Gatecreeper: Deserted (Relapse Records) [Rich Oliver]
Old school death metal is certainly having a resurgence in popularity of late. After several years of a saturation of either ultra brutal or ultra technical bands which always seemed to be a case of style over substance it is refreshing to see a new wave of bands playing death metal the way it was meant to be which is dirty, rotten, fetid and depraved. At the moment there are two bands that are being raved about - one is Tomb Mold from Canada and another is Gatecreeper from the USA. Up until now I hadn’t got round to hearing any Gatecreeper and I’m glad I have finally gone there as Deserted which is the second full length from the band is a glorious piece of death metal. Gatecreeper here have very much paid homage to the Swedish death metal scene with echoes of the greats such as Entombed, Grave and Dismember.
The HM-2 chainsaw buzz is prevalent and used to great effect on a cacophony of disgusting riffs with plenty of groove, chug and malevolent melody. There is also a clear death doom influence as well with the band not afraid to slow things down to a slow and malevolent pace. The vocals are as depraved and deranged as one would hope with snarls, shrieks and barks holding centre court over the barrage of filth unleashed by the musicians. Deserted is a great homage to the masters of the early 90’s Swedish death metal scene and Gatecreeper whilst not doing anything original do what they do so effectively it is impossible not to love it. As long as it doesn’t get overcrowded and stale like the old school thrash resurgence is getting then I wholeheartedly endorse this old school death metal revival and Gatecreeper are certainly one of the best of the bands out there doing it right now. 8/10
Green Lung: Free The Witch (Kozmik Artifactz) [Matt Bladen]
We reviewed Green Lung's debut album Woodland Rites earlier this year. It was a fantastic occult doom record that took me back to the glory days of those first four Sabbath albums, Paul S gave it a stonking 9/10 and I have to agree with my colleague. Free The Witch then is them showing their new audience where the band have been. it was released on cassette in 2018 on Deckhead Records but now it will finally be released on CD/Vinyl via Kozmik Artifactz records, including a bonus track not on the original release. If I'm honest it's not too far removed from their full length in terms of sound, it's a little less refined but it still has that fuzzy classic stoner/doom sound, lyrically it's build upon the theme of witch burning. The band focus on flipping "witch burning on its head, opting instead for a witch-positive message, celebrating British witchcraft through the ages and rediscovering the radicalism of the Old Religion." Green Lung are Tom Templar (vocals), Scott Black (guitar), Andrew Cave (bass), Matt Wiseman (drums) and John Wright (organ) and Free The Witch will be lapped up by anyone who is on the journey because of Woodland Rites and wants to discover more music from this band you may just be the next big thing in the stoner/doom scene. 8/10
Leah: Ancient Winter (Napalm Records) [Rich Oliver]
Ancient Winter is the new album from Canadian self-styled Celtic fantasy metal musician Leah. Not an artist I have heard of but amongst sher fanbase she has gained herself the nickname “Metal Enya”. Ancient Winter is her fourth album and on previous releases she has worked with musicians from bands such as Nightwish, Testament, Blind Guardian and Orphaned Land. Ancient Winter is meant to be a departure from Leah’s normal folk laden symphonic metal style and is very much a symphonic folk album with no traces of metal whatsoever. It is very much an atmospheric and emotional sound with a whole host of various different folk instruments, a Winter theme and the ethereal vocals of Leah herself.
The music itself sounds like it could have come straight from an epic fantasy movie or television series and is very stirring and emotional at times. Whilst this is very enjoyable music I didn’t find it particularly gripping or memorable. Compared to bands like Heilung or Wardruna it lacks a bit of conviction being based around fantasy rather than genuine historical music and it works more as background music rather than something to sit and focus your full attention on. I did find my attention wandering elsewhere at around the halfway point. It is very relaxing and beautiful music but unfortunately it didn’t do too much for me. 6/10
William Takashi Philpot: Light Of The Day (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
Emerging from the permafrost of his 'day job' as the head Daemon of the grapefruit wielding Black Pyre. Here is shorn of his corpse paint and focussing on other styles of music rather than just the cvlt black metal we've seen him indulge in. What we get is 11 multifaceted, at times daring and progressive tracks that spans numerous styles all of which have been written, performed, recorded and mixed by Will. From the opening acoustic flight of Awakening this is about as far from black metal as you can get though it does carry with it an ominous tone. In Memorandum comes next with the closest thing to Black Pyre on the record (along with Boiling Earth), frantic riffs and blast beat drums (which I assume are programmed) topped off with the guttural bark from Will, it's a pretty simple number that moves into the open chords of Dreams which takes things into the realms of the more progressive death sound adding a level of ambience to the heavy death metal sound, one could say it's a little Opeth-like in it's composition.
We're only 3 tracks in and already the level of musicianship here is brilliant, with ambient textures coming through on Fading Part 1 that shift into Fading Part II a powerful riff augmented with fuzzing electronics that have some Floydian themes that bleed into the the desolate Wastelands, before the title track brings together a little of everything for what is probably the best song on the album. Now it is a self released/produced totally solo album so it doesn't have the benefit of £1,000's of recording equipment but it still sounds better than some black metal records produced professionally. It's got some serious musical depth to it, as a bonus you can get it for free (though do pay something for it) through Will's bandcamp here (https://williamtakashiphilpot.bandcamp.com/album/light-of-the-day). My tip? Play it through headphones to truly appreciate it, also listen out for the final track which was included as a joke and really takes you by surprise! 7/10
Old school death metal is certainly having a resurgence in popularity of late. After several years of a saturation of either ultra brutal or ultra technical bands which always seemed to be a case of style over substance it is refreshing to see a new wave of bands playing death metal the way it was meant to be which is dirty, rotten, fetid and depraved. At the moment there are two bands that are being raved about - one is Tomb Mold from Canada and another is Gatecreeper from the USA. Up until now I hadn’t got round to hearing any Gatecreeper and I’m glad I have finally gone there as Deserted which is the second full length from the band is a glorious piece of death metal. Gatecreeper here have very much paid homage to the Swedish death metal scene with echoes of the greats such as Entombed, Grave and Dismember.
The HM-2 chainsaw buzz is prevalent and used to great effect on a cacophony of disgusting riffs with plenty of groove, chug and malevolent melody. There is also a clear death doom influence as well with the band not afraid to slow things down to a slow and malevolent pace. The vocals are as depraved and deranged as one would hope with snarls, shrieks and barks holding centre court over the barrage of filth unleashed by the musicians. Deserted is a great homage to the masters of the early 90’s Swedish death metal scene and Gatecreeper whilst not doing anything original do what they do so effectively it is impossible not to love it. As long as it doesn’t get overcrowded and stale like the old school thrash resurgence is getting then I wholeheartedly endorse this old school death metal revival and Gatecreeper are certainly one of the best of the bands out there doing it right now. 8/10
Green Lung: Free The Witch (Kozmik Artifactz) [Matt Bladen]
We reviewed Green Lung's debut album Woodland Rites earlier this year. It was a fantastic occult doom record that took me back to the glory days of those first four Sabbath albums, Paul S gave it a stonking 9/10 and I have to agree with my colleague. Free The Witch then is them showing their new audience where the band have been. it was released on cassette in 2018 on Deckhead Records but now it will finally be released on CD/Vinyl via Kozmik Artifactz records, including a bonus track not on the original release. If I'm honest it's not too far removed from their full length in terms of sound, it's a little less refined but it still has that fuzzy classic stoner/doom sound, lyrically it's build upon the theme of witch burning. The band focus on flipping "witch burning on its head, opting instead for a witch-positive message, celebrating British witchcraft through the ages and rediscovering the radicalism of the Old Religion." Green Lung are Tom Templar (vocals), Scott Black (guitar), Andrew Cave (bass), Matt Wiseman (drums) and John Wright (organ) and Free The Witch will be lapped up by anyone who is on the journey because of Woodland Rites and wants to discover more music from this band you may just be the next big thing in the stoner/doom scene. 8/10
Leah: Ancient Winter (Napalm Records) [Rich Oliver]
Ancient Winter is the new album from Canadian self-styled Celtic fantasy metal musician Leah. Not an artist I have heard of but amongst sher fanbase she has gained herself the nickname “Metal Enya”. Ancient Winter is her fourth album and on previous releases she has worked with musicians from bands such as Nightwish, Testament, Blind Guardian and Orphaned Land. Ancient Winter is meant to be a departure from Leah’s normal folk laden symphonic metal style and is very much a symphonic folk album with no traces of metal whatsoever. It is very much an atmospheric and emotional sound with a whole host of various different folk instruments, a Winter theme and the ethereal vocals of Leah herself.
The music itself sounds like it could have come straight from an epic fantasy movie or television series and is very stirring and emotional at times. Whilst this is very enjoyable music I didn’t find it particularly gripping or memorable. Compared to bands like Heilung or Wardruna it lacks a bit of conviction being based around fantasy rather than genuine historical music and it works more as background music rather than something to sit and focus your full attention on. I did find my attention wandering elsewhere at around the halfway point. It is very relaxing and beautiful music but unfortunately it didn’t do too much for me. 6/10
William Takashi Philpot: Light Of The Day (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
Emerging from the permafrost of his 'day job' as the head Daemon of the grapefruit wielding Black Pyre. Here is shorn of his corpse paint and focussing on other styles of music rather than just the cvlt black metal we've seen him indulge in. What we get is 11 multifaceted, at times daring and progressive tracks that spans numerous styles all of which have been written, performed, recorded and mixed by Will. From the opening acoustic flight of Awakening this is about as far from black metal as you can get though it does carry with it an ominous tone. In Memorandum comes next with the closest thing to Black Pyre on the record (along with Boiling Earth), frantic riffs and blast beat drums (which I assume are programmed) topped off with the guttural bark from Will, it's a pretty simple number that moves into the open chords of Dreams which takes things into the realms of the more progressive death sound adding a level of ambience to the heavy death metal sound, one could say it's a little Opeth-like in it's composition.
We're only 3 tracks in and already the level of musicianship here is brilliant, with ambient textures coming through on Fading Part 1 that shift into Fading Part II a powerful riff augmented with fuzzing electronics that have some Floydian themes that bleed into the the desolate Wastelands, before the title track brings together a little of everything for what is probably the best song on the album. Now it is a self released/produced totally solo album so it doesn't have the benefit of £1,000's of recording equipment but it still sounds better than some black metal records produced professionally. It's got some serious musical depth to it, as a bonus you can get it for free (though do pay something for it) through Will's bandcamp here (https://williamtakashiphilpot.bandcamp.com/album/light-of-the-day). My tip? Play it through headphones to truly appreciate it, also listen out for the final track which was included as a joke and really takes you by surprise! 7/10