Konvent - Call Down The Sun (Napalm Records) [Matt Bladen]
Danish band Konvent caused something of a stir with their 2020 debut album, a bleak, crushing, slab of blackened death metal, the band were touted as being the next great heavy band and sometimes this means that the band are flash in the pan and their second album is where they fall down. This is not the case with Call Down The Sun, the four piece have shown major signs of improvement here. Their songwriting is much more focussed and vicious, both the death and black metal elements are heightened and there's also flair that comes from some of the other extreme styles.
Danish band Konvent caused something of a stir with their 2020 debut album, a bleak, crushing, slab of blackened death metal, the band were touted as being the next great heavy band and sometimes this means that the band are flash in the pan and their second album is where they fall down. This is not the case with Call Down The Sun, the four piece have shown major signs of improvement here. Their songwriting is much more focussed and vicious, both the death and black metal elements are heightened and there's also flair that comes from some of the other extreme styles.
A track such as Sand Is King a bubbling, brooding torrent of blackened sludge, it's a massive explosion of noise that shifts into the thundering devastation of In The Soot, bassist Heidi Withington Brink's syrupy bass rhythms guiding the darkness. Yes darkness, the main theme of this record seems to be the black times we live in, it has meant that this record is brimming with bile and actually shifts more towards the death metal style than the doomy riffs of their debut. Tracks such as Grains, are earth shaking, those basslines in sync with the sledgehammer percussion of Julie Simonsen, it's got a bit of pace behind it, followed by Fatamorgana which brings back the doom.
Guitarist Sara Helena Nørregaard works her axe well as the riffs shift in time from blasting death to throbbing doom, bringing an industrial bite to Interlude, as we are brought into yet more grinding doom on Never Rest and Pipe Dreams, Rikke Emilie List's guttural vocals are a thing of beauty, dragged from the lowest level of hell, to conjure these vicious hellscapes. Closing out the record is the beautiful 7 minute Harena which has some violin and cello to really give the song a sense of melancholy against it's rawness. Call Down The Sun, dispels the 'difficult second album' syndrome, a fantastic record from this Danish foursome. 9/10
This rocks. The trio of Marty Toner (guitar), Jamie Cattermole (drums) and Chris Marsh (bass) combined form the band a-tota-so, a curiously named Instrumental Mathcore band. However, their newest release, Lights Out, features a bevy of guest vocals that come together for one of the more interesting projects to have been born in the wake of the global pandemic. It’s simple: the group distributed already-finished tracks to musician friends and told them to do whatever floats their boat. What comes out the other side is a fascinating ride filled with nearly every vocal style there is.
The idea is as plain as it is game-changing because each song has its own identity, aided by a different singer, which makes for an almost anthological layout. Black Mirror in music form, if you will. Squirrel Bite (ft. Kieran Hayes of We Come In Pieces) is as bouncy as an alt-rock song can be, brilliantly developing and maintaining a strong presence and pace. Spicy Nights (Jack Gordon, Irk/Platitude Queen) is a demonstrative work of singing, on top of a catchy melody and the greatest lyric: ‘He’s got a face like a fishing rod.’ Come again? The opening track Choke (Jake O’Driscoll, God Alone) is a staticky morass impressively structured. The harshest vocals appropriately were saved for last, provided by Ashley Tubb (Sugar Horse) on When The Waves Come.
As for the most alluring and warm vocals, I AM features Aisling Whiting (Sang Froid) absolutely nailing it, standing as a chance to catch your breath from all the chaos coming before and after it yet not boring the listener into a daze. Collectively, a-tota-so took a risk – albeit calculated – and were handsomely rewarded with eight songs that each boast an identity, a distinctive quality and an ever-present feeling of freshness. It remains to be seen if more musicians take this idea and run with it. What’s clear is a-tota-so set the bar really, really high. 8/10
The Defaced – Charlatans (ViciSolum Productions) [Zak Skane]
The Defaced formed in 1999, hailing from Helsingborg Sweden the band started off as an amalgamation of members of Darkane, Soilwork and other musicians from the local area. During the first formation the band they have released three albums; Domination Commence (2001), Karma In Black (2003) and Anomaly (2006) before the band split up in 2008. Fast forward to 2019 the band began to reform due to Mattias Svensson making a phone call to Jens Broman asking him to collaborate on some new material that Mattias has been working on. From there it started to snowball and generate their reformation whilst producing their latest work Charlatans.
