November is Doom - Strange New Dawn : "New Nights of Euphoria"

 

This Norweigian band features members of Green Carnation and In the Woods. The opening track has progressive elements but with an aggressive pounding propelling it. The sung vocals have a maniacal feel to them. The attack of the guitar is a little more black metal than doom, but you can hear how these elements are fighting against one another in harmonic chaos. It is made up of a peculiar sonic combination of sound that it lacks cohesion. "Class Hero Idol" has a more prog-flavoured sound. It feels like the gap between Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull is being bridged here. The surreal moments of psychedelia float around the vocals, as the more aggressive guitar chug follows the flow of the song. 

"Defenders of Faith" ebbs down to more of a hard rock feel, with the vocals more aggressive before the momentum of the song blasts off in an epic gallop. The drummer is really great at both tasteful accents and pouring on the barrage of double bass. There is a rather grandiose dynamic swell to how this song builds. There is an odd tone to "Wake of Icons" that is darker than the direction they headed in the previous song. It reminds me of "Gutter Ballet" ara Savatage. "Fortune Bringer" serves to further my Pink Floyd comparisons. The vocals layering really highlights this fact. I am a big Pink Floyd fan so this does not bother me. There is still a metallic chug of guitar sitting back against this that does build back up into the wall of double bass. 

"Finding the Pieces" is much more metal. At times this is accomplished through a more thrashy chug. 'Seek it " has more of a conventional metal feel to its stomp..The guitar harmonies really give it more of a NWOBHM feel. The way the vocal melody is more relaxed reminds me of Opeth. The melodic qualities of the guitar solos are also an improvement in that regard. "High Strangeness" starts off with a drugged-out creepy groove before, the drums accelerate things with a flow of double bass.  The Roger Waters-like theatrics carry over into "Sons of Galaxy". The last song did not connect as solidly with me, it was grandiose but lacked focus. Overall this album works in its own weird way, and might still need to grow on me, I will give it a 9, it's more prog than doom, but gloomy prog.  It was released by Svart Records, which is another win for that label. 

Green Carnation : "Leaves of Yesteryear"

Formed by Emperor bassist Tchort , this Norwegian band stays on the more progressive and melodic side of metal. Members of this band also play in In the Woods. Despite their collective black metal pasts , there is almost more of a power metal feel to what they do. Granted they did start off more like an early Opeth thing and their sound has matured over the years. This maturation process is still in effect. These guys are a band I have always liked for the past 20 years, but often forget about. This album starts off not as dark as what I have heard from them in the past , though by "Sentinels" leans more in that direction for the verses, while the chorus has more of an uplifting mood to it's epic nature which comes with the genre. I feel this just clicks with me mood wise more on the second song. It's gallop is pretty powerful in the most epic way.

I would say this kind of power metal leaning is more often not my thing , but Iron Maiden who invented this is one of my favorite bands. I also used to really be into Queensyrche. I think these guys do it with enough edge to them to keep my interest and the fact that really care about the songs helps. Without question they are great musicians. I think some of the shadow could have been added in post production. Less mid range, more reverb and bass, you are half way to Type O Negative. This might be a only five songs but two of those are over ten minutes, in fact " My Dark Reflections of Life and Death" is 15 minutes. .The vocals take on a Warrell Dane like croon. The song is very dynamic with out veering off course. If you want to keep your progressive metal heavy, these guys have a decent handle on that front.

They wander a bit until "Hounds" finds it's legs when the chorus kicks in just right. The drums help to get the song moving. The bass tone could have a little more balls to it, but over all  this song works and is catchy enough for me. I mean they do a pretty spot on cover "Solitude" with just a piano. I will give this album a 9, if you are like me and you play Dungeons & dragons so the concept of power or progressive metal is appealing , but is often not dark or heavy enough then these guys have got you covered.

The Top 10 Mainstream Metal Albums of 2018

It is that time again. For the sake of this list mainstream Metal is anything that is not black, doom, death metal, or sludge. So that leaves some of the more widely ingested forms like symphonic metal, power metal, folk metal, thrash and nu-metal .  Mainstream doesn't mean they are going on tour with Slipknot or going to be played along side them on Sirrus, as chances are that going to be some bullshit band who i only got three songs into their album before getting bored. score from my reviews to help determine the ranking , but also how many times Last FM told me I listened to each album.An album can have all the critical acclaim in the world but if it does not inspire multiple listens then how good can it actually be ?

While the top ten lists for other genres leaned more heavily on the side of new blood , this lists leans in the direction of more well established acts. Rather than posting media of a track from each band I am leaving a link to the review, which will contain Bandcamp or Full Album Streams. Ok enough talking about it, the time has come to dig into the top 10 Mainstream Metal  albums of 2018.

10-Non Point -"x"


 They were always par for the course when it came to the tail end of nu-metal that was transitioning into the era of Myspace.There is a more thrash feel to the opener , but in a Slipknot manner and the vocal hooks have a Sevendust feel. They prove themselves to be good at what they do once again.


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/08/nonpoint-x.html

9-Metal Church- "Damned if you Do" 


 Mike Howe and Kurdt Vanderhoof are the only members from the "Blessing In Disguise" era of the band, which is not the original line up, but a great incarnation of the band that I accept . Howe's voice sounds just as great as it did on "XI". There is a darker and more melodic tone to which is more original than the more straight forward by the numbers what you expect from these guys, straight head proto thrash. This makes the albums more somber and melodic moments help this one stand out.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/12/metal-church-damned-if-you-do.html

8-Code Orange- "the Hurt Goes On" 

 Their album "Forever" rules pretty hard as it showed them utilizing a bigger sound and blending a more industrial tinged influence into the mix. That industrial side of the band is given The first song is gritty and dense metal core that takes the concept of metal and hardcore thrown together and succeeds on every angle. This albums does rock pretty hard and I love how the left of center electronics are blended with their take on metallic hard core.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/06/code-orange-hurt-goes-on.html

7-Arkona-"Khram" 

 Clearing up any problems I had with folk metal, hey show up ready to do battle and don't get over indulgent into the more LARP like elements until the seventeen minute second song. I tend to not keep many sprawling seventeen minute songs in my iPod as they would take up the entire car ride to pretty much any where I go, they borders on being more progressive with the sprawling songs and refined chops.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/02/black-metal-history-month-arkona-khram.html

6-Destroyer 666 - "Call of the Wild"

 Warslut is back with something is almost more like W.A.S.P than black metal. Granted you could grandfather it in as it is as black metal as Venom...though closer to "Calm Before the Storm" than "At War With Satan".  They guitar sound is dialed in. The vocals are standing on the monitors and in your face. The vocal performance is executed in more of a 80s thrash shouted style of singing . There are some black metal tinged rasps thrown in. The drumming is very animated, but where it needs to be. I think the guitar benefits more from when things are not as busy.

  https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/02/black-metal-history-month-destroyer-666.html

5-Tribulation-"Down Below" 

 3 years after "Children of the Night" the boys from Sweden are back. This album seems like a logical progression with a more stream lined take on death metal. Their new drummer is more of a in the pocket rock guy and doesn't hit you with a ton of double bass so this factors in. There is still a great deal of atmosphere and keyboard parts, that help retain the darker mood. The guitar playing is more thoughtful and nuanced to make up for the fact it might not be as aggressive as their previous releases. The vocals haven't really changed and their mid range snarl is  the most biting part of their sound now

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/01/tribulation-down-below.html

4-Judas Priest- "Firepower" 

 The first concern going into any Priest album is how is Rob's voice going to hold up, We might be able to live with out KK, but as the Ripper Owens years proved, his voice is one of the defining traits of this band. Think closer to "Defenders of the Faith" which was the band trying to replicate the massive success of "Screaming For Vengeance" . It is truer to form for the band than "Redeemer of Souls". It has the up tempo aggression that influenced the thrash bands that would follow.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/03/judas-priest-fire-power.html

3-In the Woods - "Cease the Day"

 These guys are not the only black metal band from the early 90s that have changed their sound over the years.At the onset one might assume these guys have gone more of a Ulver route as baritone clean vocals have a mournful sound to them almost like a doomy gothy version of Pink Floyd. I do like the dark melodic tone this song has almost like something Katatonia might do. By the end of the song things have swelled back into metal. I also like how the effects drape the harsher vocals toward the end of the song, and while it is done in a more Enslaved like manner I do not feel the call and response between the clean and harsh vocals is predictable with a darker and moodier sound than most.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/10/in-woods-cease-day.html

2-Primordial -"Exile Amongst the Ruins"

 These guys used to be more black metal and have grown out of it, which you can't be mad at considering how dark they are and how they get pagan metal right. Right from the first song there is a passing return to harsh vocals for a few phrases. Their second best is better than most. If you are a fan of the band this is going to be what you are waiting for as it's more of the same.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/03/primordial-exile-amongst-ruins.html ,

1-Dimmu Borgir- "Eonian"

No longer black metal,they do what they do. This involves their ever evolving sound that retains the core of who they are. Shagrath croaks his way through the verses. There is a huge choral sound midway into the song. This confirms they are more of a symphonic metal band than a black metal band.These guys dialing it in is better than most bands can do on a good day.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/05/dimmu-borgir-eonian.html

In the Woods : "Cease the Day"

These guys are not the only black metal band from the early 90s that have changed their sound over the years.At the onset one might assume these guys have gone more of a Ulver route as baritone clean vocals have a mournful sound to them almost like a doomy gothy version of Pink Floyd. I do like the dark melodic tone this song has almost like something Katatonia might do. By the end of the song things have swelled back into metal. I also like how the effects drape the harsher vocals toward the end of the song, and while it is done in a more Enslaved like manner I do not feel the call and response between the clean and harsh vocals is predictable.  The second song works off  a more black metalish formula with a gloomier transition into the guitar solo. Then by the third song the band shows a more epic traditional metal sound. It has a sweeping gallop and majestic synths in the background.

"Cloud Seeder" is more mid paced. It doesn't stand out as much as the songs before. The clean vocals don't hook me in. The harsher vocals are more interesting here, which says a lot considering I prefer singing. It just begins to feel a little like a formula here. "Still Yearning" is more deliberate . The melodic breakdown at the three minute mark is a little weird but it does help to make the build back in more explosive. The more groove oriented chug the song finds it's self in is pretty bad ass. I don't think speeding it up makes it more aggressive it just sounds a little rushed. "Strike Up With the Dawn" has some effective grooves. The use of clean vocals does begin to sound a lot like Enslaved here.  "Transcending Yesterdays" follows a similar formula.

The last song is more of a ballad like outro than an actual song so for the sake of this review I am not going to factor it in when scoring this album. Very much in the same zip code of Norway as Enslaved. I really like this album because of what sets it apart from Enslaved, this is the fact that it's darker and moodier. Not dark enough for me to slap this month's Gothtober label on it , but dark enough to keep me happy. I'll round it up to a 9.5 , which should show you how far darkness goes in my book.

In the Woods - "Pure"

Former members of Green Carnation formed this black metal band back in 1991,so these guys go back to the first wave of Norwegian black metal, though they have always been more experimental than the bulk of those bands holding more in common with countrymen like Emperor and Ulver. There is a strong rock drive to the opening track, though harsh vocals haunt the fringes of the song, the delivery is predominately sung. Their are some powerful accents that add a heavier dynamic to what they do. This gives them more heft than say recent Enslaved, the song ends with vocals harmonizing over a piano line they might bring Opeth to mind.

"Blue Oceans Rise" is slower and darker. The clean sung vocals emote in a manner not unlike My Dying Bride and the tempo further justifies this comparison, even as the double bass rolls in behind the chugged guitar. They are drifting into a more melodic death metal direction on "Devils at the Door". I like the fact this song has so much room to breathe and some dynamic range. The atmosphere sits well with the more dramatic swells , even in with the clean vocals. The sung stay a in somewhat depressed baritone. Some of the thunder is traded for a more solemn mood on " the Recalcitrant Protagonist". Once again we find them set to more of a doom pacing going into "the Cave of Dreams" though it picks up into more of mid-paced tempo. The harsh vocals at this point are few and far between. There is a bridge where it gets heavier, but generally the songs are more focused on having the room to explore this morose landscape. Here they still manage to cover a lot of ground in under six minutes.

"Cult of Shining Stars" bathes in it's own atmosphere, before coming to life with a heavy march. In many ways this album is similar to Borknagar. These songs were created by musicians with much heavier pasts, but have allowed them let their maturity shine through. It does rise from it's languor into a more classic metal chug. "Toward the Black Surreal" has it's heavier peaks, but retains the tone set earlier in the album that puts this closer to doom than black metal. It's a very interesting middle of the road. When they lock in for the syncopated chugs midway it's pretty powerful moment and an even more daring choice to ebb back down into a melodic section after this. This might make this one my favorite song on the album.

There is more of a space prog feel to "Transmission KRS", which adds to the dynamic range of the album as a whole, but not something that would seem like a song if it randomly cropped up on shuffle mode, so while I would write it off as more of an interlude, it's almost 11 minutes long so they are clearly committed to it. "This Dark Dream" feels like My Dying Bride colliding with Iced Earth. So it's pretty potent. The final song "Mystery of the Constellations" treads in similar waters to water we have heard thus for from the return of In the Woods. I'll give this album a 9. It's very solid, fans of the more recent My Dying Bride or Amorphis might dig this more than older fans who just them to return to the black metal of 91, because we are not in that part of the woods any more.