Album Reviews

[binnie]

Slipknot – 5: The Gray Chapter (2014)

A sense of trepidation surrounds album number five from Slipknot. Following the death of bassist Paul Gray – a founding member and principal songwriter – and the exit of Joey Jordison – a drummer who’s idiosyncracies were part-and-parcel of the Slipknot sound – the smart money was on this record being a clusterfuck, or a half-measure. Slipknot-lite. But all of the smart money was wrong. Waaaay wrong. ‘5’ is certainly not this band’s finest hour, but it carries the torch for one of the most important metal bands of this generation remarkably well. Welcome back, fellas – we’ve missed you.

‘XIX’ is a brooding opener. A slow build consisting of orchestration and Corey Taylor’s impassioned vocals which seems built for stadium sing-a-longs, it give way to burst of rage which is ‘Sarcastrophe’, a angular, wounded, raging ball of hate which proves just how unique this band are – even after 15 years, no-one sounds like this. People often criticise Slipknot for sounding increasingly like Stone Sour (Corey Taylor and Jim Root’s other, more hard rock, band). It’s certainly true that Taylor has become a better hook-writer, and the band are more comfortable exploring the melodic capacities of his voice, but when a song like ‘AOV’ slams into you, it’s hard to think of arena rock. Propelled by Death and Thrash metal elements, its rhythmic assault is as infectious as Slipknot has ever sounded. And it just keeps coming. ‘Custer’ is awash with tribal fury; ‘Lech’ is a rhythmic switch-hitter on which Taylor sounds vicious (‘I know why Judas wept MOTHERFUCKER’); and ‘Negative One’ has all of the twists and quirks to make it yet another angular anthem. ‘Skeptic’ – which is a tribute to Gray – is particularly moving, and could be straight from the band’s previous, more muscular, effort ‘All Hope Is Gone’ (2008). ‘The world will never see another crazy motherfucker life you’ bellows Taylor. It is a fitting tribute.

There are moments where the intensity drops. Pseudo-ballad ‘Goodbye’, for example, is more than a little sappy bollocks. But it has always been unrealistic to expect this band to recapture the vicious intensity of their first two albums – what band at 40 possesses the vim they had at 20? Slipknot, however, have grown from their original template into something bigger, more colourful and still vital. They may have lost two members, but they’ve carried on where they left off 6 years ago. ‘5’ is the natural evolution of ‘All Hope Is Gone’ – a big album by a big band which knows exactly what their fanbase wants.

That’s not meant to make it sound as though Slipknot have become a commodity. They’re too immediate for that. This is art in the truest sense of the term – music which produces a visceral response.

[binnie]

I'll be seeing these guys tomorrow night Binnie. Thanks for the review!

Let me know how they are live. The heavy stuff is intense on record, but there's also so much variety - the quiet stuff is really dark, and I'd be intrigued to know if they play any of it.

[TFM_Dale]

I'll be seeing these guys tomorrow night Binnie. Thanks for the review!

That wasn't a chickenfoot review Von.

[Von Halen]

King 810 – Memoirs of A Murderer (2014)

I am normally highly suspicious of hype, and few bands in the past 10 years have received more hype than King 810. Hailing from the darkened streets of Flint, Michigan, this bunch of tough-guys know what it’s like to see the dark side of urban decline and poverty – they, we are told, bring a much needed grittiness to the metal scene. They – to borrow urban parlance – are ‘real’. Excuse me while I stroke my chin.

Not that ‘Memoirs….’ isn’t a good debut record – it is a very good debut record – but I’m not sure it needs the hype (or the overbearing spoken interludes from vocalist David Guin telling us how badass his life is) to sell it. Musically, King 810 are incredibly inventive. Is it metal? Not necessarily be conventional standards: not all of the songs feature heavy guitars, there’s certainly no nod to conventional sub-genres (Death, Thrash, metalcore), and much of what is here is not even riff-driven. Indeed, King 810 owe as much to punk, country and goth as they do Iron Maiden or Black Sabbath. And in that sense, ‘Memoirs…’ is incredibly refreshing. Honest, even. But lyrically – whilst certainly unconventional – the themes quickly become tired: guns, knives, gangs, urban neglect and the suffocation that comes with it. ‘Write what you know…’ they say – but you have to wonder how much of this is contrived. That sense of doubt leaves the record feeling ever so slightly incomplete.

It’s hard not to be impressed, however. Opener ‘Killem All’ sounds like early Slipknot: intense, abrasive and channelling the vital eeriness of Nu Metal to highly effective ends. ‘Best Nite Of My Life’ welds hardcore to some brutal bottom-end and comes on with a psychotic intensity. Elsewhere, the acoustic ‘Take It’ is highly affective, and approaches the claustrophobic grandeur of Nick Cave, with the harrowing ‘Devil Don’t Cry’ trumping it as an exercise in the macabre. Few bands could switch styles so comfortably and still make the results feel like a complete record. Are all of the 16 songs here A+? No – but the whole is far, far more than the sum of its parts, and only an absolute cretin would doubt that King 810 have made one of the most refreshing debut records in a decade.

But are they worthy of the hype surrounding them? Only time will tell. There are moments here where the violence of Flint appears to be glorified rather than chronicled. That’s not to say that ‘Memoirs….’ engages in cheap thrills (it is a harrowing piece of music), but you do wonder if the subject of over-bearing violence might have been treated with far, far greater sensitivity. Had that been the case, King 810 might have produced an album that was provocative rather than just provoking.

I'll be seeing these guys tomorrow night Binnie. Thanks for the review!

[binnie]

Slash with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators – World On Fire (2014)

There are two facts you need to know about Slash: 1) he played on one of the greatest albums ever made; and 2) it came out 27 years ago. That’s not meant to sound snippy. Some of the stuff Slash has done since then has been great (‘Ain’t Life Grand’) and much of it has been good (‘Velvet Revolver’), but could you really say, hand on heart, that Slash’s status as a guitar-player is matched by the calibre of material he’s played on? There’s nothing wrong with Velvet Revolver per se, but no-one is sat around equally anticipating the release of their b-sides; and Slash’s previous solo record – ‘Apocalyptic Love’ (2012) – sounded exactly like what it was – an unimaginatively solid rock record made by middle-aged men all too aware of the fact that they’d only ever play a handful of its tunes on the subsequent tour. Not bad; but far from exciting.

It is comforting, then, to report that ‘World On Fire’ pisses all over ‘Apocalyptic Love’. There are moments here with serious vim, verve and lust. Sure, you know the solos are going to be good and that Slash has a seemingly endless supply of serpentine riffs, but you didn’t know that he had songs left in him like this. The title-track kicks things off with piss ‘n’ vinegar – a superb rock ‘n’ roll belter propelled by a euphoric Kennedy chorus. ‘Withered Delilah’ kicks like a mule and features the sort of riff you’d sell a kidney to write; ‘Beneath The Savage Sun’ – which is about elephant poaching – is impassioned and rips from the speakers; ‘Battleground’ is a beautiful, affecting ballad which screams ‘radio play’; and ’30 Years To Life’ features one of Kennedy’s best hooks. You often hear that rock is dying – here is proof that it ain’t.

It’s a shame, however, that these songs aren’t given the opportunity to really shine. The sad fact is that they become lost in the surrounding clutter of an over-bloated album. No blues-based hard rock record needs to be 77 minutes long and feature 17 – seven-fucking-teen – songs. The world did not need to hear duds like ‘Stone Blind’ (cliché alert: man flees over-bearing women), ‘The Dissident’ (a b-side if I’ve ever heard one) and the instrumental ‘Safari Inn’). Nor did we need the Alter Bridge-lite power ballad ‘Bent To Fly’. And it’s also true that sometimes Kennedy fits into this band like a nun in a brothel. ‘Dirty Girl’ and ‘Automatic Overdrive’ possess sizzling riff, but Kennedy’s attempts to do sleaze sound excruciatingly uncomfortable. No-one could deny that he has an remarkable set of pipes. But he’s not a baddass – Slash’s band should be 4 tough dudes, not 3 men and a baby.

‘World On Fire’ is ultimately a good record overcooked. In straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll, less is more. Slash knows this about guitar playing – now all he needs to do is to learn it about album production, too.

[binnie]

King 810 – Memoirs of A Murderer (2014)

I am normally highly suspicious of hype, and few bands in the past 10 years have received more hype than King 810. Hailing from the darkened streets of Flint, Michigan, this bunch of tough-guys know what it’s like to see the dark side of urban decline and poverty – they, we are told, bring a much needed grittiness to the metal scene. They – to borrow urban parlance – are ‘real’. Excuse me while I stroke my chin.

