Neurosis: Honor Found in Decay

Twenty years ago when I heard "souls at zero" I became enamoured by how Neurosis mixed the cerebral sonics of a band like Swans with forward thinking metal like Voi Vod. A few years later my head was crushed by "through sliver and blood" and though the band wandered off into folky Tom Waits territory I have always respected what they do. In 2007 when the band released "given to the rising " it was good to hear them school the slew of sludge wanna bes which had sprung up.

"We all rage in blood" opens things up after its delicate build in the first minute and post rock feel In the way the verse drives is fairly straight forward for these guys. Scott Kelly's vocal stacks on a stacatto sneer as the song ebbs and flows. Not really heavy until the mammoth chords in the last two and a half mins.

The NPR streamed single "at the well " is the second songs . It is more long the lines of the bands post-times of grace output. Very slow tempo, with leonard Cohen esque vocals proceeding their trademark howl. After a few listens the eerie guitar line in the back ground made me appreciate this one more than my first listen which wasn't a fan of the tempo. Not that the almost doomy feel is anything new for these guys. The bag pipe break midway into this one is a nice color. I really like the vocal chant of in a shadow world seven minute mark leading into the build. The formula for the album seems to follow a pattern of brood into the song and explode into the climax in the last two to three minutes. Though even these heavier dynamic builds are not as heavy as anything before "times of grace" . Another point of Intrest is in the vocals which never go into the harshness of an all out growl, the restrain themselves to a howl and are maily sung in a throaty but forceful manner.

"my heart for deliverance" lingers in the intro like "set the controls for the heart of the sun" sort of thing before going into a oddly timed rumble of a shuffle. The drumming keeps it from being overly angular. It drifts off into post rock wonderland around the five minute mark before congealing through a blend of sampled dialogue into transcendent crescendo. The guitar line which leers out borders on psychedelic, though the vibe I get for the overall album is these guys don't smoke nearly as much pot as they used to.

"bleeding the pigs" is a blatant reminder that even after making the album with Jarboe they have not forgotten the earlier Swans albums. You would think such a wink at my favorite band would win me over no questions asked, but there is not the pay off a sonic eruption that a Swans song would really have.

"Casting of the ages" a very Mark Lanegan vocal line leads into the gradual build of this this one. It oozes into droning of smooth sludge, the humor keyboards provide a aural sheen over the molasses rolling under the vocal howl. Their lyrics have always had a veiled reference to hermetic mysticism, but on this song they come across more like Ronnie James Dio and seem a little recycled in their metaphoric imagery. they could have hovered around the bong a little longer before committing them tithe vocal booth or I could have stood to have smoked before listening and the lethargic swagger of this one would have floated me off the couch.

"All is found In time" things beging to get a little proggy, the drums go into the trademark tribal pattern Neurosis is know for before they even out into a straightforward Sabbath type thing. I have kept waiting to be crushed and it never really happens like a "locust star". This song does veer into very " no quarter" territory . I really like when the songs darkens up before getting King Crimson and
leaving you hanging.

"Raise the dawn" has the apocalyptic loom to it and the vocal phrasing Mastodon was imitating before they found there stash of Thin Lizzy albums.the swirl the ong decends into works for me evenif it doesn't really go anywhere.

In power and intensity I suppose it measures up with post "times of grace" material but doesnt rock as much as " Given to the rising" it is overall very middle of the road for these guys, while I understand they have mellowed with age it never goes to any extremes, committing to a more hypnotic drone might have give more challenge to the listener,I have been in debate about how to score this one because even thoughts not as heavy as I need it to be I do give them credit for expanding into some of the more post rock like sounds I hear on this album but the fact it's so Lukewarm dynamically irks me so I'll give this a 7.5 as they set the bar high for themselves and we know what they are capable of but whos to say it won't grow on me. If you don't know any better round it up a point.

Killing Joke : MMXII

One of the most influential bands still making albums today,Killing Joke has has a profound influence on metal and industrial music alike. Most casual metal heads know the, from the cover of "The Wait" Metallica recorded for their garage days e.p.? But bands like Tool, Ministry and Fear Factory ,Iggy as well ,ail the, a percentage of their royalties every month.

