Dream State – Still Dreaming (Self Released)
Having been rebuilt from the ground up in 2022, Welsh band Dream State are on an upward trajectory towards superstardom in a similar way fellow South Wales post-hardcore heroes Holding Absence have become huge and the return of Casey has been heralded. Led by guitarist Aled Evans, Still Dreaming is the second EP to feature this revamped line up and it sees the band releasing their strongest and most personal music to date.
Still Dreaming is characterised as a way for singer Jessie Powell to express pent up emotions and negativity in a “non-destructive way”, the band still riding high on the second chance they have had. With Jessie’s powerful emotive vocals up front, the musicianship of Evans, Jake Bowen (bass) and Tom Connolly (drums), creates the most diverse, intricate structures in the history of the band without ever straying too far off into chin stroking, Calling Out for example is set up as a ballad but contains much more than just simple balladry.
The band use varied synths/electronics to expand on the atmospheres of tracks such as Anxious State Of Mind and others, this now being deriguer in modern metal music. It’s got a lot of brains behind it but ultimately attempts to touch your soul in the same way bands such as Linkin Park or FFAF have done. With tracks such as the acerbic Chin Up Princess the harsh/clean vocals are done brilliantly, the synths shifting between thumps and shimmers, while the title track is all about resilience, both will be staples of their live set.
Dream State are Still Dreaming but the goals they have set themselves become more real with every release. They head out on a headline tour in March and are playing both Takedown and Download Festival, so there’s no excuse to miss them. 8/10
Vipassi - Lightless (Season Of Mist)
It seems I take a lot of the 'tech metal' that comes through this publication, most it with varying results. I'm a fan but I'm not an instrument player (I'm a singer) so a lot of the nuance and the ability are lost on me and perhaps better suited to those who can play guitar/drums/bass etc. However I always try to understand what's going on, I like to think I know the difference between difficult compositions and easy ones and can always make a comment on the vocals at least. No such luck with Vipassi though as this is instrumental technical wizardry. The international band takes members from Ne Obliviscaris, Black Lava, Hadal Maw and Virvum, each of them using their skills to weave together impressive virtuoso sonic tapestries they are inspired by Buddhist teachings and divine experiences.
Started by drummer Daniel Presland and guitarist/synth player Ben Boyle, Vipassi still rely on the rhythmic focus of this duo as Arran McSporran brings fretless bass (used as a lead instrument) and Benjamin Baret contributes the soaring intense guitar solos. Lightless is the second album from this band, it's supposed to reference the clash of light and dark and does this brilliantly with several tracks that run over 5 minutes allowing for exploration of both sides; heavy grunting tech riffs, evolve into atmospheric highs, the solo guitar and synths almost taking the place of vocals. I enjoyed the album as I do most bands in this genre, it's something you can definitely listen to without any musical knowledge but I'm sure the players out there will hear much more. 7/10
Roscian - The First Disgrace (Trepanation Recordings)
When you have a member of Grave Lines in Jake Harding (vocals) and TORPOR in Simon Mason (synths/drums/vocals/programming) the result is going to be a record that has a lot of heaviness to it, but Roscian is not a metal project, it's an ode to electronic instruments, dark textures and ominous atmospheres.
The First Disgrace is the result of this duo holing themselves up with all manner of electronic instruments to make this gothic, industrial soundtrack to a movie that doesn't exist. Tracks such as What Cannot Be Soothed are punishing, vocals drenched in reverb while the music brings all of the bass, the next moment they linger in Vangelis-like ambience on In Silence.
It's an album that lurches from nightmarish visions of the abyss into soaring dreamscapes, Harding using the full range of his voice away from the abrasive screams he is known for in Grave Lines, instrumentally Mason weaves dissonance on Ground Swell, the echoes of NiN, Author & Punisher, Ulver and even Depeche Mode on Slow Exit, all making The First Disgrace un-nerving. You have to be a fan of this style of music to get the most out of it but this duo pay deference to the genre leaders away from the respective day jobs. 7/10
Hellmann - Born, Suffering, Death (Black Lodge)
Death & Roll, invented and to be honest perfected by Entombed on Wolverine Blues, it has constantly gained more bands that want to emulate the masters. The latest is Hellmann, created by producer Felipe Ferrada (vocals/bass), it has the filthy but clear production of that third Entombed album and packs it's 10 tracks with the mix of death metal, blues rock and hardcore punk that death & roll is made up of. Ferrada is joined by Pedro Puente on drums and Sebon guitarastián Puente, keeping the membership to their native Chile but with sights set on capturing the attention of a wider audience.
The album has a thematic approach of the life cycle of a human but most won't really be bothered about that as Hellmann are here really to bang heads and they do that with the choppy Desktop Activist, the percussive A Waste Of Human Being and the raging The Cycle, this trio of songs showing exactly what death & roll is all about. Ferrada's bass grooves keep coming on Unnecessary Consuming and Bringer Of Death, much of this album being really close to the Swedish veterans, Hellmann going as far as covering Out Of Hand from Wolverine Blues, and if I'm honest it may as well be the original.
There's being influenced by and then there's slavishly copying and Hellmann sit somewhere in the middle with Born, Suffering, Death. 6/10
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