Category: Album Review

Kataklysm-Meditations

Kataklysm is just macho.  And not macho in that sassy Village People manner.  They are just a manly damn band.  Its music is heavy as shit.  Their lyrics are about war and revenge and inflicting much pain and other manly type endeavors.  Just reading through some of the song titles on this latest album should give you a pretty clear image of what you’re wading into:  The Last Breath I’ll Take Is Yours, Born To Kill Destined To Die, …And Then I Saw Blood, Narcissist, What Doesn’t Break Doesn’t Heal.  I mean, hyperbole much, dudes?  That is some serious over the top shit.  I really want to take these guys on a nice long walk into a flowery meadow or have them eat a cupcake or something.  I’m seriously kind of afraid to give this album anything less than a 5 flip flop review because their lead singer could probably snap me like a toothpick.

This is Kataklysm.  This is what they do.  No frills death metal with tons of attitude and quite a bit of groove.  Overall, this isn’t a bad album.  Nor is it really a good album.  I kind of feel like Kataklysm has hit a bit of a rut over the past couple of albums.  For some reason, there just aren’t any songs that really stand out or feel inspired.  Past albums such as Serenity In Fire and In the Arms of Devastation had a certain manic energy in them.  It was as if the guitar riffs, drum blast beats and Iacono’s death shriek were going to reach right through your speakers and squeeze the life right out of you.  That feeling is just missing on this latest album.  It just feels as if the band just went through the motions when creating this one.

3 flip flops out of 5

Ghost-Prequelle

Well, damn.  These guys have always been a tad controversial in metal community.  Are they metal?  Are they pop?  I’ve been on the side that considers them firmly in the metal camp.  Sure, their songs have pop sensibilities and hooks, but the songwriting was always strong and their albums were full of tasty guitar chops.  That was always the key facet for me.  Take away the characters, costumes and imagery, are the songs good?  Up through the first three albums, I considered the answer to be a solid yes.

Unfortunately, shit started to hit the fan a few years ago.  Tails of turmoil and turnover amongst the members who make up the Nameless Ghouls started to leak.  Lawsuits were filed and the band seemed to become more of a solo project of Tobias Forge (aka Papa Emeritus I, II and III and the newly unveiled, Cardinal Copia).  I found myself hoping that all of the extraneous matters wouldn’t start to take focus away from the songwriting.  I was concerned that all of the focus on creating new personas for the frontman and internal feuds over who was due credit for the entity of Ghost would start to deteriorate the band.

Now, we have our answer with the release of their fourth full length, Prequelle.  I’m sad to report that my fears for the band have come to fruition.  Overall, the sound on the album is most definitely Ghost.  You’ll recognize it immediately.  So, it’s not like they have completely strayed from who they are.  It’s just that the songs are just not that good.  On previous albums, you could count on at least 5-6 downright classic songs.  Songs that would get their hooks in you and not let go.  On the new album, opener Rats is about as close as you’re going to get and I would honestly view that song as one of the throw-away tracks on one of their previous albums.  The album is also very breezy.  You’ve got a total of ten named songs, but one is a short opening intro into Rats and there are two very uninspired instrumentals.  I know this thing is selling well right out the gate, but I have to wonder how well this album is going to do for Ghost in the long run.  This was an important album for them and my initial impression is that it isn’t an album that will have much staying power.  They are about to embark on their first massive headlining run across the U.S.  I just wonder how these songs are going to come across live.

I hate to see a promising young band hit a snag like this.  I’m hopeful that they can pull it together in the future.  It just would have been nice if they could have provided us with a satisfying filet minion instead of this puff pastry of an album.

2.5 flip flops out of 5

Graveyard-Peace

Whew.  It’s good to see this album released.  Graveyard is one of the more accomplished bands to come out of the wave of retro blues/psyche metal bands.  It was with great sadness back in 2016 to hear that they were calling it quits.  If it had stayed permanent, that would have resulted in a fairly large void in the soulful area of the metal world.

Luckily for all of us, the Graveyard dudes pulled their shit together, recruited a new drummer into the fold and came out with this dandy new album.  And dandy it is!  It’s a solid slab of ten brand spanking new Graveyard tunes that sound, well, like Graveyard.  You’ve got the retro sounding guitars.  You’ve got Joakim Nilsson’s plaintive wail of emotions.  Seriously, since the passing of Chris Cornell, Mr. Nilsson has to have taken over the throne of most gut-wrenching vocal style out there today.  He just hits those high notes with such power.  Overall, this album is a bit of a bounce-back for the band.  I wasn’t overly happy with the last album, Innocence & Decadence.  The new album isn’t as strong as their earlier material, but it is a solid addition to the discography and a step in the right direction going forward.  Hell, it is just good to have them back as an active entity.

4 flip flops out of 5

Burn the Priest-Legion: XX

Those of you who know me personally know my stance on cover songs/albums.  They’re cute, but really serve no purpose.  Sure, there have been some decent to good cover songs over the years, but honestly, when I listen to a band, I wanna hear some original shit, ya know?  Cover songs for the most part are just kind of lazy and generally don’t really do much in regard to the original version of the song.

That being said, one of my favorite bands just decided to dump out an album full of cover songs.  Burn the Priest, for the uninitiated, is the former incarnation of the current metal band, Lamb of God.  They put out one album of original songs under the Burn the Priest moniker and then decided to switch up to the less offensive Lamb of God name going forward.  From what I gather, this album is made up of a bunch of punk and crossover bands that helped influence what ultimately became BTP/LoG.

So, how is it?  Well, it’s like every other album of cover songs.  It’s cute.  In a way it was cool because, not being a huge punk fan, I was unfamiliar with a lot of the songs on here.  Some of them were interesting enough to make me want to seek out the original versions of these songs.  And I guess in that respect, the album was a worthwhile listen.  You’ve got songs on here from The Melvins, Bad Brains, The Cro-Mags, The Accused, Quicksand and Stormtroopers of Death.  Honestly, the biggest surprise and most fun song on the album is a ripping redneck version of Ministry’s Jesus Built My Hotrod.  This is really the most inspired track on the album and sounds like the dudes had a blast coming up with this version.

All in all, it would have been nicer to have a new slab of Lamb of God tracks, but I suppose this will serve as a tide-me-over until that day comes.

3 flip flops out of 5

Alkaloid-Liquid Anatomy

So, today we have a death metal band that is doing its damnedest to break some of the traditional tropes of death metal.  This one is not so much just blast beats and growls.  These guys are trying some different things to mix things up a bit.  And it makes sense because this is a band made up of musicians who have other gigs in more traditional death metal bands.  It figures they would use this project to explore some different ideas.

Do they succeed?  By and large, yes.  The album as a whole is a fairly enjoyable ride.  From the opening riffs of the album, you get a sense that this is going to be a bit odd.  The clean guitar parts that herald opening track Kernal Panic are almost pop-like in their sound.  Rest assured, the metal kicks in shortly.

In certain respects, this album reminds me a lot of Allegaeon.  It isn’t as blisteringly technical as Allegaeon, but it has the whole “we love science” bent to its lyrical themes.  With song titles like “Rise of the Cephalopods” and “Chaos Theory and Practice”, you can get a sense of where their heads are at.

Also, this album is recorded extremely well.  This is how metal should sound.  Especially the drums.  It just sounds so precise and immediate.  It’s a really good album to crank up loud in the car.

3.5 flip flops out of 5

Abraham-Look, Here Comes the Dark

Post-Metal.  It’s one of those made up terms coined by music dorks to describe a certain sub-genre of metal that has evolved during the 1990s and 2000s.  It kind of sucks as a descriptor though.  I mean, you get a pretty good idea of what is coming with Power Metal or Thrash Metal.  Post-Metal just sits there looking stupid as a term of art.

Discordant Ambient Metal.  Harsh, Yet Somehow Soothing Metal.  Bleak Resonant Songs of Around 7 to 12 Minutes In Length Metal.

These are all better genre descriptors than Post-Metal.  But, no one is listening to me.  So, Post-Metal it is!!

This album was my first exposure to Abraham.  These are some dudes from Switzerland who (surprise!) deal in post-metal.  This one is a load in that it is a double album.  So, you’ve got a shit ton of music to work through.  Everything on here is really pretty decent.  It’s not really anything Earth-shattering, but it’s cool.  Kind of like a poor man’s Cult of Luna or Neurosis.  That’s the vibe these guys project.  The music is harsh, but it is presented in a manner in which I find very relaxing.  I get this feeling a lot with post-metal bands.  Abraham employs a wall of sound approach that ends up collapsing in waves over the listener.  It’s powerful, but not overbearing.  I even hear a touch of The Cure in some of the cleaner vocal portions.  It’s not pronounced, but it’s definitely in there if you look for it.

Overall, this is a really good swing by a band that is still early in their development.  It will be interesting to see where these guys take their sound going forward.

3.5 flip flops out of 5

At The Gates-To Drink From the Night Itself

Another day, another death metal album from a Scandinavian band.  It’s the cycle of life.

So, this feels like a whole new discography for At The Gates.  These guys were pioneers in the mid-90s when they helped establish the Gothenburg death metal scene with In Flames, Dark Tranquility, Soilwork and the like.  The early part of their career was a quick burst and then it was over.  The group disbanded with the members going on to different projects.  There had been a few reunion shows and rumblings of some new material, but nothing materialized until 2014 with the release of At War With Reality.

