ALBUM REVIEW: Monte Luna - "Monte Luna"

By: Mark Ambrose

Album Type: Full-length

Date Released: 02/09/2017

Label: Indepedent

With a little bit of trimming, their debut would be a contender for breakout of the year.  As it stands, this should portend greatness for a duo as eclectic and skilled as any I’ve heard in 2017.

“Monte Luna” CD//DD//CS track listing

1). The Burning of Elohim

2). Nameless City

3). 6000 Year March

4). Nightmare Frontier

5). Inverted Mountain

6). The End of Beginning

The Review

               

This year has been an absolute banger when it’s come to excellent records.  With so much brutal filth to laud,  Owlcrusher, Belus, Shroud Eater, and Fister all put out shatteringly exceptional releases. 

With a self-released, self-titled debut LP, Monte Luna throw their hat in the power duo ring and perform admirably, a psychedelic, spacey blast of eclectic stoner metal, Monte Luna goes all in with six tracks that range from blast beat fury to soulful blues riffage.

It’s tempting to think “The Burning of Elohim”, the shortest track (at nearly five minutes), is an introduction for the massive cuts that follow.  But it’s too full on its own to be a mere intro cut.  Clarke’s abrupt shifts between shriek and croon are almost disarming, but ultimately a real asset.  His dexterity in guitar styles serves as an guiding principle for Monte Luna, as Phil Hook can instantly lock into a bluesy, soulful swing or pummel through punishing blast beats.  On “Nameless City”, a thirteen minute doom jam centered around beefy riffing and Clarke’s grungey, bluesy vocal, Hook stands out with precise but loose meat and potatoes rock drumming that serves the doom fretwork, especially when guest guitarist Jon-Paul Girard goes for an extended wah-wah jaunt through pentatonic scales loaded with some vintage Blue Cheer fuzz.

               

The feedback-heavy martial tone of “6000 Year March” sounds like the music an orc would blast before heading into battle, complete with shrieking tri-tone riffs and a husky, yowling vocal delivery from Clarke.  The ambient outro, layered with samples of occult movie dialogue, feels a bit overlong, especially since the next track, “Nightmare Frontier”, is an abrupt departure.  Pushing his voice into soulful heights, Clarke almost sounds like Cedric Bixler-Zavala, albeit in a less falsetto register. The subdued bass and drum line, countered by a sinewy, sludgy riff, makes “Nightmare Frontier” an irresistible banger.  When the track culminates in an ascending guitar lead, there’s no doubt that this is the standout cut on the record.

               

If “Nightmare Frontier” is the catchiest cut, “Inverted Mountain” may be the absolute filthiest track.  Clarke pushes his vocals to shredded extremes, and the relentless feedback is molar rattling.  A downbeat midsection, seething with sonic manipulations courtesy of Hook, witnesses Clarke careening from forlorn wailing to sinister crooning, before launching into speed metal mania.  The end of this brutal sprint also highlights the one glaring issue of the record: the extended ambient codas.  When the following track, “The End of Beginning”, has its own mellow intro, the appended few minutes feel like a real drag.  Which is a shame considering the finale is a brutal assault on its own, vaulting from slow dirge to blast beat assault.  Clarke once again pushes his vocals to extremes, and his guitar ranges from ethereal to demonic.  That this stellar track has another outro – this time acoustic – only diminishes the transcendent, destructive finale.

               

When measured against the heft and might of the majority of this otherwise excellent debut, Monte Luna’s sonic noodlings are a bit nitpicky.  But the truth is that this stellar combo only obscures its own songwriting and performance chops.  The finale to “The End is Beginning” feels like the chaos and violence of Ragnarok itself… until they tack on a few extra bars and nature sounds.  With a little bit of trimming, their debut would be a contender for breakout of the year.  As it stands, this should portend greatness for a duo as eclectic and skilled as any I’ve heard in 2017.

“Monte Luna” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

TOP 16 ALBUMS: The Sour 16 (October 2017)

Allow yourself to indulge in a hefty dose of riffs, because it is time to present 16 of the best albums from September, it is time for your SOUR 16. 

