It's time for February's top 10 albums. Staying abreast of the month's highlights might help casual readers see what they missed and check these artists out. I am not writing little blurbs on them; I am just linking the reviews. Inclusion here does not mean that these albums have been released this month, but it is a list of new or upcoming albums I have enjoyed the most, I have albums in my in-box that are not coming out til April so I am normally way ahead of the curve in this regard. They are ranked in order of what I have listened to the most. This month there is a wide variety from goth to death metal so you may find your new favorite among them. Here are the Top 10 albums of February
I've now been listening to King Diamond for 39 years, and with time my perspective on albums has changed over the years, so now reviewing the entirety of his solo career thus far it only makes sense to rank King Diamond's work in this format. Largely ranked in terms of how the albums scored in the said reviews, which are linked with each entry, in the case of a tiebreaker I defaulted to which album I had listened to the most over the years. I guess I have not made a King Diamond list before since he is one of my favorite artists, and ranking the albums is like ranking your favorite childhood memories. However, with age, I can be more subjective and see past the nostalgic attachments to weigh what really matters when it comes to music which is the songs that stand the test of time. So here are the Top 10 King Diamond Albums.
10-"The Puppet Master"
It might not be placed next to his most classic material but is once again better than the bulk of metal that came out in 2003.
The opening track from this Miami trio finds noise rock meeting darker sludge grit. The vocals are a sluggish moan, leaving the entire sound to feel like it was lost in the 90s. Cvlt Nation compared them to Kylesa and I did not hear that until the second song when the vocals of guitarist Lauren Palma took over the mic. The dynamic it is contrasted by on the chorus is not as heavy as Kylesa and feels more like grunge to me, think L7 or Veruca Salt here. I do prefer this over the opening track. 'Medusa" stumbled forward with a woozy blur before the male vocals barked back on "Devils Advocate". This more aggressive stance finds the band falling on the heavier end of noise rock.
There is a heavier stomp on "Break Free' that carries more of a Helmet-like syncopation to power it. The pounding lumber of "Placebo" has a darker Jesus Lizard creep that wins me over and I like how the howl of the vocals works with the swaggering groove making it one of the album's strongest songs. "Snake Eyes" is possessed by a punk recklessness, that might put its message before its sense of dynamics. "Pro-Choice" is better than the previous song as there is more thought placed on how the vocals fall over the music, though it is not the album's best song.
I like what they are doing on "Reflections" though I am not sure what they are doing is enough to warrant a song, it felt like I was just listening to them jam while waiting for the actual song to kick in but, the direction they were heading felt solid. They are back on the more grunge vibes for the last song. I like where they end up going with it as the heavier groove works well. I will give this album a 9, it's solid, if you want something in the sludge meets grunge vein not unlike what bands like Torche used to do, or the Melvins might be another fair point of comparison at times. This album drops on Seeing Red Records on April 1st.
Crawling up from the cavernous depths where death metal plunges into a more depressive depth to meet in the melancholic tombs of doom, this Portland-based band oozes up with their follow-up to their 2021 debut. Featuring members of Negative Prayer, Vastum, and Coffin Rot, they manage to manifest an inner darkness into sonic form physically, by using their instruments as the conduit by which they are expressed. This enables the atmosphere to manifest from the music as a natural progression of where the sound should go rather than neatly checking off the boxes of required genre tropes. The solos add to the mood, rather than being an outburst of shredding for the sake of chaos. The title track serves as an example of this in motion.
The deliberate guitar chug for "Dysautonomic Terror" provides a powerful backbone for the song to be built off. This could be thought of as death doom, though that is a label people associate with the Peaceville bands, and these guys' inspiration comes from a much different corner of 90s metal. "Spiritual Decay" spills from a more dissonant form of ambiance. The lumbering stomp accelerates into a more pit-churning take on the genre. It is how far these guys are willing to descend into darkness that sets them apart from most of their peers. There are some great experimental guitar tones also captured on this album to add to its eerie quality. There is a more chillingly oppressive quality to the deliberate pound of "Severed Ephemerality" that accelerates as the song progresses.
There is a more downtrodden march deeper into the lower levels of death doom with the tribal pulse of "Corpseless" that finds the growl of the vocals taking on a call-and-response-like chant. Midway into the song, this gives way to a more mosh-invoking pace. The last song "Afterhours" sounds like a more doom-laden take on early Swans with its droning pulse decorated by creepy guitar. I'll give this one a 10, it captures great depressive death metal sounds in a manner that is more atmospheric than what we typically think of with even the Incantation strain of classic death metal, but the emotion of this feels more dangerous and real.
Since we have already reviewed "Give Me Your Soul Please" this is the last installment of this series as we have now covered every King Diamond solo album. This is his 11th album. Lyrically it falls into creepy territory not unlike "The Graveyard", but much like "The Graveyard" I never gave this album much of a chance, but the title track certainly stands the test of time as a solid song. The same lineup as the previous album, and it feels like they have found their stride to recreate his classic sound. In some ways, this is his X-Mas album, as it is set in Budapest during X-Mas time. The riffing is more aggressive on this album and they have reignited the thrash fire a little.
If you are coming into this with no clue what is happening here, it's about a man and his wife who get turned into undead puppets. Kings' baritone mid-range sounds more powerful on this album. Things go more theatrically with "Emerencia", as the vocals focus more on storytelling. The riffing is punchy but not the album's best. The guitar solos on this song point out how well-constructed they are on this album. Not a fan of shredding for the sake of it, but they follow the melodic themes of the song. "Blue Eyes" has a deliberate riff that showcases the more direct approach to songwriting this album has. 2003 was a weird year for metal, the dig releases ranged from Dimmu to Type O to Dream Theater and Opeth, so more progressive metal was on the rise, yet these guys took a more classic approach.
