In this post, I collect my instagram reviews for the week for albums released in 2022. All my non-2022 reviews are gathered in a post as soon as a decent number has accumulated. I listen to mostly metal, but I do not limit myself to any genre.
MWWB - The Harvest
Genre: Psychedelic Doom Metal
Label: New Heavy Sounds
It is a shame that Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard changed their name to MWWB. Sure, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard was a mouthful of a name and undoubtedly silly. But it was also unique and extravagant and the band stuck out from the pack a little - which was fitting. Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard played a Synth Heavy Version of Stoner doom, with unusual female vocals that recall fairies and the celtic mythology that their earlier albums were seemingly based on. The band focused on the psychedelia of their sound in a way that was still rhythmically engaging and memorable - even now I can recall moments from 'Y Proffwyd Dwyll', for example. Sadly, this is more than I can say about 'The Harvest'.
It seems to me that MWWB want to be a bit more marketable and got rid of the whacky original name as well as the borderline unpronouncable (for me) album and track titles that were usually in old Welsh. In general, the sound is less dynamic and also less heavy. Originally, there was a little of a clash between the heavyness of the guitars and the ethereal vocals that initially seemed weird, but got more and more enjoyable the more used I got to it. On 'The Harvest', the textures are much gentler and smoother and the vocals are less forward in the mix. This makes sense on paper (and is likely what a producer would have told the band) but it feels less unique and engaging to me. The increased focus on the synth textures makes sense as far as the Sci-Fi theme of the album goes, but rarely does the band get into something heavy. As so often, the contrasts and stylistic dissonances were what made the band engaging and sadly, that is exactly what they got rid off.
Rating: 5/10.
Astral Tomb - Soulgazer
Genre: Progressive / Brutal Death Metal
Label: Blood Harvest
Taking death metal, slapping some superficial psychedelia on it and calling it progressive is a thing now. Very few acts actually do the attempted genre fusion justice, however, and its only really Blood Incantation and Devoid of Thought which I revisit with regularity. Astral Tomb surely want you to know how psychedelic they are, with a cover just looking like a tie-dyed shirt. While Astral Tomb share a scene with Blood Incantation (both bands are from Denver), there are differences. Astral Tomb seem to me like they really want to slam around in the pit more than anything. Unfortunately, this resolves in styltsic elements that are constantly at odds with each other.
Opener 'Transcendental Visions' is the prerequisite longtrack that is necessary for any band attempting to look progressive. The length and the poorly integrated psychedelia (mostly sloppy guitar solos and synths that fade in and out without much thought) form a really weird contrast to the primitive guitar focused sections that the track is mostly constructed around. "Progressive" is really a misnomer for the band, as the song doesn´t really progress, just continue. The album as a whole has a similar structure of repetitive slam sections and synth nonsense alternatinv constantly. Second track 'Be here Now...' is four and a half minutes of repetitive synths that end up sounding not psychedelic, but silly. If the band had focused on a simple brawling, maybe an enjoyable album could have been made. Sadly, 'Soulgazer' is what we got.
Rating: 5/10.
Meshuggah - Immutable
Genre: Progressive Metal / Don´t you dare call us Djent
Label: Atomic Fire
Meshuggah. In the sea of imitators and the djent scene that Meshuggah had unfortunately given birth to, Meshuggah seemed always dependable. Laser-focused on their rhythmic concept, they still managed to find original ways to go about it. At least for most of their career. 'The Violent Sleep of Reason' (despite the awesome album title) seemed a bit undercooked. Now, on 'Immutable', an ingredient seems to be missing and that ingredient is Fredrik Thordendahl. The lead guitarist of Meshuggah is busy with other ventures and his presence, or lack thereof, is felt. 'Immutable' is chuggy, repetitive and draggy in a way that all of their albums so far have managed to avoid.
'Immutable' seems to be written by the rhythm section. With Meshuggah, that doesn´t need to be a bad thing - after all, rhythm is their bread and butter. Unfortunately, their seems to be a distinct lack of inspiration (again, a lack of Fredrik...?) that results in songs being rather indistinguishable. Meshuggah end up sounding what the average listener would think Djent is when you explained the sound to them, and not in a good way. A saying in Hollywood says that, if you can´t make it good, at least make it short. Material this samey and uninspired shouldn´t be over an hour long and why Meshuggah didn´t go with a single disc is beyond me. And, as if to add insult to injury, the album ends on 7 minutes of clean guitars without drums - the Meshuggah equivalent to Whoosh.
Rating: 4/10.
Satan - Earth Infernal
Genre: New Wave of British Heavy Metal
Label: Metal Blade
While Satan was likely only an insiders band in the 80s, with only their 1983 album 'Court in the Act' being considered a stoen-cold classic, everything Post-Reunion has been good to great. Although Reunion might be the wrong word, as the band didn´t really disband when most people like to claim they did. Many people like to pretend that the mediocre thrash and hard-rock releases that the band made udner different Monikers don´t exist or are not the same entity. However, when they did return to making music, they decidedly did so under the old name. Suddenly, there was a lot of vibrance and energy that you wouldn´t suspect are men in their late 50s or 60s. And as Satan got older, they strangely only got hungrier.
Many of the qualities of the other post reunion albums are also found on 'Earth Infernal'. The material is twisty, with many a harmonised lead and a lot of guitar heroics populating every song. The material is recorded under conditions that basically emulate a live or rehearsal space performance. This makes the band incredibly dynamic and while some subtle imperfections are left on the album, these do not hurt it in any way. Rather, they give the album a specific charme and energy that most of the new trad metal acts can only dream. and even though the material is far from straightfroward and instrumentally driven, it remains catchy and memorable. While Satan missed the 80s, they are here for the new millenium - and better than most other acts their age.
Rating: 7/10.
Skin Stripper - Sick As Fuck
Genre: Slam
Label: Independent
As $lamuary has shown, reviewing Slam Death Metal comes down to the same couple talking points over and over: How is the Snare? Are the vocals dumb in the right way and/or does the vocalist use wacky and hard to understand techniques? Is the record ruined by an overuse of samples? Lets answer these questions and get a short review out of the way. The snare on 'Sick As Fuck' has some serious simple jack energy with crazy reverb and way too much body which makes the snare sound strangely hollow. Its horrible, but that is good. The vocalist mainly resorts to toilet bowl vocals, but over the course of a short EP; they do not grow tiring. I also like his candence and tone. Lastly: the samples. The samples are a little overbearing and probably make up a higher percaentage of the album that can be considered reasonably. I do think there is some thematic cohesion, though, which is nice.
In the end, one last question remains: How´s the Slams? The slams are good. Percussive, rhythmic, with just the right amount of percussive character. This is not a gourmet slam album, but if you want something that is a little higher quality, you can´t go that wrong with it.
Rating: 6/10.
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