Desolate Shrine – The Sanctum Of Human Darkness

You awaken and find yourself adjusting to a grey haze that fills your field of vision, without any variability in shade.  You feel an ominous, unnamed weight upon you, not a physical weight, but the weight of the evil and darkness that humankind is capable of.  You hear distant screams, shrieks, howls, from unknown sources.  They sound human, but only if humans are being subjected to acts that defy description.  As you explore the room in which you find yourself, it appears to be a shrine of sorts.  But what manner of madman has assembled this shrine?  All around you are images and souvenirs of the worst types of human behavior.  Serial killers, mass murderers, acts of genocide, all are portrayed in various tableaux that seem reverential.  Scenes and devices of torture fill the room.  You look at some of these devices and even wonder how they work, what exactly they do, and then decide it's probably better not to know.  All of this appears to be holy to whoever has brought this together.  You stumble upon a book, it almost appears to be a hymnal, with 8 songs describing acts of atrocity.  And suddenly you see it, inscribed in an archway above a door that you have just noticed.  You are in the Sanctum of Human Darkness.

Listening to this release from Desolate Shrine will certainly put you in the mindset above.  Human darkness is cataloged and described, and you can almost detect a sense of religiosity to it.  After all, we have the "good" religions, and look at all of the atrocities that have been committed in the name of religion over the centuries.  There is nothing to be feared more than a true believer, who has bought into their belief system so much that they will do anything, will justify anything, in the name of what they believe in.  Murder, torture, rape, pillage, plunder, wipe out entire races of people, enslave them, treat them as a sub species.  All of this has been done in the name of religion, in the name of belief.  It is still done today.  We look the other way many times, because they believe in a religion, and religion is good, right?  We look the other way until it is too late, until fanaticism has turned to action, and action has created death and destruction.

With "Sanctum Of Human Darkness", Desolate Shrine show us these things.  Song titles are apt descriptors for this darkness.  "The Chalice of Flesh and Bone: The Eminence of Chaos", "Demon Heart: The Desolate One", "Pillars of Salvation: The Drowned Prince", are just a few, and some of the better ones.  This is music that will drag you into the darkness, if you require force, or take you there willingly if you are of a mind to drift into it complacently.  However you get there, you will know darkness when you arrive.  The mood of this album is palpable from the first few notes of the first track.  You know what you are in for almost immediately and for almost an hour you are aurally assaulted with hymns of darkness.  If you need it categorized, it moves between black and death metal, seamlessly and flawlessly.  There are some great atonal moments.  If you listen with headphones you are rewarded with all sorts of things in the mix, things that although you hear them, you are not quite sure what they are.  Was that a guitar or a scream?  Primarily this is music that is black and bleak.  Forget genres, this is music of feeling and atmosphere.

I'm not sure what it says about me, and I really don't care, but I love this music.  I can listen to this all day long, every day.  Too often we seem to think that life can only be light or darkness, good or evil, beautiful or ugly.  And we let the world, we let so-called societal norms tell us what these things are.  But if we free our minds, if we think for ourselves, if we allow ourselves to recognize and define what is beautiful, what is worthy of our attention, then many more possibilities exist.  This music has a beauty all its own and we shouldn't shun things simply because the norm tells us that it is underground, that it is out of the mainstream, so therefore it should be ignored.  Yet it is here, just like the human darkness described in this release, and we ignore it at our peril.

 - ODIN

Ripple Field Trip - Damaura: A Tribute to Dimebag Darrell

It was only during the Metroplex Heavyfest in Dallas last year that I got my first real taste of the legacy left by Dimebag Darrell.  To be honest, I'd never been a fan of Pantera; not because I didn't like their music but because I'd never really heard them. Remember, graduate school kept me busy for most of the late '80's and early '90's, so I simply missed that boat.  I'd heard a few songs here and there, but nothing that I really "listened" to.  I was outraged and saddened by his shooting in 2004 like I would've been for any senseless murder of a member of our rock family.  I knew he was talented and looked upon with respect.  But I never felt that loss.

That all changed in Dallas last year.

Dallas/Fort Worth has a tight metal/rock community and the spectre of Dimebag (and Pantera) hangs thick in the air-- as a funeral shroud but also as a beacon of love and respect. It feels like the essence of Dimebag clings to the very fabric of Dallas metal today, like his DNA has infused the genes of every tattooed rocker who's picked up a guitar since his death. Being there at a heavy rock/metal festival gave me a whole new appreciation for the man and a reason to stock my shelves with Pantera CD's.

So I was ready to go when Mike Davi, the merciless drummer for Damaura (who's debut "Fall Before Me . .  .Leave No One" I reviewed last year) asked me if I wanted to be a fly on the wall at their 4th annual "Tribute to Dimebag Darrell" concert, held each year near the anniversary of his death.  Without hesitation, I trekked the 40 minutes out to Antioch and found myself lost in a sea of bearded humanity, upstairs at the Mutiny MFB Bar Grill and Rock Club.  Antioch is a small town, way on the outskirts of being a suburb of San Francisco; kinda stuck between the big City and the state Capital, Sacramento, to the North.  So I wasn't sure what kind of rock/metal scene I was gonna find there, but let me be the first to say, from what I saw, Antioch has something going on.  Mutiny isn't the biggest place in the world, and the stage set up is a touch non-functional, with the audience area divided by a bar, a wall, a staircase . . . and whatever other obstacle they can come up with; but the crowd that was there squeezed themselves into every nook and cranny of available space, including a decent sized pit in front of the stage.  And the crowd was ready.  They were into metal.  They were into Damaura.  And they were into Dimebag.

I missed the opening band of this four-band bill, and came in at the start of JBD's set.  Featuring two members of Damaura; Bernt Strom on drums (guitar and vocals in Damaura) and Dan Cutt on bass, plus singer/guitarist Jared D.  JBD tore through a set of doom-laden thrash that riled the crowd into a frenzy ending with the show stopper, "Jarhead" (?).  What caught my ear was the way the band mixed it up enough, played with dynamics enough, to always keep things interesting; tearing into a thrash riff one second, then dropping the bottom out to a doomy dirge and back again.  Good stuff and worth checking out here. 

