Brave Rival – Fight Or Flight (Self Released) [Paul Scoble]
Second albums have the tag of Difficult attached to them, a bands first album tends to contain songs that the band have been working on for years, they have probably played the songs countless times live before they have to record them.Then along comes album number two, and the band have to write and pretty much immediately record that make-or-break album, it’s no wonder second albums have the Difficult label attached. One band now having to take the anxiety causing next step with a second album is Portsmouth based band Brave Rival. The blues rock band have been together since 2019, and took three years over making their first album; Life’s Machine, released in 2022. The musicians who have to do this are Ed Clarke on guitar, bassist Billy Dedman, drummer Donna Peters and two, that’s right, two vocalists in Chloe Josephine and Lindsey Bonnick.
The style on offer on Fight Or Flight is a mix of blues rock, hard rock, progressive rock and blues. With two lead singers the vocal side of the album is stunning with lashings of vocals harmonies, and choruses that are very big and singalong. However, the band haven’t cut corners on the music which is just as good as the Vocals.
The album kicks off with the song Bad Choices an up-tempo boogie rocker with a taut controlled verse and stomping chorus. As you would expect with two vocalists the vocals are huge with some great harmonies. Next comes the song Seventeen, a mid-paced strutting piece of rock music. The chorus has a great flow to it, and the song also boasts a great guitar solo.
Stand Up features the talents of Will Wilde on harmonica, the song is a blues boogie with a measured and controlled verse and big chorus with great harmonica work on it. The song has a great guitar solo as well as a great harmonica solo. Next comes the first of several ballads, Insane opens with soft and gentle clean guitar, and beautiful vocals, the chorus takes the song into power ballad territory with a much bigger production and huge vocals. The song has a very emotive guitar solo and builds to huge proportions before collapsing to a soft and quiet ending.
Fairytale has a soft intro before the song turns towards taut driving rock that has a very purposeful feel to it. The chorus is very big and powerful, and quite heavy as well. Heavy is another power ballad, starting with soft and clean guitar and vocals. The song builds once it reaches the chorus, adding strings that sound huge before the song drops back to the soft and clean verse.
The style on offer on Fight Or Flight is a mix of blues rock, hard rock, progressive rock and blues. With two lead singers the vocal side of the album is stunning with lashings of vocals harmonies, and choruses that are very big and singalong. However, the band haven’t cut corners on the music which is just as good as the Vocals.
The album kicks off with the song Bad Choices an up-tempo boogie rocker with a taut controlled verse and stomping chorus. As you would expect with two vocalists the vocals are huge with some great harmonies. Next comes the song Seventeen, a mid-paced strutting piece of rock music. The chorus has a great flow to it, and the song also boasts a great guitar solo.
Stand Up features the talents of Will Wilde on harmonica, the song is a blues boogie with a measured and controlled verse and big chorus with great harmonica work on it. The song has a great guitar solo as well as a great harmonica solo. Next comes the first of several ballads, Insane opens with soft and gentle clean guitar, and beautiful vocals, the chorus takes the song into power ballad territory with a much bigger production and huge vocals. The song has a very emotive guitar solo and builds to huge proportions before collapsing to a soft and quiet ending.
Fairytale has a soft intro before the song turns towards taut driving rock that has a very purposeful feel to it. The chorus is very big and powerful, and quite heavy as well. Heavy is another power ballad, starting with soft and clean guitar and vocals. The song builds once it reaches the chorus, adding strings that sound huge before the song drops back to the soft and clean verse.
Again, the song builds to a huge chorus with lots of strings, this goes into a great guitar solo from which point it’s a huge power ballad with lashings of strings until the song reaches it’s end. All I Can Think About has an Americana feel to it, strummed, clean guitar and lush vocal harmonies which in the second half of the song reach Gospel proportions, the vocals are really great throughout the song, which also has a very affecting and emotive guitar solo.
Next comes the song Five Years On which is a great piece of boogie woogie Southern rock with really fun vocals and a great up-tempo stomp. The song has a great chorus and a huge ending. Unravelling is a great pop rock song that’s full of energy and fun. The song boasts a chorus that is full of melody and a great melodious Guitar solo.
