Optional – Vehemence EP

On By UncannyDerekIn Comic Books, Editor's Pick, MusicLeave a comment

My debut EP, Vehemence, is now available on all of these fine platforms!

Spotify

Bandcamp

iTunes

Apple Music

Amazon

An audible experience is what I wanted to do with Vehemence. With varied approaches, the songs are hopefully able to really encapsulate the listener with the mood and atmosphere. The song titles, especially with the final track, Exhaustion, I hope, personifies what I was trying to accomplish.

The goal is to ultimately have you throw on your headphones and enjoy the 35-minute excursion.

From Bandcamp:

“With looming shutdowns in February 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the final few recordings for Optional’s debut LP could not be completed. Shuttered inside, Vehemence was born.

Named after the desire to produce more music, Vehemence is a teaser of things to come: ideas which could not be fully realized in the upcoming LP.

Put some headphones on, increase the bass, sit back and relax. You’re going on a journey.”

Top Albums of 2020

On By UncannyDerekIn Music, Music Reviews, Top AlbumsLeave a comment

And starting off at number fifteen. . .

15. Acid Mammoth – Under Acid Hoof (Greece – Heavy Psych Sounds)

For their second album, Acid Mammoth comes across like an even stonier version of Black Sabbath with some hints of Kyuss. With a healthy mix of psychedelia and metal, Under Acid Hoof jives and weighs heavily. With pounding bass tones and wailing guitars, Acid Mammoth delivers a hefty dose of doom and stoner metal to appease the senses.

Check out Acid Mammoth’s Bandcamp:
https://acidmammoth.bandcamp.com/album/under-acid-hoof

14. John Petrucci – Terminal Velocity (United States – Sound Mind Media)

A household name in both heavy and progressive metal, Dream Theater’s lead guitarist’s highly anticipated second solo album is everything you’d want not only as a guitarist, but as a Dream Theater fan as well. Reuiniting with long-time friend and drummer Mike Portnoy, there’s something familiar sounding within Terminal Velocity. I wrote extensively on the album, which you can read about here. Certainly one of the biggest surprises from this year.

Click here to Watch the official music video to the title track

13. Al-Namrood – Wala’at (Saudi Arabia – Shaytan Productions)

Something sinister from the Middle East, Al-Namrood’s seventh release, Wala’at was another album I tackled earlier this year. With incredibly jarring vocal arrangements from singer Humbaba, I became an instant fan. While I do not understand the literal lyrics, I understand the meaning behind them – thanks to the incredible emotion poured into this impressive black metal album.

Head to Shaytan Production’s Bandcamp page and check out Wala’at here:
https://shaytanproductions.bandcamp.com/album/walaat

12. Shezmu – À Travers Les Lambeaux (Canada – Krucyator Productions)

Out of Quebec, Canada, comes one of the more extreme albums from this year. Shezmu’s debut, À Travers Les Lambeaux, combines black, death, and doom metal into a conglomerate of sound. With vocal harmonies that feature both guttural and frightened shouts, the uneasiness from Shezmu’s music is chilling to the bone. As debuts go, nothing can be more impactful than this.

Check out Shezmu’s Bandcamp here:
https://shezmu.bandcamp.com/album/travers-les-lambeaux

11. Proscription – Conduit (Finland – Dark Descent Records)

A newcomer in the blackened death metal scene is Proscription’s debut, Conduit. With extreme tendencies, the album provides a look into the depths of Hell with its bleak resonance outpouring from the screams and tones from many of the moods in each song. With crunches and reverb in songs like Red Sacrament Black Communion, one can hear and appreciate how Proscription can sink one into the macabre.

Listen to the entire album here:
https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/conduit

10. Ulthar – Providence (United States – 20 Buck Spin)

I’ve reviewed a lot of albums this year, and Ultar’s Providence is one of them. While their first album made my Honourable Mentions in 2018, Providence ups the ante in every possible way, creating a sonic cacophony of beautiful, technical chaos. The clean production of the album stands out as a highlight: where most death metal becomes muddled (for good reason), Ulthar shines. With a bright pop in its insanity, Providence is yet another brilliant album in the band’s arsenal.

