Rivers of Nihil – The Work (2021)

Rivers of Nihil were one of the American technical death metal bands that seemed to be a direct response to the tech death bands from before (the early 2000s to 2010) switching gears from more traditional death metal or metalcore to space themes and ambient moments, such as The Faceless and Obscura. Those bands in turn made their change in response to the originators of tech death changing to more philosophical themes such as Cynic and Atheist. And around this time, it wasn’t just death metal, but Prog as well, as Devin Townsend and Opeth finding their softer sides. So with this line of bands following each other footsteps, was it surprising that Rivers of Nihil would change from their tradition death metal to incorporating psychedelic elements on 2018’s Owls Know My Name?

The simple answer is no. By then, saxophone had well found it’s way into tech death, including on albums by The Faceless. But aside from what some might dismiss as a gimmick, the songwriting on that album was absolutely solid, and it was a joy of an album to explore. Their follow-up however, surprised even me, not only how good it was, but also how much ground they explore and territory they masterfully cover. Let’s dig in to 2021’s The Work.

Between the release of their of previous album, three major things (that I know of) happened for the band:

1. The release of Owls helped the band get to a point where they could tour for a living.

2. The success of Owls created a pressure for the band’s follow up, something they had not experienced at this kind of level before.

3. The COVID 19 Pandemic put all of that to a halt, much like it did for the rest of the world.

These newfound experiences put the idea of “work” into context for the band, something they explore thoroughly over the course of this 64+ minute record. Without going too much into the concept, it’s not just the actual work we go to in order to support ourselves and our families, but the work our body does everyday to keep us alive, the work we put into relationships, all the work that goes on in our world and in ourselves every second of every day. The band chooses to start this album on a theatrical note. The soft opening is not surprising, and it brings up memories of Autotheism by The Faceless. But what it lacks in memorability as opposed to that one, it makes up for setting the stage for this dramatic endeavor. The subtle change from major to minor key, the background vocals, and train like sound effects all help the song build up to a huge climax. The song comes back down, only to go straight into………

The huge and heavy riffs of “Dreaming Black Clockwork”. This song is equal parts djent from Meshuggah, industrial elements and vocals like Devin Townsend, and “black jazz” like the band Shining, thanks to the comping style of the saxophone. It has a soft and mysterious middle section that only returns to the heavy riffs. This is a great introductory track to the mechanical tones of this album in comparison to their previous ones. It also shows how the band break away from the saxophone as a soloing instrument, and instead as a flowing and continuous part of the ambiance of the album.

If the previous song reminded me of Devin Townsend at his heavier moments, “Wait” reminds me of some of his more tender moments. It is an odd follow up to have a softer song immediately after the previous one, but I think that jarring transition is exactly what the band was going for. After some screams in the middle and a classic rock climax with a bluesy solo, and transitions into the darker “Focus”. I love the dynamics in this song, from the bass heavy verse, to the middle eastern sounding guitar riff of the chorus.

“Clean” has some memorable heavy riffs and screamed vocal lines, but the star of the show is a psychedelic synth solo and bluesy guitar solo that comes perfectly in the middle of it all.“The Void From Which No Sound Comes” combines the industrial and ambient elements of “Focus” with a massive chorus and a perfectly executed saxophone solo. “MORE?” Is the most aggressive song on the album musically, lyrically, and vocally, and it interestingly transitions to a reprise of the intro track, appropriately named “Tower 2”.

“Episode” starts off like doom metal you’d expect from the band Swallow the Sun, and is greatly contrasted with its heavy parts that sound more like the band Behemoth. It has a few masterful guitar solos as well as an emotional climax with the repeated lyrics “Do the Work”. They close the album out with a pair of epic tracks. The first is the gorgeous 7 minutes ballad “Maybe One Day” which is simultaneously hopeful and questioning, climaxing with a slide guitar solo and the repeated lyrics “Is this the only way?”. The last song is the progressive metal masterpiece “Terrestria IV: Work” which weaves through so many twists and turns, finally culminating with our familiar lyric, “Do the work”.

Overall, some transitions from heavy songs to soft songs may be questionable, but they were definitely the intent of the band nonetheless. It with everything else on this album meticulously crafted, it would be hard to imagine that wasn’t the case. Still, it is a small gripe if I had to choose gripes. The album is an incredible experience from start to finish. Every song has merit and memorable sequences. I may have gotten around to this album late, but it has been one of my favorite recent experiences, and I would highly recommend it to any fan of metal, Prog, tech death, or even jazz, as it will surely be one of those albums that bridges the gap for listeners who are typically not into extreme metal, much like Cynic and Meshuggah have done.

Duncan Patterson – Grace Road (2022)

I have never written a review of an album I helped make before, but seeing that my contributions were minimal, I still feel able to write this without my personal bias getting in the way. In fact, my love for Duncan Patterson’s music is the bias we should be more worried about.

Duncan Patterson may be most famous for his early work with the band Anathema, but has artistically (I believe) chosen to remove himself from projects when they start to take a life of their own. Maybe he’s in constant search of artistic freedom. Maybe he just gets bored. Either way, Antimatter (which is now under the careful watch of Mick Moss) and Alternative 4 (the band named after the Anathema album he spearheaded) have put out their own masterpieces of goth meets doom meets classical meets movie soundtrack.

My contributions to this album were working with my drummer Fernando Guerrero and our friend Alicia Mitchell in recording background vocals to compliment the already amazing Enas Al Said (female vocals) as well as Duncan himself. We were given just the parts we needed to add, which seemed like self contained songs as they were. But hearing them in the context of the full tracks with all parts put together was a fascinating and rewarding experience.

The album itself is a short one. Just 5 tracks, a total of 34 minutes long. And the music is very easy going. It doesn’t demand much from the listener, but to get lost in its ethereal sound. “Absolut Absolutum” starts off by building up with a choir like sound for over a minute before abruptly cutting off. The main piano theme comes in, later joined by frail female vocals (Enas). About 5 minutes in, Duncan’s background vocals come in slowly and help introduce the drums, which carries the tune the rest of the way alongside Alicia’s voice, whose delicate touch sounds more like a violin. There are only 8 lines of lyrics, but Enas conveys them with emotion, and the song leaves plenty of space in between lines for the message to come across.

“The Quiet Light” is the longest track on the album, at 10 minutes. As opposed to the spacious classical feeling of the first track, this feels more like a ballad from the get go. The piano is the driving feature with sparse orchestral flourishes and Duncan vocals filling in the powerful performance by Enas. A flute like instrument carries the piece into its next section, which is a hypnotic but still ambient trip hop section. The dub style drums and repeated piano melody unexpectedly drop out for a haunting back and forth between voice, strings, keyboards, before Enas repeats the phrase “calling me home” over it. This builds until the ending of the track.

“Walking Between Worlds” might be my personal favorite off the record. This song has a strong Celtic influence, starting with the excellent drum beat and use of reverb on the drums and vocals. Enas loses a bit of her Middle Eastern tonal qualities as she instead channels her Sinead O’ Conner or Dolores from The Cranberries. The driving rhythm is broken up with a very moody back and forth between Enas and Alicia’s vocals, acting as the chorus. The flute comes back in the middle along with some drawn out chords and notes. It is a section that reminds me of old school Prog such as Genesis, Moody Blues, or Camel.

“The Amber Line” is the song that is most reminiscent to Duncan’s work in Anathema and Antimatter. A guitar driven track with a dark melody and a duo throughout from Duncan and Enas. I love how their vocals pair and build together throughout the piece. It has a stronger emphasis on the lyrics, as previous tracks had words that fluttered around. This one’s are precise and upfront. The layering and effects are fantastic, and the second half is a dark yet beautiful test of patience as the guitar melody repeats and the vocals come in and out of the track.

The last song is also the title track. “Grace Road” is a 5 minute instrumental that is a somber way to part with the record. Starting with just piano, the strings come in a minute later, and then choir like vocals after that. It continues to build in this way, sounding like something straight out of The Lord of the Rings, till it comes to its final note.

Each of these songs provides something special to the album, making the whole experience cohesive, relaxing, and introspective. It should be no surprise at this stage in his career that Duncan knows how to compose, but at this stage, he has found a wonderful balance between his family time to become self reliant, and release gorgeous pieces of music on his own, with the help of a few friends. It is a fantastic release, and I am proud to have contributed even a small amount to it. To listen, you can go to his bandcamp or message me (comment below) for free download codes!

Cult of Luna – The Long Road North (2022)

Cult of Luna by the time of this release had already established themselves as one of the “big three” of Post Metal alongside legendary bands Isis and Neurosis. They are known for their consistency and forward thinking approach. For me, they had already been a part of two of my favorite albums of all time, with Vertikal and Mariner (alongside American vocalist Julie Christmas). But their previous albums were no slouch either.

Following those two albums couldn’t have been easy, and I may have been tough on reviewing the follow up, 2019’s A Dawn to Fear and the companion EP, 2021’s The Raging River, which both did grow on me with repeated listens. But sometimes the biggest problem with ambient types of music is that it can get lost in the ambience, and forget about the song at its core. This is not the case with the shorter songs with clean vocals the band has every release for some time now, but some of the longer songs that have great riffs, but ultimately sound very similar.

Following quickly after those two releases, I hoped that this one would have a little more diversity, and while that’s not exactly what I found, I did connect with it a bit faster than with the previous two releases.

First and foremost, the album name, track listing, and album art are quintessential Cult of Luna atmosphere, so much so that you can’t believe it already hadn’t happened. For a band who has traveled musically and lyrically through countryside, cities, and even space, a journey through snow and barren lands is the perfect setting for their cold, dark, moody feel.

“Cold Burn” opens the album much like “The Silent Man” did for A Dawn to Fear and “Three Bridges” for The Raging River. It’s a driving song with brief melodic moments. But what they brilliantly do here is lull you into a false sense of security. When “The Silver Arc” comes in right after with a similar sense of urgency, you think it’s gonna be more of the same. But when it’s beautiful droning middle section complete with a bright bass tone you would hear on a record by The Cure or Tool appears, it hypnotizes you.

“Beyond I” the first surprise of the album comes at the perfect time. I shouldn’t say surprise since soft songs on their album are becoming expected, as well as guest vocalists, but they are what I look forward to since they provide so much needed contrast. Mariam Wallentin’s voice is haunting on this keyboard driven track with no drums. It reminds me of AA Williams, especially on her split with Mono. The band intelligently follow this up with the slow building “An Offering to the Wind”. With the tension and atmosphere of a Western film, the flow of the album starts to take shape, with its peaks and valleys mimicking the very landscape it describes.

After it’s epic climax, the album brings itself down again with the ballad “Into the Night”. Whereas “Beyond I” was more electronic and industrial driven, this one continues the country and western feel the band started on the previous track. It starts slow and brooding, building half way in to a full band ballad, with very unusual chord progressions. It reminds me of Radiohead almost, due to a mellotron keyboard tone, and a crooning vocal style. It is a different style for the band. Very ambient, and it shows their continued confidence in the variety of clean vocals. And while the sporadic appearances on these track listings don’t signify a complete change, this middle dip of forward thinking songs bookended by the heavier, driving tracks is what gives this album its wonderful and consistent flow.

Continuing with this thought process, the band does not just randomly pick it back up with immediate heaviness and urgency. They slowly build it up once more time with the short instrumental “Full Moon”, a beautiful blend of the country and western feel of the last two songs, with the electronic/industrial keyboard heavy tones of “Beyond I” all mixed together. The subtle changes of tone yet constant flashbacks to past themes gives this album cohesion, and flows perfect into “The Long Road Home”, which starts with some incredible slide guitar work.

Eventually the title track brings that intensity felt on the first two songs. The band really take their time on this album, in the best possible way. The title track is filled with fantastic dynamics and the production really shines on this one as you hear layering that simultaneously make you think of the cityscapes of Vertikal, the space of Mariner, and the countryside of Somewhere Along the Highway. Aside from obvious post metal references, bands and projects like Agalloch, NIN, Author and Punisher also come to mind.

“Blood Upon the Stone” the last real song and second longest song, acts as an epic closer, and doesn’t take as long as “An Offering to the Wild” to get going. Using the momentum from the previous track, it gets right into it. The extended middle section with delayed guitars, consistent drumming and subtle keyboard tones turns into an explosion of dissonant and post rock goodness. The vocals return over a repeated melody a builds to an incredible climax worthy of finishing off this group of songs. But Cult of Luna don’t leave you hanging.

