Welcome to The Sludgelord!
Presenting up to date news, reviews & interviews for riff addicts around the world.
This is 'Liberation through Amplification.'
By: Peter Morsellino Album
Type: Full Length Date
Released: 04/06/2021 Label:
Ripple Music
“Family
The Smiling Thrush” CD//DD//LP track listing: 1. Orang of Noyn
2. Gentle Clovis
3. Hats the Mandrill
4. Smiling Thrush
5. Cecil Succulent
6. Grendle
7. Flatt Controller The
Review: With a swirling tempest of
psychedelia, Boss Keloid return
with “Family the Smiling Thrush”.
Crafting a sonic experience that is difficult to define, Boss Keloidprovides the listener with
something to think about, but not without providing the solid grooves that they
have come to be known for over the years. There is no simple way to describe the
music of Boss Keloidto the uninitiated. There are elements of psychedelia
intermingled with a strong progressive rock influence, backed by a heavy stoner
metal groove, but the sound encompasses so much more than that. There is something completely intangible that
helps Boss Keloidstand out amongst their
peers, and that something is displayed in full force on “Family the
Smiling Thrush”. Songwriting is the star of the show
throughout the album, with arrangements weaving intricate webs through the
listener’s mind. Meticulously crafted
structures rise and fall with a hard soft dynamic that gives “Family the
Smiling Thrush” its mysterious sound.
At times, I was briefly reminded of Toolor Mastodon,
yet these comparisons fail to even breach the surface of what Boss Keloidis presenting, and in
truth do the band’s music a disservice. What comes across through the speakers
here is something entirely unique. A
melding of genres as vast as the sound it creates. Truly something that is greater than the sum
of its parts. “Family the Smiling
Thrush” is very much something that needs to be heard to be fully
appreciated. Expect thoughtful passages
exemplified by heavy grooves with a thick, hazy atmosphere of the unknown. Give this one a listen. “Family The Smiling Thrush”
is available HERE
Empress’ debut
full-length release “Premonition”
is somewhat confusing and, in this case, that
fact is absolutely not a pejorative.
Yes, it is understood that most armchair doofuses would describe something as
‘confusing’ in order to nonchalantly exhibit their full neck-bearded disdain.
But we need to move on from this sort of stupidity and accept that all things
are capable of defying comfortable genre notions of what music is or isn’t, and
start critically analysing things for what they are and not for what they sound similar to. Does it even need to be
remarked upon that people hoping for bands to sound more similar, from doom
record to doom record, are hatefully stupid morons? From a perspective that
dimwitted, are we to assume that bands who sound more familiar are “better”;
which would propose that bands pushing weird sonic boundaries are (somehow)
lesser because they don’t fit in? Fucking gross.
So, despite being a Sludge and Doom and Post-Metal band, it sounds like Empress takes more cues from 90’s buzzbin
heroes à la Shiner or even Failure than they do from contemporary
clean-production doomers like Conan
or Torche or even Khemmis. Empress’
impressive ability to transition between and around these lines is especially
present in Peter Sacco’s (Seer)
vocals. At times his vocals are big broad ethereal clean-singing overtones
which take on synth-like quality. At other times, he conjures familiar
screeches that really push Empress’
riffs to their limit.
This is no more obvious than in “Premonition”ssecond track, “Sepulchre”. As it fires off in one direction
with snare-driven marching style bursts of essential 90’s alternative
smoothness, it quickly pivots into harsher realms with high timbre screaming
and tritonal chugs, gaining access to the familiar domains of Conan, Torche,
Floor, and Black Cobra. Helping this chameleon of a song dip between
contrasting sonic temperatures, the riffs and drumming shift ferocity. From
what feels like only a little bit, but, from what causes a seachange in Empress’ tonal focus, they yank the gloomy
atmosphere from once place to another, but without tearing it. To maintain
momentum like this is what most would call ‘songwriting’. And Empress has it. Unlike far too many in the
extreme music categories, Empress’
focus is on songwriting. They accomplish this by way of artistic flexibility.
Where others drone and “crush” and monotonously repeat hard hitting anti-riffs
with endless guttural slurring, Empress
utilizes a whole helluva lot of stylistic impulses ranging from Rock,
Alternative, Psychedelia, and Doom to get their message across, even if it is a
potentially confusing one.
