Reviews: Laceration, Wraithfyre, DD Verni, Fading Echoes (Reviews By Mark Young, GC, Paul Hutchings & Matt Bladen)

Laceration - I Erode (20 Buck Spin) [Mark Young]

The team at 20 Buck Spin know a thing or two about having a finger on the pulse of all things rotten (in a good way, obviously) and.so bring you the latest from Laceration for your delicate ears. It's noted that this is both assured and vicious in its content (it is) and with a relatively short run time it promises to be a royal 30 minutes. Excised bursts into life following the intro piece that is Degradation and straight away I’m hit with a feeling that I am going to be at home with this. Vocals that hint at Morbid Angel, lead breaks that bridge emotion with technical ability and some riff building that feels welded to the drums makes for a top start. 

Instead of going for ultra speed they take the time to allow the component parts to build, labyrinthine guitar lines that drop in before the lead break to provide that space which is exploited so well. There are definite nods back to the OSDM scene, but this is not a nostalgia fest as Sadistic Enthrallment rolls in following a sinister statement of intent. The blast beats are here, but are deployed to suit the right moment, joining when they need to emphasise an increase in tension. 

Breaking it down, it’s not ground-breaking but the way they put the songs together and how they are executed gives it that special touch. This material could have been at home in the early 90’s in terms of how it captures that visceral thrill of extreme music. Vile Incarnate is the speedy one and in doing sounds like Morbid Angel around their Rapture phase and it is a great thing to hear, mixing up those trem pick guitar parts with bottom end goodness that has that satisfying chunk to it. Sounds great, especially with a good pair of headphones. 

Dreams Of The Formless is the mid-break interlude, again my feelings on these are plain the actual music in this part was great except that it felt as though they had put the break on. Carcerality comes in strong, bouncing along well but it now has work to do to pick up the drop in energy caused by the interlude. Luckily it has that hard razor edge to drag you back into it. Possibly subconsciously knowing that the interlude would be felt as a reset, they have put their foot down firmly as Strangled By Hatred keeps that strong attack going, bringing the blast beats in firmly as they race to the end. 

It is a form of controlled brutality that avoids repetition and manages to keep an eye on ensuring its arrangement keeps you firmly engaged whilst Impaling Sorrow is just a short blast which shows you don’t need a long time in order to get an aggressive point across and is just the sort of welcome track just before we get to the end. The title track, I Erode is a stand up cracker the tale of decomposition set to an immediate guitar that batters the hell out of it. It is the stand out on here, combining all of the good work into one spot bringing that OSDM flavour to the boil for one last time. 

Overall its recommended that you sit and listen in one go and then go back to it see what you missed the first time around. It feels like once the intro is done then it becomes a rapid album where they just fly by. Even with the interlude... It is a great slice of death metal, and if you like death metal then you will love this. 8/10

Wraithfyre - Of Fells And Haunted Chasms (Naturmacht Productions) [GC]

Wraithfyre is Tom O’Dell’s (no not that one) one-man black metal project from Southampton and Of Fells And Haunted Chasms is his debut release, now we all know that black metal projects have a sketchy past and generally it’s not really something I get to involved with but today is a new day so let’s get going.

As seems to be the way with so many albums of late A Lunar Descent is just an intro so doesn’t really merit much attention as it doesn’t really tell you much, so we get started proper with Fallen Before Their Blazing Altar and it has all the black metal staples, buzzsaw riffs, atmospherics and thunderous drums all mixed together but there is also some nice mid paced breaks thrown in to pad out the sound and give a little more texture and the vocal delivery adds that little something needed to really add more savagery, then there is a more grandiose feel to Queen Of The Blighted Throne but we don’t loose any of the necessary speed and preciseness of the delivery and there is some lovely Maiden-esqe galloping sections here as well just to throw another style in the collective mixer and the use of more doomy rhythms helps the song breathe more. 

Infernal Heresy is a bit of a weird one for me it sounds like it’s been heavily influenced by power metal at the beginning which kind of puts me off a bit at first and when it does kick in its a nicely worked death metal/black metal mix but the weird timing of the sections never really shakes the power metal feel and I just don’t connect with this song in a positive way but if you like over the top sounding heavied up power metal your in for a treat! Ablaze In Abyssal Frosts wins the award for most obvious black metal song title and its about as Norwegian sounding as it should be with that title its walls of big guitars and thunderous drumming all melded together with some more wonderful symphonic sounds and the separate sections of the song all tie together to create a good and fun track. 

With Echoes Of A Forgotten Dream, we get more of the rich and full sounding savagery that has been present for most of the album so far and yet another almost too over the top sounding song but its all just held back enough to make it not sound ridiculous and it’s got a ruthless and breakneck pace throughout which just keeps going and going and its quiet the ride! Eternal Pyres From Beyond The Void then has some wonderful Sabbath sounds worked into the familiar black metal which manages to really up the doom influence. 

But when it all gets going we then switch to a more thrashy death metal sound but with the nice doom feel always still present all the way and it’s really well done and an interesting track to listen to and on repeated listens you will always find something new to enjoy, and just like that it’s the final track Dark Souls Devoured and here we end with a big epic doomy death metal track that is slow and broody but dripping with heaviness this is possibly the slowest song on the album and to finish with this was a brave choice and one that ultimately worked really well and the risk paid off.

To think that one man created this album is wild, the skill on all instruments is to be applauded and the music he has created is a wonderful addition to the UK black metal scene, I hope that at some point he can get a band together and play this live as these songs deserve to be played in a live setting as they would sound epic, barring a couple of bits that I wasn’t sure about the vast majority of this record is wonderful and if your into symphonic heavy black metal you wont go far wrong with Of Fell Peaks And Haunted Chasms. 8/10

DD Verni – Dreadful Company (M-Theory Audio) [Paul Hutchings]

DD Verni, the low-end and founder member of New Jersey Thrashers Overkill for four decades, returns with his second solo album Dreadful Company. He’s enlisted bandmate and powerhouse drummer Jason Bittner as well as some other luminaries to join him. Expecting thrash in any shape or form and you’ll be disappointed, although DD has that energy flowing through his veins. Instead, he’s taken 11 songs that were written throughout the past few years, very much in a punk-infused vein and given them a slight metal edge. There’s a Ramones feel to the tracks, which all follow a similar pattern. They are raucous, vibrant songs with Verni delivering bass, guitar and vocals. 

Opener Lunkhead features Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante adding a solo, whilst elsewhere Virus (Dope), Michael Romero (Symphony X) and Charlie Calv (Angel, The Bronx Casket Co.) also guest. The songs come at you quickly, with elements of Green Day to The Wildhearts evident. Not so much in influence, bit more in sound. I’m not a particularly big fan of this style, but there’s a catchy energy to songs like Cemetery Safari and The Whore With The See Thru Shoes that gets you nodding along. It may be the sheer infectious nature of the music, the energetic delivery or the sheer impressiveness of the musicianship, which is top notch throughout, but there’s something here that makes you smile. 

Wild Horses, about halfway through the album changes the approach, with Verni singing over a rising riff, a brooding atmosphere building into a song that is filled with groove. It’s a soaring anthemic song that makes you glad you remained in the game. Thanks For The Memories brings back the wham bam approach, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, with Bittner showing that even without the double kick he’s a bit of a beast. Call Of The Highway takes a more measured approach, sharing memories of those 90s alt-punk rockers. It’s not for me, especially the hands aloft part as the choral backing. 

Yeah, I’d go so far as to say it’s a bit ghastly overall. But you can’t like everything. There’s a surprise cover lurking towards the end. A punked up version of BTO’s Taking Care Of Business and it’s a fun cover indeed. Probably a routine one for musicians of this calibre, but Verni and co do it well. The album concludes with the feisty Victoria and it’s 45-minutes which I had no regrets spending on this album. As I said, it’s not my favoured genre, but it’s worth a listen. 7/10

Fading Echoes - Shadow Of Another (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

From Volos in Greece, Fading Echoes release their debut album Shadow Of Another, the main bulk of the record deals with the Stages Of Grief, which are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance, each getting a song dedicated to them and linked together musically to form a suite sin a similar way that Dream Theater or Seventh Wonder, the latter a definite influence on the emotive, conceptual, progressive metal of Fading Echoes. 

They also owe something to Evergrey on balladic Bargaining, piano and strings from Vasilis Sarou giving introspection before the metallic sounds come back. It's melody and metal fused, like most prog metal bands there's plenty of time to discover soemthing new, to shift the time signature, the pace etc.

Alongside Sarou the core of the band is guitarist Petros Printezis, bassist/vocalist Dimitris Stratikis with Jim Politis (guitars) and Nick Vell (drums) brought in a guest musicians. Another of their influences is Savatage, who's former vocalist Zak Stevens appears on Acceptance, unfortunately accentuating the one flaw with Fading Echoes. The vocals, Dimitris is a great bass player but he's not a singer, it's even more obvious when you compare them to the bands I've highlighted who have some of the genre's best vocalists.

I get this is a debut album and it is really strong musically but the vocals really let it down for me. Lots of potential though. 6/10

Reviews: Duskwalker, Pohl, Summoning The Lich, Sirius (Reviews By Mark Young, Joe Guatieri, GC & Matt Bladen)

Duskwalker - Underground Forever (Black Lion Records) [Mark Young]

With savage intent, Duskwalker drop their third full length of thrash/death metal which motors along at a fair old lick. Hailing from Ontario, it lives up to its promise of aggressive and raw production, although some clarification of what raw constitutes is required. There has been some time spent in capturing their natural aggressive tendencies without losing it with poor recording. I’m assuming that they meant it is not as polished as others and I think it serves them well.

Lyrically, it’s varied, from the perils of cosmetic surgery through to the use of social media down to those unable to let go of past events. Musically, its heavy, fast and is the equivalent of a 47minute pasting. Crippled At The Core blasts in, gnarly guitar tone and urgent drumming delivering a cautionary tale of cosmetic surgery and vanity. It’s low down and nasty as Joey Scaringi drops some low vocals whilst the pinched harmonics are raining down. Going back to that raw production they have got it spot on here because its suits their style so well.

