ALBUM REVIEW: Un, "Sentiment"

By: Richard Maw


Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 28/09/2018

Label: Translation Loss

For listeners prepared to take this grim journey, there are impressive rewards to be had. Not for the faint hearted, but certainly this album is one of the best releases this year in doom or any other genre. The whole album is a grim steed, plodding inexorably towards its own fate. Fantastic.

 

“Sentiment” CD//DD//2LP track listing:

1). In Its Absence

2). Pools of Reflection

3). Sentiment

4). A Garden Where Nothing Grows

The Review

Well, there are four tracks here, nothing much under twelve minutes in length and there has been a sizeable buzz surrounding this record for many weeks prior to me sitting down to review. So what is going on with Un's “Sentiment” album- their sophomore release?!

For starters, melancholic clean work opens up and then gives way to a truly huge and crushing passage of music. Obviously, from the song lengths alone, it is reasonable to assume that this is an album that is in the arena of the doom genre- and it is, loosely. This is nothing really like Sabbath, Vitus, Trouble, Candlemass et al- it is not trad doom by any stretch. It does fit into the more modern interpretation of the genre label- think Conan, Yob and so on.

The vocals are of the growled variety (not on every track though, so keep an ear out!), the sound is absolutely enormous and the mix is excellent. This is very, very weighty stuff indeed and by the time opener “In Its Absence” has finished, the tone has been set. There is nothing uplifting here: only the darkest and murkiest riffs and sounds are to be found here. It's a downbeat listen, as song titles such as “Pools of Reflection” suggest. The title track is just as sprawling and epic in approach and utilises the same clean opening (yielding a promise of something sweeter than the bitterest of fruit which is actually then served up).

There are echoes of Paradise Lost at their gloomiest, echoes of Yob at their trippiest and there are hints of death metal, psychedelia and even shoe-gaze here and there. The closing statement of “A Garden Where Nothing Grows” is a dark and bleak vision and it really sums up the whole record very well. Any track here would sum up the release as a whole as it is a very strong whole and is nothing if not consistent.

Yep, “Sentiment”fits into the doom bracket, but there is a great deal going on here. For listeners prepared to take this grim journey, there are impressive rewards to be had. Not for the faint hearted, but certainly this album is one of the best releases this year in doom or any other genre. The whole album is a grim steed, plodding inexorably towards its own fate. Fantastic.

“Sentiment” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp  || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Cauldron, "New Gods"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 07/09/2018

Label: The End Records

If you want melodic traditional heavy metal with a penchant for hard rock sensibilities, there are few bands better and you won't hear a better album of that style than this one released in 2018.

“New Gods” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Prisoner of the Past
2. Letting Go
3. No Longer
4. Save the Truth – Syracuse
5. Never Be Found
6. Drown
7. Together as None
8. Isolation
9. Last Request

The Review:

Cauldron are back, close to three years after “In Ruin” and are not straying too far from their original raison d'etre: old school heavy metal, old school sounds, old school songs. Yep, Cauldronare plugging away; on the road, in the studio, presumably in a less than salubrious rehearsal room... Cauldron keep on keeping on.

“Prisoner of The Past” picks up where “In Ruin” left off, with tight and crunchy riffage- plus a dose of melody of course. The drums still thud like 83, rather than snapping like 2018 and reverb is present on the vocals and, indeed, all instruments. “Letting Go” is a melodic and dark track as the title suggests; with both of the first two tracks sounding like a wound down Accept, musically, if not vocally. Nice chorus and anthemic riffs combine to good effect.

Truthfully, I think the likes of “No Longer”could stand to be a little shorter (oh sweet prescient irony), but these are not thrashing and urgent tracks. They are hard rocking, but with quite some emphasis on rock rather than metal this time out. Again, the spectre of early Leppardis present at this feast- but it is a welcome apparition. The darkness of “Save The Truth- Syracuse” is well honed as the band again find their mid tempo groove.

“Never Be Found” doesn't move things around too much in terms of initial approach but the pre-chorus and chorus really lift this up. Great song writing and hooks. “Drown” sounds like a prime Paradise Lost track at first- a turn up for the books, but I was waiting for the tempo to lift and it did! This time, the band rip out some more thrashy riffs and it is a welcome throw back to the “Chained To The Nite” opus. Great cut.

“Together as None” is very light weight in comparison- there is plenty of light and shade on this album, for sure, but this particular track is a little too (bitter) sweet for my tastes and could easily have turned up on any hair metal album you could care to name. “Isolation”, meanwhile, fulfils its titular promise of dark sounds, being as it is an instrumental and a good one. It's maudlin and brooding and one of the best things on the record. It sets thing up nicely for the appropriate “Last Request”which is another album highlight; a little quicker, a little heavier, a little more bite.

