Buffalo Summer: Desolation Blue (Silver Lining Music)
West Wales hard rockers Buffalo Summer's second album (2016) saw them add a more mature edge to their NWOCR sound, adding to the foundations they laid down on their debut (2013). Since then they have toured regularly refining it on the live stage for the last four years (and before that) leading up to the release of their third full length record Desolation Blue. Here they haven't just matured again, they've upped their game massively evoking those classic rock founders, through the murky skies of 90's Seattle with a glistening modern edge to it as well. The moody rumbling of The Power & The Greed is how Desolation Blue kicks off and it's more an ode to Soundgarden and AIC than Zep or Free, Hit The Ground Running brings some sweet slide guitar prowess from Johnny Williams on the country sounding number as Darren King's bass rumble drives If Walls Could Speak.
Three totally independent tracks start off this album showing that there's very little predictability, something that plagues a few of NWOCR scene. When You Walk Away has some Eastern flavour to it reminding me of The Cult, Andrew Hunt's soulful voice adding mysticism here and emotive power elsewhere. His brother Gareth's drumming is deft displaying percussive power on Last To Know. What's impressive about this record is the breath of styles that this record has, it keeps you guessing constantly surprising you with tracks such as Dark Valentine which is a smouldering song that is very different to the Buffalo Summer many will know. Desolation Blue is Buffalo Summer's renaissance, finally free of the genre shackles they may have incurred in their past they have reinvented themselves on this third album with an eye to the ever-changing future. 8/10
Beggar: Compelled To Repeat (APF Records)
I'm not sure what I can say about this album, in fact I was tempted to just copy paste the PR that came with it as a review as Hold Tight PR's Boss loves this band and I quote: "more than my husband". So what sort of music makes her go weak at the knees? Well it's quite...violent, groovy but violent similar to those nutters in Pist but with the aggression ramped up to Vinnie Jones levels (one for the dads). This London four piece play what can only be described as extreme sludge, or indeed fighting music, monolithian riffage opens the record on Blood Moon which has fuzzing riffs on top of black metal drumming from Bertrand Sautier who used to play in deathgrind band so knows how to abuse a kit. A trio of six stringing from Abe Whitworth, Jake Leyland and Charlie Davis who has a voice from the depths of Hades.
Blood Moon shifts between low slung riffs and blistering extremity, it's kind of schizophrenic, with a duality to it that's both interesting and bloody frightening. Anaesthete is woozy as Charlie Davis barks like a demented Captain Beefheart, The Cadaver Speaks brings hardcore savagery on top of crawling doom, the cadaver manages to drag itself into Black Cloud which is reminiscent of Eyehategod with it's distorted sludge grind that brings a little Orange Goblin bluesiness in the last moments. This is probably the most simple song on the record, it's unfussy sludge but it works well when followed by Trepanned Head Stares At The Sun a song that fuses swirling space rock and the antagonistic metal. Compelled To Repeat is an uncompromising slab of molten fury, with some syrupy NOLA swagger spread over the top. 9/10
Intense: Songs Of A Broken Future (Pure Steel Records)
I remember the first time I heard UK power/thrash metal band it was as part of compilation that used to come with Powerplay Magazine and I immediately loved the band as their Nevermore/Iced Earth sound was right up my street. I actually purchased their album As Our Army Grows at the first Download festival I attended in 2007 (this is a nostalgia trip), it blew me away with it's mix of dark downtuned heaviness and melodic choruses. Since then I've been following every release with baited breath, as The Shape Of Rage came in 2011 and it's been a long time but finally their fourth album Songs Of A Broken Future has arrived. Recorded at Karl Groom's, Thin Ice Studios, Surrey, in the Spring/Summer of 2019. So have they suddenly adopted djent stylings or gone rap metal? No. They are still mining that prog/power/thrash but doing it at a high level.
