ALBUM REVIEWS!; New Music From Horisant, Vulture Industries, Running Wild, Korn, Earthless, Gypsy Chief Goliath, Ghost Avenue, Alter Bridge, Promethium, Secrets Of The Sky, The Vision Bleak; October 08th 2013
HOLA EVERYBODY!
This week is a little quiet in terms of high profile releases, but we've still got some really cool new stuff from the likes of Vulture Industries, The Vision Bleak, Gypsy Cheaf Goliath, Horisant, and more! Plus a massive double album from hard rockers Earthless entitled "From The Ages", plus the latest from Alter Bridge entitled "Fortress".
And finally, an album that MANY people have been wanting for a long time. "The Paradigm Shift" by Korn, their first album since 2003's "Take A Look In The Mirror" to feature guitarist Brian 'Head' Welch. Things weren't looking good when the band put out "Never Never" earlier this year, but was the wait still worth it for Korn fans everywhere?.... Not really, but its fun to watch the Korn fans squirm.
Anyways, enjoy! \m/
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“Time Warriors” by Horisont
Hard Rock/Heavy Metal
Released October 01st 2013
“Time Warriors” revels in a mix of Thin Lizzy, UFO, Cirith Ungol, and early Judas Priest, bordering on the lines of heavy metal but with a strong base of classic, melodic hard rock. With that in mind, expect lots of hooks, acoustic rhythm guitar riffs, and laid-back grooves, but Horisont plays it all with the up-most enthusiasm, as if to convince you they’re original. To be fair, it kinda works, as Horisont just plays and plays with sheer joy and attack with subtle heaviness and enough melody to keep things moving along, and the sense of nostalgia they bring with them is really something else. Hell, I can easily picture them opening for any of the bands mentioned above had they been around at the time. While the album is far from original, it’s a guilty pleasure, and will put a smile on your face if you wish to return to the days of 70’s rock n’ roll.
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)
“The Tower” by Vulture Industries
Avant-Garde Metal/Progressive Metal
Released October 01st 2013
Vulture Industries fly through a lot of different techniques and ideas on “The Tower”, with probably the only consistent element being their sense of experimentation, one moment pumping out tight coiled technical madness, and other moments playing things safe and pumping out stuff more along the lines of subtle prog metal. Infact, it seems that even the track listing works the same, as the album starts off a massive absurd note, before straying into far less ominous and almost contemporary tracks and then ending on the super experimental Faith No More-worshipping bonus track. Now, when I say contemporary, I mean contemporary by prog metal standards, as it still manages a lot of weird themes and sounds, though it lacks the ominous ferocity that Vulture Industries is clearly aiming for. Still, Vulture Industries clearly also love what they do and stand by what they do, and deliver coiling riffs and genuine weirdness despite the setbacks, so how can I complain with that in mind.
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)
“Resilient” by Running Wild
Heavy Metal
Released October 08th 2013
A lot of people were really upset with me when I named “Shadowmaker” as one of the worst albums of 2012, because of bad song-writing, bad electronic drums, and just bad execution. So when word got out of “Resilient”, I expected the same result. While there are certainly similarities, “Resiliant” isn’t quite AS bad. Now that doesn’t mean it’s good at all, but it’s clear that Running Wild isn’t as dry for ideas as they were before. Some of the guitar solo’s are pretty cool, some hooks have some merit to them, and sound production as a whole is really strong, with ‘Bloody Island’ in particular opening up on a really strong acoustic section and packing some super catchy hooks. Infact, this one song is probably better than the whole album. However, song-writing is still pretty weak, especially in the lyrics department, and though I won’t comment on whether or not the drums are artificial or not because I don’t know, I will say that they don’t exactly sound much better since “Shadowmaker”. All in all, “Resilient” doesn’t exactly blow me away, but it’s not exactly painful either, and the real problem I have here is trying to deal with the contrast between the few good moments and the many bad ones. Perhaps consistency should be considered a focus for Running Wild in the future instead of trying to sound like pirates (which btw, Alestorm does a way better job at that. Take notes guys).
