Reviews – Page 557 – Wonderbox Metal

Primordial – Where Greater Men Have Fallen (Review)

Primordial are from Ireland and this is their eighth album.

A new Primordial release is always a bit of an event to be greeted with great anticipation. They’re a band who have carved out their own niche in the world of Metal and can rightfully say they’ve achieved what they have through their own hard work and individuality.

The first thing that always comes to mind when thinking of Primordial is the talented and dramatic vocals of their singer. This is not to belittle the musical content in any way, but this has always been the focal point of the band for me.

On Where Greater Men Have Fallen he’s on top form as always; power and passion are the cornerstones of his delivery. His performance is first-rate and he still has a great turn of expression and a strong theatrical presence.

The music, as always, is bold and striking whilst simultaneously having nuance and depth. The driving riffs will be instantly familiar to Primordial fans and the colourful, emotive world the band exist in is welcoming from the get-go.

The songs cover upbeat charges and more atmospheric, considered parts. Primordial do both very well and both get equal consideration on the album.

Primordial’s Black Metal background has allowed the band to retain a certain edge to their songwriting, even though these days there’s only a few Black Metal traces left in their sound. For the most part this is roaring, passionate Heavy Metal through and through, but without a cliché in sight.

Nobody really sounds like Primordial, and Primoridal don’t really sound like anyone else. A lot of this is down to the singer, but musically this is true as well. When you hear them you just know who the band is.

This album is a jewel in the crown of Primordial’s considerable back catalogue. Their previous album, (Redemption at the Puritan’s Hand), was good but not quite up to the usual Primordial standard for some reason. With Where Greater Men Have Fallen they’ve corrected this slight dip in quality with an album that sits alongside the best of their work.

If you already know Primordial then you’ll need little convincing to get this album. If you’re new to the band then this is a perfect introduction.

Have a listen.

Devil Sold His Soul – Belong ╪ Betray (Review)

Devil Sold His Soul are from the UK and this is their latest EP. They play Progressive/Post-Metal.

I’m a big fan of Devil Sold His Soul’s early work, but somehow I never kept up with them and this is my first exposure to them in a while. I was interested to hear this EP for this reason, especially as this is their first release with a new vocalist.

As always their music is impassioned, expansive and very heavy when it needs to be. Their songwriting has become even more developed than their older work, however.

It’s immediately apparent that their new vocalist fits the band like a glove. Scathing screams seem to spike painfully into your mind, but you like it anyway; soaring cleans rise gracefully from the emotive riffs whilst cascading leads swell up around them. Replacing a vocalist can be a very tricky thing to do successfully, but I’m immediately sold.

These tracks, (of which there are five), combine crushing guitars and soothing, sombre tones to create a collection of songs that pluck at the heartstrings as well as trying to pull them out.

The combined fiery melancholic nature of the guitars mix with vocals that veritably drip with emotion; these songs reveal a band that are at the height of their powers.

It’s like the power and passion of Year Of No Light, the dynamic energy of Deftones and the flawless delivery of Cult of Luna all rolled into one exciting package.

I love this. You will too.

Trigger – Start Our Revenge (Review)

Trigger are from Germany and this is their début album. They play Grindcore.

Immediately it’s a wall of hard noise that hits you with the first track. Trigger don’t mess around. This is 24 minutes of aural abuse and nasty Grindcore that’s for true fans only.

Violent Grind is the name of the game here. The Punk/Hardcore influences of the genre are not as blatant as some bands as Trigger go for a harsher sound and delivery than most.

The high screamed vocals sound utterly maniacal and unhinged. I’m sure the singer is a nice, normal, well-adjusted person in real life, but he sounds like a lunatic on this.

Did I mention there’s no guitars? No? Well there isn’t. Who needs guitars when you have bass, drums and enough bile and venom to kill an elephant. The riffs are fuzzed-up bundles of hatred and the drums are as relentless as decay.

The lack of guitar gives them a Sludge feeling in places, despite the near-constant high-velocity nature of the tracks. This feeling is reinforced on the odd occasion that they do slow down and it’s a welcome additional facet to their sound.

This is strangely compelling and oddly refreshing. Pull the Trigger and watch them explode.

Witchclan – The Dark Binding (Review)

Witchclan are from the UK and this is their second album. They play Black Metal.

This is raw, underground Black Metal with more melody than you are probably expecting and more evil than you can fit into a very large box.

Sinister, inhuman vocals scream out hatred and occult messages whilst the band play at breakneck speeds.

Surprisingly thick rhythm guitars provide a powerful base for the Blackened melodies to dance over, some of which are unusually upbeat. The entire production is unusual actually, and it lends the band a definite edge over their peers as The Dark Binding just sounds different.

This is added to by the band’s songs themselves. This is not your usual Darkthrone-worship. Witchclan have a lot more personality and individuality than that.

