3 Inches of Blood – Here Waits Thy Doom

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On the back of a few successful support tours comes the fourth album from the American band who peddle “battle metal” lyrics over a traditional twin-guitar sound, with a little thrash for good measure. However, the novelty of 3 Inches of Blood’s sound has worn off somewhat, and what they’ve produced here has very of genuine interest. Barely any of the songs are as good as those on Advance & Vanquish or Fire Up The Blades and mostly just end up sounding like a rehash of the last two with less interesting riffs (apart from the bridge in Call of The Hammer) and far fewer hooks. All of Them Witches is probably the closest they’ve gotten musically to Iron Maiden and some of the best guitar solos, but again offers very little that sounds particularly original. Snake Fighter‘s chorus sounds like it’s trying to match the popularity of Deadly Sinners, while other tracks suffer terminally from some horifically clichéd lyrics (Rock In Hell). And for a band who pride themselves on being ‘pure’ metal, the guitar are surprisingly less-than-heavy. The band have made no advancement at all here and the only interest at all comes with some of the lead playing, like that in seven-minute closer Execution Tank, which is probably the albums best moment along with acoustic instrumental 12/34. Fans will buy it anyway, but will probably be reaching for Advance & Vanquish after one listen.

Written by Andy Lye
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A Pale Horse Named Death – And Hell Will Follow Me

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Written entirely by Life of Agony/ex-Type O Negative drummer Sal Abruscato, who handles vocal and guitar duties here as well as drums, A Pale Horse Named Death is effectively his solo outing which has become a fully fledged band. The album was completed with the help of Sal’s Supermassiv band-mate and current Seventh Void guitarist Matt Brown, with lead guitar contributions from Biohazard‘s Bobby Hambel and backing vocals by Life of Agony’s Keith Caputo and, ignoring the comedy horse sound effect intro and tedius mid-album electronic instrumental Bad Dream, which fortunately only last for a combined three minutes, the style takes its cues from the solo works by Alice In Chains guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell and The Last Temptation-era Alice Cooper, with a little Nirvana and a little Rob Zombie (chorus of Bath In My Blood (Schizophrenia In Me), for instance) in places. More or less everything here is slow, heavy and miserable but not in the doom metal sense; more a kind of sludgy grunge. There are still hooks in the choruses etc., but the primary thing being conveyed by the songs is emotion. Sombre emotion. Amongst the deeply meaningful lyrics however is a bit of a lack of really great riffs. This kind of thoughtful metal needs riffs to go with the powerful words, and there are no real killer ones here. It’s an enjoyable album, and prime AIC like Pill Head drones in the same appealing way as their successful comeback album Black Gives Way To Blue, but overall the record lacks just that little intangible something that would make it a classic. Their live line-up, which also features Seventh Void/Type O drummer Johnny Kelly and Lament bassist Eric Morgan alongside Abruscato, Brown and Hambel, should make them well worth seeing however.

Written by Andy Lye
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Abigail Williams – Becoming

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Currently, in the ever-changing world of black metal, there are many bands performing the type of music that creates vast, expansive soundscapes that have more in common with post-metal than black metal. It might surprise some early dismissive fans that Abigail Williams, who started off as a blackened deathcore band, has now joined the ranks of musicians doing this type of music. Gone are the days with punishing, crunchy guitars with breakdowns strewn about them. Think of Becoming as their homage to the kings of the genre, Wolves In The Throne Room. The stark contrast to other albums of this nature is that Becoming is far more accesible. It doesn’t require nearly the concentration and mindset that other bands, say Drudkh, do. Abigail Williams still retains a good deal of their keyboard sound, which are often used not in an ethereal way, but more like an interlude piece in a Cradle of Filth song. Aside from that, this does sound like one of Enslaved‘s later releases. Stripped down, but still engaging. The track Infinite Fields of Mind channels the softer parts of bands like Agalloch or even Alcest before launching into heavier and faster territory. One glaring fault is the mix of the vocals, however. They’re often clouded and in the background. Most vocals in this kind of black metal are like that, but Abigail Williams over does it. It definitely doesn’t ruin the album at all, though. While they might not take as many risks as their brethren within the same realm of music, it’s still really refreshing to see a once loathed band make such a turn-around and release a great album.

Written by Jackson May
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Abysmal Dawn – Leveling The Plane of Existence

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I feel like Abysmal Dawn has been very unlucky when it came to gaining popularity. Bands like Psycroptic and Neuraxis play a similar style of metal, but Abysmal Dawn does it so much better. Their latest album Levelling The Plane Of Existence continues the excellent death/thrash sound they’ve had on their first two releases. While there won’t be any surprises, the album is crammed full of mid-paced death metal that don’t sound out of place alongside their California brethren. A less technical but more stable Decrepit Birth; a smidgen of The Faceless without becoming a parody. That’s what makes Abysmal Dawn so good. Rapture Renowned has just enough Slayer-worship and takes just a bit from the West Coast’s huge metal/deathcore scene to give the song a freshness that many other death metal bands are severely lacking in without resorting to completely altering their sound. Strewn about the album, like in the songs In Service Of Time and Levelling The Plane Of Existence, is definitely a Nile-esque feel to the songs. Really heavy, but still really melodic at the same time. What really helps this album stand out is the production, which is a surprise because Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal, ex-Morbid Angel) is the producer and usually doesn’t do a very good job. Maybe he’s turned over a new leaf? In the end, Abysmal Dawn’s latest album is for anyone who’s a fan of death metal, be it from The Black Dahlia Murder, Krisiun, At The Gates, Cannibal Corpse, or Decrepit Birth. Don’t expect anything too flashy, but expect to bang your head.

Written by Jackson May
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Acid Witch – Stoned

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As you’d expect from a band who gained popularity on the Razorback Records label, Acid Witch doesn’t shy away from sampling, singing about, and channeling the feeling of the ’70s B-movies chock full of over-the-top gore and satanic references. But that’s what makes it so enjoyable to listen to. On one end, Acid Witch is a competent death/doom band, in the vein of Hooded Menace or current Asphyx. The riffs are crushing and slow, but have a very nice groove to them. The opening track, Witchfynder Finder, and the sample-laden Thundering Hooves show how thick and heavy Acid Witch can be. But where the band really shines is the psychadelic keyboards added to other songs. Live Forever has an organ solo that just absolutely separates Acid Witch from so many others in the doom/death scene. It’s still heavy, but Acid Witch has made the organ solo cool again. There’s not nearly as much psychadelic sounds as on their debut album, but there’s just enough that it balances the album out and prevents Acid Witch from sounding like a gimmick. The album closes with a few brilliant songs: Stoned To The Grave, which is the anthem for Acid Witch, and Metal Movie Marijuana Massacre Meltdown, which is about the Gene Simmons horror movie ‘Trick Or Treat’ which is required viewing for any metalhead. There’s enough on Stoned to draw in fans of extreme metal, doom metal, and psychadelic rock. One of the best albums in a while.

Written by Jackson May
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AFM Records: 15 Years Metal Addiction

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It’s absolutely right that German metal label AFM should celebrate their 15th anniversary. For a label who have made it their mission to specialise in genuine metal, maintaining sincerity and honesty along the way, they have done incredibly well, and have avoided the God complex certain other similar labels (two in particular from America and Italy) have succumbed to. Although it hasn’t achieved the notable line-up the label deserve (several important names from their roster are missing for whatever reason), a particularly good representation of this achievement is the Metal Addiction festival set to take place in Hamburg in December, headlined by U.D.O.. And to precede that, and mark the anniversary in a slightly more permanent way, the label are releasing this three-disc compilation, sharing its name with the festival, spanning near enough every band they’ve ever had, which includes a lot of important names who are now on other labels, like Grave Digger, Edguy and Destruction. Another worthy move, in theory, but what it really needs is exclusive material. Maybe they can’t get any exclusive material from bands they no longer own, although surely there are rare bonus tracks or b-sides which could have been included, but at least exclusive material from their current artists can’t be beyond the realms of reality. Unfortunately, there’s none. At all. Apart from one or two “single versions” here and there, which are just shortened versions of the album tracks, everything here is lifted from an existing album, making it nothing more than a very extensive label sampler. Their selections are good, and not necessarily the most obvious songs by each band, which is refreshing in the context of label samplers, but with the internet being what it is these days, label samplers are pretty worthless products without exclusive content. AFM should be supported, more so than many other labels, they’re an example of how to do things right, but this compilation isn’t the way to do it.

Written by Andy Lye
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