Not that ‘Memoirs….’ isn’t a good debut record – it is a very good debut record – but I’m not sure it needs the hype (or the overbearing spoken interludes from vocalist David Guin telling us how badass his life is) to sell it. Musically, King 810 are incredibly inventive. Is it metal? Not necessarily be conventional standards: not all of the songs feature heavy guitars, there’s certainly no nod to conventional sub-genres (Death, Thrash, metalcore), and much of what is here is not even riff-driven. Indeed, King 810 owe as much to punk, country and goth as they do Iron Maiden or Black Sabbath. And in that sense, ‘Memoirs…’ is incredibly refreshing. Honest, even. But lyrically – whilst certainly unconventional – the themes quickly become tired: guns, knives, gangs, urban neglect and the suffocation that comes with it. ‘Write what you know…’ they say – but you have to wonder how much of this is contrived. That sense of doubt leaves the record feeling ever so slightly incomplete.

It’s hard not to be impressed, however. Opener ‘Killem All’ sounds like early Slipknot: intense, abrasive and channelling the vital eeriness of Nu Metal to highly effective ends. ‘Best Nite Of My Life’ welds hardcore to some brutal bottom-end and comes on with a psychotic intensity. Elsewhere, the acoustic ‘Take It’ is highly affective, and approaches the claustrophobic grandeur of Nick Cave, with the harrowing ‘Devil Don’t Cry’ trumping it as an exercise in the macabre. Few bands could switch styles so comfortably and still make the results feel like a complete record. Are all of the 16 songs here A+? No – but the whole is far, far more than the sum of its parts, and only an absolute cretin would doubt that King 810 have made one of the most refreshing debut records in a decade.

But are they worthy of the hype surrounding them? Only time will tell. There are moments here where the violence of Flint appears to be glorified rather than chronicled. That’s not to say that ‘Memoirs….’ engages in cheap thrills (it is a harrowing piece of music), but you do wonder if the subject of over-bearing violence might have been treated with far, far greater sensitivity. Had that been the case, King 810 might have produced an album that was provocative rather than just provoking.

[binnie]

Thrash Back: Vektor – Black Future (2010)

Reviewing Vektor ultimately equates to struggling to compensate for the inadequacy of language. There are, simply, no adjectices which come close to suitably encapsulating the power of this band. ‘Vicious’, ‘furious’, ‘maniachal’ ‘vituperative’, ‘caustic’ – none of these words comes close to capturing the combination of relentless aggression and ambitious display of musical dexterity that this debut record encapsulates. Faster than Usein Bolt suffering from a bout of the shits, and more inventive than Tony Blair’s PR team, this is Thrash which manages to be progressive without diluting the savage intensity which is at the core of all great metal. ‘Black Future’ should be heralded as a metal classic.

The title-track is a beast of a song. Riff after riff after motherfucking riff keeps coming as the song spirals through time-changes and multiple sections. ‘Oblivion’ features riffs which sound the way you wish Metallica would – metal played on the edge of broken souls, wounded and raging. Nods to Mercyful Fate and Celtic Frost dynamics make things sound twisted and macabre, but those influences come in a very contemporary dress. ‘Forests of Legend’ is 10 minutes which sound like nothing you’ve ever heard, a piece of music that is at once beautiful, inspiring and possessed and shot-through with the feavered energy which makes metal great. The guitars sound like light dying. ‘Destroying the Cosmos’ sounds like its title suggests – an epic of demented proportions; and on ‘Asteroid’ and ‘Hunger for Violence’ Vektor prove that they can out-Thrash ANYONE. This is some of the heaviest stuff these ears have ever heard – the sort of music that approaches a Converge-like intensity.

Guitarist Erik Nelson solos like a man with 10 fingers on each hand and a brain wired backwards. The energy and savagery of his tone drives this album forward, compelled by the frenetic energy of drummer Blake Anderson. This is futurist playing for futuristic themes – outer space, DNA and the apocalypse. Perfect themes for epic, metal-strewn sonic tapestries. On 12-minutes closer ‘Accelerating Universe’ music becomes cinematic – the band take in Pink Floyd, Camel, and Isis. As Opeth gave Black Metal a creative shot in the arm, so Vektor do the same for Thrash.

There is a lot of music here. But multiple listens prove rewarding. Unlike much Thrash metal, in which songs become ephemeral in the face of the hypnotic onslaught of riffs, Vektor manage to make songs which are lasting. One of the most exciting bands on the planet.

[binnie]

Thrash Back: The Haunted – The Haunted (1998)

The Haunted’s debut album unleashed a Thrash classic on the world at a point when no-one was making them. The ‘90s saw a decline – we might even say a drought – in Thrash, as 3 of the Big 4 opted to move into more commercial musical climates and everyone else bought a plaid shirt, some heroin, and started whinging. But then these five dudes from Sweden ripped the metal world a new one. Emerging from the ashes of seminal Death Metal band At The Gates, The Haunted injected the classic Thrash template with hardcore bullishness and modern production which essentially set the bar for heavy music for the next decaded. Indeed, many of the metalcore bands which emerged in the ‘00s should be all rights pay The Haunted an honourary royalty for each of their records.

Nothing was contrived here: this was a wholly honest blast of aggression seething with hunger. Opener ‘Hate Song’ marries tort, lean guitars with the muscularity of hardcore to produce a bile-fuelled sound that bites its way out of the speakers. ‘Chasm’ is the bastard love-child of Slayer and The Cro Mags, a whirlpool of rage which was ready-made for mosh pits across the globe. But it wasn’t just the heaviness – or the intensity – which made this killer: the songwriting was excellent. ‘Invein’ features a chorus which could level cities, and by all rights should be a metal anthem; and ‘Choke Hold’ is as dementedly fast and relentlessly heavy as anything from Thrash’s heyday – riff this could need to be heard. ‘Now You Know’ takes the Thrash template and injects it with rhythmic quirks and bullish machismo that injected the genre with new life for the twenty first century. By the time you get to ‘Shattered’, your brain has turned to goo…..MOSH……MOSH…..MOSH…… RAAAARRR. It’s some of the best – and purest – heavy music you’ll ever hear.

The guitars of Patrik Jensen and Andreas Bjorler were the key to this maniacal display of power, laying down riff after killer riff which far more successful American bands would shamelessly plagiarise in future years. And in Peter Dolving, The Haunted had a truly special vocalist and lyricist whose sense of melody and timing takes every song up a notch. ‘The Haunted’ was a special record released at a time when the landscape of true metal was parched and barren. 15 years later, it still sounds like it could kill you at 50 paces. Lamb Of God are often hailed as the saviours of modern metal – they’ve never done anything which comes close to this.

[binnie]

Thrash Back: Exhorder - The Law (1992)

From the vaults: Exhorder - The Law (1992)

Popular wisdom suggests that the first wave of a musical genre is generally substantially better than those that follow. Exhorder offer one of history's exceptions. This 3rd wave thrash band released two classic - and I mean CLASSIC - albums: 'Slaughter In The Vatican' and 'The Law'. They stand up there with the likes of Testament, Death Angel, Exodus or Forbidden. What Exhorder added was a burst of new ideas, and a variety on the classic sound. The guitar sound here is rich and muscular, with plenty of bottom end to beef-up the sound; and Kyle Thomas's groove-ridden, soulful vocals have since been hugely influential - you can tell Phil Anselmo was listening.

What Exhorder realized is that speed doesn't necessarily equal power. Mixing extremes of tempos (death-defyingly fast with skull-numbingly slow) added dexterity and crunch to the songs and is a pattern which so many bands have emulated in subsequent years (most noticeably Machine Head, who have perfected it). With so much groove, power and crunch, comparrisons with Pantera are obvious. Exhorder certainly didn't have the songs to punch with that band; nor did they have the guitar pyrotechnics; but - as the likes of '(Cadence of) The Dirge' demonstrated - they did have the power. The heaviness here is oppressive. Opener 'Soul Searching' is bestial and savage, and could trade blows with anything any heavy band have put out in the last 20 years; and the leaden cover of Sabbath's 'Into The Void' is the sound of heavy being re-defined. In 1992 this was the sound of a game being upped. Metallica had taken metal into the mainstream; Megadeth were intent on making it more technical; and Anthrax were evolving away from their thrash roots. With Exodus, Forbidden, Death Angel and Possessed all having produced their best work, the unbriddled fury which had characterized thrash metal was in danger of passing. Exhorder played a significant role in keeping metal uncomplicated and powerful, and as a watershed album this remains pivotal.

