Madball - Not Your Kingdom (Nuclear Blast Records) [Matt Bladen]
It’s Madball, it’s NYHC, and it’s what you’ll expect and what you’ll want from these bonafide legends of the scene.Politically charged, rage fuelled and still consistently pissed off with the world, Not Your Kingdom is their tenth studio album but their first since 2018’s For The Cause, so somewhat of a return but Madball never went away.
They just seethed on stage and in the studio until this record was right, perfecting the bouncy groove riffs and gang vocals as they balance the full on raw hardcore punk of their early days on Don’t MisStep with the perhaps more mature sound it has today with tracks such as Clockwork.
This isn’t saying that there’s any notion of selling out, Madball don’t sell out frontman Freddy Crcien is a lifer, since his early days watching his brother Roger Miret in Agnostic Front, he’s been hardcore until death and every Madball album is just an extension of that passion, that lifestyle and his unwavering commitment to the hardcore scene.
This isn’t saying that there’s any notion of selling out, Madball don’t sell out frontman Freddy Crcien is a lifer, since his early days watching his brother Roger Miret in Agnostic Front, he’s been hardcore until death and every Madball album is just an extension of that passion, that lifestyle and his unwavering commitment to the hardcore scene.
Their discography have shown the evolving face of the genre, the energy, the stomping riffs, the gang shouts all still there but now with some nuances that have brought Madball into the 21st Century, and on Not Your Kingdom, they’ve gone further recording in Nashville to add wider sonic elements. Though nuances haven’t softened the blow just found a new way of delivering it, they’re still angry and disillusioned, telling everyone who will hear what they think.
Hardcore, especially the New York variety, is more than a genre it’s a state of mind and few bands encapsulate that more than Madball, ten albums, nearly 40 years and still vital! 8/10
Disfiguring The Goddess - Bloom (Seek & Strike) [Mark Young]
Well, I’m not sure what or who this is aimed at, or if there is a masked figure stood behind a curtain barely covering a laugh. Looking online, its noted that this is a combination of death/slam/industrial which on paper felt like it would be a heady mix up of genres that if done right would be something else.
Just before we get into it, DTG is a project essentially driven by Big Chocolate (or Cameron Argon) and there has been a steady stream of releases that started back in 2008 (or so). I need to remind myself that whenever someone says that ‘insert content name’ is continually pushing the boundary or stretching the envelope, I need to ground and prepare myself that it might not be that good.
Samba Of The Faceless kicks it off, a colossal guitar tone and a repeated vocal line I can’t make out. Then come the death vocals but it doesn’t do or go anywhere. It must have meant something to him, but to me it feels like a waste. That approach is shifted on Echoes Fade, I Remain which is straight up extreme metal for a spell, until electronica is brought in. I don’t know what point it serves, but I do know that I’m barely two songs in and I’m not sure I want to continue.
So I’m going to continue and review by exception and concentrate on the good. In its favour, and something that is maintained across the album is that crushing guitar tone. I mean it is massive, especially when its slowed down to a crawl but what you find is that riffs are generally recycled across the album.
Hardcore, especially the New York variety, is more than a genre it’s a state of mind and few bands encapsulate that more than Madball, ten albums, nearly 40 years and still vital! 8/10
Disfiguring The Goddess - Bloom (Seek & Strike) [Mark Young]
Well, I’m not sure what or who this is aimed at, or if there is a masked figure stood behind a curtain barely covering a laugh. Looking online, its noted that this is a combination of death/slam/industrial which on paper felt like it would be a heady mix up of genres that if done right would be something else.
Just before we get into it, DTG is a project essentially driven by Big Chocolate (or Cameron Argon) and there has been a steady stream of releases that started back in 2008 (or so). I need to remind myself that whenever someone says that ‘insert content name’ is continually pushing the boundary or stretching the envelope, I need to ground and prepare myself that it might not be that good.
Samba Of The Faceless kicks it off, a colossal guitar tone and a repeated vocal line I can’t make out. Then come the death vocals but it doesn’t do or go anywhere. It must have meant something to him, but to me it feels like a waste. That approach is shifted on Echoes Fade, I Remain which is straight up extreme metal for a spell, until electronica is brought in. I don’t know what point it serves, but I do know that I’m barely two songs in and I’m not sure I want to continue.
So I’m going to continue and review by exception and concentrate on the good. In its favour, and something that is maintained across the album is that crushing guitar tone. I mean it is massive, especially when its slowed down to a crawl but what you find is that riffs are generally recycled across the album.
The vocals though, they are top class; the guttural is super low, the screams anguished and you can hear why this talent is in demand elsewhere. I don’t necessarily pick up on an industrial tone, its more that there is an EDM bleed into it, such as on AWOL. I don’t hate it, but I can appreciate its use. It’s likely that the intent behind this has passed me by.
There are some crushing moments on here; Mask Off is blinding and Sweet Dreams is that head-splitting combination of themes that work incredibly well. This is my issue with it – there are these moments where it batters you (looking at you Low Slam Low) that increase as the album runs to the end. The problem is that they feel like we are in a loop and that they start to merge into another, no matter what samples are dropped into them.
Bloom comprises 17 songs, deployed in 50 minutes. Was there a need for all 17? its representative of how this material came to fruition; no filters, just get this down on tape and get it out the door. I’m probably being mean in saying that, after all this is someone’s art and just because it does nothing for me, you can’t say that the next person won’t be all over this. It just won’t be me. 6/10
There are some crushing moments on here; Mask Off is blinding and Sweet Dreams is that head-splitting combination of themes that work incredibly well. This is my issue with it – there are these moments where it batters you (looking at you Low Slam Low) that increase as the album runs to the end. The problem is that they feel like we are in a loop and that they start to merge into another, no matter what samples are dropped into them.
