Eunoia - "'Psyop Of The Year"

The jarring sounds vomited up here make more sense in terms of songwriting on the second song, It seems the albums more abrasively pounding opener was geared more toward gaining your attention. Even with the sloppiness of production and arrangements that sometimes sound like they just kept recording as they threw their instruments down the stairs. Until the chaos breaks out after the first verse, they seemed to be more into writing a song than just sonic confrontation. I sis like the more jangling cleaner guitar tones on the first song. These guys draw a great deal of inspiration from punk and even grind core 

"Black Highlighter" is all noise thrown about in a spastic manner and very little in the way of song to it. They reach a better balance on " Introspection a Different Kind of Weighted Blanket". The more spoken vocals remind me of King Missile. The song ends up going in a pretty interesting direction.  Is my favorite song so far. It does have the more abrasive elements but they are given contrast. The is a crudely deliberate riff that menaces " Leather Lollipop". They song ends up going into a pretty heavy riff, though not as overt as many places this album takes you. I like the unique way the approach the angular twists of their sound

The more aggressive "My Room Mate got Pysopped"  has humorous s thrown in but those are really only clever the first time.  Overall it feel more sound oriented than song oriented. There are few cool parts guitar wise, but the rule here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make. A more grind core pound falls upon "How to Watch Pro Football".  Things also end on a more punk vibe, with a kinda of gang chorus type feel in spots. I will give this an 8, I think they did what they set out to accomplish and sometimes they touch on magic sometimes they kick up a bunch of noise. It is more that the noise is not my thing, but they do hit on moments that are very much my thing and they are great. 

Stabbing Westward : "Chasing Ghosts"

 

Not the hugest fan of these guys in the 90s though I did really like the first two album and appreciated how the singer sounded like Paul Stanley when he went into his upper register, then he really only sounded like Paul Stanley singing in Pauls middle register if you are keeping score at home with Kiss as a barometer. I went into this with low expectations and was surprised by the opener. I think the key selling point here for me is how well is voice has held up.  The singer and keyboardist who are the founding members are the only original members but since they are the first two everyone else was along for a paycheck anyways. Carlton from Deadsy is also plays for Berlin and Orgy is along for the paycheck this time around. The second song works more on the bands tried and true formula and doesn't sound as inspired as the first song to me. I mean it passes, but they are going to need to bring it a little harder to sell me on a whole album of this. 

There is a more Orgy like new wave feel to "Cold". Stabbing Westward were in many ways the precursor to nu-metal and are here to remind you of that fact. I prefer the emotional shift to a darker place on "Push'.  I am also reminded of the fact that these guys are what it would have been like if Depeche Mode were also really into Kiss in the 90s.  The pulse of "Wasteland" is very much true to what this band does and midway into the album I think most of their fans are going to appreciate this return to form for them. The synths are more aggressive than I remember them being, in their hey day. There is a similar formula from back in those days very brooding emotive verse to bigger rock out on the chorus. It works for "Control Z" but I hope the band does not go to this well too many times. 

The dramatic power ballad "Crawl" has more in common with Depeche Mode than Nine Inch Nails. They were always ore rock n roll than industrial, but 90s industrial fans who were not too into the more Front 242 side of the genre also were into them. They continue to romance the stone with the overly dramatic atmosphere on "Dead and Gone" that is somewhat cheesy yet teeters enough for it to still work, though the production is perhaps to clean.  The guitars could all stand to be placed more powerfully in the mix. With "Ghost" the electronic elements help give the groove more forward momentum This gives the song the boost it needs. Sadly the album ends a bit more limply with the over wrought ballad "the End". But it the only total misstep on the album , the other more pretentious moments work despite the drama. This album is much better than what I expected from them, will give this a 9. 

 

  

Bleed : "Somebody's Closer

 This is not the first time it felt like we were cycling into a retro 90s come back, This Texas band helped solidify this hunch. They have a very hard alt rock sound, to be more precision, the kind Helmet fined tuned in order to get radio play. There is enough crunch and edge to it to appeal to someone like me, who normally listens to things on the harder side. This is tempered with melody and hook, without the blatant nod in the pop direction that modern bands do. These guys are not the first band I heard to pull from this sort of thing. I am crossing paths with it more frequently these days. 

The second song has a fair amount of groove, while colliding the chords in a way that allows the vocals to gain a more shouted heft to them that is way more Helmet. But if these guys were merely a Helmet tribute band I would find myself instead clicking back into my computer to find what file those albums are in rather than giving this repeat listens to fully digest. With the 90s there also came nu-metal and some of the groove have that kind of bounce to it though more fluid and devoid of any and all traces of hip hop. "enervation" has more of a Deftones feel to it , with a more soaring sonic atmosphere, and room for the vocals to hover over the the guitars. 

The title track closes out the album.  They staples the built the other songs around, like melodically dead pan vocals and staccato guitar riffs are all in place. However none of it captures the magic like the first three songs. Not that this is a bad song. It has more energy than every other song except the opener and a cool melodic break. Aside from that I just do not connect with it like the other songs. While I am interested in what they might have done on a full length album, more songs means more chances for this formula to grow stale, so that remains to be seen. I will round this down to a 9 and see how it sits with me, but 9 is better than mpost which is impressive consuidering how this band wears its influences on their sleeves while managing to make this work.    

2,9   

HEALTH : "Disco4: Part II "

HEALTH is back with another collaborative album, the first part of this somehow flew under the radar here or I figured it to be a remix album so did not give it much thought. The choice of collaborators normally draws from the right of center names in heavy adjacent hipster electro you might expect. These kids are cool so they are not going to have guys like Slipknot or Motionless in White on their shit. Though Lamb of God made the cut, however Randy did hang out with Pigface so he has some industrial cred there. First up is Poppy. I like her, and perhaps if these guys take her serious then it will inspire others to as well. It blends some cool atmosphere as her singing voice matures and she stays in a more subdued croon for this one. This proves to be a very effective partnership. 

Reznor has taken the band out before as an opening act, so a Nine Inch Nails meet up makes sense. It feels more like a NIN song than a HEALTH song. He is without a doubt the name that holds the most weight here. I am sure they were like sure we will just be the back up band here do your thing man. They dip into the SoundCloud world with serial collaborators Ada Rook of Black Dresses and rapper PlayThatBoiZay . Seems pretty obvious why these kids are on SoundCloud and not on the level of even a Poppy as the track is not as inspired as the first two songs. Though a big name is not everything as the more effective song with Maenad Veyl proves. It flows much better. I like Lamb of God's "Sacrament" album they seem like lowest common denominator Pantera wanna bees most of the time , but  the fusion of the two bands works more often than not for "COLD BLOOD" ,  The HEALTH side of the equation certainly makes things more interesting.   

