France

Mars Red Sky & Queen Of The Meadow, Mars Red Sky & Queen Of The Meadow (Mrs Red Sound 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , ,

The new collaboration between Mars Red Sky & Queen Of The Meadow is entrancing heavy psych that will leave you wanting more.

Mars Red Sky is Julien Pras (vocals, guitar), Jimmy Kinast (bass), and Matgaz (drums), and Queen Of The Meadow is Helen Ferguson (vocals). The latter is a dark folk performer, and the former is a heavy psychedelic band that sometimes describes its own music as a “[h]ulking trippy brand of heavy and psychedelic rock that will take you on a total and extreme cosmic journey.” A collaboration between these two entities immediately makes sense. Their new EP is a three-track introduction to lurking possibilities.

“Maps Of Inferno” is eerie and trippy. A nice combination. When the guitar enters it is most serious. There is a groovy mystical desert vibe that develops early in the song. Ferguson’s vocals step right into a musical world that seems to have been created for her sound. Passing into a windy storm, she returns near the end, no worse for the wear. “Out At Large” is next, and it starts out heavier, clearing the ground before it. The guitar lead comes in, hanging red lights on the stage. The singing here strikes a convincing posture, and you start to feel like she could talk you into anything, into going anywhere; believing. I think I might have joined the order.

The final track is “Maps Of Inferno (shortcut),” and it is essentially a radio cut of the first track. I do like these songs, and it is clear that the collaboration between Mars Red Sky and Queen Of The Meadow is an inspired thought. I hope they release a full-length album because what we have here is very compelling and enticing. The rumor is: that very thing may come to pass. Recommended.

The EP is out April 28th through Mrs Red Sound and Vicious Circle Records on digital and vinyl. In the US, Bandcamp is a good place to pick it up. Links below.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://marsredsky.bandcamp.com/album/mars-red-sky-queen-of-the-meadow

Facebook Queen Of The Meadow, https://www.facebook.com/queenofthemeadowmusic

Facebook Mars Red Sky, https://www.facebook.com/marsredskyband

Vicious Circle Records, https://www.viciouscircle.fr/en/home

Mrs Red Sky Records, https://mrsredsound.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Mars Red Sky & Queen Of The Meadow, Mars Red Sky & Queen Of The Meadow (Mrs Red Sound 2023)

Carcariass, Afterworld (Season Of Mist 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , ,

Melodic prog death metal band Carcariass launch their sixth album into the universe, Afterworld.

Carcariass if from France, and its name “comes from Carcharodon Carcharias, the Latin name of the Great White Shark.” Formed more than thirty years ago, the band creates melodic progressive metal, dipping often into death metal territory and regularly regaling listeners with long instrumental passages. After releasing back-to-back records just before the turn of the century, they started to space out their new music, once leaving a gap of ten years between albums. The new record follows 2019’s Planet Chaos, and finds Carcariass flexing in familiar territory. The band is Pascal Lanquetin (guitar), Jérôme Thomas (vocals), Raphaël Couturier (bass), and Bertrand Simonin (drums).

The set gets going on “No Aftermath” with a thumping rhythm that suggests action. Gristly vocals over-shout the other instruments, and a reprieve is found in a brief guitar break. The first song is a sort of overture for the rest of the music. “Billions of Suns” follows. The percussion is battering, and it goes well with the vocals. The guitars, when they reach out on their own, have a more melodic presentation, generally, although they do break into frantic flourishes when the need arises. “Identity” steps in on quieter feet. The music expands from this formative notion into similarly styled executions in the family of the first two tracks.

There is a reassuring regularity about the music on Afterworld. And it certainly is different from other bands that might be labeled in a related way. The biggest attraction for me are the extended instrumental passages. I do appreciate the dissonance of the intentional juxtapositions, too. My favorite tracks on the record include “Angst,” which I hear as a mission statement (and it has great guitar work), and the mysterious, rampaging “Black Rain.” The set finishes on the title song, a beautifully ornate piece displaying impeccable musicianship. Prog fans will find treasures here. Recommended.

Afterworld is out on Friday, April 14th on CD through Season of Mist and digitally in the usual places. Check out the links below.

Links.

Carcariass website,

Bandcamp, https://carcariass.bandcamp.com/album/afterworld-new-album-2023

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

Season Of Mist, https://shop.season-of-mist.com/carcariass-afterworld-cd-digipak

© Wayne Edwards

Carcariass, Afterworld (Season Of Mist 2023)

Gorod, The Orb (2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , ,

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

Gorod, The Orb (2023)

DoctoR DooM, A Shadow Called Danger (Ripple 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , ,

DoctoR DooM, the four-piece stoner rock act from France, helps you start your year off right with A Shadow Called Danger.

