Tag Archives: Independent

Behold! the Monolith – Architects of the Void

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For all the talk of sophisticated song structures, syncopated rhythms and harmonised vocalising that can often dominate reviews of records nowadays, sometimes it’s just nice to sit back, relax and be absolutely pummelled into submission by an album that is considerably more metal than you. Architects of the Void (independent/self-released), the third album from doom metallers Behold! the Monolith (no, I have no idea why they dispensed with the rules of grammar either) is one such record.

Upon first listen, Architects of the Void appears to eschew anything that would remotely suggest a lightness of touch. It arrives as the sort of record that is unapologetic in its roots and sense of self; belligerent in its execution and resolutely single-minded with how it brings a smile to your face and a crick to your neck.

Upon repeated listens however, the album reveals a much richer palette of sounds and creative touches; there is an undoubted progressive sensibility at play here – whether in the blending of musical styles (admittedly from the far left of the heaviness range) or in the playful riffing and energised pounding that comes from an understanding that, as listeners, we want this music to move us. And moves it does.

The doom metal architecture of ‘Lord of Bones’ is gloriously sludgy, there is a heft and glowering to ‘Philosopher’s Blade’, and the extended, rhythmical menace to the title track is absolutely beguiling. In fact, the entire enterprise is imbued with that sort of glorious, we-know-exactly-what-we-are-doing-and-we-are-having-a-marvellous-time-whilst-we-are-doing-it schtick that will have you running around your abode looking for a cap, proverbial or otherwise, to doff at them.

Monolith’s journey to this agreeable space might have come from digesting quite a lot of Mastodon records but that is hardly a bad thing. In fact, on ‘The Mithriditist’, it is demonstrated with a combination of power, precision and panache. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then this is something akin to a love letter.

Architects of the Void is the sort of record that you could easily pass by such is the vying for competition in today’s musical marketplace; please don’t. It’s inventive, passionate and as heavy as you could possibly wish for. Do you need any more than that? No, no you don’t.

 

7.5/10

MAT DAVIES


Krallice – Ygg Hurr

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Sometimes a band shifts out from under you when your back is turned. The last time I really paid attention to Krallice – on their 2009 second album Dimensional Bleedthrough (Profound Lore) – they played a style of modern, distinctly un-necro Black Metal characterised by vast, otherworldly ambience and broken, alien riffing; fiercely technical, but also rooted firmly in atmospherics and the desire to transport the listener somewhere different.

Six years later, they’ve somehow managed to shift sideways while remaining broadly in the same place. The basic components of their sound – yelped vocals, broken dissonant riffs and rapid-fire picking – are still recognisable, but used to achieve a very different effect. The transcendent, other-worldly qualities of their first two albums has been replaced by something much more mundane and earthly. Their musical links to Black Metal (always somewhat controversial among the panda-faced orthodox) are now almost completely absent, their song-writing now rooted more firmly in Noisecore, or whatever it calls itself these days. Fellow New Yorkers Pyrrhon come to mind on several occasions, but the comparison is not a favourable one – where Pyrrhon rage and howl and storm against the urban madness of modern culture, Krallice don’t seem to conjure any emotional response beyond Look How Many Different Notes I Can Play.

At its best Ygg Hurr (Independent) can coalesce into something that combines both technical complexity and savage groove, but more often than not it collapses into a swarm of dissonant riffing with very little behind it. The vocals, perfectly effective when Krallice were searching the stars for alien worlds, also seem ill-suited to the bands more compact, technical style. Where someone like Doug Moore takes his voice on a trip every bit as convoluted and challenging as the music, Krallice’s vocals just screech along regardless of what’s happening around them.

Though in every meaningful way a hugely impressive achievement, Ygg Hurr feels like a triumph of technicality over character, a band who left behind who they used to be and haven’t yet decided who they’re going to be next. The playing is, of course, absolutely beyond fault, and those seeking technicality and virtuosity for its own sake will definitely find something worth listening to, but anyone else will find it hard to shake the feeling of a wasted opportunity.

