RECORDS OF THEIR YEARS....with Joe Rowland of Pallbearer

Few bands have had quite same impact as Pallbearer over the last 6 years. New LP “Heartless” saw the Arkansas quartet complete their journey from underground doom heroes to all-conquering titans of the genre.  Nearly 18 months after the release of “Heartlesss”, Pallbearer have toured relentlessly and perhaps when it was thought there was nowhere else to roam, the band are set to hit the UK this coming Monday 16^th July 2018, with five dates including a spot at Bloodstock. Recently I caught with Joe Rowland (bass) from the band, to discuss music, (what else) but more importantly albums from his birth to the present day.  Check it below.  

SL: Favourite album from the year you were born?

Joe Rowland: I had never really kept mental tabs on this so I had to a quick internet search, and much to my delight I discovered a few that certainly rank very highly (Jesus and Mary Chain’s‘Psychocandy’, Sisters of Mercy’s‘First and Last and Always’ and ‘Hounds of Love’ by Kate Bush) but there is a clear winner here for me: ‘No Jacket Required’ — I am and always will be an unabashed Phil Collins fan.  Starting with my dad showing me a live Genesis tape when I was a very young child, I immediately developed an affinity for his music, and I can’t even count how many times I’ve listened to this album. I don’t care if it’s not cool, as seems to be the pervading opinion nowadays. Phil Collins forever! 

SL: First album you bought with your own money?

JR: The first album I bought was a CD of some classical music. I don’t even remember what it was! At that point in my childhood it had been determined by the powers that be that it was against the rules in my household to listen to anything other than classical music. Once I had my driver’s license all bets were off though, and I committed the ultimate act of rebellion by going out and buying ‘My Own Prison’ by Creed on CD. Bonus answer, my first vinyl album that I purchased not too terribly long after that was ‘The Argument’ by Fugazi, which I’m pleased to say is significantly less questionable (although Creed is still good for a laugh from time to time, I’m not going to lie!)   

SL: Favourite non metal / rock album?

JR: This is a tough question… and my answer will possibly also be my answer to the following question as well. I’d have to go with ‘Hosianna Mantra’ by Popol Vuh. Popol Vuh is my personal favourite and overall most influential artist I would have to say. This album, despite not having my #1 Popol Vuh song on it, is utterly transcendent and I strive to inch closer and closer to making music that is as emotive and affective as this album makes me feel. 

Runners up (at the moment)

Popol Vuh, ‘Heart of Glass’

Brian Eno, ‘Ambient 4: On Land’

Klaus Schulze, ‘Moondawn’

SL: Favourite album of all time:

JR: I’ll mention my favourite METAL and Rock albums of all time here: 

For metal, it’s ‘Mob Rules’ by Black Sabbath. It’s perfect, I love everything about the riffs, Dio’s performance, Geezer’s bass playing and tone are 10/10. It’s just a great record that has a lot of “fuck yeah” gratifying moments on it. It’s also one of the greatest records to have drunk singalongs to! It’s an emotional rollercoaster, especially ending on the massively sorrowful ‘Over and Over’. 

For rock, it’s ‘Red’ by King Crimson. This almost defies explanation; it’s such an interesting record, I remember first listening to it and kind of marvelling at how raw it is. Three of the greatest players in relatively recent history, playing what to me is truly emotionally primal music. It’s not polished, but it is very real. It sounds to me to be quite different from the opulent and grandiose sound achieved by many of the other figureheads of prog rock of that time perhaps even rock and roll in general in 1974. There is just something much more mean at work here. And it’s also got that same sort of tragic ending that I enjoyed in equal measure on ‘Mob Rules’. 

SL:Favourite album of 2018?

JR: It hasn’t been released yet, but I’ve heard the new Deadbirdalbum coming out on 20 Buck Spin, and it is easily my favourite thing I’ve heard this year. 

SL:...And finally The last album you bought?

JR: I recently picked up vinyl copies of Craig Leon ‘Nommos’ as well as Steve Roach ‘Empetus’(two great 80’s synth records if anyone is curious.) Sadly I have not had the chance to spin them on my home hi-fi system yet, but I’m looking forward to some time off the road to immerse myself!

