TOP 16 ALBUMS: The Sour 16 (September 2017)

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

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

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

16). Boris - "Dear" (623)

From the opening track, “D.O.W.N. –Domination of Waiting Noise–“, Boris conveys punishing volume so effectively that your ears will ache at practically any level.  Every note and every layered vocal has been obsessed over, placed perfectly in the mix, and acts as a distillation of twenty-five years of intense collaborative synthesis.

15). Order - "Lex Amentiae" (637)

This is harsh, in-your-face, old-school black metal. From the opener "Winter" onward, Order stakes a claim to the thorny crown with its barbarous shrieks, lumbering bass and unyielding guitars.

14). Biblical - "The City That Always Sleeps" (679)

“Mature Themes,” the opening track and lead-off single, certainly showcases a barrage of noise that hits like a barbed-wire baseball bat, but rather than making miles doing this sludgy-psych thing, Biblical branches out far and wide, traversing sonic landscapes that are as vast as the country the band calls home.

13). Major Kong - "Brace for Impact" (713)

Poland's Major Kong tests the limits of music with its new recording, "Brace for Impact." The eight-song release is entirely instrumental and rooted in a science fiction theme. Heady indeed, but Major Kong give you a dense, impressive album regardless.

12). Made Of Teeth - "Made Of Teeth" (721)

Made Of Teeth have produced a confident, punchy, and savage debut that provides the listener with labyrinthine levels of surprises around each corner.

11). Monarch - "Never Forever" (784)

Monarch orchestrates layers upon layers of sound that roil gently like a dirty bayou. Bresson's vocals – from plaintive wisps to growls and beyond – make Monarch unlike anything else you hear in doom or drone. Such innovation is why the outfit has cultivated a devoted following throughout their extensive career. Never Forever" gives you a side of Monarch that is rarely seen, and is indicative of a fearless performance. Drone is seldom this accessible, or distinguished.

10). Usnea - "Portals Into Futility" (815)

The guitars are thoroughly dissonant and murky, the bass is husky and drums voluminous. Then there are the vocals, which feel like they're being delivered with the sort of urgency of someone trapped at the bottom of a deep well. The whole composition of the record is just magnificent for doom fans.

9). Queens of the Stone Age - "Villains" (1040)

The musicianship is some of the best out there, and QOTSA knows its lane and sticks with it. Suffice to say, if you are already a QOTSA fan, chances are this recording will not disappoint, or may just a little. For others, there is an entirely different dialogue.

8). Ufomammut - "8" (1078)

The time signatures will still have you scratching your head and the chugging rhythms are no less heady as they are pummeling. The choice to structure songs rather than to orchestrate them means that the ideas unfold quicker than what we’re used to. A totally different listening experience, sure, but it’s one that offers yet another opportunity to throw some quality, heavy psychedelic doom on the turntable.

7). Spirit Adrift - "Curse of Conception" (1119)

“Curse of Conception” is a glorious success and a dazzling evolution of an already excellent band. 

6). Dyscarnate - "With All Their Might" (1181)

For those death metal fans expecting endless blasting, look elsewhere. For those who want a pit destroying festival of riffs: look no further. This is Dyscarnate’s best album so far and a real beast of modern death metal.

5). With The Dead - "Love From With The Dead" (1401)

The opening quartet of tracks here offers up a relentless onslaught of earth-shaking doom. Tim Bagshaw is on fine form, unleashing an endless stream of mammoth riffs and lead guitar that channel the hazy evil of his finest moments in Ramesses.  Lee Dorrian’s half spoken, half roared vocals work well in amongst the carnage and are a breath of fresh air in the modern doom landscape.

4). Belphegor - "Totenritual" (1802)

Once again, as they have over the vast majority of their discography, Belphegor has produced an excellent album of the best blackened death metal. This is every bit as good as anything else the band has put out from one of the best extreme bands in the world, no question.

3). Satyricon - "Deep Calleth Upon Deep" (1914)

 ‘Deep Calleth Upon Deep’ is something of a spiritual successor to ‘Rebel Extravaganza’ in that the goal appears to have been to take an established sound and create the weirdest, artsiest version of it they could and there is evidence of a sweeping creative resurgence throughout the album as a whole.

2). Monolord - "Rust" (2105)

Monolord hits all the superlative notes when it comes to doom and the album's closing tracks, "Forgotten Lands" and "At Niceae," are as close to perfect as you can get.

1). Paradise Lost - "Medusa" (5226)

Depthless despair, thick production with pounding drums accentuating the force of the material and those classic melodic leads are all encompassing, making this their heaviest album  in years and amongst their best. “Medusa” can and will turn you to stone- as you will be shocked and stilled by just how good it is.