 

6.5/10

RICHIE HR


Hiraeth – The World Ends With You

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You can find out a lot about a band simply from their name. Take Hiraeth for example: Hiraeth is a Welsh word which has no direct English translation. The University of Wales has described it as ‘homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over the departed’, as well as a mixture of ‘longing, yearning and nostalgia’. With such a unique and interesting band name, it is clear from the beginning that there is something different about them. Their debut EP The World Ends With You is self-released, and they have recently finished their first UK tour with Black Polaris and wars.

Opening track ‘Words To Echo’ opens with a simplistic and distorted guitar riff, proving their melodic hardcore roots instantly. Lead vocalist Charlie Clayton demands your attention from the get go, using his harsh vocals to enhance the emotion-filled lyrics. ‘Barely Breathing’ kicks up the pace, proving that Hiraeth are not just a one trick pony. The song features William Alex Young from Clockwork, and their different vocal styles fuse together perfectly.

There is something almost reminiscent about Hiraeth: they are able to use all of the previously successful melodic hardcore techniques to a high standard. The World Ends With You is an easy EP to listen to, and if you like melodic hardcore then there is no reason why you would not enjoy this band. For a first EP it is impressive, however, it would be great to hear how their sound develops in time and find out what will make them stand out from the thousands of other bands on the UK underground scene at the moment.

 

7.0/10

JULIA CONOPO


A Trust Unclean – Reality Relinquished EP

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It’s been a while since UK mob A Trust Unclean battered our eardrums, four years between EP’s to be precise. Seeking to jumpstart their career, they’re self-releasing an EP, Reality Relinquished, with a real Jack-Nicholson-head-stuck-through-a-hole-in-the-door Whitechapel savagery to announce their return, which, in the main, they do in style.

When A Trust Unclean get it right, like on ‘Feckless Tradition’, they’re a raging, swirling, diverse ADD mass of deathcored Slipknotisms, confident enough in breaking out into atmospheric progressive guitaring, enhanced by some delightful sci-fi leadwork that spirals back to a violent chug; ‘Perverse Agenda’ curls into a juddering violent Cryptopsy-ed verse, broken by ubiquitious slab-paced stomps, a refined melodic build to solo under the chorus.

Business continues to pick up as we traverse the core of the EP, Scott Horne demonstrates his percussive abilities, not overusing blasts or kicks, like the demon carriage driver only letting the hellhounds off the leash intermittently and when it’s best needed; such as on the title track where technical interchanges sputter before a riff that feels deliberately restrained at the leash is tightly reigned in before exploding into the chorus.

All this is a relief as the EP actually kicks off with a tired, cliché car-crash of deathcore 101 – electronic build into a stop/start staccato riff, downtuned tech metal riff-to-squeal, sub bass leading to a brainless breakdowns; it’s a disjointed mess. When hanging around the lowest common denominator end of deathcore this is by numbers, but fortunately, due to the frequency with which the band flit from idea to idea, this occurs, track one aside, at brief intervals only.

Arrangements can, at times, feel they’re borne from a “chuck it all in the blender” approach to song-writing, though this leads to songs taking unexpected and interesting turns and when A Trust Unclean are at their most progressive and creative is when they are at their best; sprinkling deathcore tropes on top, like a demonic piri-piri, rather than utilizing their more generic ideas as the main sauce.

 

7.0/10

STEVE TOVEY

 


Obsolete – Riven

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Obsolete is a Dark Progressive band from Ohio, and Riven (self-released) is their second EP. It has four songs, the last of which was released in a slightly different form on their previous EP, Ockham’s Razor (also self-released).

While the balance of the instruments is quite good, the vocals aren’t so much mixed in as put on top of the music. While I like the clean and full sound of Dan Rivera’s voice, it doesn’t work very well when he sings high and fast, which he does in ‘Grey’ and ‘Seven Years’. I think this has to do with the vibrato, which makes it sound like he’s uncontrolled and a little out of tune at the end of short notes, as well as a certain nasal quality that sometimes seeps into his voice. A longer sustained note at the end of his lines might alleviate both this and the sense of abrupt ending. The vocals do sound much better when they are slower, such as at the end of ‘From the Beginning’ and ‘Barren’.

I enjoyed the bass lines, especially on ‘Grey’, and the drumming is solid and tight. Both the electric and acoustic guitars generally sound good. However, ‘From the Beginning’ varies between different styles in a disjointed way, and even in the intro when the band comes in it is just not tight enough to be entirely comfortable. I did enjoy ‘Barren’, as the transitions between soft and hard are good and the backing vocals work well.

While there are definitely a lot of good elements on this EP, there are also a few glaring mistakes that should the band should have picked up on when listening to the recorded product, as there are a few notes in every song that could have done with a re-take. All in all, it sounds like the band rushed to produce an EP instead of taking the time to unlock their full potential.

4.5/10

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LORRAINE LYSEN

 


Arbitrator – Indoctrination Of Sacrilege

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Let’s get this out of the way now – the days when mixing samples and electronic music with your Metal was enough to make you different or “experimental” are long over. There’s still ground to be broken in this area, but it’s to do with how well those elements are integrated and made part of the song-writing, rather than just being there.

Arbitrator really want us to call them “Industrial Death Metal”, but on Indoctrination Of Sacrilege (Independent/self-released), that much-abused “I” word seems to mean nothing beyond some programmed drums, heavy use of samples and “atmospheric” synth passages. The use of electronic music and Dance elements in heavy, low-end Death Metal makes a comparison with The Monolith Death Cult hard for any lazy journalist to resist, and unfortunately for Arbitrator that comparison is not a flattering one. While their Dutch peers create a constant, ceaseless assault that jumps from torturous to comical as often as it moves between genres, Arbitrator go for a more sedentary, considered approach that initially seems boring or flat in comparison.

If this has been something of a roasting so far, then it’s not an entirely deserved one, and it’s time to flip the perspective a little. Once the lack of fireworks have been accounted for and expectations adjusted, there’s some effectively gloomy Death Metal, bordering on Doom in places, going on here. The band are tight and heavy, and have a good sense of dynamics that keeps their music thundering forward even when they bring the pace right down. The samples and electronic elements are largely well used – though they add little to the music, and have a tendency to fade into the background – and the album sustains an effective mood throughout.

Indoctrination Of Sacrilege is a competent, well-produced, entirely enjoyable album of atmospheric “Death Metal With Bits” from an unsigned band who may well achieve something genuinely worthwhile in their future, but as it stands is hard to get too excited about.

6.0/10

Arbitrator on Facebook

RICHIE HR


Alright The Captain – Contact Fix

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Right off the bat, let’s be honest with each other. Everyone likes honesty right? This is a complete re-write of the review. Whilst that isn’t completely unusual, this is a complete re-write in the fact that the sway from negative perception towards positive has been massive. This is because Alright The Captain with Contact Fix (Independent/self-released) have created an album so bonkers and eclectic at points the only way to give it any real justice is to ensure you give it proper time.

The album is wholly instrumental, and like with so many other bands that have chosen to go down this unconventional route, the music simply HAS to be good. There’s no hiding behind the growls and screams of a big personality front man, instead there needs to be enough to grab your attention and maintain it – and one thing is for sure they’ve done this very well. The album is seven tracks long, and runs for just under 30 minutes. This compact running length encourages numerous playbacks, as you begin to listen intently for some of the smaller intricacies contained within each track. If you buy into the ‘Math-Rock’ subgenre title, then this is Math-Rock at its best. We’ve got synths galore amongst a combination between punk fuelled riffs and heavier moments.

At the absolute core of this music though is an unbelievable jazz influence. The drums in particular are testament to this, with both the opening track ‘Toaster Mouse’ and ‘French For Gnome’ the best examples. But this jazz influence isn’t solely contained within the music itself, but more the whole idea behind the album. You never really know which direction it is going to go, it sounds like an impromptu jam but it is actually a very well calculated beast. To be able to create this kind of impression is a skill in itself.

8.0/10

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TOM DONNO


The Voynich Code – Ignotum

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In a genre so saturated and over crowded as tech metal, it’s a mammoth task for any fledgling band to make a mark and stand out from the masses. Hailing from Lisbon, Portugal, The Voynich Code have youth on their side as they release their debut release after only a year in existence, and at least show signs of wanting to make their mark on Ignotum (Self Released).

Opener ‘Antithesis’ builds some suspension as it gradually forms with the help of Eastern instrumentation, hinting that this may be a unique prospect at hand, before it erupts into a ferocious but sadly generic take on technical death metal. Those Eastern sounds are present throughout but tend to get buried in the mix, highlighting their technical proficiency but their lack of real imaginative style. Herein lies the problem as they certainly show they are capable and talented but aside from these foreign influences there is little that has not been done countless times before; even vocally this is very one dimensional.

Put their lack of originality aside however and this unquestionably stands up well to many of its ilk, full of aggression and energy especially for such a young band. Far from a misstep for a band just starting out, Ignotum is a strong release, sadly suffering from the sense that they could have done a lot more to become a more recognizable presence.

 

6.0/10

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CHRIS TIPPELL


Shattered Skies – The World We Used To Know

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In the last couple of years, Irish/UK based quartet Shattered Skies have been making ripples in the Prog ocean, including an early but show-stealing performance at the first incarnation of HRH Prog with their brand of tech metal. The fact that it has taken so long for a full debut to see the light of day and capitalise on this momentum could have proved damaging for lesser bands, and even seen them forgotten about. Fortunately this shouldn’t prove a problem for an act with such a strong balance between the memorable and the forward thinking.

Sitting well alongside their peers with the air of drifting but Meshuggah like crunching tone of TesseracT and the soaring melodies of Alaya, The World We Used To Know (Independent/Holdtight! PR) is by no means a wholly original concept but is delivered with a much bigger emphasis on actual, catchy songs than most. The vast bulk sits on the anthemic side with the merest suggestion of further imagination. Sean Murphy’s lofty vocals offer the towering performance that this brand of metal expects without the reliance of harsh growls.

So far, so good, but there is the niggling sense that there is a lot of boldness and evolution waiting to come out. The likes of ‘Collapse Of Man’ and the following ‘End And The Rebirth’ show futuristic keyboards at play ,which then seems to get buried for a more straightforward formula here on in, reappearing again with the magnificent 11 minute title track. This closing epic shows them really exploring the prog rabbit hole with various twists and dynamic shifts yet still contains plenty of drawing hooks. A stark statement of just what they are capable of.

A very strong and immediate debut of impressive technical prowess married with a level of immediacy that many in this crowded bracket cannot muster, Shattered Skies have shown just why they have made such an impact. The only dampener is the evidence on show that they have the prowess to be more daring, adventurous, and even more special. A very commendable start which closes with what almost feels like a teaser for bigger things to come.

8.0/10

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CHRIS TIPPELL


Sloths – Twenty Years (EP)

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I love sloths. Slow, easy living, tree-hugging, cute in a strange kind of way…That’s not this Portland, Oregon, trio though – bristling with a fulminating, ireful energy, Sloths’ sludgy brutality is tempered by streams of post-hardcore lead guitar twisting through distortion, whilst diseased growls and Nate Sonenfield‘s Jeremy Bolm-like harrowing screams express previously unspeakable agonies. Indeed ‘Void’, the second offering of the three-track EP Twenty Years (Independent), is Touche Amore from the swamps, with downturned riffs waking a lazy, pensive build; Kyle Bates‘ agonised post leadwork and Sonenfield’s screams overtaken by a jagged, rumbling crescendo, the cavernous riffs causing mountains to shake.

The at times frenetic drumming and tortured roars driving the unhinged new-wave of closer ‘Passing’ are again moderated by those moody, chiming leads; the accompanying leaden force and delicious time changes the final urgency of an intriguing sound. Three tracks is not easy to judge the overall potential of a band but the signs here are really promising with the sounds and feelings of pain, hatred and unbearable sadness portrayed bitterly and beautifully.

These guys might not be as cuddly as the real thing, but they’re bloody impressive. The EP is free through bandcamp, but Twenty Years is well worth some of your hard-earned.

8.0/10

Sloths on Facebook

PAUL QUINN