Reviews: All My Shadows, Robin McAuley, First Signal, Creye (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

All My Shadows - Eerie Monsters (Frontiers Music Srl)

All My Shadows is the new project from Vanden Plas guitarist Stephan Lill and vocalist Andy Kuntz, Lill is longest serving member of Vanden Plas but also has a background in theatre/rock operas, which he has leaned on in this project, utilising Kuntz expansive vocals for a style that obviously has similarities to Vanden Plas of course but is quite a different beast. 

Lill says that he was inspired by the likes of Whitesnake, Ozzy and Dokken with this album, I'd also say there's a bit of Alice Cooper too but the Prince Of Darkness is probably the biggest influence on tracks such as Silent Waters, with the proggy moments obviously coming from Vanden Plas and also Queensryche. Heavily orchestrated with warm, rich production, there's a pervading darkness to this record which is deliberate, making it a fusion of 80's anthemic songwriting and modern rock muscle, the ballad Farewell a real 80's moment. Lill's guitar playing understated but explosive when needed, the rest of the band being Stephen's brother Andreas on drums, Franky R on bass and Markus Teske giving some great keys and the retro futurist production. 

They bring some punch to A Boy Without A Name, a carnival/Alice Cooper atmosphere to Syrens as Lifeforms and Wolverinized really leans on Queensryche for it's style. With all the musicians create these heavy rock tracks Kuntz vocals are pitched perfectly to handle it all. Fans of Vanden Plas will discover much to like hear but there's no required reading before you listen as it's a record that stand on it's own merit. 8/10

Robin McAuley - Alive (Frontiers Music Srl)

Anyone who can work that closely with Michael Schenker back in the day (well post MSG) and still be alive deserves all the kudos they can get. This is where the 70 year old Irish rock veteran singer Robin McAuley came to peoples attention back in the mid 80's, though he was also a member of Grand Prix, The McAuley in McAuley-Schenker Group he is still a part of the Schneker Experience performing with Schenker Fest as well and also is the voice of Frontiers signed group Black Swan.

On this second solo album he has tried to make it more rock oriented than the last one, and the riffy title track certainly lifts up your hopes that this could have quite tough edge to it. Now in Black Swan he has something of a mini supergroup but here it's the same Frontiers house team led by Alessandro Del Vecchio on keys/bass/production, that appeared on his last solo album. The remaining members of the band Italian session men who are crafting McAuley and Del Vecchio's writing into fully formed songs. Clearly inspired by the hard rock of Black Swan, Alive manages to keep that spirit of 80's rock n roll that Black Swan did with McAuley's aged, gruff vocal pitched well, never really having to venture too far outside of what is comfortable for him. 

Still Alive and kicking Robin McAuley is cranking up the volume on this second solo record, if you liked the Black Swan albums he appeared on then Alive is very much in the same spirit. 7/10

First Signal - Face Your Fears (Frontiers Music Srl)

Harry Hess of Harem Scarem has been fronting First Signal since 2010 and they have four records before this. Does this fifth do anything different to the rest of their discography? The short answer is no, but that's not a bad thing, Hess' vocal is the perfect foil for the melodic rock noise First Signal make. 

He has a soulful, emotive singing style with a bit of grit to it as well and on Face Your Fears he collaborates with producer/guitarist/vocalist Michele Guaitoli, who produces and plays bass/guitars, taking over from Dennis Ward and Daniel Flores before him, you can change the right hand man but as Zeppelin once put it "the song remains the same" and all writing is done to appease long time fans of First Signal and of course Harem Scarem who's hiatus this band was created to address. 

With Guaitoli taking over from Flores, you may think that he'd put his own spin on things but no First Signal stick to their established sound of slick numbers like Always Be There and driving rockers like Dominoes which lets Marco Pastorino let loose a little although within the AOR/melodic rock framework that First Signal exist within. If you liked the previous four albums you'll like Face Your Fear, if not then there's no big seismic shift in what they do, classy melodic rock with a great vocalist at the helm. 7/10

Creye - III: Weightless (Frontiers Music Srl)

Obviously this is the third album from Swedish band Creye, and it's the next part of their evolution as a band, following on from II, they have refined things a little more and found that they are now as potent and enjoyable as the also well refined sugar. Though on the back of that analogy Creye are not sickly in anyway, they are modern melodic rock band with a vocalist who sits in the Myles Kennedy school of passionate vocals, though moody opener Glorious doesn't really give you as good of an example as it could. 

It's about atmosphere building, the electronic beats used in Air reminding me of The Weeknd as the repeating synths of One Step Closer, backing up their position as a Scandi melodic rock band, as many of their compatriots use this synth heavy sound, but Creye are no way retro, like so many bands in the melodic rock arena. Their sound is bang up to date with a defined pop influence on tracks such as The Game, they don't forgo the rock, just let the distorted guitars, twin guitar attack for extra power and bouncy synths merge. 

If Journey didn't try to recreate Escape with every record, they could be writing stuff like Creye does, a thrilling fusion of new and old that will get broad acceptance with melodic rock fans. Stay tuned as this Swedish band have all the potential to be massive. 8/10

Reviews: Pelegrin, Oceanhoarse, Distant, Half Me (Reviews By Quinn AV4Apod, Simon Black, GC & Zak Skane)

Pelegrin - Ways Of Avicenna (Self Released) [Quinn Mattfeld/AV4Apod]

Doom is perhaps the most misleading name in the over-long and ever-growing list of metal subgenres. If one were to listen to Pelegrin’s second album Ways Of Avicenna knowing nothing about the history or development of the subgenre, they might be justifiably confused as to what exactly this music has to do with the more light-averse aspects of human fate. But then, a moment that occurs exactly three minutes and thirty-three seconds into the second track where the band descends into a riff so quintessentially doomy that Tony Iommi and Leif Edling would fight to the death for custodial rights.

Pelegrin lives in the demilitarized zone between doom metal and psych rock with bands like Elder, Kadavar, or Obsidian Sea. It’s a crowded corner of independent music and the bar for entry is very high but Pelegrin is a legitimate contender. They possess not only the musical virtuosity to write and sustain seven-plus minute tracks like the epic album closer, Forsaken Lands but the creativity and passion to elevate good songs into great ones as they do consistently on this record, including at the tail end of the opener, Madrassa, the album-standout and aforementioned Thunderstorms, and the centerpiece of the B-Side Mystical Appear (Sorry, Tony… Leif wins that one outright as the song drops heavily into its final two minutes).

The only weak point in Pelegrin’s auditory arsenal might be the near-sterility of lead singer Francois Roze’s vocals. There is no doubt, he won me over some where near the end of the first track, but there are those occasions where his voice is almost too beautiful and he sometimes benefits from sitting lower in his register (where his voice doesn’t sit as well) or adding low-end harmonies to a second track.

Irrespective of those small and possibly unique-to-me-and-only-me criticisms, Way Of Avicenna is the gorgeous, inspiring, and joyous experience that all great Doom can be.

Re-read that last sentence. See? If it weren’t for metal, those words would make absolutely no sense. 9/10

Oceanhoarse - Heads Will Roll (Noble Demon) [Simon Black]

I was quite impressed by Oceanhoarse’s debut Dead Reckoning a couple of years ago, and it’s interesting to see how their sound has developed now that the band has had a chance to actually get out on the road and tour the material. The answer is a lot. Whereas that debut had one foot firmly in the traditional metal camp, the balance has shifted to the more modern sounds that it was counterbalancing with first time round, with a healthy dollop of groove and some reliable hard rock ethos for good measure. Once I had got over the shock of that, it gave me a chance to appreciate it for what it is, which is the natural evolution as they say thank you to their influences but leave them a bit more in the background.

It’s also a much rougher and unpolished sounding record, which lends the whole thing a huge amount of energy. To be fair that was there in part first time round, but this feels more edgy, dangerous and consequently more fluid and honest-sounding. That said Joonas Kosonen’s voice is predominantly more consistently clean sounding than last time, which I think is a wise choice, because when you can sing that well, why waste time adding more extreme elements?

The raw, almost live demo feel of some of this works really well freed from some of the more precise delivery of the past. That said, there is some blisteringly tight delivery hidden underneath this superficially loose feel, with a rhythm section that you could use to calibrate an atomic clock and some brutally proficient shredding from sole guitarist Ben Varon who proves that sometime all the complex interplay and harmonies in the world don’t measure up to one really talented guitarist taking the limelight. 

Overall this flows slightly less well than its predecessor, which was difficult to put down, and maybe could have done with a bit of culling to tighten the album up, but as sophomore’s go it’s a creditable attempt that shifts the band’s sound along a notch and still leaves you wanting more. 7/10

Distant - Heritage (Century Media Records) [GC]

Here I am again and try as I might I always seem to choose deathcore albums to review, try something new I think and then I do the complete opposite and fall back on what I know, so with that in mind here is the latest album from Dutch deathcore mob Distant, Heritage and while it isn’t their first album, it is their first for new label Century Media, stepping into the big leagues here! Time to see what this lot are all about!

Acid Rain is an electronic, synth filled, ambient opener, it’s probably been made very clear from previous reviews that I have a well known hatred for instrumentals, interludes and pointless noise filling tracks so this isn’t the best way to start but, hey on we go regardless, first track proper is Paradigm Shift and it gives you exactly what you would expect big bruising beatdown chugga chugga riffs, mixed with plenty of atmospherics which seems to be the thing to do in deathcore at the minute, and honestly its starting to grate on me as it all sounds so overproduced and takes away the rawness needed to really punish the listener, its all done nicely enough but that’s the issue here, I don’t want nice I want savage rawness and punishing brutality, sigh! 

Born Of Blood doesn’t do much to convince me either, its very paint by numbers, I mean sure it’s got all the hallmarks of a decent track but it just lacks the necessary edge for it to really kick on, you can tell they have made the most of the Century Media production funds that much is for sure, The Grief Manifest does fare better as it feels they have simplified that song structure and also the production feels as if it has been drawn back and it lets some of the viciousness need finally shine through and Alan Grnja’s vocals finally shine here and show what they are capable of when the keep it simple!! 

The good run continues into Exofilth which is full of huge riffs that create a depth that has been lacking previously and the heaviness begins to take its grip and it has some decent little solos thrown if for good measure, things are looking up! That is until we get to the mammoth 7-minute Argent Justice which has guest vocals from almost every deathcore vocalist you could list, which instantly makes the song feel disjointed as there’s just too many different noises going on and because you are trying to figure out just who is singing you miss most of the music which actually ends up being dragged out and repetitive so that every vocalist in history can have a go on the track, and to be honest at the 5 minute mark I’m just bored and frustrated and the last minute of this song is pointless and should have been scrapped, it’s so boring!.

Over halfway in now and it’s been a mixed bag so far! The Gnostic, however, hits me right in the place it needs to! Its fast, heavy, full of rage and anger, they slow the pace midway, but it doesn’t take anything away form the track at all because the closing section is stuffed to the brim with guitar squeals, guttural vocals and horrible beatdowns, THIS is what I want from Distant! Best track on the album hands down!! The relentless savageness continues directly into A Sentence To Suffer which with its blasbeats and atmospherics intertwining nicely are actually complimenting each other instead of fighting for attention and the guitars are punishing and have the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the chest, beautifully done. 

Human Scum slows everything down and is heavy on the atmospherics again until it kicks in after about a minute and all subtlety is shown the door in favour of more big groove infused beatdowns and an almost grinding death metal pace that shows a complete disregard for the listeners well-being and I love it! Heritage features man on the moment Will Ramos and as he is the only guest his vocals shine as opposed to getting lost in a dick measuring contest on this black metal infused beatdown and it’s worth noting again that the synths and atmospherics actually elevate everything to another level as opposed to sounding pointlessly added at the last minute.

Unfortunately, the run is abruptly ended with Orphan Of Blight which starts of like a power metal song and proceeds to just sound messy and hashed together and frustratingly feels like it was just all thrown together at the last minute to add some padding to the run time and the last section just drags along and its all so disappointing, definitely skip this song if you’re going to listen! So the last track is Plaguebreeder which creeps into being and is full of slow, precise and stabbing riffs before unloading the final beatdowns of the albums, its all done at a more measured pace but doesn’t affect the power of the song as a whole, and then that’s it, all over.

This was probably one of the most frustrating albums I have ever reviewed and the length of this fucking review tells that story. When it was good it was a pleasure to listen to and took my breath away but when it was bad it was a fucking chore and I wanted to give up at times!! I do however believe there is more good than bad on this album and there may have been a lot of pressure riding on the fact it’s their first release on a ‘’big label’’. They will probably release better albums in the future, but for now I can only review the frustrating album in front of me. 6/10

Half Me – Soma (Arising Empire) [Zak Skane]

The brutality begins with Wraith when swells of pitch shifted guitar riffs whilst the tension builds up when the smooth delivery of half time grooves and snarling lyrics enter the mix before it gets halted for some thrashy riffs and good nuclear assault of blast beats. The clean choruses are there…but are followed by some punishing breakdowns. Trauma Culture shows us how groovy this band can go with it’s right hand guitar pumping purring riffs accompanied with it’s snappy Stratocaster like tone. With the punchy down beat rhythms, clanky guitar tones and snarling choruses, this track will make any slipknot fan happy. 

Distort begins with this sub bass driven electronic drum beat with is then layered throughout the song shining a new fresh tint of paint on the bands sound, especially when it is paired with some jolty messhugah styled rhythms. Magma Hour brings out the rage from the vocalist going all out from harsh mid to punishing guttural lows in a heart beat whist throwing in some clean choruses over balls to the wall arrangements from the guitars and drums making it sound like a revamped lotus eater song. 

The venom continues with the rapid pace lyrics and punishing breakdowns of Ex Negativo and the extreme but yet experimental track Proxy with the track going from intense blast beat sections to vocal coder sung bridges. The final song in the track listing Half Me brings out the songwriter side of the band which features moving passages of synths and string sound to play on the listeners heart strings, whilst utilising soaring choruses and utilizing blast beats for added suspense.

I feel what this band can do on this album can be either really good or very average, for example the meaty breakdowns and baritone tuned riffs in songs like Trauma Culture, Distort and Ex Negativo are ear punishingly good, same goes for harsh vocals. What I feel the band fall short on is the clean sung vocal passages, especially on songs like their opening track Wraith where I felt it just forces in to make the song have some commercial value just for the sake of it. 

Where as the clean sections featured on their closing track Half Me I found that the lyrics in those sections just lazy. How many songs you heard that had the soaring chorus singing the lines something like “please stay with me” in some anthemic fashion? Overall I still found this album a decent listen 7/10.

A View From The Back Of The Room: Gojira (Live Review By Alex Swift)

Gojira, Cardiff International Arena, Cardiff, 17.02.23

Gojira are back in Cardiff! The first time I saw the band was in an unlikely support slot for Alter Bridge. I remember being incredibly impressed by their whiplash riffs, and deeply complex style of extreme metal. Although, I can’t say that I truly grasped what I was hearing first time. From their playing style to the transitions in their songs, they tread their own path and dare listeners to meet them on their own terms. 

However, since that day I’ve grown to revel in the viciousness of more extreme forms of metal, Gojira’s particularly as I loved the combination of progressive ideas, with the throttling intensity that you expect from the genre. So, when I was offered the chance to see them again at the last minute, I snapped up the opportunity incredibly quickly and got to Cardiff in just enough time to get down the front of the International Arena to witness Gojira’s entire set!

I don’t know if you’ve ever been at the front at a Gojira concert but its not like anything I’ve ever experienced. From the moment the countdown clock, projected on to a tall curtain ended, started a non-stop assault on the senses. I was thrown in every direction by the sheer movement of the crowd as a united force and enraptured by the volume and extremity of the music that I also experienced reverberating through my body! 

Asked by the editor of this blog if in experiencing the show I felt every organ in my body shift to the left, I noted that I had. Regardless, I loved every minute of this, which is a shock to me, as I can’t help thinking of the younger me who would have been incredibly freaked out. I’d like to think its brutal music that allowed me to overcome my fear of these sorts of environments, allowing me to experience this concert in the way that I did.

There are few moments I can point to and identify as my favourite moments of the night, yet that’s only because the concert as a whole was so impressive. Moments like the performances of L’Enfant Sauvage, The Heaviest Matter Of The Universe and Flying Whales – the later of which saw the audience chanting “Whales” in the same way a rugby crowd would chant “Wales” - were awe-inspiring in their multi-layered nature, as despite the gut-wrenching elements of this concert, moments like this emanated beauty and power, leaving the audience enthralled. 

 The ability of Gojira to imbue their music with real emotion sets them apart from other metal bands. The band's music has a purpose, as seen by singer Joe Duplantier's fervent vocals, which he performs with a heartfelt intensity. Because of this, their live performances develop into much more than simply a showcase of their musical prowess; they also serve as an outlet for the band's enthusiasm and a call to action for their fans. This is notably clear during the enormous sing-along song The Chant and even the fist-pumping moment of Our Time Is Now, which receives a great reception, despite just being released a few months prior.

Visually, the show is spellbinding. I’ve already mentioned the curtain fall trick that I’ve seen done at many different concerts, yet is no less visually striking, put to music. The prominent use of water vapour cannons accentuates the most powerful moments in the show , with giant white plumes over the audience heads. Meanwhile, the screen behind the band projects all number of surreal and elusive images, one of the most impressive moments being the short animated sci-fi film accompanying Another World being one of the most creative uses of visuals I’ve seen in a show. 

“We found a new planet, just for the four of us to live on” our frontman says at one point, gesturing to his bandmates, adding “but we came back especially for tonight”, eliciting cheers from the crowd. It’s worth pointing out though that Gojira do not need any of this – they are great enough performers that they could play a show on the strength of the music alone. The fact that they give the audience a show alongside that, shows their commitment to their craft!

Many have mused that Gojira’s progression in the size of venues they’re playing is a sign that they’re the next metal acts to headline festivals and perform in sold out stadiums when idols like Metallica and Maiden retire. However, even if the band continue to enjoy a large cult following, then those who do see them will know them as one of the greatest live acts on the circuit! 10/10

Reviews: Omega Infinty, To The Grave, Ontborg, Festerdecay (Reviews By Mark Young & GC)

Omega Infinity - The Anticurrent (Season Of Mist) [Mark Young]

Omega Infinity comprises Tentakel P from Todtgelichter and Xen from Ne Obliviscaris and they have come together to release what I believe is their second album via Season of Mist and it is a strong, vital effort from the them with some great guest spots too,

Drawing from the wellspring that is Phase 1 black metal for this, the second release from the two-piece Omega Infinity is surprisingly melodic and thought out and it has to be said that I couldn’t hear the link between these and say Hellhammer or Venom. I guess its in the attitude of how they play and the themes they write about as opposed to how it sounds. 

There is a great cover of Emperor included as a bonus track which just rips. It’s not brutality for brutalities sake as they navigate their way through the seven original tracks on here taking that influence and adding their own stamp to it with keys, ambient background noise and better production.

Vocally, it’s a really strong effort that doesn’t just rely on shrieks, there are some deep growling going on and fits each song. The songs where they have guest vocalists in each song where nothing is added unless it fits and makes the song stronger. Each song is separate from the one before in terms of the music within but continues to follow the concept of development that is the backbone of this album.

It’s not just a normal Black Metal release, it takes influence from early band but somehow applies a third wave filter that suggests that their ambitions go beyond that style. However, what is stopping me from giving this a higher mark is the length of the seventh track which given its twists and turns is just too long.

Overall, Its heavy, its fast, its brutal and its great. 8/10

To The Grave - Directors Cut (Unique Leader) [GC]

I didn’t get any sort of press pack for this album, (My Bad - Ed) so after a quick check online I can see that To The Grave have been around since 2010 and had a handful of releases, of which I have heard none! They are described as deathcore which is a genre that can be two things completely awesome or total dogshit, time to find out where these lads fit into it!

I almost skipped opener Warning Shot as I (wrongly) believed it would be some pointless intro track, IT IS NOT! To my joy it is actually a minute of brutal beatdown riffs, devastating drums and scattergun lyrics that mix so many styles together I don’t know what has hit me!! What a fucking start that was!! Red Dot Sight bulldozes its way through your skull next and again is full of big fat chuggy riffs and beatdowns galore and the drumming is a thing of beauty, there is not on ounce of subtlety on offer here and neither should there be as to water this type of anger down would be a crime, to try and compare it for a reference, I get a mix of Thy Art Is Murder & Emmure which is not a bad thing!

Full Sequence starts of with a squeaky, djenty string bending riff and again gets straight into the brutality courtesy of some unhinged vocals and destructive drum work, everything is turned up to maximum violence and doesn’t relent from start to finish, then B.D.T.S almost threatens to slow down the barrage as it begins with a moody spoken word intro but, before long explodes into life and I can imagine that this song live is going to be destroying venues far and wide very soon. 

Protest Sever has a big bouncy riff as the main weapon of attack and has atmospherics running through to add another layer to the pummelling and create an almost uneasy feeling while listening and the midpoint beatdown of this track to the end of the song is a work of art, hang it in the Louvre as they say! Manhunt does nothing to slow down the pace and the vocals on offer here just continue to impress and get better and better, a truly remarkable performance!

At the halfway point, I think I have only one criticism so far, if you were to pick this up for the first time and not be too familiar with deathcore you might get a bit overwhelmed and not really get it, because as much as I love this type of music it is getting slightly repetitive. Just as I say that next track Found Footage starts out as an eerie spoken track, morphs into a slow burning monster and then sprawls into a beautiful droning beast of a song and to be honest it’s kind of a relief that they are trying something slightly different but, then Axe Of Kindness is also a more straight forward death metal song and obviously does have their style all the way through it but does offer that bit more substance and variation and again the end section is just a thing of beauty! 

Reversing The Bear Trap is decent enough but just feels a bit, meh? Just didn’t really like it, seems like it might have just been an afterthought and added at last minute, Shame. Cut Off The Head is then just a straight up monster and back to what they do best big chugging riffs, bowel shaking drums and disgusting lyrics, one of the highlights of the whole album for me! Then its onto Die, Rise to close the album and unfortunately at 8:30 seconds it is far too long and although they do mix everything into one sprawling track that encompasses all they have to offer, it loses me halfway through which is a shame to end that way.

Having gone in completely blind, I was pleasantly surprised with what I heard. Sure there is not a whole ton a variety and if you want to get lost in an album this isn’t the one, this is a brutal and uncompromising fuck you , if you don’t like it I am sure To The Grave will not give on single solitary fuck and that the beauty of what is on offer here, its violent, its angry, its belligerent and most of all its fucking ace to listen too. 8/10

Ontborg - Following The Steps Of Damnation (Black Lion) [Mark Young]

Wasting no time with acoustic introductions or discordant keyboards, Ontborg kick off with the steady and dependable HM2 tone that fans of early 90s Swedish death metal will love. The one thing about these guys is that they are as far removed from Sweden as I am, hailing from Italy and I had absolutely no idea until I read about them online. The fact that they are Italian and have managed to get that Swedish sound captured is one of the great things about Ontborg.

This is their second album, having signed with Black Lion in 2022 and is one of my favourites for 2023 which considering we are only in February is remarkable. Its just pure metal, and KNOWS it is metal. It doesn’t try to reinvent the genre it just wants to show you what they can do, and it does. 

None of the songs sound contrived or by the numbers but what you do find is that even with the best exponents of Swedish melodeath and to an extent the HM2 sound, some of the tracks can lose their individuality and it is no exception here. To the North slows things down to give us a probably the most epic track here and you can imagine that live this would be an absolute stormer.

The ten tracks here show that Ontborg have done some great work, it’s not flashy or full of solos or keyboards it is just here is some heavy metal, no frills, just fast, heavy, and well executed. It could have benefited from maybe keeping the song length shorter but that is a minor quibble on my part. One thing that this album does well is the ability to make you nod your head at your desk which is always a good thing. 

They have taken not just the sound and made each song memorable; they have somehow channelled a Scandinavian feel which brings old school and new phase death metal together. 7/10

Festerdecay - Reality Rotten To The Core (Everlasting Spew Records) [GC]

As soon as you see the cover of Reality Rotten To The Core you know EXACTLY what this is going to be, basically its Symphonies Of Sickness by Carcass but in 2023. Festerdecay are from Japan and have the aim to revive goregrind, they do say imitation is the best form of flattery after all.

Starting on a wave of feedback Rotten Fester Decay then introduces the scuzzy, lo-fi, dirty riffs we heard back in 1989 and is a slow and sludgy beginning until the last minute or so that slightly picks up the pace and leads directly into Hash The Tongue which is exactly what you expect it to sound like, its fast and the riffs are again sczuzzy and the vocals sound like they have been recorded in a puddle.

Fall In Grind flows from this and slows down a bit and leads with a bass intro that sounds like it could actually be the guitars again such is the way with goregrind but when the guitars do kick in the riff is actually pretty solid and packs a decent rhythm to get to paying attention and when it kicks off the main part of the song actually ties everything together pretty well. 

Disintegration of Organs keeps on with the slowed down intro and the vocals actually stand out well here finally finding a way to shine through the muddy sound, it stays slow before blasting on from midway until the end and it’s good to also note the riffs really stand out here, Aborticide starts off with a completely unnecessary sample of a baby crying, so you know? You get that it’s violent and gory! The song itself is decent enough and grinds away nicely.

Stench Of Decay lumbers forward at 3:38 it is something of an epic, its all starts off well enough and the guitars cut and vocals slice through nicely before it all sloooooooooowssss down and we get the first proper introduction to the bass rumble that has clearly been there but struggles to compete but here it finally shines before a wail of the guitar smashes everything back together for one last hurrah and the riff at the end also shows that there is more here than you might expect, its crisp and bouncy and a real winner. Psychopharmacist is a full-on grind assault for 20 seconds before fading back in with a probably not needed ending? 

From The Dark Tomb is practically in instrumental for most of its 2:45 running time and shows they can introduce some death metal into the mix before they throw some grind in at the end for good measure. Exposing the Skin Tissue is another all out grind blast, with a great buzzsaw riff shinning and the vocals taking on a Spazz style vibe midway through which also moulds that part of the song into an old school hardcore track which made me smile. 

Carcasses Revenge is a big, brutish, swaggering monster that weaves death metal into grind and keeps a solid pace with both, probably one of, if not the best song on the album, and so next its Cryptic Wounds which is a blur of guitar wails, scuzzy riffs, muddy vocals and pounding drums, before criminally we finally get the first sub minute track of this grindcore album Liquidized Gallbladder and it’s a beauty, bass intro, smash into the verse, guitar wails, done! This album needed more of this! 

Scum’s Karma again falls back on the tried and tested lo-fi death metal meets grindcore scuzz fest. Then we get the most ‘’swallowed a medical textbook’’ track of all Reconstruction Of Malignant Miasma which is the longest track on the whole album and it’s a doozy! Big death metal riffs to start off with, more of the low-end bass rumble permeates throughout and the hardcore vocals take the lead and it’s a delight, the groove and flow continues all the way through until the end grind section which is just utter chaos and the perfect way to finish.

I really tried my best all the way through this review not to mention the C word BUT, as good as this is, I feel they sound EXACTLY like Carcass did 34 years ago which isn’t a crime but that was edgy and groundbreaking THEN, not now! While Reality Rotten To The Core is fun to listen to it, I just can’t shake the feeling that it’s been done before and doesn’t need to be rehashed. Try something new and you will be rewarded, copy something and you will be derided. Sorry boys, it was a brave and fun try but just not original enough for me to really love it. 6/10

Reviews: Hellripper, Sarcoptes, Märvel, Mortalus (Reviews By Mark Young)

Hellripper - Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags (Peaceville Records)

Black Metal looks to be forming the lion share of reviews for me in the early part of 2023 and it is something to behold. One-man black/thrash metal juggernaut Hellripper (AKA James McBain) announces itself with an early contender for the album of the year lists.

It’s that good.

Bit of background on Hellripper: Active since 2014, they have released several EP’s that were positively received, and they continued in this vein whilst building a live line up that could deliver this music to a wider audience. This is the third album which takes influence from Scottish folklore and history and is released via Peaceville Records, and it is surely to be featured on several ‘best of’ lists come the end of the year.

The Nuckelavee comes straight out of the gate with a statement of intent. It takes from the very root of black metal and just gives it the right spit and thrash with some epic solos that come across like Dave Mustaine in 86. It mixes tempo changes and riff changes without sounding tacked on or they have been written for effect. I, The Deceiver is again, full of fiendishly fast guitar work with some discordant effects going on then back onto the incendiary riffage normally associated with this genre.

Warlocks Grim And Withered Hags, starts with an almost gentle introduction straight into what will be a live classic. It has a feel to it that seems to be associated exclusively with these shores. Closer in approach to Iron Maiden (down at the back) in how an epic song should be built. Epic early solo with a motoring backing and then back into the song proper. This is precision built by someone who is has a clear vision of what he should sound like. Back on the bullet train, with Goat Vomit Nightmare, this rips like early Megadeth in its structure but with an incredibly dark tone and it is absolutely furious.

The Cursed Carrion Crown has THAT scream, oh my god just comes in and the song just takes off. This is just rapid fire but doesn’t lose any clarity. The slower section is still quick fingered and the accompanying solo under and around it is just excellent and then it enters blast beat time. The Hissing Marshes is where McBain is digging deep into his riff bag here, with nods to Metallica and Motorhead but with that black metal filter well and truly applied. Its laser focused on what made each of those and others mentioned unique and then amplified it a 1000-fold.

Poison Womb (The Curse Of The Witch) just continues the incredibly high standard of the songs before it and there is nothing, I can add to it. Somehow the riffs keep coming here on the final song; Mester Stoor Worm and it’s a battle between this and the title track as to what is my standout. I think this just edges it as it takes a dive into Opeth country complete with guttural roar and melodic guitar before coming back into the traditional vocal delivery. Its just excellent and really words do not do this justice at all.

From start to finish it is full of absolute classic takes on this phase of black metal but with a unique spin on it that comes from a strong vision of where he is from. Each of the songs has been crafted to the nth degree and they feel as though he has studied the best that this genre has to offer and said: I can do better. It is an absolute stormer of the highest order. It’s my first 10 score and I never thought that a black metal album would be the one that attained it.

Can I just repeat myself here and say: Please go and get this album in whatever media you like, tape, vinyl whatever. Support it in any way you can because Hellripper are going to be massive. 10/10

Sarcoptes - Prayers To Oblivion (Transcending Obscurity Records)

And I thought that California was the sunshine state? Coming in with their first full length effort, Sacramento natives decide to bring us some dark subject matter.

Coming in at 50 minutes for 5 songs, is this too a big ask to maintain interest? Here the answer is yes, just about. Bearing in mind I am not a fan of overly long songs just for the sake of it but here they manage get over that hill with the first track, The Trenches. With lyrical themes that touch on war, it becomes apparent that they are charting a dead path from WW1 to the 70’s battle fields and the subject matter is serious as its delivery.

Checking online, Sarcoptes are described as black metal but with an American slant which I took as being the faster end of Thrash and this is the case with each of the songs betraying a nod to both genres and taking what are the best bits of each one. Everything is in place and is done as though they are playing out of their skin. Keyboards are used just to add colour when it is needed, and the guitar is clear and crisp with drums prominent in the mix which I think is a massive plus because without that propelling force they wouldn’t hit the same.

The Trenches starts with the sound of a whistle being blown and then the audio equivalent of military bombardment starts. And for the next 14 minutes we are battered as if we are going over the top ourselves. Its fast and then goes faster. Constant blast beats and a wall of noise keeps this going with some absolute frenetic riffing. They don’t make it complicated or too technical, they just make it, so it is memorable and brutal. It just doesn’t stop. Ever.

Spanish Flu, the shortest track here but possesses a real swing to it as it navigates its way through an audio nightmare of just how bad the Spanish flu was. The music fits the narrative. There are some nods back to very early Slayer but played faster. There, I said it. Dead Silence is another long song which just starts fast and then stays there. There are some classic ascending moments and then just straight ahead thrash but without sounding tired or old hat. Keys are again employed sparingly but with a gothic, almost church like sound to them. And then they almost stop to thrown in some proper old school guitar wrangling to then bring the song in to an atmospheric end.

Tet comes next and is taken from the Tet Offensive of 1968 which occurred during the Vietnam war. And it belts out of the traps like a coordinated military offensive where you don’t know what it is happening all around you. This sounds closest to classic thrash, and it reminds me of Silent Scream in terms of the arrangement but just twice as long and just flies past.

Massacre At My Lai, the final track just eases you into battle with a slower progression and nifty pinched harmonics. It then starts to take up a steady tempo as it describes one of the worse atrocities committed during the Vietnam War. I understand that you are not here for a history lesson, nor am I here to give one but this song manages to describe the events in a way that should make you think. It’s a sustained attack that is just one of the best things I’ve heard in a while. 8/10

Märvel - Double Decade (The Sign Records)

This I did not expect. Double Decade is a compilation spanning the last twenty by this Swedish power trio with nine full length albums under their belt. Their online presence calls them the ‘Barons of High Energy Rock N’ Roll’ and that is what this is. It is unashamedly rooted in the hard rock of the 70s but with hints of glam (the heavy bits not the velvet or make-up) which makes each song and its relative influences as something you have heard before. This is in no way a disservice to them as the songs are fresh and possess that quality that makes you want to dance. If you had these booked at your wedding it would be an absolute riot.

Going back to the songs I don’t how much of each album is represented here but what it is an excellent jumping on point for new listeners especially for fans of Hendrix, Cream, Sweet, Deep Purple, The Faces, Thin Lizzy and possibly the Red-Hot Chilli Peppers which really seeps out in this collection. Each one is crafted well and keeps to a general rock blueprint, steady away drums and solo’s that fit each song and are not an exercise in excellence. There are slow ones, fast ones, and in-between ones as you might want from this style of music. It’s delivered in a way that shows they love this music and the fact they can celebrate their influences and what’s more they are spot on. There is also a hint of punk in there which again adds to the heady mix of genres on offer here. Look out for the Iron Maiden bit in Goddess On The Loose…

You can’t but start smiling whilst listening because it is fun collection of songs that just want you to move. On record its good, I bet live it’s something else that would be an excellent night out especially as they keep their identities secret. Its rare for me to really dig on modern rock, I guess it’s because the bands mentioned earlier did it better than everybody else. There are exceptions in the music I listen when it isn’t thrash, death etc and I guess its because those artists somehow say something different, or they represent a period in your life, so you listen to it to maybe take you off somewhere for a while. Märvel are not ripping off these bands, its written through a very focused filter although Son Of A Gypsy has 70’s KISS written all over it.

So, to recap it is a fun collection of songs that sole intent is for you to dance. It is not an artistic statement; it is just rock. Love it. Especially the song Motherfucker. I was going to score it a 7 but then I heard Motherfucker so it’s getting an 8/10

Mortalus - We Are Human (Self Released)

Hello from Little Rock, Arkansas! Home of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Judge Reinhold and Mortalus. We are Human is their second release and are a three-piece who wear their badges of heavy metal on their sleeves. Their socials note that they are power and thrash metal so let’s see what we have.

Can I point out that power metal is not my bag?

Good.

Of the songs here only half of them hit the target, at least in my opinion. I’ll get into that later but offer the following as my justification. And obviously this is my opinion because I’m sure that somewhere someone will love this.

Battle Born has some good riffing with some decent progressions, and the singing has got that Priest edge to it but there is something not quite happening here. Not sure if it’s the drums that are sort of lost here but it affects just how the song should flow and its jarring. Not all the way through but just at certain times. The FiXX suffers in the same way to the first song it has got some good stuff happening and it's ok but doesn’t really shine.

Fearless is again another track where there is an interesting riff kicking us off and then we are into mid-tempo, foot on the monitor metal which is fine except it just seems to be missing something that would give it that push it requires to take it to make it standout. Intended Victim starts to chug, great bass introduction leading us into a great tune with a good hook and vocal line. This seems more like it, double bass, galloping riff and a cool breakdown. Better. Dearest FriEND though is a slow instrumental which doesn’t really go anywhere and slows any momentum built up.

Blood Red Sunset starts like mid 80's Ozzy and continues the good work from Intended Victim, with some impressive vocals that should have been the hallmark of this album which is followed by We Are Human which kicks off with ripping triplets and strong vocals. There is some great guitar on here and it’s a shame that we didn’t see more of it earlier. Then is that what I think it is? Yes, it is. It’s the cover that you didn’t know you needed. I hate Kenny Loggins. So if you are going to cover Danger Zone you must own, it and vocally she just about does it, but the drums seem to get lost again.

