Related posts:

1. The Living Fields – Running Out of Daylight Review
2. Dim Mak – The Emergence of Reptilian Altars Review
3. Macabre – Grim Scary Tales Review

Recently here on Angry Metal Guy, Steel Druhm took black metal as a genre to task for, frankly, sucking. The whole shit has long been, in my opinion, a conservative and copycat genre which has generated little new or of note since at least the early 2000s, with its glory years being firmly rooted in the mid-to-late ‘90s. Of course, one shouldn’t draw such broad generalizations, because then you’ll end up posting a review that disproves the whole thesis of said generalization (this is not to say that he’s wrong, by the way, he was oh-so-right. But Absu defies gravity.). Case in point? The heavily thrash-influenced Absu just put out another new record, and not only do they defy the black metal genre as a whole, they’re actively working to redefine it in a way that is much more palatable to my Angry Metal Taste Buds™.

Abzu, the unfortunately named follow up to 2009’s self-titled opus Absu, feels like a different record than its predecessor. While the band may be maintaining their general form and function that they’ve had since it’s other opus Tara, they bring a level of extremity to their game that is remarkably refreshing. While Absu felt long and never quite drew me in, Abzu is a ball-busting thrashfest that only pulls up for moments to wow the listener with some rad acoustic work (“Circles of the Oath”). The riffs on here are addictive and the feel is out of this world and over-the-top.

Actually, if I were to draw correlations to other records, this one kind of reminds of me of the breakneck speed of Reign in Blood and Marduk’s Panzer Division Marduk, but with a lot more variation and, dare I say it… pizazz. The use of keyboards here is subtle, laying out simple beds for the riffs and the tortured vocals to rest on. They’re most noticeable in the march sections of the epic 15 minute “Song for Ea,” and the down moments accentuate the rawness of the riffs and feeling.

To be honest, I don’t have really much more to say except that this record is awesome. It’s exactly what you want from Absu. It’s got all the thrashy post-Tara riffing and song construction that you want, with all the extremity and esoteric lyrics you could possibly want. How these guys continue to just nail it out of the park time and time again is actually pretty impressive to me. While some might complain about the length, I actually think that a 36 minute record is preferable to a 56 minute one and Abzu makes this point perfectly. A brutal dose of thrashy riffing that makes you want to headbang and then leaves quickly enough that you want more is always preferable to a record that you can’t finish.

So mark up another win for black metal’s brightest spot right now. Absu – Abzu  is definitely in the running for record of the year and I’m going to be enjoying the hell out of this one for a long time.

Related posts:

1. Angry Metal Guy’s Top 10(ish) of 2011
2. Vintersorg – Jordpuls Review
3. Anaal Nathrakh – Passion Review

Now this was a tough album to review. I had a devil of a time trying to get through the music and honestly couldn’t even figure out what genre, sub-genre or sub-sub-genre these Chicago progressive metallers belonged in. You see, The Living Fields are so all over the place with their sound on their sophomore release Running Out of Daylight, they utterly defy conventional pigeonholing. At various times during the album’s playtime, they touch on ambient, darkwave, post rock, black metal, death metal, doom metal, folk and power metal. Yes, they cover their bases fully. In some ways these chaps could be called a more linear and rational version of Therion. They have all the same orchestration, pomp and variety and sport multiple vocalists of varying styles. However, they lack Therion‘s lunatic charm, off the rails approach and overall entertainment factor. Although far more restrained in their songwriting, their compositions have a cold feeling and lack of cohesion that made it very difficult to get into. While I can’t dispute their creativity and musical ability, this is a strangely distant album that has resisted all my efforts to enjoy it in a meaningful way. It’s also a very challenging album to describe so stick with Steel Druhm and he will do his bestest.

Album opener “Remnant” makes it easy to believe you are in for a treat along the lines of Agalloch‘s timeless classic The Mantle. The very catchy and brain sticking strains of string instruments and timpani drums that lead things off are joined by both clean male vocals and black metal shrieks (these sound like a cross between Tim Baker of Cirith Ungol and Dani Filth). Ambling along in a slow, orchestral funeral march, there’s some decent riffing and plenty of vocal change ups. The focus is on the symphonic aspects more than the metal guitar so it never feels particularly heavy even with the blackened croaks. It’s an odd song but it works although it feels overly long. With “Perseverance” the pace picks up and there are some very neat string and guitar harmonies. The same clean/black vocals are present and there’s a great symphonic black metal march at 0:32. This eventually segues into a minimalist stretch of clean singing and slow doomy riffing. While it works at first, it starts to feel uninteresting before very long. Although things eventually ramp up into something like power metal, by then I was drowning in apathy (great title for an album right there).

Other tracks like “From Miseries to Blood” and “Bitterness” bear sharp similarities to the early works of My Dying Bride with somber strings, dirgy doom riffing and death metal vox but the songs drone on for too long and often try to go in too many disparate directions without a cohesive flow. Strangely enough, the best track is the shortest. “When The Walls Go Up” features a stripped down, acoustic approach and pseudo-folk vocals. It manages to be catchy, poignant and sound like something off the soundtrack for Lord of The Rings. Yes, I know that won’t be easy to imagine. The title track attempts pretty much every genre of metal during its WAY overlong sixteen minutes and it has interesting moments but as a “song” its simply not compelling.

That’s the big problem with this album. It has a plethora of cool musical moments and ideas but few legitimately good songs. I’m not one to bash genre hoping or blending but they try to smush so many ideas and styles into the   songs that they seem to lose focus on the overall direction. Its fair to say there’s something here for everybody but not enough for anybody. This results in a disconnect and an inability to be moved by the material. It feels remote and unfocused. While I want to like it and appreciate their vision, I just don’t.

Also an issue is the way the album is mixed. Through 85% of Running, the guitar is relegated to a second seat and its the strings and symphonics that command center stage. This weakens the material and I kept wishing things were heavier and more “metal” in presentation. Additionally, the clean male singer with the high pitched voice tended to annoy me more often than not. The death metal vocals alternate between convincing and cartoony and that further knocked me out of synch with the music.

This is a long winded album and it triggered an equally long winded review. To sum up, this is a dense, experimental and progressive album with lots going on. I do appreciate how creative this group is, I just couldn’t fully get behind the finished product. If you like the works of Pain of Salavation, Therion and Grayceon, its worth a looksee and maybe it will blow you away. As for me, I was bored bored bored. Even the album cover bores me!

Related posts:

1. Manilla Road – Playground of the Damned Review
2. Sinister Realm – The Crystal Eye Review
3. Deicide – To Hell With God Review

Being a well on the way to aging angry metal nerd, I have a stomach that is not quite as leadbellied as it used to be, and many of my friends and acquaintances are under similar circumstances. There’s only so much beer and whiskey a stomach can handle before it gets a little acidic (although I continually go back to testing the limits every now and then). Hence I’ve been quite amused by the band name Ulcerate since they stormed the realm of heavy music with 2009′s Everything is Fire, which was one of my favorite albums of that year. The title track of that album was very impressive (one of my favorite metal songs of recent memory), as well as the rest of it (that album is nasty!).

Ulcerate decide to throw the rulebook out the window to some extent; they convey the slow side of metal, with Neurosis-like sludge covered bass lines and thick metallic riffs. But instead of tribal drumming, they throw in some of the fastest, most precise and intricate drum blasting I’ve heard (Morbid Angel comes to mind). This style is offputting to some, but I like new directions, and Ulcerate pull it off with aplomb. One complaint I’ve heard (from a drummer friend) is that they use triggers on the drums. While I have no idea if this is true or not, the drumming sounds pretty damned amazing… don’t really care if they use triggers or not I must admit. [And, honestly, there are very few bands that don't trigger these days. Quantizing and triggering is pretty much industry standard for metal records in the modern era - AMG]

The Destroyers of All is dense listening, full of the style that Ulcerate made their trademark in 2009 (they recorded music before then, it just wasn’t congealed into its current deadly form). The album opens with some soundtrack-like abstract sounds, then proceeds to rip off the listener’s head. An early impression I had of the album, which I broadcasted in “tweet” form, was “this album is ripping my brain apart.” Part of the reasoning behind that is that it is so goddamned dissonant and complex. This is not always the mark of a great album, but Ulcerate make the sound their own.

