Michael Schenker Group: Immortal (Nuclear Blast) [Simon Black]
So I am going to be a bit controversial here. Historically I’ve never really been able to see what the fuss about Michael Schenker is all about. OK, I got that he was a key contributor to the early 70’s Hard Rock scene. I got that he’s a huge part of the birth of Scorpions (a band I love by the way). I got that without UFO’s commercially accessible contribution to the UK Hard Rock scene, it perhaps would have never have paved the way for NWOBHM and all that followed in quite the same way. But frankly as a guitar player he’s never been as hot as the ‘Flying-V Guitar Hero’ hype that has surrounded him, and that’s an opinion that has only been reinforced for me whenever I have seen him play live. He’s no shredder normally and although he can play some great commercially friendly melody lines, I have struggled to see why he is treated with such reverence as an axeman.
But as a songwriter, well that’s a completely different fischkessel.
His tenure in Scorpions was too brief to measure this, but you can’t deny that the song-writing for which he is credited on during UFO’s Strangers In The Night era – their most successful records and whose popularity dwindled with his departure, was absolutely top-notch. Add him back to the mix for UFO’s comeback in the 1990’s with Walk On Water and once again a palpable hit ensued, take him away again and they whither once more. In the 80’s MSG incarnation again, although nothing special was going on in the six string department, there were some cracking tunes in that period. And this album reinforces that observation.
This ten track offering is frankly one of the strongest things I have heard from Schenker in a very long time. He’s also gone a bit Avantasia on this one, using a multitude of guest vocalists of legendary standing and, like his modern German stable mate has used his song-writing skill to fit around the talents of his guests. Opener Drill To Kill is mean and hungry Power Metal in the Primal Fear vein, and quite right given that Ralf Scheepers is the man for this one. It pile drives its way, allowing Scheeper’s voice full reign and is a cracking start to the album. He’s in good company, with contributions from Joe Lynn Turner and Ronnie Romero. If you have not come across this Chilean hot shot, shame on you. He’s done turns in a number of acts, but absolutely stole the show when Ritchie Blackmore finally swallowed his pride and did a Rainbow live reunion tour a few years ago. He shines equally well here and provides the bulk of the singing – a role he presumably will fill if this outfit gets to tour in any capacity in the future.
I’ve also been forced to confront my own prejudices with regards to Mr Schenker’s playing on this record, as he’s actually on really good form here. Alongside that warm Melodic Rock song-writing ability that seems to flow so effortlessly from him, we’ve actually got some pretty damn good playing to go alongside it, and yes, he really can shred when he chooses to. From the elliptical, trippy and moody soloing on album closer In Search Of Peace Of Mind, to the haunting technically clever closing sections of The Queen Of Thorns And Roses, or the hammer-on frenzy in Knight Of The Dead this is the first frankly the best playing I’ve heard from him in decades. An unexpected, but palpable hit. 8/10
Tribulation: Where Gloom Becomes Sound (Century Media Records) [Matt Bladen]
Everyone's favourite masters of the macabre and gods of the gothic Tribulation return with another volume of dark, moody metal music to add to their unholy canon. Having started out as more of straight death metal act dealing with horror imagery, their sound has evolved across their more recent albums into luscious 80's Goth rocking ala The Mission, Sisters Of Mercy and even Siouxsie Sioux, the sexy basslines underpinning stacco, melodic guitar lines mixed with harder edged metallic sound, croaked vocals and a sprinkling of hazy moorland atmospherics and proggy music. A song such as Hour Of The Wolf showing that metal shouldn't be this so damn danceable! Similar to fellow countrymen Ghost but with something a bit more threatening about them, and two Grammys under their belt, this heavily stylised band are now on record number 5. The contrast on this record as evident as a sweeping doom track like Dirge Of A Dying Soul can evolve into a solitary piano piece like Lethe.
Where Gloom Becomes Sound perfectly categorizes its title managing to almost give you the audio definition of what gloom should be as the record takes inspiration from many of Jonathan Hultén's influences with NWOBHM, Goth rock, Swedish folk and the mythical spiritual music all getting a look in, it's no wonder then that he was writing this at the same time as his splendid solo record as they can really be seen as two sides of the same coin. Where Gloom Becomes Sound is also bittersuite in it's release as it is Hultén's swansong with the band, recently replaced by Joseph Tholl (ex-Black Trip/Enforcer). It's a fitting legacy to leave capped off with this record. He took the bulk of the writing here shifting between those shimmering Goth sounds of the Theremin, church organs and soundscapes taken from a Dario Argento thriller (In Remembrance) and the riffy trad metal hallmarks.
