Sleep Token - Take Me Back To Eden (Spinefarm Records) [Matt Bladen]
Having never spoken to the press, never played a show that didn't sell out and writing music that lingers on the fringes between metal and pop, incorporating alt rock, electonica and infusing everything they do with sometimes heart ripping emotion. Over their last two albums they've developed a cult-like following with fans pledging to Worship at their church, leading to sold out shows all over the country.
ScreaMachine - Church Of The Scream (Frontiers Music Srl) [C Hunter]
ScreaMachine scream their love for traditional legendary 80s metal bands with their new studio album Church Of The Scream. Can this Italian quintet outscream the screams of screamers past? Armed with nothing but headphones and some rum and raisin ice-cream I intend to find out.
This year they headline Radar Festival which I'm sure will be an experience but what is this third chapter in their recorded catalogue. Part three of their initial album trilogy Take Me Back To Eden is the coming part of a long journey and as such has a duality too it as well with single Vore featuring the heaviest moments of this album while track such as Aqua Regis stir emotions that will make grown men weep. That fact that both of these follow each other is a testament to the musical pallette they paint. Though after Vore, there's Ascensionism which is...devestating, utterly devestating, a simple piano and the voice, which moves into a a hip hop inspired section, built around a drum pattern that crahses into heaviness as the piano returns at the end.
Now I had to approach this album with caution lest I be accused of bandwagon jumping so with this in my mind it was pressing play on Chokehold, it buzzes with electronic pulses, the vocals of Vessel building from the stripped back beginning into some heavy patches, The Summoning upping the heavy as Vessel not only has one of the best vocals around, he shows his virtuosity on all the instruments as II hits hard behind the drums. Take Me Back To Eden (the title track) indulges the bands penchant for the longer song while they add the some poppy grooves on Granite which has the aggression increasing until Vore. The lightness shines back on Are You Really Okay? through The Apparition and DYWTYLM (more electonic percussion). The record ends with the glorious Euclid, putting this era of the band to bed with beauty and hope. Sleep Token have the world at their feet and can go anywhere so their fourth chapter could be their most intersting yet. 9/10
ScreaMachine scream their love for traditional legendary 80s metal bands with their new studio album Church Of The Scream. Can this Italian quintet outscream the screams of screamers past? Armed with nothing but headphones and some rum and raisin ice-cream I intend to find out.
Track one and album single The Crimson Legacy highlights their inspirations such as Judas Priest for the most part with a chorus that wouldn’t be out of place during a Rocky montage. Title track Church Of The Scream takes a more Megadeth / early Metallica approach to riffs. A flavour which also comes through during Edoardo Taddei’s screaming guitar solo. Night Asylum… with modern production plus the influences of old, whether this comment be seen as insult or compliment is up to you … Ghost vibes … maybe even Lordi. It’s extra strong cheese, maybe not quite casu marzu, but potent enough for me to be able to taste it through the headphones.
Revenge Walker walks a fine line between modern hard rock riffage and the theatrical feel of acts such as Alice Cooper. Valerio “The Brave” Caeicchino really works the pipes here, almost approaching scream machine Rob Halford. Met (H) Aldone is a more straightforward thrashier track with some brutal arpeggio exercises for good measure. Flag Of Damnation has some great guitar and vocal harmonies with a much darker chorus to the previous numbers and some tasty bass runs from sub screamer Francesco Bucci. Occam’s Failure sounds like it was written for fans of Iron Maiden and shred guitarists. The lead taking clear influence from the likes of Randy Rhoads and Jason Becker. Very Iron Maiden key charge towards the end. Who doesn’t appreciate Maiden though right?
Pest Case Scenario screams early Metallica from the get go … or Megadeth , but it’s hard to tell with those early albums. The song moves away from metal bands beginning with M as it goes on with some more Halford-esque scre….. propulsions of sound from one’s face hole. The penultimate Deflagrater starts with a groove bass line and makes fine use of chromatic chugging riffs, war chants and my favourite guitar work on the album. The beginning of the end starts with the pounding battle drums of The Epic Of Defeat.
Tricks pulled from the book of Epic include the church bell, halftime change of feel, choir sounds and more musical acrobatics. I believe it may actually be illegal to use the word epic in a song name and not include at least four church bells and ScreaMachine have used thirteen by the time the first minute has closed of this seven minute song. Church Of Scream is a competent work of appreciation and nostalgia for the greats as each musician brings the impressive demonstration of knowledge and skill of their respective genre and influences. The problem with love letters though, is that they will always struggle to be original. ScreaMachine have shown tremendous ability here. However, very little felt like I hadn’t heard it many times before.
By this point I will have used the word scream fourteen times ( That’s one more time than the amount of church bells in the first minute of The Epic Of Defeat). A hard album to give a rating to, ability alone could be looking at a 10, but as few of the songs really captivated me and I can’t think of a fair way to score the album I shall take the number of shriek synonyms and divide them by two 7/10
Nakija has three minutes of instrumental music before those same shouted vocals come crashing in and ruin what had been quite good, it’s a shame because the music to these songs is as Doom like as I could ever hope for but the vocal style is unimaginative. The rest of the album is more of the same, where I’m sure this is how it was intended to be, I feel a better, cleaner production would enhance the sound quality as there are some great pieces lost behind that muddy sound, add in some variety to the vocals that would inspire that funereal feeling and this would be a great addition to any metal collection. 5/10
Sweet & Lynch - Heart & Sacrifice (Frontiers Music Srl) [Rich Piva]
Anyone who was around at the time where the rock was as big as the hair knows who Michael Sweet and George Lynch are and how successful, and let’s be honest, great they were with their respective bands. Stryper and Dokken were 80s metal hit machines and between Sweet’s powerful voice that spoke right to Jesus and Lynch’s muscular shredding these guys were at the top of the lists in their skillset compared to the rest of the crop of dudes doing it back then. Frontiers now brings you the third (?!) album from their partnership, Heart & Sacrifice. Can we combine two 80s stars to make something interesting in 2023?
Well, I have listened to this four times now and the only song that is remotely memorable to me is the opener title track. The drums are well done on top of Lynch’s always great guitar work and Sweet’s souring vocals. It’s a banger for sure, especially given what year it is, but after that there is not a song that sticks out to me. Lynch is great, if a bit muted on this album, I would loke to see him just take over the album and have the guitar right in your face. I feel like Sweet’s vocals are more the main attraction, and this to me is a mistake. It’s not that his voice has aged poorly, it’s the opposite. He can belt it out. It is just a lot. Lynch’s solo on Miracle is pretty great and Give Up The Night is a good song too. But truly there is nothing that makes me want to go back to this or that makes me think this was not a built in a lab.
You can’t just throw two musicians together and hope for the best. Maybe that is not what they did here, but it sounds like it to me, even after three albums. Sweet & Lynch are talented guys who can still go, but Heart & Sacrifice really doesn’t leave any impression on me other than some strong Lynch playing and a whole bunch of Michael Sweet. A whole bunch. A whole, whole bunch. 5/10
Radien - Unissa Palaneet (Svart Records) [James Jackson]
Instrumental opener Myrskyn silma is an eerie affair allowing a glimpse at the doom laden metal that Finland based Radien are projecting. What follows next for me is an example of how you can take a step too far in the wrong direction, I’ve been listening to the same few Doom/Death Metal bands for nearly 30 years and have loved how acts like My Dying Bride for example have taken two seemingly unrelated genres and blended them together, especially on their earlier albums.
Instrumental opener Myrskyn silma is an eerie affair allowing a glimpse at the doom laden metal that Finland based Radien are projecting. What follows next for me is an example of how you can take a step too far in the wrong direction, I’ve been listening to the same few Doom/Death Metal bands for nearly 30 years and have loved how acts like My Dying Bride for example have taken two seemingly unrelated genres and blended them together, especially on their earlier albums.
Seinaman Takana opens with a great riff, it’s Doom, slow and nodding, before giving way to yet another good riff that’s just lost beneath a muddy sound and shouted vocals that whilst low in the mix are just clear enough to cut through the mirk and immediately turn me off. I’m new to Sludge Metal, just when you think you’ve heard a bit of everything someone pops up with a new sub genre, inspired by classic genres but with a twist.
Nakija has three minutes of instrumental music before those same shouted vocals come crashing in and ruin what had been quite good, it’s a shame because the music to these songs is as Doom like as I could ever hope for but the vocal style is unimaginative. The rest of the album is more of the same, where I’m sure this is how it was intended to be, I feel a better, cleaner production would enhance the sound quality as there are some great pieces lost behind that muddy sound, add in some variety to the vocals that would inspire that funereal feeling and this would be a great addition to any metal collection. 5/10