ex-Draconian, Sojourner, Light Field Reverie members got together last year to form a new band, the melodic doom/darkwave band Remina. I have to admit, I know a bit of Draconian, but I’m not too familiar with the other bands, or the subgenres it is a part of. Therefore, I’m going into this blind, and am excited to hear some new music!
Practically a track-long, slow-build, ‘Aeon Rains’ is a truly epic way to start an album. Starting soft and electronic, the vocals sounded amazing over the top. Don’t get me wrong, there are vocals throughout a lot of it and the distorted guitars and drums come in a minute or two in. It even has a great drop-out in the middle, stripping back to its bare bones. However, the whole 6+ minutes felt like it was building to its epic crescendo. I loved it!
‘Obsidian’ opens on a similar epic soundscape, much like the first track. It stays at a deliberately slow, almost sludgy pace throughout. It’s ethereal, moodily atmospheric and honestly beautiful. It would make a fantastic movie soundtrack song, and honestly the only way I feel like I could enjoy this even more is if I was high. It’s like dark, psychedelic metal, and it’s pretty fucking awesome.
It was at the third track on the album, ‘Dying Sun’ that I realised this will most likely be a pretty short review. And, I’d just like to point out first ‘Dyning Sun’ is my favourite track on the album. The riffing for the heavy bits is MASSIVE and so good!
Now, I do want to clarify before we go any further, I really enjoyed this album. However, it was all pretty similar music. I’m not saying that’s a bad thig at all, but much like variety is the spice of life, it is also the spice of reviewing and writing. I could go through each song and say almost the same thing, or I could lump them all together and say ‘this is all fucking awesome’. Heck, with this sort of music it almost begs to be listened to as one coherent piece anyway, so for me to analyse it all individually would almost do a disservice to the arrangement of the album.
So yes, a lot of the album’s tracks follow a similar sound and arrangement. It’s all very atmospheric and brooding, staying at a similar slow pace throughout. Even when the distorted guitars come in and it gets heavier, it maintains an air of beauty to it, as well as having plenty of room for the instrumentation to breathe when they drop out too. And the vocals from Heike are nothing short of phenomenal, too. They’re the highlight of the album, soaring beautifully and adding so much to the feel and sound. It all blends perfectly together for each track and leaves the finished product to be an amazing experience to listen to.
Overall: As I have said already, I really enjoyed this. I sat down and listened to it in one interrupted sitting (which for my easily distracted brain is pretty hard) and just got lost in it. Each song transported me away from my home and to a far-off world, and I loved every second. I imagine with a good stageshow this would be amazing live, and hopefully they can tour soon so I can try and check it out! For now, I shall continue to listen to this, I’m sure, for the rest of the year.
A STACKED week of new music from the rock and metal world this week. Join us in checking it out!
Five Finger Death Punch: AfterLife
Okay, let’s get the controversial one out of the way first. I know that if I give this band and album any praise at all y’all will disagree, and that’s fine, I’ve made peace with it. But underneath the Monster guzzling, Drywall and partner punching Kyle energy, there are some damn talented musicians. Heck, ANDY FUCKING JAMES guitars for them these days, the talent is there. And their first couple of albums were honestly fantastic. I haven’t heard the new singles or much after Wrong Side of Heaven as they began to bore me, but hopefully this album brings them back to their roots more!
Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. It’s nowhere near as bad as people will make it out to be, it’s still okay. It’s just incredibly generic radio metal. The riffs are still phat and fun and the production is still up there with some of the best. And of course James shreds some of the best highlights of the album. The issue, much like with most of their music, is Ivan’s lyrics. The angsty, angry, juvenile writing is really something a man in his 40s should have grown out of by now. He has a great voice still and is clearly good at writing catchy, huge vocal melodies and choruses, they’re just dampened considerably by the lyrical content. If they were a bit deeper or had more to them or had changed at all in the last decade+, I feel like this would be great.
‘Times Like These’ was an okay ballad and the title track is okay. But for every good track on the album, there’s a ‘Roll Dem Bones’ or the utterly terrible ‘Judgement Day’. Honestly, the good was few and far between and this was a really tough listen. I was bored way before halfway through. It’s such a shame because their thrash-Slipknot sound and attitude of Way of the Fist was fantastic and they have yet to get close to its quality. It’s a pretty slow album all-round, actually. The biggest praise I can give it, I guess, is that it’s somehow easy-listening metal. But still, it’s the worst album I’ve heard from them, of the five I’ve heard. 3/10
Panic! At The Disco: Viva Las Vengeance
Brendan Urie and friends (it stopped being Panic! years ago) are back with the follow-up to their massive 2018 album Pray For the Wicked. I have to admit I wasn’t the biggest fan of this band at their rock peak, I always preferred Fallout Boy, but I like a few tracks here and there. Heck, even ‘High Hopes’ isn’t bad as far as earworms go, just incredibly overplayed. With how poppy the singles have been so far, I feel like they’re going to be the same.
While a terrible album opener, the title track is a fun, Vegas-inspired pop-rock song. That’s pretty much the entire story of the album, if I’m being honest. And I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing. It’s not bad music at all, just a tad boring. It’s okay chilled out pop ‘rock’, but it’s a far cry from ‘I Write Sins not Tragedies’. It is pretty much musical music, which is exactly where Urie wants to be. Honestly if this was a musical I’d probably enjoy it a lot more than I do. Brendan is still one of the best vocalists alive today, but outside some pretty basic instrumentation behind his voice, that’s all there is to this album.
‘God Killed Rock And Roll’ is maybe the highlight of the album, but that’s because it’s so obviously and unapologetically Queen that it’s almost laughable. It’s a good album and I wouldn’t turn it off if it came on again, but it’s not really my sort of thing. 5/10
Demi Lovato: HOLY FVCK
It took Demi adding one of the most acclaimed rock guitarists currently in Nita Strauss in order to go back to pop punk. However, that was a relatively new addition so maybe this had been in the works for a while. Either way, a minute into the album and it’s already better than anything else she’s ever done. That riff for FREAK is tasty and for once the awful Yungblud doesn’t even overstay his welcome on a guest slot.
I’m so glad artists of this ilk, the latest being Avril Lavigne, are returning to this rock-inspired sound, and that a new generation is stepping up to join them. Hopefully it starts to lead towards more rock in the mainstream again. Plus, hopefully P!nk comes back to join the style soon too!
This album is fucking incredible, by the way. This is the album she should have put out after her return from rehab last year. Its full of emotion and a look into her thoughts and feelings about her past few years. And musically it’s catchy, radio friendly and, most importantly, ROCK. The genre that (kinda) introduced the world to her, and she returns with a vengeance. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the album art seems pretty similar to The Pretty Reckless’s last album, it’s clear that album’s inspired this one quite a bit. There’s nothing to really complain about anything, aside maybe the bloated track listing, but the album is that well paced that it doesn’t really even matter. I can’t believe I’m putting this but 8.5/10, it really is that good!
I Prevail: TRUE POWER
Another band I feel like I should have given more time to before now. It’s metalcore and has everything I should like in a band. I have one of their tracks on my Spotify (Gasoline, I think) and do enjoy it. So, I’m excited to sink my teeth into this album.
Truthfully, this album is a bit of a mixed bag. I liked when they got heavier on tracks like ‘Body Bag’, ‘Fake’ and ‘Judgement Day’. However their lighter stuff didn’t do much for me and their pop-punk, clean choruses almost felt a little… generic? I feel like that’s not the right word but I can’t think of a better one. I feel like I’ve heard them before. And some of the rap didn’t do it for me either, while some parts of it really did. Overall there was enough to keep me coming back, and plenty of it has made our playlist. 7/10
Soilwork: Overgivenheten
This was all over the place in the best way. So much so that I had to listen to it multiple times through over the weekend in order to just compose my thoughts. Sometimes melodeath, sometimes prog, sometimes power metal, sometimes straight up Scorpions-style hard rock, this had a bit of everything.
