Tag Archives: James Conway

The Official Ghost Cult Writers Albums of the Year Top 50: 50-41

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It’s hard to believe we’ve already reached the end of another year packed tighter than Joey de Maio’s loincloth with incredible genre-pushing, eardrum-violating, neckache-inducing metal.

So we can begin to tell the story of a year which saw us give more top marks than any other year so far (and more 2’s and 3’s out of 10, too!), a year that left us inundated with so many great releases, we sought the opinions of our esteemed and respected writing team and we offer forth their albums of the year.

The countdown to the Official Ghost Cult Magazine Album of the Year for 2014 has commenced. Please consume and enjoy the results of our 2014 Writers’ Poll. We hope it will introduce you to some of the incredible works of art you may have missed that we have had the immense pleasure of listening to and writing about this year.

In our first installment we bring you albums 50 through to 41.

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50. HARK – Crystalline (Season of Mist)

Genre-bending aggression with doses of Doom, Prog, Psychedelia and Hardcore. Heavy as a very heavy thing.

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49. THE HAUNTED – Exit Wounds (Century Media)

“The album is filled with urgency and manages to be relentlessly heavy without compromising on those insanely catchy riffs. The Haunted have come back stronger than ever… easily the band’s best effort a decade” DAN SWINHOE 9/10 Full review here

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48. THE WOUNDED KINGS – Consolamentum (Candlelight)

“Favouring lengthy yet subtly evolving guitar workouts that never lapse into repetitive dirge territory,The Wounded Kings go about working their dark, smoky magic with grim elegance… Simply put, The Wounded Kings are the quintessential English doom band “ JAMES CONWAY 8.5/10 Full review here

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47. SCHAMMASCH – Contradiction (Prosthetic)

“The quality of this album is obvious right from the beginning. Schammasch have created a record both challenging and endlessly refreshing, a truly remarkable sonic journey from beginning to end.” CAITLIN SMITH 9/10 Full review here

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46. AUTOPSY – Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves (Peaceville)

“Tourniquets… continues in gnarly, raw and near sludgy death metal vein, but maintains their run of high quality and in fact tops anything that has come from their return.” CHRIS TIPPELL 8/10 Full review here

 

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45. KROKODIL – Nachash (Spinefarm)

“With a heavy dose of Mastodon in its veins, Krokodil are a groove juggernaut that pummels all in its path with its three guitarists of fury” DAN O’BRIEN 9/10 Full review here

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44. INTER ARMA – The Cavern (Relapse)

“The sheer gravity and fulminating power of much of the music here is oppressive yet it carries the weight easily, this blend of raw animal force, aching melody and immeasurable creativity marks out this fantastic band” PAUL QUINN 10/10 Full review here

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43. DEVIL YOU KNOW – The Beauty of Destruction (Nuclear Blast)

“(with) all the promise of a powerhouse, and it delivers on all fronts. The songs are well-crafted, nicely developed and excellently executed.” LYNN JORDAN 9.5/10 APRIL ALBUM OF THE MONTH Full review here

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42.BLUES PILLS – Blues Pills (Nuclear Blast)

“…a record that understands and curates its heritage and lineage but is fresh, contemporary and massively memorable. This is the record that you’ll be recommending to your friends for months to come” MAT DAVIES 9/10 Full review here

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41. ARTIFICIAL BRAIN – Labyrinth Constellation (Profound Lore)

“Technical death metal with sci-fi themes, brilliant, utterly amazing, breath-taking and challenging from the first to the last second.” TIAGO MOREIRA 9.5/10 Full review here

Compiled by Steve Tovey


Soulburn – The Suffocating Darkness

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While anyone with a passing interest in Death Metal will most likely own a copy of Asphyx’s 1991 classic debut album The Rack only the most devoted of fans will have kept track of the various break-ups and splits the band has endured since then. For the uninitiated, Soulburn were formed by ex-Asphyx alumni Bob Bagchus and Eric Daniels in 1997 along with Pentacle singer Wanns Gubbels to record Feeding on Angels after their parent band disbanded. Rebranding themselves as Asphyx didn’t prevent them from splitting again in 2000. Reuniting again last year, the latest incarnation of the band have decided to once again indulge their love for Bathory and Venom along with old school Doom and Death Metal. Thankfully their long awaited sophomore record The Suffocating Darkness (all Century Media) is worth the wait.

After a cheesy faux-Satanic intro, the grim, mid-paced riffing of ‘Under the Rise of a Red Moon’ and ‘The Mirror Void’ are suitably diabolic reminders that the members know how to wield power with atmosphere, with the thrashy breakout of the latter especially raising the hackles with its primal energy. With a variety of styles competing for attention and the members seemingly unbothered over which camp to pitch their tent in, we are left with a set of thoroughly enjoyable metal workouts that should raise the horns from fans of all the aforementioned genres. The guitar tone in particular is dense and all-consuming, giving the likes of black/death hybrid ‘Hymn of the Forsaken II’ a menacing feel while the drawn-out, apocalyptic horror of ‘I Do Not Bleed From Your Crown of Thorns’ is Doom/Death at its most crushing.

Given the history of the band, it doesn’t take a cynic to wonder how long Soulburn will be around. But if the strength of the material on The Suffocating Darkness is an indication of things to come, it would be wise to keep an eye on these Dutch masters.

7.5/10

Soulburn on Facebook

JAMES CONWAY


Laster – De Verste Verte Is Hier

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With recent black metal releases either making you want to march off into battle (Winterfylleth) or spend an evening viciously murdering crackheads in an urban underpass (Anaal Nathrakh), it’s refreshing when an album comes along that’s perfect for merely slumping back in your chair and drifting off into the void. Dutch trio Laster are the architects of said proposed lazy endeavour but don’t be fooled into thinking that their debut album De Verste Verte Is Hier (Dunkelheit) is a snooze-fest, for it contains a plethora of fascinating motifs that demonstrates once again that atmosphere matters more than mindless aggression.

Nestling somewhere on the outer-reaches of the black metal spectrum where drone, ambient and Shoegaze converge for an exclusively morbid and dream-like tea party, the 45 minutes of De Verste Verte Is Hier is akin to wandering through a ruined, expressionist landscape of abandoned factories, mist-shrouded plains and decaying, haunted cathedrals. The riffing veers between light speed ferocity that calls to mind Krallice if they were given a heavy dose of lithium to more mid-paced plodding that references the darkest lights of the USBM depressive scene, such as the suicide obsessed Xasthur.

There are enough noticeable differences between songs to ensure that the same ideas aren’t merely recycled with a vaguely different coat of paint, such as the horribly surreal choir-and-shrieking section that appears in ‘Tot de tocht ons verlicht’ and the devastatingly bleak piano passage in ‘Ik – mijn masker’. But the real rug-pull moment comes in the arse-shakingly danceable post-punk of the title track, which is like being in a nightclub with Cenobites for bouncers.

All in all, a thoroughly impressive debut from a trio of talented multi-instrumentalists who know how to paint grim pictures with enough beauty mixed in to warrant many a further inspection.

8.0/10

Laster on Facebook

JAMES CONWAY


Cripper – Hyena

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For most bands plugging away on the toilet circuit, their hard work, determination and desire to succeed will inevitably lead to a job at McDonalds. So when a band does get noticed by a major label after slogging their arses off for years on end, it’s something we should all be thankful for. One such act is German thrashers Cripper who have been picked up by Metal Blade for the release of fourth album Hyena after a series of impressive sets at European festivals.

The first word that springs to mind upon hitting play on the title track, which opens the album is “workmanlike.” While this may initially appear to be a thinly veiled criticism, the more the album progresses you begin to realise the accuracy of this first impression for Cripper are without doubt a thoroughly professional band that quite simply gets shit done.

Rooted in thrash but refreshingly free of the gimmicks that characterised Municipal Waste and their legion of imitators a few years back, Cripper play hard, fast and with a precision that will be the envy of many. The biting riffs of ‘7”’ and the infectious pummelling of ‘Tourniquet’ recall the likes of Kreator in their prime, while the refined chugging of ‘Animated Flesh’ is the kind of sublime modern metal that Lamb of God usually do so well.

Aided by a no-nonsense, solid production that renders each instrument crystal clear and with special mention for a particularly emphatic performance behind the mike by Britta Görtz, all the ingredients are present for a wholly satisfying, no-frills metal meat feast. Repeated listens reveal a plethora of variety and headbang-inducing hooks and the album art features a pissed off looking animal. What more could you want? Cripper are proof that persistence can pay off and whoever signed them is owed several beers.

8.0/10

Cripper on Facebook

JAMES CONWAY


Bloodbath – Grand Morbid Funeral

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As far as supergroups go, few come more awesome than Stockholm’s Bloodbath. Formed as a hobby by Katatonia members Anders Nystrom and Jonas Renske along with Opeth mainman Mikael Akerfeldt and producer extraordinaire Dan Swano back in 1998 with the simple desire to pump out some filthy old school death metal, it’s unlikely they ever would have expected to become one of the biggest and most well respected bands in the scene, although given their combined status the result was pretty much a foregone conclusion.

After releasing three blood-splattered and evil sounding albums but having to deal with the departure of Akerfeldt and Swano, some might have expected these veterans to stop playing with the corpse and allow it to rot in peace. However the desire to riff fast and ugly is a strong one and a new vocalist has been found in Paradise Lost frontman Nick Holmes whose new role is elementary (I can’t believe you just did that – Ed [and I can’t believe you wrote an ‘Ed insert’ for me – Dep Ed]) given his growling performance on PL’s classic debut record Lost Paradise (Peaceville).

But is Old Nick’s presence behind the mike enough to ensure Bloodbath remain deadly in a scene rife with sharp-eyed competition? One listen to Grand Morbid Funeral (Peaceville) proves the answer is an emphatic, bellowed yes!

As the serrated riffs of opening track ‘Let the Stillborn Come to Me’ tear out of the speakers like an escaped serial killer on his way to a nearby summer camp, the primal fury of Death Metal is fully revealed in full-blooded, hate-filled form and as the track settles into a disgusting Dismember-esque groove, you’re reminded just how much this music kicks ass and lops off heads with abandon. The buzzsaw guitar sound, as much a part of the Swe-death scene as any notable record you could care to mention, is heavily evident in the marching attack of ‘Total Death Exhumed’ which also features some suitably gloomy lead-work, while the ramshackle chugging of ‘Anne’ evokes images of a demented butcher manically hacking apart corpses in some benighted slaughterhouse.

Bloodbath records have always relied on frantic pace and aggression to get their gruesome message across and while they may lack the precision of Cannibal Corpse or the bad-time grooves of latter day Entombed, their modus operandi is built on a basis of seeing how many people they can kill in the room with a rusty chainsaw before the police take them down, rather than methodically picking off victims. It’s a messy approach, aided by a suitably grimy production but which gives proceedings a rabid and unclean feel, and when they do slow things down slightly such as on the gut-wrenching crawl of ‘Church of Vastitas’ and the grotesque melodies of the title track, the atmosphere drops to especially ghastly levels of hopelessness.

Nystrom and fellow axeman Per Eriksson focus more on tearing our minds apart with a seemingly endless selection of slashing riffs, gloomy melodies and frantic solos while drummer Martin Axenrot flays the skins with an unfussy, methodical determination. Holmes may not have the deepest growl and he is buried too deep in the mix to have a massive impact but his sinister tones give the music a depraved grandeur and when all of these elements combine like on the unrestrained ferocity of ‘Famine of God’s World’ and the monstrous ‘Beyond Cremation’ you’ll be wishing that all the members quit their day jobs and focus on pumping out more of this filth every other year.

There’s enough elements of the US death metal scene to ensure that this isn’t just a caricature of the Stockholm sound, but it’s undeniable that Bloodbath are to all intents and purposes a nostalgia act and a way for a bunch of blokes nearing their 40s to act like they were teenagers again. But some of the best death metal albums were made by whippersnappers so as long as this bunch of morbid Swedes and one ghoulish Brit keep failing to act their age, the world of extreme metal will stay suitably macabre.

7.5/10

Bloodbath on Facebook

JAMES CONWAY


Xerath – III

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When most metal bands attempt to introduce non-metallic elements to their sound, the results are often disastrous. It took Fleshgod Apocalypse three albums to effectively blend classical refrains with blasting death metal while the introduction of opera to black metal that Arcturus ‘perfected’ is regarded by many as unforgiveable. However, sometimes the combining of disparate styles is a joy to behold, as Basingstoke bruisers Xerath once again prove with their emphatic blending of the rough with the smooth on third album III (Candlelight).

While it may be lazy to assert that all the quartet do is play groove metal with orchestral keyboards swirling away in the background, when it boils down to it, that’s not too far from the truth. What makes the band special, however, is just how good the songwriting is, as the infectiously twisty riffs of album opener ‘I Hold Dominion’ demonstrates. The keyboards that make up so much of the bands’ sound, and indeed, their identity aren’t just merely tacked on, they flow in time with the riffs and enable the arrangements to take on a more profound and grand aspect than one might expect. Catchy hooks like the soaring chorus to ‘I Hunt For The Weak’ don’t do any harm either.

New guitarist Conor McGouran has integrated seamlessly and his massive Meshuggah-esque riffs make the music seem urgent and alive, such as the stomping heaviness of ‘Autonomous’ and the staccato assault of ‘Passenger.’ Vocalist Richard Thomson may occasionally lapse into a Devin Townsend impersonation but it’s likely you’ll be enjoying proceedings too much to care. As with Xerath’s previous two albums, III feels like the soundtrack to an epic sci-fi film with stunning visuals and profound themes. While it’s just heavy metal at the end of the day, you can’t help but feel that the four members of the band are reaching for the stars, and one day they might just succeed.

8.0/10

Xerath on Facebook

JAMES CONWAY


Hod – Book Of The Worm

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Combining the virulent strains of death and black metal shouldn’t be too much of a problem given how many traits they share, so it’s surprising how many bands make an utter balls-up of this endeavour; often sacrificing the quirks and intricacies of both genres in favour of jacking up the brutality and hoping it will cover the cracks. Thankfully Texas quartet Hod aren’t one of them, for their sophomore album Book of the Worm (Arctic Music Group) manages to be both mercilessly extreme and gripping enough to make this a match made in heaven (hell).

Propelled along by the seemingly endless array of face-melting riffs courtesy of guitarist Carl “Lord Necron” Snyder, Hod never risk losing the listener’s attention, especially seeing as the album only lasts a mere 34 minutes. Effortless shifting between scything black metal guitar workouts like on coruscating album opener ‘When the Ghouls Feed’ to the late 80s US grindcore vibes of ‘Den of Wolves’, the atmosphere never dips below aggressive as fuck, and the frequent nods to the origins of the genres where writing actual songs was a pre-requisite will stretch a grin across the face of anyone who likes their extreme metal to be both catchy and brutal.

The avalanche of grim grandeur that is ‘Through the Gates (They Come For Me)’ is the kind of pure Satanic violence that Deicide used to pen when they were still scary, while the simplistic blasting fury of ‘Under Tyranny’s Hammer’ will delight those who wear Black Witchery shirts and attend Nuclear War Now! Festival every year. Simply put, Book of the Worm has something for everyone and is an instantly enjoyable snapshot of the extreme metal underground in both the US and beyond.

8.0/10

Hod on Facebook

JAMES CONWAY


Necrophagia – WhiteWorm Cathedral

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Although they released one of the first US death metal albums with 1987’s Season of the Dead (New Renaissance), Ohio natives Necrophagia have never been regarded as pioneers of the genre, instead more of a tired old sideshow masquerading under the banner of a ‘cult band.’ Despite the patronage of Phil Anselmo and the dogged nature of mainman Killjoy, Necrophagia just quite simply aren’t worthy of much attention when one considers how fertile the US scene currently is. It’s a problem they do little to address on seventh full-length WhiteWorm Cathedral (Season of Mist).

If mid-paced, plodding death metal that never even hints at stepping out of its comfort zone is your thing, then WhiteWorm Cathedral may hold some appeal. With its frequent use of horror movie samples, big chugging riffs and rasped vocals depicting morbid tales of violence, the supernatural and gore, Necrophagia have always played to the choir and over the course of 50 minutes they carry on the formula that is all they know to an almost religious level of conformity. Of course, the same accusation could be levelled at all manner of bands from AC/DC to Eyehategod, but the problem here is that most songs will have you reaching for the skip button and wondering when things are going to rise above the mundane. Unfortunately that moment never comes.

While the hefty chugging and ghostly keyboards of ‘Rat Witch’ may march onwards like a sinister George Romero zombie and the snaking riffs of ‘Angel Blake’ at least possesses a hook, the vast majority of WhiteWorm Cathedral is just too dull and generic to make any kind of lasting impression. Meat and potatoes without the gravy. Or should that be fleshy chunks without the blood?

Either way, this is one corpse that just needs to lie silent.

4.0/10

Necrophagia on Facebook

JAMES CONWAY


Fräkmündt – Landlieder and Frömdländler

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If the prospect of ‘Ur-Folk’, a musical reinterpretation of old Swiss folk songs and the occasional original number consisting of elements of traditional Volksmusik as well as folk music from other regions fills you with a deep sense of horror then drop that cowbell and head for the hills before it’s too late. For when members of Eluveitie fancy some down time, they contribute to Fräkmündt, the main adherents of the above genre, although no active member is present on Landlieder & Frömdländler (Auerbach/Prophecy) and hasn’t been involved in the band for over a year. This is a good thing, for there is very little here to recommend to metal fans or indeed, anyone with a sense of taste.

Call me a philistine but listening to Landlieder & Frömdländler is an experience akin to being trapped on holiday somewhere in the Swiss Alps by the local peasants who insist on playing their local tunes no matter how often you politely decline another sing-a-long around the campfire. All the necessary instruments are present and correct, with the guitars, accordion and of course, hurdy-gurdy conspiring to make you stare at the ground, grit your teeth and pray for it to be over soon. The tone ranges from the mildly upbeat jigs of ‘PfaffechaIleri’ and ‘Fontannegsecht’ to the grim po-faced dirges of ‘Luegid vo Barg ond Tal’ and ‘Simelibarg’ which are as interminable as the stench in an alpine cow shed. But we haven’t even got on to the utterly appalling ‘Klaryda’ and ‘Wieso semmer eso?’ which evokes images of The Wurzels in lederhosen. Nuff said.

No doubt some would accuse me of ‘not getting it’ but sometimes absolutes apply and this is one of them, for it’s hard to imagine anyone other than a select few, perhaps those who subscribe to National Geographic and still buy Steeleye Span records, having any tolerance or interest in this album. Recent releases by the likes of Wardruna have shown how ancient music should be re-interpreted for the modern age and while it sounds like Fräkmündt are deadly serious and passionate about what they’re doing, it’s best to just quietly put up with them in the hope that soon it’ll all be over.

3.5/10

Fräkmündt on Facebook

JAMES CONWAY


Exodus – Blood In, Blood Out

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With the Big Four of thrash metal currently mired in irrelevance and resorting to dodgy political statements, ill-advised collaborations and endlessly trading on former glories, thank the Gods for Exodus who have been cracking necks and causing mayhem in the pit ever since their barnstorming comeback album Tempo of the Damned (Nuclear Blast) breathed new life into a moribund scene back in 2004. Ten years later they sound even more alive and angry on tenth original full length Blood In, Blood Out (Nuclear Blast), a record that takes no prisoners.

Bringing back vocalist Steve “Zetro” Sousa for his third stint behind the mic has proven to be a masterstroke with his re-arrival seemingly inspiring his bandmates to up their game and play as if their lives depended on it. Over eleven vicious tracks lasting just over an hour, Sousa’s trademark screech gives the songs a sense of fatal urgency and direction. The lyrics may cover the standard war n’ gore topics as before but with Sousa sounding so utterly pissed-off, they take on a new dimension of relevance. It also helps that guitarists Gary Holt and Lee Altus have written some of the best riffs of their careers while the thunderous bass of Jack Gibson and the relentless percussion of Tom Hunting ensure everything remains at a scorching hot level throughout.

With so many stand-out tracks it’s hard to pick favourites but the relentless barrage and gang vocals of ‘Collateral Damage’, the precision chugs and catchiness of ‘Salt the Wound’ which features a guest appearance from none other than Kirk Hammett and the blistering thrash workout of ‘Numb’ all take the cake. Boosted by a great production job that makes all the instruments sound loud, thick and in-your-face, Blood In, Blood Out is a fantastic return to form and proves once again that the old dogs know best and could even teach some of the young pretenders a few new tricks.

8.0/10

Exodus on Facebook

JAMES CONWAY