Candlemass: "the Door to Doom"

Swedish Doom overlords are back with Johan Langquist. Yes, the singer from their first album. At 55 his voice has held up reasonably well.He has a very Dio like quality to his voice. I know whats next where is Toni Iommi. Press made it sound like this was an album he was doing with Candlemass, like he was part of the band . This is not the case he only plays on one song. I think the second song is better than the opener. It's more driven and focused. Are the riffs almost like watered down Black Sabbath ?Yes, but weren't they always. They do play with more dynamics on "Under the Ocean" and give the vocals plenty of breathing room, so it's more like Dio Sabbath than the more blues infused Ozzy years.

When Iommi does show up on the "Great Octopus" song. It doesn't sound that much different. The verse riff is more subdued. The chorus finds the vocals doubled up , so the only thing different is sounds like Iommi is soloing. While his guitar solos are some of the best, I am not sure it's the key selling point for this album as a whole. Though three songs in the album is pretty impressive and worth your time if you are into doom. Granted if you are here for nostalgia because you like their first album, the tones found here could belong to any number of modern doom metal bands so they are not trying to revisit yester year. "Bridge of the Blind " is more of a ballad that sounds like something from Sabbath's late 80s post -Dio years.

"Death's Wheel" has more of a classic metal to it. The wheel is not being re-invented, and unlike some of their mid period work it doesn't drag. "Black Trinity" I had to listen to several times before It demanded I pay attention.  It does have a big stomp to it. In the second half of the song it gets more adventurous and reaches beyond the normal metal bag of tricks. The lyrics are terrible and  metal  Dr Suess, with pseudo satanic over tones that are just for fun. The witch doctor drums the guitar solo comes in over is more spooky.

Pipe organs on "House of Doom" create a "Mr.Crowley" feel though after the song builds speed after it there is musically more of a King Diamond. Johan stays firmly in his chest register bellowing more than crooning. The album ends with "the Omega Circle" which like the Dio era Sabbath I referenced earlier starts softer before the bring the crunch in. Not the most epic or mindblowing end to the album , but it doesn't suck either, though is it the return to form you had hoped for? I'll give it an 8.5 as the moments that might feel as inspired are still so well done they fool you. Napalm Records is releasing this Feb 22nd.

King 810 : "Suicide King"

These guys are a more progressive take on nu-metal, they remind me equally of Slipknot and Pain of Salvation. They are quirky in a similar vein as System of a Down, though I think darker which plays in their favor and I would also argue that they are heavier than a band like Avatar. There is also a wannabe gangsta side to this band that lets me believe Juggaloos might also be into these guys. "Bang Guns" is rap rock with a well produced chorus that gives the song a kick. I would rather here some of this ghetto ass shit that some one talking about politics they have no clue about and are just trying to fall on the popular opinions of the kids. "A Million Dollars" just doesn't flow as well as the first few songs. "45" stays closers to hip hop and the grooves work much better. This guys is more of a rapper than a singer.

"What's Gotten into Me" is darker , but it doesn't feel as focused and the vocals come across as more of a freestyle spoken word. He does make a little more of an attempt to sing on the blues tinged "Black Rifle".  It reminds me of one of the songs from the last In This Moment album. The choir that joins in might be a little , but over all the song works. "God is Watching"  carries a similar tension that the other songs have, though with a little more breathing room. There is a little more of an introspective spoken word tone with a similar hint of blues already touched upon with on "Wade in the Water". They begin exploring more melodic touches with "Sing me to Sleep",

I think there is less posing going on considering the arrest record these guys have built for themselves, which gives it a more honest quality than bands like Limp Bizkit that came before. These guys are darker and heavier perhaps not in a metallic sense , but in the weight of what they are doing. While the vocals are somewhat limited they are more versatile than if this album depended on rapping alone, so more along the lines of a metal Post Malone. I'll give it a 9.

Sofy Major : "Total Dump"

This is not our first rodeo with this noise rock trio out of France. They have a bigger guitar sound this time around that feels more like the Melvins. Less angular and obtuse, this time there is more emphasis on melody. There is a more hammering punk like attack to "Giant Crush Crash " that is not as appealing as the opener until they begin to ease the brakes on it. "Cream It" finds the back to paying more attention to melodic atmosphere surrounding the dense pulse of the bass. "Strike " has just as dense of a rumble as the other songs, it does not seem that they spent as much time on the finer details of songwriting with it as it is more straight forward.

The bass plays a hug role in most of the songs so far. They have a great bass tone . They are also pretty on point when it comes to the sonic nature of the attack they lash out with. Things more more mathy for "the Jerk" . The burly bass tone just adds to the controlled chaos here. Some of the melodic elements to "Shiny Happy Asshole' remind me a little of Jane's Addiction. "Franky Butthole" has even more melodic elements than the previous song. The songwriting also comes across as more precise. While you could never accuse this band of being graceful, there is a more jagged tone to "Tumor-o-rama". They fall back in line with more of formula that works for them on "Kerosene Mike" that relies on the bass to lay down the ground work for the guitar to twist themselves around. There is more atmosphere to "Panamarama". It get kinda jammy towards the end.

When the bass that opens "the longest yard" builds steam, its easy to hear how these guys could a appeal to the more thinking man's metal head. The have almost a Helmet like attack here. This is one of the more muscular and aggressive songs on the album that recalls a great deal of the post-grunge metal from the 90s. I'll give this album a 8.5 and see how it sits with me. So far I like it pretty well an it's worth checking out if you want something that is like noise rock , but heavier. This album is being released on Corpse Flower Records.

