Wolvserpent - Perigaea Demo

Another review for Emurg; the latest 'demo' by experimental metal duo Wolvserpent, Perigaea.

http://www.emurg.com/review/wolvserpent-perigaea-demo/

Aloeswood - Forsaken Landscapes

Check out my latest review on Emurg, for the band Aloeswood. The band is the brainchild of UK musician Daniel Downing (also of Ravenage, Windrider), like Agalloch have named themselves after a type of wood, and like Agalloch, Wolves in The Throne Room and Fen (previously reviewed on Emurg) conflate the light of shoegaze/post rock/folk with the shade of black metal. Forsaken Landscapes is a five-song e.p. released in 2011.

Here's the link:

http://www.emurg.com/review/aloeswood-forsaken-landscapes/

Fen - Dustwalker

I began writing for Emurg a few months ago, so some of my reviews are now published there. Check out the latest, the new album by post/atmospheric black metal band Fen, Dustwalker:

http://www.emurg.com/review/fen-dustwalker/

Neurosis - Live at the HMV Forum, London, 2nd December 2012

Note - I didn’t catch much of Godflesh – they played Damnation Festival in November last year which I attended. I’m not that much of a fan, and I was keen to save my ears for the main band, hence the title of the review...

I'd seen Neurosis at High Voltage in July 2011, a fantastic show, although the heat and clear blue skies at the start of the set made it a little odd, and the sound didn't do justice enough to the band. On Sunday in Kentish town it was a different story, however - the loud/quiet dynamics were the best I've ever heard, and the complete darkness suited the band to a tee. 

I really dug their choice of setlist - it showed boldness and an intransigent attitude not to tread water or pander to the expectations of the fans.The set featured only one song from their 90's back catalogue, the title track off Times of Grace, so leaving out such bodies of work as Through Silver in Blood and Enemy of the Sun. And it completely worked - their newer material suits the Neurosis of today more, just as intense, ugly and beautiful as ever before. How many bands that are 25+ years old can play an awesome show and have only one song on the setlist over eight years old? Imagine if Metallica played a set containing only one 80’s/early 90’s song - they'd die on their arse. 

The sound of the band in full flow is a pure force of nature. Some of the sounds created defy such simple descriptions as fitting into a particular key or time signature, for example the colossal collage of noise that the band left the stage to following the earth-shattering rendition of Given to the Rising sounded like nothing you'd heard before or could imagine. The band don’t rely on such conventional musical devices that inhabit the metal genre such as technicality or speed, instead focusing on pure feral strength and rage.  It was hard to know how to react at times – I found myself shaking my head in disbelief, grinning like mad or just overwhelmed by the intensity and epic nature of the performances. 

The new material slotted in perfectly to the rest of the set, At The Well being particularly devastating. The ending was incredibly overwhelming and climactic, just about as intense as music can get. My Heart For Deliverance was of similar nature - it had Scott Kelly so possessed by the riffage that he smashed his forehead against his microphone stand. The band may be ageing but their stage presence is still phenomenal – in particular Steve Von Till attacks his guitar as if it is tormenting him and creates mind warping walls of sound with his extensive pedal board. The sound manipulation Noah Landis conjures is wonderful - in particular, the piecing together of all the songs into one cohesive flow of music, worked really well. It's only been 48 hours since the end of the show but I know for sure that I'll be a first minute buyer of their next UK show - the best gig of my life for sure.

Neurosis - Honor Found In Decay

Neurosis have an formidable back catalogue - from the hardcore teenage angst of 1987's Pain of Mind to the monolithic post-metal of Given to the Rising, it's hard to pick a weak album in their entire discography. Honor Found in Decay continues this tradition.

The record opens with We All Rage in Gold, with a verse structure as simple as you can imagine for Neurosis, but nonetheless effective. Ending with a crushing riff, twisted keyboard playing and Scott Kelly's iconic throaty roar, there's no doubt this is classic Neurosis.This, in the words of Kelly "sets the table" for what is to come.

Even more impressive are the following two tracks - they are unmistakeably "classic Neurosis" but hardly feel like the band is treading water. It's hard to think of a moment in another Neurosis song as air-guitary as the outro to At The Well - graceful and melodic guitar lines on top of a thudding, spiralling rhythm. One thing which was missing since Times of Grace (with the exception of Hidden Faces on 2007's Given to the Rising, and one or two moments on A Sun That Never Sets) was (for want of a better word) the duets between Scott and Steve - the return on At The Well in particular is glorious, adding another dimension to the impeccable music. This is best exhibited in the outro - Kelly chanting "In a shadow world" whilst Von Till preaches "The paths become clear; the road's true; oaths have been sworn; the temporal spiral away; among the teeth of time". Undoubtedly one of the finest moments in extreme music of 2012.

Many people have lauded the performance of Jason Roeder on this record, which is perfectly justifiable, but for me his drumming performances are no better on this record than any of the previous ones - that's to say, he has always been outstanding, making a mockery of so called "tech drummers", using the same set-up as that when he was fourteen years old. Listen to the outro of Purify now. The awesome rhythms heard in At The Well and All is Found...In Time are typical of his, it would be foolish to throw the word "tribal" in since it has been so overused that it's lost all of it's meaning, but needless to say it's some of the best drumming you'll hear.

The same goes for Noah Landis - his work in Neurosis records has always perfectly complemented the music. His tones give an edge to the music; the peculiar sounding woodwind instrument in the closing stages of My Heart for Deliverance evokes what can only be described as "the Neurosis emotion" - something so brilliant and otherworldly that one finds it hard to describe in terms of being happy or sad - maybe transcendental would do. Bleed the Pigs features some particularly caustic and unnerving sounds. Best listened to in a darkened room with a quality hi fi system.

The music world being the bloodthirsty unforgiving place that it means questions of comparison will always arise, many people focusing on the fact that it's simply not as good as the mid-late 90's heavy hitters such as Through Silver in Blood and Times of Grace. In all fairness this cannot be disputed - those records are on their own plateau of greatness - but I believe Honor Found in Decay, for the most part, is the best music that we could expect from Neurosis - they haven't let themselves down. Yes, I do think Casting of the Ages  does drag on a bit, and Raise the Dawn fails to match Origin, I Can See You and Stones From the Sky in terms of rounding off the album in an epic way, but the good by far outweighs any negative aspects. Here's hoping it's not another five years before the next opus.

Songs of Townes Van Zandt

Townes Van Zandt's legendary status in American folk and country music has been well documented, yet this collection of covers by Scott Kelly, Steve Von Till and Scott 'Wino' Weinrich, three of the most creative and innovative metal/experimental musicians in the last 25 years serves as a brilliant reminder of the Texan's talents.

This isn't the first time these artists have covered Van Zandt. Equally impressive to anything on this record is Kelly's apocalyptic folk project Blood and Time's rendition of Rake; Von Till did a stellar job of The Snake Song a few years ago too. The pedigree of the artist being covered and the artists doing the covering meant that this was always going to be a fantastic record. The song order, which has each one of the musicians playing back-to-back apart from the last two songs, flows beautifully, as do the own guys arrangements, as if these songs were meant to be played this way.

Although I personally prefer the musical creations of Von Till and Kelly in general, for me Wino stands out as the star performer on this record. Nothin' in particular is gorgeous and sorrowful in equal amounts, and A Song For is the perfect closer, off Van Zandt's final studio record. It's awesome to see the idiosyncratic nature of each of the performers shining through - in particular, Kelly reinterprets Tecumseh Valley in a drastically slower manner; using his stunning ability to rinse every drop of feeling out a single chord for dramatic effect (see Catholic Blood off 2008's The Wake also), making it even more emotionally flooring.

A must listen; here's hoping a volume two is in the pipeline.

 9/10

Sleep & A Storm Of Light - Live at the University of Leeds

Sleep, one of the progenitors of the stoner rock/metal genre in the early 90's, reunited a few years ago, much to the delight of large sections of the metal underground. This was the first time the band had visited this part of the country in a long while, and anticipation was high. A Storm Of Light did a good job warming the crowd up, even if their brand of post metal is a little generic and uninspiring. Sleep blew away all memories of them, however, with a memorising performance. The set began with some of the dirtiest guitar you'll hear courtesy of Matt Pike, droning on hypnotically for about five minutes unaccompanied, before Al Cisneros and Jason Roeder joined in, producing an unbelievable cacophony akin to the lumbering of great mammoths. Most of the gig consisted of songs flowing seamlessly into each other, but the highlight of the set was the epic title track from 1993's Holy Mountain, a gargantuan psychedelic journey with devastating dynamics and sludgy rhythms. Even though Matt and Al's bellies have expanded since the bands heyday, their musical talents have as well - both guys are masters of their instruments and it's a joy to watch and listen to, and although purists might be a bit put out by the presence of Neurosis sticksman Jason Roeder in place of original drummer Chris Haikus, it isn't to the detriment of the band whatsoever. Leeds Uni hadn't shook with this kind of subsonic energy since Electric Wizard graced Damnation Festival with their presence back in 2009 - it was a pleasure to witness these Californian legends in their element.