Projekt Herz EP

01. Intro
02. 1000 Volt
03. Mayday
04. USA
05. Western Beta
06. Euphorie
07. Soldat
08. Supernova

[06/04/13]
[Self Released]

We Butter The Bread With Butter, known for having the song with the “slowest breakdown of all time”, are back to impress yet again with Projekt Herz. Eight tracks of Attack Attack! meets Raunchy meets piss poor attempts at being Between the Buried and Me at a few points on the EP. Each track plods along from uninspired riff to uninspired riff, backed by the only truly interesting thing on that album, the electronics and synth parts. The inclusion of said elements give the music some depth, but nothing worthy of praise.

Tracks such as ’Mayday’  contain chorus moments most reminiscent of early Raunchy, though roughly a quarter as interesting. The entire release is teeming with these moments, a slap in the face to the Danish metallers. The chorus moments on Projekt Herz feel lacking in every possible way. Lazily sung lines intertwined with bland, repetitive power chords make the listener wonder if this band will ever take themselves seriously and possibly write something that isn’t a joke. Fifth track, ‘Western Beta’,  features all the makings of something Between the Buried and Me would do, if only the substandard power chord progressions and gallop riffs didn’t mar the backing instrumentation, which is easily the highlight of the release. The very “western” use of horns, strings, and acoustic guitars is quite refreshing right in the middle of such a dismal release. Unfortunately, all of this instrumentation sounds highly synthetic, most likely performed on a keyboard or programmed on a piano roll.

The production doesn’t even do much to WBTBWB’s benefit, the drums being the most well produced instrument, behind the electronics. The guitars sound quite thin throughout, bass thrown to the back of the mix as usual, mainly just filling out the guitars as is so standard in metal today. The vocals on Projekt Herz are possibly the most grating thing about the entire package. Most times sounding as if vocalist Paul Bartzsch is overexerting himself, other times sounding as if he would rather be doing anything else, see the chorus of ‘Mayday’. The vocoder spots throughout a few tracks don’t help with keeping things interesting either.

Overall, Projekt Herz is a sad attempt at a joke band trying to be taken seriously, only making themselves the punchline once again. Almost nothing on this release is memorable, inspiring, or worthy of recommendation.  Bands like Raunchy do this kind of synth-pop inspired metal with exceedingly higher quality than We Butter the Bread With Butter.

We Butter The Bread With Butter – Projekt Herz gets…

1.5/5

- AD

Entrench

01. Counter Culture Complex
02. No; I’m in Control
03. Your Heartwarming Story Makes Me Sick
04. The Terror Pulse
05. The Promises of God
06. Romeo Must Never Know
07. Secret Vasectomy
08. Figure Your Life Out
09. Daeodon
10. Why Don’t You Just Quit?
11. Monomyth

 [03/19/13]
[Season of Mist]

It took four albums and more than a decade’s worth of waiting but Winnipeg, Canada’s KEN Mode have finally broken out. They hit it big with their fourth LP Venerable, which won the Juno Award for Heavy Metal album of the year in Canada; since then, they have toured with the likes of Revocation, Kylesa, and The Atlas Moth. Although they’re leagues away from selling out arenas, what success they have achieved lately is by all means well deserved, as the band deliver a unique and explosive performance both on record and even more so live. This is most certainly evident on their newest effort, Entrench, which is not only an exemplary showcase of the trio’s talents, but a perfectly timed icing on the cake and the full stop to an impressive chapter of their career.

Much of this record’s excellence stems from the fact that it is a well-balanced amalgamation of all styles the band had previously delved into. The noise rock-meets-post-hardcore jams are present in spades, and sound just as energetic and punishing as always. KEN Mode live up to their name (an acronym for Kill Everything Now) right from the get-go, as opener ‘Counter Culture Complex’ is perhaps the heaviest song on the album, both in its freight-train verse riffs and agonizing chorus. On their own, the songs that follow suite with this formula do run it a bit into the ground. However, they contain enough standout moments that somewhat neutralize this effect, such as the frantic guitar leads in ‘Why Don’t You Just Quit?’. What’s more, they are sandwiched in a roughly fifty-fifty split by the sludgier, more melancholic tracks like ‘Daeodon’ and ‘The Terror Pulse’.

Experimenting with tempo is not new for the band, but Entrench sees it done as effectively as ever.  Actually, this is one of the most crucial factors that make Entrench a resounding success, since it manages to be aggressive, heavy, and maintain a high level of energy without constantly pummeling the listener in the face with loud riffs, angry shouts, and fast-paced rhythms. This doesn’t mean that the slower ambient moments provide much of a relief, because they just offer an alternate approach in generating intensity through suffocating suspense. Even the track ‘Romeo Must Never Know’, which flirts with  post-metal soundscapes and whispered vocals , still remains eerie at all times and creates a feeling of constant unease.

Strangely, in addition to being the record’s high point, its variance may also be its greatest weakness. While the different songs do complement each other, they also might divide the listener’s attention. Those seeking a quick blast of chaotic hardcore, as well as those that yearn for the dreary sludge sound, will likely see only an EP’s worth of quality material on Entrench. This is weird because there really is no filler on the album whatsoever, yet by splitting their album in two in an effort to better utilize dynamics, KEN Mode chops up the album’s flow and, ironically, makes it a less accessible listen. The band does sometimes succeed in connecting each successive song with the previous, but Entrench doesn’t manage to grip the listener firmly throughout its entirety like a Converge LP would. Which is a shame, seeing as the band does the ‘slow-burner’ archetype just as well as Converge themselves.

Alas, this is where pretty much all criticism stops. From a production standpoint, for example, the band is spot on, delivering a completely fitting sound that is also distinguishable from that of 2011′s Venerable. Whereas Kurt Ballou created a heavier tribal sound for the latter, new producer Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Alice in Chains, Isis, etc.) makes Entrench sound sharper and much more like a punk album, while drawing a fine line between clarity and warmth. Furthermore, looking purely at instrumental performances, it’s pretty apparent that KEN Mode are much more talented than a large portion of punk – or punk-inspired – bands out there, what with all the syncopated drums and angular riffage.  Even the lyrics are, for the most part, crafted masterfully, as they separate the band from the traditionally brute angst of most of their contemporaries. Though, at times, it does seem like the ‘sophisticated’ approach at spewing out hatred is a bit too forced and gimmicky.

On that note, gimmick is probably the worst word to use when it comes to KEN Mode. This is a band that has, since their very inception, thrown all nonsense out of the window. Yes, even this late in their careers, they have come up short in designing a perfectly palatable record, but perhaps that is just the nature of their sound. After all, they take cues from a lot of genres infamous for being abrasive and chaotic. However, that’s where KEN Mode’s beauty lies, since they are one of the very few bands that successfully combine the intricacy and heaviness of metal with the energy and aggression of hardcore, even adding a bit of good ol’ rock’n'roll fun.  Entrench might not have its full running time to offer in terms of enjoyability, but whatever it does offer holds enough substance to propel it as one of the year’s true highlights.

