Octoploid - Beyond The Aeons

#PER CHI AMA: Melo Death/Folk

Se sei un appassionato degli Amorphis, preparati a essere travolto da 'Beyond The Aeons', il fantastico album di debutto degli Octoploid! Questa si configura come una sorta di side project di Olli-Pekka Laine (bassista degli Amorphis) includendo anche un altro ex, Kim Rantala, il vecchio tastierista che ha lasciato il segno ai tempi di 'Elegy'. E inevitablmente, le influenze non tardano a farsi sentire, in un'opera che si distingue per la combinazione di elementi di death progressivo con influenze folk e sonorità psichedeliche. Vi ricorda niente? L'apertura è un vero colpo al cuore con "The Dawns in Nothingness", dove si fa sentire l’incredibile voce di Mikko Kotamäki degli Swallow the Sun (che ritroveremo anche in "The Hallowed Flame" e nella meno convincente "Concealed Serenity"). Questo brano, come opener, cattura immediatamente l’attenzione con i suoi riff potenti e melodie irresistibili, rievocando il fascino degli anni '70, mostrando una notevole abilità nel mescolare sonorità diverse, creando transizioni fluide tra momenti di pura aggressività e sezioni più melodiche. "Coast of the Drowned Sailors" è un inno agli Amorphis di 'Tales from the Thousand Lakes'. Qui, la voce di Tomi Koivusaari, che mi ha fatto innamorare delle melodie avvolgenti dei finlandesi, si unisce a quella di Janitor Muurinen degli Xysma, creando un connubio di ricordi e nuova magia. L’affinità con gli Amorphis è palpabile: entrambe le band sanno come incantare con la melodia e atmosfere psichedeliche, ma gli Octoploid si divertono a esplorare un approccio più giocoso e variegato. Andando avanti nell'ascolto, cambiano le performance dietro al microfono, con la comparsata di Tomi Joutsen (attuale frontman degli Amorphis) nell'inizialmente allegra - prima di addentrarsi in territori più oscuri e death oriented - "Human Amoral", Petri Eskelinen (dei Rapture) nell'inizialmente vivace - poi più tetra - "Shattered Wings". Infine, Jón Aldará, il talentuoso cantante degli Iotunn, arricchisce con la sua voce "A Dusk of Vex", dando un ulteriore tocco a questo debutto impressionante che, pur richiamando gli Amorphis, conquista per la sua freschezza unica e irresistibile. (Francesco Scarci)

(Reigning Phoenix Music - 2024)
Voto: 80

https://octoploid.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-the-aeons

Deicide - Banished By Sin

http://www.secret-face.com/

#FOR FANS OF: Death Metal

The only LP I like post-Hoffman brothers is featuring Ralph Santolla (RIP 2018) & Jack Owen on 'The Stench of Redemption' (2006). Even that one was tough for me! Jack ended up ghosting them since Steve was modifying his riffs merely to take credit for the songwriting!

Well, yes we have AI generated graphics on the cover & insert artwork, but why am I not surprised!? Cool graphics are on the first 4 LP's, after that, nah!

To be totally honest, the only LP I think Glen is OK on is 'Deicide' (1990). His vocals even on 'Legion' (1992) are so dull. The guy has a hard time hacking it live for more than 45 minutes! And from my understanding, he's a complete jerk to people he tours with (ask Broken Hope band members). I'm glad he hates the Hoffman brothers more than anyone in this world because he's so blind to see that they made the band successful! Pretty much everything thereafter sucks!

These riffs are generic & so repetitive, I have a hard time listening to yet another recycled Deicide LP. To quote 'The Color of Money' (1986): "It's like a nightmare, isn't it? It just keeps getting worse & worse, doesn't it?" That's how I feel sitting through a whopping 38+ minutes of this! Glen is just monotonous as usual & really I don't want to read the lyrics anymore to their shit, it's a gimmick anyway. Oh, and the quote "if we've offended you, we've done our job!" Wow man, so creative!

How can people like this? The vocals are monotonous, the riffs are anything BUT creative, the leads are generic & the only thing that's halfway decent is the recording of this garbage, it's not music. This is NOT music! They're not has-beens, Glen has been a has-been since forever! The guy is just a DISGRACE to the death metal community! I can't believe there are actual Deicide documentary(s) or "an interview with death metal legend, Glen Benton." What?!

Sorry, but being a former Deicide fan, I've turned absolutely so cynical & disgusted towards this current band since the talent has been long gone & the online fighting between Glen & Eric Hoffman just needs to stop! Deicide is dead & will remain dead because 'Banished By Sin' is another 40% post-Hoffman's to me! (Death8699)

(Reigning Phoenix Music - 2024)
Score: 40

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialDeicide/

Kerry King - From Hell I Rise

http://www.secret-face.com/

#FOR FANS OF: Thrash

I think, after repeated listens to, this LP never really "grew on me." Here are the likes to enormously talented members from long-time metal bands such as Death Angel (Osegueda), Forbidden (Bostaph), Machine Head (Demmel), Slayer (Bostaph, King) & Testament (Bostaph), to name a few. However, they maintain potential in their own bands, not Kerry's. Total generic guitar riffs & I pay most attention to the "axe-work" because I play as well! The structures to the songs musically have literally no creativity to them, so you can be exposed to how pathetic Kerry's musicianship is in writing & lyrical content as well. A lot of hype for this because of the talented line-up, but it was just that it didn't unlock any more potential. Basically, it was a flop.

In a great attempt to analyze the music here, well really reflects Kerry's Slayer-esque type of guitar rhythm structures & leads. He didn't break away from that to develop his own sound. Instead, it was leftover chunks of music that most likely didn't appear on any of Slayer's music because he's so bankrupt of ideas musically. There is nothing even creative here, the music is so boring, there are no songs that were on here that I even remotely liked. It was really upsetting, not my expectations, but I was sort of hopeful. It really upset me because it's no longer about making good music, just selling CD's & cashing in on Slayer fans, I presume. None of these band members were able to save him from disaster. Instead, they campaigned against originality by not coming up with unique sounds or ingenuity. Being since 2019 that most were with Kerry from the beginning, I guess to add to his not even mediocrity type of thrash metal (if you want to call it that). It can't all be bad, right? I know a lot of people were disappointed with this LP, including me, but other critics also annihilated it. It becomes so evident that in Slayer, King did the least amount of songwriting, Hanneman was the mastermind behind the band. Now that Hanneman has been gone (RIP 2013), the remnants of Kerry's participation in his former band showed how "sorry" he is as a musician. Even being coached by Bob Jeffers (years ago) couldn't even help improve his playing, no matter how much of that he got. These songs are just a waste of time & everyone should return to their previous bands except Kerry, he should just retire! He wants to keep writing (or lack thereof) while he's still alive & kicking, but I think he just wants money. The talent in Slayer was Hanneman & Lombardo. And Bostaph OK, but Kerry? Fill in the blank.

Osegueda, I have total respect for in his thrash band Death Angel, of whom he joined in 1984. He took voice lessons to prepare himself for being the frontman to his SFO based act. I guess Kerry ruined him too because Osegueda sounds awful screaming like Araya (Slayer), only his own voice in his long-time band is where he sounds the best to me! The lead trade-offs on the guitars (as well) were sloppy, especially Kerry's. And I can't recall a solo in Slayer that was clean, they were always muddled attempts that failed miserably. I can't see why he has a strong following, he's never impressed me, I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt here, though. Big mistake! 46+ minutes of absolutely nothing, none of the members improved their talent for Kerry. Maybe it just seems like everyone here is basically on their way out of the metal making music scene.

Again, total waste of money and time listening to this. The song titles were idiotic & all the guitar riffs are from an intellectual equivalent to a kindergartener that can't write or compose if his life depended on it! Don't even bother with this, there's really nothing good to say about it. People's IQ drops reading these lyrics, too. Slayer is dead, long live Slayer, not hacks! (Death8699)

(Reigning Phoenix Music - 2024)
Score: 45

https://kerrykingofficial.com/