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Vader – XXV (Regain Records)

David E. Gehlke
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Vader – XXV (Regain Records)

Old Vader albums have become scarce, the product of their ill-timed deals with Earache (why the label ever dropped these guys is one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century) and Pavement Records. Following in the tradition of Testament and Destruction, Vader has opted to re-record their classic tracks, for what amounts to a virtual “Best-of” from an absolute death metal institution.

Culling from material going all the way back to the band’s Third Reich demo (which reportedly is either the most traded or sold demo in death metal history), XXV demonstrates Vader’s versatility and ability to keep death metal fresh and moving. Neck-twirlers like “Crucified One” and “Dark Age” (the band’s arguable ‘hit’) are testaments to how catchy and ingrained Vader’s style is.

With singer/mainman Piotr Wiwczarek leading the charge, more recent and unheralded material like “Wings” (off the very underrated Litany), “Epitaph” (Revelations) and “Dark Transmission” (The Beast) hold up quite well against the band’s classic mid-90’s period.

A novel concept all-around, XXV is the type of album more death metal bands should take cues from. Vader recognizes the depth of their catalog and giving it beefed-up and modern production job on two discs was a stroke of genius. Hard to believe Piotr and the gang have been at it for over two decades…this death metal will apparently, never die.

 www.vader.pl

(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)

Krallice – Krallice (Profound Lore Records)

David E. Gehlke
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Krallice – Krallice (Profound Lore Records)

A kewl, kinda neato combo here: the combined instrumental talents of Mick Barr (Ocrilm, Orthelem) and Colin Marston (Behold…the Arctopus, Dysrhythmia) collide in a primal BM venture that is part homage to genre’s glory days and other part forward-thinking, stunningly melodic BM that we’re rarely treated to. Not your typical basement BM affair, Krallice’s self-titled debut quickly skirts up the US black metal ranks with a six-song stormer that is as frenetic and memorable as anything to pop out of the underground the last 12 months.

Beyond those massive melodies (more on those in a bit), Krallice is characterized heavily by rolling, semi-repetitive song structures and a warm and entirely audible production job. When the band stumbles upon a good idea, as in the breathtaking main riff of “Cuestorial,” it sticks with it, but never runs the thing into the ground. “Cuestroial” is in fact yours truly’s pick for black metal jam of 2008; it’s weaving, winding melodic structure has rarely been integrated so well into non-symphonic black metal.

Elsewhere, more carefully-crafted, striking melodies appear in “Energy Chasms” and the bombastic closing to “Forgiveness In Rot,” where a flashy melodic run courtesy of Barr gets the ‘ole run through about three dozens times, never wearing out its welcome.

Indeed it is the caustic combination of occasional dissonance and melody that makes Krallice such a winner. Barr and Marston’s riff choices capture a cerebral sonic depth that goes past simple old-school BM worship – their grip on how to write a sprawling number without getting bogged down with the usual grim and necro run-around tactics is something to marvel.

Already hitting the live circuit, Krallice appears to be more than just a side project and with a batch of tunes this solid and well-constructed, there should be no stopping these guys. Highly recommend, essential, etc. and so forth –Krallice is the USBM album of the year.

 www.myspace.com/krallice

(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)

Neuraxis – The Thin Line Between (Prosthetic Records)

David E. Gehlke
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Neuraxis – The Thin Line Between (Prosthetic Records)

After years of slugging it out in smaller, to mid-sized indie labels, Montreal’s Neuraxis are no doubt going to benefit from the larger exposure a label like Prosthetic can bring. Those in the underground are already familiar with the band’s technical, explosive brand of quasi-melodic death metal, so The Thin Line Between shouldn’t surprise many, but in what should be the introductory listen for Neuraxis, you’d be hard-pressed to go wrong.

In contrast to 2005’s excellent Trilateral Progression, The Thin Line Betweenrelies less on melody and more on crazed, shake ‘yer foundation songstructures. The climbing triplet run of “Wicked” is firm proof of this, as is the unsettling main riff to “Versus.” “Deviation Occurs” and “Dreaming the End” are instant neck-snappers, especially the latter which jumpstarts with a maniacal blast portion then segues into a tricky, yet groove-oriented verse riff.

The textured and very melodic “Standing Despite…” and “The All and the Nothing” are trademark Neuraxis numbers, laced with those swirling and dicey melodies the band has made a career out of for the better part of the decade.