There are instances on this album where the band is able to lift up the other artist to their level as can be heard on "AD 1000" as I normally do not like the Body. Home boy's scream sounds like a strangled bird half the time and for all their artistic embellishments it still feels like noise. Here they just provide a rougher shade of gray that is mixed in such a way to not spotlight the abrasive elements that normally rub me the wrong way. They are joined by Ho99o9 and Canadian rapper Backxwash on "Gnostic Flesh /  Mortal Hell". Both of these guests I have found their respective careers to be less than impressive, so it is once again more of a a feat that HEALTH continues to make artists like these that are stripped of their individual  hype palatable with the end result being something that sounds like an angry Massive Attack.  "The Joy of Sect" teams them up with Street Sects and is not surprisingly the best song of the album. I normally just prefer when they have Jake singing , since the androgynous coo of his voice is more interesting than what the average rock approach to singing brings to the table, but on this song the voices work in  equal measure. 

They delve back down into the world of Soundcloud bed room hipsters by bringing Ekkstacy on board, which while interesting that they have their ears to this scene, these sort of artists tend to not have a great deal to bring to the able. Ekkstacy just kinda of mumbles like the disgruntled teenager he is. HEALTH however pulls their weight and more despite the boorish mumbles. Surprised they are going as far in the pop direction to work with the Neighborhood, but it works here. I have always liked the Neighborhood, though they occupy the same strange place in my head that Chrvhces and Taylor Swift does, almost a guilty pleasure , but talent enough to not be. It should cbe no surprise that the track with Perturbator has one of the album's best grooves, with perhaps NIN coming in 2nd place in that regard. Ironically the last song the band proves that perhaps they are best left to their own devices as "These Dasy" works just fine on it's own two feet. I will give this one a 9.5 as some of the Soundcloud moments could have been dialed back and left the focus on the song to the professionals. 

VR SEX : "Rough Dimension"

 Opener of the new album strikes me as being darker. The vocals carry more disdain in the narrative. There is a straightforward punk feel to the second song "Glutton for Love".  It is however colored by new wave synths. The vocals remained buried under the layers of sound. There is more melodic guitar to "Live (in a dream)" that gives a dynamic sidestep from the punk formula that sounded in place for the first two songs.  Where his other band Drab Majesty has a bigger sound that throws it back more to the 80s, things are more compressed and sonically tense. For 'Walk of Fame" that get closer to where Drab Majesty comes from. It is even more impressive when things take on a denser fuzz. It almost sounds like a different song. Not the smoothest transition but balanced out for the overall sound. 

"Crisis Stage" kind of splits the difference between the two moods we have heard from this album. The vocals are lower and bleaks though we are Knight riding over the synth groove. The guitar flirts with the edges of the song. It is pretty much all hinging on the bass line, which is not uncommon for post-punk. The vocal hook is pretty cool. When things end up reverting back to a more punk place it does not feel as well written on "Taste of Hate".  The multi tracked vocals work for what they are doing and have a better place in the mix. 

The mood to "Snake Water" does get darker and angrier, but it also focuses more on the sounds being captured rather than where the song needs to go in order to have more dimension. The album is about the seedy under belly of LA, which no one should be surprised about. The tempo for the last song picks. The production is a little murkier. It falls back into the direction this album began on. I will give this album an 8.5, perhaps it will grow on me and I will rethink it then, but it does not feel as inspired as the first album. 

 

Twin Void : "Free From Hardtimes"

 

These guys kick up some rowdy punk rock using a burlier fuzzed out tone to try to fool you into thinking they are metal band. The vocals are howled with sleazy abandon. "Bird Days" has more groove and swagger than the opener but reminds me more of Faster Pussycat. So do not let the mustaches and posturing of the band fool you because they do not have long teased out hair or are draped in scarves. There is plenty of that influence buried here, even if it comes from the crossroad of influence Faster Pussycat came from in the early 80s because they were the one glam band that crossed over into punk rock. The scratchy higher pitch of the vocals helps support this case. If you were to ask do these guys have more in common with the Dead Boys or Aerosmith, I am not sure I could come up with the answer quickly.

There is an even more straight forward approach to rock n roll in the shuffle of "Poor Ole Me".  While I like the darker direction of the lyrics it is more straightforward than what I normally listen to. The acoustic guitar on "Set Me on Fire". The direction there are going works, the execution leaves something to be desired as the vocals waver off key. "Sharper Than a Switchblade" finds them more firmly planted in what they do better. This is not their strongest vocal melody as it follows the guitar too blindly, so song relies more on than the riff.  By "Sky Burial" the formula which largely works off of a sound at this point begins to run out of gas. Does it slow into a cooler riff? Yes, but you know the rule around here is ... cool riffs alone does not a good song make.

The singer from the Cancer Bats joins them on the more aggressive "California Death Rattle'. It carries more weight and sides the band more closely to punk, which might be a better mood for them . The same can be said for the explosive "You Can Hear the Devil Walkin " that closes out the album. I will give this album an 8.5, it works better when they play to their strengths but even the moment in-between are fun.   

Midlake : " For the Sake of Bethel Woods"

 Outside the sphere of what I normally listen there are a great many indie rock bands that slip through the cracks with me. I am very fluent in their names but with only so many hours in a day no matter how big they are I rarely get a time to put a dent in them. Midlake is one of these bands. When I press play on their new album, I cannot for the life of me have good reason as to why I have not listened to them until this point. They are moody and melodic in all the ways I like for this kind of music to be. Their drummer is really on it. There is a folk thing, but they are also very melancholy and thoughtful. Things get more soulful on "Glistening".  More proggy than folk, in the ways certain instruments flirt with math rock, the vocals are off doing their own thing. It works but does not flow as well as the previous song. 

The driving element to "Exile" hints at some subtle post-punk influence on this otherwise mellowed out indie rock. The band has stated they listen to way more Jethro Tull than Radiohead, but there older stuff came out sounding more like Radiohead anyway. I can hear the remerging influence of older prog in the atmospheric swell in the background. This is one of the more urgent vocal melodies thus far. Listened to "Feast of Carrison" a few times to soak in the lazy summer vibes that float by. More orchestrated and intricate in flow of songwriting that folk. The surreal coat of atmosphere to "Noble "causes the song to hit you like second hand pot smoke, in the dreamy journey it brings upon you. Finely layered textures find the song progressing before you realized it has moved. At the very least some pot was being smoked in the studio while they recorded "Gone" if not perhaps some trippier substances. The psychedelic touches are done in a smooth and sleek fashion.  