Perhaps 'The Law' was not as complete a record as 'Slaughter....' In truth, their are too many ideas - both musically and lyrically - in some of these songs, a fact which prevents them gelling as compositions. But when it all comes together, like on the title cut or 'Unforgiven', it is quite special. Meat and potatoes metal subject matter such as anti-religion and corrupt society are considered in the lyrics, but they sit alongside other subjects - namely morality and mortality - which show a band striving to push boundaries. Sometimes Thomas reaches for profound and grabs purple, but the ambition is admirable. Kyle Thomas might be metal's forgotten man. Alongside Exhorder, he handled vocals in another chronically underrated band: Floodgate. Both deserve your attention.

[binnie]

Thrash Back: Testament – The Formation of Damnation (2008)

The album that put Testament back on the map is also the best album they have ever made. And in a back catalogue as illustriuous as their’s, that is really saying something. Release in the same year as Metallica’s ‘Death Magnetic’ and Megadeth’s ‘Endgame’ here was a record which crushed both – faster, heavier and far, far more focussed, Testament here put one over of two of the ‘Big 4’ by releasing a record with all the hallmarks of classic Thrash but injected into a style a production which was highly relevant in the 21st century. Put simply, there is no filler and everything oozes class: Eric Peterson produced his best set of songs; Paul Bostaph show-cased his chops as one of metal’s very best drummers, acting as hurricane up the band’s ass; Chuck Billy’s hooks – always Testament’s secret weapon, and the thing that elevated them from the rest of the Thrash pack – were sharper than they’d ever been; and the returing Alex Skolnick shredded like he had 25 fingers on each hand. ‘Formation….’ Might very well be the best Thrash album released since the end of genre’s heyday.

Opening instrumental ‘For The Glory Of’ bursts into ‘More Than Meets The Eye’ in a classic ‘Hellion/Electric Eye’ style. It showcases some of the heaviest music this reviewer has ever heard – Thrash with the sophistication and muscularity of a 21st century production led to something that was, frankly, GIGANTIC. ‘The Evil Has Landed’ is awash with the drama, darkness and twisted power perfectly suited to its subject-matter: the 9/11 attacks. That this song feels much more epic than its 5 minute length is a testament (geddit?) to the quality of the band’s song-writing dynamics. The title-track is pure Thrash of the order that will make your neck ache and your throat hoarse – it feels like something from ‘New Order’ on steroids. ‘The Persecuted Won’t Forget’ matches it with speeds, intensity and venomosity of riff.

But what really stands out about ‘Formation…’ is the variety. ‘Dangers of The Faithless’ showcases Testament’s more melodic side, and Chuck Billy serves up a killer chorus straight from the blood red skies. ‘Killing Season’ has the crunch and hulking weight of mid-paced Metallica, whilst ‘Leave Me Forever’ is more free-form and progressive, switching from psychedelia to something pounding – simultaneously eerie and epically heavy, it also features the most bile-ridden of Chuck Billy’s vocal performances. Chilling.

Plenty of bands make Thrash records that are heavy; some even manage to capture to hypnotically captivating violence of the genre’s ‘80s heyday. What Testament achieved here, however, was more than that. ‘Formation…’ was a Thrash record without even the faintest whiff of throwback about it, a record which showed that this music could be highly relevant in a new century; and, far, far more importantly, it was just heavy, it was often emotive. And when a metal band achieves that, the result are as memorable as they are affecting.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

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[PETE'S BROTHER]

I don't have FB, so that link doesn't work for me. He was at the show in Flint last night?

si

[binnie]

I've heard good things about Avatar, but I've yet to check 'em out.

[binnie]

Hey binnie. What are your thoughts on the "stoner" (or whatever the label is for that type of music) genre? You may have reviewed some of these types of bands, but I didn't take a look. I've recently checked out Weedeater, Fu Manchu and Orange Goblin. They all have good stuff, but nothing that made me want to run out and buy CDs. Then I came across The Black Code by Wo Fat. Man, what a good album. I was so impressed I actually did buy the CD.

I love stoner rock (if you look at the index on page 25 you'll see I've reviewed some of those bands). Kyuss are the place to start ('Blues For The Red Sun' is THE stoner record) with Monster Magnet a close second, imo (check out 'Spine Of God', 'Superjudge' or, for a more overtly rocky vibe, 'Powertrip'). I love Orange Goblin, although they're more metal than stoner, and Fu Manchu, too - 'We Must Obey' and 'King Of The Road' by the latter are well worth you're time.

[Von Halen]

my cousin matt was at that show



https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...0117746&type=1

I don't have FB, so that link doesn't work for me. He was at the show in Flint last night?