Paradise Lost : "Medusa"

Most metal bands will tell you their new album is heavier. From the sound of the first song this might be true. The sung goth vocals come in to bring them out of the more death metal direction it seems this album starts off in. There is a little more of a lumbering doom feel to "Gods of Ancient" due to the more mournful feel that competes with the aggression of the growled vocals. These guys are obviously old pros, the guitar tones are dialed in to give the needed crunch and the drums pack the punch  required for this kind of music though the double bass is mixed back a bit and doesn't trample you. There is more of a gallop to "From the Gallows" . This gives them more of a death metal feel. They do return to doom on the title track which is largely sung. The singing shows great signs of improvement when he slides up out of his Peter Steele like baritone into an upper register. They pass through similar doomy waters on the title track, that also finds the vocals being really strong and some of the best that I have heard from Nick Holmes.

"No Passage For the Dead" splits the difference between being death metal and doom. The guitars are more doom with death metal vocals. It's a decent song but not the album's strongest. "Blood & Chaos" displays on of the album's best trade offs between harsh vocals and sung vocals. Things get progressively darker on "Until the Grave". Though this song finds the riffs getting a little murky and until the melodic chordal breakdown nothing really standing out. The guitar solo does add to the song here and give the feeling of helping the song climax rather than just wanking. The tempo drops to a more morbid mood opening "Frozen Illusion". It feels like slow death metal rather than doom, there is even a wink to Celtic Frost thrown in. This is one of the band's rawest and heaviest moments. The vocals get nastier than I recall Holmes typically getting, but he is in Bloodbath now. So that seems to have influenced this album.

The sung vocals return on "Shrines". This is another melodic death metal moment that sounds like it could have come from the late 90s. That's not a bad time as it was a great time for death metal. I am not sure the growled vocals on the chorus make for the most memorable moment. The album ends with what at first sounds like it will be a  more straight up metal anthem with "Symbolic Virtue" . When the vocals kick in for the verse, it breaks down into a piano part. The chorus is pretty strong and the sung vocals continue to excel, possessing more of a gothic tone. I'll round this one up to a 9.5 as it gets better each time I listen to it.

Chelsea Wolfe : "Hiss Spun"

If "Abyss" wasn't heavy enough for you then that is remedied when the opener to her new album "Hiss Spun" kicks in. The guitar is more overtly metal where, on her last album the fuzzed out bass delivered most of the pounding. Her voice is mixed against the guitar a little more.Tempo wise it is very much in a doom/sludge direction. The thicker guitar tone and more rock oriented hangs around for "16 Psyche" which finds the guitars kicking the door down when it builds. This allows room for her to sing when it comes back around to the verses. The beat to "Vex" is pretty awesome as she coos over it in a more ghostly manner. Production wise her vocals are not as up front as the last album and have returned to they shadowy re-verb sounds of her earlier work. Even this song has a lot of drive to it.Growled vocals come into the background towards the end of the song.

"Strain" is an atmospheric interlude that sounds like it should be playing on an episode of Twin Peaks. "the Culling" is more fragile in the creep of it's breathy melody. The bass becomes over driven to build the tension. The release comes with a metallic sounding that succeeds at being just as heavy sonically as it is heavy as in metal, though maybe leaning more toward the sonic side. While four songs in it seems she can do no wrong, this return to her old sound vocally is just what my ex-wife would not like, so it's ironically fitting that with her out of the way things have returned to normal. The bass line drives " Particle Flux" which for the first two minutes has minimal percussion. This is remedied and it kicks in like a rock song. This is the first song where it feels like it is going to need to grow on me. "Twin Fawn" almost breaks your fucking neck when it jerks you out of a haunting lullaby into it's aggressive accents.

There is an almost industrial beat to "Offering". It's militant against dreamy Cure like guitar. So her goth fan base has something to sink their fangs into on this one. Though over all this is dark , but in a different way from her other albums. This might be my favorite song on the album so far though it doesn't have any of the heavy metal balls the other songs possess. "Static Hum" starts off dark and ominous with a floor tom tribal beat. Her voice comes more forward in the mix on the verse. The drone of this song  found me spacing out on it as I worked on writing other than this review, so I had to go back and listen to it again. One the second listen I heard other bits of ambiance in the corners of the song. It does kick into a more pounding dynamic which is the formula for this album. It works so I am not complaining. "Welt" is also more like an interlude with it's rainy piano refrain and chanted vocal.

