Merlock, You Cannot Be Saved (2021)

November 15, 2021November 10, 2021 Wayne EdwardsDoom Metal, Heavy Metal, Merlock, Psychedelic Metal, Spokane, Stoner Metal, Washington, You Cannot Be Saved

The new EP from psychedelic stoner band Merlock is a reflection on the past and a projection into the future.

From the wilds of Spokane, Washington comes Taylor D. Waring (vocals, guitar), Andrew Backes (bass), and Lucas Wild Barrey (drums). Merlock, trimmed down to a trio, plays doom-ridden psychedelic metal tuned through a smoky filter. The new album is their third EP, following Merlock (2018) and That Which Speaks… (2020).

You Cannot Be Saved has six tracks including three re-worked songs from the earlier EPs, a track from the past that hadn’t been recorded up till now, one new song from the forthcoming long-player, and a tasty cover of “Electric Funeral.” The music was recorded “live on Halloween weekend to capture the band’s organic energy and psychedelic leanings.”

Having heard some of this music before, it is interesting to see how it has changed with the “live” recording and the refashioned line-up. I have to say the groaning guitars and grungy lead and vocals land even better with me this time around, especially on “Idolon.”

I felt a ravaging sense of hopelessness when listening to “Where No One Goes” which I quite liked. I ran that track twice. The lead work toward the end is a sonic transcendence. “Gloomtrain” is much more actively vehement and draws my appreciation for that reason.

The cover of “Electric Funeral” is faithful in the rhythm and vastly different in the vocal presentation. I found it fascinating. Truly, the inflection completely changes how you feel about this song even with the same lyrics Ozzy sang. I like all the tracks on the album but it is worth listening in just to hear this cover. Recommended.

You Cannot Be Saved gets let loose on November 19^th. That’s a Friday. Check out the band’s website for more info or look to Bandcamp for the concise circumstances.

Links.

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

Bandcamp, https://merlock.bandcamp.com/album/you-cannot-be-saved

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

Stellar Death, Fragments Of Light (2021)

January 6, 2021 Wayne EdwardsAmbient Music, DC, Fragments Of Light, Instrumental Rock, Prog, Progressive Rock, Stellar Death, Washington

Stellar Death’s debut album is an adventure in instrumental space prog that winds through disparate corners of the universe to coalesce in a fascinating unified semblance.

Matt Kozar and Scott Loose are the duo Stellar Death, playing instrumental music that lands a heavy blow. They have worked together for many years in the band Brave, and decided to branch out with this new project in order to shed any constraints on form. Both are guitarist and play keys, with Loose minding the percussion. There are eight pieces on the album, most in a fairly long design.

The opening song is a seven minute outline titled “The Astronomer.” Throughout its course, many of the elements and atoms that combine in the musical creation of the set are first introduced, including mesmerizing ambient sequences and forceful guitar movements. “Endless” is filled with sadness the way that Frank Zappa’s “Watermelon In Easter Hay” is, and that is meant to be a high compliment. Its companion piece, “Betelgeuse,” moves on from trauma and morning, turning a corner and picking up power. Heavier guitars and more rambunctious percussion returns in “Binary Collapse” to close side one.

On the back four, solitude is a reinforcing theme and a channel for momentous contemplation. “Everywhere and Nowhere” has quite dramatic moments, while “Critical Mass” presents the most tense passages in the eight minute leg. Stellar Death winds it down with “Afterglow,” offering up a spell of reflection and meditation. While this album will appeal perhaps most to the ambient crowd as it is on the less technical side of prog, anyone who likes instrumental rock will find a confrère here. Recommended.

The street date for Fragments Of Light is January 8^th. Direct business is at Bandcamp for the download. Three songs are available now and you can listen to them instantly if you preorder the album.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://stellardeath.bandcamp.com/album/fragments-of-light

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

Mortiferum ~ Hyperdontia, Split 7 (Carbonized Records 2020)

December 14, 2020 Wayne EdwardsBlack Metal, Carbonized records, Copenhagen, Death Metal, Denamrk, Doom Metal, Hyperdontia, Instanbul, Me Saco Un Ojo Records, Mortiferum, Turkey, Washington

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts with the new Doom split by Mortiferum and Hyperdontia.

This split release was meant to be a companion EP for a tour the two bands were going to do together in 2020. We all know what happened to every tour this year. Still, the split exists and is being released now at the end of the year as a sort of prelude to the tour that will happen as soon as live music rises from its temporary grave.

One side is Mortiferum, a Washington state Death Metal band that made big waves with their album Disgorged From Psychotic Depths last year. Playing to the Doom side of the field, they contribute “Abhorrent Genesis,” a lurker drenched in cemetery fog. The beautiful distortion and foreboding riffs slowly squeeze the life out of you for a minute and a half or so until the tempo lurches forward and escape is clearly no longer possible. The low register vocals are a surrounding force and the noticeable lead guitar work is a defining characteristic of the band.

Another side is Hyperdontia, whose members come from Turkey and Denmark. Their first full-length appeared in 2018, Nexus Of Teeth, and they have issued a bevy of EPs and singles as well in the past few years. The Doom lives in the ever-present background of “Punctured Soul,” encircling the Black and Death Metal centerpieces in a dark cloak. The music is aggressive and understandable; the sentiments and intentions, joinable. Whirring guitar work and determined drumming are interspersing agents in the caustic dankness of the music. It is a whetstone for your imagination.