Pallbearer will be touring the UK from July 16th - 19^th – tickets are available HERE.

July 16th – London, The Underworld

July 17th – Glasgow, Stereo

July 18th – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club

July 19th – Bristol, Fleece

Aug 12th - Bloodstock

Their latest album 'Heartless' is out now HERE + brand new single 'Dropout' HERE" 

Band info: official || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Wayfarer, "World's Blood"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 25/05/2018

Label: Profound Lore Records

On “World’s Blood” Wayfarer rises to be more transcendent than many of its contemporaries in the execution of its new album and overall there is so much to appreciate on this Colorado act's return.  "World's Blood" is a dazzling listen

“World’s Blood” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Animal Crown
2. On Horseback They Carried Thunder
3. The Crows Ahead Cry War
4. The Dreaming Plain
5. A Nation Of Immigrants

The Review:

The beauty and bestial of black metal is that it is today an expansive metal subgenre. At its best, there is something truly gauzy, conceptually original and aurally memorable records. However, there is plenty on the scene that is at times too derivative (first wave throwback movements, anyone?), audacious and over-the-top in a way that can mask musical deficiencies. Goat and pentagram iconography, and too much flourish – literal and figurative – on song titles and imagery, can only carry any band so far. In its most cringeworthy moments, there are more than a few unintentional parodies of black metal.

Fortunately enough, Wayfarer rises to be more transcendent than many of its contemporaries in the execution of its new album, "World's Blood."

The Denverband has been reliable thus far in its output, producing an LP every two years or so. 2014's "Children of the Iron Age" was well received by fans and critics. There might have been a touch too much self-importance early on. Folk and atmospheric metal together can be a bit tiring at turns. And the overlong tracks and intricate storytelling may have felt out of place at first. As you settle in with the band, though, you get a strong sense that Wayfarer is devoted to creating an experience. There are many bands that arguably try to do the same. Wayfarer's iconoclastic approach deserves a deeper look, though.

On "World's Blood," Wayfarer provides a sound informed by a mélange of styles. Black metal, doom and hints of sludge are central to the album. What makes it most fascinating, though, is identifying the disparate inspirations. "Animal Crown" begins the recording with a flash of spaghetti Western romp. There's immediacy to the noisier guitars and rhythm section as the first track builds, with a pained vocal wafting just above it all. The liner notes remark of how the band sought to represent aptly the Western frontier that is part of its experience. Inescapable to that tale is a picture of loss. Rarely has it been so stunningly felt.

The band excels when its orchestration reaches an almost polyrhythmic instance on songs like "On Horseback They Carried Thunder." What feels at first like chaos rewards you as the song crests into a beautiful hybrid of black metal, where pensive pacing strains just below the surface. Where it once drew out tracks possibly a bit too much, Wayfarer's selection and overall production this time offer a new focus. This attention to little things as well as major arcs makes for a more sophisticated album than ever before. With "The Crows Ahead Cry War,"thundering drums threaten from a distance. The balance between measured and frenzied is a gorgeous tension you feel again and again on "World's Blood."

That flume of shot-a-man-in-Reno dirty Americana vibe peeks its head out at the start of "The Dreaming Plain," before laying waste into a mad sound space. "A Nation of Immigrants" flits past this inspiration too, in a divergent manner. In all, "World's Blood" is a dazzling listen. One of their best? That's up to longtime fans to judge, but undoubtedly there is so much to appreciate in the Coloradoact's return.

“World’s Blood” is available here

Band info: facebook|| bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Of Feather And Bone, "Bestial Hymns of Perversion"

By: Mark Ambrose

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: March 23, 2018

Label: Profound Lore Records

It’s a stellar record, one that cuts deep and infects your blood supply.  I suggest you subject yourself to this trauma and damn the consequences.