With touches of celtic-fantasy
via song titles like “Hiraeth” or the religiously oriented content
vis-à-vis “A Pale Wanderer”, and coupled with yet another anciently
derived European word for a specific mood like “Trost”, it would appear
that Empress want to explain
themselves or their music in old languages. This may be enough to understand a
possible interpretation of humanity that through all eons and all experiences,
not much has really changed in regard to the ways in which people experience
death and gloom. They are final. “Premonition”becomes a much more knowable title when
listening to the album through this lens, as do Empress’
tonal choices.If that sounds a little emo,
well, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it sure as hell ain’t a
dog.
More importantly, the way Empress crosses genre lines sounds like an
encouragement as if to prove Doom does not need to sound like it
(contemporarily speaking) in order to better embody it. You can find doom
anywhere you’re willing to look or listen.
On September
7th STONED JESUS will
deliver their next solid load of progressive stoner rock on Napalm Records entitled“Pilgrims”. With their fourth album the Ukrainian trio
offers much more than your usual Kyuss wannabe or your
average desert session band and let’s face it Kyuss hasn’t
but out a record for nearly 25 years and we need some fresh jams.
With
“Pilgrims”, STONED JESUS have delivered a multi-faceted album mixing
groove with noise rock elements, lots of proggy infusions and giant such as Mastodonand Melvinscome to
mind in terms of tone and texture. Make
no mistake STONED
JESUScan’t be pigeonholed and “Pilgrims” is very fine album
indeed. The band comments on the new
album:
"This record was inspired by our relentless touring and the feelings
you get - or more precisely you lose - because of it. It's weird how
disconnected one becomes when constantly surrounded by people. Musically it's
pretty different from what we've done, it's more song-oriented but
simultaneously more challenging than before - sonically and structurally"
Today THE SLUDGELORD is stoked to host UK premiere
of STONED JESUS’ brand new video for “Hands Resist Him” which you can check
out below
This self-titled debut is an impressive
debut, possessing a musical style that is extensive, manifesting decibels of
subliminally-composed heavy fuzz and thrashing resonances inspired by a myriad
of names such as Mastodon, High on Fire, and Baroness
“Somnuri” DD//LP track Listing:
01.
Kaizen
02.
Inhabitant
03.
Same Skies
04.
Slow Burn
05.
Opaque
06.
Welcome The Stranger
07.
Pulling Teeth
08.
Through The Dead
The Review:
Up-and-coming
stoner/sludge/doom metal/progressive trio from Brooklyn, Somnuri, consisting of members
of Blackout,
Hull, and Family,
they are formidably manifesting decibels of subliminally-composed heavy fuzz
and thrashing resonances inspired by a myriad of names such as Mastodon,
High on Fire,
and Baroness.
There definitely is diverse elements that can be found in their style— be it a
convergence of black metal, sludge, math rock, progressive post-metal, you name
it. As a result, they successfully manage to present a profound variety of
paces, rhythms, and vocal ranges. They are the kind of band that would not
hesitate to solicit influences from an extensive range of references in order
to evolve as their own kind of authenticity. I personally don’t think that they
suit only one single mundane classification of genre; they branch out in the
most proficient way ever possible. They have done an awesome job of presenting
how their elements can be ethereal but also belligerent at the same time--
their style is like a conundrum. It’s interesting to find trails of black
metal-inspired growls in a sludge content that can be found in some tracks, as
well.
The
first track, “Kaizen”, is an
atmospheric tune that appears to be strong on stoner elements and features a
slow-paced outro which contrasts to the fast and upbeat beginning of the song.
Hereafter, there comes “Inhabitant” with
a blistering nuance and black metal-inspired funereal distortion. The next
track “Same Skies” is in a more
rapid pace than the previous two tracks, intensified by its chaotic drumbeats,
and it mainly contains sonorous growls. “Slow
Burn” is a droning, fuzzed-out track with prepossessing riffs and a
well-crafted combination between growls and clean vocals. “Opaque” happens to be a short track that comes off as tranquil and
clandestine. “Welcome the Stranger”
has some circle pit-inducing malignant vibes that would trigger you to
stage-dive and mosh. Next off we have “Pulling
Teeth” and its convoluting riffs of the damned. The last track “Through the Dead” is a rhythmic,
ethereal take on stoner that closes the album as the longest track.
This
self-titled debut is an impressive debut, possessing a musical style that is
extensive and not chained to one certain sphere only. It has a lot of scenes
and roots implemented in its content, and it’s such a good start for them.
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.
The complexity of the songwriting on
all of the tracks leaves the listener discovering many layers over multiple
listens. This band has some serious talent, and absolutely deserves your time.
