Close the Hatch : "Modern Witchcraft"

Shoe gazing sludge is going to be something I am on board for. The vocals are not the typical lumber jack grunts. The are dreamy murmurs that are the most atmospheric part of what is going on with the first song. If the Melvins got smacked out and decided to record while taking sleeping pills the results might be similar. They pack a punch even with the sluggish slumber creeping up on these riffs. The vocals have marginally more grit on a song like the title track where the narrative gets more serious. They are not a droning or hypnotic as say Jesu, but not far removed from their sonic zip code. Very syncopated in their rumble. This is one of the more interesting sludge album I have heard this year.  This is not dark or depressive like doom. It is introspective, where doom is mournful this is apathetic.

They are not afraid to get weird, but still stay focused on the songs. Often angular, they slide through surreal walls of feed back, yet the songs have a spacious feel to them. The vocals continue to have a slacker vibe to them. Going into lower moans at times. In places their is a sleazy Marilyn Manson like swagger to them. "Cordial Medusa" is more listless. It wanders into gray places and forgets. There sound however is so unique that it compensates when they get lost behind their own smoke and mirrors. "Thorazine Empire" shows how to do the 90s spawned loud to soft dynamic. They key is when you are not doing it all the time. So it works great here. These guys are not sticking to formulas. When they pull more conventional tricks out of the bag they work like they are new. The surreal sluggishness digs in deeper to the sonic coma of "Persona Non Grata" .  The way the shoe gazing feel ,creeps in is impressive because it is more of a feel thing than them trying to be My Bloody Valentine.

The last song works off the vibe they established in the previous song and gives it more movement. The guitar tones on this album are stellar. It took me a little while to get used to the murky mix but it makes sense. There is no growling , but they do talk in low creepy voices to get the mood more ominous. But when I lose track of where I am at in the song it is easy for the press stream to get going and then I realize I am back at the first song. So yes there is a uniform feel to their sound, but I also can just leave this album on and let it play. I will give this album a 9 and see how it grows on me.

...And Oceans : "Cosmic World Mother"

This album has a huge sound. It is also well executed by musicians who are skilled at their instruments. By the third song it is all beginning to run together, so while they have honed a sound, the song writing is almost not there. We are talking grandiose blasting, but only marginally different melodies hidden in the blur. Most of these are thanks to the key board. The screamed vocals are often mid-ranged and follow very similar patterns. Dimmu Borgir may get a great deal of criticism in black metal circles for being sell outs, but even their last album which just pushed past being mediocre for them is head and shoulders over these guys when it comes to song writing. Are these guys more legit when it comes to black metal. I mean Hellhammer has played for Dimmu so despite of what you think about them it sets the bar high, but to a novice listener with little understanding of the history, sure.

"As the After Becomes the Before" makes a modest attempt to set it self apart. I can hear that there is a more defined guitar riff here. Are these guys different than what I typically think of when it comes to black metal out of Finland? Yes. They are not Horna. I might prefer Horna. The double bass almost sounds triggered here. These guys are more of a machine than Horna, but I can feel what Horna is doing more. Why do you keep comparing these guys to other bands/.  Well what they are doing doesn't stand out from other over produced blast beaters. If you have been waiting 18 years for this album , you need to get a life. They did pick up right where they were 18 years ago , but is that a good thing or stagnation?

A more accented pounding  two songs after the title track gets to me check back into the album. "Oscillator Epitaph" might be the album's best song. It sets it self part from the rest. There is a keyboard interlude, that tries to pass it self off as an actual song. It is followed by some more dial by numbers symphonic black metal. The drumming on this one however is less annoying. I will give this album a 6, well made but otherwise empty.

Forgotten Tomb : "Nihilistic Estrangement"

This Italian band's album "We Owe You Nothing" made my top 10 death metal albums of 2017 list. This album is not as straight forward death metal. There is more of a throb than a driving thrash groove. The scathing vocals are more tortured in the hateful snarl, giving them a more black metal feel.  They lyrically I prefer where they are going with "Active Shooter".  Metal lyrics should make you uncomfortable and hit you where it hurts. This is way more real that metaphorical occult poetry that they are only into since it's the metal thing to do. His growl is mean , but you can still make out the words which to me give the subject matter improves the song writing.