Unlike many metal acts around at the moment Intense's line up hasn't changed since Second Sight, their first full length, it's this longevity that means the band all know each other well enough to create numbers like the classically influenced Until The Memories Fade where Neil Ablard's drumming creates space for Nick Palmer and Dave Peak's intricate guitar playing, it's a muscular ballad that Intense do very well, but it's with mid-paced numbers like Children Of Tomorrow and thrashers such as End Of Days that they show their mettle, Ablard blasting away as Steve Brine's bass gallops Palmer and Peak duelling away with their axes on Head Above Water. The key factor for Intense though are the incredible vocals of Sean Hetherington who has a booming vocal carrying so much weight on the title track and others. Songs Of A Broken Future has been a a long time in gestation but it's come out of the other end as another quality metal album from Intense. 8/10
Deus Mori: Umbra Mortis (Self Released)
Not long after forming in 2018 Manchester black metal released their debut EP 2018 And From The Trenches Bore Darkness, we gave it 8/10 citing it's amalgamation of blistering black metal with punk edge as the reason why it scored this. Deus Mori treat every release and show as a battle so you could class this as 'War Metal' albeit without the Nazi-overtones, in fact quite the opposite as Deus Mori use the themes of war to preach songs of loss, death, rage and desolation something which they have amped up on this second EP Umbra Mortis. Umbra Mortis means "shadow of death" and it opens with Rendezvous With Death a reciting of the Alan Seeger poem "I Have A Rendezvous With Death" as a stirring string backing gives it gravitas.
A shotgun blast leads into Obsequies On Earth a crawling doom-like song Dødsklokken's vocals sounding more vicious than ever before while Krosis' drumming is extremely dextrous, with lots of broad fills adding a cinematic touch. Under The Sigil Of Death is a blackened death sounding track the meaty bass of Skogan and rampaging guitar of Enecate adding the black metal ferocity that also appears on Ritual Silence which breaks into a militaristic drum beat in the middle before coming back with metallic fury, Exigne's lead guitar The title track is once again set in the trenches and is an epic one that blends everything that has come before together. Born in battle Umbra Mortis is the sound of Deus Mori in nearing their third year of existence and developing their own take on extreme metal. 8/10
West Wales hard rockers Buffalo Summer's second album (2016) saw them add a more mature edge to their NWOCR sound, adding to the foundations they laid down on their debut (2013). Since then they have toured regularly refining it on the live stage for the last four years (and before that) leading up to the release of their third full length record Desolation Blue. Here they haven't just matured again, they've upped their game massively evoking those classic rock founders, through the murky skies of 90's Seattle with a glistening modern edge to it as well. The moody rumbling of The Power & The Greed is how Desolation Blue kicks off and it's more an ode to Soundgarden and AIC than Zep or Free, Hit The Ground Running brings some sweet slide guitar prowess from Johnny Williams on the country sounding number as Darren King's bass rumble drives If Walls Could Speak.
Three totally independent tracks start off this album showing that there's very little predictability, something that plagues a few of NWOCR scene. When You Walk Away has some Eastern flavour to it reminding me of The Cult, Andrew Hunt's soulful voice adding mysticism here and emotive power elsewhere. His brother Gareth's drumming is deft displaying percussive power on Last To Know. What's impressive about this record is the breath of styles that this record has, it keeps you guessing constantly surprising you with tracks such as Dark Valentine which is a smouldering song that is very different to the Buffalo Summer many will know. Desolation Blue is Buffalo Summer's renaissance, finally free of the genre shackles they may have incurred in their past they have reinvented themselves on this third album with an eye to the ever-changing future. 8/10
Beggar: Compelled To Repeat (APF Records)
I'm not sure what I can say about this album, in fact I was tempted to just copy paste the PR that came with it as a review as Hold Tight PR's Boss loves this band and I quote: "more than my husband". So what sort of music makes her go weak at the knees? Well it's quite...violent, groovy but violent similar to those nutters in Pist but with the aggression ramped up to Vinnie Jones levels (one for the dads). This London four piece play what can only be described as extreme sludge, or indeed fighting music, monolithian riffage opens the record on Blood Moon which has fuzzing riffs on top of black metal drumming from Bertrand Sautier who used to play in deathgrind band so knows how to abuse a kit. A trio of six stringing from Abe Whitworth, Jake Leyland and Charlie Davis who has a voice from the depths of Hades.
