Symphony X nerds rejoice! Then again, maybe you won’t. Symphony X bassist Mike LePond’s first solo effort was released in September of this year and those expecting LePond to stick to his primary band’s keyboard-laden progressive metal path may be sorely disappointed. If you are, get that geeky head out of your pale behind (if you can get up off it long enough between games of Skyrim) because Silent Assassins is a full-on, bad ass traditional power metal album of such a caliber that my crusty old metal ears have been transported back to when albums like this were new and not mere nostalgia.

Always tasteful, but never reaching Yngwie-levels of pompousness, Silent Assassins covers less lofty lyrical themes than Symphony X. The music displays chops without being overly showy, though the performances are exemplary. What is truly showcased is LePond’s great songwriting skills. He kept things very Jersey, recruiting guitarist Mike Chlasciak (Halford, Painmuseum, etc.) to play leads, vocalist Alan Tecchio (Hades, Non-Fiction, Watchtower, Autumn Hour, etc.), and Symphony X band mate Michael Romeo on keyboards and lead guitar. Romeo also programmed the drums, yet the sound and performance are very natural. Unsurprisingly, the music is bass-driven, with occasional solos interspersed, always within the context and mood of the song. The guitar solos are tasteful, with Romeo’s style on his half of the songs much more melodic and fluid and Chlasciak’s faster and more acrobatic. Keyboards are less a lead voice than in Symphony X, becoming more an accompaniment embellishing the parts, and playing an occasional solo and abundant intros. It’s interesting hearing Tecchio on such conventional metal, singing lyrics that are devoid of the usual word play he is known for. After over 30 years in the game, the man hasn’t lost a step. If anything, his voice has gained character and range. He can still hit all the high notes and has one of the most distinct voices in music.

LePond continues a great metal tradition by writing a song about Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death (Overlorde, Manilla Road, Crimson Glory and Hades all released tunes covering the same topic). “Red Death” opens with a memorable bass/percussion romp that launches into a riff right out of Anvil‘s “Metal on Metal.” A mid-tempo chugging pace is maintained through catchy verses and choruses, picking up to a double-bass gallop four minutes in for the solo and a great choppy breakdown. The title track is a real standout, heavy start to finish with Tecchio hitting the high-note rafters every other line of the verse. The heaviest and overall speediest song herein, it’s so damn catchy, my five year old son walks around the house shouting the chorus at the top of his lungs.

“The Quest” runs the gamut of styles this album spans in one song, starting with an intro that would have Renaissance Faire geeks dancing a fairy jig in a big circle, before firing off into one of the thrashiest moments on the album. From there things alternate between full steam kick-snare and a verse and chorus right out off Keeper of the Seven Keys. Towards the end, the song calls back to the medieval intro and a great bass breakdown, bringing things full circle before closing with a Wonka factory roof-shattering high note and a raging double bass-driven burst of speed metal. “Ragnarok” is such straight hard rock/metal that Chuck Norris could have written it and the chorus so catchy you’d think it was Ebola (too soon?). There is nary a weak track among the twelve. Beyond the musician’s technical ability, the most impressive thing LePond has accomplished is making Silent Assassins relevant today even though it harkens back to traditional metal’s best years by having more hooks than a Hellraiser movie. With a second album already almost complete, it seems that Silent Assassins isn’t going to be relegated to just a side project, which is good news because LePond has much to offer the metal world besides his work in Symphony X.

Tracks to check: “Silent Assassins,” “The Quest” and “Red Death”

The post Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Mike LePond’s Silent Assassins appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

Yep, this is one of those albums. There’s not a sphere to be had on that cover, much less a corpse, but it remains one of the more striking and subtly unnerving pieces of album art around. It’s not like other covers, and Dimesland is not like other bands. Psychogenic Atrophy is the Oakland, California quartet’s first LP, hoping to ride on the coattails of bizarre death metal bands like Gorguts and Pyrrhon that we all love so dearly. Yet Psychogenic Atrophy provides us with a plastic disc filled with a music that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike technical death metal. Dimesland call themselves “abstract metal.” What does that mean?

Think Atheist, but with narcolepsy. Dimesland have mastered the jazzy thrash swagger of those prog-death progenitors, and Psychogenic Atrophy sends lurching odd-time riffs down the bar as fast as your speakers can knock them back. What’s important is that, periodically, the bartender collapses, the lights flicker, and the entire institution of a song is plunged into his deep, dark dream. These fainting spells are almost completely unpredictable within songs, which is what makes the album’s formula so successful. Whereas “Are They Cannibals” begins and ends in quick bouts of REM, “Institutional Gears” spends its last minute in limbo, leading into the lengthy instrumental somnambulation of “Xenolith.”

Dimesland‘s dreams are filled with the obscure and obtuse, backed by the sort of atmosphere I can only assume was obtained by vaporizing Stanley Kubrick’s corpse. Shudders, clicks and glitches poke through the velvety background and scrape against chimes, bells and indecipherable murmurings. And when things get outré, they stay that way even through Psychogenic Atrophy‘s sequentially degrading circaidian rhythms. As the album moves along, the line between riffing and mood-setting atmospherics becomes less and less clear and the music more and more fluid and enticing. From “Dying Foretold” to “Odd Feats are Bid and Won” (what a fantastic title) it becomes almost impossible to orient yourself in the aural Klein bottle that the constantly shifting psychedelia creates.

Producer Justin Weis has helped shape Psychogenic Atrophy into something of an oddity as well. It doesn’t sound huge or enveloping or malicious at all except when it has to be. The rest of the album is almost lo-fi, which gives it the on-edge feeling necessary for music that can suddenly collapse at any moment. Both the writing and production are very successful in achieving the tense, foreboding and unpredictable feeling that the band have tried to cultivate. While the entire album doesn’t feel on edge, it’s certainly not a comfortable or easy listen.

Dimesland have made the unfortunate mistake of releasing Psychogenic Atrophy at that time in the year when no one is prepared to receive it. Year-end lists are being pushed out across the board and metalheads everywhere are consumed in the great works 2014 has already spat out, and only a few will find time to mull over this dense offering. Those that do will not be disappointed.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Independently Released
Websites: DimeslandOfficial | Facebook.com/Dimesland
Release Dates: Out Worldwide 12.09.2014

The post Dimesland – Psychogenic Atrophy Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

Somewhere on the outskirts of progressive music, amidst waves of 9-string trendhoppers and unbearable Dream Theater knockoffs, exists the entity known as Beardfish. This Swedish quartet has been cranking out thoughtfully complex music and left-field lyrics for over a decade, though I must admit that my own experience with them is limited to what I’ve heard in my friend’s car. Their new record is cryptically titled +4626-Comfortzone.

The album starts off with “The One Inside, Part One,” a melodic theme that will reoccur in different arrangements throughout the rest of the album. Up next is “Hold On,” a 7-minute jam that recalls Yes with its dominant bass work and tricky harmonies. This is some clever shit, and as a fan of prog in a general sense, this album is checking all the appropriate boxes for me.

But it’s not until the third track,”Comfort Zone” that I begin to understand what the band is getting at. The lyrics are pretty dark on this record, and despite the use of humor to blunt the edges, the message is painfully familiar: small towns and smaller minds. As a resident of the midwestern U.S., where most of us will die exactly where we were born and not even mind, the sentiment hits home.

This general theme comes up on occasion throughout the album, in subtle ways. For instance, on “Daughter/Whore,” Sjöblom rails against outdated anti-woman attitudes, as his band tears through some pseudo-thrash metal beneath. And the vaguely funky “Ode To The Rock ‘n Roller” laments the closed-mindedness and limited palettes of typical rock music fans. (Bonus points are given for referring to the aforementioned fans as “buttholes” in song.) Culturally, I find it amusing that across the globe, whether in middle America or Beardfish‘s hometown in Sweden, small-town ignorance equates with misogyny and watered-down music.

But the obvious centerpiece is “If We Must Be Apart (A Love Story Continued),” a 15-minute epic about lovers that have drifted apart. The band throws in everything including the kitchen sink for this one, including folky acoustic passages, Genesis-esque organ work, and some fluid lead guitar work. In a trick ending worthy of M. Night Shamalayan, it’s revealed that Satanism is somehow behind it all, and the band ramps up the heaviness accordingly for a big finalé. Finally, “The One Inside, Part 3 – Relief” builds the theme from Parts 1 & 2 into a full-fledged song, and brings the album full circle nicely.

To make a long story short, this is a damn good progressive rock album. And if this review has favored the lyrics slightly, rest assured that the musicianship and songwriting is also top notch. It’s rare to find an album this complex and long-winded that is also memorable and, y’know, has a fucking point. Beardfish has succeeded on all counts.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: InsideOut
Websites: BeardfishBand.com | Facebook.com/Beardfish
Release Dates: EU: 2015.01.12 | NA: 01.27.2015

The post Beardfish – +4626-Comfortzone Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

Believe it or not, we tend to research the bands we review here, even if it’s occasionally more tempting just to mash our palms against the keyboard for five hundred words, assign an arbitrary score, then knock off down to the pub. This week has, therefore, seen me listening to an unhealthy amount of the genre that discerning metalheads love to hate: djent (the ‘d’ is silent). From this exercise, I’ve learned that basing your music on a guitar sound rather than finding a sound to suit your music leads both to extremely terrible songwriting and horrible production decisions (I’m looking at you Volumes, After the Burial and Born of Osiris). However, any genre that rapidly expands in popularity is likely to contain more than its fair share of dud hangers-on. Some genuinely good music has come out of the djent explosion: this very website reviewed Animals as Leaders’ last record favorably, and I’ve been known to enjoy a bit of TesseracT now and again.

