Reviews – Page 558 – Wonderbox Metal

Myrkur – Myrkur (Review)

Myrkur is a one woman Black Metal project from Denmark. This is her début EP.

Myrkur combines the rawness and bleakness of second-wave Black Metal with ambient and atmospheric sounds to create frostbitten and ice-filled sonicscapes that scar the imagination and enchant the brain.

Ethereal clean female vocals and raw Black Metal mix in such a way that helps the music to transcend the usual genre constraints and become something greater than the sum of its parts.

There are medieval influences to some of the guitar sounds, (when they’re not wrapped in grim darkness of course), and even a touch of the Post-Metal/Post-Black Metal on occasion.

Think a pared down Wolves in the Throne Room, or a more atmospheric Darkthrone, or a less synth-powered Vinterriket; add angelic female vocals and this is the space Myrkur inhabit. It’s not all beauty however as she can also scream and shriek with the best of them when needed.

It’s rare that you find harsh Black Metal skilfully interweaved with music that’s atmospheric and epic in scope. Here the two are thoughtfully and flawlessly intertwined. Usually this is only accomplished by the elite and cream-of-the-crop bands like Agalloch.

Add to this a softer feminine touch that usually, if incorporated into Metal at all, just sounds tacked on; here it’s an integral, fully embedded and realised part of the Myrkur experience.

And to think, this is only a début EP. Imagine what she can do with a full album of material? The mind boggles. The mind can’t wait.

Earth – Primitive and Deadly (Review)

Earth are from the US and this is their eighth album.

Primitive and Deadly – a great title and possibly a good description, although I’d favour monolithic and intelligent as a better one, (description, certainly not title).

Earth have created an impressively realised down-beat soundscape on this album. After a fair few releases that were very minimalistic and largely on the softer/acoustic scale of things, on Primitive and Deadly they flesh out the sound a bit more, featuring more prominent drums and electric guitar.

The core Earth sound is here and the band’s riffs are intimately familiar, like a long lost friend. Earth have always held somewhat of a hypnotic fascination for me. It’s the kind of music that you can easily lose yourself in. Total immersion music.

The entrancing melodies and slowly unwinding structures belie a thoughtful songcrafting process. This is without a doubt the heaviest Earth album I’ve heard, but it doesn’t detract from the recognisable and innately inner quality that’s 100% Earth.

After a lot of instrumental work on their last few albums it’s also nice, and a little surprising, to hear some vocals included in this release also. Male vocals make an appearance in the second track There is a Serpent Coming and are soulful and dripping with emotion. They instantly remind me of Soulsavers, which is a good thing as it’s Mark Lanegan who does vocals for both. He reappears once more on Rooks Across the Gates with another sterling performance.

Female vocals make an appearance on the third track From the Zodiacal Light courtesy of Rabia Shaheen Qazi of Rose Windows. She’s not someone I’m familiar with, which is something I’ll have to rectify as she has a textured, luxurious voice that sits atop Earth’s hazy, pondering music like the tastiest of sugary treats.

Overall this is a bigger, grander Earth than ever before. Primitive and Deadly is fully-realised and an even richer experience than their already very-high-quality minimalistic work. It’s a revelation to hear a band like this flex their musical muscles and add to their central identity whilst simultaneously keeping their core sound intact.

Flawless and essential; for all fans of everything Doom.

Malpractice – Turning Tides (Review)

Malpractice are from Finland and play Progressive Metal. This is their fourth album.

On first listen you think, “Wow, this is really good!”, and on subsequent listens you realise that it just keeps getting better and better.

The singer has a voice that drips off the songs like liquid silk. His voice is effortlessly melodic and flawlessly delivered. Power and emotion seem to come easily to him and his voice acts as a real focal point to these energetic and emotive songs.

Malpractice have a clean, minimalistic sound that captures all of the nuances and power of the songs. The tracks are all skilfully crafted and revolve around the clear voice of the singer and the masterful rhythm guitar work.

These guitars really do provide a lot of energetic feeling to the tracks and it’s really easy to get carried along with their obvious fervour and passion. They don’t slouch in the solo/lead department either, with plenty of dazzling fretwork to capture the attention.

Reference points? Think somewhere between Threshold and Queensrÿche.

This is a very impressive album from a band who have clearly refined their art over the years. There are no missteps here and every song has something to offer. If you like catchy, well-performed Progressive Metal then you could do a lot worse than checking out this album.

This really is a stunner. Top marks.

Nidsang – Into the Womb of Dissolving Flames (Review)

Nidsang are from Sweden and this is their second album of Black Metal.

This is Swedish Black Metal that’s violent and possessed with the rage of the storm. Nidsang want to kill and want to do so at great speed whilst seemingly paradoxically taking their time to do so as well.

This translates to songs that are filled with fast riffing and blasting drums but rather than wear themselves out early and peter off into the blackness Nidsang’s songs are longer than you might expect for anthems this deadly and hate-fuelled.

They love to play fast, of course, but when they slow down to a mid-paced groove they also show they can throw out some tasty riffs. I also like the inclusion of guitar solos, which although not as rare as they used to be, certainly aren’t Black Metal staples.

The singer barks out his disdain for all things holy with rather a growl-tinged scream that doesn’t sound completely human any more.

Nidsang offer us 8 hymns to the darkness spread out over just under 43 minutes. For a rough idea of the area that Nidsang operate in, think Marduk, Watain, Setherial, etc. – fast and vicious Black Metal that is sharp enough to cut someone into ribbons.

It may be nothing new but that’s not the point. There’s something elemental and primal about this kind of Black Metal, and Nidsang play it well.

Check out Into the Womb of Dissolving Flames and see what dark imagery they can conjure up for you.

Voodoo Gods – Anticipation for Blood Leveled in Darkness (Review)

This is the début album from International supergroup Voodoo Gods. They play Death Metal.

Featuring members of bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Sceptic and Severe Torture you know that a lot of talent and experience has gone into making this release.

This is song-oriented Death Metal with plenty of hooks, solos and a Thrash influence.

The tracks are catchy and memorable. They roll along enjoyably and the Thrash aspect gives the riffs an extra energy. There are frequent solos which are played well and it’s always nice to hear the colour and interest that a good solo brings to a song.

The dual vocal approach works a treat and provides nice variety to the tracks, as well as some good rhythms and vocal interplay. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher is, of course, immediately recognisable. The second singer Seth Van de Loo certainly shouldn’t be discounted, however, and holds his own against the seasoned Cannibal Corpse veteran. Together they growl, grunt and shriek their way across these songs with power and conviction.

Coming from the people involved this is not as brutal as you might be expecting. The Thrash influence and the emphasis on songs means that this is more catchy and mid-paced than brutal and blasting. It’s still Death Metal and still heavy, of course, but not as much as you might think.

There are also moments of lighter reprieve and a good Death influence to some of the riffs. It all adds to their palette and the end result is a rich, sumptuous Metal meal.

Enjoyable and accomplished, this is the kind of album you throw on when you’re in the mood to be aurally beaten around the head by a band with a bit of groove who know how to write a good tune.

Highly recommended.

Iron Reagan – The Tyranny of Will (Review)

Iron Reagan are from the US and this is their second album. They play Metallic Crossover and feature members of bands such as Municipal Waste, Darkest Hour and Cannabis Corpse.

I have enjoyed Iron Reagan’s previous work so I was expecting good things from this album. It doesn’t disappoint.

Iron Reagan play Hardcore and Thrash mixed in a blender and shat out at escape velocity. It’s highly aggressive and kicks your door down looking for a scrap. There’s no hiding.

The songs are short, heavy and usually exceedingly violent. Iron Reagan have a nice malevolent streak to some of their riffs that keeps things gritty.

The band play tight and fast, and some short, sharp guitar solos are also included in their spiky package.

Vocally the shouts straddle that rarely seen line where you can imagine them being transposed into either an 80’s Thrash band or an 80’s Hardcore band with equal ease. They inhabit both worlds flawlessly and effectively represent both.

A quality album. 24 blasts of anarchy in just under 32 minutes. Play loud.

Cannibal Corpse – A Skeletal Domain (Review)

Cannibal Corpse are a Death Metal institution. If they need any form of introduction then you’re probably reading the wrong site.

This is their 13th album. Unlucky for some, maybe, but not this long lasting band of bloodthirsty veterans. A new Cannibal Corpse album is always something to get excited about and this one is no different.

There’s a reason that Cannibal Corpse are the biggest Death Metal band in the world. They know their stuff and they always deliver. Even the weaker of their albums is better than what most other Death metal bands can even dream of releasing.

So how does A Skeletal Season hold up against their sterling back catalogue? Pretty damn well is the answer. They’ve managed to release yet another class album of quality material.

By now any long-term fan of the band will know what to expect. Cannibal Corpse are remarkably consistent. Some see this as a failing, but the simple fact is that the Cannibal Corpse song formula is a winner and they always deliver the goods.

Cannibal Corpse are the very definition of timeless Death Metal. If you take any of their albums you can pretty much listen to any song and imagine it coming from almost any era of Metal. If you take any of their old songs they don’t sound particularly Old-School even today, (If you ignore the obvious differences in production), and if you take any of their new songs you can imagine them coming out decades ago, (again, production values notwithstanding). This, I think, is part of the Cannibal Corpse appeal – they always sound simultaneously established and fresh. That and the great songs of course.

This doesn’t mean that nothing ever changes though as each album brings something slightly different to the table. With A Skeletal Season the band have incorporated a hint of the more modern style of Death Metal into some of the riffs as well as some more atypical drum beats.

These are not things that stick out like sore thumbs or anything. You’ll never, ever mistake this for Deathcore, for example; but it’s apparent on a couple of tracks, most noticeably on the opener High Velocity Impact Spatter.

George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher is on great form as always. He sounds especially harsh on this album but also very catchy. Songs like Kill or Become show him at his visceral best; interesting vocal patterns, memorable hooks and stand out moments you just don’t forget – “Fire up the chainsaw! Hack their fucking heads off“. It’s a hairs on the back of your neck moment.

