Funerary Bell : "Graveyard Seance"

Black metal when it takes its blast beats too seriously can become myopic. So to hear a band that does something different even by only a few degrees is what I need to feel like the genre is not getting stagnant. This Finnish band has way more rock to this band than I thought there would be , I'm not complaining these old classic metal riffs that get thrown in are pretty damn awesome. The riffs pick up the slack for the growled vocals to provide hooky melodies. Perhaps not harmonized and proggy to the extent that Iron Maiden is , but heading in that direction. In Solitude might be another reference point, though with low growled vocals instead of the Mercyful Fate mid range croon. The hit a slower groove when they chug their way into "Eleanor's Garden" a song that had been circulating on the Internet for some time. The have yet to release their second full-length so this ep is keep themselves out there til they finished it, how ever its not their first rodeo These guys have done their time in other projects like Verge, Nodian, Blood Red Fog and Charnel Winds.

 Metal drummers are supposed to be awesome , but this guy goes above and beyond to impress that point into you mind, with cyborg feet hammering the double bass. "Doctrina the Insulter" is another slower paced old school grinder of a song that captures almost a doom vibe.The vocals become more anguished here as well.Not sure at this point if it is even black metal as it pulse on a doomy drone, they owe more to the first wave of black metal than what came out of Norway in the Early 90s.

The blast to "Liberate Me" feels more death metal than black metal, similar to the cavernous roaring that Von brings forth. It is not as nuanced or dynamic as the previous songs, even with the hellish orgy that occurs in the songs final moments.But even with that it is not as compelling. They redeem themselves on"Eternal Coven". The riffs is doomier and rumbles like old Celtic Frost, as the low growl rumbles up from under the guitar. The bass and the guitar are hard to differentiate at this point in time. The pace picks up as the double bass drives them into a gallop, before the lurch back into a slower speed. If Arch Goat was more into classic metal then I suppose the results would be similar.I look forward to hearing what these guys can do when Saturnal Records releases their next  full length. This one gets off to a stronger start but over all is walking its own left hand path so I'll give it an 8.


 

Mortuary Drape: "Spiritual Independence"

Although they have been around for thirty years, my history with the band dates back five years ago when I read an interview with Erik of Watain, who cited them as an influence. One of the oldest black metal bands is breaking ten years of silence. I have been hunting this album for some time, before I could not take it any more and broke down to contact the band. I am glad that I did because i need this one in my life. The creepy gothic intro lands into "Lithany", that is compared to the black metal of today, would feel more like classic metal. The backing vocals have the most in common with modern black metal, but I remember a time when bands like Morbid Angel and Deicide seemed like black at the time. One thing is glaringly evident is these guys come from a time when the emphasis is on songs. Every instrument counts here, there is not a note wasted, even the vocals have purpose rather than just being relegated to being an after thought, which is very common with harsher growls.

Drummer Wildness Perversion, the bassist really shines on "Once I Read" . The song picks up into more of a thrash. feel. On "Natural Death" they show their influence on black metal, with the dark cadence they let the chords ring out with. Their songs effortless flow like the river Styx in darker waters. The ritualistic elements bands like Watain took inspiration from are evident. It would be pretty impressive to see Wildness pull off these growls while playing drums live, as his drumming is pretty intricate at times. Most of the solos default to what you expect more from a death metal album or someone like Dissection who it's clear these guys had an influence on. I have a pretty high threshold for evil so if a song gives me the evil chills that means they are serious about what's going on.

They chug through "Mortal Remains" with authority. This song also has the one guitar solo on it that really stands out to me. Like most of the songs it weaves it way through an array of dynamics and retains the bands trademark to sacrifice  babies not melody at their altar of metal. There is an odd groove to "Immutable Witness" which appears to be one of the rare moments on this album that has to grow on where most songs grab me right from the first few chords. I like how the vocals are layered on the chorus and the bass line. They keep digging deeper for more macabre sounds and continue to find them on "Ignis Fatuus". It does eventually wind it's way into a straight up  galloping rocker, though the bass player plays around the riff  keeping a unique twist on it.

