Welcome to 'formless black metal' what is...I don't know but that's the very nature of it. Music that transcends the black metal framework into something that is according to their press release "impossible to predict." Yeah ok you'll get some kick back if you said drumming that makes your whole body shudder, some frantic tremolo picking and vocals ripped from the very bowels of hell but this Californian band do often incorporate other sounds, with some a deathcore breakdown and gutturals on Erosion.
Of The Void has the militaristic death metal chug to begin but soon just strips back what they do to the relentless drumbeat and the throat shredding squawk before then it's a melodic middle section that promotes this idea of their music being 'formless', many soundscapes brought together under a single 'extreme' metal tag. In a similar way that a band like Darkthrone adapt their sound on every record Wrath Of Logarius do something similar on the 9 tracks here, each moment captures a new sound or a different style, the disquieting clean sections so often leading to another blast of barbarity, keeping you on edge then whipping you into a frenzy of deathened black metal (as opposed to blackened death metal).
They clearly made some high profile fans with their debut as Vilhelm of Grima joins for The Ethereal Mist adding another vocals to what is already a wide ranging performance. The debut Wrath Of Logarius was welcomed as part of the new school of extreme metal, and on the evidence of Crown Of Mortis there's a lot more lessons in store for anyone who thinks they know black metal. 8/10
Alien Weaponry - Te Rā (Napalm Records) [Mark Young]
My last one for March, one that will hopefully see the month out on an explosive high. Alien Weaponry are from New Zealand and infuse their music accordingly. I’ve seen them live, supporting Gojira on a UK/EU tour and was impressed with their live energy and brutal sound so going into this one I had high hopes.
And I’m disappointed by it to be honest. It tears along at a decent rate with some quality riff building and guttural vocals that I think this music needs but the cleans that are here took me out of it almost straight away. I think that if the lead song loses you then you are in for a hard slog for the rest of the album and that is what happened on this. Crown starts with a Lamb Of God kind of stomp but the cleans ruined it for me. You can see what they are going for with it but for me that first track has to be bullet proof in execution, really grab you and then drag you along for an uncomfortable ride.
Mau Moko goes some way to redressing the balance, keeping the riffs coming but the cleans are still there and it doesn’t sit well with me at all. The music here is good, It moves, its brutal but it needs a vocal style that lays waste. Where the cleans do work is on Hanging By A Thread where its working in tandem with the partially muted guitar and I have to say that the opening to Tama-nui-te-rā is positively apocalyptic.
I think that there is a level of sameness that runs through proceedings on here too. I appreciate that some bands will repeatedly go back to their influences in an effort to kick start the creative juices but sometimes it leaves them open to paying too much of a homage to these bands. That LOG arrangement seems to be the blueprint here and while that is quite a blanket statement on each of the songs there is an air of familiarity to them and even R Blythe himself pops up on Taniwha. Again, these are not bad songs at all.
Far from it but its just that they come and go without leaving a mark on me, there is no songs on here that I would add to a playlist of best for 2025. I will say this, as albums go it sounds mint – its heavy, with a clarity in place so you can hear every beat and stomp ring through. It just didn’t excite me at all. 6/10
Acid Age - Perilous Compulsion (Distortion Project Records) [Matt Bladen]
Belfast based progressive thrash metal band have been exploring the furthest reaches of the 'thrash' tag since 2013. Much like Coroner before them Acid Age have evolved into a magnificent beast of a band. One that plays psychedelic, mind melting heavy metal that owes a lot to bands such as Cynic and Death. Currently a trio of Jude (vocals & guitar), Jake (bass and backing vocals) and Aran on drums.
Perilous Compulsion is their fourth full length and it throws you into the schizophrenic style of Acid Age with Bikini Island, a bit like Primus meeting death metal, it's extremely bass heavy, with technical riffs galore as a jazzy guitar solo splits up the aggression, then it's something different as the band never ease off on the experimentation, State Your Business evoking some hardcore and crossover speed then shifts towards Megadeth all within one song.
