Falloch: Where Distant Spirits Remain (2011)

Review

It's been a long time since I've mentioned my love-hate relationship with post-metal. Like many, my first introduction to the genre was Isis. Though divisive, they are clearly one of the most influential bands of the last decade or so. I personally would rank them among my top 25 bands of all time. But that love for their elusive brilliance has led me on a quest with at least as many disappointments (Alcest, Russian Circles) as successes (Bloodiest, Altar of Plagues). Falloch is a Scottish post-metal band that caught my eye, so I dared to take the risk of disappointment on the odd chance of success.

Nearly every review of the band's debut Where Distant Spirits Remain mentions two bands: Agalloch and Alcest. Those are perfect analogies for their approach. They seem to come at post-metal from the same direction as the post-black metal bands, but without any black metal in the mix. They also have a folksy, pagan metal vibe drawn from Agalloch, rounded out by the occasional flute.

Lord Vicar: Signs of Osiris (2011)

Review

Lord Vicar is the truest metal band on the planet. The Finns have been slinging riffs since 2007, but were relatively silent since releasing a well-received full-length in 2008. They've been busier in 2011, dropping a couple of splits as well as Signs of Osiris. Just to quell any concerns up front, there is no sophomore slump here.

The band's approach is still pure bluesy doom, as instituted by Iommi. Every aspect of the band's sound is directly inspired by the classic Black Sabbath lineup. The production is heavier, and the vocals are like Ozzy's best moments, but with a fuller voice.

Destroy Judas: Wake (2011)

Review

I may as well talk about another post-doom album today. I first learned of Destroy Judas when they appeared on a list by MaxR. Their album Wake is currently available for a pay-what-you-want download on their Bandcamp.

The Isis influence on this band is immense. In various places, they incorporate seagull and ocean sounds. Three out of the four songs start out with an Isis-esque clean guitar melody, which is later worked into the rest of the song. There's also a lot of the tempo and volume dynamic worked into the music. But even given all those similarities, to call them merely an Isis ripoff would be a mistake.

Giving Blood Is Metal

I just got back from giving blood a few minutes ago. I plan to give as often as I can this year, for the first time. Let me tell you why.

Upon my return to blogging after the birth of my twins, I only hinted at what happened, saying that we were "moments away from 'exsanguination' being more than just a cool band name".* That's quite literally true. After the C-section, my wife kept losing blood. Copious amounts of blood. At one point she lost consciousness, and her blood pressure was so low the machine could not get a reading. The nurses had to hold her legs up to force blood into her brain. Luckily, the hospital's rapid response team arrived, and her doctor was nearby, so she was rushed to her second surgery of that day. Today, she is perfectly healthy.

She wouldn't be alive today if it were not for the six units of blood she received.

I shouldn't have to go into why blood is metal. There are 392 bands with "blood" in their name as a separate word, according to Metal Archives. It goes up to 764 if you also count "blood" in a compound word, such as Bloodbath. But why is giving blood metal?

1. They will check the iron level in your blood, to give you a scientific measure of how metal you are. My level is always quite high.

2. If you're too scared to get stuck, you have no business listening to metal in the first place.

3. If metal truly flows in your veins, as it does mine, then you are transferring a little bit of that metallic quality to some other person. If you could find that person right after they get your blood, and play them some Maiden, they would become an instant metalhead. True story.

4. Anything involving blood is metal. Period.

If you have a job, check with your boss, because they may give you time off to do it. If not, do it anyway on your own time.So, get the fuck out there and start donating. You will feel awesome about yourself. Seriously, you will feel like you could be on a Manowar cover.

Also, know that if you're going somewhere to sell your blood, instead of giving it away, then you're a sellout.

(*Exsanguination is a death/thrash band from Japan, apparently.)

Seidr: For Winter Fire (2011)

Review

Seidr's For Winter Fire was one of those 2011 releases that I kept meaning to check out, but never got around to it until now. I'm glad I finally did.

Despite a band and album name that practically have corpse paint all over them, there's little to no black metal on here. Instead, I'm going to put this into the nebulous "post-doom metal" category. Their sound keeps going back to heavy, melancholic doom metal with death growled (and some clean) vocals. The juxtaposition of angry vocals with sad music is interesting enough. Whether the band intended this or not, it's a poignant illustration of how emotions can be confusing, or how one emotion can be used as a mask for another.

Metal Art: The Eye

Morbus Chron: Sleepers in the Rift

Eyes. Nothing else so everyday is so enigmatic. They are said to be the windows to the soul. They are a major part of human attraction and interaction. But they can also be strange and alien to us. Just look at the eyes of someone like Charles Manson, and they will tell you how insane he is.

A single eye, in isolation, is a common motif in metal art. Divorced from the rest of a human face, it's eerie.

Gernotshagen: Weltenbrand (2011)

Review

Like pagan metal, Viking metal is another subgenre I tend to neglect. I first heard of Germany's Gernotshagen when Weltenbrand appeared in the number 3 spot on a list of the top 10 metal albums of 2011. Since I consider the author my better in the field of pagan and Viking metal, I decided to try it out.

It's worth mentioning that Metal Archives lists them as a pagan metal band. However, no one plays traditional instruments (although flute does pop up in the opener and closer) and the synths of Viking metal are very prominent. Since I wholly reject any attempt to classify music based on lyrical content, and I can't understand the lyrics anyway, I'm going to call it Viking metal. Assuming arguendo that lyrical themes are a legitimate method for classifying music, there's a Mjölnir in their logo, so why is there any confusion about this?

Dornenreich: Flammentriebe (2011)

Review

Pagan metal is not a genre I devote a great deal of time to, but I have been making a rewarding effort to become more familiar with it. The Austrian band Dornenreich was one of my first exposures, with their very unusual (extremely soft but with harsh vocals) Hexenwind. Flammentriebe cements them as one of my favorite pagan metal bands, if not the overall favorite.

The music is based around dynamic contrast between softer acoustic-oriented parts, usually with whispered vocals, and harsher black metal parts, usually with emotional yells and screams. It's a simple and cheap enough formula which has been used many times, but rarely has it been done so convincingly.

Hell: Human Remains (2011)

Review

The story behind UK NWOBHM kind-of/would-be/now-finally-are legends Hell is an interesting one. They formed in 1982, recorded a handful of demos and a single, and then disbanded in 1987 after their label went under. The band faded into obscurity, followed with the suicide of guitarist Halliday.

Their almost-legend grew because Halliday taught Sabbat's Andy Sneap how to play. (That's the cruddy British Sabbat, of course, not the awesome Japanese Sabbat.) Eventually, Sneap got the band back together, more than 20 years after their collapse, taking on Halliday's role in the band. After Sabbat vocalist Martin Walkyier left (thankfully) they recruited David Bower, brother of guitarist/keyboardist Kev, to take the mic.

Society Discontinued v. Form and Structure. Storm and Fracture.

v.

Fading Halo Records, a new DIY label out of Romania contacted me about reviewing their first two releases, which are both available free in an effort to get the word out there. Both of these releases last about 15 minutes, and both are Romanian groups with a strong emphasis on grindcore. Grind and hardcore aren't genres I listen to a lot, so I'm not fully able to give a thorough review, but I can give you my thoughts on them.