Benny The Butcher "Pyrex Picasso" (2021)

 

As a new name on the rise, appearing alongside the likes of old greats like Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes & Jadakiss, Benny has made a remarkable impression on me. With a firm voice fit for classic story telling, both his style and beat production has a gushing nostalgia for the 90s and 00s era. Pyrex Picasso is concise seven track stint, nineteen minutes of straight class. The title track plays like a cut from 2001, dead serious pianos, a softly sorrow Spanish guitar lick and timely horns, vibes I'll always welcome more of. The following '73 gets dingy with ambiguous samples, gritty drums and low-fi strings. The RZA would be proud! Flood The Block has the Immortal Technique mark, not just instrumentally but how Benns flows with a through line and sharpness that feels like he doesn't have to bend his thoughts to a rhyme scheme.

I could rattle off on similarities to other artists. This really is a case of seeing shadows tho. Where Benny shines on his own is purely through the power of his rhymes and narratives he unfolds. I wouldn't say his style is original or ground breaking, but very well refined as every verse makes a catch, throwing its line and hook. The themes are atypical, street life, prison and drugs. The topics of hard life are aired and also his resolve to make it as a rapper. I imagine he won't appeal as much to the newer generation but this EP embodies the best of Hip Hop from decades gone by. An impressive introduction that will have me seeking out more from this talent!

Rating: 7/10

Poppy "Eat" (2021)

 

Along with Flux, last year also received this brief five track EP with little stylistic affiliation to the latter. As a soundtrack for NXT wrestling, one listen will affirm why. This is possibly Poppy's "heaviest" songs to date, with her upfront deploying some utterly fowl throaty screams that have me concerned for both her vocal chords and the recording equipment. Its rough and raw, much like the instrumentals led by gristly noisy guitar distortions that have a messy tone. We do hear her light and harmonious voice in brief bursts, often in competition with an eruption of wild visceral screams.

The record feels structured to gain more respite and musicality with each passing song beyond Say Cheese, which leans heavily into Metalcore guitar riffs with stomping breakdowns, crunchy riffs and a really odd warbling bass tone. Breeders ropes in a zany synth tone to crank open the song to another dimension of feeling, very much similar to that classic Tubeaway Army song. Each song has its identity, emergent musical ideas executed through a smothering Industrial tinged aesthetic.

Its a riot of creativity, feeling fresh and fun with a lot of energy being thrust forth. Although it leans into my preferred avenue of Metal, these songs feel creative and dynamic, putting up a sound not too many other bands offer in a rather stale scene. She has really scooped up some great musicians with Greatti and Wilcox helping write these feisty songs. I've spun them over and over and they are probably among my favorite songs of hers now. I'd certainly like to hear more on this wavelength.

Rating: 6/10

Knocked Loose "A Tear In The Fabric Of Life" (2021)

 

My excitement and appetite for the cutting edge of brutality in the world of Extreme Metal as diminished severely with time. Most bands I encounter seem to be locked in the Post-Deathcore and Djent overlay which tends to recycle the same ideas found at their origins. Alongside a Metalcore backbone, some of that bore is to be found here too with with a shimmering of Mathcore in places also. The reason I mention this is because Knocked Loose have spun that formula into a short and pacey affair of pummeling intensity. On this EP, six tracks blaze through the many tropes and un-original ideas common to the genre on the heels of an adrenaline shot of excitement. Their song structures continually race ahead, leaping from one moment of bludgeoning to the next, leaving you with little time to recover from each metallic blow. Its a fun experience as the chops come quick and fast, rarely looping back and often jumping into sludgy palm muted break downs with barely a moments notice.

The production is stellar, a show of strength, an aesthetic treat of modem engineering that has its instruments frothing with a rage shared by front-man Bryan Garris. Initially I found his shrill, high pitched bark a bit rash but I warmed up to it as his energy fell inline with the unrelenting march of aggression the band set out on with these songs. Not only do the instruments bring intensity, the moments of texture embellished in its discordant riffs take up the pauses for breath with expansive moments of tense atmosphere as on occasion the music blossoms into something more than the meat grinder it initially seems to be. With quite a few spins in the past weeks, A Tear In The Fabric Of Life is a short experience that's delivered much gusto as its rapid approach brings continual waves of excitement that last the initial explosive impression created.

Rating: 6/10

Kero Kero Bonito "Civilisation II" (2021)

 
Kero Kero Bonito are a London based trio led by singer Sarah Perry, who's half Japanese status has a clear cultural influence on the Electronic group. With warm shades of J-Pop and K-Pop influencing the audios character, this short three track EP Civilisation II was an excellent entry point for me. The feel good uplift and structural sensibility of Pop music finds itself in the arms of deep grooving electronic styles that drift in a direction I am far more familiar and comfortable with.