By the time Damaura took the stage, the place was packed and when the band broke into "Fucking Hostile" the bar went volcanic, hair flying in a sea of male and female headbangers, prostrating themselves in ritualistic adulation for their hero.  With Damaura, Bernt takes his spot on guitar and backing vocals, Dan stays on bass, Mike Davi helms the drum seat, and Chris Black takes the frontman spot on vocals and lead guitar.  Looking a touch like Dimebag himself, Chris proved  himself in an instant, tearing through "Fucking Hostile" with abandon, whipping the crowd into a frenzy and leaving scorch marks on his Dimebag guitar frets.

It's been said that Pantera fashioned the post-thrash era of "groove metal" with their riffing, Texas-influenced groove and hardcore vocal attack.  That came through loud and clear as Damaura smashed through a set that included Pantera staples, "Floods", "Domination" "A New Level" and "Cemetery Gates."  They also tossed in a blitzkrieg version of Damageplan's "Pride" which brought the house down in a sea of sweaty bodies.  Mixed in with the Dimebag love was a handful of Damaura originals from the debut album, "Min Mardrom" "Vendetta" and Catastrophic Ending" which sounded perfectly placed in the set, and underscored the theme here.  Damaura aren't a cover band or a tribute band. They're a metal band paying homage to a fallen hero.  Toasting at midnight on the day of Dimebag's death to a lost brother and a metal innovator.

No metal concert would be complete without something bizarre, so when Jared D, from JBD, came back to the stage to take vocals for the final set, the swirling red lights of cop cars outside seemed a fitting mood setter.  Apparently, some cat out front was videotaping an Antioch police officer making a traffic stop, when the officer objected, the man refused to stop, and the next thing you know we got 11 Antioch Police cars descending onto sleepy 2nd Ave, their lights flashing through the sky like a enemy air raid. "Ignore the cops" Chris screamed out, and tore into "A New Level."   Middle fingers flashed into a police authority salute, Mike smashed his kit, Dan brought on the low end, Bernt went ballistic and the crowd lost themselves in skull crushing metal all the way to the roof blowing closer, "I'm Broken."

I can't say how well the guys played each song compared to the original, but that wasn't the point.  On one foggy Friday night in Antioch, a couple thousand miles from Dimebag's hometown in Dallas, the legacy of a man and his music lived on.   Just as I felt last year in Dallas, the love was there, the respect, the loss.  With the crowd dripping sweat, calling for an encore, and the police lights still knifing through cracks in the curtains, I had a feeling that the metal scene of Antioch was alive and vibrant.  Not yet to the size of a place like Dallas, but pulsing.  Give it time.  Give it time.

Today, December 8th, is the 8 year anniversary of the murder of one of metal's legends.  Based upon what I saw last night, Dimebag would've been proud.

--Racer

Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Piñata

Pandora's Piñata has been one of the most difficult albums that I’ve ever had to review. On one hand, I could simply say, ‘You just have to sit down and listen.’ But, that doesn’t do this record any justice. There aren’t enough words to describe the album, but then again, sometimes less is better. Conundrum. Pandora's Piñata is a God damn conundrum. But in all the good ways.

Diablo Swing Orchestra is a band that, intentionally or unintentionally, challenges their listeners. Not in that over-your-head, too-smart-for-their-own-good kind of way that a lot of prog-rock bands will do, but more in that this Swedish outfit effortlessly incorporates sonic delights without it ever feeling forced. The listeners challenge is simply that we sit back and think, ‘How in God’s name did they think of doing that?’ or ‘Why on earth did they do that and how is it possible that it didn’t derail the entire song?’ 

Few bands can seamlessly fuse elements of swing jazz, Latin jazz, classical, heavy metal, noise, a little electronic, and house it all under big top carnival tent. Numerous, almost unrelated stylistic sounds into it and never sounds forced. Diablo Swing Orchestra can and do, and they keep the music heavily emotional, albeit with a little air of Tim Burton goth throughout. In short, Pandora's Piñata is brilliant. In long? How much time have you got? 

From the opening snap of the drums on “Voodoo Mon Amour” to the fading electro-techno drone of the album closer, “Justice For Saint Mary”, Diablo Swing Orchestra satisfy the listening (and dancing) audience with a thrill-a-minute joy ride of musical excesses. The lead track offers up a tremendous burst of trumpet led swing jazz followed up by thunderous and rhythmic heavy metal, and all sung with a juxtaposed female swing and male haunted gothic-ness. The entire track is littered with chaotic ear candy (huh . . . just got it. Pandora's Piñata. Break open the piñata and get all the candy you can consume), such as cello’s, a variety of brass, and drums that are brimming with character.

The band injects a ton of Latin rhythms and brass textures with “Guerilla Laments”, and simply gets this music fan shaking his ass. This song is an amazing groove laden beast, and made constantly compelling with the vocal harmonies. The breakdown near the three minute mark instantly teleports the listen to street party held in a Central American Zócalo, complete with colorful Spanish regalia, string hung lanterns, the smell of pollo, carnitas and carne asada permeating the early evening air. It’s a party we should all be at . . . passing a jug of tequila around the square as we dance our feet bloody!

Things turn suddenly dark and violent with “Kevlar Sweethearts” and things come to a head on “Exit Strategy Of A Wrecking Ball” (quite possibly one of the coolest song titles ever). The drums on the latter track are stunning! Hell . . . the pure dynamics on this track are enough to write a 400-page Manifesto! The tune opens with a maelstrom of heavy metal riffagery that creates images of breaking shit, and while this is all going on, the band manages to incorporate violins into the mix to make everything sound (if possible) even more menacing. Oh . . . they’re not done with mixing shit up . . . then the electronics and horns drop in the create a wondrous background for the vocal talents of Daniel Håkansson to shine. The song rolls all over the damn place, drifting to the serene then back to the utterly dark and violent. The turning point on this track is from the four minute mark on . . . full on serenity with this uneasy tension slowly building, and then Håkansson seems to lose his fuckin’ mind and everything explodes! Absolutely fantastic execution of build and release of tension in music . . . seriously, these guys should teach a class on the subject.

