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
Primitive Man & Full of Hell - Suffocating Hallucination
Genre: Sludge Metal / Noise
Label: Closed Casket Activities
Release Date: 03-03-2023
A while ago, I remarked that the risk of a collab is always that, rather than the bands amplifying their strengths, they heighten their worst tendencies instead. This can often be circumvented by a band taking the lead. This has been the case for a couple of Full of Hell collabs in the past; or rather, they know when to be the dominant force and when not to - taking the lead on the Merzbow split but letting The Body be dominant on their collab. Similarly, it seems Full of Hell gives Primitive Man the main spot on the album. This decision makes sense, insofar as the Primitive Man sound is already so caustic and takes up so much space that attempting a full synthesis of the two bands would have likely caused sensory overload. Some of the songs, like opener "Trepanaton of Future Joys", appear like Primitive Man songs with additional vocals by Walker, even if there is an additional layer of noise and distortion.
The most interesting songs on Suffocating Hallucination are those where the bands try to forge into new territory together or find the hidden spaces between their sounds. It is here where the band both produces the most interesting and worthwhile material of the collab and fall slightly flat. I am quite fond of the twangy, subtly Americana inspired opening of "Rubble Home", that ultimately gives in to nihilistic Sludge. Closer "Tunnels To God" manages a similarly fluid and fascinating transformation between almost Death Doom inspired riffage and bright, harmonically vague atmospheric leads - things I wouldn't have thought work too well within the Primitive Man style. Unfortunately, the band also commits to a Noise/ Ambient interlude leading into said track and devotes six and a half minutes to introducing this track. While I understand the need to serve up some contrast before the closer, the length is just not justifiable and the effect could have been achieved on less than half the length. It is frustrating that a collab that shows how much potential it could have had commits to some of the most common and equally unnecessary pitfalls. No more Ambient interludes – Metal has moved past the need for Ambient interludes.
Rating: 6/10
Ice Age - Waves of Loss And Power
Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: The Lasers Edge
Release Date: 10-03-2023
Sometimes it can be tough to get to the number of reviews that our cruel overlord (read: Me) dictates we need for our weekly format. In a slow week, we might pick releases just based on genre or for any other arbitrary reason. The album cover can definitely be a reason for it, of course, and it is Waves of Loss and Power's album cover that made me curious. The album cover is a goofy idea, executed reasonably well and also clearly communicates both a vibe and a worldview of sorts. As such, I was mostly interested in how the cover represents the album. Similarly to books, an album should not be judged by its cover. Ice Age do not show much character and uniqueness, especially compared to the art.
What they do is executing a style very well. During the late 90s and early 2000s, a specific style of Progressive Metal was played by many an act, including Ice Age themselves. Those bands were heavily inspired by the 70s Progressive Rock bands - especially Heavy Prog masters Rush - but also connected it to a rocking post-80s attitude. Waves of Loss and Power is somewhat of a comeback album, releasing 20 years after the bands latest effort under this moniker. The album is full of songs that flow well and have occasionally very well done sections and makes enjoyable background noise during a passive listen. Sadly, the band also transports the issues of a style that feels both like an enjoyable throwback and positively archaic. As the songs are mainly linear, there is no real reason for a song being 14 minutes instead of 6 to 8. Often with acts like these, where the decision on a genre is the first impulse before any creative spark, songwriting decisions are being made in relation to the genre itself. Prog has winding, long songs, and so Waves of Loss And Power needs those long songs. After the band had played different music under a different name (Soulfractured) for a long time, maybe the return to Progressive Metal was an attempt at rekindling a spark from when these musicians were younger and active during a different time. As a result, it seems like their only frame of reference was the Ice Age of the past.
Rating: (high) 5/10
The Lovecraft Sextet - BLACK†WHITE
Genre: Dark Jazz
Label: Debemur Morti
Release Date: 10-03-2023
As The Lovecraft Sextet's last release, Miserere, had secured itself a spot in my honorable mentions I felt a need to check out BLACK†WHITE, the bands new EP, as well. The hesitation with an atmospheric release that is also short - under 11 minutes in this case - is that the time needed to get into the specific aural space for the album is not worth it if you leave that space very soon after. In laymens terms: I just get into the album and then it ends. This certainly rings true for BLACK†WHITE, as well. It is not for a lack of talent or effort that BLACK†WHITE fails to have the same effect as the bands album, of course, but the format chosen for it is not especially beneficial. I am of course aware that me lobbing a complaint that something is too short is severely out of character.
It is tough to not repeat myself when talking about the band. The main difference to Miserere is that the Classical elements that characterised that album are now gone. BLACK†WHITE still feels like the same band, the same sonic identity, but ultimately comes closer to Köhnen's past project The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble than The Lovecraft Sextet has ever been. Washy, distorted textures support Jazz saxophones. The new inspiraton replacing the Classical influences is a harsh avantgarde Jazz influence, namedropping acts like Painkiller or Pharaoh Sanders. The saxophone spazz-outs are more distinct in the second track, which makes the tracks appear as two distinct halves - Black and White, perhaps. Again, I would like to see this contrast explored in more length. An EP like this often seems more like a proof of concept than an actual art piece. If The Lovecraft Sextet turn this idea into a full release, or even a longer EP, I will be very much interested - the potential is certainly there.
Rating: 6/10
Metalligatorrr's Chomping Commentaries
Haken - Fauna
Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Inside Out Music
Release Date: 03-03-2023
Emerging from their recent affair with Djent, Haken are reaching back to their tried and true Progressive Metal style that graced albums like The Mountain and Affinity, with their new album Fauna. You will find plenty of synth led shenanigans that remind of the early Haken albums in songs like "Nightingale" and "Elephants Never Forget", 80's feel in songs like "Lovebite" and "Alphabet of Me" a lá Affinity and even some turns into heavier riffing on "Beneath the White Rainbow". As per the album's theme, songs that are based around different animals, no song is meant to be the other alike. This is unfortunately a hit and miss concept as if you are not careful, the work will present as a fractured mess. Fauna is not a mess exactly, but the theme spreads the songs out here in a way that makes the work feel incoherent as there is no red thread to follow. It is not an approach that is headed for instant failure but with tracks as long as these it gets hard to get a complete sense of the whole.
Exacerbating this problem is the fact that Haken rely a lot on their older way of writing songs. They should really not fix what isn't broken, but there is also an air to these songs where their older siblings on previous albums are just better written and focused. It leads to the new material being less exciting for returning fans as they can just listen to better versions of these songs. Of course, one should not expect a band to reinvent themselves each time but this puts greater importance on sharp songwriting. "Taurus", "Nightingale", "Beneath the White Rainbow" and "Elephants Never Forget" all exemplify this as they have promising sections recalling The Mountain yet get lost on their way to the conclusion, being way too long for their own good. Standing out from the rest, "Island in the Clouds" takes on a weird, yet great, groovy approach and makes a case for what Fauna could have been had it been more focused. This song flows from groove to some inspired palm muted riffing to a Tool inspired breakdown. When Haken are experimenting a bit with trying on different styles like in this song and the Leprous inspired "Sempiternal Beings", things turn interesting. But ultimately Fauna is too unfocused to connect from point A to B, making it a less impressive animal than it could have been.
Rating: 5/10
Enslaved - Heimdal
Genre: Progressive Black Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 03-03-2023
Enslaved have long cultivated an idiosyncratic style that has consistently left me cold since around 2010, and not in a kvlt frozen tundra way. The sound itself is fine, if often a bit loud, but it is their approach to linear songwriting and an over reliance on the harsh/folksy beautiful contrast that loses me every time. Thus, I had stopped paying much attention to them around the last two albums and do not quite know what made me suddenly interested to try on Heimdal. It turns out that my instinct serves me well, as Heimdal sounds like the pre-2010s Enslaved taking on the newer style as if the last decade of albums had never happened. This is a tightly atmospheric and jamming album that, while still being very linear, avoids that pitfall of meandering songs that defined their output in the 10's and unites the two contrasts of Enslaved's sound into one. The art adorning the album evokes the style well, a serene sense of calm with moving clouds that can violently change into a storm at the drop of a hat. Movement is key to these long (yet sub 10 minute) songs, as the material on here has a good sense of momentum, making the Prog heavy sound finally make sense.
Heimdal's songs can often elude description as a lot of them are built around hypnotic rhythms that can last throughout their entire runtime, as in "Congelia" where this approach subtly evolves into a huge moment with tribal sounding drum patterns and clean vocals. On my first few listens it all blended into one complete song but on repeat visits a lot of the details start to stand out, like the winding Doom of the title track that breaks into a Heavy Metal riff in the middle or the beautiful flute/hi-hat combo of "Forest Dweller" before the storm arrives. The guitars and drums in particular both impress, the former alternating between powerfully driving riffs, elongated dirges and tremolos that both sound sharply urgent and lie in the background to provide atmosphere for the other instruments. The latter are served well by the slightly softer production, especially when they drift into moody segments where they lead as the guitar drops into the background. Heimdal is a subtle album that is deceptively varied and it is hard to tell how it will hold up come list season, but I would be lying if I did not say that I have enjoyed listening to it.
Rating: 7/10
Cosmo's Chaotic Curveballs
Galneryus - Between Dread and Valor
Genre: Neoclassical Power Metal
Label: Warner Music Japan
Release Date: 01-03-23
2023 has been a surprising year for Power Metal. It’s only the beginning of March and already bands such as Lovebites, Twilight Force and Magic Opera have all released albums that are great examples of what the genre can be when done well. Hardened veterans of the Neoclassical Power Metal genre, Galneryus returns with their latest album, Between Dread and Valor. After what seems like an ungodly amount of albums (this is their 16th full length), how does this one fare against its predecessors and other good power metal albums released this year?
Right away, Galneryus shows off their virtuosity on "DEMOLISH THE WICKEDNESS!" This song continues into the lead single from the album, "RUN TO THE EDGE." It's a classic Galneryus jam, and easily the best song from the album. However, after this bout of intensity, the remaining tunes feel a bit more subdued. It almost feels as if the band is showing their age here in sticking with more mid paced songs rather than the epic, fast compositions they are known for (see Angel of Salvation, Into the Purgatory, Reincarnation). This does not mean the songs are bad, however. Yuhki and Syu have two songs that are all about them, and it's a nice bit of self-indulgence that I want more of here. They are wonderfully composed for the most part, but I can't help but feel like the band is holding back, which is the main reason why I don't see myself revisiting this album as much as the previous ones. I know the saying is "less is more," but there are moments where bands need to adopt the famous Malmsteen-ian version of the saying: "How can less be more? That's impossible!" I hope for Galneryus to release another no-holds-barred neoclassical wankfest on their next album, but this album is an acceptable appetizer in preparation for a main course.
Rating: 6/10
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