New Album

Týr - Hel

Every time I've introduced Týr to someone new with an expression of shock and horror on my fact that they've never listened to them, there comes the same two questions. Firstly, how the hell do you pronounce the name? To which I have to admit as I cant speak Faroese I don't use the actual correct pronunciation and just call them Tear as a heathen English speaker. And secondly, where the hell are the Faroe Islands? Which I best describe as simple north of Scotland, but before you hit Iceland. I never claimed to be an expert in geography. 

The most important part of this conversation usually ends in the same way, with me imploring the individual to check them out, and then historically forcing them to borrow CDs from me, or more recently just me texting them links to Spotify or Bandcamp.

As an avid fan of Týr since I first discovered them after their magnificent 3rd album 'Ragnarok', I've looked forward to each album since, and the consistent quality of the albums has been startling. Excellent releases since then in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013. Regular, wonderful metal. And then its all been quiet on the Týr front since. Six years without an album when there had been four albums in the previous six years is a change, and like a junkie going cold turkey, I've had the Týr sweats waiting every since.

Týr get classified as Folk metal by many, conjuring up thoughts of them sounding like Ensiferum, Finntroll et al, and while there is an element of Folk metal in the Týr sound, its erroneous to assume that is what the Týr sound is, as they comprise elements of practically all genres of metal into their sound, yes the Norse and viking mythology which they comprise into their sound leans again into the Folk metal arena, but when listening you get Thrash, Power, Doom, Progressive, Viking, Folk and Epic metal all wrapped around the mythology, and to liken them to one particular sound is to do them a disservice. Týr manage to sound like all your favourite metal bands at once, and at the same time sound like nothing you've ever heard before, which is some achievement.

So now we land at the bottom of the Týr mountain holding the 'Hel' album in our hands, and to sum up where the six years has taken the sound of the band it feels fair to say, this sounds exactly like Týr with some minor adjustments. They have always had a progressive side to the band, the earlier albums were vast in scope and ambitious in what they aimed for, so you get some longer ranging tracks similar to those early ones, there is some progression in Heri Joensen's vocal range too, showing the impressive tones and attack his voice is known for but introducing some more aggressive growls and bite into his range, the six years have been well spent and he has developed into an even better vocalist. Overall the songs have the driving rhythms and fast paced metal you hope for, with the expected bi-lingual approach in lyrics. Its Týr alright.

'Hel' starts off on fire with 'Gates of Hel' giving you a gentle intro before hitting its stride immediately with energetic riffs and a melodic and memorable chorus, a middle eight bass led section really shows off the pristine production on the album and the elongated and impassioned guitar solo takes you through almost seven minutes of a perfect album opener. The energy doesn't let up, with 'All Heroes Fall' opening with another glut of sweeping riffs, chorus' and solos, its around this time you are aware that Týr have released another brilliant album, and you have 11 more songs to come.

'Ragnars kvæði' gives you the first sound of Faroese on the album, and when the Folk metal tag comes into play, its a mid paced burner which will have you embarrassing yourself as you attempt to sing along in the car not knowing a word of Faroese. The album is chocked full of highlights but 'Garmr' is one of the highest, the band fully embracing their talents to create enduring metal pieces and this uptempo one is an example of the really in full flow. 'Sunset Shore' sounds like Megadeth re-writing 'In My Darkest Hour' sitting on a the Vestmannabjørgini Bird Cliffs of the Faroe Islands, but always like Týr. Every song on the album takes you through its own journey, 'Downhill Drunk' is a stomping gutpuncher, 'Empire of the North' is a controlled epic metal headbanger which will have you screaming the title during the chorus, a galloping sure fire live set must hear. 

The songs just keep coming at a canter with 'Far from the Worries of the World',  'King of Time' and 'Fire and Flame' full of darting riff after riff. 'Against the Gods' is another notable highlight on the album, a vocal performance which really shows off Heri Joensen's range with raw moments and note perfect singing combining throughout, you get a sore throat from just listening to this, the guitar melodies string together a progressive song which gets better on every listen. As we move to the end of the album and 'Songs of War' starts with the fastest the band gets on the album with finger bleeding guitar and is another song which would be awesome live. 

