ALBUM REVIEW: Mouth of the Architect - "Time and Withering"

By: Josh Nichols

Album Type: Full Length (Reissue)

Date Released: 12/05/2017

Label: Translation Loss

Each new Mouth of the Architect release is my new soundtrack to oblivion, but revisiting “Time and Withering” is definitely worth your effort.  It has held up over time and is still as big and bold as it was 13 years ago.

“Time and Withering” DD//LP track listing:

1). A Vivid Chaos

2). Soil to Stone

3). Heart Eaters

4). The Worm

The Review:

After 13 years, 5 full length LP’s and numerous line up changes, Mouth of the Architect have survived to remaster and re-issue their first album, “Time and Withering”, for a vinyl treatment. I’m not sure why they chose the 13^th anniversary for this auspicious occasion, but given their current “three year per album” rate of production, this reissue is a welcome windfall coming only 8 months after their previous effort, “Path of Eight.” It also provides a great opportunity to see where MotA have come from and examine the threads that hold their entire catalogue together.

There have always been areas of overlap throughout their body of work. The way they carefully build and layer a song together, each new layer drawing on another emotion, sometimes destroying itself in release, sometimes taking the listener hostage. “Time and Withering” is where that body of work begins, with four massive tracks of gloomy sludgy post metal.  Describing the ins and outs of tracks like “A Vivid Chaos” and “The Worm” don’t do the work justice because there are just so many ins and outs per track.  Each MotAproduction evokes a mood that takes the listener on various twists and turns. The mood of “Time and Withering” drifts between somber and fragile to hugely aggressive and furious.  The vocals throughout, when they are present, are a shredded and tortured blend of dark whispers and all out rage, much in the classic Neurosis style, lulling you to an uneasy slumber before eviscerating that fragile niche they had carefully carved out.

In contrast, MotAdefinitely throttled back on the sludge and aggression with “Path of Eight” leaning more toward a pensive and progressive sound throughout, along with mostly clean singing. The beast still slips the leash on tracks like “Sever the Soul” and “Stretching Out”.  That isn’t to say that those moments can’t be found on “Time and Withering”, but that the whole feel throughout is just more foreboding and brutal. Not knowing exactly when the caustic pot is going to boil over may be what ties everything MotAhas ever done together.  They may choose to grab a riff for 6 to 10 minutes, while building a Russian Circles worthy soundscape around it, just to let the tension build. Maybe it dissolves without a whimper or maybe it goes full berserker, until you’re sure they have nothing left to give.  Then they create a whole new tapestry. Each new Mouth of the Architect release is my new soundtrack to oblivion, but revisiting “Time and Withering” is definitely worth your effort.  It has held up over time and is still as big and bold as it was 13 years ago.

“Time and Withering” is available here(Digital) and here(Vinyl)

Band info: facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Ghost Bath - "Starmourner"

 By: Josh Nichols

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 07/04/2017

Label: Nuclear Blast

From the gentle piano intro of “Astral” to the vibrant and triumphant radiance of “Seraphic”, the tone of the album is pushed ever outward to match the theme of an infinite dream. It’s a theme that weaves its way through the whole album. There are certainly tracks that dive back into blast beats and hyper tremolo picking such as “Ambrosial” and “Elysian”, but the theme always returns to shimmering and heroic major chords.

“Starmourner” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Astral (3:20)

2. Seraphic (5:50)

3. Ambrosial (8:30)

4. Ethereal (6:54)

5. Celestial (8:14)

6. Angelic (5:23)

7. Luminescence (6:08)

8. Thrones (6:20)

9. Elysian (5:22)

10. Cherubim (4:26)

11. Principalities (6:14)

12. Ode (4:28)

The Review:

On the April 7th, Ghost Bath released “Starmourner”, their much anticipated follow up to “Moonlover”, via Nuclear Blast.  If you thought their last record caused division in the black metal ranks, get ready for more vitriolic gnashing of teeth. With “Starmourner”, Ghost Bath reach heights of triumphant exuberance unheard of in the post black metal or “blackgaze” genre. The level of ebullience they surpass has only been hinted at by their oft mentioned contemporaries Deafheaven and Alcest. Going a great leap further into throwing out the cvlt playbook, Ghost Bathare opting instead to realize their vision without the constraints of genre limitations inherent with any label we can slap on them.

If you’re already familiar with their work, then you know that Ghost Bath had little regard for what black metal is “supposed” to sound like to begin with.  “Starmourner” stakes their claim to the vanguard of a growing metal subset that is reimagining heavy metal without boundaries or definitions. Where labels are unnecessary and genres again become what they were meant to be, simple guide posts for the listener, not artistic rules to live and die by.  If this sounds a little too much like Neo at the end of the Matrix, just remember that he wasn’t prepared for the red pill either.

It just can’t be overstated, that coming from their previous effort, “Starmourner” is strikingly different. Even fans of Ghost Bath and other bands from the new wave of post black metal will be caught off guard.  From the gentle piano intro of “Astral” to the vibrant and triumphant radiance of “Seraphic”, the tone of the album is pushed ever outward to match the theme of an infinite dream. It’s a theme that weaves its way through the whole album. There are certainly tracks that dive back into blast beats and hyper tremolo picking such as “Ambrosial” and “Elysian”, but the theme always returns to shimmering and heroic major chords. The best example of this is “Celestial”. The leads are so bright and soaring that they could have been used for a Top Gun promo. The now familiar vocals, part screaming eagle, part howling banshee, lend themselves to the ethereal quality of the music.

The pastoral interlude “Angelic” acts as a kind of reset in the middle of the album. The lovely and lilting plucking may serve as a pallet cleansing to those listeners struggling with the effervescent motif being built in their blackened ears. The OSBM sacrilege continues however, with the driving and anthemic “Luminescence”. Not surprisingly, this track shares qualities that their tour mates Astronoidhave in spades.  Having caught their Portland, Or. Tour stop, I can tell you the bands complement each other very well. Ghost Bath really underscores all of the joyful elements found throughout “Starmourner”, while the live setting allows them to highlight their more furious and blistering dark side.  No track on the new album is more blistering than “Thrones”. Finding itself caught between the sweeping major theme and a tortured and guttural vocal delivery, it gives way to the crushing despair that’s been hiding in the shadows of the entire album.

The back half is easily the more caustic and aggressive half of “Starmourner”, still flirting with the airy theatrical qualities found earlier, but with more marked departures into brooding blackened rampages and intensified vocal cacophonies.  “Cherubim” comes on almost rock and roll before detouring into the dark abyss beneath the surface, and “Principalities” feels almost frustrated and subdued in relation to the larger body of work.  The lengthy album winds to a close with “Ode”, another gentle piano number that I find very reminiscent of the closing theme to the old Incredible Hulk TV show.  A lonely David Banner walking away once more, no hope and no end in sight.  “Starmourner“is going to leave some listeners exhilarated and some scratching their head. Either is fine.  Ghost Bathdon’t seem concerned with the reception they are given. If you find yourself having trouble reconciling what you’re hearing with your hard wired preconceptions (and many of us will) take a look at recent interview with Locust Leaves (here), where the topic is discussed much more thoroughly.

“Starmourner” is available here



Band info: facebook



ALBUM REVIEW v2.0: Dopelord - "Children of the Haze"

By: Josh Nichols

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 16/01/2017

Label: Independent

Love them or loath them, Dopelord have found the recipe that appeals to them and seem content to carry on with it.  It may not satisfy every musical appetite, but when it’s what you’re in the mood for, nothing else will do, and nobody else is doing it better.

“Children of the Haze” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Navigator

2). Scum Priest

3). Children of the Haze

4). Skulls and Candles

5). Dead Inside (I & II)

6). Reptile Sun

The Review:

Before I started digging Dopelord, all I knew about Poland was Kielbasa, Pierogi and bad jokes about light bulbs. Honestly I never paid much attention to music nationality other than American and not American.  And even that didn’t matter much. Typical American. Dopelordis so consistently great though, that they’ve lead me on a Polish pilgrimage, delving into Belzebong, Major Kong and even new comers Spaceslug.  The list goes on and on, and please chime in with your favorite. I feel like I need to get my passport in order because these doom shredding Poles have tapped into something excellent.  Since they are often compared to Electric Wizard, I have to say that atop the Polish Dopethrone sit Dopelord, and their latest offering is an excellent reason why.

If you’re a fan of heavy stoner doom, “Children of the Haze” just gives you more of what you’re looking for.  If you’re not, than you probably stopped reading at pierogi. That really seems to be the case with metal heads and doom.  You either grow weary of the repetitive Sabbathworship or you can never get enough. Here at Sludgelord, we are of the latter persuasion. A great track like “Navigator” has the ability to take you to that euphoric haze without ever “holding bong in hand”, as they say again and again through the rich lethargic sludge groove.  Just as you fall under their sway, they shift gears with “Scum Priest”. They pick up the pace a bit and add a rare harsh vocal to shake you out of that stupor just a bit before sucking you right back in with the hypnotic title track.

Honestly, this album flows so well that giving a track by track breakdown doesn’t really do it justice.  There are subtle shifts throughout, but they always seem to maintain a mood that keeps you in that sweet spot.  Heavy fuzzed out riffs, mind melting solos and dank homage at the altar of doom.  What else is there?  A little high, a little low, a little clean, a little harsh, but always swaying you back to the center.  Truly, it’s what they’ve been doing and perfecting for three albums now.  The only curve ball on the album is the final track, “Reptile Sun”. A fine song by itself, it veers more into harsh rock and roll territory than the stoner doom they were laying down for the previous 35 minutes.  If I may borrow from Yob, it’s like they are saying “time to wake up!” “Reptile Sun” seems to break the spell they cast, freeing you with a final burst of energy.

Love them or loath them, Dopelord have found the recipe that appeals to them and seem content to carry on with it.  It may not satisfy every musical appetite, but when it’s what you’re in the mood for, nothing else will do, and nobody else is doing it better.

“Children of the Haze”is available digitally here and you can preorder/buy the CD//LP edition here

FFO: Belzebong, Electric Wizard, Black Sabbath, Major Kong

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Hymn - "Perish"

By: Josh Nichols

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 17/02/2017

Label: Svart Records

“Perish” delivers a dense and grim dose of sludge doom and post metal that creates an atmosphere of dread that frequently erupts in a variety of subtle and different ways.  The entire album is full of gripping tension and visceral despair, muscular and somber, aching weight and gut punching physicality.  It’s an excellent debut from two very talented individuals.”

“Perish” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1.Ritual

2.Rise

3.Serpent

4.Hollow

5.Spectre

6.Perish

The Review:

On February 17^th, Svart Records will release “Perish”, the debut full length from Hymn, hailing from Oslo, Norway. “Perish” delivers a dense and grim dose of sludge doom and post metal that creates an atmosphere of dread that frequently erupts in a variety of subtle and different ways. Hymnare adept at creating tension while never leaving the listener on the rack for too long. I know some may like being left on the rack, but I was really impressed with their ability to alter the beast they create, be it by simple tempo and texture or genre shifting. No small task for a two man operation, or what Svartcalls the four handed Norwegian beast.

The beast is comprised of guitarist/bassist/vocalist Ole Rokseth and drummer Markus Støle. Both have labored for several years in other projects.  Namely Tombstonesand Buckaduzz.  Their previous efforts have ranged from psychedelic stoner to jammy riff heavy doom.  The main difference I’m hearing with Hymn is the level of ferocity and the fact that instead of using riffs to change it up, they are using anxiety. You wouldn’t guess from the dark and all to brief drone opener, “Ritual”, just what is in store for you.

Perhaps that’s the point.  After less than two minutes, the drone gives way to the epic twelve minute “Rise”. A plodding heavy struggle between the insistent wailing vocals and the rhythm section that won’t be rushed.  They battle throughout, sluggishly slowing and adamantly picking back up, but never too much. A total breakdown in the middle, ala Neurosis, leads back into the anguished battle.  By the end, you think you have this band pegged, but you would be wrong.

The dirge doom of “Rise” is replaced by the brutal intensity of “Serpent”.  The choppy buzzsaw riff and cymbal wash now battle for supremacy with vocals that reach next level anger. Personally, they bring to mind Ben Verellen from Helms Alee, but name your own strident wailer. The effect is brilliant.  The landscape totally changed.  It’s like a tank commander roaring over the engines at his crew in a pitched battle. “Hollow” dials it down a touch while retaining the battlefield atmosphere.  Perhaps post battle.  It’s desperate and anguished with wonderful textural shifts on guitar and then a complete vocal change around the midway.  Gone is the roar, replaced by a sinister snear.  Its brief and a great reset before a crippling break down on the back half.

It’s at this point that you’re finally understanding that this bands strength is in keeping you guessing. If you guessed “Spectre” would turn into a wall of sound like waves of menacing dread you can’t escape from, then well done. The finale and title track, “Perish” really steers out of the doom waters and headlong back into Neurosis-esque post metal.  This doesn’t make it any more predictable.  In fact, if you’ve listened to metal in the last 30 years, that tells just how unpredictable it is. Much like the entire album full of gripping tension and visceral despair, muscular and somber, aching weight and gut punching physicality.  It’s an excellent debut from two very talented individuals.

