ALBUM REVIEW: Day of the Jackal, "Day Zero"

By: Chris Markwell
 
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 15/03/2021
Label: Independent

 

“Day Zero” DD track listing:

 
1). On Your Own
2). Belief in a Lie
3). Rotten to the Core
4). Secrets to the Grave
5). Coffin Fix
6). Riskin’ it All
7). ‘Til The Death
8). Afterburn
9). Deadfall Trap
10). Rock n’ Roll Deathride
 

The Review:

Just beyond the kingdom of Sludge sits the Mountain of Hard Rock: an immovable edifice of majesty, it is the magical, ever-present spire, whose shadow touches all the lands of music. From the deep mines of Heavy Metal, to the cloud-topped towers of Prog, all know and feel the touch of Hard Rock upon their territories.

Carved into the face of Hard Rock are names of power: AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Guns ‘N’ Roses, to name but a few. All names are known and respected among all the lands that surround Hard Rock. But, look closer… A new name has been etched into the foot of the mountain.

Day of the Jackal, spell out the jagged letters. And when a new name is etched, it stands to reason to seek them out. So I did.

Leeds’ Day of the Jackal have, on 15^th March 2021, released their debut album “Day Zero”, and, if it were any more balls-out hard rock, it would be charged with indecent exposure.  

Recorded in Gentlemen’s Pistols James ‘Atko’ Atkinson’s Station House studio, the rock runs through every inch of this record like a stylus runs through a record’s groove.  In fact, the entire album was recorded live: no click tracks required, kids.  Because of this decision, each one of the ten tracks present on “Day Zero” retain that raw energy you’d normally expect to feel in the sweaty confines of a gig venue. 

Ten tracks, zero bullshit.  If you want ballads, experimentation, or odd time signatures, move along.  This album is designed specifically to give you a rock ‘n’ roll injection straight to your heart.  Palpitations, shortness of breath, and a desire to bang your head uncontrollably are common side effects, so don’t worry. 

From the first blast of electric riff-raffery of opener ‘On Your Own’, to the bar-room brawl of a closing song ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Deathride’, Day of the Jackal make statement after brash statement with each track that pummels and pounds your eardrums.  The quartet have forged a beautiful, whiskey-stained ode to the gods of hard rock, their love for their genre shining through with each hi-hat snap and every power chord struck. 

Personal favourite of mine from this album has to be ‘Til the Death’, with its slamming riffs and Bon Scott-esque lyrics (“I’ll be your best mistake, but I won’t be your man” is delivered almost with a knowing wink audibly heard in the mix).  You can envisage baying crowds of people knowing every word, and singalong in turn.  I want to be part of that crowd and, after listening, you will, too.   

Day of the Jackal are not reinventing the wheel with “Day Zero”.  Rather, they’ve stolen that wheel, affixed it to their cherry-red hot rod, and are riding it down the road to the hallowed mountain of hard rock mythology.  Best get on board and join them on their journey. 

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Geezer, "Groovy"

By: Chris Markwell

Album Type:  Full Length

Date Released: 12/06/2020

Label: Heavy Psych Sounds Records

“Groovy” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1.) Dig
2.) Atlas Electra
3.) Dead Soul Scroll
4.) Awake
5.) Groovy
6.) Drowning On Empty
7.) Slide Mountain
8.) Black Owl

The Review:

Let me get this straight: Geezer are a groovy band?
Yes, but also, they have a new album which is called Groovy.
I see.  So, groovy band Geezer create groovy record Groovy.  Which sounds… groovy. 

Well, this sounds… harmonious. 

In all seriousness, New York’s stoner trio have put their needle down and hit the groove just right on their upcoming release, due out 12^th June 2020 and released from Heavy Psych Sounds Records.  It’s following on from 2017’s “Psychoriffadelia” LP, and the 2019 EP “Spiral Fires”, and “Groovy” certainly does exactly what it says on the tin.  I’m honestly trying not to judge a book by its cover, but when the cover literally says what to expect, and the music delivers on that expectation… I mean, what’s a boy to do?

Groove is in the heart, so saith the Lord, and Geezer duly preach the word on this album.  If Pantera were a power groove band, Geezer are their stoner equivalent.  Each of the eight songs on display here are geared to make your body move to their rhythm.  I dare you – I double dare you – to try and listen through without tapping your foot or nodding your head.  It’s impossible. 

