3 Inches of Blood – Here Waits Thy Doom

site | label | buy

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
More: 3 Inches of Blood

A Pale Horse Named Death – And Hell Will Follow Me

site | label | buy

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
More: A Pale Horse Named Death

Abigail Williams – Becoming

site | label | buy

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
More: Abigail Williams

Abysmal Dawn – Leveling The Plane of Existence

site | label | buy

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
More: Abysmal Dawn

Acid Witch – Stoned

site | label | buy

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
More: Acid Witch

AFM Records: 15 Years Metal Addiction

label | buy

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
More: Various

Age of Evil – Get Dead

site | buy

The new self-released EP from Arizona’s Age of Evil presents two brand new original songs, two classic metal covers and two exclusive live versions of tracks from their debut album Living A Sick Dream, released in 2007. Age of Evil’s sound on their original songs is very similar to David Ellefson’s F5 with a 50/50 mix of modern metal and classic ’80s thrash, and although it’s easy to tell from Jeremy Goldberg’s vocals that this is a young band, his voice avoids all of those tell-tale signs of whining angst most bands with over-groomed fringes have. He has a voice of a genuine metal singer, in short. The stand-out thing about the two new tracks, besides the excellent Anthrax groove and crushing heaviness, are Jordan Ziff’s blistering guitar solos at the beginning and end of both opener Cruel Intentions and the title track. These are followed by two excellent covers in the shape of Skid Row‘s Slave To The Grind and Judas Priest‘s The Hellion/Electric Eye, then the two live tracks, where the Pantera-esque Southern riffs of Eye For An Eye hint at the content of their full-length album, for anyone unfamiliar. A superb release, and only $5 plus shipping from their website too.

Written by Andy Lye
More: Age of Evil

All Pigs Must Die – God Is War

site | label | buy

There aren’t many band names that suggest anti-authoritarian hardcore punk better than All Pigs Must Die. The band might claim it is a clever wink to George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’, and it might even be a reference to the Death In June album of the same name, but most will look at such a name and think of punk bands such as Millions of Dead Cops… and why not? All Pigs Must Die, from a musical perspective, harbour all the vile aggression one has come to expect from the angrier and more political side of the punk movement, packaged in fast and dirty sounding crust. There’s no real surprises in God Is War – this is what you should really expect from a bunch of US hardcore kids getting down to basics. It’s fast, loud, very heavy and is the kind of music that makes you want to flail your fists in disgust at the current world climate. There’re a few fancy riffs and bass-lines that suggest a more matured musicianship, but that seems hardly important on a record like this. As far as this genre of music is concerned, it ticks all the boxes and does everything you want such a record to do. At times it does feel a bit obvious though – it is a very sincere album granted, but when put up against other records in the same genre (including new entries by Sarabante and Unkind, reviewed recently), it suddenly sounds rather plain. It succeeds at what it is trying to do though, and whilst bad timing doesn’t let the album shine, it is still a respectable effort.

Written by James Donovan
More: All Pigs Must Die

Amaranthe – Amaranthe

site | label | buy

You have to congratulate Amaranthe on completely dividing metal listeners. The Swedish six-piece have been lauded by a good proportion of the community, perhaps overly so, whilst derided by just about everyone else, leaving barely anyone expressing neutrality. That’s pretty much what happens when you have a sound like Amaranthe. Taking cues from the likes of Deadlock, All Ends and Sonic Syndicate, with more than a passing nod to the more mainstream works of Soilwork, Amaranthe have taken melodeath and infused it with so much mainstream pop appeal that it starts questioning their credibility. Oh sure, they have a good dose of melodeath in their sound… but then a good chunk of their sound is borrowed from ’80s Madonna and Lady Gaga. Big pop melodies? Check. Dance keyboards? Check. Singers who could pass for boy band members and pop princesses? Check and check. Hence, the big divide in the metal community. Taken for what it is, Amaranthe’s debut has plenty of sing along choruses and pop hooks, coupled with a strong, heavy guitar sound, and to be honest it does actually work quite well. All three singers fill their roles decently too – perhaps clean male singer Jake feels a little weedy compared to Speed sound-alike Andy and female singer Elize, but otherwise vocally the trio work really well together. There are times where some of their pop melodies sound strangely familiar – surely Automatic was a hit for some ’80s pop star, and the same can be said for Call Out My Name and Enter The Maze. In the end, Amaranthe are a band who you’ll either immediately take to or loathe passionately, there seems very little midway. As it stands, their debut is undeniably entertaining and whilst perhaps a bit too perky, it’ll at least bring a smile or two.

Written by James Donovan
More: Amaranthe

Ancient VVisdom – A Godlike Inferno

site | label | buy

Texan quartet Ancient VVisdom, despite spelling their name strangely and using equally silly stage names, are just about one of the freshest sounds linked to the metal world to come out of America in the last few years, even if they aren’t strictly speaking a metal band. Their core sound, primarily driven by acoustic guitars, blends neo-folk with only-mildly-distorted electric guitars (think 1,000,000 Miles Away from Zakk Wylde‘s Book of Shadows) and drums when harder rhythms are needed and dark lyrics which have immediately drawn them to the attention of the doom rock/metal faithful. Every track is probably catchier than music which appeals to doom fans would probably tend to be, but the mood is certainly one of melancholy and even doom metal fans like a sombre sing-along from time to time. The more repetitive choruses are likely to stick in the head most readily (World of Flesh, Devil Brain, and Alter Reality), but more thoughtful songs like The Opposition and Necessary Evil demonstrate just as much staying power. At just over half an hour the record is perhaps a little short and certainly feels like it’s over too soon, but that’s just another mark of the quality of the music. They really do need more material though. It would perhaps be prudent to follow this release up quite quickly to build on the momentum support tours with Mastodon and Ghost have afforded them, but until then this short record is nearly perfect, and amongst one of the most exciting releases on 2011.

Written by Andy Lye
More: Ancient VVisdom