One and Done? Pt. 15: Burial Choir

I guess technically I do not really know if this is a One and Done project.  Not much appears to be known at all about this Finnish funeral doom metal project.  They have released the one full-length album Iconoclast in 2016 and that makes up their entire discography.  No demos, no EPs, no splits, and nothing since 2016. 

The album is fairly typical for funeral doom metal: mostly lengthy and slow songs that creep and crawl, accentuated by monolithic riffs and deep, roaring vocals.  The album starts off with the chiming of bells that really give the early moments a funereal atmosphere.  That chiming continues throughout the entire first song, at times only barely perceptible, but it is definitely there.  It then continues throughout the album, appearing mostly at the beginning and end of songs, tying the entire album together. 

If this is it for Burial Choir, they certainly gave it their all.  This is a very impressive funeral doom release that does just enough to stand out from the pack, which is sort of difficult to do given the style.  The storyline is captivating and the framing chimes make this an album to experience as a whole. 

Urn: Iron Will of Power (2019)

Okay, how the hell could I not jump at an album with a cover that looks like that?  Urn is a blackened thrash metal band from Finland that I am somehow just now hearing about, even though they released their debut full-length album way back in 2001.  And any time a band's sound gets compared to Deströyer 666, I am on top of it.

The album kicks off on a high note with the raging opener "Downfall of Idols".  After a short melodic intro, it lurches into high gear before the singer shouts "On your knees!" and we are off and running.  Urn's sound is caustic and hostile, built on speed and ugly riffs.  It is a primitive and animalistic sound, and yes it does call to mind Deströyer 666's Cold Steel, though it never quite reaches the same heights that album did.

The songs here are catchy and energetic, with some great hooks to keep interest going and spell-binding solos.  The instrumentation is tight and balanced without any instruments overshadowing the others.  Songwriting is a strength of Urn's.  "Funeral Oath" is particularly impressive as the song builds into an absolute frenzy that refuses to wane.  There are moments where the band slows things down, such as the instrumental interlude "Gates to Hyboria", which keeps the album from being one-dimensional. 

I am not sure Urn is quite up to the same level of quality as a group like Deströyer 666 honestly.  This is a very good album, but not to that level.  I would place them at the same level as a group like Bewitched though and that band is probably a more accurate comparison anyway.  I am a big fan of this style of metal and Urn is a very good example of it.  This is a worthy release.

Iron Griffin: Curse of the Sky (2019)

A couple of weeks ago, I covered a band called Smoulder, an epic doom metal band from Canada that released their first album this year.  What made that band stand out was the female singer and a commitment to performing music reminiscent of early 1980's doom metal bands like Manilla Road and Cirith Ungol.  Well, here we have a band very similar to Smoulder who also released their debut album this year.

Iron Griffin is a Finnish duo consisting of Oskari Räsänen, who plays all of the instruments, and Maija Tiljander who performs the vocals.  Iron Griffin's sound is also rooted in early 1980's traditional heavy metal and doom metal, with a lot of influence from the aforementioned groups and some NWOBHM thrown in for good measure.  The band is a side project for Räsänen, who is the drummer for Finnish trad metal band Mausoleum Gate.  Considering he plays all of the instruments, it is probably not wrong to call this a vanity project.

Musically, Iron Griffin plays mostly slower-paced metal that seems to be constantly building up to something amazing, but just cannot quite get there.  A perfect example is "Forgotten Steel" that plods along for awhile, until seemingly starting to work up a faster pace in the chorus sections, with interesting drum fills, and then just sort of falls flat.  It wants to go somewhere exciting, it just cannot make it.  So, in that vein, this is sort of a disappointing record.  The title track probably best captures what Räsänen is going for, with the faster pace and some decent riffs, along with a great bass intro.

In one respect though, this album shows some incredible promise.  That is the vocals of Tiljander who can absolutely shriek like a banshee one moment and provide remarkably haunting vocals the next.  Her best performance is again on the title track with her crooning during the chorus being particularly effective.

