[ALBUM REVIEW] Mörbid Carnage - Night Assassins

“Night Assassins” is the blistering debut from Hungarian thrash outfit 'Morbid Carnage'. Hungary isn't a country known for thrash metal, so how do the Hungarian's fare against the deluge of other new thrash bands around at the minute? Not too shabby at all, to put it bluntly. “Night Assassins” seems a fairly short offering, clocking in at thirty six minutes, but infact only has seven tracks.

Right from the off-set, the band get straight to the point with fast riffing, cut-throat vocals and pedal to the floor drumming, if you're looking for melody and intricate technicality, then you'd be wise to look elsewhere. Overflowing with influence from the teutonic thrash coming out of Germany in the eighties, this is by no means original, as is evident from opener 'Warlust' which bears a heavy resemblance to Kreator, with the frenzied riffs and vocals which could quite easily be Mille Petrozza's. Mid-point the song disintegrates into a breakdown, but this let-up doesn't hang around for long before the intensity picks up again and the song finishes up with an exceptionally groovy riff for which you could be forgiven for nodding along to.
The style of music in the first song is pretty much par for the course for the rest of the album. 'Slaughter' is crammed with cranium nodding riffs, machine gun drumming and malevolent vocals, couple this with the flaying intesnity of 'Funeral Pyre', it's gang vocals and strapping exit riff which could easily be a lost exceprt from 'Pleasure to Kill', any fan of savage thrash will be onto a winner with this. The main problem though with this album is that it remind me so much of the 'classic' thrash metal bands that I said to myself “Sure I'll go and listen to a bit of Sodom or Kreator now”, because what Morbid Carnage make up for in sheer energy, they lack the variety and longevity their hero's possessed. Towards the end of the album it becomes a little tiresome, the blitzkrieg and battery never gives an inch. “Empty Graves” and “Deviant” have the attitude, and they have the riffs, but you can't help but say to yourself “Have I not heard this all before?”. The album does drag quite a bit at points, and none more so than “Castle in Pain”. The main fault with it is that it is far too long, it could quite easily have been sliced in half, shorter, and more to the point. It does contain some decent passages, but these just end up swallowed by the lackadaisical chugging bloating the song. If you want the perfect blueprints as to how to execute a lengthy thrash song well, look no further than Canadian's 'Vektor'. The weakest song on the album without a doubt. The title track caps the album with higher quality at least than the previous song. Shorter, with turbulent riffs, and Slayer-esque sections, and is on a whole very catchy, ending the album on a high note.

The music is right in your face, and 'Morbid Carnage' mean business, there's no denying that, but they could do with broadening their horizions, for for this is a straight up eighties thrash stampede with little originality whatsoever, not that I find that bad, many people prefer that, but if the band want more exposure then it would be a wise move to find more inspiration from elsewhere. One thing I've got to hand to them is that they aren't another Bay Area rip off, as is so common in the current 'thrash revival' which is happening, although it isn't wholly original in any sense, it is still way ahead of the bland, vapid tripe Evile and the likes are producing. I could definitely sit to this and have a few cans, but if for long term playability, it doesn't really hit the spot. One thing's for sure, they get a definite ten out of ten for effort and genuinity. I'd definitely recommend it to fans of Nocturnal, Witchtrap, Hellish Crossfire and the ilk for a listen. One thing to take into consideration for the next album though, change the damn cover art, it's incredibly clichéd, and pretty much just terrible.

65/100

Written for Archaic Magazine

Myspazz

Ronnie James Dio | 1942-2010

On the 17th March, the headlines all over the rock and metal world were of the passing of one of the
most influential and unique figures ever to grace the world of music. Ronnie James Dio, one of the worlds most dazzling frontmen lost his on-going battle with stomach cancer suddenly after apparent improvements in his health. His wife Wendy broke the news on that morning:

“Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45am 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private good-byes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever.”

When I heard the news I was gobsmacked, just as it looked like he was improving, all of a sudden we are greeted by the news no-one wanted to hear. It is immensely saddening news in a year which has already been rocked by many high profile deaths in the music scene.

Every single piece of music which Dio touched glittered. He was a performer in every aspect of the word. And much more. How many artists can boast such a legacy as he has left behind? From bringing Black Sabbath out of a pit of languid musical desperation, helping develop the modern metal sound as we know it today with Rainbow and an unrivalled solo career to boot? Not many, if any at all.

