Keep of Kalessin – Epistemology (Review)

Keep of KalessinKeep of Kalessin are from Norway and play Black Metal. This is their Sixth album.

Keep of Kalessin return, and it’s a very welcome one.

Fusing the best of bands like Emperor, Satyricon and Enslaved, Keep of Kalessin have produced an album that’s as epic and soaring as they’ve always promised.

Elements of the symphonic, majestic and even Avant-Garde combine with a state-of-the-art Blackened core to produce tracks that are brightly textured and rich in colour and taste.

Expertly performed cleans act as a central highlight of many of these songs, whilst expressive screams provide an acidic hit of aggression.

Highly emotive music connects with you on a visceral level as the band work their way through 52 minutes of top quality Metal.

The band may have a firm Black Metal core but they have used this to create music that almost transcends genre boundaries. Almost. Ultimately though, this is Black Metal, and it means business.

Their songwriting skills have been further refined since their previous work and this is a relatively varied album that takes in the past whilst leaning towards the future.

Intricate, inspired and sometimes warped riffing is impressively integrated into the wider song structures to create tracks that don’t always do or sound as you expect them to.

The musicianship and production values are first rate of course. Everything is played and recorded extremely professionally and the clean vocals in particular seem vibrant enough to jump out of the speakers.

A must listen for all Extreme Metal fans.

Northland – Downfall and Rebirth (Review)

NorthlandComing from Spain, Northland play Folk-influenced Melodic Death Metal. This is their second album.

There are a whole load of different instruments used on this album in addition to the usual ones that form the Metal core. Keyboards, piano, flute and bodhran are all present, as well as guest musicians and singers.

Northland take all of these and wrap them up in a Melodic Death Metal delivery that successfully knits the Folk influences into a cohesive Metal whole so that the album flows nicely across its 11 tracks.

Downfall and Rebirth has a good sound that brings the Folk and the Metal components together so that you don’t feel like you’re listening to a band of two halves.

Harsh and clean vocals are both used, with the harsh vocals having quite a bite and the cleans being of the epic, stirring variety.

Epic and stirring are good words to describe the music as well, but not in the way that, say, Power Metal or certain strains of Black Metal can be. This is more of a journey to old lands that have been forgotten, and a reliving of the tales and deeds of heroes long past.

The songs are well-written slabs of Folk-enhanced Melodic Metal and whilst the clean vocals provide an extra layer of accessibility the band never stray too far into commercial territory; this is real Metal through and through.

I’ve really enjoyed this. It gets the balance between its jaunty, upbeat nature and its darker Metal soul just right.

Check out Northland and get ready for an epic adventure.

Biopsy – Fractals of Derangement (Review)

BiopsyBiopsy are from India and this is their début EP. They play Brutal Death Metal.

Biopsy take their influences from the USDM scene and even though they’re from India would fit in rather well over there.

The vocals are as deep as any I’ve heard, full of pignoise and bile. The singer is clearly interested in chewing your face off.

The music is nicely brutal with some good grooves and tight riffs amongst the butchery. An impressive amount of chuggery, (it’s a word), takes place here, enough to knock you over.

Moments of melody are few and far between, but there are some brief moments here and there incorporated into the brutality.

There’s enough skill and talent here to avoid dismissal as mere Suffocation-clones and based on this release Biopsy could have a bright future ahead of them in the underground Death Metal arena.

Each song hovers around the 3 minute mark, so the band make an impact without overstaying their welcome. The tracks are solid examples of the style and if you like USDM then Biopsy are waiting for you, surgical table at the ready.

Support the underground!

Muck – Your Joyous Future (Review)

MuckMuck are from Iceland and play Hardcore. This is their second album.

The first song on this album is called Provoke Me, and this serves as an ample motto of reference for Muck’s acerbic and violent Hardcore. This is music to fight to.

The band play with a kind of focused looseness, which means that although the band are tight enough to deliver a professional album they also have enough vitality in them so that everything sounds naturally dangerous and beautifully aggressive.

The riffs are a combination of the more modern, aggressive Hardcore breed and a more traditional, Old-School feel. The merger of the two together makes for an intriguing and enticing listen as the band rage through ten tracks of carnage.

Inhabiting the middle ground between Converge’s sharpened aggression and Martyrdöd’s D-beat extravaganzas, Muck form a bridge between the two that allows the listener to enjoy both styles in one package.

Well I’ve really enjoyed this. Listen loud and get ready for violence.

Below the Sun – Envoy (Review)

Below the SunBelow the Sun are a Sludge band from Russia and this is their début album.

This is Atmospheric Sludge Metal that’s as heavy as a rhino and as daunting as a pack of predators. Their sound also includes elements of Funeral Doom, Post-Metal and even a bit of a Black Metal feeling in places; anything to heighten the atmosphere and draw the listener further in to their dark domain.

Absolutely colossal vocals stab out of the swirling darkness like natural disasters striking the unwitting and the unwary. They’re loud, inhuman and utterly compelling. They’re also used sparingly, and for the vast majority of the 59 minute playing time the instruments are the firm focus of attention. This works well, as the vocals are so terrifying that any more exposure to them might have the listener running for the hills in fear.

Below the Sun excel at Post-Metal build-and-release mechanics and wrap this up with a Sludgy ambience and general aura of pessimistic negativity that really is quite powerfully done.

The guitars batter, pamper, bruise and heal. At the end of the album you feel like you’ve been through the wringer both physically and emotionally, but you’re more than willing to do it again. This is an album that can only improve with age and repeated spins. Initially you can tell it’s obviously very good indeed, but on subsequent listens it really reveals its delights.

Music like this is never going to be a disappointment. The emotional investment of a band like this is always worth it and there’s so much here to discover and respond to. Envoy is an apt name, as it feels like you’re entering an unknown landscape, the first to explore these strange, exotic climes. You’re not alone though, as Below the Sun are your guides, shining a black light into all of the scary places and somehow making them feel even more harrowing, yet enticing at the same time.

If you’re a fan of Doom, Sludge, Post-Metal or just emotive and engaging music in general then Envoy is an album to journey to far off places to.

Very highly recommended.

Whispering Woods – Perditus et Dea (Review)

Whispering WoodsWhispering Woods are from Romania and this is their second album. They play Symphonic Gothic Metal.

This style of music was all the rage in the late 90’s/early 00’s and I haven’t heard a band play it so full-on in quite a while.

Recalling bands like The Sins of Thy Beloved and Tristania, this is richly textured operatic Metal with keyboards and flute accompaniment.

And boy, does it take me back! I was listening to a lot of bands like this at one point and Whispering Woods would have easily fit in.

Perditus et Dea has a huge production and sometimes it feels like the guitars are hitting home like a hammer. Everything is ultra-clear and no expense seems to have been spared in helping the band realise their vision.

The powerful female vocals are expertly performed, clearly by singers of great skill and accomplishment. There’s a definite theatricality to these vocals that spills over to the music too, almost as if each song is an act in a play.

The songs themselves are well-composed and have a good balance between the theatrical and operatic elements and the hard Metal core of the band. One of the things I really like about Whispering Woods is that the Metal component of the band has a big presence and is not subordinate to anything else. For all of the ostentation and flair of a band like this, Whispering Woods are a Metal band first and foremost.

I find this is a style that it’s quite easy to sound generic in; Whispering Woods avoid this by good songwriting, some interesting ideas and a strong sound. That they don’t fall into the trap of simply aping what is, by now, a well-worn style is another mark in their favour; instead they take the genre template and infuse it with their own personality to create an veritable exemplar of the style.

If you’re not a fan of female fronted Gothic Metal then this is unlikely to sway you. If, however, you’re partial to the genre and like a bit of Doom and melodrama alongside it, then Perditus et Dea is one to check out.

Me? I’ve really enjoyed this, and I hope you will too.

 

Primitive Man – Home is Where the Hatred is (Review)

Primitive ManPrimitive Man are from the US and play Doom/Sludge. This is their latest EP.

Ahhh the latest Primitive Man release. I always enjoy their work. A band that personify heavy, nasty music perfectly.

And what do they bring us this time? Here we have music that was left out of all of the happy playlists when you were young. This is a style of music that people only get into when they’re older, jaded and consumed by hatred. Primitive Man feed on this.

The first song Loathe starts off with a churning maelstrom of tense riffs and chaotic drumming, only to slow down to a crawl once the pitch-black growling vocals come in. Crikey the singer has a good voice.

The rest of the songs keep up the high quality-control levels. Dirty Sludge Metal cascades out of the speakers in an onslaught of hatred, bile and disgust.

This EP is a 31 minute Sludge workout that takes in pummelling Doom, filthy Crust/Grind, Blackened guitars and riffs the size of tsunamis to create the aural equivalent of a torturously slow heart attack. Home is Where the Hatred is is Sludge heaven, if there is such a thing.

It’s hard not to love this band. I mean, assuming you like evil Sludge Metal of course. And if you do, Primitive Man are an absolute must.

The Black Lantern – We Know The Future (Review)

The Black LanternThe Black Lantern are from the US and this is their début album. The band play modern Rock/Punk.

This is music that’s passionate and energetic. It’s a highly emotive affair with the focal point being the excited and impassioned vocals. The singer has a charismatic voice that’s full of personality which she uses to great effect through these 11 tracks.

Halfway between Punk and Rock, The Black Lantern are a band who can easily appeal to fans of both. These songs are very catchy and full of hooks, but merely saying that doesn’t really do their music justice.

I’m sitting here listening to We Know The Future again and the songs just exude energy, passion and excitement like an electrified badger. Or something. I dunno, but you get the idea. It’s infectious and it makes me want to move around at speed and in funny ways.

This is music to feel invigorated to. Did your cat steal your sandwich? Maybe your boss poured paint on your head? Perhaps you’re being stalked by moths? In any case, stick on We Know The Future and none of it will feel so bad.

A thoroughly impressive release that’s perfect music to feel alive to.

Dehuman – Graveyard of Eden (Review)

DehumanDehuman are from Belgium and play Death Metal. This is their second album.

I enjoyed Dehuman’s 2012 début album Black Throne of All Creation and as such had high hopes for this new one as I first pressed play.

It did not disappoint.

This is solid Death Metal that flexes its musical muscles early and frequently. The band create an impressive racket.

Dehuman play classic Death Metal that has a timeless quality even though it’s delivered in a modern package.

Thick, heavy guitars blare out with spiky, take-no-prisoners riffs. The band are technically proficient in what they do and their songs reflect this. Riffs chop and change all over the shop and the occasional lightning speed solo, obscure lead or rare bout of melody strikes out from the coldly calculated mayhem to dazzle the listener.

Deep growls are shouted violently on top of this aggressive barrage and do their job well.

Dehuman have succeeded in creating an album of depth that has more than enough content to hold interest for repeated spins.

Top quality Death Metal.

Vile Disgust – Love all the Pigs (Review)

Vile DisgustVile Disgust are from Hungary and play Deathgrind. This is their début album.

With song titles guaranteed to impress the immature, this is over-the-top disgust-o Grind.

The band have a good sound and immediately go for the jugular with their own take on grotesque Deathgrind.

The vocalist belches out obscenities with utter relish and in a deep pignoise style. There’s a surprising amount of variety in the noises that he makes though from track to track, as if different songs had the vocals recorded in different toilets, in some form of filthy urinal tour.

Death Metal riffs and chugging brutality meet with the aggression and rampant disregard for life that Grindcore has. It’s mainly a-bit-faster-than-mid-paced affair, although the band do dabble in different tempos, speeds and methods of execution. The end result is songs that are about under 2 minutes long on average and do the best they can to flatten and disturb the listener.

This is primitive, groovy Grindcore that reeks of the sewer and has no more lofty ambitions than to see what floats to the surface after each flush.

Have a listen and see what you think.