Vous Autres : "Champ Du Sang"

This French duo delves into a very interesting realm of blackness. The riffs lumbering like apocalyptic monoliths. It also seems like one of those albums where the opening song is so fucking heavy it is not until the second song that you are able to beg the question..."But can you write a fucking song?" They do prove themselves capable of deviating from pulverizing you to incorporate dynamics with atmosphere. The second song indulges in this even further which gives me hope for the album as a whole. The vocals remain very scathing. The guitar sounds gets creepy when it is not dense and metallic. While this is referred to as blackened sludge, it feels more to me like a down tuned and gritty take on depressive black metal. The melodic tendencies of the 3rd song create a mood to help solidify me thinking of them as a depressive black metal band.

They do begin to get angrier. This doesn't make them monochromatic. They can balance their anger with the vision of the hellish maze of musical torment the songs yearn to invoke.Where other bands might make the same amount of atmosphere feel shoegaze, these guys keep it creepy. Though there are some moments that do border being a darker take on post-rock due to the spacious minimalist arrangement. When the harsh vocals come in they always seem to get heavy, but aside from that I don't think these guys have a formula they default to. There as some weighty moments of guitar that have more of a doomy pound. This album really has incredible guitar sounds so they can play any brand of metal and sound vastly darker than their peers.

The guitar tones alone can not carry a record, so it is the beautiful sense of balance in their song writing that makes up the rest of the difference. The tremolo picked guitar and the menacing crashes of double bass certainly maintain the sense of sonic heaviness. I will give this album a 9. It's really well done and  for what it is pretty original sounding. Glad to hear France is back in the game when it comes to black metal.

Dead to a Dying World : "Elegy"

Wow things have changed. The first song sounds more like Nick Cave than the band I remember. I love Nick Cave so I am not complaining. There is a more familiar metallic kick to " the Seer's Embrace". There is a higher vocal that is kinda black metal in it's malice , but overall the song is more sludge. Sonically it is occupying a similar space as the last Amen Ra album. The use of clean vocals is well done and not a good cop/ bad cop trade off. The use of strings also adds texture. I can hear where people might be quick to call it post-rock. This album also features guest performances by two former Swans members, Jarboe and Thor Harris, who appear on "Vernal Equinox" . So how can they go wrong ? The album is really dialed in when it comes to the sense of dynamics.

They blacken their sludge on "Empty Hands, Hollow Hymns". The first three minutes are very focused on the metallic intensity, before they become more expansive in the sounds they bring to the table at the other 8 minutes unfolds. This is less experimental in the range of atmosphere employed. Thus it falls in line with more traditional sludge. Midway there is a break down where it drops to strings and guitar, but there are many sludge bands that are no strangers to post-rock leanings. There is a more Agalloch like drone to the neo folk of "Hewn From Falling Water".

They close with the longest song which is the 14 and a half minutes of "Of Moss and Stone" Jarboe lends her voice to this one as well. When it comes to the more metal display of power, they don't go anywhere they have not already been though the double bass is more relentless in the heavier moment  in the first half of the song. A minute and a half of chaotic noise could have been trimmed off the end of the song. Otherwise it builds into the most black metal moment of the album.  I will give this album a 9 and see how it grows on me. It is more hypnotic than it is heavy so take that in mind going into this. It is being released on Profound Lore. 

 

Crowhurst : " III"

The opening song, sticks closer to a more traditional form of black metal, without relying solely on blast beats. Its on Self Portrait with Halo and Snake  that things get interesting for it starts of with a more post-punk feel. Low baritone vocals carry a haunting melody. The guitar has a more indie rock angle to it. The song does swell into harsh vocals , but everything is very smooth. These vocals continue on into the song after this. The guitars have more of a narcotic sonic feel to them here. Almost shoe-gaze in the hazy nature they drone with their melodies. A formula begins to develop as this song also builds into a harsher vocals. It flows very naturally. While many bands have tried to pair shoe gaze with black metal , not many get the right balance like these guys do.

Nachymystium might be a good reference point for the direction of this new darker sonic space the band is embarking upon. The guitars are really doing some interesting things which requires the drummer using the restraint to give them the space to do so. I can see where at this point in time if you showed up for a black metal album you might be disappointed or confused. Given my musical tastes however I am blissed out by this shift. Things grow more ominous on " la faim". The vocals take on more of a Danzig feel.By Danzig , I am referring more to Samhain. It is as heavy as it is sonic , which is always a sweet spot for me. It sounds great , but from a song writing perspective works off the one drone.

