I discovered Cemetery Skyline towards the end of July and at that time the band; a Goth Rock Supergroup, containing members of bands such as Sentenced, Dark Tranquillity, Dimmu Borgir, Insomnium and Entombed; were a few singles in to releasing their debut album and I’d had a damn good taste of what was in store, eagerly awaiting new singles as they were released, slowly forming an album that’s been on repeat for weeks.
Stöner - Hittin’ The Bitchin’ Switch (Heavy Psych Sounds) [Joe Guatieri]
After a great run of a live album, two studio albums and an EP, Stöner returns with a new live album, Hittin’ The Bitchin’ Switch which was recorded live from a gig that they played at Altroquando in Treviso, Italy. This band features Nick Oliveri and Brant Bjork, formerly of Kyuss and Ryan Güt who has been performing in Brant’s other band since 2015. The record put out on Heavy Psych Sounds has fifteen tracks which spread across the band’s entire discography as well as two Kyuss covers.
Going into the album we have track four, Rad Stays Rad. It’s listening to this song here within this live context that gave me a new appreciation for it, I think that it’s a love letter of the Palm Desert Scene where the band originated from. Growing up in this hot landscape, Nick and Brant had nothing to do but play their instruments together to cure their boredom and while the scenery didn’t change, the music did and made its impact upon the world. There's no other way to say it, this song with its smooth groove is the definition of Stoner Rock and my favourite song on the album, “shit don’t change and rad stays rad”.
Later on we have Tribe - Fly Girl, a gargantuan live version of the song at over fourteen minutes long and the fact that during the run-time it doesn’t bore me once is a testament to how great of a band Stöner is. Brant is at his very best here, from the beginning his wah infused guitar acts as the ghost of the space, drifting from side to side trying to find a home and by the end of the song, it has found solace by digging its own grave, sounding very sharp and strung out. Before Hittin’ The Bitchin’ Switch I had never rated Brant’s guitar playing but it has made me change my mind on it, just like the man himself, it can be smooth, versatile and an attitude of not giving a fuck about what other people think.
Lastly we have the two Kyuss covers, now I would say for the majority of the time with bands like this, people would skip to the last two songs and that’s it but this whole gig has felt like a joyous ride up to this point, with the previous song Nothing, the crowd participate with their loud chants and now it all seems worth it for the encore. With Gardenia it’s interesting because despite Nick’s time in Kyuss, he didn’t actually play bass on Welcome To Sky Valley as Scott Reeder did but that doesn’t stop him from doing a great job serving the song. Putting his own spin and intricacies into the low frequency rumblings of the jam section. Then we end with Green Machine where Brant’s guitar sounds a lot fuller compared to Josh Homme’s original riff, this all definitely put smiles on the fans faces and sent them home happy.
Overall this live album shows the band in top-form, highlighting countless great moments of spontaneity, passion and performance. I haven’t mentioned him that much here as he just seems like a ready-made machine but Ryan is phenomenal all over this thing being locked in with the other members, especially with his hard pounding behind the kit on Own Yer Blues, that would tear holes into the ground. The biggest compliment that I can give is that listening to this and closing my eyes made me believe that I was there watching this live. 9/10
Dragony - Hic Svnt Dracones (Steamhammer/SPV) [Matt Bladen]
Opening with Dvorak’s New World Symphony, this Austrian band brought to mind current WWE World Heavyweight champion, and fellow Austrian Gunther, who previously known as Walter used this as his theme so it still creates a certain mood for us wrestling fans.
Anyway it’s used here as an intro to the fifth studio album by Dragony Since their formation in 2007, the band have shaped their power metal into a style that follows the current trend of using lots of buzzy, 80’s sounding synths. Beast In Black do it, Amaranthe do it even, Dynasty do it, loads of bands do, however much of it comes in the latter half of this concept album.
The first half is full of swashbuckling adventure, the nautical theme carried over from Visions Of Atlantis on Dragon Of The Sea. VoA being where singer Siegfried Samer is a former member and bassist Herbert Goss is still a member, it was with their previous record, Viribus Unitis is where they really hit their stride. Another concept, this time steampunk themed, possibly due to the shift to that more retro-modern sound favoured by many power metal bands.
Power metal was always upbeat, with bouncy rhythms but with these 80’s synths (from Manuel Hartleb) you can almost dance to it, so it certainly makes the appeal broader no matter where you stand, I’ll admit to grooving to Twilight Of The Gods. Anyway I digress as here it works, well in fact making the album catchy, bombastic and joy to listen to. You can get enthralled by the story, “The fate of the British colonists who disappeared in the Lost Colony of Roanoke in the New World”, from the galloping Dreamchaser’s the new additions of drummer Christoph Auckenthaler and guitarist Mat Plekhanov join bassist Glos and guitarist Simon Saito to play high quality concept power metal.
