Devin Townsend "Empath" (2019)

On occasion one may ponder the powers scarcity and availability has towards the seduction of an artist. Perhaps a life taken early leaves one divine piece of work behind illuminated and in the case of those blessed with good health and abundance of opertunity, quantity is an excellence. In the case of this Canadian musical genius, we have been spoiled rotten by decades of continual output. From Strapping Young Lad to Casualties Of Cool and back to the Devin Townsend Project, his band and solo adventures has made it feel like every year is graced by something new. After the disbanding of DTP, Dev has taken a short two year hiatus to return with no shortage of inspiration and an almighty seventy four minutes, a collection of his most diverse sounds and extremities that I admittedly had a slow time coming around to.

My problem was simple, I know his music all to well and admittedly little within Empath surprised me on the first few spins. Perhaps I was expecting some new frontier to be conquered, a turn of the path. Thus I found much of the music reminding me of the parallels to his other works. The production however was immediately impressive, a most luscious and crystal clear, perfectionist craft. His best to date. The gravitating walls of sound deliver delicious slabs of glossy sound, distortion guitars and synths expressing weighty grooves and movements in tandem. Devin deploys his typical range of styles again with an added exuberance that reaches into the extremes, both of the entertainingly ugly and not so skin deep pretty aesthetics.

Through the record Devin reaches back to the blistering mania of SYL, occasional demonic gutturals are ripe with a textural fortitude unheard before. On the other end of the spectrum his ever powerful and grandiose voice soars to new heights imploring a range of serene and beautiful melodies. It is in this calmer side of the music that he makes his biggest progressive stride, creating stretches of unbelievably beautiful, glossy soundscapes that have a natural tone, the soundtrack to the animals of the cover. This may be prompted by the inclusion of cat meows and dolphin cries at certain milestones of the record. There are also many colorful, exotic bells, xylophones and whistles that drop in another dimension to his chunky rhythm led music. Its sense of theater and classical composition also takes strides with stretches of orchestral thematic music taking center stage on a wildly diverse album that can flip the switch on its opposed ends in an instant.

It is with the last few of my many habitual listens to Empath that it occurs to me barely a second of the record hasn't lost my interest. My familiarity with what to expect perhaps blunted its blow at first. Even now much of the music feels shades beyond my memory of it but this is something new to cram into a crowded space of classics this man has forged. I now go into my second decade of spins feeling like this may only have the potential to grow on me. Much of what I love is spread across its wide pallet and I do think it has pacing issues where its direction changes. It feels more like a spin of the bottle but its continued exuberant energy also lets it make total sense. Its just all a little overwhelming, Empath is all of Devin's work rolled into one with a cool new breeze thrown in. I should think less and enjoy more!

Rating: 8/10

City Morgue "City Morgue Vol 1 Hell Or High Water" (2018)

 Hell Or High Water is the debut record by the newly formed City Morgue, a pair of young rappers taking a lot of influence from the likes of the uber-aggressive 6ix9ine, who may be the most commercially successful of these "over the top" rappers. The project caught my attention because of its ties to Metal and Industrial music. The pacey, lively instrumentals deploy FL Studio Slayer guitar tones in the meat of their beats. A gritty, lean distortion fit for their overtly hostile and vulgar flows which are filled to the brim with offense and obscenity aiming insults in all directions. The two have a wild, dangerous energy, scream rapping with a menace that'll get you moving.

On closer inspection much of the lyrics are skin deep and more about trading blows than provoking thought. City Morgue comes out the gate with a firm and consistent aesthetic. Brisk, darkly beats, rocking harsh Trap influenced kits and a barrage of sound effects, shouts, screams and back up cries bombard the listener with a restless energy. Many of the tracks kick of with maniacal laughter, a touch of madness sounding like a deranged person who just escaped from the house of horrors.

Despite leaning into these dark themes the music is mostly fun and grooving. A lot of the beats land on the pulse of the groove and make for some careless crude fun. On occasion they even land a fine hook like the "gave hop" call on top of these disorienting instrumentals that rock disjointed samples, eerie urban melodies and dirty sub-bass noise, rumbling below the kicks of the percussion. The instrumentals are tough and if your not in the mod for fowl lyricism then this can be a tough record.