At almost 70 minutes, this progressive, folk, epic metal album is not short, but with the utterly magnificent closer 'Álvur Kongur' you are still left wanting more, the key to any great performance is always leaving the audience wanting more and this is an epic metal masterpiece of a song, this is where Týr are at their best, pulling riffs from the Norse gods hands and building a mountain out of them on which to play guitars which would fill the Grand Canyon to the top with melody. How a 70 minute album can end and feel short is beyond me, but this one does, because it flies past when you're listening to it.

Týr have a number of great albums but I will go on record to say that this could be their magnum opus, there is not a song less than brilliant on here and the best thing about this album is everyone will have different favourite songs because they're all so good. A sprawling collection of metal genres together as one, this album is going to top piles of end of year Best Album lists. An example of how prodigious metal can be when done right.

KC

10/10

Top Tracks - 'Gates of Hel', 'Garmr', 'Sunset Shore', 'Against the Gods', 'Álvur Kongur' 

New  Album

Aftermath - There is Something Wrong

1994 was a great year for heavy metal in all its guises, we had landmark releases from Pantera (Far Beyond Driven), Emperor (In the Nightside Eclipse), Satyricon (Dark Medieval Times), Machine Head (Burn My Eyes), Kyuss (Welcome to Sky Valley) and a pile of others. It was a very good year for metal. 

Also this year there was a technical thrash band from Chicago landing their debut album of speed obsessed trashy thrash, a full throttle assault, technically adept and as promising a debut as you can hope for. This albums recording was actually started some 4 years earlier, however the release was delayed due to issues with their label (Big Chief Records) going bust. 4 years is a long time in heavy metal, and a thrash album which would have had a real impact in 1990 came out to a world which had started to have a lukewarm approach to thrash metal in general 4 years later. As a result, the debut ‘Eyes of Tomorrow’ was fairly critically acclaimed but didn’t receive the coverage, support or acknowledgement that it deserved from a world of metal which was just shaken by Korn’s debut and had eyes darting towards baggy trousers and daddy problems over leather jackets and problems with the government. Music is sometimes more about timing than quality.

Still, a debut like that, might not be flavour of the month but it’s a great start, can’t wait to see what they released next...

And so the crazy Aftermath story begins, as this album, ‘There is Something Wrong’, 29 years after recording began and 25 since the release of that debut album, is the follow up. It’s not like the band have had nothing to occupy their time between the two albums, going to court with Dr. Dre over their name (seriously), changing band names to Mother God Moviestar and putting out an Alternative Rock album and having a number of compilations and re-releases of their debut and demos being put out, they have been busy creating a story which your average band wouldn’t ever have to think about. You don't read band bio's like Aftermath's very often.

So where does that leave us, have these guys slowed down at all after a 25 year battle to get a second album out, have they become less cynical of the government or generally just chilled out as old age encroaches on them? Of course not, it’s not being young which makes you create thrash, it’s thrash which makes you feel young, and no number of rapper court cases and label collapses can change that. These Chicago speedsters are as cynical of the government and angry at the world as they ever were. 

‘There is Something Wrong’ starts off with a short intro track before hitting you with an abusive start to opener ‘False Flag Flying’, a 6 minute outraged thrash song, it showcases everything you need to know about Aftermath, its fast, its got groove, its got a blazing solo in it, opening lines of "We're back without apathy, we know our enemy" leads the song through its frustration and anger at the world and the worlds controlling organisations, be that government, the church or good old Hollywood, they all get called out and held to account. This continues the theme throughout the album, 'Diethanasia', which is a frankly brilliant title, starts just as fast and furious, this one doesn't have the slower passages and just gets faster and angrier as it goes on, a song which would create a scary circle pit, this is the best song on the album, a perfect song to hear as an intro to the band.

