Metal – Page 82 – Wonderbox Metal

Chugun – Virus (Review)

Chugun are a Thrash/Death Metal band from Israel. This is their début album.

Chugun’s sound combines Old-School Thrash Metal with some just-as-old Death Metal influences as well as a pinch of a more modern approach to produce this enjoyable 30 minutes of Metal mayhem.

The vocals alternate between deep grunts and higher screams. The singer does both styles very well and her voice is well-suited to both roles.

This album is an up-tempo rager, with the main bulk of the music having a healthy Thrash Metal base, onto which Death Metal and some Modern Metal elements are incorporated. There are a lot of good riffs on here and the bend seem to revel in what they do. It’s clear a lot of love and passion has gone into this release and this comes out in the songs.

My tolerance for Thrash Metal has lowered a lot of late, partially due to the over-saturation of the retro/comedy style; Virus, however, has none of this nonsense and this is a really enjoyable release. It’s more aggressive than most due to their Death Metal aspect and the songs motor along quite nicely.

The musicianship is tight and the recording loud and heavy. It’s a modern-sounding rendition of an older style, played with grit and devotion.

Unexpectedly good. Damn good, in fact. Check this out.

Loputon Suo – Loputon Suo (Review)

Loputon Suo are a Finnish Black Metal band and this is their début demo.

Lasting only 12 minutes, this is a dense, murky affair with elements of Melodic Black Metal and Death Metal included.

The vocals are bestial growls that are worryingly feral. They give the band a feeling of something dangerous and uncompromising. Decent riffs and a dark aura work with the melodic guitars in a complementary fashion.

When the ferocious growls are mixed with the atavistic music and Old-School melodies, something quite special emerges. This demo has an obscure and authentic feel above all else.

The recording is stripped back, raw and befitting of both the demo status and the style. However, that’s not to say it’s a bad sound, and it’s quite endearing in a harsh, violent way.

Very enjoyable. Check this out for your underground, Blackened fill.

The Unravelling – Tear a Hole in the Collective Vision (Review)

This is the second album from Canadian Progressive/Industrial Rock band The Unravelling.

The Unravelling’s music is modern, Progressive Rock with Industrial elements. It’s layered with emotive content and depth of songwriting.

Recalling elements of bands such as Filter, Nine Inch Nails, Sunna, Gravity Kills, Tool and Katatonia, Tear a Hole in the Collective Vision is 44 minutes of music that draws you in with its dark edge and personal themes.

This is a diverse collection of songs with a great variety in mood, pace and dynamics across the 10 tracks. It’s easy to view a band such as this as providing the listener with a musical journey to go on, travelling down the various routes and paths with the band as they explore the moods and atmospheres of their self-created landscape.

Strong vocals provide a focal point for the music and the singer’s slightly atypical voice fits the atypical music to a tee.

This is an impressive album and should definitely be checked out by anyone who enjoys this electronic approach to atmospheric Rock.

Give it a try.

Simulacrum – Sky Divided (Review)

This is the second album from Progressive Metallers Simulacrum, who are from Finland.

This is an ambitious album, containing just over an hour of Progressive, sci-fi-themed Metal that incorporates elements of Power Metal and a slightly more aggressive, heavier Modern/Thrash Metal influence into its Progressive Framework.

As befits the subject matter, this is a very keyboard-heavy release, with both Classical tinges and Electronica coming into play. In many ways the keyboards are the stars of the show; they’re never too far from the action and are an essential part of it, as opposed to being an additionality that could be done without.

The songs are well-written and draw the listener into the vivid world that the band create. Simulacrum certainly know how to play and there are more than enough leads and solos to keep the guitar-fanatics happy.

The singer has a decent voice and his delivery suits the ostentatious nature of the music. Good harmonies and melodies are used and combined with the music it results in the majority of these songs being quite memorable and catchy.

A strong recording allows the band to develop an immersive atmosphere that they manage to keep up for the full playing time. While the keyboards do the most to promote the sci-fi elements of the music, (alongside the vocals/lyrics, of course), it’s the guitars and drums that lend the sound such a modern edge.

Simulacrum are to be commended on this album. They’ve managed to straddle a few different styles within their concept, and it all fits together and works wonderfully.

Well, I have very much enjoyed this. Highly recommended.

Appollonia – Dull Parade (Review)

This is the fourth album from Appollonia, a Metal band from France.

This is Modern Metal with a Stoner/Progressive edge, somewhat akin to a mix of Mastodon, Baroness and Deftones.

Dull Parade has a strong production and everything sounds loud and heavy. The band strike a good balance between polished and gritty.

The vocals vary between cleans, semi-cleans and rougher shouts. These are performed well and have an undeniable charisma to them. All three band members contribute vocals to this release, so there’s a decent amount of variety and vocal layering going on. Melodies and harmonies abound, all richly textured and enticing.

The songs can be rawkus and confrontational or more emotive and considered, either way there’s an undercurrent of raw emotional intensity to the tracks, helping to give them longevity and depth.

Dull Parade is a thoroughly enjoyable modern interpretation of Alternative Metal with catchy songs and emotive content. It’s also heavy and uncompromising in its vision for what loud music should be.

Highly recommended.

Crimson Sun – Towards the Light (Review)

Crimson Sun are a Finnish Heavy Metal band and this is their début album.

This is Modern Melodic Metal with a nice heavy sound and added keyboards. An Electronica influence is included to add flavour to the sound, as well as a few Djent-isms here and there.

The songs are catchy and full of hooks and memorable melodies. A band like this is all about the songs and Crimson Sun have some good ones here. Psuedo-Classical and Electronica-tinged keyboards add another layer to the songs and there’s a lot of meat here to get your teeth into. There’s even the odd guitar solo, which I always appreciate.

In addition to these elements though the band also need a good singer to pull everything off. Thankfully they seem to have found one; her voice is a nice combination of the powerful and the melodic, adding a formidable presence to the songs.

I like that there’s actually a bit of bite and substance to the guitars, as frequently in these kind of bands they tend to play second fiddle to the vocals so much that they almost become afterthoughts. In this way, Crimson Sun remind me of Jaded Star; both bands have a decent guitar presence and both sound like real bands and not some commercially fabricated female-fronted hit machine, or something.

Having said that though, it’s not as if any number of these songs couldn’t be a hit. With the right exposure, the right video, etc.; Crimson Sun clearly have what it takes to succeed.

Melodic Metal played well, written well and performed well. Unless you’re allergic to the style then there’s nothing to not like. Towards the Light is a strong album full of strong songs.

Tor Marrock – Destroy the Soul (Review)

Tor Marrock are a Gothic Metal band from Wales. This is their second album.

Tor Marrock play Gothic Metal with a plethora of different influences; Black, Death and Doom Metal are all represented to various degrees. The tracks are an interesting combination of these influences and make the band quite hard to pigeonhole in some ways.

For reference points I’d say an unholy mix of Type O Negative, Celtic Frost, Paradise Lost and Moonspell. Essentially it’s an Old-School Peaceville sound updated with a few different elements from some of the aforementioned bands and genres.

The songs are quite catchy and are quite accomplished in the verse/chorus technique. You could almost sing along, if you fancied trying to keep up with the usually gruff tones of the vocalist.

Some of the songs are quite upbeat while others take a slower, more maudlin route. I find I slightly prefer the latter, although the former is almost as good. Songs like Christ Betrayed have the best of both worlds, making this track one of my favourites.

The songs are stripped back and simplified; it’s easy for Gothic Metal bands to pile on the keyboards and other sounds/effects for quite an ostentatious sound, but Tor Marrock have gone for a basic and raw sound, (relatively speaking), making the most of the standard instruments to colour their emotive palette.

Tor Marrock are doing something a bit different with their take on Metal and this relatively short album, (36 minutes), is an individual and charismatic take on the genre.

Tentation – Tentation (Review)

This is the début EP from French Heavy Metal band Tentation.

This is Classic Heavy Metal played in a 1980s style. Early Iron Maiden is an obvious reference point, and it’s good to hear that there are still bands playing this style.

The singer has a good voice and has no trouble with the material. The lyrics are sung in French, which adds a different aspect to their sound than is the norm.

The songs are well-written and feature plenty of melodies and memorable parts. This is an upbeat, energetic band that are obviously playing this music for the love of it, and this comes across in the songs.

The guitars have a certain relentless quality to them. Not in the way that the word “relentless” is usually applied to Extreme Metal, but in the sense that they constantly seem to be moving at, or close to, a gallop and pushing the music forward all of the time; no rest is allowed in Tentation’s world, only more headbanging!

As début EPs go, this is pretty solid. Six songs, (one of which is a cover of a band called H-Bomb), in 24 minutes. A decent recording, including a nice, punchy, analogue drum sound, means that the band get the chance to shine and the EP is an enjoyable throwback to an earlier, simpler time in Metal.

Try them out.

Esotherisst – Voyage (Review)

Esotherisst are a Progressive Metal band from Poland. This is their début release.

Esotherisst’s Progressive Metal is polished and has a modern sound and production.

You Have Never is the first song. It’s the shortest of the three and it has a kind of Threshold-style, although this is mainly in the music rather than the vocals. The guitars are rhythmic and solid, with the leads and melodies used to add colour to this strong base. The singer has a good voice; it’s relatively low in the mix and used in an understated way throughout.

The second song is How to Fly and this is the longest track here at 6 minutes in length. This has more of an epic feel than the first one, with stronger keyboard backing and reminds me of Kamelot in some ways, although a more restrained, Progressive version and still tinged with a Threshold feel. Frenetic guitars and hyperactive keyboards are the centrepieces of this track and really drive home the Progressive tendencies of the band, like the 70s have been dragged into the modern day. This is bookended by lighter, more relaxed sections where the singer really comes into his own.

The final song is In Winter’s Arms. This continues the feel of the second track with an epic introduction and then a lighter verse, (although without the extended Progressive workout in the middle that the second song boasted). This is a theme developed throughout the 5 minutes playing time, ending on a softer note to finish.

The weakest link for me in this is the singer, although that sounds worse than it is. It’s not that he has a bad voice, quite the contrary in fact; I just feel he is slightly lacking in confidence and needs to develop a little more presence and force in his delivery. This is not insurmountable though and he has the necessary attributes for success, they just need to be brought to the fore a bit more. This is only a minor quibble though, and might actually be less about the singer himself and more due to the recording – the music has such a strong production that he can sometimes sound overshadowed.

Overall, Esotherisst have impressed me with this release. With a few tweaks to the songwriting and vocal delivery their début album should be an extremely strong release if this is any indicator.

Give them a listen.

To the Pain – 7 (Review)

This is the second album by US Thrash Metal band To the Pain.

This is a short release – 6 songs in just under 27 minutes – featuring Bay Area-style Thrash and a fantastically-titled closing song Don’t Eat the Eyes. (I felt compelled to point that out).

The Metallica/Anthrax/Testament inspired songs are a real throwback to decades past and in all honesty it really, really works. It may be resolutely Old-School but it’s not a Retro release or any such nonsense – this is a real band playing real Thrash and doing it very well.

I enjoyed their début album, (which was one of my earliest reviews), but I can’t help but notice the strides forward that the band have made in the intervening years. 7 has seen them make advances in every area, from sound to songwriting to delivery; the entire thing sounds more confident and assured. The songs are better and this is a real Thrash Metal feast.

The singer’s voice has improved along with the rest of the band and he too sounds more confident in his role. He has settled into his job with ease and seems to have no problem infusing his performance with character and charisma.

But where’s the rest of the album? I feel like there are another two or three tracks missing. Some bands easily put out too many songs and you can lose attention, but 7 is the opposite and is over before you know it. Maybe it’s better this way though, as it certainly leaves you salivating and hungry for more.

Well, recently I’ve stated, quite a few times actually, that I feel a bit jaded with Thrash Metal. However, there have been a plethora of recent releases that are making me rethink this and To the Pain’s newest is another. 7 is a winner for me. Check it out.