Rating: 2/5 (Poor)
“The Paradigm Shift” by Korn
Pop Metal/Nu Metal
Released October 08th 2013
“The Paradigm Shift” sets yet another change in sound for Korn, a band that while successful in the 90’s, has had a lot of trouble creating an impact these past few years. So obviously the return of founding member Brian ‘Head’ Welch should change that, right? Apparently not, as the album see’s Korn continuing to play around with styles in order to convince you to give a damn. The dubstep stylings from “The Path Of Totality” are back, and while they thankfully don’t feature Skrillex or anything like that, they’re still pointless and often just annoying, but the real shock this time is the super conventional song-writing, with tracks like ‘Love & Meth’ and the now infamous ‘Never Never’ sounding more like Top 40 radio hits than anything that would normally be called metal. Welch unfortunately gets lost in this mix as Jonathan Davis and his electronics take charge, and his return is overshadowed by Jon’s continuing love for lyrics about daddy issues and teenage romance and his always nasally squeal, made more annoying with the pairing of flat generic riffs, percussion, and general sound mixing. None of the songs except for ‘Tell Me What You Want’ are genuinely painful, but fail big time due to Korn’s continuing reliance on a dated style, now glossed with electronics and modern pop music, and "The Paradigm Shift" falls flat on its trimmed face.
Rating: 1/5 (Terrible)
“From The Ages” by Earthless
Hard Rock/Stoner Rock
Released October 08th 2013
Double albums are tough for anyone to swallow, but thankfully a band like Earthless is consistent enough to understand these problems, pumping out so many super solid and impressive hard rock jams with a thin layer of groovy stoner rock and classic psychedelic rock. Whether it be the solo-laden monolith of ‘Violence Of The Red Sea’, the lush vibes of ‘Uluru Rock’, or the grand scales of the albums own title track, “From The Ages” attacks with consistent hard rock from start to finish, with enough variety here and there to give each song a distinctive feel. Creating a consistent double album is tough for any band, but with writing this strong and interesting is rare, and the last time any rock band accomplished a double album as tightly wound as this was back in 2006 when Red Hot Chili Peppers put out “Stadium Arcadium”, but what makes this album even better is its ability to pull so easily from so many styles and points of Earthless’s career. It’s good ol’ heavy jam rock at its finest, and there’s so much packed in that I find it hard to believe anyone could get tired of it.
Rating: 4/5 (Great!)
“New Machines Of The Night” by Gypsy Chief Goliath
Hard Rock/Blues Rock
Released October 08th 2013
Gypsy Chief Goliath is a very interesting breed, combining stoner rock, classic rock, blues rock, traditional heavy metal, and all that great old school stuff that Gypsy Chief Goliath seems to love as much as I do. So let’s just get this out of the way because it needs to be said; not much has changed since their debut. At all. For me, this is great, as they’ve brought out yet another meaty slab of catchy rock n’ roll, with better production and better sound mixing. But that aside, I wouldn’t argue if somebody were to call this lazy. Gypsy Chief Goliath has potential to be really big, and they only barely tap it here. As much as I love the super soulful hooks of ‘Got No Soul’ or the thick riffs of ‘St Covens Tavern’, I can’t help but imagine what the band could have accomplished if the band opted to make their sound heavier or focus their influences. That all aside, “New Machines Of The New Night” is a sheer joy nonetheless, infusing the lighter styles of rock into one super soulful and enjoyable nonetheless. And god damn, this singer is fucking GREAT.
Rating: 4/5 (Great!)
“Ghost Avenue” by Ghost Avenue
Hard Rock/Heavy Metal
Released October 08th 2013
Ghost Avenue are back with their sophomore self-titled, and it continues to revel in groovy and melodic rock music, with enough heaviness to fall somewhere between the lines of Danko Jones and recent material from Papa Roach. Tracks often dedicate themselves to just that, with the steady groove of ‘Two Drinks’, the anthemic stylings of ‘All I Can Say’, and the bass heavy ‘Right Direction’. But again, that’s it. Ghost Avenue really has nothing that interesting to say, or at the very least, nothing you haven’t heard a million times before, and while the instrumental work is played well, it’s incredibly generic and repetitive at times, and vocalist Kim Sandvik sometimes has trouble maintaining his notes. I guess there’s nothing bad here, but there isn’t exactly much really all that good or memorable, as Ghost Avenue settles for vanilla-flavoured modern rock.
Rating: 2.5/5 (Mediocre)
“Fortress” by Alter Bridge
Alternative Metal/Post-Grunge
Released October 08th 2013
“Fortress” see’s a huge shift for Alter Bridge, abandoning the dark conceptual styles of “ABIII” for the more straightforward approach of their earlier music, with dashes of influence from Mark Tremonti’s recent solo material. To me, this is a huge step backwards for the band, as the music has lost its dark visceral edge in favour of more contemporary ideas and sounds. To be fair though, that doesn’t mean “Fortress” is bad, as songs are still written fairly well and delivered well, with Myles Kennedy again stunning with his vocal performance, and the band pulling behind with tight riffs and percussion. Hooks are good, harmonies are good, and there isn’t anything bad here, but it still manages to become predictable and even monotonous after a while. It’s clear that Alter Bridge prefers this more simplistic style, seeing as how they’re still so enthusiastic about it, but if you’ve heard any other album from them, you’ve heard this before. Still, if you’re a long-time fan, I find it hard to believe you wouldn’t like this.
Rating: 3/5 (Decent)
“Origins” by Promethium
Alternative Metal/Heavy Metal
Released October 08th 2013
Another band who I’m experiencing for the first time here today, but Promethium seems to be impressing a lot of people. Though quite frankly, I’m not entirely sure why. Promethium claims on their Facebook page to be ‘old school’ and ‘pure metal’, but they seem to fit more into the lines of alterative metal and heavy metal. Just imagine all the clean hooks from every Five Finger Death Punch song ever with the occasional Trivium or 90’s Metallica riff, and you’ve got Promethium. The sound production is thankfully pretty good on this album, something they need given the questionable vocals, which often vary and just don’t pack the punch that Promethium is very clearly hoping for. Guitars have some great tone and crunch to them to make up for it, but that can’t hide the fairly generic and honestly boring writing. I don’t want to knock people for liking a band, especially when there isn’t anything terrible about them per say, but I think perhaps some people were paid to write the super positive reviews I’ve read so far, as Promethium is really nothing more than a mediocre modern metal band.
Rating: 2.5/5 (Mediocre)
“Sail The Black Waters” by Secrets Of The Sky
Progressive Metal/Black Metal
Released October 08th 2013
Secrets Of The Sky lean on a number of different ideas with “Sail The Black Waters”, sticking mostly to progressive metal and ambient styles to create a twirling and incredibly dynamic album. There’s a lot to take in on “Sail The Black Waters”, from the massive melodic passages on ‘Black Waters’, the keyboard heavy ‘Sunrise’, or the fantastic riff progression on ‘Decline’, and everything is cram packed into an album that spans 40 minutes, with the shortest track being almost 8 minutes. That brings up two problems with the album unfortunately, the first being that there is SO much to take in, that it will probably take a few listens to really start digging it, and the second problem being that the album just feels really long. It’s clear that not a moment of this is meant for a casual listener given the song lengths and the natural tight execution of the music. So with that in mind, I’ll leave at this; if you’re willing to REALLY dig into the record, you’ll find an incredibly immersive and unique experience. If not, you best stay away entirely.
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)
“Witching Hour” by The Vision Bleak
Gothic Metal/Doom Metal
Released October 08th 2013
With “Witching Hour” being my first experience with The Vision Bleak, I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect, with my instant reaction being; ‘oh boy, more generic gothic metal’. In some ways, that’s exactly what I got, but The Vision Bleak’s execution of that same style helps them stand out, with elements of doom metal, modern lush goth rock, and even jazz fusion in small moments. Its definitely a strong sound mix, though the tropes of gothic metal still seep their way through as chords drag and Konstaz delivers a wobbly vocal performance that sometimes comes off smooth, and othertimes strays into mutters that you’re supposed to think are dark and edgy. Again, the few variances help a lot, like the fantastic jazz flute on ‘The Blocksberg Rite’ or the speedy tempo’s of ‘A Witch Is Born’. The album manages to conjure a lot of dark energy and power despite its shortcomings, and while stronger vocals could’ve made this so great, “Witching Hour” stands pretty good as it is.
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)