“Perish” is available to preorder/buy here

Band info: facebook | bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Goya - "Harvester of Bongloads"

By: Josh Nichols

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 03/03/2017

Label: Opoponax Records

It is start to finish, packed with massive fuzzed out riffs, deep despair and copious nods to the sweat leaf that Goya pay homage to throughout the entire album.  Small wonder in the midst of our current political nightmare that Goya would drop a jewel heralding the end, before escaping in the smoky haze of their own retreat.

“Harvester of Bongloads” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Omen: I. Strange Geometry, II. Fade Away, III. Life Disintegrates (20:07)

2). Germination (02:18)

3). Misanthropy On High (11:46)

4). Disease (06:21)

The Review:

Arizona doom trio, Goya, return with their third full length, and none to sublte, "Harvester of Bongloads". Following closely on the heels of last falls EP, "Doomed Planet", “Harvester…”continues to plumb the depths of their disgust for all life on this planet, except perhaps for plant life, of which they are shameless proponents. It is start to finish, packed with massive fuzzed out riffs, deep despair and copious nods to the sweat leaf that Goya pay homage to throughout the entire album.

The entirety of side A is made up of "Omen", an epic twenty minute, three part epistle on the end of days. Part 1, "Strange Geometry", opens up to slow tribal drums and psychedelic warbling, courtesy of their Boss Dr. Sample SP-303, before thick bluesy riffing slowly builds to a fuzzy lament on pending oblivion. Part 2, "Fade Away", is mostly a jam session, acting as a bridge between the first and third sections, slowing down enough to gently croon the title several times before ripping into Part 3, "Life Disintegrates". The third and final act of "Omen" continues the downward spiral of heavy sludge doom in the finest tradition of Electric Wizardand Sleep, epic smoked out doom for the pending apocalypse.

Side B dishes up twenty more minutes of meaty riffs in three more tracks, which sort of act like another massive three part opus, but this time with breaks between. First up is "Germination", just a couple minutes of slow heavy doom that sets the tone and acts as an intro for the next track, "Misanthropy on High". “Misanthropy…” is monolithic slow and enormously heavy. Lyrically, the title speaks for itself, with each verse making its escape from the waste of reality into dope fuelled release, repeatedly echoing the double edged sentiment “waste away".

The final track, "Disease", sees Goya wading back into more uptempo Sabbath-esque doom. After two epic jams full of deep gloom, it's a welcome release when they open up the jam and rock out a bit. While lyrically it's still dwelling on oblivion, “Disease” is full of swagger, energy and a couple really killer solos. It's a hook laden finish to a dank and heavy trip of an album. Small wonder in the midst of our current political nightmare that Goya would drop a jewel heralding the end, before escaping in the smoky haze of their own retreat.

“Harvester Of Bongloads” will be available digitally hereand other formats here from 03/03/2017

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Gloson - "Grimen"

By: Josh Nichols

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released:13/02/2017

Label: Art Of Propaganda

"Grimen" keeps getting better, the more you listen. It stirs the imagination with its ferocity and complexity. From its excellent pacing to its subtle use of varied instruments, it's a breathtaking achievement for a band that's just getting started.

“Grimen” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Prowler
2. Fabulist
3. Antlers
4. Cringe
5. Specter
6. Embodiment

The Review:

Out of the dead of winter, Gloson emerge with their debut full length, "Grimen". The follow up to their 2014 EP, "Yearwalker", “Grimen” is a full dose of foreboding post metal sludge, steeped in Scandinavian folklore.  The New Year release seems fitting if we follow the lore of “Yearwalker”, where the seeker goes on a quest for enlightenment, fasting and avoiding all human contact, culminating in supernatural challenges, and hopefully visions of the future. If “Grimen”is the manifestation of those visions, then much like the Swedish winters of Gloson'shomeland, the future is dark.

"Prowler" comes on fast, establishing a tense and heavy riff before the vocals hit like a sudden storm.  Not breakneck, but determined and relentless. You can imagine being driven by the storm, seeking shelter to no avail, until a wild piercing solo draws your attention from the maelstrom to some new unknown.  Enter the "Fabulist". A brief shimmering intro leads to dense heavy sludge doom.  Ponderously slow but still insistent, muscular with a portence of pending annihilation.  Imagine the ground crumbling beneath you in slow motion but being powerless to escape

Instead of annihilation we get a moment of respite and a brilliant change pace with "Antlers". Creeping in on an eerie and dissonant guitar melody, paired with a didgeridoo (you heard me), we’re introduced to a completely different soundscape. The snare strikes like thunder to give way to the voice of dread who unfolds the tale of his undoing. In despair, the ominous voice proclaims "I wear the antlers of the grim, the sun deceived me". I won't read more into this track because you'll enjoy it more by building your own tapestry from it. As the fury of the story teller mounts, so too does the song structure.  It's suspenseful and haunting, a track that demands replaying, in the middle of an album that just keeps growing in complexity.

From the despair of “Antlers”, "Cringe" launches a new offensive on your senses.  Layer upon layer it grows, becoming more intense and strident than its predecessors. Militant percussion, swirling guitars, the occasional tolling of a bell and the brutal roar of lyrics that usher in a final destruction by fire. Out of those ashes crawls "Spectre" on a lilting acoustic melody paired with melancholy strings.  The track appears to be a brief and gentle remembrance of what was lost in the fire until it overpowers into another brief and brutal explosion, contemplating the mourners spectre of failure.

The album winds to a close with "Embodiment", a loping and lengthy instrumental (or so it would appear) careening back and forth for eight minutes between pensive post metal and smothering doom. Just when you think it's all over, the shredded voice of dread returns to remind you that it's never over.  "Grimen" keeps getting better, the more you listen. It stirs the imagination with its ferocity and complexity. From its excellent pacing to its subtle use of varied instruments, it's a breathtaking achievement for a band that's just getting started.

“Grimen” is available to buy/preorder here

Band info: facebook|| bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Dead Witches - "Ouija"

By: Josh Nichols

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 10/02/2017

Label: Heavy Psych Sounds

This is another perfectly fuzzed out slab of doom from a band that doesn’t seem to know any other way.

“Ouija” CD//DD//LP track lisiting:

1.Intro
2. Dead
3. Drawing Down The Moon
4. Ouija
5. Mind Funeral
6. A World of Darkness

The Review:

Dead Witches is the latest incarnation of occult doom perpetrated on an unsuspecting world by Mark Greening (former Electric Wizard, also of Ramesses, With The Dead) and vocalist Virginia Monti (Psychedelic Witchcraft). With the help of Carl Geary on bass and the dearly departed Greg Elk on guitar, they have churned forth “Ouija” for your consideration, meditation and devastation. They aren’t trying to reinvent the genre here.  With their history and pedigree, you wouldn’t expect them to.  This all to brief slab of sludgy goodness is just the latest chapter in their already stellar careers.

“Ouija” creeks to life with a classic doom intro of rain on organ with cavernous guitar emanations, perhaps giving rebirth to the cover arts dead witch in the graveyard, courtesy of the always epic and over the top Goatess Doomwych. The intro gives way to “Dead”, a lumbering slow burn with crisp percussion and thick riffs, along with our first taste of Virginia Monti’s vocals, hazy and slightly distorted, with a tinny almost ham radio quality, like a voice from beyond.

On “Drawing Down the Moon” everybody flexes just a little. They take the tempo up a notch, Mark Greening gets loose on the kit, the riffs get thicker and more fuzzed out and the vocals wail and get more insistent as the song progresses. The back half of the track revs up to an unhinged gallop as Greg Elk works out a brief keening solo that struggles for life over the top of the jam session created by the rhythm section. The title track, “Ouija” follows, stepping the pace back to the lumbering burn of “Dead” but with a heavier back beat at the chorus.  This track is also the best showcase for Virginia Monti’s vocals, which find more range and swagger throughout. 

The final two tracks are a perfect pairing of heavy doom, and my favorites of the album.  “Mind Funeral” is the heaviest track and Mark Greenings finest behind the kit. Engulfed by a huge riff and a filthy vocal delivery from Monti, Greening throws away the wing nut on the high hat and proceeds to lay about the place, dealing fills at every opportunity for an epic highlight. They segue with ease as Greening cools it down with the 90 second intro to “A World of Darkness”. Everything goes quiet and a girls voice says “you’re gonna die up there” and they launch into another thundering riff, another stellar jam, another perfectly fuzzed out slab of doom from a band that doesn’t seem to know any other way.

“Ouija” is available to preorder buy here

Band info: facebook