Rigor Sardonicous : "Praeparet Bellum"

 

This is the New York based band's first album in a decade. They play a very slow style of funeral doom. While the deliberate nature of what they do is impressive with it's sluggish darkness, the challenge is how are they at writing songs. The first song gets my attention with oppressive nature of what they do but I might need more in terms of dynamics and sonic colors. I admire their commitment to darkness. The vocals go lower and lower in their gurgle as the album progresses like he is more depressed with each passing song. By the time we get to the third song, the monochrome crunch is beginning to wear on me so I will see how I endure these next four songs. 

Longtime readers know I am a huge fan of the funeral doom genre. Evoken, Mournful Congregation and Esoteric are all some of my favorite bands, along with others who have evolved from the genre like Pallbearer and Ahab whose album I also recently reviewed. However, those bands are all skilled songwriters which is where I stand, no matter the genre the songs matter. You can take your time with the distorted funeral march, but it has to go somewhere. By the fourth song they begin to stagnant. Their sound while sinister as it may be can only drag this corpse so far. The drum machine is not holding them back as much as the monochrome formula they riff from.  In fact, I am surprised how well the drum machine does hold up, not sure what that says about the average doom drummer of this sort. 

They close the album with "Unholy Sonnet 10" . The vocals remain at a monster gurgle. Nothing changes in that regard. This song is nine minutes.and while it takes doom bands longer to get where they are going at this pace, that means they have nine minutes to get to anywhere aside from where they started and based off the bulk of this album, I do not have a great deal of faith that this is going to happen. It is not until six minutes in that something happens. The drums drop out and they allow the guitars to linger on some chords. The build could give a more dynamic pay off than it does. I will give this album a 6.5, as it does one thing well, which is not always in the best interest of their songs.   

Death is June- Reeking Aura : "Blood and Bonemeal"

 

This band is comprised of long-time vets of the New York death metal scene, from bands like Artificial Brain and Buckshot Facelift. Normally I prefer the more deliberate pacing when it comes to metal rather than being lost in a blur of distortion, but the pace of the opening track works better than where they go on the second song. However, it seems as if they are trying to find the middle ground as they take things to more of an extreme speed wise on "See the Size of a Spider's Eye" as it seems a little rushed in its fury. 

There is never a hard and fast rule of what is going to work with these guys as when they lay back and lets thing groove more with "Harvesting the Hatchet" it works just fine. I do not think they have bad sound; they just need to rein it in to what is the most effective. It is weird how they are being marketed as more of a death doom band when gore grind and grind core are elements that I hear more of from them. The vocals are a low Cannibal Corpse gurgle that makes the lyrics impossible to make out. This approach also causes a more uniform sound across the board.  There is a cool riff they wind up on with "A Vegetative Mush..." but the rule around here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make. 

"Pyramid Shaped Plow" typically goes for brutality more often than not. but finds them in some grimy groove here and there balancing out the sonic range of the song. The second part of the song which must be "the Caretaker" half works off clean guitars. A guitar solo is pretty much the center piece, and it might have been more interesting if this was what they broke into at the middle of the song rather than just being tagged on at the end. They are cool sounds to create, but how much good is it if it is an idea, you cannot organically work into the song? The last song "Grublust" finds the passing between the two dynamics, fast and slower grind. It is ok, but nothing new. I will give this album an 8, as they are doing it well for what they are going for. Sure, some fine tuning in the song writing department, but if you want just heavy fucking death metal that is brutal, this is done with more interesting dynamics in place than what most bands do these days.   It drops July 28th on Profound Lore. 

Sound VVitch : "Becoming"

After reviewing a bunch of metal so needed to switch it up. This project is based out of New York. It is an interesting blend of dark wave and industrial, though not neatly falling into either sub genre. It is too heavy for dark wave and works of slow slithering pounds rather than a neat dance floor ready groove. It does have a the siren like soprano that  casts an ethereal shroud over the song not unlike Switch Blade Symphony or even early Cocteau Twins. The industrial thump is more militant and machine driven than the more commercial Nine Inch Nails clones. I always stand by the fact that if some thing is dark enough it can be heavy without being metal . The first song on this ep proves that. There are metal elements to the album that crop up later on , but I would not that say this is a metal artist. There is a delightfully narcotic drone to the song that lulls you into it's hypnosis.

There is a more abrasive touch to "Covetous" . Though her vocal melodies start of more delicate. Then midway into the song she rips into tortured metal screams. They are still counter balanced by the lighter vocals and the effect is chilling. "Like Leather Like Flesh" has a similar pulse as the other songs with the nuances of the vocals helping to set it apart. It is also layered with sonics in more o a trippy swirl than the first two songs. However there is being to be a formula of song writing that is establishing more of a pattern here. The pattern does get broken when what sounds to be a violin is introduced into the mix. This adds another sonic color that gives a deeper sense of longing to the song and helps it stand out from the first three. The distorted bass rumbles under this .

