The “boxes” argument used to come up quite a lot back on the old Terrorizer forum days. Any member trying to conveniently place anything even slightly eclectic into a specific genre, sub-genre, niche, thimble or mere tag usually found themselves suffering the ire of one or more of the regulars on that board. For a forum that was associated with the extreme metal and was billed as the” world’s most dangerous music magazine”, there was a surprisingly open-minded group of regulars present there and as such an album like this month’s The Fallen feature release would have proved to be a divisive discussion point.

Smote don’t have any recognition on Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives. To be honest, I can almost understand why. As much as there is a heavy streak to Songs from the Free House, there is a lot of other elements for the listener to contend with. Drone, psych, folk and doom all occupy the forty-minute space in front of the listener. To my ear this record embraces a very similar sound to that of Wolvserpent, a band who despite my tendency to avoid drone metal, get regular revisits each year. When I pick up such reference points, I do wonder if it is just that Smote have simply not been put forward for submission at The Metal Archives as opposed to being outright rejected. Clearly, these tracks are not always arranged with the heavier elements in sharp focus; the chaos of psych often disrupts any sense of outright doom metal from topping the charts of influences driving the bus. You may easily find then that Songs from the Free House is a little too rarified a listen if there are no albums by Hawkwind in your collection.

At the same time, I do not think that you must be a fan of the output by Sunn O))), Earth or Boris to enjoy this release. The drone elements here possess an atmosphere I have rarely been able to pick up with the above artist’s releases that I have ventured into. The haunting pipes of ‘Chamber’ and those dense, droning keys and vocals create a real sense of immersion around me as I listen. But above all else, in comparison to other albums I have experienced across these multiple genres/sub-genres, there is still a sense of very definite start and end points to tracks. There is no blurring of all tracks into one and as such tracks are permitted a good expanse of individual identity.

I could use the word ‘enchanting’ to describe this record. It has a sultry, brooding appeal to it that lures me in; perhaps at this early stage of listening even without me being able to fully understand why it connects with me so well. There is something primal about the tribal percussion that is on display. The uncertainty of the deep drones and bass lines only seem to add to the allure of proceedings as opposed to alienating me from them. And so, it eventually comes back to the fact that there is no “box” to put this record in, which is sort of why I like it so much.

Manchester’s Winterfylleth have had a mostly “off” relationship with me (as opposed to an “on/off” relationship that is).  Their most enjoyable release for me has always been their acoustic folk record The Harrowing of Heirdom which I thought was fantastic in a kind of underground Fleet Foxes kind of a way, not too commercialised or harmonised either.  Fact is that most of their outright black metal records have left me cold, and not in the desired black metal experience kind of “cold” either.  I cannot deny that they are a talented bunch of lads, and that they do have a well-established following of loyal fans.  The music is never bad when I experience it, yet nor does it come across as being particularly memorable either.

The Unyielding Season caught me off guard therefore.  Soon after hearing it through a couple of times, I found myself able to predict songs on subsequent visits.  Opening track, ‘Heroes of a Hundred Fields’ has a fantastic section (which I heard called a “breakdown” the other day) after about two thirds of the way through.  Likewise, the title track has etched its flow into my memory banks also, much quicker than expected.  As with my favourite album of theirs, the two acoustic tracks are probably still my two preferred ones.  That favouritism has more to it than nostalgia for the previous release though, the band do have a genuine talent for writing beautiful acoustic pieces I feel and again it is these two moments that stay with me as the most positive experiences of the album.

It is not that the rest of the album is awful, more that these other tracks do seem to blur into one another.  This is a trait that only seems to get worse with repeated listens sadly.  Even on purely critical listens, it is hard to discern vast quantities of the album as having much in the way of individuality.  By far the greatest problem I have though is the poor choice of a cover track that sits right at the end of the album.  I am not Paradise Lost’s biggest fan, regardless of the fact that ‘Enchantment’ is one of my least favourite songs of their’s.  It was bad enough hearing Nick sing it but the vocalist for Winterfylleth somehow makes the experience worse.  Maybe I have overplayed this album in trying to settle on some reasonable understanding of it.  Looking at the score I have applied to the rating now, I would have thought it a shade higher upon initial discovery listens.  However, the reality over time has proven a different outcome is necessary.

The newest album from Ice Nine Ki... wait... The Gloom in the Corner is a peculiar record and exercise in structure. Right out of the gate, it takes heavy influence from Ice Nine Kills and The Silver Scream records. It's littered with symphonic strings, bombastic and erratic song forms and sequencing and a heightened sense of grandiose. Unlike Ice Nine Kills, The Gloom in the Corner are making this to be it's own standalone movie. Royal Discordance is a concept album, but it's hard to get into the concept from the outset. It's an album that is explosive and at points, dank, so the sardonic and destructive nature of the lyrics and themes feel out of touch. The way the album progresses from "The Problem with Apocalyptic Tyranny" and ends with "Love II: A Walk Amongst the Poppy Fields" almost feels forced.

Part of that inevitably comes from the music as well. Like I said on the outset, because of how heavily influenced Royal Discordance is to Ice Nine Kills, it is a heavy album. Lots of heavy chugging guitars, fat percussion mixing and a healthy dose of aggression in the vocals. I personally think that the vocals are the albums glowing highlight because for every "Nope (Hollow Point Elysium)" there is an equally strong ballad like "Shadow Rhapsody II" and the balancing of the vocal styles is very well done. Besides those vocals, there isn't that much innovative or interesting through the instrumentals. You might occasionally hear a blast beat coming from the percussion which sounds cool and the hardcore riffs are fun, but without a truly special hook locking them into place, it just feels hollow. 

Despite the negativity, I didn't hate this album. Just know that it is not my cup of tea when it comes to the type of metalcore that I enjoy. If you like Ice Nine Kills but wanted them to make a concept album for a movie instead of tributes to classic slasher films, you might enjoy Royal Discordance.

Best Songs: You Didn't Like Me Then (You Won't Like Me Now), Short Range Teleportation (A Guide to Guerrilla Warfare), That's Life (Carry Me Home), Love II: A Walk Amongst the Poppy Fields

This was my first time hearing about this Djentcore band from Australia and I enjoyed my time with I Guess It Was Nowhere. My initial impressions were that Above, Below would be following in the footsteps of bands like ERRA with their down tuned guitars and chunky hardcore breakdowns. And while we get a fair bit of that here, Above, Below also throw in some progressive/atmospheric sections as well. Those sections serve as a nice change of pace for the record, so that when the next chunky hardcore breakdown hits, it connects with authority. 

I use the word "atmospheric" very strongly here because I believe this album could have used more of that. I kept thinking back to early Astronoid records while entrenched in a dreamy sequence and felt myself getting kicked out of it unceremoniously by the vocals. I like Jacob Wilkes clean singing, but his harsh vocals are too brash and unkept for the clean stylings of djent. I'm quite sure that this was part of the point; highlighting more of the hardcore influence through the vocals so maybe its just a difference of direction, but that doesn't excuse the vocal mixing, which is pushed so far back in the sequence. And Jacob did all of the mixing and mastering on I Guess It Was Nowhere too! Guess he really loves pumping his band up and not himself.

Overall it was pretty good. The time flew by and I enjoyed my time with I Guess It Was Nowhere. The band executes a decent variety of styles and are really good at giving the listener space before the next hardcore assault. Hooks are hit-and-miss; quite a few of them felt too much like alphabet soup instead of clear and concise phrases with catchy melodies, but the album is well played/performed and the mixing (minus the vocals) is superb.

Best Songs: Heat, Starbreather, Collapsing Eden, I Have Lost My Appetite for Spring

While 1993's "Pure Holocaust" sophomore album was the record that cemented Norwegian black metal icons Immortal as a band that commanded my interest, it was third full-length "Battle in the North" that saw them joining the top tier of the genre for me personally & I still regard it as a black metal classic today. I purchased the digipack CD upon release (along with a long-sleeve shirt that I wore around the scene religiously for a while there) & it received a good ol' flogging during the back end of 1995. Immortal upped the brutality significantly once front man Abbath took over the drumming duties on "Pure Holocaust" but this? This was a whole different kettle of fish & still sits amongst the most intense extreme metal releases ever recorded. The riffs are swarming & inhuman, the drumming is relentlessly pummeling & Abbath's signature croaky vocals are demonic & sinister, not to mention ridiculously catchy. There are those critics out there who criticize Abbath's drumming as being incompetent but that's not a valid concern if you know a thing or two about extreme metal drumming. Sure, his kick drum work isn't always super-precise but the clicky kick drum triggers that are right at the front of the mix go a long way to highlighting every blemish & these imperfections aren't anything unusual for black metal drummers. His arms are not a problem at all though & it's really the guitars that struggle to keep up with the frantic rhythms at times. That's what people are complaining about without actually realising the root cause. This minor flaw is not a significant problem for me anyway though with songs like the title track, "Cursed Realms of the Winterdemons" & "At the Stormy Gates of Mist" being some of my all-time favourite black metal numbers. There isn't a weak number amongst the ten on offer & I'm gonna suggest that "Battle in the North" is easily Immortal best album, leaving highly regarded releases like "Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism", "At the Heart of Winter" & "Sons of Northern Darkness" in the dust.

For fans of Inquisition, Abbath & Mayhem.