A massively unique release weaving together so many influences it’s difficult
to quantify them all.This is excellent
music, and I can’t wait for future releases from this band.
“Opening of
the Eye by Death of the I” CD//DD track listing:
1).
Le délire des negations
2). All Is Occulted by Swathes of Ego
3). Apollyon Synopsis
4). Zenith Thesis, Abbadon Hypothesis
5). Ghosts Alike
6). Through an Obstructionist's Eye
The Review:
After
their first full length album in 2013, “Earthen
Urn”, which was independently released, it was clear the New
England outfit had an extremely unique and captivating direction
for their black metal sound. Taking a more progressive approach with massively
complex-yet-catchy song structures, In Human Form have mastered their craft and
continue to surprise. Fast forward to 2017, In Human Form has outdone
themselves with an absolutely fantastic release packed full with aggression,
prog, and jazz-fueled black metal. The new album, “Opening of the Eye by the Death of the I”, is every bit as raw,
introspective, and evil sounding as some of my favorite black metal records.
I’ve personally lost count to how many times I’ve listened to this release.
6
tracks in length, the album is mostly constructed with three longer (~15 min)
epic tracks with instrumental compositions in between. Overall, the album flows
amazingly well given the extremely complicated song
structures. The record has many introspective as well as meditative moments
among the scorching black metal sections, and the vocal performance on these
songs are impressive with Patrick Dupras’ throaty black metal screams and
carefully written lyrics/patterns about mortality and mysticism. Nick Clarke’s
guitar work is masterfully crafted with an amazing balance of progressive and
jazz tinged compositions among the beastly black metal sections. The drum work,
although frequently mid-paced, is mind-numbingly complicated and tight
throughout, and the bass riffs are carefully constructed to pop and compliment
everything in chaotic harmony. The nonlinear approach is highly welcomed on
this release, and frankly blows my mind how In Human Form crafts their music
and keeps the music paced extremely well. My favorite song is “Through an Obstructionist’s Eye”,
which is the album closer.The opening
riff is massively catchy, and the song goes in so many amazing and unthinkable
directions a black metal band would typically care to venture.
I’ve
had the pleasure of catching In Human Form live a few times where they
performed many of the tracks from the new record, and these songs are played
with every bit of mastery as they were recorded. The complexity of the
songwriting on all of the tracks leaves the listener discovering many layers
over multiple listens. This band has some serious talent, and absolutely
deserves your time. A massively unique release weaving together so many
influences it’s difficult to quantify them all.This is excellent music, and I can’t wait for future releases from this
band.
“Opening of the Eye by the
Death of the I” drops on June 23, 2017 on I, Voidhanger Records and is
available here
FFO:
Ihsahn,
Enslaved, Ephel Duath, Death, Frank Zappa
an ethereal bagpipe drone, oscillating around your
speakers, waves of guitar effects wash over you and the whole choir of eldritch
noise comes creeping back into view, then departing again, This is” Music For
Megaliths”, the latest record by Harvestman, and as expected, it’s everything
you’d want from a Harvestman record and definitely worth a listen for anyone
into drone, ambient or progressive music.
“Music For Megaliths” CD//DD//LP
track listing:
01. The Forest Is Our Temple
02. Oak Drone
03. Ring Of Sentinels
04. Cromlech
05. Levitation
06. Sundown
07. White Horse
The Review:
It starts
with an ethereal bagpipe drone, oscillating around your speakers, a kind of
psychedelic clarion call melody. Waves of guitar effects wash over you, then
the song picks up momentum with a familiar heartbeat chug, chug, chug. It just
keeps on building and building. A premonitory guitar melody plucked on an
acoustic, then sliding, bending. You wonder where it’s going to go, but the
song reveals that the destination isn’t important, as it slides off into a dull
hum, before expiring. And then coming back to life, briefly, the whole choir of
eldritch noise creeping back into view, then departing again. This is” The Forest is Our Temple”, the opening track on the latest
record by Harvestman,
‘Music For Megaliths’, and as
expected, it’s everything you’d want from a Harvestman record.
Harvestman is essentially a Steve Von Till
solo project, but differs from the albums that carry his name in that there are
next to no vocals on Harvestman, only an assorted array of
instruments. It’s obvious that Von Till loves just noodling around in a
studio and seeing what he can come up with by stacking tracks and playing with
effects, venturing into the musical hinterland, and Harvestman is the focused,
recorded outcome of this time.
