This post collects the reviews posted to Instagram for the week. They cover mostly metal, but other genres might be considered. Blog exclusive reviews from other writers are featured, as well.
Scuttlegoat's Curmudgeonly Critiques
The Otolith - Folium Limina
Genre: Atmospheric Doom / Stoner / Sludge
Label: Blues Funeral Recordings
Release Date: 21-10-2022
I sometimes feel bad for the type of band that is clearly meant as a follow-up to a band that has broken up. It is just impossible to not compare or relate them to the former act. I don't know the exact details about why Rebecca Vernon left SubRosa, if that is what led to the band breaking up and reforming as The Otolith or if the material on Folium Limina is informed by the breakup. What I do know is that Otolith is basically SubRosa but without Rebecca Vernon, even going so far as to have violinist and former backup vocalist Sarah Pendleton now fill in the lead vocal role. Stylistically, Otolith are basically indistinguishable from SubRosa with stylistic differences most likely being caused by the time that has passed more so than the changed lineup, at least.
I had never been fully sold on SubRosa as an entity. Their atmospheric builds, heavily informed by the violins, often led to a release that wasn't on par with what the build up was promising. Otolith carries this problem with them. Folium Limina is vaguely pretty at all times, vaguely emotional but it seems like not that much emotional weight gets transported. This might also partly be due to Pendleton filling in the vocal spot. She is not a bad singer at all, maybe even on key more often than Vernon was, but Vernon had more of a sense of conviction, seemingly believing in what she was singing and that she was telling us things about her emotional state and her inner dwellings. Pendleton seems to express herself mostly through her violin. Here, the two issues converge: A lot of the individual sections do not lead into each other in a meaningful way, lessening the impact of the violin and the compositions in general, but neither do they carry the emotional weight to make the individual sections hit. Like SubRosa, Otolith is merely good.
Rating: 6/10
Exhumed - To the Dead
Genre: Death Metal / Deathgrind
Label: Relapse Records
Release Date: 21-10-2022
When Carcass' Torn Arteries released, I found myself rather disappointed. It seemed a bit anemic and like it never really built up momentum. While many listeners seemed to be able to summon the necessary amount of denial to put it on year-end lists, I could not and it remains pretty divisive. Exhumed have often seemed like the american counterpart, "the other Carcass", clearly being inspired by the original acts early output. While Exhumed never really reached the heights of its big brother, they also never really made a bad album. Particularly Death Revenge, a concept album about British graverobbers Burke and Hare, got considerable play from me - maybe especially because it seemed like Exhumed were doing their own thing for once.
With 2019s Horror, Exhumed returned to a more primitive style - basically Gore Metal, but tighter and more modern. It almost seems like Death Revenge was as far as Exhumed was willing to stray from the source and now they're back at the beginning, slowly moving outwards again. To The Dead isn't straight up goregrind, but it is remarkably close to Carcass' Magnum Opus Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious with an increased focus on groovy death metal riffs in midtempo. While the lack of steam, piss and vigor was an issue with Carcass' Torn Arteries, I don't really see as much of an issue here because the material still has an element of transgression and heavyness. However, the issue here is obviously the question of originality. With osdm (which this basically is), this is a common complaint and it's undeniable that some songs maybe veer a little close to the Necroticism-template. Even though songs like "Rank and Defiled" remind me positively of "Corporeal Jigsore Quandary" and even though more melodic leads occasionally make an appearance, it's undeniable that Exhumed once again moved closer to being a pastiche.
Rating: 6/10
Implore - The Burden of Existence
Genre: Grindcore / Blackened Death Metal / Crust
Label: Church Road Records
Release Date: 28-10-2022
Years ago, when I was getting back into metal after being fed up with the scene due to negative experiences in my own bands, Implore gave me a really good time live. Seeing them open for Rotten Sound, I can say that the energy they brought live helped me rekindle the love I had for metal and also helped me delve into the more abrasive, the more transgressive side of metal even more. Subjugate holds a special place in my heart for that reason - especially its attempts at melding slight atmosphere and emotionality with a crusty grind beating. Alienated Despair saw the band take those tendencies and double down on it, but maybe leaned a bit too hard into it. The Burden Of Existence seems to lean a bit further into the other direction again.
While Alienated Despair had a certain post-ish quality to it (and definitely was more blackened than the mostly grind/crust amalgamate that was Subjugate), the grind influences seem to be center stage on this new one again. Some tracks even lean into territory that can be squarely placed in the realm of death metal, such as the hardcore inspired chugs on "Accept the Loss". Generally, the band is also back to favoring d-beats and crust inspired strums more often. Still, mostly on the back half does the record transform back into the post-ish blackened death metal that had dominated Alienated Despair. This gives an arc to the album that the previous one didn't have. The Burden of Existence cannot match the emotional connection and nostalgia I have for Subjugate, of course and I would lie if I said 35 minutes for what is basically elevated crust wasn't a bit too long. Overall, I enjoyed my time with Implore, though - Implore manages to have something interesting to say musically while staying true to their roots and developing on them.
