2016 ALBUMS IN BRIEF: Alcest- “Kodama”, Cobalt- “Slow Forever” & Mortichnia- “Heir to Scoria and Ash”

By: TJ Kleibhan

Alcest- “Kodama”

Shoegaze-Metal pioneers Alcest were back this year with “Kodama”, an album that found lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Neige electing to implement more vocal harmony rather than his usual black metal screeches. “Kodama” has frequently been compared to Alcest’s debut, “Souvenirs d'un autre monde” by way of the new album’s fierce guitar riffs drenched beneath swirling delay effects. Also similar to the debut is the way “Kodama” bounces between moods which ranges from uplifting to dark and personal. Neige frequently stated he was inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke during the album’s creation. “Kodama” is every bit as lush and blissful as a Miyazaki film, but also includes the harrowing darkness that Miyazaki’s protagonists typically overcome. This is one of Alcest’s strongest releases and should come especially welcome to fans clamoring for a record closer to black metal than Alcest’s past two efforts.

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

Cobalt- “Slow Forever”

After a seven year hiatus, Colorado black and prog metal act Cobalt returned with “Slow Forever. The album was created during the most tumultuous time in Cobalt’s history. While creating their first double album, lead singer Phil McSorley was replaced with ex-Lord Mantis vocalist Charlie Fell. Multi-Instrumentalist Erik Wunder did not miss a beat during the whole process. “Slow Forever” features twelve tracks, most of which eclipse the 6 minute mark, that showcase massive riffs, creative drum fills, and aggressive melodies that all feature an influence of Cormac McCarthy-like western wilderness blues. Fell’s vocal performances are varied, but every note he screeches and roars works effectively. Rarely does a band replace their lead singer and get better, but “Slow Forever” could be the peak in Cobalt’s oeuvre.

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

Mortichnia- “Heir to Scoria and Ash”

Mortichnia come from Ireland and they’re here to crush all the happiness out of your life. Produced and recorded by Altar of Plagues’ James Kelly, the black/doom metal five-piece’s debut record is perhaps the most punishing release of 2016. The atmosphere of “Heir to Scoria and Ash” is sickening and claustrophobic. Even when the well-crafted riffs are not punishing the listener, there is seemingly no way to escape the droning, the harsh vocals, or the pounding double bass drum kick. Gluttons for punishment in their metal releases look no further.

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: 40 Watt Sun - “Wider than the Sky”

By: TJ Kliebhan

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 14/10/2016
Label: Providence Records |
Svart Records

Although the record may find itself on the fringes of metal, the empathetic feelings Walker shares over soaring ten minute tracks should cause anyone who has felt anything before to reflect in some meaningful way. “Wider than the Sky” challenges its listeners to reflect for themselves, because after all it’s important to remember where one stands. 40 Watt Sun’s latest record is likely to find itself among the best records released this year.

“Wider than the Sky” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Stages
2). Beyond You
3). Another Room
4). Pictures
5). Craven Road
6). Marazion

The Review:

Patrick Walker enjoys his privacy. It’s no secret that the English musician tends to keep a low profile, which makes any news coming from him significant to his fans. In 2016, Walker has announced a one day performance at Roadburn festival where he will be reuniting Warning to play the “Watching from a Distance” in its entirety. Warning has been considered seminal in the revival of traditional doom metal, but do not put that genre label on what Walker does now as 40 Watt Sun.

Walker began 40 Watt Sun to address his growth as a musician and songwriter while moving on from the music he created as a young man. This year Walker finally announced a follow-up record for 40 Watt Sun marking 2016 as an exciting year for fans who have endured long periods of silence over the past three years. Label issues delayed the release of “Wider than the Sky” until now, marking the group’s first record in five years coming by way of their own Providence Records label. A Patrick Walker release has never sounded more polished or emotionally devastating than on “Wider than the Sky”.

On 40 Watt Sun’s sophomore effort, the band creates an air of maturity while Walker’s baritone pleading vocal wrestles with past relationships, meaningful physical places in his life, and the passing of time. The album is lyrically crushing, and finds Walker taking the least abstract approach to songwriting in his career.

