Tool "Undertow" (1993)

Still in the phase of getting to grips with a bands sound, Undertow, the debut full length record of American Rock band Tool, has revealed some magics of which I am growing fond of. Bringing one song from their demo 72826, they already sound like a ripening group with that early 90s Alternative scene sound brimming. On this record the songs take a measured step forward, increasing complexity and finding strengths. Singer Maynard performs with an earnest vulnerability in his singing, extending his range upwards, feeling more involved with his lyrics as his wording comes with surges of aggression when he shouts and emotive inflections in softer sections.

The instrumentals behind him show an intelligence as intensities and atmospheres shift with a unique energy that feels like the core appeal of Tool. Guitar rifts meander with a steady pacing that has many of the songs refraining obvious aggression and letting it brood in the tracks tone, leading one unsuspectingly into big bursts of energy. The album really gets going with Bottom. The song disperses its build up for a scenic mid section of slow, sleepy drums, hypnotic guitars and a wonderfully intense reciting of poetry by the one and only Henry Rollins. After this recital the track explodes into life and tense riffs shift into a prowling pinch harmonic groove that gets me every time.

The distinctions of the following tracks are talking points of there own. The dynamism and cohesion is fiery, each instrument finds its measure of involvement that varies, setting stage for Maynard to wail his pains away. Its here that the musical structures start to find complexity led by vision as the unraveling of guitar licks ques up with a rotating arsenal of grooves and aggression. They flirt with odd time signatures, pull of the odd extra beat and title track Undertow exemplifies this exquisitely as its rotation of riffs dismantles itself in a whirl of choppy guitar thrashing that starts shuffling the momentum off beat and evolves the music into a mammoth groove.

I am still digesting this record, soaking it in, basking in its ambience. Much of the charm is still mysterious but the spark is there and on a song like Flood it is all laid rather bare. They build a dark, grisly, brooding setting out of chunks of tribal drum striking and reverberated voices drifting in and out of focus behind dizzying guitars. Their vision is stunning. It gets a little grimmer on the closer as the band make an unforgiving mockery of religion, pairing a preacher and his crowd with the baas of sheep. Its another brooding song and its in these surges of atmosphere that I am led onto the magic of their music. I'm sure ill grow fonder with more exposure.

Rating: 7/10

Favorite Tracks: Intolerance, Bottom, Undertow, Flood

Horrendous "Idol" (2018)

Its stunning album cover may be inline with modern trends of brutal music but getting past its darkly, mysterious intro track we arrive in a glorious revival of early Progressive and Technical Death Metal in the vein of Atheist, Death and Cynic. This album brings out the best machinations of that era, uniting pummeling rhythm sections with gleams of melodic uprise and challenging composition that illuminate the musical direction. Horrendous are now a decade into their career and the heaps of praise this record recived brought them to my attention, I will be sure to explore the other three records that make up their back catalog as this fantastic release commands it.

That musical experience of a matured band shows itself through brilliant songwriting that captivates with excellence as monstrous assaulting guitar grooves dance with dexterous baselines filling the experience with an involved depth as the instruments fire together. The drums take on a more complimentary roll, firing off with the shifts, twists and turns of the music and rarely devolving into a straight beat. Blast beats are not plentiful as the band taken a more measured approach to brutality. Its utilized with appropriate timing given the musical direction which often starts out flexing its intensity and then bringing in licks of lead guitar melody and colorful shifts in tone that on a couple of tracks end up in a musical whirlwind you can't get enough of.

With snarly shouts at its fore front, the band avoid a bore with somewhat monotone voicing as the screams and shouts hinge on the pacing, dropping in with varied measures between each cry. It sits nicely over the complex music which is busying through its riffs, shuffling them around and always leading to sonic bursts of lead guitar fire that ignite these already excitable atmospheres of metallic chaos where anything can happen. Its a wild ride that packs in its best numbers at the front of the album, although everything on display is rock solid and the record does close itself with an epic string of riffs on its mighty eight minute epic Obolous.

The production is feasible, capturing the thick warmness of an older record without going overboard on clarity. Its acoustic guitars bring a moonlight shimmering tone to the record that spellbounds the atmosphere on Devotion and other parts of the msuic they grace. The guitars have a bright and filling thrash tone, the drums crunchy and ever present. The bass guitar gets the upfront treatment it deserves as it filling the belly with restless scale exploring. When it does mirror the guitars its usually with a classic Death Metal off note harmonization. Idol is brilliant for simply just that. All though it revives an old sound, it does so without statement, just residing in that era.

Rating: 8/10

Favorite Tracks: Soothsayer, The Idolater, Golgothan Tongues

Wardruna "Skald" (2018)

Having enjoyed the Nordic ambience and cultural folk of Runaljod, I brought this album without a first listen. Its a departure from what I remember as Skald trades off depth and indulgence for a grounded minimalism that far better represents what this may have one sounded like. Einar Selvik stands as a dominate presence, a lone ancestral voice to guide us through the echos of heritage and its accompanying instrumentation, of which there is little. Naked and bare, his language is sung with inflections and an honest rawness to invoke what may have been in centuries past.

Purely by impression, his performance resembles runic scriptures and handed down heathen hymns. The poetry of cultures lost to time. His lone voice holds strong as simple single stringed instrument melodies repeat to set the tone. Only on Vindavla do the instruments switch to bring a darker, tense tone as the Lute alike instrument mostly delivers soothing and warm music. One can envision Nordic ancestors sat around a campfire as they exchange stories and sing poetry together.

At its end the record dulls with a fifteen minute accapella. His isolated voice not as charming alone. On my first few listens I struggled to be sucked in to this world but with patience it grew a little. The fault is probably with my own preferences as a richer instrumentation would have lured me in and cultural hymns are often not to my liking through human voice alone. It is however a remarkable performance in the right mood, a soothing and spiritual listen that will evoke historical echos of our humanity.

Rating: 5/10

Anderson .Paak "Oxnard" (2018)

There was some hype around this record. I learned of its release from many places and so was compelled to check out Anderson .Paak who Ive only heard in features with Schoolboy Q and Dr. Dre so far. His voice is soft, slightly nasal, compelling, with an easy, laid back flow to his delivery and persona. Bluring the lines between sing and rap he drifts between both, rhyming verses at a variety of paces that makes his presence an indulgence of good vibes as he comes armed with bright instrumentals.

Oxnard rests firmly as a G-Funk, R&B hybrid of Soul and Hip Hop. Its slick and smooth, tight drum beats mark up against warm and jazzy pianos, glossy trumpets, expressive saxophones, announcing horns and silky string sections. Its essentially drawing from a trending direction in Hip Hop, where the samples are replaced with performing artists. This iteration feels as if its constructed from the ground up with the freedoms of composition letting some musical, textural dexterity flourish.

Its undoubtedly a gorgeous sounding record with its lush instrumentation but often it lapses into the cyclical loop a sampled track would have. With the drums dialed down a little it focusing less on groove and more so on the mood and tone. Its a smooth, laid back mood but my overall experience of these songs was that not much stuck from them. It felt like songs were going through the motions, th the most interesting aspect being the various topics Paak would dive into. Slick sound but failed to be infectious.

After many listens I'm left with not a lot to say about the record. Its ideas land but underwhelming. Perhaps I'm not on its wavelength? Its best moment is Tints which illuminates 80s Pop vibes and packages up the records best hook in the chorus. Besides that a few features like Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T and Q-Tip catch the ear but none of them bring anything dramatic to the project. Overall its been a very lukewarm listen which I would hesitate to criticize. I gave it quite a few go's and little clicked.

Favorite Track: Tints

Rating: 5/10

Portal "Ion" (2018)

Its January and that means digging through various 2018 top lists for last years treats I missed out on. Australian Experimental Death Metal band Portal caught my eye but not my ear. Its been a drag to see out this record which aims to deconstruct and reassemble Extreme music into the ugliest form imagined. The result is almost unbearable but with some tolerance and repeated exposures to this decadence, little magics were reveal below the surface bar one or two sparse incidents.

Assaulting with scratchy jarring guitar tones, Portal create blocks of sound out of maddening disjointed fretting noise that's mostly discernible. Lacking any rhythm, groove or melody its becomes a pure rebellion of established ideas and an experiment unto its own. Working with tension, disharmony and atonality the songs bleed into an anti-music mess, they all seem one and the same. Perhaps only Spores makes a mark in being even more wretched and disgusting with an injection of harsh noise and teeth clenching distortion that is at least of interest through aesthetic curiosity.

