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
Curta'n Wall - Siege Ubsessed!
Genre: Dungeon Synth / Raw Black Metal / Folk
Label: Grime Stone Records
Release Date: 03-02-2023
Similar to my Slamuary project, it seems Grime Stone Records is an extended high effort troll. Unlike my Slamuary escapades, the outcome for Grime Stone Records seems to be high: the absurd music of Abysmal Specter, an artist whose sound fills the label's outings, combines cheap, video game-esque synths with the rawest of Black Metal you can find. This low budget act, however, drops the grimdark façade of Raw Black Metal in favor of silly, danceable melodies and a shrill, cartoony aesthetic. On Siege Ubsessed!, Abysmal Specter experiments with incorporating actual instruments for the first time. He is doing so with the aid of what I suspect are musicians from YouTube's folk and acoustic scene.
Especially the inclusion of Elvya Dulcimer colors the album significantly. She contributes not with her dulcimer but instead with vocals, lending her voice to five of the fifteen tracks and further reducing the possibility of Siege Ubsessed! of being a Raw Black Metal album. What we have here are bouncy tunes that could have been made only in the internet age, recalling the memory of pixelated castles of "Sierra Adventure" booklets. I understand why people have a certain fascination with Grime Stone Records in the sense that it fulfills a need for a certain out-of-time nostalgia, one for which I long myself. I too believe that Abysmal Specter is more than a shitposter. What I don't get and what I do not enjoy about Siege Ubsessed! is the sheer scale of the album and its indulgence. For a short burst of cozy nostalgia, you really don't need much more than 15 minutes of material like this—Siege Ubsessed! gives us 51. And with the added production value, a lot of the ironic quality is lost as well. Siege Ubsessed! neither sits right nor fills the right niche.
Rating: 5/10
Metalligatorrr's Chomping Commentaries
Scáth Na Deithé - Virulent Providence
Genre: Atmospheric Blackened Death Metal, Funeral Doom Metal
Label: Vendetta Records
Release Date: 03-02-2023
There is good reason to be skeptical of 40-minute albums consisting of two songs. Sometimes they can seem like a collection of scattered ideas the musician wants to pass off as a complete work. Other times they are beating an idea into the ground so hard that one's attention starts to wander (Qrixkuor comes to mind for both). However, neither of these fit Virulent Providence, because these are clearly two long-form songs with purposeful writing. In a twist this album is Blackened Death Metal with a hazy production that you would normally only hear in bargain bin Black Metal with something to hide. However, in an amazing feat of genre transcendence, Scáth Na Deithé use it here not to hide, but rather to slightly soften the harsh nature of the music. This is at odds with Blackened Death Metal, but the right call for songs that stretch to these lengths. The music has a melodic backbone that is used sparingly, and when it shows up is the moment that the production truly shines. The same goes for the more atmospheric breakdowns of which there are a few. The impression of the sound is captured well in the album art; horrible fates in the night where the sun gives way to a dark fog.
Fittingly, a distinct Doom influence creeps into the songs at times and, while I admit that the pace is a bit faster, the overall feeling belongs to the Funeral Doom sub-genre. The length of the songs coupled with the shifts in pace remind me a lot of something like Drown's Subaqueous. Scáth Na Deithé constructs part one of Virulent Providence with blasting ups and ambient downs in tempo, always moving and building to its conclusion. The last repetition, if cut to be a bit shorter, would have faded in better into the next song but this is a minor fault. Part two fades in with the beat of an Irish bodhrán drum before launching into a dirge. This song alternates between being both slower and more intense than part one, making it distinct from its more atmospheric sibling. Here, the music echoes work done by The Ruins of Beverast with a folk-like chant in the background. It is striking that Scáth Na Deithé is similarly a one-man-band and all the more impressive what sole member Cathal Hughes has accomplished here. One of 2023's first great albums.
Rating: 8/10
In Flames - Foregone
Genre: Melodic Death Rock
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 10-02-2023
Opening a new album with a folksy clean guitar and a cello, In Flames has something to say after having taken a two decade long trip down the Hot Topic Hand Path at this point. As if to reinforce the statement, "State of Slow Decay", the first track proper, leads in with a heavy chug and riff that recalls the urgency of the band's early days. What prompted this return to having some actual metal in their sound is anyone's guess, but could perhaps be down to the recent emergence of a band that is in essence In Flames with a fake mustache—The Halo Effect. But In Flames do not entirely back into their old style as the songs still cram in pop refrains that, while sounding more honest than other recent output, still do not fit the rest of the music. Alternative Rock numbers like "Bleeding Out" and "Pure Light of Mind" exist to appease their newer fans, and as the album progresses it becomes continually softer, leaning more on this side of the band's history. Is the band indecisive or testing the waters to see if the fans will follow? Who knows? But this decision already makes things stand on an uneven foot.
Foregone does have noteworthy moments, however. First, Anders Fridén no longer sounds awful in the delivery of his cleans. While he does return to his shout-growl, he also goes a bit lower at times, and the nasal quality that has always defined his voice seems a thing of yesteryear. Moreover, the band approximates Jesper Strömblad's preference for uplifting riffs mixed with groove and even explores the folk influence that made the band unique when they were starting out. In the end, Foregone is not a return to form despite the visible skeleton of commendable features. It is a return to the days where In Flames put out albums that were a mix of bland and decent, like A Sense of Purpose and Sounds of a Playground Fading. Hungry fans of the old In Flames style might try to convince themselves to like this, fans of the mid period might think it is decent, and newer fans might either scratch their heads or decide to follow the band where they are going. But does the band themselves even know? Either way, the lyric "To forgive/And forget" sticks in the mind, and In Flames still have a lot to prove if they wish to once again be revered by the fans who they have forsaken.
Rating: 5/10
Unto Others - Strength II...Deep Cuts
Genre: Heavy Metal, Goth
Label: Roadrunner Records
Release Date: 10-02-2023
Strength was likely my most listened to album in 2021 and it is shocking how high quality Unto Others' work has been for such a young band and for what their chosen style is. Nevertheless, both of their full length albums are great, and while Strength carried a more aggressive edge, its structure also felt very odd on release. Strength II...Deep Cuts, is the answer to the question of what happened there: an EP with cut songs from the main body of their sophomore album which Unto Others had intended to release as a double. That decision proven to be the right one but not for the reason you might expect. The quality is indeed not lacking in these songs as the band has already stated. Rather, the tone of the music is lighter with a 80s feel in the sound and songs that lean on the fun side of the band as with Gabriel Franco's shouts of "YOU CAN HAVE THE POWAAAH!" in opening track "Sailing In The Darkness". It would definitely have stuck out on an album as downcast as Strength.
But that should not stop you from checking this out. Fans of Mana that felt left out by the follow up might appreciate that this EP leans into the band's previous Heavy Metal focus. The only dud here is "Passion Rules the Game" which ends up feeling a bit underdeveloped. Interestingly, the last two tracks are marked "Demo" and sound like they actually belong to Strength with their darker The Cure-like feel, making me suspect that the previous tracks are standalone or leftovers from the Mana sessions. Whichever it is, while not precisely matching the urgency of the Don't Waste Your Time EP, nor outright its quality, Unto Others have again put out something new worth listening to.
Rating: High 6/10
Alice F's Agonized Angles
Nicole Dollanganger – Married in Mount Airy
Genre: Singer-Songwriter
Label: Independent
Release Date: 06-01-2023
Nicole Dollanganger sings and plays guitar. There’s no real metallic character to her music beyond that—nevertheless, her music evokes a sense of darkness and misery that metalheads enjoy. I found out about her through her guest spot on Full of Hell’s Trumpeting Ecstasy, where she contrasted her ethereal, fey singing against the thalassic noise.
Married in Mount Airy sees Dollanganger rein back her Synthpop tendencies from 2018's Heart Shaped Bed, going back to a more organic sound as heard on her acclaimed Natural Born Losers. Her singing and the long, reverb-heavy guitars bring pictures of decaying middle-American homes in dead-end towns to mind, punctuated by lethargic drums. The occasional electronic element sneaks in in the form of warbly drone, enhancing the malaise and atmosphere. However, the album suffers from a monotony issue—at 43 minutes this is her longest album to date and loses some of its charm over that runtime. The stripped down instrumentation works against the album’s length too, making songs seem interchangeable instrumentally. While never unpleasant, the length keeps Married in Mount Airy from being great.
Rating: 6/10
Cosmo's Chaotic Curveballs
Winter Willow - Existentiell Vånda
Genre: Depressive Black Metal
Label: Talheim Records
Release Date: 31-01-2023
Mediocrity syndrome: where the majority of bands in a genre or subgenre release albums that are either not good or lack identity. Depressive Black Metal, where Winter Willow lives, characterizes itself with themes of Åkerfeldt-ian sorrow, hate, and existential despair. There are a few decent bands in this style, such as Shining and Mist of Misery, but the majority can't compete. So, even though Winter Willow has a different feel, is it enough?
Winter Willow can get creative with their instrumentation, like the tasteful solo that marks “Medvetet olycklig” as the album’s highlight, alongside tasty Western-inspired riffs in the second half. They also spend running a waltz, eschewing the traditional trem-heavy Black Metal soundscape. However, Existentiell Vånda does not contain enough good moments to cover its biggest flaw: the vocals. Like many Depressive Black Metal performances the vocals aim to be abrasive. I get that the music intends to convey feelings of anguish and despair, but Winter Willow's vocal stylings approach caricature, especially when the vocalist literally cries, such as in “Frusen in i själen”. Winter Willow continues to reinforce the “bad vocals” trope by relying heavily on spoken word, rarely a good choice, wasting five minutes with the album’s opener that way.
Even to diehard fans of this genre, I’d struggle to say it’s worth more than one listen. There are better bands out there who can reach beyond the banal song names listed across Existentiell Vånda. Phrases like “Medvetet olycklig” (Deliberately Unhappy) and “Självmordstankar till morgonkaffet” (Suicidal Thoughts to the Morning Coffee) make me laugh in a way that I'm sure is unintended. If I could understand Swedish the lyrics might sum up to more, but they give the vibe of “sad Swedish man talking about being sad and occasionally crying”. As it stands, laughter is my primary reaction.
Rating: 4/10
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