Sonny's Forum Replies
Here is my review:
I am quite the fan of the short-lived Aussie war metallers, but with only two full-lengths to their name I wouldn't say they are my favourite war metal band. The more prolific Archgoat probably take that title, but Bestial Warlust did release my favourite war metal album, that being 1995's follow up to this month's The North feature, Blood & Valour, which is still my only five-star rated war metal album to date.
Vengeance War 'Till Death is a brief burst of blasphemic violence. With it's seven tracks clocking in at a mere 31 minutes it is an unrelenting salvo of blastbeats, frantically manic riffing and howling roars that is so murderously intense that half an hour is more than sufficient a runtime to satisfy the deeply primal instincts that live deep within us. Bestial Warlust must be one of the most aptly named bands in all of metal, their monicker perfectly summing up exactly what the band deliver. War metal is always a visceral and almost physical experience and few encapsulate this call to the animal side of us better than these guys. The production plays a massive part in the success of Vengeance... being filthily noisy and distorted enough to give it that seat-of-the-pants, chaotic sensation, whilst maintaining sufficient clarity to allow the individual contributions to be discerned and prevent the whole from descending into one godawful messy blur.
The drumming is a withering machine gun stream of blastbeat bullets that is testament to the indefatigable power of skinsman Markus Hellcunt and is prominent without swamping the guitars. The riffs are each distinct, which is not always true of many war metal releases whilst maintaining the supercharged and frantic pacing the genre requires. The solos screech like tormented souls, obviously having roots in the Slayer school of six-string torture, but taken to the absolute extremes where even Kerry King feared to tread. Bloodstorm spits fire and venom in a torrent of vitriolic howls and roars that encapsulates the sheer demonic evilness of war metal's blackened heart and leaves no one in any doubt as to which side of the "eternal struggle" tha band's music sits.
I am not going to pretend for one minute that this is going to appeal to most metalheads, I understand that war metal is an acquired taste, but for those who worship at the filth-strewn altar of extreme black and death metal, this is damn close to as good as it gets. In fact I have got so heavily into this album over the last day or two that I am going to up my otriginal four-star rating by half a mark.
4.5/5
Just for reference, if you are checking this out on Spotify, they have made a right cock-up of the track listing. The short intro track isn't on the original album and they have all the titles wrong - track 2 on Spotify is actually "Bestial Warlust", track 3 is "Dweller of the Bottomless Pit" and so on, until you get to track 6 which is "Hammering Down the Law of the New Gods" / "Holocaust Wolves of the Apocalypse" with the first part being a short intro.
Kaatayra - Toda história pela frente (2020)
Kaatayra is one of the solo projects of brazilian multi-instrumentalist Caio Lemos who released his debut under the name in 2019 and went on to release 5 full-length albums in two and a half years. "Toda história pela frente" ("All History Ahead") is the fourth of these, being released in August 2020. Kaatayra plays atmospheric black metal infused with Caio's native brazilian folk music that makes for a refreshing change and adds a nice twist to the genre, bringing a different aesthetic to the music away from the euro-centric folk most usually encountered within the genre. Gone are the frigid, icy soundscapes more readily associated with european and north american black metal, to be replaced by a warmer, more celebratory atmosphere, where the natural environment is not so much a hard and inhospitable setting which must be endured, but a life-giving and nurturing domain that is to be acclaimed.
"Toda história pela frente" consists of three lengthy epics and was Kaatayra's most black metal album up to that point. I also think it was the album where he best integrated the black metal and acoustic elements together, with a noticeble increase in consistency as his songwriting matured. Not that I am saying there was too much wrong with his previous albums, but there was sometimes a jarring feeling that the two disparate elements were being forced together rather than the tracks evolving the relationship between the metal and the folk-led in a more organic way as they do here. Sometimes he takes a completely fresh approach to black metal and even plays the riff on acoustic rather than electric guitar, complete with accompanying blastbeats which works surprisingly well. Elsewhere he weaves some nice synth-led ambient threads into his musical tapestries, with an especially soothing section coming in the latter part of opening track, the 17-minute, "O Castigo Vem à Cavalo", giving the listener a moment or two of calm which lends an even greater impact to the final climactic blackened explosion.
When Caio let's the black metal side of things rip, then he sounds more savage and visceral than he had at any point up until this, with his ragged shrieks, frantic tremolo riffing and pummelling blastbeats providing an aggressive, red-blooded assault on the listener's ears with the opening minutes of second track "Toda mágoa do mundo" being the prime example. Yet, despite this, there is a rhythmic quality to the riffs on even the most vicious sections that prevents the tracks from sounding spiteful or hate-filled, but rather impart the notion of a more wholesome "nature red in tooth and claw" ethos instead. The latin rhythms of the folk-led parts are also one of the major distinctions between this and the vast majority of the atmospheric black metal pack. The euro-centric folk incorporated by most black metal acts oftentimes gives a menacing, ritualistic and even occult vibe to proceedings, but the dance-oriented latin rhythms deployed here make for a much more positive and celebratory atmosphere.
I don't think I can give this more praise than saying that, in certain respects, it reminds me of Austin Lunn's Panopticon. Similar to Panopticon it has taken the local folk music of the artist that sits outside the scope of black metal that we are used to and has incorporated it in such a way as to impart a different, more positive and human ethos into what can so often be a misanthropic and negative style of music, giving the listener an entirely different experience of black metal than they may have expected.
4.5/5
I was only referring to Sweet Leaf myself, Daniel. There are loads of examples of genres being backwards compatible. One example is Discharge weren't called D-beat when they started, they were termed Second Wave, like GBH and The Exploited. It wasn't until others started using the same drumming patterns that the D-beat genre name was coined. I'm also pretty sure that Cocteau Twins weren't termed Ethereal Wave and The Smiths weren't tagged as Jangle Pop until much later either.
As most of the very early heavy metal came from the psychedelic scene, it had far more in common with what we now term stoner metal than the heavy metal of Maiden, Manowar or Mercyful Fate.
Agreed....
Today we'll be starting a new release in Black Sabbath's 1971 masterpiece "Master of Reality". I'm really interested to see what subgenre I end up with here after my outcomes for Sabbath's first two records ended up sitting outside of the general consensus. Let's start with the opening track "Sweet Leaf" which I find to be a really easy one as it's the very definition of stoner metal in my opinion.Quoted Daniel
Thought of this when I came upon a poll on the RYM forums which states:
"Some uninformed people are voting Sweet Leaf / After Forever stoner metal.
Stoner metal begins in the 90s with Kyuss, this song is from 1971, what do you think?"
You are then asked to vote yes or no to the proposition, which is currently 7:7.
The member who posted it is a regular poster on RYM's "Official Metal Forum" which I never post on but like to read sometimes to see what the metal "hipsters" are saying and this shows why I don't engage in there. How can you debate with someone who holds such a dogmatic view as "genre X only started with album Y" and not understand that nothing musically develops in a void. Is this person seriously hearing no Sabbath elements in Kyuss at all?! But we here at MA are the uninformed ones? Do me a favour!!
Invocation - "The Archaic Sanctuary" (Ritual Body Postures) (2024)
What the fuck is going on in Chile nowadays? It must be something in the water or the mountin air! They seem to have captured the spirit of extreme metal better than almost any other local scene on the planet as we hit the 21st century's quarter-way mark. Churning out album after glorious album of extreme metal nirvana, the area of Chile centred on the capital Santiago and nearby Valpairiso leads the vanguard of the world's Trve Metal Hordes seeking to conquer the despised Legions of the False. OK, all good-natured hyperbole aside, there is definitely a healthy and burgeoning metal scene centred around Chile's capital that is currently pumping out some of the most exciting and aggressive metal to be found on the planet, in my opinion.
Invocation are yet another relatively new band throwing their hat into that swirling maelstrom of a scene with this their debut full-length, which follows a couple of EP's released in 2018 and 2020. They are a three-piece from Valparaíso, the three members only going by aliases, bassist Sense of Clairvoyance, drummer Sense of Clairaudience alongside guitarist and vocalist Sense of Premonition. Unusually for the chilean scene, the three don't appear to be members of at least five other bands, with Invocation being their only outfit from what I can tell (but who knows).
The Archaic Sanctuary is a fairly brief affair, it's eight tracks clocking in at under 35 minutes, with most hovering around the four minute mark. Invocation play a traditional form of death metal, but one that has a sharp-edged savagery derived from blackened edges with an overall filthy tone and a demonic darkness that reminds me somewhat of war metal aesthetics, albeit slower and cleaner. The riffs are heavily distorted buzzbombs that come thick and fast, varying from ripping burnups to hulking, mid-tempo, chuggier affairs. The solos are fairly functional with no self-indulgence or flashiness to distract the listener from the relentless assault the riffs are subjecting them to. Drum-wise, Sense of Clairaudience has a busy and energetic style with an impressive array of blasts and fills at his disposal and a ready willingness to deploy them, but despite the manic energy he displays, he doesn't swamp the riffs. Possibly the snare is a little too present at times and may occasionally distract, but not that much and it certainly isn't a big deal. The vocals are probably the most black metal aspect of the sound, with a harsh, barking roar that reminds me of Marduk's Legion and which sharpens up the bludgeoning edge of the guitar tone and the drum battery.
In truth The Archaic Sanctuary doesn't do much that most extreme metalheads haven't heard before and may leave those seeking the latest Ulcerate-worshipping opus being dismissive, but this is a band who understand the fundamentals of extreme metal and who have served up a withering and pummelling experience for any ardent moshpit denizen to lose their shit to in the knowledge that it will not let up even for a second.
4/5
Coffin Curse - The Continuous Curse
Coffin Curse are a chilean duo comprising guitarist, vocalist and bassist, Max Neira and drummer Carlos Fuentes. Both are members of Lovecraftian death metallers, Inanna and although this is my first exposure to CC, I am quite a fan of Inanna (and chilean metal in general), so positive vibes all round going in. The Continuous Curse is the duo's sophomore full-length, coming four years after the debut, a significant amount of that time presumably taken up working on Inanna's 2022 album, Void of Unending Depths, before they could get to work on this.
The Continuous Nothing is forty-odd minutes of energetic, old-school death metal with a no-frills approach and as such, is exactly my cup of tea. I like CC's unfussy approach here, they just get on with delivering bludgeoning riffs backed up by really solid rhythm work. The basswork is thick and well presented in the mix, as is quite often the case with chilean metal of all genres, while Carlos' drumming is a big feature, being busy with all manner of fills and blasts, whilst mainting excellent timing and driving the tracks along at a fair old clip.
Max's guitar work is mostly about the riffs. To be sure there are solos, but they aren't really that big a deal, they are decent enough, but are functional and are not an aspect that particularly stands out. Producing riffs is most definitely what Max is about and at this he is very accomplished indeed, the album's runtime being absolutely chock full of 'em. The album has an inbuilt aggressiveness about it that leans towards the early brutal death metal bands, but the riffs also have a melodic accessibility alongside a fair bit of tremolo riffing that tempers that brutality somewhat and which, combined with a "looser" approach ensures that it sits well within the realm of the old-school rather than the brutal. Max's vocals are in the deep, gurgling, growling style with which I am sure we are all familiar, but which he delivers with conviction.
So, overall, The Continuous Nothing delivers no surprises to anyone even remotely interested in death metal. But Max Neira is an astute writer of riffs and the duo's delivery brings out the best of a tried and tested formula that is admirably heavy and threatening-sounding. If you are just looking for some good, old-fashioned death metal for a headbanging frenzy session then Coffin Curse have the prescription you need, but if you are looking for challenging brain food instead, then maybe look elsewhere.
I have settled on a 3.5/5 rating, but I was constantly wavering between that and a four, so decided to err on the side of caution.
Monolithe - Black Hole District (2024)
Black Hole District is french doomsters Monolithe's tenth album and marks yet another step in the band's musical and conceptual development. There is a narrative structure to the album, with the story taking influence from science fiction sources such as Blade Runner and Dark City. The story's protagonist, living on an Earth that faces annihilation due to the Moon having left it's orbit and falling inwards towards the planet, discovers, by a convoluted series of events, that he is in reality an android, not a human and this discovery looks set to cost him his life as the powers-that-be seek to terminate him for his knowledge.
The band have always made a "thing" of the track timings on their releases, which ties into their concepts, with Black Hole District's ten tracks alternating between one-minute instrumentals and exactly ten-minute long main tracks. Thankfully, as is always the case with the band, the specificity of the track timings doesn't feel forced and they never feel over-extended or truncated to accomodate these timings. I have a feeling that the band see themselves as storytellers every bit as much as musicians nowadays and, to this end, they have incorporated even more progressive elements into their music to the point where the progressive and the doomy are now held in perfect balance. This balance allows them the freedom to convincingly weave epic science-fiction tales without compromising on the inate heaviness of death doom metal, which is still, despite all the progressive flourishes, the heart and soul of Monolithe's sound.
A new element they have brought in, presumably specific to this story, is 80's style synths, in particular they have used the Yamaha CS-80 popularised by Vangelis, who is particularly influential here, especially (but not exclusvely) on the one-minute interludes which act as intros to the five main tracks, each one sounding like a snippet from the Greek's Blade Runner soundtrack. They have also brought in guest vocalist Frédéric Gervais of french progressive black metallers Orakle to provide clean vocals alongside new guitarist and vocalist Quentin Verdier's deathly growls, which gives the album a nice textural variation, vocally. Alongside the vocals a number of spoken word sections serve to advance the story and act as introductions to the events of the main tracks.