Bloom comprises 17 songs, deployed in 50 minutes. Was there a need for all 17? its representative of how this material came to fruition; no filters, just get this down on tape and get it out the door. I’m probably being mean in saying that, after all this is someone’s art and just because it does nothing for me, you can’t say that the next person won’t be all over this. It just won’t be me. 6/10
Allt – Ataraxia (Century Media) [Matt Bladen]
Get ready to set your neck to chug and your face to the deepest gurn it can do, as two years after their critically acclaimed debut record, Swedes Allt return with more Meshuggah inspired ultra-heaviness,, or do they?
As it does seem that Allt have shifted focus as you can throw in comparisons to Vildhjarta and ten56 and you get a follow up record that manages to shift djent into nu-metal (rap vocals on Omerta) metalcore into alt metal all through a readjusted lens that focusses on the reality.
Get ready to set your neck to chug and your face to the deepest gurn it can do, as two years after their critically acclaimed debut record, Swedes Allt return with more Meshuggah inspired ultra-heaviness,, or do they?
As it does seem that Allt have shifted focus as you can throw in comparisons to Vildhjarta and ten56 and you get a follow up record that manages to shift djent into nu-metal (rap vocals on Omerta) metalcore into alt metal all through a readjusted lens that focusses on the reality.
Making this a more personal record than their more conceptual debut, there’s still a theme to the record as they linger in doubt but it’s not as pronounced, letting the individual tracks tell their stories. It means that Ataraxia is Allt at their most open, written from their own experiences, their own vulnerabilities, its Allt embracing the human and the search for peace and fulfilment.
It means that they can bring more clean vocals to tracks such as Nevermind and Enemy, which both rely more on melody and ambience cut with heaviness rather than the other way round. They still are heavy, crushingly heavy but the massive cavernous riffs are used to punctuate the tracks more often than not, electronics, angsty vocals and introspective lyrics playing a bigger part than heavy chugs and growls do, for instance the title track feel like Daft Punk goes metal, from here the clean vocals are the most prominent.
Tracks such as High Hopes still features some more extreme blasting but I do find Ataraxia to be a bit too melodic and angsty, it’s much closer to post hardcore than anything else and while there’s flashes of Swedish face melting, but Allt have shifted their approach on album two and while I don’t hold that against them, it didn’t do much for me. 6/10
Coven Japan - Promised Land (No Remorse Records) [Mark Young]
OK, now for a change of pace an approach. Hands up who likes Saxon? Maiden (early 80’s classic) and maybe NWOBHM as a basis. Are those hands up? Then you should jump onto Coven Japan whose approach is to drop melodic, fists in the air metal that is heavy on guitar lines and epic lead breaks served up with a bit of panache.
It means that they can bring more clean vocals to tracks such as Nevermind and Enemy, which both rely more on melody and ambience cut with heaviness rather than the other way round. They still are heavy, crushingly heavy but the massive cavernous riffs are used to punctuate the tracks more often than not, electronics, angsty vocals and introspective lyrics playing a bigger part than heavy chugs and growls do, for instance the title track feel like Daft Punk goes metal, from here the clean vocals are the most prominent.
Tracks such as High Hopes still features some more extreme blasting but I do find Ataraxia to be a bit too melodic and angsty, it’s much closer to post hardcore than anything else and while there’s flashes of Swedish face melting, but Allt have shifted their approach on album two and while I don’t hold that against them, it didn’t do much for me. 6/10
Coven Japan - Promised Land (No Remorse Records) [Mark Young]
OK, now for a change of pace an approach. Hands up who likes Saxon? Maiden (early 80’s classic) and maybe NWOBHM as a basis. Are those hands up? Then you should jump onto Coven Japan whose approach is to drop melodic, fists in the air metal that is heavy on guitar lines and epic lead breaks served up with a bit of panache.
Promised Land is straight from that songbook; In fact if you had a time machine and played this at the start of that decade it would be looked upon most favourably. With this in mind, if your tastes fall more towards a genre that ends in ‘Core then you might not find much here. Same for those who play that overly technical material. For those who do love a bit of it, this will scratch an itch.
The opener, Promised Land is pure Maiden, replete with an epic solo break. The vocals are a bit rough; I think that there is an attempt to hit certain high’s and it doesn't quite happen for them. Samurai Rising is a foot on the monitor; hair being blown epic. That wish to replicate a certain sound is done on here, the dual harmonies and guitar lines, including that slow gallop are totally Maiden, and its difficult to say anything else.
With this in mind, I guess your enjoyment of this will depend on your view; is this a shameless rip-off of certain albums and artists from that time, or is the sound comparisons unavoidable given that particular style? Each song is so deeply rooted in that style that it is difficult to ignore but then given the cyclical nature of music, and that everyone ‘borrows’ from everyone else you should give this a fair shout. And by a fair shout is by staying until the end.
Some tracks work better than others, Sein zum Tode is too close to home when it picks up the pace, I’ll acknowledge that as is What Is Called The Life, and I’m sure that someone would be able to say that they echo these tracks. Not me now, I’m just enjoying this for what it is; Good clean metal fun that ticks all of the right boxes: Riffs, leads and histrionic vocals. I mean, what is wrong with that?
Heading towards the end they give us the one-two of Eternal Oath and Retribution Of Death. Both are exactly what you would expect them to give us in order to close the album. Eternal Oath is the set-up, quick and to the point, its length reduced in order to allow them to drop a 7 minute master-blaster. Retribution Of Death has everything you associate with this time; Fast and loud into quiet and introspective and back again, it does what good metal should do; be exciting, and in some ways offer a little bit of nostalgia. 7/10
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