Falling in Reverse : "Popular Monster"

First time covering this band. Never even fucked with Escape the Fate either. But I took a chance and checked out some of Radke's videos recently and was impressed so giving this a shot. The opening track to the album is hopefully more of just an intro and not an indicator of the album as a whole, as it sounds almost just like Eminem, though he does sing at the end of the song. Granted the bulk of this album is not going to hold a great deal of surprises as it's made up of singles they have been releasing since 2019, so it's been five years in the making and a slow reveal. Guess there is some smart marketing going on as the band has become massive in the past five years.  "Popular Monster" is basically nu-metal, it's more like Poppa Roach than any band that would be considered post-hardcore. It is still haunted by the ghosts of Myspace metal, but Radke's vocals pull it together, and I can appreciate how shifts form different vocal colors. 

There are a few cool moments to "All My Life" but I think Jelly Roll is overrated as a singer. "Ronald" works better with Alex Terrible and Tech N9ne, even if it sounds more like Slipknot. Four songs in and it feels like a mixed bag to me. For every slapper there is a meh moment. "Voices in My Head" works off an infectious hook, which is what it should be about. Radke's girlfriend Saraya lends her voice to "Bad Guy". It's another hooky jam.  "Watch the World" takes a turn from hip-hop to pop punk, not sure it's the best blend of the two, as the hip-hop part was working better.

"Trigger Warning" is more interesting lyrically. The pop-punk leanings of the chorus find a better balance than what we have heard previously on the album. "Zombified" is another finely crafted pop song that works well. "NO FEAR" is another balance of the pop side of the band with hip-hop, though it still holds an aggressive tension. His singing sounds pretty stellar on the cover of "Last Resort" which reimagines the song as a ballad. I will give this album a 9.5,  it goes to show hyper-produced radio-rock slanted toward pop does not have to suck and can be really well done. This is the sound of an artist who is reaching their peak creative self realization. 

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Valletta : "Summer"

 

One thing I like about death n roll bands is they tend to take heart in the songwriting parts of rock music. Obvious these guys really dig Entomb's "Wolverine Blues" album. These guys are however able to translate that in a way that makes it their own thing. The growled vocals can give everything a more uniform sound, I like the darker throb to "Saint" but had to listen to it three times before the song clicked in for me. There is a darker more deliberate punch to "Diving into the Deep". The band does care about songwriting and are all veterans of projects like Lord Almighty and Hopesfall, so they have the know-how. The gritty focus of their sound seems to keep them locked in a similar shade of gray. 

There is more of a thrash feel to the tempo picking up on "Criminal" as things get more aggressive. Things do not take the shift into the more creative direction I could hear they were capable of until "Soot & Ash" where the chorus takes a more sung vocal, and the overall song carries a more deliberate tock feel. In some ways "III Blood" makes the most sense to have as a single, as the guitar playing is melodic and catchy it works with what the context of streaming metal radio might sound like these days. I think the previous song was better. "In Ectasy' by merit of its songwriting is more deliberate and catchier.  

Then there is almost an 80s rock feel to the riff that opens "On the Run".  This does account for catchier songwriting. Say what you about the 80s but the songs have stood the test of time. "Bringing the Worst" also embraces a more purposeful side to their riffing that is more memorable. "Come Alive" marches forward with the triumphant stomp of classic metal. "Almighty Hate' chugs with a darker intensity to close the album. There is a slight tinge of black metal to this, but it's a pretty straightforward song, not the catchiest but effective. I will give this an 8.5, it's not the most original album I have heard, but they are good at what they do. With that said it makes it better than most as they have songs that are not just rushed by you in a feral frenzy like most bands these days. Coming out on October 4th on Forcefield Records. 

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Nile : "The Underworld Awaits Us All"

 

Nile has always struck me as the Egyptian take on Morbid Angel. This album finds them lashing violently away from such comparisons with an almost grind core-like attack. There are still the acrobatic guitar solos, which have embraced chaos in the past, here it just consumes their identity as songwriters making for something with a renewed feral intensity. This is ten albums into their career so I did not expect them to explode out of the pyramids like this.  They blast into the second song with a relentless and mean-spirited momentum. This did not catch me by surprise since after the first song I was expecting anything. The blasting works here but it could get old if they go to that well too many times. 

"To Strike With Secret Fang" strikes with the thrashing speed of a cobra, but the more deliberate moments of "Naqada" are more effective and make the faster moments make more sense. Otherwise, it becomes a blinding blur of riffs racing past. This leaves you a little torn as it's impressive they are bringing it with more youthful speed than it seemed they still had ten years ago much less reaching back to their earlier 90s work, but this is met with the expectations that since they are one of the more revered death metal legends they should write more memorable songs. They have not forgotten the acoustic interludes to set the mood. 

