ALBUM REVIEW: Poseidon - "Prologue"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 21/07/2017

Label: Ripple Music

The songs of "Prologue" formulate a humid, thick experience that captures delectably the story of a society in crisis. The vignettes shared in lyrics and the abject weight of the music creep slowly, fearsomely to the collapse you know is coming, but simply cannot halt

“Prologue” CD//DD//LP track listing

1. The Beginning; The End, The Colony

2. Mother Mary; Son of Scorn

3. Chainbreaker

4. Omega

The Review:

The number of weather events before us all is a harsh reminder of the fragility of humans. Structures fall, along with hubris. Furious winds tear down what people hold most precious as well as what they believe makes them superior. Crashing seas are an equalizer, wrecking both mansion and shanty. And driving rains slice through all, no matter religion, creed or allegiance. The cold comes for all of us eventually.

Poseidon's debut is a perfect soundtrack to the raging storms across the U.S. Gulf Coast of late. Its domineering swells and exquisite violence are your best representation of a trip through a sonic hurricane.

"Prologue" is the first of a three-release arc by the London, UK based band, formed out of the ashes of prog rockers Light Bearer. The four song, 44-minute launch of its science fiction themed tale is a halcyon start for Poseidon.

Concept albums can be an acquired taste. In this instance, Poseidon's ambitious vision is coming together here as the start of the Mediums Chronicle. The story aims to reflect the world's collapse as well as what a new world in the ruins of the old will be like. There are flashes of that old world, including the words of Free Speech Movement activist Mario Savio, and glimpses of the new. In such a story, making something original, which supersedes the post-apocalyptic meme of metal music immemorial, is no easy task. The quartet sets itself up for a serious undertaking.

The group offers a doom-rooted landscape to the debut, to set off its engrossing fable. With "The Beginning; The End, The Colony" opening up the record, you feel surrounded again by that distended swarm of echoes. You are startled first by the slow build of this song, until it comes seemingly out of nowhere, roiling with the guitars of Matt Norris and Jamie Starke. Waves of power from drummer Raza Khan anchor the first cut over its 13-plus minutes.

However, it is only the beginning. The songs of "Prologue" formulate a humid, thick experience that captures delectably the story of a society in crisis. The vignettes shared in lyrics and the abject weight of the music creep slowly, fearsomely to the collapse you know is coming, but simply cannot halt. By the time "Chainbreaker" arrives, you have a sense the world in Poseidon's hands is in for dark times. Vocalist Matthew Bunkell's understated yet resonant performance here, climaxing to the massive "Omega," puts the stakes to what may be a familiar story. Regardless, the quality of Poseidon's work will keep you transfixed until the inevitable and stormy end.

"Prologue" is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

VIDEO PREMIERE: Québec’s WarCall deliver fast and melodically aggressive new track “Riding With Zombies”

Inspired by Iron Maiden, Metallica, Motorhead, Dissection and Slayer, Montreal, Québec’s WarCall play fast, aggressive, melodic, dramatic and aggressive music, no that’s not a typo, you read it correctly, double the aggression and with three well-received albums under their bullet-belts (‘Demonarchy’, ‘Blood, Guts and Dirt’, ‘III’), this power-trio are about to unleash their fourth ‘Invaders’. The album features 10 tracks and is a concept record  based on humans fighting back an alien invasion.

“Everybody who has followed WarCall since our beginnings will be extremely satisfied with ‘Invaders’.  It is our best sound, best production, best song writing and best musical performances.  The new album is a return to the style on the first two albums.  On album ‘’III’’, we wanted a raw approach so it was recorded live in the studio on analog tape for a truly rock and roll feel.  With ‘’Invaders’’, it’s a more polished production with more energy and experience.” says guitarist Mathieu Simard

Warcall’s forthcoming album “Invaders” is due out October 13, 2017 via Plan B Music and today you  can check out a new and exclusive track “Riding With Zombies” below.

Band info:  Facebook || Bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Earthling Society - "Ascent To Godhead"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 04/08/2017

Label: Riot Season

“Ascent To Godhead” is a wild ride that demonstrates Earthling Society are the real deal when it comes to modern psychedelic rock.