The repetition of the vocal line on "Transformative Fire" gives the song more hook. There is a bigger more apocalyptic crunch underneath this one. The violin returns on this one to give a more sprawling sense of song color amid the stomp of the storming instrumentation .  "the Sun Will Rust Your Bones". This song finds her voice getting more breathing room to allow her to opening up and singing . The melody has more of a folky poppy undertone to it, but it doesn't drastically change the mood just offers more range . I will round this up to a 10. I want more than just these six songs, so I guess I am going to be checking out their earlier work. It is a good sign when an artist makes you want more rather than wears out their welcome. If you are into the darkwave or industrial strains of gothic music this album is a must.

All You Know is Hell : "Gape"

The one man band thing is an odd animal. One that I have grown weary of. Though Joesph Merlini does have a band, he is a creative control freak as he also plays all the bass and drum parts in the studio. Whatever works. I am reluctant to call the New York trio sludge on the opening song as it sounds like Skinny Puppy jamming with Current 93. The second song finds more crunch. There are some harsher screamed vocals in places, but I think one of this album's strong suits is the range of vocal colors offered here. It keeps them from sounding like another Neurosis clone. Though the second song is heavier, I think I like the first one better as it doesn't just pound out the same pulse. So drone is not off the table here.

"Grool" begins to tell me what this album might have gone if they had been in the  studio as a band. I think the input and jamming the songs out more could have kept it from being dynamically flat and made the arrangements more interesting rather than just adding layers to the theme. Sonically this finds many of the same places that Wreck & Reference does. There is more of a groove to the drums of  "Blonde" , but they stay to the same throb rather than developing it into a song that tells more of a story. There is a more aggressive pounding to "Zoe" . The vocals are more punk yelled here. The vocals do drop into a lower grunt and the pounding switches up slightly. I think this lines up more with the hardcore influenced sludge bands like say Fister. "Wet" is a darker creepy atmospheric piece with whispered vocals. I say piece rather than song as it feel more like performance art than music.

The album end with a more violent pounding. The vocals are some where between shouted and spoken, exclaimed. It works off the one riff, so we are back to the one trick pony thing. They do attack the concept of sludge from many angles. I not sure which really hit the hard and fast definition, though the end of the last song builds up steam to be pretty convincing. The vocals reach there burliest growls.  I will give this album a 6.5. I think they captured some interesting sounds and I like the way the varied vocal styles sit on them, but from a song writing perspective it feels more like ideas than songs. .

Desert Roach : "Cholla"

When you throw words like industrial and death rock around it's easy for me to get my hopes up. I have been reviewing albums long enough to know better, but there is still that idealistic teenager in me who needs to listen the the older wiser and jaded version of me that has heard this all before. First off the mix on this album is odd. It's minimalist in some places and has a guitar tone that is wanting. It's a lesson why being a one man band might not always be the best idea. Wreck& Reference would be a good point of reference to wreck and illusions that this is soooo original.  The more screamed vocal could use some effects on it. There is a moodier version of indie rock that is not tense enough to be post punk no matter how much the vocals yell. If this had better production it might all work. Instead it sounds more like a demo than a album. Sonically there are some decent ideas sprinkled in, but if he had a different set of ears , then things like the more aggressive yelled vocal should have never left the gate.

The yelling works a little better despite the iffy mix on "Tennessee honey Queen" . The lyrics sound like they are left over from high school. "Mojave" would have worked better if he had a real band behind him. He keeps yelling about god, which is one of this albums themes. Even hearing "Six Six Six" which comes the closest so far to being death rock thanks to the bass, line it is hard to hear how some one could refer to this as death rock. "The Dirt" does have darker Joy Division feel to it, though still not death rock. By the time we get to "Alive" it's clear this album is showing signs of improvement. I guess I am getting used to the shitty production.It does begin to get darker, though this album is not however dark enough for me to brand it with the Gothtober seal of approval. The vocals are at their best on "Vacant Mind". I like the dreary drone of this one. Congrats that he wrote a song that is actually good here. He yells about cumming in someone's mouth on the last song which has a decent guitar part that floats in the back ground, the solo like guitar melody though is too far up in the mix so the results are odd. I'll give this one a 7 which is a lot fucking higher than expected. I had to round it down , because the production almost made it difficult to listen to in the first place. He did prove he cane write a song and there are some good ideas that could have been better realized with more hands on board.

Yellow Eyes : "Immersion Trench Reverie "

After seven years as a band, the forth album by the New York based based find them finally taking the time to write actual songs all the dynamic components I need from them to consider it so. They even pay attention to guitar melodies when reverting back into a more feral version of their older selves on the second song. Enough sonic dissonance to hang with the other hip black metal bands from New York. In sharpening their skills as song writers they have also learned that you can say what you need to say under ten minutes. Only one song reaches over the ten minute mark. The drums are going to be on point because this guy has also played with Fell Voices and Ashborer. He doesn't live off of blast beats alone and has a pretty mean double bass as well. How can he not if he is the go to metal drummer in New York?

Things get thankfully darker on "Shrillness In the Heated Grass". The vocals go up into a higher more scathing snarl. Everything has a horror movie like tension to it, which is how metal should feel. The guitar sounds on this album prove to take more chances and find from production stand point they did not just plug in and press record. In the murky throb of "Velvet on the Horns" there are deeper texture than the more sonic buzz saw they used to cut at you with. They revert to more of a fast and furious approach on this song. Though it has more breathing room in the riff, the title track picks up pretty much where the other song left off in terms of intensity and tempo. The stay in the same sort of static scream. The transitions riff wise can be somewhat jarring. It does speed up into more of a blur as the song progresses.