From the opening riff of Monochromic Void the band are not afraid to show their true colours with groovy feeling guitar riffs, to the big bombastic drums beats accompanied with the James Hetfieldesque vocal swagger, This is a band that embraces the sound of modern heavy metal to the fullest. With the guitars containing the nice full mid range body but sharp attacked precision it embraces the meaty chugs but also helps them cut through for soaring melodies in songs like Bleeding Ore. The drum arrangements on this album are exquisite, the chain gun constancy off the kick drum patterns in songs like Monochromatic Void and Celestial Display to the carefully placed kick patterns of Bleeding Ore elevate the bands groove to the next level.
From the opening riff of Monochromic Void the band are not afraid to show their true colours with groovy feeling guitar riffs, to the big bombastic drums beats accompanied with the James Hetfieldesque vocal swagger, This is a band that embraces the sound of modern heavy metal to the fullest. With the guitars containing the nice full mid range body but sharp attacked precision it embraces the meaty chugs but also helps them cut through for soaring melodies in songs like Bleeding Ore. The drum arrangements on this album are exquisite, the chain gun constancy off the kick drum patterns in songs like Monochromatic Void and Celestial Display to the carefully placed kick patterns of Bleeding Ore elevate the bands groove to the next level.
When it comes to the vocals the singer can go from James Hetfield of Metallica to Mastodons Brent Hinds harshness to soaring melodies that Bjorn Strid of Soilwork. My personal highlights from this album is the bombastic opener Monochromic Void that sets the pace for the listener with the syncopated chuggy riffs and double kick drum combo, the following track Bleeding Ore takes it back a few BPM to highlight the note choices to make those guitar riffs sound more anthemic. Combined with the drums spacing out the groove it lets the notes breathe to let the verse and chorus lines soar as a result.
The stoner atmospheres of Celestial Display with the Mastodon inspired riffs and choruses to the eastern inspired Enter The Stage with it’s Phrygian based riffs combined with prog inspired drum beats that contain varying hi-hat patterns in which results tricking the listener to think the drum beats are odd metered. Enter The Stage also features of additional percussion elements to emphasise the eastern influences of the song.
I really enjoyed how this album kept it consistent with soaring heavy guitar parts, combined with pounding drums and anthemic choruses, but I did find that structure was to repetitive with the classic; main intro riff, verse, chorus and then repeat. So in future releases I would like to hear the band explore more different types of song structures, but then again if it isn’t broke don’t fix it. 8/10.
Gutterfire - Chill (Wormholedeath Records) [David Karpel]
Brisbane based Gutterfire! call themselves “upbeat doom.” Chill is their debut album where they set out to define what that means. The opener, Jack O The Leaves, comes out downtuned and heavy footed. The slow doomy tempo soon turns into a chugga chugga romp while the lyrics describe the title character wrecking evil havoc, or something. Singer Photon Jon’s vocal style is very reminiscent of some of the mid 90s bands that made grunge a lot more radio friendly than Mudhoney. This becomes clearer in the title track, Chill, his voice mixed clear over swaggering gritty grooves with metal guitar flairs and steadily driving drums.
I really enjoyed how this album kept it consistent with soaring heavy guitar parts, combined with pounding drums and anthemic choruses, but I did find that structure was to repetitive with the classic; main intro riff, verse, chorus and then repeat. So in future releases I would like to hear the band explore more different types of song structures, but then again if it isn’t broke don’t fix it. 8/10.
Gutterfire - Chill (Wormholedeath Records) [David Karpel]
Brisbane based Gutterfire! call themselves “upbeat doom.” Chill is their debut album where they set out to define what that means. The opener, Jack O The Leaves, comes out downtuned and heavy footed. The slow doomy tempo soon turns into a chugga chugga romp while the lyrics describe the title character wrecking evil havoc, or something. Singer Photon Jon’s vocal style is very reminiscent of some of the mid 90s bands that made grunge a lot more radio friendly than Mudhoney. This becomes clearer in the title track, Chill, his voice mixed clear over swaggering gritty grooves with metal guitar flairs and steadily driving drums.
Suddenly it’s clear: he reminds me of Vinnie Dombroski of Sponge, which is actually a compliment. This Is Fine keeps to the formula established. It’s a meme song in which cliches come together lyrically as the mid tempo jammer picks up the pace for the chorus and the furious breakdown is a relief from the lack of diversity. There are no stand out performances during the consistent and conventional steady pace of each of these 10 songs. I kept listening because I respect working bands, their efforts, what they sacrifice to write, record, and go on tour.
But my job here is to give an honest assessment of the output. Gutterfire! are just not doing anything impressive here. They sound like a fun live band to catch at a bar and, hey, you might buy their CD to support them on your way out. I don’t know if you’d play it too often, though. It’s their debut and they have a lot of talent to work with, but “upbeat doom” sounds more like “grunge light.” 4/10