From his blues-rock beginnings in ELF in which Dio got his breakthrough, he garnered the attention of a certain Mr. Blackmore of the recently deceased Deep Purple, and together with Cozy Powell they brought about one of the most influential hard rock bands ever to have existed.
I will never forget the first day I heard that riff on the opening song of my dad's haggard copy of 'Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow'. The song in question is of course 'Man on the Silver Mountain' and one of rock's all time greats. Of course Rainbow were always Ritchie's plaything so to speak, it was always his band, but what made the first three albums so seminal were Dio's powerful and passionate vocals and enthralling live performances. When Dio left Rainbow, they were never the same. Sure they had commercial success with Bonnet and Turner, but with Dio they lost that unique sound which was soon to play a huge influence on a new style of hard-rock arriving, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.
Although the debut has a certain place in my affections, their best, and the best album Dio ever sang on in my opinion was the follow up, 'Rising'. Rising was, and still is an absolute monolith of heavy music. From the sheer vigour of the opener 'Tarot Woman' to the proto-power metal styling of the epic 'Stargazer', it remains to this day one of my favourite albums ever.

One of music's biggest injustices was the slating of Black Sabbath when Dio joined to replace Ozzy in 1980. Everyone claimed it was the end for Sabbath and refused to give them the time of day, and still do, such was the influence of Ozzy. What he did infact do with Heaven and Hell was act as a catalyst for pulling them out of the mire after two dreadful albums with Ozzy who was more interested in getting coked up. 'Heaven and Hell' is my personal favourite out of the two Dio era Black Sabbath albums, but they are both fantastic albums in their own right and deserved a lot more attention than they got.

After Sabbath, Dio began his solo project. Whereas previously Blackmore and Iommi were the string pullers,now he was able to do what he willed for once and developed the guise in which most of us heavy metal fans know him from now. And what a solo career it was, spanning from 1983 until the very day he passed, with ten solo albums under his belt, very few people can attest to having such a career as Ronnie did.

My top tracks and albums featuring Dio?

Tracks

1.Tarot Woman
2.Stargazer
3.Long Live Rock and Roll
4.Heaven and Hell
5.Last in Line
6.Man on the Silver Mountain
7.Children of the Sea
8.Holy Diver
9.Evil Eyes
10. A Light in the Black

Albums

1.Rising
2.Heaven and Hell
3.Holy Diver
4.Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow
5.Last in Line

One thing I will always regret is never getting to see Dio live. Whether it have been with Heaven and Hell or solo, I wouldn't have cared, and for that I will be forever kicking myself. Here's to one of the forerunners to Heavy Metal as we know it, one of the biggest personalities to ever grace modern music. Your legacy will never, ever be forgotten. Rest in peace Ronnie.

As a leaving note, I suggest you all watch this video.

[ALBUM REVIEW] Skyforger - Kurbads

Skyforger have finally 'hit the big time' some would say. Relatively recently they appeared on a BBC documentary about Latvian Folk music and more importantly, signed to major players 'Metal Blade' which set a lot of tongues wagging over what direction their new album would take. Metal Blade have an inconsistent roster of fantastic bands coupled with a lot of turgid, commercial metalcore. So has this affected their sound as some predicted, have they toned down their sound in conjunction with a larger label supporting them now? In short, the answer is yes.

I will readily admit, first I detested 'Kurbads' completely, it just wouldn't sit right with me. Maybe it was just I was really yearning for 'Thunderforge' or 'Latvian Riflemen', for this album is a lot different to their early material. After a bit of time, the album has grown a touch, but something still doesn't click.
The Black Metal influence has all but disappeared on this album and in it's place are rather mediocre thrash riffs and a stronger general atmosphere of traditional heavy metal than anywhere before. 'Curse of the Witch' opens the album, and I had to take a double take initially whether I was listening to Skyforger or infact Lamb of God. The guitar has been down-tuned from before, and the main riff which forms the backbone to the song has a strong whiff of 90's groove off it, and is incredibly flat and dull. The whole song to be honest is just flat out boring. The vocals have no real power in their delivery, and lack the character of their earlier material. Luckily, the whole album isn't this terrible and uninspiring though, as 'Son of the Mare', the second track proves to us. Starting out with the traditional Skyforger flutes, with bagpipes strewn throughout the song. This song is much more like the old Skyforger, but still the guitar playing is remarkably average and the man riff to the song at the beginning is so simple and drab, but eventually things get faster towards the end with a traditional duel between flute and bagpipe and the guitar picks up a bit and is fairly diverse for once. 'The Nine Headed' basically follows on with this formula. Getting this far it is hard not to remark upon how much slower the album is compared to their other efforts. Rather than being Black/Folk metal as was their sound before, 'Kurbads' is essentially a slow thrash album with folk influences here and there. The whistles and bagpipes help avoid complete mediocrity, some songs they are used to great effect, such as 'Bewitched Forest', and in some it sounds if they've been merely tacked in at the last minute, almost as if to try and remind people of their roots. The vocals stand out a little more in the mix this time as well, they aren't really any different from before, except Peter does use some questionable techniques where it ends up sounding rather comical, and the lower death growls which are sometimes heard are pretty weak. These don't appear too often thankfully. As the album gets pretty good towards the middle, it drops off again towards the end unfortunately. Songs like 'Black Rider' and 'Kurbads' are just not up to level I have come to expect from Skyforger. The production of the album doesn't help matters either, it is as if it is too 'clean' sounding or sterile. The guitar lacks vibrancy while the vocals are too loud. In all, it is exactly the production I feared.

This is still recognisably Skyforger, there's no question about that, but I keep getting a sense of them having diluted their sound slightly. The Black Metal has been all but removed while watered down thrash riffs have taken it's place. The album is extremely heavy, their heaviest to date, but it it just lacking that certain attribute which made Skyforger so unique and revered when they first appeared on the scene. The album is a decent, there are certainly worse out there, but put it against their back catalogue, it is extremely poor. For 'Kurbads' just doesn't cut it when it comes to anything near the majesty of 'Thunderforge' or flaying folkish brutality of 'Latvian Riflemen'.

If you are a fan of folk metal who has never heard Skyforger, and are drawn in by the nearest hint of an Eastern European wind instrument then by all means get 'Kurbads'. For major Skyforger fans I would suggest a little caution first before heading out to buy this. Is it a good album? Average. Was it worth the seven year wait? Definitely not.


53/100


Written for Archaic Magazine

Myspace

Hot Metal and Methedrine

I decided to post up a few photos of my ever-increasing collection of 'The Sisters of Mercy' material I have on vinyl. From my first ever vinyl purchase of 'Floodland' to now, i think it's turned into an addiction rather than a hobby. Everyone has that one band though that they would go to any length to aquire everything by, warts and all, and The Sisters would be mine. Maybe someday i will actually get around to reviewing the albums, but for now you can make do with this :D I still have along road ahead though, especially in trying to aquire 'Damage Done' and 'Body Electric' and the vast array of bootlegs that exist. Someday though.....*cackles*

[ALBUM REVIEW] Nychts/Wedard - Zwischen Leere und Nichts

Nychts

1. Zwischen Leere und Nichts

Wedard

1. Masochist
2. Winter, My Final Chapter Pt. 1

When you hear the term 'Astral Black Metal', immediately bands such as Darkspace, Limbonic Art and Paysage D'Hiver would spring to mind. Whereas Darkspace are more akin to being stuck on a desolate space barge and drifting into a stellar oblivion, Nychts remind me more of 'Moon in the Scorpio' era Limbonic Art, a psychadelic acid trip through a dark velvet void flecked with millions of tiny flickering stars. Though I would use the term 'Black Metal' loosely for Nycht's side of the split, it is much more than simply Black Metal, for the musical focus where Nychts are concerned is not based around the guitar riffing or vocals, but rather the vast spatial atmosphere Trähn is creating with the synths.
The song begins with a slow meandering guitar lead but the most notable thing is the hollow synth sound that lingers about in the background, and only very slightly changing every now and again for the first half of the song. The guitar is not used in the traditional sense as you would expect in Black Metal, it is remarkably doomy and restrained, a slow dirge with a continual mystical lead over the top, as if it was carrying you through the gargantuan galactic ocean. The vocals are extremely sparse, and there are no apparent lyrics to the song, the vocals seem to be a mere isolated wail cropping up from time to time, as if they were coming from some damned soul in another dimension. The lack of lyrics just adds to the whole mystery of the 'journey'. Around the halfway mark, the first half of the song climaxes with a rather wild solo, and the song changes from a weightless journey into a freefall, capitulating into a serene reverie for a minute or two before the second half begins with an acoustic guitar playing a sorrowful and reflective melody, and then another despondent howl erupts from the depths before the slow, distorted guitar reappears but this time playing a rather majestic, almost militaristic riff, with the vocals intertwined with a large amount of echo on them which duly sees finish of this epic, twenty minute journey. It is remarkably original piece of music on this side of the split, a Black Metal Tangerine Dream is the best comparison I can come up with, with a significant amount of focus placed upon the ambience created by the synths and echoing guitar. Trähn has created a fantastic piece of work, a cosmic journey through the stars in a galaxy in which the nearest sun has long since burned out, and the only light is that emitted from distant stars. It's only one song, but if Nychts decide to release more material in future, they could easily be up there with Darkspace and Limbonic Art in exploring the final frontier.

