Abstracts - Hologram (2016 Bonsai Bonus)

Actually a full-length album, this nearly thirty minute release is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I'm a huge fan of Japanese tunes (as you know) so I actually found it a bit more interesting than perhaps an American approach to the music. Abstracts are a melodic sort of djent-core that I normally wouldn't review, except for the fact that I found their clean vocals to be rather memorable, as I've always felt the Japanese clean vocal style to be heavily more passionate than that of the English language. Take the title cut for instance. Regardless of the fact that there's a kind of ham-fisted harsh vocal approach utilized on the track, the clean chorus is so powerful that it completely overshadows the background harsh vocals. The same can be said for “Carat” which actually uses the harsh approach a bit more, but seems to deliver in the chorus number. The band also use some electronic effects and filters with the vocals, which I think are pretty cool. Musically, we can't really expect much different than we've heard with several djent acts which is kind of a wash, but that's the sound they were going for. I will say that there's a little bit more melody in the guitar here than with some acts, but that harsh vocal approach is going to absolutely ruin the disc for most of you. Even I can't get around “Vision” which has no cleans and “Mirror” which just didn't gel all that well for me. I did find a pretty killer cut in “Ancient” which almost equals out to the title cut for me and that's more or less the album's closing cut with “Gemini” being a decent enough instrumental. It really takes off when we actually hear a very strong lead melody come into the mix (something they could have used on the rest of the album) but that's really about it, aside from the background electronics which make the piece sound a bit shiny. There's also a bonus cut called “Siberia” which should have benefited from not being a bonus cut at the end of the album. In any case, it's obvious that these Japanese are trying to emulate their western peers and certainly have the style and flow down, it's just not really my type of metal aside from most of the clean portions, melodies and the soft atmospheric vibe that some of these sections contain when they're not being saturated with djent riffs. If you like this kind of music, then you may like the Japanese take on it, but I don't think I'd recommend it to any random metalhead. There are much better acts doing this kind of stuff right now, but perhaps with time Abstracts will branch out a bit more and become something truly unique.

(10 Tracks, 27:00)

6/10

Maleficence - Realms Of Mortification (2016)

Boasting two tracks on this 7” these Belgian death/thrashers deliver a memorable performance right form the start. After some atmospherics that remind me a little of hell, we get right into the thick of it with driving rhythms, razor-sharp vocal lines and pumping leads. This is the way that The Crown and other acts have done it for years, and damned if I'll complain about it. It's raw, rough and rowdy; which I'd simply have no other way. But that's just the first track. After the death/thrash ensemble, we get into something with a little bit more groove and melody. Obviously these aren't pretty melodies, giving us a record with that same sense of dread and bite that we'd expect. Oddly enough though, it takes about two or three minutes before the vocals come in and I'd almost thought I was listening to an instrumental cut. Then wouldn't you know, these guys go right back to thrashing. What I've gathered here is a death/thrash act that wants to play out of It's comfort zone a little bit, which might be a tough sell for some; albeit a godsend for others. From listening to the album during a quick refresher I can already tell that these guys can play, and they manage to put on a pretty pleasing performance even when it's all said and done. The band's use of atmosphere works very well to bring them in, while the unexpected dips into other metallic territories give them a chance to shine beyond the thrash. As we know, almost anyone can thrash with death metal vocals these days, but only a handful of bands can actually get it right. Maleficence are definitely one of those bands, with this short offering being a great sampler to what will know doubt be an even stronger performance in the future. It's definitely a promising little 7” vinyl and I think you're going to want to get your hands on it.

(2 Tracks, 11:00)

8/10

Mean Machine - Into The Night (2016)

Falsely labeled as well over twenty-five minutes (don't ask me why?) the single from these UK classic heavy metallers seems like it has all the class that makes Maiden, Priest and Saxon shine. The song comes on the back of a memorable riff melody, wherein a strong chorus is displayed as a potent solo appears and brings back in the chorus line, which then turns into a strong vocalization that repeats until the end of the track. It's worth noting that the frontman has a rather memorable vocal tone, controls a strong set of pipes and more or less comes off notable. There isn't really much else than that I'm afraid, but looking back on the piece it doesn't really seem to me that there needs to be anything else. It's served up on the back of a hummable lead, follows a clean set of vocal lines and gives us the main course in the form of it's catchy chorus. There's also a pretty strong solo, so I'm not upset about that. It's a strong little single and it shows that the band certainly have some merit, but it's very tough to judge any act based on one song and I'd wish that people wouldn't do it. We'll see what the band truly have to deliver when their debut EP or full-length album releases later on in the year or next. You can actually watch a promotional video for it right on YouTube, so go check that out and tell me what you think.

(1 Track, 3:48)

6/10

Qrixkuor - Three Devil's Dance (2016)

The first EP release from these extremely rough and sadistic UK death metallers sees a surprisingly heavy performance that doesn't feels quite as atmospheric as it does blistering, complete with some flying solos as well. M seems to be responsible for most of that, since no one told him to slow down and he's going to keep pounding on that kit like his life depended on it. For some this might be too much, but in all honesty I think they can jump off a cliff if they're not satisfied here. There are usually acts where the blasts seem a bit too out of control, but here there is so much of a keen sense to rhythm and melody that we're not being asked to toil through what are some very long songs in all respects. “Serpent's Mirror” is a little over fourteen minutes in length, but due to the fact that A (guitars, vocals) and S (guitars) aren't afraid to change styles and tempos at the drop of a hat, we get more of a soundscape rather than floating in the mist. Three Devils Dance definitely has it's moments of that, but we can bang our heads as well as pull out our air-guitars. That's not a bad thing in my book, and I really hope that you're not shocked to see an atmospheric metal band actually playing heavy metal music. Three Devils Dance has a lo-fi quality that seems like it would benefit more from a vinyl, and almost feels like an old death metal record from back in the day. As we get into “Crypt Of Illusions Bane” things do get a little bit foggier due to the tone of R's dreadful bass riffs and it starts to sound like you are indeed inside of a fucking crypt; but the leads are still able to shine through it and we're not completely wading through the murk of similar acts. There's nothing wrong with murk or wading in it, but when you start to hear a lot of similar trends in this kind of metal, it often becomes a breath of fresh air (ironic, since we're talking about a crypt) when you start to hear the guitars really giving it their all as if we're watching a classic Slayer performance. But if they want to throw some Hell Awaits in here, I'm not going to be entirely opposed to it. Neither should you.

“The Divine Architect” really throws the mist on top of us, so it seems that “Serpents Mirror” is a bit of a clever fluke and more or less a warm-up for the foggy aftertaste that we're about to receive much later in the album. For the rest of it, you can pretty much think along the lines of Portal or Grave Miasma, which isn't so bad and gets the job done. This is their first EP so it's obvious that they're still getting things set up as far their sound and style is concerned and this is more or less a showing of what they can do. It's definitely enough for a live setting, even though they'd only really be able to play one song if not headlining, but there's just enough mystique here to do that one song justice. That to me really says something about these guys, as it's not exactly easy to craft a song of this structure and length, no matter how much you might think it is in the beginning. A listener that has never really composed music before might come into the line of thinking that just because a song might sound simplistic to them, means that it's very easy to craft. Unfortunately, that is definitely not the case. We often think that because of the foggy tone and texture of the music coupled with the drum blasts, this kind of death metal is very simple and very easy to make but as “Serpents Mirror” described with only a mere hint of the fog that would later fill the album, there's a great deal that goes into each of these pieces, especially if you're a band that doesn't want to bore the hell out of your audience. When I saw Portal, the show was physically draining. It had been an experience like none other that I've seen in my life. Though that wasn't because the band was a slog to get through, it's because they left a major impact on me. That's the same way I feel about Qrixkuor. The band still have a bit more to showcase and I'm sure that they will in time, but this is a respectively solid EP and I'd definitely recommend getting your hands on it, murk raiders.

(3 Tracks, 38:00)

8/10

Blodspor - Only Sheep Cry Wolf (2016)

Norwegian black/deathers Blodspor have changed an awful lot since their 2011 release, Laughing Through The Violence. Either that, or I really have a distaste for black and death metal being mixed in with core breakdowns and gut punch vocal emissions. Yeah, you heard me right folks, even though guitarists Bent and Kris tear it up along with drummer Lage, frontman Audun (also plays in Silence The Sky – three words, there you go) really seems to defecate all over the approach with his hardcore gut punch vocals that sound a lot like Agnostic Front, of which I could never get into for that reason. Sometimes he does use a bit of a rasp or something a bit deeper (that could also be coming from bassist Andreas) but the overall effect remains the same and I know some people that are absolutely going to loathe this band in every sense of the word. It's not that these guys aren't any good musically, they're just going for something a bit more core-influenced and that can make or break them. They certainly have a marketable quality among core fans and I admittedly liked “By Your Own Fire You Shall Burn” quite a bit, but I wouldn't never openly admit that to you. Whoops, I just did. The record is actually quite heavy all things considered and offers a pretty significant beating, but it's a definite “try before you buy.” There are probably a few reviewers out there who will say much worse about these guys and whatever full-length record they will eventually create in the coming months, but I'll be a bit more lenient as this could be far worse. It sounds a bit biased and perhaps it is, but the fact that one of the tracks came off a little more than just listenable means that perhaps these guys are worth a listen after all. It's just not something that every metal listener will enjoy and should appeal more to fans of core that don't mind the extremities of black and death metal.

(4 Tracks, 12:00)

5/10

Front - Iron Overkill (2016)

Formed from members of Finnish black metal group Sacrilegious Impalement, these black/death thrashers have unveiled a debut album that sounds about as raw and furious as you might expect. The vocals are very high in the mix, but they're quite fearsome and match the nastiness of the performance, which is going to sit right at home in the collections of classic heads. It's a bit hard to hear some of Von Bastard's leads and he doesn't really play an awful lot of solos (see “Wargods Unbound” for a great one though) but despite that, we still get a pretty pungent package with Revenant's drum abrasion and choral duetting (if you want to call it that) with frontman Kaosbringer. Revenant has an extremely throaty roar, which melds in with Kaosbringer's scowl as something simply unholy. Add in the drum pummeling and you'll got a pure exercise in destruction. Von Bastard fills the disc with eerie tremolo riffing in an attempt to bring about a rather horrifying atmosphere that I certainly found effective. Though it's still a rather low quality performance, it's definitely a good one. I'm sure that these guys are going to sound better on a live front, so if you get a chance to see them, you'll get a much better performance than what this disc offers. It's also taken from my own personal observations and experiences, that music is much better performed live. If there's anything I can really complain about here, it's that the disc feels very claustrophobic and these gentlemen seem like they've been cramped into a tiny box by which the sound reverberates off the walls. The sounds of war definitely help the experience here, but there's no doubting that you're getting a truly bare bones production with this one. If you've simply got to have it as raw and kvlt as can possibly be, then you'll certainly find something here. It's pretty decent I'll say, and I think these guys will go pretty far with this material. That being said, they're nearly in five other bands at least and aren't going to quit music anytime soon. I see Front as another project, and it's more or less in the same vein as their previous metal work. Go check it out.

(8 Tracks, 36:00)

7/10

Black Absinthe - Sounds Of Denial (2016)

A mix of thrash, blues rock, alternative and even death metal, we have something rather unexpected from Canada's Black Absinthe. Apparently this is a bit of a new direction for the guys as their Metal Archives definition is considered to be Heavy Metal/Punk Rock and I'm hearing something completely different. Let's take, “Is This Life” for instance. It starts up almost with a Metallica style thrash, but then rolls into something that sounds more like chorus friendly radio rock. Maybe a little like Fozzy. Then you've got the fiendish death growls which seem to come out of nowhere. Technically this doesn't make them death metal, but there are a lot of thrash bands out there with death metal vocals. “The Wild” opens the disc with a sort of southern blues rock, while we hear a sort of progressive touch on “Berj Khalifa.” Maybe it's a bit more melodic, like the Police. Whatever the case, there's definitely some experimenting going on here and it's working for them. Jack Cerre isn't the best vocalist in the world by far, but he's a great guitarist and really seems to be stepping out of his comfort zone with this one. “Now” definitely shows one of his best sing-along moments, proving that this debut (it's not actually an EP) has the band with their feet in the right direction. No one needs to point it out, they're already there. I have a really funny feeling that an act like Black Absinthe could become very popular due to the type of formula they have here. Now this is just me speculating, but I'm going to break it down for you.

First, I've noticed that these guys have a very commercial vibe when it comes to compositions, but they still manage to stuff it with just the right amount of raw meat in the vein of extreme metal (Winter) to appeal to the metal community. Those heavy parts, as sparse as they might be on this disc, are just enough to appeal to metal fans and will make the act loosely fit the metal genre tag. Cerre even employs a darker tinged sort of riffing in sections that kind of sounds like black metal and that's usually enough in itself. That being said, they still have that very commercial, very marketable aspect and could have some songs play on alternative rock radio. “Now” would work for that, which brings a very catchy chorus right into the hands of new listeners that will more or less purchase the disc just for it. But none of these casual listeners would expect the band's powerful display of darkness in “Winter” which hopefully is a sign of much greater things to come.

Early Signs Of Denial is the kind of disc that can reel you in and keep you entertained on mid-era Metallica/latter-Trivium/current Avenged Sevenfold style pieces, but will also come with a slight bite in the realms of more evil metal (some of the people that unexpectedly hear these utterances will not be familiar with them and will consider them evil, after all I just had a guy ask me if Stephen King was the devil at work earlier this evening) which many of those casual listeners might not be expecting and will open up to. It's a possibility, just as BabyMetal has opened the doors to an entire genre for non-metal listeners. Necessary evils, I'd think. While not quite as extreme as you like, or not quite as family friendly, you'll definitely get a great variety of material here with the record and it's definitely not the kind of record that would upset members of your religious congregation. These guys are very much in the same vein as Metallica as far as I'm concerned and they're mostly quite harmless. Just be careful, because it does bite.

(6 Tracks, 27:00)

8/10