“New Gods” represents both more of the same for Cauldron and is also leaning a bit further towards the melodic song writing present on all their releases thus far. For me, I yearn for some of the crunchier riffage that was present on earlier career tracks such as “Conjure The Mass”, but no one can deny the quality of the songs here. If you want melodic traditional heavy metal with a penchant for hard rock sensibilities, there are few bands better and you won't hear a better album of that style than this one released in 2018.

“New Gods” is available here

Band info: facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: My Silent Wake, "There Was Death"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 24/02/2018

Label: Minotauro Records

Whether it goes for the unhinged metal overdrive, which it strikes at moments, or the more auspicious, grinding approaches to its album, My Silent Wake has a method here. Overall "There Was Death" is a sturdy and powerful album in a catalog of one of UK metal's more intriguing acts.

“There Was Death” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). A Dying Man’s Wish

2). Damnatio Memoriae

3). Killing Flaw

4). Ghosts of Parlous Lives

5). Mourning the Loss of the Living

6). There Was Death

7). Walls Within Walls

8). No End to Sorrow

9). An End To Suffering

The Review:

Putting forth 10 albums in just over 13 years in extreme music is quite a feat, yet My Silent Wake, a group hewing a path of doom-steeped death metal, has managed to do what for most performers is almost impossible. The UK stalwarts have return in 2018 with "There Was Death," a worthy chapter in their tenacious history.

Jaded listeners to the music might just stop at death/doom. Like blackened doom, the quantity versus quality issue is a real one. Where you will miss out is in the quintet's veteran chops. The group experienced considerable turnover about eight years ago. My Silent Wake'scurrent lineup was not in fact fully realized until around 2013, when it issued not one, but two, full-length albums ("Silver Under Midnight" and "Preservation Restoration Reconstruction"). However, its one constant, guitarist/vocalist Ian Arkley, has succeeded at keeping things focused. The assembled players make for a bit of a who's who in UK metal, including current and former members of Amputated, Striga, Seventh Angel and Amaranth, among others. This sort of experience is, as you might guess, helpful in keeping My Silent Wake, which debuted in 2005, going strong even after founding members Alan Southorn (bass), drummer Steve Allan and Andi Lee left the band in 2008, 2010 and 2011 respectively.

It is challenging to compare "There Was Death" to last year's "Invitation to Imperfection." With folkloric segues like "Pendulum" and dreamlike prog songs such as "Helgar Kindir" in the playlist, the new album is considerably heavier. Opening with "A Dying Man's Wish," My Silent Wake rock a wrenching style of doom this go around. As the similarly dense "Damnatio Memoriae" begins, the biggest internal contradiction for the group becomes more evident: is it a group inclined to more Paradise Lost-style riffing or one doing low-boil seethers like these songs and the third cut, "Killing Flaw"? Fair enough that this can be both and for the record, My Silent Wakedoes both styles exceedingly well. It is just difficult to trace where the group is headed. Yet such is a minor preference to what is a solid start for the album.

"Ghosts of Perilous Lives" slows down "There Was Death" with a deliciously uneasy plumbing of painful emotions and a mesmerizing arrangement to carry the day. You will also experience some clever orchestration in "Mourning the Loss of the Living," with a plaintive yet present bass and a forthright, resounding drum snap. The beauty in these songs is found in how the group exudes a confidence to its music. Though you might be unsure what direction My Silent Wake is headed, but clearly its members do. Whether it goes for the unhinged metal overdrive, which it strikes at moments, or the more auspicious, grinding approaches to its album, My Silent Wake has a method here.

The album's final third is My Silent Wakeat its most meditative on this recording. The subtle effects that undergird the ferocity of "Walls Within Walls" offer an almost mystical quality to the song, as it builds to a churning climax. The gentle strings and clean singing that begin "No End to Sorrow" clear the way for a heavy lidded doom in the most classic form. With the recording's wrap, "An End to Suffering," the band files off the hard edges of previous cuts with a Middle Eastern flavored acoustic flourish. Five minutes in, however, the song evolves into an almost symphonic bridge, with backing vocals and a primordial stew of prog guitars and smoldering bass. It's a beautiful ending, which might have benefitted by being slightly tighter. Don't let that detract from the gorgeous arrangement, however.

My Silent Wake deserves much credit for continuing to hone its craft in spite of staffing changes and the march of time. Minor improvements aside, "There Was Death" is a sturdy and powerful album in a catalog of one of UK metal's more intriguing acts.