The Loss, as you might imagine is about death but not necessarily a loved one. A monster riff on this one, fully supported by more of that quality drumming from Cale Costello it rears up and gets in your face. They are not afraid to drop some incendiary leads in there too as it rips towards Never Going Back, their anthem to every bad situation a person may face and those who finally quit and move on. Its rapid, it’s thrash base given the death metal once-over.

A pick slide announces Underground Forever, a rumbling, stomping beast that combines an old school flavour with the nasty one of today. If you imagine Judas Priest put through a blender with a touch of early Metallica added to it, that should give you an idea of what those harmony lines reminded me of (this is not meant as a snarky comment, just in case). It feels like a tribute to those songs of the 80s, big chorus, speedy execution but with a hammered flat arrangement.

City On A Cemetery reflects on those lost souls who cities are built upon. In this case it is about Niagara Falls, their hometown which has put tourism first over honouring the dead who protected what it when it needed it. It is tight, focused and has that arrangement that grabs and keeps you right to the end. Its not as direct until they get to the lead break and then they drop in the heaviness. The outro riffing is top class leading into the dirge-like intro of Posing Corpses. As the album has progressed, the arrangements have continued to drop aggressive statements of intent but have avoided the dreaded spectre of repetition.

Artillery Communion is an exercise in the efficient use of a central idea, allowing the bass and drums do the heavy work in carrying this one along. The main guitar part envelopes the song with a mid-pace tempo that works so well, again rolling over all in its path. Vanquisher brings the speed back, it’s a relentless assault that starts in high gear and stays there. The transition into the lead section is nifty with an extended break that twists along before breaking free and back into that in-your-face attack.

It’s what I think of when a band says, ‘it is our most brutal effort yet’ and you could probably argue that for the whole album really, except they have enough going on to avoid it becoming monotonous. While Blasted Past Extinction opts for that mid-ground after a quick opening, it just crushes and I’m still thinking how can they consider this to be raw? It sounds great. There is a guitar line they drop in similar to an aural figure of eight in how it lands.

Final track Inhaling The Dust Of Bones grinds along with a simple chugging line that provides the foundation for the melodic lines to be played out. The simplistic approach works so well, echoing the efficiency we have already seen on Artillery, it’s so heavy and closes the album out on a sombre note.

There feels like there is a subtle transformation at play, from the opening bars of Crippled At The Core through to the end, the arrangements are constantly tweaked so they sit well with the one before whilst providing something new.

As a whole all the parts knit together well and with the lyrical topics at hand, they offer something different and actually say something. In doing that they are treating us with a little respect which should be reciprocated by giving this your full attention. It offers you a brutal time without the one-note vocal delivery and there some prime leads on here. Of course, the riffs are huge, and sound huge too. Get behind them, they deserve it. 8/10

Pohl - Mysteries (Wrong Speed Records) [Joe Guatieri]

Sheffield based Noise Rock duo Pohl return with their first new release in four years being the aptly titled Mysteries. A changing of the guard has happened here for this album as Pohl have added a new member with that being Dr Linda Westman joining on drums. She is known for playing in the Canadian Death Metal band, Old Hope.

Mysteries starts off with track one, Narrator a hypnotic number with punchy drums and angular guitars. A part within the song that I really enjoyed was in the way that the vocals were used. Not being front and centre but laying at the back of the mix, colouring the background with its waves, leaving room to think. Also there was a little sprinkle of Queens Of The Stone Age in there too, as the fuzzy guitar riff jumped up an octave, trying to break free through the earth's atmosphere.

From there we go into track three with The Whale, starting off with a great and thunderous drum solo until the song explodes into walls of guitars. That power combined with the weirdness of very wobbly guitar passages makes for a satisfying moment, it’s like High On Fire meets Hella.

Later on my favourite song on Mysteries comes in at track five with Revelation. Surprisingly enough it starts off with something very hard rock-esqe with a side-to-side dancey vibe before descending into hell with Grindcore punishment. The end of the verses are met with an eruption of down-tuned proportions as everything shakes in its path.

Overall with Mysteries, Pohl have made their bed and are laying in it, providing comfort in consistency within its sound. There’s a clear theme going on here but with only a handful of detours, I was looking for a lot more surprises here. I give it 6/10

Summoning The Lich - Under the Reviled Throne (Prosthetic Records) [GC]

In the 3 years since the release of their debut album Summoning The Lich has have built up a dizzyingly feverous reputation for creating unrelenting technical death metal with fantasy twist, the buzz around their second release for Prosthetic Records, Under The Reviled Throne is there for all to see, so lets see if the hype can be backed up.

It starts with Return To The Soil which isn’t really as technical as I was expecting, it is however a furiously heavy way to start the album full of incredible drumming that’s backed up by a solid, hefty and remarkably deathcorey sound and while it wasn’t what I was expecting it’s a good start, it all gets a bit more blasty and slightly more techy on the bonkers Reviled Crystal Waters but once again the deathcore elements really form the main part of the song. 

Here the beatdowns are ferocious and really the highlight of the song but when they do let go of the reins and experiment it still all fits in well and doesn’t get messy and complicated, The Forest Feasts is more of the same a blizzard of superhuman drum work and while I’m not getting really tech death from the guitars its still a relentless and heavy deathcore that stands out from the crowd and the vocals are also mental on this track. 

My Horrors Unending has an undeniable hardcore influence from the beatdown filled beginning and the stompy verses but also manages to easily switch back to the more familiar sound without missing a beat, Bastell Dirge comes in goes without doing anything as it’s a mid-album interlude before Carrion Fleet offers a slower more melodic death metal feel at the beginning but this slight lull in proceedings doesn’t last long before the onslaught continues. 

The melodic elements carries through into parts of the song and is a nice way to change up the feel of the song because Arrias Groans has no room for subtlety or politeness its just full on beatdown fury and blasting intenseness throughout which carries through into Will To Survive but here they mix in a bit of the melodic vibe from earlier and it helps the song to not sound one paced and dare I say it boring because in all honesty much of the album has all sounded very similar and while its all done well.

I am feeling myself drifting a bit now and Potion Seller doesn’t really do too much to change my mind unfortunately its once again fantastically played and absolutely unrelenting in the heaviness created but its just all sounded like this and I really feel that there needs to be some sort of variety to keep you interested. 

The Void Gate does feel slightly different as it’s a bit slower and has the ability to switch seamlessly between savage brutality and more measured and thoughtful savagery and the mixing of the 2 styles does make you a bit more invested to the song, got to say though I can do with out the brie brie vocals that are included, there hasn’t been many on the album so far but when I hear them they just grate on my nerves, and so onto last track Praise To The Bog which ends the album in another flurry of relentless and dizzyingly paced deathcore.

In all honesty as I have heard so much about Summoning The Lich, I think I may have expected a bit too much from Under The Reviled Throne there was a lot to be said about the playing and talent involved and while I liked what I heard I did find it all too samey throughout, when the mood did change it didn’t change for very long before it was just more of the same, I also didn’t get the tech death I was promised? 

Overall, the album is a good listen, and most death metal fans will enjoy it without a doubt but personally I was just left feeling a bit disappointed and like I wanted a bit more. 6/10

Sirius - A Quest For Life (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

Having supported Luke Appleton in Greece as part of his 2019 tour, Sirius are a classic metal band from Athens. Despite being around since 2007 they only released material in 2017, after band founder Dimitris Napas, managed to get the right musicians. He's the vocals and lead/acoustic guitars and musically Sirius remind me of Judas Priest and Gama Ray, he's got a lower sounding voice which is decent, but his guitar playing is excellent.

Dimitris' voice is actually better than guest Tim 'Ripper' Owens who feels like he's phoning it in on Unbound The Scream, but the music makes up for it with some thrashy classic/power metal. With Napas are another two Dimitris' Stathopoulos on guitars, Simiakos on bass and Nick Samios on drums. Sirius add some Celtic touches to Desdichado, a song inspired by Ivanhoe, Fragment is an instrumental/solo that leads into the chuggy Lostlight while Land Of Swords has some guest organs/synths/keys from Derek Sherinian (Black Country Communion/Whom Gods Destroy)

A Quest For Life matches it's ambition well with some fairly good classic metal. It's not world beating but am enjoyable listen. 7/10

Reviews: Category 7, Sacri Monti, Iress, Terra Black (Reviews By Mark Young, Rich Piva, Matt Bladen & James Jackson)

Category 7 - Category 7 (Metal Blade Records) [Mark Young]

There is something quite right about Category 7 having its debut released through Metal Blade Records. It’s an album that is so tightly packed with all the things that made us love this music in the first place there is a feeling that it could be the only home for it.

The band members read like a who’s who of metal starting with Jason Bittner (drums, Shadows Fall), Jack Gibson (bass, Exodus) to guitarists Mike Orlando (Adrenaline Mob) and Phil Demmel (Machine Head, now Kerry King) and bringing his considerable talents to complete this group is John Bush (Armoured Saint, Anthrax). If you haven’t heard of them, then I suggest you start using your search engine of choice and dive in. For everyone else, you’ll know that this is a band that means business.

As with most groups, it started as an opportune meeting and grew legs from there. You can go online and read that, let’s get into the music. Just before we do, if guitar solos are not your thing, then it might be best to avoid.

Like lead breaks? Yes? Let’s continue.

In Stitches is our starter and it nails its colour to the mast almost straight away – manic drums, wild solo and Mr. Bush coming in with his pipes sounding as good as anything he’s done. The riffs are not overly complicated but that is the charm. They are solid and provide the base for the leads that come later after a nifty pre-lead segment. That mix of groove and thrash is quality and the outro drumming is spot on, but it owes a lot to John Bush having the voice and that incredible knack of finding the right way to sing it.

It was one of the main strengths of his time in Anthrax, and it’s the same here. On Land I Used To Love at 1.15 there is a prime example of this, with a melodic line playing out whilst he sings, it gives the material that boosts that lifts it above what it could have been with a lesser singer. There is some epic face-melting guitar work going on here,

Apple Of Discord is one of my favourites here, again it’s a simple riff that is brought in following Jason Bittner knocking hell out of his kit and they are straight on the front foot with it and once again there is an earworm of a chorus that stays with you afterwards. Exhausted is up next and has one of the best sing-along choruses you will hear this year. Its fucking ace, rising chords, leads and those vocal melodies hitting the spot again. Unashamed metal goodness and it was the first single release, go and check it out. Immediately.