Like a mellowed out Kyuss jamming with Clutch, Geezer sound heavy without having to be frantic about it.  The album’s songs are meticulously paced to make you move at a cruising speed, rather than a pedal to the metal frenzy.  It makes for a much more laid-back journey, ‘Atlas Electra’ being a fine example of this.  It uses slide guitar, multiple guitar overdubs on the solos, and a steady building of texture to turn it from this initially simple riff and drum duet, to this rolling juggernaut of slow speed but undeniable force and power.  

The title track of the album includes Hammond organs, an overture of thick guitar riffs, bass badassery and drum domination which reminded me of a souped-up version of Electric Eel Shock’s ‘My Favourite No. 9’, with ‘Groovy’ being an ode to the raw joy of music, unlike EES’s ode to lead singer Akihito Morimoto’s favourite things in life.  ‘Groovy’ comes from a pure power source: a genuinely feel-good stoner smash that draws a smile on your face that would rival the Cheshire Cat’s. 

“Groovy” by name, groovy by contents.  Eight standout love songs to the gorgeous witch that is the Sick Riff.  Ash from the Evil Dead would absolutely rock to this while shopping smart… shopping S-Mart. 

“Groovy” is available HERE

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Spell, "Opulent Decay"

By: Chris Markwell

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 10/04/2020

Label: Bad Omen Records

“Opulent Decay” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Psychic Death

2). Opulent Decay

3). Sibyl Vane

4). Primrose Path

5). The Iron Wind

6). Dawn Wanderer

7). Deceiver

8). Ataraxia

9). Imprisoned by Shadows

10). Saturns Riddle

The Review:

Season of riffs, and mellow moshfulness… we find ourselves in times where music is needed now more than ever to soothe the soul, and send the mind to higher, happier planes.  There has never been a more apt time to discover new music.  Never. 

May I humbly recommend Vancouver heavy metal trio Spell? 

April 10^th 2020 sees the release of “Opulent Decay”, their fourth album.  It’s a true nostalgia-fuelled romp through the gardens of Sabbath, with sojourns through Dio valleys and the Thin Lizzy rivers.  It’s a journey your ears deserve to take, because you’ll find new, virgin audioscapes on which to traverse. 

Let’s get to the work itself: Spell are three gents who look like they were forged from three ingots of original heavy metal, and make music that resonates with that classic sound of old.  But it doesn’t sound outdated; far from it, in fact.  It feels new, and refreshing, and vital.  It’s like being a treasure hunter and finding a horde of plunder.  Except, this time, the whip and fedora aren’t required to find this plunder… although I’m sure they help.  Ahem. 

The music itself is ten tracks of glorious metal, spacier than an orbiting satellite, and riffier than Steve Harris of Iron Maiden chugging with Gary Moore and Tony Iommi.  Album opener ‘Psychic Death’ has this radiating, rolling drum beat which pulls the bass and guitar around as though it was their chariot, driving them onward to the battlefield that is your speakers.  Personal favourites for me include ‘Sibyl Vane’, which is a “Bad Reputation”-era Thin Lizzy rock song, with some truly mesmerising bass licks, courtesy of Cam Mesmer (great name), and ‘Deceiver’, which has this opening riff that reminds me of Annihilator’s ‘Never, Neverland’, before slamming into this powerful, Dio-era Sabbath style heaviness.  But get this: Cam’s voice on this track sounds like Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran.  And it works!  I don’t know how; I don’t know why… but it just works.  Hybridisation at its most magical. 

Spell’s latest album “Opulent Decay” is an enchanting slice of expansive heavy music.  The soundscapes breathe, move like a living being, and carry you along in their arms.  It’s a comforting journey, made with love and real craftsmanship.  Spell deserve to cast their magic on you.  On April 10^th, 2020, let them. 

“Opulent Decay” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Intronaut, “Fluid Existential Inversions"

By: Chris Markwell

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 28/02/2020

Label: Metal Blade Records

“Fluid Existential Inversions” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Procurement of the Victuals

2). Cubensis

3). The Cull

4). Contrapasso

5). Speaking of Orbs

6). Tripolar

7). Check Your Misfortune

8). Pangloss

9). Sour Everythings

The Review:

Los Angeles, California.  The sun-drenched metropolis of celebrities, dream chasers… and avant-garde progressive metal, the likes of which we had never before experienced? 

Hello, Intronaut.  Welcome back to our world.  We’ve missed you. 

After a near five-year wait, the American three-piece have followed up 2015’s “The Direction of Last Things” with “Fluid Existential Inversions”, released on February 28^th 2020 by Metal Blade.  It’s hot off the press, and liable to scorch your fingers if you hold onto it for too long: best to put it on your turntable and give it a spin, instead. 

(Note: Sludgelord and its affiliate lesser dukes and archons will not be held accountable for any scorched fingers, record players, speakers, or eardrums that may occur when listening to Intronaut’s “Fluid Existential Inversions”)

Intronaut construct with sound in the same way an engineer constructs vast building projects.  The only limit is their imagination and, in Intronaut’s case, they have an endless supply of that.  Their sound can range from the delicate plucking of an acoustic guitar string, all the way to pinched harmonics and pummelling djent polyrhythms, and it all fits together.  It’s as though Sacha Dunable, Dave Timnick and Joe Lester have found a way to build a sound that incorporates jazz, prog, metal, djent, and classical, yet still seems both invigorating to the listener, and also free-flowing in its composition. 

What I’m talking about is craftsmanship.  It’s obvious from the get-go that this trio of individuals know their art intimately.  Songs like ‘The Cull’, ‘Pangloss’, and ‘Speaking of Orbs’ all have this foundation of crushing metal, upon which walls of prog are raised, with windows of jazz allowing the light of post-metal through into the room that has been created.  The album is a continuing evolution for Intronaut, a pushing forward of boundaries and expression that really does create some truly unexpected and genuinely emotive moments. 

Could I describe Intronaut’s new album in one word?  Probably.  But I don’t want to.  “Fluid Existential Inversions” is nine tracks that will instil in you, the listener, a response I will never experience, and vice versa.  Each listening brings a new riff, a new sound bite, a fresh lyric, that changes a song’s meaning instantly.  It has the ability to feel like one genre one moment, then switch to an entirely different genre the next.  Intronaut have built a mighty musical edifice, a place down whose hallowed halls we must definitely tread. 

“Fluid Existential Inversions” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Bone Church, "Acid Communion"

By: Chris Markwell

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 13/03/2020

Label: Ripple Music

“Acid Communion” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Heavy Heaven

2). Witch in the Cellar

3). Bone Church

4). Iron Temple

5). If They Float

6). Acid Communion

The Review:

“You’re always welcome at the Church of Bone

Where you can live the Life Divine!”

Dearly beloved and bedamned, we are gathered here today in the sight of our Almighty Sludgelord, to bring unto you our latest sermon.  And lo! We listened, and it was good! 

I bring to you, this day: a vision of future grooves, that will instil, fulfil, satiate and satisfy.  In the near future – March 13, 2020, to be exact – the Ripple Music Label will bestow unto the masses an “Acid Communion”, made by New Haven, Connecticut’s Bone Church.  And there will be much rejoicing, for the sounds will be sweet on this blessed day, and every day henceforth. 

“Acid Communion” is the follow-up to Bone Church’s 2017’s self-titled release and features six tracks of acid-washed doomer rock, guaranteed to make you sing ‘Hallelujah!’ to the pantheon of Sonic Deities.  These five gents who make up Bone Church have obviously studied their holy scriptures of Sabbath, and the divine epistle that is “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”. 

Bone Church have teased the world at large with releasing the track ‘Witch in the Cellar’ early, for us to better anticipate the rapturous noise to come.  Please listen to it, and prepare yourself for the awesomeness to come.  Vocalist Jack Rune sounds like a John Fogerty that’s been pulled from another dimension, with his vocal prowess adding this extra punch to the lyrical stories told in each sonic tale. 

When listening to this album, I also felt the Holy presence of Sheffield’s Black Spiders in the mix.  The riffs may be slower, but there’s this familiar aggression and swagger that reaches through the speakers and brings back sweet audio memories.  The track ‘If They Float’, for example, has this breakdown that reminds me of ‘Stay Down’ from Black Spiders’ repertoire.  Sabbath and Spiders are the foundation of Bone Church.  What’s not to love about that? 