I first came across DoctoR DooM when I heard their album This Seed We Have Sown (2015) that I picked up during a Ripple Music sale. The vibrations I experienced that day live in my synapses still. I have been waiting ever since for another infusion – at last it has arrived. The band is Jean-Laurent Pasquet (vocals, guitar) Bertrand Legrand (guitar), Michel Marcq (drums), and Sébastien Boutin Blomfield (bass).

The new album is heavier than the last, doomier in parts. The first track, “Comeback to Yourself,” starts off that way, heavy, but shifts into a lighter frame after a number of bars and starts to cook. Immediately, you start to feel 1974 rising from its resting place and sweeping the room with renewed vigor. Light yet meaningful, delivered with purpose. The perfect jump. “What Are They Trying to Sell” follows with a different tone. I don’t know what they had in mind when they wrote it, but to me it makes me see the beach from the perspective of the PCH. But then it slows and becomes dramatic, telling a different story. It is a journey. Nice organ work on this track by Jim Blomfield, too.

“Ride On” is a quiet piece, filled with eager solitude that builds to eventual explosion. The switch (or you might call it a progression) happens in other songs, too, like “Hollow.” Here though it is more gradual and has the biggest tidal change. These songs, the whole album, are lookbacks in a way, sure, but they are reinventions more than replications. In that sense the music is filled with surprises even as it brings on nostalgia. The beautiful and sad “Sarabande” closes the show and leaves you wanting more.

If the new album is any measure, the second decade of DoctoR DooM will be even better than the first. Recommended.

A Shadow Called Danger is out now through Ripple Music. Explore the possibilities at the links below.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://doctordoom.bandcamp.com/album/a-shadow-called-danger

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/doctordoom09/

Ripple Music, https://www.ripple-music.com/

© Wayne Edwards

DoctoR DooM, A Shadow Called Danger (Ripple 2023)

Azken Auzi, Azken Auzi (Argonauta 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

Sludgy doom band Azken Auzi release their self-titled debut.

Stationed in Toulon, France, Azken Auzi is a new band formed by musicians from other metal acts. Deciding they wanted a change of pace, they veered from death metal and noise toward atmospheric doom, frequently touching on funeral doom landscapes. Their new album is a deary delight.

“Disgrace” brings notes of fear to the beginning of the set. Slow and ominous, the lead-in sets up perfectly the gruff howls of despair that follow in the vocals. This is grim stuff, and unrelenting. “Azken Auzi” is up next, and it takes the music down a notch into funeral doom territory. Over the course of the song the tempo does pick up considerably, but the sentiment does not brighten. It is a thunderclap that keeps rolling. “I Hate You” is almost pleasant in comparison. The hopelessness and sorrow saturate the musical palate of this song as well, although here there is a sense of movement, an active sort of despair, you might say. Hate, after all, is actionable.

“Rho Scorpii” offers a sort of emotional parallax because the droning rhythm can set you down the path of darkness but there is also a reassuring known-ness to it as the song progresses. This is the sort of music that could go on for twenty minutes and you would still be hanging in there with it. “K.R.L.H.” is a graveyard dirge; lovely, drowning darkness. The pace turns after a while, and the narrative seems to switch toward a campaign – a path of intention. “Home” is the anchor and the longest track of the set. It has a tentative beginning that is clearly heading toward something else – change is in the air. This song is the most exploratory, and it covers the most ground. At the very end there is a bonus track, which is an alternate version of the title song. I appreciate the dark menace of this music and the dedication of the compositions to their purpose. Recommended.

Azken Auzi is out now through Argonauta Records. Get yours at the links below.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://azkenauzi.bandcamp.com/album/azken-auzi

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

Argonauta Records, https://www.argonautarecords.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Azken Auzi, Azken Auzi (Argonauta 2023)

The Necromancers, Where The Void Rose (Ripple 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , ,

French horror metalists The Necromancers have new stories to tell on their third album, Where The Void Rose.

Since 2015, The Necromancers – a heavy rock / doom band from France – have been telling dark tales set to music. They have released two previous full-length albums, Servants of the Salem Girl (2017) and Of Blood and Wine (2018). Get ready for mid-tempo doom with plenty of fuzzy riffs. The band is Simon Evariste (bass), Benjamin Rousseau (drums), Basile Chevalier-Coudrain (vocals, guitar), and Robin Genais (guitar).

Not a concept album as such, Where The Void Rose “tells the story of a decaying world, where some try to hold the hordes in the depths while others yearn to plunge into the abyss, exhilarated by the discovery of new knowledge and eager for answers in the face of the inevitable. Venturing to the junction of the land and sea, the band confront the tumult of the ocean and explore the sunken ruins of our civilization…” You can think of it as a collection of horror stories with related themes.

There are six songs on the new album, opening with “Sunken Huntress,” which heads out at a dead run. The music has a feeling of quest to it. You get the impression you are on a hurried journey on horseback with an expiring deadline hovering over you and desperados at your back. “Crimson Hour” slows the pace considerably, turning more reflective and carrying a heavier tone, generally. It is the longest cut on the album and enjoys the space to explore. “The Needle” has a nice 1980s riff leading into a rumbling bass line and narrative set-up that creates anticipation. The vocals range from melodic to gruff, driving the drama in the story.

Side two gives us “Orchard,” an ominous track, draped in a dark cloak and seeping mystic energy. The guitar in this song is a wondrous thing. “Where the Void Rose” is not what I expected from a title track in that it has an unusual gate and trajectory unlike the other music on the album. It is beautiful and engaging; somber and thought-provoking. They are playing the long game on this one, and the build goes all the way to the end. “Over the Threshold” finishes things off on a rumbling note with high energy and dark promises. It is a fantastic way to wrap the set up. Recommended.

Where The Void Rose is out now in digital through Ripple Music. CD and vinyl versions will ship in January 2023. Check out the label shop or Bandcamp to pick it up.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/where-the-void-rose

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

Ripple Music, https://music.ripple-music.com/landing

© Wayne Edwards

The Necromancers, Where The Void Rose (Ripple 2022)

Barabbas, La Mort Appelle Tous Les Vivants (Sleeping Church 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , ,

French doom band Barabbas offer their latest for your dark enjoyment, La Mort Appelle Tous Les Vivants.

Barabbas began about fifteen years ago in France. Their first EP, Libérez Barabbas, came out in 2011, and was followed by the band’s debut long-player, Messe pour un chien, in 2014. The new album is only their second full-length release, which is surprising given its power and depth you hear when you listen to it. The band is Saint Stéphane (guitar), Saint Rodolphe (vocals), Saint Thomas (guitar), Saint Jean-Christophe (drums), and Saint Alexandre (bass).

There are seven primary tracks on the new record, plus an intro and an off ramp. The band states that their primary influences are Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, and Cathedral. You can really hear that in the music and, as far as I am concerned, it is all for the better. “Je suis mort depuis bien longtemps” opens with massive, killer riffs followed by earnest, pressing vocals. I do not speak French so the vocals are a pure instrument to me, and they sound fantastic. The music takes a solemn turn as it edges toward the halfway mark, then the lead guitar comes in and knocks you out. A great opener.

There are up-tempo tracks like “Le saint riff rédempteur” that get you blood pumping at the beginning of the song and others that are almost doom ballads, like “Le cimetière des rêves brises,” where the darkness is more measured. In every case, the guitar work is exceptional, and the heaviness is always the driving force. Look to “Mon crâne est une crypte (et j’y suis emmuré)” for some of the most engaging doom I have heard all year. This album has me going back and listening to everything Barabbas has done before. Highly recommended.

La Mort Appelle Tous Les Vivants is out now through Sleeping Church Records in digital and CD formats. Have a look at the links below – Bandcamp is always a good bet in the US.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://sleepingchurchrecords.bandcamp.com/album/la-mort-appelle-tous-les-vivants

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

Sleeping Church Records, https://sleepingchurchrds.com/en/

© Wayne Edwards

Barabbas, La Mort Appelle Tous Les Vivants (Sleeping Church 2022)

Beyond The Void, The Machinist (Great Dane 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

Death metal disrupters Beyond The Void release their first full-length album, The Machinist.

Beyond The Void is a death metal band from France. They have been around for less than a lustrum, releasing their inaugural EP Ex Nihilo Nihil in 2020. Their truculent brand of metal is even better expressed in the long form of the new album. The band is Antoine Grasser (guitar), Maxime le Corre (drums), Cyril Cozza (vocals), Antoine Bieber (guitar), and Laurent Schmitt (bass).

After an eerie prelude of disturbing angular strings, the album gets going with a signature titular song. The vocals are gruff, with occasional pairings for depth and hiss. The guitars are aggressive, stabbing, with hooks appearing and going off at unpredictable intervals. There is a detectable 1980s injection that is nice to hear, and a number of other elements that are difficult to characterize. Swimming and fighting together, these musical pieces somehow achieve synergy. “From The Sky” follows, the longest track and a departure into a more measured, but no less peculiar, landscape. The slow pace dissolves into frenzy before much time passes, spinning you around and showing you a different view. The effect is exhilarating while also being disequilibrating.

The album is one fired canon after another. Their music has been described as brutal death metal, and it is, some of the time. That is not all, though, as there is a mad collaboration with less caustic musical enterprises that smashes together in a sonic particle collider yielding spectacular results. Look for “Hymns Of Annihilation” especially as the perfect example of this creation in action. “The Shadow In My Mind” is a wild one that will make you dizzy, and the title track is an urgent closer. After listening to this record, I consider myself shook up. Recommended.

The Machinist is out now through Great Dane Records. In the US, Bandcamp is a good place to pick the digital or CD.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://greatdanerecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-machinist

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

Great Dane Records, https://www.greatdanerecs.com/eshop/web/

© Wayne Edwards

Beyond The Void, The Machinist (Great Dane 2022)

Witchfinder, Forgotten Mansion (Mrs Red Sound 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , , ,

Witchfinder brings out another great record with their third full-length album, Forgotten Mansion.

The French psychedelic doom quartet Witchfinder is Clément Mostefai (vocals, bass), Stanislas Franczak (guitar), Thomas Dupuy (drums), and Kevyn Raecke (keyboard). Since their first album dropped just five years ago, they have been on a winning streak with Hazy Rites two years later, and the well-received Endless Garden earlier EP this year. Their newest album is some of the best music they have made so far.

“Approaching” has a trippy, psychedelic ramp that pushes into a classic doom guitar drop. The vocals are cast from the distance in an echoey framing which pulses perfectly inside a mind that has achieved an altered state. The lead guitar segment that first appears is laid back and effective, setting up a tempo shift and that offers a mid-song lift, providing fertile ground for the following Iommi-inspired riff. The construction of the song is a credible integration of psychedelic entreaties in a doom architecture. “Marijuana,” which features Haldor Grunberg adding vocal depth, puts the lead guitar near the front, placing it as a signpost for the changes that follow. Here again we have the beautifully heavy, fuzzy riff and rhythm that carries the water for the ethereal vocals. Excellent. And then “Lucid Forest,” the shortest song so far at a mere five and a half minutes, slides in trippingly and lightens things up a little. It is still heavy, of course. It seems more reflective to me than its predecessors, changing the mood a might. The keys are more prominent in my ears, too, and the lead guitar break stands out.

“Ghosts Happen To Fade” is my favorite track. I like the entire album, but this one lands just right in my ears and brain, touching a place with the guitar that hadn’t been activated yet. The vocals are more sinister here, and that has an appeal as well. “The Old Days” wraps things up and brings back the straightforward doom at the front of the track. The music turns up the psych knob halfway through and reminds us of the range of the band. The album is solid psych-doom through and through. Recommended.

Forgotten Mansion is out now through Mrs Red Sound Records. Bandcamp is the place to go in the US to pick this one up.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://witchfinder.bandcamp.com/album/forgotten-mansion

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

Mrs Red Sound Records, https://mrsredsound.com/

FFMB review of the Endless Garden EP, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2022/06/06/witchfinder-endless-garden-mrs-red-sound-2022/

© Wayne Edwards

Witchfinder, Forgotten Mansion (Mrs Red Sound 2022)

Electric Jaguar Baby, Psychic Death Safari (Rebel Waves 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , , ,

The new album from Electric Jaguar Baby continues the fuzzed up garage rock trance, Psychic Death Safari.

Since 2015, eclectic duo Electric Jaguar Baby from Paris, France has been creating fascinating vibes. Over the course of the intervening years, a trio of EPs and their debut album have left a trail for music lovers to follow that is wickedly diverse and endlessly entertaining. The identity of the central musical pair remains mysterious, but we do know that there are guest appearances on the album by Luca of Go!Zilla on vocals and organ, and Jed of ZigZags on guitar.

The band describes the new album as “a gangbang between Ty Segall, Josh Homme, Jack White and Ozzy Osbourne, sprinkled with retro and occult 70’s vibes”. If that doesn’t capture your imagination then you must be in a coma.

“Hitmaker” opens with a catchy 1970s rock riff then continues with similarly-styled vocals. It hooks you immediately – there is no way to not hang out and listen. “Flashlight” is a little denser, a bit trippier. It sets a cruise and rolls on down the gently winding highway. By the time we get to “Shiver River,” I had an Amboy Dukes flashback. Every song cooks, and the listening is good.

There is a lot to like on this record. One of my favorite tracks is “Hellcome” – love the lead guitar and the assertive past-central riff. And come on, “Jaguar’s Boogie” is a thing of beauty. If you are into garage rock, 1970s sensibilities, and fuzzed up trippy stoniness, there is no way you can go wrong here. Recommended.

Psychic Death Safari is out now through Ripple Music’s Rebel Waves Records on vinyl, CD, and digital. If you like what you hear, check out the band’s back catalogue at their Bandcamp page (link below).

Links.

Electric Jaguar Baby website, https://express.adobe.com/page/SarZGmiV5SG7Y/

Bandcamp, https://electricjaguarbaby.bandcamp.com/album/psychic-death-safari

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

Ripple Music, https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/psychic-death-safari

© Wayne Edwards

Electric Jaguar Baby, Psychic Death Safari (Rebel Waves 2022)