Nailed To Obscurity: King Delusion (Apostasy Records)
Nailed To Obscurity are a German death doom metal band and King Delusion is their third album. Nailed To Obscurity can't be a well known band as I am a big fan of this subgenre of metal and they have never fallen under my radar. That being said they are a band I shall be following from now on as King Delusion is a very good album indeed.
As said previously Nailed To Obscurity play death doom metal but also add influences from melodic death metal and post-metal into the mix. The music on King Delusion has the same traits as most bands from the genre - crushing slow riffs, melancholic melodies and a general atmosphere of misery and despair. The vocals of frontman Raimund Ennenga range from a guttural death metal growl to forlorn clean singing which isn't overused so it's a nice surprise when the clean vocals do appear.
One nice difference with Nailed To Obscurity is the non-reliance of keyboards which can be overused by other bands in the genre for atmospheric effect. Nailed To Obscurity manage to attain the same levels of atmosphere in their riffs and melodies alone.
King Delusion is a wonderful death doom album and whilst it doesn't break the mold or stray from what other similar bands are doing the songwriting is so good that it is impossible to forget this album in a hurry. 8/10
Conscript: Celestial Mechanics (Self Released)
Celestial Mechanics is the debut EP by one man melodic death metal band Conscript. Conscript is the project of Northampton based vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Joey Jaycock. All the music on the EP is written and performed by him.
The music on Celestial Mechanics is a hard hitting, heavy riff based style of melodic death metal with a nice symphonic twist. Each of the three songs on the EP show a different style from the brusing opening title track to the blast beat ridden yet atmospheric I'll See You Burn to the heavily symphonic and epic Atlantean.
Celestial Mechanics shows great promise and is a very enjoyable EP. Only bad thing is due to its three song duration it is over way too quickly. Thankfully there is a full length album in the works which I shall be keeping my eye out for. 7/10
Nailed To Obscurity are a German death doom metal band and King Delusion is their third album. Nailed To Obscurity can't be a well known band as I am a big fan of this subgenre of metal and they have never fallen under my radar. That being said they are a band I shall be following from now on as King Delusion is a very good album indeed.
As said previously Nailed To Obscurity play death doom metal but also add influences from melodic death metal and post-metal into the mix. The music on King Delusion has the same traits as most bands from the genre - crushing slow riffs, melancholic melodies and a general atmosphere of misery and despair. The vocals of frontman Raimund Ennenga range from a guttural death metal growl to forlorn clean singing which isn't overused so it's a nice surprise when the clean vocals do appear.
One nice difference with Nailed To Obscurity is the non-reliance of keyboards which can be overused by other bands in the genre for atmospheric effect. Nailed To Obscurity manage to attain the same levels of atmosphere in their riffs and melodies alone.
King Delusion is a wonderful death doom album and whilst it doesn't break the mold or stray from what other similar bands are doing the songwriting is so good that it is impossible to forget this album in a hurry. 8/10
Ddent - آكتئاب (Self Released)
Ddent are an instrumental post-rock band from France with 'آكتئاب' being their debut full length album having previously released the Chien Noir EP back in 2015.
'آكتئاب' translates as melancholy or depression and is a very appropriate title for this album and the feelings the music within conveys. 'آكتئاب' has an incredibly huge sound (thanks in part to the brilliant production job courtesy at Skyhammer Studio) with crushing doom laden riffs mixing with vast ambient soundscapes. Influences can also be heard from shoegaze, industrial and post-metal.
I have listened to a fair few instrumental post-rock albums and they very rarely manage to maintain my interest throughout. It's a different story with 'آكتئاب' which through a combination of clever writing and impressive performances managed to hold my attention for the near hour duration of the album. Highlights include Ghazel and my personal favourite Azahar.
'آكتئاب' doesn't break the mold for post-rock albums but is definitely one of the better ones I have heard in recent years. Plus this is definitely one of those albums to listen to through a good set of headphones. 7/10
Ddent are an instrumental post-rock band from France with 'آكتئاب' being their debut full length album having previously released the Chien Noir EP back in 2015.
'آكتئاب' translates as melancholy or depression and is a very appropriate title for this album and the feelings the music within conveys. 'آكتئاب' has an incredibly huge sound (thanks in part to the brilliant production job courtesy at Skyhammer Studio) with crushing doom laden riffs mixing with vast ambient soundscapes. Influences can also be heard from shoegaze, industrial and post-metal.
I have listened to a fair few instrumental post-rock albums and they very rarely manage to maintain my interest throughout. It's a different story with 'آكتئاب' which through a combination of clever writing and impressive performances managed to hold my attention for the near hour duration of the album. Highlights include Ghazel and my personal favourite Azahar.
'آكتئاب' doesn't break the mold for post-rock albums but is definitely one of the better ones I have heard in recent years. Plus this is definitely one of those albums to listen to through a good set of headphones. 7/10
Conscript: Celestial Mechanics (Self Released)
Celestial Mechanics is the debut EP by one man melodic death metal band Conscript. Conscript is the project of Northampton based vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Joey Jaycock. All the music on the EP is written and performed by him.
The music on Celestial Mechanics is a hard hitting, heavy riff based style of melodic death metal with a nice symphonic twist. Each of the three songs on the EP show a different style from the brusing opening title track to the blast beat ridden yet atmospheric I'll See You Burn to the heavily symphonic and epic Atlantean.
Celestial Mechanics shows great promise and is a very enjoyable EP. Only bad thing is due to its three song duration it is over way too quickly. Thankfully there is a full length album in the works which I shall be keeping my eye out for. 7/10