Not sure why they are still being called goth anything. Yes there is a touch of that influence on the title track and a low spoken vocal on the first part of "Iris' House", but there is also some pretty bluesy guitar as well. The vocals do not have as much purpose as the do on the opening track. It is very dark. The pulse is creepy/ Not goth, but pretty grim. You can make out the lyrics more on the second part of "Iris' House" , which is a separate track. It reminds me more of  Shining, so I am going to say this is more of a black metal album than it is death metal.  The guitar playing steals the show not only on this song , but the album as a whole. I can hear the bass, which is more than I can say for most black metal bands and what helps give it that heavier death metal stomp.

"Distrust" has more of a street wise gallop to it. It is very metal, but still has some sonic sting to it. As I mentioned before the title track is more melodic and I can hear where some of the inspiration for the melodies layered in there might come from bands like the Cure. But this is not the darkest song on the album by any means.  The last song is more like other black metal I have heard while still holding their sound, the song writing is more dialed in than the other songs on this album. I will give this album a 9 as aside form the less inspired closing track it is really solid and has a great deal of feeling behind it.

Secrets of the Moon : " Black House"

It have have been since 2012 that I gave these guys a listen. How things have changed. I am fine with them being a goth band I just hope they have not forsaken their metal side altogether. They have not had the German stiffness to their sound, though it would make more sense for them to go in an industrial direction than the more romantically layered guitars. By end of the first song the vocals do get more aggressive. It might be way more accessible , but I do like the vocals that lead into "Don't Look Now". The ghostly vocals layers in the background are cool. It is almost like these guys are a different band altogether. While I appreciate what they are doing, they might as well just changed their name. Jarboe joined them on these sessions , so that gets points in my book.

They are more straight up jangling rock in roll, with "Veronica's Room" . I obviously missed the album that bridged this transition, but I despite what most might think, I do not want every band to turn into a goth band. If you were metal, please do be dark, but be a metal band.  Guitar solos do not make you a metal band. They thrown some in like it should be a reminder of who they were. The hammer on like a metal player would though. Their bass player remembers they were a metal band, this can be felt on " He is Here". The vocals take on a more Mike Patton like bellow to them. "Cotard" leans more in a metal direction. There is a touch of 90s rock to the title track. This makes it harder than the more Mission UK feel of the previous songs, but not metal. It's still a well written song.

There was some debate on a site that I write for if saying a band's sound is maturing is wanting them to become more mainstream. I do not listen to the radio. Yes I do listen to pop music, but I seek that out without help from mainstream media, so I have no horse in the race. I have been listening to metal for 35 years . What might be called goth for 30. As long as the Cure doesn't try to make a metal album I am fine. I think we all learned our lesson when Morbid Angel tried to sound like KMFDM. I was never a huge fan of these guys. When it came to metal, they were pretty much middle of the road black metal to begin with so it is no great loss to the state of metal that these guys have crossed over into another genre. I am glad they give more of an edge to "Heart". I am ok without blast beats. Yet even this song could use a little more balls. By the time we got to the last song 'Earth Hour" it feels they had begun to run of of gas in the song writing tank. As the album progressed it retained the cool sound, but the songs had less to them. I will give this one an 8.5.

Green Carnation : "Leaves of Yesteryear"

Formed by Emperor bassist Tchort , this Norwegian band stays on the more progressive and melodic side of metal. Members of this band also play in In the Woods. Despite their collective black metal pasts , there is almost more of a power metal feel to what they do. Granted they did start off more like an early Opeth thing and their sound has matured over the years. This maturation process is still in effect. These guys are a band I have always liked for the past 20 years, but often forget about. This album starts off not as dark as what I have heard from them in the past , though by "Sentinels" leans more in that direction for the verses, while the chorus has more of an uplifting mood to it's epic nature which comes with the genre. I feel this just clicks with me mood wise more on the second song. It's gallop is pretty powerful in the most epic way.

I would say this kind of power metal leaning is more often not my thing , but Iron Maiden who invented this is one of my favorite bands. I also used to really be into Queensyrche. I think these guys do it with enough edge to them to keep my interest and the fact that really care about the songs helps. Without question they are great musicians. I think some of the shadow could have been added in post production. Less mid range, more reverb and bass, you are half way to Type O Negative. This might be a only five songs but two of those are over ten minutes, in fact " My Dark Reflections of Life and Death" is 15 minutes. .The vocals take on a Warrell Dane like croon. The song is very dynamic with out veering off course. If you want to keep your progressive metal heavy, these guys have a decent handle on that front.

