Behemoth - The Satanist Review

Behemoth - The Satanist [Blackened Death Metal]


If anything, The Satanist is an album that beckons repeated listens and may finally push Behemoth to the top tier of metal bands.




There are dozens of the little things that one would instantly recognize as the signature Behemoth sound; the blastbeats, operatic elements and black metal tinge that always put them a cut above needlessly fast bands like Nile and Suffocation. But the album boasts numerous new elements that suggests The Satanist will be the game changer in Behemoth's career.

The intro and first single 'Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel' brings in a full-fledged doom metal approach that was merely flirted with on the previous album 'Evangelion'. The tinkering of tempos might baffle the cultists who lust for Behemoth's usual brute force, but this new found maturity in song writing makes the album a grower rather than one that pummels you on first listen- before you get bored of it. The solos are even soulful on songs like 'Messe Noire', a strange way to end one of the faster songs on the album. Speaking of fast, 'Amen' is Behemoth's most punishing track ever put to tape (yes!). Elsewhere, there are clean vocals on the closing track 'O Father O Satan O Sun!' (albeit autotuned, but given the vocalist, is that really unreasonable?). In fact, the final track is a sing-along track that echoes 80s industrial and goth music, not surprising given Behemoth's cover songs in the past, but somehow in its cheesy chorus interlaced between tribal drums, tremolo picked riffs and synthesizers, it sounds refreshing coming from a high profile death metal band.




The production on the album is fantastic despite is mediocre dynamic range (it sits at about 5 or 6). Inferno's drum tone is tribal rather than cold and harsh, and Orion's bass is extremely audible in the mix. Let me repeat, it's as audible as Geezer Butler's basslines in Black Sabbath. It's huge and funky, whether or not the music is at full speed or at mid-pace. Darski's vocals are absolutely monstrous and passionate on this album, sounding more organic than in Evangelion. The stripped down approach is a welcome direction on this album, given the other cheesy elements that pepper the songs; it would be hard to take the band seriously if they were still going for an over processed sound.

The guitar tone is great but the solos are still lacking even if they try to be melodic than in their last few albums. Lyrically, the band is still not very intelligent, though Behemoth was never a band know for its poetry. I think it's more than enough that the band still still sounds good despite its tired subject matter.

All in all, the album is great. Not a classic. But sonically an album that is retrospective and varied enough to unite fans who have been divided by the band's experimentations and changes in sound. For me, Behemoth's debut black metal album Sventevith has always been the band's peak (please do yourself a favour and listen to it here, but The Satanist throws a different light on a band, a pleasant surprise of an album that is sure to be talked about for months to come.

★★★★☆

Iced Earth - Plagues of Babylon Review

Iced Earth - Plagues of Babylon [Thrash Metal/Power Metal]

It's been a long while since anyone has posted on this blog, so I thought it'd be good to write a review of an album I'd anticipated for quite a while.

Unlike most of the legions of hardcore Iced Earth fans, I did not grow into the band during the Matt Barlow era - as such it is to be expected that this review will not attempt to draw too many comparisons between Barlow and current Iced Earth vocalist Stu Block.

At this juncture I must point out: despite not being an Iced Earth follower from the early days, I obviously took it upon myself to listen to the work that the band did with Barlow and Ripper; I have tremendous respect for the abilities of both singers, and can totally understand why so many people continue to pine for Barlow's return (not happening, people - get over it! hahaha). Barlow was a fantastic technical singer in his own right: good range, great power and rich tone. However, what stood out most about his singing was the quality of his delivery - it's one thing to sing a song and another to own the hell out of it. 

I have to say now: Stu Block owns the hell out of a few songs on this album. I've always thought - and Iced Earth hardcores can hate on this all they want - that Stu Block, dating from his time with Into Eternity - is a far more technically-proficient and stylistically versatile singer than either Barlow or Ripper ever were. 