“Ascent To Godhead” DD//LP track listing:

1). Can You Levitate?

2). Ascent To Godhead Part 1 (Godhead/Going For Refuge/The Celestial Mind)

3). Electric Bou Saada

4). Ascent To Godhead Part 2

The Review:

Riot Season Records continue to unearth the gems in the oversaturated world of psychedelic rock with Earthling Society’s new LP “Ascent To Godhead”. The latest offering from the Fleetwood trio is a truly epic voyage that begins with sun-drenched optimism and slowly descends into a dark well of noise.

The jangly garage rock of “Can You Levitate?” opens proceedings in hopeful fashion. This is as close as the band get to a proper pop song but it is coated in enough scuzzy fuzz and unhinged wah to remain reassuringly dirty. Once you have emphatically responded in the affirmative to Earthling Society’s request to levitate, the journey to the outer limits truly begins with “Ascent To Godhead (Part 1)”. A multi-stage mantra built around minimal repetitive guitar lines, minimal percussion and droning sitars, the track begins in classic Spacemen 3 territory. As the track shifts between movements, the atmosphere becomes hazier as the ascension turns darker.

While the first half of “Ascent To Godhead” achieves mind-expanding results with a relatively restrained sonic pallet, the second half sees Earthling Society unleash distortion overload. “Electric Bou Saada” is a monstrous jam built around huge riffs and searing solos that comes on like a more ragged Earthless tussling with Acid Mothers Temple. Just as the track reaches a furious peak of free rock intensity the band take a left turn into a more subdued Can-style groove. This maintains an air of menace even though the volume and dirt has been stripped away. This leads into the hellish finale of “Ascent To Godhead (Part 2)” where the journey has reached its destination to discover a nightmarish world in place of the expected utopia. An unrelenting fuzz-heavy riff etches itself into your brain as saxophones screech all around. The cacophony eventually subsides to a soothing keyboard based coda that attempts to bring the listener back to earth as gently as possible.

“Ascent To Godhead” is a wild ride that demonstrates Earthling Society are the real deal when it comes to modern psychedelic rock.

“Ascent To Godhead” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

REVIEW: Mastiff - "Bork" (EP)

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 31/08/2017

Label: APF Records

The abrasiveness of the tracks is exceptional. Whatever you call it, this follow up to their 2016 debut "Wrank" is uncannily brutal. Cuts like "Nil By Mouth" and "Everything Equals Death" are chainsaws of sound, ripping into your head in ways you did not expect

"Bork" CD//DD track listing

1. Agony

2. Nil By Mouth

3. Everything Equals Death

4. Threats

5. Tumour

6. Eternal Regret

The Review:

There is so much to appreciate of artful metal and extreme music with a vision. Literally dozens of metal albums in 2017 have come to you with a message, a profound social commentary or literary and/or historical concept at its core.

Kingston Upon Hull, UK's Mastiff are not one of those bands. Mastiff lowers the sonic boom with angst and decibels. And it will give you a new appreciation for the sheer levels the band takes both.

On their new release, "Bork," the British group, which bills itself as doing an aggressive form of sludge, drills you with a sound so fierce that you just do not hear often, even in metal. You may not be sure where the sludge notion came from because "Bork" is as far from it as you can find. "Bork" is as methodical as any sludge classic in this sense. However, the sophomore recording by Mastiff feels more like an especially nihilistic form of thrash or hardcore. The abrasiveness of the tracks is exceptional. Whatever you call it, this follow up to their 2016 debut "Wrank" is uncannily brutal. With During the opening "Agony" and throughout this record, vocalist Jim Hodges and the band are inconsolably anguished. You hear fury and pain in every note.

Extreme music takes vocalists to limits few of us could even imagine testing our voices. Hodges is truly spectacular, literally killing each song with his inconsolable wail. At every turn, he seems to be giving everything he can to every note, and one has to wonder if there is a breaking point. However, Mastiff can offer range beyond growling. A song like "Eternal Regret" is a departure that Hodges simply outshines almost any other metal vocalist on. He's the centerpiece of this black orchestra, though the players all make it a happy torture throughout.