Each track amasses an arsenal of estranged guitar torture to burrow through in bursts of blast beats between build ups that seem to interchange with the roll of a dice. Not even a sense of momentum is reasonable. In its best moments it reminded me of the scattering, sludgy madness of a young Morbid Angel and discovering Death Metal for the first time, putting together the pieces behind the musics brutal and abrasive aesthetic. When ever a glimpse of that same magic starts to form its swiftly cast down by the shifting intensities that also work to dispel its brief and fleeting atmospheres.

Its most favorable aspect is singer "Horror Illogium" who consistently puts forth a one-dimensional whisper-like throaty growl that wouldn't sound out of place in a conventional Death Metal band. It feels like the only thing grounding the record but he too is a dull roar. Its entirely possible that I am missing the point, not connecting the dots and I'll probably give It a try every now and then but after five attempts its turned into a snooze fest of ideas that seem designed to disgust than inspired to incite.

Rating: 2/10

Lil Peep "Come Over When Your Sober, Pt.1" (2017)

I've had negative connotations attached to this artist, Its lingered in the back of my mind from a few years back, his Hellboy mixtape, which I did not enjoy to say the least. Having forgotten about it I went into this record with little expectations and yet found a brilliance I have to nod the head and give props too. The young Lil Peep is now deceased having died of a drug overdose before a show on his tour bus. Drug abuse is a key theme of his music and from what Ive heard he advocated against their use but there is no doubt the music glorifies them as it does his over struggles which is the musics focal point. Its timing seems like a reflection to Americas prescription drug epidemic.

With each spin of this record its components become quite clear, Trap percussion lines shuffle and rattle out grooves with distinct tonal qualities. Clunky clicks and claps pop between shimmering hi-hats bursts and sub kicks that have a synthetic quality. Behind them gorgeous, sad and melancholy guitar licks pluck simple, steadily paced single note melodies alongside additional guitars, thick, atmospheric synths and a deep, filling baseline laying down foundational blocks. The chemistry is fantastic, dark broody instrumentals with a gleam of light emanating that will never escape its grasp.

Its Lil Peep himself who is that light, a clearly troubled soul who's bearing it all upfront as his outlet with the music. His voice is fantastic, a deep and rustic tone, he finds a soft spot to speak/sing words through a whirl of cloudy reverb. His pace and delivery comes from an easy energy. It doesn't manifest specifically into hooks as much of his simple language and lack of range but it makes for plenty of sing-along-able stints in the tracks, even his faster paced "raps" are easy to pick up on and learn.

The lyrics were originally the least likeable aspect but repetition has revealed much authenticity in his themes. Initially they felt teenage, angsty and glorified but Lil Peep was only twenty one and I think a younger me would really of lapped this up. "Sometimes life gets fucked up, that's why we get fucked up", far from poetic and insightful but through its cursory language and surface level wording a clear picture of his struggles emerge. Emotional pains, relationship woes and drug abuse dominate the tone, as he wallows in the struggle with little positive to grasp onto. "I wish I didn't have a heart to love you", powerful words but deeply saddening too.

Instrumentally, this record has a very concise and expressive sound. Its a brilliant stage for a troubled young man to let his emotions roll out and despite its depressing nature the glorification takes hold and elevates these into anthems in the best songs. I'm truly impressed, at first I thought I would enjoy it from a distance but Ive found myself sucked in to his world and reminded of what youth can be like. His death is a real shame however the tone of the music makes it sound almost inevitable. Next up I will get part two which was released posthumously last year.

Favorite Tracks: Awful Things, U Said, The Brightside

Rating: 7/10

Anna Von Hausswolff "Dead Magic" (2018)

This is my first record from Swedish singer Anna Von Hausswolff and It wont be my last! Her timeless vocals and meditative music an instant connection that's stoked the flames of emotion as her deeply resonate voice taps into the human life stream. She reminds me fondly of Lisa Gerrard who embodies worldly, cultural tones, however Anna has a voice that's strong, powerful and enigmatic yet caught in a blissful limbo of solace and sorrow. The music feels like the perfect setting for her haunting and grieving words to play out through spiritual, monotonous instrumentals that conjure earthly visions of nature alongside ambiguous echos of magical, evaded dangers. Its a unique cast of ideas heard in much of the music I enjoy. Here it comes together with a potent chemistry, a special touch that I simply adore.

The music has a fantastic droning quality, each song holds its moments together with a looping percussive momentum, letting shifts, turns and inclinations in intensity feel wholly natural and with true purpose. The deep pipe organs and embrace of droning synths smothered in reverb give each track its ambiguous belly as the drums come with tribal poundings to guide the flow. Rumbling, gritty, droning guitar distortions texture the mood on one track where another achieves this with acoustic chords and tambourine. String instruments weep there sorrow and synthesizers add to the Ethereal soundscapes along with many other sounds in the details.

The album starts in a warm place with a playful beat and two note melody guiding the musics into gleaming shifts of uplifting chords, chiming with her voice. The lengthy song collapses into an echo chamber of reflections as the pipe organ leads us to a dramatic and spiritual climax. It sets the stage for things to continuously darken as Anna exchanges her words between a gorgeously illusive and mysterious shimmering sound that drifts in and out of focus like a ghostly magic in the distance.

With Ugly And Vengeful we go on a dark journey, steadily descending into the depths on a sixteen minute epic that builds to an almighty, menacing atmosphere peaked by a unforgiving melody. The Marble eye is a beautiful pipe organ solo piece that gives one a sense of aftermath and loss with a creak of hope in its tone. The albums final track rolls out more of this feeling, bringing in her voice again with some wretched gritty noises of suffering buried deep under the organs brooding tone.

Dead Magic has been a recent addiction, a record I know I will treasure for times to come. A phenomenal spell is cast somewhere between her burdened voice and the brilliant instrumentals. With a meditative quality one embarks on a spiritual journey, each listen steers itself from knowing and embraces the abandon around her sorrow swept lyrics. It has a darkness far from evil or horror that's oddly comforting and unique given all the shades of shadows I enjoy. Wonderful record, would have been high up on My Top 10 Albums Of 2018 list. Now to get her other two albums!

Rating: 9/10

Ho99o9 "Horrors Of 1999" (2015)

Rounding up the records Ive missed we have another short EP from American experimental duo Ho99o9. Once again their fusion of Hip Hop, Punk Rock and Horrorcore seems far more enjoyable than the reputable Dead Bodies In The Lake where I started this journey. With one skit and five short songs the duo get into dark, grisly menacing vibes and flex degrees of raps and Punk screaming vocals with all sorts of distorted, pitch shifted and reverberated inflections. The pair firmly sit at the heart of the darkly atmospheres their puzzling instrumentals conjure. Industrial pallets of gritty sampling paired with abstract, slow and stretched out percussive grooves set the tone for the act to get maniacal on the majority half of the music.

Its vivid and concise but the most fun to be had is in the two Punk tracks. No Regrets and Savage Heads bring on a drummer to muster up some lively beats for a roaring buzzed out bass guitar to power the track forward as an array of unusual synth sounds chime in, often with little melody and a helping of oddity. This is where the two liven up, shouting out catchy lyricism with ferocity. Overall it makes for a fun and haunting listen with a splash of cheesy horror vibes in the middle. Again the potential to grow as artists is far more obvious at this point in time for Ho99o9.

Rating: 5/10

Steve Roach "Mercurius" (2018)

Far from the minimalist magic of Structures From Silence or the spiritual revelations of Dreamtime Return, I underestimated what an old master would be up to far from the emergence of Ambient music. Steve has not lost his touch, Mercurius delivers four soundscape pieces amassing over seventy minutes between them. This lengthy record isn't about event and progression. Its built around mood and tone and with layers of select synthetic tones and appropriate reverberations Steve conjures gleaming, glossy and meditative atmospheres to sink the mind into. It may be thought of as background music but it is potent and powerful, sucking one in slowly.

Liminal is a light and airy piece of peaceful ambiguity, gentle murmuring synths drifting in and out of focus with a heavenly vibe that flirts with illusive melodies. The lengthy Immanent rumbles into darker, spacey territory with its deeper, dense synth tones bleeding lengthy notes that overlap as they fade in and out of each other. Aeon is my favorite, with a similar pallet to Liminal but spiraling instruments take on a psychedelic sense of exploration as a semblance of tune and melody creeps in. Mercurius has a thick, rich smothering of smooth synths with a grander stretch of sound fading in and out, having the closest sense of "event" in bulging growths of volume.

All in all its an easy record to let pass you by as its soft atmospheres breath slowly and the uneventful nature of the music may dull but in the right moment its meditative magic seeps forth and will cast its calming spell. It did take a few listens to click and now its a noted "go to" for in need of some calming relaxation. A great listen!

Favorite Track: Aeon

Rating: 7/10

Tool "Opiate" (1992)

Following up on their promising demo 72826, American Alternative Rock outfit Tool put together Opiate, an EP consisting of six tracks, four from the demo and two new songs. Its all recorded in a new studio however two tracks are actually recordings from a new years eve show. They sound fantastic in the live setting, giving a lot of charisma and energy to songs that previous sounded a little flat within that chromatic demo quality. Unfortunately these re-recordings don't add much to the experience. Hush and Part Of Me both sound mediocre on this recording. They have stepped up the overall clarity but things still have a sloppy demo sound, the bass guitar suffering the most.

The title track Opiate certainly raises eyebrows with its roaring scream of "We both want to rape you". The music aggrandizes this dramatic moment and a dive into the lyrics hides no secrets to its religious context. An exact meaning may be down to interpretation but it seems to criticize the evil that can be bestowed in the name of God. Its the records best song with a thunderous momentum of bustling tom drums and dramatic, sinister guitar work after pivoting from a more generic rock song. Eventually it fades out to a break of silence that reveals a "secret" track with some patience. This hidden music is a psychedelic jam of comedic musing and cried of Satan. Doesn't add much to the record, but it is its own experience.

The opening and other new song Sweat has crunchy rolling guitar riff work in its opening phases that sets the tone for some anxious lyricism. Its breaks to expansive, atmospheric driven guitar licks are appropriate but its far from a memorable song. So far Ive found myself understanding the music and picking up on the vibe but not feeling anything remarkable bar one or two moments. This rehashing of their demo was a little underwhelming but I am hoping for great thing with their debut Undertow.

Favorite Track: Hush, Opiate

Rating: 5/10

Sarah Longfield "Disparity" (2018)

Following up on the captivating Collapse // Expand record, talented Guitarist Sarah Longfield takes a freeing step forward with Disparity, an album that further unshackles the chains of this colorful Post-Djent sound. With a notably more polished production Sarah lets her creativity and vision flourish in directions that feel unconstrained as her monstrous 8-string guitar drifts from focus and the other instruments, often electronic and welcoming, blossom into various avenues of exotic and cultural sound.

There are still two tracks that revolve around her excellent guitar playing. Cataclysm spurs up the dizzying Gru melodies and the following Sun has a noticeable gleaming guitar lead reminiscent of Sithu Aye. Sun, however, entangles its lead guitar with goosebumps conjuring exotic, alluring xylophone chords. They resonate with a summery warmth as the song then pivots with a Smooth Jazz saxophone lick, its reminiscent of 90s daytime TV theme songs to be heard again on the next two.

These are just a couple of examples in this stunning record loaded with bright, colorful, warm and harmonious instruments diving into luscious avenues over and over again. Every track has its own flavor and they are held together with recurring electronic tones and a slightly Ethereal vibe enhanced by Sarah's singing. She finds a new vocal approach, with a layering and harmony that reminds me fondly of Autumn's Grey Solace. Its mostly instrumental but she pops in at just the attune times.

The music offers so much and her percussive composure is exquisite, rarely falling into a simple beat, commanding momentum with shifts and turns that utilize other instruments in its build up. The drums often mingle in with the various electronic tones and uncommon percussive sounds too. Their is cohesion on all fronts and my only criticism may be that these songs never escape the three to four minute range. That may be a conscious decision but given the sheer excellent compositions at work, it feels like a time constraint of sorts given the progressive and expansive style of sound at play. This is the sort of record that's hard to tire yourself of. I can't get enough of it!

Favorite Tracks: Sun, The Fall

Rating: 8/10