Listen to the whole album here:
https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/providence

9. Malokarpatan – Krupinské Ohne (Slovakia – Invictus Productions)

Into the band’s fourth album, prepared to be floored. With influences and genres coming from all over, on paper, one would expect a mess. Yet in Krupinské Ohne, cohesive arrangements come about in what I can only compare as Fantômas meets modern Darkthrone. Traditional heavy metal blends with black metal, meets with strange production and song samples, mixing the atmosphere of the album into something. . . strange. With delicious riffs all over, Krupinské Ohne is a real treat.

Listen to Krupinské Ohne in its entirety here:
https://invictusproductions666.bandcamp.com/album/krupinsk-ohne

8. Ulver – Flowers of Evil (Norway – House of Mythology)

With their last album reaching #2 on my favourite albums in 2017, Ulver continues to work on – and arguably perfect – their sound, which comes across like a darker version of Depeche Mode. Unlike the last album, however, Ulver’s song writing tightens up even greater. While it initially took some time to grow, Flowers of Evil is clearly a stronger leap forward to the band’s ever-progressing soundscape.

Listen to Flowers of Evil here:
https://ulver.bandcamp.com/album/flowers-of-evil

7. Fellwarden – Wreathed in Mourncloud (England – Eisenwald)

Into their second album, Fellwarden’s Wreathed in Mourncloud is a moody beast of an album. As I mentioned in my review of the album earlier this year, the natural feeling and tones within the album are truly epic and still filled with sorrow. To sum my review: “Passionate, intense, brutal, and with a ton of heart, Fellwarden’s Wreathed in Mourncloud is an outstanding album that delivers on every level.”

Check out the entire album here:
https://fellwarden.bandcamp.com/album/wreathed-in-mourncloud

6. Auðn – Vökudraumsins Fangi (Iceland – Season of Mist)

I’ve listened to a lot of incredible Icelandic black metal this year. When I heard Auðn was releasing a follow up to their second album Farvegir Fyrndar (my #9 in 2017), I couldn’t have been more excited. Auðn’s fresh and evolving sound keeps me wanting to go back for more. I don’t think there’s a better example of how what this band is trying to accomplish than the second track of their album, Eldborg – as it brings you something familiar, yet something dark and sinister at the same time.

Check out the entire album here:
https://audnofficial.bandcamp.com/album/v-kudraumsins-fangi

5. Núll – Entity (Iceland – Ván Records)

Featuring members from the Icelandic black metal band Misþyrming, 0 or “Núll” released this depressive blackish doom metal album which is filled with absolute agony and sorrow. A bleak and mournful album, Núll’s tones are intense and yet also very atmospheric while still being bitterly cold. A standout album for for reaching deep into your soul and taking your heart and leaving you to freeze.

Listen to Entity in its entirety here:
https://0000000.bandcamp.com/album/entity

4. Atramentus – Stygian (Canada – 20 Buck Spin)

The debut album of this funeral doom outfit from Quebec, Stygian slowly creeps its way into your mind with cathartic releases sprawled along its slow, 44-minute burn. The album’s three movements are intense with weight. It’s slow burn also acts as a slow build, with the final climax making the experience worthwhile as it pays in dividends. An absolutely brilliant, gorgeous album that has me excited to see what Atramentus will bring to the table next.

Check out the album here:
https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/stygian

3. Nyrst – Orsök (Iceland – Dark Essence Records)

Hands-down my favourite Icelandic black metal album of the year, but what makes it so different? The cold of the atmosphere? The frightening and chilling raspy vocals screaming into my essence? The fact that there’s been a permanent link on my desktop to play the album from my computer since its release? Nyrst keeps pulling me back in to its clutches with its encapsulating sounds and terrifying tones. I’ll be listening to this one for years to come.

Check out Orsök here:
https://nyrst.bandcamp.com/album/ors-k

2. Green Carnation – Leaves of Yesteryear (Norway – Season of Mist)

The distance between this album and my favourite album of the year is actually pretty close. After 14 years, Green Carnation returned with something familiar, yet different. These progressive metal titans have always stood out separate from other progressive metal bands as they created substance over flash – structure over solos. The result? Probably their best album and one of the greatest things to grace my ears in 2020. When the title track was released, I shed tears of joy. Green Carnation are back.

Pick up Green Carnation’s latest here:
https://greencarnationsom.bandcamp.com/album/leaves-of-yesteryear

1. Havukruunu – Uinuos Syömein Sota (Finland – Naturmacht Productions)

What else can I say that I already haven’t? The melodically blazing third album from Finland’s Havukruunu takes Album of the Year because of everything it has to offer in an album and then some.

As one of the greatest pagan black metal albums I’ve heard in recent years, Uinuos Syömein Sota combines elements of guitar virtuoso with thrash and modern production to create a stark experience from traditional pagan albums. While heavyweights like Moonsorrow and Borknagar helped establish the scene by the early 2000s, Uinuos Syömein Sota is a clear and direct evolution from them as they create something different, sharper, and arguably cleaner, than anything else in the genre.

With each song managing to stand out a bit different from the last, each one still manages to have standout moments. From the battery of percussion in Ja Viimein On Yö, to the ripping melodic guitar solos in Vähiin Päivät Käy, the ambient electronic atmosphere in the finale of Tähti-Yö Ja Hevoiset, or the chilling vocal harmonies within the title track, there’s a lot of variety packed within the 46-minute album.

Nothing is overplayed nor is anything overdone. The album is paced brilliantly and it does not overstay its welcome. Uinuos Syömein Sota’s sounds are heavy and harmonious – a perfect concoction for what is, in my opinion, the best album to come out of 2020.

Listen to my Album of the Year here:
https://naturmachtproductions.bandcamp.com/album/uinuos-sy-mein-sota

 

Honourable Mentions:

Afksy – Ofte jeg drømmer mig død

Solothus – Realm of Ash and Blood

Fates Warning – Long Day Goodnight

My Dying Bride – The Ghost of Orion

Ciel Nordique – II EP

Ihsahn – Pharos EP

Precambrian -Tectonics

Triptykon – Requiem

Sinira – The Everlorn

Ulcerate – Stare Into Death And Be Still

Dunwich – Tail-Tied Hearts

 

Most Disappointed:

UADA – Djinn

Thy Catafalque – Naiv

Testament – Titans of Creation

Dynfari – Myrkurs er þörf

Falconer – From a Dying Ember

Questions? Comments? Agree? Disagree? What have you? If you’d like, you can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram!

Review: Bloodfeast Ritual – Altars of Sacrifice

On By UncannyDerekIn Music ReviewsLeave a comment

Bloodfeast Ritual – Altars of Sacrifice
Self-release

In their debut EP Altars of Sacrifice, Los Angeles band Bloodfeast Ritual serve up the guts and glory of old school death metal alongside a variety of death metal styles.

With relentless energy throughout each song, the 20-minute EP perseveres with a battery of brutality mixed in with many melodic moments. In the opening track Grave Fodder, the very-Swedish death metal influence shines through. Many unison riffs in the higher register initially present the band similar to one like Arch Enemy – with epic choruses and bright solos – the song provides a lot of heft among the beauty.

That beauty, however, somewhat disappears within the next song title: Eternally Molested By The One Most Foul. With the band still reeling Swedish death influences, the song itself begins to show a different sound the band is going for. With an influence more similar to the band Death, the song features lots guitar prowess while still being a cohesive song. Riffs and chugging dominate the majority of the song with more-shredding than melodic solos in-between.

And yet, the style changes yet again, rather smoothly into classic death metal with No More Room in Hell. Featuring some of the more guttural vocals on the album, the music also feels heavier. The layered vocals hearken to Aborted, but the music to something like Cannibal Corpse. Fast and devastating, the lyrics even evoke the scenes from Dawn of the Dead: “Eat them one by one / Feast upon the intestines / Smell of death fills the air.”

The heaviest song on the album, Chopped Up and Burned, is the song with the most weight. Blast beats abound, the darkest lyrics, the dirtiest riffs: the song has it all. The very traditional death metal sound is the clear inspiration for the song, with some of the more fast and intense solos the album has to offer.

Concluding the EP with the shortest track, Fetid Offering is the “newest-sounding” song on the album, with melody similar to the first track and guttural vocals reaching some of the higher registers, almost becoming screams. The song ends the EP on a high note with a steady growing, epic-feeling conclusion which somewhat contrasts the rest of the album.

With plenty of ideas mixed together as an EP, it shows many different avenues Bloodfeast Ritual can take. Although each song is brilliantly constructed, as a cohesive whole, the listener may get mixed messages to what the sound the band really wants to achieve.

Consistently brutal and relentlessly thrashy, Bloodfeast Ritual’s Altars of Sacrifice is an impressive and intense debut showcasing the many musical influences and songwriting prowess the band has to offer.

Bloodfeast Ritual on Bandcamp

Review: Al-Namrood – Wala’at

On By UncannyDerekIn Editor's Pick, Music ReviewsLeave a comment

Al-Namrood – Wala’at
Shaytan Productions

Saudi Arabia is not well-known for black metal, yet the country is a muse for what the genre is about: religion, monarchy, paganism, and suppression – just a handful of topics which black metal relates in. Tackling these topics head-on with their seventh album, Al-Namrood’s newest release, Wala’at (“Loyalties” in English) continues stoking the flames of anger and disgust the band feels towards their government and the religion that surrounds it.

The anti-Islamic and anti-fascist themes of Al-Namrood’s music is both intense and dramatic. Mixing musical styles of both Western and Middle Eastern instruments, the band brings a familiarly dissonant style of black metal with the rather sharp contrast with harmonic Middle Eastern scales and tones. The two cultures blend together and create a hauntingly different feeling and mood to the genre.

While the band members remain anonymous due to the potential of the death penalty for performing their music, the three musicians aptly show their musical competency with melodies among the chaos and the foresight on when to change arrangements in their songs.

Standing out foremost in Wala’at is singer Humbaba, who alone brings a huge energetic performance to the music. Between the grunts, screams, and cries, Humbaba’s vocals are flexible and offer an incredible range and dynamic to the music. In fact, his enthusiasm comes together as one of the biggest triumphs on the album. Confident and devastating, his and stanzas are chilling at times while encouraging and uplifting in others. Without always understanding the lyrics, one can still get a feeling for what the band wants to portray. The pain, frustration, and demands for reform are obvious to the listener: Al-Namrood wants the listener to experience what they feel – and successfully does so with each performance.

In tracks like Kail Be Mekialain, musicians Mephisto and Ostron synchronize riffs together to create hauntingly eerie tones – even more so with the reverb cranked up on the drum samples in each song. Linked with Humbaba, there’s a common chemistry between the trio that energizes the music, elevating it beyond what most bands with decades of history are unable achieve.

In another track, Aar Al Estibad, the riffs are thrash-y and come with a punk-ish feel until the Arabian instruments join in. Those instruments ultimately change the feel of the song and move expectations from “just another black metal track” to something different. While the song itself technically doesn’t set new standards or heights in black metal, it’s still a powerful song which sticks with the listener for its almost hypnotic melodies and grinding vocal hums.

With all songs staying under the five minute mark, the near-forty minute album is an intense feast on the ears. Perhaps too overwhelming at first, the second, third, and multiple spins after will continue to bring the listener back to absorb the beauty and raw power Al-Namrood offer with Wala’at.

Al-Namrood – Wala’at on Bandcamp

Review: Deathcraeft – On Human Devolution

On By UncannyDerekIn Music ReviewsLeave a comment

Deathcraeft – On Human Devolution
Self-release

Deathcraeft’s debut and concept album, On Human Devolution, features lots of juicy riffs and hefty blast beats with lyrics that explore the socio-political and self-destructing nature of humanity. With clear influences from Testament, Possessed, and Aborted come together, this Greek band offers a surprisingly genuine effort of great arrangements and solid songwriting.

While the The Ritual starts things off with lots of heft and thrash metal influence, The Beginning of the End really kick starts the album with brilliant riffs and chugging that are catchy as hell. The song also starts to showcase more death metal influences in the band while still holding its thrash-like feel – the guitar and bass sounds feel thick and heavy and filled with a groove that almost adds a Pantera-like influence to the song.

Spreading Lies fluctuates with tempos and provides a lot of different highlights throughout the song which feel naturally powerful with its upbeat, catchy chorus.

The fourth track, Welcome to Oblivion, features the closest resemblance to the Possessed/Testament-influence. The groovy descending riffs layered on top of the battering double kicks really strike the listener with intensity. The chorus has triumphant moments which do not detract from the brutality before it, and ripping solos compliment the chorus as it transitions back into the verses.

If there’s one major compliment to give, singer Nikonas Tsolakos offers a wide range with his vocal styles. Whether grunts, growls, screams, or gutteral whispers, there’s a versatile mix of singing provided on the album which keeps the album fresh and easily digestible for listeners who may shy away from the more lower range of death metal vocals.

While featuring one of the better solos on the album, Survival slows down the pace the album has been running with. As a six minute song, it becomes a bit of a fight to bring the album back up again with the next song, Daydreaming in the Abyss, which arguably could have been the slower song transitioning into Paving the Way. However, the slow down allows the listener a bit of breathing room to absorb what they’ve heard before and perhaps realize a lot of the riffs and songwriting had been thematic in many songs – something that can be overlooked and certainly is not common in the death/thrash genre.

With the longest song on the album, Free into the Void is the most climatic song on the album – fitting to conclude the 48-minute concept album off properly – as it closes with a dripping-with-mood conclusion. With some of the heaviest riffs and fastest double kicks on the album, the song’s outro ends rather triumphantly – almost pulling from the folk metal sub genre with feelings of Amon Amarth shining through.

Intense, brutal, and surprisingly progressive, Deathcraeft’s debut throws lots of surprises at the listener to make a impressively creative debut.

Deathcraeft – On Human Devolution

Have You Heard? The Best Progressive Metal Albums of the Last 20 Years

On By UncannyDerekIn Editor's Pick, MusicLeave a comment

As one of earliest heavy metal subgenres, Progressive Metal has had a lot of time to grow, expand, and become even more progressive. Spawning in the early 1980s with bands like Queensryche, Fates Warning, and King’s X, the genre has become one of the largest and most varied forms of music. However, within the past twenty years there have been plenty of the of different albums – all offering something different than the last. Here, Uncanny Metal takes a look at some of the best Progressive Metal albums that have been released from the past twenty years.


Opeth – Blackwater Park
Music for Nations, 2001

The Swedish band’s fifth studio album, Opeth’s Blackwater Park became a pivotal change of sound for the band. While 1999’s Still Life may be still considered the album with a shift in style, it’s with Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson mix/production on Blackwater Park that really added a sense of progressiveness to Opeth. With their following albums, Opeth style continued to evolve with its progressive and death metal tendencies. Standing back and looking upon the entire discography, Blackwater Park was ultimately considered the tonal shift for the bands future releases.


Tool – Lateralus
Volcano, 2001

Progressive metal and the mainstream never came so close to greatness as it did with the ringing bass lines to Tool’s hit single Schism. While previous albums were also progressive, Lateralus turned progressive metal even more popular and threw the already well-established band further into the limelight. While it was years later for 10,000 Days and Fear Inoculum to eventually see the light of day, Lateralus was the pivotal moment for music fans to unite globally.


Devin Townsend – Terria
HevyDevy Records, 2001

After having worked with Steve Vai and establishing Strapping Young Lad with an outburst of extreme metal, Devin Townsend’s Terria – while probably not everyone’s favourite release, features some of the most intricate atmospheres from Devin’s signature “wall of sound.” A personal concept album and tackling mental health before the movement was in the mainstream, the ebbs and flows of Terria are astonishing with songs still resonating in relevance today.


Green Carnation – Light of Day, Dark of Darkness
The End Records, 2001

Another album with a personal story, ex-Emperor bassist Tchort founded Green Carnation in the early nineties. With their second album, LoDDoD became not only one of the longest songs in the genre of heavy metal, but is also critically acclaimed among metal fans. Crafting an hours worth of music and interlinking it together to unfold a story of both tragedy and life, Green Carnation’s epic stands out as a musical achievement for those who let themselves become encompassed by the grand scope of the song.


Ayreon – The Human Equation
InsideOut, 2004

After multiple science-fiction concept albums, Arjen Lucassen decided to try something a bit different and delve into the human mind. With multiple singers performing as different feelings such as Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt as Fear, Mostly Autumn’s Heather Findlay as Love, and Devin Townsend as Rage, they battle within the mind of the character “Me” (by Dream Theater’s James LaBrie). The album not only tells a story, but actually features incredible twists and turns of regression, infidelity, and coming to the understanding of one’s self.


Shadow Gallery – Room V
InsideOut, 2005

The prog power band Shadow Gallery released their Operation: Mindcrime-esque concept album Tyranny in 1998, only to finish the cliffhanger of a story in 2005. While the concept may feel overdone now, the story and impact comes with a familiar X-Files vibe, with espionage and mystery surrounding almost every song. With impressive songwriting skills and the underrated Gary Wehrkamp on guitars, Room V stands out as a brilliant performance – especially from lead singer Mike Baker who passed away shortly after the album’s release.


Porcupine Tree – Fear of a Blank Planet
Roadrunner, 2007

The last-great Porcupine Tree album, Fear of a Blank Planet is more progressive rock than it is metal – but it’s still hard to not find yourself headbanging along most of the tracks. With the gorgeous, near-twenty minute epic, Anesthetize, to the seductively heavy final track Sleep Together, Porcupine Tree’s theme on reflecting the exploitation and commercialization of drugs and its impact on the human mind, its deep and thought-provoking while still providing incredible music.


Symphony X – Paradise Lost
InsideOut, 2007

While 2002’s The Odyssey could also be on this list, it’s with Paradise Lost that Symphony X really gained their stride. After a five drought after The Odyssey – which ultimately suffers a bit from production issues – Paradise Lost comes in slamming hard and with some of the juiciest riffs from guitarist Michael Romeo. Every song features standout moments from each musician and the album just keeps hitting. Prog/power often gets a mixed reputation due to the power metal elements sometimes overtaking the progressive ones. With Paradise Lost, Symphony X nails that perfect blend with their songwriting.


Haken – The Mountain
InsideOut, 2013

With their breakout third album, Haken’s The Mountain brilliantly constructs the 70s progressive sound in a modern time, almost coming across like a modern day Close to the Edge from Yes. With heavy influences from bands like Dream Theater, the album never really becomes too technical to the point of becoming overbearing. It’s tame yet still manages to impress on every aspect with melodies and vocal harmonies that will forever stick in your mind.


Fates Warning – Darkness in a Different Light
InsideOut, 2013

After 2004’s album FWX, Fates Warning took some time off and reconstructed themselves for an impressive “debut” so to speak. With Bobby Jarzombek on drums, the album felt like a modern re-imagining of 90s albums, Perfect Symmetry or Parallels. With songs appearing straight-forward, their time-signature twists and turns from each song come across as natural, if not subtle. Ray Alder still sounding as great as ever, Fates Warning came back with a bang and have a new album coming out in the Fall of 2020.


Pain of Salvation – In the Passing Light of Day
InsideOut, 2017

Given the lineup changes over the years, Pain of Salvation’s sound had evolved slightly while still keeping their operatic and Andrew Lloyd Weber influence. With new blood in Icelandic songwriter Ragnar Zolberg, In The Passing Light of Day took the album to new heights which the band had never achieved in their 20+ year lifespan. The autobiographical album by singer/songwriter Daniel Gildenlow goes through his near-death experience with an illness and really drives the emotion home in the title track.


Dream Theater – Distance Over Time
InsideOut, 2019

Although 2003’s Train of Thought could have also made this list, 2019’s Distance Over Time does instead. With songwriting similar to Train of Thought, Distance Over Time became a bit of an anomaly in Dream Theater’s discography with it being the first album without a song over ten minutes (not including The Astonishing which arguably wasn’t so much an ‘album’). The crisp songs are to-the-point for the band which can win over new fans while still providing enough technical excitement to impress old ones. A surprise to be sure and easily one of the band’s strongest releases in 20 years.