To show that the band isn’t all violence and hard rhythms all the time, they deliver “Aurora” and “Honey Trap Aftermath”. The former sounding like a soundtrack from a Disney Fantasy scene, the latter a smooth, white-boy funk track. The vocals emit that sex appeal, but with an underlying sinister quality. Once I hear the chorus, it’s stuck with me for the rest of the day . . . full on ear candy . . . and delicious! 

The album wraps up with two tracks that bring all of the chaos back to the forefront. “Of Kali Ma Calibre” is an epic journey led by the vocal performance of Annlouice Loegdlund that shifts from a marching beat to a thunderous metallic beat down. Of further note, the drumming on this track is furious and emotional and frenzied and, most of all, just a goddamn good listen! The album closer is a progressive gem . . . “Justice For Saint Mary” might be my favorite individual track on the album simply because of the its sprawling elegance, its diverse moods, and dynamic shifts. The performances of the all of the musicians involved is above stellar, no one overplaying their part and everyone working in unity towards the completion of a brilliant song. 

Pandora's Piñata is right up there at the top of my Album’s of the Year. No question. It’s an album that I can’t stop listening to (hence the delay in writing this review) and one that I don’t want to stop listening to. I listen to this album so much that I almost feel guilty that I’m not paying attention to some of the other fantastic releases in my collection. Hey . . . it’s not an album for everybody coz’ not everyone gets the operatic vocals and the horns mixed with heavy metal, or the tempo changes, or the weirdness that is Diablo Swing Orchestra. That’s fine. I can live with that, but y’all should at least take a moment to listen to the album, turn off any preconceived notion that music has to be kept in a box, and enjoy the bombast. 

That’s enough from me . . . I gotta’ go find an affordable copy of the vinyl edition. I have serious work to do!

Pope

http://www.diabloswing.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Diablo-Swing-Orchestra/61680950315

Virgin Steele - Life among The Ruins

Consistency seems to be a bad word among American metal bands over the years. Few remain true to the sounds their fans came to love. Many change their looks or their sounds with every record exec whim. They simply don’t get the big picture nor do they look to their European brothers and sisters, who remain loyal to bands that remain loyal to them.

Virgin Steele is an American metal act with the guts to stay true to what they are. From over the top grinding power metal vocals to crunchy true metal leads, this band is a powerhouse. They have all the parts of a great metal band.  And they stand as an island in the stream against “selling” out and compromising their sound for the sake of a record company. These guys are the real metal deal.

The songs on this release are epic in both soundscape and power. Vocals really grab you and put singable and progressive sounding hooks into your head. Excellent lyric writing. This isn’t quiet riot or Ratt writing pop hits, this my friends is true heavy metal. Plus this disc comes with some cool bonus tracks that I will let you discover for yourself.

 “Sex Religion Machine” and “Jet Black” are killer tunes. Bands like House of lords and Crimson Glory come to mind. “Love is Pain”…..one of the best racks on here. Crunchy,catchy,ballad like chorus with a trance-like hook.  Other standout songs are : “Never believed in Good”, “Snakeskin Voodoo Man”, “Love’s Gone”. Chock full of choice cuts. 

 “Last Rose Of Summer” is 4:26 minutes of pure sonic ecstasy. The Gods of Steel were smiling when The boys from Virgin Steele wrote that one.

This is a tremendously produced master class experience in how to create good, solid, lasting heavy metal. Virgin Steele is the real deal when it comes to storming the walls and raising the flag of metal for all to see. Now my friends I will be journeying back to my cd player, sharpening my sword and raising a glass of hearty ale in the hopes that someone will hear these tunes and see my fires. Long live heavy metal! all hail Virgin Steele!

10 Horns on a 10 horn scale!

--MetalRising

Ripple Library - Chips & Beer Metal Fanzine

Reality has been preventing me from exploring a lot of the new music that the Ripple editors have been sending my way lately. There's a ton of cool stuff awaiting my judgement and I don't want to form opinions based on half-assed listening sessions. Something that has really caught 100% of my attention this week is the brand new issue of the metal fanzine Chips & Beer. That's right, an actual printed fanzine full of killer articles about obscure and semi-obscure metal bands that I didn't have to write myself. This is the third issue of Chips & Beer and I plan on tracking down the first two pronto.

What really caught my attention is the headline "New Yawk Street Metal Special." Anyone who's ever been around me for more than about 30 seconds knows how much I love obscure NY metal trivia and I am glad to report I learned some new tidbits to bore my friends and bandmates with. If this issue had come out a month earlier the article I wrote about Frigid Bich for the TheObelisk.net would have been much better. There's a lengthy interview with Frigid frontman Joe Leonard that answered everything I wanted to know about these ultra-obscure Long Island metal merchants. I discovered them through the almighty Kick*Ass magazine but had no idea that they were actually managed by KAM mastermind Bob Muldowney. He didn't want the band to do interviews so the image and myth would grow. He was certainly right about that!

There's a great interview with Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister that was also very informative. He gives a good synopsis of the cover band bar scene surrounding NYC (mainly Long Island/Westchester and New Jersey) and how it had absolutely no interaction with what was going on in the city with the New York Dolls, The Ramones, etc. I also did not know that Jay Jay was a Dead head in his younger days. So was Handsome Dick Manitoba, aka China Cat, of The Dictators, incidentally. Go figures. Speaking of The Dictators, guitarist Ross The Boss also gives a great interview about his heavy metal daze with Manowar. Danny Lilker of Anthrax, Nuclear Assault and S.O.D. also weighs in. Mike Schutzman, owner of the much missed metal mecca Slipped Disc Records, talks about the incredible in-store appearances he used to host for Motorhead, Slayer, Wendy O. Williams among many others. A bonus in the section of the zine are reviews of NY metal classics from the early days of Sir Lord Baltimore, Blue Oyster Cult and Kiss through Riot, The Rods, Blacklace and Overkill.

