Legacies Unchain – Satan is Strong and Always Near (2016) / 95%

"Is he though?"
"Yes, he is."

Composed of the sole member of the excellent Misantropical Painforest and another dude known for Wormphlegm and its funeral doom classic, Legacies Unchain is definitely my discovery of the year (or last year, no idea, time is blurry right now) and I’m thankful for Hops from the Ride Into Glory community for the recommendation. Their take on metal is one that speaks to me quite a bit, it’s occult, slow and lures you in the dark Finnish forest to sever your arms with a hand axe.

Satan is Strong and Always Near (one of the best album titles of all time) is pretty much only three extended tracks with its title track being a bit more than twenty minutes. There’s three untitled instrumental including two to start the album, for some dark magical reasons, they’re not on the tracklist! The first and third are some guitar doodling moments that puts you in the mood. The second is one minute of shamanic aboriginal music preparing you for some ritualistic black metal, it’s not randomly placed either as there’s comebacks to this sort of primitive atmosphere throughout the album. The use of the didgeridoo, this cool wind instrument from pre-colonial Australia highlights the barbaric, primal feel of Legacies Unchain and it can be found alongside your normal metal instruments in “All Hail the Great Sperm” (what?) or “Dragon City”. The instrument announces the arrival of those two dudes on the artwork as they’re storming the camp full of goblins in order to slay ‘em all. In the name of Satan, of course.

The whole thing sounds like a do it yourself barbaric black metal assault to me and I mean, I really love this kind of stuff. Apparently recorded in 2004 but only released more than a decade later, their kind of metal is pretty timeless. It’s mixing the raw occult power of black metal with the stupidity of heavy metal and the brain dead riff onslaught of death metal for our selfish pleasure. It’s a riff worship ceremony and the unworthy ones were sacrificed to some primordial spirits. The duo is able to write interesting, river-esque songs with only the power of powerful metal riffs and Satan. Spiritually linked to black/heavy bands like Demontage or Malokarpatan, Legacies Unchain slashes you with mid-paced riffs until you’re out blood to offer. They use those traditional elements well such as on the title track, it’s like if funeral doom was combined with black/heavy/thrash, it’s long but epic and flows nicely and it’s 100% hateful, obviously.

Their vocals are also pretty diverse in their commitment to barbaric prowess. To high pitched screams to more deep growls and to some insane chanting, there’s something for everyone. The title track concludes its twenty-three minute run time with a mad clean scream, probably a shamanic priest dying during a ritual or something. Those guys like their crushing brutality too, the death metal influence can be felt at the beginning of “...Sperm” while “Dragon City” is rooted and drenched in heavy metal riffs. Their vocals are a constant though and they anchor the band into Satanic overload.

Satan being always near them managed to motivate the guys, this is one hell of album. Even though it’s somewhat inaccessible due to the sheer length of its songs, there’s an entrancing vibe that rewards you. It’s similar to Cultes des Ghoules’ masterwork Henbane (the pinnacle of black metal as far as I’m concerned) in how it makes me feel, it’s riffs after riffs and you may think it’s dumbed down but it’s actually oddly subtle and genius.

Caskets Open – Concrete Realms of Pain (2020) / 78%

Balls to the Wall

The Finnish trio are really starting to become an entity of their own with their fourth album. While But You Rule, their 2010 debut album lacked most of the punk elements of their later efforts, their followups explored those areas in more details. Concrete Realms of Pain, their debut on Poland’s Nine Records (known for releasing quality doom such as Acolytes of Moros, Mansion or Lucifer’s Fall) shows the band moving forward in both experience and songwriting chops.

The main element that I always found displeasing in their albums is the inability to truly make a cohesive album while still incorporating the plethora of elements they want to include. I do believe this fourth full length is more successful at achieving that particular balance of sounds but it's still bothering me.

Ah yes, to give some context as to what the band plays... Imagine a long table where Glenn Danzig meets up with Albert Witchfinder who’s obviously tired of talking about trad doom and the newly revived corpse of Peter Steele who’s hiding a copy of his Playgirl issue to remember the good old times. At the other side of the table, Chandler argues with both Wino and Reagers about what Vitus era was the best. There’s also a bunch of punks in the parking lot drinking beer and not caring about the meeting.

Compared to their debut or To Serve the Collapse, the traditional doom elements are downplayed here. The opener “Four Shrines” almost cleanses the whole album from slow doom once its six minutes duration is done but there’s some other slower moments such as the first half of “White Animal”. It’s a good and bad way to start the album as it doesn’t exactly shows us the way the whole album will treat us. While still first and foremost a doom band, the whole thing is faster and streamlined for the most part. It also has the best production of their career, it’s as muscular as the bloke on the artwork.

This is how you do a tough guy album to be honest. Riffs solid as bricks, a booming unhinged bass and fast, thundering drums. No useless posturing, breakdowns or unnecessary elements, just balls of steel on the wall of the dungeon/gym. Speaking of manly, the vocals of Ketola are gruff and with the right amount of venomous might to bridge the chasm between doom and punk, mixing Danzig and trad Finn doom. Caskets Open aren’t a subtle band at all, voluntarily on the nose is their main objective and it works fine.

Overall, this is an enjoyable slab of beefy doom/punk but once again, the lack of cohesiveness and the tendency to want to do too much blurs the results. Sometimes, it’s better to focus on making one thing extremely well. I tried a mac and cheese pizza the other day and while I love both on their own, it wasn’t a resounding success mixed together.

Bandcamp

Musta Risti - Musta Risti (2018) / 86%

NWOFHM #13 - Worship the Black Cross

Doom metal. Finland. Svart Records. I mean, I knew this was gonna be at least immensely solid. My guts were right. Musta Risti (black cross) was formed back in 2012 and it took them six years to unleash their debut album and while I’ve only discovered the band, I’m sure it was well worth the wait. Finland is a fertile land for doom of all horizons and the Lahti quintet is apt mixing some of those obscure sub genres together.

Vocalist Einari Toiviainen shines on that record. While I regret not speaking Finnish to understand the lyrics, he delivers them effortlessly and with conviction. He’s a strong vocalist with a traditional voice that could easily fit in heavy metal or hard rock bands. Musta Risti bangs hard and don’t waste any time. Seven songs, less than forty minutes, it’s short and condensed like a cute grandma baking pies from a rustic Scandinavian village. They remind me of a band like The Gates of Slumber with how varied they are. They alternate between groovy heavy/doom to psych trad doom and they do it well.

They’re mostly able to distance themselves from the omnipresent presence of Reverend Bizarre in current Finnish doom but the longest track “Kaaoksen lapset” (The Children of Chaos) evokes the masters. The presence of Minotauri isn’t far either. You know, the good influences. Musta Risti is a band with two guitarists and it’s evident. They use their lineup well and indulges in feelsy leads. The bass could be more present but sometimes it’s unleashed like on the closing track. I think the production could had been a bit thicker at times but overall, it fits the band. I’m stoked to see how the band will evolve. They have a lot of potential just like the Montreal Canadiens’ new rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Alongside Mansion or Deep River Acolytes, Musta Risti released one of the strongest doom albums from Suomi and proves that the scene still has a lot to offer.

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Iron Griffin - Iron Griffin (2017) / 87%

NWOFHM #12 Metal Conquest

Released the same year as the second Mausoleum Gate album, this extended play by the new solo project of its drummer managed to surprise me a lot. Iron Griffin formed by Oskari Räsänen joins the rank of the highly effective Finnish heavy metal scene currently lead by the likes of Chevalier, Lord Fist, Legionnaire or the new excellent Outlaw. While I loved Mausoleum Gate’s self titled album, their sophomore bored the hell out of me so I was happy to discover that Iron Griffin managed to make up for that with this fresh and exciting release.

After a synthwave intro reminiscent of the Stranger Things soundtrack, Oskari delivers four solid heavy metal tracks. He handles almost everything on the EP and for a debut release, he knew which direction to follow. He even did the super geeky but highly evocative artwork.

Session member Toni Pentikänen did a wonderful job at the mic even if his resume is basically empty as far as I know. We’re served clean, high pitched and screamy vocals of pristine quality. The keyboards were handled by F.F. Nieminen of the excellent Rivette (covered by the Magickal Realm back in 2017) and they add a certain classiness to the compositions. The songs are catchy, melodic but they’re never cheesy or overly saturated. “Message from Beyond”, “Metal Conquest” and “Journey to the Castle of the King” are all bangers below the four minutes mark and they’re super fun. “Lord Inquisitor” ends the short release with a more epic song structure and some badass lyrics.

With iron, with steel / I will avenge for the gods / With power and force /I command /And claim my throne again!

The bass lines are thick the guitars vibrant, subtle but really outgoing. Iron Griffin aren’t about heaviness at all, they’re all about atmosphere and songwriting. The riffs are a necessary tool for their identity but Iron Griffin doesn’t entirely rely on them and that’s a strength for that particular style.

Like the bands I mentioned in my introduction, Iron Griffin surely play heavy metal but they do it in a way where it’s devoid of fake nostalgia and easy copycat posturing. The Finns are academicians of heavy metal, they know how to craft memorable songs with an original sound worth praising. 

Bandcamp

Church of Void – Church of Void (2017) / 83%

Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen

Church of Void from Finland has always been a pretty damn good band but they never really won me over until their contribution to the split album “Coalition of the Anathematized” released last year. In the company of their countrymen Cardinals Folly and the totally underrated Swedish trio Acolytes of Moros, their two songs (“Moonstone” re-appears here) convinced me that they were ready to fight for Finland’s traditional doom metal throne.

The quintet lead by Magus Corvus is surely inspired by the classics of the mid-paced doom style (see Pentagram, Count Raven or Saint Vitus) but they still manage to sound fresh and exciting by bringing some external elements to the fold. Judging by their chosen aesthetics, it’s not really a stretch to say that those guys dig goth rock (true goth rock, hey!) as it’s the main flavor found in their doom recipe. In a way, I’d compare it to “Sister”, the final offering of In Solitude but with a different core sound. God knows I really liked the swansong of the Swedes.

Compared to some of their contemporary trad doom compatriots, Church of Void attacks with two guitars and this really gives the band depth and might. It’s quite obvious in the ending of “Lovecraft” with its lush and subtle instrumentation. It’s also one of the strongest moments of this self titled effort since it goes somewhere else for an instant.

The compositions are often epic in scope but also totally restrained and pack a punch. There’s two songs near the eight minutes mark but they’re not a band willing to go all in like The Wandering Midget (the reigning kind of Finn trad doom, by the way) with extended Reverend Bizarre-esque tracks. That’s probably a good thing since it’s pretty damn hard to pull off if you’re not, well… Reverend Bizarre.

They’re not an “epic doom” band but they have some slight ties to that sound from time to time. I can hear remnants of The Gates of Slumber in the vocals and the galloping riffs (check out “Passing the Watchtower” and its intense riffing.) Corvus has a deep, powerful voice. He’s pretty expressive and totally has the romantic but misanthropic feel you need to have as a doom vocalist. 

I believe the strongest asset of Church of Void is their cunning simplicity masked by strong musicianship and a top notch atmosphere. This apparent or alleged simplicity makes them a bit too safe but they do have their moments of complete ecstasy. As far as I’m concerned, they’ll never be the best doom band out of Finland but they’ll always have their place as a close advisor to the king as they’re basically faultless.

Church of Void on Facebook

The Wandering Midget – From the Meadows of Opium Dreams (2012) / 93%

The contender to the Finnish trad doom throne

In light of the new split between The Wandering Midget and the Hands of Orlac, I’ve decided that it was time to finally review this grandiose album.

Let’s start with the obvious elephant in the room: One cannot talk about The Wandering Midget without mentioning the late Reverend Bizarre so I’ll get it out of my system in the first paragraph. Samuli Pesonen’s vocals share an uncanny similarity to the ones of Albert Witchfinder but they’re perhaps not as hyperbolic in their intonations. What you get is still highly evocative and theatrical quasi operatic vocals and it works wonderfully well with the musicality of the Finnish power trio.

The main strength of the LP resides in its extended compositions and how well they’re written. It sure is trendy to write long songs in doom but most bands can’t do it correctly (most of doom/stoner, per instance) but the Midget knows how to keep things interesting and succeed at changing the tempos without breaking their psychedelic atmosphere. From the Meadows… starts with “Prince of Fire”, a five minutes banger before unleashing three monsters of doom. From the epic twenty minutes of “Temples in the Sky” and its mournful first half to the groovy rifftastic fest of “She-Wolf”, it’s a monumental testament on how trad doom can be both fun and intricate.

The Midget relies on heavy riffs, melodic lead guitar lines and a solid and subtle rhythm duo. Pesonen (or Samuel Wormius) is the obvious star of the Opium Dreams with his guitar playing and his immense vocal performance but his companions delivered a captivating performance too. They’re able to transcend some of the conventions of the genre by inflicting some deep introspective moments in their songs. They’re the type of bands that can rock hard but also know when to slow down and just make their emotional baggage talk.

Pushing Cardinals Folly, Garden of Worm or Serpent Warning (Pesonen used to sing for ‘em) to the sidelines, The Wandering Midget are the definite contenders to the Throne of Finnish Doom Metal. This is a masterpiece.

Oksennus - Sokea idiootti (2016) / 84%

Finland is weird. We all know that. Still, I wasn’t quite prepared for Oksennus’ music. I was intrigued by the simple yet out there artwork so I decided to check their sound and I wasn’t disappointed. Most stuff released by Caligari Records is high quality and this is no exception.

Oksennus (vomit in Napero-speech) relies heavily on the excellent bass to build their compositions, the bass is heavy and fast but at the same time, it’s also soft and melodic. It creates some sort of dichotomy with the guitars that are often quite noisy and metallic. There’s this conscious choice to make the rhythm section louder than the guitars and it works well for them. The bass creates the main melodies and the guitars just builds the foundations underneath. It’s a cohesive album, it’s the songwriting that’s just very fucked up and original. They took the current blackened doomy death metal trend, stripped it of everything, burned the house and built a new one from scratch. There’s also this odd technical feel, probably inspired by how they thought Demilich used to sound.

The vocals are mostly deep cavernous howls but the track “Ekstirpaatio” features some clean but ominous chanting, reminding me of a twisted version of Viikate. All in all, like with most metal genres, Finland shows that it’s able to put its own touches to something and make it crazy. Oksennus’ music is cold, unforgiving and worth looking into if like the Finns, you hate everything but saunas.

Bandcamp

Rivette – In Vertigo (2016) / 85%

NWOFHM #10: Uno, dos, tres... catorce

I'm at a place called Vertigo! It’s everything I wish I didn’t know

This power trio from Finland plays an addictive form of heavy metal combining extraneous rock elements and it was one of my highlights of late 2016. I’m not totally sure this is an accurate portrayal but the first thought I had during my initial listening session was that Rivette was a heavy metal version of Dire Straits. This was perhaps due to the pop hooks combined with heavy guitar acrobatics but I still think this is a funny summary of their sound.

Their style of riffing is peculiar and it’s hard to compare them to contemporary metal bands since they don’t really fit within any scenes. Perhaps they could fit in the made up and weird as fuck New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metal and that’s why Jussi Lehtisalo, owner of Ektro Records and creator of this scene signed them. Rivette are able to mix the uplifting feel of early NWOBHM (see the likes of Trespass) with a bunch of other influences like AOR, classic rock, 80s alternative rock and even 70s progressive rock. Esa (guitar, vocals) reminds me a lot of Peter Gabriel/Phish (I believe they’re the same person) and it’s super interesting to hear those sort of vocals in a heavy metal/hard rock setting. Listen to the final track of the record to hear this vocal approach, it's awesome.

While there’s certainly metal riffs in there, it doesn’t really feel metal most of the time. The EP has this smooth, lush feel and it’s quite impressive considering there’s no keyboards and it’s just three dudes trying their best to beat Rush at their own game (hint: nobody can.) The best quality the trio has is their ear for emotional and super catchy melodies. Just with the first minute of “Outrun the Night”, I was hooked and pleased. While their songs aren’t quite long (the longest is 6 minutes), they use some instrumental passages to their advantage and they do it well. They let the songs breathe and only “Arms of Lightning” is a straight up bulldozing rocker. Fun guitar leads, thick but pleasing bass licks and speedy drums is what you get with Rivette.

They’re at their best when they focus on their introspective side (like the title track) and go beyond heavy metal and I think their potential is tremendous. This is a rock solid debut extended play that I’ve been spinning a lot since early December and if you want originality in your traditional metal, they would certainly work for you.

Rivette on Bandcamp

Cardinals Folly / Church of Void / Acolytes of Moros - Coalition of the Anathematized split (2016) / 85%

The Forsberg/Selanne coalition

The members of the coalition and the tracklist are as followed:

Cardinals Folly

1) Hyperborean 4:53
2) A Slave of Karnstein 5:53

Church of Void

3) Night’s Watch 5:43
4) Moonstone 8:06

Acolytes of Moros

5) The World Belongs to Demons 14:22

Useful links:

Album released by American Lines Prods

Facebook links:
Cardinals Folly
Church of Void
Acolytes of Moros

The split album on Bandcamp

This coalition of Nordic bands truly hits the spot and shows how different traditional doom can be. I’m using “Nordic” and not “Scandinavian” since there’s some geographical and historical debates going on about whether Finland is truly part of this European region or not. As a social sciences teacher, I do think the home of Teemu Selanne is Scandinavian despite their unique language and their cultural ties to the now deceased Soviet union. Still, doom is an international affair and truly transcends the frontiers created by us mere mortals.

The two Finnish bands, Cardinals Folly (I wrote a review of their 2016 full length here: click me) from Helsinki and Church of Void from Jyväskylä (I love this language) are similar in their groove first and ask questions later approaches to trad doom. They’re both hard rocking bands but with different aesthetics. The two bands are both exploring fantasy themes but they have divergent approaches. The Cardinals have this bigger than life pulp/classic horror literature persona while the Church are A Song of Ice and Fire fans (see their track “Nights Watch” or “Winter Is Coming” from their debut album). While I wanted the Church song “Moonstone” to be about Clefairy but it’s probably about something much darker!

Cardinals Folly

The tracks of Cardinals Folly have a fairly disappointing guitar tone, the rhythms are off and it’s too overly fuzzy for my taste but the compositions are as good as on their latest album. The power trio offers two strong and catchy tracks, one in the purest hyperborean tradition but mixed with a contemporary viewpoint on how technology ruins everything (if I understood the lyrics correctly) and one about the book Carmilla (I guess I’ll have to ask Howie Bentley if their analysis is solid as I’ve never read it myself). The band cites Saint Vitus in their first track and yep, we’re not too far from the Americans but it’s cruder and probably less serious. They have this huge bass tone, loud and great vocals and an appreciation for Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols. Nevertheless, they’re not a groundbreaking nor essential doom band but they're enjoyable and their style has to be admired.

75%

Church of Void

Church of Void are super groovy but they’re more laid back and they often take their time to crush. Compared to Cardinals Folly, they’re perhaps more in line with the witchcraft-esque scene of today. They also have some slight stoner/doom tendencies but avoid the trite stereotypes of the genre there's some Cathedral influences here and there.

No gear worship here even if their sound is particularly solid and their two guitars gives them some leeway and perhaps more options. This split also made me revisit their debut and I liked it more than before, they’re a band playing an immediate sort of doom but it took me some time to appreciate their pretty distinctive approach. Magus Corvus’ vocals are a bit too buried but he’s a solid clean and gritty singer who brings an 80s goth rock flair to the songs (the introduction of “Night’s Watch”) and has the necessary charisma to be the frontman of this solid band.

The quintet has the right balance between slow, mid-paced and faster material. Fortunately they're excellent at whatever speed they choose to drive. 

86%

Acolytes of Moros

The Swedish band Acolytes of Moros delivered only one track but it’s a long one. Longer than the two songs from their latest fantastic and criminally overlooked and ignored demo released last year (review here: click again), “The World Belongs to Demons” (annoying demons?) is a fourteen minutes infernal dirge of tremendous quality. Christoffer’s vocals are haunting, tenebrous and often walks into poorly lit black metal avenues at times (he had a black solo project some years ago). The lyrics written by a common friend are, from what I gathered, are about the woes of depression. The lengthy numbers drags and drags in the best way possible, it’s repetitive and simple but that’s how I like it. The production is also better than on Herald of the Imminent, everything is clearer and heavier.

Thick bass lines, heavy slow riffs and “shit man you gotta go see the shrink” lyrics are what you’re getting here and I want you to love it. I'm happy that I managed not to compare them to Reverend Bizarre so far but I guess I have to. They're perhaps their best acolyte (yeah yeah!) alongside The Wandering Mid get and they hold the flame of sad operatic lengthened doom high.

92%

All in all, this is a quality split and it keeps getting better and better as it kept the best band to conclude the album. Long live Scandinavian (or Nordic or whatever!) doom metal.

The three bands are gonna play some dates together including this one in Finland. I'm posting it because the poster rules and I'd like to be there!

Perihelion Ship – A Rare Thunderstorm In Spring (2016) / 85%

Worshipers of the City of the Moon

If you’re disappointed with Opeth’s current direction, look no further, here’s their best disciple to ever exist. The Helsinki quartet’s debut album doesn’t hide its main inspiration but still managed to move and surprise me with the way it mixed all the different influences.

To still talk about Opeth, this five track record is mixing their Blackwater Park sound with the mellotron heavy explorations of Ghost Reveries and the results almost made me forget that the Swedes have a new album coming in September since it’s so superbly done. In fact the integration of the keys and the mellotron is one of the thing the Finns improved, the instrument is much more prevalent here and it’s obvious that Jani Konttinen is an integral part of the band and not an hired gun. Perihelion Ship themselves mentioned their love for prog rock (such as the Änglagård or Anekdoten, both excellent) and it’s apparent in both their calm, atmospheric moments and the use of the keys. The acoustic parts flow well within the long songs (such as the twenty minutes self titled epic) and aren't disjointed at all. It remains a cohesive and tight record, it’s not too long and there’s no weak moments.

One major difference with the Swedish masters is the fact that there’s only one guitar but the aforementioned mellotron easily fills the potential void left by the absence of a second guitar. The way the guitar and the keys are intertwined can easily recall the glorious years of prog rock or in theory, some moments of Dream Theater but without the technical masturbation. The guitar antics are also more subtle and less into soulful soloing acrobatics than some of their peers. Songwriting wise, it’s solid but it remains Opeth worship (this is really apparent in the metal riffs and less in their proggier moments). I think it will be interesting to follow the development of the band’s identity.

Band leader Andreas Hammer handles the guitars but also sings and his voice is the clear highlight of this rich record. Both his harsh and clean vocals (widely used) are excellent. His clean approach almost reminds me of Hansi Kursch but without the operatic flair of the Blind Guardian’s frontman. His growls are deep and powerful and like the cleans, they elevate the compositions immensely. The lyrics (written by Konttinnen, their keyboardist) are also intelligent and philosophical.

While not the most original band around, the quality of this record is outstanding and for a self funded effort, it’s professional, well recorded and shows how good the musicians are.

Bandcamp 

Metal Bounty Hunter: Volume 10

Cardinals Folly - Holocaust of Ecstasy & Freedom (2016) / 78%

Shadow Kingdom Records

Holocaust of Boobs and Doom

The third full length album from this Helsinki based trio is their most cohesive, concise and possibly their best one yet. Lead by Mikko Kääriäinen (bass, vocals, songwriting), the band plays this unhinged sort of groovy material with huge guitar hooks and rock hard drums. I always liked the thick Finnish accent in my doom (or heavy metal) and Mikko’s delivery delivers on that front with the way he sings those excellent and fun Lovecraftian occult lyrics. There’s also some harsh vocal moments and I think it adds a certain urgency to the fast paced material (such as the catchy title track).

It’s hard to avoid the Reverend Bizarre analogies since they practice the olde trad doom with the same determination, the same might and the same lack of restraint. They’re perhaps more subdued than the punk fueled inspired doom of Caskets Open though. I like the production, there’s a certain rawness to it that makes the seven songs sound natural and less polished than your usual modern metal. Overall, Cardinals Folly released a melancholic but entrancing record. Recommended for the doom lovers.

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Red Blade – Powerwalker (2011) / 75%

Defunct but sharp blade

I had this in my review folder for ages but never got around it. The now defunct Connecticut based band was super interesting and it’s a damn shame they broke up before releasing their debut full length album. The Powerwalker EP is a four song heavy metal release with a distinctive sound borrowing influences from thrash, grunge, stoner rock or hardcore punk. At times it sounds the Melvins mixed with The Sword and pure trad heavy metal. The production has the rightful amount of quality and lo-fi-ness to make the songs sound good and immediate and the vocals of Jacob Royer are far from your typical heavy metal delivery, they're gritty and influenced by both stoner metal and, to a lesser extent, southern rock.

It’s often pretty fast stuff with sweet guitar licks, a lot of immediate melodies and you can definitely hear the influences of other original traditional bands such as Blackholicus in there. The first three tracks are all around three minutes and just doesn't mess around with unnecessary stuff, it's to the point raw energy with a live feel. There's a good chemistry between the loud but subtle bass play, the active drums and the sole guitar. The aggressive but well flowing EP ends with an atmospheric (the end of "Cronos) and you're left wanting more but unfortunately, this is the only serving you've been served!Hopefully the guitarist and apparent composer Ben Erickson can come back with a new project one day since this was definitely inspired material.

Bandcamp






Scalare – At the Edge of Darkness (2016) / 77%

Heavy Chains Records

German tempered steel

The German trio plays a primitive form of heavy metal with terrible in a great way vocals and it’s a fun ride into Teutonic evil territories. The ten songs are all fist raising hymns with simple yet super catchy guitar riffs, high pitched vocals that are almost parodic and fast paced NWOBHMish drumming with a rough edge.

Like their colleagues of Heavy Chains (think of Barrow Wight, Angel Sword, Dracula or Tarot), they’re raw examples of what metal means to the most obscure of minds. This is definitely made to remain in the deepest shadows of the genre even if it’s far from being extreme metal. The cheesy spectre of Venom is never too far either, this is just what I’m looking for nowadays, the pureness of heavy metal summoned by bands like Demon Bitch or Iron Dogs (RIP). Scalare unleashed the riffs and know how to write epic and compelling material (the seven minutes “My Journey to the Stars” is certainly a wonderful way to close the record). They might not be for everyone due to the vocals but the veterans of the scene will find something to enjoy here.

Streaming on Bandcamp






El-Ahrairah – El-Ahrairah (2016) / 95%

Raw feels

After countless demos (I’ll admit I haven’t heard any of them), the Minnesota project released their debut full length back in May and it’s surely one of the best black metal albums I’ve heard this year.

What makes this great is the emotional weight of their succinct numbers and the ability to mix the rawness of their black art with an alluring and almost joyful aura. Songs like “Madeline and Edmund” or the calm and soothing moments on “Cut Like Rogues” really bring a gloomy but melancholic atmosphere to the band’s identity. Like some members of the USBM movement, El-Ahrairah does possess some slight punk leanings (listen to “Gates of Dawn”) but it’s also some sort of concise epic black metal with rough but really discernible guitar riffs. They also clearly explore depressive rock territories (à la Lifelover) at times. The mix of sounds is carefully crafted and done with the utmost care and talent.

The vocals are pretty vitriolic and strident in the best way possible, they’re loud in the mix but this impetuous formula works wonder for the thundering and abrasive sound they picked. The band also really shines when they use sparse but totally surprising clean vocals like the end of the superb closer “Rind of the Earth”. There’s nothing wasted on this record, it’s an essential album, really.

Bandcamp




Astronoid – Air (2016) / 50%

Blood Music

The foul air of asinine modernity

The Massachusetts quintet took the thin line between post metal and shoegaze to the next level with their debut album. If you thought metal reached the maximum level of smoothness , well you were wrong. This is by far the least dangerous the genre has ever been. Astronoid took the space metal of Cynic, removed the quasi nonexistent amount of extreme metal they had, they added a super whiny pop punk voice and added competent but out of place blastbeats to the whole thing. While the saccharine voice is certainly a good fit to the post rock core, it’s really damn annoying.

The songs are all dense and they flow really well, this and the true uplifting feel Air has some of the only qualities the band has. If you think Neurosis needed to sound more like Alcest, I guess this is the band for you?

Bandcamp

Illusions Dead - Celestial Decadence (2016) / 81%

Death/black metal à la Finn

I used to dig melodic death metal a lot when I was getting into metal, I know I’m not an unique snowflake or anything but I really liked Dark Tranquillity (still do even if their latest two albums were mediocre) and the good stuff of In Flames before they were ruined forever. Nevertheless, this genre is pretty stale and unsurprising these days though, most of the legendary players are either retired, goddamn awful or playing it too safe and the young veterans and newcomers try to mix things up but it doesn’t work well most of the time (I’m looking at you, Ghost Brigade). Finland’s Illusions Dead like many of their compatriots are combining genres but they do it in a compelling and interesting way.

Their music could be described by dividing it into these four main components:

1) Firstly, the old school death metal aspect of their music is not overshadowed by the presence of dull unctuous and easily marketable by Nuclear Blast melodeath. You can definitely here the influence of proto technical death masters Immolation in the guitar playing of band leader Johannes Katajamäki (who unsurprinsingly wear a shirt of Ross Dolan’s band on his Metal Archives page). His vocal approach is also quite cavernous and would fit the compositions of most pure death metal bands.

2) Secondly, there’s also a large amount of Scandinavian melodic eath metal elements on Illusions Dead’s album. There’s the intensity of At the Gates and they mix mighty riffs with an added melodic flair to them, it’s not exactly melodic death metal per se, I mean it’s not freaking Insomnium and I’m glad they’re not or else I’d be too sleepy to finish this review. It’s death metal that’s melodic, a genre that Argholescent of Intestine Baalism. The guitars stay incicisive but they give a lot of variety to the listeners and it’s all because the parts are well composed and played, there’s no gimmicks here. A good example of the melodic side of the Finns would be the track “Shadow and Flame”

3) Thirdly, there’s some 90s melodic black metal here, it’s not just death metal even if this genre is the predominant ingredient of their metal. It’s hard to pinpoint the influences but it’s there, I don’t see the need to namedrop several other bands here!

4) Finally, being from Finland, they just couldn’t resist the famous melodic death/doom sound and they had to incorporate some of this style into their debut album. The longest song of the record “Revolution (Celestial Spheres)” turns into a mournful affair after a rapid start. It’s a good slow death metal track!

Celestial Decadence is a strong debut album, it shows a high level of musicianship paired with an ear for efficient songwriting and a “less is more” approach.

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Metal Bounty Hunter: Volume 4

I'm back with 4 fresh bounties to deliver, there's two speed metal bands from Germany, one doom/stoner band from Finland and a progressive metal about cats from the US! None of those guys are robots...

Tailgater – Rehearsal Demo (2015) / 75%
Independant: Bandcamp

Raw pure german steel

There’s some things in rehearsal demos by heavy metal bands that you just can’t find in well produced albums, it’s primal, raw and you can’t hide your faults with the help of modern technologies and some studio magic. That’s what I liked in the two releases of Finland’s Legionnaire and that’s what I liked in the debut of Tailgater. The five songs are fast and fun affairs preaching the bibles of Priest and Maiden. Fast twin guitar melodies, high pitched & fist raising choruses and thunderous drums, it’s a super legit demo full of well placed nostalgia. Songs like "Messenger of Emptyness" possess this sense of epicness that's hard to achieve.

Sure, the live rehearsal feel won’t please everyone since its recording quality is lacking but Tailgater is a cool discovery and they’re a band with a lot of potential even though they’re obviously not reinventing the wheel nor trying to do so.

Tombstoned – II (2016) / 80%

Svart Records

Tony is reviewing Finn doom again

The sophomore full length from the Helsinki trio is quite interesting. Their doom/stoner blend is tighter than on their self titled effort and there’s some great influences thrown here as well. Outside of the obvious psychedelic background (just look at the artwork), there’s sort of a deathrock/goth influence, especially in Jussi’s clean, mournful powerful vocals. The way the vocals were recorded and their presence at the forefront of the production is perhaps the thing I liked the most about II, the lyrics are easily understandable and it’s a good way to differentiate yourself from the countless 

Electric Wizard wannabes who hide the fact they can’t sing for shit under a ton of unnecessary (or in their case, maybe it’s necessary) reverb. Don’t worry though, the bass is still thunderous and the guitar tone is savage enough to compete in the best league the genre has.

The album almost reminds me of Sister, the masterpiece of the now deceased In Solitude in its ability to mix its core sound (in this case doom) with estranged elements to create a potent and groovy formula. I wasn’t expecting anything fantastic with this album but I was pleasantly surprised by how good it is. It’s far from generic but still has enough familiar elements to please most fans of the genre(s).

The Cosmic Kitten Project – The Kitten Galaxy (2016)  / 73%
Independant: Bandcamp

Catnip flavoured progressive metal

I’m not sure if these guys are trolling or not but they actually wrote a four page story about space cats (or space kitten) and their “kittendom” or whatever, and it’s as infantile as doing a concept album about My Little Pony (check out Glacier Frost if you want to have some fun or cry). Anyway, even though it’s this peculiar element that lead me to review their first extended play, they’re not bad at all. I must say that I’m happy that they’re instrumental and that there’s no lyrics about space cats, I’m fine with Slough Feg’s Traveller as far as silly sci fi concept albums are concerned, thank you very much. John Petrucci and his dystopia concept album/musical comedy where “music is outlawed” and there’s a “chosen one” can go fuck himself.

Musically it’s fine, their progressive metal hits the spot without relying on djent modernism and masturbatory shredding. There’s a lot of keyboards and programming but the guitars are atmospheric and the riffing is decent. The compositions are well done and they offer a wide variety of moods and tempos throughout the three songs. Even if their concept is ridiculous, they’re good musicians who possess enough musical knowledge to craft intricate spacey prog metal numbers.

Septagon – Deadhead Syndicate (2016)  / 83%
Cruz del Sur Music

Efficient & clean speed

When I discovered that Markus Becker, the singer of Atlantean Kodex (one of my favorite current bands) also used his pipes in this band, I had to check it out. Compared to the classy epic doom/heavy metal of his other band, Septagon (awesome name) plays an awesome mix of speed metal, some power and heavy metal and sprinkles of thrash. His clean voice fits the distinctive style like a glove and he’s not overused, he’s such a great singer and he’s showcasing all his versatility with this record.

It’s technical with lots of expertly played guitar solos with a semi neoclassical vibe, it’s also intense as hell but knows when to slow things down and give us the time to catch our breath (listen to “Henchman of Darkness”). The songs are loaded with stuff, the four songs ranging to five to six minutes give us a lot of ideas to chew on.

Like many thrash bands, they took the social issue approach for their lyrics like the 1984 themed track “Unwanted Company”, they’re not too dissimilar from Anthrax (check out the last track “Secret Silver Panorama Machine” or Megadeth on that front.

Metal Bounty Hunter: Volume Two

Khazaddum – In Dwarven Halls (2015) / 75%

By Gimli's beard!
The Wisconsin quintet plays a very cool sort of brutal death metal inspired by the likes of Nile and Suffocation but instead of writing about ancient Egypt or plain evil stuff, they decided to follow the Amon Amarth/Summoning path and accept J.R.R. Tolkien as their saviour. Their songs are slow for the style and they have the epic riffy as fuck approach of Bolt Thrower at times. The guitars are pretty legit and the soloing is quite decent, the drums are competent blastbeats as well and the production is solid as hell for a first independant release. The vocals are not your usual “breee breees”, they're more rooted in traditional death metal, deep manly growls are my favorite for this sort of metal! It would had been cool to get some Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit samples thrown in there for the sake of it though, it would add a fun cheesy side to the band that they already have anyway. Anyhow, that's a well done debut EP for these guys and I think the 15 minutes format works well for this style of primitive brutal death.