What I can say is that there is no real change in style or attack – it’s all full pelt, drums that batter and lead breaks that could cause wildfires to break out. If you don’t like this style, you won’t find anything here to change your mind. What we have is 5 talents firing on all cylinders, from White Flags & Bayonets with its massive choruses to Mousetrap (latest single) with some mint drumming (think Painkiller) straight into a riff that combines that groove / thrash style again.

There are moments like this all through, where they drop in musical links to their own bands i.e., in the way the riffs are put together or the way the leads come in. It’s this hybrid that makes it so much fun, especially on the final track Through Pink Eyes which has a furious thick-end riff to it straight into a classic chorus. I’ve repeated that about the choruses on here a few times and it’s unavoidable because there are some massive ones on here.

There is also an 8-minute instrumental, Etter Stormen. And you know what I think about instrumentals. That is rude of me, so it’s an 8-minute guitar punch-up, with a seemingly never-ending cavalcade of incendiary fretwork. It’s just mental.

I think that the key is that it just wants to have fun. They sound as though it was born of doing something fun and the end result is that it wants you to have fun with it, so do that. It is not asking a lot of you, and you will be rewarded with some cracking heavy music that brings everything we love into one spot.

It remains to be seen if there will be a follow up but I see no reason why they shouldn’t especially when you consider the talent they have at their disposal. On the other hand, would it better if it remained a one-off? What I would say is this: I don’t think you would consider this a classic album. But I would say that it is the kind of amped-up, solo-laden, no fucks given metal that you want in your life. 8/10

Sacri Monti - Retrieval (Tee Pee Records) [Rich Piva]

Sacri Monti has become one of my favorite contemporary bands in a very short time. How could they not? The play crazy and wonderful 70s soaked psych prog and have organ and sound like they were recorded back then too. Checks pretty much every box for me. 

You like Hawkwind but prefer more Hammond? Got you here. You like Deep Purple but want them to step out and freak out more? Got you here, too. There is even a little bit of Grand Funk in these guys. The production on their albums to date is exactly how the San Diego, CA band should sound. 

Never, however, does the band ever sound anything except new and fresh, and this point is proven to be 100% true on their new record, Retrieval, which reconfirms the status of the band as in my top tier and then some. Why do I love this band a Retrieval so much? 

The first 15 seconds of the opener, Maelstrom, should tell you. There is no messing around here. The dual, NWOBHM inspired riff hits you while the drums are falling down the stairs behind you before the total heavy psych out solo comes to bend your mind. Did I mention the organ, because what could make this song more perfect is onl y adding organ to its already perfect chemistry. 

While the opener is a swirling and frantic wonderful freakout, Desirable Sequel shows the pace down a bit to start, but just wait until just about the four minute mark when the band just goes off. I have to once again call out the drum work on Retrieval as some of my favourite I have heard in a while. 

The tempo changes on this one are perfect and makes this such an amazing listen. Intermediate Death, when the band kicks in during the bridge it creates a beautiful psych chaos that I have not heard done this well in a really long time. 

This one is right out of the time machine in the best sort of way, and how about how this one closes? The band is so tight while being so damn loose at the same time. Brackish/Honeycomb has more of that amazing dual guitar action that could be Thin Lizzy doing Deep Purple. 

The vocal and organ combo is glorious on this one while the drums and guitars bring some heavy in parts and dreaminess in others. Five minutes in when the drums take over and the band once again goes off it is heavy psych prog perfection. 

If anyone was looking for an organ solo (like I was), here you go. Moon Canyon acoustically chills us out for two and a half minutes bridging with said acoustic to the closer, More Than I, which starts off that way but is a nine minute epic psych prog journey that incorporates all the goodness I have mentioned before, including a killer solo, the sum up the perfection this record is. 

Love this band, love this album, and it being so good, Retrieval makes me somehow love Sacri Monti even more, which is a pretty big feat. Album of the year contender and something I will be listening to for a very long time. 10/10

Iress - Sleep Now, In Reverse (Church Road Records)

Classed as 'dream metal', Iress were formed in 2010 and the pair terror with beauty, imagine the end of the world coming almost in slow motion unfolding cinematically in front of you, then Iress are the soundtrack.

I suppose you could call it shoegaze but there's lots more too it than that. Iress could only be from L.A, they safe steeped in grandeur but beneath that there's an introspection, the moments of heaviness just stayed from erupting too much by a quiet reserve.

Bassist Michael Maldonado, drummer Glenn Chu, and guitarist Graham Walker, have evolved and melded their instrumental brilliance over the last 14 years, perfecting their emotionally resonant 'doomgaze' to the what you hear on Sleep Now, In Reverse. They build the atmosphere, slow burning and dramatic on The Remains, a steady, airy drumbeat that opens itself in to some doom crushing doom.

On a track such as Ever Under, the vocals of Michelle Malley are smokey and beautifully evocative, on tracks like Mercy, she presents a blissful, close quarters whispering before belting towards the cathartic end.

Leviathan (The Fog) continues with the whispered vocal style as In Reverse is beautiful, fully showing why Malley is referred to as the "Adele of Doom", soulful and impassioned she's got one of the best voices I've heard in years, literally causing chills even on the heavier moments such as Knell Mera as well as the dreamy Sanctuary.

For fans of bands such as Holy Fawn, King Woman, Sylvaine, Slow Crush, Iress' new album is stunning. 9/10

Terra Black - All Descend (Bonebag Records) [James Jackson]

Terra Black are re-releasing their debut album, All Descend, as an official physical release through a new record company, that the band recently signed to.

Whether there’s a need for a physical album in this wondrous age of digital media is not for me to say, though personally I do have a love of the artwork and lyric sheets that have become nigh on extinct in recent years. 

All Descend opens with the sludgy refrains of Asteroid, a winding track that rises and falls, revolving around a hypnotic guitar melody. The largely instrumental Black Flames Of Funeral Fire continues with the same focus on slow, steady doomy riffs, that scuzzy sound to the guitar pushing the head nodding groove, there’s some vocalisation followed by the song title, lyrically it’s obviously not complex but the focus here was the music. 

A stripped back verse is surrounded by monolithic riffs within Ashes And Dust. Divinest Sin follows and male and female vocals harmonise within the raw and folksy melodies whilst that now familiar sound of sludgy guitars plods on methodically.

Spawn Of Lyssa starts off with one of the darkest, doomier riffs on the album. Slumber Grove rounds out the album with another stab at that stripped down verse, just as effective as before as the vocals of female singer/guitarist Ezgi soar above the sorrowful melody. An album rich with Stoner Doom riffs and melodies; raw, earthy tones and haunting vocals. 8/10

Bloodstock Open Air 2024 Preview By Matt Bladen

Bloodstock Open Air 2024 Preview

Bloodstock Festival is rightly the biggest metal fest in the UK. While Download appeals to the mainstream and the masses, BOA has always tried to incorporate the middle and the extremes of the metal scene. After a bit of a break, 2024's line up proved too good to miss, but with so much happening we've put together this preview to highlight the bands we think you should be watching.

Thursday

Party time! Thursday is the day for setting up your tent, getting a few drinks and heading over to the Sophie Tent you'll get a good slab of various metal genres as you'll get classic metal from Tailgunner, some spooky modern anthems from South Of Salem and worship the goat with Hellripper which will cause a lot of madness in the pit. To close out the first day of Bloodstock are the Swedish prog metal titans Evergrey, they'll be showcasing their new album and will be inevitably playing some of the huge hits from their catalogue.

Friday

With bleary eyes and maybe a few sore heads it's time to delve into Friday's entertainment and for us it's probably the busiest day of the festival.

EMP Stage

On BOA's smallest stage there's a showcase of some great talent, on Friday Welsh monsters King Kraken who will sink the stage into the briny deep.

Sophie Lancaster Stage

Beginning with Welsh rockers Haxan it'll be a loud opening to the day as the heaviness increases with hardcore from Burner and OSDM from DeathCollector.

Then later in the day Swedish classic metal act Wolf return to BOA while Darkest Era will weave magic over the tent.

Coming near the climax of the day though are a band over been waiting years to see, Eternal Champion, the epic/traditional metal band have been on my bucket list for years now so to finally be able to see them and raise my broadsword to the air (not a euphemism) will be a real treat.

At the end of the day there couldn't be two more different bands as Icelandic hard rock trio The Vintage Caravan will kick out the jams before Igorrr brings the bonkers mix of dubstep, classical and extreme metal.

Ronnie James Dio Stage

On the main stage it's busier still with the always incredible Desert Storm getting the grooves in early. As Nervosa will have a thrash attack.

A trio of choice cuts come from the occult pagan brilliance of Green Lung, the macho heavy metal of Grand Magus and Greek black metal legends Rotting Christ

I'd also add Enslaved to the must watch list, but if you're looking for a good time then Clutch have you covered, letting you get all of your movement out of your body before you become enraptured with a fan request set from the mighty Opeth who will close out Friday with what will be majestic!

Saturday

EMP Stage

On Saturday the EMP Stage will get a glut of heavy as there's more Welsh representation from Lurcher and Flamebearer will ignite things with chest beating riffage.

Sophie Lancaster Stage

There's lots to watch on Saturday which is a bit more eclectic so I'm sure you'll find something better it industrial metal such as Ludovico Technique, pirate metal from Red Rum or Folk metal drinking from Korpiklaani. For me though the Sophie Stage picks are rip snorting rockers Asomvel and technical thrashers Sylosis

Ronnie James Dio Stage

The main stage dials up the with heavy with, Crypta, Deicide, Whitechapel, Malevolence and headliners Architects but again for me it's bands like Ignea, thrash legends Forbidden and the prog/power excellence of Unleash The Archers who excite the most.

Sunday

EMP Stage

Sundays EMP Stage features both Goblinsmoker's conceptual stoner doom and riffs for the riff god from Warpstormer

Sophie Lancaster Stage

Opening the Sophie stage on Sunday are Welsh gothic alt rock stars Black Lakes as Bristol based doomsters Moon Reaper will bring a mood. Grove Street, Sadus and Xentrix will add the thrashing but it's all about the UK Exclusive from Satyricon who will finish off the weekend in triumphal style.

