Cult Values : s/t

This review will more than likely be as quick as the pacing of these songs.Another band who spells the punk in post punk with a capital p. The opening track is as raw and rowdy as you could have from punk. By the second song this shows the band becoming even more reckless. For my money the guitar tone leaves something to be desired. The are the type of rapid shouting you expect from punk. These songs are quick jabs into your ears and you are at the fourth song before you know it. There is really little that is dark or all that post punk they are pretty much just a straight up punk band. It's not until the 6th song that something could be remotely considered post-punk, and even then it just sound more like punk used to sound when the bands cared about song writing in it's early days.

Maybe it's having songs title things like "Nothing Here But Ghosts" that made someone try to think of these guys as post-punk. The guitar tone really gets on my nerve by the time we get to "Jump Ship" the back vocals sound like dog barking from across the street. The songs begin to sound the same until they sing a little more on the chorus to "Stones". The last song just blasted by in a rapid jangle never catching my attention. I'll round this album up to a 5, even though it's generally not my kind of punk rock , these guys have their moments here and there. If you do not care about song writing and just want some obnoxious new punk then here you are ,go get drunk.

Vader : "Iron Times"

The new ep buy Vader this finds the band back at the place where death metal and thrash met, with the first song reminding more of Sodom. The throaty vocals are a gurgled growl . There is a serious thrashing gallop to " Pray to the God of War". The vocals are spit out here in a more rapid Slayer like manner. There is a more powerful mid-paced chug on "Piesc I Stal"  winks in the direction of classic metal. This might be the best of the three original songs on the ep. The solos seem to serve more of a purpose on this song and while it's a fairly simples and straight forward song the chug is very effective here. It takes me back to a time when things were simpler as the world was not over saturated with metal bands, a good album used to come out every month in 80s. The Polish band spits this one out in their native tongue.

The lyrics are more easily discerned in the manner they are spit out on this ep, which judging from the cover I assumed would be more of a tribute to Motorhead. They pick the proto-thrash of Motorhead's " Overkill" to tackle. Earlier in the album it sounded like the lead growler was making more of an attempt t sing in places. Here it is not as obvious. The do capture the rock n roll riffs well, their drummer is a relentless beast. I'll give this album an 8.5 as these guys are old pros who are clearly good at what they do. If you are not already a fan of this band, I would suggest going with one of their full lengths to get a better picture of what it is they do. It sounds like they are having fun here and it's not surprise like many band's these days it's more economic for these guys to record and ep rather than chase the dying art of the album. If you are are fan of classic metal like Sodom, Motorhead and to a lesser extent here Kreator, then this is worth your time.

Mizmor : "Yodh"

 This one man black metal project out of Oregon is dark and dense, but that is the minimum requirement for the genre. So we are going to see if this project is worth the hype beginning to simmer around it. Not always relying on blast beats the openers drops down into weighty doom laced sections. At thirteen minutes are is album going to be capable of creating songs or sprawling sections of heavily drone distorted mush? Six minutes in and I am beginning to have second thoughts as it seem this album might be trying to find life in just heaviness alone.The vocals varying from lowered death metal growls to a mid ranged rasp of torment. It's fine that this is black metal, but sonically the first song has only colored this song with similar shades. Another color is added on "Semblance Waning" with an acoustic intro. This song is eleven and a half minutes long so it can afford to kill time in the way. The guitar tone shifts as feed back hovers over it threatening to take us back to the murk.I like this song better as it meets at the hellish cross roads where you find your self asking where does doom begin and depressive black metal end? The arrangements still need some help as half way into the song it's let hand on atmosphere when it feels like this is where a more defined structure would benefit it.The answer is blast beats. This always the answer when taking the easy way out.

With the albums longest song " the Serpent Eats it's Tail" a more melodic intro is allowed for and the more doom leanings are indulged. Almost Four minutes in and we are still just getting started as the slow build lingers. I zone out on in, but nothing happened that would have jarred me from that state. By the time we get to the next song "Inertia, An Ill Compeller" I being to wonder if the beginning of the album was geared to lure you into this album thinking this a black metal album when it's a doom album, so the title blackened doom could be earned here. Two combine my two favorite sub-genres of metal you would think I would be more moved by this album since I am the target audience. Both "Inertia, An Ill Compeller" and the final song use similar clean guitar tones with it's time to stop and take a moment to think.

Ten minutes seem to be a better threshold for this project when it comes to song length as anything more it seems to be an over indulgence that doesn't benefit the song. It all ends in spastic chaos.While this album sounds good from an production stand point and it's impressive one guys pulled all of this off at the end of the day music is about songs, so I'll round this down to a 7.5. Coming from the hipster haven of Oregon, it might not be Portland, geographically it's almost like Brooklyn when sorting through the hype these days. Not the first album of the year to be hyped and not the last.
 

Hobb's Angel of Death : "Heaven Bled"

Peter Hobbs has been around since the late 80's. He has developed a cult following  of devotees either stuck in a time warp or too young to have never caught this era of thrash the first time around. He does a pretty good job of recreating it. The double bass drumming on this album is on point and the riffing it pretty tight. There are moments when things do get a little rough around the edges, like the cymbal sound. The guitar solos are more memorable than the rather monotone bark of the vocals. There is more of a frenzy on the rapid intro to " Walk My Path" . About two minutes in it slows so you can soak in the guitar solo. By the second song I have already realized this is a guitar players album. While this is very skillfully executed, I find myself at a loss in regards to figuring out what the big deal about this guy is. Is he doing anything that a band like Dark Angel hasn't already done better ?

"Final Feast" goes in a more subtle direction for it's intro. But the thrashing always returns. Lyrically it sounds like Manowar songs written from prison. The vocals are more shouted with a constipated grit. The blazing riffs don't stop with " Suicide". What hits this album hard is the rule we have around here..."cool riffs alone do not make a good song". Aside from the drumming and guitar solos that is about all the have going for them. "Suicide" has a more punk energy, but it doesn't do much for me. There is a Kerry King whammy dive bomb that goes down a few times on this song, which should not surprise fans of this band who more than likely place Slayer head of this guy as their favorite band. So they won't care about all the moment that sound like "Chemical Warfare".

By the time we get to "Drawn and Quartered" the album is beginning to feel tedious, so it's a good thing they drop down into more of a Scorpions still riff before blasting off again. I think half of what annoys me is the fact the vocals are spit out the same way on every song. So having a low bar when it comes to vocals is a requirement when it comes to these guys. Unfortunately for these guys that's the first thing I listen for. The double bass kicks it up a notch when the guitar solo comes in and that's the highlight of the song. The fetish for double bass is what gives the songs a very uniform drive. From what I remember from the days thrash came out, it there were mosh grooves and moments where other things were thrown at you aside from just speed.  The title track as a few good riffs, but not enough to add up into making it a memorable song.The more feral punch of "Sadistic Domination", which is an ode to sluts from what I can make out of the manic lyrics. I like this song, so it goes to show I'm not for the more punk side of thrash if it's done right. The first single off the album is "Son of God" that you can check out below. It's a very Slayer like affair. The way he mumbles out the lyrics makes me think a little more of the first Cro-mags album. It's about time for something slower, though "Depopulation" goes to show they can't hit anything much slower than a Venom riff. There is another calm before the storm at the onset of "TMMF". They do hit one of those slower moshy doom like riffs on this song elevating above most of the album's other offerings. There is also a heavier more deliberate riff that opens up "Hypocrites", It alternates between the fast as hell Slayer thrash and the more powerful punch. This is an improvement. However at two and a half minutes I begin to wonder what is going to happen for the other four minutes of this song. The answer is a guitar solo eats into the bulk of the time, the rest of the song is hobbs ranting about his resentments with born again christians who he is going to return and kill. He keeps it nasty with his declarations into regard to the whore's cunt "Abomination" drips out of. His delivery here reminds me more of Venom. I'll give this album a 7.5, it gets better, but half way in I wondered why I was not just listening to "Hell Awaits". If you are a fan then you expectations in regards to music in general is lower than mine so you'll love it.This album sees the light of day October 16th thanks to Hells Headbangers.

In the Woods - "Pure"

Former members of Green Carnation formed this black metal band back in 1991,so these guys go back to the first wave of Norwegian black metal, though they have always been more experimental than the bulk of those bands holding more in common with countrymen like Emperor and Ulver. There is a strong rock drive to the opening track, though harsh vocals haunt the fringes of the song, the delivery is predominately sung. Their are some powerful accents that add a heavier dynamic to what they do. This gives them more heft than say recent Enslaved, the song ends with vocals harmonizing over a piano line they might bring Opeth to mind.

"Blue Oceans Rise" is slower and darker. The clean sung vocals emote in a manner not unlike My Dying Bride and the tempo further justifies this comparison, even as the double bass rolls in behind the chugged guitar. They are drifting into a more melodic death metal direction on "Devils at the Door". I like the fact this song has so much room to breathe and some dynamic range. The atmosphere sits well with the more dramatic swells , even in with the clean vocals. The sung stay a in somewhat depressed baritone. Some of the thunder is traded for a more solemn mood on " the Recalcitrant Protagonist". Once again we find them set to more of a doom pacing going into "the Cave of Dreams" though it picks up into more of mid-paced tempo. The harsh vocals at this point are few and far between. There is a bridge where it gets heavier, but generally the songs are more focused on having the room to explore this morose landscape. Here they still manage to cover a lot of ground in under six minutes.

"Cult of Shining Stars" bathes in it's own atmosphere, before coming to life with a heavy march. In many ways this album is similar to Borknagar. These songs were created by musicians with much heavier pasts, but have allowed them let their maturity shine through. It does rise from it's languor into a more classic metal chug. "Toward the Black Surreal" has it's heavier peaks, but retains the tone set earlier in the album that puts this closer to doom than black metal. It's a very interesting middle of the road. When they lock in for the syncopated chugs midway it's pretty powerful moment and an even more daring choice to ebb back down into a melodic section after this. This might make this one my favorite song on the album.

There is more of a space prog feel to "Transmission KRS", which adds to the dynamic range of the album as a whole, but not something that would seem like a song if it randomly cropped up on shuffle mode, so while I would write it off as more of an interlude, it's almost 11 minutes long so they are clearly committed to it. "This Dark Dream" feels like My Dying Bride colliding with Iced Earth. So it's pretty potent. The final song "Mystery of the Constellations" treads in similar waters to water we have heard thus for from the return of In the Woods. I'll give this album a 9. It's very solid, fans of the more recent My Dying Bride or Amorphis might dig this more than older fans who just them to return to the black metal of 91, because we are not in that part of the woods any more.

Spirit Adrift :"Chained to Oblivion"

I am happy that more doom is coming out as we approach the fall. This band Midway into the first song I find myself a little torn between whether this band wants to be Candlemass or Pallbearer. Granted everyone one knows Candlemass came before, but there is something in the moody way the vocals are delivered that thinks they might owe more to Pallbearer, who has been out long enough now that we will start to see other bands aside from Khemmis come out trying to cop their sound. These guys aren't afraid to pick up the pace, and haven't totally jacked the guitar tone. There is more of a traditionally doom vibe to "Marzanna" which has a slight 60's occult feeling to the chorus. The way the vocals are harmonized is totally Pallbearer.

There is more groove thanks to the deft bass line of "Form And Force" The vocals soar a little more here. The melodic section in the middle is a nice touch that expands the album's sense of dynamics. The solo in this song is pretty kicking. This might be the best song on the album. This intro to the title track is certainly more introspective and shows them using a cleaner guitar tone. The lower croon on this one has more in common with Candlemass , but feels like it's a better direction for them to go. The more I hear it, his voice makes me think of what Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode might sound like if he tried to sing metal. If you are going to have an 11 minute song then this is the way to pace it. Ten seconds longer than the previous song "The Hum of Our Existence' puts the emphasis back on heaviness, with some more rapid punches hitting you in an almost Slayer fashion. The guitar playing is where it's at on this song.

I'm a little torn on this one in places , but I think I am going to go ahead and round this one up to a 9. I have a greater sense of urgency to get the new Pallbearer onto my iPod, so this album might become a victim of timing as to how many listens I give it. But that is not to take away from what is being done here, as the end result is pretty rocking, if you are looking for some melodic doom this is worth your time.

Angry Gods : "The Clearing"

I like sludge core. It makes sludge angrier and thus darker and heavier than your average hard-core with it's more metallic than punk approach. That is what happens on the new album from this Chicago band. The lack of punk is addressed in the second which sounds more like Black Flag. These guys are all from other heavy underground bands so know what they are doing.It's not until the fourth song that the lines are drawn to distinguish the bass from the guitar tone. There is a chaos to their song writing style that goes from energetic to more of a mush, which ironically comes at a time when the singer is screaming ...'there is no focus now". The burly bass continues to dominate the sonic scope of what they do on "Go Forth In Ruin".

It's about five songs in when things begin to take on a more monochrome sound. The early Swans influence is traded out for more Black Flag. There is an angular slant to what they do that begins to come more into focus. The bass doesn't relent, but the hammering of "Greyscale" seems like they are giving us more room to breathe.  I like the tension they create on this and how if collides into a more powerful dissonance. Here is where they find a sound that is their own.The sludge side of what they do is more pronounced in this song's third act. There drummer also proves himself to be a monster here. The darker throb of 'Slow Burn" is condensed into a mere two minutes that is more of an interlude than a song.

They rip into a more feral attack on "Undertow" which is more of a grind core song at a minute and a half of spastic outburst. I'll round this album up to an 8. I enjoyed it, it might not be melodic enough to earn it's place on my iPod as something I would listen to on a regular basis and since I have both early Swans and Black Flag in rotation, Nails is currently holding it down as heavy as hell go to angry music. But you are probaly younger and not as jaded as I am when it comes to this stuff so you might need it in your iPod. I'll round it up to an 8, because when it grabbed me it got me good.