ALBUM REVIEW: At The Gates, "The Nightmare of Being”

By: Richard Maw
 
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 02/07/2021
Label: Century Media Records
 

 
“The Nightmare of Being” CD//DD//LP track listing:
 
1. Spectre Of Extinction
2. The Paradox
3. The Nightmare Of Being
4. Garden Of Cyrus
5. Touched By The White Hands Of Death
6. The Fall Into Time
7. Cult Of Salvation
8. The Abstract Enthroned
9. Cosmic Pessimism
10. Eternal Winter Of Reason
 
The Review:
 
At The Gates are now on the third record of the second act- or permanent comeback, if you will. I’ll be honest and state that although I was initially pleased that the band returned and enjoyed “At War With Reality” seven years ago... I haven't returned to it since. Witnessing the band live didn't really change my perspective on the band; they were good, tight, professional and all that but the band and the material seemed to lack something.
 
It is a damning indictment that I have not even heard “To Drink From The Night Itself”. Well, regardless of my misgivings about the band's last seven years, they are still here and they are still forging forward. I would also like to clarify that I rate “Slaughter of the Soul” as one of the best metal albums ever- not just death metal; all metal. It was and is an incredible album- made by young men in a very different time. The songs, the hooks, the production- it all coalesced into a superb record. A classic, in fact.
 
“The Nightmare of Being”, then, occupies an odd space. It is the third second-act album, so no resting on comeback goodwill is to be had. The good news is, it's different, progressive in places. The song writing is tight and focused, a 45min playing time indicates that would be the case. The loss of Anders Bjorler has left his twin Jonas remaining to do the heavy lifting with the song writing- not so much of a problem, as it turns out.
 
I loved The Haunted's albums with Marco Aro on vocals- that straightforward thrash, close to death metal, even- suited me well at the time, but it was by no means ATG pt 2 and the Bjorlers were not the main or only songwriters. “The Nightmare of Being” is not close to that band- this is philosophical in theme, gloomy in outlook and surprisingly textured. There is saxophone on “Garden of Cyrus”, there is piano elsewhere. There is even a string quartet- bizarre, but true. When Ihsahn incorporated such elements in his solo work it was a huge surprise, and to be fair it is a pretty big surprise here, all these years later.
 
Make no mistake, though, this is a death metal album at its core- from the acoustic intro to the weight elsewhere on opener “Spectre of Extinction”, to the thrashy “The Paradox” it is metal. Yes, there are of course echoes of “SotS” in the changes and tempos, but Tompa's voice has dropped down a little and is a more measured bark these days. There are moodier moments throughout the record- it's sombre and dark and the instrumental passages shimmer and ripple like a muddy pool under the moonlight.
 
At ten tracks, the length and pace is right and the sound is great. How to rate this, then? It's tough as there is nothing wrong with any of this- it is pretty bold of a band like At The Gates who could easily just rest on their 1995 laurels forever to be making fairly experimental records. As such, this is the better of the two comeback albums I have heard- by far. It's totally solid, none of the extra elements feel forced and the songs are good. This is, for me, a solid seven out of ten type album- so not flawed genius and some filler and not bubbling under what was expected either. It's just... good.
 
Whether any of this is what you want from At The Gates, only you can decide. I applaud the band for spreading their wings and this is exactly the record they need to make at this stage, I think. A surprise, in a good way.
 
“The Nightmare of Being” is available now 

Band info: facebook || Official

ALBUM REVIEW: Stonekind, "Spirit of the Void"

By: Peter Morsellino

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 11/06/2021
Label: Salem Stone Records

 
“Spirit of the Void” DD track listing:
 
1. Ashes, Pt. 1 
2. Ashes, Pt. 2 
3. Spirit of the void 
4. Nowhere's home 
5. Untethered
6. Swamp stomp 
7. Dust 
8. Behold the stone 
9. Nomadic
 
The Review: 
 
Mixing a heavy progressive rock sound with a distinct stoner rock groove, North Carolina’s Stonekind offer up a uniquely haunting sound that must be heard to be fully appreciated. With a fuzzed-out desert rock base to work from, “Spirit of the Void” mixes genres into a finely balanced witches brew that is sure to delight anyone in search of a new sonic experience.  
 
Stonekind’s emotive sound stems straight from the heart, and that comes across fully on the album’s finished product. You can tell at first glance that the musicians involved threw themselves wholly into this project. Songs are masterfully crafted into full spectrum musical experiences that will take listeners on a journey. I can’t stress enough how much heart is presented in each bit of this album. It feels special and it invites the listener to become a part of it.       
Songs like “Swamp Stomp” showcase the band’s heavy grooves while offering up high doses of psychedelia for listeners to revel in. Grooves are infectiously catchy and easy to get into. This is an album that you can dance to all night long. Best experienced, in my opinion, in one solid listen, the musical experience that Stonekind  
offers up is simply extraordinary. It’s a sound that you can completely lose yourself in.         
 
I would recommend this one to anyone who might be suffering a bit of a lull in their musical enjoyment. This is exactly the type of thing that will get listeners out of the deepest of ruts. A varied mash of genres coming together to create something new and wonderful. Give it a listen. You will not regret it.       
 
“Spirit of the Void” is available HERE 

Band info: Facebook || Bandcamp || Instagram
 

ALBUM REVIEW: Kollapse, "Sult"

 By: Peter Morsellino
 
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 25/06/2021
Label: Fysisk Format | Dingleberry Records |
 Maniyax Records | Virkelighedsfjern

 

“Sult” DD//LP track listing:

1. Drift (05:18)
2. Knæler (06:00)
3. Drukner (07:41)
4. Byrd (05:24)
5. Libido (05:27)
6. Der Hvor Jeg Tænker Er Der Altid Mørkt (11:32)

The Review:

Kollapse’s “Sult” album is heavy as shit.  There is a lot more to it than that, but there it is.  If you enjoy heavy ass music, you’re going to want to check this out.  If you don’t like heavy music, well, let's chat about why you should listen to Kollapse anyway. 

This Danish trio comes together to create an enormous sound that is difficult to imagine coming from such a small troupe.  The sound is frankly massive.  It is layered, yet organic and has enough depth to warrant repeated listens to peel back each piece and examine a new facet of the sonic assault. 

While heavy grooves abound throughout “Sult”’s runtime, it is the highly emotive and thoughtful softer pieces that are speckled across the album that really create something special.  Songs like “Drukner” speak to a higher plain of music that welcomes the listener into its arms and engulfs them in the thick atmosphere of angst. 

“Sult” crafts an air of emotion and mystery around itself that can be difficult to decipher upon first listen.  This by no means should discourage listeners from giving it a shot.  The album sounds wonderful and provides more than enough material that the listener will want to return to, but repeated listens will allow for a better understanding and more appreciative listening experience.  This is one that the mind can really dwell on.  Give it a listen for sure.

“Sult” is available HERE

Band info: Facebook || Bandcamp || Instagram

ALBUM REVIEW: Go Ahead And Die, "Go Ahead and Die"

 By: Peter Morsellino
 
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 11/06/2021
Label: Nuclear Blast

 
“Go Ahead and Die” CD//DD//LP track listing:
 
1. Truckload Full Of Bodies
2. Toxic Freedom
3. I.C.E. Cage
4. Isolated/Desolated
5. Prophet’s Prey
6. Punisher
7. El Cuco
8. G.A.A.D.
9. Worth Less Than Piss
10. (In The) Slaughterline
11. Roadkill
 
The Review:
 
Aggressive and powerful, Go Ahead And Die strikes out to create something of its own in the face of expectations.  The illustrious history of the band’s father-son duo of Max and Igor-Amadeaus Cavalera will surely pique the interest in fans hearing of the band for the first time and color the expectations of listeners awaiting their first taste of the beast.  
 
The Self-Titled album features a viciously heavy blend of Death Metal and Thrash that is sure to delight fans of early Death Metal pioneers.  The album does have a distinctly modern feel to it though, proving itself as more than a mere tribute act to the sound that came before it. 
 
