35007 - "PHASE V"
Stickman Records
Instrumental Dutch space lords' stellar fifth LP/EP
is the best spacerock album of 2005!
The Dutch lords of instrumental space rock are back with their fifth LP/EP.
The line-up has shifted since the release of 2002's stellar release, "Liquid"
with a change in guitarist. Tos [ex-Beaver] is now handling six-string duties
and 35007's overall sound has altered as a result.
"Liquid" featured very mellow, smooth transitioning grooves that twisted
and turned through huge soundscapes. "Phase V" contains much of the same
overall vibe, but has more chiaroscuro to it with the heavier parts being
much heavier and the quieter parts being virtually silent.
The opening track '20:09' is an excellent example of the new 35007 sound,
opening with a quiet, drifty guitar part before the trademark groovy 35007
bass and drums kick in. Overlaying the rhythm section is more trademark
slithering pedal steel work.
Nothing here would sound out of place on "Liquid". That is, until a soaring guitar solo
kicks in and the track shifts into full-on heavy mode melding the more relaxed 35007 of the past
with fearsome guitar playing and odd chopping time changes. Once the solo tails
off, the track continues to shift and pulse for another 10 minutes.
The majority of tracks are similar in vibe giving the album a very cohesive
feel that's difficult to 'dip into.' It demands listening
from start to finish.
I found this album initially disappointing [always a good indicator of its
classic status!] when listened to through speakers. It wasn't until I
listened to it through headphones that the underlying structure of the tracks
becomes really evident. The melodic parts are supplied mostly by the bass,
analogue synths and quiet multi-layered guitar parts and, as such, are
quite "hidden". Overall, I got a very strong vibe of the work of the
Mahavishnu Orchestra albeit a little less jazzy and a little more spacey.
There's a lot to "Phase V" and represents the pinnacle of 35007's releases
so far which, considering the brilliance of "Sea of Tranquility" and
"Liquid" is no mean praise.
This album is highly recommended to anyone willing to spend the time
listening fully to what's on offer. A casual listen will not suffice.
Without a doubt, the album of the year.
a.
BIBLE OF THE DEVIL - "BRUTALITY, MAJESTY, ETERNITY"
Scarey Records
All hail! Alabama Thunderpussy's bastard sons go N.W.O.B.H.M, for real, on
their best album yet.
Yet more N.W.O.B.H.M inspired, greased lightnin' boogie from 'Bible of The Devil', whose
previous album, "Tight Empire" rocked hard and yielded a bonafide stoner rock anthem
with the barnstorming 'Fuckin' A.'
"Brutality, Majesty, Eternity" is an invigorating if not entirely novel hybrid betwixt
the lumpen swamp-frug of Alabama Thunderpussy, N.W.O.B.H.M's Chevy and Paul Dianno-era 'Maiden.'
Thankfully all this wide-eyed fan-boy bravura translates into a fistful of high octane, beery greebo
rock with sinuous, buzz bomb guitars screeching to the fore -guitarists, Hoffman and Perry merrily
tearing out one raw-boned, party hearty, twin-guitar harmony after another.
And the visceral pleasure of "Brutality, Majesty, Eternity" lies unequivocally in the band's worship
of raucous, anthemic metal sung with in a throaty, impassioned manner by Mark Hoffman whose larynx is seared by
the similar whiskey-burn of the worlds' heaviest rocking diabetic, Lemmy Kilminster, imbuing 'Cocaine
Years, Cocaine Years' and 'Flee' with carpet-bomber ferocity.
Again, the downside of any band with an overzealous appreciation of a bygone era is in
their giddy inspirations overshadowing their own identity, but one aspect which heaves
B.O.T.D above the glut of contemporaneous Maiden worship is in their ability to pen their
own memorable, hard-rock ditties. The aforementioned 'Flee' being a sublime example of rivet
tight, sweaty, mullet core.
