Fister - 'IV' (Album Review)

Album Type: Full Length

 Date Released: 31/3/2015

Label: Crown and Throne LTD

“IV” CD//DD//LP Tracklisting:

1. IV

Review:

St. Louis Sludge merchants are sonically ruining lives again! Outside of the recent split with Primitive Man and Gemini (my personal favorite) this is some of the heaviest material to date from this 3 piece outfit.

From the second this album begins, the sludgefest takes hold and never lets you out of its vile grip. Bellowing throaty vocals rip through the plodding riffs, creating such an exquisite uneasiness. The heaviness of the album really starts sinking in around the 4 min mark with the riff really being driven with necessary repetition, and then any hope within you is ripped away in the next section. Sustained notes turning to slight feedback as screams cut through reaching deeper. Drums and guitars attack with great force, then leaving you hanging to freefall back into building feedback, then flows into a clean break that gives the listener a moment to catch their breath. At 8:27 you lose that breath with an incredibly weighty riff that absolutely punishes your spirit. Now crushed and crippled, you are given moments to ponder with a section of heavy ass atmospheric tension. Sinking and sinking deeper into a sonic depravity, just when you think things couldn’t get any heavier, slower or sludgier, they prove you wrong, so wrong!

This is the kind of music that makes other bands want to just hang it up and quit, it just doesn’t get much better than this! Fister is a band that really knows how to drive a riff home with you, and it not be boring or obnoxious, and for me, fall within the realms of a band like Melvins who are kings of driving a riff home. Just before the 22 min mark, a primal darkness takes hold, like a demonic hymn. Grief, pure hatred and musical dominance are all pressed tightly together for the remainder of the album with massive walls of sludge. Blackness seeps from every riff, light is dimmed with every hit of the toms and all hope banished with every breath wretchedly spoken. The last section of ‘IV’ is like a heavy yet atmospheric moment of reflection of everything that has transpired in the last 40 mins. Filled with reverb and clean guitar strumming, reminiscent of Old Man Gloom, then bleeding into a slow distorted version, but still carrying the same feeling. I can’t gush enough about this album or how it closes out, but it is perfection!

The sheer craftsmanship from all 3 within this band is obvious and they are creating some of the best doom out there these days. Proving that they are doing just what they want to do, and how they want to do it, these guys are writing a new chapter for doom and sludge all on their own.

Words by: Eric Crowe

‘IV’ is available on vinyl here and DD here

Links:

www.fister.bandcamp.com | www.facebook.com/fisterdoom |

https://crownandthroneltd.bandcamp.com/album/iv |

www.facebook.com/crownandthroneltd

Deep Sea Thunder Beast - 'So Goes The Madness' (Album Review)

Album Type: Full-Length

Date Released: 03/10/2014

Label: Self Released

‘So Goes The Madness’ DD track listing:

1). Doomsday Rituals

2). Humanoid Beings Exhibiting Mindless Rage-Like Behaviour

3). Here There Be Dragons

4). Omen Eyes

5). Deaf Dealer

6). Famine Weather

7). Silence of Sirens

Deep Sea Monster Beast is

Justin Cota

Justin Voorhees

Trevor Stutzman 

Review: 

Riffs, riffs everywhere.  Riffs that crawl out of blackened, lurid depths, riffs that claw at your ankles like a lunatic at his prison wall; riffs that were raised by wolves and know not a sophisticated human language, only the howling savagery of their adopted parents.

It’s very rare that a band comes along and blows everything out of the water, a band that makes you stop in your tracks, curse with a bewitched smile and want to tell absolutely everyone you know that this is the one incredible album. That however, is just how much Deep Sea Thunder Beast’s second release in two years compels me. It’s an album that stares at pigeonholes and laughs at them; it strives to make reference to a plethora of them without actually fitting into a single one.  

It races or trudges through almost every tempo in the book – from the slow pounding of ‘Doomsday Ritual’s’ early passages to the thunderous thrash of ‘Omen Eyes.’ It spits out riffs, like a child tasting bad medicine, in movements that are almost involuntary spasms, they just can’t help but break out into a frenzy of fretwork and hammering drums. So often these riffs come, not only when you least expect it, but when they really shouldn’t – but that’s what makes this album work so well.

The appropriately titled ‘Here Be Dragons,’ which begins with a phaser-coated riff before stomping to a mid-tempo assault, is a track which will delight fans of Mastodon, The Sword and Melvins. It bleeds groove and fury, it jolts your neck every which way and, in all, underlines the band’s superb ability to smash through genre walls, steal a handful of jewels and piss off through the next.