Bandcamp - Pay what you can

Pluie – d'Hochelaga (2014) / 78%

Wet dirty montreal black metal
The trio from the Hochelaga neigbourhood of Montréal plays a dirty kind of black metal inspired by their location. The production isn't that raw and it's quite richer than I thought it was at first, it's also highly interesting. It's not experimental or written to reinvent the genre but there's originality within the confines of their solid riffs and depressive vocals. The tempos are varied, ranging from aggressively fast (“La dèche des ruelles”) to mid-paced heaviness (“Sorcier des rats”). Their music is highly emotional and features vicious but still beautiful melodies played by these incisive guitar tremolos. The bass is also high in the mix for this kind of metal, it's pretty enjoyable and adds a lot to the mix. Formed by musicians coming from many different musical scenes and backgrounds (such as the awesome experimental grind of Expectorated Sequence), Pluie evolves in a different direction than most Quebecois black metal, it's not about winter or nationalism, it's about how disgusting how humanity is and that, my friends, is universal.

Pluie on Bandcamp

Angel Sword – Rebels Beyond the Pale (2016) / 84%

Enter the Court of Chaos

Finland is easily becoming one of my favorite niches for trad metal, their scene oozes badassery and pure 80s fashion flair. Alongside bands like Legionnaire or Lord Fist, Angel Sword really found their sound in old compilations full of German and American bands and they're freaking awesome. Many will argue that the vocals of this band are mediocre but I really love this sort of amateurish, bad good style of delivery, he really fits the heavy metal sound found here. Like most Finnish metal, there's a certain peculiarity even if it's without a doubt traditional metal with the vintage themes.

The songs are all pretty short, super melodic affairs with juicy riffs and the choruses are awesome and well written, they remind me of Accept or Running Wild (minus the pirate element) with they variety and appeal of Slough Feg (the last track “Witches Never Die” reminded me of the San Francisco band). It's efficient, meta metal of the highest quality with madman vocals. Highly recommended for true fans of true metal. Despite their name, they're far from generic.

Angel Sword on Bandcamp

Yetzer Hara – Demo 2014 / 76%

Dark obscured doom

This young Swedish mysterious unisex duo plays a vibrant form of doom/stoner while keeping only the necessary elements of the genre. Huge ass heavy guitars played by a small lady and loud slow drums played by her manly viking acolyte. The four instrumental songs are slow, thunderous dirges with a self assumed improvisational identity. It feels like they're in a dark smokey room and they're recording themselves play for half an hour before going out in the snowy climate of Norrköping. The theme of the band and their music is mostly related to Judaism but unlike fellow Swedes Meshuggah, they're subtle, introspective and smooth.
While I think some vocals could had been cool (think of High Priest of Saturn), the compositions are well thought out, repetitive but not overly so and the guitar tone is super good for such a recording. The inclusion of a short sample in “Ha” was thoughtful as well. I really like the ending of the demo, there's some sort of little bells resonating in the background and it's special. I'd really like to hear a full length from these guys, they're a bit elusive and slow to release stuff though but I'll be there waiting in the shadows!

Bandcamp - Pay what you can

Garden of Worm – Idle Stones (2015) / 85%

Edgar Allan Poe Dameron - Doom-Wing prog leader

Perhaps that these stones are idle but this Finnish trio is far from being static. Half a decade since their debut self titled album, we're offered this new sacrifice to the gods of doom and compared to their previous full length, this is much rooted in progressive rock and quite a bit softer.

The four songs and forty something minutes record is divided in two parts : the first being two introspective long tracks and the second being two shorter yet atmospheric numbers. It took me a while to fully appreciate the release as it's nowhere near as automatically rewarding as their debut but after four or five spins, I was slowly getting entranced into the dark yet comfortable world created by these guys. The guitars have this exploratory feel, it feels like some sort of psychedelic improvisations at times and it's quite soothing. This combined with the reflective clean vocals of guitarist Erno Taipale (also in the excellent psych band Seremonia), this creates an album that really distinguish itself from the traditionally traditional doom scene. It's sad and feels like a lonely night on a frozen lake and somewhat acts as a interpretation of Finnish woes about solitude.  Kudos to the use of Edgar Allan Poe's poetry for the last track as well, well done.

Emptiness was gathered
As a token, an epitaph
In the end it's all we have

Despite the seriousness of the themes, the riffs feel loose and almost gentle in college rock kind of way. They still unleash the hard goods like with the superb opener “Fleeting are the Days of Men” or the enormous bass lines of “Desertshore” but there's many moments where the three main ingredient of rock and metal do their own thing for an extended period of time like on the prog “Summer's Isle” and its glorious final instrumental section. If bands like Saint Vitus aren't weird enough and you dig the likes of Revelation or most of the Finnish scene, step into the garden of ghargh.

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