GUHTS - Regeneration (New Heavy Sounds/Seeing Red Records) [Mark Young]
Hailing from Brooklyn, GUHTS drop their debut album and it’s a striking affair from the word go. The four-piece have themselves described their sound as ‘Avant-garde post-metal’ which is a great way to differentiate yourself from everyone else. What you have here is 7 songs that are just class.
White Noise with strings grinding, stretching a simple yet massive riff announces Amber Gardener’s vocals over an accompanying piano which immediately sets this out as something to behold. Moving between soft and dark, the voice is a dominant force that owns this song. Over the 8 or so minutes they treat us to a tour-de-force of ideas and motifs taking in that subtle, light attack and then turning the lights off as the heavy comes in. It's urgent at the end and is a massive statement from them.
Til Death slow burns, but again the constant is that voice and the incredibly effective riff that sits beside it. There is so much going on and yet it is direct. The way the piano works the song just adds so much to it, and I know that this is not a new thing but here it seems so fresh and fits so well that it grants the song so much breadth it’s fantastic.
The Mirror unleashes electronica, with that absolutely massive guitar tone providing the backbone for Amber to continue to take you on a journey, voice cracking with some beautiful harmonies accompanying this. It’s love and hate mixed and delivered in a peach of a package.
Handless Maiden steps up with what is going to be a live stormer. It’s got that swing to it that is going to grow and evolve, hypnotic and it is over in a flash allowing Eyes Open to come in with those spidery guitar moments that build and move, all of the key parts in unison that in coming together are just quality. The piano lines are superb, as with the other songs it adds so much without overshadowing the music around it. Its sparing use makes it so effective, and these two songs feel like a companion piece.
Generate is part lullaby, part something else. It shows the range of Amber, moving from this to an emotionally charged detonation, again the music that is built around just fits and serves the song so well. This is what they do, just build exceptional songs that flash by. They have this constant motion to them that is lacking from other bands who write long songs without making them interesting.
The Wounded Healer completes and is a slow, controlled almost doom gaze in its attack that lumbers into life as Amber just screams her life out before it drops back into a restrained almost choir-like arrangement that swells and builds to isolated vocal tracks to close this out. Mesmerising and a fitting end.
As debut albums go, there is not a bad track on here. Each one delivers in its own way, taking and building from a central conceit without repeating the ideas used elsewhere. They offer so much in how they have been put together, its so easy to listen to the album in one sitting and miss some of the subtle things they do, it deserves repeated listens so that you can fully absorb it for the masterclass It is. And it is class. 9/10
Bright & Black - The Album (Self-Release) [Matt Bladen]
So we're a metal blog but of course as you may know we have dabbled in the orchestral realm before. I've even reviewed Tuomas Holopainen's (Nightwish) concept album about Scrooge McDuck 10 years ago so I guess it's about time I picked up another all orchestral metal album. Yes don't go thinking this is metal covers of Tchaikovsky, Chopin or Arvo Pärt, it's very much the other way round.
Hailing from Brooklyn, GUHTS drop their debut album and it’s a striking affair from the word go. The four-piece have themselves described their sound as ‘Avant-garde post-metal’ which is a great way to differentiate yourself from everyone else. What you have here is 7 songs that are just class.
White Noise with strings grinding, stretching a simple yet massive riff announces Amber Gardener’s vocals over an accompanying piano which immediately sets this out as something to behold. Moving between soft and dark, the voice is a dominant force that owns this song. Over the 8 or so minutes they treat us to a tour-de-force of ideas and motifs taking in that subtle, light attack and then turning the lights off as the heavy comes in. It's urgent at the end and is a massive statement from them.
Til Death slow burns, but again the constant is that voice and the incredibly effective riff that sits beside it. There is so much going on and yet it is direct. The way the piano works the song just adds so much to it, and I know that this is not a new thing but here it seems so fresh and fits so well that it grants the song so much breadth it’s fantastic.
The Mirror unleashes electronica, with that absolutely massive guitar tone providing the backbone for Amber to continue to take you on a journey, voice cracking with some beautiful harmonies accompanying this. It’s love and hate mixed and delivered in a peach of a package.