‘Deaf Dealer’ builds on rapid fire snare drums, exploding into an impassioned vocal performance from Justin Cota which, at times, sounds like a more aggressive and boisterous Thin Lizzy. It’s a rock n’ roll song in short, and a fine one at that, Ace of Spades era Motörhead even pokes through the mix at times. But what makes the song what it is, is the multi-dimensional feel to it all. Like I said, this is a rock n’ roll song in principle, but in reality it is so much more – it manages to broaden its appeal into the forays of stoner and punk too. Then, before you’ve had a chance to take in the first half of the track’s fast, skull battering dysphoria, it regurgitates a rapturous doom metal bile. Think Goya punching Electric Wizard in the face.

The three piece, who call San Diego their home town and are at this point far more unknown than they should be, keep you rapt from start to finish. Indeed, moments of more lulling quiet, such as the bass led beginnings of ‘Famine Weather’ let a breeze float through the record, breaking up what has been up to this point an altogether punch-drunk affair.

I like an album that keeps you on your toes and ‘So Goes The Madness’ does exactly that. From the vocals which can float, soar and growl like a pissed off grizzly bear, to the incessant but ever fluctuating riffs and moods laid out across this musical journey, it never repeats itself. But at the same time it bears a powerful and faultless continuity; these changes never deviate from the band’s recognisable sound, rather, it emphasises just how broad a spectrum that sound encompasses.

This is a truly fantastic record; let’s raise this band to the heights their music so richly deserve.

Words: Phil Weller  

‘So Goes The Madness’ is available on DD here

For more information:

https://deepseathunderbeast.bandcamp.com/ | https://www.facebook.com/deepseathunderbeast

Foehammer - 'Foehammer' EP (Review)

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 7/4/2015

Label: Grimoire Records

/Australopithecus Records

‘Foehammer’ CD/CS/DD/Vinyl track listing

1). Final Grail

2). Stormcrow

3). Jotnar

Foehammer is

Joe Cox | guitar

Jay Cardinell | bass, vocals

Ben Blanton | drums

Review:

Have they taken their name from the beastly Conan track on Blood Eagle?! If they have... it's appropriate. If not, it is descriptive regardless. This is heavy. HEAVY. It is funeral doom, I guess, with lower than low death growl vocals. ‘Final Grail’ sets the scene and things do not let up or change from the off. Tuned very low, playing very slow, this Virginian mob know how to shake the foundations of any stereo system. Over the course of three tracks, you get 34 minutes of music- and some changes in dynamics and atmosphere here and there too. Ultimately the playing is great and the sound is one of depth and clarity.

‘Stormcrow’ (any titles which might even hint at referencing the mighty Gates of Slumber is fine with me) opens with the amps feeding back and then a familiarly weighty riff of slow and creepy insistence. At over 10 minutes long, the track is in no hurry to get anywhere fast, so the build up lasts as long as many grindcore EPs do.

‘Jotnar’ clocks in close to 15 minutes and delivers... crushingly slow doom which takes no prisoners (a theme is emerging!) over the course of its playing time. It's primitive, weighty and very effective. If you like Conan or even Hooded Menace, then this is a must. For all you cheapskates out there thinking that you would just download the demo of 2014 instead; this is far superior in sound and execution- and you get ‘Jotnar’ as well. The artwork is also cool, so what are you waiting for? This is good stuff and will no doubt set the band up for bigger things to come.

Words by: Richard Maw

‘Foehammer’ is available on CD/DD/CS here and here

For more information:

https://www.facebook.com/foehammerva | https://foehammer.bandcamp.com/releases

Live Review: The Midnight Ghost Train @ DB's - Utrecht March 29, 2015

When I woke up on Sunday morning, I should have been pissed. I lost an hour of sleep to daylight savings time and the baseball game that I pried myself out of bed for was cancelled, thanks to some good old fashioned Dutch rain. The funny thing, though, I wasn’t pissed. As far as I was concerned, my day could take an endless amount of blows and I’d still feel great, as long as I would eventually end up at DB’s in Utrecht for a rock show provided by none other than The Midnight Ghost Train. If that happened everything would be fan-frickin-tastic.

Before the guests of honor took to the stage we were first treated to a slew of support acts. Sativa and Udarnik started the afternoon off, trying really hard to warm up the crowd. Ultimately, Orange Maplewood, the last of the support acts, did the trick and turned the matinee into an evening show. So now the crowd was finally warm and in the mood for something a little tougher. Enter The Midnight Ghost Train.

Their set started with a Tom Waits song, “Make it Rain,” and was quickly followed by “Along the Chasm.” This one-two punch concluded with the ringing out of guitars, cymbals, and glorious feedback while the crowd welcomed the evening’s headliners. Singer Steve Moss then flailed his arm around like the band’s director, to which drummer Brandon Burghart answered by rolling in “Gladstone.” By this point bassist Mike Boyne was already dripping with sweat; within a short ten minutes of taking the stage, The Midnight Ghost Train had turned the place into a sauna.

There were a couple more songs from the band’s newest album thrown at us before a dip was made into some older material. Of these songs, “Southern Belle” did the most damage by being delivered with so much enjoyment that it’s almost hard to believe Moss when he sings “since your death will come from my hand, I want to know how much should I make it hurt.” Then, in stark contrast to “Southern Belle,” came a cover of “Feeling Good,” which I can’t describe any other way besides saying that it was really, really cool. Three more blasts of stoner rock goodness followed to prematurely close out the set. Even though the band had dispersed, the crowd was still bouncing up and down to the echoing sounds of set closer, “Foxhole.” More was wanted, that was obvious, and within a minute the boys from Kansas were back for a three song encore that ended with an Acapella, “Aint it A Shame.”

This may have been the last set of their tour but it didn’t show. All cylinders were burning and there was no shortage of enthusiasm or vigor as the band put their hard working rock and roll ethic on display. Genuine passion was at the core and as a member of the audience this was felt. A Midnight Ghost Train show therefore makes for a real good time with real good guys playing real good tunes and its one helluva way to start off the festival season.

Words by: Victor Van Ommen

Live Review: Devin Townsend Project + Periphery + Shining Live @ Manchester Academy 1 31/03/2015

You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Devin Townsend jamming the tuba with Shining alongside members of DTP and Periphery on additional sax, trombones and, naturally, triangle. That’s how Shining play out a part of their set, kicking the whole thing up a few notches in the process – the energy that it spikes in the crowd is palpable. No one here was expecting such a hilariously entertaining sight when they made their way out of brute force gales into Manchester’s Academy 1. But Shining’s own signature bluster, a cacophony of black metal rage and pure progressive expression, wrapped up in a jazz infused bow, goes down a treat.

The Norwegian band is uniquely eccentric, leaving people to either love them endearingly or hate them dispassionately but, whatever your thoughts; they have been steadily on the rise. With a momentous performance at Bloodstock 2014 and an appearance in this very same venue with Marty Friedman, supporting Arch Enemy and Kreator behind them, they’re beginning to make a serious name for themselves. On a bill such as this – with Periphery and DTP both sharing a kindred barminess that deviates from the more traditional – you feel this is their best moment yet to define who they are to the perfect audience.

They do so with aplomb. Despite mic issues early on, the band rattles the eardrums with spades of groove and a healthy dollop of V8 engine replicating vocals.  ‘My Dying Drive’ is rampant, off-kilter and utterly delectable. It’s a menacing song with a driving rhythm, then it drops and all hell breaks loose. They end with the more catchy and accessible but still as mad-as-a-box-of-frogs ‘I Won’t Forget’ before walking off the stage to rapturous cheers.

Periphery’s recently release, the double album Juggernaut Alpha & Omega, may have been more hit and miss than a blind man playing darts, but oddly enough, in the flesh, it’s these songs which are the highlights of a set which seems to fly by. Spencer Sotelo’s softer vocals – one side to his more opposing, full frontal demeanour – get lost in the mix early on.

His performance is less than convincing, a confidence and energy seeming to have been sapped from him. It’s only until they roll out the new songs that things start properly clicking; ‘Psychosphere’ is the musical equivalent of a Rubik’s Cube, all contorting time signatures and scattershot riffs. But underpinned by vocals from Sotelo which are at this point on the ascent, it bewitches the room. ’22 Faces’ and ‘The Bad Thing’ are amass with bursts of groove, melodious, hook-laden vocals and all round revelry. ‘Alpha’ then steals the show – you will hear few songs as fun and bouncy as this in 2015 – before the heavier, less apologetic ‘Graveless’ opens up the circle pit and closes their set in style.