Rating: 6/10
Worm - Bluenothing
Genre: Death / Doom Metal
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Release Date: 28-10-2022
The cynic in me has been dwelling on the term "mini album" for a while. He wants me to tell you guys that he suspects that the mini album trend is a way to sell EPs that are on the longer end of the spectrum as albums and thus make a little more money. Overall, I am not too upset about it - I know how harsh the music business has become. And for a band like Worm, I might just be willing to pay it. After much deliberation, I had decided to not put Foreverglade anywhere on my 2021 year-end list. I go back and forth on the decision because, ultimately, no death doom band quite sounds like Worm does. On Bluenothing, their new mini album, Phil Tougas joins these boys for some delicious shred.
Maybe Worm's unique sound is due to how they developed as a band. It took them quite a few tries until they arrived at the sound that Foreverglade had. After the black metal of Evocation of the Black Marsh (whose visual tropes they still have not quite dropped), the funeral doom of Gloomlord and the strangely upbeat and energetic death/doom of Foreverglade, Bluenothing is the first time Worm stick with a style previously established. At the same time, I feel like some of Worm's earlier obsessions make somewhat of a comeback. The atmosphere on Bluenothing is decidedly more blackened and tremolo sections recall corpsepaint and bullet belts more than gore and cargo pants in a lot of sections. This melds interestingly with Tougas' shred guitar lead work, which has become an increased focus of the band. Bluenothing feels a bit more ethereal than Foreverglade, a bit less swampy and concrete. This shows that Worm have found a style that can transmutate without losing its identity and one that is fully their own. In a time of endless caverncore clones, this is worth a whole lot.
Rating: (high) 7/10
Metalligatorrr's Additional Album Assesments
Abduction - Black Blood
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Candlelight Records
Release Date: 21-10-2022
Odd. That's the word that I find best describes what Abduction does on Black Blood. The album starts out as sounding like Mayhem circa Daemon but with a taste for some riffs that lean into death metal. This belies how weird Black Blood actually is as already from the second track, subtle influences like some of the tragic riffing you might find in Amon Amarth and some odd dissonant leads start creeping in. But "Plutonian Gate" is the track that makes this explicit as it's a 11 minute behemoth of a track that mixes clean singing and atmosphere you'd find in early era Ulver with a memorable chorus and a post-like build to the climax. It's a fantastic track, albeit a bit long, on a subtly good album. For all these name drops I don't think they really can describe how the album truly sounds.
The three remaining tracks offer things like psychedelic post black metal, stark emotional leads contrasted with grim ones, desperate wails and bursts of blackened death metal. There's something of interest on every track here. I have covered some one-man bands recently and it almost didn't surprise me to find out that this is a solo project with a hired session drummer. It's all impressive but there are also spots where I feel that the songwriting could be improved. This album is much more cohesive than a lot of current black metal and has plenty of ideas, but also dwells on these ideas for too long. There are clearly themes to the songs that get explored but I'd like to see the peaks and valleys of the songwriting get more pronounced. This could be done with harder hitting climaxes and more purposeful builds. The songs also occasionally spend some time prioritizing mood over development and while I like the mood they conjure, I'd have liked them better with some dynamics in this department. That said, this album snuck up on me with its subtle weirdness and I've found myself spinning it over and over without being able to explain why. But the "why" is pretty simple, despite my gripes I'd call this album good.
Rating: 7/10
Darkthrone - Astral Fortress
Genre: Blackened Trad/Doom Metal
Label: Peaceville Records
Release Date: 28-10-2022
I consider late era Darkthrone to be more interesting than most of their career. They have been experimenting a lot lately and to decent results. I might even go so far as to say that Old Star is my favorite Darkthrone album after A Blaze in the Northern Sky. Yes, much better than Transilvanian Munchies. Yet the band has always been hit-and-miss, dependent on how well they can integrate their ideas and sense of humor into the actual music. Old Star mixed surprisingly urgent black metal riffs with epic/tragic doom and some progressive writing while Eternal Hails...... went all in on the Candlemass influence and progressive compositions. Astral Fortress sees these juggled styles miss the hand and fall bouncing away on the floor. The album feels much less like an interconnected album that the two before were and more like a collection of songs. This isn't bad by itself as a vignette of songs can be powerful if arranged by a skilled hand. Alas, this is not so on Astral Fortress and it's not for lack of skill.
Starting out strong, "Caravan of Broken Ghosts" features the doom riffs we have come to expect by now but they are interrupted by a neck breaking riff that keeps the song moving. Some notable ideas on the rest of the album include cold Krallice like synth work ("Stalagmite Necklace"), some wonderfully weird vocals followed by more synth ("The Sea Beneath the Seas of the Sea") and an out of character Iron Maiden lead complete with two guitars ("Eon 2"). I focus on these ideas because frankly, everything in between contains some of the most bland and time wasting material I've heard from Darkthrone in a long while. All the riffs stay in the same lane of uninteresting doom riffing and unfortunately it's starting to sound like a crutch. It's sad but it seems the burst of creativity they've had lately had to end in a crash somewhere. I'm always entertained by giving these guys albums a go because they're so likable and productive, but this is one I'd not recommend even to diehard Darkthrone fans.
