Megascavenger - As Dystopia Beckons (2016)

Sweden's Megascavenger have returned with an oddity of a collaboration album, and I don't say that lightly. Nearly every song on the disc has a guest vocalist, even though Rogga Johansson is perfectly capable of doing this on his own as The Plateaus Of Leng displayed. Since there are so many collaborations here, it might be best to do a brief overview of the rather short (it's only half an hour), but intriguing experience. The first track, “Rotting Domain” features Fleshcrawl's Sven Gross in addition to what reminds me of a Fear Factory level of industrial death mayhem, just without the influence of clean vocals. Gross has a rather common vocal approach for death metal, which sounds like a veritable meat grinder of grain and gravel. Dave Ingram (Hail Of Bullets, Echelon) stops by for “The Machine That Turns Humans Into Slop” as we're introduced to the sounds of clanging anvils (more bands should really use the sound the sound of clanging anvils) as well as some samples. It's still death metal though, so don't let the electronic samples frighten you. Next we have Jocke Svensson (Entrails) taking the mic for “Dead City” which is actually a few seconds longer than most of the bite sized clusters of death that you'll find here. It doesn't really go too far out of it's territory and sounds just like a classic death metal disc. Aside from some slight electronic sections, it's another day at the office. Now the record might sound a little too basic aside from the industrial elements, at least for the first half – but I really like what was done with “As The Last Day Has Passed” which features Loch Vostok's Teddy Moller on vocals. But it's not the industrial element, or even Moller's vocal work (it is pretty great) that affects me, it's that damn sorrowful melody that plays throughout the whole thing. This is the kind of riff that we might expect from a band like Anathema or Katatonia, so it's interesting to hear it used here. It makes for a track that just isn't interested in sounding like many of the death metal sloggers on here, allowing for some needed variety.

The next cut “The Hell That Is This World” features Kam Lee (Mantas, The Grotesquery) on vocals, but oddly has more of an electronic influence than some of the other pieces have had. The electronic influence is very thick here, and a reverberating node seems to make up a large part of the performance as a whole. Electronic drumming opens up our next track, “Dead, Rotting and Exposed” by which Brynjar Helgetun (Crypticus) is featured. The industrial elements are pushed even further on this track, which is starting to make for a record that seems to be more industrial death than death metal, and that is fine with me. It's different, for starters. Sinister's Andrie Kloosterwaard is featured on the shortest track here, “Steel Through Flesh Extravaganza” which jumps from death metal into electronic drum and bass (DNB) territory rather quickly quickly. The final cut, “The Harrowing Of Hell” also features Kam Lee on vocals as a much different style of song approaches. This isn't death metal, it's a sort of industrial Goth metal that you wouldn't expect from Rogga or Lee. Some death metal fans will shit themselves over this in disgust, but chances are that if you've made it this far, you're going to accept this as well. Perhaps Lee's clean vocal approach isn't perfect, but it does manage to do what it set out to, regardless of what others will think. There's a long outro here in the form of the title track, but it's not really what you'd classify as a song. It's technically a revolting electronic atmosphere, replete with a demonic vocal that sounds like what a trash compactor might if it had been given sentience, fused with a horde of other appliances and decided to take out it's revenge against the humans.

Simply put, As Dystopia Beckons might not be Megascavenger's strongest record, but it shows more signs of experimentation, which even break the death metal barrier completely in some instances. It's definitely what I'd consider to be a decent performance, especially if you're looking for something that sounds both familiar and a little different than the majority of records you'll hear from the many guest vocalists and even Rogga himself. I'd recommend listening to a few tracks before you decide to pick it up, as the material here might not be as suitable for everyone and my colleague noted that he thought the album's production was quite raw and not to his liking. I didn't notice this issue personally, but you might, so I've included it in this review.

(9 Tracks, 31:00)

7/10

The Road Vikings - Requiem Of An Outlaw Biker (2016)

