Zoso @ the Variety Playhouse

The fact that a tribute band packed in as many people as they did in their two night stint at the Variety Playhouse, is a testament to Zeppelin and the band's ability to capture their magic. The first night the band Zeppelin's first four albums, not pulling a Phish and playing them front to back in their entirety, but blending the material in a way similar to how the real band arranged their set lists.

Their John Paul Jones, was equally skilled at pulling off the keyboard parts, making the jammy "Song Remains the Same" styled version of "No Quarter. But while we are talking "Song Remains the Same" it was one of the last songs I expected for them to play off of "Houses of the Holy" and along side "No Quarter it proved to be one of the shows brightest moments.

John Mcdaniel's Jimmy Page reminded you that even as charismatic as Robert Plant was on stage, Jimmy Page was up in their fans faces. John struck all the classic Page poses that have adorned posters for years, and also took on the feat of replicating the rock god guitar heroics. It seemed his tone could have held more bite and perhaps some of it was in the mix, other wise he was a satisfying Page.

 Matt Jernigan filled the slot of the golden god, well his voice fared the best on "Ten Years Gone" because for me Robert Plant might be known for his mighty upper register, but it was his more subtle touches and use of melody to expand the dynamics of their songs , that really made Zeppelin stand out from their peers at the time, many singers like Ian Gillian to Rob Halford could throw their voices up into the rock yodel, but the attention to detail Plant gave more sedate sections is where other singers might not be able to capture his feel. Though often very Coverdale in tonal quality, Jernigan knew how to serve the songs and when to go into Plant's more add libbed vocal scats.  

It never struck me how popular "Moby Dick" was until seeing it preformed l never realized how popular it was, as  drum solos have never really been my thing, however Zeppelin came from the era where such decadence was showcased, and Greg Thompson, who capture both the primal nature of Bonham's vulgar displays of prowess in this regard as well as his innovative touch. You can tell he understood Bonham was influenced by jazz drummers the likes of Gene Krupa, which the first part of the legendary solo gave a nod to.

They were not apologetic about what they were doing, they came out and take hold of the crowd in a similar , though less frenzied manner , but carried the Hammer of the Gods well. I do wish I had gotten the chance to catch the show in city other than Atlanta, as the demographics lent the crowd to  flourish  with ex-frat boy types, more than neo-hippies, the age range dipped down into plenty of high school kids proving Zeppelin's music lives on for generations. Sure some of these  former frat boy types who saw Zeppelin as the precursor to other party bands like Widespread Panic. In some ways I suppose this is true, as Zeppelin opened many door, never the less it was upfront where the drunken fools paraded for the bulk of the performance. But if you live in a more cultured part of the country make sure to catch Zoso when they bring this show through your town,as it comes the closest to recapturing the magick of the world's greatest rock band , which are big shoes to fill.  

Twilight: Beneath Tridents Tomb

Much like Cynic who we recently reviewed,  Twilight finds them self looking up at the bar they set very high for themselves, as this third album follows up 2010'a " Monument to Time End". At one time this could have been said to have been an American Black metal supergroup, this album finds many of the black metal elements stripped away for more angular sludge ones.

The reason for the shift in style is due to the line up changes that find Blake Judd gone from the fold. Judd's replacement is Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth, whose addition is getting this release a fair amount of hype and from my first few listens of this album I  can say the material was written to fit Moore's style more than he is having to adapt to playing metal. To be honest the actual metal moments on this album are few and far between, it is taking me some getting used to, so lets dig into this.

The opener "Lungs" is more of a sloppy noisy ruckus that the Jesus Lizard might raise. It plods along at a much more Neanderthal like sludge pace. There is a cool feedbacked guitar melody that rings out along the perimeter of this fuzzed out pounding, but not a blast beat to be found. The metallic tinges of industrial percussion filling up the back drop sound like they are from a Neurosis album. In some ways this album reminds me of the Corrections House album that came out last year, though it is more song oriented.

"Oh Wretched Son" has its fair share of creepy dissonance. Its darker but the vocals are the most metal element going into. Wrest's gurgled rasp isn't compromised, he growls with as much agony as ever. The angular guitar sway over the chaos being drummed up around them. It is trancey at times and the first hint of a last occurs about two minutes in. The guitar tone is very different overall on this album, to accommodate Thurston.The lower more barked vocal bellows like Neurosis , and the riffs get beefier when this song builds. This song does come closer to the band's former glory than the opening track.

The album digs darker with the doomy "Swarming Funeral Mass". The industrial lite repressive elements clang up a storm on this song as well. The ominous nature of the atmosphere is much more convincing here. While its not black metal it is a reasonable facsimile of heavy. The almost funeral doom guitar melody that lingers in the background is pretty understated.

Where the band comes up against a hard place when it comes to meeting the expectations set by the previous album, is by and large the songs do not have the same flow and fury "Monument to Time End" has though it comes close to recapturing a similar feel at the onset of "Seek No Shelter Fevered Ones".  The brooding darkness seethes until the mood is ruined by the punk rock beat that it goes into instead of a blast beat. It's the very stiff snare sound that I hate about punk rock and sounds too amateurish for this band to be using.

Though in a different way than Sonic Youth, reckless noise casts an abrasive light on the bulk of this album though its most pronounced at the intro of "A Flood of Eyes". When the song actually takes off it finds its metal footing once again. Though they are not coming from the same place they have in the past. The guitars layers work in a more effective manner here to create a tapestry of dark density, that still haunts you, so we now know the band is capable of recreating what they have done they just feel the need to be hipsters around Moore. Even the blasting returns on this one which is one of the bands few black metal moments on this album.

More industrial abrasion surfaces on " Below Lights" the riff is very corrosive and angular, almost like old Swans in its jarring nature , just not as dark. It builds into a Crash Worship like clamor , but would have been left better served as an interlude than taking up space trying to pass for an actual song. It would have worked better if Moore had enmeshed himself in what this project had already perfected rather than changing to fit his playing as it had created a rather luke warm album that falls way short of the bar they already set.

 

Cynic: "Kindly Bent to Free Us"

Entertaining as it might have been at the time the "Carbon Based Anatomy EP" floated off further in the elf realms of Sigur Rios than I could digest if they maintained that trajectory.Cynic has not forgotten what side of the bread is buttered on in terms of their audience. The idea of them being a metal band is still expanded to it's breaking, though a heavy groove sticks to the opener, it becomes more hard rock than metal, and a very far cry from their early work.

There is a Rush feel to many of the riff, these give way to bass driven grooves in the same zip code as Dredg, who seem like a more fitting tour mate for the band at this time than metal bands. Sure it lacks the heft of "Traced in Air" which saw the clean vocals coming to the fore front, and they do even more so here. The vocal melodies are no longer counterpoints to the prog whirlwind, but given the space to flourish on their own.I no longer have much interest in radio rock along the lines of Muse, which is comes close to be I can appreciate when it is this well done.

By the title track, I am sorting through what works for me and what doesn't and then they hit a section that is "Traced in Air" and works for me as that album had the right balance of shred, melody and teeth. Too often prog bands these days forget the teeth and end up sounding like Journey...yes I am looking at you Dream Theater. I think their guitar tone darkening up helps them out. This is more of the guitar players show here, though drummers and bass players can find plenty of make their jaws drop.

They continue to experiment with new sounds and production wise this album is pretty pristine, I could put a beefier guitar on my wish list , but oh well... The vocal's are more front and center in the mix and aren't as weirdly layered as they were on "Traced in Air" which is the album this is really going up against for me. "Infinite Shapes" the vocals take on a more mature melody that hold their own. The sit against the more angular twists and turns the band excels at. Some of the guitar tones remind me of Pink Floyd's Animals and other they are not as warm and have more sterile precision to them.

"Moon Heart Sun Head" is wisely guided by the vocal and the music returns to a darker more introspective place. The rock god solos are in full effect and I am sure that will draw in a certain sector of Progpower fans. I don't think this album is going to win any fans over who did not like the band to begin with , primarily for not being metal enough or pretentious .

They keep trying their hand being a rock band on "Gitanjali" which almost sounds like a King's X song to me, in the way the punches hit and some of the chord voicings. "Holy Fallout" finds the band closing out the album  back in the well balanced "Traced in Air" zipcode, though this song and this disc as a whole is a slightly grayer shade , it would be hard pressed around this site to call it dark, but more solemn. This is going to grow on me, the more rock direction at times threw me off, but this album has been on repeat all morning so that says something in its defense. "Traced in Air" is a pretty high bar for it but it holds up pretty well even with slightly less teeth to it , so it gets a 9.5.    

Behemoth : "The Satanist"

I like Behemoth for what they are , it's entertaining, they have written some catchy songs with crushing riffs that have been worth a head band or two. To be honest I had to listen to the opener of their new one three times, to be able to pay enough attention, in order to discern if I liked it or not. When it comes to my cool riffs don't make for a good song, these guys sometimes find themselves on the rougher end of the deal. There are some elements that remind me of "Iowa" era Slipknot.

They try really hard and that is worth something. They are trying really hard to be black metal and some times this album makes me think I might have liked it more when they wanted to be more industrial or more like Dimmu and epic everything out. Their blast beats too often sound like a kid running faster down a hill than his legs want to agree with. There is a pretty mean almost At the Gates kind of gallops that hits in "Furor Divinus"

Lets talk about the lyrics. I was under the impression Nergal was a thelemite, so the very heavy handed upside down cross , in your face approach to the lyrics seems a little juvenile. Their earlier more ambiguous lyrics, held more occult to them, since by definition occult means hidden. They almost remind me of Deicide lyrics at times, and the Glen Bentonesque moments don't end there, they crop up in  moments in the rush brutality of the vocal phrasing in "Messe Noire".

The balance of dynamics in not as finely tuned as it was on "Evangelion", to some this might come as a good news as it's a heavier album and much more death metal. The hyper blast of "Amen" strikes me as an attempt to use the rapid fire pace to rush an otherwise mediocre riff past you, in order to get to the solos, which are the album most shining moments.

While this album is by and large a disappointment, it does have some moments of redemption on the creepy title track. Nergal comes close to singing here, and the song has groove, both elements contribute to better songwriting. The bass playing is pretty stellar on this song, so it makes the fact that these are talented guys capable of doing more frustrating as a listener. Their is a similar touch of melodious fury on "O Father O Satan O Sun" it hits a very Led Zeppelin like groove. I'll give it a 7.5, but wanted something different than trying to rush the songs past me, it does have some worthwhile moments and if you are a fan of the band round it up to an 8,



    

5.3

Descend into Despair: "The Bearer of All Storms"

Starving for some new funeral doom, I jumped at this Romanian band, since after all they hail from Dracula's home land so they have to be good. They carry the plod into their first full length with exotic synth lines draped over the background, the syncopated part in the chorus of " Portrait of Rust" is pretty clever, but they sound like uber slow death metal more often than not.

Some of the guitar tone could stand to be thicker, or cleaner if they were going for more of a Loss thing. I can hear some Evoken influence. Midway in the first song clashing melodies snake around one another, the guitar line reminds me a little of Alice Cooper. The vocals are a low cookie monster growl, the bass player hides out in the back ground , which might effect why their sound is not as fulls it could be and gives the drums a weird hollow sound.

The keyboard add a lot to their sound, making this one of the rare exceptions to the rule when it comes to this sort of thing. The eeire almost circus like cadence of " Mirrors of Flesh" proves the point that these guys are adhering to any  funeral doom mold. The clean vocals come in the second song, low and mournful, set against  angular guitar creepiness. At time this shifts into a more Ennio Morricone feel.

These guys seem pretty content with the downward path the are treading, as they are solidly keened into their own style, no need to add a black anything to their sound. The synth frequently take on a symphonic string sound, this creates a more gothic feel, in the same tone as say My Dying Bride, just less melodramatic. They utilize ambiance to good effect at the onset of "Pendulum of  Doubt" the vocal remain in the lower death metal register, though the do not carry the same gurgling resonance of say Loss or Mournful Congregation.They are more layered as the song progresses. Four minutes into the song , more dramatic My Dying Bride like vocals bellow in. The delivery is not as refined, but I admire the effort.

In the album's second half the songs grow more sprawling clocking in anywhere from 16 to 17 minutes. There is a very interesting morose melodic nature to "Triangle of Lies", just when I think they are going to veer into territory more similar to their country men in Negura Bunget, they wind around into something more gothic. It's when the get into the meat of this song that their sound begins to click with me.

The dark pageantry continue to unfold, with the piano line and violins, that weep out from the cracks of "The Horrific Pale Awakening" that is the albums lengthiest track at almost 18 minutes. All the layers, while might seem over wrought to some, do keep the epic spanning songs from becoming dull. After the first four minutes the song begins to loosen up. There is an almost Esoteric abstraction, in the way the wandering jams of these songs branch out. Six an a half minutes in you begin to wonder how will these guys keep your interest for another twelve minutes. They let the keyboards take over and drift into angelic waves. They storm back in at a more occult death metal pace, before drifting off again in another direction, almost like prog. The song washes back an forth like a tide. The death metal influence takes precedence here, though sprinkled with some pretty chilling solos. The bottom totally falls out in the songs final three minutes breaking down to a whisper, where it becomes the first time I can really hear the bass, before the keyboards create a more pip organ sound.

The primordial sonics that bubble up from the lower depths of the graves the band crawls out of to find melody in the strangest place. Sometimes the clean vocals take on almost the ghostly groan of mid range King Diamond. The requiem's for humanity ache on, finding their most inspiration in the more melodic passages where they have room to flourish. The compositions are allowed to transition in a pretty organic manner, none of the changes are that jarring or forced sounding. The keyboard parts are designed to give the band time to transition. When the more suicidal black metal screams of anguish caw out, this is the only time I hear the dissonance found in black metal.

The more gypsy like feel of their homeland peek out from behind the toiling riffs. Overall they maintain the sound they have crafted, with only a wink in the direction of  Transylvania, even when creating keyboard landscapes that could double as horror movie soundtracks. The growls also begin to find more variety the deeper into the album you sink. "Embrace the Earth" wraps up this epic album with the organ keyboards. A minute and a half later the chorus of clean vocal chants beckons. The death gurgles growl up from under this dismal display off power. Some cool clean yet creepy guitar uncoils as the final moments of the album draw near, building up into a chug, that fakes you out when the band collapses back down into a more doomy pace. The dissonant strummed guitar seems like an odd choice to bring closure, to this but many weird choices have been made here.

I'll round this up to an 8 because, I generally like what these guys are doing, I thik with better production that would thicken the guitar sound , this album would be even better, but I hope I can hear this fully realized from the band in the future, some of the sprawling keyboard sections could have been reined in but overall I think this album works as they keep you listening as the songs shift slowly under your ears.

      

5.5

Have a Nice Life: "the Unnatural World"

The project some how manages to be weirder than the sum of it's parts , which is impressive considering it is comprised of members from  the black metal band Nahvalr, hard core act the Stranger Danger along which a ghost music...ultra dark ambient project Giles Corey. Droney and nosie ladden the influence of the latter can normally be heard the most, but this group morphs from song to song.

They flow from their stylistic changes gracefully, going from a more shoe gazey drone into the more Night Sins like "Defenstration Song". thats hollow cold , bass driven throb. The cryptic re-verb cloaked vocals croon in the shadows.The more electronic bent this project takes on takes itself known on "Burial Society", it has a lo-fi pulse, almost like really old Depeche Mode. The biggest improvement is the vocals. They are better sung, than from what I have heard from this projects efforts, with a greater emphasis placed on melody, though this doesn't compromise the experimental nature of what these guys do.

The noisier more challenging elements of the bands sound wait until "Music Will Untune the Sky" to unfold their ominous drone.I no longer do the kind of drugs that makes a song like this as compelling as it might be if I were high. "Cropsey" which sounds to be inspired by the documentary of the same name, is  centered around samples of child mental health patients, is very Swans in this regard. The actual song this leads into is more of  indie rock take on post-punk, think a stripped down and darker version of Arcade Fire here.

The more lo-fi noise tinted electronica opens up the Joy Divisionesque "Unholy Life". This much darker direction that liberally winks at the 80's is a good turn for this project as it still leaves them lots of room to play around with. This song is heavier than the other, though not in a metal sense , but in the haunting swirl of sonics , that oozes out like My Bloody Valentine on a more introspective bad trip.There is even a smooth bass groove on "Dan & Tim, Re-untied by Fate". The strong melody that float on the verse , almost makes this the most accessible moment until the deluge of effects floods the build of what would pass for a chorus. The production this song is intentionally murky as it transitions into a more glitched out ending .

The album closes with "Emptyness Will Eat the Witch" which drones along on the vocal chants similar to those on "Music Will Untune the Sky"  so aside from these song which I see a more interludes the album is pretty spotless. So exluding the moment they get side tracked and let the drugs drift them way, I'd say this album is a 10.

Alaskan: "Despair, Erosion, Loss"

This Canadian three piece has heavy buzz surrounding their second full length. The bulk of this buzz is warranted for the churn out a dynamic brand of sludge core that flirts with drifts into post rock, though the emphasis of this album is density rather than ambiance. They open their album with one of the albums most diverse offerings in terms of the spectrum of guitar melodies that hover over the din.

They create that sweet spot balance off sonic space and hanging on a hypnotizing pound, showing their are more roads to heavy than just metal. This is not to say despite all the eerie drones, that this album doesn't deal out its fair share of punishment to your ear drums. By the second song "Fiend" the despondent chords give way to a more brawling brawling rumble, that is sometimes angular and jarring like the more bruising bands from the Amp Rep days. The bass player frequently kicks the door down and barrages in with an aggressive bottom end. This leaves the guitars to tow the line when it comes to providing a dynamic juxtaposition and take the more soaring sections.

The top notch production,pushes this album to the head of the pack. All the instruments sit right where they should, even though there are many layers, the pristine sounds are not cluttered. The thick wall of guitars on "Inferno" retains an organic warmth among it's battering ram power, it doesn't rely on over driven trickery, but captures what you might imagine their live volume to be. Tempo wise the songs don't crawl, but stomp ahead at a powerful mid pace. This allow the punches to stand out and the syncopated part to become more defined.

My only complaint with this album is that the vocals sound like the barking was an after thought, yet this is largely forgiven due to the music they sit atop. Though in some of the albums darker and more melodic sections, you can't help but wonder if another vocal approach might have maximized the effectiveness. Despite the lumberjack in a pain approach, songs like "Submerged" cause in to translate into more of a steroidal Planesmistakenforstars or a less soulful Hotwatermusic, even though these guys are no where near to a being punk rock. Even with the brief blasting sections , this album never tries to be blackened anything, and these guys are secure in who they are and what their end game is.

The Planesmistakenforstars comparisons are given more weight on "Guiltless" as chords ring out to bathe the song in dreary atmosphere. This reprieve is short lived, as the albums more post- hardcore moment brings the song to a crescendo. This album is like the hardcore version of depressive black metal.The heaviness is an emotional one and the mauling melancholy is what makes this stand out to me.

Assigning the myriad of Labels and adjectives to what is going on here missing the point that this album lulls you into the storm for countless listens. I'll give it a 9.5 as the vocal approach here holds it back from being perfect, as all throaty roars here sound the same.