Khaos Dei – Opus II: Catechism – The sophomore album from this French trio caught my attention for it’s unexpected usage of heavy grooves in black metal. Though the album features a fair share of blast beats and tremolo as one might expect for virtually any black metal album, it also seems to feature a bit of post-metal and possibly some hardcore semblances as well. It’s very difficult to tell, because the record is one huge mix of emotions and some might consider it a bit too packed and convoluted to truly absorb in the first place. There are even three short instrumental breaks thrown in just for what seems to be the hell of it, with roughly six or seven full-length cuts featured on the disc in total. That’s not to say that these are short cuts however, as most of them are six minutes long and soon reach that of ten towards the very end of the disc. The vocal approach can be that of a harsh vocal scowl, but it is often frantic screaming which can be beneficial depending on the piece. At least they’re thinking out of the box here, because the last thing I want from this genre now is a black metal album that sounds like every other black metal disc I’ve heard since ’96. Indeed, parts of the album do seem to verge towards funereal levels, with the brooding “Le Noyau Du Chaos” reaching doomy thumps and expressing an awfully grim atmosphere. But then we’ll have the thrash of “Sous Le Banniere Noire” which rolls from thrash to blasting death metal. Khaos Dei seem to not be barred down by anything, making black metal their bitch and creating a sound that is truly their own in the process. You might not get it, but that’s alright – because you don’t have to. For those who are looking for a more adventurous and contemporary approach to the black metal genre, you might just find something here. And if you don’t, no worries as there are always great classic style approaches for you to dig into. I just feel that I am finding less and less interest in them lately.
(11 Tracks, 50:00)
8/10
Obsidian – Into Oblivion (2016) – Another sophomore here, this time from Canadian groove/deathers Oblivion, who are one out of hundreds of bands with that same moniker. No one has yet been able to make Obsidian stick yet, almost as if the very name is cursed from the get-go. That being said, I’m not sure what is so unique about Obsidian. Sure, they utilize an almost industrial-groove style similar to Fear Factory albeit packed with djent. As for the vocals, I’ve noticed a very bland hardcore influence in the growls, which makes for a good dose of brutality, but little more. I can think of these guys as something of a djent/groove metal act with that apparent industrial touch, but no electronics to be found within the compositions. It’s as if they’ve pulled a Meshuggah in order to make their guitars sound like machines. I won’t say that what has been offered here is bad, it just feels one-dimensional on the vocal end and seems to flow too much into Meshuggah territory, which has already been paved well enough with Meshuggah. Because of the slow-paced nature of some of these songs, the amount of meandering and running in circles tends to make the disc sound longer than what it should. While I do admire the attempt to separate the atmosphere from that of Meshuggah and sometimes hit melodic death metal (I’m thinking Heaven Shall Burn here) territory, I think that there just might need to be something more to the performance than unbridled brutality. Obsidian prove that they can pound your face in with the best of them, but a nice change of pace might help them out. Maybe there’s just a bit too much reliance on the groove and vocal approaches here, which can unfortunately drown out the intrigue that a few of these cuts hold. What I would really like to hear are more melodies like the one utilized in in “Among The Masses” because that shows to me that your guitarist actually has some skills. Groove riffs are very easy to play on the bass, I believe that I could sit down and play some of those if one was handed to me and my coordination isn’t even all that great. It’s that the Obsidian are a bad band, because they are clearly trying – they just need to break their formula in half. I guess if you’re in a workout mood though, this could equal a few more reps at the gym. It’s preferable to that of Five Finger Death Punch, I can say that much – but it has the potential to be so much more than just grooving death with some bells and whistles. Listening to this record makes me want to go back and listen to Heaven Shall Burn, which shouldn’t happen. I should be more than satisfied with this, but I’m not. Give it a listen yourself and be the judge.