Ronnie James Dio Stage

With the main stage dare to be stupid with Raised By Owls who will provide some much needed laughs after three days of partying. Unfortunately Soen will probably make you cry uncontrollably which is a good thing before Septicflesh will batter you with an industrial assault.

Thankfully The Night Flight Orchestra are there to make it all better again with some top notch AOR, as the weekend draws to a close with British death metal royalty Carcass and the Viking metal heroes Amon Amarth

So that's three of the stages covered, my personal picks of what to see and where to see them but there is another stage at Bloodstock.

A really important stage called the Hopical Storm New Blood Stage. This is where bands who have won their regions Metal To The Masses campaign get to play Bloodstock Festival, alongside some hand chosen acts.

It's over here that you'll be seeing some of the bands that are the future of the festival and may grow into potential headliners, so I want to draw your attention to:

Root Zero - M2TM South Wales
Kensei - M2TM Birmingham
Froglord - M2TM Bristol
Judgement - M2TM North Wales

But there are lots more from all over the UK so get out and support these bands as much as you can as many will be playing stages this size for the first time. Also try to make some time to see Final Coil, Praetorian, Running With Knives, Straight For The Sun and She Burns Red who have been invited to play Bloodstock this year.

So there you have it! Musipedia Of Metal's picks for Bloodstock 2024!

See you all at Catton Hall!

Reviews: Worshipper, Ironflame, Void Witch, Callas (Reviews By Matt Bladen & Paul Hutchings)

Worshipper - One Way Trip (Magnetic Eye Records) [Matt Bladen]

Boston psych rockers Worshipper come from a European standpoint musically, putting NWOBHM with classic hard rock in the same way Kadavar, Graveyard and Greenleaf. One Way Trip is their third album and it's not a huge drug reference but rather a rumination on death and the human condition, we are all on a One Way Trip and the decisions we make this life are important to how much of it we experience. This isn't a massively upbeat record though it dwells on the New England darkness, the folk tales, the supernatural, the rebellious spirit and a alignment towards the darker side of things, take the doomy Windowpane as an example of this.

Though they put these evil intentions together with twin axe harmonies, hooky choruses and lots of melody. Recorded with Alec Rodriguez at New Alliance Studio, John Brookhouse (vocals/guitar/synth), Dave Jarvis (drums), Bob Maloney (bass/backing vocals), Alejandro Necochea (guitar/synth), set about using their experience to craft a third album that defines them and their sound. It's the synths and backing vocals that add a heady AIC tinge to the chugging Heroic Dose, while Keep This has the euphoric twin harmonies, these more melodic moments are counteracted by the psych doom crush of Only Alive and the horror-tinged James Motel.

One Way Trip worships Wishbone Ash and Judas Priest as much as it does Black Sabbath and Hawkwind. It's grungy, groovy, proto metal goodness that has you rocking out with every note. 8/10

Ironflame – Kingdom Torn Asunder (High Roller Records) [Paul Hutchings]

Raise the banners high, draw your heavy metal power sword, and prepare to singalong with Ironflame’s latest album Kingdom Torn Asunder. Four albums in since their formation in 2016, this is my first encounter with the vehicle for multi-instrumentalist Andrew D’Cagna, who impressively does everything on the album. I get the feeling from listening to this that I can work out how the previous four sound, such is the style he delivers. 

Indeed, the man states, “If I had to describe the album to anyone who is already familiar with Ironflame and is a fan of our music, I would say you will not be disappointed. To my ears, Kingdom Torn Asunder is a classic Ironflame album. All the elements that make an Ironflame album are present: twin guitar harmonies, memorable hooks, catchy choruses and good album flow. The writing formula has not changed for us, neither has the recording formula. I handled all the vocals, guitars, bass and drums as usual. Everything except for guitar solos, which were once again done by Quinn Lukas and Jesse Scott”.

That description is spot on, for over the 50-minutes that is presented to us on Kingdom Torn Asunder, what you get is a high-quality power metal album that draws inspiration from bands of the seventies and eighties, as well as the big bands of the genre – think everything from Helloween, Gamma Ray and Blind Guardian through to HammerFall, Eternal Champion, Night Demon and Visigoth.

Every track is polished to a high standard. A crisp production allows the songs to breath, the vocals are clear, and enunciation is not a problem in any way. Musically, it’s also top drawer, with a very impressive delivery, twin guitars, searing lead work, driving bass and drums and clean vocals combining well.

Lyrically, the songs are as predictable as you’d expect from a power metal outfit. Songs like Blood And Honour, Majesty Of Steel and Riding The Dragons tick every box in the power metal scorecard. Fantasy, sorcery, magic. You got it all. And on songs such as Mistress Of Desire, despite the clichés and standard words, there’s more Dio and Rainbow than Blind Guardian – it’s a welcome step into the realms of traditional epic metal, the world once inhabited by Manowar and Manilla Road.

To his credit, D’Cagna is clear about his influences. “I was a huge fan of Kiske and Helloween since I was a kid in the late eighties, Keeper Of The Seven Keys was a very powerful album to me. HammerFall was not what I would call a direct influence, but I do respect and appreciate all they have done to carry the torch for heavy metal for so many years”.

In summary, if you like heavy metal that comes with a large serving of power metal as the main course, then this is an album you should hear. It’s as simple as that. 7/10

Void Witch – Horripilating Presence (Everlasting Spew Records) [Paul Hutchings]

38 harrowing minutes await you if you take the plunge into the world of Void Witch and their extreme suffocating Texan death doom. The aural equivalent of doing a marathon on stumps, this six-track release is as intensely oppressive an album as I’ve encountered for many years. It could be the soundtrack to a low-budget horror film.

To describe their music as suffocating is probably the most accurate description you could get, for there is little room to breath amongst the ponderously heavy wall of crushing riffage that falls on you form the start. There is little change in tempo, unsurprising given the genre, with the rolling riffs, growling, elongated growls of vocalist Luke Friebertshauser sprawling across the album.

Building on their 2022 self-titled EP, this really is a blunt assault to the senses. The riffs are intense, unrelenting and powerful. With themes of body horror, gruesome myth and murder, this is not something for the light-hearted. They aren’t going to be gracing a classic rock festival any time soon.

What Void Witch do very well is sprawl their songs across the full time available. From the punishing cavalcade of Grave Mistake which provides the haunting introduction, all the way through to the tile track which closes the album, there is no let up. The occasional burst of up-tempo groove appears, merely to confuse the listener whose spine is already likely to be starting to splinter. It’s a wall of double bass drumming, that occasionally erupts into a thrash burst (check the five-minute mark on Grave Mistake for example).

Second Demon sees more of the same, frantic switches between pulverising passages of doom-laden riffs sit alongside some fiery bursts of speed, all accompanied by more and more deathly growls that roar above the cacophony. Central piece Malevolent Demiurge provides the pillar from which to hang the rest of the album.

In summary, if you like your doom laden with a death metal edge, and riffs thicker than pouring tarmac, then Horripilating Presence will do exactly what the title suggests, raise the horror expectations from start to finish. 7/10

Callas - Days (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

Days dwells in the maudlin, inspired by the likes of Anathema, My Bloody Valentine and Deftones, the Cork foursome called Callas, bring shimmering post rock, which also has segues into haunting 90's alt rock and cathartic ambience. Callas are Dom Murphy (vocals/guitars/keys), Cormac Shanley (bass), Ruairi Lynch (guitars/production) and Evan Prendergast (drums) and they write profound, experimental music that juxtaposes heavy guitar stabs with ethereal softness.

From the opening of the title track, they counterbalance guitar stabs with dreamy vocals as they continue with this vibe on Sunlight, as Porous shows them at their most stripped back. The music is good but it doesn't overwhelm me, it doesn't consume me the way I want music like this to. Still at three tracks it's a way of discover Callas as a band. 6/10

Reviews: Deep Purple, Dream Evil, Dead Monarchs, Dehumanaut (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Deep Purple - =1 (earMusic)

While many of the rock dinosaurs have long since gone extinct, Deep Purple seems to keep on kicking, maybe it's due to their revolving door membership (though they have a long way to go if they want to reach the levels of Yes), but the fact that there are many different versions throughout the years allows them to continue touring and recording since 1968, though admittedly with a small gap in the middle between 1976 and 1984.

We're now on Deep Purple Mark IX, the most recent change being long time guitarist Steve Morse stepping away from the band to care for his wife, the man stepping up to take over is Northern Irish bluesman Simon McBride, who has served time in Sweet Savage and DP keyboard player Don Airey's solo band. He's also been a solo artist and has played with Purple since March 2022 as a touring guitarist, becoming a permanent member in April of that year.

=1 the 23rd Deep Purple album is his first recorded showcase with the band and Purple's first album of original material since 2020's Whoosh. It's another grower similar to Infinite, with a mish mash of styles covered, where it stays firmly though is in the belly of the blues, Deep Purple always were a heavy blues band at heart but with the classical influences of Blackmore, Lord and Morse they adapted this into the grandiose heavy rock they're known for.

A few of the tracks here go back to those blues beginnings, McBride peeling off some slinky blues solos for If I Were You and Pictures Of You as that long established rhythm section of Roger Glover (bass) and Ian Paice (drums) set the tone and cantor of the tracks such as Portable Door, flashing out some shaking grooves, jazz flourishes and even some good old fashioned funk. The latter coming on tracks such as Old Fangled Things which feel a bit more like Gillian solo tracks than Purple ones.

That's something I get from the whole of this record, there's moments where it's a Gillian song or a Don Airey song, even though all the band members and producer Bob Ezrin wrote the album but between there's there's some of the massive dinosaur rock anthems (Sharp Shooter/Now You're Talking) that come lumbering out of the 70's, Airey getting to show off his huge organ (Ooh Matron!)

