Moonspell : "Far From God"

The opening track to the Portuguese band's newest album finds them dropping the metal altogether with a more organic rock sound, and the sung baritone vocals being the dominant. That said, it's also a great song, so I am not complaining about it. There is a more Sisters of Mercy-like bass line to the title track. Though the vocals try to capture more of a Peter Steele-like resonance.  Then things shift to a more Pink Floyd-like atmosphere on "Biblical" that reminds me of what Tiamat used to. This progressive connection takes things in a mroe rock direction. More distorted power chords hit, at first they are not more metal, until the band continues to turn the dial and there is an even more aggressive vocal apporach. 

"The Great Wolf in the Sky" finds the bass digging into create the backbone.   While a haunted longing floats over this song, it's not the catchiest thing they have done so far. There are growled vocal accents that the song builds into. They get credit for not doing this most predictably. "Your Promise of Light" is even darker, with the vocals taking on a lower whisper. This is effective at building tension as long as it's not something they default to. The growled vocals returned, but it's still not heavy enough to make it into one of the death metal month posts. 

While they are not part of the Peaceville scene, this could have come from that era, as it is a dreary style of dark ambient hard rock, which bands like Katatonia evolved into. "For the Love of Mortals" works off the melancholy vocal melody that is one of the album's catchier moments. "Our Freedom to Fall" is a doomier pace brand of downtrodden rock with crooned vocals that feels stronger than past releases. The harsher vocals are delivered with a little more power here. Though the music is more emotionally heavy than it is heavy metal. The last song employs an aggressive vocal approach that reminds me more of Tom Warrior's vocal style in Celtic Frost, yet the guitars do not seek to replicate that band's overt metal riffage. Instead, they drone on a more sorrowful chord progression. I will give this album a 9.5. Fans of dark European rock should give it a spin. Out July 3rd on Napalm Records.

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Black Metal History Month - GAEREA :"Loss"

Portugal's GAEREA have been fairly consistent in their previous sonic assaults despite confusing pedestrians with their Sleep Token garb. This album is less black metal than the first two, as things slow into epic, sung choruses with more anthemic ambition. Even with these changes, it's hard to complain about them, as what they have captured here is very well done and sounds great. "Submerged" finds them leaning back into some of the more atmospheric dynamics to contrast the more hammering sections. It evolves into one of the more deliberate sections yet. 

"Hellbound" is a more overt pounding with the melodic elements in the periphery. By the time we get to "UNCONTROLLED," there is some tremolo-picked guitar that flirts with their more black-metal-leaning sound, but the blunt-force Behemoth-style bludgeoning begins to fidns the songs running together a bit when we get into the meat of the album. It is the vocal hook in "Phoenix" that makes me pay more attention. "Cyclone" finds both the atmosphere and melody being dialed up. When the more forceful vocals come in, they are on the more mainstream side of metal, but overall, the song works. 

This more mainstream approach to modern metal haunts the last two songs. "Nomad' carrying a more pummelling attack. The hook of the chorus does not snag me as strongly as moments earlier in the album. Technicallyu the last song is a modern metal power ballad, though more progressive in feel than say Sleep Token. Well produced and sounds good, it's a little blander than average, so I will give it an 8.5. This is consistent with their previous albums. 

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Lord Sin : "Confessions"

 

I'm going to ignore the fact they are draped in black sheets for their album cover and focus on the music since that is what matters. The sophomore album from this duo opens up with a very deliberate creeping stomp that allows darkness to be the organic mood the music naturally creates rather than something they have to work at. Portugal has been pumping at decent metal and these guys are no exception. Falling in a weird middle ground between doom and black metal, they seem to care about songs so that works for me. There is a lot of sound coming from just two people. 

"The Presence" feels like Satyricon jamming with Cathedral. It indulges in more traditional metal moods. But this also shows how limited the vocals are so, it might take them out of their sweet spot slightly. "Living Sin" trods a darker road, that feels more fitting of the vocal delivery. The snarl can slither around this riff. I like that this throbs more than it chugs. The guitar parts make more sense, against the dense wall of fuzz coming at you. The more deliberate stomping shift of the guitar works well dynamically. 