It kicks off with The Princess And The Clock, the chirpiest track speared on by driving percussive kicks that dial up the energy of a youthful, dancey, daydreaming song. Perry resonates warmly, her lyrics mirroring this slightly dreamy aesthetic has she sings a fairy tale of a royal prophecy fulfilled. 21/04/20 mellows out in a direction reminiscent of Anime theme music as its sparkly lead melody blossoms out of a glossy toned song. Perry's lyrics embellish normality with a sunny pleasantry as she words out the details of what might be a mundane day into something much prettier.

The third and longest cut at seven minutes is my favorite. Well Rested swiftly drops into an easy breezy groove of deep soothing bass and steady percussion. Its reminiscent to me of my favorites songs in the realms of Downtempo and Ambient electronic music. The mood is rustled up along the way with Perry making commanding remarks on a cadence fit for an activism rally. It arrives alongside jolty, slightly frenetic electronic leads that usher the second half of the jam into a livelier version of its own first half.

All of this wonderful songwriting is channeled through a wonderful productions that musters a fair helping of glossy reverb and timely echo to embellish that dreamier tone. All the while its many electronic instruments stay crystal clear and chirpy, dense in texture and color. The percussion too is imaginative with a great selection of both samples and pattern arrangements. All in all this brief fourteen minute outing is absolutely solid and has me very excited to discover more from this dynamic trio.

Rating: 5/10

Nas "Magic" (2021)

 

Released Christmas Eve, seeing Magic in my inbox was quite the surprise. With King's Disease III now confirmed for 2022, I expected that this shorter album, clocking in just under 30 minutes across nine tracks, would be a collection of outtakes from his fruitful collaborations with Hit-Boy. But alas it is not so! If anything, Magic speaks volumes to the stride Nas is on as his lyrical content feels interchangeable with that of King Disease II. Thinking of these songs as sub-par in anyway is erroneous. It simply seems as if he is oozing with creativity right now and enjoying sharing it with us all. Unsurprisingly though, the tone of these songs are in the same lane. Nas is offering up his unique personal perspective within the Hip Hop scene and addressing his audience with wisdom and a little introspection in doses, much as he has been doing.

Wu Is For The Children is the one underwhelming cut. A reference to the Wu-Tang Clan setting high exceptions for a dreary percussion-less track. The following Wave Gods brings on DJ Premier to drop his iconic drum break style and scratches of classic Hip hop snippets whilst resurrecting Gang Starr themes. The opening Speechless kicks off with a remarkable verse, referencing fallen musical icons of the twenty seven club and the grittiness of his neighborhood. Its a wonderfully articulate flow that extends into Meet Joe Black as Nas touches on successes built, mistakes made and criticisms keeping him energized as he words it. Interestingly it ends with a snippet of individuals mocking his Hip Hop I Dead record statement from back in 2006. I didn't feel like his words provided much of an answer to that though.

Ugly is a wonderfully aesthetic track as its wobbling distorted sampling creates a foggy drone for Nas to paint a gloomy scene with his words in the opening verse. The following couple of tracks are much livelier in contrast and his rhymes are tight and slickly delivered as you could expect. All in all its a sweet selection of tracks to salivate on in anticipation of part three. Not much beyond that though. Hit-Boy's approach get one in the mood but I didn't feel like these beats were exceptional. There wasn't anything here that "leapt off the page". I'm satisfied, left with high hopes for KD3!

Rating: 7/10

My Top 10 Albums Of 2021

 
On reflection Its felt like a somewhat uneventful year musically. Now into the second year of this pandemic, the isolation and lack of normality has had me listening to less music and more podcasts. With seventy one records to pick from, it didn't take long for me to sus this list out with only thirteen or so making an impact. Thus the list reflects my taste with only two new artists of which one was more out of my comfort zone than the other. Its always my ambition to find new music each year but given the current circumstances I feel like I'm in a music rut of sorts, listening to to similar sounds.


(10) Hypocrisy "Worship" link

Speaking of similar sounds, its been far too long since I've had a dose of the Hypocrisy sound. Their return was a welcome one, delivering a class set of songs that riffed hard and recycled the vibes they are known for. I can't fault it, I've enjoyed Worship plenty of times since. I can only think of a missed opportunity for the paranoia themes to have more of a potency in our age of misinformation however It is more likely myself that has a different viewpoint from that of my youth when I found them.