Handless Maiden steps up with what is going to be a live stormer. It’s got that swing to it that is going to grow and evolve, hypnotic and it is over in a flash allowing Eyes Open to come in with those spidery guitar moments that build and move, all of the key parts in unison that in coming together are just quality. The piano lines are superb, as with the other songs it adds so much without overshadowing the music around it. Its sparing use makes it so effective, and these two songs feel like a companion piece.
Generate is part lullaby, part something else. It shows the range of Amber, moving from this to an emotionally charged detonation, again the music that is built around just fits and serves the song so well. This is what they do, just build exceptional songs that flash by. They have this constant motion to them that is lacking from other bands who write long songs without making them interesting.
The Wounded Healer completes and is a slow, controlled almost doom gaze in its attack that lumbers into life as Amber just screams her life out before it drops back into a restrained almost choir-like arrangement that swells and builds to isolated vocal tracks to close this out. Mesmerising and a fitting end.
As debut albums go, there is not a bad track on here. Each one delivers in its own way, taking and building from a central conceit without repeating the ideas used elsewhere. They offer so much in how they have been put together, its so easy to listen to the album in one sitting and miss some of the subtle things they do, it deserves repeated listens so that you can fully absorb it for the masterclass It is. And it is class. 9/10
Bright & Black - The Album (Self-Release) [Matt Bladen]
So we're a metal blog but of course as you may know we have dabbled in the orchestral realm before. I've even reviewed Tuomas Holopainen's (Nightwish) concept album about Scrooge McDuck 10 years ago so I guess it's about time I picked up another all orchestral metal album. Yes don't go thinking this is metal covers of Tchaikovsky, Chopin or Arvo Pärt, it's very much the other way round.
Metal musicians composing pieces for The Baltic Sea Philharmonic Orchestra to play, it means that on Bloodgrind you get black metal blastbeast and growls despite no vocals, as the conductor, Kristjan Järvi, contorts this living, breathing, musical ecosystem into places they may never have been. The result is Bright & Black where metal and classical music are closer than ever, the orchestra not relegated to just fleshing out songs, but playing specially composed pieces for them, recorded in full Dolby Atmos in 2022.
Produced by Jacob Hellner, orchestrated by Johnny Abraham, the core composers of this album are Eicca Toppinen (Apocalyptica), Fredrik Åkesson (Opeth), Erik Danielsson (Watain), Nico Elgstrand (Entombed AD), Tomas Haake/Dick Lövgren (Meshuggah), all coming from the extreme side of metal where dark intermingles with light so well. It's not only a way to show the musical chops of these "metal" musicians but also for the Baltic States to shine their musical power on the world.
Eicca Toppinen is also cello soloist on the album and the "frontman" when they look set to tour the record, so fans of Apocalyptica rejoice, the album recording has also been recorded as a documentary so this will accompany the release. The album is full of excellent pieces of you're a fan of orchestral music and even if you're not Bright & Black will be the most unique listening experiences of the year. 8/10
Temple Of Void - The First Ten Years (Hammerheart Records) [Mark Young]
Weighing in with a runtime of almost 70 minutes, this 11-track compilation captures all of their non album tracks from split singles to flexi-discs that have adorned Decibel magazine’s Flexi series. I love when bands do this instead of the standard ‘greatest hits’ package with a bonus song or two tacked onto the end. Assuming that completists will already have these prior but putting them in one place is a way of closing out their first ten years of recorded music as well as showing how they have evolved over that time. The accompanying booklet provides further context behind each of the tracks which just makes the package so sweet.
What you have here is a collection of crushing music, presented with the most recent first with Ravenous Eyes In The Distance which is a barnstormer of an opener. Each of the songs, even the early demos from 2013 show that they were not content to stay in one lane i.e., just death metal, just doom etc. Going back to the opener, it has a percussive riff that is solid mixed in with some of those standard DM tropes but the way in which they do it is class. Similarly, Harvest Of Flesh occupies the same mould but with one of those picking patterns which is fantastic in those mid-tempo moments. Once they do change gear it takes on new life and just from these later tracks you can hear why they have the fanbase they do.
Rather than examine every track here, which I think is slightly redundant its better to look at what they have gone for which is that every song listed here, be it the split 7” single or the inclusion on other collections is to make sure that every song acts as the best gateway to Temple Of Void to draw in potential listeners. And it shows, there is an unreleased song, Ward Of Crom from the demo collection MMXIII which shows them at the melodic and brutal best. On this you can see where the doom tags come from and also can see how they have progressed when compared to the opening two tracks. Bearing in mind that they didn’t include it shows just how confident they were in the material at that time.
Personally, this is a solid collection of songs that serves as a great introduction to those that have not had the pleasure of their company (me, for example). It does everything you want from extreme music, taking you into doom, death and melodic touches combined with super-dense riffs. Its an honest collection, one that smacks of wanting to say thank-you to their fans and it does.
And any band that covers Celtic Frost (Os Abysmi Vel Daath) from A Tribute to...2015 is always very welcome!! 7/10
Dymytry - Five Angry Men (AFM Records) [Matt Bladen]
Releasing their first English language album Revolt in 2021, Czech metal band Dymytry made sure that they would be heard by a wider audience (which is actually a pity). Five Angry Men is their latest English language album and it's more of an American language album as there's a huge influence of bands such as Five Finger Death Punch and Mushroomhead to be found on this record, from the vocals that are gruff but angsty, to the chunky riffs that are from Nu and Groove scenes, there's a lot of the 'jock metal" dressing.
Temple Of Void - The First Ten Years (Hammerheart Records) [Mark Young]
Weighing in with a runtime of almost 70 minutes, this 11-track compilation captures all of their non album tracks from split singles to flexi-discs that have adorned Decibel magazine’s Flexi series. I love when bands do this instead of the standard ‘greatest hits’ package with a bonus song or two tacked onto the end. Assuming that completists will already have these prior but putting them in one place is a way of closing out their first ten years of recorded music as well as showing how they have evolved over that time. The accompanying booklet provides further context behind each of the tracks which just makes the package so sweet.
What you have here is a collection of crushing music, presented with the most recent first with Ravenous Eyes In The Distance which is a barnstormer of an opener. Each of the songs, even the early demos from 2013 show that they were not content to stay in one lane i.e., just death metal, just doom etc. Going back to the opener, it has a percussive riff that is solid mixed in with some of those standard DM tropes but the way in which they do it is class. Similarly, Harvest Of Flesh occupies the same mould but with one of those picking patterns which is fantastic in those mid-tempo moments. Once they do change gear it takes on new life and just from these later tracks you can hear why they have the fanbase they do.
Rather than examine every track here, which I think is slightly redundant its better to look at what they have gone for which is that every song listed here, be it the split 7” single or the inclusion on other collections is to make sure that every song acts as the best gateway to Temple Of Void to draw in potential listeners. And it shows, there is an unreleased song, Ward Of Crom from the demo collection MMXIII which shows them at the melodic and brutal best. On this you can see where the doom tags come from and also can see how they have progressed when compared to the opening two tracks. Bearing in mind that they didn’t include it shows just how confident they were in the material at that time.
Personally, this is a solid collection of songs that serves as a great introduction to those that have not had the pleasure of their company (me, for example). It does everything you want from extreme music, taking you into doom, death and melodic touches combined with super-dense riffs. Its an honest collection, one that smacks of wanting to say thank-you to their fans and it does.
And any band that covers Celtic Frost (Os Abysmi Vel Daath) from A Tribute to...2015 is always very welcome!! 7/10
Dymytry - Five Angry Men (AFM Records) [Matt Bladen]
Releasing their first English language album Revolt in 2021, Czech metal band Dymytry made sure that they would be heard by a wider audience (which is actually a pity). Five Angry Men is their latest English language album and it's more of an American language album as there's a huge influence of bands such as Five Finger Death Punch and Mushroomhead to be found on this record, from the vocals that are gruff but angsty, to the chunky riffs that are from Nu and Groove scenes, there's a lot of the 'jock metal" dressing.
Whether this is deliberate or satirical I don't know as the band freely admit they don't take themselves seriously despite their image but their music is socio-critical, think tree huggers that look and sound like January 6ers. Unfortunately no matter how much this is a pastiche or has a satirical bent I'm never won over with this sort of macho metal and I'm less impressed by the rap metal on the title track. Five Angry Men is an album that doesn't appeal to my taste at all but that's not to call it a bad album, there'll be an audience for it but not me I'm afraid. 5/10