A one man band from Canada, Ov Hollowness is two releases deep and going on their third with The World Ends. One man bands have always mystified me in a way. Why not just hire people and tell them what to do? Why not play emperor and be the boss? On the other side of the coin, I completely understand. No one to get in the way of your vision. Do what you want when you want to. It makes sense. Being your own boss can be fun at times. Let's find out how much so.

Opener ‘Abstractive’ starts with static before breaking into a late 90s (black metal) sounding guitar. The arraignments are that of many black metal bands of that time. Conveying certain cold chills and windy vibes, this is from Canada remember. The sorrow in the guitar passages are brought as well, they must not be forgotten. And the vocals are what’s expected from the previously mentioned musical representations.

Song tempos on this album range from fast and fierce (‘Grey’, 'Hollow’) to mid-pace churners (‘Hoarfrost’, ‘Lost Resolve’). And it makes for a nice journey of an album. The clean vocals on the later half of ‘Last Resolve’ are very strong and echoed in my mind for awhile in-between listens to this album. And that’s the key here, always having something for people to remember, something for them to come back to.

‘End in View’ is the final track with vocals on this album, and they're used well. Clean and dirty voices covering a song of sorrow and cold abound. As if I was sitting in a cabin surrounded by 26” of snow. Someone hide the razorblades and stock the vodka, going to be a long couple days. ‘Outro’ leaves the album on a light note. Light orchestrations and weather of the coldest kind, like waking up frozen, have you in their grasps. Someone get me a damn coat!

Ov Hollowness does a great job of presenting a frostbitten, sometimes atmospheric feel to The World Ends. I just hope that this isn’t the soundtrack I have to use in the end times, I hate the cold weather!!! I recommend you go grab this album, and put it in on those dark, beautiful nights as the haunting can be uplifting as well. I suggest you go pick this up from Code666 Records before the winter is gone, you’ll be begging for it by July, trust me.

HAIL!!!!

Increasingly, my listening habits have been edging their way down the side roads of instrumental guitar music. I have my favourites and they serve me very well with their prolific output and releases. Thankfully it’s a genre that supports itself very well, both bands and fans alike often sharing new acts and ensuring the word spreads when something new rolls into view. To some ears, it’s all the same, long tracks that aimlessly shift with varying degrees of heaviness/lightness and intricacy/simplicity. Belgium’s The Tragedy We Live In have many tags on their Bandcamp page where they released their eponymous debut album at the start of March. To be honest, the tags only confuse me as I can’t identify ambient from doom from kraut from sludge. (but I’m learning). What I can identify is that it sounds bloody great.

It only took a few seconds of streaming for me to claim this one for review, instantly appealing, The Tragedy We Live In has a sound that may borrow from many other acts, but they have managed to capture a guitar sound that is both warm, yet cold, heavy, yet melodic and at times, abrasive and raw.

Ably backed by a rhythm section that has bass playing from the Eric Avery School of Excellence and drumming from the John Bonham School of Shudder. Interspersed with samples of dialogue (apologies if this is from a film, I can’t but should be able to identify), a story is being told. Managing to be both tragic and uplifting is a difficult feat, but they pull it off.

Opening (title) track ‘The Tragedy We Live In’ starts off proceedings with pounding toms, all tribal beats and menacing guitar teasing out simplistic melody lines. This neatly sequences into ‘Chains’, which introduces their neat ability to combine fast intense drumming with slow moving slabs of monolithic guitar work.

‘There Must Be A Way Out’ is the centrepiece of the album, a sprawling dense epic 9 minute track that ebbs and flows between moments of dark heaviness and lighter melodic shades. Personal favourite ‘Wahnsinn’ is a perfect grooving beast of a tune that combines a huge snaking bassline with shards of distorted guitar.

The flow of the album is well constructed, the quiet before the storm interlude of ‘Moving Ice’ passes by in a moment before the massive (punk) waves of ‘Artemis’ come crashing down on you. ‘Inside The Demon’s Heart’ is a melodic track that echoes early Explosions In The Sky, or imagine a superheavy version of 90s shoegazers, Ride. Final track ‘Soultaker’ gives our drummer a rest (he needs it!) and ends this excellent album on a quiet reflective note. The clean plucked guitar sounds swelling to a majestic finish, giving the feeling of a massive battle with some fierce creature that now slain, is breathing its final breath. Stunning.