On their website a lot is made of vocalist Michelle Gann being a Cat 5 Hurricane when singing and playing guitar, but it doesn’t seem to be captured here. It might be the songs or the production but with power metal I imagined that there would be a lot more of the higher register soaring stuff happening. She is supported well enough with bass and drums, none of which are below par or out of context for each of the songs presented here, it’s just that they don’t go for the throat from the onset. You want it to absolute rip from the start to grab and engage.

It feels as though this could have been an EP instead, especially with the better material starting half-way through. The latter tracks are so much better than the ones that start and they really build upon each other as though they had been written with each other in mind. Had there been more like them then it would have got a higher score 5/10

Reviews: Those Damn Crows, Hollentor, Hellpass, Zebedy (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Those Damn Crows - Inhale/Exhale (Earache Records)

Is it luck? Is it talent? Is it a bit of both? The latter is most likely as Welsh rockers Those Damn Crows return with their third album after rapidly gaining cult-like status in their home country and expanding into the rest of the UK and beyond. It's certainly a lot to do with talent as the band cherry pick the best bits of other successful bands. 

Their music pulling no punches about being radio friendly rock, but with a emotionally conscious vein and a love of experimenting with the most modern of soundscapes. It's no wonder they have mass appeal, with anyone from your metal loving younger brother to your strictly pop listening mum will be able to enjoy Inhale/Exhale without any complaint. 

So musically they pitch themselves in an ideal spot but there's more to Those Damn Crows than that, they are clearly working hard on cultivating their preferred is image where emotional intelligence meets blue collar passion. Using things like their podcast and social media to increase their interactions and build their fanbase. 

They also have a lot of merch opportunities to expand their brand (they have their own beers to accompany this album) and of course being signed to Earache Records, the leading light in the NWOCR movement is also a benefit. Having watched this band play small stages to the point that they are now, there's no doubting that they have worked their asses off to get to where they are today. 

A well drilled fully formed arena rock band made for bigger stages and this maturity is reflected on Inhale/Exhale an album that is designed to make you think about yourself and your connection to the wider world, it's all about how you're breathing can change a situation and the band have managed to capture various shifts in tone and pace on these nine songs but with a consistency of a pair of lungs breathing. 

The tracks all feel linked even when they aren't obviously the production, mix/mastering and most importantly sequencing critical for get the full effect. Producer Dan Weller and mixer Phil Gornell both using their experience with the most modern acts around to make this record fizz, bringing a broad sonic scope that incorporates extensive use of atmospheric electronics along with pianos and some strings to accompany the traditional rock sound.

Greenhall describes this album as a combination of the previous two records and he's not wrong, his vocal the best he's delivered so far, incorporating that drawl that Brent Smith of Shinedown uses to join his own heart-on-sleeve delivery, it's passionate and pervasive, catching you off guard at time but always welcoming you in. 

Of course no vocalist worth his salt can be considered great without a superior outfit behind him and as Ronnie Huxford lays down the percussive propulsion for these songs you can't help but stomp your feet or clap your hands to the rockers, Huxford dialing down the power for deftness on the ballads. With him in the boiler room is Lloyd Wood who's earth shaking rhythms will either rattle your teeth or your ass. 

Building on thes rhythmical impulses is the axe slinging tag team of Ian 'Shiner' Thomas and David Winchurch who carve out cavernous riffs of glorious volume one minute and evocative overtones the next, augmented by the additional piano and synths for a  cinematic sound. 

I could carry on an name every track and what it's like but an bum like this needs to be heard. So in closing of this review, they are the next rock superstars, this third album confirms it, they are arena ready and they are pretty much unstoppable. To paraphrase Shane Greenhall's clarion call when the band play live: They Are Those Damn Crows and you better get ready! 9/10

Hollentor - Divergency (Self Released)

Glen Poland is the sole writer of Hollentor, German for "Gates Of Hell", despite being a relative unknown (to me anyway) he seems to have the biggest metal Rolodex around. Poland is a guitarist so he has a massive load of guests on each record, including on this third album. He is aided by Glen Drover (ex-Megadeth) who engineers, mixes, masters and also performs on the record. He is joined by drummer brother Shawn, while the instrumental team also features Rudy Sarzo (x-Ozzy/Whitesnake), James MacDonough (x-Megadeth/Iced Earth), James LoMenzo (x-Black Label Society/current-Megadeth), George Lynch (x-Dokken/current-Lynch Mob) and Eric Peterson (Testament). 

They all augment Poland's writing style with Tim Ripper Owens (x-Judas Priest) and Henning Basse, (ex-Firewind) taking the mic. Hollentor's music is modern heavy metal with classic metal vibe to it, the riffs of Poland underpinning everything in a similar way that 'he who shall not be named' did in Iced Earth. Kicking off with Behind The Wall, you get an instant idea of Hollentor as a band. Mid-paced riffers like Judgement Day and the stomping Lotus Eater are joined by thrashers like Seize The Day and the folk metal of Vikings Pride. Divergency is a another addition to the modern heavy metal discography of Hollentor, if you like your riffs loud and an all star cast of metal musicians then you'll enjoy it. 7/10 

Hellpass - Gates Of War (Self Released)

Founded by Alexandros Koliousios (drums), Aggelos Mouratidis (guitars) and Vasilis Iakinthos (vocals/formerly bass) Hellpass are classic/heavy metal band from Thessaloniki Greece. Having recently added Nikos Paraskevopoulos on bass, Gates Of War is their debut album and it does a good job of emulating the classic sound of 80's British metal, Bay Area thrash and American power metal without becoming a pastiche.

American power metal over European as Hellpass bring that more muscular, distorted style of power metal of Sanctuary, Metal Church but with some European touches of Grave Digger and Edguy. With a gruffer vocal style than most Vasilis has the touches of Warrell Dane on Fade Away as the Sanctuary references move into Nevermore style maudlin. The darker tone is set from the rough riff of Alter Nation as the stomping title track packed with American metal muscle. Inspired by turbulent times we face, Gates Of War simmers with frustration but never fully unleashes it.

They occasionally veer into the trad metal realms but I personally think they do the more atmospheric style with a more honest conviction, Oath To The Metal Gods especially is jarring change of lyricism. Still other than that Gates Of War is a decent metal album if you're a fan of the American power/thrash metal sound. 7/10

Zebedy - Waiting For The Tide (Self Released)

One of my colleagues was supposed to review this album from North Wales band but due to some outside factors he couldn't do it. So dear reader it has fallen to me and I'm ambivalent if I'm honest. 

Produced by Dan Weller who has worked with SikTh, Enter Shikari, Young Guns and Holding Absence, Zebedy are a band that have a lot in common with all of these other acts but unfortunately they have too much in common with them, vocals from Enter Shikari and even Fightstar, mathcore riffs from SikTh and a lot of the record just comes from lots of generic djent/prog metalcore, with shifts to quirkiness that seem to be there for the hell of it. 

Now this is been over two years in the making and there's a lot of talent on show, but with vocals that grate on my ears, the songwrting feels a little limited and why they called themselves after a character in The Magic Roundabout or indded the porn director, I have no idea. I didn't get much out of it, you might. 5/10

Reviews: Westing, Super Pink Moon, Rexoria, Vision Of Choice (Reviews By David Karpel, Richard Oliver, Erick Willand & Simon Black)

Westing - Future (RidingEasy Records) [David Karpel]

As a humanities teacher, I’m constantly revisiting the question with wide-eyed highschool students of why we study history. We talk about patterns, inspiration, and lessons learned in order to not repeat mistakes of the past, but it always comes down to kids wanting to understand a way forward into a future that bears the fruits of present-day actions, their own and those of societies and civilisation as a whole. Westing naming their “debut” album Future and filling it with songs rooted in the sounds of a forward-looking, and heavily influential musical past immediately lends this infectious release the intellectual characteristics of irony and depth.

The band’s last album as their previous iteration Slow Season, titled, well, Westing, was drenched in a similar nostalgic vibe, but with a keenly more varied base found not only in the bluesy and psychedelic Zep, but also in Grand Funk Railroad, B.O.C., and Uriah Heep, among others. As Westing, on Future, their sound is more consistently influenced by the mighty Zeppelin. While mostly sticking to the Houses Of The Holy era and beyond, a wide range of Led Zeppelin finds touch-stones on this album. It’s as if the band let go of pretence and grabbed a hold of the sound they truly find worthy of reiteration in the modern era, not unlike Greta Van Fleet, but dirtier, less bombastic, and with elemental ties to the updated, smoky psychedelia of All Them Witches. Essentially, these are proto-sounds for an already updated proto-thirsty audience.

Now, there’s no denying Zeppelin’s influence on rock and roll and metal is pervasive through the eras that followed their rise, peak, and disintegration. Here again, it’s too obvious to ignore. In the era of Greta Van Fleet commanding stadium tours, that influence remains a touchy subject of how close you can get without being smeared with the derogatory moniker of a mere imitator. There is absolutely nothing derogatory I will say about Westing’s efforts on Future.

The album kicks, rips, and soars. Back In The Twenties uses a lilting, lullaby-like chorus in a stomping song that demands a 100-year historical perspective of dark comparisons. Nothing New relishes timeless bluesy grooves, while Lost Riders recalls ‘73 as if fifty years haven’t cruelly ticked away without mercy. Big Trouble (In The City Of Love) is a memorable hip-swaying romp followed by Artemisia Coming Down, which slows down and gets grandly psychedelic right when you want it to. Silent Shout follows to dip into Floyd and Moody Blues territory while maintaining the laid back, trippy light-show vibes. 

Stanley Wu reminds us we’re here to let our hair down and party, with fun barroom, bluesy keys kicking underneath. Coming Back To Me stays upbeat, and closes the album reassuring us that in the end we’re here to have some good fun, remembering good times, hanging with friends with good tunes. “I feel it all coming back to me,” goes the song, and yeah, we feel it too. And it feels really good. 8/10

Super Pink Moon - Iron Rain (Self Released) [Rich Oliver]

Iron Rain is the second album from Super Pink Moon which is the solo project of vocalist and guitarist Ihor Pryshliak of Somali Yacht Club. Based in Lviv in Ukraine, Iron Rain was written and recorded during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and “depicts the angst and emotional turmoil of having to make it through the day when surrounded by chaos”. Half the album was recorded prior to the 24th February which was the date that the Russian invasion began and the rest of the album recorded and finished during hugely scary and uncertain times. As Ihor states “All the lyrics are revolving around self-reflection on the war. It’s still hard to describe the weird mix of feelings. Sometimes you’re extremely proud and even happy, but usually, all you feel is sadness, pain, and despair.”

On the musical side of things, Super Pink Moon blends a post-rock sound with elements of shoegaze and indie rock meaning that there are dreamy soundscapes, accessible songwriting and dense riffage all combined together. The tone of the album is quite dark which is understandable given the circumstances it was written and recorded under with songs such as Everything and Per Aspera Ad Astra having a doomy atmosphere to them. Collision has a more positive feel to it whilst instrumentals Mirage and Calmness really bring forth the shoegaze and soundscape vibes incorporating some electronica influences. The vocals by Ihor are excellent and perfectly compliment the music being suitably melodic and melancholic.

I’m a sucker for melancholic music and I enjoyed Iron Rain. With lots of different sounds and influences the album is a bit uneven at times though when it hits right such as on Doomscrolling and Per Aspera Ad Astra then there is no denying the talent on display here. This is a album worth hearing for those who have melancholic and atmospheric tastes. 7/10

Rexoria: Imperial Dawn (Black Lodge) [Erick Willand]

 
Power metal holds a special place in the metal pantheon for its bright crisp production, fantasy or sci-fi lyrics, flying guitar heroics, soaring vocal deliveries and pure heavy metal anthems. This is the epic feel good, never give up, always keep fighting side of metal. Feeling down and defeated, power metal has got the songs to lift you up regardless of the obstacles in your path, like a solid friend you know you can count on to help you toss coursed jewellery into a volcano. Is Rexoria worthy to join this vaulted pantheon, let's armour up and find out.

The keyboard starts Imperial Dawn's first track Paradigm. I expected this of course but the song wastes no time at all getting into it, Frida Ohlin’s voice is strong and clear, instantly catching your attention like an arrow shot past your ear. It’s a solid opening track that gets the blood pumping and the horns raised. The next three tracks follow this fantastically with The New Revelation driving speed and catchy chorus, Devious Desire with it’s melodic power adding to the forlorn-romantics of the lyrics is just good song construction. 

Rage and Madness comes in with the tight machine gun drumming of Martin Gustavsson, who I must say is one hell of a drummer. A fast urgent burner of a song with another stand out vocal performance, this is the track I’ve already added to my personal playlist. Fading Rose marks the album midpoint with my favourite song opening yet, the melody here just sticks with you and the 80’s vibe is strong here.

Light Up The Sky heralds the second half of the album and is the most anthem-like song on Imperial Dawn. Fast and very clean, it's the first song that feels a little over done, or rather a bit un-genuine. It feels like a theme song for a Dungeons And Dragons TV show but not in a bad way. Next track Horizon gives me 80s vibes again but in a good way with a group chorus, bright keyboard work and uplifting vibe. This carries over fantastically into Set Me On Fire which just hits all the marks perfectly and is easily the most emotionally driven song on the album.

Another one for the personal playlist and the high point of the album in my humble opinion. Crushing For More is clearly the motivational song and is a solid track for sure but again gives me ‘soundtrack’ vibes, or better yet, video game add music. Which brings us to closing track Enchanted Island which has the strongest vocal performance and best blazing solo of the album easily. A strong well written ending.

Imperial Dawn is a fun album at a time when metal could use more fun (Sanguisugabogg aside). There is clear talent and heart on display here and with the fast pace, memorable choruses and trim song length I wasn’t bored at all. The only small issue is that each song could have used a bit more variation, a little more individual spice if you will. The album art is also another issue as it is amateurish at best and gives me mid 90’s I just got photoshop vibes and not in a good way. Aside from that I enjoyed this album and at least two songs ended up in personal playlist, levelling it out at a powerful 7/10

Vision Of Choice - Second Sight (Self Released) [Simon Black]

Vision of Choice is a Trad Heavy Metal project orchestrated by multi-instrumentalist Steve Brockmann, who pretty much does everything on here apart from vocals (Lukas Remus), and some additional guitar work from Ponch Satrio. I’ve come across Brockman’s work in power metal band Krilloan, which is an act I’m really appreciative of, to which he contributes guitar rather fabulously, but this is the first time I’ve come across what is effectively his own baby. Musically this is NWOBHM influenced 80’s Metal, but you can detect the influence of Euro early power bands as well.

These kind of project pieces can sometime be challenging to the ear, as so much tends to fall on the shoulders of one person, who clearly is in charge and consequently sometimes don’t feel like a cohesive band. That’s half happening here, and I was quite surprised after a first full spin to discover that this wasn’t a four or five piece band at work. Having more than one player does make a difference, and the weaving between guitars and keys works well, even if the drums do feel a bit automated. It’s that inter-playing that generates the best output here, with some lovely weaving and shredding, but sadly the vocals don’t always feel in line with the music. 

Remus is good at what he does, but the range as delivered here is fairly limited and some of the songs on here are crying out for a performance that can scale up the octaves when the music really lets rip. I get the feeling he could if he pushed himself though, as the range he covers is done effortlessly, but that variety could really push the end result from “good” to “fabulous”. The songs are OK, and a solid production job has been done, but sadly this feels like it just needed that little bit more of a push to make it rise above. The potential is there nonetheless. 6/10

A View From The Back Of The Room: Katatonia & Sólstafir (Live Review By Tony Gaskin)

Katatonia & Sólstafir at KK's Steel Mill 14/02/2023 Review By Tony Gaskin

The long awaited return of Swedish metal veterans Katatonia to these shores sees them inviting along Icelandic quartet Sólstafir as their touring partners for a double header of moody, atmospheric metal.

First up though was the soaring soundscapes of US based djent shoegazers SOM (7).

This was an entrée for the main courses to come. Playing tracks from their album The Shape Of Everything To Come, the band blended a dark synth backdrop to the edgy guitars and soulful vocals that carry you through a set of songs that were at times heavy but had a gentle caress that quite easily lulled you into a meditative state. The band are somewhat a sort of shoegaze supergroup with members coming together from a list of established bands to create this entity that has great potential. Look out for SOM at some of the more experimental and tech minded festivals.

So, when you’ve been gently massaged and soothed, what next? Well, the incredibly dark, brooding sagas from those giants of Icelandic metal are the perfect next course.

Sólstafir (10) have their roots in blackened death metal, but these days their sound can only be described as epic and cinematic. If ever a band could capture the essence of the landscape they grew up in, then it’s Sólstafir. It’s haunting, dark, ferocious and ultimately, beautiful.

Opening with the nearly 12 minute long Náttmál from their seminal 2014 album Ótta, they set the tone for a set full of passion, anger, longing and loss. Front man Addi Tryggvason looms over the crowd and delivers a stunning performance that raises the hairs on the back of your neck. Each song brings a new level of emotion, a journey through the band's back catalogue that is as varied and dramatic as the landscape it was born from. 

Highlights were the double pronged assault of Fjara and Ótta towards the end of the set, a rising crescendo of pounding rhythms and their signature guitar sound that enthralled the rapt audience. 

To follow a set such as the one we had just witnessed takes a lot of belief, confidence, and experience. Something Jonas Renske has in bucket loads having steered the rocky ship that is Katatonia (8) through numerous member changes and musical styles. This UK tour was originally intended to promote 2020’s City Burials but with the delays of the last couple of years, Jonas and his band have spent the time touring around the world and in creating a new opus in the form of their latest studio offering Sky Void Of Stars

Opening up with Austerity you immediately get a sense of where Katatonia are going with this album. Full of hooks, but used as an accompaniment to the carefully crafted song writing, it creates the basis for a varied mix of songs, old and new that show the vast array of stylistic changes that the band have been through, but throughout there is the underlying sense of gothic doom, something that can be encapsulated in one track Colossal Shade.

Without doubt, Katatonia are seasoned performers and artists and seem to have captured that elusive mix of gloomy but catchy metal that comes across especially well with the lights and dry ice creating brightness and shadows, you’re never quite seeing the full picture, but getting enough to formulate an image in your mind. 

With the melancholy of Paradise Lost and the poppiness of Ghost, Renske continues to surprise us. A powerful live show, and although the new tunes are sounding great, highlight for me was the emotionally charge Old Heart Falls

All in all, a pretty damn fine gig to kick off my reviewing year.

Reviews: Avatar, Hail The Void, Oak, CHILD (Reviews By Tony Gaskin, Rich Piva, Erick Willand & GC)

Avatar – Dance Devil Dance (Century Media Records) [Tony Gaskin]

9th Studio album from Swedish hard rockers Avatar is a pulsating blend of crunchy riffs, melodic harmonies and classic heavy metal.

Straight from the opening chords and bludgeoning drums of title track Dance Devil Dance, you instantly get caught up in pure head banging riffage. Exactly what an opening track should do. But that’s no good if you can’t follow it up with equally good tracks, and thankfully there are plenty more headbanging tunes to keep us all happy for the full 45 mins. It’s good to see an album release with 11 tracks all around the 4 min mark, I personally like that, it helps keep my attention.

Colourful frontman, Jonas Jarlsby shows us the full extent of his vocal range, from hitting those Halfordesque high notes to the more guttural growls that verge on death metal but still retaining a clarity that places this album firmly in that gap between straight up heavy metal and it’s more extreme cousin. Jarlsby has a powerful voice and presence that is worked to the max with the fast pace, there’s no let up from track to track and long time collaborator and producer, Jay Ruston, has done a fantastic job showcasing Jarlsby’s vocals. But not just that, this is an excellently produced album with a clean crisp clarity to all the guitars, bass and drum sections.

The band are quoted as saying that “this is our best album yet” and I can’t disagree with that statement. This album is much more accessible and in my opinion, the writing and songs are another level for the band. This could finally see Avatar get a much deserved wider audience. Favourite track is the very catchy Gonna Wanna Riot but every track had me banging my head, and a big surprise was the final track Violence No Matter What which features the incredible vocal talents of Lzzy Hale.

The band say “There’s no BS, no extra fat, every track is a weapon and has a purpose” and it certainly feels how this album was put together. As for their claim that they are out to “save heavy metal” well they have produced a well crafted heavy metal album, but does heavy metal need saving? I’ll be seeing Avatar play tracks from this album later on this month, a gig I am very much looking forward to after listening to this album over and over again! 8/10

Hail The Void - Memento Mori (Ripple Music) [Rich Piva]

Hail The Void released one of my top three albums of this decade so far with their self-titled debut, so going in to album number two, my expectations are obviously extremely high. Then Todd from Ripple goes ahead and signs the Victoria, British Columbia, Canada trio to release said album, titled Memento Mori, which compounded my anticipation given one of my favourite new bands who put out one of my favourite recent albums are now on my favourite label. Is there any possible way this could live up to my expectations, even though Todd and I seem to have a vision lock on what bands are awesome (see my Tidal Wave review…)?

Well in short, yes, and more. Memento Mori is pretty much perfect from beginning to end. Hail The Void took their stoner psych doom formula and ratcheted it up a notch, some how making this record sound better than the first from a production standpoint. The songs are there, and I was expecting them to be, but the instrumentation and vocals are recorded absolutely perfectly. From the guitar tone and work on the absolutely killer first full track, Writing On The Wall, which will be in the running for song of the year for me, to the vocals on the next track, Goldwater, and the drum sound all throughout the record, this is just brilliant heavy music. 

This trio makes so much sound and it is perfectly formulated over the eight tracks on Memento Mori. The riffs are there too, case in point track Talking To The Dead and High And Rising. Killer modern doom. High And Rising is just a gigantic and heavy track and is right there on par with Writing On The Wall for song of the year contention. Lyrically this album is really dark, but with a certain beauty to it. High And Rising as well as the track 100 Pills being perfect examples of this (“…I’ll run you straight into the ground”). More dark beauty with Iommi worship riffing on the killer Serpens Sound (also really dark lyrically, and wonderful) while The Void wraps up Memento Mori by taking us down slowly and let’s you come up from air but trying to push yourself back down at the same time.

 
Hail The Void has created a modern classic with Memento Mori and have cemented themselves as my favorite band of the 2020s with their first two releases. They are the most beautifully heavy band out there and this is art that needs to be experienced by anyone who enjoys heavy music. A perfect record and obviously album of the year candidate. Amazing stuff once again from Ripple and from Hail The Void. 10/10

Oak - Disintegrate (Season Of Mist) [Erick Willand]

Oak is massive for a doom band. This is no surprise however as both members hail from Gaerea and if you’re familiar with the aforementioned band and their unique sound, stow those preconceptions now. This is Doom with a deep capital D. The sound is giant, slow and purposeful and it all plays out in one 44 minute 48 second long track. There are other artists who’ve done the single long form track, Sleep comes to mind of course. So let’s see if Oak can plant it right and lay down some deep roots?

Starting off with some quiet guitar plucked slowly, as one would expect to be honest. Other sounds bleed into the mix like a small leak in a dam, synths, drums come in seemingly from a distance. Until finally at the 3:15 mark the damn breaks, the thunder cracks and we begin in earnest. In come the vocals, coarse and rumbling and filled with sorrow that invades your ears like a freezing liquid. A chill creeps down my spine and I’m paying full attention. It’s slow but relentless like the passage of time.
This review is going to have to be different.

 
The story here is of an ancient colossus finally coming to its end after a long dying period. Seeing its end it contemplates the darkness and void and welcomes it. “My last feast in a decade of slumber. Everything becomes nothing, I’m delighted.” The lyrics (which I’m pleased actually came with the press material) are poetic and heart crushing. This death is a slow drawn out process with full awareness played out in chapters within lyric and song structure both and is a master stroke. From the beginning realisation that time is upon him “Floating, this bearer body of an old soul, wonders tired, through the haze of time” to the final last moments “This beautiful sight of a massive grave is my last, all is dust, I am disintegrated” we take this ponderous rode alongside this giant, mournful yet looking forward. It’s powerful.

 
Usually when I review an album I go through each track one by one then collapse it all back and score the whole including cover art. That approach doesn’t work here with a single album long track that in all honesty needs to be experienced not simply read about. It’s gripping and emotional and it didn’t feel right to break it down like I would a normal album. Like Bell Witch’s 2017 Funeral Doom master work Mirror Reaper, Oak’s Disintegrate is…a journey, a sonic experience that I for one will go back to again and again in the future. Capped off with a harrowing depiction of the sun caught in a maelstrom full of swirling cosmic chaos I declare a first for me here, a perfect 10/10.

CHILD - Meditations In Filth (Eat Heavy Records) [GC]

Today I have the debut album from Gothenburg/Stockholm based death grinding punks CHILD Meditations In Filth. After having a quick skip through the tracks, nothing clocks in at over 2:30 which is exactly what I would expect from an album that has been described as an overwhelming sonic experience full of twists and grinding turns as well as The Black Album of grindcore, now I’m not really sure that is anything to boast about if I am honest and now I am kind of filled me with fear as to what is about to happen!

Thankfully is starts of sounding nothing like a shit gindcore Metallica (however that would sound??) and Hate Well Spent flies out of the blocks full of furious blast beats and cutting and crisp guitars and before you know it Manic Vortex kicks in and has a bit more of a death metal feel to it, with the same crispy guitar sound but added groove section halfway through mixed in to pad out the sound slightly and add some variation then there is the completely unnecessary Splendor Solis which is just 10 seconds of feedback, we really don’t need any interludes and fillers on a grindcore records lads, c’mon now! 

Billion Years Of Darkness then proceeds to kick the listener directly in the teeth again with some more crusty grind that is full of dark intensity and the end section of this song is easily the best bit on the album so far which leads disgustingly into Burn As One which is beautifully punishing, relentless and crushing all at the same time and instantly becomes than best song on the album so far, it just hits every tick point brilliantly.

Prima Materia is then another 10 seconds on pointless noise that could have been better used writing a song such as the unrelenting Carless Blood which is 40 seconds of groove filled grind which leads into the slow burn intro of Crawling Chaos which is probably the closest they come to introducing some d-beat into the madness and it has a slow and menacing bass tone that adds some bottom end to all the speed and savageness. 

Anima Mundi is another interlude and is again completely pointless and not needed as it just interrupts the flow but that is then thankfully instantly shaken violently back into life again by The God Furnace which is more crusty death/grind and is really beginning to be the general sound here a glorious scuzzy and violent death/grind attack. Accept The Suffering is another short, sharp shock to the system before The Stone Which Burns which is another 10 second interlude, they need to stop this shit now as it adds NOTHING!

Abattoir Of Minds is probably the most death metal track on the whole album but is also one of the best and Joakim Lindström vocals are fucking savage here and it all adds up to an absolute killer of a track and then yes, you guessed it Nigredo is ANOTHER interlude and yes it is again completely pointless. Sweating Gold continues the death metal feel and is done well enough then its She Came From The Marsh which falls back into the crusty d-beat grind but has an almost claustrophobic feeling to the way it drags its way along its not slow but its not 1000bpm as you have come expect and it’s probably the best mix of all the varying styles so far and would have been the best way to finish the album.

But, of course they don’t finish on a high they finish with Vitriol which is another fucking 40 seconds of feedback that just annoys, seriously in the time they wasted putting these on the album they could have written a whole other song! A stupidly pointless way to end an otherwise decent album!

Meditations In Filth at its best is furious, grim, intense, savage and most importantly fun, yes I got annoyed at the stupid 10 second interludes and probably should have skipped them but I was expecting y’know actual songs as that’s nothing shocking on a grindcore album! Anyway, ignore these stupid bits and this is a decent debut album and worth a listen. 7/10

Reviews: Lumen Ad Mortem, Replica Jesus, Dragoncorpse, Spectral Souls (Reviews Paul Scoble, Matt Bladen, Mark Young & GC)

Lumen Ad Mortem - Upon The Edge Of Darkness (Bitter Loss Records) [Paul Scoble]

Hailing from the sunny shores of Australia come Lumen Ad Mortem with their album Upon The Edge Of Darkness. The band is made up of Aaron Tuck on guitars, bass, keyboards and orchestrations, Gregor Piki on vocals and Matt “Skitz” Sanders on drums (who, like all extreme metal drummers is in about 300 bands, including Plasmodium that wonderful psychedelic War Metal band), and have been in existence since 2019. Apart from a demo released in 2019 Upon The Edge Of Darkness is the bands first album.

The style Lumen Ad Mortem is fairly traditional atmospheric black metal, so it’s full of tremolo picked riffs, blast beats, harsh vocals and lots of atmospheric keyboards. The orchestrations that form part of Aaron Tuck’s duties also add a little bit of epic black metal and may have a slight nod towards mid career Emperor. The sound is reminiscent of late nineties/early two thousands atmospheric black metal, with a feel that is similar to Wolves In The Throne Room, which would make it sound a little dated if it wasn’t done so well.

 
Opening track Infinite Residence starts with a long keyboard intro before dramatic blast of black metal that starts fast but quickly slows to a mid-pace for some really melodic tremolo picked riffs, the vocals are harsh and very effective. In the second half of the song we get some very lush layered tremolo picked riffs that add melody and atmosphere.

The song gets a little bit faster and more aggressive just before it ends. Second track Within The Smoke is bookended by blasting and nasty black metal, in between the song is slow to mid paced atmospheric black metal with loads of keyboards to temper the heaviness, making this very effectual atmoblack.

 
Ethereal is a mix of aggressive blasting fast black metal and slower, heavier parts which is made more palatable by adding vast amounts of melody throughout the song. Nearer the end there is a section with slow riffs that have an expansive feel to them, this adds an extra element to the song. Right at the end of the track there are the first of the orchestrations, where brass instruments are added for extra drama.

The orchestrations really come to the for in the track Thought And Memory. After a mix of slow and fast tremolo picked riffs the huge sounding brass instruments come crashing in, these are then mixed with tremolo picked riffs to add to the fun. The orchestrations make Thought And Memory feel huge and very dramatic, this sounds epic and remind me a little of Emperor, and also of Celtic Frost’s Dawn Of Meggido. 

Voices From The Stream has a slightly different feel to the rest of the material on here, the song is mainly slow and quite heavy (although there are some faster parts), it has a relentless and unstoppable feel to it and also features some nice dissonance, and a impressive wailing guitar melody.

The album comes to an end with the track Narrow Paths And Stony Ground, which has a huge opening with lots of brass, the song is then a mix of very good blasting and sections with layered tremolo picked riffs that are just lush. The song manages to be extreme whilst at the same time being full of melody and tunefulness, which is a clever trick to end the album on.

 
Upon The Edge Of Darkness is a great album, the style is a little old school, but when it’s done this well that is not an issue. There has been so much atmospheric black metal released over the last few years this album could have been lost in a sub-genre that is huge, but this albums quality is what makes it shine through. 

The quality and amount of melodies on display here is massive, and they have used enough different tempos to make this stand out, it’s the slow and heavy that makes this album really work, it’s a great listen that will grab your attention. It’s also a debut album, another reason to be impressed, as debuts are rarely this good. 8/10 

Replica Jesus - Echoes From The Expanse (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

Formed by Howard Rigg (guitar), Lee Barber (bass) and Stu Cheesman (drums) in 2016 Replica Jesus are stoner punks from Derby and Nottingham, shortly after forming they brought in Mike Knight as vocalist/guitarist and since then have been kicking out their particular kind of jams since then. Why I say their particular kind of jams is that Replica Jesus play a style of music that draws from various points of reference such as stoner, desert and fuzz rock with the grooves of grunge and punk rock aggression.

They call themselves "stoner punk" and to me there's a similarity to Welsh bands such as Hwdu or Corrosion Of Conformity (both versions) where the riffy tracks, like the bass-driven Come Back Better are often followed by longer psych driven jams. One such jam is the apocalyptic sounding opener Everything Rots, which has some echoed guitar and vocal before the reverbed, fuzz riff reconvenes into a bit of Kyuss-like wildness, Switchblade Eyes also creates an atmosphere of dark blues. The groove Professional Liar comes in with a bit more percussion and that punk rock simplicity as Headshot reminds me of Therapy? with its feedback induced squeal out.

Echoes From The Expanse is a hard hitting debut album from this riff swinging foursome, interesting and varied riffs with vocals to match, there’s a lot to like for fans of the stoner/grunge/punk genres, most importantly though it’s the sort of music that makes you want to crack a beer and bang your head. 8/10

Dragoncorpse - The Drakketh Saga: Release (Shattered Earth Records) [Mark Young]

This is the debut EP from Dragoncorpse and to be honest I am not that fond of the genre of music it sits within. Power metal, symphonic metal it’s just not something I would normally listen to and in general would stay away from as it just does nothing for me. I can appreciate it for the skill that goes into writing and performing material like this but that is about as far as it goes. Personal opinions aside I’ll try to offer my thoughts in a non-judgemental fashion.

Here we go.

It reminds me of Dragonforce, and of some of the European battle metal bands with an almost Queen like guitar tone. Everything is there, its bombastic delivery, heavy guitars and of course double bass. Its really well produced and I guess it does everything you expect from symphonic power metal combined with deathcore. It has the soaring vocals, the death metal vocals that almost break into black metal territory.

The singing here is just awe-inspiring and they just absolutely fly and the musicianship backs it up to a very high standard. The same with the death vocals, they are on point and again somehow don’t seem out of place apart from when they try to occupy the same space. It’s like they have tried to make sure each song has representation from both styles and I wonder if it suffers for that instead of keeping with one main vocal delivery per song.

The album itself is 24 minutes long and they cram a lot in those short minutes. The longest track is 5 minutes long, but it doesn’t seem like it. For me they saved the best for last with Undying. The score I am going to give this is based purely on an appreciation of the skill involved as this music appeals to some people but I have to say that the interludes although telling a story could have been removed but that is just me. 6/10

Spectral Souls - Towards Extinction (Hammerheart Records) [GC]

Hailing from Lima in Peru, Spectral Souls formed back in 2019 and planned to make a record that would fit into the old school death metal genre but as with most recent ventures Covid saw that the process would take slightly longer than planned but now they have finally been able to finish and release their debut album Towards Extinction, So lets see if it was worth the wait!?

No More Gods For Me lurches forward and fits perfectly in to the OSDM feel with its slow and menacing opening before crashing into life with some nicely paced death metal, the guitars are sharp and precise and the rhythm section thunders and pounds as expected and backs everything up nicely, the only thing I am not sold on is the vocals, they just don’t hit right for me on this song, still plenty of time to improve!? No Hope Humanity is a little more straightforward and has a thrash type feel and has lots of widdly guitar parts throw in as if to hammer this point home and sure, it’s all done well enough but just seems to fall a bit flat for me and doesn’t really inspire anything in me and is all a bit to pedestrian.

Fuck The World is more of the same, thrash beginning and then falls back on the OSDM feel also has a decent groove and flow section randomly added into, still not sold on the vocals though, there’s just not enough power behind them to really make a significant impact on the songs which is a shame as overall these really need something to push them forward as so far, its all just a bit average, Ego Man kicks of with a riff so reminiscent of something mid 80’s Megadeth would produce you do get a bit of hope but unfortunately that’s the pinnacle of the whole song.

There's just nothing that grabs you to really connect with what’s going on until about halfway through there is a decent enough almost two-step type riff that momentarily jolts you awake as it has a wicked solo that follows but then it all just falls back into mediocrity, before Scum Politic continues the thrash/death plodding, another thing missing is perhaps a bit of variety, everything sounds EXACTLY the same, I know death metal isn’t really know for its invention but at least try something different every now and then, the one bonus I will say is that when the want to they can create some deliciously filthy riffs but they then don t use them well enough.

Title track Towards Extinction isn’t a song at all it’s a piano led interlude that is totally pointless and adds precisely fuck all to proceedings, bit of an odd choice. One Step Away From Extinction is the most boring song on the album and offers nothing it’s just one paced head down death metal, Cristal Generation is a little more interesting sound wise as it throws in some more two-step and hardcore flavours in to the mix that mix nicely into the thrashy death metal and is probably one of the stronger songs on the album.

Major Depressive Disorder and Misanthropy are both standard thrashy death metal songs that do little to inspire much more interest at this stage of the album however, album closer Behind The Lying Glass does mix things up a bit and slows the pace right down and has a doom filled beginning and sets a tone for the whole song, there’s more groove and subtlety here before the usual sound kicks back in it does pay off nicely to end on an unexpected positive note.

So, was it worth the 4 year wait for this album to be completed and released? Sadly, the answer for me is a no, it just doesn’t offer enough invention or creativity to keep me invested for the whole album. What they do they do ok and I am sure they can improve and with more effort push on but here they just fall short for me. 5/10