Supergroups Pt. 1: Vhol: Deeper Than Sky (2015)

A supergroup is a band made up of musicians from other famous (or at least famous in the scene) bands.  Most of the names in this particular group are not going to mean anything to people who are not big metalheads, but believe me when I say that this is a supergroup.

On vocals, we have Mike Scheidt, primarily from Yob.  John Cobbett contributes guitars and he has played in a number of bands, most notably The Lord Weird Slough Feg and Hammers of Misfortune.  The drummer is Aesop Dekker from Agalloch, among others.  And the bassist is Sigrid Sheie, also from Hammers of Misfortune.  Agalloch probably has the biggest following of those bands, but the rest are more cult favorites.  I have seen Yob live, though I went primarily to see Bell Witch that day.

So what happens when these bands, who are primarily traditional-sounding metal bands but also include doom and black metal influences, get together?  Well, it is hard to pigeonhole this band.  There are definitely some traditional metal influences and some rock and doom metal influences.  But there is also a heavy crust/thrash metal influence and some black metal thrown in for good measure.  More than anything, this band just plain rocks.  The songs are typically fast-paced with rumbling riffs and some primal energy.  But there are a lot of truly odd moments thrown in that make this a schizoprenic, off-kilter listen.  Scheidt's raw, grunting vocal style fits in well, giving this album a grittiness and dirtiness that adds to the character of the riffing.

This is an impressive release.  I am not a huge fan of any of the bands that the other members of this group spend most of their time in (I like them all though), but I do really enjoy this album.  It is definitely weird and out there, but it is a ton of fun.

Initial Impressions: Witchery: Witchkrieg

Witchery is finally back after a four year hiatus following a mostly disappointing album. The band can be considered a super group, formed by members of The Haunted and Arch Enemy and basically being formed from the ashes of Satanic Slaughter. This time around the vocalist is the great Legion from Marduk and Devian, and one of my favorite evil-sounding black metal vocalists. Hearing him do Swedish thrash is a little different but he of course sounds great.

Swedish thrash has never really taken off as its own scene to the extent that German and Bay Area thrash has done. There are several good groups in the scene including Witchery, The Haunted, Carnal Forge, The Crown, and others, but it has not risen to the same level of notoriety. Nor does it really deserve to do so. Don't get me wrong, there are some good albums, but it doesn't have the same dynamics as other scenes.

As I said, Witchery's previous album was a bit lackluster, but this album sounds great. The thrash is brutal and fast, the vocals are dark and evil, the riffs are mostly impressive, and the solos are great. The band has rediscovered its menacing edge and this whole album sounds like a malevolent force of evil. The additional guitar solos by guest members of bands like Mercyful Fate, Exodus, Slayer, and others are definitely interesting. It does make one wonder what's wrong with Witchery's guitarist, but I would imagine it has more to do with the potential marketability than anything else.

The only real issue that I have with this album is that it does tend to drag a little bit as it continues. Other than that, many of the songs are fairly impressive and this is a very good return-to-form album for the Swedish thrash group.