Tag Archives: riffs

Ramon Ortiz – Portal

Posted on by

Ramon Ortiz PORTAL CD cover 2015

Being stuck between three cultures is interesting, although also difficult at times. The metal and rock worlds always draw me back in but so do my Boricua roots so it really shouldn’t have been any surprise that I became emotional over a recording of Coquis singing. Like the saying goes; la sangre llama.

Today’s review is brought to you by the letter R, as in, Ramon Ortiz and his second album, Portal (Self-Released). Taking a look at the title track, ‘Portal’, has some groovy moments with a lot of weedly, weedly, woo. The chorus sounds like something that could have been featured in an action cartoon from the 80’s. I believe that it would be one that I would look back on with fondness.

At twelve and a half minutes long, closing track ‘Yukiyu II’ is a beautiful mix progressive metal elements with Spanish guitar and touches of Latin percussion. This is also one of the songs where you can actually make out the bass in the background every once in a while. The downside is that this eventually turns into your standard progressive metal track around the eight minute mark. It makes a slight recovery once you get to ten minutes before dropping off again soon after.

It may not be salsa or merengue but then again, Puerto Rico has always been a melting pot of cultures and music and Ramon is a great example of what can come out of it. I would have liked to have heard more Latin influences but maybe we get enough of that when Ramon’s running around with Puya. Personally, the albums highlights for me were the use of Spanish guitars. I may be biased, but I prefer Ortiz’s fusion style and this record has a bit too much of a general progressive metal record vibe to it. I was hoping for some more experimentation and expansion.

7.0/10

ALEIDA LA LLAVE


Cut Up – Forensic Nightmares

Posted on by

11146571_446178402231580_3219189394472508981_n

“Not another Swedish death metal band!” I hear you cry. Surely a scene stuffed to the gills with those who worship at the putrid altars of Dismember and Entombed doesn’t need another body to distract attention and replicate clichés? Well you’d be dead wrong of course. Newbies Cut Up have actually been round the block several times, via the local graveyard and abattoir of course, in their previous incarnation as gore merchants Vomitory, who made a lot of noise in their lengthy career but won few hearts and minds. Do these seasoned veterans still have the bit between their teeth?

The answer is a resounding yes. Cut Up doesn’t so much have the bit between their gnashers as the leg of a freshly slain corpse. Debut album Forensic Nightmares (Metal Blade) is a full-blooded beast of a death metal album that while resolutely old-school in its approach, is possessed of its own, fierce identity and not interested in merely copying the greats of the genre.

No, Cut Up wants to brutally violate your eardrums with a barrage of lethal riffs, thick, serpentine grooves and some truly nasty guttural vocals. Every track served up here is cooked to bloody perfection, from the sickening gut-punch of brief opening tracks ‘Enter Hell’ and ‘Burial Time’ to the lurching filth of ‘Order of the Chainsaw’ and the raging violence of the title track.

The lyrics may deal with the usual blood n’ guts but what do you expect from a band called Cut Up? However, the real surprise is the thick, meaty production that truly gives each instrument some serious heft with the drums in particular sounding utterly devastating. So if the last Bloodbath album left you cold, check out Cut Up’s brand of shit-hot death metal and marvel at how sometimes shedding your skin and being reborn (in blasphemy, of course) is the best way to go.

 

8.0/10

 

JAMES CONWAY


Carnivora – The Vision EP

Posted on by

CARNIVORA_VisionCover_jpeg

I tend to feel spoiled living in Massachusetts. Why spoiled? Because it’s very easy for me to sit back, enjoy a Miller High Life, and put my elitist hat on when it comes to extreme music. Just look at our track record. The dirty water state has given us bands like SS Decontrol, Sam Black Church, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Converge, Shadows Fall and The Red Chord. We’ve had it pretty good.

But unfortunately with such a strong pedigree comes the risk of complacency. It’s easy to rest on those laurels because we assume that the old guard we be there forever. All it takes is watching the latest deathcore clone or third-rate djent band posturing as progressive metal at the Palladium for me to realize that “The Bay State’s” reputation can be tarnished. We cannot soil our history with guitar backing tracks and shitty neck tattoos.

While it is always best to air on the side of caution, I dare say that the future of Massachusetts metal is safe and sound. We have young bands like Pathogenic, My Missing Half, The Summoned and George Orwell the Musical to fly the flag. Joining that vanguard of New England brutality is Carnivora with The Vision EP.

I was fortunate enough to have as guests on my radio show, Stress Factor, in 2013 when they were promoting their first LP, Eternal. The shred was strong on that début offering and I wasn’t the only one impressed as they embarked on a seamlessly never-ending string of regional shows and battles of the bands.

Less than two years later and with appearances on the 2014s Summer Slaughter Tour and Mayhem Festival, the gentlemen from Danvers have returned with an even sharper collection of songs. While everyone has stepped up their game, it’s the guitar tandem of Cody Michaud and Mike Meehan that take center stage on tracks like ‘A Vision in Red’ and ‘Razors & Rust.’ So much so that if given time to further develop they’ll be hanging with great Massachusetts guitar tag teams like Ken Susi and Buz McGrath of Unearth or Shadows Fall’s Matt Bachand  (who manages Carnivora) and Jon Donais.

So no need to worry. I say that the future is ours.

8.0/10

HANSEL LOPEZ


High on Fire – Luminiferous

Posted on by

high on fire luminiferous

I don’t know about you, but, I turn into a kid on Christmas morning whenever a band I love announces a new album so I’m sure you can imagine the sheer joy that consumed my being when I finally got my greedy little paws on this gem. Friends, she is a beauty. If I could get away with just transcribing my excited squeals and witch-like cackling as I listened to this album, I would.

In all seriousness, stoner metal masters High on Fire return this summer with the highly anticipated Luminiferous (eOne) and it is worth every penny. Luminiferous is both strange and different and yet fits into the band’s prior body of work very well. ‘The Black Plot’ and “The Sunless Years’ are have been fantastic singles but can we just talk about the gift that is ‘Carcosa’ for a second? This track has been one of my favorites from the beginning. It’s heavy and filled with hypnotic riffs and a beautiful guitar solo that just completely draw you in.

‘Slave the Hive’ is an absolute shredder with its quick tempo and Jeff Matz’s throbbing bass lines. You can just tell that this is going to be one of those songs where you can feel the bass weaving its way through your bones and organs. Yes, please. This track takes the concepts of the hive mind and sheeple created by society and the mass media and puts them to music. The end of the song is almost a bit unnerving as it is punctuated by the faintest laugh just before it ends.

Des Kensel’s pounding drums open ‘The Dark Side of the Compass’ and what seems to be a tribute to the Bermuda Triangle. There are so many bands out there that only write songs about their love lives or childhood that I find it refreshing when someone does something different. Tell me about aliens and weird stuff and the mysteries of the universe. With its lyrics referencing lost ships, portals, and the supernatural as a whole, I know what to listen to the next I find myself flying over the Devil’s Triangle again next year. If I’m going to die, it’s going to be with Matt Pike crooning in my ear.

‘The Cave’ is easily another favorite of mine, even if it is soft and slow compared to the rest of the album but that’s precisely why I find myself drawn to it like a moth to a flame. I’m not usually a fan of ballad-esque songs as they tend to be far too cheesy for my liking but ‘The Cave’ is genuine rather than feeling forced. There is so much emotion contained in this song that it is almost palpable and I really enjoyed seeing this other side of the band. You can keep your ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and its millions of clones, I’ll take ‘The Cave’ any day.

L to R: Des Kensel, Matt Pike, Jeff Matz. Photo Credit: J. Hubbard

L to R: Des Kensel, Matt Pike, Jeff Matz. Photo Credit: J. Hubbard

Luminiferous is, at times, both lighter and heavier than previous albums and the risks that the band took when putting it together have paid off. I’ll leave my personal interpretations out of this but the English major in me just wants to sit around and discuss lyrics, connections, and themes for a few hours. The boys have put out one monster of a record and, if you couldn’t tell by now, I am extremely pleased. Don’t drink the Kool-Aid, get yourself a gallon of Pike Juice instead and keep an eye out for an upcoming tour date near you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qncjyyQ6nA

8.5/10

ALEIDA LA LLAVE


My Favorite Concert Memory: Don Slater of Battlecross

Posted on by

battlecross3

Don Slater of Battlecross, Photo by Emma Parsons Photography

 

We get lucky once in a while on tour. I mean *really* lucky. My most favorite memory comes from playing Nova Rock in Austria. This was one of the shows we played on our festival run in 2014 where our backstage laminates let us go anywhere we pleased. That rarely happens, to be honest with you. With festivals, you’re typically only allowed to go back stage at the stage you performed, and even then with limited access. Not Nova Rock. It started off as any festival does. A little bit of confusion, many faces (some familiar, most foreign to us), and a whole slew of music to be heard. We were to perform on one of the side stages to a very receptive crowd, and as pleasing at it was, I couldn’t get a simple yet nagging thought out of my head. As much as I tried, I simply couldn’t contain my excitement: Black Sabbath is here.

Not on the same stage, or anywhere near us, but the fact they were in the vicinity and performing that evening was tantalizing, to say the least. We finished our set, ate our fine catering, and after some rest (and many beers), it was time. Time for me to see good ol’ Geezer Butler in action. Being a bass player, I’ve always held a ton of respect for him, even before I picked up the low-end guitar. As I aforementioned, our passes were the golden ticket this time around. There’s a common misconception that backstage is the absolute best place to be. Sure, you’ll be seen by your peers, maybe get a thumbs up or a high-five from one of the band members on stage, but I wasn’t watching Black Sabbath to be noticed; I was there to watch them perform with the best audio I could from a live show. That only happens at one place, and that place is where the front of house mixing board resides. That’s where the sound gets mixed overall, adjusted, and quite frankly, you get to witness the whole show.

Black Sabbath in 1970, photo by Warner Brothers Records

Black Sabbath in 1970, photo by Warner Brothers Records

With all that in mind, that’s where I went. The FOH was elevated, so I had no issues seeing the entire stage, the whole show, every effect and they even had large screens to show closeups of the entire band. I couldn’t take my eyes off Geezer Butler. As much as I wanted to watch Ozzy and Tony tear it up, Geezer’s playing is his own. He plays so hard, but his tone is second to none. I didn’t have to fight sweaty dudes or get crammed together to witness all of this, either. I simply had to make sure I stayed out of the way of the gentlemen that were working. Easy to do if you have respect, you know? As it goes, in recent memory, that was the best concert I’ve attended in a long time. I simply had the luxury of performing it as well. Such an occurrence doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, you’re a fool not to take full advantage of it. It goes without saying that I highly doubt I’ll ever have such an experience again, but if I do, you know damn right I’ll make sure to remember every bit of it.

Nova-Rock-2014-Metal-Festival-605x223

 

Don Slater and Battlecross can be seen on tour on the ‘Summer of Doom’ tour with Crowbar and Lord Dying. Battlecross’ new album Rise To Power releases on August 21st from Metal Blade.

 


Wicked Inquisition – Wicked Inquisition

Posted on by

PromoImage

In some people’s minds the history of the 1970s goes a little bit like this: a grey decade of bad fashion and even worse food. Three day weeks and striking miners; thank goodness for punk and Year Zero. Then there’s the rest of us who know a lot better – the 70s were packed full of heavy metal bands with the love of the riff, the art of the song and the odd pint of patchouli oil. It’s this latter version of history that Minnesota’s Wicked Inquisition have tapped into. And how.

This highly enjoyable album contains more cap-doffing to the 70s than a milliner’s emporium and the reverence for times past is so genuine and warm hearted that you can’t help but feel a large amount of affection for the band and their record. I’m writing this review with the record playing loudly in the background and I can see from the reflection in the laptop screen that I have a grin that is a mile wide; it’s THAT kind of fun.

This is doom metal, but doom metal put through a focussed, song-writing lens. The band appear to have as much in common with Blue Oyster Cult as they do with Sabbath and their ilk which is no bad thing. On ‘Black Magick Nacht’, the album’s opening salvo, we are treated to something akin to a riff masterclass that is genuine and genuinely thrilling. The tempo drops for the Sabbath dripping ‘Crimson Odyssey’ whilst the upbeat riffing of ‘Sun Flight’ is not unlike early period Iron Maiden mixed with Trouble.

‘M.A.D.’ is the most obviously “doomy” of any of the tracks here, a snaking riff and metronomic pace adding to the mood and ambience with aplomb. Meanwhile, ‘In Shackles’ is what would happen if Sabbath had downed a bottle of groove juice before recording Sabotage (Vertigo) it’s mighty and gripping.

The opening riff on ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ is straight off AC/DC’s Highway to Hell (Atlantic) masterpiece before jogging off for more 1970s riff shoplifting like some indiscriminate hoodlum. If you think I’m being critical, you couldn’t be further from the truth; the riffing here is joyous and inspired and the love of the music that this band have is as true and deep as the quality of their playing.

Wicked Inquisition (Tridroid) imbues a love of doom metal with an attention to detail and delivery that is admirable and enviable. It is not going to win any prizes for originality but for well-crafted heavy metal, it will do me, and you, very nicely indeed.

 

7.0/10

Wicked Inquisition on Facebook

 

MAT DAVIES


The Atomic Bitchwax – Gravitron

Posted on by

the atomic bitchwax gravitron

Pulling together talent from bands such as Monster Magnet, Godspeed, and Core, psychedelic rockers The Atomic Bitchwax kick off the second quarter of 2015 with their sixth full length release, Gravitron (Tee Pee Records), and it’s one that you don’t want to miss out on.

The album’s opening track ‘Sexecutioner’ is short, but serves its purpose in catching the listener’s attention and preparing them for the riff odyssey to come. However, the hook for me came with Chris Kosnik’s bass lines in ‘No Way Man’. I was in and things only got better from that point. Bob Pantella’s drumming provides the heartbeat and when combined with the way that Finn Ryan makes his guitar sing, it creates something reminiscent of long road trips and Fourth of July barbecues. It feels very American in a way. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, ‘War Claw’ provides an excellent secondary example of this.

Things slow down a bit with the album’s closing track, ‘Ice Age Hey Baby’ but that is by no means a bad thing. It’s an extremely catchy tune and will likely go on to become a sing-a-long/crowd interaction staple during live performances. This is a good place to end the album on and even transitions well back into ‘Sexecutioner’ if you have it on repeat like I still do. I also just love how sad it sounds. I’m a sucker for the raw emotion that gets left behind when you strip away the parties and the sunshine and I can’t stop singing along.

This record is a great way to usher in spring after another long New England winter. It’s a great album but at just over half an hour long, I was left wanting more. Don’t leave a girl wanting more riffs, that’s just cruel. Length aside, The Atomic Bitchwax have released another fantastic record that was well worth the wait. Friends in Europe and keep an eye out for the boys on their tour through May.

8.0/10

ALEIDA LA LLAVE


Yesterday’s Saints – Generation of Vipers

Posted on by

10924751_10205945968158798_602116795138103121_n

So many bands have referenced the devil in their songs over the years that it’s probably easier to list the artists that haven’t flirted with Old Nick than the ones who have. Still, that doesn’t mean the subject matter has nothing new to offer as Washington D.C. quartet Yesterday’s Saints are keen to prove on debut record Generation of Vipers (Draconum).

With a concept on the role of Satan throughout the history of mankind and the album assembled like an opera with three acts each focusing on different styles of music, it’s fair to assume that the band don’t lack ambition. Thankfully they have the requisite chops for such a feat, for Generation of Vipers is a truly fantastic first attempt.

Rooted in melodic death metal but with a healthy dose of thrash along for the ride, the band start strongly with the hard-as-concrete riffs of ‘Fall of the Ancients’ and ‘Origen Adamantius’ which are so thrilling and perfectly crafted it’s impossible not to get instantly hooked. These are the kind of songs that the likes of Machine Head and Arch Enemy would kill to call their own, with the sheer power emanating from the speakers reminding the listener just how gut-pummelling traditional metal can be when it wants to. A more melodic side is demonstrated in the mid-paced splendour of ‘Sangreale’ while the blistering workout of ‘The Divine Tragedy’ is hands down one of the best modern thrash songs penned in many a year.

While the thunderous riffs, precision blasts and lock-tight groove is joy to experience, the bands’ secret weapon is undoubtedly vocalist Matt Rice who can growl with the best of ‘em but his Warrel Dane style clean vocals elevate things to another level entirely and wholly justify that overused epithet ‘epic’. All these elements combine to make Generation of Vipers a contender for the most assured and enjoyable debut you are likely to hear this year, and one that any fans of ‘true metal’ should get their lugholes round as quickly as possible. Magnificent.

 

9.0/10

Yesterday’s Saints on Facebook

 

JAMES CONWAY


Weed Is Weed – Blunt Force Trauma

Posted on by

681930

 

When you ask some Stoner Rock and Metal bands about their scene, you’ll find a lot of them will not always directly address themselves as being particularly part of it. Ask Weed Is Weed that question? Well you can’t expect that kind of response. They’ve taken the idea of Stoner music and absolutely run with it, sounding like High On Fire on a jam session after smoking a couple. Leading the way are two big names from the Maryland scene in Dave Sherman and Gary Isom who between them have had a hand in the likes of Pentagram, Spirit Caravan and Earthride. So even just from that then, you know that this is going to be an album absolutely stacked with riffs, and that it is.

In fact it is the musicianship on the album which stops it being completely terrible. The band connect brilliantly, bringing a level of groove and heaviness up there with some of the very best bands in the scene at the moment. And it is in the music you should focus, because when we start paying too much attention to the lyrics it all starts falling apart. Obviously they’re not to be taken THAT seriously, but by the sixth track ‘Eat Pussy’ you are beyond the “what are they going on about?” phase. As you’d expect the majority of the album is about getting high, tracks ‘Weed Is Weed’, ‘Big Green Patch’ and ‘Cottonmouth’ are testament to that. Vocally the delivery is strong, but lyrically not so much.

Overall, though, this is a decent album. It won’t be one you stick on all the time, but if you fancy a bit of groove and some heavy riffs with a bit of fun, then Weed Is Weed’s Blunt Force Trauma (Ripple) is on point. This could very well become a stoners’ manifesto.

 

6.5/10

Weed Is Weed on Facebook

 

TOM DONNO


Wolf Blood- Wolf Blood

Posted on by

image

 

The idea that metal has lost it’s roots is nothing new. I’m sure you’ve heard it too. The complaints that metal has become way too polished and stylized these days. A sound which no layer of grit on your latest vinyl can compete with. I understand why bands do it too, but if these people would just quit their whining, they’ll realize there are plenty of talented bands out there that strive for the same dirty ascetic of their predecessors, who just happened to have limiting recording options. Take the first release from psych doom stoners, Wolf Blood from Burning World/Roadburn Records for instance.

 

Recorded at Sacred Heart by Jake Larson in Duluth MN, the band seems to be making waves in a cross section of scene, calling on the interest of outsiders from other niches. Result of hipster culture holding Wolf Blood in their filthy grasp? In this case, I say let them have it and hop on the Wolf Blood train with them. 

I was in their neighboring Wisconsin recently, and trust me, the festivals that go through there and how it’s supposedly the origin of Thrash Metal in America according to some stoner dude I met on the street (not true at all,) Minnesota they can handle a lot more metal culture inside the scene and out. 

A powerful portrait is constructed in the first track ‘Witch,’ of a vengeful woman, tied to a cross and set a blaze. Lighting the precedent for this psychedelic, pagan blend of doom, Wolf Blood let the bass groves hang low and heavy, keeping the vocals to a happy medium. The solitary instrumental track, ‘Ochro Ologo’s’ menacing force pummels it’s way forward, paving the way for ‘Black Moon,’ which contains my favourite riff of the album. When you hear it, you’ll know. That driving force is relentless. If played to a different tuning, it could have been a Razor riff. 

‘Dancing On Your Grave’ was catchy as hell and remains my favourite on the album. Brian’s bass is prominent and playful. Jake’s wavering vocals sound semi-submerged as he handles the kit masterfully. Each guitar break leaves just enough space for the the next verse to flow or your head to bang in perfect rhythmic balance.

6 tracks long and an athame blade deep, Wolf Blood’s self-titled debut will fulfill your every need for raw, honest riffage, bass heavy mystery and properly recorded drums that don’t sound like plastic over everything else. For fans of Electric Wizard, Uzala, Mala Suerte, Acid King, Dopethrone and Demon Lung, check this band out! I have high hopes for them. 

 

9/10

Wolf Blood on Facebook

 

CHRISTINE HAGER