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Memory Driven - Relative Obscurity
(I Hate Records) Review by
Chris Davison |
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Bloody hell, how on earth did they do it ? Memory Driven are
an American outfit, formed less than a year ago. Despite
several of the members having been in other outfits before,
being able to sound so “together” and focussed as they do,
on record in that time is nothing short of impressive.
Being on I Hate Records, of course, there’s a fair chance
that this is going to be a doom album – which, by degrees it
is. This in the vein of several other impressive acts of
this millennium – most notably the dark post-doom of outfits
like Finland's Ghost Brigade and Daylight Dies. This is
undeniably rooted in the leaden, miserable tones of doom
metal, but |
dares to think outside the box in including post-rock
influences, clean, melodic vocals and even some mainstream
passages that wouldn’t sound out of place on an Alice in
Chains or Soundgarden album (in particular, the
downbeat “is there something there?”). There are some, of
course, who will claim that this is a dilution of doom metal
– the elitists and forum freaks who will denounce anything
for the lack of “truth”. That is especially prevalent among
the most a austere and reactionary of genres (save, perhaps,
for Black metal – but that is a different debate). I say a
pox upon the nay Sayers; too much adherence to genre
conventions ensures the death of a genre by stagnation. This
is a progressive record in almost every sense. The music
weaves a magical spell with delicate flavours of melody
being carefully poured into the aural pot, while the
attention to song craft above genre-rule compliance means
that “Relative Obscurity” is a most subtle and appetising
morsel.
It isn’t all plain sailing, however. Occasionally, I found
the passages a little too lacking in metal fibre and backbone for my tastes, though of course I have by now been
spoiled by over-exposure to the “extreme” side of metal.
Every now and then, the jangling delicate guitar work could
do with reinforcement by a more crushing, destructive tone
(as with the crushing guitars at the beginning of “Heavens
Vast”, which brought pleasant memories of Las Cruces to
mind), but this is but a minor niggle. For daring to do
something different, and to do it so well, Memory Driven
deserve my praise, and that is exactly what they will get
from me. Relative Obscurity? Currently, but their peculiar
willingness to experiment will hopefully raise them from
this position. www.ihate.se |
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ˇM.G.R. y Destructo Swarmbots! - Amigos de la Guitarra
(Neurot Recordings)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Guitar driven drone from a duo only very loosely connected
to metal comes in the form of one 42-minute track on “Amigos
de la Guitarra”. ˇM.G.R. y Destructo Swarmbots! (I’m not
typing this project’s moniker anymore) consists of
guitarists Mike Mare and Mike Gallagher of ISIS fame
(there’s the metal connection, and only post-metal at that).
To make a long story of collaboration short (the biography
given on the promo information sheet is either true, or
totally tongue-in-cheek; I wasn’t interested enough,
frankly, to waste time finding out), the end result is a
rather dreamy exercise in strummed guitar and harmonics
consisting entirely of one track called “Amor en al Aire”. |
This is nowhere near metal, although comparisons to Earth
and Sunn O))), but not nearly as heavy, can certainly be
drawn. The project’s music, however, is quite good as the 42
minutes is divided into three distinct movements, each one
satisfactorily holding the interest of the listener. For the
most part, the guitars are merely acoustic and the harmonics
are subtle (think Pink Floyd’s early albums, or the
soundtrack to a Michael Mann film). Throughout the release,
the two elements are given roles of prominence and,
alternatively, reduction.
In the end, “Amigos de la Guitarra” is not metal, but would
be appreciated by those with a taste for drone. Myself, I
found the album to be the perfect accompaniment for a late
night roaming of L.A.’s freeways while doing 90 mph in the
carpool lane.
www.neurotrecordings.com
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Root - Zjevení / The Revelation
(I Hate Rec) Review by Crin |
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1990, the debut album and what a menacingly awkward listen
it is. To understand its importance [underrated even today]
we must first plunge ourselves back into 1990 and be aware
there was no Norwegian Black Metal scene, no Burzum or
Darkthrone of any note. [Black Metal proper had not even
been born] There was a formidable Death scene and a rising
death/doom movement scattered amongst the debris of Thrash
Metal's fragmentation. Bands across the globe were testing a
darker metal sound, a more exclusive Blackened despair, Beherit had released their
Dawn of Satan's Millennium, EP. Rotting Christ their Satanas Tedeum
demo, and across the pond, Blasphemy’s seminal, Fallen |
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Angel of Doom, had been unleashed. The Swedish Death scene was born with Entombed’s ‘Left Hand Path, Paradise Lost had just released
their bleak debut, Tiamat appeared with the momentous,
Sumerian Cry, Autopsy were in vogue, and from the little
known scene in Czechoslovakia, a totally unknown entity
called Root, had released an album of such harrowing
primitivism, and unusual songs that no one at the time would
ever know about it. [Well, only the lucky few]. Now, I am
not saying this is a great album, as it is extremely
difficult to get into, and not a very digestible album at
all. The music is menacing, bleak, and gives off an
extremely eerie atmosphere. The songs are written in such a
off key fashion, sending you into places I am sure you’d
rather not be. It is a depressive, haunting release as well
as a unique piece of extremely early Black Metal. Vocalist,
Big Boss, has one of the most variable vocals in the genre,
and he literally takes over the music with his wide range of
vocal highs and lows. The lyrics are in Czechoslovakian, and
this makes it an even deeper archaic experience. There are
unavoidable references to Celtic Frost at times, as the dark
arrangements let loose their gloomy desolate tones and yet
this has that cheap Hammer Horror atmosphere, so deeply
effective and painfully masked in dread. There are five
bonus tracks tacked onto the end to make this re-issue even
more inviting. www.ihate.se |
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Root - The Temple in the Underworld
(I Hate Rec) Review by Crin |
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This was Roots third album, released in 1992, and in my
opinion the bands finest moment. This had a warmth wrapped
about its cold menace that transcends the sheer brutality of
Black Metal and treads a more distorted Heavy Metal path to
release its brooding epic music. Here, Root managed to
create an album that is on par with Celtic Frost's, Into The
Pandemonium. Both albums share a great diversity and ability
to drag the music away from the norm, to expand on primitive
ideas and make them grandiose slabs of rousing Darkly Metal.
Of course this wasn’t as groundbreaking, yet for its day
the incredibly diverse songs formed a solid album of darkly
theatre set to music. The dynamics of the vocals Big Boss |
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generates are immense, ranging from deep growls to soft
whispers to ballad crooning and back again. This not a
vicious album, there are no brain pummelling moments. The
range of songs drift from sturdy Sabbath driven arrangements
to slower emotive pieces, all carried forward by those
unique vocals. The riffs and melodies will stick in your
head long after the songs disperse into times unforgiving
sway. Root are as cult as you can get, unique and most
certainly out on a limb, spanning two decades and still
pretty obscure as to make it a criminal act of neglect by
the world metal press. There are three bonus tracks in the
form of two demos and a live recording. The 2001 version of
My Name is killer!!
www.ihate.se |
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Solitude Productions Round Up-Reviewed By Steve Earles
Revelations of Rain - S/T
Letargy Dream - 2
Mose - Halfway To Nowhere |
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First up from Solitude Productions are
Revelations of Rain with their self-titled
album. I don’t speak Russian so I cannot comment on their
lyrics but certainly their music is very atmospheric,
extremely epic and well played, certainly it makes a
refreshing difference from the usual generic death or doom
metal. Doubtlessly their geographic position and different
experiences imbue Revelations of Rain with a distinct
originality, the nearest reference point I can find is early
Paradise Lost and Anathema with some of the guttural
harshness of Autopsy, but it’s very original and heartfelt
and this I must slate, worth a try for anyone liking the
sincere and adventurous. Some really breathtaking musical
passages amongst the doom, very stirring.
Letargy Dream’s 2 album is
very different, being more modern in its slant, but with
some serious Iommi-inspired riff, one track clocks in at
over 23 minutes so this is epic doom in every sense.
Boasting a very good production, it’s very early Cathedral
in places, and really invokes Russian in atmosphere. On the
first track (apologies for lack of titles due to language
detail), after a doomy intro, Letargy Dream suddenly hit the gas
peddle, before hitting a Warning-style groove. The trio
really play well indeed, I love doom and would be
ultra-critical if this were otherwise. Highly atmospheric, I
have to say a pleasant surprise, one of the best doom metal
albums I’ve heard in ages, huge riff and huge atmosphere,
doom is the purest form of metal and Letargy Dream are awesome, I
have to say if this was on Rise Above, nobody would be
surprised (one for you, Lee). Very strong identity, every
song is exactly the length it should be, it’s great to be
pleasantly surprised and I’d like people to hear more from
this fine band.
Finally we have
Mose with Halfway To Nowhere, which is like the
mutant offspring of Crowbar and early-Cathedral, and it’s a
solid slab of molten sludge, with some terrific playing,
harsh but clear vocal, and a solid groove-and sludge needs
groove like bankers |
need repossessions. The Levee Will Break
is a stark and atmospheric piece of song-writing. Y’know the
thing that struck me, we owe it all to Mr Tony Iommi, all
three of these records, from two different countries all owe
the great man a debt. The excellently titled I Sleep With
Demons is really cooking. All in all, three diverse but high
quality albums from an excellent label.
www.myspace.com/revelationsofrain
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www.myspace.com/letargydream
| www.myspace.com/moserocks
| http://solitude-prod.com |
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