Weezer : "the Teal Album"

 I liked Weezer's first two albums , then they sold out and went pop and not in a good way. I from time to time will check back in on them and see if there is any hope. Their last album was not re-assuring. So they put out a cover album. I guess if you really had to cover Toto's "Africa" then they did it justice. I am more invested in "Everybody Want's to Rule the World". I was guessing the problem with this one would be the the vocals . The Tears For Fears version was sung with resonate emotion and we are getting Rivers , just kinda whine through it. They do capture some of the sounds right and play the right notes, it just doesn't have any feeling behind it. They continue to get the sounds right, but lack any feeling with "Sweet Dreams" . Really after Marilyn Manson did we need another cover of this ?

They do a better job with "Take on Me" . He comes close enough to hitting the falsetto part. "Happy Together' doesn't really capture the subtle melancholy on the verses, but they haven't put much feeling into any of the songs so why should this be different. "Paranoid"  is good due to guitarist Brian Bell taking over the mic to do a better Ozzy than Rivers would be capable of. "Mr Blue Sky" is one of ELO's secondary hits. I have no investment in it and it's too happy of a song for me.  TLC's is a much better choice, as his dead pan white boy voice creates the needed sense of irony. Hopefully this version will be the years's gay anthem.They once again capture the needed sounds for "Billie Jean" . He is singing more like a Weezer song which works.

They close the album with "Stand By Me" . I feel like they could have made a better choice here, but they seem to make the best of it. I'll give this album a 7 as it feels like while they capture the sounds they rarely are invested in putting any feeling into it. It's better than the last album of originals , so that is worth something I guess.

My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult : 'In the House of Strange Affairs"

I am very happy to hear the first song on their 14th album is a return to darkness rather than the disco they dipped into with "Sex on Wheels". "Forbidden Saints" keeps things along the left hand path with a little more bumping groove but no less sinister than the first song. Groovie Mann's vocals sound great and I think he does work best when slathered in effects. There is more of an 80s New wave take on New York funk with "Treat Street" that sounds like it could have come from the soundtrack of a cop sitcom. It's not a bad song it just has an odd quirky quality that breaks the established mood. "the Chains of Fame" works off of the best of both worlds it's got groove and a sleazy darkness. Which is all you could want from these guys .

The title track carries a thick atmosphere that obscures the groove. It is dark, though kinds drones in it's own shadows. "It's Me Holly" has a similar mood , but more movement, so it keeps me paying more attention rather than becoming a haze of opaque pulsations. "Studio 21" has more disco to it, but it's still dark enough that it works . The funky bass lines of a song like "Year of the Klown" are another staple to their sound as it has more of a slither to it. There are some accents of distorted guitar that crop up on this one. "Royal Skull" is a marginally more uptempo take on a similar formula. Rock riffs don't make it overly industrial as they have a rubbery slink to them. They do help things build in intensity.

They get a great deal darker on " Hanging Hearts". The vocals are a little more of a narration. Where the chorus would sit things take a weird turn. "Under a Crown" starts off like a surreal b section to the previous song. The guitar emerges to give things a little more structure. When he says he is flying higher than the clouds it's believable after the journey you have been on up to this point. The more experimental outro that is "Am I Dead" I'm sure sounds great on the right drugs or even the wrong ones, but it never really turns into song and feels like a crazy avant garde spoken word trip. I'll give this one a 9.5 and see how it grows on me, the drugs have taken their toll on these guys and they might be better for it.This album is being released on Valentines.

Sabbathian : "Latum Alterum"

This band pairs Chad Davis from Hour of 13 with Anette from the Norwegian band Nattsol. While they describe this as old school doom the haunting ethereal vocals against a more metallic throb than the crop of retro vest metal that built up popularity a few years back. There is a more gothic classical hint to the vocal patterns than anything bluesy. The riffs create almost a black metal like drone of atmosphere, yet are dark and doomy. The second song doesn't depart from the same formula the first works off of. The guitar has a little more tremolo to the picking so the bass and drums make sure to keep it doomy. While this song continues the album's almost uniform pulse. There is a heavier drive to "Head of A Traitor" the song builds up more momentum to pack more of a punch.Her vocals begin to sound the same at this point.

"One Night of Cruelty" continues down the heavier path. This also finds the tide turning in terms of how she sings, as they lyrics are less sung in such a floating soprano and the words are given more grit and more discernible. There is even a more accented chug on "Embrace the Dark" that follows . The heavier chug of the guitar gives the album more dynamic range and breaks from the more droning atmosphere they had been riding. Midway into the song they even hit a almost old school thrashy riff that would not have been out of place on "Kill'em All". So there is much more of a metal slant than bands like Witch Mountain have.

They return to a slower pace on the last song. This one doesn't flow off the same droning pulse the first few had despite being at a similar ghostly pace. Overall this one is an interesting balance of atmosphere and metallic edge. Not reinventing the wheel, but they certainly bringing enough of their sound to the table. I'll give this album an 8. It is being released on Svart Records who continues to hit the mark with their releases.

Swallow the Sun : "When a Shadow is Forced Into the Light"

My first exposure to this band was seeing them play with Katatonia on the "Great Cold Distance" tour and since I was there to see Katatonia , I really just caught passing glimpses of them . They sounded different from what I am hearing on this album.There is a really massive sound to the title track that opens the album. The synths keep it from sounding too much like Katatonia, though there is that mood to it. The harsher vocals have more of a black metal rasp to them than the lower death metal tone I recall. "the Crimson Crown" finds them heading in more of a progressive direction as it floats with a more Moody Blues like feel. The higher vocal passages and the extended guitar solo only supports this. "Firelights " continues with a more moody and melodic direction. The production being so spacious keeps it from really sounding that dark. Its up to the lower vocal and when the synth shifts to more of a organ sound for them to get darker.

