Landmvrks is relatively a new band. Hailing from Marseille, France the quartet that consists of Florent Salfati, Nicolas Exposito, Rudy Purkart, and Nicolas Soriano only have one album under their belt, Hollow that was released in 2016. The debut earned them a set at last year’s Hellfest. The quartet signed a deal with Arising Empire and crafted their new album Fantasy.Continue reading
Fans of the legendary Doom outfit Woods of Ypres (RIP David Gold) are aware of bands’ legacy in the North American Doom Metal scene. Former WoY members Joel Violette and Rae Amitay (Immortal Bird) have carried on a kinship through their work together in Thrawsunblat. More of a doom and Dark Folk side-project, it is their link to to the past and boldness to move forward which courses through fourth album IV: Great Brunswick Forest (Ignifera Records).Continue reading
“We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever but to create something that will…” begins the fifth Amaranthe album, all proudly released by Spinefarm. And while this particular release may not be quite in and of itself destined to live indefinitely in our hearts and minds, as a collective, the band really must be given credit for carving a sound and style that is wholly and completely their own. Ten years deep into a healthy and prolific career, Helix not only shows no sign of letting up but feels like a second wind to launch the band into a second decade.Continue reading
There are albums that hit all the right notes, and usually in the right order. There are other albums that spend their entirety looking for a focus and never quite finding it. The new album by American Doomsters Castle somehow manages to do both.Continue reading
Metal has a problem with nostalgia. As soon as the Slipknot riff that gets the energy going to start the record in opener ‘The Awakening’, everything about The Legacy of Shi (Sharptone) feels like it should have been part of a record made about 20 years ago. An amalgamation of lots of different tricks designed to garner the attention of every 90s teenage metal-head. Pantera’s groove? Check. Machine Head’s attempt at Hip-Hop? Check. An aesthetic based around eighties Shōnen manga? Ticks across the board.
For a band that lists such Nu-Metal luminaries as Rage Against The Machine and Deftones among their influences, Rise Of The Northstar don’t seem to have taken lessons from these acts to heart, lacking the fire of the former and the elegance of the latter. There are elements that aim for a more brooding, menacing atmosphere with down-tuned riffs and vocalist Vithia’s measured delivery. To his credit, he shows ample restraint on moments like ‘Kozo’ where his vocals emit genuine anger and turmoil at well-timed moments in-between these almost demonic voice effects for maximum impact. The chorus, however, is so lumbering and ham-fisted that all subtlety and intrigue goes out the window and it doesn’t feel like the intense battle with one’s inner demons (à la KoRn) that I feel was their original intention. When the vocals aren’t being heavy-handed, they’re just outright mystifying such as in the bizarre rapping throughout the whole album. The delivery somehow switches between the obvious clichés of ‘Nekketsu’ and the stunted awkwardness of ‘Here Comes The Boom’, and it’s hard to figure out which is the more unpleasant.
What this record can boast rather well is a solid production thanks in huge part to Gojira’s Joe Duplantier, and even with this record’s faults the man knows how to make a riff sound good, and there are plenty of them to like. ‘Step By Step’s’ bridge is a groovy, punky little number, ‘This Is Crossover’ is exactly what it says on the tin, and ‘All For One’ is essentially the first Slipknot record condensed into 3 minutes. The title track is arguably the album’s biggest highlight as it finally feels like Rise Of The Northstar are bringing some real weight and bounce that make for a stupidly fun track that could easily get your metal club night moving. The trouble is that it comes far too late to get the party started and could have benefitted from appearing sooner to break up the monotony of earlier tracks.
No subgenre of metal is free of the nostalgia criticism, as musicians and fans alike can often be beholden to the past. The increasing popularity of bands like Cane Hill even proves that there is still demand from sections of the metal community for some Nu-Metal bounce. It boils down to one thing; is The Legacy of Shi fun? While there is a smattering of decent moments scattered across the record, in the end it’s repetitive breakdowns and gang-vocals, grating rapping, and clichéd aesthetic makes it difficult to recommend. Whatever the legacy of Rise Of The Northstar ends up being, I can’t imagine too many will be sticking around to find out.