To balance things out there's a big article and interview with West Coast weirdos Cirith Ungol, a truly cult band deserving of more recognition. Below the radar current metal bands like Krypts, Ares Kingdom and Cauldron Black Ram were a complete mystery to me but they all have the right attitude and I look forward to checking out their jams. This is the best 7 bucks I've spent in a long time and with the change left over from my ten dollar bill I can go cop a tre bag at Valley Park in the Bronx! Thanks, bros!!


--Woody

http://chipsandbeermag.tumblr.com/

http://www.facebook.com/chipsandbeermag

Black Bombaim - Titans

In the beginning, there was darkness. 

The first rumblings of creation starts off with a bass, so thick and heavy it has the power to condense gas and energy into matter.

A cosmic fire of guitar feedback screeches through the primordial blackness, searing the newly formed planet.  Light erupting across the freshly surging mass.

The beat of this new entity is jazz, complex, life-giving.

Titans isn't so much a new album.  It's a new world. 

Doom, sludge, stoner, psychedelic, progressive.  These are but continents on this new planet, ever-changing, interlocking components of the shifting Terran plate.   With Teutonic force, these plates move and collide across the Continental Divide, cross-pollinating the emerging lifeforms with their varied essences.  Heavy riffs bring about new heart beats.  Psychedelic explorations expand the developing minds.  Stoner grooves add movement and balance.  Doom lends gravity.  Life emerges with passion, power, and intent.

And in this new world, the world of Black Bombaim, Ricardo Miranda, Paulo Gonçalves and Tojo Rodrigues, truly are the titans, wielding the power of ancient Gods to create and destroy. They can effect with terrific beauty or decimate with the ugliness of the dark. 

Over the 4 sides of this double LP, Black Bombain have created a truly epic masterpiece of experimental heaviness.  Each side is composed of one 10-20 minute song named in a way that is incomprehensible to me.  I have no idea what that album is supposed to mean, just how it makes me feel.  Mostly instrumental, I was destined to ignore this album.   Instrumental stoner bores me.  Instrumental doom bores me even more.

Not here. 

Every freaked out guitar solo captivates me.  Every change of riff is crushing.  Every bass line is heavier than the one that preceded.  Every beat transmutes between styles.  Vocals (when they appear) are ugly accompaniments.  An organ is a light of beauty.   Synthesizers radiate depth. 

The acoustic breakdown 2/3 way through side one steals my breath.  The free form jazz bass that follows is stunning.  When the Heavy crushes back down on me I'm devastated.  The dynamic packed into this one album side tops entire catalogs of lesser artists.

The jazz beat and thickness of bass that starts Side 2 are the pulse of space as the celestial organ brings the grandeur of the cosmos.  As the organ fades, like a dawning sun, the resumption of the bass is frightening.  The crash of the heavy terrifying.  The psychedelic mix intoxicating.

The groove of Side 3 is stoned-out infectious but it's the screech of the saxophone that is inspired, playing out like the heaviest Pink Floyd song never created. 

Side 4 cruises through the already created soundscapes like an effective period.  Or an exclamation point.

Each moment of each song needs to be listened to.  Not heard.  Listened to.  Each instrument is intent.  Each second focused.  And each moment liable to shift and change as dramatically as the surface of our newly created world. 

Black Bombaim have created a remarkable album. The first true epic, progressive masterpiece of psychedelic doom that I've heard.  One against which all following epics will be judged.

Let the titans be praised.

--Racer

Ripple Field Trp - Origin & Decrepit Birth: May 12, 2012 Studio 7 Seattle

I attended this show on the eve of Mother’s Day, so I just want to take a moment to recognize what moms do for us.  Sure enough, at this show I saw a mom who had brought 3 boys, looked like early teens, and this poor lady was the definition of long suffering.  You could tell that she was not enjoying herself in any way, yet she was there for them, to make sure they were able to enjoy themselves.  I don’t know if she was mom to all 3, but I hope that which ever of them were her sons that they took care of her on Mother’s Day.

This was actually one of those shows that I rant against.  They happen a lot here in Seattle, and probably just about everywhere that metal shows take place.  My problem is with a show that starts at 4 in the afternoon because there are, like, 9 bands on the bill.  I love metal, and that is too much for me.  So show promoters, take note.  Three or four really good bands on a bill is much better than three or four good bands, but you have to wade through 4 or 5 shitty bands to get there, and maybe you don’t make it and you go home, but you remember who put that show on and you don’t go to any more shows from that promoter.

By the time Decrepit Birth took the stage, I was ready.  They were 3rd to last, so I had waited through some not so enjoyable music.  Decrepit Birth totally delivered.  I’m not going to pretend that I’m a massive fan and know their discography forward and backward.  But I do like these guys a lot and their performance just increased my liking of this band.  Very solid, very well performed, great at working the crowd and excellent at melting faces.  Heavy death metal band that completely brings it in a live setting.  If you haven’t seen these guys before, get out and see a show soon, especially if you love you some death metal.

Origin, the headliner, put together a very solid performance as well.  Again, don’t know every song inside and out so I can’t tell you exactly what the set list was, but that’s why God invented the interwebs anyway, silly.  I had seen Origin once before a few years ago at a tiny little club in Tacoma, and I have to say that they seem to be much more together now.  Origin are all about technical death metal, so there is a lot of music that goes by in a blur.  They play fast, they play loud, and they play well.  Totally dug their set and left the venue very satisfied.

If I had to choose, I’d give a slight nod to Decrepit Birth because they were really on and really got the crowd into it, but it was a great show all the way around.  And I must give a tip of the cap to the venue, Studio 7 in Seattle.  They have a great sound system and always have sound guys who are on their game, which can make all the difference in a smaller venue.

- ODIN 

Kill Devil Hill - S/T

With this line-up you would expect to hear finely crafted metal songs that cut your speakers like a thin well placed razor. You would expect to be pummeled by bone crunching riffs and thunderous drums. You would expect to hear yourself singing along at extremely loud volumes in your car as you approach light speed down the highway. Yeah you would expect a lot from a band like Kill Devil Hill. Well let me explain that all your expectations are answered and beyond on this release

Just a well done, and well executed metal barrage of riffs and good old fashioned songwriting. These songs are each unto themselves masterpieces. A metal school, on how to achieve greatness in every note. Not the self-indulgence you might be used to, and not the image over content look either. These guys are the real deal, raw, loud, unrelenting, yet refined and tasteful.

