Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestial Lineage

Wolves in the Throne Room

Celestial Lineage

Southern Lord 

The best artists within metal seem to have an air of mysticism about them. Ronnie James Dio possessed it in spades. Ghost are doing it pretty well right now, despite everyone's attempts to decloak them. Even Kiss had an aura with the whole facepaint thing. And Enslaved seem to have the ability to rapture us all with the Norse Gods, Vikings and more. That's just scratching the service. I'm sure there's plenty of bands out there who carve their living from the air, the spirits and more.

While those bands aren't exactly connected to one another in many other ways, it serves to show that mysticism in metal takes many forms. If Wolves in the Throne Room don't give you that air at the beginning of 'Thuja Magus Imperium', what with the chimes and the operatic vocals from the returning Jessika Kenney, perhaps you're missing something. It instantly takes you to a cold, harsh and desolate landscape where hope comes in small quantities. Use of such cliches is tired and old, but entirely correct. It sweeps through several different phases from here, as brothers Nathan (guitar) and Aaron (drums) head on the attack.

You'll notice the running themes of nature, the afterlife and more within - 'Woodland Cathedral', again featuring Kenney's vocals and organ over a doomy riff, almost makes for a real out-of-body experience; whereas 'Astral Blood' has all kinds of surreal going on, starting as battering ram blackness before wind and atmospheric effects briefly take over, introducing a brief harp solo, before the darkness returns to complete the ritual; and the closing 'Prayer of Transformation' really feels like the final act of transcendence, with a slow guitar opening the song before tremeloing into life around three minutes in, with guitarist/vocalist Nathan hallowing a final call to the sky, awash with ambience and minimal percussion. Within 49 minutes, the spiritual adventure is complete. A perfect end to a fine album.

The Wolves sound is gritty and as raw as the wasteland it inhabits, yet completely in harmonious existence with it too. That mystical feeling I referred to remains throughout, and while happy to attract other components, it retains a distinctly uncompromising, yet entirely encapsulating feeling. The multi-faceted approach is so that any of their releases, and particularly this one, need to be listened to as a whole to be fully appreciated. The individual tracks are great, but the experience has to be one as a whole. Wolves in the Throne Room fully realise this and deliver with aplomb.

Peter Clegg 

 

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Here come Ufomammut!

There's a rumbling on the horizon - nope, it isn't Godzilla. Nor is it a Mega Shark or a Crocosaurus. Yep, its only psychedelic doom titans Ufomammut, who are heading back to the UK for a series of live dates sure to smush the designated venues into a pulp. It will be to be the last tour in support of current album 'Eve', with new material on the way. They've also just signed with Neurot Recordings, having caught the eye of Neurosis guitarist Steve von Till. Visuals will also be provided during the dates by longtime collaborator Malleus. Support comes from fellow psych monsters Morkobot, who are touring supporting recent release 'Morbo'.

Tour dates as follows:

3rd Oct 2011 – The Croft, Bristol
4th Oct 2011 – The Well, Leeds
5th Oct 2011 – The Continental, Preston
6th Oct 2011 – The Purple Turtle, London

This is sure to be a special set of shows, and is sure to a heady sonic brew designed to dazzle and fry the senses. Get on down.

Peter Clegg

Evile - Five Serpent's Teeth

Evile
Five Serpent's Teeth
Earache

The new wave of thrash has reached its apex. Such was its love affair with the first wave, it was bound to reach a crescendo fairly quickly, and so it has proved. For some, it came and went too quickly; some still stuck in the 80's simply didn't deliver, some didn't get the credit they deserved, and a few seized upon the thrash ball and ran with it, to reap the rewards for simple awesomeness or for daring to bring the genre up to date. That paragraph is, as a mega thrash fan, equal parts heartbreaking, true and triumphant.

Evile certainly fall in the latter camp. I feel priviledged to have seen them in Huddersfield during their unsigned days because to have watched their rise into the metal stratosphere bestows a feeling of pride and awe. Having tracked them from the 'All Hallows Eve' EP through to 2009's 'Infected Nations', I was certainly looking forward to the next step in their career, although admittedly with quiet optimism, as I found 'Infected Nations' to be a bit of a grower. I needn't have been so cautious.

Whereas they hinted towards a move away from thrash on the previous record, 'Five Serpent's Teeth' sees Evile fully reembrace the thrash spirit with added groove and dynamic. The ten songs here are among the finest you'll find anywhere all year. The proof is in the pudding - the opening salvo of the title track and 'In Dreams of Terror' attack and strike with razor-sharp precision, the latter in particular possessing quite the shred. Straight away you'll also notice vocalist Matt Drake's increased vocal prowess, an instant sign of the work gone into making this record.

Lead single 'Cult' slows down the pace to a midpaced groove. A stab at organized religion, Matt Drake's wider vocal range really makes this song possible. It's accessible but without sacrificing any verve - it's hard not to sing along to the chorus of "all we ask is that you join our...cult!", before rocking out to the main riff the next. It's an anthem in the making. Collectively, they've fully harnessed the slower grooves and become a much more intelligent beast. The album continues to excel as it continues, the progressive angle of 'Xaraya', which gradually builds over the course of the song, culminating in another searing guitar solo from lead guitarist Ol Drake, and 'Origin of Oblivion', one of the finest all out thrash songs of the resurgence, charging through out before hitting a slightly slower groove at the end to the defiant shout of "I will not become machine!"
 
Proof of the elevated maturity of the band is evident particularly as the album reaches its climax. After the ripping assault of the first seven songs, 'In Memoriam' is a largely acoustic number throughout, featuring the Drake brothers' father, and ex-Pilgrym guitarist Tony, and a fitting epitaph for their former, late bassist Mike Alexander. The bass riff is one he frequently played during rehearsals and feels extremely poignant. No doubt Mike's death hurt Evile, but equally no doubt it strengthened them as a band.

The album closes with two more knuckle-grinding thrash numbers, and its 'Descent Into Madness' that particularly stands out. If this was Bay Area in the 80's, it'd be held as a classic, cos the first half if an absolute rager. It gets really interesting when bassist Joel Graham, on record with Evile for the first time, gets the spotlight with a little bass solo to finish the song. It obviously owes to Cliff Burton but its bloody great to see.

Expectations were certainly high for this album and not only. have Evile met them, they've blown.them out of the water. Naysayers will still argue there's too much Metallica influence, but that's negligible. Hand on heart, if this had been the 80's we'd be hailing this as a genre classic - it certainly has that feel about it, such is the quality of the material. Let's ensure that in 2036 we're still talking about this album. I also make no apologies for labelling 'Five Serpent's Teeth' a thrashterpiece. Because any album you can't fault despite several listens has got to be worth the recognition.

Peter Clegg

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Machine Head - Unto The Locust

Machine Head

Unto The Locust

Roadrunner

The world at large went positively nuts when Machine Head released 'The Blackening' in 2007. It was positively great, although comparisons to the great 'Master of Puppets' were a little over the top. Needless to say, anticipation for new album 'Unto The Locust' has been feverish to say the least. Following years of touring for their previous record, how has it shaped their new release?

Well, for starters, there's some choiral harmonies from the band at the start of the three-part 'I Am Hell (Sonata in C#)'. It's definitely not like 'Burn My Eyes'. It's certainly not 'Supercharger'. It's certainly an eye opener in some senses, but not in others - it shows how far the band have matured that they are willing to incorporate such an influence. It soon heavies up though, with a real thrashy section soon to follow the intro, and a massive slow groove to finish. The album's most epic track, covering more ground in one song than most bands of their ilk can cram into one album.

Textures - Dualism

Textures

Dualism

Nuclear Blast

When Textures first emerged in 2004 with their slightly more melodic take on Meshuggah mind-mangling technical metal, it’s taken the world at large a little while to come round to them. Efforts like ‘Drawing Circles’ and ‘Silhouettes’ deserved wider attention – the mixture of technical riffs, beats and ambience was certainly a winner and Textures showed they could pull it off with ease. Since releasing ‘Silhouettes’, a slew of (progressive) technical metal has emerged, each claiming to be original by going under a name derived from an apparent guitar sound.

That claim I refute on two grounds:

1. They wouldn’t exist without Meshuggah and, to a lesser extent, bands like Textures;

2. It’s not even a word! Hence it shall not be named here, and simply known as what it is: technical metal.

Farewell, Cosmo Lee

Those of you among the blogosphere, and particularly those of you among the metal community, may have encountered upon Invisible Oranges, the best of all the metal blogs out there, run by Cosmo Lee. That is, up until today. Yes, Cosmo is retiring from running the site, in pursuit of other things in life that up to now have been tied up from running Invisible Oranges.

Cosmo has put in an incredible shift since first starting Invisible Oranges, stating in his leaving announcement that he often worked 30-40 hour weeks, seven days a week, totalling thousands of unpaid hours and a constant battle with a huge surge in submissions and press releases. We serve and receive only a tiny fraction of this so you can imagine what the guy has been up against at times.

