If a band consists of members from Ne Obliviscaris and Todtgelichter, it’s a fair bet that the results will be 1) bloody dark, 2) as mad as a sheep in a tree. Sure enough, Omega Infinity provides all of this, with the frosted vocal of the Aussies’ mystical Xenoyr tangling with the musical machinations of ‘lichter drummer and keyboardist Tentakel P for debut album Solar Spectre (Season of Mist).Continue reading
1990s underground metal legends The Clay People are returning with a new album later this month! Demon Hero and Other Extraordinary Phantasmagoric Anomalies & Fables on September 28th. The new 11-song album was recorded at OverIt Studios in Albany, NY. The Clay People started originally as a prominent industrial band Clay People but also had a varying style of alternative metal music that made an impact at the time. You can watch the lyric video for the first single, ‘Illuminatus’, below.
Demon Hero and Other Extraordinary Phantasmagoric Anomalies & Fables track listing:
Utopian Lie
BloodLetter
NOW
Illuminatus
genRX
Own Worst Enemy
HeX Machine
Strange Day
Palegod
Colossus
Firestarter
Singer Dan Neet described the album as “capturing us at a creative peak that was forged from what was, at times, a tenuous, cathartic and finally unifying recording process that reinvigorated and focused the band.”
The Clay People also called in extended members of its musical family to contribute to Demon Hero, with Chris Wyse (Hollywood Vampires, Ace Frehley, The Cult, OWL) contributing bass to the band’s reinterpretation of fan favorite ‘Strange Day’ and ‘genRX.’ Walter Flakus of Stabbing Westward and one-time Clay People member contributed keys, and programmer Wade Alin, who appeared on the band’s self-titled release, returns here as well.
German dark primitive metal trio Valborg is releasing their fifth full length album titled Romantik on May 19, 2015 and June 16, 2015 on vinyl via Temple Of Torturous.
The band features current and former members of Owl, Klabautamann, Woburn House, Gruenewald and more. Romantik was produced, recorded and mixed by Oliver Weiskopf at Stonehenge Studios, mastered by Michael Schwabe at Monoposto Mastering.
After four albums based around experimental, skull-crushing doom, with Romantik Valborg dives deeper into the heart-tearing atmospheres of the abyss of which they’ve so boldly explored. Ambient synthesizers collide with wistful guitars, all slowly, purposefully floating above a foundation built upon pummeling rhythms, the band’s harsh, German vocal inflections adding further terror their profoundly bleak funeral power doom. Fans of Type O Negative, Vangelis, Killing Joke and Celtic Frost/Triptykon pay heed.
Romantik Track Listing:
1. Vampyr
2. Blitz aus Sodom
3. Comtesse
4. Sulphur Vitriol Angel
5. Kryptische Arroganz
6. The Haunted Womb
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Having been a prolific creator for the last ten years, covering several strands of extreme metal with various founded outfits such as the eponymous Herbst, the blackened death of Epitaph, and the current death/doom of Owl, Germany’s Markus Herbst (a.k.a. Markus Stiegenhort) now delivers the fourth offering from his darkly melodic Lantlôs. Their last two albums were graced by the ghostly tones of the somewhat legendary Neige, so it is initially to this set’s credit that the Alcest hero’s absence here isn’t particularly noticeable.
A suite of lush, stark yet emotive landscapes, Melting Sun (Prophecy Productions) occasionally confounds as it consistently fails to explode after frequently swelling to the point of crescendo; rendering the black element of their ‘post black’ classification almost non-existent, save for the squalling riff of ‘Jade Fields’. Undeniably miserablist, the heart strings of the lonely and disaffected are twanged with bitter disregard; conversely most of the track titles refer to warm shades of colour, the cover displaying a head exploding with shades of light and falsely advertising a positive, ecstatic emotion. The Herbst vocal is soothing and languid, akin to listening to Elbow’s Guy Garvey whilst drinking a luxurious hot chocolate, but sparingly used throughout the album to provide a consoling, empathetic escort through the mournful surroundings. As always with the genre the lead guitar is the focal point: a laconic resonance decorating closer ‘Golden Mind’ whilst brittle, icicle-sharp harmonies give the outstanding Jade… an added beauty. The gentleness of …Mind, however, is indicative of the apparent lack of passion coursing throughout. Whilst Herbst hasn’t entirely abandoned the harsh sound, unlike his former bandmate’s latest Alcest product, this occasional drifting nature does rob an at times stunningly beautiful album of its full potential.
Those who like the gentle breeze of Alcest’s latest release will do well to dive head first into the wistful shoegaze on offer here. Despite a slight feeling of dissatisfaction due to that wish for a harder edge this is still a wonderful set, leaving you wondering if there really is any point to it all. In a warm, fuzzy way of course.
7/10
Paul Quinn
