UADA : "Interwoven"

 

The idea that the band has to record an acoustic version of one song from each album works for me, as I think a good song will be a good song no matter the context in which it is played. You should write heavy music with acoustic guitars to begin with, rather than just hide behind volume and distortion. The bones of the song have to be there. 'Djinn" displays this well, though it reminds me a little of Fields of the Nephilim. Which is a compliment, since they are one of my favorite bands. However, depending on where the note falls in his upper register, they become a little pitchy. But overall, the song works.

"Devoid of Light" has a more country feel to the guitar. It's funny, as it shows the link between Scottish and Irish folk with bluegrass. It is darker than the first song, which I appreciate. Jake Superchi employs a more Nick Cave-like croon here. Midway, it switches gears, emulating the way the riffs in their music shift. "The Dark" swings more than traditional folk. The complex arrangement feels more proegressive in this context. He sings in a lower, droning voice for this one. Midway into the song, it feels more likea jam. It's clear he is a better guitarist than singer, but he is decent enough as a singer here.

The dance is more of a jig for "The Purging Fire' which sounds like it could have come from "The Witcher" soundtrack. The low baritone vocals are more along the lines of King Dude. They work better when layered. The Rome cover should have been a Nick Cave cover. The cover of Nirvana's works better when taken into a darker direction. The chorus is more haunting, and the cello works well here. Though on the second version, they answer the question of how Nick Cave would sing this. I appreciate what is being done here; the sounds are familiar, but the intentions are something more that black metal bands should try. Dropping on Eisenwald Records. 

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November is Doom - Altars of the Moon : "the Colossus and the Widow"

 This band features members of Chrome Waves, Uada, Wolvhammer, and the Black Dahlia Murder. The vocals are exclaimed in a low baritone scowl. The instrumentation is very atmosphere, drifting into darkness with the same ambiance as shoe-gaze. The second song finds the odd vocalization staying the same, which is an odd choice, as it falls somewhere between Tom Warrior's grunt, King Diamond's chest voice moan, and the sneer of Voivod's Snake. The second song droning more off the atmosphere without a clear sense of direction. 

"The Drift" lives up to its name, as I had to give it a second listen to dissect what is happening here. It is more of an ambient interlude. "Supermassive Black" shimmers, with sampled vocal sections patched in. There is a hypnotic feel to this one. Its arrangement is rather intangible" The Longing" is another swathe of atmosphere. Sax blares out of the spectral sounds gathering, to create an almost Hawkwind-like feel. "Vestibule" is more of a song and less of an interlude. The sultry simmer of saxophone returns. Yet it is another ambient instrumental interlude. The vocals and guitar return for more serious brooding on "First Contact Protocol" There is some chaos in the arrangement, but it is also one of the album's most fully realized songs with its convincing stomp into dissonance. 

After yet another ambient interlude the last song works off a brooding chugged tension that never gets the chance to be fully released. I will give this album an 8, the sounds collected in these interludes are cool, but it often leans too heavily in that direction,. Overall there is something here that is truly original and they should be commended for that. 

UADA : "Crepuscule Natura"

 One of the most convincing black metal bands out of America are back with another grim monument of sound. There are almost rock passages that remind me of the Misfits when it comes to the riffing of the opening track. This works for me as nothing would be more boring than if they just came out hitting you with a bunch of blast beats. The vocals shift from a varied array of croaks, grunts and growls. I get more Immortal like vibes from the title track. It hits you with a denser storm of black metal. Double bass in equal portion to the blasting , though not shortage of speed, hit the deliberate nature of the riffing compensates for this. Is it the most original thing they have done? No, in fact the first song has it beat in terms of originality. At about the 12 minute mark there is a pretty hooky riff, but cool riffs alone does not a good song make. 

At times times they lock into riffs that owe more to the classic roots of metal, and these moment not surprisingly account for the bulk of the melodic elements. Though they show more restraint than what might be expected from your average black metal band today. "the Dark" has a more epic thrash gallop, that carries a bleakly triumphant mood. While this amounts to head banging fun, once again we have heard the band draw from a more inspirational place before. The frolicking guitar harmonies take away some of the ominous mood ."Retraversing the Void" finds them breaking away from the formulas that were coagulating on previous songs where they most purposeful riff what the climax. The twin guitar harmonies on this one owe more to Iron Maiden  than Marduk.  

The last song closes the album with a meeting of the two worlds. Traditional black metal anger and the more melodic nuances from classic metal influences. At times the scowled vocals remain the anchor of the dark world their music is derived from. They do slow into a catchier guitar riff midway into the song that provides a dynamic shift. The strength of this album is it sounds great from a production stand point, along with the execution, they care about writing songs rather than just throwing their spiteful sonic aggression in your face, which put them ahead of most black metal bands. This might not be their most original work , but it is one of their most well done so I will give this album a 9.  

