The Sludgelord "Sour 16" for November 2015

By: Aaron Pickford

As we enter the month of advent and start the build up to Christmas, let us rejoice in the knowledge that November brought another bumper month of new music, perhaps much needed stacking fillers for your nearest and dearest, hell even Santa himself loves the riff, Right!

The Sludgelord’s ‘Sour 16’ is back, you know the deal,  each month, you the reader are unwittingly compiling a list of the top 16 records of the month, covering all genres of metal.  It is not a chart, in which reviewers or contributors extol their opinion about their favourite music, but simply, the ‘Sour 16’ are the records you guys have been most interested in over the last month and checking out on this page.

So here is the The Sludgelord’s ‘Sour 16’ for November 2015.   Dig in, spread the word and perhaps revisit some records you may have overlooked.  The results are compiled based on page views alone and calibrated into the list below. So without further ado, enjoy the ‘Sour 16’. Roll up, kick back, chug a beer and Hail the riff! All review can be viewed by clicking the artwork. (Total views at the time of publication highlighted in red)

16). Serious Beak – “Ankaa” (200)

Self-described as playing “an amalgamation of psychedelic, progressive and poly-rhythmic discordant music,” this is all about creating atmospheres that, be they lucid and dreamy or viscous and tormented, has seen them create a cinematic work of art.

15). Publicist UK – “Forgive Yourself” (207)

Melancholy guitar and vocals that sound both broken and heartfelt all at once seep into your being and any remaining self is filled with a sonic wash of drums, bass, organ, and other contributions. The listener is wrapped in a warm blanket, the music lulling them into a sleep, a calm…Publicist UK have very much succeeded in recreating that post-punk tranquilizer feeling

14). Tombstones – “Vargariis” (214)

“Barren Fields” sounds like doom, it relentlessly rumbles forth with unstoppable perpetual motion. There is more light and shade with Tombstones, but they are no less weighty, the compositions are all stand alone pieces of music, but all with a vibe running through them and a sound that identifies them.  Simply put, this is a modern doom record and those of us who enjoyed the their last record, Conan, Electric Wizard, Ramesses et al will find much to enjoy here. A fine album, then. 

13). The Ocean/Mono – “Transcendental” (217)

Of the splits to cross the desk, this is one of the most well done and well created albums to happen. Even though it's only about 24 minutes long, this feels like it takes a while, in a good way, to happen to you. Highly recommended if you want to calm the soul, and maybe push some boundaries for yourself.

12). Kowloon Walled City – “Grievances” (227)

Passages of minimal melodic interplay give way to shards of dissonance and outbursts of lean, razor-sharp riffing. The languid tempo of the drums reinforces the weight of the music and together with the gnarly bass, act as the perfect backdrop for intricate guitar interplay.

11). Grizzlor – “Cycloptic” (239)

Each track is a barrage of filthy, lumbering Flipper-style basslines and riffs that sound like Clutch on downers. Effected vocals and pitched down samples sit on top of this to add an acid-fried weirdness to proceedings, echoing crazy Texans, Butthole Surfers.

10). Magic Circle – “Journey Blind” (247)

Magic Circle throws hook after hook and riff after riff at the listener, giving us no shortage of big moments to latch onto, without falling back on the most tired aspects of Sabbath’s catalogue as the default.  Although Magic Circle isn’t going to wow anyone with innovation, for what it sets out to do, Magic Circle does it better than just about anyone going right now

09). Slabdragger – “Evacuate” (249)

Fans of Slabdragger will love this, hell, fans of heavy music in general should love it, it's absolutely brilliant and if this is a precursor to what lies ahead on 'Rise Of The Dawncrusher' we're all in for a wonderful treat.

08). Dragged into Sunlight/Gnaw Their Tongues – “N.V.” (250)

'Alchemy in The Subyear' drips with essence of evil. The guitars, drums and vocals converge to a sharpened point which is hammered into your heart with the force of the bass and allowed to carve your flesh, while the atmospherics drag your soul into the depths of hell.

07). Avatarium – The Girl with the Raven Mask” (252)

At the end of it all, there is the feeling that you have heard something very unusual, but also very enjoyable. It is not a difficult record to listen to and some of the melodies and imagery conjured up are just sublime. It is most definitely a natural progression from the first record- with a more defined sound and identity perhaps, albeit that the first record was very much its own beast. Certainly, this is doom, but of a different kind and it stands alone in the genre. Simply put: make sure you hear it. It is essential.

06). Stoned Jesus – “The Harvest” (290)

“The Harvest” is undeniably good, hitting the spots just right. There’s power in the slow cuts “Black Church” and “Rituals of the Sun,” which puts Stoned Jesus’s fine focus on display. Other cuts like “Youth For Sale” or the aforementioned “Wound” stroke our desire to hear something that’s both heavy and catchy, earning “The Harvest” a spot in one’s record collection.

05). Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard – “Noeth Ac Anoeth” (301)

The wall of guitar, at times, sounds as though it is ten instruments deep, crushing your brain with the weight of a 150 ton hydraulic press.  All of this contrasts elegantly with lead singer Jessica Ball's siren aria floating above the driving rhythm.

04). Intronaut – “The Directions of the Last Things” (322)

The interspersed samples are delightfully odd, and give a welcome (often comical) break to the up-down-all-around prog fest that this album really is. There are so many sections that break out into something completely unexpected, leaving you extremely satisfied

03). Cult Leader – “Lightless Walk” (334)

Cult Leader have created a monster here, a perfect combination of brains and brutality. There’s enough going on to suggest that “Lightless Walk” is just the start of an intriguing journey to the outer limits of heavy music.

02). All Them Witches – “Dying Surfer Meet His Maker (483)

Groovy and slow like the rocking back and forth of a fishing boat on a quiet lake seems to be the state of mind, but it’s not a lazy album. The free falling jams are certainly laid back and the songs are no different, such as the case with “Open Passageways,” a prime cut that tells a bizarre story while being guided by a wonderful string section that takes this song to a whole new level

01). Danzig – “Skeletons” (750)

“Skeletons” would have been an awesome opportunity to work with a variety of musicians, those better equipped to handle specific songs and play up their advantages.  The recording quality varies wildly from song to song, as does the overall execution of each song. The strength of Danzig’s vocal performance is pretty consistent with where he was at on ‘Deth Red Sabaoth’, perhaps even a bit better which, sadly, makes it the album’s only consistently positive attribute

This list features reviews by, Chris Bull, Philip Weller, Hunter Young, Richard Maw, Daniel Jackson, Mike Wilcox, Asher Alexander, Victor Van Ommen, Charlie Butler, Peter Man

Intronaut - “The Directions Of The Last Thing” (Album Review)

By: Asher G. Alexander

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 13/11/2015

Label: Century Media Records

The interspersed samples are delightfully odd, and give a welcome (often comical) break to the up-down-all-around prog fest that this album really is. There are so many sections that break out into something completely unexpected, leaving you extremely satisfied

“The Directions Of The Last Thing” CD//DD//LP track listing:

01. Fast Worms (06:58)

02. Digital Gerrymandering (08:08)

03. The Pleasant Surprise (04:02)

04. The Unlikely Event Of A Water Landing (08:07)

05. Sul Ponticello (07:34)

06. The Direction Of Last Things (05:18)

07. City Hymnal (05:55)

Intronaut is:

Joe Lester

Sacha Dunable

David Timnick

Danny Walker

The Review:

The last 9 years have been a lesson in underground success for LA prog-metalers Intronaut. Preparing to release their 5^th album “The Directions Of The Last Thing” on November 13^th, the latest offering serves up brutal riffs, ethereal jazz and more syncopation than you can throw a stick at.

Many reading this will not have heard Intronaut, after all, they are often banded under the taboo genre of djent. What a lot of people don’t realise however is that their association with the genre barely scratches the surface of their musical stylings. In fact, at most they will have a djenty riff every other song, often thrown in the mix to raise the dynamic range from calm to heavy. I think they get this label because they have toured with many of the big names in djent, like Animals As Leaders and TesseracT, however people aren’t really aware of the fact that they have toured with just as many metal bands in other sub-genres, like Tool and Red Fang. They are most certainly a well-seasoned live outfit.