The album officially closes with “Beyond II”, which is an ambient piece of drone, classical, and industrial, all mixed together. It was created alongside Colin Stetson who also helped provide soundscapes on “An Offering to the Wild”. Normally I’m not the biggest fan of instrumental ambient noise closing out an album. But after such a massive track and complete journey, I can see the need for it here. It eventually fades out, and leaves you ready to re-experience it all.

It’s always hard for a band to live up to a fan favorite. And while Cult of Luna might be in the fortunate position to not have one distinct one, they have certainly created a mountain for themselves to climb over on each new release. But the band gives off the impression that they don’t care… in the sense that they have nothing to prove, and aren’t making albums for anyone in particular. They do what they want to. Some aspects of that are new, some are what they do best. But they’re not going to completely change over night for new fans, nor are they going to stay the same for the old ones. And each new release has something new to give, but it will always sound like Cult of Luna. It’s up to you how much you want to invest in finding the differences. But don’t expect to write it off entirely as just another new album by them.

Zeal and Ardor – Wake of a Nation EP (2020)

Like the previous two releases by the band, it’s hard to explain this new release by Zeal and Ardor without explaining how the band first got it’s start.

Manuel Gagneux would post on 4chan, asking people to combine two genres together. He would then make a song blending the two styles, as a challenge to himself. When someone posted black metal, and another posted n***** music, he could have gotten mad, but instead, he ran with it, and asked the question, “what if American slaves embraced Satan instead of Jesus?”.

The result was a song in 2013, a demo in 2014, and a full length in 2016.

Two albums later, Zeal and Ardor sounds like no other band. The heaviness, instrumentation, and darkness of black metal combined with the soul and power of negro spirituals, not to mention the influence of some industrial music. They were able to confront a part of history that wouldn’t feel right by almost any other metal band. And despite the racist parts of black metal brought in by NSBM bands (National Socialist Black Metal), Gagneux said there was a lot of similarities in the two styles fueled by rebellion.

But the year 2020, brought something else to the forefront, during the COVID 19 pandemic. While the world was in lockdown, the murder of George Floyd brought protests, civil unrest, and frustration. And while deaths of black people by the hands of white cops was something that had sparked controversy in the past, the lockdown and social media took it to heights it had never seen before. The world took notice, and protests happened everywhere.

Emanuel wrote a batch of songs in response to what he was seeing, and knew that it had to be its own thing. It wouldn’t fit with the new Zeal and Ardor material he was working on, and yet, Zeal and Ardor had to be the metal band to talk about it, like they were with slavery.

This become Wake of a Nation, and the artwork said it all; two police batons creating an inverted cross.

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The album starts with “Vigil”, and the piano ballad element sounds like a complete transformation before their quintessential sound comes in on the chorus. It does not hide, or shy away. It directly starts out:

You took all we had away
You’re quick to call it sick
But we’ve been damned to say
“I can’t breathe, it’s a cellphone
Please don’t shoot, I need to get home
I’m on my knees begging please”

So you’re just following orders
They just keep falling on us
How many more will it last?
Why not just take all of us?

Due to its intense nature, I can see this one becoming not only the favorite of this EP, but a standard in Zeal and Ardor setlists for years to come.

Next is “Tuskegee” which is about the infamous Syphilis Study from 1932 to 1972. 600 African American men were observed for untreated syphilis. 399 of them were diagnosed with it, but were never told what they really had (they were told they had “bad blood”), they were never treated despite syphilis becoming treatable by penicillin in 1947, they did not receive the free health care they were promised, and were given placebos and other ineffective treatments. They were never warned of the symptoms, or the fact that it could be spread to others. 128 of them died to complications, 40 wives had contacted it, and 19 children had it passed on to them.

You can see why this is such an angry song, compared to the sadness snd frustration of the first one, and we quickly see both sides of Zeal and Ardor’s arsenal. This contains some of the best black metal shrieks and low growls in the band’s short existence. It also ties to what we are currently seeing with vaccination rollout, as communities of color continue to struggle with trusting healthcare officials after so many instances like this one. An informative, and hard hitting song.

“At the Seams” keeps a steady rock beat as it goes back and forth between a two piano note ballad feel to it’s heavy black metal counterpart. The softer parts show the diversity of his singing voice with harmonies snd some nice lows. The heavy moments feel like the climax of a post rock song. It even has spoken German at the end saying:

“He told you he couldn’t breathe
For eight minutes
A scream in the dark”

Before letting out an appropriate bloodcurdling scream to finish the song.

“I Can’t Breathe” is a minute long interlude with real soundclips from protests, news reports, and cellphone footage on top of an industrial rhythm and some emotional wordless vocals. My only complaint is that it comes at a weird place, when I feel it would have had more effect at the beginning or end. This goes straight into:

“Trust No One”. Probably the most similar song to their past two releases, it has the call and response elements of the clean vocals, then switches to black metal, for the remainder of the song. It is sludgier than “Tuskegee”, and reminds me of Deafheaven, who must have rubbed off a bit on their tour a few years ago.

The final track is the title track, which sees the call and response at its most complex. This is all done over some NIN bass/keyboard tones, and is heavier than any song with hand claps should be. The layering is incredible, and again, it could have been a great opener, but is interestingly placed as the closer.

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My problems with the album are solely with the length and track order. Almost every song feels too short. Some could have benefited from another verse or chorus. Some could have benefited from an extra section. Some could have benefited from switching locations. But that said, every song brings something special to this release. They all could be done live and will enhance their already excellent live show. And maybe that’s where these songs will really flourish. But this EP as a whole leaves me wanting another song at least. The material is good and worthy of praise. And I’m sure there’s so much more that the band could have said.

I guess, as is the case with most EPs, it will hold us over until the next release. But I also think it was a very smart move to get it out as quickly as possible to be with the times as they were happening. It is a time stamp, and will always elicit emotions upon each re-listen, as we are transported back to the spring and summer of 2020.

I would love to see the band tackle more material like this, but even if they don’t, this was a powerful release, and one that shouldn’t be forgotten. We are fortunate that Zeal and Ardor took it up to themselves to say something for the metal community during these trying times, and release an album in the name of George Floyd, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and so many others.

2016 Album Review #9

Divinity – The Immortalist, Pt. 1 – Awestruck (Nuclear Blast Records)

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Divinity is a death metal band from Calgary, Alberta, Canada that combines elements of technical death metal with melodic death metal. The band came from crossing of paths between singer Sean Jenkins with guitarist James Duncan while they were both in high school. The band released their first solid EP in 2002, and later their first studio album in 2007. Their second album, The Singularity, quickly became one of my favorite technical death metal albums, and I have been hooked on them ever since. After a brief hiatus, the band returned in 2013 with the first part of a trilogy concept album. Each of the three EPs would contain 4 songs based on a lyrical and musical story. Their former bassist became a 2^nd vocalist, and this is really prevalent in the shaping and changing of their sound.  Musically, the sound goes back and forth between sounding like Swedish melodic death metal bands such as Soilwork, Dark Tranquility, In Flames, and At The Gates, and the technical death metal bands of Canada such as Quo Vadis, Beyond Creation, Into Eternity, and Cryptopsy. All of this is mixed with a healthy does of influence by industrial metal bands like Devin Townsend, Strapping Young Lad, and Fear Factory. I love how the album seems to progress more and more as it goes on. It starts out fast and heavy, and adds more melody and diversity towards the end of the album. This EP is an excellent release that is sure to please any fan of extreme metal, and it does a great job of allowing fans to be excited for the other two releases that are part of the trilogy.

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Album Score: 9/10

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– Jordan Salfity

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Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/divinitymetal/

Website: http://www.divinity.ca/

2016 Album Review #5

Dan Sugarman is most known as the lead guitarist of Los Angeles based deathcore band As Blood Runs Black, but after this debut instrumental album, Centersun, I am sure that’s about to change. Now I’m not saying that Dan is breaking any new ground here or reinventing the way that guitar is played. I am simply saying this: Dan has released the right album at the right time.

Instrumental shred guitar albums come in waves of popularity. Sometimes they feel fresh, and sometimes they are saturated to death. Dan is using his knowledge and experience of technical death metal to create a very groovy and jazzy album. The way that metal fans that are not musicians can enjoy Animals as Leaders or Jeff Loomis’s solo albums is exactly what Dan has accomplished here. Not to mention, Dan has some of metal’s current best guitarists for guest solos, such as Francesco Artusato, Scott Carstairs, and Angel Vivaldi.

Throughout this album, traces of different bands can definitely be heard such as the groove of As Blood Runs Black and the technicality of The Faceless. It also reminds me a lot of Within the Ruins, Fallujah, and After the Burial. That is the beauty of the album. Dan is going to appeal to a lot of fans of music because he is able to go in and out of many different styles in a short amount of time.

Dan has also been very smart in his promotion of the album. His funny music videos and attention to detail has allowed this album to make immediate waves. That kind of forward thinking is going to take him far in this music business, and I am positive that it is only going to progress more and more as time goes on. I applaud Dan for having the courage to take the spotlight. I wish him all the best.

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2016 Album Review #1

Steven Wilson – 4 1/2 – 9.0/10

(Review Originally Posted on Nocturnal Hall Magazine. The link to the original can be found here: http://www.nocturnalhall.com/reviews/W/wilson_41-2_e.html)

I have never been shy in expressing my admiration for English musician and producer STEVEN WILSON, and highly anticipate any new release by him. So you could imagine my excitement at the announcement of a new EP a year after his last album, Hand.Cannot.Erase. That album was my favorite release of the year 2015, and I was lucky enough to see him twice on the album’s subsequent tour. At one of those shows, he played a new song, titled Song X at the time. Now in January of 2016, we know that song is called My Book Of Regrets, and we know that it starts off this EP known as 4 ½. The idea behind this EP is that it is a compilation of songs that have been left off his past couple of solo releases. However, simply in releasing a compilation, STEVEN WILSON is still able to bring about such a level of flow that is unparalleled by any other musician. These seemingly unrelated songs seem to have a concept behind them, despite being written at different times and despite being written with different mindsets. My Book Of Regrets is a 9 and a half-minute piece with many twists and turns. From a great verse and chorus to the intricate solos towards the end, this song has it all. It also has lyrics from the point of view of a detached woman in the backseat of a London taxi. The next song is Year Of The Plague, a beautiful instrumental of simple guitar arpeggios and nostalgic violin lines. It is nostalgic, sad, but also hopeful, and is a wonderful transition between the first song and the next song. Happiness III is a more straightforward song with an incredibly catchy chorus. Originally written around 2003, thematically it relates to the detached lyrics of My Book Of Regrets, despite being from the point of view of an entirely different character. Sunday Rain Sets In and Vermillioncore are excellent instrumentals, which show the jazzy and virtuosic abilities of the members of the Steven Wilson band. The EP ends with a reworking of a Porcupine Tree song with Israel singer Ninet Tayeb during the chorus and Theo Travis playing saxophone during the middle section. Overall, this EP shows the talent of all of the members inSTEVEN WILSON’s current band, it shows STEVEN’s ability to write many different styles of music, and it shows that songs that were left off of albums deserve a second chance, because they may end up fitting perfectly with a group of different songs in the future.

2015 Album Review #25

(Review originally posted by That Metal Station. Link to original can be found here: http://thatmetalstation.com/brave-the-waters-chapter-1-dawn-of-days-self-released/)

Brave the Waters – Chapter 1: Dawn of Days – 8.0/10

Brave the Waters is a project consisting of just two members by the names of Tom Anderer and Rick Habeeb. These two met in 2012 when Rick joined Tom’s band, Buckshot Facelift. Also around that same time, Tom joined Rick’s band Grey Skies Fallen because they were in need of a new bass player. Three years later, the two of them collaborated and this is the result. Brave the Waters is much different than Grey Skies Fallen and Buckshot Facelift because it is not a metal band by any means necessary. Perhaps at best, it is reminiscent of the more calmer moments found on certain Grey Skies Fallen, but it is definitely something new entirely.

Their first release is just 6 tracks long and clocks in about 18 minutes. The entire endeavor is instrumental and contains no drums. Tom focuses on bass guitar and acoustic guitar playing. His bass lines are nice and prevalent as he focuses on the higher register of the instrument. His acoustic playing helps to fill out the background. Rick focuses on the guitar lines, which are the majority of the album. Rick extensively uses a Big Sky reverb pedal, which in my opinion is one of the best in the business when trying to create an ethereal and atmospheric quality.

The members explain that this release was “recorded one sunny weekend during the summer of 2014 at Audio Playground, Long Island”. Keith Morrow who owns the studio also has worked on almost all of Grey Skies Fallen’s releases. The release works great as background music and helps capture that sunny element with its bright tones and post-rock like chord progressions. There is not a lot of diversity to this release, so don’t go into it expecting a wild roller coaster ride. Go into it with your eyes closed, relax, and enjoy the world around you. Really hope that Rick and Tom continue with this project, and that we will see another release really soon.

– Jordan Salfity

Bandcamp Page: bravethewaters.bandcamp.com/releases

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/bravethewaters

2015 Album Review #24

(Review originally posted by That Metal Station. Link to original can be found here: http://thatmetalstation.com/obedience-to-dict%E2%88%86tor-hogzilla-self-released/)

OBEDIENCE TO DICT∆TOR – Hogzilla EP – 8.0/10

OBEDIENCE TO DICT∆TOR is a death metal band from Italy. They released a single in March of 2014 as well as a split EP with a band called Strider in July of 2014. That same month, they compiled the two songs together with two other songs and released their debut EP, The Greater of Two Evils. The music on the EP consisted of old school death metal that had moments of both thrash influence and a hint of technical death metal influence. This middle ground showed influence and tribute to the greats like Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, and Morbid Angel, while sounding closer to contemporaries such as Aeon.

A year later, they released their second EP, called Hogzilla. This EP shows much improvement over that first one in terms of songwriting as well as in terms of production. Obviously, the sound is much clearer and hits much harder (which is always a good thing in terms of this style of music). The aggressive borderline thrash vocals remain, reminding me of bands like Repulsion, but the music definitely sounds more modern. With more influence from modern technical death metal bands, there are moments of atmosphere on this album, which is always a good thing for a band to have some diversity.

The first song, “Grimlock Overload” is a straight up assault, but their second track, “Solar Warden” sees more prevalent technical riffs as well as robotic sounding spoken sections. The end of “Megabong” gets very melodic and is one of my favorite moments on the album. “The New Lords” is actually a segment of music created by composer Mark Isham for the movie version of “The Mist”, which builds up nicely to the last track on the album. “Let Me Sleep (We Have to Fight)” is the longest track on the album, and also makes use of the most dynamics.

Overall, there are a lot of positive qualities about this EP. The band pays tribute to classic death and thrash metal bands while progressing forward with a more technical and melodic approach. It makes me excited to see what this band is going to do the next time.

– Jordan Salfity

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ObedienceToDictator

Bandcamp Page: http://obediencetodictator.bandcamp.com/

2015 Album Review #23

(Review originally posted by Nocturnal Hall Magazine. Link to original can be found here: http://www.nocturnalhall.com/reviews/G/gsf_introspective_e.html)

Grey Skies Fallen – Introspective/Along Came Life Double EP – 9.0/10

After the 2006 release of Two Way Mirror by GREY SKIES FALLEN, the future was uncertain. Several difficulties made it seem like there was not going to be another album for the band. In 2010, the band decided that it would be easier to release a digital only EP rather than another new full length. Another digital only EP followed two years after the first one. In 2014, the band was eventually able to find their ground and return to releasing full lengths with a stable lineup. Now, a year after their first full-length album in eight years, the band has decided to go back and give those two digital only EPs a physical release. This happened in the form of a double EP where the two discs are packaged together in a 6-panel digipak complete with lyrics, album artwork, and notes for both EPs. Aside from the beautiful artwork that Travis Smith did for both EPs, the music shows GREY SKIES FALLEN at the top of their game. Their 2010 EP, Along Came Life, starts with two of my favorite songs that the band has ever done. These songs are called Grand Scheme Of Things andBy The Wayside. They pick off where Two Way Mirror left off, focusing on clean vocals and strong melodies. Forever And A Day returns to the heavier style of GREY SKIES FALLEN. It sounds like it would fit perfectly on Tomorrow’s In Doubt, as the focus is on chunky riffs and aggressive vocals. The EP concludes with Along Came Life, which is another softer song with great guitar work and a fantastic finish. The second disc, Introspective, is an overall heavier EP. This one feels extremely reminiscent of Tomorrow’s In Doubt. The songs are full of great riffs, complete with powerful vocals and a hint of atmosphere in the background. They are also full of upbeat moments while still having a progressive attitude by going back and forth between clean vocals and growls. The soft moments are very beautiful and emotional. The EP ends with a 21-minute epic, which is sure to be a favorite amongst fans of progressive music. Overall, this is a well thought out package of music that is filled with great songs from start to finish.