If I have one criticism of this album, it’s that maybe at times, the performance becomes a little cluttered, but this somehow adds to the rawness of sound that I hear. Those of a more technical musical background may be put off by this, but I find imperfection more honest/passionate than some high sheen production of music that has no soul. Another European band that I highly recommend, hopefully we’ll be hearing a lot more from The Tragedy We Live In.

Well hello Zozobra!!! I have missed you, as I’m sure our readers have too. Where have you been? What have you been doing? Oh, Playing in Cave In and Old Man Gloom? Well, I guess I can’t really argue with you there. Fair enough. I see you brought some of your Cave In buddies with you? So it’s you, Caleb Schofield, the master of this whole Savage Masters thing, and your boys Adam McGrath and JR Conners? Alrighty then, no more introductions. Lets see what you’ve brought us…

Six tracks coming in at a total of 14:59. I can dig it, a lot. You aren’t messing around. I can appreciate that. The straight up rocking bass and guitar sound on the opener ‘The Cruelest Cut’ is rather nice. It sounds a little familiar, but I now that sound follows you wherever you go to a certain degree. I won’t fault you for that one bit. I really enjoy how you open up ‘Deathless’ with that distorted suffer slide. Damn man, this whole song is fuzzed the hell out. That bass tone is killin’ it too. Have you been working on your voice, cause it sounds really strong, kinda vicious. I know when your boys are screaming with ya on the chorus too. Diggin it. Shit, ‘A Chorus of War’ and ‘Born In A Blaze’ are a hell of a way to close this thing out. With the sped up sludge you got going on, I can’t stop banging my head. I didn’t think you were going to pound out ‘Born…’ that hard man. I think my necks all messed up man. Someone’s gotta pay for this…

Yeah, ok man, Ill be sure to tell everyone to go pick up your album on April 16th through Brutal Panda Records. For sure. But my neck man….who's paying for this…

….HELP!!.....I mean HAIL!!!!!!!

This is the type of news you’re sometimes waiting for. If you like your music heavy at least. Fuzzy, sludgy, bowel movements inducing heavy. I’m talking about Conan and Bongripper who both won’t need much introduction if you like your music as described above. Conan, probably the heaviest doom band in the UK (and Europe perhaps even the World?) and Bongripper, from Chicago and Conan’s heavy counterpart from across the pond.

If the news that these 2 earthquake inducing Matamp powerhouses are about to tour through the UK together wasn’t enough, they are now also about to release a 12” split with a brand spanking new track from each. Oh boy. For a heavy fuzz fan like yours truly this is simply put fucking brilliant news.

Conan’s track is the A-Side of this split and it’s called ‘Beheaded’. Clocking in at 17 minutes it is the longest piece of music they have ever recorded (as far as I know).  And it is a true masterpiece. This band has been going on a major evolutionary development ever since they released their first demo Battle in the Swamp back in 2007. Their sound has been getting better, their heaviness has been getting heavier, their songs have been getting slower, but also more defined. There are always a lot of little things happening in the background with Conan. Little splash cymbal hits, little drum fills, all little details detail in this huge wall of sound. I don’t think there was a single second among these long and slow 17 minutes that made me look at the clock. It is totally mesmerising stuff. Well-done Conan, I really can’t wait for the new album!

On the B-Side is Bongripper’s track named ‘Zero Talent’. Another heavy wall of sound, though not as slow as Conan’s track and not as long either, as this track is “only” 9 and a bit minutes long.  Bongripper is an instrumental band, and similarly to Conan they have been steadily ploughing away creating their own sound of heavy fuzz. ‘Zero Talent’ starts of slowly and almost mysteriously during the 1 minute intro, but then the sludge/doom riffs are thrown straight in your face over some heavy pounding drums. There are more tempo changes in this track, with a great up-tempo bit towards the end. “Zero Talent” my arse; this is one of the most talented bands on the planet.

Go get this 12” in you NOW, it'll only cost you ten beautiful shiny Great British Pound coins. And then go and see them on this tour, which also has the brilliant prog monsters Humanfly on the bill. I for one can’t fucking wait!

Click on the link to find out more about the UK tour.