Listening through the album as a whole is a journey through a world of melodies, gothic sensibility and soaring songwriting; Mikael Stanne’s rich and solemn vocals bring the most melancholy of score to life, whilst everything that you could ever ask of a Gothic Rock album is played out. Personal highlight has to be the first track the band released as a single, the rather driven and upbeat Violent Storm, there’s a great synth/key melody to it and a hugely catchy chorus that has had me replaying the track over and over.
I’ve only one issue with the album and that’s the track Never Look Back, which at times, mainly the chorus, reminds of a Richard Marx track, Hazard; a lyrically dark song about small town mentality and a murder which brings the town pointing fingers at the song’s protagonist; I like the song so that “issue” is not negative in the slightest. An album that’s simultaneously epic, grandiose, haunting, full of catchy lyrics, driven riffs and Goth Rock sensibilities; there’s absolutely no reason whatsoever that you shouldn’t listen to it. 10/10
After a great run of a live album, two studio albums and an EP, Stöner returns with a new live album, Hittin’ The Bitchin’ Switch which was recorded live from a gig that they played at Altroquando in Treviso, Italy. This band features Nick Oliveri and Brant Bjork, formerly of Kyuss and Ryan Güt who has been performing in Brant’s other band since 2015. The record put out on Heavy Psych Sounds has fifteen tracks which spread across the band’s entire discography as well as two Kyuss covers.
Going into the album we have track four, Rad Stays Rad. It’s listening to this song here within this live context that gave me a new appreciation for it, I think that it’s a love letter of the Palm Desert Scene where the band originated from. Growing up in this hot landscape, Nick and Brant had nothing to do but play their instruments together to cure their boredom and while the scenery didn’t change, the music did and made its impact upon the world. There's no other way to say it, this song with its smooth groove is the definition of Stoner Rock and my favourite song on the album, “shit don’t change and rad stays rad”.
Later on we have Tribe - Fly Girl, a gargantuan live version of the song at over fourteen minutes long and the fact that during the run-time it doesn’t bore me once is a testament to how great of a band Stöner is. Brant is at his very best here, from the beginning his wah infused guitar acts as the ghost of the space, drifting from side to side trying to find a home and by the end of the song, it has found solace by digging its own grave, sounding very sharp and strung out. Before Hittin’ The Bitchin’ Switch I had never rated Brant’s guitar playing but it has made me change my mind on it, just like the man himself, it can be smooth, versatile and an attitude of not giving a fuck about what other people think.
Lastly we have the two Kyuss covers, now I would say for the majority of the time with bands like this, people would skip to the last two songs and that’s it but this whole gig has felt like a joyous ride up to this point, with the previous song Nothing, the crowd participate with their loud chants and now it all seems worth it for the encore. With Gardenia it’s interesting because despite Nick’s time in Kyuss, he didn’t actually play bass on Welcome To Sky Valley as Scott Reeder did but that doesn’t stop him from doing a great job serving the song. Putting his own spin and intricacies into the low frequency rumblings of the jam section. Then we end with Green Machine where Brant’s guitar sounds a lot fuller compared to Josh Homme’s original riff, this all definitely put smiles on the fans faces and sent them home happy.
Overall this live album shows the band in top-form, highlighting countless great moments of spontaneity, passion and performance. I haven’t mentioned him that much here as he just seems like a ready-made machine but Ryan is phenomenal all over this thing being locked in with the other members, especially with his hard pounding behind the kit on Own Yer Blues, that would tear holes into the ground. The biggest compliment that I can give is that listening to this and closing my eyes made me believe that I was there watching this live. 9/10
Opening with Dvorak’s New World Symphony, this Austrian band brought to mind current WWE World Heavyweight champion, and fellow Austrian Gunther, who previously known as Walter used this as his theme so it still creates a certain mood for us wrestling fans.
Anyway it’s used here as an intro to the fifth studio album by Dragony Since their formation in 2007, the band have shaped their power metal into a style that follows the current trend of using lots of buzzy, 80’s sounding synths. Beast In Black do it, Amaranthe do it even, Dynasty do it, loads of bands do, however much of it comes in the latter half of this concept album.
The first half is full of swashbuckling adventure, the nautical theme carried over from Visions Of Atlantis on Dragon Of The Sea. VoA being where singer Siegfried Samer is a former member and bassist Herbert Goss is still a member, it was with their previous record, Viribus Unitis is where they really hit their stride. Another concept, this time steampunk themed, possibly due to the shift to that more retro-modern sound favoured by many power metal bands.
