Sleep - The Sciences review

It's the fourth month, day number twenty in the foul year of our lord two thousand and eighteen or 4/20 and of course Sleep has released their latest album "The Sciences" it's a drug fueled romp through the voidal sonisphere.


The Sciences is Sleep's first album since 1999 when they originally released the album Dopesmoker which has been etched in to the stone of doom metal history. So after all of these years and other bands the members have been in how does 2018 Sleep stack up to the Sleep of the 90's do they manage to keep what makes Sleep, Sleep?

Yes, is the short answer but lets look into why and how? in the 90's Sleep were adept at writing music that conjured images of an incredible journey through time and space, with such slow chuggy riffs their music was almost meditative in nature, especially if you're baked. If you're stoned listening to Sleep you can help but to close your eyes, slouch back in your bean bag and get taken away to another universe of Hashishian travellers or Marijuanauts traversing great distances in search of the sacred smoke. The Sciences is a perfect addition to the Sleep discography, it has all of the great things that Sleep have trademarked, updated with a few more years of knowledge and technique.

The Sciences contains, immense chugging riffs, Al Cisneros' monk chantlike vocals, vast basslines, and deep thundering drums all things that make Sleep, Sleep. Somehow and some way, this album seems far more mature and complete than previous efforts which is surprising considering they haven't really changed much in the formula. The instruments as a whole are, as to be expected, perfection. The main thing that I think kept drawing me back to Sleep was the relaxation effect that I used to feel when I was listening to them, even in shorter bursts, popping on Sleep was the key to a relaxing afternoon or a good wind down after work. This hasn't changed in the slightest, in fact The Sciences seems to up the ante in this regard, Al Cisneros' work with his band Om throughout the hiatus has probably helped this fact.

The Sciences is an incredibly well rounded album, it has that incredible Sleep sound but updated to a more modern setting. It's hard to find fault with the album in all honestly, after all of these years I can still say that Sleep are one of my favourite stoner/doom bands and adding this album certainly hasn't changed that fact.

Pros:
Still Sleep
Epic chugging mastery
Meditative

Cons:
None come to mind

Track List:
The Sciences
Marijuanaut
Sonic Titan
Antarcticans Thawed
Giza Butler
The Botanist
Running Time: 53:00

Line-Up:
Al Cisneros - Bass, Vocals
Matt Pike - Guitars
Jason Roeder - Drums

Genre: Stoner / Doom
Release Date: 20/4/18
Label: Third Man Records
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/officialsleep/
https://sleep.merchtable.com/?no_redirect=true

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

I've come a long way baby!

Hello everyone, I just thought I'd jump on here and discuss what's been going on with me in the last month or so.

So in the last 18 months I've grown a hell of a lot and have become more me than I've ever been, I feel comfortable with who I am, and where I'm going, and who I'm going to get there with, and I'm happy I'm building something more meaningful with my life rather than just coasting along not achieving anything which has been the way is has for me for about 10 years now.  I'm a dreamer, always have been but never have the dreams felt so attainable as they do right now, I feel like I could capture the universe in my hand and really achieve enlightenment or at the very least greatness in myself, which is extremely refreshing. 

I've had so much hardship and stuff go wrong these last 18 months but I can't help but feel like it's all been leading me to this moment in time, sure I'm still short of money and I'm still in pain all of the time but now that I have this feeling of attainability, it doesn't feel like it's in vain and I can actually do something meaningful with my life.

As bad as it has been I don't regret it because of where I am now and what I have laid out in front of me and I think it's hard to see what's happened as a negative because of it. (p.s. if you don't know what has happened to me in the last year or so read this that should tell you what you need to know) I know my blogs have been a bit self servicing lately but I've been going through a hell of a lot of changes and now that I feel happy again I think I can get back to my regular scheduled programming of complete nonsense and random thoughts like this one,  "Custard is dessert gravy"

Cheers,
Vikinghammer

The foul year of our lord, two thousand and seventeen

2017... What a year,  what a downright, absolute pig of a year.  I can't wait to see the back of it.  Never have I experienced such mental and physical stress before.

I'll start at the beginning... Hold on to something this is going to get a little bumpy. 

In October of last year I got married to the love of my life, we had a lovely wedding with all of our friends and family it was a dream come true, I should have taken nature's warning at the end of the night when the wind rushed in and forced us out early!

But here comes the badness

About this time last year I busted my knees and had to have X-rays and an mri on them to see what the problem was,  turns out I have a compression of Hoffa's fat pad which is like a shock absorber in the knee so that means my knees are taking more force than they can handle which is something that will never go away but the pain will come and go.  I was out of work for a few weeks with excruciating pain and had to go to a physio to help me build strength and stretch the right places to help aid my recovery.

In January of this year I was suffering excruciating foot pain, I always have some sort of pain in my feet because I have plantar faciaitis which is a thickening of the tendon that runs under the foot which happens when you have a high arch, the tendon stretches to much and causes pain.  But the pain is usually manageable, this time it wasn't, something else was going on.  So off to the doctors I went, she said to get an X-ray to see what is going on.  "you have a bone spur on your heel, but that's likely been there a long time; OK so it's not that, maybe it's just inflammation of the facia, get an ultrasound" so I did that, "it's a bit inflamed".  So she said "you can either go and get some physio which would take some time to heal, or maybe get an ultrasound guided steroid injection, which is the quick fix which may not actually help in the long run but will take care of the pain now".  At this stage I had already been out of work for 2 weeks and really couldn't afford to have any more time off, so I went with the steroid injection.  So I'm at the imaging place they're getting everything ready, the lady starts ultrasounding my foot and ankle again and then stops "hmm, I think I need to get the doctor" she returns with the doctor.  The doctor proceeds to tell me that they won't be going ahead with the steroid injection because I have a 50% tear in my Achilles tendon and that I need to go back to my doctor and get in to a specialist up at flinders hospital... So three weeks off work turns in to 3 weeks and 4 months in a moon boot, not to mention I was in and out of work when I got back to it because I was still in recovery and struggling with the pain.  So all up I think it was probably about 6 months off work.

All of this time off work brought with it great financial struggle, it wasn't an injury that I could claim on work cover because it's a grey area, it's a wear and tear injury, they couldn't say I did it at work.  I could, because that's exactly where it happened, it's deemed a sports injury, I don't play sports... The only strenuous thing I do is work, the next hardest thing I do is clean up around the house which is nowhere near as hard as my work is.  So yeah, I used all of my sick pay and most of my annual leave when I busted my knees last year, so that means for 6 months I was relying on less than half of what I was usually getting from work which caused me to push more and more bills further and further back until the companies wouldn't give us anymore chances, I'm still trying to get on top of it all to this day, and probably will be for a time to come.

Basically as soon as I was well enough to go back to work, my wife came down with a mystery illness that sent her to the hospital more times than I can count including a few weeks stay.  Which was really hard for both of us, waiting around constantly in and out of hospital, ambulance rides, taking time off work to take her to hospital or bring her home, sleep was a distant but fond memory.  All of this lasted about 2 months... At first, then she got sick again with the same thing about a month later, they still have no idea what it was, they think auto immune but they never gave us a concrete diagnosis, it was all guessing basically. 

In between her hospital visits I got a toe injury which took me out of work again for a few days, X-rays and scans lead to nothing... Then I slipped a disc in my back moving furniture and I crumpled to the floor in complete agony and couldn't move.  I had my own ambulance journey along with so many painkillers to try and numb the pain as best they could but nothing seemed to help so yeah another week out of work, with light duties for 2 more after that.

By this stage work has had enough of me calling in sick and have started to question the legitimacy of my days off.  I've been out with so many injuries this year which I directly relate to work which has lead me to the point that my body is screaming at me to find something less strenuous on my body, it's breaking down bit by bit.

Remember how I said before about how we were on our last chance with all of the bill companies, all of the extra time off and my wife off from her work has only compounded our financial woes even further.

Now we move ahead to October of this year... My wife of not even a year decides to leave me, citing that I'm not giving her what she wants in a relationship.  Which is fair, if I'm not giving her what she wants she has every right to leave me and find her happiness.  But that still left me with a gaping wound that I am left to heal on my own.

So you could say I've had a tough year... You could even say a cunt of a year.

I've taken so many hits this year but I'm still standing, I've learnt a great many things, I've grown so much and I'm feeling good, somehow after all of that, I feel good.  Huh...that even felt weird to type out, but it's true.  Just goes to show you the true strength of the human spirit.

I've got a few more scars, I feel worn down, I have fought through all of this and never once have I succumb to those feelings of doubt, depression and helplessness.  I feel them but I manage them rather than being overwhelmed by them.  I get a little anxious from time to time, I feel a little nervous in large crowds of people I don't know.  But I'm still me at the end of it all, I still have those things that make me, me.  And if I can get through what's happened this year, that will never change.

Vikinghammer out!

The fallacy of inevitability.

Like the warmth sucked from the world just before mornings first light, just when things feel like their about to get better.  Inevitably it falls in a heap, like the crumbling buildings in a war torn nation.  But when you think all is lost and things just keep getting worse, the sun rises and casts it's warming, brilliant light upon the earth.  Bringing with it a new day filled with so much promise and a chance for everything to turn around and a chance for you to climb out of the rubble, shake off the dust, plant your flag in the ashes and reclaim what was once lost in those cold moments before the dawn.

All you have to do is have the strength to push those rocks aside and be great once more.