This is taken a step further so it sounds more like Brit pop on "Meanwhile". Think the Beatles without all the vocal harmonies. So in other words the Shins, but more stoned and not as happy. Some of the trippy falls on the shoulders of the synths. "Dawning" has a lot cooler groove to it. I love the lyrics to "the End" , no it's not the Doors song. It saunters along with the piano, thoughtfully poppy  The album closes with a dreamier almost Death Cab For Cutie like moment. There is dynamic range to it though with majestic swells.  I will round this up to a 10, as it will continue to grow on me.          

Placebo : "Never Let Me Go"

 2006's "Meds" was the last album I was into by this British glam band. By into I mean listened to every moment of the day as these guys were once numbered among my favorite bands. "Battle for the Sun" let me down in such a way that they feel off my radar. I think the key to Brian's success as a songwriter lies in his ability convey the struggle of his anger, darkness, metal health and addiction. It is in that struggle where their music has found its fire. Moloko succeeds in recapturing that moodiness on their new album. I think it is important that Stefan is still working with Brian as that duo is clearly Placebo and not just Brian Moloko solo album. There is none of the kinetic punk tension that colored their early work. It works off smooth grooves and melodies, with sonic layers of guitar embellish the dynamics.  

"The Prodigal" is the first song that makes me nervous as it touches on lighter happier tones. There are synth strings flowing in the background as it bounces along a spring road in England the lyrics ' you'll see that sorrow can set you free" is a pretty solid tone to set. At 49 he has beat the odds as a depressive rock star who did drugs up until 2006. So, 16 years of sobriety is nothing to sneeze at. It is also interesting that while he still carried the baggage gathered over the years, how it affected the albums that followed. But that song is the bar I want to set for the sonic joy conveyed for the band and do not want to hear anything brighter than that. They obliger this on "Surrounded by Spies ".  broods with a cinematic flare as it observes the post- Covid world around them. I like how they lock into a hypnotic repetition at times which is something they have used in the past.          

There is a straightforward rock to the amble of "Try Better Next Time". I do not think this song plays to what they do best and reminds me more of the moods from the ill-fated "Battle for the Sun", The first song that doesn't connect with me still makes this an improvement over their last couple albums. From the more dancey moments to the tense reflections on his "monkey mind being possessed by demons" all gives me what I want from them.  I really like the guitar tone on "Chemtrails" . The song could have come from "Blackmarket Music". The "Without You I'm Nothing" like ballad " This is What You Wanted" works without the band barrowing from themselves. While at times more along the lines of say Depeche Mode the album stays strong in it's moody shadows and gives me what I want from the band. I will give this album a 10 and see how it grows on me but as it stands now I am thrilled to have a band I love back.     

Deathspell Omega : "the Long Defeat"

 The French Black metal project's 8th full length. The bar is always high for them as they continue to make music that challenges both themselves and the listener. This opening track confirms this is still the case as it is both their most accessible work and some of the densest darkest atmosphere they have dug into in some time. The vocals are varied. They range from a proclamation to croaks and gurgles. The bass tone is their sickest yet. They drape everything in dissonance. Not a depressive black metal band, but they touch on a similar gut-wrenching vibe.  Regular reader will know I am not normally down for a twelve-minute opening track, but it works here as they hold your attention. Could they stood to have trimmed some of the fat? Sure perhaps two minutes worth , but it is not enough to distract me from where they hit the mark. 

The second song, picks up where the verses of the first track left off. Then things get blasty and chaotic. When it come back together in the more thrashing section with the croaked vocals it sounds more like they have common ground with the black metal status quo. The title track is also a step away from the darker and more jarring sounds found on the first song and more like what you expect from a black metal band without relying solely on blast beats. Are there some? Yes, but it is not over done, however the title track works off a similar rage that you can hear from bands more in the middle of the blackened road.  If this was any other band, it would be more impressive , and they nail what they set out to accomplish here, but  how occult is this ?  The darker more melodic turn the song takes is a nice shift of dynamic, but not sure it fully answers this question. 

"Sie sind..." finds them blasting into things with a more reckless energy than we have heard from them in some time. It sounds like the instruments are crashing into the sound barrier, We have know they are capable , but really heard the conventional shredding metal guitar solo that is touched upon here, as they give you the taste, they could do it if they so desired. When things are more deliberately paced the song has a better stride.  The drumming is impressive regardless. That more Emperor like vibe I have spoken of in relation t this band in the past, can be heard here.  After having them thrown almost every conceivable black metal sound at you they should they can write a song as well, with "Our Life is your death", which feels more like first wave black metal, without them trying to dig into a retro sound like most of the bands who worship Venom do.  I will round this up to a 9.5, which is more of a concession than I normally have to make for these guys, it's just the kitchen sink of blank metal hitting you midway into the album and some of the more straight forward elements take a minute to get used to.   

 

Astral Tomb : "Soulgazer"

To me the term gore grind means sloppy death metal. These guys to not defy that logic, though they experiment more, yet make riffs more memorable to some extent. They sound like they are more into "Domination" era Morbid Angel than "Altars of Madness" which might be what sets them apart from other death metal bands. The fact that I reviewed a band that tried to merge free form jazz with metal before listening to this, plays into this band's favor as nothing they can do comes across as chaotic as what I heard before this album. The fact the opening track is almost 13 minutes long does not play to their favor as they have not really set the course for writing a song that warrants such length, they are more of a girth band.  The ambiance the band goes off into midway into the song seems like it should be two different songs rather than using this to just bridge a larger piece. When it comes back in the riff is slower and more staccato, it is a cool riff just not picking up where they left off before the space out part. 

The fact these guys are from Denver means they are likely smoking a ton of weed which is why they want to be more surreal and trippy than they actually are, though I do enjoy the dissonance they can bring to the table. The second track confirms this theory, but since it is just space noise for tripping, and not a song I am not going to factor it any further into this review. The creepy guitar melodies however work well for  "Inertia:. When they speed up and go into the more blasty Cannibal Corpse like parts they lose me, despite the fact I know this entire genre is spawned from Cannibal Corpse. The faster more thrashy riff works fine though.  They band has said themselves they are criticized most often for the lackluster production on their previous work, this is improved , but the less than air tight arrangement I think plays into the production flaws.  We are two minutes into "Traversing the Wandering Star" before it kicks in. When it does things are more sloppy in terms of the metal they hit you with. . I think the looser style of playing , makes the production sound more iffy than if this was a very air tight riffing. 

When they pull back from the chaos of the last song and chill out on a more melodic riff they have proved how intentional their mess can be. They also prove the weed is working. Despite being a death metal band I have more respect for where they take this song melodically than how brutal they are. Their guitar player shows what kind of promise he has .  I will give this album an 8.5, some of the flaws are more a snap shot of the genre as a whole that these youngsters are giving a shot at doing different.  

This avant garde metal band is going to have the few hipsters who are still pretending to be into metal, licking their porn staches. The first track is not even a song but feedback and noise. If it had not been for them blasting into business by the second song, then I would have questioned why I had wasted my time with this and to be honest, with the kind of grind core chaos that goes down on the second song I am still not sure this was a good decision on my part until it was to find a album worse than the new Ghost. This is for a different reason. You see Ghost cares too much about their songs so they are slick enough for the balls to fall off of them and become pop. These guys are just fucking around not even getting to songs, there are a few grooves that click together on the second song, but by and large I am not sure anyone knows what the other is doing.  You might want to compare it to jazz, and perhaps some of the free  form elements are there but none of the melody. They lock in at times and that is almost enjoyable if there was a plot coursed. Some of these sound like an ironic parody of metal more than heart felt aggression.

"Frost Suffocation" is a freak out but with none of Zappa's savvy.  I am fine with merging jazz with metal, but I still need you to write songs.   It is more often than not dissonance for the sake of. Mr. Bungle can tackle everything this band touches and work it into a song worth listening to. There is a great deal of noodling that sounds like me just picking up a guitar to try and get inspired to write something on it. I do not feel the need to record those moments until the notes connect to create something memorable. Even in the most fucked up drug state I have ever been in this would not appeal to me so now I am hunting for an audience. I would call this jam band metal, but jam bands lock into a groove that is so good at least to them they can not let go of it. They do not achieve even that much here. They would have been better served as a grind core band ,as there is under a minute of each song that might have been worth recording.  Some of these things are just noise with nothing to redeem them. 

They might have stepped on the distortion pedal by a mistake. It is hard to tell as the entire thing is a mistake. There might be a riff emerging on "Against the Churning Void".  Spoiler alert it does not happen , I made it almost made through the 14 minute closing track it was better in it pursuit of jazz flavored chaos. I decided wasted enough time with this, so I will give this album a 2.5, so it is worse than the Ghost album, perhaps this will take the number one spot in the worst album of 2022 list, I am not sure I can take an album that is more grating.

Sundowning : "In the Light of Defeat, I Cease to Exist"

This is the year for atmosphere in sludge and doom, this German  band meets at the cross roads of the two, though just judging from the opening song, there is a darker more mournful sound to the music and less of a punk rock aggression seething under the surface so I am going to say this leans more in the doom direction but things could change after all this is just the vibe I am getting as I listen to the first song. The change the song takes is unexpected and further supports my doom theory. The music becomes more minimal, and the growl comes in. The sung vocals return as well, with a slightly different context. The second song finds it shifting into a more feral pounding of death doom. This changes as there is a weird vocal part that reminds me of Leonard Cohen , before it shifts to a more soaring climax. 

One thing I enjoy about this band are all the colors of sound they bring to the table. The song "A Prison, A Cage" opens with a more thundering stomp of crusty sludge riff then they float off into a more melodic place that reminds me of a heavier Woods of Ypres. The vocals are lower baritone than the singing we heard in the first song. After further listening I gain appreciation for the atmospheric guitar tricks that abound. The death metal vocals feel more doom as well.  "Armour of Indifference" is a turn to abrasive noise in how it churns. Spoken word comes int midway into this more experimental piece.  There is something unnerving and almost Swans like in how they go about this.   

For what they are doing here it is impressive that these songs all manage to stay under the ten-minute mark ,so they are never droning you to death. The last song lingers in the atmosphere. Of course when they build it up into a pounding that is more sonic than metal despite the growl of the vocals in the distance it is hitting my sweet spot. This is the most sludged out moment on the album as it is big and apocalyptic rather than despairing. They do not relent in this attack ,which is fine in the context of the album. The slow burn at the beginning of the song paid off/.  I will round this up to a 9.5, aside from the experimental song it is pretty much a perfect album, if you are looking for doomy music that is sonically heavy this is the album you have been waiting for.  

47

Gloson : "the Rift"

Heard a fair amount of praise for this album from some of my peers so checking out the hype. This band from Sweden churns out a dark bellowing brand sludge from the more Neurosis school of sonics. It lumbers and the vocals bellow, so they have the basics covered. What I am listening for is what are these guys doing that I have not already heard before. There are also sung vocals buried against the layers of guitar. Not what I expect bands from Sweden to sound like but then again Opeth is from Sweden.  Yes, there are some catchy riffs, but the rule here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make.  I like the darker turn that "Windbearer" takes. It is more of an instrumental, the vocals are just a roar mixed into the background and never feel like they are an active part of the song.  Instead of feeling like a missed opportunity to do more with the mood it does flow well. 

"Impetus" has more of a droning throb to it. Midway into the song some big chugging riffs come in a grab your attention amid the haze the song has cast over your ears that found it fading more into background music as I typed. This album is well produced in terms of how the sounds are captured and mixed. "Tirsas Vassals" lives and dies off of its huge pounding riff that rolls over you with a tank like groove. Yes, it is heavy and the vocals are even more sinister in their scowl, but as a song it works off the one theme. What plays to this band's strength is a song like "Cerebus IV" where the focus becomes their ability to sculpt sounds that capture an oppressive gloom. They saved the two longest songs for last, so the question becomes , but can they make sound sculpting interesting enough to carry over eleven minutes of it? For the first two and half minutes of it they drone on the riff, before breaking it all the way down to a creepy low whispered vocal. They play the old expand and contract that Neurosis has been doing since the 90s. 

The band ends things on their highest note with the shimmering expanse of sound that is the very melodic "Ultraviolet" that owes more to say Jesu than Neurosis. I understand why this album was written the way it was as the establishing of heavy for the audience, but I think where they go here is the best thing even if it is not heavy but focuses more on sonic dynamics. This is not going to be the best metal album of the year or even the best sludge album of the year, yet it is very solid and deserves to be recognized, I will give it a 9, though not sure how much I will listen to so it is more perhaps rounding it up for those of you who ask less from sludge, though the band has plenty to give . 

Freja : "Tides"

 

This duo from the Netherlands is very interesting in their approach to atmospheric black metal. It has little in common with Deafheaven. Myrkur might be a better comparison at time with the female vocals are layered around the otherwise epic pounding that is burlier than anything the black gaze bands would do though they do weave in some cool melodic ambiance in the midst of their charge ahead. The second song kind of runs out of the first. To the point that I did not realize it was a different song. Though there is more of a straight up almost rock drum beat running through the song. It is also more melodic than the storm unleashed on the first song. 

"Dusk" is somewhere between post-rock and shoe gaze when the low growled vocals come in. When the sung female vocals come in the song takes off. The use of the vocals to bring the transition works well. It takes about halfway into the song before it shifts to more of a black metal sound. "Cataclysm". Is more straightforward it feels like it falls somewhere between death metal and black metal. The atmosphere here is just more of a texture and the aggression of metal is given most of the focus. There is a darker more melodic riff that comes in midway into the song. "Of Those Stricken by Fate". Is a spectral take on neo- folk. It feels more like an interlude given the breadth of metal already covered. 

