Lorna Shore: Immortal (Century Media)
Stirring strings and choirs open this album by New Jersey band Lorna Shore but if you're expecting Behemoth or Dimmu then you'll be in for surprise as the title track kicks off this album, this isn't black metal, yes there's blast beats moving at warp speed, guttural screams and frenetic tremolo picking, but Lorna Shore have always been tagged as a 'deathcore' and yes the remnants of deathcore still exists as the title track breaks down into a low slung riff made for crushing people in the pit. However over the course of their career Lorna Shore have moved away from the deathcore tag adding more symphonic and blackened elements to their sound as witnessed on this third release.
You get a full range of styles just on the first song as the instrumental triumvirate of Adam De Micco (guitar), Austin Archey (drums) and Andrew O'Connor (guitar) take their respective instruments to the limits of their capability, in fact I'm surprised Austin's drum kit survived the recording sessions, this album is the first to feature C.J. McCreery (ex-Signs of the Swarm) on vocals and though he is no longer in the band as of December 2019, due to various accusations of sexual misconduct, his vocals are move from deathcore grunting to black metal screaming. I won't say more than that as I feel it will detract from the genuinely mind-melting mechanical riffs, the swathes of orchestration and sheer unmitigated force of this record. Ten tracks, no compromise, nuff said. 8/10
Amberian Dawn: Looking For You (Napalm Records)
The self professed originators of ABBA-metal Amberian Dawn are a symphonic metal band from Finland. They have an operatic female singer, they have lots synths and symphonic elements layered over pumping heavy metal, it's very familiar though Amberian Dawn do add some more progressive elements such as Symphony No.1 Part 3 – Awakening which is the final part of a trilogy over their last two albums where frontwoman Capri Virkkunen duets with Fabio Lione (ex-Rhapsody Of Fire) in the climax to this suite. The record moves along at a fair pace culminating with the reason for the ABBA-metal tag a cover of the Swedish pop legends track Lay All Your Love On Me which obviously suits the bouncy style of this genre turning disco into power metal, I can't say that this is new as Helloween have done a cover of this song themselves a while ago. Looking For You is a grandiose symphonic metal album, the proggy edge adds some variation to the songs but it's symphonic metal with operatic vocals, you know what you are going to get. 6/10
Novelists FR: C'est La Vie (Arising Empire)
From Paris France (as if the name didn't give it away) Novelists are a metalcore band with progressive touch to their sound they build their career firstly on a series of singles that culminated in a debut full length in 2015, this led to them touring with such genre leaders like While She Sleeps and Northlane, on the back of this came another more mature conceptual record in 2017 but with yet more tours, however it was here that they had to add the FR to their name due to legal issues but they have now returned with their geographical location added to their name and a third album of progressive metalcore.
Now I guess you could call it djent but I'd say the band have more in common with bands like Erra, Currents or even touring partners, tapping ambient guitar passages from Florestan and Charles-Henri give way to crunching breakdowns as electronics fuzz in the background. Somebody Else shows this the best opening the album with a epic feel as the soaring clean vocals shift into screamed harshness, however both are done brilliantly by singer Matteo who's voice is very good, similar in tone to that of Dan Tompkins from Tesseract. Deep Blue is a lot heavier showcasing the start stop rhythm playing of both guitarists and bassist Nicolas as Amael brings a thumping beat.
Things shift a little on Lilly which has some rap-like vocals while Modern Slave is pure djent as aggression mixes with technicality. I wasn't sure what to expect with C'est La Vie but I actually enjoyed this album mainly due to the interesting compositions and the expert performance from all involved. Three albums in and no sign of resignation here Novelists FR are improving with every release. 7/10
Redeye Caravan: Nostrum Remedium (Self Released)
Remember the show Deadwood? It was a very dark, bloody, realistic Western series starring the guy who was in Lovejoy, it was brooding and brutal with a very stellar soundtrack. A soundtrack that sounds not too dissimilar to the debut album from Redeye Caravan, they have concocted a record of occult themed country music. Nostrum Remedium is Latin for "Our Remedy" and their songs are written as folk tales, genesis of the band came when Akis Kosmidis (vocals, acoustic guitar) formed the band with Valantis Dafkos (vocals, bass), together they began to craft songs before seeking out Panos Makoulis (electric, slide, acoustic guitars, keys, vocals) to make these songs really begin to come together they added Eleni Paraskevopoulou haunting vocals, the parping harmonica of Stefanos Strogylis, the mournful violin of Thanos Giamarelos and finally drummer Paris Gatsios.
With the band all together they set about bringing their tales of murder, merriment and the occult, layered by acoustic guitars, some slide and clean electric playing there's a lot of density to these numbers, there's a lot of piano here too the kind you'd hear in a saloon, right before there's a fight. Tracks like El Muerto are full of good soulful sing alongs that build with the layers of instruments and the gang vocals, Ozymandias has clap and stomp of gospel, while At Gallows End is a brooding Morricone-esque monster, as does the evil Old Debt, both with cinematic qualities as The Road North takes a bit of Waylon and the other outlaws. Now while not a rock or metal album, this is cast in the same mold as so many metal bands, so if, like me you were brought up on Westerns then you'll enjoy much about this Greek band's music. 8/10
Stirring strings and choirs open this album by New Jersey band Lorna Shore but if you're expecting Behemoth or Dimmu then you'll be in for surprise as the title track kicks off this album, this isn't black metal, yes there's blast beats moving at warp speed, guttural screams and frenetic tremolo picking, but Lorna Shore have always been tagged as a 'deathcore' and yes the remnants of deathcore still exists as the title track breaks down into a low slung riff made for crushing people in the pit. However over the course of their career Lorna Shore have moved away from the deathcore tag adding more symphonic and blackened elements to their sound as witnessed on this third release.
