Graf Orlock - Doombox EP (2011)

Band: Graf Orlock
Country: Anaheim, California
Style: Grindcore/Hardcore
Label: Vitriol Records

When approaching grindcore, I find it's best to always stay on your toes, as you could have anything from spastic technical stuff, more wacky jokes included within the music with samples, gore oriented lyrics with guitars that are just vicious sounding, and more. With this EP, when it opened with a sample that simply stated "I don't give a fuck," I pretty much knew that I would get no bs grinding hardcore. This is raw, aggressive, no holds barred grindcore that knows how to get the blood moving.
Sonically, I found this album to be pretty diverse for it's eleven minute playing time. Within each track, despite usually being under two minutes, managed to include some brutal grindcore blasting sections, more slower and sludgy parts, and even a hardcore breakdown. I was also surprised with the amount of catchy riffs that were on here, hear a track like South Central for example, which, while simple, is still successful in how it's used. Though I liked most of this EP, I found the inclusion of a glitchy beat on 1993; A Week B4 Graduation to kind of throw off the momentum of that particular track.
Overall, this is great grinding hardcore music, it's short but knows how to go about writing songs. With a lot of grindcore acts, it's hard to really find parts to latch onto and remember, but that's not the case on here at all. If you like grindcore definitely look into this band, you won't regret it.
Overall Score: 7.5
Highlights: Wrecking Crew, South Central

Profane Prayer - Eye of Sin (2011)

Band: Profane Prayer
Country: Athens, Greece
Style: Black Metal
Label: Orkestral Promenade Production

When it comes to metal that comes from Greece, I'll be honest and say that I've never been the biggest fan. That's not to say there aren't any good bands, as there are plenty, but it usually tends to be the vocalists of those bands that turns me off of them. It's usually within black metal, or bands that have a black metal vocal style, that usually get that sort of reaction from me, but this album surprised me in that it was actually tolerable, vocally, and quite strong musically.
From my perspective, this band had a mix of what appeared to be traditional black metal, heavy metal, and punk music, which is something I really liked. The first tracks I heard from this album, The Widow, just hit the ground with this punk attitude that just got my blood boiling. What you get on here isn't all that technical sounding, but it's fast and aggressive, giving you just enough of an adrenaline rush to jump start you, but not overwhelm you. This is a short album and about half the tracks don't even reach three minutes, but those are the tracks that honestly have more of the punk sort of attitude to them, where it's just in and out, no fooling around.
But with all the faster and more straightforward tracks also comes tracks that are slower and more groovy. Songs like Pain Is Taking Shape or Redemption are slower and more pensive, less aggressive. I wouldn't call these songs sludgy or even doomy, but they're just a more melodic and less tense sounding version of the faster songs. While I understand that these tracks aren't the same dose of pure "I don't give a shit" attitude sort of songs, these tracks I felt were necessary to the creation of a well-crafted album.
Overall, I really like this album, it's short and melodic, and it's actually catchy. I really like it when metal bands, especially black metal bands, take a hint from hardcore or punk music, just to really give their sound a bit more of a grit or grind to it. Definitely check this out if you like black metal that just doesn't mess around.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: Sorrow, Under The Black Sun, Redemption

Widowland - Widowland (2011)

Band: Widowland
Country: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Style: Stoner/Sludge Rock
Label: Independent

When you start an album off with a blue lick that just screams The White Stripes or Clutch, you know you're gonna get something solid. This is not a heavy record, in terms of metal, having much more in common with rock music and blues-rock. If you're expecting anything resembling the older material of groups like Mastodon, Neurosis, or Baroness, you'll be a bit disappointed by this.
Like mentioned above, this has bits that resemble a group like Clutch, strong bluesy riffs, thick and distorted bass, simplistic drumming, and vocals that sound like a guy from the 70s. While on paper it might read a bit weird, but it works rather well together, hear opener Firehouse for further proof. You can definitely tell influences come from stuff like The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath more than anything modern, the sound on here is just too 70s sounding to say these guys weren't influenced by this sort of stuff. The production does a good job on here though, despite sounding retro musically, the production makes it feel up to date with other recordings, it not polished, but it's clean.
With only six songs on here, and only reaching up to just over half an hour in total, most of these songs are around five minutes, which works. These songs are short enough to where they provide a good and catchy riff a few times, put in a decent chorus, and then get out. Being a trio works for their advantage as when the guitar goes into a solo, the bass just takes over the rhythm and it works, hear Volcano.
Overall, this is a solid record, it's not great, but for what it is, it's definitely above average. I'd say the trio might just have to hone their songwriting abilities just a little bit more, even though I believe all the songs on here are catchy and have some great riffs. If you like blues influence music at all, definitely check this album out, you won't regret it.
Overall Score: 7.5
Highlights: Firehouse, Labyrinth, Myth

Iskald - The Sun I Carried Alone (2011)

Band: Iskald
Country: Sortland, Norway
Style: Progressive/Melodic Black Metal
Label: Candlelight Records

It's only been within the last year that I heard the Norwegian duo Iskald's work. I found their 2008 album, "Revelations of Reckoning Day," to demonstrate a fine line between melodic songwriting and progressive black metal riffs while retaining a pretty solid and identifiable sound. This new album expands upon the style present on that album and pushes it into an even more original form.
Make no mistake however, the band are still making use of the two identifiable features I mentioned above, these songs just have a more adventurous sense of experimentation within them. Riffs on this album are even more progressive sounding, hear a track like Natt Utover Havet, but are even more catchy than before; but along with that, these songs don't feel as aggressive or angry as previous albums. I could see the replacement of a more direct and brutal assault for more expansive songs that build and fall more upsetting some, but this band has only improved upon their previous formulas. Album closer, and epic, Burning Bridges is by far the most expansive piece the band has ever written, moving into newer territory by including even more progressive elements into their sound. However, a song like I Lys Av Mørket definitely retains a sort of blackened thrash approach that should definitely fit well with the fans of their older material.
The production on here is also a strong point of this album, it's clean, maybe a little too polished for this style, but it works for the modern approach this band has used. It's not overly atmospheric or distorted sounding, preferring for a more pristine sound that enhances the songwriting and riffing more than atmosphere. While most of the time I found this cleanliness to enhance the album, there are some moments where I think that the record could have done with a little bit of a more rough sound, the shortest track Rigor Mortis for example I think would have sounded better if the record was more crusty sounding.
Overall, this is a really good record that I could definitely see bringing new people into the band. While I'll say that this is not the most original sounding record, it does have a strong sense of self and some really great songs. Definitely look into this band, and this record, if you like melodic black metal that isn't as "cheesy" as some other groups.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Forged By Wolves, The Sun I Carried Alone, Burning Bridges

Lifelover - Sjukdom (2011)

Band: Lifelover
Country: Stockholm, Sweden
Style: Depressive Rock/Post-Black Metal
Label: Prophecy Productions

It was two years ago that Lifelover released their last collection of songs, the EP titled "Dekadens," now this wouldn't seem all that bad, except for the fact that this is the longest gap between releases within the band's career. This album has the band changing their signature depressive pop, if you will, for a much darker sound. All the trademarks are here, the band is just upping the level of intensity and songwriting.
This new album takes their growing sense of songwriting abilities and hones them with a much darker sound. For those that enjoyed the more upbeat numbers on the band's earlier releases, they might be a bit disappointed by the lack of a more"poppy" number on here. These songs are much more aggressive sounding than most of the stuff that was present on the last few full-lengths, taking a more metal sound. Tracks like Led By Misfortune or Karma feature some of the heaviest riffs ever utilized by the band. However, the band still crafts some big melodies on this album that could also be called some of their most melodic and catchy songs to date as well, hear Expandera for example. For me however, this album has a shift from melodic guitar parts to melodic piano parts, as a piano is often the main source of the catchy melodies on here rather than the guitar, though the former does still play some catchy melodies as well, hear Instrumental Asylum.
On their last EP, there were some complaints that the band had started to kind of fall back on their signature sound a little too often and were starting to sound a little less poignant than before, but this album should change that opinion. Though this is without a doubt the band's most metal sounding record, vocalist ( ) still sounds as deranged as ever, hear a track like Homicidal Tendencies where he sounds like he's about to have a breakdown, not that fans of the band should find that different, but compare that to the almost feral sounding growls on the following track, Resignation. The band themselves also have the ability to craft beauty into this otherwise despondent and tortured album, allowing just enough light to shine in to make this seem like an all but hopeless case.
Overall, this is a great record with a lot that I like, and very little that I don't. This is a side of the band I really enjoy, them getting heavier and darker, even I found their last EP to kind of be weak for them, but this is just great. If you like catchy, melodic, depressive black metal, definitely check this band out, and this album, it doesn't disappoint.
Overall Score: 9.5
Highlights: Every Song Is A Highlight

Tartar Lamb II - Polyimage of Known Exits (2011)

Band: Tartar Lamb
Country: Boston, Massachusetts/New York City, New York
Style: Classical/Avant-Garde
Label: Independent

When considering oneself a fan of avant-garde artist Toby Driver, I think you have to be pretty open minded. I consider myself to be a pretty open minded person when it comes to music, I enjoy my fair share of ambient and lounge music as well as the more brutal and technical aspects of death metal or jazz, respectively, but Driver's music has never really ever existed within any one of those genres. I have acquainted myself with his work in Maudlin of The Well and Kayo Dot, and his solo album was one of the first albums I ever reviewed, but his work in Tartar Lamb was one that I wasn't all that familiar with. Apparently taking a music more orchestrated and classical approach towards composition, making use of very little rock or metal influence, if any at all; and that's not to say that this can't be considered avant-garde either, there's plenty of odd stuff going on in here.
This album is a four track suite, or sorts, with each piece really demonstrating a very different set of ideas. There are moments that strip back a lot of the instrumentation that is built up during the 1st Movement, which brought in a lot of woodwind based instruments as well as more electronic glitches here and there, and bring it into very minimal territory where it feels almost like ambient music. As a fan of the saxophone, in almost any capacity really, I found that it's use of this album was really fantastic, it was not overused, but not underplayed, being used quite a bit to just set a really great mood throughout the piece, listen to the 3rd Movement to hear what I mean.
For how long two of these pieces are, they move surprisingly fast and don't deteriorate in quality with multiple listens. I, personally, found myself enjoying the longer movements of this piece simply due to the odd nature in which they progressed, whether it was into very minimal territory or the more climatic points where everything is being played at once. The 4th Movement in particular really brought in some more instrumentation, with the addition of violin, piano, and percussion to really bring the piece to a beautiful conclusion.
Overall, I really enjoyed this album, though there really wasn't any reason I ever doubted that I would since it's coming from Driver. This is definitely not as "avant-garde" as some of his other bands, but it certainly is still very well done. Definitely look into this album if you've enjoyed the last couple of Kayo Dot releases.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: 2nd Movement, 4th Movement

Mescalin Massacre - Liquid, Soma Death (2011)

Band: Mescalin Massacre
Country: Oldenburg, Germany
Style: Industrial/Psychedelic Black Metal
Label: Astrum Tempestas

I think that the intro track of this album is kind of representative of what happens on the rest of the album. Introduction of LSD 25 is a two minute long sample describing what to do if a person changes into a monster; well, the rest of the album is that change. The harsh, echoing guitar lines that follow in the second track, Trip 1 - Beginning of The End, actually manages to capture, at least for me, the sound of someone tripping on LSD, a non-stop roller coaster of ups and downs but all going over 100 miles an hour.
I don't know how intentional the link between each track is meant to be, sure the overall concept does join them together with a theme, but each track doesn't link into the next, each trip being it's own sonic adventure, if you will. Tracks all follow the same theme of fast and slow movements during their length, as well as mechanical-like percussion, no vocals, and a raw, distorted sound. Each track has these things, and thanks to the shortness of each track, and the overall album, the entire thing is just over twenty minutes in total, each track can sort of take you on a similar, connected trip without getting boring or overly repetitive.
Overall, this is a pretty cool album, since there are no vocals, it might not feel as vibrant as some other bands, but I think this disc manages to accomplish what it's meant to do. I could see a person actually freaking out if they were listening to this and tripping on LSD at the same time. If you like experimental black metal, definitely check this one out.
Overall Score: 7
Highlights: Trip 1 - The Beginning of The End, Trip 4 - Decomposition of The Mind