Rites of thy Degringolade - The Blade Philosophical review

Spawned in 1997 Rites of thy Degringolade was originally the solo project of Paulus Kressman who has at one time or another played every instrument in the band. The band has evolved, mutated and re-animated itself in to what we see today a more polished and advanced form of being than what was originally an experimental one piece band. The Blade Philosophical still holds those experimental roots of the early Degringolade but has some really blazing and intense musicianship that buries you in your chair so as not to ignite in to some flaming Balrog from the depths of Moria.

The Blade Philosophical holds so much power, as you listen to it you get the feeling that this was not meant for mortal ears, this feels like music for a higher being. It's absolutely crushing but at the same time it's majestic and also has a sense of foreboding that comes along with the crushing majesty, like Rites of thy Degringolade are predicting an astral tragedy that will affect the universe as we know it. The more I listen to this album the more I feel like this to be the absolute truth... so stay tuned for annihilation!

The way the compositions are put together on The Blade Philosophical are quite intricate and eclectic but never does the music feel cramped or like they are trying to be experimental for the sake of it. The drums are so epic, in every way. The speed of the music changes quite frequently but the drums never lose their place, they're played to perfection. The guitars have quite a task putting together these eclectic and masterful pieces of music, but they manage to put down some incredible work on these tracks, from sparse moments of reflection to complete brutal speed picking, to blazing solos, it's amazing work. The vocals are harsh, unrelenting and in moments they hold the tone for the track, on the opening track for instance the music seems to be following the vocals, not the other way around. There's also a really open reverb to the vocals that makes it sound like they are being sung from another plane.

The tracks contained within this album are so inventive and really incredible to hear. The opening track 'Above the Highest' opens the album perfectly, it gives you some insight to the way the album is headed without giving away the ending, with a deep horn playing in the background throughout a portion of the track which really gives you a pretty intense feeling of anxiety, this is the perfect opening to the album, it chugs along but it chugs at such a pace that it feels like something that will never end, unrelenting and punishing. The album seems to graduate from here and gets darker, faster and heavier like something is being unleashed, like a darkness is shrouding the earth. It's the second track which is the title track for the album 'The Blade Philosophical' where the darkness begins to spread, darker than the track before but not dissimilar in the chugging mentality, maybe with a little more of the eclectic guitar work. Track 3 'The Universe in Three Parts' is where this album really gains it's wings, it's so dark and sparse that it honestly feels like the end of all things. Interspersed with these sparse moments are moments of complete and utter brutality, replete with a masterful solo, track 3 is my favourite on the album. 'Totalities Kompletion' is track 4 and it's easily the heaviest on the album, just an absolute feast of brutal noise. Track 5 'I am The Way, The Truth and The Knife' is another brutal monstrosity but it has some very interesting fills and parts between the noise that sets it aside. It's eclectic, interesting and has some really crazy parts that you just want to windmill to. The final track on the album 'The Final Laceration' is an eclectic, masterful, feast for the ears, the guitars sound like a plague approaching, there is this really epic vocal moment that sounds like they are calling down the frogs and blood. Honestly every song on this album have some truly incredible moments, they all sound different but carry the same mentality, and that is absolute destruction.

All in all I really enjoyed The Blade Philosophical, the album is so interesting to listen to it never sounds boring or stale. There's so much happening but it never sounds cluttered, it's just very interesting timing and playing. This is the first time I've crossed paths with Rites of thy Degringolade but I'm very glad that I have and now I'm going to go through their back catalog and witness the devastation first hand.

Pros:

• Eclectic and interesting
• Brutal as all hell
• A devastating mix of experimentation and tradition

Cons:

• Some people might find it hard to listen to
• sometimes the drums take over

Track List:

1. Above the Highest
2. The Blade Philosophical
3. The Universe in Three Parts
4. Totalities Kompletion
5. I Am The Way, The Truth and The Knife
6. The Final Laceration

Total Running Time: 41:06

Line-up:
Paulus Kressman – Drums, Vocals
J Wroth – Guitars
N.K.L.H. - Guitars
C.W. - Bass

Genre: Extreme Metal
Release Date: 15th March, 2018
Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions
Links:
https://nuclearwarnowproductions.bandcamp.com/album/the-blade-philosophical
https://www.facebook.com/Rites-of-Thy-Degringolade-283238285133389/

Hawkmoth - Godless Summit Review

Hawkmoth from Sydney, Australia are one of those rare bands that need to be heard. They are an instrumental metal band in the vein of Mogwai or Pelican. They have an incredible style and way of creating their music, it has so much feeling. The music feels like a gathering storm, or a surge of water ebbing and flowing with the weight of the oceanic tide.

Godless Summit is their latest album released late last year, it's an amazing accomplishment. The depth of music that this four piece manage to conjure really makes you feel as though you are an explorer facing something insurmountable, but inevitably trying. Like an impassable mountain range but the only way is over or back the way you came and around. Like the explorer's of old forging a new path through the darkest places of this world, but not the stories where they have succeeded, the stories that end in crushing woe. Godless Summit is only part 1 of a 2 part opus the second of which we'll see sometime this year hopefully.

The Musicianship on Godless Summit is spectacular, it's heavy, majestic and at times ambient and pleasing. The guitars have this distortion on them that makes me think of old school hard rock but it fits really well with this style of music. The guitars go from crushing heaviness to a really pleasing ambience, which gives the music this incredible ebb and flow. The drums manage to flow throughout the music offering exclamation points on the heaviest parts to giving the music something to raise your fist to and bang your head along to on the more ambient parts. All around the instruments are amazing, I can't fault them in the slightest.

Godless Summit is a really well created album it starts slow and builds tension then gets to a point where you feel like the odds are against you then you feel the hardship and crushing despair then when you feel like you can't take anymore, comes the feeling of complete and utter futility. It's a disasterpiece in 4 parts and it's hard to stop listening once you've started.

I feel like Hawkmoth have honestly made one of the best instrumental albums I've ever heard. I love Mogwai, Pelican and Russian Circles etc. but Godless Summit really just feels like a complete story, like this isn't just something that they've written, it's something they've experienced, or at least researched extensively. It feels like they've poured a lifes work in to the wave form and what has come out is exactly what it needs to be, if it were any different it wouldn't be Godless Summit and this review would be entirely different.

Pros:

Amazing use of ambience
The story telling is incredible
The musicianship is perfect


Cons:
I can't think of any

Track List:
Godless Summit 8:27
Ibex 5:54
Mala Fide 9:36
Charnel Grounds 13:51

Line-up:
Aaron Steed - Bass
Andy Griggs – Guitar
Heath Blows – Guitar
Brendan Mackay – Drums

Genre: Post Rock / Metal
Release Date: December, 15th 2017
Label: Unsigned
Links:
https://hawkmoth.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/Hawkmoth

Shatter Brain - The Shatter Brain Demo Review

Built from the graven ashes from a few of South Australia's premiere metal bands, Shatter Brain has released a four track demo demonstrating their ability to tear shreds from your flesh.  Shatter Brain takes its influences from so many areas that they don't sound like any one thing in particular, in fact they are carving their own path through the crushing landscape; painting pictures of the insane.

For a demo this is a really high quality recording, it was recorded and mixed by the bands guitarist Jack Hartley then mastered by Joel Grind (Toxic Holocaust, Cavalera Conspiracy, Powertrip) so it has a strong pedigree from the get go.  This is very exciting, a demo this hefty really beggars belief.  What are their future albums going to be like?

I'm sitting here listening to this demo on bandcamp trying to type and listen at the same time... it's very hard, all I want to do is jump around, flip the coffee table, and kick over the lounge.  I guess you could call this music new hardcore?  Regardless it's a smorgasbord of extreme sound.  The vocals are diverse and range from piercing highs to crushing gutteral filth.  The guitars are absolutely crushing, but at the same time melodic and soulful, and the solos are masterful with just the right amount of claw raising bad assery.  The drums are definitely something to behold, they are huge, diverse and range from extreme blast beats, to slow doomy chops and everything in between.  All in all the musicianship displayed by Shatter Brain on this demo is absolutely amazing and as I mentioned earlier if this is what the demo sounds like... how the fuck will the world fathom an entire LP, it's a pretty exciting thought!

This is what metal should sound like, passion, aggression and soul, this demo has all of those things in spades.  Shatter Brain have started like a bullet from a gun and if that is any indication of what the future holds this band is going to be absolutely huge.  The four tracks contained on this demo is some of the best metal Australia has to offer, the pure crushing aggression contained within its walls is nothing short of apocalyptic and should be recognised as so.  Shatter Brain are going to quickly become one of the biggest metal acts in Australia, of that I am certain.

Pros:
- Crushing, aggressive and melodic
- Musicianship is perfect
- The recording is flawless

Cons:
- It's only a 4 track demo

Track List:
1. Dog's Water
2. Rip the Stitch
3. Invisible War
4. Discard

Line-up:
Ryan Quarrington - Drums
Jack Hartley - Guitar
Tom Santamaria - Vocals
Pat Callaghan - Bass
Matt Disisto - Guitar

Genre: New Hardcore / Death Metal

Release Date: 16-1-18

Links:
https://www.shatterbrainmetal.com
https://shatterbrainmetal.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/shatterbrainmetal
https://twitter.com/shatterbrainaus
https://www.instagram.com/shatterbrainmetal
https://soundcloud.com/shatterbrainmetal