Scordatura - Led Into Oblivion (Everlasting Spew Records) [Mark Young]
10 Songs in 30 minutes. That is what this weather is talking about. Brutal sounding, brutally recorded death metal that takes no prisoners and is not interested in the latest fads or whims of the public. And of course, its via Everlasting Spew Records.
So, in the interests of doing this quickly, let’s get the negatives out of the way first. They are calling it their most ambitious and punishing work to date, which in fairness a lot of bands do say. Concentrating on the former, this would suggest that their earlier works must have seen them dragging knuckles as they put it to tape. That’s it. That’s the negative. Unless you don’t like Death Metal, in which case there is nothing for you here.
By saying that, I’m not suggesting it as a diss, simply put the collection of songs that lay before you are punishing, because they have set out do nothing else with them. It’s a case that they have brought enough technical nous together with a primal urge to desecrate your ears here. And that is exactly what it does. Nothing more, nothing less. There is nothing on these songs that shouldn’t be there and you can argue that the introduction (all 40 seconds of noise) could have been excised.
Led Into Oblivion just comes in, ushering in a savage beatdown that stays until the last bell rings on Begging To Die. There is no room for subtlety or melodic interludes, atmospheric keys or Jazz, this is just pure adrenaline and aggression from start to finish. This is death metal that is refined to the point that it’s a desiccated set of bones that are barely holding onto to each other in an effort to retain its form.
Some bands say they are primal, or that this is ‘fill in the blanks with buzzwords here in the press release’ without actually backing up what they mean. Scordatura approach each track as if it’s the end of the world. They are furious, manic and often sound as though they are about to run off the rails. Despite this there are some classic riffs in here, some real stone breakers as each of the parts come together in an unholy union. There is section on Oppressed Repressed where they are flying and then kick it up a gear, its practically psychopathic.
Looping back, the negative (if it can be called that?) is that this is pure Death Metal, purely for fans of Death Metal. Now, in this day of inclusion you could ask yourself are they doing enough to attract say other genres of metal into their fold? No idea, but it you like music played fast, uncompromisingly so with little regard for those light melodic touches offered by others then this is for you.
Looping back, the negative (if it can be called that?) is that this is pure Death Metal, purely for fans of Death Metal. Now, in this day of inclusion you could ask yourself are they doing enough to attract say other genres of metal into their fold? No idea, but it you like music played fast, uncompromisingly so with little regard for those light melodic touches offered by others then this is for you.
If the idea of 9 songs flying past you like a bullet train doesn’t fill you with glee, then definitely look elsewhere. 8/10
Memphis, Tennessee’s The Heavy Eyes play the heavy blues spiked with psych and stoner goodness and have been doing so for over 15 years. Their latest record, Focus, is a great title for the eleven songs on this record, given it seems like the band is locked in and ready to blow us away with their version of heavy ass Memphis stoner blues after six year absence.
The opener, That Cold Goliath, is a minimalist, haunting acoustic number that leads perfectly into Concrete Halloween, which is a flat out ripper driven by the bass that sets up the tone nicely and shows the heavier rocking side of the band. What a track. Speaking of the bass, It's All Simone is driven by the bassline until the heavy riff kicks in and pairs perfectly with it. Excellent fuzzy goodness on this one.
Sarissa is another great track that gives me 90s vibes to go along with their version of heavy blues rock. I get a grungy feel from the riff on Corporal Upham, and this one has some of my favourite guitar work on Focus. Bass riffs drive a number of the songs on the record, including on Troublesome Priest, which gives me Jack White vibes and brings the chunkiness.
The title track is a more classic bluesy riff and shows off their stoner blues side while Greener is a simple and killer three minute quiet-loud-quiet master class in stoner blues. These guys have some filthy riffs, and the filthiest one comes from the bluesy Words. That Cold Goliath (Might Return), nothing slight about this one, as the riff is like a switchblade, while the closer, Holy Envy turns up the psych and the atmosphere, a great comedown from this stoner blues bar fight.
The Heavy Eyes have a great discography, and Focus fits right with the rest of their great records. These guys know what they are doing and this record is some of the best bluesy stoner rock you will hear this year. 8/10
Verdun - Abyssal Womb (Transcending Obscurity) [Adz Redpath]
Verdun hail from Montpellier in France, formed in 2010 bringing us Sludge/Doom metal at its core here on their third full length album.
