Reviews – Page 565 – Wonderbox Metal

Fractured Spine – Memoirs of a Shattered Mind (Review)

This is the second album from Finland’s Fractured Spine.

Fractured Spine play Blackened Gothic Doom/Death Metal. Which is to say that they take the Doom/Style, add Gothic touches to the music and then layer a Black Metal fuzziness, melody and feel over everything. Early 90’s Gothic Black Metal mixed with Doom/Death.

They are also a bit more experimental than a lot of bands who play the Doom/Death style, which again gives them more of a Black Metal theme to my eyes.

Vocally the band eschew the normal purely Doom/Death deep vocals for a more varied approach involving a mix of deep growls, high screams and Gothic cleans.

Some songs have more of a Black Metal feel, others more of a Gothic Doom feel and occasionally even an early Lacuna Coil or …In The Woods style makes an appearance.

The keyboards and Gothic effects are prevalent throughout the album and it’s a refreshingly different take on the Doom/Death sub-genre.

A surprisingly varied album that experiments with its sound to create a mixture of related styles under one album.

Check them out and see what you think.

Protestant – In Thy Name (Review)

Protestant are from the US and play Blackened Hardcore Metal.

This is raw, dirty and exceedingly violent in nature.

The riffs have a real Blackened colour to the melodies, which are merged with a Punk attitude and delivery style. The Blackened Punk style has yet to be done to death and Protestant do it very well indeed.

Protestant inhabit a similar space stylistically to bands such as Hexis and Flesh Born, and if you like them you should check out Protestant, (and vice versa). All three bands are exemplars of this kind of music.

Protestant write good riffs and sound thunderously impressive. They let the darkness pile on thick and heavy, all the time allowing the driving Hardcore mentality to energise the songs and propel them forwards.

The vocalist croaks and rasps his way through the 8 tracks like his lungs are going to give out at any minute. He accompanies the apocalyptic sounding music like the final harbinger of the worst things yet to come. His is the voice of anger, rage and dark tidings.

Protestant have released an album that bridges the gap between the sometimes dissonant worlds of Hardcore and Black Metal in a way that sounds like they were born to do this.

In Thy Name is an album propelled by exquisite Blackened riffs and Hardcore energy the likes of which we don’t see very often.

Listen, listen loud and listen now.

Columns – Please Explode (Review)

Columns are from the US and this is their début album. They are a Grindcore band.

Columns play Grind that’s groovy and passionate. This is the kind of music that ignites pits and gets even reluctant Metalheads to start moving. Even when they’re playing at top speed and blast beats are flying everywhere the band have a definite swagger and rhythm to their grinding destruction.

Think rhythm, groove, brutality and individuality; think Pig Destroyer meets Aborted with the odd Carcass riff. That’s right, it’s wet-dreams-made-reality time.

The music is full of high energy riffs, crushing chugs, eviscerating speed and the occasional, remarkably Rock ‘n’ Roll, solo. For songs that are this short and brutal there is a surprising amount of variety and interest to be had.

The vocals are deep and growled or higher and intense. The singer has a good voice and range with some variety between these two ends of the spectrum occurring throughout the tracks as well.

Please Explode has a Hell of a lot of personality and each song is a hothouse of great riffs and brutal design. The thing Columns excel at, however, is ensuring that the songs become more than the sum of their parts. These riffs make full use of the band’s songwriting skills to really maximise the impact they have throughout the songs.

Rather then merely a few, (or a lot of), riffs stitched together to create a fast song, as a lot of Grind bands do, Columns create dynamic and purposeful riffs that gel with every other instrument and work synergisticly with the rest of the tracks to create a complete listening experience. It’s even more remarkable that this happens in songs that average about the 2 minute mark.

This is impressive, modern Grind that has a unique identity. It’s destined to be mentioned in the same breath as bands like Pig Destroyer as forerunners of the genre.

I loved this album. I’ll be very surprised if this doesn’t place highly on my year end list.

Essential listening for Extreme Metal fans everywhere.

Unaussprechlichen Kulten – Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath (Review)

Unaussprechlichen Kulten are from Chile and this is their third album of Death Metal.

HP Lovecraft-themed Death Metal is never going to be completely run-of-the-mill and Unaussprechlichen Kulten are no exception. This is Death Metal with an evil, occult feel to it.

They superficially draw comparisons with Incantation/Immolation, (only with shorter songs), as well as the odd bit of Morbid Angel. They have the kind of interesting songwriting that seems to be more related to the Old-School than a lot of current Death Metal, which gives them a Classic Death Metal sheen to their gloriously nefarious sound.

The relatively short songs add up to a relatively short album, so Unaussprechlichen Kulten definitely don’t outstay their welcome. What is here, however, is a very enjoyable collection of tracks that mix the aforementioned bands/styles into a melting pot that’s probably to be used as the basis of a potion or concoction that will end up summoning some long lost god or other. Until that time of our ultimate demise, however, we are free to enjoy the Death Metal that these Chileans have unleashed on the world.

The dark, heavy riffs and eerie leads are propelled by solid drumming and a singer who is doing his best Incantation impression. The songs have a darkly dynamic feel to them and the malevolent aura they exude is toxic to the touch. I also like that the bass is actually audible and provides a useful backdrop to the rest of the music.

If you’re bored of the same old generic Death Metal then have a good listen to Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath; for fans of well-played, interesting Death Metal that’s far too wicked and corrupt to be normal.

Highly recommended.

Almøst Human – Ø (Review)

Almøst Human are from Switzerland and play Metal with a modern, Electronic twist.

This is well-recorded and has a solid sound. The band have a late 90’s/early 00’s vibe to them that recalls bands like Spineshank, Mudvayne, Downthesun and Mnemic, only updated for 2014 and with keyboard/electronic effects added in.

This is not a style that I hear too much any more but Almøst Human are convincing and this is an enjoyable little release. The songs are longer than you’d expect for this style, which allows the band to develop the themes and feel of the songs without rushing them or purely focusing on mosh-friendly sections or what not.

These are good songs and I like the focus on developing a completed feeling rather than just stringing several riffs together with a chorus. Almøst Human appear to be attempting to pick from the rotten corpse of Nu-Metal; they aim to take what so many liked from the style and leave what made it so disposable. I’m pleased to say they have largely been successful in this regard and Ø is a comprehensive and enjoyable release.

This means that we have ended up with a heavy, modern Metal release with added effects/electronics that has a lot of enjoyable melodies. This vocalist shows himself to be a very capable singer as well as being able to scream when he needs to.

Check it out.

Stormnatt – Omega Therion (Review)

This is the third album from Austrian Black Metallers Stormnatt.

Stormnatt immediately score points by not messing around with pointless intros; first song Ascension of the Scarlet Angel gets straight down to business and introduces the band with their fast and atmospheric style of Black Metal.

Influenced by the second wave of Black Metal, we have plenty of darkly melodic riffs and more evocative guitar parts than you can shake a stick at. The guitars are the foremost feature of Omega Therion for me as they carry the songs along on waves of darkness and have a warmer than average sound for Black Metal. Like liquefied crushed velvet.

The riffs are even quite varied on occasion; everything from the standard Darkthrone-template-riffs, to a touch of Blackened Thrash to Blackened Trad Metal to Blackened Doom Metal…it’s all here. The key word is Blackened, of course, as everything sounds as Black as night and twice as evil. This works wonders for the songs as it keeps things interesting. The band know their chosen style and know it well, but these added variations on the theme help keep things fresh and the listener engaged.

Works for me. This is an album I’ve really enjoyed.

This is not experimental, or avant garde, or pushing new boundaries, or whatever; this is Black Metal done with purity and strength of purpose. Backing this up you have songs that are comprised of emotive riffing and a singer who knows how to rasp a good performance. This is Black Metal done well and done right.

At just under 40 minutes in length this is a storm of night and blackness that it’s easy to find yourself lost in.

Listen to Stormnatt.

Haate – As The Moon Painted Her Grief (Review)

Hailing from Italy, Haate is a one-man project playing Dark Ambient music.

I must confess to being naturally suspicious of releases of this nature as so often they can be excuses for basically doing nothing for minutes on end and I just get bored. However, when done right such as with the latest by Wolves in the Throne Room it can be very good indeed.

Haate immediately impress by actually having changes and progression in the tracks. There are three long songs here, (34 minutes in total), and even a few minutes into the first song there’s a fair bit going on.

Haate specialises in dark atmospheres and gloomy introspection. It’s like someone has really paid attention to all of those musical proto-Classical interludes/intros on 90’s Black Metal albums and decided to create a full album out of it all. This is merely an observation, however, not a criticism, as the resulting work is surprisingly, (to me), good.

There’s a fair bit of substance here, and we even get some low-in-the-mix Black Metal vocals and blastbeats. This is most unexpected but most welcome.

In addition to the synths and keyboards there are other, quasi-industrial sounds and noises accompanying proceedings and these add a level of darkness to the textured music. It sometimes gives the impression of inorganic breathing, which is a vaguely unsettling sound and really enhances the songs.

I’m impressed with this. Cynically I didn’t think it would be very enjoyable and I’m very pleased that I’m wrong. And do you know what? The more I listen to it the more I like it. It’s shockingly good.

For Black Metal fans who don’t always need the Metal part.

Atara/Miserable Failure – Hang Them Split (Review)

This is a split between French Grindcore bands Miserable Failure and Atara.

Atara are up first and they give us 6 tracks of Punk and groove influenced Grind.

These are enjoyable short, sharp adrenaline shots of modern Grind with Punk attitude and a touch of Nasum added in.

The singer is particularly acerbic and he heads the tracks here like the focal point of devastation.

Scathing vocals and a rounded, heavy sound that’s not overproduced means that the band shine filthily and so do the songs. Top work by Atara.

We’ve met Miserable Failure before with their last EP Hope. They continue to impress here with 8 tracks of furious Grind that mix the best of the extreme nature of Grindcore with the violence of modern Hardcore.

The utterly demented vocals are present and the music sounds just as unhinged. Slabs of distortion that pass themselves off as riffs crash into your skull and before you know it you’re left wondering what the hell just happened. And then, without warning, Miserable Failure loom in suddenly for the killing blow.

There’s no reason at all you shouldn’t get this. None whatsoever.

Slaughterday – Ravenous (Review)

Slaughterday are a German Death Metal band and this is their latest EP.

After thoroughly enjoying their début album Nightmare Vortex I was looking forward to listening to this.

This EP is 4 tracks long and features 19 minutes of music; 3 originals and a cover of an Acheron song.

Slaughterday play Death Metal that’s brutal, heavy and has a firm Old-School influence to it.

The band are on fine form here with the music sounding as crushing as ever. The vocals also sound particularly savage when the guttural deep growls are twinned with the higher screams. Pulse-raising stuff.

When they slow the pace Slaughterday manage to foster a real air of menace with their crawling, oppressively heavy delivery.

The songs are well-written, memorable and played proficiently. Some nice solos make an appearance too. The riffs are nicely done and there are some choice cuts amongst these tracks.

One thing I like about Slaughterday is their ability to combine a good vocal rhythm with a perfectly matched mid-paced riff. In themselves each of these things is a desirable result, but combined together the effect is greater than the whole. They did this to great effect on their début album and judging by the tracks on Ravenous this is something that they are getting even better at doing.

A very strong EP that builds on the hard work done with their début album and promises good things for their next.

Don’t miss this.

John Gallow – Violet Dreams (Review)

John Gallow is from the US and this is an album of Doom Metal.

This is a Doom Metal album that’s full of Doom and has lots of Doom Metal in it. The Doom is strong and the Doom is heavy, with lots of Doom Metal making an appearance and a liberal Doom sprinkling of Doom on the Doom side.

This Doom album is of the Traditional Doom variety with Classic Doom and Old-School Doom also being represented. Black Doom Sabbath are a good Doom starting point as well as other Doom members of the Doom pantheon used as Doom influences.

Doom. Doom. Doom.

Okay, enough of that. You get the idea.

There is just over an hour of music on this album and it’s a pleasure to listen to. The man has a powerful voice and the music has a good amount of variation and interest to it.

The riffs are good, the melodies bold and memorable and the production punchy and crisp. The songs are well-written and there are plenty of interludes, solos, leads, keys, effects and even bass shenanigans to keep the listener enthralled.

John Gallow has produced an album that manages to encapsulate all of what it means to be Traditional Doom Metal whilst managing to actually sound current and relevant at the same time. It may be resolutely Old-School in source material but this is an album that can stand proud in the 21st century as a exemplar of how this kind of music should sound.

Hail!