Sink Or Swim is an interesting piece of progressive rock with a verse that feels a little like Post Rock and a chorus that is huge and dramatic that reminds me a little of some of Devin Townsends less Heavy material with similar dynamics. Blame The Voices has an Epic feel to it, with maybe a little bit of James Bond Theme as well. The song features lots of strings, and feels huge and powerful, vocally this song is stunning and has an immense ending.
Fight Or Flight comes to an end with the song Stars Upon My Scars, a melancholy Blues ballad with very emotive vocals and guitar solo. The verse is soft, gentle and sad, whilst the chorus bigger, powerful and very emotional.
Fight Or Flight might have been a difficult album to make, but it is not difficult to listen to, its superb. A great collection of songs, in several different styles that all hang together and feels like a complete whole. It’s a satisfying album to listen to, the ebb and flow and of the album takes you on a journey and nothing feels samey. The vocals are stunning and will definitely make the album stand out in a crowded rock marketplace, making Brave Rival stand a little apart from the rest of the crowd. Great album, highly recommended. 8/10
Hail Darkness - Death Divine (Vatican Records) [Rich Piva]
When I see tags like occult rock, psychedelic, and doom you bet I am going to be grabbing that album from the promo bin. When I start to play it and it sounds like it was recorded in a shed in the forest in 1975 (this is a compliment), has spooky doom vibes, and female vocals that send a chill up and down your spine you know this is something I am going to be screaming about for a while. This is exactly what you get with the debut album from Phoenix, Arizona’s Hail Darkness, Death Divine. Even with this band being from Phoenix, there is nothing warm about Hail Darkness or the ten tracks that make up the record. In fact, I had to confirm that their location was correct, as this sounds way to cold, dark, and evil not to be from some remote European village, but alas, here we are, and boy am I here for it.
The band has been releasing singles and EPs for a couple of years now, and the honing of their craft shows with a fully realized end to end record with Death Divine. I love the retro feel of this record and the early doom/proto vibes that are emanating from every note right from the opening track, Luciferian Dawn. This is some witch coven/satanic mass stuff lyrically, delivered by the head of the brood in the most wonderful way. The fuzzy guitar tone partnered with those reverbed vocals is a perfect potion to whip up the most excellent witch’s brew. I love how the second half of the track goes full on doom with a siren song to go along with it.
Next comes the song Five Years On which is a great piece of boogie woogie Southern rock with really fun vocals and a great up-tempo stomp. The song has a great chorus and a huge ending. Unravelling is a great pop rock song that’s full of energy and fun. The song boasts a chorus that is full of melody and a great melodious Guitar solo.
Sink Or Swim is an interesting piece of progressive rock with a verse that feels a little like Post Rock and a chorus that is huge and dramatic that reminds me a little of some of Devin Townsends less Heavy material with similar dynamics. Blame The Voices has an Epic feel to it, with maybe a little bit of James Bond Theme as well. The song features lots of strings, and feels huge and powerful, vocally this song is stunning and has an immense ending.
Fight Or Flight comes to an end with the song Stars Upon My Scars, a melancholy Blues ballad with very emotive vocals and guitar solo. The verse is soft, gentle and sad, whilst the chorus bigger, powerful and very emotional.
Fight Or Flight might have been a difficult album to make, but it is not difficult to listen to, its superb. A great collection of songs, in several different styles that all hang together and feels like a complete whole. It’s a satisfying album to listen to, the ebb and flow and of the album takes you on a journey and nothing feels samey. The vocals are stunning and will definitely make the album stand out in a crowded rock marketplace, making Brave Rival stand a little apart from the rest of the crowd. Great album, highly recommended. 8/10
Hail Darkness - Death Divine (Vatican Records) [Rich Piva]
When I see tags like occult rock, psychedelic, and doom you bet I am going to be grabbing that album from the promo bin. When I start to play it and it sounds like it was recorded in a shed in the forest in 1975 (this is a compliment), has spooky doom vibes, and female vocals that send a chill up and down your spine you know this is something I am going to be screaming about for a while. This is exactly what you get with the debut album from Phoenix, Arizona’s Hail Darkness, Death Divine. Even with this band being from Phoenix, there is nothing warm about Hail Darkness or the ten tracks that make up the record. In fact, I had to confirm that their location was correct, as this sounds way to cold, dark, and evil not to be from some remote European village, but alas, here we are, and boy am I here for it.