A big thank you as always to our amazing writers, your dedication knows no boundaries and for that I am truly grateful.  September 2017’s SOUR 16 features reviews by:  Richard Maw, Daniel Jackson, Charlie Butler, Mark Ambrose, Victor Van Ommen, Conor O’Dea, Jay Hampshire & Ernesto Aguilar

ALBUM REVIEW: Biblical - "The City That Always Sleeps"

By: Victor Van Ommen

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 15/09/2017

Label: Tee Pee Records |

New Damage Records

“Mature Themes,” the opening track and lead-off single, certainly showcases a barrage of noise that hits like a barbed-wire baseball bat, but rather than making miles doing this sludgy-psych thing, Biblical branches out far and wide, traversing sonic landscapes that are as vast as the country the band calls home.

“The City That Always Sleeps” CD//DD//LP track listing

1. Mature Themes
2. The Last Thing I Remember
3. Regicide
4. Fugue State
5. Gallows Humor
6. Spiral Staircase
7. The City that Always Sleeps
8. House of Knives

The Review

               

Come on, let’s take a trip down the heavy-psych highways with Biblical. Their trip starts in the dirty streets of Toronto, but it doesn’t take long until they’ve hit the off-ramp and flown out into space. “Mature Themes,” the opening track and lead-off single, certainly showcases a barrage of noise that hits like a barbed-wire baseball bat, but rather than making miles doing this sludgy-psych thing, Biblical branches out far and wide, traversing sonic landscapes that are as vast as the country the band calls home.

When taken in front to back, Biblical’s sophomore outing “The City that Always Sleeps” plays out as a crafted piece of art that steers clear of a paint-by-numbers psych band. Biblical allow their ideas to flourish in their songwriting, and the fantastic production and recording – man, listen to those drums! – makes for an extremely well-rounded record that smoothly brings the listener across the sludge-psych spectrum of the stoner rock world.

Some parts are psych, there are even elements borrowed from post-punk, others are sludgier, and the brash moments are used as points of reference to take off from. The addition of the piano in the instrumental “Staircase” brings a little drama to the mix, and how this is pinned up against an uplifting chorus before a giant crescendo finishes off the song that exemplifies how Biblical takes control of the experience they’re providing.

Steady toe-tappers, fuzzy guitar solos, murky intermezzos, and catchy space rock. It’s all there and it all makes sense. There’s not much in the way of jams – you know, that moment when the music takes control – but there’s enough thought and effort put into presenting a well-rounded record that the jams aren’t missing. There’s plenty more to get lost in here than what’s on offer in the album’s lead-off single and you’d be doing yourself a favor by taking 40-some-odd minutes out of your busy day and let these tunes pick you up and take you away.

“The City That Always Sleeps” is available here

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

Interview with Nick from BIBLICAL

I hadn't heard of today's guests so I checked the band and reviews for their album and it was generating a lot of buzz. So I kindly asked for a promo which the band arranged for me. And after one listen I was blown away by their excellent début album – Monsoon Season.

I am talking about hotly tipped Psych Rockers – BIBLICAL – who have just released their incredible début album – Monsoon Season. A intriguing mix of Blues Rock, Hard Rock, Psych Rock, Proto-Metal and Stoner Rock. A more trippier and heavier version of Queens Of The Stone Age is the best way to describe them but with bags of personality and originality to match.

I said this about the album - “the band unleashing some finely tuned riffs that will have you begging for more. This is the true picture of Biblical showing their arrival to the world of rock. This is a band who knows how to command the listener’s attention with a breathtaking tale told through the power of music. It ends the album on an epic high.

This album is already causing a storm with the Hard Rock press and it is not hard to see why. Monsoon Season is simply unmissable. An outstanding début album.”

I am happy to say that Nick Sewell (Vox/Bass) BIBLICAL has agreed to talk to us here at Sludgelord HQ.

Q1 – Hi Nick. Thanks for doing this. How are things with you today

Fantastic! Thanks for having us.

Q2 – Can you give our readers a brief history of how the band started and where it is today.

Biblical started as a casual, musical get together back in the fall of 2009. Andy (Scott, guitar/organ) and I had been touring extensively with Sebastien Grainger’s band The Mountains for a couple of years and we suddenly found ourselves back in Toronto. Jay (Anderson, drums) and Matt (Mclaren, lead guitar) had a practice space and they invited me down to just hang out, drink beer and mess around making a racket. Through the winter months it became more and more of a regular thing. By the early spring, we had started to bolt together ideas for songs and by May of 2010, we played our first show opening for Danko Jones. The following year, we released our 10” EP and started making little forays out west, scoring festival slots with the likes of Red Fang and The Sword and a little mini tour with Death From Above 1979. At this point, we’re a much more mature band. We’ve spent the past couple of years playing and recording and we’ve really solidified our sound.

