Superterrestrial: The Void That Exists (Green Flaw Productions) [Paul Scoble]
Superterrestrial are a British 2 piece, who have released 1 album before this album 2018’s Ocean Of Emptiness. The band play Black Metal inspired by the dark, cold depths of interstellar space. The band class their sound as being Ethereal or Ambient Black metal. Although the bands sound is very reminiscent of what is becoming known as Space or Astral Black Metal. There is a definite similarity with some of the bands using that classification; bands like Voidshere, The Negative Bias, Stellar Descent or Starless Domain. The album pretty long at 42 minutes (in fact I thought this was an album until I saw everyone else calling it an EP, but is an album), and 7 tracks. Most of the tracks have the same basic template. The songs are a mix of very dense, harsh blast beats, with insanely taut tremolo picked riffs, and very ambient sections of synth-wave style dungeon electronica. The riffs are some of the best harsh riffs you will hear. If you thought Black Metal inspired by frozen tundras were cold, you need to hear some inspired by the frozen depths of space.
That’s Minus 50℃ versus Minus 273℃, space is so much colder; and so are these riffs. If you get excited at how cold the riffs are in some very well known second wave black metal albums, prepare to be re-educated on how cold a riff can be. The Dungeon Synth parts are very cold and void like as well, all warmth and feeling has been systematically removed from this album and the result is fantastically hostile. The vocals are very harsh and shrill, if a black hole had a voice this is what it would sound like. After saying all that, there is a little warmth; Earlier in this review is said ‘most’ of the tracks had a cold feeling to them. Final track Morton Wave, has a warmer, more melodic feel to it. The track is 10 minutes long and does have blast beats and tremolo picked riffs, but they are slower, with more melody. The keyboard sections have more warmth and tunefulness, the band have saved all the warmth till the end. In many ways the album ending this way emphasises the coldness of the rest of the record. The track also feature an amount of layering of riffs and keyboards, that gives the track a huge feeling of depth. The Void That Exists is a stunning album.
It’s cold and desolate (just like the depths of space), but does also have some warmth and musicality. It’s deeply original, and is a nice alternative to the orthodox style of Black Metal that usually attempts to be this cold and extreme. It’s harsh and uncaring, just like the void. Sometimes if you stare into the void the void stares back at you. Sometimes it screams blast beats and tremolo picked riffs. Personally, I’ll go for the Screaming Void. 9/10
Sacrilege: The Court Of The Insane (Pure Steel Records) [Matt Bladen]
Four years since their previous album the revitalised NWOBHM band Sacrilege who were inactive from 1987 and 2012, but since then they have been releasing records quite frequently. This is their third album on Pure Steel Records and it keeps their purple patch going with some excellent heavy metal. In their lifetime time they haven't tried to change their sound at all relying on the classic sounds of that glorious period of British heavy metal that spawned Iron Maiden and Saxon and has seen a resurgence through bands such as Hell and Satan band's who Sacrilege sound a lot like relying on historical lyrics from the 1600's where plague, witchcraft and fire were rife.
The ominous vocals of lead songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Bill Beadle are perfect for creating drama and conjuring doom on numbers such as the galloping Bring Out Your Dead, the anthemic I Can Hear The Silence, the crunchy Depression and the doom-laden No Bequeath. Beadle provides the rhythm guitars, keyboard along with the vocals but backing him are Neil Turnbull on drums, Jeff Rolland on bass who lock down the rhythm section with Beadle for proper heavy metal synergy as Paul Macnamara's lead guitar are technically sound add that extra level. In The Court Of The Insane is a very dramatic, dark album it's got a lot of theatrical elements to it with the keyboards on tracks such as Unhinged Mind which has a brilliant guitar solo outro. The Court Of The Insane is a very mature NWOBHM styled album, drawing from the original style with a distinctly modern edge, join the court of Sacrilege. 8/10
Dialith: Extinction Six (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
Hmm does the world need another symphonic metal band with soaring female vocals, cinematic elements and metal riffs. It's been done before and to be honest it's been done to death. That's not to say Dialith aren't a talented band they are and their symphonic metal sound takes influences from Nightwish and Epica, blending the lighter classical sounds with a harder edged metal, Quiver Of Deception doing this the best with it's neo-classical style. However it's all very down the line and the vocals aren't that inspiring considering they are usually an integral part, I was 5 tracks in before I realised they were different songs and that's the point, everything is a little meh. I'm sure there will be people that disagree with me but maybe I'm just over this genre now! 5/10
Superterrestrial are a British 2 piece, who have released 1 album before this album 2018’s Ocean Of Emptiness. The band play Black Metal inspired by the dark, cold depths of interstellar space. The band class their sound as being Ethereal or Ambient Black metal. Although the bands sound is very reminiscent of what is becoming known as Space or Astral Black Metal. There is a definite similarity with some of the bands using that classification; bands like Voidshere, The Negative Bias, Stellar Descent or Starless Domain. The album pretty long at 42 minutes (in fact I thought this was an album until I saw everyone else calling it an EP, but is an album), and 7 tracks. Most of the tracks have the same basic template. The songs are a mix of very dense, harsh blast beats, with insanely taut tremolo picked riffs, and very ambient sections of synth-wave style dungeon electronica. The riffs are some of the best harsh riffs you will hear. If you thought Black Metal inspired by frozen tundras were cold, you need to hear some inspired by the frozen depths of space.
