(Andy Synn catches up with four albums from a mammoth May that you might have overlooked)
It was my immense good fortune to spend a good chunk of May travelling and seeing bands, first with a trip to Seattle for another excellent edition of North West Terrorfest, and then a jaunt to Baltimore to sample the delights of another Maryland Deathfest.
And since my travels gave me an opportunity to read and listen to music, I decided to make the most of it by re-immersing myself in a few of my favourite albums from the last few decades, with the result being that I probably ended up listening to fewer new releases last month than you might have come to expect.
That doesn’t mean I’ve been completely out of the loop, by any means (just give that handy “Andy Synn” tag a quick click and you’ll see that I still wrote a bunch of reviews, including several designed to cover our down-time during both the above festivals), it’s just that there’s probably going to be a few more “catching up” pieces to come after this one as well (most notably a review of the new Árstíðir Lífsins, whenever I get around to it).
As always, however, I’d like to begin a new month with four favourites from last month which I think deserve a bit more attention and acclaim, so let’s not waste any more time and just get right down to it, shall we?
DEMERSAL – DEMERSAL
Chaotic/Blackened/Screamo… whatever appellation you apply to Demersal‘s particular brand of harsh, biting Hardcore, you’re still going to get the same vicious, visceral experience once you push “play” on their self-titled debut album.
Not that you’d know this from the soothing, Alcest-like acoustic warmth of opener “Flakkende Som Tusinde Lys”, but this really is just the calm before the storm, and it’s not long before the frenetic frenzy of “Bedrager” – with its strafing drums and spiky grooves – and the pulse-raising (an unexpectedly trumpet-infused) “lys i natten” make their presence known in furious fashion.
The gorgeous melodies of “Something”, however, prove that the album’s opening track was no fluke, combining the sombre beauty of Post-Rock and/or Post-Hardcore with a mid-song explosion of angst and aggression, and these more melodic touches continue to weave themselves throughout both “Will Never Shows” and “Kunsten At Slå Tiden Ihjel” (the latter of which packs in a lot of subtlety and nuance in under two-and-a-half minutes).
The band haven’t forgotten how to go hard though… as although the simmering intros of both “Androide Identiteter” and “Vakuum” suggest a certain tenderness and restraint, both tracks subsequently erupt in a flurry of abrasive guitars and punchy rhythms (and, in the latter case, some scalding blast-beats), while the bombastic sturm und drang of “Selvhjælp” and the weighty atmospherics of “Be Kind”, the electrifying “Det Mindste Ingenting”, and the high-intensity dynamics of “Som Et Barn Mod Dit Bryst” all ensure that this is one album which doesn’t lose any momentum during its (arguably even better) second half.
THE LAST OF LUCY – GODFORM
Both the Tech Death and Deathcore scenes are pretty over-saturated these days, of that there’s no doubt (though, to be fair, what scene isn’t?), which is making it harder and harder for bands to stand out.
Godform, however, at least does its best not to simply repeat the same old rote tricks and tropes – nor does it attempt to outstay its welcome (clocking in at a lean, mean, murderously efficient thirty-two minutes) – with its fusion of inhuman technicality and proggy instrumental flourishes (coupled with just the right amount of high-impact Deathcore brutality).
It’s an album that starts off very strong – with the maddening heaviness and mutant hookiness of “Wormhole” setting a high bar, which is then raised even higher by “Empyreal Banisher” and its blend of laser-guided rhythms and prog-minded melodies – and only occasionally falls into some of the slightly more predictable patterns associated with its core genre(s) (“Twin Flame”, in particular, seems to have been built from parts that are just a little too familiar… to the point where even its penultimate sax-solo fails to move the needle).
At its best, however, it’s hard not to get swept up in all the auditory audacity and extravagant extremity of tracks like “Sanguinary Solace” (whose shimmering synths and absolutely massive riffs give the song a much bigger, and more “epic” feel) and the constantly shapeshifting “Sentinel Codex” (which remains constantly compelling despite its outright rejection of traditional song-structure), to the point where once the closing pairing of the unrelenting “Anima Flux” and the idea-dense title-track (which contains pretty much the entire album – machine-like grooves, dervish-like technicality, sweeping splashes of grandiose proggery – in under three minutes) there’s a good chance you’ll be ready, and willing, to spin the entire disc all over again!
MOULD – PULL & REPULSION
Mould‘s debut album, Pull & Repulsion, is a big record in more ways than one – big in sound, big in tone, big in size (providing fifty-one minutes of expressive, evocative Doom/Sludge, equal parts heavy and haunting, over the course of just seven songs), and big in ambition.
But, you know what they say, “go big, or go home”, and the band’s combination of big, weighty riffs and simmering, slow-build songwriting – all topped off with the captivating, morosely melodic croon of vocalist Jeska Buhmann – suggests that this is one band that will definitely be going places… but “home” isn’t going to be one of them.
From the mountainous riffs and melancholy valleys of opener “Dust and Venom” – through the drawn-out, desolate climb of “Face the North”, the grim, gargantuan grooves of “Age of Obsidian”, the bleak, brooding “To Control the Sky” (where Buhmann and bassist Koen van Soelen engage in some clever clean/harsh vocal trade-offs), the captivating, constantly-evolving Prog-Doom of “Forgotten Lands”, and the almost goth-like swagger and strut of “Verticality” – all the way to the hypnotic final refrain of climactic closer “Abort”, Pull & Repulsion is exactly the sort of album which could (and should) be described as a journey, one which wanders and meanders to the beat of its own drum, but never loses its sense of purpose and direction.
It’s the sort of album which requires, and rewards, your complete immersion, and should absolutely be celebrated for this fact, especially considering this is only the band’s first full-length release!
PARFAXITAS – WEAVER OF THE BLACK MOON
There were a few different Black Metal artists/albums who were in contention for inclusion this month (some of whom I may, or may not, manage to get to separately over the next week or so) but I decided to opt for the group who put out their very first album, with little to no prior warning, just last week.
Of course, the fact that Parfaxitas is, in a sense, a sort of “supergroup” made up of members of Suffering Hour, Sinmara, Manetheren, and Whoredom Rife – which should give you some indication of how the band sounds (both icily melodic and abrasively dissonant, suffused with spectral atmospherics and brimstone-blackened fury) – probably means they didn’t need too much hype to attract an appreciative audience, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t say at least something about Weaver of the Black Moon myself.
Now, obviously, there’s no guarantee with projects like this that the resultant work will be as good as the members’ other bands, but thankfully everyone involved brought their absolute best to the table, from the contorted tremolo counterpoints of “Breath of the Thoughtless Light” and the undulating, serpentine bass-lines coiling through “Golachab: The Avenging Sword”, to the hypnotic, dread-inducing hooks of “Ravens of Dispersion”, the stunningly powerful (yet subtle proggy) drumming of the title-track, and the sinister, Sulphur Aeon-esque melodies of “Thou Shalt Worship No Other”.
It all culminates in the twelve-and-a-half minute “Fields of Nightmares”, which uses its extended run-time to infuse the band’s sound with even more atmospheric ambience and vividly unsettling vibes – all building to an explosive climax of blackened extremity – thus firmly establishing Parfaxitas as a name to watch, both now and in the future.