If you’ve
heard this side project before then it’ll offer no surprises, but it’s another
excellent edition to the Neurosis legend’s back catalogue. Aside from
the excellent opener, there are six other tracks on this album. “Oak Drone” is more of the same as the first, “Ring of Sentinels” features a nice little drum loop and soothing
bass line, “Cromlech” has barely any
structure and is simply just a dazzling droney joy feast, while closer “White Horse” is probably the only song
that could come close to appearing on one of Von Till’s folk albums –
haunting acoustic melody accompanied by foreboding vocals and the usual ambiguous,
enchanting lyrics.
Another
solid Harvestman
release – the short length arguably lets it down, as ‘Lashing the Rye’ was twice as long and more varied, but definitely
worth a listen for anyone into drone, ambient or progressive music.
“Pyramidal Existinctualism” sounds like Mastodon after their drinks
have been spiked with LSD and “Kosmoceratops” is epic fist-pumping thrash that
takes a left turn into weird, uncharted territory. “Labrea Borealis” and
“Aquilibrium” contain more melodic passages that expand the band’s horizons
further into cinematic grandeur before crashing back to Earth for further, wild
fretboard explorations. Overall “Hallucinogenesis”
sees Lesbian achieve a perfect balance of labyrinthine complexity and
headbanging simplicity.
It’s
impossible to ignore a concept album based on the effects of the collision of a
spore-filled asteroid with the Earth. Seattle quintet Lesbian
totally satisfy all expectations of cosmic mayhem with new full-length “Hallucinogenesis”. The band’s mind-bogglingly complicated riff
constructions have been criminally underrated in the past. Hopefully “Hallucinogenesis” will be the record
that changes this.
The
four behemoths on display here are a heady brew of psychedelic sludge, trippy
prog and pretty much every known metal sub-genre. Black metal, death metal, doom
and more combine in breath taking fashion, blurred through an intoxicating
druggy haze. “Pyramidal Existinctualism”
sounds like Mastodon after their drinks have been spiked
with LSD and “Kosmoceratops” is epic
fist-pumping thrash that takes a left turn into weird, uncharted territory. “Labrea Borealis” and “Aquilibrium” contain more melodic
passages that expand the band’s horizons further into cinematic grandeur before
crashing back to Earth for further, wild fretboard explorations.
Lesbian have always been limitless in their song writing ambition but sometimes the sheer
density of ideas was too much to digest. On “Hallucinogenesis” the band have maintained their vast sonic vision
but applied more focus to create their most effective set yet. A key factor is
new member, vocalist Brad Mowen. Mowen is the perfect vocal foil for the band,
capable of matching them whatever stylistic turn they take. Over the course of
the album he switches between haunted chants, guttural growls and semi-operatic
wails with ease. Somehow he manages to maintain a coherent identity despite
these many different styles and is the lynch pin that holds these monolithic
constructions together.
“Hallucinogenesis” sees Lesbian achieve a perfect balance of labyrinthine
complexity and headbanging simplicity. The spore-filled asteroid collision
can’t come soon enough if this is the future we have to look forward to.
German
Label WOOAAARGH
is pleased to announce that it will release “Terminus”, the new
album by Italian progressive/post-death metal band While Sun Ends on August 26 2016.
As a piece of music, the album crosses genres and the vast sound-spectrum of
the heavy metal underground, and combines the beautiful female vocal talents of
Stefania Torino with death metal growls.There is much to admire about this five piece as they deliver their own unique
brand of darkness , but draw influences from the sounds of genre heavyweights
such as Katatonia, Opeth,
Isis and Ihsahn.
“Terminus” was chosen for the album
title as this is the first album with the current members. The word also means
destination. In other words, the concept of this album is that somehow, departure
and arrival match one another.Today, their
terminus is The
Sludgelord as we unveil a brand new and exclusive track from their
forthcoming album, entitled “View” which
you can check out below
Physical copies of “Terminus” are available to preorder here and it is
available digitially here
Even though ‘Winter Thrice’ is firmly rooted in the present sound,
I’d strongly argue that this is the best iteration of their established prog
rock-obsessed extreme metal sound to date. The songwriting is the strongest
it’s been since ‘Empiricism’, and the album sounds absolutely fantastic from a
production standpoint. Vintersorg should also be commended for turning in his
best vocal performance to date, which comes from someone who has been a diehard
ICS Vortex devotee when it comes to Borknagar’s vocalists. It helps that the
music behind him lends itself to his strengths, driven by big, ringing chords
and some delicious guitar leads.
