Altar of Plagues : "Teethed Glory & Injury"

Since the last Altar of Plagues album was the first review for this blog, it's like a celebration of our second annual Irish Black Metal day. Since "Mammal" these guys have really matured. They no longer write sprawling songs that all pass the ten minute mark, not to say they have done away with the drone, noise or Ambiant elects to what they do. So the rule is unless some actual music transpires I'm not counting it as a song, so we are talking some talking toward momentum here as they will play a few notes here in their to soften the sonic sting of the noise. So we are going to say that "God Alone" is the first song.

It combines a very Godflesh element with their crispy blasty mcnasties. They allow the song to collapse and the. Come back to life with a pretty mean riff. Black metal purists might resist the groove, but giving into it isn't a bad thing here. The post rock moments are still intact, they seem a little darker on this one. The clean vocal make a return appearence in the final act of the first song but attempt to a subdued chant. The mix seems way more bass heavy and the album has a more in your face boom to it.

"A Body Shrouded" smoothly slides into the song with a Russian Circles like grace under the pressure of oppression. It fluxuates from having an industrial feel and a rock feel leaving the mean snark of the vocal the only thing really black metal as the drummer sounds like he had  been taking notes from the drummer of Russian Circles.

The almost angular intro to "Burnt Year" starts a little awkwardly. Enforce they return to the black metal. The vocals takin gon more of a Mayhem like anguish to them. Chaos ensues. It ensues in a more haphazard jazz like manner than say Deathspell Omega. The momentum is lost on this one but they are at least experimenting and it comes together at the end.

A sparsely drummed chant opens " A Remedy and a Fever". The fever must be getting to them as they are very pissed until the clean vocals come in to soothe them like a ghost. I like that dynamic and it's a great use of the more melodic vocals. The industrial influence on this album is welcome but unexpected as I never heard traces of it on the last one. I mean it even gets Nine Inch Nails on this one more so than early Swans. It very dark so that wins me over . The guitar winds up and slither through the dark maze, Like roots looking for rspe in evil dead. When I say N.I.N here it's not the poppy "Closer" moments but the Ambiant sprawl with distressed edges.

"Twelve was Ruin" congeals out of the ashes of the previous song and returns to the more post rock side. The guitar takes and intresting step back to pick with more melodic intent before flexing into a stacatto pattern. The octave chords smattered with delay are nice as it soars off into a sonic cloud that rains back down on the established pattern. The lack of vocals here I think keeps it from being an outstanding song to a really cool idea leaving the screams at the end to seem like a cop out after they have done some out of the box thinking already.

The rumbling spasms that kick off "Scald Scar of Water" don't lead you to where you think you are being taken which is the theme of the album. A galloping groove storms in and builds into the dense blast. The riff morphs into a heavier cyborg. There is a sludge like element that has replaced the industrial overtones. The harsh vocals howl along with the motion. Every thing halts into just a pulse and then the clunk and bang of the electronic returning for their revenge on the post rock swell. Clean vocals drift in to haunt the back drop.

"Found , Oval and Final" is straight up industrial tinged sludgey fare that abandons it groove for the static swathes of noise and tribal convictions the drummer returns to. This does offer tension and room to breathe at the same time. I know it's a weird mix of contradictions, but these are the dynamics the have employed. The cool riff age is what makes this return , that despite all the artful leanings at the end of the day you have to rock.

The final song "Reflection Pulse Remains" returns to the Russian Circles drumming this time with a more math like guitar riff to really highlight this fact.will this open them up to a wider audience , well is post rock really stilla thing? Marketing moves aside I think they have daringly created some nic Edward textures slabs of varying degrees of heaviness. With experimentations not every step really proves the hypothesis, but the fort to branch out is there. The weird drum section I don't think makes the most sense to get to the blast beats which now seem like "oh shit wait a second aren't we supposed to be playing black metal" though there is a touch of Liturgy in the last section.