It seems to be a good year for bluesy rock bands releasing albums with "Earth" in the title. Earth Rocker, the new album from Clutch, was released on March 15, and has been received very well. And about two weeks from now, on April 15, Spiritual Beggars will release Earth Blues.

I have heard the name Spiritual Beggars many times before. Their lineup contains some very well-respected musicians, with former Carcass guitarist/Arch Enemy co-founder Michael Amott and current Grand Magus drummer Ludwig Witt being their longest running members. Their current incarnation includes former Opeth keyboardist Per Wiberg, Arch Enemy bassist Sharlee D'Angelo, and former Firewind vocalist Apollo Papathanasio. But I skipped over Spiritual Beggars for a long time, partially because of the hit-or-miss nature of supergroups, and partially because my distaste for Arch Enemy leads me to be somewhat skeptical of Michael Amott's work (his time in Carcass notwithstanding). So Earth Blues is my first exposure to the group, and it is a veritable smack-in-the-face to my foolish ignorance. This is a very good album.

Riff-wise, Earth Blues sits somewhere between the bluesy stoner rock of Clutch and the hard-hitting prog of In Absentia/Deadwing-era Porcupine Tree, with the heavier moments adding some Grand Magus/Reverend Bizarre to the equation. That, combined with Wiberg's keyboards, leads to something similar to the harder moments on Riverside's Shrine of New Generation Slaves. Now, my favorite moments on SoNGS were the more atmospheric moments, but Spiritual Beggars just seek to rock hard and they are very successful at that. At times, the songs on the album seem to run together, but I think that's less because they sound the same and more because I'm just too busy getting sucked up in the rock.

The most surprising aspect of the album for me was Apollo Papathanasio's vocal performance. He trades in the smoother, more operatic style from Firewind for a grittier tone that is very similar to Chris Cornell, to the point where someone might confuse the songs on Earth Blues for a Soundgarden or Audioslave offering (seriously, 'Wise as a Serpent' could almost fit right into Out of Exile). Thankfully, he pulls off the new style quite well, and his performance is one of the brightest spots on the album.

If you've yet to listen to Spiritual Beggars, don't make the mistake I did and ignore them. If ass-kicking, hard-rocking riffs are what you seek, Earth Blues delivers in spades and you should check it out as soon as it is available.

Shamanic doomsters I Klatus from Chicago, Illinois have finally recorded the follow up to 2008s Surveillance and Worship. Featuring fellows/ex-fellows from Lair of the Minotaur, Yakuza, and/or Indian, there’s plenty of musical ability to go around. This album also features the final recordings of bassist Tariq Ali, as he is no longer with us. May he rest knowing people will hear this album, and his amazing low end shaking their speakers. There’s also plenty of mind bending stuff on this album. Doom/psychedelia go fairly hand in hand, but this pushes limits at times, and does it successfully so.

Opening up with 'John of the Network' is of fairly epic works. Loud, downtuned guitars and doom abound, only to break into a spaced out interlude mid-song. An awesome song that puts me on mountains and in the air; vast music. Following that is 'Flailtank': one minute burst of upbeat jam then three minutes of a speech mixed through the wires. Again, tripped out stuff, and the album follows suit from here on out.

My favorite moments of this album come right in the middle. Presented as 'Model Prisoner Interlude' then 'Model Prisoner Revolt' and THEN 'Portals (Under The Lake)'. I am left mesmerized by the shifts from sludged out doom to spacey trips in the air. These three songs flow so well together, they could almost be one solid track. Hell, the whole album could be honestly, but someone did that already, and no one will ever smoke it. (See what I did there? No? You shouldn’t be listening to this then.)

The close out one-two punch 'Karma and Forgiveness' and 'Dark Commitment to the Ceaseless NON' is beautiful. I know I use that word a lot when reviewing a record, “beautiful”, even when reviewing friggin’ death metal. It’s an honest use of the word because it is the only word that I can use to describe the feeling I get inside when I hear music that moves me, no matter what direction it does so. So, yes, beautiful ending to a great album.

Spaced-out Doom. Get it right here. And get it while you can on a physical format because only 100 copies of this 2X LP have been pressed. No worries though, you can still grab a digital copy on iTunes if you miss out.

HAIL!!!!!

Our thoughts go out to I Klatus for the loss of their brother in arms, and as well to Tatiq’s friends and family. He has done a fine job here, and everyone should be proud of him. Rest in peace, metal Brother. Tariq Ali - December 15 1980 – September 13 2009.

The man that needs no introductions but who I’m going to introduce anyway: Aidan Baker of Nadja. He’s been doing this for years now, and a quick check of Wiki will show you a massive list. I imagine its still missing a bit, too. Plurals, on the other hand, I have heard of, but never actually heard. So a composition between the two is bound to be interesting, to say the least. Collaborations between artist are always bound to produce a bit of the expected. They can also have surprises hidden inside. Lets have a listen and find out.

Those who are fans of Nadja for their heavy side, won’t be immediately drawn into the first track ‘Dead Foxes In The Street’. What they will find is a nice mix of xylophone in a few places (sampled or not, I’m not sure) synths and our usual drone elements. Listening from start to finish is actually quite pleasant and mind clearing. This is the kind of stuff you listen to during a walk on a rainy day, in the park reading a book or even sitting in your room staring at the ceiling.

Track number two, ‘Turning Children Into Mice’, is the heavier song on this album. Starting out very drone/bass heavy, my ears were vibrating with delight from the start. Hushed whispers and a jagged crackle pop up in the mix early on, setting the base for a little more disturbance in this song. As we progress forward, the sounds become overdriven and really pushed to the max. Also worth mentioning, the beginning five note repetition continues through almost the entire song, sans the last two minutes. At that point it becomes slowly plucked as an overtone to a man asking for help, and the voice of a little girl talking. A really good track, one that feels like a possible soundtrack to the day of red skies and aliens taking over.

A collaboration between two very good artists. I’ll admit, I’m not the most familiar with Plurals. But after hearing this I’m going to seek out all I can find and give them further listens. As far as Mr. Baker goes, I know his works with Nadja, but will now be digging further into his other works. I suggest you do the same for both artists.

This album is a continuation of the Latitudes series from Southern Records, again, something I recommend you seek out further, as I will do the same. Be sure to pick this release up. Support music and artists you love and enjoy.

(((DRONE)))

South American necro Black Metal outfit Patria offer up thirteen gloriously dark tracks on Nihil Est Monastica, the group's third effort for France's Drakkar Productions. The record holds true to the early roots of Black Metal, utilizing low-fi production (which sounds refreshing these days; it even enhances the album's feeling of bleakness). Lo-fi doesn't necessarily mean “cheap” in the blackened metal world. There's lots going on behind the long, dark curtain.

Patria, made up of Triumphsword (vocals) and Mantus (all other instruments), layer ringing chord progressions, melodic aural nuances, and organic environmental noise over hypnotic riffs to create a world of their own with Nihil Est Monastica. Harsh vocals sit perfectly within the mix. On a whole, the record is immersive, quite literally. Infectious, even. Eerily enough, this is its 13th spin on my turntable. It is that good. Songs such as 'Nyctophilia' and 'Sacro Vale dos Encantos' should appease most genre purists. Others, like 'Conquering Death's Palace', take the listener to different places in time/space, and even touch on other genres. That particular track recalls early Coroner, at least to my ears. This is a very good thing. Also included is a great take on a Sarcófago classic, 'Black Vomit'. Patria make the song their own. It fits seamlessly.

The touring/live version the brooding Patria will be rounded out by Igniis Inferniis (Guitar), Stormbringer (Bass), and Abyssius (Drums); a highly recommended show if their path crosses yours at any point in the near future.

Nihil Est Monastica should appear on many top ten lists for 2013. It will most definitely be on mine. Patria's tagline reads: “The Return of the South American Black Metal Mist.” Scandinavia, look out...these guys know what they're doing, and they do it well. Might be time to take things up an evil notch. Enter Patria's dark mist at your own risk. Stay for an eternity... or at least until the album ends. You won't regret it.

Chris Burda, Martin Grimm, Hamburg: three words having one main thing in common called Collapse Under The Empire.

Collapse Under The Empire is a two-piece instrumental post-rock band formed in 2007 that has been very productive since its founding. Their most ambitious work is the two parts concept album Shoulder & Giants and Sacrifice and Isolation that is the proof of their musical growth since their first EP Paintball (released in 2008).

Shoulder & Giants has been released in 2011 and the new 6-track EP The Silent Cry will be officially released on April 19th 2013 therefore shortening the waiting time on the long awaited second part of their work which should be released in fall 2013.

The forthcoming EP deals with the themes of human existence, freedom, isolation and death. All these different themes are reflected in a great mix of styles in the six tracks. The first one 'We Are Close As This', the darkest track of the EP, sounds like the soundtrack to a dark and gloomy science movie with its sinister undertones. The listener feels like being on a trip through an mountainous and icy landscape with no sign of human activity.

Tension and power grow with the second track, 'Stjarna', that is an instrumental cover of Depeche Mode’s song from the B-side of the single “Little 15” from 1988.

'The Silent Cry' is for me the celebration and the elation of post-rock music genre: with its strong outbursts and tones that constantly change it generates its own voice and depth. The first thing I thought when I listened to it was that this song has everything inside including electronic playfulness and provokes an explosions of sensations.

It seems that every track on this EP builds on the next one till the last one that represents the final act, the death, when the listener can finally 'Shut Off The Lights' and find a quiet moment with the exuberance of a great piano track. Absolutely my favorite track.

Enjoying The Silent Cry EP is going to be our focus in the next months whilst Collapse Under The Empire has the assignment to complete the second part of Sacrifice and Isolation to end it as this work deserves.

Pyrithion is the death metal brain child of As I Lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis. Owning ones own (three words in a row with “o”. really Ryan?) studio and having some free time can lead to expeditions like this. Guitarists Ryan Glisan from Allegaeon and Andy Godwin of Embodyment were called up and then began trading ideas. What we have now is a three song single, a taste of what’s to come. And it makes me somewhat hungry…

'The Invention Of Hatred' is the opener. Straight blasts, shred and heavier vocals than we’re used to hearing from Tim open this bastard-maker of a tune after a minor build up. It’s nice to hear his rougher vocals, as I enjoy them a bit more than his normal screams. Ryan and Andy are beyond competent guitarists, and whoever got to do the solo on this track had a great time with it.

'Bleed Out' fires the cannons for nearly three minutes straight. Barely a spot to catch your breath here. The rhythm guitars are great, but the solo is a little too quick. Not much time to make an impact, but I imagine that was the idea. In. Out. Done.

Finally we have 'Resting In The Arms Of A Paralyzed Beast'. I honestly have sat trying to figure out what that means for awhile now. But the sheer speed and intensity of this song could have any name strapped to it and I would give it a listen. Dual guitar solo in the mix is amazing, then a slow bridge section for a little mid-pace chug and tumble. It’s a nice slow down, and the band should utilize it a bit on the full-length album that is in the works. Medium pace guitars placed on top of insane tempo drums sounds pretty good when done right, and these boys get a golden star for their work.

So, three songs to simmer on while awaiting a full-length album. Three modern death metal tunes done well, and done right. I see no reason you shouldn’t pick this up when Metal Blade Records lets it loose on April 16th. After that, stay hungry my friends, more is on the way!!!

HAIL!!!

Originally released in 2007 on Siege of Amida Records, The Somatic Defilement helped rush in the "deathcore" movement. Full disclosure: I don't like "deathcore". Hate it. That said, Whitechapel are the top of that genre and have moved on to a more death metal oriented sound. I've always had a soft spot for them, don't know why, don't ask myself why either. As I've stated in other reviews, I am a music fan first, then a death metal fan. And if it catches me, then so be it.

So a reissue of an album that's only six years old seems like a cash in on paper. Something to fulfil a contract, maybe band members need more money for guitar strings and black shirts. I don't know. I will, however endorse this reissue. Complete with a remix/remaster from Mark Lewis (Devil Driver, The Black Dahlia Murder, Daath, etc) these songs hit with so much more punch than before. I even did the side by side test, and the difference is night and day.

From the drum roll intro of the title track, to the screaming guitar intro of 'Fairy Fay', the time and money spent on this was worth it. 'Alone In the Morgue' shines much louder and more clear in the guitar department, highlighting the three guitar lineup. Bends and twists that weren't noticeable in the original really shine through. That goes for all the instruments really, as well as Phil Bozeman's vocals. And I can't forget Mr. Ben Savage's oddball riffs.