I say to thee, brothers and sisters of the Gods of Rock, this album shakes and rattles and rolls with the mighty sounds of festivals of yore.  Each track feels festival-tinged: a sound singed with summer heat, heady with the fumes of illicit vapours, and topped up with the potent wines of the Merlot Melodious and distributed via the decanter Distortion.  Drink up, my brethren, and savour the righteous power of the “Acid Communion”! 

“Acid Communion” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

REVIEW: Orbiter, "The Deluge" (EP)

By: Chris Markwell

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 29/01/2020

Label: Independent

“The Deluge” DD//LP track listing:

1. Bone to Earth

2. Astral Racer

3. Orchids

4. In Echoes

The Review: 

Music has a power unlike any other.  A sonic gift to transport us away from our worries at times, a time capsule to transport us back to a milestone moment at other times.  In any case, good music will evoke a response that transcends the sounds to which you’re experiencing.  

Enter from the wild lands of Finland: Orbiter.  Their EP “The Deluge” is coming out on January 29^th 2020, and… well, it’s already going to be on my Top Ten list for the year.  It’s hard to remain objective and give a detailed review about this simply transcendental piece of work, but I’m going to do my utmost.  

Four tracks long, this EP from the Finnish quintet is all about quality and making every second mean something.  There’s not a song that doesn’t hit the mark, for me: with riffs so fuzzy my speakers developed a five o’clock shadow, it’s a blend of Sabbath, Clutch, Turbowolf, and Kyuss goodness, with a smattering of heavier Hawkwind hits drizzled on top of the mix.  Seriously, you could eat some of the sounds on this EP with a spoon, they’re that thick.  

Vocalist Carolin, the newest addition to the band’s line-up, has a truly haunting voice.  Like, ‘move a Ouija board planchette with her vocalisations’ haunting.  The dual vocals on EP closer track ‘In Echoes’ remind me, strangely, of folk singer Maddy Prior (of Steeleye Span fame).  The track’s verses have this minimalist approach to it, just a suggestion of guitar touches, which then descends into the heaviest pit of distortion and sonic compression.  Tuomas, in charge of the low frequencies, really makes his presence felt in each track, but especially in this 8-minute epic, where you feel the bass notes touch you like an old friend’s embrace one minute, then hit you like a lightning bolt the next.  

“The Deluge” has truly drenched my musical soul to its very core.  Orbiter have created a prog/doom/stoner EP that has not only knocked me out of the stratosphere but caused me to be taken in by their mighty sonic gravity.  As a satellite, I will happily keep coming back to Orbiter forevermore. 

“The Deluge” is available HERE

Band info: Facebook || Instagram || Bandcamp || YouTube

ALBUM REVIEW: Coffin Curse, "Cease to Be"

By: Chris Markwell

Music is, at its heart, the joy of discovery.  There’s nothing quite like finding a new sound, a new band, that instantly sparks your imagination, or leaves you wanting to learn more.  

When I was handed Coffin Curse’s debut album “Ceased to Be”, I was intrigued.  Being released on 27 January 2020 through Memento Mori, this is classic, old-school death metal, with gut-punch riffery and haunting, reverb-soaked solos. 

This was a discovery.  I had to learn more.  

Information about the band itself, however, was quite difficult to find.  So, I went ahead and sent them a message through the aether of the internet, and was pleasantly surprised to find them more than happy to interact with this enamoured fan

Sludgelord) Hello there, please introduce yourselves

Hi Chris, first of all we want to thank you for your support and dissemination for this rotten death metal crusade. The band is called Coffin Curse, formed by Carlos Fuentes and Max Neira, in the over-polluted city of Santiago, the capital city of Chile, a country located in the far south of this planet. 

Sludgelord) How long has Coffin Curse been a band, and were you in any bands before this one? 

Coffin Curse was formed in 2012, primarily as an alternate project. Our main band until that moment was Inanna, a death metal horde that has remained uninterrupted since 2000. Between the two of us, we have participated in various metal outfits like Trimegisto, Death Smell, Perpetuum, Sol Sistere and others that this alcoholic memory does not allow me to remember now. 

Sludgelord) What is the metal scene like in Chile? 

If we put everything together as one scene, we can say that it has been very strong since 1983 approximately. The number of bands is almost overwhelming, and we could name a hundred excellent projects for more than 30 years of history. In each town starting at the north end to the bitter cold of the Magallanes region, it is full of hate and crap that is synthesized as metal music. Nowadays, is like A set of micro-scenes in a bag, nobody cares much about music at a national level, if not at a level at which each zone supports its own bands or friends, which it’s OK, I think. New generations have appeared and the bands multiply. In our particular case, we’re getting old and we are not very interested about social life and shit besides METAL.

Sludgelord) Do you have any tour dates lined up? 

Nothing apart from a visit planned for February 22 in the city of Santa Bárbara

located in the south of the country. 

Sludgelord) Where would you like to tour? 

Leaving aside our own country, we would be interested to know Perú, parts of Europe and the US. We hope that with the release of our first full-length a good & nasty tour can be realized, wherever.

I am very grateful to both Carlos Fuentes and Max Neira for taking the time and effort to respond to my questions, it’s very much appreciated.  

So, the Chilean two-piece have created this album with intent to destroy speakers worldwide.  And they should succeed: what they lack in band members, they more than make up for in musical texture.  Seriously, just two guys made this?? The riffs are rampant, the vocals are so guttural they could shred steel, and the drumming is the relentless pounding that quickens the heartbeat in excitement.  

Eight songs, two maniacs, no regrets.  My personal pick of the bunch is “Deep in Streams of Purifying Dirt”, which starts with this doomy, tolling intro, which then rips into this hacking, mauling terror, full of time changes and vicious vocals.  Imagine if “South of Heaven” era Slayer got into a bar fight with Necrophagist, and you may get the idea.  

Coffin Curse’s “Ceased to Be” is a statement of intent.  It’s a joy to listen to, and shows that Chilean death metal is definitely a worthwhile scene to experience.  It’s a hard-hitting debut release: put this on, crank it up, and feel the touch of death upon you.  

Band info: facebook  || bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: The Acacia Strain, "It Comes In Waves"

By: Chris Markwell

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 26/12/2019

Label: Closed Casket Activities

“It Comes In Waves” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). OUR

2). ONLY

3). SIN

4). WAS

5). GIVING

6). THEM

7). NAMES

The Review:

Longevity is a key factor to most things these days.  The ability to keep going, keep innovating, and keep enthusiastic about what you’re doing as the years drag on are difficult things to maintain, especially in this dark new millennium of ours. 

It’s heartening, then, to discover that US metalcore quintet The Acacia Strain are still with us.  Not only with us, but still creating music that shatters windows and brutalises your brickwork.  Nice to see that, even in these tumultuous times, some things remain the same.  

At the tail-end of 2019, Vincent Bennett and company released “It Comes in Waves”, through record label Closed Casket Activities.  This is their ninth album, following on from 2017’s “Gravebloom” (check it out as well, it’s great).  Unlike previous offerings, however, “It Comes in Waves” feels like the band casting off from the port of metalcore, and exploring the Seven Seas of Metal.  Intrigued?  You have every right to be.  

I’m by no means saying that The Acacia Strain have abandoned their roots: not at all, in fact.  What I am saying is that they’re taking their own style, and combining them with new elements, to create what feels like a concept album.  At seven songs and just about thirty minutes long, it’s designed to be listened as one piece of music; even the track names themselves spell out the sentence ‘Our Only Sin Was Giving Them Names’.  Your listening experience won’t be impeded if you just have one song on the go at a time – they all rip – but it’s better if you give “It Comes in Waves” the time it deserves to crash against your eardrums.  

After 19 years of the full-on, laser-guided metal attack that The Acacia Strain normally puts out, to have this piece of work created by them is not only surprising, but heartening.  It’s a piece that deals with the themes of deities, of quantifying the unquantifiable aspects of gods, and the overall belief that gods happily play games with the lives of humanity for their own twisted amusement.  

Throughout the album, elements of doom, death, and even prog metal are present in the metalcore mix.  The music created is that strange, invigorating blend of audio assault that makes you excited to find out what twists and turns your eardrums will be subjected to next.  If you’re expecting 2010’s “Wormwood” (like I was), prepare yourself for a shock.  A nice shock, at that.  

Invigorating and, dare I say it, innovative, “It Comes in Waves” is The Acacia Strain traversing new waters and finding fresh depths to not only their musical style, but also to their own creative abilities. 

“It Comes In Waves” is available HERE

Band info: facebook