The instruments are all played to perfection, as always. Infectious riffs, solid bass, pounding drums. The album has it all. To pick just one example; Vector of Cruelty showcases all of these, with audible underpinning bass, catchy rhythm guitars, screaming solos and quality growling sailing over the top of it all.

Well, at the end of the day this is Cannibal Corpse, what can you say? This is yet another fantastic album from the masters of Death Metal. I fail to see how anyone who likes Death Metal can dislike this band.

Essential listening.

Ides of Gemini – Old World New Wave (Review)

Ides of Gemini are from the US and play Doom Metal. This is their second album.

This is haunting, Old-School, 70’s retro-influenced Doom with a ghostly feel and abundant depths.

It’s low key and lo-fi, with the strength of the tracks not coming form the recording but from the raw emotion and power given off by the essence of the songs themselves.

Ethereal female vocals soar over the top of the surprisingly subtle music. The singer has a heartbreakingly beautiful voice that captivates and enthrals. Combined with the downbeat, percussive music it’s a hypnotic dirge-fest that you can easily lose yourself in, suddenly realising that the album is over and you’ve just been zoning out, letting it seep into your every pore.

This is good.

There is somewhat of a ritualistic, atavistic feeling to this; a feeling that at the end of the record something will be different, something will have changed. It’s almost alchemical in nature. The band’s ability to create such a rich, textured environment is such that the otherworldly seems distinctly possible and ripe for exploration.

Old World New Wave is an album capable of wrenching real change in the listener, forcing them to have a good long look at the darkness and returning as a different entity, as an other.

Do you want this to happen to you? Of course you do. Press play. There’s no looking back.

Osmium Guillotine – Osmium Guillotine (Review)

Osmium Guillotine are from the UK and this is their début album. They play Heavy Metal.

This is 80’s style Heavy Metal with a sexy guitar sound and plenty of attitude. The production is largely apt for this kind of band, although in a feat of differentiation Osmium Guillotine have a guitar tone that’s both thicker and heavier than most bands playing this genre and it works very well for them.

The music is played with passion and obvious zeal and everyone seems to know their job well. Nice solos too.

This is Old-School Heavy Metal that manages to encapsulate quite a few different feelings from early Metal and distil them into this release. Classic Metal is a given, but Doom Metal, Proto-Thrash and NWOBHM all get a look in. There’s even a touch of Punk to things now and again.

The vocals are great, and there’s not a hint of Power Metal to be seen. I love Power Metal as much as anyone, but it’s nice to hear a band like Osmium Guillotine who are just pure Heavy Metal without the more extravagant ostentation inherent in Power Metal. The singer here has a great set of lungs and possesses the charisma to do the tunes justice.

These are a strong set of songs with plenty of hooks and choruses to keep you coming back for more. Memorable melodies and good riffs flow freely and everything feels just as it should.

Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Anthrax…if these bands float your boat then Osmium Guillotine are a logical band to check out. Along with the recent stellar release from Johnny Touch this proves once again what any real music fan already knew – True Metal isn’t dead.

Great stuff.

Solace of Requiem – Casting Ruin (Review)

This is the fourth album of Technical Blackened Death Metal from Solace of Requiem. They come from the US.

It’s fairly unusual for Technical Death Metal bands to have anything to do with the Black Metal style. It’s not unheard of of course, just relatively rare, so I was looking forward to hearing this band to see what they did with the style.

Straight away it’s apparent that they are very technical and they do wear their Black Metal influences on their sleeves.

The music is a dense, twisting affair. Technical Death Metal riffs fly everywhere at the speed of thought whilst Blackened keyboards and sounds add to the cacophony. High pitched Blackened screams add a further layer of evil and the entire thing reeks of a complicated rot.

It’s impressively harsh and the addition of the Black Metal influences to the Technical Death Metal core is atypical and done rather well.

The higher screamed vocals are joined by more traditional growls, once again sealing the deal between genres.

There are some great riffs here and the technicality doesn’t become overbearing or done just for the sake of it. Sometimes the band hits upon a great sounding mid-paced riff and they just let it settle in for a while and lot it flow naturally, which is a great thing to hear. This is frequently added to by keyboards and solos and the end result is very satisfying. As songs they work, and the entire album is top work by this band.

Everything is recorded well and the music is crisp and clear. These songs whirl by at lightspeed and you can’t fault the performances. As this is their fourth album they clearly know what they are doing by now and have the talent to achieve their goals.

This band remind me of someone like The Black Dahlia Murder if they had a lot more blazing technicality and Black Metal in their sound. It doesn’t completely describe Solace of Requiem of course, but it’s a good starting point; throw in some Spawn of Possession, Immolation and Arkhon Infaustus and you’re on the right lines.

Casting Ruin is a monster of an album and quite an achievement. By incorporating Black Metal into their sound they successfully differentiate themselves from hundreds of standard Technical Death Metal bands and immediately set themselves apart.

This is an album that is better than most and won’t settle for being ordinary. Solace of Requiem have their own identity that serves them well and they’re just waiting for you to discover them.

Do it now.