She Must Burn - Umbra Mortis (Grey Rock Music) [GC]
It has been five years since She Must Burn released their debut album and instantly built themselves an impressive reputation and now following on from all of the Covid ravaged years it doesn’t seem like they have lost any momentum built up previously and their stock has continued to rise, and we now have new album Umbra Mortis for them to prove all this hype can be backed up.
The length of the album feels ambitious, as the imbalance in the quality of material is at times very stark. When Hexed nail a track they provide a good romp, and to their credit they do this enough over the course of the album to make it worth the listen, particularly if this whatever-it-is metal speaks to you. 7/10
Flight From Destruction offers more of the same but Through Galaxies Endless takes the pace down a notch and it’s here, four tracks in, that I’m actually beginning to enjoy it. The Scattering Of Darkness starts of with a similar tempo before picking it up again but it confirms, within a seemingly stripped down verse, just what it is that I’m not quite keen on - it’s the vocals and the lyrics.
It has been five years since She Must Burn released their debut album and instantly built themselves an impressive reputation and now following on from all of the Covid ravaged years it doesn’t seem like they have lost any momentum built up previously and their stock has continued to rise, and we now have new album Umbra Mortis for them to prove all this hype can be backed up.
Starting off with the Gothic and ethereal intro Nine which builds the atmosphere nicely before we are greeted with some crisp and suitably savage deathcore of The Rats In The Wall, which is interspersed with some nice melodic transitions that mix perfectly with the blastbeats and crushing beatdowns, Blood And Bone follows and is another blast of crushing deathcore delivered to perfection and wouldn’t seem out of place on a Bleeding Through record, which is a compliment of the highest order!!
Title track Umbra Mortis has all the subtlety of a brick to the gonads and carries on with the full-on attack but highlights the black metal influences perfectly. Eulogy begins on an almost somber and gothic note and keeps the mid-tempo stomp going before throwing in an almost Emmure type influence before some beautiful and haunting melodic sections really round things off nicely.
The chaos is then re-introduced on Misery Eternal which is yet another savage and unrelenting attach on the listener where even the melodic parts feels like they aren’t the respite you may be looking for and the breakdown hallway through is a thing of absolute majestic beauty! A Truer Hell follows and is a piano led piece that lowers the brutality quota but builds suspense and unease before Incantation grabs back hold of you and drags you back to the depths of hell with a relentless pace and beautiful carnage filled five minutes of haunting melody and savage riffs which flows perfectly into the next song.
Souls Asunder and adds a huge groove element into the fold which highlights the interchange of styles in a great way and adds another layer of heaviness that really wasn’t needed but is gratefully accepted. Then closing track The Serpent is everything you want form She Must Burn and guarantees this album ends with a bang and doesn’t just fade away, its all brutal riffs & blasting drums and the vocals play off each other to great effect to close us in an absolute wave of skull crushing savagery.
Having never heard a note of music by She Must and wrongly judging a band by their promo photo, I must admit I am blown away by She Must Burn, and this album is everything a modern-day deathcore record should be and so much more on top! I mentioned at the beginning of this review that I wondered if the hype could be backed up and the answer is an emphatic YES!! This is an absolute beast of an album, and you should 100% make it your business to check it out right now!! 9/10
Hexed - Pagans Rising (ViciSolum Productions) [David G]
Billed as a symphonic progressive metal band (more on this later) this Swedish quintet second full-length release proves to be a bit of a grower. I'm not sure that the descriptor that is applied to the band is necessarily accurate, however there are some impressive chops on display and an ability to embed a good hook.
Hexed - Pagans Rising (ViciSolum Productions) [David G]
Billed as a symphonic progressive metal band (more on this later) this Swedish quintet second full-length release proves to be a bit of a grower. I'm not sure that the descriptor that is applied to the band is necessarily accurate, however there are some impressive chops on display and an ability to embed a good hook.
The initial listen failed to land, and aside from the try-hard feel of the opening title-track nothing particularly stood out. Here symphonic progressive metal means a clean, modern sound with chunky guitar tones that shows plenty of flair and the ability to groove out. Think the harder edge of Evergrey or the groovier moments of Soilwork, with the powerful presence of Tina Gunnarsson's vocals out front. I'm not sure what one would necessarily describe that modern style of keyboard backed Scandinavian metal as but progressive and symphonic seem increasingly meaningless terms.
For this album the backbone lies in the trio of Stigma Diaboli, Repentence and Incantation.
For this album the backbone lies in the trio of Stigma Diaboli, Repentence and Incantation.
Stigma Diaboli has a capacious chorus that lets Tina's vocals breathe over a subtle guitar motif that provides a catchy foil. Repentence plays off the beauty and the beast vocal dynamic and builds to quite a dense crescendo that is heavy on the keyboard backing. Incantation provides the true highlight of the album, starting with a infectious melancholy spiral of a riff, then playing off the low end groove and hypnotic punctuating singing.
It's notable that none of these tracks break a sweat as such, whereas the slightly more impetuous Prophecy that follows on feels more contrived and lacks the presence or power. Dark Storm has a more staccato delivery that fails to engage, and at this point the incessant witchcraft referencing lyrics become cringe worthy and the lack of a vocal hook means there's nothing to draw attention away.
