Listening to the 21 minute The Anachronism, one of only five tracks on the new album from The Tangent, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a new record from Roger Waters. Highly politicised, extremely critical and cutting with the lyrics talking of red and blue being all the same while we all are bamboozled into accepting a world being destroyed.
The varied musical soundscape and croaky, at times spoken and whispered vocals, very similar to how Waters delivers lines on his masterpiece Amused To Death, another record that is incredibly politicised but tries to fine positivity or hope. It seems then that when long tenured prog musicians are left to their own devices they turn their scope inward to what's happening around them and it all becomes quite personal.
To Follow Polaris is a The Tangent album in name but not in membership. With the rest of band plying their trade in various other acts on the scene, there was no time to reconvene and record. It was agreed that bandleader Andy Tillison would continue to release music, but essentially as a solo artist under The Tangent name. This means that To Follow Polaris takes more risks than other records, as it's the distilled influence and musical direction of Tillison, something Andy has wanted to do for a long time using his years of experience with the 'band' format and put it into a solo album.
Emphasis being out on solo there as 'everything' is done by Andy, all writing/composing, instrumentation/singing, recording/producing, mixing/mastering and artwork/layout were done by Andy, his impressive keyboard array, guitars and electronic wind instruments, augmented for the first time with Tillison playing bass and second time on drums. Like a chameleon changing it's colour to suit the background, Andy has studied the work of his band mates and has made sure that this The Tangent record is unmistakeable from any other, from a quality of performance perspective anyway.
Inspiration wise there's lots of 'classic' prog elements but also the jazz experimentation of Van Der Graaf Generator on A Fine Line as well as the varied introspective sounds of Steven Wilson, all of which can be picked out of this mammoth recording. To Follow Polaris is then his guiding light, a quest for truth in the murky world of fake news and mistrust we live in now. It's one man's lyrical and musical imprint laid bare but this is brief stop, Andy promises that album fourteen will be a full band again so maybe this is the new Tangent.
One for them, one for him. I for one welcome that idea. If not then we are left with a thirteenth album that proved to be lucky for any fans of the band. 9/10
Daath - The Deceivers (Metal Blade Records) [Gavin Brown]
Daath play a style of metal that takes in everything from death metal to progressive and orchestral metal and the results are always a stunning array of musicianship and execution, packing in so many twist and turns that it can be dizzying.
Daath play a style of metal that takes in everything from death metal to progressive and orchestral metal and the results are always a stunning array of musicianship and execution, packing in so many twist and turns that it can be dizzying.
The bands latest album The Deceivers certainly lives up to Daaths reputation and more as it adds even more layers to their sound and is delivered in an even more energetic fashion, bolstered by a massive sounding production to boot. With a vast array of guests on The Deceivers including members of Ice Nine Kills, Archspire, Periphery and Scar Symmetry alongside guitar virtuosos Jeff Loomis and Spiro Dussias, Daath let loose with a barrage of bombastic metal anthems delivered with vivacity and pride.
The Deceivers sees the music of Daath taken to higher new levels and the band sound as if they are having a blast in doing so as songs like Ascension, Unwelcome Return and Purified By Vengeance prove beyond a shadow of a doubt. If you want an album that is epically delivered with an air of grandeur alongside the aggression, then you won’t go far with the power of The Deceivers. 8/10
El Moono – The Waking Sun (Lockjaw Records) [Zak Skane]
After the intro track Dawn finishes with it’s suspended sounding droning organs, we can get El Moono’s opening track Illusionist which packs in some fuzzy heavy Deftones styled riffs along with some deep and pounding half time grooves. The vocalist delivery sounds quite familiar to Greg Puciato from the Dillinger Escape Plan, especially when it comes to channelling this emotional intensity along with it’s smooth transitions into anxiety driven cleans into harsh high vocals. The whole track brings in these post rock styled if eerie ambience sounds which brings this climatic delivery to the end of this track.
El Moono – The Waking Sun (Lockjaw Records) [Zak Skane]
After the intro track Dawn finishes with it’s suspended sounding droning organs, we can get El Moono’s opening track Illusionist which packs in some fuzzy heavy Deftones styled riffs along with some deep and pounding half time grooves. The vocalist delivery sounds quite familiar to Greg Puciato from the Dillinger Escape Plan, especially when it comes to channelling this emotional intensity along with it’s smooth transitions into anxiety driven cleans into harsh high vocals. The whole track brings in these post rock styled if eerie ambience sounds which brings this climatic delivery to the end of this track.
