Sixth studio release from the German black metal progressives and the accompanying PR notes that (the band) ‘carved out a singular place in modern black metal, blending relentless intensity with a philosophical core’.
So, no pressure then.
Marter is where our journey starts, a gradual build detonating into that particular arrangement that is common to black metal at present. Their use of melody delivered at speed to counterpoint the traditional fast rhythm works well. Digging in behind it is some exemplary drum work from Tobias Schuler who doesn’t just opt for speed as you would normally expect, throwing in fills at an instinctive level which pushes things along.
What you do find is that it didn’t have to be 9 minutes long. There is a change at around 6 minutes or so where it meanders a little before the expected pick up. It feels like they could have trimmed this back and still had a cracking opening song and looking to the following tracks, some with similar run times and I wonder if we are going to have a similar scenario.
Xibalba goes straight in and shares a commonality with Marter in how it sounds. What sets it apart from Marter is that there is a different vibe running through it with distinctive riff breaks that follow a descending pattern. Once again Tobias is knocking it out of the park on this, combining with Nikita Kamprad on vocals and guitars.
Xibalba goes straight in and shares a commonality with Marter in how it sounds. What sets it apart from Marter is that there is a different vibe running through it with distinctive riff breaks that follow a descending pattern. Once again Tobias is knocking it out of the park on this, combining with Nikita Kamprad on vocals and guitars.
On here the vocals along with the drumming are the most important part of their sound. They both dominate and continually provide that forward motion that powers the song along and its badly needed because that typical black metal style of riff that is used on this is just there, filling their sound out. Like Marter the latter stages sees them pull back to offer a more emotionally driven closing passage which works so well.
Eos is where things click with me. Rather than charging straight in, the use of an ELO like progression (and I never thought I’d type that in a black metal review) to build an sombre mood which is just smashed to bits from about 2 minutes or so in as they kick it into a higher gear with a sliding motif and a throat shredding performance from Nikita. This feels more urgent, brimming with energy and purpose with an arrangement that sticks with you after it finishes and now its game on.
Eos is where things click with me. Rather than charging straight in, the use of an ELO like progression (and I never thought I’d type that in a black metal review) to build an sombre mood which is just smashed to bits from about 2 minutes or so in as they kick it into a higher gear with a sliding motif and a throat shredding performance from Nikita. This feels more urgent, brimming with energy and purpose with an arrangement that sticks with you after it finishes and now its game on.
Fragment picks up the baton and follows up that cracking work by changing the pace and tone completely. Gone are the extreme vocals, replaced with mournful cleans and it is a welcome change, showing a side that wasn’t visible earlier. Of course, it returns to the core sound but its transition is handled well and it leads into Finisterre III, a piano driven break which like most instrumentals comes in and slows down their momentum.
Forlorn changes the landscape again, a controlled and steady progression that develops in a way that Fragment does. Softly spoken, repeating melody lines that are delivered in an unhurried manner. It defied expectation, even when the switch is flicked and it goes heavy. It doesn’t rely on the charging black metal rhythm as you would normally hear, its closer to a post-metal / blackgaze approach that sees it bring proceedings to an end in a triumphant manner.
This is definitely the tale of two sides; Side A has moments of brilliance offset against overlong track lengths where ruthless editing would have made their impact greater. Side B, where they change things around, opening their sound up and dropping the more aggressive nature in order to make these songs larger and more dramatic. Ultimately it is a positive listening experience that by and large succeeds in making good their promises laid out earlier. For me it doesn’t quite hit those heights. 7/10
Jesus On Extasy – Between Despair And Disbelief (Metropolis Records) [Cherie Curtis]
Between Despair And Disbelief is highly nostalgic and brings us 11 Tracks of compelling Industrial rock reminiscent of the early 2000s. If you like Nine Inch Nails, then Jesus on Extasy are the ones for you. This album is affecting and futuristic in tone with a haunting atmosphere, this album feels like it should have been featured in the score for The Matrix or The Crow.
There is a lot to commend on this album; The stellar soft-spoken vocals juxtaposed by metal scream vocals by Dorian Deveraux are quick to get you moving. Each track is cutting – edge and memorable shifting between clean and gritty. Will It Ever Stop starts out with a hard-hitting musical sequence well balanced with deep and controlled vocals which gets louder instead of changing pitch which is clever way of building intensity.