They wander a bit until "Hounds" finds it's legs when the chorus kicks in just right. The drums help to get the song moving. The bass tone could have a little more balls to it, but over all  this song works and is catchy enough for me. I mean they do a pretty spot on cover "Solitude" with just a piano. I will give this album a 9, if you are like me and you play Dungeons & dragons so the concept of power or progressive metal is appealing , but is often not dark or heavy enough then these guys have got you covered.

Lesser Glow : "Nullity"

Being a band from Boston must be rough as you have to sort through all the Berklee kids who know all these time signatures , but not how to put them into a song that people want to listen. This is also the second band I have reviewed today that is from the Mastodon school of thought . The first was the new Barishi, which you would like if you like these guys though they are more death metal, where these guys are more sludge and employ bursts of clean singing .The clean singing doesn't click for me until the third song "Fostering this Nullity". It is also darker and more brooding which works. They are more concern with the math of it all on the first couple of song that run together.  the second song sound just like an extension of the first song which makes since in my mind as this is  the kind of band that would have 7 minute songs . To their credit they only have two of these , the title track being one of them.

"Alone In the Column" is an song that feels like the further progression of one before it. It is moody and in places makes me think of Dredg.  They get heavier on "Versterven". The haze of fuzzed out guitar is layered more like shoe gaze than metal. It's a better sound than it is a song. It is the band's more melodic vocals that seems to be the key for song writing clicking. Even when they get into something as ethereal as "I am the Island". It's dark with the guitar creating a drifting mist of chords. By the time we get to "the Great Filter" things have run together for me. I have to listen for the sun vocals to tell the songs apart. The gloomy vocals at the beginning give the song more character than the growled ones. There is a hint of Alice In Chains to the way the vocal melodies fall.

The last song kind of rumbles out with more of a sludge chug, but as a long is less defined than the ones on the first half of the album. I can appreciate the surreal shoe gaze like quality, but it begins to become uniform.  Over all I will give this album an 8 as I think they succeeded in what they set out to do and the vocals make them a little more interesting than your average band attempting this. This comes out May 29th on Pelagic Records.

Looking Back In Anger : Motorhead's "Ace of Spades"

It' was  Motorhead day, so it only made sense to look back and see how one of their most popular albums holds up over time. The 1980 album many pedestrian Motorhead fans own is actually their fourth . It broke them to bigger audiences with the title track that opens the album, but what about the other songs on the album. Have you even listened past the first song? We are going to see how this album is as a whole. Lyrically "Love Me Like a Reptile" muses similar themes they would return to on "Killed By Death" in 84. I think "Killed By Death " is the better song. They are like a more meth driven version of AC/DC on "Shoot You in the Back" even more rough around the edges and raw. The fuzzy rumble has more groove than the previous song so works for me.  It does make sense why Motorhead is the one "Metal" punks seem to latch onto. Though this album is more just pumped up rock n roll than metal. "Live to Win" works off this energy with it's street wise charm.

" Fast and Loose" has a great deal of swagger. Lemmy does what he does. The guitar carries more of the song than his snarling bass. Next to the title track "We are the Road  Crew" might be the most iconic on this album. The song writing just clicks here as they are not doing anything dynamically different , but allowing the vocals to sit on the bounce of the guitar marginally better. There is a touch of Jimi Hendrix influence on the guitar going into "Fire Fire Fire".  Fast Eddie Clark is an under rated guitarist. Animal Taylor also shines on this one.  Gang vocals on the chorus lend more of a punk touch. "Jailbait" is the most metal song on the album. Can you imagine if this came out in 2020? The Me Too crowd would lose their shit. I wonder how many of them own this album, you know like the Instagram punk chicks? They probably have not listened past "Ace of Spades" to look cool at parties.

"Dance" is a reckless rock n roll that numbers itself self along with the previous song as one of the albums best cuts. While "Bite the Bullet" is pretty much run of the mill rock n roll, "the Chase is Bette than the Catch" is the albums best song. It has more of a metal chug to it while lending itself to be one of the album's most melodic songs. "the Hammer" is pretty much more of the same from these guys, what you expect from typical Motorhead, so almost filler. I will give this album a 9, so not the masterpiece it is painted to be, but pretty fun album none the less. They have better album both before and after this one came out. Popularity does not account for quality if we are talking about what is truly the band's best album.