Mount Moriah - Miracle Temple (2013)

Band: Mount Moriah
Country: Durham, North Carolina
Style: Alternative Country
Label: Merge

Mount Moriah's self-titled album back in 2011 really blew me away and was the album that really brought me a new appreciation for country music. I was a fan of the genre as a young kid but grew out of it even before the teen years. I never thought I'd appreciate it, as I do now, again until I heard this band.
Having only initially listened to the band because of Jenks Miller's presence I was definitely blown away by the authenticity and genuine emotion that the music expressed. It felt a bit more stripped down from the country(?) that is usually played on either the radio or television, which is what I had always associated the genre with. Despite the songs having huge hooks, they never had that overproduced feel that is so common in mainstream country music. Heather McEntire's voice leads the group though each song but it never feels as though it's the sole focus, as in, the music doesn't feel as though it's simply backing her up. Her voice is soft and gentle throughout, which, once again, contracts what I hear from radio country because it isn't loud and in your face. I've always viewed it like singers in those sorts of groups were saying, "Pay attention to me, I'm singing right now! Hear what I have to say because it's really important, way more important that what's going on behind me. C'mon everyone and listen to me!" Which is not what I get from this record, or really country music that is less played on the radio that is, where the vocals fit more snug in between the instrumentation. But enough of me ranting about mainstream country (or acoustic pop music).
One of the things I admire about country music is it's variety in instrumentation, which is no exception on here. To fit a variety of moods, the instrumental accompaniment definitely shifts, from the more simplistic rock tone on Eureka Springs to the more hopeful vibe where strings are used on I Built A Town. Whether you enjoy the style of music or not, I always found it a point of admiration that the genre would use whatever it could to get the song sounding good. Regardless of all that, the resulting song may not be a hit or resonant for whatever reason, and that's what happened to me on here. I want to make it clear that there was not a song on here that I did not like, these are all perfectly pleasant songs, but unlike the first record, there weren't as many that hit me as powerfully. The majority of tracks on here are perfectly well done little country songs, but there are a handful that really just get everything right. When I hear the likes of the aforementioned Eureka Springs or the title-track is just hits that spot where all good songs do for me. Yes, I know that sounds weird. It's just one of those things where the instrumentation, the mood, and the vocals just hit all the marks and resonate correctly (for me).
Like I said in the beginning, I owe my "modern" appreciation for country music to this band and even if this album doesn't do everything that the first one did for me, it's still great regardless. The songs on here are some of the catchiest and most memorable I've heard all year. Definitely worthy of checking out for those of you who want to take a chance and listen to something that isn't related to metal or avant-garde music (in regards to those people who tend to read these reviews).
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: Eureka Springs, Connecticut to Carolina, Miracle Temple Holiness

Gorguts - Colored Sands (2013)

Band: Gorguts
Country: Richmond, Canada
Style: Technical/Progressive Death Metal
Label: Season of Mist