(12 Tracks, 52:00)
6/10
Ruptured Birth – Transmutant (2016) – I’m going to note first and foremost that this promo version of the album does not contain the EP bonus tracks, so if you want those, you can buy the disc and hear them yourself. As the name implies, Ruptured Birth are a slamming BDM act from Canada. Yet unlike other acts in this genre, they manage to bring a little more than slam. This is the kind of slam that has a good share of brains and brawn, rather than one element truly overpowering the other. For instance, deep within the mass of punishing grooves and vocal utterances thicker than Gorilla Glue we have a great deal of musical composition – as in, actual riffs are not only being written, but are actually allowed enough space within the performance to be audible. The disc still thumps, but it does a bit more than that which I find a bit more interesting than records from many of these acts. Sometimes they’ll even use a set of synths to build atmosphere, which is necessary for such an act. There are also spots within the performance where time is taken to create atmosphere with the guitar itself, which I found equally intriguing. Obviously it’s not the brainiest disc you’ve ever heard before, but a black/death number by the name of “Blood Siren” thrown smack dab in the middle of the mix really makes a difference. Simply, there are moments where Ruptured Birth do not slam and actually show that they can in fact, play their instruments – and quite well. I much prefer this over the latest Rings Of Saturn, I’ll say that much. I feel that the well of weird alien riffs has gone dry over there, and perhaps the kind of experimenting that these guys are doing within such a claustropobic scene as slam/death can be, might help those guys a little. The title track itself is quite spectacular, moving completely forward from standard slam-fare and into that of something completely different altogether. I also love the fact that there are a few legitimate solo efforts here, which do nothing more than to further pepper an already terrific performance. Though what truly caught my ear, was the fact that a band of this nature decided to pull off a fifteen minute cut right at the end of the disc. And I know that you say to yourself, “But this is slam! It is supposed to be short and brutal!” Well, we’re hearing the exception to the rule in this slow, but rather creepy closer called “Unnatural Selection” that very well might be one of the most awesomely twisted pieces I’ve heard from this kind of music in a while. The riffs here are similar to Rings Of Saturn, but with a more monstrous form of growl and certainly no deathcore influence. It literally sounds like death metal from another dimension and might not even make logical sense at first – which is what I find so remarkable about it. Axeman Shane Scovron should be praised for this piece and I hope that he has more riffs similar to it prepped for the next disc. These guys could really be the kind of alien death metal band that we need. As the synths creep up, the sort of ominous feeling captured well within science fiction films and video games soon becomes apparent, making me kind of wonder why the guys chose something as bland as Ruptured Birth as their moniker. As the track continues, the vocals even begin to sound as if they’re underwater. That’s the very definition of thinking out of the box, and it gives me a sense of excitement to listen further. You start to wonder what they’re going to do next, even if it doesn’t even so much as remotely resemble slam anymore. This is something monolithic, it’s something so much more than most of the artists in this genre offer and I’d absolutely love to hear more. In fact, they could have just put this track on a single disc (it’s long enough for an EP in any case) and I’d have given it a 10/10 by itself. I have to wonder, would they even perform this live? How would they get the vocals to sound like they’re underwater in that situation? Put frontman James Bok in a sensory deprivation tank and find a way to mic it from the inside? I’d pay good money to see that. The rest of this track actually envelops into a massive solo, which I only have to appreciate more given all that came before it. These guys aren’t famous yet? What’s the problem? Yeah, that’s more or less what Ruptured Birth offer. Despite the commonplace name, the music definitely differs from what most of us are hearing in the slam scene right now. Don’t even follow the Metal Archives scores for this, because they’re mixed as you might expect. “Putrevomitory” seems to agree with me here, noting “Unnatural Selection” as well. I think if that had been the only song released on this album, he would have also given it a good score – and again, it’s long enough for that. In all seriousness, if these guys wanted to play so much with sci-fi imagery, they should have just dropped the whole BDM/slam premise of playing within the lines (as they sometimes do, unfortunately) and just wrote an entire album full of weird riffs, experimental ideas and intriguing death metal interjections – something unlike anything else in the genre right now. Especially if it followed the “Unnatural Selection” path. These guys proved what they’re capable of and it’s too late for them to back out now. The Grim Tower definitely recommends Ruptured Birth’s Unnatural…I mean, Transmutant and I’d highly recommend that you listen to the disc, regardless of whether or not you dig slam.
(9 Tracks, 51:00)
8/10
(Unnatural Selection As A Standalone Piece)10/10
Simulacro – Echi Dall’ Abisso (2016) – Yet another sophomore review here, this time from Italy’s Simulacro. Considered black/death by Metal Archives (but their descriptions are always so damn generic) on this record the band are seen performing more advantgarde and progressive moments in addition to building a hefty atmosphere. I’m reminded a bit of Enslaved, Opeth and even some latter Dark Fortress, which are all good signs. The band perform the entire album in their native, but it works for getting their point across and comes off quite naturally. The album simply contains eight lengthy cuts, all titled Eco I-VIII. Throughout the performance I find the drumwork to be especially notable, with Anamnesi (yes, the same one that plays in Progenie Terrestre Pura) literally filling the entire album with his presence and keeping things from becoming too boring. It’s his abrupt change in tone and drum tempo that manage to have me on my toes and not quite sure of where I’m going to be taken to next on the release. On the vocal end, guitarist/vocalist Xul (also in Progenie Terrestre Pura) provides a scorching atmosphere that I would consider a product of pure emotion – this guy is pissed about something, and while I don’t know what it could be, I can truly feel a sense of madness and anger here that communicated in the native, feels authentic. It’s safe to say that the recording doesn’t consist of a myriad of blasts, but they’re definitely there to break up the slower-paced atmosphere when necessary and can serve as a strong wakeup call to some of the more meditative pieces apparent here. Simulacro has several notable similarities to Progenie Terrestre Pura but it seems here that the approach is slightly more streamlined and organic than the ambient/electronic tinges that appear in the former. Basically, a band that has been formed from one of the most off the cuff acts in Italy must be worth something, right? Due to drumming, I’d say that Simulacro are well-worth an exploration, but they’re a little more grounded than Progenie Terrestre Pura which I would still consider the better act. It’s fine to have side-projects though, and these gentlemen have many. Though you arent really getting anything that you haven’t heard before, it still manages a unique and abrasive take on a genre that is constantly getting retooled everytime you turn around. A little bit of black, death, post-metal and atmospheric bits here and there makeup the whole of the listen and prove that the band are still necessary in their own right.
(8 Tracks, 45:00)
8/10
Soothsayer – At This Great Depth (2016) – Though already reviewed at Pit Of The Damned by Chairthrower, a man who sought to make his review a hell of a lot more descriptive and unique (the whole underwater premise) than mine is going to be, here we have the same record now at The Grim Tower. I don’t know much about the guy in general, but he says that the record wasn’t his cup of tea in the fact that it was slow and plodded along. Seems to prefer hard-driving doom, which this is apparently not. In any case, I play in a similar act and perhaps might be able to get a better grip on the genre than this person, who clearly stated that he was not a fan to be gin with (so then why did you review it?). Now, as for my interpretation of the album, I too felt that “Umpire” took a while to get started, but when it finally did start to kick up in drumming and feature a mixture of both harsh and what I’d consider to be angered vocal utterances, the performance became slightly more interesting. An unexpected fierceness emerged, later rolling back into atmosphere that became slightly more interesting in it’s use of melodic nodes. Hmm… certainly seems rather fiery to me. Though it may be the fact that I can barely hear drummer Will Fahey in the mix, which really seems to bring the whole recording down a bit. He’s there as a backbone, but if he were a little louder, the disc might kick a little more than it does. That’s not to say that frontman Liam Hughes isn’t screaming his fucking lungs out, which I would definitely consider to be the case. It just feels like the guitar tones of Marc O’ Grady and Con Doyle are a bit too loud, despite the iteresting psychedelic melodies later on in the piece. There’s also a section where a thunderous mountain of death peaks out from the cracks and I find that impressive in spite of everything else that this piece has already shoehorned in. Perhaps it’s a bit too much at one time?As we move from “Umpire” to the much shorter (though not by much) “Of Locust and Moths” I can begin to see where ol’ Chairthrower might have been ready to literally throw a chair. Plodding isn’t the word for it, despite the ghastly whispers and sultry melodies that appear in the same section. But even this allows for black metal tremolos and drum blasts, in addition to some slight progressive bits that I certainly won’t crucify them for. Soosthsayer clearly color outside the lines when it comes to composition, which can either help or hinder them depending on who’s listening. Some people just can’t take too much at one time, which is what these guys seem to want to do and I’ll not shame them for it. It sounds very similar to the kind of music that we’ve made on several of our albums and I’ll definitely have to respect it for that level of ingenuity. There’s certainly more of a black metal nature to the disc, but when the progressive influences in the drumming pop up, this is taken to a whole new level and even manages to make Fahey more audible in the mix. The production is still slightly raw in the fact that the guitars almost completely drown out Hughes (I sure wouldn’t have mixed it this way, it makes what he’s saying here to be irrelevant and I do care about what he has to say). In any case, the disc was far from plodding for the most part (with the obvious exceptions in the track openings – speed up those intros, gentlemen) and I daresay that it sounds to me that Chairthrower only listened to maybe the first halves of each of these songs. Now, I’m not calling the man out or anything of that nature, but I do know that there are reviewers that do not listen to the full albums when they review and merely clip here and there for time restraints (While The Grim Lord does not agree with this, I do understand that you have jobs and lives outside of the endless amounts of promos that you receive) which is understandable. Though, when people do this they can often miss out on important parts of an album, like the several sprawling and quite ferocious sections that I was exposed to after I’d listened long enough. Though the EP is slow to start, there’s still something to Soothsayer that make them notable and I’d like them to continue refining this approach into the future. Yes, there’s a Canadian thrash band with the same name that is still considered “active” and released a disc in 2013 after a huge hiatus. But these guys are probably just as relevant than the thrash act, if not more so. Besides, there isn’t much more that we can do with thrash these days, although Soothsayer still seem to show us that there’s plenty more still to be done within the doom genre and (shameless plug) I’d like for them and my own similar act to continue to showcase how the genre can be manipulated into something altogether different. Because after all, what is the point of starting a band at all if you don’t want to be unique or authentic? That is what Soothsayer seem to be capable of crafting and I’d love to hear more.
(2 Tracks, 24:00)
8/10
A Flourishing Scourge – A Flourishing Scourge (2017) – This debut album from Seattle based extreme prog metal act A Flourishing Scourge (Originally called Begotten, which I think would have sounded better than A Flourishing Scourge, as it feels like an album title) seems to have had quite a bit of money put into it. First of all, this disc was recorded at Gojira’s Silver Cord Studios in Brooklyn, then it was engineered and mixed by Jamie Uertz (Gojira, Anthrax) and mastered by Jens Bogren. It was released on the band’s own label, Begotten Records (they started a label before even releasing an LP?) on June 9th and The Grim Tower is hugely behind. Also, it features Decrepit Birth drummer Samus Paulicelli (all Metroid jokes aside) performing a session job. So, that probably totals up into the thousands for these guys. With all that work, let’s hope that it was worth it. The final product is approximately an hour in length and features seven full-length songs in addition to an unnecessary instrumental synth piece called “Awakened” that takes from the performance and sounds like something you’d hear in a fantasy game. Obviously, A Flourishing Scourge is not that kind of album and this sounds completely out of place – I would have thrown it in the trash. The rest of the album seems to perform a delicate balancing act between progressive death, tinges of black metal and vast swathes of atmosphere. When I say vast, I mean vast – a few of the song introductions are nearly a minute or more of acoustic or synth-based atmosphere similar to “Awakened” but with less pomp. It often feels like the band are trying to channel classic Opeth, albeit with more modern influences. There are several instances where they manage this perfectly, with more than just a few killer leads and even some rather tasteful solos. I do feel that perhaps the black metal tremolos in opener “Tidal Waves” are a bit predictable, as I tend to hear these nodes a bit more than I’d like and they often feel “black metal to be black metal” rather than actually utilizing the frosty nature of said genre. That isn’t to say that their compositional skills are lacking however, as you can tell that there was some major thought put into the disc. Axemen Tye Jones and Andrew Dennis both seem work their salt, even though I strangely find Jones’ vocals to be buried in the mix of guitar, bass and drum patterns, which I find to be a more present force in the performance. I’m almost thinking that this is intentional. There are some slight similarities to In Mourning here as well, which of course is a favorite act of mine – even though I still feel that the former is better. “To The Stench Of A Rotting Corpse” seems a bit raw once it finally starts up after a two-minute instrumental opening. The drums pound, with the vocals quite fierce and some interesting progressive nodes thrown into the death metal soup. Then for some odd reason, the band roll back into tremolos even though the atmosphere still doesn’t really equal out to black metal – I get it, I understand what they’re doing with this ghoulash. The amount of muscularity here is quite commendable, even when some riffs are thrown into the mix that just seem to be there. It’s far from perfect, but regardless of the amount of money spent here, this is still just a debut album. The band will evolve as they keep playing and hopefully to something with even more depth and variety than what they’ve shown here. “Insatiable” decides to bring us right into death metal, as it then goes topsy-turvy into all sorts of directions. I find some of these quite intriguing as A Flourishing Scourge often feel like more of an instrumental act. I was reading a comment on a post regarding a band’s new single and the man mentioned that the musicians felt like they were saying “notice me!” on the piece. I retorted back, telling the man “of course they’re saying “notice me” as that’s the whole fucking point.” In a way, I feel that A Flourishing Scourge are doing just this with the album, which is certainly not a detriment. Certainly all of us want to be noticed, minus the apparent hipster of whom I debated with regarding this. I guess he wants bands to just sort of sit in the shadows and play calmly as not to bring up too much attention. Rolling back to the album, a real sort of “notice me” selection would be in that appetizing lead riff which seems to unexpectedly appear in “Insatiable” at about the three quarter mark of the piece. It’s kind of unfortunate that after the acoustic section that follows, the band never revisit this awesome lead. I definitely feel that this is a missed opportunity for them, because I would have definitely thrown back into that lead and like In Mourning’s “Colossus” which builds a masterpiece on what is essentially one incredible lead melody, I would have had a solo in the background while the lead was playing in an attempt to really drive that down. Possibly even turning that lead into a solo variation, which ends the track with far more vibrancy than just a tired old acoustic. I’m not sure if it is Jones or Dennis that is responsible for that piece, but I guarantee that when they play this song live, if they throw back into that lead after a slightly shorter acoustic and find a way to incorporate a solo into that piece, the crowd will fucking cheer. It has that whole Game Of Thrones level of grandiosity, which would surely cement the band’s reputation. “Onerous” seems to have the right idea in it’s romantic leads, but some of the playing still feels a bit off-key. I noticed that maybe a few of the notes weren’t quite hit properly, but it seems that they wanted to keep the slightly raw feeling despite all of the money thrown into this one. Go figure. In my opinion, that could have been a very powerful opener. In any case, this seems to be one of the few tracks where the vocals are actually audible and rather frightening, which I think is a good thing. The mid-section features a slew of healthy blasts, and thumps rather heavily. A potent guitar solo is used, but seems to feature an unfortunate cut-off. It doesn’t even really seem to end on a good note, just feels like it was clipped short somehow. “Vacant” does manage to come off a little better with a introductory solo that seems without error. It features another one shortly after, which is a bit bizarre as most solos occur during the bridge of a song. Regardless of that, this solo effort is much stronger and even seems to end at a much better point. The band throw back into acoustics and synths for a while, as the entire mood changes to that of death/doom for a few seconds. A neoclassical inspired solo effort then occurs, which later becomes a dual effort and highlights this piece for having the most shredding on one seven-minute song. “The Hedonist” shows what the band can do instrumentally, which also comes in at an unexpected eight minutes. It’s certainly not an issue for me, as it shows that these gentlemen can certainly play as I’ve cemented earlier. The disc ends with “Solace” where the balancing act between light acoustic and thunderous death metal is at its highest point. I didn’t really get as much out of this closer as some of the other pieces though, unfortunately. While I did enjoy the album, I felt that several sections could have been performed much better and that the disc could use a bit more shine. There are some impressive leads and solo efforts, but in all of the darkening that occurs here, something is missing. It often feels like it wants to be heavier or more technical than it really needs to be, which doesn’t really help matters in the long run. I also noticed a few mistakes in the playing, which kind of stump me considering all of the work that has been put into this recording. I just don’t see why they couldn’t polish those up before release. But this is what I’m here for, this is me actually doing my job and inputting constructive criticism where I think that it is necessary. It’s why they send me these records in the first place. I’m actually rather torn on how to grade this, because I love some sections and loathe others. It’s definitely a solid release and tinges on being quite good, depending on the listener. If you take it at face value, you’ll probably enjoy it a bit more – but listening to this album as a musician and music critic, I can’t really say that I enjoyed it so much the second time around. Perhaps that just goes to show you the serious nature of this business and why I enjoy doing this kind of work to begin with. I would still recommend checking out the album, and chances are that you’ll enjoy it quite a bit more than what I did and call me an idiot or several other choice words because I don’t know what I’m talking about. Well, that’s part of your job as an independent listener as well. I disagree with critics all the time, personally. It’s one reason that I stopped subscribing to all of the major metal magazines with published reviews. I just became tired of cursing at people, more or less.