Q3 – How would yourselves describe your sound. As you guys have had a lot of descriptions thrown your way. How would you best describe it yourselves.

Because we’re a loud guitar-based band, people like bandy around terms like doom and stoner etc. But really, we’ve never considered ourselves anything other than a rock band. Any other description seems unnecessarily limiting. We pride ourselves on mixing a lot of different flavors into our sound. We appreciate it when writers take the time to sift through all the layers, even if it means they come away without a short, snappy description. Music should be something to explore and we consciously strive to craft our material in that fashion.

Q4 – Now lets talk about your new album – Monsoon Season. Why the name Monsoon Season. Does it have a specific meaning to the band.

Funny enough, originally we were going to call the record something different. I’m not going to say what, because we think we might use it for the next one. But the origin of the title Monsoon Season was the song of the same name. Once the whole record was near completion, Monsoon Season seemed to capture the flavor of the entire record better than the original title. Lyrically, Monsoon Season represents what has been a turbulent time in my life over the past 5 years. There has been a great deal of illness in my family that has regrettably resulted in a number of deaths. So the Monsoon became a shorthand for those dark periods of life that inevitably arise. It also had a nice ‘biblical’ connotation, so it seemed like a good fit.

Q5 – Was it an easy or hard album to write and record for and are you happy with the final result.

I’d say it was a challenging record, ultimately. Coming up with the material wasn’t really a problem. But finding the right mix of songs and creating a cohesive whole took a good deal of thought. There are so many examples of records where you have some amazing songs but for whatever reason they don’t come together as a complete listen. We wanted our record to have a continuity. So even while the songs themselves take different forms, there’s a running theme unifying the work.

In terms of the result, we’re beyond happy. This is a record we made ourselves with very modest means. Large chunks of it were recorded in our bare bones practice space that resides in an unheated garage in the dead of winter. It was out of necessity, but in retrospect I think working that way lent the record an extra layer of atmosphere. Credit for the overall polish of the album goes to our good friend Matt Dematteo who mixed the record and provided general guidance on the recording process. Matt is a preternatural talent and he took the tracks we gave him and shot them into outer space. When the first mix came back, we couldn’t believe how powerful it sounded. And when we got to the mastering stage where you really sculpt the sound and remove unnecessary frequencies, we were floored by the spaciousness and detail that Matt had achieved with the tracks.

Q6 – What is your favourite track off the album and why. Mine is definitely the epic title track. Shows what your music is all about.

I’d say overall, Monsoon is probably our fave too. As you’ve noted, it really is our signature sound. When we play that song live (and we tend to go along with that number!) it’s amazing to see the crowd react to the dynamics of the song. Hitting the loud parts with the whole band freaking out and then suddenly dropping back into that hypnotic main riff never fails to get a response. But honestly, music is almost always about moments, and in that regard there a bunch on the album that make me smile.

Q7 – Now you have read my review of your new album. How would yourselves describe it.

That’s a tough question. For the sake of brevity, I’d describe it as a vibey rock record. One reviewer described it as cinematic and I’m quite fond of that description. One of the things people seem to like best about it is that you can’t quite put your finger on the sound. There are familiar qualities to it, but there’s no easy “Oh they’re this kind of band”. It always seems to take a few more sentences to accurately describe the influences at play.

Q8 – Why did you choose the name BIBLICAL for your band. Any particular reason behind this.

The main reason we chose Biblical was because it seemed to be a good fit for what we were doing sonically. We wanted a name that conjured scale. But getting down to the nuts and bolts of the name, back in early 2010 the movie Ghostbusters was playing on TV a lot. I was watching it one day and during the scene where they’re trying to convince the mayor of New York to let them fight Zuul, Bill Murray exclaims: “This city is headed for a disaster of Biblical Proportions!”

I heard that and thought Biblical Proportions would be a cool name for a heavy band. I brought the idea in to practice and Jay, in his infinite wisdom, suggested we just go with Biblical. Good call.

Q9 – I love the album cover. Who designed it and did you have much input into the overall design of it.

I work professionally as a designer, so I do all the design work for the band. I have a real soft spot for midcentury modern graphic design, so for the Monsoon cover I wanted something that referenced that style and those palettes. The hands rising up out of the water was meant to convey two tidal waves that represent Matt and Andy’s opposing walls of guitar, with the churning ocean being the rhythm section.

Q10 – Which bands and artists influenced you all as musicians.

This is a big question. The honest answer is we’re influenced a huge variety of music both directly and indirectly. There is so much fantastic music out there to draw inspiration from. We all dig heavy stuff but it’s not really what we draw upon to create our heavy stuff. I think that’s a mistake a lot of contemporary bands make. We look to other genres to give us ideas which is why you’ll find the syncopated rhythms and less travelled time signatures like 6/8 turning up in our stuff. In terms of specific artists, we each have our preferences, but we all agree on early Funkadelic, the MC5 as well as Brazilian psych samba like Os Mutantes or Marcos Valle. We’re certainly indebted to 70s guitar rock and metal but we’d probably go for Sir Lord Baltimore or T2 before Sabbath.

Q11 – What is the song writing process in the band? Is it a group collective or is just down to one individual.

There’s no set formula. For this record, I had the initial ideas for the riffs and such but they are absolutely the product of hashing stuff out collectively. Take a song like Second Sight. To me, that song hangs on Jay’s drum pattern. It’s the soul of the tune. Likewise, when we were recording the guitar parts that song, Matt just happened to pick up a slide. Guess what? We ended up rewriting a big chunk of it as a result. I think it’s important to be open to new ways of working at all times. If your process is set in stone, how are you ever going to stumble on something new?

Q12 – What is the live BIBLICAL experience like.

One of things we’re most excited about is the opportunity to play these songs for people. It’s been really fun to explore the material and open things up. I don’t want to say that we’re a jam band or anything, but we give the songs plenty of time to breathe. It’s like a jazz show: it plays out differently each time we perform. But all the heaviness, the dynamics, the spaciness—don’t worry it’s all in there.

Q13 – What are you thoughts on the crowd-funding scene where bands and artists ask fans to help fund their latest album, tour or release. Are you fans of this medium. Would yourselves ever go down this 

route.

I’m not sure how to feel about it. On the one hand, it’s an interesting idea to have fans and artists interacting directly. But I’m also in my late 30s. Every record I’ve ever made has been out of pocket and I don’t know if I’d want it any other way. I consider it a privilege to make music and I’m astounded when people come to shows or buy our stuff. The thought asking for support before hand and then having to deliver something would be a dynamic that I’m not necessarily comfortable with.

Q14 – If you could change anything about the Stoner/Doom/Hard Rock Scene What would it be and why.

The biggest thing I’d like to see is more ideas. Across heavy music in general, there’s a resistance to new ideas and new flavours. I find a lot of heavy music to be needlessly derivative. If you’re in a doom band and all you listen to is other doom bands, how are you ever going to find your own voice and cut through?

Q15 – Your album is winning a whole load of praise from just about everyone. Are you pleased with the responses so far. Did you realise you had something special on your hands before releasing the new album.

We were pretty sure we had something special, but the response has been amazing. For a weirdo rock band from Toronto, we’re simply blown away that the record has been so well received.

Q16 – How did you guys hook up with record label – New Damage Records.

New Damage began as an offshoot from a pretty well-known indie label called Dine Alone Records. Dine Alone was founded by a dude named Joel Carriere came up in the screamo scene, promoting shows and managing Alexisonfire. New Damage is Dine Alone’s imprint for heavy stuff and is run by a gentleman named Richard Fernandes. Rich had previously managed the label Distort, working with bands like the Cancer Bats and Comeback Kid. We’ve known Joel for a while and when we’d finished recording Monsoon, he thought it would be a good fit for ND and passed it over to Rich. The rest is history!

Q17 - They have did a stunning job on your Vinyl Packages. Did you have much say with the design of your Vinyl Record. Plus are you vinyl record fans yourselves.

As I mentioned, I handled all the design. Rich was cool to let me go wild. That said, I don’t think our LPs are too ostentatious! But we are indeed fans of vinyl. There’s something so pleasant about the ritual of playing a record. It’s just a really nice way to enjoy music. Not that I’m down on digital though—my phone is ever present and I love the convenience of having a massive library with me when I travel.

Q18 – If you could give any advice to people wanting to start a band what would it be.

My advice would be: open yourself to genres outside of what you’re playing. There’s tremendous pressure to conform to an easily classifiable genre or convention. There are already way too many orthodoxies in heavy music.

Q19 – Apart from the new album what else do you have in store over the next 12 months or so.

Really, we’re just trying to rustle up touring opportunities. Certainly having all the great feedback on the record is making things easier. But we’re really gunning to make it over to the UK and Europe. Touring North America is tough — its an insanely large land mass and things are really spread out.

Q20 – Well guys thanks for talking to us here at Sludgelord HQ. Do you have anything to say to your fans.

We hope to be over to see you soon! We’re dying to play these songs for everyone!

Thanks to Nick for taking the time out to talk to us at Sludgelord HQ. And to Zach Shaw over at The Syndicate PR for arranging this interview.

Monsoon Season is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl now from New DamageRecords.

Check the Band from Links Below

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Written by Steve Howe