This band's 6th full-length shows they still understand the tension from their hard-core toots as they apply it to moody rock n roll. I like how the vocals are produced, as it gives them a slightly darker feel. There is more of a pop-punk shout when the dynamics build, which brings to mind bands like Thrice. This has a very early 2000s feel. I do appreciate how it takes us back to a place where melody and hooky songwriting were important. They often employ a punk urgency even when strumming chords with more melodic intentions, and allow the vocals to fall into a more relaxed juxtaposition with the urgent energy possessing the guitars.
They drift further into indie rock on songs like "Bell Penny" as things slow to a steady contemplative strum. "Diamond" moves more like the brand of "emo" that evolved from poppier strains of punk. The syncopation of "From Now to Now" is a little more interesting as it makes the vocals fall differently. The accents are jagged, feel subtly more aggressive without racing off into a frantic punk exploion, though it does build into a more screamo section. "Nothing Certain" is pretty effective; the bass makes things heavier, but there is little in the way of metal influence, though it does head in a more brooding direction.
There is a more rock groove to "Shelly". that reminds me a little of Quicksand. "On the Wind" is more of a ballad. This band's bass player is really on point when it comes to laying a solid foundation for the song. It creates almost a late '90s feel here. There is more of a lurking tension to the last song that finds the mood getting darker and heavier, but more intensely, think Tool rather than metal in this regard. It makes sense as the song is called "Snake Dreams," so it should have a more winding slither. I will give this album a 9, if you are a fan of late 90s post-hardcore, then this deserves a listen.
This band from North Carolina brings a big lumbering version of stoner fried doom to the table. The sung vocals are not what I was expecting, but I appreciate the fact that they are not effects-laden displays of Ozzy worship. We do a fair amount of Ozzy worship around here. I love some Ozzy, but I own all the Black Sabbath and solo albums, so there is no need for imitators. The guitars on this album are massive, with the vocals sitting back against their wall of fuzz. The vocals are not the hookies as they are riding along the guitar riffs. I think, as with a great many metal albums that push heavy to the forefront after the initial hit rings in your eardrums, you are stunned until the second song, and do not stop to ask if they can write a song.
The vocals do have more purpose on the second song, but feel a little pitchy in places. The guitars do sync up with the vocals to make things work. They sound like early Pallbearer on "Pot of Gold' There seems to be a more attuned focus to a depressive feel here. 'Parasites' is more invested in a heavier pound, though keeping the doom mood going. "Dwelling" works better, I think the effects on the vocals work better. You can hear this when they are stripped down post-production for a song like "Perfect Organism.", though the vocal melody here is a little hookier.
"Bones' might not be the album's catchiest song, but it does lean more into their doom identity. The same could be said of the winding last song. Is some of this delivered like a Temu Pallbearer, sure, but there is also a great sense of who they are bubbling up amidst it. I will give this album an 8,5 and see how it grows on me, but if you miss when Pallbearer was a metal band, this album is for you.
After Lzzy Hale's terrible performance at the Ozzy tribute show in Birmingham, I was reluctant to cover this album. On stage that day, she was shrieking and sharp, but in the studio, she is more restrained, though over-singing is a constant; the new album from her band is not reinventing the wheel but offering the kind of hard rock their fans seem to like. The riff to the opening track is interesting at first, then the song loses its momentum. The more deliberate title track is marginally darker and works better for me, thanks to its deliberate riffing. The need to constantly swing for the fences with these anthemic choruses gets old by the second song. This song was written by Amy Wage, who is an industry pitch hitter, so if you have ever doubted the legitimacy of this band, having outside songwriters like a pop act is a pretty fair indicator.
Another "personal" song that is written by someone else is "Shiver' written by Dave Pittenger. It is the most bland thing you can imagine, despite her voice being the only redeeming aspect of it as she sounds great on it, though I suspect she is more of a studio singer now. To be called "Like a Woman Can," it's ironic that what a woman could not do is write this song as two men, including industry producer Nolan Sipe, might as well be on a Miley Cyrus album, which I think would do a better job with this. "Rain Your Blood On Me" is generic hard rock, with one cool riff as the bridge coming out of the chorus. Has a late '90s feel, riff-wise, before the gallop.
I like the bleak theme of "Darkness Always Wins," but it wants to be Evanescence at the beginning before finding its feet to sound more like who they are as a band. It also makes me think of something Pink would do. They are becoming a pop band for sure. "Gather the Lambs" feels like this asked AI to write a Halrstorm power ballad. "Watch Out' is their Jock Jam. It's actually one of the better songs on this album, perhaps the best so far.The band says they dug into '90s vibes for 'Broken Doll." is can hear if we are talking about Alanis Morrisette, which this is almost a rip off of.. "Killing" tries to be "Killing in the Name" riff-wise wise but is more of a mess.
"I Gave You Everything" is generic rock, but it works better for them than most of these songs. They brought in a cog from the Nashiville Country machine in Natalie Hemby. Which makes for a song you might expect from Miranda Lambert. This is a well-produced album that rolled off the assembly line to cater to a very gullible demographic, so I will give this album a 6, which is as good as a pre-fabricated rock album can get.
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Rather than a new album, this is an album of songs that never made it onto albums, so for all practical purposes, this is a new album. It is new to our ears. Austin Lunn, the man behind this project, also released a companion album that was a bluegrass country mix, and I gave it a listen and decided I could just listen to country artists like Sturgill Simpson or Jason Isbell, who are capable of doing that better. The opening track to the metal album I decided to review opens with a different take on atmospheric black metal. When we hear that term, it often means it is going in a post-rock direction or going to be ambient synths setting the stage, but this is neither. It is hazy and electronic at times, one of the more original sounds I have heard from him.
