ALBUM REVIEW: Skeletonwitch, “Devouring Radiant Light”

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 20/07/2018

Label: Prosthetic Records

The band has done something that not many bands can pull off, they have changed their style and made a very good record.

“Devouring Radiant Light” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Fen of Shadows

2). When ParadiseFades

3). Templeof the Sun

4). Devouring Radiant Light

5). The Luminous Sky

6). The Vault

7). Carnarium Eternal

8). Sacred Soil

The Review:

This is a turn up for the books. Skeletonwitch, purveyors of the finest blackened thrash, return with their first full length release with a new vocalist and... They have changed. “The Apothic Gloom” hinted at this; longer songs, less thrashing and so on. Well, once “Fen of Shadows” gets going it does thrash, but it mostly black-metals (not a verb) throughout its considerable eight minute playing time. The track, really, is black metal of the modern variety.

There is a lot of riffage to get your teeth into on “When Paradise Fades”, but the riffs are more melancholic, less brutal, less aggressive. This isn't as serious a volte face as Paradise Lost after “Draconian Times”or anything, but this is certainly a different record from what can only be viewed as a different band.

The material here is uniformly of high quality and there are blasts, melodic riffs, excellent vocals and state of the art drums aplenty. How this will go over with the band's fan base is another matter. “Temple of the Sun” ups the thrash quota effectively and this is not Wolves In The Throne Room or anything like that, but the raw aggression of previous albums has been smoothed off- no rough edges here. The title track even has a clean intro- and slow pacing!

As the album enters the back stretch, the stylistic shift is cemented and there is no going back to the sound of “Breathing The Fire” et al. The triplet time feel of “The Vault” is great, the track sprawling and full of great riffs and performances. The three minute burn of “Carnarium Eternal” is the closest thing here to anything off “Serpents Unleashed” or “Beyond The Permafrost” and really lets rip with the killer riffs and changes. By the time of “Sacred Soil”, the band has done something that not many bands can pull off. They have changed their style and made a very good record.

Whether this is a record that fans of Skeletonwitch want to hear is another matter. Metal fans are notoriously traditional in their wants and needs from certain bands. I confess that this is very unlikely to usurp “Serpents Unleashed” or even “Forever Abomination” from my playlist, but that is just me- I want blackened thrash... I want Skeletonwitch to play it. The change here is akin to Belphegorjust becoming a straightforward black metal band and foregoing all the death metal elements of their sound. Make no mistake, this record is a victory but only time will tell if is a pyrrhic one in terms of the band's fan-base. Try it out as you may well love what they have done here; just forget their past.

“Devouring Radiant Light” is available here



Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Goatwhore - "Vengeful Ascension"

By: Jack Taylor


Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 23/06/2017
Label: Metal Blade Records

 

“Forsaken” jumps out of your speakers and down your throat and suffocates and entertains the listener in the best way possible. There’s nothing quite like what this band can deliver – the riffs, vocals and drumming is first class and unique

“Vengeful Ascension” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Forsaken
2. Under the Flesh, Into the Soul
3. Vengeful Ascension
4. Chaos Arcane
5. Where the Sun Is Silent
6. Drowned in Grim Rebirth
7. Abandon Indoctrination
8. Mankind Will Have No Mercy
9. Decayed Omen Reborn
10. Those Who Denied God’s Will

The Review:

Goatwhore are a lean, mean, blackened death metal machine and one of the genre’s most hard-working and consistent outfits. Since the release of ‘A Haunting Curse’ in 2006, Goatwhore streamlined their approach and created their distinctive sound which they are well known for today. ‘Vengeful Ascension’ is the Lousianan outfit’s fourth full-length since the aforementioned album was released, with thousands of miles of touring accumulated over this period as well.

The first impressions are decent – “Forsaken”jumps out of your speakers and down your throat and suffocates and entertains the listener in the best way possible. There’s nothing quite like what this band can deliver – the riffs, vocals and drumming is first class and unique. However, the following nine tracks have lead me to believe that perhaps these guys could do with a hiatus. I’m not just saying this because of my great desire to see frontman Ben Falgoust’s other band Soilent Green get back together again, but more due to the fact that Goatwhore are starting to sound a bit stale. Without wanting to be too harsh, a lot of the tracks on here sound like they could have been B-sides from the excellent ‘Constricting Rage of the Merciless’ and ‘Blood for the Master’. I’d go as far to say that unless you’re a Goatwhore diehard, it’s probably worth giving this album a miss and heading for any of the band’s previous four records.

Sure, I appreciate some of the more experimental moments on this album, such as the slower, doomier tracks which mark some kind of progression for the band, such as “Where the Sun is Silent”, but overall, there’s not a lot on here to really get me out of my seat. That being said, Goatwhoreare an amazing live band, and should they pass through my town any time soon, I’d have no hesitation is seeing them, even if they played a great deal of this new record.

“Vengeful Ascension” is available here

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook

FFO: Skeletonwitch || Soilent Green || Belphegor || Absu