Daniel's Reviews

Los Angeles speed metallers Abattoir are one of those bands that most old-school metalheads are probably aware of but few have actually heard & I fitted into that category pretty comfortably until this week when I decided to investigate their 1985 debut album “Vicious Attack” as a part of my speed metal deep dive. I’d suggest that the cover art likely hasn’t helped that situation as it displays a particularly dodgy image that comes across as kinda creepy by today’s standards but it wasn’t anything all that unusual at the time with bands like Scorpions doing their level best to push the threshold of what was considered to be acceptable by the morality police.

Abattoir had surprisingly been around for a full seven years by the time this record was released & I’d imagine that their style had changed significantly in that time as the sound “Vicious Attack” is pushing is heavily influenced by releases that came a little after the late 1970’s. If speed metal is essentially the mid-point between heavy metal & thrash metal then Abattoir have done a very good job at nailing down the concept with seven of the eight tracks included fitting the bill nicely. The slower “The Living & The Dead” is probably the only inclusion in the tracklisting that sees them veering towards the more controlled tempos of your traditional heavy metal model but it’s positioning right in the middle of the album sees it serving to break things up a bit by giving the listener a moment of respite from the relentless energy the rest of the material unceremoniously shoves down your throat.

In many regards “Vicious Attack” is the sum of three major influences. For starters you have the early 80’s Motorhead sound being replicated as accurately as I’ve ever heard it with Abattoir even opting for a very decent cover version of the title track from “Ace Of Spades” which may just be the album highlight. Then you have a clear Dianno-period Iron Maiden influence with front man Steve Gaines’ voice showcasing a distinct similarity to Paul's & the use of guitar harmonies & galloping rhythms providing further homage to the greatest NWOBHM band of all. And finally (& to a slightly lesser extent) you'll likely pick up on the impact of Metallica’s 1983 debut album “Kill ‘Em All” with particular reference being made to the more speed metal focused numbers like “Hit The Lights”, “Motorbreath” & “Phantom Lord”. Gaines also touches on James Hetfield’s early vocal approach in his angrier moments too. Now those are some pretty big names, aren’t they? And to their credit Abattoir do a pretty good job of presenting those influences in a way that summarizes the various elements without crossing the line into pure plagiarism all that often (well… I do have to admit that some of the Motorhead worship is pretty damn obvious).

The production job is particularly rough & ready, even for a mid-80’s speed metal record. I’d be very surprised if this wasn’t intentional & a play at creating a similar vibe to Lemmy & his cohorts. It works for the most part too & I find myself losing myself in the reckless abandon of a band that sounds like they’re in the prime of their youth & without a care in the world. The limiter here is really that there’s not a lot of substance beneath the surface. There's no doubt that Abattoir create some outrageously fun metal music that will inevitably get any drunken teenage party rocking but I wouldn’t say that there’s a lot of depth to their music which is not something you could about some of their influences (like Iron Maiden for example). The short 28 minute run time certainly helps as “Vicious Attack” doesn’t come close to overstaying its welcome but when all is said & done I can’t say that feel like I want to return to the album all that much even though it's unquestionably an enjoyable experience. Perhaps that’s a problem for speed metal in general as the fundamental premise of the music certainly leaves itself open to those sort of feelings but I do tend to think there’s scope for a more significant creative statement within the genre.

At the end of the day though, I’d suggest that its best not to over-think things when it comes to a more than decent underground speed metal record like Abattoir have produced here. Instead, I’d recommend chugging a beer, ripping your shirt off & banging your head till your brain feels like mush because the overall winner will almost always be metal. Abattoir know that well & so does your mum which is why she tried to encourage you to stay away from inherently naughty music like Abattoir have produced here. It’s the work of Satan, you see.

For fans of Exciter, Agent Steel & Warrant (GER).

The reputation of Cleveland-based solo artist Midnight certainly precedes him. He’s developed somewhat of a cult following in underground metal circles over the years with a level of mystery surrounding him at all times. A part of his appeal certainly lies within his attachment of a Satanic image to a more accessible speed/heavy metal sound but if anything that idea has probably seen me shying away from his releases to be honest. Now I find myself presented with the challenge of reviewing his latest opus in the brand new “Let There Be Witchery” album though & I have to say that I feel up to the task.

I can’t say that I was all that surprised by what I heard upon first listen to tell you the truth because the Venom & Motörhead comparisons are right on the money from a stylistic point of view. There’s a truckload of punk & hard rock about Midnight’s sound & (as with Motörhead) much of this material teeters on the edge of not being metal at all if you wanna get technical about it. I mean the guitar solos are bluesy as fuck & the strummy open-string chords that make up many of the songs don’t have much of a relation to Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden but there’s something about the atmosphere that Midnight creates that ties it all back to our beloved metal with Athenar’s gruff vocals almost commanding it in a similar way to Cronos’ or Lemmy’s. They’re not blackened by any means but they do seem to come from the same sort of heritage, only in a third generation capacity if you know what I mean.

The appeal in Midnight’s sound really comes in the song-writing & execution though with all of these songs possessing plenty of space & some very solid hooks that dig their teeth in nicely without requiring too much effort. The song-structures are very simple & traditional which gives them a level of familiarity but the bright, crystal clear production job sees them growing another limb. “WTF!?” I hear you say? “That’s hardly in line with Venom or Motorhead’s model now, is it?” Damn right it’s not but it really seems to work for Midnight here & I struggle not tap my foot along to track after track of this infectiously fun little speed/heavy metal record.

Midnight may not sit anywhere near my musical comfort zone but perhaps that’s part of their appeal because they do make for a very enjoyable holiday from the seriousness of modern metal. There’s a freshness to their sound that sees them carving out their own niche even though they certainly harness the bands I’ve already mentioned & this sees Midnight commanding a positive response from an audience that will do very well not to comply.

For fans of Motörhead, Speedwolf & Venom.

It’s hard to believe that German stalwarts Rage have released 25 full-length albums in their recording career to date & that many of them have been quite popular yet a diehard metalhead like myself who likes to pride himself on his overarching knowledge of the scene has still yet to experience even a single one of these albums in full after something like 38 years of obsessive metal indulgence but that appears to be the situation here. I was certainly aware of what Rage sound like as I was exposed to bits & pieces of albums like 1990’s “Reflections Of A Shadow” on underground metal radio programs back in my formative years but I have to admit that they never quite seemed like something that’d interest me & it would seem that my suspicions may have been on the money based on the evidence at hand after visitng their 1986 debut album “Reign of Fear” over the last couple of days.

“Reign Of Fear” sees Rage beginning life as a more than decent metal band with a couple of different strings to their bow. In one corner you have the clear influence of the thrash metal which was obviously achieving world domination at the time, most of which would present itself in the form of a simpler meat-&-potatoes brand of speed metal with the crudely performed vocals of front man Peter “Peavy” Wagner giving Rage a distinctly German sound. Then you have the Judas Priest worshipping heavy metal that was so pivotal in molding the local scene through bands like Grave Digger, Running Wild & Avenger. The tracklisting tends to hop between the two styles with consistent regularity but I wouldn’t say that it causes the experience to come across as random or unfocused. It seems kinda natural for Rage to be honest & the band performs their jobs admirably for the most part, proving themselves to have a decent understanding of the tools required to make an enjoyable metal record. Unfortunately no one told poor Peavy though as his performance behind the microphone leaves much to be desired. Staying in key was a big problem for Wagner at the time & he ends up making a real meal of things but is probably not helped by some dodgy song-writing at times too.

In fairness “Reign of Fear” starts off really well with the first couple of tracks leaving me feeling very positive about its prospects. I found the second song “Deceiver” to be particularly appealing & regard it as the album highlight but things descend very quickly after that & I’m not sure that any of the remaining seven tracks offer much of interest with the awful “Chaste Flesh” being a clear low point for the album. I’m not sure if it’s just a taste thing but I definitely enjoyed the slower & more traditional heavy metal tracks a lot less than most of the thrashier material. Speed metal anthem “Hand of Glory” even hints at the early German power metal sound which isn’t really my bag either it has to be said but look… I don’t think it’s a genre thing. It’s definitely a quality issue as the speed metal material enjoys a stronger allocation of the run time & I’m always open to well written, executed & produced heavy metal. This stuff just sounds a bit second-rate, kinda like the first couple of Running Wild albums.

1986 was a huge year for the thrashier end of metal & Rage had a big opportunity to capitalize on that buzz if they could get it right, especially given the timing of this release. Sadly, I feel that they missed the bus a bit & that’s perhaps why I’ve not ended up giving them a crack before now.

For fans of early Running Wild/Helloween & 80’s Blind Guardian.

I hadn’t heard much of Portland-based trio Bewitcher before checking this 2019 sophomore album out as a part of my speed metal deep dive but they’ve got a little bit to offer to tell you the truth. Their sound isn’t anything new by any means as Venom, Motorhead & Bathory’s debut album pretty much summed this style up in the early 1980’s but the production & execution are excellent which gives the song-writing every opportunity to dig its teeth in.

There’s an obvious blackened component to front man Matteo Von Bewitcher’s grim vocal delivery that might never challenge the likes of Quorthon for raw evil but certainly gives Bewitcher an extra layer of street credibility. In fact, tracks like opening blackened speed metal anthem “Savage Lands of Satan” & black ‘n’ roll banger “In The Sign Of The Goat” even push out into extreme metal territory but Bewitcher’s music isn’t to be taken too seriously. It’s purely made up of fun-loving, beer-drinking party-time tunes for long-haired scallywags who are looking for a good time with the mates their parents told them not to associate with. It’s certainly a speed metal release but it’s one that keeps one foot in the rock ‘n’ roll camp while doubling down on the Satanism at the same time. Although it was never intended to change anyone’s lives, you can’t help but buy into the energy that Bewitcher possess in their composition & performances.

For fans of Hellripper, Bat & Bütcher.

I’ve always loved Los Angeles’ speed metal outfit Agent Steel’s 1985 debut album “Skeptics Apocalypse” & it’s been firmly entrenched as one of my favourite speed metal records for many years now so it’s high time I investigated some of the band’s later material, isn’t it? Their 1987 sophomore effort “Unstoppable Force” seemed to be the logical place to start as it’s almost as highly regarded by their fan base & would apparently maintain the speed metal sound of the debut. Let’s see how it fairs in comparison then, shall we?

The production job on “Unstoppable Force” leaves a fair bit to be desired as it’s very raw & quite tinny. This isn’t anything all that unusual for the time however I’m not sure it’s an ideal fit for Agent Steel whose sound is a little more polished than that. The music is certainly very thrashy however & I maintain my position that Agent Steel offer just as much legitimate thrash metal as they do speed metal. It’s just that they also include a few tracks that sit firmly in the classic heavy metal camp so the speed metal tag makes for a happy medium.

There’s a lovely energy to most of the nine tracks on offer with the A side being packed with most of the more aggressive material. The B side is where you’ll see the band slowing things down & adding a bit more melody on a few tracks but I do have to say that I prefer the more up-tempo Agent Steel material over the more traditional heavy metal numbers like “Still Searchin” & “Nothin’ Left” which I find to be a little flat in comparison. In saying that though, closing ballad “Traveler” ends up being one of the album highlights for me along with the thrash-tastic opening title track.

The most notable element of the album though is clearly the vocal contribution of front man John Cyriis whose performance was always going to be polarizing. He displays an over the top theatricality that certainly won’t be for everyone & has bitten off a bit more than he can chew here in my opinion. It's a bit of a shame that John often comes across like a late-night cat fight in the back alley with his pitchy high-pitched squeals & air-raid siren style dive bombs. Thankfully though the instrumental component of the album is excellent with loads of quality riffs & some wonderfully shredding lead solos.

Overall, “Unstoppable Force” makes for an acceptable follow-up to “Skeptics Apocalypse”, if not one that offers the same level of appeal. The production job probably doesn’t help but it’s not really a deterrent either as I’m pretty used to that sort of thing after all these years of indulging in underground metal. If only the producer & his fellow band mates would just have pulled Cyriis into line a bit & told him to tone down the theatrics then we might have had a much stronger product on our hands. As it is though we get a reasonably enjoyable speed metal record that’s unlikely to hit too many best-of lists.

For fans of Helstar, Exciter & Ranger.

Belgian trio Arkangel seem to have built up a fairly strong reputation in the underground metalcore scene over the years with all of their releases being held in quite high regard by those in the know. I recently realised that I hadn’t actually checked them out before & found the links to thrash & death metal to be quite the drawcard. Their most critically acclaimed debut E.P. seemed to be a good starting point given its short run time so I thought I’d start there with this month’s The Revolution feature release seeming like the perfect opportunity for us all to explore 1998’s “Prayers Upon Deaf Ears” together.

My first impressions of Arkangel weren’t great it has to be said. The production job on “Prayers Upon Deaf Ears” is subpar at best with the levels being all over the place, a fairly ordinary snare sound & the vocals blaring over the top at obscene volumes. The level of musicianship isn’t real flash either to be honest & this leaves the band sounding a bit unprofessional to tell you the truth. Some of the six tracks simply don’t gel with the vocals sounding like they could be screaming over a completely different song to the one their band mates are trying to produce. I think the production probably accentuates that effect further too. The vocals are admittedly quite aggressive & are one of Arkangel’s strengths but I can’t find seem to find myself getting all that excited about them which tells me that they’re being done an injustice by their accompaniments.

Arkangel’s sound is pretty vicious for the late 90’s & is strongly influenced by extreme metal. The guitar tone is very much in line with US thrash/groove metal outfit Exhorder & some of the riffs remind me of them too actually. You can also expect some pretty blatant Slayer worship going on at times while some of the tremolo-picked single notes riffs seem to have been plucked straight out of the early Entombed playbook. That all sounds great on paper & I would have thought it would have amounted to an enjoyable release for me but it wasn’t to be with the last few tracks seeing my hopes being further dashed & leading into one of those awfully meaningless hidden tracks after a pause of about a minute.

I imagine that releases like “Prayers Upon Deaf Ears” build their reputations on pure vitriol but I need a bit more quality to keep me interested so I can’t help but feel that it’s an overrated record. The technical deficiencies are too blaringly obvious & the overall package seems more like a demo than a proper release.

For fans All Out War, Day Of Suffering & xRepentancex.

I hadn’t encountered Denver-based progressive metal outfit Dreadnought before but I’m very glad I’ve rectified that omission now because their brand new fifth album “The Endless” is one of the best releases I’ve heard in 2022. Dreadnought’s sound sees them combine a progressive take on metal with the tribal drumming & atmospherics of post-metal to wonderful effect & is further highlighted by the angelic female vocals of band leader Kelly Schilling. You can expect to see the band occasionally heading into black metal & some more avant-garde territory at times but Dreadnought are definitely at their best when their attention is focused purely on creating emotionally-charged & deeply moving atmospheres that bring to mind some of Anathema’s mid-to-latter period releases. The 3rd & the Mortal also springs to mind quite often, particularly given the vocal approach & progressive leanings.

On the negative, I have to admit that the first two of the six tracks included here are comfortably the weakest even if they’re still pretty engaging. But my goodness I was in for a surprise after that with three of the remaining four pieces being nothing short of mind-blowing. There’s a transcendental elegance to Dreadnought’s music that appeals to me on the deepest emotional level when they get it right & I can’t imagine how this release isn’t being held in much higher regard. I suspect it’s due to the lack of patience from the modern audience as you really do have to give this album a chance to open up, particularly given the unfortunate way they’ve programmed the tracklisting which I presume was to include some of the more extreme black metal stuff at the start of the album to get people’s attention.

Dreadnought are the perfect example of what the modern metal scene has to offer. They’re fresh & ambitious & have a rare talent for connecting with their audience on an emotional level that allows them to be transported to wonderfully lush & drastically foreign places. They’ve been a real find for me this month & I want to commend Saxy on his feature release nomination because this is what Metal Academy is all about i.e. identifying high quality & interesting releases that offer great appeal but that you’d likely never encounter otherwise.

For fans of Obsidian Kingdom, Kontinuum & Solstafir.

It’s interesting that I’ve never heard a full Liege Lord record before now. I’ve certainly been aware of their highly regarded trio of 80’s albums for many years but they were hardly a household name back in my formative years & I’ve not found myself being tempted previously. I did however quite like the title track from their classic 1988 “Master Control” album when I investigated it for inclusion in the monthly The Guardians playlist a couple of years ago & have subsequently intended on giving it a decent chance ever since. What better time than now I guess!

“Master Control” kicks off in fairly hectic fashion by placing its cards down on the table right from the get-go. Although there’s a significant amount of speed metal included throughout the tracklisting & I agree with that genre being awarded a dual role, the US power metal tag is the most accurate label for this record given the chunky guitar tone, the up-tempo feel of a lot of the material & the operatic higher-register vocal performance of Joe Comeau. You can expect to identify hints at heavy metal & genuine thrash popping up here & there but neither are consistent enough to command further representation.

Comeau is a dead-ringer for Iron Maiden/Samson front man Bruce Dickinson. In fact, his likeness is really pretty uncanny & it’s very clear that he’s worshipped at the Maiden altar for many a year. He does sound a touch like Overkill front man Bobby Ellsworth’s more Maiden-inspired mid-80’s moments sometimes too though, particularly in his phrasing when the music gets a little more thrashy. The production is a touch inconsistent from track to track but the performances are very precise & the execution is pure class with the fantastic guitar solos being an obvious highlight.

The A side is very consistent indeed with no weaker tracks but the B side is a little more hit & miss. Both of my album highlights come in the second half of the album though in the Judas Priest inspired heavy metal anthem “Feel The Blade” & the thrashier US power metal of “Rapture”. Unfortunately these strengths are offset by a couple of duds in “Broken Wasteland” & “Suspicion” which tend to even out my feelings a bit after cancelling out the good impression left by those two highlight tracks. The lack of a couple of truly elite level pieces definitely places a cap on the appeal that “Master Control” has the power to muster but this isn’t a bad US power metal record. It’s just not really the classic that it’s so often made out to be these days in my opinion.

For fans of Helstar, Savage Grace & Agent Steel.

I didn’t become aware of Dutch black metallers Cirith Gorgor until they’d already released four full-length albums & they’d surprisingly been learning their craft for a good sixteen years by that point. My initial experience came at the hands of this debut album “Onwards To The Spectral Defile” which I remember quite enjoying but apparently not enough to warrant return visits or focused analysis. I’d also touch on Cirith Gorgor’s “Unveiling The Essence” sophomore record from a couple of years later with a similar outcome if my memory serves me correctly however I can’t recall hearing anything the band have done since 2001 & I'm a little hazy on the band in general so it’s probably a good time to refresh things by unpacking this month’s The North clan feature release.

“Onward To The Spectral Defile” is very much a meat-&-potatoes style of black metal record. It doesn’t ever attempt to reinvent the wheel, instead looking to harness some fairly basic & traditional black metal building blocks in as savage a fashion as they can produce. The clear focus of the Cirith Gorgor sound is in the blast-beat driven brutality of bands like Marduk, Dark Funeral & Immortal however they try their best to hide the fact that they’re a bit of a one-trick pony by tossing in some melodic content over the top. In fact, all of the eight black metal tracks included veer off the path of abrasive blasting at some stage with the occasional thrash metal or folk/Viking metal influence popping up here or there along the way. Being a life-long devotee of the more brutal end of extreme metal, I do find significant attraction to the more relentless & abrasive part of the Cirith Gorgor package but I also see the need to break things up by providing a little bit of variety as they’re not as talented at creating atmosphere as the bigger names in that field so they’re always at risk of suffering from a lack of substance even though they can certainly play as fast & brutal as the competition Unfortunately though, the more melodic & thrashy content is vastly inferior to their aggressive stuff & the band even sound a bit messy when they slow things down with their timing not always hitting the mark when they’ve got a little more room to work with. So I guess I find myself at a bit of a contradiction in that “Onwards To the Spectral Defile” clearly needs it’s melodic component but at the same time I also wish it wasn’t there a lot of the time.

The album is very well produced for this style of black metal as you can hear everything very clearly. Nimroth’s shrieking black metal vocals are suitably snarly & sinister & are one of the highlights of the record, even if he doesn’t offer much in the way of variety. I have to say that the guitar solos fall well short of the mark though & add nothing at all to the overall package. They’re simply far too basic & lacking in polish, ambition & accomplishment. Thankfully I can always rely on Cirith Gorgor to return with a light-speed blast-beat session to batter those negative thoughts right out of my brain & that thought pretty much sums up this album for me really. It’s not perfect as it has a few obvious flaws but I can’t resist the relentless savagery that permeates much of the tracklisting & that component alone is able to compensate for the poorer material like the ill-fated thrash metal section in “Sons of the New Dawn” or the flat closing piano interlude “Thorns of Oblivion”. “Onwards To The Spectral Defile” won’t change too many lives but it will certainly give some a bit of casual entertainment when they’re in the mood for a brutal (yet still somewhat melodic) battering.

For fans of Enthroned, Gorgoroth & Sargeist.

Denmark’s favourite Satanic falsetto master King Diamond & his legendary band Mercyful Fate were somewhat of an acquired taste for me over the years. Initially I really struggled with his over the top vocal theatrics however time & attention would see me slowly being converted & these days I quite enjoy the King’s bombastic pomp. Interestingly though, I tend to lean towards his solo work over the more highly praised Mercyful Fate work with albums like 1987’s “Abigail” & 1989’s “Conspiracy” sitting at the top of his back catalogue for me personally, largely contributed to by the wonderful guitar work of Swedish virtuoso & future-Death axeman Andy LaRocque. It’s a little unusual then that I don’t recall ever properly investigating anything the King has done since the 1980’s which leaves a couple of blaringly obvious gaps in my metal armory. 1990’s fifth solo album “The Eye” is probably the most significant of those releases so let’s see what it’s all about.

You certainly won’t be terribly surprised by what you hear on “The Eye” if you’ve got any sort of experience with the King’s earlier solo work as it possesses all of his famous calling cards. It’s yet another concept album that's unapologetically metal & pulls out all the stops to create that spooky horror movie atmosphere that he's so obviously obsessed with. The neoclassical element is still there although it’s probably not used quite as often as on some of the King’s work while there’s plenty of church organ included to enhance the gothic feel. The only real point of difference with “The Eye” over his earlier works is the increased progressive component as there's been a stronger focus placed on artistic creativity here in my opinion. In fact, I’d argue that “The Eye” is easily as much of a progressive metal record as it is a heavy metal one. I mean it’s comfortably as progressive as the more popular Queensryche records for example, perhaps more so.

So all of the pieces are in place for another exceedingly fun trip round a moonlit graveyard but there’s something missing versus the King’s best work in my opinion. There’s no questioning the ambition on display & the performances of the instrumentalists are all of a very high quality but I think the song-writing suffers a little bit at the hands of the storyline which is not an uncommon feeling for me when it comes to concept albums. I guess I just don’t think there are as many vocal hooks of that elite level here & it certainly doesn’t help that I find the closing track “The Curse” to be pretty flat & the weakest inclusion in the tracklisting. I’d also hazard to suggest that LaRocque’s contribution is a little less of a drawcard than usual as he seems to have gone for a more melodic approach rather than the ridiculously shredding style he’d championed in the late 1980’s. In saying that though, future Memento Mori, Mercyful Fate & Denner/Shermann drummer Snowy Shaw puts in a classy display that gives the more ambitious material a rock-solid basis to build off.

After giving “The Eye” a few good listens over the last couple of days I’m left with the impression that it’s a pretty decent King Diamond record that’s benefited greatly from the added interest associated with the more progressive approach. It’s brought me a reasonable amount of enjoyment but I can’t say that I regard it as essential listening for your average heavy metal junkie. It’s certainly worth a few listens but I don’t think it’s on the same level as records like “Abigail” or “Conspiracy”, or the first couple of Mercyful Fate releases for that matter. Perhaps I’m just not a big enough KD junkie as I actually don’t consider it to be all that far behind “Don’t Break The Oath” or “Them” in all honesty & would probably take it over the highly regarded Mercyful Fate comeback album “In The Shadows”.

For fans of Mercyful Fate, Attic & Portrait.

My knowledge of Japanese five-piece Coldrain was fairly restricted prior to giving their brand new seventh album “Nonnegative” its first spin. I’d seen the name around the traps since the mid-2010’s but had never taken the plunge to explore what they had to offer which is mainly due to the circles that they seem to reside in. The idea of the alt-metalcore sound is often more of a deterrent than it is an attraction for me but there are certainly examples that have surprised me over the years. In saying that, I wasn’t even aware that Coldrain had a new album out until Andi put it forward for the monthly The Gateway feature release but I like to keep an open mind no matter what style or subgenre I’m listening to so I went in with my ears open & keen to be surprised. It's fair to say that surprised I was from the first few seconds of “Nonnegative” too.

You see, the sound that Coldrain are pushing here is amongst the most pop driven I’ve experienced in metal music to date. The characteristics of metal music are all there & I never found myself questioning the band’s credentials for inclusion at Metal Academy but if I'm being honest I have to admit that my first couple of listens were spent battling with my own internal prejudices. We get bubblegum pop hooks galore here & literally every song could be a single or a stadium anthem. Honestly, I wouldn’t even blink if I saw Kelly Clarkson singing one of these song on a Sunday morning talk-show. I particularly struggled with the gang-style backing vocals early on but the production is suitably big & glossy & there could be no denying the quality of the vocal harmonies employed by front man Masato whose delivery reminds me very much of Chester Bennington from Linkin Park.

It’s interesting that “Nonnegative” seems to be tagged as both Alternative Metal & Metalcore because the latter of the two tags is inaccurate in my opinion. There are certainly metalcore influences across a lot of the tracklisting but the majority of the material sits miles further over to the Alternative Metal side of the equation. There is a clear punk component but the thing is that it’s a gross injustice to say that an album like this one has anything to do with hardcore punk as it honestly couldn’t get further away from that scene. The punk influence is much more focused on pop punk bands like Blink 182 & there’s absolutely no connection to the likes of Converge or Knocked Loose. I think the fairest outcome is to say that it’s an Alternative Metal release with Melodic Metalcore influences as the sporadic use of metalcore vocals & breakdowns needs to be highlighted somewhere, just not in the primary genre-tagging.

In saying all that though, it’s interesting that I actually find the more metalcore focused moments to be the album’s weakest points. They simply sound so generic & immature. Although the pop hooks are particularly cheesy, there can be no doubt that they’re well done & that repeat listens see them digging their teeth in on the stronger material. For example, my first couple of listens saw me labelling the ballad “Boys & Girls” as the clear low point of the album but by listen four I’d turned that opinion all the way around to it now being the highlight of the album. The guitar solos are really well executed too but at the end of the day I find myself thinking that “Nonnegative” is a pop metal release that’s not really intended for a metal audience. It’s got much stronger ties with commercial radio & a teenage market that craves the simple vocal hooks of the pop charts. I mean there's even a No Doubt cover version included here for fuck's sake & it's not half bad to tell you the truth. Time will tell whether Coldrain ever achieve the commercial success that they are so clearly targeting but in the meantime I think my time with them might be done because, even though there are no complete abortions on offer, I only really enjoyed about 40% of this album with the rest taking me a little too far outside of my musical comfort zone.

For fans of Linkin Park, I Prevail & Wovenwar.

P.S. What the fuck is with the ridiculously cheap cover "art"?? If you're gonna create something this commercially marketable then surely it would be better served by a glossy & attractive cover to draw people in, wouldn't it?

I first discovered Massachusetts-based stoner metal trio Elder while programming the monthly The Fallen playlists a couple of years ago & was invariably impressed by what I heard. They sounded like a very capable & professional outfit that knew their way around their instruments & had a very well-defined sound. I subsequently investigated their 2012 “Spires Burn/Release” E.P. in order to get a better idea of what they’re all about & found it to be a very solid release indeed. 2017’s “Reflections of a Floating World” would follow shortly afterwards & would leave a similar impression so I quickly found myself claiming myself as a fan of the band. And this leads me to this month’s The Fallen feature release in Elder’s 2011 sophomore album “Dead Roots Stirring” which I selfishly selected in order to further expand my knowledge of Elder’s back catalogue.

“Dead Roots Stirring” is a 51 minute excursion across five lengthy tracks that all offer something a little different from each other while always maintain a clear direction & focus. Unlike “Spires Burn/Release” which sat roughly at the mid-point between stoner metal & stoner rock, this record sees Elder staying firmly on the stoner rock side of the equation &, despite what you may read elsewhere, there’s really very little metal to be found here. There’s simply far too much blues in both the tone & structure of the five songs included & I’d suggest that the band’s influences come mainly from late 60’s/early 70’s blues rock bands like Cream more than they do metal bands like Black Sabbath. Don’t take that as any sort of negative though because this music still has plenty in the tank in the way of classy rock music. The production job is well-executed & gives Elder an authentic 60’s/70’s vibe that also plays a major part in steering the album away from metal. It’s got that lovely fuzzy sound with a dirty distortion on the guitars that feeds very nicely into the more psychedelic moments which are a real highlight of the record. The bass tone is full & powerful which does a great job at selling the doomier moments where the band finally click into overdrive. You won’t find much in the way of the more ambitious progressive rock sounds that can be found on “Reflections of a Floating World” here as yet but that’s not to say that this is simple music with the song structures still being quite expansive & building over time with twelve minute closer “Knot” being a prime example given that it doesn’t really show you its full hand until the last third of the song.

The best material tends to come at the start of the tracklisting with opener “Gemini” (my album highlight) & the lengthy title track being my personal favourites but there isn’t a lot of variation in quality between the various songs with only fourth track “The End” seeing things dipping just a touch. In saying that though, I’m not sure this style of music will ever command my higher scores unless it heads into psychedelic territory more often than Elder do here. Front man Nick DiSalvo has a great voice for this style of music & he does hint at some really great vocal hooks that may have the potential to take things higher up into the stratosphere but it never quite eventuates & the album is much more focused on lengthy instrumental passages anyway. This isn’t intended as a major criticism though as I’ve found it hard to fault Elder on ANY of the three releases I’ve checked out to date. They’re a class act who understand their craft really well & are very unlikely to dish up something subpar.

If you’re a fan of stoner rock then you’ll definitely want to check out “Dead Roots Stirring”. I’d suggest that it’s probably the weaker of the three Elder releases mentioned above with the progressive stoner rock sounds of “Reflections of a Floating World” remaining my personal favourite but don't take that as a negative comment because it’s still a great record that’s provided me with further encouragement to continue investigating this talented artist’s back catalogue.

For fans of Om, Stoned Jesus & Acid King.

My brother Ben can always be relied upon for quality feature releases & this brand new third album from Chilean death metallers Inanna is no exception as the band clearly possess a strong pedigree in all forms of deathly delights. “Void of Unending Depths” sees them tackling a number of different extreme metal subgenres & proving themselves to be proficient in all of them in the process. It’s quite a lengthy record for this style of music at nearly an hour in duration & I feel that it does overstay its welcome a touch but you can’t deny the quality that’s on offer.

The album begins in a very different way to what it finishes & opens with the strongest track on the tracklisting in dissonant death metal monster “Evolutionary Inversion” before “Among Subaqueous Spectres” sees them dipping their feet into more of a death/thrash sound which reminds me of US death metallers Serpens Aeon’s thrashier moments. The dissonant take on the classic death metal sound returns for “Far Away In Other Spheres” before the record starts to take a turn into increasingly more progressive territory for the remaining four tracks, the B side taking very much a progressive death metal direction in its entirety. I have to admit that the thrashier drumming doesn’t appeal to me as much as the darker death metal stuff & I think Inanna are probably at their best when they get their dissonant pants on.

The production job is very well suited to this style of music & does a good job at highlighting the dark atmosphere while the performances of the four instrumentalists are all high class. I particularly enjoy the use of blast beats but the highlights of the album tend to come through the sporadic incorporation of ethereal lead guitar melodies that remind me very much of Paradise Lost. It’s easy to pick up the influence of classic death metal bands like Immolation & Morbid Angel in the first half of the album while the commitment to progressive song structures & stylistic diversity is similar to that taken by South American counterparts The Chasm. Interestingly, I find the atmospheric interludes included in a few of the tracks to be inspired by Iron Maiden as much as anyone else (particularly the eerie mid-section of their classic “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”) but the last few tracks see the instrumentalists casting their creative inhibitions aside & tackling some highly technical riff structures. Front man Max Neira is an absolute beast with his super-deep yet still easily decipherable death growls providing another highlight for Inanna but unfortunately I find the higher pitched screams to sound a little immature in comparison.

“Void of Unending Depths” is a splendid example of the modern death metal sound & is very hard to fault. If anything, I’d suggest that Inanna may just be lacking a bit of focus as the record jumps around quite a bit & I tend to think that perhaps their next album might be the true culmination of their creative development once they firm up exactly what it is they’re trying to achieve. Regardless, there aren’t a lot of releases that can match Inanna for death metal integrity these days & I doubt there will be too many extreme metal fans out there that can’t get onboard with it.

For fans of The Chasm, Serpens Aeon & Morbid Angel.

I came into Birmingham industrial metal godfathers Godflesh’s 2001 sixth album “Hymns” very late when you consider that I’d been a huge fan of the band since around 1989/90. My decade-long hiatus from metal during the 2000’s saw me completely avoiding it until a good year after my return which meant that it had already been out & about for a good nine years by the time I reviewed it in 2010. I have to say that I wasn’t blown away by it either it has to be said. That’s not to say that I thought it was a bad record or anything but I had such high expectations of Justin Broadrick’s projects by that stage & I just found “Hymns” to be a little bit lacking by comparison. It’s been a full twelve years since that review now though so I’ll be coming in with fresh ears & it’ll be interesting to see if my feelings have changed over time.

Godflesh has always possessed a very unique sound that had stayed with them throughout their career even though they’d usually experiment with it in different ways on each release & that trend continues with “Hymns”. 1999’s hip hop inspired “Us & Them” album was probably the record where they’d taken the most risks across their back-catalogue to the time so I was kind of expecting them to expand on that further but “Hymns” sees them bringing things back to a more organic & stripped back sound that relies more heavily on the guitars than the beats which are kept a little further back in the mix. Despite the guitars & bass being so far forward, I feel that this lack of power in the drums makes “Hymns” sound a touch less heavy & places a stronger reliance on the riffs which may or may not be a good thing depending on your taste. You’ll also find that Justin & co. have incorporated alternative & nu metal influences into their sound to an extent which is obvious enough to give the album its own identity but not significant enough to overshadow the industrial metal platform that the band had built their careers on. I mean this fucker still sounds like it could be made up of sounds from a factory but the workers are probably playing alternative radio in the workshop if you know what I mean. Those of you that are familiar with the alternative scene will likely pick up on moments that sound distinctly like Korn, Primus, Soundgarden & Smashing Pumpkins across the lengthy 73 minute tracklisting with the emphasis on groove-driven riffs reminding me quite a lot of a band like Nottingham sludge metallers Fudge Tunnel. Some of the more staccato-based riffage can also draw comparisons with Helmet & Prong but the interesting thing is that at the end of the album I’m still left feeling that “Hymns” sits most comfortably alongside industrial metal counterparts like Killing Joke.

It's interesting that a lot of people seem to want to link Godflesh with the Sludge Metal genre. I can definitely see why given the dissonant riff structures & thick & oppressive guitar tone but there’s a noticeable lack of the anger & aggression required for sludge qualification in my opinion. Godflesh’s music is much more trance-inducing with its repetition being a key component in its appeal so I can't agree with that sentiment. With the possible exception of the very poor hidden track, I also struggle to see how “Hymns” has anything to do with Post-Metal as it’s reliance on riffs is far too extreme for that. As far as I can see this album is still very firmly rooted in the Industrial Metal genre with the alternative elements adding a point of differentiation for a record that has essentially seen Godflesh regressing a bit towards past glories from their recent releases. The jumpy nu metal rhythms that pop up here & there aren’t particularly to my taste if I’m being honest & at times I’m left wondering if the band were clutching at straws in the hope of finding relevance in a quickly changing heavy music scene. I mean let’s be honest, the weaker moments like the nu metal track “Deaf, Dumb & Blind” sound pretty uninspired but then the album highlights like the catchy alternative metal number “Anthem” & the sublime atmospheric closer “Jesu” are some of Godflesh’s very best work so the album can be a little bit up & down. It certainly takes a few tracks to get going which can impact initial impressions but the back end of the record is the stronger of the two sides which sees it redeeming itself over time. In saying that though, there’s very little question that the run time is too long & the requirement for the hidden track is more than a little questionable.

As a Godflesh album, I would have to say that “Hymns” is certainly worth a few listens but I’d suggest that is was the band’s weakest full-length to the time. Despite the respectable rating I’ve given it, I do end up feeling a little disappointed given their star-studded back catalogue. Perhaps my taste profile isn’t really in line with the alternative feel to a lot of the material? Yeah sure, that definitely plays it’s part here but I’m not sure that can explain a few of the flatter tracks here which sound like a band in auto-pilot. It's probably telling that I find the tracks with Justin's gruffer vocal delivery to be more appealing than those that see him struggling with his more melodic side too. I can't help but think that this is a sign of my own affiliations with Godflesh's early works but you have to admire the way the band consistently reach for something a little different without completely severing the ties with their past.

For fans of Pitchshifter, Fall Of Because & HALO.

Every now & then I find a major gap in my knowledge of a fairly significant player in the global metal scene & that was certainly the case with New Orleans sludge metallers Eyehategod when I realised that I’d never actually heard one of their releases in full the other day. I did actually have a ticket to see them play live at one point but they ended up cancelling the show so it never actually eventuated. Anyway, I went about filling this glaring hole in my understanding of the more significant metal releases over the last couple of days & I’ve gotta say that I really enjoyed the experience.

The term “Sludge Metal” is often misused in my opinion. Some people seem to think that it’s required whenever a band opts for a particularly dirty (read: “sludgy”) guitar tone which was never the intent of the label. What it’s really referring to are bands that use the aesthetics of doom metal & stoner metal yet give the music the vocal delivery, aggression & general abrasiveness of hardcore punk & you’ll rarely find a better example of that than Eyehategod. Much like California’s Dystopia, this band have taken the crushingly heavy stoner doom model & combined it with a never-ending stream of drug-addicted depression & depravity to create what can only be described as one of the most hopeless & discouraging atmospheres you’re likely to find. Front man Mike IX Williams sounds like a man possessed with so much spite & resentment that he’s about to tear his own limbs off & start attacking people with them as he spits his words out with an enormous amount of malicious intent.

Musically, Eyehategod’s sound tends to drift between slow & crushingly heavy doom riffs & groovier Black Sabbath style stoner metal riffs with the occasional up-tempo hardcore section tossed in for a bit of variety every now & then but never over-staying its welcome. I personally love the doomier parts but find the stoner sections to be noticeably less appealing which is very much a reflection of my taste profile more than it is anything to do with the quality of the music on offer. There’s not a single track of the twelve included that doesn’t offer some level of enjoyment but I don’t think there’s anything here that I’d claim to be a genuine classic. Even the best material includes some element that brings it back down from the upper heights of my affection with album highlight & closing track “Anxiety Hangover” being a prime example of that as it taints its wonderfully doomy first half with one of those groovy stoner riffs right in the middle of the song. It’s also worth noting that the production doesn’t offer any sort of brightness or light which is likely intentional but it does make for a record that sounds pretty samey. Thankfully I enjoy the depressive atmosphere enough to make the whole experience a very enjoyable one though.

There’s no doubt that “Dopesick” is a quality example of the sludge metal genre as it ticks all of the critical boxes. Is it the classic release that many make it out to be though? I’m not so sure about that. Perhaps if I had of come across it 25 years ago I might think so but right now it would seem more like a record that you’d cherry-pick for those occasions when you’ve simply had a gut-full & want to fuck shit up to the soundtrack for your own self-destruction.

For fans of Acid Bath, Iron Monkey & Grief.

I think it’s fair to say that Brazilian thrash metallers Sepultura were more of an obsession than a passion for me from the time I first discovered their classic third full-length album “Beneath The Remains” in late 1989 right up until the release of this divisive fifth full-length. The timing of their infamous breakout from the underground was perfectly aligned with my own period of extreme metal discovery so they represented somewhat of a cult figure in my formative years & if it would have been up to me then the world would have waited until their arrival as a premier thrash act before deriving any sort of Big Four of thrash metal. But………. this brings me to the “Chaos AD” album from 1993, a record that would see the band dramatically altering the course of their careers via a fresh & innovative new sound.

I can still remember excitedly rocking up at Sandy’s Records in the Northern Beaches of Sydney on the day of release, racing home to experience “Chaos AD” for the very first time & the feelings of confusion I battled with as a result. It wasn’t that I found the music I was hearing to be unpleasant in any way. It was that it was so clearly very different from what I was expecting after the thrash metal icon that was 1991’s “Arise” album. The production job on "Chaos AD" is very solid with the rhythm guitars offering a chunky, heavy-weight platform that enables the fairly simple & uncluttered song-writing to do its work in workman-like fashion. Igor’s drums possess an organic depth, particularly the toms which were clearly meant to be a highlight of the record thanks to the continued focus on tribal rhythms that had been experimented with on “Arise”. There isn’t the brightness & energy to the guitars that I was expecting to hear though which is in large part due to the band having experimented with down-tuning their instruments for the first time. That’s not to say that the experiment didn’t work though as these more rhythmic & groovy riffs certainly benefited from the approach. It’s just that they sounded a little foreign to my fanatical thrash-trained ears at the time. You see, unlike the Sepultura of old, this Sepultura was in no hurry whatsoever with the songs given plenty of space & sticking predominantly to mid-paced tempos, the result of which was a more accessible product that was capable of seeing Sepultura crossing over into an as yet untapped market. Despite my initial hesitation though, I couldn’t deny that they'd managed to achieve this without losing much of their creative street credibility because “Chaos AD” is a long way from a sell-out.

Pantera had changed the face of the global metal scene in the very early 1990’s with their groove metal sound seeing a trillion bands adopting a more rhythmic approach to metal guitar playing & we can definitely see that influence on “Chaos AD” as there’s really very little that you can call legitimate thrash metal on this album. There’s an obvious hardcore punk edge to a lot of the material with Andreas Kisser having now turned all of his attention to creating dissonant, textured interludes rather than flashy, melodic guitar solos. The lyrics are predominantly politically focused which suits the material very well too. Igor is certainly the star of the show as far as the performances go as the groove metal platform afforded him additional room to move given the more rhythmic nature of the riffs around him. I saw Sepultura play live on the tour in support of the album back in 1994 actually & it was no surprise to find that the new material came across brilliantly in a live environment. I’d been lucky enough to see them two years earlier on the tour for the “Arise” album & they were just as impressive the second time around to be honest.

It didn’t take me all that long to find a level of acceptance for “Chaos AD”. My major challenge was accepting that the Sepultura I’d loved & adored was now a thing of the past & to treat the new Sepultura as almost an entirely different band. Once I was able to do that I found that it’s actually a very consistent, well written & professionally produced metal record that achieved a feat that so many have failed at. It had created something fresh & different that could draw the attention of a wider audience but still appeal to a large percentage of their existing fans (at least those with an open mind). I have to say that the New Model Army cover version of “The Hunt” was a poor choice as it stands out very clearly in an otherwise quite cohesive artistic statement & there aren’t many genuine classics here either but the majority of the album is very strong nonetheless with “We Who Are Not As Others” (the least popular metal track on the album unsurprisingly) being my clear standout. There’s no doubt that “Chaos AD” was a step down from the two classics that preceded it but I actually think it sits very comfortably next to the Sepultura’s earlier material these days. In fact, I’d probably take it over “Bestial Devastation” & Morbid Visions” & don't place it too far behind “Schizophrenia” either. Fans of the band’s earlier work really should give “Chaos AD” a chance as you may just find yourself buying what it’s selling.

For fans of Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy & Machine Head.

Tokyo’s Boris are an interesting artist in a creative sense as they’ve never felt confined to any one sound or scene &, as a result, people really struggle to pigeon-hole them under an easily understood subgenre tag. I’m not sure whether that’s been an advantage or a hindrance for them over the years in all honesty as they seem to have developed a huge cult following & always seem to draw positive acclaim from critics but have probably never managed to truly break into the sort of fanatical support that they so clearly deserve. Us metalheads seem to want to make sure they stay tightly wrapped within the banner of the underground metal scene however they’ve never really sat all that comfortably there & Boris' seminal 2002 fourth full-length album “Heavy Rocks” is a prime example of that.

The first three Boris albums were heavily directed towards a drone inspired sound & saw the band really building a niche for themselves through highly regarded records like 1998’s “Amplifier Worship” & 2000’s “Flood” but with “Heavy Rocks” we see Boris moving into new territory with a fresh sound that’s much more focused on traditional rock music than their previous records were. In doing so though, Boris lost none of their street appeal as they very quickly proved themselves to have a deep understanding of what it is that makes heavy rock music so exciting. There’s a danger in these sounds that we find so rarely in modern rock music & it takes me back to a time when rock represented an exciting escape for me as a youngster with the experience of the live performance taking on an almost transcendent stature in an artist’s creative image. You see, as with most of Boris’ lengthy back catalogue, “Heavy Rocks” really does sound like a recording of a live band with very few of the rough edges having been buffed out. You can feel the amplifier’s buzzing & almost see the kids leaping from the stage & thrashing themselves about in glee & that’s what makes a band like Boris so appealing.

Musically speaking, I have to admit that “Heavy Rocks” doesn’t sit as close to my musical comfort zone as Boris’ drone metal works though. Most people seem to want to lump it in with Stoner Metal which isn’t entirely accurate. There’s far too much of a late 60's blues rock influence in this material for it to sit primarily in the metal space. In fact, I really struggle to see why "Heavy Rocks is not unanimously tagged as Stoner Rock because it fits the description of that genre to a tee in my opinion. The loose vocal delivery is miles away from anything a metal front man might attempt while the overall feel of the instrumentation generally possesses a much noisier & bluesier outlook too. The psychedelic guitar excursions are brilliantly executed & are a real highlight for me personally, particularly album high point “Soft Edge” which is nothing short of spectacular (&, as is so often the case with me, is also the least popular track on the album). Boris simply seem to “get it” if you know what I mean & the fact that front man Takeshi doesn’t even try to stay in tune is completely overlooked in the interest of the elusive quest for heavy rock supremacy. There’s a deep-seated authenticity to this material that makes it inherently relatable but gives it some added x-factor as well. To put it bluntly, it's simply a way cooler record than the vast majority of the competition could ever hope to muster up.

In saying that, I do think that “Heavy Rocks” is a fairly top-heavy release. Despite not possessing anything that comes close to being a weak track, I have to admit that all of the best material sits on the A side with the flip side seeming to be a little bit lacking in comparison. Perhaps it’s simply a matter of taste as I would suggest that I was always going to be more drawn to the crushingly heavy stoner metal of opener “Heavy Friends”, the stripped-back psychedelia of “Soft Edge” & the more aggressive & dangerous rock outings like “Korosu” & “Dyna-Soar”. Boris would perhaps execute this stoner rock sound with slightly more consistency on 2003’s “Akuma no uta” album too but one can’t be too critical of a rock record with this level of potency. It’s all too rare that you encounter music that encapsulates what it means to be “rock” in such a clear & concise fashion these days so “Heavy Rocks” should be celebrated for what it represents as much as what it’s achieved.

For fans of Melvins, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard & Church of Misery.

I've really enjoyed this week's revisit to one of the more popular black metal releases of the 2010's. "Litourgiya" is essentially made up of some fairly traditional & simply structured but very well executed Polish black metal with the ground-breaking addition of some church-style chanted male vocals as a clear point of differentiation. This certainly making for an interesting combination but if I'm honest I'd have to suggest that it's not that component of Batushka's sound that I find most appealing. In fact, the weakest moments on the album generally match up with the less inspired chant sections. The best elements at play here are the searing black metal screams & the incredibly precise blast beats. For the record, I actually had to check I wasn't listening to programmed drums when I first encountered this album, such was the sheer confidence & control on display. The riffs aren't anything all that different to what you would usually expect however the guitars appear to be down-tuned which gives Batushka a slightly different tone to most of the competition. Closer "Ектения • VIII • Спасение" is the only track that I find to be a genuine classic but there are no weak tracks included which makes "Litourgiya" a very professional & high quality release with enough accessibility to appeal to broad cross-section of extreme metal fans.

For fans of Cult of Fire, Mgła & early Uada.

I first came across Mexican one-man black metal artist Trhä shortly after the release of this debut album & generally liked what I heard so I always intended on returning to it for a more comprehensive analysis at some point. However I must admit that my poor experiences while reviewing Trhä’s follow-up release (the “Novej kalhnjënno” E.P. from later the same year) saw me delaying things a bit longer while I built up the courage. Thankfully “Nvenlanëg” is a much more enticing prospect than it’s younger sibling though & has left me feeling generally positive about its merits.

“Nvenlanëg” is comprised of three lengthy tracks that amount to a total duration of 55 minutes with the main component being a lo-fi atmospheric black metal sound similar to Swiss act Paysage d’Hiver. Despite a strong focus on frost-bitten winters though, this record isn’t half as cold as Paysage d’Hiver’s classic releases. There’s a dreamy positivity to a lot of the melodies with the synthesizers being the protagonists more often than not. At times you’ll actually find a similar atmosphere to a blackgaze artist like Sadness only Trhä never veers too far from the path of blasphemy, his vocals opting for the trademark tortured route of so many of his atmospheric black metal counterparts. The regular use of winter synth style ambience breaks the album up nicely & is quite effective in its enhancement of the themes.

I can’t say that “Nvenlanëg” hits my black metal comfort zone particularly. It’s a little too light-weight for that but I do find more than enough depth in its atmospherics to keep me interested. The epic 23 minute opener “Lhelhën Majlan” summarizes the album’s content well while 18 minute closer “Alandlhan ëlh Nítak” is probably the most fully realised example of the Trhä sound. The track in the middle “Nëlhlica” doesn’t appeal to me much though to be honest. It’s simply too melodic for my taste & seems like a step down from the other two tracks.

I can’t say that I feel the fanfare around “Nvenlanëg” is warranted but it’s not a bad record nonetheless. It’s certainly a good three levels up from the awful “Novej kalhnjënno” E.P. & hits the wintery atmosphere it was aiming for pretty well, despite not gathering the darkness & evil around it in the process.

For fans of Paysage d’Hiver, Bekëth Nexëhmü & Evilfeast.

I have to say that after revisiting all three of Californian grindcore legends Nails’ full-length albums over the last few months I’ve come to the conclusion that they’re really out there on their own as far as the leading grindcore exponents go. No one can touch them in this space as they simply possess another gear to even the most highly regarded of opposition & this sophomore album may just be the high point of the entire movement. Once again we have an extremely short run time at just over seventeen minutes in duration but one that’s dominated by the inclusion of two lengthier sludge metal pieces that take up just under half the run time. Both of these tracks are utterly superb & you get the feeling that Nails might have been one of the greats of the sludge scene if they’d chosen their niche a little differently as they have serious talent in the elusive & highly desirable art of riff creation. The rest of the album is made up of the most extreme grindcore violence you’ve ever heard in your life, only with ultra-clinical performances & a wonderfully powerful production job from Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou. The drum sound & guitar & bass tones are all spectacular & go about tearing your face off in the most efficient manner imaginable. The performance of drummer Taylor Young should be highlighted in particular as the guy is an absolute beast. His blast beats are as pummeling as any in extreme metal & he’s a major contributor to making “Abandon All Life” sound so fucking tight. The only negative I can find here is that I’m not sure I dig the slight change in vocal delivery from front man Todd Jones as much as his other efforts but that’s a small price to pay for what has essentially now become my favourite grindcore release of all time from my favourite grindcore band of all time.

For fans of Full Of Hell, Dead In The Dirt & Trap Them.

This was my first focused attempt at an Amaranthe release & was mainly instigated by Andi’s Hall of Judgement entry to have “Leave Everything Behind” removed from The Horde & the Melodic Death Metal subgenre. It has to be said that upon first listen it became immediately obvious as to why I’ve never ventured here before though as the sound that Amaranthe were pushing is an exceptionally poppy one with a couple of the tracks sounding much more like Kelly Clarkson or Demi Levato than At The Gates or Dark Tranquillity. The band take a six-piece configuration including an unprecedented three full-time vocalists which combine uplifting female vocals, alternative/power metal style male vocals & more extreme metalcore screams. It has to be said that the two men must have struggled to know what to do with themselves on stage as they’re not contributing all that regularly when compared with your average front man.

This release is essentially a self-financed demo however you’d never know it from the quality of the production which is easily up to the task of presenting a band that had already nailed down a pretty professional & well-defined sound. I’d describe it as a very poppy take on Melodic Metalcore with a number of influences layered over the top including some clean vocal hooks that remind me of alternative metal bands like Linkin Park, power metal theatrics & symphonics, the technical riff structures of progressive metal & the more rhythmic staccato attack of djent. In truth there’s absolutely no Melodic Death Metal here so that tag would seem to be completely misguided. I’d also suggest that the Trance Metal one is a bit premature too as I don’t hear anything that reminds me of legitimate Trance music. Instead there are just some fairly accessible synthesizer lines employed in more of a supporting capacity which probably isn’t worthy of its own genre tag. Perhaps these elements were accentuated when Amaranthe returned to the studio to re-record these five tracks for their self-titled debut album? I’m not too sure but I think the Trance Metal thing is probably more of a link to the band’s later material than it is a reflection of what you can expect to hear on “Leave Everything Behind”.

One of the reasons I struggled so much on the first couple of listens to this E.P. is that the opening three tracks sound far less mature & are more overtly commercialized than the closing two tracks are in my opinion. As a result it took me a few spins before I became aware of the fact that I actually quite like “Act Of Desperation” & “Director’s Cut”. Early on I’d simply tossed them in with the bubblegum stuff that preceded it & it took a bit of familiarity before I could separate them enough to judge them on their own merit. That’s not to say that the earlier material is awful or anything. It’s just miles away from my taste profile & would likely be closer to that of my six year old daughter in all honesty (That's not a criticism. It's a genuine observation as my daughter loves Babymetal). I have to say that the shredding guitar solos are a real highlight & bring to mind childhood idols of mine like Joe Satriani & Steve Vai, particularly in the excellent use of legato. The weak point of the record is probably the metalcore vocals though as they add an additional layer of immaturity that reeks of a band that’s trying their best to find some sort of street credibility. I honestly think Amaranthe would have been better off limiting themselves to a more streamlined dual vocal attack.

At the end of the day “Leave Everything Behind” was never going to see me reaching for my higher scores or commanding that I investigate Amaranthe’s entire back-catalogue but I would hazard to guess that it more than achieved what the band had set out to do. Unfortunately the heavily commercialized approach that’s pushed down the listeners throat on the first few tracks really does stave off any chance of recovery for me & I’m forced to place the E.P. into the “None Of My Business” category.

For fans of Dead By April, Crossfaith & Blood Stain Child.

The most recent full-length from Maryland death metallers Dying Fetus has seen me drawing very much the same conclusion as I have with the vast majority of their previous releases. While I certainly find “Wrong One To Fuck With” to be a more than decent brutal/technical death metal album, it’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect from them with very little variation on past themes. The production is very clean (almost as clean as the pristine performances from the trio who can no doubt play the living shit out of their instruments) while the band’s trademark hardcore grooves are still very much in effect along with the thrashier sections that remind me a lot of Slayer. Then toss in the consistent use of blast beats & slam riffs as well as those intentionally technical & often sweep-picked wanky parts that server very little purpose other than to show off the band members techniques & you get a Dying Fetus album…. any Dying Fetus album really.

Now that’s not such a big deal in theory as I generally love my brutal death metal & it doesn’t always need to be anything too original to get my juices flowing but the thing with Dying Fetus is that they seem to lack a bit in the way of soul. Everything sounds so intentional, calculated & precise but the song-writing is often where the band’s attention could have been better spent. Many of the transitions sound jerky & pieced-together while the groove sections are often a bit too basic. In direct contrast though, those technical parts I mentioned earlier are far too obvious & (as with every other Dying Fetus record) sound much more like practice exercises than they do actual music. Even the vocal phrasing is lacking in ambition as it often simply follows the rhythm of the riffs & lacks a bit of sophistication. Dying Fetus are definitely at their best when they’re simply blasting away with reckless abandon though & there’s enough of that to justify your interest if you’re a fan of the more brutal end of death metal.

Overall, I’d suggest that “Wrong One To Fuck With” is another decent but fairly uneventful Dying Fetus record that’s fun while you’re listening to it but doesn’t command much in the way of repeat listens. That’s very much par for the course in how I’ve felt about their albums since day one however I’d suggest that earlier releases like “Reign Supreme” & “Destroy The Opposition” still have a slight edge over this one. There’s an undeniable consistency of quality across the ten tracks included (eleven if you’re listening to a version with the bonus track “Induce Terror”) but sadly there are no genuine highlights here & the tracklisting does tend to sound a little samey as a result. Every track has great parts mixed in with flatter parts with the good clearly out-weighing the bad but never by an emphatic margin.

For fans of Suffocation, Nile & Cryptopsy.

A short eleven minute ride through a very faithful six tracks of Black Noise with half of the the tracklisting taking a pure Noise direction & the other half sounding like traditional Black Metal with the levels heavily overdriven to give it that white noise aesthetic. I do find a bit of enjoyment in the raucous Black Metal material which should appeal to those that like to blow off some steam with their mates after a few drinks but the pure Noise stuff is pretty redundant & is the very definition of filler in my opinion. It's a shame this release isn't on Spotify as the ideal outcome would be to add the couple of decent tracks to your playlist & turf the rest.

For fans of Wold, Mnima & Enbililugugal.

I'm not usually one for completely crucifying metal releases for the sake of melodrama however this 40 minutes of agonizing pain is something a little bit special. It essentially sounds like a bunch of extreme metal fans got together for drinks & things got WWAAYYY out of hand with the results being documented for all eternity. The song-writing is non-existent, the musicianship is completely absent & the production is a dog's breakfast. Essentially this is a bunch of sloppily performed black metal played with complete disregard for traditional musical values & produced in as noisy a fashion as possible with a dude screaming his guts out randomly over the top without any semblance of a lyric. I have no doubt that there will be those that think this is musical genius (Beherit fans, I'm looking at you) but for me it's a waste of time & effort from everyone involved. In the context of my Black Noise experiment, I'd suggest that it sits in between Black Metal & Black Noise with traditional Noise being a secondary influence.

For fans of Abruptum, Gonkulator & Beherit.

The Surinamese Black Noise champion produces another release that's blown me away with his twelve full-length offering a sound that sits right in between Black Noise, Black Metal & Industrial Metal. It's certainly the most Black Metal oriented record I've heard from him this month while the Industrial component gives the album its own identity, despite still possessing Maurice de Jong's trademark sound i.e. darkness, torture & general extremity. I can't tell you how much I've connected with Gnaw Their Tongues over the last week or so. It's like he can read my mind with the horrifying atmospheres he creates, the flourishes of ambient beauty, the clinical production, the complete focus on global nihilism in it's most confronting form. I don't think anyone sounds quite like him to be honest & this is another horribly underrated record in my opinion.

For fans of Abruptum, An Axis of Perdition & Vessel of Iniquity.

I think it’s fair to say that many outsiders can’t comprehend why fans of extreme metal spend their time searching for releases that essentially take them further & further into the depths of Hell. There are those release that do it in a subtle way by masking some of the intent through the use of melody & more accessible song structures of course. But then there are those that bask in & celebrate to sheer darkness & evil by steering as far away from anything your average music fan could understand as possible & in doing so ensure that they remain as underground as possible. Well, with his third full-length album Surinamese producer Gnaw Their Tongues didn’t only ensure that he’ll stay well within the unholy confines of the underground but he created an entire new level of musical horror. In fact, “Reeking Pained & Shuddering” may just be the perfect musical representation of Hell itself as I think it may just be the most evil piece of musical art I’ve ever encountered.

In my recent review of Gnaw Their Tongues’ 2018 album “Genocidal Majesty” I questioned the validity of it’s links to metal, despite the inherent darkness & power it possesses within it’s inhuman Power Electronics sound. I won’t be doing the same with “Reeking Pained & Shuddering” however as the glory of extreme metal runs thick in its veins & is the very core of its atmosphere. It certainly fits the criteria for Black Noise qualification as it harnesses both genres equally but also draws upon Drone Metal & Black Ambient to give it a more rounded position with which to spread its message of violence & torture. The riffs here are doomy as fuck while Maurice de Jong’s screaming vocals are as over the top & psychotic as you’ll ever find, even within the realms of black metal. Both represent sensational additions to the Black Noise sound & give the album additional layers. So too do the beautiful gothic ambient accompaniments which further compliment the horrors the listener is witnessing by adding a cinematic quality.

The black metal component is strongest on the record’s most popular song “Nihilisim; Tied Up & Burning” but I tend to find that track to be the least impressive of the six included with its programmed blast beats & more traditional black metal guitar work sounding a little too run of the mill to make the same impact as the other material. The wonderfully titled opener “Blood Spills Out Of Everything I Touch” kicks things off in transcendent fashion & is followed by the very solid & equally well named “Utter Futility of Creation” but it’s the second half of the album that sees Gnawing Their Tongues truly reaching the peak of his blasphemic powers. In fact, I’d suggest that I’ve never heard a more perfect side of metal in my life with the deep dark ambient of “The Evening Wolves” creating an imposing atmosphere for black noise masterpiece “Destroying Is Creating” & the ten minute album highlight “Transition” to capitalize on in the most emphatic fashion.

“Reeking Pained & Shuddering” is a visceral & cerebral experience to say the least & is certainly not for the faint-hearted. It’s audience will be limited even within the extreme metal scene as it simply doesn’t allow for any form of hope or light at the end of the tunnel. It presents the world as the most harsh, barren & generally disgusting place & utilizes the most sickening serial killer associated vocal samples on Earth to drive its point home. There will certainly be times when I won’t feel up to listening to a record like this as it’s simply that depressive. But when I feel the urge to get into nastier territory I’m not sure I’ll find a more blatant example of hatred in music.

For fans of Abruptum, La Torture des ténèbres & Nahvalr.

I first encountered Surinamese producer Maurice de Jong & his Gnawing Their Tongues moniker upon my return to metal back in 2009 & have had a long & often stormy relationship with him ever since. At times I’ve found it almost impossible to relate to his music which tends to be completely devoid of anything humanly relatable while at others he can create one of the purest soundtracks to the apocalypse you’re ever likely to encounter. For this reason I generally appraoch his releases with a level of caution & self-preservation, just as I have on this occasion with his fourteenth album “Genocidal Majesty”; a record that I’ve committed to investigating as a part of my Black Noise deep dive.

Gnaw Their Tongues’ “music” can be quite an intimidating prospect for the uninitiated. You see, it can often sound completely foreign to your average listener given that it’s very much at odds with the concepts that traditional music is built on. For example you’ll find very little melody here, if any at all. Instead you can expect to be assaulted with buzzing swarms of feedback, scraping metallic abrasions, ear-piercing static, high-pitched electronic data transmissions & big farty dubstep-ish bass tones which often amounts to the unpleasant experience of a close-range encounter with breaking glass. It’s futuristic & inhuman, cold & desolate. And when it’s all over it tends to leave you with a bleak outlook of pure loneliness & despair. Humans inherently need hope in their lives & you’ll find very little of it here in an industrial landscape that’s purely electronic & brings to mind images of suicide & torture. But just like a car crash, I find it so hard to look away because there’s something so visceral & powerful about this art that captivates me in a very different way to your average heavy metal anthem.

“Genocidal Majesty” is an extremely consistent record. Its run time is kept short at just 31 minutes with the entire tracklisting maintaining a very high standard & a finely honed sense of focus. There’s very little doubt that Maurice knew his sound very well by this point in his career as the album represents a fully realised & beautifully executed creative vision. There’s really very little reference to metal here though. The are no guitars or any other form of organic instrumentation included so the record sits far more comfortably within the realms of industrial music than it does within metal. In fact, you’ll rarely find a release that so perfectly fits the description of the Power Electronics subgenre so it very clearly belongs under that banner. Maurice’s insane screams are a definite highlight & offer a lot of appeal to me. I assume that this is where the links to black metal are drawn from but in truth they could just as easily have been lifted from a metalcore record. I could probably have done without the guest vocal contributions from The Body’s Chip King as I’ve never been a fan of his atonal, high-pitched squeals which don’t even sound like they’re vocals to tell you the truth & only end up contributing yet another uncomfortable & unnerving component to what is essentially the soundtrack to a horror movie that’s yet to be made. There’s a strong sense of cinematic drama about “Genocidal Majesty” with the rare appearances of synth pad sounds offering some minor relief from the relentless industrial battering you’re receiving from the remainder of the run time (see the bonus track on the Spotify release “Void Sickness” for example which is perhaps unsurprisingly my favourite track on the record). Given the general professionalism of the overall production though, I have to say that the snare sound could have done with a bit of work as it tends to remind me of chip tune a lot of the time which isn’t a positive comment.

I’ve been really impressed with “Genocidal” Majesty”. Its quest to alienate & isolate the listener has been unanimously successful so it certainly isn’t for everyone but those that seek refuge in the uglier side of underground music in order to take them as far away from every day suburban life will likely find a strange sense of pleasure in the universal unpleasantness of the experience. As far the Black Noise sound I came in looking for goes though there really isn’t much of a connection to this fine example of Power Electronics. I think us metalheads sometimes think we have monopoly on extreme music & like to draw everything in that bracket in under our metallic banner but I think it’s a stretch too far with this particular release.

For fans of The Body, Utarm & Spektr.

The debut album from this cult Swedish artist is one of the weirdest & most ambitious metal-related releases you're ever likely to hear. It comprises of two enormously challenging 25+ minute pieces that seem to be completely improvised. If they're not then I have no idea how they were composed. They also bring into question the concept of what constitutes music because there's some absolutely random shit going on here & it often has nothing whatsoever to do with traditional musical theory. The idea of calling this a black metal or black noise release is questionable at best in my opinion too. There's no doubt that the First Wave of Black Metal sounds of early Sodom & Hellhammer (particularly "Triumph of Death") played a big role in Abruptum's DNA but there's simply so much more that falls WWAAYYY outside of conventional metal ideals going on here. In fact, I'd hazard to describe "Obscuritatem advoco amplectère me" as experimental/psychedelic noise rock meets avant-garde metal. Much of the admittedly pretty doomy guitar work is comprised of feedback & dissonant attacks on open strings which leaves the aesthetic sounding far more Bauhaus than Bathory while a lot of the drumming sits closer to rock than it does to metal. But then you'll get these sudden bursts of unaccompanied blast beats here & there & psychotic vocals that remind me of the Japanese extreme metal scene or a very young Tom Angelripper (Sodom). It's certainly noisy stuff but can I really say this is black noise? I don't think I'd say it's genuine noise music OR black metal to be honest. I think people are simply clutching at straws in a vain attempt to label this musical cacophony which is far more interesting than it is enjoyable.

For fans of Emit, Gnaw Their Tongues & Enbilulugugal.

Greek outfit Mnima has been around for a good few years now & have put out ten zillion EP's in that time but this debut full-length is the first release I've committed to checking out. For a supposed "black noise" release, I've gotta say that it offers bugger all in the way of genuine noise music though. In fact, this is really just a very raw & particularly lo-fi black metal release with vocals that sound a lot like Burzum mastermind Varg Vikernes & musicianship that's left at the door for the sake of demonic authenticity. The first half of the release is actually pretty decent with the admittedly generic tremolo-picked riffage possessing some reasonably enjoyable melodic hooks. Unfortunately the B side is noticeably weaker which taints the whole experience for me & I'm left wondering how my black noise experiment has found me venturing here in the first place. "Disciples of Excremental Liturgies" is nothing to write home about & there are much stronger black metal releases out there this year.

For fans of Black Cilice, Candelabrum & Burzum.

The second phase of my Black Noise deep dive saw me tackling the fourth full-length album from Canadian solo act La Torture des ténèbres (French for “The Torture of Darkness” i.e. as opposed to the wholesome, family-oriented & generally fun garden variety of torture presumably). “IV: Memoirs of a Machine Girl” is an 81 minute marathon for the senses that’ll see your mental stability being well & truly tested so I’d steer well clear of it if you harbor any concerns around your mental health. La Torture des ténèbres is the brain-child of Jessica Kinney; an artist whose creative vision originally began within the more familiar realms of atmospheric black metal but over time has seen her expanding the scope of her metal roots with “IV: Memoirs of a Machine Girl” showcasing a much more expansive array of sounds & possibly even having transcended the confines of metal altogether.

“IV: Memoirs of a Machine Girl” is an absolute beast of a release featuring six very lengthy pieces that all comfortably exceed the ten minute mark. Jess obviously doesn’t care all that much for the vinyl or CD formats of my generation because it almost seems like she’s intentionally extended the album’s run time so that it’s just too long to fit on a single CD. Whatever the reason for it may be though, the run time definitely overstays its welcome a touch & I challenge anyone to actively listen to the entire duration of the album without experiencing some sort of mental fatigue. Personally, I feel that it would have benefitted significantly from the omission of the final track which would have seen it finishing at a still quite indulgent 68 minutes. That’s not to say that closer “Lysol, Scrub Away Your Sanity” is weak in any way but I’m not sure I needed yet another sensory barrage after the first five tracks had seemingly achieved everything that Jess had set out to do.

There are a few different elements to the La Torture des ténèbres sound that are repeated across the tracklisting. The first is the beautiful, dreamy & very Mazzy Star-ish downtempo sections which have layers of effects applied to them in order to give them an eery & sombre feel. I get the feeling that Jess could actually be a very talented performer in that space if she focused her powers on good rather than evil. Then you have the over-the-top noise sections which are much more prevalent & generally see a guitar part providing some sort of melody under a huge & overbearing wall of artificial noise. The first couple of tracks see the instrumentation hinting at a black metal atmosphere but the noise dominates proceedings to such a degree that I’d be reluctant to label this as anything metal related. Outside of those first two tracks I struggle to see the links to black metal though with the general feel of the base music leaning much more closely towards the dreamy post-rock of Sigur Ros. In fact, I’m not even sure the guitars have had any pre-mix distortion applied to them in all honesty so (unlike Wold’s “Screech Owl” that I kicked off my Black Noise deep dive with) most of “IV: Memoirs of a Machine Girl” just doesn’t feel remotely like black metal & I doubt it was ever intended for the black metal audience. The thing that probably sees it being tied back to black metal though are Jessica’s tortured & psychotic screams which sound very much like they could have been taken from a depressive black metal release. They’re relentless in their negativity &, when combined with some pretty twisted samples, ensure that you will find no form of light or empowerment in this music. It’s an ugly wasteland of disgust & disconsolation.

When all of these elements are combined, the result takes the form of a noise release much more than it does a metal one & I tend to think that labelling “IV: Memoirs of a Machine Girl” as a metal release is a bit of a stretch. That’s not to say that it’s not a rewarding experience for the metal audience though. Given my taste profile I’m not surprised that I find the first couple of tracks to be a little more enjoyable than the remainder of the album. The atmosphere of those two tracks hints at a majestic blackened darkness that I find more appealing than the slightly less imposing post-rock driven material but that’s not to say that there are any weak tracks included because there’s not. It’s a very consistent record that could maybe have done with some trimming from a pure indulgence point of view but would also have benefitted from the six tracks having proper endings instead of simply cutting them off dead when they were still in full flight. Overall though, I’d suggest that “IV: Memoirs of a Machine Girl” is a very respectable noise release that seems to sit pretty comfortably under the Non-Metal tag in our database.

For fans of Gnaw Their Tongues, Utarm & Nahvalr.

In my quest for a clear understanding as to whether the black noise subgenre is really a thing & is worthy of inclusion in the Metal Academy database as a metal subgenre in its own right I decided to begin with one of the more blatantly black noise releases in the 2007 sophomore release from Canadian artist Wold (can't you tell by their logo on the cover?). If you were thinking that black noise is likely to be an extremely lo-fi take on black metal then you were 100% correct as you won't find a more intentional attempt at audio degradation than you'll find here. In fact, the fading intros & outros of many of the thirteen tracks give hints at what the original music might have sounded like before it had the levels strategically blasted up into the realms of extreme distortion in post-production, all in the quest for a greater textural & atmospheric layer of hideous noise. So, does it work? Well when Wold get it right it certainly does but those moments are so few when you take into account that this bloated release stretches out to an unbearably lengthy 73 minutes in duration. The ultra-grim black metal vocals of Fortress Crookedjaw are certainly very appealing for extreme metal aficionados like myself but the instrumentation is often lacking in any sort of musical quality, instead taking the form of battering & offensive distortion more than something you'd find genuine pleasure in listening to. When Wold hint at melody through their more ambient excursions though you can clearly see the attraction to this sort of music. They just haven't got the balance right at all here.

The clear standout tracks are the super evil "This Is How I Know" (which is by far the best example of the black noise subgenre included here & is a piece of work that has slowly snuck up on me over several listens before finally encouraging me to label it as a masterpiece) & the super-repetitive & trance-inducing thirteen-minute black ambient/noise closer "Undying Fire Of Urian" which absolutely carry this album. Sadly though it's not enough to make up for the clear failures like the God-awful "Nervosa" & "I'm The Chisel" which are pretty close to as dumb as extreme music gets. The couple of traditional noise tracks included also offer nothing at all from a musical point of view, failing to create any sort of dark atmosphere that you can grab on to. I think it's fair to say that I'm not the target audience for a record like "Screech Owl" but I still have my doubts that it'll be sitting at the top end of the subgenre. If it was then I'd have to think that the incredibly poor cover art would likely taint the entire subgenre & scare off many potential listeners.

For fans of Gnaw Their Tongues, Sutekh Hexen & Затухание.

If Ashenspire did have any black metal roots then they've certainly been tossed aside for this highly regarded sophomore effort, haven't they? It's definitely an unusual release & one that does sit pretty comfortably under the avant-garde progressive metal tag. The most noteworthy elements on display are the theatrical & almost psychotic clean vocals of drummer Alasdair Dunn who continues to rant like a man possessed in his unapologetically Scottish accent throughout the entire tracklisting, mostly speaking or shouting more than actually singing. The other is the use of some extremely jarring time signatures that do tend to interrupt the flow of the song-writing at times. The ambition is undeniable but the execution isn't quite what I'd hoped, particularly the performance of Dunn behind the kit as his drum sound isn't ideal for metal (it's more in line with jazz) & he sounds pretty messy when he gets his blast beats on. The use of violin is done very well & brings to mind Ne Obliviscaris as it provides a little stability in even the most chaotic of movements while the overtly Scottish & emotionally charged vocals combine with some of the more sweeping black metal oriented chord progressions to remind me of Irish folk metal legends Primordial. The sheer insanity & creativity is more in line with a band like Arcturus though.

As you can probably tell, I struggled with "Hostile Architecture" a little bit at times but I can't deny that my overall impressions after four full listens were generally positive. There's no doubt that it's Dunn that's my major obstacle here & I can't deny that I would greatly prefer a more traditional & talented front man but I think I find it hard not to look on a pure form of artistic expression like this one with fondness & endearment as it's not all that common in a market that's saturated by copy cats. In saying that though, I can't say that I'm likely to return to the album in the future. It's an experience that I'm glad that I've had but it simply doesn't tick enough of my boxes to command any level of adoration.

For fans of Primordial, Ne Obliviscaris & Arcturus.

After revisiting this old friend over the last few days I was reminded of just how well it fits under the "deathgrind" tag. In fact, it may well be the definitive example of what that term was originally intended to describe because it easily harnesses both sounds in roughly equal portions & perhaps that's why it appealed to this particular death metal fanatic at the time because I've never quite found the same level of appeal in grindcore as I have in my beloved death metal. What we have here are 15 tracks that span a variety of tempos but are still undoubtedly designed to crush your cranium into a soft pulp. Former Winter drummer Scott Lewis' blast beats were indeed the fastest thing we'd ever heard at the time & I have to admit that I can't think of anyone that's surpassed them since without employing the gravity blast technique. He's an absolute machine & his endurance is very impressive to say that least. The combination of slower grind grooves & super-fast blast beat sections goes down a treat while Kevin Sharpe's deathly vocals are nicely contrasted by some searing high-pitched screams (presumably contributed by Anthrax/Nuclear Assault/SOD bassist Dan Lilker) which I find to be a real highlight. It all makes for a very entertaining ride, if not one that offers a lot of depth below the surface but that's not exactly what most of this record's audience will be looking for anyway. You'll no doubt be able to pick up the band's influences very obviously across the tracklisting with a Bolt Thrower riff thrown in here & a Napalm Death or Death one tossed in there but I have to admit that I'd never realized just how heavily influenced by Carcass' early works Brutal Truth were until now. It's glaringly obvious at times but is executed in more of a complimentary way than a plagiaristic one. But the biggest strength of "Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses" is in its consistency as it sets a very solid standard early on & never lets it dip throughout a relatively long 45 minute run time for this style of extreme music. It's a real shame that Scott Lewis would leave the band shortly after this album & that Brutal Truth would gradually steer away from their death metal side over the coming albums as they'd really hit on something here & never came close to matching it in my opinion.

For fans of Napalm Death, Terrorizer & early Carcass.

Fucking hell! This album absolutely slays! The dual tagging of Atmospheric Black Metal & Avant-Garde Metal isn't particularly accurate as I don't think "Aveilut" feels all that avant-garde & it doesn't have much to do with the classic atmospheric black metal sound either. To my ears it's an experimental take on your more conventional black metal sound which incorporates strong post-metal & drone metal influences at times. The way this duo have used the tools of black metal in a very different way but still maintained all of the menace & blasphemy is phenomenal. There is a little bit of dissonance on offer but I wouldn't suggest that it's anything out of the ordinary for modern black metal. The unusual part is the way they've layered the different tremolo-picked guitar lines & tied the psychedelic synths & effects into the wall of sound so tightly. I can't say I've ever heard anything like it but it reminds me a lot of the approach that some post-rock artists take. Those vocals are as grim & frostbitten as you'll find too. They're right up my alley. Interestingly, my two highlight tracks are also the furthest from black metal with "I" being a post-metal affair & "IV" being a wonderful builder of a drone metal piece. This is easily the best record I've heard from 2022 so far.

For fans of Krallice, Blut aus Nord & Bríi.

I actually hadn't ever checked out a full Solitude Aeturnus record until now but was really excited coming in as I've loved what I've heard through the monthly playlists & "Alone" certainly hasn't left me disappointed. This is one absolutely monolithic doom metal record of astronomical proportions. Every track is pure class. The production job is superb, the performances are spot on & the cover art is as imposing as you'd hope for such a depressive gem. Front man Robert Lowe would have to be right up there with the best metal vocalists I've ever encountered with his powerful delivery placing him right in the sweet spot between Ronnie James Dio & my favourite vocalist of all time in Soundgarden's Chris Cornell. The guitar solos offer a super-pure tone & are performed with true precision, even hinting at Yngwie Malmsteen-esque theatrics at times. As with their epic doom counterparts Candlemass, the classic heavy metal sound has clearly been an influence on Solitude Aeturnus but the band's doom credentials are never in question with even the more chuggy, mid-paced metal riffs possessing enough weight to satisfy even the most selective of doom tragics. When you've got a tracklisting this strong it's often hard to pick out highlights but not on this occasion with opener "Scent of Death" being one of the greatest doom epics ever recorded & "Waiting for the Light" & "Upon Within" also sitting comfortably amongst the top tier of the doom crop. "Alone" is a wonderful example of the epic doom metal sound & can be seen as a celebration of everything that's great about the subgenre.

For fans of Candlemass, Crypt Sermon & Solstice.

This is another really solid effort from these Norwegians who must be challenging The Amenta for the title of the most under-appreciated band in The Sphere. Unlike our previous Red Harvest feature release (2004's "Internal Punishment Programs"), "HyBreed" contains a significant Post-Metal influence on several of the more drawn-out tracks with Neurosis being the clear influence, particularly in the use of tribal drumming & repetition with long build-ups & crescendos. There are also a couple of 10+ minute ambient pieces included which are both of a high quality & break the tracklisting up nicely. We even get a fantastically doomy Gothic Metal song in the wonderful "On Sacred Ground" which draws upon Type O Negative & Tiamat for inspiration. There isn't a single track included that's not of a very high quality & there's more than enough variation to justify the very long 78 minutes run time. I've gotta ask the question, what the fuck have these guys done wrong because they should be comfortably sitting alongside the big names of the Industrial Metal tree.

For fans of Godflesh, Yerûšelem & Kill The Thrill.

I count myself lucky to have been one of the privileged few that picked up on the whole Pantera groove metal phenomenon very shortly after its conception & subsequently had the pleasure of watching them develop & go from strength to strength over a number of years. I wasn’t in any way aware of Pantera during their 80’s heavy/glam metal days but their important 1990’s “Cowboys From Hell” album had already been pleasuring my ears for a good 18 months by the time they completely realigned the global metal scene with their career-defining 1992 sixth album “Vulgar Display of Power”. Despite my being firmly entrenched in the extreme metal scene at the time, it was absolutely impossible not to be impacted by the wave of euphoric adoration that seemed to engulf the band & that would only increase further with 1994’s hugely successful seventh full-length “Far Beyond Driven” which topped the charts in my home country of Australia. Everyone appeared to love it at the time (myself included) but it seems that time has seen it’s qualities down-played versus it’s two older siblings & I thought it was time I investigated why.

Let me start off by saying that there are a few elements that differentiate “Far Beyond Driven” from its highly praised predecessors. For starters, it’s the most focused of the three records in that Pantera had finely honed the groove metal style they were responsible for creating down to an easily identifiable sound & this album sees them thoroughly indulging in that by milking it for every last drop. In doing so we see legendary guitar virtuoso Dimebag Darrell coming up with some of the greatest groove metal riffs ever written but I think it’s fair to say that (unlike “Cowboys From Hell” & “Vulgar Display Of Power” which offered a bit more variety) you really do need to buy into the whole groove metal thing if you’re gonna dig “Far Beyond Driven”. The other major difference is that front man Phil Anselmo takes a consistently more guttural & aggressive hardcore-inspired vocal approach for the vast majority of the run time & in doing so leaves behind any semblance of his higher-register Rob Halford-impersonating singing voice. Neither of these things are negatives as such. They’re simply observations & if I’m honest I found the added focus on pure adrenaline & masculinity to be quite the drawcard at the time even though the public perception seems to have flipped a bit towards a feeling of super-macho posturing over the years.

The musicianship on “Far Beyond Driven” is outstanding & we really see the rhythm section of bassist Rex & drummer Vinny Paul setting the bar extremely high for the competition, particularly Vinny whose performance here is one of the highlights of the album as a whole. In fact, I think Pantera relied a lot less on Darrell’s amazing shredding by this stage & I don’t feel that the production places as strong a focus on him as a result. Instead Pantera come across as a well-oiled & finely-honed unit that know their sound extremely well & conduct themselves with complete professionalism. The production job does sound pretty dated with the rhythm guitar tone being very much of its time but this can easily be forgiven when you consider that Pantera were one of the primary instigators in changing the way we viewed guitar tones in general during that period. It’s very easy to be critical from an historical perspective but if we’re honest with ourselves none of us had a problem with it at the time.

The real difference between the first three Pantera groove metal outings is the quality of the song-writing though & there have been some sacrifices in their true-metal-at-all-costs mentality. Both “Cowboys From Hell” & “Vulgar Display of Power” were very consistent records with no genuinely weak tracks included & “Far Beyond Driven” is no different. What’s missing though are those few genuine metal classics that both of its predecessors contained as I don’t think I can say that any of its twelve tracks included qualify for that level of adoration. Instead we have twelve songs that range from pretty decent to very strong which amounts to a very rewarding listen, just not one that will see my life changing. That’s not to say that ANY of Pantera’s albums have changed my life terribly much as groove metal simply doesn’t appeal to me as much as it does to others but you know what I’m saying. In saying all that, I can’t say that I see “Far Beyond Driven” as sitting all that far behind its more readily celebrated peers. It’s still a very strong release with a lot of positives. I do think that some of its biggest tracks like “Five Minutes Alone” & “Becoming” are a bit overrated though. I’d also suggest that some of the tracks in the middle of the album that are generally regarded as being a bit weaker are actually very good with the two-song run of unusual change-up track “Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills” & the weightier “Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks” being a fine example of that. Even the ill-placed cover version of Black Sabbath’s “Planet Caravan” (the original being an all-time favourite of mine) is very well done even if it is too closely aligned with the original & seems a touch inferior in comparison. For me the highlights of the album sit with muscular groove metal outings like main single “I’m Broken”, super-masculine opener “Strength Beyond Strength” & the thrashy “Slaughtered” but (as I mentioned earlier) there’s not a clear line of delineation between the stronger & weaker inclusions as the quality band doesn’t stretch all that far.

Overall, I’d suggest that “Far Beyond Driven” showcases a band that were still at the peak of their powers & were content to focus purely on further amplifying the things that made them different from the rest of the market when they first broke into the scene in 1990. Was it successful in what it was trying to accomplish? Yeah I think it was for the most part. It’s not quite as strong as “Cowboys From Hell” or career highlight “Vulgar Display of Power” but the gap isn’t large enough to see me scoring it any differently so it’s another essential release for fans of Pantera or groove metal in general.

For fans of Exhorder, Lamb of God & Machine Head.

I've been a big fan of Californian sludge metallers Dystopia's 1994 "Human = Garbage" E.P. & 1999 "The Aftermath" E.P. for some time now so I've had their sole full-length album on my radar for a number of years but have somehow managed to avoid giving it my full attention until yesterday. This self-titled comeback release came after a gap of nine years from Dystopia's last record & is generally regarded as somewhat of a classic for fans of crusty sludge metal but I have to admit that my first few listens have been.... well..... a bit underwhelming if I'm being honest.

The themes are clearly centered around drug addiction with the use of some decidedly negative layered spoken-word samples being somewhat of a trademark for the band by this point. The filthy crust punk production is certainly appropriate but somehow Dystopia have always found the genuinely heavy production job they so sorely require to be quite elusive in my experience. The delivery of dual vocalists Matt Parrillo & Dino Sommese is even more overthetop than ever before, at times bordering on the ridiculous in their sheer insanity & I think that goes a long way to explaining the appeal of a record like "Dystopia" as it really does push the threshold of drug-fueled depression & depravity. There are a couple of problems here that weren't visible on the band's short-form classics though. There really aren't any genuine belters with the two-minute "Control All Delete" being the only one of the proper songs to really get me going. There are also a few clear duds included, particularly the grindcore-inspired "Illusion of Love" & the God-awful waste of space that is the untitled closing track. I find it hard to see how anyone can rate a release like this one the full five stars after listening to that closer to be honest. Surely common sense has to prevail at some point, doesn't it?

Dystopia are certainly at their best when they get their doom on & you can clearly see that during the first half of lengthy opening track "Now and Forever". I also enjoy it when they go for broke in a crusty hardcore direction like they do on the before-mentioned "Control All Delete" but when they start to tail off significantly for me is when they employ groovier riffs &/or bouncier beats & there are a number of those moments scattered across the tracklisting. It would seem to me that Dystopia have made a huge effort to take their strengths & to amplify them in the hope of maximum appeal for their underground fanbase but I don't think it's had the desired effect because the creativity & focus that I found so appealing on their previous material doesn't seem to be here. Sadly, I can't help but think that Dystopia's day in the sun had already run its course & they would have been better off leaving their 1990's legacy untainted.

For fans of Tragedy, Sea of Deprivation & Damad.

Last month I found myself revisiting San Francisco blackgaze legends Deafheaven's fourth full-length "Ordinary Corrupt Human Love" & being really impressed with what I heard so I immediately popped the previous album "New Bermuda" into my Spotify playlist for this month so that I could see how it compared. I remember thoroughly enjoying it at the time of release & not much has changed in that regard as it's yet another quality release from an extreme metal band that simply couldn't produce a dud if its life depended on it. For the follow-up to 2013's classic (& heavily divisive) "Sunbather" album the band opted to reignite their black metal passion with this record being perhaps their most black metal release however that's not to say that Deafheaven's signature blackgaze approach has dropped off the radar by any means as they tend to skip between the two sounds quite often. There's a little post-metal here & there but I wouldn't say that the post-rock influence is anything that isn't covered by the blackgaze tag. The screaming vocal performance of front man George Clarke is a highlight as usual, as is the blasting drumming of Daniel Tracy. I guess it's fair to say that everything that Deafheaven touch is pure class. They could fart in my face & I'd probably praise the complexity of the fragrance & the textured & melodious tonality of its song. In saying that, the last track "Gifts for the Earth" does see the quality drop a touch & I'm not sure "New Bermuda" ever threatened to enter my Hall of Metal Glory with one of my more prestigious ratings. It just pips out "Ordinary Corrupt Human Love" for the highly sought-after honour of being my third favourite Deafheaven record these days though (behind "Sunbather" & "Roads To Judah") & I think most black metal fans would really dig it if they gave it a genuine chance.

For fans of Lantlôs, Numenorean & Alcest.

I was particularly late in the game in discovering this underground release given that it didn't confront my ear holes until around 2009 but I shouldn't feel too ashamed because it really has been one of those records that's built its reputation over many years & kinda crept up on the competition very slowly through word of mouth. This sole album from Austria's Broken Torso now seems to be regarded as somewhat of an unheralded classic amongst brutal death metal aficionados however I can't say that I see it quite as positively as that to be honest.

Despite "The Ultimate Abhorrence" being universally claimed as a brutal death metal release, it's definitely not as cut & dry as that. You see, Broken Torso have a few other strings to their bow & tend to balance out the brutal blast beats with more melodic riffage that's similar to the more accessible sounds of Swedish bands like Edge of Sanity & Dissection. The vocals are super-deep & ultra-dark which adds a nice contrast to some of the more melodic riffs. There are no guitar solos included & I tend to think this may be due to the technical deficiencies of guitarist Alex Mayrhofer because he's obviously the weakest link for Broken Torso. Whereas some fans refer to his guitar work as unhinged & psychotic, I tend to think of him as lacking control & timing because he struggles to stay in time with very capable drummer Thomas Breiteneder throughout this short 27 minute album & this is somewhat of an obstacle for me to be honest. You see, while Breiteneder does a fantastic job at blasting away with genuine precision, it almost sounds like Mayrhofer is having trouble his monitor speaker & can't hear what's going on around him with the other musicians in a live environment. This is particularly noticeable during the middle of the record where things start to fall apart pretty noticeably during weaker inclusions like "Thrill of Terror" & "Unforgotten Sins". Thankfully the quality level picks up significantly over the last couple of tracks & I'm left with a generally positive feeling by the end of the album.

"The Ultimate Obhorrence" may not be the unheralded classic that it's made out to be but it's definitely worth a few spins for those extreme metalheads that don't mind a bit of melody amongst all of the blasting violence. It reminds me very much of bands like Slovakia's Nomenmortis & France's Kronos in that way while the both ways bet Broken Torso take in regard to the more brutal & more traditional styles of death metal should appeal to fans of bands like Dying Fetus whose original band logo the band have so clearly ripped off.

For fans of Kronos, Nomenmortis & Dying Fetus.