(9) Malcom Horne "Infinity Volume II" link

Malcom's music was an instantaneous click for me. The first Infinity volume felt rather varied in focus and quality but had its mesmerizing moments too. This second installment has a focus, music for streamers! Now a regular feature on my own streams, the consistency of this larger basket of songs holds up well and continues to provide chilled classy vibes to relax with.


(8) Little Simz "Sometimes I Might Be Introvert" link

As a big, bold and ambitious record, Introvert has a few bumps in the journey that maybe held it back a little in terms of my personal taste. The good news is that I've enjoyed this one plenty since, which is the recurring point of this blog. The new and novel can often fade from ones conscious with time but this one held up! The rapid narratives and expressive excursions of thought she drives on with the opening songs is still a marvel!


(7) Billie Eilish "Happier Than Ever" link

A strong return for one of musics biggest starts. Happier Than Ever isn't quite as remarkable as When We Fall Asleep, however Billies strength of character and maturity is! Some of the lyrical themes here are so refreshing where Pop music it can often be fraught. I also think the stride for a little more musical diversity may have been a bit and miss but better to stride in new directions than stay in a comfort zone. Looking forward to more in the years to come!


(6) Turnstile "Glow On" link

I've been tempted to put their EP Turnstile Love Connection in this list. Its essentially the best cuts from Glow On, which in its strides to infuse Hardcore with some other influences, wobbled its way over the victory line. Its often the more Hardcore leaning cuts I enjoy as the vibrant energy they exude fades a little on the experimental cuts. One thing is for sure they are still swinging hard and one to keep a watch on.


(5) Spellling "The Turning Wheel" link

Spellling was quite the enthralling experience! A chemistry sounds reaching far in different directions and reassembling the influences like a breeze. On one had you can relax with the music and enjoy the wonderful songwriting. On the other you can get analytical and dissect, where a trove of interesting ideas is to be found both aesthetically and in the writing. Great record, sadly I didn't feel the same of Mazy Fly.


(4) Deafheaven "Infinite Granite" link

Of all the records on this list I must confess that Infinite Granite is one I have not returned to but its impression was a remarkable one. The reception was a bit mixed among fans but I was personally blown away as this engulfing musical experience unraveled. The cleaner vocals and 80s influences were a niche touch delivering an organic record with some intriguing extremes.


(3) Nas "King's Disease II" link

As one of Hip Hop's greatest, Nas has been exceedingly consistent in a genre often victim to high starts that trail off. With Illmatic he has a debut that could never be peaked but that hasn't stopped him from delivering quality and his inspirations has been stoked again thanks to fruitful collaborations with producer Hit-Boy. This second installment was a remarkable into some of his best rhymes in decades. Fantastic narratives and insightful expressions give it an endearing impression. I'd be keen to put this in his top three records and with a third installment on the way there will be more to enjoy but this chapter will be hard to top!


(2) Ministry "Moral Hygiene" link

Ministry have been a favorite "later discovery" of mine for some time now. The sort of band that would have fit perfectly into my youthful tastes. AmeriKKant was a welcome return at the time, now a little worn out, this new installment Moral Hygiene tackled the current social political climate again. This time around the mood and tone was class. Musically, it is more varied and interesting, wrapping with a stunning spectacle of an ending as the death toll keeps rising! I was blown away and am still this one!


(1) Lil Nas X "Montero" link

Never had picking my favorite record for a year been so easy. I was simply blown away by this record. Lil Nas X is an interesting artist, with much to say while captivating a mainstream audience in the process. Its not a place I'd expect to find so much musical maturity, yet here it is! A diverse record that balances popular light weight trap beats with a country tang primed to detour into experimental places that blossomed stunning songs. Its a remarkable record, setting a high bar for him, however the quality of songwriting here suggests this is no fluke. A follow up could be just as good!

Devin Townsend "The Puzzle" (2021)

 

Having heard the story of The Puzzle unfold through The Devin Townsend Podcast, this album is an expected disappointment. That's not to say the music here isn't to be enjoyed but It seems the activity at play hasn't produced anything special other than a meandering ambient detour. It groans and croaks with oddities between its often smoothed out exterior. It felt like this would be the case. Hit by last years lock-down woes, Devin set out to collaborate with his colleagues online, given the situation.

Stumbling into his own musical puzzle, Dev found himself intrigued by the task of assembling together all the pieces his fellow musicians sent him. As suspected, the curiosity of such an interesting and difficult task mostly remains with him alone. For this listener, the outlines of each piece are blurry and its final composition seems more like wedged pieces lining up to be stretched and twisted into shape than a picture.

The Ambient framework is a crutch that has an array of bold musical ideas punching through its pale tranquility. From whirls of machinery electronics, to guttural shouts and spoken word. Pan flute adventures, whispering vocals and choirs in unison. Dramatic pianos, animated drum fills and frenetic Saxophone leads. These wild variety of contributions never quite escape themselves, however which such a deep web of sounds, its hard to know where his contemporaries parts start and end.