The massive opening track “Stages” clocks in at over sixteen minutes and features chilling lines such as, “the heart of the matter that both of us can’t hide…I’m feeling everything like nothing in my life.” Walker has always touted that his lyrics are simply what he experiences. The drama that his voice as well as the slow, rhythmic delivery are fitting for this incredibly genuine collection of words. Walker’s chosen canvas for these ubiquitous tales is around ten minutes, but he proves he is able to deliver equally traumatic words on the short final track “Marazion”. The track finds Walker longing for the coastal town while aching, “if I could just be strong enough, but I don’t want to face it.”

While Walker can come off as a dreary character, these six tracks offer a diverse array of subjects that come with his unique perspective on, with the only constant from track to track being the level of personal intimacy that Walker brings to each song.

Musically, this is 40 Watt Sun’s cleanest record. The crushing atmosphere and distortion that Warning created was severely scaled back on 40 Watt Sun’s first record “The Inside Room.” Indeed “Wider than the Sky” takes the cleaner tones even further. This is still very much a guitar driven record and the pacing is similar to past releases in the Walker canon, but everything sounds more refined. This new record sounds as if it will seamlessly transition to the solo acoustic shows that Patrick Walker frequently performs. Many of the these tracks feature a sound for the opening couple minutes that slowly gets expanded upon by incorporating more instruments or feature a slight change in pace with a new riff. The tracks unfold in subtle ways and brilliantly derive significance out of minimalism. “Another Room” and “Craven Road” are perfect examples of how Walker is a master of maximizing the power of a shift in pace using a similar melody and tone without introducing numerous new instruments to the fold.

“Wider than the Sky” demonstrates that 40 Watt Sun is not dedicated to any sound or existing to satisfy the clamors of Doom metal fans. The band has aged and refused to compromise their vision, and in the process has created a release which could be considered as one Patrick Walker’s best. Although the record may find itself on the fringes of metal, the empathetic feelings Walker shares over soaring ten minute tracks should cause anyone who has felt anything before to reflect in some meaningful way. “Wider than the Sky” challenges its listeners to reflect for themselves, because after all it’s important to remember where one stands. 40 Watt Sun’s latest record is likely to find itself among the best records released this year.

“Wider Than the Sky” is available here

Band info: facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Dead - "Untitle"

By: TJ Kliebhan

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 30/09/2016
Label: We Empty Rooms

 

 

“Untitle”track CD//DD//LP listing

1). Grizzly

2). Don’t Pray For Us

3). The Kid Was All Wong

4). Turning Screws

5). Line Em’ All Up

 

The Review: 

Sludge metal has not run out of ideas just yet. On its surface, the Australian duo’s latest “Untitle” could be accused of lacking color. The tones and atmosphere recall acts like The Melvins or Big Business, a sound hundreds of bands ape. What sets DEAD apart is their pacing. The arrangements are exquisitely layered incrementally, so rather than relying on a droning effect DEAD elects subtle changes in sound or effects added one at a time to build an ensemble of punishing heaviness. Their latest record displays an ambitious band on a goal to prove how multi-faceted they are.

 

“Untitle” is album two of a four LP set the band is amusingly calling “The Trilogy.” It is not abundantly clear how “Untitle” relates to the first record, “Captains of Industry”, but the release continues DEAD’s brand of sludge metal accompanied by dark abstract themes. The album opens with “Grizzly”, a track that encompasses what the band does best while foreshadowing the record as a whole. The track begins softly and treads toward a noisy climax one sound at a time. The two halves of the song could not be more dissonant. While the first half uses an eloquently picked guitar and whispered vocals the second half utilizes shouted double-tracked vocals, a buzz saw of a bassline, and booming snare. DEAD has a knack for sounding methodical for one minute and completely unhinged the next.

