So let s get into it with Rio Grande Blood , after some silly George Bush Jr speech, we get into it, ohhh how some things change and how other things stay the same, i think the drum machine and guitar sounds exactly the same as it was 10 years ago, pristine hehehe, filled with samples, and some shouting vocals from Al, this is some old school Ministry, with some twists and turns and a pretty interesting guitar solo, not bad at all, then comes Señor Peligro and again a bit of the same, it actually builds up really well to a hardcorish trashy metal, that finishes interestingly again with a funky guitar solo, good one, Gangreen starts up with some marine inspired drill until it goes on Ministry mode, damn even the double bass seems old school, don t know if it s on purpose but it actually sounds great, but the song although funky it s basically a continuous 6 min loop, then comes up Fear (Is Big Business) and its a slow burn industrial track well until it goes into a thrash overdrive.
Lies Lies Lies is another hardcorish track with a lot of sound samples, a bit predictable and with a over-abuse of the obvious chorus, well The Great Satan is next and it s an ok track, Ministry styled blasting and guitar work, Yellow Cake is a distorted sampled track, if the use of distorted sound wasn t so overused, it would have been better, Palestina is a bit more of the same, not bad, just the same thing, then Ass Clown starts up slow to a more eclectic track with a nice groove to it and another great guitar solo, seems the good tracks are the ones with a solo just coincidence i guess, Khyber Pass wraps things up and quite nicely i might say with a large build up with a female vocal under a toned down beat to a Ministry groove, then mixing the two things together (predictable are we), so that s about it.
Oh I might be getting mellow or something, but it s actually not as bad as i was thinking, sure it tends to drag and the fact that it feels like looped/sampled/drum-machine music doesn t help, ohh and all the Anti-Bush Anti-War stuff is fine and dandy but all the way trough the album the same old theme and the same sounding music tends to drag (deja-vu anyone?
), well this one is difficult, i would say if your a fan, check it out, its worth it, if your not, then go watch a movie or something heheh
Blá blá, so is the album any good?, It s good, tracks like the album starter Face Yourself , with a mix of odd and brutal, i say odd, because it s not overly complex, just filled with small touches, that i guess pull them a little bit apart from the mob, The Failsafe is also nice, kinda odd drumming (i said odd again?
), Post Collapse brings back that hardcore feel from the first track, with some bits of death to the mix, again good guitar work, vocals are starting to become one tone (getting boring ), Migrate is a softer track with a hardish end, nothing especial.
One Day I ll Stay Home is a bit more of the same, good finish nevertheless, Something Was Always Missing, But It Was Never You , has the most idiotic title I ve seen in quite some time, but not a bad track, ahh the good ones always have fucked up names ( Cannibalistic anyone?), Reverence Lost is good and tiresome, Sword of Eyes is a bit more of the same, An Offering to the Insatiable Sons of God (Butcher) ohh another interestingly named track, and unlike the previous it s kinda a interlude like track, too much noise, they might be good, but if it s all distorted it isn t anything, Anchor is a better than the last track, its got a bit more flare, quite good, then the album finisher and title track Mirrors , bit of same o , nevertheless full of breakdowns
Did i like it?
, well somewhat, its got flare and pace, but the one sided vocals, the grungy production and the oddness although refreshing, it gets overused, like teaching a monkey a trick, after they get it right they just do it over and over again, by the time it gets over I get over it, i don t feel like listening again (and that s not in a good Meshuggah burnout kind of way), i actually liked their previous album better, so if you like your metalcore with a bit more spice you might want to checked them out, if not, you won t lose much.
Ahh, The Autumn Offering? hailing from sunny Florida?
and I m doing this review closer to winter?, well anyway, with such a name what can you expect you guessed it right, , sure they add a lot of other things, and you can cut it anyway you like it, but it s Metalcore with bit of other things, this is their second album Embrace the Gutter , let s see if its any good.
After a brief Prologue , you get Decay and what can i say they sure pick nice names, it s quite the trailblazer, what were they thinking!
, I ll just make some weird guitar riffage and then we ll get it going, that will be wack, yeah it s great, if your paralyzed from the neck up, this should be added to the music guide books on when not to play a guitar solo , then you get the The Yearning , and beat me with a stick if it s not a another weird track, it all sounds like live drunk doing their last gig of a 2 year tour and they just want to get it over with , it sounds bad, I m starting to think it s not me, it s these fuckers, Embrace the Gutter another shitty track? oh god when they start the chorus i just started laughing, this is just silly, all of it, solos included, oh god i never though Metalcore could sound soo shabby (and this one is downstairs, listen to it, and then say if I m not right), next please
Ghost is more of the same, just with the added happy meal solo guitar, Misery is scaring me with it s start, with that intro, i just know it s going to be shitty . and shit it is, This Future Disease is more of the same, One Last Thrill well a somewhat nice track, nothing much, although i think i could be losing my ability to judge good music, with every single moment i listen to this thing , I m gonna play it backwards to see if the devil is speaking, No End in Sight oh gawd at least the comic relief from the track names keeps me going, well anyway another shit poor job, Walk the Line is Final Cut is the final track, and i just don t fucking care, it has piano or something in the middle, fuck it.
This is what i would call some uninspired metal, it s kind of ripping or something, but at least those boys have skill, this is just embarrassing. This is what i think if you don t know what to do, don t add a guitar solo, don t add a breakdown, don t make a silly melodic chorus, just trash it and a make a new track, this album seems like they forage the woods for every bit of shit they could think, to stick in the freaking album, and just add some random guitar riffs to tie it all together, but it seems foraging for shit makes a shitty album, so if you start smelling something fishy, run for your lives.
With my last surge throughout the bowls of , i guess it was time to talk about Kylesa, they play a more by the numbers form of Sludge, truer to the purest form of Sludge, mixing in some way , and , with a couple of twists and turns in between.
So what Time Will Fuse Its Worth is all about?
After a smallish Intro , you get right to the heart of it with What Becomes An End , shouting vocals, dual guitars, and the weird production, it sounds and feels like hardcore punk, nevertheless it shifts and turns into something else, more like instead of playing straight Sludge, they play all the genres in separate, because even though I m trying to fit this into a genre, they are crossing a lot of them, musically speaking it s quite well played and interesting, Hollow Severer is one groovy track, starts and works its way in with shouting vocals and sludge like riffing, great track, Where The Horizon Unfolds starts a bit slow, but when it gets on going, it gets going (almost in a kind of way), solid track.
Between Silence and Sound is what i could call a pseudo-intermission, it s a short instrumental/short music, it s actually a good mix, then you get Intermission and it is what it is a intermission, mostly a drumming workout, not bad and not too big, but after the last one it s kind of weird, Identity Defined is a speedier track, opening up to a experimental doom track, with some psycho guitar work, just like in the 60 s, Stoner Metal all the way, and not bad at all, Ignoring Anger and The Warning are straight to school, sludge metal, another pair of great tracks, building up to the finisher Outro that just shows off the double drumming.
Well, it seems they do have 2 drummers, not to put it down, but the single Mastodon drummer, brings more speed, twists and turns, more overall quality and originality, I don t understand very well the 2 drummers thing, i hope its not to just show off (or i hope not), since i wouldn t classify the drumming as one of their stronger features, being those the shouting 3 way diverse vocals and the guitar work, oh well its a interesting album nevertheless, but if i had to choose, i would put Mastodon and first, but if your into Sludge you might want to check them out.
play a interestingly mix variety of music, i would put them in the alternative/progressive metal/rock arena, close in resemblance with what excel at, maybe a bit less overwhelming, i don t know if i would fit it into the category as well, nevertheless loads of skill and sprinkles of loads of genres popping in and out, so how does Void fit into this?
A Monumental Vulgarity opens the show, and what a show, after a smallish intro your just thrown into the groove, sounds and plays out like a Mastodon track, but with a little bit more taste for the eccentric (like Mastodon isn t eccentric enough), it s harsh vocals, it s a constantly changing musical landscape, but all in the same logical sound structure, they are not stopping and playing another thing, they are just changing and mixing the same stuff in an unorthodox fashion, refreshing and not so much Mastodon, the resemblances are mostly in how it all sounds, Gleamer (that one you can listen downstairs ^~) is another groovy track, jazz like drumming, with a lot of things thrown into the mix, one thing that starts to show is the bass work, that almost rivals the drumming/guitar, impressive, and infections, plus a full minute in the end of nothing especial, weird.
Fault Lines has another minute long intro into this one, nice way to put a intermission, but when it enters high gear you can feel it, this one is a hit hard, soft, hit hard kid of thing, building to a interesting finish, Nostalgic Echo gets another rock like intro to another groove oriented almost sludge track, again with clean passages building up to funky metal sections, Teledildonics first of all that s one funny named track, next, it s probably the best track in the album, how s that for building word of mouth , basically it sounds like Meshugah if they were playing this kind of music, point blank, impressive, sure it has some clean parts, but that seems to be their thing, Iceblocks has another almost 2 minute intermission before it gets into overdrive, again good track, last track Rise to the Midden , is a good last track, wraps it up nicely, it s hard, it s groovy, it is quirky, great stuff.
Intronaut hummm, well it s difficult to say if i really like it, sure it has a lot of things that one can headbang to, Teledildonics being one of them hahaah yeah headbang to that, and overall it is an impressive album, nonetheless it isn t a relentless kind of thing, it has a lot of clean passages, and a lot of slow alternative rock twists, that although a clear sign of technical ability, they do hurt the pace of the album, in the third listen i kinda while skipping the end of Gleamer , skipped Fault Lines as well, just because i though it was too early to such a long intermission, sorry guys, i wanted Teledildonics as soon as possible, wait that didn t sounded that good, heheh great job, if your into Mastodon or even the likes of or , you should check them out, I m sure everyone will enjoy some Teledildonics .
Opening track Goatcraft Torment starts up with This is Satanic Black Metal , so i guess they play ?
good to know, i won t have to spend a couple of minutes figuring out what the heck are they playing, not that i have anything against black metal or now that i think of it Satan, i just think that s silly to coin yourself from the get go, does it mean that all the tracks will be about Satan? like ahh Satan took a shower GRRR and ate some infidels christians for breakfast YARRR wait, now that i think of it . that would be cool, well let s head back to s Goatcraft Torment .
Goatcraft Torment starts with that amusing This is Satanic Black Metal , i don t know if that was the objective, but i find it amusing, tha and lyrics like like die for satan , maybe it s me but who said that Satan cares, maybe if Urgehal says so, it must be true, hehehe, ok, ok i ll stop with the funny business, music wise this is some well crafted black metal, i like the production, it s clean and to the point, Risus Sardonius is again a solid track, with loads of blasting, Antireligiøs is again blasting black metal, great guitar work, and it seems they don t just love Satan, they hate everyone else s religion , Dødsmarsj Til Helvete is a bit more straight black metal track, slower pace but nice nevertheless.
Satanic Black Metal In Hell bring the blasting back with vengeance, it s straight to fucking hell, i liked this one, Nefastus Nex Necis is actually the first classic black metal in the album, with all those nice touches, you know that eerie feel through, slightly melodic, short pattern blast, talking speed harsh vocals, with a touch of guitar solo, again a great track, Gathered Under The Horns is a another evil black metal track, with nice little touches that keep it fresh and moving, Selvmordssalme seems like the continuation of the later track, Sentiment Of Chaos brings the blasting and a bit heavier attitude, the last track Et Steg Nærmere Lucifer closes shop, it s slow and methodic, i wouldn t expect it any other way.
This is one kick ass album, loads of pace throughout, i know Urgehal have been around for ages, and the fact that they stick to their guns and drop quality material is always a good thing, they really loving Satan (and all that sodomy, children bashing, torture, general violence, you know all that great evil stuff Satan apparently endorses) doesn t seem to influence too much on the quality of the music, and that s for me the most important aspect, because this is solid black metal album, hell even though I m not that much into black metal this one had me headbanging a couple of times.
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