There is a cool galloping riff driving "The Ritual" but the vocals sit oddly on this to tell this story. "No More Me" feels like circus music from Budapest, though the vocals are more of a spoken narrative. Making this feel more like a theatrical interlude than an actual song. "Blood to Walk" works better than "Darkness" which does not feel like it flows as well and is somewhat recycled in terms of tropes he commonly has used over the years, though a few strong riffs keep it pumping. Might be my favorite guitar solo on the album. It also bears to mention that this is the first album his wife Livia Zita began singing backup vocals on. "So Sad" is a power ballad of sorts, not the album's strongest song, and oddly the guitar solos actually rescue it dynamically. Despite using parts of "the Little Drummer Boy" and his previous declaration that there were no presents for it, he insisted on writing it, and it's a decent song if you seperate it from these facts. The last song does hammer forward with locomotive strength. I will round this up to a 9.5, which does not place it next to his most classic material but is once again better than the bulk of metal that came out in 2003.
The Grandiose progressive black metallers are back, this time the Finnish band continues to blend its electronic side with the black metal core of the band in a more balanced manner. The snarl of the vocals sometimes gets a robotic sheen of effects layered over them, and the synths are often at the forefront of the song, but the mood remains dark in its dystopian vision. They bring a tremolo buzz of guitars to songs like "Fornyelse i Tre Akter", this menace is tempered with superior production to give this music the cinematic magnitude of sound it deserves. Not unlike Dimmu Borgir in many ways, they are not as symphonic. My only mild complaint is the drums could have been given more thunder in the mix, but there is a great deal competing for room in the mix.
There is a somewhat more straightforward metallic charge to "Chromium Lungs, Bronze Optics". The symphonic synth background creates the needed mood for the vocals to roar against. Symphonic leaning metal is not something I am into, Dimmu is a noted exception to this rule and these guys can be added to the list. They do not allow it to turn things into an anime soundtrack, keeping a dark and heavy pulse. "the Form and the Formless" has a little more pomp and circumstance, but also a dash of death metal aggression, though the melody holds a powerful sway in the music. Things are marginally brighter here, and while it works there is such a delicate balance that must be kept here to avoid going in a Nightwish direction.
Lyrically the vocals are at such a roar, that they just feel like another layer to the sound rather than crafting the narrative to the story being told here. "Prophetical Mercury Implement" kind of breezes past me. The drive of "The Fire In Which We Burn" anchors it more than the previous song to create a more head-banging vibe. Though things ebb back to a more conventional metal sonic ground for "Waves of Sulphur". I like the darker turn they take on "I am Coin, I am Two". They do offer an effective heavier dynamic to offset this. They revert back to the more ambiguous metal barrage for "Towards the Absence of Light" which feels more middle of the road, whereas their more blackened sound on "The Terminal Filter" proves to be more effective. This also proves they do not need to tame down their more orchestrated section to provide and aggressive enough sound to satisfy black metal fans. There are also two bonus tracks but for the purpose of this review I will kept things to normal album tracks, In doing so I will give this album a 9, as they prove themselves to be gifted at doing what they do. Fans of this band should rejoice despite this not being a return to pure black metal it's a step in that direction that is close enough.
The first obvious thing about this duo's 3 albums is that Amy's voice has come a long way. Her performance on the opening track has more nuance. They lumber into a darker depth of doom than I recall from their first two albums. It seems that her time in the Doom Slayer tribute Slower, allowed her to hone her pipes further. She creates a witchier vibe at times here. There is more of a rock groove to "War Drop". The harmonized vocals are such a part of this song I am having a hard time imagining how this is going to sound live. But I am not going to worry about it too much and enjoy this one. The third song finds them locked into the rock vibes, with a more uptempo energy to it. Though she takes on a brighter almost poppier tone to her voice that almost makes me think of the Runaways.
The drummer is working overtime on this album to keep things flowing. "Alone" finds the bass line wandering into a more progressive place with its creeping melody. Her vocals fall back into a more introspective soulful mood. This serves as a great example of how she has grown as a singer. The songwriting also holds a wider breadth of dynamics. This might take them further from the doom label but is effective nonetheless. "7 Years" sounds like a lost 90s grunge classic. There is more brooding depth to the aptly titled "The Darkness". Her vocals provide a counterpoint to the gloom. Amy's bass playing is less about heavy fuzzed-out tones and takes on a more melodic approach that opens up their songwriting on this album.
"Sleep" is the song that most closely resembles their previous work with a turn back toward the doomier sound they once relied upon. I would say it's a little catchier vocally than their previous Doom releases. The last song finds them backing off from the heavy again to go into a dreamier melody. This song is more like a ballad than anything I can recall them doing before. It might not be the album's best song but I understand why they are doing it. I will round this one up to a 10 as the songwriting has transcended genres to find them making grooving tunes that could have come from the 90s.
This band from Spain plays a dark and dissonant style of creepy black metal. The second song finds them turning to a more frantic vision of chaos. There are blast beats executed in an almost jazzy cadence, like a train being operated by a clown going off the rails. They bring things back into a more conventional halftime groove and a song takes shape. Other melodies unfold amid this. It's a gamble this project seems to be willing to take, but are the creative dice going to roll their way for the course of an entire album when they walk the fine line between noise and experimentation within the six minutes of this song.
The songs pour from one another with the third song feeling like a slower movement of the previous venture. This more deliberate shift works better from the perspective of songwriting. The vocals croak and gurgle with little form or function. Their desperate gasps are just a layer of madness to bumble under the guitars. The fourth song at best descends into the conventions of black metal, sometimes even thrashing a little. The spewed vocals seem more useless the closer to playing actual metal they get. There is a two-minute interlude before they throw themselves headfirst into the swirl of blast-beat oblivion. This shifts into a more straightforward punk beat, while the guitar remains wacky. Three and a half minutes in the bottom falls out and they leave you in a formless void. The drums lock back in and then it begins to become an actual song, though the vocals contribute very little to this cause. The drummer is actually the MVP of this band, as they work hard to keep things moving in a direction that is not just mindless excess.
The last song is the first moment that carries a more depressive feel, aside from the fact the vocals this entire time are trauma vomiting into the mic at every moment. I like the creepy moments that form, the black metal parts that are actually black metal and not just swathes of noise cascading against your ears are fairly colored by numbers. I will give this album a 7 as they do make some impressive creepy passages when they allow things to flow into more of a throb and I appreciate their willingness to experiment it is a shame songs pay the price when they do not conform to any semblance of what sounds like a song. It is little surprise that Sentient Ruin released this.
Despite being one of the more popular death-core acts to emerge from Myspace era, ""the Valley" earned an 8 here. This means it was well done for what it was, and more than likely something their fan base would embrace, but far from an album of the year quality even when it came to the extreme metal genre, which death-core would fall into here. There is more sonic darkness on the opening track of this album which is the band's 9th release, but it sticks close to their wheelhouse. I doubt their fan base really wants them to change. They are almost like the metal core version of Cannibal Corpse in terms of their heaviness but do not touch the death metal legends in terms of songwriting as the terms are just thrown at you, and do not hook you in. I guess they are putting all their money on the the chants of the gurgled vocals and their ability to bring the breakdowns which only goes so far. This works for the first two songs, but if this is the path the continue on by the time we get to "Diabolic Slumber" I am going to get bored fast.
I can make out the lyrics enough to understand it's a bunch of pseudo-Satanic gibberish with no real allegiance to the darkness, these guys more than likely hid like little bitches during Covid as all the actual death was too much for them rather than celebrating the culling of mankind. They do make more attempts at songwriting than some of the earlier songs I heard over the years from them. Their drummer is a monster behind the kit, but to play any form of death metal you have to be. In many ways, this is death metal for kids who were not yet born when "The Bleeding" was released. In listening to more death metal these days I have warmed up to this kind of music though a band like Sanguissuggabogg is better at this sort of thing than these guys are despite the more melodic touches to the guitar here.
According to the band this album follows the story of a cult leader gathering followers. This has some grim relevance given the state of things today where people follow political parties on both sides of the aisle with blind devotion as they invest themselves in something fake,. "Visceral Retch" just feels like a recycling of sounds. This is supposed to be their heaviest album yet, but even if they achieve this goal is it worth sacrificing songwriting? "Hate Cult Ritual" should have kept the chant going that opened the song, but instead they just pour on a barrage of double bass and guitar solos. When they do return to it instead of making it a hook it feels rushed. "The Abysmal Gospel" wastes a great song title on something that sounds like a death metal band covering Slayer. "Bedlam" works better with its more deliberate stomp, when it speeds up it feels like more dynamics are in play.
They make much better choices going into "Mammoth God" proving that these guys can write a great song when they stop fucking around with breakdown riffs. Can they keep this up on the last song? They embrace their need for speed and while this might make some think it's their heaviest song yet, it is not as effective as pleasing my ears as the previous song. Granted I might not be their target audience, but I do listen to over 400 new metal releases a year, and prolly more if you factor in bands that I don't consider metal but other people due, I reviewed 666 albums last year for the blog, but ya know a chunk of them were "goth" so that was maybe 150 then other assorted punk bands and such. Anyways enough facts and figures, you are reading this damn review so you trust my judgment in dark hard stuff to know if I say it's an 8.5, I am viewing this as better than "the Valley" I think they tried harder here, but the trapping of the genre got in the way at times in their pursuit to write their heaviest album, but their fans should love, I think the score I gave this reflects on how it measures up against other metal bands going today. This album drops on Metal Blade March 7th
This is a somewhat industrial-based project from Jason Khonen, who has been in projects such as the Lovecraft Sextet among other more experimental ventures. The second song has a syncopated chug that reminds me a little of Angkor Wat, but comparisons to Ministry and Godflesh could also be made. I like the effects and the vocals, and where a band like Ministry sometimes carried a dancey groove, the emphasis here is not placed on that. The guitar layering is very effective and compensates for the vocals, which still get the expected job done.
Aside from the lack of heavy machinery, this album is in the same dense dark realm of heaviness as early Author & Punisher. The crunch of sound comes down with more grim force on "Nothing Virus". The vocals go from more of a growl to low-spoken passages. A complaint I have about most industrial music these days is it is not grounded in guitar. This project certainly remedies that, though this song throbs with a more droning pulse. The electronic elements become more prominent with the use of samples setting the tone for the more chaotic flow of sound that forms "Useless Eaters". They double down on the heavy for the more "Filth Pig" minded "Black Rainbow". Finding us at the intersection of sound vs song, there are some compelling sounds brought to the table, the test is whether are they taking the listener somewhere they are dyanmic.
After an ambient interlude "Ruins" gains more movement in its purposeful drive. There are cool layers of sound, but aside from breaking down at the song midway point into a spoken section, there is nothing really that hooks you in groove-wise, and with this sort of thing that is what the song is contingent on as there is not a great deal of melodies otherwise. "Parasites" has a more relentless pound that is impressive in the weight in hold, despite the song devolving into chaos. The last song is more about sounds than songs, though they are cool sounds. I will give this album a 9, as any industrial album that puts the guitars centerstage is going to hit a sweet spot for me.
When this album was released I did not like it as I wanted to stand up against "Abigail", so giving it a listen now to see if my expectations and the subsequent letdown were justified. The opening track kicks it a little harder than I remember. This is the first album to find Mike Wead join the fold, this album also features Matt Thompson, so it's pretty much the current band but Hal Patino rejoined them for this album on bass. It does match up close to an album like "Give Me Your Soul Please" sonically. The production feels like it has not changed much in this era. Crazy this was 25 years ago. The chorus of "Mansion in Sorrow" is too rock n roll and the drumming contributes to this. Not as bad as I remembered, but not his best song either. I can hear that I wanted this album to be darker than it was when I first heard it.
"Miriam" is an improvement over "Mansion in Sorrow" The riff grooves more and his voice sounds great. But I get what spurned my initial judgment of this album. I would have dialed it in with more reverb like the original album. "Little One" is more of a ballad. I can appreciate this is more melodic than the original album, the syncopation with closer to where mainstream than what is on brand for these guys aside from King's vocals. The guitar solos are totally dialed in on this album, but there is some weird Led Zeppelin-like groove on this album that is the first time I have perceived their influence on him I just do not think it should be as apparent, as what their strength has been up to this point is doing their own thing. Granted this is 10 albums into his solo career and not many metal bands who are not Iron Maiden can boast of having 9 great albums. The riff that switches the groove midway into this song is pretty killer.
"Slippery Stairs" works better for me, as it feels more like what I expect from a King Diamond album. "the Crypt" sounds musically like more what you expect from a solo Ozzy album. Granted King's voice keeps things more in their wheelhouse. I think the vocals are pretty well produced on this album. Surprisingly this album is not as theatrical as what you might expect from a sequel. "Broken Glass" is a much better song than I remember. I bought this the day it came out, but was so disappointed I think I have listened to this album maybe twice before. Not sure what is going on with "More Than Pain" I'll just write it off as an interlude gone wrong. Things get darker for "The Wheelchair" Aside from the hint of Judas Preist in the riff it's what I want from him.
This trend continues on "Spirits" which rips pretty well. I wonder if I made it through this album, despite being more into hardcore in 2002 I think I was stilling to more Opeth and Meshuggah during this period."Mommy" closes the album and is more theatrical. It is also more deliberate in its tempo which is more of a post-"the Eye" thing for him. It works well enough for what he was going for at this phase of his career. I'll give this album a 9.5, which is not as stellar as "Abigail" but I was a harsher critic in my youth I now have the perspective to understand why this album is what it is. which is still better than what most metal bands can do in terms of songwriting, it's not the heaviest thing ever, but it tells a story in a catchy enough manner with out being too grandiose.
This is the band's 9th album so I am surprised they have not graced this site before, but there are so many bands out there it's hard to cover them all, even with the almost 700 reviews published here every year. Black metal seems to be at the core of their DNA, as it's the attitude propelling the aggressive tendencies, and even in how the atmosphere is approached. The vocals are not screamed but shouted in a forceful yet pained manner. More melodic and angular than what I expect from any metal coming out of Germany. The second song finds has a more in-your-face black metal approach even if this does not include black metal, but the pained yell of the vocals.
The guitars shift in a more shoegazing groove, but the vocal screams in similar patterns. I am fine with harsher vocals here, there is a wider range of places you can take said harsher vocals in this regard. I like what the guitar is doing but the drone on the one theme for the bulk of the song. I like the groove they get into with the chug of "Verbrannte Brucken". It adds layers of sounds rather than dramatically diverting the course. "Annapurna" is blasted ahead on double bass and keyboards bolstering the mood. This accelerates into blast beasts but they are softened by all the other ambiance clouding around it.
Things go in a more ethereal direction for "Reminiszenzen" which locks into an almost 90s nu-metal groove when it builds up, not what I was expecting, which is what I want out of music. "Kimm" is pretty much a modern take on the black gaze with the blackened aspects more in the foreground. This does not break as much new ground as the previous song but works well for what it is. This last song starts off with more of a bass-driven groove as it's stripped down to its more rock backbone. It shows just how capable they are as songwriters and I really like how this builds up. The feels feel more like something on a hardcore album as they are shouted like a blunt force. These guys break new ground with black metal as the launching off point. I will give this a 9.5, to see how it grows on me, but I like where they go with this album, it drops on April 18th on AOP Records.
His 9th album is an oddball lineup. It features Glen Drover who went on to play guitar for both Megadeth and Testament. Then Paul Harbour who played in Chastain with the drummer, joined the band. The trend here is that the band was more King Diamond and Andy with other guys stepping in as side men. The chemistry clicks more on the previous album though this album is dark and heavy and King's vocal style is the centerpiece of what sets these guys apart. In truth the vocals to "The Trees Have Eyes" feel like it's from a Mercyful Fate album which is a compliment.
Storywise it's about the legend of an old church in France the Rennes-le-Chateau. It's hard to complain about what goes on here as the riffing is aggressive and songwriting darkly dynamic in its sense of theatrics. "Follow the Wolf" even has a Mercyful Fate-like edge. It bears discussion the contingent of metal heads who like Mercyful Fate but not King Diamond, which is due to the fact things took a more progressive turn where Merycful Fate was more like the precursor to both thrash and black metal, being moreover in the sonic aggression with less gothic trappings. The title track of this album makes more of a distinction as there are more keyboards than we ever heard in Fate. It does not feel as focused as the first two songs.
The riff to "Black Devil" reminds me of Judas Priest, which has always been an underlying influence. They give it more of a groove which makes this song work. "The Pact" also carries more of the thrash feel to its riff, which if pushed further forward in the mix would make this heavier, but all the vocal layers are more dominant since well this is King's record. The gallop of "Just a Shadow' also has more of a Mercyful Fate feel, which is becoming a theme of this record, so if you are typically more of a Fate fan then you should not sleep on this album if you have yet to give it a solid listen. "Help!" has the kind of crunch you would expect a metal act from 2000 to have that preceded the nu-metal movement, which these guys maneuvered around and stayed true to who King Diamond is. No one can ever accuse him of capitulating to the trends.
Where "Passage to Hell" is a theatrical interlude the riff to "Catacomb" reminds me of "Black Album" era Metallica. Granted his vocals help distance the song from it. However, I do not think it could be argued that this is the album's most memorable song. "The Place is Terrible" is the last actual song, as the last track is an instrumental outro. This is a strong song with a great groove for the vocal to fall over. I'll round this one up to a 10 due to the heavy Mercyful Fates vibes this album carries.
I liked this French band's first album, but can't find the view of it to job my memory, so perhaps it did not leave the lasting impression I thought. They are riding the line here between depressive black metal and atmospheric black metal that leans in the direction of black gaze on the first track with the wailing and guitars growing more distant in the tremolo buzz on the second song. By the time we get to the third song, it is obvious this album is not going to be as dynamic as I had hoped as it sounds almost just like the previous song. The cavernous product is a cool vibe but does not compress things into a more coherent song structure. Instead, it just echoes out into oblivion. Thus serving a sound rather than a song, with the spoken vocal passsage the main thing that distinguishes this from the previous songs.
"Transfiguration" is riffier, so this allows the more sonic swell of dynamics to work better against it. In many ways, it is more traditional in its approach to black metal recalling bands like Darkthrone. The howl of the vocals is convincingly anguished. Then on "Reticent Paroxysm" they revert back to to variation of what they were doing on the first three songs that is less compelling without the nuance to set this song apart from the blur of tremolo picking that is burying the drums but it does not sound like they are merely blasting.
The album closes with the almost fifteen-minute sprawl of "Triumph In Tragedy". The this point the vocals are pretty much just howling being consumed by reverb in the distance. There are marginal shifts in intensity, I am unsure what they had planned for all 15 minutes but it appears just to rest on this stagnant drone and scream over it. The change of plans occurs six minutes in when things break down into the strum of a clean guitar sound. This is something that could have been broken up to help the other songs. That reprieve lasts for less than two minutes and they have stirred things back up into the furious tempest of guitars. What they are doing is cool sound-wise, but there is a uniform atmosphere enveloping the album, though I think it's what they set out to do and well done for this kind of black metal so I will give this one an 8.
It's amazing how much better this album sounds than the previous one and I am surprised that all of that lies in the addition of drummer John Luke Herbert, who only plays on this album and "House of God". They get off to a more energetic start, which finds King's vocal approach more aggressive to match the energy of the music. There are none of the nods to rock n roll that could be heard on the previous release. This rips in a manner that recalls "Abigail" As far as his 90s output goes this is the album I revisit the most. Whatever helped the making of this record fall in place like it did the songwriting finds a balance of being theatric but very fluid. "Life After Death" is a great example of this.
There are songs like the title track that stand up against his most classic material and would be a welcome addition to his live set when he chooses to break it up some from what he's been touring with since right before COVID. His choir of ghostly falsettos is very well-layered. Thematically the is more like "The Eye" as it goes back in time to a creepy era of history, this one just as ripe with magic. The ritualistic drummer is impressive for some guys from Europe to capture. Dime Bag drops a solo on this one, but it's not the best solo on the album."A Secret' is more straightforward with less of the voodoo trapping, but it goes pretty hard in the thrashing break it hits. "Salem" works as a punchy mid-paced chug. The palm-muted breakdown works really well. The effects on his voice are also a nice touch. It's safe to say this is one of his heavier albums.
"One Down Two to Go" starts off as a dreamy ballad and builds momentum into crunchy thrashing. "Sending of Dead" finds the keyboards playing a larger role. It simmers on the mood, with the drums sitting back a bit, so perhaps this dude is what is building the intensity, though the drums vary in where they sit in the mix. "Sarah's Night" is more invested in theatrics. It finds the harpsichord sounds becoming more dominant as the story unfolds. They come back stronger with "The Exorcist" which is supported by a hooky guitar melody. They groove this riff more. King sounds great on this one. The guitar solos are also pretty ripping here as well. They have the riffs down on this album making these songs far more memorable than the past couple of albums. 'the Cross of Baron Samedi" is more deliberate in its pace, but its crunch works. Really this is the last song as it's just outro atmosphere after this even with the hidden track. I'll round this up to a 10, it is a solid return to form.
Perhaps the collapse of society is going to find sludge returning as the dominant force in metal. This Arkansas-based band is back after 13 years. A more melodic expanse of sound brings elements of Southern rock to the forefront of the opening track as guitar solos cascade around it. Brittany Fugate's scathing vocals provide a counterpoint to the lower ominous vocal tones of Chris Terry. The title track carries a more menacing thunder to its metallic riffing. The vocals snarl back and forth with effective venom. I can already tell this is going to be the sludge album to beat this year, though they may go off on a tangent in the next three songs that follow since one of them sprawls out into almost 14 minutes.
I am breaking this album up and listening to each song then taking a break, and listening to it with fresh ears, rather than trying to digest it in its entirety in one sitting. Normally I just write it all out in my first listen but there is a great deal going on here. "With Stardust Flowers" kicks off with a more rock n roll-like riff that carries hook and punches in equal measure, the sneer of the vocals bringing in the aggression. I really like how the vocals are produced on this song, the overall mix of this album is stellar so far as well. There is country nuance to the guitar playing.
"Distant Constellations and the Psychedelic Incarceration" is a fourteen-minute song. There is a slow build in the sway of its darker hypnotic feel that shares some common ground with Swans. The vocals are more spoken than sung. It takes six minutes before it takes on its shape as a song, and then another minute before distorted guitars swell into it. They get into a prog metal territory that is not unlike what Mastodon did in the mid-2000s. Despite being almost 11 minutes long" In After Reverse" has a more straightforward crusty sludge attack. The album closes with a melodic guitar outro, I'll give this album a 9.5, it rips pretty hard and sludge bands will have to step up their game to beat out this one.This album drops March 14th on Relapse Records.
So far this month I have managed to steer clear of bands relying solely on blast beats, and perhaps that is a turn the genre as a whole is taking, though this album does use them at times, but in a dynamic manner. The Dutch Black Metal project has something odd and angular about their method of attack that keeps them from falling into the blasty mc nasty land. Even the opening track has an odd melodic clean guitar passage in the middle of it before the gates are stormed by the momentum you expect from black metal. At times this reminds me a little of Burzum, but less folk-influenced as I am referring to the first two post-prison albums. The vocals are a reverbed-out roar most of the time but there is more of a chant in places.
Skipping over the interludes as they typically feel like an outro or intro that got edited out. The second song buzzes with more of a col nocturnal feel that you expect from black metal with more of a throaty rasp to it. Apart from the more chanted/sung vocal passages where it slows into more of a halftime throb there is not a great deal of new sounds being brought to the stable, but tried and true black metal tropes, which are well executed for what they are.
"Portal Tomb" closes the album. The chords ring out in more of a Dissection-like manner. It's a more uptempo track. The vocals fall lower in the mix, so they are not as crucial to the song. If they were they would be placed more forward in the mix. The drums also sit back under the drums forming more of a pattern for the guitar to dominate. Things do speed up a great deal to bring a more intense feel to things. I prefer something creepier from my black metal as this is better than a raw blasting sound, but it does play it pretty straight. This also includes the more galloping half-time ending which is very Swedish sounding. To their credit they put effort into the songwriting I will give this album an 8, hopefully after this introduction, they will experiment more for their full-length, Drops on Iron Bonehead March 21st.
I reviewed "The Spider Lullabye" in 2015 so we are moving on to "The Graveyard". This period always feels like an odd one to me, as King assimilated the Texas band Mind Storm into his band. This is where Herb Simonsen, Chris Estes, and Drummer Darrin Anthony came from. 1996 marks a time when had certainly shifted into its own grooving aggression that rejected the trapping of the 80s. Thus they were trying to fund where they fit in. The album is about revenge, mental illness, and superstition rather than the occult. "The Spider's Lullabye" bridged things in this direction, it's a lot like a heavier Alice Cooper, with King's over-the-top vocals as the narrative. Even this remastered version is not doing to original recording a great deal of favors. To their credit, it is punchier and heavier.
The pace picks up for the second song. This mix is much more compressed which I suppose was more common from metal in 96, as it has a rawer sound than previous albums. I would place the guitar higher in the mix with almost non-existent bass. There is also more of an underlying rock vibe here. The chorus is pretty strong though. "Heads on the Wall" starts off as more of a ballad. I think it builds up well on the chorus, this is really an underrated song. On the flipside "I'm Not a Stranger' could not come out in 2025, as it delves into the creepy child abduction part of the album. "Digging Graves" might be the most noteworthy song on the album. It moves at a doomier pace than what you expect from him. It also has one of the album's best guitar solos.
"Meet Me at Midnight" is powered by a more aggressive attack. The opening riff might be one of his heaviest. Once again the guitars could have come forward in the mix. "Sleep Tight Little Baby" opens theatrically, the tempo is darker and closer to doom. The chorus leans further into doom. It is not the album's most focused song as some of the storytelling loses momentum, though the solo section is really cool. "Daddy" is sung from an ...um interesting point of view. Another turn to a slower pace, though this one feels like a darker dramatic power ballad. The plus is you get to hear him sing more from his chest register. "Trick or Treat" is a much stronger song, it's mid-pace works of a deliberate syncopation.
"Up From the Grave' is more of a theatrical interlude. The keyboard tone on "I Am" is unfortunate. I guess he was going for more of a Deep Purple sound. The guitar mix hampers the song, and vocal lines are not as focused as what we heard from him on previous albums. The guitar solo on this song is pretty great, but that is not going to make or break the song. It's been so long since I have listened to this album these are almost like new songs. The Last song "Lucy Forever" finds him trying harder. making this song work. The mix of this album makes me round it down to a 9, there are some strong moments but the bar he set for himself is pretty, though this is still better than what most bands from this era are capable of.
The French have a rich history of creating avant-garde black metal, let's see if this band falls into that or just blast beats us into oblivion. They start off as being more folky than what typically comes out of France, so suspecting blast beats to follow. The second song begins to conform to my theory as it reminds me of the raw black metal coming out of Finland, think Horna here, but the vocals carry an angrier rasp. Shifting into more of a march feels better to my ears and the vocals drop into a more deliberate growl as they shift gears for a third time in this song. Nothing groundbreaking in the first song, but they are good at what they do and seem to be angry enough. Two minutes in things drop down to the strum of a guitar for a measure and build back up so a few surprises.
As the album progresses they prove themselves capable of creating a more melodic throb that sometimes adheres to the more conventional aspects of metal. "Je Crois" is more conventional metal with the deliberate gallop it takes on making me think of early Iron Maiden, but with vocals croaking in agony. The more traditional approach to the metallic gallops they ride into victory upon, sets them in a similar stylistic zip code as Immortal, just without the big grandiose production that creates the booming epic nature. By the time it gets to "Orion," I am now always expecting big metal gallops. This makes the more aggressive thrashing of "Contre l'Homme" more jarring until they get saddled back up to storm the gates of Isengard. The guitar is more tremolo-picked which reverts to the more basic confines of black metal.
Things bubble up from a more minimal melody into an authoritative stomp for "In Ululatis Abyssi." With this, the song carries more form and function, with many headbanging accents. The title track marches off a darker throb while still waving metal's victory flag in an interesting marriage of sounds. All of that was drawn from the first minute of the song. "Peste Eternelle" rages in a more black metal direction, as they charge forward with an angry cheer. It works well enough, and is a dynamic departure from the more traditional metal sounds they lead us to expect. The last song reflects some of the themes from the opening track, they are run through a more tremolo-picked black metal that is a more wrathful attack with a darker turn. It is not a whole album of this but bookends the album with the more expected tropes of black metal while casting an apocalyptic shadow over things This evolves in variations of this that play off a wider range of metal history, I'll give this album a 9 it's a fun listen and I appreciate what they are doing here.
Now we are 5 albums deep into King's solo career. This album is the only one to feature drummer Snowy Shaw of Therion fame behind the kit to replace Mikkey Dee, who left to join Motorhead. The first thing you notice is the thrashing speeds are dialed back and there are darker more deliberate riffs that power the opening track which might as well be the title track. The story is not as laid out with as blatant of a narrative on this song, though the story unfolds as the album progresses. We know witches are involved. The story becomes clearer in "The Trial" or at least the stage is set for the French witch trials. There is a taunt syncopation to the creeping groove of the song. The overall sound on this album evolves to fit the times to some extent.
"Burn' has become a staple in his live shows over the years, and is certainly one of the album's strongest songs, which feels like it's more akin to the sound from 'Abigail". Though this album feels like a logical progression from "Conspiracy". King's vocals are also toned down a little and less shrill. Listening back to this album it now sounds like "Two Little Girls" is an atmospheric build-up to "Into the Covent" using a similar theatrical dynamic as what was heard at times in "Them". The drumming is solid on this one, and the chorus works pretty well, but it does not have the same fire we heard on the first four albums. It builds most intensely coming out of the solo section.
The production was kept more in-house than the previous album and I can hear how they are trying to replicate more of a "Them" sound on this one. All things I did not pick up on when this album came out in 1990. I was still in high school and was just happy to have a new King Diamond album though my tastes at the time were leaning in the direction of Pantera, Deicide, and Slayer. "Though I do not recall ever hearing anyone scream for "Father Picard" at a King Diamond show. I think even for the time the guitars could have been beefed up in places. "Behind These Walls" has a great deal going on from harpsichord sounds to a more "Conspiracy' flare for high-stakes storytelling. The fire is also back in the guitar solos.
There is more of a "Sleepless Nights" feel to "The Meetings". At five albums into his career, it's not surprising that Kind Diamond had begun to slightly settle into a songwriting formula. While it's very played "Insanity" is an instrumental interlude. At times it feels like something Led Zeppelin would have done. "1642 Imprisonment" gets the job done and sounded better on the second pass through not a song I remember from back when I listened to this album on a more regular basis. The album closes with "The Curse" It's very deliberate with a more Dokken feel to the drumming. Not sure if these are King Diamond's hookiest vocal lines. I'll give this album a 9, not his strongest moment but still better than most, the stakes were being raised for the metal in 1990 and he was trying to find where he fit in the shifting tides.
The vocals are what tip this band in the direction of Black Metal, though these Texans employ more tools of sonic torture than just the weapons of war associated with that genre. The tension of the opening track does hold a gritty feel of the Jesus Lizard, but there are plenty of black metal bands who have experimented well beyond the bounds of the genre, in fact, this track makes me also think of Samael. Dissoance casts a dark shadow over the grooves. The pace picks up in a subtle undercurrent on the second song. A great deal of what sets them apart are the more organic guitar tones, that do not live and breathe of the layers of distortion and reverb. This might paint their sound as being less metallic, but they get to the same place that black metal is striving toward. The renewed bursts of anguish in the rasp of their vocalist aid the cause. They do climax the song in a more sonic explosion.
After two songs in I am ready for things to switch up dynamically. They get slower and more seething for "The Conceited Determination of Nimrod". Then some of their more deliberate palm muted grooves begin to work their way in. This begins to remind me of a more experimental version of Satyricon's "Deep Calleth Upon Deep" album. This song accelerates more chaotically. These guys do not play as close to the metal rules as Satyricon. There is talk of the dissection of a cow at one part of the song, but that is the extent to which the lyrics make themselves known to me. However later on they say that language is using you again and again before crazed laughter ensues.
Less form and function move over the murky waters that "Satan's Domain is the Liver". To their credit, this also breaks them away from the palm-muted formula the first few songs were locked in. It is also very dark which I can appreciate. The album closes with "Yaldabaoth Gored to Blindness" which in the title alone makes me pleased as for all the occult imagery used in metal I do not understand why the Gnostic reference to the malevolent creator god is not employed more. This is compromised a bit with the return to the palm-muted formula. I will give this album a 9, as I really enjoyed how different it is from mainstream black metal and wish more bands would take more chances, even though it leans heavily on a particular formula for songwriting.This drops on I , Void Hanger Records March 26th.
We are diving into the new double album from Corlyx who is one of my favorite new "goth" acts. They always deliver though 19 songs require some prolific consistency. Some of these songs were released last year as singles, but we do not really cover singles here so digesting this as a whole body of work. It starts off with a little more rock injected into their trademark smolder. It's on "Up On the Cross" that features Blutengel that showcases their strength of embracing both the past of traditional dark wave and still not shying away from paying tribute to this era, with new sounds, like vibrant synth-wave keyboard lines, and pop-inflected hooks.
"Apocalypsis" bounces with grooves that flavored the 90s output, such as Lords of Acid and My Life With the Thrill Kult once churned out. The sultry attitude of the vocals is a welcome return to a time when music dripped with forbidden temptation. The vocals slither with subtle hooks. There is more of a post-punk growl to the tense bass line of "Downtown". The chorus pulls the song together, and it's a nice reminder that this kind of music can be organic and made by picking up actual instruments and playing them, rather than relying on the libraries of Digital Audio Workstations. Finland's Suzi Sabotage represents how fluidly they can flow back into the new school darkwave with "Kill Cave". The chorus is highly effective on this song. Suzi's voice mainly haunts the background.
"Psycho Sensual" finds them back in more of a post-punk vein. The chorus reminds me more of 90s alt-pop like Garbage. It's more guitar-oriented than the rest of the songs so far. There is more of a new-wave feel to "Darkness is the Future' which intersects Gary Numan-like synths sounds with modern pop. With "Pretty" They take on a groove that reminds me of KMFDM's more recent material that strays from the militant industrial march to slinky grooves. The first part of this double album closes with "Death is Just the Beginning". This indulges in a more ethereal ambiance. It is more like Switchblade Symphony in its melodic vibes that drift through a cloudy night in your mind. Feels more like an outro than a free-standing song.
The second album opens with a more organic take on New Wave. The vocals have pop smarts to them as their knack for hooks remains strong. 'the Sacrifice" rides off a similar beat as the previous song. Leading me to believe this second album is going ride on a more post-punk tension, though they did switch it up a good bit on the first album. "Zombie Kid" works off a similar uptempo tension to support my beliefs regarding the theme of the second album. Her vocals have an urgency to them that might bring Boy Harsher to mind for some listeners. The darker pulse that haunts the 80s music we refer to as goth flows during "Witches Dance' which plays to this band's strengths.
"Creatures Howl" also dances into the more shadowy side of their sound with Kaitlyn's voice sounding perhaps its strongest and most dynamic. Overall her growth as a singer is evident in these songs. She is certainly now in the upper tiers of female vocalists in modern goth. "Take the Money" sounds like it could have come from the Cleopatra Records heyday. Lyrically it might be the album's best song. "Midnight City' is a dancier take on post-punk. "Our Shadows" finds a more dark wave beat powering it through the neon-lit landscape. The album ends with a balance of atmosphere and seductive throb, with the chant of the chorus creating a memorable anthem. I will give this album a 9.5, it's an ambitious outpouring of songs, that shows their melding of all the varied sub-genres of goth into something familiar without becoming a tribute band as their own unique vision is the lifeblood of these odes to darkness, in all of it's shades and seasons.
The album opens with a sonic pounding counterbalanced by the trademark passion of the vocals, things ebb down into a more depressive introspection as the rollercoaster of the album's dynamic sets in motion. Some interesting production choices in this often reverb-heavy recording are best played loudly through headphones to take this album in with maximum effect. "The Worst is Yet to Come" keeps on foot plant in driving guitars, where they dive deeper into morbid reflection on "In Disguise" which gives you a better taste of Cedric's voice.
If you had to describe this band to someone whose only context was mainstream music a fitting metaphor might be if A Perfect Circle was a metal band who was obsessed with the things that made them depressed. "Kowloon Lights" is the lead single off the album, which makes more sense in the context of the album, though it is a venture into the more post-punk side of rock n roll with great guitar atmospherics.."2AM Thoughts" features DOOL lending their voice to this brooding song. DOOL takes the second verse, which I did not notice when first saw the video for this song."Canvas" is a bleak ballad that builds in power as it churns forward.
"Neglect" finds things becoming even more introspective. as this ballad unfolds. A shoe-gazing quality hovers even as they build the song back up with the plodding chug of the guitars. "44YOD" answers the question of what would the Cure sound like if they were a metal band, while still holding fast to the more delay-drenched guitar tones to make shoe-gaze better than Pallbearers' most recent attempts.The question mark at the end of "Healed?" pretty much sums up this album's theme. All the urban images depicting the hopelessness of big cities, and the mental health of today's world, hit in a very real way thyat is heavier than just crunching chords. They continue to meet and exceed expectations. I will give this album a 10.Out on Nuclear Blast.
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