Evidence of Stu's vocal chops can be found in tracks like 'Cthulhu' - where Stu busts out a piercing Rob Halford-style scream - and the surprisingly accessible piece 'If I Could See You' - where, during the clean verses, Stu channels his inner Myles Kennedy and goes all rock-ballad. A minus point here, though, is that Stu's vocals, at least the clean bits, were obviously auto-tuned, even though clearly he doesn't need the aid of software. God forbid that Iced Earth eventually trends towards the direction taken by 'rock' bands like U2.

However, not much can be said in the defence of the rest of the band in this album. Notwithstanding that Jon Schaffer and company did well showcasing their new vocalist (as well as guest stars like Hansi Kursch and Russell Allen), the riffing and song structure were pretty much standard Iced Earth fare - not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but after a couple of decades doing this you'd think the band would wish to take the chance to innovate. At times, it felt like the sporadic moments of brilliance from Stu and the blistering guitar solos from Troy Seele - who is in fine form here, by the way - were placed strategically to ensure that any attention lost during the verse and bridge segments was regained.

The album as a whole had a rather mid-tempo feel to it, replete with the usual Jon Schaffer-driven cliches (harmonised guitar breaks, E-flat tuning, and a ton of open string chugging). Objectively speaking - not one of Iced Earth's more inspired offerings. Also of note: this is also the Iced Earth debut of drummer Raphael Saini and bassist Luke Appleton, but you wouldn't know it, because there is nothing about the rhythm work to separate this album from the rest of Iced Earth's considerable body of work - not that this can be attributed directly to the two of them, though.

Overall, you can almost sense that during the songwriting phase, the band leaders decided that they would actively attempt to utilise the considerable talents of Stu Block - not a bad thing, mind - but in doing so compromise on any attempts to write new harmonic and rhythmic material. What this album offers in terms of vocal and melodic interest is largely negated by the blandness of the riffing ideas and the almost-lethargic feel of much of the songs.

★★☆☆☆ Passable - One or two good songs, a bit of flow

Written by: The Buona Vista Musician

Havok - Unnatural Selection Review

Havok - Unnatural Selection [Thrash Metal / Punk]

It's a given that thrash metal would not have existed if Slayer had not created a storm by bottling the lightning speeds of hard rock and the rebellious youth of punk together on their earlier records. Whilst the majority of the world will remain divided on whether the Metallica path or the Slayer path captures the essence of the genre better, there are a select few that have decided to go down the punk route (let's not forget that punk also gave way to d-beat and subsequently, and even more importantly, grindcore). It's therefore logical for Havok, as harbingers of the thrash metal resurgence (which I personally do not dig, but this is purely personal), to go even further back and establish themselves from their peers to embrace a more punk vibe on their latest, third offering.



However, fans of their masterpiece 'Time Is Up' may have to be more patient with this record. Where the former saw the band with rushed beats and a sense of urgent aggression, this album is a cruise on the road to 80s anarcho punk, with few heavy or aggressive moments. In fact, there's a strangely relaxed atmosphere on the album, with crooning, sung choruses (sung, not yelled), and mostly mid-temp drumming.


Very easily, the album is more or less homage to the older generations, without having to change the formula for the current generation (as opposed to Revocation's mix of thrash metal and technical death metal, or Vektor's progressive, psychedelic thrash). Songs like 'Waste Of Life' sound like they should be on a Megadeth album (and a pity, since Megadeth's latest is a comedy), whilst the speed of their previous offerings are all contained within opener 'I Am The State'. 'It Is True', on the other, shows the actual evolution of the band, with restrained riffing, allowing new bassist Michael Leon some showtime, though he seems content with staying behind Reece Scruggs' and David Sanchez's guitars. What is interesting to note, is the way the chorus is executed, with tempos slowing rather than intensifying. Strangely enough, this works to it's advantage in helping the band sound fresh and (gasp!) mature.


The sad thing however, is that the energy dies by the time the band hits the half-time mark. Not that there are no interesting moments, but the album starts to rest on these moments rather than the songs themselves, which doesn't run well with the strong songs in the beginning. 'Worse Than War' has an interesting opening riff that is barely used through the tired trudge of the verses. The bridge also doesn't deviate further from the actual riff and the tempo is barely changed. Ditto for 'Chasing The Edge', that flirts with pinch harmonics on it's intro, a surprisingly fresh feature on thrash metal, but the experimentation stops there. It barely peaks with a syncopated bridge, but nothing else is done to save the song. 'Living Nightmare' doesn't bring anything new, neither does it feel energetic.


The last two track, however, are interesting. There is the Black Sabbath cover 'Children Of The Grave', which is a surprisingly executed reimagination of the 70s classic. David Sanchez's vocals are also semi-decent, he is definitely not a master of singing but his lips pay homage to their influences and he is at least tolerable. On the other hand, the title track is a sudden return to the almost-there speed Havok captured on 'Time Is Up'. It is not the greatest song but compared to the middle tracks, it does remind you of the band that seemed like the clearest winner in the competition for thrash revival.


The album, in a nutshell, confirms my thoughts on Havok, that the band's talent rests on drummer Pete Webber. Not that the other members suck, no, they are excellent riff-writers and know their place in their music, but where the rest are content with putting meat on the bones, Webber is the force of the band. He plays with signature, conviction, speed and decent experimentation. His death metal fills and his pounding sense of urgency is what made me return to 'Time Is Up' so frequently. Where there was a mastery of dynamics between verses and chorus, here seems like a tired attempt at the more political message of thrash metal. My personal opinion? This should have  been an EP with less songs. It's definitely a grower though, and it sounds a lot better than when I first heard it a month ago.

★★★☆☆ Average - Half of album is listenable

The Neighbourhood - I Love You Review

The Neighbourhood - I Love You [Indie Pop]

Quite widely penned for it's immaturity and it's poorly written lyrics (the latter of which I whole-heartedly agree with), The Neighbourhood's EP and, subsequently, this debut album have created quite a storm on Internet on visual mediums like Tumblr. I myself only came to discovering the band after my friend linked me the lead single on Youtube; 'Female Robbery'.


It's easy to see why the lead single clearly misdirects your anticipation for the album, because the broody, atmospheric lull of the single isn't at all reciprocated in the rest of the album. In fact, the single seems like a carefully planned marketting ploy in the wake of the colossal impact of Lana Del Ray's signature style of slow, glacial songs with seemingly 'deep' subject matter. I mean no disrespect- no wait, that's a lie, but the annoyingly narcissistic nature of today's emotional songs will piss you off after you've been through much more colossal albums than this. That said, shallowness doesn't really matter in the music, though it paints the picture of the artiste and indicates how you're expected to appreciate it. Here, The Neighbourhood melds influences from other genres, particularly indie rock and rap, in what results in an ironically pop album, that is exciting on the surface because of the relatively fresh approach in sound that masks the atypical pop song structures on I Love You.

The lead single, however, is dazzling in it's use of 'screams' (either guitar effects or a highly distorted human scream) as atmosphere, repeating them even, and that is a highlight in the album. However, like the rest of the strengths on the album, it's shortlived. There are numerous instances when the band uses alternative sounds or instruments for the melody, such as on 'Sweater Weather'. However,the album tosses up the strengths of their earlier EPs with the modern radio sound, with crooned lyrics of angst to appeal to the adolescents and post-hip hop rhythms for a wider audience, though the mismatch of slick, groovy beats highly contradict the thick, sharp atmospheres borrowed from the post-rock arena (now conveniently just labelled 'indie' by society).

As for the lyrics, I leave that to the listener. Lyrics are subjective to the listener, since I am not going to make you any more mature by convincing you these are poorly written lyrics.

★★☆☆☆ Passable - One or two good songs, a bit of flow

Wormed - Exodromos Review

Wormed - Exodromos [Technical Death Metal]

Get ready for superior musicianship.


