Photos by Wayne Edwards.
© Wayne Edwards
Photo Gallery: Bassists, Part 5
Photo Gallery: Singers, Part 1
Photos by Wayne Edwards.
© Wayne Edwards
Astriferous, Pulsations From The Black Orb (Me Saco Un Ojo 2023)
Costa Rican death metal band Astriferous offer their debut album, Pulsations From The Black Orb.
Formed in San José, Costa Rica five years ago, heavy metallers Astriferous have been building toward their first long-player with an EP, a split, and a couple of demos. You could say the new record is the logical progression of the music that has come before. Filled with dark magic and cosmic dread, Pulsations From The Black Orb is a big step up. According to the Metal Archives, the band is José María Arrea (drums), Federico Gutiérrez (guitar, vocals), Felipe Tencio (guitar, vocals), José Pablo Phillips (bass, vocals).
There are eight tracks on the new album, beginning appropriately with “Intro (The Black Orb).” The music builds slowly with a distant echo that grows to become an ominous presence. Doom takes over, with slow heavy footsteps. “Blinding the Seven Eyes of God” is a broad death metal presentation, with whirling guitars and growling, croaking vocals. The construction is such that a caustic attack is followed by a heavy melt or a groove to break up the rampage in your ears. It is a very effective approach, especially combined with the forlorn lead guitar. “Teleport Haze” is another crusher while “Metasymbiosis” opts for a more measured assault.
The side two lede is the short piece “Forlorn and Immemorial,” a windswept ethereal notion. “Ominous and Malevolent” shows its doom cards first and brings the death metal in later. This altering progression is not unique to the incumbent, and it works well for many metal bands. In the case of Astriferous, it is a defining characteristic. The death metal passages are often chaotic, while the doom brings a kind of resolute order. “Lunomancy” lays down the moon magic and the closer, “Symmetries that Should Not Be,” is the stuff of waking nightmares, guaranteed to make you second guess ever leaving the house again. Taken together, this is a solid set of crushing metal. Recommended.
Pulsations From The Black Orb is out on Friday, March 10th through Me Saco Un Ojo Records (vinyl) and Pulverised Records (CD). Check out the details at links below.
Links.
Bandcamp, https://mesacounojo.bandcamp.com/album/pulsations-from-the-black-orb
Pulverised Records, http://pulverised.net/
Me Saco Un Ojo Records, https://www.mesacounojo.com/
© Wayne Edwards
Ice Age, Waves Of Loss And Power (Sensory 2023)
New York progressive metal band Ice Age wake the sleeping giant with Waves Of Loss And Power.
Ice Age began all the way back in 1991 as an instrumental band called Monolith. In 1999, now known as Ice Age, they released their first album, The Great Divide, followed by their second long-player the very next year, Liberation. Things began to slow on the recording front after that and, other than a self-titled EP in 2004, it was radio silence for the band as Ice Age. In 2015, the reformation occurred, and now fans can hear new music with Waves Of Loss And Power. The band is Josh Pincus (vocals, keys), Jimmy Pappas (guitar), Hal Aponte (drums), and Doug Odell (bass).
As with most progressive rock and metal, the songs on the new album are mainly presented in the long form, although three of the eight dip into radio length. As an example of what to expect, consider “The Needle’s Eye,” the first song that cracks the egg with high energy and complex constructions. The music is a little heavier than I expected, laying more on the side of, say, Queensÿche, than Kansas. The vocals are melodic and beautifully rendered. As we do expect in this kind of music, the musicianship is perfect, crisp, and sharp. There is a bewildering keyboard solo and tasty lead guitar work as well. It is exceptionally well done, as is all the music on the record.
Fans of Ice Age will be thrilled by the way the music picks up on earlier work. For example, “Perpetual Child, Part II: Forever” continues the song began on the first record, while “To Say Goodbye, Part IV: Remembrance” and “To Say Goodbye, Part V: Water Child” extended the saga from both the earlier long-players. If you like your prog on the heavy side, then this album is for you. Highly recommended.
Waves Of Loss And Power is out on Friday, March 10th through Sensory Records. Find it at the links below.
Band photo by Roy Somech.
Links.
Ice Age website, http://www.ice-age.com/
Bandcamp, https://lasersedge.bandcamp.com/album/waves-of-loss-and-power
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/IceAgeProgBand/
Sensory Records, https://www.lasercd.com/
© Wayne Edwards
Suicide Silence, Remember … You Must Die (Century Media 2023)
California deathcore band Suicide Silence throw down another raging album with Remember … You Must Die.
Suicide Silence was formed twenty years ago by musicians who were working at the time in other bands. One of the early deathcore acts, Suicide Silence had a big impact on the heavy music scene, releasing several critical albums. After some controversy over the direction of their self-titled album in 2017, the band hit back with Become The Hunter three years later, and now the new record rings with solid echoes of their earlier work. The band is Chris Garza (guitar), Mark Heylmun (guitar), Hernan “Eddie” Hermida (vocals), Ernie Iniguez (drums), and Dan Kenny (bass).