Mastiff's sound could seemingly only be this loud with two guitarists, and Phil Johnson and James Andrew Lee fulfill their roles with aplomb. Cuts like "Nil By Mouth" and "Everything Equals Death" are chainsaws of sound, ripping into your head in ways you did not expect. Mastiff has gotten a live reputation for its volume and the heaviness of its music. "Bork" does a great deal to confirm those reviews.

Fortunately enough, Mastiff is expected to hit the road in the near future. A performance of the songs on "Bork" done live is assuredly going to be a flailing and fun experience.

"Bork" is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Forming The Void - "Relic"

By: David Jupp

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 17/03/2017

Label: Argonauta Records (CD) |

Lonestar Records (LP)

In a genre creaking under the weight of its own familiarity Forming the Void have built something exceptional that stands apart. ‘Relic’ is a record that will long outlast its creators and live on, forming the foundations, of future sludge-monuments.

“Relic” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1.After Earth

2.The Endless Road

3.Bialozar

4.Relic

5.The Witch

6.Plumes

7.Unto the Smoke

8.Kashmir

The Review:

There must be a point during the writing process for a record, when a band realise they have stumbled across something special. Whether mid jam at rehearsal or in the isolation of a low-lit lounge, when these threads of brilliance choose to offer themselves a bands collective heart must surely quicken. It is then just the small matter of following each thread home to its cohesive whole. Taken in its entirety, Louisiana four-piece Forming the Void’s second album ‘Relic’ evokes a wealth of these ‘imagine being there when they wrote that’ moments.

The seven songs and one cover that make up album number two form a tapestry of contemporary influences that include Baroness, Tool and Soundgarden. But oddly, ‘Relic’ still seems an apt name. A relic is defined as an object that survives from an earlier time, and Forming the Void’s sophomore effort is certainly imbibed with an ancient and timeless quality. This is especially notable in its slower more atmospheric interludes, but there is also an ever-present driving yell to its heavier passages that conjures images of tribal charge.

The record opens with ‘After Earth’ and immediately implements the aforementioned approach. Setting forth with a shamanic and droned exchange between galloped toms and minimal guitar-flutter, this summoning soon bears blackened fruit as a huge wave of sludge crashes in on your already craned audio-neck. Similarly, to Vokonis’ recent standout ‘The Sunken Djinn’ this mass of tone requires an impressive vocal and James Marshall’s layered war-yell doesn’t disappoint. In fact, the heft of the vocals on ‘Relic’ consistently add girth to the records overall spine. The lyrics evoke equally epic themes with Marshall calling across the years. ‘Roam, beside the dead. Time unwinding.’

A large swathe of ‘Relic’ draws on paths well-trodden but each time a dejected sigh might flicker in your throat the band find an extra few percent, be it through delivery or craft. Track two ‘Endless Road’ extracts this differentiation via Marshall’s vocal. The riffs are solid but the combination of Luke Baker’s undertow bass and Marshall’s bellow transform the ordinary into the special.

Next up trudging Miami stalwarts Torche rear their heads. ‘Bialozar’ wouldn’t be out of place on ‘Neanderthal’ with its fusion of vocal harmony and Thomas Colley’s skull-fuck snare. Again though, instead of massaging another band’s sound Forming the Void take a potion to the vein and inject something extra. This time round, the lyrics that supplement the battle cry provide the albums stand out moment. ‘Wings spread, over the mountain.’ I challenge any connoisseur of heavy music not to contort their face at this point. It’s just outrageously good.

Title track ‘Relic’ is up next and its initial two minutes offer the first whiff of a stall in momentum. Luckily just as the blueprint begins to feel a tad familiar the band cast war-paint all over it with a four-minute, Tool inspired grind.

‘The Witch’ follows and immediately picks up the pace with the Louisiana quartets admiration for Baroness raging into view. The song is a perfect example of the application of craft. There is nothing particularly new about the execution but somehow the charging whole erases all memory of its dull set of parts.

