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
Church of Misery - Born under a Mad Sign
Genre: Stoner Metal / Sludge
Label: Rise Above Records
Release Date: 16-06-2023
Church of Misery have been one of my favorite bands and my favorite Stoner Doom band for a while. It is hard to describe what makes a genre like Stoner Doom work, when it is so formulaic on paper. But similarly to how the average person perceives Death Metal as pure noise, there are nuances that you can only pick up on if you are a genre expert; when you are so invested in a genre that the ways a piece is different is more important than the many ways it is the same. Church of Misery eschew the drug obsessed and occult lyrics of most Stoner acts, instead focusing on serial killers, cult leaders and general psychopathy. It helps color the music: The sludgy, bluesy guitars become enigmatic of a desert more as a gigantic burial ground, a place to hide bodies and a place to die in than a cool place to hangout and drive a truck. Church of Misery's music has always followed suit, incoporating documentary sound samples into heavily distorted psychedelic sections, contrasting with the groovy riff fests that are the bulk of the songs.
Born Under a Mad Sign is no exception. While the album starts maybe a bit more modern than I am used to - John Allen Muhammad is a more recent case and the documentary used therefore post-millenial - it is undeniable that Church of Misery do what they do best. The riffs might be a bit more solid this time around - particularly the opener stomps with an almost hardcore groove. Yet, Church of Misery don't abandon the blues and stay true to the drunken bar brawl meets jam session energy that their music always had. Some new elements find their way into the tracks, as well. New and returning Vocalist Kazuhiro Aesada sings in a surprisingly intelligible manner for the band, likely being inspired by Scott Carlson's short stint on the previous record, which had made the songs surprisingly catchy. With this, the songs appear slightly more song-driven. Aesada had previously sung on Mikami's Side project Sonic flower, which focused on straight-up 70s Rock. I feel that this new album takes some subtle inspiration from Sonic Flower, including some 70s Prog inspired counterpoint lines and organ in a song each. While I would be happy with just more Church of Misery, it is good to know that the band is still trying and doing things that feel somewhat new. And even if the band doesn't deliver anything that rivals their best output, it has been a while since I found Stoner so creative and joyfully played.
Rating: 7/10
Metalligatorrr's Chomping Commentaries
S.U.P. - Octa
Genre: Progressive Metal / Alternative Metal
Label: Independent
Release Date: 26-05-2023
Spherical Unit Provided, in short S.U.P, took me on a trip down the rabbit hole with their new album Octa. For some reason thinking it was a debut album and seeing it billed as Melodic Death Metal, I was taken by surprise when I spun it and found that it is made up of a lot of disparate elements and all around hard to place. The first thing that came to mind was that S.U.P sounds like a mix of Death Metal, Rammstein riffs and some Post-Punk work in the bass, mainly (or even leaning on Goth as a few moments recall The Sisters of Mercy). But the more I listen the harder it is to escape the fact that vocalist Ludovic Loez sounds like a dead ringer for Nick Holmes (Paradise Lost, Bloodbath). Cool, I thought, here is a band that really likes Paradise Lost yet mixes things up, perhaps aiming at the Symbol of Life era where Paradise Lost themselves tried to sound like Rammstein. As I dug deeper into S.U.P's history however, it becomes apparent that they are like Paradise Lost's weird cousin, as they released their debut in 1995 and already sounded like Paradise Lost later would on their second album. Even more intriguing, they appeared on a PL tribute album from 2008 called As We Die For....Paradise Lost alongside bands like Orphaned Land. But it is clear that this band has been around for a long while, and Nick Holmes choruses or not, they do things their own way.
Octa is an odd mix of cleanly sung choruses and Industrial Metal riffs. Occasionally a Doom Metal riff or Death Metal moment will barge into the songs to great effect. A lot of the songs aim at dour moods and are progressive in a way where they build from start to end while the overall feel of it is static. Static as in the same riff or chorus can be repeated throughout an entire song with some constant changes happening in the background. Unfortunately this makes the album feel like a collection of moods and less like it consists of distinct songs. This can feel pretty confusing and even a bit cheap as when "The lights of Eden" just stops mid sentence after the same two words have been repeating for half the song. To their credit, evolving a song by shifting some background elements slowly is hard to do and a tool in the belt of the best long form Doom acts. S.U.P do not quite reach all the way with their Progressive stew of elements but have intrigued me enough to check out some of their earlier work, when I can wash my brain clean of the possibly unfair Paradise Lost comparisons (but seriously, the cleanly sung chorus in "Open eye" is the most Nick Holmes chorus I have heard even in the last few of their own albums).
Rating: 6/10
Cosmo's Chaotic Curveballs
Serpent of Old - Ensemble Under the Dark Sun
Genre: Progressive Metal / Blackened Death Metal
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Release Date: 30-06-23
Transcending Obscurity certainly knows how to sign and release quality Black Metal. This year alone has seen high tier stuff from Decipher and Burial Hordes. Now, Serpent of Old looks to join that pantheon. A brand new band from Turkey, their debut album Ensemble Under the Dark Sun promises long form excellence, if the promo sheet is to be believed. These sheets can be deceiving, though. Does this snake slither its way to success or does it end up eating its tail instead?
At its core, Serpent of Old writes their music in a style akin to The Chasm meets Ulcerate. It's mostly a blend of Progressive Melodic Blackened Death Metal, but there are moments of dissonance sparsely throughout the material. What I find most compelling about this material is the fact that while half of the album doesn't go below the 8 ½ minute mark, the songs are interesting enough to justify the length. For example, "Unsaturated Hunger and Esoteric Lust" constantly changes throughout its nearly 9 minute runtime and adds in a tasteful solo close to the very end of it. All of these songs are unpredictable in the best way possible, and none of them feel out of place on this album. Even the interlude is notable, punctuated by its use of choral chanting that comes directly out of left field but still somehow works. Serpent of Old have demonstrated that they are incredibly capable of writing long-form songs that keep the listeners engaged throughout, something a lot of bands fail to do. I think this Turkish group has an incredibly promising future ahead of them if they continue in the same vein and expand.
Rating: 7/10
Wilt - Huginn
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Label: Vendetta Records
Release Date: 23-06-23
Wilt impressed me with their second full length back in 2018, titled Ruin. 5 years later, they are back with third "full length" (I say this in quotation marks due to how short this album is) Huginn. Their specific blend of Atmospheric Black Metal captivated me, so I was fairly excited for this one. Unfortunately, it did not deliver what I was hoping for. The biggest problem with this release is how similar sounding the songs are. This is typical for the style of Atmoblack, but there's no emotion here. Each of the three songs "Cloaked in Ash" ,"1831", and "Resilience" could be interpreted as mere outtakes of the previous album, as this does not feel like a complete album to me, due to how indistinguishable the songs are from each other. I listen to this new album and find myself relatively baffled by it, questioning why it's even an album in the first place, when these songs could either have been worked on more or if it would have been better to call this release an EP. Hopefully Wilt returns to the quality I know they can produce on full length #4, whenever that releases, because there's certainly none of that emotive, captivating aspect here. Truly a disappointing release.
Rating: 4/10
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