"Negligent" is more like death doom in the melancholy manner it trudges on. However, I am not sure they need to drag it out for ten minutes. Granted it chugs along with a more forceful purpose. Eight and a half minutes in things ebb down a little to build into a more dramatic melody thanks to the layer of synths. "Guilt" is another tune that leans more into the doom side of what they do, which truth be told feels like who they are as a band. Less black metal than say Mortuary Drape, but they occupy similar sonic space at times. The vocals do go from spoken parts to the same kind of scowling that has dominated this album. 

"Regret" is a more sludge-driven dirge. Nothing new is introduced, it works off sounds they have already used with the slowed tempo being the main focus of the song, though the guitar melodies that crop up midway in are pretty cool. I will give this an 8.5, I like what they are doing here, though it's not something I would listen to a great deal, as the vocals could stand to be more dynamic, I know there are fans of this sort of thing that do not find them to be a sticking point so this will be a welcomed addition for fans of death doom or blackened doom. This Drops on Larvae Records

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November is Doom -Dawnrider : "the Five Signs of Malice"

This band from Portugal is on the more traditional side of the doom-metal equation. It reminds me of more recent St. Vitus in many ways, as it is not as dark and depressing as some takes on doom these days, and feels a more triumphant part vibe of metal in the 80s. From a production standpoint, things are not as slick as expected which works with their jammy style that finds solos taking their time. The bass line going into the latter section of the opening tracks is somewhat Sabbathy , but the heavy presence of an organ in the sound leans toward Deep Purple. They are obviously talented musicians the test will be how the songs hold up. 

"Things get a little darker for "Old Beast". The vocals are more ominous but still have a more Wino-like approach. It lumbers along the kind of doom boogie you might expect out of this sort of thing. No real sonic surprises popping up yet. Retro sound without Sabbath worship is appreciated, not because I do not love Ozzy and friends, but because I prefer them not their imitators. "King Crow" does not deviate much from this formula, I would say they carry the thunder of a storm rather than really being all that dark. There is more of a metal tone to this song than a rock n roll one. 

"Lawless Road' feels like a jammed-out extension of the previous song, which would work well live. The spoken word part feels like this was the only transition they could come up with. It works in the context of the album, but not the strongest moment. "Perishing Hour" creeps into the darker place I prefer when it comes to doom. It winds its way to a more metallic place making it one of the album's best songs. Overall these guys are good at what they are doing I will give this album an 8.5. If you like 70s flavored doom this guys got you.

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GAEREA : "Coma"

 This Black Metal band from Portugal is following up on their 2022 album "Mirage" which fostered ambitions to break away from the confines of black metal. This album follows a similar path though with bigger production and more melodic climaxes. Two songs into the album and they have already covered more ground sonically. Being more deliberate in the riffing certainly helps as well. The guitars allow for more space which breeds darker intentions, allowing for more nuance in the songwriting process. This lends itself to creating an almost more Behemoth-like mood to songs like "Suspended". However, they are more open to offsetting the atmosphere with a more vengeful blasting than what Behemoth ventures into. 

The atmosphere on this album is handled differently than on their last album as it never feels like they are coming from a similar zip-code as Deafheaven. It occurs in the more soaring melodies the guitar riffs bang out with broader intentions. On the title track, I detect an almost metalcore-like stomping raging beneath the pulse of the drums. This and other moments make this album more accessible to a broader metal audience than just the black metal crowd. "Wilted Flower" blasts with more of a straightforward black metal fury that still has enough songwriting smarts dialed into it with the needed nuance to balance things out. They are not trying to be Sleep Token with the sparse sung vocals that crop up, and perhaps the less-than-poppy use of them is what makes this album hit a hundred times harder than anything Sleep Token as aspired to do. 

"Reborn' locks into the triumphant gallop mode of Black Metal.  Blast beats carry it off into the wild abandon expected of black metal. 'Shapeshifter' starts off as darker and moodier before the blast beats return to rush it into a blurred battery of the sense, where the cool melody is not only an undercurrent. Still, this is more than what your average black metal band does these days.  "Unknown" once again finds the band leaning into blast beats, though as the song progresses they are broken up by accents, and the drummer does enough to keep the album from just becoming a blur despite not shying from blast beats. Some punches bring that more hard-core feel back to mind. They maintain this momentum going into the last song, which finds the final three songs, carrying a more uniform energy despite their ebb and flow. I will give this album a 9, as it improves on the path they blazed on their last album. This album is being released on Season of Mist on October 25th, if the world lasts that long. 

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Louvado Abismo : "s/t"

 

This band from Portugal gets it. All too often I hear new post-punk bands and they are not packing the kind of punch I need, so I go back to listening to my old Killing Joke and Christian Death albums. This album stomps with dark aggression to make something that is sonically intense, The plead of the vocals feels real rather than someone trying to recreate what has already been done, but true to the legacy of the genre.  I can't understand any of the lyrics, at least at the volume I am currently listening to this album. The vocals are shouted on the second song, which marches in from a storm. Many layers of sounds build the dark apocalyptic clouds that comprise what they sound like. 

The third song sounds like Christian Death jamming with Alien Sex Fiend and Crash Worship. The guitars are more industrial strength as the album progresses, with the vocals doing a ghostly junkie moan. "Espuma" has more of a tribal pound to it. The vocals have a chanted hook to them as the song's pieces fall into a very natural flow. The guitar to "Bons Ventos" carries a metallic charge to it. The thrashy chug, owes more to Killing Jokes more metallic moments, as it also creates a sonic tension. "Vazio" splits the difference by taking the throb of metal riffing and sailing off into waters obscured by a dense haze of atmosphere. The guitar churns under it in an almost Tool-like manner. 

The album does touch on goth moods, but the crusty stomp of combat boots marches the album into a bleak dystopia, that is more organic than what we think of as industrial in the present day. They invoke a more grooving ambiance to the pound of "Corpo Inerte" that feels almost more like a Black Sabbath riff. The slow machine-like grind of " Mundo" builds in the energy of its throb. The lyrics are sung in their native tongue, so unless you are fluent in Portuguese , the narrative voice is more of a percussive element and their voices are more of an instrument than a narrative voice.  The last song is an instrumental outro.Overall this is a great sound track for the apocalypse, which is the best barometer for the music that eases us into the coming darkness, I will give it a 9.5 . 

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Carma : "Ossadas"

Meeting at the more atmospheric crossroads of where funeral doom and black metal meet, this band from Portugal falls into a sonic sweet spot for me. While I love this sound, it does not keep me from listening for how are they when it comes to writing actual songs.They do not shun melody, and use sung almost chanted vocal arrangements to offset the traditional low growls, so that plays to their favor in this regard. the slower doom passages can drag in a few places but generally glide along the murky water of the genre well, when they are quick to add more atmospheric elements to layer against this. I was more impressed by the first song, but appreciate how they allow the arrangement of the second song to progress, and where it soars off to. 

I don't feel the instrumental interludes scattered about the album really do a great deal to add value, and some of these sounds should have just been added into the intros. "Paz" has some epic guitar harmonies, but it does not bring anything new to the table sonically.  The low growls occupy the needed space, but do not contribute much else on this one. However you can check  off all the boxes in terms of what you expect from this genre. "Destino" feels more somber. The sung vocals return. In typing that it brings up an interesting aspect of metal that we have to distinguish vocals as being sung. This genre might be selling itself short in this regard. Instead and this does not just go for these guys , but is more of a role they are complicit in, bands play it safe to stay within the confines of expectations. As some one who consumes 300 or more new metal releases every year it is beginning to wear thin and i want bands to do what I do not expect. The best albums I have heard this year are bands doing that. 

Clean guitars surface on the second half of the album. they continue to milk the sorrowful sound. They just do it more dynamically on "Monumento" which is the album's best song. They even accomplish this using harsh vocals, which I am not opposed to if the instrumentation is balancing things out. they just hit a sweet spot and proved themselves to be more capable song writers as everything falls into place just right. The last songs finds them in more of a Mournful Congregation like place. The problem here being that I already own all the Mournful Congregation albums. I will however give this album an 8.5, as they are good at what they do and made the album they wanted to make, they even show signs of greatness here that perhaps they will grow into that. 

5.4

 

Gaerea : "Mirage"

 This is the third album from the Portuguese black metal outfit. The opening track is impressive in the sonic scope that it covers outside of the bounds black metal is most commonly defined by. The vocals are coarse, not screamed in the same manner, and the blast beats are not what it lives and dies by, well that is until the second song where the more melodic components of the first song are dialed back, and they give into a feral lust of savagely lashes out at your ears with their instruments. They are good at this, but unlike the first song it sounds like every other band playing extreme metal. The production is very refined, rather than rougher cavernous sounds more commonly heard in black metal. 

"Deluge" finds the drummer as a prime motivator but holding back and setting the tone with a groove. The guitar also has plenty of room to breathe, the vocals are the one constant in the extreme sounds department. Just past the two-minute mark, they give into their craving for blast beats.  They are not trying to worship Satan and seem to offer a bleak narrative on the urban landscape. The black gaze similarities can be heard in how this song progresses. They are more committed to brutality than say Deafheaven. " Arson" follows a formula more closely related to other black gaze bands with a more atmospheric post-rock intro that builds into an angrier explosion of black metal.  "Ebb" works off the stormy buzz of tremolo-picked guitars that conform to the most basic core of black metal. The groove and melodic moments of the song are more fleeting than they should be though to the band's credit allow themselves to shift away from the blast beats over the course of the song. The vocals have a noted expression of anguish in their emotive display. 

The ominous manner of the chords in the title track is more interesting than when the drums pour on the bursts of speed. The syncopation used as the theme works really well. The album needs more moments like that to set itself apart. This also makes the more commonplace trapping of black metal sound more unique when they are not the only color you are being blasted with. "Mantle' is more of a straightforward black metal blaster than falls in line with the expectations of the genre. The last song certainly starts off in that direction. It does gain its bearings and allows melodic themes to take root. The double bass rivaling the blast beats at times. I will give this album an 8.5, It is certainly one of the more polished black metal releases this year and these guys are skilled at what they do. What they do could be even better without feeling obligated to conform to some of the standard black metal formulas.  

Seventh Storm : "Maledictus"

The drummer of Moonspell has formed a new band and is trying to admit it is pirate metal. He claims it is because he is from Portugal, and he is just celebrating his cultural heritage. Funny when Viking metal bands do that, they get called racist. there is a strong current of traditional metal flowing through this album. The vocals are throaty yet sung. "Sudade" finds them becoming increasingly power metal. The bonus to this is with the grit of the vocals there is more of an Iced Earth or Symphony X feel to this take on power metal. If you are into the kind of soaring anthems power metal is most often known for then this might be the boat for you to catch. 

There is little in the way of frolicking drinking songs that pirate metal is known for so that works for me. "God of Babylon" almost reminds me more of Disturbed thanks to its impressive groove that drives the verses.  Unlike most power metal, there is a darker current running through these songs. Not evil, but ominous. They sail deeper into darker and more melodic waters with " the Reckoning" which finds them giving the vocals more room to open up and add another layer of dynamics. They pick up to a more thrashing speed, that simmer down by the time they get to "Seventh" which has am more epic power metal feel with soulful vocals belting it out. They pull out blast beats at times but tend to return to big melodic choruses. There are guitar solos but that is not the main focus of the songs. 