I like the direction they are headed in and I will round this up to a 9, which will go on record as the highest score you can get when so blatantly winking at the band you are taking inspiration from. Otherwise the industrial touches help the mood, could they rein it in a little sure but the songs still hold hold even in light of some of the more indulgent sections.

Ghost : " Infestissumam"

O.k I liked Ghost's first album, but it eventually wore thin as most novelties do. The guitar sound was a little bland in it's attempt to replicate a retro sound and for all the reviews trying to proclaim it was the second coming of King Diamond, the vocals were a little weak and couldn't hold a single candle to the altar of Merciful Fate or even the King's solo work which is stronger vocally up til say the Spider's Lullaby.You are talking about comparing someone who struggles to reach a meager head voice against some one who has an upper range that knocks the steeple of most cathedrals, a very weak imitation the only thing he got right was the mid range moaning croon. But with the new album the Blue Oyster Cult influence comes comes through and there's barely a shadow of King Diamond.

I skipped over the melodramatic intro piece so we are just going to take it up from the first real song " Per Aspera Ad Inferni" very mid pace middle of the road piece of seventies rock, right from the first few notes you can tell it's benefiting from a much better production value. The keys take a better placement in the mix , the bass line also gives it some heft though I'm not sure I would really qualify this song as metal.

The Keyboards take on a more Door like psychedelic circus feel on "Secular Haze". The vocals very mid range and all signs of the mournful croon smoothed out, this could almost be a Porcupine Tree song. There is a more more progressive feel here, the bass player is killing it and has the only performance that's really shining so far so this song works as a whole, There is a dramatic shift in tone by the next song " Jigolo Har Megiddo" which has a cheerful bounce to it that negates any occultic darkness they might have to get them over where their lack of heaviness fall short. This would be an upbeat happy song if it was on a Queens of the Stoneage album so here it feels like a total misstep.

Some one ordered extra cheese with this album as the next song about an incubus is a piano ballad that at best heads into Emerson Lake and Palmer territory. The keyboards which had been the albums stronger suit to this point really weigh it down in a flaccid state. Mid way through the guitar builds into a sixties surf rock thing.While picking up the pacing is an improvement it doesn't win me totally over on this one.

I guess Stevie Nicks counts as occult rock because " Year Zero" feels like "Edge of Seventeen" the song's sense of movement compensates for its lack of punch.Then comes "Body and Blood" whose the first few chords like an Alice Cooper b-side from the drunken disco years. It pretty bland affair. Are they not aware of who their audience has been up until this point? I think most metal heads are going to be hard pressed to take this one seriously.

I mean i'm really baffled by the time it rolls around to the gleeful frolic of "Idolatrine" which has a Sesame Street melody. I think they must really be going for a Muppet audience on this and have been on a steady diet of Queens of the Stoneages happier moments. At this point I'm really suffering through this one. "Depth of Satan's Eyes" is the first thing on here that really has any kinship to the first album.It's fitting all the references to shit this song has as its pretty much describing the bulk of the album.

On the closer I can hear some Alice Cooper influence in the theatrical nature. The lyrics are pretty godawful. It does have a darker creep to it than what happened earlier in the album. The guitars are pretty weak throughout. The vocal melody doesnt bring anything to thye table and to be honest i miss when he was at least reaching for his pitiful falsetto as it was at least a change from this monotonous collect of half hearted melodies.

I have to around this down to a 3 as I feel it really wasted my time and I can't wait to delete it from my Itunes, its been a while since I have been this disappointed by something, not that I had very high expectations but happy devil ballads is pretty fucking rough.


3.5

Weekly Shuffle

O.k think I fell behind on this one last week when I went to Frolicon, so for future reference the week of a convention is anything goes and set your expectations low. So here we go kids hitting shuffle mode on the old iPod and reviewing the first ten songs that pop up.