Periphery, the subject of today’s analysis, have become the standard-bearers for djent and are perhaps its most popular product. Starting out as the solo project of guitarist Misha ‘Bulb’ Mansoor in 2005, they eventually released their debut with a full lineup in 2010 and a follow-up in 2012 (which AMG reviewed and generally disliked). Their basic sound on these albums is a mix of Chaosphere and Nothing-era Meshuggah with a whole bucket-load of recently reunited British experimentalists SikTh, and this was really the biggest problem I had with them: whenever I listened to Periphery, all I could think was “this sounds totally like Meshuggah,” or “this is blatantly stolen from SikTh.” They never really moved beyond their inspirations. However! 2014’s Clear EP was a significant improvement: they blended these influences more effectively while adding in a big chunk of Coheed and Cambria (guilty pleasure) and finding a higher level of songwriting, imbuing each track with a unique personality. This gave me hope that their new double album, Juggernaut: Alpha and Juggernaut: Omega, might actually turn out to be an early year highlight.

No such luck. Let’s start with the obvious: there is absolutely no way this deserves to be an eighty one-minute double album. The band apparently thought the storyline (of course it’s a concept album) deep enough to warrant splitting across two records, which would have been fine if they’d provided enough interesting music to last the journey. Many songs contain nuggets of good ideas – the chorus of “Heavy Heart,” the crawling heaviness of “The Event,” the opening riffs of “Alpha,” and the Opeth-influenced chord progressions of “Graveless” are particular highlights – but they’re padded out with the kind of generic djentery prevalent on their first two albums. The odd novel influence is discernible on occasion, a few of which work well: the aforementioned foray into Opethian harmonies is great but brief, for instance. It’s just a shame that these fresh ideas are few and far-between.

As on their previous records the musicianship is pretty spectacular, though the album is so over-produced you’re never quite sure how heavily edited the performances are (to be fair, they played well when I heard them live a couple of years ago). Many metalheads will find the vocals difficult to swallow, with Spencer Sotelo singing in a distinctly mid-2000s emo style. His clean vocals are comparable to the excellent Daniel Tompkins’ (of the aforementioned TesseracT and poshcore pioneers Piano) though with a whiny edge, while his metalcore screams are fairly generic. Sound-wise the record is over-compressed as expected, though not as badly as others in the genre (just listen to that Born of Osiris shite!). But the whole thing is ridiculously clinical. Everything has been comprehensively tweaked to remove any perceived imperfections, and with them much of the record’s already limited soul. The heavy sections are particularly stifled by this approach.

Ultimately, Periphery just don’t have the songwriting ability to pull off an eighty-minute concept album (how many bands really could manage that?), but it’s not simply a case of over-ambition that limits this record. They are still too reliant on their influences – not in itself a bad thing, but a big hindrance when these influences wrote such significantly better songs and progressed positively between releases. Speaking of which, I’m going to go and listen to SikTh some more. They were awesome, original, and they understood dynamics.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: Sumerian Records
Websites: PeripheryOfficial | facebook.com/PeripheryBand
Release Date: Out Worldwide: 01.27.2015

The post Periphery – Juggernaut Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

Blind Guardian is a German institution and national treasure. The band embodies the peak of the German power-thrash tradition in ways that nod to their countrymen, but separated them from the pack decades ago. Their body of work is surely among the most comprehensively epic and impressive among modern metal bands, and they are a band whose sound is a point of reference rather than a derivation. So when these titans of Teutonic metal release a new record the metal world turns to pay its respects. Put differently, Beyond the Red Mirror has been on my calendar since I heard of its release, and when asked, fans of this blog have also said resoundingly that it’s one of the most anticipated records of 2015. As long-time readers of this blog are aware, anticipation can be dangerous. One might surmise that Angry Metal Guy’s Law of Diminishing Recordings™ is contingent not on an individual band’s output, but instead correlates with heightened expectations from fans and reviewers¹.

Despite my enormous respect for the band, I have mixed feelings about Blind Guardian‘s post-A Night at the Opera releases. The band has been inconsistent for a long time, and while At the Edge of Time did eventually grow on me, A Twist in the Myth never has. And while it might not feel like it, the band’s most widely acclaimed records—Imaginations from the Other Side and Nightfall in Middle-Earth—are 20 and 17 years-old respectively in 2015. However, Beyond the Red Mirror has been promoted as a record of epic proportions. With the use of three different choirs, an orchestra, and 4 years in the making, this conceptual piece connects back to Imaginations from the Other Side thematically². And that sales job had me prepared for something truly epic and excellent.

And Beyond the Red Mirror cannot be faulted for its epic vision. “The Ninth Wave” starts the album off with a choir singing in Latin (“spookytus!“) with snare and an orchestra supporting the epic build and drums that evoke A Night at the Opera‘s use of drum machine immediately. The song is 9 minutes long with marathon solos and shifts in and out of driving thrash and more progressive passages. “The Ninth Wave” sounds like Blind Guardian circa Imaginations, possibly more so than any record since Nightfall. The music is driving, thrashy, and despite all the talk of epic orchestras, there’s actually quite a lot of the album that lacks orchestrations. Instead, triplet thrash riffs and trademark harmonized guitar solos are driven by double kick and bass that rests under layers and layers and layers of vocals. For me, this is where Beyond the Red Mirror is at its most successful and the album is packed with great songs. The drive of straight up thrash with sick riffs on “Ashes of Eternity,” pop with epic energy. The double-bass-punctuated shrieks of Hansi in “The Twilight of the Gods” gives way to a classic chorus and features amazing solos. “The Holy Grail,” too, is a neck breaker that stands out on every listen.

The other side of Beyond the Red Mirror is what the promotional division decided they should lead with: the orchestras. When you break it down, Beyond the Red Mirror has beautiful orchestrations that show up at different points throughout the record, but the two biggest orchestral pieces are opening track “The Ninth Wave” and closer “Grand Parade” (though, “At the Edge of Time” also has an enormous orchestral close). Coincidentally, both tracks clock in at exactly 9 minutes and 30 seconds long, and while epic, are the record’s low point in my opinion. While “The Ninth Wave” feels like a pretty epic opener, it suffers from a case of Harris-itus—the practice of putting long, thematically disconnected intros and outros on otherwise serviceable songs. “Grand Parade,” which gets named dropped as “the best song [the band] has ever written” in the band’s promotional material, gets good at about the 5:30 mark. Though, in its defense, that last 4 minutes are towering, beautiful and brilliant. From a birds-eye view, however, the record is frustrating because the middle 45 minutes is just one epic success after another, but the album starts and stops like a semi carrying a wide load.

Further, I have two overarching issues with Beyond the Red Mirror. The first issue is that I can’t seem to listen to it from the beginning to end. As I took notes on the record, I found myself liking every single track. There are very few moments on here that aren’t epic and engaging and yet Beyond the Red Mirror almost doesn’t feel like more than the sum of its parts. This is about scope and pacing, and the Bowser-like acceleration and deceleration may have something to do with feeling like the album is just too much. But it’s possible that a due to a fixation with complexity and epic scope the anthems and melodies that are so intrinsic to their sound weren’t developed. There is no “Battlefield” on here, even though the record as a whole is well-composed. And it’s partially those hooks which propel a listener from one song to the next.

But there’s another problem, too: I have been unable to listen to this record and enjoy it under “average” listening conditions. When played on better speakers or my monitors, it becomes apparent just how detailed and complex this record is. Choirs and stringed instruments lay lush dimensions under beautiful lines; vocals are placed beautifully in the mix to take up just the right amount of space. The drums are easily the most natural sounding drums I’ve heard on a Nuclear Blast release in a decade—fat kicks in a genuine register. But get this record into anything that isn’t a good set of speakers and it sounds like it’s been re-amped through a pillow. The subtle orchestration disappears, the bass and drums are almost completely swallowed, and all you’ve got left is Hansi, his choirs, and guitars. This has created extremely different listening experiences for me depending on my choice of equipment. On the one hand, I try to listen to it at work in my half-good work headphones and it sounds not great, in my generally pretty high performing earbuds? Flat, flat, flat. Small speakers? The same thing. My theory—but I don’t know enough about producing orchestral metal to say with certainty—is that it’s about the choices that had to be made in order to fit the band’s already dense sound into the same box as an orchestra all at the low, low DR of 8. I’ll be curious to see if the vinyl mix has this problem…

With all that in mind, records like Beyond the Red Mirror demonstrably put the miserably unjust lie to rating systems. This album is immense, intense and a brilliant artistic achievement from a band that’s getting gray around the temples. Given the scope, artistry, and vision that has been invested in this musical journey, I feel uncomfortable giving it a numerical rating. Since my back is to the wall, I have to say this: Beyond the Red Mirror is Blind Guardian‘s best record since A Night at the Opera and is a monumental achievement of composition and arrangement that—like the aforementioned record—is held back by its production and suffers somewhat from overreach. Still, I really enjoy it as a whole and appreciate the hard work that was put into it, and I think we should all take a minute to recognize what a spectacularly talented and unique contribution to metal Blind Guardian is and how damned lucky we are to have them.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: V0 mp3
Label: Nuclear Blast [EU | US]
Websites: blind-guardian.com | facebook.com/blindguardian
Release Dates: EU: 2015.01.30 | UK: 2015.02.02 | NA: 02.03.2015

The post Blind Guardian – Beyond the Red Mirror Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

Iceland’s Momentum is a bizarre beast. Aside from having a name and logo more suitable for a caffeine-packed energy drink than a metal band, they’ve undergone quite a few changes in style since their debut demo. Starting out as a black metal group called Afsprengi Satans, they released the wonderfully named Death to Christianity under the Momentum moniker in 2004, followed up by the remarkably unique and entertaining death metal EP The Requiem in 2006. A further EP followed, and by the time 2010’s full-length Fixation, at Rest emerged, Momentum had morphed still further away from their black metal roots. Hints of blackened bleakness remained, but Fixation, at Rest was essentially a post-metal record, full of Isis and Neurosis-isms alongside doom and death metal influences. Momentum are clearly not afraid of experimentation, and so far they’ve been achieving rather good results.