She returns to the kind of spacey folk she built her career on at first with "Two Spirit". She has become a much better guitar player over the years and this songs has a more intricate chord progression than when she did this sort of thing in the past. The song does build , but it's the darker mood that is the heaviness. Her lyrics stand out here, which aside from "Offering" is the first song where I have been able to make note of them. "Scrape" is darker and noisy, it creates an almost suffocating mood. She sings in her upper register to provide more of a contrast. This album gets a 10. This means it's going to grow on me rather than click with me, though I slept in an hour and a half more than intended today, so I can't tell if it's Chelsea who is detached or me. But fans have nothing to fear as this is even less of a commercial attempt than "Abyss" and finds her adding the heavy she explored on the last album and going a step further with it while returning to her older sound.

the Mentors : "the Illuminaughty"

I hope these guys are not playing shirtless in hoods now that they are old and gray. The problem here is that El Duce is dead. So replacing him is problematic despite the fact the bassist and guitarist are still in the band. For guys who have been playing since 1976, I expect a little more prowess when it comes to playing their instruments. The production is punk like in it's careless attitude. It's hard to imagine that this was once considered heavy metal. In 2017 as song like "Good In Bed" comes across as being kind of juvenile. The only redeeming quality it that I think in theory we need rape rock since, the world these days is too full of politically correct bullshit. Lyrically your average trap rap pushes the boundaries more than "More than Your Mouth Can Hold" . If the vocals are not slathered in effects, they are more spoken and pretty terrible.

"Keep Your Bitch" under control is just a message that gangsta or as the kids say today trap rap pumps out all the time, so the shock value of what they do just isn't there. The groove to this song sounds like old guys playing in the basement trying to learn "Mississippi Queen". But aside from the amateur solos this song is better than most so far. "Grab Her By the Pussy" is an ode to Donald Trump. The lyrics are more about Billy Bush. "The Sluts Are Back " is almost laughable, which is the value of the album. I would put it on for my friends to laugh at how stupid it is. The first song where the guitars are trying to write and actual song is "Lovin You  Really Sucks" . The singer makes one of his first attempts at singing. The main problem is the phrasing of the lyrics is awkward, which is strange considering he is a drummer. He does take on a lower more growled tone for "King of the Castle" obviously a feminist anthem. There is a more punk feel to "Get Down and Fuck". If the Ramones were retarded old men they might have written "Do You When I Wanna" The intro to "Screwin In the Church" makes it seem like they were trying to write a real song , until the vocals come in a fuck things up.Then they go into more of a Stooges like thing for "Watch Her Naked" . They try to actually sing more on the chorus. Overall this album only has a few moments , most of the songs just sound amatuer and from some one who is considered a cult classic , we should expect more from them or they should never try to do this without El Duce, which might be the more reasonable option. I'll give this a 4.


6

Make Them Suffer : " Worlds Apart"

Death Core or Metal core or whatever the kids are calling it these days is not typically my thing. It tends to be masturbatory and only focuses on aggression, basically today's version of mall metal. So I was surprise when the first track off this Australian band's new album caught my attention. They have a more organic feel. I understand why purists of the genre might not find them heavy enough, but I think that is there saving grace. The fact the clean vocals are female give this another dimension. I think what they do right is make heavy another color to make music with rather than the totality of what they do. Not to say they are not heavy in a metallic sense. The have gruff vocals that are screamed a forceful hardcore like manner. Not quite a death metal growl, that tends to come at the end of phrases. "Grinding Teeth" kinds breezed past me and didn't keep my attention after the melodic guitar intro as it went into the chugging and seemed like nu-metal. The songs begin working off more of a formula once we get to "Vortex". "Fire Works" might be more screamed but where the song goes finds a similar path though the melodies in the previous song are stronger.

The do develop more of a groove for "Power Overwhelming" . The more 90's metal thing occurs on "Midnight Run". I think this is because the way the male vocals are phrased in the verses come too close to rapping. It's not Bio-Hazard bad, but seems more focused on getting a pit going. The guitar do some clever tricks and their drummer is pounding it into the pocket, but that is what comes with the job description ,so I am not going to praise someone for something they should be doing in the first place. What I want to hear is what makes you stand out from the rest. "Dead Plains" is a pretty solid song for what it is. It is more on the death metal side. Then there is more of Myspace era core on the last song. I can hear where these guys step into more of a Dark Tranquility place, if we are talking about the Swedish band's more recent work.

I'll give this album a 7.5 , it's pretty decent for what it is and the most listenable album I have heard recently from this sort of thing.The reason it didn't score higher , for all it's strengths like the stellar production is what it is just isn't my thing so I don't think I would get much play out of this. If this is your thing you will probably round it up to an 8.

Arcade Fire : "Everything Now"

When Kiss went into a disco phase it brought out a side of the band that churned out some of their best songs ever. This might not be the case with the new Arcade Fire. The title track feels like their take on "Disco Queen" mixed with the mid-80's solo work of Paul McCartney. I don't hear the soaring yearning I prefer coming from them, but people change and don't create from the same emotional state so I am trying to be open minded here.The disco continues on "Signs of Life" this time the Disco ball is shining brighter on this fact as the vocal are more rapped. In all fairness they have always been influenced by the Talking Heads so this song has that vibe coupled with maybe the verses of "Rapture". "Creature Comfort" is the first song that really grabs me and finds the band blending their new evolved sound with the band I used to like. This one has a strong groove and biting lyrics.

While quirky "Peter Pan" doesn't hold up in terms of hooky melodies and over song dynamics as the previous songs. "Chemistry" kinds grooves it's way out of the previous song. The there is the frantic almost punk like tone of "Infinite Content". There are some cools sounds at work here, but the pace is easy for them to get lost. Electric blue focuses on the female voice and a more disco programmed drum machine carrying the groove with vocals heavily effect and more of an ethereal gliding to how they fall over the music. . There is a more restrained groove that might bring to mind some of the Rolling Stones more disco moments. The mix on this album is weird and it can really be heard on this song as if there was ever a time to bring the bass up in the mix it would be on "Good God Damn". I think the disco groove to "Put Your Money on Me" works better as the vocals are more locked into the dynamic tension of the song.

Things mellow out more for "We Don't Deserve Love" . The mood here is more akin to what the War On Drugs does if you subtract the guitar solos and let the vocals wuss out a little more. The build gets more interesting and goes off into a more familiar soaring dynamic for them. The refrain of "Everything Now" takes the album out on a very tepid note. I'll round this album down to a 7.5 as there are some good songs, but it doesn't have much in the way of balls to it , and in their own right Arcade Fire once had the emotional depth to compensate for what they lack in terms of sonic heft. Here there feelings check in would have them at a little detached.

Dead Cross : "s/t"

Mike Patton and Dave Lombardo have teamed up with members of the Locust and Retox for what is darker than I hoped, though still coated in a great deal of noise. It's eerie and angular in the same way Sleepy Time Gorilla Museum was. The songs are typically compressed into under four minutes.You can hear the grind core influence of the Locust on " Divine Filth", despite Mike Patton's vocals still bringing a little more melody even on the more punk inspired sections. Though the chaos ins out more on "Grave Slave". The production finds the distortion jagged , mixed with a claustrophobic tension. You might wonder what the difference between this and Tomahawk is. Well that is easy. This is darker and heavier than Tomahawk. There are some moments that are more blatantly metal than others. "Gag Reflex" is more metal than not.  

"Idiopathic"  rides the line between chaos and a song that makes sense. They launch in more of a thrashing speed for "Obedience School" . I expect a little more from Lombardo when it comes to playing at this intensity, and it sounds like it could be anyone behind the kit. The sound of dial up internet starts off "Seizure and Desist". Patton trades off screams, squeals and singing. "Shilelagh" finds him doing more angry punk ranting.  This almost sounds like a more feral version of "King For A Days" harder rocking moments. This metallic punk temper tantrum continues on " the Future Has Been Cancelled".  As far as songwriting goes while Patton has an abundance of energy, I don't think the melodies that do show up are really his most thoughtful or strongest work.

The reckless spastic moments that have the most in common with grind core are not the album's strongest points and keep it from being a solid piece of work so on sheer merits of the darker tone and covering Bauhaus I will round this up to an 8, but considering the level of talent present here I think expecting more is ok.

Ded : "Mis-An-Thrope"

It's a crazy though that new nu-metal is being created in 2017. The first song almost makes you ready to write these guys off as wanting to be Slipknot. While this is not untrue, these guys are actually not half band and write some decent songs. Sure there are the chanted temper tantrum vocals and the rap elements on the first single "Anti-Everything" bring to mind Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit depending on where you are at in the song. It still somehow manages to work even though it is a little on the radio side of the equation so not as heavy as most of the bands we review who refer to themselves as metal. "Dead to Me' gets mired in the kinda of watered down screaming metal that nu-metal eventually defaulted to.The lyrics revert to just telling people to fuck off in various ways. Slipknot thing seems to be the more dominate motivation for the kind of music they are trying to make. Granted they don't have a bunch of extra clowns beating on things, so some of the clutter and density is not there.

The more Linkin Park like " is one of the more well written songs despite it's more pop tinged leanings when it comes to the hooks. Linkin Park always struck me as being a boy band with guitars, and this is not that blatant. "Disassociate" works better for me as the hip-hop accents and almost grunge like vocals on the chorus don''t sound just like some other band from the Hot-topic and allows me to hear who these guys actually are. "Rope" finds them trying to bring the noise to a more Slip-knot like magnitude. The sung vocals are a little more original than how we have heard them used earlier in the album though comparisons could be drawn to Breaking Benjamin.The hip hop moments work better than when they are overtly angry and angst ridden. The whole I am about to have a nervous breakdown vocal just sounds dated and silly. "Hate Me" has a more sing song chorus that sounds almost like a nursery rhyme. Then they fall back into the more pummeling Slipknot thing with the chant for you to cut them off at the knees.

"Inside" plays off all the conventions of nu-metal, but puts them together in a way that plays to their strength as a band and works well as a song where they might have fallen short on some of the other songs. "Beautiful" starts off with more of a ballad type thing going on without it being too Linkin Park, it's more like Staind or Cold. I think giving this album an 8.5 is fair. They are good at what they do , I just haven't listened to what they do in some time and take it about as seriously as I take Motley Crue.