"Ghost Tropic " takes elements of the despondent sounds a band like Swans employs and sets it against a rawly emoted anguish. I am not sure I would call this black metal, but it comes closest to being depressive black metal. I have mentioned Nachtmystium before in conjunction to the kind of dismal sonic space they are moving into on this album, and that comparison is even more warranted on the song "Five Characters in Search of an Exit". The build a storm of dense noise and anger here. The vocals have a mean snarl to them.  The song collapse midway into it and becomes electronic noise that goes into an almost industrial pound despite being so disjointed. I will round this up to a 9.5 , as it shows a great deal of growth, even it that growth came at the price of growing away from black metal.

Moontooth : "Crux"

So I found these guys in the comments section of a post Revolver Magazine made asking who was going to be the break out band of 2019. I listened to a few of these bands and that review is here...


https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/04/breaking-out-vs-breaking-bad-class-of.html

This is the band's second album and it opens with  a faster more metallic take than what I heard the band do previous , which was the more ballad like title track from this album. It sounds like a pumped up version of Sliversun Pickups. Not really blown away by it. I can also hear less proggy stabs in the direction of Coheed and Cambria on "Omega". I think the more uptempo stuff fails to let shine the previous ear for melody that made me want check out an entire album in the first place. In this song when they do slow down it's an improvement. It is not until "Through Ash" that I hear any of that. The guitar playing is skilled and well produced. "Through Ash" is a vast improvement as it feels like they are not trying so hard and it flows in a more original direction. When they do build it up there is a greater sense of dynamics.

I think the problem with their more upbeat stuff is it all begins to sound the same. "Thorns" sounds like half the songs I have already heard on this album. Perhaps a more well done. Some of the more rock moments where they let up on the gas work well, and perhaps it's the drummer's fault as he tends to only have 3 variations of fast beats. "Motionless in Sky" .  In the more restrained progressive they are like a hard rock version of Dave Matthews. When they can create a blend of melodies and grooves like they do on "Thumb Spike" , why are they not doing this on a more regular basis as it is obvious this it where there strength lies . "Awe at All Angles" shows they can play at faster speeds and not have it sound like all the other songs. The title track does get metal at the end employing harsher vocals. The last song is kinda lukewarm, better than some of the fast shit though. I will give this album an 8.5, fun listen, nothing profound or ground breaking in any way.

Breaking Out Vs Breaking Bad : the Class of 2019

On Revolver Magazine's Facebook page they asked "Who Will Be 2019's Break Out Band" . So I picked ten bands whose names keep popping up. Granted this is Revolver so I went into it knowing it was going to be more mainstream than what I normally listen to. In fact there are a few bands that are rock n roll and not metal. Also what the fuck, how is nu-metal making a comeback, half these bands have a foot in nu-metal if not packing up and going to a Juggalo gathering. Here we go...


12 ft ninja 

Song I checked out - "One Hand Killing"

These guys are nu-metal,at first  the vocals remind me of Methods of Mayhem before they totally try to rip off Mike Patton.  They bring it a little more into 2019 with djent like syncopation. They are good at what they do, if you miss Incubus these guys are for you.

Alien Weaponry 

Song I checked out - "Kai Tangata"

The guitars kick in like Slipknot, but then things sound like Sepultura going more nu-metal than they did on "Roots". The clean vocals are kinda typical. Nothing special here.

Jinjer 

Song I checked out - "Pieces"

They are like a marginally more proggy version of  In This Moment . Their singer could use bigger tits. The guitar is better than the two previous bands.

Knocked Loose 

Song I checked out -"Mistakes Like Fractures"

Fuck the vocals are terrible. Other wise they are pretty generic metal core

Badflower 

Song I checked out - "Ghost"

Well this is the poppiest so far. But it is also most well written song so far. This is not metal even when it builds on the chorus. It is like Myspace never went away.

Moontooth

Song I checked out - "Crux"

This is not metal, but the guitar playing sounds good. This is like a pop country power ballad. The singer is pretty decent. These guys are neck and neck with the previous band. The singer sounds like he is from the Voice, as every thing is phrased with pop radio precision.

Psykotribe 

Song I checked out - "Take Control"

The riff is the most metal so far. I think it's a chick singers, she has a thrash metal. Not a great voice , but it works with what they are doing. Nothing that original.

Fever 333

Song I checked out - "Burn It "

Another nu-metal band, shit what is up with all these Hot Topic babies. These guys want to be Rage Against the Machine, but need a better bass player and drummer. The chorus sucks as it sounds like Linkin Park, who was the worst of the nu-metal bands.

