Bats : "Alter Nature"

This Irish post punk band has returned after 7 years with it's 3rd album. When we say post punk in regard to these guys this is not mere Joy Division worship instead we have tense angular math rock that is dissonant . Sometimes darker than others. The lyrics a grim, leaning into sci-fi and horror. The drummer is pretty adventurous and they are prepared to bash into everything with the power of an Amp Rep band. The vocals are like a more monotone version of Brain from Placebo. They are frenetic like a punk band but bob and weave in various tempos. The vocals are often layered with yells and screams. "Christian Science " works of a sinewy groove. You can bob your head to it , but not dance. Things get darker for "the Call of Cthulhu" . The lyrics are pulled directly from Lovecraft's writing.  The melodies are often sing song chants.

I had to return to "Old Hitler" a few times before paying attention to it. There is a groove to it. The vocals are more understated. "In the Court of the K RISPR King" is not a King Crimson cover. The vocals are smooth and the frantic nature of the song is well contrasted .  There is a more aggressive tension to "Ergot".  The tempo picks up to more of a almost metal intensity.  The syncopation is very taunt as their chug carries weight.  "Dyson Sphere" runs off of it's energy generated by the momentum of an album that has not really let up since the first song. It bounces with the same force propelling a great deal of what has gone down so far and gets even more aggressive as it progresses.  This carries over into "Family Planning" that follows. It is more about the tension than the explosion.

"Current Affairs" has vocals that are more screamed going into it, thus setting the tone for something more punk. If you consider Fugazi punk then this could very well be punk too. This is not the first riff I have heard on this album and thought it was heading in a more metallic Mastodon like direction. I will give this album a 9.5, its still growing on me, there is a lot going on but I like all of it.

Cave In : "Final Transmission"

I really only paid attention to their first album "Until Your Heart Stops" , but did give "Jupiter" a few spins. They began to sound more like Failure at that point. So It makes sense that where there final album is at. Steven Brodsky certainly became a better singer over time. Perhaps not as emo as their sound in years past, I can appreciate the angular groove to "Shake My Blood". Obviously the death of Caleb Scofield influenced this album. His bass tracks are on six songs and guitar tracks on two. "Nightcrawler" has more drive. The vocals remind me of when Geddy Lee got older and could no longer sing in his elf like tenor, so he began to explore his lower register. The more punk drums don't do much for me. The dense ambiance obscuring "Lunar Day" casts a shoe gaze haze over things that make it more of an interlude than a song. 

So far the best song might be "Winter Window" as it has drive, groove and melody. Everything I need from a song. "Laterna" is darker and more grungy with some of the riffs sounding like they could have come from a Soundgarden album. That same density lurks under the guitars of the following song as . The way it breaks down for the vocals to hold it together sounds very 90s to me as well. "Led To the Wolves" is one of the songs credited to Caleb. It has more drive and the verse is often just the drums and vocals. The builds are explosive , though obtuse as they are so blown out and over driven.

Fans of Cave In should like this bitter sweet farewell note. If they have been around since the first album the change has been gradual enough for them to stomach it. I will give this album an 8.5. I guess if I had not already heard Failure then this might seem like the most original thing ever, which is less weird than the fact my mind only thinks of the first album, when it comes to these guys. Long time fans should find this a suitable good bye.

Young Mountain : "Lost Tree"

This band needs to convince me they are not just trying to be the Deafheaven of Sweden . Upon hearing the first single  "Vacant Eyes"  you might assume the hardcore stomp is a variation of Deafheaven used to do. The first time I saw Deafheaven live it felt like a hardcore show more than a black metal show. When you go into the actual album the opener paints a different picture. There is still the post-rock haze of gazing, but with more of an explosive tension. The drummer in this band is on point, There is a more of a punk jangle to "the Sun is Away". Clean vocals have a indifferent yet sleepy shoe gaze color indie rock tone. This makes the initial single more deceptive. They are a punchier brand of punk flavor indie rock , who really rocks out. This dreamy turn is a impressive dynamic shift from the first song.

