Alterium – Of War And Flames (AFM Records) [Matt Bladen]
Alterium are a new symphonic/power metal band formed from the break up of Kalida. Singer Nicoletta Rosellini formed the new band alongside former Kalida band members Paolo Campitelli (guitars) and Dario Gozzi (drums), adding guitarist Alessandro Mammola (Draconicon) and bassist Luca Scalabrin (Altair), shortly after establishing the band in 2022.
Of War And Flames is this new band’s debut record and yes there’s a lot of comparisons to three of the members previous band, mainly due to Nicoletta’s vocals but with Alterium they have increased the scope of what they do, adding the cinematics of bands such as Kamelot to mega ballad Crystaline and Shadowsong.
Some swashbuckling folkisms on Heroine Of The Sea and Crossroads Inn, but also the lightspeed gallops of Drag Me To Hell and Chasing The Sun and the poppier approach of Siren’s Call and Lightbringer. Alongside producer Lars Rettkowitz, Alterium have tried to write songs that show the full potential of Rosellini’s vocals.
Some swashbuckling folkisms on Heroine Of The Sea and Crossroads Inn, but also the lightspeed gallops of Drag Me To Hell and Chasing The Sun and the poppier approach of Siren’s Call and Lightbringer. Alongside producer Lars Rettkowitz, Alterium have tried to write songs that show the full potential of Rosellini’s vocals.
They even throw in a cover of Bismark by Sabaton where the lower register is used well. Alterium is not too dissimilar to Kalida, fantasy power metal with symphonic elements that will appeal to fans of that band and Nicoletta’s followers in her other career as a geek/nerd culture influencer. Another slick power metal act from Italy arrives in fine form. 8/10
Clarion Void - Failure In Repetition (Lost Future Records) [Patches]
Clarion Void bring Blackened Sludge from Colorado Springs with new album Failure In Repetition.
From the industrial clank of the opening track Repetition I filth is predicted to proceed. And Through Chaos We Succeed does indeed see that filth proceed and grow, forming a ball of dirgy violence and aggression. Guitars seemingly tuned so low that the strings are denoted by typographical symbols rather than letters.
Sisyphus Wept starts with a satisfying stoner bass groove. For name’s sake, I’d be perfectly happy with the groove repeating for the entire song, pushing that boulder uphill for eternity. Dark as the death the figure twice cheated and heavy as his punishment. This Is The Water uses an intro soundscape like a bad Lynchian trip. This is a riff to rock your head slowly in the corner of a dimly lit room. I can smell bong water through the headphones This Is The Water.
Lulu’s Interlude is a lost and depressing repetitive motif. Tremolo guitars break like waves sinking us deeper into the interludes lush desolate melancholy. Repetition II reprises the clank and feels more like an Interlude than Lulu’s. That’s two short interludes in a short space of time, I was hoping this would be a necessary respite before the next track attempted to break my face. Surprisingly The Bottom waits till halfway to kick in. Unfortunately anticlimactic and a low point in the album for me as the riffs follow a basic overused pentatonic and I really believe they missed an opportunity to destroy after the interludes.
Repetition III almost makes the same mistake as The Top would have definitely been more impactful without the snare count in. Nit picking aside, The Top is back to form with that post rock tremolo over heavy drops as the head starts to sway once again. I’m a big fan of the vocalists’ almost inaudible painful sounding distorted screams. As the guitars and drums attack with weight the vocals assault with a more ripping quality with the searing flesh of a trachea habitual to ripping a cone.
Clarion Void - Failure In Repetition (Lost Future Records) [Patches]
Clarion Void bring Blackened Sludge from Colorado Springs with new album Failure In Repetition.
From the industrial clank of the opening track Repetition I filth is predicted to proceed. And Through Chaos We Succeed does indeed see that filth proceed and grow, forming a ball of dirgy violence and aggression. Guitars seemingly tuned so low that the strings are denoted by typographical symbols rather than letters.
Sisyphus Wept starts with a satisfying stoner bass groove. For name’s sake, I’d be perfectly happy with the groove repeating for the entire song, pushing that boulder uphill for eternity. Dark as the death the figure twice cheated and heavy as his punishment. This Is The Water uses an intro soundscape like a bad Lynchian trip. This is a riff to rock your head slowly in the corner of a dimly lit room. I can smell bong water through the headphones This Is The Water.
Lulu’s Interlude is a lost and depressing repetitive motif. Tremolo guitars break like waves sinking us deeper into the interludes lush desolate melancholy. Repetition II reprises the clank and feels more like an Interlude than Lulu’s. That’s two short interludes in a short space of time, I was hoping this would be a necessary respite before the next track attempted to break my face. Surprisingly The Bottom waits till halfway to kick in. Unfortunately anticlimactic and a low point in the album for me as the riffs follow a basic overused pentatonic and I really believe they missed an opportunity to destroy after the interludes.
Repetition III almost makes the same mistake as The Top would have definitely been more impactful without the snare count in. Nit picking aside, The Top is back to form with that post rock tremolo over heavy drops as the head starts to sway once again. I’m a big fan of the vocalists’ almost inaudible painful sounding distorted screams. As the guitars and drums attack with weight the vocals assault with a more ripping quality with the searing flesh of a trachea habitual to ripping a cone.
The last song is entitled Rolling Boluder, presumably dropped by Sisyphus. Chug driven with beautifully dark chords that eventually take a surprise detour into the realm of black metal. With more riffs than previous songs Rolling Boulder finds itself passing Sabbath-esque grooves, hostile punk like vocals and doom drops.
As a band still in it’s early years Clarion Void make for a competent edition to the Black Sludge Metal genre.
Pros: Failure In Repetition ticks all the boxes for melancholic motifs, rugged rhythms, violent vocalities and desolate dissonance.
Cons: Album structure could be rearranged for a more effective flow, a few more fills would have been a great touch and some of the guitar solo’s didn’t land or felt unnecessary. 7/10
As a band still in it’s early years Clarion Void make for a competent edition to the Black Sludge Metal genre.
Pros: Failure In Repetition ticks all the boxes for melancholic motifs, rugged rhythms, violent vocalities and desolate dissonance.
Cons: Album structure could be rearranged for a more effective flow, a few more fills would have been a great touch and some of the guitar solo’s didn’t land or felt unnecessary. 7/10
Hijss - Stuck On Common Ground (Heavy Psych Sounds) [Rich Piva]
The Italian band Hijss is a new power trio that I know little about, but they are on Heavy Psych Sounds so it’s a good chance it is going to be something that I dig. Their debut, Stuck On Common Ground, is a very cool mix of krautrock, heavy blues, and stoner played by three punk rockers. So, yeah, of course, given all that, my statement holds true, because this is pretty great.
The Krautrock vibes are strong on Ingraved, which is sparse and steady in the best possible ways, leading into 1234me with more Krautrock vibes that suddenly blast you with some punk stylings behind quite the driving rhythm section. The guitar tone is very cool on Stuck On Common Ground, a unique garage-esque crunch to it. The background vocals really add some depth to this track as well. This stuff sounds like nothing that has come across my desk recently.
The Italian band Hijss is a new power trio that I know little about, but they are on Heavy Psych Sounds so it’s a good chance it is going to be something that I dig. Their debut, Stuck On Common Ground, is a very cool mix of krautrock, heavy blues, and stoner played by three punk rockers. So, yeah, of course, given all that, my statement holds true, because this is pretty great.
The Krautrock vibes are strong on Ingraved, which is sparse and steady in the best possible ways, leading into 1234me with more Krautrock vibes that suddenly blast you with some punk stylings behind quite the driving rhythm section. The guitar tone is very cool on Stuck On Common Ground, a unique garage-esque crunch to it. The background vocals really add some depth to this track as well. This stuff sounds like nothing that has come across my desk recently.
Headless Blues is the perfect title for this song. You know how you get impressed by a trio that sounds like there are more than three people in the band? Well, Hijss is not one of them, and that is perfect for their sound, this song being a great example. There is a weird, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion thing going on too and I am here for it. The first of two chill, two minute psych guitar interludes leads you right into Train Tracks that doubles down on the JSBE meets stoner rock vibes I am feeling until we morph right back into some Krautrock goodness at about the halfway mark.
Narcolepsy slows it down a bit, going more straight-ahead heavy blues than previous tracks, with very cool results, but Hijss never just goes down just one path, so the pace picks up and we head back to Germany. Black Disease is more goodness, leaning towards kraut-psych, while Interlude #2 takes us into Blow Out, which actually reminds me of the Jesus And Mary Chain and may be my favourite track on Stuck On Common Ground. The sparse but heavy blues with stoner vibes of Tilt Mode is an excellent closer for this one-of-a-kind album.
Hijss is delightfully all over the place and wonderfully sparse but heavy on Stuck On Common Ground. This is a unique record that will keep you intrigued and guessing song after song. Check this out as it will be one of the cooler debut records of 2024. 8/10
Hijss is delightfully all over the place and wonderfully sparse but heavy on Stuck On Common Ground. This is a unique record that will keep you intrigued and guessing song after song. Check this out as it will be one of the cooler debut records of 2024. 8/10
The Wind Covenant - Hiraeth (Seek And Strike) [Mark Young]
Now, a quick EP from The Wind Covenant with a quick blast of Italian metal. Reading online sources, they note that the EP was an opportunity to try and expand upon their Metalcore and Deathcore sound, bringing in / amping up influences from both inside and from further afield, which in turn expands their sound accordingly. I have no frame of reference for them apart from the fact that I don’t really get on with the genres mentioned earlier. It could be an age thing similar to how 70’s rock felt with 80’s thrash when that came rolling in. Who knows, except that if its good, its good no matter what the genre is.
Beyond The Mortal Sight starts with that absolutely god-awful bass sound and that down tuned / all the strings you can have on a guitar tone that does nothing for me at all. There is the heavy bit, that flies along, deep vocals and I think, ah its not that bad, you just need to get used to the sound and then they go pop. Not in a good way, in a way where it’s so light and fluffy despite having the expected second round of heavy noise I just hated it.
Now, a quick EP from The Wind Covenant with a quick blast of Italian metal. Reading online sources, they note that the EP was an opportunity to try and expand upon their Metalcore and Deathcore sound, bringing in / amping up influences from both inside and from further afield, which in turn expands their sound accordingly. I have no frame of reference for them apart from the fact that I don’t really get on with the genres mentioned earlier. It could be an age thing similar to how 70’s rock felt with 80’s thrash when that came rolling in. Who knows, except that if its good, its good no matter what the genre is.
Beyond The Mortal Sight starts with that absolutely god-awful bass sound and that down tuned / all the strings you can have on a guitar tone that does nothing for me at all. There is the heavy bit, that flies along, deep vocals and I think, ah its not that bad, you just need to get used to the sound and then they go pop. Not in a good way, in a way where it’s so light and fluffy despite having the expected second round of heavy noise I just hated it.
Just so you know, I ALWAYS try to find something positive about the music I review. In this case, its tight, everyone plays their part well but that’s it. In terms of expanding their sound, I don’t know about that but the second track, The Wonders We Leave Behind follows the same vocal route as song one – heavy, deep growls into almost auto-tune territory with the cleans. It just unfolds, and I’m sure that those who love Metal/Death core music will find something they like here, I cannot find anything I like.
Doomed continues with that synth filled arrangement, again it motors along at a fair pace which is always a good thing but then the cleans come in and that’s that. On to the next one, The Straight And Narrow, with that ping-pong tone has an impressive start that changes it slightly, but again as they transition from the growls to the clean it is almost the same as before, almost measure for measure.
Next.
Devotion is the last track, starting on a strong footing. This is pretty cool in terms of how the drums / guitars sit together and then the cleans come in. I’m sorry but they ruin it. Once they start it just snaps me out of it because they are too clean. They are TOO clean for metal.
I’ll just say that there will be fans of this music out there, probably young people who think they are edgy, and that they invented black clothing. For me, I just didn’t like it all, even taking into consideration that they can play, its tight and it moves at a fair pace. There was something about the sound and the cleans that did me in, to the point where I hated it. The arrangement didn’t really vary from song to song, so you knew what was coming and I found that repetition the worst thing.
And then hated myself for not finding something I could really like about it. I appreciate that they have put so much effort into this, only to be reviewed by a prehistoric dolt like me. But its not good. If they are looking to expand or move beyond what they started as, then ditch one of the vocal styles. Either go full growls or do the cleans that sound more organic, raw if you like but go with one route and do it full bore. 4/10
Next.
Devotion is the last track, starting on a strong footing. This is pretty cool in terms of how the drums / guitars sit together and then the cleans come in. I’m sorry but they ruin it. Once they start it just snaps me out of it because they are too clean. They are TOO clean for metal.
I’ll just say that there will be fans of this music out there, probably young people who think they are edgy, and that they invented black clothing. For me, I just didn’t like it all, even taking into consideration that they can play, its tight and it moves at a fair pace. There was something about the sound and the cleans that did me in, to the point where I hated it. The arrangement didn’t really vary from song to song, so you knew what was coming and I found that repetition the worst thing.
And then hated myself for not finding something I could really like about it. I appreciate that they have put so much effort into this, only to be reviewed by a prehistoric dolt like me. But its not good. If they are looking to expand or move beyond what they started as, then ditch one of the vocal styles. Either go full growls or do the cleans that sound more organic, raw if you like but go with one route and do it full bore. 4/10