“Bestial Hymns of Perversion”CD//DD//LP track listing

1. Repulsive Obscurity

2. Resounding from the Depths

3. Lust for Torment

4. Mockery of the Ascension

5. Hymn of Perversion

6. Pious Abnormality

7. Throne of the Serpent

The Review:

               

There are a few tried and true methods when it comes to hair-raising metal album intros.  Some really solid menacing spoken word, particularly religious insanity culled from a crackling radio transmission.  The patented horror movie sample of practically any Mortician song.  So when I heard demonic chanting and what can only be described as the buzz of carrion flies, I knew I was in for some relentlessly grim death metal.  I did not expect, however, that with “Bestial Hymns of Perversion”, I’d be wading into a grim, necrotic nightmare that may also be one of the best releases of the year.  With their second full-length, Of Feather and Bonehave completely reinvented themselves as one of the most devastating death acts operating today.

               

Aforementioned opener “Repulsive Obscurity”, after the descent into sonic madness of the intro, centers on drummer PW’s double-kick assault.  This is tribal warfare music, not tech wizardry – every hit sounds like it’s rattling against bloodied skins, reverberating through a chasm of evil.  The thick, fuzzy tone of DG’s guitar is pure filth, without ever losing the discernable, disturbing riffing.  AS’s bass is much more subdued but essential, a clean counter to the buzzing fury of the six-string assault.  Meanwhile, AS and DG counter guttural death growls with agonized, frayed higher register shrieks.  The combination is particularly unnerving.  Which isn’t to suggest its pure cacophony – tracks like “Resounding from the Depths” have an oldschool punky rhythm break that bely the trio’s earlier hardcore roots.

               

“Lust for Torment” may be the standout track for me on a record without a moment of filler.  The breakdown, punctuated by cracking snare work, frenetic fills, and pinch harmonics that will make you scream “fuck!” while you’re sitting all alone in traffic, is one of the most enervating musical moments of my year.  Plus the mid-song crescendo is the type of chugging riffing that mosh pits were made for.  The tortured high end vocals of “Mockery of the Ascension” are almost too distressing after such brutality, but Of Feather and Bone is not here for your weak bullshit.  Instead the tribal rhythms coalesce again, around a blissfully simple guitar line.  The minimal, tremolo lead work is as effective as any sweep picking, and far more memorable.

“Hymn of Perversion” is a testament to how aware Of Feather and Bone is of the power of space – sometimes they allow room to breathe, only to collapse back in with so much intensity that you may suffocate.  And throughout all this chaos, the production is never muddied, never too busy, always unflinching in capturing the relentless assaults on display.  When PW blisters his snare with furious blast beats on “Pious Abnormality”, not one hit is lost – no mean feat when the distortion is so primal.  “Throne of the Serpent” closes as the album began – with sheer, unmitigated power.  DG and AS weave a sinewy, descending guitar riff that is beyond sinister – it’s downright malevolent.  With tradeoffs between chugging rhythms and high-end tremolo, slowed down tribal drums and breakneck blast beats, the closer builds to a nauseating expulsion of raw energy, before dissipating in another cloud of buzzing flies.

It’s hard to express just how grim and powerful the whole experience of “Bestial Hymns of Perversion” is.  It stuck to me like a layer of grime you really need to scour yourself to get off.  Even when I felt unburdened from the filthy tones and punishing rhythms, I had to go back, re-traumatize myself, and contemplate just what was so unsettling and compelling about the whole thing.  For one, it’s a major departure from their frenzied, punky debut, “Embrace the Wretched Flesh”.  There’s far more skill, more despair, more wrathful intensity.  But there’s something ineffable about the primal necromancy these guys dredge up for “Bestial Hymns…”.  It’s a stellar record, one that cuts deep and infects your blood supply.  I’m likely to keep returning all year, like the scene of an atrocity I can’t erase from my memory.  I suggest you subject yourself to this trauma and damn the consequences.

“Bestial Hymns of Perversion” is available here

Band info: facebook|| bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Insect Ark, "Marrow Hymns"

By: Marika Zorzi

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 23/02/2018

Label: Profound Lore

With “Marrow Hymns,” Insect Ark create a sound based on profound introspection and the listening experience, an intense journey through themselves. Drones, loops, echoes and layers of sounds engulf, distort and stimulate the listener’s perceptions in an attempt to reawaken a distant, lost awareness. 

“Marrow Hymns” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Thelema

2). Arp 9

3). In The Nest

4). Skin Walker

5). Slow Raw

6). Sea Harps

7). Tarnish

8). Windless

9). Daath

The Review:

Combining elements of horror-film soundtracks, psychedelic doom, and atmospheric noise, Insect Arkis comprised of Dana Schechter (bass, lap steel guitar, synthesizers) and Ashley Spungin (drums, synthesizers). Insect Ark’s intensely visual music weaves interludes of fragile beauty with crushing passages of swirling doom, spinning like a backwards fever dream. “Marrow Hymns” is this duo’s new album, one that exceeds all expectations.

Formed in 2011 by Schechter (who has also been part of bands such as Michael Gira’s Angels of Light, Bee and Flower, Zeal & Ardor, Gnaw, and Gifthorse) as a solo project, from its inception Insect Ark has been about creating work that transports, both physically and psychologically. Spungin (Taurus, Purple Rhinestone Eagle, Negative Queen) joined in 2015 to provide support on the “Portal/Well”tour, and over the following year, Insect Ark became something much greater than the sum of its parts. Both women are firmly rooted in unbounded creativity – they are DIYers, multi-instrumentalists, gearheads, and visual artists.

With “Marrow Hymns,” Insect Ark create a sound based on profound introspection and the listening experience, an intense journey through themselves. Drones, loops, echoes and layers of sounds engulf, distort and stimulate the listener’s perceptions in an attempt to reawaken a distant, lost awareness. The songs seduce and glide slowly toward darkness in a continuum interrupted by unexpected changes in direction that unveil a striking sense of melody that reaches compelling, cathartic and totally unsettling peaks of tension.

This record is a wordless song, a hypnotic voice that screams and whispers from a place deep in the furrows, from the bones, from the blood. Defying easy categorization, Insect Ark’s uncommon sound is in part the amalgamation of these two women’s passions: Schechter’s sinister bass lines and unconventional use of lap steel guitar (and her complete omission of electric guitar), and Spungin’s lucid, exacting drumming and synth work with her own hand-built analog noise pedals (Ormus Electronics).

“Marrow Hymns” is a work of rare beauty that conveys sounds and images and finds its supreme expression in songs like “Arp9”, “Skin Walker” and “Sea Harps” in which sounds seem to meet and overlap to take shape in the absurd. Although this is an instrumental album, nobody will miss the vocal element. The sounds speak on their own, immersing the listener in a 45-minute journey. Its nine tracks pursue each other in a sequence of melodies and pauses that is a constant musical quest.

This is an album to be absorbed, played and replayed, interpreted, and loved.

“Marrow Hymns” is available here (USA) and here (Europe)

Band info: Facebook || Bandcamp

INTERVIEW: Bell Witch @ Meat Locker, Montclair, NJ (8/11/2017)

By: Mark Ambrose

Seattle’s funeral doom duo Bell Witch endured tragedy that would end practically any other band.  After the departure and tragic death of founding drummer Adrian Guerra, bassist Dylan Desmond teamed with drummer Jesse Shreibman (also a close friend of Guerra’s) to create an 83 minute, single song elegy that has topped critical lists throughout 2017: “Mirror Reaper”. Featuring some of the last recordings of Guerra’s vocals, and key contributions from honorary member Erik Moggridge (Aerial Ruin), “Mirror Reaper” is a monumental, historic record.  Dylan took some time to talk in detail about creating the album, from the cover art to recreating half the song for a live setting, right before a moving, sepulchral show at Montclair’s Meatlocker.  We also got to discuss touring and the live plans for Bell Witch in 2018.  Bell Witchwill be touring Europe starting in March, with Monarchand Aerial Ruin.

How are you translating Mirror Reaper for live performance?  Are you integrating any of the older material?

Dylan: For this tour we’re not doing any of the older stuff.  Basically we’re doing the beginning of “Mirror Reaper”, up to about the 47 minute mark – right before the section before it basically drops and Erik Moggridge would come in.  So we’re doing about the first half of it.  Which is kind of easy because it is quite familiar to us now.

How did you bring Erik into the process of creating the record?

Similar to how we did “Four Phantoms”, we had a chart out of where we wanted the song to go.  Once we had a section we determined was where we wanted him to be, we made a really rough demo of what we had, sent it to him and said, “Hey, here’s what we got.  Here’s what we think you should sing.  He’s what the lyrical content is about.  Kind of go wild.”  Erik is really good at really fast, almost improving, like poetry.  He’s incredible and has a beautiful voice.  He whips stuff up really quick.  He’s always blown me away.  Aerial Ruinkeeps getting better and he keeps adding to it.

It’s a particularly intense and poignant passage in the record.  I know there are also recordings of Adrian on Mirror Reaper.  Where did you pull those sections from?

Those tracks come from the fourth track on “Four Phantoms”.  We were in the studio and Adrian was doing a vocal take.  We’d go back and listen and bicker about it – one of us would want to redo it a different way.  But when we went back for “Mirror Reaper” there was a lot of old tracks to pull from.  We told Billy (Anderson, recording and mixing on “Four Phantoms” and “Mirror Reaper”) what we were looking for and he pulled out the files and we went through and listened to them.  The last track had a lot of them.  Basically what we were looking for was a combination of highs and lows – high screams and low growls.  A good salt and pepper mix of everything.  We got some of that and Billy worked his magic to piece them together and it was dead on.  Billy was so great to work with.

Adrian’s passing shocked and really affected a lot of people – I’m sure you guys most of all.  And the record isn’t maudlin but must be very personal.  How is the process of reliving some of that on tour?

It’s interesting… It’s easier because Jesse (Shriebman – drums, organ and vocals) and I have known each other for song long.  And Jesse and Adrian knew each other for a really long time too.  We were all really close.  That makes it easier.  When Adrian died, it would have been one thing if the new drummer playing with me was someone who didn’t know him.  That would have been odd and had that been the case, the band could have fizzled out.  It could have dissolved and whatever.  But for Jesse… it was really hard for him too.  When he and I started coming back to him and said, “We need to finish the song we started before this happened,” I felt a lot of motivation for this to be a very special thing.  Jesse felt the exact same way and we pushed each other at it.

You and Jesse have established your rapport as a band at this point.  What do you do in your downtime?

We listen to a lot of music in the van.  I work from my computer so if I have free time I jump into that.  We kinda shoot the shit a lot.  Jesse especially makes a lot of bad puns and that turns into a little game.

How has tour been with the guys in Primitive Man?

Great.  I mean those guys are so easygoing.  We’ve learned that with more people showing up it can be stressful but those guys are so mellow and laid back.  No bullshit that we have to deal with.  And they’re a great band.  It’s a great pairing where they’re exploring the death metal side of things and we’re exploring the atmospheric, funeral side.  There are so many parallels and so many offshoots.

Can you explain the process of deciding on the cover artwork by Mariusz Lewandowski?  It’s so phenomenal but practically everything about him right now online is in Polish.

We were saying, “Who should we talk to?”  Paolo Girardi did “Four Phantoms” and I love the work that he did and working with him.  He’s such a cool guy.  We were ready to talk to him again but then decided to do a little research and look around to see if there was anything that was going to just smack us in the face.  And we came across Mariusz and it definitely smacked us in the face.  We were saying, “This is outrageous.  This is so good.”  So we contacted him and he’s not a native English speaker so we started e-mailing back and forth.  We sent him the last record and he said, “I’ve always wanted to do a record cover and I’ve never done one.  I like this!”  We told him what the record was about.  We still had the working title “As Above, So Below.”  But we had a bunch of lyrics about mirrors, so we thought maybe that’s a cool image.  If we have the mirror as a centerpiece, a gray area between life and death, a reflection.  We sent him that and he sent us the artwork and just blew us away.  It was very easy and he was great.  I hope to meet him someday!

What’s ahead for next year?

We’re going to play Roadburn in April and we’ll play “Mirror Reaper” from start to finish.  Erik is going to join us and play an Aerial Ruin set also.  We’ll do some touring in Europe surrounding that.  As soon as we get some downtime we’ll start working on some new stuff.  We have 20-30 minutes that didn’t work into Mirror Reaper.  We figured we could save it for later.  We have a lot of those we can start digging into.

Do you think you’ll go back to a couple different themes, broken into multiple songs, on the next record?

I don’t think we’ll do the single song thing again.  The process proved to be very difficult.  The writing process was tough, the recording process was tough.  That being said I don’t think we’ll ever write short songs.  I’d be surprised if we got below the ten minute mark.

The End

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Bell Witch - "Mirror Reaper"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full length

Date Released: 20/10/2017

Label: Profound Lore Records

With "Mirror Reaper," the music conveys the reflection back of life and of death; literally that the Grim Reaper is a facsimile of the cycle of life. As with anything Bell Witch, though, such a realization is not engaged with in a fashion that rips at the pain of loss or terror, but rather builds into a deeper, though no less excoriating, meditation on the passage of time

"Mirror Reaper"CD//DD//LP track listing

1. Mirror Reaper

The Review:

The spastic beauty of doom is its blithe but authentic rejection of protocol, even in metal, which itself defies popular music at every turn. Doom is storied for its winding, intricate songs. Doom feels brainier (or nerdier) than what you anticipate, with the number of concept albums about esoterica, space or obscure literature, mythology or history very likely disproportionate to the rest of the genre. And, in the immortal words of Beyonce, when others say speed it up, doom just goes slower.

There is something so beautifully faithful and just-don't-give-a-fuck about that investment in one's own imagination. We all say we'll be artists, but how many of us truly stay that way and how many unconsciously try to fit into the molds we're presented? You may adore thrash metal's technique, grindcore's brief injections of aggression and death metal's roar, but you love doom for being what it is. It simply lurches on, siring even denser progeny such as funeral doom, mainstream acceptance and fake love be damned.

2017 needs Bell Witch. In a year where conflict, culture and politics seem bigger and bigger, the Seattle band's new "Mirror Reaper" feels fitting. It is exactly one track, 83 minutes, 16 seconds in length.

An entire album being a single track is unusual, but not unheard of. Olympia black metal outfit Fauna released the 63-minute "The Rain" in 2006 and then "The Hunt" in 2007, with its only song showing out at nearly 80 minutes. Chicago doom metal act Bongripper debuted in 2006 with its "The Great Barrier Reefer" concluding at just a bit over 79 minutes on the clock. A few other bands, such as Japanese metal collective Boris and Finnish folk metal group Moonsorrow, have done multiple epic songs well into the 50-minute range. Bell Witch itself is no stranger to such a mystique. Its 2015 release, "Four Phantoms,"came in at four cuts and around one hour, with two songs wrapping at 22 minutes apiece. However, as they say in the lad mags, size does not matter. You're listening for whether "Mirror Reaper" can bring you this uncurbed promise, and deliver.

Bell Witch has few peers in funeral doom. Chances are Bell Witch is why you listen to this music in the first place. 2011's "Longing" is still praised as one of the great albums in the field. "Four Phantoms"has been called one of the subgenre's best recordings ever. In 2016, 36-year-old Adrian Guerra, the group's founding member as well as drummer/vocalist, died suddenly. His shadow over "Four Phantoms" and formulation of the Bell Witch aesthetic is long. One has to ponder how much Guerra's contributions may leave a hole in the band's return since his passing.

Mixed by Billy Anderson, who's done production for Neurosisand Sleep (coincidentally, Anderson worked on the California performer's 63-minute "Dopesmoker"in 2003), "Mirror Reaper"is planted in etymology related to the words of Hermes Trismegistus, the Greek representation of Hermes and Thoth, and the Hermeticism on which said writings are based. Trismegistus' Emerald Tablet, believed to have been composed between the sixth and eighth centuries, forwards core Hermetic philosophy. The Emerald Tablet would influence Renaissance alchemy as well as the thinking of C. S. Jung and Isaac Newton. For "Mirror Reaper" an Emerald Tablet concept, brought forward in Newton's translation and that in "Aureliae Occultae Philosophorum," is woven throughout. The idea of 'as above, so below' is one of duality – sun/moon, life/death and so forth. Driven by such grandiose ideas – which have literally occupied thousands of books, faith practices and hearts – it should not be all that shocking that "Mirror Reaper" is what it is.

Bell Witch has explored the visage of ghosts, life and death throughout its career. Consistently the band has taken a more cerebral approach in these themes. With "Mirror Reaper," the music conveys the reflection back of life and of death; literally that the Grim Reaper is a facsimile of the cycle of life. As with anything Bell Witch, though, such a realization is not engaged with in a fashion that rips at the pain of loss or terror, but rather builds into a deeper, though no less excoriating, meditation on the passage of time. Under Anderson's hand, as well as the support of vocalist Erik Moggridge, what could become a bloated, verbose exercise in something this ambitious becomes an achievement.

The arrangement of the piece takes subtle and yet exquisite turns. The transition from the 24th minute to the 32nd minute or so; minute 55 into the hour; and the song's final 10 minutes are among funeral doom's best examples of plangency. In a touching tribute, the late Guerra lives on in the form of previously unused vocals from the "Four Phantoms"sessions included in a movement within "Mirror Reaper." Such is perhaps one of the most wrenching parts of the song because it takes the metaphysical storytelling out in favor of real life and real death. The new core duo of founding member Dylan Desmond and drummer Jesse Shreibman include Guerra honorably. They also make it clear in "Mirror Reaper" that Bell Witch is prepared to start a new, compelling chapter.

"Mirror Reaper”is available here:

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Monarch - "Never Forever"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full length

Date Released: 22/09/ 2017

Label: Profound Lore Records

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.

“Never Forever” CD//DD//LP track listing

1. Of Night, With Knives

2. Song To The Void

3. Cadaverine

4. Diamant Noir

5. Lilith

The Review:

“Sabbracadaver”, the 2014 release by Monarch, was widely hailed for its original sound and vision. This moodiest of doom bands comprised songs that were dissonant yet transcendent. Vocalist Emilie Bresson's bold and rangy performance was among the release's celestial surprises.

Its work of three years back is hardly a flash in the pan, however. The lavish praise Monarch has received from many for their seven previous full lengths, four EPs and other recordings is much deserved. The French ensemble's brand of drone doom is enterprising in a subgenre that can feel like a musician is not trying that hard. In contrast, Monarchorchestrates 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 Monarchthat is rarely seen, and is indicative of a fearless performance. Their five-song opus ticks in at around an hour, featuring songs that strike to the very essence of drone while skirting a melodic, albeit despondent, tempo. Drone is seldom this accessible, or distinguished.

"Of Night, With Knives" plunges you into "Never Forever" as a 15-minute journey to the depths. Its two minutes of slow build hurls you into exactly what makes Monarch so great – dread-soaked guitars, downtempo witness-to-the-execution bass and the shrieks, whispers and growls of Breeson commanding it all at once. The beauty of the cut is its many dimensions. A third or fourth listen and you will notice more than the layered background vocals behind the shouts, but also the syncopation of the drums alongside the ups and downs. You catch a variety of other complexities in "Cadaverine," which begins with clinking bottles ala the 1979 film The Warriors and beautiful singing, only to swoop in with a black cloak of sound. Similar to previous selections, this nearly 18-minute centerpiece melds ethereal vocals and an arrangement that harkens images of a funeral, only to unfold into interloping snarls and shuddersome bass. The conflicting energies in the song seem to circle about five minutes in. The sheer heaviness of the encounter makes it feel like a life-and-death experience. Although it would be cruel to mention the apparent victor, it is doom, so you can likely guess.

Beyond this creativity, what makes "Never Forever" such a superlative recording is Beeson's dissimilar microphone attack. The death growl comes as easily as the empyreal coo, as the spoken declaration flows as the gut-wrenching clamor. This convergence is in wicked display on the album's standout track, "Diamant Noir," and the closing, "Lilith." As well, the music itself is devastatingly good. It too is diverse as drone doom can be, with chords feeling as musical as some of the greats. By the time you make it through all 20 minutes of the concluding cut, Monarch's status will only grow richer.

"Never Forever" is available to preorder/buy here

Band info: facebook