This is definitely the tale of two sides; Side A has moments of brilliance offset against overlong track lengths where ruthless editing would have made their impact greater. Side B, where they change things around, opening their sound up and dropping the more aggressive nature in order to make these songs larger and more dramatic. Ultimately it is a positive listening experience that by and large succeeds in making good their promises laid out earlier. For me it doesn’t quite hit those heights. 7/10
Jesus On Extasy – Between Despair And Disbelief (Metropolis Records) [Cherie Curtis]
Between Despair And Disbelief is highly nostalgic and brings us 11 Tracks of compelling Industrial rock reminiscent of the early 2000s. If you like Nine Inch Nails, then Jesus on Extasy are the ones for you. This album is affecting and futuristic in tone with a haunting atmosphere, this album feels like it should have been featured in the score for The Matrix or The Crow.
There is a lot to commend on this album; The stellar soft-spoken vocals juxtaposed by metal scream vocals by Dorian Deveraux are quick to get you moving. Each track is cutting – edge and memorable shifting between clean and gritty. Will It Ever Stop starts out with a hard-hitting musical sequence well balanced with deep and controlled vocals which gets louder instead of changing pitch which is clever way of building intensity.
The End Of Everything is more of a groove, outstanding synthesisers and unyielding drum rhythms by Ophelia Dax and Dino are prominent and offers a unique and dynamic build before giving us enthrallingly dark chorus. In pure industrial rock fashion, it will make you want to move.
My favourite is Where Did We Go Wrong, it starts stunning and slow with bass and reverb and near whispered vocals before blowing me away with a loud vehement chorus with metal scream backing vocals. The instrumental is thick with texture, and the lead and rhythm guitars are articulate, near rumbling and the bass is out of control.
My favourite is Where Did We Go Wrong, it starts stunning and slow with bass and reverb and near whispered vocals before blowing me away with a loud vehement chorus with metal scream backing vocals. The instrumental is thick with texture, and the lead and rhythm guitars are articulate, near rumbling and the bass is out of control.
It’s a feast for the ears and it’s hard to identify exactly what I'm listening too but all I know is that I really like it. Something Far Away is passionate with affecting lyrics yet blistering, the distortion and the rhythm bring the power.
Between Despair And Disbelief is pristine and well produced and overall, a lot of fun and is my new go too. 10/10
Månegarm - Edsvuren (Napalm Records) [Sasa]
Månegarm, a band from Sweden who produce a mixture black/folk and Viking metal. The band have releasedwhich include 12 songs and 3 features which consists of: Lea Grawsiö Lindström, Ellinor Videfors and Liv hope Lenard.
The album starts of strong with the song I Skogsfruns Famn which features Lea Grawsiö Lindström, the instrumentals include the traditional Nordic melody aspect as well as being able to combine it with that black metal heaviness. The vocals alternate from the brutal and dark to a very melodic soft voice of Lea Grawsiö Lindström (who is also the daughter of the lead singer, Erik Grawsiö).
The album as a whole is incredible, it is able to be both heavy and dark as well as that folk sweetness to it, from start to finish the album is quite unique with how diverse each 12 songs are. The song Rodhins Hav witch features Ellinor Videfors , really gives off that sentimental emotion to it, the band has said that this song is a “tribute to our beloved homes near the sea and is also meant to honour the people from here who have lost their lives on the story seas”.
Between Despair And Disbelief is pristine and well produced and overall, a lot of fun and is my new go too. 10/10
Månegarm - Edsvuren (Napalm Records) [Sasa]
Månegarm, a band from Sweden who produce a mixture black/folk and Viking metal. The band have releasedwhich include 12 songs and 3 features which consists of: Lea Grawsiö Lindström, Ellinor Videfors and Liv hope Lenard.
The album starts of strong with the song I Skogsfruns Famn which features Lea Grawsiö Lindström, the instrumentals include the traditional Nordic melody aspect as well as being able to combine it with that black metal heaviness. The vocals alternate from the brutal and dark to a very melodic soft voice of Lea Grawsiö Lindström (who is also the daughter of the lead singer, Erik Grawsiö).
The album as a whole is incredible, it is able to be both heavy and dark as well as that folk sweetness to it, from start to finish the album is quite unique with how diverse each 12 songs are. The song Rodhins Hav witch features Ellinor Videfors , really gives off that sentimental emotion to it, the band has said that this song is a “tribute to our beloved homes near the sea and is also meant to honour the people from here who have lost their lives on the story seas”.
The song is beautiful produced with the vocals of both Erik Grawsiö deep, heartfelt voice as well as Ellinor Videfors bringing that soft and elegant touch to it. The instrumentals having the violin and acoustic guitar which shows it being more melodic folk lore compared to the earlier songs.