The duo barely let the foot of the gas with the vulgarities and the delivery style is consistently domineering. In some moments the word slurring trend and ambiguous pronunciation comes into play, its not particularly interesting. A lot of this record is relatively mediocre but in the union of parts something quite unique forms. Potential is the word to take away from this. Improved lyricism, better hooks and songwriting would really further this attention grabbing sound. One to watch for the future.

Favorite Tracks: Arson, Gravehop187, So What

Rating: 6/10

Death Fortress "Reign Of The Unending" (2018)

Reign Of The Unending wont be leaving my playlist anytime soon! Its the American bands forth record and after a matter of minutes checking them out, I knew I would adore this. Many spins later I can confirm my continued adoration. Its brutal, ferociously dark, icy cold and unrelentingly aggressive. Death Fortress resurrects the blistering approach to Black Metal once envisioned by Immortal with their classic Pure Holocaust. A helping of loudness from modernized equipment electrifies the shrouded fidelity. With craft and inspiration they forge six engaging songs to make a riveting and atmospheric thirty seven minutes of plundering abyssal chaos.

 Its first big distinction emerges past the howling shrieks as indiscernible and guttural, abysmal groans blurt out blocks of ungodly low sound into the mix with only their timing and texture to assimilate. Its not deployed often and is a filthy pleasure whenever the monstrosity is unleashed. The avalanche of unrelenting fury that comes with it is electrifying, a torrent of battering percussive force rains down as the drummer works out anger issues obliterating his kit. The guitars shred away frosty tremolo chords with tendinitis educing intensity and shivering tonality. It all blurs into that engulfing bestial fury of the most extreme degree, Black Metal at its finest!

Death Fortress really understand the dynamic of this sound, what little "melody" that emerges through the wall of sound has a fantastic poise of mystique and aggression that conjures an unsettling atmosphere of forbidden magics and maleficent being from worlds beyond our own. Its not all relentless punishment, the songs develop with varying intensities. Monolith Winter makes a remarkable journey from an ice blizzard start and steadily tones down its blast beats into fill laden grooves as the lead guitar builds a sense of scale that grows and blossoms. The final song Wrath Of God raises the stakes with an epic, dynamic track, bringing out those plucked chords in true Immortal style and a little hint of Graveland triumph too.

Any "lack" of originality flies out the window for the stunning execution on display. The band need not to hide their influences for their inspirations has led to brilliant music. Reign Of The Unending is a class act that revives that incredible energy Immortal deploy. I haven't heard another band even come close to it before. Dare I say they even match it? I struggle to find any complaints on this release, perhaps one or two of its lengthy songs drag their heels but otherwise its been an absolute pleasure to indulge in. As mentioned above this audio torture wont be leaving my ears soon!

Favorite Tracks: Glory To Tyrants, Monolith Winter, Wrath Of God

Rating: 8/10

Jean Michel Jarre "Magnetic Fields" (1981)

The fun of this retro synth journey has begun to flicker as my interest wavers in these chirpy adventures on the timely frontier of electronic music. With this next installment we are introduced to an emboldened foray of punchier buzz saws and sine waves that come rather close to tones heard on the NES game system. Its a sharper, harder hitting record that starts of with an opening seventeen minute tangent song. Its got a cool temperament and darker undercurrent reminiscent of Oscillotron. Unfortunately it doesn't manifest in that direction and the music fleets through various arrangements with a lack of direction and disorienting cohesion that meanders.

With a lack of clear event, build up or emotional entanglement, the music can easily slip from focus and descend into a rattling whirl of animated synths zapping away in the distance. The second track deploys a jarring stereo shuffle beat of claps that dispels the magic of its lead melody which itself is quite the ear worm. The last three tracks expand the pallet and experiment with different tones, temperaments and sound sampling but there is little going on to resurrect my already lukewarm feeling. The first few listens were enjoyable but quickly it lost its charm. Oxygene and Equinoxe were a blast but moving to the eighties Im sensing there isn't much left for me in his sound, so I conclude my exploration of Jean Michel Jarre's music here.

Rating: 5/10

Living Colour "Vivid" (1988)

The magic of shuffle kicks off another journey as a track other than Cult Of Personality plays and captivates my attention. Its the perfect spark to lure me in and over the past couple of weeks Ive grown to adore this record! When first digging the mood and vibes I thought about how much I loved nineties music, of course this record was a couple years before that decade but Its shades of Alternative and Funk Metal now sound like a precursor to what would blow up in the coming years. You could even trace back Groove Metal back to some of the stomping riffs that appear on this record too. Its been a revelation in some ways, another piece in the puzzle, a key one too.

