In the beginning, there was no God. So God created one. Within the Giant's Reach looked at and listened the last twenty years of metal. And they saw and heard that it was good. So, it is written.
On the first song on "In The Beginning, which is called "The Summit" the band combine a furious Slipknot rhythm with Phil Anselmo style vocals although towards the end of the song the vocalist takes a much more death metal direction. "Faceless" has a digital sound that isn't miles away from Japanese band, Mad Capsule Markets. There's a similar vibe of controlled chaos due to the drummer, Evan Parigi's timekeeping.
After the nu-metal opening,there's a stomping feeling to "Rise". The vocals are definitely used as an instrument in this track and it's an effect that works well for Within The Giant's reach as the drums and the vocals seem to play off each other. This is a track that will have nu-metal fans wetting themselves. Collapse/Rebuild contains the ferocity of early Korn although, for most of the track, the vocals of Norman Lucas head in a more death metal direction. When the semi-rapped part comes in, it's difficult not to think of Biohazard and their melding of hardcore, metal and rap.
This EP is recommended to fans of Coal Chamber, early Korn, Slipknot and other bands mentioned in this review(Pantera don't really count).
Some times it really is worth looking at the promo sheet. It would have been easy to ignore Toronto band, Axminister simply due to the piles of death and black metal that comes this way and just write them off as another band that will only appeal to fans of those sub-genres and not write about them at all. However the publicity sheet recommends the band for fans of Iron Maiden, Manowar, Slayer and Megadeth. So, there is a warning that it's time to get prepared for revved up speed metal.
It's immediately apparent that Dave Mustaine is a huge influence on the vocal style of Nicholaus Klaus as he employs an incredibly similar snarl. The riffing and song structure of "Prey" and "Salvation" have also been learned from the Megadeth textbook. There's a definite Manowar influence on the chest-beating chorus of "The Trials of Hercules". The vocals are raspier and the chorus isn't quite as catchy as it might have been. The song's best moments are when the vocals stop and the instruments are given a metallic thrashing. The intro to "The Succubus and The Crucible of Sins" is in a sea shanty style that is reminiscent of many a viking and folk metal band however Axminister veer away from the ocean as their desired pirate booty contains thrash metal.
There is undeniable Slayer influence creeping through "Sanctus Equitus Mortis" and strangely the vocals are their strongest on this tune. Axminister add a little melody to the tune and, after a tempo change and a couple of layered choruses, the song then ends in a much more traditional heavy metal fashion.
It's hard to shake the feeling that this is a band still trying to find their own sound. Despite that the Mustaine snarls are great and more of them throughout the EP would have been nice.
Here's another comeback album. Poland's doom metal peddlers, Mordor have definitely taken a long time between drinks. It has been 21 years since there previous album. The band blot the landscape by painingt a bleak atmosphere with heavy riffs and deep throaty vocals.
The band walk the tightrope between atmospheric post-rock or post-metal on many on their tunes. There's a black metal influence on "L.U.C.I.F.E.R." with a similar guitar tone and incredibly fast drumming that veers away from plodding doom metal but Mordor still keep their musical template. There's a slow build to "Melancholy", which incorporates black metal with a more atmospheric sound which are married with deep gruff caveman style vocals that would seen many a sludge band green with envy. The band convey a Gothic feel that in the album closer, "Dark Room", which has a sparse and dark sound.
Fans of death-doom will eat this album up and non-purist black metal fans will be intrigued by the manner in which Mordor has incorporated one of their favourite metal sub-genres. There aren't any quick hooks on "Darkness.." so those looking for a quick metal fix won't find much to their liking here as Mordor favor long songs with no tunes briefer than six minutes.
I'm willing to stake my wages that when you think Norway and metal, groove metal is not what comes to mind. It's more likely black metal, which conjures up images of bleak weather, snow and forests in the Scandinavian country. Groove metallers Untime have been knocking around for twenty years. They've finally got around to releasing their debut album this year.