They do hit you straight on with the thrashy "1600 Gnostic Year". Even then it shifts the riffs around in the writhing manner of New Order Testament. The vocals also fall back onto accenting the punches in a more traditional manner, The band don't take the easy way out and bring back the doomish  delight. The solo break hits the song in a similar fashion as Altars of Madness" Morbid Angel. They take a very deliberate approach to the title track. They layer the vocals with some cool effects. The band never has to sort to hiding behind the blistering speeds of blast beats. The chorus to this song doesn't punch out of the song like some, but it creates it's own atmosphere and winds to fiendishly alluring corners of hell. The song ends with vocals that are very King Diamond, which I can see Don't Break the Oath" era Mercyful Fate being a big influence on these guys, in terms of feel, the vocals never stray from their lower yet articulate growls.

I have no problem giving this album a ten, some of the more straight up thrash moments which might not have immediately resonated with me were counterbalanced with the  beautifully creepy sounds this album abounds with. If you like old school death or black metal with serious occult trappings then this is an album not to miss.

Raspberry Bulbs:"Privacy"

I really appreciate when a band challenges you to define them. They mock your efforts to fit them neatly into a sub-genre. There are certain elements you expect then you hear something is black metal or hardcore. Two tags that have been tossed like a salad around Raspberry Bulbs. To some extent they fit depending on how you define hard core or black metal. If Black Flag and Venom are what you have in mind then they are on target. Even their guitar sounds has the abrasive jangle of early Ice Age in places. The opener carries more of a metal rumble than the song that follows which is much more straight up punk and not as compelling as "Lionhead".  Both sides of the equation allow the band to get away with their lo fi sound. The don't pull punches with the feed back.

The album is swarming with noise laden experimental interludes that serve no real part in holding the album together. They stay close to punk rock on "How the Strings Were Pulled". Backing oooohs sing in the distant while the vocalist stays in a punk sneer with enough rasp to be black n roll as well. So here is a prime example where their collision works the best. The often attack the songs with more of a metal intensity, but steer clear of blast beats preferring to drop down into half time stomps.

By the time you get to "Nail Biting" you can see through the hype and recognize these are punk rockers with an affinity for metal. Right now you are going to argue that this goes against the challenge to not be defined. I am not saying the are just a punk rock band, but the are closer to being headed in that direction than they are metal. "VII" is the longest of the noise interludes , but it doesn't make then Swans. The "I Saw Your Mommy" feel to "Finger Bones" offsets the distant growl of the vocals , that layer something decidedly darker than punk. In some ways they do what Midnight does , but much better and from a punk perspective.

There is an old school "Sonic Reducer" style punk to "Behind the Glass". They only thing that sort of irks me about their songwriting is they tend to be a little straight forward, which does them a disservice as their best moments are when they wander out of the box. The even manage to cram a guitar melody into it. A similar paced jaunt into punk is snarls up from the gutter these guys crawled out of on "Hopelessly Alive".  The vocals are the only thing on this one that really brings anything to the table as it becomes more of the same old same old. They let the bass out them out on "Big Grin" ,which is a huge curve ball to momentum  they built thus far. The guitar takes an almost post-punk tone  and the vocals stay in a maniacal rasp, that still manages to not really become growling. There are some heavy punches toward the mid way point.

I think I might get more milage out of this one than I suspect, this album gets a 8 with room to grow on me, they middle of the album becomes predictable and some of the straight forward punk elements don't lend themselves to much of a dynamic range, but I like where they are going with this and will check out there releases to come.

6.1

King Diamond @ Center Stage 10/11/14

Even though this was the King's only southeastern date, the fact he sold out Center Stage home of the annual Prog Powerfest says something about the staying power of his music. With no album to support aside from a greatest hits collection dropping November 11th called "Dreams of Horror". While waiting in a ridiculous merch line I missed the bulk of Jess and the Ancient Ones, though the more I heard from her on the videos behind the bar, the longer I procrastinated to go in. We went waded onto the floor, though were stuck at the edge due to the crowd, my girlfriend suggested trying to find seats, but having gone to metal shows for over 25 years, the secret is if you give a metal head the chance to get alcohol they will make a break for it proved true and this put us smack dab in the middle of the floor. The crowd was friendly I spoke to a dude from Wilmington SC, about Uriah Heap for a good ten minutes, and many of the other people I spoke to were also from out of town. There was an interesting mix of metal shirts on parade, death metal seemed to out number black metal, with the middle of the road classic metal shirts edging out death metal, aside from my girlfriend wearing my now sleeveless "Them" tour shirt I got the first time I saw King and the first time I met her , which was a couple decades apart, was the dude in the Lizzy Borden shirt, it seemed legit and not a online knock off which seemed to be the case with most of the 80's thrash shirts.