Intronauts first few releases definitely had more of the polyrhythmic instrumental work found on djent records, but with each consecutive album they have moved their sound in a prog rock/ metal direction. Their work is also heavily influenced by sludge bands like Isis, especially vocally. Singer/ guitarist/ luthier/ man of multiple talents Sacha Dunable has an extremely similar timbre in his clean singing voice to Aaron Turner, and with the addition of cleverly placed harmonies Dunable manages to pull off the groany sustained notes with incredible finesse, conveying huge amounts of emotions. Speaking in terms of vocals, “The Directions Of The Last Thing” is a welcome return to Intronauts more extreme roots, evenly balancing growls and cleans perfectly slotting into their given instrumental background.

Where the arrangements are concerned, this album feels like quite a defining moment for them. Each song represents their musical direction very well, taking elements from all aspects of their compositional skills from jazz in strange polymeters to huge riffs. The only gripe I have is with some of the more “metal” segments relying too much on rhythm as opposed to melody. By doing this (and quite often) in later parts if the album, you start thinking “Hey, didn’t I hear this riff two songs ago?”

That would probably be my only gripe with the record. As a whole, the album is super cool. The interspersed samples are delightfully odd, and give a welcome (often comical) break to the up-down-all-around prog fest that this album really is. There are so many sections that break out into something completely unexpected, leaving you extremely satisfied and thinking “Damn that was prog-ariffic!”, and I haven’t even talked about the mix yet!

Well, the mix to my ears is nearly perfect. The levels of each instrument are great, nothing bleeds over each other. Everything is given plenty of space to breath, so that when it goes from section to section, the lead instrument (be it bass, guitar, drums OR vocals) are perfectly placed in the stereo mix so that you instantly take notice of it. The dynamic range of each instrument sits really well, for example, when guitars go from clean to distorted or vice versa, they never feel harsh or unbalanced in comparison to the previous section. All of these points are a huge step up from previous releases.

Overall I would highly recommend this album to people, especially the sceptics, just so they can see how wrong they are!

“The Directions Of The Last Thing” is available here

FFO: Mastodon, The Ocean, ISIS, Cult of Luna

Band info: official | facebook

An interview with Tom Sutton from The Order of Israfel

Sludgelord) Tell us about how The Order of Israfel got started, how did you come together and decide to start The Order of Israfel?

            Tom) I've had this band in mind for over 10 years.  I'd been working on ideas

            and songs since about 2003, and then when I moved to Gothenburg in 2012,

            it was   finally time to look for the right people for the band.  I had met Patrik

            on the Pentagram tour when I was guitar teching for them.  His old band,

            Doomdogs played 3 shows on that tour, and I got along really well with

            everyone in their band.  When I started talking about moving to Gothenburg,

            he said he'd be interested in playing together.  That was the first piece of the

            puzzle.  Patrik knew of Hans, our drummer, knew about his old band, Lotus,

            and knew he   was a Black Sabbath obsessive.  We got together and

            jammed.  It was great straight away, actually.  Staffan came a bit later.  We

            tried out a few people, but none of them seemed right.  Finally, Staffan, who

            was my housemate at the time, asked to hear the demos of my songs, and

            really liked them.  We tried him out, and it sounded great.    We're very lucky

            with how the line-up has turned out.  We sound good together, and we all

            get along really well.

Sludgelord) What is the meaning of the name?

            Tom) I first heard the name Israfel when a friend referred to him as the angel

            of music.  That idea just totally captured my imagination.  I feel like music is

            one of the great divine forces for good on Earth, and I loved the idea of an

            angel that personifies that.  Yes, it comes from Islam and is mentioned in an

            Edgar Allen Poe poem too, but the main inspiration came from that first time I

            Heard the name.  The idea behind the name The Order Of Israfel is from my

            experiences in finding such a strong connection between music fans around

            the world.  It doesn't matter what genre you're into, if two people who truly

            love music come together, then there's some kind of understanding there.  I

            created the idea of The Order as a celebration of that understanding and

            connection, and of the divine healing, uplifting, and teaching power of

            music.
 

Sludgelord) How does it feel being a doom band from the Swedish home of thrash metal?

            Tom) It's fine!  We know some of those guys.  Actually, we're playing at the

            next Gothenburg Sound Festival with some bands like that.  We're

            comfortable not having an immediate doom metal scene around us, 'cos it's

            normal for doom bands to exist in isolation.

Sludgelord) You have had a pretty relentless tour schedule, tell me about some things you do to keep centred during the hectic times?

            Tom) I highly recommend listening to Enya!  But really, I love the guys in the

            band, and when I was dealing with some personal issues during this tour, they

            were 100% there for me, as we all were for each other, and that helped me

            during the difficult times.  And Enya!

Sludgelord) What has been your favourite country to play in?

            Tom) Hmmmm, I would say that the best gigs on the tour for us were

            Gothenburg in Sweden, Siegen in Germany, and Paris, France, but

            everywhere is fun to play in its own way.  Norway is beautiful, the UK is full of

            Sabbath vibe, Germany has a lot of serious doom metal fans.  There's

            good things everywhere.
 

Sludgelord) If you had to name an overall influence the band have used to inspire the music (not necessarily another band, it could be an ideology or something unrelated like a love of food) what would it be?

            Tom). It would be spiritual pursuits, I guess.  Looking for ways to be kinder,

            happier, simpler.  Some of the songs are directly about those things. 

            And nature too.  I love the feeling of forests, and we tried to create that

             kind of feeling in the songs.  

Sludgelord) What would you say is the biggest accomplishment the band has achieved?

            Tom) I guess making an album that we're proud of is the biggest.  We're really

            happy with everything from the album itself to the artwork.  But there have

            been a few proud moments.  I love it when people who are serious doom fans

            write to us.  And we had some great reactions on this tour.  One guy followed

            us to three shows in the UK.  He even slept in his car to make it happen.  That

            kind of stuff makes us really happy.

Sludgelord) Tell me about the phenomenal album you recently released, how was the recording process? What was the writing process like?

            Tom) Thanks very much!  The writing process was pretty much me slowly

            putting songs together over a period of a few years.  Once the band

            was together,   there were some parts of songs that we worked on together,

            though.  I wanted to create the kind of spooky but heavy and rockin'

            songs that I wanted to hear.  We recorded it with a guy called Jörgen

            Cremonese, along with Charlie Storm who recorded the drums and co-

            mixed it with Jörgen.  The drums were done at Charlie's studio in one day,

            and the rest was at Jörgen's    house.  It was really relaxing that way.  We had

            no deadline at all.  We just recorded till we were done.  He has a nice

            house on a hill, so the view was great, and the atmosphere was perfect. 

            He's very particular about details.  Everything from amps to string types to

            what plectrum we used for each song.  He's a great producer.
 

Sludgelord) Run me through the live gear each one of you use, how does it differ from the gear you used to record?

            Tom) On the album, it was a Swedish amp called an Elmwood for both Staffan

            and I, along with an old VEM through fuzz pedals.  And we used an old Vox

            for the solos.  On stage, Staffan is using a Schmidt by Diesel, which

            sounds wonderful, and I've been using my Hiwatt through a modified

            Ibanez Tubescreamer.  Staffan and I just used the same guitars we play

            on stage.  Patrik has a great   Acoustic bass amp that sounds killer, and his

            own custom bass made by Inferno Guitars.  And Hans has this killer Ludwig

            kit that used to belong to Dozer.  We all love that kit.

 Sludgelord) What are you listening too at the moment?

            Tom) A lot of Cathedral as always!  That never ends!  I recently played a

            Status Quo tribute show with another band I'm in called Horisont, so I've been

            really exploring the 70's Status Quo records.  And one thing I love to do is listen

            to Hans Zimmer's Batman soundtracks while reading Batman comics, so a lot

            of that too.
 

Sludgelord) Anything you would like to plug?

            Tom) Sure!  Horisont have just released a new 7" called 'Break The Limit', which

            is the first thing of theirs I've played on, and my new band, Night Viper, will be

            releasing its first single soon too.  We sound like early Judas Priest or 'Kill 'em

            All'- era Metallica as fronted by Tina Turner.  Check it out!

Interview by: Asher G. Alexander

Live Review: Anaal Nathrakh @ Boston Music Room, London. November 5th, 2014

Anaal Nathrakh always claimed never to be a touring band. For their recent album releases however this has changed, so to my delight as a long time Anaal Nathrakh fan they came over to London to play a show at the Boston Music Rooms in Tuffnel Park, a venue infamous for holding concerts for a great number of metal acts.

Starting off the evening with the groove orientated intro track from the new album, I have to say, I was shocked at how sloppy they were. Literally none of them were in time with each other, worst of all was the drummer who just couldn’t seem to get any kick’s in time. Surprising as I was told he plays to a click.

