Witchsorrow are a British doom group who formed in 2006. This is their second full-length album, following their 2010 self-titled debut. I had heard the band's name before, but this was the first time I actually gave them a listen.
These guys clearly draw their sound from some of the UK's biggest doom acts. The drumming, like on most doom albums, is solid but unremarkable in its supporting role. The fuzzy, crushing guitar and bass riffs sound a great deal like the mighty Electric Wizard during many stretches, though Witchsorrow do not confine themselves exclusively to ultra-slow tempos. The vocals, on the other hand, may be the closest thing I've heard to Lee Dorrian's guttural retching on Cathedral's doom masterpiece Forest of Equilibrium. That can be a big turn-off for some listeners, as I know Dorrian was always kind of a love-him-or-hate-him vocalist, so I imagine the same will be true for this record. Personally, I love it. There are slow, semi-sung spoken parts as well, which add a nice touch of atmosphere to tracks like Meggido. That song also puts off a pretty strong Black Sabbath vibe, which is of course quite natural.
Now, I did mention that the tempos on this album are not exclusively super sluggish. While that is true, the bulk of the album does move very slowly. The really obvious exception is "Breaking the Lore", easily the shortest track at around 4 1/2 minutes and one of the most obvious puns on a classic metal title since And Justice For Ya'll.
I don't feel like this album introduces much in the way of new elements to the doom spectrum. What it does do, very effectively, is pull in influences from several of the best doom acts to ever emerge from the British Isles and combine them into a predictably excellent sounding whole. In the end, I don't even care whether or not this is particularly unique, because it sounds so fantastic.
Grade: A
Whenever I pick up a new doom record, this is exactly how I hope it will sound.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Black Breath - Sentenced to Life
Black Breath are a relatively new outfit from Seattle. Sentenced to Life is their second full-length album, and it is also my first encounter with the band.
I've noticed some disagreement over how exactly this band should be labeled. Crust punk, thrash, and death metal seem to be the prime contenders, so to a certain extent the band sits on an intersection of those three. I'm personally most inclined to say death metal, but that's just me. Fortunately, this difficult-to-classify sound is not so much the product of mixing several separate elements as it is the result of a band whose sound hearkens back to the early days of groups like Possessed when death metal had not yet fully clawed its way free from its thrash roots.The crunching guitar frequently employs the oh-so-famous Swedish buzzsaw tone of Entombed et al. This is not constant, though it crops up pretty often. The drumming is rock solid and paces the music well, not really going into extended double-bass pounding but instead maintaining a more varied approach.
In my opinion the great strength of this group is their vocalist. His hoarsely bellowed assault has real intensity, and remains understandable at least part of the time. Like the rest of the band, the vocals are an echo of the early death metal groups who really shouted and attacked with their voices rather than relying on deep cookie monster growls to make them sound tough and scary in the absence of genuine energy.
You probably think, from the way I've described this album, that lack of originality is its big weakness. Well you'd be right to some degree, but mostly that's because apart from its somewhat "retro" sound, the album doesn't really have any noticeable flaws. And while it does sound very much like it should have been released a couple decades ago, it doesn't come across as a clone or a copy. The group has its own personality, the songs are distinct, and they mix in just enough proto-death to keep their album from sounding like the bulk of the new old-school imitators. Unlike many other bands that employ the buzzsaw, I don't feel like I might as well be listening to Dismember. That's a refreshing statement to be able to make.
Grade: A-
Very strong thrash/crust/death metal (mostly death metal) album from an up and coming band. Rooted in the classics but not bound by them. I really enjoyed this and I hope to hear more from them in the future.
I've noticed some disagreement over how exactly this band should be labeled. Crust punk, thrash, and death metal seem to be the prime contenders, so to a certain extent the band sits on an intersection of those three. I'm personally most inclined to say death metal, but that's just me. Fortunately, this difficult-to-classify sound is not so much the product of mixing several separate elements as it is the result of a band whose sound hearkens back to the early days of groups like Possessed when death metal had not yet fully clawed its way free from its thrash roots.The crunching guitar frequently employs the oh-so-famous Swedish buzzsaw tone of Entombed et al. This is not constant, though it crops up pretty often. The drumming is rock solid and paces the music well, not really going into extended double-bass pounding but instead maintaining a more varied approach.
In my opinion the great strength of this group is their vocalist. His hoarsely bellowed assault has real intensity, and remains understandable at least part of the time. Like the rest of the band, the vocals are an echo of the early death metal groups who really shouted and attacked with their voices rather than relying on deep cookie monster growls to make them sound tough and scary in the absence of genuine energy.
You probably think, from the way I've described this album, that lack of originality is its big weakness. Well you'd be right to some degree, but mostly that's because apart from its somewhat "retro" sound, the album doesn't really have any noticeable flaws. And while it does sound very much like it should have been released a couple decades ago, it doesn't come across as a clone or a copy. The group has its own personality, the songs are distinct, and they mix in just enough proto-death to keep their album from sounding like the bulk of the new old-school imitators. Unlike many other bands that employ the buzzsaw, I don't feel like I might as well be listening to Dismember. That's a refreshing statement to be able to make.