There is some promise here.  The band largely pales in comparison to Smoulder, except in the vocal talents of Tiljander.  She is an incredible find and it would be great to see what she could do in a bit better of a band.  She is by far the high point of this album. 

Refusal: Epitome of Void (2019)

Recently I was kind of wondering how some of the bands who have previously contacted me through the blog for the purpose of requesting a review have been doing.  One of those such bands was Refusal, a Finnish death/thrash metal band.  I reviewed two of their early releases and was very impressed by them.  Well, it was a good time to check because Refusal just released their second full-length this year.

By and large, Refusal's sound has not changed much over the years.  They still play fast-paced old-school-sounding death metal with a punk/thrash attitude.  The guitars have a similar kind of buzzsaw guitar tone that is closely associated with the Swedish death metal scene of the early 1990's.  In fact, a lot about this sounds Swedish to me.  It is something of a mix between The Crown and Dismember.  There are some damn catchy, grooving riffs present on this thing, something that was common in the band's early demos and EPs. 

The vocals are still very impressive.  The primary vocal style is a deep guttural roar.  But frequently there is more of a high-pitched scream added in for good measure and to keep things varied. 

I always liked this band and wondered how they would do with a full-length album.  It turns out they did quite well.  I am not sure how I missed out on the band's first full-length (as well as a number of other demos and EPs), but I am glad I came back around now to hear this one.  Refusal does not do anything ground-breaking here, but they play some damn fun, rollicking death metal and every single song is quality. 

Gambanteinn: Nielevä Pimeys (2014)

"Gambanteinn" seems like it would be kind of a badass word.  Apparently though it means "magic wand" in old Norse and appears in Norwegian mythology.  So, not the most thrilling of explanations.  The band Gambanteinn though is a Finnish blackened thrash metal band.  Much more entertaining.  This is the band's only release so far and it is a five-song EP.

The music here is much closer to traditional thrash metal, but with some tremolo riffs and blackened shrieking vocals.  It is generally a much more brutal form of thrash metal, closer to the German and Swedish thrash metal sound than to the Bay Area.  The result is a whirlwind of riffs and a lot of speed.  As stated, the band does utilize some tremolo riffing as well, typically in moments when there are no vocals. 

One thing I do thoroughly enjoy about this album is the production.  In particular how well each instrument can be heard.  The bass is the biggest reason for this because it is playing some interesting riffs alongside the guitars and it is shocking how well it can be heard. 

This release is fast.  Did I mention that?  The songs fly by at shocking speed, other than a few moments on the third track, which is the most dynamic on the EP.  Overall this is a lot of fun to listen to and will definitely leave listeners breathless when it's over.  Hopefully a follow-up is coming.

Decoryah: Fall-Dark Waters (1996)

Back when I was in high school or early college, I don't remember which, I picked up a Metal Blade sampler CD at a used music store.  I was not familiar with many of the bands on it, though I had heard of a few, but I viewed it as a way to discover some new music.  Back in the late 90's, there were not too many ways to really do that as a metalhead.  That CD led to me checking out groups like Mercyful Fate, Immolation, Desultory and Crisis.  But late in the compilation came a track by a group called Decoryah, whose song "Fall-Dark Waters" quickly became the highlight of the release for me.  It was atmospheric and mesmerizing, and its lack of aggression made it stand out from the rest of the album.  I filed the name of the band away, figuring I would check them out eventually.  But for a long time, I never got around to it.

Until now.

It is kind of hard to describe this album.  It is unlike virtually anything else I have heard.  It is also tough to express what my expectations were for it, given the unusual nature of the title track.  Metal Archives has the band listed as "gothic metal", and I guess if I HAD to place it in a genre, that would be the one to pick, but it is overly simplistic.  I do not think it has much in common with many groups often lumped into the gothic metal category.  If I had to pick the closest comparison, it would be Tiamat's A Deeper Kind of Slumber, but I like this one much better than that one. 