KEN Mode – Entrench gets…

4/5

-DA

Women & Children

01. Women & Children
02. In Remorse
03. Melee
04. Tame As A Lion
05. Fearce
06. Miles From Home
07. Pain Myself

[06/11/13]
[Seventh Rule]

The marriage of metal and electronic music is not a new concept, and often ends up with shoddy or campy results. Industrial metal is one such genre born from this union and even still, results may vary; Bands like Godflesh and Jesu are regarded quite favorably as innovators whereas the likes of Marilyn Manson and Static-X get mixed reception. Recent developments within the genre have lead to wild avant-garde experimentation, where Norway’s SHINING and Californian one-man band Author & Punisher are met with repeated acclaim for their furtherance of industrial music in their own right.

The latter act, Author & Punisher, is a relatively little-known project from mechanical engineer and sculptor Tristan Shone that broke out last year in some ways with his sophomore album Ursus Americanus, which ended up on many critics’ year-end lists of favorites because of its unusual exhibition; Shone makes all of his instruments himself and rigs them in a way that allows him to perform his complex doom and drone inspired compositions entirely by himself. This makes for some highly unique music and performance art that is currently unrivaled in the genre. Only a year after Ursus Americanus wowed privileged listeners, Shone’s third record Women & Children explores Author & Punisher’s dark and twisted sound further and adds some much needed heart into this band of machines.

Despite the short wait between releases, Women & Children is the next logical step in the Author & Punisher evolution. The sonic palette established by Shone is still omnipresent; after a soundscape of crickets and buzzing flies, the opening title track kicks in with downtempo grooving drum machines passed down from Godflesh and massive droning synths churn together in a hypnotic fashion while Shone chants distorted syllables through the track’s dynamic rise and fall. Shone is no stranger to writing heavy and oppressive music, and shows with immediacy that he still loves the feeling of overdriven bass.

However, what makes Women & Children so different from his previous records is its moodiness and diversity. When compared to Ursus Americanus, Women & Children seemingly dials back the machines and instead focuses more on Shone’s range of emotion. For instance, on the album’s second track In Remorse, we hear glimpses of Shone’s clean singing voice, which was previously a bit of a rarity. Later, ‘Tame as a Lion’ almost catches listeners off guard, as we hear Shone at his most vulnerable as he sings quite melodically along to piano in verse-chorus structure, though his voice with his is distant and somewhat shrouded in distortion. The piano and Shone’s singing voice even make a reprisal in the album’s chilling closer ‘Pain Myself.’ While no mere piano ballads, these seemingly out of character tracks show a whole new breadth of character and marks a new direction for Author & Punisher to explore.

Following this trend, Women & Children is much more stripped down in terms of electronics, and the album is largely more atmospheric and pensive than the in-your-face aggression of Ursus Americanus. Previously, it was more often than not that distorted synths would drone longer and louder as well as rhythmically attack in a dubstep sort of fashion as the main event, as in the new track ‘Fearce‘. Now, Shone is seemingly more mindful of his songwriting on Women & Children, with tracks like ‘Melee‘ and ‘Miles From Home’ taking time between spastic vitriol for moments of sober atmosphere and dynamic ebb and flow. As such, Women & Children feels more real and human on some level, as if the tyrannical machines of past had suddenly became sentient and empathetic.

This isn’t to say that his previous work was somehow immature or lacking of emotion, but Shone has transcended what was once thought possible for Author & Punisher’s sound and created a brilliant album with some newfound variance and depth. It’s good to see Author & Punisher material pushing forward into newly emotive territory, even if it does make for more accessible songwriting. Despite this appreciation for atmosphere and melody, Women & Children is still a remarkably bleak and sinister record that explores the depressive and psychedelic in entirely new ways.

Author & Punisher – Women & Children gets…

4/5

- JR

Coal

01. Foe
02. Chronic
03. The Cloak
04. The Valley
05. Salt
06. Echo
07. Contaminate Me

[05/20/13]
[InsideOut]

Considering Leprous‘s previous album Bilateral is considered by many to be a masterpiece of progressive metal; Norway’s Leprous had a tall order in front of themselves. Coming up with a followup to such a critically acclaimed and beloved album is no doubt a daunting task. Despite that, after two long years of waiting, Leprous have conjured the successor to Bilateral, and it’s called Coal. Usually, when bands release an album after their magnum opus, the result is either a “version 2.0″ of the previous album, or it’s a return back to the normal style of the band. Leprous have taken a bold turn instead, and they have reinvented themselves. Coal is clearly a Leprous album, carrying all their trademark touches, but it’s also very fresh and unique.

With Bilateral, the band were clearly rooted in a sound that has been defined by the big names of progressive metal. By applying their characteristic syncopation, moody riffs and singer Einar Solberg’s haunting and powerful vocals, they were able to perfect an already existing sound. With Coal, the band have taken a different direction. The album is very dense, emotional, and quite avant-garde at times. While there are some more traditional songs similar to Bilateral, there’s also an air of neo-80s on some songs, while others carry some characteristics of modern Scandinavian indie bands. Longtime fans of Leprous will definitely see the direction that has been present since the band’s inception, but listeners who know of them only via Bilateral might be slightly confused. In the end, Leprous have always been about mood, and Coal is oozing with it.

In terms of structure, Coal is more similar to Tall Poppy Syndrome than Bilateral (but not too similar to either in the end). The songs are slow burners, setting up a mood, then deliberately building on it until overwhelming the listener with the climax. Everything is very subtle, the production making every hit of every instrument matter. Each song is an exercise in building an atmosphere by slowly adding layers to form a very powerful sound. Einar Solberg is at his best here, he has taken his voice to the next level. He was already an amazing vocalist, but Coal sees him becoming a master of expression. There are many progressive metal bands nowadays with clean singers who can hit insanely high notes and execute amazing melodies. But what is often lost is the soft touch, the control over timbre that makes one’s voice special. Einar is a master of timbre, and he uses his abilities to their full extent in Coal. While this is an album about the big picture and constructing an ambiance with the convergence of all instruments, his unparalleled vocal skills definitely deserve a special mention, because he is what hammers down the emotions and makes this album so special.

As mentioned before, Coal is a deliberate album, where attention is paid to every instrument. And the production, by Ihsahn (who also has a stellar guest appearance on the closing track), is perfect for this. Especially of note are the drums, they sound very real and quaint. The intimate feeling of some of the songs can directly be attributed to the unconventional drum sound. The drumming has also taken a turn for the more subtle, with small flourishes and cymbal runs building tension in the more atmospheric sections of some songs. The bass is also clearly audible and adds to the sound. The guitar work isn’t as flashy as Bilateral for the most part, but it also has more character because of that. It should come as no surprise to longtime followers of the band, but Leprous are masters of doing more with less, and all of the instruments reflect this. Another production detail worth noting is the presence of keyboards. The keyboard work is more prominent now. In Bilateral it was used mostly to add some extra layers to parts driven by the guitars, but here the keyboards form the building blocks of the sound. This is perhaps what sets the album apart from Leprous’s previous work, the heavier focus on atmosphere and a dense aural landscape. This might be disappointing to some who preferred the more direct approach of Bilateral, as Coal is less “metal”, but the more developed sound suits the band.

In terms of songs, Coal is a very diverse album. The first three songs and the closer can be interpreted as a direct evolution of the band’s sound from their previous work, then there is the extremely moody and emotional masterpiece “The Cloak”. This is where the album takes a turn for the introspective, as the rest of the songs are quite experimental and ethereal. Overall, the album has a very clear journey with a defined start and end, and it works quite well. Some of the later songs can feel like they last half a minute too long, but the deliberate pacing of the album makes more sense as is.

In the end, it’s hard to deny that Coal is yet another masterpiece by Leprous. The songs ooze character and deliberation. Coal is expressive, emotional and brave. It might not be what everyone expected after Bilateral, but Leprous have defied expectations and raised the bar again.

Leprous – Coal gets…

5/5

- NT

One Of Us Is The Killer

01. Prancer
02. When I Lost My Bet
03. One Of Us Is The Killer
04. Hero of the Soviet Union
05. Nothing’s Funny
06. Understanding Decay
07. Paranoia Shields
08. CH 375 268 277 ARS
09. Magic That I Held You Prisoner
10. Crossburner
11. The Threat Posed By Nuclear Weapons

[05/14/13]
[Sumerian/Party Smasher Inc.]

At this point in their careers, one would expect seminal mathcore giants The Dillinger Escape Plan to slow down a bit and fully embrace their inner Faith No More more extensively. This isn’t necessarily to the fault of Dillinger or an expectation that they’ve created and fostered in themselves, but is an expectation based on real trends with similarly influential bands who have risen in fallen in the decades past their initial breakout. If you take a look at some of the metal’s biggest bands — In Flames and Opeth come to mind for their respective subgenres — it’s not uncommon for bands to soften with age. Needless to say, this doesn’t apply to The Dillinger Escape Plan, who in their fifth album One Of Us Is The Killer are at their most volatile since 1999′s Calculating Infinity.

Though, instead of the raw chaos their highly influential debut album created, the band have become much more mature and grandiose with their complicated rhythmic intricacies. The opening of ‘Prancer‘ calls back to the classic ’43% Burnt’ with stabbing dissonance and anthemic hooks that will sure enough become a live staple, ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ blends odd-ball melodies with pissed off technical hardcore in true Dillinger fashion, and the band explores an all-out instrumental assault via the mind-bending ‘CH 375 268 277 ARS.’ Elsewhere, the single ‘When I Lost My Bet’ displays an exhilarating jazzcore flamboyancy that the band rarely shows these days.  The record is likely the most chaotic, technical, and sinister Puciato-fronted Dillinger Escape Plan record to date.

There’s a bit of cognitive dissonance when it comes to One of Us… in that while the album feels “reigned in” in the sense that there’s surprisingly little in the way of power pop “mathcore boy band” material a la ‘Black Bubblegum’, Dillinger have stepped up their game when it comes to their oppressive hardcore sound in a manner that is wildly unpredictable on initial listen. One Of Us… isn’t totally without the carefree yet tasteful rock track though; the title track and ‘Nothing’s Funny’ in particular are more straightforward Faith No More-tinged tracks that are massive earworms. Even when the band gets catchy, they don’t get overtly friendly or experimental, so don’t expect tracks like ‘Parasitic Twins’, ‘Mouth of Ghosts,’ or ‘Unretrofied.’

In this regard, One Of Us… feels like a collection of tracks that blend the best of both worlds in a more cohesive fashion. Where tracks like Option Paralysis‘ ‘I Wouldn’t If You Didn’t’ had strikingly different movements in the chaos vs chorus dynamic, more songs on One Of Us Is The Killer successfully blend melody into corrosive mathcore, as in ‘Magic That I Held You Prisoner,’ wherein Puciato finds the space to croon over inventive and abstract harmonic riffing. There’s still a fair bit of real compartmentalizing as explored above, but the band have inched closer to finding an all-encompassing style that matches the haunting and the vitriolic.

One Of Us Is The Killer is patently Dillinger with few missteps; ‘Crossburner‘ is uncharacteristically long in the context of the whole record and taps the brakes a bit before an explosive finale in ‘The Threat Posed By Nuclear Weapons,’ for instance. Some newer fans may miss the poppier and more experimental side of Dillinger, but the band make up for it with some newfound tenacity and unbridled rage that further establishes the band as one of the biggest and most influential acts in extreme progressive music. After listening to this record, the title’s significance becomes evident; One Of Us Is The Killer is one of the most destructive albums in not only 2013, but in the scope of Dillinger’s entire discography thus far.

The Dillinger Escape Plan – One Of Us Is The Killer gets…

4.5/5

- JR

Beautiful in Danger

01. Dance Like No-One’s Watching
02.Your Favourite Song
03. Cigarettes And Conversations
04.Circles And Squars
05. Monsters
06. Rose Coloured Glasses
07. Congratulations
08. Moonlight Highlights
09. The Executioner
10. The Art Of Illusion
11. Beautiful In Danger

[04/19/13]
[Self-Released]

Successfully composing layered epics of greater than ten minutes in length and thematically intricate concept albums is no doubt a feat of great skill and application, worthy of the praise and attention we laud upon the musicians who bless us with such challenging listening experiences.  However, what is less obvious, and less often recognised, is just how difficult it is to write songs that are more compact in structure, yet are of such depth that they continue to reveal new secrets and subtleties with each repeated listen.  Hailing from the current Australian school of alternative and progressive rock, JERICCO have, with their debut album, Beautiful In Danger, managed to compile a collection of songs that do exactly that.

Since their inception in 2009, JERICCO have built a solid reputation on the back of a sound clearly influenced by the likes of Karnivool and Dead Letter Circus, and have become known for their strong Middle Eastern influence courtesy of songwriter and bassist, Roy Amar, who is originally from Israel, and keyboardist, Fetah Sabawi, formerly of Australian alt/nu metal heavyweights, Superheist, who is of Palestinian descent.  However, with Beautiful In Danger, JERICCO have almost entirely reinvented themselves, trading in the contrived drama and derivative sound of their two preceding EPs for an album of dance-rock anthems based around immediately engaging hooks, and that not only benefit from an increased pace and newfound urgency, but are also infectiously danceable and genuinely emotive to boot.

The reason behind this shift in song writing focus, and why Beautiful In Danger is such  an unpretentious album, is perhaps explained by the lyrics to the album’s first track, ‘Dance Like No One’s Watching’, which is also the album’s second single.  Introduced by a bouncy electro-groove and a Middle Eastern flavoured vocal motif, lines such as, “Like no-one else will know”, and, “Like every lie you’ve told will be forgiven”, could certainly represent the band’s refusal to conform with any perceived stylistic expectations, and its decision to adopt a more organic and personally satisfying approach to song writing, be damned with the consequences.

