Tag Archives: Zack Hansen

ALBUM REVIEW: Languish – Feeding The Flames Of Annihilation

Posted on by

 

To follow the seven-year trajectory that is Languish’s ascent from debut to their third and most recent offering is rewarding and comforting. The Arizonan death grinders were born as an independent group that had neither the backing of a record label nor even song titles for their first album, opting instead to use Roman numerals. Now, the foursome has harnessed the support of Prosthetic Records and is finally starting to carve out a compelling identity, and that journey crescendos with Feeding The Flames Of Annihilation, the first full-length to feature artwork that isn’t monochromatic. 

Continue reading →


Languish – Unworthy

Posted on by

Supergroups can typically be a swing and miss in my experience, usually due to too many differing styles being mixed together. This is like when mixing too many colors just leaves you with a murky brown. Having said that, Languish is certainly one of the better sounding collectives that make it work with their Blackened Death Metal meets Grindcore approach. Their sophomore efforts are out now under the title Unworthy via Prosthetic Records, and it is mighty impressive.Continue reading →


North – Light the Way

Posted on by

North Light the Way ghostcultmag

There’s a shimmering, spectral beginning to Light the Way (Prosthetic Records), the fourth full-length from Arizona trio North and the first to feature bassist Evan Leek as lead vocalist. Its gently stirring sound suggests no little emotion or drama ahead, and that’s certainly what unfolds. The stark, Post chimes of opener ‘Moonswan’ carry through into the title track and penetrate the heart; whilst Zack Hansen’s Doom-paced drums and Leek’s gravelly Stoner-Sludge roar, appearing less strained than that of long-time predecessor Kyle Hardy, deliver both ferocity and weight.

There are elements of both Kowloon Walled City and Black Sheep Wall here, but with a more noticeable pain and sadness: the plaintive, desperately sad music polarised by the brute force and slow pace of the rhythms, and the vocal nastiness. The sinister bass and wailing guitar opening ‘Weight of All Thoughts’ lead to a pulsating riff which at times hops and crushes with gay abandon, seemingly at odds with the soaring, emotive leads puncturing it. Similarly the Low-end, plangent hostility of ‘Earthmind’, again dictated by portentous tub-thumping and Matt Mutterperl’s colossal riff, is gradually invaded by heartfelt undercurrents.

The switches in tempo of the bruising ‘Primal Bloom’ display the band’s skill and versatility, whilst not straying far from the template. The gentle beauty of the nevertheless ominous ‘Rhef Anad’, however, does show a willingness to depart from a sound which would have proved wearing if unbroken for a full album. Indeed there’s a certain tedium in the oft cumbersome nature of the aptly-named ‘On a Beaten Crooked Path’, and the staccato ‘From This Soil’ which, although seismic and lively, loses a certain amount of impact from that unflinching vocal.

In spite of this, the juxtaposition of suffocating heaviness with sparkling, introspective chords emits attractive shards of light and shade which does win out overall. The gorgeous yet melancholic thrum and jangle of the instrumental closer ‘Relativity’, harking back to North’s earlier days, shows the band in its true light. Its delicate anger finalises a listenable set, showing enough of the invention and emotion of old to offset the intermittent chunks of flab.

6.5/10.0

PAUL QUINN

[amazon asin=B01B7AQ852&template=iframe image1]