The last song has that triumphant galloping into victory feeling that any black metal band from Europe who gets branded with a folk or pagan label seems to find themselves in at some point with Moonsorrow being the most noted culprit in this regard. There is a great deal of blasting here, which finds them sounding more like everyone else in this regard. They do redeem this with a more black gaze style riff that is more interesting as it rides the groove. I will give this album a 9, it goes the extra mile in enough ways to make this an album I can leave on and let play.Drops Apirl 22nd on Babylon Doom Cult.   

   

Abbath : " Dread Reaver"

 If you are hoping someone is going to carry the torch of Immortal, I think Abbath is proving himself the rightful bearer of that ring. His albums are huge sounding and thunderingly heavy black metal. The first song on this album really goes for the throat but is still a pretty thoughtfully written song even with all the rage it carries. Not if this entire album sounded like this there might be a problem. "Scarred Core" does continue to race with the devil at a rapid rate, though not driven by blast beats so that works for me. The production is very dense. The album hit you as being loud first and foremost. The vocals are largely buried in the barrage of guitars. Solos coming ripping out of the corners of the song. It adds to chaos more than the song. But the chaos is the mood of the song.

The clean guitar that opens "Dream Cull" was a nice touch. If the song had just blasted off the album would have become a blur. When it does kick in there is a more of a mood set. This was the lead single from the album and it's easy to understand why. There is more nuance and breathing room. The vocals almost capture a melody.  "Myrmidon" has a riff that reminds me of "Lay it Down" by Ratt. Though the heavier chug of guitar suppresses the more 80s under current. There are also times where his vocals are less of a croak and sound more like Lemmy. The 80s are over when the buzz of guitars speeds up for " the Deep Unbound". It is the first song that has felt more like filler as the guitars are just kind of going for it with little regard for the song.

Not that I am opposed to heavy. They do heavy with more than enough conviction with the more commanding chug of " Septentrion" the vocals take on more of a death metal growl in places. "Trapped Under Ice" is one of my favorite Metallica songs. His vocals here come closer to singing again, though it veers into the Lemmy  lane which works for Metallica. For some reason the more traditional metal dynamics embedded in the DNA of " the book of Breath" remind me of a pumped up death metal version of solo Ozzy. The title track closes out the album. The main riff reminds of King Diamond. There is nothing dark and theatrical about it so the comparison pretty much ends there it is just how the riff grooves. This album is the best of his solo work so far and I think the fact it is rooted in traditional metal rather than being overtly black metal or extreme plays into it's favor. 

Greenbeard : "Variant"

 This Texas band reminds me a great deal of the winning combination of sounds that Atomic Bitchwax used on their less coked out punk racing moments. You know the times when they had had catchy songs and grooves? I loved that album.  These guys are not limited to just that kind of straight forward rocking, they are able to pack the bong and dish out some very 70s cruising grooves as well. At the end of the day could you draw comparisons to Queens of the Stoneage? Yes, but Monster Magnet was doing this before those guys and this band is carrying the tradition well. "Get in the Car .No Tome to explain" does go into a more jammy solo section I like but, jamming aside the songwriting on the first to songs is a notch above. 

They take the jamming to the next level on " Diamond in the Devil's Grinder". It has a more Pink Floyd feels as things like sax drip out from the more New York grooves. After the first three songs it was not what I was expecting. This is overall less metal and more rock n roll. At times the flavor of that is darker and steamy like how they creep into "Santitario del Sol". It has a big progressive swing  to it's progressive vibes. Dynamically it gets pretty big. This is sonically powerful and gets in your head with a trippy majesty. There is more of a stoned out fuzzy boogie to " Exodus" which carries a heavier stomp. I really like when they lay back a let the palm muted groove create a darker space. You can hear some Doors influence when things break down into a simmer. 

The last song "Bare Bones" ends things really strong. There is a retro groove to it without being derivative of any classic rock band that comes to mind.  What hooks me in with these guys is the range of what they can do and their hooky dynamic song writing. The songs are not just containers for their jams but set the stage for them to flow smoothly, so I have no problem rounding this one up to a 10. If you are looking for some new stoner rock this is an album that must be heard. 

Meshuggah: " Immutable"

They offer a different kind of pounding on the opening track, the robo grinding is sure to come, but the early reprieve is a welcome departure from their normal formula. They fall into grooves that groove rather than make you pull out a calculator to keep up with the math.  It's been six years since the last album which might have been the reset the band needed. At the time it came out I was a huge fan of the band's band's fourth album "Nothing:" and enjoyed "Catch Thirtythree" and "obZen" that followed. Then things begin to feel a little stale and the chugs began running together no matter how divergent they were. It is closer to business as usual for them on "the Abysmal Eye" that is Meshuggah being Meshuggah. 

Jens Kidman's militant bark, that comes across like an angry command rather than growling, is very consistent and continues to do what he does.  Where the band excels is the balance of atmosphere around the staccato chug of the industrial strength guitar. This is felt on "Light the Shortening Fuse".  The more palm muted passages of "Phantoms" create a tension gives the needed dynamic shift.  They shift the tension and groove it more for "Ligature Marks", It is evident by this point in the album that the band set out to do something different. Even they had begun to feel like something needed to change and it has for the better. They dig back into their more time-tested brand of heaviness with "God He Sees in Mirrors".  I hearing the bass distinguish itself from the guitars on this song.  For those of you who are here for the guitar wizardry the chaotic Robert Fripp like solo should impress. 

 The clean guitar that leads into the meat of "They Move Below" is even more impressive at it steps away from what you might expect from them. Those expectations are the boundaries the band broke from. When it does build into their heavier sound it flows rather than feeling like an obligation.  The roar of the cyborg churning of "Kaleidoscope" is more familiar territory. They hit you with a similar mecha-aggression but do so more effectively as songwriters on "I am That Thirst". The bring ambiance to the weighty throb of "the Faultless" which finds them appealing more to people who showed up for a familiar heavy, but not carbon copied from previous songs, the vocal arrangement does some interesting things, 

The more nuanced approach to the sounds they are bringing to the table does not mark every song. After repeat listens to "Armies of the Preposterous" and it still sounds like a a collision of steam rolling riffs for the sake of having them collide. Just past the midway mark of the song they switch it up a little but nothing mind-blowing. Cleaner guitar tones reemerge on the last song. It's a guitar centered instrumental that works more as an outro, which is a different way for them to end the album. I will give this album a 9.5, to grow on me, it's not a perfect album but it is the best I have heard from them in sometime and smart move on their part.Out April 1st on Atomic Fire.           

 

10.4

Dark Funeral : "We Are the Apocalypse "

 

The title sounding promising but here is an experiment for you. Try listening to Kate Bush, then switching right over to this album and the first track will seem a lot more aggressive. I am sure if you hit some weed before doing so then this might magnify the dynamic leap you are taking. The first song is pretty aggressive, but from a song writing perspective there is not much else to it. The second is a dynamic shift in that it is more of a deliberate throb, but the production is so much slicker than it has lost most of the more blackened qualities so it more like Satyricon.  

Then when we get to "When Our Vengeance is Done" it's back to blasty mcnasty as normal. I get as a black metal band and veterans of the scene who have seen other trends come and go it is good to be consistent, however it feels more like well-produced stagnation when they do not take more chances to use other shades of black. In fact in so doing with a song like "Nosferatu" it feels like there is a great deal of wasted opportunity to capture a mood to fit the lyrics as recorded there is nothing vampiric to full speed ahead raging, but those lyrics would have fit better over the darker more deliberate pulse of "When I am Gone" that follows it.  I think this deliberation adds more nuance and the breathing room for guitar melodies making it one the album's best songs. 

"Beyond the Grave" is back to the color by numbers blasting. I guess I can appreciate they have been at it for such a long time and find plenty to still be hateful about. I always say make black metal hate again and hear it more in the attack of the music than the lyrics. Though they do mention a world where the sun will no longer give warmth, which I am down with. I can say the vocals serve more purpose in this song, and I am not against them playing fast if it serves the song. "A Beast to Serve" has great lyrics that are once again lost in the blur of translation in the fury the overall playing steam rolls them with. "Leviathan" does a better job of this is the verses, it holds more common ground with say Dissection in this regard. The title track just kind of blasts past though after listening to an entire album almost made up of this sort of thing , the brain gets used to it and it does not seem as intense when they first hit you with.  I will give this a  7.5,  it is far from their best, but anything that is not a kinder and gentler sentiment I support.  

Reckless Love : "Turborider"

 

Why does what this Finnish cock rock band does on this album work for me, while when Ghost does this, it doesn't?" I think a great deal of this has to do with context and are the achieving what they set out to do. Metal is just a color in the crayon box after all how metal was this kind of thing when it first came out in the 80s, if you were not there then I will answer this for you... not very. These guys are fun they combine synth wave retro 80s synths with a Def Leppard sound. Olliver Twisted got his start in the glam band Crash Diet. There is no claim being made here to be dark or heavy. In fact they shamelessly delve into pop on the second song, but the vocal hooks are catchy and everything works as they are not trying too hard. 

"Outrun" might push the pop envelope too far for my personal tastes and comes across as too happy. "Kids of the Arcade" is pretty catchy but barrows from bands like Foreigner and Journey perhaps too heavily. They have a pretty solid cover of "Bark at the Moon". As much as I love solo Ozzy, I am going to judge it harshly and they pull it off. "Like a Cobra" is weird as it feels like it is from a musical.  "For the Love of Good Times" is just too happy for my taste buds, though the verses work the chorus is where they lose me. "89 Sparkle" could be a Katy Perry song. I mean for pop, it works. It feels more Katy Perry than Miley Cyrus to me, but I can also hear Miley singing this if I think about it hard enough.  

"Future Lover Boy' finds everybody working for the weekend. The chorus is not my favorite on the album. Their singer is really good at holding back on the verse and then going bigger on the choruses/ I compared them to Ghost earlier, and he is twice the singer than Tobias is. If their was any justice in the world these guys would have the success that Ghost has as they are better songwriters. I like the synth groove driving the last song but the melodies around it are their most inspired. I will give this album a 9 it is a lot of fun, not sure how much I will listen to it, but they have carved out an interesting palce for themselves as a band.    

RUMOURS : "the Lower We Sink, the Less We Care"

 

The opener track hooked me quick has tonally it owes more to rock than metal, but it does work off a grim tension that is still explosive. The second song finds that this was not luck on the part of this Swedish band, but they are skilled weavers of sonic gloom, it's still punchy with a hint of 70s rock. The instrumentation is warmly recorded in analog. The retro thing is not the band trying too hard to capture a bygone era. While the press release got my attention by referencing both Beastmilk and In Solitude they do have a sound that is very much their own. At times like a more rock-oriented version of Rope Sect in terms of their sonic space, the vocals are more dynamics as the singer belts it out with a great deal of convincing power.  

" I Am the Midnight" is consistent without being redundant. The verses on this one expands more to give the vocals room to breathe. "The Sky is Coming Down Again" has a more rock n roll groove. There are lots of epic guitar harmonies that mange to stay more haunting than epic.  The more reckless mood that colors the up-tempo "Chronophobia" is more aggressive, but I prefer the less overt tension of the previous songs. Halfway into the song it slows into something darker that plays more to their strengths as a band. It is not a power ballad but there is a moodier shift to "And the Name of the Star Was Bitterness".  If evolves into something more dynamic. 

"Echoes of Decline" returns to the more wild running riffs. Not what I would call punk, but it does carry that kind of energy.  This is not to say I only want these guys to contemplate in morbid reflection at all times, they prove on the last song they can drive with their foot on the gas as it is done with more of a gallop, not Mercyful Fate like, but driving in that direction.  I will round this up to a 10 as the faster songs will grow on me. It scratches my dark rock itch, lets see how it holds up for the rest of the year,  

LUPERCALIA RECORDS · RUMOURS - Grinder

Vanir : "Sagas"

 Most folk or Viking metal tends not be dark enough for my tastes. The so-called folk elements are often more on par with Leprechaun dance tracks. This Danish band is darker and more aggressive, than most . The melodies layered over this have more of a epic anime sound to them, which makes them not as heavy as if they did not have it but I get that that is their thing. The massive symphonic sound of the opener reminds me of Dimmu.   "Black Clad" is a more straight forward metal march. As with a great many metal bands who step on the gas in an order to be harder and faster some of the groove of songwriting gets buried. This can be felt on "See the Dragons Ride" .  

 As  the chugs begin to run together what is apparent is how their more deliberate moments work much better than when they go racing off to chase dragons . Just dropping things down to an acoustic guitar in the middle is kind of played out unless it flows better in the song, yet that does not stop them from trying. Without that things begin to run together and it is an endless stream of chugging. The machine gun charge of  double driving "the Bounty of Flesh and Bone" goes to show epic alone is not enough. This is a similar problem Amon Amarth has though , I take these guys more seriously than them The vocals do limit what they can do as this is all pretty one dimensional metal. When sung vocals are finally employed it's too little too late. 

