Thy Art is Murder :"Holy War"

I am not sure what death core really is. I am even more confused if it includes the kind of Meshuggah herky jerky djenty chugging that the first song on Thy Art Is Murder's new album kicks of with. This is my first time hearing this band and I am only checking them out because they are playing with King Diamond on the Mayhem Tour. I known the Devil Wears Prada and Whitechapel are both playing as well ,but I don't feel the need to check either of those out as I think the glimpses I have heard were enough to tell me they suck. The opener to this album works for me, the second song "Lightbearer" is a little more tedious. There is some atmospheric sounds echoing in the background, but nothing is really grabbing me. The drummer is good. His double bass is on point.

It is not disparaging when the vocals rasp out all the things like christ and Allah that people die  on the title track ". The guitarist is trying to playing over the drummer rather than playing with him at some points. The converging chant and chug formula is in full effect. It's not terrible. The guitar solo uses more restraint than you might imagine something like this doing. If the name Winston McCall means anything to you, then know he is on the song "Coffin Dragger", which i not really distinguished much differently than the other. I imagine this McCall fellow is the singer further back in the mix who is gruffly barking like a hard core rap.

"Fur and Claw" is another tightly triggered chug fest about human parasites. The formula is pretty apparent sometimes they speed until , throwing themselves into blasting death metal more keen on technique than the crushing power.They do not shy away from the break downs. The guitar solos become more fluid and impressive. The groove to "Deliver us to Evil' is catchier at first as well as the when they the songs title. The guitar tone doesn't dramatically shift until the song "Emptiness". It become clear and hollow for the intro before they explode back into what they do. As metal goes this is more lower common denominator and all the thinking , which is not a lot is being done for you here. This is more accessible than black metal for sure. While heavy and abrasive due to the vocals , it is not dissonant are possess any real emotional ugliness.

"VIolent Reckoning" is a similar blend of feigned menace from the multi tracked vocals and mean technical chugging from the guitar. If drumming alone was enough to make an album then this one be one of the years best metal releases for sure. Instead we get some breakdown that fall somewhere between nu-metal and hardcore. There is some atmospheric growling at the intro of "Naked And Cold" that hangs on the chord with darker determination and breaks away from the sound they have over indulged in unti lthe songs takes off. But this little shift in dynamics doesn't bore you as if they had gone right into the chugging. The solo section floats into a slower melody that also helps switch things up. I'll count the bonus track "Vengeance " as part of the album since that is how I am hearing. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table.

The album sounds good, but eventually all of the songs begin to sound the same. I know death core gets called false by more traditional metal head and I can only imagine this is because of it's nu metal leaning, the clean production makes it seem less heavy despite the best attempts of the vocals which are as guttural as your average death metal band. My finance was playing Dark Tranquility in the car the other day and I can hear similarities. I'll give this one a 6 its not bad but not blowing me away either.

Minsk: "The Crash & the Draw"

Stanford Parker has worked well as  sideman for many The first song gets off to a good start , but when it kicks in they are really trying to hard to sound like Neurosis.By the time the second song is in full force the Neurosis aspirations are in full force. So much so it makes me think why listen to these guys when I could just listen to Neurosis?  The album sounds great. It is well produced. The more Tool like moments with clean vocals dominate are the albums stronger suits.The bulk of the album is centered around a multi-movement thematic piece called "Onward Procession", but by this juncture in the album every thing sounds like the song that proceeded it until nothing has  a defined shape of it's own and this is just one sludged out slab of sound.

The first thing that sounds different is more of an interlude. The hyper-spaced out drift of "Conjuncture" . They begin to redeem themselves with the more melodic"The Way is Through" until the build up that turns into more Neurosis worshipping. This is slightly of set in a much more forgivable fashion on the exotic "To the Garish Remembrance of Failure." They works best when allowing themselves to space out into a darker more sonic place that isn't trying so hard, which they touch upon once more in the final song. The clean vocals have improved to the point of being the bands strong suit.

If this seemed like a short review for me that's because there is not much to say about this album. I no longer own any of their previous works , so it would be hard pressed for me to call myself a fan, but I always want bands to give me something I will latch onto and go int every album hoping this next one will be the perfect soundtrack I have been looking for . I see to remember enjoying this band's previous work more and don't remember the Neurosis tribute angle being so heavy handed the last time I heard them. I'll give this album a 3.5, if you think this deserves more then go download a copy of Neurosis' " Souls At Zero" album.

Black Metal History Month : Nest's s/t

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Crimson Swan:"Unlit"

The genre lines are in constant debate on this blog and here is another entry that finds us asking the question what is "funereal Doom" This German band is melodic and more often than not trudges a dark landscape, but there is more of a Katatonia element to this album than I expected going into this. The mix is dense, very compressed and bass heavy. The samples do buy them some time to allow the ambiance to simmer. They wait until the second son to launch into something more akin to funereal doom. The delicate guitar finds alluring melodies. The growled vocals back off into more of an Agalloch whisper. The growls normally fall in a dry choked rasp. not as low as the sort of growling I think of when it comes to funereal doom. You have to admire the bands willingness to take chances one the clean vocal harmonies of both male and female vocals join one of the breakdowns in "Words of Perdition".

There is more often than not a classic metal majesty to their sound. the harmonized guitar tones and the fact they don't sound to be tuned down as low as other doom bands. the powerful chugs they build into is a lot like newer Agalloch who many comparisons can be drawn to even though Agalloch is not a doom band. Crimson Swan speeds up into more of a blasty black metal beat at times, so they are not just a doom band either. Though this might be called blackened doom. On the title track the growl is more sinister and you can hear sounds that are not far removed from Pall Bearer. When this put together it does bring them closer to what I consider funereal doom, but not to the extent that I am hell yeah this is an awesome funereal doom band, instead they are a really good doomy metal band.

The clean vocal melodies are always sure of themselves. If they can pull that off live I would be impressed , but live is where bands of this ilk, Agalloch included tend to have the most problems. When it comes to how heavy this band it, they seem rather middle of the road. The death metal double bass is there, the dissonant chords and even a blast beat or two. At the end of the day good song writing wins out on "Accusations"the synth melody coating the thick lumber of the riff and the clean vocals dominating the verses all work hand in hand. This makes for some classic doom, that is more modern in feel than say Solitude Aeturnus. They do drag themselves into more run of the mill doom on "Void Haven" which might fall in line with your expectations of funereal doom, but it is also less original, so you appreciate the rest of the album where the band defied cliches.

This album was an enjoyable listen from a band that shows tons of promise. If you like your doom to be very melodic with an old Opeth ratio of clean vocals to growls then these guys are for you. The clean vocals are all smartly handled. I'll give this one an 8.5 as it was their willingness to try new things that was more impressive than any crushing riffs, they did not come across that heavy to me , but are promising song writers.