But groove is as much a part of the Aftermath sound as is speed these days and they show that side on 'Scientist and Priest', its a more controlled aggression as the song rolls around a bunch of catchy riffs and fist in the air vocal sections, the song sounds like it has about 4 different choruses and was the song which stuck in my head most after first listen. This song was a minor respite from the speed however as the next song 'Smash, Reset, Control' starts at rapid pace before breaking down into stuttering pummelling song. 'Gaslight' is an almost proggy song with technical riffs and has the best solo on the album which seems to just keep going and 'Temptation Overthrown' is a carbon copy format with technical riffs and great solo, a 3 minutes thrash song which does everything you would want. 

We move to the end of the album and 'Psuedocide' is full on prog-thrash, an almost 7 minute song with a paranoid psychotic intro and a list of conspiracies thrown out, you feel throughout the song very uneasy and can hear the bands resentment of the world around them and then you get the title track, as you would expect from a thrash band, the final song is a fast one, but as most of the album, after the hectic into the band settles into a slightly slower groove, with 'Diethanisia' this is my other favourite song, as it moves on it folds around multiple catchy vocal parts, "no more reason, no more logic" sings Kyriakos "Charlie" Tsiolis, showing a dynamic range of vocals rather than just screaming, the song eases it way out as it eases its way into you mind. Following this the album gives you a 4 minute outro which pulls together the paranoid feeling throughout the album and forces it on you one more time as the album ends, its a fitting way to finish the album off.

Aftermath are a band who could write a biography to best most others with only a single full length album in 25 years, and 'There is Something Wrong' feels like the perfect book end to that 25 year chapter of the band and hopefully the start of something new because this is a very good album. Its fast, proggy, catchy and down right furious at... well everything. And in the current political climate that seems like a pretty good place to start writing music from. This is a band who are certainly not going to be short of inspiration to get the blood boiling. They are angry at the world, but they're experienced enough to write an album with more than just speed, and given us a thrash album of focused aggression, one with real direction for what they are saying and one which knows just who this band really are. Just don't leave it another 25 years next time guys.

KC

9/10

Top Tracks - 'Diethanisia' 'There is Something Wrong', 'Scientist and Priest'

Album of the Week

Queensrÿche - The Verdict

There aren’t many bands who have had as many ups and downs as Queensrÿche have had over the past 8 years or so. The extremely well documented divorce of former vocalist Geoff Tate from the band, the ensuing court case, the multiple versions of the band existing at the same time, the accusations, the insinuations, the rights to play certain albums all the way through... It's been a car crash of a break up played out in front of us all. 

Those of us who are fans of the band have become disassociated with them and their music somewhat, this actually started to happen prior to the start of the drama as the bands output had moved further and further away from the classic sound of the early albums. Its wasn’t that the sound evolved which many people had an issue with, this is natural progression for many bands, but it was because as the sound changed, the quality of the music degraded with it. Queensrÿche has produced some incredible music, few bands ever hit the heights of ‘Operation: Mindcrime’ but some of the subsequent albums, especially in the 2000’s (with the exception of the excellent ‘Operation: Mindcrime 2’) not only didn’t represent the bands quality of early output, it didn’t sound like the same band all all. Then, the drama happened and Queensrÿche became a once great band who we simply now missed.

Then in 2012, after the drama, Todd La Torre joined the band, there were talks that the band was moving back to the sound of the earlier albums, interest grew, and then eponymous album ‘Queensrÿche’ hit in 2013, and it was good, really good, really very good indeed! And just like that, those of us who had grown somewhat disillusioned were captivated by a band reborn. La Torre’s voice was perfect for the devolution of the band’s sound back to the earlier albums and the quality was high. In 2015 we got another great album in ‘Condition Hüman’ and we’ve been waiting ever since.

