Voodoo Circle - Hail To The King (AFM Records) [Simon Black]
I’m picking this one up at the last minute on release day, as one of my colleagues ran out of time, so I’m having to forego my usual technique of giving a record at least three full spins before going near the keyboard, but I’ve got an editor with a deadline breathing down my neck.
Voodoo Circle, for those who have not encountered it previously, started life as a side project for Silent Force (Former Primal Fear) guitarist Alex Beyrodt, who clearly felt that there weren’t enough tributes being made to the big hair, big shoulder pads and big sales of the colourful mid-80’s when MTV made it happen big, baby big for bands.
Well MTV has long since shot its load with regards to anything to do with the music industry, hair spray is definitely out of vogue in these climate-sensitive days and the concept of big record sales is up there with other Boomer mis-remembered dreams of bygone decades that leads to ill-considered decisions in the voting booth, but this kind of classic 80’s hard rock has never gone away, even if the acts that carved the groove have long since hung up their shoulder pads (if only because they tend to get in the way of their walking frames).
This isn’t some flash in the pan supergroup either and has managed a solid six full-length records since 2008. Like many acts, the personnel changes have been tough on consistency, but Hail To The King sees a return to the core line-up of both David Readman on vocals and Markus Kullmann on drums re-joining Beyrodt. There are no keyboards credited, and whilst they still exist in the mix, they are not as front and centre throughout as would be expected.
This isn’t some flash in the pan supergroup either and has managed a solid six full-length records since 2008. Like many acts, the personnel changes have been tough on consistency, but Hail To The King sees a return to the core line-up of both David Readman on vocals and Markus Kullmann on drums re-joining Beyrodt. There are no keyboards credited, and whilst they still exist in the mix, they are not as front and centre throughout as would be expected.
OK, syrupy power ballad Castles Made Of Glass is very AOR and keyboard heavy, but the bulk of the record is much more stripped back and Hard Rock in sound. This reliance on the rhythm section to drive the songs through works very well, and despite the fact the band feel obligated to nod distinctly to Whitesnake and Rainbow, this back to basics allows the core song writing strengths to shine through.
And that’s why it works, as despite the quite lengthy run-time of an hour seven minutes across the twelve tracks, this is a record that flows well, because it’s been well-crafted by some very skilful players who know exactly how to make the medium work. The length of tracks is surprising, because many hard rockin’ acts still rely on the three to four-minute ‘Wham, bam, thank you ma’am / sir / individual’ approach to keep the attention-deficit generation engaged, but to be honest only the opener Lay Down Your Lovin’ takes that approach.
And that’s why it works, as despite the quite lengthy run-time of an hour seven minutes across the twelve tracks, this is a record that flows well, because it’s been well-crafted by some very skilful players who know exactly how to make the medium work. The length of tracks is surprising, because many hard rockin’ acts still rely on the three to four-minute ‘Wham, bam, thank you ma’am / sir / individual’ approach to keep the attention-deficit generation engaged, but to be honest only the opener Lay Down Your Lovin’ takes that approach.
Thereafter, although a strong riff nearly always opens things up, thereafter a more measured, thoughtful and incrementally intensive layering technique, more common perhaps in the prog world builds the intensity very well indeed. This means that even the longest of songs feels and flows and builds well without having to resort to the splice and dice techniques commonly used in when bands have got two or three good song ideas but none of them are strong enough on their own, so mashing them up seems like a good idea.
These songs all stand on their own two feet, and we are left with an album that accomplishes the unique combination of the Hard Rock solidness whilst being a complex and eminently listenable album that’s going to keep on giving to the repeated listener, and this in an age when getting anyone to listen to a full song, never mind an album seems like a major achievement. This may have landed last minute, but I can’t help but give it that time to appreciate, because it really is worth the investment of time. 8/10
Mammoth Grinder - Undying Spectral Resonance (Relapse Records) [Mark Young]
And now a 5 track EP that promises pure grime and grit, a heady throwback to when OSDM wasn’t old (I’m paraphrasing their words to an extent). They have been releasing music since 2009 with a line-up that has changed as time has moved onwards. Their current line-up includes mainstay Chris Ulsh (Power Trip) plus Ryan Parrish (Iron Reagan, drums) along with Sebastian Phillips and Andy Horn on guitar and bass respectively.
And it is as old school as you would expect. It is a pleasurable throwback to when the genre was young when guitars had six strings and all that was wanted was a bunch of riffs played at manic speeds with drums to match. Growled, impenetrable vocals all pulled together to act as a punch to the gut. It is one thing to go and approximate that sound and style, its another to do it with songs that make the whole thing worthwhile and with that in mind Mammoth Grinder have done what they set out to do.
And it is as old school as you would expect. It is a pleasurable throwback to when the genre was young when guitars had six strings and all that was wanted was a bunch of riffs played at manic speeds with drums to match. Growled, impenetrable vocals all pulled together to act as a punch to the gut. It is one thing to go and approximate that sound and style, its another to do it with songs that make the whole thing worthwhile and with that in mind Mammoth Grinder have done what they set out to do.