The Road Vikings are a crossbreed between metal and rock, but to me it just sounds like classic heavy metal and I love it. Coming straight out of California, (San Francisco to be precise) these guys have a hell of a lot of promise with this stunning sophomore album, which I'd recommend for fans of Judas Priest, especially when Tim “Ripper” Owens fronted them. Now there's also a hard rock semblance here, but it's nothing that I haven't heard on newer Priest records and is delivered with enough bite to matter. Seriously, these guys have got it and someone just needs to take note of that. Dan Bryant is the mastermind behind this project and he certainly can play just as well as he can sing (remember, he sounds like Ripper) which is why several of these cuts simply explode with frantic fretwork that you'll have to hear to believe. “Black Magic Knights”, “Full Moon” and personal favorite “I Burn In Hell” are examples of some of the best that this record has to offer and that's not just in the lieu of catchy choruses, which they all deliver pretty well on – it's also the song structure utilized, which you'll catch after listening to the disc for just a few minutes. As “I Burn In Hell” is literally the album opener, you're already going to bare witness to the sheer majesty of Bryant's playing skills, which are downright astounding and again, need to be taken note of. I don't care who you are, you can't tell me that this man can't play and exceptionally well. Not to mention that there are some keyboards and other things in the mix that bring a little bit of unexpected prog to the compositions and I'm certainly not going to turn that away if it'll put meat on the songs. I hate to say it, but not even Priest really delved into that territory as has been done here. Dan Bryant has been through literal hell trying to get a project off the ground, but with this one I dare say that he has has it.

I also need to mention that the thumping bass riffs here are performed by Lisa Tonra who also heads up the backing vocals. These can sometimes make for strong duets on a few pieces like “Live To Ride” and “Lovebound.” We also have Dave Dab on drums, who adds that extra punch to these performances and makes his presence known just as much as anyone else. I will say that there's a sort of oddball in “Headwind” which sounds a little less thunderous and more like the prog-rock of Hawkwind, than some of the more piss n' vinegar anthems you'll hear on the disc, but it was obvious something new that they wanted to try out and you'll either love or hate it. As I said, progressive rock is as much of an influence here as the crunching metal side of things and I think that you'll appreciate that just as much as I have. What's not to like about tracks with more to chew on than just a verse and a fucking chorus? But if that's not enough for you, then you'll need to listen to the harmonica shredding on the record's title track. I think it goes without saying that The Road Vikings are something that the world of rock and metal needs to keep it's eyes firmly glued on, and even though I wasn't expecting much at first, I soon became blown away beyond all logical expectation. The record is ten dollars on CD Baby, but you can pay a little more for a physical copy. Either way, these guys are well worth supporting and promoting. Requiem Of An Outlaw Biker has a real sense of purpose, and that's what makes it stand out among the rest of the pack.

(10 Tracks, 46:00)

8.5/10

Eldamar - The Force Of The Ancient Land (2016)

Fans of Summoning will want to pick up this debut from Norway's Eldamar almost immediately. Not only is it Tolkien inspired, but it is also atmospheric/ambient black metal by which a female vocalist (uncredited but used quite a bit, is it even a real woman?) performs a heavy degree of chanting/vocalizing amidst the hefty scowls of project mastermind Matthias Hemmingby. The production is especially misty, but feels quite cool due to the use of crystalline keyboard sections. It feels like there might be a real drum kit here, but I'm not real sure and technology is pretty awesome these days, so it's tough to tell. As you might expect, this is a very tough record to sort of walk you through as it doesn't really seem like it's about separate experiences at all. Rather I feel like this album is one large piece, in which several sections seem to comprise the whole.

There are however, a few lighter and atmospheric moments like “Travel In Woods” which reminds me a little of the fairy music from Link To The Past, as well as “Valkyrjur Ancient One” which reminds me of a climb up a frosty mountain. I can literally feel the chill of the wind on my back from listening to this (seriously, did it just get colder in here?) and feel that it captures the atmosphere perfectly. We also have “Galadwen The Eldar” which feels almost romantic in it's ethereal and majestic nature. That's just plain beautiful. Removing those though, we're left with a rather solid mix of raw black metal, female vocalizing (is she an effect?) and the same chilly keyboard pieces – which definitely work in the mix. It does really sound like Summoning if they came from Norway and I think they'd be flattered to see their style passed onto the next generation of musical performers. Once again, if you like Summoning and similar acts, you will definitely want to have a copy of The Force Of The Ancient Land in your collection.

(8 Tracks, 73:00)

8/10

Destroyer 666 - Wildfire (2016)

If you don't know who Destroyer 666 is, then you've got a hell of a lot of backtracking to do. Their newest album and first in quite a while, Wildfire pretty much sounds like metal at it's best. But hell, let's just call it what it is – the better than Venom, Venom. I've nothing against Venom, they're still a pretty solid band, but Destroyer 666 are doing everything with this little ditty that I've wanted to hear Venom do for years. Did you like Welcome To Hell and Black Metal as much as I did? (Truth be told, I actually like Welcome To Hell more than Black Metal) Well, then you're going to love this awesome band. Of course, you should know that already. Classic thrash riffs pervade throughout the piece, but with enough structure and firepower to separate them from more than ten-thousand Venom clones. Chances are that you don't just know about Destroyer 666 because they're a signed band, but because they're a legitimately awesome one. I've yet to hear a bad record from the band and Wildfire just works to capture the mix of black and thrash that they do best. Searing solos, threatening scowls, the heat and warmth of the eighties coupled with today's modern production – that's what you're getting here. If you love heavy metal, you're going to want this record. Note that I said heavy metal, not the more modern stuff – Wildfire sounds like the genre used to and that's more than enough reason for me to recommend it to you. Now there's nothing here that I would consider really unique, but there doesn't need to be. I really don't want Destroyer 666 to employ pan flutes, didgeridoos or untz untz electronics. That's never why I've liked them. You see, when I get a record from these guys, I know that I'm getting the best of two great genres, coupled together with enough patience and hard work to make waves.

Sit down and listen to these guitar compositions folks, this isn't just noodling for the sake of noodling. It's not just shredding for the sake of shredding. This is the kind of music that plays in the background of a huge metal battle, in which guitar-wielding iron knights battle horrendous demons for control of the world. This is the kind of music that you want to blast over the bumping Hip Hop music from the guy next to you, while you're waiting for the light to change. This is the kind of music that you blast while you're in the parking lot as all the regular people give you mean stares. When you see a bunch of the younger crowd blasting their core or alternative rock stuff out the windows, you blast this. It really does start a fire, and just keeps burning on and on without control. Is it even worth it to tell you how each track sounds here? Of course not. You know very well what you're getting from Destroyer 666 and they've done nothing more than improve on their awesomeness with yet another killer metal disc. There's nothing else that you could call these guys other than metal, and that's just fine with me. To be honest, this is the kind of record that Vinyl was made for. Perhaps you might want to get a record player just for the classic, old-school sound. If you've got one, then chances are that you've been blasting Wildfire for days now and don't need my reassurance to grab it. While it's true that some bands are hit or miss, and many bands have a hiccup every now and again, but I don't see anything like that happening to these guys anytime soon, which to me is definitely fucking awesome. Be sure to vote for Destroyer 666 this year, a name you can trust. It's too bad that they're not on the ballots.

(10 Tracks, 42:00)

9/10

FT-17 – Marcellin S'en Va-t'en Guerre (2016)

France's FT-17 really have a lot of promise. I guess we could call them war metal, but they don't really seem to stick to one basic thing. They're actually considered “melodic black metal” by the scribes over at Metal Archives, which I suppose sticks well enough, as we're definitely hearing colorful piano pieces as well heavily melodic riffs. The whole performance does feel very classical in a sense, which fits the source material of a school teacher who was drafted to serve as part of the military during the first World War. The record (English translated: Marcellin Goes To War) reads like his diary and is probably quite passionate, but I can't get over that part of the language barrier. As you might expect, the lyrics are all in the band's native so you would need some education in that department to understand them properly. Though I'd simply have it no other way. I feel that bands should be able to perform in their native and respect their mother tongue. Let us not lose that along the way. I feel that it is worth mentioning that FT-17 is made up of current members of depressive black metal outfit Ad Extirpenda, yet I much prefer this approach to that of the other band. What I really like about this record is that the disc sounds just as grim as you might expect it as Misein's vocals are just as raspy and full of venom as we'd imagine. Yet the duet of piano (yes, not a keyboard – they have a real piano player here by the name of Khorto) and guitar (performed by Hrothulf) truly work to provide a rather Gothic, or at least gloomy overtone that only comes up in the oddly rocking solo sections. Despite the record being rather depressing, these incredibly powerful solo sections feature nothing but some of the best noodling I've heard, even though their very presence is somewhat astounding for such a disc. But I'm certainly not going to knock a good solo – I never have.

The record is spaced with a few spoken word moments in which the diary is read. These add to the story, but won't do much for you if the language is in the way. Once again, that isn't a reason for you to not pick up this album and I'm quite surprised to see that no one else is promoting what I found to be quite an appealing piece of work. The disc is a bit raw, but it's the kind of raw we want. The piano pieces are well mixed, and don't feel forced by any means. I do think that listeners might be taken aback a bit by the use of female vocals in the album's closer, but it is 2016 and people need to start opening their minds a little more to unexpected approaches in their music. She certainly does a good job mixing with the band's style, but let us hope that FT-17 doesn't become more of a female-fronted symphonic metal act than the wonderful mix of dreary melodic black metal and classical piano that we have here. In any case, if you are looking for something different and perhaps with a bit more class and intelligence than you'll find in the devil worshiping antics of other black metal bands, I believe that you'll find something here in FT-17.

(11 Tracks, 43:00)

8/10

Mortiis - The Great Deceiver (2016)

Before we ask ourselves the simple question, “What in the hell has Mortiis done?” I think it's best that we should go back and analyze this album, as well as the processes leading up to it. Technically, The Great Deceiver is Mortiis' first release since '04's The Grudge. Metal Archives might tell you that the free album, Perfectly Defect was a full-length release, but that's actually not true. It was closer to an EP that served as promotion for this record. As a matter of fact, I remember getting a lot of promotional material for this record with that one, at the same time saying that it was due to come out the year after (which would have been 2011.) Well, something must have happened between the years 2011 and 2016 that stalled this thing, because it's about five years overdue and one of those records that we thought would never see the light of day. I was actually quite surprised to see it in a completed form, but that's still not saying much. A friend and Tower colleague introduced me to Mortiis back in '01 during The Smell Of Rain era, which I thought was remarkable. I also enjoyed The Grudge and was really getting into Mortiis' industrial era quite a bit. I even found some good material on Perfectly Defect. In any case, he happened to hear the record before me and thought that it was utter trash - basically a Ministry knock-off. I thought that at first when I heard “The Great Leap” but as I listen to this record again, I feel that maybe I needed to soak it in a little first. I'm noticing this introduction in particular to have more of that NIN feel that The Grudge had, rather than Ministry. Additionally, some of these songs don't even sound like Ministry nor Revolting Cocks nor Surgical Meth Machine material at all. If anything, they sound like NIN and The Grudge flavored Mortiis of '04. Not surprisingly, “The Ugly Truth” also seems to come off more like The Downward Spiral. As a matter of fact, I'm not really hearing anything here that really seems remotely like Ministry and even Mortiis' vocals remind me more of Trent Reznor than Al Jourgensen.

“Demons Are Back” of which there's a video for, actually caught my attention in the mix and on the second time through, I'll say that I like it quite a bit. I think it's a very good representation of the album as a whole. Next we have “Hard To Believe” where Mortiis actually decides to add some acoustic guitar influence into his industrial approach, which also works. The chorus is just as strong as anything I've heard on The Grudge and it does make a mark. “Road To Ruin” contains some odd filter effects on the vocals which I didn't care for in some areas, but I love the eighties industrial influence that he's pumped into this one. It would also take a while to soak in, but I think after a while I could come to accept it. It's certainly not a bad song and achieves what Mortiis has always done well. But we have to realize that this is post-The Grudge Mortiis and not The Smell Of Rain Mortiis, which were by and large different. Perhaps “Bleed Like You” is a little flimsy and doesn't really go as far as some of the other cuts, but maybe this could work better live as it is a high energy piece. There's passion in it, I can hear that from the vocals alone – but it doesn't come across well on the disc. “Scalding The Burnt” actually DOES have Ministry influence, which is definitely noticeable in the drumming, but it doesn't deliver nearly as well. I see what he's trying to do here and commend him for plugging into that approach, yet it doesn't seem quite as potent in a vocal sense. It just sort of falls flat and feels like gibberish.

“The Shining Lamp Of God” actually goes back to his more familiar industrial approach, where it really hits and extremely hard. Even though one might consider The Great Deceiver one of Mortiis' weaker moments as a whole, this is definitely one of his best songs. Again, I think a song like this could do rather well live and I'd hope that they do perform it in such a manner. It's also well-constructed as far as an electronic standpoint is concerned and I feel that fans of the style will appreciate that. “Sins Of Mine” is a little lighter piece, perhaps feeling a little bit like David Bowie or an electronic-era Billy Idol. There's a light vocal approach here, but I think that the main chorus piece of the song is oddly distorted and feels out of place. I think he was trying to distort this airy ballad like piece, which he certainly achieved even though it's certain that he completely ruined the main impact of the song altogether. “Feed The Greed” borrows a lot from NIN at their best, but I don't understand why he had such a long fade-in for the piece. It takes maybe about a minute and a half before the song even starts, to which it's rather strong, much like that of The Grudge. In fact, this song would be right at home on The Grudge. The last piece we have here is “Too Little Too Late” which observes a little more atmosphere amidst it's familiar style. It's nothing we haven't heard before, but the tweaks within it make it a little more interesting. It's a rather odd note to the end the album on though, but I guess it works as well as any other.