After a minute of sound effects the final song storms into place and goes on a another wrathful speed fest. Falling back into their old ways of songwriting after starting the album off with so much promise. The riffs to modulate some into some more experimental patterns melody wise, but the tempo holds steady at blast and drone and is not off set enough by what the guitar does. It doesn't slow down until the final three minutes so it was not the best use of the first seven. I will give this album an 8.5 as it is an improvement with some really strong songs starting off the album to balance things out.

White Suns : "Psychic Drift"

The sound of falling asleep on your synth so that it presses all the keys at once and sounds like a traffic jam is cool to hipsters. To me it's a red flag that these guys might be out to waste my time with some art school bull-shit. 7 minutes in and they have yet to cross over into something you could consider music.This could have condensed into 3 minutes of horrid noise rather than fourteen as it's not like they go anywhere with it any way. Some idiot who supported this one their Bandcamp page said the vocal performances are stellar as well. This is just spoken word how can that be a stellar vocal performance unless you fucking sing. Two minutes into the second buzz of noise they are trying to call a song and I being to wonder why did Flenser ever bother wasting their time with this.

On a "Year Without Summer" they practice plugging their instruments in to see if they can make static feedback sound. The so called stellar vocal performance does not turn into singing just yelling that you can hear from any drunk at a train station. So far this so called album has yet to produce any music. I think to be a band you have to make music. Which requires notes of some kind that hopefully form a melody, a song is a series of patterns that for melodies. So at the very basic core of what music is this is bull shit. Maybe performance, but go do it in an art gallery somewhere and don't bother with recording this shit. So this band and the term band is used rather loosely here, has the honor of scoring a 0 which is the first band to ever do that in the five or so years I have been doing this blog. If you like this I would for you to kill yourself as the world could used less idiots who think it's funny to have bad taste in music. Far beyond terrible, hopefully who ever made this gets AIDS and dies and that is the best thing I could wish for them, in fact AIDS is to noble a death extreme anal prolapse might be what best serves them.

Blood Sun Circle : " Distorted Forms"

This band from New York caught me by surprise as they are much darker than what you normally think of when it comes to noise rock. There is a rowdier spastic anger to the second song that finds them falling somewhere in-between the Jesus Lizard and Black Flag. They lock into bouncing chants. I can also hear a darker side that hints at a Nick Cave influence lurking here though not a pronounced as the first song. "the Golden Bones" is more angular to the point of making the song songwriting seem awkward until they transition int more of a groove.The manage to also find the play where they are sonically heavy. The tense pounding of "the Spook" is the first song that doesn't deliver the extent of it's promise. The melodic dissonance of " Eyeless Bliss" works pretty well almost to a Swans like proportion. Here the drone has more pay off in it's explosive release.

"Mercykill" picks up where the previous song left off though there is a more bouncing variation on the droning throb of a riff this song sinks it's teeth into . Unlike Swans these guys keep their drone within the confines of a more standard song time frame. There is less of a jamming experimentation. Some of the riffs have more exotic touches that bring to mind Wovenhand,especially on "Firebath" where the singer actually sings more than just hollering and scowling to varied degrees. "Learn to Love" also has more of the melodic qualities they dabbled with on previous song. The monstrous tone of the bass player continues to ground the more atmospheric jangle of the guitar. The vocals go into more of a chant at one point that sits nicely against the more chilling guitar passages.By the end of the songs the vocals have escalated into more of a howl.

There is a more weighty pound to the darker "Hideous Twin". I don't feel this song hooks me in as much though it could be that the further into the album we get I grow more accustomed to their sound so it becomes less of a novelty and needs more song writing to hold my attention. There is moment in this song where it clicks for me that in some ways these guys are likea heavier version of the Afghan Whigs. The guitar continue to pick out an eerie brooding melody on "Son of the Stars". The vocals are more of a whispered croon. Overall this album is pretty killer I will give it a 9 for now and see how it sits on me. I like the moods it captures and for noise rock doesn't just settle for ripping off the Amp Rep bands.

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Unearthly Trance : "Stalking the Ghost"

Yes, I will break away from Black Metal History Month to cover albums of note such as this one that finds the driving sludge of this New York band hitting me with renewed power. This is more aggressive than what I recall hearing from them previous to this. Two minutes in and it seems like they are in the same zip code as Tombs when it comes to having a healthy balance of brawn and beauty. They are not like many of their peers and simply content with nibbling on the nuts of Neurosis. The songs tend to run along the six to seven minute mark. "Dream State Arsenal" wallows in feed back for the first minute and a half so with the fat trimmed we are talking five minute songs. There is  more Melvins like stomp to this one. This one can really be heard in the howl of the vocals . The vocals become more pained for "Scythe" which makes me think more of Crowbar as they go doomier with the guitars as well.

"Famine" gives you a more aggressive pounding before backing off into a more atmospheric section that eventually takes on a more angular slink before the anger returns. This is the first song that really strikes me as taking a more conventional metal approach. "Lion Strength" is a weird one , in some way it reminds me of back when Mastodon used to be a metal band, then it does a werid loud to soft dynamic thing.  It some how all works. There is more of a death metal thing going on vocally when it comes to "Invisible Butchery". This one has a more doom tinged pound as it lingers.  This song does build in tempo but doesn't strike me as being as compelling as the others.