There are no weak tracks on here, each has that narrow focus applied to ensure that it ticks the boxes of what we wanted in our extreme metal back in the early 90s. It won’t change your world, but as a decent little EP to add to your death metal collection there is not a lot you can argue with. 7/10
Second Sun - Elektriska Mardrömmar (Majestic Mountain Records) [Rich Piva]
I feel like an ignorant American when I type this but I have struggled with albums that have vocals not in English. I think it is because I feel like I am missing something since I value the lyrics so much in my music. I just want to know what the message is. There was a strong exception this year with the debut record from The Flying Norsemen, where the music was enough to transform me.
This brings me to the new record from Stockholm, Sweden’s Second Sun. This is different than the Norsemen record as the vocals were an afterthought on their psych prog soundscapes. Second Sun have the vocals right up front on their up tempo, 70’s inspired psych rock, that distracts me a bit, but these guys rock, so I am still able to enjoy the ten tracks on Elektriska Mardrömmar.
Tracks like Voigt Kampff-Test rock, reminding me a bit of The Hives while with Så Jävla Lätt the band gets their Swedish Grand Funk on. I really enjoy the proto leaning Glädjedödare and the cool guitar work on Kan man få Slippa?, which I really want to translate because this one is killer. The vocals are very cool on the track Tar Mig Aldrig Levande that almost has a weird pop feel to it, and the closer, Arion Vulgaris, is my favourite track with its complex rhythm and cool dual guitar work. I also really dig the production on the record, it sounds just how I like it, no unnecessary polish, just the guys rocking out.
Yeah, I have no idea why Second Sun is saying on Elektriska Mardrömmar, but what I do know is that it rocks, so if you like 70s inspired psych rock and vocals in Swedish don’t bother you, go check this one out. 7/10
Monolithe - Black Hole District (Hammerheart Records) [Joe Guatieri]
Monolithe are a progressive doom metal band from France that formed in 2001. With a consistent output over the band’s long career, Black Hole District marks the release of their tenth studio release. With details of this being a concept album about a Tech noir decaying city inspired by the likes of Blade Runner and The Matrix, it left me with very high hopes for this record. Starting off with track four, To Wander the Labyrinth, the beginning sounds very reminiscent of The Dark Side Of The Moon era Pink Floyd to me with an organ being played in a high register, mixed with a little bit of Crowbar.
Tracks like Voigt Kampff-Test rock, reminding me a bit of The Hives while with Så Jävla Lätt the band gets their Swedish Grand Funk on. I really enjoy the proto leaning Glädjedödare and the cool guitar work on Kan man få Slippa?, which I really want to translate because this one is killer. The vocals are very cool on the track Tar Mig Aldrig Levande that almost has a weird pop feel to it, and the closer, Arion Vulgaris, is my favourite track with its complex rhythm and cool dual guitar work. I also really dig the production on the record, it sounds just how I like it, no unnecessary polish, just the guys rocking out.
Yeah, I have no idea why Second Sun is saying on Elektriska Mardrömmar, but what I do know is that it rocks, so if you like 70s inspired psych rock and vocals in Swedish don’t bother you, go check this one out. 7/10
Monolithe - Black Hole District (Hammerheart Records) [Joe Guatieri]
Monolithe are a progressive doom metal band from France that formed in 2001. With a consistent output over the band’s long career, Black Hole District marks the release of their tenth studio release. With details of this being a concept album about a Tech noir decaying city inspired by the likes of Blade Runner and The Matrix, it left me with very high hopes for this record. Starting off with track four, To Wander the Labyrinth, the beginning sounds very reminiscent of The Dark Side Of The Moon era Pink Floyd to me with an organ being played in a high register, mixed with a little bit of Crowbar.
It’s promising for the first few moments but this song ended up defining a lot of issues that I had with Black Hole District. As the guitar riffs break down and even out going into the verses, they sound like they are entirely contained within a box, bouncing off the sides of it and feeling very predictable as a result. The drums have a resemblance to some sort of attack but they lack the oomph needed to really get me out of my seat, feeling swallowed within the sea of synthesizers and unfortunately you can forget about the bass as it’s very minimal.
I enjoy some small pockets of guitar and to my surprise there’s two singers, one in the band, that being Quentin Verdier handling the harsh vocals which I enjoy and a guest vocalist, Frederic Gervais, who takes on the clean duties but they don’t do anything for me. Next we go into track six, Unveiling The Illusion, it’s a bit better than the last couple of tracks on Black Hole District but only by a few notches. It’s got good pace whilst balancing that out with more subdued atmospheric sections which work well in tandem together, it breaks up the song nicely. I also think that this has the best vocals on the record, sounding more operatic overall which fits the vibe a lot better.
Finally we have the last track with that being Those Moments Lost In Time which is my favourite song on the album. It’s got the best riffing and solos here, having a little more grit within the playing but it’s still lacking a lot of bite. It’s the most doom metal here as for the majority of time, it stays within a darker avenue but it just doesn’t go to that next level.
Overall, Black Hole District by Monolith is a massive disappointment to me. For something that was described as a progressive doom metal concept album, it feels bloated with far too many interludes and some songs always feel a lot longer than what they are, resorting to what feels like meandering for long stretches of time. As I said previously, I am shocked at the lacklustre bass playing on here, for something that’s so important and is supposed to keep me engaged, it feels like a complete afterthought and the drums feel weirdly powerless.
The most disheartening thing is that this record never wowed me, even in moments where it should connect, it just makes me feel numb. As someone who grits their teeth to heavy music that they enjoy, this album makes me do that for all of the wrong reasons. 5/10
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