UADA : "Djinn"

I read a Facebook post comparing this album to Alkaline Trio, so had to check it out. Yes it is more melodic than what I remember from this band. It is still very solidly black metal. There are some other tones cast into the mix. There are some cool, powerful metal riffs Very metal in terms of the guitar solo fired up on "the Great Mirage" . The Portland  band throws any post punk comparisons out of the belfry here. The vocals are a lower growl than typically employed in black metal. Aside from the two thirteen minute songs they keep things to a respectable length. Things are very melodic and well layered this go around. They are angry enough to appease most fans of black metal, but not just dialing in the same old blast beats. Despite the melodic guitar lines the mood circles the same pit as the previous song in many ways though the vocals are a little higher of a snarl.  In fact it is not until the Vincent Price sample comes in that I realize it's a new song. The vocals shift in tone and cadence which made me think this was a different song, then I saw it was the first of the thirteen minute songs. It is not in fact the beginning of a cool new song but a cool ending to a song that ran together with the overall sound of the album.

The first time they use vocals that are touched with goth is on " In the Absence of Matter". It is not like they suddenly turn into Type O Negative, but is is more of a sparse chant thrown in here and there not unlike some of the more recent work by Tombs. The emphasis is still on being a black metal band with the same kind of relentless attack that colors most black metal the only difference being the songwriting is more nuanced. It is one this song where I can hear similar themes beginning to repeat on this album. Not unlike how musicals often return to similar themes. They shift into a more atmospheric clean tone that rings out going into "Forestless". They attack of the riff that kicks in is still very metal. I think the reaction to this album is because we are so numbed by lazy bands taking the easy way out that we forget things like dynamics can add to songs beyond what the status quo might expect. The vocals are snarled out with the same out of venom presented in the previous song. If not marginally angrier. The tremolo picked guitar are there to remind you this is the kind of black metal you originally ordered.

The album closes with the almost 14 minute " Between Two Worlds". It starts of darker and denser , then goes into similar melodic territory they have already harmonized upon. The drumming has more of a half time feel in comparison to the gallop they have used the bulk of the album. The vocals still every bit as nasty. This holds to the most conventional bounds of black metal despite some of the more aggressive grooves it takes in places.  At the six minute mark the riffs shifts to something more death doom.  I will round this one up to a 9, due to their courage to expand upon what they were doing and allowing themselves to grow, I am not sure if this is something I will find myself listening to on a daily basis as it still treads upon ground I already have covered with artists like Tombs who I mentioned earlier. But I am going to acknowledge that this album excels at both songwriting and in the sounds they have crafted here. This album comes out on September 25th on Eisenwald.

Uada : " Cult of a Dying Sun"

This blackened act from Portland lines up to take another stab at what Dissection did.
They kick some blast beats around this, to give it a hyper thrash sensibility. The vocals split the difference between black metal and death metal. The lower vocal is more clearly death metal, with the higher rasp carrying more of a black metal feel.Sometimes these are switched out in more predictable times than others.  It's well produced and these guys can obviously play their instruments, so what I am listening to is the quality of their songs. Can they do anything at less than a 140 bpms that doesn't sound like they are recycling countless bands that came before them.Guitar melodies and double bass sometime compensate for the album's over all more singular focus.

They a good a mimicking Swedish melo-death. Throw some blast beats on top of this and they you certainly don't sound like an American band. To the point of almost sounding like a hookier more Swedish version of Mutilation Rites. It's almost cultural appropriation , but if it's white people stealing from other white people then no one males a big deal of it. It all trickled down from NWOBHM could be one argument. Three minutes into the title track and I am wondering where they can go from here. The answer seems to be deeper into death metal. We begin to hear Entombed seeping from the corners. The guitar solos keep the melody in mind and are another working part of the song. Lyrically it's a mute point as the vocals are obligatory. The lower growls are well done. The half time breakdowns are effective, though the most betraying of their American roots.

They could stand to shave the first minute of acoustic intro off of "Wanderer" . Truth be told I am not sure there is enough here to justify it being an instrumental and this might have worked better into one of the other songs to provide more dynamics. They do hold onto the strum of guitar for a triumphant gallop into "Blood Sad Ash". Here their sense of melody begins to have a greater pay off.  Aside from the more Mayhem like croak of the vocals that open the song "Spheres" sounds like more of the same. They are locking into their formula at this point. The drumming is great , but to play this kind of music it has to be. To be a rehashing of guitar harmonies we have already been blasted past earlier in the album or at least something close enough ten minutes of the closing song get tedious and tuned out. These guys are good at what they do it just feels like another Americanized remake, much like "Let Me In". If you never heard the original then you might be more impressed. In terms of execution alone I'll give this a 7.5, which is rounded down due to lack of originality. But fans of melo-death like that sort of thing.