South Wales doesn’t half have a darned fine talent pool these days. When I first relocated to this part of the UK from the Midlands nearly 2 decades ago, I quickly fell in love with the area, but initially the music side of things seemed less strong. In the last 10 years or so that has noticeably changed, improved and developed to the point where I firmly believe that this region sits at (or bloody close to) the front of the UK’s talent pool for hard and heavy music.
Bloodstock’s Metal 2 the Masses has a lot to do with this (and not just in Wales), but it really has keenly focussed bands that this coveted slot in a field in Tamworth is as important a milestone for upcoming acts as playing their first show, recording their first tracks, getting a manager, getting signed, playing arenas, etc.
M2TM forces acts to hone their skills, and the bands that go through do so not on the basis of their mates turning up to vote for them in the heats, but on the opinion of the judges (most crucially that final judge from Bloodstock itself) that this is a band that could pull in a passing punter and turn them into a fan.
M2TM forces acts to hone their skills, and the bands that go through do so not on the basis of their mates turning up to vote for them in the heats, but on the opinion of the judges (most crucially that final judge from Bloodstock itself) that this is a band that could pull in a passing punter and turn them into a fan.
King Kraken are an act who’ve gone through this experience, and if you go and see one of their shows today either supporting someone established and mainstream or blowing the roof off of a smaller venue as headliners in their own right, you can see why M2TM is so valuable for this scene.
They always deliver live, but they pack a suckerpunch in the studio too. Their 2023 first album MCLXXX was a belter, was itself a massive step above their Chaos Engine EP, but this new highly anticipated album sounds like what it is, the next step in the highly promising journey of a highly polished and professional group of talented musicians and songwriters.
If you like good old fashioned gutsy hard rock infused metal built around absolutely solid riffage, the better with which to beat the living daylights out of you, then March Of The Gods is not going to disappoint.
They always deliver live, but they pack a suckerpunch in the studio too. Their 2023 first album MCLXXX was a belter, was itself a massive step above their Chaos Engine EP, but this new highly anticipated album sounds like what it is, the next step in the highly promising journey of a highly polished and professional group of talented musicians and songwriters.
If you like good old fashioned gutsy hard rock infused metal built around absolutely solid riffage, the better with which to beat the living daylights out of you, then March Of The Gods is not going to disappoint.
These 10 slabs of catchy and beefy riffage do not outstay their welcome either, delivery a crisp and punch forty minutes of no filler music. Hard rock often faces the accusation that everything has been done to death already, but King Kraken are here to point out that that’s not the case, with extreme prejudice.
Even when you think you know where a track is heading, such as Preacher, which makes you think it’s a slow heavy grinder, before twisting into an absolutely galloping ride that’s going to be making pits live across the country with refreshing and on the nose accuracy. It’s an absolute classic, and do you know what, it’s probably the weakest song on here…
The production is rich and fat, allows each contributor to be heard clearly, whilst accentuating the cohesive feel they have as a living breathing band. The boys also feel like things have turned up a notch as well, both in terms of the technical precision of their delivery and the smooth writing of each and every song on here.
This album delivers and deserves to take this band to the next level, because it’s records like this that got me into this scene in the first place, and why I make a point of supporting the Metal 2 The Masses, because this ladies, gentlemen and beings of indeterminate classification, is the future.
The production is rich and fat, allows each contributor to be heard clearly, whilst accentuating the cohesive feel they have as a living breathing band. The boys also feel like things have turned up a notch as well, both in terms of the technical precision of their delivery and the smooth writing of each and every song on here.
This album delivers and deserves to take this band to the next level, because it’s records like this that got me into this scene in the first place, and why I make a point of supporting the Metal 2 The Masses, because this ladies, gentlemen and beings of indeterminate classification, is the future.
I really can’t find anything to complain about here, so I’m going to stop writing now. Then I’m going to play this beauty again. I think I’m going to be doing that a lot over the next few months... 10/10
Melvins 1983 - Thunderball (Ipecac Recordings) [Dan Bradley]
Even after four decades of writing, collaborating and touring, the Melvins show no sign of slowing down, with their Melvins 1983 guise here
Following 2024’s Tarantula Heart (https://musipediaofmetal.blogspot.com/2024/04/reviews-melvins-big-wolf-band-quantum.html), another solid entry in their unclassifiable and sprawling art-rock/sludge catalogue, Thunderball unites Buzz with original 1983 drummer Mike Dillard, bringing the familiar driving punk and hard rock drumming they’re renowned for, but expands their sound with avant-garde noise and electronic contributions from Void Manes and Ni Maîtres.
Thunderball opens with King Of Rome, a three-minute banger building on chugged riffs, rumbling bass and Dillard’s driving beats, elevated by complimentary vocal and guitar melodic lines and subtle but complex electronic textures.