"Regn" is more if Deafheaven's producer recorded a more mellowed out Converge. It has the shimmering post rock guitar, while drummer is intent on playing hardcore. On the second listen this proved to be more interesting. The dynamics are impressive. There are many interesting guitar tones on this album and none of this is coming from a place that finds them compelled to make a metal album, metal is just sonic color being used."Misery" is a fragile shoe-gazing affair that is more Bright Eyes than Deafheaven. There is an interesting interplay of guitar on the more aggressive yet melodic nature of "Juni". The bass holds most of the overdrive on this song. The vocals are more emotive and I could see this being thought of as screamo. The songs swells and takes you away with both anger and beauty.

The drums set a more subdued groove while going into the title track. It's not as explosive and simmers around in more indie rock territory. "I Flew Over Your House Last Night"  takes it's time bathing in atmosphere it does eventually build up into a more pounding place where screams  echoe beneath it. I'll round this one up to a 9 and see how it grows on me. The only thing that doesn't sell me 100 percent on 100 percent of what goes on here is sometimes the songs are so atmospheric they float away from you and I think  more could be invested in makes this songs that you sink your teeth into as they prove at many other points on the album that is what they are capable of . But it's still a great album.

Wrong : "Feel Great"

Making the kinda rumble once popular with hispters in the 90s which flourished on Amp Rep, these self professed Helmet worshipers are back with their sophomore full length on Relapse Records. They stomp through the first two songs in a rather uniform fashion. The vocal's are a shouted drill Sargent style that looses it's effectiveness the more you use it and only has command to it when used as another vocal color. The vocals finally switch up into something more melodic which also kinda goes for a more Page Hamilton vibe on "Nice Job". The drummer is obviously talented as the riffs shift in their staccato jerk.

These guys do have more guitar solos than Helmet. They slow down there herking and jerking on the title track. It kinda sound like a somewhat slower version of the first three songs with 'Nice Job" still the big winner here. All because the barked vocals are now boring. The singing comes back on "Upgrade". It's more of a slacker tone than being as Page Hamilton as the last time he sang, but heading in that direction. The little harmony run the guitarists do suggests that they are more into metal than Helmet, they used to be a punk band. Though Helmet has been known to cover Black Sabbath so that one might be too close to call. They get more punk on "Crawl Instead". It slows back down int oa more angular groove and speed back up.

They do get more melodic on "Come Apart Mend". Playing octave chords and such, kinda like late 90s post- hardcore. They get back to the tough muscular riffs with "Zero Cool". This song sounds better since a more melodic song came before it to give a little more dynamic contrast, which is what this album needs more of. They are back to actual singing on "Gape" . It has more of a Hum feel here, though you also says it's more "Betty" than "In the Meantime". The last song feels like more of the same stomping about in feed back with burly bass and frantic drums. I'll give this one a 7.5, it works more than I was afraid it would not despite rehashing what we have heard before.

Whores : "Gold"

This Atlanta trio has been gaining some buzz. They are devout followers of the path paved by the Amp Rep bands like Unsane, Helmet, Jawbox, the Jesus Lizard and Killdozer. Back in the day when this noise-rock or post hard-core movement of band's emerged they were for hipsters who wanted something with more teeth than Sonic Youth. Whores carries this torch. The opener is impressive in it's out burst of energy. I where the vocals sit on the verse going into this it reminds a little of older Today is the Day. They lock into kicking up the dirt in a more syncopated manner for " Baby Teeth". Sonically it stays in a similar place as the opener with waves of feed back and plenty of punches.

The song titles have tongue in cheek irony to them and it's all very clever. I have never really thought of this sort of thing as metal as it owes way more to punk than say Iron Maiden. It is very dense and well produced for the sound they are going for. The vocals are yelled in an angry monotone bark. When it comes to this sort of thing I like the Jesus Lizard because there is a darker chaos to what they do. Here a manner of restraint is employed, though the noisy bits of feed back around some of the sharp riffing creates a little sonic ambiance. One of my favorite song titles on this album is "Mental Illness As mating Ritual". This one allows the vocals to lament a little more over the verses.