5.0/10
ROSS JENNER
There have been eleven Soulfly albums. Eleven! In total, frontman and four-string guitarist Max Cavalera has released 22 albums in just over 30 years. That man is prolific as he is unwavering, and with new album Ritual (Nuclear Blast), he continues to shred and growl in the same way he always has.Continue reading
By mid-1968 Jimi Hendrix was in the midst of a transformation as an artist. After being shunned early in his career, his meteoric rise on the strength of his two previous albums with his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold As Love (both Track Records) was brilliant, but by all accounts had left him drained. Jimi was a creative genius and always looking for the next mountain to climb as an artist. While preparing what would become his ambitious double album Electric Ladyland (Reprise/Track), Hendrix began gravitating towards a style and sound that would influence the remaining years of his life. While still pulling heavily from the Blues, he was beginning to incorporate more Folk, Funk, and experimental styles of music that indicated where he was going in the future.Continue reading
On the back notable career highs, Russian Progressive duo iamthemorning quickly became one of the modern Prog scene’s most recognisable and heralded entities. Most recent album Lighthouse (Kscope) particularly found a wider and fawning audience with varying aspects and artistry throughout. Perhaps commemorating this career high point, Ocean Sounds (Kscope) is a live performance filmed and based in a studio, as opposed to a live show, which provides a twist in comparison to the usual live release affairs.
The most striking aspect of this visual presentation and live studio recording is the beauty of the surrounding scenery, which is clear to see through the studio’s panoramic window structures. The remote location encased by the sea and the gorgeous coastal landscape perfectly encapsulates not only the oceanic imagery that iamthemorning have used prominently on recent albums; the solitude of the location matches the escaping, melancholic but enriching quality that their music possesses. Natural sunlight flows into studio as the openness almost follows the sun, being particularly magic with the even-time red light pouring through, or during the late evening/night-time period which matches the calming serenity that iamthemorning are craftsman at.
Laid out with the duo’s live setup and accompanying backing musicians, and with a set list mostly consisting of their most recent albums, Ocean Sounds sees the band on top form and shows exactly why they have been embraced so strongly by the Prog fraternity. The live versions of many of these songs reveals further nuances in part, and shows and enhances tones more greatly, for example how ‘5/4’ from Belighted (Kscope) feels a much more cheerful number than its studio version. The set showcases the dynamics, as subtle as they are, throughout their recent catalogue; ‘Os Lunatum’ is a modest piece which alternates between a ballad-like vibe that builds up to some subtle Jazz elements, all of which works well with the more classical reminiscent ‘Matches’.
Whilst the whole band ensemble shines, it is the partnership of Gleb Kolyadin and Marjana Semkina that, unsurprisingly, stands out here. Kolyadin shows just what a virtuoso talent he is as he moves between grand piano and keyboard, ranging from complex pieces to more minimalist but equally emotive and powerful passages, whilst Semkina’s voice is a majestic and suitably delicate and powerful when required throughout, showcasing just why she is undoubtedly one of the greatest voices in Progressive Rock in this current day.
A live album/performance DVD is often evidence of a band’s live prowess and the love and reaction from the crowd, but whilst there is enough of a performance component here to praise iamthemorning on, the contained and near private feel of Ocean Sounds actually suits the band perfectly and works better than a traditional live offering. iamthemorning’s music is meant for individual immersion, for escaping, whilst maybe getting lost in the great outdoors, and Ocean Sounds nails that without losing any of that characteristic heart and sense of tranquillity. Ocean Sounds is the culmination of a huge rise for the band and should hopefully mark their continued ascent into upper echelons of Progressive Rock, and the hearts of its many followers.
8.0/10
CHRIS TIPPELL
Life Of Agony hit the music scene hard with their debut album River Runs Red on October 12th, 1993 via Roadrunner Records. They left a lasting impact that continues to reverberate today in the music world. Although they came from humble beggings in Brooklyn in the New York Hardcore scene, their release was a sensation that captured fans’ ears from all over the world. As one of the breakout bands from the crop of hugely influential Roadrunner releases that year that included Type O Negative, Sepultura, Fear Factory among others, they grew into an internationally known and loved band. Continue reading
Situated near the heart of The Black Country – an area in the West Midlands which gave birth to bands such as Judas Priest and perennial Christmas faves Slade – The Robin 2 in Bilston tonight plays host to other local heroes, Diamond Head. Formed in 1976, about ten miles away in Stourbridge, Diamond Head sat proudly at the forefront of the legendary New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene, going onto inspire many up and coming bands, the most famous of which shall remain safely nameless for the purpose of this piece.Continue reading