The Heavy Eyes have a great discography, and Focus fits right with the rest of their great records. These guys know what they are doing and this record is some of the best bluesy stoner rock you will hear this year. 8/10
Verdun - Abyssal Womb (Transcending Obscurity) [Adz Redpath]
Verdun hail from Montpellier in France, formed in 2010 bringing us Sludge/Doom metal at its core here on their third full length album.
This has a more modern tinge and truly kicks with an authentic and natural production with at my guess zero programming involved, this release evokes the kind of angst and tension you would hope for from an album like this. Feeling like Neurosis just met early Loathe in a bar fight it's filled with an abundance of weighty tracks and attitude.
The production is well balanced allowing everything to have its own space in the mix, a great use of keys and overdubbing guitar wise adding to the tension that this gives of with aplomb. A surprising amount of groove and huge hooky riffs from Jérôme Pinelli especially on tracks like Silent Witness and He Who Killed The Devil keep this engaging throughout and at no point really feeling like it drags which is a trope so many doom and sludge bands seem to fall into unfortunately.
The rhythm section is seriously strong here and punches at a level that I would expect from the upper echelon in the genre, the vocals from David Sadok are great with a black metal feel most of the time but not one dimensional, having a variety and emotiveness so many miss especially on a track like Les Noces Du Neant which has huge power and a sense of anguish that really translates adding in cleans and real variety.
This is certainly a release worth your time and money, play it loud and annoy the neighbours. 7/10
Far From Refuge - Pillars Of Language (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
Genre blurring prog metal now from Cambridge band Far From Refuge and any fans of Periphery, Northlane or any act that manages to straddle that Djent/alternative/metalcore sound.
It's modern heavy music with a wide vocal range that are angsty cleans, low gutturals and harsh screams, the emotion coming from here as the instrumental section impresses with groovy plan muted riffs, blasts of extreme metal, widdly solos and electronic atmospheres that sit behind the Title Track.
Pillars Of Language is their debut album and has nearly been a decade in production, inspired by sci-fi and gaming culture, it's been refined to create a soundscape that puts nuanced intricacies with massive breakdowns.
It's all very technical, performed to a high level but nothing really catches me, and I also think that they need to decide whether they want to use harsh vocals all the time and go down the In Flames route on Ceres or they want to use the angsty cleans and be an alt metal band.
You may like Pillars Of Language if you love that modern metal sound and an experimental attitude so it's worth a listen. 6/10
The production is well balanced allowing everything to have its own space in the mix, a great use of keys and overdubbing guitar wise adding to the tension that this gives of with aplomb. A surprising amount of groove and huge hooky riffs from Jérôme Pinelli especially on tracks like Silent Witness and He Who Killed The Devil keep this engaging throughout and at no point really feeling like it drags which is a trope so many doom and sludge bands seem to fall into unfortunately.
The rhythm section is seriously strong here and punches at a level that I would expect from the upper echelon in the genre, the vocals from David Sadok are great with a black metal feel most of the time but not one dimensional, having a variety and emotiveness so many miss especially on a track like Les Noces Du Neant which has huge power and a sense of anguish that really translates adding in cleans and real variety.
This is certainly a release worth your time and money, play it loud and annoy the neighbours. 7/10
Far From Refuge - Pillars Of Language (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
Genre blurring prog metal now from Cambridge band Far From Refuge and any fans of Periphery, Northlane or any act that manages to straddle that Djent/alternative/metalcore sound.
It's modern heavy music with a wide vocal range that are angsty cleans, low gutturals and harsh screams, the emotion coming from here as the instrumental section impresses with groovy plan muted riffs, blasts of extreme metal, widdly solos and electronic atmospheres that sit behind the Title Track.
Pillars Of Language is their debut album and has nearly been a decade in production, inspired by sci-fi and gaming culture, it's been refined to create a soundscape that puts nuanced intricacies with massive breakdowns.
It's all very technical, performed to a high level but nothing really catches me, and I also think that they need to decide whether they want to use harsh vocals all the time and go down the In Flames route on Ceres or they want to use the angsty cleans and be an alt metal band.
You may like Pillars Of Language if you love that modern metal sound and an experimental attitude so it's worth a listen. 6/10
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