Invisible Oranges was probably the first metal blog I ever came across and without a doubt was the main inspiration in starting up We Must Obey. Cosmo’s writing is unparalled – he writes about bands and albums and music in general in a way that nobody else does. It’s not just crushing riff here, blistering beat there. Cosmo’s ability to write as though its an actual experience, a journey – that’s what sets him apart from other writers out there. His taste in music has led me to check out bands I would otherwise not be familiar with, and is about to conclude an epic series on each track from Metallica’s first four albums, which is simply essential reading!

With that in mind, we here at We Must Obey would like to extend hails and horns to Cosmo and wish him the best in whatever he does in the future. And to the people taking over IO, good luck in continuing with the best blog in the business!

Peter Clegg

Help save The Well from becoming a restaurant!

In the last few days, it’s become apparent due to campaigning on Facebook that the future of the Well (formerly the Joseph’s Well) venue in Leeds is in doubt, thanks to plans by the owner of the Joseph’s Well office complex to turn the venue into a restaurant, which he feels would be a more profitable venture. Along with many other like minded people who want to see live music in Leeds and the UK continue to thrive, we think this is a huge mistake.

The Well is located on the fringes of Leeds city centre, a ten-to-fifteen minute walk from Leeds rail station, and isn’t ideally situated for a restaurant for starters. In a city chock full of brasseries, bars, restaurants, cafés, etc., and really doesn’t need another one located out of the way of everything else. It already serves some food in the daytime; burgers, chips, stuff like that – that’s cool. It doesn’t need to extend beyond that. There’s plenty of other places to eat if that’s not your thing.

Furthermore, Leeds is crying out for venues supporting a range of music, particularly heavier genres from the underground circuit. Yes, there’s The Cockpit, which does host the occasional heavy bash but more frequently hosts trendy indie bands. We used to have the Bassment and Subculture – they’ve been and gone. And Rio’s moved from Bradford into Leeds, and then back again. To lose another venue would be a hammerblow to the underground punk, hardcore and metal scenes; we can’t allow this to happen.

The Well has hosted live music for over 15 years and regularly hosts up and coming bands from the local scene and has hosted many a great band over the years – to name a few, Gallows, Chimaira, Necrophagist, Converge, Eyehategod, Rufio, Electric Eel Shock, Black Breath, G.U. Medicine, Weedeater, Voorhees, The Eureka Machines, Municipal Waste, plus upcoming shows from YOB, Sick of it All, Ufomammut, earthtone9, Royal Republic and more. A little known band called The Kaiser Chiefs also played there before they got their big break!

Put simply, it’s essential for The Well to stay open as a music venue, and not as somewhere to simply scoff yourself silly. Please sign the petition, wherever you are, and help convince the owner of the premises that this is just a bad idea and that live music, homegrown and from around the world, is essential, and well and truly alive.

Sign the petition here. We’ve also added a widget in the top corner. Help us spread the word.

Peter Clegg

The Well official site

Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events

Dream Theater

A Dramatic Turn of Events

Roadrunner

Since founder member Mike Portnoy decided to up sticks and leave Dream Theater, there’s been two side stories to go along with the whole debacle – firstly, the remaining members long drawn out and highly publicised search for their new drummer – eventually settling on former Annihilator/Extreme sticksman Mike Mangini – while Portnoy still continues to try and hog the spotlight, filling in for Avenged Sevenfold before they too ditched him. The amount of spotlight that Portnoy seems to be trying to obtain is a little hard to digest. I’d rather he kept quiet rather than becoming something of a sideshow – particularly in light of the recent development in which he apparently issued a notice of summons on his former band mates over the use of the band’s name.

That drummer mystery aside, Dream Theater have otherwise got on the with job in hand of making their first album without their Portnoy, conjuring up ‘A Dramatic Turn of Events’. The first thing I would note about this record is that – personally at least – Portnoy isn’t missed. Anyone who doubted Mangini’s skills before will surely be shushed as he at least matches Portnoy’s standard throughout. As a whole, Dream Theater are still Dream Theater, progressive, complex and dynamic as ever, and while ‘A Dramatic Turn of Events’ isn’t going to be held as their greatest achievement, it’s still very much business as usual, and business right now is pretty damn good.

Hackneyed - Carnival Cadavre

Hackneyed
Carnival Cadavre
Lifeforce

Germany is undoubtedly the world’s biggest metal market, holding the world’s largest metal festival (Wacken Open Air) and no shortage of metal fans at all. As far as rock and metal in general goes, look at each sub-genre respectively and they’ve nailed it. Hair metal? The Scorpions. True heavy metal? Doro Pesch. Thrash? Kreator, Destruction, Sodom et al. Punk? Die Toten Hosen. Industrial? Rammstein. I could go on and on, but the point is moot.

