Cactus Black : "the Marrow of Our Truth"

This is a nice bit of folk tinged rock. Moody on the first song , sung in a mid tenor range. It is not until the second song that more of an aggressive mood creep from the edges of the vocals as the guitars brood like a storm. When the song builds up there is a collision of everything from punk to country going on. There is a restrained tension, where they are rowdy but not letting it all out like if this was metal where they just attack. There are some hints of heavy dynamics in how things develop, which works for these guys. I am fine with them doing their own  thing as it works really well in the first two songs. "Poor as Dirt" finds the at first relaxing back into more of a western place until the pace picks up. The vocals develop a throatier bellow. They prove they can be explosive as needed with some of the outburst used to convey the violence in the bank robbing lyrics. 

It is interesting how these guys fall somewhere between the Menzingers and Murder By Death. Vocally he is capable of dropping into a more melodic singing voice on some of the more folk like introspections on "After the Hold Up". Yes this is a concept album about bank robbers. I am not sure that makes these guys outlaw country as the country part is not as thick as most bands that dabble in that. I guess somewhat unironically things get heavier going into "Carry That Weight", though these guys are more punk in their intentions than metal. The vocals are a more aggressive shout on this. 

The dark groove on "Jesus of Ohio" really rules, it is the album's best song so far. Though I have yet to come across a song I dislike. They get back to a more staccato folk tune with a bit of rambling country attitude to it on "State Man". There is even more swagger summoned up with the brass added to the boozy folk of "Whiskey With a Ghost".  The lazy strum continues as the story begins to wind down on "7 Years on Death Row "  This is not the first time the vocals have taken on an emo like pleading quality but it is noticeable enough here for me to point it out again. I am fine with this. The last song builds off that same emo folk thing and works in a summary of what they are about as a band in  the way the dynamics climax back up into a rock feel. I will give this album a 10 , it is one of the best new dynamic rock releases I have heard in a minute.

8

Book of Wyrms : "Occult New Age"

The kind of retro tinged stoner proto metal that rose to a new level of popularity just over a decade ago is back with this band from Virginia. The Lindseys are a husband and wife team, with Sarah singing and Jay playing bass. The guitars are pretty dominate in the mix of these very jammy tunes. They move at the pace of Ted Nugent with more boogie than doom lumbering, though the Sabbath influence can be felt, however at no point in time do they feel like a tribute band which is one thing I like about them. They do get into a more doom like heaviness going into "Hollergoblin". This shifts into a more drugged out groove. I like that they are quick to think out of the stoner metal box. The vocal melody which comes in four minutes into this 8 minute song glides over the song well. 

With each song it seems like they are progressively getting darker. By the time we are at "Keinhora"they have turned in more of a doom direction. The gloomy vocals are able to have plenty of room to properly haunt the song. "Speedball Sorcerer" finds them inhaling from the bong and going into the kinda of metallic shuffle that colors more mainstream stoner rock. It is colored with flourishes of synths and guitar licks to keep it from being too much of a booted fairy spectacle. They continue to party down the a similar path just with a different groove on " Weather Worker" . The drum fills in a couple spots remind me of "the Wizard" by Sabbath, but as a whole this is jammed out enough they it is a part of their own sound. 

For the last song "Dracula Practice' things get a little darker,  you almost have to if you are writing a song about Dracula. he melodic section four and a half minutes in where the guitar solos simmers from is really cool and all the groove that surround it. This might be the album's best song.   I will give this album a 9 it is really solid and well down,  sounds great has a warm organic sound without coming across like they are trying to hard to capture a bygone era.  Everything flows really well and I bet these guys are a blast to see live if that ever happens again. 

 

.4

Green Lung : "Black Harvest"

 

The first track finds the British band in a more Rush like prog place than anywhere near doom, it's mainly an intro as the real first song is "Old Gods Final". It still has a Deep Purple like prog feel, some of this in part to the vocals which has a dramatic sneer not unlike Ian Gillian's mid range. "Leaders of the Blind" is a little too happy for me in the way it picks up the pace. the vocals are not as memorable as they were in the first song though in places the guitars get a little more aggressive. The guitar solo had more flash than expected and will also appeal to the metal minded. There is more of a stompy stoner metal feel to "Reapers Scythe". The vocals seem to be trying to find their place amid all that is going on musical between the key boards and the guitar. He does sing up into his upper register on this one, which is cool to hear that he is at least willing to give it a shot.

