Bury the Machines : "Wicked Covenant"

John E Bomher of the Chicago based  band Yakuza released a solo album where he is a one man sludge band. He blends bleak melodies and layers the vocals on the first song so the more droning sung vocals sits over an almost black metal rasp. I like this much better than the typical gruff bark most sludge bands rely on. The song builds into a stompier more metal section that expands the dynamic journey he takes you and makes this the eps strongest moments. It more progressive than your typical sludge act , but doesn't over do it like say Mastodon. The song does go into more typical territory of what you might normally expect from sludge with big lumbering riffs.

There are some St. Vitus like doom moments on the more stream lined  "Victims" tears" The song drones on the same almost grunged out groove and reminds me of Warrior Soul in the nuances of the vocal phrases where he sings about squandering the years."Waterweapon" starts off as a subdued ballad like melodic piece. When it kicks in things stick to pretty much what you expect from a sludge band though with a slight transcendental sense of soaring. The guitar melodies are more metal and very thoughtful. This guy doesn't wast many notes and I think the guitar solos here really add to the songs.

I'll give this album a 9, I am unsure if it will make the transition over to the iPod as it's more coasting on a sea of bong smoke as nightfall comes sort of album rather than something that is upbeat on the go kinda music. If you like sludge this is an album that is worth your time.

2.7

Bloodiest: "s/t"

I was a fan of " Descent" but now far from the sophomore slump to compare the albums it would make their debut seem  more like a series of jams than the more taunt approach to song writing they have taken with this one. The opener is a twisting piece of sinewy prog rock that carries it's well oiled groove tightly. They relax back into the more cerebral "the Widow". Bruce Lamont continues to have a Jim Morrison thing going on and it's given more of a spotlight here. More mood than hooks the emotion poured into the atmosphere is what makes this work. They build into a metallic explosion of agony realized by the pulse of their instruments.

The Doors influence is not only felt by Lamont, but in the guitar work that opens the interlude "Condition" The droning meander of "Broken Teeth" follows with a more spoke word approach to the vocals and throb that reminds me of early Sound Garden . This one is more surreal than the first two songs. Lamont's sax surfaces before the song snarls into it's heavier ending.This album is a rather heady affair, with the more psychedelic interlude "Mind Overlaps" giving you just enough of a breather for the next bong hit to kick in. Many of the sonic parameters this band chooses are closer to sludge than any other sub-genre, there is an oppressive doom like quality to "He is Disease". They shake this when the pace picks up into more of a chug. The herky jerky riff they groove on for the bulk of the song that is coated in noise makes for one of the album's weirdest moments.

They linger their way into "Separation" . The vocals come in with the wildly effected other instruments to create something that is ominous as Tool, but has a shamanistic Jane's Addiction quality to it as well. From that description it might lead you to believe this sounds like I Mother Earth, but it doesn't. It's darker and rawer. The more metal "Suffer" kind of drips out of that song and bare it's more fanged approach. The guitar work is more traditionally metal, but it still throbs as if it's carrying on the groove established in the previous song. I'll give this one an 8.5 and see how it grows on me as some of the looser experimentations don't pack the same punch. But overall this is a step forward.The heavier moments never seemed forced, but a natural part of who they are.

Locrian : "Infinite Dissolution"

Formed ten years ago, this trio has amassed a prolific body of work that they have now pushed into the most refined form to date. Some of this is due to producer Greg Norman, who as worked with Pelican and Russian Circles. The first song was closer to what I expect out of them. There were some new synth sounds layered over the tomb like depth of  distant black metal. There was more atmosphere on  the instrumental space invasion that is "Dark Shales". Noise and drone coat this less than their previous work , but this album is not devoid of it, they jsut get to the point sooner. The point is more dreamy with a tenderness not found on earlier work,"KXL 1" has the metal guitar fade in while the more surreal side keeps center stage. The biggest change in their sonic scope comes with the more rock beat of "the Future of Death". The vocals screaming in the distance are really the only metal thing about this song , but it retains power and drive and is the first song that stands out and grabs me.

They revert back to more minimal ambient noise on " An Index of Air " it does explode into black metal that pounds more than it blasts. There are even sung vocals in the final minute of this song. There are also brief clean sung vocals that around out the tail end of the more electronic attack of " the Great Dying" . The most scathing of the black metal vocals come out from under one of the albums most ambient passages, demonstrating the symphony of opposites that create the dynamics here. This album is a fine step forward for a band I have been on  the fence with over the years, I'll give it an 8, if you are fan, while the times they are a changing, this is just good music that you should still embrace, even if it is another step away from black metal.

Novembers Doom: "Bled White"

I went into this album, with hardly any knowledge of seeing the name around various sites. I assumed they were a doom band , but they are more like Fear Factory of they abandoned all the industrial elements and replaced the Pantera fixation with groove with a taste for Swedish death metal. The band is not from Sweden , but from Chicago.Novembers Doom has been around since 1995, and this is their ninth album explaining why everything is composed so perfectly and interlocks in a flawless manner. They are melodically in the same realm as Woods of Ypres, though the clean vocal which tend to show up around their chorus' are sometimes a little Katatonia , in their morose chant like quality.

