Category: Album Review

Enthroned-Cold Black Suns

So, after reviewing Darkthrone’s Old Star last week and now having Enthroned’s latest, Cold Black Suns, drop on my desk this week, I really feel as though it would be a truly missed opportunity if both bands don’t go out on a co-headlining tour called the Decrepit Heavenly Bodies Tour.  It would totally be the smash tour of the summer (well, it would be if Darkthrone ever toured, that is).  This one is on me, guys.  You’re welcome.

This is the first album for Belgium’s Enthroned in quite a few years.  The latest album is just as black as their previous work and it really feels as though the band is going for that sweet spot lurking between black and death metal.  Subject-wise, the one is very bleak and black, but is delivered is more of a melodic, grinding sort of death metal manner musically.  It reminds me a lot of that musical space that Behemoth has occupied for quite some time.  And they do a helluva a job with it.  I found this album to be one of the more accessible and engaging death metal albums to come out so far in 2019.  I just really dug this one.  I think you might as well.

4 flip flops out of 5

 

Gaahls WYRD-GastiR-Ghosts Invited

Former Gorgoroth frontman Gaahl is one of these near-mythic personalities from the Norwegian black metal scene and he’s back with a new band entitled Gaahls WYRD.  From his one world answer “Satan.” in explaining Gorgoroth’s main influence during his infamous Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey interview to his open endorsement of church burnings to multiple convictions for assault to becoming an openly gay man in the black metal scene, Gaahl is simply one of more interesting characters to come out of the Norwegian metal scene.  The latest incarnation of Gaahl’s creative vision is still very much rooted in the black metal world, but finds his delivery of such in a much more progressive manner than his work in Gogoroth.  You’ve got about a 50/50 split between traditional black metal vocals and his more croonish regular singing voice.  Musically, there is quite a bit of this album that is extremely melodic and downright accessible.  If given an actual shot, it really feels as if this album could have some crossover appeal to fans of less extreme forms of metal.  Lyrically, this one is still rooted in the usual misanthropic themes that form most of black metal’s stomping grounds, but the many stylistic changes found throughout the album make this one an interesting listen overall.  It may not be for everyone, but I found this about as engaging an album in which Gaahl has been involved.

4 flip flops out of 5

Darkthrone-Old Star

Damn.  Album #17 for these frostbitten and blackened souls of the north.  Darkthrone’s style has come a long way from their early albums as one of the forefathers of the Norwegian black metal scene.  Whereas the music has become a little more accessible over the years and has strayed from the true formula of those early black metal traditions, the music presented here is still putridly dark and grimy.

The latest album is a brief one in length, but it’s styles are kind of all over the place.  I hear elements of the blackened crust punk sound they have embraced in recent years and also a little more of a traditional heavy metal sound overall.  At its core, however, is that same old Nocturno Culto and Fenriz collaboration that has pushed this vehicle forward for all of its years of existence.  Seriously, these guys are the Astbury/Duffy of the black metal world.  A two-man team of creativity that just keeps churning out solid music year after year.

October Tide-In Splendor Below

October Tide is one of those former side project that has since evolved into a main gig band for one of the original members.  This band started as a side gig for Jonas Renske and Fred Norrman of Katatonia.  I never really understood the purpose of this band since it sounded quite a lot like old Katatonia, but I guess it gave Fred and Jonas a death metal outlet as Katatonia evolved into a more melodic and melancholy entity over the years.  At any rate, Fred eventually left Katatonia and has since had October Tide as his main creative outlet and Jonas has left October Tide.

In Splendor Below sees October Tide ditching their old minimalist logo for this latest release and going with the new old-schoolish death metal logo for this one.  Not sure I really care for the new look, but it does kind of fit for the album enclosed.  This new platter feels a little more of an embrace of the death metal aesthetic than their previous album, Winged Waltz.  Even though this new album feels grittier and contains a bit more edge than their prior album, I still think the material doesn’t quite reach the level of quality of the previous album.  I can’t exactly pinpoint what is holding this current batch of songs back a bit, but overall, it just feels a tad rote.  Like there just wasn’t a grand bout of inspiration pushing the creation of this one.  It’s not bad.  It just feels a little middle of the road style death metal.

3.5 flip flops out of 5

Rodrigo Y Gabriela-Mettavolution

Yeah, yeah.  Settle down.  I realize this isn’t technically a metal album.  However, I would posit that Rodrigo Y Gabriela are metal as fuck.  You can feel free to disagree with this take, but you will be wrong.

