ALBUM REVIEW: Immortal, "Northen Chaos Gods"

By: Daniel Jackson

Album Type:Full Length

Date Released:6/7/2018

Label:Nuclear Blast

Fans of each era of Immortal will find something that speaks directly to them, and as a beginning for a new era in Immortal’s career, it’s an obviously strong one.

‘Northern Chaos Gods’ CD//CS//LP//DD track listing:

1. Northern Chaos Gods

2. Into Battle Ride

3. Gates to Blashyrkh

4. Grim and Dark

5. Called to Ice

6. Where Mountains Rise

7. Blacker of Worlds

8. Mighty Ravendark

The Review:

The story surrounding ‘Northern Chaos Gods’, Immortal’s first new album in nearly nine years, is all about what transpired during their long hiatus, and the absence of their longtime and charismatic front man Abbath. It’s a difficult thing, trying to move out from under the shadow of someone whose personality and voice were so intrinsically linked with the band’s very existence. On social media, the announcement of this album was plagued by comments from long time fans deriding the very thought of Immortal continuing without Abbath. It felt like an impossibility to them, like trying to imagine Motörhead without Lemmy.

Heavy metal history is brimming with stories of bands trying to continue on without legendary vocalists: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and so on. And we know that those stories rarely end with the band continuing to succeed at a similar level once that change is made. But there are exceptions to that rule. The most prominent example of this, at least from an extreme metal perspective, is probably Cannibal Corpse. Corpsegrinder has proven to be a more dynamic vocalist and an equally, if not more engaging live performer. It’s hard to find the basis for an argument that the band’s popularity has suffered without Chris Barnes, as you won’t find any evidence supporting that idea based on comparing sales for last year’s Six Feet Under and Cannibal Corpsealbums.

Making predictions for something like this is never easy, but the Cannibal Corpse analogy may hold water still, even though they and Immortal represent different subgenres. Cannibal Corpse’s first post-Barnes album was ‘Vile’ in 1996, an album that was met with mixed reviews from fans. And while it’s pretty likely that ‘Northern Chaos Gods’will fare somewhat better in its reception, there are some issues with the album that deserve consideration.

The main concern I have with ‘Northern Chaos Gods’ is what I’ll call “going to the same well too many times” with certain compositional choices. In specific, it’s using very similar-sounding triplet-based clean guitar parts in several songs throughout the album. They first appear early on in the song “Gates of Blashyrkh” and show up again and again as the album goes on. Directly related to this is Demonaz’ continued love affair with viking-era Bathory, which in and of itself isn’t a bad thing. But the way that slower, epic sound manifests itself here causes the album to lag somewhat as we get late into the album. By the time “Mighty Ravendark” ends, we’ll have heard the “clean triplet guitar interlude into epic Bathory” device in three separate songs. For those who remember Demonaz’ solo album ‘March of The Norse’, you’ll remember that nearly every song on that album featured the same central rhythm. The man gets a specific musical idea in his mind and isn’t afraid to invest huge chunks of an album to that one idea, exploring it from every possible angle over an album’s duration. The repetition isn’t as difficult to sit through here, but it definitely warrants discussion.

Where ‘Northern Chaos Gods’ shines brightest is when it’s going full speed ahead. The lead single and title track was absolutely the right choice to showcase up front, with its callbacks to the pitch black frenetic energy of ‘Battles in the North’. ‘Into Battle Ride’ is another blast fest, sticking out in particular because it’s the only song on the album in which large sections of it are in straightforward 4/4 time, with the triplet rhythms waiting nearly a full minute before coming into play. “Grim And Dark” is a great combination of the two central styles of the album, with blast beats giving those giant chord progressions some extra energy via Horgh’s blistering speed.

‘Northern Chaos Gods’ is largely a great album. I’ve spent a large section of this review pointing out the album’s faults and hammering Demonaz for dwelling on a certain compositional style, and that’s because I think that’s a valid criticism of what he’s shown us as a composer between his solo album and now this album. But even keeping that criticism in mind, this is still a better album than Abbath’s solo album, which hasn’t held up especially well as time has gone by. Abbath’s album definitely holds the advantage in variety, but ‘Northern Chaos Gods’ is better as a fully realized listening experience. Fans of each era of Immortalwill find something that speaks directly to them, and as a beginning for a new era in Immortal’s career, it’s an obviously strong one.

“Northern Chaos Gods” is available digitally here and on CD/CS/LP here. 