The proto-metal mix adds much verisimilitude to their bruising attack with the wide-load
twin guitars strapped to the top end like rock seeking missiles... 'Bible of the Devil's' splenetic
ransacking of N.W.O.B.H.M's back catalogue while calculated and a trifle derivative nonetheless
yields a hardy metal album of great merit, encrusted with some memorable skull battery... Don't throw out
your Bitches Sin or Tokyo Blade albums just yet, but these bible bashers demand your respect.
jason
BIBLICAL PROOF OF UFO'S - "8-TRACK DEMO(N)S"
OTA
Desert Sessions-like third album from Brant
Bjork & the Bros drummer's [Michael Peffer's] band.
I must confess to having no idea whatsoever about this band and had to
do some serious looking before finding much information. It transpires
the band has Brant Bjork and Bros drummer Michael Peffer in it which gave me
the idea of the record being 'desert rock', but I feel that's an overly
simplistic labelling.
"8 Track Demo(n)s" is a fun album. The opener 'Seaplane' is one of the best
songs Queens of the Stone Age never recorded with Josh Homme style vocals in
the incredibly catchy chorus. It gets a bit weird for a couple of tracks
being a mix of loose 'old man on the back porch' style blues ['More and More'
and 'Prodigal Son']. 'Identify, Isolate, Manipulate' reminds me a lot of
The Hidden Hand with its oscillating chunk riff and soulful vocals [ by Nick
Oliveri -editor].
Expectations settle back down for "Whirling Dervish" with its hypnotic
vocals and thunderous chorus. A bit more 'Desert Sessions' but with a lot
of its own mojo.
'Vague Unsettling Dream' acts as a mellow, acoustic and outright weird
interlude that Chris Goss would be proud of before another lurch sends us
into the melancholy crunch of 'Time and Pressure' [my pick of the album].
That track's overall vibe reminds me a lot of bands like the Throwing Muses,
The Breeders and the like. This track flows elegantly into 'Dirty Little Bomb'
which then segues elegantly into 'Paranoid Aykroid.' Closing the album is
the angsty pop-rocker, 'Sarah.'
This is an excellent album if only for the sheer variety of sounds on it.
Just as you start thinking you're getting a handle on the flow of the album,
it morphs into something radically different. However, the songwriting is
excellent and there's a real feel to the record that stops it from sounding
like a load of song fragments stuck together on a record.
Highly recommended.
a.
CAPRICORNS - "RUDER FORMS SURVIVE"
Rise Above Records
Not your avarage instru-metal!
Rise Above Records continue to add new and interesting bands to their roster
and, with the release of The Capricorns debut album, "Ruder Forms Survive",
they continue to demonstrate their ability to choose challenging albums for
release.
Comprising, amongst others, members of Iron Monkey and Orange Goblin,
the Capricorns have an excellent pedigree for both thunderous metal and
more complex arrangements. Initial listens inspire the thought that
they plough a similar furrow to the seemingly endless millions of
Neurosis / Isis-a-like clone bands out there, but, as this review hopefully
illustrates, this sells the Capricorns short.
Opening with the short, sharp shock of '1977 - Blood for Papa', there's an
immediate vibe that this is more 'metal' than Isis and the ilk, with a
genuine desire to not only transport you into higher realms of awe and
wonder [judging by the bizarrely-transfixed faces seen at a recent Isis
show], but also kick the side of your head in with furious riffing and
pounding drums.
'1969 - A Predator Among Us' is, in my opinion, the finest moment on the
album, perfectly blending more prog-influenced spacey moments with genuinely
powerful riffing and dynamic time changes. The drumming on this track is
worth listening to all on its own.
'The First Broken Promise' features some seriously weird vocals [the only
real vocals on the entire album] which bizarrely remind of Black Francis.
'1440 - Exit Wargasmatron' continues the pounding with some classic metal
riffing.