Given this history, it came as little surprise that The Freak Is Alive presents another stylistic shift. This time, though, the change is subtler: the death and black metal influences are played down, while melodic doom has largely taken over from post-metal. Their progressive edge is pleasingly still present, though. Momentum work in some unusual time signatures and odd phrase lengths without ever sounding awkward – you don’t necessarily know they’re doing it unless you’re paying attention (the ending of “Between Two Worlds” is particularly good in this regard with its repeated 7-7-7-9 pattern, or the deceptive 6/4 opening and 4/4 – 9/8 verse of “Gauntlet”). This temporal patterning is reminiscent of Tool, and the excellent title track extends this comparison to the melodies, sounding halfway between Ænima and Katatonia’s Viva Emptiness.

Alongside latter-day Katatonia, the closest comparison to The Freak Is Alive is November’s Doom. The record’s pace – ranging from slow crawl to determined walk – alongside the layered guitars, mournful harmonies and transitions between quiet and heavy passages bring to mind The Pale Haunt Departure in particular. However, it’s the low, chanted vocals that seal the November’s Doom link, sounding remarkably like Paul Kuhr. Momentum have incorporated clean vocals alongside growls previously, but they are used much more frequently on The Freak Is Alive. While this adds another dimension to their sound, the vocal melodies are usually dreary, often consisting of repeated single or two-note patterns. This works most effectively when the instrumental accompaniment is more melodically intricate, as on the title track or “A Beast is Near,” but can become tedious – see “Between Two Worlds,” “Familiar Unknown” or “Undercover Imagination.” The delivery also lacks conviction and variety, further compounding the monotony.

The November’s Doom comparison extends to the production. The guitar tone is very similar to that on To Welcome the Fade: somewhat wishy-washy and lacking crunch, but suiting the general atmosphere. Momentum make use of some unusual instruments to add diversity to the sound – the occasional sitar, piano and violin creating textural variety. Occasionally these extra elements get lost in the density of the mix and you have to really listen to pick up on some of the piano overtones, but they’re a nice touch and could perhaps have been made a little more of. The wonderfully punchy drums help keep things from becoming too static during the slower sections, while the warm bass provides a solid foundation for the other instruments to swarm over.

On my first few listens I was rather unconvinced by The Freak Is Alive – it’s less immediately engaging than their prior efforts, and I was too focused on these differences rather than The Freak’s own peculiar charms. Very much a grower, The Freak Is Alive is full of quirky ideas and intricacies that only reveal themselves after repeated listens. I still have some qualms about the vocals, but Momentum have done a very good job of creating that rarest of things: a subtle metal album. Long live The Freak.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Dark Essence Records
Websites: MomentumOfficial | Facebook.com/MomentumIceland
Release Date: EU: 2015.02.09 | NA: 02.17.2015

The post Momentum – The Freak Is Alive Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

Just about every day, Angry Metal Guy pushes out a review of an upcoming or recently released album, producing press for the album whether we love it or hate it. It exposes readers to a lot of material, but disadvantages artists who aren’t putting out music at any given time. Given a small temporal window, this creates a very biased sample of the music scene. I love reviewing albums, but a lot of great and criminally overlooked bands are in between releases right now, and it kills me to see their hard work go unseen. So in order to rectify their invisibility, they’re being talked about here, where you can be held captive by the unbreakable bonds of html and subjugated to my terrible opinions.

In Sampling Bias‘s second edition, we explore the untamed wilds of the planet’s most influential continent, Europe. And by untamed wilds, I’m referring to lonely bandcamp pages. Europe’s metal scene is, of course, huge, and there’s no hope of capturing all of its fantastic and innovative underground bands in one little blog post. Nevertheless, I have appointed myself your guide through the woodlands, plains, and forests of this magnificent laurasian remnant, stopping only to gaze in wonder at the works of art that the continent continues to produce.

These are the best European bands you’ve never heard of:

Dysfunctional

This is by far the biggest head-scratcher on the list. Why? Because this band is fucking fantastic. Their sole LP, John Stone Lives bursts with out-of-the-box thinking, obscenely catchy grooves and a truly unique and inspired involution of “djent” which relies not on the noodling and prog pretense of the genre, but on the visceral sound of an absolutely massive rhythm guitar. Dysfunctional‘s sound lies comfortably, and perhaps puzzlingly, between the heft and groove of Gojira and the melodic and experimental leanings  of early Linkin Park, with a little bit of oddness mixed in. John Stone Lives is available as pay-what-you-want on bandcamp, so there’s no excuse for you not to grab it and blast “Wanda” until your neighbors call the authorities.

Follow the White Rabbit

This St. Petersburg-based math/experimental metal act is, sadly, deceased. Yet I firmly believe that their 2012 swan song Endorphinia is worth everyone’s time. Combining heavy atmosphere and The Dillinger Escape Plan-grade aggression with fantastic and haunting melodies is a tall order, but FTWR follows through, unabashedly obtuse. Even in their most uncomfortable moments, the band remains memorable, if not for their audacity then for the unadulterated strangeness they peddle.

Witxes

Witxes appear here not because of their obscurity but rather because of how poorly equipped genre tags are to describe the music – and I use the term somewhat broadly here – they produce. Hailing from Lyon, France, the primarily instrumental experimental group exists to deceive, trafficking in uncomfortable and beautiful atmospherics, droning rhythms, and a multitude of odd instruments and field recordings. Metal this is surely not, yet it’s something I can wholeheartedly get behind, as enticing to focus on as it is easy to play in the background of your dimly-lit dabblings.

Plebeian Grandstand

This is one of those dissonant, freakish and kvlt bands that you just can’t help but love. Yet another French act, Plebeian Grandstand mix horrific black metal with lurching hardcore rhythms to produce a sound somewhere in the decimated intersection between Converge and Dodecahedron. A good deal of post-metal inspired atmospherics and a tortured vocal performance seal the deal: 2014’s Lowgazers (which we totally missed) is a Faustian bargain put to disc, and you will always lose.

The post Kronos Comments: On Sampling Bias and the Seedy Underbelly of the European Metal Scene appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

It was before a long journey that I haphazardly shoved all my new music on to my iPod, paying no regard to the attached one sheets and band biographies. Having never heard their material before, it was without expectation or even awareness of genre that I approached Seven Year Storm‘s début EP Aion I. Perhaps this should be my new method of promo selection: zero experience, zero genre prejudice, maximum joy when what hits you is brilliant. Sean Lang, the Canadian mastermind behind the project, is noted for his online drum tutorials and eclectic range of associated acts, including melodeath outfit First Reign, art rock and pop cover band A Night of Bowie, and folk cover band Byrd Dawg. With such a diverse range of influences in his percussive repertoire, it shouldn’t shock you that his drumming is at the forefront of this progressive metal EP. Though certainly not overtly metal in its chilled atmosphere and lack of extremity, the supreme instrumentation and delightful compositions enchanted me.

Falling somewhere near to Animals As Leaders or Exivious in its instrumental style, Aion I is a continuation of the recent trend towards ‘pretty’ metal: unrelentingly technical, yet uplifting in tone. It’s very easy to digest, clocking in at a brief 27 minutes, and is counter to what metal used to stand for: danger, adversity, arguably even hostility. This is a very affirming affair, wooing you in with its mellow opening synths and maintaining itself with catchy guitar melodies. “Nazca Lines” has a slick synth bridge, and the temporarily ominous piano at 3:15 juxtaposes the transition into a more hopeful conclusion.

But I mustn’t forget to mention Archspire. That subtle name-drop functions not only to grab our kvlt readers from the brink of oblivion, but is also actually relevant to the review. Did I mention that Lang is good friends with the ludicrously talented Dean Lamb, guitarist from the Canadian tech-death band? Nope? Well he is, and Lamb was persuaded to perform the guitars for Aion I to wonderful effect. Though clearly not so distorted and aggressive as his Archspire material, he brings his technical prowess, groovy leads and shredding potential to Lang’s already-stellar percussive performance. The careful arrangement of off-kilter drumming, suitably heavy rhythms and diverse leads draped over the top are compelling on the highlights, “Nazca Lines” and “Blue Car Syndrome.” The sense of dynamics is strong too, with great transitions and progression in commendably focused and wank-less songs.

Though not over-long, Aion I could have done with a little more diversity. The tone is consistently pleasant, and I would argue overly safe. The aforementioned moment at which haunting keys are used offers a welcome contrast, but it’s too brief and more could be distributed throughout. Despite sporadic breakdowns and up-tempo riffs, the structure is quite predictable which is a hindrance on supposedly progressive music. Maybe that would have naturally developed in a full-length release, but I can only critique what I’m given!

Despite the fairly uniform structure and atmosphere, Seven Year Storm is a very exciting project. It rewards multiple listens with unfurling complexities in its writing, and the fusion of its highly talented musicians ensures excellent execution. The aural experience is strong, aided by a solid production job. A more diverse emotional outlook would improve a follow-up, and I sincerely hope Lang continues on to an Aion II. The fantastic covert art only sweetens the deal.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self Released
Websites: SevenYearStormOfficial | Facebook.com/SevenYearStorm
Release Dates: Worldwide: 02.24.2015

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When guitarist Christian Muenzner (Spawn of Possession, ex-Necrophagist) and drummer Hannes Grossman (Blotted Science, ex-Necrophagist) departed Obscura last year, needless to say I was pretty bummed. The duo was an integral part of the band’s sparkling technical and progressive death metal formula that yielded back-to-back masterworks in Cosmogenesis and Omnivium. So while Obscura’s future looks uncertain, the gifted pair have forged ahead with a brand spankin’ new outfit called Alkaloid featuring an all-star line-up comprising Danny Lunker (Aborted, ex-God Dethroned) on guitars, Morean (Dark fortress, Noneuclid) on vocals, and Linus Klausenitzer (Obscura, Noneuclid) handling bass. So do Alkaloid deliver on the promise of a ridiculously talented group of musicians, or is The Malkuth Grimoire yet another example of a star-studded line-up weaker than the sum of its parts?