One of my favorite moments on The Destroyers of All takes place during the song “Dead Oceans”, where the drums bissect and clip into the hyper-sustained guitar part, creating a beating effect on the guitars (making it sound like the guitarist is playing much faster than he is). This section shows their genius and attention to detail, leading me to believe they may be part mad scientist. [Not to interject too many times, but this may also be the side-effect of a heavily compressed and dense production job. Many people frown upon having such dense production and it is largely a matter of taste as to whether or not this is good or not. I, however, find the density to be claustrophic and crushing in a most excellent fashion. - AMG]

The Destroyers of All is a pretty challenging album to listen to, as the songs are long and grueling. Listening to the album all the way through is like running a gauntlet, but the superb drumming and unique guitars are interesting enough to keep my attention. I’m not at liberty to say whether or not this album is “better” than their last (which would be a great achievement!) but it serves as a fitting sequel to Everything is Fire… although I don’t think it is officially so.

This is my one criticism: the guitars are constantly ultra sustained and reverbed out (especially on the higher register parts, which often are very modal and extended), which gives a sense of immense depth. It makes me think of clawing at the stars, which is cool, but reigning in that distance would give an even greater sense of depth and creativity. For now though, their blueprint is working quite effectively. That album title might be the most METAL of 2011 (perhaps the one somewhat comedic moment on the recording).

Related posts:

1. Obscura – Omnivium Review
2. Things You May Have Missed 2010: Adversarial – All Idols Fall Before the Hammer
3. Things You Might Have Missed 2011: Nader Sadek – In the Flesh

I respect when a band creates something unique, challenging and hard for the listener to initially absorb. However, I only respect it when there’s a real payoff once the listener DOES absorb it. I think most readers can recall some album in their past that proved difficult to grasp but all of a sudden, you got it and the album opened up and became great. That’s the root of the problem with Mammal, the new Altar of Plagues platter. An avant garde post-black metal band coming out of Ireland of all places, Altar of Plagues released a very impressive debut with White Tomb back in 2009. Follow up EP Tides was good but nowhere near as impactful. Now their second full length fails to live up to the enormous potential heard on their debut. Is that potential in danger of going up in post-smoke? Read on metal warriors, read on.

Upfront, I should be clear that Altar of Plagues was never an easy band to get into. They write very minimalist, wide open post-black metal with a very empty, lonely, diffuse sound. I know it will make a lot of people cringe but I would compare them to stripped down Agalloch mixed with Wolves in the Throne Room and  Tool (yes, I said Tool). On Mammal they take their core style and push it further outward into the realms of drone and shoegaze. Opening track “Neptune is Dead” clocks in at a whopping 18:44 minutes and it’s a sparse, empty journey much of the way. Although it starts with blast beats, discordant riffing and Dave Condon’s blackish shouts (that sound as if he is screaming from far off in the vastness), things quickly shift into minimalist, spacey, vaguely black metalish riffing that goes for extreme repetition and drone. Long stretches of the song have very little going on at all and sometimes it works, sometimes it’s just seems like nothing going on. That said, the song suceeds in its own meander-metal way (especially the Agalloch-like riffing at 8:15). “Feathers and Bones” although more aggressive at times, ultimately feels bland over the course of its nearly twelve minutes and much shoegazery doth ensue (the paucity of ideas within doesn’t justify such a drawn out length). “When the Sun Drowns in the Ocean” is a long, experimental track with no vocals save those provided by weeping, sobbing and at times chanting women.  It’s eerie, strange and surely interesting for awhile but not something most will ever have occasion to listen to more than once. The album ends on a fairly bright note with “All Life Converges to Some Center” which ends up being the most interesting track on offer (the dichotomy between the blast beats and tranquil guitar work is very effective at 3:42).

The production is something of a mystery. It’s muddled, murky and the vocals often sound like they’re broadcasted from the shitty speakers in the New York City subway system. The drums are way up front, too loud and drown out the guitars at times. It’s a soupy, chaotic mess that also manages to sound pretty flat. However, it lends the album a certain remote coldness, which I assume was the general idea. In fact, at times throughout Mammal it seems as if you’re listening to reverberations through a vast, empty void instead of a metal album.

While there are some cool, interesting moments across Mammal (mostly confined to the first and last songs), this doesn’t seem like something you would listen to unless you were in a bleary eyed trance or extremely hungover. These guys have talent and have their own style but they seem to be drifting here and there’s too much repetition and meandering. If you’re a huge fan of droning avant garde metal, this may be your idea of good time. As much as I enjoyed their debut, I just couldn’t crack the code that would allow me to fully get into this. While it’s on the cusp of a 3.0, I need less challenge and more payoff. I’m hoping they live up to their potential next time.

