Reviews: Melvins, Big Wolf Band, Quantum, Haust (Reviews By Rich Piva, Paul Scoble, Matt Bladen & Mark Young)

Melvins - Tarantula Heart (Ipecac Recordings) [Rich Piva]

To say that the new Melvins record is “quite possibly the band's most unconventional, catchiest and imaginative work yet, continuing a legacy celebrated for its eccentric and extraordinary output” like the promo material for album number 32-ish, depending on how you are counting, says, is the definition of a bold statement, because unconventional, catchy and imaginative pretty much sums up the band who have been at it since the mid-1980s. Tarantula Heart, however, is petty close to said quote, and not only that, it is my favourite Melvins record since my favourite, A Senile Animal.

Tarantula Heart starts out with a familiar sounding riff and a pretty conventional song structure, then you look a and realize Pain Equals Funny is almost twenty minutes long, but it flies by and is their version of A Quick One, where The Who told a story going in all sorts of musical directions, always different and always exciting. 

You could have ended the first part at the five-minute mark, but instead let’s retched up the double drums and the grungy riff and continue down the route of something you may have heard on one of their outstanding records from their run in the second half of the 2000s. 

Instead of continuing down that path or even onto the next track, let’s go really sparce and weird out for a couple of minutes to build up to a complete rhythm section driven freak out. Great stuff. Working The Ditch has some Houdini vibes to it which I will always be here for. This is low end chunky Melvins at their best and one of my favourite tracks by the band in a while. 

She’s Got Weird Arms lives up to its name, as it is a strangle little track but also incorporating the catchy side of the band that always sneaks up on you. Did I say weird, well Allergic To Food is also wonderfully strange, with some frantic guitar, unconventional tempo, and next level (double) drumming. Smiler closes us with a ripper of a freak out, but never without melody, a super power of the band.

Don’t fret, Melvins are not trending towards conventional in the latter years of their career if Tarantula Heart is any indication of their future direction. This record is another bold statement that incorporates everything you want from something new by Melvins. If you love this band, you will love Tarantula Heart. If you are new to the band, do not let the twenty-minute opener scare you, and also go listen to Houdini, Stoner Witch, and A Senile Animal ASAP. 8/10

Big Wolf Band – Rebel’s Journey (Self Released) [Paul Scoble]

Big Wolf Band have been making a big noise on the British Blues scene since their forming in 2014. The band, based in Birmingham, are made up of Jonathan Earp on Lead Guitar and Lead Vocals, Mick Jeynes on Bass, Tim Jones on Drums, Justin Johnson on Rhythm Guitars and Backing Vocals and Robin Fox on Piano and Hammond Organ. 

On this album they are joined by Zoe Green on Backing Vocals, Tracey Earp and Sheena Sear on Additional Vocals on the song Rise Together and Mark Stuart played Shaker, Tambourine and Kitchen Sink (not sure if that’s an electric Kitchen sink or acoustic Kitchen Sink, acoustic would probably be safer).

In the time the band have been together they have released three albums before Rebel’s Journey; their debut A Rebel’s Story, a second album in 2019’s Be Free and the band released a live album last year called appropriately Live And Howling.

Jonathan Earp has a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (HEDS)
that has needed at least one operation and did, for a while, stop him from playing the Guitar. Several of the songs on Rebel’s Journey are about this and have given some of the album a dark lyrical theme, however several of the other songs have more positive subjects, thereby giving the album a balance.

The album opens with Empire And A Prayer, a driving up-tempo piece of Blues Rock where the Guitar and Piano take the main riffs. The song has a great Guitar solo and has a perfect head nodding tempo for Blues Rock, it’s a very positive way to start the album. Next comes the track Valley Of The Fallen Kings, a measured piece of Blues with a great chorus. The main riff has a slight country twang about it, lyrically it touches on the Robert Johnson, Crossroads legend.

Lay It On The Line has a downright Funky main riff that is tight as it gets. The chorus is really good and has some great Backing Vocals by Zoe Green. Rise Together is a gorgeous little ballad, a love song with very positive lyrics. The song is melodic and tuneful with a great Guitar solo, it’s a sweet song, you’d have to be a very cynical person to dislike it. The song features Backing Vocals by Tracy Earp and Sheena Sear.

After Rise Together comes Six Strings Loaded, a slow and brooding piece of Blues that is subtle and measured. The song does build up for the Guitar solo but ebbs back to brooding and subtle afterwards. Black Dog Blues has a pulsing bassline that drives the song forward, it’s a walking pace, but has an unstoppable feeling to it, if you blocked this song’s path it will just walk right over you. The song is Smokey Blues with a great chorus with wonderful Backing Vocals and some great Guitar / Organ interplay.

Standing In The Rain is a great Blues Ballad with a really dramatic and emotive chorus. The song is a little reminiscent of Gary Moore’s Parisian Walkways, and that can only be a good thing. Next comes Living On Borrowed Time an up-tempo rocker, which is tight as anything with a very purposeful feel to it and a great Hammond solo. The song reminds me a little of Steamy Windows by The Rolling Stones. Got Me Reeling has got a swagger the size of a mountain, the chorus is nice and rhythmic and the verse has some great Hammond Organ riffs. 

