Lunar: Eidolon (Divebomb Records) [Matt Bladen]
Formed back in 2013 by Alex Bosson (drums/percussion) and Ryan Erwin (guitar/vocals), the band have had numerous members in that time but have managed to release an EP (Provenance) that led to their expansive debut album Theogony based around Greek mythology, Alex and Ryan fleshed out the recording ranks for both their EP and their debut with numerous guests but the finished result was a sublime progressive metal album perfect for fans of Opeth, Haken and Devin Townsend, a majestic hour long journey through the various Muses in Greek mythology, it was a cinematic truly progressive metal release. Unfortunately in 2018 Ryan passed away unexpectedly throwing the bands future into the air leaving it in the hands of just Alex, he decided to continue it, using this tragedy of Ryan's death to inspire their next record Eidolon it is based around the cycle of life and death and the
stages of grief that the ones left behind feel.
We Sell The Dead: Black Sheep (earMusic) [Matt Bladen]
More doomy metal now with the second album from We Sell The Dead. Now look that I said doomy metal and not doom metal. This is because We Sell The Dead have stepped out of the shadow of doom in this sophomore album. Formed around the nucleus of Niclas Engelin (In Flames, Engel), Drömriket’s Jonas Slättung, Apollo Papathanasio (Spiritual Beggars, Firewind) along with Gas Lipstick (former HIM), here there have been shifts in the line up with Engel drummer Oscar Nilsson taking the drum stool, while Petter Olsson rounds out the band on keys. Now their debut was a pretty neat piece of doom metal heavily influenced by Sabbath, Candlemass and bands such as Deep Purple. These influences come through on Black Sheep with the Purple sounding organs bubbling away on the title track.
They seem to have branched outside of the doom trappings with this second album adding some more classic rock influences to this record as well as the stoner sounds of Apollo's day job, Carved In Stone shows this the most. There's also a lot more use of acoustics on this record, from the opening track Caravan to The Light which brings some Moody Blues sounds due to the layered vocals/acoustics and laid back ethereal hippy sound. The one thing that was missing on their debut was the experimentation, with much of the album just riffs upon riffs where as here they have spread their gloomy wings to more varied songwriting. The crunchy River In Your Blood brings the Sabbath sounds back but as I've said before this a much more well rounded album than their debut, from the progressive notions of Nightmares And Dream which also seem through on the closing 8 minute epic Shallow Grave but they bring heavy rockers like Across The Water. A major step up Black Sheep shouldn't be shunned but welcomed with open arms. 8/10
Framing Hanley: Envy (Thermal Entertainment) [Alex Swift]
Confession time. This is the first time I’m sitting down to listen to a Framing Hanley album in its entirety. Let me clarify, I’ve heard this band before. How could I not when my early exposure relied to music relied on mainstream alt-rock channels and magazines. Ah, Good times when we didn’t have the convenience of streaming services to choose music at an instant. There’s still a certain reminiscent spot in my head for sitting through tonnes of Limp Bizkit’ in the hope that they might play one of my favourite bands next. Yet from that era in my life, Framing Hanley is one of those bands that just refuses to stick in my head. After listening to Envy and revisiting their debut album I can utterly see why. For lack of a more eloquent metaphor, they are about as exciting as a plank of wood and induce the same feeling of comatose tiredness that being knocked out by one elicits. This is a hard review to write.
Formed back in 2013 by Alex Bosson (drums/percussion) and Ryan Erwin (guitar/vocals), the band have had numerous members in that time but have managed to release an EP (Provenance) that led to their expansive debut album Theogony based around Greek mythology, Alex and Ryan fleshed out the recording ranks for both their EP and their debut with numerous guests but the finished result was a sublime progressive metal album perfect for fans of Opeth, Haken and Devin Townsend, a majestic hour long journey through the various Muses in Greek mythology, it was a cinematic truly progressive metal release. Unfortunately in 2018 Ryan passed away unexpectedly throwing the bands future into the air leaving it in the hands of just Alex, he decided to continue it, using this tragedy of Ryan's death to inspire their next record Eidolon it is based around the cycle of life and death and the
stages of grief that the ones left behind feel.
