BLACK SABBATH - 13 (2013)

Genre(s): Heavy/Doom Metal

Label: Vertigo Records

Rating: 7.5/10

I know this blog is supposed to be dedicated to the reviewing of extreme metal, and I've reviewed a number of non-extreme doom or sludge bands lately, but I'd be remiss if I didn't review the new Black Sabbath; it's sort of necessary for any metal blog. Black Sabbath return to the throne of kings of heavy with this album. Unfortunately, they were too cheap to bring Bill Ward along for drums, and that would have undoubtedly earned the album a higher score. On session drums is Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk, who does a suitable job, although he's no Bill Ward.

The first track, a doomy one, is entitled "End of the Beginning," and the classic Iommi riffage is there. After a distorted intro, it quiets down to clean guitars, reminiscent of the song "Black Sabbath." When Ozzy's vocals kick in, the listener is still not sure whether or not Ozzy can perform at where he used to... Then at 1:51, when the distorted guitars come in, Ozzy lays all suspicion to rest. He sounds better than he's sounded in decades. At roughly the 3:00 mark, a groovy moment comes in, leading to a bridge. It should be noted also that just as Iommi's riffs are killer, the bass is amazing on this album; Geezer just plain rules. Then a guitar solo comes in, pretty simple bluesy solo, followed by an outro riff. There's another solo that's more modal in nature. The next track, which starts off soft, is called "God is Dead?" Triumphant sounding riffage abounds. The chorus is where it really shines. "The blood runs free/The rain turns red/Give me the wine/You keep the bread/The voices echo in my head/Is God alive or is God dead?" goes the chorus. The riff behind it sounds evil, desperately evil, and you just want to sing along to it. What we'll call "Section C" has a pretty sinister feel, and leads into another chorus. This is followed by the intro again, which leads into another rocking section, definitely heavy. Then, a bridge with a guitar solo over it, and Geezer sort of going nuts under it. Once this is over, a final chorus comes in. "Loner" is a traditional heavy metal song in the Sabbath style. It's honestly a middling song relative to some of the other songs on this album. "Zeitgeist" is their attempt to recreate something with the feel of "Planet Caravan." It's ultimately not very interesting.

Ready for another killer song? "Age of Reason" is it. Infectious riffage abounds. The chorus is as good as you'd hope. There's a bridge that has a palm-muted arpeggio that opens up into a build-up, leading into the ultimate bang your head riff on the album at about the 4:00 mark. The solo comes at 5:18. As always, the bass kills it. Next up is "Live Forever." It sounds very Sabbathy. That blues-doom riff that only they can pull off is what comprises the verse. Speaking of bluesy, "Damaged Soul," which comes next, sounds like pure blues crossed with doom metal. In the intro and the verse, the guitar is played through the neck pickup. And so it is for the chorus. This song has one of the most righteous, fuzzy solos of the entire album. The second solo is played through either both pickups or the bridge. It is, again, a righteous friggin blues solo. It rips. Lastly is "Dear Father," a perfect doom-heavy hybrid. The chorus, while the lyrics are cliche, is great. The bridge is pretty standard Sabbath. It ends with the sound of a thunderstorm and rain falling down.

Whatever you do, go out and buy this album!  And what's more, play it on a hi-fi system so you can hear that delightful bass. This is easily the best Sabbath since perhaps Vol. 4. The fact that they're as old as they are and can perform this well is a breathtaking feat. Though the drums could have been better if Bill Ward had been in the lineup, the production on this album makes it an easy decision. I definitely recommend it on vinyl, but you can get either that or CD here. Hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

IMMOLATION – Kingdom of Conspiracy (2013)

Genre: Death metal

Label: Nuclear Blast/Century Media

When I think of Immolation, I think of great albums like Failures for Gods, Shadows in the Light, and Majesty and Decay, the last of which was their most recent album until Kingdom of Conspiracy. Majesty... is a fantastic album, the title track especially notable. Immolation, for me, is synonymous with fantastic death metal. They've got everything, perfect productions, great vocals, good bass, and phenomenal guitar riffs. My obvious question is: what went wrong with Kingdom of Conspiracy? And what's with that abominably stupid album title?

The first track is the title track, “Kingdom of Conspiracy.” Immediately we notice the production is ultra-clear; you can hear every minute detail of the drums, while, oddly, the guitars sound thin and trebley. Everything heard here is uninteresting. In comes track two, “Bound to Order.” It starts off o.k. and then just gets stranger as song wears on. What's more, if I hear another pinch harmonic in this song, I think I'm going to choke someone. 3:20 – finally a good riff. Too bad the song is over... “Keep the Silence” is more like Immolation, yet too simplistic in the beginning riff (one note, over and over). It appears that's all that this song has going for it.

“God Complex,” track four, actually has a cool riff that can get stuck in your head. However, it fades into nothingness like the rest of the song. Track five, “Echoes of Despair,” at first doesn't even sound like Immolation, it sounds almost cheery. And the melodies they use are terrible. The riff at roughly 3:25 isn't so bad, however. Song six, “Indoctrinate,” sounds more like Immolation. Until the slow riff that is. I am only just halfway through the album and already there are approximately 78 times the number of pinch harmonics as on Shadows in the Light. It's become a gimmick. Another terrible song. “The Great Sleep” starts off with a chord high up on the fretboard tremolo strummed, but then leads nowhere. Another forgettable number. I literally could not wait for that song to be over, so I, in fact, turned it. “A Spectacle of Lies” actually has a really cool rhythm riff from 0:28-0:38. Not enough to save what seems like a dud of an album, but cool nonetheless. “Serving Divinity” is terrible from the start. I don't even want to listen to this song. The final song, “All That Awaits Us,” attempts to be interesting at the beginning, but fails miserably. The whole song is just dreadful.

I don't know what happened that caused Immolation to slide so far downhill. The only reason this got a 4 was because the drums were crisp and sounded great, the vocals sounded killer as ever, but that's it. Not recommended. Maybe next time, Immolation.

KRIEGSMASCHINE - Enemy of Man (2014)

Genre:  Black Metal

Label: No Solace

Rating: 8.5/10

One of my good friends described the new KSM as "Mgła goes Deathspell Omega." I think that's a fairly apt description. KSM and Mgła share a member; M, the vocallist/guitarist/main songwriter (and Darkside, who also did session drums for With Hearts Toward None), and I would say it sounds like WHTN meets Chaining the Katechon.

On track one, "None Shall See Redemption," we here it intro with a chant of what sounds like the beginning of a Bach piece. Then a very interesting drum pattern comes in, with simple guitar over it. The vocals are killer, as one might expect from M., and the guitar tone is exquisite, with plenty of low-end punch in them. The bass and bass drum are also quite noticeable through decent speakers. After approximately the 3:45 minute the emphasis on the guitars goes to the lower strings, with one guitar holding rhythm and the other tremolo picking a string and gradually bending it. In fact, after that point, there is a good amount of string bending, leading up to a frenetic last two minutes. "Lies of the Fathers" is a great song, seemingly about the end times. "This is the point where tragedy and irony are dissolved in apathy./Perdition is at hand. No apokatastasis./The sense and the structure: lies of the fathers." Once again, great drum rhythms, damn good. They almost overshadow the guitar parts in this song.. 

The third track, "Farewell to Grace," has a very addictive rhythm guitar part. In fact, so is the verse. "Asceticism and Passion" starts off in a rather unique way, utilising the high strings. Then around the 3:30 mark, things get really catchy in a dark way. The vocals are reduced to a low chant. Around the six minute mark is a very good drumbeat. It lasts about a minute. Track five, "To Ashen Havens." Starts off slow and dark. This may be the only song on the album with a majority of the drumbeats being standard drumbeats. That's not a bad thing, as this song might also be the best on the album, it's just... a funny coincidence. Of course, as soon as I say that, at around 3:54, a different drumbeat occurs, non-standard and masterful use of the cymbals. The part around 6:10 has an awesome guitar riff and picking rhythm, with a layer of guitar through a wah. The closer is the title track, "Enemy of Man." This is a mid-tempo affair. In fact, none of the songs ever get particularly fast. Perhaps swift, but no blasting.

The instrumentation on this album, and the progress made since Altered States of Divinity, are astounding. It's a very interesting album. I think, however, its downfall is that it sounds a bit too much like Mgła, and I like Mgła too much to allow two of them in this world. Additionally, I would've much preferred new Mgła to new KSM. That's why I didn't rate this album any higher than I did. It definitely deserves your support, and you can buy it here.

SLIDHR - Deluge (2013)

Genre: Black Metal

Label: Debemur Morti Productions

Rating: 8/10

Slidhr, despite having a name from Norse mythology, hail from Ireland, Dublin to be specific. I reckon that they are one of Ireland's best bands right now. I will confess that this is the only release I own by them, but I'm confident enough to say that.

"Wielding Daggers," the first track, is wonderfully dark. It seems like it's over too quick, though it spans 5:45. Track two is even better, entitled "Hex." At times it evokes Deathspell Omega. There is a period of clean singing, no words, though. It is to be noted that the production on this album is great. The bass is clearly audible, the drums have nice bass and punch to them, and they guitars sound heavy despite not being detuned that far, and the guitar tone is great, as well. Anyway, the riff and rhythm pattern that go with it starting at 4:09 in "Hex" are weird, but really good. It repeats to the end.

Next we have "Earth's Mouth Opens." The riff that starts at 1:06 is very interesting. This is overall a phenomenal song. It is dark and strange and I love it. "Symbols Obscuring" features a great little solo that is also on the strange side, and is rather quiet. Mostly, however, this song is a fast affair until about 1:35. Then just the bass and some distant, clean electric guitar are heard. It does this for about a minute, and then a pretty cool distorted, tremolo strummed part comes in. Track five, "Rejoin the Dirt," is definitely my favourite off the album. It emphasises variety in rhythm styles on guitar. The mid-section of this song features what seems to be an odd time signature on the guitars. I could be wrong about that, as I've always been terrible at measuring time. At any rate, I love this song.

"Their Blood" is next, and the first half is a blastfest. Around the 3 minute mark is a very interesting riff. Make a note of it. It is in a slow period, but tremolo guitars with a really cool drum-fill repetition end out the song. "Death of the Second Sun" is track seven. This may be the darkest track on the album. The riff around 2:25 is particularly good. It goes from being tremolo strummed to strummed with emphasis. Track eight, "Unseen" starts off with a seethingly dark riff. Shortly thereafter, it's followed by a brief glimpse of clean singing. The screamed vocals on this album are particularly ferocious sounding,and I like that a lot. Song nine, "As the Dead," starts off with lower notes tremolo picked, and a flourish on the higher strings, something I've always been keen on for my own music. The final track, 10, and named "Rays Like Blades" features a somewhat deranged sounding riff in the beginning.

There is a word that sums up this band, based off this release anyway: unique. And at 49-some-odd minutes long, it's not all that lengthy, but it feels longer than it is, because so much happens. Fascinating stuff, and I urge you to support them. I was going to rate them with a 7.5, but "Rejoin the Dirt" convinced me that they are skilled musicians and songwriters, and deserve an 8. The CD can be purchased here. Digital copies can be purchased on DMP's Bandcamp.

SUMMONING - Old Morning's Dawn (2013)

Genre(s): Epic/Atmospheric Black Metal

Label: Napalm Records

Rating: 2/10

Summoning have always been one of my favourite Black Metal bands, so I was super-psyched when I learnt they were in the studio again after so long. And seven years later... we get this. All I have to say to end this paragraph is: what the fuck, Summoning?

Track one, "Evernight," is a steaming pile of crap. Period. NEXT. Track two, "Flammifer," actually features a really nice guitar riff. Some cool synthesiser parts, to boot. This is easily the best song on the album. The third song, which is the title track, features an o.k. guitar riff to match the fairly decent synth riff; unfortunately, it quickly flounders. The good riff repeats again about halfway through the song, but overall, this song should've been about five minute shorter. Track five, "The White Tower," could have been swell, except the guitar part seems uninspired, the drum rhythm doesn't fit it, and the synth parts suck. "Caradhras" is the sixth song on the album, and it features (no doubt synthesised) violin in the beginning. The synth parts that follow straight-up BLOW. The guitar is boring. I can't finish this. Next is "Of Pale White Morns and Darkened Eves." It features a bad drumbeat and a stupid synth sound in the beginning that for some unknown reason persists. The guitar riff isn't as bad as in previous songs, but not good enough to not fast-forward through it. Later on, nothing really changes. Track seven is called "The Wandering Fire." Uninspired rubbish. You will find nothing here worth waiting for. Lastly we have "Earthshine," which, in my opinion, is the worst track besides the intro, "Evernight." A few riffs on guitar and synth that never really change...

It seems like Summoning are just cashing in on their "cred" as artists. Perhaps they thought "it's been seven years, we need to throw them a bone." I would've much preferred waiting for a quality release rather than this cranked out, uninspired garbage that wouldn't even appeal to an ultra-fanboy.

SUBROSA - More Constant Than the Gods (2013)

Genre: Stoner Doom Metal

Label: Profound Lore Records

Rating: 5.5/10

I was a big fan of SubRosa's second release, No Help for the Mighty Ones, so I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, I have to say I was let down. I'll go into why.

First track "The Usher" starts off with some clean guitar and soft vocals, and some violin. Then some masculine vocals come in, shortly followed by a duet. This goes on for a bit, and then the heavy guitars come in with the drums. This is undoubtedly a strong track. The main riff is very good. After the halfway point comes an oddly upbeat part that I must confess I do not like, neither do I think it fits. The ending to this song pretty much sticks to that form; slightly better, but still rather upbeat, and that is what, ironically, brings it down. The second track, "Ghosts of a Dead Empire," is a much heavier affair. It starts off great, but when the violins kick in, it sort of ruins the mood. The pizzicato violin in rhythm after that is a nice touch, but enough to save this song. "Cosey Mo" is the third track, and is much better than the previous two. It evokes the same feelings encountered on No Help... At 3:07 in the song, there's a very good tapping part on one of the guitars, and the rhythm riff, which is the main riff, is a solid one. The violin eventually plays a depressing part, which mostly reflects upon the thoughtfulness typically put into a SubRosa song. This track remains good throughout its entirety.

Track four is "Fat of the Ram." Immediately, it's uninteresting. I had to skip ahead several times. This song is such trash it's not even worth writing about. Next is "Affliction," which gets off to a weird and slow start. At least it has a good, semi-interesting guitar riff. Certainly a doomy song, and definitely SubRosa, but ultimately forgettable. The last track, "No Safe Harbor," starts off with a very good piano riff. Then what sounds like a woodwind comes in over that, harmonised by another, and then the singing starts softly, with the piano ever underneath. It's mostly non-guitar instruments, although those do come in eventually. Sort of an odd song. Not enough to save the album.

I was let down by this album. I had expected a lot more from SubRosa, given how high-quality No Help for the Mighty Ones was. Yet another Profound Lore release of late which has disappointed.

TRIPTYKON - Melana Chasmata (2014)

Genre(s): Doom/Death/Black Metal

Label: Prowling Death Records (distributed by Century Media)

Rating: 9.5/10

Triptykon, born out of the ruins of Celtic Frost, was Thomas Gabriel Fischer starting over, and he couldn't have done a better job with their debut, Eparistera Daimones. All their members are quality people, having met them myself at a concert. Tom seems to have ditched the "Warrior" moniker this time around. Anyway, Triptykon are one of the heaviest and most interesting bands around today, and this album proves it.

Perhaps the first thing you will notice about Melana Chasmata is the production. The drums and bass are perfectly recorded. The first song is "Tree of Suffocating Souls," and it is a brutal one. The tuning is low and the guitars are huge, and there's that signature Tom Fischer guitar tone. This is definitely Triptykon. The picking rhythm is great in the chorus. "Believe in me, I am your lie/I am deceit disguised/I am your lie" sticks out to me, the last line being the chorus. There is an acoustic solo followed by an electric solo. The acoustic solo has some odd chorus effect on it. Later, when the chaos settles down, the bass is all that's audible, and the verse kicks back in. The song has a delightfully weird and quiet ending. "Boleskine House" starts with acoustic guitar, which is supplanted by electric guitar that then fades away. Vanja's bass comes in, and then Tom Fischer's vocals. Some female vocals are heard, provided by Simone Vollenweider. After this, V. Santura screams over some distorted arpeggio. Then some low-tuned, chunky, crushing palm-muted, downstroked, mid-tempo guitar starts up. Then abruptly, it stops. Bass again. Tom, Simone, V. Santura, palm-muted chunking. Following this, Simone sings an extended section, and there's a rather melodic solo. After a duet between Fischer and Vollenweider, the heavy guitars come back in and end the song.

"Altar of Deceit" is another ultra-heavy song, with the intro vacillating between two or three different notes, until the verse kicks in and it's palm-mute city again. The guitars on this album, especially this song, will ruin you. Around 4:30 it quiets to bass, and sort of ambient electric guitar that alternates between background and foreground. One of them has wah (it sounds like Fischer), and starts soloing, and it returns to the intro riff. Then a sort of bridge riff, and the chorus, and it ends. Track four, "Breathing," starts with some light distortion, and then the miring darkness takes over. This is a fast, dissonant, chaotic song, at least in the verse. The chorus has groove. Later on, a thrashy riff appears, almost like a sped-up "Dethroned Emperor" style riff. This lets way into the chaotic section again, with an equally insane solo by Fischer, followed by a solo by Santura. An awesome riff happens around the 5:00 mark, it leads to the songs ending.

"Aurorae," the sixth track, starts off with a simple and soft drumbeat, followed by some guitar with the volume knob turned down. Another track of guitar, this time totally clean with some delay on it, appears. The distorted guitar gets a little heavier. Fischer's voice is layered in harmonising tracks, and it makes for something really cool, and different. That leads into full-on, distorted guitar. "A spirit wasting away" he repeats over and over.There's a solo that I can't tell if it's Fischer or Santura, but my guess is Fischer. And the song ends abruptly. Then there's "Demon Pact," which features some synth programming, with the beating of toms under it, and then the strike of a guitar string and harmonised vocals. Then this quiets to synth, and heavy guitar comes in suddenly with Fischer's snarling vocals. There's a very interesting part where the bass has flanger over it and two notes are picked. Fischer sings "Adora deum tuum, creatorem tuum/My lord redeemer/I shall deny you entry into my mind" and in crash the guitars.

The next song, "In the Sleep of Death," is a slow affair; at 3:42, it gets very heavy, with the chunky low guitars palm-muting their way into your brain. Fischer sings in a despairing manner, one such that it's odd to hear Fischer sing like that. It eventually picks up a bit in speed, but a track of clean guitar keeps going underneath.Some guitar parts that sound like they were manipulated with e-bows come in later, and it reverts to the "Emily, you were the blood in my veins" part. Thus ends the song. Next up is the longest song on this opus, "Black Snow." It starts off with sparse, lightly distorted arpeggiation. Then the more heavily guitars come in, but softly, and feedback. This song has a definitive rhythm in the beginning. Then an aggressive thrash/doom mix in the vocallised part of the riff. The layered vocals over the part that follows are brilliant. The part at the 3:30 part isn't especially dark, but it somehow works perfectly. His clean vocals, I've always thought, are brilliant; they're almost darker than his snarled vocals. This song alternates schizophrenically between ultra-doomy, to ritualistically meditative. This may be Triptykon's defining song. Certainly my favourite off the album. I absolutely adore the part where Fischer repeats "under stars enthroned." It's from a part of the lyrics I particularly like, "Every step I take, life recedes/Under stars enthroned, everlasting night." Yes, definitely my favourite Triptykon song.

The final track, "Waiting," starts off with a female voice saying "time." And then slowly picked bass comes in.more of the female vocals, with what may be Fischer whispering behind it. Then Fischer comes in singing cleanly. There follows some clean guitar soloing, with clean guitar arpeggiating behind it. Then heavy guitars come in briefly. Before you know it, the song is over.

I was worried that after a four year wait, I might not like what I heard with Triptykon's new album. Melana Chasmata is everything I dreamed and more. It's more diverse than Eparistera Daimones by quite a bit, and is a  progression upwards. The spanning of multiple genres is still there, but it's more...refined in application now. I think it's a brilliant performance by each band member, and an excellent Giger painting for the cover. It truly fits. This is an album you do not want to miss. Go buy it now at your local record store, or here.