Melvins 1983 - Thunderball (Ipecac Recordings) [Dan Bradley]
Even after four decades of writing, collaborating and touring, the Melvins show no sign of slowing down, with their Melvins 1983 guise here
Following 2024’s Tarantula Heart (https://musipediaofmetal.blogspot.com/2024/04/reviews-melvins-big-wolf-band-quantum.html), another solid entry in their unclassifiable and sprawling art-rock/sludge catalogue, Thunderball unites Buzz with original 1983 drummer Mike Dillard, bringing the familiar driving punk and hard rock drumming they’re renowned for, but expands their sound with avant-garde noise and electronic contributions from Void Manes and Ni Maîtres.
Thunderball opens with King Of Rome, a three-minute banger building on chugged riffs, rumbling bass and Dillard’s driving beats, elevated by complimentary vocal and guitar melodic lines and subtle but complex electronic textures.
After this fiery opening, the unsettling ambient interlude Vomit Of Clarity feels underwhelming, and a rare instance of filler in the Melvins 1983's otherwise excellent catalogue. That said, it does tease some exciting potential directions for such collaborations in future.
The rest of the album is built on 3 longer songs of around 10 minutes each.
Short Hair With A Wig opens with glitchy electronic noise before Steven McDonald drops a muscular sludge bass riff that sets the pace for the rest of the track. By the time the full band come in, you’ll probably already be bopping your head and pulling a face.
Buzz has such a gift for weaving hypnotic lead lines around the beat and exploring the full band dynamics – claustrophobic verse sections expose Dillard’s pounding drumming and bring forward the weird sci-fi noises and electronic textures, before the main guitar hook and full band returns – that longer workouts like this never outstay their welcome.
Victory Of The Pyramids opens with the melodic bombast of Trompe Le Monde-era Pixies, before mischievously swerving off into snarling hard-rock territory. The song makes a few more assured gear changes, handled like a band who know exactly what they’re doing, before a noise-soaked outro.
Venus Blood introduces another lumbering sludgy bass riff and melodic guitar hook that could easily slot into their live set between classic staples like The Bit, Night Goat or Honey Bucket.
Victory Of The Pyramids opens with the melodic bombast of Trompe Le Monde-era Pixies, before mischievously swerving off into snarling hard-rock territory. The song makes a few more assured gear changes, handled like a band who know exactly what they’re doing, before a noise-soaked outro.
Venus Blood introduces another lumbering sludgy bass riff and melodic guitar hook that could easily slot into their live set between classic staples like The Bit, Night Goat or Honey Bucket.
While the album feels all too brief at 34 mins, with 2 minutes of that being ambient filler, wanting more from a tirelessly creative band who have uncovered even more ground to explore is no bad thing. 8/10
Epica – Aspiral (Nuclear Blast) [Rick Eaglestone]
Innovative Dutch symphonic metal ensemble Epica return with their ninth studio album Aspiral.
Coming in at just shy of an hour and constructed around eleven tracks Aspiral is swarming with a plethora of elaborate concepts and extravagant orchestrations and really highlights just why Epica are still very much stalwarts of the symphonic metal scene.
Opening offering Cross The Divide is fast paced with riffs reminiscent of Nightwish’s Once era with a flawless vocal delivery which leads into the orchestral laden Arcana with dominant basslines and hypnotic melodies all wrapped in a ballad Esque presentation.
Moving into Darkness Dies In Light – A New Age Dawns Part VII delves into quintessential Epica territory with the combination of dual vocals which has been a constant since The Phantom Agony which also includes some blistering drum patterns. This then weaves into Obsidian Heart effortlessly which has a wonderful narrative.
Combining varying soundscapes, Fight To Survive – The Overview Effect continues the wave of dominance into Metanoia – A New Age Dawns Part VIII does a stellar job of keeping the album on a steady wave of symphonic superiority and much like its predecessor encapsulates the aesthetic of the album wonderfully.
A shorter interlude of sorts T.I.M.E. uses it slot effectively with swirling solos with Apparition firing into a future live favourite spot. Eye Of The Storm musically is phenomenal and incorporates a subtle folkier element encased in a web of harsh vocals.
Lastly, the album concludes with the combination of The Grand Saga Of Existence – A New Age Dawns Part IX which again delivers goosebumps with its pure Therion worship, easily the most ambitious out of the trilogy that has been presented with title track Aspiral shows that Epica have certainly not become comfortable or complacent but have instead further thrusted themselves into Mount Rushmore status – and long may that continue. 8/10
Final Dose - Under The Eternal Shadow (Wolves Of Hades) [Mark Young]
Final Dose are the definition of short but certainly not sweet, delivering black metal punk that comes and kicks your teeth in before raiding the fridge and heading off into the night.
10 songs is just short of 23 minutes is the clue here, with absolutely no messing about – no intro tracks or ambient noise it is literally wallop and we are off.
Eternal Winter is the starting point and it’s a good mix of that black / punk approach with what I would call a steady away type of pace. Its not rapid but at the same time there is enough momentum which comes via the powerful shrieking vocals from Bruno F which kicks Weathered Axe off. The punk aspect comes through on this one but what you find is that they don’t do speed just for the sake of it.
Rite Of Spring has more of the forward push and as a result more bite to it, especially with the frenzied micro solo but then they pull up the rug with Servant, which leans more into an industrial slant but doesn’t get the chance to get going and feels like a missed opportunity.
Initially, its an interesting set up, pared back black metal twinned with that punk ethos but one of the things about it is that once those first three pay out it effectively paints the picture for the remainder of the album.
Innovative Dutch symphonic metal ensemble Epica return with their ninth studio album Aspiral.
Coming in at just shy of an hour and constructed around eleven tracks Aspiral is swarming with a plethora of elaborate concepts and extravagant orchestrations and really highlights just why Epica are still very much stalwarts of the symphonic metal scene.
Opening offering Cross The Divide is fast paced with riffs reminiscent of Nightwish’s Once era with a flawless vocal delivery which leads into the orchestral laden Arcana with dominant basslines and hypnotic melodies all wrapped in a ballad Esque presentation.
Moving into Darkness Dies In Light – A New Age Dawns Part VII delves into quintessential Epica territory with the combination of dual vocals which has been a constant since The Phantom Agony which also includes some blistering drum patterns. This then weaves into Obsidian Heart effortlessly which has a wonderful narrative.
Combining varying soundscapes, Fight To Survive – The Overview Effect continues the wave of dominance into Metanoia – A New Age Dawns Part VIII does a stellar job of keeping the album on a steady wave of symphonic superiority and much like its predecessor encapsulates the aesthetic of the album wonderfully.
A shorter interlude of sorts T.I.M.E. uses it slot effectively with swirling solos with Apparition firing into a future live favourite spot. Eye Of The Storm musically is phenomenal and incorporates a subtle folkier element encased in a web of harsh vocals.
Lastly, the album concludes with the combination of The Grand Saga Of Existence – A New Age Dawns Part IX which again delivers goosebumps with its pure Therion worship, easily the most ambitious out of the trilogy that has been presented with title track Aspiral shows that Epica have certainly not become comfortable or complacent but have instead further thrusted themselves into Mount Rushmore status – and long may that continue. 8/10
Final Dose - Under The Eternal Shadow (Wolves Of Hades) [Mark Young]
Final Dose are the definition of short but certainly not sweet, delivering black metal punk that comes and kicks your teeth in before raiding the fridge and heading off into the night.
10 songs is just short of 23 minutes is the clue here, with absolutely no messing about – no intro tracks or ambient noise it is literally wallop and we are off.
Eternal Winter is the starting point and it’s a good mix of that black / punk approach with what I would call a steady away type of pace. Its not rapid but at the same time there is enough momentum which comes via the powerful shrieking vocals from Bruno F which kicks Weathered Axe off. The punk aspect comes through on this one but what you find is that they don’t do speed just for the sake of it.
Rite Of Spring has more of the forward push and as a result more bite to it, especially with the frenzied micro solo but then they pull up the rug with Servant, which leans more into an industrial slant but doesn’t get the chance to get going and feels like a missed opportunity.
Initially, its an interesting set up, pared back black metal twinned with that punk ethos but one of the things about it is that once those first three pay out it effectively paints the picture for the remainder of the album.
That’s not to say it isn’t any good, I think your enjoyment will boil down to how much you love this style of extreme music, or if you are really into punk because that aesthetic is in the driving seat here.
The two styles work well together, especially on the longer tracks like Dark Paradise where the added run time gives them space to develop the song a little more. Wretched works in this manner and has a larger scope to it when compared to Eternal Winter which has that balance in place but doesn’t feel as vibrant or as punishing.
Funeral March gives Bruno a 46 second sandbox to play in but its over before it has time to really get going and by the time that they launch into Locked in the Black Dungeon it feels as though they have lost sight of what it is they are trying to say (if they are trying at all) as its not quite black metal, not punk. Obviously, this could be just me being a dummy but that earlier vicious intent has been replaced, at least to these ears.
Revenge is next up and they are back on track, but then change it round again with the ending piece that is Drag The Light Down which is as stripped back as it could possibly be before it terminates in white noise. And then that its, over and out. Generally, it works, as I’ve said the songs drop in with just enough time to register before its on to the next one.
Revenge is next up and they are back on track, but then change it round again with the ending piece that is Drag The Light Down which is as stripped back as it could possibly be before it terminates in white noise. And then that its, over and out. Generally, it works, as I’ve said the songs drop in with just enough time to register before its on to the next one.
The longer ones have a little bit more to them but something seems to get lost as we head to the end, either they ran out of steam or thought that we will just do whatever we want to do, which is surely at the heart of being a punk? 6/10
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