Black Metal History Month - Dimmu Borgir : "Spiritual Black Dimensions"

 

Here is the first album that really finds them tapping into the peak sound for the band, as ICS Vortex sings on it, though Nagash is still playing bass. Mustis also joined as their keyboardist. Shagrath was well settled into being the vocalist. There is a chaotic mix to this album that gives it a rawer feeling than what they would go on to do. As a result, Vortex's vocal lines do not have the space to hold as much impact. It does feel more like their own path and not as fixated on conforming to what black metal had become at this point.

The second song follows the hyperblast formula more closely and rages off this aggression.  Thus making it less effective than the first song. "Dreamside Dominions" is more purposeful and even epically majestic in its scope. The added presence of Mustis makes this more pronounced. Vortex's vocal accent on this one sits behind Shagrath's vocal in the mix. The songwriting is also more concise with less sprawling arrangements. This might add to a little of the chaotic feel as they are cramming just as much into a shorter time span. "United in Unhallowed Grace" has more aggressive riffing, but it's hooky. 

There is more of a gothic feel to the orchestral arrangement of "The Promised Future Aeons." Even when being onically grandiose, they kept it inside the seven-minute mark. Today's black metal bands could learn from the songwriting of this album. "Blazing Monoliths of Defiance" lives up to its name and blazes in a very in-your-face fashion. This need for speed also keeps it from being one of the album's more memorable moments. "The Insight and the Catharsis"  is a more melodic and balanced performance. 

"Grotesquery Concealed " has some pretty ripping solos, but fits the mold of what you want from these guys without breaking new ground even for this era, though there are some cool effects on Shagrath's voice that they were experimenting with. The last song has the benefit of a creepy melodic touch being applied. Rather than a verse-chorus formula, the song works off a gradual build. I will round this up to a 10 as it's a huge improvement, and stacks up against their most classic work. 

Joji : "Piss in the Wind"

It's been a minute since we've gotten an album from Mr Miller. I guess he has been busy with Sleep Token. Part of the pop machine, there are 15 producers and 25 songwriters on the album, 21 tracks,
and one of the strongest songs, the lead single "Pixleated Kisses" he created as he was left to his own devices. I appreciate the hip-hop cadance to "Cigarette" that keeps it from being the James Blake school of balladry. There is a little more of a drum n bass beat going through."Last of a Dying Breed". 

"LOVE YOU LESS" has shoegazey guitars ringing out with their woozy haze in the background. An entire album of this sort of thing with instruments plugged into amps might be intersting though at this juncture it could just as easily be AI, as there are no instruments or musicians in the credits,s just engineers and producers. At a minute in length, "If it only gets better" is more of an interlude than a song. The moving beat to "Love Me Better" works well and he offers more vocal contrast, dropping down into a lower register and going up into his head rgister. 

By the time we get to "Piece of You" we are beginning to get into the ballads. Giveon appears on the track, and it's really stereotypical millennial R&B. "Hotel California" is not a cover of the Eagles song but a moody pop song. which works better than the previous song. "Tarmac' is also effective with its slight hip-hop influence coloring the beat. "Forehead Touch the Ground" is more experimental and less focused. The 3rd single from the album"Past Won't Leave My Bed" is a ballad, but at least there is more going on dynamically, so it works. 4batz might be on "Fade to Black ' but it's a minute long and is more of an idea than a fully-realized song, so writing it off as an interlude. First exposed to 4batz, and he sounds like a child. 

"Can't see shit in the club" is a down-tempo, chill ballad. I like it when he picks up the pace of his melodies to keep the song moving, which really saves the song, as it's pretty minimal otherwise. The beat to 'Sojourn" goes harder and is more of what I want from him. Dylan Brady from 100 GECs lent a hand on that one. "DYKILY" has an uptempo beat that is balanced by ambience as his vocals sit back in the mix. "Rose Colored" finds Yeat joining him, who is trying to make the most of using FUTURE's auto-tune tactics. Joji keeps his head in the game and works around this. 

Don Toliver is on "Fragments" and is just a different shade of what is already being done here, so not much in terms of a dynamic shift. Joji works better on his own with "Horses to Water". "Strange Home" is both a work of the more tradmark Joji sound, which is a more melancholy pop ballad style. They work best when the beat is offering more support. The last song took an additional listen to sink in and carried a very familiar sound for him. I'll give this album a 9.5, and see how it grows on me, but one of the better pop offerings so far this year. 

pst55

Black Metal History Month - In Aeternum : "Of Death and Fire"

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Black Metal History Month- Into the Dark Castle : Dimmu Borgir's "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant"

With this album, we have Shagrath is on the mic, so things are now falling into place. There is a big difference, a huge leap in the refinement of sound. Took two albums to get it all dialed in. By the time we get to "Spellbound By the Devil," it just feels like Dimmu. Not sure how much of a difference bassist Nagash really made joining the bandd it jsut sounds like everyone was focused doiung what they should have been doing, but needed time to figure it out. 

While the album sounds great, they had not perfected writing riffs as hooky as those to come, as it is not until "The Night Masquerade" that things begin to stand out after "Spellbound By the Devil."  Most of the album is dominated by the really tight-picked flurry of buzzing guitar. It's more technical than the first album, but I might prefer the more traditional metal approach of the first album. Shagrath's personality is the winning touch with his vocals and the lock-in on "Tormentor of Christian Souls." 