Band info: Facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Whipstriker, "Merciless Artillery"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 09/03/2018

Label: Hells Headbangers Records

Gritty and uncompromising, Whipstriker truly are “Soldiers of Sodom” and will cast their “Warspell” on you if you get a hold of this feral beast of an album.

“Merciless Artillery” CD//DD track listing:

1). Merciless Artillery

2). Rape of Freedom

3). Calm after Destruction

4). Mantas ’Black Mass

5). Solider of Sodom

6). Warspell

7). Enemies Leather

8). Bestial Hurricane

The Review:

Brazil's Whipstrikerare back- again- in their prolific career since 2008 they have amassed no less than four albums and countless split singles and so on. If you haven't heard the band, I can sum things up for you: Venom. This band are the hellish spawn of Mantas, Abaddon and Cronos- ably assisted by Bathory, Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost.

That tells you exactly what you are getting. This is a dark and rough listen- echoing Venom'slegendary debut and Motorhead's attitude perfectly. The title track kicks things off in gritty style- have a listen and you will know instantly if this is for you or not. Over the course of eight tracks, you get Venom, Sodom, Motorhead, Frost, Hellhammer, Bathoryand so on all wrapped into an appealingly raw production. The band has gone for vibe and attitude, not sound replacements and perfection. This really is a warts and all recording- there are some imperfections here and there for sure! That is of absolutely of no issue to me, though. There is also a fair amount of very smooth playing and surprisingly melodic riffing. This music is supposed to be rough and ready and Whipstriker have delivered their own vision.

If you are after anything in the style of the bands mentioned above, this album is a must. Gritty and uncompromising, Whipstriker truly are “Soldiers of Sodom”and will cast their “Warspell” on you if you get a hold of this feral beast of an album.

“Merciless Artillery” is available here

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Vomitor, "Pestilent Death"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 20/04/2018

Label: Hells Headbangers Records

This is metal as it should be: balls to the wall, nasty sounding and with an evil undertone to it all. No wimps. No posers. Vomitor are ungodly and stand as a beacon of satanic light. Welcome to hell, again.

“Pestilent Death” CD//CS//DD//LP track listing:

1. Tremolation (04:19)
2. Roar of War (04:38)
3. Abracadabra (04:46)
4. Manic Oppression (03:48)
5. Tremendous Insane (05:40)
6. Pestilent Death (04:12)
7. Hells Butcher (04:29)

The Review:

Australia's Vomitor plays a kind of death metal/thrash metal/black metal hybrid. Noisy, tough and uncompromising about sums these boys up. This is very much on the Venom-Bathory-Sodom continuum, use that as a starting point and then modernise a bit...

The band, having been plugging away since the 90s and are on vicious form here. This is even better than “The Escalation”album of a few years ago. Better songs, production and mix. Over the course of seven tracks the band batters the listener very convincingly from the opening maelstrom of “Tremolation” to the slowed down and grinding “Road of War” and into the noise fest of “Abracadabra”, the band sets out their stall and invites you to leave if you don't like it.

You can hear the influences here; early Slayer, Sodom and so on, but this is more extreme than any of the bands mentioned above. The band has picked up the ball and run with it, Aussie-rules style. The dramatic opening of “Manic Oppression” gives way to an all out thrash attack while the album's epic centrepiece of “Tremendous Insane” makes a truly unholy racket.

Of the final two tracks, the title track is more blackened in approach while the closing horror of “Hells Butcher” is as beastly as the previous album's “Pitch Black”. The record is unrelenting and makes for very uneasy listening throughout. This is metal as it should be: balls to the wall, nasty sounding and with an evil undertone to it all. No wimps. No posers. Vomitor are ungodly and stand as a beacon of satanic light. Welcome to hell, again.

“Pestilent Death”is available on Cassette (HERE), CD (HERE), and Vinyl (HERE).

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

REVIEW: Merciless Savage - "Visions" [EP]

By: Mark Ambrose

Album Type: EP

Date Released:17/11/2017

Label: Independent

Merciless Savage has all the attributes required to become a black metal juggernaut

“Visions” CD//DD track listing

1. Visions

2. Poison Legacy

3. III

4. A Horn to Wake the Sleeping

5. Flight of Thought and Memory

The Review:

For all the ceaseless bitching about modern recording techniques, analog vs. digital, and the “integrity” of hearing tracks laid down on tape, there’s an undeniable history of artifice and studio-only musicianship in black metal.  From the French Black Legions (Les Légions Noires) to Bathory to Thorns, there is a unique kind of integrity to the metal auteur, holed up with a few instruments and whatever equipment can be borrowed or bought on the cheap, creating uncompromising, often groundbreaking music that, without the benefit of modern tech, would be shuffled away and lost in obscurity.  Raz, the mastermind behind the Welsh black metal project Merciless Savage, is the rare one man band who has ventured out of the studio to support groups like 1349 and Nachtmystium.  I assume he often takes the stage as singer & guitarist, as the most compelling facets of “Visions” are his distinct, remarkably discernable vocals and his complex but catchy guitar work.  

On “Visions”, the third release as Merciless Savage, Raz’s voice alters between two primary modes: a guttural rasp that is front and center in the mix or a haunting chant, often harmonized, echoing in the background like a distant sepulchral hymn.  The title track is propelled by a rasped, menacing refrain: “Abandon the senses, Abandon the real, Abandon the present, To worship new gods / Gods without substance, gods without altars, gods of false knowledge deception and lies”.  Paired with spot-on tremolo picking, it’s a fist-pumping, blackened anthem.  “Poison Legacy” shifts to the chant like vocals and a dissonant guitar riff that is remarkably catchy. 

“III”, the most distinctly progressive track on the EP, shifts between industrial verse riffing and consistent timing changeups.  After the consistent driving rhythms of the first two tracks, the experimentation is surprising and occasionally challenging.  Regardless, the finale is a breathtaking, soaring triumph. “A Horn to Wake the Sleeping” is characterized by fuzzy, cold production that had me thinking of the legendary Thorns demos. The synthetic quality of the drum programming here is most palpable, but it’s still a compelling listen.  “Flight of Thought and Memory” is a perfect finale for the EP, highlighting both the raspy vocals and chanted melodic lines, as well as Raz’s distinct dissonant riffing countered by melodic guitar leads.

Unlike many other one-man studio projects, Merciless Savage begs for collaboration and live performance.  Raz’s compelling guitar work could use equally challenging bass lines and beefier bass tones.  The exacting rhythmic shifts would demand a virtuoso on the kit, but black metal seems to produce those drum wizards at an alarming rate.  Whoever assists Raz in future endeavors, the songwriting chops are undeniable.  With the right crew, Merciless Savage could be a black metal juggernaut.

“Visions” is available here

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Witchery - "I Am Legion"

By: Daniel Jackson

Album Type:Full Length

Date Released:10/11/2017

Label:Century Media

What ‘I Am Legion’ boils down to is this: Witchery proves here that they’re a band still capable of greatness and creatively this is Witchery’s best album in sixteen years.

  

‘I Am Legion’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Legion

2. True North

3. Welcome, Night

4. Of Blackened Wing

5. Dry Bones

6. Amun-Ra

7. Seraphic Terror

8. A Faustian Deal

9. An Unexpected Guest

10. Great Northern Plague

11. The Alchemist

12. Ragnarök (Bonus Track)

13. Apex Ghoul (Bonus Track)

The Review:

It can be a challenge for fans and bands alike whenever a band ventures away from the sound that earned them their fan base. Not all fans are willing to make that journey with a band, and the new sound very rarely ever has the same meaning or impact as what came before. The Crown is an example where their later material suffered from their shift toward down-tuned death metal, all but leaving their speed metal leanings behind, and their musical charisma and personality disappeared with it. Over the years, Witchery’s albums fell at a similar trajectory to The Crown, though the changes they’ve made in style are less severe.

It’s easy to forget just how brief Witchery’s original peak really was. They released three top notch albums and an EP, all within a two-and-a-half year window: October 1998 to February 2001. Since then, their output has been a lot less frequent and less noteworthy. All of the albums following ‘Symphony For The Devil’ have been missing something to one degree or another as they’ve struggled to find their footing.

That brings us to ‘I Am Legion’ and while the Witchery of old and the Witcheryof now may not have as much in common as long time fans might like, they’ve clearly put themselves back on solid ground again. The album proper begins with its lead single “True North”, a deliberately-paced stomper, with a chorus that would have fit in nicely amongst Bathory’s viking metal material. The song is also something of a red herring, though nicely paired with “Welcome, Night”, another mid-paced, rhythm-centric track.

After that point, Witchery shifts into higher gears. “Of Blackened Wing” is a smorgasbord of riffs and styles, ranging from it’s Sabbathian opening riff, into crossover thrash, and even a pinch of recent Darkthrone in the song’s second half. As the album carries on, there’s a healthy balance of thrashing fury and fist-pumping mid-tempo heft. ‘A Faustian Deal’even flirts with Satyricon’s black n’ roll feel, though they find a way to make it fit within their own established stylistic framework. All of this variety definitely counts for something, but really it’s the inspired songwriting that carries this album, whatever the speed. Creatively, ‘I Am Legion” is Witchery’s best album in sixteen years.

What ‘I Am Legion’ boils down to is this: Witcheryproves here that they’re a band still capable of greatness. Getting back up to this level hasn’t been quick or easy for the band, and it’s hard to tell what changed during the brief period between this album and last year’s ‘In His Infernal Majesty's Service’. Whatever it was, they need to find a way to bottle it and save it for anything they do going forward because this is exactly where they needed to be, and it didn’t require reliving old sounds to get here. Witcheryis a great band again in 2017, and it’s a joy to be able to say it.

“I Am Legion” is available digitally here and on CD/LP here.

Band info: Facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Carach Angren, "Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten"

By: Ernesto Aguilar


Album Type: Full length
Date Released: 16/06/2017
Label: Season of Mist

If you had hopes Carach Angren could dig that hole back in your heart that their previous full-length could not, you will certainly not walk away disappointed.  The overall composition is simply superlative.

 

"Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten" CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Opening

2. Charlie

3. Blood Queen

4. Charles Francis Coghlan

5. Song For the Dead

6. In De Naam Van De Duivel

7. Pitch Black Box

8. The Possession Process

9. Three Times Thunder Strikes

The Review:

Black metal has many signifiers. The harsh thunder of the music itself. Lyrical themes oriented around the darkest corners of our imaginations. A vocal style that is unmistakable. Lost in this cacophony – and to history for some – is a cornerstone of what we regard as black metal, a flair for the presentation.

Consider the classic black metal image in your mind’s eye. Performers like Venom, Bathoryand, of course, Mercyful Fate surely spring out first. Their fidelity to the visual even before the ascendance of music visuals made them infamous. Today, with all manner of indie and international horror films engulfing what would otherwise be our wildest mental pictures, not as much black metal is as adept at setting the blackened altar as back in the days of the founders. That assertion could be heresy to some devotees. Still, many black metal bands are gifted at carrying on the story just inside the fearless, and feared, basement of a house that metal music built.

Dutch black metal trio Carach Angren offer their fifth release, "Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten,"amid much anticipation, not to mention high expectations. The multilingual act is lauded worldwide for its symphonic brand of black metal musicianship. Although its 2015 recording, "This is No Fairytale," was regarded by critics as a disappointment, the band’s body of work is enthralling. Blistering guitars, an ominous build, delicate violins and a dash of piano have long been part of the canon. It was nevertheless unclear if this nine-song release would return Carach Angrento form.

In addition its music, Carach Angren has cultivated a rabid following through their incredible music video presence, which combine crisp, quality visuals with crushing and often sublime music. No sleeveless t-shirts in an empty warehouse here. The group carries forward textured storytelling in the vein of some of the many greats. You can find online many terrifyingly dazzling visuals already for songs from "Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten," and they’ll be worth your search, if you do not mind a sleepless night or two.

Many of Carach Angren’s best music has been rooted in folklore and other tales. Such is the case with "Blood Queen," a sonic departure for the group though its themes of death, despair and infernal dealings appear in other cuts here. The specter of a Ouija board floats through the many stories here too, mostly as an usher to that aforementioned despair. It is the vehicle for a malevolent spirit in "Charlie" and reaches its zenith in the album’s closer, "Three Times Thunder Strikes." "Scrambling for matches/Determined to burn it to ashes/She threw the Ouija board to the flames and kneeled to pray/’I wish I never ever, ever listened to my friends’/’Who had said it would be fun to play’/’Now the one that follows me’/’A predator, and me its new prey.’

There’s so much than can be said about the performances, completely separate from the group’s imagery or lyricism. The overall composition is simply superlative. Guitar and drums are fierce as they are jarring on "In de Naam Van de Duivel" (“In the Name of the Devil" in Dutch, though the song is in English). The orchestral crests in "Song for the Dead" are haunting. If you had hopes Carach Angren could dig that hole back in your heart that its previous full-length could not, you will certainly not walk away disappointed.

"Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten" is available here:

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook