Alice Cooper – Road (earMusic) [Simon Black]
What comes around, goes around…
When I was young spotty youth, I first became aware of Alice when he reinvented himself for the mid-80’s and very quickly realised that the material from the early 70’s was many orders of magnitude greater than the Constrictor and Raise Your Fist And Yell albums that were doing the rounds at the time. That’s also probably my first experience of how hard it is for artists to keep going consistently over the decades, and how live shows are consequently all about the back catalogue with as many recent tracks as they can get away with to compensate. I’ve always enjoyed Alice’s shows and I’ve dipped in and out of albums over the years, but like most I’ve struggled to be moved by many with the exception of The Last Temptation and the bubble-gum Hair Metal anthemic Trash, because if nothing else, it was good to dance to.
So, all these decades later, Road really does feel like a back to the roots release. It owes far more to the legacy of the original Alice Cooper Band days, and like Black Sabbath’s final studio effort 13 tries to encapsulate the 70’s vibe, sound and arrangements of the material that works best from Love It To Death to Billion Dollar Babies, but with the humour and staginess of the nadir that is Welcome To My Nightmare. So, way more har rock than metal, but with enough touches of heaviness given that the line-up is the long-standing touring line up with some nice guest spots from the likes of Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine / Audioslave), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Keith Nelson (Buckcherry) and 80’s era muscled former axeman Kane Roberts, so a nice nod to the period I came on board too.
Many albums in the intervening decades have had more filler than banger, but this one is remarkably consistent, and consistently good. It has probably the most cohesive well-structured feel since Nightmare, and certainly owes tonally much to that beast of a record without trying to be a shallow commercial Part 2 (which tried and failed back in 2011). The songs are mostly Alice tipping his top hat to his fans, with material that expands the Alice character’s mythology and nostalgically nods to their nomadic touring existence, but there’s enough shock rock in there to keep things humorous. Alice, in his publicity for this release, has been quite open about making a real effort to writing an album that the fans wanted to hear, rather than what a label thinks that they need to hear, and in that regard it scores firmly in the back of the net. To the point where for the first time in a long time, I have an Alice Cooper album that I can enjoy listening to end to end and time after time, and that, in the legend’s sixth decade of writing and recording albums, is no mean feat. Bang on, Mr Furnier, bang on. 10/10
What comes around, goes around…
When I was young spotty youth, I first became aware of Alice when he reinvented himself for the mid-80’s and very quickly realised that the material from the early 70’s was many orders of magnitude greater than the Constrictor and Raise Your Fist And Yell albums that were doing the rounds at the time. That’s also probably my first experience of how hard it is for artists to keep going consistently over the decades, and how live shows are consequently all about the back catalogue with as many recent tracks as they can get away with to compensate. I’ve always enjoyed Alice’s shows and I’ve dipped in and out of albums over the years, but like most I’ve struggled to be moved by many with the exception of The Last Temptation and the bubble-gum Hair Metal anthemic Trash, because if nothing else, it was good to dance to.
So, all these decades later, Road really does feel like a back to the roots release. It owes far more to the legacy of the original Alice Cooper Band days, and like Black Sabbath’s final studio effort 13 tries to encapsulate the 70’s vibe, sound and arrangements of the material that works best from Love It To Death to Billion Dollar Babies, but with the humour and staginess of the nadir that is Welcome To My Nightmare. So, way more har rock than metal, but with enough touches of heaviness given that the line-up is the long-standing touring line up with some nice guest spots from the likes of Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine / Audioslave), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Keith Nelson (Buckcherry) and 80’s era muscled former axeman Kane Roberts, so a nice nod to the period I came on board too.
Many albums in the intervening decades have had more filler than banger, but this one is remarkably consistent, and consistently good. It has probably the most cohesive well-structured feel since Nightmare, and certainly owes tonally much to that beast of a record without trying to be a shallow commercial Part 2 (which tried and failed back in 2011). The songs are mostly Alice tipping his top hat to his fans, with material that expands the Alice character’s mythology and nostalgically nods to their nomadic touring existence, but there’s enough shock rock in there to keep things humorous. Alice, in his publicity for this release, has been quite open about making a real effort to writing an album that the fans wanted to hear, rather than what a label thinks that they need to hear, and in that regard it scores firmly in the back of the net. To the point where for the first time in a long time, I have an Alice Cooper album that I can enjoy listening to end to end and time after time, and that, in the legend’s sixth decade of writing and recording albums, is no mean feat. Bang on, Mr Furnier, bang on. 10/10
Asphodelus - Sculpting From Time (Hammerheart Records) [Paul Scoble]
Finish doomsters Asphodelus have been making music together since 2012, when they were called Cemetery Fog. The band changed their name to Asphodelus in 2016. In the time the band have been together they have made one album before Sculpting From Time in 2019’s Stygian Dreams. Asphodelus is made up of Jari Filppu on bass, guitars and vocals, Jussi Väyrynen on guitars, Joonas Rantala on guitars and Ilkka Narinen on drums.
The style on offer on Sculpting From Time is fairly traditional death/doom, so Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride or possibly Swallow The Sun is the right kind of ballpark, although Asphodelus definitely have their own distinctive sound.
The album opens with the track Waterside, which begins with a huge, mid-paced doom riff, with a melancholy melody lead over the top. The melody is very distinctive and returns several times during the song. Waterside has a great driving chorus and a verse section that is dramatic, but also fairly stripped down and minimal, the vocal are harsh throughout the song, and are very effective. The track comes to an end with a very soft section featuring a mournful piano. Next come the song Fallen Dreamer. The song mixes sections that are driving and uptempo, with a powerful riff and memorable melody lead, with much more soft and subtle sections featuring clean guitar and clean vocals. The song has a very good atmospheric section with keyboards shortly before the end of the song, before a faster and melodic section take the song to its end.
Life Painted Vermilion is big and dramatic death/doom, with huge melodies. The standout part of this song is the exquisite layered melodies, using beautiful guitar harmonies that are very affecting, the song is heavy and dramatic in places, but what you take away are those lush harmonies. Having to follow those harmonies is the track Monuments Of Deception. Monuments Of Deception is big, slow and heavy. The song is full of melody, with a very heavy verse section and a big slow chorus that is heavy but also packed full of melody.
World Of Hollow has the same big riff, melody lead that is central to Asphodelus’s style, but on World Of Hollow the feeling is a little more introspective, the big riffs are there, but tempered by atmospheric keyboards and sections with clean guitar, there are clean vocals as well as harsh, some piano and the song is all about slow building of intensity. In the second half of the song the pace quickens, and there is a guitar solo before the song builds to being big and very heavy by the end. While all of this building is going on the song is intertwined with very strong and affecting melodies.
Where Sirens Wept is a more strait forward song, big riffs, big melodies and a stomping mid-paced tempo.
The next track The Moon In Pisces is a short track that acts as an intro to the final, title track. It features clean guitar, beautiful female vocals and spoken word. Title track (nearly) Sculpting The Time is one of the longest tracks on the album, it opens with a big slow melancholic riff, before a more driving and purposeful riff comes in and a melody starts to build. The song then goes into a much more aggressive section (for this album). The song then takes a turn away from driving and aggression, and towards softer and more mournful material, initially with clean guitar, but then building in intensity. The sadness of this song is palpable, as the song builds and the vocals become more fervent. The song then slows, and becomes more atmospheric, before a big, slow and mournful ending.
Sculpting From Time is a cracking piece of traditional death/doom, it’s full of heavy riffs and incredibly sad and mournful melodies. The songs are all very written and played, they feel as if the band have spent a lot of time on them as they are all very well rounded and considered. The melody leads in particular are very strong and have definitely been stuck in my head while I’ve been listening to it. I love the way this album feels cathartic, a sure sign of a great melancholy album. If you need a bit more sad in your life, then this could be an album you’d appreciate, highly recommended. 8/10
This instrumental super group is a great representative of the fusion jazz-rock genre, however even though myself I am a fan of that music and Derek Sherinian is one of my favorite musicians, I confess that I never had heard his solo music up to now. Of course, after hearing him play in other projects I kind of knew what to expect. Most songs on his solo career are his, with small contributions from other participants. In this live album most songs are from his two previous albums, Phoenix and Vortex with only a few coming from earlier musical times (Inertia and Mythology). Eleven songs in a running time of about 55 minutes, in which Sherinian and Bumblefoot mostly trade off key melodies and solo sections as they are supposed to do in a project like this, while most tracks follow the typical jazz fusion form of melody-solo-bridge etc with most solos being lengthy in certain popular modal harmonic environments of this genre.
My conclusion here is that I definitely need to hear more of Sherinian’s solo records of course. Other than that, the band here is really well synced; their chemistry is good at all times be it organized passages they play or jamming sections. I would appreciate a few more jamming parts from these world class musicians however, as this genre favors them. Nevertheless, the songs are highlighted by the performances really well. I had a very good time listening to this record and of course I recommend it to everyone, but please Derek, for the love of god my good man, next time play a few more songs! 9/10
Finish doomsters Asphodelus have been making music together since 2012, when they were called Cemetery Fog. The band changed their name to Asphodelus in 2016. In the time the band have been together they have made one album before Sculpting From Time in 2019’s Stygian Dreams. Asphodelus is made up of Jari Filppu on bass, guitars and vocals, Jussi Väyrynen on guitars, Joonas Rantala on guitars and Ilkka Narinen on drums.
The style on offer on Sculpting From Time is fairly traditional death/doom, so Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride or possibly Swallow The Sun is the right kind of ballpark, although Asphodelus definitely have their own distinctive sound.
The album opens with the track Waterside, which begins with a huge, mid-paced doom riff, with a melancholy melody lead over the top. The melody is very distinctive and returns several times during the song. Waterside has a great driving chorus and a verse section that is dramatic, but also fairly stripped down and minimal, the vocal are harsh throughout the song, and are very effective. The track comes to an end with a very soft section featuring a mournful piano. Next come the song Fallen Dreamer. The song mixes sections that are driving and uptempo, with a powerful riff and memorable melody lead, with much more soft and subtle sections featuring clean guitar and clean vocals. The song has a very good atmospheric section with keyboards shortly before the end of the song, before a faster and melodic section take the song to its end.
Life Painted Vermilion is big and dramatic death/doom, with huge melodies. The standout part of this song is the exquisite layered melodies, using beautiful guitar harmonies that are very affecting, the song is heavy and dramatic in places, but what you take away are those lush harmonies. Having to follow those harmonies is the track Monuments Of Deception. Monuments Of Deception is big, slow and heavy. The song is full of melody, with a very heavy verse section and a big slow chorus that is heavy but also packed full of melody.
World Of Hollow has the same big riff, melody lead that is central to Asphodelus’s style, but on World Of Hollow the feeling is a little more introspective, the big riffs are there, but tempered by atmospheric keyboards and sections with clean guitar, there are clean vocals as well as harsh, some piano and the song is all about slow building of intensity. In the second half of the song the pace quickens, and there is a guitar solo before the song builds to being big and very heavy by the end. While all of this building is going on the song is intertwined with very strong and affecting melodies.
Where Sirens Wept is a more strait forward song, big riffs, big melodies and a stomping mid-paced tempo.
The next track The Moon In Pisces is a short track that acts as an intro to the final, title track. It features clean guitar, beautiful female vocals and spoken word. Title track (nearly) Sculpting The Time is one of the longest tracks on the album, it opens with a big slow melancholic riff, before a more driving and purposeful riff comes in and a melody starts to build. The song then goes into a much more aggressive section (for this album). The song then takes a turn away from driving and aggression, and towards softer and more mournful material, initially with clean guitar, but then building in intensity. The sadness of this song is palpable, as the song builds and the vocals become more fervent. The song then slows, and becomes more atmospheric, before a big, slow and mournful ending.
Sculpting From Time is a cracking piece of traditional death/doom, it’s full of heavy riffs and incredibly sad and mournful melodies. The songs are all very written and played, they feel as if the band have spent a lot of time on them as they are all very well rounded and considered. The melody leads in particular are very strong and have definitely been stuck in my head while I’ve been listening to it. I love the way this album feels cathartic, a sure sign of a great melancholy album. If you need a bit more sad in your life, then this could be an album you’d appreciate, highly recommended. 8/10
Sherinian/Phillips - Sherinian/Phillips Live (InsideOut Records) [Manos Sideris]
Famous keyboardist Derek Sherinian’s (ex Dream Theater, Black Country Communion, Sons of Apollo and many others) collaboration with drum veteran Simon Phillips (eMolecule/Sound Of Contact, ex Toto and many others) brings about the Sherinian/Phillips group which in August 25th released their live album Sherinian/Phillips Live, recorded at The Grape in Ventura, California on August 2022.
Famous keyboardist Derek Sherinian’s (ex Dream Theater, Black Country Communion, Sons of Apollo and many others) collaboration with drum veteran Simon Phillips (eMolecule/Sound Of Contact, ex Toto and many others) brings about the Sherinian/Phillips group which in August 25th released their live album Sherinian/Phillips Live, recorded at The Grape in Ventura, California on August 2022.
This is actually a continuation of Derek Sherinian’s solo career which began in 1999 with the Planet X record, and spans through the 00’s, 10’s and 20’s with nine studio albums. Simon Phillips has participated in 7 of these 9 albums so far while in the last three of them he also has composer and producer credits. The group is now renamed as Sherinian/Phillips. In all of these albums a wide variety of successful virtuoso musicians display their abilities (Virgil Donati, Tony Franklin, Steve Lukather, Al Di Meola, Allan Holdsworth and many others). For this live album, the axemen in support of the main duo are Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal with his twin-headed guitar and acclaimed session veteran Ric Fierabraci in the bass.
This instrumental super group is a great representative of the fusion jazz-rock genre, however even though myself I am a fan of that music and Derek Sherinian is one of my favorite musicians, I confess that I never had heard his solo music up to now. Of course, after hearing him play in other projects I kind of knew what to expect. Most songs on his solo career are his, with small contributions from other participants. In this live album most songs are from his two previous albums, Phoenix and Vortex with only a few coming from earlier musical times (Inertia and Mythology). Eleven songs in a running time of about 55 minutes, in which Sherinian and Bumblefoot mostly trade off key melodies and solo sections as they are supposed to do in a project like this, while most tracks follow the typical jazz fusion form of melody-solo-bridge etc with most solos being lengthy in certain popular modal harmonic environments of this genre.
Vortex off of the homonymous album kicks off the performance with its Deep Purply feel. Bumblefoot and Sherinian give off Blackmore and Lord vibes while the rhythm section holds down the fort tight and when given the chance they shine on their own in tracks like Barnacus, which is a drum solo track that rushes you onto Seven Seas, a nice groovy track in 7/4 in which Fierabraci displays his soloing abilities in the middle section. Ascension is an atmospheric journey into Bumblefoot’s guitar vocabulary through soulful phrases with a pinch of shredding here and there, accompanied by Sherinian’s spacious sounds. To be honest I never paid too much attention to how the crowd takes in the performance, but it is as silent as one would expect (putting aside the gaps between the songs that is), when you are in awe of such performances.
After the break of Ascension, The Phoenix comes rushing out of the gate with guitar, keys and bass trading off solos in the intro of this fast paced boogie masterpiece that in some parts reminisces of Metropolis’s Pt. 1 fast paced second half. After the band’s introduction the night is drawing to its conclusion, unfortunately too soon to my liking, with the largest track of the night that is AuroraAustralis off of the Vortex album as well, and it is a nice way to send the crowd home happy after this 11-minute epic.
My conclusion here is that I definitely need to hear more of Sherinian’s solo records of course. Other than that, the band here is really well synced; their chemistry is good at all times be it organized passages they play or jamming sections. I would appreciate a few more jamming parts from these world class musicians however, as this genre favors them. Nevertheless, the songs are highlighted by the performances really well. I had a very good time listening to this record and of course I recommend it to everyone, but please Derek, for the love of god my good man, next time play a few more songs! 9/10
SinHeresy – Event Horizon (Scarlet Records) [Matt Bladen]
Thankfully not a concept record based on the disturbing sci-fi horror starring Sam Neil and Lawrence Fishburne, Event Horizon is the latest album from Italian symphonic metal band SinHeresy and for all the talk of it being a unique sound…it’s not, this is dual vocal modern symphonic metal where the likes of Evanescence/Within Temptation get some metalcore growls and cleans.
Now both Cecilia Petrini and Stefano Sain can sing, the mix of male/female cleans along with growls are good as both Brighter Days and Castaways show. The playing is perfectly functional but that’s all it is, functional. A hundred bands have done this, some worse of course but a lot better and more successfully. I’m not taking anything away from this fourth album at all as I quite like the metalcore undertones on it a little Red Hand Denial or Stitched Up Heart on (R)evolution but like I said there’s a whole glut of bands that you could listen to doing the same.
For fans it’s another great record, for anyone who hasn’t heard the band it’s probably the best example of what they want to do so far, but there’s no reinvention of anything that was popular about 20 years ago. 6/10