Eyeless In Gaza – Act I: The Protagonist (2020) – Eyeless in Gaza are a doom/death act and it’s probably best to describe them with a song by song as there are only four here. The first track here is called “The Protagonist” and it is quite lengthy. I would even go to say that it is EP length. The harsh vocals aren’t perfect, but the clean vocals and guitar melodies on the album both deliver in spades. I would have just hired a deep growler, rather than sounding like angry Gollum. The synth section I found to be great as well, rather unexpected. Other than that, the piece features a lot of acoustic melody which gives it a worldy feel. “Maelstrom” comes next, following up on the acoustics as clean vocal harmonies once again win the day. The most interesting part of this track however, is when it goes ambient. The harsh vocals sound a bit better when the song unexpectedly bursts into a much heavier section, replete with some memorable leads as well. Ah, there’s a deep voiced growler in the band right there. Save your vocals man, you are killing your throat and I can hear it. Let that guy do the growling – his voice sounds like a mineshaft and it goes deep down. The frontman continues his angry Gollum approach, (which is I guess an attempt at black metal, because I’m getting those vibes) as the song continues into a gloomy atmosphere later peppered with acoustics and pounding drums, which are a bit sparingly used here. After that, the whole thing goes into a sort of dreamy, acoustic ambient. It sounds kind of like fairyland. “Mournful Unconcern” is an uncomfortable mix of doom and synth atmospheres, backed with acoustics and drumming that later reaches into full-on terror. The song sounded rather mysterious in the beginning, but now it’s kind of like the moment where the supernatural killer creature was discovered in Death Come True and you’re grabbing your chest as the thing just comes through the door when you expected it to be a police officer. Yeah, it’s that kind of what the fuck moment that really takes this song from mystery into terror and then finally what seems like an acceptance of death. “Madrigal” is just an acoustic piece to end the listen and I could honestly take it or leave it. It’s like the end credits of a movie in that respect.
Ultimately, while Act I: The Protagonist is not my favorite doom/death record, I do have to respect the large amount of work that has gone into the structure of it all. The disc is filled with twists and turns, where heavy death metal-influenced bouts come out of nowhere and sometimes without expectation, the whole album goes right into synths. It is not necessarily a heavy record, though it is far from calm in certain moments. I think you’ll find a lot to look forward to in this mysterious release, where nothing is quite what it seems. You know, except for “Madrigal” which kind of killed the vibe, but that is as I noted, a form of end credits.
7/10
Pantheon – Age Of Wolves (2020) – Our local scene is still going strong as Pantheon proves their debut album, Age Of Wolves. As frontman BJ Cook described the record, it’s a type of blackened death thrash, but when I think of that I think of something like Nunslaughter or Toxic Holocaust, which this is not. Instead, we have a heavily textured vein of melodic death metal that touches on elements of black metal quite well. “Serpent Death Cult” has more of death metal feel, with strong vocal gravel from the frontman as well as notable lead melody and killer solo number. I’m actually getting touches of Amon Amarth here as well. “Awakening The Gods” opens with a rather mysterious riff, before it goes into clobbering you over the head. There are some notable vocal acrobatics here and it’s undoubtedly the best BJ has ever sounded. I’m really digging it. Not only that, but the track is groove-heavy and even throws a few hails to the Swedish death gods of old. “Age Of Wolves” would have to be the most black metal influenced and you’ll pick that up immediately from the opening lead riffs. This is also the first track where progressive structures start to take hold, which give the listener more meat to chew on than a standard black metal song, even if I’m hearing a lot of classic Dissection here and their classification as black metal is still up in the air. I’d personally say that they were more black metal than some black metal bands out there today, which truly says a lot. Another solo creeps up on the album and of course, I’m digging that.
I can understand every word in “Lust Of The Beast” but the vocals sound completely different here compared to the other cuts for some reason. The song is generally more punk-infused, though it features blasts and groove moments. It’s a fun one, but for some odd reason I feel like I’ve been taken out of the atmosphere. Guitar solos do manage to save the day, but I just feel like something weird happened here and it threw off the balance, like I was jamming a completely different band. That vibe stays the same through the next song “Left My Mark” which doesn’t quite as memorable to me either. Again, it’s a fun song and I like the progressive death/groove nature of it but it’s a weird change from what I was jamming in the beginning. Melodies obviously notable here with a touch of Swedish death vibes that really pummel on the chorus line.
Bringing us back to the mood a little is “Presence Of Dark” but I notice what sounds like two vocalists on the same song and I find that I’m confused. One of course is more fit for the death metal and brutal death metal circuits, while BJ is generally more suited to this kind of material, he has that black metal vibe which comes off very well on this kind of album. I largely think of Dissection when I think of this album, but of course there are hundreds of classic death and progressive metal references strewn about as well. This could very well be vocal layering, but even if that’s the case I think it largely takes away from the listen, at least on my end. I’ve loved the first three songs a great deal, but then from “Lust Of The Beast” forward, I find myself more and more confused at the change in vocal tone. I’ve heard thousands of discs over the years and that’s no exaggeration. The pains in my ears could tell you that and I don’t hear even half as good as I used to. Though I’ve never heard an entire album vocally switch gears like that unless there was a vocalist change during the recording sessions. In fact, it almost makes the first three songs seem like an EP and the other five seem like a completely different recording altogether. Not that this is a bad thing, it’s just certainly not what I expected and I did not catch it on the first listen. That’s why it’s important for me to jam these records again on my studio headphones. Even so, the song in general has a hellishly good mid-section with possibly the best solo section on the album and is definitely a strong moment.
Forget what I said about the title cut being the most black metal influenced, because that crown goes to “Choir Of Death.” Though it doesn’t maintain that level of frost for very long, I’m happy to hear the groove riffs and what sounds like some slight psychedelics coming in. Not bad, not bad at all. I’m slightly reminded of classic WWE Attitude era groove riffs or perhaps the music they used in Painkiller (I guess Doom 2016’s soundtrack would also count, as there’s a little bit of ripping and tearing going on) but honestly the song title should have been “Wrestling With Ihsahn” or “The Corpse-Painted Cage Match.” I dig it, because it subverts the listener expectations of being a full-on black metal song. There’s also no other black metal band on Earth that I’ve seen willing to do something like this. “Eclipse Of The Worm Moon” finishes the album out with another spectacular solo, but it didn’t really leave a mark on me.
Suffice it to say that the guys have written a strong album and I’d like to hear more from them. I’m not sure what the vocal change-up was all about, but it threw me off course for a while until about “Choir Of Death.” That being said, there are plenty of fun songs in that middle section of the album, so I can’t exactly hate it. The record is ultimately pretty solid and I’ve enjoyed it for the most part, so I’d have to give it a solid score in retrospect. I think you’ll dig it too, especially if you like your expectations for a metal album largely subverted.
8/10
Czarna Magia – Voracious Demons Of Megalomania (2020) – It’s time for a brutally honest review and I’m not happy that I have to do this, but I wouldn’t be worth my salt if I lied about it for clout. Carnia Magia offered a pretty strong album last time around with —- but this one is just kind of well, flat. I noticed a few moments of experimentation, most notably at the very end with “Subliminal Voices” but the rest of the disc just doesn’t really seem to go anywhere and it doesn’t really pop. I’m not sure what happened this time around, but nothing really grabbed my attention. I was looking forward to a new release as they generally offer something different, new or experimental and this one was just kind of regular old death metal with black metal bits that didn’t offer much in the way of intrigue. Many of the songs sound fairly similar and I get that they put a lot of work into this, but it just feels like the well had gone dry. I’m sure there will be fans of it who don’t understand what I’m talking about and that’s good – I hope there are. I just couldn’t get into what felt like a very sleepy approach and unnecessary travel back to the days of old death and black metal. What’s more, is that the guitar melodies are often muffled or buried in the mix, with the frontman sounding awfully bored on the mic. I just don’t know what happened here, but I’m not willing to count them out just yet. I still want Tower readers to check this album out, but I’m not finding too much in it personally. Maybe you will.
5.5/10
Tristwood – Black Crowned Majesty (2020) – I have to give Tristwood credit for melding raucous death metal that assaults the senses (just in the drumming alone) with electronic elements and even filtered vocals that make the frontman seem robotic or in some kind of stasis tube, but there’s just not enough going on here for me to consider all that intriguing. The vocals are certainly too low in the mix and the drumming simply drowns out everything in a sea of thunderous bass. There are sections where the vocals are audible, but then there are sections where the vocals come in and they’re just completely off-key. Aside from opener “Re-Enthronement Of The Damned” with it’s filtered vacuum cleaner vocals and the album’s title track, I’m not hearing anything of note – and I did as always, give the album a full listen. It’s plenty punchy, if you need something to work out to with a bit of a robotic flair, but ultimately it didn’t do much for me. However, if you think this might be up your alley, then I would suggest giving it a listen.
5.5/10
xIron Sharpens Ironx – The Tragedy Of Mankind (2020) – This oddly titled act seems to be an experimental of hardcore with full emphasis on the hardcore. How can I determine that? Well, there’s even a cover of Minor Threat’s “Straight Edge.” Even still, there’s more to the band than that, as opener “Atom Bomb” even touches on black and death metal. Now here’s an act that has a lot of potential, because they’re not nailing themselves down to one idea. Reviewers of the past would often accuse these kinds of acts of not knowing what kind of band they want to be or “a band playing around it’s record collection” but the fact that these guys are willing to just throw a lot of things into the pot to see if they stick is pretty damn refreshing. “Dehumanized” feels more like traditional hardcore with some chunky deathcore elements in it, yet there’s undeniable rage and passion in it, which is what I like to hear. Unexpectedly, there’s a mellow instrumental in the center of the disc called “Distance/Depression” and that follows into an equally dreary number called “Among Shadows” which definitely touches on black metal. Yes, there are crunchy death metal sections here too, but these guys clearly don’t play by the rules. Later in the song, it goes straight fucking Biohazard before rolling back into dreary tones once again, then rolls right back into hardcore pounding, black metal tremolos and the works, really. There’s a real “wow” factor here because you never know what to expect with these guys. The Minor Threat cover I mentioned earlier really puts the icing on the cake, because it shows that these guys can roll out the classics on stage and deliver them quite potently, if need be.
My honest opinion however is that these guys need to keep experimenting and drop the x’s. I get it, they’re straight-edge. I knew guys like that in high school. However, its going to be a pain for the Google algorithm to track down a band using the lower case x’s and that means that it would be tougher for possible fans to find them. I could be wrong, but Iron Sharpens Iron would be a much easier search term than with the x’s currently utilized. I think even labels would realize that the x’s are a bit too much. Though a lot of bands are DIY and don’t care anyway, so that might be the case here. Regardless of that, these guys definitely caught my attention, so you need to check out the record as soon as possible.
8/10
Mega Doll – Pink Myths Pillow (2020) – Every once in a while I get odd submissions and this DnB record from Chilean DJ Mega Doll was one of those. I’m not quite sure how he found me as I have so many channels around the world, but maybe it has to do with the fact that I have am a doll owner and she’s been watching me this whole time. Some people might think it’s creepy to have doll eyes watching you all the time, but I’m weird and I like it.
Regardless of that, I found the record to be a mixture of standard DnB though with pieces that feel oddly gamey, very reminiscent of classic video game soundtracks, aside from some rather bizarre sound effects that all seem to work together rather well. This guy has already released at least three other albums since the release of this one and I’m pretty far behind all things concerned. According the artist, he believes that an imaginary doll is telling him her stories through these songs and he illustrates them in the form you see here. Pink Myths Pillow is actually a full hour in length give or take a few minutes and you’re going to experience a lot of weird and mysterious things within the album that certainly sound even more bizarre given these studio headphones. There’s no doubt in my mind that Mega Doll is an extremely talented DJ and I can’t even begin to get around these multifaceted pieces. There are even a few moans in for good measure. I will stress heavily on the fact that there is a lot of 8-bit and 16-bit chiptune influence on the disc, but it works great actually and should fit the club atmosphere. Once again, these are stories and they’re being illustrated through the music. That might be hard for some of you to grasp or may even think that myself and the DJ have both gone mad, but that’s exactly what I’m getting here. Every song tells some kind of story, even if you feel that you might have to be on drugs to enjoy it. Maybe the moans and laughter are how the doll communicates? “Fallen From The Sky” seems to demonstrate that pretty well as our DJ friend illustrates what sexbot brothels may look and sound like in the future. Then we have the horrors laden within “Cotton Doll” which can sound altogether terrifying if one really wants to examine them. More like “Killer Doll” if you know what I mean. Put that knife down, Zexxy! That wasn’t an invitation!
At the end of the day, a lot of ground is covered here among the DnB and that’s what I found most fascinating of all. Even what my former colleague assured me were the best DnB records he’d ever heard (though I can’t tell you the names because I honestly do not know that much about this genre of music) did not have that level of mystery or sheer creep factor that pops up on this album. If you like DnB, 8 and 16 bit chiptunes along with experimentation and creepy dolls (the best kind) then you’re going to love this album from Mega Doll. He’s got a million others on Soundcloud, so chances are that you’re gonna like those too.
8/10