Reviews: Utopia, Striker, Deadpeach, Baratro (Reviews By Matt Bladen, Paul Hutchings, Rich Piva & Mark Young)

Utopia - Shame (Self Release) [Matt Bladen]

Bring back the weirdness! Stalker, re-released in 2021 was some brutalist jazz metal that played like a metal band put into a concrete mixer, Utopia bringing together some of the best players in tech metal along with a myriad of drummers. On Shame the follow up, they've all gone a bit extra, dialling up the technicality and the brutality.

They now have a full time drummer on Jay Walsh, who also produces and a second guitarist in Jimmy Wilson for live playing but this record was recorded by Walsh along with composer/guitarist John Bailey, Corrupt Moral Altar vocalist Chris Reese, Arran McSporran (Virvum/Vipassi) on bass with additional players being the strings of Jonathan Hill (Withering Away And Laughing) and the synths of Thomas Harrison. Together they make Shame a heady concoction that's not for the faint of heart. Hyper intelligent playing that may isolate a certain part of the audience, this isn't music that is easy. But it is accessible and that is a hell of a trade off.

You can listen to tracks such as Waking Visions which takes some sludge/doom positions or the wild Zither and even though they're firing at you at a million miles a minute, constantly changing form like a Chameleon on Camouflage, it's got form and melody, you could even nod your head to it, but it may hurt the neck. With so much ferocity on this record, you're brought back and forth between multiple genres repeatedly, Moving Gently Towards The Grave building on ELP synths for a final growl.

Shame merges math metal with death, tech and general intensity, Cynic jamming with Mr Bungle, Utopia take no prisoners. 8/10

Striker – Ultrapower (Record Breaking Records) [Paul Hutchings]

Look through the archives of this site and you’ll find plenty of reviews of Striker’s earlier releases. Hell, we even have a review by yours truly and the Ed of their trip to Cardiff in 2017 when they were the meat in a Triosphere/Sonata Artica sandwich.

It’s been over five years since their last album, 2018’s Play To Win. To say they have thrown everything at this album would be an understatement. The band’s press release describes it perfectly, ‘with influences from AOR to Speed Metal, Hardcore to Hair Metal, Steely Dan to Deathcore, you name it, it made its way into the album’. They aren’t joking either. If you aren’t braced for it, then third track Give it All will soon blow the mind, for after two tracks styled on traditional metal, we get saxophones, trumpets and an AOR vibe that could give REO Speedwagon a run for their money (although I doubt many of Speedwagon can run anymore so maybe that was a bad analogy!)

(They have been known to take it on the run though historically) - Ed

It's a stunning album in so many ways. Gloriously over the top, it’s chaotic, bombastic, and thoroughly compelling in many ways. The trippy synth additions to the explosive speed metal on Blood Magic throw in a curve ball to mesmerize the brain. There is so much going on, it’s almost like Dream Theater on speed. Then there’s the bounce of City Calling, which oozes a disco vibe with a Mark King (Level 42) type bass level. WTF!

Lyrically the band stick to their traditional style of writing songs for non-existent movies, evil in the shadows and spiralling serfdom. You can soon singalong to the likes of opener Circle Of Evil, dynamic carnage of Sucks To Suck with its great 80s riff and gang chanting, or closing anthem Brawl At The Pub which should be on an album by Airbourne. It’s all contained in 11 tracks that comes in at just over 40 minutes.

Striker’s roots lie deep in classic heavy metal, and they sum it up with a traditionally terrible yet brilliant piece of artwork. As the band say, “We are an engine that is fired up and ready to roll. We’re made of metal and our circuits gleam!” They certainly are. It’s fast, it’s furious and at times it’s simply epically ridiculous. If you don’t have a smile on your face having listened to this album, then one would be right to ask questions if you are even human. 

Ultrapower throws everything and the kitchen sink at you. It’s full-on, in ‘yer face, and I bloody loved it! 8/10

Deadpeach - The Cosmic Haze And The Human Race (Self Released) [Rich Piva]

The Italian psych/stoner/doom scene is as strong as any scene in the world. Bands are constantly popping up from Italy that kick all sorts of ass, with a lot of those bands being more doom, but the other adjacent genres are well represented too, including by Deadpeach, who are more heavy psych rock than anything else and who are here to bring us some of that goodness on their latest release, The Cosmic Haze And The Human Race. While new to me, this is album number four from the psych rockers, and if their other stuff is anything like The Cosmic Haze I sure have been missing out.