From the acoustic guitars and the heavy drums or the lyrics which each have that story telling/ Norse folklore influence that can engage the listener by the first few seconds. It is able to captivate them to listen on and follow them through a journey in each song.
It can bring life to each musical note and lyrics. The songs all are able to make you feel different emotions in each song, either making you feel like you have just won a battle or makes you feel the bittersweet ending. The album is a total of 50 minutes long with a few songs reach the 4–6-minute mark it is a fairly average length album; songs are very versatile and can be either amazingly fast paced or steady and even out.
For example, in the songs Till Gudars Följe is very steady and upbeat, while I Runor Rstades Orden is quite slow and tender however in Likgökens Fest it is a lot more fast paced and brutal. Edsvuren is definitely the Viking album for whether you are new to the sub genre or have been listening to it for a long time, it is remarkably diverse and is able to entrap you into listening to every single song start to finish.
It is engaging, beautiful, sweet, and harsh all at once but does not give that crowded feeling where you feel like there is too many things going on at once. 8/10
Matt Miller - Fiber Tormentum (Exitus Stratagem Records) [GC]
After years of releasing solo instrumental music, Matt Miller has decided its time to get a band together and release Fiber Tormentum an album with a full band and a vocalist on board, this apparently includes some of his most melodic but also heaviest and most technical songs written to date, I will just have to take his word for it and find out!
I’m not really sure what I was expecting from Descent Into Violence, but I have to be honest and say I was expecting it to be at least to be an engaging listen, but it’s not as all the different musicians feel disjointed and the production has one thing highlighted for a second then concentrates on something completely different the overall sound jumps all over the place and there is no real discerning style on show, one minute its death metal, then its melodic death metal and then various other elements that get muddled into the mix and its just to all over the shop for me.
Matt Miller - Fiber Tormentum (Exitus Stratagem Records) [GC]
After years of releasing solo instrumental music, Matt Miller has decided its time to get a band together and release Fiber Tormentum an album with a full band and a vocalist on board, this apparently includes some of his most melodic but also heaviest and most technical songs written to date, I will just have to take his word for it and find out!
I’m not really sure what I was expecting from Descent Into Violence, but I have to be honest and say I was expecting it to be at least to be an engaging listen, but it’s not as all the different musicians feel disjointed and the production has one thing highlighted for a second then concentrates on something completely different the overall sound jumps all over the place and there is no real discerning style on show, one minute its death metal, then its melodic death metal and then various other elements that get muddled into the mix and its just to all over the shop for me.
The same can be said of Summoned it starts with some of the most comical vocals I have ever heard, honestly there are no words I can write to describe the look on my face when I heard them, musically so far its been various forms of death metal slammed together and here we get elements of power metal which is never a good idea and I just get nothing from it.
I can appreciate the musicianship on show but it just needs more focus and concentration to really shine, Effectively Neutralized is full of technicality and this is highly admirable but the jagged and abrupt way the time signatures change on this song just blunt the delivery is just a bit standard and nothing really shines or leaves a mark on the memory.
Blight And Disfigurement fares slightly better than anything else I have heard as it focuses solely on shredding technical death metal and its done really well here, the time changes all work and mix seamlessly together and the mix is right so the instruments are fighting for the spotlight BUT, once again some of the choices vocally are questionable and almost laughable but I can see past that error here as this is a good song!
Maimed, Paralyzed, Dead once again suffers from timing issues as the various differing parts don’t seem to fit together in places the main focus, when we get it is solid enough to hold onto but sort of drags on and on and makes a 4 minute song seem to last forever which is not what I am looking for!
Horror Beyond Comprehension is another song where they seem to focus on one specific core sound and for the most parts you can hear the good parts shining through but honestly I just wish they would stop with these over the top melodic/power metals vocals that are sprinkled throughout a lot of the tracks they just sound awful and ruin anything they are attached to.
Fiber Tormentum is an instrumental that is a showcase for Matt Miller’s guitar skills which have never been in doubt, the guy can shred no questions and here it shows, and while I am all for virtuoso guitarists its just not what I want from a death metal track its all ends with Abiotic Origin which errs on the side of melo-death again and it’s a more coherent and put together track so does give you a more positive feeling, until we get those vocals again and I just give up and tun it off!!
For me there really wasn’t enough on Fiber Tormnetum that I liked and the stuff I did, I just thought it was ok, none of it was heavy enough for my liking and as I may have mentioned once or twice some of the vocal decisions were mind bogglingly frustrating and pair that with some of the time changes being a bit all over, it just felt like the album wasn’t thought through fully and it suffered heavily quality wise because of it!! 4/10
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