There is an intro piece, “Remember…,” and eleven songs after that on the new album. “You Must Die” starts things off with a savage kick to the knees. Hurricane percussion and shrieking, screeching, croaking vocals exist in a syncopated blizzard of rhythm and riff. That is your wakeup call. “Capable of Violence (N.F.W.)” cranks up the brutality and weakens your lifeline. The first lead guitar work bleeds in and wails out. “Fucked For Life” is a chugging street anthem that gets you stomping along then throws you in the wood chipper. The moderated riff returns but now you know not to trust it – some crazy crooked change could happen at any second. Defying precedent, a melodic and lyrical episode ensues, then swells, then explodes.
Other stand-out tracks for me are “God Be Damned,” a song which functions at an apparent pace that exceeds its actual speed. “Endless Dark” is mined in that same vein. The closer, “Full Void,” is a journey that begins with a mystical energy then devolves into a dark spell gone wrong and finishes with an extremely creepy outro. Beautiful. This album is caustic. It roughs you up, grates against you, and takes what it likes. Recommended.
Remember … You Must Die hits the streets on Friday, March 10th through Century Media Records. It is available everywhere, and good descriptions of the extant physical variants can be found at the label’s store (link below).
Links.
Suicide Silence store, https://suicidesilence.store/
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/suicidesilence/
Century Media Records, https://centurymedia.store/search/?storeId=4987&includeArtistSearch=true&searchTerm=suicide+silence
© Wayne Edwards
God Disease, Apocalyptic Doom (Gruesome 2023)
The sophomore long-player from Helsinki’s God Disease is a gloomy prognostication: Apocalyptic Doom.
The band found a solid reformation in 2013, heading out with a sequence of three EPs, one each year from 2014. The earlier work lay more in the death metal direction than the sound you will hear on the new record, which exists primarily in the land of doom. All for the better as far as I am concerned. God Disease is Ilkka Laaksonen (vocals), Henry Randström (bass), and Mika Elola (drums).
There are six tracks on the new record, the first being “Ashes.” It presents a beautifully stark doom setting, as if in the distant, frozen north. The vocals could very well be from an ice troll sifting through the ashes of some transient interloper. The massive guitar riffs (performed on Apocalyptic Doom by Are Kangus and Samantha Schuldiner) shudder the ground beneath you and render you incapable of other attention. “Built by Dead Hands” rolls out in a similar tempo but is more active in its construction and execution. You can hear it in the percussion most notably, but it also beams through the other instruments. “Remembrance” is the longest song at eight and a half minutes, and it is discordant at its threshold. The music resolves in due course outside the parameters of noise and moves into a grooving riff and mid-tempo, and then back again. The sourness is gone and we are left at the end with heavy tones dissolving in the distance.
Side two opens with the mystical “Leper by the Grace of God.” The tread is fast and the path dangerous. It feels like a calamity, especially the lead guitar break, but sometimes there is solace after the irretrievable bad thing has happened. “Futile Effort to Breathe” is aptly titled as the music could be a heavy stone pressing down on your chest, one too big to shift. Slowly, slowly you lose consciousness as the band plays on. The final step is “Serenity Abandoned,” and it is heavy doom as we have been hearing, but this time it feels more like funeral doom. Whether you chose the path yourself or you were put on it, you know now there is no escape and the only thing you can do is press on. This is a beautifully dark and hopeless album. Highly recommended.
Apocalyptic Doom is out on Friday, March 10th through Gruesome Records. Have a look at the links below.
Links.
Bandcamp, https://gruesomerecords.bandcamp.com/album/apocalyptic-doom-2023
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/goddisease/
Gruesome Records, https://gruesomerecords.wordpress.com/
© Wayne Edwards
Gorod, The Orb (2023)
French tech prog death metal band Gorod mesmerize with their seventh album, The Orb.
Gorod began life in the late 1990s as Gorgasm, changing their name to the more familiar moniker in 2005. After the name change, they followed up by producing three memorable albums in fairly quick succession, Neurotripsicks (2005), Leading Vision (2006), and Process of a New Decline (2009). They have been on a three year publishing cycle since then, with a couple extra years tacked on to this last span due to the pandemic. For me, the new album is some of their best and most bewildering work so far. The band is Mathieu Pascal (guitar), Benoit Claus (bass), Julien “Nutz” Deyres (vocals), Nicolas Alberny (guitar), and Karol Diers (drums).