There's no doubt that Mortiis experimented far beyond what was necessary here, but the end result isn't quite as bad as I thought it would be, especially when a series of rather harsh text messages from my colleague seemed to consider this one of the worst records he's ever made. Even so, it's definitely not a complete wash as there are several songs that I think will grow on the industrial listener with time and a few more listens. The first time I listened to this record much of it fell into the background, failing to really come out to me. But that's because many of these tracks sounded a bit derivative of each other and it did feel in ways like a bit of an industrial mess. Yet as I've listened to it again with a greater focus put on the material, I have found a couple of tracks here that warrant it a little better than my original first impression. The Great Deceiver is a decent industrial disc that still achieves the same kinds of feelings we had with The Grudge and does feel like a slight evolution from that material. But I have a feeling that more material than just these twelve tracks was composed within the almost fifteen year waiting time between this album and The Grudge, so I think that we'll be hearing something else from Mortiis very soon. I also have a feeling that it might be a little bit different. There's no doubt in my mind that he wanted to get this material out as soon as possible, because he was more or less tired of it by now. I would've been as well. Though as to whether or not we'll get another album next year or a bit later, is still up in the air. Mortiis will surely release another when he feels up to it, and hopefully it will show a bit of a deviation from this The Grudge style material. I am quite sure that most other reviewers will say, “We've heard this stuff already on The Grudge” and yeah, they're right. We have. As to whether or not you should check it out, that is entirely up to you. I'd definitely listen to a few tracks first and get a taste for it, because it isn't something you can immediately soak in and will certainly take some time.

(12 Tracks, 57:00)

7/10

Shroud Of Despondency - The Beast's Desire To Sacrifice (2015)

Though this record came out a little while ago, I'm kind of shocked as to it's existence. As you might remember, the band declared themselves dead after the release of their previous effort and apparent final release, Family Tomb. As you also may recall, I thought Family Tomb was a great send-off for the band and a surefire sign that they've left their mark. Nevertheless, the mere fact that The Beast's Desire To Sacrifice exists, says to me that these gentlemen clearly aren't ready to call it quits yet, nor should they. There's far too much damn talent here, just as this record displays rather well. Make no mistake about it, you're getting a black metal performance with elements of I guess one could say technicality and perhaps even a little bit of melodic death metal. It's just a hodgepodge of extreme, but feels a little closer to the source material. It also has a higher production quality than Family Tomb, which makes we wonder if the band literally recorded that record in such a lo-fi quality just for the heck of it. Even so, you're not getting another Family Tomb with this one. You're getting what I would consider the second step in that evolution. The Beast's Desire... is still Gothic, and it's keyboard usage is still as dreary and forlorn as we might expect. The drums still blast, the tremolos are still as frosty as ever and the vocals are still just as scathing as we'd expect them to be. There are even solo sections to be had, which as you know always work for me when done right. Now these are the kind of rock style solos that you might not expect to hear so much in black metal, but the fact of the matter is that the performance here never claimed to be purely anything and winds up instead being much better than a plethora of bands that would rather stick to one style. Shroud Of Despondency have never been a band to stick with one approach and it's kept their music from becoming stagnant. There are some death growls in use here every once in a while too, which gives us a little more than what could've been a very one-sided vocal approach. Even some clean and spoken word pieces appear on the album, as well as a short instrumental break called “The Hidden” which I'd consider a bit creepy. Keeping that in mind, there's also “To Get All I Need” which sounds like a completely different band altogether. As euphoric synths and piano excursions work to decorate various soundclips, we're definitely getting a taste of something that we surely wouldn't have heard on Family Tomb.

This kind of will to push further beyond the boundaries of what most people consider to be heavy metal, and what most people consider to appear on a heavy metal album is why I have an awful lot of respect for these guys. I have literally met people who feel that certain things should not appear on a heavy metal album, because they listen to heavy metal when they're expecting to hear something heavy. Their argument is that when they want to hear something that isn't heavy, they'll simply listen to another type of music. While that is all well and good, and perfectly acceptable; I still think that a musician should be free to write the kind of music that he wants to write, regardless of whether or not certain people will listen to it or consider it heavy metal. There's obviously enough black and death metal influence here to give the listener a pounding atmosphere, but it leaves room for tea; and In my opinion, there's always room for tea. A few alternate drum mixes comprise the bonus tracks for the album, but for the most part you are getting a memorable performance from Rory Heikkila and Ron Blemberg, just as we received on the previous outing and the one before that. As interesting as the Gust project is, I'm glad to see that these guys haven't closed the book on Shroud Of Despondency yet. I'd still consider this act far superior and can't wait to see what future efforts will bring.

(9 Tracks, 58:00 (Omitting Alternate Mixes)

9/10