I really like the more nuanced vocals on "My Redemption". The rougher more belted chorus is not groundbreaking, but the melody is catchy and well done so that is a win in my book for these guys. The eight minute "Haunted Sea" might be the longest song on this album, but as far as sprawling epics go these guys used a great deal of restraint in their compositions. The sung vocals carry a great deal of grit here.  The song builds in places like a Pantera song, though never goes into a moshy break down, it gets bigger and more epic. I will round this one up tp a 10 as it is one of the better metal albums of this kind I have heard in sometime, this comes out August 12th on Atomic Fire Records

Moonspell : " Hermitage"

 Once upon a time this band from Portugal used to be at the forefront of the goth metal movement. This album finds them no longer trying to be Type O Negative . The vocals have improved over the years. I have seen these guys a few times live over the years when they were opening for a band that I actually wanted to see and the vocals used to be a sticking point. Their singer knows himself better and continues to improve.    They are not as heavy as they used to be, but they have not lost all traces of aggression. It feels more progressive than goth or doom, though it is on the darker side of prog rock. The riff to "Common Prayers" is pretty metal. The guitar at the beginning of "All or Nothing' is kinda of wimpy then they go in a more blues based direction with it and it works. The vocals over the more strummed chord progression is less effective. The breathy vocals are very melodramatic, which takes away from some of the darkness. The clean production as does this to some extent. 

They make more of an effort to get heavier on title track. What they do works better as the song progresses . The vocals could more oomph to them, but they are better than they used to be so I can not complain that much. But I am not going to say that what they are doing here really seems like the same kind of metal that bands put out in 2021. Things get to a more Queensryche proggy place with "Entitlement" . How ever the jammy edge to the song makes it worthwhile. This is the best their singer has sounded so far on this album. There is some great guitar playing on this album. Midway into the album I can hear how the year of Quarantine culture was the inspiration for this album. "Solitarian" is a jam that fall out of the previous song.

Despite the more aggressive singing "Hermit Saints" feels more like a rock song than a metal song.  On "Apophthegmata" they works in some electronic elements though end up in one of the album's more metal moments.   This also makes it one of the album's best songs. On "Without Rule" they pass up the chance to end the album on a heavy note. I mean as far as prog metal goes they come up with some stuff Opeth fans might like. Overall this album is what they set out to do. I might have wanted something heavier , but what they have done is impressive regardless and I will give this album a 9. 

Gothtober - IAMTHESHADOW : "Pitchblack"

 

The band from Portugal is very electronic based. Sometimes this gives them a better sound than if they were a post-rock band trying to recapture the 80s as I sorted through a dozen of those til I found this album. More dark wave than post-punk. The dead pan baritone vocals are more Joy Division than Sisters of Mercy. But lower and more dramatic than Ian Curtis. They ride the line on a great deal of things. Their one weakness is their drum machines need more heft to hammer the point home and make you want to dance. The first songs is the a better realization of what they are trying to do than the two songs that follow it. The second being better than the third as it feels like they begin to lose their steam. The thrids song finds the synth riffs have a little more drive and head into that retro synth wave sound. 

The guitar could come up in the mix on "the Days" . The baritone croon of their singer has more room to sing out on this one, as the song gives him space , but he barely does so. The beatr sounds like an 80s darkwave preset on a keyboard. The bass line could hel switch this up, but they stay the middle road. Making this more of a sound they have cpatured than a song they are writing.,I am a firm believer that all songs should have their own personality. It's not until "Awake & Asleep" that it feels like the song writing is really dialed back in . Some of this is thanks to Diego from the Frozen Autumn who lends his voice to the song for a verse, but it is enough of a melodic shift in the sound to provide a much needed change in the vocal coloring .

The programmed drums needed more help in the mixing and mastering as they cause "Shivers" to sound very thin.Any added dimension or texture helps at this point. This makes the next collaboration this time with Kadri from Bedless Bones a welcome one. When you take this sort of thing away and leave them to fend for themselves on "Grace' it begins to bore me. Then once again another guest star saves the day when Yvette from Vaselyn adds her smoky alto to the song and gives it a more sensual layer, Then it's back to the basics for "To Last" , which is better than some of the other songs, but not great. It ends with a similar fizzle. I will give this album a 7.5, there are some strong songs and they have potential , I just need more from the drum programming and the vocals. Your tastes might not be as demanding as mine and you just might want some spooky music that sounds like the other spooky music you like then this might work better for you. 