First song, “War Machine” destroys you from the first note. This song should be lesson number one in any aspiring bands learning curve. Right to the point and taking no prisoners. The guitar shines on this one. “Hangman”,”voodoo doll”, “Gates of Hell” are incredible. All the songs are. “revenge”, now that one is getting a lot of play in my car. I can’t get enough of the overall sound.

 Vinny Appice is on fire this whole song as well as the whole disc. His career in rock and heavy metal is one that is too long to dive into here. Let it be known that his drums are some of the most sought after drums on the planet.  Combine him with the awesome talent of Rex Brown on bass and you have a Sherman tank backbeat. Rex is a powerhouse performer whose work in Pantera and down are epics of genius.  Mark Zavon handles the guitar duties, a guitar hero in his own right; he stands tall alongside his seasoned band mates. I couldn’t believe he was the only axe grinding away on this disc. The relatively unknown vocalist is the cement that ties it all together. This guy has got a range but tastefully keeps it all in check. You can sing along with him but watch out because he can take flight at ease.

One of my favorite discs I have heard in a long time. And I hear a lot of bands. To make it to my ipod you gotta pass three tests….volume, intensity, and conviction. These guys walk it like they play it.  This one is on the ipod and cranking as I write. You will remember this name and you will buy this disc. From the production to the cool cover graphics, this band’s debut is going to skyrocket into legendary status. Simply put, 10 horns on a 2 horn scale.


--MetalRising

Earthen Grave - Earthen Grave

I’ll be the first to tell you that I have no idea who the band Trouble is. I’ve seen their name and logo floating around in conversation and press for something like twenty years, but for some reason, I never followed up to find out anything on these guys. And, as of this writing, I still haven’t. I have other things to follow up on at the moment, and one of those things is a new band called Earthen Grave, which was founded by ex-Trouble bassist, Ron Holzner. Ta-da! See what I did there? Tried to link to the past with the present.

Earthen Grave just released their first full length, self-titled album, and folks . . . this is some heavy stuff. Perhaps, not the heaviest music I’ve ever heard, but it’s done with a unique flair that I appreciate wholeheartedly. Doom, as a genre, can be boring and derivative, at least to me . . . and if you know me, you know I like my music to push boundaries, get experimental, and explore new ideas to further expand said genre. Earthen Grave do just that. They work in textural passages, classical instruments, quieter instruments, and additional voices to create a style of Doom that constantly perks the ears towards the new nuances.

Case in point, check out the second track on the album called “Life Carries On”. The songs crushes with a great guitar riff, first in the left speaker, then picked up in the right, then back to the left . . . heavy, right? Then, barely fifteen seconds in, the ears are treated to the piercing wail of a violin. Not something obnoxious, but keyed in with the other instruments and complimenting their sounds. This pleasant little surprise is provided by the virtuosic talents of Rachel Barton Pine. Perfect notes played at the perfect times, adding textures where needed, and providing mesmerizing solos that steal the spotlight. I love the way the violins mesh so well with the ever powerful guitar work of Jason Muxlow and Tony Spillman, almost as if they’re holding their own private conversation within the master work, but never completely overshadowing the song. Of special note, check out the violin/guitar/guitar solo(s) around the 3:45 mark . . . the brilliance in the rhythm section holding down that Middle Eastern tinged groove and then having the soloists coming in to add the layers of sexy spice and sultry flavor, all flying around the senses in chaotic fashion, but never out of control.

Then there’s “Dismal Times”. Doom-y and dirge-y, with its slow and somber opening passage, then building to a guitar fueled riff in classic palm muted fury . . . this song is a horned fist thrown in the air and an homage to all that is classic heavy metal. Again, the violins add great textures and a fresh voice to the menacing and oppressing musical tones. The solo that Barton Pine lays down midway through the song is chilling and morose, caked in a veil of cobwebs from a haunted castle passageway. Then, the eruption of the band coming back in and the upbeat, mosh inducing riffology! Killer stuff! Serve me music with dynamics like this all day, all night . . . I’ll eat it up!

“Beneath A Shovel Load” is another classic metal ditty that opens with soaring and diving guitar antics, a devastating droning rhythm, and some well timed distorted guitar chugs. String bending and mind altering, Earthen Grave deliver a scorcher of muscle flexing metal. This one is a full on headbanging groover that makes me want to dust of the old leather jacket or denim vest and sequester myself in a steaming room of like minded music freaks. I’m digging the guitars on this track, especially when one of the guitarists decides to sustain the notes while the other continues the multi-noted rhythmic groove. Subtle, but effective. Bitchin’ guitar solo on this track, as well. The violin solo towards the end of the tune is outstanding . . . full of energy, anger, excitement!

This album took some time to grow on me, but I’m finding myself going back to it more and more as time goes on. If Earthen Grave is the future of Doom, then the genre is in good hands. As I mentioned, I’m not the biggest of Doom fans, but when it’s performed and executed like this self-titled album, I could very easily be on the road to embracing the genre with greater tolerance. Every song has something fresh and unique thrown into the mix, whether it’s a female vocal harmony or a violin or an acoustic guitar,Earthen Grave are seemingly working towards separating their music from that of the masses. Heavy, yet with flashes of elegance. Menacing, but with touches of beauty. Yeah . . . I’m sold. Earthen Grave is a kick ass record!

Pope

http://www.earthengrave.com

Malice - New Breed Of Godz

What? New Malice? New songs? New takes on old songs as well? O.k. before you read more please be aware that I was a malice fan from way back. I have the famed cd, Metal Massacre  which features a then almost unknown Metallica. I saw Vice Versa and went nuts during the Malice concert part.

 This album is chock full of reworked hits and some new songs. Most notable is “new breed of Godz.” This killer track sounds like a freight train smashing right out of the 80’s and into the modern world. I would argue that these guys made a decision to recreate that sound rather than jump on the digital bandwagon of the age.

