Anniversary Series 046: Katatonia – Viva Emptiness

Scribed by Sandre the Giant

A band whose vast career has followed its own path though pioneering death/doom and gothic misery towards a more accessible and yet no less dark sound, Katatonia in 2023 are one of metal’s most influential and long reaching bands. From their humble beginnings as merely the pinnacle of gothic death/doom on ‘Brave Murder Day’ and ‘Dance of December Souls’ through their dark metal mid 00s and back into imperious doom with prog leanings in the more recent time, Katatonia have the kind of discography that most bands would die for. We’re delving into their early 00s dark metal phase with the 20th anniversary of 2003’s ‘Viva Emptiness’, a record that was one of my first tastes of their work.

My actual first Katatonia record was the follow up to this, 2006’s ‘The Great Cold Distance’, but like with most bands I immediately go backwards to seek out more. I was really taken with ‘Criminals’, a song that wormed its way straight into my brain and is still one of my favourite Katatonia tracks to this day. I’d even argue it wasn’t as strong as some of the rest of ‘Viva Emptiness’ but you don’t get to choose your favourites, they just happen. The gloomy malice of ‘Ghost of the Sun’, the mourning aether of ‘A Premonition’, the frantic riffing of ‘Wealth’; this is an album full of strong songwriting and the kind of authenticity a band of Katatonia’s stature could bring. Jonas Renkse’s ghostly croon explores many unorthodox melodies throughout much of this album; he is instantly recognisable and lends each record its haunting gothic feel. I think the commitment to a clean vocal style back in 1997 was a fortunate accident as it has left Katatonia as a unique voice for so many to follow. I love the progressive leanings of ‘Evidence’, where vocals and riffs all come together in a masterpiece of Swedish melancholy.

‘Viva Emptiness’ had the unenviable task of living up to the high bar of previous record ‘Last Fair Deal Gone Down’, an album that was very well received and often declared to be their best work in this era. It doesn’t quite make it to that standard for me, but it is just as emotionally open and musically dynamic in spirit. Maybe the novelty factor had worn off by this point, but ‘Viva Emptiness’ showcases a band who had discovered their sound fully and are ready to refine and perfect. A dark and powerful record that may even be slightly underrated in their discography.

https://www.facebook.com/katatonia

Anniversary Series 045: Turbonegro – Scandinavian Leather

Scribed by Sandre the Giant

Do you remember when I said that some of these Anniversary Series pieces are just because I really like those albums? Well, this is one of those. ‘Scandinavian Leather’ is a record that I’ve spent a lot of time with over the years, and to be honest I have no idea where I even discovered Turbonegro but I’d suggest it was Kerrang reviewing this record back in 2003. Their ultra infectious deathpunk (a weird mix of punk, glam rock and heavy metal) and tongue in cheek attitude stuck with me then and still does now. Let’s celebrate the Turbojugend!

‘Scandinavian Leather’ was the middle of the ‘Apocalypse Trilogy’, and where Turbonegro kept their sound moving away from the balls out punk of ‘Ass Cobra’. It was also their comeback album, after splitting in 1998 due to issues with frontman Hank von Helvete’s drug addictions and label contracts as well. After the groundswell of underground success built on the brilliant ‘Apocalypse Dudes’, an album that became a unlikely hit  and led to their surge in popularity, ‘Scandinavian Leather’ comes out of the gate strong with the super catchy anthems ‘Wipe It Til It Bleeds’ and the rocking ‘Gimme Some’. The whole record is full of these kind of songs; instantly catchy and singalong songs full of odd humour and brilliant choruses. You can see how the likes of ‘Fuck the World’ and ‘Sell Your Body (to the Night)’ became perennial favourites but there’s such an undercurrent of sardonic wit as well that it’s hard not to fall in love with Turbonegro.

Another thing I really liked about Turbonegro was their aesthetic. In a world of too tough macho dudes with no sense of humour, here we have Euroboy, Happy Tom and more than a little gayness. It is still, even today, great to watch old Turbonegro live shows and see the sailor outfits and Hank Von Helvete roaring ‘you are all such saucy boys’ at the crowds. Whether some of their schtick still holds up in 2023 I’m not as sure, but their music certainly does. ‘Scandinavian Leather’ is way more fun than it has any right to be, and it’s a record I go back to time and again when I need something fun and dumbo to cleanse my soul.

https://www.facebook.com/TurbonegroHQ

Review: Ignominy – Imminent Collapse

Review by Sandre the Giant

Another entry in the catalogue of fucked up sounding Canadian death metal are newcomers Ignominy, whose debut record ‘Imminent Collapse’ looks to add themselves to the side of the genre inspired by fellow countrymen Gorguts as well as Ulcerate and Norse. It is out now through Transcending Obscurity.