Well first and foremost Alkaloid are clearly not content to slip into a comfort zone here. To the contrary, the band seems hellbent on making a lasting impression on the current metal scene with a fresh and unique sound that’s bravely adventurous, musically complex and downright exciting. No, this is not another indulgent wankfest of superior musicianship masking sub-standard song-writing, nor is it a run of the mill tech death album by any stretch of the imagination. In fact the term ‘technical death metal’ only scratches the surface of the Alkaloid experience. A fluid progressiveness and strong melodic sensibility is firmly embedded into the song-writing, while dark atmospherics and hypnotic and adventurous musical passages compliment the band’s burly death metal base. Speaking of which, there’s no shortage of warp speed thrashing, bruising double bass, and well placed blasts to satisfy the death metal fiend in us all. Despite the generally weighty length of many of the compositions, there’s an ample supply of catchy and interesting moments to recall and revisit.

Alkaloid’s deployment of monstrous grooves are some of the finest I’ve experienced in the wider death metal genre in recent years, such as the asteroid smashing groove on multifaceted opener “Carbon Phrases” or the doomy, space-age Morbid Angel lurch of “Cthulhu.” So as musically flashy, restrained and melodic as this album can be, the band’s heavier death metal urges are never far away. The Malkuth Grimoire is a stunning showcase of not only the immense talents of the individual musicians, but the overall experience and band chemistry they share as a unit. A point that bodes well for the future. Alkaloid’s music is rich in song-writing dynamics and innovation that shatters genre conventions and lends the album so much character. Although they differ significantly in execution, I’m fondly reminded of Wormed’s brilliant Exodtomos opus in regards to the album’s mind-bending musical traits, cool guitar effects and bleak futuristic tone. Grossman’s drumming is an overflowing well of creativity and stylistic variation, the inventive guitar work and fusion shred solos bend space and time, while Morean’s vocals comfortably match up with the album’s strong dynamics. His thick, formidable growls take center stage, however, he mixes things up admirably through his admittedly weird robotic cleans and half sung, half growled melodic vocal styles.

Unfortunately the drawn-out length of The Malkuth Grimoire takes away the enjoyment of experiencing the album in one complete sitting. The subject of poor self-editing and overblown album run times has been broached here at AMG on numerous occasions, and for good reason as it’s a frustrating blight on the current metal scene. Realistically with the daily grind and general busyness of everyday life, finding a whopping 73 minutes to dedicate to one album in a single sitting is an unrealistic expectation for the average metalhead or music fan. Obviously the band members had an absolute blast recording this material and getting the creative juices flowing, but perhaps they could have thought of alternative options for splitting the material up.

The spacious and vaguely experimental four part “Dyson Sphere” sequence could have been released in EP format without detracting from the cohesive flow of the album. On top of that, shave off the short and pointless solo shred of “C-Value Enigma” and you are left with a still hefty but much leaner and palatable 55 minute run time. Anyway, that’s just some food for thought and in defense of the band the material rarely dips below an exceptionally high standard from start to finish. The largely self-produced album, with mixing and mastering by V. Santura, captures the band’s sound very well, with the instruments nicely balanced in the mix and equipped with sharp, heavy tones and plenty of low-end muscle. However a more consistently dynamic recording, particular during the blastier sections, would have been welcome.

I was a little slow on the uptake on the release of Alkaloid’s debut album, following a successful crowdfunding campaign. So this mind-bending juggernaut of doomy, progressive and experimental technical death metal has surprised and subsequently floored me. Alkaloid have crafted something special and unique here that should not be passed up by fans of highly original and inventive technical and progressive death metal.

Rating: 4.0 /5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self Release
Websites: AlkaloidOfficial | Facebook.com/Alkaloid
Release Dates: Out Worldwide: 03.17.2015

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Remember a couple years ago when Meshuggah and Diablo Swing Orchestra were going to form a supergroup? Yeah that never actually happened, but it would be a cool idea right? If you already had this idea, part with your money now, because for only €2 (that’s $2.12 for the Atlantically challenged) that sick, avant-garde wet dream can be yours. Earlier this year, a band hailing somehow not from Japan, but from Kraków, released an appropriately enigmatically-named EP that by all rights should have shat all over Angra‘s RoTM position, had anybody on the planet told us about it. But they didn’t. And for that you’ll burn.

Imagine, for a moment, Car Bomb and Shining (you know damn well which one I’m referring to) being played simultaneously. Or, if that’s proving difficult, listen to “K-Boom.” Yeah, that’s a bunch of saxophones and a trumpet. What of it? “Monoceroids” goes on to grab at Leprous‘s claim to the “Best Trumpet Solo in Metal” award and proceeds to get itself one-upped by “The Sounderiad” and its screaming horn comping. Did I mention that all of these songs are around 90 seconds long? Because this EP is fucking nuts. #​!​%​16​.​7 indeed.

Here’s the lay of the land: Ketha made this big 17-minute long song and split it coherently into twelve individual movements based on the time-honored concept of completely shafting your expectations. It’s Catch Thirty-Three but even weirder. Nearly constant groove that was almost certainly obtained by distilling Fredrik Thorendal’s blood propels the album through whatever the opposite of the five stages of grief are. Periodically, attention shifts toward saxophone or trumpet melodies, finger snaps, or a cowbell in the middle distance, always incorporated in some fresh and engaging way that slaps your ass and calls you Sally.

Maciej Janas’s vocals range from disturbed shrieks to a remarkably accurate Tomas Haake-deadpan impression. Haake gets aped in his customary habitat as well, as the other Maciej (Dzik) hammers out grooves and scalpel-precise fills across the guitar and bass maddeningly combating each other. “Crink Crank” shows Ketha prostrating themselves before the church of Meshuggah more deeply than at any other point on the album, but the abrupt ending of “Redshift” assures that they’re no copycat act.

As with any 12-track recording, there’s bound to be some filler and a couple of skippable tracks. Or not. In this case, there’s not a moment wasted and the EP is over far too soon. Which means you’ll play it again. And again. And again. And each time a different song will hit you in the gourd with a gourd, metaphorically speaking.  If by the end of today you have not yet bought #​!​%​16​.​7, know now that I am bound by law and personal conviction to burn your fucking house down. We live in a world where Jørn just released a Dracula concept record, I had to listen to Animi for literally hours, and it’s still legal to sell papayas as if they’re food. The universe is a terrible place. And for a few minutes Ketha nearly made me forget that.

Rating: 4.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Instant Classic
Websites: KethaOfficial | Facebook.com/Ketha
Release Date: 01.07.2015

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Barren Earth may be the only band I ever forgive for not giving me an audition to be their vocalist. After it was announced that Mikko Kotamäki (Swallow the Sun) was leaving the band and that they were publicly searching for a singer, I screwed up my courage and dropped them an email with some songs. Being that I am “the standard by which all should be judged” (which is why I started a blog), I was duly shocked, dismayed and offended that they never even sent me a kindly rejection letter. Nay, despite my obvious superiority over my inevitable competition and home just across the gulf of Bothnia (duty free, motherfuckers!), Barren Earth turned their tacit, Finnish backs to my email. So I’ve been working on a brutal take down of the obvious amateur they were going to replace Mikko with when the record that we now know is called On Lonely Towers came out. Unfortunately, I had to tear up the notes on which I had scribbled my not-at-all-self-aggrandizing introduction, because I have at last met my match.

Jón Aldará (of the Faroese funeral doomsters Hamferð) should be a household name after On Lonely Towers releases. While I will get into what makes Barren Earth work musically later, this just needs to be said: rarely has a vocalist been replaced in a metal band as successfully as Aldará’s takeover of the microphone o’ doom for these Finnish post-Amorpethers¹. On Lonely Towers is a record dominated by one of the most unique and powerful voices that heavy metal has ever heard. Aldará’s clean tones are throaty, likely untrained, but rich and full of heart. He sings like a man whose emotions want to burst out of his chest, only to have been siphoned off via his throat just in time. His growls are brutal and raspy, and while they don’t separate him so much from his predecessor, he brings a power to the music that few vocalists will or, well, can muster.

It helps that Barren Earth has found its way again compositionally after a sophomore record that I haven’t listened to since it was released. Given the power of debut Curse of the Red River, I have a very special place in my heart for these guys; but a sophomore slump and a new vocalist could well have meant that their days of promise were over. Fortunately, On Lonely Towers is an epic record loaded to the brim with songs that show the band at its very best. Barren Earth‘s sound ca 2015 is a great combination of what reminds me of Elegy era Amorphis, with a touch of Opeth-y death riffery (which has begun to take more of a back seat compared to the earlier material), and mixed in with a healthy dose of doom that puts the overall tone of this record close to The Devil’s Resolve.

On Lonely Towers is a long record, but it bursts out the gate for the first 26 minutes with a brilliant series of tracks. These demonstrate Aldará’s vocal acuity while showing off that a few years down has sharpened the band’s riffing dramatically. “Howl” is immense, starting out with a hook that got me invested in the record immediately, and immediately evokes Amorphis in what I can only assume is Oppu Laine’s influence, before dropping into dirgey doom metal stylings. While “Frozen Processions” has a gorgeous keyboard intro and is a generally straight-forward rocker, it has a transcendent chorus when Aldará’s cleans break loose. And after the doomy “A Shapeless Derelict,” the record crests into what might be the best song on the record: “Set Alight,” a song that is simultaneously moody and noodly, and has so much going on that it crackles like bottled lightning!

The crest of “Set Alight” crashes pretty hard on the title track “On Lonely Towers,” which breaks the flow of an otherwise stellar album. At nearly 12 minutes long, it’s a song that is less than the sum of its parts. While the introduction is moody and beautiful, and the outro of the track features some excellent guitar work from axemen Perttilä and Yli-Sirniö, there’s a stretch of about 4 and a half minutes in the middle that probably should just have been edited out. Still, “Chaos of the Songs Within” picks up the flow again and closer “The Vault” features some spectacular melodic work at about the halfway mark through its 11:07 that wanders into Camel territory and makes the prog nerd in me jump for joy.

At 64 minutes, though, On Lonely Towers creaks under its own weight. Ironically, for me, the weakest link is the title track itself. When I remove that from the playlist, I think the album flows with beautiful feel and feels like a whole that is even greater than all of its individual songs: a truly cohesive record. When I listen to the album with “On Lonely Towers” included, the flow crumbles right in the middle and I have trouble picking up the pieces. And while I’m complaining: DR6. Sure, the sound isn’t horrible, but it’s pretty flat once I normalized it, and that’s always a disappointment coming from a band whose currency is their dynamic sound and their moody atmosphere.

But when all is said and done On Lonely Towers is still a mighty record from a band with new-found life in a vocalist who is truly among the most unique I have ever heard, and who leaves his own mark on Barren Earth. On Lonely Towers is a powerful, exciting return to form for Finland’s superest of super group and is neck-and-neck with other amazing records released in March in the running for Record o’ the Month.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: V0 mp3
Label: Century Media Records
Websites: barrenearth.com | facebook.com/barrenearth
Release Dates: US: 2015.03.23 | EU: 2015.03.30

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It’s not news that I’m a big fan of Arjen Lucassen’s output from the last 5 or 6 years. Starting with 2009’s unparalleled Guilt Machine, Arjen has released a string of records that I love. In full defiance of Angry Metal Guy’s Law of Diminishing Recordings™, the “poofy-haired Dutchman” has seemingly upped his game on every release: a great solo release, a seriously enjoyable Star One disc, and a stellar Ayreon album which landed #2 on my Top 10(ish) of 2013. So it was with unabashed enthusiasm that I began my countdown when I heard he was working with Anneke van Giersbergen, formerly of The Gathering, on a project entitled The Gentle Storm. The project is a fascinating idea and there isn’t a single other musician alive aside from Lucassen to whom I would entrust such a task. The record—which is simply one full-length worth of material (roughly an hour)—is recorded in two different styles. Disc 1—or in this case, Sides 1A, 1B, and 2A—is Gentle, a full-length concept album done using primarily orchestral instruments, including a real double bass, piano, and acoustic guitars. Disc 2 (sides 2B, 3A, & 3B) is Storm, which are the same songs produced in a style much more akin to the most recent Ayreon record in tone—progressive rock, occasionally cresting into metal, with different arrangements.

As an album The Diary is a story of two 17th century lovers, separated as the man—Joseph Warwijck—leaves his wife—Susanne Vermeer—in the Netherlands while going abroad for two years, communicating with her only via letters. While separated, Susanne discovers that she is pregnant with their son, and tragically becomes sick while Joseph is on his way back. The flow of the record cannot explain the entire story—which is more complex than can be captured in 11 songs—but picks up episodes of communication in each different song. The story follows these two separated lovers whose letters continue to miss each other, and culminates with a gorgeous, but tragic moment (“Epilogue: The Final Entry”). The letters are littered with feelings and impressions; “Shores of India” blends orchestra with sitar and hand-drumming with reflections of the wonders of discovering an exotic place. “The Moment,” aches with Susanne’s discovery that she is ill, while “Eyes of Michiel” pulses with the joy of discovery and awe at the glories of the world so far away from Amsterdam and the man’s newborn son. “New Horizons,” the record’s penultimate track, is a hopeful, yet heart-wrenching track from a dying woman to a man who doesn’t yet know that she is even sick. Anneke’s lyrics are subtle, smart, and well-written, and the after delving into the story I can’t help but get a bit verklempt on the record’s bittersweet close.

Musically, The Diary shows off the strength of Arjen’s compositions, demonstrating his deft use of melody and his honed sense of harmony. The compositions border on neo-classical, but straddle a plethora of styles, and it is precisely this ability to straddle so much variation but make it distinctively his own which makes The Diary such a radiant success. Gentle, the folk disc, is among his finest arrangements to date. What separates the music from other things he’s previously written is his freedom to play with sounds and textures. Gentle uses 40 different instruments, including sitar, french horn, with a sound that sounds like a small a chamber orchestra. There are no keyboards used on Gentle, only a piano, and the sound is subtle, rich, and stunning.

The range of tonal variation and the ability to powerfully convey feelings and emotional crescendos shows up on songs like “Cape of Storms,” which pulses along with a stand-up bass at its heart, thrumming the ocean’s depth. “Heart of Amsterdam” shines, with an a folk melody carried by violin and with dulcimer underneath, but gives way to a swing feel that Anneke’s voice transforms from beautiful to transcendent. “Eyes of Michiel” pulses with energy, showing off the range of Anneke’s vocals and Arjen’s writing, while the combination of the percussion—drums that sound like casks and a creaking ship—and ebullient fiddle and recorder which evokes a ‘pirate song’ feel that so many fail at, but which shines here. Similar to the feel that enraptured me on A New World, the nearly minimalist intimacy of Gentle‘s arrangements gives me goosebumps.

On the flip-side, the subtle crescendos and nuanced, intimate sounds of all the textures gives way to something far more epic in scope. Where a single violin might have carried a melody, instead an orchestra takes the counter melody, the use of a full choir takes the whole sound up to epic levels—working effectively on tracks like “The Storm,” to really push the music to epic proportions. The production is wet, and where hand-percussion was used, the drums are handled by Ed Warby who manages the dynamic demands with alacrity. Tracks like “The Moment,” a heart-wrenching song and subtle song on “Gentle,” gives way to an epic build with keys and 8th note double-bass—which evokes the sound from The Theory of Everything. The record breaks out into genuinely driven, heavy music on “The Storm,” which not only sparks with epic energy, but which shows off Anneke’s power and vocal control. “Eyes of Michiel” carries the melodies with heavy battery support, and brings harmonized melody and counter melody to guitars, and here again, the drums transform the song into something almost introspective and joyous to a powerful cascade of sound. Smartly, Anneke’s vocals are mixed back and the heavy material is quite bass heavy. The guitar tone is crisp, while backed by Warby’s fat drums and a bass that never gets lost in the mix of a dense record.

What amazes me most, though, is that the first few times I put this album in, I just listened to it from start to finish. Instead of feeling a desire to choose one or the other, my brain treated The Diary as a whole record. Sure, it was the same songs being repeated: but take a song like “Shores of India” or “The Storm” and compare them and you’ll find that Arjen’s ability to transcend styles with writing is complete. Lucassen doesn’t do things in half-measures, and The Diary exemplifies this point effectively. Arjen isn’t alone, either, as Anneke shows off her diverse vocal strengths by delivering amazing performances on both Gentle and Storm, showing both grace and power in equal measure. Furthermore, having received the LP mix to review, I have to say that the production on this record is the best he’s ever done. Similar to Steven Wilson, Arjen is coming into his own in his later years, and this is as true of his writing as it is of his production. His range—the wide variety of instruments used and styles balanced—is demonstrated here, where everything sits in a perfect place. Handling orchestras and sitars and full choirs is a challenging task, and both Gentle and Storm are exemplars of taste and brilliant touch.

If I had to choose, I think I like Gentle better than Storm. When moving from a production that is so beautifully textured and rich, with songs that move me deeply, and a sound that makes me want to just lay on my back and absorb their beauty, it’s tough to make the jump to Storm. Storm‘s sound, by necessity, is simply less dynamic. The use of keyboards to do some of the work that is done by real instruments in Gentle undermines those dynamics. This is a consequence of “metal.” As plenty of bands have shown, it is extremely difficult to balance orchestration, and different sounds with the pummeling of drums, heavily compressed guitars, and the volume necessarily involved. This doesn’t mean that Storm is bad, though: because it’s also brilliant. However, when my ears have been so spoiled by all that intimate, dynamic music, the sound feels a bit more canned. And in some ways, it leaves me longing for Arjen to figure out how to blend the heavy sounds with the rich, dynamic diversity of the lighter ones on future records.

Minor quibbles aside, The Gentle Storm is a resounding success, and one of the finest records that you’re going to hear this year. While I have loved Arjen’s other material in the last few years, this is as close to the adoration I felt for Guilt Machine since 2009. The amount of work put into this album—and yet the speed with which it came together—is astounding. The combination of Anneke’s beautiful vocals and excellent performance with Arjen’s writing and a huge cast of musicians has resulted in something that I imagine they’re all truly proud to have been involved in, and that is truly unique.

Rating: Guilt Machine/Guilt Machine
Vinyl DR: 13 [Gentle], 12 [Storm] | Format Reviewed: 24-bit FLAC [vinyl master]
CD DR: 10 [Gentle], 7 [Storm] | Format: v2 mp3
Websites: arjenlucassen.com | facebook.com/thegentlestorm
Label: InsideOut Music
Release Dates: EU: 2015.03.23 | US: 2015.03.24

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As an employee in a soul-sucking government bureaucracy, I’ve heard plenty of hollow buzzwords over the years. But amidst the ‘paradigm shifts’ and ‘synergy’ is a phrase I’ve always thought had actual merit: ‘disciplined initiative.’ Meaning: don’t be afraid to dream and try new things – but maintain quality control. Keep a grip on reality. Don’t fling a bunch of shit around in the name of innovation. It applies as much to the workplace as it does to music. Case in point: Canada’s Éohum.

Éohum are a Montreal-based musical collective formed in 2010 by guitarist, lyricist, and producer/general mastermind Jeremy Perkins. It’s an oddball group, including Matt McGachy (Cryptopsy) on vocals (though he’s since departed), a french horn/trumpet player, and several unknowns. Pretentious title aside, things seem promising enough for debut Revelations, Aurora of an Epoch: a glance at their Bandcamp shows Perkins is certainly passionate about musical innovation and… something related to humankind and traditionalism; the artwork is primitive, arcane, and – I’ll say it – kind of sexy; and genre classification seems to have confounded the Internet (descriptions range from progressive death metal to blackened doom to ‘avant-garde’). So where do things go wrong?

Frankly, it’s a little off from the get-go, with opener “Leaving Harbour” offering little promise and no clues as to the genre. Over ambient rainforest noise and female crooning, a woman (harnessing the enthusiasm of Ben Stein and the inflection of Calypso from Pirates of the Caribbean) recites a rambling, nonsensical poem about humanity as a metaphorical caravan… or something. As the listener attempts to make sense of what she just said, we’re treated to a segue featuring honking cars, machine gun fire, and a cheering crowd – which, while bizarre, is an unexpectedly awesome way to beckon the blaring trumpets and Thelema.6-era Behemoth riff that opens first proper track “Rooted Deep Within.”

Finally, the music – and really, it’s not as odd as you’d expect. At heart, Revelations is a death metal record with a lot of window dressing. It’s not bad, per se: the title track, “Equatorial Rains,” and aforementioned “Rooted” showcase an assemblage of imposing OSDM and mid-00s Behemoth riffs, agitated off-kilter rhythms, and skillful trumpet-guitar interplay that recalls a less bombastic and more Dead Can Dance-influenced Septicflesh. Vocally, McGachy covers ground from throaty roars to gruff, strained singing (“Defined Sacredness,” “Equatorial Rains”) to Aaron Stainthorpe-inspired warbling (“Thus Spewed Thy Infectious Reign”). He’s competent and emotional, if lacking somewhat in technique. And speaking of My Dying Bride, several bits recall their classic Turn Loose the Swans, including the drudging, disjointed doom riffs that carry “Defined Sacredness,” “Wiser Every Sunrise,” and aforementioned “Reign.”

The diversity is welcome, though it does make the coherency feel a tad undercooked over these 37 minutes – but that’s not the real issue. Sadly, the core death metal sound never rises beyond merely ‘good,’ offering few climaxes and little memorability. In fact, the most memorable moments stand out for the wrong reasons: see the sluggish rap-esque vocal patterns in “Wiser Every Sunrise,” culminating in the line “it’s the nature of this motherfucking game.” Somewhere, NWA’s agent is calling about a royalty check. Likewise, the title track features a trumpet line that I swear comes from a Looney Tunes episode, and the fade-out in aforementioned penultimate track “Reign” creates an abrupt and dissatisfying ending that’s only aggravated by mostly-ambient outro “Give Us O’ Rain.” Finally, while the production is clear and sharp, it lacks depth and features a somewhat compressed dynamic range that’s only nudged to 7 by “Leaving Harbour.”

My overall reaction to Revelations is paradoxical: on one hand, the foundation isn’t bad and the trumpet/french horn is surprisingly well-integrated – in fact, I’d love to see more world music elements incorporated (a la Cynic). On the other, the base death metal sound is never honed to a compelling point, while the worst ideas are shamelessly paraded and the faux-spiritual mumbo-jumbo mires the record in its own pretense. The result is a messy mix of fertile soil and diarrhea, which, moving forward, Perkins needs to separate using the cold hard shovel of reality.

It comes back to disciplined initiative – as even the most imaginative artist can attest, learning to recognize and discard one’s own shit requires more discipline than anything. Éohum offer both intrigue and promise, and I sincerely hope they learn this lesson. For now, I’m partially satisfied but wholly unconvinced.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Mycelium Networks
Websites: ÉohumOfficial | Facebook.com/pages/Éohum
Release Dates: Out Worldwide: 04.07.2015

The post Éohum – Revelations, Aurora of an Epoch Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

When the term ‘groove metal’ gets bandied about it usually conjures up negative thoughts about some third-rate Pantera ripoff (anyone remember Pissing Razors?) or something nu-related. I mention it here because it’s a term I’ve seen attached to the music of West Virginia’s Byzantine and such a label is ill-fitting for the versatile music the resilient modern metallers create. For the uninitiated, Byzantine have been around the traps since forming way back in 2000, before releasing their 2004 debut, The Fundamental Component, via Prosthetic Records. A day after dropping their excellent third album Oblivion Beckons in 2008, the band decided to call it quits. Fast forward to 2013 and Byzantine bounced back after reforming with their stylish self-titled comeback album, signalling a triumphant return.

Byzantine’s lively and intelligent modern metal formula comes across like a hybrid of Pantera, Meshuggah, Lamb of God and Testament, with these prominent influences whipped into a dynamic sound the band can call their own. Sure, there are an abundance of infectious grooves on offer, but there’s a hell of a lot more going on with the signature Byzantine sound. The band incorporates progressive and melodic elements into a thrashy base featuring a strong technical bent with great attention to crafting structurally interesting and catchy songs. Fifth album, To Release Is To Resolve is once again self-released (with distribution through Snakepit Music) on the back of another successful crowdfunding campaign. Despite the prompt turnaround, not all has been smooth sailing in the Byzantine camp since the last album. Significantly, gifted lead guitarist Tony Rohrbough and bassist Michael Cromer have parted ways, replaced by Brian Henderson and Sean Sydnor respectively. Although Henderson in particular does an admirable job filling sizable shoes and maintaining the trademark Byzantine sound, Rohrbough remains a significant loss and his inventive, warped leads and top shelf riffcraft are certainly missed.

To Release Is To Resolve begins strongly with the one-two bang of “Scold’s Bridle” and “Justinian Code,” a ripping pair of tunes clearly showcasing Byzantine’s versatility and impressive songcraft. They effortlessly shift between aggressive grooves, off-kilter rhythms, snaking progressive melodies and chugging thrash riffs. The strength of vocalist/guitarist Chris ‘OJ’ Ojeda is evident once again, with his elastic vocal range syncing nicely with Byzantine’s dynamic song-writing. He smoothly shifts gears from assertive melodic cleans to his staple mid-range growls and screams that accompany his Chuck Billy-esque thrashy snarl. The rest of the band is in fine form as well with the musicianship maintaining a uniformly high standard and the revved-up energy levels adding to the fun and infectious nature of Byzantine’s music. “You Sleep, We Wake” in particular maintains a cracking pace and aggressive edge, topped off with some slick soloing and meaty groove.

My main beef with To Release Is To Resolve comes down to the fact that the album doesn’t really bring anything new to the established Byzantine formula, nor does it reach the consistently high standards of the band’s strongest works. It’s still an inventive and enjoyable album with a handful of truly killer songs amidst some really solid ones, with no real clangers or missteps to speak of.  In many ways it’s also a transitional album after the departure of a couple of key members and a shortish turnaround on the back of 2013’s excellent comeback release. Meanwhile, the recording would certainly have been improved with a wider dynamic range and beefier low-end. So although it doesn’t rank amongst the band’s most complete offerings, To Release Is To Resolve is still a very good album that is never less than solid.

By all accounts Byzantine are a humble bunch of dudes with an admirable work ethic and resilient DIY attitude towards their metal craft. They create catchy, intelligent and accessible modern metal that should have raised them to greater heights in the more mainstream side of the American metal landscape. As it stands Byzantine is a criminally underrated band worthy of your attention and To Release Is To Resolve is another typically dependable addition to an impressive body of work.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Release
Websites: ByzantineOfficial | Facebook.com/Byzantine
Release Dates: Out Worldwide 04.04.2015

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Mid-way through thoroughly enjoying Elderoth‘s second full-length, I was shocked to find myself having internalized the lyrics “Become who you are / just like a pornstar.” Having come to this realization and self-flagellated like the moral young chap I am, I consulted the lyric booklet (eternally exalted is the band that provides more than just a shite band photo with their promos) to find to my intense relief that the lyrics were in fact “Just like a FALLING star.” Befitting of such profoundly cosmic lyrics, the release calls itself Mystic. Mystic is a curious beast indeed, fusing prog-power with a spacey feel and Eastern-influenced, Oriental (for lack of a better word) synths. Citing inspiration from Ritchie Blackmore and his awesome work on Rainbow‘s Rising in their pursuit of Eastern influences, Elderoth foolishly stacked the odds against themselves. Can you possibly believe the hype?

Of course you bloody can’t. But that doesn’t stop Mystic being anything less than a short, sweet burst of fun (I sound like the Starburst marketing department). It brims with slick melodies and despite the several music ideas bouncing around, the songs are very focused. Whether through the myriad synths or the guitar, the instrumental melodies move at a brisk pace, but are always centered around simple, hefty vocals. The choruses are instantly memorable – before you know it, you too will be eulogizing about pornstars [Ah, Seka, where is she now? — Steel Druhm]. Best in this regard is the first single, “This Shadow by My Side.” The verses are so compelling, with descending chromatic scales on the Oriental synths and the counter-melody provided by djenty riffs. But when the chorus hits, the undeniable grandiosity involuntarily obliges you to awaken your neighbor’s cat with your wailing alongside. In addition, the almost electronic, dance-pop overtone on “My Future” is pure Eurovision. Elderoth absolutely embraces its pop sensibilities – no song exceeds five minutes with the album rounding out at under thirty-five, and about thirty-three minutes of that is choruses. Their style strongly recalls Voyager – they know it well and don’t deviate.

Surprisingly, the Eastern exploration doesn’t feel shoe-horned and works well to carve a niche for Elderoth within the prog-power genre. The opening of the instrumental intro clearly demarcates this influence and the direction of the album, using stereotypical sounds and melodies which would indicate a transition to Japan in a movie. But where Mystic is most musically impressive is where the guitars undertake some of the Eastern heavy-lifting themselves, rather than just layering synths over guitar rhythms. The bridge of “Black and Blue” features this, as does the chorus on “In A Dream” and the verse on “Far in the Sea.” This interesting progression is most effective when written into the guitars, lending a subtlety which you wouldn’t expect for such a pop-heavy format.

Despite this, I think the material would benefit from greater variety. It’s largely delivered well, but it feels very safe and overly saccharine after thirty-five minutes – to continue the Starburst reference. Elderoth‘s focus is commendable but a couple more curve balls would diversify the experience and ensure that the back-end isn’t lost on the metalheads they are catering for. “The Ocean” attempts exactly this, with a thicker guitar tone and lesser synths, plus a subtle interlude to emphasise the final chorus payoff. However, this interlude drags just a little considering the pace elsewhere and the chorus is among the weakest here, rendering the payoff obsolete.

Though there are gems here, the instantly-gratifying choruses on a couple of tracks haven’t held my attention and I won’t be returning to them. Nonetheless, this is a surprisingly unique entry into my prog-power library, and I can easily commend Mystic to metal enthusiasts open to strong pop sensibilities. It’s immediate, catchy and largely entertaining. And hey, who are we to deny musical porn tributes?

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps MP3
Label: Elderoth Entertainment
Websites: ElderothOfficial | Facebook.com/Elderoth
Release Dates: Worldwide: 04.28.2015

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The Kontinuum… continues! Not to be confused with the tech death band Continuum reviewed here by Dr. A.N. Grier earlier in the week, Kontinuum are an Icelandic band that plays a multifarious blend of dreamwave and post-rock/metal with some inviting and interesting gothic undertones. 2012’s Earth Blood Magic, Kontinuum‘s first full-length, carried with it the well constructed inspiration of hardened bands like Shining (Swedish), Celtic Frost, Candlemass and Agalloch along with the alternative undercurrent of Interpol, Editors and Tool, making it not only an eclectic listen, but also an exciting introduction to the capabilities of a fledgling band. Now Kontinuum follow through with their sophomore release and as if to prove they’re more than just a one-trick-pony, this time they introduce a less-than-subtle worship of fellow countrymen Sólstafir, along with the likes of Aoria, Cult of Luna and even a little Watain. I’ve been waiting for this, so let’s see how it holds up.

On first play through, it’s quickly confirmed that Kontinuum‘s working with a different set of influences this time around. Gone are the sultry feminine wiles of Earth Blood Magic‘s “Red” along with the occasional blackened snarls of “Steinrunninn Skogur.” Birgir Thorgeirsson instead opts for a more magickal or shamanic approach similar to that of goth rocker Carl McCoy (Fields of the Nephilim and Nephilim) and the bariton of post-punk revivalist Tom Smith (Editors).

Opener “Breathe” is a piece that hovers somewhere between the sultry gothic melodies of The Beauty of Gemina, the atmospheric melencholia of Aoria and the post-rock ebb and flow of Cult of Luna. The track delivers the kind of epic, progressive, black doominess one expects from Kontinuum, but takes time to sink in and commit to memory. This continues on through “Í Huldusal,” “Hlidargötu Heimsveldi,” “Kyrr” and “Undir Punnu Skinni,” thereby causing the front-end of the album to feel weaker than the back-end initially. Advancing through each expression, highlights moments of Breaking Benjamin style cold familiarity, Sólstafir isolation but the lack of meaty, muscular soloing prevents the tracks from committing to memory; relying instead on subtle melodies that grow and build layer upon layer like those of Agalloch‘s early years.

“Lone” signals the big divide on Kyrr. Taking around two minutes to grow beyond a mere noise-like interlude, it becomes one of the most tragic pieces of sound I’ve heard in some time, on a par with some of Katatonia‘s best material. The songs that follow, “In Shallow Seas” and “Red Stream,” are harder than their peers. “In Shallow Seas” has a gothic doom feel one expects from Fields of the Nephilim with some unexpected Queens of the Stone Age hallucinogenic bite just for good measure, while “Red Stream” hits you with a final fuzzed out, buzzy, angry riff that near mimics a didgeridoo. It’s weird, memorable and though I didn’t know it at first, it’s what I wanted from Kontinuum.

Touching on so many different streams of thought and influence can weigh down a release and make it a tough listen. Luckily, Kyrr has moments of enjoyment and accessibility that keep you returning to the album and expand your attention outwards. Like the smell of wet dog, this album permeates your mind, getting into your subconscious and before you know it you’re humming these weird little tunes. This is a great follow-up to Earth Blood Magic.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Candlelight Records
Websites: KontinuumOfficial | Facebook.com/Kontinuum
Release Dates: EU: 2015.04.20 | NA: 04.28.2015

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Remember Guitar Hero? Yes, I’m aware it’s 2015, but reach back into the memory vaults for just a second. Somewhere on the screen there’s a crowd pleasure meter that dynamically reacted to how well your performance is going. If you were good, it would stay in green. If you were really bad, it would stay in red, teetering on the edge of total audience disengagement. Being mediocre kept you squarely in yellow. Venuzuelan-turned-American duo Cave of Swimmers send the pleasure needle ricocheting through each of these color-coded sections, making their sophomore release Reflection, bar none, the most frustrating thing I’ve reviewed in my tenure at AMG.

Cave of Swimmers bring a lot to the table influence-wise, and to avoid a name-dropping extravaganza it’s expedient to say they’re a mixture of Black Sabbath and early Rush with plenty of Candlemass styled doom mixed in. Vocals are exclusively clean and of the four songs here none are under five minutes long, leaving their more progressive tendencies plenty of temporal room. While they play with familiar sounds, Reflection thankfully isn’t another installment of Cloning the Classics nor an exercise in tiresome trend-hopping. What makes this such a frustrating listen then? A distinct lack of, and clear need for, an editor.

There’s no better example than opener “The Prince of the Power of the Air.” The ominous clean guitar opening that you know is going to give way to a chunky riff is present, accounted for, and damn good, starting us in the green. The verse is one line repeated eight times in a row and the chorus consisting solely of the title of the song and “oh yeah” repeated four times shoots the needle squarely into the red zone, and I was near my wit’s end when both were repeated with only a minor variation halfway through the next eight repetitions of the verse. But just as I wanted to shut it off, a solo section that apes “Whole Lotta Love” comes in and saves the entire thing with GE’s excellent 70s style shredding. The following bit where the duo attempts to merge Black Sabbath and Yes’ “Roundabout” with an NWOBHM flavored lead further livens up the proceedings, but it drags a bit too much and lands us eventually in the yellow. The chorus has long since worn out its welcome when it returns, but the song ends on a high note with the chunky riff that brought the song in with a bang doubled in speed to end with a bang as well.

What doesn’t work is “The Skull.” It begins well enough, but hamstrings itself with more unwanted repetition and a vocal performance that’s flat out bad in the quiet sections. It’s the latter aspect that does the most damage, as GE’s voice is much too warble-y in its Ozzy/Serj hybridization to sustain long notes effectively or convey any subtlety, making some sections legitimately annoying. “Still Running” wisely employs a mostly choppy vocal cadence that’s very Ozzy-ish in phrasing and intonation, serving the song well for the most part. This improvement only goes so far however, and the song suffers from both supererogatory repetition and a couple of dodgy wails.

Reflection proved tough to score, as my opinion of it during each listen wouldn’t stop changing. What I initially liked would sometimes be beaten into banality with the hammer of needless repetition, such as the initially good main riff of “The Skull.” Production is loud but pleasing, allowing Toro’s busy drums plenty of room to breathe and GE’s guitar and bass to mingle with each other smoothly without either getting lost in the mix. I will say that Cave of Swimmers is worth checking out, as they do some interesting things with their influences and don’t sound too much like anyone else in the current scene. I can’t recommend Reflection on a whole because it is somewhat tough to get through at points, but there’s quality scattered throughout. It’s up to you if you want to dig around a bit to find it.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Release
Websites: CaveofSwimmersOfficial | Facebook.com/CaveofSwimmers
Release Dates: Out Worldwide 05.04.2015

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It can be a herculean challenge to replace a vocalist synonymous with the core sound of a band. Judas Priest and Iron Maiden certainly couldn’t do it, but AC/DC and Accept managed it quite nicely. With Haven, album number two with “new” singer Tommy Karevik (Ayreon, Seventh Wonder) replacing Roy Khan, it seems safe to add Kamelot to the latter group. Following in the footsteps of the surprisingly good Silverthorn, Haven manages to do a lot of the same things right, and they’ve crafted yet another platter full of tasteful prog-power frills and finery. It’s still the same Kamelot you know and love (or hate), and it continues to appear that the shake up in the vocal department lit a fire under their dignified arses, as they’re still writing material more urgent than what appeared on those last few albums with Roy Khan.

As always in Kamelot Land, the watchwords are: polish, class and refinement. These guys have always taken themselves and their music very seriously and unsurprisingly, Haven is full of metal that could play at Lincoln Center with only a few monocles dropping in shock. Opener “Falling Star” delivers their rich, mildly neo-classical pomp with just enough metallic oomph to get it over, and Tommy sounds like his voice was made for this kind of music. The chorus offers cognac-smooth bombast and everything seems like business as usual in the upper crusty neighborhood Kamelot calls home.

Subsequent tracks build nicely upon one another, with “Insomnia” as the album “single” offering more actual metal woven into the band’s classic sound and Tommy sounds particularly good here. Yes, he also sounds exactly like Roy Khan, but it works and the chorus is a winner. This segues into the much darker and ominous “Citizen Zero” which is like the edgier material on Silverthorn, and that’s the sweet spot where the band truly shines. This is the standout in my book, with a heavy stomp akin to “March of Mephisto” and a wickedly dark energy that blends perfectly with their more grandiose tendencies.

Other highpoints include the traditional power metal gallop of “Veil of Elysium,” which is this album’s “Wings of Eternity,” the urgent, Operation: Mindcrime like darkness of “My Therapy” and the industrial-tinged heaviness of “Revolution” where Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy drops some harsh snarls and roars.

The obligatory ballads are respectable, with “Under Grey Skies” coming across best thanks to the lovely vocals of Charlotte Wessels (Delain), but neither really blows me away. Haven also runs a bit long at 53 minutes, and though the material is of high quality, I found my attention waning by the ninth track or so. I suppose with such ostentatious fare, it could have ended up much longer, but it’s a lot of pageantry for one session.

My biggest issue with Haven is that they dialed back the heaviness and (relatively) gritty edge present on Silverthorn. It isn’t a major shift, but that album definitely had a darker vibe that really worked. That darkness surfaces at times here, but this is much more a “typical” Kamelot album in mood and atmosphere.

Musically, these cats are snotty Euro-conservatory ready. Thomas Youngblood is a gifted guitarist and his playing and writing drip with class and decorum. Paired with the keyboards of Oliver Palotai, his riffing and soloing form the neo-classical lace doily center of the Kamelot sound and it sounds as good as ever. Sean Tibbett’s bass is less prominent this time out and the interesting, discordant flourishes from Silverthorn are nowhere to be found, which is a shame.

Naturally, most of the attention will focus on Tommy’s performance, and he does a great job. He has a powerful, versatile voice and uses it to the full advantage of the songs. Still, he does continue to mimic Roy Khan a bit too much and though he’s certainly no Ripper Owens [Insert AMG tirade here], he needs to add more of his own style or  risk unfair comparisons. The man has a ton of talent, seems to have brought new life to the band and I was sold on him last time out. His work here merely reinforces my favorable opinion.

A slight step down from Silverthorn, but Haven is another glossy, slick and highfaluting outing from the royalty of American prog-power. Dress properly, light some candles, open some respectable wine and let Kamelot take you to a place well above your meager social station. Be home before midnight though, or you turn into a shameicorn.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: kamelot.com | facebook.com/kamelotofficial
Release Dates: EU: 2015.05.08 | NA: 05.04.2015

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There’s aren’t too many folk metal acts I follow. As a general rule, I’ll gravitate towards the unknown blackened shit, the weird and the obscure as I scour the promo list for new review material. That said, it took two lines in the Artaius promo blurb to stop me in my tracks – Artaius has shared the stage with well-known metal acts like Ensiferum and Primal Fear and Torn Banners features special guests Tim Charles (Ne Obliviscaris), Lucio Stefani (Mé, Pek e Barba) and Dario Caradente (Kalévala). Those be some big selling points right there! Reading a little further I discovered that Artaius are a little known Italian band that merges Celtic folk melodies with modern, groovy riff-work and vintage 70’s era prog rock, to form what they classify as progressive folk metal. A knot of unease settled in when I realized they split vocal duties between Sara Cucci (clean vocals) and Francesco Leone (unclean vocals), but my thoughts finally came around to, if beauty doesn’t snag me, the beast most likely will. Another day, another dollar, Artaius‘ second release is set to hit the shelves any day now, and I’m here to tell you why Torn Banners won’t give you enough bang for your buck.

“Seven Months” kicks off in high gear with an upbeat, Celtic jig, persistant stop start drumming and the introductory serenades of songbird Sara Cucci, Francesco Leone close at hand to pick up the heavy lifting. Ms. Cucci’s style is hit or miss. When she’s on key, I’m pleasantly entertained, but when she hits a wobbly my inclination is to skip and move on. Unlike Francesco’s growl, that at times reminds me of Manne Ikonen (Ghost Brigade) or Filippo Gianotti (Krampus), Sara’s singing style is tough to pin down, varying across the album from generic, gothic-like spells in the initial tracks, then exploring electronic American Horror Story cheese on “Leviathan.” Thereafter “Eternal Circle” tries to grasp at the high-powered sweetness of Sabrina Valentine (Seven Kingdoms), but Sara falls well short of the mark. She throws anther curve ball on “Pearls of Suffering,” sounding for a moment like an audition for some swashbuckling “bacon powered pirate core” band but with less “shiver me timbers” excitement – no good can possibly come of this!

Outside of the expected folk-like tendencies, convincing flute and violin melodies and classic sounding piano work, Torn Banners contains a few more surprises. “Eternal Circle” kicks off with a short-lived Parasite Inc vibe at the front end, “Pictures of Life” delivers an unsettling break in the album flow with some hippy-dippy acoustic tree hugger-mugger. “Pearls of Suffering” introduces a weird mashup of Nightsatan synth and Jethro Tull trollery, and “Dualità” pairs the gentlemanly mannerisms of A Forest of Stars blended with whispers of early Agalloch before “By Gods Stolen” takes over, offering what one could almost mistake as a Jex Thoth outake. There’s a lot being delivered and patched together by these Italian meistros and while some of it works reasonably well, some just doesn’t.

The biggest grievance I have with Torn Banners is the track length. Most if not all the exceed the four-minute mark bringing the album up to a grand and almighty 55 minutes. That can work where you have consistently high-quality songwriting, enough catchiness to keep listeners attention or you have an outstanding songbird in the driver seat. Unfortunately, despite repeat listens, Torn Banners has a distinct point in each track where your attention level drops and your mind wanders, had the songs been whittled down in number and length, just maybe I would have been left wanting more from Artaius.

As it’s presented, Torn Banners was recorded, mixed and mastered by Riccardo Pasini at Studio 73 (Ephel Duat and Extrema). The album has a mostly modern, clean sound and good layering that compliments the folk instruments. The dynamics could use some work, but I’m reaching the point where I wonder if that’s just the norm these days. I can’t imagine that I’ll get a hankering to spend time with Torn Banners in the same way that I would an Irish folk or pagan metal band like say Primordial, but “Seven Months” and “Eternal Circle” do have some ear appeal in small doses. In short, I’m hanging onto the few meatier moments of this offering and discarding the fat.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 160 kbps mp3
Label: Bakerteam Records
Websites: ArtaiusOfficial | Facebook.com/Artaius
Release Dates: EU: 2015.05.19 | NA: 06.09.2015

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It’s a rare occurrence when a band completely floors me with a debut release. Not just show bright glimmers of potential mind you, but seriously blindside me with a sound that is fresh, unique and remarkably well developed for a first release. Such was the case when Oakland’s Secrets of the Sky seemingly emerged from nowhere with their brilliant opus To Sail Black Waters in 2013, blowing my fragile little mind and establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Blending blackened progressive doom with post metal atmospherics and serious emotional heft, Secrets of the Sky successfully combined a tense ebb and flow with bruising gut punches and sprawling arrangements wrapped in bleak, claustrophobic atmosphere. It was a unique slab of genre splicing excellence which held a broad appeal, particularly for fans of challenging and atmospheric heavy music in the vein of The Atlas Moth, Isis and Neurosis. After inking a deal with the Metal Blade juggernaut, Secrets of the Sky return to deliver Pathway. So with expectations naturally lifted for the all important sophomore album, how does this powerhouse five-piece fare on album number two?

Well some nit-picking aside, pretty damn well. Pathway takes the epic, misery-strewn sprawl of To Sail Black Waters to ambitious new heights without losing the finer attributes and unique elements that created such an impact on the debut. Pathway is packed to the hilt with dense and dynamic compositions that soar, caress and punish in equal measure. Everything is on a grander scale this time around, with the production bigger and brighter, transitions smoother, and the songs more compact yet still epic and complex. Delicate, space filling keys are cushioned between muscular, weighty rhythms and the textured dual guitar work of Andrew Green and Clayton Bartholomew. The latter pair are responsible for some truly moving and crushing moments, from soft melancholic passages and bruising doom riffage, though moody atmospherics and dexterous melodic interplay they continue developing a diverse and formidable chemistry, although I do miss some of the meatier riff-based moments from the debut. Perhaps the most significant weapon in Secrets of the Sky’s arsenal is the wide ranging vocal talents of Garett Gazay. Whether belting out emotive blackened growls, deathly bellows, spoken word or mellow cleans, the dude conveys a myriad of emotions through his diverse vocal styles.

Pathway shares the same slow burning fuse as its predecessor, with smooth and dynamic song-writing that builds and releases tension while maximizing the contrasting shades of surreal hallucinatory beauty and sludgy heft the band handles so well. The fluid shape-shifting flow and emotional rollercoaster of Pathway charts an in-depth and cohesive narrative arc covering serious emotional depth and musical territory. The slow-building “Three Swords” and soaring drama of “Angel in Vines” feature colossally heavy moments anchored around predominant strains of mournful melody and shady psychedelics. However, as the album progresses the music takes a darker, heavier turn without abandoning the more restrained and melodic song-writing elements. “Garden of Prayers” is a plunging chasm of misery complete with swollen doom surges, gorgeous guitar work and an incredibly moving climax. While the seething grooves and livelier pace of “Fosforos” takes it up a notch, before getting downright sinister during its eerie backend.

Ambient soundscapes and effects-laden interludes pepper the album. Storms brewing ominously, crashing waves, mysterious footsteps, crackling fire and eerie inhuman sounds that could almost have been plucked from Resident Evil are just some of the interconnecting sound effects deployed. As brief and effectively unsettling as these interludes are, they also outnumber actual songs seven to six, which is frankly a bit overdone. Fortunately the juicy meat in the sandwich is very substantial with five of the remaining six songs delivering in spades. The only misstep is the airy balladry of “Another Light,” which finds Gazay’s cleans veering into whiny territory, particularly during the overused refrain, “I just don’t care anymore.”

Pathway was co-produced by the band and once again mixed, mastered and recorded by Juan Urteaga at Trident Studios. The sound is fittingly huge and spacious while packing a powerful sonic punch, although it could be a little more dynamic, particularly during the softer passages.

To Sail Black Waters left such a strong impression on me that I was initially disappointed by Pathway. But the longer I’ve spent with the album its undeniable charms and weighty ambition has convincingly won me over. Pathway is a rich, emotive and dangerously addictive source of soul-sucking gloom, wretched despair and unhinged aggression which confirms Secrets of the Sky as a pillar of strength and innovation in the current metal scene.

Rating: 4.0 /5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Metal Blade Records
Websites: Facebook.com/SecretsoftheSky
Release Dates: Out Worldwide: 05.19.2015

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