"Moonchild" by Feilds of the Nephillim ...the guitars sound great on this . Sure they are very eighties goth but that's a great sound, the bass player is getting the job done and then some and the chant of Moonchild which builds into his trademark raspy bellow has plenty of time to surf the grooves. It sounds like he was just flying off the cuff went he went into the vocal booth on this but the looseness gives it a cool feel.

"Locust Star" by Neurosis...This marks their metal peak. "Souls at zero" is a darker album but "Through Sliver and Blood" is denser and heavier as this is where the modern sludge sound really emerged from the sonic cocoon. This chorus riff is just crushing the layers of sound on this bury you in a post apocalyptic wasteland. Listen to this and then tell me how awesome you think their new album is.

"Fang" by Chelsea Wolfe...well I guess it's time for her weekly appearence on her. This is a little more minimalist but when the drums come in the keep it moving like the ghost of Portishead haunting a bathtub suicide for beneath the bloody water. I like the guitar on here though the mix is a little clanging.

"In the Springtime of his Voodoo" by Tori Amos...When this album came out I wasn't sure what to make of it but the chorus of this song sold me on it as the build is pretty powerful how it congeals from the honky Tonk clamour of the verses. The Harpiscord on this is awesome and when she plays it and the piano simultaneously it makes me recoil from my piano for about a month. It does have Stark Trek references for the geeks out there.

"This, My Porcelain Life" by Rasptutina... The vocal layers used to make me jump when they showed up on the chorus. This pretty much a perfect song and these gals are capable of writing such a thing when they aren't clowning around writing side show soundtracks. I think the lyrics are very relatable and could have been applied to most of my relationships.

"The Girls of Porn" by Mr.Bungle ...I normally am not the biggest fan of humor in music if it's from an actual band so Songify and Lonely Island are o.k Mr. Bungle has a cool charm to them that transcends this like Zappa they are the rare bird capable to pull it off. This is pretty much a fucking classic and a classic about fucking. The bassit kills it in the most legit fashion and Mike Patton almost sounds like Cameo.

"Tribute" by Tenacious D... O.k my iPod thinks its being funny. File the D along side Lonely Island and even then their albums can get a little tedious but this is a tribute to the best song in the world so it makes the cut and it can stun beasts so if you need to stun one here you go. I do concede to the fact Jack Black can actually sing, goes to show what a steady diet of Dio can do.

"Bloden Horse" by True Widow...one of those albums that comes on shuffle and I think why don't I listen to these guys more. Not there first appearence on here. They are harder than indie rock but not trying to be Queens of the Stoneage either. The sluggish drug jangle is great for anytime of day. They harken by to bands like the Catherine Wheel. There's a certain drone to this but still the sense the song is moving along and. It just static. They are touring with Baroness which is a weird match.

"Kiss" by London After Midnight... This mix is from the A Life Less Lived, goth box set. I like the way this song sways into its dance beat rather than being a slave to it. The vocals really sound great here though I am generally not wowed by them. The chorus hook is pretty song as well. The bass line is taking over where the guitar would brand makes it sound more industrial than it really is.

"the Cult of Goliath" by Darkthrone...Well glad to end it with a little metal. You know how I feel a out there black and roll years...I like them as much as their more Cvlt stuff. This song has more bit than the Reston the stuff for. This era, I like how in the vocals the last note ends in such a harsh over driven tone. It's gritty enough for punk rockers as well who I think should give this era more of a listen.

Nails: "Abandon All Life"

This is a collection of aggressive outbursts that are sometimes not allowed to seethe into anything more complete than the Tourette's like explosion. A song like "Tyrant" however does work a lot into under a minute, after repeat listens I still think the first four songs are still only just the first song.

"God's Cold Hands" is the first song given the time to develop into anything and is more of a straight forward windmill of blasty hardcore thrashing than runs its course into a slowed grind of a chug. The first hint of anything melodic in nature doesn't come until "Wide Open Wound" then the riff is just a monster, it's at this slower pace I think they are more effective that at a blinding whip neck where everything is just thrown right past you. The more power violencey grind core had never been my thing so if that is what is going on in the quicker bursts then I can at least say they give it a more compelling case than most.

