Sometimes perusing the great mass of heavy metal bands churning out new material becomes a bit of a slog. The field of metal music is really full and the bands are just prolific as shit. This makes it hard for a band’s new material to stand out and make a memorable impression. I think that’s why a lot of people just embrace a few bands from their formative years and just hold them close. The sheer mass of material to wade through there is sometimes daunting and, in many respects, disheartening. Disheartening in the fact that a great majority of the stuff coming out is just average songs destined to end up in a wormhole of forgotten riffs and attempts at relevancy.
It is with these despondent thoughts that a band like Herod keeps me digging through the rabble of new material week after week. Never heard of these guys before this album came out. The main reason that I even gave this one an initial listen was the fact that they are on Pelagic Records. Pelagic is the label started by The Ocean’s mastermind, Robin Staps, and they are one of my favorite underground metal labels. They have an absolute stellar track record of finding new and unsung bands and giving them a forum to showcase their talents. Herod is one of these little bands that they found and I am happy to share them with you today. They are a band out of Switzerland and they seem to be in that strange conglomeration of post-metal, progressive and sludge that I find myself drawn to more and more over the years. The textures and levels of sound that these guys create is downright hypnotic at times. You’ll be able to hear the influences of Meshuggah, Isis and The Ocean running through this thing. I really hope this album does well for these guys because it is the best album to come out so far this year.
Hmmm. Man, I really hate to say it, but I’m really bummed out about this one.
Let me elaborate a bit before getting into the nitty gritty of this review. Dream Theater was an important fucking band in the realm of metal. During the rise of the grunge scene in the early 90s, traditional metal saw a decline in its relevancy and popularity. It seemed as though bands that featured a guitar god who lay down frenetic leads were cast out of the cool kids’ clique. During this time, Dream Theater was one of those bands that just stuck to their guns and just did what they did; consequences be damned. And me and my metalhead friends absolutely fucking loved them for it. They provided us technical flourish with grand epic songwriting. They took the proggy brilliance and scope of Rush and melded it with the aggression and metal hooks of Maiden and Priest. They were a breath of pure metal during a time when traditional metal was hard to come by. Images and Words. Awake. Change of Seasons. Falling Into Infinity. Scenes From a Memory. This four album and one EP streak was an amazing streak of creative prowess.
And flash forward to now. We are now on album number four since founding member and driving personality Mike Portnoy left his drummer post. The output since his departure has been spotty, if not downright dreadful. This culminated in their previous album, the unfortunately named The Astonishing. This album seemed like a band trying to regain their past glory of the leaders of progressive metal with an ambitious sci-fi/fantasy concept double album. To be perfectly blunt, in my opinion, this album was a completely failure on every level. It felt like a band with zero direction, zero passion and zero confidence in its songwriting ability. The music was flat and the lyrical content was just downright sap. I really worried that Dream Theater was becoming a shell of their former selves and were in danger of just becoming a legacy band happy to tour on the songs they wrote when they were still relevant. Harsh, I know, but this is just how bad that album was received by yours truly.
So, 2019. A new album. On the positive side of thing, this feels like a John Petrucci album in that the guitar really drives it. His leads are still an amazing listen. But leads ain’t going to make a memorable album (go ask Yngwie). Distance Over Time is a step back in the right direction for Dream Theater, but it is still a long way from their peak. There’s just something not quite there in the songs. Dream Theater’s best work used to manage to be both creative and ambitious. They produced the kinds of songs that left you with goosebumps both because the creativity and technical brilliance of the music and with the emotional punch of their lyrics. That aspect is missing here. Even though there are some tasty riffs and leads, it just never reached that ultimate plateau that I have come to expect of Dream Theater. For a band with a lesser track record, I may be willing to be a little more lenient in my opinion and expectation. But, these guys are one of the more talented bands in the world. I expect magic. And this, while a capable and solid album, doesn’t bring the magic.
Like clockwork, the Overkill institution just keeps on cranking out new material. Overkill is a band that is always going to be in the underground. In the mainstream press, the Big 4 always get all the ink as far as the classic thrash bands go. And it’s hard to argue with Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax and the legacy that they have all collectively left behind. But the true story of thrash can’t be completely written without a substantial chapter devoted to these Jersey boys. They will always remain one of my personal favorites from the classic era of 80s thrash simply for their no-nonsense, take-no-bullshit attitude and for the sterling record of consistent fist-to-the-face style of metal. If you were trying to introduce someone with no frame of reference to what a quality heavy metal band sound and looks like, you’d do worse than Overkill as being a prime example.
The current record finds the band in classic Overkill sound. It’s mean. It’s crunchy. It’s East Coast Fuck You attitude for days. It’s simply a damn fine album and one of the best to come out so far in 2019. The first half of the record is really straight forward thrash. The second half sees them pulling out some different tricks. Nothing completely out of left field, but the Side B songs have stuck with me a little more than Side A. They even manage to roll out another full-on punk ride with Welcome To the Garden State. It’s a rollicking good time much in the same vein as Old School from a few albums back. It should be a great one for a yell and call back during their upcoming live set.
During one of the promo videos the band put out to hype the new release, they interviewed Blitz and D.D. about the origins of the band. They stated that in the early days there was a tension as to whether they were going to be a metal band or a punk band, as the members had interest in both genres. They said they remember hearing Motorhead play for the first time and that a light bulb moment occurred where they were like, “Holy shit! We don’t have to choose! We can do both!” And hence, the birth of thrash metal as we know it. I love these kinds of stories.
So, Candlemass is one of the legendary doom metal bands. They were one of the early bands that took Sabbath’s lessons to heart and crafted an awesome legacy of sloooowwww fucking riffs and lyrics dripping in despair. They’ve had a rotating cast of characters helming the frontman position for the band over the years creating distinct eras within their career. You’ve got the hearty booming bass of Messiah Marcolin, who had two stints with the band in the late 80s and again in the early 2000s. You had the ethereal tones of former Solitude Aeturnus vocalist Robert Lowe manning the mic in the remainder of the 2000s. Once things with Lowe came to an end, it sounded like the remainder of the band was ready to hang up the Candlemass moniker for good.
So, The Door To Doom comes as a bit of a surprise. Especially in light of who they managed to convince to come back for another go on the microphone. Candlemass’ first album was a classic groundbreaking release entitled Epicus Doomicus Metallicus and the vocalist on that album was a guy named Johan Langqvist. Langqvist was essentially a session vocalist when the album was recorded and he decided to take a pass at a permanent position as frontman for Candlemass after the album was released. Now, 35 years later, the band somehow managed to convince him to come back and join the band for a do-over of sorts. Part of me really wants to know what dude has been doing for the past 35 years and what made him agree to come back so many years after the debut album. I really hope he has been an accountant or something.
In addition to bringing back the vocalist from the first album, they also managed to get Tony Fucking Iommi to lay down a guest lead on one of the songs (Astorolus). Think about that for a moment. The dude who was instrumental in creating heavy metal in the first place and who was the primary influence on your band agrees to contribute to one of your albums. Humbling shit, that right there.
Anyway, the album is basically what you would expect from Candlemass. It’s a doom metal record. Slow, chunky riffs. Melancholic vocals and lyrics. A bit of Satan thrown in for good measure. It’s not the best album they have produced in their lengthy career, but it’s good. It’s nice that they haven’t hung up their axes just yet when they are still capable of producing what is really a celebration of their past and a clarion for a possible new era of the band. Cheers!
My mouth is defective. Which is why I choose to write. E-mail and texting taking the place of phone calls is probably the greatest thing to happen to me. When speaking aloud, I am notoriously bad about butchering the pronunciation of existing words and many times unintentionally creating new words for what I think are words, but aren’t exactly words. I’m a mess with the spoken word. It is in this vein that when I first saw the title for the album at hand, I thought I had found some kindred spirits in the dudes from Downfall of Gaia. “Finitude? That’s not a fucking word. But it kind of sounds like a word that should be a word. Damn, these guys are as bad as I am.” were the first thoughts that crossed my mind. Well, shit on me if finitude isn’t indeed a word. Dudes are from Germany and I’m assuming that English isn’t their native tongue and they still have a better vocabulary than me.
