Exhorder : " Defectum Omnium"

The follow-up to the 2019 "Mourn the Southern Skies" album. Singer Kyle Thomas is the sole original member of the band now. He is joined by Cannibal Corpse guitarist Pat O"Brien and former Grip Inc. bassist. There is a denser and dirty thrashing going down with this album, that benefits from modern production value to darken things some. Iare spat out and goes straight for the throat in such a rapid-fire fashion, the vocals are spat at in an angry manner that feels like they are trying to keep up. Granted the bar for thrash these days is rather low, and they are still able to churn out enough catchy riffs to stand out, however, the rule around here is cool riffs do not a good song make. They ride this fine line when the album opens. 

"Under the Gaslight" comes closer to making the most of its grooves. The riffs punch in the right ways. There is more of a punk attack to "Forever and Beyond Despair". The drumming gets pretty frantic. It shifts through Slayer life drum patterns. The darker and more melodic direction begins to come to life with "The Tale of Unsound Minds" /Kyles's vocals are more soulful on this one which helps. They give more of a thrashing on "Divide and Conqueror". "Year of the Goat" has a more powerful drive. The hammering aggression is conveyed. Taken By Flames" is a pretty straightforward thrasher that reminds me a little of Testament. The "title track" is really just the intro to "Stolen Hope". They slow down to allow Kyle to sing more soulfully, which plays off their strengths as a band. The blues drench swamp sludge is a good sound for them. It is pretty effective when he goes up into his higher register as it's done in a manner that doesn't sound like an 80s hair band but retains grit. 

When they tap into giving their thrash tendencies more groove it works best. The deeper into the album you listen the more these moments crop up. When they speed up into more punk-inflected thrash, they are not playing to their strengths as songwriters. They continue to keep their foot to the gas on "Desensitized" .  The album's lyrics are a social commentary that is a pretty fair reflection of the world today. "Your Six' closes the album with a return to the more swampy side of the band which plays to their benefit. I will give this album an 8.5, as I do not feel it is as strong as "Mourn the Southern Skies" , but Kyles's vocals sound great, and this shows how vital they are in today's metal climate, and it captures the mood of the day well. 

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Judas Priest : "Invincible Shield"

 

Going into this album, we need to make a few things clear. First, this is Judas Priest, they are supposed to be considered one of the greatest metal bands of all time. They are thought of as equals to Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. Thus this album will be weighed with those expectations in place. Secondly, they are largely the original members since KK Downing is the only missing piece and Scott Travis played on "Painkiller" one of their best albums so that counts. Third Halford is 72. Which makes it even more impressive that he hits the notes he does on the second song of this album. I do not know how much love he is getting in the studio in this regard, as I saw him 13 years ago and he struggled with some of the higher notes live.  There are also clearly way more effects on his voice on this album.  

The opening track works and has more fire than I expected these guys to carry 18 albums into their career. The title track touches more on the 'Free Wheel Burning" rock n roll side of what they do, with just enough attack to make this metal. They have to ride the line between having their classic sound but not recycling what they have already done and it is a delicate balance here. They play it a little safe and stick to what is tried and true. I prefer what they did on "Nostradamus" as it found them taking more risks, but this is fun enough. If you like shredding guitar solos there is no shortage of those on this album. 

"Devil in Disguise" is the first song that clicks with me and feels like the Judas Priest I want to hear. It has a groove and the melody works well with it. In contrast "Gates of Hell" feels like they asked AI to write a Judas Priest song and it created something that is what a computer would expect Judas Priest to sound like. "Crown of Thorns" is familiar enough, but has some more melodic moments that feel more heartfelt. They get heavier and thrash it out a little on "As God is My Witness" Rob sounds convincing on this one.  "Trial By Fire " was one of the lead singles from the album, and now listening to it in the context of the album it is one of the stronger songs. 

They can still rip out some killer riffs as evident on the one that opens up 'Escape From Reality". The way the verses give the vocals room to breathe creates a great dynamic feel to ramp up with the chorus. I like the way the vocals are doubled up on the chorus as well. The use of effects on Rob's voice in this song is very effective. 'Sons of Thunder' is another that could have been created by an AI if fed every decent Judas Priest album, though it is on the more aggressive side, but not "Painkiller" aggressive. The more deliberate chug to "Giants in the Sky" works better, though it is not the first moment on this album when I am reminded of solo Ozzy. 

They do recycle some riffs as "Fight of Your Life" has a few riffs that could have been from "Better By You Better Than Me". Scott's drumming saves the song. I had to give "Vicious Circle" a second listen. Rob's vocals are worthwhile but the riffs feel like generic metal. Things end with a more interesting melodic tone with "The Lodger" . I will round this one down to an 8.5, as it plays it a little too safe, and finds them recycling too many ideas from other songs, but Rob sounds great, and the band still has a fire. 

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Slimelord : "Chytridiomycosis Relinquished"

 

This British band plays a very interesting blend of death metal, It is dark and murky which works the best for me. There are some technical aspects though they never forsake the dripping ooze of sound they pour out with the kind of nameless gibbering form as a creature in a Lovecraft story. A great deal of bands now throw around the term psychedelic. Just because you smoke weed at band practice does not mean you are psychedelic. These guys earn such a title as the music hand contorts in a surreal manner that might sound pleasing when drugs are in your system. There is also a hammering oppression that is important in death metal. 

"Splayed Mudscape" finds things beginning to sink in the bog of their own making, as the double bass rolls over and other angular mess of riffs. They do find more groove as the song progresses. There is a higher raspy snarl that enters the fray, as the vocals up to this point have been a sick low gurgle. The vocals shift to create more of a mood which is more than most death metal bands these days do. I like how they build the momentum on the fourth song. Things are still pretty angular, and the double bass is relentless, but arranged in a way where things have space to flow. At times this reminds me of Meshuggah, though they are not pounded with the same groove-minded pulse. 

This more dynamic manner of the atmosphere is taken further on "the Hissing Moor". It however veers off in a more chaotic direction. .The straightforward instrumental that closes the album is a little bit of a surprise as I was expecting something weird. I will give this grim Gorey acid trip of an album an 8.5, it is a great deal of fun even if it is a murky din of metal chaos, I think that is what they were going for so not your average death metal band in that regard. 

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Ohpen Ahrms : Lying Beside You"

 

This Chicago band sits more on the progressive rock side of the fence than their shoegaze beginnings might lead you to expect. "Lying Beside" finds the guitar carrying a more punk-influenced indie jangle. The vocals ride the riff rather than trying to form hooks on their own.  It reminds me of if Ghost tried to play like Devo. Saxophones join into the taunt syncopation of "Make Me a Ghost". The drumming is more impressive than the somewhat heavier "Spun in the Dark", but these got a lot going on almost to the detriment of their songwriting. 

It's going into "Don't Look For Me There" that I needed the shift. Everything had been grandiose with layers of overdubs. It was a big sound for sure, and while they bust back into it on this song's chorus, they also gave the vocals room to find a more contemplative mood in the verse leading up to this. It's all about dynamic ebb and flow. I am not sold on the multi-tracked vocals that just kind of drift, and the overall sound is not as dark as what I normally listen to. To their credit, they are doing prog rock in a different way than just long winding songs that are an excuse to squeeze guitar solos in. The actual guitar solos are far and few between. There is a heavier side to this band but the production is downplaying this fact. 

"Drawing Fire" has a little more stoner rock swagger. The vocal harmonies feel more grunge-like. I had to listen to "Night Vision" three times before it kept my attention. It has a harder rock edge to it. By the last song, it's apparent this kind of melodramatic, overproduced prog rock is not my thing, in that it's not as dark or aggressive as I like my music which means I have to come from the place of how is this constructed and written. It could use a few more hooks, as no matter how grandiose you want to get there needs to be something to bring you back to the song. Aside from that key element, they are talented just not my thing I will give this album an 8. If you are into bright bombastic prog rock then it might be yours. 

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Shadow Limb : "Reclaim"

 This California-based band remembers a time when sludge used to groove. They even use sung vocals at times to break things up from the husky bark that is more commonplace in the genre. There is an almost progressive spirit to their songwriting. It is certainly something to bob your head to. "Snake Mountain" finds them chugging into the more mammoth stomp that is shaded with the darker underpinnings of doom. The guitars carry most of the melodic weight until the sung vocals return. They are in more of a croon. I also think the Snake Mountain being referred to in this song is the one from Masters of the Universe as I distinctly heard him say "Eternia will bleed". He-Metal. 

"Destitute" carries a more hypnotic free-flowing arrangement. The riffs wander in an almost Tool-like fashion. It builds up in the way you expect it to and then does heavy in a similar fashion. But even then it still works. The syncopation to "The Maneuver" is a little more interesting.  Their bass player is getting it done. The drummer also knows where to be, despite not being the Danny Carey-type player this music would normally require. The build on this song is one of the album's better payoffs. I like the jammy feel these songs wander into.

