It’s been another one of those weeks for me that is very death metal influenced and I have already reviewed and scalded one new release so let’s hope I can get some reprieve in the form of Profane Geometry the debut album from Black Hole Deity on the beautifully titled Everlasting Spew Records!
Ex Nihilo is an intro so doesn’t really do much for the start of the alum but, when Blast Pit explodes into life your greeted with a whirlwind of blasting drums and precise riffing that hits the mark well but, then when the vocals do kick in they sort of take a back seat to everything else and I really have to concentrate to pick them out but it all adds up to some very enjoyable and invigorating death metal, Crucible Knight sees the drummer once again take centre stage and produce some insane blast beats and some thundering beatdowns but again its all taken over by the drums until the vicious guitar solos take the lead and drive the song forward with purpose and vigour, there are more lovely beatdown sections included towards the end but those drums need to be mixed down to give everything else a turn!
Profane Geometry hurtles forward and is more unrelenting death metal savagery, there is no room for subtlety here and the absolute ruthless nature of everything here is really something but then here they throw in an almost power metal-esque guitar solo that works wonderfully to cut through the wave upon wave of brutality they then give you a chance to re-collect your smashed jaw and broken bones with the acoustic interlude Hydrazine Vapours which is nice if you like that sort of thing, I don’t though so am happy when we get back to the brutality on Human Fillet which lends heavily from a black metal influence and is an absolute raging monster of a track, the drumming here is inhuman and the guitars and vocals are now mixed in sync and don’t lose any of the ferocity that has tended to happened before, this track is no joke! Album highlight for sure!
Swarm Attack is exactly what you would expect from Black Hole Deity, there is no taking the foot off the pedal and relaxing towards the end of the album, no it is yet another insanely fast track that mixes the punishing attack of death metal but manages to also add the melo-death aspect in and crucially not lose any of the viciousness and the drums once again sound heavily black metal influenced throughout another breath-taking track!
Spell Of Hecate of course doesn’t stray far from everything that has proceeded and it more scathing and nasty death metal with not one seconds respite and its impressive that this intensity has been kept all the way through. For the last track we also get the longest track in the shape of Cybernetic Inferno and with a bit more room to play with, there is a tech-death influence thrown into the mixer to add more ways to bludgeon and brutalize and it makes for an interesting twist to the end to just add a completely different style into everything and shows a brilliant level of awareness that a slight change in sound can enhance the overall listen of an album as it does here and ends on a high note.
Coming into the review I was slightly weary of what I would get but, I can say I was for the most part really impressed with Profane Geometry there were some sound/production issues in places and the into & interlude were not needed but overall, this for a debut album as well, was a savage and unexpected pleasure that I would definitely recommend to any fan of death metal. 8/10
Aran - Maahan Laskettu (Naturmacht) [Zak Skane]
Aran continues their journey of spreading atmospheric black metal with their third instalment Maahan Laskettu by combining experimental ambient textures along with the classic scooped guitars and DIY styled produced drums. In comparison to their previous releases they have defiantly up scale of quality of production continuing from their second album Pimeyttä Vasten.
For example the opening track Hiljaisuus the pianos on the album sound a lot more genuine and organic whilst the synths on this release sound a lot higher production and more fuller in the mix. When the full band come into action with the classic DIY sounding drums and harsh frequency guitars, they sit a lot more comfortably together along with it’s moving synths and pianos resulting in a more polished touch in comparison to their previous releases. The following track Poltettu Maa features classical guitars that chime clear like old church bell before layers of sadness consumes us in the form of melancholic distorted guitar layers, saddened tremolo lead guitar melodies and synths.
Coming into the review I was slightly weary of what I would get but, I can say I was for the most part really impressed with Profane Geometry there were some sound/production issues in places and the into & interlude were not needed but overall, this for a debut album as well, was a savage and unexpected pleasure that I would definitely recommend to any fan of death metal. 8/10
Aran - Maahan Laskettu (Naturmacht) [Zak Skane]
Aran continues their journey of spreading atmospheric black metal with their third instalment Maahan Laskettu by combining experimental ambient textures along with the classic scooped guitars and DIY styled produced drums. In comparison to their previous releases they have defiantly up scale of quality of production continuing from their second album Pimeyttä Vasten.
For example the opening track Hiljaisuus the pianos on the album sound a lot more genuine and organic whilst the synths on this release sound a lot higher production and more fuller in the mix. When the full band come into action with the classic DIY sounding drums and harsh frequency guitars, they sit a lot more comfortably together along with it’s moving synths and pianos resulting in a more polished touch in comparison to their previous releases. The following track Poltettu Maa features classical guitars that chime clear like old church bell before layers of sadness consumes us in the form of melancholic distorted guitar layers, saddened tremolo lead guitar melodies and synths.
The instrumental track Pinnan Alta consists of calming tones of tweeting birds and running rivers whilst suspenseful synths and delayed pianos play whilst haunting choirs finalise the track. Päättymätön Aika brings in some Celtic influences along with it’s ambient black metal assault by adding strummed acoustic guitars played in classic ¾ time signatures whilst tribal patterned drums accompany them.
Their closing track Viimeisiin Vesiin gives us orchestral arranged string sounding synths melodies over the their classic black metal fizzed guitar double kick and blast beat lathed parts, but the guitars that have thrown in some interesting pieces of ear candy such as the melodic bass lines and the sneaky phaser effects wedged in some of the guitar riffs to give this spacy effect. In relation to spacey effects in some of the build up sections passages of sci-fi type synth effects are thrown into the mix. Before this album comes to a close we are received with gentle strums of acoustic guitar chords before it finalises with some atmospheric samples to accompanying melancholically strummed delayed guitars.
Yet again Aran have released another atmospheric black metal masterpiece. The production on this five track release has defiantly become a lot more polished with the synths and strings sounding a lot more balanced in the mix especially on songs like Päättymätön Aika where each layer fits like perfectly made jigsaw puzzle and the additional live instruments like the acoustic guitars are perfectly captured by sounding full and rich but also have this natural reverb to it. It’s like if Akira Yamaoka the composer of Silent Hill collaborated with Emperor to bring us this dark but also moving release. The criticism that I can come up with is that this could have had more tracks to become a 10 album but either way 8/10
Ingénue - Recreational Monachopsis (Self Released) [Mark Young]
I had the pleasure of seeing Ingénue in December last year for an EP Launch, their Mixtape For Saving The World where they played to a packed house at the Peer Hat in Manchester. That review can be found on the Musipedia website, and their set took in probably everything they had written at that point. What I found was a talented bunch of musicians who could navigate a course between every genre of guitar-driven music, sometimes in the space of the same song without it sounding out of place.
Their latest release, Recreational Monachopsis is out in July, with a show to go with it so if you are in Manchester then you should make time to catch them in what I believe is their natural habitat.
Forever Endeavour has a classic rock motif running through it as Vocalist Charlotte Beckett comes in, ably supported with that on-point riffing and a lead break that shows they have a great talent for building good songs that have a natural flow to them. The twin guitars of Tom Stephenson and Danny Whittaker mesh so well so that the rhythm and solo breaks (courtesy of fret-melter Tom) complement each other, and they sound great. They don’t overcomplicate things, and everything is put together with an eye on the whole song with Lexie (Bass) and Phil (Drums) providing the foundation for a song that always grooves forward and gives this EP a great start.
Sparkle Motion with an almost whimsical setup immediately reminds me of the alt-rock sound of the early 90’s with a free and easy arrangement. Charlotte’s vocals on here are spot-on, powerfully commanding possibly one of the lightest songs I have reviewed so far. It has that classic English build to it, those bright and breezy chords set against darker subject matter, in this case, Morality. What it also shows is that they are confident in their ability to write good songs and give it their stylistic stamp. Dragon Wobble closes out with some glorious fuzz, and an infectious earworm of a melody. I have to say, they left the best song for last, and if you asked me what song would best describe them, I’d point you in this direction. Despite its topic, it has an uplifting swing to it with a tasteful lead break that allows them to come in and close the song out.
Having seen them live first, there was a worry that their recorded output wouldn’t live up to it as sometimes that live feeling is missing. Not so, they have captured that energy here and whilst the material here is not as up-tempo as I normally like you cannot argue with the quality of the songs. Each of them represents a different facet of their sound, and whilst you could say that the rockier aspect of their make-up is missing from the songs here, I love it that they have gone for what feels like a summer vibe to them. As I was typing that last paragraph, it suddenly struck me who Charlotte reminds me of in terms of how the songs are phrased, it was Lilly Allen. I mean this purely in that there is an attitude behind the delivery of it, even with the breeziest of music behind it. It’s a great power to have because it gives the music so much more that just great riffs and arrangement.
Yet again Aran have released another atmospheric black metal masterpiece. The production on this five track release has defiantly become a lot more polished with the synths and strings sounding a lot more balanced in the mix especially on songs like Päättymätön Aika where each layer fits like perfectly made jigsaw puzzle and the additional live instruments like the acoustic guitars are perfectly captured by sounding full and rich but also have this natural reverb to it. It’s like if Akira Yamaoka the composer of Silent Hill collaborated with Emperor to bring us this dark but also moving release. The criticism that I can come up with is that this could have had more tracks to become a 10 album but either way 8/10
Ingénue - Recreational Monachopsis (Self Released) [Mark Young]
I had the pleasure of seeing Ingénue in December last year for an EP Launch, their Mixtape For Saving The World where they played to a packed house at the Peer Hat in Manchester. That review can be found on the Musipedia website, and their set took in probably everything they had written at that point. What I found was a talented bunch of musicians who could navigate a course between every genre of guitar-driven music, sometimes in the space of the same song without it sounding out of place.
Their latest release, Recreational Monachopsis is out in July, with a show to go with it so if you are in Manchester then you should make time to catch them in what I believe is their natural habitat.
Forever Endeavour has a classic rock motif running through it as Vocalist Charlotte Beckett comes in, ably supported with that on-point riffing and a lead break that shows they have a great talent for building good songs that have a natural flow to them. The twin guitars of Tom Stephenson and Danny Whittaker mesh so well so that the rhythm and solo breaks (courtesy of fret-melter Tom) complement each other, and they sound great. They don’t overcomplicate things, and everything is put together with an eye on the whole song with Lexie (Bass) and Phil (Drums) providing the foundation for a song that always grooves forward and gives this EP a great start.
Sparkle Motion with an almost whimsical setup immediately reminds me of the alt-rock sound of the early 90’s with a free and easy arrangement. Charlotte’s vocals on here are spot-on, powerfully commanding possibly one of the lightest songs I have reviewed so far. It has that classic English build to it, those bright and breezy chords set against darker subject matter, in this case, Morality. What it also shows is that they are confident in their ability to write good songs and give it their stylistic stamp. Dragon Wobble closes out with some glorious fuzz, and an infectious earworm of a melody. I have to say, they left the best song for last, and if you asked me what song would best describe them, I’d point you in this direction. Despite its topic, it has an uplifting swing to it with a tasteful lead break that allows them to come in and close the song out.
Having seen them live first, there was a worry that their recorded output wouldn’t live up to it as sometimes that live feeling is missing. Not so, they have captured that energy here and whilst the material here is not as up-tempo as I normally like you cannot argue with the quality of the songs. Each of them represents a different facet of their sound, and whilst you could say that the rockier aspect of their make-up is missing from the songs here, I love it that they have gone for what feels like a summer vibe to them. As I was typing that last paragraph, it suddenly struck me who Charlotte reminds me of in terms of how the songs are phrased, it was Lilly Allen. I mean this purely in that there is an attitude behind the delivery of it, even with the breeziest of music behind it. It’s a great power to have because it gives the music so much more that just great riffs and arrangement.
As an introduction to their music, this is a great stepping on point and as I can attest it only hints at the breadth of ideas they have at their disposal. Give this a shot, I don’t think you will be disappointed. 7/10
MINES - Warm & Safe (Lavender Sweep Records) [Matt Bladen]
Swansea's MINES dig for more experimental musical gold and lay down some incendiary noise. (Two different Mine related puns, I'm on a roll) Warm & Safe is their first release since their abrasive Your Never Ending Happiness record from 2022. Since then they have jumped from Trepanation Recordings (R.I.P) to Swansea own Lavender Sweep Records.
If their last album was a reaction to the pandemic and humanity's disgusting way of treating one another then Warm & Safe is either the band having mellowed or an acceptance of things and to hide in their music. Why I say this is that they move down a much more ambient, minimalist sound with this new EP.
Waves of electronics bubble and boil in the background of My Body Is Ready, an atmosphere that is curated to be a little threatening the trip hop drums adding an industrial edge, the dissonance continues with the My Heart Is Willing. Warm & Safe comes at recording the same way Steven Wilson does with Bass Communion, just experimenting with music for their own sake. 7/10
MINES - Warm & Safe (Lavender Sweep Records) [Matt Bladen]
Swansea's MINES dig for more experimental musical gold and lay down some incendiary noise. (Two different Mine related puns, I'm on a roll) Warm & Safe is their first release since their abrasive Your Never Ending Happiness record from 2022. Since then they have jumped from Trepanation Recordings (R.I.P) to Swansea own Lavender Sweep Records.
If their last album was a reaction to the pandemic and humanity's disgusting way of treating one another then Warm & Safe is either the band having mellowed or an acceptance of things and to hide in their music. Why I say this is that they move down a much more ambient, minimalist sound with this new EP.
Waves of electronics bubble and boil in the background of My Body Is Ready, an atmosphere that is curated to be a little threatening the trip hop drums adding an industrial edge, the dissonance continues with the My Heart Is Willing. Warm & Safe comes at recording the same way Steven Wilson does with Bass Communion, just experimenting with music for their own sake. 7/10
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