Vokonis are a Swedish trio from the city of Borås, comprised of Simon Ohlsson – Guitar/Vocals, Jonte Johansson – Bass/Vocals and new(ish) drummer/percussionist Peter Ottosson. Per Wiberg of Opeth, Spiritual Beggars, Kamchatka also makes an appearance on keyboards.

Odyssey is the follow-up to 2019's acclaimed third album “Grasping Time” with artwork by Kyrre Bjurling (artist behind Vokonis' previous works Grasping Time and the reissue of Olde One Ascending). The cover alludes to the naturalistic yet mystical world evoked by the works of Roger Dean (Yes, Asia, Atomic Rooster, Uriah Heep) and thus betrays the band's intentions to delve further into prog-rock waters. This will doubtlessly whet the appetite of fans of the proggier wing of sludge/doom metal.

Odyssey starts with its shortest track 'Rebellion' at a mere 3:17 minutes with a crunching heavy metal riff that reminds one of the likes of power metal revivalists Grand Magus, there is definitely a NWOBHM vibe present here. There are also some pleasant melodic Alice In Chains' Layne Staley vocal lines courtesy of Jonte that contrast nicely with Simon's more aggressive approach. A bracing and effective opener that sets the listener up for the album to come. Second track 'Odyssey' brings to mind Oakland psych prog outfit Mondo Drag with the heavy Hammond Organ flourishes, making this a potential psych classic. 'Blackened Wings' takes us back to the conciseness of the opening track and takes a sludgier approach ala Elder who they coincidentally shared a stage with back in the pre-covid era. 'Azure' follows a similar pattern in terms of track length and style but also adds some gorgeous soloing from Simon towards the end that melds effortlessly and brilliantly with Per's Ken Hensley/Jon Lord influenced keyboard playing, all of which make for a thrilling conclusion.

'Hollow Waters' tips its hat to Lateralus/10,000 Days era Tool with strong anguished vocals reminiscent of Maynard James Keenan. The track winds back on the heavy sludge somewhat and embarks on a psychedelic journey into mysterious worlds as intonated by the aforementioned album cover. 'Odyssey' and 'Hollow Waters' may have been longer pieces but they were veritable warm-ups for album closer 'Through the Depths' which is a mammoth 12:48 minutes, an extraordinary piece that further demonstrates the band's ongoing musical maturity. For the first quarter we are met with the band's trademark brand of progressive sludge/doom before being greeted with some beautiful melancholy Blues Jamming which one would have heard from the likes of the late, great Gary Moore. This continues right through to the album's conclusion and proves true the old adage saving the best till last. Without doubt the finest track by a country mile and a perfectly epic way to conclude the album.

Going further down the progressive rabbit-hole like countrymen Opeth could have proved a risky move, thankfully it has paid off and Odyssey is brilliantly balanced between more immediate tracks and longer challenging fare that will appeal to both fans of doom/sludge and vintage prog. (8/10)

Reza Mills

Band info: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialVokonis
Label info: http://thesignrecords.com


Read More »

What's in a name?
Many acts sport a name which warrant research to sate the curiosity. "Nixil", could mean (and is translated as) several things; to refuse to accept or allow or as an exclamation or warning.

The cover art adds to the intrigue. A frustrated looking invertebrate chasing its own tail one connects with the title. However, it's the band's logo which sticks out; stark, angular and crimson bold, this isn't typical of the genre.

What about the music?
Taking into consideration how Nixil is comprised, with former/current members of Spectral Tombs, Dagger Moon, Tsepesch and Corpse Light, one would expect a varied stylistic approach. And they'd be correct in that assumption.

"Black Earth Within'' starts the album. An introduction invoking mist covered terrain rarely traversed by human feet is obliterated by a cymbal crescendo, brief melancholic chords, furious riffing and a scathing vocal assault boasting definite BM cursing-the-heavens-above qualities. As well its obvious viciousness the track meanders into doom realms, some might even say Sludge arenas. Only then to hit the nitro again when one becomes comfortable with the surprising groove. This initial audio example serves as an excellent introduction to both the album and the acts creative tendencies.

"Deaths of our own Design" commences with blazing riffs, then abruptly crawls to a snail pace accompanied by the tolling of a bell and a vocal plea, of sorts. Sludge again, is the order of the day though Avant Garde, ala Akercocke, elements (both in percussion and vocal fronts) appear as well melodies which recall earlier Paradise Lost.
"Make me the Voice" is an infectious dissonant number with a catchy chorus shot through with veins of BM pace. Three tracks in and the word 'unpredictable' is lit by night carving neon.

For those with melodious penchants the title track serves to scratch the itch. Folk elements are front and center (if I'm to be honest, I was well expecting a harp, violin or an interlude to showcase a soundbite featuring an owl or a cricket). Weaved among the arrangement also is a definite menace. Though the highlight of this standout track has to be the vocal conclusion..

Hoisting the standard for sounding most like traditional (is there even such a thing?) BM, is "May This Flame Flicker Out" (as if the title didn't give it away?) Although it too is shot through with stylistic deviances; nodding to both Heavy Metal and Blackened Speed arenas..
.
“All Knots Untied” concludes with "Unimpeded by the Weight". A photo finish second place in the aforementioned standard-hoisting competition, this bears palpable ominous qualities as well a chilling vocal presence. Rhythms are varied; ritualistic cavernous to those of the type to please individuals whose wardrobes proudly feature battle vests and a variety of studded arm adornments. A fantastic conclusion to an album which although might not initially grab the attention will seep into the senses and is likely to become a highlight in frequent playlists. (8.1/10)

Cult

Band info: www.nixilnothing.com 

Read More »

Corrupt Moral Altar first full-length effort “Mechanical Tides” sees the British four-piece distancing themselves from the more frantic, grind-influenced direction of their previous EP “Whiskey Sierra” to favour a more catchy, sludgy groove that surprisingly makes the whole release sound a bit more fresh and captivating.

Anyway, if it was the chaotic and grindy nature of “Whiskey Sierra” that first lured you towards Corrupt Moral Altar then, there are strong chances that you’ll be slightly disappointed with this new release. Not saying that they have gone all soft and sweet on us nope, they still sound pissed-off and angry, but instead of trying to rip your head from the torso they sound more controlled and tempered and just want to give you let’s say, a serious spanking. Nothing fatal.

They kick things off with “Father Tongue”, a relentless and heavy tune that pretty much follows-up the formula explored on their previous work, but from there on the material ranges from an aggressive, straightforward hardcore punch to a partially abrasive, partially bluesy sludge and some post-rock atmospherics. Second track “Blood Harmony” shows the band motivated to utilize a few nuances that we don’t often hear on a sludge/grind release, like some introspective post-metal melodies. Same for “Admit Defeat”, a trippy, melancholic tune that features the melodic singing of Mitch Harris from Napalm Death.

There's a touch of everything to be found in here, yet surprisingly there's a compelling coherence to all this disparate convergence of sounds. Solid stuff from a promising band that reveals a total disregard for rules or conventions!

Band info: www.facebook.com/CorruptMoralAltar
Label info: www.season-of-mist.com

Read More »

The Great Sabatini are one of those bands that have existed on the fringes of my experience. No doubt I'm not alone in that regard. Or maybe I'm just hopelessly out of the loop. I mean, the band lives less than a three hour drive away. I surmise that is all about to change with new album, Dog Years. That cover alone should garner at least some added attention.
Whatever the case, this third full-length from the Montreal noiseniks spreads its tendrils far and wide to bring together an array of sounds to pound and confound whoever gets caught in the maelstrom.

The album starts with the frenetic “The Royal We”. A stirring groove gets buried beneath rambunctious and spastic noisecore and gnarly sludge tones. The energy level takes more ups and downs than Elvis Presley's drug regimen but it's done seamlessly and with endless passion.
That sort of tangential convergence continues for the next few tracks leaving the listener unable to focus and constantly off balance. It's at times insane, others bludgeoning and at all times unpredictably catchy. “Nursing Home” for example sounds like someone took angry ska and ran it through a wood chipper run by a methed-out anarchist with commitment issues.
After “Reach” rises from the dust bowl into murderous thunderheads comes “Aleka”. The bluesy ballad is all steely acoustics and clean crooning. It's completely at odds with the rest of the album. But even as the sore thumb of Dog Years it's the track that will get stuck in your head the most.
The Great Sabatini return to messing with your head thereafter. Elastic rubbery riffs break down the defences and pull your mind to bits like the black hole where broken guitars go to die for the rest of the album's duration, concluding in “Life During Wartime”. The track starts with utter heartbreak sore from devastation. It then hardens its resolve to fight back and obliterate speakers and liquidize eardrums like a sludge driven tank.

Dog Years sounds like Torche rehabbing from a Ritalin addiction. It's catchy as sin but ugly and raw. Freebasing percussion, schizo guitars and the kind of post-hardcore vocal flaying you'd expect from the cover's creature motivate the listener to push on no matter how painful the eclecticism gets. Instruments are like putty in their hands as they shape their output to their will. Math-tastic riffs and intricate structures are made to seem like child's play.

Simply put, Dog Years is strange and tons of fun but not without a measure of risk. It's like that friend you always invite because you know that with a few drinks in him he's totally wild and entertaining. But if someone slips him some whiskey he gets stubborn, belligerent and downright mean. Maybe even gets in a fight. But you keeping asking him to come along anyway.

With Dog Years The Great Sabatini walk that perceptive line between brilliance and mad-as-a-hatter. It might take some time and effort to fully appreciate all the depth and nuance to be found but as they say, all good things happen in their own good time. Now let's get crazy!

Matt Hinch

Band info: www.facebook.com/thegreatsabatini
Label info: www.solarflarerds.com

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, Metal Bandcamp, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

Read More »

By this point learned metalheads shouldn't have to be told that Tombs are a top-shelf act. Their coming out party, 2011's Path of Totality, was even named Decibel Magazine's Album of the Year. The NY quartet carry over the qualities that lead to that album's critical success on their latest transmission of darkness, Savage Gold.

For this release mainman Mike Hill (vocals/guitars) is once again joined by drummer extraordinaire Andrew Hernandez as well as newcomers Ben Brand (bass, ex-Woe) and Flourishing guitarist Garrett Bussanick. Despite the member turnover this unit perform as a potent force.

The lyrical themes of Path carry over to Savage Gold as well. Unlike much typical black metal there's no mention of any cloven-hoofed worship, no admonishment of belief systems and no revelling in the glory of nature. Hill focuses more on darkness and death. His vocals may be beastly and muscularly dynamic but nearly always discernible.

His ruminations are deep and philosophical; the product of a mind that never idles. A general feeling is that of acceptance to death's inevitability, yet there is still a fear of succumbing to its clutches. Heavy topics sure, but as David Gold (Woods of Ypres), whatever-you-believe-in rest his soul, said, “Only death is real.”

Hill's thought provoking words are delicate on paper but betrayed by the fierce savagery with which he delivers them. Such existential musing must be accompanied by equally dark music and the multi-layered black metal Tombs excel at is plenty dark. Their sonic palette consists of shades of black but Savage Gold is painted with rich, emotional textures. Scorching black metal blasts play a big part but as much as tunnelling through the depths draws the listener in, it's the moments where Tombs slacken the pace and open up that really cut to the core. It's like seeing through the savagery and blind rage of a razorbacked beast to the tortured soul that lies within.

Hill's gruff and gravelly bellows and rasps express torment over painful melodies on “Seance”. The track works in an almost sludgy vibe but also some of the best windswept tremolos and punishing blasts on the album. Each shift in tempo and mood is met with the same sense of importance and awe.

That's just one example of how well Tombs are able to play with dynamics. Cascading melodies create atmosphere. Hypnotic brooding dulls the senses. Death metal sensibilities crush the skull. Pulverizing chaos, lumbering gait, serpentine movements and mesmerizing guitar interplay blur the edges of reality.

Savage Gold coils around the listener like the tempting serpent. The grip of the experimental blackness is inescapably deadly. It's a captivating album that beats you senseless one moment and carries you among the clouds the next. It's powerful, chilling, exhausting, encapsulating and irresistible. Among the wealth of excellent bands releasing albums this year, Tombs will once again shine amongst the brightest.

Matt Hinch

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

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, Metal Bandcamp, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

Read More »

Any metal fan worth their weight in salt should know the indelible mark Eyehategod has made on the scene since the 90s. They practically defined the sludge genre with seminal album like 1993's Take As Needed For Pain and 1996's Dopesick. Their drug fuelled and dirty-as-a-sewer mix of Sabbath-laced doom and hardcore intensity has influenced countless bands over the last 20-some years. But it's been a long, hard 14 years since EHG graced us with a new album. The wait is over.

The New Orleans quintet has returned with 11 tracks of filth and sweat for this self-titled release. One wouldn't really have expected any mellowing out as the band as aged though. Far from it. If anything life has only become harder in The Big Easy. Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans a ruin from which some will never recover. If that wasn't enough, drummer Joey LaCaze passing suddenly in 2013 no doubt left a permanent scar on the band's heart. Thankfully, LaCaze's drum tracks had already been recorded for the album. His contribution to EHG's rebirth is both tragic and special.

The situation has to have affected the band's performance in completing the album without him. Guitarists Jimmy Bower and Brian Patton, bassist Gary Mader and vocalist Mike IX Williams more than do justice to LaCaze's memory.

Eyehategod is just as grimy, infected and scabrous as anything they've done previous. The tone is devilishly meaty and patently recognizable. Riding waves of feedback through strained amps, gut-wrenching riffs pile up on the listener's back, weighing them down while at the same time driving them forward.

The blatant Sabbath influence colours the whole album but most notably on “Parish Motel Sickness” and “Worthless Rescue”. Their hardcore leanings run you down on “Agitation! Propaganda!” and “Framed to the Wall”. And all the while they display the sort of snarling and heavy-handed sludge mastery they've become renowned for.

Williams plies his visceral trade through the swampy murk with reckless abandon. All the pain and struggle oozes from his pores. His social consciousness and unique view on life fuels his impassioned performance with a lyrical approach framed by his streetwise and ingrained intelligence. He's always intense, slavering and thought provoking.

Unreasonably high expectations have been placed on Eyehategod. The band's adoration and legend has done nothing but grow in their recorded absence. Unlike many other renewed acts, EHG have lived up to those expectations. Sure, the production value may separate this album from its predecessors but all the dirt, all the heaving anguish, all that makes EHG who they are is still there. Eyehategod is a glorious return enhancing their legacy and an outstanding testament to the memory of Joey LaCaze.

RIP Joey and long live Eyehategod!

Matt Hinch 

Band info: www.facebook.com/OfficialEyeHateGod
Label info: www.centurymedia.com

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, Metal Bandcamp, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

Read More »

If you've been paying attention to modern metal of late, you will have noticed that most bands not besotted with retro, are pushing their music forwards with varied attempts at blurring the lines between genres. Some, of course, are taking the concept to the extreme by fusing those lines into a vast wall of sound. South Carolina's Darkentries, contentedly sat on Kylesa's record label, are one of the latter and have drawn influence from such quarters as sludge, hardcore, doom and post-metal to create a blackened, nihilistic cacophony.

What stands out the most here is the production. Recorded with Kris Hilbert at the curiously-titled Legitimate Business Studio, with the mastering taking place over at Audiosiege, the overall impression is of a vital, raw mix loaded with enough echo to bring it back from the brink. Carefully layered within, the powerful, mud-flinging guitars take pride of place at the forefront, the drums sit in the middle distance, and the vocal is left to rant and rave from somewhere out back. It's an odd experience to discover that the gapping between the levels mean you can actually pick out the points where Hampton Dodd's vocals start phasing. Of course, it is exactly because the band don't utilise every inch of space that, inside the sections where instrument drop-outs occur, it all begins to feel slightly removed from the present. Whilst a shame that slight fault does leave them much room for experimentation - hopefully more so when they finally get round to issuing that full-length.

Digging down into the tracks, 'TV Fuzz' shifts from a gentile guitar introduction into pounding black doom. With the vocal lurching between one that pitches mournful shoegaze and another that seems ensconced in inflicting post-hardcore chaos, the effect is intense and shattering. Though 'Honey Eater' and the stunning 'Feedback Funeral' stay on the same path, they muscle up every element. The vocal sinks deeper to create a more resonant, more forbidding atmosphere and finds a red-raw animosity when it gets its 'core on. Even the sludge-packing guitars wind it all down until the buzzing begins to vibrate at the back of your brain. What stands out, is that somewhere amongst all the to-ing and fro-ing, you'll hear strong hints at the kind of ambient, miserabilist post-hardcore peddled by bands like The Elijah or Devil Sold His Soul.

Upping their game, 'I'm Tired Of Being Awake' finds joy in warping the attack; picking up the desert and blowing it back in our faces. In these mere three minutes they find room to echo the emotional, death-addled contortions of Ihsahn and even time to tap out some Mastodon-esque string progressions. '1200-S' is their chthonic monster, emerging from its abyss to rip out some suitably alien roars and illicit agonising screams form its prey. There are also vast open power chords, gutsy basslines and heart-pumping chugs to get on board with. Lyrically, you'll not find much to sink your teeth into with this EP, save perhaps for 'Feedback Funeral' and that repeating disembodied scream of "just bloody kill me" or in the wild-eyed chant of "paradise, paradise" awaiting in '1200-S'.

Understandably short, impossibly indulgent, strangely exhilarating. In a sense, this kind of carefully-constructed lunacy is exactly what we, as disciples of extreme metal, crave. It's music that breaks barriers, retaining an essence of ancient majesty but remaining unafraid to let things get a little ugly and a little twisted. Easy listening this is not, but then this is, in effect, Darkentries' crack at sonic catharsis. Their ball, their rules. The Make Believe represents their own honest attempt to define what modern heavy metal means to them. It will be very interesting to see what kind of unholy noises they can conjure up in the future.

John Skibeat

Band Info: www.facebook.com/DRKNTRS
Label Info: www.facebook.com/retrofuturistrecords

 

John Skibeat is a self-described word monkey hampered by cravings for strong ale and stinky cheese. He continues to practice surgical dissection on most genres of music with the leftovers currently reaching publication at 'zines like Heavy Blog Is Heavy, The Line Of Best Fit or Ave Noctum. When not smacking seven bells out of various sizes of orb, he tumbles at johnskibeat, tweets @johnskibeat and blogs at, yes, you guessed it, johnskibeat.

Read More »

Is it a bad thing to be stereotyped as full of big ideas? Junius approaches that line on Days of the Fallen Sun, a recent EP featuring two new songs, two (potential) re-recordings of older, hard-to-find tunes, four ambient synthesizer interludes, and a whole lot of catastrophism. Always a master of craft, the band grafts together huge choruses, mountains of reverb and some of its heaviest riffs to date here, never deviating from its path while still finding room to maneuver therein.

As it has on past releases like Martyrdom of a Catastrophist and Reports from the Threshold of Death, Junius tackles Big Concepts here, particularly those of disgraced scholar and theorist Immanuel Velikovsky, whose catastrophist interpretations of ancient history found him scorned by the scientific community. Esoteric though this may seem, his portentous writings about worlds in collision make for great metal lyrics: “we are the light / we are the fire,” he intones to end “Forgiving the Cleansing Meteor,” a song, appropriately, about accepting one’s inevitable negation by the universe. Joseph Martinez sells every word, and his natural feel for melody drives the band here, as it always has; though it would be hard to say it suffers per se, Days nonetheless feels like a slightly different record when his voice isn’t heard.

This is because Junius has never been a true metal band, though on “Battle in the Sky” it provides some of the heaviest riffs yet. Rather, in its amalgamation of goth, post-hardcore and sludge, the band serves as an exemplar of consonance in a scene obsessed with the dissonant. Previously released tracks “A Day Dark With Night” and “The Time of Perfect Virtue” favor full-bodied synths and crystalline guitars to head-pounding distortion, allowing Martinez’s voice the ability to duck and soar as need-be, never showing off and always in service of the track. This is perhaps best demonstrated on closer “Forgiving,” where he provides his own harmonies and counter-melodies, providing a wall of sound almost as formidable as that presented by the constantly-churning bass and multi-tracked snare drums. Even if his lyrics strike one as a little broad, he sells them with absolute conviction; by the end of Days, you’d have to be unnaturally confident not to fear death-by-meteor during your daily commute.

Unfortunately, Will Benoit’s production, while full-bodied and powerful, brickwalls the entire recording, and in doing so renders whatever nuances might have been heard absolutely invisible under the weight of each track. This is a minor complaint, but coupled with the poor-quality review copies distributed by Prosthetic, it gave me a headache initially. This has been resolved post-release, but a word to the wise: your music shouldn’t actively turn people away for any reason other than its content. And the songs here are damn good, with “Forgiving” absolutely among my favorite Junius tracks. Anything that takes away from that is, simply, unfortunate.

Rob Rubsam

Band info: www.juniusmusic.com
Label info: www.prostheticrecords.com

Rob Rubsam is a freelance writer and itinerant resident of Upstate New York. His writing about music has been published at CVLT Nation, Tom Tom Magazine, The Rumpus, Burning Ambulance, and others. When not contemplating giant squids or erecting a standing stone in his backyard, he tweets at @millenialistfun. Do not contact him with your black mass-related inquiries, please.

Read More »

Party-metal is a genre that should really be much more popular than it is. Bands in this style sound like they wrote and recorded all of their songs in the midst of a drunken weekend bender, possibly while hanging out with their recently-dead boss and getting into some serious hijinks. Most famously embodied in the eternally-partying Andrew W.K., the style has seen a resurgence in recent years thanks to Kvelertak, and it’s basically impossible not to crack a smile while listening, even for the craggiest of old (at heart) men like me. There are harmonized guitars and breaks designed to give the singer time to crush a beer can on his forehead, wrapped up in a catchy package.

When at its best, Doomriders, fronted by Nate Newton of Converge, lives up to the moniker. On Grand Blood, the band’s newest, it splits the time between these fun party-mosh tunes and heavier, dirge-like songs that suffer in the comparison. Hardcore-tinged tracks like “Back Taxes” and opener “New Pyramids” rollick and roll while Newton spits in his Coliseum-style bark. Do I know what he’s saying? Hell no. But I’m too busy punch-dancing around my house to notice. It sounds like music both jocks and the nerds they are currently pushing into lockers would enjoy. “Mankind” has the kind of tapped guitar lead that is played with one foot on the monitors, the guitarist occasionally taking breaks to pump his fist at the crowd, and the bassist sounds like he could totally kick your ass. The title track is a little spacier but no less fun, in an early Baroness style.

For the first six tracks, this roaring doesn’t let up, and while it’s almost relentlessly one-note, Newton’s vocals in particular, it’s still a pretty good time. However, on track seven, “Death in Heat,” Grand Blood hits a speed bump it never really recovers from. “Death” has a slow, Sabbath-y riff which is, in theory, no different from what came before, but by stripping away the energy and the feeling of a beer-soaked good time, it starts to sound tired, and the rest of the record, minus “Back Taxes,” follows suit, even when the tempo is increased. These songs are less bad than uninteresting or uninspired, dynamically flat and forgettable.

In a sense, the rest of the record is just as unoriginal, but that boozy rock-and-roll quality lifts it up to another tier. This is flying-v metal, for bands with long hair who hate wearing shirts onstage and repeatedly dive into the crowd for the hell of it. I have no clue if this remotely describes Doomriders, who might do all or none of those things. But it sure sounds like they do. It makes sense the band is playing with High on Fire and especially Kvelertak on an upcoming tour of the U.S.: this is music to be heard in large groups, where the anonymity of the crowd lets you get a few good natured punches, karate chops, or high kicks in. So long as they stick away from the turgid back half of Grand Blood, the crowd will love it.

Rob Rubsam

Band info: www.facebook.com/doomriders
Label info: www.deathwishinc.com

Rob Rubsam is a freelance writer and itinerant resident of Upstate New York. His writing about music has been published at CVLT Nation, Tom Tom Magazine, The Rumpus, Burning Ambulance, and others. When not contemplating giant squids or erecting a standing stone in his backyard, he tweets at @millenialistfun. Do not contact him with your black mass-related inquiries, please.

Read More »

I’d heard the name Obelyskkh a few times over the past couple years but never had a chance to check them out. I’d probably heard the name because they’ve released albums in three consecutive years now. 2011’s 'Mount Nysa', 2012’s 'White Lightnin’ and now 2013’s 'Hymn to Pan'. The German quartet has been categorized as psychedelic doom and that’s a fair approximation but on Hymn to Pan there’s much more to it than that. While based in doom, elements of sludge, ambient, stoner metal, noise and even hardcore thread their way into the gaps to make 'Hymn to Pan' a diverse but cohesive effort.

The title track opens the album but not with the expected instrument. You’d expect to hear panpipes on an ode to the god of the wild, but instead warhorns hearken the arrival of the leaden fuzz Obelyskkh employ on this and much of the album. Setting the tone for Hymn, layered vocals (hollered/refined and clean) infiltrate the dynamics between crushing riffs and more open melodies. Much of the melody found here feels hidden, like secrets everyone already knows.

A stoned out groove drives “The Ravens” and the second part of “Horse”. The latter’s first half features a marching sludge riff trading off with visceral screams until the “Can you dig it?” sample marks the transition to triumphant desert rock tone and some crazy soloing. Changes in tempo are prevalent throughout the album, as referenced by an almost biker rumble and roll that drops into some seriously slow and doomy atmospherics and a contemplative Americana section on “Revelation: The Will to Nothingness”. And that’s just the first five minutes of that 20 plus minute epic.

“The Man Within” and “Heaven’s Architrave” similarly work heavy, militant riffs against swirling melodies, warm tones, ambient, almost alien sounds and the aforementioned vocal dynamics. More often that not, relatively simple, repetitive riffs act like a tranquilizer, sedating the listener into a blissful state while the real work is done with subtlety. The vocals cut away at the fabric of the mind while layers of guitar and synths stitch it back together. When all is said and done you’re all back in one piece but Obelyskkh leave a mark like a scar with 'Hymn to Pan'. It’s a deviously lush, maliciously heavy and wholly satisfying experience in yes, psychedelic doom.

Matt Hinch

Band info: www.facebook.com/TheObelyskkhRitual
Label info: www.mainstreamrecords.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 @MetalMatt_KofN.

Read More »

Heavy as hell and strange as sin, 'World Keeps Sinking' is a weird record. The latest from Milwaukie’s Northless, it trades in sludge of your Neurosis variety, but twisted in strange, delightful ways that turn what could have been an exercise into something genuinely exciting, if not exactly perfect.

That quality can make it tough to get into for a new fan. Opener “Last of Your Kind” moves in a bizarre syncopation that sounds completely tuneless the first few times through, as if part of a melody that refuses to congeal. Others throw strange, virtuosic whole-band runs into sludgy breakdowns, or deliver off-kilter guitar solos in middle-eastern modes, and flange effects are deployed to turn leads into 8-bit video game noises.

To a certain extent, I find this all strange because I began listening with my own idea of what ‘sludge’ means: typically, 3-4 dudes slogging through slow tempos, hitting slower mid-sections, howling about “GAPING WOUNDS” and occasionally employing a keyboard player. This isn’t to disparage the genre, it’s just that so many groups, good ones included, find a groove and build a career out of it, doing very little exciting with sounds that, even when tired, are very enjoyable to listen to.

What makes digesting 'World...' that much more interesting, even fun, is that it at the very least tries. The off-kilter solos, the decision to devote about fifteen straight minutes at the center of the album to clean guitars, and the employing of non-metal keys allow these songs to shuffle your expectations every couple minutes, and in doing so they remain fresh after multiple listens. No riff stays put for more than it needs to, and a song like “Communion” actually uses about six others’ worth of ideas between its 4 and 5 minute marks, somehow crashing doom into Black Flag into NWOBHM guitar harmonies in a way that works. At an average of about 10 minutes per song, that’s an awful lot to throw around.

Best of all, it seems like Northless is having a blast messing with their formula and morphing it into new territory. If only more bands had their mad scientist impulse.

Rob Rubsam 

Band info: www.northless.com
Label info: www.gileadmedia.net

Rob Rubsam is a freelance writer and itinerant resident of Upstate New York. His writing about music has been published at CVLT Nation, Tom Tom Magazine, The Rumpus, Burning Ambulance, and others. When not contemplating giant squids or erecting a standing stone in his backyard, he tweets at @millenialistfun. Do not contact him with your black mass-related inquiries, please.

Read More »

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

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

Read More »

Savannah's riff-meisters Black Tusk have unveiled a new video for the song ‘Truth Untold’ from their new EP ‘Tend No Wounds’, which is now available via Relapse Records. The EP features six new tracks recorded with producer Phillip Cope (Kylesa, Baroness) at the Jam Room in Columbia, South Carolina and serves a stop-gap between their last effort ‘Set The Dial’ and their next one.
Meanwhile, check out the hilarious clip directed by Brad Kremer and produced by Tytan Creates below.

Black Tusk photo by Geoff Johnson
Read More »

Circle Takes the Square - Decompositions: Volume Number One

Savannah-based Circle Takes the Square impressed the heck out of me when I saw them opening up for Kylesa early last year on their European tour.
Now, the band returns with their first full-length album in eight years, following an EP entitled ‘Decompositions: Volume Number One, Chapter I: Rites of Initiation’ released in 2011, and just like their previous full-length 'As the Roots Undo', this new effort features an eclectic bag of sounds and moods, veering from an intense and raucous combination of noise, hardcore and grind to lulling ambiences and folky tunes. 'Decompositions: Volume Number One' will take you to a number of places, equally evocative and off-putting, challenging and intriguing, and although it’s not without its faults it’s a good, solid effort from a band that sounds like no one else. That obviously means something! (7.2/10)

Band info: www.circletakesthesquare.com

---

Age of Woe - Inhumanform

Armed with a crushing style of death-influenced hardcore, similar to Entombed and to a lesser extent Converge coupled with the monolithic sludge of Neurosis, Age of Woe’s “Inhumanform” is a surprising release that shows a lot of promise for a band that formed only three years ago. The band wastes no time on subtitles and kick things off with the incredible “Like Embers”, which boasts some heavy and crunchy monolithic riffs braced by bulky, powerful drums, while some grabbing guitar melodies play throughout the quiet moments. In tracks such as “The King of Thieves” they pound out a two-step hardcore with a consistent fury sounding a bit like their infamous comrades Disfear. Good stuff! (7.5/10)

Band info: www.ageofwoe.net

---

Okus - Okus

Okus? Sounds like the name of an orc from Lords of The Rings doesn’t it? Well, it’s not! It’s actually the name of a grind/crust combo from Ireland, but sonically they’re just as vile and fearful as those vicious creatures from JR Tolkien novels.
Okus combine elements of grind, punk, crust and doom to offer up a raw, powerful and sometimes intimidating sound that assaults our senses in a Entombed-meets-Napalm Death way. With 7 tracks running through nearly 32 minutes, “Okus” is lean and vicious and sees the four-piece excelling at layering different sounds and rhythms, switching easily between relentless, powerful blast beats to sludgy, caustic grooves. Nasty stuff! (7.8/10)

Band info: www.facebook.com/Okusband  
Read More »

Sludge metallers Armed For Apocalypse have recently debuted their new music video for the track “Better Worlds” online via Metal Injection. The clip can also be seen below and is taken from the band’s new album ‘The Road Will End’, which our very own Matt Hinch describes as a "one of the flat out heaviest records of the year". The record is set for release in North America via Ironclad Recordings on July 23 and in Europe via Candlelight Records on July 22 and you can read our review here.

Read More »

Right from the first few riffs of opener “Proximity Anxiety” you’ll notice that Canada’s Pyres sound a bit like Savannah’s finest riff mongers Baroness. In fact, the sludge-laden presence of Baroness looms unashamedly large throughout every song here. The sound is indeed familiar, but I don’t see it as plagiarism, I guess all this worship is merely them showing reverence for their influences, and these include Mastodon as well. See, sometimes Pyres errs toward a more aggro and barbaric approach that brings to mind killer records such as ‘Leviathan’ and ‘Blood Mountain’ , although, they tend to focus more on groove and less on prog tendencies.

In addition to a few riffs that remind us of Baroness, sometimes Andrew Wilson’s gruffly vocals also sound uncannily like John Baizley’s vocalizations just before the transformation into the rock croon that dominates the latest ‘Yellow and Green’ album. On tracks such as the stunning “Atlas Cast No Sound” those similarities are very much evident.

‘Year of Sleep’ also has a nice, comfortable flow and the four-piece toss in plenty of sweet harmonies that have the potential to linger for days in your head, the colossal “Deserter” is full of such memorable hooks that wouldn’t sound out of place in a killer album like ‘Blue Record’. And in the end, the powerful “The Everbearing” caps the album with the same primal roar of old Mastodon, charging the listener with some sludgy, powerful riffs.

Overall, this is a good debut and shows a lot of potential so, hopefully, this is only the first in a long line of strong and interesting records from this Canadian group.

Band info: www.facebook.com/pyresburn
Label info: www.heavygranitehouse.com

Read More »

I recall listening to Armed for Apocalypse’s 2009 debut ‘Defeat’ (or at least Last.fm tells me I did). But the impression if left wasn’t very strong. Strength however, is the first thing that comes to mind with sophomore effort ‘The Road Will End’. Featuring former members of Brain in a Cage and The Abominable Iron Sloth, among others, this California quartet delivers 42 minutes of absolutely devastating sludgecore.
Right out of the gate vocalist/guitarist Kirk Williams’ scream penetrates the cortex as guitarist Cayle Hunter, bassist Corey Vaspra and drummer Nick Harris wreak downturned and impactful vengeance on the stunned listener. Huge riffs, heavy as a lead boot tone, and Williams’ battle cries grab you by the shirt and hurl you to the ground (“Better World”). Once there the listener is dragged through the mud as the album progresses. Heaving and muscular riffs pound the listener into the sludge over and over with chugging rhythms and some of the sickest breakdowns this side of the swine flu.
“The Well” showcases AforA’s propensity for dynamics amidst their punishing assault. Starting with a heavy as fuck doom riff (think Serpentcult’s ‘Weight of Light’) and the aforementioned crushing breakdowns, the track gradually opens up with Crowbar-esque tone. The clouds part in the face of soaring guitars rising into the sky, building with momentum to burst apart in an explosion of light. “The Well” completes its journey from the subterranean to the sky bound and back again in epic fashion.
The remainder of ‘The Road Will End’ is no less spirited. Hardcore forcefulness, pit-rousing groove, Helmet worship, and d-beat swagger put the meat on the bones of the living breathing weapon that makes up one of the flat out heaviest records of the year. As angry as the band sounds, the spirit of battle and perseverance resonate from the immensely powerful sludge of AforA. It all builds to a climax on “Happy Hour (Disciple of Death)” and finishes with the acoustic dénouement of “Ends Meet” leaving the listener beaten and sore but invigorated and yearning for more.

Matt Hinch

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

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 @MetalMatt_KofN.

Read More »

Since the release of their self-titled debut album in 2002 through Prank Records, Georgia’s Kylesa have been progressing continuously, slowly distancing themselves from their hardcore-punk roots and embracing a more progressive and psychedelic sound. So you won’t be surprised if I told you that the new album ‘Ultraviolet’ is another step towards that direction. Their previous effort ‘Spiral Shadow’ released three years ago really marked a new era for this ever-evolving band, pushing their previously reserved elements of dark psychedelia and indie-rock to the fore of their punk-sludge combustion and this new album continues in the same vein, but reveals an even greater emphasis on those psychedelic, goth and indie-rock textures.
Kylesa have toned down the volume and intensity of their sludge monolithic heaviness and worked hard to craft a structured and layered piece of work deeply immersed in a cathartic and dark atmosphere. Even some of the rocking tunes like ‘Unspoken’ or the heavy ‘Vulture’s Landing’ have a haunting, sombre ambience to them.
Vocally, Kylesa also demonstrate a noteworthy evolution with guitarist Laura Pleasents gaining a greater role in this department, singing in a more dreamlike tone like a spiritual voice guiding you to all things cosmic and dreamy.
It is clear that a lot of effort has been put into the composition of the new songs, as each one of them show a high number of different levels and layers. You get trippy noises, electronic swirls and lulling ambient sounds. It's clearly an album for a headphones listening experience rather than an album that you can crank up on a noisy and smoky club.

Band info: www.facebook.com/KYLESAmusic
Label info: www.season-of-mist.com

Read More »

Just over a year since their self-titled debut, Beastwars have now unleashed their sophomore album and “Blood Becomes Fire” doesn’t tweak the formula that made its predecessor such a wonderful surprise, offering once again a Southern-tinged sludge rock that will make Sabbath fans quite happy.
Immediately “Blood Becomes Fire” connects to their first effort with "Dune”, which features the same gritty and groove-laden string work that garnered them some comparisons to High On Fire. You can certainly hear the High On Fire influence throughout most of these ten tracks, especially in the thick and groovy riffs of guitarist Clayton Anderson and the gravel throated voice of Matt Hyde. But Beastwars are slightly less abrasive than High On Fire, taking a calmer and rockier approach on some moments that reminds us more of Kyuss. “Riverman” is a tune that pretty much captures that groovy, laidback vibe of Kyuss, with Anderson tossing out some groovy riffs and catchy harmonies, while Hyde alternates between a throaty grit and a gentler, warmer tone. I must admit that absolutely nothing original is explored here, but I cannot deny that Beastwars have created a fine collection of heavy, infectious riffs that will surely satisfy plenty of stoner and sludge bangers out there. That said, “Blood Becomes Fire” isn’t exactly a masterpiece, but more than lives up to the promise shown on the self-titled debut and is certainly worth of your attention. 

Band info: www.facebook.com/beastwars666

Read More »

Haling from Denver, Primitive Man features in their ranks current and former members of Clinging to the Trees of A forest Fire, Reproacher and Death of Self, three groups that have been discharging an unrelenting and chaotic grind sound for the last few years. However, Primitive Man is a slightly different beast, slower, but equally abrasive, they dive down to subterranean depths to churn out an oppressive, tortured, apocalyptical doom that rests somewhere in between the grittiness of Ramesses and the muffled gloom of Winter.
“Scorn” is an intimidating yet engrossing listen, mostly due to their no-frills approach to doom, eschewing anything resembling a melody or a happy tone for a nastier and gritty feel. Then, there’re the vocals of Ethan McCarthy, whose fathomless death growls have that power to awake the most frightening creatures buried deep in your subconscious. Primitive Man truly excel at conjuring a miserable, excruciating atmosphere, most impressively on the title track and “Rags”, where they move at a slow, crawling pace like a dying victim of a nuclear winter.
This is probably too extreme, too gritty and too miserable to most, so be careful and approach it with caution. 

Band info: www.facebook.com/primitivemandoom 
Label info: www.facebook.com/throatruiner

Read More »