Pink Floyd – The Endless River


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I have waited my entire writing career, and maybe my entire life to review a Pink Floyd album.

I just wish it wasn’t The Endless River (Parlophone/Columbia).

Anyone who knows me personally or via music journalism knows “The Floyd” has been a huge part of my life, certainly as much as any metal band, and encoded to my musical DNA since I was a small child. While some people have personal relationships with deities, I have them with music and bands. Their music has meant an enormous amount to me, helped colour my worldview at a young age, and even my own attempts at musical endeavors for twenty-five plus years in one form, or another.

With the passing of Rick Wright in 2008 and David Gilmour’s reluctance to use the moniker any longer, fans have long been resigned to the fact the band was long gone. The tracks that would become this album came from a series of sessions that didn’t make it on to The Division Bell (EMI) in 1993 and from a side project called “The Big Spliff” (lol), both including a ton of Wright penned and recorded pieces for make a four sides of a record. Considering the history of Wright’s ouster from the band by Roger Waters in 1980 following The Wall, the idea of sending out a final recording in tribute to Rick, is a nice touch. The Endless River, from the bands point of view, is a way to demarcate the finish line of their long, weird journey.

The problem with the album is that it is not fully realized musically at all. At this stage Gilmour, and his co-producers Youth, Phil Manzanera, and Andy Jackson (this thing needed four producers?) should know how to make a Pink Floyd album sound, right? However, what you get is even less than a collection of half-finished songs and more like a pastiche of Floydian tropes. The slide guitar from Meddle, the delay pedal from ‘Another Brick In The Wall Part I’, the Hammond B-3 swell from ‘Great Gig In The Sky’, the backing singers, a dusky saxophone, jazzy Nick Mason back-beats from Animals and Wish You Were Here, the dour analog synth sounds of ‘Welcome To The Machine’, the space-rock “musiq concrete” of Dark Side of The Moon, the Stephen Hawking sample from The Division Bell; all carefully placed here as if someone made a “greatest hits” mixtape for you, just in case you forgot what they sounded like. Another bad mis-step is the awful ‘Louder Than Words’, the one song with full vocals on the album. This ‘Comfortably Numb’–lite track is feeble, but a well-meaning attempt to wax philosophical on life, death and the space in between. These were all topics better served lyrically by Syd Barrett’s insane whimsy and Waters’ wounded psyche rage-a-thons. This is the band that wrote ‘Bike’, ‘Childhood’s End’, ‘Echoes’, ‘Time’, ‘Eclipse’ and ‘Mother’ to name a few similar-themed tracks. By comparison, the baby boomer dribble of the hackneyed lyrics from Gilmour and wife Polly Sampson (please, just stop) wrecked it for me.

On the plus side, it’s great to hear Rick’s playing and writing one final time. Often imitated, instantly recognizable and shining brightly: he was the glue that held their music together. His peers from the 60s and 70s were concerned with virtuoso technique and speed, and making the keys sound as un-keyboard like as possible. Meanwhile good ol’ Rick knew well the balance between laying the foundation for moods, and driving the rhythm with just a few tasteful cadences and a deft touch. Along with Dave’s occasional simmering guitar solos and tasteful inflections, this helps overcome some of the tracks. Contributions from past collaborators like Bob Ezrin, Anthony Moore and Guy Pratt are all welcome. These are some of the reasons the album is not a total wash.

The Endless River is not wholly unenjoyable. Take it for what it is: an album of so-so out-takes, released in tribute to a fallen great, and the end of one the greatest bands ever with a messy thud.

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5.0/10

Pink Floyd on Facebook

 

KEITH (KEEFY) CHACHKES


Zodiac- Sonic Child


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German based hard rock and blues band Zodiac are fairly new to the music game but are already getting some recognition for recalling classic sounds. Sonic Child (Prosthetic) is their third album and where they really start to find their footing.

The intro ‘Who I Am’ is interesting in that it encompasses all the different sounds and feelings the listener recognizes in the rest of the album. It falls nicely in between spacy and bluesy.