With that though comes a fair helping of obvious offerings that get wedged in, feeling indifferent and out of step with the vibe and pace, mostly because it meanders and uses foggy washes of sound to transition and move in any direction. It all just feels a little meaningless and where Dev leans on his traditional stylings, they too emerge from the haze rather than setting structure and form which would off aided this greatly. As said, this was a expected disappointment. A difficult task for any musician. I didn't expect much other than a couple of curious listens and that is all I got.

Rating: 4/10

Arkhtinn "二度目の災害" (2021)

 

Translated as Second Disaster, this latest Arkhtinn installment was a typical blasting of exhilarated, ferocious Black Metal from the cosmic void. To break format with its often Dark Ambient counterpart, both halves, two meaty twenty plus minute songs, are comprised extreme music led in by the beeping of Morse Code. The second track always strikes me as the better of the pair. Its resounding thumps of chunky groove and slick pedal kicks haunted by ghastly screams brings about a rhythmic distinction to an otherwise endless romp of blast beats and deathly guitar shredding.

Before it reaches that all too common intensity, the song embellishes a little Burzum alike discordance, something I would liked to of heard more of. Instead the howling choirs of fallen angels aligns with its perpetual plunges into darkness, competing with itself in a race to the bottom. The song structure and writing feels more apparent. Perhaps this is the first occasion I feel as if its low fidelity aesthetic holds things back. I'm reminded a little of Dimmu Borgir's PEM record as its fantastical darkly synths paint quite the wondrous madness within its hellish onslaught of crushing sound. After a while, the theme and search of new peaks to scale does get a bit tiresome as its main ideas circle back on themselves for a conclusion.

The first track explores a similar dimension with plenty of whirling astral synths buried between instruments. It comes through with some strong Industrial rhythmic chops and plenty of breaks in the flow with ambient interludes and build ups that loose sight of the bigger structure in its lengthy stay. Again its residing in furious intensities can be a bit grinding and the shifts can feel a little sudden in execution, rather than natural and flowing. All in all, the music follows the path laid out and given this Darkspace inspired sound is still interesting to me, its was a fun experience, however as always, new ideas and progression for the sound would be most welcome.

Rating: 6/10

Devin Townsend "Snuggles" (2021)

Having followed along with the Devin Townsend Podcasts during the pandemic, the unfolding story of this particular record has loosened in my mind after several release delays. I remember its counterpart, The Puzzle, as a project revolving around distant creative collaborations in which Devin has to figure out how the pieces fit together. This additional, shorter companion piece, locks in thirty eight minutes of ambient indulgences which feel like a refractive lens cast over the last twelve years.

It starts with a shift in tone that began with The Devin Townsend Project. The various inflections of ambience and a gentler still side of his craft emerging, this endowed some of those albums with soft flushes and swells of a calmer, serine energy. Much of that is explored here again as echos of acoustic guitars, pan flutes and electronic leads are engulfed in a wash of dense reverberations that play to his thick wall of sound production style. Even in such a mellow, soothing setting does Devin conjure a dense mist of cloudy ambiguous sound for us, the listeners, to fall into. Its a welcoming wash of warm colors and dazzling sparkles, continuously moving without intent. A gushing of easy tonality with no hint of anything remotely negative. 

It serves mostly as a background experience with all its moments seemingly falling in and out of each other, structure and direction left a miss. Its purpose too feels somewhat vague too as its aesthetic crown seems more like a veil of sound design than song writing with a point. As a result the whole thing drifts by like a care-free dream. A pleasant experience but one thats a little shapeless and without a proper focus on closer inspection. The one recurring theme I picked up on were the words "Its thee ocean" which seem to drift in and out of consciousness on occasion as Snuggles drones its way through its definitely snugly and fuzzy atmosphere.

Rating: 5/10

Cradle Of Filth "Existence Is Futile" (2021)

 

 

Stuck in a familiarity fatigue, my soft spot for Cradle Of Filth still yearned. Their recent revival of form through Hammer Of The Witches and Cryptoriana had me tuning me again. Despite all its competence and theatrics, sadly this latest length installment of their Gothic Extreme Metal didn't spark the thrills I was hoping for. All the cardinal sins are intact, Dani's shrill animal howls and deep burly voices narrate the vampiric and Lovecraft themes. Blast beats and lively percussion houses flexible distortion guitars and an array of timely gothic synthetic keyboard tones to orchestrate the night.

 

His current guitarists expand a little with a few less restrictive guitar chops and leads that have a mellower edge but its only a handful of moments among a meaty arsenal of tracks. For the most part they stick strictly to the classic CoF formulae. Its opening track Existential Terror, however, tackles pandemic parallels with tales of plague thrust through a very orchestral Abrahadabra tone. Its big symphonic strikes of melody and archaic choir singing hailing back to that particular Dimmu Borgir sound.

Its a niche that doesn't stick and swiftly do the band land on familiar footing, leading to a record that shows no noticeable blemishes yet failed to really get my blood pumping. There are instances of choppy thrash riffs that get a little tiring but some fiery spurts of aggression too. Aesthetically it gorgeous and full of lively instrumentation. A lack of originality is probably a fault at times. All arrangements rehash old ideas, the closing Unleash The Hellion very distinctly reminiscent of their Vempire era. I couldn't pick out a favorite track, I think I've just found myself in a spot of tiredness without a cure. I'll probably swing back to this one whenever I snap out of it, if ever I do!

Rating: 6/10

Hypocrisy "Worship" (2021)

 

Of all the familiarity fatigue I've endured of late, I was actually itching for an unchanged dose of Hypocrisy's alien paranoia breed of mid-tempo Atmospheric Death Metal. Led by a key figure in the Scandinavian Metal scene, producer Peter Tägtgren resurrects his passion project after an eight year absence to show the formula is still fun. Thematically, the conspiratorial inspirations are oddly relevant again,  finding some adaptations to fraught social topics of our pandemic age. Where they are less relevant is in the Metal scene itself. Despite Peter's many accolades, Hypocrisy have always been an underdog in my eyes. Spotting a shirt or jacket patch at a Metal festival can be a perils task despite their relative consistency over decades.

Worship is business as usual. The dynamic melding of its thrashing, pummeling rhythm guitars and the soaring gleam shining from tangled melodic leads tinged in astral inflections are the riveting experience I adored this band for. The pallet sways between its heavier riff led intensities and thematic melodic gloss that embellishes its perpetual sense of other worldly matters. Over top roars Peter with his earthly guttural shouts. They are dense growls but the slower cadence lets the words decipher and emanate a brutal forcefulness to intact his conspiratorial words. The percussion reinforces everything with timely patterns and grooves, playing a subtle roll as blast beats and even double pedals are a little less infrequent than one might expect for Death Metal but of course Hypocrisy's angle has always been an emphasis on atmosphere and scenic imagination. The drum grooves emphasis that sense of scale.

These tracks don't have much in the way of variety between them. With straight forward song structures the album rolls on with not a lot of flash in the pan. The songs mostly rely on trixy dazzling guitar licks and stomping grooves with the occasional intensity change ups leaving the guitars out for a baseline to rumble. They recycle their identity for the most part with We're The Walking Dead feeling like a rehash of many previous takes of slow brooding mood and atmosphere. In fact much of the record dives into compositions that feels very akin to previous songs you could cherry pick from their extensive discography. They Will Arrive does spring a surprise with its gritty low chord chugging groove setting off an alarming horn of some sort. It was something different of which Worship doesn't have much, however I turned up to hear Hypocrisy do what they do best. All of these songs are class without a weak link.

 

On the lyrical front its conspiratorial topicality and confrontation with our modern ills of disinformation and institutional distrust seems like a headache avoided. There is on claim of injecting two million people with HIV but otherwise its mostly the classic tinfoil hat tales of Illuminati and shadowy cabals of conspiring between alien demigods and corrupt elites. Essentially the traditional themes are tainted by modern polarization. However the third track Chemical Whore strikes right on the nerve of the still ongoing epidemic of dangerous pharmaceutical drugs peddled for profits by a increasingly dubious medical industry. To my ears its all a fair game of perspective and expression with nothing nefarious within. Worship is a solid delivery on exactly what I was in the mood for. A great band to check out if your a Metalhead who's not crossed them before. Their self titled album is my favorite, one I'm tempted to write up on soon.

Rating: 7/10

Can't Swim "Change Of Plans" (2021)

 

Don't be fooled, the oddly Gothic, Danzig alike album cover doesn't accurately reflect the emotive suburban vibes this group emanate. Can't Swim are my personal antidote to the Emo / Screamo scenes I turned a nose up at in my youth. These millennial musicians revive the glory of their past years, bringing musical maturity to their first world, woe ridden lyrics. With poppy song structures, catchy hooks and a melodic tint to garnish, Change Of Plans is the bands third but sadly the least impressive, possibly a case of familiarity as the band stick firmly to what works with a little twist of anger.

With Pop-Punk themes of adversity lacking troubles. Social squabbles, relationship woes and self doubts, the lyrics play from a light hearted teenage place with just a sprinkle of maturity. These are adult problems expressed with the lens of youthful angsty ideas that sway it far enough from perils. Its left in a precarious place where you can leave or take it. Personally Its not a bother but bar one or two lines I didn't find much to connect with, however the delivery and honesty in LoPorto's vocals is charming. The vulnerability and self coddling style is endearing, often manifesting into a hook with a knack to make his words catchy and flow with the groove.

The music is carved up into the typical inflections, lots of moody melodic plucked acoustic chords that bleed into vibrant distortion tones with all degrees wedged in between. Most these songs have a layer of aggression that sways back and forth from its guitars. Its not to adventurous, sticking to typical song structures and compositions with plenty of bright, harmonious singing. The point would be that they do this so well.

Where things detour is with a stronger sense of Hardcore and breakdown energy which the genre is adjacent too. On three or four tracks they step into this space boldly, not something I remember from their previous records. Better Luck Next Time and its jaunting breakdown goes full in on the aggression with palm mute chugs and tropes from the more metallic end of the spectrum. Sense Of Humor and its "Look who's laughing now" lyric slaps another breakdown in a track It doesn't feel fit for.

Whats interesting is how well executed these ideas are, the problem is they don't fit the overall mood which tends to be more introspective and mall shop sorrows than anger fueled resolution. A couple other songs have a breakdown stitched on the end and whenever it comes around, it feels like a sudden shift. Despite this jarring union of ideas, Change Of Plans is solid with plenty of catchy tunes. Its one to throw into the shuffle playlist and see what sticks with time.

Rating: 7/10

Cane Hill "Krewe De La Mort, Vol. 2" (2021)

 

Following up on the first part of Krewe De La Mort, American Nu Metal revivalists Cane Hill return with two more reasonable songs for the arsenal. So far the best I've heard of this band was when deviating from the norm, with their Alice In Chains inspired Kill The Sun EP. Volume 2 stays on track, delivering high octane Metal. Bolstering massive Djent riffs, groove syncopation and a textural layer of Electro-Industrial noise, its quite the throttling force that comes with a sensitive side.

This time around it feels like vocalist Elijah Witt gets to lead the way with his burly yet introspective voice. Blood & Honey kicks things off with boombastic riffs and ridiculous low end guitar noise. His screams and shouts forgettable but its the pivot to energetic clean vocals that bless both tracks. He infuses the song with a wonderful melodic character, amplified by clean guitar notes gleaming in the instrumental behind him. Its a busy track but that focal point makes it work, the lyrics carrying weight too.

Busting in with roaring, triumphant Heavy Metal guitar solos, both tracks emanate "Festival Metal" vibes fit for a big outdoor stage. The following Bleed When You Ask Me goes even harder on the guitar grooves. The metallic dissonance tends to wash away into a noisy backdrop with Elijah doing all the heavy lifting. His voice forges a path through a racket of thumping syncopation. Without him this would of been dull.

Rating: 2/10

Soley "Mother Melancholia" (2021)

 

Last Christmas I experienced the magical resonance of a sparkling wintry record, Endless Summer. On the heals of that excitement I leaped upon this latest release. What I've found is far from that beauty and spirited charm. As implied in its name and powerful album art, Mother Melancholia wallows in the pains of an eternal attachment to a melancholy Soley explores with her music. This time the construct is sparse and atmospheric. Little inklings of song, blossoms out of the darkness with chilling piano melodies fading into bleak elongated ambiences aligned with hints of deviousness on tracks like Parasite and Elegia.

 There are scarce moments of warmth but Soley mostly sings with shyness from a vulnerable place. Accompanied by lonely brooding instrumentation the record often feels sad and lost, as if wandering through limbo for an eternity. Many of the compositions leads to swells as the gentle atmospheres steadily gather gusto. The devilishly slow and sluggish Blows Up has a grabbing two note guitar riff to conclude the progress. Its so apt and timely as much of the record is with its aesthetic and musical choices. Many ideas play out to a point.

Mother Melancholia is a fine record, bravely exploring despairing lonely spaces and other degrees of human sorrow. Where it falters is perhaps in the listeners mood. Contented to relax and absorb, then its a fine experience but its charm is a calm current to gently drift with. There isn't a lot to jump to for hits of excitement and skipping around the track listing reveals a lot of lengthy ambiences. A fine but fair record. I do like the darkly mourning of Soley's performances but without a counterpart, it does feel hard to get excited about in its persistent gloominess.

Rating: 6/10

Gelure "The Candlelight Tomes" (2021)

This record found me in my lowest point of recent years. Sick with double ear infections, a lot of music was discernible and difficult to digest, even if I knew it already! Just as more frequencies were slowly returning, this soft, warm and airy set of songs crossed my path at the perfect time. My initial wonderment was heightened by the days of ill health prior. Since its charm has waned but their is no doubt The Candlelight Tomes has a flavor distinct from the norms of decrepit Dungeon Synth.

Reminiscent of Lord Lovidicus's melodic evolution, Gelure moves to the light, seeking light and warmth through its perpetual haze of angelic choral chants that uplift the tone at every turn. It does so while retaining a classic sense of nostalgia and ancient mystery. Its beautiful pallet of wondrous synth instruments are mixed well with enough fogginess to disguise the mechanical performance of its likely VSTs.

Initially the aesthetic is preformed with a meandering direction. Mood setting and atmosphere the initial result. The Bygone Hall Of The Tower Of Wailing Moons introduced medieval melody akin to Fief and some bombast with deep percussive tom drums. Its a direction that doesn't yield anything special. Frostcrown Of The Ice Meadow on the other hand uses its drums to crawl at a dreary pace. Its chilling, icy synths and lonely meandering melodies remind me of Lycia's Darkwave classic Cold.

The following songs exchange between these two derivatives without a sense of something unique. The point I am trying to land, is the promise of its initial two songs. They had quite the chemistry, simple in composition with the potential to manifest into something larger, instead the following songs felt all to similar for a seasoned Dungeon Synth explorer. I love this genre but the common theme of late seems to be initial excitement that dissipates into a familiarity. Some freshness Is what I seek.

Rating: 5/10

Bæst "Necro Sapiens" (2021)

 

Released in March of this year, this attempted behemoth of Death Metal disgust, Necro Sapiens, managed to slip under my radar! In previous efforts I've described Bæst as the Danish Bloodbath for similarities musically but more notably for the dense guttural roars of Simon Olsen which mirror that of legend Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth.

At forty four minutes this third record has felt like a meaty affair on every occasion. Its search of grandeur ever-present as grueling themes play out with an unrelenting intensity. Reaching for the epic, its march of brutality is a grinding one. The music gasps for breaths of air while strangulated by the demonic roars of Olsen who drowns out any melodic refrains to lighten the tone. That intensity seemingly holding it back.

As so often a Death Metal record does, an arsenal of riffs is lined up for assault. Necro Sapiens deploys all forms, from evil melodic inflections to slamming pummels of chugging palm mutes with all in between. The bad news is the lack of originality or freshness. At this point in a stagnant genre, the ideas have all been heard before and the arrangements in search of greatness seemed to fall ill of its own medicine.

I can hear the vision, a careful composition of riffs exchanging brutality and dramatic themes with its unruly lyrics peering into wretched biblical filth of angels and demons and the scourge of humanity. Its all to be expected however it just doesn't click! I'm left with nowhere to point for an excuse, the performance and execution is excellent, the record sounds wonderfully rich and powerful yet with every listen these songs fail to muster that adrenaline charged excitement. I'm left wondering is it me or the music?

Rating: 5/10

Den Sorte Død "Den Sorte Død" (2021)

All to keen to explore this newly discovered Berlin School niche, I snapped up this side project by Offermose. Now, I feel a little burned by an impulse decision. What I initially heard at a glance alludes me through this dreary bleak experience that Den Sorte Død is. Translated to The Black Death, its inspiration makes sense of its glumly harrowing tone that hopelessly drifts through a sombre graveness. Track after track drones with an empty loneliness devoid of hope and wallowing in defeat.

This context has given me a greater respect for the record but before learning of this, I was somewhat dulled by it, having anticipated a more adventurous set of songs. Instead its a grueling journey of pale sorrow, a defeated human spirit trapped in perpetual misery, drifting from place to place with no uplift insight. The occasional swells of dark and menacing music gives a sense of seeing the horrors, carcasses piled high and the burning of bodies, a particularly grim endurance for any soul.

 Without the context, these aesthetics gave me strong cosmic vibes. Atmospheric synthetic strings and meandering saw wave melodies painted the astral skies at night. Thus initially it reminded me more so of Grimrik. There is also a ghostly wobbling synth instrument suggestive of cheesy old school horror soundtracks. Because of this it all felt a bit empty, set in the vacuum of space with an eternally drifting nature. I've come to enjoy it more now, the ending of Det Tabte Slag being a memorable note as it descends into gristly and unsettled territory but otherwise I could of passed this one by.

Rating: 4/10

Cult Of The Damned "The Church Of" (2021)

 

UK Hip Hop collective Cult Of The Damned return for a beef seventy one minute sophomore record of straight rhymes and beats. The Church Of is stylistically stagnant with their formula unchanged. 90s beats and a production style leaning to the dark, gritty, sombre tones suiting the obnoxious, braggadocios and often self depreciating rhyme schemes. The group deploy their words with a scarcity of hook and chorus, putting a lot of pressure on their verses to carry the album. The backing instrumentals trend towards a subtler roll of tone setting and atmosphere building as opposed to rocking banging beats which it does with a handful of tracks.

With such a large set of tracks the cracks emerge after just a few listens as the quality of rhymes appear to diverge. The mostly Wu-Tang free association style gives the Cult a lot of creative room for pages of clever, witty and pun ridden rhymes. The issue is this record is a book and quickly do the best bits feel sparse between mediocrity as the beats loose keenness in repetition. Sticking to their exaggerated, unhinged, sleaze embracing personas the lyrical creativity feels stale with familiarity. Individuals cadences and tone of voices don't move a budge. Still fun and expressive but drawn out over this duration it gets a little dull with the overall temperament unable to shift.

Pushing off the criticism, there is greatness to be found here. All the beats are solid, however it always seems to be the stronger cuts that house my preferred verses. Norman's Theme, Gung Foo, Step, Good News and the dark and gristly nine minute epic Henry Shots, all have great chemistry. Once again Bill Shanks and Tony Broke are on great form with the better lines. It would I've been nice to hear more of Broke who is absent on too many of these tracks. To wrap it up, The Church Of doesn't move the needle stylistically or thematically in any direction, so there are no surprises from a group who's style doesn't always embody the highest standards.

Rating: 5/10

Hexenkraft "Gravity And Impact Volume I" (2021)

 

Within exception to the fifth of five tracks, this brief EP of two minute songs is quite the departure from the dark Synthwave sound Hexenkraft is known for. Still keeping its sense of diabolic mischief intact, the music pivots to a meld of momentous electronic aesthetic percussion and world building cinematic instrumentation. These brief encounters feel like an exploration into territory Ive heard with other artists before hand, an ambitious overlap between classical instrumentation, cinematic scores and lively yet ambiguous electronic production. The orchestration on Omega Arcane a keen memory of a style and feeling not to dissimilar from this one.

Retaining a little of its outer space evil chills, these compositions are grounded to earth by bold string sections, swells of horns and sprinklings of warm human melody. It feels at odds with its busy web of percussive noise that tend to equal the surges of sound its counterpart directs. The chemistry is just right, the two play off one another with tension and theatrics as the music ebbs and flows in a state of constant unrest. Quite the impressive step forward with more vision and image than melody or groove.

Its final song Light Of The Champion abridges the past with its arpeggio base synths and bright synthetic leads. With cheesy 80s synth tom drums it playing right into the Synthwave trope with not much of a connection to the chemistry heard in the four songs before. Perhaps it was the song that kicked off this new direction. Although brief in duration, this EP shows quite a matured evolution that I look forward to hearing more of in part two!

Rating: 4/10

Dynatron "Origins" (2021)

 

Home to Dan Terminus, Irreversible Mechanism & Chaos Moon, Blood Music has been a great spot to pick up music I know I'll enjoy. With the label offering up a new, sleek, nightly Synthwave album, I felt lured in for another round with a style I now know well. Origins doesn't offer up any surprises for this listener but serves as a masterful execution of ideas and aesthetics I'm fond of. New to Dynatron, this one man band and producer is fondly reminiscent of Oscillotron, Contact and Grimrik.

And with familiarity and the easy pace of this record, it very much becomes background music, distilling with its stylish cool atmosphere, free of worry and tension. As the percussion pounds with its rock steady marching groove, one breezes through the night lights with that common feeling of being safe in a warm automobile watching the passing lights go by. The synths are gorgeous, pristine and lush, they muster the power of the saw wave's gusto yet glide smoothly throughout this experience.

A surprise awaits in the opening as deep, dense and gristly distortion guitars add a thick wall of gravity to the mix with their lumbering chugging between drawn out power chords. The idea isn't revisited again as much of the albums focus shifts to ideas its brighter, bold melodic leads evoke. They play dazzling melodies with a progressive flair to them, its what reminded me most of the aforementioned Contact.

And so the nine tracks whirl by with their particular identities somewhat suppressed by the consistent tone and perpetual pounding of snare and base kick. It flirts with darkly distortion, textural noises that add some ambiguity. Its lead instruments steer a little alien, inhuman, cosmic and mischievous in places but never does it lean to hard on any of these details. Its all easy listening, night life Synthwave, executed stunningly but a tad underwhelming in its inability to escape the rich atmosphere it locks into.

Rating: 6/10