Eleine - We Stand United (Reigning Phoenix Music) [Simon Black]
This is a well-chosen title for this stop gap EP from Sweden’s darker end of the Symphonic pool. Having parted company with their drummer and bassist for “inappropriate” behaviour towards their fans (whatever that means), the band are down to a three piece at least in terms of credits.Presumably some session hands who helped get this cut in the studio will be brought into play on stage, as the timing of this split when you’ve got an imminent tour with Primal Fear inbound could not have been worse. My own view is that the ‘Fear are touring their best album in decades right now, and this support slot is going to be vital for Eleine, so showing solidarity and getting something out to tour off the back of is crucial for them right now.
I suspect that this was pulled out of the hat with some sense of urgency, because with only a short one-minute introductory track and the title song itself, the rest of this EP comprises of two live versions of material from the We Shall Remain album, plus a Symphonic version of Promise Of The Apocalypse from the same record. Live this band always deliver, and the Symphonic reimagining's have been a thing on expanded versions of their releases for a while, so really this is a glorified single by the back door because you need something new to put on the merch live if nothing else.
I don’t care though, because it’s an absolute belter.
Downtuned, hard and heavy as Eleine are at their best, this is a darkly moody and uncompromising song which has the potential to become one of their anthemic best once this starts ripping circle pits open on stages around Europe in the coming weeks.
I suspect that this was pulled out of the hat with some sense of urgency, because with only a short one-minute introductory track and the title song itself, the rest of this EP comprises of two live versions of material from the We Shall Remain album, plus a Symphonic version of Promise Of The Apocalypse from the same record. Live this band always deliver, and the Symphonic reimagining's have been a thing on expanded versions of their releases for a while, so really this is a glorified single by the back door because you need something new to put on the merch live if nothing else.
I don’t care though, because it’s an absolute belter.
Downtuned, hard and heavy as Eleine are at their best, this is a darkly moody and uncompromising song which has the potential to become one of their anthemic best once this starts ripping circle pits open on stages around Europe in the coming weeks.
With the unrelenting marching piledriver of a beat perfectly complimenting the medieval army resplendent on the cover, this feels like a strong statement of intent from a band who always sound better when the meat and metal potatoes are kept finely balanced with Madeleine Liljestam’s outstanding vocal performance, avoiding sounding operatic yet still keeps the scaling heights one expects from the Symphonic world, whilst still sounding hard enough for what is fundamentally a very dark Metal band who clearly are not going away and can still pound the goods into ones ears with maximum credibility. 9/10
Cult Member - Gore (Loyal Boood Records) [GC]To start this week, I have the second album Gore from Norwegian crossover act Cult Member, it may also be worth mentioning that their debut album was nominated for a Norwegian Grammy! Fancy stuff indeed!
Everything explodes into life on This Is Where You Die and it’s a largely instrumental intro as opposed to a full track, but it serves as a good palette cleanser and gets the pulses racing in preparation for Skull Smasher Psychic both tracks so far have only just clocked in at 3 minutes total and both were riotous and furious punk thrash with more focus on the punkiness which is fast and furious with a smidgen of hardcore anger to beef everything up, on Gore there is a gallop like pace with the bass taking a leading role in hammering the pace home and backing everything up, there isn’t a slowing of pace as such but the different rhythm makes it feel slightly different in a way and at 2:28 its practically an epic the way this has been going!
Hammer To Crown isn’t obviously re-writing anything stylistically but there is probably more of a hardcore influence here with some nice gang vocals and a 2-step rhythm thrown in to break everything up at one point, I have to do a double take and re-check the run time on The Rotten Mans Game because it says 3:43, which is longer than anything so far, anyway the hardcore influence fully takes front and centre now and runs all the way through this track, the thrashy punk stylings are there but the main feel is definitely hardcore.
More 2-steping sections are intertwined and add a new depth to proceedings before we get back to the punk fuelled sub 2 minute Suck which has no subtleness or depth and is just a snotty bruising hardcore punk beatdown that is over before you really know what has hit you and just when you think there will be let up, The Void surprises you as it starts with all the fury and speed but then breaks right down into a bass lead stomp that has a more relaxed pace but still ramps up the violence when the crashing punk flows back in and wakes you back up with some brutal shocks to the system.
Threat Of Violence is almost a bit of a let down in contrast to everything else, it’s another longer track and it starts a bit slowly and tries to mix the faster hardcore punk sections into the slower more groove metal bits and the separate parts don’t really seem to meld together very coherently here, it just feels sort of all over the place and lacks the cohesion needed to really make this work.
I didn’t realize it but suddenly ObScene is the last track the album has flown by at such a pace but once again this is a another song that tries to throw a few different styles together and separately they all sound good but when they are all shoehorned together it just takes a bit of edge of some of the more extreme bits, it’s a good end to the album even if the fade out is highly annoying but I really was expecting a skull shatteringly heavy end and didn’t really get that.
This album came and went in the blink of an eye, full of riotous hardcore punk colliding with catchy and vicious thrash, I have never really been a massive thrash fan but if more bands sound like Cult Member, then consider me won over. This isn’t music for the purists that need to hear every note and dissect the deeper meanings of every vocal, its angry, heavy and downright rude music for people who just want to let loose, have fun and not worry about the world.
This album came and went in the blink of an eye, full of riotous hardcore punk colliding with catchy and vicious thrash, I have never really been a massive thrash fan but if more bands sound like Cult Member, then consider me won over. This isn’t music for the purists that need to hear every note and dissect the deeper meanings of every vocal, its angry, heavy and downright rude music for people who just want to let loose, have fun and not worry about the world.
If that sounds like you Gore is an album you will definitely want to check out, if it doesn’t sound like you then maybe you need to lighten up and listen to this record it may be the best thing for you in the long run. 8/10
Intercourse - How I Fell In Love With The Void (Brutal Panda Records) [Sasa]
Intercourse are a band from Connecticut have released their new album How I Fell In Love With The Void which has themes of going through personal struggles and society. The new ten track album will really have you grooving in sadness. We have the band lead singer Tarek Ahmed’s amazing strong vocals and Caleb Porter the drummer as well as the composer for this album. We also have guitarist Sean Prior and bassist Pete Stroczkowski.
The Ballad Of Max Wright is one of the slower songs in the album and is so well put together, it starts off strong and with a metallic hardcore vibe to it to then transitions to a slower pace instrumental, the vocals are harsh and deep, it goes into a clash of anger and hatred and self forgiveness and acceptance almost like it is showing the inner battle of wearer to hate or move on.
The shortest song on the album, Slightly Less Than A Feeling, which is a minute long contains no lyrics just a sad sounding slow instrumental which we then move to the next song which is cadaver resume which has the heavy drums which overtake the guitars, I do love how the instrumental track is sandwiched between the heavier tracks, it brings almost like a break between the songs but still carry that melancholy feeling even without lyrics.
The lyricism provokes the listeners emotions, and it is something we can all relate to as well all have had to do some self reflection and acceptance. The song I’m Very Tired Please Let Me Die is my favourite track, the Ahmed Tarek’s vocals allow you to hear every pain in each word, and is a really sad song with the guitar going up and down in rhythm and pitch it is genuinely really beautiful and delicate although the vocals are heavy.
The album in itself is great it does stick to what we know about to hardcore/noise rock scene but I would definitely say it is one of the bands best work, I do believe that the band will continue to make more great tracks and you can tell they are trying to work on something to make them stand out more.
Intercourse - How I Fell In Love With The Void (Brutal Panda Records) [Sasa]
Intercourse are a band from Connecticut have released their new album How I Fell In Love With The Void which has themes of going through personal struggles and society. The new ten track album will really have you grooving in sadness. We have the band lead singer Tarek Ahmed’s amazing strong vocals and Caleb Porter the drummer as well as the composer for this album. We also have guitarist Sean Prior and bassist Pete Stroczkowski.
The Ballad Of Max Wright is one of the slower songs in the album and is so well put together, it starts off strong and with a metallic hardcore vibe to it to then transitions to a slower pace instrumental, the vocals are harsh and deep, it goes into a clash of anger and hatred and self forgiveness and acceptance almost like it is showing the inner battle of wearer to hate or move on.