While the vocal approach is cool, the star of the show here is the drummer who constantly keeps the songs not only moving but more well defined.They move like a more technical death metal band ,where the guitar takes a more sluggish lumbering groove above them.This would not be called commercial , yet there is a lot of emphasis placed on the vocal hooks. "Heartfelt"has a coating of melodrama offset by the low death metal like growls, which are articulate and keep the lyrical themes very concise.The good cop/ bad cop approach to vocals has almost been overdone, these guys make it work better than any band since Woods of Ypres. My Dying Bride can also be a point of reference , in their music has an almost gothic gloom to it , but is still more metal than say Type O Negative. The band works best in their bleaker moments, such as "Just Breathe".It is almost like a doomy power ballad or if Queensryche got really depressed, though the chorus comes much closer to Katatonia.

They lash back with "Unrest" which is almost more of a Morbid Angel like death metal, until the hooky sung chorus sweeps in.These clean vocals can be slightly predictable, but they are very well produced, which makes a bigger difference than you might think. When it comes to their more straight up heavier sound "the Brave Pawn" is a pretty speedy chugger.

"The Memory Room" gets back to the better balance of what they do, the mixture of dark melody and looming crunch.The clean vocals sit well in the song , when they do come in and even when they are the dominant vocal , they don't always follow where someone like My Dying Bride might go, ruminating in their grief rather than what might make the melody really sound different."Clear" also hovers in this direction the more A Perfect Circle like leaning.

 The darker goth tinged moments that recall the late 90's to me , dig themselves up from the grave on "The Grand Circle". The band has repeatedly stated they are not a doom band, this is not untrue but there are certainly shades of doom, perhaps not how people think of it today, and not overly Sabbath influenced either. When employing the type of dynamics "Animus" employ, the more death metal side of what they do stands out. Sure the clean vocals come in on the chorus as the established formula for this album seems to be, but I can't imagine them doing it any other way.The layers of guitar balancing the cleaner toned guitar over the over-driven metal guitar is always a favorite of mine. They close out the album on a dark not with "the Silent Dark". This song is not dramatically different from their dramatic approach, the drums continue to dominate, with the vocals coming up a close second.The song's ebb and flow takes a bit to really kick off like the others. I don't think this one has the song's strongest melody either, but it's still better than decent if based on the drumming alone. There is a good smackdown for the ending that builds things up in the epic manner you would expect.

Overall this albums succeeds in painting the kind of Sirrus radio friendly bleakness they set out to construct. I'll gave this one an 8.5 , I enjoyed it but not wowed by every song, yet seem to able able to just leave it on.
 

Yakuza:Beyul

After New York who has the best experimental metal scene, Chicago seems to be where the most forward thinking metal is coming from I the states these days.

I like the middle eastern flare to the opening strains of "Oil and Water" ,when the song goes into the gallop the vocals remind me of Only Living Witness.Three and a half minute in the riff age becomes almost death metal in its heaviness. This track had way more drive than I expected really only familiar with Lamont's work in the Bloodiest before I picked this up.

"One the Last day" takes a grungier , almost Soundgarden like take, with Lamont sounding more like Cornell than Ozzy to me Becuase his range is more comfortable as a baritone than reaching for tenor notes. The phrasing in the faster sections might be more Ozzy. The cello over the doomish descending patterns adds to the sonng's a mournful quality. The drummer on this album is fantastic.

"Man is Machine" Sludges it's way into motion , Lamont's wail takes on a lethargic moan as the distortions drips down like lava from the upper layers of hell. The Cornell approach is still there , the riff speeds up into a weird jazz thrash and the veer fro the grunge thing yet stay cleanly sung which I admire. A lot happens by the time they are three minutes into the song and it's an eight minute piece. Some of the palm muted riffs employed remind me a little of the Jesus Lizard at times and I suppose there could even be some Tool comparisons tossed about as well.

"Fire Temple and Beyond" begins with slower paced doom and the plead of the sax in the distance. The tribal groove creeps out of the shadow with the guitar. Flirting with going in a more Doors like direction. The chug rips out of nowhere, it's thick and unwieldy over the chant of ... No light suspended in the sky. The bass redeems some of the lowest common denominator nature of the chug allowing the guitar to venture off into more of a harmony. The vocals seem a little flat over the heavier progression, and where their delivery compensated for this tendency , where they sit makes this a little more obvious and where they were more Soundgarden earlier on they remind me mor of Eddie Vedder here.

"Mouth of the Lion" is much more straight forward post eighties metal. In comparison to some of the wildly winding sonic adventures it's hard to put something so single purpose in perspective.

"Species" starts off heavy and spastic with the vocals having more of a Tom Araya feel to them and this song is only a minute and a half so hard to get anything really established I that time frame.

"Lotus Array" the languid intro floats the song in on sax laced opium clouds. It feels a little like some from Miles Davis's "Sketches of Spain" period, the vocals lend it more of a Doors element, thought the Vedder still haunts them slightly. it dopes build into a little more metal section but the song retains its haunting quality even when the double bass comes in. I like how the sonic elements ride against the thrashier side.

I don't think the little excursions into the more straight ahead territory do the album any justice as the more epic soundscapes presented earlier on don't mesh with them in the albums overall feel or what the beginning really sets the tone for. The their credit the cooler elements of jazz and to a lesser degrees world music they bring to the table are so cool and work so well I have no problem rounding this up to an eight.