Review: Metalwings – A Whole New Land

Review by Geary of War

Metalwings, formed specifically in Autumn 2010, have been refining their brand of symphonic power metal for over a decade now and with this latest release, ‘A Whole New Land’. It was self released on the 11th of June this year.

The dramatic and rousing self titled opener sets the stage. Drums and guitars adding a layer of heaviness to the delicate and purposeful vocals keys and strings. It is not really a power metal record until there is the obligatory gallop and here it is. ‘Monster In the Mirror’, which is also the first single from the album, carries the baton of the heavy opera and it carries it well. Heavy and soaring there is a lot to like here, not least of all the guiter solo and nice moment of focus the bass gets. My favourite intro is found on ‘Like a Willow Without Tears’, it calls to my Scottish and Irish heritage with its Celtic feel. It is catchy, sinister and the headbanging section with the string is downright glorious. Hankering for something with a feel like The Phantom of the Opera but newer? Look no further than ‘I See Your Power’.

‘Silence’ is a class power ballad moment, break out those smartphone torches. ‘Still Believe in Us’ is as tender as it is tragic and calls to the heart of anyone who has ever had a relationship breakdown. The sinister is turned back up with ‘Killer of the Angel’s Love’. Despite the opening hard rock bars, ‘Wonders of Life’ take a carnival like twist which was unexpected. It rounds out with some classic heavy metal riffing and swagger. ‘Passengers Between the Rails of Life’ is heavy and dramatic as you have come to expect at this stage, and hits a soulful note lyrically as it talks about taking changes, spreading your wings for good or evil and when you tie that with the global climate slowly opening again it resonates all the louder. The next track is a gothic love story, it tells you as much in the opening lyrics. ‘Second Chance’ has heart, passion and tremendous string use.

We round out with ‘Mimlo Moe Libe’ – My Dear Libe. A letter to a love, bring home the trademark vocals, musical prowess and the feel that grabs the listener. This was a fun album for me to review, it is not my go to genre but this powerful and passionate album have changed my view for the better. It is big, bombastic and a whole lot of fun, even with these tender, beautiful moments.

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Review: Morbid Winds – The Ruin of Forgotten Desolation

Review by Sandre the Giant

I reviewed the full length debut from Poland’s Morbid Winds earlier this year, and I’m coming swinging back in to see their second demo, ‘The Ruin of Forgotten Desolation’, which has been given a CD release from Morbid Chapel Records. I always find it good to see where bands come from, so you can really assess their evolution.

After the intro, which hums quietly with a quiet malevolence, ‘Nocturnal Portal’ comes rattling with classic black metal demo style riffing. There’s a gloomy atmosphere haunting this guitar work, and the vocals take on a dash of Tom G Warrior at times. ‘Flesh Temples Annihilated’ maintains this proto-black metal feel, with some rabid Bathory and Hellhammer worship and a fiery energy that brings together a little ‘De Mysteriis…’ era Mayhem to mind. ‘Tomb of My Sanity’ has a more measured pace, and even allows some nice melodies to poke out through the gloomy shroud surrounding the rest of this release.

Sure, ‘The Ruin of Forgotten Desolation’ is pretty raw and rough but it’s a black metal demo, what did you expect? The important part isn’t the production for me, it is the commitment and the authenticity that the band are going for. If Morbid Winds were going for that necro, old school Mayhem-esque black metal then they’ve nailed it superbly. I really enjoyed this.

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Rview: Coffin Lurker – Foul and Defiled

Review by Sandre the Giant

From the twisted minds behind Gnaw Their Tongues and Cryptae, the first record from experimental, nihilistic doom merchants Coffin Lurker is set to really test the limits of human mental strength. ‘Foul and Defiled’ may be the state of my brain when this monstrosity is finished with me! It is out now through Sentient Ruin Laboratories.

Opener ‘Crypt Within a Crypt’ gives you a fair idea immediately of what you can expect for the next half hour. Dense walls of murk roll towards you, where semblances of riffs are disassembled and reattached in the most perverse of ways. Vocals that are barely above a guttural, muffled roar almost match the pure nihilism dripping from every single note. There’s less oppression in Chinese prison camps than on this record. It steeps in the fetid swamp between death/doom, funeral doom and primitive, raw black metal, where there is no room for melody and light. ‘Of Suffering’ is suffocatingly dense, cloying riffs drowning your senses with absolutely no space for light, melody or anything.

Coffin Lurker don’t only have this one sound though. They descend into dark industrial ambient horror during ‘Suspended Animation’, bringing to mind the nightmarish ‘Axis of Perdition’, while ‘Sacrificial Chalice’ toys with the idea of melody while drowning in melancholy during the closing stages. The more said about the churning, gargling miasma of ‘Cadaverous Odor’ the better, as it finishes this aural experience with some of the record’s most horrifying moments. ‘Foul and Defiled’ is definitely how you feel after experiencing this record. Guitar work that’ll make your skin crawl, vocals that summon the most evil of spirits into your mind and an atmosphere that is palpable in the tension it creates. Coffin Lurker are an entity of pure nihilism, and this is their opening salvo in what will hopefully become a cataclysmic, apocalyptic discography.

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/foul-and-defiled

Review: Forever Autumn – Hail the Forest Dark

Review by Sandre the Giant

Blackened death folk/acoustic doom entity Forever Autumn’s new record, ‘Hail the Forest Dark’, isn’t out until September this year, but the appearance of My Dying Bride’s Aaron Stainthorpe had me salivating at the prospect, being a huge MDB fan. The band’s work draws much from ancient European paganism and folk music and while lurking at the edge of extremity musically, definitely feels very much part of metal’s biosphere in atmosphere alone. ‘Hail the Forest Dark’ however fully embraces this influence, and becomes a much more interesting piece as a snapshot of where the group’s influence comes from.

‘Listless Pacings of the Haunt’ writhes with lo fi black metal magicks, with murky fuzzy black metal riffs coursing across a tortured rasping shriek while any semblance of melody is sucked away with each passing moment. Forever Autumn’s link to black metal has never felt stronger than here when they appear from beneath their eerie neofolk tree into a raw, black metal cave. ‘Among the Roots’ lurks in your consciousness as a threatening buzz, coating you in a blackened tar. The gloomy ‘Firmament in’ closes this out with a tortured guitar riff and a miserable atmosphere, while the imperious tones of Stainthorpe come in with that classic melancholic, almost spoken word style.

A totally different experience than Forever Autumn will normally give you, but it is fascinating to see them embrace their roots in black metal and raw doom in such a way. ‘Hail the Forest Dark’ is the dark neofolk version of bands releasing a wild covers album; it might pass by those who enjoy their sound but as a lesson on history and influences it is essential to understanding where a band has come from. Sure, Forever Autumn’s ‘normal’ sound is far more ahunting, but ‘Hail the Forest Dark’ highlights the dark evils beneath.

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Review: Fluids – Not Dark Yet

Review by Sandre the Giant

Arizona’s Fluids have been fairly prolific in their short three year life, as ‘Not Dark Yet’ is their third record in as many years. Following hot on the heels of the disgusting ‘Ignorance Exalted’ and their bilious debut, ‘Exploitative Practices’, ‘Not Dark Yet’ is the next step in their brutal goregrind odyssey. But, is that a sense of progression, of evolution I feel? It is out now through Hells Headbangers.

Opener ‘Genesis Spoiled’ opens with the creepy sample of someone commentating on their slit wrist suicide, while an ominous, industrial beat builds in the background. Suddenly, it explodes into a massive, gurgling breakdown of titanic proportions while that industrial tinge remains. Imagine Godflesh covering early Carcass and you’ve got a rough idea of the sound. ‘Hope Forgotten’ continues this low end annihilation while inhuman grunts and roars vomit forth from cavernous riffing. ‘Empathy Shed’ brings some of that ‘Symphonies of Sickness’ slime to the party, which the endless swamp of ‘Dignity Swindled’ swallows whole into a crunching void of death metal. Fluids bring plenty of the classic goregrind violence, like the putrid ‘Integrity Fabled’ and the gurgling tar of ‘Honor Tainted’, but tracks like ‘Mercy Gelded’ and the unsettling ‘Life Spent’ show hints of new directions seeping into the sewage, and they appear to be poisonous on the level of a chemical spill into an untouched wilderness.