 

The best example of this formula is on the last track, “Line ‘Em All Up”. As the minutes pass, more and more haunting noises creep toward the surface of the mix while the vocal harmonies drone on. The track’s low frequencies grumble at the bottom while the high pitched screeching guitars aggravate any soothing repetitive qualities that the bass and vocals provide. The tracks sandwiched between the aforementioned vary with elements of drone, noise, and heavy riffs. The band transitions through these sounds seamlessly and combines them for a powerful overall sound. The arrangements on “Untitle” are so meticulously well-crafted and varied it allows all five tracks to distinguish themselves clearly while contributing to an obvious overall sonic theme.

 

On “Untitle”, DEAD attempts a little bit of everything and works to see how they can make these different sounds cohesive. Similar to a release like “Lysol” or “Amplifier Worship” there are a lot of different elements and genres explored on a track by track basis and DEAD do all of them pretty well. Ambitious releases can sometimes feel bloated or disjointed, but DEAD avoid this by keeping the tracks relatively short (no track eclipses ten minutes) and track list short as well. All of the material feels essential to this release and contributes to the greater whole which is a dirty, ostentatious, diverse release.

 

“Untitle” is available here

 

Band info: facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Mizmor - "Yodh"

By: TJ Kliebhan

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 12/08/2016
Label: Gilead Media

A.L.N. demonstrates a penchant for punishing the listener in so many different ways, but also establishes a talent for creating harmony layered within the chaos.

“Yodh” CS//DD//LP track listing:

1). Woe Regains My Substance

2). A Semblance Waning

3). The Serpent Eats Its Tail

4). Inertia, an Ill Compeller

5). Bask in the Lingering

The Review:

A.L.N. follows a long line of Pacific Northwestern musicians leading the charge for American Black Metal. The mysterious multi-instrumentalist from Portland, Oregon lends his talents to multiple projects including Hell and Urzeit who create unique blends of tumultuous black metal and doom metal. “Yodh” is the latest release from A.L.N. under the Mizmor (meaning "psalm" in Hebrew) moniker he uses for his solo-projects. With “Yodh”, A.L.N. makes a strong argument for Mizmor as his best musical project. After a four year gap between full length recordings, the project has returned stronger, focused, and more cathartic than ever.

“Yodh” is broken into five extended pieces that all have their share of A.L.N.’s ferocious growl, mesmerizing doom riffs, and suffocating abrasive climaxes. All five tracks are incredibly ambitious and while the track lengths can appear daunting “Yodh” does not suffer from any periods of self-indulgence or overkill, each sequence being equally as gripping as the last. These tracks feature multiple sequences that are woven in a way similar to seventies prog rock. What differentiates Mizmor from other metal acts in the same vein are the smooth transitions that remove any abruptness from appearing, making this the perfect blend of black and doom metal stylings. This album is downright heavy like a great doom record should be. “The Serpent Eats the Tail” has a brilliant riff that would find itself right at home on an early Black Sabbath record. “Yodh” is also as horribly biting and desolate as a great black metal record, but does so in an incredibly maximalist way. This record is beautifully mastered and sounds as sharp as any metal record in recent memory. This mastering style paired with the black metal traits gives the record a similar feel to Emperor’s “In The Nightside Eclipse”, in that it does not need to rely on aesthetic or tradition to provide that eerie feeling of total misery.

 A.L.N. is a master of sonic and vocal diversity that makes the 60 minutes blow by as fast as the riffs themselves. Rather than employing an utter scorched earth policy of heaviness, these tracks offer a lot a breathing room within this bleak atmosphere. This is certainly a technical release whose monoliths were created to be admired while dwarfing whatever surrounds it. A.L.N. demonstrates a penchant for punishing the listener in so many different ways, but also establishes a talent for creating harmony layered within the chaos. Much like the world in which the record was created, these tracks have a hidden beauty about them that can be lost in the distracting clamor of what is immediately apparent. A.L.N. displays both what is ugly as well as what is harmonious in a frighteningly familiar imbalance. The grim heavily outweighs the allure in a way not totally dissimilar from what so many of us are used to. 

