This is the tenth Sigh album. If you’ve never encountered them before, they’re from Japan and they play Black Metal. At least, that’s what they started out as and they’ve just kind of evolved from there. Avant-Garde Black Metal/Extreme Metal is probably closest to the mark these days, if you have to label it at all.
Sigh are one of the few bands in existence that come even close to being able to be called unique. They definitely have their own sound and identity, even if this has changed quite a bit through the years.
So on to Graveward. This is dense and complex music that features a lot of different parts to the songs. Clearly a lot of work has gone into these compositions.
The Black Metal base is present and correct, as well as the Avant-Garde tendencies. Add to this is a psychedelic influence, powerful cinematic qualities as well as a strong theatrical component and you have an album that’s born to stand out from the pack.
The theatrical nature of the release belies the horror-themed core of the album, but ultimately serves to reinforce it.
As you might think, each track has a lot going on and it’s a lot to take in on first listen. Subsequent spins reveal all kinds of nuances and little things that you didn’t necessarily consciously pick up on first time around.
Choirs and orchestration rub shoulders with Thrash riffs and Blackened croaks. Psychedelic keyboards and operatic vocals join horns and saxophones in backing the distorted guitars. It’s a true melting pot of influences that probably shouldn’t work but it really, really does.
Befitting music that has a lot of different components to it, Graveward features a wealth of guest appearances from well-known members of bands such as Trivium, Dragonforce, Shining, Rotting Christ and The Meads of Asphodel, among others.
Somewhat of a cross between Emperor, Therion, Arcturus and some form of crazy Progressive Jazz, Sigh can always be relied upon to liven things up with their presence and Graveward is no exception.
This is a truly exceptional release that many will probably find overwhelming with its multicoloured assault on the senses. Those who endure, however, are rewarded tenfold for their perseverance.
Mindscar are from the US and this is their début album. They play Death Metal.
This is an interesting release. The band play Death Metal that’s brutal and is not without technicality, yet also features a good amount of melodic and atmospheric sections and even clean vocals on occasion.
It’s a winning combination. The blasting brutality of the Death Metal core mixes surprisingly well with the more restrained, melodic parts.
The band seem to be talented musicians and there are no shortage of solos or technical wizardry.
The more atmospheric sections have the aura of Nile or Behemoth if they experimented with background clean vocals a bit more. They definitely have an exotic flavour to these parts and it’s great to see a band spread their wings to incorporate wide influences as well as the more traditionally brutal aspects of their sound.
They’re not afraid to show their Classic Metal heritage either, with a few riffs that would do Iron Maiden proud lurking here and there, albeit heavied-up some.
Sort of a cross between elements of Behemoth, Nile, Atrocity, Orphaned Land, Melechesh, Gorguts and Misery Index. Quite an eclectic mix in some ways when you see it written down, but when you hear it it all slots together quite naturally.
You’ve gotta love an Extreme Metal band who are willing to push the boundaries a bit. Kill the King fuses blasting extremity with melodic abandon and exotic atmospherics to great effect. Importantly they get the ratio correct. It’s mainly heavy and brutal, contains a good amount of flashy solos and leads, with the more atmospheric sections used sparingly for maximum effect.
Infernal War are from Poland and play Black/Death Metal. This is their third album.
This is ultra brutal Extreme Metal that takes no prisoners and is utterly relentless in its taste for killing. It’s heavy, nasty and downright evil.
Infernal War play a hybrid of Black/Death Metal that’s right on the line between the two styles. Blackened Death Metal, I find, usually leans in favour of Death Metal rather than Black Metal, but occasionally a band appears who gets the mixture just right and we end up with a band that’s hard to categorise into just one of the two. Extreme Metal is an apt description for this reason.
Mixing influences from bands like Behemoth, Marduk and Satyricon, Infernal War proceed to spread spite and bile across these 11 tracks.
Bestial drumming and sharp riffing collide to create fast songs where the band spread their nefarious message with a distinct aggression.
The tracks mainly hover around the 3-4 minute mark and this is ample time to blast their wares out.
It’s enjoyable to hear a band take the direct approach and at the same time merge the two genres in such a competent way. This album is perfect for when you want something that’s hyper-aggressive but can’t decide whether to listen to Death Metal or Black Metal. Infernal War fill the gap and Axiom is a highly recommended listen.
Sulphur Aeon play Death Metal. They are from Germany and this is their second album.
I love a good album cover, and this one is just brilliant.
Sulphur Aeon are not your standard Death Metal band. Sure, the ferocious riffs and brutal delivery are there, but they also add a lot more on top of this. Sound enhancements, effects, interesting vocals and chants, etc. add to the feeling of something special, mysterious and subtly disturbing.
A strong feeling of the underworld pervades this release, with mysterious sounds and otherworldly echoes aplenty.
The vocals are bowel-shakingly deep and sound as evil as they do inhuman. Added to this there are various shouts and chants also included that ratchet up the atmosphere and feeling as well as the aura of otherworldly darkness that these songs exude.
Musically this is interesting Death Metal in the grand tradition of bands like Behemoth and Nile; bands that are not content to play generic Death Metal and instead infuse their style with atmosphere and character. Sulphur Aeon have both in spades.
These songs are heavy and brutal yet still manage to make room for atmosphere and no small amount of melody and leads. The musicianship and songwriting skills of the band are all top-drawer and these 53 minutes speed by in a blur of remarkable Extreme Metal.
This is a very impressive release that is guaranteed to make waves in the Extreme Metal scene. There’s not enough individuality and differentiation in the Death Metal scene, (why fix what largely isn’t broken?), but thankfully Sulphur Aeon have produced an album that builds on all of the strengths of Death Metal and takes the genre further than most.
Keep 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.
This is the début Technical Death Metal album from US band Apocrophex.
Building on their short but very promising EP Wheels Within Wheels, Apocrophex are now back with a full album, one that I’ve been quite looking forward to.
Opening straight up with some dense widdling and technical mayhem, Apocrophex make a grand entrance. I love the fact that their sound is equal parts heavy brutality and technical mayhem.
But what’s this? There’s an increased depth and maturity of songwriting here that was absent on their first release. It lends these songs an air of gravitas as they are an impressively realised collection of Technical Death Metal tracks.
Importanly, the technicality never takes over from the songs themselves and there are some quality emotive passages and high energy riffs here amidst the chaos.
Some Technical bands concentrate too much on what the lead guitar is doing, leaving the rhythm essentially providing just filler material. Apocrophex do things differently though; they put just as much effort into the rhythm guitars as they do the complicated and flash leads/solos. The result is songs that marry the best of both worlds and Suspended from the Cosmic Altaar is a real gem of an album because of this.
The vocals are as equally impressive as the music. The deep growls have come a long way since the EP and are hugely satisfying. High screams accentuate the aggression and there are even some semi-clean shouts that rise up out of the carnage on occasion to really add emphasis where it’s needed.
I think I’ve just found my new favourite Technical Death Metal band.
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.
This is the second album from UK group Voices. They play Progressive Blackened Death Metal.
Featuring former members of Akercocke, this is an album full of promise from the start as Akercocke were one of the best and most individual bands that the UK had to offer.
As soon as the dark acoustic opener Suicide Note starts I’m instantly hit with the feeling that Akercocke gave me in their more restrained moments. Then Music for the Recently Bereaved blasts out of the speakers and I feel warm and fuzzy inside and out.
If voices aren’t the heirs to Akercocke then I don’t know who is. They’re definitely their own entity but they channel the same primordial power and majesty that Akercocke did so well.
Blasting Death Metal, scathing Black Metal, Progressive Metal, Avant-Garde and everything in between make up these tracks. Progressive Blackened Death Metal is as good a term as any, but it seems so small. Voices are just bigger than that and have a whole lot more on offer than that mouthful of a genre tag implies.
The songs here are varied and full of interesting ideas and avenues for exploration. The band essentially just do what they want and I’m incredibly glad of this as it has resulted in a top quality album full of modern Extreme Metal that stands alone.
Growls, screams, cleans; the band do it all with style. It’s like Akercocke, Arcturus, Opeth and Emperor were crushed up together, digested and vomited up as a slick, professional, fully formed Extreme Metal machine. It’s classy and in a class of its own.
I love it when bands do their own thing and inject their art with personality and character. It’s even better when they do this with obvious talent and a passionate hunger. London is all of these things and more.
This is ambitious and hugely impressive. For a snapshot of everything that Extreme Metal should be these days then London is flawless.
In fact that’s all I need to say really; London is flawless.
Ctulu are re-releasing their 2011 album Sarkomand, and what an album it is. Arne Uekert and Mathias Junge answered some questions and filled in the blanks…
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
Arne: I am Arne Uekert, guitarist and vocalist in Ctulu.
Give us a bit of history to Ctulu
Arne: Ctulu was founded in 2004 in Northern Germany with the aim to create fast and dark, yet melodic extreme metal.
What are your influences?
Arne: I’d let the listener decide on this point.
Mathias: Most people would say, it’s black/death metal in old Swedish style of the 90s like Dissection or Naglfar, but during the time of making music we created our own style called ”Seastorming Extreme Metal”.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
Arne: I am listening a lot to Totenmond – Tonbergurtod at the moment. You may miss the point of the lyrics when you’re not speaking German, but the music is one of the heaviest and most evil I’ve ever heard.
Mathias: At the moment, there’s is nothing I would like to recommend.
Sarkomand is a few years old now but is being reissued for your 10 year anniversary – tell us about this.
Arne: The CD version is practically sold out and we always wanted to go vinyl. It was just a logical consequence.
Mathias: ”Sarkomand” is predestinated for this cause. A 45 minute manifest of pure violence and horror in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft! Who knows his stories will like this release. The album was loved by the fans right after release and is sold out for a while! Now it’s back on 12” vinyl and a must have for every Extreme Metal lover.
Since the album was originally released, how do you feel about it now – is there anything you would change or do differently?
Arne: Most unexpectedly I’d say that I wouldn’t. Actually this desire is normal, but I think this album works perfectly this way. The length is good, there are no fillers and I think each track stands out on its own. For me, this is still our best album.
Mathias: No, there is nothing I would change, for me it has everything what a good Extreme Metal album needs.
What’s your favourite song on the album and why?
Arne: Mondsucht, definitely. I think it’s a good track to end an album with and I like the atmosphere it creates a lot.
Mathias: Good question…it’s hard to say…if I have to choose I would say Blindes Chaos, because in this song all the components of Ctulu‘s Extreme Metal are combined.
How do you feel you fit into the wider Black Metal scene, and do you feel differently about this now than when Sarkomand originally came out?
Arne: For us, Sarkomand was the ultimate evidence that we’re actually NO black metal outfit. Some reviews even counted this album as death metal. Freie Geister (our début album) earned a lot of harsh criticism because it is so very “unblack”. We wanted to make a statement with Sarkomand. This is extreme metal, this goes beyond death/black/dark metal or whatever.
Mathias: Well, we actually never associated ourselves with the Black Metal scene, because from the beginning till now, we never got religious (Satanic) influences in our lyrics or use any symbols of that on stage or in our artworks. We got nothing to do with any religions, that‘s why we call our music ”Extreme Metal” and when Sarkomand came out in 2011, it wasn’t different.
What can you tell us about the lyrics? Would you change them now?
Arne: Sarkomand is kind of a concept album about the Dreamland cycle by H.P. Lovecraft. Reading the “Dreamquest of unknown Kadath” will help you a lot diving deeper beyond the surface of the lyrics on this album.
Mathias: The lyrics are about nightmares and other Lovecratian themes. If we would change something, we wouldn’t be Ctulu anymore.
Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.
Arne: The songwriting was done by our lead guitarist Mathias Junge and our former drummer Jan Westermann (now active in the Greek outfits Released Anger and Diablery). I just added some second guitar tracks here and there. The lyrics were written by Mathias and me. About the songwriting itself, there’s actually nothing all too special to say. The tracks evolved very naturally and were finished very fast.
Mathias: The songwriting process is split between Arne and me. If we have new material, we work it out together with both guitars and then all the other instruments will follow.
How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?
Arne: We’ve started to work with tracks written by both Mathias and myself now. We work longer on the single tracks now and we’ve found a better way to record demos, so the songwriting has changed a lot since Sarkomand. I think this will help the music get to the point faster now than it did three years ago.
Mathias: I don’t want to make any predictions, we will see what happen in future!
What’s next for Ctulu?
Arne: We’re working intensely on our forthcoming album that we hope to record at the end of this year.
Mathias: We working on a new album and the first live shows for 2015 are confirmed!
Today is the Day are from the US and this is their tenth album.
A new Today is the Day album is always a bit of an event and it’s always interesting to hear what they come up with because you’re never quite sure what it’s going to sound like. The only thing you can be sure of, or course, is that it’s going to be nasty.
Animal Mother is no exception. It is, however, probably their most complete and well-rounded album to date. Animal Mother combines elements of all of their previous albums to either a greater or lesser extent, from the psycho aggression of Kiss the Pig, to the Sludge heaven of In the Eyes of God with even a touch of the experimental harshness of Sadness Will Prevail.
This is further enhanced by acoustic and melodic flourishes that act as bridges between the more usual caustic noises and abrasive sounds that the band create.
The songwriting as a whole is dynamic and complex. Today is the Day have never shied away from unusual rhythms, sounds, etc. but Animal Mother takes this willingness to experiment and explore and manages to shape it into a cohesive package without ever losing its edge.
The production is solid and tight, and similar to the album as a whole it’s a lot fuller than Today is the Day normally sound. This allows all of the songs to really impact on the listener with full force.
Their singer sounds as venomous as always, although his performance is more varied as well. His is a unique, piercing roar and this is complemented with other vocalisations that allow for nuance of delivery.
To me this album sounds like the culmination of everything the band have been building towards over the decades. It sounds utterly complete and very, very good. The creative energies have been focused just right and the resulting heavy nastiness is without peer.
I’ve been a fan of this band since 1999 and this is the album they’ve always threatened to make. A dark revelation and an apocalyptic realisation of intent.
Essential listening for any Extreme Metal fan. Get this now.
This is the tenth Sigh album. If you’ve never encountered them before, they’re from Japan and they play Black Metal. At least, that’s what they started out as and they’ve just kind of evolved from there. Avant-Garde Black Metal/Extreme Metal is probably closest to the mark these days, if you have to label it at all.
What’s your favourite song on the album and why?
Wonderbox Metal 