Old Man's Child "The Pagan Prosperity" (1997)

 

The Pagan Prosperity signifies a departure from Born Of The Flickering that came before it. Although holding over darkly Medieval themes laced with magic and combat, the musical style shifts, as do its aesthetics. Clearly to of come under the influence of his friends at Dimmu Borgir, Galder aims to follow the emboldened direction of Enthrone Darkness Triumphant released earlier that same year. Lacking in ample production budget, armed with songs not quite akin to that intensity, his sophomore album is a haphazard progression that does yield some magic after its misgivings.

Over bloated with melody embellished by tacky synth tones, thees songs ride a rather thin production where its instruments stand bare and subsequently stark if too focus to closely on its harsh snare for example. This mostly comes around where keyboard sections are lacking. When dropping out, Galders grindy guitar riffs chug away ruthlessly with a dulled texture. Its all a bit hit and miss. Sometimes the synths come in to strong, other times they are absent. It seems to lack a little nuance and "glue".

At the midpoint, after a series of mediocre tracks, My Demonic Figures trades off another grinding riff against some beautiful, uplifting melody. Then suddenly past two minutes the song shifts gears into a riveting drive of groove flush with majestic synths. The song rides out its keen lead tune into a string of songs. Doommaker & My Kingdom Will Come rectify the mood. Flush with guitar solos, which are always fantastic throughout, and these big groovy synth "breakdowns", Galder hits a stride.

Despite the albums clunky nature, his song writing pulls together extremely well for these songs, making for some head bopping riffs. They are made fun and carefree by the garish but lively synths that infuse a cheesy taste of evil. His screams too embody this lack of seriousness. They howl away, often double tracked with reverbs and echos layering on his snaky, rasping throaty shouts. The Pagan Prosperity is not his best, somewhat of a learning curb. You can put it on, have fun but under scrutiny it has visible flaws.

Rating: 6/10

RZA "Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater" (2022)

 

With an eternal itch known as Wu-Tang fever, I'll always have a curiosity for the individual members various projects. Although mastermind of the Wu-Tang philosophy, the prime days are long gone. This latest mini album has him grappling with his two personalities, Bobby Digital and the RZA. The concept is all laid out in its intro, with the next six tracks vaguely elaborating on the dynamics between the duo.

 Teaming up with DJ Scratch, the instrumentals conjure peculiar, glum and rainy moods. Leaning on old timey string sections and rolling out simple subdued percussive loops, the experience is underwhelming. Kung Fu action snippets lack the edge or accompanying bombast to impact. The simple repetitions bring little depth, leaving RZA to solely carry each song with his rhymes and lyrical concepts.

 RZA's flow and energy often feels out of step the instrumentals, his pace and keenness a step ahead of its temperament. Its not terrible but has one leaning on his lyrics for salvation. Baked with old cultural reference and witty word play, its the old rap game sounding tired as RZA's age can be heard in his voice's tone. A few good rhymes and narrative entertain, but mostly this drifts in one ear and out the other.

Rating: 3/10

Ghost "Impera" (2022)

 

 

Ghost's evolution through the shades of nostalgic Metal has been remarkable to say the least. With humble beginnings emerging from the lurching fog of old-school Doom Metal, the band have navigated a musical history pinching inspirations from Heavy Metal, Scandinavian Pop and Psychedelic Rock. Led by the outfits brainchild Tobias Forge, this fifth full length Impera strides forth boldly off the back of Prequelle's Arena Rock encroachment. Fully embracing American Rock vibes of the 70s, they dazzle once again with a little touch of Glam Rock echoing in the passing winds.

On the first few spins it all felt so obvious. Kaisarion's intro baked by sun soaked guitar leads, an ascending falsetto yell and the epic build to crunching Hard Rock riffs felt like a page out of someone else's book. But who? Spillways's piercing piano chops and Tobias's vocal line again echo's some creative genius of the past. It goes on throughout the album. Queen, Led Zeppelin, Boston, Dio? These songs continuously evoke the emotive rumble of classic Rock anthems. Yet not once do Ghost plagiarize.

As more repetitions sunk in, I couldn't deny how fantastically written these songs are. Even the initially disappointing Hunter's Moon finds its place in the track listing. The album swoons through one vibe another another. Tobias's impeccable singing, both in pitch and persuasion is accompanied by a fine and expansive instruments. These arrangements have their key distinctions glistening in the forefront with a lush backdrop of soft synths, organs and glittering acoustic guitars. The whole affair is a slick and dynamic groove, adapting to a songs purpose. Instruments drop in and out to perfectly compliment one another when it is apt to do so.

The variety is stunning. Most song pivot of the Arena Rock vibe with detours into Power Ballads and the like. The one true Metal song that hails back to Opus Eponymous, Twenties, suffers its own stiffness. Led in by a dramatic break in tone, Dominion's grueling trumpet orchestration bluntly pivots out of the utterly anthemic Watcher In The Sky. The metallic lurching riff and ghoulish key tones set a stage for Tobais's creepy groans but the chorus is woeful and garish. All to kitsch for my taste.

Other than that blemish Impera is a mostly flawless embark further into the depths of musical history. Knowing this is their angle made me initially skeptical but pure class of songwriting is undeniable. Every song is flush with sing along hooks, stunning melodies and memorable lead guitars lines. Its got me excited for where they might venture next but as for now its another quality collection of song to enjoy for the coming months and years. Ghost have more than proven themselves as legends!

Rating: 8/10

Lycia "Simpler Times" (2022)

I prefer to refrain from discussing singles here on the blog yet I find myself unable to escape this pair of songs. As a lone release with no word of an album in insight, these fruits may remain lonesome for the time being. I would very much like to hear more of the band in this stride, their last release, Casa Luna, had an experimental streak to keep each track interesting. This time the duo, John Fair and Mike Vanportfleet, hone in on tried and true song styles with an indulging, mesmerizing fashion.

Its title track Simpler Times conjures nostalgic vibes reminiscent of Gary Numan, ushering them into a dreamy affair where time drifts away. Its the main melody that shares something special with those classic Numan leads. Its shimmering aesthetic gets carried along by a tight and stiff drum machine. Soft saw synth reinforce the groove and murmuring, whispering vocals drift ghostly above in a wash of deep reverbs. The song is deadly simple yet a pleasure to let loop over and over.

A Far Away Place reaches back to Cold. Its a chilling track, the hazy shoegazing aesthetic brings unease. It toys with the tension in limbo, its dreamy state never feeling settled as the song shuffles between lighter and darker temperaments through its lead melody. Again its a simple construct moved along by another commanding drum machine arrangement that embraces its narrow design. Both songs world serve a fan well, fingers crossed for more soon in the ever approaching future!

Rating: 4/10

Old Man's Child "Born Of The Flickering" (1996)

 

Embarking on what will be an emotionally nostalgic musical journey, this first full length record from Old Man's Child is a rather fractured memory. Over the years I seemed to have formed the impression that Born Of The Flickering was a failed debut running counter to the magic of the In The Shades Of Life demo EP before it. Half of this record I remember fond and vividly. The other half brings a rush of excitement as new songs from a classic era enter the consciousness. My suspicion is I heard some of these songs in the piracy days of Napster and individual song sharing.

Born Of The Flickering is charming in its rawness and appetite. The production is rough around the edges with the vision emanating from within. Being mostly guitar led, the album kicks off with old earth castly songs of medieval kings, crusades and combat. Ancient magics are suggested by its garish purple record cover surrounding a vampiric bat and song themes fit for a nostalgic tone not far from Dungeon Synth.

The guitar dominance is bold early on, its mostly power chord slaying riffs not consistently accompanied by symphonic keys and heathen choral vocal chants, however their arrival is always timely. Along the way Galder picks up a knack for groove and bounce, subtly working in moving riffs between the drone of shadowy candle lit menace. Its abrasive for the time but doesn't lean to heavily on blast beats.

Along the way, Galder experiments with deep pitch shifted guttural groans in a beastly fashion with choral uplifts alongside his throaty howls. Its a welcome variety embellishing his vision. The productions rawness bolsters punctuating bass lines that sound amateurish and overpowering in their loose rumble yet seem only to aid the experience. Again, his Spanish acoustic guitar licks cropping up periodically are smooth and slick. The music outshines its mishmash of tones so often, leaving one to ask is fidelity really an issue? Although its obvious low budget, it seems nothing is lost!

Christian Death sticks out a thorn with its rehashing of Burzum's classic Stemmen Fra Tårnet riff, something a lot of early Black Metal bands rehash with their own inspiration. The following songs converge on some of the albums best moments, the ones I remember vividly. Old Man's Child stand impressively on its own at this point in time. Released the same year as Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, its the following releases that start to walk in the Dimmu Borgir vein. In this moment however, Galder forged a mood of his own.

Rating: 8/10

Ho99o9 "Skin" (2022)

 

In my camp of awe inspiring, adrenaline pumping music, a spot is reserved for the gritty punk duo known as Ho99o9. Their crossover of Horrorcore, Hardcore Punk and rebellious persona has been enthralling in recent years. Skin, their sophomore album wedged between many mini albums and EPs, has sadly failed to reinvigorate the wild energy they usually conjure effortlessly. Opening with a brief offering of Thrash guitars, manic percussion and unhinged screams, a couple of tracks get the blood flowing with the best the record has to offer coming from Corey Taylor of Slipknot.

His timeless scream is a great fit as the one working chemistry from a few collaborations. Jasiah inducts the group into the adjacent Trap Metal scene with tropes and tones perhaps heard best by City Morgue. Those harsh hitting, volume peaking bass drum aesthetics crop up on other songs to little avail. That sentiment extends to much of what Ho99o9 aim for on Skin. Not looking to circle back on previous successes, the many chemistries they forge just fail to vibe with me sadly.

With a lack of songs sparking the right words to describe the experience, I simply fall back to a sense that the pair looked for unsettled atmospheres, moments of mania and a dystoian grittiness less dependent on Metal and Hardcore guitars. These tracks also feel like a jumble of ideas, rarely resting in one place for long and jumping into a variety of odd temperaments along the way. Whatever the vision was, it failed me in feeling cohesive. I'm left quite disappointed but hopeful they'll get back on track.

Rating: 4/10

The Algorithm "Compiler Optimization Techniques" (2018)

 

Here is an interesting project that initially seems akin to the Djent Progressive Metal scene. Its another one man band operation journeyed by French composer and producer Rémi Gallego. The Algorithm, however, seems fundamentally driven by what initially appears to be aesthetic novelty. The chugging low end Djent guitars are sparse, dropping out for lengths at end. Metal oriented musical ideas play second fiddle to its EDM and Electronic happenings. The chemistry converges on a digital computerized landscape. Sharp precision percussion and whirls of spirally, spriting scaling arpeggio melodies serve a cold mechanical slew of soulless exuberance.

The songs play with binary grooves, fast measures of instrumentation traversing temperaments and tempos seemingly of its own whim with only brief moments of expression and voice. The Algorithm is impressive with its distinct style. Modern glitch sounds flesh out interludes as drives of Djent stomps interchange with whirling synthesizes playing out with a spirit similar to its psychedelic 70s origins. A couple spurious flashes of dance floor groove and other conventions arise along the lengthy journeys but the music mostly plugs away like an automation, a digital intelligence.

This cold, mechanical lifelessness is a double edged sword. Its many arrangements, which each song burns through, come in varying degrees of charm. The lack of physical voice and emotional through line give it little to anchor on. Its perfected VST performances are most often without humanity. Sometimes a wondrous adventure into something alien. At other times its a meaningless grind. A couple of great moment emerged. The end to Sentinel Node gets off an expression with a nightly Synthwave lead to conclude and Fragmentation drops its rapid instruments for a slow tempo brooding of cosmic darkness very akin to Oscillotron, a very welcome familiarity.

Rating: 5/10

Arca "Kick III" (2021)

 

In picking out a peculiar sounding project featured on a top list, I've fumbled into territory truly beyond what makes music tick for me. On first listen I though this might be the most abominable record I've heard in some time. Having stuck with it, I've now grown somewhat matured comments to share on the radical harsh venture this project is. I have no context in which to address this wildly experimental music in relation to the three other chapters of Kick released in daily succession towards the end of 2021.

If this is Arca, AKA Alejandra Rodríguez's normal style, then she is certainly an artist with a distinct voice and vision. One of confrontation, dissonance and discomfort where an emerge of groove or melody from within the dystopian abrasion has alluded me. Two songs have grown on me. Their textural ambiguity and sonic assaults offering a novelty of sorts. The rest of the record sadly dulls with each listen as much of the disorienting tapestry tires in its rebellious circumvention of musical norms.

With harsh electronics, the worlds of Glitch and Noise converge on the back of unconventional, seemingly disjointed and random percussion. Its thudding bass kicks jolt off beat and zaps, buzzes and fuzz replace the rolls of snare and cymbals. Those two rattle without structure. Its more tuneful sounds seem hell bent on subverting melody, each song inducts a random assortment of sounds without direction. After a spin or two many aesthetics becomes very obviously vocalized. There is a plethora of manipulation and plugin work at play here that I could sadly not appreciate.

Once noticed, every kick and and assumed noise has a hint of vocal timbre. Alejandra mostly delivers her Venezuelan lyrics through this manipulation too. If every interesting or musing, its often buried in a dread of brutal dystopian madness. The opening Bruja & Incendio deliver some brash and swift native wordings that become quite enjoyable in their foreign nature. As a strength in the record, its use is minimal.

Beyond its reasonable opening, the record devolves into its own unusual nature, where I could find little beyond the occasional instrumental texture sparking curiosity. There was really nothing for me to resonate with. The critical acclaim makes me feel as if people are appraising the bizarre oddity it is, which is all fair game but I am personally looking for the ground where the oddities abridge an emotional connection with the listener which alluded me entirely. Maybe the continuous dreamy vocalizations on Intimate Flesh came close but that would be all.