“Chrematheism.” Holy shit. It is an overwhelming assault from the first note. A challenging, killer piece from the jump. Harsh, coarse vocals are the most discernable element in the opening bars. The riff and keys are jagged and piercing. It is chaos with no regard for whether you can find the order in it. Of course, order is there, and in this kind of technical death metal, order is the structural characteristic. It is the rod that straightens your spine. There is a crazy lead shred as well. It is like dunking your head in a bucket of ice water – ice water with a razor blade vortex. “We Are The Sun Gods” is, if anything, more surgical with a mad central interlude. And then the title track comes along and shows a soothing calm nose that quickly turns away. Melodic-ish vocals prey on your emotions, moving you to drop your defenses right before the riffs hit hard. Mmm.
Technical progressive death metal is actually quite unusual. It is typically one or the other, isn’t it, tech or prog. Here, though, it is both, and each input is equally important. The death metal element is integral as well, which is not a given in other bands that are described in similar fashion. Gorod is fully committed in this music, and they are doing what other musicians don’t. Keep an ear out for “Victory” because it is a degloving experience, and also “Strange Days,” the closer and the shortest song of the set. It is very theatrical and one of my favorites on the album. Recommended.
The Orb can be fully yours on Friday, March 3rd at the Bandcamp link below or wherever you get your stuff.
Links.
Bandcamp, https://gorodmetal.bandcamp.com/album/the-orb
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/GorodOfficial
© Wayne Edwards
Photo Gallery: Bassists, Part 4
Photos by Wayne Edwards.
© Wayne Edwards
Soulfly at Skully’s, Columbus, February 28, 2023
Max Cavalera and Soulfly put a crack in High Street outside Skully’s in Columbus this week on their Totem tour.
Skully’s Music-Diner is a regular stop for metal bands when they are in the middle of the country. With no pit and not even a barricade, really, fans can get right up to the stage. When the circle pit swirls open, it can engulf the bulk of the room, putting everyone in play – or in jeopardy, depending on how you look at it. If that sounds good to you, now you know where go.
Soulfy brought two bands with them on this leg of the tour. First up, Skinflint, a three-piece metal band from Botswana. I had heard of them but had never seen the band in action, so I was ready go. Their new album is their seventh, Hate Spell, released just days before the show. Their music is infectious metal with incredible rhythm and masterful guitar. They played a couple cuts from the new record, and dipped into their deep catalogue for a few well-seasoned favorites, too. Great set.
Bodybox middled. Bodybox is a Florida deathcore band, and they are a very different act compared to either of the other bands. I didn’t know anything about them before the show, so I went in unencumbered by expectations. A relatively new group, they have released a demo and an EP so far. Their sound was tight while it lasted, but they unfortunately experienced technical difficulties for a large part of their time on stage, leading vocalist Harry Brown to riff off the top of his head and to drink a number of beers handed up from the crowd while the troubles were addressed.
Soulfly has been on my bucket list for a while now. I saw Max Cavalera last year and that show was a highlight of my concertgoing for 2022, no question about it. Soulfly released a new studio album last year, Totem, and that was one of the better albums last year, too (there is a link to our review of that record at the end of this article). My interest in the band has therefore been heading toward a peak in recent months. Max with his four-string ESP was joined on stage by Zyon Cavalera on drums, Mike Leon on bass, with Mike DeLeon playing guitar.
The show opened on “Back To Primitive,” and the packed room starting jumping immediately. The pit opened on that first song, which doesn’t usually happen – even with the headliner, there is often a song or two of grace before the pushing starts. Not this time. Everybody was ready to party with Soulfly.
They went back to the beginning next with “No Hope = No Fear,” and there was never any hint of slowing down. They did play a couple of songs from Totem, but mostly this night was a greatest hits affair, with a couple of covers thrown in the mix as well. I thought the Max and Iggor Cavalera tour was great last year, and it was, but this Soulfly performance cranked up even a notch higher. It was a great show, and now I am scanning the calendar to see if there is any way I can see them again before this tour is over. Highly recommended.
Soulfly is on the road through April Fool’s Day. Check out the dates and cities on the tour poster below and make plans to catch the show.
Photos by Wayne Edwards.
Links.
Soulfly, https://www.soulfly.com/
Skinflint, https://skinflintmetal.com/
Bodybox, https://bodybox.bandcamp.com/
Scully’s Music – Diner, https://skullys.org/
FFMB review of Totem, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2022/08/08/soulfly-totem-nuclear-blast-2022/
Photo Galleries.
Soulfy, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2023/03/04/photo-gallery-soulfly-at-skullys-in-columbus/
Skinflint, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2023/03/04/photo-gallery-skinflint-at-skullys-in-columbus/
Bodybox, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2023/03/04/photo-gallery-bodybox-at-skullys-in-columbus/
© Wayne Edwards
Photo Gallery: Soulfly at Skully’s In Columbus
Photos by Wayne Edwards.
Main FFMB article on the show: https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2023/03/04/soulfly-at-skullys-columbus-february-28-2023/
© Wayne Edwards
Flying Fiddlesticks Music Blog 