Reviews – Page 495 – Wonderbox Metal

He Comes Later – Adam: The Decay (Review)

He Comes Later are an Italian Deathcore band and this is their second EP.

After a relatively epic intro track, the first song, Beneath My Skin, sets the tone for the EP and He Comes Later reveal themselves to be Deathcore with some extras that you don’t normally find in this style.

They have the requisite blasting drums and groove-heavy guitars that work with the deep growls and higher screams. There’s lots of uplifting parts too, as well as melodic leads to add texture. There’s also a lot more going on here as well.

The songs have some interesting ideas on them, such as the inclusion of clean vocals and orchestral/keyboard elements on some of the tracks. It adds an extra layer of interest and helps keep the attention. Deathcore is a sub-genre that very easily gets stale, fast, but He Comes Later have enough ideas to keep things sounding stimulating and relatively fresh. I also like that they incorporate a decent amount of speed and blasting, as too much Deathcore tends to stay in mid-paced, groove-heavy territory.

The band have quite an accomplished sound on Adam: The Decay and largely seem to know what they’re doing with the material. There are some good riffs on here and enough dynamics and energy to keep things interesting.

Well, I’ve enjoyed this more than I expected too; some nice Deathcore with plenty of bite and enough elements enhanced by other influences to make this a meaty and tasty release.

It will be very interesting to see how this band develop from here and what they do with their first full-length release. I’m hoping that they develop their more experimental and atmospheric side, while keeping their core brutality; if they can do this then their début album will be very good indeed.

For the moment though there’s still 27 minutes of music on this, which is more than enough to keep us occupied for the moment. Time to give it another listen, I feel.

The Rodeo Idiot Engine – Malaise (Review)

The Rodeo Idiot Engine are a Hardcore band from France. This is their third album.

After enjoying their previous work this is an album which was gratefully received and devoured hungrily.

This is a band that excel at fusing chaotic Hardcore’s violence with Post-Hardcore’s intricacies and Screamo’s passion. The atypical rhythms, nasty semi-melodies and absolutely caustic vocals are an aural treat for any fan of extremity.

I love this kind of modern, violent Hardcore and there are a lot of bands that do it well, with the king of the genre being the mighty Converge, of course. The challenge for any band playing in this sub-genre then, for me, is to do it in such a way that stays true to the foundations of the style while avoiding sounding like a Converge-clone, which is easier said than done.

Suffice to say, The Rodeo Idiot Engine avoid this easily, (otherwise I wouldn’t be having this discussion), and the music on Malaise is both of-the-genre and very much their own at the same time. Exploding out of the speakers with pure fury and venom, this is an album that is resolutely its own beast.

At 38 minutes in length with 9 tracks, this shows the band’s evolution to, (on average), longer songs and more-involved displays of songwriting. They still absolutely rip, tear and burn through the playing time with ease, but they now do it with greater complexity, inventiveness and moments of deeper reflection and introspection.

I’d also say that Malaise is darker than their previous work. Not that they were ever shining beacons of sunlight, mind. Full of emotive intensity and compelling rage, this is an album worth repeated visits.

So, three albums in and The Rodeo Idiot Engine have produced their best work yet.

Nice one guys!

Suppressive Fire – Bedlam (Review)

Suppressive Fire are a Death/Thrash Metal band from the US. This is their début album.

I receive a lot of music promos, and I have to decide whether I’m going to give them a listen with a view to reviewing them, or not. There are lot of different ways I do this, lots of informal and flexible rules that sometimes vary quite a lot depending on how I’m feeling, what time of day it is, etc. Sometimes though, as with Suppressive Fire’s début, it’s all about the album cover. Something about the cover of Bedlam is just so unashamedly Thrash Metal, but without any retro-cheese-nonsense, that I just had to listen to it.

So here we are. As it turns out, sometimes you can judge the proverbial book by its cover.

Suppressive Fire play aggressive Old-School Death/Thrash Metal with a Blackened edge to it that makes it a far more aggressive proposition than most.

The songs are ugly, gritty and full of barely-contained spite. It’s pretty much a 50/50 mix of Death and Thrash Metal which gives the band an energetic sound that comes out in the riffs and galloping/blasting drums.

Featuring a suitably Old-School sound, the album rockets along powered by chemical weapons and nuclear fear. The guitars are riff-heavy and there’s plenty of solos to sink your teeth into.

It’s a decent collection of songs that have a subtle catchiness to them that initially seems buried under the barbed assault of the delivery, which essentially increases the longevity of the album as the songs don’t become too-familiar, too quickly.

So slip on the riot gear and descend into Bedlam.

Rash Decision – Headstrung (Review)

Rash Decision are from the UK and play Crossover Thrash/Hardcore.

Picking up from where Seaside Resort to Violence left off, Headstrung features 17 minutes of up-tempo violence.

The songs are short, simple and take a hearty chomp out of the musical landscape. This is a band who aren’t concerned with the subtleties of things and just want to Thrash it out with short songs and immediate impact.

Shouted vocals with a Hardcore tilt to them are well-performed and his voice is nicely hoarse.

The band have a good energy to them and sound like they’d be really good live. On their last release I liked the inclusion of Thrash influences without a stupid retro/ironic-vibe and this remains true of Headstrung – these tracks know when to be Hardcore and know when to be Metal and pay due respect to both genres.

It’s brief, but satisfying. Check it out.

https://rashdecision.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/rashdecision/

Sealclubber – Stoical (Review)

Sealclubber are a UK Sludge band and this is their début album.

Sealclubber play abrasive Progressive/Post-Sludge Metal that takes in elements of Crust and Hardcore to produce a lively and gritty 44 minutes of music.

The sharp Hardcore energy of some of the riffs is also alive in the harsh shouted vocals, which are full of both threat and feeling.

This is juxtaposed against the slower, more atmospheric parts that have a dirty Post-Metal sheen to them, like something struggling to be born whole out of a world of filth.

Add to this the emotive Sludge elements that the band seem to pull out of nowhere when they need to and you have a very well-rounded release that shows Sealclubber to be an uncompromising and multifaceted band who are capable of many moods throughout these six songs.

This puts me in mind of the old Cave-In and Botch releases where both bands really pushed what it meant to be a Hardcore band. Sealclubber have similar ambitions it seems, only coming from a Sludge angle and delving deeper into both, (quite divergent), Hardcore and Post-Metal routes at the same time. This split focus shouldn’t work, but it really does, marrying what little common ground there is between the two styles with a murky Sludge Metal coverall.

With divergent influences, comes great risk, but with great talent, comes great reward.

Loved it.

Triumvir Foul – Triumvir Foul (Review)

Triumvir Foul are a Death Metal band from the US and this is their début album.

Triumvir Foul’s first release, An Oath of Blood and Fire, was a blistering taste of the band’s Old-School Death Metal, and on this full-length they expand upon this early filthy promise.

It’s cold, it’s evil, and it’s fucking dark; it’s Triumvir Foul. One of the things I enjoy about this band is the aura of malignant darkness that they produce so well. They just seem to bleed malevolence and grim atmosphere. There’s no gimmicks, it’s just filthy, evil, Old-School Death Metal that’s positively rabid in its hunger for your soul.

For a band like this it would be too easy to just stick to the slow tempos and let the morbid atmospheres do the work, but thankfully they don’t take the easy route; they throw in some higher speed parts and some blast beats and yet still, amazingly, manage to sound nasty and sinister.

This is some top quality work from Triumvir Foul. Such a murky, corrupt sound should always be praised and Triumvir Foul have some damn good songs to go along with the vile atmospheres too.

Very highly recommended.

Desecresy – Stoic Death (Review)

This is the fourth album from Finnish Death Metallers Desecresy.

We’ve met Desecresy before with their third album, Chasmic Transcendence.

This is Old-School Death Metal that mainly favours a mid-paced/slow assault, with morbid atmospheres and Doom/Death influences.

If you imagine a band like Bolt Thrower and add a bit of Doom/Death flourishes then you’ll have a good idea of where Desecresy are coming from. It’s a simple and effective formula that sees the band steamroll through these 35 minutes with warlike ease.

The vocals growl raggedly while the music trudges relentlessly onwards. Emotive and sinister leads provide a lot of depth for the tracks. The rhythm guitars focus on providing a murky backdrop for the songs and the drums and bass underpin everything in their own unhurried way. In fact, special note should be made of the bass, as occasionally it takes a more central role than the instrument usually does, and those bits in particular sound niiiiice.

So, with good songwriting Stoic Death is an enjoyable trip into Desecresy’s world. At this stage in their career they obviously know what they’re doing and the songs on Stoic Death are accomplished slabs of deathly darkness.

Devotees of Old-School Death Metal be sure to check this out.

Attan – From Nothing (Review)

Attan are from Norway and play Hardcore/Post-Hardcore. This is their début EP.

Coming across as an unholy mix of bands like Vision of Disorder, Will Haven, Converge and Neurosis, Attan are heavy and intense.

This music is dark and visceral, containing a primal rage and destructive intensity. The songs are passionate exemplars of heaviosity that pay tribute to their influences while making their own way down the ill-lit avenues of dark Hardcore; Continue reading “Attan – From Nothing (Review)”

Standing Ovation – Gravity Beats Nuclear (Review)

This is the second album from Finnish Progressive Metallers Standing Ovation.

At 62 minutes in length and featuring lofty concepts, this has Progressive Metal stamped all over it.

It’s a multifaceted release with plenty of variety of delivery throughout; everything from straight-ahead rockers to slower, more considered ballad-esque types to full-blown 18 minute Progressive workouts. It’s all wrapped up in the band’s own Metal framework, of course, but I like the fact that each song basically has its own character and personality.

There’s clearly a lot of talent and skill on this album; both the musicianship and songwriting are of a very high standard. With plenty of leads and solos, and not just by the guitars, this album has a lot to get your teeth into. This would be nothing without songs though, but thankfully there’s plenty of those.

The singer has a versatile voice that, like the music, is used in a great variety of ways throughout the album. He manages to sing in many different styles, including adding a theatrical or dramatic edge when needed.

The songs drip quite easily onto the palette, and despite the quality musicianship there’s little here to put off prospective listeners, (assuming they like the style in the first place). The mix of Melodic Metal and Progressive Metal is well-judged with the former supplying an immediate hit of catchiness and the latter allowing the band room to explore and add depth to the songs.

The album gives the impression of a vast melodic journey into far-flung worlds with these songs as the guides. It’s a very impressive and enjoyable release and I urge you to check it out.

Good songs, well played. Recommended.

Chronoboros – Dialing up the Cutter (Review)

Chronoboros are from Greece and play Sludge-fuelled Hardcore. This is their début EP.

Chronoboros play a mix of Sludge/Hardcore that shares some features of Alternative Metal and Noise Rock in its sideways approach. It reminds me of the early-to-mid-90s style in some ways, albeit with a modern delivery and a distinct personality all of its own.

Combining elements of bands such as Fudge Tunnel, Association Area, Kowloon Walled City, No Anchor, Helmet, The Dillinger Escape Plan and a plethora of others, this is an interesting and enjoyable release that shows that a band can be inventive while still having the capacity to rock out hard.

The music is complex and involved. It has a lot of depth and layers to it meaning that although these songs are quite short they make a good impression. Heavy sections compete for space with less-conventional parts and there’s a lot of good ideas on this EP that are barely explored before the band hop off once again on another exploratory trip into their unusual world.

The vocals combine harsher screams with more unusual semi-spoken vocalisations. It works a treat and is thankfully the right side of quirky.

There’s a lot of talent and promise on this release. It’s only 15 minutes long, so what excuse do you have for not checking it out?

That’s what I thought.