By the time the relentless crush of progressive closer ‘Humanity Reviled’ smashes you into an unrecognisable paste, you’ll have the time to reflect on just how great ‘Not Dark Yet’ is. Absolutely relentless, merciless brutality leaving you no chance of survival, ‘Not Dark Yet’ is a work of horrendous, craven art that you are inexplicably drawn to. Fluids have really upped their game here, and their songs are becoming industrial nightmares of armageddon causing riffs. Brutally brilliant.

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https://fluids-az.bandcamp.com/album/not-dark-yet

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Review: Siderean – Lost on Void’s Horizon

Review by Sandre the Giant

Death metallers Siderean hail from Slovenia, and their debut record ‘Lost on Void’s Horizon’ is due to come out this week through Edged Circle Productions. Having been to their beautiful country a number of times for festivals, I always like to look out for bands from there. They were formerly known as Teleport from 2010, and released a number of demos under that name before changing in 2020 to Siderean.

Opener ‘Eolith’ gives you an immediate feel of Gorgutsian queasiness, as atonal bursts loom out of a sea of blasting before serpentine melodies begin to swirl with menace. This is a progressive death metal masterpiece; engrossing musicianship weaves within brutality and self indulgence is kept to a minimum. This epic scope suits their themes of the cosmos, death and space, with the 70s sci fi synths of ‘Traversing’ marking a lull in proceedings before the title track takes us right back into the maelstorm. There’s some wonderful guitar effects at the start of ‘Sidereal Evolution’ that amps up that spacey influence, while the death metal side is taken care of immediately after with a wall of vicious riffing, superhuman drumming and cavernous vocals. Not the murky, cave-like death metal of old, Siderean’s work has been given a much cleaner platform to impress upon, and it has worked a treat.

From the spiralling, epic chaos of ‘Coalescing into the Expanse’ to the impassive deathprog dalliances of stunning closer ‘Abyssophora’, Siderean’s rebirth into the world has been a soul rending affair. ‘Lost on Void’s Horizon’ is a triumph of songwriting conquering the odd overly long section, where the band was almost swallowed by their cosmic nature but brought back to reality swiftly and expertly. Recommended highly!

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https://edgedcircleproductions.bandcamp.com/album/lost-on-voids-horizon

Review: Wharflurch – Lurking Doom

Review by Sandre the Giant

Florida’s Wharflurch have been pretty busy this year already, but I’m going back to last year’s compilation ‘Lurking Doom’ which brings together the EP of the same name and their 2019 demo. Morbid Chapel Records released this on CD last November.

‘Kosmosa Kopums’ really brings the feeling of otherwordly space horror to the fore immediately. The black/death metal savagery is intense, murky and gives you a lot of that kind of void worshipping darkness. There’s an overwhelming, suffocating atmosphere of poisonous, oily dread seeping through the morbid belch of ‘Flensing Blade’, and a recurring motif is the eerie quieter moments that really juxtapose against the unyielding brutality. The rattling cough of ‘Sulphur Hell’ feels like disease incarnated, while ‘This Unfathomable Doom’ aims to destroy the earth under your feet with inhuman breakdowns. ‘Immortal Pain’ rounds out the ‘Lurking Doom’ part with Obituary-like intensity and creepy piano.

The 2019 demo tracks are rawer, rougher and not lacking in a certain charm. The pick of the bunch are ‘Eigengrau’ and the gutwrenching weight of ‘Lurking Beyond’, but they’re all definitely worth a spin. You can see the fledgling seeds of what was to come beginning to poke their fetid stalks through. This edition of ‘Lurking Doom’ is a tremendous opportunity for you to see what Wharflurch have been capable of, and hopefully where they are going to end up.

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Review: Arna – Dragged to a Lunar Grave

Review by Sandre the Giant

The debut offering from Spain’s Arna may only be four tracks long, but this duo brings you closer to true second wave blackness than a lot of modern black metal will. ‘Dragged to a Lunar Grave’ is out at the end of July through Signal Rex.