The production is superb and the song structure is classic Malice. “New Breed Of Godz”….This song is the stand out new song on the album. “Branded”,” Winds Of Death(Angel Of Light)”, and “slipping through The Cracks” are all destined to be classic Malice tomes of sonic assault.
   
“Sinister Double” reworked with vocalist James Rivera is just too good for literary words. I can’t describe it and that’s my job. Grab some headphones…put it on ten and scream along. “Air Attack”, are you kidding me. Amazing, brilliant. A rebirth of classic metal that it unmatched.
   
 Pete Holmes breathes new life into this cosmic metal power horse.  A thunderous Trojan horse that will explode in your cd player like none other. I am and always will be a fan. These guys need another movie cameo! I also like the album artwork. Tastefully ripping your eyeballs off the page. New godz of metal indeed. Five horns up on my own personal metal scale…two being the best!!!


--MetalRising

LINE-UP:

Jay Reynolds – guitars
Mick Zane – guitars
Mark Behn – bass (played on the re-recorded songs)
Robert Cardenas – bass (played on the new songs)
James Rivera – vocals
Pete Holmes – drums


Tracklisting:

CD:
1. New Breed Of Godz (new song)
2. Hell Rider
3. Against The Empire
4. Branded (new song)
5. Sinister Double
6. Circle Of Fire
7. Stellar Masters
8. Winds Of Death (Angel Of Light) (new song)
9. Air Attack
10. Chain Gang Woman
11. Slipping Through The Cracks (new song)
12. Godz Of Thunder

Teramaze - Anhedonia

Teramaze sound like dream theater with some balls. True to thrash form they unleash plenty of staccato riffing but temper that steel with some killer vocals. Undoubtedly these guys are looking to make an impact on their scene down under in Australia.  I like it when you really have to strain to pick out the influence a band has. That, to me is a sign of a great band.

This one grabs your attention from the first riff and shakes you around like a great white shark. Tracks that stood out in my cd player were. “Machine”, “Fear of the Unknown”, and “without Red Hands”. This is a sound that combines so many of today’s new metal with the thrash classics of old. Bands like Testament come to mind as well as Nevermore.

 Mick Tallent on drums and Tijon Lolis on Bass are a juggernaut. Chugging through the backline like a freight train. These two are tight and this album owes a lot to their strength. Check out title track, “Anhedonia”, and “Black Circles” to get a complete sense of their power.

  Guitarists are often either pushed too far to the front or buried in the mix. Not so with this album. Perfectly matched and just simply incredible guitarists, Matthew Dawson and Dean Wells lay down a frontal assault of six string carnage. “ Black Circles” contains a screaming lead. I can’t get enough of the power of this band.

 Brett Rerekua on vocals is allowed to put in some incredible runs as his band stirs up a psyclone around him. He rises above the chaos and screams, sings, growls, and serenades your ears like a banshee gone wild.  He makes you sing along with their infectious and progressive sounding tunes.

  I was not expecting the wall of sound that melted out of my speakers on this one. Just a great album with some killer production.  Find this album wherever and however you can and buy it. Then buy another one and pass it on to your best friend (yes this album is that good).


--MetalRising

Moonspell - Alpha Noir

I’m really surprised more people aren’t talking about this album. I don’t meaning raving and claiming it to be the second coming of Master of Puppets or whatever . . . just surprised that I’m not hearing Moonspell pop up in musical conversations more often. Okay then, allow me to turn the topic over to these doom-y, gloom-y, goth-y, super heavy (heavy with a cape) Portuguese rockers.

I have a couple of Moonspell records in my ever morphing collection of music, and though I like the bands past records, they never jump out as the albums that I feel compelled to propel me through the doldrums of every day. They’re good, they have their moments, they just don’t live up to what I guess I want them to be. That’s completely on me. I’m good with that. Those albums aren’t going anywhere, so in time, I may find the hidden brilliance in them as well. As I said, I like them, I just don’t currently love them.

Now, Alpha Noir finally hits every mark for what I ever perceived of this band (which means that the old school Moonspell-heads probably think it sucks . . . but they’re wrong). This album, released through Napalm Records, is all things heavy, and intricate, and nihilistic, and oppressive, and moody, and all the dark things that make me think that Moonspell is all about. Alpha Noir is a demonic groover that emits the faintest odor of brimstone as it spins on the player. A positively dark record that has me banging my head at my desk, behind the wheel, or pushing a shopping cart through the grocery store. Simply beastly.

Take your pick of songs . . . the lead track, “Axis Mundi”, for instance . . . it has a great and intense building intro that is a true harbinger of devastation to come. Huge tribal rhythms amidst a wash of feedback and thundering sound effects, and then a laser-like guitar riff that cuts through ¼ inch sheet metal like it was a sheet of velum. That’s the kind of stuff the fires me up! Follow this up a few seconds later with a one of the more powerful riffs on the album, all accompanied by a drummer who more than knows his way around a kit, and I’m in pure heaven. The tightness of that riff and the steadfast and straight forward drumming make the opening couple minutes of this song an exercise in power. Moonspell do a great job of mixing in a little ambient texture in the song, as well, by dropping in some subtle keyboard flourishes . . . and then there’s the middle/end break where the band completely drops out and we’re left listening to the creepy crooning voice of frontman and band mainstay, Fernando Ribeiro sing over a plaintively plinking piano passage. Fucking epic song that never gets old!

Check out the title track and its opening salvo of galloping guitar riffs, and then feel how you’re blown back a step or two when the band kicks in. What a wonderful treatment of mid tempo, palm muted riffing! Feel the song kick into overdrive as the double bass drums suddenly thunder their way onto the scene. And the textural washes of the keyboards and contrasting melodic guitar lines that weave throughout the chaotic flurries of sound. Just a well composed track that has enough changes and shifts to keep things constantly interesting and compelling. Searing guitar leads and Ribeiro’s trademark gothic croon sprinkle the last bits of seasoning that this song needs to make it a must listen!

