doom / gothic metal

I was fearful that an underlying sense of pride and bias would creep into reviewing an album from a band that hail from my home-town of Cork, Ireland. However, I'm confident you will find that after immersing yourself in this album, you'll agree that all the positive feedback it has received to date is on merit.

The Grief was a coming together of incredibly talented musicians from the Irish Metal scene. "Corr Mhóna" and "For Ruin" are well respected bands and have released some quality material between them. However, in 2016, their nostalgic and deep-rooted love for all things heavy, dark and gothic forged the creation of The Grief.This is an album the has manifested itself from two EPs that were released in 2020. "Ascent" was released in February and "Descent" followed in October. These two slabs of rapturous, doom inspired works are the ingredients of "Horizon's Fall".

So, to the music! "To a new dawn" opens proceedings with some sentimental, melody-driven hooks and riffs. Lush dual guitars fill the air, giving scope for the soaring clean vocals of Stephen Quinn to elevate the song to another place. Those of you of a certain vintage will acknowledge and rejoice in its Paradise Lost inspired splendour. The gothic and doom metal of the 90's is ever present throughout this album and is a joy to hear when it's done as well as this.

Next up is the herculean and impeccably delivered "In Defiance" which is crystalline in delivery, with clear vocal harmonies and mellow tones to begin. However, the tide shifts unceremoniously, and the song takes on a more sinister facade with the guttural vocal delivery that ensues. Stephen's vocal range is a joy to behold, but in this vociferous duel, the clean vocals win out and reach some truly lofty heights before the twin lead guitars see out the track.

Harsher and more aggressive moments are found on tracks like "sunder". Its bleak and harrowing delivery gives it huge presence and the promise of a classic live track. I can hear echoes of Mourning Beloveth rumble in the distance through both the dense and airy sections of this track. With this release, they've managed to capture all the atmosphere and theatre that the "doom metal" genre is renowned for.

The ebb and flow of this album is well anchored and is meticulously maintained by the drumming of John Murphy (with Con Doyle now taking the sticks) and the equally talented Kieran O Leary on bass. It's as diverse a release as can be expected in a genre that feeds off dark, slow tempos and weighty restraints.

Each of the nine tracks really pack a punch,and deliver melody and menace in equal measure. Tracks like "The Ascent", with its infectious lead hook, and its subdued vocal delivery is a joy. This is followed by "Den of thieves" which is equally as polished and memorable.

The  talent and the confidence in the guitar work on this album is truly something to behold. From heavy downtrodden riffs to great swells of grandeur, the tone is rich and full, but still has that heavy and commanding presence. It's fair to say Paul Quinn and John Murphy are true craftsmen and are a real driving force.

To summarise, Horizon’s Fall is a polished and well produced piece of "Gothic Doom" that can stand shoulder to shoulder with anything that's out there today. I would even go as far as to say it wouldn't have looked out of place back in the 90's either. Comparisons will be made with the likes of My Dying Bride, Katatonia and Paradise Lost and that's justified recognition to the talent these Cork boys have in abundance. Even the artwork that Slava Gerj produced for both the album and the Eps is a triumph. An album cover can do so much in setting a mood and giving the music more meaning and reverence. I look forward to seeing what 2021 will bring for The Grief.

Pat O

alternative / progressive / metal

French Prog-Metal oufit joins the fold at Pelagic HQ and gives the roster a new, refreshing feature that takes time and repeats to grow but then doesn’t vanish from your memory. Good roster move, Robin!

Whenever Pelagic Records announces the addition of a new, rather unknown act, I start to wonder and feel excited because that often meant a chance to discover a great new act in the past. When they announced the addition of French Prog-Metal trip Lizzard to the fold, I immediately checked out their older stuff and then my excitement for the new full-length “Eroded” became a bit stronger. When listening to it again and again I noticed that there is something in their music I don’t like, the vocals. However, after listening to the new record a few times, I felt a certain pull by these exactly same vocals which then led to me re-visiting the older stuff as well. And – voila! - I now can proclaim that the vocal delivery and style by Mathieu Ricou are one of the things that work best for me on “Eroded”. 

