I shouldn't have to waste time going over the events surrounding Behemoth frontman Adam “Nergal” Darski but I will anyway. Briefly. Between 2009's Evangelion and new album The Satanist (Nuclear Blast in EU, Metal Blade in North America), Nergal fought and won a battle against leukemia. And he has celebrated by crafting an album that spits in the face of weakness. Behemoth's 10th album seethes with the kind of raw power (with top notch production) we've come to expect but it's not without a couple surprises. Opener “Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel” rallies the masses in classic Behemoth fashion. Some plodding militance crashes with the supreme reign of chaos and lightning fast everything. Nergal calls for attention like only he can. His voice is infinitely commanding. Throughout the album he puts himself on display in a totally natural way. Instead of simply roaring, there are subtleties and emotional cracks appear in his corpsepainted facade. His berated throat fans the flames that burn eternal in Hell, scorching The Satanist's unbelievers.

Nergal is joined on the guitars by Seth. The pair of six-stringed evangelists leave no riff unconverted, ripping and shredding their way through the candlelit darkness with unrepentant speed and devastating solos. Not that that wasn't expected. What was unexpected in a way is how Behemoth rein in their headlong battle with more mid-paced pounding accented by atmospherics of the vocal, brass, string and melodic varieties. Their electric weapons of enslavement even give way to (gasp!) acoustics and spoken words on “In the Absence ov Light”. Never fear. Total obliteration follows within the track.

The rhythm section of Orion and Inferno, bass and drums respectively, really shine on The Satanist. The deep, growling bass ploughs through the mix throughout, enhancing the album's overall menace, at times even becoming the dominant force (“Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer”). His rhythmic partner blows the doors off the cathedral with an absolutely stellar performance. Inferno really outdoes himself with spectacular speed but also with measured thunder, snappy fills and a knack for adapting the castigation without a hint of hesitation to fit the tone and flow of the tracks.

While this is Behemoth doing what Behemoth does, they're now doing it better than ever. However, two tracks stand out in particular. The title track is truly epic. Orion's bass is all over it. Choral chants rise and fall within mid-paced movements. It's loaded with ambience and power dominated by Nergal's desperate, impassioned vocals. Closer “O Father O Satan O Sun!” breaks from the mold as well. It barely rises above a gallop at times, letting the listener down easy after the frantic previous tracks. Vocal harmonies lend a cinematic air. There's groove (Orion again) and atmosphere to go along with undead solos and a sort of creepiness. It's an amazing track and easily the album's best.

The track embodies the blood and guts, the life-giving force that permeates this passionate album; that which drips from The Satanist's every pore: devotion. Devotion to the sound, to the aesthetic. Devotion to Behemoth and everything they've worked for and stood for. Devotion to life. Because Satanism isn't about death, it's about life.

Matt Hinch

Band info: www.behemoth.pl
Label info: www.nuclearblast.de

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Ghost Cult Magazine, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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I must confess I was never a huge fan of The Black Dahlia Murder and their melodic death metal attack until the day a friend of mine dragged me down to see the band play live. I guess I was bit skeptical about them because their name was often lumped together with this whole metalcore movement, which was rapidly becoming bland and tiresome. Anyway, that night everything changed. TBDM were absolutely crushing and technically perfect and their entire set completely blew me away. At the time, they were on the road promoting their fifth release “Ritual”, coincidently their best effort to date.
Now two years after the success of said work, TBDM return with a new effort, the first featuring new drummer Alan Cassidy and bassist Max Lavelle, who have done a pretty remarkable job here. The injection of fresh blood has clearly revitalized the band’s sound a bit, not that it was lacking in strength or commitment, few bands slay with this level of aggression and intensity, but “Everblack” definitely sees TBDM further maturing into a more calculated death metal killing machine.
The strident “In Hell Is Where She Waits Me” opens proceedings with relentless fury, the combination of blasting drums, spine-wrecking grooves with merciless shredding, ear-grabbing melodies and Trevor Strnad’s dual vocal attack is masterfully executed and tremendously lethal. From that moment on right to the final chords of “Map of Scars”, “Everblack” stomps, smashes and pummels with utmost confidence and intensity, contradicting the idea that some their detractors believe that TBDM have no real appreciation for death metal’s history. They’re wrong, this new album is packed with truly decimating riffs and is surely going to be one of the most significant death metal albums of 2013.

Band info: www.facebook.com/theblackdahliamurderofficial
Label info: www.metalblade.com

 
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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

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

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Sweden’s Entrails are back with their third length release of early Entombed-worshipping death metal, the aptly titled ‘Raging Death.’ Their previous two efforts, ‘Tales from the Morgue’ and ‘The Tomb Awaits’ were pretty satisfying doses of blasting, raw old school Swedish styled death metal, blending some nasty and vicious buzzsaw riffage with some bone-crushing rhythms and caveman growls, and this new work is simply a continuation of that style and approach. No surprises here then, die hard death metal fans will surely rejoice at the pulverising rawness and crushing brutality that emanates from tracks like ‘In Pieces,’ ‘Carved to the Bone’ and ‘Cadaverous Stench.’ That chainsaw, gut-wrenching guitar tone is one of the hallmarks of this album and truly sounds like it was committed to tape by the legendary Tomas Skogsberg at his infamous Sunlight Studios. I simply love it when the riffs literally threaten to rip off the flesh from the bones, and here you almost taste the stench of torsos getting chainsawed in half. ‘Raging Death’ recaptures that Sunlight rancid style perfectly, without trying to innovate or alter it in any way. Entrails simply want to carry on a very worthy legacy started by Entombed and Dismember years ago, and having said that, ‘Raging Death’ is a commendable work that any old school death metal enthusiast must have.

Band info: www.facebook.com/Entrails666
Label info: www.metalblade.com

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Gripping us by the heels and dragging us from the water’s edge down through all five pelagic depth-zones with their latest epic ‘Pelagial’, German progressive metal collective The Ocean have created a turbulent yet sumptuous journey spanning 53-minutes. Envisaged as one complete conceptual composition, ‘Pelagial’ was originally recorded solely as an instrumental piece due to vocalist Loic Rossetti suffering from severe health issues. Rossetti, however, recovered in time to—along with various barbarous throats from contemporary metal—add another layer to the new record and, interestingly, The Ocean has released both versions of ‘Pelagial’ together.
Because the music was completed without Rossetti in mind, the positioning of his vocals atop what is extremely expressive music, effortlessly coasting from Opeth-ian grandiosity to churning post-metal oblivion, can, at times, sound awkward and some melodies simply do not work. Saying that, the inclusion of powerful screams during the writhing syncopations of ‘Bathyalpelagic III: Disequillibrated’ and the dreamy, clean vocals that float along with the ethereal passages of ‘Abyssopelagic II: Signals of Anxiety’ imparts a different dimension when compared to the instrumental recording, and these colourful vocal turns, amongst others, do accentuate the gripping nature of the music.
The instrumental only side on the other hand, really brings the musical nuances to the fore, as it becomes clearer that certain codas that occur early on subtly re-appear during different stages of this submersion. The intricate transitions are also much more noticeable without the vocals, as the instrumentation moves from the serene-sounding harp and piano that shimmers like the sun gleaming across a vast, unexplored vista, to the diaphanous weight of the music that pulls you deeper and deeper into the terrors of the unknown as ‘Pelagial’ progresses.
The beauty of this release is that The Ocean has given us the opportunity to explore the different facets of the two versions and decide for ourselves, and there is a multitude to discover, enjoy and contrast within both. With each passing release, The Ocean has become more renowned for meticulously dedicating time to constructing labyrinthine concepts, arranging the music and contributors, and making sure the packaging and artwork all intertwine. ‘Pelagial’ is a supreme expression of such extensive and intensive labours, and with this record The Ocean rise from the spray as one of progressive metal’s most essential.

Dean Brown 

Band info: www.theoceancollective.com
Label info: www.metalblade.com

 

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

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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

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

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For the most part, when it comes to music, us metalheads can be a dour, depressing and serious lot. Generally we prefer to listen to compositions that focus on death, destruction and a good measure of anarchy. A good science-fiction concept story may also feature if we’re lucky. So sometimes, it is nice to throw off the shackles of this gloomy malaise and listen to something a bit more fun. If that’s the case, and a bit of fluffy AOR is a bridge too far, I offer you Gypsyhawk.

Gypsyhawk are a quartet hailing from Pasadena, California and from the modus operandi of their sophomore full-length “Revelry And Resilience”, these guys, including Skeletonwitch’s Eric Harris on bass and vocals, want to play carefree heavy rock ‘n’ roll and have a party. It’s an ethos that seems to have struck a chord and even the usually brutal and heavy Metal Blade Records have succumbed by signing the band to their roster.

For the entirety of “Revelry And Resilience”, you are bombarded with music that immediately transports you back in time thirty or forty years, offering you simple, yet effective pleasures at every turn. The main focus for Gypsyhawk is creating a fun atmosphere and they manage this feat by blending plenty of mid-tempo riffs with lashings of groove, hooks and plenty of catchy choruses. As a result, the most obvious reference points that emerge are bands like UFO and Thin Lizzy. That said, Gypsyhawk are in no way a tribute band or a clone of their 70s predecessors. Yes, they may offer a closing cover of “Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo” by (and I had to look this up on the ‘Net) Johnny Winter, but otherwise, they are their own men with their own ideas.

“Overloaded” is a powerful riff-tastic opener and sets the tone for the album very nicely. One of my personal favourites follows in the form of the über-groovy “The Fields”. Other standout tracks for me include “Hedgeking” with its brief but cool mid-song instrumental and ensuing solo as well as the slower, more introspective “Night Songs From The Desert”. For some bizarre reason, the intro reminds me of Pantera but I’m confident that I’ll be in a massive minority there.

Moving swiftly on to a credibility-saving conclusion, it is fair to say that “Revelry And Resilience” will not blind you with science or break new ground. However, what it does instead is offer nearly 50 minutes of uplifting rock music that I guarantee will leave you in a better mood than when you first pressed play. Sometimes, that’s enough and you can’t ask any more than that.

Matt Spall

Band info: www.facebook.com/Gypsyhawkusa

Label info: www.metalblade.com
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