Although the songs in the beginning of the album are good, the group finds its real groove in the later half. ‘A Penny and a Dead Horse’ is more country, not only in lyrics, but also instrumentation. It eventually becomes more rock oriented. One can hear the Pink Floyd influence. “Good Times” is reminiscent of Led Zeppelin’s early work, especially in the lyrics. Vocalist and guitarist Nick van Delft evens sings “Good times, bad times.” Another blues trademark appears in ‘Just Music’ is where the obligatory “sold my soul” claim is made. Finally, ‘Rock Bottom Blues’ is exactly what the title suggests: a heartfelt blues song with hints of Pink Floyd’s Darkside of the Moon.

Sonic Child is a great album for those looking for a newer blues influenced act to listen to. Zodiac are at an advantage in that they will attract both the hard rock and the blues audiences. 

 

7.0/10

Zodiac on Facebook

 

MELISSA CAMPBELL

 


Anathema: Live at Academy 3, Manchester UK


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A fearlessly charismatic outfit whose loyal fanbase have grown throughout the evolution of their sound, it really beggars belief that Anathema are not headlining venues double this size.

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Tonight’s performance is sold out and the intimate confines of the Academy 3 only help to make the evening feel that much more special. New opus Distant Satellites (KScope) has garnered much praise from all quarters and rightly so. The sweeping orchestral arrangements and ethereal vocal melodies of ‘The Lost Song, Part 1’ kick things off. The set is mainly comprised from their last four albums with particular emphasis on the current record which for some acts would be a bold statement but for this Scouse quintet it is just comes naturally.

 

Vincent Cavanagh and Lee Douglas voices are the perfect foil to each other their harmonies evoking sadness, emptiness, hopefulness and triumph sometimes in the space of one song.

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Lee’s brother John and Daniel Cardoso swap between drums are keys effortlessly adding lush electronic textures to the shimmering bedrock of guitars and strings. Lee herself is in particularly fine form lending her soaring emotive performance to ‘The Lost Song, Part 2’ and encore highlight ‘A Natural Disaster’.

 

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Danny Cavanagh is in fine fettle, showing bags of charm and charisma laughing and joking with the crowd between songs. Even when technical gremlins threaten to derail what is a truly magnificent performance during ‘Closer’, Danny comes to the rescue with an impromptu rendition of Pink Floyd classic ‘Wish You Were Here’ which fans sing along with gusto. Vincent then returns to the vocoder and belts out ‘Closer’ without a hitch. A truly incredible live experience full of such warmth and sincerity that you cannot help to be swept way in. A captivating, emotive performance from some immensely talented musicians that have carved a career from determination and a total lack of compromise. Concluding with the anthemic ‘Fragile Dreams’, Anathema demonstrate, yet again why they are literally in a class of their own.

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Anathema On Facebook

 

 

WORDS: ROSS BAKER

PHOTOS: LUKE DENHAM PHOTOGRAPHY


Territorial Pissings – Sel Balamir of Amplifier


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With new album ‘Mystoria’ showcasing a new direction for the eclectic Amplifier, frontman Sel Balamir fielded the Ghost Cult interrogation and emphatically told of how his band are more grunge than prog…

 

“For me Mystoria is like The Melvins meets Crosby,Stills & Nash” is how vocalist and guitarist Sel Balamir describes Manchester alt. masters Amplifier’s upcoming release, the band’s fifth full length, when talking about the album’s fuzziness married with harmony. It has to be said that Mystoria (Superball) is quite a departure from what we may expect of Amplifier, moving towards a more direct sound akin to grunge and the more typical echelons of rock music.

A lot of people will see the comment above and start running for the hills, but it is important to remember that Amplifier have never been a group to repeat themselves. From the sprawling prog journey of Octopus (self-released) to the more stripped down follow up Echo Street (KScope), Amplifier have always had a knack for trying out different styles and sounds.

As calculated as it appears, however, Balamir dismisses the notion of a preemptive plan behind it all. “It’s not conscious, it’s just more demonstrative of our powers of attention getting shorter and shorter” he says jestfully. “I think it’s just different kinds of people you hang around with, certainly for me, is the undercurrent of what changes sound and stuff. Because you take on board people’s opinions and what they find interesting and they make you interested and think about things and ways you may never have thought about before.”

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Time and personal constraints also prove a factor. The Octopus was a massive sprawling record because we wanted to make a record that no record company would ever put out. Echo Street was different again because we didn’t have four years to make a massive record, we decided we were going to make a record then made one the next week, we hadn’t written it or anything! 

“Up until Mystoria all our records were quite complicated and with Mystoria we just wanted to make a record that wasn’t so emotionally complicated, it was just simple.”

 

Mystoria also differs from its predecessors in the methods of its recording, being rehearsed to perfection prior to a quick recording, which conversely has an effect on its outcome: “It’s basically a live album, there are hardly any overdubs on it, so it’s basically a live record. For me I can hear the difference, there’s a lot more space on the record. There’s my guitar, there’s Steve’s (Durose) guitar, drums and bass and that’s it, no layers of feedback and texture which featured deeply in other records, I think it’s a lot more in your face record because of that.”

The aforementioned Steve Durose (of Oceansize fame), along with Alex Redhead joined Amplifier since Echo Street’s recording as the band shifted to a four piece.  This in itself also aided Mystoria’s final sound. “The other guys beefed out the harmonies, and certainly there are a lot of harmonies on Mystoria. It was designed to take advantage of those vibes.”

 

Previous album Echo Street was released under license by prog label KScope whilst Mystoria sees Amplifier associate with a different record company, Superball. Echo Street fits on KScope’s roster. It wouldn’t fit on Superball’s roster and the kind of thing they do and conversely Mystoria wouldn’t fit on Kscope. They don’t really do straight-ahead rock bands and for me Mystoria is like a rock album, not a prog album, so Superball is much more suitable. And they are more piratical as well, a bit more dusty knuckles to me, than Kscope.”

A move away from being associated to a true champion of modern progressive rock to a label with little association with the genre whatsoever may seem a strange move to some, but Balamir has before been quick to dismiss his band as simply a prog band. “We are a mongrel band, we’re citizens of the world, we like all types of music. That element of listening to Pink Floyd is as strong in me as the element of listening to Yes and listening to Joan Baez. We live at a time of with a rich cultural heritage that has been recorded. I’ve got records that my parents bought because they were amazing records and they still are amazing, so it’s no wonder that we don’t fit into any pigeonhole because we have never pigeonholed our own tastes.”

 

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In fact the “prog” tag that Amplifier have been lumped with in the past is clearly something that Balamir is disapproving of : ”As soon as you get that prog attachment, for people who don’t know, they think they are just going to get Yes or Rush, and I love both of those bands, but I wouldn’t say they are representative of what my band sounds like. My band sounds more like Nirvana to me than those bands. I don’t think we are prog at all, just an interesting rock band.” Interestingly however, despite Balamir’s issue with the prog tag, Amplifier by transforming throughout their history actually offer the most progressive of elements themselves. “And there’s the irony. Most prog bands aren’t progressive at all, they are conservative.”

Especially with recent ties with Kscope, it goes without saying that a large proportion of Amplifier’s fanbase will be more prog orientated so was Balamir concerned with what such fans would make of the new album? “As soon as you start trying to shape your records to what you think the fans will make of it then you are on a steep, slippery slope. We just do music as an expression, rather than just trying to impress people.”

This being said however, we can mostly expect fans of such music to have a diverse range of musical tastes shown in prog’s all-encompassing umbrella of sonic variants. For Amplifier this is reflected in their (especially recent) presence on festivals and bills of the eclectic variety; from Damnation festival, to Beyond The Redshift, the Kscope anniversary shows and others. “We were talking about this the other day, that all these festivals we play, we never seem to fit in to any of them…I think Amplifier are one of those bands that people who are into different musical styles there is a space for us in their taste.

“We play heavy music so its not weird for is to be on bills with heavy bands. We are there because we are a different colour to other bands that are there. We are an option if you want to take a break from speed metal.”

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Speaking of bills, Amplifer have been announced as support for returning cult grungers Kerbdog. A move that only a few months ago would have seemed baffling now makes so much sense. “We are all about the grunge. It would be nice to play with a proper rock band. Nothing complicated.” And from this it seems Amplifier may have found a firm new home. A band renowned for transforming and shifting from album to album seems to have settled into a groove at least for the time being. “That’s where we want to be and stay. If there was one thing that would be our manifesto now it would be just lean and mean. That’s what its all about so playing with Kerbdog, will be good because it will be simple.”

 

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Words by CHRIS TIPPELL


Wovenwar – Empress AD: Live at Camden Barfly, London


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If you’ve never been to Camden’s Barfly, the first thing that strikes you is just how tiny it is. Like, really tiny. You can stand right at the back of the room, by the bar and feel like you’re right down the front. It’s the sort of room where you can see the condensation running down the walls, the sort of room where you can see what the band had for their lunch. It is intimate, that’s for sure and a terrific place to see Wovenwar’s first UK live set.  We’ll get to them in a bit: first though, time to check out support act Empress AD, ahead of their Reading and Leeds festival slots.

You can always tell whether a support band has a bit of a buzz about them by how early people turn up for their set. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s VERY busy and judging by tonight’s performance, the buzz on Empress AD is entirely justified. Empress AD are the sort of band that’s difficult to pigeon-hole, such is the diversity and dexterity to their oeuvre. But that is part of their charm: they have a brilliant, disorienting blend of music that runs a gamut of styles – they clearly have a Pink Floyd record or nine in their collection and they are self-evidently enraptured by dark dynamics beloved of Cult of Luna. However, theirs is not a simple facsimile. On the contrary, they have taken their influences, blended them and added several ingredients of their own, a recipe for a performance that thrilled as much as it beguiled. Definitely ones to watch, then.

You’re already probably familiar with the backstory on Wovenwar and their phoenix from the ashes development so I won’t labour on it again here but know this. They are the real deal. Wovenwar are just a terrific band. There is an air of expectancy about this performance and, when they arrive on stage, they are greeted like returning heroes.

Shane Blay - Wovenwar. A veritable bear of a man.

For a record that has only recently dropped, everyone seems to know every word to every song and they have clearly tapped into something, and something good at that.  From the taped opening of Onward through live debuts for Sight of Shore and Moving Up, Wovenwar just exude confidence, class and power and everyone seems to have realized that the band have got “it”; whatever that elusive “it” is.

Lead singer Shane Blay is a veritable bear of a man and a compelling singer, but one with humility and intelligence in abundance. But this is not a show about him, all of the band appear to be having a hugely enjoyable time. Given what they have been through, this can only be seen as something like a victory.

When the band launch into set closer Prophets the entire room goes ballistic and transforms itself into one giant circle pit and it really is a sight to behold. Someone leans over to me and says “You know, I prefer them to As I Lay Dying”.

And, after tonight, I have to agree with him. Brilliant entertainment.

 

Setlist

All Rise

Death To Rights

The Mason

Sight of Shore

Matter of Time

Tempest

Profane

Archers

Moving Up

Identity

Prophets

 

Wovenwar on Facebook

Empress AD on Facebook

 

MAT DAVIES


Nachtmystium – The World We Left Behind


 

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Despite single-handedly dragging Nachtmystium from the benighted depths of the US black metal scene to their current position as one of its biggest names, it has not been an easy ride for mainman Blake Judd. Years spent battling drug addiction appeared to have paid their price with Judd announcing last year that The World We Left Behind (Century Media) would be Nachtmystium’s final recording. Howeve,r a recent change of heart means that the band is once again an active entity with Judd seemingly ready to lay his demons to rest and build on Nachtmystium’s successful merging of BM aesthetics with Pink Floyd-influenced prog and post-punk elements that has won them so many admirers. It’s a winning formula and one that Judd has further explored on this new album after the back to basics approach of 2012’s punishing Silencing Machine.

 

Despite the band’s status, first track ‘Intrusion’ seems to be more of a collection of rehearsal room riffs than anything resembling an actual song, more of a warm up exercise that somehow ended up on the finished product. Thankfully the Nachtmystium we know and love announces itself in style with ‘Fireheart’; a hip-shaking post-punk number chock full of jangling melodies that employs several downright catchy riffs that Joy Division might have written had they been around long enough to hear Deathcrush (Posercorpse). A few weird yet restrained keyboards nicely supplement the riffs and driving chorus before the mid-paced introspection of ‘Voyager’ takes things down to more downbeat levels with Judd doing plenty of soul searching in the morose lyrics.

 

The first appearance of the scalding black metal of the early days is in the eight minute plus assault of ‘Into the Endless Abyss’ which perfectly melds the aggression and iciness of the Norwegian second wave with the depressive elements that are the trademark of USBM. Keyboards nip like wasps rather than drowning the riffs in synth rendering the track a cathartic yet challenging experience, proving Judd still knows how to turn on the hate when required. However, modern Nachtmystium is more about atmosphere than pace these days as the churning riff and sheer gloom of ‘In the Absence of Existence’ lets you know when the band are at their most crushing.

 

The title track has a defiantly playful nature, merging epic synths with the most basic of drumbeats and another of those killer mid-paced riffs that seems to come so naturally to Judd. The melodies are as achingly sad as ever of course. However, it’s on the final track ‘Epitaph for a Dying Star’ that everything gels perfectly with the gorgeous, ethereal female vocals, soaring melodies and utterly crushing post-metal riff that drives the whole thing confirming just how lucky we are that Judd has postponed his retirement.

 

The World We Left Behind would have been a brilliant epitaph to a fantastic band but it now takes on a new perspective as something Judd can build on in the future, provided he keeps his demons in check. Or maybe he should let them off the leash entirely? Either way, Nachtmystium are back at the top of the pile and long may they glower down from there.

 

8.5/10

Nachtmystium on Facebook

 

JAMES CONWAY

 

 

 


Barrows: Live at The Know, Portland, OR


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The Know is a punk venue located in North Portland on a street populated with boutiques, food cart pods, and the odd carniceria. A curtain sections off a bar and some pinball machines from a low bare-bones stage in a room maybe twenty feet wide by forty long. A couple of what appear to be gold couch cushions are affixed (glued?) to the ceiling above the stage, and there’s a big ‘ol poster of a lightning storm on the right-hand wall, for atmosphere.

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Barrows is a band from Los Angeles that plays epic instrumental post-rock with a narrative bent. They are out touring the West Coast on their latest LP, Red Giant (Barrows Recordings), a concept album that lays out the life and death of a star (Hubble Telescope kind, not Tom Cruise) in five spiraling songs. This was their second stop on the tour, third if you count their first date at home.

 

The night began with Portland locals The Sky Above and Earth Below playing a solid set of melodic screaming hardcore in the vein of Glassjaw or Shai Hulud. The three piece band set up on ground level in front of the stage (D.I.Y. pragmatism’s not dead!) and though no actual floor punching occurred surely we all floor punched in our hearts as they riffed in our midst.

 

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After a brief sound check Barrows began their set on the red-lit stage with the atmospheric winds and clean swells of album opener, ‘Nebula.’ Drummer Richy Epolito and bassist Jim Leonard were joined by guitarists Brock Haltiwanger and Ryo Higuchi, and when they hit the huge flanging crashes that come near the end of the song it was apparent that the band is fully locked in and not prone to lose any power in their live presence.

 

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Their formidable sound brought more people in from the bar, and Barrows ended up playing to a decent room for a Monday night. They moved through the bulk of Red Giant in a focused manner, pausing only a few times to switch basses, and bringing a tight intensity to the many transitions and builds in the material.

 

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Leonard paused briefly to say hi to the crowd before announcing their last song of the night, ‘Pirates,’ the closing track from Barrows 2011 debut , Imprecari Island. Fifteen minutes later Barrows was packed up and ready to, as Saint Rollins once put it, “Get in the van.”

Barrows on Bandcamp

WORDS BY JARED CHRISTENSON

PHOTOS BY CURTISS DUNLAP PHOTOGRAPHY

 

 


Oranssi Pazuzu – Valonielu


1185301_10151629766588553_312929272_nFor those in the know, Finnish quintet Oranssi Pazuzu have been one of the most exciting and talked about bands operating in the labyrinth depths of the black metal underground; their borderline unpronounceable name and freakishly weird take on an established sound has been a tonic to those left cold by the standard blood n’ puke splattered fare from the Land of a Thousand Lakes. 2013 sees the release of third album Valonielu (Svart Records) which in the words of the band themselves may well make good of their stated aim of making music “that invites all the arsonists and smokers to hold hands.”

The psychedelic element to Oranssi Pazuzu’s sound has always sat comfortably with their harder black metal basis, and these two forces weave and combine to great effect throughout the entirety of “Valonielu.” Opening track ‘Vino Verso’ is built around a repetitive mid-paced riff that you may find on a Satyricon B-side; clinical and basic, but it’s the swirling electronica that settles like a narcotic-infused miasma on the listener’s mind; the distorted Theremin creating a creepy, spacy atmosphere that elevates the track into something else altogether. The wandering bassline and rushing synth swells of ‘Tyhjä Temppeli’ take things to an even weirder plateau where warped prog structures meet harsh, strangulated vocals, minus guitars of course. At this point in time, reality already appears to be collapsing in on itself.

Languid dissonance is the order of the day on ‘Uraanisula’, again making use of repetition and eerie keyboards over the course of twelve increasingly harrowing minutes. This could be what happened if Pink Floyd had discovered a copy of the Necronomicon and decided to smoke the pages. The pace increases for the final few minutes with a jagged riff suggesting something truly unholy has been summoned as you feel your mind cracking under the onslaught, not helped by the nightmarish psychedelic vibe that seems to keep finding new ways to antagonise your ears.

Nerves are further frayed by the restless, swirling tones of instrumental Reikä Maisemassa’ and the dense, driving riffs of ‘Olen Aukaissut Uuden Silmän’, the latter of which finally throws in a bit of tremolo picking. It doesn’t last long however, as kaleidoscopic prog rhythms drench proceedings in awesome, alien murk once more. We finish off with a few moments of serenity at the beginning of ‘Ympyrä On Viiva Tomussa’ before a shimmering wall of noise hits home and we are off into the void again, flying helplessly away from earth and sanity. The pounding riff and other assorted noises could have been written by Beherit if they practised in a cave daubed by ancient astronaut hieroglyphs whilst off their tits on peyote and rum, and just in case you’re curious, that’s a good thing.

With Valonielu, Oranssi Pazuzu deserve to join the hallowed ranks of the weird that operate on the fringes of black metal, such as The Meads of Asphodel and A Forest of Stars. The level of originality, avant-garde oddness and raw talent is enough to render the panda-painted orthodox brigade as relevant as whatever Varg Vikernes writes on his blog these days. Is it black metal? Who knows what it is, and who cares? It’s in here now, with us, and that’s all that matters.

9/10

Oranssi Pazuzu on Facebook

James Conway


Midday Veil – The Current


Midday-Veil-The-Current-598x598Despite psychedelic being a by word for “recorded in a haze of suspicious-smelling smoke” these days, there are still a number of bands who embrace the experimental ideals pioneered by the likes of The Beatles and Pink Floyd. USA’s Midday Veil would be one such band.Continue reading