Within the first minute of the opening track 'Nucleon', the music undergoes 10 time signature changes. And not simple ones too. The first album in almost a decade by the Spanish death metallers, Exodromos is fast, dazzlingly technical (which is saying something in 2013), but importantly, atmospheric. The combination of doom and drone atmospherics fill in what little gaps there are between the blastbeats, the are numerous but short guitar solos (if you dig that shit), the drums are fast (though not eschewing the usual over-processed click sound of today), and bass is barely audible, though sufficient, in my opinion.

The vocalist uses pig squeal as his main medium.



While the usual theatrics are done to death, what makes this album outstanding is it's rapid flow. It's far from schizophrenic, it feels like an extreme case of ADHD, and the songs are short and sweet without sacrificing flavour, and in this case, its a cold, bleak atmosphere. Like their peers in Decrepit Birth, Wormed manage to capture the visual aspect of a dystopic, futuristic sound with an adherence to sci-fi melodies, or emulating machines through their guitar solos (very unlike the staccato riffing of Fear Factory). Unlike Decrepit Birth, however, the drummer here chooses from a broader plethora of drum fills, though this is sparse in the song-writing in relation to the blastbeats; the drummer changes his timings with astounding relevance whilst keeping faith to the speed and brutality commanded by the songs. Then again, the time signatures are the constant emphasis here. The guitarists shred to create fills rather than to cement a solo section in the songs, this is done by keeping the highs in the mix relatively buried so that the shredding does not stand out. Also, the solos are well weaved into the riffs, making the song structures tighter and adding to the rapidity of the flow of the album. The production has been absolute and effective here, but I wished more bands used a more organic drum sound.

In terms to negative points on the album, because of the chaotic nature of the music, it's hard to appreciate if you were already accustomed to the guitar theatrics of the genre (thanks to Decrepit Birth). As the album works better as the sum of its parts rather than in its individual songs, it works against the accessibility of the album, though as I said, it has a highly interchangeable sound. Either of which may put of listeners. Also, the bleakness of the album, as opposed to the lively robustness of last year's Cryptopsy, might be a deciding factor as to whether you will dig this album.

All in all, I think this is definitely one of the better albums of the year of disappointing metal releases (so far). It doesn't do anything to change the formula but it works toward perfecting the existing material. With the musicians holding back on their ridiculously technical prowess and concentrating on the concept of the album, this may polarize fans of the death metal genre.

★★★★☆

Megadeth - Super Collider Review

Megadeth - Super Collider [Hard Rock]

The new Megadeth album is not even a thrash metal release.


The entire album chugs at mid-tempo with Dave Mustaine trying his best to sound like David Draiman (who also stars in the song 'Dance In The Rain' and 'Forget to Remember'), despite age and vocal limitations. They aren't memorable riffs, as the emphasis on the album is radio-friendly rock. I will talk about good things first: the album has possibly the best production Megadeth has had in their career. The bass and drums are very pronounced and the highs and mids of the guitars sound clear and clean.


The problem now, is that the vocals are pushed all the way to the front. Dave Mustaine's vocals. Conversely, David Draiman sounds like his voice was recorded by an iPhone on 'Dance In The Rain', what the intention was I will never know. 'Don't Turn Your Back...' is possibly the fastest song on this album, for fans who like the thrash metal element of Megadeth.


This album is a commercial album. The songs are so tame and lack anger that it is hilarious, painful to listen to. Chris Broderick's solos are forgettable finger exercises that execute speed but completely lack emotion. He drops a solo on every song and the worst part is that they don't even fit in with the new friendly rock sound (think 80s hard rock with the motivational lyrics and nonsense solos). One of the songs even feature a goddamn banjo ('The Blackest Crow'). Dave Mustaine is on his worst ego trip on this album, singing alongside Bon Jovi riffs. Shawn Drover is having the time of his life playing slow, simple rhythms. The album's only saving grace, is David Ellefson's bass. It loud and groovy, but who can honestly shut out the rest of the music and isolate the bass?

This album is mediocre at best. Megadeth's reformation peaked at Endgame, which wasn't even a complete success with half the album as filler. The album is too slow, and that itself isn't the problem, but Megadeth can't pull off slow, melodic songs. Definitely not with Dave Mustaine's vocals. If you like this album, you're better off just listening to 90s arena rock, because that's certainly better than this rubbish. Just listen to the Thin Lizzy cover, 'Cold Sweat'. It's the only good song on the album (and it wasn't written by them)

★☆☆☆☆

Deafheaven - Sunbather Review

Deafheaven - Sunbather [Blackgaze] [Black Metal + Shoegaze]

The blackgaze genre was started by French one-man band Alcest. Since his debut, Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde, many acts have tried to pin down the genre, with the raw, primal emotion of black metal and the psychedelic, ultrasweet melodies of shoegaze. Deafheaven's debut, Roads To Judah, in 2011, wasn't groundbreaking. It was just four songs long and showcased dynamics and fusion ideas already demonstrated by Alcest, but with an added punk vibe that didn't come across as convincing across a mere four songs.




Two years later, we are presented with Sunbather, an album that completely obliterates the debut album with far superior songs (seven songs now) and a more convincing approach to the music. Its timing could also be only too welcome, coming in the wake of the absolute downer, Les Voyages De L'Âme, Alcest's overly self-indulgent album last year that signalled the end of the blackgaze movement. This album is rife with blastbeats, blood-curdling screams, and a fantastic sense of melody. The punk elements are more pronounced than ever, and the huge contrast of the wretched vocals against a gorgeous, beautiful shoegaze music is surprisingly emotive and thrilling.

The album's opening songs, 'Dreamhouse' and the aptly titled ambient instrumental that follows, 'Irresistible' are worth the weight of the album alone. The former has a fantastic chord progression that is at once bittersweet, an ambiguous combination of various emotions that made me fall in love with the genre. The song is also well-written in that it commands your attention even though its a verse-chorus that's repeated twice over the span of eleven minutes. The tempo is pleasant enough for a casual listen but George Clarke's vocals are intense and violent. This may upset fans who were initiated by Neige's soulful clean singing in Alcest, but this gives Deafheaven a very important sonic dynamic and identity. Some of you may find the music too pretty to even have vocals, but this is a subjective issue.

The album incorporates a lot of sounds from various genres whilst retaining the core sound of its predecessor. The title track, for instance, features post-rock atmosphere in its chorus and this eases the tension created by numerous blastbeats weaved into the song. This seamless pacing between dreamy warm chords and monstrously fast, heavy sections is a feat, the two forms of music stand side by side without contradicting each other. Elsewhere, 'Vertigo' starts off with a slow, post-metal guitar solo that relies on space and introversion before effectively bursting into a black metal frenzy. The transition was unpredictable and the song is one of the definite highlights of the album.

New drummer Daniel Tracy is a very strong addition to the group's sound. His blastbeats are ferocious, but his contribution to the shoegaze sections by guitarist Kerry McCoy and bassist Derek Prine are lucid and sensible, especially on 'Vertigo' and the title track. The band works with fantastic synergy, and this adds to the sense of passion that is abundant on the album. The closing ambiance of 'Windows' and the the warmth of 'The Pecan Tree' also form a sense of fulfillment by closing the circle that began the album with dark tones to a happy, euphoric end, or at least some juxtaposition of emotions.

All in all, I have no complains for Sunbather at all. It is an essential listen, it is a severely needed release after the decline of blackgaze, and it is dripping with passion. The musicians themselves are soaking in their music, unlike the commercial albums that have been spreading like a plague this year. With such a rich sound and approach, Deafheaven may not be your cup of tea, but it's damn well one of the best releases this year with respect to its genre.

★★★★★ Excellent - Undisputed classic for critical listening