There is a more brooding tension to "Upon the Water". The harsher vocals return on what might be the bridge as where the chorus falls is not as obvious. The shadows that haunt this song are more prominent and wins me over with the over all sound.The guitar to "Stone Wings' is interesting . The song it self does not pull me in like some of the others. They do hook you right from the beginning of "Clouds On Your Side" which might be one of the albums better songs. It goes from a soft loud dynamic, and does get dramatically heavier when the low death metal vocals are re-introduced. The drumming seems pretty innovative and is a big reason this song works. There is not as much holding "Here on the Black Earth " together until the chorus. I like the way the vocals are produced , not only on this song , but the bulk of the album . Though some of the lower vocal parts could have gotten more low and feel a little dry.

The album closes with "Never Left". The lower vocals here work better. The lyrics to this song stand out more for some reason. It reminds me a little of the more melodic moments from My Dying Bride. This album is pretty solid. I'll give it a 9. They sound more Swedish than Finnish, though some of the goth touches that are more implied than really committed to, lean in in more of a Helsinki direction. If you are a fan of the band who doesn't find the more melodic direction the band is heading in then you will find this album will sit well with you. If you haven't really given them much of a chance like I am guilty of then this is a good enough place to start.

Conny Ochs : "Doom Folk"

It was midway into the first song that I asked what has taken me so long to really give this Conny Ochs a serious listen.His songwriting is pretty remarkable. It's like if you took 60s pop songs and made them darker. In some ways it's like stripped stoner rock in others it's like the AOR out of California in 70s but on different drugs. His voice  is a plaintive midrange. Never throwing his voice dramatically around but like Ryan Adams he does make the most of the modest range he does have and puts the notes in all the right places. "King of Dead" might not be as strong as the opener and the harmonica gives it more of a 60s folk flair, but it's certainly well written. There is more of a "Born on a Bayou" like swagger to "Drunken Monkey".

The first dipping of his toes into something that resembles a ballad on "Moon" finds it being  the first song that I feel doesn't feel measure up against the others. He pulls it back together with the smoky groove that gives "It's all Too Bright" more of a slither.  "Crawling" is another with a smoldering groove. It's when he backs down into more traditional folk that I feel he is not as strong. It's still pretty a decent song , but It could be anyone.There is more of a driving rock feel to the strum of "Oracles" guitar. This gives him the chance to go into his  higher register. Which is far from Robert Plant, but still impressive.  "New Ruins" has a similar feel thought marginally darker. Overall I would not say his sound is as dark as say Chelsea Wolfe or this album really has anything to do with doom despite it's title it is very honest.

The  album ends with "Sweet Delusion" which is back to a more folk direction. Not doom folk, just folk music no different than if Jeff Buckley did it , just with none of his high powered yodeling. I think the strong  songs on this one balance every thing out , so I will round this one up to a 9.5 and see how it sits with me. If you are here for the doom part of the equation, you might find that despite this not being a heavy album it is a really well written one.

Malevolent Creation : " the 13th Beast"

Guitarist Phil Fasciana is the only original member. This band has had a rotating cast for so long it almost is a mute point. The opening song kicks a lot of ass so it makes this more forgivable. But most extreme metal bands can get that reaction out of me on the first which can grab my attention on sheer heaviness alone as long as it's well done. After that the novelty wears off and finds me asking  "What More Can You do? "

This might make you ask " Well what more do you want from a death metal band". The answer is this

I want all genres of music to give me the same things, dynamics, songs that make me want to come back for more, along with sonic intensity and darkness. On the second song they make more of an attempt at this than many band of their ilk , yet they have the kind of single minded aggressive streak that tend to befall most death metal bands and is even more pronounced on "Agony For the Chosen". This begins to color things with a one dimensional monochrome sound. Some people might be into the simple things. Some people also sniff glue in trailer parks. They are however good at coloring with this one shade of angry red.

I understand the need for fans of any genre to have enough familiar elements in order to give you what you are looking for, but at what point do you say"Wait, Haven't I already heard this before. I am not asking bands to re-invent the wheel. I am asking them to show me who they are and what sets them apart.  There guys do get further than some, because they are so good at what they do. With only one original member it's not all due to experience. They slow down enough to find a groove for "Born of Pain" . It's when they rely on speed that the song writing feels less inspired . They are in better form when they give some accented punches and things to help distinguish the songs. Once we get to "The Beast Awakened" it all begins to become a blur of  run of the mill death metal riffs . This is mainly due to their unrestrained need for speed. "But death metal is supposed to be fast " you say.
But at the risk of every song beginning to sound the same ? It begins to get obnoxious by the time we get to "Knife At Die" , until they slow things down for a second, but rather than take the song in a cool direction they revert back to fast for the sake of fast.

The guitar cuts like razors and the drums are powerful and precise, but that is what death metal is supposed to be about and brings nothing new to the table in this regard. They slow down going into "Release the Soul" .When they bring more thrash influence to the table they are more effective. Slowing down to allow you to breath it in is a good call. If you are a fan of this band maybe you are content with heavy for the sake of heavy. I'll round this down to a 7.5 as their is a good chunk of this that sounds the same despite the excellence of execution, which offer only meager shreds of inspiration.