I'd not heard Acid Age before this record but picked it up on the recommendation of Bloodstock's Simon Hall. He's man who knows what he's doing as I'm not a thrash metal fan usually but I loved this record for it's virtuosity and full bore batshitery. Be it the blistering death jazz of Revenge For Sale, the bass solo in Third Eye Locksmith or the double tapping solo section in the steamrolling and locomotive harmonica in Rotten Tooth (which I assume is supposed to sound like Old Grey Whistle Test).
This fourth album is definitely the beginning of a Perilous Compulsion for me as Acid Age have blown me away with their new record so I'm going have to go back Marty! 9/10
Erja Lyytinen - Smell The Roses (Tuohi Records) [Mark Young]
And now for the blues with Erja Lyytinen with her new release Smell The Roses, and I have to say that I didn’t get a lot from it. Going into this, I had a high level of interest because blues in any form doesn’t ever come through my in-box but once it got going, I found that it didn’t engage me the way that I’d hoped. It starts up with the title track which leans more into modern rock than blues and I wasn’t sure as to who this is aimed at – is it dad rock or is it for tapping into the American market? Either way it’s a perfectly able track with some leads on it that are pretty decent but other than that it felt flat and forced. Elsewhere it settles into a white blues that always seems to be played in any mid-western bar, shortly before there is an almighty punch up.
Acid Age - Perilous Compulsion (Distortion Project Records) [Matt Bladen]
Belfast based progressive thrash metal band have been exploring the furthest reaches of the 'thrash' tag since 2013. Much like Coroner before them Acid Age have evolved into a magnificent beast of a band. One that plays psychedelic, mind melting heavy metal that owes a lot to bands such as Cynic and Death. Currently a trio of Jude (vocals & guitar), Jake (bass and backing vocals) and Aran on drums.
Perilous Compulsion is their fourth full length and it throws you into the schizophrenic style of Acid Age with Bikini Island, a bit like Primus meeting death metal, it's extremely bass heavy, with technical riffs galore as a jazzy guitar solo splits up the aggression, then it's something different as the band never ease off on the experimentation, State Your Business evoking some hardcore and crossover speed then shifts towards Megadeth all within one song.
I'd not heard Acid Age before this record but picked it up on the recommendation of Bloodstock's Simon Hall. He's man who knows what he's doing as I'm not a thrash metal fan usually but I loved this record for it's virtuosity and full bore batshitery. Be it the blistering death jazz of Revenge For Sale, the bass solo in Third Eye Locksmith or the double tapping solo section in the steamrolling and locomotive harmonica in Rotten Tooth (which I assume is supposed to sound like Old Grey Whistle Test).
This fourth album is definitely the beginning of a Perilous Compulsion for me as Acid Age have blown me away with their new record so I'm going have to go back Marty! 9/10
Erja Lyytinen - Smell The Roses (Tuohi Records) [Mark Young]
And now for the blues with Erja Lyytinen with her new release Smell The Roses, and I have to say that I didn’t get a lot from it. Going into this, I had a high level of interest because blues in any form doesn’t ever come through my in-box but once it got going, I found that it didn’t engage me the way that I’d hoped. It starts up with the title track which leans more into modern rock than blues and I wasn’t sure as to who this is aimed at – is it dad rock or is it for tapping into the American market? Either way it’s a perfectly able track with some leads on it that are pretty decent but other than that it felt flat and forced. Elsewhere it settles into a white blues that always seems to be played in any mid-western bar, shortly before there is an almighty punch up.
Going To Hell plays the role here, and as it wore on it irritated me more and more. I’ll point out now that the actual playing on here is incendiary, but I’ve said that about other albums where the leads are absolute fire but the song behind it lets the side down. It seems that there is an element of cut and paste here, at least for me where traditional ideas are used and have been heard before. The start to Wings To Fly is down and dirty and then drops away to almost nothing, missing an opportunity to rock out. I pride myself on being able to find something that I like in almost every album I review; I don’t like writing negative comments about an artist because its not me at all.
But I just cannot get on with this at all. I’d hoped that it would be something else but what it gave me was a facsimile without any body or substance. No amount of scorching guitar is going to save it for me. 5/10
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