I personally can understand all the hatred a band like Whitechapel gets. They took hardcore and death metal and put it in a blender. Death metal purists cried and still cry, foul. For me personally, I'll bite the bullet and say I enjoy Whitechapel on a public medium. They were another band that opened my eyes to the death metal underground. And I still listen to the to this day and will probably continue to. I'm a fan of heavy music and always will be. There's too much hatred in a genre, that was meant for misfits in the first place, to discriminate and say was is or is not acceptable.

Whitechapel took a chance and are innovative in their own right. And this reissue highlights their original idea and makes it sound as it was meant to. Major props to Metal Blade, Whitechapel and Mark Lewis, who I hear slaved over this for awhile, for making this available to fans again, the way it was meant to be heard.

Pick up 'The Somatic Defilement' reissue via Metal Blade on April 16th. If you already own it, I say its worth grabbing this reissue, and i don't fancy reissues much. HAIL!!!

Solo projects can be good or they can be bad. Such is heavy metal. But, there is a gray area. Dead Mountain Mouth is the solo project of A Very Old Ghost Behind The Farm's Lundi Galilao. Being his solo project it finds him playing all instruments, writing all the music, singing everything and bringing it all together, on his own. It can be a lot if pressure to do such a thing. Crystalline is his third excursion under the Dead Mountain Mouth moniker, and it has some surprising results.

Title track opener mixes scream and shout vocals with heavy, but spacey, guitars before breaking into the more extreme end on the second half of the song. Around the seven minute mark, it's a long opener. Good indeed, but I feel that a minute or two could have been shaved off for a stronger impact. 'Lying In Outer Space' has many characteristics of the opening track but with more psychedelic moments mixed in. Trippy vocals and guitar effects if you will. At times it even seems to invoke sounds of The Ocean. That's a compliment, its a great sound.

Later songs on the album stick with being experimental in nature. 'Among The Stones' being one worth note. It starts as a rather good, calm song. Eventually breaks into a nice crunchy guitar tone, then later on goes almost black metal with the drumming and savageness. Closing track 'Ignite' is a building song that starts spacey, goes into a nice heavy section, then goes absolutely insane and manic. All while building an epic tone throughout. A paranoia growing and growing until the guitars stop and all you hear is static.

Dead Mountain Mouth have put out a pretty good album with Crystalline. The only gripe I have being that a few songs could be shortened for a stronger impact. But this is only a minor complaint as the album as a whole, is well written, played and produced.

You can grab Crystalline through Dead Mountain Mouth's Bandcamp page, and while you're there you can grab the previous album Loka, which is good as well. Support the bands and artist you love. Go grab this album. HAIL!!!!!

Writing an album review without sounding redundant can be hard. I can only sit here and tell you how much I like certain part of a song. How vocals sound shot out of cannon. How guitars rip your face off. You get the idea. So…..lets just try things a little different.

The Moth Gatherer consists of two gentlemen from Sweden, Alex Stjernfeldt and Victor Wegeborn. As I’ve stated before in my Norse review, I like duo bands. Two people just in sync with one another, feeding off each others ideas and emotions, I love it. This being their first album, although the songs were fleshed out over a few year span when time was permitting, is a great debut. An album alone any artists would be proud of, but to be a debut, even better. I actually had a chance to speak with one of these fine gentlemen on Twitter (who, I’m not sure, I didn’t ask) and he explained to me his goals of the album. The Moth Gatherer aim to move you with emotions, powerful emotions of loss, death and life. They want you to lay in the dark and absorb this album, let it take you away. So I did what the artist literally told me. We’ve been here before. Bare with me, I tell you what I felt, not what I heard.