Enough about me. What’s the music like? Well, it’s black metal. And even though these guys hail from Europe, it reminds me more of the black metal from the Northwestern U.S. than the Scandinavian kind of black metal. Think Agalloch and Wolves in the Throne Room more than Mayhem and Darkthrone. There’s an organic quality to the proceedings that permeates their sound. And it is good. This is one of those introspective albums that is perfect for a drizzly and foggy day. Put on a fire. Turn out the lights. Embrace the void.
I feel sadness for those in the world who have never witnessed a Saxon live show. This being the celebration of their 40th year as a band, it goes without saying that the boys have gotten their performances down. But it never feels like jaded pros just going through the motions. I mean, shit, the eldest guys in the group have got to be pushing 70 at this point. You’d honestly have to understand if they weren’t giving it 100% on an average night at a small club in Austin, TX on a random Thursday night running through their umpteenth-thousandth or so performance of Wheels of Steel. But there they were just banging through their massive catalog of songs like a much younger band with plenty to prove. Biff is just an ageless wonder. Headbanging and jumping up and down like a maniac with a mischievous gleam in his eye like he still can’t believe people are still paying him to do this shit. This band is a fucking institution and if you haven’t seen them play, get to rectifying that shit immediately. They aren’t going to be going forever. You’ve got to cherish the special ones.
It looks like the year 2019 is the year that we finally get a new Tool album. At least, that’s the rumor anyway. Who knows? It seems like those dudes get their rocks off on jerking with their fans’ expectations. At any rate, if you don’t feel like engaging in the “will they/won’t they release the album” discourse, just go out and purchase the new Soen album. It will act as a salve for all of your Tool-related angst.
Soen is a melodic, prog-influenced band from Sweden whose initial claim to fame was it being the post-Opeth landing spot of drummer Martin Lopez. Lopez is such a stud. I would honestly listen to anything this dude plays. The biggest complaint surrounding Soen was hinted at earlier in this post. They dig some Tool. So much so that a lot of their earlier material damn near sounded like straight up Tool plagiarism. Not that it was bad. The playing and the vocals were always performed impeccably, but there was just this nagging lack of originality to the proceedings.
So, the new album. The Tool-tinged flavor is still there, but it really feels like Soen is finally starting to find a bit of their own sound. The guitars have a bit of a different sound and feel on this one. I think the Tool sound comes through the most during the slower tempo songs. The opener, Opponent, gives a good signal to the listener that this album is going to be a bit different than the Soen releases of the past. I dig it overall. Definitely the best album the group has released this far in their career. Keep grinding for your own sound boys.
Well, this is a creepy as shit album cover. I feel like this creature could definitely end up being the main character is the next horror movie franchise. I mean, he has to be scarier than The Nun, right?
Swallow the Sun is back after a lengthy absence. And that can be understandable after their last release, Songs From the North, was essentially a unheard of triple-album. There was some really great material on that release, but it just seemed like such a daunting undertaking just to start to digest a release that contained three albums worth of songs in one sitting. The new album is a single release of eight songs and it really seems like an EP compared to Songs From the North.
The new album has everything you’d expect from a Swallow the Sun release. It’s dreary. It’s melancholy. It feels like it was created in a land where a good portion of their year is spent in darkness. Dirge-like and beautiful at the same time. This is the balance Swallow the Sun has mastered. And it’s nice to have this one come in an easier to digest format this time around.
I’m not sure why, but the title on this album reminds me of Mike Myers’ beat poet in So I Married An Axe Murderer. Woman! Woe-man! Whooooooa Man! Nowhere! Now Here! Noooooooow Here!
Thanks and goodnight! Remember to tip your waitstaff!
OK, sorry. That was dumb, but it’s honestly the first thing that popped into my head when seeing this album for the first time. Mono is a primarily instrumental band from Japan that seem to mainly delve into a post-metal sort of sound. They’re very arty and seem more focused on creating an atmosphere than constructing your run-of-the-mill rock/metal song. This whole album really feels like one long song, which I’m kind of assuming was the point. It actually comes across in many respects more like a soundtrack to a movie more so than a traditional metal album.
This isn’t an album that is going to jump out and grab you right out of the gate. It’s a slow burn and it’s one that will probably reward multiple listens because there are just so many textures going on here. I know the impression on my second pass with the album was much more positive than the first go round. This was actually my first introduction to this band and it looks like they have an fairly extensive back-catalog that is ripe to delve into. Give this one a go if your having an especially introspective sort of day. It feels like a good soundtrack to that sort of mind set.
Sweet Jesus! We’ve actually got a Christian prog rock album on today’s platter.
The trope in the metal world has always been, why has Satan always garnered all of the talented folks and Jesus is left with Michael Sweet and Stryper? Why is that? Well, for the most part metal is about the dark side of the human condition. Despair, hopelessness, staring into the abyss, the certain inescapable trudge to the unknowns of death, the possibility of hell and burning for all eternity, giving the middle finger to established institutions. These are the things that are cornerstones of metal. Christianity, hope, love and goodwill towards mankind just don’t seem to mesh well with the origins of what metal is all about. Plus, lyrical themes of love, hope, forgiveness and an eternal bliss in service to the Jesus just don’t pair all that well with death screams, double bass blastbeats and fuzzed-out and crunchy down-tuned guitar riffs.
Even though I count myself among the great unwashed as far as religion goes, I did grow up inside the church. And I think this fact has always led me to not to completely foreclose the idea of a really good Christian metal band existing. I mean, have you read the Bible? There is some seriously fucked up imagery and shit in there. Smitings and plagues and crucifixions and people rising from the dead and rending of garments and gnashing of teeth. The Old Testament God gets fucking pissed off all the time and throws these massive fucking tantrums that results in tons of people just getting wiped out. It’s perfect fodder for a Slayer album.
What the fuck we’re we talking about again? Oh, yeah, the possibility of a decent and respectable Christian metal band. I mean, King’s X is probably as close as we’ve gotten and they aren’t really a “Christian” band per se. Nor are they really a traditional metal band, either. But they are a highly respected group (and one of my Top 5 favorite bands of all time) that weaves Christian themes throughout their albums. So, it’s possible.
This brings us to our current band and album. The Neal Morse Band is a prog rock juggernaut. If you are not familiar with them, they are the current incarnation of the former leader/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist of prog legends Spock’s Beard, Neal Morse. Back in the early 2000s, Neal became a born-again Christian and he decided to leave Spock’s Beard to create Christian-centric music. His buddy from Dream Theater, Mike Portnoy, joined him on drums and he released a number of Christian prog albums as a solo artist. To me, these albums were basically an extension of his creations in Spock’s Beard, but with a Christian slant. It was still really good music, albeit with a bit of a preachy type slant. A few years ago, Morse and Portnoy rounded out a stable lineup for their Christian prog machine and rechristened (heh) it as The Neal Morse Band. The Great Adventure is the latest release of this entity. This album is for fans of Yes, Styx, ELO, Rush, Dream Theater and Spock’s Beard. It really hits all of your main prog elements. Being a double album, there is plenty of room for the guys to run the gamut of harder edge rock to poppier Beatles-inspired tracks to some downright virtuoso-type metal shit. Lyrically, this is probably the least overtly Christian album that Morse has put out since he left Spock’s Beard. So, if you don’t feel like having your music get a little preachy in its presentation, this one is probably a good starting point for you with The Neal Morse Band. It’s catchy. It’s infectious. It’s one of those albums whose songs’ melodies will get stuck in your head. This is just a good rockin’ album. Sweet Jesus!
DISPATCHES FROM THE VOID 