Flotsam & Jetsam : "the End of Chaos

They are picking up where they left off on "No Place For Disgrace" . I liked " When the Storm Comes Down", but the production was odd like they were trying to sound like "And Justice For All..." Truth be told this band was a casualty of the 90s as grunge  displaced real metal and the bands did not know what to do. Few were able to hang touch like Slayer . I guess at the time I assumed Eric AK could no longer hit the high notes , rather than he was conforming to the times and operatic singing was not cool anymore. His voice sounds better than the bulk of his peers. He is not jumping up into his falsetto screams. But he does hit higher notes in chest voice. He also has ample amount of grit on songs like "Prepare For Chaos . The song has a really catchy riff. It's not as big of an anthem as "Recover" ."Slowly Insane " just kind of gallops out of the previous song with a similar yet perhaps more unrelenting tone as the previous song. The guitar tone is mean as hell and they still have a knack for hooking you in with the riffs.

They burst into the thrashing burst of chugs and gallops on "Architects of Chaos" , they have convincing energy , though they have come at you head on now for six songs now so I am ready for a shift in the dynamic range of the album.  This begins to lose a little of the edge on "Demolition Man" which begins to feel like more of the same. Their energy is infectious and they manage to have enough catchy riffs to keep me interested. "Unwelcome Surprise" taps into their more classic sound which makes the fact it's full chug ahead once again pretty forgivable.  "Snake Eye" taps into a similar energy. They prove that being veterans at their craft allows them to create these riffs that interlock while keeping the fires of inspiration burning hotter than most of their peers.  "Survive" finds the band continuing to to be riff masters. Normally cool riffs alone doesn't fly with me, but the commanding performance by Erik really sells it . The chorus is almost power metal it's so anthemic.

" Good or Bad" works off of the guitar heroics, though the vocals take a decent stab at it, this one just took more listens to grow on me. They close with "the End" which recalls the "Doomsday for the Deceiver"  days. He goes into a higher range on the chorus, but it's not as piercing at it once was, for better or for worse. I'll round this one up to a 9 as I think it's better than I could expect when it comes to reliving the glory days of thrash.

Weird Tales : " Hell services cost a Lot"

These guys are weird. It moves like doom, yet is more apocalyptic than melancholy so it's almost more sludge with more of a 60s psychedelic garage rock atmosphere ... think Iron Butterfly meets Blue Cheer in this regard. The opener is over ten minutes to they also have a loose jam feel when they launch into the guitar solo. There is a heavier stomp to the more metallic "Crawling Pain". It is darker and more driven , but also feels more sludge like. The vocals are sung in a detached 60's rock half croon, half spoken, bringing the Butthole Surfers to mind, I know they are from the late 80s, but Gibby Haynes is what I think of . This song does offer more dynamic ebb and flow and a trippy shift in the bass tone. The vocals shift into some anguished screams that would not be out of place on early Neurosis.

Harmonica leads into the rumble of "Lie". It's pretty burly and the more shouted vocals are doubled. The bass player is really ruling on this song. In a very Geezer Butler way of ruling. He might be the bands most shining star. The first few minutes of "Nightmare" are a fuzzy rock boogie until things get weird when the drugs kick in as the second verse breaks down and the atmosphere becomes weirder around it. The vocal melody is double with a more shouted one that is not unlike what Monster Magnet used to do. They gain a heavier traction to "Bitchcrusher" that is more of the bulldozing kind of doom that always seems more like sludge to me.

"Warnings" is more pounding , but also more sonically interesting. Midway into the song , as the instruments converge to a central hammering, the vocals go into more of a shout. The most dynamic song that brings the need range of mood is the 11 minute closer "Dead Man" it starts off in a atmosphere glaze that is part post-rock, part shoegaze and part doom. 8 minutes it the pace picks up and it goes in a more metal direction. Overall this is a cool album. They fall between the cracks when it comes to fitting neatly into one box. I'll give this album a 8.5 and see how it sits with me. Not the sound I think when I think of Poland , but it works.

Puppy : "the Goat"

This band from Britain takes me back to the post-grunge wave of metal bands trying to figure out how to blend the two. This is pretty cool until it gets to the chorus , then it's almost too blatantly power pop. But the verses are cool enough to make me more forgiving. Vocally they remind me a little of Ghost, but their have a better guitar tone and the music fits the vocals better. "Vengeance" is even more up beat , almost to the point of being happy so I obviously don't like it as much. There is a really fine line these guys walk, there is more power in the chug of "Poor Me" that balances out the sugary vocals. Some riff have a more nu-metal stomp to them. The nu-metal bounce starts off "Just Like You". The verse riff is a more stalking staccato.

"And So I Burn" is not much different than the other songs. The verse has a tension that makes it more interesting than the formulaic chorus. Here is another lesson in a press release that made me what to give it a shot, as this was supposed to be grunge. It's like metal like. Even a band like Pearl Jam comes across as being heavier as the emotion they are putting into the music is more explosive, most grunge was pretty dark as it was made by heroin addicts with metal health issues. These blokes sound pretty well adjusted. The riff to "World Stand Still" at first reminds me of Ratt, before getting more Nu-metal in it's groove. Then it's melody reminds me a little of "Every Thing Counts" by Depeche Mode.