Gothtober- Moonspell :"1755"

The long time gothic metal act from Portugal is back with a concept album. The title refers to  the  year an earthquake hit Lisbon, which is the story this album tells. So it' a good thing it's sung in their native tongue rather than English since that is an odd story for these guys to tell. It's hyper dramatic with the vocals being barked out in his gruff voice. Exotic instrumentation  joins the big choral arrangement that over accents the song's punches on the title track. The more gritty vocal approach works better for what they are doing here. "In Tremor Dei" has more groove than the first two songs. The big chorus that makes everything sound like something from "The Omen" sound track is present for this song as well. They stomp along more of a middle road here as it's neither death metal or doom. Sung vocals come in midway into this song , though they are not of the Type O Negative variety that these guys used to employ.

Production wise this album sounds really good. It would have to considering all the elements they have added to their sound here. The whose title translates to "Disaster" has a riff that would not sound out of place on a more recent Ozzy solo album. It gets a little more tempo than what Ozzy would do and the vocals continue using a more Sepultura like approach. They continue to stay on the middle of the road, making this feel like symphonic metal. The vocals start sounding a little stale once we get to "Abanao". The problem becomes for this to be metal I need it go to some extreme in once direction or another. The narrative doesn't really invoke any feelings of depression , dread or even anger. I need metal to at the very least be aggressive. I often complain that death  metal is only focused on aggression, while this is true that is a feeling they can sell me on. But I also don't go see disaster films.

"Evento" struggles to reach thrashing speed. There is not enough power behind it to make me bob my head. So nothing here is really drawing me in. It sounds good and is put together well, but there is nothing below the surface. "November 1st" finds attempting to somewhat sing a little more. I guess it's a good thing he is not doing to the crooning as when I some him try to attempt it live it was typically terrible. The riffs sound like Ozzy b-sides. Though the sung vocals that come in as the song progresses are an improvement if that is him. "Ruins" is another mid tempo stomp that seems like it might go over better live. It's one of the first songs that shows memory of their goth past. The last song also brings out some of the ghosts of their past. I think the use of synths here is more well done than the bulk of melodramatic orchestrations that have made most of the songs on this album feel the same. I'll round this album down to a 7.5. They play all the right notes , but miss most of the heart strings they should be pulling.

Nevoa : "Re Un"

The atmospheric black metal duo from Portugal that brought the masterful "Absence of Void' are back with a darker and denser offering this time around. In the last minute bellowing vocals come in after they have ridden a droning groove for the bulk of the song. There is a cleaner and more jangling guitar tone to the second song. Around the two minute mark it begins to gain speed. These songs are looser jams than what they gave us on the first album. When the vocals come back in to help build things to more of a boiling point , the guitar gets weirder and then they continue to ebb back and forth like a breeze between roaring thunder storms. This album is much more progressive than the first. This is both a blessing and a curse as it does push their brand of black metal into new places, but the songs are not as focused. At the eight minute mark when things break down into just white noise it makes me wonder if perhaps a more thoughtful ending could have been planned.

"Conflict" is more direct. It is under five minutes while possessing plenty of sonic texture it holds the kind of heaviness that you can get lost in. At the three minute mark that let loose the blast beats and they are effective because they have not been pounding at you with them for the whole album. The album fittingly ends with the song "Closure" which is more atmospheric. There is a very slow build into the heavier pound that precedes the screamed vocal, which is rawer and angrier in it's delivery that what I remember from the first album. There is more of a doom pacing up until it swells into a more sonic ringing of guitar.

This album has me at a strange place with it. On their first album I like the familiar yet fresh take on black metal, here they are wandering away from black metal and this is a jammy sludge hybrid with black metal influence.So here is where I have to accept where this band is going versus what I want them to be which is a moment frozen in time. They are no longer black metal in it's purest form , but still allow their black metal past to influence their evolution, I'll give it a 9 and see how it sits with me for the rest of the year, I don't think it's as original of a sound as their album was as a whole before as the guitar sound was so different from other black metal, this has a organic tone, but more like one I have heard other bands use, so it's a little bit of a quandary for me.

