Pale Divine : " the Consequence of Time"

Over the years I have my my thoughts clear about power metal. I like the bands who inspired it , but the more recent take on it is typically too happy for me. As an avid player of Dungeons & Dragons I am the target audience. This morning due to current situations making others in my party less than eager to get out and play I have taken to playing a video game version and wanted a sound track for this.  I often get promos from record labels where there are multiple album on a single email so after two albums where the first song did not make me want to peruse them further these guys caught my ear. They have been around since 95 so know what they were doing. They got their start as more of a doom band and evolved into power metal. The first song has lower vocals and more attack to the guitar that is very Judas Priest, yeah even the vocals think of when Rob croons on their first few albums. It was an automatic winner.

The second song had shades of Iron Maiden's "Prisoner" in it's groove they also bring to the table influence from both Deep Purple and Rainbow. Some of this gets mashed together in more of a rock boogie on " Shadow's Own" that doesn't resonate with me as strongly. The higher vocal and smoother melody make me think of Deep Purple despite the more nuanced chug. The higher vocals might not be as strong , but are still more soulful than the operatic attempts of most power metal bands. The bass rumbled on "Phantasmagoria" in a manner than shows they still have a little doom to them. The melodies are more hopeful almost like Uriah Heap. They pull out a fucking killer riff on the title track. I say cool riffs alone does not a good song make is the rule of this blog, but they make a killer song out of it so this is what to do with a cool riff/.

They step on the gas with proto-thrash for the chug of "No Escape" which is pretty straight forward , like Diamond Head with more balls in the vocals . Yeah I guess that equates "Kill'em All". Fun but not the most interesting song on the album. There is a darker tone to the last song. I guess if you are hoping this band would go back to doom, this album might be a turn in another direction, but they prove more than worthy for the direction they are going in. The array of vocals colors add to the album's magic .I will round this up to a 9, it's cool to hear some straight up metal.

Witnesses : "Doom II"

This album,  would best be described as progressive doom as it is not afraid to go somewhere metal often does not venture.  There is little bong worship going on here and even less worship of Black Sabbath. Doom does not lend it self to a great deal of wanking so it does not often intersect with prog.  The side of progressive metal this album shares are winding songs  with a great deal of dynamics . Yet  it is still very heavy, there is some  \, but no real synth lines to take control of the songs. The vocals are very polished, but also soulf\and drenched in emotion. They remind me at times of Jared Leto. They soar in a way that might also put them in the same zip code as Pallbearer. Though the melodies are more pop due to the fact Kody Ternes is a session vocalist who normally does more electronica and pop. By his own admission he is more into Cold Play than metal. I think this was a smart move on the part of this project's brain child Greg Schwan. He could have hired a metal vocalist and then it would have been prone to sound like everything else.  He took a risk and it paid off.

At the end of the day I am pretty impressed with what goes down here. This is a concept album about a plague born at sea. So it is timely. It does also have a  theatrical nature of their concept finds them doing things like the creaking of the wooden ship. The riffs give the vocals space so they are not always the most crushing doom walls of fuzz. Instead they match the emotive nature of  vocals. There are a few blasts of black metal , though sans the screamed vocals.  The first of these is on the second song "I Hope Their Prayers Aren't Answered".  They generally keep a very dreary pace.  In some ways the bleak mood they maintain through out the album reminds me of the narrative found on the Murder By Death album " Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them" . Mood wise they are not playing murder country. There are huge dynamic shifts into passages that delve into spacious atmospheric drifts onto the still water. The darkness is a beautiful shade of dusk deep gray going into the title track.  By the time we get to " Who Were You Before All This" it is evident that Schwan can write a concept album with out the narrative being too cumbersome for the melodies.

The last song finds things getting heavier in a somewhat more conventional metal sense. It is a good dynamic for it to have more balls with out sacrificing any of the despairing mood in so doing. When they go into more of a chug is proves to be more powerful than if this was what they were beating you with the entire album.  I will give this album a 10 it is one of the best doom albums I have heard this year and accomplished this by not being afraid to step out of the doom metal box.

Blue Eyed Christ : " World On Fire"

T

his project goes for the 90s industrial sound. More like "Pretty Hate Machine " Nine Inch Nails than Ministry, or one of the many bands that tried to jump on the Nine Inch Nails bandwagon , like Filter or God Loves Under Water, though less rock n roll than Filter. Lyrically this dystopian ranting is very timely. Sadly all the anti establishment rivet heads I knew are now showing themselves to be poseurs and hiding when the government says "Boo!: these days . They go in a more Thrill Kill direction when the female vocals join them on the chorus of "America H". There is a pretty slinky bass line for this for the main sing song almost rap over. Somewhat "Down In It" .

"You are referencing too many other bands in this review, that is bad writing " you scream.