They get heavier with the thrash leading into "Bathe In Blood" . Then it gets into the same formula as most of the songs. While it's poppier "Night Walker" just flows together well and is catchy. The vocals shift and more of a Foo Fighters feel on "I Feel an Evil' that makes me think of Atomic Bitchwax. It does break down into a heavier riff. "Handle Bars" is more in the realm of Myspace with the smooth sugary vocals off setting them. The album ends with the marginally darker "Demons". I think this song displays while there is a somewhat similar dynamic as Ghost these guys are better song writers. Lyrically there is a contrast with the cotton candy tenor of the vocals. They have formula that generally works for them. The first song lured me in, but by the end the formula is some what predictable , but the same thing could be said about Ac/ Dc. I'll round this down to an 8, which is still better than Ghost does.


10

Nailed to Obscurity : "Black Frost"

This is my first go with these guys. I am impressed with the clean vocals as they don't feel at all contrived. When the growling kicks in, they seem to be in the Enslaved or old Opeth realm. Mid paced progressive death metal that has a load of catchy riffs and doesn't try to dazzle you with guitar solos every where or drums that are too busy. "Tears of the Eyeless" is more melodic in it's trade off thus bringing Opeth more to minds especially in terms of melancholy yet romantic guitar melodies. The use of clean guitar is layered really well. The use of the vocal harmonies, also bring Opeth to mind. "the Aberrant Host" starts off more straight ahead metal then goes off into an almost post-rock like passage that is very lush and sonic. I like how they throw chugs in as accents, which pounds the point home without being over bearing.

If you asked me to guess where they were from I would have said Sweden rather than Germany. "Feardom" has a progressive almost Tool like tension to it.  "Cipher" is more typical of what I would expect from melodic death metal of this kind. There is loads of melancholy melodies in the guitar. Where they do excel is big the massive riffs room to breathe. The drumming is pretty tasteful through out. "Resonance" rings out with more of  progressive leaning. While this album is darker than some one like Trivium or Fates Warning, they are more of a gray around here. Which fine with me. I would say this is more brooding than it is heavy. Often the growled vocal is the only heavy element. In the album's 3rd act some of the songs seem like extensions of one another. The guitar solos are flow and pretty much every one is a perfect example of serving the song.

The production is great at capturing the mood. The only instrument that seems a little lost is the bass, which is buried under all the guitar layers. I think more bite from the bass could have give these guys more of an aggressive drive. I am almost reluctant to call this death metal, because this music is moody and metallic but not aggressive. The closest they get in this regard is on "Abyss" which is almost more straight forward death, though I think this song doesn't play to their strengths and the more melodic help set them apart. So when they take this more middle of the road approach it kind of fades into background music for me. When they are more deliberate and mid to doom paced I think they set themselves apart even in this current wave of death doom. They do latch onto some catchier riffs with "Autumn Memories" which despite falling into melo-death, just fits right. The album closes with what aside from a more black metal like scream is an instrumental. I'll round this up to a 9 as I threw it on my iPod for the mood it creates on a cold rainy day.

Seer : "Vol 6"

Here is a new album from this Canadian band that often rides then line between doom and sludge. "Iron Worth Striking" is the first actually song, despite the atmospheric instrumental that serves as an intro. The first vocals we get are cleanly sung. The are a crooned baritone, that is metal in it's intent. They are pretty much progressive sludge, as the song it winding and not content just bludgeoning you. Growled vocals do surface , but they are followed by higher more dramatic almost power metal like vocals. "Seven Stars , Seven Stones" has a big lurking riff that hold an almost nu- metal like tension to it's melodic groove. More sonic layers of guitar come in putting this more on the side of progressive metal. I'm pretty impressed by the vocals this time around.

The guitar solos on this album are pretty tasteful, but along with the high pitched falsetto screams mixed to sound distant they help solidify their progression in a more proggy band. Thus proving why the genre is called progressive metal, as they were not content maintaining the sound from their previous album, not that they are obsessed with shredding. "Frost Tulpa" opens with clean melodic guitar. The baritone croon of the vocals is somewhat like King Diamond's mid range moan. It builds up with heavier intensity growing into growls. Harsher vocals have more of a trade off on "As the Light Fades". There are also synths and some stoner rock like riffs. I don't think this song is as focused in its intent as the previous songs.  It does end on a some what darker note before picking up the pace. While in some ways these guys are all over the place on this album, it all works with the general over all sound.

Though I might have to go back and give their previous album another listen, I think the production is better in that it creates a denser more metallic sound . So if you wanted a heavier album from these guys then you got it. Song writing wise, I like where the vocals go , but overall it feels less focused like I said before. This kind finds the album not gaining moment later on. Overall it's a solid listen with the first couple of songs being the strongest. I will give this an 8.5. This album is released February 8th.

Obed Marsh : "Dunwich"

If you want to hear death doom done really fucking right so that it's more doom and not just slow death metal, then check out this mean mother fucker. From Australia , their previous album "Innsmouth" had some gnarly spewed vocals this one has out done that performance in the first two songs alone. Some of this might be thanks to the attention to detail in the production this time around. The guitars have a more angular dissonance to them which also helps paint this unnerving picture. There are some interludes that I am just deleting as I go so for the sake of this review we are only counting the songs. The first two songs do have a similar sound. Like many extreme metal bands , after the first stunning blow they hit you with wears off then it boils down to song writing. "Necornomicon" ...which if you had not caught on this is a Lovecraft themed band, give you more breathing room and a melody of sorts begins to drip from the shadows.

 Things stay just as dark and get more melodic as the chords are allowed to ring out more on "Wreathed in Ivy"as the song builds momentum some guitar melodies do float out to give it more substance. "Matricidal Lineage" is dense and throbs with a heavy pulse but doesn't do a hell of a lot to set it self aside as a song. Their sound is good. If might even feel evil it gets so dark. They need to do a lot more in order to keep my interest for the almost 13 minute closing song " the Dunwich Horror" . It takes three and a half minutes to really get this one started. As the album progress I notice the vocals take on more of a snarl and less of an anguished growl to allow the lyrics to become more discernible. It does find them locking into a similar feel.

