Between the Buried and Me – Page 6

Estuarine – Lucid/Entheogen (Review)

Estuarine is a one-man band that’s currently based in Sweden. This is the second album from his project.

This is Extreme Metal that’s rooted in differing elements of Death Metal with a pinch of Black Metal to produce a concept album that deals in the subject of psychoactive substances. The first 6 tracks are regarding their modern use, while the last 4 tracks deal with their traditional usage.

The music is a mix of Progressive and Technical Death Metal with a subtle modern Black Metal influence. If you think of Extreme Metal bands such as Zyklon, Between the Buried and Me, (minus clean singing), and Mithras then you’ll have an idea of the kind of landscape that Lucid/Entheogen inhabits.

On the first half of the album the songs have a delightfully brutal method of attack that sees the Technical Death Metal aspect take the lead, with the Progressive Death Metal aspect coming second. Slower/lighter introspective parts, occasionally bordering on Post-Metal territory, add flavour and depth to the music, although the extremity is never far behind.

On the second half the roles are reversed somewhat, with the Progressive Metal aspects shifting to the fore and the Technical mayhem relegated to a close second place. It’s a subtle shift in many ways, but it is noticeable and results in songs that are longer, more expansive and a bit less brutal, (although this is relative as everything here is still highly aggressive and technical overall).

The vocals alternate between growls and screams. The growls are convincing enough, but it’s the screams that sound particularly good to me.

The recording is a good one and everything sounds solid and in your face. Sometimes the production on one-man projects can sound a bit flat or one dimensional, but this is certainly not the case here.

Although by no means perfect, this is still better than most. Ambitious, forward-thinking and brutally proficient; Lucid/Entheogen is an impressive accomplishment and anyone who has a penchant for interesting and individualistic Extreme Metal should make a beeline for it as a priority.

Really, really enjoyable and extremely highly recommended.

Favourite Track: Towards Infinite Kaleidoscopic Dimensions.

Neck of the Woods – Neck of the Woods (Review)

Neck of the Woods are a Progressive Metal band from Canada and this is their début EP.

Music like this is an exciting prospect; birthed of Metal in all its glorious forms, Neck of the Woods don’t constraint themselves with just one style and instead coherently incorporate lots of influences into their musical framework.

This is interesting, stimulating music for fans of Converge, Between the Buried and Me, Devil Sold His Soul, Mastodon, etc. – essentially any band that’s pushing the envelope, playing music from the heart and daring to be a bit different.

Under the overall aegis of Progressive Metal, Neck of the Woods pack Modern Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Post-Metal and Technical Metal into nearly 29 minutes of playing time.

The throaty roar of the singer’s voice carries the deep resonance of Extreme Metal while the music explores the boundaries of its self-created domain.

The band can certainly play and they have a good side-order of technicality dished up with their meals. The complexity serves the songs though, rather than the other way around; the guitars carry the listener through landscapes that are familiar and yet fresh at the same time.

For all of this, the band are a very easy listen. The songs are vibrant and satisfying in the way that only good Metal can be. They have personality and seem to have been created purely for the love of it, as should be the way. Yes, there is aggression here, but it’s not of the nihilistic, hate-fuelled variety. Although I’d stop short of describing this as friendly music, it certainly is personable and agreeable. If you’re into heavy music, that is; the average person on the street would probably just view this as noise, as they tend to do with anything even vaguely Metallic.

Neck of the Woods are an exciting new addition to the worldwide Metal scene and I’m eager to hear what they do next.

Oh, and they also have a song called I Know Where I’ll Bury You. Class.

Holotropic – Permeate (Review)

Holotropic are from Slovakia and play Progressive Technical Extreme Metal. This is their début album.

I wasn’t sure what this was going to sound like and was afraid it was going to be some wishy-washy, formless nonsense. I’m not sure why. This was all dispelled shortly into the first song; what I expected to be some throwaway intro track turns out to be masterful Extreme Metal that wouldn’t be out of place on an album by Between the Buried and Me or The Faceless.

More fool me.

No, cynical me has taken a firm beating and I’m very glad too. Permeate is a very impressive album.

Holotropic mix brutality, progressive sections, melodic parts, piano interludes, Jazz, heavy riffs and chaotic rhythms together into a cohesive whole that they’ve then weaved into their comprehensive Extreme Metal tapestry. This is either a Progressive Metal band that have taken Death Metal as their own, or a Death Metal band who have learned the value of expansive variety. Which it is doesn’t really matter.

Death Metal is an apt genre, but the nature of the riffs, the modern cadence, the exploratory nature of the music…it’s simply more than most Death Metal bands get up to. Again the comparisons to the aforementioned Between the Buried and Me and The Faceless come to mind, as this is Extreme Metal that has a modern Progressive slant.

The band can play very well and there’s a boat-load of technicality on display here too. As Technical Death Metal goes it can give most a run for their money.

For all the variety and interesting ideas of the music, the vocals are mainly pitch-black growls. It works well though as it provides a central anchor for the band’s extremity and musical meanderings. They sound great too. Occasional cleans appear sparingly and are professionally done.

Permeate is a varied and interesting début from an extremely promising band. I insist you take note of Holotropic and get your hands on this. They have a bright future ahead of them.

Highly recommended.

White Arms of Athena – White Arms of Athena (Review)

White Arms of Athena are from the US and play Technical/Progressive Metal. This is their second album.

The album starts with harmonies upon harmonies. From here, the band launch their brand of Metal and the album as a whole shows that White Arms of Athena are nothing if not interesting and varied.

This is technically-minded, expressive Progressive Metal that has a distinct personality all of its own and a will to deliver the goods. The band clearly know how to play but they also know how to write; these are songs first, and ones that are distinctly above-average at that.

There’s a lot going on here. The songs are complex and engaging with depth, creativity and longevity stamped into them.

If you take the less extreme/chaotic parts of The Dillinger Escape Plan/Between the Buried and Me and add a plethora of Progressive Metal and Post-Metal influences then you might start to have an idea of the treasure trove of delights that this album holds.

Plenty of ideas and interesting enhancements are included in these songs. Ambient/Drone sections, Psychedelia, heavy riffs, technical wizardry, atmospheric build-ups; White Arms of Athena use all of these tools and more to create impressive soundscapes filled with moving music.

The singer has a charismatic voice that’s somewhat stony in flavour and very emotive. The vocals are very assured and confident and do a great job of providing colour and nuance to music that’s already very coloured and nuanced in its own right. The term rich tapestry could have been coined for White Arms of Athena.

Shockingly good and dangerously individual, this is an album to threaten the average band’s mediocrity. White Arms of Athena have raised the bar with this album. You’d better pick this up immediately.

Vihaan – Invicta (Review)

Vihaan are from the US and this is their début album. They play Progressive Metal.

Vihaan combine Progressive Rock, Metal and Jazzy technicality into 48 minutes of listening pleasure.

This is a band who aren’t afraid to embrace the Metal side of their sound, so as well as their expressive Progressive music and the exploratory Rock we also get heaviness and deep vocals.

As you would expect of a band like this, the music is first rate. Everything is clear and played well; even the bass is audible and makes a valuable contribution to the songs.

Vihaan have struck the perfect balance between complex technicality and accessibility. Think Opeth meets Between the Buried and Me.

These tracks are artfully composed and have enough variety and interest to engage for the full listening time. The fact that they have a firm Metal base means they never go wandering too far into experimental territories and the integrity of the song is always kept intact.

Added effects and sounds complement the base collection of instruments well. This gives each song an added flavour. Inflection has a part near the end, for example, that sounds really 70’s Prog sci-fi. It’s enough to make my hairs stand on end!

This is a very accomplished and enjoyable album. It’s full of rich textures and has a refined palette. A highly recommended listen.

The Parallax – Obliquity of the Ecliptic (Review)

The Parallax come from Canada and this is their début album of Extreme Progressive Metal.

The closest band for comparison would be the mighty Between the Buried and Me, although to the credit of The Parallax they manage to use the template but don’t sound like a rip off. Another good example of this would be a band like The Odious who also share the Between the Buried and Me influence but like The Parallax they have their own sound built onto it. Other bands that The Parallax are reminiscent of in places are the more recent Strapping Young Lad material and Lascaille’s Shroud.

Like Between the Buried and Me the band are hard to categorise as they have so much going on, but I suppose you could brand them as playing Extreme Progressive Metal, if you really wanted to pigeon hole.

The band have epic, sprawling songs full of high speed Metal and highly melodic riffing, where the solos and leads are plentiful and played better than most.

Keyboards and effects wash over the music in waves. Piano sections and 70-s style duelling synths are common.

Harsh vocals roar and clean vocals soar. The singer has a very good voice and ably manages the vocals whether they be Power Metal cleans, abrasive roars or anything else.

It’s all very well done and very proficiently played. As you can probably tell from the above the band are certainly not lacking in ambition. There are only 5 tracks but there is an hour of music here, including the epic 23 minute splendour of The Reformatting.

The sound is clear but my only slight complaint, (and it’s only a small thing really), is that it could do with a bit more depth to the sound; it sounds curiously compressed. It stops registering after a while, but when you first listen to this album after another band who, say, have a rounder sound to their recording, it stands out. Definitely not the end of the world, and it might not even be an issue for some people, but just a note for next time.

All in all this is a talented band who have produced a whopper of a début. I have no hesitation in recommending this album at all. If your tastes run to the Progressive and the interesting then Obliquity of the Ecliptic is for you. I fully expect this band to be snapped up by some enterprising record label soon, so get in on the action now.