It's a best of all worlds, lyrically erudite and politically/socially aware with songs such as Lazy Sod and Bleeding Obvious but also keeping that randy at times smutty lyricism (Show Me) of Ian Gillian and his aged but still bloody good and unique vocal prowess. Already going straight to No1 in numerous album charts, like Rexy in Jurassic Park/World series, there's plenty of life in this old dinosaur. 8/10

Dream Evil - Metal Gods (Century Media)

A long way from the band former by producer/guitarist Fredrik Nordström and Gus G (Firewind) it's been seven years since the last time Dream Evil convened for another album of classic heavy metal. This one is a tribute to the Metal Gods of old, many of them name checked on the title track, although the whole band is named after a Dio song so you could say they've been bailing heavy metal for years!

Fredrik Nordström states that the band have been lazy, life has gotten in the way but now they are back with another load of anthemic heavy metal. They stress that Dream Evil is not a full time thing, they all have other jobs Nordström in particular is a noted producer but he, alongside vocalist Niklas Isfeldt, bassist Peter Stålfors, lead guitarist Markus Fristedt and new drummer Sören Fardvik, still enjoy playing but very much at their own pace and they have the ability to write what they want.

Whether that's the dramatic Chosen Force, the swashbuckling The Tyrant Dies At Dawn, the thrusting classic metal of Lighting Strike or the more dynamic numbers such as Masters Of Arms or Y.A.N.A, with Metal Gods, Dream Evil return as a lean mean metal machine. 8/10

Dead Monarchs - Titan (Self Released)

Fat riffs, sludge aggression and some snotty Brit grit, Titan is the debut album from Northern England based stoner punks Dead Monarchs.

Having recently played Ruination Festival the band have been releasing singles for this album for a while but they all now sit here in one record. Dead Monarchs are; Al (vocals/bass), Will Grinder (guitar), Adam O'Grady-Marshall (guitar) and Kevin McGonnell (drums/vocals), I think. They were the foursome that played on the EP,

However I know that this foursome play the sort of stoner/desert/punk which reminds me of Orange Goblin, Planet Of Zeus and a bit of Monster Magnet too. They've got psychedelic jams on Monte Rosa with long instrumental passages on Return To The Ocean but also foot on the throat riffage such as Memory Of Lies or the hardcore kick off Galactic Blast.

Growled/shouted vocals give it a rawness as they pump out their riff n roll, guitars entwined with distorted riffs and a expressive rhythm section on tracks such as Doubt-Self. Dead Monarchs crank out the riffs on this debut record. I'll be checking them out live when they finally head down our way on the strength of Titan. 8/10

Dehumanaut - Of Nightmares And Vice (Self Released)

The debut album from Bristol trio Dehumanaut, Dust In The Giants Hand, was released in 2020. Then after it the band seemed to disappear, however in 2024, they are back with their second album Of Nightmares And Vice. The trio of Jon Rudin (drums), Katy Montgomerie (guitar/bass) and Will Jones (vocals) return with another album of heavy groove metal.

Jones has some black metal like screams and guttural roars, as the tracks such as A Perilous Path shift between Lamb Of God groove and death metal battery. Reject The Knife meanwhile flits between thrash and OSDM the riffs from Montgomerie like a buzzsaw as the drumming from Rudin batters on the bouncy and bludgeoning Nexus Of Decline.

Of Nightmares And Vice is a more aggressive and has a wider scope than their debut. Adding some melody and cleans to Battle Weary there's a lot more progression in the song writing and the music has become more progressive as a fusion of groove, thrash, death and hardcore.

Speaking of hardcore Backbone & Guile features guest vocals from Simon and Dave from Falmouth crossover thrash/hardcore crew Rash Decision as the keyboard/synth outro comes from Albert Rathbone while the final song Black City (an odd to Bristol's Metal Record Shop perhaps) I believe also features voices from Wormbbath and Skineater.

The thrash and death metal influences are much more pronounced, the riffs bite more, the solos are more complex, the drumming destroys and the vocals make me want a Strepsil. A much more accomplished, brutal, record than their already strong debut. New heavy noises from just over the bridge are always welcome. 8/10

A View From The Back Of The Room: Underdark/Grief Ritual (Live Review By Matt Bladen)

Underdark, Grief Ritual, Levitas & Ordeal By Roses/NoisexMarine, Fuel Rock Club, 20.07.24

Rescheduled from February due to technical issues, FHED finally presented a night of modern extreme music which saw some of the most hotly tipped acts playing together on a Saturday evening in Cardiff's only rock club.

Changing since it first went ahead, Verletzen couldn't return and Tides Of Sulfur were unable to perform so in their place was two harsh noise acts. Ordeal By Roses/NoisexMarine (6) were the acts chosen, last minute replacements who turned up, plugged in and abused their equipment to make ungodly rackets. Essentially two acts playing two sets in the same time frame, I'll admit harsh noise is not my bag, but both artists have it their all to kick off this night, doubling down that it's the noise scene is the true underground music.

Then it was time for the band who replaced Verletzen on the bill. South West/Wales based atmospheric black/sludge band Levitas (7), it's been a long time since I've seen them play but their precision application of crushing melancholy and anguished heaviness was perfect to build towards both of the other acts on the bill. Musically spot on but without much of their more theatrical trappings, Levitas won over a lot of the crowd who may not have seen them and reminded me of why I've always enjoyed them so much.

Next up though we're the band who a lot of the crowd were there to see, politically charged, Queer positive blackened hardcore blasters Grief Ritual (8) a band with a lot of talk surrounding them, they kicked they kicked the night into a higher gear, swearing hardcore riffs, varied vocals screams/shouts, breakdowns, blasts and even some tremolo picking, Grief Ritual put a lot into their expansive style of aggression, raging against injustice and tyranny, the songs are political and pissed off, the crowd lapping it up with lots of movement.

Grief Ritual smashed it, but bloody hell it takes a a hell of a band to top Underdark (9), the Anti-fascist, atmospheric black metal band which features the fantastic, raw, emotional vocals of Abi Vasquez. They take a progressive edge to black metal, adding post metal, screamo and metalcore to their political rage and indignation they are a principled and precise in their battery.

It's adult music for adults, trying to subvert many of the preconceptions of black metal, through presenting themselves as something else similar to Dawn Ray'd (R.I.P), it's very personal but lends itself to the ears of anyone sympathetic to their cause. Musically they bludgeon and batter, double kick blast beats from Dan Blackmore reverberated around Fuels, closed walls, linked in with Stephen 'Stig' Waterfield' harsh, fuzzy bass.

Weaving in and out with distortion, tremolo picking and lead breaks were guitarists Adam Kinson and Ollie Jones, directing the pace and atmosphere, I assume they leave each gig with RSI from the furious shredding. Each Underdark seems like it's catharsis, a collective release of emotion through a refreshing, compassionate, liberal take on an often po-faced, macho and maligned genre.

FHED continues to bring the best of the politically and socially aware underground metal scene to South Wales. Long may it continue!

Reviews: Chemical Storm, Arka’n Asrafokor, Inner Strength, Thousand Limbs (Reviews By Paul Hutchings, James Jackson, Matt Bladen & GC)

Chemical Storm – Digital Dementia (UK Thrashers) [Paul Hutchings]

Visceral, intense, explosive. Three words that summarise the latest EP from Kent band Chemical Storm. Another band who makes a necessary social observation about society’s reliance/obsession on electronic devices; one wonders if they are the exception to the rule backstage. Are they reading books instead of being glued to social media?

Regardless, this is a very pleasing old school thrasher that doesn’t pull any punches. It’s meaty, full of violent riffs, aggressive vocals and big drums. The drum sound is huge, as demonstrated in the opening section of opener God Forbid and the slower driving Blunt Force Drama.

It’s been six years since their sole EP, Doomed From Day One was released, and from what I can find, the band have been stable in line-up. This EP appears to be a statement – it’s time to make up some lost time and if the beast has finally reawakened, they’ve brought it big time from start to finish.

There may only be four tracks, but it’s a respectable 22-minutes in length, opening with the pulsating God Forbid which rolls into a 100mph rage early on, building in tempo and power as it develops. Yes, there’s plenty of Slayer amongst the sound here, but it is solidly delivered with more guts than many recent thrash releases I’ve heard. It’s a swirling maelstrom that is designed to drive the circles pits.

Liam ‘Big Lez’ Underdown’s vocals aren’t hugely strong, wavering slightly at times, but they do the job, although one does wonder how they will fare in the live setting. Dave Austin’s lead guitars slice through the torrent of chaos and thunder, an impressively fluid burst of solos that catch the ear.

Chemical Storm don’t press the brake throughout the four tracks, with the intensity built on God Forbid carried into Shadow Hole. This isn’t the most impressive song, a little 80s Bay Area thrash by numbers, but the sheer velocity of the song does make an impression. It’s Blunt Force Drama that takes the ear, with a slightly slower vibe that makes it a more considered and thoughtful song.

That leads to another spinning beast, the title track that ensures things finish with as much spikiness as they started. There’s no subtlety with Chemical Storm, just in your face good old fashioned thrash metal. Whilst there is much amongst their peers which is downright ordinary, the sheer power and infectious groove that this quartet bring just might give them a chance to power out of the also rans and challenge for a seat near the top table. Good stuff! 8/10

Arka’n Asrafokor - Dzikkuh (Reigning Phoenix Music) [James Jackson]

Implementing traditional instruments and techniques from a band’s country of origin and ancestral heritage isn’t a new concept, it adds a touch of authenticity to the craft and has in some cases been hugely successful. There’s a very Groove/Nu Metal style to the songs, opening track The Truth contains some of those traditional, in this case, African, instrumentals, behind the onslaught of guitars and more traditional drums are an accompaniment of tribalistic drums. 

Whilst Not Getting In Line feels a bit more straight forward and run of the mill, Walk With Us offers Rap style vocals, an almost Obituary sounding riff but more importantly the sounds of the band’s West African culture are far more prominent and not only in the percussion but also within the use of the traditional language of the region. It’s not really until Mamade, that I really get a feel for that stereotypical African culture, a crushing midsection is bookended by a more traditional sounding sound and it’s that that I have expected to hear a bit more throughout the album, there’s a “tribal” sounding drumbeat that feels overplayed at times, it pops up as a repetitive pattern throughout the album, either a sample or just extremely similar every time. 

