Agalloch: The Serpent and the Sphere album review

 Agalloch: The Serpent and the Sphere

It's no secret that I've always been a huge fan of Agalloch, the diversity in their music really keeps me interested in everything they do.  So when I heard they were writing a new album I was extremely excited, this excitement was well founded as this album is Agalloch through and through, experimental and emotionally charged, no two albums are ever the same and this is no exception.

This album starts light and airy then builds in to an exceptional black metal track with a nice feel, they keep it kind of sparse for the most part.  Agalloch are adept at adding a story like structure to their albums, it's not just a collection of songs it's a sonic journey through the deep and dark passages of time.  

The instruments on The Serpent and the Sphere sound great, as with all Agalloch releases.  

One thing that keeps me coming back to their music is the guitars and drums, they play off one another so perfectly that it's almost that they were written in unison by one person if you listen to them, everything is just so well timed and spaced that there is no room for error and there isn't any and this album is certainly no exception.  The unique riffs and solo's are another reason that I'm glued to my headphones it's not the same old tired stuff, it's something different from almost everything else out there.  The vocals are Agalloch through and through, with the harsh screams and the haunting whispers that they put in their music always keeps me entertained.  The really really surprising thing on this album is the bass, the bass in some parts holds the tracks aloft and it is really commanding in certain tracks, such as “Dark Matter Gods” it thunders away in the back ground like a war drum almost while the song finds it's way through all of the twists and turns to the end.  

The album as a whole has an awesome rise and fall, each track has a different feel to it but it all adds up to the great rise and fall of the entire album... then within each track the rise and fall continues it's like a heart beat monitor, it's truly something to behold.  The tracks also have so many twists and turns and stylistic changes that sometimes it almost seems to much but ultimately it all adds up to an epic story with an awesome sound and feel to it.  Track 5 “Celestial Effigy” for instance has quite a few stylistic changes within the confines of it's 7 minute length and at the time it seems to busy and hard to focus on, but the way it ends and leads in to track 6 “Cor Serpentis” an awesome acoustic instrumental; ends the chapter and you know that it had to be in there.  The entire album runs in this fashion but you know that ultimately the story is being told the only way it can be told, which is a very special thing and something that Agalloch are exceptional at.  The way this album ends is possibly the best ending to any album I've ever heard, I'm not saying any more than that, you'll just have to see for yourselves.

Agalloch have come up with another great album, it's something that I could listen to again and again and still not get all of it, it has so many layers and depth that you'll never get it the first time.

Pros:

Great story driven album

The great riffs and drumming

Classic Agalloch sound

Cons:

The amount of changes and right angle turns, at times it doesn't flow as well as it could.

Overall Impression:

The Serpent and the Sphere is another great album by Agalloch which is no surprise,  Throughout the album you witness the journey and exploration of the outer limits of our universe and it's an absolutely momentous feeling.

Track List:

Birth and Death of the Pillars of Creation

(serpens caput)

The Astral Dialogue

Dark Matter Gods

Celestial Effigy

Cor Serpentis (the sphere)

Vales Beyond Dimension

Plateau of the Ages

(serpens cauda)

Total Running Time: 59:45

Line-up:

Don Anderson - Guitars, Piano, Vocals (backing)

John Haughm - Guitars, Vocals

Jason William Walton - Bass

Aesop Dekker - Drums

Genre: Black Metal

Release Date: 13th May 2014

Label: Profound Lore Records

Links: 

www.agalloch.org/

www.facebook.com/AgallochOfficial

Acid King : Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everything Album Review

 Acid King : Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everything

Ten years since the release of III, Acid King have returned to reclaim the throne of fuzzed out doom which has been changing hands over the years since.  This album takes you on a journey through space and time and will alter the depth of your conscious perception, breathe it in deep and exhale greatness.

Acid King are one of the few bands around that can make you feel high from just simply listening to the fuzzed out grooves and epic sustain and their new album is absolutely no exception, it's like listening to music through a deep dense fog that has consumed a mountain top... which is a good thing, trust me.  Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everything builds on Acid Kings already sterling reputation of creating that low slow groove juxtaposed by Lori S' high and sustained vocalisations which is their trademark.  It's Acid King to be sure, but it's a continuation of the music that made them a stalwart of the genre, the last ten years has given them a lot of experiences and thoughts that they can run with and create something momentous. 

The new album is quite a bit darker than their previous work, which is by no means a bad thing.  Personally I love depth, when there is a story or something going on within the music that initiates thought or emotion is what I think all music should be about and this album has it in spades.  The instruments are as always played perfectly but one thing I have noticed is that the riffs and solos are quite a bit more complex and manufacture some absolutely incredible moments, moments that you just want to listen to over and over again, the kind of moments that you'll never get sick of no matter how many times you hear it.  The drums are exceptional as usual but they have played with them quite a bit, the bottom end is epic and the fills, rolls and thunder brought forth is incredible.

The tracks on Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everything are a really well thought out bunch, that give you a glimpse in to the future, the past and the present.  Sandwiched in between the intro and outro which are a couple of really good tracks  that offer some slow and tripped out riffage, there is a bunch of incredible tracks starting with track 2 “Silent Pictures” which really is the perfect opening to the album, it just shows you what Acid King have started to do differently since 2005.  The very next track “Coming Down From Outerspace” is probably my favourite on the album and just worms it's way in to my mind and won't ever leave, probably the catchiest track I've heard in years.  Then there's track 6 “Infinite Skies” which is a slow crawling track until... UNTIL the outro which has one of the most incredible riffs and a spaced out solo in the background that just made me sit bolt upright and gather it's energy like a lizard in the sun.  These three tracks were the stand outs for me on the album but truly they wouldn't be anything without the others surrounding them.  The tracks on this album are remarkable but in it's entirety this album is a masterpiece.  

Acid King have come down from their mountain to record an incredible journey of sonic adultery, you will not feel the same after hearing this album.  ACID KING ARE BACK!

Pros:

Incredible doomy fuzz

Catchiest riffage in history

That Acid King sound with an updated feeling

Can't get enough of this album

Cons:

Can't get enough of this album...

Overall Impression:

Acid King are back and they have come back with something remarkable, Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everything is one of those rare albums that will be absolutely timeless

Track List:

Intro

Silent Pictures

Coming Down From Outer Space

Laser Headlights

Red River

Infinite Skies

Center of Everywhere

Total Running Time: 54:59

Line-up:

Joey Osbourne - Drums

Lori S. - Guitars, Vocals

Mark Lamb – Bass

Genre: Doom

Release Date: April 20th 2014

Label: Svart Records

Links:

http://www.acidking.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AcidkingSF

Morbider – Abyssus: From the Abyss Raised the Morbid Split EP Review

 Morbider – Abyssus: From the Abyss Raised the Morbid Split EP

This is an epic display of old school death metal on this EP, you could be mistaken when listening to this album that this came directly from an underground 80's death metal collective, but this is modern as it comes and as brutal as it gets!

Morbider are up first and with their huge sound that is straight out of the 80's, right down to the guitar tone and brutal vocals.  He (that's right it's a one man band) gets the first 4 tracks on the EP and it's an awesome collection of songs from this beast, it's old school as it comes but it also sounds modern with some ambience in the background and some more modern solo's that tear through the tracks like a furious chorus of ricocheting bullets spraying through an open warehouse.  These four tracks are so catchy and immense that it's almost impossible not to move your head, if you could imagine an amalgam of all of the biggest death metal bands from the early days you'll get an idea of what Morbider sounds like. 

Abyssus takes side 2 and turn the rest of the split in to a filthy, grimy display of ferocious death metal, taking cues from Obituary and Bolt Thrower.  The 5 remaining tracks on the album are a ferocious and devastating mix of the dirtiest death metal in the business and metal that was made for one reason, to absolutely destroy spinal columns.  You get the sense that these guys were sick and tired of the mainstream and came up with something more brutal, not in a technical standpoint but the way it's played, this death metal is played so heavily and without any fucks that it's one of the most brutal things I've ever heard!

On their own these two bands are amazing and to get them together on a split EP is awesome, this is one heavy fucking album and has to be heard to be believed.  Each track is huge and Morbider and Abyssus deliver some of the best and brutal old school death metal on either side of this album.  Morbider is a more clean, technical and Death sounding death metal where as Abyssus is a more destructive force like Obituary was, just pure death metal.

Pros:

Just pure death fucking metal

Hearkens back to the days of yore

Can't get enough of the ferocity

Cons:

Wish I had more of both Abyssus and Morbider

Overall Impression:

If you can find this split and you love your Death Metal do not walk by it you will be not be disappointed.  This is as pure as Death Metal gets Morbider and Abyssus deliver the goods, dripping with gore and muck!

Track List:

Morbider

Unhealing Pain

No More Life

God of Torment

Redemption

Abyssus

Morbid Inheritance

Summon the Dead

Sacrifice

Remnants of War

Outbreak of Evil

Total Running Time: 35:79

Line-up:

Morbider

Dap – Everything

Abyssus

Kostas Analytis – Vocals/Bass

Panos Gkourmpaliotis – Guitars

Antonis Kontozoglou – Drums

Genre: Death Metal

Release Date: July 2013

Label: Independent

Links: 

www.facebook.com/pages/Abyssus/144338552349700?sk=timeline

Aborted: The Necrotic Manifesto

 Aborted: The Necrotic Manifesto

Aborted are back with their huge goresplosion of an album entitled The Necrotic Manifesto and from the opening sound byte you know this is going to be a devastating album...

I will say that I'm not much of a fan of modern Death Metal but this album keeps with the traditions of the old ways and flays it out on the slab for modern ears to devour.  This album keeps me interested than most modern Death Metal with all of the awesome solo's and dual vocals it's not just the same sounds over and over and the slams are fucking huge as are the blasts and furious drumming on the album it's a fire fight within a war within a nuclear fire it's just epic.  I've never been much of a fan of the sound bytes that Death Metal bands put within their music but on this album it's not over used or just horrific gore noises it sets up the tracks really well. 

Everything on this album is just used really well, there's no over use of anything, which seems to be the staple for death metal these days, when used in moderation these huge aspects of the music can become the focal points as opposed to being something you expect which is a huge kudos to Aborted.  Nothing sounds the same and each track is unique in it's own right and keeps in with the aesthetic of the album and the Aborted sound which is awesome.

The Necrotic Manifesto is just a huge sounding album, but the tracks never sound cluttered or over produced which is an awesome thing to hear, a lot of the time these days Death Metal all sounds cold and robotic and without a soul but this has a warmth to it which makes this album just sound absolutely massive.  As I said all of the tracks sound different, you are never left with the feeling that you heard something before and some of the stand out tracks are the ones that give even a different feel to the normal death metal sound such as track 10 “Die Verzweiflung” which is a slammy, slow, almost doomy track with some massive drums and awesome guitar squeals, for me this track just destroyed the preconcieved notions I had of modern DM.  Look I could sit here and describe this album track by track, note by note but all you really need to know is that this album is just huge and sounds awesome and in my opinion this is what modern death metal should sound like.

Pros:

No over use of sound bytes

Warmth and feeling, doesn't sound robotic and soulless

The solo's and drumming are off the fucking chain

The whole album sounds wicked

Cons:

I honestly can't think of any...

Overall Impression:

This is what modern death metal should sound like Aborted have raised the bar in my opinion, offers something new to the ever growing Death Metal genre.

Track List:

Six Feet Of Foreplay

The Extirpation Agenda

Necrotic Manifesto

An Enumeration Of Cadavers

Your Entitlement Means Nothing

The Davidian Deceit

Coffin Upon Coffin

Chronicles Of Detruncation

Sade & Libertine Lunacy

Die Verzweiflung

Excremental Veracity

Purity Of Perversion

Of Dead Skin & Decay

Cenobites

Total Running Time: 42:34

Line-up:

Sven De Caluwe - Gurgloroth

Mendel Bij De Leij - Flesh Upon The Razor Wire

Danny Tunker - Immaculate Resection

JB van der Wal - Nocturnal Pulse

Ken Bedene - Hymen Blaster

Genre: Death Metal

Release Date: 28th April 2014

Label: Century Media

Links: 

www.goremageddon.be

www.facebook.com/Abortedofficial

www.instagram.com/abortedmetal

www.myspace.com/abortedmetal

www.reverbnation.com/aborted

www.twitter.com/abortedmetal

www.youtube.com/user/abortedbelgium

1000 Mods: Vultures Review

1000 Mods: Vultures

1000 Mods is an odd name for a psych/stoner band but don't let that fool you, these dudes punch out the riffs like they've been doing it their whole lives.  You can hear the old school influences pulsing throughout the album, but that's not to say it's all old school... sure you can hear some Blue Cheer or Hawkwind and even Sabbath in there, but there's a lot of the new school psychedelia going on here too, such as Colour Haze or Orange Goblin and even Kyuss at times.  Vultures is full of large modern sounds dripping with the acid fuzz of the early era of psych rock.

Every track on Vultures is just about as groovy as it gets the happy psychedelic riffs bounce around your speakers like you're front row at a phish concert, then there's the monsterous heavy riffs they have that pull you back down to earth and punch you in the guts.  While they all have that sound that is inherently 1000 Mods, there isn't anything that makes you go “well hey wait a sec this sounds like that track from before” it's a very well spaced, timed and written album, no recycled riffs here.

I really love the slow and menacing openings that happen in a few tracks on this album, they sound awesome and set up the coming thunderstorm perfectly, this is most prevalent on “Vultures” the namesake to the album, which also pounds in to one of the best head moving riffs on the album.  The opening track “Claws” starts with a clean sounding guitar that made me think that this might have been a post rock album but to my surprise it kicked in to the classic fuzz sound that is synonymous with psych rock and really blew me away, I was hooked from start to finish with this album, 1000 Mods have really created a strong album steeped in the old school but dipped in the gooey modern flavour, an instant classic! 

Pros:

Classic sound, modern usage.

Awesome riffs and solos

They don't push the issue, they aren't looking to stress you out or nothing man, they just want to entertain you.

Cons:

For me something about the vocals sounded to uniform, some more variation would be great.

Overall Impression:

This is an awesome album, has all of the ingredients I love, such as heavy riffs, awesome solo's, catchy as hell and that head moving flavour.  This is the perfect album to have on while you're working on your big block in the shed! 

Track List:

Claws

Big Beautiful

She

Horses' Green

Low

Vultures

Modesty

Reverb of the New World

Total Running Time: 38:50

Line-up:

Dani - Bass & Vox

Giannis - Guitars

George - Guitars

Labros - Drums

Genre: Psychedelic Rock/Stoner Metal

Release Date: 30th May 2014

Label: The Lab Recs

Links:

www.1000mods.bandcamp.com

www.facebook.com/1000mods

 

Yoth Iria - Under His Sway EP review

Yoth Iria come with an incredible pedigree to back them up, the members helped to create the Hellenic black metal scene from way back in the early 90's Mutilator was a founding member of Rotting Christ and Varathron.  The Magus is predominantly a producer and helped build that Hellenic sound that has created bands like Necromantia, Thou Art Lord and of course Rotting Christ.  George Emmanuel the owner of Pentagram Studios and prior member of Rotting Christ shreds the guitars on this EP as well.  So you can see where their sound comes from, it's built upon tradition and brings it forth to the modern era.

Under His Sway is an incredible feat of production, song writing and an immense sound with incredibly nuanced moments of reflection.  The whole EP has had me nodding along while I write this.  The music is black metal at it's core, but it's so much more.  Of course it has the extreme drumming, the tremelo picking and the fury, but somewhere in the midst of all of this incredible chaos, there is soul, there is a story being forged, there is life... and death for that matter.

From the opening you feel this EP being brought to life, you feel the immensity of what you're about to bare witness to and as it builds you brace yourself for the onslaught.  The opening track Under His Sway is monstrous and ever evolving, it begins sparsely as the music builds you truly feel the rage building and this happens a number of times throughout the track in different manners, it's amazing song writing.  It has this feeling of it almost being a marching song that armies would listen to upon their way to war.  

The second track Sid-Ed-Gjinn opens as a crawling middle eastern, black doom epic then just as you're settling in to the chugging riffs and traditional vocals they drop it and fire up the extreme machine and it blows up in to a bigger monster than it was, but yet somehow maintains the chuggy doomy feel.  I can feel myself opening my arms to the heavens while listening to this track, it's unintentional but I want to embrace the sun gods of old and curse all these modern false idols.  This track just feels massive, the music isn't heaps intrusive or over the top, it's the story telling that makes it feel this way.

For the final track on the EP Mutilator reached back in to his reliquary of tracks and revived probably one of my favourite black metal tracks of all time Visions of the Dead Lovers from his old band Rotting Christ, they took it, updated it but definitely kept all of the key ingredients intact, and definitely improved some.  Huge track!

Under His Sway as a whole is an incredibly huge album, it's only a 3 track EP but it gives the listener so much more than that.  You could listen to it 100 times and still hear something that you never noticed before.  It has something that a lot of newer bands are missing these days, sure they have the story via lyrics but Yoth Iria write epics, they write the song as a story you don't just get it from the lyrics you get the story from the feelings the music evokes within you, the lyrics are just an extra part of the whole picture.  Incredible writing and I can't wait to hear more from these guys!

Pros:

• Incredible song writing
• The music builds an image in your mind
• There is more than meets the eye upon first listen

Cons:

• It's just to damn short, I was left wanting more.... don't get me wrong I'm going to listen to this over and over I just wish it was longer.

TL;DR:

Yoth Iria have started something huge, they have written 2 incredible songs and covered one of the best black metal tracks ever, and upon the way have given us a taste of how it should be done, how black metal should be written.  Not with utter rage and chaos but a controlled burn, the rage and chaos is still there but it's measured and spent wisely not just thrown upon the altar and hacked up, it's placed upon the altar and dissected with great care.

Tracks:

1. Under His Sway

2. Sid-Ed-Gjinn

3. Visions of the Dead Lovers (Rotting Christ Cover)

Line-up:

The Magus - Vocals

George Emmanuel - Guitars

Jim Mutilator - Bass

J.V. Maelstrom - Drums

Genre: Black Metal

Release Date: 

Label: Repulsive Echo

Links: 
www.repulsiveecho.com

www.yothiria.bandcamp.com
(bandcamp coming soon)

Follywood and the downfall of creativity

I've always been a big movie fan in the past and some of my greatest memories are from really getting in to films and the people playing the characters that have truly swept me away from reality.

Recently though I think that's changed, I used to make lists of movies I really wanted to see, now that list has shrunk from 30 a year to maybe 1 or 2 and of the ones I watch throughout the year that I just watch and aren't looking forward to, the really good ones are usually not big budget or made by a major studio and I have a feeling that it has something to do with me getting tired of the hollywood formulae.  you know the ones, 'guy meets girl, guy deceives girl, girl gets mad, guy makes it up to girl, they all live happily ever after' or 'baddie does something bad, goodie tries to work out who dunnit, baddie does something else bad, goodie almost catches him, baddie gets away, goodie works out where he is and finds him before he does something else bad, they all live happily ever after'  time and time again these formulas are played out with different characters, different scenarios, and different locations but it's essentially the same plot and I guess I've grown tired of it.  The films that really excite me these days are movies that break that mould and try and create something truly original, and these days for me the only genres that are doing that are science fiction and horror, but even within those genres there is a lot of rehashed plot lined.

Science Fiction and Horror movies are probably my favourite genres mainly because I think I really enjoy the content, even movies that have been lauded as horrible, like John Carter I quite enjoyed because it's something that interests me,  Then there's movies that have been lauded as great which I just couldn't get in to such as Rogue One and that's a big one for me to say because Star Wars is probably my favourite saga ever, for me, I just really couldn't get in to the characters, the story didn't really do a great job of making me want to care about them, I just felt like it was a story that didn't need to be told and the characters were weak and didn't have much substance to them. that's just me though, I know a lot of you probably liked it.

Horror is the other genre I really enjoy and if you don't know why, you should go and read my last blog.  It's a genre which can be tired and sore, but now and then movies come out that really make you see how good the horror genre can be.  I'm not really one for slasher flicks so much but sure I do love some of them, Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th of course, but it's mainly the supernatural films I really enjoy, movies like Sinister or Insidious and even the Poltergeist movies it just has a lot of depth if the directors and writers aren't afraid to break the mould and create something different.

Take a look at The Blair Witch Project for instance, which at the time I saw it was absolutely terrifying and almost hard to watch.  and even though it's not supernatural the original Saw film really gave audiences something they'd never seen before.  Those 2 movies changed horror and maybe even film as a whole, it showed that you don't need a massive cast, budget or anything really, it showed that all you need is a good script and the balls to try something different.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that these days the big Hollywood studios and the big execs have been doing this for so long they are getting old, they have no idea what it's like in the real world, they have a formula that makes them money but for people like me it has become stale and boring and I really can't handle much that comes from there these days, even Marvel has gotten boring for me which is kind of surprising as I'm a geek from way back.  I'll watch the movies and probably enjoy them but it's not something I'm really hanging out for, I won't see them at the cinema, I'll probably wait for them to come out on netflix or some other streaming service.

I want to see more movies that push the boundaries, movies that make me go wow or sit back and really make me feel something.  Actors can be a big part of this, when I saw The Dark Knight at the cinema I was absolutely flabbergasted by Heath Ledgers performance as The Joker, when it ended I applauded, not because I thought that it was a good movie that it deserved one, even though it totally did, but the applause just happened completely by accident I just started applauding before I even realised I was doing it, then other people joined in, movies and performances like that really make me see what cinema can be like but these days I feel like they're stuck in a bit of a creative rut and they can't get out of it, it's still making them a lot of money but it's also making people bored.  

Unless I'm the only one, who knows?

Vikinghammer out.