You get a full range of styles just on the first song as the instrumental triumvirate of Adam De Micco (guitar), Austin Archey (drums) and Andrew O'Connor (guitar) take their respective instruments to the limits of their capability, in fact I'm surprised Austin's drum kit survived the recording sessions, this album is the first to feature C.J. McCreery (ex-Signs of the Swarm) on vocals and though he is no longer in the band as of December 2019, due to various accusations of sexual misconduct, his vocals are move from deathcore grunting to black metal screaming. I won't say more than that as I feel it will detract from the genuinely mind-melting mechanical riffs, the swathes of orchestration and sheer unmitigated force of this record. Ten tracks, no compromise, nuff said. 8/10
Amberian Dawn: Looking For You (Napalm Records)
The self professed originators of ABBA-metal Amberian Dawn are a symphonic metal band from Finland. They have an operatic female singer, they have lots synths and symphonic elements layered over pumping heavy metal, it's very familiar though Amberian Dawn do add some more progressive elements such as Symphony No.1 Part 3 – Awakening which is the final part of a trilogy over their last two albums where frontwoman Capri Virkkunen duets with Fabio Lione (ex-Rhapsody Of Fire) in the climax to this suite. The record moves along at a fair pace culminating with the reason for the ABBA-metal tag a cover of the Swedish pop legends track Lay All Your Love On Me which obviously suits the bouncy style of this genre turning disco into power metal, I can't say that this is new as Helloween have done a cover of this song themselves a while ago. Looking For You is a grandiose symphonic metal album, the proggy edge adds some variation to the songs but it's symphonic metal with operatic vocals, you know what you are going to get. 6/10
Novelists FR: C'est La Vie (Arising Empire)
From Paris France (as if the name didn't give it away) Novelists are a metalcore band with progressive touch to their sound they build their career firstly on a series of singles that culminated in a debut full length in 2015, this led to them touring with such genre leaders like While She Sleeps and Northlane, on the back of this came another more mature conceptual record in 2017 but with yet more tours, however it was here that they had to add the FR to their name due to legal issues but they have now returned with their geographical location added to their name and a third album of progressive metalcore.
Now I guess you could call it djent but I'd say the band have more in common with bands like Erra, Currents or even touring partners, tapping ambient guitar passages from Florestan and Charles-Henri give way to crunching breakdowns as electronics fuzz in the background. Somebody Else shows this the best opening the album with a epic feel as the soaring clean vocals shift into screamed harshness, however both are done brilliantly by singer Matteo who's voice is very good, similar in tone to that of Dan Tompkins from Tesseract. Deep Blue is a lot heavier showcasing the start stop rhythm playing of both guitarists and bassist Nicolas as Amael brings a thumping beat.
Things shift a little on Lilly which has some rap-like vocals while Modern Slave is pure djent as aggression mixes with technicality. I wasn't sure what to expect with C'est La Vie but I actually enjoyed this album mainly due to the interesting compositions and the expert performance from all involved. Three albums in and no sign of resignation here Novelists FR are improving with every release. 7/10
Redeye Caravan: Nostrum Remedium (Self Released)
Remember the show Deadwood? It was a very dark, bloody, realistic Western series starring the guy who was in Lovejoy, it was brooding and brutal with a very stellar soundtrack. A soundtrack that sounds not too dissimilar to the debut album from Redeye Caravan, they have concocted a record of occult themed country music. Nostrum Remedium is Latin for "Our Remedy" and their songs are written as folk tales, genesis of the band came when Akis Kosmidis (vocals, acoustic guitar) formed the band with Valantis Dafkos (vocals, bass), together they began to craft songs before seeking out Panos Makoulis (electric, slide, acoustic guitars, keys, vocals) to make these songs really begin to come together they added Eleni Paraskevopoulou haunting vocals, the parping harmonica of Stefanos Strogylis, the mournful violin of Thanos Giamarelos and finally drummer Paris Gatsios.
With the band all together they set about bringing their tales of murder, merriment and the occult, layered by acoustic guitars, some slide and clean electric playing there's a lot of density to these numbers, there's a lot of piano here too the kind you'd hear in a saloon, right before there's a fight. Tracks like El Muerto are full of good soulful sing alongs that build with the layers of instruments and the gang vocals, Ozymandias has clap and stomp of gospel, while At Gallows End is a brooding Morricone-esque monster, as does the evil Old Debt, both with cinematic qualities as The Road North takes a bit of Waylon and the other outlaws. Now while not a rock or metal album, this is cast in the same mold as so many metal bands, so if, like me you were brought up on Westerns then you'll enjoy much about this Greek band's music. 8/10