Month: December 2021

Wombbath, Agma (Transcending Obscurity 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

Thirty years in, Swedish death metal band Wombbath create an amazing new album that is one of the best they have ever released: Agma.

Wombbath started in 1990 and released the first EP of the band’s canon in 1992, Several Shapes. Having gained experience and popularity in the initial run through 1995, the musicians took a break for a couple of decades. Reforming in 2014, the band has been on a tear ever since, producing four long-players and five splits since, not including the new album. The writing is stronger and more inventive than ever, and Wombbath has positioned itself as a pivotal player in the international heavy music scene. The band includes founding member Håkan Stuvemark (guitar) with Jonny Pettersson (guitar and vocals), Thomas von Wachenfeldt (guitar and violin), Jon Rudin (drums), and Matt Davidson (bass).

Agma is a double album with sixteen tracks. The baseline is old school death metal, and you hear that in every track. In addition, most are augmented with surprising additions and twists that deepen the metal experience. For example, “At The Giant’s Feet” has unexpected high-pitch harmony vocals that drop from the sky and startle you. This song is followed by a string of punishing death metal songs, and then you hear “Blindly They Follow” with its soaring vocal pairing to go along with the blast beats and ravaging guitars. “Breathe In the Flames” rolls out at hyper-speed and also has a beautiful violin segment. The album is a sprawling forest of wonder.

Songs that stand out for me include “Misantropi Och Förakt” for its explosive moments and “The Age Of Death” for the sheer unlikeliness of its construction – elements work together that I would never have thought to join up. “In Decay They All Shall Fester” is another one that achieves unity by combining seemingly disparate constituents. The list of strand-outs could be a lot longer. Indeed, Agma might just be my favorite Wombbath album. Highly recommended.

Agma is out today through Transcending Obscurity Records. Check out the links below to see the stunning variety of merch, variants, and bundles that are available for this release. Transcending Obscurity is unmatched on this front – they always have incredible options for collectors.

Band painting by Benny Moberg.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://wombbathdeath.bandcamp.com/album/agma-death-metal

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Wombbath

Transcending Obscurity, https://transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.com/

FFMB review of Tales Of Madness, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2020/12/18/wombbath-tales-of-madness-transcending-obscurity-2020/

Wombbath, Agma (Transcending Obscurity 2021)

Clutch, State Theatre, Portland, Maine, October 3, 2021

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

Clutch is out right now on their usual year end tour. I hope you’re there now. Here are some shots from their State Theatre performance in October. Happy New Year!

All photos by Wayne Edwards.

Links.

Website, http://www.pro-rock.com/

Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/artist/6tqGMedAtDADU5mJulYhSj

YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialClutch

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Clutchband

Clutch, State Theatre, Portland, Maine, October 3, 2021

Black Label Society, Blue Ridge Rock Festival, Danville, Virginia, September 09, 2021

Wayne Edwards, , , , ,

If you have never seen Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society in the wild then put that on your 2022 list. Loud metal in a rampaging atmosphere, that’s what you’ll get. Who doesn’t want that?

All photos by Wayne Edwards.

Links.

Website, http://blacklabelsociety.net/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/blsnet

MNRK Heavy, https://mnrkheavy.com/collections/black-label-society

Blue Ridge Rock Festival coverage at Ryze-Up magazine, https://www.ryze-up.com/music-2/blue-ridge-rock-festival-2021/

Black Label Society, Blue Ridge Rock Festival, Danville, Virginia, September 09, 2021

Warzaw, Black Magic Satellite (2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , ,

Norwegian metalheads Warzaw release their second album of 2021, Black Magic Satellite.

At the beginning of this year, Warzaw unleashed Werewolves On Wheels, a full-length 1980s-metal-inspired album that brought an enormous amount of heavy metal joy. Now they are back to close the year out with an all new long-player, Black Magic Satellite. Points for diligence and hard work. More importantly, the new one branches out a little more than Werewolves did while staying in the broad lane of banging heavy metal. The musicians who make up Warzaw are Daniel Rønning (vocals), Håvard Alvarez (guitar), Trond Jullumstrø (guitar and bass), and Mats Sødahl (drums).