The first three songs all sprawl out to the 10-minute mark. The second song is a more metal attack, with the kind of tremolo-picked guitars you want from black metal, though the drums sit buried by the wall of shimmering guitar and feel more programmed. I like the sonic ideas unfolding on the second song; it sounds like these demos were not given a great deal of post-production love. While this kind of raw treatment might help to create an authentic black metal vibe that works, it could have benn more impressive if these sounds were sharpened to their potential Similar could be said of 'the White Mountain View' it invokes that posr-rock feel I was talking about earlier, before busting into the full bore blast of black metal that is counter balance by sung vocals istting in the background.
"Haunted America 2' does pretty well at finding its groove in the flurry of the blitzed attack. He continues to prove him self effective amid the blur of the storm that "the End is Drawing Near" brings. The production is even more reverb-heavy and haze-ridden for 'A Letter'. There are worthwhile melodic explorations in this, but the mix is so rough that they are not fully realized. The vocals try to cut through and are sometimes shouted through. The last song is another opaque one, thanks to the production. An Autumn For Crippled Children used to have similar challenges with production that sometimes added charm; this is taking the punch out of it. I will give this one an 8, and the reasons seem pretty clear. Though if you want atmospheric black metal that deviates from the normal expectatons of the term this is worth your time.
These guys are on the heavier side of noise rock, but are also smart enough not to just rely on brute force by delving into introspection midway through the opening track, which solidifies my attention. The lyrics are hilarious. They are smart and angry. They set the bar pretty high for themselves, so let's see if they can live up to it. The vocals howl with less malice on the second song, until getting to the chorus, which is a reverse of what they did on the opening track, but I like the tension on the verses. They are raging against the ragers here, and it is lots of fun. Almost like a stand-up set to music. Nobody can accuse them of taking themselves too seriously.
"Zoloft and Blow" sounds like it was conceived on those two chemicals. Their vocalist howls with contempt, likea drunk on the front lawn at 2 am. The drums toss in a casual blast beat as an accent while the guitar deals out dissonance. "Unsuccessfully Trying to Parse Nightmare From Reality" is convincing in its unhinged nature. "Cadaver Resume' is more of a full frontal assault. This displays the lurking hardcore leanings. The stage set for a song called "Running a Cemetery Without a License" should, of course, be darker, so they understand that assignment.
"Cryptid Divorce Court" is basically a punk song. "I'm Very Tired Please Let Me Die" finds him screaming to be left alone as they provide a creepier sonic brooding for him to rant over. "Family Suicide Gun" finds his vocals going back into a harsher place. I will give this album a 9. I love the lyrics, but the delivery can feel like the album is just a substitution of a vocal booth for a drunk tank, but it works as it goes into something that feels real in its disturbing yet endearing nature. Drop September 12th on Brutal Panda.
This Nebraska-based metal, combines sludge with a more fiery brand of anthem hard rock thanks to the soaring vocals of Kate Lewis. The riffs are hooky, and the opening track kicks the door in with the kind of energy you want from a metal album. There is a more traditional metal gallop on "The Dead Follow". In some ways, this picks up where Royal Thunder, as she carries a similar blues-drenched alto that can be carried up into a belted upper register.
"Send Me Down' is bombastic as the two previous song, but does not hook me in as infectiously, perhaps because they are keeping things to such an in-your-face intensity, which is almost like Clutch in that regard. They do find a more bong-water-coated groove for "Witch Hunt," which is marginally darker, though the emphasis is clearly on rocking your face off.
They hit the best blend of what they do and write their best song when backing off into more of a groove for "The Demonstration." There is a more overt metal mood to her melodies, rather than the blues belting that is often her mainstay approach; this performance is more nuanced and sets up the hooks well. The lyrics feel like they are more personal to give the song more weight. Her pipes seem to be more empowered as her airbags push the higher notes out of the park. This is an impressive display from this band. I will give it a 9 if you want a female-fronted hard rock band that understands the assignment and gets the job done better than most. Give this album a listen.
This four-song EP by the Danish band features metallic guitar melodies that evolve into more raging, hardcore pounding, thanks to the aggressive drumming. The coarse yells of the vocals are commanding, though also one-dimensional. They touch on more interesting sonic layers with the second song, "Deportation ASMR For Gil-Scott Heron," which has to be one of the best song titles I have seen in some time. There is a darker, more apocalyptic brooding that I appreciate lyrically. The angry approach being used by their vocalist comes almost closer to Entimbed in the bark, so the nuance of phrasing is not some that leaves much to be discerned. It's the overall feel to this one that wins me over.
While the driving energy of hardcore punk, almost in the frantic vein of Negativ Approach or Discharge, flows through what they do, these guys not not painted into one stylistic corner as there is more of a black metal tension racing through the core of " Emperor of the New Truth", No, it ddoes not sound anything like the band Emperor, more of a Marduk roughness. Motorhead is obviously also in the DNA of most bands doing this sort of thing. Sure it could be more dynamic, but they are running off an adernalized mania.
The last track, "Days of War, Nights of Love" is once again off to the races after a darker, more deliberate intro that had me hoping they might show a different side. Perhaps the expectation I have is that when you only have four songs, that is four different chances to capture who you are, and who they are seems to be variations of a singular focus of energy. I will give this one an 8.5, as they excel at doing what they do, and made the album they set out to make, so fans of this sort of thing will be rewarded.
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