There is very little structure present here, the sounds seem to flow freely from one to the other without any real rhyme or reason.  Many of the song titles reference water in some way, and that seems very appropriate because listening to the album is almost like floating down a calm river without much in the way of a real direction or destination in mind.  There are a lot of strange elements thrown out along the way, such as crooning, female vocals, keyboard noodling and occasional oddball instruments like flutes.  It is often trippy and one never knows what to expect next, even after repeated listens.

Despite the unusual nature of this release, I quite like it.  It is incredibly soothing and calming, unlike virtually anything else in my music collection.  It is a good album to listen to to relax and just drift off. 

Nightwish: Wishmaster (2000)

Ah, this takes me back.  In my college days I was kind of obsessed with highly melodic bands with female lead singers.  It started with Evanescence, who my girlfriend at the time really liked, and then built into groups like Tristania, Leaves' Eyes, Within Temptation and Lacuna Coil.  Of course the most famous band fitting that description is Nightwish, who was a particular favorite.  These were in the days when Tarja Tarunen was still the singer.  I had a couple of the band's albums but then grew out of the phase and have only occasionally revisited those albums.

Recently I decided to revisit one of Nightwish's earlier albums because I heard a couple of songs kind of randomly and remembered how much I once enjoyed the band.  Nightwish always stuck out from the legion of similar bands.  For one thing, there was the beautiful, operatic vocals of Tarunen, someone who is clearly well-trained.  This influence was particularly obvious on Century Child's cover of "Phantom of the Opera".  Secondly, there is the music.  Nightwish is quite plainly a power metal band, one with significant symphonic influences, but it is not hard to imagine a group like Sonata Arctica playing the same type of music.  Most of the other bands have generally had a much more mainstream sound, almost rock, instead of the clear power metal sound of Nightwish. 

Wishmaster is one of Nightwish's most highly-regarded albums and was a pretty good bet for the one I would check out if I wanted to rediscover the band.  The album actually pre-dates everything I have heard from them.  That being said, it is still the band's third album and their sound was fully-formed.  The music here is generally fast-paced power metal that would fit in well on an album by any European power metal band.  It is melodic and bombastic with some impressive riffing, terrific solos and a lot of keyboard melodies.  Generally, the music is even better on this release than on their subsequent ones, most likely due to the fact that the band was still pretty far from hitting any sort of mainstream popularity which resulted in a streamlining of their sound.  Songs like "She is My Sin" and the title track are pretty much guaranteed to get stuck in the head.  Then, there's "Crownless", and holy hell this is an amazing track.  With lightning-fast keyboard melodies and riffs, this song stands out as one of the band's best songs of their career, much less just this album.

Of course no discussion of Nightwish would be complete without discussing the vocals.  Tarunen has an amazing voice with a multiple octave range and is able to do some truly impressive vocal gymnastics.  She can easily go from a whisper to a high-pitched howl in the very next note.  She is terrific on this release.

I really think this album has supplanted Century Child as my favorite Nightwish album.  Does that mean I am going to get back into this band?  Probably not to the same degree.  I do appreciate their ability to play true power metal better than most bands who hopped on the bandwagon of placing a beautiful woman in front of the mic to make some money, but this is still music I really have to be in the mood for.  But just maybe that mood will strike me a little more often.

Azaghal: Valo Pohjoisesta (2018)

A few days back, I covered a couple of Finnish death metal bands, which scene is well-known for its experimental and weird sound.  Well today I have a Finnish black metal band, and one of my favorites at that.  I like Impaled Nazarene, Archgoat, Behexen and others, but for some reason Azaghal has been my particular favorite since I first heard Omega.

This is Azaghal's eleventh full-length release, and just my third.  I have a long way to go to get into the band's full discography.  But that tells you how great their music is when I have heard so little of it and consider them one of my favorite Finnish black metal bands.  Particularly since I have no idea what the lyrics mean.

