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sabato 3 febbraio 2018

Funeral Baptism - The Venom of God

#PER CHI AMA: Black/Death
Arrivano da Bucarest (anche se in realtà le loro origini partano addirittura dall'Argentina) questi terroristi sonori che, sotto il vessillo Funeral Baptism, portano avanti la loro proposta dedita alla fiamma nera del black. 'The Venom of God' è il loro debutto sulla lunga distanza, sebbene la durata di poco inferiore ai trenta minuti, possa far pensare piuttosto ad un EP. All'attivo dei nostri proprio due EP, che mostravano le potenzialità infernali del duo rumeno. Potenzialità che si palesano anche attraverso questi cinque (più intro e outro) velocissimi pezzi che, dalla scarnificante e spietata "The Seething Spirit", arrivano a "My Last Whisper", sfruttando una furia belluina ed infame che non lascia scampo. L'unica mia raccomandazione è pertanto farvi attraversare dall'intemperanza ritmica di un combo votato ad una forma di black primordiale che nulla ha da aggiungere ad una scena del resto ormai satura da anni. Potreste tuttavia soffermarvi sulle atmosfere glaciali di "The Gift" che vi faranno credere, almeno per qualche minuto, di camminare tra le innevate foreste svedesi. Lo stesso dicasi per la furibonda "Pale Rider" che tra i suoi accordi, vede riproporre un rifferama malinconico che mi ha evocato gli spagnoli Nahemah. Se la title track ha una vena più oscura e ritmata, con "Return to the Void" si sfocia in death intransigente che trova come punto di legame col black, le sole ferali urla del vocalist Liviu Ustinescu, mentre i solos sembrano uscire da 'Reign in Blood' degli immortali Slayer. Creatura strana quella dei Funeral Baptism, sicuramente da avvicinare con cautela. (Francesco Scarci)

(Loud Rage Music - 2017)
Voto: 65

giovedì 1 febbraio 2018

Deconstructing Sequence - Cosmic Progression - An Agonizing Journey Through Oddities of Space

#PER CHI AMA: Experimental Black/Death, Dodheimsgard, Akercocke
Deconstructing Sequence atto III: dopo le recensioni dei due EP da parte dei miei colleghi, tocca oggi al sottoscritto prendersi carico dell'ascolto del debutto sulla lunga distanza della band polacca e dirvi cosa ne penso. Iniziamo col dire che il concept astronomico/fantascientifico cominciato in 'Year One', prosegue anche in questo 'Cosmic Progression - An Agonizing Journey Through Oddities of Space'. Dicasi altrettanto della proposta musicale del quartetto che prosegue in territori estremi sperimentali che si muovono dal black/death dinamitardo della opening track, "Lifeforce Awakens", a sentori progressivi o addirittura elettronici. Ma andiamo con ordine e lasciamoci travolgere dalla tempesta solare dell'opener, in cui la matrice di fondo è decisamente estrema, ma il cui impetuoso incedere viene spezzato da break di sintetizzatori, voci campionate, tappeti elettro-sinfonici e in generale da un cataclisma sonico piuttosto complicato da decifrare, che potrebbe chiamare in causa i Solefald più folgorati, gli Aborym di 'Dirty' oppure i Dodheimsgard. Le partiture industrial orchestrali, abbinate a scheggie dal vago sapore grind, irrompono nella folle “V4641 Sgr”, una song difficile da inquadrare e probabilmente anche da digerire, complice un drumming in hyper blast-beat , dotata di un suono non del tutto naturale. Le melodie non sono affatto male, ma sembra che la band abbia voluto strafare, facendosi prendere talvolta un po' troppo la mano. Sia chiaro, le idee ci sono, anche piuttosto originali, che nei turbinii cervellotici del pezzo, evidenziano una certa influenza anche da parte della corrente estrema britannica, guidata da Mithras e Akercocke. Tuttavia, non si può neppure pensare che sparare una selva di riff ubriacanti uniti ad una batteria che sembra suonare in modo troppo artificiale, possa sortire degli effetti miracolosi. Ci vuole equilibrio. E forse in "Memories of the Sun, Memories of the Earth", la band sembra aver capito la lezione e si muova con maggior cognizione di causa. Il rischio di bruciarsi con una proposta simile è infatti assai elevato, il caos supremo non giova decisamente a nessuno. Il quartetto polacco però se ne fotte di schemi, generi ed etichette, va dritto al sodo, sciorinando ritmiche destrutturate, assalti sonori simili ad una forma di terrorismo sonoro da denuncia alle Nazioni Unite, growling e harsh vocals, synth bizzarri e chi più ne ha più ne metta, in una song tanto interessante quanto estremamente pericolosa ("My Way to the Stars"). "Dark Matter" ha un approccio iniziale più votato al death metal per poi evolvere verso un black freddo, ma dal taglio comunque moderno, che ha il pregio o il difetto (questo decidetelo voi) di cambiare il suo umore un centinaio di volte. "Luminous (In the Process of Merging)" ha un attacco corale, con la traccia che si muove su un mid-tempo sorretto da un lavoro esagerato di gran cassa e da un riffing tagliente. Man mano che si va avanti, i pezzi si fanno ancor più sperimentali e cinematici, corredati da arrangiamenti bombastici e da una linearità ritmica simile ad una sinusoide. "Heading to the Virgo Constellation", nella sua architettura death orchestrale, mi ha ricordato un che degli ultimi Septicflesh, in chiave ultra vitaminizzata però. Un piccolo break a inizio brano in "Supernova (The Battle for Matter Begins)" serve quanto basta per prendere un po' di fiato prima della pirotecnica conclusione dell'album. I nostri infatti si lanciano con il solito roboante attacco ai sensi, guidato da un riffing furioso di scuola death americana, voci digitalizzate, campionamenti vari, un cibernetico frangente atmosferico in un bordello sonoro non indifferente. A "Run Starchild... You Are Free Now!" l'arduo compito di chiudere il cd con onore, in un trionfale quanto devastante pezzo strumentale che decreta la follia cosmica dei Deconstructing Sequence. (Francesco Scarci)

