Behemoth "A Forest" (2020)

The ground shaking, triumphant beam of blasphemy that was Blow Your Trumpets, Gabriel has had me with a keen eye on the Polish Blackened Death Metal legends since The Satanist's release back before I started this blog. Despite knowing they could be capable of more surprises, I picked up this EP with little in the way of expectations, a Cure cover and accompanying live version pained their music in a grim darkened tone that lacked much in the way of excitement, not to mention the guest vocals that are a little wretched, strained and stretched out of tune.

Shadows Ov Ea Cast Upon Golgoth plunges into a grim shadowy realm for a mid tempo track led by aggressive tom drum pummeling that tends to circle the waters in the way of progression a little guitar solo and thunderous ending do little to offer much in the way of gratification from this brief journey into its uneasy state of darkness.

Evoe on the other hands chops up some brighter tuneful, for extreme music, guitar riffs to oppose its dives into double pedal rattling groans of evil. At the mid point the song bursts open, a competent but hastily performed solo sort of achieving what the track before couldn't. I had a feeling It wasn't really worth forking over the dosh but I was curious and in all reality this is a really weak release from a band with a far higher bar of quality, even on an EP. Given these crazy times we are living through, maybe they were just looking to throw out something for the sake of sustenance.

Favorite Track: Evoe
Rating: 2/10

My Weekend At Download Festival 2019

Going for both Saturday and Sunday this year I had some miraculous fortune being in the right places at the right time to miss out on the rain. There was no avoiding the mud though! Not a lick of grass insight, the arena was a mud bath but I got through it and had a fantastic time. Once again the festival delivers on a magic I manage to convince myself is going to run out as the years roll and this year was no exception, the headliners really delivered something special. This year I thought I'd right about the highlights, good and bad, despite catching many more acts over the two days!

Power Trip
I saw this band not so long ago opening for Napalm Death in a small club and they blew me away with their 80s Slayer-alike Thrash Metal. It was great to know they could grab the attention of the festival organizers but a main stage slot was unexpected however given what a mighty show they put on it is no surprise. There strong songwriting for a tried and tested formula really matched the crowd and the probably won over a lot of new fans with an explosive show!

Behemoth
It was my first time catching the Devilish legends Behemoth, their music was a strange translation to summer sunny skies on the main stage but impressive costume design and stage makeup made it work. The performance was engaging and tearing through some strong at utterly dark songs they really made quite the impression as a band I need to get more familiar with!

The Hu
 There was no way I was missing the opertunity to see a Mongolian Metal band! Squeezing into a rammed tent the crowd was electrified to see a really unique and almost drone like vibe emerge from the fusion of Metal and native Mongolian instruments. It went by in a flash! I had checked them out before but this live show really helped bridge a gap in their music.

Batushka

Making their way onto my highlights list for all the wrong reasons. Russian Orthodoxy inspired Batushka had me dead excited for their notorious live show, however taking an age to to set up an elaborate stage of era furnishings and ornaments, their slow arrival to the stage became a drag. Going through some sort of slow candle lighting ceremony they took far to long, overplayed their set time and took more than five minutes between the three songs they churned though doing dull rituals of candle lighting and blessing books. It was a sham and they angered a lot of fans with the poor execution of their show. It did not translate to festival restraints.

Die Antwood
 Hear the booming bass from the Tent where Batushka were dampening spirits I was dead excited to catch the quirky South African Rave Rap duo! Unfortunately I only caught the trail end of their set however it was an absolute riot! The sound system was blaring and their energy on the stage was phenomenal. I couldn't help but move. Its really nice to have something break the flow of similar music being played around the festival. Would have loved to have seen more of it, shame about set overrun but these things happen.

Slipknot
 Prior to the show I had been feeling a little hesitant with Joey and now Fenn's departure. It was however a dynamite show from a band who seemed focused on giving us the absolute best. Corey Taylor was pitch perfect and ten years on from one of the greatest shows Id ever seen, the Knot proved they still have it! It was very emotional, strong memories of my social groups bonding over this band in our youth and that feeling of freedom when your inside the song, inside the moment, free of life's burdens. Only a few bands can do that and Slipknot is one of them, with deep cuts like Get This and Scissors it felt truly special.

Cane Hill

 With delays for fans entering the arena Cane Hill has to kick off Sunday to a small crowd however they gave it their all and a being at the front one could get a better appreciation of guitarists unique playing style and use of effects. As a band they have obvious influences from Korn and Nu-Metal however it made clear that they are bringing their own style and it rocked hard!

Alcest
 Ive been waiting a fair few years for my opportunity to catch Alcest and they did not disappoint! Their serine music translated beautifully to the intimacy of the small stage and their enchanting singing was captivating. The sound was impeccable and these songs came to life on the stage! Wonderful set.