Moving on though, the night did improve, but it struck me that perhaps they didn’t warm up before hitting the stage, big mistake for a band that doesn’t play a lot of shows. After the second song the band went into full swing and really got into it, the grindy madness was tighter and more controlled.

The singer was definitely the best part for me. He was consistently spot on, whether shrieking, growling or belting out the operatic choruses. He was also a great front man in the sense that he knew the songs well enough to put emphasis on crowd participation in just the right spots. Also he looks like one mean motherfucker!

One glaring problem was that the lead guitar was far louder than the rhythm. The rhythm guitarist had a much more controlled tone in comparison, and in a band that plays as fast and distorted as AN, he deserved to be turned way up in the mix. Although all this is true, it did make the lead parts absolutely shine, with the tremolo picked melodies sounding ultra brutal.

Crowd involvement was at its peak for the shows and there was at any one time at least two people on stage and then diving off two seconds later. The band actively encouraged it too, with the rhythm guitarist asking for more stage diving in between one of the songs. Hilariously at one point, some dude tried to hug the singer in between a song. The singer wasn’t very happy about this and shoved him away, looking unbelievably pissed off. This dude then had the cheek to get up multiple more times throughout the night and throw himself into the crowd.

Overall it was a pretty good gig. Definitely not the best gig ever, and considering my expectations were pretty high because I love the recordings, it could have been a hell of a lot better. But maybe it was an amazing gig, and maybe I was too far back or not in the right mood? Sometimes when you see a band you really love and come out disappointed, you have to take a step back and ask yourself if you are the correct audience for the show. The majority of people there were getting really stuck in and going absolutely nuts, which at a grindcore/ black metal show I’m sure is the norm. I’m just not that kind of guy though, so for me it was just a tad disappointing.

Thanks for reading Y’all!

Words by: Asher G. Alexander.

Live Review: Textures @ The Garage, London. 29.10.2014

Textures took their first album ‘Polars’ on the road this year to the delight of fans. In a show full of humour and Mayones guitars, they ploughed through a set list full of Djenty goodness.

First, a little story, the singer of Textures is an absolute joker. I was hanging out at the bar with a friend, when I look over to the merch desk and there is this dude talking to the merch guy who looks incredibly like the singer of Textures. I turn to my friend and ask if I could use his phone to record a 5 minute interview before their set as my phone was out of battery. I then walk up to this dude and go 'Hey man, are you the singer of Textures?' the dude goes 'nah man'. I say 'oh sorry, you look incredibly like him'.

I walk away feeling slightly awkward, me and my friend make lots of jokes about how it was actually the singer and he just didn't want to be bothered or it was a member of another band or it was just some random dude.

Fast forward to the end of Textures set, the singer starts giving his usual 'hey if you want to come chat or take a picture we'll be hanging round the merch desk after the show... Oh and that dude who came up to the merch desk and asked if I was the singer... Yeh, that was me'. He then points me out in the crowd and says 'sorry dude, come take a picture and hang out afterwards'. I’m standing there shouting "YOU MOTHERFUCKER". After the set he came into the crowd and we had a little chat, he apologised and probably felt a bit silly as I told him I was reviewing the show and just wanted a quick 5 minutes to put a little interview before the review. Hugs were exchanged and all was well.

Apart from that hilarious incident the show was great. The show was in two parts. First off they played ‘Polars all the way through, finishing up with the epic nearly 20 minute title track before moving on to a kind of fan favourites set of their best known tracks. Performance wise they didn’t miss a beat and the singer has absolutely got his screaming and singing technique down. They had a tremendous amount of energy, throwing themselves around with plenty of synchronised headbanging (real Meshuggah style stuff).

The sound was definitely set up for the more ballady type stuff and kind of lacked when it meant the most. The mid heavy tones of the guitars mudded up horrendously at points and the left and right balance just felt off. When they played slow it sounded fine, so the polyrhythmic djenty stuff sounded great once you had given your ears a bit of time to adjust. If you don’t know, a lot of the note tonality in music is carried in the mid frequencies, overcrowding this frequency range can completely destroy a set, far worse than a performance that is really bassy or heavy in the high frequencies.

I think If I was to see Textures again it would have to be in a bigger venue with a better sound system. I just don’t think the sound they go for was very suited for a small venue like The Garage. Thanks for reading y’all!

Words by: Asher G. Alexander