The general vibe, for want of a better word, is that the band are hitting Nu Metal and throwing in, at times, very groove and at times sludgy death metal riffs for added emphasis; the African music or tones of their homeland could, I feel, be far more prominent than it is, I’m reminded of BloodyWood and how full on their Indian roots are planted within their songs; Arka’n Asrafokor could push those roots harder at times and it would add depth and intensity to the more straight forward Metal that they’re playing. Other than that slight quibble, a solid enough album. 6/10

Inner Strength - Daydreaming In Moonlight (Divebomb Records) [Matt Bladen]

Initially founded as a crossover hardcore band in 1986, vocalist Scott Oliva revamped the band in 1990 to make it a progressive metal sound similar to bands such as Fates Warning, Psychotic Waltz and Queensryche. They released only the on album and two demos and then things in the music world changed their label crumbled, in the midst of them opening for fellow New Yorkers Dream Theater, and by 1993 that was that.

However a reissue campaign in 2019 brought the four of the original (1990) members back together, but by 2021, 3/4 of them had become another band Sunrise Dreamer. I'm sure with this album many thought there would never be a new release by Inner Strength but on 2024 here we are, the classic four piece of Scott Olivia (vocals), Joe Marselle (guitar), Joe Kirsch (drums) and Justin Hosman (bass) reinstated and the first album of new material in 30 years.

Guitarist Joe Marselle calls it "the album we might have made in 1991 if we had the skills and experience we have today." so with all this experience behind them and the decision to be as good as they could possibly be musically before they started recording, how does Daydreaming In Moonlight stack up to those prog metal bands who continued to thrive after grunge "killed" progressive music in the 1990's.

Well it's prog metal in the vein of the bands I mentioned earlier in the review, emotive vocals, melodic guitar lines and shifting time signatures, tracks such as Face Another Hero have all that, and makes me think of Enchant as well. They shift into doom, jazz and much more prog on The Strength Within Part 2. They have Dream Theater-like moody balladry on Dearly Departed while Compelled seems to half inch the beginning of Pull Me Under.

Technically impressive but without sacrificing the songs themselves Daydreaming In Moonlight comes as an impressive return for Inner Strength. 8/10

Thousand Limbs - The Aurochs (Azathoth Records) [GC]

When I investigate my inbox and see an album by a sludge band my heart usually sinks slightly because as I have mentioned many times before I get very bored very quickly and songs that have unnecessary long run times just get on my nerves. Sludge can be beautifully grim and disgusting but can also feel boring and labored, so where does The Aurochs by Thousand Limbs fall? Time to find out!

A Blessed Life To Suffer opens to the sound of soft and melancholic acoustic guitars that then are interrupted with some gargantuan and thundering guitars that are a mix of spacious notes with the familiar drone of sludge but one never takes away from the other and the harmonious qualities really balance each other out nicely.

A Dim Light To Guide drags as much life out of the bottom end of the instruments involved and doesn’t pick up the pace for one minute and while I appreciate the sense of discomfort this aims to create, I do find myself wanting it to try to be something else about halfway through, Only His Shadow comes and goes and doesn’t really offer much as its just some soft guitar noodling that is about as long as most hardcore bands epic tracks and I can kind of start to feel that this might be a frustrating listen. 

Title track The Aurochs surprisingly then picks up the pace of things considerably and has a pulsating bass line that is driving and urgent and a crunch to the guitars that was needed to inject a bit of energy into proceedings, the more up-tempo sound is carried all the way through the song with a slight dip midway but then the end is played in a surprisingly pacey way and is a real unexpected but welcome shot in the arm! 

Aligned falls into the middle of the pace ranges not exactly snails pace but also not breakneck either it has a nice paced hum to it and all the instruments compliment and support each other without one standing out or going missing, I do now feel though that the lack of any kind of vocal is probably a bit of a mis-step, I just feel that added layer would really make these songs stick out that little bit more as while there heavy enough I just feel they can be elevated a notch or two, Chapter is another interlude I guess, its just more atmospheric guitar buzzing and noises which again does nothing for me and as usual jut annoys me a bit!? 

Form lumbers and lurches forwards on waves of big rumbling basslines with softer guitars it creates an atmospheric and roomy song that I can imagine if you smoke weed will absolutely be the sort of repetitive and one-dimensional sound you need, I don’t however, so I get unfortunately get bored of it very quickly and with Fall Of Body And Mind of course the pace does not quicken one bit and if anything is even slower like you know, bring the heavy bit back BUT SLOWER but instead here its bring the slower bit back and make it SOFTER when it does wake up the basslines are nice and scuzzy and the drums do a good job of cushioning you but its just too one paced for my tastes. 

Beneath Soil And Stone is another couple of minutes of soft ambient noise this time with piano for added boredom, so A Boundless Heart rounds things off in suitably slow and low fashion, again its all big bass lines and atmospheric guitars surrounded by a comforting blanket of thudding drums but by this point it has all just sort of become a little underwhelming and I’m not bothered its ended.

I said at the beginning that I’m not usually sold on sludge, if it is done well I love it but if not I just kind of drift a bit and find myself picking out faults and feeling that this or that could be included to make the song better, and while it’s not my place to tell Thousand Limbs how or what to play its just how I feel. This is one of those albums that if you are into sludge, you will no doubt rate highly but if not, it is unlikely to get you into the genre and you can make of that what you will. 5/10

A View From The Back Of The Room: Ingénue EP Launch (Live Review By Mark Young)

Ingénue Recreational Monachopsis EP Launch, The Peer Hat, Manchester 07.07.24

And here we are in Manchester, no rain and slightly balmy weather which is nice so obviously I've hexed it for later once the gig wraps up. Getting here early means I can hear soundcheck downstairs, the place is thumping ahead of doors opening at 7. The last time I was here, there was a real spread of styles and looking at some of the band bio’s I think this is assured.

Onion Mash (7) are first up and are playing an instrumental set due to vocalist Rachel's absence which we hope isn't serious. It will be an interesting test to see how their music translates here without her. Making a tongue-in-cheek apology they launch into We’re Not Twelve Anymore and tear through it whilst showing that they will do the best that they can do under the circumstances. Dangerously Close To Each Other is heavy stomper and despite the missing vocals, they drop a one-two that opens the evening with a blast. 

Lonely between 2, with its 70s rock swagger, bass punching through from Peter into One Minute More, immediate with some royal double bass, it's a ripper with a punk/classic rock feel and they keep this energy going, even when they are giving shout outs to the other bands on tonight. Killdozer is next which was released as a single recently. Its Tight and they sound great as they tear through it with an energy that is exactly what you want from the opening band. Legal Slaves is their last song and comes in swinging and they drop a little Pantera to close their set. Did they miss Rach? Naturally but you can't fault their commitment to going on without her tonight.

Dr Savage (8) is the first of two bands I haven't seen before. A 4-piece that is headed up by funkateer in chief Jeremy Lindemann (lead vocals and guitar), aided and abetted in this quest for funk by Liam Gambles (rhythm guitar/bv), Tom Swales (drums/bv) and Chris Norris (bass/bv) who come and just lay a funk-rock smack down of epic proportions within their allotted 30mins. They launch straight into That's What I'm Gonna Do, and It is a funk number where Chris shows what he is all about with a command of the instrument that is amazing. It is a storming opener and a statement of intent of what they are about to bring. 

Hot on its heels is the Wah soaked Before The Dawn, leaning heavily into that Black Crowes territory, it's rock that carries you along with it, grabbing you and taking you on a journey with it. Full of those mint chord progressions and they have dropped two for two with the crowd now fully onboard. Eternal Sunshine changes the tack a little whilst still maintaining a cracking build to it. It’s the confidence they have in delivering their material, even in the way Jeremy works the audience which I reckon would be the same if they were at the AO Arena. 

Blowing My Mind is boogie time, It's got a chorus that is taking cues from 70s rock and funk. Funky Bug, which is their next single (due for release on the 26th of July) dips into that same pool, with guitar lines built for dancing and an arrangement that gets you moving. Blink Of An Eye closes out their set and it’s an incredibly well-received set and rightly so. It’s great to hear that they have looked further afield for influence and in doing so they got themselves a unique sound.

Swamp Chicken (8) are next up and are straight into it with Kung Fu Kitty, a belter of a riff that sees the wah getting some hammer tonight. This is tight and focused with Jayne Potter giving a commanding performance on vocal duties. Its captivating stuff as they run into Bleak next, with a flow and groove to it and has a distinctive DNA, where the bass (Normal bass player Tom Dunphy had suffered an injury and they managed to draft a stand in so take a bow Kristian Houghten who stepped up) is doing the driving and keeping the song moving. With just two songs in, they show a wide spread of ideas that promise a lot for later. Hard Hat brings a percussive note and there's a real efficiency at play here, no fat just pure confidence in their songs, their build. In the middle is a lead break that is atypical but perfect for this. 

Bliss (Pizza Song) is slowed down ode to spherical cheese delights. I love when bands do this, that bass again is infectious, allowing the guitar to throw in melodic flourishes and fill that sound further as the understated James Ellingworth just does his thing. Amour which allows Jayne to show her power and she delivers on this. It's built around her, the arrangement rising around her, she doesn't get lost within it. Again, they give props to the other bands and stand in Kristian, which is always good to see. Their new single, Maxime (due out 19/07) is different again, and is a big song. Huge chorus, constant forward motion and there is a noticeable step up between this and the songs before. Last song was their first single Shapeshifter the funk is back once last time, and it shows that the quality was there right from the start. Not a party band like Dr Savage, but they bring their own vibe here and they come out with honours even.

Then onto Ingénue (9) to launch their new EP as the headline for tonight. We had the pleasure of reviewing the EP and gave it a 7 and is definitely worth your time. I did feel that it didn’t capture their live energy, but this will undoubtably come with future releases. Live they know how to deliver. Rather than describe every song they play, there is a definite change from when I caught them last. 

Tonight, it's an assured performance, with everyone on point executing their jobs superbly. Lexie (bass) and Phil (drums) are leading the line, providing the base from which the twin guitar force of Tom and Danny to go out and melt faces or provide sweet melodies at the flick of a switch. Put Charlotte on top of this, with that vocal delivery that makes the words hang in the air, and there is an outfit that is growing, continually moulding itself and not staying still. They know how to do it live and It's that ability to keep the audience in the palm of their collective hands as they run through their set, taking in so many different flavours that they have something for everyone. This growth is almost tangible, I caught them live last year and they played an energetic show that showcased everything they had written at that point. 

Wisely, they don’t do that tonight, but the set shows how varied their music is, especially the new EP which goes down very well live. I mentioned that assured performance, I should also mention the confidence they have, in their ability and in the music, they have written, and this is prominent in how they do it live. There is a genuine love of playing live that can’t be faked and it comes out in their performance. They surely are destined for bigger and brighter things, and you should check them out as soon as you can. 

What is good is that the floor is full, everyone who is here have seen 4 great bands that offer something different and an audience that is here for it which is always a massive positive. Good gigs are out there, you just have to take a chance on them. Tonight, was one of those gigs.

Reviews: White Witch Canyon, Beasto Blanco, Jupiter Cyclops, Act Of Creation (Reviews By Rich Piva, James Jackson, Paul Scoble & GC)

White Witch Canyon - Beneath The Desert Floor Chapter 3: White Witch Canyon (Ripple Music) [Rich Piva]

Man do I love what labels like RidingEasy and Ripple Music are doing, finding lost gems of records and bringing the to the masses via vinyl represses. While RidingEasy focuses mostly on lates 60s/early 70s proto type stuff via their Brown Acid Series and now a whole bunch of cool full length “lost” albums, Ripple has been focusing on the early 2000s with the Under The Desert Floor series, so far bringing to light the amazing record from 2000 by The Awesome Machine and a long out of print record from Glitter Wizard. 

While both of those records are killer, my favourite so far is what we have here in volume three, the self-titled record from White Witch Canyon, originally dropped in 2008 and now brought to us via Ripple with an amazing vinyl repress for a whole bunch of fans either happy they can get this again on Ripple procured wax or who are new to the record who are wondering how the hell they missed this the first time.

If you are a fan of the stoner genre you have probably heard and loved the new record from The Watchers from earlier this year. If so, you may recognize the vocals on White Witch Canyon, since both have Tim Narducci singing. While Narducci picks up the guitar in The Watchers, he both sang and played drums on this record. I think there are some similarities between the two bands, but I would saw WWC leans more towards a Kyuss/Monster Magnet with some very unique and out they lyrics while The Watchers are a bit more straight ahead proto/classic metal with stoner leanings. Both are excellent of course, but focusing on WWC, there is this underlying since fiction thing going on lyrically while the stoner riffs pummel you over the heads repeatedly.

The opening track, Ancient Aliens, is a perfect example of what you are in for. I mentioned Kyuss and MM, but throw some Fu Manchu and Clutch type love in there as well and that should help you understand how awesome this is. There is also a sense of humour with WWC, like of the very Kyuss Boom Goes The Dynamite (dig that fuzzy solo) where Narducci shows off his drumming chops too while the Clutch via Fu Manchu of Escape Pod just rules with its amazing riff and killer stoner groove.

This record is filled with top notch stoner rock, be it Four Star Heretic that is soaked in fuzzy heavy psych guitar, Sell Your Soul which brings a heavy blues vibe to the table stoner Screaming Tress maybe?), or Parasitic Stray that reminds me the most of what The Watchers have been putting out there, especially on the vocals and the very Iommi riffing. Could I do without the six-minute spoken word weirdness on Secret Sidewalk, smack dab in the middle of the record? Probably, but points for going way out there with that one. The two closers, The Witch and Thirty Three And One are a one two punch of awesome, closing out an album that should have been considered a stoner rock classic rather than something that needed to be unearthed and repressed so more people could discover it.

The Under The Desert Floor series from Ripple is one of my favourite things this year and White Witch Canyon as volume three only cements my feelings around the records Todd is bringing back to the front from obscurity. White Witch Canyon should have been mandatory stoner rock listening, but we are not too late! You need this in your life. Just wait for what Ripple is bringing with this series next. 9/10

Beasto Blanco - Kinetica (COP International) [James Jackson]

Knowing nothing of the band and gleaning much information about the band via the PR sheet attached to the album, I’ve learnt a few things; one being the band is fronted by Chuck Garric, longtime bass player for Alice Cooper; he also shares vocal duties with Calico Cooper - daughter of the aforementioned Alice Cooper - this all makes the cover of Feed My Frankenstein on a previous album an obvious choice as does the Shock Rock sound and visual aesthetic of the band.

There’s an element of Industrial Metal within the sound but more in the vein of White Zombie than Ministry for example; frankly White Zombie are probably a good comparison to make overall.
There are a few “ballad” like tracks in the album but as a whole it’s groove filled riffs and catchy hooks and a very familiar voice upon the track Unreal, Lord Of The Lost’s Chris Harms. Kinetica is the band’s fourth album since first coming together in 2012 and after listening to this I intend to give the back catalogue a listen. 8/10

Jupiter Cyclops – Age Of The UFOnaut (Rockshots Records) [Paul Scoble]

Jupiter Cyclops are a Phoenix based Rock / Metal band playing a style of hard rock/heavy metal with a very interesting mix of influences. The band was formed in 2019 and features Dustin Lyon on guitar, Jake Melius on bass, Kyle Eades on drums and Aaron Peltz on vocals. Age Of The UFOnaut is the band’s debut album. 

The album opens with the (sort of) title track UFOnaut. UFOnaut is a great melding of NWOBHM style riffs over doom/stoner tempo’s and pacing with 80’s hair metal shredding for the solo. The riffs are full of energy with some great guitar harmonies, the tempo is similar to Black Sabbath’s Children Of The Grave or masters of stoner rock, Wo Fat’s The Black Code. This works ridiculously well, particularly the massive singalong chorus, what a way to open an album. Next comes the song Between Worlds, a stomping up-tempo rocker, full of great riffs and awesome energy. The song features a slower and more measured verse but kicks it up a gear for the chorus, the juxtaposition of the two really works well and again we get a great guitar solo.

 
Sinful Ways is a simple up-tempo rocker with a similar stoner pacing to the opening track. The song has a huge chorus but is probably a little too simple for it’s over five-minute runtime. Next comes the track Doomed, which ironically is mainly NWOBHM. The song reminds me of early (first two albums) Iron Maiden, great energy packed NWOBHM riff, lots of nice Guitar harmonies, a great up-tempo chorus and an absolutely ripping guitar solo. The song comes to an end with one of the biggest 80’s big endings I have heard. 

Down From The Inside is a great piece of driving purposeful rock with a great strut. The song has a great chorus (of course it does, everything on this album has a great chorus), and a very good Wah-Wah infused guitar solo. Next comes Chemical Voodoo, a rock song with a purposeful pacing that in places feels relentless. The song has a softer and quieter Bass led section near the middle and a great guitar solo. Although a lot of the song has a relentless feel some of the pacing feels a little too slow, and in these sections the song plods rather than struts. 

Next up is the track Way Down Below, which is a driving rock song that I thought was a little reminiscent of the Acid Magus album that was released last year. The song also has a little bit of Grunge in some of the Vocals as well, in places reminding me of Alice In Chains, bringing a little bit of 90’s to the 70’s and 80’s party. The song has a softer section near the end that has a classic rock feel before returning to the rock stomp for a great ending. 

Closing the album is the song Lumerian Nights, driving rock with NWOBHM riffs. The verse is minimal with a chorus that is faster and flows really well giving the song a great energy and, of course, there is a great ripping guitar solo. Age Of The UFOnaut is a great piece of hard rock/NWOBOHM. Most of the material is very good, with only the occasional dip in quality. Sinful Ways needs to be shorter, or needs more complexity to hold the attention and Chemical Voodoo could do with an injection of a little more pace, but other than those issues this is a great album, that is a huge amount of fun, a blast of great riffs, awesome shredding solos and (for the most part) great pacing and tempos. 

The album isn’t perfect, but for a debut this is really impressive, I’m sure they will get it perfect with album number two. 7/10

Act Of Creation - Moments To Remain (Massacre Records) [GC]

I know this doesn’t really start things off on a positive note but, I have to admit that melodic death metal really isn’t my sort of thing and I have always just kind of avoided listening to it because if I ever have, it never seems to have the desired heaviness to keep me interested?! Aaaaaaaaaanywaay I have to put all that aside for now as today I have the latest album Moments To Remain from German melodic death metal band Act Of Creation.

Bizarrely enough opener, Awake is a bonus track for some reason? It starts off with some staccato riffing and a softly spoken intro that then reintroduces the short sharp guitars and they do create a decent enough sound and its something but I’m not sure that it should classify as death metal, thrash or ‘’modern’’ metal maybe? Come With Me has a galloping rhythm that is a definite Iron Maiden influence, it also reminds me slightly of power metal because of the setup and melody, I expect over the top vocals to kick in at any point, thankfully they don’t but there is some nice melodic vocals showing that vocalist Jessica Kork isn’t just a one trick pony but I kind of expected them so can’t say they surprised me? 

Under Friendly Fire does a pretty good job at being the most actual death metal track so far but it still never really seems to avoid sounding like thrash but non the less it’s a solid track and the first one that doesn’t feel slightly too long, Egoist is a full throttle all action go track and has some lovely bouncy riffing mixed in and at just over 2 minutes is a good example that if you don’t over complicate matters you can nail down a really good track simply and quickly, this isn’t the same on Moments To Remain which goes back to the familiar sound but this time slows down at the beginning and once it all springs into gear there is some nice guitar and drum work interweaving but I have heard this type of song tried to be done so many times before so it just feels slightly repetitive and ultimately a bit uninspiring.

 

Cry Of A Peacecrow is another ‘’bonus track’’ directly in the middle of the album and its just a little acoustic interlude so to call this a bonus is just annoying. Dying Inside then kicks you directly in the teeth and shows that when they want to they CAN write some absolutely savage and unrelenting stuff and you wonder why they don’t always sound like this, the song itself just goes straight for the kill with cutting riffs mixed with some great solo work and the whole thing is a chugging monster and the vocal work is a real highlight, Confront The Truth is another really good track and while it has the thrash edge, it does now definitely feel a lot more death metal and some of the drumming here is top notch! 