So, this is album number six for this consummate guitar duo out of Mexico.  Their acoustic, flamenco-influenced instrumental albums are in a musical universe all their own.  Whereas the style is Spanish, let’s get right down to it:  the foundation of this band is metal.  Metal was a huge early influence on the young Rodrigo Y Gabriela and their first attempt at a band was actually a bona-fide metal band.  You can hear the influence of the power chord strumming of Gabriela along with the percussive beats that she lays down and of the searing leads that Rodrigo provides over top.  Together these two are just absolute technical pros.  My dream is that some day they finally say “fuck it” and pick up a couple of electric guitars and truly come up with a full-bore metal album.  I think it would end up being absolutely amazing and would blow the lids of many a hotshot guitar hero.

The latest album is good on the whole, but feels very brief and doesn’t seem to cover much new ground in relation to their past albums.  This is pretty much a straight-ahead Rodrigo Y Gabriela album.  They do work in a few electric guitar flavorings here and there and that provides a bit of a funky spice to the proceedings.  The album closes out with a cover of Echoes by Pink Floyd.  As we’ve seen with their covers of Orion and Stairway to Heaven, RyG have a really wonderful way of covering songs that honor the original while completely making the song their own.  This is true of this version of Echoes as well and it stands out as the high point of this album.

3.5 flip flops out of 5

 

Warforged-I: The Voice

Have I mentioned how enamored I am with the metal scene in Chicago?  Well, if not, let me clarify for the record:  I am really enamored with the metal scene in Chicago.  I don’t think there is a city in America right now that is producing such a plethora of quality bands across such a broad spectrum of styles.  Pelican, Russian Circles, The Atlas Moth, Without Waves, and Huntsmen are just a few of the classy bands just killing it of late.  Add to this list Warforged.

I really don’t entirely know what to make of this album or band, but I can say that I really, really like it.  At its core is a death metal band, but not you’re ordinary run-of-the-mill death metal band.  There is a progressive touch to this thing that keeps the listener on their toes throughout.  One minute, you’re blasting along in full death metal grinding glory and then, BLAM!  You’re in a piano interlude.  Or BLAM!  You’re on to an acoustic passage.  Songs zig and zag all over the place to where you’re left with this blending of death, progressive, technical and black metal that somehow coalesces into this ingenious thing that is Warforged.  These are the albums I dig.  Albums I can’t figure out on a first listen.  Albums that throw curveballs and have multiple layers of things going on.  Sure, an AC/DC album is a treasure, but it ain’t a challenge.  Warforged is a unique and weird and wonderful challenge.

4.5 flip flops out of 5

Suldusk-Lunar Falls

It’s really cool to see that in recent years women are starting to make some serious inroads on the metal landscape. By and large, for whatever reason, metal music in the 70s, 80s and 90s was primarily made by men for a primarily male audience.  You had a few women heavy metal groups, but for the most part they all seemed to be of the hair metal sort and none of them ever really reached any level of real respectability musicianship-wise.  Sure, you had Joan Jett and the Runaways in the 80s and L7 and some of the other female-led alternative rock bands in the 9os, but there just weren’t any really true metal bands that featured females in prominent roles.

In the 2000s and 2010s, you’ve got all sorts of bands with female vocalists, guitarists and drummers.  It’s cool to see the metal world beginning to embrace the inclusion of female voices to the proceedings because it just gives the music we all love another viewpoint and different flavorings.  And that’s always a good thing.

One type of female-fronted metal projects we’ve seen in recent years is the rise of the one woman metal projects.  Suldusk is the musical brainchild of Emily Highfield.  Much in the similar fashion of Mykur, this is a pagan influenced amalgam of folk metal, black metal and gothic metal.  I know, not much of a surprise given the album cover.  Very much a celebration of the natural world, Lunar Falls is a soft and dark atmospheric meditation of an album with a few bleak passages that verge into a black metal sound.  Overall, this one is fairly engrossing and gives a promising debut for this solo project.

3.5 flip flops out of 5

Spirit Adrift-Divided By Darkness

So, this is a sit up and take notice kind of album if there ever was one.  Everything about this one is BIG!  Big guitars.  Big anthems.  Big ambition.  If this thing had come out in 1984, you could bet that Spirit Adrift would be in line to be playing stadiums.

When I first encountered Spirit Adrift, it really felt as if this was going to be a little side gig for Gatecreeper’s Nate Garrett.  Hell, the first album was essentially a total solo effort with Garrett doing all the instrumentation and vocals himself.  Now, here we are on album number three for Spirit Adrift and the project has blossomed into a full blown band and it honestly feels like this is becoming more of a main gig with Gatecreeper being relegated to side project.