'1066 - Born on the Bayeux' [brilliant pun!], clocks in at 12:39 and is, by
far, the longest track on the album. However, it sports several stages moving
from ambient, textured guitars through heavier, fast sections and midway,
goes into a very ambient section before finally exploding into some
thunderously heavy High on Fire style riffing.
Interestingly, the mix of longer 'epic' tracks ['Born on the
Bayeux', 'Harrying the Heathens'] with shorter, sharp bursts ['Exit
Wargasmatron', 'The Last Renaissance Man'] works excellently. Quite a
contrast to the relentless pursuit of longer and longer tracks afflicting
many releases today.
'1946 - The Last Renaissance Man' is probably the most Isis-like track on
the album with appropriate delay-based 'spooky' ambient opening and a
build-up to some heavy, multi-layered guitar work.
Finishing up, '793AD - The Harrying of the Heathens', the second longest track
on the album, opens in a mellow manner before thundering off into heavy
sludgy riffing. Perhaps of all the tracks, this is a tad overlong, but is
still a good track to rock out to.
Initially, I found this album to be quite disappointing and samey, but
a bit of effort with repeated listenings definitely draws out the
best from "Ruder Forms Survive." I think, perhaps, the comparisons to Isis and the
like somehow cheapen the overall sound the Capricorns have managed to
capture, merging both classic metal chops with the more spacious ambient
sections pre-eminent in many current releases and some very prog-like
arrangements.
Another great, and challenging, record from Rise Above Records and a
worthy addition to your collection.
a.
Capricorns' Nathan talks about
the studio-experience: "The basic tracks for 'Ruder Forms Survive' were
recorded over four days in Studio K4, housed in an old GDR radio broadcast centre in East Berlin. Copious
amounts of sausage, beer and other stimulants were consumed The whole thing took around a couple
of weeks I guess - hardly punk rock but not Metallica either..." Read Nathan's studio report.
CATHEDRAL - "THE GARDEN OF UNEARTHLY DELIGHTS"
Nuclear Blast
UK's doom powerhouse deliver a glorious
summation of their career. It's Cathedral's masterwork and celebratory ode to 70's rock obscurio.
The recent Cathedral albums while replete with voluminous riffs lacked the quirky, anachronistic
otherworldliness which makes them so endearing, especially Lee Dorian's livid Moorcock / Colin Wilson prose
extolling the pleasures of myopic zombies, malevolent magi, and all other manner of devilish, altered
states chicanery coupled with Garry Jennings's cavernous boogie drones seemed to be replaced with
a more prosaic version of themselves. It's their innate ability to inject a welcome thrum of boogie
into the Poe-faced genre of doom which makes Cathedral so enticing a prospect.
"The Garden of Unearthly Delights" is unequivocally their masterwork, a glorious summation of a career
dedicated to the manifold pleasures of elephantine funereal doom and mesmerizing bell bottomed
boogie. Nothing on this album is contrived or by rote... this is a full-bloodied, magnificently celebratory
ode to 70's rock obscurio, heaving with anachronistic bombast and gleeful, folky eccentricity...
It's Cathedral's [un]canny and witty evocation of this most fecund of era's which lends "The Garden of
Unearthly Delights" such gravitas, and many recognizable motifs from these halcyon days
are given a muscular pyrotechnic work out -unabashed lyrical phantasmagoria, bloated, bootilicious
riffs, festooned with monstroid Randy Holden overkill, and florid, protracted jams the
length of which would terrify the likes of Klaus Schulze...
The titular track is Cathedral's wildest conceit, 27 minutes of grandiloquent doom
where inspirational, circuitous doom mantras morph into ethereal folky esoterica, then
billow out in artful shrouds of giddy kraut rock atmospherics, and playfully confound with
brazen Spinal Tap tomfoolery [18 minutes in I was waiting for the pint-sized Stonehenge to wobble onto
centre stage!] all of which could make for an excruciating experience if it wasn't
anchored by the dynamic and sure-footed pairing of Smee and Jennings -these mercurial riff finder
Generals yield some truly jaw-dropping bassadelic fury, so sublime is their interaction that
one would have to be buried in concrete not to be moved by it.