"Overlords of the Black Earth" is supported by riffs that have more purpose though the rapid-fire double bass of the drummer is still trying to rush things. A few sung vocals are whisked in, to help things with a hook.  "Under the Curse of the One God" largely speeds by me with a few riffs making me take notice, and the vocals snarling something that made sense for a second. "Doctrine of Last Things' has all the energy but none of the riffs really hook me in. Though they do slow the crunch of the guitar down in the song's last minutes. "True Gods of the Desert" is more melancholy in its stomp which works for me, since this brings them closer to a "Where the Slime Live" like groove. It might even be the album's song. 

The title track takes some dynamic shifts, with the thump of the bass anchoring the drums as it should. At eight and a half minutes it's the album's longest song. There is a lot to unpack with it. One thing is sure the drummer is going all out and solidifying his place as one of death metal's best, and that is being the best in a genre that is already full of metal monsters. The last song carries more melancholy in the gloom and doom they cast here. I will give this album a 9, they prove they are still good at what they do, and their fans will love it. It drops August 23rd on Napalm Records. 

  

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GEL : "Persona"

With the end of the world right around the corner, I would think more punk and metal bands would be angrier than they are. The industry is leaning in a kinder gentler direction with more inclusive pop sounds seeping into the music so it's good to have bands like New Jersey's GEL, bringing things right up in your face with their pumped-up punk. 2023's "Only Constant" won me over with the punk momentum not compromising the songwriting.  the energy leans more into the hard-core side, it throws more weight behind its punches. The straightforward punk rush of adrenaline pumps through the title track, with more deliberate breakdown-styled riffs breaking things up. 

The bass drives things going into "Martyr" to provide more nuance to the overall sound of these songs. It would be easy for the band to let their aggression carry them away and just hit you with anger, which would cast a monochrome shade over these songs. There is almost a more 90s hard-core feel to "Martyr". Sami Kaiser still screams in one direction, though her phrasing is not as uniform,, there are a few spoken parts that break things up. Overall the expansion of dynamics they needed on the previous album was slight since the raw energy expelled from them carried most of the weight, but everything has been dialed in to find the perfect balance on this one. 

"Vanity" is marginally darker due to the deliberate throb of the guitar. This album is more produced than the previous song, but still organic enough to maintain its charm. The guitar has a more metallic tone which plays into this being more of a hardcore record, though some of the more rock n roll-rooted punk sensibilities are still there the emphasis is just placed more of added heft to the guitars. Granted touring and playing large festivals had to have influenced the band. They have grown into who they are as a band without losing any intensity, I will give this one a 10. 

    

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DAUFØDT : "Glitter"

This band from Norway attacks you with a hateful style of hard-core that is sharp and metallic.  When things shift to a more punk rock tempo the angry snarl of Annika Homme retains its scowl of disdain. They do not run with the fact this is a female-fronted band. They just focus on kicking your ears in. The band lays into the songs with a tight expression of disdain. "Toxic" finds things riding an explosive tension. She backs off on the viciousness slightly in some of the more punk rock moments but her roar is generally at the forefront. 

You do not hear the band's more experimental side until "Over ended". It rages at high speeds while sticking to a more rock-n-roll swagger.  The bass lays down the tempo leading into "Falske Vekkelser', which builds into something more jagged and noise-centered. At just over nine and a half minutes, it lays the drone on thick enough before it converges into a more coherent song. It builds into a noisier throb that without the harsh chant of the vocals might not feel like a song. It's a long song for a band that falls on the more extreme end of punk, This is three albums into their career so even when they experiment a bit they still know what they are doing. 

"Verre" has a bigger rock sound, before hurtling into the punk pink that breaks out when the song kicks it.  I can hear some common ground with a band like Kvelertak. "Ver gar under" charges full speed ahead, though the band does drape things in space sounds. The mood grows a little darker for 'Skjelvet". It broods with the more atmospheric chords. "Myriaden" is just an interlude where the chords ring out to create an ambient wave of sound. Then things close in a more typical punk panic attack.  I will round this one up to a 9.5, as its' sound focused without sacrificing the raw aggression.

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Defeated Sanity :'Chronicles of Lunacy"

The band's 2016 album was the last one we reviewed and it got an 8.5, which is better than most. This album is more committed to burtality, which presents its own challenges. What are they going to do that Cannibal Corpse does not do better is the number one question. There is a little more grindcore feel alone with the technical aspects of the band, which finds subtle jazz trapping in the drumming and bass playing as the guitar chugs around their escapades. The second song finds a better balance of the jazz technicality with the more brutal pound. The grunt of the guttural vocals has a similar low gurgle as Cannibal Corpse, though Corpsegrinder's voice has more power and personality. Still, this guy gets the job done well enough. 

They jerk you around like a blood-soaked roller coaster on "Accelerating the Rot". The guitars do find some interesting hooks, and they dazzle you in the manner they are capable of turning the riffs around. While many tech death bands get preoccupied with solos, these guys still care about the song and bring the grooves as needed. Lille Gruber is an amazing drummer who is capable of doing it all, but the hidden VIP here is the bassist Jacob Schmidt, who not only keeps up but embellishes around the chaos. When they just plow into the chug and slow things down it's just as effective as when they are firing off all the jazz-inflected bells and whistles. They do not blast at you for prolonged periods and keep dragging you down the maze-like corridors of the songs. 

Though like most technical death metal if they are not giving me riffs that will keep my attention and things fall into a blaze of rapid-fire jazz abstraction with growling over it begins to fade into a distortion salad in the background.  "a Patriarchy Pervese' does find the meaty riffs stomping around enough. There is a great deal being thrown at you throughout the song. The vocals are so low and guttural that they are not an active participant in creating the narrative of the song and feel more like a layer of sound. This song finds them remembering that head banging is the priority over fretboard mastery. 

At six minutes "Condemned to Vascular Famine" is the longest song on the album. It opens with rubbery riffs dancing in an angular fashion before blasting at you full speed ahead. It hammers almost too hard for its own good. Based on the sample it is about vampires, which is a subject more death metal should cover. It does find a solid grooving break-down style riff to work off of. The last song goes more for brutality and accomplishes proving the band as one of the more intense death metal bands out, this is not the album's best song. I will give this one a 9. It is not the style of death metal I am into when it comes to my own tastes, but the band's talents can not be denied. This drops November 22nd on Season of Mist. 

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Zeal & Ardor : "GRIEF"

Do you remember back in 2017 when the music press was making a big deal about a person of color fronting a "black metal" band? The problem was that it did not feel like a black metal album at all.  Perhaps they wanted it to be so "black metal" would not be so "problematic". The hype was enough for this band to gain critical acclaim but has never scored higher than an 8.5 with me. In truth, their 2022 self-titled album was less impressive than "Stranger Fruit".  The last album was pretty much nu-metal, and now their fourth album is not metal at all. It sounds more like King's X than King Diamond.  However, we can now refer to this as a band since Manuel Gagnuex decided to let the live band he's toured with for the past years play on the albums. You might think with a full band cranking it in the studio it would cause things to rock a little more, but the opposite is true. 

If you told me the opening track was a new Sevendust song, I would believe you, though it is more of an intro for "Fend You Off". The vocals are soulful and performed well enough, but it's pretty generic modern rock. "Kilonova" is the first song that works, and perhaps the only song on this album that is worth a shit. Most of this is due to the fact the tightly syncopated tension of the guitar makes me think of Faith No More.  "are you the only one now" sounds as if King's X lost all of the down-tuned grunge heft that made their music work. Gagneux said this album was more personal, which I guess means lacks all the balls, even when the harsher vocals come in they are not convincing me and the thin mix of the instruments does not help their case.

"Go Home my Friend" has been done better by Algiers, who are the band that should be getting the hype this project has. On my second listen to the song it works better than the first time I heard it, but it does not go anywhere. "Clawing Out" sounds like Korn covering Pantera. Though lacking the heft of either band, the guitars could not sound any thinner. Much like King's X  there is a Beatles-like sound to "Disease" but is proof that not only are these guys not black metal, they are not metal at all despite their attempts to convince you otherwise on the previous song. "369" uses a more blues-like groove, though its stomp lacks direction. It's an interlude that is an idea that no longer can grow into a song. 

They are about as heavy as your average Muse radio hit on "Thrill", which pretty much works but feels like radio pandering, or an outright sell-out. "June ville vide" is another interlude, which makes it feel like this album is crammed with them because they had writer's block. They pretty much rip off Queens of the Stone Age on "Sugarcoat". If you ever wanted to hear what Queens of the Stone Age sounded like writing a nu-metal song this is your chance. The stripped-down ballad "Solace" reminds you that he can sing, but what do they really have to say? It's pretty boring. The build at the end is predictable. 

"Hide in the Shade" is another soulful foot stomper, that tries to recapture their earlier work, but this feels just an obligatory consolation prize, and lacks anything that makes it feel authentic. The breakdown in the song might be one of the album's most dynamic moments, but one song is not going to make this a metal album, metal is just a color they dabble with as there is no darkness in their hearts. "To My Ilk" is another ballad, that sounds like a Red Hot Chili Peppers b-side that never made the cut. I will give this album a 5.5 it's their worst moment yet, though that does not mean it won't outsell the other albums as the masses also buy Cardi B and Billie Eilish albums so their taste can not be trusted, if it could there would not be any Fast and Furious sequels. This feels like a product that is just as empty. It's like they asked AI what metal might sound like. 

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