’t get to say that often. The synth takes a mysteries of the unexplained role until the technical groove riffs continue and morph into a semitone back and forth ostinato perfect for representing the states of madness. The conducted chaos is brought down to an eerie cinematic, rising steadily in intensity until a glitchy kick you in the face breakdown climax. Insolent feels like a more secure relaxed place escalating like 28 Days later composer John Murphy collided with a wah driven Nu Metal guitar hook.
No Terror takes a respite from the violence… “until the doom music kicks in”! Dropped, driven dives of bended metal cut through the peace in a beautifully Mick Gordon kind of way. Lulled By The Waves does what a good composition should do and lulls with softer tone and texture as its title would suggest. Blackened chords crash with cymbals as the crescendo takes us to a darker dimension, directed effectively by drummer and composer Alexis Damien.
As Palindrome begins I patiently wait with crossed fingers that they’ll play the motif backwards from the middle of the song onwards. Well, it wasn’t played backwards but it was digitally reversed. which it would appear has a more haunting effect anyway. Bravo! OD initial thoughts .. Mastodon and Queens Of The Stone Age meet Pendulum. I don’t care if that doesn’t make sense, listen to it. Halfway through, the song hits another spiritual wall of sound scaping, if not just to take a breather before getting lost once gain in the peculiar cocktail.
Title track Heal starts with the typical dark fairy tale piano motif you’d find in old horror movies and bands like Cradle Of Filth. This song has an unusually accessible characteristic for an album as experimental as this. The vocal melodies play very much into the commercial pop music area of the heavier side of things. It’s a strange thing having the title track as the first song in an album not to pull your attention. And so close to the end too. King With No Crown; Why do I feel like I’m listening to Rihanna singing over a broken creepy music box ? Another more simplistic piece to play us out perhaps. The heavy hooks seem a little more contrived and less interesting than the earlier sections of the album.
Ending with Warrior swells with both tranquillity and dread. And by the minute mark I realise I used my John Murphy reference too soon. Come on! I know we all wish we wrote that riff , but that was a little close. Luckily this modulation isn’t dwelled upon for long and I can focus again on the tasteful original material. But wait! It’s back at the 3:34 mark! Look now No Terror In The Bang ! One has decided to stay dry this January and that riff doesn’t just remind me of 28 Days Later. In the UK it was also used to promote Strongbow and now I fancy a drink! Actually, Strongbow is terrible. Thinking about that piss may even put me off the sauce until March. Blurrgg. You know what!? It’s a great little riff, I’m not even mad anymore. In fact.. It should appear on every album. The 28 Days Later riff is modulated and worked on further until a brutal Black Sabbath-esque lovely little breakdown.
No Terror In The Bang’s Heal is brilliant! A very impressive, powerful and pretty unique album. I wouldn’t say a lot of things are genius, but parts of this album certainly ride the line. The musicianship, composition and production value all have top marks. However, it is within the realms of the well produced that for me personally one can go too far. I didn’t speak too much on the vocals during this album. The rhythms and melodies are directed and composed in a way that compliments the chiaroscuro, progressive, idiosyncratic universe within these works.
Sofia Bortoluzzi does a terrific job of alternating between styles and character and clearly has both range and ability. My personal gripe, and it is one I am unable and unwilling to let go of Is… The amount of production, layers, effects and work have removed an organic sound. Saturated to the point that any personal vocal uniqueness is lost in the mix creating a safe yet all too familiar sounding vocal that ends up sounding like everybody else and it’s starting to get on my tits. (In general, not this specific case).
Which is a massive shame as it prevents this adroit and alluring accomplishment ingenious in its inditement from receiving a perfect 10. Best thing I’ve listened to this year so far, highly recommended 9/10.
The Darkest Moment - Love & Loss (Prime Collective) [James Jackson]
“I fill my hands with broken glass, just to help me feel something” And so begins Ashes, one of four rather melancholy tracks on the latest EP from The Darkest Moment, a Post Hardcore/Alternative act hailing from Denmark. There’s a haunting quality to the vocals that cover the theme, Love & Loss, with plenty of emotion; those harsh vocals found so frequently within Metalcore are present but not overbearing, adding an element of anguish to To An End, a song which is very similar in style to tracks from Dayseeker’s Dark Sun.