"Ghost Trash" goes more Helmet with it's groove. At time it bares it's teeth more than Page Hamilton and the boys have lately, though I am going to review the new Helmet album "Dead to the World" when I am done with this so I guess we shall see. There is a more straight forward punk attitude to "Charlie Chaplin Routine". It comes clawing at you full throttle to the point of almost becoming a blur of white noise. The vocals serve more purpose on "Of Course You Do" that balances out a mean bass tone with some breathing room to give a little more dynamic range. My second favorite song title on this album is " I See You Also Wearing a Black T-shirt". This one is another more punk ditty. At this point in the album the vocals are beginning to bore my a little as they retain a similar snarl throughout, but the drumming on this song is impressive.

"Bloody Like the Day Your Were Born" feels more solidly written and nuanced,  it might be my favorite song on the album. The first dynamic ebb in energy is on the more deliberate crunch of "I Have A Prepared Statement". I like this side of the band more than the relentless frantic beating they give your ears for the bulk of this album. It has some strong moments, but not as varied in mood as most of the music I listen to. I hated their cover of the Cure's "Jumping Someone Else's Train" so this is a vast improvement. I'll give this album an 8, though I personally don't see myself returning to it, if this is your thing then it might give you things the new Helmet album won't I guess I'll find out in ten seconds.

Slow Bloom

This band from Santa Rosa is going to have a hard time convincing me they are not just a punk band after the opening track of their new ep. Sure they have samples to bring to the party, but how much of the rowdy ranting does that change? They have a great deal of energy, but tend to hover around a very Refused like marching. Some times they also remind me of a less prog minded At the Drive In, as the carry the same explosive frenetic impulses. There are some darker undertones to "Final Heaven". The only draw back is the yelled vocals get a little old by the third song and start to make everything sound the same.They stomp around at more of a mid pace, and go into a sing song chant, but it really doesn't stand out much from the previous song. So while they have their own sound it would pay off to have some more diverse and dynamic textures within that.


 "Phantom Tantrum" bleeds into the same tantrum they have been having for the majority of the album, it is not until "Obscura Vision" that things switch up a little and the At the Drive In influence really comes at you full steam. The last song get a half shade more melodic, but stays pretty close to the one trick they have perfected .  To have been recorded live in their practice space the sound is pretty impressive. I'll give this one a a 6 since I used to really be into At- the Drive In, so I can see how kids who were not around for that might be impressed, they are good at what they do this album just didn't score higher , because I need my music to generally do more than this. How ever theya t least deserve props for doing this.

Wrong : "S/T"

The band features ex-members of Kylesa and Torche, but worships at the altars of the 90s. All the Amp Rep bands come to mind at once, but these are coupled with a Helmet like stomp. Whores already does this kind of thing and an Unsane album on it's own merit can't keep me engaged for long, much less the second generation of that. It opens with this in a heavy  90s stomp that is just a brief burst like this is a grind core band...though they generally pound at half the speed of grind core. The vocals are barked at you in almost a hard core punk grunt. "Turn In" keeps the heaviness a mid pace that works better for them than when they speed up on "Read". "Entourage" is more sonically reckless and not as refined of a song as "Hum Drum". When they are playing off the groove things work best for this band even if it is not the most original sound.

"Stasis" is a little more melodic with a more sing song spoken chant to the vocals rather than the grunt. Their song can border on the band being a bit of a one trick pony at times. The are good musicians. The bass player has a nice tone, but by the time we are half way into the album on "Fake Brain" my brain can't fake interest and begins to tune this out. There is a guitar break that attempts to add some atmosphere and melody, but it's too little too late. The grumpy stomp of "Boil" is a cumbersome clunk. The title track is more of the same, but "High Chair" offers a ray of hope by taking a more melodic Hum like approach. These guys should have invested more time exploring this side of what they do as it's way more compelling.

If you missed out on Helmet in the 90s, then I would suggest checking out "Betty" before putting all of your eggs into this basket. This album sounds good for what it is, and is well played, but it's like these guys are a tribute band. I'll give this album a 7 which is as high as a tribute band could  score, as they fire on all cylinders, but need to show me more of who they are as I am where of who Page Hamilton is.

