Reviews – Page 515 – Wonderbox Metal

Jarun – Pod Niebem Utkanym z Popiołu (Review)

Jarun are a Black Metal band from Poland and this is their second album.

Jarun play Black Metal with Progressive/Folk elements.

This release combines considered reflection, passionate delivery and fiery Black Metal into a cohesive hole that does well to temper Black Metal’s dark flame with a subtle Folkier perspective. The Progressive Metal elements fit well into this musical tapestry and allow the music an even broader scope.

If you think of a merging of Enslaved, Thy Worshiper, Opeth and ugly, primitive Black Metal then you’ll be on the right lines. The juxtaposition of the raw Black Metal core with the sophistication and nuance of Progressive Black Metal is enough for many bands to contemplate, but add to this some Folk influences and Pod Niebem Utkanym z Popiołu becomes even more impressive.

The band have a guitar sound that they use well; when distorted it’s gritty and abrasive, but when the distortion fades it’s nicely clean and polished.

The vocals are gruff, savage barks that wouldn’t be out of place on an underground Grindcore release. They add real bite to the tracks and show that Jarun have that aggressive core, even when the music is more refined.

These songs are impressively realised beasts that have a lot of variety and content to them. They’re well-written and the playing time makes the most of the incorporated styles to take the listener on a journey through Jarun’s highly textured world.

Jarun strike the right tone with their songs and they get the correct balance between their particular influences. Acoustic and cleaner sections abound within the heavier, grimmer framework and the riffs, solos and leads all add a lot to the moods they create.

When I first approached this release I wasn’t sure what to expect; the cover gives little away, and I don’t read Polish so apart from knowing it was a Black Metal release of sorts, that was all. As it turns out, Pod Niebem Utkanym z Popiołu has been an extremely pleasant surprise. I love albums that have a depth to them and Jarun succeed in being able to write songs that capture the attention with their Progressive style and yet have ample enough aggression to satisfy.

I do fear this is somewhat destined to be a lost gem; let’s try to stop this from happening. Jarun are a band more than deserving of support; this is an impressive album from a talented band.

Extremely highly recommended.

Sågverk – Sahataan ne Kaikki (Review)

This is the début album from Finnish Black ‘n’ Rollers Sågverk.

Angry, Crust-fuelled Black Metal with a modern Rocking aspect and plenty of attitude; Sågverk make this kind of music look easy, but also offer up something a bit different.

There are 8 tracks of Blackened belligerence and groove here, comprising 7 originals and a Metallica cover of Motorbreath.

Buzzsaw riffs and brutal guitars power the songs, but there’s a lot more control here than I was expecting to hear. The tracks are written with more than just Black Metal in mind – as well as the Punk/Crust there’s a bit of a Stoner vibe to some of the riffs, making Sahataan ne Kaikki a bit different from the norm.

The songs are well-written and make use of a strong riff-oriented approach. This is not a release that’s top-speed all of the time, but nonetheless maintains a high energy throughout.

The vocals are shouted screams that vary in tone and delivery a fair deal. Cleans are also used sparingly but it’s mainly all about the shouting. The singer plays his part well and gives a good performance.

The band have a very clean and clear sound; again, a bit different form the norm as this kind of Crusty, Blackened assault is usually a lot dirtier in delivery. It works though and allows the Rockier aspects to their style to come to the fore.

This is a really interesting release that smashes my preconceptions about what Black ‘n’ Roll can sound like. If you imagine a Black Metal/Crust/Punk hybrid, the likes of which we see relatively often, then make their sound cleaner and add in a combination of Kvelertak with a bit of (old) Mastodon to the riffs then Sågverk will be the end result.

Enjoyable and different, Sahataan ne Kaikki is a really good listen.

Highly recommended.

Seneron – Parasites and Poets (Review)

Seneron are from Northern Ireland and this is their début album. They play Rock.

Infusing their Rock with Grunge and Punk, Seneron have produced a richly melodic 28 minutes of enjoyable music.

