Pallbearer : "Mind Burns Alive"

 The fifth album by one of my favorite doom bands. Each album has been a gradual progression away from doom into what has culminated into the opening track of their new album "Mind Burns Alive". Campbell is using a great deal of restraint and taking a more vulnerable approach to his singing. It is not until the song's end that it gains any time of heavier dynamic. It took a couple of listens to this song before it finally clicked with me, as the first listen found me having to adjust to the change. 

Things get marginally more metallic going into the title track. A gray melancholy hangs over the song, but it feels more like doomy rock than doom metal. The verses are sung in a more hushed manner. He does belt it out a little more when things get louder. There is a more hopeful guitar melody that shines out of this before it does get metal in time for the guitar solo. The lyrics are darker than the music on this one. 

Campbell's voice sounds great on "Signals". But great in the sense that you are hearing another side of it. This shows growth as a singer. The song has a pleading introspection, building up for them to kick into a more rock dynamic. I am not sure I would call it metal.  Three songs in and it's clear the songs are excellent, but are they excellent Pallbearer songs? If it were not for the sprawling eight-minute arrangements, these songs could be played on mainstream alternative rock radio. 

An acoustic guitar opens "Endless Place", after a minute of reluctance they bring power chords that show they have not altogether forgotten who they are. it is more in their wheelhouse, though on the more melodic sides, with the drums leading the guitars into a lumbering labyrinth. Campell projects his voice in a manner that puts more guts into it. There is almost a post-Empire" Geoff Tate quality to his voice when it comes to the tonal placement. This song wanders off into a more progressive place that works well with the band's current direction. The saxophone works really well here, and not the instrument you would normally associate with them. They build this song well to reach more of a sonic climax. 

"Daybreak" finds Campell digging deeper into the vulnerability he has showcased earlier in the album. This time it is pushed perhaps as far as they could go, as it is not unlike the early emo bands like Mineral or Elliot. The fuzzed-out guitars do come, as Campbell puts his diaphragm back into it. It continues to carry more hope than despair, perhaps they are smoking less weed and taking medication? When they do go back to a more familiar sound on the last song, it is weird because they have already led you so far away from that. It is nice to hear the angular signature of the doom riffs, and more depressing qualities being emoted. This song is interesting as it unfolds, taking you into a dark place, before ending the album on a heavier note. I will round this up to a 10, it is pretty stunning, and while I would normally be more resistant to this kind of change it is hard to argue against something this effective.Dropping May 17th on Nuclear Blast.   

                                                                                                         

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Livgone : "Almost There"

 

This gloomy band from France plays a doomy style of rock that is shrouded in atmosphere. Elise's vocals are typically sung from a purposeful alto. Things do not get to the full extent of weirdness they are capable of until the second actual song, which progresses from an ebbing chant into a spaced-out ambiance. I appreciate their willingness to experiment, but think they could have gotten the point across and cut some of it back in post-production. Not sure it warrants making it a ten-and-a-half-minute song. 

"Watching Them Feel" makes better use of their tendency toward atmospherics, as the drums are still allowed to give it some drive. There is almost a shoe gaze-like feeling to this. The guitars shimmer as they are tremolo-picked with post-rock grandiosity. This is well contrasted by the lighter whimsy of the vocal melody before being thrust back into an even more powerful storm. They know how to use dynamics to the fullest effect.  This allows them to create something unique and they are not prone to wear their influences on their sleeves. Though with that said "Dance  So I Can" feels a little more like Raspuntina. They do build it up into something heavier and more doomy. 

The album then goes in a more chilling and dissonant direction with the vocals spoken over an almost black metal tremble of guitar. It is an effective sound, but I prefer the more song-oriented direction they were in just before this. Then the last track is just four and a half minutes of ambient noise. I will give this album a 9, I really like the actual songs, some of the more droning stretches of ambiance I can do without.  This is coming out March 22nd on Svart Records, a good start for the label. 

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November Doom - the River : "Vessels Into White Tides"

One of the points to doing November doom was to explore other sounds that  being tapped into in the genre. This sometimes means we are going to be at the edge of what is considered doom since that is where growth happens and I would much rather question what the fuck I am listening to than endure a band trying to be Electric Wizard. I  really appreciate this band's sound. Sure much like King Woman the flirt with the line of what doom can be. There is a melancholy to what they do that solidifies them as doom in my mind. The vocals are a timidly sung  by a woman whose voice falls some where between a higher alto and lower soprano. Her approach is very smooth. I can hear shoe gaze influence in what they do as well as slow core bands like Low.

 They go about this  tastefully and keep my interest even on a song like the fifteen minute "Into  White" where the vocals do not come in until the four minute mark. This is a very different kind of doom album, it even goes into some folk moments with the song "Open". It sometimes reminds me of the Gathering. "Passing " starts with almost more of an indie rock feel , when the distortion crunches to life , it has a more Catherine Wheel of Hum type feel. The vocals retain the more mournful feel.  'Tides" has a much more soaring shoe gaze feel, not unlike what many of the post rock bands were doing say 10 years ago. Jenny is playing the string parts that hover under the mix, so an instrumental is not surprising to fine here. They are not solely a doom band but bring a great deal of other influences to the table , when they shift into a heavier dynamic I would say doom is the direction they are leaning.

I will give this album a 9. It is one of those that I can leave on and let play. Granted the most doom
song is the opener and the other songs hint at this , really the only time it is totally abandoned is on the folk song.  I think fans of artists like King Woman and Chelsea Wolfe will find enough common ground here to make it worth their time. Those who are not metal flexible might have a hard time with this one.  This album is being released December 11th on  Nine Records. 

Bellwitch : "Mirror Reaper"

First off let me tell you how much I hate the fact that this new album is one 83 track. So the for the purpose of this review I am breaking it down into fifteen minute increments.

  the first 15 The first four minutes is a very tentative drone that has more in common with a slow unfolding post- rock song than doom. It lacks the oppressive and sorrow nature of doom. They lost their drummer during the making of this album and I don't feel the sense of loss they spoke of in press releases. Billy Anderson worked the board on this so it sounds very spacious. The low growl of vocal come in around the seven minute mark.It swells into a droning chant of clean vocals that are used as a ghostly instrument on their own. This sounds great , but walks the line when it comes to funeral doom as I would not say this is especially dark.

 The second 15

 Approaching the 17 minute mark it's clear this could have been trimmed and at 17 minutes in this could have been edited into the second song. The tension is broken we have a clear delineation where this second song should begin, unless you want to be self indulgent and turn this into the grandiose thing that it is. Its right before we hit the 30 minute mark that the vocals go into more of a nasty death rasp and things being to get heavier in a more aggressive metal sense than I recall hearing the band dig into.

 The third 15

 This is a droning continuation of the theme already developed lower sung vocals do echo out of the dark abyss they are trying to casting light from, but I am not sure it's enough for me to have invested the previous 15 minutes for. The sonic scope of what they are doing is however impressive.

 The fourth 15

 There is more of a psychedelic 60s feel to the folk like vocals that ride the fragile drone, that seeks to find space more than it does heaviness. This carries echoes of Jesu, though with a slightly less shoe gaze feel.

 The fifth 15

 The vocals carry over here, though they are more layered and harmonized as it is a residual from the build of the last movement. The guitar stays dreamy rather than dark or heavy. It drifts further out into the atmosphere.

the sixth 15 and ending

There is an organ that appears here to usher in the slow rise of the doom returning at what is at this point and hour and ten minutes into things. It swells into something more metal though we are talking about metal in Jesu's zip code which means by merit of hypnotic power. The final four minutes finds it fading back into nothingness with fragile fanfare to say farewell. I will give this album a 7.5 , there are cool sections an it sounds great , the vocals have also improved.

 

Volur : "Ancestors"

It is moments of discovery like this one that makes what I do so enjoyable, because I have to sort through tones of albums before I find one that is this unique.