“Opera Carne” is a blistering tune that features one of those melodic choruses that’s accompanied me in my early waking moments for the past week. It’s not one of those over the top melodies with a huge operatic choir or a big sing-along moment, but there’s something about the way Ribeiro growls the words “How our flesh burns . . . in mysterious ways” that it sticks in my head and I easily hum this ghastly tune. Musically speaking though, this one is brutally heavy! Great effects on the guitars opening the track and the production on the drums it superb . . . the drums sound like they’re set up in my office right next to me. Sharp, crisp, powerful!

Then onto my personal favorite on the album, “Love Is Blasphemy”. I can’t play this monster loud enough! It’s almost ridiculous how killer this song is . . . the opening musical intro with its rhythmic tom work and melodic guitar lines, creating a few moments of dark tension. Then Moonspell drop the fucking hammer. A guitar riff crafted by the hands of goblins in the darkest reaches of Mordor, cymbal crashes that invoke memories of Metallica at the moment when they were poised to rule the world, a guttural vocal utterance that spits venom in the faces of church leaders world-wide, and one of the most tastefully aggressive heavy metal songs one will hear for the rest of the year. Beautifully crafted, not up its own ass with too much progression, not too stripped down to be redundant . . . Moonspell get to the meat of the matter right off the bat and beat the listener senseless for just over four and half minutes.

The musicianship throughout Alpha Noir is top notch, but it’s not too show-y. Moonspell have chops, but thankfully, they don’t see the need to pummel us with technical glitz and just keep the music simple. This is, by far, the heaviest record I’ve heard all year and also the biggest surprise I’ve experienced. As I mentioned, I know some stuff about Moonspell, and I’ve just never been a monstrous fan. One of my first experiences with them was when I caught them live opening for Opeth a few years back, and they blew me away! The showmanship, the stage presence, the seemingly 7’ tall Fernando Ribeiro extending his arms and looking like some nightmarish vulture . . . it was enough to sear an impression in my mind’s eye for a lifetime and with Alpha Noir, the sound I always associated this live imagery with has been captured. Massively heavy music propelled by monstrous grooves full of heavily distorted guitars and insane drumming. Great record that I simply can’t listen to enough!

Pope

http://www.facebook.com/moonspellband

Alestorm - Back Through Time

Alestorm's genre was listed as Scottish Pirate Metal. I am not kidding you. This is possibly the coolest, weirdest thing I have ever had the fortune to stumble upon. And the album cover of Back Through Time fits perfectly within the genre description. A bloodied skeleton warrior wielding a sword that's impaling a severed head, you really cannot get any cooler than that. Well, maybe add a bit more corpes and spookiness, but you get the idea.

Back Through Time starts with the sound of wind whistling through sails while gutteral voices shout admidst cannon sounds. No, I'm not joking, they really went that extra mile. The lyrical content continues the pirate theme, talking of traveling through time to fight vikings, causing shipwrecks, while taking heads and.....treasure, of course. Really? Is this a novelty act, or are these guys actually this seriously obsessed with pirates? Racer, are you trying to make me lighten up a bit by sending me this album? Yes, it's very funny that a band is literally parading around as modern day pirates, but it's not quite as funny when you realize that the entire....album...talks.....of...nothing....but...pirates. The joke wears thin by the middle of the album.

If you forget the slight immaturity for a minute, these lads are actually talented. I really liked the doubling done by the keyboards and the guitars. The drumming chugs along like a runaway train, or ship, I guess *rolls eyes*. There were also orchestral acompanyments, including trumpets, many other horns, flutes, and what sounded like bagpipes at one point. Well, they are Scottish, so, there you go. I liked it, it added a nice cultural point, you can tell the lads are proud of their background. Alestorm's sound combines the chugga-chugga of death metal, guitars pushing the limit of speeds with the flighty meideval sound of pagan metal. Lots of old fashioned Scottish folk music mixed in with the heavy metal and of course the yells of "YAAHH, TREASURE LADDIES!" Sad part is, I'm not joking, that's almost a direct lyric right there.

I eventually stopped listening to the lyrics because they were just getting silly after a while. Getting past the whole silliness, Alestorm is really a pioneer in their sound. Flawlessly combining speed metal with pagan metal while piling on shouted lyrics, it's different, a good different. Pirate-ness aside, I would listen to this band again, possibly while on a road trip so I can pretend I'm a pirate too. Why not? Goths and pirates could go together quite nicely I think.

 I walk around town looking like a teenage Adora BatBrat (just kidding, I wish I looked like her!) so I can't really be casting about judgement on looking weird, now can I? If Alestorm really follow through with this pirates thing and walk about in pantaloons and 1600 styled jackets, more power to them. Eh, cheers mates, may we all be freaky together!


--Gorgeous Nightmare

Hypno5e - Acid Mist Tomorrow

A couple of years ago, this little art-y metal band from France called Hypno5e came along with an album entitled Des Deux L’une Est L’autre, that in the most complex manner ever, floored me. This album devastated my reality and all that I thought I knew about heavy music. It was an intense listen that scrambled the brains with its complicated time signatures and dramatic musical shifts.  An epiphany, of sorts.

Please welcome in the band’s long-awaited follow up album, Acid Mist Tomorrow. In a word . . . holy . . . yeah, that’s pretty much me sitting with my headphones on, spinning this disc over and over and over again, and with every subsequent spinning thinking to myself, ‘ This can’t be possible.’ My reality has, once again, be turned inside out, flipped upside down, positive made negative, cats and dogs living together, dark into light . . .

The last album from Hypno5e was a bludgeoning, highly involved listen. Basically, I felt one had to think too much while listening to it and was often left exhausted afterwards. At times, it had a jarring effect from song to song. Not a bad thing, necessarily, just noting how it was an album that could intimidate. Acid Mist Tomorrow has a far better fluidity to it. The songs are much more seamless, even as the band goes from the mellowed out, acoustic and soft passages into the heavily distorted walls of cacophony. Everything is executed with, if it were even possible, greater precision, and then tempered with an even softer touch. A contrast of tones.