Wedard are a band I am quite familiar with, but have always failed to grab my attention in the way so many others of their ilk can. Sternenfrost has a penchant for releasing a lot of his material on split EPs with other bands, but as is the case here, it usually just proceeds to prove how distinctly average Wedard's material is in comparison with the other band's material on the split. From the opening notes on 'Masochist', it's your plain old 'by the book' depressive Black Metal. The production is extremely condensed and the guitars and vocals are washed with excessive reverb and buried in the mix. The songs are fairly up-tempo, helped by the brisk drumming which is the best thing about Wedard, and always has been. Programmed or not, they are executed with fine professionalism, and help to shift the rather lack lustre music along and maintain some attention. One thing about the first song that is completely off setting are the numerous breaks that appear in the song, which I assume are there to break up certain 'movements' but only succeed in making the cd sound as if it's faulty or even gives the impression of an album sampler. That's not to say it's all as stimulating as watching grass grow though, 'Winter – My Final Chapter pt 1' starts with an exquisite, softly picked tune before morphing into a ferocious charge backed up by heavy blastbeats and turbulent guitar riffing, surprisingly similar to early Immortal, with a high pitched widdling lead guitar over the top. But again the song needlessly stops for another pointless interlude, cutting short the rather fantastic beginning, and leaves you just thinking to yourself.... “why?” before continuing with an off kilter lead guitar which sticks out like a sore thumb, and ruining what would otherwise be a great song. As with most DSBM bands, the biggest influences are drawn from Burzum, and again this is the case here, for the vocals are your average Varg like shriek, that is, when you can manage to hear them when they're not buried beneath ten tonnes of off key guitar work. The riffing is also heavily generic for most of these two songs, I can barely recall any riffs except for the first half of the second song.

If Wedard stuck to the faster, brutal style showcased on their second song then they could maybe begin to go places, but as it stands, it is otherwise bog standard Suicidal Black Metal, that so many other have done before, and produced better. Wedard will have their fans though that will like the material on this split, for it doesn't differ any from the rest of their back catalogue. It isn't bad as such, it is listenable, but why listen to this when I could easily just put on Nyktalgia instead who do it so much better?
You should still definitely pick up this split though if you can, if only for the shining piece of music displayed by Nychts though. This is highly original, trance inducing Black Ambient that needs to be heard.


70/100

Wedard Nychts



Thx to Robert Sun @ Sun & Moon

[ALBUM REVIEW] Alcest - Ecailles De Lune

1. Écailles de Lune (Part I)
2. Écailles de Lune (Part II)
3. Percées de Lumière
4. Abysses
5. Solar Song
6. Sur L'Océan Couleur de Fer



Alcest are a fairly household name in the metal scene these days, their hybrid of metal and airy shoegaze propelled them to the forefront of the french metal scene back in 2007. Many black metal purists were appalled by this apparent 'wuss metal' which Neige was now producing, such a contrast it was to his humble beginnings in Mortifera and Peste Noire who admittedly produced some fantastic black metal, but nothing anywhere near the magnitude of 'Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde'.
Opinions on the album were polarized all throughout, the other side of the coin, people were lavishing praise on Neige for attempting something completely contradictory to the norm in Black Metal and refreshing in a genre otherwise fast becoming stale. Niege probably never anticipated how revered Alcest would manage to become in the following year or so. So much so infact, that 'Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde' basically spawned a new sub genre of metal on it's own, it was that groundbreaking.

Three long years have past since their seminal debut album, and finally the long awaited follow up is upon us. It has a lot to live up to, and that, and beyond, it does. The first track bears a striking resemblance to Amesoeurs, it could basically be described as a continuation of his work in said project, but sans Audrey. The shimmering guitar melodies from before are back only with that guitar tone which cult eighties post punk/shoegazers 'The Chameleons' were so synonymous with. It sounds like it could be any one of Neige's sung tracks off the Amesoeur's album, except with an added air of esoteric beauty which was present on neither the debut or Amesoeur's album. The vocals are clean and enngulf the song with a wave of sentimentality and serenity, sweeping around the guitars, as if they were trying to entrap them. The song breaks mid-point where the lead guitar, thick with reverb picks a sullen passage, an insight of what's yet to come, before moving up a gear towards the end again.