When you wear you influences this plainly on your sleeve you can not help but notice. If you are not aware this is happening and you think this is original then that is a problem. If not then know this is likely to be pointed out. "Manic Adderall' is less hooky or melody focused than the previous songs. Vocally this guy has little in terms of range to work with this more rap like spoken approach. This makes the need for groove more important. I think this project would benefit from more varied vocals and collaborators to add layer to the sound. The guitar riffs are driving, but very simple and the distortion sound is rough. I would have more effects on this guys voice. They become tiring by the time we get to "Take it to the Streets". There is an attempt to be darker , but it not effective. There is little in the way of groove which is what they need. Mea Fisher from Lords of Acid, is on the title track, which is what this album needs more of .

"System" is in two songs a part one and two, but it might as well be one song. Lyrically it is becoming redundant at this point , Killing Joke does it better. "the Wait is Over" is a pretty good song, and goes to show this project is capable of more than what we have gotten for the bulk of the album. "Slow Reverse" also shows what works for these guys. I think the bottom line is this album could have been darker and more experimental. I grew up as a teenager listening to this n the early 90s , I love industrial music because it is dark and experimental . I will give this a 7.5, if you did not progress past 95 or were never there for it then you might dig this.

Waxahatchee : " Saint Cloud"

The mission statement of this site is to spread sonic darkness. This is the light of sonic dusk. I have been covering more with a country flair. Here it s a subtle mix of pop with alternative country and then filtered back through pop again. Mainly due to the masterfully written vocal melodies of Katie Crutchfield. There is a touch of Indigo Girls mixed into the harmonies . They are doing this is such a smart manner , it breaks boundaries and is just plainly good much twangy jangle and all. She shows her upper range on "Fire". The is more of a rock feel to the palm muted guitar. By rock we are talking War on Drugs. The melodies and groove work flawlessly. This is next level songwriting. "Lilacs" has a touch of both Bob Dylan and Dolly Parton to it. The hooks are not as tight on this one.

She wrote these songs after getting sober, so there is where the underlying darkness is . After all some kind of pain and suffering is needed in order to capture something real. This album is really well produced . All the tones immaculate and sit right where they should. She stays in a mid range, mostly alto, not digging down to deep, but not afraid to flip over into her head register. 'Hell" is the album's next perfect moment. The lyrics really knocking it home. After reviewing the Gray Matter album where the lyrics were a draw back, it's a relief to hear some that resonate with real life themes and soul baring honesty. I do not care if you lie about everything else as long as your music is the truth. "Witches" is good , but not as good as the previous. It's more casual conversation. There is more of a rambling motion to the momentum of " War" that recalls the more upbeat moments of Fleetwood Mac , but with more serious self appraisal in the lyrics.

The introspective continues with the strum of "Arkadelphia" . It has more of a folk story telling to it. She hints at what doesn't work in 12 step culture for her in the lyrics. "Ruby Falls" is like a lazy river. I appreciate the lyrics but as far as melodies go the bar has been raised higher earlier in the album. It ends with the title track. It is more of a folk song, though country does leave it's mark in it. It is not as hooky and the lyrics are weighed down by their own narrative. The instrumentation is minimal. Piano and barely heard guitar. It is one of the album's longer songs because it is one of the slowest songs on the album. I will round it up to a 9.5,. There are no bad songs on it some just gripped me more than others. Some were just more infectious.

Grey Matter : " Climbing Out"

 I do not like ska for one reason...it's too happy for me. I used to think it was the horns , but David Bowie plays sax. Morphine uses sax. It shows up in some of the more progressive metal I like, so that is not the problem in and off it's self. Then you might think it's the bouncy rhythm. But " the Passenger" by Iggy is an example how this can still work. Bauhaus , Gang of Four and the Police all touch on that as well. This is what this band is going again. When it goes more toward the jazz side of things I am going to be fine with it , but ska well..um. The longest song is three and a half minutes. They use some dissonance on the opening track.  It has a darker undertone to it and gave me some hope about this album. It could have been combined with the second song and served as more of an intro. I can still with the unhinged screamo like explosion blended with chaos on "Not My Friend". I am not totally into these guys whole "social justice warrior" slant.  There is almost more of a King Missile thing with spoken word vocals of " Climbing Out" . It is still in  safe zone for me as it has not gotten ska  I might not like it as much as the first two songs , but it's still pretty decent.

They lyrics to 'Consent' are apologetic for being a man. Which I think is fucking bull shit and turns me off on the whole song. They are solidly punk rock on " Dang" the brass is used like smooth 80s jazz til things speed up. They are solid musicians .It sounds like what happens when Millennials get into music from the 90s. The longest song "Can't Go Back' does a good job of blending legit jazz with kinda hard core. More on the screamo side , as it is not as aggressive as hard core. "Upswing" finds him trying harder to sing. Not the most effective thing that happens on this album and it's also when things begin to get too happy.  "Mas Fuerte" is in two parts but it might as well be one song. The first part they are bitching about cops which is punk enough. "Greet Debt" they are bitching about gentrification. Hitting all the notes of the things millennials get fussy about. As a song if I ignore the bitching , it's pretty solid.