Now in 2019, we get the fifteenth album from them, ‘The Verdict’ (completely ignoring the album from ‘Geoff Tate's Queensrÿche’, let’s pretend that didn’t happen) and the third with La Torre, and its arrival on the back of two excellent albums has a weight of expectation on it, thankfully it doesn’t disappoint one jot. ‘The Verdict’ is another great album. Earlier albums have had coherent links and concepts binding the songs together, however that appears to have been jettisoned in favour of some foot to the floor, balls out metal! Immediately starting with fast riffs and some lead guitar on opener ‘Blood of the Levant’, the band keep the tempo up and heads banging through ‘Man the Machine’ sounding like it’s been lifted off an early album and re mixed for the modern generation, ‘Light-years’ and ‘Inside Out’ and both more mid-tempo stompers, showcasing that the band still has prog elements flexing throughout some songs. ‘Propaganda Fashion’ sounds like a 90s Stone Temple Pilots rocker and leads the band into the eerie and emotional ‘Dark Reverie’, probably my favourite song on the album as I can imagine this being truly great live, the band totally hit this semi-ballad into the stratosphere, breaking out the keyboards and epic hook lines for the chorus, finishing like every epic song deserves with a blistering solo over the sound of a million heads banging, THIS is Queensrÿche!

The band keeps things brooding with ‘bent’, another semi-ballad which gets the fists in the air before some of the best guitar playing and melody lines flow through another proggy stomp of authority with ‘Inner Unrest’. ‘Launder the Conscience’ keeps the band playing along the early days of faster riffs and catchy melody style, Michael Wilsons solo is affirmation that they have really found themselves as a band again and are no longer lost in that 2000’s dark place or mediocracy, the synths and keyboards throwing the music around your head and inserting itself permanently in your conscious. Album closer 'Portrait' is  a full ballad to close off the album, it’s a good song but might have worked more in the middle of the album with the semi-ballads and fist in the air sections flowing, you end up wishing you were finishing on one of the head banging faster songs, but this is a minor complaint.

The album has kept the same style of the previous two with La Torre, but expanded to start to include some of the prog elements the band had flowing at the best in their heyday, it feels like what they have been trying to achieve over the past 8 years has finally come together. This may not be as perfect as '...Mindcrime', and it may not influence a generation of songwriters, but this is a band, 35 years since their first album came out, almost a decade since a court case which would have destroyed many bands, writing original, exciting and heavy music, sounding as fresh and vital as they ever have. The three albums with La Torre are all recommended listening, but this is the best of the three. Operation: Awesome.

KC

8/10

Top Tracks - 'Dark Reverie',  'Blood of the Levant’

New album

Candlemass - The Door to Doom

In the pantheon of doom bands, there is a strict hierarchy which places Black Sabbath at the summit, and not many people will debate their standing as the rightful owners of the throne. Second place as the heir to that throne can be debated, with a number of bands having a claim, but the majority of people are probably going to land on the legendary Swedish band Candlemass as the Tommen Barthareon to Sabbaths Joffrey (not that I’m suggesting Sabbath in anyway relate to Joffrey, it’s just an anecdote I enjoyed writing).

Candlemass has been a consistently brilliant band since their 1986 iconic debut album ‘Epicus Doomicus Metallicus’, not only one of the great doom metal albums, one of the great albums, of any genre, ever released. A monumental slab of incendiary brilliance, one which was the first, and last album for vocalist Johan Längqvist. And here we are, 11 albums and 33 years later and after all this time, those compelling vocal cords are back fronting Candlemass. 

Over the years they have released some timeless classics, wonderful albums with some iconic voices involved, but that first album, that voice, that sound was always the Candlemass which I, and many others, loved the most. This is making this album the most exciting Candlemass album to be released in a long time. To say that there is a lot expected from this album is an understatement, and that’s before you even think about the fact they enlisted Tony Iommi to play on one of the songs, queue unabashed Sabbath worship. 

The album starts off with ‘Splendor Demon Majesty’ with it’s wonderful opening riffs, Johan’s vocals immediately sounding like he’s never been away, a composite part of this band which you suddenly can’t imagine not being there. Lots of the other vocalist have done great jobs, I’m a huge fan of Robert Lowe and everything his brilliant vocal range brought to Candlemass, but this is just another band altogether with Johan back. It’s a perfect start to the album and hard to know what to praise, the vocals, lyrics, riffs. It’s just what you want to hear and pristine doom.

Second track ‘Under the Ocean’ starts off with Johan showing his range over a gentle intro which explodes into a MASSIVE riff, this is a song I really want to hear live, the song revolves around this riff until it reaches its glorious guitar solo, breaking down to bluesy bass lines and vocals before exploding into the main riff again. Brilliant. Into ‘Astorolus - The Great Octopus’, the track featuring the godfather of metal Iommi playing the lead guitar, you can almost hear people bowing in the studio as he plays. There is some rest-bite for everyone’s neck with ‘Bridge of the Blind’, a melodic track which seems to feature as almost an interlude between planet destroying riffs. 

After this we get ‘Deaths Wheel’, a slightly faster paced track, feels almost like a thrash tune compared to most of the slow and destructing pummelling of the rest of the album, ‘Black Trinity’ slows everything back down to the slowest possibly pace, singing “The weight will hit you soon, the ambassadors of doom” is quite possibly the ultimate way to describe this album, the weight is incredible throughout. And then we hit ‘House of Doom’. Starting out with church bells ringing out almost identical to ‘Black Sabbath’ by the same band, this is both a worship at their alter, and creation of their own, it’s the stand out song on this album, as the bells ring out we crash into an opening riff almost like ‘Children of the Grave’, every band borrows ideas from their influences, Candlemass are just borrowing from the best. The chorus is catchy, the riff is the best on the album, the solo blazing with contempt for the universe, Johan sings “welcome to the house of doom”, and it’s the most unsettling and intriguing welcome you will ever receive. This is going to be a staple of the live set moving forward. The song ends with the bells ringing again. This probably should have been the end to the album, but we get a another track in ‘The Omega Circle’, a 7 minute call to arms for Candlemass, it’s melodic, and incredible heavy, it’s a wonderful track but probably should have come before ‘House of Doom’, but this is probably the most minor complain I can possibly come up with for this album.

And then it’s over, it’s an incredible ride, a stupefying smack to the skull from a legendary band, an utterly brilliant album which is everything you could want from Candlemass, from doom, and from metal. This album gives you the feeling that the world is ending, or Candlemass are going to start the ending for it. Utterly essential for all metal heads. 

KC

9/10

Top Track - ‘House of Doom’

Album Review

Rotting Christ - The Heretics

So I've spent a large portion of my Sunday trying to remember who it was who first introduced me to Rotting Christ. It was around 2007 as I was given a copy of 'Theogonia' to check out as they were raving about it, and I was immediately sucked into the Rotting Christ universe. Not only did I run out and buy 'Theogonia', but also a pile of other albums to go with it. 'A Dead Poem', 'Sleep of the Angels', and 'Khronos' were all invested in, and classics the lot of them turned out to be. Rotting Christ were the anti-Christianity black metal band with Gothic overtones I then set about telling everyone they should be listening to. I sure owed a beer to the person (who ever it was) who borrowed me that first CD.

Now in recent history there has been some differing views on the output of the band. 2016's 'Rituals' in particular grinding many peoples gears with its much more melodic approach to black metal, focusing on creating an atmosphere to host the still anti-Christianity themes and more subtle in its approach. I understood peoples disdain to the style, and disagreed with it. 'The Heretics' is Rotting Christ's 13th album since the debut 26 years ago, I would have long since ditched listening to the new albums if they were putting out exactly the same time and time again. They have evolved their sound over the years, they have lost fans doing this, but will have gained new ones who like the more melodic approach. Yes the style is different, but the music is still consistently good.

Well I have good news for the people who didn't enjoy 'Rituals', you don't have to spend 43 minutes of your life this week listening to this album, because you wont enjoy it as its the same approach as 'Rituals'. I also have good news for the people who did like that album, 'The Heretics' is even better than it. It takes the same approach but the overall narrative is delivered in a much more rounded package. The album starts off with operatic vocals and spoken words on 'In the Name of God' before building a fist in the air cacophony of fury and rabid intent around melody, atmosphere and chugging riffs, this is the call to arms of the entire album, a bunch of tracks which take the same component parts of the operatic vocals (Most notably 'Vetry Zlye'), riffs (standout 'Heaven & Hell & Fire') and atmosphere ('I Believe') with each song still retaining its own identity, the highlight of the album possibly being the hellacious 'Fire God and Fear' featuring the best solo on the album and a magnificent build up of gothic tension throughout, its a perfect example of how and why Rotting Christ have evolved their sound to what we have.

A couple of notes on the album, 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' is not an Iron Maiden cover rather an atmospheric gem with shades of My Dying Bride and a slow storm of vocals, and 'The Raven' is a cover of the legendary Edgar Allen Poe poem, closing the album with the famous lyrics of the late Baltimore based wordsmith which fit the overall climate of the album perfectly, its an inspired choice to use with its dark undertones and carries a massive amount of weight. 

I have no doubt that the detractors will have a field day with this album as its not a return to old style Rotting Christ, but reviewing the piece holistically on its own merits as a melodic, Gothic black metal album, I think its fantastic. Few bands still sound so irreverent and furious at what they did 13 albums ago as Rotting Christ do, they have an axe to grind with Christianity, and they're not going to stop any time soon 

KC

9/10

Top Tracks - 'Fire God and Fear', 'Heaven & Hell & Fire'

Album Review

Seer - Vol. 6

When I spotted this when browsing this weeks new releases I wondered how the hell I have missed a band now on their 6th release, that’s probably a decade or so of writing and releasing music which I’ve never listened too, shame on me! However, as it turns out, I’ve not simply had my head in the sand to doom from the seems-quite-nice streets of Vancouver, they’re just a specifically prolific group and this is the 5th release in 4 years, all quite helpfully numbered in sequence for the anal retentive ones of us (Vol. III & IV comprise one full length).

Seer bring all the riffs to the party, as you would expect a doom band to, but what makes them stand out is the frankly fantastic vocals throughout the album. Bronson Lee Norton puts in a fine performance using a revolving door of vocal styles, he huffs, gruffs and quite possibly could blow your house down. The true highlights are not in the rabies infected bulldog deep growls which punctuate each slab of bastard lava metal they throw at you, but in the clean singing. As you would expect any doom band, there is a healthy slice of Black Sabbath, but there is a verity of other influences baked into this pie, and when the clean singing comes in, it is drenched, soaked and utterly dripping in a warm reverb, sounding more like early 80s  Mercyful Fate production using a tube-driven analogue reverb rather than a modern digital one. This really adds a layer of intrigue to Seer's sounds over a straight up doom band, and turns each track into a mini epic of its own.

'Vol. 6' starts off with a short intro track before the first full song in 'Iron Worth Striking', an almost 9 minute behemoth of a song, opening with plenty of the aforementioned reverb moistened vocals over a rolling thunderous cacophony of riffs and drums, the song ebbs and flows until it reaches its maniacal solos at the end, a superb start to the album. 'Seven Stars, Seven Stones' pulls you in with a massive hook of a riff, probably the stand out on the album, its doom, its sludge, it had echos of early Cult of Luna in the riffs, it all folds around the wonderful vocals.

We move into the second half of the album with 'Frost Tupla', opening with delicate Spanish guitar work, its hear where you really start to hear the wide influences on this album, it could be Sleep one second, it could be the beginning of the apocalypse the next, but its great either way. 'As the Light Fades' is the 4th and final full length track on the album, another excellent song, massive vocal hook and big riffs again, its a perfect mash of heavy vocals and singing, pianos, strings and plenty of other things holding it together right up to the climatic ending.

The only gripe I have with the album is it feels slightly shorter than you would ideally want, but there is the back catalogue I already mentioned to be researched, and the speed these guys write there will probable be something new along in a minute.

Seer's strength is that they have managed to take a doom/sludge sound, make it sound familiar with influences shining through but it always sounds new, it always sounds fresh, its always interesting, and unmistakably its always their own sound. Its always Seer.

KC

8/10

Top Tracks - 'Seven Stars, Seven Stones', 'As the Light Fades'