Reviews: Pure Reason Revolution, Emma Ruth Rundle, Noctule, Mount Slatra (Matt Bladen)

Pure Reason Revolution - Terrifying Angels (InsideOut Music)

In a move that may shock other bands into some sort of work, Terrifying Angels is the fourth studio album since they "reformed" in 2019.

There's been a lot of line up shuffling in that time, though PRR has always been a collaborative affair, the keystone to it all is band founder Jon Courtney, who takes vocals, guitar, bass, keys, percussion and production, with this record mixed/mastered by Bruce Soord of The Pineapple Thief. He still writes and records with co-founder Greg Jong (guitar), the synergy between them still as electrifying as on those early records.

Courtney is joined by vocalist Annike Shireen and drummer Ravi Kesavaram as the core trio on this record, but because of what PRR is there's co-writes and influences from.jam sessions with Paul Mullen of Losers and Yourcodenameis:milo and Kenny Fitzgerald as well as special bass performances from Mariusz Duda (Lunatic Soul) and Kristoffer Gildenlöw (Kayak).

With all that out of the way we can focus on the record itself and Terrifying Angels takes things down a heavier route, harking back to The Dark Third, their debut record but also instilling the insistent electronics of their two pre hiatus albums. The album was written in response to the lighter style of Coming Up To Consciousness, as if to do away with any beauty with savagery.

The floaty atmospheres disappear immediately with Spin Like Fire, an electro-rock banger where Royal Blood and Kasabian are the influences, big drums, harmony vocals and fuzzy riffs with the electronic twitches, begin this new record with the right grit and riffage, instilling the idea that Terrifying Angels is going to be darker and more brooding.

From here Black-Arrow Acrobats puts breakbeat drums, harmonic clean guitars by way of Radiohead as Mariusz Duda brings his signature bass virtuosity throughout, the heavier side building into some of the more ominous Steven Wilson song craft, where they journey though a distinct journey with this epic run time, flipping between soundscapes like the titular acrobat.

The duality between the vocals is such a historically key feature of the PRR sound and once again Jon and Annike's interplay is brilliant, from the grunting rock of Haywire Heart which leads into another epic, the Title Track which is a cinematic dreamscape the floats through 12 minutes with a slightly haunting melody and those ghostly vocals.

Then the pace is pushed again by Rumination Ruin which is another fuzzy electro rocker, where they can let their hair down but it segues into Below Radiance, a full electronic offering that would fit well on a dark synth record, little oscillations and blips that pulaste behind everything,s etting the scene for the closer Hold Your Wrath.

Over 14 minutes of exactly what Pure Reason Revolution do shifting styles, beautiful harmonies, an electronic intensity that permeates through everything and clashes between ambience and heavy riffs, concluding this new record from PRR with the progressive prowess they excel at.

With Terrifying Angels, Pure Reason Revolution bring back their intensity and create a wonderous cacophony of electronic alt rock noise! 9/10

Emma Ruth Rundle - These Killing Times (Errant Child)

We're all going to die, and it's all our fault, if we don't change and do something about it.

This basically sums up the themes behind the sixth album from avant garde artist Emma Ruth Rundle, while it's also a plea for change, for intervention to save us from ourselves. Written as she watched another climate disaster take hold of the planet, Rundle decided to make a record of hope, of faith in humanity, that we would eventually see sense and do something for good.

This atmosphere of hope is cultivated with opening track Powerless, a flash of 90's alt rock, which like the rest of this record feels like lost tracks from the likes of Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, PJ Harvey, The Cranberries and even Jeff Buckley and Nirvana. Rundle working with producer Sonny Diperri (My Bloody Valentine, Trent Reznor, These New Puritans) to capture the sound of that decades "anti-patriarchal feminist rage" which made it's way into the deepest recesses of Emma's brain in her younger years.

The impact of these songs comes from Rundle using a full band for this record, unlike on her previous release where it was just voice, piano, guitar and introspection and while Don't Delay Heaven still feel stripped back to just those components there's more instrumentation present from the long time collaboraters. Making the record feel like a community all with the same goal, the very heart of what this album is about, that "the needs of the many, always outweigh the needs of the few" (thanks to Mr Spock) and we can achieve anything, but only together.

