Fearing : "A Life Of None"

The search for new Halloween season music is back in full effect, though if you are a regular reader you know I am not fooling anyone and this is just everyday listening. Where many of the goth revival bands get it wrong is just settling for a Ian Curtis imitation for vocals , and that is one of the better case scenarios more of than not it's baritone punk shouting. So when a band comes along that puts passion and resonance in the vocals I am very grateful. The first song its all about the vocals and the shadows of their vibe. This band from Oakland California is hard to pin down into one sub-genre of goth. The first song has more of an indie rock flair , with sonic somewhat in line with a band like the National. However they do not have the mainstream aspirations .The second song the mix is a little weird and the over all flow of the song is not as hooky. Here they step further into the bat cave, in fact the album progressively gets darker as it plays out.

The guitar mix is all over the place and production is a little bit of an issue though it feels like they are going for a death rocked out take on Jesus and the Mary Chain by the time we get to "A Way With Me". They continue to dive down darker in the night sounds with a more pondering pulse of the bass line on "Another Night". This might remind you of Night Sins before they go to dancey and had more of a organic thing going. The vocals go even lower and have more of a hollow sound here. I think I am glad I heard them get other sounds vocally before hearing this one as I need to know he has a dynamic range. I do like it as it almost has more in common with Fields of the Nephillim.


They released this album on Funeral Party Records. Who from what I have heard is a label trying to bring back goth, but they need to hire a p/r firm because I had not heard any buzz about this band or this album until stumbling across them on my friend Ichabod's pod cast. So shout out to Out Ov the Coffin for turning me onto some good music again. Normally I get one of his mix cds at Dragon-con, but I didn't hit the "State of the Goth Scene " panel because Dragon Con really just has the same bands who say the same scene and really have no pulse on the underground because they are to invested in their Hot Topic state of mind with dreams of their 15 minutes of Myspace stardom. Which is why bands like this are important. They pay their respects to the old guard, but are not tied down to goth night with the 50 year olds. I'll give this album an 8.5, its great for what it is, I am not sure how much air time it will get out of me, but if you missed out on the kind of goth the first time around, meaning you are under 35, then you might be more impressed. This is not to discredit what this band does in fact I am going to look foreard to hearing a full length from them.

Necrot : "Blood Offerings"

Well when these guys have their PR people claim they sound like classic death metal they are not lying.

Ragana : " You Take Nothing"

This two piece out of Oakland has returned with a moodier yet more feral vision of black metal mixed with crust. "To Leave" places more emphasis on atmosphere and ringing guitar melodies than the  more deliberate opener. They do blast off towards the end of the second song. One thing they have going for them is their songs are very concise and streamlined never feeling like bloated drones. The two longest songs are six and a half minutes.

These gals prove they are capable of hitting you with varied colors and tempos. Lyrically I had heard they were angry about the state of politics. This presented with a haze of metaphors rather than going the more punk route of shoving their bitching down your throat. There used to be more of a neo-folk element, that is gone though there are some clean vocals going into the song "Winter's Light". This is interrupted by a blast of black metal that races into the song.

I like the more sludged out melancholy of  "Destroyer". The vocals are screamed with even more menace here. Her delivery on the chorus is one of the more effective uses of harsh vocals that I have heard recently as the cadence still accents everything as needed. The guitar riff to the verse of "Somewhere" is more like indie rock. The way the vocals urgently plea against the riffs makes this one of the albums strongest songs. The album ends with the title track that is ominous and darker than most of the previous songs which already have a gray shroud over them. Vocally there is more of  crust calling out to the void. There is a little bit of a drone to this one , but it is effective as the song keeps moving and the change of the vocals toward the end really make a difference. I don't care about what inspired this album only that the song writing has really stepped up and even though it might not be as black metal as their earlier releases its quality songwriting that counts. I'll give it a 9.5 The vinyl version of this album is already sold out but you can buy the digital version on places like their Bandcamp.

Black Metal History Month - Funeral Chant : "s/t"

Not generally a fan of raw black metal, but in all fairness I am reviewing one such album during Black Metal History month and this is it. Glad I picked this one because for what it is these guys are pretty decent. This Oakland black metal band nailed the raw ambiance part and they have some pretty mean feral riffing kicking you in the ears on their self titled album. It opens really strong with the highly Darkthrone influenced "Spiral into Madness" which is way more cohesive than the song that follows, which is reckless barrage of blast beats, with riffs that sound more death metal. "Flood of Damnation" doesn't find them recapturing the level of song writing the showed us on the opener and opts for a thrasher sound that has more in common with altars of madness.