(Via Nocturna - 2018)
Voto: 75

https://dsprogart.bandcamp.com/

Starset - Vessels

#PER CHI AMA: Alternative Rock, Linkin' Park
Una specie di concept prescolare sul concetto euclideo di distanza, comicamente intriso di moccia-romanticismi in pseudocodice para/fanta/nerd/scientifico stile Big Bang Theory (a caso: "I was scanning through the skies / and missed the static in your eyes"). Nel secondo audiomessaggio canterino diffuso dai remuneratissimi emissari al soldo della Starset society, troverete un pop-metal teenage-mutant-telescopico e ultrapatinato ma visibilmente e alchemicamente assemblato in laboratorio. Esattamente ciò che vi aspettate: Thirty Seconds to Mars, Linkin' Park, Muse, persino Blackfield quando va bene, anzi, quando va molto bene. Procuratevi dell'elettronica di consumo, dello pseudofunky, sì, come va oggi, ma non troppo, di tanto in tanto piazzateci qualche impennata fatalmente e solennemente EDM ("Into the Unknown"), abbondate col basso grattugioso, aggiungete una bustina di luccicanti jeanmicheljarrettate e dilettatevi a mescolare. Uh, non dimenticate periodiche scleratine di growl quaquaraquà spaventacriceti ("Frequency"), non più di due o tre mellow-rappettini arembì ("Gravity of You") e, là dove non osano le ugole, ficcateci dentro due mastelle abbondanti di autotuning. Dopodiché pigliate questa ridicola padellata sonora di oltre settanta minuti e linkinparcheggiatela fuori dal vostro cervello una volta per tutte. (Alberto Calorosi)

(Razor & Tie - 2017)
Voto: 50

https://www.facebook.com/starsetonline/

Exalter - Persecution Automated

#FOR FANS OF: Thrash Old School, Sodom, Destruction
Bangladesh's thrash metal trio, Exalter, had put out their debut full-length album last December 28th, 2017, under Transcending Obscurity Asia since the band's creation in 2013. The debut aalbum is called 'Persecution Automated' and the opus is a pure thrash warfare from the beginning until the very last moments of the album. Before reviewing this release, I'd like to introduce the band to those of you who have not heard of them. Exalter plays a solid punch of old school influenced thrash metal in the vein of Sodom, Destruction, early Sepultura, early Kreator and early Exodus. Exalter had already released two EPs prior to this one. One in 2015, 'Democrasodomy' and one in 2016, 'Obituary for the Living'. Both those releases showcased the strong influences of the legendary bands mentioned above. And with 'Persecution Automated', Exalter continues to pay tribute to the forefathers of the genre.

The cd starts off with a 35-second intro which successively flows into an instrumental track called "Holocaust Ahead" that shows some straightforward aggression right from the beginning with its headbang-driven catchy riffs that brings back some early '90s thrash metal feel. After these two dramatic intro pieces, the first vicious track then appears in the form of "Reign of the Mafia State". This song holds some of the most intense riffs to come out of modern thrash with its monstrously heavy chugging riffing and mid-tempo groove. The drum work in this track also has the classic ferocious approach that we usually hear from early killer thrash records.

Three neck breaking songs then follows after "Reign of the Mafia State", starting with the fast and impulsive "World Under Curfew" which has that punishing riff barrage that gives the audiences that strong urge to commence synchronized headbanging and that evident appealing punkish drum assault. With "The Dreaded End", the listeners are battered with a ton of all-out in-your-face aggression that few thrash bands are able to deliver these days. In this track, the band showers the listeners with a bombardment of pissed off and simple but extremely catchy riffs with fucking violent drum work that never fails to get you to raise your fist up and down while screaming the word 'thrash' repeatedly.

"Slaughter Cleanse Repeat" comes next with its full throttle thrash traits just like the third track "Reign of the Mafia State". The song has some quality riffs that are amazingly powerful, and it even has some seriously furious and ballsier riffing in the slower moments of the tune. Listen to it and I assure you that it will certainly take you on a headbanging thrill ride where you just want to thrash around and mosh. "Incarceration", as "The Dreaded End", provides another crushing and devastating effect on the listeners' eardrums as it clobbers with a strapping guitar and drum section which keeps the level of aggression in the record intact.

The track number 8, called "Grip of Fear", is one of those modern orthodox thrash metal tunes that eulogizes the classic thrash albums of the late '80s and early '90s very well. There's that mettlesome punk-like energy in this song that is quite electrifying and that exuberance manages to compliment the rest of the band's music quite well. The last two songs in the album are "Pathology of Domination" and "Clandestine Drone Warfare". These two tunes sustain the eruption and the in-high-gear thrash dementia provided by songs 3, 4, and 6 as it comes forth and punishes the listeners with one crushing riff after another, smashing the audiences skull with the utter speed and intensity of Exalter's music.

The production of this debut album, as expected to a twenty-first-century extreme metal album, is intelligible, well-polished and smooth. But even with that glossy and clean production, the belligerency and combativeness of the whole record are still in full effect. The listeners can hear everything very well. All the instruments are evidently pounding and they are able to display all their utter power. I usually dig rough and raw production when it comes to my thrash metal albums, but this upright production works very well for me too because it's not that all sugary like other modern thrash releases where the clean production pulls the aggression of the offering down.

Overall, 'Persecution Automated' is a premier modern thrash metal offering that supplies fans and enthusiasts of the genre a full 35 minutes of aggressive and intense extreme music. With some absolutely crushing songs, utterly memorable riffs, stellar drumming on display, some fine and thick bass work, and violent muffled barked vocal delivery; this debut record is undeniably a modern magnum opus. Exalter might not have refined the genre with this opus, but they sure showed the rest of the pack the right manner to pay homage to the forebears of thrash metal. This is an exceptional album that deserves a place in every thrash metallers' collection rack. Go get your copy now!

As for the standout tracks, there aren't really bad songs here, as all of them have tons of riffs and memorability in them, but songs like "World Under Curfew", "The Dreaded End", "Slaughter Cleanse Repeat" and "Clandestine Drone Warfare" are the tracks that I find a little bit repetitive. (Felix Sale)

martedì 30 gennaio 2018

Royal Blood - How Did We Get So Dark?

#PER CHI AMA: Pop Rock, Muse, Black Keys
Seconda manciata di roboanti riffettoni chitarristici (sì, però sono fatti col basso, sì, i Royal blood sono un duo, sì, come i Black Keys, sì, questo ormai lo sanno persino gli artropodi del pianeta Asturia) intrisi di quella (s)personalizzata epicità contemporanea relativamente a cui i Muse sono riusciti in qualche modo ad assurgere a massima incarnazione mondiale, alternati a coretti alt/pop yeeeeeee (cfr. il singolo "I Only Lie When I Love You") oppure uuuu/ouuu (la introduttiva nonchè title track "How Did We Get So Dark?"), a formare un pastiche provvidamente e radiofonicamente redditizio, eventualmente collocabile in the (black) keys of "Her Satanic Majesty Dan Auerbach" (sentite il falsetto di "She's Creeping" o quello più black di "Don't Tell") o vintag/giosamente assimilabile a certo revisionismo made in Nashville tipo un Jack White imbambolato nel museo Trousseau, a formare un pastiche, dicevo, che vi costringerà, dopo neanche trentacinque minuti di inconsapevoli dondolamenti cervicali, a porvi finalmente la domanda “How did they get so pop?” La risposta, amici miei, è lassù che soffia nel vento. Assieme alle onde FM e alle playlist di Spotify. (Alberto Calorosi)

(Warner Bros. Records - 2017)
Voto: 65

https://www.facebook.com/RoyalBloodUK/

Greytomb - Monumental Microcosm

#FOR FANS OF: Black/Doom
Black metal is not meant to be friendly and tame, as it demands to be wild and unpredictable. And that is what we totally get with this 2017 EP called 'Monumental Microcosm' from Australia's atmospheric black metal band Greytomb. The EP has those characteristics that fans of the black metal genre are looking for, but the thing is, even with all the evident strong BM traits that attract a wide number of fans in the extreme metal realm, it still lacks that impact that can separate it from the crowd of atmospheric black metal bands coming out these days.

The first listen I have with this EP, I already got the idea that this is gonna be one of those records where I am going to get caught in either loving it or hating it, so I gave the record a couple more spins to really get into their music. And after giving it a few more listen, I came to a conclusion that even with the number of positive elements found in this EP, it still is another garden variety record in the field of black metal music. What I do love about 'Monumental Microcosm' is its blasting drum section that it is close to the style of grindcore and that it is atmospheric yet it did not need the assistance of any keyboard to conjure the dense nihilistic undercurrent.

On the guitar section, the listeners are bound to adore the sheer heaviness of the doom riffs present here. These doomy guitar features will take you to a clandestine and cold place which is really satisfying for BM fans. This record is also loaded with stormy tremolo picking which gives each of the songs a more of a raw feeling and vibe into them. The guitar department also is surprisingly melodic even with that raw approach. Its melodies are very grim and menacing that it will evoke and stimulate the listeners with a feeling of going around in circles in a metaphysical sphere and otherworldly domain. These fervent yet melodic riffs are enthralling and it adds as a pleasing component to the competent side of the EP, but then again we can almost hear this in most records released under this genre.

The bass here is also in some measure audible and it certainly aids in generating that cloudy and profound atmosphere in the album, though it does nothing out of the ordinary. And yes, it does its job to beef up the whole resonance and it never really breaks out of the matrix. We now go to the pummeling and rapid-fire drumming that is one of the things that will attract attention to the audiences in the EP. It's insanely fast and the amount of blast beats found in here intelligibly brings a reminiscence of Greytomb's mastery in its former musical domain as Subterranean Drilling Machine.

Dysmorphic and obscure vocal delivery are what we would find when we talk about the vocal section in this album, with a variety of vocal techniques extending from low hair-splitting snarls to high pitched shrieks. This scornful vocal performance leaves an impression on some listeners, especially to those who are first timers in the black metal genre, but after a couple of spins, it will sound just like the platitude of vocal performances that we hear from the crowds of atmospheric black metal acts these days.

With all that said, Greytomb was able to deliver a capable and competent material with the release of their 2017 EP 'Monumental Microcosm'. However, even with some good and convincing factors present in the offering, the band wasn't able to turn the wheel and separate their music from the mundane horde of atmospheric black metal groups swarming both the underground and mainstream extreme music scene today. Yes, this album is good and at some point satisfying to the ears, but there is really nothing special and great about it. Maybe in future releases, Greytomb will finally get the ingredients right. (Felix Sale)


(Transcending Obscurity Records - 2017)
Score: 60

https://greytomb.bandcamp.com/releases

lunedì 29 gennaio 2018

Regnvm Animale/Norn - Brinna/Brenna

#PER CHI AMA: Black/Crust Punk
Ho notato che gli split album nel mondo crust sono merce assai frequenti. Non mi meraviglia pertanto questa nuova release, targata Deutsche Bulvan Bolag, condivisa tra gli svedesi Regnvm Animale (che abbiamo avuto modo di conoscere nel Pozzo con il loro debut 'Et Sic in Infinitum') e gli islandesi, a me sconosciuti, Norn. Il genere proposto l'ho già anticipato: un crust miscelato al black metal. Cinque tracce a disposizione di ogni band per far capire chi è la più cattiva nella loro personale proposizione di 'Brinna' (degli svedesi) e 'Brenna' (degli islandesi), con quest'ultimo che è dedicato all'Universo 25 (che suppongo si rifaccia all'esperimento della fogna del comportamento, condotto nel 1962 negli Stati Uniti). Si parte con i Regnvum Animale e l'intro quasi country (credo sia un banjo quello che risuona nel mio stereo) di "Förhoppning". Nella seconda "Människan är Människans Varg", i nostri propongono la loro personale forma di crust melodico ed atmosferico, quasi fischiettabile (non me ne vogliano, ma io lo trovo un complimento) perchè la melodia mi si stampa nella testa e non riesco a levarmela di dosso. Ancora meglio la successiva "Våga se mig i ögonen", in cui le vocals disperate del frontman Jens si schiantano su di una ritmica sconnessa, quasi folklorica a metà brano, ma assai intrigante nella sua componente melodica e nei suoi strappi più estremi. La title track corre che è un piacere in una violenta miscela crust punk con la melodia di fondo in tremolo picking, che ha sempre forti richiami volti alla tradizione folk scandinava, con la stridula componente vocale che fa il suo sporco mestiere. Un pianoforte, si avete letto bene, apre a braccetto con delle spoken words, "I Doden", una traccia che va a pescare direttamente nel dark di primi anni '80 (penso ai The Cure di "A Forest"), grazie ad una voce pulita e darkeggiante. Bravi. Mi muovo sui Norn e qui il sound sembra apparentemente inasprirsi con una proposta che viaggia sui binari del punk black. "Hvitar Kjùkur" mette in mostra la propria versione di tremolo picking con un riffing e una melodia che scomodano un paragone inatteso con gli In the Woods del primissimo demo 'Isle of Men'. La voce è pulita, ma urlata, le chitarre belle impastate come da tradizione, alla fine per quanto lineare ed elementare possa essere la proposta della band di Reykjavík, mi convince. La sezione punk corre veloce anche nella successiva "Þúsund Rauð Ljós", fatta di ritmiche serrate oltremodo lineari, una sorta di Sex Pistols riletti in chiave crust. Il tremolo picking continua a fare il suo dovere nella più incasinata delle tracce, "Af Svörtum Álfum og Öpum Þeirra", per lo meno quella dalla chiusura più indecifrabile. Ancor più complicato poi, il finale affidato alla chitarra acustica di "Ábreiða" in una song che sembra derivare dalla tradizione folk nordica che spiazza non poco. Alla fine 'Brinna/Brenna' è uno split album ben riuscito che conferma quanto di buono avevamo già detto per i Regnvm Animale e che nel frattempo ci fa conoscere anche la musica dei Norn, orfani purtroppo da poco del bassista Vltimvs Diabolvs, deceduto a novembre del 2017. Due band decisamente da approfondire. (Francesco Scarci)

The Pit Tips

Francesco Scarci

Kassad - Faces Turned Away
Kardashev - The Almanac
Maglor - Asunder

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Five_Nails

Norse - The Divine Light of a New Sun
Shroud Ritual - Five Suns
Oak Pantheon - From a Whisper

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Felix Sale

Omenfilth/Sulphurhaze - Veneration of Cruel Lust
Guerra Total - No left, No Right, Just Zombies in the Night
Rabies - Death Sentence to Mankind

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Alejandro "Morgoth" Valenzuela

Akercocke - Renaissance in Extremis
Incantation - Profane Nexus
Nile - Annihilation of the Wicked

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Alberto Calorosi

Major Parkinson - Blackbox
Les Lekin - Died with Fear
Closet Disco Queen - Sexy Audio Deviance for Punk Bums

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Matteo Baldi

Orca - Estinzione
Downfall of Gaia - Suffocating in the Swarm of Cranes
Radiohead - Com Lag

domenica 28 gennaio 2018

Grimtone - Memento Mori

#FOR FANS OF: Black Metal
Just in time for the first snows of the season, two man Swedish black metal project, Grimtone, released its first full-length album, 'Memento Mori', with all the raging winds and flying ice expected to prove itself as a raw and fitting addition to the plethora of newcomers honoring the roots of the style.

Blasting out of the gate with some shameless Immortal worship in “Souls Reborn in Hate”, it is clear enough that Grimtone promises to make up for its lacking inventiveness with aggression. Sure, Michael Lang has an aptitude for his instruments and plenty of stamina to hold down his blast beats, however it seems that the music as a whole would benefit from more input and outside ideas to push the instrumentation past its satisfactory simplicity into a more interesting dimension. While Linus Carlstedt provides vocals, it seems very likely that Lang is the main contributor to the band with control over every instrument, leading to a bottleneck of creativity. There are some good tremolo hooks throughout this album like in “The Blood of the Dead” and “Armageddon (Rise from Hell)”. Sadly, they end up reeled in by a constant background black metal blast. Between sparse cymbal breaks and blast beating, there is not much more going on in the lower register throughout the majority of 'Memento Mori', just an endless grim tumble of flat and atonal aggression that blends itself into a vanilla paste thick enough to paint a face and fill an average mold with the bare minimum.

I keep wondering, where is the shriek, where is the fear, where is the evil that I so desire between shrill and nearly inescapable riffs that sound as fearsome as they are destruction in the ears? Yet this band has nothing but a pathetic personae to push rather than a true sense of horror to isolate and explore. If you blast this album, you hear the same as you do when listening to it on a lower volume. There is nothing but a base system of banality driving this music that, while keeping a drum stamina, doesn't grab a church by the steeple and feed it to Satan's fire. If this band wanted to portray the oldschool, it simply kindergartens it and that is what makes this album so utterly inane and commercial an attempt.

Most disappointing is that the title track ends up sounding more like an 8-bit Bowser battle than a bombastic black metal offering and the guitars, held deeply in the background, sound exactly like the guitars in each verse of “Fields of Pale Limbs”. This production is perplexing. Either the band doesn't understand how the limitations of lo-fi recording equipment contributed to the releases of early black metal and its sound, namely the necessity for personality and definition through its minimalism, or the band just doesn't care because this album was clearly recorded on nice equipment and then mixed to sound awful, doing the music a disservice and simply coming off as contrived. Throughout six main songs, there is an average of one riff at best per song, not counting incessant repeating ideas that end up hammered into dullness by a damnable one-trick drum kit.

The biggest change in drumming comes in “Witch's Lair” where the percussion is allowed to build from a slow and sharp cymbal and snare combination to steadily rise in intensity. Where the majority of this album was hammering to the kvlt, Michael Lang does stretch out a bit on this track to help distract from the vocals and let a cymbal tap the tip of the tremolo. Bass and echo come in waves, falling with the guitars in a very literal and linear sound that yearns to take a next step into some sort of counterpoint. Grimtone is almost there in “Witch's Lair” but, to its own detriment, is unwilling to embark on that journey as they band plays it as safe as possible. Black metal is not a safe sort of music and I think Grimtone forgot that fact while trying to appeal to that same audience.

“Empress of Black Light” lines a riff right back up with the canon created by the title track, rounding out the majority of this album with its quick sawing that has become an all-too-familiar and unearned encore throughout these thirty-one minutes. In spite of a nice second riff that swings past the lead in a far more pleasing fashion, Grimtone fails to impress with too little too late. Like the actual style of memento mori, images taken of the dead during the days when photography was prohibitively expensive and most families' only pictures of their loved ones would be of corpses propped up after death for the occasion of a funeral, Grimtone may as well have left the old school to its own era and tried to do something slightly new. Sadly, 'Memento Mori' is another average and unnecessary underground attempt at homage without personality. Stiffness and mysterious minimalism do not always equate to grimness. Such a flat and unimpressive album merely shows this pair's own atonality and trite creativity in a realm so accustomed to innovation. Grimtone is likely to dwell among the likes of Framferd and Runespell. In a hall lined with identical statues and where the haunting echoes of 'who?. . . who?' glide past rafters upon which no owls care to perch. (Five_Nails)

Chronic Xorn - For These Sins Who Must Die

#FOR FANS OF: Metalcore, As I Lay Dying
Chronic Xorn is a metalcore band based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India who had been around since 2007. Below is my review of their recent studio, 'For These Sins Who Must Die'. Now, there is a satisfactory element in this sophomore studio album, but no matter how committed the band's effort is in this release, it's still isn't a memorable offering because of the run-of-the-mill metalcore riffs and cliché metalcore breakdowns that are very much alike to those early As I Lay Dying records. Released by the band independently last December 18th of 2017, 'For These Sins Who Must Die' is their follow up to their 2012 debut "From Mercy". What this release offer is a material full of stocky palm mutes and hackneyed core-esque racing hooks.

The first thing I've noticed about this album is that every song sounds exactly the same and the songwriting is pretty poor and generic. Every track has that identical and typical metalcore riff followed by some generic swivel riff clearly stolen from 'Slaughter of the Soul' by At The Gates. For its 23 minutes of playing time, this formula is repeated over and over without offering anything absorbing and appealing along the way. Chronic Xorn, like most of their metalcore contemporaries, committed the most cliché mistake in the genre and that is having a poor and bad song structure. They literally sound like every generic metalcore band out there.

Outside from the fact that the listeners will get stuck with boring riffs, we are also showered with habitual breakdowns and a terrible trying hard death metal vocals. One can notice immediately that the band's vocalist sounds like one of those angry teenage kids uploading their 'how to do extreme metal vocal' videos on youtube to try and catch attention. There is absolutely no variation in his delivery and he gives every indication of the routine cancerous weak hipster death metal vocal conveyance. Bassline might be audible, especially in the melodic and soft parts, but the bassist doesn't do anything vindicating. He just follows the guitar and is pinned behind the whole time.

Chronic Xorn's drummer had surprised me with his performance behind the kit though. His drumming is pretty sufficient and it is good enough that it rises above the mediocre level. Dude has plenty of variation in his strike patterns and his pacing. The well-developed drum patterns that he was able to convey in here makes the audience expect something more than the dullness of the other instruments. I also do admire the production of 'For These Sins Who Must Die'. The album wins my favor with the fact that the production is pretty good and that all the instruments and layers are easily deciphered.

Though this sophomore studio release of Chronic Xorn has a few decent sections, it still fails to impress and it disappoints in so many levels especially when we talk about the all in all outcome of the offering due to its dreadfully repetitive and predictable song structure. From the guitar part, vocals, and lyrical themes; 'For These Sins Who Must Die' is just the same garden-variety metalcore music done again and again. Well, I guess some of you had already figured that out by just looking at the album cover. Yes, we can hear a room for improvement from this band, but they sure are in a long way for that. (Felix Sale)

(Self - 2017)
Score: 50

sabato 27 gennaio 2018

Maglor - Asunder

#PER CHI AMA: Epic/Pagan Black, Moonsorrow, Summoning
La mia ricerca spasmodica di musica mi ha portato questa volta a spingermi fino al Canada, a Calgary per l'esattezza, a scoprire questi Maglor, combo formatosi nel 2002 ma con soli due album fino ad oggi all'attivo. L'ultimo uscito è 'Asunder', che a distanza di cinque anni dal debut 'Call of the Forest', torna con le sue tematiche "tolkieniane" e con un sound atmosferico fortemente votato ad un folk metal di stampo pagano, che per tematiche e suggestioni cinematiche, potrebbe evocare gli austriaci Summoning, ma che in realtà ha uno stile tutto suo che evolve sin dalla lunga opener, "Fog in the Hills of Anor". L'inizio è affidato a tastiere e spoken-words, poi ad una leggiadra chitarra acustica a creare un'atmosfera in cui si respirano inevitabilmente magia e poesia, in cui l'unica cosa che suggerisco di fare, è chiudere gli occhi ed immaginare. Immaginare distese infinite di prati, colline e montagne impervie, viste con gli occhi del falco che sorvola queste zone, respirando la natura pungente e fredda dell'aria. Sarà l'incontaminato paesaggio che sovrasta la band o la loro sconfinata passione per Tolkien, ma tutto ciò si traduce nelle note di questa song iniziale, ove non è difficile percepire queste sensazioni. La susseguente title track si muove invece su una matrice sonora più elettrica rispetto all'opening track, laddove anche le vocals abbandonano il più evocativo stile narrativo per lanciarsi in uno screaming comunque controllato che già era emerso nella prima traccia. La musica, sempre impostata su un metal mid-tempo, trova maggiore ispirazione nella seconda metà del brano dove convogliano ben più forti le componenti mistico-folkloriche dell'act canadese e dove si colgono maggiormente le influenze del trio, che conducono in primis ai norvegesi Wardruna e poi ai finlandesi Moonsorrow. I Maglor a mio avviso rappresentano la sintesi perfetta di queste due band, abbinando sapientemente l'ambient folk dei primi, con l'epica e pagana irruenza dei secondi. "Woodfall" ha delle ariose linee di chitarra elettrica che s'intrecciano con la melodica acustica della sei corde, in un brano che mostra una progressione più metallica, pur non perdendo quel feeling magico che contraddistingue il sound dei nostri, soprattutto là dove un'eterea voce femminile canta in sottofondo in uno stile vicino alla Myrkur più magnetica ed evocativa. Notevole comunque il finale della traccia, cosi avvinghiato da un'aurea ancestrale in grado di ispirare soltanto pensieri di libertà. Con "Northern Clans" proseguiamo su queste sonorità, forti di una produzione equilibrata e cristallina che esalta i suoni di questa release. Aggiungete poi un altro sognante break nella prima parte del brano, delle melodie che chiamano in causa l'epica dei Bathory di 'Twilight of the Gods' ed un finale folkish ed il gioco è fatto, difficile alla fine non perdere la testa per un disco del genere. "The Mountain Grave" è l'ultima sog che lascia al suono delle cornamuse il compito di suggellare uno splendido album proveniente da meravigliose e ispiratrici terre lontane. (Francesco Scarci)

(Sounds of the Land Records - 2017)
Voto: 80

Eneferens - In the Hours Beneath

#FOR FANS OF: Cascadian Black, Agalloch
Eneferens is a one man atmospheric black metal project, created at the beginning of 2016 by Jori Apedaile. Initially, he lived in Montana, where he took part in another atmospheric black metal band called Arkheon Thodol. Later, he moved to Minnesota leaving the initial project and deciding to create a new band, Eneferens. Since its inception, this new project has been pretty active, releasing two albums and one EP in only two years. Now it’s time to review his second effort entitled 'In the Hours Beneath', which was initially an independent release. Anyway, his work gained some interest and thanks to the excellent label Nordvis Produktion, decided to re-release it in 2017. From the very beginning you take a look to the album´s front cover, you realize what kind of music you are going to listen to. Eneferens moves undoubtedly in the realms of atmospheric black metal, but always trying to build a distinctive sound which makes the music very interesting. First of all, Jori uses profound death metal-esque vocals, instead of the typical black metal shrieks. I must say that his vocals are pretty consistent and they fit the music, although they are not the most usual ones in this genre. Moreover, he has no fear to add some clean and quite melancholic vocals, like in the opening track, “Ascension”. For some reasons, those parts remind me Agalloch (but also Italians Novembre/ndr), though I wouldn´t say that they are very similar bands. Those vocals plus the acoustic sections, give this release a quite melancholic feeling, which confirms what the aforementioned album cover promises. Another good example of it, is represented by the third track, “Morning”, which is one of the calmest tracks of the whole cd, with a slow pace, some acoustic sections and delicate clean vocals. 'In the Hours Beneath' is in general a not very fast work, as Eneferens prefers to create mid-tempo tracks with some very slow and heavy moments ("Chrysantheum", which suddenly includes unexpected fast sections). Another good example is provided by “Refuge”, which flows quite naturally between mid-tempo, slow and fast parts in a very well-done way. The guitars are indeed a true highlight of this work, playing a major role and being quite varied and very well executed. I couldn’t define them citing only one genre, I can feel influences from (obviously) black metal, but some parts can even remind death or post black metal influences. The slow nature of this work has also a slight touch of doom metal, mainly due to paused and deep sections always accompanied by Jori’s growls. His vocals are, as already mentioned, very well-done in both styles, being the clean ones the most original ones. Those vocals can disappoint the listener who wants a rawer and more classic stuff, but if you listen to them with an open mind, I sincerely think that they are fine and fit perfectly well the music. All in all, Eneferens second effort is a very solid release. Jori has tried to create a very personal album, which initially can be described as an atmospheric metal album, although it has some influences and twists which make it a distinctive work with an intense melancholic touch. Excellent stuff. (Alain González Artola)

(Nordvis Produktions - 2017)
Score: 85