The band has been releasing singles and EPs for a couple of years now, and the honing of their craft shows with a fully realized end to end record with Death Divine. I love the retro feel of this record and the early doom/proto vibes that are emanating from every note right from the opening track, Luciferian Dawn. This is some witch coven/satanic mass stuff lyrically, delivered by the head of the brood in the most wonderful way. The fuzzy guitar tone partnered with those reverbed vocals is a perfect potion to whip up the most excellent witch’s brew. I love how the second half of the track goes full on doom with a siren song to go along with it.
It is not all just Coven inspired evil on Death Divine, you get riffs too, like the fuzzy one on Cult Of The Serpent Risen, but how about when the track transitions to bongos and incantations in the most glorious way? With Horns Of A Beast may be my favourite track, as we start to incorporate flute and you get some Blood Ceremony vibes. Another favourite is Goat Of Mendes…Raise The Glass as we go full on occult doom with a killer riff and excellent solo. It is hard to pick a favourite to be honest, with the great vocals on Coven Of The Blackened One, the fuzzy heaviness and weirdness of Azarak! and the killer riff and chunkiness of the closer, See You In Hell, any of your choices is the correct one.
I love everything about Death Divine. The witch’s coven vibes, the hauntingly evil and sexy vocals, all of the tempo changes, the fuzzy retro-ness of it all, the heavy and light aspects, and a million extra points for the album cover. Hail Darkness has a winner with their debut record, all hail the evil one, and all Hail Darkness. 9/10
Berenice - Berenice (APF Records) [Matt Bladen]
Violence, pure audio violence, that's what to expect when you listen to the debut release from East Anglia's extreme metal "super group" Bernice. I say "supergroup" as the band contains guitarists Dave (A Horse Called War), Charlie (Goat Monsoon) and Calum (from Obscene Entity). Alongside this triumvirate it's drummer Aaron (Devilment) and vocalist Jim (Bastard).
With a diverse past behind all of them, they bring a savage mix of bands such as Nails, Black Breath, Power Trip and All Pigs Must Die, forming in 2023 the recorded this savage EP not long after forming and signed to APF in anticipation of peeling off your skin with their stark, savage extreme metal that comes from an intense place.
This EP is the audio version of a kick in the nuts, it's an instant stab of pain and then a dull throb of that lasts after the EP ends. They're raging at the gap in wealth, the unfairness of poverty, the fact that many are struggling so hard just to even live. All delivered by raging vocals and buzzsaw riffs.
Berenice make an impact on this debut, unflinching aggression, aimed at those in society that exploit the poor and the needy. Savage and satisfying. 8/10
Evilyn - Mondestruken (Transcending Obscurity Records) [GC]
When a review for a Transcending Obscurity release lands in my inbox I’m usually pretty sure that it can be guaranteed to be fairly decent as there one of those labels that rarely misses with their signings and so we come to today’s release and following on from forming in 2017 and releasing an EP a few years ago, this is Evilyn’s debut album release Mondestruken, so is it any good?
Opener Dread doesn’t really give you much time to prepare yourself as its full of erratic and off kilter guitars that screech and squeal but there is also a very prog like feel to the way the song pans out towards the middle and its definitely death metal but not as we would usually expect it to sound and it feels like the beginning of Omission is just a continuation of the previous song as it continues with the more slowed pace and is heavily bass lead and throws in some experimentational guitar sounds randomly here and there and they are needed to add some life into the track as it does slightly pick up the pace towards the end of the track and it ends in a somewhat abrupt and chaotic fashion.
I love everything about Death Divine. The witch’s coven vibes, the hauntingly evil and sexy vocals, all of the tempo changes, the fuzzy retro-ness of it all, the heavy and light aspects, and a million extra points for the album cover. Hail Darkness has a winner with their debut record, all hail the evil one, and all Hail Darkness. 9/10
Berenice - Berenice (APF Records) [Matt Bladen]
Violence, pure audio violence, that's what to expect when you listen to the debut release from East Anglia's extreme metal "super group" Bernice. I say "supergroup" as the band contains guitarists Dave (A Horse Called War), Charlie (Goat Monsoon) and Calum (from Obscene Entity). Alongside this triumvirate it's drummer Aaron (Devilment) and vocalist Jim (Bastard).