Igor cements himself here as a force to be reckoned with, taking center stage at various points of the album.  There will be detractors claiming this to be a novelty project of Cavalera senior, but upon first listen, there is no doubt that Go Ahead And Die is the real deal.  With the blistering speeds and memorable grooves present, this is one that can be listened to repeatedly.
 
I would be hard pressed to say that new ground is being broken here, but what is presented is just about as solid as it comes.  I would highly recommend it to any fan of old school death metal and the heavier reaches of thrash.  If nothing else, give this one a listen and quell your curiosity.  I do not think you’ll regret it.  
 
“Go Ahead and Die” is available HERE

Band info: facebook

REVIEW: Supreme Conception, "“Empires of the Mind” [EP]

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 06/08/2021
Label: Independent
 

“Empires of the Mind” DD track listing:
 
1). “Beyond the Antediluvian”
2). “Harboring The Fractured Transcendence”
3). “Transgression I: The Underlying Identity”
4). “Transgression II: Self-Discovery”
5). “On The Path To Divinity”
 
 
The Review:
 
Technical death metal is surely a divisive genre- incomprehensible to many, pointless to some and to others... godly. Godly, that is, when it is done well. Fortunately, Supreme Conception are excellent. The production of these five tracks is crystal clear, the playing razor sharp, the vocals growling. Indeed, the vocals remind me- perhaps somewhat incongruously of a certain Glenn Benton in many places. 
 
From the opener “Beyond the Antediluvian” to the closing “On The Path to Divinity”, this is a technical tour de force. It is fast, furious, and pretty relentless. This Czech two-man project have put out only this and a release back in 2009; it is not a problem when the music is this good, though. If you are a fan of tech-death in all its forms, you will find what you like about the genre here in this five track stormer of an EP.
 
“Empires of the Mind” is available HERE 

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Boss Keloid, "Family The Smiling Thrush"

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 Keloid provides 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 Keloid to 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 Keloid stand 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 Tool or Mastodon, yet these comparisons fail to even breach the surface of what Boss Keloid is 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 

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Bossk, "Migration"

By: Richard Maw
 
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 18/06/2021
Label: Deathwish Inc

 
“Migration” CD//CS//DD//LP track listing:
 
1). White Stork
2). Menhir (feat. Johannes Persson)
3). Iter
4). HTV-3 (feat. Josh Mckeown)
5). Kibo
6). Lira
7). Unberth
 
The Review:
 
Bossk hail from Ashford, Kent and are seemingly named after a Star Wars character? I have heard the band name, but not their music. I've been to Ashford once and didn't great vibe from the place, so on that basis it seems perfectly plausible that a great band could come from there. Well, Bossk are that band.
 
I suppose I could describe this as post-metal- but with some sludge elements, some ambience and a pretty abstract approach to the songs in general. Opener “White Stork” has a lot more in common with Massive Attack than it does with Metallica, that is for certain- so forget endless riffs and catchy hooks or other stylistic metal tropes. “Menhir” brings the metallic sounds and riffs with some twists and turns into groove and atmospheric territory to boot- but this is not recognisable as metal, per se.
 
On that basis, the first two tracks give an interesting idea as to how the album may proceed. It covers a lot of ground and for reference points, I must reference the only bands who I have really heard who are in roughly the same part of the Venn Diagram; Neurosis, Cult of Luna... The Ocean, perhaps? I'm out of my depth here, having spent the last few days listening to Blind Guardian (and not enjoying it much, I have to add)- but this unpredictable and challenging listen is just what I needed.
 
There are more ambient sounds scattered through the record (“Kibo”, for instance), more mountainous heaviness (“HTV-3”) and in the final two tracks, “Unberth” and “Lira” there are more expansive track lengths to allow the band to flex all aspects of their sound. They each sound like they could soundtrack a film set in a dystopian future.
 
As is always the case with albums of this breadth, I suspect he hidden depths will only be revealed by repeated listens.  This is not an accessible metal record – or even an accessible post metal one.  It combines the esoteric nature of a band like Om with the expanses that the aforementioned bands excel at.  It is engaging, ambitious and unpredictable – even confounding – and I would recommend fans of any of the aforementioned reference point bands to give it a try.
 
“Migration” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook