The latest BAN album is not the conclusion to the Disharmonium series then, instead it sounds more akin to the Memoria Vetusta era of the band with its sweeping atmospheric black metal. Devoid of some of the elements that can make the band such a tricky prospect at times, Ethereal Horizons feels like a bit of a safe record in the sense that it does little to expand on the established sound of the band, electing to stick with a tried and tested formula with perhaps a couple of nuances for variety’s sake. As I said in my review of Hallucinogen, there is a sense that BAN can release anything and it would still get lauded from a brand perspective anyways. That probably sounds a bit harsh, especially given the fact that there is nothing wrong with their latest opus, in fact it sounds just as accomplished as anything else they have done. A comparison to any of the Memoria Vetusta records is no shaming benchmark either, but there is a sense of the band now just getting a little too close to that sound on too regular a basis though.

Familiarity should not always breed contempt though. Barring perhaps A Flock Named Murder, The Great Old Ones or (at a push) Veilburner, there are not many releases from this year that can hold a candle to Ethereal Horizons in terms of dissonant expansionism. Granting that the cleaner, post-punk vocals do add a different dimension to BAN when comparing them to any of the other black metal brethren that are active in the same year as one of their releases, the soaring melodies, haunting atmospheres and crisp, clean notes are probably all unrivalled is the brutal reality. Whilst the sound may lack the cold abrasiveness of the black metal of Leviathan, the ambient passages are more than a match for Wrest’s.

Ethereal Horizons plays with a warmth at its heart which is a rare description for a BAN record. I find it hard to source any glacial emptiness for any reasonable length of time across these seven tracks. Instead, I am left with an almost tepid version of Greek black metal, only without the Hellenic temperature being present. The almost electronic nature to the tremolo on ‘What Burns Now Listens’ borders on the serene with its sheer shrillness. In many ways, in the face of this positivism, I do find myself longing for the protracted hopelessness of the 777 trilogy or the sheer avant-garde ugliness of MoRT, let alone perhaps the cold industrial atmosphere of The Work Which Transforms God. Hell, even the second Disharmonium album held a more threatening sound for me to admire.

Despite its obvious qualities therefore, I still find Ethereal Horizons somewhat slips through the cracks somewhat. I cannot fault the effort and will remain respectfully flummoxed at the unfathomable depths of imagination that it takes to create an album like this. The feeling that I have heard so much of it before is nigh on impossible to fight though and hence I am already looking for the conclusion to the much more promising Disharmonium trio of albums.

Hot on the heels of my time with the atmospheric intensity of Amenra with Mass V, I found myself embroiled in the more obtuse variant of sludge metal that is Celeste’s 2010 album, Morte(s) Née(s). Well, I say sludge metal, but there is much more on offer here with the ferocious elements of black metal and hardcore present also. Coupled with the unrelenting delivery that the band deploys, Celeste manages to cook up a real treat here. I noted from various sources that the band have a remixed version of the record due out soon that boasts a “heavier, better, darker” version “than the last time”. I have no idea what drove the need for a remix as I find the 2010 version works as it is.

That is not to say that the listening experience has not been without challenges, but some of that is more to do with how I listen to music as opposed to anything Celeste does wrong. I am a pest lately for listening to albums in piecemeal. Whether that is due to a short car journey or a lot of work meetings filling my day, there is a regular risk of me missing out on whole album experiences of late. This “attention creep” affected my enjoyment of Morte(s) Née(s) initially, leading my to falsely believe that the album lacked variety. With such a direct and aggressive approach to their art, failure to pay full attention to Celeste can easily lead to a “sameness” factor creeping into the listening experience if you are just zoning in an out. I will accept that the album is not dripping with variety, but I cannot deny that there is mastery in the control of pacing and tempo that you only pick up on with some critical listening.

Whilst it can be viewed as a very jarring experience, the album never falls into all out-chaos territory. At all times there is a solid percussion section and those buzzsaw guitars possess restraint that is not instantly obvious on the first couple of listens. I think the drums do suffer a little in the mix and that the production job itself does have this wavering edge to the instruments which sounds like the speakers might be going on the blink at times. Yet the impressive building horror of tracks such as ‘(s)’ is so well put together, combining tremolos, big bold riffs and samples plucked out of Hammer Horror that you cannot fail to be impressed.

I would like more of a connection with the album if I were honest. With so many elements that I can lap up gleefully, I do still sense some distance between me and the album to be able to say it is likely to be revisited on a regular basis. I cannot go as far as to say it is alien to me in places, and it could be that some of that “attention creep” that I spoke about earlier is the fault of the album after all. It is hard to put my finger on a bad element though and so the misdirection is possibly due to the combination of parts not hitting my buttons in quite the correct order.

Earlier this year, I listened to the debut record from the Cleveland gothic doomgaze band 1692 and I found it a mostly enjoyable, if a little same-y listen. I had very little experience with this sound prior to hearing Frayle earlier this year, so my expectations as to what this style of music could sound like were very slim. It still has the strong foundational presence of a traditional doom metal album, but one listen to those monotone, and heavily modified vocals of Gwyn Strang and you can tell this is not standard procedure.

In relation to this album, I can tell that Frayle have putting in some modest work to improve this sound. Shoegaze is a genre not typically known for its sweeping development and growth so good on the band for taking that style to new heights. While the record is still doom metal, you will notice a few more contrapuntal melodies in the guitars that compliment the vocals very well. The percussion on Heretics & Lullabies also makes big strides forward with the subtle arrangements between the individual tracks; the record does have many similar tempos, but not all the songs feel like they are in the same style thanks to the percussion. And the vocals have some really cool touches; whether it be the Glados filter on "Demons" or the sparse, but effective harsh vocals on "Boo" and especially "Heretic" as a vocal layer instead of being its own segment.

The downside is that the record doesn't really maintain its momentum all the way through. Like with 1692, about half way through, Heretics & Lullabies gets caught in musical purgatory; where none of the songs provide enough distinction to make them stand out among the rest. I enjoyed "Glass Blown Heart", but then "Hymn For The Living" and "Run" sound remarkably dull by comparison. "Heretics" tries to get back on track, only for the final track "Only Just Once" to continue in the same vein as the last song! As for the first half, it's very interesting, but it can also be incredibly cheesy at times, most notably on "Boo". But hey, at least it got me to like a Lana Del Rey song...so that's a big win I guess!

Overall, the record Heretics & Lullabies is a solid improvement from the debut, but leaves me wanting more. Maybe that's asking for too much out of this style of doom metal, but the pacing is mediocre at best and many deep cuts lose their focus. The production is the highlight and keeps the record sounding solid from start to finish. It's an album that would fit right into my sleeping playlist with how peaceful it sounds...and maybe that was the point.

Best Songs: Walking Wounded, Demons, Glass Blown Heart, Souvenirs Of Your Betrayal

I haven't listened to Finland's Hexvessel before, but a quick bit of background digging tells me that they began life as a psychedelic rock act and feature the UK's Kvohst on guitar and vocals. They have travelled a fair way from those beginnings because this, their seventh full-length, is undoubtedly a metal album, but one that isn't easy to pigeonhole and which weaves together a number of disparate influences into a very modern-sounding record. There are certainly doom metal elements present, particularly of the more -gazey, post-metally type, but that is a long way from the full story here.

Beginning with a short, wistful piano intro which segues seamlessly into a very nice melody and the opener proper, "Sapphire Zephyrs", it becomes apparent that we are dealing with a crew who know a little bit about decent songwriting. That initial wistfulness is soon usurped by black metal-derived blasting, but it retains the clean vocals and maintains its overriding mournful atmosphere. During its eight minutes the track takes a number of turns with changes in tempo and delivery, yet still sounds exceedingly coherent and consistent, surely the hallmark of good songwriting. This approach is the band's modus operandi for the album as a whole which makes it feel quite progressive, especially on the longer tracks, whilst the post-metally, -gazey elements infuse it with it's doomy and melancholy atmosphere. The production is very clean and allows all the band members contributions to be heard perfectly well, with drums, bass and keys all clearly represented.

All-in-all I enjoyed this, it features some really nice melodies which resonated with me quite deeply and, as I said earlier, the songwriting is top-knotch. It isn't the heaviest album you will hear this year, but it isn't trying to be. It succeeds in it's atmosphere-building, which feels consistent throughout and it's skillful pulling together of its various component influences into a coherent whole is impressive, be it doom, black metal, post-punk or whatever else they throw into this witch's magical brew.

I think I found what might've given Northlane the idea to adopt more modern electronic elements in their later albums. Fellow NSW-based band The Arbitrary Method was only active for short EP in 2015, and that EP, Augmentation showcases a diverse mix of industrial/cyber metal and metalcore, and a small bit of nu metal. It's almost the same kind of blend heard in Northlane's Alien! Plus some touches of Cypecore and 2000s Mechina. Also, don't expect a lot of groove metal here, there's barely any of that...

To be more specific, there are the samples and synths expected in a Sphere release. And there are the simple yet heavy riffing and drums of metalcore, with some lyrics and vocals lean into nu metal territory. The end result is a great small offering that isn't perfect but still enjoyable.

The EP starts with the atmospheric title intro. Then the heavy beat starts in "Divide the Devil". Some of the guitar leads and vocals have a bit of a Trivium vibe in them, and that I love! "The Mirror" cranks up the industrial side in kind of a standard fashion. "Enslaved" has some of the best riffing, though sadly the verses are kind of generic, especially with some annoying background FX. "Defy" is the best track here, sounding quite catchy in the intro and chorus. Another track "Don’t Let Go" doesn't have the same memorability, but it's still OK. "Into Insanity" closes the album with another grand standout, even having Bjorn Strid from Soilwork behind the mic.

Augmentation is a solid EP that takes some cues from the 2000s era of metalcore and, to a lesser extent, nu metal, and gives it a futuristic industrial/cyber metal twist. Such a shame there isn't anything beyond this from the band, but it's worth listening and savoring. A more cyber Mushroomhead, I would say....

Favorites: "Divide the Devil", "Defy", "Into Insanity"