Rating: 2/10

The Tiberian Sons "The Only WInning Move" (2022)

  

Approaching this EP with mostly ignorance turned out to be advantageous. Unfamiliar with the four video game soundtrack songs covered here, I found myself blown away by a musicality so fitting with the best that VGM has to offer. Boldly luminous with a Progressive Metal shape similar to Nobuo Uematsu's The Black Mages and oddly reminiscent of Strapping Young Lad. Its ferociously groovy chugging assaults from the low end distortion guitar are a godsend! These covers just simply slay hard!

Where are my manors? I know of The Tiberian Sons through Frank Klepacki and their involvement in the Command & Conqueror soundtrack remasters. They did a great job of breathing some fresh air into classic songs of my youth that quite frankly didn't need it, welcome none the less tho. These covers show of their competency as a group to deliver a riveting and modern Metal aesthetic for brilliantly composed songs.

My ignorance shields me from the depth of how they transformed the original material but for the time being I'd like to keep it that way. Jived up with jazzy live band sounds, everything is fleshed out with a dazzle as synths, organs, trumpets and strings chime in to forge an animated metallic orchestra. Its a treat, still striding with blazing guitar solos and big guitar riffs, these songs scale the peaks with a colorful majesty and might, cramming in so much instrumentation, all crooning in the same direction.

This is at least true for the first three songs. The final Dank Memelords Power Metal Remix has that sweet chemistry thrown off balance. Its particularly piercing and domination drums, the focus on distortion guitars, it overpowers the symphony and electronics also present. The clean vocals are rather piercing too, not to my taste. Its a decent track but lacks the nuance that came before, leaning to hard into the Power Metal cliches. Those first three are Stella songs however! Well worth your time.

Rating: 7/10

Tool "Opiate²" (2022)

Tool had brilliance from the outset. Initially I was slow to understand this band. The title track from their debut EP, Opiate, did not rock my quite as it does now. To commemorate the thirty years since its release Tool have re-recorded the classic track. Ditching its extended psychedelic jam session crying for Satan that followed the actual song, the group split it in half while fleshing out a beautiful interlude through the middle. An instrumental passageway through its middle. Deep, mesmerizing and alluring, the soothing transient experience serves this recreation wonderfully, lengthening it to a glorious, immersive ten minute experience.

This modern aesthetic is stunning in retroactive comparison. The original recording sounds dated and clunky. The bass is overpowering and meaty, which hides a lot of the textural charm Tool conjure. This release illuminates their artistic vision, rejuvenating what they had as a band from the outset. Even switching back and forth between the two, this newer recording oozes the songs soul with ease. Although its made me appreciate the original more, its obvious they didn't have the production aesthetics to really express their music early on. Sadly this is a one of, I think its unlikely this single will lead to anything else for now.

Rating: 3/10

Kero Kero Bonito "Time 'N' Place" (2018)

 Going forth with a bold stylistic shift, Kero Kero Bonito introduce a rather gristly over driven guitar tone into the mix! Not only do they dial back the childish quirk and charm established prior, the keys too recoil from punchy unabashed aesthetics. Time 'N' Place has the trio trying on new shoes. When sticking to their guns, they find a glossy, serine temperament stepping into classic Pop vibes with a modern edge. On the other front, hints of Grunge, Indie Pop and Shoegazing push them towards the uncanny valley as creative ideas clash with a touch of imposter syndrome lurking nearby.

Alongside the strives into guitar driven territory, the group take failing inspiration from the abrasive scenes of Glitch and Noise music. Three tracks in and Only Acting grates away with intentional CD skips leading into a ear aching assault of sharp fuzz on the listening. It seems so pointless, a barrage of disorientation that doesn't resolve to anything of interest. Fortunately these grating oddities are few and far between.

It doesn't look good among a series of misses. Opening with Outside, the Shoegazing kicks off on an odd note, not quite gelling with the sparkling synths found glittering around its chord progressions. From their most the songs land on odd footings, just not landing a charm as they low through a string of simple themes and old timely vibes. Late in the track listing, Sometimes is another stride beyond means. Aiming for a youthful, folksy pub sing along, the brash acoustic guitar strumming clashes with unrehearsed singing. The VGM 8bit synth jam that takes place alongside sours too.

Most the songs are inoffensive but oddly mediocre in the shadow of their other works. It makes for a dull, lukewarm listen that often drags. Bit of a shame considering how interesting I've found this group up to this point. In fact what comes after with Civilization II is remarkable, a major difference from whats to be heard here. Time 'N' Space feels like the new ideas they brought to the mix didn't have the chemistry.

Rating: 4/10