Per Wiberg – The Serpent’s Here (Despotz Records) [Matt Bladen]
Swedish multi-instrumentalist Per Wiberg has already released a full length and an EP under his solo guise, both were critically acclaimed and saw the man who has been a member of Opeth, Spiritual Beggars, Candlemass, Clutch/The Bakerton Group, Switchblade and Kamchatka, delve more into his musical mind to create dazzling progressive rock soundscapes that are inspired by the classic scene of the 60’s and 70’s from Krautrock, to the Canterbury scene, from the Haigh Asbury psych sounds and the jazz influenced virtuosity of King Crimson.
On The Serpent’s Here the music gets darker to reflect our time but also brings a lot more rocking, with a few audio cues from the Nordic and stoner scene, to my ears there’s some Audrey Horne, Spiritual Beggars, a bit of RPWL on Blackguards Stand Silent, but also some The Velvet Underground and some 13th Floor Elevators and Philip Glass. Wiberg admitting that “there are more guitars this time as well as two basses on the majority”, this sonic density makes the 6 new songs a bit tougher than the keyboard/organ driven music of his last two releases.
Per has also worked on the vocals making sure the arrangements and lyrics are bolder. Per feels The Serpent’s Here is more epic and he’s got a point. The rock n roll tendencies are all much more pronounced through the woozy gothic tint. With Per taking a lot of the instruments, mainly keys, guitars, and vocals. He’s got the excellent drummer Tor Sjödén from Viagra Boys and Mikael Tuominen (Kungens Män) on bass, to fill out the rest of the band. They’re contribution can’t be understated as Per made sure that they had room to improvise recording the basics live then overdub with vocals/keys/guitar. You can feel that rawness on the jazz middle section of This House Is Someone Else’s Now, where it evolves into The Doors.
One of the key influences on this album is the eclectic sounds of Warrior Soul, so much so that the final track here is a cover of their song The Losers. The Serpent’s Here is a bit on anomaly, it can be minimalist and esoteric one moment and loud and bold the next, it needs some time spent with it but you’ll discover that Per Wiberg’s solo ventures are much more than just a collection of his previous memberships. 8/10
Before The Dawn – Archaic Flame (Napalm Records) [Matt Bladen]
Returning after nearly a decade, Finnish metal band Before The Dawn, released a new album in 2023, it was welcomed with open arms by the metal press and fans alike, the man behind it all Tuomas Saukkonen also part of Wolfheart, driving their existence into a new phase with this new EP. Called Archaic Flame, its more Viking/Pagan melodic death metal from Nordic band but with a new line up which this EP looks to showcase.
On vocals is 2022 Voice Of Finland finalist Paavo Laapotti, who growls and screams with some real power and cadence as Juho Räihä of Swallow The Sun picks up the lead guitar leaving Saukkonen to take drums and rhythm guitar, Pyry Hanski on bass and Saku Moilanen on keys. As with many stopgap EP’s it gives you some new stuff, a cover and a live track. The two new tracks; Archaic Flame and Chaos Sequence establishing this new line up with some melodic death metal that borders on industrial with Chaos Sequence.
The cover is a surprisingly good and heavy version of Run To You by Bryan Adams, Paavo Laapotti’s cleans utilised well here while the live version of Dying Sun shows how he handles one of the best known tracks. An introduction to Before The Dawn if you know nothing about them, a reintroduction to their new line up and strong melodic death metal, underpinned by synths, all round. 7/10
Defect Designer - Chitin (Transcending Obscurity Records) [Mark Young]
Its possible that Defect Designer do not have all their chairs at home. This Norwegian extreme outfit have dropped an album that has moments of madness and quality all wrapped up with a quirky bow. Just how much you will like it depends entirely on if you like your extreme metal delivered in a slightly off-kilter way.
Uglification Spell crackles and spits, with discordant riffs and all the blast beats you can eat. It has this innate looseness to it that you don’t associate with this genre as well as throwing in an almost progressive break in the middle before looping back on itself. To Ziggurat occupies a more traditional tone in its opening moments, again with a fast start that they abandon for a controlled break. This calm doesn’t last as they take off once more, with a cracking guitar line that again displays a form of almost sloppy playing.
Defect Designer - Chitin (Transcending Obscurity Records) [Mark Young]
Its possible that Defect Designer do not have all their chairs at home. This Norwegian extreme outfit have dropped an album that has moments of madness and quality all wrapped up with a quirky bow. Just how much you will like it depends entirely on if you like your extreme metal delivered in a slightly off-kilter way.