"Riddle of Steel" has more of a stoner doom feel. There is some boogie in its step. It works for what it is even if that does not require the same level of twists and turns found in the other songs. "Burn Scar' feels like a groovier continuation of the previous song. As you get into the meat of the song it packs more of a punch. There is more anger in this song than in the heavier moments earlier in the album. They jam out the ending to this one more fervently than the rest of the album. "Soon" closes the album and features some of the best-sung vocals from these guys, as things flow with a more shoegazing post-rock quality, I like where these guys are not, is it the most original thing I have heard this year? No, but they are good at what they do. I will give this album a 9. 

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the Wraith : "Ghost March"

 Two songs into this album and my first thoughts are these guys do the cock rocking goth metal better than Unto Others but are not quite on In Solitude's level. They also share more common ground with AFI than Unto Others. Their new front man Harley Mace, is actually the strongest element of their sound as he can belt it out with conviction. I am not sure however that I would call these guys death rock. Deathrock, as a dirtier sound. This lives in a zip code closer to Micheal Graves-era Misfits than it does 45 Grave or Christian Death. It is very high energy. Almost to a fault as they are racing through the graveyard when more dynamics might make it sound creepier, but at the current pace it feels more triumphant. 

"Afterlife" does give the vocals more room to breathe. They even let things break down some, but the overall tone of the album finds things uniformly uptempo. Mace's baritone is the most interesting thing when it cuts through to take center stage. Not as Sunset Strip as 69 Eyes, the in-your-face nature of the album is more akin to the "Black Sails in the Sunset". They offer more nuance on "Last Light" making it one of the album's strongest songs. One thing I like about Mace is he employs varied vocal colors sometimes taking on more of a snarl, at other times dropping into an even lower register that is more Peter Steele-like.  "End of Time" displays this really well. 

Their formula begins to lose a little of its gas on "Seize the Night". It is just more of the same, though they do this one thing really well. "Sea of Trees" closes the album with a darker tone, and a shift into a more brooding mood that sheds the punk straight-ahead charge and languishes in the dusk, which is what this album needs more of. I can hear this song being played on a goth night.  I will give this album a 9, it's really good if you miss the more punk days of AFI, but without Davey Havok's higher pitch shriek. This album drops April 19th on Seeing Red Records. 

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Live Review - Crosses @ The Eastern

I don't know why it takes me so long to write live reviews, I used to just bust it out the following more, but the more time that passes between me and the show the harder it is to get motivated so here it goes. I might be an even bigger fan of Shaun Lopez's other band Far than I am of Deftones, though I think Chino's first three albums with Deftones are modern rock classics, and they managed to transcend the nu-metal bandwagon they rode in on. The combination of the two musicians was never what I expected it to be when this project came out, but I like Depeche Mode, who has always been one of Chino's influences, so respect what they do, I might prefer Team Sleep due to the Pinback connection but was curious to see how Crosses translated live. The results were not far off from my expectations. 

My first time at this venue which, was nice tucked back into one of the gentrified corners of the East Side. There was an abundance of Tool shirts, this was not a metal show, so not surprising this was on the periphery of a more open-minded metal fan base, Crosses is at times darker than Deftones, but not a huge "goth' crowd either. Seemed like a collection of people who are online a great deal but do not play World of Warcraft, as they were more into Bitcoin and podcasts. Sure great deal of IPAs were sold this evening. A Sacramento DJ who worked rock music into disco tracks spun at set before Crosses went on which seemed fitting enough. He worked things like the Cure into a set followed by Shabazz Places, and then maybe some Siouxsie. 

Crosses had impressive stage production given the size and budget of this tour, and considering they rarely tour, carried a great deal of energy. It was mainly the  Chino show. He looked healthier and was more capable of pulling off screams, though these were mainly done as accents where Deftones uses a more aggressive vocal approach. Also, the vocal cords are like rubber bands the warmer they are the more pliable, so Chino has been on stage more for the past year, whereas at the Rockville show, he had not been singing much previously. He worked the stage well, and his stage presence is more present, rather than being crouched down screaming at the floor like Defontes early days. 

Much like their albums after the initial bombastic energy they took the stage with waned, they grew on me throughout their set, Most of their songs drone on one groove, due to the drum programming that was triggered by backing track more than likely run from the sound booth, as Lopez played guitar more than he lingered by the synth setups that lanked either side of the stage. But for two guys on stage, all by their lonesome they managed to create something that resembled a rock show and Chino sounded perhaps better than the last time I saw him with Deftones. If you are a fan they are certainly worth seeing when the opportunity presents and more than a placeholder for the next Deftones show. 

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