Converge is the main band who's influence is felt but only if you strip away all ambiance and experimentation, along with any haunting melodies those guys are known for and just strip it down it is angriest grime. These guys have a Slayer album or three in their collection as well as a healthy sensibility in regards to death metal, as there are some little Morbid Angel like harmonics worked into the title track which is just over a minute of full blast ahead. I think moments like in "No Surrender" when the dip into death metal is something they need to explore further.

What the album lacks for me in dynamics it often compensates for in the rabid venom witch which they attack these songs like frothing wolves. However there are more crushing riffs than there are crushing songs. I think the weakness with this sort of thing to be frank is the songs are kept at a minute long Becuase they are angry riffs but there's not enough off them or they are too punishing to work any sort of progressions around, I think they band is playing to their strengths by doing this. Even then a song like "Pariah" doesn't work for me is because it is too straight forward and full speed ahead that's it's bland and one dimensional. The closer " Suum Cuique" is the exception to the rule and leaves me wondering why they didn't write like this for the entire album or if they had would it have lost the effect?

For the asking scoring I didn't even count the songs that were under a minutes as they just sounded like ideas for songs which needed to be developed and the first three play as just one song. This thing is so heavy it powered it's way up to a 6, but it's longevity in my iPod is dependent on if something equally heavy comes along with actual songs instead of some pretty cool ideas that are allowed to develop, it's like fucking a minuteman still doesn't get the job done no matter how big his dick is because how many girls can cum in under a minute? And if they could why? If something feels good don't you want it to feel good longer? Maybe the type of stamina required to pull this off is easier done in a twenty minute set rather than a forty minute one.

Merchandise " Totale Nite e.p."

The Tampa trio are former straight edge hard core kids who began creating this music after the broke edge by smoking pot. Drugs bring about the best music. I got into these guys last year after hearing the Smiths name thrown around in reference to them but what I hearts often almost like a Witch House version of Roxy Music and their new e.p.shows a wide breadth of growth for the band who has reached a new clarity in song writing. By their own admission they are into shoe gaze by way of Miles Davis, yet their is much more old Cocteau Twins than Sketches of Spain.

The first song "Who are you" has a My Bloody Valentine drone to it, with harmonica sprinkled through out and the trippy flow of early Beatles drug days. the opener however is not afari precursor to what is to come even as ambitious as it is for some punks who started messing with keyboards five years ago.

"Anxiety's Door" has really the only trae of the Smiths to how the acoustic guitar sweeps in sorta like "Hand in Glove" . The vocals croon remind me more of a dead pan Bryan Ferry more than Moz. The people who have brought up Morrissey comparisons aren't familiar with Roxy Music so I can see where they would come up with that having no otherpoint of reference.

"I'll" Be Gone" these guys hit the mark perfectly, the dreamy melancholy provides a lush back ground for the matter of fact vocal delivery that creates something that wouldn't sound out of place as the soundtrack for a David Lynch movie. The lyrics describe how I feel pretty much ninety percent of the time. The guitar as an amazing sonic tone when it layers swathes of morose feedback over the proceedings. This is what it sounds like when you get an angry punk really high.

The title track has jagged showers of angular guitar which sound lifted of Bowie's "Scary Monsters" album being driven on a suicide mission by Tin Machine. The chaos ebbs and flows breaking down I the middle for the drums to fade back in an take back off with things as it builds into almost a commercial alternative radio rock type chorus...think Snow Patrol not Shinedown, though over all aside from the Bowie I can also detect some Pixies, like "Wave of Mutilation"

The closer " Winter's Dream" returns to the smooth surreal feel they captured early with " I'll Be Gone" but this is much more Roxy Music like a drugged out lost track from "Avalon". The debonair sway of the vocals really shines here,. It's great to hear them give their singer more space to work his magic and I hope the band continues to press forward in this direction. The guitar sounds on this album are all immaculate , wheni here their influences they are pulling for the best sources so no complaints. The lyrics are beautifully scathing with equal parts of self loathing "I'd sooner kill myself / than be someone else"... Those are lines I can relate to and very honest, which I think is where the Smiths connection is more in the raw emotional honesty conveyed I. The lyrics I think people here that kind of vulnerability and think of Morrissey who opened doors for others to pass through.