Up next is Crazy Love which brings back the Funk! The song features a great main riff that could have been written by Nile Rogers, there is a real Freddie King feel to the song, its full of energy and I found it impossible to keep still whilst listening to Crazy Love.

Darker Side Of You as the title suggests is a dark and emotional Ballad. The song has a great chorus with those lush Backing Vocals and a very emotive Guitar solo. The song is Gentle, Beautiful and Affecting. Just A Little Bit is another funky piece of Blues with a great main riff and really enjoyable leads. The chorus is great and full of Zoe’s awesome Backing Vocals which on the chorus become Lead Vocals. The song has a great Keyboard solo and a really good Guitar solo both of which are full of melody, but no matter how impressive the rest of the song is, the chorus is what you end up remembering as it is so good!

The album comes to an end with the song Too Many Times a Blues Ballad with a very melancholy feel to it. The chorus is much bigger than the verse and is very effective, the song also boasts very impressive Organ and Guitar solos. Too Many Times builds as it reaches its end giving the song a big ending and making it a very good to end the album.

Rebels Journey is a great piece of Modern Blues. The album sounds very good, the production and mix are pretty much perfect, in particular the Lush Backing Vocals in many of the chorus’s sound perfect with a great balance with the backing instruments. The songs were all interesting musically and lyrically, and this album is full of great solos from both Guitars and Hammond Organ / Piano. 

The material has a nice verity whilst at the same time always feeling like the same band, there a continuity of sound that connects everything together. I also think that considering the health issue that Jonathan Earp has had to deal with, which could have stopped him from playing the Guitar, we are lucky that Rebel’s Journey exists at all, and for that we should all be thankful. 8/10

Quantum - Down The Mountainside (Black Lodge) [Matt Bladen]

In 2014 Swedish progressive metal veterans Opeth release Pale Communion, stripping nearly all of the death metal sound for a more natural, organic style of classic progressive rock inspired by their love of Camel, Jethro Tull et al, it put many into a spin, the hardcore death metal lovers vowing never to return while the majority went with it as these influences could always be heard in Opeth’s music. Since Pale Communion, this is the path they have continued upon, never tempted to return to the crushing extreme metal of Watershed or Ghost Reveries. 

I mention this as Quantum, another band from Sweden formed just two years after Pale Communion and if Down The Mountainside is anything to go by, they are directly influenced by this sonic shift for Mr Akerfeldt and company. 

Now I will say Quantum do veer a little more into metallic harshness at points, influences coming from Haken on both parts of the title track, both Richard Henshall and Tom MacLean from the Brit prog heroes appearing on the album. There’s the weirdness of Dillinger Escape Plan and The Mars Volta on the jazzy/brassy Moths – Leaves particularly. They also add acoustic, pastoral, string laden moments on Dots which brings in those classic Yes/Genesis compositions. 

Formed by bassist/singer Anton Ericsson; the current line-up has him joined by drummer Marcus Lundberg along with guitarists Samuel Walfridsson and Kalle Segerborg, Quantum do retro classic prog well, just enough metal, just enough rock and technical ability that everyone will be a little bit jealous of. It does owe a lot to Opeth and Haken but that’s not to their detriment at all. 8/10

Haust - Negative Music (Fysisk Format Records) [Mark Young]

The clue is in the title. If music has a colour associated with it, then here it would be black. At least that is the feeling I get from it. However just having one colour makes for a dull experience.

 
Fans of Haust should not be surprised by this new release, which sees the original line-up reunite to follow on from the 10th anniversary of Ride The Relapse in 2018. Being honest, I know nothing about them other than what I have read online and was expecting a full-on assault. I wasn’t expecting the down and dirty approach that lies more within the punk / hardcore genre than black metal.

The songs themselves occupy that mid-paced tempo, allowing them to really get under the skin. Left to Die kicks off, not with the expected hyper speed arrangement but with an almost standard punk attack which is continued with Dead Ringer. 

As the openers go, they are both ok, but I was expecting something more aggressive in all honesty and being straight I’m not finding a lot to really engage me here. The Burning continues in that mid-paced approach, filthy sounding guitars dropping riffs, but something is missing. Turn to Stone is a fine example of a lolloping arrangement but by now the songs are blurring into one due to that constant occupation of that middle speed.

 
It’s disappointing really that by Oh Take Me, I hadn’t really heard anything that was markedly different from Left To Die which started us off. Maybe it’s just one of those releases that I don’t get on with. So, when the interlude of The Vanishing comes in and hints of something else in their tool shed and they follow it with more of the same music then it’s time to skip forward.

 
I’m struggling to remember the last time I reviewed something that didn’t have anything about it that I loved. There is nothing here that warrants a re-listen just to make sure I haven’t missed anything. I didn’t. As they say themselves, their music isn’t entertainment for the masses. You like it or you don’t, and they aren’t forcing it on you. Again, fans of them will know exactly what they are getting and will buy it regardless. I cannot find anything here that makes me recommend it to anyone. 4/10