Emotional stuff from the Sacramento native Bosson who brings in Balmore Lemus to take guitars here while bringing back Ryan Price (bass) and Chandler Mogel (vocals) from the debut record. He has added to the guest appearances on this record totalling 18 at the final count including members of Haken, Leprous, Caligula's Horse and others. To the record and it once again invites you into the world of Lunar, a theatrical, cinematic journey through grief. About an hour in total length The Cycle Starts Again has massive bass riffs that move into the top flight progressive metal Lunar displayed on their debut. So it's business as usual Alex's drumming leading the charge, Mogel's shows off his wide range as the riffs fight for superiority though sometimes less is more on Comfort which has that latter era Dream Theater melody. Eidolon is proof that you can triumph in the face of adversity, Alex has continued Lunar into its next phase (I did try to avoid a moon/lunar pun honest) with yet another high quality progressive metal album. 8/10
Dead Serenity: Beginnings EP (Self Released) [Rich Oliver]
Dead Serenity: Beginnings EP (Self Released) [Rich Oliver]
Beginnings is the debut EP by Finnish melodic death metal band Dead Serenity. For me this EP ticks a lot of boxes - it is some very well written and composed melodic death metal, it was a nice symphonic undertone to it giving it that epic edge and it has that Finnish melancholy to it which I am a complete sucker for. The EP is made up of five songs (including the intro song The Final Dawn) and features all the classic components of Finnish melodic death metal such as forlorn melodies, a mix of harsh and clean vocals and a wholly melancholic feel to the music. Godless We Are and Betrayed definitely lean into the more symphonic and epic side of the bands sound whilst Dying Sun and Darkness Within have more of a classic melodic death metal sound to them.
The influences of the band are abundantly clear with nods to Insomnium and the works of Tuomas Saukkonen such as Before The Dawn, Dawn Of Solace and Wolfheart and whilst the material on this EP is wholly unoriginal it is done very well. A short and sweet EP of gloomy Finnish melodic death metal which serves as a great introduction to the band. 7/10
We Sell The Dead: Black Sheep (earMusic) [Matt Bladen]
More doomy metal now with the second album from We Sell The Dead. Now look that I said doomy metal and not doom metal. This is because We Sell The Dead have stepped out of the shadow of doom in this sophomore album. Formed around the nucleus of Niclas Engelin (In Flames, Engel), Drömriket’s Jonas Slättung, Apollo Papathanasio (Spiritual Beggars, Firewind) along with Gas Lipstick (former HIM), here there have been shifts in the line up with Engel drummer Oscar Nilsson taking the drum stool, while Petter Olsson rounds out the band on keys. Now their debut was a pretty neat piece of doom metal heavily influenced by Sabbath, Candlemass and bands such as Deep Purple. These influences come through on Black Sheep with the Purple sounding organs bubbling away on the title track.
They seem to have branched outside of the doom trappings with this second album adding some more classic rock influences to this record as well as the stoner sounds of Apollo's day job, Carved In Stone shows this the most. There's also a lot more use of acoustics on this record, from the opening track Caravan to The Light which brings some Moody Blues sounds due to the layered vocals/acoustics and laid back ethereal hippy sound. The one thing that was missing on their debut was the experimentation, with much of the album just riffs upon riffs where as here they have spread their gloomy wings to more varied songwriting. The crunchy River In Your Blood brings the Sabbath sounds back but as I've said before this a much more well rounded album than their debut, from the progressive notions of Nightmares And Dream which also seem through on the closing 8 minute epic Shallow Grave but they bring heavy rockers like Across The Water. A major step up Black Sheep shouldn't be shunned but welcomed with open arms. 8/10
Framing Hanley: Envy (Thermal Entertainment) [Alex Swift]
Confession time. This is the first time I’m sitting down to listen to a Framing Hanley album in its entirety. Let me clarify, I’ve heard this band before. How could I not when my early exposure relied to music relied on mainstream alt-rock channels and magazines. Ah, Good times when we didn’t have the convenience of streaming services to choose music at an instant. There’s still a certain reminiscent spot in my head for sitting through tonnes of Limp Bizkit’ in the hope that they might play one of my favourite bands next. Yet from that era in my life, Framing Hanley is one of those bands that just refuses to stick in my head. After listening to Envy and revisiting their debut album I can utterly see why. For lack of a more eloquent metaphor, they are about as exciting as a plank of wood and induce the same feeling of comatose tiredness that being knocked out by one elicits. This is a hard review to write.
After listening to the entire 46 minutes of this album, I do not remember a single aspect, If you ask me to describe how some of the songs sounded, the best I can do is tell you that Say You Ever has nothing other than three minutes if ambient noise, that Forgiveness Is An Art, has some rave-esque synth textures overlayed with Whoa Whoa oh Whoa’s, and that the closer, Baggage Claim is a forced love ballad. Perhaps one of the most distracting elements of this record is that the instrumentals are pushed far back in the mix, as if to hide the fact that they’re not doing anything interesting. If there’s one way I can sum up my first real exposure to Framing Hanley it’s that they seem to combine the worst traits of late 90’s soft rock acts struggling to define rocks place in the mainstream, with the worst traits of modern alternative. Utterly bland. 2/10