Related posts:

1. The Living Fields – Running Out of Daylight Review
2. Cruachan – Blood on the Black Robe Review
3. Nadiwrath – Nihilistic Stench Review

I’m sure most know the history of The Haunted and how they formed from the ashes of the legendary At The Gates. Despite my love for At The Gates, I never fully understood the stellar press and support The Haunted received and always felt they were one of the most overrated bands on the planet. Eventually they started to drift toward a more metalcore style and I lost the limited interest I had in them. Now they’re back with album seven Unseen and they’ve left their thrash days in the dust, probably for good. Instead, they deliver a strange, directionless mess of experimentation, emo angst, nu-metal and alt-rock. It’s clear they’re writing only for themselves and could care less what their fans expect or hope for at this point. While that’s admirable from an artistic perspective, when the results are this tedious and uninspiring, it’s both tragic and cringe-inducing. No matter how brave and creative they want to be, at the end of the day they should still be striving to write good music and they seem to have forgotten that here.

This is a schizophrentic album from the start. Lead track “Never Better” starts as a nu-metal dud before morphing into a more alt-rock style with a decently catchy chorus. However, the reek of nu-metal/core can’t be shaken off. The album highlight “No Ghost” sounds a lot like Clutch or Corrosion of Conformity (think “Albatross”) and as strange as it sounds coming from The Haunted, it’s actually a good song. After that the identity crisis or willful attempt to be challenging hits full stride and we get songs with Faith No More influences (“Catch 22″), straight-up angsty emo rock (“Dissapear,” “Unseen” and “All Ends Well”), songs that would fit better in the Foo Fighters catalogue (“Motionless”) and lastly, metalcore with a bit of modern thrash and groove (“The Skull,” “The City” and “Them”). While I have to give them credit for trying to stretch their sound, this ends up trying to go in every direction at once and ultimately just feels lost and scattered. It’s almost like they couldn’t decide what style to pursue so they tried them all. While some songs manage to have memorable bits or a catchy chorus, the overall impression is one of a stylistic train wreck.

In fairness, vocalist Peter Dolving deserves some recognition for fitting into the diverse styles The Haunted explores here. He shows he can be a versatile front man and I was impressed at times by the shades of his performance. Sadly, too much of his vocals still end up being typical metalcore screamo crap which I can’t stand. The guitar work of Patrik Jensen and Anders Björler is disappointingly mediocre on many tracks and only occasionally do they hit upon an inspired riff (“No Ghost” sounds great and the riffing in “The Skull” is OK).

Truth be told, I had a great deal of trouble giving  this album the repeated spins required to be fair. After one listen all I wanted to do was treat it like I treated St Anger and throw it in trash. I did ultimately stick with it and sat through it over and over again to see if things clicked somehow. They didn’t. For people who like metalcore, nu-metal or emo, this may be quite an interesting release. However, Steel Druhm cares not for those styles so to my ears, this is pretty rotten. Although I was never fully enamored with The Haunted, I can now say they will be completely dropped from my musical consciousness forevermore.

Related posts:

1. Scar Symmetry – The Unseen Empire Review
2. Witchery – Witchkrieg Review
3. Architects – The Here and Now Review

After a wintry silence of 4 years about a new solo record, Vintersorg is finally releasing the long awaited follow-up to Solens Rötter. If you consider the early solo career of Mr. V, this is actually pretty surprising. His fecundity has been next to almost none, producing a record a year, as well as having a myriad of other excellent projects (like Otyg, Waterclime, Havayoth, Gravisphere, being in the mighty Borknagar and I’m sure someone will correct me on something I’ve missed). But for this Angry Metal Guy the new record coming has been a worrisome thing, as the taste that was left in my mouth by Solens Rötter was a bit bitter. To date, the record is my least favorite of everything that has been released under Mr. V’s solo moniker and the decision to ditch the amazing Steve Digiorgio and Asgeir Mickelson and bass and drums, respectively, was definitely felt. So I guess the question for Jordpuls was… what next?

Fortunately for fans of the band, this has apparently not been four wasted years. In fact, for traditional fans of the bands (the ones who like everything up through Cosmic Genesis) this will probably be a welcome return to what Vintersorg was best known for—folk-influenced black metal, made with an eye towards nature, natural sciences and with a sense of wonder and awe. And while this record maintains some of the more progressive things that have been added to the sound in the later years, more 70s-influenced harmonies, layers of instruments and the occasional musical non sequitur, it is remarkably straight forward and direct for a band (loosely speaking) that has been moving away from those two adjectives since Visions from the Spiral Generator hit.