Yodh is available on cassette here digitally here and on vinyl here

Band info: bandcamp

Nails - "You Will Never Be One Of Us" (Album Review)

By: TJ Kliebhan

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 17/06/2016
Label: Nuclear Blast

“You Will Never Be One of Us” is as grim and dark a record as they come, and whilst they offer only one shade of black, they happen to do this shade incredibly well. For the brief instances they choose to experiment, they do so in a very meaningful and effective way; however it seems they would rather just flat out punish every living thing in existence.  This record’s power can physically obliterate the weak while exhausting all mental reserves of strength. Such exhaustion at the end of a record is now their certified trademark.

“You Will Never Be One of Us” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. You Will Never Be One Of Us (1:29)

2. Friend To All (0:45)

3. Made To Make You Fail (0:55)

4. Life Is A Death Sentence (1:39)

5. Violence Is Forever (3:26)

6. Savage Intolerance (1:46)

7. In Pain (1:01)

8. Parasite (0:55)

9. Into Quietus (1:33)

10. They Come Crawling Back (8:14)

The Review:

If Nails has been anything over their career it is stubborn. The Californian trio is totally uncompromising in their swirling maelstrom of grindcore catharsis and the band are faced with expectations at this point in their career. What the band lack in innovating surprises, they make up for in unrivaled raw power. Nails want to kick your teeth in, and despite their records never eclipsing the 22 minute mark, Nails are relatively methodical when it comes to studio output. This is their first record since 2013’s “Abandon All Life”, a punishing record that was critically well received and garnered the band a loyal domestic following. Three years later, the band have finally made their follow up and debut on Nuclear Blast Records with “You Will Never Be One of Us”, a ferocious addition to the Nails canon that stands out as their best release to date.

Lead vocalist and guitarist Todd Jones has crafted some heavy sludge riffs that pulsate over the noise and double bass that smothers most of this record. Tracks like “Life is a Death Sentence” and the epic eight minute closer “They Come Crawling Back” (a third of the album’s running time and in part a cover version of the band Dead Black) showcases versatile enjoyable riffs that have been contorted into vehicles of pure aggression and punishment. Tracks like these do well to break up the frantic pace of “You Will Never Be One of Us” that often tries to blow the listener away with speed and precise moments of screeching guitar. Many tracks such as the eponymous lead single and the spitfire “In Pain” display what Nails feel most comfortable doing. This band is better than anyone at creating minute and a half songs of pure terror and anguish due to Jones’ gruff vocals and the band’s disorienting waves of distortion and unrelenting breakneck pace. Jones’ lyrics which often harbor ideas of loneliness, inner turmoil, and nihilism give these tracks an extra punch of bleak unchanneled frustration.

“You Will Never Be One of Us” is as grim and dark a record as they come, and whilst they offer only one shade of black, they happen to do this shade incredibly well.  During the brief excursions Nails choose to experiment, they do so in a very meaningful and effective way, which is testament to their inclusion of Dead Black in the outro of album closer.  The slower sludge metal riffs on the record demonstrate that Nails are capable of melody and enchanting rhythm too, but this record is mostly about one thing, to flat out punish every living thing in existence.

Suffering for this trio, appears to be an inevitable part of life that their newest record embodies in so many different ways. This record’s power can physically obliterate the weak while exhausting all mental reserves of strength. Such exhaustion at the end of a record is now the certified trademark of Nails.

“You Will Never Be One Of Us” is available now

Band info:  official || facebook

Sun Worship - "Pale Dawn" (Album Review)

By: TJ Kliebhan

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 06/05/2016
Label: Golden Antenna Records

The German trio has never sounded more in sync or delivered a more cohesive project than “Pale Dawn”. The band excels at accomplishing what they envisioned as total authenticity, free of the typical pitfalls or clichés. In rejecting peer influence, Sun Worship has created a record that sees the band toying with a new formula worthy of emulation itself.

“Pale Dawn” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Pale Dawn

2). Lichtenburg Figure

3). Naiad

4). Perihelion

The Review:

Europe exports so much black metal that it continues to be a daunting task consuming it all even with modern technology. With each subsequent release German act Sun Worship have done an increasingly more effective job distinguishing themselves as a band bringing unique ideas to the black metal and shoegaze sound, a style in need of a fresh jolt. Their 2014 record, “Elder Giants” was a bit of a coming out party for the band that generated excitement for this follow-up. Spreading four tracks over thirty-seven minutes “Pale Dawn” refuses to slow down nor subscribe to the tropes that so many bands attempting this blackgaze style cheaply employ.

“Pale Dawn” succeeds just as much on what the album does not do as what it succeeds in accomplishing. So often artists in blackgaze feel the need to drastically change tempos, use pretty tones, or field recordings of the local religious zealot or the intercom at an airport. Sun Worship does not do any of those things. The Germans are through and through a metal band, not a post-rock or shoegaze band. Sun Worship has stated in the past they disregard the extrinsic clichés of black metal such as corpse paint and they refuse to let predictability infiltrate their music too. “Pale Dawn” is very much still as dense and mesmerizing as any shoegaze record can be, but there is nothing in the way of the band ripping through its riffs.

Sun Worship sets an unwavering pace from the beginning to the end of the record. There are no let ups through the course these four 7 to 11 minute tracks, they are filled with blast beats and heavy speedy riffs.  “Pale Dawn” is undoubtedly void of a large dynamic range. Post-Rock derives it’s effectiveness from slower melodies juxtaposed with explosions of sound, texture, color, and energy. Sun Worship elects not to use any of those techniques and they really do not need them. The riffs are good enough and the band displays enough shades of grey and black to keep the sound varied. The vocals are mixed brilliantly on this record and elicit a dark tortured feeling on the listeners. The vocals should sound low-fi enough to satisfy purists, yet there is enough range to measure different vocal inflections. The vocals are mixed relatively lowly, but keep a nice clean sound to them despite Lars Enneson and Felix-Florian Tödtloff’s gruff delivery. The ending chants of the final track “Perihelion” are the only deviation from this formula and have a powerful effect due to the pummeling first thirty-five minutes.

The German trio has never sounded more in sync or delivered a more cohesive project than “Pale Dawn”. The band excels at accomplishing what they envisioned as total authenticity, free of the typical pitfalls or clichés. In rejecting peer influence, Sun Worship has created a record that sees the band toying with a new formula worthy of emulation itself.

“Pale Dawn” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas - "Mariner" (Album Review)

By: TJ Kliebhan

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 08/04/2016
Label: Indie Recordings

While both artist’s individual talents are showcased this effort never feels like the two artists were unfamiliar with each other. Rather, this album can trick you into thinking this is one artist rather than two. There is an utter lack of competing sounds, styles, or egos. The spotlight is entirely shared and makes “Mariner” a highlight of a how a seamless collaboration record can sound.

“Mariner” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). A Greater Call

2). Chevron

3). The Wreck of S.S. Needle

4). Approaching Transition

5), Cygnus

The Review:

April has been a good month for metal collaborations. After getting an excellent release from The Body& Full of Hell, the 08/4/2016  saw the release of “Mariner”-a joint project from post-metal pioneers Cult of Luna and vocalist extraordinaire Julie Christmas. “Mariner” features 55 minutes of material over 5 post-rock and sludge rock tracks which largely explores a theme of space exploration. Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas had been attempting to collaborate for over a year before it finally managed to happen, but the wait was worth it. “Mariner” is a refreshing stop in the Cult of Luna discography. Christmas offers a different hue in the band that has not existed in their heavy extended pieces before. For Julie Christmas, her voice in conjunction with Johannes Persson’s growl creates even more dissonance than a project featuring just her own. By sharing the microphone, Christmas’ wide range and high pitched voice is even more distinguishing due to Persson offering a baritone platform for her to project from.

The vocal prowess from Persson and Christmas is what keeps this record great on further listens. While Persson remains ferocious throughout these long songs Julie Christmas shows off her varying vocal chops. There are parts on this record where Christmas sounds quite melodic and pleasant. The opening track, “A Greater Call” features Christmas putting on her best Lauren Mayberry impression while Cult of Luna’s plodding post-rock atmosphere give her vocals enormous space to fill. Julie Christmas’ unique croon is incredibly ethereal here. Her scintillating vocals are the only relief from Persson’s relentless scowls that also can surprise listeners at any moment.  “The Wreck of S.S. Needle” is the highlight track of this record because of its ability to showcase the range of talents these artists possess. By utilizing numerous Christmas vocal tracks and playing them all in a sequential layered method an angelic or perhaps cathartic effect is created at its climax. The track as a whole feels immense after five minutes of dramatic buildup featuring trudging guitars and synth crescendos that follow the lead of Christmas’ vocal inflections. 

The two more melodic tracks act as safe havens between tracks centered on big riffs and a dark post-rock atmosphere. While Christmas does sing pleasantly for moments on this album, she does not hesitate from implementing her trademark dissonant screech either. Cult of Luna appropriately picks up the pace to match her energy. The final track “Cygnus” features pummeling drums and a nimble guitar scale that draws the attention to Cult of Luna’s guitar prowess which remained relatively reserved until now. This track features the best climactic maelstrom and serves as an appropriate closer. What is quickly apparent on this record is the fantastic drumming from Thomas Headlund which drives all five of these tracks by electing to use power and timing rather than flash.  

This collaboration was effective because the two artists’ talents stylistically matched up, or at least Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas present a convincing argument that they did. “Mariner” is a focused project that accomplishes most of what it sets out to do. Although the concept of space exploration wasn’t very thoroughly carved out the music can stand without the concept behind it. Julie Christmas sounds natural behind the sludgy riffs and her vocal harmonies and dissonances with Persson are incredibly powerful. While both artist’s individual talents are showcased this effort never feels like the two artists were unfamiliar with each other. Rather, this album can trick you into thinking this is one artist rather than two. There is an utter lack of competing sounds, styles, or egos. The spotlight is entirely shared and makes “Mariner” a highlight of a how a seamless collaboration record can sound.

“Mariner” is available here

Band info: cultoflunamusic

Cetacean - "BREACH | SUBMERGE" EP (Review)

By: TJ Kliebhan

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 29/01/2016
Label:  Apes Who Looked Up

Cetacean seem like they are still working on discovering their own personal sound and BREACH | SUBMERGE was more ambitious a project than they were ready for. The band is undoubtedly talented and Cetacean flash both technical playing and an impressive vocal range from Benigno, but creatively the band is not there yet

“Breach | Submerge” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Earth is a Whisper

2). Relationships Deteriorate

3). Outpour I. II. III.

The Review:

Progressive rock and metal are two genres that would have always blended together well. While both project an image of nerd culture both are also incredibly technical and have lots of crossover techniques such as time signature swaps and grandiose fantastical presentation. In order for this seemingly obvious formula to be outright successful the genres need to be integrated seamlessly and the transitions should feel rational and judicious. On Los Angeles act Cetacean’s most recent effort BREACH | SUBMERGE, the band never truly finds the ideal balance between the two.

BREACH | SUBMERGE is a three track record with all songs eclipsing the ten minute mark. While none of these tracks are necessarily bad, the tracks struggle to distinguish themselves as well as offer any moments of innovation or distinction. The three tracks offer trips through doom metal, prog rock, and rough aggressive vocal patches, but none of these elements are synced very nicely. Every passage of these songs feels like its own outlier rather than a sum of the whole. The transitions are clumsy and seem to come at random. The prog elements are just so miniscule compared to the doom tracks that it makes the progressive rock elements Cetacean go for seem forced. These tracks have ten to fourteen minutes of time yet the listener only experiences two or three changes in tempo. When this is compounded over such long tracks it only seems self-serving. The songs begin to turn into a bit of a trudge to get through.

BREACH | SUBMERGE is a banal record for too much of its extended run time. There are numerous acts that do many of these styles better individually and in a style that blends genres. Cetacean seem like they are still working on discovering their own personal sound and BREACH | SUBMERGE was more ambitious a project than they were ready for. The band is undoubtedly talented and Cetacean flash both technical playing and an impressive vocal range from Trae Malone, but creatively the band is not there yet. The tracks are too segmented and create a disjointed album with tracks that seem too sewn together.

“Breach | Submerge” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook