Album Reviews

[binnie]

I heard Super Collider on the radio the other night. Sounded super pedestrian to me.

The title track is the worst song on it, but the rest of the disc is very good. Not as strong as 'United Abominations' or 'Endgame', but still a very, very good record.

[binnie]

From the vaults: Ihsahn – After (2010)

Recent years have seen ex-Emperor man Ihsahn become one of metal’s most inspiring artists. Whilst the likes of Steve Wilson, Opeth or the demented genius that is Devin Townsend might get more press and plaudits, in truth none of those men is making music which welds together the delicate and the powerful quite so majestically as Ihsahn. The black metal roots are still present in ‘After’, but they are one element in a rich composition which takes in everything from classic rock to extreme metal. Epic arrangements, jazz elements and huge swathes of prog creates a soundscape rich in textures a lavish in its warmth. Even the saxophone is integrated into the sound where you would expect it to stand out like a nun in a brothel.

‘The Barren Lands’ opens with luscious guitar before giving way to some beautiful doom. ‘A Grace Inversed’ shows the depths of Ihsahn’s talent, welding blast-beats with jazz and saxophone – it should sound like a mess, but it is captivatingly effective; and the title-track spans quiescent ‘70s prog to crushingly heavy doom in an incredibly moving take on the afterlife which sees Ihsahn showcasing how strong his clean vocals are. ‘Undercurrent’ is awash with propulsive rhythms and jet-black heaviness injected with staggering sonic landscapes whilst, in stark contrast, ‘Austere’ evokes Katatonia, delicate and somber metal in which organs and hushed tones give way to a hard rock epic of Zeppelin proportions. It’s dazzling, effortlessly powerful stuff – but unlike the Devin Townsend’s or Steve Wilson’s of the world, it’s never knowingly clever and resists the urge to berate you with its brilliance.

There is a lot of music to take in here. But it is a credit to Ihsahn’s skill as a songwriter that it never teeters over into overwhelming or self-indulgent. Alongside ‘angl’ and ‘Eremita’ what we have here is perhaps the greatest trilogy of albums in the modern age of heavy music and one which deserves to be spoken of in hallowed, Floydian tones.

[binnie]

I will get round to reviewing the new Alice In Chains album in the next couple of weeks.

Airbourne's new disc will also be reviewed soon.

Apologies for being a bit slow out of the blocks on both.

[binnie]

Airbourne – Black Dog Barking (2013)

Airbourne are to subtlety what a tribe of pygmies are to the triple jump. This bunch of Australian hard rockers – surprise, surprise, they sound an awful lot like (1980’s) AC/DC and Rose Tattoo – employ the ‘three bs’ approach to subject matter (birds, booze and brawls) with abandon and over the course of three albums have crafted out a begrudging respect amongst the metal community. Live, they are unstoppable. But on record, many have muted, their branch of nostalgic hard rock is somewhat unsatisfying: why not just listen to the originals? ‘Black Dog Barking’ – album number 3 – will do little to satiate those doubters. Little has changed in a fundamental sense, but that’s not to say that there’s no development here. Album number 2 – ‘No Guts, No Glory’ (2010) – was a rushed affair. This time out, however, both the crafting of the songs and the quality (or, rather, polish) of the production has increased dramatically. They’ve mentioned a respect for Mutt Lange in interviews, and whilst ‘Black Dog Barking’ certainly displays signs of the Swedes’ production (multi-layered vocal harmonies and a HUGE sound), the added sheen may have dulled the bite that made Airbourne’s debut so captivating. The preening nature of the production is certainly a mile away from the bands ferocious live sets.

There’s certainly much to like, however. ‘Ready To Rock’ has all the hallmarks of a set opener, and is propelled by sizzling hooks and lusty chorus. ‘Animalize’ announces this records poppier intentions, and squeezes Def Leppard hooks into ‘DC quake; whilst the title-track is a rock ‘n’ roll anthem awash with all of the menace of a slugger on the prowl. In truth, Airbourne emulate their influences very well indeed. Whether you like the oh-so-Sunset sound of ‘Back in the Game’ or the po-faced take on Steel Panther that is ‘No One Fits Me (Better Than You)’ will ultimately be a matter of where you stand on a) nostalgia and b) crash sexism. But even their biggest critic would have to grant that Airbourne are a helluva lot of fun. How much longer that fun can last for a band this derivative is a separate question. Heck, the opening of ‘Live It Up’ is a complete pastiche of ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ – but after two spins, you’ll be singing it anyway.

They may be the band least likely to make a concept album based on the works of Leo Tolstoy and featuring a 3 minute obo solo, but Airbourne certainly have their merits.

[binnie]

Black Star Riders – All Hell Breaks Lose (2013)

Black Star Riders are a confused band. Built from the remnants of the band which toured as ‘Thin Lizzy’ (original Lizzy drummer Brian Downey stepped aside and is replaced here by journeyman Jimmy Degrasso), they announced their intention to continue making music with that legendary moniker, before bottling it half-way through making this record upon realizing that the negative press that would ensue would be counter-productive. Or, perhaps they realized that without Phil Lynott these songs fuck all like Thin Lizzy. Either way, dropping the moniker is not a bad thing in its self. What is a bad thing, however, is not knowing who or what you are. For this is the sound of a band that existed as ‘Thin Lizzy’ trying not to sound like Thin Lizzy whilst performing songs originally written with Thin Lizzy in mind. Me either…………

In truth, this is a decent enough rock band featuring some experienced hands and – in the presence of Lizzy axeman Scott Gorham – one legend. But legends are not always excellent songwriters, and Gorham does not do much of the pen-work here. That task is left to fellow guitar player Damon Johnson and ex-Almighty man Ricky Warwick. The latter has the un-enviable task of filling Lynott’s shadow. In the live arena, it must be said, he has done this exceptionally well and with considerable respect (noting that he ‘stands beside Phil’s shoes’ is a nice touch). Here, he often drops into parody by copying Lynott’s turn of phrase and vocal nuances. Whilst those moments are rare, they’re enough to be unconvincing – added into to that that Warwick’s voice is much better suited to more aggressive and heavy music and the whole feels a little contrived. But perhaps the bigger problem is the relative subdued nature of the performance. Johnson does not play well off Gorham, and often these songs scream for guitar histrionics. When the patented Lizzy harmonies do emerge, they also feel somewhat forced.

That’s not to say that there aren’t moments here. ‘Hey Judas’ has a great Warwick hook and is a punchy little anthem; the title-track is peppered with piss ‘n’ vinegar; the Gaelic fury of ‘Kingdom Of the Lost’ smashes punk into folk with venomous results (although it sounds an awful lot like Warwick’s solo work); and ‘Bloodshot’, which features some tasty Gorham licks, is the sort of rock ‘n’ roll we were hoping for. It’s just a shame that the record is marred with mediocrity – surely everyone involved with this project is better than characterless, cliché-driven drivel of ‘Someday Salvation’, ‘Kissin’ the Ground’ and ‘Hoodoo Voodoo’? Maybe a dirtier production – Kevin Shirely’s work is remarkably polite here – would have helped.

But you know what, despite the cliches, despite the rather restrained performances, and despite the myriad of other problems, I can’t help but quite like ‘All Hell Breaks Loose’. Maybe it’s because I wanted to. But you have to ask this: if a band without the legacy involved here performed these songs to an A&R man, would they get signed? On the evidence here, you’d have to assume it would be no sure thing…………..

[binnie]

Skid Row – United World Rebellion: chapter 1 (2013)

Yes, it’s a silly title. No-one in Skid Row is rebelling against anything. Except, perhaps, their own legacy. It is an awful thing to witness a once great band limp on long after their sell-by date. Johnny Solinger has now been the singer in Skid Row for a far longer period of time than Sebastian Bach ever was, but in that period of time the band has managed to notch up two studio albums – ‘Thickskin’ (2003) and ‘Revolutions Per Minute’ (2006) - and this, the first of several Eps they promise to release in the coming years. Like those former post-Bach records, it’s an odd affair: still built upon a mix of hard rock and a dabble of punk (like their classic records were), it is essentially a dirge of abrasive sounds floundering around to feel edgy. Solinger himself is a decent enough singer and seems to be the sole member here with real fire in his belly – but you have to admit that Skid Row in 2013 have very little in common with what they once sounded like. Striving for the new in order to avoid becoming a nostalgia act is commendable, but when you leave the ballpark in which you once played it becomes either contrived or aimless. More importantly, however, we have to remember that this was a hair metal band that it was cool to like – a band who could sell millions of records but still have some genuinely heavy music and an street-wise ‘fuck you’ attitude. In that sense, ‘Slave To The Grind’ (1991) may have been a gateway album to heavier metal in a way that Pantera’s ‘Vulgar Display of Power’ (released a year later) was. But here, that once innovative, stratosphere crushing 8-ball of hedonism and anger is reduced to putting out 20 minutes of new music in 7 years. That it sounds like it was knocked up in a garage only adds insult to injury.

There are some glimmers, however. Opener ‘Kings Of Demolition’ is big, brash and ballsy, and has a cool Sabo riff. And ‘Get Up’ is by far the best tune here – proof, it seems, that the Sabo/Bolan writing team can still serve up killer tunes when they want to. Clumsy politics aside, with a chorus like this much can be forgiven. But get past these moments and all you’re left with is absence. No killer solos, no real anthem moments, and no sass and groove that was so crucial to Skid Row’s bite. ‘United World Rebellion’ is not even self-parody. It’s worth than that: it’s self-immolation.

(Hurts to say these things – I am a HUGE Skid Row fan. You just know that they can do better).

[Von Halen]

Binnie, you have a knack for writing interesting and entertaining album reviews. Thanks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[binnie]

Cheers Von.

I do my best........

[binnie]

Attica Rage – Road Dog (2011)

This record has clearly been done on a budget – there is something decidedly home-made about the artwork, absence of linear-notes and printing here – but don’t let that act as a comment on the quality of the music. Attica Rage may be an underground band, but few are more deserving of major label exposure because, put simply, they make heavy music that is just so joyous. This is ‘Metal’ wit a capital ‘M’. The component parts are Maiden, Priest, Motorhead (and the rest of your record collection) but this bunch of Scottish firebrands do much, much more than engage in slavish emulation, and channel their influences through a distinctive sound and contemporary nuances. Hooky, and rampantly melodic, even at their most polished these songs never lose the swills of the bar room, and testament to the fact that sometimes ‘raw’ (read: low budget) production works by adding flavours that bigger purse could not.

Each of the 14 songs here is distinctive: ‘Altered Metal’ is classic metal; ‘Ashamed’ is the stadium-filling soft/heavy dynamics of Foo Fighters played with balls; ‘Hacked For Vanity’ is metal injected with both post-grunge and psychedelic elements; and the ballad ‘Through the Inner Eye’ is HUGE – when the Karma To Burn inspired riff kicks in, it’s all over people. If you’re not grinning like a sex-addict in a brothel during the blokey-emotions of ‘Road Dog Forever’ then it’s time to cash-in your membership of the metal club. You do get the sense at times that Attica Rage are not quite sure who or what they are – some of the songs are very heavy, some more commercial – but perhaps that to be expected from a band working on their own without an experienced producer to guide them. Faced with a performance as infectious as this, you really hope that happens because bands like this ARE rock ‘n’ roll – the beating heart and yearning limbs of what makes it all happen. ‘Road Dog’ is well worth an hour of your life, and bands like this need your support now more than ever.

[binnie]

Queens Of The Stone Age – Clockwork (2013)

It’s not Kyuss. If you are waiting – 15 years in – for QOTSA to make a record like their leader’s former group, you really must be pathological. QOTSA have never been as thunderously heavy, have always been more song than jam based, and work through the injection of a certain amount of weirdness into their music – think Captain Beefheart or Black Francis – instead of relying solely on juddering guitar power. Even those who don’t get it would have to admit that QOTSA are one of the most interesting bands to garner mainstream success in recent years. Recent records – ‘Lullabies To Paralyse’ (2005) and ‘Era Vulgaris’ (2007) – felt less purposeful and focused than what came before, as the desert rock power of the first three records gave way to something which drew from a broader palette. ‘Clockwork’ continues that evolution. This album is not a guitarmageddon cluster-bomb – but it is a rich, beautifully written piece of rock music and easily the best thing which QOTSA have done in a decade. If on ‘Era Vulgaris’ all of the band’s myriad influences unfolded and collapsed in on themselves; on ‘Clockwork’ they pull together into something tight and compelling.

Lyrically it’s a sombre affair. The hedonism of the early records is long gone, largely in response to the sobering experience of nearly dying on an operating table several years ago. ‘Clockwork’, then, is an emotionally richer record than you might expect from QOTSA – perhaps not as instantaneous as you might have hoped, but it repays multiple listens. Opener ‘Keep Your Eyes Peeled’ begins with piano and woozy guitar, before picking up into scorching hard rock around the 3 minute mark. And there’s plenty of hard rock bite elsewhere, too. ‘My God Is The Sun’ is propelled by juddering rhythms and jaded guitars; whilst ‘Kalopsia’ is Bowie at his most jagged, and the best thing this band have done in ages. But there are other hues here too. ‘If I Had A Tail’ is pure Tom Waits, but with a decidely Wagnerian undertone too; whilst ‘The Vampyre of Time And Memory’ is piano-led simplicity, and is stunningly delicate; and ‘Fairweather Friends’ comes close to Mott The Hoople and Bad Co, an organic bluesy rock which hearkens back to a time before genre labels made music cluttered, and less pure.

If you’re not convinced that Josh Homme has the voice to front a rock band, nothing here will change your opinion. You’d have to admit that it is certainly distinctive, however. And if the band’s desire to head off on tangents frustrates you, then you will be frustrated here, too (‘I Appear Missing’ wanders like a drunken cleptomaniac at a flea market). But whatever your view, it seems indisputable that QOTSA have something very unique and have proven themselves remarkably reluctant to engage with anything outside of their own bubble. We might call them ‘captivatingly quirky’. Like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, QOTSA are a band who manage to fill arenas despite being so willfully idiosyncratic – cuckoos in the rock ‘n’ roll nest that just refuse to go away.

[78/84 guy]

Black Star Riders – All Hell Breaks Lose (2013)

Black Star Riders are a confused band. Built from the remnants of the band which toured as ‘Thin Lizzy’ (original Lizzy drummer Brian Downey stepped aside and is replaced here by journeyman Jimmy Degrasso), they announced their intention to continue making music with that legendary moniker, before bottling it half-way through making this record upon realizing that the negative press that would ensue would be counter-productive. Or, perhaps they realized that without Phil Lynott these songs fuck all like Thin Lizzy. Either way, dropping the moniker is not a bad thing in its self. What is a bad thing, however, is not knowing who or what you are. For this is the sound of a band that existed as ‘Thin Lizzy’ trying not to sound like Thin Lizzy whilst performing songs originally written with Thin Lizzy in mind. Me either…………

In truth, this is a decent enough rock band featuring some experienced hands and – in the presence of Lizzy axeman Scott Gorham – one legend. But legends are not always excellent songwriters, and Gorham does not do much of the pen-work here. That task is left to fellow guitar player Damon Johnson and ex-Almighty man Ricky Warwick. The latter has the un-enviable task of filling Lynott’s shadow. In the live arena, it must be said, he has done this exceptionally well and with considerable respect (noting that he ‘stands beside Phil’s shoes’ is a nice touch). Here, he often drops into parody by copying Lynott’s turn of phrase and vocal nuances. Whilst those moments are rare, they’re enough to be unconvincing – added into to that that Warwick’s voice is much better suited to more aggressive and heavy music and the whole feels a little contrived. But perhaps the bigger problem is the relative subdued nature of the performance. Johnson does not play well off Gorham, and often these songs scream for guitar histrionics. When the patented Lizzy harmonies do emerge, they also feel somewhat forced.

That’s not to say that there aren’t moments here. ‘Hey Judas’ has a great Warwick hook and is a punchy little anthem; the title-track is peppered with piss ‘n’ vinegar; the Gaelic fury of ‘Kingdom Of the Lost’ smashes punk into folk with venomous results (although it sounds an awful lot like Warwick’s solo work); and ‘Bloodshot’, which features some tasty Gorham licks, is the sort of rock ‘n’ roll we were hoping for. It’s just a shame that the record is marred with mediocrity – surely everyone involved with this project is better than characterless, cliché-driven drivel of ‘Someday Salvation’, ‘Kissin’ the Ground’ and ‘Hoodoo Voodoo’? Maybe a dirtier production – Kevin Shirely’s work is remarkably polite here – would have helped.

But you know what, despite the cliches, despite the rather restrained performances, and despite the myriad of other problems, I can’t help but quite like ‘All Hell Breaks Loose’. Maybe it’s because I wanted to. But you have to ask this: if a band without the legacy involved here performed these songs to an A&R man, would they get signed? On the evidence here, you’d have to assume it would be no sure thing…………..

Hmmm... I thought the songs I did hear were great. I ordered it . But I also don't buy into the oh this was going to be the new Thin Lizzy. I couldn't care less most of these guy's toured using that name. It means nothing but trying to sell tickets. Nobody compared Rainbow to Deep Purple for the most part. Gorham & Warwick were smart enough to fiqure out why bother pissing people off using the Lizzy name for new songs ! Is it ground breaking ? No. But it's a good rock record. Those are hard to find these day's. Why worry about what it was going to be and enjoy it for what it is. A good rock record. Johnson is a awesome player & song writer.

[binnie]

I certainly enjoy the Black Star Riders record, but there's really nothing there that's stunning and even the most generous ears would have to admit that there is some filler there.

Without the 'Thin Lizzy' connection no-one would really pay it much attention, so I understand why they play it up. However, there is a confused sense to the record: it was clearly planned as Thin Lizzy mark 2, and then they pulled back from it - it feels a little unbalanced as a result.

And there are plenty of decent rock records released these days. The sad fact is that the music media isn't really interested in them.

[binnie]

From the vaults: Obituary – Cause Of Death (1990)

At the turn of the ‘90s Florida Death Metal wunderkids Obituary released a brace of albums – ‘Slowly We Rot’ (1989) and ‘Cause Of Death’ (1990) – which both helped to define an emerging genre and spun it in fresh directions. Almost a quarter of a century on they still have considerable impact, if for very different reasons from when they were initially heard – where in 1990 Obituary were potentially overwhelming, about as extreme as any band on the planet; in 2013 it is the relative restraint (as far as modern extreme metal goes) that surprises. Where much Death Metal in 2013 is a willy-waiving competition of complexity and endurance, a pro-tooled to pristine perfection statement of technical brilliance, Obituary were crusty, wounded and often devastatingly simple. There is a warmth – and, it must be said, added evil – to the sheer primitive nature of the music on ‘Cause Of Death’. That’s not to say that it’s unsophisticated, but rather to note that displaying sophistication was not the aim of the game. Rather, bowel-loosening scariness was what Obituary aimed for. And they achieved it in glorious, ‘I’m grinning like I’m about to disembowel you’ abandon. The songs revolve around a demented barrage of tempos lurched together in ways that shouldn’t work, but do.

The songs second time out where slightly more distinctive on the debut, and in Scott Burns Obituary found a producer who simplified and found added depth through a sparser approach. As with all Obituary records the sheer weight of this record comes from two sources: Trevor Peres’ skin-melting guitar tone (surely the ugliest sound ever ripped from a six-string?); and John Tardy’s otherworldly guttural vocals. Proof that the latter is ever human is yet to be found, his whirlwind of guttural terror adding something more abrasive than most Death Metal vocalists can even dream about delivering. Opener ‘Infected’ is sloooooow, bruising Death Metal shot-through with a brooding, hulking groove; whilst the title-track is almost formless in places, and was experimental for its time in showcasing the levels of extremity which this sort of metal could achieve. Elsewhere the horror-schlock of ‘Body Bag’ and ‘Chopped In Half’ as exercises in darkened simplicity; and ‘Circle Of Tyrants’ (a Celtic Frost cover) is terrfying heavily, welding together a series of all-time classic riffs with frightening power. New lead guitarist James Murphy (Testament, Death, Cancer) added a whole other dimension and colour to proceedings – never over-widdling, his distinctive approach to noise-terror is the perfect foil to Tardy’s vocals.

Obituary met the challenge of earlier US Death Metal here. Never as technical as Death, their’s was an approach much closer in spirit to Autopsy: bludgeon, tar-black groove and gore. Perhaps it was the Floridian context, but you always sensed that there was something swamp-like about this music – oppressive, dangerous and having way more beneath the surface than may first appear.

[ODShowtime]

Their’s was a sound of laid-back, slacker fuelled rock ‘n’ roll crafted around cooler-than-cool tones and bourbon stained licks. And at the tail of the ‘80s they were like no-one else. Grunge before anyone had heard of grunge, and Southern Fried hard rock before anyone gave a rat’s ass about The Black Crowes, this was music with songs, depth and feel first. Hard rockin’ certainly, but the range of references here was so much wider
Just listen.

Yep I'm buyin' this.

Great review of the new QOTSA album but no mention of the dirty funky Smooth Sailing?

[binnie]

Yep I'm buyin' this.

Great review of the new QOTSA album but no mention of the dirty funky Smooth Sailing?

Cheers, man.

I try to avoid song-by-song reviews because I always feel they're overlong and read like a list. I just try to give a sense of (how I hear) the album. If I'm honest, I've always struggled with QOTSA - I've always respected them, but they don't always excite me. But the new one is the best they've sounded for years.