Firewind – Firewind (2020) – First and foremost friends, do not sleep on this one. I already knew from the start that Firewind was going to blow me away, because I found their previous output to be quite potent. These guys prove that they can still bring the fire all these years later. The reason that this record is so good, is because it knows what it wants to be and what it wants to offer listeners – quite simply, a record where every song sounds different than the last, but maintains devastating hooks, blazing guitar solos and ultimately ends up on auto play for hours and hours. Firewind is a disc that demands to be sung along with and possibly even played air guitar along to, not to mention spark up interest in a few air drummers out there. If “Rising Fire” doesn’t get you singing along as you pump your fist in the air, then you’re clearly listening to the wrong album. “Break Away” achieves the same feeling, though I wouldn’t quite as consider it as punchy as the prior cut. “Orbital Sunrise” isn’t quite as straight-forward, but it manages to make it’s point very clear. Obviously, “Longing To Know You” isn’t quite my cup of tea, though I respect the band turning things down a bit for a ballad. The solo section is quite majestic as well, so gotta love that.
However, the song that I loved so much from the first listen and just had to play again was “Perfect Strangers.” This is the kind of thing you’d hear playing in the background of anime clip videos on YouTube back in the day, maybe something from Cowboy Beebop, Berserk or Trigun. Unfortunately, after hearing that one I couldn’t find anything on the disc to top it. Folks, when I think power metal, that is the exact kind of song I’m talking about. Yes, knights and dragons are certainly a thing in this genre, but a piece like that just gets my blood pumping. Now with “Overdrive” we have a DIO meets eighties synth vibe that comes off tremendously well. Songs like this are also why people purchase albums. But you know what else? These guys decided to end the album with three more heavy hitting songs, there are no sappy ballads in sight. Yes, you’re getting “All My Life”, “Space Cowboy” and the killer closing note “Kill The Pain” which has an equally killer solo – so you’re actually going to want to jam the whole record through. Firewind is not an album that wanes easily, which means that you’re going to have a great time with it and it’ll be a great soundtrack for motivation as several people are actually going back to work. Rest assured, you are not going to be disappointed with this effort. Now let me jam “Perfect Strangers” just one more time before moving onto the next review.
9/10
Smoulder – Dream Quest Ends (2020) – Smoulder have returned with a slightly lengthy EP release, consisting of a few new tracks and what seems to be some older demos. As always, the band successfully craft a thrilling doom metal atmosphere with some occasionally spirited solo offerings, but I’m not hearing anything from Smoulder that I haven’t heard before. Proggy bits do manage to spice up the listen, but there’s a little bit of odd effect coming from frontwoman Sarah Ann. I notice what feels like a little bit of a struggle in her vocals, I’m not sure if that’s the way she normally sounds or perhaps this was recorded during a bad portion in her life and came off therapeutic. At any rate, the album’s title track and “Cage Of Mirrors” seem to showcase the full potency of this proggy doom act. Also enclosed with this album is The Sword Woman Demo which was recorded in 2018. I can actually tell a major difference in Ann’s vocals here as well, it feels like there’s more passion in them and far less struggle, strain or whatever was negatively affecting her during those sessions. Although the demo is quite a bit lower than Dream Quest Ends, I still think it’s inclusion was well worth it and the songs are a bit more straight-forward and rocking than the atmospheric meanderings of the main disc. “Voyage Of The Sun Chaser” is yet another great offering as the prog mixes heavily what can almost be considered more of a heavy metal vibe than just doom. Once again, Ann also sounds energized here and she’s got some real firepower. There’s even a few vocal bites here and there, showing that she was really into it at this stage in the game. Completing it all with a re-imagined Nightmare cover of “The Ring Is Gone” now called “The Queen Is Gone” you can see why the band elevated to the heights that they did. Clearly this is fine doom metal, but I can’t really say that I’ve loved the opening EP as much as I did the demo. At any rate, fans will be glad to know that they can at least now get their hands on the demo which was actually well worth checking out.
7/10
Death The Leveller – II (2020) – These guys are proof positive that like all things, even doom must evolve. Arguably considered the earliest form of heavy metal (if we’re still considering Black Sabbath to be the progenitor of the whole thing) this record seems to add a bit more to the mix, as it crafts a soundscape that I would consider largely atmospheric and more melancholy than brooding. There’s nothing about the record that feels overly hopeless, but it does feel a bit sorrowed and I suppose that will be what the fans are looking for. There are only four songs here, but as is in common doom nature, they are all quite long and heavily drawn out. Soaring vocals and fantastic melodies comprise the muscle of this album, with very few sections where the band breaks out of their comfort zone. “The Golden Bough” strays slightly from this description right in the middle to observe a bit of punch and closer “The Crossing” starts to feel a bit more like hard rock in some instances, so II is not quite what some of you might be expecting. Even so, it is largely what you may expect from a doom album where the atmosphere is more important than the grieving. As a matter of fact, parts of the album even feel a bit brighter than you might think. I’m not sure quite where Death The Leveller are going with this, but it certainly comes off a bit unique compared to what I’m normally handed in this genre.
7.5/10
Mountaineer – Bloodletting (2020) – Hey now, here’s something that might actually have the potential to make waves in the post metal genre. Taking cues from bands like Neurosis, Isis, Cult Of Luna, Mastodon and Baroness we have a real heavy hitter here in Mountaineer. Even though the band are capable of some hefty noise as detailed in
“Shot Through With Sunlight” they’re not exactly committed to ripping your face off with their mountainous bass riffs. Instead, the band would rather focus on a more accessible approach, as the almost radio friendly “The Weeds I Have Tended” seems to showcase more than quite well, it’s practically a sing-along. We’ve also got “To Those We’ve Said Goodbye” which I would consider an unexpected low note, but perhaps timely with the recent covid crisis and the mass amounts of people that have been lost during the pandemic. The title track also takes a melancholy feel as it works towards again, radio-friendly fare. It’s honestly not far from alternative rock, albeit with a much heavier back-end. I can’t say that I mind it either. “South To Infinity” assaults our ears just before it gives us some time in which to dream and ponder the universe. That’s certainly not a bad thing. Mountaineer put a bit more thought into this approach than one might expect either, because Bloodletting just doesn’t sound like your typical post metal album. I wouldn’t be hard-pressed to say that indie rock and even modern pop rock influences have found their way into this mix. The opening of “Apart” certainly states that quite well, feeling once again more like a radio rock hit with a slightly heavier backing. That doesn’t mean that the track isn’t worth checking out though, unless you really don’t like alternative or grunge rock music. Well, hey – it’s better than getting the same thing all the time. Right? “Ghost Story” also seems to do the same thing, making me think more of hard rock than post-metal. Even so, I have not heard these two genres mixed together as they’ve been here. The frontman definitely has a voice for mainstream rock radio and that might just be the thing that Metal Hammer is looking for right now. Mountaineer are familiar, yet different and that could equal out to major successes for them. Time will tell.
8.5/10