"Battle For Middle Earth" is darker, but as a whole by this point in the album the overall sound is nothing more than your average European death metal band.  Some songs just work better than others. This one being on the more effective side. Just because the songs fail to hook me on the first listen some I was able to appreciate more after another listen.  "Andvari's Curse" being one of these. Nothing is reinventing the wheel here when it comes to metal. They just accomplished what they set out to do with this one better than the bulk of the other songs.  Where "Gods of War" runs together with everything else I heard here , the last song has more distinct melodies thanks to the guitars. I will give this one an 8, which is very fair considering they accomplished what they set out to do and the only problem for me is it  runs together due to the emphasis being on the metallic aggression which might not be enough for me to make this something I would put in regular rotation, but for fans of darker euro death metal with Viking undertones, you will appreciate more than I do.   

SYK : "Pyramiden"

 

The biggest strength of this Italian band is their vocalist, Dahlia Krayos. If they had opted for another male growler for what would have been a very grooving, take on progressive death metal, but at the end of the day would have sounded like everyone else. The first song hits you and is no different in its hand that it takes you by surprise, the second song you begin to get your bearing and hear what is going. The drummer is impressive, but really with this kind of music you have to be. The guitars could stand to groove more is the impression the second song begins to give me. Her melodies wander around the spinning labyrinth of riffs she is forced to work with and for the most part makes the best of what is going on here. Not a great deal of room for hooks.  

The mix is weird as it sounds, she is singing metal karaoke at times, her voice sounds separate from the blur of guitars churning under her by the time we get to 'the Hollow Mother". It begins to feel like they are more about this sound than the song. She needs more breathing room than the math of the guitar is yielding.  Aside from the opening track the rest of the songs are pretty reasonable lengths. The faster paced "Zoas" ,  the vocals gliding they have been for the bulk of the album just over a faster riff . There is a weird harmonic dissonance to it at times. When they slow back down , aside from being locked in the grinding machine like throb of Meshuggah, the vocals are given more room. The bass is kinda buried in all of this . The speed begin to vary , though the tones remain the same. 

Dizzying speeds once again factor in when we get to "When Fire Fell into Water".  It is dense with little to give in terms of being able to hook you in. The sentiment of the vocals is not as effective here as it feels like the formula in place is going to the well too many times. Musically things do not change a great deal on the last song, but the vocals find more purpose making the overall song work more as a whole. I will keep this band on my radar as I like what they do, I will give this album an 8 as what they do carries it on the sound, though for my regular listening would prefer the vocals given more focus in the songs. Out on Housecore Records.  

Father Befouled : " Crowned in Veneficum"

These guys are one of those bands where I have never been wowed by what they put out, but open to the possibility that they may one day wow me. It took Withered a few albums before it clicked for me. These guys are death metal that is pretty nasty, on the slower death doom side rather than just trying to stomp over you. The vocals are a sub-bass gurgle of a growl. The guitars are all over the place creating chaos. Dissonance is achieved where most bands of this type hide the melody and texture. When the chaos gets brought up to a more crushing death metal speed it does not resonate with me as it is all just a buzz,  

The thing about that song over sound thing is, I did not realize I was on the third songs until I was already and minute and a half into it and they switched up the riffs. " His Throne Decayed" is an instrumental, but I did not member the low grumble of the vocals taking up much space to begin with.  "Miasmas of Sodom" is the first song where the speed is notedly faster.  In its hammering it does little to really distinguish themselves from other death metal bands. They slow things down into their typical grime ridden grimness.  The whole " cool riffs does not a good song make" rule we have here, comes down hard on these kinds of bands who sometimes put heaviness above even having cool riffs/.  

By the time we get to "Katabatic Deliverance" everything begins to sound the same as it appears the creative gas began to run out of the tank. They are just color by numbers death metal on "Enlightenment of Torture" . Sure there is a solid riff or two but that is the bare minimum you should ask from a song.  I like the doomier start to the last song, but it became a metallic mush and I lost interest after awhile. I will give this album a 7, not their strongest work by any means.  

Charli XCX : " Crash"

 Quirky British pop singer Charli XCX is back. This time she is showing us that she makes an album with a half dozen less songwriters and producers than the likes of the Weeknd or Lil Nas X . She does continue a slick 80s retro path and I am not sure any of the songs strike me as bumping as hard as she did on  "How   I'm feeling now" . She has a knack of riding the beats with odd chanted vocal lines which she comes out of the gate doing on the opening track. There are actual instruments like guitars being played which is more of a novelty these days in pop music. "New Shapes' is a little more streamlined and features Christine and the Queens , along with Caroline Polachek. This combination lends itself to sounding more like HAIM, though some of the Imogen Heap influence that could be heard on the last album can still be felt here,.

"Good Ones" has a Eurythmics like groove to it, but she pulls out some great vocal hooks. "Constant Repeat" is fun, with it's dancey groove. Though the lyrical content seems to be a continuation of the previous song. If "Beg For You " seems familiar they sample from the melodies of "Don't Cry" by Milk Inc and "Cry For You" by September which are gay club remix classics. "Move Me" required less work to write and flows better . In many ways  it is minimal with her voice doing mor. It is a formula that is more like a signature for her. There is a more of a early 9-s pop feel to "Baby" combined with disco.  "Lightning" starts off as more of a ballad. The robo vocal effects on the vocal usher in a more upbeat brand of future pop. "Every Rule"  feels more like a something that Taylor Swift would have done as a ballad on "Reputation". 

"Yuck"is more comparable to what the current trends in pop seem to be , but with more of a bubble chorus. Still if we are measuring this again pop standards this holds up better than most. The groove is cooler on "Used to Know Me". While she does not have the best pipes in the biz, her strength is where she puts her voice.  "Twice" is also a demonstration of this her albums have a history of growing on me, so I am going to go ahead and give this a 10 . 

Absent in Body : "Plague God"

 

In some ways this is the album I wished Amenra  had released last year instead to the overly atmospheric one we got instead. This album not only features members of Amera, but drummer Igor Cavelera of Sepultura fame and Neurosis' Scott Kelly. The only problem is while the massive apocalypse of sound they churn up is quite impressive with the industrial strength of its crushing throb, the sheer weight of heaviness that possesses the first two songs makes them sound somewhat similar. the main difference being the second song has more of an overt industrial feel to it. It is way heavier than anything Neurosis has really done in the past ten years. Sonically it paints the perfect picture for the demise of the current world. Eventually the second song does go float off into a more Amenra like atmosphere with spoken word. It works much better here than on their last album. 

"Sarin" has a more menacing lumber that reminds me more of Neurosis meets "Filth Pig" era Ministry. The vocals are by far the most aggressive element on this album and more growled that what we have heard from Neurosis. The industrial feel still casts its aura over the song. The vocals have a more rhythmic cadence to them, to help break things up from the first two songs.  You get two and a half minutes into "the Acres, the Ache" before it kicks into its reluctant roar. There is a weird ambient buzz that haunts the backdrop of this song. It ends up drifting into a more post rock section with sung vocals that are more fragile in their melody.  

