Reviews: Devildriver, Teramaze, Tallah, Fortress Under Siege (Liam & Simon)

With the mix of their hard hitting lyrics, wailing guitars and a tight sounding drum sound, the band lay waste to your ear canals and feed the part of your brain that is in need of some heavy sounding Metal thrashing madness. And while they have their fun with their faster songs they also have a few slower moments. Still has heavy as the album is but with a pace that invites you in as the next song blows your brains out. Keep Away From Me, Witches and the phenomenal Nest Of Vipers proves they can slow themselves down and still be as heavy as a beached whale. Tremendous and down right evil, DWD has to be their best album since Pray For Villains. It’s nasty. It’s stomach churning. But it’s one of the best outputs this year. 9/10

Teramaze: I Wonder (Wells Music) [Simon Black]

Australia’s Teramaze have been around for a while, and are certainly quite prolific in their output, with this, album number six. Much is made online of the fact that the members of Teramaze converted to Christianity, and that around that time their earlier thrashier sound was abandoned in favour or a more Progressive and Power Metal feel. They also aren’t renowned (musically at least) for coming from the happy-clappy end of the religious spectrum - this is a very dark and bleak sounding record, dripping melancholy from all its pores and I don’t get any sense of anything religious being pushed here. There’s some good musicianship on display here, and the drum stool is certainly giving it some welly from the back, although the stringed instruments are creating a more moody soundscape. It’s an odd contrast that mostly works. At an hour and nine minutes run time you get your money’s worth too, with only one track coming well under the five minute mark (most are between six and nine minutes long). 

This brings me to my challenge with the album – although I can’t fault the playing, the song writing tends to ramble somewhat and some of those lengthier run times could have been trimmed to create a more dynamic impact. Musically there is a strong sense of mood over structure throughout, and to be honest in the metal scene they aren’t going to be to everyone’s taste although I can really see them working well in a live environment with some effective lighting and a shed load of dry ice accentuating the mood. Single A Deep State Of Awake benefits from a mixed vocal style guest slot, and brings the album out of the doldrums temporarily, but at nearly nine minutes it’s a real attention span killer as it doesn’t have a strong enough thematic structure to keep you engaged. 

Despite the higher tempo pace of the track and much needed aggression in the vocal turns occasionally, I can’t get excited about it. Idle Hands The Devil’s Workshop turns the pace up for the better and is tighter in its delivery despite being the longest song on the album, but the topical This Is Not A Drill is for me the strongest track on the album. Despite being quite rambling, it’s more overtly progressive with some really nifty keyboard and guitar interplay straight out of the Dream Theater playbook and works as a result. 6/10

Tallah: Matriphagy (Earache Records) [Liam True]

Blending genres is a good way to make your band stand out and get a bit more attention because of the nature of the outcome. Tallah have tried this by mashing multiple genres together. You can clearly see they come from a Nu-Metal background as they sound like a mix of old school Korn & Slipknot. They also tie in other genres such as Hardcore, Deathcore & Rap. But It doesn’t work. It feels disorientating and like they’ve mixed two or more songs together in some tracks. I hate to say it but the album is piss weak. The bands line up is something to dream of as you have Youtube star Justin Bonitz on vocals with his whirlwind vocals ripping through the fabric of the record creating the atmosphere, but also being let down of some parts as his style doesn’t fit most songs. You then have Derrick Schneider & AJ Wisniewski battling on guitars creating crushing riffs, but feel somewhat under used playing some simple parts. 

The same goes for bassist Andrew Cooper who is the booming backdrop, but is also under used and doesn’t hit the stride he could. Then we have drummer Max Portnoy who creates the landscape with his twists and turns on the kit. In all fairness everything he pulls out is solid, but that snare sound. Jesus it almost rivals St. Anger. I was expecting more and to be left pleasantly surprised. But I've left the album feeling deflated and let down by the bunch of talented musicians. Granted it’s their first studio album so they are still finding their feet, but it’s a write off for me. There are some solid parts like the vocals of Bonitz does break the line of Chester Bennington & Travis Ryan. But it’s not enough for me to leave with a smile of my face. Only a sour taste in my mouth. 4/10

Fortress Under Siege: Atlantis (ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records/Metal Mad Music) [Simon Black]

Greek Power/Progressive Metal six piece Fortress Under Siege are back with their third full length album. They’ve been around since the early 1990’s but for some reason don’t seem to be too well known outside of Greece, which is a shame because this is a band that deserves a wider audience. Definitely more guitar-centric Power than Prog (at least on this release), Fortress Under Siege have here delivered a tight and well-crafted album. One would hope so, given its six year gestation period, but endless line up challenges have plagued this band for many years. The latest change has necessitated Tasos Lazaris stepping up to the microphone at the last minute, re-recording all the vocals and backfilling his rhythm guitar to new boy Themis Gourlis.

I’m not familiar with their back catalogue, but it doesn’t seem to be an issue, as his voice has presence and power and you wouldn’t know that he was new to the frontman role. I did think this was another cookie-cutter concept album from a cursory glance at the song titles, but in fact although there is an Hellenic mythology theme to some of the songs, they all stand alone. To be fair, our esteemed editor would probably have given this piece the most critical eye, given his close association with Greece and that degree in classics he is forever waving in our faces (well, not physically, none of us have seen him since February). That said my limited knowledge of the subject can recognise all the headliners like Achilles or Spartacus, but the album’s heroes extend beyond that mythology to include the odd Viking or comic book character, as even Conan gets a mention too! Musically we’ve got some solid guitar interplay, and a good use of melodic structure throughout. 

The progressive touches when they come are just that touches and flourishes that accentuate the core sound without being overly in your face. Probably the most overt piece is Spartacus, which although still a guitar driven piece first and foremost, has some nice technical touches in that guitar work, and keyboard virtuosity that doesn’t get in the way, but is there to be appreciated if you want to (a bit like Michael Pinnella in Symphony X). The production on this record is spot on, but then with Fotis Benardo (of Rotting Christ and Septicflesh fame) on knob-twiddling duties, this is perhaps to be expected. He certainly brings the best out of this band, understands their sound and has brought the new lungsman proud and clear to the front of the mix - proving that this was probably the best place for him all along. Let’s hope this is the one that gets them a wider audience, because they sound ready for them. 7/10