The trio consisting of Ricou on guitars and vocal duties, Katy Elwell on the drums and William Knox on the bass delivers a very tight performance that was recorded, produced and mixed by Peter Junge in Röhrsdorf, Eastern Germany in a month of full concentration on that record. “Eroded” is their fourth full-length since they became a band in 2006 and it definitely shows the band at the peak of their abilities. 

When listening to the record, there are two comparisons that sprung to my mind rather quickly – Motorpsycho and Soen, there could be worse parallels, right? The vocals are clean and well-sung (like Joel Ekelöf’s vocals for Soen), Mathieu breathes life into them by giving them exactly the amount of sharpness they need for their dance with the proggish cascades and riffs collapsing over the audience’s heads with the guitars leading the drills that led to the mountain falling down; of course these chunky riffs and proggish parts are the mental bridge to Norway’s masters around Bent Saether and Hans Magnus Ryan. Compare the second track “Blowdown” and you will notice how the guitar lines try to “outduel” each other – really good work (also on behalf of the mixing engineer). One can totally imagine Mathieu holding the guitar on his upper leg and riffing it out while at the same time mesmerizing us with some wonderful vocals. On the other side there are many very intimate moments, when small, tiny arpeggios and licks are Mathieu’s weapons of choice to create moody and thoughtful songs, for example the wonderfully light and flowing interlude “Usque Ad Terram” which leads directly into the next track “Blue Moon”. These moments show that Lizzard are also able to incorporate some very direct post-rock emotions into their record without these standing apart from the other tracks. 

​One should also not forget the rhythm section of Katy and William who do an outstanding job, not simply following Mathieu’s lines but also giving a lot to the soundscapes themselves – notice the heavy, grungy basslines in “Flood” where William’s bass often dominates and Katy’s effective, chippy use of the hi-hat and cymbals is really giving the song a lively feeling. The two give the song that edge that it deserves and the moments when the stop for half a breath are just brilliant. It will be interesting to see how they perform such tight songs on stage. 


To put it all in a nutshell – Lizzard is definitely a very good addition to Pelagic’s roster, they might not be a hit factory but they give us a record that is a real grower if one is willing to give it some spins. It’s like one of these good 90s records which did not convince at first glance but rather on third or fourth listen. These are often the records that hold up best!


Thorsten

industrial / noise / metal

Revisiting an album can be both painful and joyful, and sometimes both. With the recently re-released fifth full-length of Chilean noise-metal-outfit La Bestia de Gevaudan it’s the latter. It is joyful, because it is an album so perfect in all its entirety that it just simply blows your head off. And at the same time it is painful because this little author forgot to include it in his best-of-2019 list when it came out. Okay, maybe it’s more shame than pain, but not nice nevertheless. 

Kintsukuroi is really mindblowing in its combination of Neurosis and Ministry. Of course, one should not aim too high with one’s assessment and comparisons but this band is definitely riding the razor’s edge like none other. Musically, La Bestia de Gevaudan combine mesmerizing tribal drums with stomping beats, for example in the second track “Antimateria”: here the vibraphone and its nice and slightly echoing staccato-sounds has to counter some hard-hit tombs while the bass drum gives the beat. Generally industrial sounds are something to watch on this edition of Kintsukuroi also because of the collaboration with thisquietarmy. The project by Montreal-based artist Eric Quach is credited twice on this edition, once on the regular track “IRG” and once on the bonus track “IRGv2” and of course, these tracks (one being a reworking of the other) have a very different feel than the rest of the album as they share a certain EBM sound. 
The other two features are also worth mentioning, one being Mike Armine of Rosetta who delivered some awesome vocals on “Mascara” and the other being Oliver Melville whose vocals can be heard on “What Will Be Beyond” maybe the best Deftones-track the Sacramento-boys have not written after White Pony. Armine once again shows why he is one of the most impressive shouters in all of post-metal. 

When listening to the record it becomes very obvious how the elements from post-rock, post-metal, noise and even shoegaze are used to balance the industrial character of a lot of the songs. Furthermore, one must admit that the skills of drummer Alonso Bustamante match basically those of every other metal-drummer. Combined with the careful interwoven samples (listen to the beginning of “What Will Be Beyond” and tell me you don’t have a smirk on your face!) this record offers enough for many hours of close listening.

Very favorable is also the amount of care given to the little details, for example the little click-tones at the end of the maniac tribal instrumental “Gigante de Piedra” that are countering the fading crescendo of Diego Yañez Aguilera’s guitar. Or the beginning of the opening track “Caracal” that doesn’t give you any chance to do something else, but that screams for your attention with all of its whirlwind of drums and noise after a slow moment of building via swirling circles of programming. 

Kintsukuroi is a Japanese word for a certain style pottery and of course this doesn’t fit to such a beast of a record. Nonetheless, if you think about the elegance and detail of Japanese pottery, you will probably see that the band has put as much effort into all the minuscule details as a potter from the foot of Mount Fuji. 

Re-visiting this record for the new edition (which is remarkably tight even though the two bonus tracks were not originally intended) was in no way a painful experience. I couldn’t stop listening – and slapping me for forgetting to mention this miraculous record in my 2019 AOTY list. I shall never forget about these Chileans!


Thorsten

doom / dark metal

When a band tells you that they come from a “depressive town”, and that they were inspired by the “Finnish Gothic” movement of the 90s, then you know that you are not up for some light listening. This is really dark metal from the “lightless” side – which is also reflected in the lyrics, but a few words about that later.

The band was formed in Trieste, Northern Italy close to the Croatian border – an often overlooked area east of Venice, overlooked by foreigners. Hadal formed more than ten years ago in order to procure some new breath in the genre that they loved most, a metal compiled of one part death, one part gothic and two parts doom metal. They have not released very much, also due to some line-up changes. Last year they came back with December, their second full-length for which they wrote some new songs and re-arranged some older material. 

The songs wear their origins on their sleeve, indeed:  There is more than a pinch of Paradise Lost, a good measure My Dying Bride but also some stuff like The 69 Eyes or Swallow the Sun. Interesting is the fact that you can also hear a few more death-metal inspired moments, like the blastbeats at the beginning of Nothing Here. Remarkable is definitely the songwriting because the music is really interesting and keeps one listening closely. The band is able to write really good riffs and structure their songs in a variable manner, slower parts with small, semi-acoustic pickings intersperse the heavier structures. Sometimes, one can even hear a few classic rock-reminiscences, when the guitars seem to gallop into a riff just before they slow down again to make space for the next rather elegant parts. The musicians are not only well-experienced, but also well-skilled on their instruments – that can be said for the rhythm section of Teo on bass and Daniele behind the drums, but also for guitarists Max and Franco. Interesting is also the vocal range of Alberto, who is a really good singer and has full command of his voice, no matter if it shall be some clean singing or some hard growls, he can even keep an opera-like falsetto for some moments. 

But as I said before we must talk about the lyrics. The most dominant atmosphere on December is that of a very elegant eulogy, a eulogy held by the narrator and for the narrator. It is dark and sometimes reminds me a bit of the lyrics you’d find with Depressive Black Metal artists like Kall, Lifelover or Xasthur.  On the one hand, there are some interesting ideas like those expressed in The Obscure I: “I know the house / at the end of the road / I’ve seen the well, / how deep is it? / I cross the gate beyond any light / Erase the fear, the silent enigma”. However, on the other hand some of the lyrics are a bit lifeless and a bit too stereotypical, for example the opening lines in December: “A frozen wind is blowing wild / A frozen moon is shining / A dying sun will rise no more / a dying soul is fading” - the parallelism between outside world and inner conflict is always interesting but the images are too familiar. 

If Hadal puts more time into these lyrics and – at the same time – keep up the good musical value itself, then they will soon find more lovers worldwide. But please, don’t keep them waiting another five years! 


