Metal – Page 80 – Wonderbox Metal

Rectified Spirit – The Waste Land (Review)

This is the second album from Indian Metal band Rectified Spirit.

The band play Thrash Metal with a modern edge and both Progressive and Power Metal influences.

Clean vocals that are reminiscent of the singer of Nevermore are twinned with harsher screeching shouts that recall the singer of Soilwork if he had a less-deep voice. There are lots of very memorable melodies and the singer has considerable vocal talent.

Musically the band’s songs take a modern view on aggressive Thrash which they then add Progressive/Power Metal flourishes to. The resulting tracks are very enjoyable and have a lot to offer the discerning Metal fan.

The Waste Land is a well-written slab of Metal and owes equal debt to both the American and European Metal scenes, taking cues from both and combining them effectively into their own identity.

The band know their way around their instruments, but this is never at the expense of the songs themselves. There are boatloads of decent riffs that are arranged well; the band firmly concentrate on their songsmithing and the album greatly benefits from this focus.

This is a quality release with a lot of mileage in it.

Last Frontier – Theta Healing (Through the Poison) (Review)

This is the second album from Italian Heavy Metallers Last Frontier.

This is Atmospheric Heavy Metal with keyboards and a modern delivery that still pays homage to the classic style. There are elements of Power Metal here, although Heavy Metal is the main genre out of the two.

The songs are enjoyable Metal anthems that pass the 51 minutes quite pleasantly. They’re easily absorbed and digested and don’t cause bloating.

Ever-present keyboards accompany the tracks, but tend to enhance rather than annoy. The modern sheen of the riffs and the delivery in general is well-judged so that the band come across as polished, but not overly so.

The singer has a decent voice that effortlessly carries itself well. To my ears he comes across as a curious mix of the singers of Queensrÿche and Kamelot. With some good melodies it’s clear he can carry a tune well.

I enjoyed this. Give them a listen and see what you think.

Shotgun Justice – State of Desolation (Review)

Shotgun Justice are a German Heavy Metal band and this is their début album.

Shotgun Justice play a personable brand of Heavy Metal that incorporates elements of both Hard Rock and Thrash Metal into its upbeat delivery.

Despite a logo and album cover that might lead you to believe that the band play some form of contemporary Metal, this is music that’s resolutely Old-School and couldn’t care less. The songs reflect this, as does the low-key production.

Shotgun Justice have the feeling and attitude of the early-Metal era firmly nailed down, managing to reproduce the essence of the time quite faithfully. Although this can be slightly deceptive, as the Old-School swagger and production sometimes masks the more interesting and sophisticated elements of their sound, such as added female vocals and some nice moments of introspection, (such as The Scales of Justice), as well as some almost Progressive Metal influences, especially on the latter part of the album.

The male vocals have some presence and do their job nicely. On occasion these are joined by the aforementioned, and very impressive, female vocals, adding a different facet to the band; it’s a really nice touch.

If you’re in the mood for what is, (largely), a throwback to simpler times with some rocking good tunes then you could do a lot worse than this. Check them out and see if they hit the spot for you.

Chronos Zero – Hollowlands – The Tears Path: Chapter One (Review)

This is the second album from Italian Progressive Metal band Chronos Zero.

Chronos Zero represent the slightly heavier side of Progressive European-styled Metal. Chunky riffs trade off with soft keyboards to create emotive landscapes for both the band and listener to explore.

This is reflected in the vocals too, which are performed by both male and female singers. The female vocals are powerful cleans that recall the best of the 90s/00s days and the male vocals are a combination of cleans and shouts.

This combination of different vocal delivery helps with the album holding attention well, despite a running time of 72 minutes. The music contributes to this too, obviously; Chronos Zero have made sure that they have included enough Progressive/Power Metal to satisfy any fan of the genre.

The music is professionally played and the modern guitars work well with the extravagant keyboards, merging influences from the more restrained American brand of Power Metal with the exploratory, ostentatious side of the European style.

