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
Faetooth - Remnants of the Vessel
Genre: Stoner Doom / Doomgaze
Label: Independent
Release Date: 28-10-2022
Faetooth are another victim of strange Metal Archives blacklisting. There really isn't much disqualifying the band from being on the Archives. I understand that the music under the nebulous Doomgaze umbrella fluctuates in sound quite a bit, so a case by case basis seems like the right approach. But similar to the case of BIG | BRAVE, who I also really like, MA editors just seem to struggle classifying that sound. What makes Faetooth less worthy than an act like Lord Vicar, whose Doom Metal is as infected by Rock as Faetooth is by Shoegaze? Even less, in Faetooth's case, I would argue. Most of Faetooth's sound is classic Doom Metal, even fuzzy and distorted enough to be called Sludge at times. Is the gentler approach to vocals sitting atop the Sludge really enough to discredit it as metal?
It makes sense to compare Faetooth to the recently released album by The Otolith. While I liked the The Otolith's sound, with its additional chamber music instrumentation, The Otolith weren't quite capable of structuring songs so that the build up leads somewhere. Faetooth are much riff-focused in comparison—traditional doom with less sonic extravagance or frills. I like this approach though. The female voice is always a nice contrast to the fuzz. Faetooth are just better at writing songs, too. If you can get down to Stoner and Sludge inspired sounds, you will find something to like about Faetooth. The issue with Faetooth, however, is the lack of variety. The band basically has one mode, and it's relaxed riffage. Their more psychedelic—or "Fae"—inclinations shine through most on the numbered interludes, which makes these moments seem like an afterthought, as if the band didn't remember that they´re supposedly fairies until the album was finalized. If these gals can turn this sound more cohesive, I will be more on board than I already am.
Rating: 6/10
Bekah Simms - Bestiaries
Genre: Contemporary Classical
Label: Centrediscs
Release Date: 28-10-2022
I don't know if—or how much of a surprise—it is that I listen to quite a bit of contemporary classical. Now, it does annoy me that I don't connect with a lot of it, but when I do, it really hits hard. One of the major struggles of Contemporary Classical is that it is a kind of catch-all genre that makes it very hard to narrow down specific styles. Imagine if all metal genres that developed since the post-2000s were being referred to as 'Contemporary Metal', and you can see the issue. Of course, even if I do like specific movements within contemporary classical, the genre is very dependent on good execution moreso than most other genres. Bestiaries by Bekah Simms is being mentioned in Bandcamp's latest Contemporary Classical roundup and the mention of it having a metal spirit made me intrigued, of course. I can at least say is that fans of Dissonant Death Metal, in particular, who should give this a spin.
The general feeling of Bestiaries is chaotic, tripping, and off-kilter, a mood that reminds me of composers using aleatoric (or chance-based) compositional techniques where the unpredictable rhythmic clashing serves as part of approach and charm. Simms' work, at least with this release, sounds calculated though, as if the seemingly unpredictable rhythms and timbres have been chosen to provide the best effect. Gentler textures clash with the irregular dense rhythmic approach and the effects used on the amplified instruments (cello and voice) recall electronic music, but in really subtle ways. It is easy to overdo things like these, especially tremolo effects on voice, but Simms' deft compositional hand on Bestiaries goes down much smoother than material like this normally could. Time will tell how revisitable Bestiaries is and how much it can grow.
Rating: 6/10
Spider God - Fly in the Trap
Genre: Raw / Melodic Black Metal
Label: Repose Records
Release Date: 11-11-2022
For an album as seemingly innocuous as Fly in the Trap, it has already attracted a lot of what could be called controversy, or divisiveness, at least. Much of the discourse centers around the idea that the album centers conceptually around the mysterious death of Elisa Lam, a modern cold case which has captivated many, the same many who cry that this is 'too soon'. Yes, it concerns a real life tragedy, but should that make it off-limits? I don't think so. I believe that the retelling of modern myth is a worthy endeavor and certainly this doesn't change when presented in the form of a concept album. It is important that art can express itself freely and doesn't become victim of self-important moral narratives.
