HELL - "Submerus"

 

The fifth full-length from this sludge project finds a nasty wall of downtuned rumbling behind tortured screams that sound like the person uttering them is more intent on losing their mind than adhering to the bounds of songwriting. Pehrpas thos will change as things move forward, but what I am hearing on the first track is someone who has created a dense heavy sound, that is impressive due to it's sheer heaviness, but listening to an entire album of this is more of an endurence test since nothing hooks you in to make you want to hear this again.

How many times have you worked up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and just had an overdriven chug in your head? If it has ever happened, chances are it occurs less than some song you happened to hear in line at the grocery store, and now it's stuck in your head. I'm not saying that heavy music isn't catchy; it can be and should be. In fact, I often find myself getting random Deicide songs stuck in my head. There are some touches of black metal on this album and it accelerate things to fell like they are falling into a soul sucking chasm in the abyss, which is an appealing enough sonic picture to paint. "Gravis" finds things going in a more dismal direction as the vocals now seem to be screaming from a more deliberate place of suffering. Though more atmosphere surfaces to break things up from the relentless pounding

There is a raw, almost noisy element to what is going on. I think this is what pushes this album into being sludge, as the rawness is more of a punk thing; it's angry about the torment being inflicted rather than romanticizing it. As doom mourns the loss of a life less tormented. You get more of a breather from the instrumental 'Factum" that sounds more like Low screwing around at soundcheck. There is a more mournful melody floating under the distortion on "Mortem". We are three and a half minutes into the last song before it comes together into a song. The bass line walks out this slow feedback-slathered rumble. I will give this album an 8, as it was created intended for a specific audience who will dig this, it is, after all, heavy as hell. Of course, Sentient Ruin is releasing this album as it's a perfect picture of their wheelhouse. 

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Black Metal History Month - Delirant : "Thoughteater"

 

This band from Spain plays a dark and dissonant style of creepy black metal. The second song finds them turning to a more frantic vision of chaos. There are blast beats executed in an almost jazzy cadence, like a train being operated by a clown going off the rails. They bring things back into a more conventional halftime groove and a song takes shape. Other melodies unfold amid this. It's a gamble this project seems to be willing to take, but are the creative dice going to roll their way for the course of an entire album when they walk the fine line between noise and experimentation within the six minutes of this song. 

The songs pour from one another with the third song feeling like a slower movement of the previous venture. This more deliberate shift works better from the perspective of songwriting. The vocals croak and gurgle with little form or function. Their desperate gasps are just a layer of madness to bumble under the guitars. The fourth song at best descends into the conventions of black metal, sometimes even thrashing a little. The spewed vocals seem more useless the closer to playing actual metal they get. There is a two-minute interlude before they throw themselves headfirst into the swirl of blast-beat oblivion. This shifts into a more straightforward punk beat, while the guitar remains wacky. Three and a half minutes in the bottom falls out and they leave you in a formless void. The drums lock back in and then it begins to become an actual song, though the vocals contribute very little to this cause. The drummer is actually the MVP  of this band, as they work hard to keep things moving in a direction that is not just mindless excess. 

The last song is the first moment that carries a more depressive feel, aside from the fact the vocals this entire time are trauma vomiting into the mic at every moment.  I like the creepy moments that form, the black metal parts that are actually black metal and not just swathes of noise cascading against your ears are fairly colored by numbers. I will give this album a 7 as they do make some impressive creepy passages when they allow things to flow into more of a throb and I appreciate their willingness to experiment it is a shame songs pay the price when they do not conform to any semblance of what sounds like a song. It is little surprise that Sentient Ruin released this. 

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Ash Prison : "Future Torn"

 As we catch up on albums I might have missed out on this year, we are going to plunge further into underground industrial music, with this heavy offering from this trio whose album was released on Sentient Ruin back in September. There is a rawer feel than the Godflesh cover bands out there. This is also a good bit darker. The snarled vocals are more black metal. Despite the possessed croak of the vocals, the driving guitar is what you want from industrial music. "Eraser" is less tangible, as they abandon the groove for more abstract darkness until midway into the song. The vocals are contributing to the chaos. 

"No Return " is more deliberate in some respects, but does not hook you in like the first two songs. The vocals are muttered more like a crazed homeless person. "Voidhead' charges ahead with more of a black metal malice. "Scorn" is murkier. It sounds evil enough, but not a song that I will feel compelled to listen to again. "Collapse" feels like it just picks up where the previous song left off. There is just enough syncopation to make sure this stays on the industrial side of the fence. 

"Exanguinate" is fueled by rage. There is enough ambiance to keep it interesting. For what this album is it's well produced, as if it was tweaked any more it would begin to lose the black metal feel. "Black Horizon" is a more concrete concept, but drones on a stalker vibe that I might like if it was more melodic. The riff to "Weep in My Shadow" is more rock n roll, making the song marginally more catchy. I will give this album an 8 as I like the mood, though the songwriting could use more melody, Iget what they are going for and it works to create a darker heavier vision of industrial. 

Sleepwalker: "一期一会"

I
n the first minute and a half the first song has already shifted from varied levels of prog, most of which bearing a dark dreamy narcotic drips that even coats the blast beats they launch into while the dark hole they sound like they are playing in front of attempts to swallow them.In other words if Twin Peaks was going to have a black metal band playing these guys would be it. "If Return a Mirror Glance" starts with a weird dissonance mathy prog craze before settling into more of a groove. There is more of a metal feel to "Never Through a Threshold" which is does engage their odd angular side, but has more than enough blast beats to resonate as black metal if that is how you wish to identify these guys. It also doesn't have as distinct of a personality as the first two songs.

By the time I get to "No Premature Celebrations" I have begun  to wonder what the point of the screamed vocals are . They don't really go with anything and sometimes seem to be the only link to metal going on at the moment. Midway into this song it smooths out into a really nice dark section. The vocals here do have  marginally more form and function. These guys pretty much shut down the argument that black metal songs need to be over 10 minutes long as they cram a lot into five or six minutes easy. "Never Ailments Oneself" is one of the album's most melodic songs and has some interesting percussion along with great guitar playing.

"No Clinking of Glasses" finds the vocals changing. The remind me a little more of Today is the Day here. This song is more like free form jazz with angry bouts of metal thrown in. When it does go down more of a metal hole it's in brief bursts. I'll give this album an 8.5. It's strength is the original vision this band has, it's weakness is the vocals are more often than not an after thought and the production is too murky.If you are into progressive black metal then it's worth your time.

Show of Bedlam : "Transfiguration"

It's always ambitious to open your album with the longest song. But these guys continue to surprise.