As I said, the music on this thing is big and bold and a serious statement of intent by the band.  I was fairly impressed by their first two albums, but wasn’t completely blown away.  Whatever was missing on those first two albums has definitely been found on album number three because this one is treading in masterpiece territory.  It feels as though Garrett spent some time listening to old Dio, Accept and late-era Sabbath (Mob Rules comes to mind) and decided to transplant those types of guitar riffs and ideas onto the doom template he laid out on the first couple of Spirit Adrift albums.  The resulting platter is just an inspiring and refreshing blending of old and new school metal.  In addition to the amazing guitar work, it really sounds as if Garrett’s confidence in his vocal style is starting to take shape and the album really showcases his growth in this area.  I can’t imagine this one not being near the top of a lot of year-end lists.

They are currently out on a headlining tour as I type this.  Get out and see one of the bands that is probably destined to blow up big while they are still playing in small clubs.

4.5 flip flops out of 5

Dreadnought-Emergence

This is some serious art-house shit right here.  This is not for your everyday run-of-the-mill metal fan.  This is some downright avant-garde intellectual metal type shit.  You want clean female vocals.  Check.  You want demonic female screeching vocals.  Check.  You want layers of dark atmospheric guitar and bass work.  Check.  You want a drummer that also plays sax and a guitarist that rocks out on the flute.  Check and check!

Yeah, Dreadnought is an interesting beast and makes it feel as though Colorado’s legalization of weed is really starting to pay off in the creative arts scene.  This is a difficult album to grasp.  It doesn’t really go for hooks or catchy melodies.  No gang choruses like “Balls To The Wall!!” here.  Rather, the album challenges the listener to wade into the deep end of an emotional and bleak slab of metal.  It isn’t a quick fix of feel good metal.  This is like a well-worn copy of a novel that you curl up with on a rainy afternoon.

I wish I could say that I’m fully on board with this one, because it has a lot going on.  Unfortunately, I’m writing this review after only a couple of listens.  This is one of those albums that I might have to write up a new review a year or so down the road once I can fully let it absorb.  This kind of happened with Dreadnought’s last album, A Wake In Sacred Waves.  The new album is kind of a continuation of the sounds and feelings conveyed on its predecessor and that album took me a while to warm up to as well.  If you are of the more adventurous type metal fan, check this one out and give it some time to breathe.  I have a feeling the longer it airs, the better it’s going to seem.

3.5 flip flops out of 5

Arch/Matheos-Winter Ethereal

This was a cool surprise for those of us older prog metal nerds.  For the uninitiated, this is basically a neat project between the creative mastermind/guitarist of Fates Warning (Jim Matheos) and the original lead singer of Fates Warning (John Arch).

To give a brief recap, John Arch was the lead singer for Fates Warning on their first three albums and his reign as frontman for the band ended in 1987.  Arch was basically out of music until 2003 when he reunited with his former bandmate Matheos who, along with drummer Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater) and bassist Joey Vera (Fates Warning), helped him flush out a couple of songs for his solo release, A Twist of Fate.  This two song EP was fucking amazing.  The positive reaction to this limited release led to a full blown album in 2011 that was ultimately an Arch led version of the current Fates Warning lineup under the Arch/Matheos moniker.  And once again, it fucking ruled.

So, here we are again.  Another eight years from the last release and the dudes have put together another full album of prog metal delights.  Reading the album credits reads like a who’s-who of former and current Fates Warning members.  Mark Zonder, Bobby Jarzombek, Frank Aresti, Joey DiBiase, Joey Vera along with guest stars Steve Di Giorgio and Sean Malone.  The album is pretty much what you’d expect from these guys.  It sounds a helluva lot like the current version of Fates Warning with John Arch’s vocal style.  Arch is still belting out in his trademark high tenor air raids.  It’s a vocal style that you are either going to fully embrace or it is going to put you off a bit.  I have to admit that I came to the Fates Warning bandwagon on Ray Alder’s first album and have always been a bit more partial to him as the voice of Fates.  But, I have really dug what Arch and Matheos have done on all of the new material they have created together.  The newest album is probably my least favorite of the three release they have put out so far together, but that’s not really much of a negative for this album because it is still really good and worth your time.  It’s a little more of a straight-forward rocker of an album than the other two releases.

3.5 flip flops out of 5