HELGA - Wrapped In Mist (Season Of Mist) [Matt Bladen]
Folk and metal are so intrinsically linked to each other that many bands lend both styles together in their music. It's even more present in the progressive metal genre with bands such as Cellar Darling, Enisferum and Wilderun. The first band also being in pop sensibilities and choral music that is used so well by bands such as Myrkur and even Blackmore's Night.
Folk and metal are so intrinsically linked to each other that many bands lend both styles together in their music. It's even more present in the progressive metal genre with bands such as Cellar Darling, Enisferum and Wilderun. The first band also being in pop sensibilities and choral music that is used so well by bands such as Myrkur and even Blackmore's Night.
It's the latter two that new Swedish group Helga are more akin with blending prog metal, traditional folk music and choral/pop music. It's the woodlands and forests of Sweden that's Helga wandered as a kid, singing folk songs throughout her adolescence before moving to the UK (York to be specific).
Overall, the crunchy riffs, different tempos, and excellent guitar work make Magma Tres a very intriguing release in the stoner/desert rock genre making Wet Cactus a force to be reckoned with. They bring the rock and would sound excellent on a double bill with Fire Down Below. Another quality release from Electric Valley Records. 8/10
Sadism - Obscurans (Hammerheart Records) [Mark Young]
South American OSDM from Chile!!
Straight for the throat with Exsanguination, Sadism put the foot to the throat and don’t let it up until the last song finishes. This is OSDM of one a pure nature. And their nature is to go full tilt on everything – drums, vocals that come across like Corspegrinder, song titles that come straight from early 90’s its everything that fans of that era would want. And that is possibly why it didn’t completely hit with me. There is nothing wrong with the songs themselves, they are all fast, violent, heavy coming in, scorching the ground and then on the next one.
The style on offer on Dawn Of Malevolence in Old School Death Metal, a style rooted in the late eighties and early nineties. The opening track Convoluted Reality gives us a good example of the bands sound; it starts with blast beats and fast riffs that are very dense, a huge rumbly Bass sound and very nasty Harsh Vocals (which stay Harsh throughout the album, although the style of Harshness varies), the song then takes a turn towards some very slow and very heavy riffs, before the song drops us into savage Blasts again. The song mixes the super fast with the super heavy for a while, adds both a Bass solo and a Guitar solo, and finally ends on a Blast Beat.
Dawn Of Malevolence isn’t all about fast and battering, the song Incarcerated Recollections has a nice line in relentless Mid-paces riffs and some very good melody leads. The song does have a couple of faster parts but is mostly mid-paced and melodic. Title track Dawn Of Malevolence has a blasting fast, and very distinctive chorus, and a much slower and much heavier verse section, the verse is heavy, but also has a very pleasing melodic sense to it.
As I mentioned earlier the style of harsh vocals does change on the album, I was mainly talking about the track Crimson Redemption. The first part of the song is fast and relentless Death Metal with maybe a little bit of grind in it, however in the later parts of the song the style changes, it slows down and becomes more dissonant, and the Vocals take on a higher pitch register, much closer to Black Metal, in fact these sections reminded me of British Black Metal band Skaldic Curse. It’s an interesting stylistic choice that works well and reminds me that early Death and Black Metal crossed over a lot in the formative years of the two different genres.
If I was going to criticise Dawn Of Malevolence, it would be the length of the some of the songs, as some songs feel a little overlong. Several of the tracks could do with being a little shorter, I wouldn’t want to lose any of the riffs, but on some songs there is too much repetition of some sections, if these repetitions were removed then the album would feel less bloated. Old School Death Metal tends to work best with short punchy tracks, six minutes plus is a little too long, a small amount of trimming would make the album much tauter and less flabby.
Having said that, Dawn Of Malevolence is a great, and very enjoyable piece of Old School Death Metal, it’s full of great riffs, battering Blast Beats, thunderous Bass and viscous Vocals. This is just an edit away from being a classic, as it is, it’s a very good Old School Death Metal album. 7/10
Combining these two backgrounds Helga has released two solo EP's with a previous record label but this is her first on Season Of Mist with the Cai (guitar), Cameron (guitar) and Ryan (bass) of People As Places As People, multi instrumentalist Sami Javed (drums) and producer Luiz Felipe along with her to create HELGA the band not the solo outfit.