However, when it comes to death metal, Germany has yet to really corner the market that once dominated by Florida, USA, and Gothenburg, Sweden respectively That’s not to say they aren’t giving it a go though. Hackneyed emerged on the scene with ‘Death Prevails’ when they were fresh-faced teenagers, and they’re now on their third album, ‘Carnival Cadavre’. Such progress brings comparisons with Polish luminaries Decapitated, although their rise to prominence came about much quicker than Hackneyed.

‘Carnival Cadavre’, as its title suggests, seems to be a record about a macabre circus, and it sits within pretty comfortable groove-laden death metal territory, a little like Kataklysm or their compatriots in Centaurus-A. Some of the song titles are borderline amusing/cringeworthy, particularly ‘Damn (Your Dead Again)’, which sounds like a Seth Putnam castoff at first glance. Hackneyed do shine on this track though, a most mid-paced stomper but with a certain catchiness within the chorus to give it that anthem appeal. On other occasions, they’re going straight for the throat with devastating effect, most notably on ‘Bugging for Mercy’ and ‘Circus Coccus Spirilly’.

That said, much of ‘Carnival Cadavre’ walks a tightrope between traditional speed and blast, and going for the brutal slam kill – and too often does it fall for the latter. Up to a point it’s bearable, because it’s enjoyable enough and has enough quality to just get by. But eventually the sheen wears a little bit thin and though they do speed up a little more towards the end of the album, they still chuck in another beatdown or two when really it’s not needed.

It lets down what is otherwise a solid, if not spectacular, death metal record. Hackneyed are still a young band with plenty of time to improve and evolve, but relying to much maligned past trends isn’t really the way to go. All the fun of the fair? Hmmm…not quite.

Peter Clegg

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Primus - Green Naugahyde

Primus
Green Naugahyde
ATO/Prawn Song

It’s been eleven long years since Primus went on hiatus, and in that time their cult status has only grown, following their rise to prominence in the nineties with their experimental jams of absurdity. After years of Mackerels, Bernie Brains and Fearless Flying Frogs, Les Claypool and Larry LaLonde, now reunited with original drummer Jay Lane, are back with ‘Green Naugahyde’, their seventh studio album and first new materal since 2003’s ‘Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People’.

There’s plenty of interesting themes abound on ‘Green Naugahyde’; ‘Jilly’s on Smack’ describes a friend the band lost due to a heroin addiction; ‘Lee Van Cleef’ is a tale of Claypool’s childhood, and there’s more in the form of alien abduction (‘Green Ranger’), stabs at reality TV and indeed our viewing habits (‘Moron TV’) and our obsession with eternally socialising online (‘Eyes of the Squirrel’)

There’s a heart of darkness within ‘Green Naugahyde’ that pervades through the course of the album. It’s not all grim but the aforementioned ‘Jilly’s on Smack’ has a deep rumbling bass groove, as Claypool refrains “Jilly’s on smack/and she won’t be coming back/for the holidays” at numerous points. There’s also a psycho-circus vibe of ‘Eternal Consumption Engine’, which ends with a bastard chant of “Everything’s made in China” In a weird way it’s a gleeful moment, and let’s not forget that Primus are forever capable of making catchy, hopping songs that give the three-piece their trademark quirk – of which there are plenty of those.

For example, ‘Last Salmon Man (Fisherman’s Chronicles, Part IV)’ continues the aforementioned Chronicles and leads listeners through a merry swamp march;

while ‘Tragedy’s A’ Comin’’ is one of the finest funk songs I’ve heard in a while, with a bouncing chorus that will worm into your brain and command you to jive; the aforementioned ‘Lee Van Cleef’, which doubles up as a tribute to the actor of the same name; and ‘HOINFODAMAN’, which is aggressive in its delivery but has enough pop and zazz to keep it uptempo.

Returning drummer Lane often takes a back seat in more ways than one to Claypool’s obvious ridiculous bass skills, but does get the chance to shine often enough too, getting a nice little drum intro on ‘Green Ranger’ and chucking in tight little fills and rolls all over the shop when called upon. LaLonde doesn’t even get quite as much prominence as on previous Primus records, but still backs up Claypool favourably, shoving in plenty of subtle licks and bridges above those numerous grooves.

With Lane back on the throne, the album definitely takes a more direct approach akin to the ‘Frizzle Fry’ days, rarely meandering and drifting off into jam experimentalism. The years have been kind to Primus – they’ve managed to return with an album that doesn’t rely on their previous success and still sounds remarkably fresh today. It might take a little while to grow on you but it’s worth repeated listening, and it’s pleasant to see that Primus haven’t lost their touch while in the wilderness.

Peter Clegg

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