The length of the album feels ambitious, as the imbalance in the quality of material is at times very stark. When Hexed nail a track they provide a good romp, and to their credit they do this enough over the course of the album to make it worth the listen, particularly if this whatever-it-is metal speaks to you. 7/10
Dragonland - The Power Of The Nightstar (AFM Records) [James Jackson]
The opening track of any album for me has always been the most important, just like the opening scene of any film or first chapter of a book it’s what draws you in and will either have you craving for more or moving on to something more gripping. The Power Of The Nightstar by Dragonland opens with a rather cringe inducing spoken word intro akin to the sprawling credits of any Star Wars film, which fortunately doesn’t go on for long but is backed by quite an epic score that inspires something quite cinematic.
The opening track of any album for me has always been the most important, just like the opening scene of any film or first chapter of a book it’s what draws you in and will either have you craving for more or moving on to something more gripping. The Power Of The Nightstar by Dragonland opens with a rather cringe inducing spoken word intro akin to the sprawling credits of any Star Wars film, which fortunately doesn’t go on for long but is backed by quite an epic score that inspires something quite cinematic.
The first track to follow is entitled A Light In The Dark and it picks up that grandiose inspiration and with all the traits you would expect from a power metal album runs with it.
Flight From Destruction offers more of the same but Through Galaxies Endless takes the pace down a notch and it’s here, four tracks in, that I’m actually beginning to enjoy it. The Scattering Of Darkness starts of with a similar tempo before picking it up again but it confirms, within a seemingly stripped down verse, just what it is that I’m not quite keen on - it’s the vocals and the lyrics.
This is a concept album and in all honesty I’ve only really listened to one with anything more than a passing interest - that one however is Cradle Of Filth’s Cruelty And The Beast and while this isn’t their review, it’s an example of how well a concept album can be done. Unfortunately here, with its take on a tale of galactic wars, all I can really think of is an episode of Big Bang Theory when Howard and Raj start a similarly inspired band.
I’m not really a fan of the genre as a whole, I’ve a disliking for fan favourites Sabaton but absolutely love Powerwolf and due to my limited knowledge of the genre my comparison has to stop there, Powerwolf bring that style more to life for me with more flair and catchy singalong choruses in nearly every song; whereas I’m not getting that here though and after half an album and not for a lack of trying, I’ve given up.
With all of Dragonland’ pomp and technical ability, this is quite an impressive display of songwriting and musicianship but it just doesn’t have the catchy hooks that make me want to experience it more; I can’t help but wonder - would I enjoy this live. It’s middle of the road for me and no mention of dragons. 5/10
Ruina – At the Sky Begins To Break (Self Released) [Zak Skane]
Ruina began it’s journey in the South West of the UK as a one man project created by Harrv Lake, the project soon began to expand as a live act to allow it to explore more avenues and by 2020 the band released its debut E.P Nemesis. Since the bands first release they have become one of the must see bands in the local circuit.
Stemming from their dissonant guitar introduction Ash – Fire comes in with some furious aggression with some hard hitting melodeth inspired riffs alongside energetic thrash beats. Harv Lakes channelling inner Chester Bennington by channelling his aggression with his harsh vocals but also soothes us with his melodic Howard Jones sounding cleans. The track has this hellish attack that goes from high tempo thrash chemistry to hard hitting hardcore attitude with its uplifting lyrics that could easily fall into a Hatebreed or Unearth song. The truth still brings the metalcore guitar riff goodness, which is glazed over with some nu metal bounce especially when it is accompanied by its drum grooves.
Ruina – At the Sky Begins To Break (Self Released) [Zak Skane]
Ruina began it’s journey in the South West of the UK as a one man project created by Harrv Lake, the project soon began to expand as a live act to allow it to explore more avenues and by 2020 the band released its debut E.P Nemesis. Since the bands first release they have become one of the must see bands in the local circuit.
Stemming from their dissonant guitar introduction Ash – Fire comes in with some furious aggression with some hard hitting melodeth inspired riffs alongside energetic thrash beats. Harv Lakes channelling inner Chester Bennington by channelling his aggression with his harsh vocals but also soothes us with his melodic Howard Jones sounding cleans. The track has this hellish attack that goes from high tempo thrash chemistry to hard hitting hardcore attitude with its uplifting lyrics that could easily fall into a Hatebreed or Unearth song. The truth still brings the metalcore guitar riff goodness, which is glazed over with some nu metal bounce especially when it is accompanied by its drum grooves.
With is nu-metal influences tides into this songs I am getting some Of Mice and Men influences especially from The Flood and Restoring Force era. The EP’s finale Wavebreaker begins with it’s balls to the wall down picked riffs up tempo drum beats and some anthemic woahs fitted into good measure which builds us up to some serious groove laden verses. The anthemic choruses about setting yourself on your own path really set the tone for being a great crowd pleaser in the live sets especially with it’s crowd chanting outro.
Overall this is a really solid four track E.P. Harvs vocals sound really angry and genuine stemming from his Chester Benninton sounding harsh vocals, but soothes us with his Howard Jones and Brandon Saller melodic cleans. The production on this is sounds stellar for a band of this size, with the guitars sounding full and properly dialled in and the drums sound punchy but programmed. The biggest complement I will give on this EP is the breakdowns, the breakdowns on this album are so well constructed and timed they will get any gatekeeper moshing. In conclusion this EP is strong, genuine and to the point. 8/10
Overall this is a really solid four track E.P. Harvs vocals sound really angry and genuine stemming from his Chester Benninton sounding harsh vocals, but soothes us with his Howard Jones and Brandon Saller melodic cleans. The production on this is sounds stellar for a band of this size, with the guitars sounding full and properly dialled in and the drums sound punchy but programmed. The biggest complement I will give on this EP is the breakdowns, the breakdowns on this album are so well constructed and timed they will get any gatekeeper moshing. In conclusion this EP is strong, genuine and to the point. 8/10