Friday, September 13, 2019
review: Capilla Ardiente
review: Void King
Void King
Barren Dominion
Off The Record
13 September 2019
This is only the second album by Void King, a band that began around 2014/2015, says Metal Archives and Facebook. When you hear the music it does not seem like a second album, though. Maybe it is the maturity of the music. The vocals seem exceptionally well done. Let’s begin there. The vocalist, according to Metal Archives, sang on an album in 2009 with a previous band. Metal Archives then shows that the vocalist possibly has been in bands since at least 2003. Therefore, Void King is relatively new, but the musicians have been laboring around the block for years. That explains a lot. For one thing, Void Kong’s vocalist Jason Kindred appears to be 46 years young, and has the voice of someone with lots of experience with the craft.
This Indiana, U.S. band offers one particular characteristic that is special, and some others that should win over the devoted, can’t-get-enough doom fans. The first thing that is for the doom fans is the slow, thick fuzzed out guitar sound. They have riffs, but oftentimes it sounds like a slow motion pulsating fuzzed out effect that keeps echoing. It sounds like they want to trap people in a hall of mirrors that leads to an echo chamber of fuzzed out guitars. It’s a very nice sound, actually. The second thing is that the overall songs are pretty good. In other words, the band has good tunes. The third thing is that the production should be up to the standards of the genre that people expect.
Doom fans will notice that the singing is rather peculiar to the band. It is a big-belly type of gritty and bluesy crooning that is not one of the usual vocal styles of doom. Different people will hear different things. Some people say that it sounds like Tool’s vocals, but Tool sounds like a dude whining, like he’s crying in every song and it’s just an annoying voice, but Void King doesn’t sound like crying. It’s more like BB King has joined a doom band (which is not that difficult to imagine because Void King does play the doom blues in a real way). Another possibility is to imagine old Alice in Chains vocals hooking up with doom. The band apparently loves Clutch, so there may be a bit of that style of singing here, too. Void King does not sound like any of those bands, of course, but the point is that the singing does sound bluesy and croony. It’s not the typical doom growling and screaming, and the singing might win over people who don’t care for doom in general. voidking.bandcamp.com/album/barren-dominion
Void King - A Lucid Omega
voidking.bandcamp.com/album/barren-dominion
Thursday, September 12, 2019
review: Ram
Ram
The Throne Within
Metal Blade Records
13 September 2019
Ram began 20 years ago. The first ten years went kind of slow and they had only two albums, but they got good reviews, while they were getting off the ground and establishing their credentials. After ten years they became a lot more efficient at solving their problems, and the albums are now coming down the pipeline in a more regular schedule: 2012, 2015, 2017 and now in 2019. With more experience, more resources and being more established in the music business, things have gotten better and the evidence of that fact is the band functioning more efficiently in making albums.
Ram has always had the same fundamentalist, orthodox and traditionalist classic-style heavy metal mission. Ram is the Swedish answer to Judas Priest, basically. They have that mentality of seeing themselves as defenders of true heavy metal of the dark side. The Swedes focus on creepy things that go bump in the night, death is always a popular topic for them, sinister characters populate the world of Ram albums. They also like skulls. A lot. They don’t really have songs that sound like summer barbecue parties, and they don’t sound like they want you to rock and all nite and party every day. However, but they do sound like they want you headbanging. Ram seems unhappy with the heavy metal bands that are more concerned with having funny songs than headbanging songs. Ram’s not like, “We’re a bunch of funny Swedish dudes! Hey, we play fun happy Sweden rock! Yay, Sweden, Sweden rocks!” They’re more like, “We are right, we play metal tonight. We are not stand-up comedians. Bang your head with us!”
The new album finds the band delivering the riffs of the 1980s sound of classic Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate and Accept, a marching-forward style of vibe, a style that goes from one big riff to another big riff, and on we go. Notice, however, that Ram does not do the happy folksy sugary melodies of Iron Maiden, instead they prefer the solid, clenched-fist punching pure heavy metal riffs in the style of Judas Priest. The previous album seemed more like a concept work and that tends to confuse some people who prefer album of rockers, rockers and more rockers. If the previous album presented problems for some people, problem solved. All these songs are stand-alone tracks.
The nerve! Ram has a lot of nerve. Have you noticed so many albums put the best songs upfront and then the rest are not as good? Towards the middle, when other albums are running out of juice, this one actually picks up, which is awesome because the first half is very cool, too. Once song number five “The Trap” hits, the album seems to get even better. What a nice surprise! On the song “Spirit Reaper” Ram breaks out with a bit of the background keyboard action for a very appealing and accessible song, which is a nice change of pace and it’s good to hear Ram do something a bit different. “You All Leave” is a clean-guitar ballad in which the band shows that the singer can carry a tune in a more melodic way, different from the rest of the album’s rocking songs. So, apparently, the vocalist can sing melodically, too, not just scream like a banshee. Not that we don’t like the banshee. We do like the banshee.
The only possible caveat is that it seems they like to flirt with satanic/evil imagery as a gimmick and they seem to glorify violence, killing and murder. There seems to be some cursing, too, so you’ll need to consider that, if these issues are problem for you. Note that this is a contradiction because sometimes they might write a song about government violence and oppression, and then they turn around and have a song about “kill under my command,” so the lyrical approach is contradictory with this band.
Alright then, do you like pure classic traditional heavy metal? If you do or if you are interested in finding a band that is dedicated to defending that cause, then this album is a great place to immerse yourself in classic heavy metal in 2019.
facebook.com/RAMheavymetal
review: Mourn The Light / Oxblood Forge
Mourn The Light / Oxblood Forge
Mourn The Light / Oxblood Forge
13 September 2019
In this case both bands share a commonality of interests. They both play a particular form of traditional style of doom that insistently incorporates the rocking element, as if they were saying that they (1) love doom and traditional heavy metal as equally and feel no need to separate them, and (2) they don’t want to be slow-all-the-time, put-you-to-sleep doom monotony. Mourn the Light is traditional heavy metal/doom with melodic male midrange singing. The vocals are not too high, and the melodic aspect is not very developed as of yet, but the overall voice is pleasant.
The music fluctuates between those big slow riffs and the uptempo riffs that pick up the pace for headbanging. In addition to two songs of the doom/heavy metal style, they have a requiem of keyboards (they say that it is piano, actually) and vocals. This is a totally different and great side of the music, but unfortunately it seems they needed a guest for the piano. If someone in the band were able to play piano, the band would show another dimension to their music and could it a lot more as part of their identity. The band also tags on a cover of Candlemass’ “Bewitched.” It’s a good cover. Take it or leave it. It doesn’t take away anything from the band’s own material.
The other band is Oxblood Forge. They are a doomy type of heavy metal, but the music sounds good for headbanging, and it’s not shoe gazing doom. The vocals need some description. The vocals sound like a screamed-type of style but it is substantially comprehensible. It is not really unpleasant nor is it particularly harsh, but it is a screaming voice, and not a singing one. Actually, they do have singing, too; a pretty melodic voice, but they do both the screamed-out voice and the singing as their thing. In the case of Oxblood Forge, potential listeners will need to check out the two types of vocals and see what they think about it all.
To sum up, both bands offer a more rocking style of doom, as opposed to pure doom of slow tunes all the time. In fact, Oxblood Forge is less doom and way more heavy metal in spirit.
mournthelight.bandcamp.com/album/death-is-lurking
oxbloodforge.bandcamp.com/album/screams-from-silence-forged-in-fire
review: War of Ages
War of Ages
Void
Facedown Records
13 September 2019
This is the ninth album by the Pennsylvania, U.S. band, according to Wikipedia (War of Ages is not on Metal Archives, whether that’s because no one has submitted the band or because of the website’s prejudices, that’s unclear). Active from 2002 until the present, in 2019 they return with their American melodic extreme metal.
The first thing that stands out is the work of the production team and the band in getting a very nice bouncy sound that is attractive to the contemporary ear. In other words, they worked the studio magic a lot on the album and it has given very good results that should be interesting to fans of the style. It seems like they took their time in the production of the album and like there was a standard that they wanted to meet, instead of just rushing out album number nine. At any rate, that’s the impression that one gets when listening to the album. The contemporary studio magic will be a selling point for those customers of the post-2010 American melodic extreme metal sounds.
The album presents an effective mixture that threads together the classic European melodic death metal, the American metalcore components, and a fun addition of other small details that bring out other layers. Here and there, you might hear some blasting drums, some pop-oriented melodies, some catchy choirs that are slightly reminiscent of 1980s rock/metal productions; there is a bit of a hip hop vibe in the vocals in some small segments; a bit of symphonic bits here and there. In summary, this is post-2010 American melodic extreme metal, but in a rather more polished or sophisticated production.
The songs offer much to the open-minded listener that wants melodies and grooves, without worrying too much about what particular genre it is. The songwriting works with the grooves and the melodies, and from there they open up the doors to doing songs that are different from each other in various ways, but still part of the same entity. In 2019 the band and its production team have opened up the melodies and the choruses. The longtime supporters will be pleasantly surprised with the production and the songs, and new potential customers are going to be hooked on the melodies.
Their lyrics, as always, communicate the same love that has characterized them since the beginning. They do not claim an original message or anything like that; just the same mission to deliver words that can inspire and uplift people. Anger and hatred are the opposite of what motivates the band. If believe in Jesus with all your heart, you will find here reinforcement of your faith. If you do not, the pleasant surprise of a different type of lyrics might just be something to think about. The important thing is not to be guided by stereotypes or prejudices against heavy metal music that seeks to communicate a different type of message when compared with the vast majority of metal bands. Listening to/reading these lyrics, we find that there is not a single curse word (hopefully, this is factually accurate!), which makes the music friendly for the little people riding in the back of your car or playing in your living room.
In summary, the War of Ages American extreme metal is replete with mosh pit or head bobbing grooves and with an abundance of big melodies in the guitar and in the sing/growl/scream vocals. A very catchy album.
War of Ages - "Miles Apart" OFFICIAL VIDEO
facebook.com/warofages/
review: Torpor
Torpor
Rhetoric of the Image
Truthseeker Music/Sludgelord Records/ Moment of Collapse Records/Smiths Food Group/Medusa Crush Recordings
20 September 2019
Torpor is slow heaviness with lots of quiet moments. Torpor is the medicine that doom fans can use for meditation, prayer, relaxation, clear the mind, or space out while doing some homework. Torpor tells the listener, “Friend, we are just going to growl along and play our music slowly, very slowly, and do our best to put to you in a mood of relaxation because you’ve had a long day at work/school and we’re here to help.” Torpor is heroes, essentially. Problem solvers. Got stress? Don’t like PE class? Call on Torpor. They basically say to the listener, “Friend, we don’t have melodies or pretty singing, and our music is ugly, but you are a doom fan and you know that heaviness is a beautiful thing. We’re going to keep it simple, keep it slow and you can ride with us and let’s find each other on the other side.”
That’s the agreement that the listener enters into with Torpor. Along the way, the band will seek to take you to spaces of void with extended segments of almost nothing going on, except for some sounds of imaginary intergalactic noises and the imagery soundtrack to traveling alongside a spaceship observing the moons, asteroids and rocks that populate the darkness of the cosmos. Then, they wake up the listener from those moments of stupor with slow-screamed vocals and heavy instrumentation, and we are back to the heaviness of slow chugging-grooving.
It is some 51 minutes of Torpor. We don’t have the lyrics so we don’t really know what the band is hollering about, but it’s not like you can understand the vocals, anyway. They could be talking about love, maybe they ain’t talking about love just like they told you before; maybe they are talking about yoga, space travel or how much they do not like their day jobs or about their opinions about the European Union or whatever. You will find out when you purchase your newest addition to your doom chicken soup for the soul this September (they better give you the lyrics, right?). Go slow, go big, go to sleep. See you in the morning. Here’s a pillow and a blanket. torpornoise.bandcamp.com/album/rhetoric-of-the-image
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
online PDF available of no.191 of Metal Bulletin Zine
number 190 PDF of Metal Bulletin Zine
PDF of Metal Bulletin Zine 189
read online issue number 188 of Metal Bulletin Zine
Monday, September 9, 2019
review: No Bros
No Bros
Export of Hell
Pure Steel Records
13 September 2019
The Austrian band No Bros began in 1974, according to Metal Archives, although due to the usual personnel changes, they have had various name changes: first as Target, then as No Bros, then as Schubert, and then back as No Bros; or something like that. As you can imagine, a bunch of young Austrians forming a band in the middle of the 1970s, the heavy rock of the time (now called heavy metal, classic rock, progressive rock and hard rock) must have had a tremendous motivation for them. In the very late 1970s and very early 1980s all this music begins to be called heavy metal by more and more writers (sometimes as an insult) and more bands like the idea of being part a new worldwide phenomenon in rock and roll music. In 1982, says Metal Archives, the first No Bros album was a live recording called Heavy Metal Party, which is the name of a song and another song is called “Metal Man.” The album has a song called “Reggae,” but it’s not reggae, it’s a heavy metal song that starts out with a bit of a fun intro and then gets to the rocking. The point here is that No Bros saw themselves as part of the rise of heavy metal. The music sounds like a faster-paced, slicker style of late 1970s heavy rock, not very far away from classic Deep Purple/Uriah Heep/Rainbow or music like that, but with a bit more bounce in the step, including in the presence of the keyboards.
Besides those American die-hard fans of all things Pure Steel Records, this band remains almost unknown in USA, correct? After decades of activity and a whole bunch of albums under the umbrella of the several No Bros names, in 2019 the band has a new album. The album has a terrible title and even more terrible artwork. Rock fans might think that this is an extreme metal band or perhaps some kind of shock rock band. Be that as it may, but this is the important fact for fans of 1970s-style of heavy rock (fans of heavy metal, progressive rock, hard rock, classic rock, and of today’s 1970s-loving doom/stoner styles), these elder statesmen of Austrian rock have put together a solid, quality album of hard, blues-based rocking music that stands up very well to their long history and legacy. This is the type of music that has a very broad appeal for fans of heavy rock in general. Of course, we are talking about musicians who are in their 50s, and some of them are their 60s nowadays. It’s oldie but goodie heavy rock.
To conclude, they have a weird name for a band; they have an uneven history (are there any Austrian documentaries on this band?), they have bad album covers—though not nearly as embarrassingly bad as their neighbors Scorpions—and the new album has once again bad cheesy artwork more fitting for an old-school extreme metal band (like a black metal band). All of that is true. However, the music in 2019 is confident and knowledgeable veteran rock; that’s what’s truly important.
puresteel-records.com/releases/view/638/Export_Of_Hell
review: Endseeker
Endseeker
The Harvest
Metal Blade Records
13 September 2019
Endseeker (Germany) provides several main strengths for the customers that purchase traditional, classic and early-style death metal, especially those customers that find themselves attracted to the first releases with the thick guitar sound of albums produced by Thomas Skogsberg at Sunlight Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, examples of which are the highly regarded debut albums by Entombed and Dismember, amongst others. That guitar sound, and other variations of that thick guitar by bands emulating the Sunlight sound, have in general been received well by the devoted fans of the genre. The production team has done a competent job in achieving for Endseeker that guitar sound that is reminiscent of Skogsberg-produced early Swedish death metal.
Another strength of the album is the band’s focus on groove and simplicity, over technicality and speed. The first two songs, for instance, are fast death metal, but (1) it is not so technical as to be overwhelming and (2) are not representative of the band’s fundamental sound. Overall, the riffs will sound familiar to the supporters of the style and those customers should be pleased with the band’s delivery and execution of the songs. There is an emphasis on keeping the songs manageable and listenable for the potential buying public. The vocals are gruff but are enunciated remarkably clear, for this type of vocal work. The rhythm section holds down the fort very well and they keep together the backbone of this album. All good work. In terms of style, the band prefers the simplicity of death and roll: that chugging-grooving way of doing the guitar work, and the rhythm section excels in this style. Therefore, customers should know that this album is not a 1988-1991 Swedish death metal throwback work, even though there is certainly a good portion of that here. Instead, the death and roll is the bread and butter of the band and it’s what they do best on the album.
Fans of death and roll are aware that the simplicity of the guitar work can sometimes lean too much in the direction of monotony. Compared to the landmark death and roll albums of yesteryear, this one is more conscious to avoid making it seem as if the band is on autopilot or too comfortable just grooving and growling in each song. That’s very positive. Of course, the growling vocals, while very competent, can feel one dimensional, but that’s not a specific problem for this band but rather for death metal in general. Overall, the band has made a good-faith effort to avoid the monotony in the mood of the songs.
One major weakness of the album is the band’s inability to cash in on the melodies. Time after time, they have good melodies, like in the guitar solos, and just about every time they leash in and restrain the guitar solo. This is a mistake. These solos have to be one the highlights of each song. Knowledgeable metal fans look forward to the good solos. That’s one of the main reasons those Entombed and Dismember albums are so beloved by the fans. What is the problem? Is it that the guitar playing lacks the skills to develop the guitar solos? Is it that the band is afraid of getting criticized for having soloing that is too good? Is that a problem? Whatever the reason, this problem should be rectified. The soloing is an important way that fans remember songs. There are quite a few moments of cool licks and solos on the guitar. It’s not too melodic, but the thick tremolo always sounds nice when in the songs there are some melodies and brutality going on. However, there is not enough of these things and the album could stand to use more of it.
For this reason, the album lacks standout tracks. It doesn’t feel like there are any big standout tracks that you would want to recommend for people to check out. Perhaps the band and the record label are aware of this situation. That’s why at the end of the album they have a death and roll cover of the Megadeth hit “Symphony of Destruction.” The inclusion of the famous song basically is a confession from the band and label. They needed something sweet, something cool, something attractive to spice up the album.
To conclude, the album is very competent. It is consistent and it is music that with a few listens quickly becomes intelligible. The band sounds like they are on the cusp of making their own landmark album on the next one if they allow the solos/melodies more room to breathe and if the band continues progressing on making the songs more memorable.
facebook.com/endseekermusic/
review: Dawn of Ouroboros
Dawn of Ouroboros
Sorrow's Eclipse (single)
13 September 2019
This is only one song, so it’s not useful to say much because we don’t know what is going to happen with this entity in the future. Having said that word of caution, and sure, readers should also take these words with a grain of salt, if this song is any indication of what’s going to occur (and sometimes one song is not an indication!), then this will be an entity that the customers of classy melodic black metal will need to pencil in, just in case this song is not a fluke when the full-length The Art of Morphology eventually is ready.
Here is the scenario. Imagine fast, blasting, tight drumming teaming up with classy tremolo and melodic guitar. Imagine that it works well, very well, in building up the moods. Imagine traditional black metal vocals. Imagine big melodies in the guitar. Imagine atmosphere/progressiveness in order to have contrast. Imagine some melodic singing, too. Imagine the blasting returning once and again. Imagine yourself banging your head upon finding a band that does melodic black metal with skill and class.
Now it is not the time to get hyped up because we need to hear more. For instance, is the melodic singing a consistent part of this entity or just a guest for the hit song? We will reserve judgment until all the cards are on the table. Nobody wants to feel cheated and deceived by one awesome song. Let’s wait and see. So far, very interesting.
facebook.com/dawnofouroboros/
dawnofouroboros.bandcamp.com/
Sunday, September 8, 2019
Number 187 of Metal Bulletin Zine
Number 187 of Metal Bulletin Zine is online at the following links.
Atlas Pain
Overt Enemy
Picture
Dead Kosmonaut
Sacred Reich
Dialith
issuu.com/metalbulletinzine/docs/mb187
scribd.com/document/424552702/Metal-Bulletin-Zine-187
number 186 of Metal Bulletin Zine
Read online number 186 of Metal Bulletin Zine.
Sophist
Superterrestrial
Killswitch
Crypt Sermon
Phobia
Repent
issuu.com/metalbulletinzine/docs/mb186
scribd.com/document/424552593/Metal-Bulletin-Zine-186
Metal Bulletin Zine number 185
In case you missed it, this is Metal Bulletin Zine number 185. Read it online at the links below.
White Mantis
Weary
Orator
Sacrilege
issuu.com/metalbulletinzine/docs/mb185
scribd.com/document/424552312/Metal-Bulletin-Zine-185
Saturday, September 7, 2019
review: Atavistik Death Pose
Atavistik Death Pose
Atavistik Death Pose
WOOAAARGH Records
September 13th 2019
In the days of extreme metal’s beginnings in the early 1980s the socially resentful malcontent kids with no recording experience, very little skill, and no money would get together in a garage and do their best to play as loud and as brutal as they possibly could. Today you can hear what the results of those adventures were. The Hellhammer, Sodom, and Mantas/Death demos that were considered garbage by just about every metal music fan, including by the bands themselves, are barbaric and chaotic, and show “musicians” obsessed with taking extremity as far as they could at the time in terms of heaviness and outrageous vocals. It sounded like the music was recorded with the band playing live in their own crude way, while a friend stands around holding up a cellphone to record their rehearsal, except that it was a cassette tape recorder, not a cellphone.
Such cave-people brutality is the essence of the 12 minutes of Atavistik Death Pose’s recording. The gutter garage sounds of extreme punk/metal is the only objective at hand. The drummer sounds like Animal from The Muppet Show going crazy on drums as Animal tends to do, and the guitar makes sure to play as heavy as possible without solos and without melodies (maybe they don’t know how to do solos or because they like sounding like brutes) and the vocals holler, grunt, growl, bark, barf, and scream as obnoxiously as possible. The result is not substantially different from those early 1980s demos, except that this recording is more like mutant punk metal.
Next thing you know, it’s all over because it is only 12 minutes, and before you ask yourself, “What was that stuff?” the music (using the term very loosely) begins again in order to witness this monstrosity once more. Approach if you like to hear punks beat up on music, and avoid if you want polished music. This is the equivalent of a bunch of angry anarchists breaking into the Louvre Museum in order to draw graffiti on the Mona Lisa. wooaaargh.bandcamp.com/album/atavistik-death-pose-s-t
review: Wallowing
Wallowing
Planet Loss
Sludgelord Records & Black Voodoo Records
13 September 2019
Doom bands are like, “Alright, alright, man. Take it easy. Sit back and let us relax y’all with some chill tunes. Now doom time is here, babe, need something to keep you cool, and if you let me cool you one time, you’ll be my regular stop, babe.” You know how it is. Doom has drone bands to lull you to sleep with their meditation doom medicine, and epic bands that make you be spiritual and holy, and hippies that make you go, “They call me mellow yellow.” Doom has Southern dudes that make you go, “Cause as I’m free as a bird now” and stoner guys that make you sing, “Psychotic reaction, the old man dies.” Doom is easy, chill and accessible.
Forget that.
Wallowing is the kind of hideous cantankerous antimusic that it makes you wonder if they do this just to annoy people, annoy each other or play a joke on the whole doom metagenre. Check out what this cockroach-covered salad of extremity has to offer. They have a vocalist that likes to express feelings, oh so many feelings, by screaming from the top of the lungs the whole time. The whole livelong day. This person sounds like a poor thirsty soul trapped in some kind of inferno hollering for water, and no one is around to help with a drop. This person is most certainly screaming, shouting, yelling like a crazed hyena, and the only shield between you and the maniac is that the lunatic sounds about a few yards away from the microphone, so that the tortured screaming is not right next to your ear because if it were, this screaming might just be even more horrendously handsome and wretched.
Wallowing is the weirdo kids of the doom scene. The vocalist sounds like someone who just could not find other people to form a grind band or a necro black metal band with, and so this person ended up joining a sludgy noise band. Is death doom too happy? Is funeral doom too poppy and bouncy? Yup, yup, says Wallowing.
You will struggle to find a more irritating/genius/ridiculous doom recording this whole apocalyptic year of 2019. Wallowing is not so much epicus doomicus metallicus as it is horribillus noisicus annoyicus. Here’s the deal. They mostly like the slow chugging, it’s kind of a violent chugging style, but once in a while they burst into blasting parts, and we are willing to bet that it’s going to catch listeners by surprise the first time when they do it. Then, to make things even more ridiculous, they have a recurring tendency, an obsession with using the most annoying guitar feedback sounds and use them just because, you know, why not, it’s Wallowing. Have you ever been to a show at the local bar in which during the sound check the guitar makes a super high pitched noise that makes everyone put their fingers in their ears. Like, you know, that’s going to destroy your hearing if you hear it again. Wallowing likes to use that noise repeatedly on this recording. Wallowing is conducting an experiment on you, the listener. The experiment consists of making highly irritating sounds and seeing if you find the joy in it.
Doom just got a whole lot uglier when Wallowing showed up. Help us, Boris Johnson; help us, Boris Yeltsin; help us, Boris Becker. Help us, Boris The Blade. This is going to be a bumpy ride, Boris. Oh.the.fun.
facebook.com/wallowingnoise/
Thursday, September 5, 2019
review: Juliet Ruin
Juliet Ruin
Old Stardust, Love, and Chaos
6 September 2019
Juliet Ruin works with a lot of the aesthetics of metalcore and seeks to give it a sense of duality between melodic/pop and harder-edged sounds of post-2010 contemporary aggro metal. An indispensable approach for them is to make the songs catchy and very friendly to the listener, like radio rock, and then bring in the yelling-shouting vocals and heavier sounds to contrast with the poppy singing. The band is a good example of how younger generations have been finding their own ways of transforming hardcore, metalcore, melodic death metal and pop music. They even add some rapping/talking parts on the song “FTW,” even though they don’t seem exactly committed to the hip hop element; perhaps they are too afraid of being criticized for doing too much or for bringing a bit of a hip hop flavor to the music.
The screaming/yelling sounds pretty good for what it is, it’s serviceable, but it’s the singing that stands out more. It’s soft singing that wouldn’t be out of place in a pop song. The singing at times seems underdeveloped or timid, but this is early in the career of the band; it’s bound to improve on future recordings. The music is part mosh, part happy, as you would expect. Unfortunately, they are limiting themselves by cursing in the songs in what seems to be an attempt to sound tough, but this just means less people are potential customers. It may seem cool or very metal, but the result will be that less people will choose to listen to ear-friendly music if it has a bunch of cursing.
Overall, this is the work of a young band working their influences into something that they can call their own sound. It’s a more contemporary interpretation of metalcore and pop music. It’s music with a pretty big potential for commercial appeal (both the music and the image), especially for adolescents and the younger generations getting into heavy rock. facebook.com/julietruinband/
review: Child Bite/Ringworm
Child Bite/Ringworm
Split Hits the Fans V
Failure Records and Tapes
September 6, 2019
1.Child Bite - The Fool
2.Child Bite - The Creeper
3.Child Bite - The Masochist
4.Ringworm - I Hide In You
5.Ringworm - I'm Not Right
Child Bite and Ringworm have tied the knot for a split release. Oh, well, there goes the neighborhood! Just when things were starting to look nice in the neighborhood and the bad neighbors finally moved out, here come the punks. This is why we can’t have nice things around here, ya see! I have been driving around in my grandma’s AC-less minivan with the windows down because this stupid summer heat just won’t go away, but these punks have been making the heat more tolerable. When I listen to Child Bite and Ringworm in the minivan, my neighbors listen to Child Bite and Ringworm.
The Detroit rock city hardcore thumpers Child Bite do three quick songs about the importance of putting your dishes in the dishwasher directly after you eat so that your dad won’t be mad. The kitchen sink is not the dishwasher, ya know. Actually, they could be talking about good manners, but they probably are not because there’s far more important topics, like horror movies. The songs are hardcore in, hardcore out, and done. You get some groovy, sweaty punk tunes that don’t last longer than two minutes each, and in the process the band manages to be highly inappropriate and too obscene for anyone else besides that shady dude that you see every Saturday night at the bar always wearing his Dead Kennedys and old C.O.C. patches like a badge of honor.
The other side of this coin is the Buckeye State dirt-dwelling punks Ringworm. They turn in two songs that do not go beyond two minutes each. Ringworm is completely different from Child Bite. While Child Bite has yelling vocals, Ringworm has screaming vocals. Child Bite is obscene, Ringworm is obnoxious. Child Bite is a bunch of angry Michigan dudes, Ringworm is a collection of furious bad hombres from Ohio. See the difference there? It’s like the difference between the men without hats and the men at work.
Anyway, Child Bite and Ringworm had both promised to take some anger management classes, but it looks like they lied. Again. Nothing has changed. Please get them some help at 1-800-IRATE-2-MUCH or get them some anger management classes by calling eight six seven five three oh nine. failurerecords.bandcamp.com
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
review: Everfrost
Everfrost
Winterider
Rockshots Records
6 August 2019
The central person behind Everfrost is Benjamin Connelly, who began the idea years ago with the Snowkid solo project. According to Metal Archives, there was a Snowkid 2013 album, but it’s not clear where people can hear that music. Then in 2015 there was Everfrost’s debut with Benjamin still pretty much doing everything, it seems. Now in 2019 Benjamin has found his troops to join him in this crusade to bring joy to Finland and the world. At this point the band has its sights set on big, huge melodies and gigantic pop metal songs that will help Finland dance its way out of the upcoming winter.
Probably the most necessary question for the potential listener goes something like this: Are you supportive of pop metal that is drenched, positively soaked in happy keyboards? If the answer is “yes,” then proceed without caution and enjoy yourself. If the answer is “maybe,” then this album could convince you, assuming you want to find out just where does this music leads, and it’s probably not the mosh pit but the dance club.
The Finnish band has a wicked sense of humor. When listening to the album we did not even notice a song called “Die Young.” It sounded like another pop metal tune on the album. It turns out that it is a cover of an artist named Keesha. We had to look up the original. It turns out that the Keesha has one of the most annoying voices that you will hear. Simply irritating. The new pop metal version is like the original, but with guitar, as expected, but the singing is not as annoying as the original. Speaking of irritating things, the singing on this album should be acceptable to the happy pop metal fan. The voice might be a bit nasal, we’re not sure, but it’s pretty good and it’s serviceable and fits the music rather well. It will be interesting to see if the singer decides to take some singing lessons to improve.
The songs are also pretty good and there are no big complaints if you like pop/dance metal. The only song that seems way off is “Above the Treeline” because in the middle the song begins to feel like a broken record; it stops and comes back to the previoius exact point, as if it cannot go forward, but apparently this is what the band wanted. We have checked out our version many times to see if there is something wrong, but the song’s time does go forward and does end as if everything’s ok, even though the music sounds damaged like a broken record. Weird. Maybe Finnish people think it is hilarious to make songs that sound like broken records?! Fans of happy keyboards dance pop metal, say hello to your new heroes. facebook.com/everfrostfinland
review: Vokonis
Vokonis
Grasping Time
The Sign Records
6 September 2019
These hippies draw from that good time basket of psychedelic and stoner rock, from the spirit of 1970s heavy rock, and the contemporary conglomeration of stoner, doom and sludge, and out of all those intertwining threads they knit their own fabric of heaviness. The band goes beyond doing repetitive, simplistic riffs for the sake of heaviness. The riffs are there but they are secondary to the melodies. The guitar is big on the slow melodies. What are they doing with the melodies? Perhaps they love the slow melodies of Pink Floyd or maybe the guitar player is a big fanatic of the blues. It could be from psychedelic rock; or all of the above. Regardless, these bluesy hooks and melodies is one of the key components in the music.
There is a melodic singing voice that shows up in certain places. That’s the best part out of the vocal styles on display. The singing comes across as melodic and pleasant; it’s not high, nor oversung nor forced/strained. A good example of this style of singing is the first part of the second song. The other side is the main doom vocals, which sound like a dude kind of yelling-singing, kind of hollering-singing; sounds like a self-taught person making do with what they have. The first song is a good illustration of this style of vocals. The singing is much, much more attractive than the hollering-punk-shouting if the listener is looking for some singing. As for the hollering vocals, it has worked for stoner and doom for decades, so that’s that.
As long as the customer is not demanding outstanding singing from a doom product, then this album should be of interest. Doom fans always on the hunt for new products now have a new Vokonis work for consumption. vokonis.bandcamp.com/album/grasping-time
review: Casket Robbery
Casket Robbery
The Ascension (expanded edition)
6 September 2019
Today is Wednesday, September 4th, 2019, and tomorrow is a national holiday in Wisconsin. The Green Bay Packers begin their 2019-2020 season against the hated Chicago Bears, a team that is the personification of grandiose infinite evil to every fan of the Green Packers and every Wisconsinite. The game has not begun yet as of this writing, but we are 100% confident that the Packers will win the game by a score of 157 to -21. Everyone in the great state of Wisconsin knows that the last few years have been very difficult. The Packers have not been doing well, and only two things have been keeping people’s spirits afloat: the abundance of cheese and Casket Robbery. Cheese is perfect, and so is Casket Robbery. Coach Vince Lombardi (RIP) would, if he could, blast this death metal on the loudspeakers right before every game so that the Packers feel a rush of excitement going into the action.
Those new to the band will notice that the death metal band is efficient and gets to the point quickly with upfront death metal. The Wisconsin band is not melodic death metal at all. They don’t do the growl/sing thing, the metalcore breakdowns, nor the sugary melodies, but that does not mean that they are a chug-chug growl-growl band only. They have a few hooks here and there, and they have some background horror-type sounds in some places to liven the proceedings while you mosh your way into the emergency room in Oshkosh or Oconomowoc or in Siberia.
This EP is not enough to change the world, but that’s not a crime; not even the great quarterback Aaron Rodgers has stopped the wars and world hunger around the globe. If Mr. Rodgers cannot do it, then you probably cannot, either. Nevertheless, this is enough to start a mosh pit right there where you are right now riding in that taxi on your way downtown to catch up with your old friends at the local bar to watch Casket Robbery at a show this September when they go on tour: Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota and Wisconsin are on the list. Go, Casket Robbery, go! Death metal is on the way to you, Toledo, Ohio. casketrobbery.bandcamp.com
review: Surface of the Sun
Surface of the Sun
Panacea
6 September 2019
Surface of the Sun is a project that is apparently all played by one person, but with the exception of the hired musician handling the drumming. The recording is only four songs, which is not a lot for people to judge. The recording lasts about 25 minutes. The music is melodic progressive with singing. Overall, the music falls in the category of midtempo and groovy prog, and the songs stay at a comfortable head bobbing pace. It’s easy-listening prog, without extreme traits (no growling, no screaming, no blasting nor fast drumming). Fans of the heavier side of prog might not like the lightness nor the accessibility of this recording, but fans of the melodic side might enjoy the emphasis on grooves. The bass guitar is very audible and the guitar is not a predominant presence at all. It’s a roomy type of prog. The main thing about the music is the grooving aspects of it, and the slightly spacey/trippy feel in the background of the songs. The prog elements have more to do with groovy songs, and not necessarily complexity in the music. In this project the use of background sounds/samples/instrumentation is important for creating that second layer of the music.
The singing is the one major sticking point. The vocals are meant to be in the style of melodic singing characterized by the feel of a somewhat tortured-soul expression. It is soft singing that seeks to evoke vulnerability. At times it seems like the singing is borderline crying. This type of singing perhaps is more common in alternative rock than metal music, but there are successful bands with this type of singing, especially in the field of traditional/melodic progressive rock and metal. Ultimately, the listener decides whether this singing is friendly to the ear or not, or whether it is just too irritating to bear. facebook.com/surfaceofthesun/
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
review: Hope Drone
Hope Drone
Void Lustre
Moment of Collapse/Sludgelord Records
30 August 2019
Hope Drone has put together a well-paced album that does not overwhelm as much as it would if the music were not arranged as it is. In other words, this album would be boring, difficult, pretentious and/or disjointed if the band did not sequence it as they did. Now, just to clarify, this album is pretentious and difficult, but oh boy it could be worse, way, way worse for the audience. It is five songs in 64 minutes of extreme metal with lots of blasting parts and plenty of dissonance, and also slow segments. This is what they did right. They seem to have asked themselves: (1) Are we trying to confuse the listener as much as possible in order to prove that we are talented and intelligent? Or, (2) Are we trying to make songs that are challenging but still interesting to the listener?
They chose option number two. The album requires an extreme amount of patience. Essentially, the band decided to give the listener the impression that the music is mostly blasting extreme metal, by often beginning the songs with blasting and intensity, and keeping it up for long periods of time, but once the songs really get going you are going to find out that there are other things going on.
From the first album in 2015 they established that they are a “post-metal” band; therefore, with the first song they basically were under the obligation to show that they still got it, and have not turned into something else. The first song is more than 13 minutes and it begins in a most yoga metal way possible: one lonely guitar string is slowly plucked and eventually a lonely drum begins softly to fade in from a distance. It’s not until three minutes later that it feels like multiple strings are strummed, but things actually get slower just when you thought it might pick up, but then the slow, desperate growling enters and this all sounds like slow doom extreme metal. At about six minutes a slow and lonely melody enters the space and takes over. Awesome. Now, right around the 7:30 mark the band is signaling blasting extreme metal, and eight minutes in, the blasting is going on until about 9:30 when it backs off a bit, but the extreme metal is still ruling the space, and will do it until the end.
The second song begins exactly like the first one ended: blasting extreme metal, mostly closer to black metal than any other genre. This second song is headbanging metal pretty much the whole way. Then the third songs hits and it is blasting extreme metal again, but it doesn’t stay that way. Things will slow down, get melancholic, get doomy, get spacey, fast and frenetic, and everything in between. However, the reason it does work is how it is all sequenced; the band is always careful to remind the listener that this is a heavy metal band that rocks. Maybe they don’t blast all the time, maybe they are not the most brutal band, but this album is very much extreme metal, despite the fact that this album is supposedly post-rock and post-metal, as if to suggest that it is really not metal music. What is not up for debate for anyone that does bother to hear this entire album is that there is has an abundance of fast, and blasting extreme metal, and to state otherwise is simply not factually accurate.
Is the album difficult? Yes. If it weren’t, this review would have been ready weeks ago. Is the album too long? Way too long! But wait a minute now, what if the band in question is not going to make another album in half a decade or so? Is it still too long? Ah, well, then story changes. If you like the album, but you’re not going to get another one in a long time, then the listener might end up feeling completely different about this hour of music. Hope Drone sends you greetings from the year 2025, when the third album will be ready.
hopedrone.bandcamp.com
Burn Through Life/NevermindThe Damage/Themyscira: Sept. 6 in Arlington, WA
This show is coming up on Friday.
Friends/Bands,
What further information do you have about it? Do you have links to hear the recordings by these bands? Do these bands have bios for people to know more about them?
SEP 6 Burn Through Life/NevermindThe Damage/Themyscira
Friday at 8:30 PM
Mirkwood Public House
117 E Division St, Arlington, Washington 98223
facebook.com/events/326088884984063/
Monday, September 2, 2019
review: Lamassu
Lamassu
Into the Empty
2 September 2019
Lamassu is a doom band from Australia. The music is traditional doom: heavy, simple riffs of the late 1960s/early 1970s hard-blues rock and psychedelic rock played in a contemporary style. The style is considerably catchy and should be friendly to American fans who like the hard/classic rock on the radio in this country. The riffs are accessible, and the guitar seems like it is just one guitar laying down the slabs of riffs, even though they have two guitarists. In some segments, there is a second guitar laying down some hooks on top of the rhythm, but these musicians are careful to keep the songs relatively simple. The songs are kept accessible and one listen will pretty much give a solid idea of how it is. The sound quality is pretty good, considering that this is an independent recording.
Fans of this type big-riff heaviness rock already know that these types of bands have bad vocals, but the fans love it, anyway. The fans usually find ways to get around, tolerate or even enjoy the farm animal noises, the big-belly constipation-style hollering, the angry-person yelling, the bear-and-hound growling barking and the drug-addict screaming and all those neat things that singing-disabled people do to endear themselves to the cult of psychedelic/stoner/doom/sludge rock. Lamassu will surprise some fans because the Australians have a vocalist that sings for real. The tone of the voice stays in an upper range as the normal singing voice for the verses and then it goes higher for the choruses or certain segments/moments or words. Fans of doom heaviness will like the music, and many more other rock fans will go for the singing.
The lyrics seem alright, from what we can tell without having the lyrics available, although the lyrics or song titles could be better. Song titles like “Chokehold Companion,” “Killing Someone,” and “I Die” seem not the smarter choice. “Killing Someone”? Not the best title, but the title “Under the Watch of a Crow” is much, much better and leaves more to the imagination.
Frankly, for American rock audiences, compared to the radio rock of the airwaves in the USA—Creed, Disturbed, Ozzy, Priest, Sabbath, Alice in Chains, Metallica, Soundgarden, Megadeth and that type of heaviness—this Australian band is not so different from that hard/classic rock. It’s in the same range of heaviness. The fact that they have good singing should only make the band more appealing to wider audiences. If there’s anything as a sticking point, it won’t be the singing. Having said, the band could stand to work on making the songs more melodic, catchier and just generally more direct, and less meandering. Sometimes the space/desert/alternative rock vibes take the songs a bit too off course, and make them a bit too long, and the rocking gets forgotten a bit too often.
lamassuband.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-empty
facebook.com/LamassuBand/
September concerts in Arlington and Bellingham, Washington State
Bands, fans and other friends in the region north of Seattle: Everett-Bellingham,
These are some shows that are scheduled for September in your area. Is this information correct? Please give the correct information if you see errors here (as there probably are) so that people have the most updated information. Please feel free to add information about these or other shows in September. Thank you!!
September 6 Burn Through Life, Nevermind the Damage, Themyscira at The Mirkwood Public House, Arlington, WA
September 14 Blood and Thunder, The Devils of Loudun, Orator, Forever Convicted at The Mirkwood Public House, Arlington, WA
September 14 Overwrought, Kihalás, Done to Death at The Shakedown, Bellingham, WA
September 27 Gallows Hymn, Kerr Ring at The Mirkwood Public House, Arlington, WA
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