So, here we are a few years down the road and we have the sophomore release of At The Gates’ second coming.  It’s nice to see that the band has stepped up to the plate and surpassed the first reunion album.  This is a solid, straightforward death metal album.  There aren’t any tricks or diversions.  This band knows what they are good at and they deliver it in a no-nonsense professional manner.  It always amazes me that many of these band who break up and take double-digit year long hiatuses can reform and hit the pavement going forward as if no time has passed at all.  These two post-reunion albums are as if there was no break at all.  You here the new music and you’ll know immediately that it is At The Gates.

4 flip flops out of 5

Amorphis-Queen of Time

In a weird sort of way, I find it easier to write a negative review than it is to write a positive one.  Sometimes an album is just good.  And that’s all that really needs to be said.  I guess what I’m saying is that I’m kind of having a hard time coming up with a way to present the latest Amorphis album.  It is a well crafted slab of melodic Scandinavian death metal.  That’s it.  Like you would expect anything less from these crafty Finns.

Amorphis is just a warm blanket in the metal world.  Every couple of years or so, they sit down and compose a professional piece of metal inspired by some facet of Finnish folklore.  And it is good.  It is always good.  They just don’t deliver crap or missteps.

If you’ve dug Amorphis’ output since the time that vocalist Tomi Joutsen took over as frontman, then you will definitely dig this one.  It’s right in line with every other album they have put out since he joined the band back in 2005.  I think the main difference in the sound on this one is a little more focus on the keyboards out front and the guitars a bit back in the mix.  The result is a little less heavy sounding album overall, but, as I said, the songwriting is strong as always.  It’s just an enjoyable album.

4 flip flops out of 5

The Body-I Have Fought Against It, But I Can’t Any Longer

So, summer’s staring us straight in the face.  The weather is warming up.  People are headed to their favorite watering holes, firing up the barbecues and popping a cold refreshing beverage.  It’s feel good time.  Time for blasting songs like Beautiful Girls by Van Halen.  You know….got a drink in my hand, got my feet in the sand and all I n-n-need is a beautiful giiiiirrrlllll!

Well, I hate to break it to you.  This album ain’t that shit.  Summer is fucking cancelled and everyone is ordered to spend the next few months trapped in Buffalo Bill’s basement torture lair.  Listen to this fucking thing at your own peril.  And when you’re finished, remember to put the lotion back in the basket.  Lest you get the hose again.

Look at that cover.  Is that not the most ominous photograph you’ve ever seen?  Seriously.  There is nothing good happening past that gate.  This is one of those albums that I purchased simply because of the cover.  And, let me tell you, this is a book that you can definitely judge based on its cover.  This album is the soundtrack to a snuff film.

I’m not really sure how to describe the music on here.  The Body is basically two dudes.  One handles guitar/screams/noise and the other the drums/programming/noise.  They aren’t creating music in the traditional sense.  This is abrasive.  This is noise.  It feels like every song has an undercurrent of electricity running underneath it.  There is a recurring screeching sound that populates many of the songs.  It sounds as if a bird is being slowly torn apart.  It is not pleasant.

I don’t know, man.  I can’t say that this one isn’t intriguing, but I will say that I may never need to hear this album again.  It’s a nightmare, pure and simple.

If you decide to travel past that locked gate, don’t say that you haven’t been warned.  David Lee Roth will not be coming to save you.

2 flip flops out of 5

Ihsahn-Amr

Ihsahn is kind of a weirdo.  And I mean that as a positive. He was one of the forefathers of the Norwegian black metal movement with Emperor.  They were known for blistering sonic assaults.  Lots of blast beats, orchestration and ear-piercing screams.  Emperor was always a challenging listen. Since Emperor broke up, Ihsahn has forged one of the more unique solo acts going on the metal scene.

Why do I say weirdo?  Well, maybe weirdo isn’t the word I’m looking for.  Maybe visionary would be more appropriate.  Each one of his solo albums is completely unique in its own right, but still captures an essential Ihsahn-type sound that connects all of his albums.  Once he left Emperor, it’s like he just said, “Fuck it.  I do my own thing.  I no longer give any fucks.”  Overall, he has slowed things down a bit.  However, things aren’t necessarily mellow.  This is still, as Ihsahn himself has put it “black metal”, but this isn’t your typical black metal of yore.  There’s a definite progressive element to his sound these days.  Clean singing, keyboards and programming factor heavily into the mix.  He was even one of the earlier champions of bringing saxophone into the world of black metal.

The new release, however, seems to be a step back to his black metal roots a bit.  There is a bit more aggressive guitar work and a lot more blast beats present than on past albums.  There are still keyboards and programming throughout, but there is a sinister center of focus on this thing.  There is an undercut of malevolence bubbling just under the surface.  Seriously, look at that damn album cover.  It’s classy, but there just something not right going on there.  It encapsulates this album perfectly.

4 flip flops out of 5