Indie Rock

Chevelle, Niratias (Epic Records 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

The ninth album from Chevelle might be their heaviest one yet and therefore the most appealing to metal fans so far.

At this point, it is almost thirty years that Chevelle has been making music. In that time, they have sold more than four million album in the US. There first full-length album came out in 1999, Point #1, but they had to wait all the way until their second album, Wonder What’s Next, to sell in platinum numbers. They offer a guitar-driven, pop-oriented rock approach, and the new album, especially, leans in on the heavy and will have a broad appeal to metal fans.

I had not followed Chevelle very closely until a couple years ago when I saw them perform live at Aftershock in Sacramento. I found out two things: they have a lot of dedicated fans and they put on a great show. When I read the announcement for the new album, my focus sharpened with the memory the band playing in the California sun.

Niratias has thirteen tracks, including a transition bit or two. The opener is an instrumental, “Verruckt,” and it is a compelling piece that sounds like the process that goes on inside the CPU of an angry robot if it was thinking about heavy metal. “So Long, Mother Earth” is more pop-oriented and catchy, making it a go-to track for fans of yore. And then you are hit with “Mars Simula” and its aggressive stabbing riffs. The variety in the songs starts to make itself known, settling the idea of what kind of a record this will be.

Throughout the album there are tracks that stand out for me like “Pisstol Star,” which is claustrophobic and tense, and “Peach” with its excellent lead guitar work. The set closes down with the big statement of “Ghost and Razor” showing off a low, heavy sound that is burgeoning with angst (my favorite track) and walking off stage with “Lost In Digital Woods.” That last one is a quiet downer of sad poetry and piano for two minutes, then nature sounds or possibly screaming, and finally there is an echoing guitar that warbles in (and then out) in the final 75 seconds. Make what you will of that.

Niratias is out now. Hit the store link below to peruse the versions. It is a big album from every angle. Recommended.

Live band photo by Wayne Edwards from Aftershock 2019.

Links.

Website, https://getmorechevelle.com/

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

Store, https://getsomemerchandise.com/chevelle-merch/chevelle-music

Chevelle, Niratias (Epic Records 2021)

Melvins, Working With God (Ipecac Recordings 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , , ,

The new album from the Melvins features the lineup from the early days and thirteen tracks of rarified rock weirdness/goodness.

When you speak aloud the name Melvins the response you get is either instant radical awareness or confusion. There isn’t a lot of middle ground. I saw them at the Louder Than Life festival a couple years ago. They got slotted on the far-flung stage (you know the one I am talking about if you’ve ever been to that festival) fairly early in the day and they tore it up on a short sharp set. Their performance was a highlight for me, clearly surpassing bands that came later in the bill. They play an indie, fuzzy grunge that comes at you from peculiar angles and hits you in unexpected places. There is no other band like them.

The line-up for Working With God is Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover, and Mike Dillard, taking the band back to its event horizon. The creative energy in the music is the whirlwind we have come to expect on Melvins releases, which now number in the uncountable range. The opening song is “I Fuck Around,” a Beach Boys parody. Nice. “Negative No No” comes next, and it is a fuzzy grunge fest. “Bouncing Rick” picks up the pace and franticness, handing the baton off to “Caddy Daddy” for a little drone. The first dose of absolute weirdness is “Brian, The Horse-Faced Goon.” And that is weird as in Mothers of Invention weird. Time for a smoke.

The themes are can be pretty accurately assessed from the song titles, and the sensibility is blowing off steam and not a lot of deep thought. It is pulsing hard-edged rock whipped up in endless variety and with boundless creativity. The back half doesn’t slow down at all, kicking off with “Boy Mike” and clipping into the delightful sentiment of “Fuck You.” There is the spacey “The Great Good Place” and “Hot Fish,” the longest song of the set that can be understood as a litany of frustration or as something else entirely. “Hund” is a B-12 shot to get you ready for the send-off, “Goodnight Sweet Heart,” which is either really funny or a total mindfuck, depending on where you are in your evening. Working With God is another raucous affair, and no mistake. Highly recommended.

The album is out now, so go scoop it up. Limited edition vinyl has sold out (at Bandcamp) but the regular is still available, and so are CDs and downloads.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://melvinsofficial.bandcamp.com/album/working-with-god

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

Website, https://melvins.veeps.com/

Label, http://ipecac.com/

Melvins, Working With God (Ipecac Recordings 2021)

Empress, Wait ’Til Night review (Brilliant Emperor 2020)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

Following up on their first album, Empress walks even deeper into the darkness.

In 2017, the Australian band Empress released their self-titled exploratory record. Their second, Wait ’Til Night, was recorded in 2018-2019 and is appearing now in the perfect historical setting for the mood the music establishes. The band is Chloe Cox (vocals and keys), Julian Currie (guitar), Jackson Tuchscherer (guitar), Shaun Allen (bass), and Ben Smith (drums and percussion).

There is a long list of tags associated with Empress including doom, shoegaze, alternative, indie, post-rock … and they all fit. The songs on the new album are mostly very quiet and subdued, and entirely infused with darkness. The recurring themes I hear are sadness and regret written into a variety of settings.

“Golden Orb” opens with a single guitar accompanying Chloe Cox’s pleading voice, joined in time by slightly off center rhythm and pace. The most aggressive vocals appear in this song, and here the music lives up to the band’s own description that its work is “a clash of emotional and musical contradictions, soft and harsh, calm and hysterical.” The next two songs – “Wait ’Til Night” and “Scorpio Moon” – share a sourness, a sort of clashing twinge in the composition that ties them together in my head. “Back To The Ground” is eerie, like a slow murder in the mist. “Void Share Void” is a study of emptiness where the sorrow eases quietly along, occasionally interrupted by punctuating bursts. “Curse” feels like a story of fate being imposed on you and “Where No Light Remains” has an ambient soft roar underlying the gentle singing and sympathetic piano that removes all resistance from your mind.

The album ends with “I Let You In,” which is the loudest in the set, beginning as it does with coarse, crossing instruments. Cox’s voice moves from its quietude to straining against the recurring theme of regret. The first song and the last song together create an ethereal border that holds all the music in the set together. I find this album to be solemn and darkly soothing. Recommended.

Wait ’Til Night is available now. The digital is an easy get at Bandcamp, and Brilliant Emperor has released a vinyl version as well as a merch bundle (shop link below).

Links.

Empress Bandcamp, https://empressempress.bandcamp.com

Empress Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/empress.band.empress

Label Shop, https://brilliantemperor.bigcartel.com

Label Bandcamp, https://brilliantemperor.bandcamp.com

Empress, Wait ’Til Night review (Brilliant Emperor 2020)