Opener ‘Gallows Tree’ is full of that mysticism and atmosphere that classic black metal relied on to subvert the rawness of its musical core. There is looming menace behind the thrust of iconic riffing patterns, frigid melody climbing out of the fog before diving back in, like crows on the wing. The pace is relentless, the vocals harsh and unfeeling. ‘Moonknife’ brings a more discordant tone, ramping up the unsettling nature and drawing comparisons to early Satyricon or Beherit. An attention to detail really helps the melancholic riffing remain fresh and interesting, even while the potent flames of ‘Dolmen’ seek to extinguish the life. That is a song that bears much repeated listening, as does closer ‘Aunra’ which thunders off at icy speeds, blazing furrows across frozen tundra, creating sweeping soundscapes upon clean guitar and choral voices, and reinforcing the idea that the best black metal can paint in shades and not just monochrome rage.

Capturing the essence of the magicks that powered the second wave of black metal, ‘Dragged to a Lunar Grave’ is powerful, bleak, fragile and thoroughly absorbing. A world of ancient spells, darkness and misery awaits within this blackened masterpiece, and you’d be a fool not to follow the trails, wherever they may lead you.

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Review: No Light Escapes – The Purity of Grief

Review by Sandre the Giant

‘Progressive metalcore’ is a term that scares me a little. I mean, Canadians No Light Escapes give themselves a lot of rope to hang themselves with here on their new record ‘The Purity of Grief’, but their work turns out to be a lot more interesting than I had feared. It is actually their second record, but first under this name as their debut ‘The Introspect’ was released in 2018 when they were known as Technical Damage. ‘The Purity of Grief’ is out now.

Opener ‘The Final Arbiter’ shapeshifts between some more traditional metalcore fare and thunderous deathcore breakdowns. This is how metalcore has evolved since the heydays of Killswitch Engage or God Forbid, and it has always been a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. The djenty guitar tone adds a lot to the tempo shifts and the breakdowns are impressive. ‘High Tide’ zig zags from dizzying mathcore spirals to bouncy eastern melodies, while the more melodic ‘In Absentia’ enschews the progressive weirdness for some genuinely powerful catchiness. ‘Cascade’ breaks apart halfway through into this ethereal majesty, where female vocals soothe you back into the crush. ‘Ruminate’ destroys with jagged riffs that remind you of Protest the Hero at their 2008 prime, while closer ‘Phoenix’ amalgamates everything you’ve come across before in a scintillating deathly progcore odyssey of sweet melodies and brutal breakdowns.

Progressive metalcore, djent, deathcore, whatever you want to call this stuff, it doesn’t matter. ‘The Purity of Grief’ is an exhilarating ride through a spiralling tunnel of crusing breakdowns, progressive weirdness and melodic hooks that will surprise you every time they appear. Yeah sure, some times it can feel a little disjointed but when they hit, No Light Escapes are fucking awesome at what they do. And this album hits a lot. Feed me more.

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https://nolightescapes.bandcamp.com/album/the-purity-of-grief

Review: Ulven – Death Rites Upon a Winged Crusade

Review by Sandre the Giant

Ulven is the work of American Sean Deth, and their second record ‘Death Rites Upon a Winged Crusade’, originally released in 2018, got a rerelease on CD by Morbid Chapel Records last August. This is fearsome and evocative USBM at its best.

Opener ‘Ninth Psalm Under Moons of Decay’ builds very slowly, with a low hum being interrupted by a tolling bell. This leads us into the dense, howling fury of ‘Howling Death’ which evokes the chilling decay of Mayhem’s ‘Ordo ad Chao’. No tinpot one man bedroom black metal album this; instead it is a well produced record full of hellish blackened rage and accursed melodies screaming through each song. There are also a number of mournful acoustic moments that raise a poignant spectre over proceedings, such as the lead in to the soaring ‘Night of the Long Knives’, or the stirring shades of ‘When It’s Cold’. The muscular ‘ A Shadow Suspended in Dust’ pulls us back down to earth with its mix of creeping decay and torrential riffing, while ‘Winged Promise’ follows up on this premise with a bleak yet atmospheric assault. All of these elements combine on epic closer ‘Where Light Barely Penetrates’ to create a perfect encapsualtion of what Ulven do best.

‘Death Rites Upon a Winged Crusade’ is an album for those of us whose taste in black metal hinges more on the atmosphere and dread than the songwriting necessarily. The songs here are great, but the oppressive murk that builds up like sodden lichen upon each riff and each guttural growl is to be commended. It is atmospheric but not in the usual style you’d expect. No soaring mountains and frozen valleys here, just suffocating, driving fog and rain. Superb.

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https://ulvenblackmetal.bandcamp.com/

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