The shortest song on the album, Slightly Less Than A Feeling, which is a minute long contains no lyrics just a sad sounding slow instrumental which we then move to the next song which is cadaver resume which has the heavy drums which overtake the guitars, I do love how the instrumental track is sandwiched between the heavier tracks, it brings almost like a break between the songs but still carry that melancholy feeling even without lyrics.
The lyricism provokes the listeners emotions, and it is something we can all relate to as well all have had to do some self reflection and acceptance. The song I’m Very Tired Please Let Me Die is my favourite track, the Ahmed Tarek’s vocals allow you to hear every pain in each word, and is a really sad song with the guitar going up and down in rhythm and pitch it is genuinely really beautiful and delicate although the vocals are heavy.
The album in itself is great it does stick to what we know about to hardcore/noise rock scene but I would definitely say it is one of the bands best work, I do believe that the band will continue to make more great tracks and you can tell they are trying to work on something to make them stand out more.
I would love to see what more the band has to offer. 6/10
Hades Descent - The Monolith (Atlas Creative) [Mark Young]
Yes, this is later than expected and for that it is profound apologies all round. Hades Descent have dropped a symphonic cracker with their second full length release and to be honest I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. The Monolith, is an expansive and energetic album that for me puts the symphonic approach on the front foot, making it sit front and centre on every track. It feels that in each case they have storyboarded how the song should play out and then map each stage of its build.
Hades Descent - The Monolith (Atlas Creative) [Mark Young]
Yes, this is later than expected and for that it is profound apologies all round. Hades Descent have dropped a symphonic cracker with their second full length release and to be honest I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. The Monolith, is an expansive and energetic album that for me puts the symphonic approach on the front foot, making it sit front and centre on every track. It feels that in each case they have storyboarded how the song should play out and then map each stage of its build.
The way that this develops from Tomorrow is Dead (with guest spots from Brian Kingsland and Karl Sanders) through to The Monolith (with Björn Strid) is so similar to a soundtrack that your imagination runs with it. Its probably the first release I’ve heard where the heavy lifting in selling the song is done by having the symphonic touches aligned as an equal with the guitars.
On here, the guitars are present but do not overshadow and they fit wonderfully. Having the melody lines supplied elsewhere, it allows the guitars to basically batter you with a super focused sound. Even the lead break on the opener manages to throw a little technicality in there whilst fitting in with the overall aesthetic.
What it does mean is that once you get into the guts of it you will notice a pattern and depending on how much you like this sphere of extreme metal you will either accept it or you won’t. Personally, I found it refreshing that they approached it like this because it feels as though they have meant it this way. Other releases seem don’t manage to balance how the whole thing should sit together and as a result it comes off as being overblown.
I mentioned about how it feels like a soundtrack, and a great example of this is Through Savage Seas which has a constant, forward pushing movement which conveys motion through the roughest storms. What you find is that although a concept album you can listen to these as individuals and still get the same effect from them.
They bring an emotional heft to them that manifests in some choice arrangements such as Sentinels Of Time (Illum’s Descent) which has sublime drum / orchestral opening to it. The guitar that underpins it is simple but incredibly effective in filling the sound and providing that rock hard edge. Elsewhere, vocals switch between the traditional black metal shriek and the lower guttural form and both are delivered with considerable aplomb.
Of all the songs here, there is only one that I feel that doesn’t live up to the high-quality bar set and that is the title track. I expected that The Monolith would close the album on an explosive climax but instead it felt a little flat. There was something in the arrangement, especially when the cleaner vocals came in that I just didn’t get on with. It was exacerbated when the cleaner, less extreme vocals came in and whilst I can’t give you a defined reason, I just didn’t like it.
Putting that to one side, this is a prime slice of symphonic metal goodness. It has a lot going for it with engaging arrangements that temper riffs in just the right places and sound good doing it. 8/10
Of all the songs here, there is only one that I feel that doesn’t live up to the high-quality bar set and that is the title track. I expected that The Monolith would close the album on an explosive climax but instead it felt a little flat. There was something in the arrangement, especially when the cleaner vocals came in that I just didn’t get on with. It was exacerbated when the cleaner, less extreme vocals came in and whilst I can’t give you a defined reason, I just didn’t like it.
Putting that to one side, this is a prime slice of symphonic metal goodness. It has a lot going for it with engaging arrangements that temper riffs in just the right places and sound good doing it. 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment