Hässlig :"Apex Predator"

Ok now we get into the time of year when I review albums that might have slipped by or been promoted in a way that caught my attention, however, they were number one on the lists of my peers so I am seeing if they are worth their praises. In this case, it's Cvlt Nation's number-one-ranked Black Metal album. A band from Spain, which is whatfirst made me skeptical, also, this is a black metal-punk rock hybrid, which could mean they just can't play their instruments. The first track sounds good. Here we get into the crux of what this album is about which I am not surprised, that it's a band that captured a raw grimy sound that is angry enough to work. 

This album turns into the issue of sound vs songs. Anyone can get a found it's about turning the dials of the right equipment. Not everyone can write a song. The problem with this is when you are four songs in and it still sounds like it's the second song, which was not as good as the first song. The vocals and the production are the most black metal thing about these guys if you had a punk yelling it would be punk. There is a little more chaos in the title track, but sounds like a mushy jumble of distortion with incomprehensible singing over it. What's the replay value of that? There is a descending pattern that breaks things up but it's too little too late and just goes back into what they have already done. 

"Abgrund" is back into the cacophony. It's raw but in a way that makes it just noise. You can hear a bass trying to fight its way through this mess. Feedback is the only thing that clues you into the fact that you are not still listening to the previous song. This album gets worse in this regard, sometimes the drums are not blasting at you but there is never anything to hook you in or make this memorable. "Raping the Exoskeleton of Life" is a great song title, but it sounds like everything else on this album. The fact they stretch that out for four minutes is just a waste of time. This would not make my best of black metal list , but it is worthy of my worst albums of 2024 list, as you can hear the first thirty seconds of almost every song and get the gist of what they are doing here, which is making thirty minutes of my life that I am never getting back after listening to this piece of shit. I'll give this album a 3. This is a lower score than Beyonce who claimed the number one spot on my worst of 2024, but she remains the champion of suckage since it took a assembly line of producers and songwriters in the most expensive studios to put out trash while these guys did it with dignity in their basements playing their own instruments.  

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Traveler " Prequel to Madness"

This Canadian band has received great recognition at the end of the year when it comes to a band holding down heavy metal. "Take the Wheel" kicks off the album with an "Aces High" like energy, though the vocals do not have as much grit and guts as Bruce.  Not the most original thing I have heard, but they are good at what they are doing. The Maiden riffs as "Two Minutes to Midnight" are up next, so they might have tried to cover "Powerslave" from front to back. The vocals show a little more guts on this one. I think what is happening here is that an audience is so hungry for new music like this that they do not care how original it is. 

The first song we get that is not trying to rip off Maiden is "The Law", which is as anthemic as any power metal song you might hope for, but mainly empty calories for your ears. The first song that I feel is well-written is 'Rebels of Earth". The riff has a more Dio-like feel to it. "Heavy Hearts" is when things started to fade into background noise and I had to go back and give it another listen to wrap my head around it, this song feels rushed though the chorus works. When their signer tries to belt from his chest voice in a lower register it sounds awkward on "No Fate".

There is a more solid take on traditional metal with "Vagrants of Time".  Though the vocal phrasing could use some work, it's common for these types of singers to try to cram too many words into a verse. Dio seldom did this which is why he is so revered. Despite this being a fact the average listener might not pick up on.  The last song is more of the same, falling along the more typical power metal lines, and too happy for my tastes. I will give this album an 8, they are great at capturing this sound and can pull it off which earns then such a high score since it's not an easy genre to tackle if so more bands would be doing it. 

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Lifeless Dark : "Forces of Nature's Transformation"

 This Boston band takes British crust sounds and fuses them with thrashing aggression. This manages to not sound like early Carcass. They use more punk speed when the song throws itself into the pit. Their vocalist gives more of a punk yell to things. I prefer the more deliberate chug of "Cryptic Remains" over the more rushed punk explosion of the second song. While it retains the raw urgency needed to get the point across this album is well-recorded. Perhaps the drum could come up a little in the mix but aside from that the powerful guitar tone works well. 

"Radition Sickness" has an effective moshing groove, until they pour the speed on, this is the creative battle this band fights with itself. The chorus could stand a little more hook. "Medusa' is not as catchy as the Anthraxz song with the same name. It is more deliberate which works better than most. "Fear No Evil" works as a hyper-aggressive thrashing, her vocals continue to cry out with a uniform abandon. "Chalice of Vision" raced by with angry guitars in such a manner that it blurred into the background so I had to give it a second listen. The same could be said for "Broken Mirrors". At first, the riff has more bit until they give in to their need for speed. There is a cool riff amid the blitzed chaos, but the rule here is "Cool riffs alone does not a good song make" 

The last song opens with a burly bass line. They bust into the kind of raw thrash-tinged punk that has dominated this album and it works well enough. Overall this album could have stood to have had a little more melodic layer to keep the songs from bearing such a uniform feel, but instead, they opt to work off the angry energy alone which is pretty effective in its own right so I will give this album an 8.5

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Night Laser : "Call Me What You Want"

 Catching up on some of the genres that fall outside of my normal listening these days like cock rock, hair metal, and power metal. The lines that separate these genres have grown more blurred as this German band proves. Bands like the Scorpions, Accept and Helloween all had a legitimate hard rock history before they began cranking out arena anthems. These guys are yodeling their way straight to it. Steel Panther seems a fair frame of reference sonically, there is also Guns n Roses-like swagger in what they do. Their accent put a funny twist on this, that was more subtle for Klaus Mien. 

I at least appreciate the fact that someone is still making this kind of music since it is what I grew up on. Granted my musical diet at the time was also supplemented by lots of Ozzy, Maiden, Alice Cooper, and Kiss. The guitar solos are impressive which they have to be, though the riffing to the second song reminds me a little of "Dr. Feelgood" at times. The falsetto screams more often than not hit their mark. The guitar tone leading into "No More Changes" nails the sound they are paying homage to. It does seem like a great deal of this is coming from Germany these days.  "Don't Call Me Evil" takes a marginally darker more serious tone. Lyrically the bulk of the band pumping this sort of thing out in the day was not that great so they are in line with that. 

"Law of the Vulture" shows more of their musical prowess, and gives them room to jam a little. This crosses over more into metal. On the other side of the coin "Laser Train" plays off of the sillier points of the genre that I never liked about this kind of music, think Alice Cooper covering "Unskinny Bop". Then comes the obligatory ballad that is their "Every Rose Has Its Thorn". There is a more metal leaning to "Captain Punishment".  Halfway into the song, there is the feeling you have heard everything thing they are going to do with it. The last song takes a more folk metal direction, in its power balladry. I will give this album an 8.5, as it is a great deal of fun. 

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Seven Spires : " A Fortress Called Home"

 

This came out in June, I have caught some of the singer's YouTube videos, which are cool enough. There are some brighter more symphonic passages, but they are not as gleeful as most bands doing this sort of thing. The chorus for the opening track works well enough and the use of harder vocals on the verse, makes them sound more modern than most. The guitar solos do what they are supposed to do on this kind of thing, They are not excessive, and not yet get the feel that the songs are just bookends for the guitar solos. Do the symphonic elements take some of the edge off? Yes. 

The second song reminds me of a Dimmu a little. But more like Temu Borgir as it does not hold all the heft of the Norweigan band. It makes sense these guys are from Boston. There is a smoother vocal to "Almosttown". It's interesting how she separates herself from the corset-wearing singers of this metal subgenre. The pop hooks she uses are more subtle, and while she's attractive there is no sense of sexuality being projected from the music. 

"Love's Souvenier" sounds more like a show tune than a metal song, even with growled vocals and guitar solos. This is darker than say Night Wish though that is not really saying much as I could only get a couple songs into their new album and I gave up. This fact is highlighted in 'Where the Sorrows Bear My Name". The Chorus is not as strong as some of the earlier songs, and it meanders a tad. Adrieen Cowan is a great vocalist for this sort of thing, however some songs flow better than others. Technical singing ability is great, but it has to be tempered with the ability to write great vocal lines. 

"Songs Upon Wine Stained Tongues" has a more romantic baroque that recalls Nightwish.  There is not anything hooking you into this bardic tale. "House of Lies" benefits from better songwriting. "Portrait of Us" is a more straightforward power metal style, but without the thrash influence. It works well enough, but typically speaking the major key chord progressions sound like anime anthems and are not normally my thing, as I prefer darker heavier music. 

 "Emerald Necklace" which is a ballad that sets us back in the land of show tunes. It is the kind of flowery melodrama that I do not like about this genre. If you drool over guitar solos then they threw one in for good measure, but it's mainly fluff. "Architect of Creation" is one of the album's heavier songs, but the symphonic element works against it. The last song is way too happy for my taste. The scowled vocals on the verse do not help with this. I will give this an 8, they are sharper than most of their peers, making it something that is easier for me to listen to than most of this sort of thing. 

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Svarttjern : "Draw Blood"

Another band flying the flag of true Norwegian Black Metal. This album just came out a few weeks ago and moves at a more thrashing speed. When I say this album is well produced, I am talking about a black metal band, not well produced like a Slipknot album or even Behemoth. They do care about writing songs which works for me. A great deal of Slayer influence in their musical DNA works for me. The title track is closer to what you expect from run-of-the-mill black metal as it's eager to storm the gates.  At least the bass line is present enough to provide the needed muscle. 

If Watain were big partiers they might write an anthem like "Don't Contain Your Lust" It has a catchy stomp to it and is a great deal of fun."Erect Your Congregation" races along faster and is not as fun. Then the album begins to lose a little momentum creatively on "Lick My Flesh' despite dropping down to a bass groove, there is still just a uniform feel to things. Almost more like a blackened version of Motorhead by the time it gets to "Chop, Slit, Flay". Though the more rock n roll moments are fun. "Aluminum Bat Domina" finds them busting out a guitar solo along the punk-drenched thrashing.

I was not expecting a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb". The vocals make no attempt to Jagger things. Thanks to the guitars you can at least tell what the song is. The last song is not the strongest, but it works for what they do and does not suck either, overall this is highly enjoyable, it might have been a contender for top ten black metal albums like the 9th or 10th spot if it came out earlier, as it's more raw and rock n roll than the kind of experimental darkness I prefer, but ever efficient. I will give this one a 9. 

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Witch Club Satan : "s/t"

Something about X-mas makes me go on a black metal tangent, so I am catching up on some of the albums I missed earlier in the year. I am sure this album did not get a lack of coverage in their efforts to over compensate most metal press these days is quick to want to push an all female band with the fervor of a horny teenager. These gals pretty much sound like a more punk version of Windir. Nothing new happening here, but that is just one song into the album. "Fresh Blood, Fresh Pussy" is a more entertaining song title that the actual music which they just band their instruments .

 This more punk possessed take on rawer chaotic black metal has never been my favorite and I am not anymore impressed when a band like Midnight does it. Four songs in and they begin working atmosphere into things. The vocal become tiring at this point as it's the shrieking for all four songs, and I doubt it's going to change that much . "Reverse This Fuck' is more punk than black metal. I like that the songs are typically around three minutes long as they are not dragging this out and get to the point more often than not. "Mother Sea" is one of the exceptions. Actually singing occurs on the drone of ambiance that is more in line with Myrkur. This brings out a more folk side from them.

"Hysteria" is more deliberate and at first lumbers toward a more Celtic Frost sound before they throw themselves to the same sloppy blasting that propels the bulk of the album. Their attempts at infusing a witchy empowerment into what they do , the problem being they work more of energy than songwriting. I'm not sure what their abilities as musicians are and I am over halfway into this album. "I Was Made For Fire" might be the best song because the vocals have more purpose. The music also moves at a creepy pulse rather than just blasting at you. While "Salvation" is also more deliberate the vocals are not and the song suffers because of this. The single not guitar melodies do not attest to the question this album often poses of ...can they actually play their instruments . "Mother" is not a Danzig cover, which might be out of their ability level. They do sing, but the guitar playing is rather amateurish. There are some decent ideas and they have potential, it's hard to believe that they went into a studio and these were the best takes. I'll give this album a 7. If you see this album on any best of lists, disregard everything else they have to say.

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