Sonance : " Blister the Maw"

 These guys are back and the experimentation is heavier than the music by the half way point of the thirteen minute opener. Mainly whispers and feedback with a brooding bass line. A lot of noise has come this blogs way in the past week and I'll say here what I've been saying in other reviews, that I love Swans, I can handle noise as long as it brings a pay off and used as a dynamic tool. Here the pay off doesn't come in the first 13 minutes, which effectively makes that wasted time. A side note here...since this review was written, in the comments below it was brought up that due to the fact real instruments was used to make this noise, should not make it but make it a real song. So how we define real songs around here is .....establishes some form of melodic merit. For 13 minutes no melodic merit is established, so it's noise, and just like Pinocchio wishing to be a real boy just because you have instruments, wishing alone doesn't mean you are making music since music is defined as  

the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity vocal, instrumental, or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody, or harmony

no melodic order to your tones = not music


 The first real song"Oldest Harm" kicks ass. It brings more of a punk influence to the table than I remember from their last album. This is taken in a more sonic direction on "Destroy and Dismember" which does actual feel like it has a Swans influence to it. The vocals are an almost more hard core choked shout.The melody that sweeps though the background of the song is cool, but I'm not sure it lives up to what they gave us on 'Blackflower". This doesn't mean this is a bad song, it's just the bar is raised pretty high for these guys. They come closer to reaching more of the balance they struck on the last album when they get to "Staggered". The bass keeps things creepy and fluid, the vocals are more screamed and growled in the layers of harshness coming from their throats.


The last song "Capitulation" is just a noisy outro, for the sake of this review I am not even going to count it. Sure this is being released on tape and it's basically an ep. I'm counting the first song, because it must take up the first side of the tape and as long as all the real songs put together. So for that reason it brings this albums score down to an 8, if we were just talking about the three actual songs then it would be a 10, but they are the ones who threw the first 13 minutes on there so I am guessing while it might have been a mistake it was not an accident.

Self -Defense Family : "Superior"

Wow this is a gem of an e.p  that I stumbled across today. Sure I had heard the name before, but after checking it out it  has me quick to hunt down this band from Boston's previous work. They have been described as punk and I don't think that is a fair label to slap on them. The are a glum indie rock band. There songs are slow and not full of reckless energy. The singer has a lazy mope to his voice that offers up a rather apathetic narrative. It's the sound of a man who struggles to get out of bed every morning and the clean twinkling tones of the guitar are crying at him for it. "In the Climate of the Room" finds the pace picked up to something along the lines of mid paced Sonic Youth. Some excess distortion is shaken off of the song's edges, but it's not abrasive.

My only complaint is that there is not more here to indulge in. To make matters worse the supposed title track is just them fucking around and making a noise drone. The third and final song "Good Idea Machine" finds the vocals up close to microphone. They are a few beats ahead of being slow core. Not a radio friendly as the National, they are like that band's more depressed and less listener friendly younger brother. The guitar tone on this ep is spectacular. Fans of shoe-gaze will be able to embrace this bands vibe, even though I would not say they are shoe-gaze.Every picture of this band makes it look like their six or 7 people in this band, which I am not sure what they are all doing. Sure there are multiple layers of guitar which are the only thing i can hear there being more than one of. For what music is here...these three songs I give a 10. I know they just released a couple of albums last year and the album format in the age of downloading is seeing a decline, so I don't fault band's for putting out eps like I once did. Going back and listening to "Heaven is Earth" that precedes this I can say the Fugazi under tones are what is missing from this record and the vocals are much more relaxed. The D.C vibe of their earlier stuff might be gone here, but the band is moving onto bigger and better things as they have evolved into a more timeless sound.

Svalbard : "One Day All This Will End"

What will metal look like in a post- Deafheaven world? That is one question I found myself asking with this album.  These guys are a British band that is a little post-everything. The vocals are shouted in more of a hard core style and the punk in the drums points to the fact that might be where there hear is really at. While there are some more melodic moments, the opener is still more powerful than "Disparity" that follows. Really I am having trouble figuring out what is being done here that bands like Cave In and Converge haven't done better before. Sure there might be a slight more post rock in these guys guitar sound, but I'm not hearing blackened anything anywhere. Black metal is more of a feeling than a way to scream or a blast beat pattern. This is there debut album, which means one of two things, either they are still fine tuning who and what they are or this is culmination of years in the making.


They get a little more shoe gazey in places on "The Vanishing Point" point that doesn't make them Deafheaven. Then they take off in a more screamo direction.  They continue down this rowdy road for the brisk post- hard core pacing of "Expect Equal Respect". This is something I would have really dug in 2001, but my tastes have grown past this making these guys not seem all that heavy. Sure you can do a good hardcore jig to this and the riffs are catchier than most. "Unrequited" has a little more stomp but it feels like an extension of the previous song to me. The tremolo guitar that opens "the Damage Done" is much more interesting to me. While the song has a unruly punk propulsion it seems more honest than the song before it. "Unnatural Light" might have a more sonic attack to it's frantic jangle, but it is yet another moment where it sounds like I heave heard this all a decade before. They take a lighter more sonic post-rock meets shoe gaze tone on the closing song "Lily". This turns out to be an instrumental and its one of the better songs on the album so I am not sure what that says about the vocals. This album is decent just proves nothing is new under the sun and for young kids I am sure this is next level shit, I have heard it before and liked it better when Cave In did it so I'll give it a 6.

No Omega : " Occupants"

This ep by the Swedish band No Omega came out back in April, so I am not sure how it slipped past me.  They take another step in a more metallic direction in their attempt to create darker hardcore, this how how thin of a line it can be between the two genres. Some post- rock influenced sections even float in on the first song. This is more melodic than what I have heard from the bands previous work. By the second song the lyrics which are encouraging the person to whom they are directed to "stay and face their problems" which is more of a hardcore lyric than a metal lyric. It is also more straight forward bordering on punk in the simplistic arrangement. It looks like "Man/Monster" that follows is going to use a similar formula until it collapses into a more post-rock atmosphere. This makes some of the hammering punches they throw at you stand out.

They have more a more expansive and sonic  rhythmic attack that is more post-hardcore than the other songs on this ep, as the guitars jangle and swell rather than jab at you. It shows a ton of maturity in their song writing and the expansion of tones at their command. They close this album out with a rumble of bass before exploding into the more metallic hard core of "Comfort". Midway into the song it goes a more Converge route, with a sample bridging the transition into a strummed and introspective section that is more indie rock in its melodic ambition, it might sounds like Explosions in the Sky if it wasn't for the screamed chant of the vocals . I'll give this album an 8.5, it eases back on intensity and darkness, but find the band taking a step forward in other ways. Not blown away by it, but it is a good album, if you are a big fan then round it up to a 9. I guess having grown up listening to Converge it makes you jaded when it comes to a hard core band experimenting, since there is no ground here they have not already covered.

A Pregnant Light : "Neon White"

Damian Master is back with some more purple metal. This was labelled as a demo, but the demo released for Record Store Day was called St. Emaciation. The first song has more of a hard core feel, with some punchy moodiness thrown in towards the end.Being a demo the recording is pretty raw and more than a little rough around the edges, the guitars sound like they would benefit from more effects rather than such a dry sound. "Horse Head" is in the same hardcore influenced zip code, some black metal like guitar appears midway through it, I suppose if you are just desperate to call something black metal. There are some nice guitar melodies mixed in on this one.

The guitar tone changes for " Guess" , but the song carries a similar post- hardcore stomp to it. There is a good deal of hook to it and I like the very emo guitar break down. Of the three originals on this album, this one is the best. Even the hard core parts have melody and catchy vocal arrangements that are shouted out. The weird eighties sung part which is bathed in odd effect elevates the song into a more awesome sonic realm.

He closes it out with a cover of Nick Cave's "Abattoir Blues" . The vocals are buried beneath the guitar , which for Nick Cave that is a crucial element since his post- Birthday-Party work is so vocal driven. So it is a little underwhelming. Like most of his work there are more hits than misses, though it doesn't consistently hit the mark. So I will give this a 7.5. Maybe this is a demo and the finished product will really wow me, but production wowing me to make this a ten is a little far fetched.

Seagrave: "Stabwound"

This was much better than expected. Sometimes if the art is blah, then I think well how creative can they really be if they didn't put more though into that and then named there album "Stabwound" which sounds like something a glue sniffing death metal band would do .  The sample in the first song must be from the movie 'the hours".there is just as much post-hardcore in this as there is the black metal that this wants to be. The production is a little rough around the edges, but it doesn't distract me too much from the final product. The vocals are hard core shouts , not raspy screams at all.

The pace picks up, but the hardcore vocals stay the same. There is more black metal to this song than the first, however that does not mean it is a better song, as it flattens the dynamics. I know a genre that lends it self to atmosphere would cause that , but when you are trying to hard to go in a direction that isn't you that is what happens. The third song takes a more post-rock approach from the get go, though the hardcore tendencies could be waiting around any corner. Things get kinda emo , but in a good Mineral kind of way, there is even a jerky indie rock kind of riff, but this album doesn't have any darkness to it. The clean vocals that start off "Manifest" are impressive and I can't figure out why there hasn't been more of that going on here. Though it almost brings a Brand New like cadence with it. While it boast more metallic power than some of the other songs on this album " Down with the Wolves" isn't the strongest song, though the way the vocals are placed shows a different take on the hard core yelling that goes on for the bulk of the album. Sure the blasting section is powerful at the end of the song it's the break down that is more convincing.

The album closes with "Bonjour Tristesse" that gets off to a slower post-rock feel, like older Alcest perhaps.They blast beats work a little better and this song seems to succeed where at other points in the album he was just trying to hard.  There is a pretty sweet chugged build up section. It does begin to make me drone out and zone out a little brushing the song in the back ground, but there are some good sounds captured here. I'll give this one an 8 as it has some cool moments and a great sense of dynamics, the only weakness is what I mentioned early this project is going for black metal when that is not what is at this album's heart, so go in not expecting blackened anything and you will be pleased. the Coming out this week on Art of Propaganda.


5

Sofy Major: Idolize

After hearing a lot about these guys I decided to give them a shot as they were supposedly experimental and progressive in their approach though , I can't say either of those are the best descriptions of what this French Post-hardcore band does .

The tightly picked opening for " Aucune Importance" gets things off on the right foot. When it shifts into the half time groove at the end of the first minute the math starts creeping out, though the emphasis despite what I had read going into this that eluded to the fact they were more progressive than they are, at best they touch on the Jesus Lizard territory. The vocals ranges from a raspy baritone sung to some growling but at it's harshest falls short of being a metal tone.

The guitar has a grunge like tone similar to that of Helmet, who I would say this ban has the most in common with. Though they jerk you around where Helmet would beat the point home by going into a staccato riff m there is a sense of nostalgia when I listen to this as it takes me back to that place in the 90s. The slow pound of " Steven the Slow" really makes the Helmet comparison glaring, though it does lurch into a little more of a Melvins feel. The vocals take on a wackier rasp , like falling into Butthole Surfers Territory. The vocals take on a slight Eyehategod phlegm in the screams on this one. A similar groove but accented more like Clutch "bbbreak" picks u where the last song left off. The playing is dead on, the song writing is where they tend to fall flat. There are lots of cool riffs but

Another Jesus Lizard groove emerges on "Umpkk pt 2", the vocals improve a lot here as there are actual notes being sung, I can see where comparisons to Queens of the Stoneage can be drawn here. I have read several blogs  trying to label these guys as being progressive and while I can hear touches of Torche and Mastodon in their sound , I don't hear anything as challenging as say Botch.  One "Coffee Hammam" there drummer displays some hefty chops before they drop into a more stoner section. The vocals show more promise on "Slow and Painful" as well, they stay in a rough baritone similar to Baroness and use similar builds to that bands more recent work.

For this band to be from France their is a very  lazy stroll to "Seb" that invokes a long stoned drive through the desert. It only serves as an instrumental interlude with some samples drifting over it.  "Plantini" is another straight up rocker that benefits from a driving bass line.
 

The chug of  "Frost Forward" moves things in a more metal direction, but more along the lines of an angular Quicksand. " Power of Their Voice" despite the feed back around the edges of  the noisy intro has almost almost similar tension to the drive of its groove. Here the more mathy leanings is at this point forgotten in favor of the driving chords. It slows in the last minute but I was expecting something more drastic.  

I'll give this one a 7.5 as it's well put together, there are some cool riffs that have a lot pf powerful movement but cool riffs doesn't make a classic album when there is nothing really new here that I haven't heard before , I am guessing this is a more commercial step for the band as it feels they are adhering to more tried and true formulas that have show success breaking out of similar markets.