They throw even more caution to the wind come out with blustery banging over garbage can blast blast beat that is recorded in a manner that hits you like a jagged storm of riffs until they go into more of a gallop. A guitar solo goes down amid all of this and they even wind up on a darker more melodic progression, so if old Bathory is more of your thing then you will dig this song, I am not quite as impressed with it , but oh well. The more punk aspects of black metal are in play on "Morbid Ways", which might bring to mind a dirty version of Venom. It has more of a thrashing snarl to it. You can make out what it going on in this song better than the first. Diving whammy bar propelled solos give a wink to Slayer here and there before the song converges into a more locked it chug.

This album is book-ended by two songs that show this band can write song, but they often choose to take a sloppier path.If this sort of thing is what you are into then you are likely more of a punk who likes to dabble in metal than an actual metal head so all of my issues with this album are going to be the things you love about it. My friends over at Cvlt Nation are going to be right there with you.With all of that said I am rounding this down to an 8 which is a pretty high score for a sub-genre of black metal that I normally do not care for , so that means they are doing something right.

Super Unison : "Auto"

I can normally count on Death Wish to bring me the goods, so I am giving this punk trio a shot. The opening song finds the Oakland band staying with the bounds of frenetic energy and anger that you would expect of punk, with very little surprises. "Keeper" comes at you in more of a Ramones like pace with a little more melody coming from the guitars and the vocals in a lower despondent tone before they go up into her shriek. They are back with more adolescent snot to "Losing You" which is a little less engaging. "You Don't Tell Me " has a darker more sonic riff that is more dynamic and gets them out of the tangent of the first three songs. "Luxury" isn't redefining the wheel punk spins on. The guitar has more hook to it than the first three songs.

"Time and Distance" barrels straight forward like punk should. The guitars have more texture in the production than your average punk clamor so that is worth something. Two minutes there are some dissonant accents, but not much more. "Muted" blasts off with old school one, two, three go! like energy.  Of course since this is punk we are talking about short and sweet songs around the three minute mark. "Broken" has some unhinged melodic embellishments and fueled by lots of kinetic energy. The two minute what are you going to do is more of an explosion fueled with an angular punch. At this time the high pitched punk vocals had become monotonous. "Don't Look Up" is more melody and almost feels like something the Foo-fighters would do, mixed in with a little Sonic Youth. "Everything"  has more melodic value than the bulk of the album crammed into it.

The title track is more sonically searing, but from a song writing perspective doesn't bring much more to the table. I'll give this album a 7.5, it sounds great as far as the guitar tones and it's sonic swathe, but the songs all sound too similar the majority of the time, but so does most punk.

Swamp Witch : "the Slithering Bog"

 The hunger for new doom awakens just in time for me to dip into the new album from Oakland's Swamp Witch. The vocals are a low death metal growl, but everything else paints the perfect picture of doom. From the first song I am delighted to hear that the album cover perfectly matches the murky darkness being dragged from these sonic waters. The first song is just under seven minutes, but blends atmosphere with out relying on drone to compensate for a lack of songwriting chops. The vocals are more of an abrasive layer of white noise, with the guitar carrying the serpentine melodies that are draped over the other wise dirge like plod. On "the Marsh of Delusion" they begin to fall into the more conventional realms of death doom. That is not to say it's not powerfully expressed as it is, it's just that the balance they achieved with atmosphere and melody is not as apparent so it loosens the grip on the more original sound they carried on the first song.

The pace picks up for "Slither Into the Circle' which is growled in a more powerful manner that makes you wonder if this is just perhaps slowed down death metal. Then the more melancholy guitar line reminds you what separates the two genres. By the time you get to "Bayou Tomb" everything is beginning to get the same kind of sluggish chug, but to their credit the band doesn't drag the songs out to excess, almost making it feel more sludge like in places. Midway into "Dead Root" the atmosphere they touched upon on the first song is rediscovered. They close the album out with a more melodic passage that leads into " Lost Symbols". The vocals keep at the same attack they have delivered for most of the album with the guitar really carrying the song on this. There are a few places throughout the album where the bass or the drummer have been impressive, but the guitarist is clearly driving the car here. I like the mood that is created here, I'll round it up to an 8.5, but I'm not sure if I need this in my iPod. Still if you are looking for some new doom, these guys are more than worth your time, one of the best doom releases of the more death metal tinged variety that I have heard this year.