The open forty seconds or so of the first song (also the title track) is enough for anyone to know that this album has the makings of something far beyond what we’ve come to know and love from this band. A subtle clean toned guitar with a somewhat tranquil and distorted sound bite of nature hauntingly humming away in the background starts the song. The production of this short bit is perfect, captured in what sounds like mono . . . giving the sounds an old transistor radio vibe . . . before the heavily distorted guitar chugs away at a mighty riff,  and then, BAM! The song goes to stereo, hitting us with this incredible sonic weight . . . and yet, the band gets this great stuttering effect to play for a second as the song is just about to take off, and this little effect, tiny and almost insignificant to most, adds all of this juice and gusto to introduce this song. Without that effect, sure, the song would be fine, but with it . . . added intensity and breaking of tension that makes the listener more vested in what’s going on. The rest of the song roils and tumbles all over itself, highlighting the musicianship of the band and the performer’s insane abilities to start and stop in a fraction of a second. Hypno5e bludgeons with the hardest of them, but the trait that separates these guys from the masses of hyper-intense, metal-core, math-core, progressive neophytes is their ability to bring everything crashing down to the most mesmerizingly melodic and mellow passages. Absolutely beautiful and brilliant moments of tranquility and serenity before they kick the music back into high gear.

The album is essentially five songs in length, however, three of those songs are multi-part passages. One of those multi-part tracks that requires multiple listens for sheer brilliance alone is “Gehenne (I – III)”. Part I is an almost tribal, throbbing and mesmerizing tune with lyrics that sound as if they’re being sung in Spanish rather than France. I could be completely wrong about that . . . the Romantic languages have a tendency to throw me from time to time. Suddenly, as if from out of nowhere, Part II kicks in and we are beaten senseless with the blastbeat that time forgot, and these manic harmonics mixed into the ferocious guitar riffs . . . and then these bizarre string sweeps that raise the hairs on the back of the neck . . . and then, almost as suddenly as when all hell broke loose, the music winds down, the tempo slows a bit, the noise abates, and Hypno5e serenade us with their elegant voices, harmonized just so. Part III picks up there the chaotic frenzy of Part II left off, and almost immediately drops into a chilled out passage that almost sounds like its being led by a mandolin. The remainder of the song is a topsy-turvy affair and ends with us listeners sitting back in our chairs with an audible sigh.

Hypno5e push their music further and further with every release, hell . . . practically with every song. They’re progressive in so many different aspects . . . with their virtuosic abilities, then with their conscious effort to shelve an idea if they’ve already used it, then again with the sonic exploration of heavy and light music, then with their use of samples to further a story along . . . these guys are fucking genius! Smarter than all of us combined! Acid Mist Tomorrow is an early favorite for my Best of 2012 list. I can’t stop listening to the album, probably because they add so many new wrinkles to their style, most notably the mellow melodic portions. These elements tug on the heart strings and are packed with so much raw emotion that I can’t help but go back again and again. This one is a stunner!

Pope

http://www.facebook.com/Hypno5e

Syven - Aikaintaite

(Love it when two writers report on the same album.  Nice to see their various opinions.  Now Crimson King chimes in on Syven's newest)


For those, like myself, that think the darkness is like a warm soft blanket, cover yourselves with SYVEN.

This is what I would consider dark, but not sinister, new age electronic tribal folk (Did I just coin a new musical genre?). HEAVY beats that conjure an animalistic instinct, long forgotten in our psyche. Though our tribal instincts are dormant now, this music.... the heavy beat of an ancient heart, cuts through millenia of evolution, and touches our inner, primal selves.

It's drone vibrates the soul. You arrive in a meditative state with an audio mantra sung by SYVEN. If you let it, the sound can take you from your body and lead you on a journey of night flight. Stars watch over you, nocturnal creatures stare in wonderment as you float passed them in a dream.

"An incredible ambient musical entity born of a collaboration between Aslak Tolonen (Nest) and Andy Koski-Semmens (Ereipia) -- on February 7th, 2012." The date of a new birth of sound that surrounds you, speaks to your soul, calms the violent nature of the days impact, and sends you on an adventure in time, space and sound. I love this!!!!

--Crimson King

Christian Mistress – Possession

Living here in the great Pacific Northwest means that I live close by to some great music put out by some great bands.  Christian Mistress is one of those bands, in my humble opinion.  They hail from Olympia, Washington, which is literally about 15 minutes south of me on I-5.  I have had the pleasure to see them up close and personal in small clubs, which I love, and to follow their releases, from the demo that got them noticed, to their first full length, and now this release, their first for Relapse.
I really love this band, and they have really grown over the course of the release mentioned above.  This one, Possession, really shows the band stretching out and doing some different things, and the results are very good.

One of the very minor complaints I had about this band is that, while they play some great, all out, thrashy kind of stuff, everything they did was in this vein.  There weren’t a lot of tempo changes or anything like that to break things up.  This new album has some very tasty slower tempo tunes and it really makes a difference when you are listening to the album.  I haven’t had a chance to see them play any of the new songs live yet but I am looking forward to it.

Possession kicks off with a barn burner of a track called “Over and Over”.  If you have heard Christian Mistress before, this track will be easily recognizable.   But with the second track, “Pentagram and Crucifix”, the changes are immediately noticeable.  The song has a nice, doomy, ominous opening before going full out.   Then on track number four,  “The Way Beyond”, we get an acoustic intro that fades into something you could call almost traditional metal. 

Track 5, title track “Possession”, is a slower tempo track that really showcases the songwriting skills of the band and was my favorite on the album.  The lyrics are great and it is definitely a side of the band not heard previously.  “Black to Gold”, the sixth song on the album, is not some sort of ode to my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, but it’s a very good up tempo track to get things raging again after a few slower songs.  And the final 3 tracks of the album deliver the kind of music that Christian Mistress are known for.

When I heard that the band had signed to Relapse I was hoping the jump to a larger label would pay some dividends for the band, at the very least getting them some more exposure.  Hopefully that will happen, and the album seems to be well received.  But it also seems that the jump has paid off for them in terms of growth as a band all the way around.  Great release from a band that more of us metal heads should know about, so go pick this up and you’ll be happy you did.  You have my word on that. 

-- ODIN