This gets a 10...the first song works but isn't the strongest yet the rest of the album is so incredible it balances out and you kind of grow to appreciate the opening. I like their earlier work but I'm glad they have come out for hiding behind the murky production and letting the songs shine and vocals break the surface.

Inter Arma : "Sky Burial"

The second full length by the Richmond based band that also shares half it's members with their side project Bastard Sapling,whose work I was more familiar with going into this one. Where Bastard Sapling managed to capture more of a Euro feel, this hits closer to the bands geography with the slow southern sludge dripping from the corners of this landscape often prone to vastness considering the Ambiant space they tend to allow the songs. A song like "Survival Fires" is allowed to float upward with the grace of Neurosis and then congeal back into the bulldozer rumble.

Well produced the vocals find themselves sitting further back into the mix, almost the same way black metal vocals are also produced and I suppose at times there might be justification to calling this blackened sludge as they hit a blast here and there, though I don't think they are this drummers forte. He is competent enough but these are are obviously the jazzier gravity variety.

The acoustic comes out sooner than I would have thought on the second song, which comes across more like an interlude or something from the Cowboy Junkies. This album does play better as a whole Peice rather than being broken up in shuffle mode, so this plays out like the intro for the third song, "The Long Road Home" which feels like a Nick Cave song from the onset, though the interplay between the keys and the guitar are also a little Pink Floyd. This is very well played and offers a broad swathe of dynamics as it fades down into the organ with a blast back into some nastiness for the last two minutes.

The drone of "Destroyer" is not unlike what a band like Yob is doing. The vocals are the Neurosis bellow on this one which are and angry chant against the pulse that makes scalding punches in places I wouldn't really call ita chorus by any means. When a song like this isn't really clicking for me I trace back to the source. So I know I like other music with droning hypnotic elements, the most obvious being one of my favorite bands Swans, who are a big influence on Neurosis, this bands most glaring influence. So what the Swans have to their relentless nature is layers of sonics and melody, where on this song those elements are flat and when the resolution comes in the last two minutes it's too little too late though I do like the soar of its initial burst. There a similar effect on the next track " sblood" though it think it works better here as the tempo is a intense drum assault, once again the building of layers upon this in a similar fashion that Neurosis takes cues from Swans on would make this a more compelling listen, instead it becomes almost a drum solo, sure it's well played but not plotted. The two minute mark seems to be a part of their formula as its once again where the transition occurs mainly the guitar goes into more of a chug and the vocals reach a shriek.

"Westward" leads off with a drone but this time is more sonic and captivating. The tempo shifts into a head knodding throb. The punches have the massive Neurosis lumber to them but they haven't done anything like this sense through sliver and blood so I'm fine with some idol worship here. I like the production of the vocals here, as they stay in an overdriven rasp as they songs makes you think it is teetering on the edge of chaos until in drops back down into a dirge march.

In closing with the title track the intro for some reason reminds me of Pink Floyd's "In the Flesh" before it falls back into a bluesy ambiance. The vocals go into the Scott Kelly impersonation of Tom Waits taking on a harsher quality as it builds. All of the guitar solos on this album are really dialed in it bears mentioning again if that point hasn't come across yet. I almost like the space blues sections better than the heavier counterpoints. I think it plays to their benefit when their beards are tipped more toward Pink Floyd than Neurosis asevenNeurosis hasn't been able to mimic Floyd so their own personality sines through like a crazy diamon rather than coming across like a Neurosis tribute band. Speaking of Neurosis tribute bands there's a Mastodon vibe when the song picks up near the final three minutes that is complete with a Mathy guitar interplay.