 
Missing out on what you ask? Some fuzzy psych rock with some stoner leanings that will certainly be appealing to most folks who like that kind of rock in their musical daily dose. Take Madras for instance. The guitar work is stellar, especially the solo work on the back end of the track, a solid piece of heavy psych rock ready for easy consumption. Heavy riffs and lots of fuzz. What more could you ask for? 

The fuzz party continues on the Kyuss by way of Nebula-leaning Motor Peach with more riffs for your pleasure and some interesting tempo changes. The constant throughout the record is the great psych heavy guitar work, with Man On The Hill, with its sweet riff, being another prime example. The vocals are a mixed bag, and I have a feeling this may be an issue for some, but in no way are they a distraction from what Deadpeach is doing musically.

I love the addition of key on this track, and it is my favourite one out of the seven on here. Acoustic guitars join the party on Cerchio, a little (mostly) instrumental ditty that bridges the two halves of the album together and is very 60s psych inspired, especially at the end when to vocals finally kick in. A slower psych burner is Monday, where I hear some Colour Haze influence and is the most psychedelic Deadpeach get on The Cosmic Haze. 

I really like the track Rust, that is a nice three-minute blast of stoner/psych that doesn’t mess around with any unnecessary noodling. Speaking of noodling, you get some of that with Loop (Set The Control To Mother Earth), but what else would you expect from a track with that title? Overall, The Cosmic Haze And The Human Race is an enjoyable psych rock record that anyone who digs that style will enjoy. 

Deadpeach aren’t breaking any new ground here, but their fourth album is a solid release that is worth your time if you like fuzzy stoner riffage and 60s inspired psych rock. 8/10

Baratro - The Sweet Smell Of Unrest (Improved Sequence Records) [Mark Young]

New noise sludge rock from Milano!! If you are aware of Unsane, principally their bassist Dave Curran then you probably have a good idea of what this will sound like. It is an 11-song battering ram, that takes hardcore and noise rock and squeezes it until you are left with the primal, angry album you have here. From the opening smack of Fight The Parking Meter right through to Glutton it knows what it has to do and that is to deliver some sonic punishment. It’s an abrasive affair with the bass front and centre, dominating every song. Having the bass there gives this music such a ferocious bottom end it hits like you wouldn’t believe. 

What this does well is groove, it doesn’t forget that despite the anger or rage they wish to convey it needs actual decent songs to keep your interest going. It achieves this aim so well, Fight The Parking Meter while offering a simple arrangement is instantly memorable and is built for being played live, causing absolute mayhem in the pit. The bass sound is monstrous, absolutely huge and is a constant all the way through. Pay Dirt is similar in that it strikes up and just drops on you. Its simplicity is its strength. It shows that you don’t need a million riffs in order to write brutally effective songs. 

The Bad, The Bad And The Ugly offers a taste of melody whilst still observing an efficient arrangement. This is key, because they understand what the brief is and that is to rock. Dirty, primal noise rock and it is a stormer. When they go up-tempo on Don’t Look At Me, I’m Hideous its like they are holding for dear life, that injection of chaos gives it that edge and certainly stirs it up. Adherence brings a spell of melancholic noise that almost puts the brakes on the momentum they have built, this would have worked equally as well as a shorter track, but it shows that they are prepared to mix things up. 

It's All Your Fault Timmy comes in like the start of side two. It’s a choppy affair that goes to inject some pace into things, and Pope Of Dope continues this forward movement. Despite being in the same vein as the tracks that precede it there is a measure of repetition here, the later songs whilst not rehashing what has come before they don’t hit in the same way. What doesn’t change is that glorious sound. Nervous Wreck is pure lead, and Grotesque has a fantastic central riff again with the intent of getting people to move. 

What can’t be ignored is that feeling that the songs themselves are not as strong as the album moves to its conclusion. I’ve mentioned how good the bass sound is, and how it fills the space normally occupied by guitar. What this does is sometimes relegate the guitar to working within one register (I’m not technical) or mode of attack so that they do feel as though they are variations on a theme. 

Album closer Glutton takes a slow but densely compacted trip and provides a strong end to their debut album. There is no doubting that this is a debut that should be well received by fans looking for grooves that crush and you will find a lot to into if you can look beyond song writing that loses its way a little. Overall it is uneven but sounds huge and if you love noise rock /sludge then you should love this. 7/10