Album Reviews

[binnie]

From what I've heard of the new Colplay record, it's a fair summary...........

[Mr Walker]

Binnie, have you reviewed the Texas Hippie Coalition "Peacemaker" album?

Great band!
Great album!



Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[binnie]

From the vaults: Skin – Lucky (1996)

‘Brit Pop? Pa!’ That was always my reaction during the supposed ‘golden era’ of pop/rock in mid-90s Britain. Faced with a far, far more interesting collection of British rock/metal bands – Therapy? The Wildhearts, The Almighty, Three Colours Red, Gun, Skunk Anansie, Thunder – I always found the re-hashed ‘60s drivel from the likes of Oasis and Blur to be a little……dull. And Skin were certainly a band that fitted in perfectly with that crop of exciting rock/metal bands. In many ways the most traditional of the bunch – this was really a rough ‘n’ ready take of stadium rock – they nevertheless knew how to belt out a tune or two. ‘Lucky’, their softmore record, balanced rollicking hard rock (‘Spit On You’) with soulful ballads of genuine world-class proportions (‘Juliet’). In Neville MacDonald they had a singer with a soulful, raspy voice who was equally comfortable belting or crooning – he makes the gospel tinged rock of ‘Prey’ sizzle and sparkle. And in guitar player Myke Gray, they had a guy who could play screaming (if not quite shredding) leads that gave this melodic hard rock added crackle and pop. The likes of ‘How Lucky You Are’ still make me bounce around the room in hysterics.

A lot of this is dated now, of course. In truth that’s more indicative of the fact that most ‘rock’ bands now sound like 1973 than it is of Skin having done anything particularly wrong. There’s no slavish Zep or ‘DC worship here, or anything that sounds like the dying fart of Sunset Strip. It’s bluesy, song-based rock which knows that tunes and choruses carry the day. And those choruses come in droves – each one packs all of the excitement of the first day of the long summer holiday. When they tried to experiment, it was less convincing (see the swampy ‘Make It Happen’ or the sentimental ‘Escape From Reality) – this was a band much more comfortable in the footsteps of more mainstream rockers, like Bon Jovi without all of the flounce and preen. It was dated in ’96, but you just can’t argue with some of those hooks when they’re sold on a voice like that.

[binnie]

Down – IV part 2 (2014)

Calling this an ‘EP’ is something of a stretch – at 36 minutes its as long as many albums, especially those of music’s ‘classic’ period which it hearkens back too. Following on from their previous ‘EP’ – IV part 1 (2011) – Down have undergone something of blow in the loss of founder guitar player Kirk Windstein. But fans need not fear, for in Bobby Landgraf (their tour manager) the band have found quite a replacement, a man who can trade licks (and riffs!!) with Pepper Keenan with ceaseless aplomb. Continuing the raw, under-produced vibe of the previous EP, this will equally be a release that divides fan’s opinions: only the most obstinate wearer of rose-tinted spectacles would say that this approaches the musical highs of Down’s first three records; but, equally, only the most musically myopic
would write off this looser, less overtly aggressive Down as trading on their laurels. That ‘IV – 2’ is a wonderful piece of doom-fuelled metal is undeniable.

Opener ‘Steeple’ erupts with a trademark Philip Anselmo scream, before breaking into a thunderous riff and a hectic melody which comes straight out of ‘Down II’. Signing off with lucid, bluesly jams of hypnotic potency, it’s quite a clarion call. It also encapsulates the feel here: the looser, more jamming feel works for Down, and the aim here is clearly to capture a performance, a series of moments. Moreover, whilst most doom bands merely worship Sabbath, Down sweep through the entire spectrum of occult, southern and stoner rock to create a sound that is at once muscular and heavy, but equally open and oozing. ‘We Knew Him Well’s’ swampy groove is juxtaposed with a demented vocal from Anselmo, and once again features a chiselled riff; ‘Hogshead/Dogshead’ is a crusher which booms out of the speaker; and the 8 minute ‘Conjure’ showcases doom at its very best, using bottom-end as a weapon to create a dark, crusty celebration of heaviness hatched in a darkened crevice of Satan’s brain. And the high’s just keep coming. ‘Sufferer’s Years’ is a punchy headbanger which could hang with anything in the band’s back-catalogue – you know it will crush live. And closer ‘Bacchnalia’ is a glorious epic closer awash with melodic thrusts of bass which swings like the coolest cat in Cool Town. It’s heavy and quite, quite beautiful.

The raucous aggression of the band’s early years may be gone, but there’s something otherworldly about music like this, an unnameable quality which is much more than 5 guys playing good songs, an impact beyond the notes being strummed together in sequences. Metal like this makes you feel bigger than you are. It’s the reason we fell in love with it in the first place.

[ELVIS]

I like 36 minute albums...

Just because a CD holds 74 minutes doesn't mean it has to...

ADKOT would have been much better if it were trimmed down...

The same goes for the tired 13 album from Sabbath...

[binnie]

Agreed, Elvis.

I think calling something that long an 'EP' is weird.

[binnie]

Anti-Mortem – New Southern (2014)

The title of Anti-Mortem’s debut album is startlingly accurate: this is a band with all the hallmarks of Southern Rock played through bottom-heavy, Black Label Society-esque Metal. Consequently, much of ‘New Southern’ is dumber than a Tea Party debate on evolution – hello ‘Path To Pain’ and ‘Hate Automatic’ – but it kicks like a mule on steroids. Tough-talking ol boys who deal with subtlety in the same way that the Taliban deal with dissent, this is an album packed full of 3 minute songs based around crunching riffs and testosterone. ‘Words Of Wisdom’ sounds like turn of the millennium Corrosion of Conformity and is awash with bounce, roll and rumble and a chorus bigger than Detroit’s debt. ‘100% Pure American Rage’ is a stomping charge of anger, and ‘Stagnant Water’s is propelled REALLY heavy, bottom end crunch that is simple, but oh so irresistible. It’s fair to say that there is some filler here, and that this is not a band concerned with originality, but when you are presented with such an ‘ave it!!’ attitude it really doesn’t matter.

[78/84 guy]

I like 36 minute albums...

Just because a CD holds 74 minutes doesn't mean it has to...

ADKOT would have been much better if it were trimmed down...

The same goes for the tired 13 album from Sabbath...

Black Ice also. Great songs but too long. Save a few for a box set. Put them in the can for a few years !

[Von Halen]

I'd rather have a 36 minute album every 6 months or year, than a 74 minute album once every 10 years.

[binnie]

Conan – Blood Eagle (2014)

‘…….and the winner of “Heaviest Album 2014” is…..’. Even in the spectrum of Doom Metal, the weight of Conan’s sonic umph is remarkable. If when a butterfly flaps its wings there is a hurricane somewhere on the other side of the world, then every time someone plays ‘Blood Eagle’ a distant galaxy implodes. Featuring just 4 songs of sparse, raw and punishingly heavy music, this is the sort of album which re-affirms your faith in a subgenre which often descends into mere Sabbath-worship. Guitars drone and hum to funereal beats, creating landscapes of endless volume and power in which nothing is out-of-place. And it is that which is most impressive – and effective – here. The last decade of post-emo and ‘core’ influenced metal has seen bands getting busier and busier, producing music which is increasingly manic. ‘Blood Eagle’ is the antithesis of that, a record which lets the rattling of those down-tuned guitar-strings be the presence of the songs and suckers you into the grooves of those riffs. ‘Gravity Chasm’ is what a black hole must sound like, ‘Total Conquest’ stomps forward with a thud that your distant ancestors will be able to feel, and ‘Crown of Talons’ uses repetition to an almost otherworldly, primordial end.

If you think that slow music = boring music, you need to think again. This is multi-textured, almost tactile, music which is rich in tone and terrifying in clout. It’ll be waaaaay too much for fans of hook-driven music, but for those who like adventure, look no further: this is the sound of the Barbarians!

[binnie]

Power Trip – Manifest Decimation (2013)

‘Thrash’ isn’t really one thing in 2014: Lost Society are pure gonzo genius, Vektor are progressive-thrash majesty, and Black Breath are nasty, gnarly punk-fuelled filth. Power Trip are closer to the ‘thrash’ of the early ‘80s, but this is no blast of nostalgia. It is a molten ball of metal, welded together, 36 minutes of music played by dudes who make music because they HAVE to. Raw, full-tilt hardcore fused aggro which takes its leanings from the pre-‘Rust In Peace’ type of thrash, when it was still snotty and growling and sporting THAT ‘Kill ‘em All’ guitar tone. The title track is rawer than sandblasted skin, a burst of pure aggression which reminds you ‘Beneath The Remains’ era Sepultura; ‘Murderer’s Row’ is a monolithic wall of metal propelled by raucous gang vocals and slabs upon slabs of riffs; and ‘Power Trip’ is half-thrash/half-hardcore and reeks of primal power. It’s quite the neck snapper, and debut that makes you do laps of the room in excitement.

Sure, there’s nothing here you’ve not heard before. And, sure, bands who deliberately make their records sound as poor as mid-80s thrash records did when they don’t have to make my head scream – it just brings in a whiff of pardoy. But this is a pitbull of a record, and one that rewards multiple plays.

[katina]

Animals As Leaders – The Joy Of Motion (2014)

Instrumental albums usually have a marmite effect. Loved by nerdy muso types, they often leave the rest of us cold. Animals As Leaders have bucked the trend and have produced one which manages to combine the instrumental dexterity you’d expect from this type of music with a leave of emotion which is genuinely moving. The trick is to create landscapes of sound rather than just to indulge in navel-gazing shredding, and the ability of Animals As Leaders to layer their songs with rich textures, colours and hues is very impressive indeed. In Tosin Abasi they have a guitar players who is not just one of the best in metal but in music; and drummer Matt Garstka is equally dextrous in his approach to serving the song. The band’s sound is firmly grounded in the djent scene, but the range of references is far wider – you can here Tesseract, Tool, and Cynic, but also shades of The Cure, U2, Santana and a shit-ton of jazz. That songs this complex never sound angular is very impressive, and in a sense Animals As Leaders stretch the possibility of what guitars and drums can achieve. That they manage to do so without disappearing up their own asses makes that feat all the more impressive.

Animals As Leaders will be touring with Tesseract !!!!

[binnie]

From the vaults: Amorphis – Skyforger (2009)

What do you do with a band like Amorphis? Not quite Goth, not quite Prog, and not wholly Metal either, this bunch of Fins are genuinely unclassifiable. Taking influences from pretty much the entire rock spectrum – they can sound as anthemic as Alter Bridge one minute, as symphonic as Within Temptation the next, and as spacey as Uriah Heap 4 bars later – theirs is a sound at once very unique and often overwhelmingly rich. There’s even a flute for fucks sake! Music which is dazzlingly complex, but never fails to come welded to a Top 20 chorus sung by Tomi Jouston’s majestic pipes, its certainly Heavy but paints with far too many colours to be Metal. And at their very best, they are one of rock’s best kept secrets.

Starting life in the 1990s as an out and out Death Metal band, the subsequent decades have seen Amorphis expand their sound by injecting Prog, folk and even mainstream rock into their arsenal. ‘Skyforger’ – album no. 9 – is perhaps the most complete realisation of that vision this far, and should be appreciated by a much wider body of fans. Sure, there are some moments of goth-lite that wouldn’t stray too far from Evanescence territory (see ‘Silver Bridge’), but in truth there is too much going on here for this band to be as creatively redundant goth-by-numbers like Lacuna Coil. Indeed, on ‘Majestic Beast’ we get Death Metal vocals and soaring melodies of impossibly rich variety – that it doesn’t sound like a clusterfuck is a testament to how in control of their own ouvre this band are. The title-track is propelled by a cavernous slab of guitar and the raw of something awesome with its party hat on. ‘From The Heaven Of My Heart’ is grunge meets Prog (seriously), a serpentine, sinewy melody over raucous blasts of guitar, and ‘Highest Star’ is pure thunder and proof that this is a band who can crush when they want to.

