Self described Los Angeles 'Fairy Doom' band Faetooth explore grief, memory and uncertainty on their sophomore release Labyrinthine.
Continuing where the left off from their 2022 debut album taking the band further into the realms of mysticism with a musical style that invokes haunting vocals, hushed woozy atmospherics countered by crushing doom passages and harsh shouts.
Labyrinthine is inspired by the legend of the Theseus and the Minotaur as he enters the Labyrinth to confront the beast, however here Faetooth interpret this meeting as travelling through the maze of life to confront unresolved trauma, but rather victory and conquest Faetooth offer the listener a space to reflect and get bring resolution.
There is a very real feeling of unease on this record, the confusion of whether or not you will be faced with the ethereal atmospheric beauty or the pulverising heaviness, tracks such as White Noise offering both as the conflicting vocals of Ari May (guitars) and Jenna Garcia (bass) create dissonance and beauty vocally with the shoegaze of Eviscerate developing into blasts of aggression.
Drummer Rah Kanan keeping a steady, heavy beat as October retains those shimmering post metal and shoegaze elements as Mater Dolorosa shifts further into post/doom but it's the closing double header of The Well and Meet Your Maker that Faetooth lean heaviest into being the idea of 'Fairy Doom' creating that space needed to find solace.
Labyrinthine is a spectral journey though grief with from Faetooth and it's a wonderfully evocative record. 9/10
Withering Soul - Passage Of The Arcane (Liminal Dread Productions)
Blackened death metal now from Chicago, as Withering Soul bring us their fifth album, Passage Of The Arcane, the information I got with it makes comparisons to Dark Fortress, Hypocrisy and God Dethroned and yeah I can definitely hear those bands here.
The cinematic atmospheres that take you through icy tundra's and vivid landscapes are all part of the bands melodic meets extreme approach. Each one of theses songs is its own 'passage' within an overall thematic link to "human experiences traversing into cursed oblivion."
Every song tells a story through the expertly crafted music from Christopher (vocals/guitars), Joel (bass) and Rick (drums), they're joined by Nick "Exhul" Morgan on Trajectory and have added Frank G on guitar for live shows, but on this record the trio produce excellence.
From the rampaging Attrition Horizon, through the bludgeoning Grievance Eludes The Light, the punky The Monolith Embodied and tremolo picked black metal of Gallery Of The End there's plenty to discover for anyone who is new to the band.
The way they fuse the different styles is impressive, with the explosive Trajectory, the grooving Among Covetous Eyes and the dramatic closer Burden Of The Valiant all showing a different side to Withering Soul but retaining a link to their core sound.
If you love music that fuses the extremity of black and death metal and with melodic structures and harmonies then you'll find plenty of Magick on Passage Of The Arcane. 8/10
Caustic Waves - Echoes (Self Released)
It's not often you come across a one man project that isn't black or doom metal. However Caustic Waves is a Glasgow based project from Neil Thomas, inspired by his love of post hardcore and late 90's alt metal, Echoes is a deliberate throwback to bands such as Incubus, Deftones and Helmet. Basically if it appeared on Kerrang TV or a Tony Hawk's soundtrack you will probably find a reference to it here.
Thomas though doesn't want to slavishly copy those bands, he takes their inspiration to create his own anthems. The vocals are the focus, Thomas having that perfect vocal for the genre, angsty, emotive and very American in it's delivery, Echoes is definitely driven by the vocals as the though the music is good, it's not a genre that has too much technicality to it.
Though with this second EP Thomas has tried to expand his song writing with the chunky sound Quicksand or the atmospheric groove of Spotlights, the pop tones on Playing With Fire as Insignificance keeps the core sound strong. Sung, played, produced and mixed by Neil, the thick sheen of the master comes from Lewis Johns (earthrone9/Employed To Serve).
Echoes is a throwback but one treated with respect for the original material. One man with plenty of ideas and the talent to prove it. 7/10
Old Dirty Buzzard - One Foot In The Grave (Rotten Records)
One Foot In The Grave features a cover of The Hammer by Motorhead, from their Ace Of Spades album and that's pretty much what you need to know if you've never heard Old Dirty Buzzard's music before. The fuzzy, sludgy, bluesy heavy metal that you can call rock n roll if you want to.
Formed pretty recently they released a debut in 2023, but now they're back with the follow up One Foot In The Grave, another dirty set of heavy rock with filthy basslines from bassist and singer Kurt Kilfelt, thunder from drummer Ben Still and distorted guitars from Ben Litz.