Thorsten

sludge / black metal / metal

“Lord Almighty!” - what a brilliant reaction when hearing a new band or a new music in general. It purveys respect and awe and shows that one is definitely in some way impressed (unless it’s utter shit and you cannot hold it any longer). In the case of Boston-based metal outfit Lord Almighty it would definitely be a positive outcry. The band performs a kind of black metal that is infused with lots of other influences, the NWOBHM probably being the most obvious genre and Priest the most obvious band. 

The foundation for Lord Almighty’s sound is aggression but combined with a strong will to give the audience more than just the usual black metal templates. By incorporating black’n’roll elements in the vein of Kvelertak and fast-paced classic heavy metal passages the band is able to create a sound resembling the stampede of wild buffaloes with humans running away from them in sheer terror. 

Interesting are those passages, where the Boston sludge-machine slows down and even goes acoustic so that a totally new atmosphere is created and you might consider their sound post-black metal but it is rather a kind of modern atmospheric sludge like Baroness on their Yellow and Green record. Naturally, not a bad comparison to get. 

The band comes very close to releasing what could become a highly influential second full-length – following their self-titled debut EP  (2013) and the full-length debut “Paths” (from 2015). As their approach is pretty variable they should invest a bit more next time and go all the way and create a great piece of atmospheric black metal with twists and turns. With “Wither” they deliver a great promise and hint at what might come in a few years. 


Thorsten

stoner metal

It would be far too easy to list all the influences for Somnus Throne as they are stoner metal aficionados and surely have learned their lessons from some of the genre’s finest. Their songs can therefore also clearly be labeled as dirty, gritty, doomy, distorted high-octane rock.

For the trio from all over the States – from New Orleans to Portland, Oregon – this is already their second time playing together. After their first incarnation Maenad was dead, it took some time before the three found back together. Another difficulty was to find a center for the band, as they were all so far apart from each other. This problem was then solved by them renting a space in Los Angeles to write their new music and find a good formula for their sound. 

One must admit, that it worked really well, as their self-titled full-length is definitely a strongly breathing and reeking “thing”, a multi-armed and -legged being that is here to demand our full attention so that we cannot but give in to its charm. You can envision the monster hunting you down and then slowly pushing its tentacles into your brain until you can do nothing but listen and listen and listen and….

When talking about good stoner metal bands one often comes across the fact that the good bands can create huge impacts by using little shifts. These can come via an instrument and a quick notch up or down the speed-o-meter or via a vocal melody. Some bands are unable to do one or the other, but Somnus Throne can do both equally good. Their vocalist and guitar player Evan is certainly a better one within the genre as he can use the full volume of his voice without losing breath so that in the end it all sounds nicely and has a flow that can carry the whole weight of a metal song on its back. 

Nevertheless, the main focus of Somnus Throne is to write mind-altering riffs that will take total control of your vortex: Take the second real song (after the short intro) “Shadow Heathen” for example, a song that starts with a convincing riff line dominated by a strong drummer with the melody being like an irregular mantra giving the song just enough space to capture the audience before the riffing slows down after 3 ½ minutes and the guitars taking over the position and effect of the guitar. After a short return of the ritualistic vocals the song slowly zooms giving room for a great solo. The final two minutes that are a pure doom outro for the heavens (or heathens?). 

Of course, this is all nothing new under the sun and certainly no re-invention / re-imagining of stoner metal, but there is a reason why Jurgen and Burning World Records took this threesome on months ago. It got potential, lots and loads of it. That’s why he wanted to publish this full-length debut all in Holland. And let’s be honest – has Jurgen ever disappointed? 


​Thorsten

brass metal

Well, it has been too silent on the webpage of Merchants of Air! So we are back after a (too long) Covid break which seemed endless and seemingly isn’t over yet. Almost every band and artist postponed their release until the pandemic would ease a bit and touring was allowed again. None of this is happening now. So we have a restart with the perfect soundtrack for this unusual war against an invisible and dangerous enemy.

Ottone Pesante is a brass metal trio who witnessed the Covid catastrophe from near distance in their home country Italy. We got hooked on this band after their second album Apocalips, which was a daring piece of wind blowing art. We were even lucky to see them life in the punk cave The Pit’s in Kortrijk Belgium with a mind blowing concert. Can we write a consequent review about Doomood? Yes we can.

Doomood has thirty-four minutes running time divided into several stylistic approaches, but doom is what Ottone Pesante breathes. Francesco Bucci  (trombone and tuba) and Paolo Raineri (trumpet and flugelhorn) explore with precision their creativity and melt the sounds of their instruments into various and doom orientated moods. The threatening tones wallow in the raging drum patterns of Beppe Mondini. The band doesn’t copy and paste their previous releases on Doomood, they dig deeper and sound more sinister and more provoking. 

On Tentacles (this track was released as a single) Sara Montenegro from Italian’s doom/drone band Messa features as a guest vocalist. Her contribution pushes this slow but mesmerising track into a more comfortable listening zone. Ottone Pesante sounds extreme and loves to exceed into the extreme. On Serpentine Serpentone and Strombacea (that ends very atmospheric), Silvio Sassi from the Italian black/doom metal band Abaton screams his lungs out. Some might think to hear guitars on these black and death metal orientated tracks but Ottone Pesante does not use any bass or guitar. Their unique playing technique mimics the riffs and bass lines, resulting in some kind of black brass metal trip.

Conclusion: Doomood shows ardency, depth and roams in different darkened moods. This is an outstanding continuation of Ottone Pesante’s musical journey. Doom jazz lovers should check this band out and beware Ottone Pesante is Bohren & der Club of Gore on high speed. This brass metal album is way too short, so we play this one on multiple repeat.

​
Patsker

black metal / death metal

Very often, “supergroups” suck because there is vast amount of namedropping heightening the expectations and then you get a record, listen to it and … throw it onto the shelf. Nevertheless, if a journalist doesn’t play the naming-game he or she’s going to be cut off because of bad research. So here we go: Blood Incantation. Spectral Voice. Wayfarer. Khemnis. Primitive Man. Need more? Then check their metal-archives page. And now on to the thing that matters, the music.

The debut-release by Denver-based extreme metal outfit Black Curse is mind-changing: 

First of, because of its ability to simply terrorize your mind. Those harsh speedy, double blast-attacks can totally slit every ligament you might possess in your neck. If listening to it on earphones, be advised to start with a low volume and then slowly turn it up. The songs often start their harakiri-attacks on the very first tone, using that moment of surprise to its fullest advantage. 
Second, because they lure into a false sense of “Oh, I understand, this is pure rage and no sense for melody!” True, on the surface that’s exactly it. However, if your ears got used to all of the noise screaming in (be it via the instruments or the vocals by Eli Wendler) one might notice the small razorblades underneath all of the blunt axes. Razorblades because they cut wounds and yet glisten and radiate if you hold it into the sunlight. Many songs use a fine layer of mid-level echos on some minuscule guitar parts so that there is that notion of noise rock underneath it the black and death metal surfaces. 
Third, as they create a whole cosmos of dissonances it is sometimes hard to figure out where these come from, so that in the end it’s unclear which genre this might be shelved on. Yes, this is black metal. Yes, there is a lot of death metal. Yes, it’s noisy as hell. In some way this one might be a perfect example of how genres make no sense, let’s just call it extreme metal as it incorporates parts from each. 
Fourth, because there is melody in all of this. Take the final track “Finality I Behold” (with 8:51 also the longest track in these roughly 40 minutes): The opening 25 seconds before the start of the black metal vocals are good post-metal with dominating drums taking over your heartbeat. The harsh blast-beats then disguise the moments of clear riffing that are carefully woven into the fabric of all of this. After 150 seconds there is a change for a kind of more noise-driven blastbeat before the song slows down a bit in its middle with the bass leading the way through some slower passages. 