“There Was Death” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Agrimonia - "Awaken"

By: Chris Bull

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 26/01/2018

Label: Southern Lord Recordings

'Awaken' is a tour-de-force of genre hopping doom. It should see the band gain ground on their contemporaries and even surpass them.

“Awaken” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. A World Unseen
2. Astray
3. Foreshadowed
4. Awaken
5. Withering
6. The Sparrow

The Review:

Gothenburg's Agrimoniahave always been a difficult band to pigeonhole; partly epic and expansive doom, partly crusty, blackened death metal, they seem content to don the cap of each of the aforementioned genres whenever the mood is befitting. It should come as no surprise then that 'Awaken', their 4th full length, slithers and writhes with venom and bile in tow.

Opening with the majestic 'A World Unseen', a track that owes as much to Primordial as it does Dissection, Agrimonia put as much into one nine minute epic as some bands do on entire albums. It's an opening statement that implies that further surprises lay ahead...and lay ahead they certainly do; from the Paradise Lost with blast beats of 'Astray'to the haunting melodic intro of 'Foreshadowed'and through its Dismemberstyle death metalisms, there's very little for the casual listener not to enjoy!

The title track sits at the centre of the album and, despite its mesmerising melancholy, and the fact it is a 3 minute instrumental, seems oddly juxtaposed. 'Withering' gets back on track with 13 minutes of captivating death/doom before final track 'The Sparrow' weaves a sombre tapestry before triumphantly galloping headstrong towards the album's shimmering, sobering conclusion.

'Awaken' is a tour-de-force of genre hopping doom. It should see the band gain ground on their contemporaries and even surpass them. For this, you're going to need to pack spare clothes and snacks, for this musical journey is truly epic.

“Awaken” is available to preorder/buy here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Monolith Cult - "Gospel of Despair"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 17/11/2017

Label: Transcending Records

Monolith Cult have turned in seven tracks of downbeat and downtrodden delight.

“Gospel of Despair” CD//DD track listing:

1). Disconnection Syndrome

2). The Gospel of Despair

3). Kings of All That’s Lost

4). Chothia in Memorium

5). Sympathy for the Living

6). Complicit in Your Own Abuse

7). Death Means Nothing

The Review:

Very heavy doom from Bradford, West Yorkshire, Northern England. Well, I guess you are not going to be too cheery if you live there, so why not translate that despair into some top of the range doom metal? Monolith Cult have done just that, turning in seven tracks (well six and an interlude) of downbeat and downtrodden delight.

The opener, “Disconnection Syndrome”, swings a fair bit more than might be expected, but the material is still as heavy as lead. The title track goes down the same path- very heavy, surprisingly groovy and thick with, as the band say, “The Gospel of Despair”. There is no small amount of Paradise Lostto be heard at certain points of the album- “Kings Of All That's Lost” being a good example of tar thick depressive doom favoured by men of metal from Yorkshire. The band don't put a foot wrong over the latter half of the record either- “Sympathy For The Living” has a nice line in time changes and riffs, whilst the vocal performance of Bry Outlaw ("it's my real fucking name") is a great example of doom melodrama.

The final two tracks are the heaviest- “Complicit In Your Own Abuse” is a fantastic eight minutes.  “Death Means Nothing” is as downcast as you would expect. If failure is not an option, but all you've ever known: this album is for you. We're all doomed and Monolith Cultare providing the ultimate soundtrack.

“Gospel of Despair”is available here

Band info: facebook

TOP 16 ALBUMS: The Sour 16 (September 2017)

Allow yourself to indulge in a hefty dose of riffs, because it is time to present 16 of the best albums from September, it is time for your SOUR 16. 

You know the drill by now, each month you the reader are unwittingly compiling a list of the top 16 records of the month, covering all genres of metal.  Is it not a chart, in which reviewers or contributors extol their opinion about their favourite music.  To put it simply, THE SOUR 16 are the records that have been trending the most at SLUDGELORD HQ.

The results are compiled based on the amount of page views the reviews have received and are then calibrated into the list below.  All reviews can be viewed by clicking the artwork and we have included album streams wherever possible. (Total views since their publication are highlighted in the red)

16). Boris - "Dear"(623)

From the opening track, “D.O.W.N. –Domination of Waiting Noise–“, Boris conveys punishing volume so effectively that your ears will ache at practically any level.  Every note and every layered vocal has been obsessed over, placed perfectly in the mix, and acts as a distillation of twenty-five years of intense collaborative synthesis.

15). Order - "Lex Amentiae" (637)

This is harsh, in-your-face, old-school black metal. From the opener "Winter" onward, Order stakes a claim to the thorny crown with its barbarous shrieks, lumbering bass and unyielding guitars.

14). Biblical - "The City That Always Sleeps" (679)

“Mature Themes,” the opening track and lead-off single, certainly showcases a barrage of noise that hits like a barbed-wire baseball bat, but rather than making miles doing this sludgy-psych thing, Biblical branches out far and wide, traversing sonic landscapes that are as vast as the country the band calls home.

13). Major Kong - "Brace for Impact" (713)

Poland's Major Kong tests the limits of music with its new recording, "Brace for Impact." The eight-song release is entirely instrumental and rooted in a science fiction theme. Heady indeed, but Major Kong give you a dense, impressive album regardless.

12). Made Of Teeth- "Made Of Teeth" (721)

Made Of Teeth have produced a confident, punchy, and savage debut that provides the listener with labyrinthine levels of surprises around each corner.

11). Monarch - "Never Forever" (784)

Monarch orchestrates layers upon layers of sound that roil gently like a dirty bayou. Bresson's vocals – from plaintive wisps to growls and beyond – make Monarch unlike anything else you hear in doom or drone. Such innovation is why the outfit has cultivated a devoted following throughout their extensive career. Never Forever" gives you a side of Monarch that is rarely seen, and is indicative of a fearless performance. Drone is seldom this accessible, or distinguished.

10). Usnea - "Portals Into Futility" (815)

The guitars are thoroughly dissonant and murky, the bass is husky and drums voluminous. Then there are the vocals, which feel like they're being delivered with the sort of urgency of someone trapped at the bottom of a deep well. The whole composition of the record is just magnificent for doom fans.

9). Queens of the Stone Age - "Villains" (1040)

The musicianship is some of the best out there, and QOTSA knows its lane and sticks with it. Suffice to say, if you are already a QOTSA fan, chances are this recording will not disappoint, or may just a little. For others, there is an entirely different dialogue.

8). Ufomammut - "8"(1078)

The time signatures will still have you scratching your head and the chugging rhythms are no less heady as they are pummeling. The choice to structure songs rather than to orchestrate them means that the ideas unfold quicker than what we’re used to. A totally different listening experience, sure, but it’s one that offers yet another opportunity to throw some quality, heavy psychedelic doom on the turntable.

7). Spirit Adrift - "Curse of Conception" (1119)

“Curse of Conception” is a glorious success and a dazzling evolution of an already excellent band. 

6). Dyscarnate- "With All Their Might" (1181)

For those death metal fans expecting endless blasting, look elsewhere. For those who want a pit destroying festival of riffs: look no further. This is Dyscarnate’s best album so far and a real beast of modern death metal.

5). With The Dead - "Love From With The Dead" (1401)

The opening quartet of tracks here offers up a relentless onslaught of earth-shaking doom. Tim Bagshaw is on fine form, unleashing an endless stream of mammoth riffs and lead guitar that channel the hazy evil of his finest moments in Ramesses.  Lee Dorrian’s half spoken, half roared vocals work well in amongst the carnage and are a breath of fresh air in the modern doom landscape.

4). Belphegor - "Totenritual" (1802)

Once again, as they have over the vast majority of their discography, Belphegor has produced an excellent album of the best blackened death metal. This is every bit as good as anything else the band has put out from one of the best extreme bands in the world, no question.

3). Satyricon - "Deep Calleth Upon Deep" (1914)

 ‘Deep Calleth Upon Deep’ is something of a spiritual successor to ‘Rebel Extravaganza’ in that the goal appears to have been to take an established sound and create the weirdest, artsiest version of it they could and there is evidence of a sweeping creative resurgence throughout the album as a whole.

2). Monolord - "Rust" (2105)

Monolord hits all the superlative notes when it comes to doom and the album's closing tracks, "Forgotten Lands" and "At Niceae," are as close to perfect as you can get.

1). Paradise Lost - "Medusa"(5226)

Depthless despair, thick production with pounding drums accentuating the force of the material and those classic melodic leads are all encompassing, making this their heaviest album  in years and amongst their best. “Medusa” can and will turn you to stone- as you will be shocked and stilled by just how good it is.

A big thank you as always to our amazing writers, your dedication knows no boundaries and for that I am truly grateful.  September 2017’s SOUR 16 features reviews by:  Richard Maw, Daniel Jackson, Charlie Butler, Mark Ambrose, Victor Van Ommen, Conor O’Dea, Jay Hampshire & Ernesto Aguilar