Oldspeak : 's/t"

Sludge fans should find themselves pretty content when this album roars to life. It takes you back to the early 2000s when bands like Isis were the newest most exciting force in metal. The hype around sludge has ebbed to the point bands are not self-identifying as that much these days. No matter what this band from Ohio tells you, they are not post-doom or doom gaze they are sludge. They should be proud as they are doing a fine job of it and bring a convincing level of atmosphere to these songs, that keeps them from sounding like the raw pound of cavemen. 

There is almost a Neurosis like level of sonic experimentation with "Drawing a  Circle " being more of an ambient interlude. On "Black Static and the Great Redeemer" the vocals carry a fine level of anguish to their howls as the band continues a dreary pound. 'Precession" is more of a straightforward pounding that just finds the mushrooms kicking in sooner than expected. The weird continues to sprawl out its web of dreamy dusk. 'Ladder of Self Destruction" is a thoughtful climb, with depressive motivation. Mdway in things catch with their trademark pummeling which proves effective. 

If my LSD trips were a song they would be the last track of this album. It's a swirl of chaotic ambiance. There are the howls of vocals, and think they did use instruments to create this, but I am not counting it as a song for the purpose of this review, due to its lack of any musical coherence. It's not a negative thing, it's just how it is. I think this is a wonderful album, it takes me back to the days when sludge bands were more depressed and doing more drugs, to make something beautiful from the ugliness of it all I will give this album a 9.5 

pst83

HAMFERÐ : "Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk"

 

The third album from the Faroe Islanders continues the tradition of dark and brutal, though melodic singing also cuts through the bleakness. Perhaps my memory fails me on these guys but I do not remember the sung vocals being belted out so powerfully last time. This leads them more in the doom direction for sure. They captured a tremendous guitar sound for this album. Even on my computer speakers, it's crushing. However, the second song sounds a lot like the first with only a few nuances like the solo section to set itself apart. It is not a deal breaker for the time being, but if they go to the well with this formula too many times it will dry up fast.,

"Marrusorg' does break things up, in almost an Opeth-like manner. You can not fault them for switching it up, and there is a darker undercurrent even to the more power ballad-like portion of the song. Midway into the song the melodies begin to speak to me more. This ballad feel continues on into the next song though this brings a more Kamelot vibe, just without the symphonies. They are assembling some powerful sound but by the time we get five songs in, nothing is really grabbing me and hooking me in. I appreciate what they are doing as musicians more than I am what they are doing as songwriters. It builds up into more of a black metal part, but I would prefer more dissonance. 

They ebb back into a moodier place which works better on "Fendreygar".  The transitions on this one are a little predictable. But well done for what is going down here. After this things thankfully begin to go in a heavier doomier direction. The low guttural growls return and make a case for the fact that just because you can sing like you are in Candlemass, does not always mean you should. The last track is more of an instrumental outro than a song. Not what I was expecting but still a dark solid listen I will give this an 8.5. Metal Blade drops it in March.

pst82

Black Metal History Month - Vemod : "the Deepening"

 

This Norweigan band is not hung up on being trve Norweigan black metal. They blend more folky sounds into the ambiance of their atmospheric tension. There is a dynamic ebb and flow to their sound that allows for atmosphere in a manner that does not pigeonhole them into being just Atmospheric black metal. Sure the first actual song is thirteen minutes long, but they keep things interesting enough that it does not fade into a drone.''True North Beckons"  has a cold march to it, that builds into a buzz. I like the organic way it feels like they begin to jam out with an almost "Stranglehold" feel.  The drumming is really tasteful here. 

Then some moments take the jamming and run wild with it. Though not in a priggish manner. It would make for a fun live show, as you rarely hear this kind of exploration from a black metal band. Most of the time black metal needs to hold onto the tension and keep it in your face rather than relax from it and wander like this. 

They close the album with the massive title track that pushes past the sixteen-minute mark. The song starts off with actual singing before the growls come in. This is a different way to approach the formula. The song simmers with distant tremolo-picked guitars. It is more metal in its intentions, with jam finding another way around the black metal core it dances around. The drums help dictate the progress of this song, which finds a balance between the more droning elements of black metal and the jammy tendencies of this band that help to give this a more organic rock feel. I will give this album a 9.5, as it feels like it is a black metal album for stoners which can be appreciated. Released on Prophecy Productions. 

 

 pst81

Black Metal History Month - Acathexis : "Immerse"

 

This black metal collective features members of Mare Cognitum, Los Males De Mundo, and Sliver Knife. Meaning there are vibes from each of their lands of origin, America, Belgium, and Argentina. The guitars buzz furiously, but with a very cleanly produced tone that has more in common with Deafheaven than Darkthrone. The screams of the vocals are pretty scathing. Somewhat articulate, but more of a layer of agony than a clear-cut narrative. For eleven and a half minutes it buzzes on in a cascading drone. The vocals sometimes shift down into lower death metal tones. 

I begin to get worried as the second song sounds like a continuation of the first. Not that it is even continuing to take the first song somewhere else it pretty much stays on the same blasting buzz. It does change into more of an atmospheric breakdown in the song's final minutes, but this far from compensates for almost twelve minutes that sounds like the album's first eleven and a half minutes being recycled. If you are going to work off a monochrome sonic formula then there is no need to drag it past the six-minute mark.

Things change enough for "the Other". The vocals at times sound like someone is torturing a bird. But in the most metal way possible. The last song is almost at sixteen minutes, aside from taking the vocals into a more guttural death metal direction, I am not sure much is changing except for the tempo, which is slowed dramatically compared to the first three songs. At the two-minute mark, I had already begun to wonder how this was going to go on for another thirteen minutes. It does add blast beats, and get more intentional, but when I left this album on and let it play, what I heard was a wall of sound that ran together. I will give this album a 7. They are skilled at this sound, and the vocals are convincing and more varied than expected. This drops March 20th on Amor Fati

pst80

Black Metal History Month - Ihsahn : "s/t"

The Emperor frontman returns for his 8th solo album, taking his black metal past and running it through a wild, wandering filter of progressive rock. This is not to say there is not black metal in and of itself. The second song is a more venomous excursion in that. There are symphonic elements but also hefty syncopated punches, as his knack of labyrinth arrangements continues to create winding passages that twist and turn in odd time signatures. He is not just hitting you with blast beats, and he still uses plenty of clean vocals to contrast his impressive snarl that has not lost any of its power. This is a two-disc set that also offers a symphonic version of the album that I need to review here. There are enough symphonic elements in this version to get the point across. 

"Twice Born" is an example of how he blends the symphonic elements, without compromising the aggression. Things ebb down to a more melodic tone for "A Taste of the Ambrosia".  Midway into the song, things get more dramatic.  "Blood Trails to Love" finds him employing the kind of harsher cry that reminds me of King Diamond. One of his earlier influences. This bleeds over into the riff that opens "Hubris and the Blue Devils" which also sounds like something from a King Diamond album. Which coming from me is more of a compliment. The meat of the song is a mathy angular tenque sion. 

The is a more opaque prog sheen over the more melodic 'The Distance Between Us". It works as a song but is not as gripping as the previous songs. The last actual song and not the symphonic outro is a display of cinematic grandiosity.  I think he has proven he would be capable of scoring movies. I will give this album a 9.5, as he lived up to his ambitions. I do not think it is his best solo album, but when measured against metal music as a whole certainly more thought-provoking than most. 

 

pst79

Black Metal History Month - LVME : "Of Sinful Nature"

This project treads the well-worn path of black metal. The nuances are subtle but present.  In some ways, this is another example of how being too devout to tradition can cause uniformity, Some songs carry more ebb and flow, 'Without Light Nor Guide" being one of the more dynamically flowing pieces. The first song also felt more unique, though by the second song, the buzz of guitar created a droning blur that carried you into the album that was becoming sonic wallpaper as I typed. The vocals are a choked mid-range snarl, that does not articulate for the lyrics to be anything more than an obligatory human impulse imprinted on their sound. 

The song titles are poetic, so it is a shame the message is lost in the blur of sound. However, these guys are not the worst offenders when it comes to the song vs sound war that rages in music today. The second song is the shortest at under six minutes, and most rage past the nine-minute mark. Not sure that playing longer makes anything more effective here, but it is a common black metal trope that this project has succumbed to. Is there a creepy chill to the music? Yes? if that is all you need from black metal then this album has you covered. The drummer is talented and capable of more than blast beats, though when it comes to metal he should be. 

The eerie melodic qualities that haunt "Into Ashen Stone" give the song more of its own personality which is what this album needs more of. The drummer once again deserves recognition, for serving the songs and keeping things well-paced. Sure it escalates into blast beats at times, but not until it has already been contrasted by the song's dreary throb. The last song only retains some of their more interesting atmospheric qualities and tends to follow the more typical depressive path of black metal. However, this still aches with sonic dissonance that is pleasing to the ears. I will give this one an 8.5, they have a lot of potential and a great deal of it was realized here, I just wish the vocals had more purpose, but aside from that they create great downtrodden black metal. 

pst78

Black Tusk : "the Way Forward"

 On their new album, Black Tusk bridges the gap between hard-core and sludge. The 2016 album "Pillars of Ash" was the only album I have paid attention to by them and this was due to the fact I knew Cory from Kylesa was playing on it and I am a huge Kylesa fan. I liked that album though it felt more like fuzzed-out aggressive punk than metal. The vocal approach still owes more to punk. However, there are more metallic smarts to the songwriting that rather than unloading a flurry of drunken punches, places them more effectively and the guitar is more melodic here as well. There is more of a burly drive forward on "Brushfire" that punk in more of a GG Allin manner. I like the vocal trade-off that allows for more colors, though both are pretty in your face.

There is more of a galloping metal groove to "Harness". The vocals bring more of a chaotic punk scream this time. One thing I like about this album is that it seems they picked up a touch of the darker underpinnings of crust from their time spent with Cory. "Lessons Through Deception" feels like the jammed-out extension of the previous song. There is a more reckless rock feel than what I would call sludge. They have more in common with AC/DC on "Breath of Life or "Lift Yourself'"  than Neurosis. Motorhead is another sonic point of reference and the blown-out bass tone winks in Lemmy's direction.  When they let their punk side out on the loose, the songwriting tends to default to the conventions of that genre., It does not resonate with me much on "Against the Undertow".

"Ocean of Obsidian" is more of an atmospheric interlude than a song, which is a shame as it would have been more interesting to have heard those sounds woven into the fabric of what they do. "Flee From Dawn" is a slapper for those who miss the band Mastodon was before they went prog. The last song gets the job done in a manner that straddles the punk and metal fence. I will give this album a 9, which places it above "Pillars of Ash" as it takes that sound and fine-tunes it in favor of songwriting. This does not sacrifice much in the way of aggression for the sake of long-time fans.This album drops April 26th on Season of Mist .  

 

pst77