This album starts out like so many do, with a creepy instrumental introduction before descending into the madness of the first real song "Mato joka sinut turmelee".  Featuring pounding drums, a whirlwind of riffs, deeply unsettling atmosphere and shrieked/snarled vocals, the song is a good look at what Azaghal is all about.  But the title track is my personal favorite song on the album with its uniquely melodic chorus breaks which is at odds with their otherwise merciless assault.  That is largely what makes Azaghal such an intriguing band.  They will be playing a perfectly normal and traditional-sounding hateful black metal riff, when, out of the blue, they will begin playing a dark and twisted melodic riff that is unlike anything heard before in black metal.

Azaghal has impressed me once again.  I will have to do some research into their other albums because every one that I have heard is amazing. 

Funebre: Cranial Torment (1989)

Here is one of the earliest Finnish death metal recordings.  Funebre was one of the first Finnish death metal bands and this is the band's first demo.  Unfortunately, Funebre did not last very long, releasing just two demos, an EP, a split and one full-length album, which was released in 1991.  None of the members appear to have done much in metal after the band was done either. 

This is a quick and dirty five-song demo.  None of the songs appear on the band's full-length.  The band's sound is pure gory death metal with meaty riffs and deep, guttural vocals and an absolutely massive bass sound.  The sound is based on early death metal bands from the U.S. with more of a gore focus, such as Obituary and Autopsy.  The songs are generally more complex than one would expect with such an early demo in a band's history too.  Not to say this is super technical death metal, but there is generally a few riffs and some damn impressive soloing.  The lyrics are standard gross death metal fare, but cannot really be understood anyway.

This is an extremely impressive demo.  It is hard for me to comment about how essential or historical it may be, because the fact is that Funebre did not last long and do not seem to have a massive lasting legacy.  Their only full-length only has three reviews on the Metal Archives, so I suspect that Funebre's legacy is as a hidden gem.  That's really not so bad.

Slugathor: Circle of Death (2005)

Of course I'm going to pick up an album by a band called "Slugathor".  What a great name.  Slugathor is a death metal band from Finland, which has produced a number of off-kilter death metal bands.  Demilich is the best example of this with their tech-leaning riffs and frog croak vocals, but there is also the cavernous sound of Convulse to consider.  Slugathor is another in a line of such death metal bands.

Slugathor's sound on this release is heavily reminiscent of Bolt Thrower's Realms of Chaos with a little bit of Asphyx thrown in, particularly in the opening salvo of "Cycle of Destruction" leading into "Slow and Painful Death".  It is a down-tuned, grinding guitar riff that sounds like a massive war machine headed into battle.  The vocalist utilizes a dual vocal technique.  The primary vocals are deep and guttural, but underneath throughout the album are black metal-esque shrieking.  It is a technique used frequently by Deicide among other groups.

The most interesting aspect of the album is Slugathor's ability to fuse disparate sections together.  Not content to stick with just one riff throughout a song, the songs on this album ebb and flow into a variety of unpredictable movements.  Add to that the amazing guitar soloing and no two songs sound the same.  Slugathor is constantly shifting and never standing pat for more than a minute or two at a time.

I love this album.  This is an overlooked gem from a country and scene that has a lot of them.  Slugathor was not around for very long, but they definitely made a statement when they were around. 

Sonata Artica: Ecliptica (1999)

Silence, Sonata Arctica's sophomore full-length album, probably ranks as one of my favorite power metal albums of all time.  I do not have any kind of true list, but it is one that I come back to again and again.  Unfortunately, I have only been able to track down a couple of other albums from the band, Unia and Stones Grow Her Name, neither of which come even close to the quality of Silence, particularly the latter album which was a massive disappointment.  I figured if I wanted something close to the sound of Silence I should go for albums closer temporally.  And so, as soon as I could find the debut for a reasonable price (and not the re-recorded version which is almost certainly terrible), I decided to go for it.

Sonata Arctica is a highly melodic power metal band from Finland whose songs often tell interesting stories that can often be heart-wrenching.  Their focus is on crafting strong melodies rather than aggression and use powerful vocals and frequent piano/keyboards to supplement the guitar riffs.  Silence caught my attention mostly through some of the high octane songs like "Wolf & Raven" and "False News Travels Fast" and the keyboard-driven "Black Sheep".  That was what I was looking for in delving into this release.

This album is a lot closer to what I was looking for in an album by Sonata Arctica.  It is a very good example of European power metal.  Sure it is cheesy as hell and there is a reason that European power metal is derogatively referred to as "flower metal".  The album is bright and cheery-sounding most of the time, though with a few of the heart-breaking ballads, such as "Letter to Dana", that caught my attention in the other album.  Most of the songs are still fast-paced with wailing vocals, strong melodies and infectious hooks.

Sonata Arctica were still clearly finding themselves with this album.  A lot of the elements present in Silence are here, but it is a work in progress.  The songs are generally shorter, and as a result, the album is shorter too.  The band utilizes the neoclassical keyboard runs and traditional metal riffs.  Tony Kakko's stunning vocals are on full display as well.  All of those elements would become a part of the band's sound that made their next album so great, but they are just not as fleshed out here.  And there is no song that quite reaches the extreme speed of the great songs from the next album.  Not to say there are not some faster tracks, just not to the same extent.  Closing track "Destruction Preventer" definitely has moments where it comes close to the speed of "Wolf & Raven" though.

But despite these differences, this is a truly epic debut album.  It is an incredibly strong example of European power metal done right.  It comes close to the majesty of the follow-up album and if I had heard this one first, I would have been even more blown away by it.  Just because the band improved on the formulas found here, absolutely does not mean that this is inferior. 

Amorphis: Queen of Time (2018)

I don't know how I missed this one.  Usually I am on the ball when it comes to new Amorphis releases, but this one somehow got by me.  Then it eluded me for awhile.  Now, I finally have it.  And damn is it good, probably their best album in several years.  And that is saying something.

Amorphis has had a long and varied history, starting out life as a death metal band, then gradually adding in more and more progressive influences, along with some folk influences.  Melodies became much more important, as well as story-telling.  Amorphis's lyrical content has long been centered around Finnish folklore and that has become even more prevalent over the last 20 years or so.  For a time, all of the death metal influences had been taken out of their sound.  But over the last three albums, the band has been making more of a concerted effort toward returning some of those death metal elements.  They have been rejuvenated after falling into something of a rut during the run of albums from Eclipse through The Beginning of Times.  Enter Queen of Time.

The album kicks off with the heaviest track on the album, the oddly named "The Bee".  Amorphis writes compelling melodies leading into some fantastically catchy songs.  This album is no exception.  The aforementioned "The Bee", "Daughter of Hate", "The Golden Elk" and "Wrong Direction" are some of the most infectious songs the band has released in years.  Again, that is really saying something.  Then there is "Amongst Stars" featuring the beautiful vocal talent of Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering).

This is definitely not the most aggressive and intense metal album in the world.  Amorphis is much more concerned with crafting memorable songs.  There is more frequent use of death metal style vocals, particularly in "Heart of the Giant", among other songs.  The death growls tend to serve a story-telling purpose, being used mostly during particularly action-oriented parts of the stories.  But the majority of the vocals are performed clean.  Tomi Joutsen's voice continues to impress and is a major driving force in the band.  It is hard to believe that he is just as strong a vocalist as he was when he took over vocal duties for the band in 2004.

Musically, again, this is not the most aggressive album, but it does fall in line with the band's concerted effort to increase the harsher metal elements the band has been doing over the last three albums.  It features guitar-driven, folk-inflected melodies and riffs.  Most of the songs are mid-paced with some faster moments.  I love the addition of the saxophone, which was something found often in their mid-90's output.  I am a (former?) saxophone player myself so I always enjoy it when the instrument makes its way into a metal song.

In my eyes, Amorphis can really do no wrong.  I love everything I have heard by the band, even though their music has varied greatly in style.  The band is probably on the short list of groups that I would name when trying to name my favorite band of all time (Testament, Overkill, Deströyer 666 are probably the others).  This album falls right in line with that.  I would probably put it up above even the last couple releases and their best album since maybe Silent Waters?  Tough to say yet.  But it is definitely up there.

Excalion: Dream Alive (2017)

I have been inundated with power metal submissions lately.  Mostly that is due to Scarlet Records being fairly well-known for its power metal releases and they are one of the labels that sends me the most stuff.  This has been a little difficult for me, because power metal is not one of the subgenres that I am well-versed in.  But I am not going to argue.

Like Cryonic Temple and Cellador, Excalion has released their first album this year in several years.  Excalion's hiatus dates back to 2010.  Excalion is a Finnish power metal band.  The most well-known Finnish power metal bands are Nightwish, Battlelore, Battle Beast, Wintersun, and Children of Bodom.  So those were the reference points for me going in.  Which proved to be absolutely worthless, because Excalion does not sound like any of them.  Instead their sound is much more of an epic, bombastic power metal sound more similar to groups like Sonata Arctica.  That works for me.  I have made my affinity for early Sonata Arctica very clear on this page.

The songs are typically driven by keyboard melodies, with rhythmic riffs played underneath the melodies.  The music tends to not be terribly aggressive.  It is much more melodic.  The highlight throughout is the impressive vocal abilities of singer Marcus Lång.

The first three tracks are mid-paced, and while they are certainly impressive, they are ultimately a little forgettable.  However, the fourth and fifth songs kick things up a notch and instantly grab the listener's attention.  Excalion seems to be one of those bands, like the aforementioned Sonata Arctica, that does their best work when playing at faster speeds.  As the album continues, some of this energy is lost and the music suffers somewhat as a result.  The band does kick things back into gear for the last few tracks.

This is an extremely impressive album when Excalion is speeding through songs.  The slower songs are undoubtedly played well, but just do not have quite the same effect as the faster-paced songs.  It may lack some of the aggression and intensity of other power metal albums, but it is very impressive musically.

Odota: Fever Marshal (2014)

Some time ago I reviewed an album by a band called Talbot.  That was a pretty interesting sludge/doom album that I really enjoyed.  I was recently contacted by the former drummer/vocalist from the Estonian band to take a look at his new project under the name Odota.  Having enjoyed Talbot, I was eager to see what Odota had to offer.

Odota is actually quite dissimilar from Talbot, which is definitely not a problem.  It was just a little surprising.  Where Talbot played murky doom metal, Odota plays sludge-laden black metal with a bit of a psychedelic tinge to it.  It is fairly similar to the terrific Silencing Machine by Nachtmystium.  The experimental elements add a lot of depth and intrigue to the otherwise straightforward black metal riffing style.  The vocals are more aggressive black metal-style rasping which fits well with the music and distinguishes it from being too much like Nachtmystium.

There are some exclusively experimental tracks here, most notably "Staked Plains", that kind of drag things down a little bit.  I don't really understand the desire to throw in mostly atonal, noise tracks onto albums, but then it is not my decision.

I'm not really sure if there is some sort of lyrical theme here or not.  I do not have any access to any lyrics sheets, but the song titles seem to lead to the conclusion that this may be a Western-themed albums.  We have words like "marshal", "horse thief", "plains", "eagle", and "rattlesnake" in each of the titles.  Kind of odd choices really.  I suspect this is the first ever Western-themed psychedelic black metal album in history.

I thought this was a pretty decent release.  It is hard not to compare it to Jarmo Nuutre's other band, and I think it falls a bit short of Talbot.  But it is a very good effort and it will be interesting to see what this band can do in the future.

Ovenizer: Exhibition of Thoughts (2014)

I have never really gotten into post-metal.  Groups like Tombs and Isis were kind of lost on me.  Maybe I just never really heard the right tracks to check them out more.  I did not want to pick something up without really checking it out particularly with that style of music and I guess a lot of that had to do with the fact that I am much more into the ultra-aggressive forms of metal.  The ethereal, dreamlike structures of post-metal don't speak to me in the same way.

So it was with a little bit of trepidation that I dove into this three-song EP from Finnish post-metal/doom trio Ovenizer.  I figured a three-track release would be easy enough to digest though without growing too painful.  I am actually kind of glad I took the chance.  Maybe I was just a melancholy mood when listening to it, but it really did capture my attention and I found myself enjoying it immensely.

It is true that the three song format was easy to digest, but I found myself wanting more.  The songs each move freely with a significant amount of melody and swirling guitar riffs creating a trance-inducing atmosphere.  The vocals are typically clean, though occasionally a death growl emerges.  The vocals though are just complementary to the music.  The band could have just as easily produced the same atmosphere without any vocals at all.

The songs are typically slow and depressive.  The band strikes a balance between the earlier works of groups like My Dying Bride and Katatonia with the heavier works by Isis.  It is a very dark and doom-laden sound that also presents some extremely strong emotions, in particular during second track "Hypnote", the strongest track on the album.

I really enjoyed this release, but the best thing that I can say about it is that it has opened up my eyes to a genre I did not previously get into.

Fear of Domination: Distorted Delusions (2014)

Originally reviewed here.

Seriously? There are still bands like this out there? Not to mention newish ones? Immediately when this album began I felt like it was 2000 all over again. I would have loved this early in college. Jaded, lawyer me is not nearly as impressed. That is to say, I found this barely listenable. I was even more annoyed with the band photos which portray a group looking like a cross between Mushroomhead and Hollywood Undead.

Musically this band sounds like a cross between Spineshank and mainstream-leaning In Flames. There is some melodic death metal present in there but the industrial tinges overwhelm them frequently to the point where the keyboards are about the only thing that can be heard. The music sounds incredibly juvenile, the kind of thing that 16-18 year olds would play loudly on their car stereos to freak out the neighbors. I know this, because I was once one of those kids. But now that my tastes have matured I find myself avoiding schlock like this.

The vocals are not impressive, pretty stereotypical melodeath shrieking. There are a lot of samples used and the riffs, when present, are as basic as could be. This is basically nu-metal, folks.

That's really all I want to say. I did not make it through the whole album.

FMA: Convulse: Evil Prevails (2013)

Originally reviewed here.

In the early 1990's, a couple of death metal bands formed in Finland that would prove to have a very unique style. Demilich was an extremely unusual band with oddball riffs and frog croak vocals. And then there was Convulse. There was just something unsettling about Convulse's sound. It was not massively different from other bands, but their ability to develop a frightening atmosphere was uncanny.

Unfortunately Convulse did not last long. They had just two albums, including the amazing World Without Godbefore breaking up in 1994. With the resurgence of old school death metal and the multiple reunions going on, it came as no surprise that Convulse came back together in 2012. Original members Juha Telenius and Rami Jamsa re-formed the band in 2012 and already have a two-song EP that released that year. The band followed that up with this album.

A lot of the problem with bands re-forming is that they are unable to capture the sound and atmosphere that they once defined them. Some bands achieve notoriety for the brevity of their careers and the few releases they have are lionized. This is unfortunately the fate of Convulse here. There is nothing really wrong with this release but it feels like a desperate attempt to capture the sound of their beloved 1990's albums. Since that time, a number of bands have attempted the same sound to the point that it is not really that unusual any more. Convulse comes out sounding like another copycat.

As I said, there is nothing really wrong here. The songs are well-crafted slabs of sepulchral death metal. The vocals are still as desiccated as ever, sounding as if the vocalist had just risen from the crypts. The riffs are impressive and the leads and soloing adds some nice flair. Some of the songs are downright vicious. These are definitely some great songs and a worthwhile addition to the recent old school death metal wave, especially coming from a revered act like Convulse. The only problem is that it just does not feel like Convulse. It feels like an imitator.

I think this is a decent album, but it feels more like a World Without God imitator rather than a follow-up. I wonder if I hold it to a higher standard because it is a Convulse album. If it were a different band's name on the cover would I give it a higher score? I don't know the answer to that question.

Torchia: oNe (2013)

I have been getting a lot of melodeath bands sent to me lately.  Torchia is yet another one.  I have mentioned before that Finland has an impressive melodeath scene these days.  And Torchia is another Finnish melodeath band.

This is a short, three-song demo from Torchia and it exhibits the stereotypical characteristics of the genre.  The vocalist snarls and growls throughout the release, the riffs are pretty standard Gothenburg-style riffs, and the songs fly by pretty fast.  The lead guitarist is pretty impressive and his blazing soloing throughout the songs is probably the most impressive aspect of the sound.  They do also show some influences from Finnish bands like Children of Bodom, Norther, and Kalmah in their riffing style, in particular with regard to how fast some of the riffs are.

I will give credit to the band for their enthusiasm for the music.  They had a blast recording this thing and it is very clear from listening to it.  This is certainly not the most original-sounding band ever.  But this is just their first release.  With time some more original ideas may creep their way into the music.  Only time will tell.  

Alghazanth: The Three-Faced Pilgrim (2013)

This cover reminds me of Black Swan.  I don't really know how to feel about that.  On the one hand that movie bored the crap out of me, on the other hand Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman lesbian scene.  So there's that.  But really, Black Swan has nothing to do with black metal, at least I don't think it does.  So this album cover does not really seem to match Alghazanth's sound.  But that wouldn't be the first time an album cover was deceptive.

Alghazanth is another of those bands who have been around for quite a long time, yet their existence has completely alluded me.  The Finnish black metallers formed in 1995 and have released seven full-length albums now.  But since Finland has not been the site of any big black metal scenes, Alghazanth has flown under the radar for quite some time.

Alghazanth pepper their Second Wave Norwegian-style black metal with symphonic flourishes, lengthy and progressive song structures, haunting melodic interludes, and some surprisingly impressive musicianship.  The songs are all epic-length, but the band really does a terrific job at composition because the songs do not really drag.  The mention of "symphonic flourishes" probably caused some people to envision bad Dimmu Borgir moments, but that is pretty far from reality.  Yes there are moments, but they do not overwhelm the song and they are more there as complementary elements.

I was pleasantly surprised with this one.  Alghazanth is not reinventing anything here and they do not do anything a bunch of other bands have done, but the music is effective and interesting to listen to.  Sometimes that is enough.

Mad Hatter's Den: Welcome to the Den (2013)

My knowledge of the stories of Lewis Carroll is very slight.  So I really do not know much about the Mad Hatter.  I saw the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland many years ago and remember very little about it.  I did not see the Tim Burton version with Johnny Depp.  All I think of when I think of the Mad Hatter is the tea party.  So the Mad Hatter does not strike me as a terribly metal character.  Maybe that's just me.  But I was a little apprehensive about checking out a metal band using the Mad Hatter to name their band.

It does not shock me in the least that Mad Hatter's Den plays a kind of middling heavy/power metal.  I could guess that just based on the album cover.  Mad Hatter's Den definitely have some impressive moments, but this album is largely a forgettable standard modern heavy metal album.  The band is definitely at their best when they focus on shorter, harder-edged tracks such as "Shadow Lord".  At those times, Mad Hatter's Den is compelling and fun to listen to.

Then there are the other moments.  Some of the songs in the middle are much longer and much more of a chore to make it through.  "Sinister Monologue" is the metal equivalent to R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet" debacle: long, melodramatic, and boring as all hell.  The dueling guitar and keyboard solos are definitely outdated as well.  And then there's the ridiculously slow and boring "Journey" and...holy shit is that a harp?!

Thankfully the band does get back on track to close out the album with some harder songs again.  I like heavy and power metal as much as the next metalhead, but it is a really easy genre to mess up.  Although "Sharks of Power" is one of the oddest song names I have ever heard.  I'm not even sure what that means.

This is listenable, but it is ultimately forgettable.  There is just not much here that really stands out.  And they don't even attempt to tell us the similarities between a raven and a writing desk.  Damn them.