I was not expecting much out of a new Haste the Day album in 2026. But what we ended up getting was a really solid performance of quality metalcore choruses and production. Haste the Day prove that they are still capable of writing very catchy and infectious choruses throughout their career and Dissenter is no exception. Standouts for me include "Grave", "Liminal" and the closer "Oblivion". The songs themselves are well performed with a mostly forgiving production; sometimes when the guitar changes to a chugging riff pattern it does get wonky, and parts of the percussion become mushy near the end of songs like "Heretic" and "Shallows". But the real letdown is in the vocals. Stephen Keech makes a fine return on vocals as a harsh screamer, but this clean vocal timbre does not work for me. It all starts on "Shallows" with a plain, monotonous delivery that does not reflect that songs intensity at all. While the album does get better after that, the fact that this was the bands first impression left a sour taste in my mouth the rest of the record. Dissenter is a record that has some great highs for a modern metalcore album (it almost feels more like a nostalgic 2000s throwback) with its back-to-basics songwriting, but questionable production choices and a poor vocal performance prevent these longtime metalcore giants from achieving anything higher.

Best Songs: Grave, Gnasher, Oblivion

For Fans Of: Imminence, Blessthefall, Oh, Sleeper

Taubra were founded in 2022 by swiss guitarist Berg, who also plies his trade as the multi-instrumentalist behind Aara. Now, Taubra are a new one on me, but I am quite familiar with Aara, particular the earlier releases and I would count myself as a fan. I got to hear the track "Rembrandt of Death" whilst compiling the North playlist (nice nomination Vinny) and I kept sneaking back to it as it stood out to me, so good vibes abounded as I dived in to check out the full album.

The band hit an aggressive and vicious pose with some vibrantly brutal riffing thanks to a death metal style production job that beefs up their sound with a significant amount of bottom end and is perhaps a bit more bludgeoning than usual with the tremolo riffs not quite as dominant and high in the mix as you might normally expect. This pummelling viciousness is counterbalanced, though, by a degree of melodicism that gives it more memorability than an unrelenting blast-fest would and I am getting a decided Mgla vibe from a significant proportion of the material on offer. Vocals are provided by Norway's Ruben Haug who has been around the scene for many years and is a writer for the Heavymetal.no website. He does a damn good job too and has a ragged, barking scream that is aggressive, savage sounding and very much in your face.

We all know how far and wide the black metal umbrellaI spreads nowadays and it seems to widen every year as the genre always seems to be innovating, so I can almost feel a fair few black metal fans rolling their eyes and shrugging their shoulders at Taubra, but I have never hidden the fact that I am perfectly happy to listen to metal that isn't particularly original or groundbreaking as long as it is done well and provides some kind of buzz to my cynical soul and on that level "Therizo" hits the mark for me. It is powerful and aggressive-sounding, yet is still reasonably accessible and passes the test of getting this old dog nodding his head and pummelling imaginary kick drums in an ankle-strain-threatening flurry of flapping feet. What can I say, I love this sort of shit and I love metal that makes me feel alive as much as metal that makes me think, so a big thumbs up from me.

Something about Impelling Rebirth just doesn’t stick with me. I have listened to it on various days, in different moods, with varying levels of focus and even if I sit and do nothing other than listen to the blackened death metal tropes of Suffering Hour, minimising all other distractions, it just sort of passes me by. I can see that they do carry an “avant-garde” tag depending on where you look on the internet, which I wouldn’t necessarily agree with; it is a frenzied experience to listen to Impelling Rebirth, but that doesn’t make it “avant-garde”. The furious, dashing nature of the compositions are certainly a challenge to keep up with mind, and very few stick around to get close to the four-minute mark. Given this is an EP, that is expected I suppose.

When the band settles down into a rhythm, it works extraordinarily well. These moments on ‘Revelation of Mortality’ and ‘Inexorable Downfall’ are the standout moments in an otherwise frenetically infused affair. This combination of Bölzer, DSO and Gorguts is fine in a more isolated instance but here there is too short a space for them all to work together with any sense of unity. I do think that some bands have a style that does not suit shortened formats. This has not put me off Suffering Hour and I do intend to revisit them on a full-length offering in the future, but I just can’t get my head around this EP.

Perth trio Trilogy began life as Saracen way back in 1980, making them arguably the first Western Australian metal band. They were built around talented vocal, bass & synthesizer whiz Jon Ryder who was known as Australia's answer to Rush's Geddy Lee & Saracen's impressive technical skills quickly made them a major player in the Perth live scene. Things looked set to come crashing down when guitarist John Meyer decided to leave Saracen in order to join legendary Oz rock group Rose Tattoo in 1983 but the remaining duo would find the answer shortly afterwards in Black Alice axeman Jamie Page (Black Steel/Angus McDeth/Project X) whose Eddie Van Halen-influenced style would become a significant asset for the band. The change in personnel would trigger an adjusted moniker too with Saracen moving on to new horizons as Trilogy in 1984. After proving themselves in the live arena, the newly solidified unit would record their debut full-length "Life on Earth" at Bonsai Studios in Perth with producer Brett Lyons. It would go on to gain Trilogy the exposure that they were after, particularly oversees where the European audience appreciated the complexity & professionalism of Trilogy's mildly symphonic sound. The honeymoon period wouldn't last too long though as Paige would quit the band shortly afterwards in order to relocate to the UK, at which time Trilogy would experience a homecoming with former guitarist John Meyer & revert back to their original Saracen moniker for their second & final album.

When I first became involved with the Australian metal scene in the very late 1980's, I would often see Trilogy's name floating around. Older metalheads would also mention them in conversation but, for one reason or another, I didn't find myself checking them out until earlier this decade. I was reasonably impressed with what I heard too & I can certainly understand why the trio would have been a fairly big deal in their hometown of Perth. Despite being released independently, "Life on Earth" is a classy record in many respects & you can easily hear that Trilogy had already paid their dues by cutting their chops in the live scene. These guys all really knew what they were doing with their chosen instruments but also understood song-writing concepts too. In saying that though, "Life on Earth" does hint at a band that were still finding themselves stylistically as there are three very clear points of influence to be found across the ten tracks on offer. The first is the obvious Rush comparison with Ryder very clearly being inspired by Geddy Lee. Ryder's impeccable bass chops & higher-register vocal tone sound dominate the listener's focus & it's kinda hard to understand how someone can reach this level without reaching greater heights in terms of commercial success. The second influence is that of NWOBHM giants Iron Maiden with the galloping basslines, melodic guitar/keyboard harmonies & up-tempo energy of the more metallic material drawing clear comparisons. And the third source of inspiration was clearly drawn from US hard rock mega-group Van Halen with Paige's guitar solos displaying an unquestionable devotion to Eddie Van Halen who was also my greatest guitar idol during my formative years.

The tracklisting has its ups & downs but generally settles at a pretty decent average. One of the highlights comes from flashy instrumental "The Hammer" which is built around concepts drawn from Van Halen's turbo-charged "Hot for Teacher". My personal favourite is the Maiden-esque heavy metal banger "Pariah" though as it presents Trilogy as very fine & undeniably classy metal act. Things didn't go so well on the fairly flat heavy rocker "Playing With Your Life" or the overly cheesy AOR power ballad "Holding You Close" though so you've kinda gotta take the good with the bad. I don't think Ryder's vocal delivery was ever going to allow Trilogy to feel like a red-blooded metal band so they tend to dance between heavy metal & hard rock a lot of the time. The symphonics aren't overdone which I appreciate but they do seem to have fooled a lot of the world into believing that Trilogy were a fully-fledged progressive metal band which isn't the case, despite the inclusion of a couple of more progressive rock numbers in "Holding You Close" & "Wasting Time".

Overall, it's hard to complain too much about "Life on Earth" as it would appear to have fulfilled Trilogy's intentions nicely. 80% of the album is well worth listening to & I'm actually a little surprised that they didn't go on to bigger & better things to be honest. It's been a while since I've checked out their subsequent release in 1986's "Next in Line" but it's on my radar for the next few months so I'll be interested to see how it compares. As it stands though, "Life on Earth" is unlikely to disappoint too many of our The Guardians members but I don't think it'll become compulsory listening for many either.

For fans of Rush, Saracen (AUS) & Surrender.

This is not my first venture with Rheia. Whilst I do not recall managing to get through the whole album upon previous attempts, the completion of it this time around has not managed to alter my general sense of being underwhelmed, even by the experience in its entirety this time. Whilst there is more than one reason for this, ultimately, blackgaze is just not my thing. Post-metal, which is the other dominant style on this record, is normally accompanied by sludge whenever it is rotating through my listening patterns, and here where that more extreme blend is absent from the mixture, this album ends up just too clean for my tastes.

Back in 2011 on their debut album, Oathbreaker presented as a metalcore outfit. Listening to that record recently, the trilly tremolos and stabbing Wiegedood-esque melodies were present back then and it is good to hear that is retained through onto their third album. However, all the galloping fury of their earlier sound has been well and truly neutered on Rheia. Those previously scathing vocals from Caro Tangle are now replaced by a clean and ethereal offering, which if I am honest, soon gets old. Great though her voice is, the vocals lack variety and so when the same effects, structures and tempos are constantly in use my focus is soon suffering.

Rheia maybe one of the safest records I have ever heard. Considering the calibre of the artists involved (Wiegedood, for example), I was expecting a much darker offering, yet it is an album that lacks passion despite a level of artistry that is professional and tight. There is no clear expression going on across the album with a pervading sense of one dimension only being explored and overall, this a drab affair to my ears. I listened also recently to the band’s sophomore effort, Eros Anteros and there are hints of a move away from that metalcore sound prevalent there, yet the change on Rheia is just too much for me. Of course, it is perfectly within their rights as artists to change direction and sound, but Oathbreaker aren’t for me moving forwards.