“Santa Mira” gets things going on this eleven track set. It crackles with energy and pace, and offers up an satisfyingly digestible chorus. The melody takes hold of you with hot hands and stands you up for the excellent lead break. This song rips. “Fierce Attitude” comes next, and it is also speedy, plus a little more grizzly. The tempo shifts slightly on the third track, “Send My Regards,” toward the center lane, retaining the heaviness of its predecessors while mixing things up a bit. The lyrics here are rougher, the lead break more raw; a flexing juxtaposition.

Throughout the album, the standard hard rock set-up frames the compositions and deploys that reliable familiarity. The surety of this position allows the band to rub confidently its own scent in every crease and crevice of each song. Other stand-out tracks for me are “Circular Talk” and the closer, “Sabres of Flesh and Blood.” There is not a weak one in the bunch.

This album is every bit as good as Werewolves, and it pledges a bright future for the next one. I really like this band. Recommended.

Black Magic Satellite is out tomorrow, December 31st. Listen to it on Spotify or search the ether for a place to buy the digital album.

Links.

Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/artist/2pJZWxMzv2TwO99Y3HIDFb

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/warzawband

YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZxg45Ijq7UkZQ-37lc0jxQ

FFMB Werewolves On Wheels review, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2021/02/11/warzaw-werewolves-on-wheels-2021/

Warzaw, Black Magic Satellite (2021)

Mastodon, Blue Ridge Rock Festival, Danville, Virginia, September 12, 2021

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

I have been enamored with the music of Mastodon since Crack the Skye. Somehow, I never saw them live until 2021, and I caught them three times this year. Never miss a chance to see their show – it is incredible.

All photos by Wayne Edwards.

Links.

Website, https://www.mastodonrocks.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Mastodon

YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/user/MastodonMusic

Blue Ridge Rock Festival coverage at Ryze-Up magazine, https://www.ryze-up.com/music-2/blue-ridge-rock-festival-2021/

Mastodon, Blue Ridge Rock Festival, Danville, Virginia, September 12, 2021

Barús, Fanges (Aesthetic Death 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

French atmospheric death metal band Barús makes a musical offering to see the year out.

Formed in 2015, Barús traverses the unsteady borders of death metal and everything else. The first music the band released was their self-titled EP in 2015 followed by the Drowned long-player in 2018. There is not an enormous amount of information about the musicians themselves readily available in the atmosphere, but the Metal Archives declares the band was formed after Project Jim split up, and the press release declares that on the new album “the band adopted a fluid and open collaborative process involving both musician Anthony Barruel and writer Sarah Onave.” Ah well, as I often say, it is the music that matters the most and, to find out about it, all we have to do is listen.

There are two tracks on the new EP, “Fanges,” which runs nineteen minutes, and “Châssis de Chair,” clocking in at a mere fifteen. The title track was put together mostly from a distance because of the global pandemic. As you might expect, any musical piece that runs so long will have several movements that collect into the whole. The opening is quiet and tentative, and, while death metal lives a rich life herein, there are long passages that are sludgy, and even ambient. There is a lot to experience.

The band describes “Châssis de Chair” as a composition that “works as a mirror-track to ‘Fanges’ by re-expressing the same core elements, albeit through an entirely opposite approach” that was “recorded live inside the band’s rehearsal space, focusing on a raw visceral performance with no overdubs or additional layers.” This description is apt – the song begins loud and fierce, revealing its deeper layers only as the music progresses. The “live” nature of the recording shines through as well in its temper and feel.

The order of the tracks could have been a coin toss, but hearing them this way is definitely best – the studio track first and the unperturbed flow second. If you are a listener who appreciates the long form and who is looking for a lavish journey, you will find it here. Recommended.

Fanges is out on the last day of 2021 through Aesthetic Death for the CD and Breathe Plastic for the tape. You can pick it up at Bandcamp in either format, and digital as well.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://barus.bandcamp.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/barusband

Aesthetic Death, https://www.aestheticdeath.com/

Breath Plastic, https://breatheplastic.bandcamp.com/

Barús, Fanges (Aesthetic Death 2021)

Hadal Maw, Oblique Order (Blighttown Records 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , ,

New music from Hadal Maw brings anticipation and trepidation into your orbit – Oblique Order.

The band came together about ten years ago in Melbourne, Australia. Their music is a savage blend of technical death metal with strong dissonant elements. They have released two full-length albums, Senium (2014) and Olm (2017), and most recently the EP Charlatan in 2018. The newest album, Oblique Order, is set to come out on the last gasp of 2021 and delivers four breathtakingly immersive songs.

“Fetishize Consumption” has a discordant, sore opening followed by ravaging vocals and percussion. The soaring eeriness of the quieter harmony lines is disturbing in the context of the other musical elements and serves to set you on edge and start you tipping. The intention of the song couldn’t be clearer.

“Oblique Order” is a ticking bomb with a monstrous bass line and hissing, endangering vocals. Fear is leveraged with certainty and intentional chaos to create an overwhelming aural experience. “Future Eaters” syncopates its way into your brainstem with limber tendrils where it grows into an immovable entity with dubious but undeniable efficaciousness. Jerk your head all you want and still it sticks.

“Vile Veneration” courses the home stretch, and it is the strangest of the lot in my estimation. The imbalance it provokes is formidable. The sound is built in towering sheets and released in waves that surround and penetrate. There is a light repast at one point but it serves to further impress the feeling of inevitability rather than offer any respite. This music is some of the most resounding death metal I have heard this year. Recommended.

Oblique Order is out on New Year’s Eve through Blighttown Records on CD, vinyl, and digital.

Links.

Website, https://www.hadalmaw.com/

Bandcamp, https://hadalmaw.bandcamp.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/hadalmaw

Blighttown Records, https://www.blighttownrecords.com/

Hadal Maw, Oblique Order (Blighttown Records 2021)

Fever 333, Blue Ridge Rock Festival, Danville, Virginia, September 10, 2021

Wayne Edwards, , , , ,

Expect acrobatic antics and pulse-pounding music when Fever 333 takes the stage.

All photos by Wayne Edwards.

Links.

Website, https://www.fever333.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/fever333/

Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/artist/1B0155rdv175D1tQ8VH7Oy

YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/fever333

Blue Ridge Rock Festival coverage at Ryze-Up magazine, https://www.ryze-up.com/music-2/blue-ridge-rock-festival-2021/

Fever 333, Blue Ridge Rock Festival, Danville, Virginia, September 10, 2021

Rob Zombie, Blue Ridge Rock Festival, Danville, Virginia, September 10, 2021

Wayne Edwards, , , , ,

The 2021 album from Rob Zombie is The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy. New music along with the hits we all wanted to hear was the Friday nightcap at the festival.

All photos by Wayne Edwards.

Links.

Website, https://robzombie.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/RobZombie

YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/user/robzombie

Blue Ridge Rock Festival coverage at Ryze-Up magazine, https://www.ryze-up.com/music-2/blue-ridge-rock-festival-2021/

Rob Zombie, Blue Ridge Rock Festival, Danville, Virginia, September 10, 2021

Beldam, Live At The Golden Pony (HPGD 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , , , ,

The live album from sludge masters Beldam is an historical artifact of doom and despair.

This is one from the archives, recorded live at The Golden Pony in Harrisonburg, Virginia on January 8, 2017. Beldam is a band that started out in Charlottesville, Virginia and has moved around since then. In a mere three years they released two impressive albums, Still the Wretched Linger (2016) and Pasung (2018). The new one was captured in between these releases and completes a menacing triptych.

There are five looming tracks on the album. The first three are from Still the Wretched Linger, “The Foundling,” “From Grave To Cradle,” and “Needles.” From the opening bars that rise over the cheering crowd you get an intimate feeling of being in the room surrounded by the dark energy. The weight of the guitar and impenetrable bass is immense. The warbling, wandering lead guitar and searing vocals press the air from your lungs in the opener, and the music only gets heavier from there. The pace ranges from dead slow and absolutely crushing to pounding and assertive — the latter is particularly notable on “Needles.”

The two final pieces originally appeared on Pasung, so they are being performed here to promote that album. “Vial of Silence” sounds like it was recorded in a torture chamber that never closes.

“That Which Consumes You” identifies the burdens of life that wear on us and tells the story in an eerie, dank kaleidoscope of torment. It is an experience.

I would like to hear more music from this band but if the internet is to be believed, the future is uncertain. We do have the two studio albums and now this live musical artifact. Recommended.

Live At The Golden Pony is out now from Horror Pain Gore Death productions on CD and digital.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-the-golden-pony

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/BeldamOfficial/

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions, https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

Beldam, Live At The Golden Pony (HPGD 2021)