Track six ‘Plumes’ offers the records only real misfire. There is perhaps an element of taste at play here though. ‘Plumes’ would fit perfectly on Torche’s latest record ‘Restarter.’ For me that record missed the mark. There is something about a tempo that is neither slow enough for a half-time bang, or fast enough for horns that just doesn’t grab me.

Fortunately, penultimate offering ‘Unto the Smoke’ restores maximum worthy with an 8-minute testament to everything that makes melodic sludge so good. The driving crash and yell make a welcome return as do their symbiotic and shamanistic lulls.

‘Relic’s curtain falls in a slightly bizarre manner. By covering one of Led Zeppelin’s most iconic songs I can’t help but feel that Forming the Void succeed in breaking a spell they’ve toiled so hard to conjure. It’s a decent cover but it just feels out of place on a record with such a pronounced identity and narrative. It plays like a well-executed after-thought that is perhaps better left for the live stage.

Ill-judged covers aside, with ‘Relic’ Forming the Void have taken a familiar set of materials and carved something fresh. One of the beautiful things about music is that it’s timeless, it’s forever. In a genre creaking under the weight of its own familiarity Forming the Void have built something exceptional that stands apart. ‘Relic’ is a record that will long outlast its creators and live on, forming the foundations, of future sludge-monuments.

“Relic” is available here

Band info: Facebook || Bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW & TRACK PREMIERE: Red Mountains - "Slow Wander"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 01/09/2017

Label: All Good Clean Records

...it is so refreshing to find a release that is all at once heavy, accessible and frankly beautiful in its construction.

"Slow Wander" DD//LP track listing

1. Home

2. Rat King

3. Oak

4. Endless Ocean

5. Stone

6. Fog

7. Cellar Door

8. Acid Wedding

9. Returning

The Review:

Among the bins and bins and terabytes upon terabytes, it is so refreshing to find a release that is all at once heavy, accessible and frankly beautiful in its construction. While popular music fans may recoil at metal – who hasn't gotten the wrinkled noses before? – It is oftentimes because they don't understand its diversity. A band like Red Mountains may certainly create a greater appreciation for what the music's power can be.

Norway is known for a range of extreme music. Stoner rock that sounds like it was crafted on a porch just south of balmy Joshua Tree, California is not one of those styles you associate with the country. The city of Trondheim and musical group Red Mountains may well change that.

You first heard this psychedelic swirl on the quartet's 2015 debut, "Down With The Sun." The band toured widely on the strength of that sound, which feels inspired at turns by groups like Electric Wizard and Dead Meadow. What makes Red Mountains, however, so distinct is their songwriting and overall arrangements. Guitarists Magnus Riise and Jostein Wigenstad are peerless in their respective lead and backing vocals. The songs offer uncomplicated chronicles that are at turns personal and at still others rich with fantasy. "Fog" and "Oak" among other tracks tell engrossing stories that carry on as a thread elsewhere. Another standout, "Cellar Door," demonstrates the picturesque lyrics you catch throughout, to convey vignettes you do not expect.

A band this sharp with its recording has to see its drum and bass acknowledged. Percussionist Simen Mathiassen and Sverre Dalen on bass shine on several cuts. They command the best songs, including "Acid Wedding" and "Rat King." Again, much mystical storytelling that is aided and abetted by the emotional marks Red Mountains' rhythm section lands. You will not catch a blast furnace of music. "Slow Wander" is exactly what it says: a slow and purposeful wander through a universe Riise's words bring to life. A wondrous world it is too.

"Slow Wander" is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook 

ALBUM REVIEW: One Master - “Lycanthropic Burrowing”

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Full length: Full length

Date Released: 14/07/2017

Label: Eternal Death

“Lycanthropic Burrowing” is a shredding reminder One Master is back and they have not missed a step since their last release.

“Lycanthropic Burrowing” CS//DD//LP track listing:

1. The Claws of Dionysus

2. Will of the Shadow

3. The Black Bat

4. Death Resurrection

5. Erosion

6. Lycanthropic Burrowing

The Review:

Much is offered about black metal, its history, contemporary acts and imagery. And given how notorious that story is, it is thus incredibly difficult to be distinctive among the hundreds of performers that have cemented its legacy.

Now on their ninth release, One Master returns with its follow up to 2015's "Reclusive Blasphemy." Just by virtue of longevity, One Master deserves a great deal of praise. With "Lycanthropic Burrowing," the American black metal act notches another win in creating its best release yet.

To the untrained ear, black metal can be all noise and theatrics. Perhaps that is not a wholly unfair appraisal, considering the number of black metal musicians who fulfill both expectations exceedingly well. As you go back through One Master's catalog, you get to know how well the outfit sees the importance of the aforementioned matters. Why is "Lycanthropic Burrowing" so notable then? Maybe it is a maturity of its sound or faithfulness to its lyrical stories. However, One Master presents a new release that is well produced and incredibly polished. The mix is exceptional, the vocals are exceedingly good and the rest of the instrumentation is pitch perfect if you could ever ascribe such a phrase to black metal.

From "The Claws of Dionysus," which begins the release, and then into "Will of the Shadow," One Master make it clear that the trio's chemistry sets the tone. Guitar, bass and drums are balanced well against the lyrics for a sound that recalls classic black metal, with a hint of hardcore chord progressions among other influences. The post-production in these opening cuts is immaculate. The lyrics are not washed out by the sort of sonic bludgeoning you could get from a less experienced band. The guitar and bass are raging, but do not overwhelm the drums. One Master gives fans a fearless album, but one that is smart enough to know the base is sophisticated enough to know if it sounds like crap. Thankfully “Lycanthropic Burrowing” leaps out to you like everything but.

Sound does matter, even in extreme music, and One Master's aesthetic is outstanding for its quality and ethos. With musical themes this recording is centered around the mind's many antisocial and confusing swings, the lyrics convey the darkest tales to match. Take the jackhammer drums of "The Black Bat," a tune that pulses with chaos like you're running from your fate. It is typical of the complete package you receive. It is matched with "Death Resurrection," which comes at you in a similarly anarchic fashion. The vocals are almost animalistic in their storytelling of vampires, lycans and damnation, these specters of our minds. And they are not beasts you will soon forget, as shared here.

The album's title track wraps up One Master's journey and caps a mammoth recording with more of the same: unreal vocals, precise musicianship and an abundant sound. What you may miss in experimentation you get in sheer quality. “Lycanthropic Burrowing” is a shredding reminder One Master is back and they have not missed a step since their last release.

 “Lycanthropic Burrowing” is available here

Band info: facebook

FFO: Celebratum, || Bog of the Infidel || Nightbringer || Satanic Warmaster

ALBUM REVIEW & FULL STREAM: Ledge - "Cold Hard Concrete"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 25/08/ 2017

Label: Translation Loss Records

“Cold Hard Concrete" is that uneasy masterpiece you will value even more by year's end.

"Cold Hard Concrete" CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Through Your Skull

2. Blacked Out

3. You Know Who You Are

4. Stalk Your Enemies

5. Disappearing God

6. Fuck Yourself

7. Last Shred of Hope

8. Condemned

The Review:

Metal music has had, over the years, many solo projects, intentional or less so as the bands lived on. Sometimes these projects can be quite divine, because they carry forward an artist's unique musical vision. Other times, you wonder how much it can be a self-indulgent endeavor or vanity plate weighed down by one musician's inability to work with others or compromise for the sake of art. Who of us has not witnessed a flabby presentation or two?

When it comes to Ledge, though, the debut full-length is much more of the former rather than the latter.

Ledge has been a prolific act so far, with a demo and a split LP with the band Disrotted both released within the last year. John Hoffman's one-man extreme music escapade merges doom, hardcore and traditional death metal in an eight-song package that convincingly stands out from the crowd. Much of that distinction is simply due to Hoffman's style. He's held the microphone for the likes of hardcore outfit Spine and grindcore act Weekend Nachos. In fact, Hoffman's body of work has always been quite original, with black metal and punk influences throughout. When you check out these previous performers, you will notice immediately Hoffman's copious contributions. Ledge is seemingly an outgrowth of the sort of creative output that requires enough room to put it all out there. This time around, Hoffman is the boss of everything, covering bass, drums and vocals. The result is a bruising musical trip certain to exceed your hopes for this stylish premiere.