 When the King finally took the stage, they busted out with "The Candle" from Fatal Portrait. I had gone into the show worried about how his voice would have held up over the years. This was my fifth time seeing King Diamond, sixth if you count Merciful Fate reunion in the 90's, so with his recent health issues and his last Hellfest performance, where he pulled a Rob Halford and got the job done, but was obviously weak from just getting back on stage soon after healing from heart surgery. This is was the first show of the tour which with singer's can go either way, they are knocking the dust off the pipes and getting warmed up, or they are really fresh and then the rest of the tour trying to maintain.So I'm happy to report that he was much better than when I saw him at Hellfest . He did stack the bulk of the most scrutinized  songs at the front end of the set as he followed the opener with "Sleepless nIghts" and Welcome home, which is where the theatrics began as Grandma was rolled out in a wheel chair. The level of theatrics was more along the lines of an Alice Cooper show and when you are playing a mostly sold out tour, you  have the budget to pull out a bigger production.

 The drummer Matt Thompson, has been with King 2000, had to remind me he is worthy on the opening fill to "Welcome Home", he also pulled out some impressive double bass through out the "Them" songs, as the Mikkey Dee, albums are the most demanding. New comer Swede Pontus Egberg, had a lot to prove as the most recent addition to the band- the one member i had not seen King preform with yet. Here it was how he handled the "Abigail" songs that proved him self to me. He seemed to be having tons of fun on stage, even if his stage prescience was the most "80's" of the band. Mike Wead held his own against Andy Laroque, in fact i think he might have taken more solo's than Laroque, but Andy has been with King for so long he had to o.k that, so if that's what he wants. Andy was a little low in the mix at first by the chorus of "Sleepless Nights" he was dialed back in properly. The newer material got mixed response from the crowd, most seemed fine with "Never Ending Hill" off of "Give Me Your Soul Please". Since that album came out I have felt it was under rated, but Diamond is no exception to the rule of the masses wanting to hear the most familiar material. "Abigail" was shouted for but never came about. "Let it Be Done" was an unexpected song from "Conspiracy" so King threw in plenty for the fans and not just the casual listeners, the set was in fact pretty "Conspiracy" heavy and while "Puppet Master" is far from my favorite King Diamond album, the title track transitioned well live , complete with his dancer miming as if she was a marionette.

 He did pull out a weird medley with "tea" , "Digging Graves" and Visit from the dead", this was followed up by the two Merciful fate songs of the set "Evil" and "Come to the Sabbath". They got the biggest surge of crowd reaction. King nailed all the parts as needed. He did another Rob Halford and let the crowd sing some sections , but unlike Rob not til he already proved he could hit the notes. " Shapes in Black" also made a remarkable transition onto the stage. There was no one questioning that "Eye of the Witch" is one of King's best songs and it came across heavier live. The show came to it 's climax when they pulled out magic tricks involving burning Grandma alive. Then for the encore came the two songs from Abigail "Family Ghost and the Black Horsemen. Both were pulled off much better than expected which could be said for the bulk of the show.king has fully recovered and is killing it in a manner his peers like Dickinson and Halford should take note of.

This showed proved he is till the greatest metal singer of all time.If you are a regular reader here then either know a-King Diamond is one of my favorite artists of all time or B- that I am an even harsher critic when it comes to the bands I love, as they have already raised the bar pretty high for selves, so they have a lot to live up, but the fact they do more often than not is what makes them great. King delivered, make sure to catch him when he comes through your town. spoilers- set list and rehearsal vids below

 The Candle Sleepless Nights Welcome Home Never Ending Hill Let It Be Done The Puppet Master At the Graves Tea / Digging Graves / A Visit from the Dead Evil (Merciful Fate cover) Come to the Sabbath (Merciful Fate cover) Shapes of Black Eye of the Witch Cremation The Family Ghost Black Horsemen

1349 : "Massive Cauldron of Chaos"

When you have been around since 1997, you are entitled to go through some changes. This album might please some fans who did not like some of their more experimental moments on albums past, but they have still not returns to the traditional first wave of Norwegian Black metal. What grim old timers might frown upon is how this albums sounds good and is loaded up to the gauntlets with catchy riffs.