Don’t get me wrong; this is recognisably Black Metal and no-one would think otherwise, but the sound they have and their choice of melodies and riffs…Witchclan are forging their own way through a genre that has seen it all before and they should definitely be commended and supported for this.

Rather than just echo the Black Metal greats, Witchclan put their own individual spin on things in a superb way. They have ended up producing an album that is very obviously Black Metal but with a rotten freshness that puts most other raw Black Metal bands to shame.

Witchclan court their auras of darkness and mystery with great zeal and fervour, and the hymns to fell powers that are recited on this release have all of the requisite components to engage and terrify the listener in equal parts.

If I was to sum up this album in one word, that word would be evil.

There’s Underground Black Metal, and then there’s Witchclan. This is a dark gem and a must for connoisseurs of supreme Black Metal art.

Favourite Track: Dawn of the Serpent Kings. One of the shortest tracks here, but with a brilliantly realised air of malevolence and an otherworldly martial quality. Music for a daemonic invasion.

Old Thunder – Slings & Arrows (Review)

This is Atmospheric Doom/Sludge from the US. It’s the début release from this solo project.

The intro track Our Fields Are Burning is slow and meandering, and reminds me of Abandon. The singer barks over the first part of it and I like his voice; aggressive, legible and passionate.

June 2, 1910 is the first song proper and also the longest at just under 10 minutes. I’m once again reminded of Abandon, and their combination of Doom and Sludge with a dose of Crust is a path that Old Thunder also adhere to.

Having said that, Old Thunder also have faster sections that put me more in mind of a band like Rorcal with their Blackened Sludge delivery.

The first half of Sinking sounds like it’s stalking prey through a dark wilderness and once more I feel the need to comment on his barking voice; it’s very expressive and sounds really, really good. Nice work that man.

Rainroom has a strong despondent melodic streak running through it that focuses more on the Atmospheric Doom side of the equation, as well as some My Dying Bride/Katatonia influences.

The final track Serpent Sovereign is all about the dirrrggggeeeee.

My favourite parts of this release are the bits where the music slows, the guitars lock into a Doomy repetitive riff and the down-beat melodics come into play.

There’s also the odd moment of Post-Metal thrown into the mix, and even some clean vocals added in to spice things up.

This is a surprisingly diverse mix of Doom-esque sub-genres. All performed well and all, for the most part, sounding naturally mixed and not just cut and pasted together.

Slings & Arrows falls short of being absolutely phenomenal only very marginally. The first reason is the recording; there’s nothing wrong with it as such but I can’t help but feel the songs would benefit from a slightly fuller, warmer sound. The second is the songwriting; although very accomplished, especially for a first release, I feel it could be tightened up a little bit here and there.

Really though, these are very minor quibbles as this is a top quality début. On the basis of Slings & Arrows I fully expect that the next release from Old Thunder will be totally jaw-dropping.

Be sure to check this out.

Baring Teeth – Ghost Chorus Among Old Ruins (Review)

This is Baring Teeth’s second album. They are from the US and they play Progressive/Technical Death Metal.

With a cover that gives nothing away, I was intrigued to find out what lay within…

Baring Teeth play dense, complicated music that mixes technicality and progressive forays to create an unusual beast of an album.

This is an interesting and unusual listen. Like a Jazz-Metal fusion of Uphill Battle, Converge, Crowpath, Gorguts and Pyrrhon.

Angular riffs and complex drumming make for impenetrable songs that take time to reveal their hidden treasures. The bass has a good presence and role to play too.

The songs meander along the highway of distorted frenzy. Sometimes restrained and relaxed, in no hurry to get to their destination; sometimes frenetic and unhinged, desperate to get somewhere, anywhere; sometimes the calm before the storm takes over; sometimes the controlled chaos of true genius.

Frequently; all of the above at the same time, and then some.

The vocals sound like they’re struggling to be heard behind the wall of noise that the band make. They’re perfectly serviceable but it’s the chaotic music that provides the real focal point here. Human noises are simply an addition to the trauma of the rest of the band’s cacophony.

Definitely an acquired taste this one, but definitely one worth persevering with.

Haate/Chiral – Where Mountains Pierce The Nightsky – Split

This is a split between Haate, who are from Italy and play Dark Ambient, and Chiral, also from Italy and playing Black Metal. Both are solo projects.

Haate’s contribution is made up of 3 tracks, 2 of which we’ve heard before on As The Moon Painted Her Grief. The remaining track, (the first one on this split), is new, or new to me at least.

Everything stated in the review of As The Moon Painted Her Grief about Haate is still true here, and the additional track follows the same theme.

Dark atmospheres and much expanded proto-Classical 90’s Black Metal interludes/intros are the order of business, and judging by this business is booming.

Only one of these three tracks may be new, but it’s a joy to hear all of them regardless. And if you’ve never heard Haate at all, then do yourself a favour and have a good listen now.

Chiral are a relatively new band and I’ve really enjoyed following the development of this artist from first demo Winter Eternal to début EP Abisso. For such a very talented and promising band I was excited to hear Chiral’s contribution to this split, especially as it’s a whopper of a track at 20 minutes in length.

Synths start us off before guitars, blasting drums and screaming daemons join the party. The brain behind Chiral, once more, has outdone himself.

This is quality Atmospheric Black Metal, frozen to the touch and icy to the core. It’s a highly emotive and engaging work with variation and good pacing.

The song – Everblack Fields of Nightside – seems to draw you into its dark embrace and keep you there. The Blackened melodies are enhanced by keyboard backing in a way that seems to be both subtle and overt, which is quite an achievement.

The general sound is extremely satisfying, with everything having the right level in the mix and the drums in particular sound well-rounded and surprisingly warm for such a frigid release.

Chiral keep getting better, there’s no other way to say it.

Top split, check it out.

Fortress – Unto the Nothing (Review)

Fortress are from the US and play Doom Metal. This is their début album.

This is Doom Metal with plenty of heaviness and bite.

Slow, colossal riffs ring out from the speakers, slowly trying to drag you into oblivion. I do like a band that knows how to play at a glacial pace.

The growled vocals sound like a howling daemon rising from the pit to swallow you whole, whilst the marginally less-deep vocals remind of the singer of Cathedral with a rougher voice mixed with the singer of The Meads of Asphodel.

This is Doom with an undercurrent of Sludge running through the waste pipes. There’s a wildness to Fortress that doesn’t need taming; it’s part of their innate appeal.

Feedback-laden, dirty and unkempt; Fortress remind of Grief, only with longer songs, mixed with a band like Conan.

Chunky, heavy riffs power the songs and some of the guitar parts have a Stoner Metal vibe to them. Everything is played at a snail’s pace though, so both Stoner and Sludge influences ultimately get poured into the same drain that’s filled to the brim with DOOOOM!

For quality Doom that’s crushingly heavy and a vibe of total despair and loss, look no further than Fortess.

Favourite Track: Either Lies & Fears; Slow. Heavy. Miserable. Compelling; or The Nothing, with subtle, ethereal female cleans in the background. Haunting.

Zero Gravity – Holocaust Awaits (Review)

This is the début album from India’s Zero Gravity – a Thrash/Death Metal band.

After a pointless intro, the band start the album properly and they introduce us to their rather fetching take on Death Metal. Think Old-School Death Metal with a sharp Progressive edge and an added splash of Arch Enemy’s modernity and catchiness.

If you think Arch Enemy are too clean and polished sounding; if you’d prefer it if they had more of an underground, raw feeling then look no further. Arch Enemy combined with Death is as good a reference point as any. And do you know what? It sounds bloody good.

The singer has a good bark and she delivers the lines with passion and bite. She has a great voice and it works with the aggressive riffs to fuel the band to greater heights of attack.

The riffs and licks flash out like lightning and the technical/progressive elements of their sound are abundant but relatively subtle. These are clearly people who know how to play their instruments well and don’t need to be overtly flashy or ostentatious to prove this.

Holocaust Awaits is an album full of hooks and has plenty of catchy parts to it. Sometimes this kind of songwriting can be a recipe for acute gratification at the expense of chronic satisfaction, however Zero Gravity are just damn Metal enough for the acute to bleed into the chronic and we could very well end up with an album that has some longevity to it. Only time will tell but I know what I think the outcome will be…

Minus the intro there are 8 songs on this album and the entire thing lasts just over 40 minutes – it’s a good length as it allows the band to show what they’re capable of but doesn’t let them outstay their welcome.

This is the kind of music that’s actually surprisingly hard to do well – this style of Melodic Death Metal with a bit of groove, a bit of Death, catchiness and hooks…on paper it sounds all very good but unfortunately a lot of bands who try this style end up sounding very mediocre and stale.

It’s all in the execution of course and Zero Gravity avoid all of this this by simply writing kick-ass riffs that are artfully arranged into actual songs, and decent ones at that.

A very enjoyable listen. Check this out and see what you think.

Sarpedon – Anomic Nation (Review)

Sarpedon are from Norway and this is their début album. They play Progressive Metal.

This is sharp Progressive Metal with charismatic vocals that lead the way. Think a band like Nevermore for a quick and easy comparison; Progressive Metal with an emphasis on the Metal.

The music is solid and full of expressive leads and solos. Good rhythmic riffing and dependable drumming underscore everything, but the vocals are definitely the focal point.

Powerfully sung, they have a theatrical quality to them that imbues every song with character and personality.

The music is both technical and melodic as well as featuring a slight Blackened edge that colours some of the riffs now and again. The inclusion of blast beats and the styling of the band logo means that Sarpedon have a definite Black Metal feel to them; like a Black Metal band with clean vocals in places – akin to Vintersorg, for example

The songs are definite growers; repeated listens reveals hidden depths to the music whilst the vocal hooks and harmonies further borrow into your subconscious.

A recommended listen; give Sarpedon the time to get to know you and get inside your skull.