I would say the songs on "Innsmouth" might have been written a little better, but this album sounds better and finds them adding more atmospheric layers, though the songs do being to develop a more uniform sound by the end. I'll give this an 8.5 and see how it sits with me.

A Pale Horse Named Death : " When the World Becomes Undone"

I guess this is as close to Type O Negative as we are going to get . This does seem to be a more intentional stab in that direction. The opening song has more atmospheric layers in it. "Love The Ones You Hate" has a more new wave vocal melody to recapture a darker sound. Production wise the kind of feed back into a jagged rumble of bass meets guitar also plays into recapturing that sound, though the vocal to "Fell In My Hole" goes in it's own direction. The song is not as thick with atmosphere and feels more straight up rock . I don't think this album is as heavy as what I have heard from these guys before, when when they step on the crunch with a song like "Vultures" its more of a grunge sound.

Despite this not being as heavy I would say even a quarter into the albums it's more well written that what I have heard from these guys before. This almost Alice In Chains kind of sound continues on with the deliberate pound of " End of Days" . One of the most metal things about the album is how the guitar solos blaze out of the northern sky. "We All Break Down" carries the grunge torch further into the 90s when metal tried to figure out how to merge with it. I liked that time period 95 to 96. The guitar progression and vocal layering on "Lay With the Wicked " reaches back into more of a "World Coming Down" era Type O, which is more than can be said for the middle of the road radio rock that is "Splinters" It doesn't suck it just is not as interesting of a listen.

"Dreams of the End" is dressed up with a little more atmosphere and the lead in with a heavier ominous vibe. It gets this weird post- Use Your Illusion era Guns N Roses feel to it , which is not a deal breaker. It is however not the album's strongest song. I'll give this one a 9, as it not only reminds me of Type O but gives me some nostalgic feels for that mid 90s metal.

Looking Back in Anger at David Bowie's "Lodger"

Considering that Bowie is the single most important artist that ever touched my life, how can I not review one of his albums. Its obvious why I had to review this one for this series. This is the last of the Berlin trilogy and I am not going to get into Brian Eno's weird Oblique Strategies card game that they use to break creative blocks while making this album.While all the hipsters at the coffee shop only listen to the avant garde trilogy created during Bowie's coke binge, truth be told him and Brian Eno are the original hipsters. Of the albums from this era this is the one I have spent the least time with. So it's like rediscovering it.

He croons that he doesn't want to live with somebody else's depression. He hits a really beautiful note a minute and a half into this one. It has a smooth sway and swagger to create a stranger dynamic considering the weirdness to come. It's his classic post Ziggy band with Carlos Alomar on guitar, Dennis Davis on drums and Dennis Davis on bass. They were supplemented by Brian Eno and Adrian Belew. "African Nght Flight " is well done for the kind of experimentation they were going for here, as he beat Peter Gabriel to the punch when it came to dabbling in world music. I think  "Move On" is a better song, and truth be told Bowie is my favorite singer so I want to hear songs that are going to make the most off his voice. He has the lower more distinct baritone croon on this one.

"Yassassin" is one of Bowie's best and most unique songs with its Middle Eastern feel. It show Bowie can be as weird and wacky as he wants and still make a great song. "Red Sails" is upbeat art rock with a groove. It's an interesting song though not as good as "Yassassin" , but probably better than anything your favorite band has ever done. "DJ" has more funk and Bowie is singing his ass off on so what else do we need? A the song progresses you can hear the weirdness dripping off the edges. Another clss and the song I named this column after "Look Back In Anger". This song has a great deal of drive and is one of drummer Dennis Davis' most impressive performances.  "Boys Keep Swinging" always seems like a gay anthem to me, its a great song. "Repetition" is not Bowie's most inspired moment but you can hear where the seed for Tin Machine were planted here. It ends with "Red Money" which sounds like it could almost be left over from "Scary Monsters".  So marginally darker in it's tension. So even if it's not my absolute favorite Bowie album it's still a good one which makes it better than what mere mortals can do and is a 10.

Cold Colours : "Northernmost"

This band from Minnesota sounds more like they are from Sweden. Here is another case of not believing every press release you read as this one called these guys death doom. While in the grand scheme of how you want that sub-genre to read I think it could only loosely apply because I am hearing more rock n roll in their sound than doom, making them more death n roll. This is really a prominent flavor in the opening song. I think this benefits them because rock music has more of an emphasis on song writing than your typical death metal.  On  "a Life Forlorn" low sung vocals hang in the background. Things continue to rock out in shades of gray with excursions in more uptempo epic metal chords.

This album is really well produced and these guys have a big guitar sound that plays to their strength as a band. Sure there is a large dose of melo-death to what they do , but it's not all guitar harmonies, which is good because if I want that I'll listen to Iron Maiden. I don't feel as hooked into "From this Pain", it's not a bad song I just don't feel as strongly about it as I do the first two. The guitar solo section stands out a little more , but shredding is appreciate , but not my thing. "Spirit" opens with a darker and more leaning guitar melody. I like the melodic middle section of this song that helps to break things up, almost gives it a slight Opeth feel. I think at this point in the album having some with distinctly different sounds to widen the rang of dynamics is important and  "Terminal Winter" has enough of an ebb and flow to do that.