The group formed in New York a few years prior to this debut album and they arrive on the scene with a really powerful and well formed sound that fuses elements of the aforementioned genres with a Hard Rock baseline, some flavors of Funk and periodic upbeat inflections of cheesy eighties Pop vibes. They pull it off well and roar out the gates with the timeless Cult Of Personality, beyond it an impressive set of songs bring a diversity of well executed ideas thanks to a solid rhythm department. Its led by slamming drum beats that have a little Hip Hop sway to them and alongside punchy baselines that get a couple of songs to step up and flex phenomenal bass playing.

Singer Glover has a fantastic range and pulls off some immense high pitched notes at key moments, he is a well rounded voice at the forefront, lively and emotionally invested. The guitar work is sublime, a range of styles even spanning as far as a Country tang give the songs there tone. The lead playing lines many of them with electric guitar solos that erupt and roar, bursting to life with electricity, showing off technical prowess and slick inspiration. They also drop in with hard hitting riffs and grooves that will have you slamming your head back and forth on many an occasion.

To me, the record walks on many paths and feels like a journey round the world as it explores many ideas, tones and temperaments. The lyrical content and theming also hits a diverse collection of thoughts and problems having personal perspectives, strong feelings and a outlook towards social situations and political problems. The two aspects gel together fantastically and make for a record I can't help think may be somewhat lost to time. I wouldn't say its a classic but it really has a pivotal feel to it, a stepping stone towards the immense music I adore from the early nineties.

Favorite Tracks: Cult Of Personality, Desperate People, Open Letter, Broken Hearts
Rating: 7/10

Puppy "Puppy" (2015)

Fondly reminded of teenage obsessions with music, I have found myself in adoration of Puppy's latest album The Goat. I went back and gave it a ten, as I simply cannot get enough of the record. I also remembered that they had another EP before Vol II, somehow I forgot about it! Another four tracks of their glorious and inspired mash of Alternative, Metal and Rock tones that this time around show the particulars of their heritage with some guitar styling drawing obvious parallels to other artists.

The four songs are a sweet fit for their sound, another exchange of monstrous guitar grooves, sunny yet sombre emotional intersections and beautiful singing with the occasional peaking harmonization. The songs hum an energy within simple structures as the intensity ebbs and flows, often led by the gorgeous guitar tones. I can't help but hear strong echos of Iron Maiden within their Heavy Metal alike melodic riffs. In the vulnerable sung sections backed by hazy distortion guitars its Weezer I can feel.

Like with all their music, the links are keen and its hard to not feel the presence of these other bands yet it comes together in the most gratifying of ways, inspired and far from intimation. They sound more so like a logical successor and that is considering this is their first record. The Great Beyond will probably grab your attention as the flag song for the EP with its main riff shaking the ground each time it rolls around. I really enjoyed this considering how I want nothing but more from this band right now!

Favorite Track: The Great Beyond

Rating: 6/10

Pale Waves "My Mind Makes Noises" (2018)

My Mind Makes Noises is a frankly disappointing debut record from this youthful eighties revival band. Its a rather different experience from their promising four track, All The Things I Never Said. The excitement of a young new act and nostalgic vibes stirred quite hype but its weak points, mainly lyrics, never stood out as much as it does on the fifty minutes one has to endure here. Singer Baron-Gracie has the clean cut voice perfect for simple pop songs but the lyrical simplicity is almost painful. Her use of plain observational language, a lack of creative lyricism and heavy repetition cycles through the same bleak teenage relationship topics over and over again. Insecurities, envy, jealous, infatuation and raging youthful emotion froth to the boil on every song. Its just not my cup of tea unfortunately.

Behind her words glossy, squeaky clean instrumentals pump out eighties melodies in dead simple song structures for fourteen songs with little in the way of variety. Its a tolerable experience with gleaming melodies glistening over steady beats and sturdy foundational baselines. They come repackaged again and again with varying degrees of tone but ultimately the same formula. Its little distraction from the self indulgent, aggrandizing lyrics that elevate surface emotions over self reflection or introspection.

Its quite frankly immature and that is fine, Its clearly for a younger audience and I could totally see a young me digging it. The music is tolerable but the lyrics were like an ear worm. I don't think the EP's words were less formed in this direction and thus got away with one but at this point I am not terribly excited about where they go from here. I will probably pick up the next album if its singles show signs of development. Seems unlikely but would be nice to hear this sound go to new places.

Rating: 2/10

Fen "Stone And Sea" (2019)

Years have passed since Dustwalker and Carrion Skies, two records I was keen to check out but felt far from the magic of their debut The Malediction Fields. Apparently I have been oblivious to their fifth full length entitled Winter, released a couple years back. This short, three track EP was just the right dose of music for my tasting. To no surprise Fen's sound is rooted in the period where Black Metal first diverged from its second wave and with earthly tones and naturalistic inspiration the trio conjure three tracks that play with a familiar theme of light and darkness, swaying between the two.

The mostly darkened avenues the music walks is rough and raspy, throaty howls yell over loose blast beats and gritty distortions that feel earthly and muddy in the mix. The production is raw with its crunchy guitars and muddy noise, the clashing cymbals cut sharply through but with a creek of chemistry to tie it all together. Its got a sloppy sound but that is the charm to some extent. Its earthly, human and perhaps mystical.

It has its heavy moments that conjure the atmosphere of natural wonder in the darkness of a moon lit night setting over forests and moors but the light upheavals mostly emanate from the peaking melodies that transcend the gritty foundations. The music builds to an eruption of triumphant lead guitar queued by clean and humbly imperfect vocal lines that break up the screams and howls, bringing in that uplift of light from an overwhelmingly darker and dusty sound across its span.

Its rises of the light are brief and infrequent but the overall structure makes for a charming midsection of acoustic guitars that usher in cultural roots. It should be pointed out that the EP is essentially one big twenty minute song. The opening 8 minutes blister through shrill and windswept bustling furies of energy and its mid section acts as an calm between storms. The third act infuses chunkier elements of groove and a bigger emphasis on the lead guitar that brings the song to its climax, one that is drawn out to the end. Its quite the epic piece of music and one I have fondly enjoyed! This more focused Fen is more to my liking.

Rating: 6/10

Swallow The Sun "When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light" (2019)

Finish Doom Metal band Swallow The Sun have been around for many a year, however this is the first time I have heard of them. Its their seventh full length release as the group approach a second decade of existence. That experience shows in these classy compositions and my initial listen to this record was like a revelation. A seemingly "new" take on Doom Metal and the gothic, sorrow soaked dynamics of shifting between the bleak black and melodic melancholy was initially mesmerizing. It led to my binging of the eight songs and ultimately transitioning to a more neutral position as the freshness wore off and its construct and genre tropes became clearer.

When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light is a deceptively brilliant approach to the age old formula of grandiose, symphonic, Death Doom hybrids. Its a genre I am not well versed on but reminds me fondly of a gem by Desire, once plundered when dipping my toes into the musical history of Doom. Its as if all the components have been pulled apart, given a polish and put back together again, the final result feeling different, yet objectively similar. There is plenty of sorrowful, emotional melodies bled slowly alongside gothic lyricism and the occasional use of contrasting heavies. Deep guttural groans of darkness make an appearance with other typical stylings. I think what separates it at the surface is the vocals which more often than not bring howl more akin to Black Metal and plenty of palatable clean singing approaches, both male, effeminate and occasionally esoteric.

The music itself is wonderful, a pristine fusion of sounds. In its darkly avenues ripping distortion guitars and throaty howls can suck the listener in. When suspended in the dreary states of limbo, rising synths, sparing stringed instruments and clean plucked notes on glossy guitars carry the suspense as foray of vocal styles mourn in human sorrow. Its propelled onward by punchy drums, a driving, slow, powerful momentum that solidifies the sense of scale. Over the fifty two minutes it finds many sweet overlaps and progressions that dial the various elements in, usually finding its way to climactic moments within the thematic setting. Clouds On Your Side does this best in its mid section where it feels like all elements collide and climax.

For all the obvious glory, I think I may have binged this one a little too hard. Its been utterly riveting and some distance will make it a fond arrival whenever the magic of shuffle blesses some absent minded listening. This record has convinced me more than other that there is more to be found in the Doom Metal genre, however over my experience I also became all too aware of its tropes and common practices which I apriacient and enjoy with a little more distance than that of other Metal counterparts. Great record, well worth a listen if your a fan of heavy music.

Favorite Tracks: The Crimson Crown, Clouds On Your Side

Rating: 7/10

Tool "Lateralus" (2001)

My journey through the records of Progressive Metal behemoth Tool hits an elongated fumble as we arrive at one of their most talked about records. Its been over a month since Ænima and with that time Ive sunk my teeth into this meaty eighty minutes of progressive epics many times. I have found myself at the same conclusion many times, Lateralus is slow to get going and its best moments are spun from lengthy build ups that dispel the tension and immediacy yet its best stirrings of musical gusto lurk from these meanderings like a switch that changes nothing. My favorite moments seem to stem from apex of these unending tangents as a final piece of the puzzle falls into place. Its been a fascinating listening experience but as I turn my thoughts into words, the semblance of their meanings feels like a key starting to turn the lock.

Dissecting the musics continual unwinding, one can see the markings of mathematics and music theory manifesting in its song structures and riffs. A lot of the guitar works repeats with obvious cycled counts and poly measures. Its song structures play out linear paths of slow methodical builds in atmosphere and intensity. The guitars often play out pivoting on this principle as slabs of slicing distortions grind through the timely measures with a repetition that always deceives itself, a niche touch. Danny Carey and his presence on the drums are as powerful as ever. He finds himself with one heck of a task to take that big and busying drumming style and play it out through unending passageways. His ability to hold the music together through massive segments should not be understated, its an essential performance.

Lateralus as a whole encapsulates the tone Tool built so far but channels it rather directly into these deeper atmospheric tunnelings that take out the raw emotions. Maybe it is to be found in Keenan's words but with most of that passing me by his performance plays more like another instrument with occasional outbursts of raw screams and energy in the musics peaking moments. The record really gets going with Parabola, a song that perhaps most sounds akin to their previous work. It opens with a groovy crowd bouncing riff that flows into big, engulfing lead guitar notes in the upper range, immediately gratifying. It mostly manages to avoid the number shuffling riffs and compositions while still sounding keenly progressive.

After this track it feels like almost every song is illuminated in its crowning moments with riveting moments of electricity. With that in mind the meandering in between is far more enjoyable as its droning quality suddenly swallows you whole in these moments of brilliance. Lateralus, at eighty minutes, seems to be a deep cut but even after a whole month of devouring it I came to a point where I felt as if the album was too big for itself. Then in the listens leading up to writing this post its as if the magic finally started to click. Its almost like I am only now just starting to actually hear it. Although 10,000 Days is next I will undoubtedly keep this one spinning from time to time.

Favorite Tracks: Parabola, Ticks & Leaches, Reflection

Rating: 7/10

Tesseract "Sonder" (2018)

The British Progressive Metal outfit Tesseract have been on my radar since their very inception way back when in the the early naughties. I've caught many a live show over the years and heard plenty of their songs. Its only based on a recommendation from a friend that I gave this new record a proper try and I am disappointed to say I walk away with the same lukewarm feeling I've always had for them. Sonder is their fourth full length but a direct record at a shorter thirty six minutes which made it much easier to pick up and spin.

The band toy with the dynamics of heavy and light. On one hand a glistening wash of beauty, haplessly sways above with clean guitars and subtle airy synths. Its mostly led by the clean, soft and vulnerable singing of original front man Daniel Tompkins. Its counterpart is expressed through mathematic manipulations of groove, chunks of sonic sound pronounced through the bolstered Djent tone. It can be somewhat self indulgent at times when its riffs get a little lost in the counter measure of expectation. Mostly though both elements are dynamic and sway in accordance with one another.

Its formula is laid bare from the get go and a couple of strong opening tracks create quite the excitement as an atmosphere of possibility is mustered in the wake of its balancing act between the beauty and chaos. Dark, guzzling passageways of meaty, moments riffs can drop seamlessly into blissful rest with soft pianos, distant rumblings of mechanical thunder and a cloudy choir chiming in the words draw together. This chemistry plays out in various measures before the record hits a snag.

It seems to start around Beneath My Skin but as the album progresses it feels like the best of this dynamic is behind us and little new is offered up. Throughout it all the singing is gorgeous, bordering effeminate as Tompkins finds a passionate expression in his range. The rest of the music doesn't quite follow and I find myself losing interest as the music meanders in itself with the same ideas drawn out to a disappointing close. Its certainly got a great aesthetic and musical construct but as an album it runs out of ideas far to fast. Even at thirty six minutes its best is less than half.

Favorite Track: King, Juno

Rating: 5/10