From Jess Gowrie's deft and thunderous drumming, Troy Zeiglers undulating basslines as the main recording trio, it's the addition of guests such as Nick Reinhart (Tera Melos) and Gina Gleason’s (Baroness) guitar prowess, Marissa Nadler, Lukas Frank (Storefront Church) and Amelia Baker (Cinder Well) choirs and Patrick Shiroishi’s insane saxophone that all bring that sonic power that can be felt on this record. It needs this sonic density as These Killing Times is a record with something to say and it wants you to listen, to go out and do something about environmental destruction, late stage capitalism, right wing nationalism and the many other threats posed to our existence.

While the record lingers in these harrowing, dark passageways it also offers an embrace, a reason to forget, if not for just a moment and experience collective beauty, as Humans Kindness moves into Oceans Of Time, this yearning, this love is felt warmly and helps you know that through These Killing Times, we can get better, together. 9/10

Noctule - Extinguish Thy Flame (Self-Released)

What started as a side project away from her main band Svalbard, Noctule is now the sole musical output of Serena Cherry. The second album from her black/melo-death project is inspired by the videogame Elden Ring, a game that is so intense, immersive and difficult, she credits with saving her life when going through a particularly heavy period of mental illness.

Written, recorded and performed by Serena alone, the album is a tribute not only to the video game, which Cherry fell in love with but ultimately it's about how that album gave her the perseverance to overcome her demons, and also rekindle her love of writing, but her own writing, with no interference from elsewhere just performing exactly how she wanted to.

It's the unflinching difficulty and almost masochistic pursuit of failure that is experienced again and again in Elden Ring that is reflected in this record, building your character (in game and outside) as you play, this record is just as cinematic and uncompromising as it's inspiration.

Metal and video games have always made good bedfellows and with Noctule the combination proves to be utterly majestic, the best bits of black metal and melodeath, cherry picked (if you will) to merge brilliantly and create this brilliant second record. From the screaming melodeath solos (Lord Of Blood), to the black metal blasts (Lament Of The Omen King), atmospheric passages (O'Death) and the range of vocal screams Extinguish Thy Flame acts a musical catharsis and reclamation of self for Serena Cherry.

With tracks such as Goddess Of Rot proving particularly intense. Having taken two years to finish Extinguish Thy Flame is the epitome of what Noctule is about, life affirming extreme metal delivered with incredible skill. 9/10

Mount Slatra - Fit For The Dead (Witches Brew Records)

We covered the EP from Midlands Thrashers Mount Slatra in September of last year, noting that they showed a lot of skill and promise that is often lacking in thrash. A year later they arrive with their debut album Fit For The Dead, a longer more intense slice of thrash metal that will have old heads and new fans wanting to let loose and run in a circle, but try to stifle yourself as there a lot going on with this record.

Intro piece out of the way 5x5 kicks off the record with the intensity of a band such as Testament, it's old school but technical, the inspiration of Megadeth also strong on the opener. After this we get into Fit For The Dead nodding to Slayer, as Cryptocracy builds in the same way early Metallica did, so we have three of the Big Four covered for sure.

The education these musicians have received has really paid off on this debut as Mount Slatra have a maturity that few bands achieve on their debut, their proficiency on the shifting Age Of Industry and the dynamics that come through every track here is very impressive, the thrash getting more melodic with closing track Radio Mercy which features Hannah Law on vocals.

The foursome of vocalist Ryan Darling, guitarist George North, drummer Ben Alexander and bassist Aaron Watkins all hail from the Midlands and are all alumni of music colleges in that area, as Connor Yarrington engineered and Matthew Jones mixed/mastered, Mount Slatra are a band who really showcase how fertile the grassroots scene is for musicians in The Midlands by how much care and skill has gone into this record.

Mount Slatra are destined for bigger stages, this debut is proof. 8/10