Abstracter/ Dark Circles : Split

I get a ton of band's submitting their stuff for me to cover here. You might wonder why I pick the bands I do to cover. Perhaps this review will shine light on that process, if you are a band wondering if you are right for my site, Obviously I cover those I like, but for the more obscure, underground acts I haven't heard of until I review them it depends on how they are presented to me. Every morning when I check my email there are any where from four to ten new albums sitting in my in-box. I eliminate many off the bat by genre, generally terms like Technical death metal, djent, metal core, power-metal and thrash get them eliminated off the bat. From there I look at influences, which was key in why I decided to cover this band from Oakland, CA. Abstracter list Swans, Godflesh and Blut Aus Nord as influences. Granted all three of those bands depending on the era could yield much different results depending on what you keyed in on. They call them selves blackened sludge, but they feel more like a noisy death metal band on their first song. I do like the fact that they are really dark and use a cleaner guitar tone leading into the second of the two songs on their half of the split. They don't really sound like the band's listed as their influences, which is normally the case, but when you are shooting into the dark you hope you hit something close. There is more of a sludge like throb to the second song.The drumming is pretty impressive, however to be a metal drummer you generally can't be a slouch unless you are playing really slow doom. At the seven minute mark it picks u[p the pace into more of a groove.

The problem is that when Dark Circles have of the equation kicks in I don't notice until they go into a more punk beat. The guitar has more of a chaotic clang. When they slow down it doesn't come across as being as dark. I'm not sure these two bands were the best choice to do a spit with one another. I think a split should offer band's whose sound is different enough to compliment one another and not just form a interchangeable blanket of feedback driven riffs. By they get to some atmosphere it's a little too late and it's more of an outro rather something that works in the context of the song to provide more dynamics. Well one less album cluttering up my in-box is one way to see this. I know many of you like monochromatic heaviness and will appreciate this density. In that case this maybe well worth your time. If you are band looking to send me your stuff check this out and if you sound like this don't send it to me. After all I just heard this and I am looking dark something that is dark yet doesn't sound like something I have heard a hundred times.  This just came out on Sick Man Getting Sick Records.

Atrament : "Eternal Downfall"

My friends at Cvlt Nation and I agree to differ on a few things one of them is the debut of this Oakland band. Once we get into the nuts and bolts of this album, long time readers will understand why. It opens with a strong snarl and a stiff chug that might remind you of old Entombed. The second song is more straight forward, maybe this comes with the d-beat genre, sure I can hear elements of crust and Entombed in this, the more hard core surfaces midway and things begin to groove more like Slayer.  Discharge and Motorhead  are two names commonly thrown around when tracing the origins of d-beat back, "Aberration" provides more of a argument for Motorhead, though it's thrown against a wall of grime ridden death metal."Consumed" is quick to re-tread the straight ahead style of hybrid death metal the band is invested in. "Hericide" leans into the more punk roots of the genre with the growled vocals serving as the most defining trait of the band at this juncture. The songs are all under the three minute mark so they are a fast jack hammering in and out. It's not until things slow down to a more doomed stomp that any dynamics are displayed.

it's back to business as usual when they rip into what is beginning to mark them as a one trick pony in the full frontal blitz that is "Rotting Twilight" they do accelerate into blast beats, but it doesn't cause that much of a dynamic shift. "Aeon of Suffering" doesn't do anything to change this trend and I might as well be listening to the song before this, until the doomy stomp returns with blast beat accents. It's an effective trick, but doesn't do anything to add more color. Some chords are allowed to ring out slightly more to offer a few grains of melody to "World of Ash" it's the same sonically monochrome assault that at this point had numbed you out until they chug into more of a groove. 'Circle of Wolves" returns to the more punk drive that surfaced earlier. The drumming is pretty similar to what we have already encountered and from punk to metal with these guys is pretty much a variation of a few degrees.