Blood Moon shifts between low slung riffs and blistering extremity, it's kind of schizophrenic, with a duality to it that's both interesting and bloody frightening. Anaesthete is woozy as Charlie Davis barks like a demented Captain Beefheart, The Cadaver Speaks brings hardcore savagery on top of crawling doom, the cadaver manages to drag itself into Black Cloud which is reminiscent of Eyehategod with it's distorted sludge grind that brings a little Orange Goblin bluesiness in the last moments. This is probably the most simple song on the record, it's unfussy sludge but it works well when followed by Trepanned Head Stares At The Sun a song that fuses swirling space rock and the antagonistic metal. Compelled To Repeat is an uncompromising slab of molten fury, with some syrupy NOLA swagger spread over the top. 9/10
Intense: Songs Of A Broken Future (Pure Steel Records)
I remember the first time I heard UK power/thrash metal band it was as part of compilation that used to come with Powerplay Magazine and I immediately loved the band as their Nevermore/Iced Earth sound was right up my street. I actually purchased their album As Our Army Grows at the first Download festival I attended in 2007 (this is a nostalgia trip), it blew me away with it's mix of dark downtuned heaviness and melodic choruses. Since then I've been following every release with baited breath, as The Shape Of Rage came in 2011 and it's been a long time but finally their fourth album Songs Of A Broken Future has arrived. Recorded at Karl Groom's, Thin Ice Studios, Surrey, in the Spring/Summer of 2019. So have they suddenly adopted djent stylings or gone rap metal? No. They are still mining that prog/power/thrash but doing it at a high level.
Unlike many metal acts around at the moment Intense's line up hasn't changed since Second Sight, their first full length, it's this longevity that means the band all know each other well enough to create numbers like the classically influenced Until The Memories Fade where Neil Ablard's drumming creates space for Nick Palmer and Dave Peak's intricate guitar playing, it's a muscular ballad that Intense do very well, but it's with mid-paced numbers like Children Of Tomorrow and thrashers such as End Of Days that they show their mettle, Ablard blasting away as Steve Brine's bass gallops Palmer and Peak duelling away with their axes on Head Above Water. The key factor for Intense though are the incredible vocals of Sean Hetherington who has a booming vocal carrying so much weight on the title track and others. Songs Of A Broken Future has been a a long time in gestation but it's come out of the other end as another quality metal album from Intense. 8/10
Deus Mori: Umbra Mortis (Self Released)
Not long after forming in 2018 Manchester black metal released their debut EP 2018 And From The Trenches Bore Darkness, we gave it 8/10 citing it's amalgamation of blistering black metal with punk edge as the reason why it scored this. Deus Mori treat every release and show as a battle so you could class this as 'War Metal' albeit without the Nazi-overtones, in fact quite the opposite as Deus Mori use the themes of war to preach songs of loss, death, rage and desolation something which they have amped up on this second EP Umbra Mortis. Umbra Mortis means "shadow of death" and it opens with Rendezvous With Death a reciting of the Alan Seeger poem "I Have A Rendezvous With Death" as a stirring string backing gives it gravitas.
A shotgun blast leads into Obsequies On Earth a crawling doom-like song Dødsklokken's vocals sounding more vicious than ever before while Krosis' drumming is extremely dextrous, with lots of broad fills adding a cinematic touch. Under The Sigil Of Death is a blackened death sounding track the meaty bass of Skogan and rampaging guitar of Enecate adding the black metal ferocity that also appears on Ritual Silence which breaks into a militaristic drum beat in the middle before coming back with metallic fury, Exigne's lead guitar The title track is once again set in the trenches and is an epic one that blends everything that has come before together. Born in battle Umbra Mortis is the sound of Deus Mori in nearing their third year of existence and developing their own take on extreme metal. 8/10