Uglification Spell crackles and spits, with discordant riffs and all the blast beats you can eat. It has this innate looseness to it that you don’t associate with this genre as well as throwing in an almost progressive break in the middle before looping back on itself. To Ziggurat occupies a more traditional tone in its opening moments, again with a fast start that they abandon for a controlled break. This calm doesn’t last as they take off once more, with a cracking guitar line that again displays a form of almost sloppy playing.
It isn’t by any means; it just feels like the polar opposite to those bands that sound super-tight on record and ultimately give you a sterile sound. This is just different and is refreshing for it. Simulacrum is like two songs being glued together, that discordant riff style growing whilst the drums steadfastly anchor the whole thing together. Its technical without being boringly so and if you think that being able to hum them after they finish just shows how they are able to burrow into your brain.
We Will Need Your Chitin continues this mental battering, tempos flare with an almost punk feel as they fly through it, changing patterns to suit themselves. Its almost too difficult to really describe and We Prescribe is probably the closest to traditional death metal, but even so there are still moments of lunacy that pop up within. Blast beats start with one of those mazy metal riffs that go everywhere before they go for broke and motor this one home. There is a breakdown that hits like giant boots coming down a creaky stair. Its like a nursery rhyme in some respects, delivered by a bunch of Norwegian mentalists and I am here for that.
We Will Need Your Chitin continues this mental battering, tempos flare with an almost punk feel as they fly through it, changing patterns to suit themselves. Its almost too difficult to really describe and We Prescribe is probably the closest to traditional death metal, but even so there are still moments of lunacy that pop up within. Blast beats start with one of those mazy metal riffs that go everywhere before they go for broke and motor this one home. There is a breakdown that hits like giant boots coming down a creaky stair. Its like a nursery rhyme in some respects, delivered by a bunch of Norwegian mentalists and I am here for that.
Certainty After The Kafkaesque Twist is one of the most bizarre titles I’ve read, with the music to back that up. I know they mentioned death metal in their bio, but this is more like prime Mr Bungle with a sprinkle of OSDM thrown in. There are some rapid riffing on display as well as some of those crazy chords. Speaking of which the last minute or so is mesmerising in how those riffs land, they come from all sides with no respite in attack. Keeping up the tradition now of bonkers song titles, Gaudy Colors From Your Plastic Bag comes in and just batters you with four minutes of madness.
Shine Shine (with guest vocals from Björn Strid, Soilwork) changes its tack completely, bringing some hard rock to proceedings, complete with high-pitched screams and an 80’s riff. Sprawling melody lines, descending chord runs its completely different from the 7 songs before it. Even when it goes heavier, its still in keeping with the overall song arrangement. Actually, its sleazy hard rock and it’s a stormer and there is a massive sense of fun running through this. Story Of A Styrofoam goes noise rock, mixing in some deep growls before dropping a touch of Jazz. Nice.
Shine Shine (with guest vocals from Björn Strid, Soilwork) changes its tack completely, bringing some hard rock to proceedings, complete with high-pitched screams and an 80’s riff. Sprawling melody lines, descending chord runs its completely different from the 7 songs before it. Even when it goes heavier, its still in keeping with the overall song arrangement. Actually, its sleazy hard rock and it’s a stormer and there is a massive sense of fun running through this. Story Of A Styrofoam goes noise rock, mixing in some deep growls before dropping a touch of Jazz. Nice.
That doesn’t last long though and of all the songs here, this one drags a little and I think a bit of editing would have done wonders here. Insomnia is more immediate, a stomper with stabbing down picked riffs that allow the fast to come in, complete with a country and western flavoured solo break but again suffers from the same issues as Story, with its run time stretching that idea out too far. Nu, Pogodi! Is a quick instrumental that should have been used in a kids cartoon. Final track Orgone Accumulator lands with purpose, bringing in death metal / grind to this curtain closer. Trem picking is the order of the day, speedy drums and a brutally effective solo combining to finish the album off on a high note.
It’s certainly different, make no mistake on that. Looking online, it is a definite decision made by the threesome of Dimitry Sukhinin, Martin Storm-Olsen and Eugene Ryabchenko to go down a route that is not normally found within extreme metal circles. That looseness which works on the shorter songs seems to induce a fatigue on the longer ones, possibly as the ideas contained are stretched too far. The mix of traditional and non-traditional guitar lines works well, and they should be applauded for trying something different as opposed to another album of blast beats and razor focused guitar. Some may dismiss it because it doesn’t take itself too seriously, others may love that approach and some like me will sit in the middle, enjoying some but not all of it. 7/10
Cave - Out Of The Cave (Metalopolis Records) [Mark Young]
Cave play the sort of hard rock that harks back to a time when bands had singers that could sing, with strong vocals often dominating proceedings. Often, there would be heavy moments that would be mixed with softer parts and when I was growing up in the late 80s it would fall into that ‘not quite metal’ area (i.e. not Slayer). The members of Cave hail from Ludwigsburg in Germany, and all have cut their teeth in different bands before coming together to bring you a collection of songs that certainly lean to more of the harder rock than heavy metal.
Rat In A Hole perfectly encompasses that approach in three minutes – soaring vocals, decent riffs and a solo that goes everywhere and is a strong start with Hero following up and goes for that more progressive edge with a tighter feel but the stamp formed by Rat is all over here. The solo break is what you want from this music and fans of that melodic rock will lap it up but I feel that just in the course of these two songs you will get a general vibe for how the rest of the album will sound. That’s not me being smart, its just experience of actually being there at the time music in this style was the staple on MTV. Screaming For A Saviour starts with a cracking vocal from Ronny Munroe which carries right through. The riffs are exactly as you expect and do what they need to do, providing that back-bone for Ronny to do his stuff. So far, they are not straying to far from that path.
It’s certainly different, make no mistake on that. Looking online, it is a definite decision made by the threesome of Dimitry Sukhinin, Martin Storm-Olsen and Eugene Ryabchenko to go down a route that is not normally found within extreme metal circles. That looseness which works on the shorter songs seems to induce a fatigue on the longer ones, possibly as the ideas contained are stretched too far. The mix of traditional and non-traditional guitar lines works well, and they should be applauded for trying something different as opposed to another album of blast beats and razor focused guitar. Some may dismiss it because it doesn’t take itself too seriously, others may love that approach and some like me will sit in the middle, enjoying some but not all of it. 7/10
Cave - Out Of The Cave (Metalopolis Records) [Mark Young]
Cave play the sort of hard rock that harks back to a time when bands had singers that could sing, with strong vocals often dominating proceedings. Often, there would be heavy moments that would be mixed with softer parts and when I was growing up in the late 80s it would fall into that ‘not quite metal’ area (i.e. not Slayer). The members of Cave hail from Ludwigsburg in Germany, and all have cut their teeth in different bands before coming together to bring you a collection of songs that certainly lean to more of the harder rock than heavy metal.
Rat In A Hole perfectly encompasses that approach in three minutes – soaring vocals, decent riffs and a solo that goes everywhere and is a strong start with Hero following up and goes for that more progressive edge with a tighter feel but the stamp formed by Rat is all over here. The solo break is what you want from this music and fans of that melodic rock will lap it up but I feel that just in the course of these two songs you will get a general vibe for how the rest of the album will sound. That’s not me being smart, its just experience of actually being there at the time music in this style was the staple on MTV. Screaming For A Saviour starts with a cracking vocal from Ronny Munroe which carries right through. The riffs are exactly as you expect and do what they need to do, providing that back-bone for Ronny to do his stuff. So far, they are not straying to far from that path.
The problem is that if you don’t like softer, melodic rock then there is nothing here for you. I realise that is quite the blanket statement, but it can’t be helped. Blinded has that 80’s vibe all over it from the piano opening, mournful singing and riffs that detonate, allowing for the classic rock vocals to blast in. Please appreciate I am writing this not from a position of derision, I can hear the quality, but it feels out of time when you consider the musical landscape we have today. One thing that Blinded does have is one of the best guitar showcases you will hear this year, it is absolutely epic so take a well-deserved bow Chris Lorey. As they move through the album, there is an almost party feel in the song builds, especially on Against The Fray with some nods to one or two famous bands from the 80s (I’ll let you decide who).
What I would say is that it is a very good album for that particular genre of rock / metal. It does everything you could want it to do, and it sounds good too. Fans of that music, especially Van Halen, Whitesnake i.e., those that balanced strong vocals with epic guitar (ok, maybe not DLR, but that is a different conversation) than this is here for you. If you want chainsaw HM-2 Gothenburg and similar, then forget it. 7/10
What I would say is that it is a very good album for that particular genre of rock / metal. It does everything you could want it to do, and it sounds good too. Fans of that music, especially Van Halen, Whitesnake i.e., those that balanced strong vocals with epic guitar (ok, maybe not DLR, but that is a different conversation) than this is here for you. If you want chainsaw HM-2 Gothenburg and similar, then forget it. 7/10