There is an increased aggression in the attack of "the Great Cauldron". The rasp is pretty mean, though the lyrics can still be made out through the throaty sneer. There is a oppressive hammering to the song as it slows, which is what you want from sludge to really bring it to a more doomy place.  I can see fans of doom digging this. The clean vocals return and kinda surprise me. The last song is more of an outro. I'll give this one a 9 and see how it grows on me as it's a lot of fun and might make the journey to my iPod

Uniform : " Wake In Fright"

I would call what this duo from New York does lo-fi electro punk rather than industrial as it is even rougher than what we heard from their first album. Without question the vocals are punk. Sure Al Jourgensen would tell you Ministry was way more influenced by punk than metal. Killing Joke might even back up this claim. But I am going by what I think is industrial, a genre I have been listening to 27 years now. The tortured sense of his lyrical ranting on "Habit" are a few degrees more convincing that this is industrial, but it is going to take more from this album as a whole to sell me on that. "the Lost" has a drone to it, but doesn't have the apocalyptic scope that industrial should. The synth line in the muddled background reminds me a little of old Depeche Mode. The song throbs in a more meaningful way, but doesn't feel all that dark to me or really go any where. The guitar sounds like it was all improvised.

The vocals at this point remind me of Rowdy Roddy Piper having a temper tantrum. They thrash full speed ahead on the rapid yet, sloppy "the Light At the End". They keep up the jack hammering for the first minute then hang around the noisy aftermath. This turns into more of a spoken word ranting.There is more metal to the riff that kicks off "the Killing of America" . Here the balance between metal and punk is well established. The programmed drums might not have the depth or density there organic counter parts do , but the keep things tense til the guitar solo. They keep this machine like raging going on "Bootlicker". It is a little one dimensional.

"Night of Fear" is much darker than the songs that came before it, I am reluctant to champion it as the rebirth of industrial. The first song called "the Light at the End" is titled as the caused. The second song called the effect. There is a female vocals creating a chilling and despondent narrative over the song. The a sample begins to dominate the song. In the end I'll give this one a 7.5, not terrible as the bleak mood it creates is worthwhile and a few of the songs latch onto the intensity of industrial. I think the punk ideology often roughs up the songs more than attitude alone could convince you is worthwhile song writing.  At the end of the day this could detect who among your friends is really a punk rocker trying to be hip by listening to industrial.          


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6

Slothrust : "Everyone Else"

Been a fan of this band since I stumbled across them on Noisey Vice. They are pretty much just rock n roll though there is indie rock and grunge in the mix. They fuse apathy into the punk  attitude that reminds me of  when  Sonic Youth was once punk. The first real song is "Like a Child Hiding Behind Your Tombstone". This weaves it's wave into some pretty impressive jazz chops. The vocals of Leah Wellbaum are sometimes plaintive and some times emotive. "Horseshoe Crab" which is the first song I heard from these kids is pretty powerful and touches on emo in it's honesty. There is more intensity to "Pseudo Culture" which is very interesting from a lyrical perspective and has some heavier punches to it. There is a more casual swagger to " the Last Time I Saw My Horse", which find them continuing to use some interesting jazz inflected guitar phrasing. They play more deliberately when this song builds up, but it never rocks out in doing so.

 A power trio every one is one their game and making sure everything fits just right. They do rock out in a more convincing yet angular fashion on "Mud". Lyrically the song is smart and the vocals like the instrumentation is very well placed. There is a slight jammy element to this song , but it works for what they are doing and is not over indulgent. At first going into the minute and half "Trial and Error" you think this is going to be an interlude, but instead it's thrown together in a more punk fashion. This one floats with a lazier feel and doesn't feel like it comes together as solidly as the other songs on this album.

They jangle to the point of touching on country on "Pigpen" which given the name of the song might not be by mistake, They are not trying hard to wow you here, but there is some very cool yet subtle moment on this one. I think this album is excellent, one song did't resonate with me on the same level as the rest of the album, but overall impressive enough for me to round this up tio a 9.5.

Sallow : " I: The Great Work"

This was released last year on their own, but I am going to review this album since it is getting a proper release from Sick Man Getting Sick Records. The band in question is Sallow, a black metal band from upstate New York finds the great mix of atmosphere to mix with their moody take on blasting American black metal. The vocals sit back into the wall of sonic fury that is their guitars. The first song "Naked in Moonlit Bliss, Drunk on Fire" is not only a great title but it is only eight and a half minutes long. These day that is fairly restrained when it comes to black metal. The song is colored by a few angular flourishes, but like the bulk of USBM, once it locks into the drone of tremolo it hangs on. At first they  avoid the typical blast beats on the second song  what what sounds like it could be a more romantic take on the genre until they relent and give into their urge to blast the beats. The song breaks down only to build up into a more feral frenzy. The way the screamed distorted in this recording is pretty impressive as they had to be screaming their god damn brains out.

"Nocturnal Reprieve" is almost too straight forward. The vocals here fall back into the guitars. There is yet another interlude of clean guitar, which I can't fault them for wanting to infuse more melody into this song, since that is what it needs, there just feels like it's leaning towards a formula. They speed for for a second into some of the fastest blast beats you have heard, though it doesn't do much for me when they get there. The album's best song is the last. "Der Winter Kalt" comes the closest to touching on depressive black metal. It's more of an emotive song and the dynamics are what helps to convey those emotions. This is also the album's longest song at ten minutes.


Overall these guys are pretty solid. I'll keep an ear out for them. I am not sure this really demands to be on my iPod as it stays the course once they lock into the blasty mcnasty. I think these guys are onto something sonically and this album shows lots of potential. If you are looking for some new Stateside black metal that feels pretty genuine, these guys are worth your time. I'll give this album an 8 since it showed me who they are put fell a little short of standing out as the most original thing in the genre, which is what I need as I already own Ashborer and Fell Voices albums .

Black Table : "Obelisk"

I am not sure I would clearly define this band from New York as being black metal. Blast beats do show up upon occasion, but are not the sole force propelling these songs, even when they are at their most raging. We have a dark hybrid of many styles meeting and none of them trying to be as cool as the other metal bands from New York work so hard at. Thanks to Billy Anderson this album sounds good. The production really complements the depth of their dynamics. They start off dark and dynamic then things get murkier going into "Helm" and I am a little less invested and unsure where one song is beginning and the other is ending. There are some decent melodic riffs that help provide a path for me to figure this out, but in some sense it seems like they are just jamming at this point. It almost feels more like sludge at this point that black metal. The guitar work going into "Shadow" reminds me of one to the calm before the storm lead in's that Metallic made famous and was later used by tons of thrash bands in the 90s.

At this point it time to address the tortured pig squeal to the vocals. Typically these are layered against a lower growl. I'll give this props as it is a different approach to vocals rather than the growls you have heard on hundreds of death metal albums. It might not be every one's taste, but I appreciate the inhuman quality it adds. The dark pulse of melody that makes this album unique continues to flow through "Gargantua". I would not say this is really a post -rock moment the band has but a crossroads where atmosphere and emotion meets the song in a very convincing manner.  They drop down into a more doom like simmer going into "Cromagnon". The vocals are whispered here and the song drips out of the corners of shadow to slowly congeal. Moving at a more deliberate pound like this the band finds new power in this more emotive assault. It also make when they do speed up into a blasty section more effective.

They build the tension while hammering you with a mean fucking riff on "Homo Ergaster". They back down and ride the bass riff. They get things a sonically heavy as it is heavy metal with a juciey coat of  darkness draping it , so all the basis are covered here. They also cover way more ground in one song than half of the bands who drag things out for fifteen droning minutes. I'll round this up to a 10 it's one of the more impressive metal releases I have heard recently.

Swans : "the Glowing Man"

This is the last album by this incarnation of the re-vamped Swans. It opens with a darker elegance and a get deal of sonic texture. Gira's croon is a little more refined and less like the rants of "To Be Kind". This comes a little closer to what I want from the band though I enjoyed the albums of this phase of the band, the only thing I haven't liked it the hipster hippie crowd that began to show up post- Bonnaroo thinking they were a jam band and Gira's perhaps unintentional indulgence of this. They ride the wave rather than riding the groove here, building into some punches at the end. They go into the sound of an orchestra tuning up on "Cloud of Unknowing". Twenty four minutes is asking a lot of a song. It takes the first four minutes for it to swell up into a sonic buzz. When the song begins to congeal it goes into the more droning jam we experienced on "the Seer". The vocal is more of a moaning chant, and while it creates a powerful atmosphere really forces you to consider what is or isn't a song, until the drumming begins to pound this chaos into form at the fifteen minute mark. Sonically it is really hard to argue against what they make happen here. It will prove to be more effective live than it is on this album, but then again I quit doing drugs and would have a different perspective if altered while listening to this.

Gira takes back what was stolen from him on "The World Looks Red the World Looks Black". Only fans of earlier Sonic Youth will be able to figure out what is going on in this regard and the arrangement has been drastically altered. It's slowed down and more organic. The original lyrics at still intact, but delivered in a way that makes more sense. I like the groove evolves into at the midway point. The call and response vocals only add to this. They can still play songs under ten minutes. The proof is "People Like Us" which is a sluggish dream of a crooned ballad. He voice has the baritone resonance of the the more goth like years I adore. Perhaps the lethargy of this song is ravages of age battering the inner passion Gira emotes with vocally. You are then tested with the twenty minute "Frankie M".  Feedback calls out like whale songs. It takes eight minutes before the actual song emerges for the ghostly noise. This song has been in their live rotation for some time and when you are hit with the kind of volume Swans wields live its very effective. I guess if it's  their last hurrah with this line up then it makes senses it would be committed to memory in the studio. I hope their is video of how this was captured in the studio, but it's not something I am going to listen to in the morning while walking to the gym. There is a kind of jammy quality to how the song progresses after the breakdown. It's not noodling jams, but I have seen first hand hippies respond to this in a positive manner.

They return to a more conventional song format with Gira's wife singing "When Will I Return". I like how this song builds up. It sounds like something Jarboe would have done. The title track is another mammoth 25 minute song. The intro to this more up tempo song only takes three minutes of build. Gira layers his vocals . One track of lower chanting, with his more declarative ranting style of improvised vocal sitting on top of this. Six minutes in things break back down into a simmer of ambient noise. It builds up into the kind of explosive pounding the band is known for. Their brand of heavy is a dense yet shimmering wall of sound. This ebbs back and forth until they hit a driving groove that I think I've heard them jam on before live. Gira's vocals have a touch of punk to them when he does come in. By punk here we talking about the Stooges or MC5. The bass and drums really get to shine. They more abrasive heaviness waits until the song's final three minutes to really unload on you.

The album comes to an end with "Finally Peace" which floats on the lazy flow of the melody the kind of accents post-rock bands influenced by Swans have gone on to emulate. I'll give this album a 9.5 with my only real complaint being the length of  the songs that touch the twenty minute mark, the song writing could have been more efficient  and still gotten the point across, allowing them to jam it out more live if they so choose.

Psychic Ills :"Inner Journey Out"

The New York band's fifth album finds them not just flirt with the "Madchester" sound they masturbate to it with the object of their desire being the Stone Roses.Ian Brown was an attractive guy so I can understand the man-crush. When they begin to inject a little country on the second song, it helps change things up and you can hear they are also into Jesus and the Mary Chain, and obviously Mazzy Star because Hope Sandoval sings on the following song "I Don't Mind". I might be more impressed with this album if I still smoked pot as it makes me want to lake a long summer's nap. Well produced as everything sounds great, the songs are typically so slow that it doesn't take much to execute them. The dream country drift of "I Don't Mind" finds the album beginning to improve. The album shimmers as it glides on cruise control like  with guitar tones that sound like if "Born On a Bayou" was recorded on powerful pain killers. This is what it sounds like to get too high to catch a groove.

While in many ways this is Brit-pop the lazy sunshine baked sound of the 60s radiates from the simmer of the melodies. The vocals tend to stay in the same register, more than a whisper, but not powerful enough to call a croon. I didn't hear the psychedelics until the interlude"New Mantra" brought a trippy ripple to the party. Harmonica is introduced as they take on more of a folk strum with "Coca -Cola Blues". At this point in time the pace has pretty much been set. Vocally it seems we have already heard the extent of what going to happen. There is a slight gospel tone to some of the backing vocals, but "Baby" stays at lazy jangle . This album is painted in similar shades of the same stoned sun-shine. In fact if that baby from Tele-tubbies got high I am sure this would be his favorite album. Though the song "Music In My Head" is about how he doesn't want to get out bed when he wakes up, and this song would put me to sleep as well so I can understand the plight. There is a cool guitar sound at the onset of "No Worry", but I can't really imagine it going any where, since the bulk of the songs stock close to whatever the established vibe is. Some electric guitar comes in, but that doesn't mean we are actually going to rock out.

The sad thing about this album is that when you get bored with a song, which is bound to happen, you can fast forward it along and find that you haven't missed anything.The ambien-laced jam leading into "Hazel Green" feels more kraut rock like. The guitar playing is cool enough, but is it cool enough to justify an instrumental? They go into a more indifferent brand of indie rock on the slow shuffle of "Confusion". The guitar on this song is cool enough, but the vocals aren't doing anything to really compliment it. However this is one of the best songs on the album. Things begin to float off into more of a hypnotic drone on "Ra Wah Wah". By the three minute mark it's clear when are lost in a space jam. It sounds really cool for the first four minutes then it becomes clear that it needed to go somewhere. That somewhere never comes.Unless somewhere is a atmospheric abyss. If I didn't already own Pink Floyd's "Obscured By Clouds " the more jammy moments might seem like some next level shit.I'll give this a 6.5 it's got some cool sounds, not the most original thing to come out but better than most indie krautrock as it add flavors of country among other genres to the mix.

The Repos : "Poser"

O.k after than Hatebreed review I promised to review some real hard core, these guys are about as legit as it gets as they have been around for 14 years. They are too punk for my personal tastes, but clearly good at what they do. The first song that catches my ear is the title track. It has a little more rock n roll to it and guitar solos coming out of its ears. Most importantly it stands on it's own two Converse as a song. Many of the songs just play it too safe and could use a hint of metal to them. The drummer earns his seat on "You Should Act Good To Me". While these guys are good at what they do, what they do is one thing. This causes all the songs to sound the same.Most of the song around the minute mark so it's not like there is much of a chance to really establish much. I like when punk bands start off with the rumble of bass like these guys do on "Gift Wrapped Pistol".

I'm sure every city has a band that sounds like this. The songs like "Hotel Caledonia" which are under 30 seconds should be thought of as interludes rather than songs. the first riff that crops up not sounding like the six previous songs is more metallic punch added to "No Plans". These moments are the exception to the rule. The gallop of "Wild Bore" finds this band showing that they could write a real song  if they felt like it. If you combined three of these minute songs, you might have an idea of what this band would sound like if they tried.

I'll give this album a 5.5, which makes the fake hardcore Hatebreed was playing almost seem like a better idea. If you are a regular reader of this blog then you know we have actually covered hardcore that finds a better than what the Repos just did. If we were to look at the Hatebreed album and this album I think we would see a cautionary tale of what happens at each polarity. Be it trying to hang too tightly to your scene cred so you have been around for 14 years and not allowed yourself to progress beyond what your were doing in high  school versus being a total Head Bangers Ball styled sell out.

Prong : " X No Absolutes"

Yep, Prong was playing this kind of groove metal at the same time  Pantera...came riding out as the Cowboys from hell, which served as a turning point for metal .  On the opener of the band's new album they are just playing along with their own bandwagon that is much further down a road whose time has come. Tommy Victor is the only member from the  "Beg to Differ" line-up. "Sense of Ease" doesn't really find the band playing to the strengths of their signature sound and instead racing off into the kind of thrash they turned the tables on in 1990. "Without Words" holds a tighter groove that comes closer to making you snap your fingers and your neck with a very Killing Joke influenced chorus. "Cut and Dry" lives up to its name in providing a description of the brand of groove metal they engage in on this one. Some of the difference between this album and what happened 26 years ago is the production. Mark Dodson who produced "State of Euphoria" and " How Will I Laugh Tomorrow", was a forward thinking producer at the time. Here the band has more of you typical mall metal production which is the equivalent of if "Beg to Differ" was produced by Alex Perialas instead.

The more tighter staccato chug of "No Absolutes" finds the band playing closer to their strengths despite the more obvious hook of the chorus. The rest of the band get the job done with former Winds of Plague drummer behind the kick and ex- Stone Sour bassist holding down the bottom end. They dip into almost pop punk on the more melodic "Do Nothing". Victor's voice has grown stronger over the years and he is not just limited to the bark. His singing voice gets the job done, his range is not jaw dropping as he carries a modest tune. They beef things back up for "Belief System" that finds the band back in more classic territory. The guitar solo in this one shows Victor's playing has also improved after serving as Danzig's side man. They get into more of a proto-Nu Metal on "Soul Sickness", but Victor gets the job done where bands like Fear Factory got bogged down in redundancy. Then in turn they fall prey to similar glue sniffing doldrums on " In Spite of Hinderances' which thrashes about with no clear sense of target for it's de-manufactured aggression.

The bass line that opens "Ice Runs Through My Veins" could have taken the song in more of a post-punk direction, instead in stomps around typical post- Head Banger's Ball rock music. The Killing Joke influence is still there , but run through a filter of Linkin Park. The pop punk undertones are still haunting the song as well to make this more obvious. Then it's back to the late 80's for the thrash riff of "Worth Pursuing" as Victor's vocals coast over it much like Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke. They close out the album with the almost poppy "With Dignity" that brings Linkin Park to mind again. The hip-hop undertone are not there, but the guitar feels a little dialed back to bring the vocals up to a more radio friendly mix. Not sure this is the wisest direction to move in making the lyrics a little ironic. Listening to this album did make me go back and listen to "Beg to Differ" again and I'm sure I'll also give "Prove You Wrong" another spin, maybe even try out "Cleansing " which is where I parted ways with the band as I was well into death metal at that point and they just did not seem heavy anymore. This album starts off strong, the Linkin Park moments are far and few between, but the fact they exist made me round this one down to an 8, which is still better than just decent and if you are a fan of 90's groove metal then you will want to round this up.

 

Krallice : "Hyperion"

Krallice tried to slip this one under the table, it's a three song ep and it's also the last chance I am giving the band. They haven't put out a stinker yet, but I feel they are trying to wow me more with their technical prowess more than they are trying to write songs, which is a waste of my time. The guitar tone on the title track that opens the album has than clean ringing black metal from Brooklyn sounds that older Liturgy also employs. That works for me and the vocal exchange varies a little in the range of raspy gasps.They drone on and throw a dizzying array of punches in. Of course all instruments are well played, though the drummer might be playing fast it doesn't sound like he is hitting that hard. Note to drummers if you are playing metal, how fast you are playing is a mute point if you don't hit hard. At around seven minutes they are not over doing things compositional sense, so in some ways that makes this better than their last one. Nothing I haven't heard from them before so it that sense it's not blowing me away either.


 Slightly more sonic ground is touched upon on "the Guilt of Time". The vocal roar is lower and more death metal like, but delivered with less pretense to give it a rawer black metal feel. The melodic section midway into the song does give it some atmosphere that this project could stand to put of the technical dazzle when making their song writing to-do list. So I am hearing some slight improvements and some times a few degrees of change makes all the difference in the world as this begins to remind me of what I liked about earlier Liturgy.This song also stays under the seven minute mark, so maybe they will inspire this trend in future Brooklyn based black metal bands. "Assuming Memory" is the third and final offering on this ep. It does hit the ten minute mark , but if that time is used wisely I will not hold it against them. I like how the drums come in, however mix wise they could use more balls.  Though it might be the pains of not hitting hard enough coming in. They come together in more typical black metal fashion.   They play this one more straight forward aside from a few flashy embellishments along the way. So do they get applause for playing it safe here when they can't seem to win for losing when they go overboard, so I suppose this restraint is an improvement.