With a diverse past behind all of them, they bring a savage mix of bands such as Nails, Black Breath, Power Trip and All Pigs Must Die, forming in 2023 the recorded this savage EP not long after forming and signed to APF in anticipation of peeling off your skin with their stark, savage extreme metal that comes from an intense place.
This EP is the audio version of a kick in the nuts, it's an instant stab of pain and then a dull throb of that lasts after the EP ends. They're raging at the gap in wealth, the unfairness of poverty, the fact that many are struggling so hard just to even live. All delivered by raging vocals and buzzsaw riffs.
Berenice make an impact on this debut, unflinching aggression, aimed at those in society that exploit the poor and the needy. Savage and satisfying. 8/10
Evilyn - Mondestruken (Transcending Obscurity Records) [GC]
When a review for a Transcending Obscurity release lands in my inbox I’m usually pretty sure that it can be guaranteed to be fairly decent as there one of those labels that rarely misses with their signings and so we come to today’s release and following on from forming in 2017 and releasing an EP a few years ago, this is Evilyn’s debut album release Mondestruken, so is it any good?
Opener Dread doesn’t really give you much time to prepare yourself as its full of erratic and off kilter guitars that screech and squeal but there is also a very prog like feel to the way the song pans out towards the middle and its definitely death metal but not as we would usually expect it to sound and it feels like the beginning of Omission is just a continuation of the previous song as it continues with the more slowed pace and is heavily bass lead and throws in some experimentational guitar sounds randomly here and there and they are needed to add some life into the track as it does slightly pick up the pace towards the end of the track and it ends in a somewhat abrupt and chaotic fashion.
Limits has the doomy/prog nature from the outset and it’s a slow and lumbering beast of a song that never really gets out of first gear and kind of stays the same and is actually slightly tedious when it hits the midway mark as its all just to slow and once again they finish with a flurry of technicality and flair but it just seems out of place. Bloviate means to talk at length in an inflated or empty way and this is what it feels like the music here is doing I just can’t get my head around the slow and doomy riffs with odd timed double bass drumming and twangy basslines that all just seem too erratic for its own good and a bit confusing as to what they are aiming for?
Penance when it starts does actually sound a bit more of a straight forward death metal track it has the slightly slower than normal pace but all the music finally matches but then they revert back to character and drop all the momentum and straight into more doom influenced sections but here it seems to work a bit more that it has previously and for me is probably the best song on the album, Vacuous continues with the decent run and is more tech influenced than most of the songs and here the stop start nature of the song actually benefits what they are trying to achieve and even the signature prog influence adds another interesting sound to the piece as a whole.
Interwoven is another solid track and the shorter runtime also helps because they now seem to focus on creating a sound that isn’t spaced out and sections added for the sake of sounding technical all the trademarks are there, and you fully know what to expect now but it doesn’t sound as forced here as it has on some other tracks, Forgotten falls directly back into the slow and lumbering section but here the addition off some nice squealing pitch harmonics add another dynamic as the guitars don’t just sort of happen they now grab your attention in a good way and there is some nice chaotic drumming that also catches the ear.
Into the closing stages on the album and Slithering is another passable track but it’s just once again a bit too one paced throughout, and it just sort of gets a bit tedious the longer it goes on and its not even 4 minutes long so that paints its own picture! So, Eat The Elite closes the album out on an unexpectedly savage high note, its another of the shorter tracks on the album so the focus is all out, and you don’t then get too mixed up in the whole technical but somehow doomy tedium of some of the previous tracks.
To answer my original question, is it any good? I have got to be 100% honest and admit that this wasn’t really for me, it wasn’t that it was bad it just got slightly too similar in some places, and you can tell that there is definitely something there and some parts were genuinely decent to listen to but honestly, for the most part I was slightly bored and don’t think I would give Mondestrucken another listen anytime soon. 6/10
To answer my original question, is it any good? I have got to be 100% honest and admit that this wasn’t really for me, it wasn’t that it was bad it just got slightly too similar in some places, and you can tell that there is definitely something there and some parts were genuinely decent to listen to but honestly, for the most part I was slightly bored and don’t think I would give Mondestrucken another listen anytime soon. 6/10
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