With their new album "MmxIi" the band looks forward while retaining the charm of their 80s hey day. This blend makes this one of their smoother listens since "brighter than a thousand suns". While I'm a big fan of their 1994 album " pandemonium" it doesn't pander as much for acceptance by the industrial crowd. Sure this would this still provide the perfect background music to read any Phillip K Dick novel to there isn't the same post apocalyptic feel and to be honest despite its dark gray edges is a pretty up lifting listen.

There are still some very heavy handed Ministry like moments, which reminds me of those late Tony Martin albums that have Alice in Chains production that feels weird to have your influences influencing you,while the chicken of the egg question is clear it's a mirror within a mirror. This however is not a distraction. In fact more often than not its the opposite and almost like "luke i am you father moments" when you here where guys like Justin Broadrick and Helmet barrowed from these guys.

At 52 Jaz Coleman's voice sounds great from the moody croon to the more forceful shouts. Often heavily effected, the delay and chorus are well suited to his style and I think a dry vocal would sound odd on this sort of thing. They are no where near as wet as Al Jourgeson or Orge's and Jaz has a superior set of pipes to either of those singers.

The opener "Pole shift" starts with a spacious and smoothly sung verse that builds into a very 90s industrial feeling chorus, reminds me a little of drummer Paul Ferguson's mid eighties band Warrior Soul. The guitar takes on more of a jangle than a chug thoughit does have more of a metal drive to it on the refrain.

"Fema Camp" takes a darker industrial feel with a "when the levee breaks " like throb.the angry chant leading into the guitar hook is very "filth pig" in delivery, the pulse of the song has an ominous flow to it which makes it a head bobber.

The vocal melody in the verse of "Rapture" instantly takes hold, the chorus is an almost Mortal Combat shout, but the bass propels it along and doesn't give you to contemplate if they took they easy way out on this one so I guess it means it works.

The oddly timed swing to "Colony Collapse" makes it one of my favorite songs on the album. It's followed by the very straight forward drive of "Corporate elect" which barrels into a chorus that reminds me of Motörhead. This simplistic approach this song takes is not one of the albums stronger moments even though I appreciate the vocal line in the verse.

The drum beat of " In Cythera" reminds me of Police imitators Mutemath, the melody on this one is as cheesy as the term is "heart felt" as its empassioned yet introspective. The chorus goes to show where Justin Broadrick got the inspiration for the Jesu melodies.

"Primobile" gets darker and synth heavy, slight Gary Numan feel.the guitar leading I to the chorus does some interesting things to set up a very smoothly sung and cerebral pre chorus building into a more throaty bellow.

The industrial smack of "glitch" is blunt and forceful , though not the albums most original moments, forso e reason the keyboards in the chorus remind me of "no more tears". The album closes another harder driving song " trance" which gives a little more breathing room on the verse and also benefits from a more interesting bass line. The albums pristine production is really highlighted here as the instrumentation is busy but sits well along side one anorexic in the mix.

Similar my qualms with Converge the albums two more straight forward tracks dont do the work as a whole any favor but overall the bulk of the songs are great ,in fact this album feels a lot better to me as far as production and songwriting go that that Convnerge , but the two bands are so different there little comparison.This one will sit in my iPod and with its predecessors. While they are off the Cult , mission u.k tour I'd like to catch them this go around and think a 9 is fair for this one.

VON : Satanic Blood

Formed in 1987 this San Franciso band should be viewed along side the originators of Black Metal as their style bears more in common with the 2nd wave of black metal than Venom or Bathory. " Satanic Blood" is being called the official release of the album recorded in 1992 before the band broke up. Von has another album which will be their 2nd full length coming out later this month, but since this is the album I got the promo of its what i'm reviewing so there.

This came out the same year as " a blaze in the northern sky" and of course Mayhem had been at this thing for a minute, there are still as with both of those bands traces of death metal, mainly in the vocals which are more gutturally growled than harshly screamed. Heavy on the blasty mcnasty in a time when blasty mcnasty wasn't that common. In my earliest idea of black metal aside from venom, Bathory and merciful fate , I also thought of Impaled Nazerene and Acheron as black metal. Here the sonic element similar to that Darkthrone developed around this time is very present in fact the first four songs lull you into a drone, it wasn't until it slowed down into a doomed intro that I realized I had heard a third of the album.

You can't expect a band like this to be remastering anything thing, so what you hear is what you get and it's a lo fi sound that Varg and the Helvete gang would be proud of and set the standard for the cold grim sound to come. This is beyond raw and is a gaping wound of sound. the cymbals swirl in a manner than sometimes causes you to forget where they begin and the guitars ends. I normally don't like this production style aside from early Darkthrone and even though I love Burzum, i tend to really only listen to the album where it sounds like he is paying attention to what he is doing. the vocals here could have used the most love in the studio as they sound like a dog hacking up a cat. In this case that isn't a bad thing as the dog is rabid so it fits the mood.

The bass hammers on the opening track " Jesus Stain" but loses the attention of my ears a the album, carries on. Of course the separation in the drums is a mute point, the they are pounded like a machine and when the bass churns like a train off the tracks behind them it still gets the point across shitty recording be damned. The second song "devil pig" carries on at a similar speed but the fast paced tremolo picking is a more straightforward blur.

I like the chaos of a song like "release" but it only does one thing, but Von proves they are more than capable songwriters on " Veadtuck" , but the majority of the album relies on a more one dimensional rapid fire approach, the songs begin to take on a very similar feel, I get the feeling I like the one song they keep rewriting and I feel the songs require a closer examination as I feel weird when I think this came out of America in the late eighties.

The bulk of these blitzes are under two minutes. The barking takes on chant like qualities and lyrical content obscured by their delivery based on the facts that Watain holds these guys in such high regard and the church of Satan is based out of San Franciso that these guys might be legit in their attempts to bring the darkness. Though Metallica hails from their so this jump in the fire could be a farce as well, but they seem more earnest in this pursuit. The fact the blink and it's gone element to the songs add to the difficulty of differentiating some of the songs like I know their is a solo I "Vennt" but that doesn't keep "evisc" from sounding like it is an extension of that song. The riff to " Goat Christ" is such a difference it almost fall into this pattern though the vocal variation of gagging bark that sounds like its from Deicide's Amon demos, help to set it apart. " dissection inhuman starts in a similar fashion but melts into a weird ambiance almost like the intro to the song "hell awaits".

"challice of blood" starts of strong with eerie ambiance of a second guitar haunting the chapel in the background and effected vocals which sound like the voices that called to Carol Ann in "Poltergeist" and though this song doesn't stray to much forth thematic tempo it feels different enough to stand on its own. There is a solo of sorts and when I say solo in reference to this band they make Kerry King seem like Marty Freidman. The solos are only for a chaotic texture.

On the song " blood Von " the band shows more dynamics in the jarring punches and the stacatto barked section is a needed shift in delivery to offer a degree of variance. "backskin" fakes it intro like its going somewhere else for a second and en charges full speed ahead like the others. The song " Watain" is similar but lacks the higher solo like guitar that added ambiance to the previous track. It also features a vocal bark that is not as interesting as well. "lamb" does a similar rhythmic dynamic " blood Von" had a little more sonic froma production end with swirling effects accenting it. The title track bring back the motto blast now and ask questions later.

So in scoring this I'll give the album a 6 despite the fact they are a one trick pony the trick blends the albu into one drone of a song with moments where look up from what I'm doing to take notice, the production value of the time didn't due it any favors even it it did set the cvlt standard. I look forward to their new album coming out later this month an reverently plan to keep this in my iPod til it's release.

Converge: All We Love We Leave Behind

I've been a big fan of Converge since I jumped on board with them for their third album the 1998 release " When forever comes crashing". Over the years Converge has evolved often complimenting my growing ears and always staying relevant. On "Axe to Fall" we weren't gelled with one another and it was the first time I didn't like one of their albums upon the initial listen. Later, when I went back and made it through the first few tracks which I found a little too busy with guitar acrobatics cluttering up the recklessly fast pace, I enjoyed it. "All we love we leave behind" finds us back in step with one another, though you know how I don't play favorites so the magnifying glass is out as I sit down for my third listen, and I doubt I'll be listening to much of anything else today.