Rating: 4/10
Forlesen - Black Terrain
Genre: Ambient/Post Black Metal
Label: I, Voidhanger Records
Release Date: 28-10-2022
Forlesen's debut, Hierophant Violent, mixed some of the styles I hate the most in black metal right now, but it somehow captivated me enough to earn a place on my year-end list of 2020. The ambiance reminded me a bit of Pink Floyd and the post builds were done well enough to give the tracks impact. Of course, the 36 minute runtime helped it greatly with not overstaying its welcome. Black Terrain is 58 minutes, in contrast, and right away that poses the question if Forlesen can handle an album almost twice the length. I was skeptical and 19 minute opener "Strega" did nothing to dispel this fear, until it gets going past its midpoint. The black metal feels a bit more confident, yet oddly mixed with the vocals sitting buried in the music. But when a calmer section with mournful vocals takes over the song, Forlesen again sound like they know what they're doing. Another build and a solo plays the song out into a 9 minute long semi-ambient track that ups the interest by playing more with the template. If "Strega" is Forlesen playing it safe, the rest of Black Terrain is them reaching out and experimenting, trying to find a cohesive style past what they've already done.
As the title track drifts into noisier moments at the end and "Harrowed Earth" crashes in, we're treated to a vision of what Forlesen can develop into. Here, death metal and howled vocals lead the way but the track explores black metal and doom metal with noisy feedback to great success. When Black Terrain works it's really good. But the longer songs here drag like Hierophant Violent did not. I've already mentioned "Strega" and its confused structure but "Saturnine" features a 10 minute build of almost nothing before the track gets going. I'm struck by how good Hierophant Violent handled the long song format since there was always something going on in it. These new longer songs come up short and could be cut in more than half to their benefit. I like the developments in sound that I'm hearing but it seems that Forlesen have indulged as much as to spoil what worked so well on the debut. The title track and "Harrowed Earth" is worth hearing but next time I really want to see tighter editing from these guys.
Rating: 6/10
Blár's Blurbs
Diamanda Galás - Broken Gargoyles
Genre: Alternative / Experimental / Avant-garde
Label: Intravenal Sound Operations
Release Date: 26-08-2022
This summer, an internet friend directed me towards the works of Diamanda Galás, a largely underrated avant-garde powerhouse with immensely dynamic vocals. In a span of three days I had binge listened to her entire discography, a wild ride to put it lightly. Stepping into the soundscape of her debut record The Litanies Of Satan is like getting sucked into a portal to a shadowy room in the aftermath of a failed exorcism. It isn’t a masterpiece (it lacks structure and hence should’ve been shorter) but the album carries an unexplainable tension that leaves you entranced. There’s some minor percussion and minimalistic instrumentation that sounds like a breathing industrial machine, otherwise she is largely utilizing her witch-like voice as a main vehicle to carry out her ideas.
Galás sound has morphed slowly during the almost five decades that she has been active as an artist, going from extremely experimental music to singer-songwriter blues rock. As somebody who strongly prefer the former, the preview track for Broken Gargoyles seemed very promising, as it looked like she was heading back to her roots. I was very curious to see how she would develop her experimental ventures and meld them together with a more tangible concept. In this case, partly based around the writings “Das Fieberspital” and “Die Dämonen der Stadt” by German poet Georg Heym. The title of the album references the photographic book “Krieg dem Kriege!” by German anti-militarist Ernst Friedrich, who documented the consequences of World War I. It contains pictures of soldiers with damaged faces, referred to as “gargoyles" by staff in the hospitals during that time.
Unfortunately Galás seems to have a tendency to get lost in the intellectual concept. She forgets to present the music foremost, which takes the expression of leaving the listener feeling like they’re watching a theatre performance blindfolded. She has her old repertoire of tools/sounds, mainly vocal layers and sparse industrial sounding instrumentation with some focus on dissonant piano. But it doesn’t feel like she is trying to expand from her usual shtick, which is a little bit disappointing. So why did Litanies work and Gargoyles not when they almost use the same formula? The reason it worked on Litanies is that it had a very hungry and new sound that was in its beginning stages, reeking of creativity and potential. Its tracks were also shorter and the vocal presence was very mesmerizing and demanded constant attention. Broken Gargoyles doesn’t have the same vitality, and it doesn’t have to, but for this type of concept record to work there has to be a stronger focus on songwriting. It falls short in this musical direction, where there’s a lot of barren space and focus on the recital of poems. The tracks are also too long and have the same structural problems that Litanies Of Satan had. Despite its flaws, that’s an album I’m going to continually revisit. Broken Gargoyles is not.
Rating: 5/10
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