 

It’s the last night of a tour which, for the past fortnight, has seen Devin Townsend battling with the flu. Nevertheless, spirits are high as he makes his way casually onto the stage. Although he is at this point only addressing the mass of bodies before him to explain his current health issues, and that he may need some help singing at points, he still manages to captivate the room. He is a physical presence, impossible to ignore and equal parts charming, humorous and mad genius.

Then, before all the present, flickering eyes, unravels a set of anarchic beauty. “I’m never gonna out shine Shining or out prog Periphery, but what I have is a good chorus,” Devin had said backstage before the show and that is the weapon, in a vast and multitudinous armoury, that he chooses to arm himself with tonight. From the symphonic prowess of ‘Truth’ and the intergalactic riff monster that is ‘Death Ray’ to the final throes of a bombastic rendition of ‘Kingdom’ he fires those choruses out into the crowd with wild abandon. Moments such as ‘Addicted!’ and the lively ‘March of the Poozers’ raise the roof in the place, flowing into one another; a stream of emotively and passionately executed explosions.

‘Lucky Animals’ is complete with jazz hands from the joyous audience – another stroke of genius from Townsend, it’s all just so fun. Even during the heartfelt and tingling ‘Ih-Ah,’ with lighters held aloft as the Canadian performs solo with a Telecaster, everyone in the place has a smile across their face. Not only is Devin Townsend a damn fine musician and songwriter, he’s also one of the greatest entertainers around, he’s a showman and he does it all with so much ease. He loves his job, despite illness, home sickness and general fatigue he goes out tonight and gives it everything he has. His love for all of this is so translucent you can’t help but be infected by that maniacal grin.     

The last notes of ‘Kingdom’ fade, like an army venturing back home over distant hills, when they return; they will be greeted as champions.

Words: Phil Weller

Photos: Anthony Firmin 

Wild Throne - 'War Is A Romance (Single Review)



Review:

Just over a year has passed since I was left gushing over Washington trio Wild Throne’s stunning and bombastic ‘Blood Maker EP’ here at The Sludgelord. This website is, quite rightly, inundated with some gloriously good music, crossing a multitude of styles and showing just how rude and healthly the scene is currently in. It’s inspiring to see. There are literally thousands of bands vying for our attention week in, week out, so it has to take something special to catch our imagination – and more importantly here, mine specifically. But Wild Throne’s ‘Blood Maker EP’ did exactly that. Now the troupe have returned, fresh from penning a deal with Roadrunner Records – a mean and well deserved fete in itself – with a blistering new single, ‘War Is Romance.’

Across the tracks frenetic, as-chaotic-as-a-bouncy-ball-launched-into-a-tiny-rubber-lined-room length, you pass through so many dimensions, musical references, gorgeous, spine-tingling nuances and insatiable fury. It stops you dead in your tracks. From the Motörhead styled, foot-to-the-accelerator openings, to Mastodon like pummelling’s later on down the line, betwixt solos that twist and scream like one of Jack the Ripper’s vulnerable and squeamish victims, it’s a song that has more than affirmed my already well established love for this band.

Previously known as Dog Shredder, the new song, the first monster to rear its ugly head from their forthcoming album ‘Heart of Darkness,’ gives you a snapshot of what this band is. It’s all over the place – flirting with the sounds of the aforementioned artists alongside the likes of Converge, Mars Volta, Muse and the Dillinger Escape Plan – yet at the same time, it couldn’t be more fluent. It picks you up and shuttles you through an intimidating sonic space time continuum that, quite literally, takes your breath away.

At times, frontman Josh Holland’s vocal replicate that of Matt Bellamy’s schizophrenic and maniacal octave jumps – only if Matt had had an ounce of cocaine burst in his stomach, causing him to thrash about the place in a full-blooded adrenaline craze.

“Humans tend to seek out both love and war instinctively,” Holland has stated on the topic of War Is Romance’s lyrical theme. “Rather than thinking of them as opposites, I wanted to suggest that the intensities of violence and passion actually share more similarities than differences. That the hunger to fight is some sort of inner romance. We lust for it.”

‘Harvest of Darkness’ is released August 18th via Roadrunner Records. If this lead track is anything to go by, it promises to be a record to kick a boot up the arse of their already dizzying ascent.