Not wildly dissimilar from fellow Irish bands Therapy? and, (in particular), Kerbdog; Seneron inhabit the same stylistic space as these heavy-hitters. Add in bit of Helmet, Foo Fighters and…yes, Seneron would have fit in very well in the early 90s.

The songs are catchy, memorable and easy to digest. It’s very easy listening, and I mean that in a good way. You can just turn this on and zone out to the infectious melodies. Before you know it, you’re rocking around in your seat and singing along with rawkus abandon. Or something.

The songs are short and sweet, never outstaying their welcome. Parasites and Poets succeeds in being very easy to like and very easy to recommend.

The songs are well-crafted sugar-coated slices of Rock. The guitars are pleasingly loud though and it’s to Seneron’s credit that they’ve given their guitarist permission to add a bit of a bite to his attack. Compared to most of the stuff on this site you wouldn’t call it aggressive, but it’s not a passive, weak delivery like a lot of this type of music thinks it can get away with.

A thoroughly enjoyable album. Check out Seneron.

Mekigah – Litost (Review)

This is the third album from Australia’s Mekigah. They play Industrial/Classical Doom.

This is a tortuous combination of Doom, Noise, Industrial, Ambient and Classical that somehow ends up pulling you into its embrace before you even really know what’s going on. I’m not a huge fan of Noise and a lot of Ambient leaves me cold, usually because there’s nothing to draw you in. Litost is different.

Here we have elements of Noise and Ambient but they’re joined by the usually far more spirited Classical style. Orchestral sounds and emotive synths provide these minimalistic elements with a vibrancy, albeit a dark, malevolent one.

On top of this we have the Industrial aspect to their sound, and, of course, the Doom. This is not a guitar-oriented project though. It’s there, but used just as one instrument of many. Guest musicians aplenty feature on this release, providing everything from vocals, to mellotron, to taishgoto.

Vocals are few and far between. When they appear they’re quite varied and performed by multiple singers across the album. They’re usually quite low-key and are frequently employed as just another method of delivery; another instrument in this disturbing symphony.

This album is surprisingly emotive and engaging. The layers of synths and orchestral sounds work perfectly with the harsher Industrial base to fashion songs that work their way into your subconscious like hooks into flesh.

There’s a Gothic element to this music, but it’s one that has been killed and buried so that its influence is felt through the remainder of the thing that’s growing in its place. Almost as if the remains of a Gothic ancestry were feeding the music we hear here, so that the influence seeps into the cellos and Industrial sounds almost without anyone noticing at first.

If you’re into music that fuses the Industrial and the emotive with a dark atmosphere then this is definitely one to track down. Whether you’re a fan of Ævangelist, Axis of Perdition, Cloak of Altering, Ulver or Indian, Litost has something to offer you.

A very impressive release; I wasn’t expecting something to merge darkness and light so completely. Litost is a thing of grim beauty.

Albatross – Fear from the Skies (Review)

This is the début album from Indian Heavy Metal band Albatross.

We’ve met Albatross before, on their split with Vestal Claret. This is their first full length so it’s a pleasure to be reacquainted with their particularly interesting brand of Heavy Metal.

The songs on this release are all full of character and Albatross certainly put their own spin on things.

It’s the intention of Albatross to tell a story; while some bands who do this do it purely through the lyrics, Albatross strive to ensure that the music talks just as loudly as the words.

This is an album of two halves, with each half having its own story and theme. In line with the album cover, there is somewhat of a carnival feeling to the music on occasion, at least to the first half of the album. The second half is more straight-faced but just as compelling. Albatross are talented song-smiths and have a good ear for a good tale.

Quirky Heavy Metal is the name of the game and here Albatross are playing in the big leagues. Iron Maiden, King Diamond, Queensrÿche and bits of Thrash Metal are all melted down and consumed in some sickly-looking broth, only to be regurgitated in multicolour and in new and glorious ways by the band.

Taking these starting points, the band inject their own colourful personalities and passions into this lively release, resulting in an album that is a feast of delights. It’s extremely well-played and delivered, with some choice solos and vocal performances.