This gorgeous album yields its juiciest thrill with track four, the jaunty, Uriah Heep
pop-crunge of 'Corpsecycle' making it Cathedral's very own 'Paranoid' and hands down the best
rock song you'll hear this year. As rock / metal is inexorably strangled by irony and vapid
posturing it's genuinely enthralling to witness a band still playing with all the
arrogant swagger of youth.
jason
CENTURIONS GHOST - "A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME"
I Hate Records
A troubled mixture of Celtic
Frost, Cathedral & Venom, lacking power and, er... riffs to call their own!
Centurion's Ghost debut appears to suffer from the same ubiquitous malady as many current metal bands
and that is to supplant originality with the ubiquitous Celtic frost default switch... dearth of
ideas??? No riffs to call your own, fuck it, pilfer a riff or three off CF...
Album opener is indicative of the Centurion's Ghost oeuvre, an attempt to meld the grimy thrash
of Venom with the malevolent bathometric thrum of early Celtic Frost / Hellhammer, and while they can't be
faulted for taste, it's the execution that's a little troublesome...
Quite frankly this is a poor album littered with glaring plagiarism, insipid vocals and
mundane musicianship... Cathedral's groundbreaking "Forest of Equilibrium" gets stripped to the
blackened marrow here, and Gaz Jennings might wish to consult his lawyer about the brazen
cherry picking.
It's the overall lack of cohesion and personality that annoys, leapfrogging capriciously
betwixt genres, cathedraloid lurch on second and de-Venomed sloppy seconds the next makes for
a wildly uneven and frustrating listen. Centurion's Ghost is an apropos moniker as there
is a vapid, lack of substance to this bog standard dirge metal, dirge in the pejorative sense…
What makes this doubly confounding is that I have seen this band live and they were VERY
entertaining, exuding considerably more bombast, spirit and metal largess than
recorded here.
I'm sorry chaps but one thing a metal album shouldn't be is dull.. Lair of the
Minotaur and Mistress do Celtic Frost infinitely better than these boys. This is
NOT good metal and I shall NOT recant.
jason
CONFESSOR - "UNRAVELLED"
Seasons of Mist
Triumphantly return of the cutting edge pioneers of doom.
10 years after their skull-impacting, caustic and wildly idiosyncratic take on Doom metal, "Condemned", Confessor's
sophomore "Unravelled" proves their 10 year hibernatory experience wasn't to their detriment, as their
return heralds an extremely effective and cohesive slab of headstone-heavy doom.
Gone is the divisive King Diamond screeching, replaced by a confident, mellifluous and commanding
performance from Scott Jeffries giving "Unravelled" a glossy, rich, Soundgarden heft which complements
the lustrous dense, undulating guitar tones that eddy pleasantly through the circulatory system like a
powerful musical opiate.
Confessor's take on Doom remains both thunderous and complex, as many of the tracks still
savour the delight of experimentation, cross pollinating divergent time signatures and evocative
atmospherics with great skill, all the while their mutable, nimble riffage coaxes the listener
deep into a series of expansive, gloriously melancholic nightmares.
'Until Tomorrow' and 'Sour Times' are quite brilliant, both majestic examples of the
engulfing heaviness that re-affirms Confessor's position as THE cutting edge pioneers
of Doom. Production is flawless with a supple organic mix that allows the slothful, subterranean
rhythms to ooze magnificently out of your speakers, engulfing you in a euphoric cocoon of
cathartic misery. And Steve Shelton's octopoid drumming prowess remains an absolute highlight.
It takes a band of prodigious ability and resolve to return after so extensive a hiatus with such
vital, penetrating and essential metal. Confessor are laudable master craftsmen of overwhelming, elegiac
doom metal and they should be cherished.
jason
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