Reviews: Master Charger, AAWKS, Psykosis, Knives (Mark Young, Rich Piva, Liam Williams & GC)

Master Charger - Posthumous Resurrection (Octopus Rising/Argonauta Records) [Mark Young]

The weather has turned and that long lost friend, the Sun has shown up so how about some dirty sludge just to keep things balanced? Yes? Good, here’s Master Charger to kick your head in.

There’s something comforting about a band called Master Charger hailing from the Black Country, given the sheer dirt they infuse into some of their riffs. Positively filthy. The band themselves have been kicking doors in since 2006 or so, touring with some fine purveyors of quality music such as Monolord and Orange Goblin and come armed with a riff-set that brings the monolithic hammer of Black Sabbath whilst imbuing it with a touch of groove. 

Straight from the off they make it very clear that if you have come for cookie-cutter vocals, ‘that’ certain guitar tone and maybe some shouty-quiet-shouty vocals then you better shift yourself. This is a glorious call back to when bands recorded music that sounded as though it has been belched forth from a tar pit, such is the effect that they have achieved on here. If you listen to this with a good set of headphones on, it just sounds so good, rough edges and all.

The wah on Thy Kingdom Polluted is worth the price of admission alone, and I suppose that if you want to compare this to a technical wank-fest then yes, I guess its relatively simple stuff. But then you would be missing the point.

This is about earth shaking riffs, delivered in a way you can move to and this is what they do, from start to finish. If you aren’t into sludge then you might as well look elsewhere. Those of you that do, well this is like an early Chrimbo present. Fat guitars, loud drums and rough as sandpaper vocals. 

The journey they take you on with Posthumous Resurrection is top notch, it’s a 10-minute steamroller that goes in hard with some epic bends in there that show up that they are not afraid to throw some heavy blues in there and make it work. 

Its not all heavy mind, Fallen Angel, Painted Doll is an absolute blinder (and yes, I know I normally decry instrumentals but this is a cracker and it has no right to be this good) and comes out of nowhere as a kind of palate cleanser before they drop some more atomic wah on you with When Hell Rode In. I mentioned groove earlier, well this is it. Coming in with a bit of speed, this one motors with a really simple build, but its executed so well showing that sometimes simplicity is best.

Head Into The Sun brings those fat riffs again to the fore but its just a mere aperitif for the double whammy of The Awakening and Mass Produced, Mass Destroyed who both represent one of the heaviest endings you are likely to get this year. The Awakening just has an infectious riff, the sort that is impossible to ignore. It’s a balanced mix of that quality sludge they have been laying down before they up that ante by putting their foot down. 

The closing repeat is glorious as is the opening ‘whoooom’ of Mass Produced, Mass Destroyed which jockeys for position of standout on here with their title track. To offset their metal footprint, they close out with Upon Roads Less Travelled which is a gentle and relaxed number, admittedly still possessing a little of the dark about it.

Any criticism I have is that because it’s a little rough around the edges, sometimes there is a loss of definition here and there with bleed between guitar and bass, which is fine. The same can be said about John James vocal styles, which can grate a little but it comes with the territory. 

When you have music like this its not going to be over-produced, its raw, gritty and does what it needs to do. Its heavy, unashamedly so and serves as an antidote to the polished, produced and ultimately soulless metal that is released in increasing numbers. We know that having your album sound good is important, we get it but sometimes it feels sterile and devoid of any life. Not here, not on Master Chargers watch. 8/10

AAWKS - On Through The Sky Maze (Black Throne Productions) [Rich Piva]

Heavy. That could have been my one-word review for last year’s amazing record from UFOMAMMUT. That was kind of expected though, since we know pretty much what we are getting when those Italian riff master bring us some new material. 

I was not expecting to be able to use that one work review for the new record from Barrie, Ontario’s heavy psych dealers AAWKS, but here we are and here we go. AAWKS debut record, Heavy On The Cosmic, from 2022, was heavy, but more of a heavy trip, not bone shattering, earth shaking heaviness like their new record, On Through The Sky Maze is.

I am not sure why, but for some reason I was expecting the band to lean even more on the psych side on their follow up full length, but boy am I happy to be wrong, because while still being trippy, this record destroys you and reduces everything to rubble, and oh how wonderful that is.

Celestial Magick starts it off with a heavy traditional doom riff partnered with a newly found heavy growl from bassist Ryan “GrimePup” Mailman, and a heaviness that knocks you around right from the get go. The growls partnered with the clean/reverb vocals from lead man Kris Dzierzbicki brings a new dynamic to the band, doubling down on the filthiness of the whole thing, and of course, the heavy. 

Speaking of filthy and heavy, Death Trip is up next, and it exists to gallop death right to your door. AAWKS has not abandoned their trippy side, but it is now fighting with heavy, ultimately deciding that they are more powerful joining together to create a super beast that is On Through The Sky Maze. But, wait, are those harmonies I hear too? Yup, and it is wonderful. 

Anyone hear the tribute to Children Of The Grave on Lost Dwellers? This is where Dzierzbicki really shows off his riff-ability. Love the tempo changes and the different vocal ranges as well. Killer track. Caerdroia has more of the guttural screams scattered about by GrimePup, partnered with a return to a more psych leaning guitar and a more straight-ahead heavy ass stoner track resulting in one of my favorites on the record. 

There is a rawness to this record, and it defined by a track like Caerdroia. This is also the song where you can tell Randylin Babic is really starting to find her place on the drums in the band. The Figure is straight up heavy doom, led by the bass and some nifty dark riffs, bringing some spooky to the equation. 

Wandering Supergiants is my favourite title on the record while also being one of my favourite tracks, with the excellent heavy psych guitar work and the extremely slow and spooky middle part. This is where new AAWKS member Paraiso thrives with what he brings to the band, with his Guitar/Violin/Synth/other noise duties, executed perfectly. 

The trippiest song on the record is Drifting Upward, which actually sounds like its title, and is highlighted by the guitar/synth partnership, and is both weird and wonderful. Paraiso’s synths make this one something special. 

Speaking of trippy, Cursed Soul starts out just that, but then the riff kicks in and you are once again taken over by AAWKS raw heaviness. Dzierzbicki’s killer guitar work makes the closer, Sky Maze, something special, and closes out a record that can only be described in one word…

Heavy. Yup. AAWKS brings the absolute heavy with On Through The Sky Maze. Still just trippy enough to keep that side of the band I love going, this record is all about these songs being three tons of heavy-ass goodness to crush you and everything you love. 

A great record, even if it surprised me as much as it did on how much heavy the band brings to these nine tracks. Some next level stuff from AAWKS. 9/10

Psykosis - Mind Games (Self Released) [Liam Williams]

Irish thrashers Psykosis return with their second album almost a decade after their debut. This album is just over half an hour long in total and has 8 tracks of thrash metal fun packed into it.

We get straight into the action with Insanitised and it’s all go right from the start! Boiling Point is another fun thrashy track which begins with a radio broadcast. Both tracks feature some tasty riffs and some excellent drumming and great guitar solos.

However, by the time I got to track 3, Hard Reset, I felt like things started to get a bit too samey. And on top of that, the vocals started to grate on me a bit. I do love the bouncy riff which accompanies the guitar solo though. Again great drumming, and some nice duel guitars towards the end of the solo.

However, despite my previous comments, Tossed To The Dogs is a brilliant track, although I’m still not sold on the vocals, the faster and groovier intro helps to set this track apart from the previous 3. The guitar solo is perhaps the weakest on the album, but they use enough wah to make Kirk Hammett proud, which could be good or bad, depending on if you enjoy a bit of wah or not.

The next duo, Mutant Mass and General Waste, are shorter, both being under 3 minutes each. But they do suffer the problem of things starting to sound the same. The riffs are great, don’t get me wrong. But when you’re listening to an album from start to finish, sometimes it’s nice when a band throws in some curveballs or even just try some different guitar tones to mix things up a bit.

The title track comes in next, and this one is pretty solid! Good strong intro, great flowing verses, some mini solos thrown in after the choruses and a great main solo with some brilliant rhythm playing accompanying it. Then we come to the last song, Hivemind Hysteria (great song title btw). 

This one begins with a bit of a long, slow burner of an intro. We hear some sirens and incomprehensible shouting before the band gradually come in. The choruses are pretty good in this one. The main riff coming in for the solo sounds good. It comes in once more for the outro and then we even get a great little drum solo right before the very end of the track.

In summary, a solid thrash album, it doesn’t try to be anything else. The band play really well, I’m not so fussed on the vocals but they do work for this style. The songs are really good, but they do sound a bit too similar. There’s not really any standout moments. Give them a listen and decide for yourselves! 8/10

Knives - Glitter (Marshall Records) [GC]

Glitter is the debut album from UK six-piece Knives, based in Bristol they have previously released a couple of EPs and promote a safe space for people for LGBTQ+ people and look to be inclusive space for rebellion and all outsiders. This is as much as I know, so its time I found out what they sound like.

The Dagger opens with a stoner tinged riff, that is rudely interrupted by a heavy bass line and rapped verses, the sound then turns into a more murky indescribable drone but has that riff mixed in halfway again and almost gives me Downset vibes but it’s all just a bit to slow and thoughtful and never really explodes into life like I want it to. 

Rhinestone Cowboy this time opens with the bass line and then has a bit of a punky jagged edge and packs a bit more of a punch but there’s to much of the noisy sections that don’t really add much and just seem to be there to pad the song out lengthwise, when they concentrate on actually playing some riffs they do a decent enough job but there just to much pissing about for my liking. 

I Hope You Get It tries to ramp up the anger and for the most part does a good job and is a short, urgent shock of a song but I think the production on this track need to be better for it to have any real impact. 

Eat Thy Neighbour just sums up the album so far, they start well, build up momentum then drop in a slow noisy part that stops all momentum and I think the earlier comparison I made is way off the mark, this is actually more like if Bloc Party decided to release a punk album and I’m not sure what to make of it all? 

PHD is probably the most annoying track so far, it has got a couple of layers of vocals that are really starting to grate now, and the music is just a jangly annoying noise with little in the way of genuine redeeming features.

Public Juice follows a similar path, its all trying its best to be chaotic and punk but it just sounds flat, the drums just sound flat, the guitars are not cutting through and it’s all just merging one long and underwhelming noise at this point. 

Chroma does tone down the annoyance slightly with its heavily bass lead rumble that manages to create a bit of atmosphere and when the guitars come in their echoing tone compliments the mood well and the more toned back vocal approach helps the whole track actually feel like it has some direction instead of just aimlessly crashing around.

Thankfully this continues into Post Macho and I feel there is more of a core sound showing through now, the dingy post punk shines through and with more of this when they do decide to up the tempo and increase the guitar it doesn’t sound as ear piercingly painful as it has previously. 

Ultraviolet has an almost disco style drum beat and is followed on closely by a nice solid riff that carries into the post punk moodiness and is a bit of a surprise that they can actually decide that doing things more moderately isn’t actually a bad thing. 

You Think You Know finally gets the quiet/loud dynamic right and everything compliments everything else instead of getting in the way, the drums though really need to be looked at again as they once again struggle to break through, so we get to I See Them Fall to close us out and it’s a complete left turn, with soft acoustic guitars and a vocal style that have not been heard so far on the album, it’s a slow and unpredictable way to end.

I appreciate it when a band tries to put a modern new spin on something and here the post punk style was the main attraction but the way they just shrieked and crashed about all over it was also probably the main bone of contention for me.

I appreciate that they are young and fearless and will probably adapt with time, which will be a good this because this for me was just ok to listen to and that not really what you want anyone to think. 5/10