‘Obsidian’ Unique Leader Records Technical Death Metal/Deathcore
Viscera is a name that will be hugely unfamiliar with a lot of people. Yet, in the coming months it is guaranteed that this name will become much wider known within the metal community. Whilst refraining from using the word supergroup, Viscera is formed from some of the UK’s most prominent modern metal bands such as Sylosis, Heart of a Coward, Martyr Defiled and Abhorrent Decimation with the death metal band delivering their debut album ‘Obsidian’.
With ‘Obsidian’, Viscera draw upon each one of their experiences to create an album which is a very contemporary sounding record. There are plenty of fast paced notes which are stereotypical of newer bands within this genre where the classic riff is almost replaced with a flurry of technical repeating notes, polyrhythms and syncopations juxtaposed with brutal breakdowns that almost become the centre piece of each song. Furthermore, unlike more old-school death metal sounding albums, ‘Obsidian’ focuses very much on personal struggles, mental health and overcoming these tribulations. This is all delivered through a very modern production, a professional sheen that makes ‘Obsidian’ a very mature and accessible album appealing to wide demographic of metal fans through its overarching technical death metal sound, but also an undertone of deathcore as vocalist Jamie Graham shows his prowess delivering both deep growls and more high pitched growls.
As already noted, ‘Obsidian’ has the ability to appeal to a wide demographic of metal fans; unfortunately, there will be a large proportion of the metal world who just won’t get this album. However, these will be eclipsed by fans who will find that Viscera may just become their new favourite band. 70/100 Adam McCann
Vintersea
‘Illuminated’ M-Theory Audio Melodic Death Metal/Progressive Metal
Formed from the ashes of Asterion, Vintersea stormed onto the scene in 2017 with their fantastic debut album ‘The Gravity of Fall’, their perfect blend of melodic death and progressive metal was difficult to not instantly fall in love with. This year has the Oregon band returning with their sophomore album ‘Illuminated’. ‘Illuminated’ takes the foundations lain down on their debut album and shows the band growing as songwriters and musicians. This does not necessarily mean that ‘Illuminated’ is better than ‘The Gravity…’, but rather just different. The musicianship within Vintersea is second to none and cannot be faulted, but it is the vocals of Avienne Low which really impress on this album; Low prowls with a death metal growl that can easily give other contemporary female growling vocalists such as Alissa White-Gluz and Angela Gossow more than a run for their money. However, when Low drops the growl and puts her vocals to soar, this is where ‘Illuminated’ really becomes enjoyable with tracks like ‘Old Ones’ the title track being powerful examples of this. However, where this album becomes tantalisingly good is during the track ‘Crack of Light’, a song so smooth it has a beard on its hands coupled with a saxophone solo that really takes this track to the next level.
At just under 40 minutes, ‘Illuminated’ is some top-drawer metal, it has just enough melodic death and progressive metal to make this album really work. For anyone looking for some female fronted metal with some real integrity, then look no further than ‘Illuminated’.
81/100 Adam McCann
Von Detta
‘Burn It Clean’ Polder Records Alternative
Von Detta had been building a stable fanbase through the release of their debut EP ‘Exit Grand Piano’. However, this run would not last and the Belgians were soon looking for a new vocalist to step up to the microphone. Von Detta found this within Manuel Remmerie, a man who soon added his uniqueness to the outfit allowing the band to deliver their debut full length album ‘Burn It Clean’.
‘Burn It Clean’ offers the very sort of change that Mosley to Patton garnered in Faith No More; Von Detta already had the riffs, infectious grooves that cut deep within the album which showcase an excellent set of musicians who know their craft and are not afraid to continue to explore and experiment. Yet, ‘Burn It Clean’ is driven by the raw charisma of Remmerie who sells this album like a fast-paced eccentric confidence man drifting from town to town; it is his unusual and unconventional vocal delivery through a modern production which stands tall in this album allowing the rest of the band to musically stretch themselves beyond the norm that can be seen during the tracks ‘Devil’s Child’ and ‘Masterplan’.
Therefore, what can be seen here are willingly memorable songs that are thoroughly enjoyable. However, this old-school late 80’s, early 90’s delivery may not be to the palette of everyone, but for the fans, there is more than enough here to digest. 60/100 Adam McCann
Vokonis
‘Grasping Time’ The Sign Records Doom/Stoner Metal
Since their 2015 conception, Sweden’s Vokonis have worked endlessly by putting out something new every year whilst shaking Europe to the core with their style of bone-rattling herbal blend of doom and stoner. For Vokonis, 2019 is business as usual as the trio deliver their third album ‘Grasping Time’. It would seem that a shift in style has occurred within the Vokonis camp as ‘Grasping Time’ stretches out from the usual resin-soaked Sabbath groove of stoner. There is an air of confidence about ‘Grasping Time’ as Vokonis strut forward through a haze of distortion by adding a large progressive element to their sound. This gives this album the sound of Sleep getting baked with Baroness, Mastodon and Elder, particularly during the sludgy crushing of ‘Embers’. Furthermore, what wins hearts with ‘Grasping Time’ is that progressive tone, not only is there a running undercurrent of both Porcupine Tree and King Crimson as a weir of two progressive worlds meet, but even a nod to Pink Floyd during both ‘Antler Queen’ and ‘Fading Lights’ as slow descending ephemeral patterns intertwine with beautiful melodic parts recalling parts of ‘Comfortably Numb’. For Vokonis, ‘Grasping Time’ has allowed the band to transcend the pitfalls of generic monotony within this genre, delivering an album that is equal parts heavy and groovy, yet delicate and intricate and it is this which makes ‘Grasping Time’ ultimately enjoyable. 70/100 Adam McCann
Vallenfyre
‘Splinters’ Century Media Records 2013 Death/Doom/Death-Doom/Crust
Formed as a side project between Greg Mackintosh of Paradise Lost and Hamish Glencross of fellow Halifax band My Dying Bride, Vallenfyre had hit the ground running with their debut album ‘A Fragile King’ in 2011. This album was full of the death/doom vibes that Vallenfyre are all about, setting the bar high for the Yorkshire band and in 2013, the band announced their sophomore album ‘Splinters’.
If the bar was high for ‘A Fragile King’, then Vallenfyre have smashed through this mark with ‘Splinters’. It is as if the band are now settled with what they want, and they do it well. From the excellent Paradise Lost in their prime opening track of ‘Scabs’, Vallenfyre set their stall out juxtaposing this with the grinding doom of ‘Bereft’; a track which would not be out of place with any of My Dying Bride’s albums, to the bouncing crust beat of ‘Odious Bliss’.
In Paradise Lost, the spotlight has always been on Nick Holmes, but with Vallenfyre, Mackintosh steps carefully around the spotlight, showing that he has a powerful growl which can easily match and equal that of Holmes. However, this growl would be very much alone without the piercing guitar of Glencross whose tonality, sense of delivery and melodic interludes provide the perfect backdrop for Mackintosh’s bleak, macabre lyrics.
With ‘Splinters’, the band continued their streak of excellent albums and whilst they refrained from setting the world alight, Vallenfyre have a cult appeal that will be appreciated for many years to come.
85/100 Adam McCann
Verilun
‘Through Fire… In The Sun’ Sliptrick Records 2018 Black/Death Metal
It has been a good few years since Verilun released their debut album ‘Home for the Dead’ in 2013. This year, the band from Hungary which plays a blend of death and black metal are back with their anticipated follow up ‘Through Fire… In The Sun’.
During their five-year absence, Verilun have focused their sound a little more, their ability to amalgamate both black and death metal has become exceptionally smooth and because of this, ‘Through Fire…’ sounds slick and amazingly fresh. Furthermore, this sound is hugely down to the production; ‘Through Fire…’ has an excellent finish which really brings out each instrument allowing the listener to feel each beat, growl and riff with crystal clear ease. One of the most impressive factors of this production is the ability to hear the keyboard, an instrument which often gets buried in the mix and can become quite pointless, but with this album, the soundscapes really manages to fill out the sound, making ‘Through Fire…’ have the almost epic edge of Carach Angren, Emperor or Immortal, which can be seen clearly during ‘Seven Years and Seven Winks’, ‘Upon the Mountain’ and ‘Gamma Binauris’.
This album is not just a tour de force of black metal, the splicing of death metal adds a different dimension to the sound of Verilun. However, ‘Through Fire…’ borrows heavily from the Gothenburg sound of the 90’s incorporating elements of early In Flames, At The Gates and Dark Tranquillity as well as the more standard death metal of Dead Congregation, Cruciamentum and Incantation. Unfortunately, ‘Through Fire…’ does not break new ground and what Verilun do is not unique to them, but, this album is very enjoyable and when compared to their peers, ‘Through Fire…’ has the potential to stand out, even surpass releases by more established bands and because of this, ‘Through Fire…’ is definitely worth a listen.
70/100
Adam McCann
Vehement
‘Ashes’ Infernum Records Black Metal 2017
The south-east of England may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking about black metal, but this burgeoning scene is home to many of England’s finest extreme metal bands. Counted amongst these are Vehement, who release their second album ‘Ashes’ following a noteworthy appearance at Bloodstock Open Air Festival last year. Vehement set their stall out in 2013 with their debut album ‘Collapse’ and have spent the subsequent years promoting and supporting its release as well as writing and rehearsing new material.
‘Ashes’ does not disappoint, not only does it take the abusive guitars, guttural bass, blast beat drums and lycanthrope growls found on ‘Collapse’, but it expands on them by adding beautiful serene passages, jigsaw tempo changes and piercing melodic guitar solos that make this young band able to stand alongside the likes of Immortal, Mayhem, Dissection and Darkthrone. Furthermore, it is the addition of a more operatic vocal which provides the juxtaposition to the raspy growl giving Vehement a rather tasteful duality.
Being able to mention Vehement in the same breath as these classic trailblazing black metal bands is testament to the quality that goes into the song writing within the band and tracks such as the progressive ‘The Turn of Passage’ could easily stand alongside Emperor, whilst the driving riffs of ‘Tidal Verse’, ‘Thematic’ and ‘Far Below Us’ equally push the band forward.
Although there isn’t a definitive stand-out track on ‘Ashes’, there are elements to each song which are excellent, the drum-beat in the closing minute of ‘Far Below Us’ is particularly brilliant. Moreover ‘Ashes’ delivers what it set out to do and that is to provide showcase for the underground English black metal scene to which ‘Ashes’ is a decent benchmark.
70/100
Adam McCann
Visigoth
Conqueror’s Oath
Metal Blade Records 2018
Don’t Break the Oath
In 2015, Visigoth managed to land one of the best albums of that year. ‘The Revenant King’ was addictively fun, it was one third Manowar, one third Grand Magus with a final third ‘Dungeons & Dragons’. In fact, ‘The Revenant King’ was that good, it begged the question, how are Visigoth going to match the expectations? Three years have passed since Visigoth released their debut album and this year sees the band deliver their follow up ‘Conqueror’s Oath’.
‘Conqueror’s Oath’ is everything that you would expect from these young Salt Lake City upstarts. The album loses none of the epic battle hymns that were laid out on the previous album and in fact, the album goes a little bit beyond, it shows Visigoth evolving as a band. One of the albums stand out tracks ‘Warrior Queen’ features some sublime flute playing which not only gives the song an extra dimension, but also adds to the overall atmosphere of the album. Moreover, ‘Conqueror’s Oath’ is a significant step forward, songs such as the fist rousing ‘Steel and Silver’, ‘Outlive Them All’ and ‘Hammerforged’ demonstrate songs which have been meticulously worked out and tempered live.
So, in answer to the question? Yes, ‘Conqueror’s Oath’ not only meets expectations, but also exceeds them. This album could well be one of the albums to watch out for at the end of year and is a must buy for any fan of traditional heavy metal or power metal.
87/100
Adam McCann
Warrior Queen; Visigoth 'Conqueror's Oath', 2018; Metal Blade Records
Van Halen
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
Warner Bros. Records 1991
Men on a Mission
By 1991, Sammy Hagar had well and truly established himself as the frontman of Van Halen on the back of two multi-platinum selling albums with ‘5150’ and ‘OU812’. Moreover, by the advent of 1991, the music world had shifted away from big stadium hard rock purveyed by Van Halen, swapping bandanas and hairspray for flannel and unwashed. However, that could not stop Van Halen and their 1991 album; 'For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge' hit the charts and also went multi-platinum.
Yes, ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge’ spells out F.U.C.K. and it’s not big and it’s not clever, but the Van Halen mantra is ‘nothing but a good time’. There is some smoke and mirrors to this album title and although blatantly profane, this was Van Halen sticking it to the ever- growing presence of the PMRC with its obvious prejudices against heavy metal music.
Unlike it’s grandfather ‘5150’, ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge’ suffers from a lack of direction in some of its tracks, it didn’t have the spontaneity or the happy-go-lucky vibe that had driven the David Lee Roth albums and although the band had replaced Roth with a veteran songwriter in Hagar, some of the misdirection on the album derives from being on the back of two huge tours to support the previous albums. It even suffered from some rehashing, ‘316’ was already established as far back as the ‘5150’ sessions with Eddie Van Halen using it through guitar solo sections of the bands live performance and whilst ‘Top of the World’ craftily recycled the riff from the end of ‘Jump’.
However, it is far from the sound of a band running out of steam and ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge’ proves with it the power drill driven ‘Poundcake’, the good time feeling of ‘Runaround’ and the addictively great ballad of ‘Right Now’ that would become staples of rock radio stations worldwide from this moment on.
‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge’ is very much of its time, it is a band riding high on the crest of their wave to care about the grunge movement bubbling away below and just like that, this album deals with dizzying heights and rather forgettable lows.
74/100
Adam McCann
Poundcake; Van Halen 'For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge', 1991; Warner Bros. Records
Voodoo Six
Make Way for the King
White Knuckle Records 2017
Voodoo Six take another swing
As a band, Voodoo Six have been plugging away at the music scene since their inception in 2003 and during this time they have achieved a limited success, particularly in their home country of England. Voodoo Six are better known for their feat of opening for Iron Maiden on their European leg in 2013, as well as founding guitarist Richie Faulkner who would ultimately replace K.K. Downing in Judas Priest, leaving the band following the release of their debut album, ‘Feed My Soul’ in 2006.
It hasn’t been an easy climb for Voodoo Six, their career has been dogged throughout with unstable line-ups, each one slightly altering their sound and Voodoo Six now find themselves on their third vocalist following the departure of Luke Purdie in 2014. After some searching, Purdie was replaced by Nik Taylor-Stoakes; who may not have anywhere near as powerful a voice as Purdie, he is certainly more versatile and it is this diversity which allows Voodoo Six to break away from the almost classic hard rock corner that they had painted themselves into. Undeterred, Voodoo Six released their fifth studio album; ‘Make Way for the King’ on the 8th September.
Beginning with ‘Electric’, you feel that initially nothing has changed, the main riff in fact could have easily fit alongside ‘Fluke?’ or ‘Songs to Invade Countries To’, but then Stoakes opens his mouth and you can instantly tell that this is new. Stoakes has a voice that is part Purdie and two parts bastardisation of Ed Kawalczyk of Live and Gavin Rossdale of Bush, it is these latter parts which makes the new Voodoo Six sound relatively appealing, not only can Stoakes bellow, but his control of vibrato and almost scatted lines have more in common with early Pearl Jam than the previous Voodoo Six releases. In fact, these 90’s rock comparisons are dotted throughout ‘Make Way for the King’ with not ‘Electric’, but also ‘Falling Apart’ with its Stone Temple Pilots style riff and ‘Core’ era Scott Weiland wail, whilst ‘Until the End’ has all the hallmarks of mid-90’s Bush.
If the essence of grunge isn’t your thing, then there are still quite a few glimpses of the old Voodoo Six; ‘Walk a Mile’, ‘Falling Apart’, ‘The Choking’ and the title track all have the swagger which made Voodoo Six so appealing. The title track in particular is easily one of the best tracks on the album with its memorable chorus and brilliant guitar solo courtesy of long serving guitarist Matt Pearce. Pearce has to be commended for his efforts on ‘Make Way for the King’, following the departure of Chris Jones, it was left solely for Pearce to play all the guitar parts himself with a great Jerry Cantrell style guitar solo during ‘Falling Apart’. The album does a fantastic job of sending up Stoakes as a vocalist and no song does this better than the albums centrepiece with ‘Amen’. ‘Amen’ basically puts Stoakes on the pedestal parading him as ‘this is our new vocalist’ and if you were going to do it anywhere, then no better place would be ‘Amen’, it is a slow burner of a song which broods in spiritual contemplation and desperation.
However, most of the songs on ‘Make Way for the King’ tick over five minutes, creating an album which clocks in at over an hour with a lot of songs which although are not sub-par, definitely don’t hold your attention for long enough to fully appreciate at times. Tracks such as; ‘Riot’, ‘Until the End’, ‘Wasteland’ and ‘Release the Hounds’ all suffer from being relatively unmemorable and fill out space on an album where you could easily lose 15 minutes and wouldn’t notice and/or care.
‘Make Way for the King’ is once more another snap shot of a band in the transition of bedding in new members and writing an album with the hand they’ve been dealt. ‘Make Way for the King’ is not among the strongest work of Voodoo Six, but with a new guitarist and vocalist in the fold, it is certainly a step in the right direction.
70/100
Adam McCann
Make Way for the King; Voodoo Six., 'Make Way for the King', 2017; White Knuckle Records
Van Halen
Diver Down
Warner Bros. Records 1982
Van Halen show that they have a sense of humour
Van Halen achieved fame on the back of electrifying live performances through the virtuosity of guitarist Edward Van Halen who pioneered the tapping technique and the roguishly good looking charms of vocalist David Lee Roth. Quickly snapped up by Warner Bros. Records, Van Halen released a steady stream of albums under the guiding hand of legendary producer Ted Templeman. The studio antics of Van Halen soon became somewhat something of an inside joke as the band would frequently turn up to recording sessions with only fragments of material and unfinished jams. Yet on the back of some hugely successful singles, Van Halen managed to continue to hump their way across the globe and to become the biggest band in the world.
By 1982, Van Halen had reached their pinnacle of excess; sex, drugs, booze and endless partying was now the norm and when the band presented what would be their fifth studio album to Warner Bros., it would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall in that boardroom. After months of Warner Bros. asking when will the album be ready, Van Halen brought an album of which nearly half was cover songs with the rest of album split between short instrumentals and original material. This album would become ‘Diver Down’.
Regardless of the content, Warner Bros. went ahead with the release of ‘Diver Down’ which was unfortunately also coupled with an equally crap album cover – the flag used in maritime to signal that a diver is in the area below, although, you can’t help wondering whether this is construed to be some sort of innuendo to the excess of the time.
As a band, Van Halen are no stranger to covers and David Lee Roth high kicks ‘Diver Down’ into action with a cover of The Kinks’ ‘Where Have All the Good Times Gone!’, which is hardly surprising, Van Halen cut their teeth on the circuit in California in the mid-70’s playing covers of the 60’s British Invasion artists and although Van Halen approach ‘Where Have All the Good Times Gone!’ with the level of professionalism of a band who knows the song inside out and can perform it blindfolded.
In fact, this emphasis on the professionalism transposes to a few of the other covers here, you get the feeling that Van Halen are just having fun with the likes of ‘(Oh) Pretty Woman’ originally recorded by the late Roy Orbison, as Edward Van Halen gives the famous riff the same twist and courtesy that the young hot shot gave ‘You Really Got Me’ from Van Halen’s self-titled debut. This fun extends wholly into a cover of ‘Dancing In The Street’ originally recorded by Martha and the Vandellas back in 1964 and alongside clear piss takes such as ‘Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)’ and ‘Happy Trails’ showing that Van Halen clearly have a sense of humour and are thoroughly enjoying what they’re doing.
Edward Van Halen is obviously very talented musician, not just at the guitar, but he is also adept at playing multiple instruments, but the short instrumentals on ‘Diver Down’ really do sully the album and the best thing about them is that they’re over before you get chance to get up and hit the skip button. Fortunately, the woeful instrumentals are saved by the songs which don’t involve Edward Van Halen fucking around on the synthesiser, ‘Hang ‘Em High’, ‘Little Guitars’ and ‘The Full Bug’ show that Van Halen hadn’t completely lost the plot, the latter song in particular has an absolutely fantastic guitar riff which shows the direction that Van Halen would head for their smash hit ‘1984’.
‘Diver Down’ is actually quite a lot of fun, it will never fail to bring a smile to your face as Van Halen smash out a song as a barbershop quartet, but it is also the sound of a band going through motions, treading water and keeping afloat under pressure from the record company to deliver the next hit. What Van Halen needed was some time off to recuperate and ‘Diver Down’ is a snapshot in time of that very moment and should always be taken at face value as Van Halen clearly take the piss as Warner Bros. package it up and sell it.
65/100
Adam McCann
(Oh) Pretty Woman; Van Halen., 'Diver Down', 1982; Warner Bros. Records
Venom Inc.
Avé
Nuclear Blast Records 2017
Welcome to Hell, Again
Unfortunately, we live in a time where ex-friends and former band mates can no longer reconcile and put aside their differences. When this occurs, we often see splinter bands forming, the most famous of which being Oliver/Dawson Saxon, Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash and now Venom Inc. The legality of the Venom name is locked safely away in the Necronomicon of Cronos who continues to release albums under the Venom moniker. However, more recently, former members of Venom guitarist and drummer Abaddon and Mantas have joined forces with former Venom frontman Demolition Man, who briefly fronted Venom from 1989-1992 and are attempting to keep the Venom name alive through the name Venom Inc.
Although in essence, Venom Inc. have been knocking around since 2015, this year has seen the band step out of the shadow of basically a glorified tribute band and into the limelight in their own right with their first studio album ‘Avé’, released through Nuclear Blast Records.
Beginning with the fantastic ‘Avé Satanas’, the first minute of which is dedicated to the haunting classical piece ‘Ave Maria’, before the tsunami of distortion and devilish tones swamp the gates of Heaven; Welcome to Hell indeed. ‘Avé Satanas’ is an eight minute behemoth, a grinding slab that serves to remind us what Abaddon and Mantas are capable of as Demolition Man slides perfectly back into his old role. With the ‘Prime Evil’ line-up reunited, it doesn’t take long to remind us that this line-up was pretty good with ‘Avé’ sounding more like Venom than well, Venom.
The wall of sound committing assault and battery continues through ‘Avé’ with tracks like ‘Dien Fleisch’, ‘Forged In Hell’ and ‘Metal We Bleed’ being some of the best work by any Venom members in the past 30 years. These songs contain the continuous pounding double bass drum of Abaddon coupled with the Lemmy style bass of Demolition Man, however, it is the fantastic guitar playing of Mantas which shines through with ‘Avé’ proving, if any evidence was needed, that Mantas is one of heavy metal’s most underrated guitarists. When looking at this, it shows that ‘Avé’ has no signs of the aging, jaded rock stars who cut their teeth with the NWOBHM movement going through the motions and it drags the Venom sound kicking and screaming with demonic filth into 2017 whilst being wholly representative of the classic sound Venom represent. However, when you compare ‘Avé’ to the classic Venom releases of ‘Welcome to Hell’ and ‘Black Metal’, ‘Avé’ is just too damned long, the second half of the album degenerates into a lot of mediocre filler with ‘The Evil Dead’ sounding more like a rehash of ‘Raise the Dead’, whilst ‘Black N’ Roll’ sounds more like Venom Inc. taking the piss by providing a clichéd reference to other rock and heavy metal albums throughout its history and even goes as far allusion to famous British paedophile Jimmy Saville at the end. All this aside, there are some diamonds in the rough amongst the filler, ‘War’ and ‘I Kneel To No God’ help to keep your attention and easily keep the latter end of the album alive.
No matter which way you look at ‘Avé’, there are some fantastic songs here which stay true to the Venom mantra. Demolition Man does a brilliant job by not giving a straight up imitation of Cronos, but rather, Demolition Man puts his own twist back into the Venom mythology. In fact, ‘Avé’ sounds more like Venom than ‘From the Very Depths’; the last Venom album and if you’re expecting a pale imitation of Venom, then you will not find it here.
76/100
Adam McCann
Avé Satanas; Venom Inc., 'Avé', 2017; Nuclear Blast Records
Vallenfyre: 11/09/2017
Rebellion
Manchester 2017
The Taylor Swift of Underground whatever we are…
It is a well-known fact that weather comes and goes with today being no exception. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the North of England where it rains intermittently from somewhere between a misty haze to a torrential downpour. Tonight we are back in Manchester to catch Vallenfyre, 2 parts Paradise Lost in the shape of Greg Mackintosh and Waltteri Väyrynen and 1 part ex-My Dying Bride with Hamish Glencross. Vallenfyre are an interesting blend of death, doom, grind and crust, all shaken up and emptied out so that in their own words, Vallenfyre don’t even know what they are, but whatever it is, Vallenfyre know how to do it and they do it real well.
Vallenfyre are playing tonight at Rebellion, a decent little venue just at the bottom of Deansgate Train Station and its small size is perfect for such an intimate setting. Tonight, Vallenfyre a supported by Wolfbastard and with almost military precision, Wolfbastard are on the stage as directed at 19:30. Wolfbastard are relatively local to Manchester, coming from the nearby city of Oldham. Now, Oldham may be as close to Yorkshire as you can get without leaving Greater Manchester, but the music that Wolfbastard play comes from a much more northern origin, Wolfbastard have honed their sound to that of Norwegian black metal with grindcore influences. The band themselves do not waste time wearing corpse paint or wearing leather, a simple Burzum and Darkthrone t-shirt will suffice as they crash through songs such as ‘Sick in the Bath’ and ‘Raped by Satan’. Interestingly enough, Wolfbastard swap between the vocals of guitarist Dez and bassist Si with their listed vocalist Joe Dolan conspicuously absent. Although Wolfbastard are playing to a relatively empty room, the band make the most of it with their amusing self-depreciating quips about being shit and/or tossers, however, the guitar of Dez is relatively weedy tonight, caught somewhere in a hinterland between classic black metal and death metal, but special credit goes to drummer Dave Buchan whose beats and rhythms kept Wolfbastard interesting and when coupled with their non-friendly/friendly stage persona, Wolfbastard were enjoyable.
Set List:
Born to Decay
Messiah
Odious Bliss
Degeneration
Scabs
Instinct Slaughter
An Apathetic Grave
Nihilist
Cathedrals of Dread
Dead World Breathes
Savages Arise
The Merciless Tide
Kill All Your Masters
Ravenous Whore
Splinters
Desecration
Following on from Wolfbastard are Implore, a band which plays a combination of death/crust and grind. Implore also share their home with Vallenfyre at Century Media Records and are currently touring in support of their upcoming second album ‘Subjugate’, released on the 22nd September. Tonight, Implore are loud, in fact, for a small venue such as Rebellion, Implore are actually too loud, not a fault on their part, but the sound engineering who for Implore, have got the sound totally wrong. Each beat from the drums did their best to pummel you with blunt force trauma and unfortunately, a simple sound engineering mistake made Implore quite difficult to listen to, let alone enjoy. Implore did seem to get off on the wrong foot, guitarist Petro seemed to have trouble from the off with his guitar causing him to swap guitars almost immediately. However, what sullied the Implore set more than anything was their incessant need to continue to spit at each other from across the stage, the only saving grace being that none was aimed at the audience.
Ever crawling towards the pinnacle of the evening, Vallenfyre take to the stage at 21:10 amidst a pea-soup of a fog that would put Sisters of Mercy to shame. Vocalist Greg Mackintosh emerges from the smoke like a contestant from ‘Stars In Their Eyes’ sporting a black Mohawk and a long studded jacket which looks as if it was borrowed from Rob Halford himself whilst Vallenfyre cut through the opening one-two of ‘Born to Decay’ and ‘Messiah’ from their latest album ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’. Considering the sound was well, to put it bluntly, shit for Implore, Vallenfyre sounded nigh on perfect, the drums were at a manageable level and didn’t drown everything out and although Mackintosh whinged that his throat was ‘fucked’ on only the second night of the tour, he sounded spot on throughout the night, easily tearing through the more grind songs such as ‘Dead World Breathes’, ‘Nihilist’ and ‘Messiah’ to the songs which require much more melodic attention like ‘An Apathetic Grave’, ‘Splinters’ and ‘The Merciless Tide’.
As the musical brains behind Paradise Lost, Mackintosh is usually hidden behind his guitar, but with Vallenfyre, the man is unleashed and for a band which plays music with such grim lyrics, as a frontman, Mackintosh is exceptionally upbeat. Throughout the set, the friendship between Mackintosh and guitarist Hamish Glencross is more than apparent as they trade friendly insults back and forth, especially during a false start to ‘An Apathetic Grave’ where ‘somebody’ was out of tune. Mackintosh’s quips continue between songs creating an amusing interlude each time, as he shows his disdain for chavs in the songs ‘Degeneration’ and ‘Savage Arise’, politicians in ‘Kill All Your Masters’, an ex-wife for ‘Ravenous Whore’ and a borderline Frankie Boyle-esque tirade about the Catholic Church and their history of abuse during ‘Cathedrals of Dread’, you get the feeling that Greg Mackintosh could easy hop over the road to the famous Manchester Comedy Club and hold his own against the comedians.
As the set draws to a close, Mackintosh thanks the audience for their time and patience over Vallenfyre’s career, citing that the YouTube hit ratio for ‘Splinters’ has reached over half a million before declaring that this makes them the Taylor Swift of underground death/doom or whatever they are classed as these days, going as far to say that bands don’t care about genres and pigeonholed into playing a certain style. Ending their set at just over an hour, Vallenfyre admit that they are not conducting an encore because it is best reserved for glam rock and end their set on the bands very first release ‘Desecration’ from back in 2011. With rumours abound that ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’ could well be the final Vallenfyre album, here’s to hoping that rumours is all that they are, as it is too early to call time on such a lively and fantastic band.
Adam McCann
The Merciless Tide; Vallenfyre, 'Fear Those Who Fear Him', 2017; Century Media Records
Vallenfyre
Fear Those Who Fear Him
Century Media Records 2017
Vallenfyre make it 3 out of 3
Compared to a lot of genres under the umbrella of metal, doom is very much universal and during the late 80’s in Halifax, the north of England saw the rise of Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride. These bands were both signed to Peaceville Records and it planted Halifax directly on the scene in the heavy metal world. When you consider their years of service, Paradise Lost are one of the most stable heavy metal bands and guitarist Greg Mackintosh, is one of the chief composers of Paradise Lost and in 2010, Mackintosh joined forces with former My Dying Bride guitarist Hamish Glencross to form Vallenfyre.
Vallenfyre are interesting band, all bets would be down that two doom maestros would continue playing what they know. But, no, Vallenfyre use this to expand on their comfort zone and slam a huge coffin lid of death metal down onto their trademark doom creating an extremely potent mix. Vallenfyre have steadily created a decent following and 2017 see’s the band release their 3rd album, ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’ on the 2nd of June.
With a new Paradise Lost album imminent, it was highly unlikely that we would expect to see something from Vallenfyre this year. However, Vallenfyre to do not disappoint, ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’ is as fully as you would expect from the band. The album is crammed full of excellent death growls, laden with the slow funerary marches that you only get with the best doom and crust bands, interspersed with a killer grindcore beat onslaught.
Initially, ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’ doesn’t just tear off your head and shit down your throat, but rather it broods along with the albums introduction ‘Born to Decay’, through piercing feedback over a looped “fear those who fear him” conjures up images of 80’s death metal, from Possessed to ‘Scream Bloody Gore’ era Death and although not death metal, it is even reminiscent of recent releases by Hell. ‘Born to Decay’ grinds through riff and time changes as builds up to the crescendo of ‘Messiah’. This is where ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’ comes into its own, trading riff after riff of Darkthrone standards before dropping down into grindcore territory that would appeal to fans of Lee Dorrian era Napalm Death.
Although Vellenfyre has always consisted of Mackintosh and Glencross, the factor which makes ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’ stand out is the absolutely barnstorming drumming from Paradise Lost and Vallenfyre new boy Waltteri Väyrynen. The drumming that Väyrynen conducts during ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’ is utterly relentless, from the most simplistic slow heavy handed beat, to the Duracell Bunny on crack grindcore drumming, it is the constant switch in beats whilst Mackintosh and Glencross do their thing that truly makes ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’ worth listening to.
As an album, ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’ is a step forward from Vallenfyre’s previous efforts of ‘Splinters’ (2014) and ‘A Fragile King’ (2011), each song has been meticulously crafted and strategically placed to give ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’ the perfect blend of timings, it knows when to push forward at breakneck speed with the fantastic ‘Kill All Your Masters’, ‘Nihilist’ and ‘Soldier of Christ’, all of which contain a memorable chorus and if you listen close enough, you can actually hear the mosh pit exploding to these songs. However, the accolades for ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’ do not all belong to the fast songs, yes, these songs add the energy and a quick nitro burst, but it is the slower songs where Glencross and Mackintosh show their mastery. ‘An Apathetic Grave’ has all the long drawn death grind of Obituary in their prime, before adding the melodic elements of the recent Paradise Lost releases, the perfect nod to show who pulls the strings in that band too and shows Mackintosh at the top of his game. Although, do not for one minute think that Vallenfyre are second rate and contain the doom driven songs that were not good enough to enter the Paradise Lost sanctum as this is nowhere near true. Yes, Vallenfyre contains 2/3 members that are in Paradise Lost, but Vallenfyre have a different edge to them, a much more aggressive side that even comes through on the slower tracks which makes ‘An Apathetic Grave, ‘Amongst the Filth’ and the sublime ‘Cursed From the Womb’ standout, not just on ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’, but also amongst their peers.
As stated above, ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’ is a step forward and large step towards Vallenfyre shaking off the chains of Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride and should be respected in their own right. ‘Fear Those Who Fear Him’ is as heavy and aggressive as being happy slapped by an anvil, yet as solemn and mournful as a funeral dirge, it is extremely fun to listen to whatever your mood.
80/100
Adam McCann
Kill All Your Masters; Vallenfyre, 'Fear Those Who Fear Him', 2017; Century Media Records
Vampire
With Primeval Force
Century Media Records 2017
Vampire deliver some bite
Death metal and Sweden have a special relationship, from the chainsaw attack of Entombed to the more progressive flair of Meshuggah and Opeth, to melodic scene of Gothenburg that spawned bands such as At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity and In Flames. The gravity of these bands shook the world and provided an alternative to the whiny angst of nu-metal.
20 years on and the world still looks back favourably on bands from Gothenburg, but that is by no means a free meal pass. Also hailing from Gothenburg are Vampire. Vampire mix a blend of good old thrashin’ death metal in the style of Possessed and Death with a pinch of home grown melody and it works sublimely, before you realise it, Vampire are on to something here. Vampire released their self-titled first album back in 2014 to a rousing critical acclaim and 2017 see’s the band release their highly anticipated second album; 'With Primeval Force'.
'With Primeval Force' begins with 'Knights of the Burning Crypt' and the sort of riff that made In Flames famous before the unsheathing of a blade descends into a Death style verse that wouldn’t be out of place on 'Scream Bloody Gore'. When you begin with a standard as high as this, you know what to come is going to be magical. 'Knights of the Burning Crypt' has an outro that features acoustic picking alongside some excellent riffing that harks back 'To Mega Therion' era Celtic Frost, whilst 'Scylla' contains a choral outro which, in all honesty completes the album.
With an album that clocks in at under 40 minutes, Vampire waste no time in smashing down the boundaries. 'He Who Speaks' contains a hypnotic chanting chorus of Tlatoani; a word of Aztec origin as vocalist, Hand of Doom’s vocal tendrils creep out, pulling you into his thrall. Even by the second song on the album, 'With Primeval Force' has you and any old school death metal fan would be a liar if they said they didn’t like or appreciate this album. The history links contain through songs such as 'Skull Prayer' which contains references to Ashem, Deva, Namtar and Allatu, all of which have links to various religions such as those worshipped in ancient Mesopotamia, Persia and the Indian subcontinent, conjuring up images of hooded acolytes, chanting around a sacrifice. Tracks such as 'Metamorfosis' and 'Skull Prayer' would easily interest any Venom fan with its black metal lyrical leanings against the distorted guitar and double bass drum beat of death metal.
These comparisons don’t just stop here, 'Midnight Trial' once more has all the hallmarks of Death and Venom. However, 'Midnight Trial' also adds a more thrash metal element to it and brings about a feeling of what would happen if Chuck Schuldiner covered 'Liar' from Megadeth’s 1988 album; 'So Far, So Good… So What!' with its quick fire rhythmic vocal delivery suiting the song perfectly down to the ground.
Of course 'Vampire' landed with critical acclaim, however, 'With Primeval Force' takes their career up a notch and is a huge leap forward. Not only is 'With Primeval Force' enjoyable, it is highly infectious and never lets up, which causes the album to be constantly played. Vampire do not deserve 'With Primeval Force' to go under radar because they have released one of the best death metal albums of 2017.
80/100
Adam McCann
Revenants; Vampire, 'With Primeval Force', 2017; Century Media Records