‘Frantic Appeasement’ starts us off with a slow, crumbling death metal riff, sliced repeatedly with an atonal melody line until it begins to descend into abyssal voids. The dimension bending riffs clash with octopian drumming and spasming time signature changes, all the while the guttural vocals roar overhead like a wind tunnel in the nameless void. ‘Defaulting Genetics’ convulses with a malevolent fury, while the jagged madness of ‘Nightmare Bacteria’ is a masterpiece in building tension and never letting it go. The two interlude pieces, ‘Premonition of a Dead End’ and ‘Prélude Vers L’angoisse’, also provide threatening respites from the death metal but only in volume, definitely not in comfort.

As the album progresses, everything gets darker and more uncomfortable to listen to. The atmosphere starts to contract in around you halfway through ‘Nightmare Bacteria’ and it never really leaves your space from then. ‘Visceral’ starts to feel very doomy and dissonant while ‘Visions’ closes us out in a serpentine mix of the best parts of their sound; cold quiet incidental melodies, a looming atmospheric presence and a barrage of properly dissonant death metal chaos. As a complete piece, ‘Imminent Collapse’ is masterful. Dissonant death metal is starting to reach a point where ‘old school’ death metal was a few years ago; there’s a couple too many bands now approaching the genre without the energy and individualism that it started with, but there is still a LOT of good stuff in there and Ignominy are definitely on the good side of it. ‘Imminent Collapse’ is a record that most should look towards as an example of how to do this stuff really really well.

https://www.facebook.com/ignominydeathQC/

https://ignominydeath.bandcamp.com/album/imminent-collapse

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Live Review: Sabaton/Babymetal 18/04/23

Review by Sandre the Giant

The biggest gig I’ve had a chance to go to in years, probably since Slipknot and Behemoth in this same venue years back, but I’m an utter sucker for Sabaton since I saw them live at Metalcamp in Slovenia over a decade ago for the first time. Supported by Babymetal? I don’t even know how this is going to go but I’m sure it’s going to be amazing. (The review is a little late because I’ve been swamped under real life work in the last seven days since I had the AUDACITY to take time off to go and see these guys so, there you are)

Babymetal were up first and, while their set was a lot shorter than I thought it would be (either that or it just flew past), it was spellbinding. What I feel started off as some gimmick idea to sell tickets and merch to metal otaku nerds has somehow transcended itself to become an incredibly entertaining live act. Points off for not playing HEADBANGER but other than that a brilliant first experience for me.

What can you even say about Sabaton live anymore? It’s all been said before, and it is all still completely accurate. They are one of the tightest and most entertaining live bands I’ve seen, fireworks and gasmasks and flamethrowers and more power metal anthems than you can shake a bayonet at. Watching their rise from small venues to big venues to massive venues has been a pleasure to follow over the years, and they’ve always sounded like they were going to make it that far. They are also one of the only bands that I genuinely believe when they say how much they love playing in Scotland. Hell, they wrote a song for us! ‘Blood of Bannockburn’ was probably the highlight of a set loaded with heavy metal classics; we got ‘Into the Fire’, we got ‘Bismarck’, we got ‘Ghost Division’, we got ‘To Hell and Back’, and so many more I can’t even remember. All I know is that by the end I was voiceless, sore neck and aching hands from clapping. Goddamn you magnificent camo bastards, you did it again.

https://www.facebook.com/sabaton

https://www.facebook.com/BABYMETAL.jp

Review: The Eating Cave – The Miscalculation

Review by Sandre the Giant

The new record from Virginian tech death metallers The Eating Cave, ‘The Miscalculation’, follows hot on the heels of their 2022 debut, ‘Ingurgitate’, and promises more of the same relentless battering we experienced last year. ‘The Miscalculation’ is out now through self release and Bandcamp.

‘Ubitiquous’ opens us with what you’ve come to expect from modern tech death; spiralling guitars, atonal melody and a ferocious grasp on their mind boggling skills. What The Eating Cave do that a lot don’t is that their sound is embedded with a sense of aggression and thick, heavy riffing. This isn’t your dad’s nice clean tech death, this is deep in the woods with the more organically brutal bands. It really reminds me of Decapitated circa 2006, but there’s obviously a number of nods to The Black Dahlia Murder too. There’s some excellent guitar work in ‘Awakening’, taking the tech death guitar work and playing with the expectations by opening up an expansive solo section. Nothing outstays its welcome though, and there is rarely any self indulgent guitar noodling. In fact, The Eating Cave are remarkably focused on aggression and violence in their music and that, coupled with a nice thick production, really gives everything a good weight to it.