There's lots to unwrap on this album; richly textured with layers and genres, the folky tribalism from the drumming and additional percussion on Wrapped In Mist, the moody Skogen Mumlar and the lyrical Vast And Wild are counterpointed with the dark brooding atmospheres of tracks such as the slow burning post rock of Burden and the extreme metal-like Farväl, the use of Swedish and English language adding a otherworldliness to the HELGA.
Utilising many guests to add strings, such as double bass, cello, violin as well as piano and their producer provides additional guitars/keys/arrangements and some lilting acoustic guitar. If more metal bands were inspired by Enya, then there would be more HELGA'S, for them at least this hasn't happened, making this record in a similar vein to Myrkur, Heiling and a few others. Captivating and evocative. 8/10
Wet Cactus - Magma Tres (Electric Valley Records) [Rich Piva]
Wet Cactus is a stoner/psych band from Spain who are releasing a new record on the very cool Electric Valley Records that we should all be excited for, because Magma Tres rocks. This is the second full length from the band and is their best output so far. The four piece incorporate 90s alt/grunge into their rock and do it as well as any band doing it today.
.he album is broken up into four parts, with an instrumental interlude separating each, which is a pretty cool idea. Songs like Profound Dream and Barren Landscape are riff machines that sound like they could have come out of Seattle instead of Spain. I hear some Fire Down Below vibes from these guys and I am happy to hear that. I love how the band rips it up on Mirage towards the end of the slow burner start.
Wet Cactus - Magma Tres (Electric Valley Records) [Rich Piva]
Wet Cactus is a stoner/psych band from Spain who are releasing a new record on the very cool Electric Valley Records that we should all be excited for, because Magma Tres rocks. This is the second full length from the band and is their best output so far. The four piece incorporate 90s alt/grunge into their rock and do it as well as any band doing it today.
.he album is broken up into four parts, with an instrumental interlude separating each, which is a pretty cool idea. Songs like Profound Dream and Barren Landscape are riff machines that sound like they could have come out of Seattle instead of Spain. I hear some Fire Down Below vibes from these guys and I am happy to hear that. I love how the band rips it up on Mirage towards the end of the slow burner start.
My Gaze Is Fixed Ahead is a killer desert rock shredder that kicks all sorts of ass and is the best track on Magma Tres. Million Tears is not too behind from a quality standpoint, and I love the bit of funkiness and unique rhythms that are incorporated into this stoner ripper. Dig the Alice style guitars towards the end of the song too.
More stoner goodness in the form of Self Bitten Snake, as this one is super hyper with a cool tempo change. The one-two punch closer of Hell Dweller and especially Solar Prominence continue the stoner goodness until the final instrumental interlude takes us home. Solar Prominence specifically brings some great psych guitar work.
Overall, the crunchy riffs, different tempos, and excellent guitar work make Magma Tres a very intriguing release in the stoner/desert rock genre making Wet Cactus a force to be reckoned with. They bring the rock and would sound excellent on a double bill with Fire Down Below. Another quality release from Electric Valley Records. 8/10
Sadism - Obscurans (Hammerheart Records) [Mark Young]
South American OSDM from Chile!!
Straight for the throat with Exsanguination, Sadism put the foot to the throat and don’t let it up until the last song finishes. This is OSDM of one a pure nature. And their nature is to go full tilt on everything – drums, vocals that come across like Corspegrinder, song titles that come straight from early 90’s its everything that fans of that era would want. And that is possibly why it didn’t completely hit with me. There is nothing wrong with the songs themselves, they are all fast, violent, heavy coming in, scorching the ground and then on the next one.
Diabolution has a hint of early Sepultura to it, which is always good and Lower Astral Entities is a frenzied beast, perfectly good in approach but they don’t offer me anything else. It’s a possible taste thing, more likely an age thing especially if you remember this from the era its sprung from.
With the extreme metal I’ve heard this year it’s just a bit flat. Not lifeless, or if it a half-hearted attempt at new material, there is certainly nothing wrong in the application it’s just that by the time you get half-way through you realise that the aggressive slabs of speedy death metal is all you are going to get (I cannot believe I just wrote that).
Even with more recent bands such as Celestial Sanctuary who wear their influences on their battle vests, they manage to do something different with it. Maybe it’s how they write; I don’t know but the music is not connecting with me. And I hate that it doesn’t because its fast, its heavy its everything that I like in metal.
What I will say is this. It achieves its aims of giving you OSDM brutality. It’s packed with riffs and everything is attacked in a vibrant way. Its just doesn’t connect with me and I cannot find anything to say other than its ok. And I am gutted. 6/10
What I will say is this. It achieves its aims of giving you OSDM brutality. It’s packed with riffs and everything is attacked in a vibrant way. Its just doesn’t connect with me and I cannot find anything to say other than its ok. And I am gutted. 6/10
Bloodphemy - Dawn Of Malevolence (Non Serviam Records) [Paul Scoble]
Bloodphemy have had two distinct eras to their career. The band were active from the year 2000 to 2002, during which they released one album entitled Section 8 in 2002. Thirteen years later in 2015, Drummer Edwin Nederkoorn returned with a new lineup, which now includes; Michel Alderliefsten on Guitars, Olivier Van Der Kruijf on Vocals, Robin Zwiep on Bass, and Bart Van Wallenberg on Guitars. In the time the Dutch band have been reformed they have released three albums before Dawn Of Malevolence; Bloodline in 2017, In Cold Blood in 2019 and the last album came in 2021 and was called Blood Sacrifice.
Bloodphemy have had two distinct eras to their career. The band were active from the year 2000 to 2002, during which they released one album entitled Section 8 in 2002. Thirteen years later in 2015, Drummer Edwin Nederkoorn returned with a new lineup, which now includes; Michel Alderliefsten on Guitars, Olivier Van Der Kruijf on Vocals, Robin Zwiep on Bass, and Bart Van Wallenberg on Guitars. In the time the Dutch band have been reformed they have released three albums before Dawn Of Malevolence; Bloodline in 2017, In Cold Blood in 2019 and the last album came in 2021 and was called Blood Sacrifice.
The style on offer on Dawn Of Malevolence in Old School Death Metal, a style rooted in the late eighties and early nineties. The opening track Convoluted Reality gives us a good example of the bands sound; it starts with blast beats and fast riffs that are very dense, a huge rumbly Bass sound and very nasty Harsh Vocals (which stay Harsh throughout the album, although the style of Harshness varies), the song then takes a turn towards some very slow and very heavy riffs, before the song drops us into savage Blasts again. The song mixes the super fast with the super heavy for a while, adds both a Bass solo and a Guitar solo, and finally ends on a Blast Beat.
Metamorphic Disposition and Sanity Obfuscation are both great songs that have a cool D-Beat feel to them. The songs are both full of energy and verve, and gallop along at a great pace, Metamorphic Disposition really does not mess about, it absolutely batters the listener into submission, Sanity Obfuscation is a little bit more melodic with a couple of melody leads, but both of these song will leave you with a feeling of being assaulted by a D-Beat.
Dawn Of Malevolence isn’t all about fast and battering, the song Incarcerated Recollections has a nice line in relentless Mid-paces riffs and some very good melody leads. The song does have a couple of faster parts but is mostly mid-paced and melodic. Title track Dawn Of Malevolence has a blasting fast, and very distinctive chorus, and a much slower and much heavier verse section, the verse is heavy, but also has a very pleasing melodic sense to it.
As I mentioned earlier the style of harsh vocals does change on the album, I was mainly talking about the track Crimson Redemption. The first part of the song is fast and relentless Death Metal with maybe a little bit of grind in it, however in the later parts of the song the style changes, it slows down and becomes more dissonant, and the Vocals take on a higher pitch register, much closer to Black Metal, in fact these sections reminded me of British Black Metal band Skaldic Curse. It’s an interesting stylistic choice that works well and reminds me that early Death and Black Metal crossed over a lot in the formative years of the two different genres.
If I was going to criticise Dawn Of Malevolence, it would be the length of the some of the songs, as some songs feel a little overlong. Several of the tracks could do with being a little shorter, I wouldn’t want to lose any of the riffs, but on some songs there is too much repetition of some sections, if these repetitions were removed then the album would feel less bloated. Old School Death Metal tends to work best with short punchy tracks, six minutes plus is a little too long, a small amount of trimming would make the album much tauter and less flabby.
Having said that, Dawn Of Malevolence is a great, and very enjoyable piece of Old School Death Metal, it’s full of great riffs, battering Blast Beats, thunderous Bass and viscous Vocals. This is just an edit away from being a classic, as it is, it’s a very good Old School Death Metal album. 7/10