The following track The Walking Sun brings in a lighter approach with these classic grunge delivered choruses which reminds me Alice In Chains styled vocal melodies accompanied with reverbed tremolo picking textures. This combination of stoner/post rock tunes are carried out threw out the rest of the album but their some tracks on the album in which they change it up. For example Hunting brings in some suspenseful pounding tom grooves whilst being complemented with eerie plucked melodies and sickening textured guitar timbres, whilst slurring vocal phrases are thrown into the mix.
Chairs comes in as the most heaviest track on the album with its memorable riffs that are built from pentatonic and chromatic scales. The crushing bass tones are pushed more in the mix giving the guitars more thwonk whist the the vocalist marries the vocal tracks with octave harmonies giving it a more menacing vibe. The First Man On Mars takes a one eighty on their sound by combing samba and jazz fusion arrangements which is ripped out of The Dillinger Escape Plan play book, whilst the track escalates us back into heavy territory.
Phantom comes as the most experimental track on the record with these electronic elements that remind us of Trent Reznor's efforts when scoring the first Quake game with these cynical industrial sounding drum loops with pulsing synths backing it add these subtle melodies. The bands arrangement brings some classic mathcore odd riffs phrases laced in their fuzzy post rock tones. Also there are highlights on this album which the band explores the trending Shoegazing styles with tracks like The Charm that brings in these waves of low tuned fuzzed up guitars that have elements of ambient leads, whist the crushing bass lines and the pounding drums still hold on to the heavy elements of the bands sound.
The closing track on the album Soul Eclipse continues the shoegazing sound with the riffs being structured through major chords that takes the influences from bands like Deafhaven and My Bloody Valentine. The vocals swing from high and low ranges with a smooth swift of a phrase, whilst the vocal intensity increases to the albums final mathcore driven climax. El Moono's strong form of a debut album has left us with our eyes open with their combination of Mathcore, Rock and Grunge, leaving us intrigued with what this band is going to plan next.
The intense vocal performances gives Greg Puciato a run for his money, whist the guitar and bass arrangements performs a perfect marriage of modern fuzzy post rocks tones to 90’s Shoegazy grunge sounds with the drums bringing this Dave Grohl energy to each performance on the album. There were times in which I felt like the fuzzy riffs over half time grooves felt a bit repetitive on times but it still has enough mojo to keep the listener interested. For fans of The Dillinger Escape Plan, The modern Shoegaze styles of Loathe and the post rock – styles of The Deftones. 7/10
Vaticinal Rites - Cascading Memories Of Immortality (Everlasting Spew Records) [Mark Young]
Everlasting Spew Records have a filthy habit of continually dropping new death metal that maintains what we know and love about extreme music and with that Vaticinal Rites bring their first full-length release, which promises to bring OSDM vibe whilst given a burst of energy.
And it’s straight in with Foiled Skirmish kicking things off with tight, focused blast. There is a definite OSDM feel to it, but it isn’t a rehash of music from that era. Its quick, has a real swing to it with everything from drums to vocals being on point and makes a great start for Plead For Termination to follow, with some urgent riffing, dropping those pinched harmonics in for fun. They manage to change gears through this, keeping from being just one note, with the solo breaks being excellent whilst not overshadowing everything else.
What shines for me is the appreciation that the riffs, the build has to be engaging and with this it makes you want to catch them live. Similarly with Asphyxiation Of Ecstasy they manage to imbue a feeling of speed without it being a blast-fest. Its intelligent, with its early harmony parts that set the song up and allows them to motor along whilst using effective melody lines that belies the fact that this is their debut.
This is what I really like about them is that they don’t rely on a million ideas that have been poorly shoe-horned together. The build is spot on, solo breaks when required, rather than thrown in for vanity. Song lengths too are key, they are set perfectly so they come in and do their job without becoming boring. Bowels Of Gargantua nails that approach, throwing in those frantic trem-picking parts with ease.
And who doesn’t love whammy bar abuse? Siphoning Plasma From The Gods kicks off with that and a scorching solo, leading into that dual rhythm approach, both parts doing their job and combining to fill the sound. This has a fantastic solo break where everything comes together and rather than loop back, they drop in one of those riffs that allows them to reset and close out with a Middle Eastern-tinged lead. I appreciate that these ideas may not be new, especially if you have been listening to death metal for a long time but it’s the way they are put together that gives it that feeling of freshness.
Unhinged Cataclysm takes on that good work and gives it another spin, using those ideas but doing it differently. Riff's build here again is spot on, knowing when and where to change things up. Corporeal Affliction hits like something you may have heard in the early 90’s, I mean no disrespect as they drop a lumbering riff that changes attack as the song progresses, especially those trem parts around 2 minutes 40. You will know exactly what I mean when you hear it. For me on this one, it feels so close to Morbid Angel that fans should love it. If not, there is no accounting for taste.
Eroding Planetesimal (Interlude) is just that. Did I mention I’m not fond of interludes? Moving on, Cascading Memories Of Immortality stomps in, with some nods to death as they unleash their magnum opus that coalesces the riffs, approach, and feel from the songs before it into a slab of death metal perfection. It's epic, bursting with riffs and lead breaks that sit so well together.
What I should also mention is the vocals from Marcus Broome. They are consistently spot on right through this, hitting that range where they are guttural and extreme without being too low to make out. This makes up for the inclusion of that interlude, sorry lads but they get on my nerves and can almost single-handedly halt any momentum an album has generated. It is an absolute beast of a track and closes this debut superbly.
So, my final thoughts are that this is a finely crafted debut with some storming songs on it. Each song is consistent in delivering that vibe they were going for without sounding old or a desperate rehash of what has gone before. Its strong stuff, with emphasis on build as opposed to speed or simple brutality. It shows that they are confident in their material and that they have a keen ability to put top class death metal songs together. That closing track is royal, and Vaticinal Rites should one of your bands to keep an eye out for this year. 8/10
Vaticinal Rites - Cascading Memories Of Immortality (Everlasting Spew Records) [Mark Young]
Everlasting Spew Records have a filthy habit of continually dropping new death metal that maintains what we know and love about extreme music and with that Vaticinal Rites bring their first full-length release, which promises to bring OSDM vibe whilst given a burst of energy.
And it’s straight in with Foiled Skirmish kicking things off with tight, focused blast. There is a definite OSDM feel to it, but it isn’t a rehash of music from that era. Its quick, has a real swing to it with everything from drums to vocals being on point and makes a great start for Plead For Termination to follow, with some urgent riffing, dropping those pinched harmonics in for fun. They manage to change gears through this, keeping from being just one note, with the solo breaks being excellent whilst not overshadowing everything else.
What shines for me is the appreciation that the riffs, the build has to be engaging and with this it makes you want to catch them live. Similarly with Asphyxiation Of Ecstasy they manage to imbue a feeling of speed without it being a blast-fest. Its intelligent, with its early harmony parts that set the song up and allows them to motor along whilst using effective melody lines that belies the fact that this is their debut.
This is what I really like about them is that they don’t rely on a million ideas that have been poorly shoe-horned together. The build is spot on, solo breaks when required, rather than thrown in for vanity. Song lengths too are key, they are set perfectly so they come in and do their job without becoming boring. Bowels Of Gargantua nails that approach, throwing in those frantic trem-picking parts with ease.
And who doesn’t love whammy bar abuse? Siphoning Plasma From The Gods kicks off with that and a scorching solo, leading into that dual rhythm approach, both parts doing their job and combining to fill the sound. This has a fantastic solo break where everything comes together and rather than loop back, they drop in one of those riffs that allows them to reset and close out with a Middle Eastern-tinged lead. I appreciate that these ideas may not be new, especially if you have been listening to death metal for a long time but it’s the way they are put together that gives it that feeling of freshness.
Unhinged Cataclysm takes on that good work and gives it another spin, using those ideas but doing it differently. Riff's build here again is spot on, knowing when and where to change things up. Corporeal Affliction hits like something you may have heard in the early 90’s, I mean no disrespect as they drop a lumbering riff that changes attack as the song progresses, especially those trem parts around 2 minutes 40. You will know exactly what I mean when you hear it. For me on this one, it feels so close to Morbid Angel that fans should love it. If not, there is no accounting for taste.
Eroding Planetesimal (Interlude) is just that. Did I mention I’m not fond of interludes? Moving on, Cascading Memories Of Immortality stomps in, with some nods to death as they unleash their magnum opus that coalesces the riffs, approach, and feel from the songs before it into a slab of death metal perfection. It's epic, bursting with riffs and lead breaks that sit so well together.
What I should also mention is the vocals from Marcus Broome. They are consistently spot on right through this, hitting that range where they are guttural and extreme without being too low to make out. This makes up for the inclusion of that interlude, sorry lads but they get on my nerves and can almost single-handedly halt any momentum an album has generated. It is an absolute beast of a track and closes this debut superbly.
So, my final thoughts are that this is a finely crafted debut with some storming songs on it. Each song is consistent in delivering that vibe they were going for without sounding old or a desperate rehash of what has gone before. Its strong stuff, with emphasis on build as opposed to speed or simple brutality. It shows that they are confident in their material and that they have a keen ability to put top class death metal songs together. That closing track is royal, and Vaticinal Rites should one of your bands to keep an eye out for this year. 8/10
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