I like when things get moodier on "Downswing", I would like to hear more introspective stuff like this from them .  Midway into the song they go into a funky groove. I wish they would focus more on the music and less on the social justice warrior thing. It ruins what would be an otherwise impressive band. "Panic" finds him trying to sing again. This attempt is not much better. He kinda raps on the last song, which is more of what we have already gotten from these guys, but they are good at it. I hate most of the lyrics , but musically these guys are solid enough for me to give it an 8.5, this take on ska is still enough for me to digest if I ignore what they are saying.

Fellahin Fall : "Tar A-Kan"

This band from Brooklyn was hailed as being industrial , but it comes closer to mainstream nu-metal. More hard rock than metal. The vocals are more nu-metal, not unlike Godsmack or Breaking Benjamin, the difference is the grab for radio play is not awful. God Smack is fun, I can handle them. Lets hope it stays out of the Breaking Benjamin side of the equation. The baritone at it's best makes me think of Woods of Ypres. I would have really dug this back in 1999. In fact I was in a band kinda like this around that time.  But had come from punk and death metal bands so were more aggressive. These guys started as a darkwave band. Now 20 years after the rise of Hot Topic we have these doing this with beats closer to trap than Ministry. The vocals do get out of the baritone bellow on " My Hallow" which is more introspective not unlike the power ballads Cold pumped out.

Most of these songs' fate lies in the vocals . The guitars ride their middle of the road plodding chug.  Some of the vocal melodies are pretty decent, but it does make me just wanna listen to Woods of Ypres. Their drummer is really skilled and that aids the songs for sure. The flourishes of double bass are pretty tasty choices. "Bind" is pretty average in every way possible. Metal should not be average. These guys are just melodic hard rock with a dark streak, but even those bands should aspire to be heavier. The keyboards are more dominate. The electronic elements break them away from the more beer rock leanings of the Breaking Benjamin sound, and comes the closest to being industrial so far. The vocals are not as interesting as they have been on previous songs.

There is a more power ballad feel to "Tomorrow's Mourning" . One of the best songs due to the varied juxtaposition of sounds is "Rover" it marries a dancey beat to a solemn melody and the album's most thoughtful lyrics. I will round this one down to an 8 for some of the vocal choices, but these guys have potential and if more mainstream alternative rock with an electro grunge feel is your thing then you will be into this more than I am.

Sorge : " s/t "

If you are a regular reader here then you know I normally review albums in real time. Typically as I am listening to them for the first time. 90 percent of the reviews are done this way. If I sit on an album and give it multiple listens before reviewing it, then it's a good sign. That is what is playing into this band's favor.  The fact they are solid doom band that stands out from the others is also good for them. I love doom, November is now dedicated to it. It is one of my favorite sub-genres of metal with black metal neck and neck with it.  On their debut album guys take what works from the genre and make it there own. The vocals have a wail that falls in between King Diamond's mid -range  and Ian Astbury. Midway into the song they find a pretty solid head banging groove. This is more of the head banging of old , pre-death metal. There are some funky 70s inspired sounds here for sure, without this being a total Sabbath worship. They serve the song while giving themselves room to have fun and jam.

The second song is darker. It lumbers with more sinister intent than the first song which has a more lets take Acid and party in the Camaro feel.  This makes sense as lyrically there are drug references in the second song. The vocals are more intense crying out more dramatically. They hammer at you with larger sonics. Even building into a blast beat at the end. Though not going black metal with it. "Argent" is heavier and more doomed out. The space sounds still drip from the corners of the song. The vocal melodies are not as catchy as the first two songs , but the heavier music seems to balance it out. The guitars are well layered and pretty crushing. There is almost a sludge weight to how they come down upon you. 

The last song they lead into with a slinky palm muted creep. The drums bring the groove and they keep the cosmic weirdness going. Pretty much all the elements I dug in first 3 songs at work here. This is not to say all the songs sound the same. They do not. In the past year I have been complaining too many bands dial in a sound, but do not have songs. These guys are a solid example of how to do both. The vocals are more belted than crooned on this one. The spot light is on how  these riffs killing you. Their singer also plays guitar so that seems to be more of his focus on the past two songs. I will give this album a 9.5, not perfect in my mind due to the vocals taking more of a back seat, but I am a singer so that tends to be my focus. If you are a guitarist into doom then this might be the perfect album for you. I think the fact I am nit picking about if this album is perfect or not speaks as loud as these riffs as to how great it is. Sure it might still need to grow on me , but half the time I am debating on if I am going to listen to an album again, and I have already given this one a half dozen spins , which is big in my book. It is going to be hard for me to imagine this not making my top ten doom albums this year. It drops June 5th.