Falsehood - Falsehood (2017) / 82%

Nah dudes, I agree

Falsehood from Edmonton features two members from death/black veterans Begrime Exemious but explores a different style of extreme metal. Crust is basically punks playing metal (or trying to) but the lines between punk and metal is getting quite blurry. It’s possible that metalheads can play punk as well! Anyhow the quartet mixes several influences into one potent patty of aggressive and uncompromising music.

Their approach relies heavily on heavy riffs and the repetitiveness of said hard hittin’ guitars. It’s cold, dangerous and it doesn’t mess around with the puck at all. They would have broken that fucking QAnon Shaman in pieces if they had the chance. It’s thundering politically inclined metallic punk taking no fucking prisoners. A mixing pot of death metal, sludgey doom, crust and hardcore punk, Falsehood is able to digest those influences and shit us something worthwhile and captivating. The dual guitars attack of Franky and Derek are fantastic and doesn’t show off at all, they’re there for the power of the riffs and they serve the songs. The guitar tone is disgusting (in the best way possible) and while there’s distortion, it’s never sloppy and badly written. Those dudes are solid musicians and the combination of the two guitarists with a very effective rhythm section created an aural devastation. A good example of how everything is so expertly combined is the eight minutes closer “Deceiver”, one of their slower but still super urgent compositions. The drums and bass are also very very good and it's something I focused on more and more after a few spins of the album. The backend of the album is rich and the tight and focused production definitely helps.

Protect the rich, serve the state

Mindless pigs fill us with hate

The vocals of Franky are pissed off deep growls, it's harsh and full of venom. What I like is that it's not a constant barrage of vocals, it's present like any other instruments and it plays its role within the band's music. Tracks like "Descent Into Madness" features vox only midway through the four-ish minutes track but when they start, damn. That track almost has a grindcore feel to it as it ends. They're good at showcasing their riffs and they let them breathe a while too. There's a few cleaner moments ("Waste" or "Militant Swine") and they bring forward some sort of depressive post metal stylistic exploration to the fold. It's interesting and doesn't feel out of place.

The only modern thing about them is their intent to combine old school styles together but ultimately, this combination creates something that could have been released ten, twenty or even thirty years ago. Like their left leaning themes, It’s pretty timeless for punk music. Throw Asphyx, Bolt Thrower and Amebix in a garbage bin and let the raccoons do their job, you’ll end up with something close to Falsehood.

Bandcamp

English Breakfast: An overview of Bretwaldas of Heathen Doom

 

Here's an overview of Bretwaldas of Heathen Doom's full length discography. This English duo deserves more attention, I've discovered them due to their 2020 extended play Kingdom of Killers to realise that their previous releases were also very interesting!

Droner (2003)

English Breakfast Chapter 1: The Eggs

The debut album of the duo built the foundations of what’s to come. They embody what I like in my metal as newly thirty year old man and I’ll explain why. It’s primitive and made in a vacuum by true connoisseurs of the underground who really don’t care about trends and fashion in the metal world.

Droner could be described as a mix of of doom, first wave black metal, heavy metal and while the crust elements aren’t as present as on other albums, it’s there. Think of Amebix combined with Cathedral and Venom. That’s a pretty fucking good English breakfast, lads. Their riffs are loud, primal but precise in their sloppiness. It’s like being stabbed by a pointy rusty dagger and left to bleed in a cold forest while the wolves gather around you. The vocals are rough and while somewhat in the background, they’re not an afterthought and they can be varied too. “Droner in the Fog” has clean vocals giving a quasi post punk feel mixed with epic metal when combined with the tasty guitars. It’s not epic like Virgin Steele talking about Greek or Roman mythology, it’s instead done in a pure English manner, it’s just men dying in the woods while their wives are cooking a stew they’ll never be able to eat.

Those dudes are good musicians too, the drumming on “Whispers of God” is creative and tight and the clean guitars almost bring a progressive folk tinge to their metal. There’s a few stoner elements too, especially in the bass playing and in a few particular songs such as “Hillfort Ghoul”, that’s possibly due to the omnipotence of Electric Wizard and Cathedral in England but regardless, it fits. Their hometown of Birmingham is also the birthplace of doom metal so being from Black Sabbath’s home turf must have some sort of mystical influence.

Throughout the short album, Acwealde and Wartooth were really capable to explore different tempos from fast, mid-paced to even slow. That’s a strong debut with all the elements of their identity already in place even if it’s the only one to feature some stoner metal parts.

Battle Staffs in the Mushroom Woods (2006)

English Breakfast Chapter 2: The Sausages

Battle Staffs in the Mushroom Woods (best album title of all time?) is the second album of our duo of merry gentlemen carousing through England under the name Bretwaldas of Heathen Doom and it’s a doozy. Compared to their debut (that I really liked), it’s more focused and clearer in its intents. There’s a beefier Celtic feel here and while it’s not exactly folk metal and it’s relatively subtle in its approach, it’s there. It’s irrevocably English in its nature, mixing the rawest and undisciplined side of NWOBHM with proto extreme metal to great effect. Think Motorhead slapping Skyclad because they’re nerds but still integrating a few hints of their sound.

Released the same year as Darkthrone’s The Cult is Alive, Bretwaldas are definitely contemporaries of the blackened punkier side of the much more famous duo but they’re so much more than that. They just happen to share a liking to old school crust punk. It reminds me of Toronto’s Demontage in the way they're primal, lo-fi metal with a lot of heart, inventiveness and authenticity. While the production values here are better, we’re still far from the saccharine and overproduced sound of big labels and I’m totally fine with that. It suits their meat pie sound very well.

They're like if The Meads of Asphodel were actually too busy drinking in pubs to go to partake in weird Medieval reenactment. They dream of the past while drunk at the bar before using the ale soaked broom as a bastard sword. They might get lost in the nearby forest afterwards or at least, that’s what I imagine drunk Englishmen do for fun. They eat fish and chips, drink beer, talk about olde kings and smoke cigarettes.

Those dudes aren’t parodies and they’re smarter than you may immediately think. Songs like “Paths of River, Root and Stone” conjures intricate but blue collar guitar leads while closer “Blood of Gods and Men” could easily be something from Bathory’s epic Viking metal albums. This track and the eight minute “Beneath the Eaves” are basically blackened epic doom and it’s fantastic.

The varied influences they were able to gather makes this album an intense and rewarding affair for experimented metal fans. They’re more interesting and rich that you’d think and they make Midnight sound like an amateurish one trick pony with only one or two ideas.

Seven Bloody Remparts (2010)

English Breakfast Chapter 3: The Beans

Seven Bloodied Remparts, the third (and last one for now) full length from Bretwaldas is perhaps the widest foray they made into black metal and it’s a bold attack. The diversity found in their discography is one of the most interesting aspects of the band. Even though, to the unfamiliar ear, they could be concluded to be similar albums, their stylistic progression twists and turns quite often but remains rooted in some sort of black metal.

This effort could be described as some sort of epic black/crust, the doom elements aren’t as prominent here as they used to be. They always had a focus on history, archaeology and mythology and that’s what we find here again. Wartooth (bass, vocals) is an archaeologist but he’s able to easily contextualize and simplify topics to make them appropriate for metal music. It’s somewhat influenced by pagan metal here and there but it’s transformed into English ugliness. They’re never as cheesy as fellow English bands Forefather or Wodensthrone as well, they never played folk/pagan metal outright but they definitely used some Viking bits in the guitar riffs. Based on the No Clean Singing interview they did this year, the fact that pagan metal was often associated to national socialism and other far right movements wasn’t something they were keen with, for good reasons. 

The atmosphere here is pretty epic and contains some worthy anthems. Songs like “Rise” or “Smite” have some singalong lyrics, something they never really did before. It’s fairly appropriate for the music showcased here. “Smite” reminds me of Ireland’s Primordial with its slightly Celtic guitar melodies and its violent but historical hymn mood. The vocals are gruff, rough and there’s no clean singing here, like the English countryside when it rains, it’s muddy and dirty and that’s often how I like my metal. Even if Bretwaldas are a DIY affair, they’re not amateurs, they know what they do and what to do to achieve their particular sound. One of my favourite aspects of the band is the quality and melodic feel of Acwealde’s guitar parts (see “Grey Wolf” for one of the best examples), it brings another level to their Celtic Frost plus Amebix dual identity.

Listen/support the band on Bandcamp

Mörkt Moln - The Culling of a Great Flame (2019) / 83%

BURN IN HELL!

Mörkt Moln (dark clouds) from Gothenburg certainly don’t play melodic death metal and I’m relatively happy they don’t. The Swedish trio delves into proto black metal and inserts dynamic hardcore, goth and punk elements to their first wave black metal sound instead.

Inspired by both Amebix and Darkthrone (who were also influenced by Amebix in their own right), the eight songs record is a definite love letter to a time where metal and punk lines were blurred and where black metal was yet in its formative infancy. While I feel the lines are being quite blurry again nowadays with powerviolence, death metal and crust being thrown in a mixer together this is another type of affair.

Interlude: I’m a big snacks guy so this review was written while eating some carrot cake Oreos. While they were able to recreate the taste of a carrot cake, the white icing is a bit too sugary. It’s a welcome distraction from the normal black and white ones just like this band is a welcome change from your run of the mill Satanic black metal. The special Easter Oreo was a bit better though.

Back to our normal programming, their music is dark (see their name) and it’s composed of pretty mid-paced bangers with some longer tracks like opener “Air Burial”, the Conan themed “Cimmerian Heat” or the Mesopotamian historical eight minutes closer “Shar Kishati”. Their production is kept fairly natural and that’s certainly perfect for their sound. If you’re a fan of Darkthrone’s later efforts, it’s a similar approach. If you’re not, it’s time go hike in the Scandinavian forests and never come back! Mixing groovy, riff heavy black/punk with some doom metal (the end of that Conan song crushes) to great success, it reminds me of the hateful but tongue in cheek of The Cult is Alive but slowed down a notch. The vocals are raw, gravely and in a spot between harsh and clean, it fits their proto extreme metal vibe well. There’s also obvious black(er) moments such as “Corruptors of Youth” with its evil classic black metal church bell intro and heavy metal goodness such as the Lord of the Rings’ inspired “Dol Guldur”. It’s not technical music either, it’s even fairly loose and almost volontarily sloppy and that’s how I love it, to be honest.

All in all, Mörkt Moln are apt at mixing old school black metal with a DIY aesthetic and approach. They’re a less and more band but with a lot of ideas and big balls.

Bandcamp

Dagger Moon – Citadel (2016) / 80%

Moonlit easy riding

This quintet from Washington plays an interesting sort of crossover genre. Blending the heaviness of crust with the moody darkness of doom wasn't quite enough for them. They decided to add a massive amount of synth to their music and it really works.

Sharing two members with Ilsa (one of them do the artwork for both bands), Dagger Moon are much more subdued and laid back as they don't have the same pissed off sludgey Cianide influenced bludgeoning sound. It's a bit hard to describe their style since the mix is done effortlessly and with care. The really loud synths make them sound like dangerous punks driving through an industrial city in decay on their loud bikes, they drank too much cheap beer so they're a bit drunk so they're not driving too fast. Just fast enough to create some roadkill on their way to hell. As illustrated on their vinyl release, we could also envision this big ass punk on his bike just floating around on this apocalyptic moon. This album would probably fit Stranger Things if the TV series would be even darker to give you an idea of how lush it is.

The bass has this huge, hardworking sound and it's often louder than the guitars. The drums are simple yet effective and like the compositions, they're more smooth and contemplative than heavy and suffocating. It's metal mostly because of the way the riffs are composed and the epic song structures. It can be repetitive at times but I think it fits their idiosyncratic feel and almost gives a synth drone ambiance to the album. The guitars still have some shining moment such as the ethereal leads of "Black Water" but overall, they could be perceived as secondary here despite establishing Dagger Moon as a metal band. The metal is perhaps not the first thing you'll notice but it's there and its carnal embrace with the synthrock elements is fairly nice.

The six lengthy songs combine groovy mid-paced riffs, synth influences and clean Napalm Raid-esque crusting. Their approach could also be compared to Tau Cross in spirit, a melting pot of good things related to both the metal and the punk worlds but Dagger Moon's vocals are more cryptic, buried and harsh and there's of course the omnipresent synths. Comparisons aside, there's basically nothing truly similar to them and they're pretty refreshing.

Pay what you can download on Bandcamp

Xothogua – you wont reach shore (2013) / 75%

Canadian doom tape triptych part 3 : Montréal, QC

Xothogua were a pretty secretive Montréal band who broke up last year. I had the chance to see them two or three times including a very cool evening with Ensorcelor and Show of Bedlam (they shared the bassist at the time) where I got a tape of this recording. Their sound is quite original and I was sad to hear that the band ended before exploring it in more details.

The half hour release is divided between two fifteen minutes movements, both encompassing their multifaceted style mixing stoner metal, sludge, doom metal, crust, hardcore and post rock (???). It's highly atmospheric and features a wide variety of vocal styles. The ones of Devo, a woman, are full of spite and venom when she screams and she's also using clean vox (especially on “Washer at the Ford”) but there's also some male vocals here and there to emphasise certain moments. The calm, atmospheric parts are well done and quite introspective, it's a good representation of how their live performances were. It's loud, massive and doesn't mess around. It has the right amount of heavier parts intertwined with calm but still oppressing bits.

The production isn't quite good but it's nuanced and airy enough to fit their songs and give them a live feeling. It would had been cool to hear something done with a bit more cash thrown into it but it didn't seem like their thing anyway. Their sole full length is amateurish but that's not always a bad thing, it's interesting and has this crossover appeal between metal and hardcore. It's free (or pay what you can) on Bandcamp so support a dead band!

Xothogua on Bandcamp

The artwork is also pretty glorious!

Abyss – Heretical Anatomy (2015) / 84%

Dive the Deepest Abyss

I discovered Abyss last year at Montréal's extreme metal and punk festival RRROOOAAARRR (yes, named after the Voivod's album) and they were pretty impressive. Their latest release at the time was a blistering fourteen minutes live album (it has the same name as this first full length album, this is a tad confusing) and we were due for something else from the Ontario natives. Some tracks from this live album are making an appearance here as well. They're getting more and more noticed right now as they signed a contract with 20 Buck Spin (a label full of excellent bands) and they recently opened for Bolt Thrower's gig in their home city of London!

Speaking of the English legends, Abyss aren't too far from what they play or were playing. It's high octane death metal combined with crust and hardcore and it's nasty as hell. It's on the short side but like Nails' exceptional second album “Abandon All Life”, the twenty minutes or so is thoroughly enjoyable, crushing and fast as a shark. They intertwine between brief numbers like “Flesh Cult” and its fifty-five seconds or so and longer, more intricate numbers like the nearly death/doom number “Thrall of the Elder Gods”. It's quite varied for a short album, really.

Abyss, despite their generic, unoriginal monicker are quite fresh in the metal landscape, their blend of old school death with a very clear punk approach is akin to Black Breath's infectious groovy formula full of HM2 pedal and Entombed worship. They mix the precursory days of death metal, the era where the boundaries of every styles weren't set in stone (see Repulsion or Carcass) with the flair of modern hardcore, you know the recent style that was able to navigate through these solid boundaries and explore metal as well (see Martyrdöd, Wolfbrigade, the aforementioned Nails or vocalist David Kristiansen's other band Column of Heaven). I can also hear some Slayer in this, especially the “Reign In Blood” era. Some song have this ultra fast thrash sound and it's also reflected in the vocal department. It's harsh but somewhat well enunciated and has this crossover/powerviolence appeal.

Throughout the eight tracks and the twenty minutes voyage through hell and back (look at this gloomy cover art), you understand the primal urge found in these guys' music. It's intense, uncompromising art. The guitars are incisive and even though the tracks are short, they still take the time to deliver short (or long!) dark & sweet leads. The drums are a war machine and they sound like two or three tanks destroying their way through Belgium. The extremely tight production (mixed and mastered by Joel Grind of Toxic Holocaust) definitely help the record in its apocalyptic quest. Abyss explores the primitive eras of metal and managed to vomit an excellent debut album full of spite and mega riffs. Plunge into their abyssal might.

Listen/buy the album here

Young and in the Way – When Life Comes to Death (2014) / 90%

Ass kicking foray into crusty black

 
Wheeeeeeeeen life comes to deaaaaaath!

I've been discovering the metallic hardcore/powerviolence/crust scene recently with bands such as AcxDC, Oathbreaker, Nails or Fall of Efrafa and lodging YAITW with this scene is not so much of a stretch. Nonetheless, the boys from North Carolina are, without a shred of doubt, a metal band. Many projects try to mix things up like including black metal to a rock & roll core like Kvelertak but these guys did way more than that. They integrated the crust elements to their black metal roots so deep down that the two are indivisible. You won't find a better hybrid band evolving in these two genres in 2014.

These guys are so freaking talented and I wish their folky alternative country side could be expanded. Like on V. Eternal Depression, there's once again a track reminding me of 16 Horsepower but even darker (if you heard David Eugene Edwards's project, you know it's not a light affirmation.) This track named “Shadow of Murder” is right before the long closer and it couldn't be better placed. The acoustic guitar shines like a drop of blood in a chalice of holy water and the deep, clean vocals intertwined with the harsh screams in the shadows made this song one of my favourites of the year. The misanthropic lyrics are delivered with such spite like in “Fuck My Life”, they're singing about the twists and turns of reality and that's much more profoundly scary than anything related to Lucifer and his downfall.

YAITW really rocks at these long intricate tracks but sadly they rarely do them, only like once per album. Maybe they wouldn't be special if they were more numerous, things can get tired quick sometimes. It's perhaps my doom sensibilities that is asking for these slower, crushing songs like “Embrace Extinction” but eh, I'm still more than satisfied with this album. It's still by far their longest release (and first one over half an hour) but it never gets boring since the pacing and direction is top notch. The production is tight and airy and compliments the guitars very well, it's menacing and threatening. The drums throwing blastbeats at you are conveniently buried under the deluge of the bass heavy black/crust tactful wave.

The core of the band is composed of fast numbers full of vitriol and hatred like “Be My Blood”. Inspired by the dirty side of black metal (a band like Marduk can definitely be heard here) but also sludge, death & roll or stoner. The guitar tone is vicious and fuzzy as hell, it's a dangerous record like the cover art implies and the band doesn't deviate from their act one bit. It's groovy, fast as fuck, overflow with riffs mixing the best of both worlds. There's also some parts giving you some necessary respite like in “Take My Hand”

Black metal cultists won't probably like this statement but these dudes are what the music genre needs to stay relevant. The third wave of black metal indeed shines with its variety and its ability to transcends (like Hunter Hunt-Hendrix would say) conventions. They're a band that Watain wish they would be, emotional, grasping metal with a darker than black aura without any unnecessary flourish and aping at Jon Nödtveidt's try hard Satanic altar.

On the same label as the (in)famous Deafheaven, a band who similarly do a good job at mixing post rock and black metal, Young and in the Way crushes all opposition and reigns as king to the black/punk/whatever kingdom. Prepared to be submerged by pig blood, that's a cleansing, essential record.

YAITW on FB 

RRROOOAAARRR DAY 1 - August 1st - Noothgrush/Iron Lung/Haymaker/Mammoth Grinder/Uniform/Ahna @Sala Rossa, Montréal

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