Psyclon Nine : Order of the Shadow Act 1

This is the San Fran band's final album, so there's no second act. I did not give these guys a shot until, clicking around on Spotify one day because I had had always assumed them to sound like they looked which is a bunch of pretty boys from Vampirefreaks.com, and lumped them in with the other bands from the Myspace era like Motionless in White. While the black metal tag gets thrown around a lot with these guys, I think it is safe to say that regular readers here who know their metal will all confer this is not black metal. It is pretty decent industrial metal,  ignoring the fact this sort of thing died with Fear Factory. They wail on into a vacuum and some how managed to not sound like dated mall metal.

They pick where they left off on "We the Fallen" the syncopation is a tad heavier on the opening track. The screechy vocals are a static layer over the dense chug. They avoid most of the radio clichés the genres forefather's used in terms of hooks, though the call and response on the verse of "Suffer Well" has echoes on Marilyn Manson to it. But this type of smarter song writing is a welcome departure from the vocalist doing variation of the same pattern like the previous album. The song crescendos into several wrathful cheers.

The trash tinged "Glamour Through Debris" delivers a riff that reminds me of the more metallic moments from Front Line Assembly during the 90's. It breaks down into an apocalyptic drum march and builds up using restraint rather than just going for the throat again. The album sounds great and the production is just what they need. The machine like white noise at the beginning of "Use Once and Destroy" transitions nicely into the fuzzed out synth of the verse. The songs are a lot catchier than what I have heard from the band previous to this release, they could use a slightly wider dynamic range , as aggression seems to be the only color they are painting these songs with most of the time. The exception to this rule comes by way of " the Saint and the Valentine" where they switch over to an acoustic guitar and clean vocals for the verse, not unlike Stabbing Westward and use the soft to loud formula. It's done effectively and provides a more melodic balance the album needs.

From the static "Remains of Eden" buzzes to life in a way that remind me of Author & Punisher at first before the more familiar vocal cadence emerges. It is well executed because normally I require a hint of more melody but the robotic crunch keeps me listening. Though the songs drones at the half way mark, it still manages some cohesion as it tests my tolerance for noise.Which might be weird because Skinny Puppy is one of my favorite bands and they use a shade more abrasion on albums like Rabies.

The title track lingers on its intro almost two minutes before kicking into what is a fairly straight forward militant drive.The pulse to the beat in the final minutes of this one is more like overdriven edm, if you really want to count straws.This is probably the most dynamically flat song on the album but even then it's not half bad.

I like the coat of darkness that hangs over everything and it takes center stage on the more Skinny Puppy feeling of "Take My Hand While I Take My Life" that is one of my favorite songs on the album, I like the guitar  melody haunting the chorus.While it's cluttered with noisy little interludes I'm not counting qas songs, since they are not taking up the space on my iPod, I'm sorry this is the bands last album as they are really growing as song writers , I'll round this one up to a 9.5.    



   

Holograms : "Forever"

I've been hunting down this album the Stockholm based punk band since it's release, even contacting their manager who is vacationing in Australia. This release sees, the punk roots intact , but the post- label is firmly in place as it has a dark spacious not confined by the raw explosion punk is normally limited to. This is displayed out the gate with the opener "Sacred State".

Things continue to drift into darker waters as the album progresses , it finds as much common ground with Joy Division and New Model Army as it does the likes of Iceage. The Iceage comparison comes as there is not the hugest classic punk influence, unless we are talking about the middle ground when bands like Suicide and Joy Division were thought of as punk.The songwriting here has much more depth and thought behind it than what you would typically think of as punk. I would even go as far as to say they are even a step ahead of other  northern euro-punkers like Iceage when it comes to the dynamic range of their song writing.The use of Keyboards on this albums adds to this fact.

"Meditations" starts pretty straight forward high tension fashion as a lot of this sort of post-punk coming out and then gets a bigger sounding hook on the chorus, but is still coming from the same zip -code as Bellicose Minds. In fact I think this band bridges the gap between bands like Bellicose Minds and bands like Lower and Iceage. They stay the course , with bass driven march on"Attestupa", the reverbed guitar lines wander around the bass, while the interplay still makes it dancey enough for goth night.

The attention to detail when it comes to making catchy songs remains intact on the more synth dominated "Luminous" the guitar line almost strays into death rock, if he had more Bela Lugosi rather than the snotty punk baritone croon he uses for most of the album, "Rush" takes things back into the tense Joy Division like propulsion. This one didn't grab much as much as the rest of the album has so far , but it grew on me by the songs end as it coalesces into more of a hooky build.

You could almost call "Wolves" a slow song , if compared with the pace the band has kept most of the album, but not a ballad by any means it falls on the more deliberate end of mid tempo. There are some really raw scraping guitar sounds on this one and it builds into loose sonic deconstruction. The more traditionally goth "Laughter Breaks the Silence" still keeps things pretty punk in the bat cave. The song drives harder than even Ian Curtis and the boys. 

At almost six minutes " A Blaze on the Hillside" is the albums longest track. A minute and a half in it breaks down from it's straight ahead punk charge , it really only breathes on the punk tom pulses, and isn't a bad song it is the most sonically and dynamically flat , with the guitar melody that surfaces halway through as the most interesting part.

"Lay us Down " closes out the album, his voice takes on a more melodic quality here and comes the closest to more thought and melody being put into his vocal approach and marks the singers high point of the album and the songs brings the album to a close with a more melodic swell. I'll go ahead and round this album up to a 10 as "A Blaze on the Hillside" is the only tune that seemed a little redundant, but I will give it the benefit of the doubt that it will grow on me.          

Zola Jesus: Versions

I have had this in rotation for some time now since it's August release but never got around to reviewing it since it came out around the same time as the Katatonia album which took a separate approach, but with Zola this seems to be  more dramatic turn than the normally morose, Swedish band, not that she is a bucket of laughs either but her music is so beat driven and electronic it makes this unplugged version of her work seem more like new songs.

She even takes a different approach to singing where Jonas of Katatonia  , was pretty much business as usual. This can be seen very clearly on the slow string accompaniment of "Avalanche" which is beautifully sung and arranged but not really a must listen for me."Fallback" does a much better job and allow her to open up and sing in a manner that's closer to what feel like her sweet spot. One thing that is noted about this album is she has found her own voice and is further from her earlier Siouxsie imitations , she very rarely carries her chest voice into the throaty belt that has been characteristic of her singing style up until this point ,which I think shows a good deal of maturation in her singing style. It translates well to songs like "Hikikomori" from her last album "Conatus".  "Run Me out" originally off of  Stridulum II, receives a much more somber treatment here.

"Seekir" is given a heavier nod toward her more electronic roots, and the strings propel the song along side the beat, which is not as in your face as the original version. The new arrangement of "Seatalk" really gives Zola a chance to spread out her vocal chops. It goes to show that when a song is well written it is going to be well written no matter how it's preformed if it is a song that will stand the test of time.

"Night" sheds it's 80's goth feel, but manages to feel just as dark. Her voice is a little more subdued than the original version , but its a tasteful vocal performance that serves the cello heavy new version. The beat pules in the distance before launching in when the strings build the tension.

The new arrangement to "In Your Nature" strikes as even slightly more experimental than the original and is sung much more emotionally than the original as well.The string accent where the bass lines would normal build the beat.

Though well sung, "Collapse' just kind of languishes over itself, luckily "Vessel" comes in behind it and bats clean up. Every part of this one blows away the first , which was an incredible song to begin with.The strings are best employed and arranged here. Overall , she succeeds and shows a lot of growth. I  was disappointed  when I learned this was just an unplugged rearrangement of her older material so she had to win me over with this . I'll give it a 9.5 .

Psychic Teens : "Come"

This band from Philly describes their sound as "like that time you spotted your creepy metalhead brother at 80s night" Sure there is a noise rocky - post punk element that doesn't place seem outside the neighborhood of say the Jesus Lizard influenced Pop 1280...or even Beastmilk. The shoe gaze banner they claim to fly is more unfounded. And to say goth well... around these parts the bar is raised pretty high on that one, though the come as close to capturing it as say A Place to Bury Stranger's darker moments.

If find myself having to re-listen to the opening track to try to figure out what it is that hooks you into all the pieces that so awkwardly fit. The drums and bass throb together, as the vocals take a monotone Iggy Pop approach and ride the dissonance. It never congeals melodically, but I have kept listening to get my head around it so it must be doing something right. The sonics gel into a more focused attack on "Rip". Their is a similar helter skelter approach to sonically driving verses, that are allowed to breath a little more on the choruses. The vocals are the only thing that keep the post- in the post punk here.

Things get darker and heavier on "H#ate". It almost sounds like a hard version of Jesus and the Mary Chain. This has a powerful delivery on some of the more driving riffs, but the punk elements keep the dynamic range in varied shade of driving the assault forward, where the new Beastmilk has a better melodic sense to it.

Like Beastmilk, the guitar some times lets you breathe taking a more surf rock route as they coast on the reverb. The verse on " Lust" lets the song breath a little more and it only limited by the range of the baritone vocals . The guitar on the build is pretty cool and I might concede to it having some post-rock to it rather than this shoes gaze thing that I am not hearing from these guys.

The dense sonic swell that opens " Lord" is pretty cool and elements of it remind me of Lords of the New Church.The accents in this song are heavy, but not metal, yet these guys might appeal to people who like metal and can appreciate the intensity without having to have the trappings of the genre. On the title track they continue to hammer the point home though I suppose this has more of a death rock feel to it though it also reminds me of 'set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun" this does give the album more dynamics , as they back off and let the drums carry most of the weight on the verse. They keep things dark and tense, you know the explosion is around one of the next corner they keep turning.

Things lean more toward the Police like side of post-punk on "Less" where the vocals stay in the 80's Iggy vein.I suppose some comparisons could be drawn to the Cure on the verse riff. Though the song escalates into a more punk flurry. "Bug" stays in more of the punk side of what they do , which might also appeal to fans of Iceage and Ceremony. There is often a swirling density but they never reach the lifting drone of shoe gaze, so it would be almost like calling the Pixies shoe gaze, those these guys are much darker and more punishing than the Pixies. The closest to shoe gaze they come is on " Veil" where the singer also come close to really singing as he goes into a lurching croon.

The more I listen the more I realize the wheel isn't being reinvented here as much as the few two listens lead me to believe, but it's a damn good album, with a great atmosphere captured through out and really has some balls to it. I will give this one a 9 no problem.

Beastmilk: "Climax"

I was a big fan of the Finnish Band's last e.p. "Use Your Deluge" so my spider-senses tingled when I caught news of this  debut full length that is slated for a November 29 th release. They did not disappoint. This shows a world of growth. While the driving punk roots of their earlier work are still present the whole album shows a refined sense of melody and their singer really stepping up to the plate  with golden pipes balancing out his sardonic soul.

While this band got lumped in with the resurgence of goth/death-rock/post-punk or whatever you want to call it, on their last e.p., i always felt other influences between the Joy Division, like Blue Oyster Cult Hawkwind or Iron Butterfly, when some  type of garage like space rock vibe ,  echoed out from their cavernous pummel . I felt it put them in the same sonic zip-code as A Place To Bury Strangers. Well that is still present, but with a sense of hooks. There are also tastes of horror punk and surf rock lingering in the reverb heavy guitars.

Right when the vocals come in on the albums opener, you can hear that Kvohst is opening up and singing more as this croon rockets out over the tidal wave of guitars. With the expansive range , he still returns to the lower creepy baritone, but uses it more as an effect rather than staying in a monotone narrative like Ian Curtis. He even does a call and response with the lower register vocal on " Nuclear Winter".

"Genocidal Crush" find the band taking an almost an upbeat Echo and the Bunnymen approach, until the chorus bangs in. The chorus consistently pull you in from the more brooding throb of the bass driven verses. On a song like "Ghosts Out of Focus" the band has more in common with Merchandise than they do Night Sins or the Spectres. The vocals being more dynamic and the guitars are allowed to give them more space rather than having to keep a continuous tension. This allows the guitar to wander into different sonic spaces than they did on the previous efforts.

The lyrics which on "Fear Your Mind" are spit out with a Misfits like drama, are still very catchy and well syncopated over driving punk chug. The punk elements were more in your face on their past work, but do explode out on the choruses here. However the maturity in song writing broadens the melodic landscape, which is still rather ominous like there's an alien invasion looming in the skies above.

There's a heavier  dash of surf rock in the guitar tone to " Love in a Cold World."  The song is propelled by the bass and drums, while the vocals take on a more desperate plead. This vibe  carries over into "Surf the Apocalypse" though they hit more of a punker take on Interpol . The album takes a darker turn to close on the melodic creep of "Strange Attractors" which tip toes around the same graves as "Porngography" era Cure.

Overall this album is without flaw and is highly recommended to fans of brooding post-punk, goth new wave , what ever sub-genre you are looking to hang your cape or combat boots on whatever the case my be. It takes no second thoughts for me to rate this album a 10 as it has already gotten almost constant spins since I got it. Look forward to catching these guys live.

Gehenna: " Unravel"

I first heard mention of these guys in an interview with Tool's Adam Jones, where he was mentioning bands that inspired him. Needless to say this black metal band out of  Norway is a lot more burly than the radio prog Tool use to pump out. Though I think there is also a sludge band out of New York who used the name so her might have been referring to them, but their is a sonic dissonance to what these guys do that i can see him appreciating as well .  Without a doubt these guys are  cut from a similar cloth as old Darkthrone, but where Fenriz's project veered into a more rock , punk or NWOBHM direction depending on what era you are listening to these guys stayed the left hand path.

Main man Sanrabb has also been a live member of both Mayhem and Satyricon. His harsh vocal are dry and coarse but very fitting with the oppressive nature of the droning grind these guys favor over blast beats on this one. But this album is so dark and wrenching I don't foresee anyone complaining about them not being cvlt enough. From the opening the album throbs and pulses rather than trying to gallop over you through the  moon lit snow. As it pounds into "Nothing Deserves Worship" that hateful lumber of the album has pretty much set the course. The chords ring out rather than rely on the tremolo picked conventions of the genre, if we are in fact going to say this is black metal, and I don't really hear any reason for it not to be called that, as the riffs have the same soul rotten ugliness of the genre classics. The pace does begin to pick up into the more familiar ambiance of the mcnasties that get blasted out and again in the last minute slowing back into the obsidian murk.

