the Black Angels : "Wilderness of Mirrors"

The 6th album by the Texas opens with the kind of hypnotic throb you want from them. It has a dark drone to it that creates a haunting pulse as layers of sound swirl around it. The ebb this sound down for the more rocked out "History of the Future". The reverb drowned vocals occupying a similar space. The bass bring more of a thump to drive the groove of "Empires Falling". The vocals have a clearer narrative as singer Alex Maas awakes from his stoned lethargy.  There is more of a 60s pysch-pop feel to "El Jardin" it's pretty well written not as upbeat as what Neil Diamon write for the Monkees , but heading in that direction. Dynamic it packs more of punch. 

The bleak groove to "La Pared" is a mesmerizing motion driven by the bass line.  There is more of strut in the step of "Firefly"  "Make it Known' is more grandiose in its sonic scope. The slinky manner it slithers around in the bath of atmosphere is not unlike later period Radiohead. One of the album's better vocal performances so far. The melodic guitar line that drips around the groove works really well. The lonely western strum of acoustic guitar on "the River" creates a cool mood, for the 60s sounding amble. The title track also latches onto a more 60s based sound, but while doing so they never get bogged down in being retro or basically make the kind of power pop that is garage rock.

"Here & Now" works off a more urgent folk strum. I like the vocals more emotive quality here. They continue to wander through a dreamy garden of space sounds as the album progresses. To say they are like a cross between early Pink Floyd and Stone Roses on this album would basically be saying they are a variation of Radiohead. Less introspective and more expansive in their drug use would be the best way to handle this comparison. The way they wander gives them more common ground with progressive rock than indie rock. There is more of a freak out boogie to "A Walk on the Outside".  "Vermillion Eyes" ambles down the same Absinth laced paths we have already danced down. "Icon" is more rock based and moves with more attitude in it's undercurrent not unlike back when the Rolling Stones were taking acid. There is an interesting array of ambient sounds sparkling from the corners of the last song. I will give this album a 9.5, for now and see how it sits with me, over all the scop of what they do and the context of how they do it is next level shit from the past that sounds just as original today.  

KMFDM : " Hyëna"

22 albums later and KMFDM is doing it again. This might be the band's most rock n roll album. Yes, there are electronic elements in place. The guitars do not bring the synchronized crunch that once had them labelled as an industrial band. The title track is the first song that offers a dramatically different sonic shade than the first three songs. Some of the change could have been in the mix, at times the guitar tone being less metallic in its distortion and taking a groove with more reverb heavy tones ruling the fret board. That is not to say there are no guitar solos, as they have plenty of those. Sonically it has more in common with My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, as it is more fun loving and less aggressive militant guitars. The first hin of the old Reich is on the somewhat darker pulse of " All Wrong- But Alright". 

They switch gears into a more punk feel with "Blindface". The organ solo added to the song balances the rushed punk feel out. Lucia continues to prove herself as a vocalist. "Immortally Yours" might be the album's best song, with her steamy vocals and reverb thick guitars. This offers a different sonic color than what we normally get from these guys. You can still tell it's KMFDM, but it is a fresh revision of their sound. If it flies with me then it means they are doing something right as I am normally more rigid about bands changing their sound. 

"Liquor Fish & Cigarettes" finds the hook of the chorus saving this song. It has more of a bounce than a march. This does lead them to more of a groove than the working parts of this song might lead you to believe it is capable of. "In Dub We Trust " is not what I want from this band. With said while the sounds compiled to create this are well-crafted, it does not play to the strength of who they are. With that said I think it gives me enough reason to round this down to a 9.  Yes they are held to a higher standard when I know what they are capable of. This might need more time to grow on me. The album is being released on Metropolis Records. 

Ozzy Osbourne : "Patient Number 9 "

Releasing album 13 at the ripe age of 73, Ozzy is holding up better than expected, especially when you consider the tour cancelling issues of the past few years. This album has less of a pop sheen and feels more like a rock record than "Ordinary Man". The only song he gets help outside of the buds he brought to the studio is the title track and lead single that opens the album. It comes by way of pop songwriter Ali Tamposi , who has also worked with Kelly Clarkston. Despite this fact it is darker than expected until the chorus, which is the only part of the song that has a touch of pop to it in the hook. Jeff Beck plays guitar on it, so you know that is going to be solid. Pearl Jam's Mike Mcready plays on the second song "Immortal" which is a great deal beefier than even Pearl Jam's old grunge sound. The chorus is kind of bright, but it works. 

The drums on this album are handled by Chad Smith and the late Taylor Hawkins. Not the biggest fan of either but they get the job done here with some extra flair. Zakk Wylde shows up on the even heavier "Parasite".  Robert from Metallica also plays bass on this album, along with Duff and Chris Chaney, so he was smart enough to stack the deck in his favor with people from his past. So far at this point in my initial listen, "No Escape from Now" is my favorite song on this album, which is head and shoulders over anything on his previous album. Despite not liking the lyric about not believing in Jesus, Eric Clapton, still played on "One of Those Days". I still think Eric Clapton is overrated. The song is also more rock than metal but a fine vocal from Ozzy saves the day. 

Jeff Beck returns for the power ballad "A Thousand Shades", which is less impressive than his previous appearance on this album. This sounds like a B-side from "No More Tears". With that said it is still better than what most can muster. Until Zakk rips it, "Mr. Darkness" felt like it could have been on "Bark at the Moon" .   He gets back to his more shadow filled take on power ballads with "Nothing Feels Right" which is pretty much a solid formula for Ozzy that still works for him. The playing on "Evil Shuffle" is more interesting and grooves much better.  Toni' straps on his legendary axe again for "Degradation Blues", which sounds more like solo Ozzy than Sabbath, though there are a few elements not on like "the Wizard".   

"Dead and Gone" is somewhat straight forward, though still steps out of the bounds of what Ozzy typically does. All the pieces work really well. "God Only Knows" is a more formula heavy power ballad, with some cool nuanced guitar thanks to Dave Navarro. Though it is not one of the album's strongest songs as the bar is pretty high here.  "Darkside Blues" is more of an outro than an actual song. I will round this up to a 10 and see how it grows on me, but it is one of his most impressive offerings of the past couple decades.    

 

Behemoth : "Opvs Contra Natvram"

The opening track is more of a dramatic intro than a song leaving "Malaria Vulgata" as the first proper song. There are a few more guitar solos than what these guys normally do, aside from that it offers the same blackened blend of melodic death metal you came here for. "the Deathless Sun" shows what sets them apart which is Nergal's purposeful vocals. He shows you do not have to have a great singing voice to create hooks, you just need to put your voice in the right places. He doesn't scream or growl but uses a commanding snarl to fill these spots in the song. 

The use of melody keeps things dark and not symphonic with the pulse running through "Ov My Herculean Exile". They are weaving great gods into their mish mash of brooding occult musings despite being Polish. I guess Polish gods are not as exciting, when it comes to Teutonic mythology Then it's off to Rome for " Neo Spartacus". I know he is supposed to be Thelemic in his beliefs and there is very little of that in the lyrics. Things get more black metal on the blasting yet creepy throb that is " Disinheritance". The blast beats are use well on this and not overdone. Lyrically it is all over the place thematically. Things keep to this more aggressive path though with more groove than the previous song on "Off to War" . He does not sing but speaks the phrases in a few places with more creepy conviction. One thing I like about these guys is the bass has a presence in their sound rather than getting lost under the guitar and drums which in and of themselves are a very dense machine. 

"Upon a Pale Horse " is really well written and flows with a catchy groove. This is how this band clawed their way to the top of the game, it is true to who they are while still being a well-rounded song, proving you can still achieve this and not compromise when it comes to standing by a mean spirted vocal. It feels almost like "Domination" era Morbid Angel in this regard. This is also the first song I notice a Thelemic trapping to the lyrics. They fall back on the blackened bag of tricks before smoothing out into a groove on "Thy Becoming Eternal" and they are also back to hailing Satan. "Versus Christus" is more brooding, though works off impressive dynamics and is a fitting end to an album as is a step in a more effective direction for the band in terms of progressing as songwriters. I will give this album a 9.5, as it's the best thing they have done in some time.  This album is being released on Nuclear Blast.          

Blind Guardian: 'the God Machine"

 

The guys have gotten aggressive as shit on the opening track, it's almost heavier than half the songs on the new Megadeth, until the big layered choral vocals come in, but hey that is what these guys do. When they get into some of the more grandiose color by numbers power metal majesty, I am less invested, though even here there is more grit than what your typical symphonic Helloween imitator might try. Hansi's vocal help the band keep their distance from their peers. At 56 he is singing his ass off. "the Secrets of American Gods" dials down the grandiose, but there are some layered choral vocals on the choruses which they are not fooling around with swinging for the fences, it might not fall as neatly into my preferences as the previous album did.  It reminds me of older Iced Earth in places. 

You can hear Priest influence on "Violent Shadows" which finds the band thrashing at a more aggressive rate. "Life Beyond the Spheres' kind of coasts back on the typical gallop of power metal. "Architects of Doom" casts a darker shadow over things, before rushing off into a more epic thrashing. Hansi delivers a more aggressive vocal that reminds me of Warrell Dane's Nevermore days.  The vocal harmonies are not as stacked, which works better for my ears. What I want is more singing that measures up to what Hansi does at the beginning of "Let it Be No More". It is a power ballad of sorts, very dynamic in its arrangement. 

"Blood of the Elves" finds them back in full on power thrashing mode. There is a more melodic section midway into it, but the drums pretty much keep going. Lyrically it is everything you could want for your Dungeons and Dragons game. Once again, their guitar solos are pretty shredding if you are into that kind of thing. The last song "Destiny" has a few cool melodic moments the further you get into the song, but generally aside from the tense undercurrent, plays more in lines with the typical rules of power metal, which I feel this band writes their best stuff when they deviate from that and lean into their darker side. I will give this a 9 as these guys are masters of their craft, they just play it too safe at times and in fall in the comfortable bounds of power metal.   

Megadeth : "the Sick, the Dying, .. And the Dead ! "

 Dave Mustaine is the sole original member of the band after allowing Dave Ellefson to be cancelled.  Ellefson's bass tracks were re-recorded by Testament bassist Steve Di Giorgio. Also, on the band's 16th album Angra Guitarist Pedro and Dirk from Soilwork.  It is still in the thrashing style of the band, though things are so cleanly produced that it takes a great deal of the edge out of their sound. "Night Stalkers" finds the guitars getting more aggressive, but the same cannot be said by Mustaine's vocal, which so far for the first three songs have been largely spoken, the first really stab at singing is on the "Night Stalkers" chorus. Ice-T's cameo is sparse, as it should be. 

The first song that feels like they are not just peddling watered down attempts at re-booting "Rust in Peace" is one "Dogs of Chernobyl". It is a more honest and melodic effort. It does build into the palm muted tension of thrash. I cannot believe the producer let the vocal take on "Sacrifice" find its way in this state to the final album. The vocals are awkward, in their phrasing and the terrible lyrics contribute to this. "Junkie" sounds like a cross between a "Countdown to Extinction"   b-side and Def Leppard. An improvement considering the previous song.  "Killing Time" could have been better if the vocals were not given such a dry production. This continues to be a problem with the album as the guitars sound great and the vocals largely ignored in the final mixing. 

"Soldier On" just kinda chugged by without leaving much of an impression.  He takes a shot at today's social media influences with "Celebutante", which ends up being a pretty decent song. The guitar harmonies on this album are pretty dialed in. Things get a little darker on the more brooding " Mission to Mars' which is the direction this album needed to head to begin with. This album has been six years in the making, so packed with thirteen there is a larger margin for error when it comes to filler. It seems like the best songs are packed into the second half. The more technical speed metal feel that carries a tighter sound than thrash can be heard on "We'll Be Back" which works pretty well. The band's legacy haunts them in the best way on this song. None of the guitar solos on this album touch Marty Friedman's work, but the solos are plentiful. They also shift through a barrage of really cool riffs on this song. 

"Police Truck" has some interesting guitar sounds that break away from what you might expect, though the lyrics are pretty dumb".   "This Planet's on Fire" has Mustaine trying harder to sing since Sammy Hagar is also on this track.  It reminds me early 90s AC/DC.  I will give this album an 8.5 , it has some strong moments, but this band's first four album's really raised the bar high and some of the cheese could have been trimmed the solos more purposeful and the vocals given more love, other than that if you are a Megadeth fan you can round this up to a 9, if Dave can do no wrong, but that might not be the most objective listen,     

Fucked Up : 'Oberon"

What is fucked up is how they have decided to just go ahead and become a metal band. These guys have always been weird, so while it is a strange progression from the burlier angular noise rock they were making, this is an absurd leap into the unexpected. I am more surprised by how they are doing it; this sounds like the second coming of Cathedral. With the vocals serving as the main culprit, yes there is also a good dose of Celtic Frost mixed in with other weirdness like synth sounding effects.  They could have had this sound, but if the vocal had kept just their angry scowling it might not have been as noticeable, but the lyrics are not about elves and angels, it is the crazy way they are delivered vocally and the crazy way the lyrics paint these pictures that put it in league with Cathedral. 

The funnier thing about all of this is not only do I not mind, but I think this might be better. They might be better at doing Cathedral than Cathedral was at doing themselves. Gone are any degrees of Black Flag that might have been flowing in their veins. It is however still traced back to their hard core past to make this more sludge than it is doom, though the lyrics are very doom. The album itself is a tribute to " A Midsummer Night's Dream" , which lyrics connected to classical literature is a much more metal thing than punk. The second songs throbs with a groove that snakes under the drums. More layers of synth atmosphere than what you might normally think of sludge being possessed by.  

"Mashhit " more aggressive with a angular riff that seems as propelled by the synth as it does the bass and the way this is mixed it is hard to tell them apart. There is also a weird under current of electronic pulse beneath this song when it is stampeding you. They close the album with an odd cover of "Saint- Saens " the Aquarium" this is the least impressive of the songs though they get credit for being ambitious enough to attempt it. I will give this album a 95, catchy for what they are doing which is pretty unique even in the face of its influences.