Just a note at this juncture to say the record sounds, incredible, the production is brilliant allowing you to identify every instrument no matter what else is going on, from the dual shifting guitars of Hultén and Adam Zaars (Elementals), to the focused drumming of Oscar Leander as Johannes Andersson's basslines rumble like a certain Mr Harris and his voice is perfectly nasty on Daughter Of The Djinn. A wonderful record that can be viewed as an end of an era, hopefully the band will continue on this dark path in future. 9/10
The Body: I’ve Seen All I Need To See (Thrill Jockey) [Paul Scoble]
The Body have been making horrifically nasty noises since 1999. The duo, made up of Chip King on Vocals and Guitar and Lee Burford on Drums and Programming. In the 22 years they have been making music together Chip and Lee have made 7 albums on their own, and 10 collaborative albums with acts such as Thou or Full Of Hell. This album is their 8th non collaborative album, although it does feature small additional performances from Chrissy Wolpert on Piano and Vocals and Ben Eberle on vocals. This album is mainly about the two members of the band. Stylistically this album is fairly paired back compared to a lot of the material the band have made over the last few years. The Body’s style is a mix of Harsh Noise, Doom and Industrial. Distorted drum beats and huge riffs nestle with Harsh Noise elements and Chip’s shrill, nasty vocals.
The album opens with A Lament which opens with a spoken word section before some distorted, glitchy percussion, a nasty riff comes in and with some vocals. Chip King’s vocals are very shrill and nasty and do seem to be an acquired taste as some people have a serious problem with them. They are very nasty, but on I’ve Seen All I Need To See his voice is fairly low in the mix, and in many ways is more like an additional instrument, so I have no issue with them. The track has a driving and hypnotic feel to it, that is initially measured but becomes bigger and more intense as the song moves towards its end. Tied Up And Locked In is driving and doomy, it gets bigger and bigger until a it reaches monstrous proportions. Eschatological Imperative starts in a fairly measured and minimal way, the track has a hypnotic quality to it that grows in intensity until a huge, pounding ending.
A Pain Of Knowing is a Harsh Noise track with no beat and horrific vocals. The City Is Shelled is simple with a slow, droney feel that builds to a lurching, hypnotic nightmare. They Are Coming is huge, harsh and sludgy. It’s very slow and extremely heavy. The Handle The Blade is faster than most of the material on I’ve Seen All I Need To See and is driving and powerful; the track is mainly a beat with noise elements. The album comes to an end with Path Of Failure, which is mainly Harsh Noise and vocals. The track has a droney quality to it. Most of Path Of Failure has either no drums or they are very low in the mix, for the last movement, the drums increase in volume and join all the other elements for a huge crescendo to end the track and the album.
I’ve Seen All I Need To See is a nasty, noise filled piece of work. I understand why The Body are sometimes a divisive band, but if you can get past the surface noise and nastiness, there are some fantastic riffs, beautifully hypnotic and affecting tempos and even some great tunes. It only takes a couple of listens for this album to open up to reveal more than just it’s surface. 7/10
The Hawkins: Live In The Woods (The Sign Records) [Alex Swift]
I’ve always been interested in how bands explore settings and atmosphere when making a record. You often hear stories of how acts have chosen grand locations when seeking an epic sound for their album or choosing a grotty location to capture the atmosphere of raucousness and intimacy. The idea that you can change where you are physically, or force yourself into a specific emotional state to make your work carry a level of believability is fascinating to me and makes me wonder how many metal bands spend their studio time finding reasons to be angry. As the title would suggest, Live In The Woods takes this experiment to the next level, with parts recorded deep in Swedish forests with other locations including a barn and a brewery (hey, musicians need to drink as well).
In line with the locations chosen. The songs themselves – most of which are re-recorded versions of tracks from their last full-length LP, Silence Is A Bomb– have a rustic and raw vibe to them. With these recordings, they wanted to capture a feeling of pure, unfiltered rock n’ roll by going back to its roots – a saying they might have taken slightly to literally, come to consider. All jokes aside, I’d say The Hawkins achieved exactly the vibe they were shooting for. The guitars and percussion reverberate and echo with an intensity that speaks to them being in a wild and strange environment. The usual edges and quirks which might be eliminated by studio trickery, are all here. It’s’ like being at a live show except you can sense the difference that comes from being in a room vs. being in a forest. Moments such as Stranger In The Next Room and Libertine are great on their own as frenetic slices of high-electric blues rock, yet become even more pronounced and poignant through the tint that the strange location choice places on them.
Also, perhaps as a result of the clarity on display, there’s an insatiably memorable quality to the tones, the tempos the erratic vocal accentuations which our frontman is so keen on. While everything seems very straightforward in terms of the playing and composition, pieces like Cut Moon Bleeds or Roomer, embed themselves in my mind, in a way that a lot of modern riff-oriented material rarely achieves for me. There’s a nostalgic value to the sound which reminds me of acts like The Answer, Clutch, or strange as it might seem to say, even early White Stripes. That’s not to say that they don’t all have sounds of their own, and as we’ve seen, these certainly have a unique approach to the production but they're also treading a careful line between classic and contemporary. My only criticism is that this is an EP and only contains songs that were previously released on a more conventionally recorded record. I hope that this is the start of more experimenting by The Hawkins.
After all, the survival of great music demands that boundaries are broken, and what better way to break them than to redefine those traditional spaces where creativity happens – the recording studios and live music venues. 7/10