Words: Phil Weller

For more information:

https://www.facebook.com/wildthrone | https://wildthrone.bandcamp.com/

https://twitter.com/wildthrone

Alkaloid - 'The Malkuth Grimoire' (Album Review)

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 17/03/2015

Label: Self Release

‘The Malkuth Grimoire’ CD//DD track listing:

1 Carbon Phrases

2 From a Hadron Machinist

3 Cthulhu

4 Alter Magnitudes

5 Orgonism

Dyson Sphere

6 I. Mining the Oort Cloud

7 II. Assembly

8 III. Kardashev II.1 - The God Oven

9 IV: Sol Omega

10 The Malkuth Grimoire

11 C-Value Enigma

12 Funeral For A Continent

Alkaloid is

Morean (Dark Fortress, Noneuclid) | Vocals, Guitars
Christian Muenzner (Spawn of Possession, Ex­-Obscura, Ex­-Necrophagist) | Guitars
Danny Tunker (Aborted, Ex­-God Dethroned) | Guitars
Linus Klausenitzer (Obscura, Noneuclid)  | Bass
Hannes Grossmann (Blotted Science, Ex­-Obscura, Ex­-Necrophagist) | Drums

Review:

Progressive bands seem stuck in a rut these days, what with splitting their time with looking carefully thrown back (so as not to ruin their creases), finding out what is cooler than current technology, and whatever craft is in this month. Admittedly, I may be confusing them with hipsters, however, they do seem to have gotten stuck in a weird spot, what with not really doing leads, a muddy sound, and no real sense of where the album or songs need to go. 

There are exceptions of course, Between the Buried and Me and Becoming the Archetype for example and some of what The Kindred has released, but progressive bands seem to come across as a big blob of aimless complexity for complexity's sake. The album of today's excursion, ‘The Malkuth Grimoire’, combines many genres into what a progressive band should seek to be! All hail Alkaloid!

To begin, the album seems divided into two different hemispheres: ‘The Malkuth Grimoire’ with very long parts, and ‘Dyson Spheres’, with songs mostly sub 5 minute, but more varied in content. Alkaloid would technically fall into science metal or tech death, but it has much more depth than most offerings in any of those genres. It's almost complex enough to be classified as, just Metal, so you don't offend someone by not including them. You have a band wholly capable of playing anything they wish, a well versed lyric writer who rivals Allegaeon with scientific mumbo jumbo and spacial voodoo, and a kickass no fear attitude when it comes to doing stuff that doesn't seem like it would work on paper, but is executed excellently.

Starting with ‘Carbon Phrases’, these tracks are long and showcase their talents in huge, multi-part formats. This first half of the album is my favorite, just because of the variance; they are multi-faceted well crafted songs, not just well written or sounding, seemingly orchestrated from the dictated notes of Stephen Hawking's fevered wet dreams.

By far my favorite cut is ‘Cthulhu’, the song comes across as a huge monstrous god rising out of the waves to crush the world before it. The guitar is amazing, with frenetic fret work and some hefty chugging. It curls up in the mind of the listener perfectly, especially once the vocalist starts in with his ragged crooning. He goes from a great growl into a more basic droning song voice, and it’s exactly like a cultist with a great production crew. Again, just perfect on the ‘Malkuth’ half, in my opinion, but none of this album is a slouch. 

The second act, ‘Dyson Spheres’, which includes the 4 part titular phrase, is more straightforward. It's very heavy, just a bit shorter in content than what the first half manages to squeeze out in 1-2 songs. You have so many musical touches, however, so it's really no less a treat, just very... involved, aurally. You have to listen to this a few times through to catch most of the wonders on display.  Once you get beyond part IV, the second half really shines even brighter to me. The title track, ‘The Malkuth Grimoire’, is exceptionally fast and heavy, it just pummels along the nervous system of the listener, hitting pleasure centers everywhere. My pick here is going to be ‘C-Value Enigma’, because it's been far too long since I have heard a competent bass composition that made me stop and just listen. It really harkens back to what Cliff Burton did on ‘Anesthesia’, but far more complex and very alien. It sounds much more like a piano is playing, and I mean I would be hard pressed at points to say it wasn't a keyed instrument. It's like being in a royal court as Mozart draws back the veil to show the vast eye of some unknowable god. Absolutely monstrous and perfect. Album closer, and the longest slab of majestic metal, ‘Funeral for a Content’, adds a slight power metal side, complete with riffing and shreddery to fill even the oldest of metlaheads with joy and should be a top ten song on ANY end of year list.

In summary then, this album should start every top 5 metal album conversation, and you need to own this. NOW. 

‘The Malkuth Grimoire’ is available here

Words by: Hunter Young

For more information:

www.alkaloid-band.com | www.facebook.com/alkaloid.band | http://alkaloid-band.bandcamp.com/