Sweden's doom merchants rumble out of the gates with a bigger sound this time around. Though each album has found them progressing into a more melodic direction, "You Bastard" finds the rumble picking up into a more sinewy groove. The tenor vocals similarly drift over things as Ozzy once did without being a flagrant influence. They jam out a bit on the guitar solo, which works well. Things do not get darker until "Inside a Collider," which does have a more mournful doom feel. These guys have, in the past, skated the lines between sludge, doom, and stoner metal, and at times, you could point your finger in all three of those directions on the first three songs. It jsut feels likea more intentional step in a doomier direction here.
"Crystal Bridge" is more melodic; it's moody with a melancholic edge, but it works for me. 'Oozing Wound' is more of a sludgy, fuzzed-out jam. The smooth, haunting flow of the vocals is what keeps it from falling solidly in the sludge direction. In fact, when they come in, things get moodier. This is excellent songwriting, some of the band's best. It's the wandering guitar solo that takes things in the jam-ward way." The Masque is the first song that has a more classic metal feel. This is also coupled with a more rock n roll chorus. More Blue Oyster Cult than Black Sabbath.
This is also the first album where I have really heard the Sabbath influence that dominates so many stoner/ doom bands come out in these guys. More traditional doom unfolds with "Invisible". The last song finds things taking a dramatic change as Entombed bassist Jorgen Sandstrom takes over on vocals to create more of a death doom sound, which is not what you expect stepping into one of this band's albums. Though they do not go the traditional way with this, at eight and a half minutes, there are plenty of twists and turns. Overall, I like the direction they were heading on this album; the last song is a little out of character, but it retains enough of their sound. I will give it a 9.5. Dropping May 29th on Relapse Records.
Yes, this is the band with the super-hot drummer. They also happen to write decent songs and are more rock than expected. Going into this, I expected something more like the Beaches. It's more power-pop than the shake your booty kinda of pop you hear on the radio. First off, these gals are playing real instruments and are more like a less punk version of the Runaways. If you think that means the Donnas, less 80s than them. There is also an angular quirkiness that you can hear in songs like "Phaser."They are also more upbeat than most punk. They do not hang onthe same chords nor try to overpower you with an anthemic bop. One of their strengths is that they pretty much just sound like themselves.
"I Don't Know You" is pretty hooky without being today's definition of pop. Very melodic and memorable guitar playing. Their singer has control of her voice and employs very nuanced phrashing. "Call Me Up" has more swagger in its step. Similar vocal approach to the previous song. There is a slight 70s glam feel to how it struts. It is obvious they invested a great deal of time listening to rock radio growing up, as they capture the larger-than-life feel of it. "Bring it On" is the first song that comes clsoe to hard rock, and then it's balanced out by the synths.
Things go in a more melodic direction for "Always Hard 4 U" which finds their singer really belting out in spots. I guess this one brings Veruca Salt to mind when all the elements are taken into consideration. I would not call any of their music dark, but the moodiest song is "Take it Back" which closes the album. I will give this album a 9 and see how it grows on me, it's a solid preformance and writing from these girls, look forward to hearing where they go from here. Fans of anthemic rock from the late 70s, early 80s will dig this for sure.
This band from France plays a 90s-influenced take on burly indie rock. Sonically,, it finds its place between shoegaze acts like the Catherine Wheel, and post-hardcore/alternative acts along the lines of Failure and Hum. Plaintive vocal weave over the fuzzed-out bass lines, and angular guitar jangle that intersects on the opening track "Avoider". I went into this knowing nothing about the band, but the first song works well enough for me to stick around and listen to more. "Desire Path" has a more Cure-like path, and vocals are sung with a breathy emotion behind them. The moodier vibes work for me here. Almost predictably,, they stomp on their distortion pedals. They have both dynamics and melody in play,, so that is half the battle.
The woozy guitar effects you expect from shoe-gaze surface going into "Here the Mermaids Play". There are more nuanced guitar licks than what you normally get from this sort of thing, which helps set them apart. "Rituals" has more momentum as the drums give it more drive. There is also an underlying aggression to the riff's attack. Things begin to find a more grungy jangle on "Silhouettes". There is a more morose mood here that works for me more than even the previous song. The vocals are oddly dry for a great deal of the album,, though the production tricks on them here work well. There is more of a slacker strum to "Red Herring". The vocals come in softer, electronic elements ate introduced, as you might begin to suspect the sessions for this album might not have been as organic as the albums from the 90s. It's a weird turn for the album.
"Skins Make One" is another turn in a more shoegazing direction. The almost whispered vocals slowly drift to the front of the mix. The guitar tones that create the wall of sound lead you into an impressive. It works off a similar formula to what Deftones use these days. "Bleeding at the Door' has more of indie rock feel, but coming from a more post-hardcore place. They ebb back down into sheogaze for "Origami", and by this point I am beginning to feel like their ppst-hardcore leaning songs are more original as this is a little more in Deftones zip-code again. The last song 'My Lips Taste Like the Ocean" rides the line between the two genre's , Overall this album is an impressive display of these 90s sounds being fused into songs that would have worked then and still resonate today. I will give this a 9.5.
The reason I do what I do is that you can not trust the mainstream metal press. They pander to record labels, which are often subsidiaries of larger media conglomerates with agendas to which they are beholden. Svart Records is just owned by two Finnish dudes, so they are not suspects. But they can see where certain trends in music are heading and would want to flow with the current. This Dutch "band" is helmed by a girl who calls herself I. She represents in many ways what the press wants for the problematic genre of black metal. To dull the masculine aggression by diluting it, so they are hailing this as a masterpiece. Which is where I come in to answer the question of whether it is or not?
The first track sounds well-produced, so they are not going for a raw feel here. But it's not all that original it could be someone covering newer Mayhem, well maybe not their most recent album, but their output from the past ten years. The second song is more rabid, also nothing that original. I don't really get interested until some of the songwriting nuance to "The Black Flame" catches my ear with its darker throb. Her vocal apporach remains pretty one-dimensional; not only is she the vocalist, but she also plays drums, which would be a challenge live. Perhaps that is why there are not many shifts of direction once they lock in, allowing things to drone on/. When dragged out for six minutes, it can begin to lose me.
While I like Myrkur, this is more legit black metal than what she does, as her strength lies in other areas. I also appreciate that this is dark enough to convince me she is coming from a real place, even if the wheel is not being reinvented here. The throb of "These Wounds Never Heal" is more intentional. Her articulation is inconsistent, and the lyrics emerge more clearly in some songs than others. While things vary from song to so far the first half of the album is dynamically flat. Though there are not a ton of blast beats, the tremolo-picked guitars are pretty color-by-numbers. The first thing they do to switch it up is to give a little more atmosphere going into "She Carries the Curse". The drumming slows things down, and the vocals are more muffled in the mix. It just sounds like random screaming following the path the guitar left for it.
"Devils Stone" sounds like if you ordered Watain from Temu. It borrows the feel of their dramatic march. The album looses it's steam in the third act for sure as the last song feels like an extension of the previous song with a little more chaos in the mix. I will give this album an 8, so there are lots of black metal band bands putting out garbage that this is better than. But while well executed it's not the most original thing I've heard. If you want gritty black metal that still sounds good then this is worth your time.
Nine Inch Noize is a collaborative album between producer Alex Ridha, aka Boys Noize, and Nine Inch Nails, which is now basically just Reznor and Atticus Ross. If you are looking for big arena-rock riffs, that is not happening, as the songs reimagined here are strictly electronic. That's not to say the synths don't have heft, and Reznor's voice roots it in the sound you expect from him. The track listing replicates their Coachella set list.
Mariqueen Maandig, who sings for How to Destroy Angels, also lends her voice to this project, which is first heard on "She's Gone Away". The shake the booty of "Heresy" from "the Downward Spiral". This makes it have more in common with the songs from "Pretty Hate Machine", an album they leave untouched here. It would be kind of redundant, so that is understandable. They also rework."Parasite" by How to Destroy Angels, not a cover since Maandig is involved in this project. It gets a hyper-synth wave injection, giving it more amped up drive.
"Copy of a " from "Hesitation Marks' is a dance remix that works well for what it is. This also proves the point that a good song is going to be a good song no matter what context it is presented in. "Me, I'm Not" starts off with what you think is a live recording, but it's not, though the live sounds crop up throughout the album; it's about as live as the fourth side of "Kiss Alive 2." The pumping beats continue to flow through "Me I'm Not". They continue to lean heavily on "Year Zero", which works for me as I thought it was an underrated album, and the dystopian themes are more timely.
The only actual live track might be "Closer." It deviates less from the original than most of the songs here. The only major change is less crunch when they dig into the chorus. In fact, it feels like guitars have been intentionally removed from this album. I had to give a second listen to this version of "The Warning " to connect with me. I think I prefer the original. The only real cover here is their take on Soft Cell's "Memorabilia." This was originally a B-side to the "Closer" single. It was not the best song to begin with, but what they do works well enough here.
"Came Back Haunted" has more grit to the bass line in this version. It drones more on the verses as the sonic throbbing pulses. Here is a song that was born for this kind of treatment. This is actually the first time I have given the song "Alive as You Need Me to Be" a solid listen, as I pretty much disregarded the Tron Ares Soundtrack. Here, it has more of a live sound until the vocals come in. It's a pretty solid song. The fact that they did not re-work a Boys Noize song tells me everything I need to know, and I'm guessing he was just twiddling knods alongside everyone else, as they are only credited with production and mixing. But as a remix album, this works. I will give it a 9.5
This band's 2023 album made our top 10 Stoner Rock albums for 2023. There is less of a grunge haze this time around and more of a Queens of the Stone Age-like precision, which is not shocking considering the genre they find themselves in. There is a more deliberate metal chug in places on the opener that works well for the soulful vocals to belt it out over. "Midnight Express" carries a much more deliberate doomy stomp. The more Alice in Chains-like vocal returns on this song. I like that it is darker than the opening track.
The guitars in "Killer Khan" are even more aggressive as the album continues to move in a heavier direction. Seems like there are some subtle and not-so-subtle references to wrestling, "Corner Lariat" being one of them. Funny enough, it's a more melodic, less aggressive song. It feels like what some of the metal bands were doing in the mid-90s as the grunge era waned. The more uptempo "Banacek" is the first song that feels more like filler to me. The vocal melodies feel more obligatory half the time. The one-half time riff is cool, but "cool riffs does not a song make" is the rule here.
The more blues-glazed "They Did Know Karate" sounds more like what I want from these guys. There is a touch of doom to it without being Black Sabbath worship. That said, there is a slight hint of "Children of the Grave" to "Gimme the Lute", though it also shares some sonic space with Corrosion ofConformity." Corvette Summer" closes the album with a more blatant metal gallop. The verse riff reminds me of Mercyful Fate. This is a fun album, and these guys continue to perfect what they do. I will give it a 9.5 and see how it grows on me.Being released on Metal Blade Records May 15th.
I am very picky when it comes to deathcore. This band hooked me in after the first three songs with their knack for groove, and the vocals have amore of a purpose than just random gurgling. One thing I like about this album is that it is fucking dark. There is a great creep to the riff of "Freak Reflection". Some vocals that are almost sung. At times, there have been some parts that were not far removed from Slipknot's heavier moments. I can see where this might turn off someone just looking for the heaviest shit ever, but these guys are taking heaviness to the limit while making music that still has memorable songs and hooks, which is key over just capturing a heavy sound.
There is more of a death metal feel to "1-800-Do You Want to Die." It's the breakdown accents that bring the hardcore part of the equation. It's impressive that for something this heavy, it's still catchy. The flourishes of double bass are impressive. "Stiletto" is more deliberate with more of a Morbid Angel crunch that is contrasted by the almost rapped cadance of the vocals in places. "Stereo" finds a more Pantera-like riff, bringing the momentum, until the vocals come in. The vocals are articulated enough to understand the lyrics. The chorus of this song is almost sun, showing they use a dynamic approach to even this style of vocal. The more melodic break two minutes in is also unexpected.
"Dollar to Dime" carries more attitude in its energy. Though I'm not sure this song is as solid as what we have heard up to this point, or perhaps I am now getting used to it, as most of the same elements are in play. Vocally, the toy with the pig squeal gurgle a bit, as well as some bellowing singing. It makes sense that they would kick "CorruptConcerto" off with some guitar shredding. It is not as catchy as the rest of the album. Guess this is more for the kids to karate kick to. The last song is more deliberate with a steady chug setting the stage. Lyrically, they are talking about the world being their's and something about pussy boys.Overall this album is excellent I am giving it a 9.5, and seeing how it grows on me if you like nu-metal on the heavier side or death-core then this album is a must. Released on Metal Blade.
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