Dead Procession : "Rituais e Mantras do Medo"

Here is another band from Portugal , what is up out there, you guys are killing it with the metal. Though calling this project metal might be an exaggeration. The first thing that struck me about these guys is how lo-fi this is. It sounds like it could have been recording while they were holding a ritual in their basement. While production wise this is demo quality it works for what is going on here. A monotone chant in the background with the drums way up front. The bulk of what is going on here is ambient drone with minimalist doom drumming.  On the second song the vocals are  sung more than  they are chanted. The drums fake you out making you think they are going to build into something that never comes.

With the third song "Spiritual Osmosis" the first hints of distortion creep in, but rather than being used in a metallic fashion it creates noisy ambiance. The vocals and the guitar lock back into more of a drone as the chanting takes you back into the ritual chamber. It's not until "In the Labyrinth" that the distortions congeals into something that sounds like chords ringing out from a guitar. The vocals are more sung on this one , but they are also more buried behind the guitar. I think the first cymbal I have heard makes a crash during one of the pounding accents. It almost sounds like they are going to go into an actual doom groove. At ten minutes is this a little excessive...yes.

The last song "In the Bottom of the Dark Lakes" doesn't find the drums breaking any new ground. It doesn't even sound like they are playing a whole kit.It gets more sparse until it is just the drumming and the pulse of some kind of electronic instrument. Even as minimal and droning as this album is, it's way better than Sunno))) last piece of noise. The first few songs are the strongest, though most of them simmer around the same mood, the atmosphere is dark and genuine enough for me to give this a 7 despite the fact the doom elements are way more of my thing than minimalist noise. The album drops March 1t.

3.7

Nevoa: "The Absence of Void"

Portugal is starting to really pump out the metal. This album is surprising due to it's clean production.The guitar tones are very crisp and the mix leaves room to actually hear the bass , which is rare for black metal. One thing that is impressive with these guys is even when they fly into the blast beats every thing is still clear and musically and it gets doesn't sounds like a bunch of pots and pans are falling out of a closet. They are atmospheric without losing all form and function. They touch on a chilling drone that doesn't just become white noise and numb you out. Due to the Scandinavian roots of black metal bands they tend to get referred to as having a coldness, despite the geographical difference there is a similar starkness to the riffs that are more emotionally cold than musical translation of the physical nature of the cold lifestyle that haunts other black metal. "Wind and Branches" has more dynamic dips than the opener which is more static and rigid.I think the initial sound of their crisp guitar work really grabs your ear making you think there is more to the song than there actually is.Though this is not to dismiss the melody buried in the swirling din.


 "Alma" is the first song to drop the distortion on let an acoustic guitar ring out.A female vocal sings over this. Up until this point I would say the band obscures their influences, but this section reminds me of something Agalloch would do.This is more of an interlude than a song as it doesn't build from what it is. They do get a lot nastier when they come back in on "Below the Celestial Abyss"it drops down in a more sonic almost post-rock cloud of melancholy.At eleven minutes it's the first song they really get indulgent in musically excesses, but it pays off and they storm back into things in a more thoughtful way that most who seem to only know one way to attack a blast beat. The put to use most of the fourteen plus minutes of the title, they have a knack for gloomy riffs that have a angular melodic quality to them. The only disappointing thing is how they go into the blast beat toward the end like every other band, then they redeem themselves by slowing it down under the tremolo picking.

This might be one of the best black metal album that you came close to not hearing if you had not clicked on this review. I have no problem rounding this up to a 9.5, as it encompasses most of the elements I want from black metal of this ilk. Fans of Burzum, Agalloch and Wolves in the Throne Room will all find something that will resonate with them here.

Dolentia : "Iniciação Eversiva"

Black metal is still one of my favorite sub genres of music , despite the slew of sub par bands coming out from every corner only able to hold down a blast beat, if they are able to do that. I think black metal not only covers a wider rang of emotion than say thrash or death metal, but gives the artists room to grow and experiment. It is sad that most do not take advantage of this. Not sure why I decided to check out this band from Portugal, perhaps I wanted to take a peek into the unknown and see if they might do something aside from blast beats. This is a yes and no. On the second song it sounds like they put more though into the song writing throw in some punchy thrashing grooves and syncopation, but they are not really running towards new ground. The guitar on this album sounds better than the lo-fi sound most bands try to get away trying to relive the early 90s.

Their songs are on the long side so even when they hit something coming close to epic it gets lost the cavalcade of riffs flying by you. Writing long songs can be like talking on cocaine for some bands. You can run your mouth with nothing to say. Where as a conversation with depth you don't realize how much time has passed. The first song that really strikes me as carrying a original direction is "Supremo Designio". They take a much more tried and true metal approach on the driving "Do fundo dos abismos" The drummer begins to earn his pay on this one as well. I tend not to mention metal drummer of this ilk because it kind of goes with out saying that they should be awesome to hold it down, but this guy add some creative accents and has command of his kit.

By the time we reach "A noite" this album is beginning to fade into the background until the song slows down and lets it breathe. Then the songwriting begins to improve on the last two songs, the riff take on an almost viking metal quality sometimes slowing down to throb. The closing song has more of a pagan metal feel, think Bathory here, but with the Lord of the Rings behind them. It seem they ride on this for the bulk of the song, adding a guitar melody but not giving it any where else to go dynamically. These guys do have potential there are glimpses at where they are making black metal in 2015 rather than pretending it's 94. I'll give it a 6.

Vaee Solis : " Adversarial Light "

This band from Portugal takes some of the most hateful vocals to touch a microphone and throws them against some depraved riffs to make for music that brings an uneasy feeling when you are listening to it alone .  The production that makes this possible is impeccable and milks the most anguish out of their performance as possible. The initial slap of this band is powerful, but how well can they you in this mental state for the duration of the album or do we just go back to color by numbers metal?  Equal parts sludge and doom. The have the disdain for melody that a band like Eyehategod possess , but less of the punk ecstatic and a heavier  emotional presence . They use some of  tricks from the ultimate book of  doom metal, but molest them with their malicious intentions.

The title track has the dirty bass tone that is more typical of sludge , but the keep the zombie like pace.  once the drums really kick into the punishment at hand the bass becomes less conspicuous  falling back in the mix.The shredded vocal chord torture  that attacks these songs uses similar patterns. It's up to the guitar to set the tone of these songs. The heavy is pretty much what you are getting here, they have trimmed the fat and using very little to season this razor blade sandwich with. They like to sharpen the edges with feedback. This is doom for fans of crust. It has a very dirty under coating despite the crisp production. Her voice touches on almost a black metal like rasp at times, but I wouldn't go as far as to call these kids blackened.

"Feral Isolation" feel more feral than isolated to me. The vocals take on a higher more crazed gurgle. I doubt they are screaming any real lyrics. The lower death metal vocals that do a call and response with them further my sludge suspicions. The hits begin to linger a little too long and my mind starts to wander away from this album.  The feedback begins to become one of the albums more interesting elements until they let the chords collide in a more sonic manner. At a slower mid-pace the songs have a little more direction and this is coming from a guy who likes funereal doom. This does force the vocals to change it up ever so slightly and a change of pace is really this album needed. The vocals have some nervous break down like temper tantrum not unlike a depressive black metal album. I think once this band begins to explore the more sonic side that is being repressed slightly by the catharsis here they will start writing some damn good songs.They show hints of this on " Cosmocrat" . The chords rings out with that sweetly dissonant darkness I love, the only problem is it is not allowed to really live up to it's full potential. Though some of the songs seem to drag at times this is the only one that goes past the nine minute mark. I have gotten tired of some of the twelve plus minute epics so many bands to so these guys keep that normally reigned in, but if you are going to write a long song you have to have the dynamics to make it pay off. They beat the dead horse in manner that can be pleasing to morbid ears so I'll give this one a 9.