Borknagar is:
Andreas
“Vintersorg” Hedlund | Vocals
Øystein
Garnes Brun | Guitars
Lars
“Lazare” Nedland | Keyboard, Backing vocals
Jens
F. Ryland | Guitars
ICS
Vortex | Bass & Vocals
Baard
Kolstad | Drums
The Review:
It
may not be this way for everyone, but in my mind there’s a clear line that
divides Borknagar’s early sound from the sound
they’ve cultivated and fine-tuned over the last 15 years. Beginning with ‘Empiricism’ in 2001, the band began
focusing a lot more on the progressive elements that had started to creep into
their style on “The Archaic Course’,
a creative choice that first truly took shape with the arrival of vocalist
Vintersorg around that same time.
At
the time, the move made a ton of sense as Vintersorg’s own project was on a
very similar trajectory, having started as a folk-influenced black metal
project and had gotten more and more progressive as the nineties wore on. For
what the musical goal was, Vintersorg was an ideal fit, and ‘Empiricism’ remains a favorite among
the band’s fanbase. Leading up to their new album, ‘Winter Thrice’, the band has largely tried to find new ways to
explore a similar formula to that of ‘Empiricism’,
with mixed results. In my mind, the more a Borknagar album flirts
with their nineties sound, the better it is, which may not be the case for
everyone reading this.
‘Winter
Thrice’ is probably about as close to that older sound
as we’re ever going to get, which is to say it’s still only about a third of
the way there. The bulk of the album is still made up of songs that should
sound vaguely familiar to anyone who’s heard either ‘Universal’ or ‘Urd’ over
the last five years. You might have been lead to believe—thanks to Garm’s vocal
appearance on “Winter Thrice” and “Terminus”—that the band would be
leaning more heavily on the past, and that might be by design. But, while there
certainly are larger strides in that direction, your enjoyment of this album
will most likely be predicated on how you’ve felt about their recent output.
Even
though ‘Winter Thrice’ is firmly
rooted in the present sound, I’d strongly argue that this is the best iteration
of their established prog rock-obsessed extreme metal sound to date. The
songwriting is the strongest it’s been since ‘Empiricism’, and the album sounds absolutely fantastic from a
production standpoint. Vintersorg should also be commended for turning in his
best vocal performance to date, which comes from someone who has been a diehard
ICS Vortex devotee when it comes to Borknagar’s vocalists.
It helps that the music behind him lends itself to his strengths, driven by
big, ringing chords and some delicious guitar leads.
So,
while old fucks like me might have wanted a real trip back to ‘The Olden Domain’, it’s tough to argue
that Borknagar aren’t putting out some really
strong material in 2016. ‘Winter Thrice’ sees Borknagar
at their best in fifteen years, with enough of a nod to the past to make me
want to wax nostalgic about “the good old days”, while managing to prove that
their current style can be moulded into something that appeals to the old
guard. As critical as I’ve been of the band in recent years, they’ve made me a
believer here.
“Winter Thrice” is available digitally here and on CD/LP copy here.
All the songs here rarely retread the same path, instead, it twists and turns like an alligator with a deer in it's jaws, disorienting and crushing.Indeed, whether Krallice have invented a new genre or not, what they've created here is a bookmark in the progression of black metal.
‘Ygg Huur’ CD//DD track listing:
1) Idols 2) Wastes of Ocean 3) Over Spirit 4) Tyranny of Thought 5) Bitter Meditation 6) Engram
Krallice is
Nicholas McMaster | Bass, vocals
Lev Weinstein | Drums
Colin Marston | Guitar
Mick Barr | Guitar, vocals
The Review
Have Krallice invented a new genre on 5th album 'Ygg Huur'? Is technical black metal a thing? Progressive black metal? How about blackened technical death metal? Whatever it is, 'Ygg Huur' is a little left field but my word, it's fucking good!
Opener 'Idols' is a truly majestic beast, almost disrhythmic, the melodies move in differing directions, like cogs in a wheel, all working towards the same goal; to fucking shred! All the songs here rarely retread the same path, instead, it twists and turns like an alligator with a deer in it's jaws, disorienting and crushing. Standout tracks 'Wastes Of Ocean' with it's arpeggiated guitar licks and 'Tyranny Of Thought' with it's crushing intro, sound like a cross between Cynic and early Emperor while avoiding pigeonholing. The last song 'Engram' sees them cram more musical ideas into its five and a half minutes than most bands do in entire albums (or careers).
This is a difficult album to get your head around but once you do, you'll truly reap the rewards. Whether they've invented a new genre or not, what they've created here is a bookmark in the progression of black metal.