Jordpuls really bursts out the door with the best, catchiest tracks since Cosmic Genesis with “Världsalltets Fanfar” and “Klippor och Skär,” both of which sport choruses that sing more to the soul than anything Vintersorg has released in a while. For me, actually, the first listen through of the record was almost disappointing after hearing “Klippor och Skär” the first time, because the chorus is so damn incredible and memorable that the tracks after it actually kind of paled in comparison. But upon a second, third, (fourth, fifth, [...] twentieth, twenty-first) listen, the rest of the album came into focus as well and has really stuck fast. Not to give away too many secrets about the record, because you really should get it yourself, the thing that stands out for me about Jordpuls is that this is the record where Mr. V has recaptured the elusive, addictive choruses that were ubiquitous on the earlier records but seems to have slipped away a bit since moving into the more progressive era.  This becomes evident as, despite almost feeling a tad front-loaded with excellent songs, when you reach the end of the record you’re still getting excellent tracks like “Palissader” and “Vindögat,” and they’re all addictive in their own right.

I do have a few mild complaints about Jordpuls, however. This record doesn’t quite live up to a “perfect” album for me because there are a couple of things I miss. While the bass is passable and the programmed drums are fine, I really will never understand why Vintersorg dropped Steve Digiorgio and Asgeir Mickelson from the line-up. Both musicians are cream of the crop players who added a dimension to the music that would have been just as welcome on this record and Solens Rötter as they were on their predecessors. Secondly, I sometimes feel like the music is too busy. While the layers can be highly successful (like in the aforementioned “Klippor och Skär” where some of the vocal harmonies are playful and amazing), there are times when the keyboards and other instruments feel a bit like they’re missing some direction and were just recorded on a whim and never touched.

All of that said, though, Jordpuls is a great success. Reclaiming the beautiful and heartwarming melodies, the fantastic choruses and the rawer production make this album feel like it should sit alongside Till Fjälls, Ödemarkens Son and Cosmic Genesis instead of Solens Rötter. For the poets among us, Jordpuls is a record that should speak to your own joy at the world that surrounds you. Tracks like “Klippor och Skär,” “Mörk Nebulosa” (which you can hear over at MySpace along with the “Världsalltets Fanfar”), “Skogen Sover” and “Vindögat” are the kind of music that deserves to be listened to while wandering through the blooming forests of spring. It’s not exactly angry, but it’s definitely excellent and old fans and new alike should be pleased.

Related posts:

1. Världsalltets Fanfar Streaming at MySpace
2. More Vintersorg News
3. New Footage of Vintersorg Recording Vocals!

Grayceon is a three-piece progressive metal band from San Francisco that was formed in 2005 and that is releasing their third full-length All We Destroy via Profound Lore (which is being distroed by Sound Pollution in Sweden, by the way). Since their 2007 debut, the band has been hailed as something totally unique on the metal landscape, and in 2011 this is still very true. In fact, I would go so far as to argue that they are a singular voice in the area in such a way that there is very little functional comparison to a reader understand what it is that they do—and more specifically why it’s so damn successful. However, as a music reviewer that’s my job (or in this case, ridiculously time consuming habit), so I shall wade fearlessly into the fray and hope that you, angry reader, are left with a sense of why you should head over to Profound Lore’s website and purchase the record.

Drawing parallels between Grayceon and many others is nearly impossible largely because of the band’s initial makeup. Guitars, drums and an electric cello with female vocals and very rare screams, are the base of the sound. You can imagine that this changes the dynamics of the record’s mix for sure—actually putting it into the similar dynamic range as something like Death or Obscura with the fretless bass or like Winds, except with a much more acoustic production. This doesn’t stop the band from having genuinely heavy music, however. With an infusion of doom that seems to work as a landing pad for the musical identity, the band still knocks out some heavy, ponderous metal that kicks you in the spine. This definitely stands out as a defining aspect of the 17 minute epic “We Can,” but this dirgey tendency is ubiquitous throughout All We Destroy.

However, Grayceon is also a lot more delicate than heavy at times. In fact, I’m reminded of earlier Murder By Death at times (like on the track “Once A Shadow”), largely because of the cello connection, but also because the band has a very organic sound. This organic approach is becoming more common now in the underground, bands like Shroud of Despondency, Agalloch and Ludicra (as well as handfuls of others) seem to be approaching the production of records such as this one from the perspective of “change as little as possible” in the studio. While the production here is still very good, it has such a different feel than most of what I’m getting these days that it almost feels like an entirely different beast. The production is airy, the cello sounds like it was recorded in a fairly large room and uses only natural reverb, and there isn’t a touch of replacement on the drums which have a good, rich acoustic tone to them. It’s beautiful to listen to and it matches the bands delicate, “indie” side.

And on All We Destroy more than on 2008′s This Grand Show it feels like Grayceon is showing off that more delicate side. While there is still excellent heavy music and groove, there seem to be longer acoustic tracks and a lot less driving or fast metal passages. Though, this is where the band shines and the tone, harmonies and feeling are so beautiful and the writing superbly links these parts with some of the coolest riffs and progressions that I’ve heard in a long time. These all work in a symbiosis with vocalist, screamer and cellist Jackie Perez Gratz and the very intermittent screams of guitarist Max Doyle¹. While the screams aren’t mind-blowing, Gratz’s smooth, alto vocals fit the musical style with distinct perfection. She has a bit of a throaty delivery that borders on sultry at times and that really is a highlight.

I guess my only complaints here are minimal. While I have just waxed poetic about how fantastically beautiful the music is, this record just isn’t as heavy as This Grand Show and I miss some of that. And while the songs are shorter for the most part, which I think is an improvement in some ways, the energy goes missing. Also, I’m really not a huge fan of the opening track and after my fourth or fifth listen I started just starting the listen on track two “Shellmounds” which is probably the album’s best track. But as I assume you’ve just read, this record is otherwise a piece of progressive metal art. Grayceon continues to be a shining example of the width and breadth of what it means to love metal.

Related posts:

1. The Living Fields – Running Out of Daylight Review
2. Subrosa – No Help for the Mighty Ones Review
3. Agalloch – Marrow of the Spirit

I’m not accustomed to being short for words when I write a review. It’s something that happens pretty rarely because I tend to form such strong opinions about things. And given how much shit I’ve been listening to lately for this website, it’s really cool to be able to get my hands on something that has this kind of exciting personality—but let me tell you now, I’m not sure if I’m up to the job of actually doing this record justice with my descriptions. So if for some reason you don’t feel particularly inspired after this to go out and check out this record then ignore that impulse—and check it out anyway.

Ben Levin Group is a large band that formed (or at least met) at Berklee School of Music (which also brought us Kayo Dot and fucking Dream Theater, so let’s call it a hit-or-miss record) and that produce concept records of epic scope with (as I understand it) very few vocals. Pulse of a Nation is one such full length concept record. It clocks in at 45 minutes and all I can say is that it is a truly excellent piece of composition, performance, production and that if you are a fan of progressive music even a little bit, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Pulse of a Nation is basically an amalgamation of different kinds of elements. There is a bit of guitar god influence going on here—obviously producing a record that largely consists of melody that’s being carried by an electric guitar is reminiscent of Vai or Satriniani—but unlike the show-off elements of those guys employ shamelessly, Pulse of Nation is largely predicated on smart melody. In fact, there’s not really a solo that I would call wanky on the whole album even though there is some excellent technical soloing on “Ill From the Poisons of Your Loving”—so don’t take that whole analogy too far. Take that general format, which allows for a lot of variation, and add in what sounds like noise and industrial influences and you start to get something that is simultaneously heavy, progressive and emotive. While the noisy stuff can maybe get a little overbearing (a lot of stuff is peaked in the mix, which means that listening with monitors can get painful—but the actual mix is not too loud), it works to really push the extreme feelings to a different level.

Of course, this record isn’t super heavy. It seems to me that Mr. Ben Levin (who I’m assuming does the large majority of composition) doesn’t really wander into death metal territory. The drums aren’t as heavy as I’d like and when there are vocals (which is very, very rare), they tend towards NIN kind of yell/scream, not growls. But for this project that’s all fine with me. The music is beautifully cohesive, excellently constructed and the heavy is still heavy so I don’t need it to be tech death metal or anything.

Though, to be honest, if there was one thing that I could’ve used more of it was vocals. In this case the vocals are very rare and while the melodies are certainly strong enough to carry themselves, there were moments when they probably would have been appropriate. I am a fan of instrumental music, but in this case there were some passages that felt as though they were calling for vocals. But to be fair, given that the vocals that are on here aren’t exactly stellar when it comes to lyrical themes and pure vocal ability (it really is what I would consider to be a weakness), it’s probably better that the project is left with what the band is truly good at: the music. Hard to criticize someone for playing to their strengths.

If you’re a fan of progressive music I strongly suggest that you check this project out. I also strongly suggest that if anyone from InsideOut or any other progressive label ever reads this that they sign these guys immediately, ’cause this stuff is cool and pretty unique. I’ve said many times before on this blog that the best prog rock stands on the border between technical and poppy and Pulse of a Nation does just that. Just varied and interesting enough to keep you interested and with enough hooks to stick. I’ve got a feeling that this record will continue to grow on me, too.

Huh, turns out I wasn’t at a loss for words after all.

Related posts:

1. Thomas Giles – Pulse Review
2. Sigh – Scenes From Hell Review
3. The Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis Review

Agalloch is one of the rare bands whose music can provoke complex emotional reactions and truly move me every time I listen. From the bleak coldness of Pale Folklore to the creepily morose musings on The Mantle and the tense, uneasy nihilism of Ashes Against the Grain, their music overflows with emotion and feeling. Their odd and groundbreaking neo-folk, black metal, post-rock fusion has been a winning concoction time and again. From their small but fierecely dedicated fan base, there has been an almost palpable anticipation for new material from these Oregonian wood gnomes and finally, they deliver Marrow of the Spirit. It goes without saying that expectations are ridiculously high based on the masterworks that preceded, but can they continue to operate at such a high level? I want  to say yes unconditionally but the truth is more like a yes with minor qualifications.

Marrow begins with the darkly beautiful instrumental “They Escaped the Weight of Darkness” featuring guest cellist Jackie Perez Gratz of Grayceon (fans of dark atmospheric music need to check them out ASAP). The somber, haunting cello work accompanied by the sound of a babbling brook is followed quite jarringly by ”Into the Painted Grey” which features the heaviest and ugliest black metal blasting Agalloch has ever done. Over the twelve plus minutes that follow, Agalloch explores a lot of familiar styles and ideas, from muted, moody introspection to black metal hammering, always maintaining a high level of quality (check out the great riff that occurs at 6:00). This continues with “The Watcher’s Monolith” which sounds like a lost track from The Mantle,with acoustic guitar offset by rock/metal lead-work and the excellent black metal rasps of John Haughm. It was at this point on Marrow that it began to dawn on me despite the excellence of the music, there’s also an undeniable feeling of familiarity and sameness here compared to their prior works and that’s a feeling I never experienced before as an Agalloch fan.

Thankfully, “Black Lake Nidstang” reverses that trend, sounding fresh and new with an evil, pseudo-doom style  perfect for a vacation in Mordor. The pained, blackened vocals throughout (especially at 7:23) really make the song resonate and pulse with tension and despair. Also a very long composition (seventeen minutes and change), this track morphs from doom to suicidal black metal and onto something verging on, dare I say it, electronica. However, it remains compelling throughout and continues the classic Agalloch style of  avant-garde experimentation. ”Ghosts of the Midwinter Fires” follows and sounds very reminiscent of material from Ashes Against the Grain and again feels very familiar. Idea recyling or no, this is still a great song and one of the best on Marrow. Closing track ”To Drown” brings Ms. Gratz back for more cello-fueled sullen, melancholy reflections, heavy on the dark ambiance (sounding especially cool at 6:44) and another standout number results.

While this is by far their most black metal album since Pale Folklore, it isn’t their best and suffers by comparison to their stellar back catalog. There’s a feeling of “been there, done that” prevailing throughout several of the songs due to a fairly strong reliance on older ideas. That said, it’s still fucking Agalloch so it’s ridiculously good music played by superb musicians and their recycled ideas are superior to new ideas from 99.89% of other bands anyway. Of course, as with their previous material, it isn’t possible to experience the totality of what Marrow has to offer without completely marinating oneself in it to get all the juicy, oaky goodness and the more you listen, the more this will grow on you.

Though clearly a victim of my unreasonably high expectations, Marrow is still a winner and while not Agalloch’s most innovative work, it’s another excellent union of music and emotion. Long time Agalloch acolytes and tree hugging newbies alike will surely enjoy basking in it’s strange charms and flavors. Mmm… tastes like wood!

Related posts:

1. Petrychor – Dryad Review
2. Grayceon – All We Destroy Review
3. The Living Fields – Running Out of Daylight Review