Gorguts are pretty much a legend in the death metal genre at this point so the arrival of a new album comes plenty of hype. I'm no exception towards excitement towards this album, I was looking forward to this (probably) just as much as anyone else. The three new members of the band only increased my interest in hearing how this album would sound like.
I don't think it's any stretch to say that this album lives up to all the hype it's been getting. Everyone usually (but not always) comes into reunion albums with a certain amount of skepticism, and that's fair, many reunion albums have failed to live up to the hype, but there are obviously those that do live up to it. In the case of this new album from Gorguts, it surpassed any of the expectations I placed on it. Apparently influenced by groups like Opeth and Porcupine Tree, Luc Lemay set out to write a more progressive oriented album, and boy did he ever. Even if those are the bands he took influence from, the links I drew sonically were more towards groups like Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord, and Ulcerate (but that's just me). The songs have a frenetic quality to them but always feel in tune resulting in a sound that feels like every note is bringing the song ever so closer to just teetering on the edge before falling off. It's a sound I've fallen in love with in recent months and this is probably one of the best instances I've ever heard it used. Plenty of groups are ripping off the groups above, trying to do chaotic and dissonant black metal or do the whole "post-death metal" thing, but this is by far one of the best examples of a band embracing modern sounds while doing something completely fresh without abandoning their older, trademark (if one could say that) sound.
The addition of Kevin Hufnagel, John Longstreth, and Colin Marston have greatly added to what makes this album so great. Even though Lemay has said that he wrote everything (with the exception of Forgotten Arrows, which I think was written by Marston) and the rest of the band simply added in their own flairs, what an impact they leave on each song. Just the tones on the instruments clearly give a indication to what player brought to the table. They bring small traits that you can link back to their other groups, for instance, all throughout the record, Marston's bass tone always had me thinking back to his warr guitar work in Behold The Arctopus. But really that's just one aspect to this record, the performances. The production on here is just stellar. It's so naturalistic sounding, the guitars aren't uber distorted, at times they sound cleaner than distorted. I love the way the bass cuts through the mix while not purposefully attempting to stick out for the majority of the album. And then there's the drum tone which is nice and naturalistic sounding. The kicks aren't overly triggered sounding, the snare is nice and poppy, and the floor tom(s) just boom. The entire things sounds so amazing.
The songwriting is perhaps the one thing that's lacking, in a sense, because I didn't find that there were any moments where a song just stood up and said, "Remember me!" But this isn't really music that is supposed to do that. However, that isn't to say that these songs aren't memorable, I found plenty a riff to stick with me after the album had finished. Guitar harmonies that weave in and out of each other with bouts of dissonance as well as hard bass lines have proven to have stuck with me longer than several catchy melodic songs I've heard this year. There's a quality to the songwriting that is just so intriguing and memorable that I can't help but love it.
Frankly, this is an album that just gets better and better each time I listen to it. I love the sound of it and I love the way the songs are constructed in ways that are always keeping the listener interested and on edge. It's great, and that's about all I can say. If you haven't heard it yet, what the hell are you doing?
Overall Score: 9.5
Highlights: Every Track Is A Highlight

Carcass - Surgical Steel (2013)

Band: Carcass
Country: Liverpool, England
Style: Melodic Death Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast

I know I'm not alone in saying that Carcass is one of the finest groups to ever emerge from the death metal/grindcore genre. They were a band who always took chances with their sound and made each album different from the last. Now, after seventeen years they come out with a brand new album - the pressure is mounting.
I didn't listen to any of the tracks that were released before the entire album came out simply because I didn't want to be pushed to either side of the argument about which direction the band were going to take. Was it going to be a return to the more technical grind/death of Necroticism, the classic melodic style of Heartwork, or the more straightforward melo-death/rock of Swansong? I didn't want any of the singles to put me on the path to any of them and I wanted to come in open minded. So when I pressed play for the first time, I was extremely anxious and nervous that it wouldn't live up to the hype. So it was with pleasure that for nearly the entire album, song after song, I was blown away. Those who have heard the album already will already know that while the album is probably closest to Heartwork, it contains a nice amount from the other two albums I mentioned above as well.
While only half of the original/classic band remain for the album, both new members drummer Daniel Wilding and axeman Ben Ash successfully earn their places on here. With Wilding dutifully backing up the band while not overshadowing Ken Owen's work, he brings a much more modern style to his drumming (IE. more metal less punk), which definitely gives his performance a different vibe. As for Ash, he definitely keeps up with Bill Steer. The two of them playing riffs that are quick, melodic, and thrashy for more of less the entire record. The two of them are lightning fast, and whether or not it was the fresh blood of Ash or not, the riffs have an urgency to them that really hasn't been present on any of the band's previous work. Tracks like The Master Butcher's Apron or Noncompliance to ASTM F 899-12 Standard are just furious while being incredibly precise. Then Mr. Jeff Walker who has been one of my favorite death metal vocalists pretty much since the first time I heard him. His rasp is in perfect shape and his bass playing, while not overly emphasized, when heard definitely gives a nice thump to the music.
Anyone who's heard a Carcass record will tell you just how precise and on the band are, and have been, in terms of their songwriting. While stylistically they varied, the songwriting always retained the same high caliber throughout their career. Whether they were writing short, undecipherable (gore)grind songs, more technical death metal, or uber melodic metal, they always managed to construct a song that was memorable and stayed with you long after an album had finished. In that regard, this album is no different with just about every song hitting hard with catchy riffs or melodies that are total earworms.
As if you needed another person to inform you that this album is great, but if you had any doubt remaining, throw it aside. It's strange that after years, decades really of bands getting back together and doing reunion albums that were sub-par, this year we've gotten several that have been right up there with the band's older work. Carcass were always fantastic and it put a great big smile on my face knowing that they surpassed my expectations.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: A Congealed Clot of Blood, The Granulating Dark Satanic Mills, 316 L Grade Surgical Steel

Palms - Palms (2013)

Band: Palms
Country: Boston, Massachusetts/Sacramento, California
Style: Post-Rock
Label: Ipecac

Now this was an album I was excited about. As someone who is a big fan of both the Deftones and Isis, the thought of members from both bands collaborating was genuinely enthralling. I had high hopes for this (as much as I know I shouldn't come into an album with any expectations at all) and really wanted it to live up to them.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about this album is not that it works but that it sounds more or less like what one would expect Isis to sound like(without Aaron Turner or Michael Gallagher) with Chino fronting them. It's spacious and moody musically while Chino's vocals draw upon more of his more melodic and breathy side. I don't have any problem with this sound mind you, because in my head I liked how these two sounded and on here it's more or less the same. I guess the biggest difference is simply in that there isn't as "metal" vibe going on in this album. It feels more like a dreamy/shoegazy post-rock album. I sort of expected more heavy climaxes to these songs but they remain pretty moody throughout. In a way, it's better because it separates this band from the heavier leanings of 3/4ths of the band's former group. But in the end I just gave in and accepted that it sounds exactly as one might expect 3/5ths of Isis would sound. It is slightly more stripped down and not quite as powerful or lush sounding, but the central pieces are still there.
My biggest problem with this album is entirely separate from the sound of this record though and has more to do with the sound of Chino's vocals. While I think his melodies are great, it sounds as though he recorded his vocals in a bathroom. It's just odd. The delay time on his voice is probably what's the cause behind it, but for all I know Chino actually did record his vocals in more of a confined, but reverberant, room. From what I had heard in an interview, Chino recorded his vocals separately from the band's parts, so he might have actually recorded them while on tour wherever he could. I mean, that's just the main problem with this record. Personally I don't think that the additional effects used on Chino's voice were the best decision either, but I don't think they're as irritating (though that word is probably too harsh) as the delay on his vocals. In terms of his actual performance though, I increasingly found myself thinking that his vocal lines recalled that of mid-period Deftones work. It's not all that intense or upbeat, but it carries with it more of a freeness and/or looseness that I haven't heard in a lot of his main band's work recently. I also have to say his work on Tropics is some of my favorite work from him ever.
So while this album does have it's faults, I think that the finished and complete project has far more positives than negatives to its name. I think I expected it to be a bit more song based while this feels, more or less, like what Isis did in terms of structure, but Chino manages to make it into something more appealing to people who would like more songs. Definitely an album you don't want to miss if you're a fan of post-rock, shoegaze, or even dream pop.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Mission Sunset, Tropics

Solothus - Summoned From The Void (2013)

Band: Solothus
Country: Turku, Finland
Style: Doom/Death Metal
Label: Memento Mori

A few years back I covered the very impressive debut demo from Solothus, which obviously I really dug. It was only recently that I was sent an email by the band where they informed me that they were finally releasing a full-length so of course I was gonna cover it as soon as I could. I've been anxiously awaiting the right time to listen to this/review it ever since I got it.
I've been writing a lot of reviews for doom based albums recently so I think it says something when an album still manages to keep my attention and stay with me after listening to so many other records in relatively the same style. What kept me so interested in the band's demo was that they were playing doom/death in that 90s way where it was more about blending death metal and doom metal and achieving an atmosphere where bands were able to utilize both styles without keyboards. The band didn't have to commit to simply playing in a single speed, they could have faster tracks as well as slower ones, but they were able to craft this dank and bleak atmosphere that somehow neither genre achieved on its own. The early records from My Dying Bride, Katatonia, Paradise Lost, and Anathema come to mind for me, and while those influences were plain as day on the demo, they are less obvious on here. Though the fact that I even bring them up here will undoubtedly keep them in readers heads if and when they listen to this album, but honestly this is better than most of the material the above bands have put out recently.
The band's demo also showcased a style of songwriting that I think allowed them to create songs beyond their years and several leagues above their contemporaries. What I mean by that is that their songwriting on the demo was stylish and yet primal at the same time. They were heavy and atmospheric without conforming to the whole "cavecore" subgenre of bands that were either just blatantly ripping off Incantation and Immolation or just playing death/doom or blackened death metal with loads of reverb on their instruments. There were riffs in here, perhaps because the band take just as much from groups (outside of their genre of choice as well) that their riffs vary from hauntingly slow to strangely technical as well as perfectly melodic. Their songwriting chops are leagues above what I've heard many other bands in their genre doing, and that's not even limiting it to just this year, I'm saying these songs are superior to what many bands have been putting out in the last several years, if not in the last decade or so. Obviously this is just my opinion, but hell, I can't think of the last time another band from this genre was able to write riffs that stuck with me beyond the length of their own albums. But like I said above, the band don't just do the slow and plodding doom chords but actually throw in a few tasty chug patterns and some nice atmospheric chords progressions as well, just listen to the title-track for an example, among other things.
This is a group who have talent and, whether or not they know it, are probably one of the best bands doing this genre today. For myself anyway, it's quite hard for doom metal to get much better than this because it's got just about everything one could want from a band in this genre. It's stylish without putting style before songwriting; and while I wish the vocals were perhaps a bit more varied (if I had one complaint it would be that), I really don't have much more to say about this other than you need to check it out.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Plaguewing, Magus of Doom

Coffins - The Fleshland (2013)

Band: Coffins
Country: Tokyo, Japan
Style: Death/Doom Metal
Label: Relapse

When it comes to the death/doom genre, very few bands are as prolific as Coffins. I remember first finding out that they were from Japan and being shocked because they didn't give off any indication, sonically, that they were from the far east. I've been a casual listener throughout the years but I was certainly interested in what sort of album they would do for Relapse.
It's worth saying up front that while I am a casual fan of the band, I wouldn't exactly say I'm a huge fan. I certainly like what they do and they are incredibly prolific in what they do, but like so many other bands who have many, many releases, songs, and entire albums, can be hit and miss. I listened back to the band's 2008 album Buried Death to prepare for this review, and was actually surprised by how many good songs there were on that album, despite the really awful kick drum tone. So I came into this hoping to be impressed yet again, and in a way I was both surprised and disappointed. I was surprised because of how uptempo several of these songs are, which is nothing new for the band, they've done more traditional death metal songs along with their doomy ones, but this album opened up with several of them, which hit me in a way I didn't expect. Even several of the slower paced tracks, The Colossal Hole for example, don't feel quite as downbeat as they have on previous records. The entire record actually is a lot more evenly mixed as well. It doesn't have that really crushing sounding guitar tone or thumping drum sound, the entire thing is a lot more evenly distributed. In a sense, more palatable.
The disappointment came in that after this album had finished, almost nothing stayed with me. While a song was playing I could be just fine, but I wouldn't be able to tell you anything about it other than if it was a death metal song or more of a doom metal one (fast or slow basically). I've got nothing against this album or band, but this album just didn't do anything for me. It was just one of those records I would put on and whenever I was meant to be listening to it, my mind would deviate and wander towards other things, which isn't exactly the desired effect for a record of this sort. There are some noteworthy things that happen in a couple of songs, but the vast majority of what's on here just isn't really anything you either haven't already heard before or done better, both by this band. The band has made slower songs more crushing and heavy and made their death metal songs faster, more crusty, and catchy in the past. This had it's moments but was by and large forgettable. With the exception of closer Tormentopia, the rest of the album is also devoid of anything "quirky", and I do use that word lightly. It's not as though one should ever come into a Coffins record expecting that, but for them, this song did stand out as being a more fun.
In the end I guess the best way to describe my feeling towards the album was indifference. It wasn't good but it certainly wasn't bad, it was just sort of bland and unmemorable. If you're already a fan or if you dig death/doom give it a chance but I got nothing out of this. I would recommend their last full-length over this one.
Overall Score: 6
Highlights: Hellbringer, Dishuman, Tormentopia

Extol - Extol (2013)

Band: Extol
Country: Bekkestua, Norway
Style: Progressive Death Metal
Label: Indie Recordings

I, like most people who enjoy some good progressive oriented extreme metal, enjoy Extol. I remember I found out around the same time I was really getting into the genre and groups like Opeth and the like and just being blown away by albums like Undeceived and Synergy. Of course I found out about them after they had broken up so finding out that they reunited for a new album was just great.
Knowing that only three members have returned to form the Extol we now see before us is a bit disheartening knowing that it isn't a full-lineup but whatever, I should be thankful that they even brought the band back instead of complaining. Sonically, this album definitely shifts from the tone that it seemed as though the band was moving towards on The Blueprint Dives back in 2005. While the riffs certainly have flairs of technicality, this is far from the more progressive metal/rock approach taken on that album, which I'm sure pleases many a fan who disliked that album. As someone who liked that album to a degree, I can see why they shifted back towards a sound like the one they wound up with on here, which is to say a very modern sounding melodic death metal album. This is clean, the guitars are clean and thick sounding while the drums are nice and propulsive without sounding overly triggered, hell the bass can even be heard on here, it's a solid production job for sure if not a bit cleaner than I would have preferred. This isn't quite as "progressive" as the three full-lengths that have come before it, opting to take a more melodic approach towards songwriting.
I think that despite the praise being heaped upon this album, something has been forgotten along the way. In the time between The Blueprint Dives and this album's release, several of the band members who are not on this album and yet were in the band at one point created a group called Mantric. Now, I'm not saying that the album that band released back in 2010 had any impact on this album's creation, but it needs to be mentioned that none of the members involved with the band are on this album, which may explain the lack of more progressive elements. But let me make this clear, despite how much I've been talking about it, I have no problem with the direction the band have taken on this album, it's perfectly fine. If I had one complaint about it, it's the lyrics, which, in my opinion, feel a bit overtly religious for my own tastes. Songs like Open The Gates and Behold The Sun just come across as a bit "preachy" to me - in the clean vocals anyway. Strangely enough though, the album's title-track didn't bother me for some reason. This is something that obviously hasn't effected other people as much as it did me, so you can make of this information what you will.
In terms of songwriting, I guess it might disappoint some people to know that I found this album somewhat lackluster in that regard. It's not lacking too much, but there were a few songs that I just didn't really connect with in the way that I thought I should have. I mean, there are some really great songs on here, Ministers for example is a great piece of work that I think really stands up to the band's older work, but then there are other songs like the first single, the aforementioned Open The Gates, which I just found sort of lame and uninteresting. Honestly the greater portion of the record is great, but the best songs, for me, were found on the second half of the album.
So, overall, I was only slightly disappointed by this album, but even then I still dug the majority of it. More than likely it will bring in a whole bunch of new fans to the band who listen to modern metal (the production job on here screams that sound) but should more than likely still appeal to fans of their older material. Give it a shot if you're a fan or not, it's solid and deserves your ears.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: A Gift Beyond Human Reach, Ministers, Unveiling The Obscure