They bringing all the various element which normally comprise the dynamic range of their sound. The abrasive hardcore to the darker creepy melodies. The busy guitar hero tricks of "axe to fall" return at at times but are more tastefully executed. Having survived the whole metal core flood of the MySpace days Converge is really one of the only bands of their ilk who have stood the test of time...while retaining their sense of identity , which is where they peers like Cave-in and Thrice fell short.

A lot people know Old Mastadon for the spastic hardcore moments well here is where they came from sure you can list all the hip Brooklyn vegan flavors of week and they all owe Converge a debt of gratitude. So we can bow at their altar all day and I'll never get this album scored and review finished so let's give this the old track by track exam and see how it holds up under scrutiny.

The opener "Aimless arrow" is quick and jerky with Jacob Bannon using an intelligible more punk inflected vocal rather than his rabid dog barking. This one punches in as smart flurry and is an interesting choice to open things up with.

The following two tracks are more the straight ahead fast hard core style, "trespasses" hammers in with a Slayer like relentlessness , superb drumming keeps the song from just becoming a blur of movement and some clever almost rock n roll guitar. "Tender abuse" is more punk in feel as it has a sloppier assault until it slows in the final thirty seconds.

The bluesy intro to "Sadness comes home" had me wondering if they had toured with the Mastodudes one many times, this is one of the more "axe to fall" flavored tracks but a prime example of a more mature approach to some of the busy guitar runs which cluttered that album. By this point in Brannon is back to the scalded dog howls, until a dark muttering shows up on the song " empty on the inside" which starts with a powerful stomp, it almost seemed like the b section to the previous song and breaks down into more of a march pattern.

"Sparrows fall" is a minute and a half of straight ahead assault , while I can appreciate it for what it is I think the first few songs have already touched on this and Converge has already been here and done this, to the point is its fairly generic for them. " a Glacial place" offsets the outburst of the previous song as it darkens things up. Songs like this are my favorite thing about Converge, as they approach different angles of getting to the heavy parts, the double bass on this one will make any death metal drummer envious, ok maybe not Pete the feet, but it's pretty bad ass if we are going to use high school vocabulary.

"vicious muse" is another example of how Converge can craft smart hard core with our going into the more grind Core blam, blam, blam, ...which seems pointless when they are capable of writing songs like this. Punching in all the right places with a hint of old school gang vocals. "veils and veins" goes back to the very straight forward punk snare and the dog barking vocals.

"Coral blue" we go back to the dark and brooding side. Bannon gets close to almost really singing, I always enjoy these attempts because he is a fellow Morrissey fanatic so attribute this to his inspiration for the empassioned release. I also giggle when I think of him bum rushing the stage to give Moz flowers or a hug. There kind of a mike Patton vibe , like Tomahawk era to the vocals.

"shame in the way" is another short and sweet burst of aggression but I like this one better because it's more metal influenced than punk, and I suppose through out the years I tend to fast forward some of their more obnoxious punk influenced moments, as Discharge, Black Flag and Dead Kennedys aside I generally disdain most punk. With Converge the Discharge and Black Flag influence has alreadys colored the corners which I'm fine with, I'm even o.k with the winks of Minor Threat, who I also like I just haven't found any of their stuff that has transferred over to digital quality for my iPod very well, though may e I'll give it another search this weekend, and I doubt Converge will mind giving some time in their review to discuss such.

Speaking of Morrissey earlier "Precipice" reminds me of this albums , "there is a light that never goes out" lingering guitar that unlike the Smiths song is more of an interlude to the title track than a real stand alone song. The title track track has a nice build into the speedier section and the aggression is a good dynamic rather than the only color painting the song.

"predatory glow" closes things with a bulldozing chug that would have felt at home on"you fail me." I would say as a whole this album uses a lot of the same colors and sounds from "Jane doe" forward. Unless we are talking about what not sounds to be the juvenile outbursts of punk , this is not a bad thing as it remembers while walking forward as song writers, they don't need to reinvent their identity. So if I leave my fan boy at home and weigh the few sideways lapses with the continued growth in songwriting then I would give this album and 8.5 but will round it up to a 9 as the moments of greatness they do nail sit well next to their more classic output and despite my best attempts at being impartial this is my fucking blog and I can round up their score just on the basis of I like the sound of Converge being uncompromisingly themselves.