Initial listens to The Thin Line Between aren’t as immediate or gratifying as they should, but this has always been Neuraxis’ modus operandi. Alongside Despised Icon and Ion Dissonance, Neuraxis are a part of a very small, insular group of Canadian metal bands that push the envelope in every direction possible. Fitting, as Canuck metal forefathers Voivod are now finally seeing the rewards in the form of Neuraxis and others for their hard work.

 www.neuraxis.org

(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)

Týr – Land (Napalm Records)

David E. Gehlke
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Týr – Land (Napalm Records)

It probably won’t happen this year or next, but when the time comes to ultimately separate the wheat from the chaff for the now very swollen pagan/folk metal scene, one has to think Týr will be one of the few to remain standing. Really, who in the aforementioned realm does what Týr does? It’s pretty freakin’ easy to plop down some quick, hokey numbers with the rudimentary folk metal instruments, but Týr are the real deal – they don’t need no stinkin’ gimmicks.

And so here comes Land, the follow-up to 2006’s killer Ragnarok. For Heri Joensen and co., there is little deviating from the course, as Land sees Týr plotting relatively the same classic metal course (especially in the vocal department), backed by their renown usage of folklore from their native Faroese Islands.

The bulk of Land is sung in the band’s native tongue, adding the genuin flavor of the album. The swift, head-nodding “Gatu Rima” ranks among the band’s most catchy cuts, especially when the plodding main riff kicks in. Land does feature more sing-a-long numbers, namely in the form of “Brennivin” and “Fipan Fagra,” two numbers that practically beg for a mass of townsfolk (or whoever happens to be in town) to join in and sing along.

If there was a downside to Land, it would be the absence of a truly colossal epic number like “Brothers Bane” or “Odin’s Ride To Hel,” two bookends ofRagnarok. The only song that comes close is “Valkyrjan,” a slowly building number that eventually capsizes in Týr’s ever-efficient use of melody.

Týr may not be the one’s to kickstart this movement, but there is no band as versatile and memorable. Land falls slightly short of Ragnarok, but that’s ok – said album is the pillar of modern pagan folk metal, so Land can be its support system.

 www.myspace.com/tyr1

(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)

Novembers Doom – The Novella Vosselaar DVD (The End Records)

David E. Gehlke
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Novembers Doom – The Novella Vosselaar DVD (The End Records)

Now at their arguable peak, Chicago doom merchants Novembers Doom are now getting the live DVD treatment in the form of The Novella Voselaar: Live in Belgium. Professionally shot (but hardly reminiscent of the Metal Mind series), The Novella Vosselaar spans the band’s entire career, wisely leaning on their two recent albums: 2005’s near-flawless Pale Haunt Departureand last year’s The Novella Reservoir

Fronted by the burly Paul Kuhr, ND’s thick, emotive brand of dark doom comes across well in the live setting, especially newer songs like Rain and the grueling The Voice of Failure. The band’s more melodic side is shown during “Autumn Reflection” (perhaps their best song) and “With Rue and Fire,” both of which rely heavily upon the band’s potent mix of churning riffs and Kuhr’s overtly sincere lyrics.

Visually, there is not much to marvel at, as ND remains in one spot on stage throughout the entire set, with only Kuhr straying outside of the otherwise stoic nature of the band. The Belgium crowd, however, eats this up, offering up more enthusiasm for newer songs like “Dark World Burden” and “Drown the Inland Mere.”

Also included are three promo videos: “Rain,” “Autumn Reflection” and “The Pale Haunt Departure” along with fan made videos of “Twilight Innocence,” “Dark World Burden,” “Broken,” and “The Lifeless Silhouette.”

Now in the doom biz for over 15 years, Novembers Doom can do whatever they please. They may not be slaves to the road, but one can have such flexibility after two succeesive career-prolonging albums like Pale Haunt Departure andThe Novella Reservoir.

 www.novembersdoom.com

(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)

Scar Symmetry – Holographic Universe (Nuclear Blast Records)

David E. Gehlke
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0
Scar Symmetry – Holographic Universe (Nuclear Blast Records)

The stage for saccharine melodic death metal was set when In Flames unleashed the unabashedly catchy and fun “Only For the Weak” in 2000. Said song put the bounce and pop into melodic death metal, a framework that Soilwork took and ran with for a short while and Scar Symmetry seems hell-bent on resting their laurels on. While there are a fair share of us who enjoy such cheer inserted into our melo-death, it can be said this is the kind of shit that ultimately sours people on melodic death metal.

Holographic Universe is painfully sweet and joyous, as the band has finally gone too far with those blasted sing-along clean choruses. The shred is (thankfully) still there, but of the album’s 12 songs, there is nary a moment when vocalist Christian Alvestam isn’t crooning at a predictable moment. Across the board,Holographic Universe screams of formula, the over-exertion of the one thing that kept many on the fence about Scar Symmetry.

As for the songs, several songs can be pointed to as the main culprit. “Quantumleaper’s” hard-driving verse is negated by Alvestam’s syrupy chorus, while “The Missing Coordinates” runs into a brick wall after some killer shredding courtesy of Jonas Kjellgren and Per Nillson. Similar problems ensue in “Trapezoid,” “Prism and Gate,” and “The Three Dimensional Shadow.”

”Fear Catalyst” gets the nod as being the album’s real throwaway number, a song that makes an attempt in going from guttural growls to neo-pop metal territory in the chorus. Apparently, there is no end to this – Scar Symmetry demonstrate zero restraint in their chorus choices.

Of the moderately enjoyable, “Timewave Zero” and the pummeling “Artificial Sun Projection” are the only tracks worth giving a passing a nod to, the rest is borderline pop metal drivel ad nausea.

Indeed we are flogging a dead horse with this review – the clean choruses and shredding are the two traits that ultimately define Scar Symmetry. It’d be like not mentioning the acoustic guitars in an Opeth review or the folk elements in a Finntroll review – these intrinsic elements are what define those bands.

They nearly crossed the threshold on 2006’s otherwise solid Pitch Black Progress, but Holographic Universe is hardly the direction melodic death metal should be taking at this point. There is no middle ground here – Scar Symmetry are at the point of no return.

 www.myspace.com/scarsymmetry

(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)

Reverend Bizarre – Crush the Insects Reissue (Spinefarm)

David E. Gehlke
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Reverend Bizarre – Crush the Insects Reissue (Spinefarm)

To launch the UK branch of their record label, Spinefarm have delved into the vaults and dug out a couple of reissues, the first of which is from Finish doom legends Reverend Bizarre. Originally released in 2005, Crush The Insects may not be the dustiest of records in the vaults, but hey, it’s a classic slab of funeral paced doom so there’s no problems there whatsoever.

Taking the Black Sabbath formula and running, well, plodding very slowly along with it this, their second, album gets to the point right away, long notes ringing booming out for the intro to “Doom Over The World.” Shifting into a slightly higher gear things get are driven forward by some thumping bass lines and effective drum fills. A rocking start to a great album it finds frontman Albert Witchfinder’s vocals shoved to the fore, clear and well pronounced his tales of darkness and occult are the perfect side-dish to the music contained within. You actually couldn’t ask for a better mission statement than “Doom Over The World,” really. It’s a rolling song that’ll have you wondering why you’ve never checked these guys out before, or if you have, why you haven’t listened to them in so long.

Over the course of eight, lengthy songs, Reverend Bizarre never stray far from the formula laid out by their forefathers in Sabbath, which means there’s some great riffs knocking around in here and a pure retro feel at times. If you’re unfamiliar with Crush The Insects this is your perfect chance to become bosom buddies, but don’t be surprised if you’re left thinking this should be decades old instead of actually fairly recent. There’s nothing fancy going on here at all. This is proper traditional doom in the truest sense of the word, candles burning slowly in the background, Albert Witchfinder sounding like he’s reading Poe in an empty room decorated sparsely with silver, possibly inverted crosses and drinking wine (“By This Axe I Rule”).

The somber production allows every note to breathe fully, the drums lending extra weight beneath the cobweb covered solos and fuzzed-up, distorted bass lines. “The Devil Rides Out” is a punchy number that calls to mind Electric Wizard, the big, repeated riff shoving the whole thing onwards like a heavily laden, yet out of control cart. “Cromwell” continues in this fashion before “Slave Of Satan” reduces the pace to a crawl, deep sustained bass notes bouncing around against the dank sepulchre walls.

Moody and dark throughout, yet still boiling over with that unique essence you get from doom which somehow when it’s done right makes you, against all the odds, feel good. Crush The Insects is a rich, interesting, powerful album which should be indulged in before your next Lee Dorian fix comes around.

 www.myspace.com/spinefarmrecordsuk

(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)

Nachtmystium – Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1 (Century Media Records)

David E. Gehlke
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Nachtmystium – Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1 (Century Media Records)

Perhaps the most significant USBM act outside of Xasthur, Chicago’s Nachtmystium continue their ascension in the extreme metal ranks with Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1. For anyone that has followed the band’s trajectory, it is both remarkable and hardly a surprise Blake Judd and co. are churning out this unique, savory blend of psychedelic BM. More accessible and palatable than 2006’s Instinct: Decay, Assassins is BM art at its most challenging and expansive.

Backed by session drum maestro Tony Laureano (Nile, God Dethroned, now on the road with Dimmu Borgir), Assassins finds Nachtmystium experimenting more with driving, hard-headed tempos (“Ghosts of Grace” and “Code Negative”) while keeping their DIY BM aesthetic in place via catchy, shout-along choruses that pleasantly arise during the aforementioned “Ghosts” and the title track.

The band’s experimental, loose vibe is still very much evident on “Away From the Light” and excellent three-part closing suite “Seasick.” The suite traverses down roads ranging from somber, forlorn passages in “Pt 1: Drowned At Dusk” to jangly, jazzy textures (check out the cool sax solo from Yakuza’s Bruce Lamont) in “Pt 2: Oceanborne” to the final, foreboding strands of “Pt 3: Silent Sunrise.”

Nachtmystium’s lurid experimentation is only matched by the cohesive and memorable nature of their songs. Fact of the matter is, Assassins has a wealth of disparate, quality ideas that fit comfortably under the BM banner, with all components working in conjunction with one another. Hot off the heels of Keep of Kalessin’s massive Kolossus, it appears “troo” BM has been given a nice shot of adrenaline.

 www.myspace.com/nachtmystium

(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)

Judas Priest – Nostradamus (Epic)

David E. Gehlke
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0
Judas Priest – Nostradamus (Epic)

Three years removed from Angel of Retribution, Priest have once again set themselves up for a precipitous fall in the form of a Turbo and Ram It Down with Nostradamus.

At this stage in their career, the band might have been better off with a simple studio release, perhaps expanding upon the good ideas unearthed with Angel, that being “Hellrider,” “Judas Rising” and “Worth Fighting For.” Instead, Halford, Tipton, Downing and co. are in over their heads, creating an album that is not only boring, but is evident of a band finally showing signs of major wear-and-tear.

In order to gauge where Priest went wrong, it is important to examine other concept albums from bands that elevated their careers: Blind Guardian, Queensryche, and heck, Dream Theater. All three were able to draw from various points of their catalog, engaging the listener with a quality storyline and music with many peaks and valleys. The drama contained in all three albums (Nightfall in Middle Earth, Operation: Mindcrime, and Metropolis Pt II: Scenes From A Memory) was made all the more palpable thanks to the versatility and sense of urgency contained within. On Nostradamus, it’s the complete and total opposite.

The slow-mo, unenthusiastic vibe of “Revelations” and “Conquest” are only hurt more by the sagging “War” and syrupy “Hope” and “Exiled.” There is little in terms of jagged, razor-sharp riffing the band was known for, and frankly, thesesongs simply don’t call for anything remotely “cool” in the sense of classic metal riffing and structure. And somewhere along the way, the band must have mistaken drummer Scott Travis for ex Priest drummer Dave Holland – the man is given nothing to work with. Nothing.

There are some good moments: Tipton’s solo in “Prophecy,” the sweet melodies in “Lost Love,” the build-up to “Nostradamus” via “Calm Before the Storm” and mostly Halford’s performance throughout – the man’s voice still has the ability to send shivers down one’s spine. The intro’s (inserted to add weight to the storyline) are fine as well, it’s just unreal how lethargic this album sounds.

In the end, the band made two mistakes: burying Scott Travis and not hiring an outside producer. A Roy Z or Chris Tsangarides would surely have added some form of quality control to this, a veritable “No guys, this simply does not work,” but ‘twas not to be – Priest really missed the mark on Nostradamus.

When (and if) there is another studio album, you would have to think Priest will market it as a return to form, their Painkiller Mach II, if you will. For now, these songs will stick out like a sore thumb this summer on the Metal Masters tour and don’t expect Broadway to come calling with the proposed Rock Opera version of Nostradamus.

 www.myspace.com/judaspriest

(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)

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