'Cauldron" opens the album as in your face as you can get. The drums hammer at you head like a migraine. This becomes another case of the opener bowls you over with it's intensity, until it is hard to imagine the band being able to keep it this hard hitting for the duration, without devolving into noise. The album holds a similar hateful streak as the last Hod album I reviewed on here not too long ago, so if you liked that one then skip the rest of this review and give this a listen.

The riff to "Slaves" is so slick it's almost rock n roll at time and very much holds a thrash bent in the tight palm muted attack. The chorus of "the slaves shall serve" is delivered in varied degrees of snarl.The drums are not only giving a rapid beat down  but they are very precise and not at all sloppy with blast beats tripping over themselves from the momentum like some bands. There is a pretty straight forward stomp to "Exorcism". The double bass flows like lava underneath it until they blow up into blasty mcnastiness.

In places "Post- Mortem"  has more groove than I remember these guys having, not to the extreme of pussing out like Satyricon.  In fact  it surprising how often they hit a place that sounds like the cross over days of punk and metal, than anything resembling say Darkthrone. They play fast but don't default to blast beats. Harkening back to the 80's the guitars are tight with the thrashing. Slayer is one of this album's predominant influence. The monstrous drumming helps to further force this into your face and shove the songs down your throat. Normally this would be too straight forward for me but something about whats happening works here. They cling to similar pacing on "Mengele's" an ode to the man who earned the name Angel of Death. The vocals spew forth with a renewed scathing to them. They way the chorus hit's it reminds me more of Deicide.

The band launches full force into the speed demonics of "Golem". This makes me wonder if the WWII themed titles are intentional. The lyrics are audible within the throaty screams, but not to the point where the lyrics really leap out at you, unless he goes into more of a croak. It wasn't until the bass break down on "Chained" until I realized I was no longer listening to "Golem". "Chained" has more inventive guitar playing than the previous song, though they are not trying to break a whole lot of new ground. The octave chords that accent the verse riff are pretty fucking cool.

 They rival Immortal's most epic battle gallops on "Godslayer". They are not indulging into much fantasy with their occult imagery, but have a passion for being this pissed. Listening back to this one a few times I can hear the "Show No Mercy" era Slayer ghosts haunting this chapel of ghouls. The creepy spoken vocals are a nice touch and keep the fury well paced. They keep with the 80's thrash theme by covering a Possessed song. Of course they pull this one off and pretty much nail it to the cross.

I will give this one a 9 as it's pretty much what you see is what you get thrashed out black metal, which at times is a little too straight forward for me to imagine cranking this for the rest of the year, but I have gotten several good listens out of it already.

Hod : "Book of the Worm"

Members of this blackened Texas metal band have played for GG Allin, so they have plenty of cred. They churn out a blackened brand of metal not unlike newer Inquisition, but with less of the epic Immortal moments. The singer's raps also is not as frog like in it's croak. They are rooted in old school metal as the hook to the chorus of the album's opener proves. They have also listened to a reasonable amount of Morbid Angel. Song's like "Den of Wolves" sound more like death metal to me.. and iI just got finished reviewing the new Cannibal Corpse so I know what I am hearing here.

The vocals take on an interesting gurgle, but they are coherent enough to under stand the lyrics of songs' like "I am Destroyer" , which spits out the post chorus like something Glen Benton would do.There is also a touch of "Fall From Grace" to that one. The drummer is one of the stars of the show here as his double bass rules songs like"Through the Gates".  At this point in the album, while they do vie for the black metal label more incessantly, I can hear both Lemmy and Cronos in the vocals.

In times where black metal bands are releasing four song albums with ten minute songs, these guys are more to the point and by result more in your face. They are trying to rock you not lull you into some sort of ritualistic trance.There is a nasty gallop to "Death Whores" , which is as close to a love song as these guys are going to come.

They are generally pretty straight forward, the mood seems to be singular in purpose of aggression, which lends itself to feeling more like a death metal album, they get plenty blast on songs like "Where Are the Demons". The do lack the dissonance that normally creates what I think of as the black metal sounds when it comes to guitar voicings, opting for more of a thrash approach in this area.The album rides out on the powerful gallop of "Beneath the Mountains of the Scorpion".

I'll give this one an 8, it's stuck with me, if you like really old school blackened death metal with a dirty coat of crust on it then check this one out.