In this post, I collect my instagram reviews for the week for albums released in 2022. All my non-2022 reviews are gathered in a post as soon as a decent number has accumulated. I listen to mostly metal, but I do not limit myself to any genre.
Alestorm - Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum
Genre: Power Metal / P.A.R.T.Y. N.O.N.S.E.N.S.E.
Label: Napalm Records Handels GmbH
Alestorm is a band that, very early in my metal listening years, I was actually kind of into. The once thrashy bent of their guitar work and the sometimes more epic song structures have long been a thing of the past, though. Alestorm have fully embraced the party narrative and, since the band apparently seems to be uncancellable, I am confronted with yet another piece of hedonistic trash. 'Seventh Rum of a Seventh' rum isn´t quite as obnoxious as their last album - even though they have to remind me of the tremendous misfire that was 'Tortuga' by making a song that returns to it. Instead, Alestorm appear more lazy than anything else.
The lazyness applies both musically and lyrically. Opening song 'Magellan´s Expedition' recycles multiple of their old songs musically, down to the main accordeon melody being basically a variation of "Huntmaster" from their debut. Alestorm don´t take any chances on 'Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum', maybe not wanting any bad press at all after hiring a mediocre pirate rapper for the last album. Oh, and that other thing, of course. Lyrically, Alestorm have never been gifted, but at least they seemed to care on some level. 'P.A.R.T.Y.' has the dumbest chorus and general lyrical theme I have heard on a metal album in a very long time and it seems that alestorm now don´t only look like it, they have fully became a metal version of LMFAO. I can certainly understand musical escapism and I can understand wanting something light, something entertaining, something catchy to listen to. But I question if there aren´t any other options. If you feel that in 2022, there are no better party metal acts to give your hard earned money to, I don´t know what to tell you.
Rating: 3/10.
Milking the Goatmachine - Nach uns die Grindflut
Genre: Deathgrind
Label: Reaper Entertainment Europe
I´ve been a fan of Milking the Goatmachine for a while. Sure, I must admit that my love for all things Goat certainly colors the experience - a goat themed Deathgrind band is just like bait for this reviewer. But Milking the Goatmachine honestly just knew what they were doing: A band that plays simple music, with above average writing and much groove but not much of a unique selling point musically, otherwise. Having a goofy lyrical concept is ideal, but where it counts is that Milking the Goatmachine were always able to deliver good material that fits perfectly into the "Extreme Metal for Partying" that this kind of Deathgrind usually occupies. In addition to that, there are many lyrical injokes and references to german memes that will likely be lost to international listeners.
Generally, the songs on 'Grindflut' flow very well. I would maybe prefer a production that was a little more percussive to make the songs hit a little harder, but overall the album sounds good and is produced competently. Knowing when to alternate simpler, punkier songs with the more Death Metal oriented ones has always helped them and it does so here, too. A cut like 'Rettet den Wald...esst mehr Biber" which is completely focused on D-Beats and simple punk riffs (albeit having a slayer goes black metal slowdown section) comes directly after a song that ends with slams, showing that even within a simple spectrum like this, variety can easily be achieved with just a little thought. 'Nach uns die Grindflut' has the same strengths as their other albums, but sadly also the same weaknesses - the album is, at 42 minutes, just too long for what it is. I appreciate that the band wants to give us the most for our money on some level, but some restraint would have been nice. Still, I really hope to be able to catch them live sometime soon.
Rating: 6/10.
Knoll - Metempiric
Genre: Grindcore / Deathmetal / Noise
Label: Independent
Knoll´s debut record, 'Interstice', was an above average record that showed an immense amount fo potential. I was as curious about what Knoll would do next as I was jealous about how fantastic these incredibly young lads were at what they are doing. Knoll hit a spot that isn´t dissimilar to the Deathgrind with Noise inlfuences that was found on Full of Hells modern classic 'Trumpeting Ecstasy', which should show you how much Knoll are my thing - on paper at least. Or rather, Knoll have now managed to realise much more of their potential and 'Metempiric' is an album that can easily stand on its own feet.
For one, Knoll take in more avantgarde influences from other corners of the avantgarde metal sphere. The sometimes appearing trumpet reminds me of the urban apocalypticism of a band like imperial triumphant and they´re noise influences seem to recall Full of Hell as much as they do Pyrrhon. On the other hand, the band shows much more restraint with the most abrasive elements of their sound. Rarely does the band go into full on chaotic noise, but when they do, it hits much stronger for it. Only in the last track does the band indulge in atmospherics for more than a minute, but it feels almost cathartic to stay in a space like that after an album that was such a tour de force. I can only hope that Knoll improve on their sound further, because the band is undeniably talented and probably one of the more exciting acts to watch.
Rating: High 7/10
Truent - Through the Vale of Earthly Torment
Genre: Thrash / Groove / Progressive Metal
Label: Independent
It seems hard to escape the shackles of genre tropes. While Truent brand themselves as progressive Thrash / Groove Metal, most of it seems to be informed by the progressive Metal trends of the 2010s. Prog is an iffy genre in a post-Periphery age and I can´t help but feel a little sick of the staccato riffs, the heavily clichéd modal leads and the style of singing that, while it could be technically considered harsh vocals, seems to be the least confrontative thing ever. Truent make an effort to break out of these shackles, certainly. The issue is only that most of the time, these tropes I hate so much seem to catch up with the band. A good example of this is 'Scathe of Branches', where the band does indeed at first sounds like a groove oriented tech-thrash band but about after a minute, they have to go into the modal leads, the half-clean fry screams and the not quite djent rhythm section which I am just so done with.
One thing to keep in mind here is that only because I hate these tropes so much doesn´t necessarily mean they´re badly executed. If you liked the Periphery style of Prog Metal to begin with, this could be an interesting step towards something that sits within the metal realm in a manner that is just a little more traditional. For me, however, I must say that these styles feel at odds. The occasional breakdown can even be entertaining and I am far from a traditionalist, but having something that I might enjoy having its edges sanded off, that I am not a fan of.
Rating: 5/10.
Municipal Waste - Electrified Brain
Genre: Crossover Thrash Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
There´s a reason most of the classic Crossover Thrash bands onlz have an album or two. The style is just incredibly limited in its scope and I wouldn´t know how to keep churning out new material that is similar enough to please fans while also staying consistently high quality. Municipal Waste was probably founded while passing a blunt around and cracking open a few cold ones and just from a desire to play some fun live music, but suddenly it escalated and the band signed their soul away to Nuclear Blast while Pink Floyds "Welcome To The Machine" played in the background. 'Electrified Brain' took 5 years to make and, yes, it is another Municipal Waste record.
You can probably tell that I am playing this review for time, as I have very little to say. The last sentence of the first paragraph is basically all you need to know. I see more established and more commercial review sites scramble to find some angle on the record, in a desperate attempt to somehow give it a positive score to appease some corporate overlords. I see a suipposed increase in a trad metal influence being mentioned quite often, but I find that a little reaching. Sure, the guitar solos sound a bit like traditional metal solos and there are a lot of them for the style, but every riff on this album is decidedly Crossover. The small 'Detroit Rock City' quote at the end of 'Ten Cent Beer Night' is more a joke than anything else and it would be an enormous stretch to claim that a KISS influence in any way influences the song. At the end of the day, this is a competent album and if you love Municipal Waste, you will probably be satisfied. But if I had to put some Waste on (I frankly prefer Iron Reagan), I´d probably go back to 'The Art of Partying'.
Rating: 5/10.
Imagine Dragons - Mercuy - Act 2
Genre: Pop
Label: KIDinaKORNER/Interscope Records
I see a lot of people, a lot of Guitar professionals even, parrot a certain talking point over and over: Rock needs to innovate to stay relevant, we need to accept a wider definition of what rock is. Genre descriptors have never been a sign of quality in any way, but a shared set of charactertistics. Using a genre name to describe music, or any media for that matter, is a helpful guideline for the listener to understand what the music he will listen to will sound like and with that guideline, he can get into the right headspace. When I listen to a pop record, my headspace is and should be different from a rock or metal record. The same is true for more art-oriented genres like classical, Jazz or experimental music - I need something to grab on to so I can understand what type of listening I am doing. The right move for rock is not to change the definition so the definition of rock closely aligns with current popular trends, but to accept that Rock´s time as a heavily profitable mainstream genre is probably over. If Imagine Dragons are Rock, then what is rock?
Independent of the genre discussion and the broader trends worth talking about, 'Mercury - Act 2' is a vile record among the worst I heard all year. Every track on this album tries to be as marketable as possible but ultimately ends up without any edge or identity of its own. The album is heavily artificial in sound and the performances of the individual musicians (wikipedia wants me to believe there are four of them) are hard to make out most of the time amongst layers and layers of production. Even the vocalists voice is never untreated - always at least autotuned or saturated with some effect. Not to mention that, for an album supposedly dealing with loss, there aren´t many introspective cuts at all. If you have a choice about what to listen to, stay away.
Rating: 2/10.
Comments