Pittsburgh

Mantic Ritual, Heart Set Stone (M-Theory Audio 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

The new EP from Pittsburgh originals Mantic Ritual has three new songs and three covers: Heart Set Stone.

Mantic Ritual began in Pittsburgh in 2005, operating for the first couple of years as Meltdown. They play thrash in a fundamental form, observing the integrity of the past while sharpening their methods for the world of today. The full-length album Executioner came out in 2009 and things have been on the quiet side since then, recording-wise. The band split for a while, but they are back at it now. The line-up is Dan Wetmore (vocals, guitar), Jeff Potts (guitar), Ben Mottsman (bass), and Carlos Cruz (drums).

There are three new songs on the EP and three covers. Let’s start with the new ones. “Life as Usual” is a blazingly speedy attack that chargers directly at you. At times clippy, and at other times whirling, the riffs are energetic and intrusive. The lead break is deadly effective. “Crusader,” released earlier as a single, is a longer piece compared to the opening smash-and-grab track. What you get is more time for execution along a similar primary theme. The extra attention to guitar work pays off in a big way. The third original is the title track, a breathless testing of all surrounding waters. There is a lot going on with this song; they mopped every corner. The performance fulfills any thrash expectation. It’s a big ride.

The covers are “Race Against Time,” a G.B.H. tune, the Mercyful Fate standard “Black Funeral,” and Razor’s “Cross Me Fool.” That’s a punk hit, a dark metal classic, and a speed metal rager. In each case we hear an impressive run at the style and substance of the original creators, making the homage all the more poignant. I particularly liked the Mercyful Fate take. Good stuff, this record. Recommended.

Heart Set Stone is out on Friday, September 2nd through M-Theory Audio.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://manticritualthrash.bandcamp.com/album/heart-set-stone

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

M-Theory Audio, https://m-theoryaudio.com/store

© Wayne Edwards

Mantic Ritual, Heart Set Stone (M-Theory Audio 2022)

Negative 13, Mourning Asteri (2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , ,

The sophomore album from Negative 13 is an ambitious affair, Mourning Asteri.

Negative 13 is a band from Pittsburgh, and it is the new incarnation of the band Negative Theory which proliferated in the early aughts. The music is sludge-centered with adventures in many other directions. The musicians are Scott Fisher (vocals), Edward Banchs (guitar), Chip Reynolds (drums, vocals), and Mary Bielich (bass).

I listened to the record straight through and wrote down a one-line knee jerk reaction to each song. These are not really based on the lyrics and mostly have to do with whatever popped into my head as I heard the songs for the first time. It is what the music made me think of and therefore what I plastered onto it. I wouldn’t take this too seriously.

Here we go. “My Scars Are Showing Again” – like a hoarse, wandering goblin minstrel drinking in a rural English pub talking about its day by candlelight. “Never Ending Exit Wound” – a very punk piece that turns into doom toward the end. “Pain Prism” – belligerent angst stemming from the lost search for peace and isolation.

“Mourning Asteri” – a sinister instrumental mood track. “Crack the Code” – continues from previous song and builds into a journey where many things go terribly wrong. “The Key and the Coat” – a hot punk take up front meandering off into the psychedelic wilderness as the song goes on. “Parahell” – wandering somewhat lost in mental confinement, searching for an exit. “Villain” – somber long-form doom, beautifully dark.

More thoughtfully, let me say I really like this music. In its totality, is unlike what I usually hear. The idea of combining sludge and doom with punk is a winner for sure. Adding psychedelic and even ambient-like passages deepens the effect. Give it a listen. Recommended.

Mourning Asteri is out on Friday, July 8th. Check it out at Bandcamp or any other elsewhere you like.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://negative13.bandcamp.com/album/mourning-asteri

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/people/Negative-Thirteen/100063690412382/

© Wayne Edwards

Negative 13, Mourning Asteri (2022)

Jakethehawk, Hinterlands (Ripple Music 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , ,

Pittsburgh psychedelic metal band Jakethehawk deliver a new entry into their evolving canon of self-styled Appalachian Desert Rock with the trippy Hinterlands.

I saw Jakethehawk on a livestream sponsored by their record label a few weeks back. There were four bands on the bill and they were all great, but it is Jakethehawk that I remember most because their performance was fluid and expressive despite the claustrophobic nature of livestreams. I hadn’t heard them before and that preview got me excited for Hinterlands.

In 2018 the band released an EP, Year Of The Hawk, and a long-player, To Build A Fire. The music is a steady, cosmic, psychedelic effluence with hearty riffs, smooth vocals, and mesmerizing lead guitar breaks.

Hinterlands has six tracks, mostly in the six minute range. They tend to have gentle openings about half the time and languid movements into heavier lands. The other half have heavier gates with the mysticism on the inside. There is an ethereal ambience surrounding it all like a heavy mist, and sometimes the music and voice function like incantations, or even mantras, and they draw you all the way in to a place where the edges blur. The edges of everything blur.

The music is a brand of stoner rock you could say, and it is non-aggressive after that fashion, but it is not frivolous – the music has something important to show that comes through on every piece. The lead guitar is especially fervent, teed up as it is by the other instruments. I could pick as favorite any song on the album and be telling the truth, never regretting the declaration.

Hinterlands fulfilled my every expectation; it actually over-delivered. Highly recommended.

The album dropped today on Ripple Music, and you can pick it up at the label link below in digital, CD, or vinyl. For the previous albums, hit the first link for the band’s Bandcamp link.

Links,

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

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

Ripple, https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/hinterlands

Jakethehawk, Hinterlands (Ripple Music 2021)