I think it's fair enough to give this ambitious slab an 8, as the songs are very well played and the drums and guitars shine through out. The vocals could use more melodic variance though are rescued by the production which helps make them a more interesting sonic layer when overdriven and left like a static coating which is the best bet for most harsh vocal stylings. This album sounds great and had a lot of work put into it and I think they really great moments it hits which lean back into the Pink Floyd realm of blues based psychedelics are what make it stand out from all the other bands doing this sort of thing.

Thyrfing : "De Odelosa"

While I know some have an aversion to pagan or Viking metal, I have had a LOTR marathon in the past month and have been known to carry a dice with more than six sides on my person, though I have never carried them in a fanny or ever slung them after hours in a comic book shop or your parents basement. Granted the darker the better for that sort of thing...the metal not the basement. This Swedish sextet is more epic than they are dark , thoughts their credit never hit that power metal level of frolicking .

Their most recent album Opens with the epic string build and keyboards scattered across the battlefield they ride across with a mid tempo gallop which is standard fare for Viking Metal. The growls on the lower side of midrange, nothing really blackened anywhere on this song. The only surprised was that they so quickly broke out the acoustic guitars on the first not one but twice, and then close it clean vocals, which to their credit are very tuneful in the Borknagar tradition.

The riffing on "Fordom" starts off as strong as a cursed sword, the keyboard which play in unison with the melody much like Moonsorrow's use of. The song marches on through the snow with heft to its step. I can see this appealing to fans of Unleashed yet wouldn't say this is death metal. The strength is riffs which work well within the unit as a whole and the more melodic passages keep the cheese to a low level. "Venners Fortall" has a brisk gallop without swinging the mead horn to readily. Good back ground music for any non-pussy Game of Thrones viewing parties, though this sort of metal can make it a literal no pussy party as its a sword fest waiting to happen. There's a cool riff post clean gang vocals on Venners. The keyboardist avoids being to Nightwish when he uses more of a piano tone and the clean vocals continue to have some balls to them.

"Illvija" could dial back the crashing waves effects at the beginning, the chug would have worked well enough.it has a midpaced stomp that still allows the guitars space to ring out. This isn't a slow song but doesn't have the same drive the first three songs did. The bands new drummer seems to adapted to the situation well and feels comfortable enough to take liberties with his fills. The vocals take on a more anguished rasp but not yet in the range of hate that is black metal, but I'm fine with that as its becoming more unique to not have black metal elements, yet the only problem is on songs like this it puts the bands in a bland middle of the road.

"Kamp" the folk metal comes out of the gate, though it's colored by a bluesy rock feel and the gallop the verse riff sails into has a rock swagger to it. It does tak on a powerful chug by it gets to the chorus. If they are planning on releasing a single this needs to be it , even with some power metal elements present, it's impressively written and combines all of the bands strong suits.

"Relik" has very Tyr-like punches at the onset and while the drumming is impressive , really what metal drummer shouldn't be and their is nothing that makes this song stand out from all the others bands of the same sub genre. The galloping is pretty fitting for any weekend of hardcore gaming you might have planned. They lay back into the solo on this one which is pretty tastefully executed. The last two songs of the album wrap thing up with a dark feel to them, the keyboard melody on "Vindoga" helps with this and the guitars have a more aggressive stomp to them. The layers here make it clear no expense was spared in production and even on the parts which might fall into the genre cliches they sound bigger and more cinematic this more forgivable.

I rounded this album down to a 7.5 as it adheres so closely to the conventions of the genre it doesn't really have enough of its own indentity the song "Kamp" is where I really feel we get to see who they are and perhaps buried under the chain mail there's a rock n roll band,which is cool by me . The album sounds great and is well played and if you only likeviking metal then I think this is one of the better crafted offerings from that genre as of late, but justwaittil Moonsorrowcomes home and your going to be in big trouble.