Having said that, everything they do sounds great. The heavier, epic opener into the lighter, clean-centric following track did a great job of showing what the band are about right from the offset. From there the quality stays, as does the variety. ‘Electric Again’ is one of my favourite tracks on the album, as is ‘Is It in Your Darkness’. No two songs are alike, especially when next to each other on the album, a fantastic display of songwriting prowess and honestly made for an insanely fun listen. Every track is good, not just the highlights, and this is an album I’ll be listening to a lot going forward! 8/10
The Chats: Get Fucked
Unapologetically punk as FUCK. Basically The Sex Pistols but with actual talent. I don’t even know what else I can say about it, it’s that straightforward an album. It’s punk, if you like the genre, you’ll like this. I’d struggle to even pick some highlight tracks as, due to the style, they all sound pretty similar. However, the album is so concise at 27-minutes that it never overstays its welcome. Good stuff! 7/10
Silversun Pickups: Physical Thrills
This was not what I was expecting, but I have no idea why. I’ve seen the name floating around for a good few years and always associated them with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead. And guess what, this was exactly like those two bands. I guess I was simply expecting a little more, however foolishly. I’m not really a fan of either of the aforementioned bands, and I can’t get into this much either.
It’s dark, moody prog rock with just enough of a commercial edge that it could be considered radio-friendly. I wasn’t a fan of some of the artier tracks, but then songs like ‘Sacred Together’ and ‘Hereafter’ were so good it made me almost forget how much I wasn’t fussed by the rest of the album.
Conan: Evidence of Immortality
Heavy prog doom metal from the UK, this feels like the most ‘true metal’ thing I’ve ever listened to. When the opening track is 10+ minutes long, you know you’re in for one hell of a ride.
Unfortunately, that ride is pretty slow and takes a while to get to any fun sightseeing locations. I’m a fan of doom, but the same riffs repeated for two minutes or more don’t do much for me. The vocals help breakup the repetitiveness of the tracks a little, and the scream is very good. But it wasn’t enough to hold my attention for too long.
I remember seeing them a few years ago at a small venue my old band played at and remember enjoying them live, so maybe that’s what I need. Seeing music live helps it translate a lot better, being surrounded by likeminded people and having it all much louder and seeing them play it etc. Until I can make it down to one of their gigs, however, I feel like I can only give this a 4.5/10. Sorry guys.
Thundermother: Black and Gold
A controversial band next, at least in the UK underground rock scene. The NWOCR band return with their fifth album, looking to shake some of that negative energy off them, and honestly it’s very good.
Opening track ‘The Light in the Sky’ sets a great stadium-filling sound and precedent that continues throughout. The title track is mid-tempoed, catchy awesomeness and the riff for ‘Raise Your Hands’ is sleazy greatness. The soft, almost jazz rock ballad ‘Hot Mess’ is another massive highlight of the album too, as is the Thunderstruck-esque ‘I Don’t Know You’.
It’s all massive, catchy, radio-friendly hard rock, and it’s great. Some bands you can just tell from their sound and songwriting that they’re going to be massive, and these are definitely one of them. I could easily hear this opening for amassive stadium tour like GnR or the Crue/Leppard one, it’d go down a storm. I can’t praise this enough. 9/10
Hammer King: Kingdemonium
We checked this out already and loved it. Check out the full review and score here.
Lillian Axe: From Womb to Tomb
The first new album to be released by the band in over a decade, it’s not as black metal as the album title suggests it is. If anything a lot of it channels more soft/prog rock sounds than the ‘hard rock’ they are. While the opening track sounds ELO-like, the second goes in a completely different direction and goes full Dream Theater. I actually quite like the prog sound they go for for the most part, but it is so very DT I might as well just be listening to Octavarium. There’s some fun riffs none the less and the vocals are powerful and fit the music well. Good stuff, but nothing that I haven’t heard plenty before. 6/10
Did you enjoy the article? As always keep up to date on all of our content from our Instagram here.
Sorry for all you rock lovers, but this week’s new music is all about the metal. There is a rock band tucked away in here, but outside of that this week is for the heavy fans!
Malevolence: Malicious Intent
A band that have a massive buzz about them this year, just coming off a huge arena tour supporting Architects. So, safe to say the hype for this album, including with me, is pretty high.
Safe to say, their new music doesn’t disappoint. Whether it’s the crushing heaviness of the opener or ‘Karma’ or the melody of ‘On Broken Glass’ there is a surprising amount of range for the hardcore punk/beatdown metal band. Heck, ‘Higher Place’ is practically a FFDP (but good)-esque ballad, and not only is it excellent but fits the album perfectly. My only slight gripe is that ‘Salvation’ features one of the best names in metal today, Matt Heafy, but uses him incredibly sparingly. At least, vocally they do. Still, the track and album as a whole are very good. 8.5/10
Another British hardcore punk band with a new album, it must have been the week for it! A band that I had never actually heard of, Static Dress also put out a pretty decent album! Opening with a heavy bang with ‘Fleahouse’ and ‘Sweet.’, the band also show their versatility on ‘Attempt 8’ and ‘Such.a.shame’. While not quite as good as their heavier brothers above, it’s still a fun album that I’ll find myself listening to a fair bit over the next few weeks. 7/10
Weird Nightmare: Self-Titled
The pop-rock/punk band are the new project of Metz guitarist Alex Edkins. The debut album is a fun, upbeat album that is a breath of fresh air this week, let me tell you. Having this on on the drive home from Call of the Wild festival, it faded into the background in the best way, a good album to just sit and chill out to. Tracks like ‘Sunday Driver’ and ‘Oh No’ are particular highlights. 6/10
Cave In: Heavy Pendulum
The American rock band seem to have confused either me or Wikipedia, or quite possibly both. Wiki has the band down as rock, metalcore and post hardcore, yet I wouldn’t say what I heard here was any of that. This new music feels closer to sludge/doom/stoner metal than anything else. But then again, I haven’t heard their previous stuff, so this may be a bit of a departure of their sound!
Whatever the case, it’s a good album! The band are all clearly very competent players and are fantastic, interesting songwriters. However, 14 tracks may have been a little much. I like this style of music, but I personally got a bit bored during the second half as it was a lot of the same. Highlights include ‘Blood Spiller’ and the epic ‘Nightmare Eyes’. 7/10
The Greek death metal band put out their 11th album last week. I’ve seen the name floating about a lot before and assumed they’d not be my sort of thing, but this was actually great. The melodic and symphonic elements contrast perfectly with the death parts and makes for a fun, interesting listen. Tracks like ‘Hierophant’ and ‘Coming Storm’ are perfect examples of what I’m on about, and are both definite highlights of the album! Straight up good symphonic death metal music ! 8/10
Geezer: Stoned Blues Machine
The stoner/blues metal band are hard to find much information on, given that Google immediately brings up Geezer Butler at every chance instead. As a result, I am going into this album relatively blind. Thanks to Spotify at least, i can see that this is the bands fourth studio album.
The album is fun, packed full of great, groovy riffs and some surprisingly big, catchy choruses. The three pre-release tracks are of course the highlights, the band doing a good job picking the singles. However, the whole album is damn enjoyable if you like this sort of style. It’s not too dissimilar to the Cave In album, just a little lighter and more accessible. 7.5/10
INFLUENCE: Conspiracy
A band that I am rather familiar with due to covering their first album at my old place, I have been a fan of INFLUENCE for a while. Because of this, of course I shall be listening to the new album and giving it a more in depth review, so you’ll have to keep an eye out for that later in the week if you’re interested! Just as a little spoiler though… it’s good!
Assumption: Hadean Tides
What to say about this album that isn’t going to make me come across like a dick. I don’t know if it was my speakers, but the mix wasn’t great at all. I struggled to hear the vocals much throughout while the bass drums and lead guitar were about the loudest things on the album. What they were doing sounded good, as much as I’m not too into the style, but it was hard to get past the odd mix. Maybe this is exactly how they wanted it and it’s just me not ‘getting’ it, but it was a weird choice. Because of that, I can’t give it much higher than a 4.5/10
Did you enjoy the article? Check out our longer reviews from the link here and make sure to follow us on all of our social media!