When they do resort to the old ways of speed, I don't see this as being their creative strong suit. It becomes the problem of being too in the face of it being done before.  They do reach a level of white noise that brushes against your ears until locking into a thrashier riff. "Grave Thoughts" digs up the middle ground between doom and black metal.It is full of dark clouds that roll in with the ominous nature of the chords that ring out. The drums could stand to have gotten a little more love in the mix as the album is a wall of dirty guitar and scathing vocals. There are some interesting punches that seem to might not have been a fully realized in the studio as the drums are forced back into the mix. On  Nine Circles of Torture"   the vocals still in the same register but using different syncopation. I like the sonic drive of this where it is as heavy sonically as it is heavy in the metal sense when the beat straightens out into more of a galloping swing

"Lead to the Pyre" gets into blasting darkness that forms the classic drone of old Darkthrone. The vocals at this point in the album begin to make me think they need some variance.Where this song succeeds is in capturing the black ambiance amid the speed and dropping down into a commanding pound. "End Ritual" picks up the paces and carries on the drone established in the previous song but so much so I had to look up to notice it was a new song. TH chords at the end where it slows down are pretty sinister.

After a creepy intro ,  They wrap the album album with a blaze in the northern sky on "Death Enters" it takes a more doomed out plodding but the guitar have an interesting sense of dark sonics to them. I like the feel of this album and I think it will grow on me so I'll go ahead an round it up to an 8. I think for the style of raw old school black metal these guys embrace it shows growth in the songwriting.    

Ihsahn : "Das Seelenbrechen"

Having heard the former Emperor main-man ( or is that former since they are re-uniting next summer) wanted to break away from his other solo work and go in a more improvisational and experimental direction, made me afraid it would be something like a cross between John Zorn and the last Ulver album. Fortunately, while there are noisy experimental sections, it is pretty orchestrated and well written, even more grandiose and progressive in some songs like "Regen" which starts off with a piano part where the vocal glide over them not unlike Opeth and it builds into a heavier more Emperor like crescendo.

The opener  reminds me of "Red" era King Crimson mixed with "Prometheus " Emperor. It's majestic in it's syncopation and a powerful way to get things started, calming my fears that is album would be ambient noise...though that will come.

Ihsahn has been tremendously underrated, I think songs like "NaCi" show is capable of pulling off prog more stunning and interesting than anything Porcupine Tree or Dream Theater is doing these days, with chops to match either band. The Zeppelin like syncopation gives way to melodies even more soaring than his previous solo albums.

There is an electronica feel to "Pulse" that's not too far removed from some of the dabbling Porcupine Tree has done in that area as well. It's not Nine Inch Nails or Massive Attack, by any means , though more in common with the latter. The smooth melody is well written and this might be almost to close to mainstream sounding for the Emperor fans who found his earlier work to almost too un-kvlt enough to stomach.

The looser more noise based excursions begin on " Tacit 2" which is a pretty abrasive swirl of rolling drums that he screams over. The drums never develop into a beat of any kind and leave you waiting for the other shoe to drop. It is like an intro to a song that never happens. "Tacit" is straight forward...for Ihsahn's solo work as it a balance of melody and dissonance. The middle section rings out with ambiance before building into the sort of majestic metal he is known for.

"Rec" floats in before building into Devin Towensend like prog, while "M" isn't an anchored in it's ambiance until a very Pink Floyd like guitar solo kicks in.This is some of the album's best guitar work and is tasteful in showing it's chops. I can see where the more abstract approach is taken, "Sub Alter" is allowed to take form of a feeling more than a song when the vocals begin to haunt the guitars.This is enough to draw you in. "See" closes the album with industrial noise that is more of an extended outro rather than a song unto it's self. I will give this album a 9.5 as the experimental interluded aside which won't make it onto my iPod, the other material holds up well with his legacy and makes for a moodier but no less intriguing listen,      




9.5

Inquisition : Obscure Verses For the Multiverse

Black metal seems to be at an odd cross roads as each album which comes out by the masters of the genre seem to be evolving further from the elements that have traditionally defined the genre. The new album by Inquisition is not different , sure it is dark and dissonant, but the speed factor has been slightly dialed back   and the emphasis is on the groove of the chords these guys seem to drag up from murky corners of the underworld. The result is often beautiful. The croak of the vocals remains intact as the guitar does all the singing. The dense ambiance of Dagon's guitar tone continues to open portals of chaos.

From the onset of "Force of the Floating Tomb" you can hear a difference in the quality of production. The biggest difference is that the vocals are no longer left dry. The guitars are crisper but retain the pain. The blast beat comes across as only an accent here, which gives it more effect when it comes in, the Double bass of  Incubus continues to hint his death metal influence.  The melodic edge picks up on the riff to "Darkness Flows Towards Unseen Horizons", the blast switch is flicked for a moment in the verses, before the more melodic playing which has numerous subtle fills and bits of flash to color it.   I do miss the samples that lead into the songs as it created an evil horror movie feel. This album does sound bigger. The solos are pretty impressive and something I am glad to see making a come back in the genre.

The title track has an almost Slayer feel to it. The groove possesses  more swing to it alternating between their infamous ambient chords that  ring out for moments before another assault .  Their is much more attention to detail in the interplay between the guitar and drums which fit into one another like puzzle pieces. leaving no fill hanging out as excess. There's some impressive panning on " Spiritual Plasma Evocation" the riff hammers itself into place, while working on a similar dynamic of allowing the more melodic chords room to breathe. The drumming finds itself stealing the show more on this album for sure.

The straight forward pummel of " Master of the Cosmological Black" at times is almost thrash and then at other death metal, but still sinister enough to fall under the black metal banner in fact some of the dissonance in  the melodic chords here remind me of newer Blut Aus Nord . "Joined by Dark Matter Repelled By Dark Energy" has one of the bands most melodic riffs , that is counterbalanced by bursts of speed. They toy with guitar effects on this one and Dagon breaks from his normal croak to go into a lower death metal growl for a phrase here and there.

"Arrival of Eons After" follow the epic formula these song seem to be taking , though it relies on speed more than some of the others . With the fine tooth comb they have gone over these songs with , this makes it feel like filler until the break down at the two minute mark. "Inversion of  Ethereal White Stars" makes up for any aftertaste of filler the previous song might have left as it is air tight. The verse riff is really catchy, which might make the more morbid cringe from behind their corpse paint , but it's so well written its hard to fault these guys for it. The riff after what seems to be the chorus rings out in a way that is almost rock n roll, with out this taking on the punk element of what gets labeled as black n roll. It might be the best song on the album.



"Infinite Interstellar Genocide" picks up the pace into the blast mcnastiness, that in the context of some of the creative writing that appears earlier in the album almost feels like a cop out. The guitar tone here has a weird rubbery density to it . In this song the comparisons to Immortal rise up from their icy grave, where some of the albums earlier songs had buried them.  The album closes with "Where Darkness is Lord and Death" that starts off in the familiar minor key churn, thats become their signature sound here.I like when this is combine with faster underneath to give a greater sense of movement.  I'll give this album  a 9 as it isn't as dark as some of their other work, there is still a great deal of growth even though some of the songs take on a very particular formula at times, which keeps it from being perfect, however I feel these changes in things like tone will continue to grow on me with time.

In Solitude : "Sister"

The Swedish band makes a very tasteful evolution with their new album.  They have out grown the Merciful Fate comparisons even only a few ghosts of  the influence haunting the riffs or  mournful wail of their singer Pelle. The album is darker but also more organic sounding , with less of the dual Iron Maiden harmony guitar parts that gave their first two albums a NWOBHM vibe. It's safe to say this is a much more accurate depiction of what the band is about live, as they were much more explosive, with a more primal punk energy.

The album's strength is they still held onto the elements of their sound which made the first two albums work and expanded the dynamic range of what they do. The spectrum of guitar sounds have broadened, there's  more warmth to the guitar sound, rather than just sticking to the classic metal chug the earlier work took on. This does steer the band towards the whole "occult rock" sound or even " vest metal" but without staring back to pay as much homage to the past, though there is more Sabbath influence on this album than Maiden or Fate, but also post- punk vibe like Feilds of the Nephilim , but not as deep in the bat-cave.  In some ways the vest metal elements seems like the Devils' Blood rubbed off on them a bit while they were on tour.

The acoustic guitar of "He Comes" is the first sign this album is going to be a much different ride. This comes across more like an intro than a song, even though there are low mixed vocals moaning in the background. The album kicks off proper with "Death Knows Where" .  The guitars still have a chug to them, and the compositions have sharp transitions like old Maiden, but the over all vibe is much different. A casual first listen might even fool you into thinking this album is more straight forward. While there is much more of a rock n roll feel here, the attention to detail in the song writing remains one of the bands strength's.

The more dramatic stylistic shift for the band can be heard on " A Buried Sun". Here Pelle's vocal approach takes on both more grit and darkness, showing more of a Birthday Party are  Nick Cave swagger or even Carl McCoy. The bass line slithers coolly underneath the dire like guitar riffs. This song isn't the only goth leaning the album takes and it is a welcome development from my perspective as music can never be too dark for my taste.

"Pallid Hands " bears more resemblance to the previous album than most of the other offerings. It packs an ample , and drives forward with the more Merciful Fate chug.  The very epic soar to the chorus also reawakens comparisons to the elder age of metal.  The guitars have more attack here than they have had on the first two songs and continues to build momentum as the song progresses.

"Lavender"  has a more Blue Oyster Cult feel to the way it kicks in. Pelle's voice has a harder percussive delivery to it. The bass player has really stepped up his playing on this album, it allows the guitars more room to experiment with different textures. The title track has more swing to its groove than anything we have heard the band touch on before. It is still metal and driving. When the guitars drop a little lower the groove takes on almost a disco feel like Kiss's "I Was Made For Loving You".

"Horses in the Ground" goes back to the bands more classic metal roots ,with the King Diamond like mid-range moan soaring over the gallop. The influence Devil's Blood might have had on the band while touring with them appears here as well on the b-section.The guitar solos cut loose more which reminds me of Devil's Blood rock god pyrotechnics when it comes to the solos. The close "In Most Nigredo" floats in with a bluesy seventies prog like guitar line that leads into a doomy stomp. The stock metal chugs act more like glue to punch the arrangements together, an is a good example of how the band has really grown as songwriters. This album has already earned repeated listens, the more organic nature seems like a natural process of growth from this young band who have succeed in not painting themselves in the corner as being a wink to retro metal and continued to grow into their own, so this album get's a 10 as it's both a fun and powerful listen.    

Gwar: Battle Maximus

Let me start this off by saying I'm a long time Gwar fan . By long time I mean Hell-o had just come out, so 1988. I have seen Gwar more times than I can remember , because most of those highschool era shows I was tripping so hard I once thought Oderus was Steven Tyler. This is the first album for Cannibas Corpse guitarist to debut as a new character Pustulus Maximus and also features a new bass player Jamison Land taking on the mantle of Beefcake the Mighty, which is a little weird in my book, as it takes them into the realm of Kiss who slaps the Ace and Peter make up on just anyone these days, so Gwar is more of a brand and less of a band so it's surprising this new album is better than it has any business being. If I Mike , as Balsac even though he didn't play on the first album he will count as an original member for practical purposes, and even then this album only has two original members, though Roberts played on Scumdogs, so I'm sure most of their fans at this point never heard of Nippleus Erectus .

The opener isn't Gwar's strongest moment and pretty much sums up many of the reasons I fell out of touch with Gwar in the first place as it is the sort of fast thrash riff that seems to appeal more to punk rock kids. After Salamanizer from Scum Dogs it's been hard for Gwar to write a better opener and even with "Madness at the World's Core" it has grown on me but is symptomatic of Gwar of late that defaults to being run of the mill punk soaked thrash, rather than paying a close attention to groove and hooks that they once did.

Songs like "Bloodbath" and " Nothing Left Alive" have their moments but feed into the thought that Gwar is more about the show than their music, which was not always the case. With everything up to "This Toilet Earth" they could have showed up in their street clothes and rocked. The first song that stands up and makes you take notice of it " Raped at Birth" sure it takes over the top lyrics and shoves them sideways with little lubrication into your ears, but they are set to has tightly coiled  riffs to the stage for Oderus' foolishness and theatrics.

"I, Bonesnapper" is pretty decent considering Oderus gives the mic over to one of the supporting characters.  After the doomish intro to " Mr. Perfect" the thrash tinged verses give Oderus room for his insane blabbering. Though it's pretty ripping it is odd to me that the title track is an instrumental, so I'm guess it's a soundtrack for some sort of onstage carnage that prevents any one from singing. "The Triumph of the Pig Children" is the first song that comes close to having an actual vocal melody in it's verses, reminding us that Oderus can actually sing when he wants to. Because of this I'm a little more forgiving of the simple barked chorus. It gets even more melodic on "Falling" which reminds of the albums the Butt Hole Surfers made when they sold out to the radio in the 90's . It's pretty decent for what it is  and doesn't go for what at one point of the albums token power ballad.

The album closes with "Fly Now" which captures most of the classic Gwar sound , but doesn't really do anything new with like some of these songs bravely attempt to.  This isn't Scum Dogs by a long shot but for a band that is making albums to showcase their theatrics it works better than some of the less dynamic thrashing they have been up in the past decade. I'll give this an 8.5.

Sargeist: The Rebirth of a Cursed Existence

This Finnish band named after a Rotting Christ song was originally started s a side project by one of the members of Horna, but took on a life of its own. It also features members of Behexe,n and like the sum of its parts, they don't stray too far from the raw black metal sound. This is a compilation of all the songs that had been available only on cassette or vinyl, which have been remastered for this release, though it makes me wonder how bad the sound of the original recordings was, as these are still pretty fuzzy.

 Like most heavy bands, the attack of the first song gets by on merit of its heaviness alone. These guys stick to a certain sound and vary little from it. The tempo shows variance on the second song, "The Rebirth of a Cursed Existence. The raspy vocals sound like they are foaming at the mouth with every word they spew. Normally I don't review compilations but the band felt like these songs should all be released together and had not been previously released  on cd  , so I see it less of a greatest hit and more of the first proper release they are getting, even though some were written ten years apart.

While many while dismiss certain elements as well that's what you are getting into with Finnish Black Metal, I  think all scenes should be held to consistent standards in regards to the quality of music they release. "Wrath Messiah" benefits from when they drop out of the the typical blasty mcnasties. Though they do tend to let fairly simplistic riffs drone on. Song to song this sort of thing does breed a certain redundancy. "Crimson Wine" takes on a darker tone to vary the feel slightly and almost sounds like a Slayer song in doing so.

Some of their more straightforward numbers take on a more punk feel like "Vorax Obscurum". These come across more as filler as even with straight up punk I don't like it to be this rudimentary, though fans of d-beat might appreciate. The old school blasting of "Unholy Black Happiness"  is not much more complex or dynamic than the punk influenced songs. The cvlt Darkthrone feel of "the Covenant Rite" has much needed ambiance to switch things up. The song writing is pretty basic two part progressions; they use the raw scornful nature of what they do carry most of the momentum. "Dead Raven's Memory" sounds like a continuation of the previous, which is funny considering this is a compilation. There is a guitar melody that picks up the slack midway through. The guitars show they are capable of creating interesting melodies on "Dark Embrace" but it's that they are just unwilling to compromise any measure of savagery to do so.

They do darken things down with "the Crown of Burning Stars," so when the build comes at the two-minute mark, there is more of a dynamic leap. The problem of many blast-dominant black metal bands is that they lose their effectiveness when they make you numb to the beating. "The Moon Growing Colder" is an example of this is action. There is an epic cascade to the assault, but without a dynamic to play against it's comes across as a monochrome painting. Closing with "Nightmare and Necromancy" follows this pattern, even though it does have a slight variation of a gallop to it. I'll give this album a 6.5 as it gives a little too much of the same, though they often capture a mean sweep to the feel, that is no doubt authentic, there are plenty of bands in my ipod that can do that and better.          

Katatonia : " Dethroned & Uncrowned"

So the gloomy Swedes decided to take another stab at their last album " Dead End Kings" .  That album has grown on me, but an acoustic reconstruction of isn't much of a stretch. It works better than suspected on "the Parting" . The more organic reconsiderations given hear, allow the vocals to breathe more and the guitars open up their melodies. Things like strings and horns that haunt outside of the layers of harmony vocal are rather romantic. The use of effects on some of the wandering vocals compensate for the lack of distortion. Jonas' vocals sound  stronger here than the original version.

"The One You Are Looking For" sits more exposed in it's nakedness. The duet is more fully entangled when their voice enmesh. The instrumentation is  little too barren leaving to much in the first half of the song up to the strings. The darkness that had been whited out into a faint gray feeling on the last album has been further illuminated. The guitars take a greater role in "Hypnone", but everything else falls away. The vocal layers are interesting when everything else is peeled away from them. Jonas' melody line in the verse finds itself a little less compelling in this lighting. A little distortion creep in on the solo, dispelling this as purely an acoustic version.

Keyboards take over this version of " the Racing Heart' until the delicate guitar unfolds around, once it creeps into the meat of the song it moves nicely. The drum pattern is much softer of course and feels like a trip hop remix. It relies on the vocal layers to build the intensity. The Piano's also take over the beginning of "Buildings" but I was surprised at how well it all came back together for the chorus. It comes no where near the dynamic effect of the original. The guitarists get a chance show off their chops a little more in this version.

Songs like "Leech" seem like they need more form to function and when left at the mercy of string patches don't hold together as well. To his credit Jonas' voice sounds great up on the mic  and it's clear phrasing is on of his strengths as a singer.  He never belts when the music gets heavier so hear  in this setting its more natural. "Ambitions" comes across like something from Opeth's "Damnation" album which took a similar approach. The cleaner guitar tone giving way to the more rock solos like Pink Floyd.

In many ways this is closer to what Anathema does on a regular basis these days. The strings give the songs a slightly more gothic sound and the harder strum of guitar is used to help build choruses on songs like " Undo You". The lack of percussive elements being the main draw back on the more symphonic and barren redirections. The piano parts don't provide enough of an anchor to justify this as they do for someone like Tori Amos.

"Lethean" shows where this works better than in other cases as the tension remains intact even with the breathing room. The line "We had plans but you couldn't make it" doesn't have the same meaning with out the punch of the original accompaniment. On  " First Prayer" where the drumming had been such a crucial part , the melodies and harmonies at least show that are capable of holding down the ship, as the programmed drums patter in the distance. Jonas voice sounds stronger here as he is not having to compete to sing over the crunch of distorted guitar.

The guitars work more intricately around " Dead Letters" and give it a much more Pink Floyd sound, but it floats like a cloud with little to root the song to the earth where its roots are.  The melody by the end of the song has to work that much harder to keep by ears engaged. When it works it's pretty chilling at times at others it drifts like a ghost in the back ground trying to get your attention but unable to connect to solid life so I'll give this album a 8 out of 10 as it's very much contingent on if I just want back ground music for ambiance, despite the melodies which hooked me into the first album still holding much of the same gravity.


Katatonia - The One You Are Looking For is Not Here (lyric video) (from Dethroned & Uncrowned) from Kscope on Vimeo.

Up From the UnderGround: MiXE1 "Lights Out"

The last sexual revolution happened on line , Myspace took internet sleaze to a next level on your front door step and what became known as social media got real social like ladies night and amateur night at the local strip  club rolled into one, bands acquired scores of groupies these guys would have ruled in the era and I feel bad for them that they missed that window of opportunity

When I put this album on I made it a point not to google them so they would remain as sight unseen. It doesn't take but hearing this guy singing a few notes to know he does not have a beard and weighs under 170lbs, in fact that might be the combined weight of the rhythm section. Granted, when I finally saw them the singer was the only goth nancy of the bunch and the rest were just blokes in black. So you don't have to dress up like Motionless in White to do this sort of thing, though if these guys were younger ,  tattooed waifs with stock in Hot Topic they would have already been on the cover of Outburn Magazine.

Sure they are electronic , but not industrial it is devoid of rough hewn , machine like grind to this album. They have more in common with Paramore than Ministry . On songs like "Find You" there is more than 30 seconds of martian brooding.

The interplay on the verses have the feel of a more solemn Linkin Park , the few growls accenting a change here and there are not convincing, as the other wise androgynous vocals make Brain from Placebo seem like he is butching it up.

Where the loops on the first song were a little repetitious, then lend way to a more organic drum feel on  "Part of Me" the bass is beefed up and lets the whole song punch more and the girly man vocals take the passenger seat. Some of the hook could benefit from a little more push from the diaphragm. The effects on the harsher screamed vocals sell them better than they did on the first song.

The singer's  phrasing is rather Billy Corgan, but the falsettos reaches against the back drop of driving electro rock works well on the chorus. Through the hooks here not as in your face as this seems to be their more reflective moment. The vocals are well produced, the layers of sounds aren't cluttered, their bass could be boosted but it's a very crystal clear radio ready sound.

The heaviest moment is in the guitar riff to " This Time" it breaks down to leave room for the fey vocal on the verse.  If you told me this was the band My Vitriol from the 90's I would believe you as they Corgan ties sound that close, though they don't have the edge to their guitars that those guys did.  They song writing isn't shabby, though not blowing the doors off the Warp tour either.

The album closes with a remix of "Part of Me " and the original mix should have replaced its bass sounds with the thicker synth employed here. It brings up the baffling thing to me which is when the remix sounds better than the original version then why didn't they just make the re-mix the actual version and write the other off as the demo. The synth sound on the chorus builds is heavier than the guitar on this time. The effects on the vocals give them a little more bass and add meat to their bones. I think they should push for the more electronic sound of the remix and it would make the goth kids much happier in the clubs than for the band to ride the fence as a rock act.

Carcass: Surgical Steel

The newest incarnation of Carcass might not be the classic line up but it rocks even with the new kids on the block in Ben Ash of Pig Iron, Desolation, and Liquefied Skeleton on guitar and Daniel Wilding of Trigger the Bloodshed on drums. This Finds Steer and Walker as the only original members.

There is the intro 1985 before the brief in your face snarl of "Thrasher's Abattoir", the solo to which is almost as long as the rest of the song.

"Cadaver Pouch Conveyor System" has the high caliber guitar playing we have come to expect from post- Heart Work era. This is however with a meaner,faster  anger fueled steam powered chug than Heartwork. This comes at the risk of losing a little of the melody the Heartwork era riff-age held and sounds more like the bands they influenced.

The melody waits to surface in the slower "A Congealed Clot of Blood' here the guitar heroics also commence , but the immediate stand out to me that goes above and beyond is " the Master Butcher's Apron" the tight punches in the first first that proceed the groove really have some nasty teeth to them. The guitar harmonies on "Noncompliance..." are pretty dead on til we get to the blast beats that seem almost to fast for what these guys normally do.  The riff here is almost overly staccato, but the vocal layers make up for it as they remind me of "Discanting..."

"Granulating Dark Satanic Mills" has a meaty riff to it, but should we expect any less from these guys ? The rock n roll tendencies of " Keep on Rotting ..." are gone in place is very sharp riffing with less anthem oriented  vocals layers which isn't to say they are devoid of hook, just not as over the top.  "Unfit for Human Consumption"  tries to take us back to the Heart Work days, and this album will be brutal enough to cause most metal heads to over look the fact that even though this is heavier than Heartwork, the song writing isn't as strong. These riffs do hold up against younger bands, but are they really just a chug or two away from the last Amon Amarth?

The title track open ion a blur of toms , the guitars take a little more of a thrash feel to this than what is typically thought of as death metal and far too refined for grind core. In some ways it reminds me of Judas Priest riffs. They are relying on a lot speed to rush some of this past you. Most of this is really straight forward, so I am not sure this album really takes repeat listens to digest. The guitar solo often wind on allowing for multiple transitions to take place beneath them.

"Captive Bolt Pistol" finds the band in very familiar territory, almost too familiar so I'm not sure what My expectations were for this one , as I had forgotten this was coming out until I cam across it . They have a very hard catalog for them to add on to even when they brought in more rock element, which i think work better than when they try to really dial on the speed here. " Mount of Execution" starts things off in a much more different fashion, with clean guitar and very almost blues based riff that sounds like its from a WhiteSnake album. the riff that comes in and crushes at the two minute mark is pretty mouth watering and this might be the album strongest song despite their John Sykes moment at the onset.

Because this who this is the album is going to get a lot of praise, so they don't need me to co-sign something for them that I would have a hard time doing when I weight it against the older albums. I feel pretty good though about rounding it up and giving them a 7.5, so it's not going to make it to any top ten end of year lists, but it is a solid album that worth a listen, Carcas just has their legacy up against them to keep me from being wowed by this.        

Up From the Underground: Liquid Casing-" Seperate/Divide"

This Texas quartet whips up an interesting blend of  jazzy post-hardcore. With a  guitar tone  best served generously dipped in reverb.  The guitar playing is smart, driving  the songs but  spacious enough to allow things like sax to come and create a very David Lynchian soundtrack to long night of  drugged delusions in the desert.

Liquid Casing forsakes convention a kick out the jams, not in the Mc5 manner but as in a free flowing jam band, like on the song ''Alambrista". If you had to slap a more modern label on this I'm sure post- rock could apply as the guitar takes to those types of swell. The sax tends to sit where a guitar solo should.

The raspy vocals often feel too rock n roll for the spastic grooves dancing around them, even when things get heavier like on " Finger Tip Armada" , for these guys heavy is more of a matter of sonic intensity. The more hypnotic grooves summoned up on " The line which divides" shows their more satisfying darker side. The Saxophone layers melody over the restless water creating an excellent juxtaposition in dynamics. This type of focus seems to not retain the same solidity when the guitars are looking to work around the vocals , even in cases where they are less intrusive like the ten minute " For a Memory Erased".

Jazz influence abounds on this album, which make the progressive elements seem more natural, since progressive rock has always been more of a marriage between jazz and classical than having anything to do with rock when you think back to bands like King Crimson. Here like that era of prog, the rock element is more of a dynamic by-product.

There is a Pinback styled groove to "Non-Linear Solution" that creates a prevasive backdrop for the sax and lets the bass player show their chops. The album ebbs and flows into more introspective landscapes with "Check Points and Borders". The vocals here, are a much lower register version of where Mars Volta used to go, as they relax into more of a croon. After the keyboard crescendo of that song arises a more 70's prog boogie in "An End to a Means", the bassist has room here to take some liberties and turn fills into almost a solo but it is done in a tasteful manner .

The closing number "Riot Path" doesn't start off with the Moltov being slung like it's name suggests, instead with a drugged sway, that lulls you into the reverb injected guitars. I think my favorite vocal melody on the album lies on this song , and makes me wish this sort of thing had been employed more through out the album.

 If you are looking for organic sax fueled prog , this is your ticket. I'll give it an 8 out of 10, excellent just wish the vocals had figured out where they wanted to go before the last couple of songsm but would expect this band to hit big on the festivals stages,

The Bellicose Minds: The Spine

The Portland band is one of the front runner in the "death-rock" revival . Their full length the "The Spine" is an impressive slab of dark punk.It opens with "Lessons" that blends a punk aggressiveness with an early cure feel. The vocals are more punk in their intonation and delivery than Robert Smith, much closer to being horror punk than death rock but I think it gives the band a unique edge. The Bass does drive the songs leaving the guitar to cut creepy sonic swathes over the music.

The title track is a sardonic social commentary, the guitar off sets the pound of the bass. The album sounds pretty great for a genre that is typically under produced , my only complaint is the drums are low in the mix making wonder if its a drum machine, because the straightforward disco patterns add to my suspicions in this area. The guitar sound is dead on, and really up front and in your face, pushing its way to the forefront even over the vocals.

In most cases I advise against naming a song after your band name, but it seems to work here. This song also begins to show hints of metal in some of the punches. The lyrics are  despondent but not in the way  goth is often thought of. The song writing on the album is stronger than that of most of their peers.

"Call to Graves" is almost to close to more traditional pun than I prefer, I think playing into this tendency forces them to dummy it down and loses some of the melody that should be injected into the chorus. "The Observer" has a similar feel, where the vocals take on more of a shout, but the guitars swoop in and say the day in this one , a solo even fires out of the darkness.

They turn to more of a goth sound on "Engulfed" that has a wonderfully bleak guitar riff and slinking bass that weaves around it. This sort of post-punk flavor remains on "Visions of Pain" with a Cure vibe draped heavy over it, it is lifted from the more abrasive Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss me and Pornography era Cure, so not the same delay drenched take on those influences. This might even be the albums strongest moment.

An almost more Joy Division element emerges on "Banished Alone" it takes a long winding road into the song, and the vocals are spat in short accented bursts closer to punk than the sort of poetry Ian Curtis once narrated.

I like the militantly anti-religious lyrics to "Bloody Hands" which lets the rallying cry simmer for a moment on the chorus as the death sentence is called out. On the majority of the album the bass tone really stands out and is given more of a spot light on "Destruct, the vocal line here is rather simple and this isn't the album best moment but even their filler is better than most. The Joy Division can be heard more in the bass playing than any where else. the album closes with " In Greed" that combines most of the effective formula, being powerful and confrontational without letting go to the chilling atmosphere, I'll go ahead on the faith that this album will continue to grow on me and give it a 9, a must if you are already a fan of the goth revival.

Peste Noire : S/T

The album opens with a four minute instrumental intro, which for the sake of rating this album I'm not going to count as a separate song. "Demonarque" is a long sinewy epic than runs the dynamic gambit much like their previous album, though this album is much rougher around the edges.  They occupy a similar place as older Sigh here, but with a wilder abandon. The dissonance in the guitar sounds like Burzum, but their is also a gypsy feel . In the last four minutes there are drunken choral sections and liberal use of acoustic guitar.

 "Le Beche Et L'Epee" barrels into a blasty intro  before it simmers down into something more like depressive black metal written fora spaghetti western. The raw quality of this album in some ways feels like a step backward for the band. After a few listens it somewhat grows on me as it contributes to the ambiance. They do hit some big moments of sound one being in first minute of this song, but the roughly produced layers of vocals sit abrasively atop it. They guitar work on this album is greatly improved there is much more computational detail in the more picked out chords. The drumming has improved as well on some of the double bass builds, though the playing through out is never typical metal.

"Niquez Vos Villes" has an unexpected  rock groove to it, the vocals are like Attila from Mayhem , in the sense he bellows and howls in every direction. They are  not harsh enough to be considered screaming but not comprised of actual note either. Midway into the song there is particularly heavy riff, the chug build gradually through out the song until it almost becomes a death metal like movement. Horns blare over the churn when it kicks in.

"Le Clebs Noir" the first  two minutes of this song they are winding up out of a murky disjointed congealing of guitars . There is a section toward the end of this one where it builds into what is more typically black metal.

This album doesn't take the Mr Bungle winding road their last did yet there are still weird blends of melodic embellishments on " Ode" a song that is largely acoustic based. This album might be stranger because on the last the herky jerky nature of the trips it took you on you knew that you didn't know what to expect but on this one the songs are more structured in the traditional sense but they have been put together with really weird ingredients.

Some of the riff take on a more rock n roll feel and this album has a lot more groove, particularly moments like "La Blonde" which reminds me more of Shining in the vocal wretchedness. The female vocals that surface here are sexy but have that awkward feel like the female vocals in Celtic Frost's " Cherry Orchards". I can hear other hints at Celtic Frost influence in the unorthodox way the song writing is approached, more so than any traditional black metal.

The album closes with "Moins Trente" and while I do miss the sleazy feeling that coated their last album, it has been replaced by a strange desert like emptiness which is what brings to mind a more depressive vibe. This song almost opens with a doomy feel  that is fleshed out by a string section. The song picks up speed in the final three minutes.

I'll give this album a 9, the songs are well written and conceptualized  but the rough production is a lateral move from a band who raised the bar for themselves on the last one and while I can understand not wanting to keep up that sort of spastic intensity and favoring ambiance, I think there are a few moments on this album that settle for just being good rather than always mindlbowing.

Lycus: "Tempest"

In the shape I have been in the past few days , I had lost all interest in music.When I  did try to listen to it I became annoyed , because I feel like I left My skin hanging up in the bathroom. After I did the weekly shuffle column, I found a few things tolerable so decided to give this Lycus  album a shot . They are a  funeral doom  band  from Oakland California ,  formed back in 2008 , so have been crafting this for some time. The drummer used to be in Deafheaven and also plays in Temple of Saturn. Though aside from the occasional dissonance of a chord here and there the connection to Deafheaven is not apparent.

The songs... and there are only three are on the long side, the first "Coma Burn" is eleven minutes, it has the funeral doom sound I like h in the same ambient sonic scope as Loss and Mournful Congregation. There are clean moaning chants layered behind the low growl. The needed balance of melodic beauty and morbid dissonance is there filtered through a cathedral like decay. The guitar tone is organic like Pallbearer but there is even less Sabbath influence present, as every thing is held together in a more angular fashion that sets them apart from their peers in the genre. It doesn't take on a more conventional Metal sound until about for minutes into it and them it brings back memories of old My Dying Bride. This is what it sounds like when the abyss stares back at you.

"Engravings" has a slight bit more of a chug to it than the first one which drifted like a ship in the night. This is the shortest song on this album which would be an e.p but it clocks in the same running time as most albums. The pacing is so similar this almost feels like an extension of the first song, the melodic embellishment on the guitar lead lines the most marked difference and the punches come at different places, there are some almost black metal vocals that haunt the reverb drenched back end of the mix. Which has a big cathedral gloom to it  as sort of thing should have so this album sounds great.It captures the moment I have often noted where the line between funeral doom and depressing suicidal black metal becomes thinnest. There is a cool creepy post- whatever moment at the end, where the bass adds some distortion and cut through over the more lethargic airy guitars.

"Tempest" has a very beautiful brooding to its intro. At a very ambitious twenty minute running time it comprises half the album what you would expect more from a prog band though it is an increasing trend in metal these days. The chants precede the growls this time though both are layered once the song begins to find form from the ambiance. The drumming is pretty impressive there are some jazz chops frequently hinted at particularly as it circles the place the song drifts. At about the five minute mark it sounds like Celtic Frost in collision with King Crimson before a full on blasty mc nasty part rears its ugly horned skull. This doesn't dominate but a minute of the song leaving the vocals to take on a more black metal screech in its wake. In the songs final eight minute they hit a groove similar to bands like Pallbearer before they fall into an ambient void . This is more abrasive a change than the possessed contortion into black metal. This closes out the album and it adds to what could have been a more stream lined experience the drone element intended to hold the challenging element .

I'll give this one a 9 it hit the right spot this morning but holds a very unique sound that is not hit by other bands in this genre though the key elements to make it funeral doom are there , which is becoming a genre that rivals black metal in its willingness to experiment. If you are a fan of funeral doom this album is a must have and might be the best doom album of the year so far,

<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/P5dh56mahQs?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/P5dh56mahQs?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Black Sabbath; " 13"

We put the Masters of Reality up on a pedestal due to who they are but have forgotten their Hands of doom have been very human and very flawed in the past.   Unlike David Bowie , Sabbath’s body of work was pretty spotty after Sabotage , with Never Say Die and Technical Ecstasy  being downright silly but having a few good moments, the Dio years were strong and I think I wanted dehumanize to better than in fact it was , we won’t even get into How bad the album Forbidden was, then take into consideration how bad Ozzy’s solo work has been for over a decade Ozzmosis was really the last album worth a shit and the deck is stacked against them as far a my expectations, if you couple this with the lack luster single “God is Dead”.Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine is the drumming on this and it goes against his normal style but her adapts well, I would have chosen a more metal drummer but oh well…

 The Opener, which is the second single that premiered on CSi, which was a very metal choice for them, but thank Sharon for her dedication to besmirching the Sabbath Legacy.  It’s not a bad song, is it, color by numbers for them? Yes, and with Rick Rubin producing it, there is a very organic warmth to it, think somewhere between a Danzig album and the in-your-face dryness of Reign in Blood.  It sounds like a heavier solo Ozzy because of his worn-out vocals don’t have the bite they did on the original albums. I think the multi-tracked chorus effect production of his vocals on his solo albums does his voice more justice. But this song passes for what I will expect from a Sabbath reunion of sorts.

“God is Dead” gets another listen to me, and here’s hoping the media player I first heard it on was compressing the shit out of it, as they tend to do. The vocals sound better than I remember, so that helps, and I like what he is doing on the verses. The lyrics are reheated cliches I think Geezer should have overseen them more than Ozzy, the melodies are more solo Ozzy than Sabbath.

“Loner” has more of an arena rock swagger to it than I would think they would take , almost going back to No Rest For the Wicked  cock rock Ozzy if it was produced with a Queens of the Stoneage faux sludge. This would be good solo Ozzy and as I have predicted better than post-Born Again Sabbath, but not classic.  The solo is the most concerning aspect of this one because it sounds like Mick Mars not Iommi, who I have long considered to be one of the great under rate soloists.

“Zeitgeist” goes to quick to the Planet Caravan balladry for my tastes, but I the effects on Ozzy’s voice and Geezer showcases some very tasteful melodic playing on his part. Iommi does whip out a cool solo toward the end but overall it’s a little too “ Momma I’m Coming Home” for me. “ Age of Reason” once again reminds me of the one song I use to like off “Ozzmosis” but is not on par for Sabbath but isn’t shabby for an Ozzy solo album, which for practical purposes this is just with Butler and Iommi on the payroll. Which is how Sharon sees it I’m sure and IT would sell more in this day and age with the Sabbath brand rather than as a another solo Ozzy album which most metal fans as a reality tv buffoon who use to be in a really awesome band but tolerate like a crazy uncle.

“Live Forever” sounds like pretty generic metal riffs, that sure at one time they might have left their thumbprint on but it would put them in the same boat like band such as Motorhead who only rips themselves off. The same could be said for “Damaged Soul” but it does so with more conviction and the vocal production works better. Once again there’s too much of a wink at bands they have influenced , in this case Down or bluesier Pantera, with Iommi on  autopilot until it comes to letting it rip on the solos , however on auto pilot these guys are better than the bands they spawned. The vocals on the bridge also sound more like Sabbath and less like solo Ozzy, which is a plus in my book.  The closer “Dear Father” has a doomish creep to it and Ozzy’s voice is well aware of its limitations is shielded by suitable production. Is this going to win over any new fans? I doubt it , it doesn't exactly school the kids on the magnitude of influence the originators of metal have had but for old timers it hits enough of a sweet lead spot on the nostalgic heartstrings to satisfy the black masses, but really how many of these songs will they really try to put up against the classics live ?    I’ll give this an 8 as it’s more like a 7 as a Black Sabbath album but the best shit Ozzy has personally done in 15 years .   

The World is a Beautiful Place ... :" Whenever, If Ever"

One  of the things I  learned to today after drifting for hours in the rabbit hole that is music blogs is that emo and hardcore did not die with myspace but thrive on a underground of there and one of the most raved about bands in this circle of blogs is The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die... thats their  full name ,  back in the nineties I was a fan of Sunnyday Real Estate,  Hot Water Music, Mineral and the all the other spawn of Fugazi. These emo kids are even more hipster than the ones I grrew up with because theres already a huge fan base for a band whos debut album doesn't come out til June 18th .

The vocals teeter on being in key and are  more Modest Mouse than sunny day. They are the element that took the most gettting use to for me. As a whole the album is more heavily orchestrated than I imagined it would the riff in the last minute and a half is pretty cool, they do capture some more post rocky space exploration

The trumpet at the beginning of "Fightboat", is one of the touches that helps keeps their sound left of center the more hardcore backup vocals aren’t the strong suit , I thought this was going to be closer to screamo. I can hear where they might have grown up on a steady diet of Brand New. The female vocals smattered on the ending work for what they are going for. 

"Picture of a tree that doesn’t look okay", has a cello low in the mix and floating guitar lines slightly morose , no where near as dark as sunny day dips on how it feels to be something on they stay well away from dashboard confessional territory even in their more sentimental sections.Melodically the closest relation seemed to be the Get up kids in where the melodies want to go. I would say if you didn't listen to the first wave of emo then their influences are more obscure and they are going for their own sound and are not just a tribute to nineties indie rock. 

"You Will Never go to Space" tends to fall on more of the post-rock side of what they do. I like this side to the band as its darker and more cinematic than the optimistic take on emo. " The Layers of Skin we Drag Around" is more straight forward and has to be to the point as it's only a minute and a half long, so never really develops.

"Ultimate Steve" warms up from it's post-rock shimmer, into a slow steady upward climb, to the point of where the build is a long as the actual song which has almost a choral sing along feel as layers of vocals with a live  feel roll in before the song simmers back into atmosphere, they get credit for original arrangments here. I think the strongest melodies are on the song " the Gig Life" it starts off like a Bright Eyes b-side but when it reaches the chorus finds it's own place. 

"Low Light Assembly" sounds more like an idea of a song which could have been the part of one of their shorter songs, it has a post-rock piano opening and a pretty enough guitar part, the chorus of layered vocals has a more subdued sing along feel. It hovers around the one waking melody and feels like it needs to build from there and is incomplete on it's own two feet.          

"Getting Sodas" has a more apathy to it's pondering , the guitars go from crystalline into a synchopated punch the attempt at hard core vocals returns with the same effect, but the guitars go to some intresting places with their jerky punches. 

I think this will continue to grow on me and I have like it much more than I expected, with some of the incomplete thoughts in song writing and the inconsistant vocals which still try pretty hard at what they do but keep it from being a perfect album , though there are some really pretty guitars that compensate for them so I  will give this one a 9.     

<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/g9dDBNUFWcE?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/g9dDBNUFWcE?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>