On Lost Little Soul you can feel the pain in the lyrics as the delivery is straight from the heart its just a shame that the music feels a bit substandard, maybe they held back a little to push the vocals forward and make you focus on them but a delivery like this deserves more from the band! Beyond Reality does not really do much to stand out from the rest of the album and its ok enough thrashy/death metal is feels like an end of album track and so Agonizing Slumber is actually the end track and it’s a bit hit and miss, with some more nice gallop riffing and another good vocal showing but there is to many slowed down parts and it kind of stunts the flow of the track before final ‘’bonus track’’ Into Dreams ends on 45 seconds on pointless droning!??

Not sure what to make of Moments To Remain, it was very good in some places but then also a bit boring in others. Just as they have a couple of songs that really made you sit up and think, hello? It felt like then they then reigned it in and just played safe, so getting a bit repetitive. A decent enough album that I did not hate but also wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend. 6/10

Reviews: Orange Goblin, Assemble The Chariots, Servants To The Tide, Keys (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Orange Goblin – Science, Not Fiction (Peaceville Records)

ORANGE F*CKING GOBLIN BABY!! That’s how you’re supposed to start every Orange Goblin review right? Cool nailed it! Seriously every new record from the London heavy metal legends should be greeted with open arms and six pack of cans from the offy, you nearly always know what you’re going to get but much like American counterparts Clutch, it’s going to be a tour-de-force of anthemic heavy rock, with Clutch playing on the heritage of their country, Orange Goblin doing the same but with the Anglian mythos inspiring their lyrics, as Sabbath inspire the music.

Since 2012 they’ve been on Peaceville Records and have had Harry Armstrong (Blind River) taking the bass role but the core trio of riff master general Joe Hoare, percussion punisher Chris Turner and party starter-in-chief Ben Ward remain from the debut Frequencies From Planet Ten all the way back in 1997. As they transitioned from the psychedelic stoner/doom of those early records to the leaner, meaner style they have now Orange Goblin have become one of the most respected bands on the UK metal scene, more importantly as I alluded to earlier they’ve been consistent, their recorded work is always been fantastic (their live show phenomenal), the grooves hit just right, the riffs get the head nodding and there’s enough grit and guts in the choruses to get you shouting along.

There’s no change then on tenth album Science, Not Fiction, OG picking a fight with the countless internet warriors who claim their version of things is accurate while science always begs to differ. (Case in point the countless Covid conspiracies), but there’s also musings on spirituality and religion as well, so lots to rage at as we get going with Harry’s dirty Hangnail bass riff, building into a big muscly OG shouter, the psych doom beginnings of the band strong here as is the Sabbath worship. Aaaand we’re off more Goblin, more Orange, more riffs. There’s some Motorhead blues n roll on (Not) Rocket Science, a track that will get plenty of movement when they play it on stage later this year and Ascend The Negative is classic OG, thick riffs, a walking groove and the gravel strewn vocals, slowing down in the middle to a doomy trudge.

Just three tracks in and already it’s taking no shit, they move into a woozy psych to the snide, social commentary on False Hope Diet, Ben Ward's rallying against untruths and falsehoods, delivered with that rough and ready vocal. Then there’s a shift towards another chunky march the voice gets a bit cleaner here as the contradictions of witchcraft and science blur in a malaise of guitar and organ. Speaking of witchcraft, Cemetery Rats ups the spook level and the doom too, with some piano to open into bubbling bass and a slow steady drumbeat build the grungy atmosphere as the main riff cuts in with some punk rock snarling. The way OG can be intelligent but also blunt has always been a key to their appeal, in some ways it’s like a scholar explaining something to you but doing it by shouting it at you. 

Orange Goblin have pulled out all the stops here, delving into every part of their past glories, slapping a little bit of biker blues on The Fury Of The Patient Man, getting percussive and groovy on Gemini (Twins Of Evil), classic proto-metal melodies here. As you get towards the end of this tenth studio record, End Of Transmission swirls with into deep space while The Justice Knife a showcase for fuzzy solos and chest beating riffage. Science, Not Fiction brings the myth of Orange Goblin crashing into its 30th year with an album that reinforces their status as one of the UK’s finest bands. 9/10

Assemble The Chariots - Ephemeral Trilogy Episode 1: Unyielding Night (Seek & Strike)

Christ listen to that drummer. My first thoughts when I heard Assemble The Chariot’s new album Unyielding Night. My second thought was; there’s 14 tracks of this? But no there isn’t a few of those are interludes to tell the conceptual story behind this album. For fans of Orbit Culture and Lorna Shore, Assemble The Chains is high concept, high drama, technically impressive death metal with some shifts into the ‘core’ sound. The orchestrations though remind me of the much missed Xerath or any of the bands on Seek & Strike that can be called ‘blackened deathcore’. The label know their audience and as such the more bombastic and OTT the musical dynamics the better so long as the drums punish, the riffs bite and snarl, there’s solos, breakdowns and vocal grunts/screams.

It’s almost nonlinear, not always doing what you’d expect but creating music that is epic with a capital E. Are the drums triggers? Who cares when a track like Reavers March is just so freaking heavy? The orchestral stings just adding to the cinematic sound of the concept, after this though Ephemeral Stream adds dreamy female vocals and more strings to build with more storytelling into the blasting aggression of Emancipation. It’s an album of contrasts, the abrasive extreme metal against the cinematic soundtrack, but my god it works, what’s even more impressive is that this album is a debut, the scope is mind blowing with operatic vocals coming on Emancipation, each change in sound, genre, style done to suit the progress of the overarching storyline. 

With Keeper Of The Stars, you feel like you’re nearing a climax as all the elements from the album start to confluence, the classic metal solos, the varied vocal assault and huge walls of symphonics, it’s building towards a climactic battle between the people of Aquilegia and Reavers. This is the concept, a sprawling sci-fi epic that takes cues from many galactic soap operas, films and books and it’s just the beginning, a thrilling, fantastic part 1 that made my jaw drop when I first played it. Hopefully part 2 is around the corner. 9/10

Servants To The Tide - When Time Will Come To Die (No Remorse Records)

Inspired by bands such as Solitude Aetrunus, Atlantean Kodex, Manilla Road, Citith Ungol, While Heaven Wept, Savatage and Candlemass, Servants ToThe Tide play epic heavy/doom metal which delivers what is expected in spades. I gave their debut album 8/10, but it has grown on me even more since then, so three years later I have high expectations for When Time Will Come To Die.

The expectation is due to Servants To The Tide no longer being a 'bedroom project' for songwriter/guitarist Leonid Rubinstein, they are now a muscular well verse five piece who have played shows across their native Germany including gigs with Achelous and Atlantean Kodex. With music that could fit on the bills of Up The Hammers or Keep It True, this second album details the story of existence, from the initial spark of the universe to possible futures and the death of the universe.

It's high concept, high drama and come with lashings of tasty riffs, that have been again created by Leon but has been matured alongside the band to make it more dynamic than the debut, keeping the strong foundation of doom but adding classic metal harmonies, power metal orchestrations and bold vocal phrasing. Sitting in the middle of the album is a 10 minute monolith, If The Stars Should Appear, a song in three parts that is a cinematic middle section to the album. It's all here, orchestras, pianos, melodrama, time changes, it's a labyrinthine epic of the highest order

However I'm getting ahead of myself, When Time Will Come To Die begins with a pacey, classic metal gallops on With Starlight We Ride, Leon and Katharina Großbongardt riffing up a storm which feels like the prime 80's Teutonic heavy metal of Grave Digger or Running Wild, a special guest solo is given by David Kuri of Flame, Dear Flame/Writhen Hilt. Beginning with something that moves at a riding pace, we go back to histrionic doom on Sunrise In Eden, Stephan Wehrbein's vocals really shine on this one, trading on the emotion and theatrics of Savatage.

In the back room the drums of Lucas Freise and bass of Sören Reinholdt anchors The Trial (a bonus track on the CD), the moderate cadence of the guitars coming from doom, but the drumming double blasts like it's death metal, shifting into the widdly solo of Jonas Papmeier of Leon's previous band Craving, more Savatage-isms here. Then with just a simple drum fill and a bass thomp, White Wanderer builds the drama and tension, Stephan's vocals grizzled and damaged on this one, set against the slow march of the guitars and the ominous keys/choirs.

Sören and Leon take production, highlighting all the instruments to make for a crystal clear sound, Bart Gabriel's mastering giving it a warmer/analogue glow. I'll have to mention that to me the sequencing is a little strange putting the two ballads to bookend the mid album epic does ruin the flow a little bit, meaning that if you're not totally committed to the genre you may struggle in this middle section and long for a bit of distortion or momentum. That said anyone who loves the metal introspective and powerful will find lots to like on When Time Will Come To Die. 8/10

Keys - The Grand Seduction (Escape Music)

Jake E is the voice of Cyhra and formerly of Amaranthe while Mark Mangold is a keyboard wizard who has toured and played with multiple huge rock stars. Both of them collide in Keys, an all keyboard melodic metal/classic rock band. Yep all keyboards, imagine a rock band featuring Keith Emerson, Jean Michel Jarre, Rick Wakeman, Vangelis and Jon Lord with a power metal/AOR singer then you'll be bordering on what Keys bring to the table.

Joining the core duo are Emanuel Bagge on additional vocals and keys, Irwan Fabrien who designs keyboard-guitar soundscapes, to play keys through a plug in to emulate guitars. Then there are drummers Adde Larsson and Alex Landenburg (Kamelot/Cyhra) who are the rhythms behind this multi genre release.

It's hard to categorize but they mainly stick to classic rock/melodic rock though there's dalliances with prog rock on the title track, which is like a Styx tribute. That's a good thing by the way. The oscillating theatrical melodies undercooked with organ fuzz and a 'guitar' solo that you'd never guess was a keyboard. It's an 8 minute beginning to this quirky rock n roll show.

All I Need comes straight out of the ELP musical kitchen, as Shining Sails adds some shimmering AOR where Jake becomes David Coverdale. Vortex is similar to much of Jake E's day job in the melodic metal sphere, on Turn To Dust there's some strings and low EDM pulses from 90's alt rock as Crazy Town puts Eliminator-era ZZ Top with Uriah Heep.

The Grand Seduction is an intriguing listen if like me you like odd instruments and how they can be used to create familiar soundscapes. It's a rock album and without prior knowledge you wouldn't thing that everything was keys. 8/10