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.
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
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
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