Opening with Bag Of Nails, a song Kilfelt wrote in prison, One Foot In The Grave is a record that is dangerous, Hell Hath No Fury rampages with a gallop while Rotten Minds has a groove, both paying homage to Lemmy and Co.
With some forays into doom on Not My Cross To Bear, Old Dirty Buzzard brings heavy metal and rock n roll, that's loud and proud on album number two. 7/10
Drummer Rah Kanan keeping a steady, heavy beat as October retains those shimmering post metal and shoegaze elements as Mater Dolorosa shifts further into post/doom but it's the closing double header of The Well and Meet Your Maker that Faetooth lean heaviest into being the idea of 'Fairy Doom' creating that space needed to find solace.
Labyrinthine is a spectral journey though grief with from Faetooth and it's a wonderfully evocative record. 9/10
Withering Soul - Passage Of The Arcane (Liminal Dread Productions)
Blackened death metal now from Chicago, as Withering Soul bring us their fifth album, Passage Of The Arcane, the information I got with it makes comparisons to Dark Fortress, Hypocrisy and God Dethroned and yeah I can definitely hear those bands here.
The cinematic atmospheres that take you through icy tundra's and vivid landscapes are all part of the bands melodic meets extreme approach. Each one of theses songs is its own 'passage' within an overall thematic link to "human experiences traversing into cursed oblivion."
Every song tells a story through the expertly crafted music from Christopher (vocals/guitars), Joel (bass) and Rick (drums), they're joined by Nick "Exhul" Morgan on Trajectory and have added Frank G on guitar for live shows, but on this record the trio produce excellence.
From the rampaging Attrition Horizon, through the bludgeoning Grievance Eludes The Light, the punky The Monolith Embodied and tremolo picked black metal of Gallery Of The End there's plenty to discover for anyone who is new to the band.
The way they fuse the different styles is impressive, with the explosive Trajectory, the grooving Among Covetous Eyes and the dramatic closer Burden Of The Valiant all showing a different side to Withering Soul but retaining a link to their core sound.
If you love music that fuses the extremity of black and death metal and with melodic structures and harmonies then you'll find plenty of Magick on Passage Of The Arcane. 8/10
Caustic Waves - Echoes (Self Released)
It's not often you come across a one man project that isn't black or doom metal. However Caustic Waves is a Glasgow based project from Neil Thomas, inspired by his love of post hardcore and late 90's alt metal, Echoes is a deliberate throwback to bands such as Incubus, Deftones and Helmet. Basically if it appeared on Kerrang TV or a Tony Hawk's soundtrack you will probably find a reference to it here.
Thomas though doesn't want to slavishly copy those bands, he takes their inspiration to create his own anthems. The vocals are the focus, Thomas having that perfect vocal for the genre, angsty, emotive and very American in it's delivery, Echoes is definitely driven by the vocals as the though the music is good, it's not a genre that has too much technicality to it.
Though with this second EP Thomas has tried to expand his song writing with the chunky sound Quicksand or the atmospheric groove of Spotlights, the pop tones on Playing With Fire as Insignificance keeps the core sound strong. Sung, played, produced and mixed by Neil, the thick sheen of the master comes from Lewis Johns (earthrone9/Employed To Serve).
Echoes is a throwback but one treated with respect for the original material. One man with plenty of ideas and the talent to prove it. 7/10
Old Dirty Buzzard - One Foot In The Grave (Rotten Records)
One Foot In The Grave features a cover of The Hammer by Motorhead, from their Ace Of Spades album and that's pretty much what you need to know if you've never heard Old Dirty Buzzard's music before. The fuzzy, sludgy, bluesy heavy metal that you can call rock n roll if you want to.
Formed pretty recently they released a debut in 2023, but now they're back with the follow up One Foot In The Grave, another dirty set of heavy rock with filthy basslines from bassist and singer Kurt Kilfelt, thunder from drummer Ben Still and distorted guitars from Ben Litz.
Opening with Bag Of Nails, a song Kilfelt wrote in prison, One Foot In The Grave is a record that is dangerous, Hell Hath No Fury rampages with a gallop while Rotten Minds has a groove, both paying homage to Lemmy and Co.
With some forays into doom on Not My Cross To Bear, Old Dirty Buzzard brings heavy metal and rock n roll, that's loud and proud on album number two. 7/10
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