They are more focused and deliberate with "Entrance."Howwever they give in to the need for spped on the rapid fire "Master of Disharmony," and it is not as memorable, even when they slow down and get their feet under them going into the solo section. But it's pretty impressive that they have a guitar solo at this juncture in their career; it was a growth that showed there was more melodic depth. "Prudence's Fall" has catchier riffing. "A Succubust in Rapture" finds them heading into new areas of melodic guitar playing. The last song has some memorable riffing and is also epic in the manner in which it executes them. This album finds them locking into the direction they will continue to perfect. I will give this album a 9.5 

pst53

Black Metal History Month - Antrisch : "Expedition III: Renitenzpfad"

Germany's Antrisch finds the sonic balance that allows enough room to experiment with melody, keeping it from becoming another blast-fest, yet it is still wrathful enough in its aggressive intent to appeal to your standard black metal fan who wants the barrage of sound. The opening track alone offers a dynamic oscillation between the two. "Hidalgo Infernal" leans more on the side of racing guitars, pausing to bathe in the creepiness. The acoustic guitar surfaces in this song to provide one of these moments. They blast back into the gray with renewed fury. 

"Nattern & Narren" has a more distinct riff with a thrashy hook. "Bittergruen" is the first song that falls the closest to what you might expect from the run-of-the-mill black metal of today. There is a dark, ominous melody that runs through it, making it memorable. The overall tone of the album is kept balanced dynamically, as the song that follows this is darker and creepy, when it kicks in, there is more of a deliberate stomp. The vocals are pretty chaotic, but have a distinct personality to them. 

This mood carries over into "Verschanzt" before it builds into a more raging blur of blast beats. The last song locks into an almsot rock n roll riff that inspires the vocals to take a different cadance. It builds into a more driving tremolo-picked section after this and turns around to find its groove once more. i will give this album a 9, it's dynamic and has its own personality, sounds great, and is really well done, so all you could want from a new black metal band without re-inventing the wheel.  Drops March 27th on AOP Records

5

pst52

Puscifer : "Normal Isn't"

In prepping for the album's release Maynard dropped a "gpth" plalist of songs that were supposedly the inspiration for this album, along with the promo shots showing the band in darker make-up, while I am not surprised that he knows who Tones on Tail is, this is not a goth album, though there are more reverb drenched guitars in the opening track, I would not all it goth. In fact, the title track reminds me more of Devo. But you can here slight Gary Numan influence lurking around if you are the kind of savant like I am who can detect these sorts of things to draw that connection.

"Bad Wolf" is the most recent single and finds a bass line as the anchoring holding the groove down. It holds a tension not unlike what A Perfect Circle does at times. Most of what I hear as Bauhaus influence comes from the guitar tones, then it is typically on effects, opening tracks like"Self Evident". It's one of the more driving songs so far. This album feels heavier than the last A Perfect Circle album. "Public Stoning" opens in a way that reminds me more of Fugazi. 

"The Quiet Parts" is more like an A Perfect Circle, as Maynard is singing in his more ballad-ready, subdued voice. "Mantastic" is not sonically anything new, and really, neither is it lyrically just more heavy-handed. It grooves enough so it works from that angle. "Pendulum" feels more like old Depeche Mode without the vocal hooks. "ImpetuoUs" works better as the vocals flow with the music. "Seven One" feels like an interlude from David Bowie's "Outside" album. The last song is live, but it was released on the new "American Pyscho" soundtrack in 2024, so I will count it as new. It's about typical for what you expect from them. I will give this album a 9.5. It has some great grooves, and obviously, Maynard knows what he is doing, and if you like what he does, it delivers. 

pst51

Mothica : "Somewhere In Between "

In a shift from the dark synth pop of "Kissing Death," Mothica is shifting into a more modern metal sound that is not unlike what artists like Poppy and Spiritbox are doing. Heavier guitars are just being pushed more to the forefront, so it's not a huge leap from her previous sound, and it does not feel like she is jumping on a bandwagon. The pop sound that she toyed with on her last album is being refined and brought to a larger-than-life cinematic magnitude. Lyrically, it is not as conceptual, but it deals with themes of inner struggle. 

With the slicker production comes more epic layers of vocals as well as huge electronic sounds crashing down. She has played big rock fests like Welcome to Rockville before so this is not far removed from the nu-metal anthems bands there normally pump out. The chorus to "Save Your Roses" is more dramatic. They brought out a great vocal performance that finds her belting it out when the dynamics call for it. "Bullet" has more groove and more emotional dynamic. McKenzie tugs feelings from her guts on this performance. 

The title track closes the album, the opening verse almsot presents it as more of a ballad until the chorus kicks in and the down-tuned chug of guitar churns it up into something of more epic sonic proportions. Even with the larger-than-life production value this time around, the message she carried on the last album is conveyed here as well, just without the romnacing a personifcation of death motif this time around. Some of the more hushed vocal refrains remind me a little of Taylor Swift. I will go ahead and round this up to a 9.5, so it did not grab me as much as the last album. Perhaps some of this is just getting used to the more radio-ready mixing choices and streamlined elements, but it does show growth.  

pst50