So maybe they are overrated, maybe I'll except this and see where they go from here as I don't really feel like those three songs wasted my time. The fact certain elements were streamlined might be what I needed. I'm not particularly blown away even by the more impressive elements, however all together it works well, I'll round it down to an 8. There are some good ideas and they are doing this better than many American attempts to replicate this hip take on black metal. Perhaps if they build upon the discipline they adhered to here they will make an album as great at what people are giving them credit for.

Yellow Eyes : "Sick With Bloom"

This New York based black metal band now boasts the drummer from Fell Voices. They are not unlike Fell Voices and Ash Borer in the manner they bring a sonic burst to their blast beaten path. Vocally things are in a higher pitched choked screamed that is very black metal , it's really the guitar tone to this album that gives the their signature sound. They do not employ the typical metallic distortion, and opt for a more Liturgy like ringing. Overall their sound is rawer than Liturgy. The overall attack holds more in common with traditional black metal, where with Liturgy even that is something to be toyed with.  Their sound alone keeps me invested in the first song , but then comes the dreaded question many a extreme meta bands fears...what else can you do.

Blast beats start off "Streaming From the Undergrowth" leaving it on a similar trajectory as the opener. The tempo change is pretty color by numbers for this style of black metal making the dynamic shift only marginal. "What Filters Through the Copper Stain" is a few degrees darker. It helps that they don't rush off into blast beats. Not that this urge is resisted for long, but long enough to let you know this is a different song. The guitar has a slight shade of melody to it hidden in the din. They use clean guitar as an outro once the song is finished, but it would have proved more interesting to me if they could have down in as a working part of the song. "The Mangrove, the Preserver" kicks off with yet another blast. The blast beat is starting to become the element that gives them a monochrome sound. The screaming becomes something that is obligatory rather than something adding more than a static layer of  organic white noise to the song. They change beats and slow down and it does wonders for the song. This eventually flows into a more melodic passage that gives a more sweeping sensation. Once again cleaner atmospheric tones come in to transition out of the song rather than being employed in the song.

At this point it almost goes without saying that blast beats are going to start off "Fallen Snag". But at a minute in they transition out of this in a slowed more chilling section. They guitar doe some interesting things until a Krallice like flourish kicks things back into the maelstrom again. There is more of the post-rock waver in the tone to the guitar of " Ice In the Spring". The feral howl of the vocals seems more distant, over the expected blast beats. There are some slight deviations that veer from the blast beat, but keep the tempo brisk. Some melodic atmosphere is dipped into and tries to shine through the wall of white noise being droned on. Then everything fades down to leave the final two minutes with atmospheric noise and clean guitar, like a few of the other songs have ended so this is not a really a creative breakthrough on their part here. They capture some cool sounds, some songs have more creative moments than others, I think this is an improvement for this band and the new drummer works well with them it's just too one dimensional for me most of the time and has an over reliance on blast beats so I'll give it a 7, but if you don't ask to much from you American black metal then round it up.

4.2

Report to the Dance Floor : Tomas Doncker's "The Mess We Made"

Many of our long time readers will recognize  Tomas' name as he spearheaded the Global Soul movement in New York and strived over the years to find the place where heart and art meet. So what happens when that heart gets heavy? Tomas writes songs about it. "The Mess We Made" was a reaction to the shooting on June 17th in Charleston, SC, where 9 people were killed. Doncker believes soul knows no color might be angry, but he places his vitriol in it's proper channel to look at the problem rather than the symptom. He picks up where Gil Scott Heron left off when he announced  the revolution will not be televised. In fact he calls bull shit on the revolution, as it is seeking corporate sponsorship. At one point he even rallies a George Clinton like chant of "take off your hoodie and pull your pants up". Blues is still the back bone to his sound, though experimental elements find these songs at the  cross roads of  where hip-hop emerged from funk in the grooves. In these socially charged times of tension, it should be the job of the urban poets to stand up and have something to say, yet hip-hop keeps getting dumber and glorifying the stereotypes. There is almost a break beat to "Church is Burning Down".  The impassioned vocals reach up into a falsetto for certain accents, as the chorus is chanted over the driving beat.

He ponders what Hendrix's musing on if six was nine and how social media only gives us a happy post card to a false escape. While the message is at the forefront this doesn't impede  his acclaimed guitar playing to make an appearance. Eventually the album comes to a turning point and returns to his more organic roots. On "Don't Let Go" he looks at some of the economic struggles of the lowered middle class who feels the divide broadening as they slide downward to join the legions of Americans only avoiding homelessness by living pay check to paycheck. He gives a very soulful take on U2's "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking Forward" with the solo section reminds me more of Frank Zappa, and many of the vocals on this album remind me of Ike Willis.

Things get funkier for "Blood and Concrete' , while soulful funk is a currency his music normally trades in their is a more serious and biting tone thanks to the sardonic lyrics. The album closes with the more hopefully upbeat "Time Will Tell". I think it is fitting that this album ends on a more positive note, as music is the connecting thread of the universe is what Doncker's vision has been about. While this album is full of real talk,  the music also speaks . It says "at the end of the day losing yourself in the groove and melody are what is the saving grace when the world seems to be closing in on you and hope is not in sight. It's the vibrational frequency, tune in and drop out of the bull shit being pushed on you by the media, presidential candidates, and terrorists both at home and abroad. This is funk for the thinking man, and soul for the urban shaman. Another triumph for Doncker.