At three and a half minutes "Dusk Abuse' is one of the longer songs on this album. They rip into with the same fury, but it's all a blur by this point in time , as once I pass the minute mark then I begin to wonder if I am getting more of the same for the next two and a half minutes, the truth is they take it and shove it through a more blasty metal filter. I can appreciate the animalistic emotion that is vented into the song. I'' round this down to a 5.5 as it might have a ton of fury behind it but most of these songs sound the same to me with only minor variations to an all to frequent theme. Being released on Broken Limbs in March.

Lycus : " Chasms"

Normally I am pretty protective of my funereal doom especially when the bands that excel at it can be counted on both hands. You might expect me to balk at the growth the Oakland band shows on this album which often defies the boundaries of my favorite sub-genre, but are undertaken so masterfully it's hard to complain. Where 2013's "Tempest" had a more mournful elegance the new slab of density from this band finds a more aggressive and raw rumble.The drums give them the thundering opener "Solar Chamber" more propulsion than the band found on the entire last album, just in the first nine minutes. Some of the shift in sonics are due to a line up changes with bassist Brett Tardiff and guitarist Dylan Burton joining the band.

 They return to the more moody introspection on the thirteen minute title track.The growls scrape the bottom of the ocean floor with their cryptic gurgles. The depressive sluggishness of the down tuned guitar doesn't sound like they are recycling ideas bands like Evoken have already pondered, but take influence from a wide range of corners and merge them with sometimes black metal like abrasion without having to resort to blast beats. The boiling under current of the drums foreshadows against the beauty that opens "Mirage". The production on this album is much more organic and warm than their first full length. They delve into a very spacious place allowing melodic atmospheric to unfold before constricting tighter until it implodes into black metal. The doom still prevails to the extent it would be an exaggeration to thrown the "blackened" tag onto this, though fans of black metal have reluctant to give doom a try will find enough inner ugliness to resonate with them. The role of the clean vocals has shifted into more of an atmospheric chant that sits back into the mix.

Three of the four songs are over ten minutes , but it's not a deal breaker for me here. I like enough doom that I am willing to overlook this if it is time spent wisely. "Obsidian Eyes" finds them droning in the overdriven melancholy. The melody is subtle on this one as it shimmers around the rough edges of the riffs. Midway into the song they allow these melodies more room to weep. The double bass begins to flow under the lurking chug. I'll give this one a 10 even though there is so much going on at every turn it's going to grow on me in order to take it all in . My inital thought is even though the changes that have come with their first album for Relapse seem to be sludgier guitar tone that takes some getting used to as a whole I think this will settle well into my brain with each listen.


 

Secrets Of the Sky : "Pathway"

Littered with atmospheric interludes between the songs. It opens up more like rock n roll than doom until they kick into to the slightly slower than mid tempo pound three minutes into things. The harsh vocals are pretty impressive and he real singing is better than most who try to blend the two. The album sounds great and is well produced. I had to temper my expectations of what I want from doom with these guys as it's a loose term to describe what they do. There is a more Sabbath like tempo to "Angel in Vines" , but this is still more upbeat than say Pallbearer. They did put some thought into the vocal melodies which goes a long way with me. "Another Light" continues on almost a more Katatonia like path. The darkness is more tender as the vocals melody drift around the clean guitar.

The harsher vocals heavy things up, the tempo is deliberate but not what I would call doom. There is a black metal sneer to the vocal rasp. There is some very tasty guitar phrasing in the middle of "Garden of prayers". Some of the choice in intervals the vocals reach for reminds me of Sliversun Pickups."Fosforus" makes no stabs at doom at all instead something more along the lines of a blackened death metal. They are not bad at this style, it seems like they are rather obliging in this rather than where they natural flow of where they are heading.

The last real song on the album is " Eternal Wolves". The sung vocals at the onset are great. It digs into more gritty death metal. It is slower paced death metal, but it feels more like death metal to me than doom. I'll give this one an 8.5, because although the sounds captured on this album show an abundance of growth for the band it's not an album I personally find myself urgently needing to get it onto my iPod. If you are a fan of the band it may or may not seem like a move in a much more accessible direction for the band , because well ... it is and this may please you or not. The vocals are tremendously improved and worth a listen just on that merit alone.