The New Music Thread : The Fallen Edition
Sounds interesting Vinny.
New Fallen releases slated for 14th February:
Dawn of Solace - Affliction Vortex (album)
Hangman's Chair - Saddiction (album)
Klastos - Born to Ruin (album)
Carcolh - Twilight of the Mortals (album)
Throne - Ossarium (album)
Warlung - The Poison Touch (album)
Lord of the Void - TON 618 (EP)
The Hidden Hand - Live in Leipzig (live album)
Pentagram - Lightning in a Bottle (2025)
After over five decades of drugs, crime and doom, Bobby Liebling returns with a whole new line up, some ten years after Pentagram's last album. Although I do not follow Pentagram releases (in fact, I lost track right after their self-titled debut if I am honest) but something about that vibrant artwork caught my eye and I thought to myself that if the content of the album was anywhere near as focused as the cover art then this could be a real treat. As it turns out, I am more than half correct. There are some absolute bangers on this record. Although I had not caught any of them as singles the three tracks that came out prior to the album release are all strongly written affairs. The opening track, Live Again certainly lives up to its billing as with the new line up in full flow, Pentagram sound just as good now as they did forty or fifty years ago.
Touching on psychedelia, stoner rock, hard rock and classic rock alongside the more doom-laden side to proceedings, Lightning in a Bottle is actually quite a varied affair. Full of lyrical absurdities ("I spoke to Death last night, he wore a nightmare gown, and when I spoke your name, he turned his eyes down to the ground" - from "I Spoke to Death") and widdling solos, all performed to a backdrop of solid and consistent percussion, I found this record way more interesting than I expected. The artists Bobby has recruited might have their moments of mistiming here and there (which somehow is just acceptable) but overall they have put together eleven consistent tracks. Unafraid to play with pace and tempo, the band create a distinct feeling of balance over the album. Starting off with the previously praised opening track, Live Again and then closing the album with the deliciously doomy Walk the Sociopath, Pentagram have managed to achieve a complete album experience here.
Whilst not flawless, all the tracks belong here and bring something unique to the table. Whether it is the spiralling, fuzzy chaos of Lady Heroin or the solid and direct punch of Thundercrest, most tracks leave a mark for me as I have listened through the album a few times today. Above all else, I am impressed with how good Liebling sounds. The guy is 71 for fuck's sake! On here he puts in a shift that belies any stereotypes linked to his age. Energetic, reflective and even outright thoughtful, Liebling gives a truly stellar showing here. Props also to guitarist Tony Reed who manages to mark his own identity on the record whilst still somehow staying true to the Pentagram sound at the same time. The bonus tracks on the digital version are not essential and of the main listing I can genuinely only call out I'll Certainly See You In Hell and Solve the Puzzle as being the items that should have been left on the cutting room floor.
4/5
Intensive Care & The Body - "Was I Good Enough?" [Canadian industrial/sludge meets Arizona drone/sludge]
Rwake - "The Return of Magik" [Arizona sludge metal]
Amenra - "De Toorn" E.P. [Belgian post-sludge metal]
Amenra - "With Fang & Claw" [Belgian post-sludge metal]
Just came across these guys whilst f-ing about on Bandcamp. Texan Gothic Metal. This is a promo track from their sophomore album due out next week. I like it.
New Paradise Lost album, Ascension is due 19th September. I have heard the first couple of tracks and been a bit underwhelmed to be honest.
That is exciting! It took me a long time to devote the necessary time to Watching from a Distance, but once I did I couldn't give it less than 5 stars.
Paradise Lost - "Ascension" [English gothic metal]
Pre-release review from another site: "Paradise Lost require no Introduction. From the UK acts beginnings as part of the pioneering Peaceville three through to their modern-day status as death/doom gothic icons. Each album is a celebration of melancholy and aggressive; Ascension is their seventeenth release after the five years wait that was Obsidian and it continues the band’s excellent return to truly heavy soundscapes.
The riffs are majestic and instantly memorable, whether it be from the almost upbeat ‘’Serpent on the Cross’’ and ‘’Silence like the Grave’’ with its instantly headbanging passages through to the grandiose Tyrants Serenade each track is unique yet an integral part that makes Paradise Lost work, from its gradual build from doom through to gothic like passages, nothing is hurried every note allowed to sear the sense and resonate in your eardrums. ‘’Salvation’’ is anything but, a monolithic riff so huge full of impending misery that its unmatched throughout the album and it proceeds to get heavier! The musicianship is of course nothing short of superb and Nick Holmes Vocals are the perfect conduit for themes of triumph and tragedy. From the inexorable build of ‘’Lay A Wreath Upon the World’’ to the metallic glory of ‘’Sirens’’ and ‘’Deceivers’’ (That solo) this is Paradise Lost at their most complete, at times reminiscent of Icon with its variations and dynamics,
Cathartic, emotive and simply heavy in places, Ascension is a pure Paradise Lost record that will not only heralds their continued fine form but will sure spark furious debate as to where it stands in their catalogue of excellent albums. An irresistible force of nature, Ascension is a great record with moments of excellence, glorious doomy and gothic, a must for all connoisseurs of the genre."
I have checked out the three-track preview EP on Spotify and it's not bad. Possibly leaning a bit more into death doom than they have for a while.
New Hooded Menace due 03rd October. Two tracks up for streaming are okay. Heavy PL vibe of course but digging the 90's death metal album cover more than the tracks if I am honest.
i have been looking at the new cover at the top of the homepage for the last few days, thinking what a horrible cover it is and it only occured to me today that it is A BRAND NEW EVOKEN ALBUM!!
...and it is pretty damn good too (unlike the cover that still sucks).
i have been looking at the new cover at the top of the homepage for the last few days, thinking what a horrible cover it is and it only occured to me today that it is A BRAND NEW EVOKEN ALBUM!!
...and it is pretty damn good too (unlike the cover that still sucks).
Yeah, it's not the best. I'm very much looking forward to checking out the album though!
i have been looking at the new cover at the top of the homepage for the last few days, thinking what a horrible cover it is and it only occured to me today that it is A BRAND NEW EVOKEN ALBUM!!
...and it is pretty damn good too (unlike the cover that still sucks).
Yeah, it's not the best. I'm very much looking forward to checking out the album though!
The music is great though. Quite 'progressive' in that the tracks keep moving forward and rarely repeat riffs, phrases or motifs, whilst still sitting recognisably within the funeral/death doom sphere.
Heteropsy - "Embalming" (2025)
Japanese doom death merchants, Heteropsy (interestingly meaning relying on the observations of others who have previously examined something) have only released EPs to date. Embalming is their first full length after five years of existence. Based on the four listens I have now completed with the record, those five years have been well spent, honing and developing a potent sounding death metal sound that embraces a multitude of influences. Often, they will switch up styles mid-track, exhibiting a degree of skill in doing so very cleanly. They aren’t many modern death metal bands kicking about that can deliver what Heteropsy do, let me tell you.
Upon first listen, I was unsure of there being much in the way of doom death credentials. I located very quickly the Swedish death metal crunch in the riffs, obviously. What I did find myself wondering was if they were cloning fellow countrymen, Coffins. If I am honest, I have very little experience of Coffins and so I am spinning a few of their tracks whilst I write up this review. Similarities exist, yes. However, there is no cloning happening here to my ears at least. I am impressed by the variation on show during Embalming more than anything. It is much more than just a doom death record with some nods to Swedish death metal. There is a distinct heavy metal vibe to some of the leads (as early on as the intro track in fact) and the quartet’s palette stretches to incorporate frantic death metal on the likes of ‘The Sodomizer’, a true doom death trudge on ‘Asphyxia’ before sharing some exquisite Autopsy squall on the same track also.
The band describe their sound as “mourning death metal”, a mix of their favourite death metal sounds. Whatever the moniker is that is being adopted to describe their sound, Heteropsy know how to blend their influences superbly. Whilst overall I sense their pacing is less laboured than Coffins, they can still conjure up transcendental guitars on my album highlight, ‘Memento Mori’ as well as creating a superb atmosphere during the build-up on ‘Methadone’, combining slow picked strings and white noise to great effect. The album artwork is the only real area of concern of me but that shaves nothing of the rating here. The scores are kept away from perfection by a couple of tracks that seem to meander a bit. ‘Seventh Damnation’ takes its sweet time to get going and even when in full flow, still seems to flounder somewhat. Album closer, ‘Old Friends’ heralds equal, unrealised promise too unfortunately. Still, for a debut record, there is plenty to marvel at.
4/5
New Great Falls comp released this month, Conscription. Noise-rock/sludge turned up to eleven.
Warning - "Rituals of Shame" released June 19th on Relapse
To say that I am stoked for this one would be the understatement of the decade. Two tracks are up on Spotify, Bandcamp etc, "Stations" and "Night Comes Down". When the first chord of "Stations" issued from my headphones a shiver literally went down my spine. Sounds exactly like you would expect the follow up to "Watching From A Distance" to sound. Needless to say my vinyl order has gone off to Relapse and [spoiler alert] a quick rejig of next month's Fallen platlist is in motion.
Monolord - "Neverending" Released May 29th
Swedes Monolord also have a new album out this spring. Three tracks are up on Spotify and Bandcamp and this sounds like it could be their best since Veanir back in 2015.
This looks like is shaping up to be a good year for doom metal. Alongside these two giants there are also new releases from Khemmis, Witchsorrow and Doomcult due over the next two months
Finally, here it is:
Warning - "Rituals of Shame" (2026)
I have never made any secret of the fact that Warning's masterpiece, "Watching From A Distance" is my all-time favourite album, so I can probably be forgiven for going into "Rituals of Shame" with inflated expectations, although I must add that those expectations were tempered by equal parts trepidation that the band may drop the ball and turn in an album that sees them just going through the motions like so many acts returning after a long period away and so sullying their legacy. So now I have the beautiful oxblood red vinyl platter on my turntable the obvious first question must be, "do I think it is as good as WFAD?" Well, the answer to that is not so simple because it is impossible to compare an album that has been so meaningful to me for two decades with one that has been out mere days. So am I at all disappointed with this third Warning full-length then? Absolutely not and while it hasn't initially hit me on as deeply an emotional and personal level as its predecessor this is still an amazing piece of doom metal melancholy. Patrick Walker just 'gets' doom metal in a way that few others are able to. It isn't just about leaden pacing and towering riffs, Walker doesn't merely write songs that are sad and sorrowful, but also dig deeply into his emotional vulnerability, laying bare his soul in a way which will either resonate with the listener or it won't. If it does then a connection with the material is possible that transcends mere grooves on a plastic disc and if it doesn't it may be dismissed as overly sentimental.
The most striking thing about "Rituals of Shame" is that it doesn't at all feel like an album released two decades after its illustrious predecessor by a band that had been on hiatus for most of the intervening years whilst Patrick Walker concentrated on his 40 Watt Sun project. There is such a remarkable consistency of material between the two albums that you would be forgiven for thinking that it had been recorded in 2010 and only just seen the light of day. In fact the debut "Strength To Dream" is further removed artistically from "Watching From A Distance" than "Rituals of Shame" is, despite there only being a third as much time between the two. The really great thing, though, is that the latest isn't merely a lazy rehash of the former. Despite the similarities, "Rituals of Shame" isn't merely WFAD part two, it has its own character and feeling. Inevitably such a monumental album will cast a long shadow over its younger sibling, but I am convinced that in time it will emerge from that shadow and stand tall in its own right.
WFAD had an indefinably wistful quality despite the huge, doom-laden chords and foundational stolidity of the rhythm section, whereas RoS feels a little less ethereally affecting. This is partly down to the heavier-handed production and increased compression, but it is also due to the inclusion of second guitarist Wayne Taylor who has played live shows with the band since 2016, appearing on the 2021 Roadburn Live album, whose second guitar adds depth and rounds out the sound, making it feel more down-to-earth. Of course, the absolute core of Warning is Patrick Walker's vocal performances and this is where "Rituals of Shame" may even outdo its predecessor because, as I alluded to when reviewing the "WFAD Live at Roadburn" album, Patrick's voice seems to have got even better with time. His vocals sound more varied and expressive now in middle-age than they did as a young twenty-something and his ability to wring genuine emotion from the receptive listener with a mere twist of his voice is undiminished.
I have to say that I am more than happy with this new offering and it has rarely been off my turntable since it arrived. Whilst it is consistent with its predecessor it is undeniably an evolution rather than a rehash and in time I think it may take on a life of its own maybe being a new generation of doomheads' introduction to the band and becoming as significant to them as WFAD has been to me. So whilst "Rituals of Shame" has not deposed "Watching From A Distance" at the pinnacle of my top albums of all-time list, it has certainly pushed a large number of worthy contenders down another slot and has livened up a year that wasn't appearing too great on the doom metal front prior to its release.
96/100