'Ecailles de Lune' part 2, in contrast to the previous song, starts out with surprisingly vicious, the drums blasting and this is the first we encounter Neige's piercing scream, which caught me off guard, as I thought he had done away with them altogether in Alcest. What's great about his harsh vocals is he doesn't over do it, unlike the demos or his work in Mortifera, as good as his vocals were, he had the tendency to strain a little too hard and ended up off key and sounding quite amateurish at points. His vocals here are perfect, and although he doesn't use his extreme vocals a lot, they're among the best in the black metal scene by a long shot. There's no shoegazey elements to be heard in this section of the song, most comparable to Peste Noire with the fast riffing and howling vocals. After a few minutes though the real beauty of this album stands out, the Black Metal dies off and the buoyant guitar picking shines down, playing an exquisite melody with an almost 'midnight' like ambience, as if each note being played were reflected off the moon and gently glimmered back while the thick, feedback laced guitar filters through, comparable to the sound of Slowdive more than anyone.

Third track, 'Percées de Lumière' previously appeared on the split with 'Les Discrets', and is a harrowing hybrid of depressive Black Metal and writhing reverberation of early nineties shoegaze. The vocals display both Neige's shrill screaming and more tranquil side, and for the non Black Metal listeners, will probably be the hardest song to 'digest' on the album. It is slightly similar to the material previously seen on the 'Le Secret' EP early on in the bands career, where we were only getting a glimpse of what was to come, but the alternation between the clean vocals are executed with a lot more maturity than the much more primitive EP. This is the closest to a 'Black Metal' song on the album.

'Abysses' is a brief interlude of swirly ambience, nothing remarkable, but could serve as the most appropriate way to split the album into it's two halves, as the second half completely drops all traces of the majestic, Emperor-esque riffing and lovelorn brutality giving way to 'Solar Song', with it's undulating, 'Cocteau Twins' like swell. More of a grower, a gradual impact rather than the immediacy of the previous songs, this is a pure shoegaze song, with the wall of distorted feedback hanging over the chiming vocals like a setting sun looming out over a twilight sky. It is a beautiful, drifter of a song, with a nonchalant haziness about it, that the genuine fans of shoegazing dream pop will appreciate more than anyone else.

Closer 'Sur L'Océan Couleur de Fer' could be none more fitting. The slow echoing guitar clothed with Neige's harmonious vocal pattern draw the curtain with a beautiful night like ambience, a musical journey to an elysian paradise befitted with only the silvery reflection of the moonlight off the ocean and romance. That is the one standout quality of this album beyond anything, the sheer romantic aura that emanates from the music. You may have heard of 'Romantic Black Metal' before, but there is no band more fitting to this term than Alcest, for what way to make the likes of music from Peste Noire and Celestia even more enchanting? But to bind it with one of the most romantic forms of modern day music of course.

One of the things that draws me to certain bands are their ability to conjure certain soundscapes subconsciously in your head, and in this field, none can rival Alcest. The multiple textures all intertwined, the hypnotic vocals, the effervescent guitar all combine to drug you into a utopian dreamstate of nostalgia, love and past affections full of dark hazy blues, pale mauves and glimmering silver. This is an album to listen to with headphones alone, and lose yourself completely and alleviate all the pangs and burdens of everyday life, even if only for a brief time.

Alcest seem to encounter a lot of comparison to Agalloch. Yes there are a few similar aspects to both bands, but Alcest are away above and beyond what Agalloch were ever capable of. Agalloch had their weakpoints, on the otherhand with Alcest, I can't honestly find one. As much as I loathe to use the word perfect when reviewing albums, this is one which deserves beyond all others I have heard this year so far. Neige has completely outdone himself, building upon that of 'Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde' and finally completed the next step in the evolution of Alcest. With how he plans to develop the sound further, one can only wait. There is no doubt now that Neige has firmly distanced Alcest from their Black Metal roots, and if there was any doubt in your mind about the debut album, then this one will only further distance you from them. This album wont change the opinions of bedroom black metal warriors everywhere, Neige never cared for these opinions anyway, why should he when it is that which he was obviously distancing himself from before? This album is a piece of sophisticated beauty emerging from a genre fast becoming stagnant with lifeless clones and banality. A seminal work of art, which you can guarantee will be copied, but doubtful ever matched.