The other point of controversy, however, matters more to me as this one does directly correlates with the albums sound. Spider God subvert the tropes of raw black metal by being ridiculously melodic. The harsh sonic environment clashes in unique and interesting ways with what is basically pop music, which Spider God openly dealt us with their previous outing Black Renditions (a cover album of pop songs in the trademark style). Where in most cases this either ends up being a gimmick (Ten Masked Men) or basically Pop Music that has a thin, superficial metal coating (Frog Leap), Spider God actually achieve a kind of synthesis. It is rare that a musician goes exactly where I want them to at a musical crossroads. When I reviewed Black Renditions I remarked that Spider God should aim to bring the same kind of catchy melodicism to some original tunes. And while Fly in the Trap is a bit too long for what it is, and occasionally has clunky arrangements that maybe focus on the melodies too much after all, this is exactly what this project needed to do to not only carve out its niche, but secure it.
Rating: 6/10
Metalligatorrr's Additional Album Assesments
Faceless Burial - At the Foothills of Deliration
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Me Saco un Ojo Records
Release Date: 07-10-2022
When Faceless Burial was making the rounds on the blogosphere with Speciation with high marks, I admit I was confused. This sounded like plain old uneventful death metal, the kind I usually don't like. I decided that this was yet another case of me not getting regular old school death metal and went back to listening to Ulthar's Providence, which released around the same time. Seeing the grime of the new album cover, I didn't expect much from this one either but was pleasantly surprised to find that the music actually reflected it in style. What becomes immediately apparent when hitting play on At the Foothills of Deliration is that a lot of work has gone into the production. The guitar riffs are chunky and the drums pound through everything else with a force that makes these two elements combined very effective at creating chaos filled contrasts that yank your attention by its throat. This marks the album a clear progression from Speciation in that it's more, well....progressive? The songs here are a collection of riffs that are very loosely connected in theme throughout. There's little in the way of revisited sections but they somehow make it work. If anything I think the album deserves some praise for that.
The songwriting ends up being a problem for me though. While the album is playing I find things to enjoy here and there with some strings of zoning out in between because there's no real red thread to follow. One particular time replay I thought I had reached the fourth song only to look at my media player and find that I had only finished the first song. For those of you out there that live and die by the riff this will probably be a treat. But I have problems recalling the songs at all after listening and while their impact as they are playing is nice, it easily becomes background music. A good example can be found in "Dehiscent", a song that has a Nile sounding riff pop up in the beginning, middle and near the end. Does this make a song cohesive by itself? When everything in between is riff salad it's hard to answer yes to that question. But it's not impossible to make such a thing work if how you get from point A to B is interesting enough and has an arc of its own. Here I find that Faceless Burial sound like they might be on to something but have yet to reach a good sense of how to connect it all. Despite not fully getting it this time either I find myself intrigued at what Faceless Burial can come up with if they continue down this new direction. Add a little tighter of a theme to the songs and maybe next time I'll be spinning their new album over and over.
Rating: 6/10
The Betrayed Kingdom - On the Land of Myth
Genre: Melodic Death/Doom Metal
Label: Independent
Release Date: 07-10-2022
The Peaceville doom sound lies near my heart and the weepy riffs of this style will always make my ears perk up in attention. I'm sure The Betrayed Kingdom agree as their debut comes in hot with old school Paradise Lost worship. Starting out with a few decent cuts, On the Land of Myth gives a coherent impression of the style that does not try to stand out much on its own. The production lends the album a sort of DIY rawness that works well enough with the material. Weepy riffs lead the first few songs but it's when "The Last Epigram" rolls around that I start to get interested. It features a calm breakdown that sounds different than the material before, an odd moment that's followed by "The Innocence of Ravens" where suddenly the band almost sounds like a sped up Swallow the Sun complete with a heavy/clean vocal attack. Here, the potential for this band to evolve into something interesting shines through.
The three part suite that finishes the album seems to be loosely connected and apart from some odd but tasteful drum patterns it spends its time in the same lane as the earlier material. This album is pleasant enough to listen to and some of the riffs evoke that same feeling you get from the bigger bands in this style. However, The Betrayed Kingdom never reach the point of doing something remarkable and it seems that they are still finding their feet. I'd advice them to start by focusing on songs that sound more like themselves next time as it seems that they already got a basic sense of composition down in other band's styles. The conservative score here reflects their sticking to an established sound, but I'll still be interested to check out any further work they put out.
Rating: 5/10
Ritual Dictates - No Great Loss
Genre: Gothic Metal / Rock
Label: Artoffact Records
Release Date: 07-10-2022
Some albums are so weird that they make you pause to listen to them a few times just to be able to parse what's happening in them. Ritual Dictates started out as Progressive Death Metal and Grind as I understand it. Now they do...rock and goth metal? It's a weird left field turn for their sophomore record that didn't hit me negatively because I, to my memory, haven't heard their debut. Either way No Great Loss has some compelling material that doesn't come across like how other bands incorporate a goth influence in metal these days. "Burn the Widow" starts with an almost funky bass line eventually hinting at the band's past with a growl that arrives before a short heavier section that borders death metal. Though, the impact is smoothed over a bit because of the production. "My Solitude" glides right into some post metal, reminding me of what Obsidian Kingdom did on A Year With No Summer, soon subverting its rock groove into something different: a gorgeous organ-led choir section accompanied by some light doom riffs and a good chorus.
Ritual Dictates' MO should be clear by now but just to hammer this home there are also parts that sound like Paradise Lost at their lightest with an (unnamed) female guest vocalist who almost steals the show. Ritual Dictates also shows shades of Bay Laurel on their last album (a reference I never expected to invoke ever) with some whispered vocals that approach DSBM level feel. No Great Loss wasn't immediate but I've come to enjoy spinning it more and more. This is far from plain rock or goth metal. Rather it's the result of a band taking a wide range of influences, throwing the cards in the air and picking the interesting combinations that land with a great ear for what works. It might not work for everyone but for those variety and experiment hungry fiends (like me) out there, who are also craving something lighter in tone than extreme metal while still carrying that vital edge of experimentation, give this succinct 36 minute album a go. Its opening moments bely how creative it is and I reckon you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 7/10
Alice F's Agonized Angles
Menace Ruine - Nekyia
Genre: Avantgarde Black Metal / Dark Ambient / Drone / Martial Neo-Folk
Label: Union Finale
Release date: 04-11-2022
Menace Ruine are not the kind of act that fuels the Starbucks sipping, Instagram advertising, Folk-aligned poseurs that litter the loudest of the scene today. Maintaining a bare minimum online presence, the duo returns after eight years of silence. In the meantime, they've moved from the quiet suburbia of Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Montréal even further into the woods of Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, a sleepy town of 3000 embedded in the forests of rural Québec. Vocalist and keyboardist Geneviève Beaulieu has lovingly carved Nekyia's lyrics into discarded bark, nowhere to be found only but allagedly available to be viewed in photographic form with the CD booklet.
Musically, Menace Ruine have also receded into the woods. Nekyia is a return to the woodsy Neofolk of the band's third album, The Die Is Cast. Beaulieu's voice floats over layers of thin, tortured reverb that could be either keyboards or guitars. Nekyia is an invocation of ancient spirits, their worship long forgotten by the men that inhabit this land. The ritualistic drumming lacks any cymbals, the absence of metal emphasizing the folkiness. "The Gift of Joy" fattens up the guitar tone for a funeral march that recalls the suicidal metalgaze of The Angelic Process. Drums abandon the music entirely on close "Free in Farewell" for a voice-and-key keen. The sustained notes ache, a tree witnessing all its peers falling to a forest fire.
While the path is familiar, thankfully, Nykeia stands out in its own right, evoking a sense of solemn loss newly realized. Menace Ruine have crafted the follow-up to The Die Is Cast fans have been eagerly awaiting for 14 years. The migratory birds return to this forest not. Smoke and light rises from the city in the distance. From the barren, leafless woods out steps two dryads clad in white, singing, plucking at instruments man has no name for. Behind them, the funeral procession of the gods of the land inches forward in complete silence, save for the sounds of Nekyia.
Rating: 7/10
Birds in Row - Gris Klein
Genre: Post-hardcore / Screamo
Label: Red Creek Records
Release date: 14-10-2022
Birds in Row want a better world. On 2018's outstanding We Already Lost the World, they screamed for mutual respect between people. Four years and a much changed world later, Gris Klein has abandoned diplomacy for righteous fire.
Where its predecessor was plaintive and sincere, Gris Klein is raging and desperate. Sudden soft sections appear much less frequently, and the drumming leans into the more chaotic side of screamo as vocalist Bart Hirigoyen rages against war hawks ("Daltonians"), the rich ("Confettis"), and society in general. This rage is unfortunately Gris Klein's greatest weakness, as these charged sections tend to bleed together. Fortunately, Birds in Row do not abandon variety entirely—effortlessly they incorporate post-punk ("Noah") and feedback guitar ("Cathedrals") into their sound for mid-album highlights.
While We Already Lost the World slightly inches out Gris Klein, Gris Klein is by no means obsolete or a hollow copy of its predecessor. If you're in the market for some political screamo in the vein of Tenue or Raein, Gris Klein shows that Birds in Row can rage with the best of them.
Rating: 7/10