There is a darker pound to the more droning " Half Rising Man". It much like the bulk of these songs falls somewhere on the more industrial side of sludge. Do they sometimes focus more on a sound rather than songs in the conventional definition of what a song is? Sure, but when the sound you are focusing on is a deep in it's end times darkness as what is going down here, I have a little more wiggle room. Overall this album surprised me , I will give it a 9.5.   

 

Drug Church: " Hygiene"

With each album this band has fine-tuned their songs just a little more. This album is a culmination of all the work they have put in since forming in 2011.  The is almost Mudhoney like swagger amid the dense fuzz of guitars that drive the powerful opening track. The chorus to the second songs has a brighter hope to it like a less whiskey-soaked version of Hotwatermusic. "Plucked" hurtles forward with more reckless abandon so it does not rely on the same kind of melodic hooks that could be found on the first two songs. Is it more punk? Sure, you could say that. The guitars are more sonic and not as layered. Overall, this has proven to be a burlier album than anything we have heard from them thus far. 

I referenced to bands from the 90s earlier and there are many more who could be a point of reference. They pull most of their influence from this decade. Not limiting themselves to one sub-genre from it. "Million Miles of Fun" messes with the formula and experiments with the sonics they have colored things with up to this point.  Hum, Weezer and Failure are names that might come to mind, but at times they even go with a more grunge sound or in the case of "Detective Lieutenant" more post punk until the explosive chorus not only steps on the gas but takes a match to the whole damn tank.  "Tiresome" hits harder in terms of intensity, but not melody. You hardly notice due to the energy invested. The prove they can do both on "World Impact".  While I know he can sing, for the most part the vocals are husky and belted with a commanding punk authority that might be the one element of this band that owes the most to hard core. 

"Premium Offer" has the most direct lyrics in how they shine a light on the policing of culture. The song itself has a quirkier skip to it. The last two song are more aggressive and to the point. The attack more direct on "Piss & Quiet".  Looking arou8nd at the world they have more than enough frustrations to provide lyrical material for them, "Athlete on Bench" is more melodic, this gives it more of a grunge feel. I will go ahead and round this up to a 10 as I suspect the moments that did not connect fully on the first time around with this album will grow on me. 

Scorpions : " Rock Believer"

 The Scorpions were one of the biggest heavy metal bands of their day. Once they tasted big chart-topping success with their 1984 album "Love at First Sting" they became more of a rock and roll band losing a great deal of their metallic edge. This album is big 80s flavored rock that finds the band with their boots firmly planted in where they came from. This is album the first album with Drummer Mikkey Dee who played with both King Diamond and Motorhead. On this album he is collecting a paycheck as he gets nowhere near as aggressive with his playing. One thing that is impressive and perhaps the album's strongest selling point is the youthful nature of Klaus' vocals. At age 73 he can still get up there. The song itself is very derivative of what they have already done in the past. This playing on nostalgia might be the best move for them after all have they done anything worthwhile in the studio since 1993? 

Lyrically "Roots in My Boots" is pretty dumb, but the song is upbeat with an energy that sounds like they were no just dialing it in here.  The guitar solos hold up against most metal playing.  Sonically "Knock Em Dead " is more interesting riff wise. : Does it hold up against their best work, well no but it works for what it is. The title track manages to be true to who they are and still sound like some of the riffs are lifted from Joan Jett. Now the riff going into "Shining of Your Soul " sounds more like the Scorpions I want. I am not sure about what they do in the verse after. Overall I think it holds up better as a Scorpions song than the previous songs. "Seventh Sun" has a steamier sound to it's syncopation that reminds me of 'the Zoo".  The riff opening "Hot and Cold" is the first hint of anything that could be described as metal .  The chorus is where things get too happy for it's own good. 

"When I Lay My Bones to Rest" is up tempo in a more Aerosmith direction, but it is also the first song that feels like filler and is not as inspired as what we have heard up to this point. "Peacemaker " has a more aggressive edge and a chorus that does not mess up the mood by trying too hard. They rock it out a little harder as it progresses. While "Call of the Wild" opens up and gives the vocals more room, I am surprised that they have not begun to pour on the power ballads by this point in time and laying on thicker grooves instead. This is one of the album's strongest songs. I spoke to soon as "When You Know" is a ballad. It works but it not one of the band's strongest. They get back on track with the harder rocking of " Shoot for Your Heart" which benefits from really well written vocal melodies. They maintain the momentum with the harder driven "When Tomorrow Comes" that points them in a direction closer to metal.  

"Unleash the Beast" has a title that sounds like it should be heavier than it is. Another song that feels more like filler. There is a more rock swagger to the last song. It is middle for the road for these guys. I will give this album a 9 as it is a great deal stronger than expected and for the most part a happy surprise, I think they are giving fans what they want because god know trying to appeal to anyone under 40 is a lost cause.   

QAALM : " Resilience & Despair"

This California based doom band might be what you are looking for if you want something dark and droning that will not put you to sleep. The clean guitars that open the album are pristine. It is not until the low growled vocals come in that things get heavy. The guitars are layered so there is not just a crushing distortion hitting you in fact that is buried in the mix under the clean guitar until the dynamic begin to shift in a more metallic direction. Normally I would not tolerate an album that was comprised of only long sprawling songs all exceeding fourteen minutes. I was halfway into it when I notice this fact. With that said it must mean they are doing something right here. Could some of the drone be trimmed back? Sure but the mesmerism you are lulled into make it hard to notice. 

Going into the second song, the vocals set the mood with a more diabolical snarl . The music follows suit and is heavier metal than heavier sonically. This forces them to rely on the power of the chug rather than to lose you in sonic magic. This still proves to be effective, but also shares more common ground with what you might expect from your more run of the mill blackened doom band. As the song progresses it wanders off into more interesting melodic territory before getting heavy again. The vocals on "Cosmic Descent" take on a lower death metal growl. The music morphs behind this narrative to form more of a mournful funeral doom backdrop. The chug of guitar keeps things moving a little more than your average funeral doom band. 

The last song "Lurking Death" features sung vocals gliding in on the atmosphere that opens the song. It hovers here for the first three and a half minutes of the song before nastier tormented growls come in. It is not until the five minute mark that it converges into a more determined metal machine. Their sense of dynamics reaches it's most effective place around the 9 minute mark. That is also where a riff pops up that reminds me of Type O Negative. The song then wanders off to some interesting places. Overall while the sonic depth of the first song is not matched, the rest of the album is great doom with dynamic shade of gloom, I will give it an 9.