You know the drill by now, each month you the reader are unwittingly compiling a list of the top 16 records of the month, covering all genres of metal.  Is it not a chart, in which reviewers or contributors extol their opinion about their favourite music.  To put it simply, THE SOUR 16 are the records that have been trending the most at SLUDGELORD HQ.

The results are compiled based on the amount of page views the reviews have received and are then calibrated into the list below.  All reviews can be viewed by clicking the artwork and we have included album streams wherever possible. (Total views since their publication are highlighted in the red)

16). Belus - "Apophenia" (710)

“Apophenia” is a breathtaking experience, a challenging listen, and an auspicious first entry from one of the few bands with the audacity to experiment and the chops to pull it off.

15). Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats – “Vol. 1” (Reissue) (744)

Imperfect though it may be, "Vol. 1" is a fascinating introduction to Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats' bold vision

14). Unsane - "Sterilize" (756)

 This is a flawless collection of bile-soaked missives that set the standard for riff-heavy, ugly noise rock in 2017

13). Gruntruck - "Gruntruck" (812)

Gruntruck straddles that line between heavy, melodic, and noisey, not afraid to venture into Pearl Jam territory when it feels like it, then take a hard left and land somewhere near the sound of Alice In Chains.  Listening to “Gruntruck”, I think I finally understand what grunge was about.  Sure it was a trend, but bands like this just wanted to rock.  And that’s what this record does. 

12). Wormwood - "Mooncurse" (892)

Wormwood's performance on "Mooncurse" is doom in the purest sense. Purposeful pacing and incredibly weighty riffs aplenty.  As you make your way to "Passage of Fire," Wormwood's greatest traits are on full display: an impeccable grasp of timing, dark musical sequences and undefeatable heaviness

11). Blackfinger - "When Colors Fade Away" (934)

I cannot find anything to fault here. Blackfinger have delivered nine tracks of trad doom with style and finesse. Eric Wagner has put his name to another excellent doom album and this is recommended to any fans of Trouble, The Skull, Saint Vitus, The Obsessed and so on out there

10). Sarke - "Viige Urh" (952)

“Viige Urh” ignites stronger than the incineration of flames; forcefully ascends high up to Valhalla— it is a projection of eternality, packed up in a form of eight tracks as ferocious as incendiaries. 

09). Merchant - "Beneath" (987)

If you’re a fan of heavy sludge, doom, and death/doom, I don’t see how you could possibly not dig this album. The production is amazing and the tone is ultra-heavy. The drums pound mercilessly, the bass hits like a 50 pound maul, and the vocals pull it all together perfectly. Give this a listen now.

08). Iron Monkey - "9-13" (1383)

"9-13" offers a shredding sludge attack and is a violent rejoinder of why Iron Monkey got its reputation as a doom/sludge vanguard. All these years later, Iron Monkey remains gritty and uncompromising. Predictions for a return were invariably high. "9-13" does not blow those expectations out of the water. Nor does Iron Monkey disappoint. For that, there's much to smile about.

07). Bell Witch - "Mirror Reaper" (1440)

With "Mirror Reaper," the music conveys the reflection back of life and of death; literally that the Grim Reaper is a facsimile of the cycle of life. As with anything Bell Witch, though, such a realization is not engaged with in a fashion that rips at the pain of loss or terror, but rather builds into a deeper, though no less excoriating, meditation on the passage of time

06). Stonebirds - "Time" (1510)

The group merges many influences into a package that still sounds true to the subgenre. Stonebirds is adept at exploring concepts in their music that make it even more intriguing. To put it simply, the trio is one of the Europe's more intriguing stoner/doom performers today. "Time," far exceeds expectations and situates Stonebirds as a band to keep an eye on.

05). Pänzer - "Fatal Command" (1738)

This is a similar beast to their debut- powerful but with melody, hard driving but never out and out thrash. If you are a fan of Priest, Hammerfall, Accept and of course Destruction, there will be plenty for you to enjoy here. Classic heavy metal with a modern stainless steel sheen.