Sure, you could argue that The Eating Cave aren’t exactly doing anything revolutionary here, but I would argue that not only do they not need to but what they have achieved here on ‘The Miscalculation’ is much more impressive. They’ve written a bunch of songs that could easily have gone for the tech death/deathcore standard playbook and done just fine. But tracks like ‘Warfare’ and ‘Indoctrination’ show that they are giving a lot of thought to how the songs are constructed so that their virtuoso performances can be really appreciated for what they are, stunning. Now that kind of attitude will keep them firmly planted on my radar going forward. Awesome stuff.

https://www.facebook.com/theeatingcave/

https://theeatingcave.bandcamp.com/album/the-miscalculation

Review: Plague Bearer – Summoning Apocalyptic Devastation

Review by Sandre the Giant

Described as a primitive blackened brother to Seattle death metal legends Drawn and Quartered, Plague Bearer were the original incarnation of D&Q, before being resurrected as a side project and staying that way for a long time. Despite a number of demos and EPs, they have never committed to a full length debut until now. ‘Summoning Apocalyptic Devastation’ is out now through Nameless Grave Records.

In case you weren’t sure what we were in for, opener ‘Unholy Satanic Black War Metal’ gives it away immediately, an uncomfortably dense song that surprised even me with its dynamic fury. Eastern melody slithers through the blasting drums and frenzied soloing, while throat shredding screams and growls add intensity and grit. There’s a suffocating shroud hanging over everything, dousing the flames of ‘Defiled by Sodomy’ and the serpentine riffs of ‘Churches Are in Flames’ in murk, choking and cloying. I get a lot of Impaled Nazarene in here, as well as a bit of Archgoat too, but Plague Bearer are also throwing some nice melodic sections in as well, see ‘Decapitated Angels’ as an example. A lot of black/death can feel a little samey, a little one dimensional these days, but I think Plague Bearer have got the balance right between mindless gibbering savagery and well constructed, intelligent songwriting. The pinnacle of this is the grim majesty of ‘In Satan’s Name’, where fury and obsidian elegance meet.

What Plague Bearer bring to the table is this overwhelming authenticity to their music, drawn from decades of experience and refinement. The rabid, disease encrusted riffs of ‘Summoning Apocalyptic Devastation’ are brought from a time before the newest waves of black/death bands, a primal time of aural violence that you can see the fruits of in places like the Chilean scene just now. But Plague Bearer are an original, and this record proves their skills are not rusty yet.

https://www.namelessgraverecords.com/

https://plaguebearerwa.bandcamp.com/album/summoning-apocalyptic-devastation

Anniversary Series 044: Black Label Society – The Blessed Hellride

Scribed by Geary of War

2003 was quite a year when you look back at who kicked out an album, Evanescence hit the big time with ‘Bring Me to Life’ (having had to add the honking rap bit at the labels insistence) and nu metal still had a semi-serious presence with Korn, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park all realising something new. What if you wanted something different, something more classic heavy metal, with riffs, grooves and thundering drums? What if you needed solos for days and more pinched harmonics than you can shake a stick at?

Well, you were in luck, Black Label Society, formed out of the ashes of Pride and Glory and the platform for Zakk Wylde to indulge in all his Ozzy and Black Sabbath worship are here to save the day. ‘The Blessed Hellride’ is the fourth studio album from BLS and most definitely showcases the continuing evolution of Zakk and his bandmates not to mention the growth in popularity of Zakk as a personality and the band’s influence. ‘Stoned and Drunk’ is the classic banner of BLS before Zakk’s health induced sobriety; drink hard, rock out and do it all again. I recall an interview where Zakk was asked how he can use an actual chain for a strap and his reply was “Because I lift weights, eat steak and drink beer”. The track starts with moments of quiet and then it’s off to the riff factory. Doomsday Jesus’, albeit with altered lyrics, was featured on the MTX Mototrax video game. Opening with a pummelling assault there is a switch to a heavier doom feel with Zakk giving a cry to the sky and back again. The lyrics of “Doomsday Jesus we need you now” will get stuck in your head. Of this I am certain. ‘Stillborn’ the lead single and location of the guest singer, Ozzy himself. With Zakk playing for Ozzy at this stage it was not a major ask to get his friend to sing for him however it was impossible to market; the knowledge, contractual legalities between the two artists labels meant Ozzy was simply the ‘special guest star’. This track is also the point where Zakk’s vocal style really began to change to something closer to Ozzy’s for several years. A certain Mr. Zombie directed the video for this as well.

Returning to a doom feel we have ‘Suffering Overdue’ where Zakk once again shows his knack for catchy delivery of lyrics. There is a very toned-down bridge section which is beautiful in its simplicity before we rampage into a big heavy metal riff section. Moving to the title track we have another step in the evolution of BLS. There had been ballads and acoustic before but nothing that quite had this campfire feel to it. The track itself is fantastic, a real earworm and in a display of constraint the solo is very restrained. Zakk can be guilty of going to 11 on every solo regardless of the song’s tone ( see ‘Rust’ from ‘Stronger Than Death’ as an example). ‘The Blessed Hellride’ also proved to be a nice pace break before we get back to heavy damn metal with the foot tapping, head nodding qualities of ‘Funeral Bell’. With a riff that reminds me of an old school locomotive ‘Funeral Bell’ is a winner every time I hear it. With pinched harmonics galore, a fretboard melting solo and the big groove riff BLS have a winner here. Thick riffs and harmonics welcome us into ‘Final Solution’. A big doom-soaked track with a soaring and grand bridge section. A good track but not as memorable as ‘Destruction Overdrive’ which has a real sense of purpose and direction. More of the Ozzy like vocals are eking through but damn if it is not catchy once again. Switching gears to a slower tempo we have ‘Blackened Waters’. Immediately you get a sense of grandeur and self-reflection. Big builds and delivery. This one improves with each listen. Our penultimate track is ‘We Live No More’ which has drum kicks which echo ‘When the Levee Breaks’, Ozzy influences are in the foreground again adding to this big power ballad wonder.

Zakk breaks out the piano for the closer ‘Dead Meadow’ which has the same vibes as the title track. Reflective, no frantic urgency, just present in the moment and a lot better than I remembered. If my review listening has taught me anything is that this earlier period of Black Label Society has some very underrated and overlooked songs which take a back seat to some newer hit singles which is a damn shame. BLS and Zakk’s guitar style in particular became a blueprint for a lot of the groove metal that began to take over the more mainstream metal world after nu-metal finally died, and that can be construed as for better or worse depending on your viewpoint, but ‘The Blessed Hellride’ was probably his best record so far, and clocking in at 45 mins the album is compact and free of filler, varied and engaging. I would encourage you to spark a beer in honour and celebration and get this cracked up right away!

https://www.facebook.com/blacklabelsociety

Anniversary Series 043: Opeth – Damnation

Scribed by Sandre the Giant

I’d never even heard of Opeth when ‘Damnation’ was released in April 2003, so I had no idea about the double album concept, or that this was very much different from their previous work. All I knew was ‘Hope Leaves’ was on a compilation CD I got from somewhere and it was utterly spellbinding. ‘Damnation’ may have been the first record I picked up on the strength of one song, and I think I made the right call.

But the creation of the album was fraught with challenges, with its more brutal partner ‘Deliverance’ being released in the previous November, the band were pushed to create both in the same amount of time as one single record, which remarkably they did. ‘Deliverance’ had given them their first US chart appearance but ‘Damnation’ is the one that really garnered the plaudits, being the first record to discard all of the death metal influences entirely and go full on prog. Produced by Stephen Wilson of Porcupine Tree fame, the rich shades of acoustic guitar, Mellotron and Mikael Åkerfeldt’s melodious clean vocals, ‘Damnation’ became one of the most well regarded records of the year.

Regarded as a modern prog classic, songs like ‘Windowpane’ and ‘To Rid the Disease’ positively vibrate with a melancholic energy, gloomy melody drifting throughout each track with ease. Each member of the band get to showcase their technical skills in such a different enviroment from ‘Deliverance’, an album that while very nuanced and subtle in places, still delivered much in the way of death metal power. ‘Damnation’s trump card was Åkerfeldt’s songwriting, allowing what had the potential to be a risky venture in the career of a metal band turn into one of their greatest triumphs. Martin Lopez delivers one of his most impressive drumming performances on ‘In My Time of Need’, while the haunting ‘Hope Leaves’ is still my favourite Opeth songs after all these years.

Considering the direction modern Opeth have taken in their musical endeavours, ‘Damnation’ should’ve been our biggest clue that one day they were going to leave the death metal behind and fully embrace that prog rock life eventually. It took them a few more years to do that, but ‘Damnation’ was the proof that they could do that and we would love it. Loudwire named it the second best record of 2003, and in 2014 it was ranked in the top 100 prog records of all time by TeamRock. I mean, I love death metal Opeth, but this was my first taste of the band and it’ll always hold a special place for me.

https://www.facebook.com/Opeth

Anniversary Series 042: Soilwork – Figure Number Five

Scribed by Sandre the Giant

Did you know that, when Soilwork gave us ‘Figure Number Five’ on April 21st 2003, that it was their FIFTH ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS!? I mean, I’ve known some productive bands in my time but this has to be some kind of a record for Gothenberg melodeath surely? This also means, in order to do my due diligence, I should listen to the previous four in a row first right? It’s time to overdose on At the Gates worship, I’ll be right back.

Ok, I’m five albums in and I think I have an idea of what Soilwork fans, or metal fans at least were feeling by the time ‘Figure Number Five’ rolled round. It’s a lot, isn’t it? In a world starting to overflow with melodeath bands, Soilwork were the most productive and the most true to the style. ‘Figure Number Five’ follows the excellent (and personal favourite) ‘Natural Born Chaos’, and it contains the band’s first real forays into a more commercial sound. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of galloping melodeath riffs, Björn Strid’s roar is still evident but there’s a number of tracks that had crossover appeal. ‘Light the Torch’ and ‘Departure Plan’ are the two that I think really hint at that the most, but they’re not the only ones. Strid himself commented that the album lacks intensity in places (I’d agree) but it has a lot of good melodies (I’d also agree). An album that looked ready to step into the mainstream rock/metal hole left gaping by the stumbling corpse of nu-metal? It had the tunes and it had the vocal hooks to take a good shot at it.

The thing is, I really like ‘Figure Number Five’; I think it is a strong record that has a number of excellent songs and retains that Soilwork level of consistency that a lot of bands of their ilk just couldn’t keep. Tracks like ‘Rejection Role’ and the brilliant ‘Brickwalker’ are definitely full of classic melodeath flavour, but I get that, in 2003, it was maybe starting to reach overkill levels if you’d been in from the start. I got into Soilwork on their next record, ‘Stabbing the Drama’, so when I went back into their discography this and ‘Natural Born Chaos’ were my first ports of call. I think that gives me an admittedly skewed perspective, and I do prefer ‘NBC’ to this, but I do think that the history books will remember this more fondly than some contemporary accounts. And that’s why we’ve always got to assess and reassess past music in metal, because you never realise what may improve with age. ‘Figure Number Five’ is one of those records.

https://www.facebook.com/soilwork

Anniversary Series 041: Gojira – The Link

Scribed by Sandre the Giant

It is hard to look upon the world of modern extreme metal and imagine a lack of Gojira. Since 2005’s breakout ‘From Mars to Sirius’, their influence has spread far and wide through a multitude of genres. But in 2003, they were crafting an album that would be looked upon as a proto-classic, the album that made you go, ‘holy shit the NEXT one is going to be incredible’. That record was ‘The Link’, and it celebrates its 20th anniversary today, the 18th of April.

When we look back even further, to 2001’s ‘Terra Incognita’ record, the seeds of what becomes Gojira’ signature sound are apparent in primal form. The huge guitar bends, the hypnotic spirals of guitar riffs and just that Gojira tone. You know the one, that one that shatters your brain exactly 10 seconds into ‘Ocean Planet’. The shuddering death metal chugs were something we hadn’t really seen since Morbid Angel’s ‘Covenant’, and it was this formula that the band took to a new form in ‘The Link’. Those jagged riff patterns in ‘Death of Me’ is such a signature sound now that it’s strange to think that in 2003 it was brand fucking new. Even having been a fan of this band since ‘The Link’, it still always sounds so unique and so brutal to me even after this long.

Those unsettling little clacking interludes make an appearance here too, I swear it’s the same sound you hear in the soundtrack to Akira (check out ‘Kaneda’ if you don’t believe me), and these kind of little interlude pieces haven’t entirely faded from the Gojira canon. What definitely hasn’t faded is the massive, whale shuaking riffs of ‘Remembrance’ and ‘Embrace the World’, nor has the powerful roar of Joe Duplantier. His voice is almost as recognisable as the band’s riffs, bringing forward the band’s lyrical emphasis on ecological catastrophes. Ahead of the game on the rest of us with that one guys, well played! Tracks like ‘Inward Movement’ or ‘Wisdom Comes’ are so weirdly esoteric in places that it did make you wonder what would come next, or whether Gojira were maybe just too strange for the metal mainstream to get on board with. Thankfully we were proven wrong.

A revolutionary, scene setting album for what would come next, their magnum opus. But ‘The Link’ stands tall on its own merits, not just as a place setter or a precursor. There is no death metal album in 2003 that sounds like this, and even 20 years later there is no death metal band that does what Gojira does as well as Gojira. To remain a uniquely special voice in an industry that immediately inspires copycats is a miracle, and this is that miracle.

https://www.facebook.com/GojiraMusic