Whitechapel
 Ive never gotten that deep into this Deathcore band however of the times I have seen them they have always been killer. Clearly oversold on the smallest stage, a rammed audience squeezed in and despite being at the back, barely able to see the stage the sound was impeccable. Their trio of baritone guitars were crushing and they soared through a brutal set of tracks. Perhaps this is an advantage of listening from next to the sound desk!

Smashing Pumpkins
 They feel somewhat like a recent discovery for me. Its always 90s bands that seem to get to my heart and I would have been thrilled for this show had I not seen them earlier in the year. It seems they are good friends with Amalie Bruun of Myrkur. They brought her out to do a Black Sabbath cover together which has a special atmosphere to it. Their show was reasonable, amazing set design but It feels like they have ambled through the last fifteen years missing out on the opertunity to establish themselves as a headline act. Billy's stage presence is left to be desired between songs but the performances themselves were fantastic.

Slayer
Its farewell to the legendary Slayer from this side of the pond. I would of loved to see the whole show but the beginning was absolute fire and ever over thirty years into it they can still pull of their songs with a manic intensity. Tom sounded fierce and the live show is certainly not the reason they are calling it curtains. There was a huge fan turn out for the legends but I had to leave early to get my spot for Tool.

Tool

They have been my band of choice to "get into" this year. Many, many hours churning through their discography, which seemed so difficult to get at first. Having got through every record I made the drive north listening to Tool and really starting to connect with the music in anticipation. Live music always has this magic and I shouldn't of been surprised to have it unleashed again. At first the show felt a little underwhelming, no cameras on the band and nothing but trippy visuals plastered across the big screens. It didn't take long for me to realize how much the band wanted the show to be about the music. Their flawless executions of dense and difficult music became a beacon of light and all of a sudden I felt that "strangeness" around their music disappear. It made complete sense, I was converted to a die hard fan and blasted nothing but Tool on the late drive home too. An utterly amazing show to end the weekend on.

Behemoth "I Loved You At Your Darkest" (2018)

 Its been four years since The Satanist gate crashed the larger expanses of the Metal scene with a commercial breakthrough. My comments as to why are based only on meager looks into their back catalog of an additional ten records. A transition from their Norwegian inspired Black Metal roots to a Death Metal hybrid, bolstering tight playing and grinding of commonplace techniques gave way to a greater sense of theme and theater that resonated. I found myself lured into the grand and thematic approach to darkness heard on that record, as it would seem many did and so they have returned on this vein again. The Satanist made it into My Top Albums Of 2014 list, however no post exists as it was before I started this music blog.

The album opens with Solve, we hear an unhallowed choir of children sing their cries of committal against Christ as the guitars brood, fading them out of focus as a couple bursts of cushioned yet bruising blast beats errupt. It sets a tone for nefarious, illustrious atmospheres, wicked visions and the unruly conjuring of satanic spirits. The following music aims its sights to invoke a grueling darkness with its respite between the follies of pummeling drums, expansive guitar work and obedient screams of service to the dark lord. It is not without its helping of gravitating blast beats and grinding, evil guitars but most these songs make their mark with new and different approaches that look at the music beyond the scope of atypical Extreme Metal.

It is perhaps "unfortunate" for these veterans that when their music falls back on the genres hallmarks it finds strength and unsurprisingly a brilliance counterpart to their artistic intent, for the albums better songs, tracks like Sabbath Mater, find a magical balance where the majority of the music is rode forth by this expectancy and the flair of artistry erupts in its wake. A guitar solo leads us out of its expectant grind through an expansive flow of uplifting acoustic guitars before driving us into its hellish conclusion. Bursts of relentless blast beats exchange blows against the visionary roar of trumpets, strings and screams of torment that swell in the swaying back and forth.

A fair amount of the songs gravitate around its expansive, atmosphere driven approach to dark, satanic themes. Its can be hit or miss, although the record maintains its commitment to a hellish world of deviance with an intriguing arrangement of instruments that doesn't always strike gold. Simultaneously there are moments where they do. Maybe its a matter of taste but unlike The Satanist, some of these dark alluring visuals conjured through roars of devoted voices and the subtle inclination of stringed instruments don't reach the same heights. It does what's expected where its predictable and lingers adrift from greatness in its most ambitious narrative. Despite this nitpicking of response to their ungodly music, its a fully formed enjoyable record.

Favorite Tracks: God = Dog, Bartzabel, Angelvs XIII, Sabbath Mater, We Are The Next 1000 Years

Rating: 8/10

Behemoth "Xiądz" (2015)

Following the successful and critically acclaimed "The Satanist", Polish legends Behemoth give us another appetizer of leftovers, the title track "Nieboga Czarny Xiądz" from "The Satanist", a rerecording of a very early song "Moonspell Rites" from the same recording session and "Towards The Dying Sun We March"  from 2009s "Evangelion". Behemoth are well respected within the metal community, once an atypical Black Metal band they evolved from the shrill, dingy, low-fi, occult sound into a beastly, aggressive musical force, incorporating elements of Death Metal and creating the term "Blackened Death Metal", referring to the fusion between the two styles. In recent years there leanings have turned a little towards their routes from a thematic sense and this short EP is no shift from that path.

The second track "Moonspell Rites" makes for a fascinating listen when compared against its 1994 original. The thin, narrow grisly guitars and a clanging snare don't detach the music from its charm. Even with a lush, modern recording it couldn't offer the song much more than its original, with an ugly, harsh aesthetic. On the newer recording the solo is a little buried, as opposed to the originals gleaming tone bursting out over hazy walls of distortion guitar. Still the modern version is enjoyable, but there is a lesson to be learned.

The opening track "Nieboga Czarny Xiądz" is by far the records best track, its quality makes me question why it was left out of the track listing, but that perhaps is testament to the bands craft. The song opens with a temperate and steady atmosphere that aimlessly wanders through itself before, a few minutes in, seemingly imploding into a lavish smothering of melodic dissonance that oozes over with enigmatic guitar chords and a subtle eerie organ adding a spice to the moment. Although the track doesn't progress much further with this break, it was a beautiful moment on the record that had me playing it over and over.

 "Towards The Dying Sun We March" didn't have quite the same charm, a contained track slowly brooding and evolving through timing oriented riffs and ideas that climaxed with a slow drawn out bludgeoning riff and rung out chords that didn't amount to much. A fair song but paled by the other tracks. Decent but short, never a lot to talk about for a three track but at least a song to return to with  "Nieboga Czarny Xiądz".

Favorite Song: Nieboga Czarny Xiądz 

Rating: 4/10

My Top 10 Albums Of 2014

The end of the year is upon us, and now its time to write about my 10 favorite albums of 2014. Most of them have been reviewed on the blog which has only been going a few months. Writing about music has given me tremendous focus when it comes to appreciating music. I am now much more organized with my listening habits, I only write about records after I feel an understanding and connection to that without the blog wouldn't have been the same in the past. I'm thankful for this blog and everyones support by reading the articles, Its improved my musical experience greatly and this article will cover my thoughts of each record in brief.

(10) Panopticon "Roads To The North" Link

Delightfully different approach to Black Metal, Kentucky folk influences, an appreciation of heritage and culture made this a colorful and palleted record that is enjoyable on every listen.

(9) Yagya "Sleepygirl" Link

 

Not an especially distinguished or grabbing record, this was just simply what I wanted from this artist, some chilled out super mellow dreamy electronics.

(8) Earth "Primitive And Deadly" Link

A masterful record that saw long running band Earth find their inspiration and direct it into a mature and well developed record that brought vocal elements into their usually instrumental sound. An unexpected and welcome suprise.

(7) Erang "We Are The Past" Link

Erang has pumped out a lot of music in a short amount of time and each record brings a variety of interesting and indulgent music, but unexpectedly this one really stepped up the game with some of his most inspired and captivating music yet. Makes me excited for the future of this project.

(6) Wolves In The Throne Room "Celestite"

Stripping out core elements of their sound and focusing on the abstract synthesizer sounds, the group made a remarkable record that goes on a vivid and mysterious journey through space and time with and eerie and cold undertone. Gripping soundscapes

 (5) Behemoth "The Satanist"

Stunningly dark, evil and well composed. What could of been another run of the mill album for their 10th effort turned out to be focused and ambitious record that despite sitting in a comfort zone, turned out to be monumentally engrossing and heavy.

(4) The Underachievers "Cellar Door - Terminus Ut Exordium" Link

A pleasant surprise to find a Hip Hop record in the modern era I could get into. Very much enjoyed the atmosphere of this record which borders some dark moods at time. Great beats and flows outside of my comfort zone made this an expansive record for my taste.

(3) Saor "Aura" Link

A brilliant record that appreciates Black Metals melodic side, bringing together the abrasive aesthetics with culturally inspired melodies and instrumentation. A pleasure for the ears.

(2) Messenger "Illusory Blues" Link

A Progressive Rock record that draws inspiration from many of the greats while creating its own identity. This record is mature for a debut and paves the way to a bright future for this creative band.

(1) First Aid Kit "Stay Gold" Link

Picking my favorite was as easy as it gets. Since I first heard this record Ive found myself more and more engrossed by these gorgeous songs that are charming and relate-able with down to earth, uplifting and reflectional lyrics that are driven home by the pairs beautiful voices, which put me in a good mood every time I hear them. Simply can't stop listening to this one.