Well, after forty minutes your ears might be bleeding, your neural connections might be dead and because of that you hit the repeat button. Why. Not. Give. it. Another. Try? This is an “Endless Wound” after all. (And sometimes supergroups do make sense.)


Thorsten

progressive / alternative / metal

ometimes records can surprise you with every twist and turn they take. The third full-length by London-based quartet Elephant Tree is one of these. Just when you thought, you had them figured out they come up with yet another direction. The one constant on the album is probably the soundscape that is being dominated by a distorted, slightly fuzzy guitar. A kind of noise-rock production that seemingly is the red thread throughout the songs and that shares some relation to the Melvins.

Nevertheless this record is more than a sound-a-like. It jumps a bit between the genres which makes it more interesting. A hike through selected songs will probably clarify the eclectic nature of the album:
After the pumping, vibrating intro “Wake. Repeat” the first full song “Sails” is one of these songs that can stick to the back of your mind for week because the band is able to weave Pink Floyd’ish vocal lines into a song that is dancing on the razor between noise and post-metal with a strong nod to orchestral grunge when the synth spaces kick in at half-time. 
The fourth track “Exit the Soul” is only straightforward at first glance with its spiraling guitar lines in the background and the warm bass and drums at the center. But then the song slows down more and more until one might think that it is fading out, before taking a turn to become a stoner beast with some heavy-sparkling pearls and dots painting it a different shade of crimson. 
“The Fall Chorus” then surprisingly acts as an acoustic miniature with vocals placed right between chants in old Oxfordian halls and some Simon & Garfunkel pop-appeal – by the way, that is a strong bond between many of these songs: They can all keep your mind and “oral memory” blocked for days. It is the necessary pause for breath in the middle of the record. 
“Bird” then uses the chant-structure just to lead over into a grunge song for the 21st century. This song might be best described with a modern-day version of Stone Temple Pilots or Candlebox with an underlying melancholy and the vocals joyfully changing pace and style in between.

One could do this song by song analysis for all songs but by now it should be clear that “Habits” doesn’t hide its roots and influences. Nevertheless, the tracks never bow too low in front of the predecessors, so that they would become stagnant emulations; no they are very self-reliant and independent, very self-aware and proud. Something very valuable for a band that loves to play with the audience’s expectations and to surprise them more than once.


Thorsten

progressive metal

Progressive Metal is a genre that is either loved or hated because sometimes the musicality and genius-level abilities of the musicians involved are shown just that one bit too often. If the founding members of the band met up at Berklee College of Music with all its high-class, top of the line graduates and high profile teachers, it’s esasy to think that this is just another one of those bands where the display of talent supersedes the talent of songwriting. However, that is not true for Myth of I even though of course they show that their fingers are quick, their kicks are talented and their knack ability to incorporate several styles into different songs is only second to their idea of letting the song speak for itself.

Interesting about Myth of I is the fact that they are an instrumental band only, nobody is offering multi-octave-singing or screaming, there are no James LaBries involved in the making of “Myth of I”, their first full-length after an EP in 2017. The band shows a lot of speedy technical aspects and switch between classical prog rock and death metal, between acoustic elements and ambient passages effortlessly. But none of these parts are ever driven over the top, so that one might put them into one genre – it seems as if they are very comfortable being “non-pinpointable”. 

Each song has numerous changes and turns, using microscopic scales and huge epic turns, so one might hear some Between the Buried and Me while others hear some Cloudkicker in these songs and both are correct in hearing that because these bands definitely helped define the sound of Myth of I. Usually one argues that songs must take you on a journey, but in this case it is more like being thrown across the globe all the time – not with a harsh kick, but with soft touches so that, in the end, you want to know which spot will follow next.

If you can imagine listening to instrumental versions of Between the Buried and Me or Tesseract, then this album and especially songs like “Glass Castles”, “Needlepoint” or “The Maze” should be next on your playlist as they combine a lot of elements to give this highly musical genre a nice new twist.


Thorsten