Tetrarch 

Song I checked out - "Freak"

These guys are not bad, but there is a faint hint of Linkin Park that I am not sure about, as I hated that band so anything that reminds me of them is suspect, but these guys at least captured some of the darker parts of nu-metal that worked.

Liliac 

Song I checked out- "Enter Sandman"

Not sure why they were mentioned by multiple people as they are a cover band. To break out I think you have to write your own songs. Best case scenario they are a rock Hanson. Perhaps when she finishes growing up the drummer might be hot, not sure if that is enough to push them over the edge, since they are in Los Angles where that is a dime a dozen.

My verdict is it's a toss up between Moontooth and Badflower, though I would give Moontooth the edge as they are a little further removed  from the Myspace years.

Tamaryn : " Dreaming the Dark"

After clicking through and endless stream of albums from bands with good sounds but not good songs, it was a welcome relief to find an album that is focused on songs. I really liked her 2015 album "Crane Kiss" so that is the bar that is being held for her newest. It doesn't have the dense shoe gaze fog to it and is more stream lined like 80s new wave pop. Her voice is more lilted in more of an Annie Lennox direction. The production mimics the era being recaptured as things are purposefully more lo-fi and analog sounding. This is most profoundly felt in the beats. "Terrified" has a stronger melody and more nuanced vocal performance than the opener. I can hear and influence from both Tears for Fears and Roxy Music in the instrumentation.

There is a marginally darker sound on "Path To Love" as she sings in a lower alto. The guitar sounds on this album began to take on a little more of a Cure like quality in the effects that they are run through. This is more pronounced as the album gradually grows even darker on "Fits of Rage" . The vocals are smoother, yet get angrier on the chorus . This is interestingly counter balanced by the way she throws her voice around.  I know I am only four songs into this , but it seems like this is going to be the album's best song.  The album continues in more of a 4AD direction on "Paranoia IV" .  The vocal to this song is the first hint of Siouxsie have detected, which would have been an easy default mode. Things shift to more of an upbeat Depeche Mode vibe with "Victim Complex". The chorus to this song is pretty solid.

The dreamy "You're Adored" . Finds the vocals taking a more ethereal sound, and not in the more dominant place in the mix that they were on the pop songs. This is given a hard turn to the opposite direction for "the Jealous Kind".  It's almost a few bpms to happy for me. Things return to a more shadowy place on the title track that closes the album. While it is a little anti climactic, it's a decent song. Over all I will give this album a 9, I need to give a few listens with head phones to really sink into it.

Priests : " the Seduction of Kansas"

While it got a  great deal of  critical acclaim I never really gave  "Nothing Feels Natural " much of a listen. Because despite what I do here, I don't invest much in the record reviews of others, because, I am more concerned with how album is going to compare to the kinda of stuff I normally like. I did go back and check "Nothing Feels Natural " out after listening to this album, and it is safe to say this one doesn't come close to comparing. In fact the first song has more of a new wave Blondie like vibe to it. The guitars when they are audible are not as cool as the tones captured on the first album.   

The title track is more angular in it's groove. The production is a little weird . Most new wave from the 80s had a deep reverb to the mix, where this mix is very dry with the vocals up front. The bass begins to fill some of the gaps on "YouTube Sartre" while the guitar goes off into weirdness. So far the production on this album is very inconsistent. My first impression is the bass needs more balls to it. As it is it keeps the groove from being as slinky as it should be. On a song like "I'm Clean" the song writing compensates for this.  They begin to run out of gas on "Ice Cream" . At times they get more upbeat, but I would never call this band punk by any stretch of the term. I am glad they do get marginally more aggressive on "Good Time Charlie" .

In terms of song writing they are hit or miss for every good song there is something like "68 Screen" that seems like an idea of a song that was never fully fleshed out. They do manage a pretty decent guitar tone for " Not Perceived" , this allows for the song to be a little moodier. This song also offers more in terms of dynamics. The guitar becomes more discordant. Lyrically I think this is also the most interesting song so far. They get closer to the zip code of punk on "Control Freak" .  That however does not mean it's one of the album's best songs, as it's not as inspired as most. They continue in the same direction , but with less of an edge on "Carol".

Truth be told I would say this is new wave influence indie rock rather than post- punk, because this album is not dark nor is it driven by tension, which are the two most important qualities of how I would define post-punk in how it stands apart from rock music or punk. There is more of a Sonic Youth feel to "Texas Instruments" .The lyrics to this song are the most overtly political, but are balanced out by the music so I don't feel like I am being preached at. I will round this down to a 7.5 there are a few strong song, and then the rest is not a bad listen just not the most consistent. Compared to the first album she has improved as a singer, but the songs are not as good.