100/100

Myspace

Professor - Academizer [ALBUM REVIEW]

1. Professor
2. Immatriculation
3. Into the Auditorium
4. Numerus Clausus

You don't come across a record with the lyrical themes about University and studying too often, so you'd be forgiven for thinking 'Professor' are a joke band. 'Academizer' is their only release and they are virtually unknown. Forgiving, this is not, the EP is an intense barbaric assault of Death Grind done the traditional method, light speed blasting, putrid gutteral growls and grinding guitar riffing. The heaviness of this record lays waste to everything that calls itself grind these days, this is grindcore paying homage to the genre's forefathers Napalm Death, Carcass and Terrorizer, but with it's own unique twist. Where as the aforementioned bands were more into their politics and thinking of fun things to do with the human anatomy, Professor are more like three discontented students who got kicked out of university, and could think of no better option to vent their anger than through a blistering piece of grind on seven inches of black wax.

Opening track 'Professor' consists of three and a half minutes of pure sonic obliteration, the guitar playing is unbelievably fast and even sometimes breaks into an almost groove like thrash riff while the vocals sound like someone dragging a sheet of plywood over a concrete floor. 'Slayer on steroids' would be an apt term to describe them. Unlike a lot of grind, each track is distinct in many ways from its predecessor, 'Immatriculation' sounds like early german thrash only doubled in speed with an underworld demon for a frontman. There is even a strong nod to early Bathory in 'Into the Auditorium' with the ragged, loose guitar riffing and feral nature to the song. Closer 'Numerus Clausus' again keeps up with very thrashy riffing, and at forty nine seconds, clearly play a section of the infamous 'Reign in Blood' riff, which I would say is more a homage to their heroes than blatant plagiarism.

Grind isn't a genre which interests me at all, apart from the main players, I tend to find a lot of it banal and brutal purely for the sake of it, but with Professor my attention didn't wane a single moment as the music is so diverse and incorporates many different styles of metal, from thrash to Black to Death. The music is surprisingly dynamic for a grind record and this is what sets it apart from the sea of other acts, it's a shame this is all the band produced as there was a mountain of potential in this release. If you're a student who is feeling the stress of exam time, and want a musical outlet to vent your frustrations, certainly let the grinding juggernaut Professor give you a hand.

83/100


Myspace

Vostok - From Lofty Peaks [ALBUM REVIEW]

1. From Lofty Peaks
2. Badbea
3. The Last Days of Autumn
4. Leaving



The Scottish black metal scene has been producing a lot of notable upcoming bands somewhat of recent times, from a scene which was basically non existent circa ten years ago. From Askival's emphatic debut last year to the 'Velvet Cacoon' idolatry of 'In Vino Veritas', it has certainly been flourishing of recent times. This short EP is from another new project, 'Vostok'. The music envelopes everything from the twisted black end of funeral doom to the antagonistic wailing of Shining and short passages of clean picking. I'm not sure sure if it is what's intended, but this EP gives me the impression of 'In the Woods' except with a shedload more malignance and shorter songs.

The first track 'From Lofty Peaks...' is an introduction, and my stance on introductions on ninety percent of black metal albums is the same, pointless and to fill up space. Although being an EP, that can be forgiven because there's no real point to trying to fill up room on one. It consists of a two minute dirge, more reminiscent of Candlemass suprisingly than anything else. Towards the middle a nifty guitar lead appears and sounds almost as if it's coming from well... a 'lofty peak' before Hamish, the lone hand behind the project, vomits out something completely incomprehensible. A very fitting introduction to the EP, although I do feel the second half could have been put to better use incorporated into another full length song instead. 'Badbea', the longplayer of the disc, starts off with a short picked section before you are blown back by the drums and riffing which can only be likened to a black metal jack-hammer, the riffing is mid-paced and ominous, and vocals an anguished howl. The pace is dropped towards the second half where the music becomes a twisted maelstrom of harrowing cries and funeral dirges. Definitely the highlight of the EP. 'The Last Days of Autumn' is a lot less direct at the beginning, a light, buoyant melody for the first half of the song before we are reintroduced to the misery of before. The main riff that sees out this song is absolutely pulverising, an undulating grind that imprisons the tortured wails buried beneath it, trapping everything in the agony. Closer 'Leaving' is suitably titled, closing out the EP, best described an occult wake drenched in feedback and filth, even more petrifying than it's predecessor.

The production I must add is extremely fitting. A clean production would completely ruin music like this, but Hamish has opted for a largely claustrophobic atmosphere, highly compressed and burying the reverberated vocals in the mix, which adds highly to the mood being conveyed. The guitars are extremely distorted and fuzzy, the traditional 'beehive in an amp' sound as is commonplace these days, and Hamish has clear talent on his guitar, a lot more than can be said for a lot of bands pertaining to this style of music. The drumming is competent enough, with a nice organic feel to it, a lot more preferable to the sterile drum machine so oft used everywhere these days. The bass is also quite distinct, which again is nice to see for a change.

All in all, this is an extremely good release, of which I can't find really anything to dislike about. If I was going to nit-pick, I would have made the first song/intro longer, but other than wishing the actual release had more material, I can find nothing wrong. Another extremely fine release for the genre from Scotland, I can't wait to see what else the genre has to offer this year.

90/100

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[ALBUM REVIEW] Soror Dolorosa - Severance

1. Beau Suicide
2. 43
3. Dare Me
4. Trembling Andrygenous
5. Thousand Clouds
6. American Chronicle


The glory days of the brooding, misery enshrouded goth music are long gone, you wont find a goth connoiseur who will try to tell you otherwise. The beginning of the nineties heralded the arrival of the synthesizer to the fore of the alternative goth scene, with the traditional sound of jangly guitars and throbbing bass finally left to languish in the netherworlds, in favour of a more dancable and arguably more commercial style of music. Bands like 'The Cruxshadows' and 'London After Midnight' opted for 'New Order' and 'Clan of Xymox' rather than the post-punk style of goth fathers 'the Sisters of Mercy'. Some bands stayed true to the old guard, but very rarely got as much notice as their knob twiddling peers. Rather than merely acknowledging the development of the new sound, many of the jackboot and leather crowd embraced the deathrock scene which was garnering a significant amount of attention at the time, a style which stayed true to the original values and ideas of the genre. 'Christian Death' paved the way in the deathrock scene and are a significant influence on the French band 'Soror Dolorosa' who debuted their EP 'Severance' late in 2009.
Suprisingly, the band have their origins firmly in the metal scene. Drummer 'Andy Julia' fronts the faerie aficionados 'Nuit Noire' currently, while previously having brief stints in 'Peste Noire' and 'Celestia'. Generally when metal musicians dabble with goth, it ends up as some overweight pseudo-operatic vocalist trying to pass themselves off as seductive, over lacklustre doom riffing, rarely do they actually ever end up producing 'real' goth music. Before hearing 'Soror Dolorosa' I was firmly of the opinion than metal musicians should keep themselves from sullying the goth tag, and keep at what they do best. I would say that opinion now is firmly open to debate.
'Beau Suicide' is the ideal opener, and if you didn't know better, you would swear blind this was lifted directly out of the late eighties. The main guitar riff is swaying and hollow with large delay, and incredibly dark and gives way mid-song to an angular jag. The vocals are exactly what you would expect, Andy clearly idolizes Rozz Williams, the vocals are sombre yet infectious. Andy has managed to capture the theatrics with which Rozz sang so well, while maintaining melody and avoiding the try hard pit into which so many end up falling in to. The basslines are thick, and stand out in the way the Sisters could make them, and as so many bands seem to forget, the bass is an extremely important part of goth. Try dancing 'Temple of Love' with the bass removed, you couldn't.
The music is extremely bleak, none more so than closer 'American Chronicle', an rather long player at over ten minutes, it contains passages of anguished vocals coupled with long passages of empty guitar echoing. 'Thousand Clouds', the most 'uptempo' song on the EP could easily be an absolute dancefloor classic with more exposure, the bassline pounds while the guitar screeches about in the background with Andy's even more distressed vocals over the top, with an added sense of urgency than before. I can imagine nothing better than swaggering about to this on a smoke filled dance floor, black aviators together with cowboy hat and boots with vodka and cranberry in hand.
This is a record which you can end up humming the basslines for hours after you've turned it off it's that catchy. This is extremely passionate music, just as detached as Christian Death and the ilk, 'Soror Dolorosa' have got the eighties goth sound down to a tee, the oscillating basslines, scratchy, jagged guitar drenched in delay, the thumping bass drum and the over the top vocals with what was so synonymous with goth when it first began. They have managed to gain quite a bit of interest so far due to this EP, but unfortunately in the wrong scene. With the band having the background the do, most of their fans seem to be from the Amesoeurs/Alcest crowd, while virtually unheard of on the goth side of the coin. I can't help but think this is hindering them, and it would be a criminal if it did, because there are so many other more famous bands out there doing the 'goth revival', but are mere second rate 'Joy Divisions'.
90/100


