The Pineapple Thief - Nothing But The Truth (Kscope)
The Pineapple Thief have always delivered live, Bruce Soord's main musical outlet has always been a group that manages to perfectly capture their album sound on stage, usually marrying it with brilliant visuals that enrapture you, in the post-progressive mastery. Due to Soord's unwavering musical creativity, the Pineapple Thief released their thirteenth album Versions Of The Truth in September 2020 with an eye to playing live early 2021, that didn't materialise as most us will know so with their tour moved to November 2021, they embarked upon making a one off on-demand live concert with videographer George Laycock.
Shown in April 2021, Nothing But The Truth features the first performances of songs from Versions Of Truth along with others from their extensive catalog all captured in a cinematic visual style befitting of their live show. If you have seen the visual portion of this release you will know it is more than a live concert film, the band going to great lengths to make it as creative and fun to watch as possible. As I only have the musical version of this album I can only really comment on that but it's The Pineapple Thief doing what they do best.
Soord taking front and center with guitars and vocals as he has on every The Pineapple Thief release since 1999, this release also features Gavin Harrison behind the drum kit as bassist Jon Sykes and keyboardist Steve Kitch fleshing out these numbers with George Marios providing session guitars. Much like the live films that were produced by the Onassis Cultural Center, the focus is on marrying the visuals with the performance, so I would definitely say picking up the visual version of this album which features a "Dolby Atmos immersive mix along with DTS-HD 5.1 and high-definition stereo" making for the best audio and visual quality, still even the audio only part is The Pineapple Thief at their magnificent best. Rightfully hailed as one of the best bands on the UK progressive music scene, The Pineapple Thief speak Nothing But The Truth on this very special release. 9/10
Massacre - Resurgence (Nuclear Blast)
Founding Massacre members Kam Lee (vocals) and Michael Borders (bass) rise above the numerous line up changes the Florida death metal titans to return to leading it into the bands fourth decade. Rounding out this most recent line up is a man who seems to be in every single death metal band on the planet; Rogga Johansson (Megascavenger, Rib Spreader) on guitars, along with Jonny Pettersson (Wombbath) on guitars, Scott Fairfax (Memoriam, As the World Dies) on guitars and Brynjar Helgetun (Crypticus) on drums. Essentially this version of Massacre is a bit of death metal supergroup but with two founding members and this collection of musicians that are surely influenced by Massacre, Resurgence is an album that sees the reawakening of this ancient monster. The focus from Lee and Borders was to try and recreate the nasty, Lovecraftian inspired death metal assault of their demos and that classic 1991 debut From Beyond. Much like the new Halloween Movie being a direct sequel to original, Massacre wanted to do the same with Resurgence trying to capture the feel and passion of that debut but not recreate it.
The tracks were composed across various parts of the world primarily on line as it was the middle of the pandemic the production was overseen by the veritable Dan Swanö and Jonny Pettersson and they have made sure that this record puts the 'old school' in the old school death metal, forgoing any gloss for dirty, nasty riffage and those resonant growls of Kam Lee. He has brought some guests along too with Marc Grewe (Insidious Disease), Dave Ingram (Benediction), Anders Odden (Cadaver), and Pete Slate (Druid Lord) all adding their talents to the record but it is very much a Massacre record, from the slow burning, Gothic, opening of Eldritch Prophecy, through the blistering The Innsmouth Strain, the grinding Into The Far Off Void and the frenzied Fate Of The Elder Gods all conjure that classic Massacre sound. These Florida death metal legends are well and truly back on course with a renewed focus that sees them already writing a follow up. Praise the Old God's! 9/10
The Agonist - Days Before The World Wept (Napalm Records)
Returning with their first new music since their 2019 album Orphans, Canadian melodeath crew The Agonist have been busy bees fresh off their Juno Nomination, writing and recording this 5 track EP which according to the band is a concept release dealing with "greed, gluttony, confusion, pain, redemption and hope", it's The Agonist going to places that they have only dallianced with before, with the strings that swell at the beginning of the the title track or the piano into choral vocal of Remnants In Time, here the band are bolstering their melodeath sound with additional styles though the frantic double kicks, laser beam guitar playing, lightning quick riffs and progressive touches are all in place as they have been throughout the existence of the band. Danny Marino and Pascal Jobin provide these songs with stunning lead breaks and along with bassist Chris Kells they lock in to some technically impressive riffage too as Simon McKay explodes behind his kit.
What a lot of people know The Agonist for though are the vocals, having fully dispelled the ghosts of their previous vocalist this is their fourth release with Vicky Psarakis and it's her vocal that really captures the theatrical sound of songs such as the stomping Immaculate Deception. Her savage roars are full of depth and drama while her soaring cleans are classically tinged soaring into soprano, she is also responsible for the pianos and keys here but most importantly her vocal work often lifts these songs out of the traditional Melodeath rut. The EP was given it's pin-sharp production values by Christian Donaldson (Beyond Creation, Cryptopsy, Despised Icon) meaning you can almost 'feel' every blastbeat, tremolo sweep and guttural growl. Often EP's are there as a way to lead into another album but this one takes on a life of it's own, a fully formed five track, suite that shows The Agonist as vicious and vital as ever. 8/10
Blasfeme - Fuck Your Starving Planet (Self Released)
Recorded at Woodcroft audio in this summer, Satan worshipping, black metal duo Blasfeme release their latest hate-filled EP just in time for Samhain (doing a similar thing last year as well). Performed by Moord (guitar/bass/vocal) and Striga Hell (drums/synths). Fuck Your Starving Planet is an uncompromising, hell march through three tracks of nasty black metal. The production is raw and scratchy (deliberately) as Death Prayer gets us started, the classic black metal riffs of the first part shifting into a mid-paced groove, Moord's tremolo picking and disgusting vocal style backed by the blitzkrieg of Striga Hell's percussion battery. Death Prayer has even got dare I say it a bit of melody to it, following on from here is Nothing Bleeds Forever which takes from death metal's groove and even has a bit of Venom's thrash nastiness to it.