.::SCRATCHtheSurface Webzine::.: Dean Brown

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Mael Mórdha - Damned When Dead | Review

For those of us who had the honour of attending the inaugural Redemption Festival in Dublin this February, one of the highlights of the day had to be the set of Ireland’s own Mael Mórdha. There was a certain look of determination in their eyes which befitted their battle-paint, and it seemed as if Mael Mórdha had realised their time is nigh. The roar that rose from the crowd when singer Roibéard Ó Bogail announced the band had signed with Candelight, just before they tore through two new songs (‘All Eire Will Quake’ and ‘Bloody Alice (of Abergavenny)’), stood as a striking confirmation of this, and it was one of the more celebratory moments that occurred during the day’s festivities.

Besides this romantic view of Mael Mórdha’s Redemption Festival performance, it has to be said that the band’s unyielding dedication to folk-laden doom metal has gifted them with a committed fan-base around Europe. Unfortunately, however, the glass ceiling seems to have capped the pagan four-piece in terms of greater recognition. Mael Mórdha’s signing to Candelight, their new-found confidence as displayed on stage, and their debut for the esteemed British metal label – Damned When Dead, should finally push the band to the next level. This is because Damned When Dead holds plenty of reward once the song-writing, as well as the gravitas of the lyrics, which often revisit historical events of the band’s motherland, speaks in clear tones. Ó Bogail's moving battle-cry and charismatic clean melodies turn this whistle-wielding singer into a modern day seanchaí, and his storytelling talents on the likes of “King of the English” and “Dawning of the Grey” separates Mael Mórdha from the jovial pagan bands that have appeared sword-in-hand in recent years.

The grave, bass-heavy rumble of opener "Laudabiliter" (named after papal bull issued in 1155 giving Henry II of England the right to assume control of Ireland) is a worthy introduction to the album and is as good a starting place as any for those unfamiliar with the band’s past releases. The previously mentioned "All Eire Will Quake" and "Bloody Alice..." brandish vengeful, galloping tempos yet remain rooted in doom’s allure. And it is clear from these songs, as well as the gloom of 8 minute title-track, that creating and holding drama and tension is just an important part of Mael Mórdha’s music as ever. The band has tried and mostly succeeded in crafting this album in the same way Primordial approach each opus – by balancing the credence of the lyrics and vocals with emotionally rich and expressive instrumentals. Such comparisons to their Irish brethren are unavoidable, and while Mael Mórdha have yet to find that exact balance – the vocals and lyrics are stronger, more individualistic and more engaging than some of the music, Damned When Dead is a mighty step forward for the determined Irish warriors, who will certainly receive more (deserved) attention as a consequence of this album, and whose best still has yet to come.

Dean Brown

Band info: www.facebook.com/maelmordhaofficial
Label info: www.candlelightrecords.co.uk

Dean Brown is a metal scribe based in Ireland. He is currently a contributing editor to the North American cultural magazine Popmatters and he regularly throws words for a number of other reputable loud noise publications such as About.com/heavy metal, Soundshock.com, MetalIreland.com, MoltenMagazine.com, amongst others. He has a strong affinity for music that shakes souls and leaves debilitating tinnitus in its wake and such obsession has left him financially and medically crippled, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. Follow Dean on twitter @reus85

Torche @ The Grand Social Loft | Live Review

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Torche + Wizards Of Firetop Mountain + Dott @ The Grand Social Loft
21 August 2013 – Dublin, Ireland

Five years have passed since Miami, Florida’s Torche last dropped their anvil-heavy pop songs upon Irish heads. Whelans provided the setting and Torche made their appearance in support of instrumental post-metallers Pelican, and although they only had limited time to show what they could do, they left an indelible impression. This is why Torche’s long-awaited return to Dublin is not an occasion to be missed by those who caught the band live half a decade ago, nor is it an occasion to be missed by those who have since discovered the genius of Torche’s music. The Grand Social, positioned next to the famous Ha’Penny Bridge, is the host tonight and Torche may be the heaviest band to ever play at this venue which has the reputation for showcasing an eclectic array of artists across music’s multihued spectrum. The venue itself is situated upstairs in this hip bar and is festooned like the inside of a festival tent or a function room used for parties (appropriate when it comes to Torche), with light bulbs strategically placed along the ceiling to illuminate the crowd and the small stage.

Opening for Torche tonight are Dott and Wizards of Firetop Mountain; two native bands looking to get their name and music out there. Galway’s Dott have a hint of The Breeders about their ‘90s inspired alt. rock, but because of sound akin to a bass amp committing suicide, their sugary vocal harmonies are lost in the unnecessary rumble. Wizards of Firetop Mountain are no strangers to the Dublin support role over the years; most recently seen in support of Red Fang. The band play a similar set again tonight and there are moments where their bar-room doom ‘n’ NWOBHM entertain (“Fire and Stone” and “Sonic War”), but besides guitarist Hooly (who is a dead ringer for a young Brian Tatler of Diamond Head) and drummer Ror, the band rarely show any passion on stage. Vocalist Dunchee is by far the band’s weakest link, as his vocals are just not strong enough. In addition to this, the melodies he favours are too predictable and it takes until two songs from the end for him to loosen up and enjoy himself – an ailment that he seems to constantly suffer from.

...in order to really experience what this band is all about you really need to stand in front of the stage and be hit around the head and lungs by the rush of riffs pouring out of the band’s Orange Amps at a tsunami-like velocity.

Words like “enjoyable” and “fun” are often flung around when describing Torche’s music and live show; both of which are normally regarded as an insult when applied to music of the down-tuned variety. But Torche embrace fun just as much as they embrace thunderous rhythms and riffs big enough to build an empire on, and tonight the band’s collision of polar opposites attract a sizeable crowd for a midweek show.

On record Torche’s sheer force is only hinted at, and in order to really experience what this band is all about you really need to stand in front of the stage and be hit around the head and lungs by the rush of riffs pouring out of the band’s Orange Amps at a tsunami-like velocity. From the moment Steve Brooks (vocals, guitars) implores the crowd to “come closer” in a comical evil voice before adding the caveat, “we bite”, Torche have every patron in the palm of their sweaty hands. Adrenaline spiking renditions of “Kicking” and "In Pieces" receive a warm reception early on; the crowd obviously very familiar with the band’s latest critically acclaimed album, ‘Harmonicraft’. While the up-beat grooves of “Grenades” get necks flapping and “Snakes are Charmed" – referred to by Brooks as the band’s “disco song” – sets hips slithering. Both Brooks and fellow guitarist Andrew Elstner share vocals duties and considering the quaking bottom-end that bassist Jonathan Nuñez pulls from his instrument as he straddles centre stage, their melodious tag-team vocal approach (at its best during "Across the Shields") is surprisingly audible and clear – even when the sound goes through muddy patches.

Aside from Brooks’ whiskey-fuelled quips (which are funny as hell), it is drummer Rick Smith who provides the focal point in terms of eye-popping stage performance. Seated bear-like behind Nuñez and wearing nothing but boxer shorts and a beard, Smith is a terrifying rhythmic force. He adds such weight to each seismic riff and the sight of him swinging his sizeable arms and connecting with the might of a lumberjack as the wood splinters and sprays off his drumsticks is quite remarkable. Torche deliver an insidious set tonight; in that, the four-piece become deafening as the infamous “bomb-string” makes a head-rattling, floor-shaking appearance near the end. By tuning down to the extent that the guitar string flaps like a pensioner’s bingo wing, the impact on the ears from this gimmicky yet physically overwhelming sonic is colossal, especially during “Charge of the Brown Recluse” and the encore of “Mentor”; two of the songs played off Torche’s 2005 self-titled full-length debut.

After the show when leaving to check whether the Ha’Penny Bridge survived the dreaded “bomb”, this scribe overheard one satisfied reveller ask another, “Do Torche ever play a bad show?” Possibly the best compliment that could be afforded to Torche came with the response given – “Do they fuck!” After the embrace of melody and heft tonight, Scratch the Surface has to agree with this eloquent reply. (8.5/10)

Photos by Rachel Connolly

High on Fire - Spitting Fire Live Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 | Review

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A High on Fire live show is a thing to behold: Matt Pike standing bare-chested and beer-gutted and dripping sweat as he peels off some of the heaviest riffs known to man and screams like Lemmy with bronchitis, while bassist Jeff Matz and drummer Des Kensel back him up by doling out an array of rhythms intent on caving chests and perforating eardrums. Whether the band is playing in a beer-stained hot box or on a side-stage at a music festival, theirs is a live show that every fan of metal needs to experience—especially now that Pike has put the bottle down.

The first live album released by the Oakland raiders, ‘Spitting Five Live Vol. 1 & Vol. 2’, captures a sober Matt Pike in action. This 15 song double disc recorded at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom and Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg during the band’s recent US tour is as close to a High on Fire show as you can get without physically being there. Obviously this album cannot compete with the five senses blow out of being right there in front of a quivering PA, but it shouldn’t be devalued for being unable to provide a 3D experience—leave that to future tech wizards to create such a medium. In fact, it’s one of the better live albums competing for your cash and hard-drive space. There is no cheesy banter with the crowd; no overdubs; no canned applause. It is just the sound of High on Fire doing exactly what they do best and that is delivering one helluva brute force metal show that remains focused on the music and not about pandering to pageantry; but that’s not to say that the image of Pike gurning while soloing isn’t entertainment in itself.

The ‘Spitting Five Live Vol. 1 & Vol. 2’ set-list spans the band’s entire existence: reaching back in time to their 2000 debut ‘The Art of Self Defense’—recently reissued by Southern Lord—up to last year’s ‘De Vermis Mysteriis’. ‘Last’, ‘10,000 Years’ and ‘Blood of Zion’ highlight the lineage from Pike’s emergence out of Sleep’s bong smoke to his transition into the metal titan at the front of High of Fire. There has been a subtle progression from those early days and if you listen to both volumes in the one sitting, it is interesting to hear how High on Fire found their voice amongst the Motörhead, Venom and Slayer comparisons that ran rife up until the now classic, ‘Blessed Black Wings’ (represented best here by a colossal outing of ‘Devilution'). However, the most intriguing part of ‘Spitting Five Live Vol. 1 & Vol. 2’ happens to be the savagery of the songs taken from the slickly produced ‘Snakes for the Divine’. A major gripe from fans of the band was that Greg Fidelman’s production polished the grime off the metal. In this untreated live state the sharp musical teeth we expect from High on Fire have extra incisors during ‘Frost Hammer’ and ‘Snakes for the Divine’, and both songs sound much more threatening and unruly.

Over the years there has been plenty of negative chatter about the relevance of live albums. But what has been forgotten is that live albums are all about letting your imagination run free and visualising what it was like to be a part of the show. And whether it is visions of ‘Fury Whip’ and ‘Rumors of War’ causing a ruckus in the pit or the cloud of weed smoke arising during ‘Fertile Green’, you got to just put yourself in the moment, sit back and let your mind set the scene—otherwise you will get nothing from ‘Spitting Five Live Vol. 1 & Vol. 2’, or any live album for that matter.

Dean Brown

Band info: www.highonfire.net
Label info: www.centurymedia.com

All Pigs Must Die - Nothing Violates This Nature | Review

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Hardcore bands sure like to walk the walk and talk the talk, but when it comes to all out war, in many instances, sheer intensity is missing from the music. Enter the real deal, All Pigs Must Die, with their searing second salvo titled, ‘Nothing Violates This Nature’. The Massachusetts based band featuring alumni from such hardcore luminaries Converge (drummer Ben Koller) and The Hope Conspiracy (vocalist Kevin Baker) avoid all the negative connotations that come from such a loaded word as “supergroup”, as this band is completely without contrivance. Like their 2011 debut ‘God Is War, ‘Nothing Violates This Nature’ has also been produced by Kurt Ballou (Nails, The Secret) of God City Studios and released by Southern Lord, and it is another pitch black pressure cooker of grindin’ metallic hardcore.

The diversity of the music on display, dictated by Koller’s superhuman drumming, is what separates All Pigs Must Die from the rest of the Entombed-fanatics playing catch up. Opener ‘Chaos Arise’ races out the gates like Trap Them at their unbridled best, and ‘Silencer’ swiftly follows suit with all the hostility associated with grindcore and power-violence. It is a direct continuation of where the band left off with their debut only with added attention paid to the pacing of the album, as each song has been positioned for maximum force. Instead of keeping to breakneck speed and eventually losing power through repetition, All Pigs Must Die have the wherewithal to drop tempos during the ferociously groove-focused ‘Primitive Fear’ and the deathly ‘Bloodlines’. While the slow, sinister and methodical ‘Of Suffering’ takes this approach one on step darker with its doom-laden beginnings, simple eerie guitar leads, anguished screams, and pummelling end beat-down which rides out on a hail of feedback.

As mentioned, Koller is on fiery form (nobody would expect anything less from him) and his playing really give the caustic music its uncontrollable verve. He detonates the grind of ‘Aqim Siege’; takes ‘Holy Plague’ from bucking noise-rock through the mouth of punk, grindcore and thrash with his fluid tempo changes and powerhouse blasts; and, as with his contributions to Converge’s music, he shows how impactful he can be even at slower speeds (Faith Eater). The real highpoint of his playing, however, is found at the album’s end. “Articles of Human Weakness” is a flaying finish to an album that is as sonically harrowing as you are likely to hear. Koller’s cyclonic fills cause a sandstorm when matched with the ragged riffs and screams, and the song has a lot in common with the title track from Converge’s last album, ‘All We Love We Leave Behind’, in that, the band drain out every ounce of intensity and emotion remaining after the preceding 9 songs. Just when you thought it was safe, Southern Lord have let loose another bile-filled, high speed and high impact hardcore album; this time from one of the gnarliest bands to ever spill out of Massachusetts.

Dean Brown

Band info: www.facebook.com/apmdband
Label info: www.southernlord.com

Exhumed – Necrocracy | Review

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Who would have thought that an eight year break from recording new material, which ended in 2011 with the release of the scathing ‘All Guts, No Glory’, would have been the best move Exhumed ever made? The lengthy lapse in time resulted in Exhumed hitting the nail on the gore-sodden head with ‘All Guts, No Glory’ in terms of song-writing, while staying true to death metal’s barbaric tenets. By capitalising on the acclaim and momentum of ‘All Guts, No Glory’, Exhumed have now readied another collection of choice cuts for your delectation in the form of their latest studio album, ‘Necrocracy’.

Besides focusing intently on suturing together sickening, mid-paced grooves as well as, lyrically, taking a noticeable political slant (don’t worry the band hasn’t turned its back on the gore to become Misery Index), ‘Necrocracy’ isn’t a cadaver’s throw away from its predecessor—which is nothing if not a huge positive. The sagacious tempo changes (led by d-beats and a variety of blasts), scalding riffs and solos, gut-puncturing growls and shrieks with enough character and range to actually entertain the amount of hooks sprayed around like blood from a severed aorta, have all returned more memorable than ever before. The Carcass-esque "Coins Upon the Eyes" is straight up fun—well as fun as death metal gets—with the chants of “Die!” sounding exultant and not corny; the vocal hooks of "The Shape of Deaths to Come" and "Necrocracy" are just as effective as the gruesome bass-lines and riffs that cut right through them; and each guitar solo contains equal parts surgical precision and flair—especially those of "The Rotting”. "Sickening”, on the other hand, is literally a blast from the past with its fast paced grind, while "Dysmorphic" just so happens to be one of the best songs Exhumed have ever vomited upon us: Its deathly thrash attack and vocal trade-offs leading to a surprising acoustic guitar break before a serrated riff, intent on taking the head clean off your shoulders, appears out of the blue.

The production clarity on ‘All Guts, No Glory’ and now ‘Necrocracy’ has really benefited Exhumed by allowing the band’s song-writing skills to shine through. But the thing with Exhumed is that, even back in the band’s ‘Gore Metal’ days the same traits were at play only they came smothered in coagulated claret. ‘Necrocracy’ is as clear as you can get in death metal without sounding sterile, and the audible thump suits the band’s increasingly catchy songs. From the blasting beginnings of "Coins Upon the Eyes" to the rampaging finish of "The Rotting", Exhumed have written a record that will undoubtedly satisfy those that still believe actual song-writing in contemporary death metal is a forgotten art (And there are plenty of reasons to believe this). Twenty years on, Exhumed’s slaughtercult continues to grow. This time, however, we all fall under necrocratic rule!

Dean Brown

Band info: www.facebook.com/ExhumedOfficial
Label info: www.relapse.com

Locrian – Return to Annihilation | Review

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As one of the most industrious experimentalists in underground metal, Locrian are quietly revered as a band that holds a weight of artistic integrity. Since 2005, the core of Locrian—talented instrumentalists Terence Hannum and André Foisy—have spread an urban disease across every audio medium known to man. Locrian have also chosen their artistic steps with care and consideration, and because of a reluctance to dilute their ethos and the quality of their prolific output, Locrian’s notoriety has increased dramatically over the last number of years. Shrewd collaborations with likeminded artists, the joining of percussionist Steven Hess in 2010, as well as the 2012 reissue of ‘The Clearing/The Final Epoch’, have culminated in the band’s signing with Relapse for their latest full-length, ‘Return to Annihilation’.

Decorated with a misty, grey image of a parking lot occupied by a lone shopping trolley, the cover provides a clue as to the high-concept of Locrian’s Relapse debut. ‘Return to Annihilation’ is split into two parts with inspiration bleeding in from Walter Benjamin’s ‘Arcades Project’, Thomas Browne’s ‘Hydriotaphia’, Samuel Delany’s ‘Dhalgren’, and Genesis’ 1974 prog-rock landmark, ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’. A scholarly knowledge of these works—which crosses cryptic literature, cultural criticism, and prog-rock tales—is not detrimental to the listener’s experience of ‘Return to Annihilation’, yet detailing the influences that feed this particular apocalyptic concept is necessary to cast light upon the intensive efforts Locrian have gone to create this album.

Beyond conceptual and visual lines, the music contained within ‘Return to Annihilation’ is just as indicative of the repulsive repetition and near-devastating degradation of the modern world. It is a concept wrapped in an aural critique that mainly relies on synthesized effects and loops melding with disengaged guitars (electric, acoustic and bass), cyclic percussive churns, and the rare emergence of a ghostly vocal. The band mines the obscure and experimental depths of post-black metal, electronic, krautrock, prog-rock, shoe-gaze and drone to create free-standing structures where dissonance and elegance meet as a cohesive whole. ‘Part I’ of ‘Return to Annihilation’ spans “Eternal Return” (a surprisingly hopeful sounding shoe-gaze song) to the three-part title-track. The juxtaposition between earthy acoustics and cold synth-drones throughout ‘Part I’ is seamlessly arranged, and the atmosphere is sinister in an unassuming way as the instrumentation carries with it a dark, intangible tension. ‘Part II’, according to the band’s concept, is the reflection of internal (the protagonist) and external (world) disorder resulting from the appearance of two moons in the sky. The skin-crawling doom of ‘Panorama of Mirror’ captures the mood of such pandemonium, before the four-part finale ‘Obsolete Elegies’ pulls the acoustic and electronic moons together as one with its resounding riff-led climax.

What you will notice after repeat listens of ‘Return to Annihilation’ is that the often visceral nature of Locrian’s past releases is sacrificed to suit the narrative, which is dictated eloquently to the listener often without the need for words. It is an album that exists in many dimensions and, as is the case with all great conceptual art, the thematic and sonic layers lend plenty to consider and envelope oneself in. ‘Return to Annihilation’ is an appropriate accompaniment to watching the world collapse around us, whether it occurs because of a catastrophic event or a slow erosion.

Dean Brown

Band info: www.facebook.com/LocrianOfficial
Label info: www.relapse.com

Palms - Palms | Review

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As soon as the word dropped that the rhythm section and one of the guitarists from one of the most influential bands in contemporary metal, Isis, had recruited alt. rock crooner Chino Moreno of Deftones fame to front their new project, Palms, minds were instantaneously made up about how this band would sound. Surely Palms would offer intricate instrumentals that swell and crash with the force of a tsunami coupled with Moreno’s signature vocal idiosyncrasies? In other words: Isis without Aaron Turner’s roars, riffs and song-writing and with Moreno stepping into the fray. Well if you thought that you clearly underestimated guitarist Clifford Meyer (Red Sparowes), bassist Jeff Caxide and drummer Aaron Harris. Sure, Palms shares certain characteristics with Isis (particularly the melodic passages off Isis’s final two albums), and Chino is always going to sound like Chino, but the band’s self-titled debut is a restrained affair full of blissful sound-scapes and dulcet melodies.

Palms began as a three-piece jamming in Isis’s old rehearsal room. A room without windows, the ghosts of the past dampened spirits to the point that Caxide, Harris and Meyer had to move elsewhere to gain fresh perspective. The change in head-and-rehearsal-space and the addition of Moreno as vocalist were decisive factors leading to the construction and completion of Palms’ debut. Instead of retreading old ground, the band wrote music that is more Cocteau Twins than Neurosis, more ambient post-rock teamed with ‘90s alt. rock than overpowering post-metal—and ‘Palms’ is all the better for it. Take opener ‘Future Warrior’ for instance. The song’s spacey textures are enhanced by Harris’s insistent hi-hat patterns and Caxide’s bubbly bass-lines, both of which echo The Cure at their most wistful. A downpour of distortion does occur but it’s not cataclysmic, it’s just emphatic when tied to Moreno’s pained cries of “You have destroyed it, destroyed it.” In fact, the same could be said any time the band decides to increase the noise, such as the momentary oppressive mood that drifts past during ‘Patagonia’ and ‘Shortwave Radio’.

Sonically, ‘Shortwave Radio’ is the heaviest addition here, as well as being most likely to satiate fans of Deftones as there is more than a hint of ‘White Pony’s’ “Passenger” to this piece, especially when the serpentine grooves of Caxide and Harris together with Moreno’s viperous vocal “descends into hell.” But such moments are few and far between and this is not entirely a negative slight at Palms, as the interplay between each musician makes up for the lack of riff heft. Caxide and Harris rhythmic partnership in particular shows no sign of cracks throughout each of these six, lengthy compositions. During the more condensed sections their playing is Isis-tight, bordering metronomic even (‘Mission Sunset’), yet they are loose and relaxed when the song calls for it, such as the chime and lull of ‘Tropics’ where Moreno evocatively splashes the song with imagery of sand, sea and sun. Arguments could also be made that Moreno’s vocals are not as essential to Palms as they are to Deftones. There is merit in this as the atmospheric music quite effectively speaks for itself, but his contributions do elevate Palms from categorisation as instrumental post-rock; a tired genre, ironically without a voice at present. And for the most part his breathy melodies are positioned without taking away from the vast array of sounds Meyer draws from his guitars and effect pedals. Moreno’s pacing on “Patagonia” is seasoned, and during the early parts of “Mission Sunset” his vocal lines are less about competing with Shora-esque snare runs and more about forming a duet with icy guitars that gleam white, before he really pushes his range just as a riff that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Far or Sunny Day Real Estate record appears.

Those who thought Palms would pile up a series of powerful crescendos may be disappointed with the overall direction of the band’s debut. But to rely on such would have been too easy and in all actuality, pretty uninspired. The band’s ability to create distinct moods with sound and voice, whether it is the glacial, quasi-instrumental “Antarctic Handshake” or this sun-kissed “Tropics”, is ultimately much more enjoyable than an album full of incremental builds and predictable crescendos. A couple of ferocious riffs would have been welcome, although incorporating aggression into this album may have unbalanced it as a whole. Cleverly, Palms have left the music of their debut open enough to explore different (including heavier) ventures should the band go on to record further material if schedules permit. It would be a shame if this is the last we heard of Palms, because with the amount of chemistry these musicians have together the open-ended vistas they could span in the future is vast. And that's exactly what is exciting about Palms.

Dean Brown

Band info: www.palmsband.com
Label info: www.ipecac.com

Red Fang @ Whelans | Live Review

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Red Fang + Wizards of Firetop Mountain @ Whelans

25 June 2013 - Dublin, Ireland

Tuesday nights are notorious black holes for musicians visiting Dublin City: A statement that an unknown American country singer drawling out world-weary songs to a handful of souls looking for redemption at the bottom of a pint glass in the pub adjacent to Whelan’s Music Venue will surely attest tonight? Whatever the reason is—the lack of an urge to step outside the drone of a weekly routine; the effort of travelling from outside the bounds of Dublin—unless you’re a band that strokes the ego of the mainstream or has a sizeable following underground, you will be swallowed by the black hole, never to return again. In light of this and due to an under-estimation of the band’s Irish fan-base, the debut on Irish soil of Portland, Oregon’s Red Fang seemed doomed. But as time passes by, what was initially a sparse crowd gathered outside the venue has, quite surprisingly, turned into a hungry queue eager to hear what this grizzly group has in store.

...Red Fang removes us from the realities of a Tuesday and transposes us to a sweat-drenched Friday night where no holds are barred.

2011 was the year that Red Fang really stepped up and announced their arrival as a force to be reckoned with. With the release of ‘Murder the Mountains’—the band’s first LP for Relapse and second in total following their 2009 self-titled debut—Red Fang’s raucous sludge ‘n’ roll displayed song-writing acumen not unlike prime Queens of the Stone Age. That is, of course, if Josh Homme had suckled for inspiration at the hairy teat of the Melvins and ‘Meantime’-era Helmet. The songs were catchy, blue-collared rawk written with no ulterior motives; just weather-beaten musicians riffing hard and singing straight from the pit of their stomachs. And maybe this is the reason why Red Fang connect with people and draw such a diverse crowd tonight. First up, however, are Wizards of Firetop Mountain who take a couple of songs to let loose, but when they do the band’s Budgie-esque NWOBHM paired with up-tempo doom is a decent starter, even if their set ends without warning.

Hauling their own gear onto the stage, there are no airs and graces surrounding the four members of Red Fang. After their pre-gig ritual of shaking hands with each other ‘Bird on Fire’ lands with a bang and from here, Red Fang removes us from the realities of a Tuesday and transposes us to a sweat-drenched Friday night where no holds are barred. The vocal trade-offs between bassist Aaron Beam and guitarist Bryan Giles are packed with grit and spit, melody and maul, and as ‘Wires’ and ‘Hank Is Dead’ whip the crowd up into a tailspin, the volume of cheers that greet the end of each passing song grows louder and louder. On record Red Fang excel at finding the balance between loose, quaking grooves and taut rhythmic jives but such moves when heard booming through PA are much more impactful, especially during the early-outings of ‘Dirt Wizard’, ‘Number Thirteen’ and a wall-rattling rendition of ‘Malverde’. ‘Humans Remain Human Remains’ offers a respite by dropping tempos to a Sleep-like crawl, and by the time the last notes of ‘Prehistoric Dog’ snarls, the small stage has been invaded by a string of stage-divers (even the embarrassing back-packed kind) and sweat drips profusely from all and sundry. Returning to a wall of roars for an encore, ‘Throw Up’ is delivered with swagger by a humble band that appears legitimately shocked by the reception afforded. With album number three almost ready to drop and the rapturous response from the Dublin crowd tonight, Red Fang’s murderous trek of up the metal mountain looks set to charge onwards without losing any steam. This is a live band worth rooting for, even on a Tuesday night. (9/10)

Words & Photos: Dean Brown

Huntress – Starbound Beast | Review

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Huntress’s 2012, full-length debut ‘Spell Eater’ was more of a fleeting talk-piece than anything resembling a strong heavy metal album. The main issue with ‘Spell Eater’ was that the music was one-dimensional and lacking riffs; a serious problem that an arresting front-woman, Jill Janus, with an octave-climbing voice and interesting back story could not save. And, as is the case with any band that manages to drum up media coverage, if the music cannot back the hype, you can rest assured you will be forgotten the next time ‘round.

The sneering eyes of cynicism certainly rolled in revulsion when the news broke that Motörhead’s Lemmy has co-penned a song on Huntress’s second album, ‘Starbound Beast’. It is definitely an unambiguous attempt to stir up interest after a flat debut, but the ironic thing about the song Mr. Kilmister helped write is this: it’s the weakest track on the album by a Sunset Strip mile. The song’s title says is all: ‘I Want to Fuck You to Death’. Whether this is a not-so-subtle proposition from Lemmy or not, the chorus is as lecherous and dumb as they come, regardless of the fact that Janus sings it herself. Its bluntness is disappointing considering Lemmy has made a lifelong career out of slathering songs in sexual innuendos, and it should have been branded a bonus or not recorded at all. But besides this song, the rest of the album actually holds up.

To the band’s credit they have work really hard on the song-writing, and it’s less of showcase of what Janus can do vocally and more of a cohesive group effort. The four track run from ‘Destroy Your Life’ through ‘Starbound Beast’ and ‘Zenith’ and onward to ‘Oracle’ form the foundations of this album. With ‘80s inspired metal riffs, striking guitar solos and Janus’s attempts at matching Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford in the vocal stakes, these four songs should hold the attention of those turned off by the desperate ‘I Want to Fuck You to Death’. The title-track, in particular, shows some variation by moving from double bass-led, melodic thrash to slower tempos. And Janus’s input works best when she flexes her extensive clean vocal range, as her attempts at screaming sound like a kettle coming to boiling point (see: the end of ‘Destroy Your Life’ and ‘Blood Sisters’ cringe-worthy refrains of “blood sisters forever” ); while lyrically she explores some fantastical themes such as witches’ covens, the Annunaki, and the oracle at Delphi. The music stays true to a formula, at times to the band’s detriment, and some of the vocal hooks are stronger than others, but the inclusion of closer ‘Alpha Tauri’ shows possible future growth during its delicate mid-section when the band take a wistful turn. This band may go on to greater things if it puts its heads down and focuses on writing songs without tabloid pomp. The ironic thing is: Huntress’s failing attempt at luring in new listeners may be the reason why said listeners turn away without giving the rest of the songs a chance. This would be a shame, as there is quite a bit to applaud here.

Dean Brown

Band info: www.HuntressKills.com
Label info: www.napalmrecords.com

Dragged Into Sunlight + Wound Upon Wound + From The Bogs of Aughiska | Live Review

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Dragged Into Sunlight + Wound Upon Wound + From The Bogs of Aughiska

24 May 2013 - The Pint - Dublin, Ireland.

A room shrouded in almost-darkness. The flicker of bare candlelight illuminates the macabre visage of a pair of antelope skulls resting upon two amplifiers. A statuesque, three branch candelabra sits centre-stage from which the skull of a ram hangs; an ominous totem. Five men stand with their backs to the small congregation gathered. These men form the collective, Dragged Into Sunlight.

Prior to these striking scenes at the Dublin bunker known as The Pint, From the Bogs of Aughiska immersed the crowd in percussion-less drone-scapes. The Irish duo dressed, rather bizarrely, in shirts, ties and slacks and wearing executioners’ masks, unfurled blackened feedback and morphing, ambient noise from a lone guitar and a laptop. Stark black-and-white handheld video footage, projected onto the screen behind the duo, accompanied the swells of sound that washed around the venue. Scenes of eroding coastlines, dilapidated stone buildings and crumbling crosses stressed the repetitious, layered drones that built and collapsed like the visuals they underscored. It was a performance from one of Ireland’s more interesting underground acts that allowed for some serious thought and reflection.

Wound Upon Wound provided the direct support to Dragged Into Sunlight, and the band’s post-black metal snapped the crowd out of their trance-like state. Tribal rhythms and sludgy riffs were punctured by vocalist S.M’s high-pitched shrieks, and the diminutive frame of the dreadlocked frontman betrayed the sounds that came from his throat. When the band’s tremolo attack arrived it did have the requisite bite, but the transitions between the two worlds lacked certain cohesion. Interestingly, when the band worked with slower tempos they were much more effective, and ultimately that’s where Wound Upon Wounds’ strength lies. If the band cut the black metal ties and fully embrace the other side of their sound, great things may come.

"Dragged Into Sunlight, on the other hand, have no problem picking the bones of every extreme metal genre to flesh out a mongrel beast."

Dragged Into Sunlight, on the other hand, have no problem picking the bones of every extreme metal genre to flesh out a mongrel beast. Last year’s ‘Widowmaker’ demonstrated a wider vision as cinematic post-rock and Integrity-esque hardcore met the band’s visceral sound, perfected in filth on their 2009 full-length debut, ‘Hatred For Humanity’. Laying their debut to rest tonight, the melodic textures explored on ‘Widowmaker’ are absent. With drummer J taking his seat facing the crowd, the remaining four members continue to keep their back to the audience and remain unturned. Running headlong through fast, blasting passages, moments of soul-sucking doom, the confrontational power of hardcore and death metal’s sonic demolition, Dragged Into Sunlight are relentless tonight. Vocalist T’s pained delivery wretches up boil as he tightens his grip on the microphone stand for greater emphasis. The sparse crowd is constantly battered between the eyes with every malicious note hitting its mark, and the strobe light placed on the floor erupts with intermittent blasts of white light. The entire band looks as if they are moving in slow motion as the lights pulsate with the same intensity as the music, causing nausea and disorientation. At times, the strobes are syncopated with the pulverising rhythms, but when they land off-beat, the effect is the near meeting of apoplexy and epileptic shock. This combined with the force of the music, the darkness and the rejection of all standard showmanship makes for a visceral live show. The dramatic peak of which occurs when vocalist T momentarily turns from the dark to scream facing the crowd, a beam of light catching the white of his eyes just before he turns away again in disgust. It’s a distressing image that stays long after the nausea subsides. Tonight we have witnessed Dragged Into Sunlight’s audio-visual violence at full force; too bad there wasn’t as many victims present for this sensory bombardment as there should have been. (8)

Words & Photo: Dean Brown

Shining – One One One | Review

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Generally, shunting together genres known for their confrontational and exclusionary force is a dangerous move but, over the years, Shining (Nor) leader/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Jørgen Munkeby and his ensemble have done so with enough intelligence and flair that it has paid off in style. As one of progressive metal’s audacious enigmas, Shining (Nor) have made their name by fearlessly blitzing convention. Spanning the dark divide between the explosiveness of jazz, prog-rock’s intricacies and extreme metal’s severity, the band's fifth studio release, ‘Blackjazz’, provided the breakout, as Shining (Nor) caught the wider attention of music fans that merit such gallantry. The evolution from an acoustic jazz quartet to the band flaunting extensive talents on ‘Live Blackjazz’—released in 2011—is sizeable, and with their latest offering, ‘One One One’, the evolution continues; albeit with fewer tangential leaps. The temptation to descend into blackened-jazz alienation à la ‘Blackjazz Deathtrance’ has been suppressed on ‘One One One’. Instead Shining (Nor) have filled the furnace with as many memorable vocal refrains as possible to work strictly within the confines of verse/chorus structures. In essence, the band has written 9 extreme pop songs shellacked by juddering industrial and progressive metal, resulting in an exciting, immediate and highly addictive listen. “Pop” is used in the loosest sense of the word, of course. You will not find saccharine choruses or moments that would be palatable to anyone unfamiliar with the intensity steaming off caustic vocals and pulverising metallic blasts. Munkeby’s vocals—part slithery lothario, part mantra-bearer—are pushed to the forefront and the bass-heavy riffs and unstable rhythms split and collide like The Dillinger Escape Plan remixed by Trent Reznor or Aphex Twin. All this comes at the expense of free-form jaunts, and the caterwauls of Munkeby's saxophone are limited to a few choice wig-outs ('How Your Story Ends', 'The Hurting Game'); much like his sparse interjections on Ihsahn’s ‘Eremita’ from last year. This may dishearten those looking to Shining (Nor) for jazz-in-extremis, but by cutting each song right to the bone and hanging not an ounce of fat on each arrangement, the band have allowed us to see straight through to what actually exists at the core of Shining (Nor): A swarming mass of enviable musicality and rampant hooks. Don't get too comfortable, however. This may only be a momentary experiment. One that Shining (Nor) have conducted to see how the rats react to stimulus shot straight to the synapses.

Dean Brown

Band info: www.shining.no
Label info: www.indierecordings.no | www.prostheticrecords.com

Agrimonia – Rites of Separation | Review

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An ear-catching clarion call at the start of ‘Talion’ signals the return of Sweden’s Agrimonia three years on from their last LP ‘Host of the Winged’. Now signed to Southern Lord for this their third full-length, ‘Rites of Separation’, Agrimonia—consisting of members of At the Gates, Martyrdöd and Skitsystem—have produced their best album right at the time that the band’s exposure is at its highest.
‘Talion’ is a fine indication of what the rest of this multi-limbed record has in store: expansive post metal split wide open and trounced by rampaging crust-punk with the raw screams of vocalist Christina Blom riding side-saddle. But to leave the description there would do the music a grave injustice. Agrimonia are not that easily defined. Sure the gnarled riffs during the faster passages have the stench of Martyrdöd’s grizzly classic rock, but there is an expressive side to the music that is just as intriguing. The piano-led intro to 'Hunted' is nicely composed and displays a broader musical palette than most. ‘White Life Lies’ is also dripping with rich dynamism, from the subterranean bass-lines and synths at the beginning to the fiery discharges that are soothed by an acoustic segue-way only to ignite again. ‘Awaiting’ even lashes strident black metal across the band’s wide musical spectrum, which bleeds into a clotted mix of the eerie synths, sparse drums and guitars, before taking a number of turns through the blackness and finding a final resting place in the arms of acoustic guitars.
To craft such diverse movements and make them sound seamless is quite the sleight-of-hand, but to do so while crossing genres and retaining the same abyss-perching aura, regardless of velocity and venom, is a massive accomplishment. Agrimonia’s ability to escalate and alleviate, to roar down vitriol one minute and descend into quiet dusk the next, is what makes these five, lengthy compositions so fascinating. If you are sick of post metal bands that kneel at the altar of Neurosis only to fall into pit of lethargy, Agrimonia’s ‘Rites of Separation’ is a welcome breath of fetid air.

Dean Brown

Band info: www.agrimonia.info
Label info: www.southernlord.com

Age of Taurus - Desperate Souls of Tortured Times | Review

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Rise Above Records is a name that rouses reverential bows in doom metal circles. Lee Dorrain’s (ex-Napalm Death/Cathedral) label, founded back in 1989 and financed by prying welfare out of the talons of Margaret Thatcher, has such a following that the label’s endorsement of a band is enough for people to happily hand over their own welfare payments to purchase the label’s latest releases. 2013 has been a noteworthy year so far for Rise Above with Cathedral, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Purson and Moss all receiving plenty of deserved coverage and praise. And now coming hot on the heels of those bands with its full length debut, ‘Desperate Souls of Tortured Times’, is London’s own Age of Taurus.
The band’s pertinently-titled and excellently packaged debut moves forward from its 2010 self released demo, 'In The Days of the Taurean Empire', to display discernably strengthened song-writing. Age of Taurus also continue to drink heavily from the sacrosanct well of doom’s forefathers—Sabbath, Candlemass, and Trouble, and the songs of ‘Desperate Soul...’ range from upbeat doom workouts that sound like a sincere version of the Sword (‘A Rush of Power’, ‘The Bull and the Bear’), to evocative pieces where the fantastical story-telling of vocalist/guitarist Toby W. Wright is pushed to the forefront (‘Walk With Me My Queen’, ‘Embrace the Stone’). These tracks are by far the most engaging: ‘Walk With Me My Queen’ turns the slower traits of doom into a medieval, Warning-esque ode to a loved one, and ‘Embrace the Stone’ is dynamically paced, contains blistering riffs and a brilliant guitar solo near its conclusion.
Sadly the rest of the songs, while well-structured, are nothing that we haven’t been exposed to before: conventional doom riffs and plaintive guitar harmonies, backed by drums that just bolster the riffs and do little more. The production courtesy of Jaime Gomez Arellano (Angel Witch, Ghost) suits the flow of the dramatic songs, but when the band try ramp up the aggression, as on ‘Always in the Eye’ and the title track, a grittier mix would have relieved Wright’s strong, clean vocals and the well-placed solos from trying to disguise the simplicity of it all. Age of Taurus’s take on the genre is one that, although not the heaviest or most interesting doom record you’re likely to encounter, does have plenty of redeeming qualities, but besides a handful of songs the band remains afraid to loosen its firm grip on the traditional tenets of the genre.

Dean Brown

Band info: www.facebook.com/AgeOfTaurus
Label info: www.riseaboverecords.com | www.metalblade.com

The Dillinger Escape Plan - One of Us is the Killer | Review

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In an age over-burdened by data from thousands of sources, it comes as quite the achievement when a band whips up even an ounce of excitement. The Dillinger Escape Plan is one of those very bands and as with each studio LP since their mind-melting debut ‘Calculating Infinity’, the release of a new album remains a significant event. The math-core pioneers have been insidiously mutating their complex formula since 1997: taking riotous hardcore to its outer limits through jazz time-signatures and gradually melding melody, noise-rock jives and ambient electronica into a poisonous elixir. But more importantly, as evidenced by the band’s fifth and latest LP, ‘One of Us is the Killer’, The Dillinger Escape Plan has placed greater focus on song-writing while preserving the blinding musicianship that made their name.
The song-writing on ‘One of Us is the Killer’ is extremely strong, with the band—guitarist/composer Ben Weinman, vocalist Greg Puciato, bassist Liam Wilson, drummer Billy Rymer and new guitarist James Love—balancing melody upon incendiary instrumentation without losing one drop of the red-hot aggression that has made The Dillinger Escape Plan one of the most explosive live bands in the world. First single ‘Prancer’ and the title track off ‘One of Us is the Killer’ provide the perfect paradigm for this. The band’s restless ingenuity is ensnared by Puciato’s sharp lyrics and sinister vocal hooks; the dark-jazz undertones of the title track housing a colossal chorus that lurches into life and inhabits your ear-canal instantaneously. For the reason that maintaining a musical and lyrical narrative is paramount to ‘One of Us is the Killer’, the chaos we’ve come to expect from the band is controlled with extra emphasis placed on jagged grooves, while experimentation is minimal. This may disappoint those looking for ‘Black Bubblegum’-pop and ‘Parasitic Twins’-part two, but don’t let this fool you into thinking the band is less ambitious this time round: such moves are calculated to create a cohesive concept without having one diverse song outperform the rest. Instead the diversity of the past is subtly engrained into the music and Weinman and Puciato set paranoia and unease surging, which swamps the music in a tense atmosphere similar to Mike Patton’s work with the band on the ‘Irony Is a Dead Scene’ EP.
It is by far the darkest release since the much lauded EP, and the darkness suits the band. Many a title of honour, and not a few of shame, have been attached to the name The Dillinger Escape Plan. ‘One of Us is the Killer’ won’t change this judgement one bit, and when the tale of this seminal band has been written, this record may be the point when The Dillinger Escape Plan showed their worth as song-writers and not just provocative and inimitable musicians.

Dean Brown

Band info: www.dillingerescapeplan.org
Label info: www.partysmasherinc.com

Spiritual Beggars – Earth Blues | Review

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For what was originally a rebound fling for guitarist Michael Amott when he left Carcass in 1993, Sweden's Spiritual Beggars has turned into a fairly prolific band in its own right. The word “band” being essential to Spiritual Beggars, as Amott's cast of cohorts for the second LP in succession—bassist Sharlee D’Angelo (Arch Enemy), keyboardist Per Wiberg (ex-Opeth), drummer Ludwig Witt (Grand Magus) and vocalist Apollo Papathanasio (Firebird)—are far from henchmen hired to gratify the guitarist's ego trip. But, then again, Spiritual Beggars has never come across as such over its seven previous records.
This time around each member fully embraces their love for ‘70s hard and prog rock, with the classic glide ‘n’ slide of Rainbow, Whitesnake, Uriah Heep and Deep Purple drenching the twelve, multicoloured songs of ‘Earth Blues’. Also lurking within these songs are stunning individual moments of luminosity that avoid self-aggrandisation and substantially raise the calibre of each composition. Amott and Wiberg excel by adding both contemporary appeal and classic rock feel to their playing, as 'Sweet Magic Pain' and 'Hello Sorrow' showcase superbly. 'Hello Sorrow' opens with a signature Amott solo that wouldn't sit out an Arch Enemy track before taking off with an emerald riff ripped right out of Thin Lizzy's treasure trove, while Wiberg pounds the keys purple like Jon Lord, kicks out the boogie with Witt and D'Angelo on 'One Man's Curse', and dons Rick Wakeman's cape for 'Kingmaker'.
But as we all know when it comes to hard rock music of this style: the singer can make or break the band. Thankfully, Papathanasio sounds more confident than on 2010's 'Return to Zero' and his versatility and ear for a catchy melody looms large over the band's former singers; which is no mean feat. The man can channel John Lawton and Ronnie James Dio in the space of one song ('To Old To Die Young'), and whether the band is tossing out Sabbathian grooves ('Turn the Tide', 'Legends Collapse') or looking to the soul of the Delta blues at the beginning of 'Dreamer', Papathanasio's chameleonic pipes lead each changeover with panache. It's the unabashed joy of it all that makes for what is by far the best LP yet to be released under the Beggars banner. So if you want to hear what radio music sounded like back when people placed actual "musicians" on a pedestal, ‘Earth Blues’ really is essential listening.

Dean Brown

Band info: www.spiritualbeggars.com
Label info: www.insideoutmusic.com

Cathedral - The Last Spire | Review

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The end is nigh as the tenth and final LP, ‘The Last Spire’, from legendary doomsayers Cathedral lands upon us. After 23 years of paralysing doom, twee ‘70s psych-ventures, heavy prog-rock and everything in-between, the band formed by former Napalm Death frontman and Rise Above Records shaman, Lee Dorrain, is now laid to rest. And if there was ever a monument erected in memoriam of Cathedral’s eccentric existence, ‘The Last Spire’ stands a towering epitaph.
By far the heaviest Cathedral record since the highly regarded debut, ‘Forest of Equilibrium’, the doomed four-piece has focused on conveying a deep-rooted sense of finality. ‘Entrance to Hell’ sets an ominous tone through the calls of “Bring out your dead!”—without a hint of Monty Python’s humour—and the all-too-familiar toll of a church bell which summons the tombstone-heavy ‘Pallbearer’. During the tempo changes of ‘Pallbearer’ it becomes evident that Cathedral refuse to be tied to a languorous pace on this record and both ‘Cathedral of the Damned’ and ‘Tower of Silence’ which follow are mid-paced stompers teeming with some of the greatest doom riffs ever cut to tape.
Founding guitarist Gaz Jennings, who is one of the classiest (underrated) players in rock and metal, hurls slab after slab of monolithic doom riffs on top of the graven earth laid by bassist Scott Carlson (Repulsion) and drummer Brian Dixon throughout ‘The Last Spire’. And to match the sinister nature of the music, Dorrain supplies the requisite vocal unease and his lyrics take a darker turn while remaining socially aware, tackling, for instance, the perils of war—a classic doom theme—on the Celtic Frost-flecked ‘Infestation of Death’.
The masterful understanding of dynamics that Cathedral has cultured over its illustrious tenure is even more striking in the context of what is, ostensibly, a true doom record. ‘An Observation’ goes beyond the typical lengthy trudge of slow and suffocating, as Cathedral’s prog undertones infest the mournful arrangements and the band throws one of its signature curveballs: a Camel-esque keyboard break that ends up setting the controls for the heart of the weird. And as the last note fades on this bittersweet finale, ‘This Body, Thy Tomb’—a fitting sonic summation of the band’s entire career—it becomes clear that, unlike bands that continues to fester long after their expiry date, this British institution has gone out on top, sounding as tasteful and timeless as ever. R.I.P.

Dean Brown

Band info: www.cathedralcoven.com
Label info: www.riseaboverecords.com

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