Grade: A-
Very strong thrash/crust/death metal (mostly death metal) album from an up and coming band. Rooted in the classics but not bound by them. I really enjoyed this and I hope to hear more from them in the future.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Fisherman's Death - The Code
A while back, I posted a short blurb about an EP by a folksy death metal outfit from Sweden called Fisherman's Death. Well they noticed my short article, and sent me a link to their new full-length. I've been sidetracked and I've neglected this blog for the past few weeks, so I'm just now getting around to writing up this review of The Code.
First off, the songs on that EP, "Among the Shore", appear in fresh recordings on this album as well. The newer production is a minor improvement, with some of the instrumentation coming through a little more clearly than it had on the prior versions. It's not a night-and-day difference, but though, so if you happen to have the EP those songs won't really be a big upgrade for you.
Now, on to this album. The music does have a bit of a folk flair, but contrary to its Metal Archives entry I'd be inclined to call this melodic death metal. It's well performed, reasonably tight, and it retains enough grit to still warrant the "death" in its label. The music has a good flow to it, and I found myself really getting into it as the album progressed. The band have struck up an appropriate balance between heaviness and melody that can be hard for young groups (they formed in 2009) to find. Infectiously catchy lead riffs propel the songs forward, with drumming that compliments the music rather than than just attempting to pummel the listener into submission. The vocals are good too: I like death growls that are articulate enough to understand. In that respect, the vocals remind me a bit of listening to Bloodbath.
On the down side, the music does pull enough from the history of Swedish death metal that most listeners won't find the overall sound terribly original. The band alleviates that issue to some extent by putting a new twist on their lyrical subject, though. Rather than focusing on the same Viking raids, warfare, and Norse mythology as droves of their countrymen, these Swedes instead sing about the seafaring struggles of the common fishermen who have filled their coastal villages for centuries. Some people don't care enough about lyrics in metal to be swayed by this, but personally I enjoy their use of a fresh subject matter that still has deep roots in the band's national heritage.
Grade: B+
The music is good, enjoyable Swedish death metal with just enough of a twist to differentiate it from the crowd, but with a sound still firmly rooted in that nation's classic death metal material.
First off, the songs on that EP, "Among the Shore", appear in fresh recordings on this album as well. The newer production is a minor improvement, with some of the instrumentation coming through a little more clearly than it had on the prior versions. It's not a night-and-day difference, but though, so if you happen to have the EP those songs won't really be a big upgrade for you.
Now, on to this album. The music does have a bit of a folk flair, but contrary to its Metal Archives entry I'd be inclined to call this melodic death metal. It's well performed, reasonably tight, and it retains enough grit to still warrant the "death" in its label. The music has a good flow to it, and I found myself really getting into it as the album progressed. The band have struck up an appropriate balance between heaviness and melody that can be hard for young groups (they formed in 2009) to find. Infectiously catchy lead riffs propel the songs forward, with drumming that compliments the music rather than than just attempting to pummel the listener into submission. The vocals are good too: I like death growls that are articulate enough to understand. In that respect, the vocals remind me a bit of listening to Bloodbath.
On the down side, the music does pull enough from the history of Swedish death metal that most listeners won't find the overall sound terribly original. The band alleviates that issue to some extent by putting a new twist on their lyrical subject, though. Rather than focusing on the same Viking raids, warfare, and Norse mythology as droves of their countrymen, these Swedes instead sing about the seafaring struggles of the common fishermen who have filled their coastal villages for centuries. Some people don't care enough about lyrics in metal to be swayed by this, but personally I enjoy their use of a fresh subject matter that still has deep roots in the band's national heritage.
Grade: B+
The music is good, enjoyable Swedish death metal with just enough of a twist to differentiate it from the crowd, but with a sound still firmly rooted in that nation's classic death metal material.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Non-Metal Cover
As is probably evident from my lack of recent posts here, I haven't been doing a lot on terms of hunting down new metal over the past couple weeks. Partially, it is because I've been otherwise occupied. Partially it's because I've been going through a bit of a non-metal phase, as I am periodically prone to do. Between the two, I really have slacked off in terms of this blog, and if I'm being totally honest I have to admit that the present inactivity may well carry on for a while. Still, I do like to post things that are of interest to me, and I recently came across just such a thing.
I am not a particularly active follower of my family's activities online.
I do poke around every now and then, though, and a conversation I had today with one of my younger brothers lead me to his YouTube channel. There, I saw that he had recorded and uploaded a couple acoustic cover songs several months ago. This was actually rather exciting for me, since although he is a good guitarist and I've heard him play thousands of times, he typically avoids singing as much as possible. Anyway, I really liked the sound of these recordings, so I decided to put one up here. So if you feel like hearing something that isn't metal but that I like, here you go.
I do poke around every now and then, though, and a conversation I had today with one of my younger brothers lead me to his YouTube channel. There, I saw that he had recorded and uploaded a couple acoustic cover songs several months ago. This was actually rather exciting for me, since although he is a good guitarist and I've heard him play thousands of times, he typically avoids singing as much as possible. Anyway, I really liked the sound of these recordings, so I decided to put one up here. So if you feel like hearing something that isn't metal but that I like, here you go.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
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