With only four tracks on offer with this release and as a first time listener to the band there isn’t really much to sink my teeth into, but that similarity to Dayseeker and indeed by the same standards, Bad Omens is more than good enough for me, that Pop like sentiment with moments of harder “Metal” within the songs on offer is almost a snapshot of my life in musical taste, I’m more than happy to go from Britney Spears to Obituary within the same playlist. Tragedy isn’t a cover, but rather another dive into the rollercoaster that is love & loss, it’s also the hardest hitting track, containing a breakdown which whilst expected (throughout) is also not entirely necessary.
This EP deals with that all consuming darker side of love, the deep emotional state that feels like it’s tearing you apart from inside, the loss of a loved one, the demise of a relationship and the overwhelming feeling of complete and utter despair. For my first review of the year, it’s a good start and I’ll more than likely be recommending this EP to a few likeminded friends.
Definitely one for fans of Dayseeker and Bad Omens. 7/10
Ravenstine – 2024 (Massacre Records) [Matt Bladen]
The second album from Ravenstine, cunningly titled 2024, is another selection of heavy rock tracks with a slightly proggy edge. A bit like the current Tobias Sammet projects, with a bit of Jorn and several Frontiers signees, this band has international membership but plays a very polished style of heavy rock driven by John A.B.C. Smith’s thick basslines, acoustic guitars and the lead vocal position he shares with Žanil Tataj- Žak.
Definitely one for fans of Dayseeker and Bad Omens. 7/10
Ravenstine – 2024 (Massacre Records) [Matt Bladen]
The second album from Ravenstine, cunningly titled 2024, is another selection of heavy rock tracks with a slightly proggy edge. A bit like the current Tobias Sammet projects, with a bit of Jorn and several Frontiers signees, this band has international membership but plays a very polished style of heavy rock driven by John A.B.C. Smith’s thick basslines, acoustic guitars and the lead vocal position he shares with Žanil Tataj- Žak.
Easy Come Easy Go the first track to show this off, but all the band members contribute harmony vocals except drummer Hanno Kerstan who recorded/mixed the record along with Smith. This album deals with darker emotions, touching on depression, aging and loss, but delivered with some hooky heavy rock. The extensive use of acoustics throughout the record made me think of Styx, Martin Sosna and Ian O'Sullivan adding the guitars and the latter some mandolin too.
The issue I have is that neither singer has a voice I want to listen to for a long time, plus the songs all follow a similar pattern, the ballad Signs By The Roadside suffering particularly from being too wordy and slow. 2024 is a record that will keep the lights on for Ravenstine as a band but I didn’t find it that interesting. 5/10
Cancer Christ - God Is Violence (Seeing Red Records) [Erick Willand]
My first review for 2024 (of course it’s already late…) is a unique costumed band that has apparently just sprung into existence rather than evolved over time. Yes, this review will be filled with plenty of word play and puns like that so buckle up kids and let's get our Sunday Bests on and go to … well … church I guess.
Proceedings begin with an intro (of course) called Creepy Hail Christ which is just some recorded TV evangelical praying and whispers of "Hail Christ" over a creepy piano bit, it’s short, unlike actual church service so, that’s a blessing. We are then immediately subject to a Punk infused Powerviolence attack called Do You Want To Go To Heaven that crushes your will to live in just under a minute and 25 seconds. It’s an angry sonic assault with some fun backing vocals that sound like choir boys got lost in a Techno club. Baptized In Piss And Shit just keeps this speed violence going and boasts the best chorus so far this year of “Do you want to see a dead body!” screamed out like a proper tent preacher on a righteous bender.
This blistering angry mix of Grind, Punk and Powerviolence demands the forward motion never stops so God Hates Cops blasts in with some fun swirling guitar worship and siren sound effects for extra flavour. Hail Christ is just 28 seconds of this over guitar feedback. I skip over that pretty fast and into Bring Back The Guillotine which instantly feels a bit different, as if a large bill was dropped in the donation tray and fired everyone up, tracking in at almost 3 minutes of grinding here. It doesn’t last however and as if tempted by some low hanging fruit Prosperity Preacher and Interlude both blast by in under a minute each and Interlude is just 40 seconds of mumbling about Jesus.
Then we are graced with the song that has garnered this band so much attention in the first place, Jesus Got A Big Old Cock. To be fair I absolutely get a chuckle out of this but for such a controversial song title the song itself really isn’t much sonically and is over before you even realize what he’s yelling about. Real confession, it’s kind of anti-climatic to be honest.
Afterwards the rest of this album races past like so many abandoned churches, hollow and forgotten. Tithe Or Die, God Made Me Do It and the worst titled song I’ve come across in a long time… God Bless The Rapist… all blaze out seemingly as quickly as possible. Like a bad case of taco bell diarrhoea with the difference being that you can remember the diarrhoea. And I’m just glazing over the little bits in between the songs like a priest expects you to ignore the yellowish stains on his robes.
Sigh… all told there is some very solid Punk infused Powerviolence on display here, the guitar work is righteous, the effects and intensity are spot on and actually really fun. And we all know how I feel about a good show, especially costumes and masks, as stated before, give me thrills and lights and I’m in there like a crow spotting a shiny. Theatre and great costumes however can’t carry you all the way, you need more than that, you need fun, memorable songs…and you need to not be so damn confusing that people who are actually paying attention shy away from you.
And that’s where I’m at with Cancer Christ, one of the most confusing acts I’ve come across in a long time and because of that I find them rather off putting. On the one hand I love the dislike of cops and generally sticking your finger in society's eye but… anytime a band tries to infuse Christianity into this kind of music it feels wrong…like peanut butter and gasoline or priests and boy scout camps…
Anyway, I’m going to go spin some Deicide while reading pages from Christopher Hitchens legendary book God Is Not Great out loud. Cancer Christ prays itself into an iron age 4/10
My first review for 2024 (of course it’s already late…) is a unique costumed band that has apparently just sprung into existence rather than evolved over time. Yes, this review will be filled with plenty of word play and puns like that so buckle up kids and let's get our Sunday Bests on and go to … well … church I guess.
Proceedings begin with an intro (of course) called Creepy Hail Christ which is just some recorded TV evangelical praying and whispers of "Hail Christ" over a creepy piano bit, it’s short, unlike actual church service so, that’s a blessing. We are then immediately subject to a Punk infused Powerviolence attack called Do You Want To Go To Heaven that crushes your will to live in just under a minute and 25 seconds. It’s an angry sonic assault with some fun backing vocals that sound like choir boys got lost in a Techno club. Baptized In Piss And Shit just keeps this speed violence going and boasts the best chorus so far this year of “Do you want to see a dead body!” screamed out like a proper tent preacher on a righteous bender.
This blistering angry mix of Grind, Punk and Powerviolence demands the forward motion never stops so God Hates Cops blasts in with some fun swirling guitar worship and siren sound effects for extra flavour. Hail Christ is just 28 seconds of this over guitar feedback. I skip over that pretty fast and into Bring Back The Guillotine which instantly feels a bit different, as if a large bill was dropped in the donation tray and fired everyone up, tracking in at almost 3 minutes of grinding here. It doesn’t last however and as if tempted by some low hanging fruit Prosperity Preacher and Interlude both blast by in under a minute each and Interlude is just 40 seconds of mumbling about Jesus.
Then we are graced with the song that has garnered this band so much attention in the first place, Jesus Got A Big Old Cock. To be fair I absolutely get a chuckle out of this but for such a controversial song title the song itself really isn’t much sonically and is over before you even realize what he’s yelling about. Real confession, it’s kind of anti-climatic to be honest.
Afterwards the rest of this album races past like so many abandoned churches, hollow and forgotten. Tithe Or Die, God Made Me Do It and the worst titled song I’ve come across in a long time… God Bless The Rapist… all blaze out seemingly as quickly as possible. Like a bad case of taco bell diarrhoea with the difference being that you can remember the diarrhoea. And I’m just glazing over the little bits in between the songs like a priest expects you to ignore the yellowish stains on his robes.
Sigh… all told there is some very solid Punk infused Powerviolence on display here, the guitar work is righteous, the effects and intensity are spot on and actually really fun. And we all know how I feel about a good show, especially costumes and masks, as stated before, give me thrills and lights and I’m in there like a crow spotting a shiny. Theatre and great costumes however can’t carry you all the way, you need more than that, you need fun, memorable songs…and you need to not be so damn confusing that people who are actually paying attention shy away from you.
And that’s where I’m at with Cancer Christ, one of the most confusing acts I’ve come across in a long time and because of that I find them rather off putting. On the one hand I love the dislike of cops and generally sticking your finger in society's eye but… anytime a band tries to infuse Christianity into this kind of music it feels wrong…like peanut butter and gasoline or priests and boy scout camps…
Anyway, I’m going to go spin some Deicide while reading pages from Christopher Hitchens legendary book God Is Not Great out loud. Cancer Christ prays itself into an iron age 4/10
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