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
Kalmah – Kalmah
Genre: Melodic Death / Power Metal
Label: Ranka Kustannus
Release Date: 26-05-2023
I can't say that I have been a Kalmah fan for long. Initially, I dismissed them because of their similarities to Children of Bodom, which had been a formative act for me. In my mind, Kalmah just couldn't compare and the lack of guitar theatrics (and ballsy attitude, in parts) was impossible for me to overcome. It was only during a short stint with a local Melodeath band – which ultimately ended up fruitless, for many reasons – that I decided to reevaluate my bias towards the genre and gave Kalmah another chance. Frankly, Kalmah is just Power Metal without all the cringe. Songs are simple, but well crafted and carry a certain pathos that makes them work and there is no horrible sqeaky clean tenor to ruin the enjoyment. As with many acts, only the early material for Kalmah appears to be essential and as someone who hasn't heard every single Kalmah record, it is tough to place this self-titled record within their discography. I can say that on a level of quality, this doesn't quite deserve the self-titled status – as so often, this is not their best record. On a level of how representative it is, the album might as well deserve the title, though.
Kalmah have never strayed far from the path that they've chosen and they deliver the usual cheese tinted leadfest. Something I appreciate heavily about the album is how Kalmah do not sacrifice grit for wider marketing appeal, even if I am unsure if this is a choice or a concern regarding production budget. Kalmah feels dirty and even messy at times, reminding me of Melodeath acts that play a much rougher and abrasive style than Kalmah do. In the opening track in particular there are melodic leads that don't manage to fully push the trem picked aggression to the background and it is a more aggressive opening than is to be expected from an act like this. Kalmah do commit to some cheese later on, though. "No Words Sad Enough" serves up some of the most stereotypical Scandinavian sadness that you could imagine, ripe with cello, sampled piano, flute and spoken word. It succeeds at breaking up the album stylistically, but I question how necessary this is compared to just trimming off the fat and having a leaner album. The song doesn't amount to much and is structurally too linear to be an essential inclusion, even though it has a very tasteful solo section for the guitar. Concerning pacing, the album would play much better if it ended after "Red and Black", incidentally one of the best cuts of the album as well. You could do worse than Kalmah's usual in 2023, but I would still recommend digging into their early work instead – Kalmah have done better than their usual and are always worth a revisit.
Rating: 6/10
Torture Rack - Primeval Onslaught
Genre: Death Metal
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Release Date: 09-06-2023
For a while, it seemed like Death Metal tried to become the thinking man's genre. The rise of Tech and Prog Death alike certainly was a countermovement against the simultaneous rise of Metal- and Deathcore and what many people perceived as a watering down of the style. Ironically, this made us move further away from the source and another counter movement was needed: Caveman Death Metal has been on the rise for a while and is the quintessential style of Death Metal for many, even if most of the bands sound nothing like the originators.
Torture Rack are in the lineage of bands like Undergang for sure. Their music has a slight Hardcore bent and ultimately just revolves around beating people up aurally. This, again, is true for many of these acts as the only way to make music this simple work is to go dirtier and punkier. Torture rack do not quite play with the big boys, though, and there isn't all too much that will differentiate them from the myriad of acts now playing this style. This doesn't mean that there is nothing to enjoy, ofc. The bass is enjoyably present and often when the band changes the rhythmic feel on a dime, it can enhance the individual riffs and add up to more than the whole. The whole, in this case, being only 26 lean minutes, which makes me suspect that Torture Rack know how much they can take this style. No attempt is made to take it further, but there is also not a need to.
Rating: 6/10
Metalligatorrr's Chomping Commentaries
Anubis Gate - Interference
Genre: Progressive Metal / Power Metal / Thrash Metal
Label: No Dust Records
Release Date: 02-06-2023
Way back in the ancient times of 2011, Anubis Gate surprised and impressed me with their self-titled album full of Progressive writing and thrashy Power Metal. Being the cranky Gator that I am, I am almost physically unable to listen to Power Metal. But Anubis Gate write engaging songs and inject a healthy dose of Thrash Metal in their work, punching away all dragons and crooning bards. Horizons saw the band take on a heavy pop sound to great effect but then they swung low and attempted something darker with Covered in Black, an album that did not sit well with me. Interference arrives after a mildly interesting covers album and six years of Anubis Gate-less space, leaving me apprehensive. Yet the new songs sees them trying some new things and puts a finger on how unique they are in the overly polished Progressive Metal scene.
Most of the tracks on this album are built around distinct ideas, like the Techno like melody in "Equations" offset by aggressive drums and shouts in the chorus, or the dark RPG dungeon synth-work of "Dissonance Consonance", a song that plays with contrasts in an intriguing way. These songs are some of the best on Interference and they disclose a confident band that is experimenting with ways of mixing dark and light moments, a heritage of the last collection of original Anubis Gate songs. Of course, you will find the usual odd time signatures, Jazzy influences and noodly guitar leads and solos that is implied in the Progressive Metal genre. Henrik Fevre's vocals are as great as ever, leaning more into powerful statements of cadence and even some wonderfully used harsh shouts (though I cannot find information on who does them). The drummer is also the hidden weapon of the band, going from adding tasteful fills and groovy rhythms to outright Thrash Metal assaults and double kicks to the face.
However, as much as I enjoy the great vocal moments and unique ideas present in this album, not all is well with the songwriting. First, there are songs here that sound like stock Anubis Gate in "Ignorance Is Bliss" and "World of Clay". These songs are not exactly bad but they sound like outtakes from previous outings. "World of Clay" and "The Phoenix" in particular sound like they were cut from Horizons. Then there are the constant builds. Most of the songs spend their first minutes setting the mood like they are all the last song on the album. In practice, this makes them stretch out far in length. Another problem that is even worse is that while the songs have their own character, few of them have that final push for the end of the song that made albums like Horizons and the self-titled so good. Meaning they often end in a repetition of the chorus or the main song idea. This makes the length of the songs even more questionable as they could have been cut to make them much snappier. It is unfortunate that a great set of songs be taken down by not having enough development but as I have spun this album over a week it feels less interesting than when it was just gracing my ears for the first time. Interference is a swing and a miss from a talented band that I am rooting for, but they are at least heading in the right direction again.
Rating: High 6/10
Cosmo's Chaotic Curveballs
Vide - The Parish
Genre: Raw Post Black Metal
Label: Independent
Release Date: 02-06-23
An anonymous one person Black Metal band (haven't seen one of these before) from Louisiana, Vide self-describes their style as "Raw Post Black Metal". Normally I am not a fan of this particular flavor of Black Metal, but it's never been too aurally offensive to my tastes. Is Vide the ideal swamp-dweller, or is this one to let sink back into the bog?
Their 14th release and third full length since 2018, Vide is nothing if not prolific. And credit where credit is due, as Vide tries to write what on paper would be an interesting mix up to the typical tremfests that make up albums of this style, such as what one would see on a release by Black Cilice, another enigmatic Raw Black Metal band whose most recent release I found somewhat enjoyable. Unfortunately, I did not find this album anywhere close to enjoyable. The Parish starts off fine, but steadily gets worse as the album progresses, becoming particularly heinous at the songs "Shelter in place" with its samples thrown into the music, and "Her desperate cries", which has an almost waltz like guitar line with vocals that almost push this into Noise territory, and not in a pleasant way. Another issue is the recurring intro/outro problem present on many albums: these tracks don't really add anything to the album and are best if either cut entirely or if they bleed into the next song (intro)/bleed from the previous song (outro). It's not all horrible, however. "Living off borrowed time" and "Kingdom on fire" do their best to save this otherwise sinking airboat from the denizens of the swamp it crawled out of, as both songs abstain from using traditional Black Metal elements such as blast beats and trem picking to instead have (what resembles) riffs and varying drum patterns. Ultimately, I cannot recommend this album to any but the most diehard of Raw Black Metal fans. There's not enough of any one element in here that would make me choose something like Vide or any of the countless other bands of this style when I could instead listen to something like Black Cilice and have somewhat of a more enjoyable time doing so.
Rating: 4/10
Garoted - Bewitchment of the Dark Ages
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Lavadome Productions
Release Date: 26-05-23
Garoted was a completely unknown band to me prior to listening to their newest album, and I'm glad I picked this up. Featured prominently on the always reliable Lavadome Productions, this band delivers Death Metal with a ferocity that is rarely seen nowadays, with many Death Metal acts opting to go in different, usually cavernous, directions. If you like your flavor of Death Metal wild and unpredictable, stick around as this band will divebomb their way into your ears and stay there.
While it may be easy to dismiss this band as early Morbid Angel or Deicide worship, Garoted are more akin to modern contemporaries Cambion with their extremely fast, wild style of playing. Like a bull in a china shop, the opener "Infernal Death's Majesty" immediately sets the tone for the rest of the album. It crushes you into dust with spastic leads and pounding drums that make it impossible to not bang your head to. The rest of the album continues in this fashion and never lets up. Early highlight "Black Canticle of Horror" boasts the most technically impressive fretwork on the album, and it's a song that will stick with me for quite a while. What really impresses me is the drum production on this album, which makes me think of Dechristianize era Vital Remains, albeit condensed into a neat 35 minute package. That being said, the main problem I have with this album is the fact that the songs, while technically impressive, are quite similar sounding at points. The band attempts to break up the seething madness contained with sample usage "Arcane Shadow Idolatry" and ritualistic drumming "Harkening to the Age of Blood & Plague", but ultimately these efforts are somewhat in vain as the album remains one note in its carnage. I was suitably impressed though, as this album is still in my current rotation and more than likely won't find itself kicked out for a while. I think Garoted have a ways to go before they create their magnum opus, but my eyes will be on them throughout that journey.
Rating: High 6/10