I appreciate the more melodic shift on "Graveyard Sun" , but the vocals are not very hooky. The chorus works but not something that is going to get stuck in my head any time soon. Not a dark song, but moodier than the previous songs. If you were unsure about flashy guitar work being their thing , they are going to remind you with "Black Harvest".  I am only marginally impressed by that sort of thing but not going to tell you he is not a great guitar player either. The fact the guitar is not Sabbath dark makes me think more of Blue Oyster Cult. It is also why this doesn't strike me as all that heavy. Even with the Hammer Horror Satanic lyrics. When they take a right turn and make less of an attempt to be metal or spooky it works better as it is becoming something that is not who they are , which is what makes "You Bear the Mark: work for them. Despite the fact they are still trying to hard with the lyrics and throw what might be metal riff in if they were executed with more aggression. Some times the guitar reminds me more of Queen.  

They to crunch you back to the old days with the more metal minded riff to "Doomsayer". Is it the album's best song ? No, but it is big dumb fun and catchier than many of the songs. The last song "Born to a Dying World" flirts with gospel like organ sounds.  Not that this is not something that bands like Deep Purple who were also very soulful have already done. It is the more rock punches to this song that make it work best thought blues  direction of the guitar is pretty great. I will give this one an 8.5. It is a excellent album, but I prefer what they did on the one before the more, it was a little darker. This album drops October 22nd on Svart Records. 

 

Year of No Light : " Consolamentum"

 This French sludge project delves deeply into post rock. I am unsure how many members are in the band as I have seen pictures with as many as 9 , but they seem to tour with six. The opening track is big and cinematic and for a 12 minute instrumental they kept my attention so they must be doing something right. It can not all just be capturing a sound , there has to be a sense of composition if not song writing in play. The second song , is not as heavy but more post rock in the sweepingly grandiose soundtrack feel . This one is seven a half minutes, the two drummers are earning their pay with this one.  Sonically the scope of what they do here and the scale of dynamics employed could easily appeal to fans of more progressive appeal and I feel like post- rock has always had one foot in prog while pretending to not be as pretentious. I like how they pound the point home and bring the heavy back in the last two minutes of the song. 

The third song is darker in tone and more doom like in the deliberate manner it trudges to life. Five and a half minutes into things the riff shifts into something more doom like. The laying of sound they have crafted does make a good argument for the small orchestra of a band assembled to create this. The song slowly builds speed until they are hitting you with a much more punishing pounding of sound.  They make the 11 minutes pass by pretty easily so they must be doing something right. At almost thirteen minutes the fourth song is just a little longer than the opening track , though it is more atmospheric and tender in it's intentions. This is the first song that sheds all metallic aspirations and soars into a place more focused on the post rock dynamic. A few minutes into this one the mood changes and a more foreboding aggression clenches it's teeth in the manner of attack. In many ways these guys are not far removed from the kind of sonic ground covered by Russian Circles , though the bass lines are not the primary back bone .

Where guitar drove the point home earlier the synths that jockey for equal footing in the mix here, bring a retro sci-fi soundtrack here. More Kraut rock in the droning throb that they build around. By sci-fi this is big budget art house not campy 60s sci fi.  The first six minutes work of  the spacey narcotic drone I mentioned earlier. The fact that it can hold my attention as an instrumental says something. In fact it is a pretty solid testament to this entire album since instrumental music is not normally what I listen to and tends to fall along the lines of what I appreciate, to to win me over this album gets a 9.

LLNN : "Unmaker"

These angry Danes are ready to challenge Ruin for heaviest album of the year. Though it is more melodic than their last album "Deads". This is not just the weight they are hitting you with , but a much more musical affair than the sheer punishment of the grooves they dealt out back in 2018. The vocals are still very much on the hard core side more of a shout. The riffs cross over into many dimensions of heavy. They could be sludged out hard core break downs. I do get half way into the second song before I realize that it is not the first song any more so there is a bit of uniformity in the sound they are choosing to run with. It is not until the lower more death metal vocals come in that things break up a bit. They do redeem themselves as songwriters with the more dynamic loud to soft with "Obsidian" giving the frantic rant of the vocals more space to breath , this makes the crushing come downs more effective.

After we  go thru a atmospheric interlude we get to "Scion" which is cool but works more of a similar sound we have heard before, as they stomp through the paces. I am more impressed by the depth they add to things on "Interloper". It is also the first song where lyrics I could make out amid the screaming stood out to me. "Division' focuses more on beating your head in with it's dense and deliberate groove, which they are good at . Intense but not the most adventurous moment. They continue assaulting you with brutal  heaviness in the attack of  'Forger". There are moments of ambiance mixed in but once again this is more about kicking your teeth through your ears. 

Despite being able to pull heavy ass riffs out at any given moment they keep things compact and under six minutes on every song but "Tethers". They make the most out of the six minutes though perhaps the songs most compelling moments are when it breaks down and the bass is carrying most of the weight. One of the albums better songs with out question. So they end the album with their strongest, as the very last thing is an ambient noise outro piece. I will give this one a 9.5. It might not be as heavy as 'Deads" but shows maturation in terms of songwriting, which I  not only respect I find a enjoyable listen. The album drops September 24th. 

Wolves in the Throne Room : "Primordial Arcana"

 I got onboard with these guys back in 2007, so there has been a great deal of fanfare and shifts since.  The opening track to their new album is beautifully true to who they are and have been as a band with black metal as the core of epic atmosphere and sweeping guitars. The vocals are scowled much in the same manner they were when I first heard them, for a band that has taken us many other places I respect that . I am open for them to do whatever, that is within reason and stays true to the core of their nature worshipping mountain selves. "Spirit of Lightning" does not go for the throat with it's melodic sway but it is still really well done . They do get around to blast beats a few minutes in though this is not a requirement for their songs to be a success. There is an interesting spaciousness to the production of this album. It is much more noted on this song than the first.  

Yes there is more atmosphere of a somewhat folky variety than your average black metal band, and they pretty much now have the market cornered on it in America with Agalloch no longer in the picture. With 'Through Eternal Fields " they come closer to what is the status quo for European Black Metal bringing an almost Summoning like scope to their sound which is much more primed for Middle Earth now. It might not be the most original thing , but they do such a good job of it I can not complain. The more deliberate riff that leads into "Primal Chasm" does more for me. There are lower more forceful vocals on that one. The drumming is also very impressive, the double bass is dialed in to the max. It took a second listen to wrap my head around the weird ambiance that prevails in "Underworld Aurora". There is a low croaking kind of singing and the give things more breathing room.

Two and a half minutes into "Masters of Rain and Storm" the remind you that they have not forgotten they are a metal band and understand that metal is very much about bringing the riffs in a big way. No matter how artful you are in your given genre , you have to at some point do this. It requires them to come down from their blast beats and stomp into the guitar. The do this not just once , but a few times over the course of this song. The three minute "Eostre" is really just an ambient interlude or in some versions of the album an outro, the last song on my version is "Skyclad Passage" so for the purpose of this review , is going to be treated as if it is the last song. Though that too proves to be a creepier version of an outro where they are wallowing around in some Coil like noise and ambiance. With that said I will give this album a 9.5 , when ever they decide to write songs which the so for the first five songs of the album, they excel and make one of the years better black metal albums.   

 6

Chrome Waves : "Rain Will Cleanse"

 Going into this album I wondered if they were going to return to their metal roots at all. The first song answers that quick with clean vocals that are emotively sung than those on the previous album . They brought a new baa player into the fold and he does drive this song, the drums are more powerful than your average shoe gaze , but all the elements combine create something more akin to an atmospheric hard rock band than scything actually metal. The second song finds a more relaxed introspective tone conveyed by the vocals , while they drums are really the only thing at first to maintain a rock feel. Without question the vocals have improved, they are also pushing this in a less metal direction. It is hard to complain about this at first as the songs are strong , though further into the album the mood is a little more uniform.

"Tired" is more deliberate and while I would not call it dark, it is not upbeat. So perhaps moody, but shy of sullen. The vocals are a little lower and more droning which is also a nice touch. The melodies are subtle , but well done.  "A Future" pulls this off again, though dynamically it stays somewhat close to the ground already covered. The attention to detail in the melodic guitar layered on this one is what sells it as the mood begins to blend.  As I type these words I see I am only midway into a 9 minute song so perhaps speaking too soon, it breaks down into more of a strummed section as the drive of the song ebbs away. Yes the guitar sounds great, but if feels like this part kinda kills the momentum of the song, however I am torn as I appreciate what they are trying to do here. 

Another thing I might have liked better about the previous album is the lyrical themes were heavier where the music was not with songs about things like addiction and more despairing topics where these might be colored with the glimmer of hope that I am not sure I want from these guys but perhaps this needs to grow on me in that regard as we have skies turning black and sorrow mentioned  in "Windblown". The melody on the chorus is strong enough to help make the song, I think it is interesting where the vocals sit back in the mix to not make this too commercial sounding which is a good on on their part.  The best moment is saved for last when they remind you that they were once a metal band as the vocals go into screams and growls to break up the singing, it is done in a very dynamic yet relaxed matter of fact manner than makes it no big deal.   I will go ahead and round this one up to a 10. As much as I want it to be harder and darker , I still  can not deny how well done these songs are.