Myspazz

Levellers - Levelling the Land [ALBUM REVIEW]

1. "One Way" – 4:08
2. "The Game" – 3:28
3. "Fifteen Years" – 3:11
4. "The Boatman" – 5:56
5. "Liberty Song" – 4:29 (co-written by original member Alan Miles)
6. "Far From Home" - 3:22
7. "Sell Out" – 4:17
8. "Another Man's Cause" – 4:35
9. "The Road" – 4:00
10. "The Riverflow" – 3:02
11. "Battle of the Beanfield" – 3:41


The Levellers are a bunch of grubby Socialists from Brighton. In a nutshell, they don't like 'the man' and they don't like Sobriety. 'Levelling the Land' is the second album, following on from the debut 'A Weapon Called the Word'. A lot more rounded and complete than the debut, you can tell this was the sound the band were aiming for, opting for a more level balance between the punk, folk and more general rock sounds.

The album beings with a trio of songs which I feel are among the band's best material they have ever written, and if these don't grab you then maybe this album isn't your cup of tea, 'One Way' opens the album, arguably the band's 'Dearg Doom', and quite rightly so, an anthem promoting independence and free thinking and fairly straight forward in it's delivery and to the point. No abstract pretense or cryptic referencing here, Mark claims “There's only one way to life, and that's your own”. The bombastic, singalong chorus upheld by the throbbing, funk bassline make this a bona fide classic, and a perfect introduction to anyone wanting to get into this band. 'The Game' is an infectious fiddle laden jig, again with a memorable chorus, like so many other songs on this album. '15 Days' is slightly darker that the first two songs, a more sombre number about a drunk beyond redemption. Again, the fiddle playing is extremely prominent, the bass bandies about in the background while Mark delivers his simple, but animated vocals. The next few songs don't live up to the quality of the opening trio, but they're by no means bad. 'The Boatman' never really grabbed me too much, it lacks the fire with which I associate the band with. Maybe it's just because it's much more subdued than the stunning openers, but to these ears it's just a mediocre sea shanty. 'The Liberty Song' on the otherhand the Clash influence sticks out like a sore thumb, its upbeat, 'in your face' tempo and brash political lyrics pointing fingers at the powers that be would not be out of place on any seventies punk album, while 'Far From Home' is the kind of song that wouldn't be out of place playing in the background on a summer's day with a cider in hand. 'Sell Out' is heavily akin to the pounding, boot-heel pomp of 'New Model Army', again with very outspoken lyrics about modern day bureaucracy. 'Another Man's Cause' is an Anti War protest song, relevant at the time with the ongoing fighting in the Persian Gulf while the next two songs 'The Road' and 'The Riverflow' are both sweet, jovial folk-pop ditties, while simple yet discerning at the same time. The last track is the absolute stand out on the album though. A snarling, boot stomping punk anthem of anti-authoritarianism concerning the infamous incident at stone henge in 1985 where a large group of travellers were assaulted by Wiltshire Police, accused of extremely heavy handed tactics. 'The Battle of the Beanfield' is a true modern protest song, ferocious and un-relenting in a brief four minutes, it documents a piece of modern history fantastically in a handful of verses. It reeks of 'The Clash', the influence is obvious, in the lyrics as well as the music. But that's nothing to complain about is it?

This is the type of album which would have appalled many a middle class parent back in the seventies, but it wasn't a case of the band being outspoken for the sake of it, 'The Levellers' were a band with a genuine issue and opinion and stand by it to this very day, and for that they deserver utmost respect. The topics toyed with here are all still extremely relevant today, the economy, war, restriction of religion and bent politicians. 'The Levellers' were born in the wrong era, I know this will have been said many times before, but had they have been around in the sixties/seventies, they would have garnered a lot more appreciation, but they only achieved minimal success with this album, more than likely due to the grunge and nu-metal emergence of the early ninties. Teenagers didn't care for genuine world issues then, nor do they now, more concerned with 'being different' and full of angst for no apparent reason.
This isn't an album for those extremely sensitive about lyrics, nor is it album for 'Sieg Heil Sammy' who lives down the road, but I would recommend this album for anyone who appreciates music with a message, music with the fire and punch of the seventies. If you appreciate Horslips, The Pogues and The Clash, this album is a must. Grab it, get drunk and invade your neighbouring farmer's land.

80/100

Myspazz