All this is the vision of the main man behind Monolithe, guitarist and keyboard player, Sylvain Bégot, who is the person solely responsible for all the band's songwriting and lyrics since their earliest days. I think that Sylvain's single-minded control of the artistic input imparts a cohesive consistency to Monolithe's output that may have become diluted by more diverse inputs. It has been obvious since the first album that, similarly to Ivar Bjørnson with Enslaved, Bégot's vision has always been beyond the boundaries of the genre conventions within which he works, even as he has no wish to completely set those conventions aside. He has now become exceedingly effective in how he weaves the doom and progressive aspects together and produces legitimately progressive doom metal as a result, with very few peers in the field. He is now able to convincingly produce a cinematic version of doom metal, that is able to impart the emotional and atmospheric highs and lows of great cinema. The poignancy of the closing track, "Those Moments Lost in Time", for example, is heart-wrenching, despite the heavy, looming main riff, as it references the Blade Runner death scene of Rutger Hauer's Roy Batty.
Black Hole District may not be unrelentingly heavy enough for some death doom acolytes, but for doomsters who love a cinematically conceptual tale, musically well-told with exemplary musicianship and songwriting then Monolithe are very much at the head of the pack. Although Blood Incantation will take all the plaudits for 2024 in this field for their new album, I don't think anyone should dismiss Black Hole District's claim to progressive extreme metal's science fiction concept album of the year.
4.5/5
Just watched these videos and, sadly, I'm not really that surprised. So many people on social media wish to project an image of themselves that is duplicitous, why wouldn't it infect the extreme metal world too? Like the guys on the videos say, it's not that the drummers in question are poor musicians in the first place - I wish I was one tenth as talented - but society demands perfection whether in looks or ability, so dishonesty has become the norm. 95% is no longer good enough, 101% is the minimum requirement now that everyone is under the microscope.
What is really sad is that knowing they are being duplicitous must have a detrimental effect on their esteem and mental well-being.
Advertising and marketing are not my strengths I'm afraid, Daniel. In fact I see them as one of the many contributors to modern society's ills. I don't use social media either - I have never been on Twitter, Facebook or any of the other social media sites and neither do I want to. I guess The Fallen playlist will have to stand or fall on it's own merits, then.
I was wondering if the changes to the monthly playlist aesthetics and compilation techniques had led to any improvement in the consumption on Spotify. Does anyone have any feedback?
Hi Ben, could you add Scottish drone metal duo Unkirk please.
Here's a Bandcamp link to their one and only album:
Some brief notes and comments on this month's playlist:
1. Candlemass - "Born in a Tank" (from "Candlemass", 2005)
One of my favourites from Candlemass' great 2005 return-to-form album. Some uptempo epic shit to get us going!
2. Moonspell - "Wolfshade (A Werewolf Masquerade)" (from "Wolfheart", 1995)
I recently checked out Moonspell's "Night Eternal" album and enjoyed it massively, so I thought I would dig a bit deeper and that resulted in this catching my attention from their debut, particularly the guitar work in the latter part of the track.
3. Reverend Bizarre - "Doom Over the World" ( from "II:Crush the Insects", 2005) [suggested by Vinny]
An old Rev Biz classic suggested by Vinny. I love this track, being compelled to nod my head and tap my foot whenever I hear it, so no complaints from me!
4. Anathema - "Cries on the Wind" (from "Eternity", 1996) [suggested by Sonny]
I have been spending a little time filling in the gaps in my listening of the Fallen charts here on Metal Academy and "Eternity" was one of the highest-rated releases I hadn't heard, so I had to put that to rights, with this penultimate track being the one to especially stand out. A real melancholy, creeping-under-the-skin cracker this one with a cool guitar solo.
5. Ministry – “Filth Pig” (from “Filth Pig”, 1996) [suggested by Daniel]
I honestly didn't think Ministry were capable of producing a track as great as this. Good pick Daniel, count me impressed. Sickly, crawling industrialised sludge - sounds like the description of the UK river network!
6. Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas - "The Wreck of the S.S. Needle" (from "Mariner", 2016) [suggested by Sonny]
Another great discovery from my Fallen charts completionist project. Obviously I am familiar with CoL, but I thought Julie Christmas was a stand-up comedienne! As atmospheric as we have come to expect from the band, but Ms. Xmas adds an extra dimension and they sound even more menacing and ominous than usual. A top discovery.
7. Shape of Despair – “Monotony Fields” (from “Monotony Fields”, 2015) [suggested by Daniel]
I am well familiar with this as I bought a digital copy from Bandcamp when it came out and I am always up for some funeral doom, especially as performed by experts like SoD. Another nice pick from Daniel as Monotony Fields is often overlooked in favour of the first two albums, but is a great listen nonetheless.
8. Eyehategod – “Blank” (from “Take as Needed for Pain”, 1993) [suggested by Daniel]
Another album I have become well acquainted with over recent years. Desolate, bleak sludge that comes from a place of pain and frustration. A top example of real sludge metal with loads of hardcore attitude.
9. Castle Rat - "Dagger Dragger" (from "Into the Realm", 2024) [suggested by Vinny]
I have had this on my "to listen" list for a little while, so thanks to Vinny for nominating this one. Nice, catchy chunk of trad doom that reminds me very much of Jess and the Ancient Ones' "Astral Sabbat". Good enough to see me checking out the album at some point I think.
10. The Flight of Sleipnir - "Vingthor" (from "Nature's Cadence", 2024) [suggested by Sonny]
I selected this for submission as I bought the album on vinyl and have been playing it a fair bit over the last few weeks. This is my favourite and a nice indication of where thay are now.
11. Earth – “German Dental Work” (from “Demo 1990”, 1990) [suggested by Daniel]
Much as I love some of Earth's work, the lack of production quality of a demo recording does them absolutely no favours.
12. Grin - "Torre del Serpe" (from "Hush", 2024)
I love the riff on this, although the song is a bit too brief and is over just as it really gets good.
13. Sporae Autem Yuggoth - "Disguise the Odius Spirits" (from "...However It Still Moves", 2023)
I'm always a sucker for some Lovecraft-themed doom metal, so when that also involves a relatively new chilean death doom crew then I am doubly interested. Hulking and ominous-sounding old-school death doom that isn't innovative, but that is still very atmospheric and heavy. Could do with a bit more bottom end though (unless it's my headphones).
14. In the Woods... - "The Recalcitrant Protagonist" (from "Pure", 2019) [suggested by Sonny]
This is from my favourite In the Woods... album since their debut and I have been giving it a fair bit of airtime over the last couple of month's, so thought a track from it would be in order. I love the epic melancholic feel of this track and this is how gothic metal should sound.
15. Pallbearer - "Cruel Road" (from "Heartless", 2017) [suggested by Vinny]
One of Pallbearer's best tracks since the debut album. A nice warm up for a dive into the new album.
16. Dystopia - "Sleep" (from "The Aftermath", 1999) [suggested by Sonny]
I've been getting well into Dystopia just lately. Noisy, pissed-off sludge, just as it was originally meant to be.
17. Toadliquor – “Fratricide: A Requiem” (from “Feel My Hate - The Power Is the Weight - R.I.P. Cain”, 1993) [suggested by Daniel]
This is another sludge metal release I have got more into over the last year or two, so it's good to see a track from it getting nominated here. I like to round the playlists off with some dark shit and this certainly fulfills that criteria. It's pretty fucking heavy too.
18. Yith - "centuries of horror" (from "dread", 2016) [suggested by Sonny]
A seriously overlooked blackened doom outfit who are one of the best in the field. This just exudes horrifying, misanthropic menace and is a genuine black metal / doom hybrid and, I think, a good way to end the playlist.
I have a couple of suggestions for January if you want them, Daniel, but it's fine if you don't have space:
Kanonenfieber - "Gott mit der Kavallerie" (from "Ausblutungsschlacht", 2024)
Nile - "The Underworld Awaits Us All" (from "The Underworld Awaits Us All", 2024)
I can fit the Kanonenfieber track but not the Nile one Sonny. Do you want to be included in next month's time allocations? If so then I'll reduce everyone's time limits to 30 minutes each. Let me know ASAP.
Yes please, Daniel, if it isn't a problem.
As you know, Daniel, I am a relatively new acolyte of The Horde and I don't have enough long-term, in-depth knowledge of the genre to confidently negotiate the dividing lines between the different sub-genres, so I tend to stick with the consensus as far as tagging goes. Your unwillingness to tag Unquestionable Presence as tech-death may well explain why it appeals to me so much, when I struggle with most technical metal, especially technical death metal. I am much more well-disposed to progressive death metal, however and am more than happy to go along with a prog-death tag.
When I started upping my death metal consumption in order to expand my knowledge of the genre and pave the way for acceptance into The Horde a couple of years ago, along with Death, Atheist jumped out at me with regards to the tech-death sub-genre of which I had previously been wary (and still am to some degree). "Unquestionable Presence" is one of my absolute favourite metal albums, not just tech-death or even just death metal, but metal as a whole. Anyway, here is my review:
As I have iterated before on many occasions, I am not a fan of technical death metal (or tech-thrash either for that matter) but my experiences with Atheist have been nothing but incredibly positive. The reason for this, I think, is that these guys don't make the technicalities of their music the be all and end all, but rather they make the jazz elements and their technical expertise work to enhance the high quality death metal that they produce. I mean, these guys produce absolute killer riffs, some of which still contain a deal of thrashiness, such as the main riff on the title track, or on The Formative Years, and that is what I want to hear when I listen to a death metal album - riffs, riffs and more riffs... oh and a certain degree of brutality, another aspect of their sound that is well and truly taken care of. So with that aspect of their songwriting sorted they then give themselves license to enhance and elaborate upon their ideas with jazz-influenced sections, multifarious time changes and displays of technical skill a great deal of their contemporaries could only marvel at, I suspect.
The drumming and basswork are superb and sound fantastic, Tony Choy's bass playing in particular is impressive as he weaves his basslines in and out of the sound, at times in step with drummer Steve Flynn like conjoined twins, such as during the technical sections of An Incarnation's Dream where the two combine to weave musical magic. Kelly Shaefer has a pretty mean death growl, not so deep and rumbling as some, but with a nice vicious snarl to it. Shaefer and Rand Burkey also turn in some mean solos that howl and squeal nicely but, man, I just can't get over them riffs.
At a mere 33 minutes this may appear to be quite a slight album, but Atheist just pack so much into it that it is more than enough to sate the appetite. In fact I would argue that knowing when to stop is also a lost art amongst too many modern metal acts who insist on issuing bloated hour-plus efforts that can oftimes test the patience and I, for one, would much rather have half an hour of this level of quality. So, first and foremost, Unquestionable Presence is a top-drawer death metal album with enough brutal-sounding riffs to stop a charging rhino, but Atheist held ambition enough not to be satisfied with "just" that, they further employed their technical prowess and songwriting skill to push the boundaries of what death metal could be and can justifiably be considered one of the seminal bands (along with Chuck Schuldiner's Death) of the technical death movement. I'm just not sure if the later acolytes of Atheist always concentrated on writing brilliant death metal songs first and foremost like the massively impressive Floridians did, so for me, this is one of the absolute premier tech-death albums and, despite my reticence regarding tech-death generally, I could listen to this all day long.
5/5
Checked out the playlist whilst working in the garage earlier today. Another nice list, Vinny, thanks a lot.
Some "new to me" bangers on this one - the new Destruction, Acid Force, Enforced, Lich King and two of the best were left for last with Urn and Ragehammer both killing it. I had originally nominated Altar of Sacrifice for next month, so that's obviously a real winner for me, along with Indians (it's always good to hear tracks from Among the Living) and Sodom. I love the Antiverse album, so their's was a winner. The Sepultura track was pretty good as well - I've never listened to them post-Max, so maybe it's time for that to change. Extol was the only track that did nothing for me, so all-in-all a very successful list that has turned up some new discoveries for me to check out.
Thanks Sonny, that Sepultura album is the Feature for The Pit this month.
Oh, right. A good opportunity to check it out then.
Checked out the playlist whilst working in the garage earlier today. Another nice list, Vinny, thanks a lot.
Some "new to me" bangers on this one - the new Destruction, Acid Force, Enforced, Lich King and two of the best were left for last with Urn and Ragehammer both killing it. I had originally nominated Altar of Sacrifice for next month, so that's obviously a real winner for me, along with Indians (it's always good to hear tracks from Among the Living) and Sodom. I love the Antiverse album, so their's was a winner. The Sepultura track was pretty good as well - I've never listened to them post-Max, so maybe it's time for that to change. Extol was the only track that did nothing for me, so all-in-all a very successful list that has turned up some new discoveries for me to check out.
Unfortunately, I have never got to grips with "Transcendence into the Peripheral". It's been a long time since I last tried so maybe it's due a revisit, but I found it to be very disappointing on previous occasions.
That fact has always very much surprised me Sonny as "Transcendence into the Peripheral" was nothing short of life-changing for me personally & seems like something that is tailor made for your taste profile. It's never been surpassed as the best doom/death release I've ever heard & the influence it's had on many of the current crop of bands is as clear as day. Each to their own though of course.
Yes, exactly Daniel. I am as perplexed as you are as to why it has never resonated with me because, as you say, it seems to be exactly my sort of thing on paper. I really need to try again, because I am not one of those who dogmatically sticks to his guns and I would love to join the party. There are just so many people whose opinions I respect who love that album that I know the problem is mine alone.
Oranssi Pazuzu - Muuntautuja (2024)
I really don't know how to tag Oranssi Pazuzu anymore. The avant-garde metal tagging assigned to their latest seems a bit of a cop-out for material that sits outside the scope of existing genre understandings, especially as I generally find avant-garde metal to be unlistenable, which this patently is not. But, in reality, I can't currently come up with anything more appropriate. It seems that these Finns are so far ahead of their time that it is questionable if their music is even earth-based anymore, sounding like the kind of stuff I would expect them to be listening to in the more unsavoury areas of the gigantic space orbitals of Iain M. Banks' twenty-fifth century Culture civilization.
The black metal aspect of their sound is merely vestigial at this point, surviving only in the harsh, shrieked vocals and the psychedelic element so prevalent on their last couple of albums is also consigned to history for the most part. I always felt that the psychedelic component gave them a bit of warmth and even hope, but Muuntautuja feels like a more depersonalised and bleak affair. Oranssi Pazuzu have leant heavily into atmospherics for some time now, but here they go even further, taking elements of noise, sludge, electronica and drone to weave tracks that are all about the texture and atmosphere rather than any kind of song and, as such, are far more akin to post-metal than they have been before. Atmospherically, Muuntautuja gives off dystopian sci-fi vibes within a threateningly malevolent industrial landscape, sounding as if influenced by the more pessimistic science fiction writers such as Phillip K. Dick and William Gibson, in whose worlds the overly mechanised "system" oppresses the spirit of those living under it.
The opener "Bioalkemisti" kicks off with a throbbing drum and bass line accompanied by Juho Vanhanen's throat-shredding shrieks and from the very beginning it is evident that things have taken a turn for the darker. Frantic riffing and siren-like synths join the affray and the track becomes more and more apocalyptic and menacing with machine-like industrial stylings that scream "Dystopia". The title track feeds further into this narrative with it's trip-hop beats and spacey electronic embellishments, especially when the robotic spoken word section kicks in early on, dehumanising the atmosphere even more before it explodes in a frustrated-sounding, heavier, sludgy industrial second part. I don't want to do a track-by-track runthrough, but highlight the content of the first two tracks to try to impart some flavour of what to expect from Muuntautuja. The heavier sections are loaded on bass and distortion which pushes the instrumentation in a noise-driven direction, with a favourite trope here being overlaying these heavy sections with a tinkling piano and Juho's manic shrieks. The lighter electronic parts are based on hypnotic, industrialised beats that can occasionally come off as almost ritualistic, as if in praise of some almighty Machine God and I feel that the layering of these heavier and lighter sections is fundamental to the success of the album. Pacing and tempo also varies massively from hulking, sludge and drone-like parts to frantic blasts of unhinged mania that provide further stark contrasts in atmospherics.
Ultimately, no amount of words I can spew on to this page will give you an adequate picture of what Oranssi Pazuzu have served up with Muuntautuja, so you owe it to yourself to fire it up and experience the album firsthand. I must admit I am unsure where to place this in OP's discography. I think it is an endlessly fascinating release that has seen yet another redefinition of the band's sound, but is it better than the amazing Värähtelijä and Mestarin kynsi albums? For the time being I am going to proffer a "no", but that does not by any means infer that I don't like this, because I love it. It's just that I am unsure how much just yet. One thing is for sure, every new Oranssi Pazuzu release is an event worth getting yourself up for.
4.5/5
My updated list looks like this:
01. Pig Destroyer – “Natasha” E.P. (2008)
02. Ufomammut/Lento - "Supernaturals - Record 1" (2007)
03. Sunn O))) – “Black One” (2005)
04. Boris – “Boris At Last -Feedbacker-“ (2003)
05. Esoteric - "The Maniacal Vale" (2008)
06. MonumentuM - "In Absentia Christi" (1995)
07. Rosetta – “The Galilean Satellites” (2005)
08. Neurosis – “Souls At Zero” (1992)
09. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)
10. Isis – “The Mosquito Control” E.P. (1998)
Some nice choices there, Daniel. Unfortunately I have never got to grips with "Transcendence Into The Peripheral". It's been a long time since I last tried, so maybe it's due a revisit, but I found it to be very disappointing on previous occasions.
Possessed front man Jeff Beccera has also been accused of grooming a sixteen year old fan & asking her to send him nudes. He’s denying it but this has been a sad day for metal.
Unfortunately these are the signs of the times we live in. Luckily, this kind of behaviour is now treated with the disdain it should always have been and people have to face the consequences of their actions.
Abhorration - Demonolatry (2024)
First of all, thanks to Karl for putting me onto this after I asked for some death metal recs for this year.
Oslo's Abhorration are a four-piece death metal band with members (or ex-members) of bands such as Nekromantheon, Purple Hill Witch and Condor, amongst others. They play an old-school style of death metal that contains a noticeable thrash metal component, played with an infectious energy that makes it feel new and fresh, rather than a tired harking back to "olden days".
Flying straight out of the blocks, spitting fire and venom, Abhorration make their intentions known as the title track that opens the album kicks off in brutally vicious manner before settling down into a more controlled, thrashy riff. The ensuing thirty-six minutes sees them continuing in much the same manner, switching from pummelling and adrenaline-fuelled death metal blasting to groovier, and fairly melodic, thrash-like riffing with each of the six tracks taking this approach to a greater or lesser degree. Into this maelstrom, at the drop of a hat, the band throw a seemingly endless stream of searingly intense guitar solos. The soloing comes very much from the King / Hanneman school of tortured howls, only guitarists Arild Myren Torp and Magnus Garathun use them more frequently and they last longer. Magnus is also the band's vocalist, his style being a harsh, barking style that has a bit of a black metal edge to it. The rhythm section is quite busy, drummer Øyvind Kvam in particular being all over things and this increases the chaotic, seat-of-the pants adrenaline rush that most of the album's runtime provides.
The obvious touchstone for an album such as Demonolatry is early Morbid Angel and Altars of Madness more specifically, and that is a lofty parent to emulate, but I think these Norwegians have given it a good go and have produced a lively and adrenaline-fuelled blast from the past that doesn't feel out of place here in the third decade of the twenty-first century either.
4/5
I have been doing some work on my personal release-by-year lists and thought I would start sharing some of them here:
Sonny's Top Ten Releases of 1980
1. Angel Witch - Angel Witch
2. Diamond Head - Lightning To The Nations
3. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
4. Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz
5. Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
6. Motorhead - Ace of Spades
7. Witchfynde - Give 'Em Hell
8. Saxon - Strong Arm of the Law
9. Saxon - Wheels of Steel
10. Budgie - Power Supply
For January please Sonny:
Neon Nightmare - "Promethean Gift" (from "Faded Dream", 2024)
Black Oath - "Wicked Queen" (from "To Below and Beyond", 2022)
Just checked out that Neon Nightmare track during some preparatory listening and it is incredible. Now that is what Type O Negative could have done if they didn't fuck about so much.
Good call regarding Bill Ward, Morpheus. I don't think he gets anything like enough credit. He was heavily influenced by jazz drummers I believe, which I think you can often hear in his playing style and classic Sabbath wouldn't be the same without him.
Here's the latest update to my top ten:
1. Warning - Watching from a Distance (2006)
2. Candlemass - Nightfall (1987)
3. Esoteric - A Pyrrhic Existence (2019)
4. Solstice - New Dark Age (1998)
5. SubRosa - More Constant Than the Gods (2013)
6. Hell - III (2012)
7. Evoken - Quietus (2001)
8. Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version (1993)
9. Winter - Into Darkness (1990)
10. Ahab - The Call of the Wretched Sea (2006)
To date, I haven't been adding 7 inch vinyl releases, mostly due to the huge amount that have no covers and no ratings on RYM. It's also unclear as to whether many of them are considered to be singles or EPs. Once I finish adding all metal albums and non-7 inch EPs with 50 or more votes from all years, I'll look a bit further into them.
OK Ben. No problem at all, I was just wondering that's all.
1. Messa - Close (2022)
2. Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper (2017)
3. Bell Witch - Four Phantoms (2015)
4. Kowloon Walled City - Container Ships (2012)
5. Neurosis - Through Silver In Blood (1996)
6. Candlemass - Nightfall (1987)
7. Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus (1986)
8. Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction (2012)
9. Triptykon - Melana Chasmata (2014)
10. Sub Rosa - More Constant Than the Gods (2013)
Excellent picks Vinny. I should probably update my own list, it has been over three years and I'm sure there must have been some movement there.
Hi Ben, is there any reason that Anathema's "We Are the Bible" EP isn't on the site? Is it because of the short length?
I have a couple of suggestions for January if you want them, Daniel, but it's fine if you don't have space:
Kanonenfieber - "Gott mit der Kavallerie" (from "Ausblutungsschlacht", 2024)
Nile - "The Underworld Awaits Us All" (from "The Underworld Awaits Us All", 2024)
Does anyone have any good death metal recs for 2024 that I should check out before year's end?
2. Darkthrone - It Beckons Us All
I can't place my finger on it but just cannot get into the latest Darkthrone. I have loved everything they have done recently but cannot get my head around this one. Had a fair few spins of it too. Could be that I am a bit tired of the format/style now and it needs some variety to jazz it up for me. I keep trying though.
As with any end of year list, my focus is never really on new releases anymore and so I can only vouch for a handful of those (Civerous, Coffins, Ponte del Diavolo and Darkthrone). Prob should check a few of those out that I missed (The Obsessed, Hamferð and Spectral Voice).
I'm a total and unapologetic Darkthrone fanboy (or fangrandpa if you will), so I totally understand others not being into them as much as me. I would only bother with the Obsessed album if you really like them already, Vinny, because it's not all that special to my ears. Hamferð and Spectral Voice are both worth a listen though.
Nice pick with Black Oath, Vinny. They are a seriously underappreciated italian trad doom crew who deserve more exposure.
My suggestions for January, Vinny:
Exodus - "A Lesson in Violence" (from "Bonded By Blood", 1985)
Kreator - "Awakening of the Gods" (from "Flag of Hate" EP, 1986) - Bonus track on "Pleasure To Kill" on Spotify
Pentagram Chile - "Spell of the Pentagram" (from "The Malefice - Disc 2", 2013)
Slayer - "Altar of Sacrifice" (from "Reign in Blood", 1986)
Vulture - "Death Row" (from "Sentinels", 2024)
How weird that Altar of Sacrifice is on December's playlist - what are the chances. Could you change my pick to "Jesus Saves" instead, Vinny please. I have always considered the two as being inextricably linked together anyway.
My updated picks of the year so far:
1.Ataraxie - Le déclin
2. Darkthrone - It Beckons Us All
3. Scald - Ancient Doom Metal
4. Mourning Dawn - The Foam of Despair
5. The Flight of Sleipnir, - Nature's Cadence
6. Ponte del Diavolo - Fire Blades From the Tomb
7. High on Fire - Cometh the Storm
8. Spectral Voice - Sparagmos
9. Tzompantli - Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force
10. Thou - Umbilical
11. Ufomammut - Hidden
12. Altar of Betelgeuze - Echoes
13. Civerous - Maze Envy
14. Coffins - Sinister Oath
15. Arð - Untouched by Fire
16. Saturnalia Temple - Paradigm Call
17. Hamferð - Men guðs hond er sterk
18. Grey Skies Fallen - Molded by Broken Hands
19. The Obsessed - Gilded Sorrow
20. Acid Mammoth - Supersonic Megafauna Collision
I am one of those guilty of sleeping on the Pallbearer album. Since their top-drawer debut album every subsequent release seems to have got less and less heavy as they become more doomgaze-y - a style I am not particularly fond of. There seems to be a lot of buzz around this latest, though, so I will have to check it out I guess.
Is it possible that you could post a couple of links, Daniel, because I'm intrigued to see what you mean.
My suggestions for January, Vinny:
Exodus - "A Lesson in Violence" (from "Bonded By Blood", 1985)
Kreator - "Awakening of the Gods" (from "Flag of Hate" EP, 1986) - Bonus track on "Pleasure To Kill" on Spotify
Pentagram Chile - "Spell of the Pentagram" (from "The Malefice - Disc 2", 2013)
Slayer - "Altar of Sacrifice" (from "Reign in Blood", 1986)
Vulture - "Death Row" (from "Sentinels", 2024)
December 2024
1. Candlemass - "Born in a Tank" (from "Candlemass", 2005)
2. Moonspell - "Wolfshade (A Werewolf Masquerade)" (from "Wolfheart", 1995)
3. Reverend Bizarre - "Doom Over the World" ( from "II:Crush the Insects", 2005) [suggested by Vinny]
4. Anathema - "Cries on the Wind" (from "Eternity", 1996) [suggested by Sonny]
5. Ministry – “Filth Pig” (from “Filth Pig”, 1996) [suggested by Daniel]
6. Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas - "The Wreck of the S.S. Needle" (from "Mariner", 2016) [suggested by Sonny]
7. Shape of Despair – “Monotony Fields” (from “Monotony Fields”, 2015) [suggested by Daniel]
8. Eyehategod – “Blank” (from “Take as Needed for Pain”, 1993) [suggested by Daniel]
9. Castle Rat - "Dagger Dragger" (from "Into the Realm", 2024) [suggested by Vinny]
10. The Flight of Sleipnir - "Vingthor" (from "Nature's Cadence", 2024) [suggested by Sonny]
11. Earth – “German Dental Work” (from “Demo 1990”, 1990) [suggested by Daniel]
12. Grin - "Torre del Serpe" (from "Hush", 2024)
13. Sporae Autem Yuggoth - "Disguise the Odius Spirits" (from "...However It Still Moves", 2023)
14. In the Woods... - "The Recalcitrant Protagonist" (from "Pure", 2019) [suggested by Sonny]
15. Pallbearer - "Cruel Road" (from "Heartless", 2017) [suggested by Vinny]
16. Dystopia - "Sleep" (from "The Aftermath", 1999) [suggested by Sonny]
17. Toadliquor – “Fratricide: A Requiem” (from “Feel My Hate - The Power Is the Weight - R.I.P. Cain”, 1993) [suggested by Daniel]
18. Yith - "centuries of horror" (from "dread", 2016) [suggested by Sonny]
Secondly, the thread loads really quickly for me (a couple of seconds per page). I can't see any issue, either on my PC or my phone.
I've just visited the main forum page for The Guardians & it took 32 seconds to completely load up so there's definitely something going on Ben, at least there is for me.
Like Ben, I have no issues with slow loading speeds on either tablet or laptop for most pages except for those under the "Releases" main tab, which can take 30 seconds or more.
Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac (1983)
I first became acquainted with Exciter around the middle of 1985 when I picked up a copy of a Music For Nations comp, Hell Comes to Your House, from my local record emporium. That compilation changed my metal-listening life for ever. It wasn't because of Exciter's Violence and Force which was track two (or even Manowar's Blood of my Enemies which opened the album and which I already knew), no it was the opener of side two, Metallica's Creeping Death which shattered my worldview on what heavy metal meant. I fucking hammered that track over and over, at least until I got a copy of Ride the Lightning anyway and then I fucking hammered that too! Sadly for Exciter that meant they never really got a look in and were just "some other band on that comp with Creeping Death on" and so I never really paid them much mind.
So let's fast forward the best part of forty years and now I'm here finally giving Canada's speed metal trailblazers' debut album the attention it properly deserves. Originally going by the clunky moniker Hell Razor, they later took their permanent name from the classic Judas Priest track and that's a decent choice because the track Exciter does bear a lot of the hallmarks that Exciter the band were going for. They play high energy, get-out-of-our-way speed metal that may sound quite generic now, but considering this was released in '83 there wasn't a huge amount of stuff in similar vein before it. Taking inspiration from NWOBHM bands like Venom, Maiden, Diamond Head and, of course, Motörhead tracks like Overkill and The Hammer, Exciter just wanted to crank it up and strive for a kind of extremity by playing as fast as they possibly could.
While you would get no argument from me that this was an earth-shaking release at the time of it's release, just before "Kill 'Em All" and a full six months before "Show No Mercy", it just doesn't have the kudos of others from the time. Despite it's missing link status bridging the gap between the NWOBHM and the just-emerging Bay Area thrashers, it was quickly overshadowed, thus condemning Exciter to the role of supporting characters rather than leading men. This is a great shame because there are some exhilharating tracks on offer here, "Stand Up and Fight", "Under Attack" and "Cry of the Banshee" are supercharged headlong metallic charges dessigned for god-tier headbanging action. Unfortunately, the rock 'n' roll-like nature of the title track misses the mark for me, "World War III" feels like a very lacklustre workout and the attempted epic track "Black Witch" doesn't play at all to the band's strengths.
Still, all things considered, this must be counted as a fairly important album in the history of metal, it's importance maybe being greater than it's actual quality, but it still has some really good stuff on it, even though it may occasionally fail to hit the heights or consistencies of it's contemporaries.
3.5/5
Vulture - Sentinels (2024)
I lived in ignorance of the existence of these german speedsters until getting an earful of their track "Realm of the Impaler" from this, their latest album, on the Guardians playlist for November, where it leapt out at me from amongst the stuff I wasn't already familiar with. This is the band's fourth full-length and it appears that they already have quite an enthusiastic and loyal following, which I am sure this latest will only increase.
Sentinels is an album of infectious speed / thrash metal that leans heavily towards the speed side of that equation, with a strong link back to Maiden-esque heavy metal and early USPM. There is a lively enthusiasm about Vulture that suggests a particular love for the wider culture of metal worship, beyond the mere riffs and notes and deep into the core of the band's very being. This is definitely not thoughtful and contemplative metal, rather this is metal to be experienced and lived, each track a joyful and triumphant expression of metalhood.
Hi-octane riffs, scorching solos and sing-along-at-the-top-of-your-voice choruses are the order of the day here. Vocalist Leo Steeler reminds me a fair bit of Exodus' Steven Souza with a raggedness to his normal vocals and a tendency to shift into a higher register at a moments notice. In fact early Exodus are a fitting comparison for the band as a whole, Sentinels ticking a lot of the same boxes as Bonded By Blood. The rhythm section of drummer Stefan Castevet and bassist Andreas "Irön Kommander" Axetinctör are really solid and maintain the propulsive momentum of the tracks with a tight and precise adhesion. Occasionally, especially during the solos during "Realm of the Impaler", the bass moves more to the fore and takes on a Steve Harris galloping quality, the twin guitar soloing not being the only touchstone with the Irons. The production is excellent, as is so often the case nowadays, and everybody gets to shine in their respective roles, due to top-knotch clarity.
You will be seriously struggling to find a more exhuberant celebration of metal than tracks like the aforementioned "Realm of the Impaler", "Death Row" or "Oathbreaker" and as a dyed-in-the-wool metalhead it is very difficult not to listen to Sentinels without a smile on my face and a yearning for a moshpit in my heart. An album like this reminds me very much how and why I got into metal in the first place in much simpler times, so very, very long ago.
4/5
I've gotten tired of my favourite genres a number of times through my life but it's never prevented me from coming back refreshed after some time away. Hell, I got tired of metal in general at one point & spent a decade in the techno scene before returning to it fifteen years ago & have never looked back.
I can't see me turning my back on trad doom for the long term, but sometimes it's good to take a break and allow the passion to reignite itself. It could just be that a particularly unremarkable example of the genre has exaggerated the ennui I have been feeling with the style due to overexposure and has been the straw that broke the camel's back.
The Twitter links haven't worked since Elon Musk bought them out so I can't see that being a factor. He mustn't like metal much though.
Good, that's one thing he can't fuck up then!
Sorry Sonny. I accidently deleted your post while I was scrolling on my phone half-awake. Feel free to repost it. We really should consider an "Are you sure you wanna delete this post?" prompt at some point.
It's no biggie, Daniel. My review is still there, so it doesn't much matter.
I can't help feeling though that that is exactly how the world will end. One day Putin or Trump will be scrolling through their phone half awake one morning and bleary-eyed, mistakenly pushing a little red button!
The genres that I get burnt out on include power metal, symphonic metal, and the more melodic/classic progressive metal bands. I would admit that I am trying to big up my taste in the more modern heavier genres like metalcore, industrial metal, alternative metal, the more djenty/extreme progressive metal bands, etc., but I have my own reasons for my burnout that make a valid answer to your question, Sonny. I'm just tired of the epic melody of the former category. That kind of cheese is like regular cheese, y'know. What I loved as a teen 10 years ago is less tolerable for me now as a young adult. Though I have made a couple on-off revisits in that side of my taste. It's how I felt a couple years ago when I was listening to one of the most essential bands in progressive metal, Opeth. My interest faded out when I thought they were never going to return to their heavier deathly roots after 4 albums of 70s folk-ish prog-rock. However, the future I predicted changed when their new album The Last Will and Testament came out and I gave it some listening and a review. The brutal heaviness and growls are back! And it has given me more potential to continue listening to this band in the future. So as often as it is for someone to get burnt out on some of the bands/genres they're familiar with, something can happen that might help them give it another chance...
Yeah, I doubt as if my burnout is going to be permanent Andi, but at the moment I don't think it does any good to keep returning to stuff that isn't exciting me so much anymore because then it just becomes a cycle of resentment. I'm not down on all doom metal, just the occult, traditional flavour. I am still well up for the more extreme stuff and I think part of the problem is when I go back to the traditional stuff it just doesn't give me the kick and buzz that the extreme shit does.
I am very interested in checking out the new Opeth if they have returned to their more metal roots, by the way.
OK, so this isn't exactly addressing the question in the thread title, but it is related to the subject and particularly my last comment above. I was listening to Friends of Hell's "God Damned You to Hell" a couple of days ago and if you have read my review you would have seen that I rather took against it. Now, I think most regulars here know that I have an almost obsessive love of all things doom so I was quite surprised to find that I was actually fed up of the sound of a traditional doom metal record. Not only that but the Dennis Wheatley / Hammer Horror occult aesthetics that I usually enjoy (and have since I was a boy when I read and watched both of those things) irked me greatly.
So, the question that arose in my mind was "is it possible to turn against a style of metal that you have a great fondness for if you listen to too much of it?" Now I'm not interested in people coming here to say "I only have balanced listening habits because I am so eclectic in my taste blah, blah, blah", because, frankly, I am sick of reading posts on the internet by people who just want to big up their own taste in music - a particular irritating trait of the average RYM forum poster I have found. No, what I want to know from genre specialists (or obsessives if you will) is have you ever burnt out on your favourite genres and found yourself even resenting them slightly for, essentially, still being what they always were?
Friends of Hell - God Damned You To Hell (2024)
I must admit that I am a bit disappointed that the doom metal legend that is Albert Witchfinder is no longer a friend of hell, his position as vocalist having been superceded by Nifelheim's Per "Hellbutcher" Gustavsson. However, having come to terms with the album's lack of Sir Albert, I must admit that Hellbutcher's vocal style actually suits the band's sound pretty well, not diverging that much from Witchfinder's. That sound, as you may guess from the band name which of course references Witchfinder General's second album, is a throwback style to the early days of traditional doom metal as epitomised by the likes of WG, Pentagram, The Obsessed, Paul Chain and the likes. As such, this sits very much in that area of doom metal that resides nearest to old-school, Sabbathian stoner metal with hooky riffs and catchy choruses, the album even having the audacity to begin with a tolling bell.
To be honest I have heard so many albums like this that trade on the same old traditional doom metal tropes without bringing anything new or particularly exceptional to the table that I am starting to think that maybe I have reached my lifetime limit for such genre-conforming releases and am beginning to tire of each one just a little more than the previous. There really isn't that much to say about God Damned You to Hell and if you have had your ears anywhere near the occult-themed traditional doom metal scene over the years, then I am sure you will be familiar with what is on offer here. Think Reverend Bizarre, but with considerably shorter songs or With the Dead and you would be in the right ballpark.
In all honesty, there really isn't much wrong with this if you are in the market for what they are selling, it is entertaining enough with quite catchy doom metal riffs, hokey, occult-based lyrics and some reasonable guitar solos and at one time, not so long ago, I would probably have lapped this up, but it doesn't do anything remotely special and I find myself increasingly looking towards more extreme and genuinely dark material (as opposed to the theatrical darkness displayed here) when I am seeking my doom metal fix nowadays. I have got to confess that I am feeling a bit bummed out that I have had to shit on this a bit, but I'm really not feeling it, so it is what it is.
3/5
Thou - Umbilical (2024)
There must be something skulking in those Louisiana swamps that is poisoning the water, how else can you explain the sheer vitriolic venom of the output of its premier sludge metal acts such as Eyehategod, Acid Bath and the Baton Rouge crew here in question. Thou's version of sludge metal is as confrontational and rebellious as the harcore punk that spawned it's more slothful and threatening offspring. Umbilical, conceptually and autobiographically, examines a life lived outside the accepted societal norms, but which is still constrained by an inner morality and the existential implications of living such a life. So a million miles from the wizards and dragons metalheads are stereotypically painted as being obsessed with then!
The album, I am sure it goes without saying, this being Thou we are talking about, is ludicrously heavy as you would expect. The cranky, oozing riffs are massive, hulking motherfuckers and despite really being too sharp and crunchy to truly be called crushing, they are anyway, with those ponderous drumbeats just adding extra weight and force to the mountain that has taken up residence on your chest. Meanwhile Bryan Funck unleashes hell with vocal tirades that are so savage and visceral that you fear for the longterm health of his vocal chords
This is not an album that is monolithically slow and doom-ridden, though, as the band incorporate influences ranging from death metal, metalcore, grunge and crust punk into the swirling maelstrom of misgivings that threatens to sweep the listener away like a metal tsunami of righteous indignation. "The Promise" and "Panic Stricken, I Flee" both have ridiculously catchy melodies that could have come from Alice In Chains or Soundgarden if they weren't so damn filthy-sounding and the riffs during the one-two mid-album punch of "I Feel Nothing When You Cry" and "Unbidden Guest" are as energetic as those spewed out by any young metalcore crew. The drumming towards the end of the latter is also worth special mention, it being an impressive artillery battery of percussion that sounds like a Celtic tribal warband preparing for battle and lays to rest the lie that doom metal drummers can't really play.
Of course, Thou are still capable of showing us their slower, more hulking side with "Lonely Vigil", "House of Ideas", "I Return as Chained and Bound to You" and the closer "Siege Perilous" lumbering out of the speakers with huge crashing waves of sonorous sonic devastation. This is not a sludge album that is built upon endless layers of atmospherics and build-ups in the quest for the ultimate climactic payoff, but very much refers back to the roots of sludge metal being composed of songs that have something to say, both musically and lyrically, delivered with a bruising and ascerbic irascibility that very much appeals to the contrary and grumpy old bastard in me. This is a seriously heavy record that Thou have delivered, interesting both for it's musical diversity in what can become a repetitious field and also it's lyrical and conceptual musings.
4/5
Unfortunately the Manowar cover by Edge of Sanity was a misstep
Yeah, it doesn't do anything for me either but I figured that others might like it more than myself given that I don't like the original & it seems to be regarded as the best song from Manowar's most popular album. Interestingly, one of my work mates listens to this playlist religiously & he mentioned that track as his highlight this month which surprised me.
I don't much care for Manowar, but I bought Hail To England on vinyl when it came out on the strength of having heard "Blood Of My Enemies" somewhere and it remains my favourite Manowar album. I am surprised that the cover fails so badly though, because I like the track and I really enjoyed the two Edge of Sanity albums I have heard, with me awarding Purgatory Afterglow a whopping 4.5 stars. Just goes to show, sometimes things are less than the sum of their parts! Also, I generally have a poor opinion of cover versions (where I am familiar with the original anyway) and they have to be something special to appeal to me because most songs always sound better by the person who put their heart and soul into crafting them in the first place rather than someone interpreting somebody else's work without that indefinable personal connection.