On top of Hoffman's on-mic performance, "Cold Hard Concrete" stands out for a few different reasons. His arrangement of this full-length, sans extra musicians, is well done and pairs tracks stunningly. For instance, "Blacked Out" rampages at you from the start, only to grind to a sludge, then seguing powerfully into "You Know Who You Are." Hoffman's ravenous lyrics on "Stalk Your Enemies" find fellow travelers in the themes that come up in "Disappearing God." As you reach the doom-laden "Last Shred of Hope" and the doom/death metal-tinged closing song, "Condemned," it is hard not to appreciate how Hoffman composed cuts to build on moods. Bass and drums set the apprehensive body from whence Hoffman's words lash out. "Cold Hard Concrete" is that uneasy masterpiece you will value even more by year's end.  Check out the album in full below.  

"Cold Hard Concrete" is available here

Band info: bandcamp

EP PREMIERE: Progressive heavy rockers OLD MAN WIZARD return with "Innocent Hands"

Progressive heavy rock band OLD MAN WIZARD return with their new single “Innocent Hands”. The 2 track release will be self released by the band on 7" vinyl on the 25 August 2017, following on from their recent tour earlier this month. Acting as a follow up to their 2013 debut “Unfavorable” a remarkably complex, colourful, and genre bending release, OLD MAN WIZARD are a truly unique voice in the underground scene and today you can stream “Innocent Hands” in full below.  

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Blessed Realm - “Doomography 1993-2002”

By: Richard Maw


Album Type: Compilation

Date Released: 14/07/2017

Label: At War with False Noise

This is a lengthy and worthy collection from one of the unsung bands of British doom- from an era when doom was not in anyway commonplace.  This is an essential and extensive release, which will fit nicely onto the shelf right next to your Sabbath and Cathedral albums.

“Doomography 1993-2002” CD//DD track listing:

1). Red Dawn

2). Where Winds Whisper My Cry

3). Lost Horizons

4). Circle of Misery

5). Wasted (Rehearsal ’99)

6). Bleeder

7). Black Hole

8). Two Time Loser

9). Crawl

10). Jezebel

11). Before My Eyes (Rehearsal ’99)

12). Spiritual Solitude

The Review:

Blessed Realm hailed from Northern England, emerging as a doom band in a time when doom bands numbered in single figures in the UK. Going for the classic doom line-up (you know the one) of Sabbath, Vitus et. al. This compilation brings together all the band's studio recordings from their nine years of existence.

As a document of British doom in that time, it is as genuine as it gets. This is a band that never made the big leagues and remained underground, but with a keen influence on the genre (much like, say, Unsilence from the North West) and other bands who sprang up in their wake. Naturally, as this is a compilation of demos from a time when Pro Tools was not the standard recording methodology, the sound quality here is varied. The “Redemption” demo of 1995 has plenty of hiss for all you old schoolers who remember it on tape from twenty years ago not to mention epic song lengths which would become standard for the genre.

“The Chasing The Dragon” Demo of 1996 features a drum machine- the material is worthy, but the feel is lost for me as the mechanical element of using a machine takes some of the life out of the songs- for me, anyway. That said, the performances of the rest of the band are strong and the programming is solid- particularly for its time.

“The Return To Zero” demo of 1998 is a step forward for the band and features live drums once again with strong songs such as the sinister “Bleeder” and the punchy “Two Time Loser”. “The Crawl Demo” of 2000 is the strongest selection here for  me- I note that it may be a little further from their pure doom roots, but this takes in an almost Iron Man/Trouble sound along with the dark moods of earlier material.

Alongside the official demos there is a sprinkling of rehearsal tracks from different eras and the superb finisher “Spiritual Solitude” from 2001. This is a lengthy and worthy collection from one of the unsung bands of British doom- from an era when doom was not in anyway commonplace (remember the snide comments Cathedral used to get for playing slow and “looking 70s”?!).

This is an essential and extensive release, packaged in a luxurious digipack with photos and liner notes, which will fit nicely onto the shelf right next to your Sabbath and Cathedral albums.

“Doomography 1993-2002” is available here

Band info: facebook