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Hayatari - They Will Surface
(Caustic Eye Productions) Review by Steve Green |
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Drone is not exactly a field I'm well versed in, but I was introduced to
the genre last year by fellow L4M writer Dave Schalek who very kindly
pointed me in the direction of a few recommended bands by burning me off a
few cds. Highly illegal of course, but not as bad as downloading, hey
kids?
Here we have the 3rd album by Huntington West Virginia's Hyatari and my
discovery of the genre continues. At first I thought I was in for the
mellowest of rides, but halfway through track two, Abysmal Plain, the
heavy riffs and ponderous pace decided to make my acquaintance. For the
majority of the albums near on hour duration, it's an instrumental
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affair. They aren't any vocals either, but there are barely
audible sounds, which I presume to be voices buried deep in
the mix of Mountains Lit With Fire. They Will Surface is an
album that stays "in the zone" and it simply stares straight
ahead with a completely blank look on its face, figuratively
speaking and it doesn't deviate from its path of minimalist
splendour either. Overall, it's quite a captivating
experience.
www.myspace.com/hyatari
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Impending Doom - The Serpent Servant
(S.O.A.R./Facedown)
Review by James Young |
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I can imagine the mere concept of ‘Christian deathcore’ will
put off a fair few people, but to be honest, apart from the
song and album titles, there is little evidence of preaching
going on here. As for the deathcore, this album merges brutal
death metal with the more-than-occasional breakdown, so it
would probably be considered such. Whilst these frequent
interruptions work a little bit to the album’s detriment,
there are a few saving graces, first of all in the wonderfully
clean production, which gives the album a listenability most
death metal bands lack. Another great aspect of this album is
the musicianship, which despite lacking some originality and
variation borders on Meshuggah-like technicality at |
times, with some well executed slamming underlying rhythms
scattered throughout.
The most enjoyable parts of the album are the groovy death
metal passages, heard for example in ‘More Than Conquerors’,
which juxtapose the fast double-kick drums of Chad Blackwell
with the slower hooks of guitarists Manny Contreras and Cory
Johnson. Likewise, ‘In The House Of Mourning’ contains some
heady blast beats with the great growls of Brook Reeves to
create quite a hefty number. This compares favourably with
other parts of the album, which opt for a downtuned chugga
style of riff, which can grate a little after a while. This
leads somewhat to the feeling of repetition, one instance of
which being ‘Storming The Gates Of Hell’ and ‘Waiting For
Forever’, which have very similar rhythms at certain points
Deathcore fans won’t find much better than this, and as for
the specialist group of Christian deathcore fans, well, look
no further. Impending Doom have quite a lot more to offer than
the average deathcore band, but that doesn’t stop it being
tainted by the genre’s downfalls. Worth checking out at the
very least.
www.myspace.com/impending |
www.siegeofamida.net |
www.facedownrecords.com |
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Ministry - Adios...Puta Madres [Live]
(13th Planet) Review by Metal Mark |
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"Adios...Puta Madres" is a 13-track live disc featuring
performances from Ministry's final world tour, "C U LaTouR
2008". This disc was recorded over the course of the band's
75-city global farewell jaunt which began on March 25, 2008 in
Spokane, Washington and ended with a pair of final sell-out
shows in Dublin, Ireland on July 19, 2008. The performances
contained here were recorded in Serbia, Warsaw, Los Angeles,
Chicago, Germany, Czech Republic, and Slovakia, to name a few.
The tour was to support their killer 2007 release "The Last
Sucker". Al Jourgensen has had this act going for a long
time with a changing cast of supporting players. During that
lengthy ride the band has gone |
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through synth-pop, industrial
chaos and thick, skull bashing metal. Much of the Ministry's
more recent material and the bulk of the songs presented here
fall into the last of those three categories. There's not a
lot of between song banter or unnecessary build-up during
these performances. Instead they charge forward with more
volume than finesse, but that's the kind of approach that has
always worked for them. There's plenty of bashing of former
president Bush as well. That comes as no surprise since he had
been the target of their last several studio albums. The sound
quality is stellar as their raw brutality shines through. They
don't even seem to stop for breath at any time. Honestly I
wasn't that big on the Ministry in their early days. However,
they have grown on me more in recent years with their massive
sound and relentless attack. It many ways it's a shame that
Jourgensen has decided to call it quits, but of course that is
very much his prerogative. Still this live release is
certainly a high note to end on if indeed this really is the
end.
www.myspace.com/13thplanetrecords |
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Nachtmystium - Worldfall
(Candlelight Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Nachtmystium seem to have faltered of late. Frankly,
Nachtmystium is a band that should reside at, or near, the top
of the extreme metal heap with the dual releases of
“Worldfall” and “Assassins: Black Meddle Part I” in 2008.
Taking a black metal base and advancing the genre into a
psychedelic realm has garnered Blake Judd and the band he
created critical acclaim. Unfortunately, for some rather
unfathomable reasons, Nachtmystium has attracted malicious
detractors, some of whom seem bent upon destroying the
personal integrity of Judd and the band’s reputation as a
whole. In addition, bad luck seems to plague the band, as
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First, a maligned appearance on a Scion-sponsored bill in Los
Angeles (a great show, by the way, with nary a corporate
presence in sight) enabled some to label Nachtmystium as
sell-outs for appearing at a corporate sponsored show (Wolves
In The Throne Room have recently pontificated at length about
compromising one’s ideals to appear on such a bill). Then, to
add insult to injury, bizarre Nazi-affiliation rumors
regarding Nachtmystium surfaced, causing Scion to boot
Nachtmystium off of a planned Scion Rock Fest bill. As if that
wasn’t bad enough, to top it all off, Blake Judd recently
broke his leg, forcing the band to drop off of the upcoming
tour of the United States as the main support for The Haunted,
probably the band’s biggest touring slot since the release of
“Assassins…” Incidentally, Century Media should’ve thrown
their full financial weight behind Nachtmystium with a tour as
soon as “Assassins…” was released, and I can’t imagine Judd
and company being satisfied with their promotion by Century
Media.
At any rate, the “Worldfall” EP is being re-released for a
domestic British audience by Candlelight Records. Originally
slated as a split with Leviathan prior to the release of
“Assassins…”, “Worldfall” consists of five songs: two songs
are originals (including the awesome “Depravity”), one song is
a re-recording of “Solitary Voyage” from “Demise”, and the
remaining two songs are covers. The two originals serve as
“prequels”, if you will, to the black metal psychedelia heard
upon “Assassins…”, and the two covers consist of a dreamy
version of “Roseclouds Of Holocaust” by Death In June and “IV”
by Goatsnake, a change of pace if there ever was one.
American fans of Nachtmystium probably already have this
release, but British fans can now track down “Worldfall” with
ease. Let’s hope that 2009 brings Nachtmystium better luck.
www.candlelightrecords.co.uk |
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Solefald - Neonism
Re-issue (Peaceville) Review by Crin |
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Originally released 1999, following the acclaimed post black
metal experimental, Linear Scaffold album in 1997. You should
be shot against a wall of jellified corpses if you do not
already own this, but the again if you are new to the genre
then maybe you should get it now. This is an abstract post
black metal release that follows a similar path to Arcturus,
Ulver, and the more recent works of Dodheimsgard. All
Norwegian, and all emanating from the olden era when the genre
was still morphing into numerous oddball sub-genres. This is
very Norwegian Black Metal in nature, but that’s where the
comparison ends as the music has a unique flavour of keyboard
fused, Jazz imbued, and truly mind challenging |
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music. Imagine the classic sixties leviathans, The Doors
melting into Borknagar and dragging the likes of Arcturus in its
multicoloured wake. The music is kind of a jazzy, melodic black
metal. It's very bizarre and creates a strange aura. Solefald
means "Sundown.", so the very conception of the bands music
emanates from its name even though it was born from the
darkness of a Black Metal infancy.
www.peaceville.com |
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The Agonist - Lullabies For The
Dormant Mind (Century Media)
Review by Steve Green |
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For those looking for something different, then you may have come to the
right place. The Agonist are fronted by the rather foxy Alissa White-Gluz,
whose voice ranges from all out brutal roars and sugary sweet textures,
which are a mixture of Evanescence's Amy Lee and Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia. Obviously the vocals styles, brutal and clean, won't appeal to
everyone, but if you are open minded and can cope with psychotic nursery
rhyme lullabies and a brutal onslaught of epic proportions, then come on
in.
Obviously, the music follows the same pace. Chaotic cacophonies sit side
by side with the poppier side of what is tagged as "Gothic Rock", which in
turn are in league, no, not with
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Satan, but brutal, molten face-ripping Metal. Throw into the
pot a violinist and a couple of classically minded pianists
and The Agonist cover everything from Grindcore to Goth Rock, as
well as the aforementioned Classical aspects... and it works.
But let's be honest here: Although the contrast of styles works here,
mainly as I've not heard anything like this before, I imagine I'd tire of
it pretty quickly if the next album followed the exact same formula. But
as it stands, The Agonist have definitely got my seal of approval,
especially when they throw the rulebook out of the window and include a
stunning a cappella version of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake right in the middle
of the maelstrom. Genius.
www.myspace.com/theagonist
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Thergothon - Stream From the Heavens
Re-issue (Peaceville)
Review by Crin |
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Finish doom originally appearing in 1994, an age of Black
Metal revolution and Doom and gloom awakenings. This first
appeared when Cathedral's Ethereal Mirror was injecting
groove into doom, and My Dying Brides The Angel and the Dark
River, was still being recorded. Funeral doom is a label
perfectly allocated here as you may as well go and pour your
self a beer between each dragging guitar chord. You can cite
this band as originators of the Funeral doom sound, as you
would have more fun at a cremation than listening to this.
It's an apathetic, lumbering, deadly aural torment, and
embittered with crushing despair. You can cull the names of Skepticism,
Electric Wizard, Grief, Swallow the Sun, |
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Funeral, Hierophant, Mournful Congregation, Nortt, etc, all capable of
issuing Doom at its grimy lethargic best. Thergothon however
manage to take the whole supine minimalism to a depressingly
bleak level. The label declared boldly, "the slowest,
extremist, most depressing doom metal album." And I would not
argue with that… But the overall vibe is one of complete
emotional decay. This is the soundtrack of belated sorrow. A
bleary, heaving despondency yearning for euthanasia.. Its hard
to want to play this again after enduring the six song
duration. The husky
vocal groans are reminiscent of Demilich, or Gorefest at their
ear melting best. So, it's plain and simple wrist cutting
stuff. If you are a lonely sad fuck with no friends and plenty
of time for wanking, this is for you.
www.peaceville.com |
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Tribazik - All Blood Is Red
(Eastworld Recordings) Review by Steve Green |
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To be honest, I could review this album by just using two well known
words, "killing" and "joke". Tribazik have toured with Jaz Coleman
and co and the man himself actually appears on one track on All Blood Is
Red, namely the moody, but brilliant, Molten, so yes, this is very similar
indeed to Killing Joke. The main difference is the electronic side of
Tribazik, with plenty of techno sounds flying around the mix. And where
Tribazik stand apart from Killing Joke are on slower songs like
Smokescreen, which reminds me of the reggae influenced side of The Clash,
fused with a slightly industrial flavour and the techno keyboards I
mentioned before, and on the utterly captivating album closer, Speak
Through
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Us.
A lot of the industrial stuff we've received recently, which I have to
admit I've enjoyed more than the more typical Metal releases which
normally come our way, has been very upbeat in nature. I was kind of
expecting the same thing from Tribazik, especially with the listed
ingredients of their sound being indicative to this. But no, they seem
happy to frequently change the tempo and quite often keep the mood slow
and brooding, which harks back to the golden (or should that be
blackened?) days of 80s Gothdom. My personal preference leans towards the
more upbeat numbers, bar Speak Through Us, which is, by far, my favourite
song on the album.
Overall, a good album, but one that I don't think will set the world
alight as it sounds all too familiar.
www.myspace.com/tribazik |
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Waco Jesus - Sex Drugs and Death Metal (Waco Productions)
Review by Chris Davison |
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One of those “heard the name, never heard the band” outfits.
With a snappy name, an amusing album title and an inlay
booklet featuring a whole cornucopia of tits and one bona fide
vagina, this was never ever going to be anything other than a
blast. The Jesus are a deranged American bunch, cramming eight
tracks into just under thirty minutes, in this their fourth
album proper.
What do you get though? Filthy, groove laden death metal that
isn't a whole lot removed from the latest Benediction
offering, in truth, and I was a big fan of that too. Like the
fucking Motley Crue of death metal, Waco Jesus are here for
the Jack Daniels, the women |
and the rocking. If the thought of some kind of deranged death
metal / glam metal hybrid has you reaching for the “next”
button, don't be so quick on the trigger finger there, mosh-kid. This is a fucking fun, frills
free album that simultaneously brings to mind the classic
death metal phases of the old Earache bands like Napalm Death,
albeit with a more rocking core. The likes of “Down in Flames”
have natty Slayer-esque guitar touches here and there, with a
pleasingly dry and old school production, especially with the
drum sound that owes much more to classic thrash than to any
other death metal outfits.
The direction the band have taken may have some more grim
faced aficionados of the death metal genre scratching their
heads, but hasn't death metal always had at least a grim sense
of humour all of its own? It's hard not to raise a smile
along with lyrics like “Here's a toast to all of us fuck-ups /
Living with no code of conduct / Here's a toast to all of us
fuck-ups / Living just to get wasted”. It's a lo-fi,
stripped-to-the-bone conception of death metal, I'll grant
you, but then again I would much rather listen to Waco Jesus
in all of their drink-induced insanity than endure another
moment of technical wankery from Necrophagist and their ever
expanding army of clones. Sex Drugs and Death Metal – sounds
like the perfect weekend. Great, fun stuff.
www.wacojesus.com |
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