They’ll never be heavy enough for some, or dark enough for others, but in truth no one sounds like Amorphis. Naysayers who make comparisons to the melodrama of acts like Nightwish need to clean their ears: there isn’t even a whiff of cheese here. Mixing such a broad range of influences, sounds and instruments into one unholy rush of music, ‘Skyforger’ is the sort of album that takes over the listener and challenges them without ever becoming overwhelming. One step short of being a modern classic.

[binnie]

In Solitude – Sister (2013)

The cover of ‘Sister’ – a harrowing face half emerging from the darkness – is terrifying and, like the music, truly macabre. Where In Solitude’s debut was a loving tribute to NWOBHM and early Black Metal, their sophomore album sees them plunge head first into Occult Rock. And, my oh my have they cooked up something special. It’s not gory, it’s not stupefyingly heavy, or indeed is it that extreme. But it is truly unnerving in places, and never fails to be moving. Darkness here is no gimmick, it is the undercurrent of the music.

Opener ‘He Comes’ is layered in acoustic sounds and delves into the dark trips of Depeche Mode, The Cult and The Doors. ‘Death Knows Where’ is a swirl of early Occult Rock and has a very ‘70s feel, like the MC5 jamming with Bathory. Looping melodies spiral and build into something hypnotic as the song considers the ever-presence of death to almost claustrophobic levels. ‘A Buried Sun’ conjures the aching goth of My Dying Bride and feels very much alive and wounded as it lurches from part to part, veering through different shades of darkness in a free form which is perfectly fitting for music this Satanic. But if this all sounds a little pretentious, take comfort in the fact that some of ‘Sister’ flat out ROCKS: ‘Pallid Hands’ has guitar licks that have kissed something genuinely evil, ‘Lavendar’ is thrusting and primal, and ‘Horses in the Ground’ reeks of Angel Witch.

Eschewing the staccato riffage to explore darker tones and hues, In Solitude have produced one beast of a record. The sort that stays with you. The analogue sound is raw, taut and at odds with an age over-run with pro-tooled perfection. Although very much their own band, this is a record of pure freedom very much in the vein of the first Sabbath album, and one which can match modern masters of Occult Rock like Blood Ceremony in terms of eerie power. Where a band like Hell do melodramatic macabre, ‘Sister’ is the real thing: a record of challenging evil that take Heavy Metal into the ether. That it is anything but screaming extremity serves, ironically enough, to make it more extreme.

[binnie]

Fu Manchu – Gigantoid (2014)

Fu Manchu went off a bit at the turn of the millennium, adopting a ‘less fuzz, more rawk’ approach that left their typical thunder sounding somewhat tepid. That all changed with 2007’s ‘We Must Obey’, however, when they came back with stoner vibes that were heavier than just about anything imaginable. Heavy not in a way that is extreme, but in the bas juddering way that Blue Cheer and The Stooges were heavy. Built upon feel, not finesse, and a healthy dose of ‘70s vibes, petrolhead overdrive and gonzo cool, this band is just as important to the evolution of Stoner Rock as their more celebrated peers (Kyuss, Monster Magnet, Sleep). ‘Gigantoid’ is another burst of riffs, fuzz and grooves that will kick your summer in the ass. ‘Dimension Shifter’ is a sonic boom of classic Fu: monumentally heavy and cooler than Lenny Kravitz in pimp town. What makes it work is that it’s just do damn simple: buzz-saw riffs, thudding drums and B-Movie schditch lyrics take you into a mind warp of almost cartoonish cool that make ‘Invaders on My Back’, ‘Anxiety Reducer’ and ‘Evolution Machine’ so immediate and joyous. You’ll be humming them all day just to remind yourself where your neck hurts.

Is this the best record Fu Manchu have ever made? No, but every band suffers from the law of marginal returns. But when the sun comes out, you’ll have few better friends this summer.