04). Enslaved - ‘E’ (2045)

‘E’ could very well be the foundation for yet another great era in a discography that is already ludicrously loaded with top-tier albums.  It is a  shift made with finesse and the second half of “Storm Son” could be the basis for a whole new era of Enslaved on its own.

03). All Pigs Must Die - "Hostage Animal" (2179)

The riffs are ceaseless as Wentworth and Izzi vary from much faster chords into a war chorus of tonality. And the results are gripping at every second. It, like previous selections, is potent with APMD's militancy. Best of all, APMD made the wait well worth it.

02). Blut Aus Nord - "Deus Salutis Meae" (2381)

What is truly most evident is an extreme music group that will not be bound to definitions, or at least is willing to experiment to ascend beyond what we think we know of a genre.

01). Primitive Man - "Caustic" (2989)

"Caustic" is an ambitious project, among the band's longest and most complex to date. Like their past work, the group explores nihilism in sound that rivals some of the most hopeless metal you've heard. That unrelenting quicksand of guitars and bass is here, as are those vocals of your nightmares.  Primitive Man offer up some of its most excellent music to date, making this sprawling and charging full length worth the wait.

A big thank you as always to our amazing writers, your dedication knows no boundaries and for that I am truly grateful.  October 2017’s “SOUR 16” features reviews by:  Richard Maw, Andre Almaraz, Mark Ambrose, Ernesto Aguilar, Daniel Jackson, Theron Moore, Charlie Bulter & Ralka Skjerseth

ALBUM REVIEW: Belus - "Apophenia"

By: Mark Ambrose

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 13/10/ 2017

Label: Vendetta Records

“Apophenia” is a breathtaking experience, a challenging listen, and an auspicious first entry from one of the few bands with the audacity to experiment and the chops to pull it off.

 “Apophenia” CD//CS//DD//LP track listing

1. Chasm

2. Monolith

3. Avarice

4. Illusions

5. Psychosis

6. Omens

7. Equilibrium

The Review

Belus has one of the most memorable rhythm sections in blackened metal.  From the opener, “Chasm”, drummer Jacques fluidly alternates between blast beats and groove-indebted, borderline funk fills.  The bass work is equally indebted to funky post-punk, like a black metal Mike Watt, while the guitar tone glides between classic tremolo picking and lush, post-hardcore departures.  If the bass on “Monolith” were a bit higher in the mix, the disco beat would immediately invoke Public Image, Ltd.  For all I’ve said about the disparate influences and comparable non-metal acts, Belus is one hell of an interesting metal band on its own terms.  Guitarist Matt Mewton’s vocal delivery, particularly on album highlight “Avarice”, has an almost dual-toned rasped scream.  A lot of digital ink has been spilled regarding Dagon’s otherworldly, “reptilian” vocal style, but I’ve found Mewton’s tone equally alien and more tuneful.  There are moments that almost sound like throat singing.  This weirdness, paired with the mounting doom (and haunting synth) of final tracks “Omens” and “Equilibrium, are particularly rewarding upon multiple listens.  I found myself hearing unlikely harmonies in Mewton’s guitars and vocals, while even the blast beats and pared down bass riffing played with subtle rhythmic variations.

And yet Belus has me rethinking any “big picture” judgment or some unifying gestalt.  When so many bands practically construct a libretto for interpreting their latest prog missive, the very title is a challenge – or a warning.  “Apophenia”, for those (like me) who tend to fire up a Google search any time you encounter a new mystery word, is, according to Belus, the “human tendency to seek patterns in random information and assign unnecessary meaningfulness or importance to them”.  This bleak concept has been equally applied to the studies of psychology and esoteric magic.  How appropriate, then, for a band that treads equally in the morose world of black metal and the occult-obsessed dimensions of psychedelia, with some unexpected, schizophrenic sojourns into funk, punk, post-punk and doom, to confound the effort to bridge these concepts.  Each temporal shift, each genre-fluid amalgamation, each tortured vocal practically begs for interpretation for some larger, unifying theme, while constantly threatening the listener with sheer nihilism.  It’s a breathtaking experience, a challenging listen, and an auspicious first entry from one of the few bands with the audacity to experiment and the chops to pull it off.

“Apophenia” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook