Ever Forthright - Ever Forthright (2011)

Band: Ever Forthright
Country: LongIsland/Purchase, New York
Style: Progressive Death Metal/Metalcore
Label: Myraid

Although the band has been around for a couple of years as an instrumental group, this is their first release with a vocalist. As far as this album was concerned, I can honestly say that I was looking forward to it mainly because I was a fan of the vocalist's, Chris Barretto, past work. This album marks the conclusion of the great, and original, djent debuts for this year.
I, like a good majority of people, first heard of Chris Barretto through his work in Periphery. After the several songs he recorded with them, he moved onto a short-lived stint with Haunted Shores, where he recorded two very good songs for a split with Cyclamen before leaving that project as well. The most recent thing we heard him in was his other band Friend For A Foe, who released a decent EP a couple of months ago. But to be honest, if you've been a fan of his work, this is what you've been waiting for from him, an album which exhibits all of his range, from the guttural lows to his soaring cleans, and be sure, they are all on here. It's a real skill to make what could substitute as a boy-band vocal line fit into a metal album, but Barretto pulls it off with applause, hear the intro to City Limits. You also get the addition of his saxophone playing on here, if only to distinguish him apart from being another vocalist in another band, he's adding another dimension to this band's sound instrumentally as well.
In all honesty, I first heard of Ever Forthright through the site Got-Djent.com, so they are associated with that scene, but while they certainly have that element in their sound, the first real "djent" song isn't until about half-way through the album, Spineless. There are certainly djenty riffs in earlier songs, but none of those songs really dwells too long in that style, instead favoring a mixture of progressive metal intricacies, tech metal proficiency, jazz interludes, and death core brutality, and that's really where this band excels, they manage to fit in elements of all those sounds into their one that, for the better part of the album, works and doesn't really come across sounding like another band. I have yet to hear a band that manages to combine a metal side like this with softer jazz sections like the ones on here, which at times fall straight into smooth jazz territory, almost lounge-esque at times. Though I kind of wish the saxophone was used a bit more in conjunction with the metal bits, like the end of The Little Albert Experiment, I do think their fusion was very well done. But unfortunately, this album does feature some elements that didn't really appeal to me, I was not a fan of the rapping vocals, that accompanied the otherwise extremely catchy Infinitely Inward, which probably would have been one of my favorite tracks on the album if it sounded like a really lame attempt at nu-metal to me. I also wasn't a fan of some of the more bro-core/deathcore moments, I found them a lot more tolerable if only because of all the other elements the band threw in around them.
Overall, I was very impressed with the album and it manged to maintain my attention despite being over an hour in length, which I consider an accomplishment. For the majority of it's playing time, it entertains while demonstrating some very original ideas. Definitely look into this album if you want to hear an interesting new progressive metal group.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Lost In Our Escape, Screen Scenarios, Dispose of Your Optimism

Adrian Weiss - Big Time (2011)

Band: Adrian Weiss
Country: Düsseldorf, Germany
Style: Progressive Rock/Fusion
Label: Hands of Blue/Guitar-9

When it comes to solo albums by guitarists, I think it agreeable that they fall into two categories, simplified, good and bad. I don't think being a good player should warrant a solo album, but that's what seems to be happening nowadays. I don't cover these sorts of albums a lot, I don't think ever really, and it's not a style I plan on covering all that often anyway, but this one stood out as being worth covering.
First off, I'll explain how I approach listening to solo albums by guitar players. Most of them are absolute rubbish, whether or not you agree, that's what I think. Very few players manage to include any sort of songwriting into their albums and instead focus solely on soloing and shredding till your ears fall off, boring. Players like Guthrie Govan within the last decade and older guys like Allan Holdsworth can pull off instrumental albums because they play well within the confines of a song and can also shred your face off when they feel like it as well. But both those guys come more or less from a background of jazz and fusion, and whatever else you think is in there as well, while a lot of newer guitar solo albums, that I know about mind you, come more from the metal genre. When it comes to Adrian Weiss, he falls somewhere in between the two styles, songwriting and shredding, as well as metal and fusion.
I do think Adrian is talented, obviously, as his solos on here are exhibit a lot of virtuosity and skill, but he can also work within a song's parameters of not being too self-indulgent. Tracks like Tough Luck and show that while there are solo galore throughout a song, it is still very confined to a very simple structure with a central chorus melody. Personally, I do feel that this album does suffer from what I feel plagues a lot of albums of this sort, lack of variety. I don't want to make this album sound like it's one dimensional, which I certainly do give Adrian props for because he does pull off some other ideas well on here, but in an album like this, you really have to make each song stand on it's own because a lot of these songs do end up sounding very similar to each other. I really enjoyed when Adrian went acoustic on songs like Desert Sanctuary or Disappear, because I felt that Bright Awakening was a bit more of a typical power-ballad for this sort of album and not a standout acoustic fusion song, and I wish he would've done that again or gone full-on acoustic and left out all electric guitars on that track, if only to make it stand apart even more from the rest of the other tracks on here. There are times on here where I feel like Adrian does go a bit off the deep-end and go too far into the needless shredding territory, Morning Run, but I'll allow him that since he does restrain himself for the most part throughout the album.
It's a decent slab of instrumental prog-metal/fusion that has some nice ideas in it, but I don't feel is totally on the ball with going full-bore into experimental territory. I would love to hear Adrian just make a full on acoustic song or just go totally fusion in the future, because he clearly shows the potential to do so on here. Check it out if you want to hear some solid instrumental prog/fusion.
Overall Score: 7.5
Highlights: Easy On The Ice, Desert Sanctuary, Disappear

King Dude - Love (2011)

Band: King Dude
Country: Seattle, Washington
Style: Neo-Folk
Label: Dais

When I first heard King Dude a couple of months ago, if that, I couldn't believe what I was hearing in all honesty. His style of trippy acoustic and neo-folk music totally blew me away and I couldn't wait to hear his new album. After listening to, and reviewing "Tonight's Special Death" this was an album I was eagerly anticipating.
I don't know if those of you reading this come to this site all that often, but if you do, you'll know that I tend to favor songs that are on the longer side. When you listen to a King Dude song, the longest song tends to be around three minutes long, which is obviously nothing like an eight-to-ten minute long prog epic. It's within that kind of setting that I find myself most comfortable, but when I listen to this album, or any piece of work from this project of TJ Cowgill, time doesn't matter in the slightest. His one-to-two minute songs are downright amazing, in pretty much every sense of the word. Though I am in no way opposed to short songs, my feelings towards them is that I have to be able to get something out of them which I find more difficult the shorter the song happens to be. These are simple songs that manage to eclipse songs that are nearly three times as long as any of them in how they're presented, how they resonate with each other, and how memorable each of them are.
In comparison to "Tonight's Special Death," this record features a lot more atmosphere. The whole thing sounds like it was recorded at the bottom of a parking garage due to all the echo and reverb that encompasses these songs. Despite that, it's still a very natural sound that actually makes me think of nature, rivers flowing, mist covering mountains, morning dew on the plants, that sort of stuff. Cowgill manages to fit so much emotion within a very minimal time frame as well as through his stern and rather unflinchingly cold voice. In my opinion, this is Cowgill's most varied collection of songs yet, with songs ranging from the rather austere Please Stay (In The Shadow of My Grave) to the more "poppy" Spiders In Her Hair, each displays a different characteristic to his songwriting style. Despite how each of these songs is presented, they each have a sort of meditational quality to them that makes it sound like mini-ritual of sorts.
It's a fantastic album that definitely should bring in a bunch of new fans to King Dude. It's just one of those albums that sticks out as being in a league of its own. I can't recommend this highly enough, definitely, check this record out.
Overall Score: 9.5
Highlights: Every Track Is A Highlight

Tenhi - Saivo (2011)

Band: Tenhi
Country: Helsinki, Finland
Style: Progressive/Dark Folk
Label: Prophecy Productions

I'll admit that I've only become a fan of the various sub-genres of folk music within the last several months, but Tenhi was probably the only band I listened to before looking into the genre that I could say I was a fan of beforehand. Around the same time I found Agalloch, several years ago, I found Tenhi. I will acknowledge Tenhi as the first folk group that I ever became a fan of.
It's curious because Tenhi are a very respected group within the neo-folk, whatever folk genres, and I think it's because they have been willing to experiment with other styles beyond just their folk roots. Their embrace of post-rock, neo-classical music, dark ambient, and to an extent even a bit of jazz as well. It's their experimental nature, along with their hazy and huge dark atmosphere, that has made me a fan of the band for so long. It's very rare that I have found a Tenhi album that I haven't just fallen in love with for it's atmosphere alone, and this one is no exception. Tenhi has never embraced the big and uplifting melodies within their sound, instead remaining largely somber and melancholic throughout each of their releases, something I admire deeply and have the utmost respect for.
But onto the sound of this record. While the sound that Tenhi has established for themselves hasn't changed too much over the course of their four previous full-length albums, it's important to note the level of consistency in their work as well as the attention to detail and atmosphere. I do find this record to be a darker one than 2006's "Airut: Aamujen" was, which I hope will only make more people check the band out because it is a darker release. Previous albums have experimented with different production styles as much as sonic experiments, and in my mind, this is the biggest sounding I can remember hearing the band. I found the piano and guitar harmonies syncopation on here to be very high caliber in their execution as well, hear the closing moments of Haaksi for example, as well as the basslines that the cello that were used on Vuoksi. These being just two examples of how I think the band excel in their craft of somber but entrancing folk music.
It's a great album with excellent songs that are just beautifully crafted and performed, and that's the least I can say about it. It's not my favorite Tenhi album, but it's not their worst, not that they have a bad album. Definitely check this album and band out if you want to hear some fantastic folk music, it's as simple as that.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: Uloin, Haaksi, Siniset Runot

Nucleus Torn - Golden Age (2011)

Band: Nucleus Torn
Country: Ittigen, Switzerland
Style: Neo-Folk/Folk Metal
Label: Prophecy Productions

I'm not sure if it's obvious or not, but folk metal is not a style of metal that I particularly care for. More often than not, a lot of the bands that are tagged with "folk metal" are bands that sing about booze and parties while they dress up like vikings, very few groups actually incorporate folk music into their music though. Nucleus Torn is a band I've only become familiar with within the last six months of so but have absolutely fallen for them.
I should make a note about the style of this band to all those that have not yet heard Nucleus Torn yet because this is not your average folk metal, as I just pointed out above. It's not danceable, party metal, this falls more in line with neo-folk and singer-songwriter music most of the time and only bridges into metal on certain occasions. What that means for those of you who aren't aware of those styles is that you will hear more somber, acoustic guitar led sections and songs more often than a heavy and pounding metal section, and that goes for their entire discography really. If it helps you imagine it, the opening title-track, Golden Age, is twelve minutes long and doesn't cross into heavy distorted guitars once, not that it ever needed to. In addition to that, there's quite a bit of variety in terms of instruments on here, it's not a only a guitar led album. Throughout all of the band's work you'll find the use of piano, flute, upright bass, dulcimer, violin, and cello, among other instruments used within their songs. They manage to create such a lush and orchestral sound without really going into cheesy or overly complex arrangements, something I hold in quite a high regard and definitely commend them for being able to do.
When putting this album next to some of their other material, it doesn't stand out as being quite as dark as their earlier work. Saying that shouldn't make you imagine more uplifting parts, but it's a lot less melancholic all the time, if that makes sense. I don't believe I've heard the band cross into territory that's so beautifully mournful as on Silver before. I probably should have said above that this is absolutely beautiful music, when it's soft it sounds so delicate and quiet and turns out to be quite moving. When this thing goes distorted though, it can be used to either go full-on blackened death metal kind of way, which it does in the closer Death Triumphant, or it can be used more as an accompaniment to enhance the power of a part. Ash is not a heavy song, it's still very contained within the folk realm for most of it's running time, but when the distorted guitars are used, it isn't used to bring in a sense of anger or rage, but enhance the power of the melancholic beauty. The closer is really what I consider to be the only real "metal" song on the album, and Christian Kolf, of Owl and Valborg among others, guests on vocals and brings an interesting take to the song. I'd also say that this album flows a lot more than the other material as well, as each track does lead into the next quite seamlessly, though whether or not that's intentional I'm not sure of because each song still stands on it's own.
This isn't a band I anticipate people just jumping into because they aren't really "metal" all that often. Personally, I think these guys are creating some of the most beautiful music this side of Anathema and Devin Townsend. Definitely check it out if you're interested in real folk music with elements of metal thrown into the mix.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: Golden Age, Death Triumphant

Dark Suns - Orange (2011)

Band: Dark Suns
Country: Leipzig, Germany
Style: Progressive Rock/Jazz-Rock
Label: Prophecy Productions

This is an album I knew nothing about until I actually saw it on a couple sites, I didn't even know Dark Suns was working on a new album. Back when I was going through my initial progressive death metal phase, starting with Opeth and moving outwards, Dark Suns was one of the bands that definitely stuck out to me. In all honesty, I had thought the band might have broken up.
While Dark Suns was definitely a band that never made the same album twice, all three of their prior albums was an interesting take on progressive metal, I don't think anyone expect this album. As soon as the album opens, you as a listener will enter into a world devoid of most metal influences. This is an album which embraces the sounds of early and vintage progressive, psychedelic, and jazz rock, much like what albums from Opeth and Steven Wilson did earlier this year. Sounds coming from the likes of King Crimson, The Soft Machine, and Still Life are all bleeding out from the band on here, and whether you love it or hate it, it will certainly leave an impression on you.
I know the retro-prog sound is kind of getting a boost this year thanks to bands like these guys and Opeth really just taking a chance and removing most metal from their sounds, but I have to say that just like Opeth, these guys pulled it off in my opinion. Maybe it's just because I actually like music from the 60s and 70s a lot so I'm a lot more inclined to like this sort of album more than others but I think it's pulled off well. The vintage, barely distorted guitars that litter the record, the sedated organs that pump through nearly every track, and the occasional bursts of horns that just bring a sense of vitality to the album are all instances of a band taking a chance. A lot of these songs are also some of the shortest that the band has ever released, with the first half of the album's songs dwelling within the three minute frame. It's on songs like these where the band are throwing a more concise and melodic sound at you, the second half of the album, in my opinion, is more of a progressive listen. Not that they've made use of growling too much after their first full-length, but this album features the best vocal performances from Niko Knappe, also on drums, yet. His vocals go from a nice and relaxed sort of croon to King Diamond-esque falsettos, hear That Is Why They All Hate You In Hell. His use of harmonies is also a lot more developed, on Vespertine I hear a bit of Queen, but that might just be me. I enjoyed the horns on here as well, and I'm not usually a fan of brass instruments, but I think they added a nice flair to the album and I kind of wish the band had used them a little bit more throughout the album.
It's certainly not a record that everyone will enjoy, but like I said above, I'm kind of predisposed to liking this sort of stuff. While I do think there are some songs that are better than others, as a whole, it works. Definitely check it out if you're interested in a sort of retro-prog and jazz-fusion record.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Eight Quiet Minutes, Ghost, Antipole

Hazzard's Cure - Hazzard's Cure (2011)

Band: Hazzard's Cure
Country: San Francisco, California
Style: Sludge Metal/Doom Metal
Label: Lummox/Stop Go Destroy Tapes

Sludge metal is a genre that really has no business being super polished and pristine sounding. Sludge metal should, as the name suggests, be dirty and crusty sounding; I really don't understand how we've come to a point where sludge metal can be defined as something that's polished and covered in a shine. As you can probably tell, this is not what you can expect from this record.
What you can expect from this is a very primal and true-to-form sort of sound, it's not called sludge for nothing. The production on here really leaves the band sounding authentic and live sounding, which suits the music the band plays very well. The whisky soaked blues riffs and punch-drunk thrash blasts serve to be treated to a more live sounding production that makes it feel like the band is playing live, only just a bit cleaner. There isn't anything on here that'll make you feel like you're listening to a machine playing these songs. The only thing I might have done differently, production, or rather the mix, wise would have been to put the vocals a little bit higher, but not by much, the production is really quite good on here.
In terms of songwriting, I do believe these guys show a lot of promise and talent in their respective style. Like I said above, the riffs tend to be more blues based but often bring in a couple of other elements as well. There are clear nods to the doom metal and stoner rock genre mixed along with their sludge-meets-thrash sound. There are also a couple of sections to recall bits of black metal as well, which I particularly enjoyed. The use of tremolo picked sections or the occasional break into short blast-beats brought an interesting flavor to the album that I do believe helps to separate them from the legions of other sludge groups out right now. I also thought that when the band went into a quiet moment, Clashing of Hordes for example, it did the track a world of good because it not only brought in a more diverse sounding dichotomy within the track, but they played it straight and it sounded great, it helped make the track in my opinion. Now, I do have one gripe about the sound of the band, and it's more of a personal thing, I'm sure others could either get over it or they might even enjoy it a lot, but I just can't get into some of the really cheesy vocal lines or lyrics, Prayer of The Hunted comes to mind when I say this. For me, I can certainly understand the whole mythical sort of lyrical side, and it's not a subject I usually address, but I just found some of the lyrics to be rather intrusive and kind of just make me cringe during a couple of parts in an otherwise pretty cool song.
All in all though, it's a very solid slab of sludge with quite a bit of other influences peeking through. I think these guys definitely have talent and are very skilled songwriters, a band to keep an eye on for sure. Check it out if you like sludge, stoner, or doom metal, you will not be disappointed by this.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Meet Me At The Mountain, Clashing of Hordes, Great Dishonor