The track record of albums with concepts such as this is chequered at best, but Albatross have produced a winner here.

Blaze of Perdition – Near Death Revelations (Review)

Blaze of Perdition are a Black Metal band from Poland. This is their third album.

The music on this album combines malevolent atmospheres with occult stylings to create a masterpiece of supreme Black Metal art. Blaze of Perdition manage to simultaneously remain true to Black Metal’s heart of darkness while being bold enough to fashion it to their steely will.

If you worship bands such as Deathspell Omega, Watain, Marduk and Funeral Mist then this is for you. Like the aforementioned bands, Blaze of Perdition take the listener on a journey through Blackened soundscapes and rarely-explored musical vistas.

It’s not that the band are wildly innovative, very few bands are; it’s more that they have a gift for twisting Black Metal into shapes that are perfectly recognisable yet still manage to impress and have their own warped personalities and identities. Bands like this manage to create their own dark worlds that you seem to fall into, emerging once again only when the journey is complete and the music has had its way with you.

Near Death Revelations succeeds in capturing the essence of what makes Black Metal so exciting and provocative. The band infuse this with their unique vision without losing the core identity of the style. The songs are compelling and engaging compositions that are diverse enough to retain interest without straying too far from the central stylistic themes.

Black Metal is an ever-mutating beast that throws up challenging new interpretations almost as much as it pumps out those who seek to recreate the core style of the genre. Bands like Blaze of Perdition are exceptional in that they not only create their art at the precise point where both avenues of exploration overlap, but they also use this point to diverge into their own full-fledged existence, and take up the mantle as leaders, not followers.

Near Death Revelations may have been born out of tragedy but its coming of age will be a thing of dark, resplendent beauty. As the phoenix arises, all shall cower from its terrible, glorious form.

Rejoice, for Blaze of Perdition has come.

The Negation – Memento Mori (Review)

The Negation are a French Black Metal band and this is their second album.

French Black Metal always has something interesting to add to the genre and there are a large amount of quality and interesting Black Metal bands that call France home.

With this in mind, let’s have a look at The Negation. As becomes swiftly apparent, this is another gritty jewel in the French scene’s horned crown.

The Negation play grim-ridden Black Metal that stylistically speaks of bands like Deathspell Omega and Funeral Mist, mixed with the more orthodox Black Metal delivery of someone like Dark Funeral and the raging hatred of a band like Anaal Nathrakh.

Raging hatred is a good term for The Nagation; this is music that definitely rages and you can almost feel the heat come from the guitars. There’s an ugly brutality to this and the songs on Memento Mori are like dangerous slabs of spiked hatred-made-manifest.

Occasionally breaking out from the band’s onslaught are dark melodies and even the odd solo. These fleeting attempts to escape the nihilistic vacuum that the band creates are quickly drawn back into the fold though and smothered with darkness, not to be seen again until the next brief escape attempt.

Blackened screams that are seemingly filled with bile and disgust infest the music like malignant growths.

This is not pretty Black Metal. This is raw, evil and devastating. It’s also a damn fine listen.

French Black Metal wins again.

Deviance – A New Planetary Perspective (Review)

This is the début album from US one-man Death Metal project Deviance.

This is Technical/Progressive Death Metal that’s not shy of flexing its musical muscles and showing off what it can do.

Frequent leads and solos are built around a sturdy rhythm section and scathing vocals. The songs tread that fine line between ostentation and brutality without sacrificing too much of one for the other.

Decent grooves and riffs work with the overt technicality. Winding melodics make brief appearances and the songs seem to pulsate and mutate with careful yet unexpected life.

The tracks are intricate beasts that sometimes keep a central theme to them so that a song is still identifiable amidst the complex barbarity; other times though they allow themselves to journey where they see fit, snaking and sliding their way through involved guitar sections and convoluted drumming. Either way, it’s an enjoyable listen.

This album has an interesting feel to it. The music is less-song oriented than Progressive Death Metal can sometimes be and instead veers towards outright Technical Death Metal territory where the songs are a lot more frequently sacrificed for the sake of complexity. Having said that though, this is notable in that it’s not overly-frenzied or chaotic as a lot of Technical Death Metal can be. This is a more restrained and thoughtful complexity; the brain behind Deviance knows exactly where he wants to take the music and the journey is what matters, rather than the structure itself.

Cello, violin and keyboards all make appearances, widening the musical vistas available to the listener. It all adds value and makes a good impression.

The vocals sound like scraping sheets of steel grinding against each other. That’s the deep growls. The higher screams just sound like reality is tearing.

This is a quality album of Technical Death Metal that’s notable for its lack of chaotic frenzy and for its more restrained approach to complexity and nuance. Throw in a bit of atmospheric enhancement and the end result is a most enjoyable 50 minutes.

Highly recommended.

Neck of the Woods – Neck of the Woods (Review)

Neck of the Woods are a Progressive Metal band from Canada and this is their début EP.

Music like this is an exciting prospect; birthed of Metal in all its glorious forms, Neck of the Woods don’t constraint themselves with just one style and instead coherently incorporate lots of influences into their musical framework.

This is interesting, stimulating music for fans of Converge, Between the Buried and Me, Devil Sold His Soul, Mastodon, etc. – essentially any band that’s pushing the envelope, playing music from the heart and daring to be a bit different.

Under the overall aegis of Progressive Metal, Neck of the Woods pack Modern Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Post-Metal and Technical Metal into nearly 29 minutes of playing time.

The throaty roar of the singer’s voice carries the deep resonance of Extreme Metal while the music explores the boundaries of its self-created domain.

The band can certainly play and they have a good side-order of technicality dished up with their meals. The complexity serves the songs though, rather than the other way around; the guitars carry the listener through landscapes that are familiar and yet fresh at the same time.

For all of this, the band are a very easy listen. The songs are vibrant and satisfying in the way that only good Metal can be. They have personality and seem to have been created purely for the love of it, as should be the way. Yes, there is aggression here, but it’s not of the nihilistic, hate-fuelled variety. Although I’d stop short of describing this as friendly music, it certainly is personable and agreeable. If you’re into heavy music, that is; the average person on the street would probably just view this as noise, as they tend to do with anything even vaguely Metallic.

Neck of the Woods are an exciting new addition to the worldwide Metal scene and I’m eager to hear what they do next.

Oh, and they also have a song called I Know Where I’ll Bury You. Class.

Ilsa – The Felon’s Claw (Review)

Ilsa are a Sludge Metal band from the US, and this is their fourth album.

I’m a huge fan of Ilsa’s last album Intoxicantations. It’s such an excellent album with an immense sound that it’s been a firm favourite of mine since I first reviewed it. To say I was excited when this new release popped into my inbox was an understatement.

This is filthy, unpleasant music that only true Metal fans could like. It’s horrendously ugly and disgustingly depraved and we fucking love it that way. Ilsa are masters of their formidable blend of Sludge, Doom, Crust and Punk.

They retain their heavier-than-Hell sound and it’s great to hear them just crash into the first track Oubliette without any preamble.

The vocals are still snarling, vicious beasts that seem to rend and tear their way through the playing time. This attitude is apparent from the very first rabid bark and the intensity is kept up throughout all 48 minutes.

Once more, each song has its own identity and character. This is a complete album, holistically, but like Intoxicantations, The Felon’s Claw is made up of individually identifiable songs. So many bands are incapable of this, for some reason, so it’s great when you can put an album on randomly and it’s easy to identify what song is playing and where it sits in the running order. After a few spins, of course.

On this new release Ilsa sound a bit slower and groovier than their last outing. They still step up the speed on occasion, but overall the Doom/Sludge side of their sound is more prevalent. With riffs that could capsize ocean liners, Ilsa populate their disgusting landscape with ugly landmarks that you can’t help but stare at in wonder.

Well, I’m extremely pleased with what the band have produced here. Ilsa have not disappointed.

There’s no reason, none whatsoever, for you to not get this.