“The mushroom cloud was before me. I had my shoes laced tight. My belt tighter. Donned in black. Ready and willing to walk toward my ending. And my beginning. Silver box in hand, I started forward. All my memories of defeat sadness anger resentment poverty loneliness unrequited love cheating cheated disappointing faces screaming cold floors cold knives pills bottles of pills sweet smells gone sour tears on her face my pride being nonexistent my lost days piles of pills jealousy mistrust. You’ve taken my whole life. I’ve no word to say as I walk to the cloud. It spins and swirls. The end waiting to just devour me from its blast of black skies and horrid mist. I press on. My fingers cold from the clutch of what will be my savior. I press on further. My bones ache. My heart races. The pain severe. But for the sake of all life and time I continue. I’m here. Face to face with the cloud. Its tall walls and rounded out top. The box I place in my hand. I press the top and four flaps open. Without a blink or beat I throw my last chance of life into this beast. The swirl is vicious. Lightning cracks and strikes all around. It knows its fate and mine. I’ve feared all until this moment. This ominous figure slowly being devoured into a box of silver. Without memories I am nothing. But these are the fears I no longer will to remember. The cloud screams hisses lashes out as I stand still. Swirling into a box no bigger than a human heart. The fears are nothing. The cloud is gone. The sky is clear. The box now closed and sitting in a pile of windswept dirt. I dig. I dig for hours with my hands. I dig a hole further than six feet. I place the box square and center in the hole. I fill it back in with all I have left. I pull out a map. I mark the place where this cloud once stood and the hole once was. I pull out a cigarette and inhale the smoke. I set the map on fire and walk away. I shall always know where my demons rest. And I can revisit them if I wish. For now I’m headed the other way. Towards the sun, I light another cigarette and make my way home.”

Some albums you hear and drive your body wild. Some albums you put on as background music during dinner with your wife. Some albums you pop in on road trips. And some you absorb to take you somewhere else, weather that be good or bad it makes no difference. Sometimes you just want to feel anything. Luckily for us, The Moth Gatherer have put out an album that can and has done just that. With harrowing vocals, heartbreaking musical movements and pure heartfelt emotion. And I tip my hat to them for making such a beautiful, powerful, moving album.

A Bright Celestial Light comes out on April 16th (April 30th in the US) via Agonia Records. Be sure to pick this album up, support honest artists you love and enjoy.

HAIL!

As many metalheads before me have and as many after me will do, I discovered Opeth pretty early on in my exploration of the metal genre. It wasn’t exactly difficult; I was obsessing over the likes of Soilwork and Testament just as Ghost Reveries was coming out, so I decided to pick up it and Deliverance (gotta explore the back catalog too, right?), and they quickly became one of my favorite bands of all time, a spot they occupy to this day. In particular, it was Mikael Akerfeldt’s unique ear for melody – inspired as much by Camel and Comus as it is by Celtic Frost – that sucked me in.

To date, every other band I have heard that has tried to replicate Opeth melodies has failed spectacularly. Plenty of bands have taken the extreme-metal-mixed-with-proggy-structures approach and succeeded with it – Cormorant and Ludicra stick out in my mind – but the ones that do always aim for different sonic territory. Bands that try to sound like Opeth always seem to end up missing something, and unfortunately, that is where Man Made Origin’s debut full-length False Consciousness has ended up.

Now, to be fair, False Consciousness doesn’t try to be a blatant Blackwater Park knockoff. Among the band’s listed influences, there are audible elements of Deathspell Omega in the more dissonant riffs, and some of the more ambient sections bear a Cult of Luna tinge. However, it is very, very obvious that the primary influence here is Opeth, and the total package comes across as Opeth-but-not-quite-Opeth. Lead vocalist Max Taylor even puts on his best Mikael Akerfeldt impression at times, most noticeably in his clean vocals, and does a pretty good job of it as well. It is the rest of the writing that doesn’t live up.

The riffs on False Consciousness just aren’t as good as genuine Opeth riffs, and there isn’t enough musically to differentiate them from Opeth riffs to justify it. If they could pull off something as moving as an “Isolation Years” or as badass as a “Demon of the Fall”, it’d be one thing. But trying to write riffs like Mikael Akerfeldt when you aren’t Mikael Akerfeldt just doesn’t work. The recipe for success in this genre is to use Opeth as inspiration for the structures of your songs while your other influences shine through more musically, which Man Made Origin haven’t done. The end result, while not bad by any stretch of the imagination, just leaves you wondering why you aren’t listening to the real Opeth. The sound and the chops are there, but the magic is missing.

If you want a fix of extreme prog metal, then False Consciousness will give you that. There is a lot of potential here if Man Made Origin can develop a unique musical identity, and I hope to see them reach it.