Category Archives: Album Reviews

Nhor – Momenta Quintae Essentiae

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Let’s clear one thing up straight away, shall we? Momenta Quintae Essentiae (Prophecy Productions), the fourth album from Herefordshire one-man outfit Nhor, is in no way a Metal album. There’s nothing in the way of Rock either. This is ‘Funeral Classical’ delivered by an occasional Blackened Doom dabbler, and is utterly stunning.

In the right hands the piano is a marvellous instrument. When played sparingly or with the accent firmly set on piquing the emotions, its every strike is ice cold and chills the soul. In Nhor’s grasp it is caressed and relieved of its pain in the most memorable, haunting fashion: opener ‘Luna Oritur’ tugging at every heartstring, not with sickly sentiment but with stark reality. It’s the first surprise of an album mistakenly expected to provide an element of brutal malevolence.

The ensuing ‘Nosce Te Ipsum’ continues under the ivory influence, yet is accompanied by mournful cello and a Folk-style acoustic guitar to provide a truly affecting space. ‘Contra Ventum’ is even more moving, the brittle keys played at that funereal pace and, at this high pitch, shattering the cocooning silence like a shooting star across a night sky. Here a vocal line from the artist, brief yet sweetly harmonic, is so subtly delivered yet, such is its effect, it screams sporadically through the pulsing strings for six minutes of crushing, delicate beauty. The minutely quicker ‘Hedera’ and poignant closer ‘Ante Primam Lucem’ maintain that emotive feel with a heartfelt and perfectly arranged duel between the piano and returning guitar: the former painting pastel Latin pictures; the latter seeing a return of those faint, brief yet telling intonations.

The man himself regards this as the “Purest Nhor album to date” and a true reflection of nature. Incredibly evocative, lip-trembling yet conversely soothing, it will be insultingly referred to in certain quarters as a chillout album, when it is very far from that. An exercise in empathy, catharsis and expression of pain, it is a challenging listen yet one of the most beautiful, affecting things you’re likely to hear.

Metal?

Bollocks to that. At least for a little while…

 

8.5/10

 

PAUL QUINN

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Phantasma – The Deviant Hearts

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It seems that being in one band just isn’t enough for some musicians these days. Especially within the European Power and Symphonic Metal scenes. Quite possibly two of the most (musically) incestuous genres of all, there seems to be an unwritten law that every band has to release an album featuring a bare minimum of one special guest, or contain at least two members who have performed, produced or written material for no fewer than three other bands. So it comes as no surprise to find that the first release from Phantasma, a collective effort from Charlotte Wessels (Delain), Georg Neuhauser (Serenity) and Oliver Philipps (Everon), contains performances from no less than six guest musicians. As enticing as that prospect may be to fans of the acts involved, it’s all too common for collaborations like this to end with mixed or disappointing results, and The Deviant Hearts (Napalm) is no exception.

Opening with a nice, but rather twee sounding duet from Wessels and Neuhauser, the piano played ‘Incomplete’ sounds like it would have been more at home at the end of the record rather than the beginning. Evergrey vocalist Tom Englund lends his voice to the powerful title track, and things continue in good form with ‘Runaway Gray’. Easily the best track on the album, it features a superb performance by Wessels, with more than a hint of James Bond theme song about the verses, and even a touch of Rush during the middle section.

Things take a hefty downward turn, however, with ‘Try’. A horribly overwrought ballad featuring Trans-Siberian Orchestra singer Chloe Lowery, who although clearly capable of belting out high notes with ease, seems unable to sing softly without her voice cracking on almost every line. ‘Enter Dreamscape’ is a substantial improvement on the previous track, but it’s still just standard fare which sounds like it could have been written for any band within the genre.

‘Miserable Me’ begins by slowing down and reworking the tune to ‘Money, Money, Money’ by Abba before plodding off to nowhere interesting. Duet ‘The Lotus and the Willow’ is an attempt at recreating the Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue classic ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’ but falls miles short of the mark. An insipid and forgettable tune, the song only lifts off momentarily during its Top Gun-esque guitar solo. ‘Crimson Course’ is another nondescript song that sounds like it could have been written for anyone, and the only memorable thing about ‘Carry Me Home’ is the return of that Top Gun style guitar solo.

By now, everything has started to sound like music from movies and other bands, and ‘The Sound of Fear’ does nothing to change that by appearing to be several old songs at once. The upbeat ‘Novaturient’ rescues things a little until it tries to be Meat Loaf, and ‘Let It Die’ closes proceedings as best it can, but it’s essentially just another song with nothing more to offer than a reasonably strong chorus.

At its best, The Deviant Hearts is a good, listenable album with two or three memorable songs, a handful of strong choruses, and some excellent vocal performances by Wessels and Neuhauser. But for the most part, it’s just a collection of songs not strong enough to make it onto the albums of any of the bands involved.

 

5.5/10

 

GARY ALCOCK


Kampfar – Profan

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Over the course of more than 20 years, black metallers Kampfar have always been one of the genre’s most understated acts; certainly one never reaching the acclaim or, of course, the headlines of some of their brethren of that period. Despite all this, these Norwegians have always had an air for taking black metal to new boundaries and territories, often with stunning results. On their latest album Profan (Indie Recordings), they showcase this even further, concluding the recent trilogy of albums to a flourishing finale.

Having been a part of the burgeoning Norwegian black metal scene in the early 90’s, Kampfar expectedly show much of that common sound, but they aren’t afraid to merge it extra traits, or inject it with contemporary production values. Take album opener ‘Gloria Ablaze’ which almost instantly shows the blistering fury and blastbeat driven pace that the genre is synonymous with, before it interjects with moments of grandeur, bellowing clean vocals and an epic atmosphere. The proceeding ‘Profanum’ similarly brings in a crawling, doom like slower passage bookended between pacier parts. Their use of unconventional and traditional instrumentation is present as well, from the ominous orchestral introduction to ‘Icons’ to the use of didgeridoo on ‘Daimons’.

At its core, this holds much of the structure and sound typically assigned to black metal, but it has nuances, both obvious and less so, throughout which make this a deeper listen than it first appears. Kampfar are a band that aren’t completely reinventing the wheel when it comes to black metal, but who are pushing it to further expanses and borders than many would dare to.

 

8.0/10

 

CHRIS TIPPELL


Dark Moor – Project X

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If you take anything from the new album by Spanish outfit Dark Moor, it’s that they really believe in the existence of extraterrestrials. Flying at improbable speeds and covered in bright flashing lights, their latest flying saucer shaped release, Project X (Scarlet) will capture you in its tractor beam and transport you to an alternate dimension where cheesy ’70s and ’80s influenced Power/Prog rules the galaxy from its bejewelled, golden intergalactic space throne.

After the conclusion of short intro ‘November 3023’, the first proper track, ‘Abduction’ takes over, and although containing nothing new or hugely remarkable (and sounding a little too much like Within Temptation‘s ‘Stand My Ground’ for a while), is still a nice, pacey little number with just the right amount of keyboard and choral backing, while singer Alfred Romero‘s vocals are clear and earnest in their delivery. The opening piano strains of ‘Beyond the Stars’ may get people of a certain age picturing a denim clad Bill Bixby walking alongside a lonely highway, wearing a brown jacket with a backpack slung over his shoulder, trying to control the raging spirit which dwells within him. The track soon changes up a gear though, and with the help of some female backing vocals, quickly turns into a space age version of Grease, complete with a stupidly infectious ‘Greased Lightning’ chorus.

With mentions of Area 51 and Men in Black, ‘Conspiracy Revealed’ opens with a riff reminiscent of Adam Khachaturian‘s ‘Sabre Dance’ and you can almost picture Mulder and Scully putting their differences with the Cigarette Smoking Man aside for five minutes while they all dance their little socks off with big grins and hand jives. Things slow down for a while during ‘I Want to Believe’ as Mulder and Scully dance together slowly, staring into each others eyes, while The Lone Gunmen hold lighters in the air and The Cigarette Smoking Man trudges off into the darkness, alone and muttering threats about abductions and alien implants.

‘Bon Voyage!’ has another movie musical vibe, part Grease and part Rocky Horror Picture Show with a hand-clap section (which bizarrely works), Queen style backing vocals and the most Brian May of all guitar solos, with even a couple of jaunty “WOOOs!” thrown in for good measure, meanwhile probably the heaviest track on the record, ‘Imperial Earth’, features a beefy riff, powerful vocals, big drums and a couple of spoken voice sections reminiscent of those in ‘Flash’ by Queen when dialogue from the film occasionally comes crashing in. It would come as no surprise to absolutely anyone if ‘Imperial Earth’ was to suddenly erupt with cries of “dispatch war rocket Ajax to bring back his body!”

Blatantly stealing that tune from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, penultimate track ‘Gabriel’ is steady but unspectacular, and really only memorable for that bit of musical pilfery. Things pick up for the grand finale, though, and the album ends with ‘There’s Something In The Skies’, a wonderfully overblown eight minute Prog sandwich, literally dripping with cheese and melodrama.

A more streamlined affair than a lot of Dark Moor’s previous work, some fans may be disappointed with how the band have dialled back the orchestral and female vocal side of things, but the record contains enough quality to keep most people happy and maybe even bring a few new fans into the fold because of it.

 

7.0/10

 

GARY ALCOCK


The Heavy Eyes – He Dreams Of Lions

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He Dreams Of Lions is the third album from Memphis based heavy psych/blues rock trio The Heavy Eyes, taking what they did with 2012’s Maera (both Kozmik Artifactz) and adding more definition to their rough and reverberated retro-sound; a sound which they described as being similar to “a skeleton driving a speedboat on a flaming Mississippi river headed back to 1969”…  which to be fair is an image fully deserving of the accompanying t-shirt!

The album flows with distorted heavy fuzz and echo which comes together in order to shape a substantial sound, especially for a trio. This is most notable on stand out tracks such as the stompy ‘Smoke Signals’ and ‘Hail To The King, Baby’ which sounds more like Clutch than the Duke Nukem expected from that title.

Throughout the album there’s a nice heavy stomp of Blues riff n’ groove coupled with a raw feel, particularly on tracks like ‘Saint’. Given this is Ghost Cult the use of heavy of course is subjective, for their genre The Heavy Eyes are indeed fairly hefty especially on the heavy ‘Z-bo’ in the rhythm section: courtesy of Wally Anderson on bass and Eric Garcia on drums. Some of the tracks skirt around the 1969 feel of Sabbath or Zeppelin, with some hints at elements of proto-sludge.

The music is satisfying, but it can feel quite similar at times, and the tracks seem to flow into one another sometimes a little too fluidly and it’s notable that at times there’s a disconnect between the lyrical content and the music, particularly on tracks such as ‘Old Saltillo Road’ which, despite being one of the stand out tracks on the album, has possibly the most dissonance between the lyrical content and the accompanying music. Like a stoner watching a fire rather than anyone with any particular sense of urgency. This is followed by the title track; another strong outing with some nice heavy riffs juxtaposing nicely with the woo-hoo-hoo chorus and multiple phases of tempo and intensity, held together with yet more great rhythm section work.

This is a good album with some genuine highlights, and yet by the same token a significant similarity lies throughout out which allows the overall album to flow together very nicely indeed, but can also be a bit samey towards the end, though it is easier to get hooked into the strutting vibe of the album as a whole rather than any particular riffs or songs.

 

7.0/10

 

RICH PRICE


Mirror – Mirror

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Latest of the new wave of stoner/revival/heavy metal bands, Mirror have an impressive and diverse collective CV of work behind them. A Face on the Doom scene, bassist Tas Danazoglou (erstwhile of Electric Wizard and Great Coven) is the main driver behind this band, along with drummer Jaime Gomez Arellano (Blutvial and Septic Tank). The band is very upfront with what to expect from Mirror (Metal Blade), their debut album: “The recording boasts strong melodic ideas with classic, heavy riffs inspired by the sounds of Scorpions, UFO, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple and the like.”

The album’s opener – ‘Mirror’ – is so ridiculously Maiden that it’s almost a surprise as the vocals start that it’s not Ol’ Foghorn himself making a guest appearance. Instead, Jimmy Mavromatis turns in a performance far more reminiscent of Blind Guardian‘s Hansi Kürsch. The song doesn’t suffer from it though – it’s the best of the bunch. ‘Curse of the Gypsy’ is a grandiose affair which reminds strongly of Ghost. The foot comes off the throttle for the stargazing ‘Year of the Red Moon’, where the inevitable Hammond organ makes its appearance and settles in for the remainder of the ride and ‘Heavy King’ is a fine track in the Deep Purple vein with a strong backbone and some lovely breaks from each band member. ‘Madness and Magic’ brings the (classic rock flavoured) doom and ‘Galleon’ brings us back to Killers-era Maiden, while ‘Cloak of a Thousand Secrets’ turns up the heat again for a boisterous hybrid of Blind Guardian and UFO. ‘Orion’s Sword’ servers an extended acoustic(y) intro to the closing track – ‘Elysian’ – which pretty much shoehorns everything from the rest of the album into one song.

As I’ve said before, revival bands often struggle to find their own sense of identity, but I don’t think this is true of Mirror. They’re honest about what they’re aiming for, they’ve delivered as promised and the end result does stand on its own whilst paying authentic homage to the giants of 70s metal. What lets Mirror down is the killer/filler track list (‘Mirror’, ‘Gypsy’, ‘Heavy King’ and ‘Secrets’ being the killers), and the dry production. Now, I fully appreciate that this sound is a central part of the feel the band are going for with this album, but it detracts from almost all the tracks, robbing them of the punch and depth that a richer sound would yield.

Nevertheless, a decent debut, and if you’re into the likes of Purson, Ghost or The Sword, you’ll probably get on with Mirror.

 

6.5/10

 

PHILIP PAGE


VVovnds – Descending Flesh

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An utterly fearful twenty minutes lies in wait for anyone daring to trip into Descending Flesh (Hypertension), the second full-length from Belgian blusterers VVovnds. That’s right: twenty minutes. So it’s Grind, right? Nope…

It isn’t a million miles away, of course – how could it not be? – but, whilst rampant and occasionally pensive, this vicious brand of Hardcore is infected with a slurring, viperous Sludge which sees ultra-quick tracks given an ever-so-slight dab on the brakes; such as the breakneck ‘A La Lanterne’ whose slashing Punk riffs are touched by a swamp-dipped groove, so minutely slower that it takes a second to register. ‘Golgotha’s horrific, Doom-laden morass is the vantage point of some terrifying roars from vocalist Jenci Vervaeke, aided by a monstrously reverberating production and the alarming, crushing speed of a nevertheless euphoric coda.

Here, despite the oft-derided flashing pace in evidence, is the Thinking Man’s pummel. One of only two tracks to crack the three-minute mark, ‘The Light’s sinister crawl sees that mix really come into its own: drums and cymbals full and brutal yet carrying razors on the back of the fizzing riffs, while Vervaeken’s yelping screams evoke images of Colin van Eeckhout having an even more traumatic day. The unfettered ferocity of ‘Coins’ is reined toward the close by a febrile yet barely-controlled climax, frantically trying to explode yet contained and subsequently pregnant with tension, while the singular screams toward the centrepoint of ‘Equality In Death’ are both nauseous and gripping.

This is, of course, a suitable length for such largely unflinching earache; the third quarter of the album seeming to grow a little uninspired if still excitable. However a quick return to form sees ‘Maleficia’ resemble a particularly unclean Pig Destroyer, while the snaking, squealing closer ‘Peine Forte’ does briefly and periodically have its leash lengthened, being supremely dictated by a lead riff and Pieter Blancke’s resonating drums.

Ultimately, anyone who worships at the altar of hideous, rapid outpourings would get a pleasurable bite from this, a particularly apt expression of the anger, pain and feverish agitation many of us are feeling after this weekend’s events.

 

7.5/10

 

PAUL QUINN


Revenge – Behold Total Rejection

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Behold Total Rejection (Season Of Mist). Until now, Revenge’s three word album titles have always read like the results of a free association exercise at a Fascist support group – Victory Intolerance Mastery, Scum Collapse Eradication, Triumph Genocide Antichrist (all Osmose). Their new release breaks the pattern by not only being an actual sentence, but sounding like it might have more to do with getting dumped than watching a legion of Demon Nazis drown the earth in hatred. Does this represent a subtle shift in the style for the band, then? Er… no.

A dissonant, ugly chord drenched in distortion repeats two or three times before giving way to guitar playing so crude and primitive that even “riff” seems too sophisticated a concept. The drummer appears to be trying to hit every drum as many times as he can simultaneously, and doesn’t really care what anyone else is doing. Solos that are seemingly unrelated to the rest of the music howl out of nowhere like masturbating ponies and then vanish as quickly. The vocals jump from throat-ripping yelps and what sounds like someone gargling cough-medicine, often at the same time  – at least once, he will go “Oooh!” and effects will make it echo mechanically for a few seconds like Tom G. Warrior’s cyborg ghost. At some point they’ll attempt to lock into a groove or Doom passage, then give up after a few seconds as the music collapses back into roaring chaos as if nothing happened.  There’ll be a moment where the music seems to wobble for a moment, as if about to collapse under the weight of its own completely ridiculous fury.

Every song on every album that Revenge have ever written sounds exactly like that. They are brilliant.

There’s something very distinctive, even unique, about Revenge. They’re normally considered alongside bands like Black Witchery or Diocletian, but they have as much in common with sloppy Grind or Watchmaker as their more conventionally Black Metal peers, and their composition and delivery is frequently related more to harsh Noise than anything in Rock or Metal. Like Noise, there’s something compelling or even addictive about them – when you’re in the mood for it nothing else will hit the spot. Even the nastiest and rawest of Black Metal sounds far too structured and melodic in comparison.

Evaluating a Revenge album is, ultimately, pointless. People who think they might enjoy the musical equivalent of rolling downhill in a washing machine full of rocks will find Behold Total Rejection as good a place to get on board as any other album. Established fans will find exactly what they’re looking for. Everyone else… well… it’s not for them. They’ll find something else, don’t worry.

 

8.0/10

 

RICHIE HR


Twitching Tongues – Disharmony

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It’s not often bands criticize their own work, but Twitching Tongues have admitted themselves that in the beginning their sound was “all over the place”. The Los Angeles-based quintet are back and they are hoping to rectify their previous mistakes with their third full-length album Disharmony (Metal Blade).

The title track begins with an extremely haunting piano melody and completely contrasts with your expectations. Although the song soon descends into heavy metal chaos, their newest material is more sophisticated and proves that Twitching Tongues have worked upon their previous mistakes. Many bands often try to simply be the loudest and heaviest, and although there are many kickass guitar riffs on Disharmony, Colin Young and co. are not afraid to show their softer side with a wide range of melodies and clean vocals.

It is often cliché to say that every song on an album sounds different from the last, but Twitching Tongues have been able to create songs which vary in both tempo and genre. ‘Cannibal’ is a fast-paced thrill-ride full of heavy vocals and extreme drumming, whereas ‘Love Conquers None’ has an extremely melancholy vibe, full of emotional backing vocals and an almost ballad-style sound.

There are many conflicting views on Young’s vocals, and it is not as easy as saying ‘you either love them or you hate them’. Colin’s vocal style is not dissimilar to Robb Flynn’s due to the mixture of half-screams and heavy cleans. His dramatic singing may not be to everyone’s taste, and if you are looking for heavy growls and screaming then you are going to be disappointed, but it is certainly hard to ignore how much passion and energy he puts into his vocal performance.

Although the lyrical content may leave much to be desired, it is hard to completely write off Twitching Tongues’ latest release. The band show many signs of promise and it is clear that their recent signing to Metal Blade and their extensive touring schedule has helped them to develop their sound.

 

5.5/10

 

JULIA CONOPO


Moloken – All Is Left To See

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There’s a curious opening to All Is Left To See (Temple of Torturous), the third album from Swedish quartet Moloken: the initial vocal a deep breathing exercise over some Post / Sludge atmospherics. The ensuing bellow is not much louder than those harsh inhalations yet is utterly horrific, a blasting roar capable of severing limbs.

That violent yet ethereal background remains largely the album’s template, a bright yet oppressive swell which is given a more sparing yet just as effective Morricone-style jangle in its title track: a throttled, emphysemic delivery waiting for the drums and hissing riffs to join in. There is a real sinister edge here, and no little intrigue due to the creative structures and nature of the sound. When Jakob Burstedt’s drums do fly in it’s with a blistering ferocity and perfect timing, the less fraught passages building their entry expertly.

There is, however, a lack of weight which is partly due to those riffs often being sunk low in the mix: something that a blend of hostility and heart-plucking solemnity largely masks but doesn’t wholly obliterate. The brief running time of just under half an hour is another minor drawback, with three tracks coming in under the two-minute mark and robbing this album’s expected audience of something to get their teeth into; despite the gorgeous, delicate chiming bells of the paradoxically-titled ‘Wreckage’. The coruscating post-hardcore of ‘Seventh Circle’ is the kind of elongated, brutal yet inventive melancholy that this album should have seen more of; its plunking bass reaching into the soul with each pluck of the strings, its building intensity utterly chilling. The rhythm section is the high point of the enigmatic ‘I Dig Deeper’, Burstedt’s magnificent stickwork and Niklas Bӓckstrӧm’s plummeting basslines driving into an oscillating ambience.

It takes a while but, ultimately, All is Left to See is a testament to this unshackled outfit who let their creative juices flow freely, not least through the harrowing cello of the tragic and hair-raising closer ‘Beginning of the End’, to create a highly listenable if occasionally infuriating set. Here, more would indeed have been more.

 

7.0/10.0

 

PAUL QUINN