Evoken : Atra Mors

I love funeral doom might be my second favorite metal sub-genre after insert you adjective in front of black metal. I find funeral doom to be the perfect nap time music so I might take me a while to get through this before those molasses sweet chords hit me like narcolepsy. While they have been letting the flated fith ring since 1994, This new jersey band has the bar set high for them as Mournful Congregation has almost played every note worth playing in this realm and have weeded more morose power into every note than most bands can comprehend, what they didnt cover Esoteric and Loss have handled. Sure a band like Loss has expressed their adoration of Evoken, but they have brought fresh flowers to the funeral where Evoken has shown up to the wake with the same distortion pedals they were using in 1996.

What Evoken brings to the table sometimes falls closer to death metal if Obituary got really depressed and drove their tour bus into the ocean their ghosts might make music like this. The first song alone makes ample use of keyboards and varied shades of down trodden. It's not until the second song do I hear them really being able to capture the morose mannerisms of someone like Loss. There is something about what is going on that leaves the impression this is less introspective than Loss and there is more testosterone lurking under the murky waters of the jersey shore. This lessened glance inward slightly impedes their ability to craft the same sort of melodies their more cerebral peers weave. Evoken compensates for this by bringing a heavier loud dynamic which raises the death metal comparisons .

You might stop and ask why am I so bent on holding them up to be measured against others in this genre, and the answer is when I listen to music I ask what does this band have that is unique to all the others bands in my collection? If I can't answer that then what is the point have having albums by twelve different bands trying to sound like Candlemass , when I can just listen to the real deal? Or in Evoken's case Disembowlment.

If you like listening to varied versions of the same thing then , invest in some funeral doom and go slit your wrists Becuase it seems like a narrowed mind is one of the better places to start thinning the herd, not that glue sniffing isn't going to get you sooner or later.

By the time we are at the albums mid point " grim eloquence" the jury is still out in regards to this band, the first song grabbed me and the albums grip loosened from their. The dirge pace is plodding its way along but this song seems to rely on spacey sounds rather than having a clear direction to whose grave we are marching , not very eloquent.

Their clean guitar tones don't stray very far the normal range of metal guitar tones where the other bands I have mentioned tend to experiment more with sonic textures. It's safe to say these guys have to modes of operation the doody side and then escalating into a Disma like death sludge. They never build momentum exceeding what Obituary would consider mid tempo. If I had to wager I would imagine collectively the band listens to very little music out side of the realms of metal , where I know for a fact members of Loss listen to stuff like the cure and Christian death which give them a wider base of influences to pull from.

The closing number " into aphotic devastation" captures the gloomy ambiance I need from my Funeral doom right at the beginning. Their are paused sections of effected cleaner tone guitar and keyboards to break things up. Truth be told I think the keyboardist could have done a little more on this one some minor key melodies sliding around the guitar passages could work Becuase their is enough space for them at the general pace of the album lets chords ring out. The vocals don't step over everything even though they are a low death growl delivered with more power than the average funeral doom gurgle .

The big picture on this one is a mixed bag, mainly due to tunnel vision whe it comes to the places they draw from and if they took inspiration froma wider palate it would open their sound up more, but they tend to want to return to the sludgy death metal which might be where they feel most comfortable going. The opening and closing numbers I can say are solid start to finish, the two interludes pieces I'm not even counting as songs as they will be the first to be purged from the iPod. Overall I think even though the are death metal band flirting with funeral doom they keep and good balance of dynamics and it's an album ive enjoyed the repeat listens trying to figure out how to score this and where they fall and I think this one will keep growing on my as even "grim eloquence" starts to warm up to my ears, sure there are things Mournful Congregation might have done different or better but Evoken does the whole death metal thing better than most bands this side of Disma so I'll go ahead and give this album an 8 even if the test of time doesn't do it well it would only drop a point, as it well preformed and takes chances most doom death bands don't .

Therion : Les Fleurs Du Mal

It's safe to say if you are waiting around for something really brutal to happen on aTherion album then you haven't been around for sometime. Where their last album " Sitra Ahra " wasan outlandish occultic caberet, their newest effort, is less Andrew Loyd Weber and shoots for Puccini . It's too romancitc and delicate at times for the more metal comparisons of say Wagner. the emphasis is more on the symphonic than the metal though the songs are more concise and plentiful with sixteen tracks .though the first three sound all like one song to me though,give me a another listen and I'll get back to you on that.

I really dig the sultry turn the female vocals take on the song " initials b.b " the song has more swagger to it than you would expect Swedes to be capable of.  The bulk of this is duets some stellar bass playing. The guitar on this does remind me a little of  " dr feelgood " .  The song pretty much sticks to one groove and a lot of the keyboard. Parts reming me of the opening theme to " Game of thrones".

Winter is not coming so soon, as they back off for some moonlight contemplation. The female vocals draw Nightwish comparisons and not unlike the last album it's in the same territory of metal though mostly darker and if I say goth its frilly shirt Theater of  Trajedy variety not Sisters of Mercy flavored

"Polichinelle" is  more operatic, though it has the slight feel of Sigh , when the solos parade in, this song has a "fiddler on the roof" feel as it stil has movement rather than being an aria for the sake yodeling.

While they are not going to be everyone's cup of  tea, the operatic female vocals sound very genuine and do what they do better than even Tarja Turunen's pseudo diva warbles. How many time have you read in reviews that some one is a trained opera singer ? Just Becuase your voice teacher has you sing out of one of those fifty Italian songs for the female voice doesn't mean you are trained to sing opera. The catch here is even her best dramatic soprano begins to make her parts all sound the same.

I miss Snowy Shaws  vocals even if he was only on one Dimmu album, he has a quirkiness to his tone which negates the power metal cheese leaning.  He could have really off set this album and I don't feel he is being utilized enough here.

The guitar work on the last album was more interesting, the solos had colors of their own to add to the musical land scape being laid out. Here it seems obligatory much like Transiberian Orchestra where it's almost like they are trying to say.

" oh yeah , did I mention we are also a Rock band, so don't let that other Yanni non sense fool ya"

After repeat listens the song " Mon amour, mon ami" grows on me as it is dark enough where a lot of these other arias are a little too much like one of Sarah Brightman's albums where she is pretending to be an opera singer because she was in a musical about one. Metal with classical aspirations can be done effectively as long as the band is not apologetic about being a metal band, Therion's problem is they try to hide this fact,allowing strings to take a more dominate role than what is most effective. So it end sup being mediocre classical music with guitars doubling what a bass section would be doing. The guitars are often too low in the mix which clues me into the albums guilty conscience. At their most present the stay on a night wish chug never building up to the needed gallop.

"dis moi poupee" starts with goth affected vocals ans then waltzes off into middle of the road opera territory. The guitar solo is rather decent in this one, but the build swell of the chorus chiming in distracts from the rest of the song.

With a song entitled "Lilith" I wold have expected something a little darker, which is a reoccurring theme with this album. Theres some nice bass playing on it and the chorus of layered vocals is not as intrusive here.

"en Alabama" gets off to a good start but the male vocals cock block the chorus. The song has a good slink to it otherwise but it's almost like a lacuna coil thing where the males vocals come in and spray a canister of hard on begone.

Snowy Shaw's thunder get stolen after he delivers a Ripper Owens quality yodel, things get happy and feel like they devolve into a Blind Guardian song. If you think that's a good thing you don't know that I view that flavor of power metal as randy eld music, and elves are way less metal than dwarves or even hobbits.

The arias keep coming with more divas than devils at this party is a misstep, by the last two songs I begin to think this might have been better branded under a different name. When a gallop does resurface it lacks any real drive, perhaps this is a production mistake? Granted this was one I was surprised to see had come out so it's not like my expectations were very high or it is an album I eagerly anticipated, so I'm pretty objective here and in fact trying to make allowances for what they they are trying to do. I will go ahead and give this one a 4 , if you like flowery power metal that is more Sarah Brightman than Manowar you might even add a point, not sure how Therion fans will react to this offering as metal is less of a color than the powdered wig feel to the majority of the album.



n the last album.

Review Revisited - Wizard Smoke: the Tickler

Disclaimer - this review was edited as per request of the band who felt it held an intensely personal angle taken towards their members, motivations and supporters. They also felt it to be insulting and nothing to do with the musical material in question" So to prevent delicate feelings from being further hurt,let it go on record that unless you are one of my all time favorite bands ever, I have no feelings one way or the other about you. Thoughts on your music... sure, But I have much more important things to occupy my mental space with after the 20 to 45 minutes I gave to review your album. Ok sometimes even less, but before you let your corpse paint run it means that I already was listening to it a lot in the car or at the gym, so have a solid notion of what I like about it. Other than that you are either enriching my iPod or taking up space on it.

 the review was originally published October 1st , so it tool the band a year to contact me directly, after they had spent time crying about it on various forums. So if you are a band aching about a review, feel free to contact me and depending on my mood and level of caffenation, I may or may not tell you to fuck off and that this is my blog so I'll write whatever I want, since Freedom of speech makes those allowances. However Dan of Wizard Smoke was polite and courteous , so I was more willing to work with him on this. Though I told him this and it goes for other bands. If your singer seeks to represent a brand he represents (your band is a brand you are selling) by portraying himself as a jack as in public media, its a hard image to shake when listening to the music. Just like it was hard to take solo Ozzy seriously when he was acting like a fool on reality t.v. I had more  emotional investment at that time than I do with your band, which is none. I'm likely apathetic about every thing else about your music. The golden rule when allowing your band to be represented with a level of frivolity or in any manner is to grow thicker skin. Now that we have those ground rules out of the way here's the review, which since it was originally written the band has since gone on hiatus and played what was announced to be their last show.

This two song release by Atlanta's Wizard Smoke is roughly clocks in at twenty mins.  They were the last of the sludge band wagon, as sound of slow southern steel grinds to a halt with death metal and thrash returning to prominence like in the late 90s.

The first song "Christian cross" is typical for the bands sound , though when I heard the song "weakling" I almost got a dsbm feel from the agonized nature of the vocals ,t here they are pretty run of the mill and indecipherable. Though on this track the guitars are the focal point and fortunately the most interesting element. By the eight minute mark the song implodes into generic sludge. I like the accented hits which ring out, because  even if these guys aren't fans it's a reminder of what an influence Swans have had on this genre.  After a revealing last interview, its fair to assume when the joke is up they are nominal metal heads at best,  one of the guitarists  owns a Preist album, other wise the rest of the band falls in line with whatever soundtrack the East Atlanta indie rock dictates, which when left to social trends migrates to shows the hipster sect as deemed the place to party. While in the local metal community the band got  flack for the non-metal elements,  those were actually the bands stronger qualities.

The synths don't add much, the keyboardist holds a chord here and their never utilizing single note melodies, so no Deep Purple here. The most talented member sounds to be the bassist whose embelishments add offer variance and leave room for The guitars more melodic single note ascending patterns that are the more powerful moments r. I'm not sure how they are earning the psychedelic label as there is nothing really Trippy or etheric going on its pretty a typical sludge, with a few winks to noisy post punk.

Old snake... Feels more like Clutch or late eighties Corrosion of Conformity, the singer makes an attempt to sing in a throw back blues style and his throaty bellow, sounds like a mimicry of Clutch lacking in any personality of its own. They do get credit for not defaulting into a total southern rock thing. At a minute and 15 seconds into it when the guitar wanders out  from under him, you see how little thought was given to  melody here. On the second verse when the vocals are doubled in a wise production choice, though the lack of harmony sounds like a drunken bar sing along.

I do like the transitional break down at the seven minute mark, but cool riffs do not automatically equate solid songwriting is the mantra here .  The solos are very simple and text book blues rock but add to this song, even if these guys are in now way shape or form shredders of any caliber .

I'd say if you are a fan of this sort of thing it's worth a listen , it didn't have any staying power  in my iPod , t theres not much of this kind of thing in my collection aside from Naam, who employs a wider scope of melody. e. So the collection of little cool parts lands them a 4 in my book, call it a 5 if you aren't in Atlanta and had the displeasure of being exposed to some of the distracting exposure in the local media the singer has received.

Ithe whole sludge thing had its fifteen minutes called last year and bands like Royal Thunder who come from a similar demographic moved on to the retro vest metal crowd. Halcrow doesn't have the pipes to carry them into a more melodic direction as  demonstrated here, But buy them a Pbr for giving it the good ole collage kid try.