Power metal was always upbeat, with bouncy rhythms but with these 80’s synths (from Manuel Hartleb) you can almost dance to it, so it certainly makes the appeal broader no matter where you stand, I’ll admit to grooving to Twilight Of The Gods. Anyway I digress as here it works, well in fact making the album catchy, bombastic and joy to listen to. You can get enthralled by the story, “The fate of the British colonists who disappeared in the Lost Colony of Roanoke in the New World”, from the galloping Dreamchaser’s the new additions of drummer Christoph Auckenthaler and guitarist Mat Plekhanov join bassist Glos and guitarist Simon Saito to play high quality concept power metal.
It seems they have found their niche, they thrive in storytelling without the massive need for theatrics any band name Rhapsody would want. Jacob Hansen gives it his special touch, letting the orchestral shine on nine minute, baroque title track Hic Svnt Dracones (Here Be Dragons), which has a bit of Meat Loaf to it, The Einherjar (What Dreams May Come) goes a bit folky (it’s the whistle). If you want quality power metal, here be Dragony. 8/10
Amputate - Abysmal Ascent (Massacre Records) [GC]
Reading up on the latest Amputate album Abysmal Ascent there is a lot of talk about pushing back against A.I on all levels but then it also says that is what their last album was about? Here they are aiming for ‘’pure, honest death metal, the old school way’’ and apparently this album ‘’is almost a statement for art itself’’ not sure what that is meant to mean but let’s hope they can produce something decent.
I Am Genocide is all about the evils of releasing A.I upon the world and the downfall of mankind, which is what their last album was about remember? And it is certainly death metal at its core and mixes in all different time signatures and tempo’s but probably to the detriment of the song as it just sounds a bit muddled and confused you never really know what is coming and not in an exciting way more in a kind of what the fuck is this doing now kind of way?
Reading up on the latest Amputate album Abysmal Ascent there is a lot of talk about pushing back against A.I on all levels but then it also says that is what their last album was about? Here they are aiming for ‘’pure, honest death metal, the old school way’’ and apparently this album ‘’is almost a statement for art itself’’ not sure what that is meant to mean but let’s hope they can produce something decent.
I Am Genocide is all about the evils of releasing A.I upon the world and the downfall of mankind, which is what their last album was about remember? And it is certainly death metal at its core and mixes in all different time signatures and tempo’s but probably to the detriment of the song as it just sounds a bit muddled and confused you never really know what is coming and not in an exciting way more in a kind of what the fuck is this doing now kind of way?
Abysmal Ascent feels like it takes a bout a week to get started but thankfully when it does it fares slightly better than the opening track and has some nicely done death metal that integrates elements of black metal and thrash nicely but by about the midway point once again, it feels like they try too much too often so the mix just sounds all off as every different section feels like its mixed separately, Malevolent Manifestation feels like it takes a stab at tech death which helps and does make the song sound like it is more coherent and together in places as you kind of expect it to be a bit all over the place but I always seem to get the feeling that there’s just a lot going on, all the time and the juxtaposition of all the differing styles just dulls edge of everything on offer.
Cavernous Temple Of The Absurd I think finally achieves what it sets out to, it’s a thunderous and scathing attack on the Vatican and the disgusting crimes they have committed on children over the years, and you can feel the vitriol dripping from every note and vocal line and the passion and hatred shines through majestically. Hybrid Organism is probably what most of the tracks on this album needed to be, short! but is also an instrumental which is a real shame as it’s a bludgeoning, ruthless and most importantly precise song which with vocals would probably have been a real stand out on the album, bit annoying really!
Extractive Monolith does at least carry though the relentless nature of the previous track and there are some interesting vocal sections included and overall is a decent and urgent track, maybe they are starting to just concentrate and not mix things up too much which ultimately pays off! Sepulcro continues with the good run her they add some more measured and slower sections into the track and the confusion of previous tracks doesn’t creep in and they keep it simple and dark and again the more thoughtful approach really pays off.
Venomous Prophecies then falls back into the old ways and throws a lot of differing bits into the mix and starts to sound like its all just too many ideas all at once and nothing really meshes as it should and the song overall sounds disjointed. Visceral Dominion is more concentrated and precise again and with the extra couple of minutes shorn off the song it provides no room for them to try too much and get the sound confused, Perpetuum ends in a furious and blasting way in just under 2 minutes and it a perfect example of how less is more.
This was a frustrating listen, Abysmal Ascent was good in places but then the next minute you were thinking, what is going on here? They could sound like 2 different bands from one song to the next, and obviously variety is the spice of life an all that but, sometimes it helps to just concentrate on one thing, so you don’t sound like you’re trying too much all at once all the time. 6/10
This was a frustrating listen, Abysmal Ascent was good in places but then the next minute you were thinking, what is going on here? They could sound like 2 different bands from one song to the next, and obviously variety is the spice of life an all that but, sometimes it helps to just concentrate on one thing, so you don’t sound like you’re trying too much all at once all the time. 6/10
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