Even with the shift of guitar tone "Heathen" feels like it could be a continuation of the previous song. While this song has a great deal of acoustic interludes, for the purpose of this review I am only focusing on the actual songs. "the Parting" has more of a traditional metal feel.  "the Pale Heart" continues to push the guitar melodies , but does so in a darker less Iron Maiden fashion and more of an aggressive drive. Overall this is a really good album and the fact they are ambitious enough to have such a huge sound only adds to it, so I will give this album a 9 and see how it sits on me this year.

Here Is What I Want From 2019

Since I listen to hundreds of albums of the course of a month. Not all get reviewed. Since I do all the reviews personally for this site, it's a huge investment of time. So in order to not waste my 2019 it is pointless for me to listen to a death metal band that just sounds like every other death metal band.  I  have to work smart not hard and make use of the limited time I have to invest in this blog wisely.This s brings us to you dear band, p/r firm, or record label. Here is what I want from you in 2019...it's not vastly different from what I wanted last year, but a few tweaks have been made.

 I want black metal... but not just a blast fest or something that sounds like a Darkthrone album I already heard ten years ago. I prefer you to be depressive, this trend of ripping off Dissection, is no longer going to fly now that I already have Watain and Tribulation under my belt. Don't sound like you were recorded in your grand ma's basement, but don't sound like Nightwish either.


 I want doom... I want the darkness and sonic depth of funereal doom without every song being dragged out over ten minutes. No excessive Sabbath worship, more doom than retro rock. Here is a rule for death doom since that applies to the current trend. If you are death doom, you need to do more than just play slow death metal, I need melancholy from you.

 I want death metal...deep dark and atmospheric, yet not a total Incantation or Morbid Angel rip off, nothing derivative of Cannibal Corpse. See the above rules about death doom as well.

 I want thrash...once again dark, think Voivod, Dark Angel and Testament, but don't be a carbon copy of those bands, melody and catchy riffs at must.

 I want punk and hardcore...don't preach, be able to play your instruments and write a song, if you don't know how to do this refer to the Misfits or Minor Threat. Dark is good just ask old Iceage. Fast won't make you better, loud might

 I am not opposed to power-metal and folk metal...don't get too happy or sound like Helloween. Be dark and angry, think Kamelot or Tyr. Give me something that makes me want to play D&D without cheesing me out. No LARPing.


 I want death rock...but sonically intense, sleazy, drugged out, surreal, be able to sing and not just a punk band playing dress up. I want industrial...do drugs and make me believe it, this world is about to end I need you to set the mood, bring guitars. have your drums crush me


 I want indie rock...be dark be melodic, be angular, use cool guitar tones don't just jangle, have some balls, experiment, shoe gaze is fine , just write songs don't drone.

 I want sludge...don't just sound like Neurosis, check out Bloodlet, dark as fuck is a must, atmosphere a plus, dynamics just as important


 I want goth...good beats and vocals are a must. Work old and new into something your own. Elegance is a must. Siouxsie rip offs no thanks. A dash of dark wave helps.

 I want rock...here it can be tricky, some kind of shadow side or melancholy is a must, Black Foxxes did an excellent job of doing this a couple of years ago as did most of the grunge bands from the 90s. Have some balls, I don't expect you to be metal.

 I want prog rock...there is a hug gap left by Sleepy Time Gorilla Museum, at the same time I love 70s prog like Gabriel era Genesis and King Crimson, so dark not too happy or flowery, be able to shred when needed, but not just acrobatics, most important don't sound like Dream Theater.


 IF YOU DON'T FOLLOW THESE RULES I WILL DELETE YOU IN 30 SECONDS. By all means be original, if you can break these rules but deliver whats in the bounds of my tastes in a way that will compete with the shit I normally listen to do it, I want new music. Obviously anything along the lines of The Smiths, David Bowie, the Cure , Kate Bush, the Cocteau Twins or Dead Can Dance

Porn : "the Darkest of Human Desires act 3"

German band does an excellent job recreating the industrial strength brand of rock that came out in the 90s. The vocals remind me a little of Orgy. Not unlike Strvngers who rules last year, these guys are more accessible, where Strvngers had more of an edge in their attitude and the sleaze that dripped from their songs, while ironically for this band to be so named I do not get the same vibe from them. "Evil six evil" might be more polished when it comes to the song writing though less aggressive. The smooth sheen that made the previous song flow is not coating the more stomping "Here For Love". There are some melodic layers to this one, and the more I listen to it the more it clicks with me.

They dip into a dark shade of rock on "Tonight Forever Bound" which is technically goth, but mainstream enough in it's execution that it reminds me more of a band like Cold. "Remorse For What " is like an extension of the previous song it works off the same melodic theme , but in more of an instrumental context with the samples of serial killers where the vocals would be. Then on "My Rotten Realm"  the pace picks up, though not in the Ministry sense , but more upbeat than where they have been so far. "Eternally In Me" has more of a Fields of the Nephilim feel to it which I am obviously going to be a fan of. The vocal hook to the chorus on this one is greatly improved. They remain pretty melodic for the brooding "Radiance of All That Shines". This song could have come off the "Queen of the Damned Soundtrack".

They get back into the more Fields of the Nephilim territory on "Abstinent Killer". It had more of a nu-metal lurking quality to it. The vocals are well produced , but the guitars could have been brought up in the mix. "the Last of a Million" works off all the elements that have already been presented earlier in the album. It's dark while having that gothic 90s pulse and more gothic rock than industrial. I'll give this album an 8.5 its not the most original thing I have heard but I  like the bands whose influence they are wearing on their sleeves . Comes out Feb 22nd.

Griefloss : "s/t"

 I'll have to go back an listen to "Ruiner" again as the first song of their new album sounds more like alternative rock than I remembered. Not that I have a problem with it as I like the melodic touch. It is not until the second song "Blood Flashing" that the blackness begins to seep into their sound again. The vocals sound more anguished. I commend them for not being dependent on blast beats as they are only tossed in upon occasion. There is more chaos touching this song that what I remember previously hearing from these guys as well. "God Is Hell" works off of a similar brand of savagery as the previous song. The differences being the guitars are more textured which finds them dipping back into what often was called "black gaze" once upon a time when bands like Deafheaven and Alcest first began taking shoe gaze atmosphere and marrying it to black metal. The double bass on this song is very aggressive without being used in the steam roller method most death metal bands employ. Rare for black metal is the fact you can actually make out the bass line and it is really driving the music forward.

"Life is Too Long" is more along the lines of traditional black metal or at least their take on it as the guitar is till layered to create a sonic pulse. When they do go into a blast beat on this the vocals shift to a meaner sneer. They get some interesting sounds going into "Total Hate" that reminds me of something Liturgy might do. While I appreciate the art of experimentation, I don't think it stands along side the other songs as well and feels more like an interlude.The almost 8 minute "For Decades" closes the album. This is a return to the more alt rock / post- hard core sound they opened up with so it is interesting how this album is bookended with a sound so dynamically bi-polar against the meat of the music they pump out here.The sung vocals remind me of a little less frenetic version of At the Drive In. The harsher vocals does a call and response against the singing. It ebbs down to  sung section before they build back up into something not black metal , but at least heading in that direction.

Thing album is a mature shift for the band  on both of the polarities they engage in on this album. I think the drummer has stepped up his game for sure. I will round this up to a 9, the songs are strong even amid the more tortured  moments of chaos. They just released this album online on the 4th. I think they can't bee easily lumped in with any genre. Black metal might be at the heart of what keeps this album moving, but it is not just that. I think fans of hardcore will appreciate this more than your average black metal fan, though someone who is a more open minded fan of the genre will delight in the more agonizing moments here.

Trollfest : "Norwegian Fairytales"

The band from Oslo's 8th album. They play an almost polka infused blend of folk metal that is very up tempo. The first vocals is a more squawked harsher shriek.  The second song is a more frolicking variation of the first song. With more of a gang vocal chiming in like a rowdy viking drinking song. There is a little more of a melodic touch to "Espen Bin Askeladden" , though it ends up in a similar place as the first two.  The "Fuck Flys" or what it roughly translates to is a shift into a more dynamic direction thanks to the female vocals . There are a few pieces that are so quick they are more like interludes than songs. One exception to this which is only a minute  and a half , is more like a punk rock song. Its not their best moment , but they do make the most of the time they invest into this ditty.

"The great achievements of the small people " is a heavier and marginally darker song with a sung baritone bellowing vocal refrain. The put a little more into the song writing of "Draugen", the  guitars have most of the melody though a sung vocal does show up in time. They blast into another short song with "Deildegasten" which makes them like the grind core of folk metal. "Barter Swaps" has a more playfully chaotic mood to it, though it keeps a skip in its step. The last song is more of the same if not a variation of it. At over  eight minutes its the longest song and more dynamic elements like female vocals help to add color and set it apart from the other songs.

I'll round this down to an 8. They are good at what they do . The only problem I really have is what they do is often a shade or two happier than I wish it would be . By the 8th album it's obvious they should have their sound pretty much dialed in. So like the Ossuarium album I just reviewed and said unless it's both different and better than this album there is no reason for me to review any more death doom, they same thing could be said for this album, if you changed the genre to folk metal. This is being released January 18th on Noiseart /Napalm Records

Great Falls : "A Sense of Rest"

Here is the  last album of 2018 I am reviewing. These guys are former members of Kiss it Goodbye and Jesu, so despite their past work things are not as experimental as you might think. Sometimes the simplest description is the best. While p/r companies and record labels might like to dress things up with whatever adjectives fit the current bang wagons this band out of Seattle is a dark hard core band. They do have metallic Converge like leanings if we are thinking about "Jane Doe " era. Angular jerking of riffs that are filled with resent. "Not For Sale Bodies" has a more oppressive pound to it's deliberate lumber. It also begins to introduce more atmosphere. "

Kettle Logic" blows by in an angry blur and it's not until "We Speak in Lower Case" that things begin to get interesting as there is a cleaner guitar tone and the vocals are not as screamed. Not sung, but heading in that direction. This song proves to be the most dynamic so far . Not many hard core bands have almost 15 minute songs , but they make the most of it."Thousands Every Hour" does have the driving bass and the noise around it's rough edges that brings to mind the Amp Rep bands, but they are still more hard core than not. They continue down a smoother shadowy brand of hard core balancing out the blitz of bombast with atmosphere. It is when they are in this zone that they are most effective and find a sound they can call their own. "I Go to Glory" pretty much just works off all the elements that have been in place while adding a little more of a hard core punch here and there.

 "Scratched Off the Canvas" has a heavier almost sludge like feel to it. It might be the most metallic song on the album. The vocals are more on the side of a punk shout than scream. There is still an angular cadence to what they do and squealing feedback which has become their trademark. This is kinda anti climatic as there is a great deal of build and not much in the way of pay off. Overall this album is pretty good, I like the bleak mood it creates. I'll give this an 8.5 , Corpseflower Records is releasing this in the US.