Reviews – Page 552 – Wonderbox Metal

Gust – Gust (Review)

Gust are from Sweden and play Hardcore. This is their second album.

This is violent and angry Hardcore that goes straight for the throat but isn’t afraid to do so in different ways.

There is a touch of the chaotic and dissonant about Gust. The band eschew the usual Hardcore clichés and generic guitar patterns and instead go for an atypical and the far more interesting take on hardcore.

As well as brutal and belligerent anger they also display a penchant for nuance in their riffing; it’s certainly not one-dimensional. There’s a creative flair at work here that makes Gust an absorbing listen.

Their riffs also have an apocalyptic feel to them and they’re almost tinged with a slight Black Metal feel as they drip with darkness and malevolent intent.

With largely short songs you’d be forgiven for thinking they were largely taken up with pure aggression; while they do have aggression in spades this is tempered by melodic walls of guitars and dynamic leads.

The end result is an album that mixes the creativity and energy of bands like Every Time I Die and Converge with the occasional slight nod to some of the extreme elements of bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan and Zao. Smother all of this in a Crusty, apocalyptic delivery and Gust are onto a winner.

A highly rewarding listen.

At Dusk – Anhedonia (Review)

At Dusk is a one-man Black Metal project from the US. This is his début album.

The album starts with an extended section of winds and Classical piano. After this it’s onto the roiling Blackness of Depressive Black Metal in full, morbid flow.

This album features 4 epic-length tracks that are full of lo-fi Black Metal with enhanced keyboard backdrops and expressive downbeat riffing. The melodies are miserably grim and the general aura is one of misanthropic darkness.

Anhedonia’s recording is distinctly underground and this fits the uncompromisingly negative nature of the music well. Fuzziness, distortion and raw Black Metal are layered with Depressive zeal to create works of near-suicidal art.

These songs are like waves of gloom on a twilight sea, ebbing and flowing with capricious vigour. They wear their bleak emotions on their sleeves and listening to At Dusk is like a constant barrage of negativity and woe. But in a good way.

Screams are buried under the blanketing cover of shadows and slash through into the light like serpentine predators.

At 1 hour in length this is a Blackened journey that leaves the listener raw, bruised and emotionally drained.

Listen to this at loud volume and with the lights turned off.

Ius Talionis – Eleutheromania (Review)

Ius Talionis are from Germany and this is their first release. They play Black Metal.

Although this is actually a demo release the quality of both sound and content belies this.

This is underground Black Metal with a raw-in-a-good-way sound that has a warmth and approachability to it despite the icy aura that the riffs themselves exude. The bass deserves special mention as not only is it audible but also adds tangible atmosphere and depth to the proceedings.

The songs lack ostentation and are atavistic beasts drawn from the dawn of Black Metal and harken back to the days when the likes of Burzum and Darkthrone were just dark amalgamations of potentiality and burgeoning threat.

This is Old-School Black Metal viewed and produced through the prism of history and hindsight. As such it perfectly captures the raw essence of Black Metal without ever falling into the trap of complacency, pointless hero-worship or any number of pitfalls that might befall the common Black Metal band.

These songs have a good deal of honesty about them and each one is truly enjoyable as an exemplar of the Blackened art of mood, pace and malevolent tribute.

Eleutheromania is a very impressive début release. With 4 songs in 36 minutes it could have easily passed as a début album. The fact that they haven’t done this and we still have this future début to come is a very exciting prospect indeed.

Ius Talionis are a band to watch that’s for sure. If they can keep the quality levels up then I predict a great album from them at some point.

Promethean Horde – Ashes of the Empyrean (Review)

Promethean Horde are from the US and play Black Metal. This is their début album.

This is epic Black Metal that blasts out of the speakers with vitality and passion. Immediately a few things are clear – they have a good sound, the bass has a good presence and it’s fast and furious.

The band have a healthy melodic streak to their sound with a good amount of leads and solos rearing their heads amidst the Blackened landscape.

Mainly screamed vocals are used, although deeper growls and cleans also appear. All are performed well.

Ashes of the Empyrean boasts fast and aggressive Melodic Black Metal that’s dark and sharp. These are Blackened melodies in use here not the joyous, pseudo-Pop of their more commercial cousins. This is hateful, spiteful and lives to cut lives short.

Some of the compositions also feature a bit more of a Progressive influence to them, as if the band are just beginning to tentatively experiment with Post-Black Metal/Folk elements. It’s not a large part of their sound for sure, but it’s an additional touch that keeps things interesting.

All throughout the album the band treat us to thick guitars and scathing vocals that lay the foundation for this enjoyable release. Reminding of old Dimmu Borgir without the keyboard ostentation, this is a pleasing album that is easy to like. The Blackened riffs wash over you like a welcome flagellation and the subtle Death Metal touches give their attack an added edge.

Solid, quality Black Metal. Enjoy.

Orbseven – .ismos. (Review)

Orbseven is a solo project from the US and this is the third album of Experimental Black Metal that the project has unleashed.

This is a combination of electric Black Metal, sleek Post-Black Metal and ambient/avant-garde darkness. It’s an interesting combination and the resulting album is an exploration of state-of-the-art Blackness and atmospheric expression.

Darkened sounds and interesting effects enhance the tracks in a way that’s subtle enough to not steal any thunder from the main driving force of the guitars but has enough impact to be noticeable.

The songs are propelled by Blackened melodies and experimental sound structures, but there’s also enough Post-Black Metal wanderings to allow the room for shades of both light and dark. They’re well written, have great dynamics and are potent affairs.

.ismos. fosters an atmosphere that’s vaguely mechanistic but overtly malevolent and mysterious. Everything about this album from the music itself to the album cover deals in these mysteries and although there are no answers forthcoming the search for them is what’s important.

The vocals are a curious and varied affair. Multiple styles collide as spoken/distorted words, barely audible pseudo-ethereal sounds and subtle cleans all appear at various times during the tracks.

If you think along the lines of Dødheimsgard, Aborym, Red Harvest and Arcturus then you’ll have a good idea of the basic building blocks of the Orbseven sound. There’s even a couple of riffs here and there that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Mastodon album.

Orbseven is a creative and novel approach to what Black Metal should sound like in 2014. Taking the basic Black Metal template and building/distorting it is common enough, but the always interesting thing is where the band ends up once they have done this. In the case of Orbseven we end up with Experimental/Post-Black Metal that rolls smoothly out of the speakers.

A great effort – show your support.

Cara Neir/Venowl – Split

Cara Neir and Venowl are both from the US and they’ve teamed up for this tasty split. Cara Neir play Black Metal with a Crust/Punk influence, whilst Venowl are the embodiment of dirty Doom evil.

Cara Neir are up first with three tracks lasting just under 12 minutes. Theirs is a direct assault that strips the flesh from bone and mutilates with extreme savagery.

Brutal riffs and Blackened melodies are powered by a Crusty assault that leaves the listener battered.

Sharp vocals eat away like acid as the singer attempts to claw his way through your ears and into the meaty goodness within.

They’re no one-trick pony however, as Cara Neir have shown throughout their prolific back catalogue. Even here on their short contribution to this split they show a good amount of variety.

Aeonian Temple is anger personified, Nights… is Shoegaze/Post-Metal in the style of Sun Devoured Earth and Pitiful Human Bindings, which is also the longest song, comes off like lo-fi Black Metal with a corrupted aura and a rabid bite.

Venowl have not long released their début album Patterns of Failure and with that success in mind we turn to them. They contribute only one track to this split. It’s called Scour (Parts I and II), it’s almost 22 minutes long and it is an ode to gradually inflicted and long, drawn-out pain. At least, that’s what it sounds like to me.

Venowl play slow. Except when they play even slower. It’s filthy, unhealthy, dangerous and barbed. It’s everything you love about unhinged, caustic Doom.

The track largely defies description except to possibly detail the descending layers of Hell and the accumulated millennia of torment and suffering that has accreted there.

Here we have two very different bands that manage to complement each other perfectly. I think you should do yourself a favour and get hold of this split. Darkness and misery never sounded so underground or so good.

Aeonsgate – Pentalpha (Review)

Aeonsgate are from Sweden and this is their début album.

This is a very ambitious release – one track, almost an hour in length, documenting the last few minutes of someone’s life.

This is a supergroup of sorts, with various musical contributions coming from people who have played in bands such as Candlemass, Therion, Ephel Duath and Necrophagist.

Doom Metal/Funeral Doom lends itself well to a release of this nature. The fact that the vocals are handled by Mats Leven, (Candlemass), means that it instantly has a very authoritative sheen to it. His vocals are on top form as always, and he seems to enjoy himself in the vaguely theatrical Doom atmospheres that are evoked here.

The song goes through many permutations/phases and takes in 70’s-style Doom, Funeral Doom, Doom Metal, synth/keyboard highlights and Progressive Rock elements. While a song of this length by its very nature won’t be for everyone it works well and slowly builds and grows throughout the playing time.

The winding, repetitive nature of the song is hypnotic and slowly develops the theme and narrative of the piece.

This is not without its flaws of course; any hour-long song would have to be pretty perfect to be flawless, but for the most part this is an involving and enjoyable Doom-opera that’s worth the time that needs to be invested in it.

Emblazoned – Eucharistiae Sacramentum (Review)

Emblazoned are from the US and this is their début album. They play Blackened Death Metal.

This is music with an evil feel created by minions of some Dark Lord or other who worship and defile their way through 8 tracks of daemonic Death Metal.

The deep growls and high screams call out hymns to darkness whilst the crushing production allows the music to be both heavy and precise.

All of the instruments are clear and played with surgical steel. The drums have an especially crisp sound to them, the bass is audible and worthwhile and the guitars have a crunchy, crushing edge.

The riffs have a Blackened feel to a lot of the melodies which adds a touch of the underworld to the songs; they already have a malevolent feel to them as it is and as the band are mainly interested in creating a brutally evil atmosphere it’s only to be expected that a Black Metal influence should make its way onto the album.

The songs are very enjoyable and make the most of their relatively short playing time by effortlessly blending the brutality of streamlined Death Metal with the dark feeling of Black Metal.

Emblazoned combine parts of bands like Deicide, The Black Dahlia Murder, Satyricon, Behemoth, Arsis and Lvcifyre into their merciless sound and the result is a very strong album indeed.

It’s time for you to check out Emblazoned and join them in their war against the forces of light.

Snailking – Storm (Review)

This is the new album from Swedish Doom band Snailking.

Having enjoyed Snailking’s previous work this album held much promise for me and upon listening to it I’m pleased to say they haven’t let me down.

If you’re unfamiliar with Snailking they play Doom Metal with an easy slowness and epic-length songs. Think Electric Wizard with a bit more of a Stoner edge added to the Sludgy Doom.

The band have a raw, earthy sound that has honest appeal to it and a good gritty tone to the guitars. It’s heavy and dirty with a carefree vibe.

The vocals are lazily melodic with a roughened melodic edge. They add deeper growls and other vocalisations when needed but these are not over-used. The singer is relatively low in the mix and his voice seems to fuse with the music at the cellular level.

Riffs the size of mountains regularly tumble out of the speakers and the band effortlessly ply their Sludge-tinged Doom with simple effectiveness. There is a drone-like hypnotic component to their sound that carries you along on a sea of distortion and the promise of Doom.

These are well crafted songs that may sound jammed out but nonetheless display good structure and songwriting skills.

Storm is 53 minutes of expertly played Doom Metal. Highly recommended.

Undermine the Supremacy – Ashes (Review)

Undermine the Supremacy are from Australia and this is their début EP. They play Metalcore.

After an atmospheric, expectation-building intro the first track, (and title track), starts and it’s actually heavier than I was expecting. It’s almost Deathcore in places. Almost, but not quite.

It’s groove-based and relies on heavy riffs and melodic interludes to propel the songs forward, as is common in Metalcore, but it’s more extreme than a lot of the more commercial-edged bands that populate this scene. It’s less Killswitch Engage and more Lamb of God; less concerned with anthemic choruses and more concerned with flattening everything with heavy rage.

The vocalist is quite the beast, with his voice being much more extreme than the norm for this style. It adds a layer of real bite to the tracks.

The constant level of aggression on display here is good to see and the band are clearly into what they’re doing. Also pleasing is their avoidance, (mostly), of some of the more obvious riffs that usually make up Metalcore. Okay they’re never going to be described as innovative but they don’t fall into the trap of being generic either, which is no mean feat for a genre such as this.

Fans of Lamb of God, Chimaira, Hatebreed, etc. take note.

Check them out and see if they can reduce you to ashes.