That’s Minus 50℃ versus Minus 273℃, space is so much colder; and so are these riffs. If you get excited at how cold the riffs are in some very well known second wave black metal albums, prepare to be re-educated on how cold a riff can be. The Dungeon Synth parts are very cold and void like as well, all warmth and feeling has been systematically removed from this album and the result is fantastically hostile. The vocals are very harsh and shrill, if a black hole had a voice this is what it would sound like. After saying all that, there is a little warmth; Earlier in this review is said ‘most’ of the tracks had a cold feeling to them. Final track Morton Wave, has a warmer, more melodic feel to it. The track is 10 minutes long and does have blast beats and tremolo picked riffs, but they are slower, with more melody. The keyboard sections have more warmth and tunefulness, the band have saved all the warmth till the end. In many ways the album ending this way emphasises the coldness of the rest of the record. The track also feature an amount of layering of riffs and keyboards, that gives the track a huge feeling of depth. The Void That Exists is a stunning album.
It’s cold and desolate (just like the depths of space), but does also have some warmth and musicality. It’s deeply original, and is a nice alternative to the orthodox style of Black Metal that usually attempts to be this cold and extreme. It’s harsh and uncaring, just like the void. Sometimes if you stare into the void the void stares back at you. Sometimes it screams blast beats and tremolo picked riffs. Personally, I’ll go for the Screaming Void. 9/10
Sacrilege: The Court Of The Insane (Pure Steel Records) [Matt Bladen]
Four years since their previous album the revitalised NWOBHM band Sacrilege who were inactive from 1987 and 2012, but since then they have been releasing records quite frequently. This is their third album on Pure Steel Records and it keeps their purple patch going with some excellent heavy metal. In their lifetime time they haven't tried to change their sound at all relying on the classic sounds of that glorious period of British heavy metal that spawned Iron Maiden and Saxon and has seen a resurgence through bands such as Hell and Satan band's who Sacrilege sound a lot like relying on historical lyrics from the 1600's where plague, witchcraft and fire were rife.
The ominous vocals of lead songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Bill Beadle are perfect for creating drama and conjuring doom on numbers such as the galloping Bring Out Your Dead, the anthemic I Can Hear The Silence, the crunchy Depression and the doom-laden No Bequeath. Beadle provides the rhythm guitars, keyboard along with the vocals but backing him are Neil Turnbull on drums, Jeff Rolland on bass who lock down the rhythm section with Beadle for proper heavy metal synergy as Paul Macnamara's lead guitar are technically sound add that extra level. In The Court Of The Insane is a very dramatic, dark album it's got a lot of theatrical elements to it with the keyboards on tracks such as Unhinged Mind which has a brilliant guitar solo outro. The Court Of The Insane is a very mature NWOBHM styled album, drawing from the original style with a distinctly modern edge, join the court of Sacrilege. 8/10
Dialith: Extinction Six (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
Hmm does the world need another symphonic metal band with soaring female vocals, cinematic elements and metal riffs. It's been done before and to be honest it's been done to death. That's not to say Dialith aren't a talented band they are and their symphonic metal sound takes influences from Nightwish and Epica, blending the lighter classical sounds with a harder edged metal, Quiver Of Deception doing this the best with it's neo-classical style. However it's all very down the line and the vocals aren't that inspiring considering they are usually an integral part, I was 5 tracks in before I realised they were different songs and that's the point, everything is a little meh. I'm sure there will be people that disagree with me but maybe I'm just over this genre now! 5/10
Mister Misery: Unalive (Arising Empire) [Alex Swift]
On their debut, Unalive, Mister Misery present a gothic, dark style of Metal which, while abiding by the genre conventions, ultimately doesn’t roam outside of the limits of gothic alternative. Make no mistake, Mister Misery have a seamless production style which complements their spooky and ethereal nature, underpinned by their sound and image. Musically, they are talented, and have an excellent sense of dramatic flair which definitely shows potential: The sneeringly ironic ‘La, La, La’s’ on My Ghost, the huge choruses on Blood Waltz and Legion, the subtle piano and violin melodies which weave their way throughout the album – we are definitely presented with a consistent musical theme throughout, and I am sold on the idea that these musicians genuinely bear a lot of passion for the shock rock and horror metal genres. And yes, the influences are very present and there are illusions laced throughout the entire experience, to the tongue-in-cheek proto punk of acts in the vein of The Misfits or The Damned, not to mention the obvious, always present and continuously lurking My Chemical Romance comparisons, which rear their head whenever any alternative album attempts to achieve a grandiose yet gothic sound. I have said before how an act wearing their inspirations on their sleeve doesn’t necessarily bother me, unless there’s a serious defilement or dilution of those classics happening.
In the case of Unalive, there’s no desecration of the classics taking place, and indeed anthems the like of Valentine and Alive serve as apt, if not particularly breath-taking tributes to a tradition that has existed in music since even before Robert Smith decided to pick up a guitar and let the world know how bloody miserable, he tends to be. However, nothing happens here which you wouldn’t have heard a million times before. You don’t need to be a scholar in goth culture to know that a combination of pummelling guitars, ominous synths and angsty, snarled vocals, lends itself vividly to a generic form of the genre yet not to an innovative one. I can definitely understand that Mister Misery are just starting out as a band – Indeed, part of the point of a debut album is establishing a core sound. Most acts don’t want to try anything too risky or weird on their first outing, and I can respect that. Still, another aim of a debut is to give listeners a reason to return, to become fans. Acts who innovate to an unnecessary amount on their first album alienate people straight away yet failing to innovate enough also raises worries for an act’s longevity.
Don’t misunderstand me, I wouldn’t say that this Stockholm-originating four piece are at a point of murdering their career before the outset. As I said, there are scraps of intriguing ideas present throughout, yet the overall presentation of them is generic and unexciting. So, what should Mister Misery do on future albums? That’s up to them but from my point of view, I would like to see them expanding upon the theatrical and traditional elements in their sound, making music to truly complement their elusive image and living up to the ambition of their influences. I will wait with bated breath until then 6/10
On their debut, Unalive, Mister Misery present a gothic, dark style of Metal which, while abiding by the genre conventions, ultimately doesn’t roam outside of the limits of gothic alternative. Make no mistake, Mister Misery have a seamless production style which complements their spooky and ethereal nature, underpinned by their sound and image. Musically, they are talented, and have an excellent sense of dramatic flair which definitely shows potential: The sneeringly ironic ‘La, La, La’s’ on My Ghost, the huge choruses on Blood Waltz and Legion, the subtle piano and violin melodies which weave their way throughout the album – we are definitely presented with a consistent musical theme throughout, and I am sold on the idea that these musicians genuinely bear a lot of passion for the shock rock and horror metal genres. And yes, the influences are very present and there are illusions laced throughout the entire experience, to the tongue-in-cheek proto punk of acts in the vein of The Misfits or The Damned, not to mention the obvious, always present and continuously lurking My Chemical Romance comparisons, which rear their head whenever any alternative album attempts to achieve a grandiose yet gothic sound. I have said before how an act wearing their inspirations on their sleeve doesn’t necessarily bother me, unless there’s a serious defilement or dilution of those classics happening.
In the case of Unalive, there’s no desecration of the classics taking place, and indeed anthems the like of Valentine and Alive serve as apt, if not particularly breath-taking tributes to a tradition that has existed in music since even before Robert Smith decided to pick up a guitar and let the world know how bloody miserable, he tends to be. However, nothing happens here which you wouldn’t have heard a million times before. You don’t need to be a scholar in goth culture to know that a combination of pummelling guitars, ominous synths and angsty, snarled vocals, lends itself vividly to a generic form of the genre yet not to an innovative one. I can definitely understand that Mister Misery are just starting out as a band – Indeed, part of the point of a debut album is establishing a core sound. Most acts don’t want to try anything too risky or weird on their first outing, and I can respect that. Still, another aim of a debut is to give listeners a reason to return, to become fans. Acts who innovate to an unnecessary amount on their first album alienate people straight away yet failing to innovate enough also raises worries for an act’s longevity.
Don’t misunderstand me, I wouldn’t say that this Stockholm-originating four piece are at a point of murdering their career before the outset. As I said, there are scraps of intriguing ideas present throughout, yet the overall presentation of them is generic and unexciting. So, what should Mister Misery do on future albums? That’s up to them but from my point of view, I would like to see them expanding upon the theatrical and traditional elements in their sound, making music to truly complement their elusive image and living up to the ambition of their influences. I will wait with bated breath until then 6/10