This album strikes me as a more modern updating of the male/female European style that was quite popular over a decade or so ago. There are no, (well, very few), Gothic Metal influences on this album though; Chronos Zero have distinct Progressive/Power Metal view of things, and I like their vision.

So, take a band like Threshold, add a heavier European Metal influence, add shouted male vocals, add luscious female vocals, coat in a modern, professional production…this will give you a good idea of what Chronos Zero have to offer.

This is a well-written and satisfying, albeit lengthy, feast that should appeal to any fan of the genre.

Very enjoyable indeed – check it out.

Bedowyn – Blood of the Fall (Review)

This is the début album from US Metal band Bedowyn.

Bedowyn’s sound is a mix of the contemporary and classic, combining Metal, Stoner, Doom and Alternative Metal into a 49 minute adventure. Corrosion of Conformity meets Mastodon is not too bad of a description, but that’s only a starting point really.

The problem with the majority of bands that get compared to Mastodon in any way is because of the nature of Mastodon, most of these bands just sound derivative and trite; I’m pleased to say that this isn’t the case with Bedowyn, as they may remind of Mastodon in places but there’s more than enough other influences, all infused with the band’s own personality, to make it merely one reference of many.

The band certainly have the songwriting skill to back up these lofty comparisons and Blood of the Fall is rammed full of explosive tunes and outright anthems.

Using lively drums, spirited guitars and even the odd synth, Bedowyn pound through the playing time with enthusiasm and enough depth to make repeat plays mandatory.

The singer has a charismatic and well-used voice that treads just the right line between rough and silken. He clearly knows what he’s doing and adds further layers to music that’s already multi-faceted and rich.

This is a top quality album that shines through with quality songs and catchiness.

Definitely check this one out.

Blackhour – Sins Remain (Review)

Blackhour are a Heavy Metal band from Pakistan and this is their second album.

This is an album that embraces what True Heavy Metal is all about; attitude, passion, songcraft and pure, molten delivery.

The singer has a very good voice that carries weight and authority with it, as well as being able to bang out decent harmonies and memorable melodies.

The music is Classic Heavy Metal, frequently stretched out to epic proportions across these 5 songs. The classic Metal flavour is added to by some more modern influences too; for example, if you take a band like Iron Maiden as a good starting point for comparison, Blackhour take influence from a wide swathe of Iron Maiden’s work, both old and new. This isn’t the only band they can be compared to though, as they’re certainly not Iron Maiden rip-offs. There’s more going on here than just that.

These are well-written songs that are played by people who know their way around their instruments intimately. Importantly though it’s the songs that matter and the band have a good grasp of what makes a decent Heavy Metal tune. The involving riffs and dynamic pacing of the songs work with the singer’s impressive vocals to create songs that stick in the mind long after the last chord has faded.

And there’s solos. Lots of them.

Quality stuff, and very enjoyable. Check this out and show your support.

Júlio Stotz – Dark Ravishing Energy (Review)

Júlio Stotz is from Brazil and plays piano-heavy instrumental Progressive Metal. This is his second release.

His previous EP was an enjoyable atmospheric blend of Progressive Metal and Djent, and this latest EP carries on where his previous one left off.

Once again we get 4 songs lasting 17 minutes in total. It’s replete with lashings of Classical influences and orchestral moments, all backed up by an ultra-modern take on Progressive Metal.

I have quite a low-tolerance level for this kind of thing by-and-large, but there’s something about Júlio Stotz’s work that makes it quite palatable. I think the fact that it’s so very atmospheric easily raises the Djentisms above their normal levels, plus the fact that the Djent influence is only part of the equation.

This release feels more accomplished and grander than the previous one, and it’s good to hear him progress in his chosen style.

Very enjoyable instrumental Atmospheric Metal that doesn’t outstay its welcome.

Recommended.

Villainy – Villainy II: Dim (Review)

Villainy are from the Netherlands and this, (as the name would suggest), is their second album. They play Metal.

Their début album was enjoyable Thrash Metal with a few added elements of styles like Crust, Black Metal and Celtic-Frost-esque Metal to make things more interesting than your average Thrash band. It demonstrated a group who were not content to be mediocre and were striving the be different.

Well, on Villainy II: Dim they’ve progressed even further. This new album is more ambitious than the first and their Thrash Metal core is further enhanced by Doom and Black Metal influences, more so than the first.

The songs have a lot of ideas, depth and real potential for lasting impact. Featuring a surprising amount of variety over the 12 tracks, this is well-written Metal that doesn’t allow the listener’s attention to wane or wander.

Albums like this are a complete package, and by that I mean it’s a very holistic release with every song having its own identity, but still snugly fitting together as a whole.

The charisma and character of the singer has been brought further to the fore, and he sounds more confident and proficient than ever. Backed up by music that’s also more self-assured and expansive, this release is very impressive.

A strong, beefy guitar sound adds to the band’s delivery and the songs sound vibrant and fresh. Even though there’s a definite whiff of the Old-School about Villainy they have managed to produce an album that still sounds contemporary and relevant.

There’s over an hour of music on this release and no filler in sight. It’s always pleasing to see tangible progress in a band’s development and Villainy II: Dim is an impressively realised transition from what they were to what they are now becoming. Only time will tell where this will lead them.

This one’s a must.

Disquiet – The Condemnation (Review)

This is the second album from Dutch Melodic Thrash/Death Metal band Disquiet.

Disquiet play a heavy and aggressive brand of Thrash Metal with a nice Death Metal edge to it that means the band keep things dark and intense.

With plenty of jagged riffs and Metal leads, this is an album that it’s easy to feel at home with.

The singer varies his delivery between growls, shouts and what I’ll call almost-sung vocals – they’re almost sung, but not quite. Yeah, yeah, it may not be a very fancy description, but it suffices, and the end result is an added emotive edge to the vocals when there needs to be one without going full-blown into Metalcore-style cleans, for the most part.

I really like the production on this album and the thickness of the guitars. Everything else sounds top-drawer too and overall The Condemnation sounds quite immense.

If this album gets some good exposure I can see it doing very well indeed. It has the right combination of underground brutality and integrity combined with a songwriting skill that should ideally see them reaching a larger audience than a lot of their peers.

Recommended.

Moaning Silence – A World Afraid of Light (Review)

This is the début album from Greek Gothic/Atmospheric Metal band Moaning Silence.

Featuring the kind of sound that was making big waves late 90s/early 00s, Moaning Silence play it well and I haven’t heard too much like this of late.

Combining the drawn-out Gothic sorrow of My Dying Bride with elements of Anathema’s approach, Moaning Silence have created an album that pays homage to the emotive, expressive side of Metal. There’s also an Anathema cover included for good measure.

Both male and female vocals appear, with the male vocalist’s voice having a quality to it that’s somewhere between the singers of My Dying Bride and Sentenced, while the female singer has a liquid, silken quality to her voice that is quite enticing.

This kind of style has been done to death, of course, so whether you enjoy what Moaning Silence have to offer depends on where your saturation point is for this kind of thing. I’ve pretty much reached mine, but I can still appreciate that Moaning Silence do what they do well, and there are some nice ideas on this release that show a lot of promise for the future. In fact, I enjoy them at their most when they’re relaxing a bit and letting the atmosphere flow naturally, as in tracks like The Last Days of December, (which is also notable for its lovely guitar solo and Classic Rock vibe).

As a début album, there’s still a lot of work to do for the band; I think they need to find their own style a bit more and also tighten up both the writing and the sound. Having said that though, there’s still a lot to enjoy on A World Afraid of Light, and I do like that this isn’t the ostentatious, flashy, overly-commercial brand of Gothic Metal either; this is a more earthy, honest interpretation of the original style that birthed a thousand Lacuna Coils.

So, give them a listen and see what you think.

Favourite Track: On Fragile Wings. Just a damn good song.