Produced and mastered by Australian progressive and alternative rock guru, Forrester Savell, one of the keys to the success of Beautiful In Danger is that whereas the temptation would have been to employ the expansive sound now typical of releases from Australian bands of this ilk, the guitars and drums on this album have been recorded and finished with a rawer and more traditional rock edge, which compliments perfectly the band’s comparatively streamlined song writing ethic, and provides the album with a surprisingly  intimate feel.

Furthermore, while easy on a first listen, it would be wrong to dismiss Beautiful In Danger as being merely an album of straightforward electro-rock songs, for while it certainly utilises its fun and catchy hooks as a means of capturing the listeners immediate interest, it is the little details ornamenting each song which act as a gateway to the album’s deceptive substance.  These ornaments take a number of forms, including fleeting references to Cog, The Strokes and even Coldplay which never linger long enough to be overbear the core identity of the song, as well as a surprisingly varied instrumentation, which is primarily the product of Sabawi’s keyboard, but also includes piano, cello, and an oud, which is a Middle Eastern lute played by Amar on the closing title track.

In and of itself, the discovery of this musical depth is a rewarding highlight, but more importantly, it serves to engage the listener emotionally, and to expose the surprising vulnerability of this music.  While not immediately obvious, this vulnerability is particularly evident in the vocals of Brent McCormick who, with his punkish tone and broad Australian accent, was never really suited to the emulation of Maynard James Keenen or Ian Kenny, but whose technical flaws merely add to the expressiveness of his notably passionate delivery, and whose performance on the acoustic ‘Moonlight Highlight’ is one of the album’s more memorable moments.

Despite its percussive rock grooves, Beautiful In Danger flows fluidly from beginning to end, and while it might not achieve the lofty heights of some of their brethren, it clearly demonstrates JERICCO to be a band now comfortable with who they are and what they stand for, which is a development which can only bode well for their future and that of the Australian progressive rock movement.

JERICCO – Beautiful in Danger

4/5

One One One

01. I Won’t Forget
02. The One Inside
03. My Dying Drive
04. Off The Hook
05. Blackjazz Rebels
06. How Your Story Ends
07. The Hurting Game
08. Walk Away
09. Paint The Sky Black

[05/28/13]
[Prosthetic Records]

As you can probably tell, we really enjoy our avant-garde. We dedicated a whole week to it, and many of the writers here, this one included, have countless favorites. One of the bands that many of us really enjoy, however, is Norwegian blackjazz avant-garde specialists Shining. Their last album, 2010’s Blackjazz, completely blew us away, and their live DVD that followed was every bit as good. However, it’s been nearly three years since the band have put out a new studio record, and the question remained: how could they possibly top such a phenomenal record?

One One One is every bit heavy as it is catchy. From track one, which became the first single, to the closer ‘Paint The Sky Black’, this record has everything you could ever want. At first, the appearance of songs around three to four minutes long may scare some of you. Gone are the tripped-out musical journeys, such as ‘Blackjazz Deathtrance’, and in its place there are catchy songs. If black metal went pop, this record would be definitive. However, the lack of long experimental songs is completely fine; each song on this record is just long enough to become imprinted in your memory. The sheer catchiness that is exemplified on this record is really a testament to how well these guys can run the gamut as far as style goes. It may seem as if these songs were fabricated as some sort of ruse to break into the mainstream, when it is actually quite the opposite, further solidifying them as one of the best, and most interesting, metal bands out there.

Another thing to note is the overall sound from this record. Jørgen’s voice cuts through the mix like a knife, but is well-placed in relation to everything else. You can definitely tell that this album is every bit as collective as before, perhaps even more. Whereas before it seemed that they just wanted to see how far they could take this shift in sound, on this record they kind of pulled back on the experimentation and went ahead with the hooks, which there are plenty of throughout this record. This record is hook city. Each song has one, and they’re all fantastic. A personal favorite is the main riff of “Off The Hook’, which is really fun and bouncy, and sounds like something that Shining would never write, but they did. The best part about this record? Each songs has a definitive chorus, and it’s going to make their live shows that much better. Hopefully they tour stateside soon so that we can all go and bask in their Norwegian, blackjazz glory.

It’s not to say that this album is devoid of all forms of experimentation, however. There’s a crazy sax solo in “I Won’t Forget’, sax on the opening part of ‘How Your Story Ends’, there’s some off-time riffs here and there. This record is one giant experiment: to see whether or not the fans like their short and sweet route as much as the experimental, prog-laden route. Even the garish bright orange artwork is an experiment (it gets a bit much at times). They said they did it to reflect their experience with recording in California, which is all well and fun, but a smaller dose would have sufficed. However, the simplicity of the artwork is also captivating; it leaves a lot to the imagination for virgin ears that have yet to behold the magic of Shining, and gives them no reason to say no.

One One One is going to end up on many different year-end lists, and for good reason. It’s one of the best metal albums to come out this year, and it’s also the most memorable. All of the hooks on this record are enough to last you another few years until they decide to release another great record. This record is not only a step forward, but also a step in the right direction. There’s no telling what else this band is capable of in the future, and here’s to hoping nothing but great things happen to them!

Shining – One One One gets…

4.5/5

- SS

The Dogs Have Barked, The Birds Have Flown

01. Ever After
02. Witchery
03. Skeleton
04. Moon Unit
05. Lioness
06. Seven Days
07. Said ’n’ Done

[05/28/13]
[Neurot Recordings]

The origins of heavy metal are consistently fought over by rival factions, but one irrefutable fact that stands out from the bickering, regardless of whether you stand in the Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple or Cream camps, is that without blues music, metal probably would never even have made it that far. This is an interesting counterpoint to consider when rolling Iron Tongue‘s debut album around your skull for the first time.

With its heart in blues and its soul in metal, this cathartic crusher, hammered out by a mélange of Arkansas veteran musicians, pays due deference to its forbears. Initially, the music bears a strong resemblance to the recent batch of Townes Van Zandt covers, perpetrated by doom Illuminati Steve Von Till, Wino and Scott Kelly. Brief bursts of it emerge as Iron Tongue roughly feed their country affectations and hefty, blues-tinged rock through the chomping maw of old school doom metal in much the same manner. However, there is no getting away from where much of this album’s running time is spent; playing between the twin forces of St. Vitus and The Allman Brothers Band.

As an addendum to this, it is worth noting that leading the line here is Rwake‘s vocalist Chris “C.T.” Terry. Although The Dogs Have Barked, The Birds Have Flown oozes with a far more laid-back, almost-jammed approach to songwriting, it still comes as no great surprise to discover that there are also strong hints of the Little Rock sludge-flingers’ Southern drawl, twang and propensity for experimentation coursing through this.

Kicking us off, the soft-hearted, warm and gently twinkling ‘Ever After’ sucks up a Cream-esque vibe and neatly introduces us to the juxtaposition between Stephanie Smittle’s crystalline high-pitched backing and CT’s cracked, gnarly growl. Step forward a notch into ‘Skeleton’ and you’ll find yourself cornered by controlled, insistent chord rotations. Intense disillusionment and anger begin to flood through in the lyrics, fed by the steady pounding of skins and dense bass thunder. Sneaky Hammond organ rushes leak into the kind of bleak, glacial riffery employed by Dave Chandler (only without the cone-splitting distortion) as we drink in echoes of his first-love, St. Vitus. To finish, Smittle’s emotive bullet-points ram home the power of the wordplay as the valve amps creak and cry for mercy.

For those in search of walking riffs and a spot of bluesy swagger, head over to ‘Lioness’ and ’7 Days’. The former offers jinking boy-girl vocals, fuzzed-up bass and a tune-in, drop-out, throbbing four-chord trick, as Iron Tongue menacingly wrap you around their collective finger. The latter is all whining leads, sweet drops into half-time, more background Hammond and a croaky, lived-in vocal that winds itself up into a tuneless howl.

Realistically, for a seven-tracker to really shock and awe, you do need to be able to dig through all the songs and hit gold and that isn’t the case here. Some less-hardy souls might find things a little repetitive, and a couple of tracks, despite their reasonable running times, fail to keep producing and, consequently, do stretch the limitations of patience. Sadly, closer, ‘Said n’ Done’, by conjuring up the Blue Cheer proto-metal spirit – a matter of dispensing with the formalities with a simple grip and rip – suffers most of all. It stomps about, before it petulantly sinks down to a lethargic plod, where it revels in its own soul-sucking wedge of sludgy dissonance like a sullen brat. Thankfully there’s album highlight, ‘Moon Unit’, surely a reference to Frank Zappa‘s wackily-named first-born, there to save the day and act as a Sabbathian counterbalance, and it does hit like a brick between the eyes. Making plenty of room in the music, it sticks CT front and center. From this position of dominance, his vocal shifts from frazzled to fragmenting as he sets about bellowing out this trip of a track like his very soul depends on it.

Neurosis’ Steve Von Till has been moved to refer to this release as one containing “a power and an edge and soul that rarely exists in music today”. Now there’s a man who knows his onions and there is no arguing with that as the perfect one-line analysis for this beasty. As the viscious lyric from ‘Moon Unit’ warns – “The lights are out, engine is running and I have got you in my sights”. CT and, indeed, Iron Tongue have got metal history to back them up here, so take note.

Iron Tongue – The Dogs Have Barked, The Birds Have Flown gets…

4/5

- JS

Altered State

01. Of Matter – Proxy
02. Of Matter – Retrospect
03. Of Matter – Resist
04. Of Mind – Nocturne
05. Of Mind – Exile
06. Of Reality – Eclipse
07. Of Reality – Palingenesis
08. Of Reality – Calabi-Yau
09. Of Energy – Singularity
10. Of Energy – Embers

[05/28/13]
[Century Media Records]

Tesseract, one of the leading and defining bands of the djent movement, seem to always be in a position in which they must prove themselves. After moving from bedroom project to making a strong first impression on their debut One, acclaimed frontman Daniel Tompkins left the band. A year later, the polarizing Elliot Coleman parted ways after the band’s acoustic-inspired Perspective EP was released. Now, with the group have wasting no time in picking up Voices from the Fuselage frontman Ashe O’Hara, the band must be feeling some pressure to live up to the standard set by One. In this regard, we’re happy to say that fans can breathe a sigh of relief; Altered State is phenomenal.

It’s safe to say that Altered State capitalizes on everything that made the band stand out as leaders in the scene to begin with while simultaneously taking further steps towards individuality and progress. This isn’t to say that One was by any means immature — it’s a defining masterpiece of a subgenre, by our book. Altered State sees many aspects of the band’s sound further realized in a more cohesive fashion. It is more calculated; more precise. This must be the product of intense deliberation and scrutiny on behalf of the band, as the record is practically spotless in its mountain of detail.

Acle Kahney’s production for instance is much fuller, and despite the band’s obvious reliance on electronics to get by (processed guitars and programmed drums, for instance), Altered State sounds convincingly organic and sincere. The production on One sounds almost thin in comparison to the more lush and full tones featured across Altered State, like a painting come to life. Take for instance the staggered call-and-response metallic riffing on ‘Of Reality – Palingenesis’; the guitar tone is razor wire thin and takes a page out of the Meshuggah playbook, yet it’s given equal weight with Amos Williams’ tastefully punchy basslines that bring a certain liveliness to the music that would have been lost with lesser bassists. Altered State really does sound like a how-to on modern production and achieving a balanced mix.

To call Altered State a djent album wouldn’t necessarily be inaccurate, but it would be a disservice to the band’s craft. Tesseract aren’t preoccupied with being overtly ‘metal’ these days, instead focusing on what is important in the context of songwriting, and for Altered State, this means mostly clean guitar tones and ambiance in a more “traditional” progressive metal context. In fact, the band utilizes saxophone in two separate occasions on the record, which hasn’t been seen by the group since their very early demos. It’s good to see this aspect of the group coming back; it’s almost as if the band are finally becoming what they’ve always wanted to be, and Altered State is this idea approaching full realization.

When things do come down to it though, the guitar duo of Kahney and James Monteith have perfected the art of tasteful progressive metal riffing through evolving point/counterpoint motifs that transform melodies across time and timbre in a single song. For instance, the mind-bending midsection of ‘Of Reality – Eclipse’ introduces a brilliant new idea to the song that is then immediately elaborated on throughout the course of the song to follow. But Altered State is no mere technical marvel, it also has emotional depth. Altered State’s ’Of Matter’ is perhaps the most emotionally powerful and moving moments thus far in their career, aided by impeccable choice of melody and dynamic play. The three-part suite cycles through a series of haunting movements before bottoming out in minor-key ambiance that builds with intensity before reaching a chilling climax in ‘Of Matter – Resist.’ It’s heartfelt moments such as these that define an album as a classic, and such a strong first act makes a solid case for Altered State.

The largest source of scrutiny when it comes to this new record however is new frontman Ashe O’Hara, the band’s third vocalist in just as many releases. It’s no surprise that the group would eschew the use of harsh vocals in favor of a purely clean approach to singing with O’Hara, and it works out quite well; the screaming isn’t even really missed. Fans of One may miss former frontman Daniel Tompkins, but O’Hara earns his spot as the face of the band outright with the sincere delivery in the aforementioned ‘Of Matter‘ and the album’s leading single ‘Of Mind – Nocturne.’ Whether taking the spotlight and going all-out with his delivery or taking a more reserved and subtle approach while crooning along with the band’s atmospherics, Ashe fits wonderfully to his surroundings. By the time Altered State comes to a close, many may find O’Hara to be the band’s best vocalist yet.

Unfortunately, Altered State doesn’t follow through with the preconceived notion that it would be a single piece of music like ‘Concealing Fate.‘ Many songs do flow into and from surrounding tracks, but there are a handful of songs in the center of the record that start and stop with no nod to the rest of the album. There are no obvious recurring motifs across songs, and anyone hoping for a chorus reprisal a la Concealing Fate‘s ‘Origin‘ will be disappointed. In fact, Altered State ends quite undramatically despite the saxophone solo that closes the show.

Even still, Altered State not only matches the quality of One, but by some standards surpasses it entirely. Hopefully O’Hara sticks around; who knows where this current iteration of the band will take the Tesseract sound once they’ve ended the honeymoon phase that is their first album cycle? If this is what the O’Hara can come up with on relatively short notice for music already written when he joined the ranks, then the next record could be that much more phenomenal. Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves though; Altered State is a big step forward for Tesseract, and will without a doubt be one of 2013′s best records.

Tesseract – Altered State gets…

5/5

- JR

Teethed Glory & Injury

01. Mills
02. God Alone
03. A Body Shrouded
04. Burnt Year
05. Twelve Was Ruin
06. A Remedy and a Fever
07. Scald Scar and Water
08. Found Oval and Final
09. Reflection Pulse Remains

[04/23/13]
[Profound Lore Records]

Despite my personal love of post-black metal, the genre has seemingly reduced into effects-laden tremolo picking over blastbeats and distant tortured screams without all that much emotional depth. The formula was indeed a powerfully emotive one to build from, but save for a few big names, the genre seems to have lost a bit of panache that made it such a powerful statement to begin with. Irish stargazers Altar of Plagues have always been on the cutting edge of the genre, albeit guilty from time to time of the tropes that made the fringe movement slightly homogenous and incredibly predictable. After gaining traction with a consecutively acclaimed discography, Altar of Plagues have grown into their own as a frightening yet beautiful musical force that puts their undifferentiated peers to shame.

Speaking with the aforementioned tropes in mind, post-black metal gets a bit of flack from many fans of extreme metal for not retaining black metal’s emotional ferocity and sincerity. In fact, many bemoan the air of pretense and hipster culture attached to the genre, particularly in the wake of Wolves in the Throne Room‘s seminal influence. When done correctly, this style of music can create the sense of longing and nostalgia, as Alcest and Deafheaven have shown in recent efforts. Still, many have protested the movement for being more post-rock than black metal, and it’s not hard to see the desire for music that is both hauntingly atmospheric and incredibly dark. Altar of Plagues’ Teethed Glory & Injury is just that, and puts the balls back into the movement.

It’s not usually advisable to judge a book by its cover, but the imagery associated with the record — dancing and contorting bodies in dark monochrome — is an accurate representation of the aesthetics present throughout the record. Equal parts arthouse exhibition and legitimate black metal grit, the record spirals in hypnotic trance throughout its nine tracks in flowing dynamic. The elements are all there, but this isn’t a typical record by any definition pulled from the black metal/post rock spectrum. For instance, increasing amounts of industrial sounds have crept further into Altar of Plagues’ repertoire, with overdriven bass synths and programmed drums (clapping samples included) pulsating alongside almost percussive guitar parts. ‘A Body Shrouded‘ features what is essentially a surprisingly bombastic and technically-minded drum solo that writhes underneath droning guitars while shades of Ulver-inspired choir-esque chanting — albeit much more melodically friendly — can also be heard across the record, particularly in ‘Twelve Was Ruin’ and the buildup in ‘God Alone.’ 

Most importantly, Teethed Glory & Injury sees the band at their most focused and concise. Where the band previously meandered through epic-length tracks, the songs on this record average out to five minutes in length. Miraculously, the band has only gained in this culling of individual track lengths, which has been reciprocated by clever songwriting that allows for album to naturally flow non-stop between tracks to make the record as a whole both cohesive and expansive within itself. This makes for a more interesting listen as a result; Teethed Glory offers no filler, and is a actively cerebral listening experience — and this is saying something for a genre known for its quality as background music.

It may be a cliche to call something “a breath of fresh air” (though this review is certainly not a stranger to “music journalism” cliches), but Teethed Glory & Injury truly feels like a stepping stone for the furtherance of black metal that sacrifices neither heart nor hatred and comfortably treads the line between challenging and listenable. Teethed Glory & Injury is not only a standout record for the genre, but will likely be seen as a must-listen for 2013.

Altar of Plagues – Teethed Glory & Injury gets…

4.5/5

- JR

Pelagial

01. Epipelagic
02. Mesopelagic: The Uncanny
03. Bathyalpelagic I: Impasses
04. Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams
05. Bathyalpelagic III: Disequillibrated
06. Abyssopelagic I: Boundless Vasts
07. Abyssopelagic II: Signals of Anxiety
08. Hadopelagic I: Omen of the Deep
09. Hadopelagic II: Let Them Believe
10. Demersal: Cognitive Dissonance
11. Benthic: The Origin of Our Wishes

[04/30/13]
[Metal Blade Records]

It was only a matter of time before European art metallers The Ocean delved into their eponymous muse as a source of conceptual inspiration. Sole founding member and guitarist Robin Staps’ fascination with the ocean doesn’t end as a mere namesake; Staps is a scuba enthusiast and has actively studied ocean life when not busy with music, even further bridging his two hobbies in spirit with his label Pelagic Records, with Pelagic meaning, “relating to, or living in open oceans or seas.” Staps’ interest and experience in this area has truly paid off and is artistically realized with Pelagial, a concept record that not only explores the depths of the last unexplored terrestrial frontier, but also acts as a journey to the source of our hopes and dreams.

Pelagial, depending on where you place your emphasis when listening, offers two vastly different experiences. On an instrumental front, the band tackles the thematic task of providing a soundtrack for the ocean’s different pelagic zones and appropriately capturing the essence of each level as the band sinks deeper. Opening in the bright and sunlit surface, ‘Epipelagic‘ serves as a spiritual overture for Pelagic with twinkling pianos and flowing waters painting a beautiful and lively soundscape. With each passing track however, the group carries the music further into darker waters, eventually trading accessible song structure and ballad-worthy melodies with moody atmospheres and sludgy doom riffing in labyrinthine progression. The difference between uptempo ‘Mesopelagic‘ and the brutal dirge of ‘Benthic‘ is almost night and day, where light is slowly drained from the locales that the music attempts to and succeeds at depicting.

Since Pelagial was intended as an instrumental epic, the record is rich in detail and hold up on their own to repeated listening. However, even though it was a technical afterthought, the vocal performance from Loic Rossetti is phenomenal considering the near vocal paralysis that the last two years of heavy touring have inflicted upon him. From the heartfelt crooning in ‘Bathyalpelagic I: Impasses‘ to the gravelly roars ‘Benthic: The Origin of Our Wishes,’ Rossetti further plants himself as one of the most talented studio vocalists in metal. His important role as a frontman is made double for Pelagial as his presence adds much more depth to the record that would have been lost had he sat this album cycle out. It’s hard to imagine Pelagial without the ironically comforting warmth of Rossetti’s voice as he sings, “…and it’s getting colder. There’s no comfort in this place…” in ‘Mesopelagic: The Uncanny.’

With this in mind, Pelagial‘s conceptual exploration doesn’t end with the ocean floor. Pelagial is a dichotomous experience that also draws from the Russian classic film Stalker for lyrical inspiration. Given the film’s psychological implications regarding the conscious and unconscious mind and how it relates to our innermost desires, the band has provided a brilliant and relatable parallel that conveys this voyage into the unknown and oppressive territory. Jungian psychology is often explained as an iceberg, with the conscious mind being the visible tip that we are aware of and the unconscious mind extending below the water’s surface in a larger hidden mass, making the metaphor quite apt on several levels.

Pelagial is quite possibly The Ocean’s most ambitious record to date — not only conceptually, but musically as well. While not as accessible on a song-to-song level as the previous Centric records, Pelagial is a cohesive masterpiece that makes the case for the art of storytelling through music in and of itself in the genre of metal. The Ocean have been on the cutting edge of progressive songwriting since their inception, but Pelagial may be the record that finally puts them ahead of their peers.

The Ocean – Pelagial gets…

5/5

- JR

House of Gold and Bones Part 2

01. Red City
02. Black John
03. Sadist
04. Peckinpah
05. Stalemate
06. Gravesend
07. 82
08. The Uncanny Valley
09. Blue Smoke
10. Do Me A Favor
11. The Conflagration
12. The House Of Gold & Bones

[04/09/13]
[Roadrunner Records]

It was a pleasant surprise when Stone Sour’s first installment of a two part concept album with House Of Gold And Bones, Part 1 was released. It had everything and more, from amazing lyrics and some of the best vocals I heard in all of last year. The only question that remained, however, was whether or not they would continue to move forward and be as good on the second installment of this concept, which is completed with this record.

Right from the start, you can tell that this is a different album. The songs on this record are significantly less heavy than on the first CD, with more poppy and melodic choruses and slower-paced songs rather than just heavy riffing and heavy chorus lines. However, this is not a bad thing. If the second CD was exactly like the first, it would be boring. At that point, why even make another disc when it would just be the same songs recycled and rearranged? This album’s songs may not be as heavy, but they are definitely just as memorable, most notably the album’s closer, sharing the same name as the title. It takes some musical ideas explored with some songs on the first disc and compiles them into one song that is every bit as catchy as it is heavy. Other than this song and the first single ‘Do Me A Favor’, this album is pretty much alternative rock, which, again, bodes the band really well.

One thing that got even better, however, are Corey’s vocals. Whereas on the first disc he was screaming and singing, this disc really put his amazing vocal talents in the spotlight, and from start to finish you get to hear his voice sing to you like he’s right there with you. His cleans have dramatically improved since the days of Come What(Ever) May, and it really shows. The vocals on this are honestly the best Corey has ever done on any of his records. It is especially nice to hear that his vocals on this record are very clear throughout the entire album, never getting buried beneath the mix or any of the instruments. The rest o the band also are able to slow down the tempo and still produce heavy songs with catchy, melodic choruses that many bands cannot pull off without having some sort of gimmick or a set “formula”, if you will. The band just gets it; they get that writing catchy heavy music needs to be done correctly, and they certainly have done so.

The most surprising thing about this record is the fact that it is actually better than the first one, which some people may think is heinous considering how much lighter this album is. Less screams and more cleans, less distortion and more clean guitar, even some acoustic parts here and there. It all works really well. Most people, however, will like the other record more. For those fans who love the super heavy balls-to-the-wall songs, they will not like this record as much. The fans that enjoy the more melodic side of the band will definitely enjoy this album better. However, in order to get the full experience, listen to both albums consecutively, and you can see how well it works. This album’s structure leaves nothing to be desired, and it covers every domain imaginable that the band have been exploring since their self-titled release back in 2002. It combines everything correct that they did and puts it all into one fantastic record, which is all any legitimate fan could ever ask for.

So don’t be afraid or wary of the changes that you may hear on this record. Embrace them. Welcome the sounds of Stone Sour into your ears, and listen to this album. Better yet, listen to both one after the other, because the experience will not only be a pleasurable one, but you’ll hear one of the best albums to come out this year, and that’s no bull.

Stone Sour’s House of Gold and Bones Part 2 gets…

4.5/5

-SS

Heart Of Oak

01. Raise The Sun
02. Overthrone
03. Falling In Line
04. The Longest River
05. One Foot In The Light
06. Giants
07. Faith And Oath
08. Flood And Fire
09. For Lisa

[04/16/13]
[Season of Mist]

To simply discuss Anciients as only the sum of their parts would be to do them a complete injustice. Here on Heart Of Oak this Canadian quartet take on a sludgy sound that is equal parts technical and progressive, with bands like Intronaut, Baroness and even Opeth all being submerged and absorbed into their murky swamp waters. Still, in execution, Heart Of Oak is so much more than that, it’s a meticulously crafted and instantly satisfying piece that may be the biggest surprise of the year so far.

‘Raise The Sun‘ serves as the perfect opener, encapsulating the band’s approach in one relatively compact track. Soaring clean vocals command much of the opening, their combination with winding progressive riffs bringing to mind The Sword and Red Album-era Baroness, before seamlessly seguing into achingly heavy riffs and drums that rely on a combination of winding sludgy Opeth-ian passages and flourishes of speed to maintain the energy and memorability maintained so far. Worth mentioning specifically by name as well, is the nine minute journey that takes the centre space on the album; ‘The Longest River‘. Predominantly instrumental for the first half of it’s inception, the track becomes a showcase as to the true talent of the band as it twists and weaves through countless numbers of sludgy passages and rhythmic changes that require the cooperation of the entire band. It almost has a Crack The Skye feel to it in the way it builds up slowly to the glorious peak chorus of ‘all roads lead to, the longest river‘ that will give the same chills that plagued you the first time you heard ‘The Last Baron‘ or ‘The Czar‘.

Throughout Heart Of Oak the punishing riffs let up periodically for bouts of clean picked acoustics that add a whole new level to proceedings. Ranging from the whiskey drenched bluesy trawls of instrumental closer ‘For Lisa‘ to the beautifully dark movements of ‘Flood And Fire‘, they continue to draw the parallels between this Canadian progressive sludge troupe and that aforementioned Swedish prog collective with an obvious understanding of just how effective dynamics can be within metal and make all those colours they weave so much more vibrant and evocative. Their clean, sparkling sheen channels brooding darkness in the same way Death did with many tracks but most notably ‘The Philospher‘ — making their addition as the main support to the Death To All move from and odd quirk to an obvious match.

When talking about Heart Of Oak it’s important to stress that this is simply their debut. With refinement and time on their side, Anciients could easily out do themselves as the blemishes are present but they’re so minor and inconsequential in comparison to the rest of the output that they’re not even worth mentioning. In Heart…, Anciients have moulded something truly remarkable — an album so effortlessly brilliant that their peers should be worried.

Anciients’ Heart Of Oak gets…

4.5/5

- DL

Ghost

01. Legend
02. Limitless
03. The Boss Level
04. Wastelands
05. Discovery
06. Skywalk
07. Ghost
08. Reflex
09. Crystal

[03/21/13]
[Self Released]

You may know Anup Sastry as the drummer of bands such as Skyharbor and Intervals. He has also been a guest drummer for Ex-Nevermore guitarist Jeff Loomis. Those are some big names, and the only reason why he is such a famous drummer is because Anup Sastry is a phenomenal musician and a man of many talents. Ghost is Anup Sastry’s debut album that brings his drum mastery to the forefront. With his debut, Sastry has shown us that multi-instrumentalism is the way of the future. No longer are you required to rely on how efficient you are at playing an instrument perfectly, but rather how well you can convey across what you write. However, regardless of Sastry’s obvious technical proficiencies, Ghost is a creatively weak album that rehashes the same old djent making Ghost an overambitious effort where Sastry takes ideas from other bands he plays for like Skyharbor and Intervals, yet brings nothing new to the table. This makes Ghost a tiresome listen that tries to go beyond certain conventions of djent, yet conforms to quite a few in the process.

What has to be the biggest disappointment with the album is Sastry’s paper thin guitar tone. Djent being based on the thundering sounds of down-tuned seven and eight string guitars is what gives it the heaviness that bands such as Meshuggah are able to conjure up, yet Sastry’s guitar tone delivers no such punch. There is a very valid reason as to why it sounds that way. All the guitars and bass are programmed.

In this regard, Ghost can be referred to as “reverse-djent,” where the drums are real and the guitars and the bass are … well, fake. It’s hard to tell at times that the guitars and the bass aren’t real since they mesh so well with the drums, but if you’re familiar with how certain studio techniques can be utilized to record and edit to make it sound perfect, it won’t take you long to notice. As far as the bass is concerned, it’s supposed to be one of the instruments that enhances and amplifies drumming by adding to the groove, but unfortunately it gets drowned down in the sound of all the guitars and cymbals, making it seem non-existent on the record.

As this is djent, Anup also takes quite a lot of influence from some of the pioneers of the genre. ‘Reflex’ has a math-y style to it, reminiscent of Sikth, whereas the riff on the title track ‘Ghost’ sounds a lot like Meshuggah’s ‘Bleed’ with the triplets being fired off in almost the same pattern. If nothing, it sounds more like a futuristic version of ‘Bleed’ with the synths playing in the background.

For a one-man project, this is a really good album. The most remarkable part of the record is Anup Sastry doing what he’s famous for – drums. The drumming on the record is impeccable, which comes as no surprise. Sastry, being primarily a drummer, knows how to write intricate grooves. The only thing that can be considered at fault would be how machine-like and mechanical it feels.

The problem with djent today is the lack of innovation within the genre. With mostly rehashed riffs and no new ideas, the genre has become rather boring. Sadly, Ghost falls victim to the same. The album tries to utilize new ideas but gets lost within the constant boring riffage similar to Monuments, old-school Cloudkicker and Hydrodjent (a.k.a. Keshav Dhar). Even his bandmate from Skyharbor, Keshav Dhar, has stopped writing such riffs and evolved, going the way of Tesseract with adding layers upon layers of ambient tracks to make his songs more interesting. Though the synths on Ghost add quite a lot of flavour to the tracks, Anup Sastry’s attempt at ambiance is nothing more than a few keyboard plays in the background that don’t seem to add much to the atmosphere other than a superfluous electronic feel.

In closing, Ghost is an admittedly underachieving and ultimately underwhelming debut album by a truly gifted musician that seems to be trying too hard to write overtly groovy djent. One can appreciate the dedication to the admittedly-catchy grooves, but there’s a limit to how much djent one can djent.

Anup Sastry – Ghost gets…

2.5/5

-AJ

Horrible Night

01. Horrible Nights
02. The Bleeding Years
03. Dark Lady
04. Dreams From The Depths
05. The Coral Of Chaos
06. I Saw Them That Night

[03/25/13]
[Rise Above/Metal Blade]

When you’ve hit the subterranean rock bottom of funeral doom, where notes hold for tens of seconds and cymbals are left to shimmer until the very last sound drains away, where else is there to go in terms of sheer oppressive heaviness? Moss seem to have been left with this conundrum following the release of the widely praised Sub Templum a good five years ago. Since then the band have dabbled with smaller releases, wryly entitled EPs despite their extensive running time, but never quite found thier new direction or even matched the hopeless drone of Sub Templum. Horrible Night  is the new beginning that the band have been aiming for — a sleazy back-alley crawl down Sabbath road and onto Electric Wizard lane.

Immediately (well, as immediate as a doom record can be), you’re presented with the most obvious change brought by Horrible Night — the vocals. Olly Pearson now also invokes the gritty cleans of Ozzy Osbourne as well as performing some of the most tortured screeches around, which some may find jarring given Moss’ past, but as you move through the album it’s obvious this switch was a stroke of genius. Before, vocals were another instrument designed solely to drag out notes and add another layer to their wall-of-sound approach, but now they’re are a component that stands at the forefront of it all, turning the once snail-pace tectonic shift into a psychedelic, hazy occult ritual.

Despite all this talk of progression and movement, at the heart of it, the core elements are still present here. ‘Horrible Nights‘ begins and abuses a plethora of sickeningly drawn out and heavy riffs that firmly impose themselves upon you and continue to do so in that fashion for a good eleven minutes. Not for the faint of heart, clearly, but there’s an underlying mesmerizing tone to it all that’s only really possible with droning doom that’s done well. So, it’s even more surprising that Moss manage to repeat this success three more times in the main centre pieces of the album; ‘Dark Lady‘, ‘The Coral Of Chaos‘ and acid-drenched closer ‘I Saw Them That Night‘.

The main issue with Horrible Night is probably the same issue faced any doom band that likes to hold riffs right up to the expiration date — one man’s hypnotic and alluring will be another man’s dull and boring. Horrible Night doesn’t do anything to avoid this scenario, to do so would compromise a lot of the integrity of the sound, and so naysayers of the style will find little to no comfort here. In the grand scheme of things, the band aren’t afraid to push it, but for the most part they appease the attention span of someone who is well versed in the world of Ahab, Esoteric et alii.

Moss have taken a huge step forward here so it’s only natural there’s a little wavering as they move from the dank, dark underground to the candle-lit black mass, but still this three-piece manage once again to prove why they’re an integral axiom within funeral doom and manage to make a horrifically pleasing racket doing it.

Moss – Horrible Night gets…

3.5/5

- DL