As Untime are a groove metal band, the Pantera influence shines through brightest but there's also a tablespoon of "River Runs Red" period Life of Agony. Tracks such as "Some to Pay" open with that guitar tone and chugging rhythm that Pantera were renowned for during the nineties. "Mysterious Ways" is thankfully not a U2 cover but a fierce and muscular Untime groove metal original. "The Chosen One" is how Pantera would sound if they'd allowed New York tour mates Biohazard to influence their sound.
Untime's drummer bashes his kit in "This Picture". The vocals are somewhere in between rap, hardcore and metal without the band abandoning the groove metal template. Untime prove they're far from one dimensional groove metallers in "One Step", which contains a heavily grungy underbelly. "Manipulation" comes off as pure nineties Pantera worship. Untime sound stronger when they go down the Biohazard road and integrate elements of hardcore and rap like on the track, "Pale and Grey"than when they imitate the band who claimed to be stronger than all. It might be telling that the last track is called, "This is Nothing Compared to What's Coming". Hopefully what is coming doesn't sound as much like Pantera.
If you've been into death metal for a long time, then you've surely heard of one of the bands on this dual release and I'm betting that would be death metal underground stalwarts, Master and their core member Paul Speckmann since the band have knocking around since 1983. In comparison, Belgium death metal band, Dehuman are newcomers to the scene having formed in 2006.
Master delivers four songs on this release, which were taken from a soundboard recording of a gig the band played in Helsinki, on October 7, 2016. The band still has an old school death metal sound and there's no mistaking this for a studio performance as the audience are loud and clear. There's a raw bootleg feel to these tracks that will no doubt have ex-tape traders reminiscing of days long gone by.
Dehuman have a similar old school sound and their recordings are live in the studio. The vocals are scooby doo style growls that will have many pinpointing Obituary as a major influence on the overall sound of these Belgians. There's some strong guitar soloing on "Morbid Sun", that wouldn't sound out of place on albums from other metal sub-genres. The drums are punished with an unrelenting brutality that makes it difficult not to pity them.
This is a limited release which insures cult status. "Decay Into Inferior Conditions" is available in 200 copies limited edition "tour souvenir" DigiPak CD and 300 copies limited edition 12" LP+CD first print DigiPak so get on it fast if it sounds like your thing because it's been available since December 2017.
First things first, I'm old enough to remember when Def Leppard released Hysteria. Some of my heavy metal buddies went nuts over it. A year or so later I was mainly listening to The Smiths and thrash metal. Oddly this sludgy doomy German metal band who go under the handle of The Moth are signed to a record label called "This Charming Man". I don't know anything about their roster and wouldn't be surprised if they've signed bands from many different genres but there's no mistaking The Moth for anything other than a metal band.
There's a very loose metallic muddy sound to the album's title track which recalls early Celtic Frost vocally and instrumentally. There's a similar murky rawness in both the vocals and the playing. "Brachial" opens with an opening that sucks you into the pits of hell then it's clear that the band clearly don't like the likes of you and mess with you with a nearly poppy melody sung over a metallic drone. There's a hypnotic quality to the chanting in "Slow Your Pace" and the drums are hit with a precise loudness. The doom is turned up on eleven on "This Life". If My Dying Bride went for a raw sludge sound, they'd sound a lot like The Moth do on this track. There's a more than slight gothic tinge to the vocals. On "Blackness", the vocals take a turn in another direction and the vocalist sounds like a caveman chewing on a boulder. The instruments are loud and there is a punkish experimental element to this track although The Moth have their feet firmly set in the metal zone. The male/female vocals take a cue from anarchopunk bands.
"Loose" is what happens when someone gives a bulldozer a guitar and says play pop music. It's a stubbornly metallic tune. "Shattered" is reminiscent of High on Fire but The Moth are much looser in delivery. "Fail" has a lot of early Soundgarden running through it especially vocally although there is definitely a similar guitar sound. I also hear some noise rock like Killdozer attempting to break its way out of the shadowy metal into the light of day. Drone, sludge doom and noise rock fans will all derive enjoyment from The Moth's latest release but they are likely to confuse a lot of metal fans with their refusal to have a cookie cutter sound. It's certainly not easy listening.
There are no prizes for guessing which metal sub-genre a band called Gutslit fit into. This band from India is undeniably death metal of the brutal variety. Gutslit got our attention as a member of the band plays in the instrumental band The Minerva Conduct and we loved their recent album (which we reviewed here).
"Amputheatre" opens with the title track, which is a quiet instrumental track which barely breaks the one minute mark. This track is countered by "Brazen Bull" which features a frantic rhythm section and grunted vocals, which occasionally slow down only to proceed to bulldoze the listener at ramming speed once again. The drums are pummeled at the start of "From One Ear to The Other" and then the band take an effective breather to carry on with their barrage of grunts, riffs and drumbeats. On this track, there's a technical death metal band dying to get out as the dynamics in the guitar work change with faster paced riffs during the song and though the vocals are still grunts they become much more audible and then shift between dirty grunts and near yelling. Necktie Party is a dirty barrage of drumbeats, riffs and grunts that seem to fly and spit nails directly at the listener until mid-song, where the tempo slows and leaves a little breathing room before the sheer punishment starts again. Gutslit realize that not varying the temp can lead to boredom and slow down again before this track reaches its conclusion.
The rhythm section provides a bounciness to the opening of "Blood Eagle" and then speed and chaos take over. The drums are really fast and there are overtones of chaos in the death grunts.
There are some great metal guitar riffs on "Brodequin" that cross metal sub-genres rather than fitting strictly into the death metal categorization although Gutslit still fit firmly in that metallic pigeonhole. Gutslit lay the angry death metal on thick in "Maraschino Eyeballs"
Gutslit's shift in tempos and dynamics separate from a vast number of other bands who put themselves under the brutal death metal umbrella. As Brandon Lee's character stated in The Crow movie, "It can't rain all the time."
The Eradicator was a squash-obsessed character from a series of sketches in the Canadian TV show, Kids in the Hall that aired over twenty years ago. Chicago musician, Andy Slania has resurrected the character and he's still super-enthusiastic about the only sport that matters, Squash. Sometimes The Eradicator performs with a band and other times he goes solo.
The Eradicator plays brash aggressive punk with a melodic edge. The rhythm section often speeds through song at the pace of a squash game and mimic the ball hitting the wall. The opening track "I'm The Eradicator" is the perfect introduction to this squash obsessive outfit.
There's a bouncy appeal to the catchy "I'm a Squash Man", which gives reasons as to why squash is the greatest sport ever.
While only one of the twelve songs on this album runs over the three minute mark the punk energy on this album somehow makes this debut release seem much longer than it actually is. The squash theme is fun. It will be interesting to see if The Eradicator will make more squash themed music in the future.
Here's some ripping blackened death metal from Poland. On their fourth album, In Twilight's Embrace go straight for the throat with the "The Hell of Mediocrity". The vocals of Cyprian Łakomy are raspy and throaty yet clear with buzzsaw guitars and drumming fighting the good fight against mediocrity. "Fan The Flame" has a marching beat that takes the followers to Hades. The song starts at rock tempo and then goes from a marching beat into blast beats and back again. The raspy audible vocals really lift that track from being yet another blackened death song. There's a Celtic Frost influence on "As Future Evaporates" although In Twilight's Embrace add an evil spoken part towards this track. There's a slow build in "Trembling" before the death metal grunts set in and the plodding guitar and drum combo add a funeral dirge effect. This is the sound of corpses rotting before they descend to the underworld. "Flesh Falls, No Ghost Lifts" rips after a beginning that imitates earth tremors of a zombie rising from a graveyard. The spoken parts lend a spooky edge before In Twilight's Embrace attempt to separate your banging head from your not so banging body. The short instrumental track "The Rift" seems misplaced as it finishes quickly. "The Great Leveller" concludes the album with some blackened death featuring evil raspy grunts and blast-beats aplenty.
In Twilight's Embrace mix of black metal and death metal is an evil concoction. The only time it didn't work as well as could have was when they used brevity on "The Rift". The lengthier tracks with their build-ups and slow downs work so much better for the band.
Just a few years after releasing their "Victimize the Innocent", (which the band themselves have uploaded on Youtube here and bandcamp here),Canadian four piece thrash metal band Hazzerd are back with their debut album, "Misleading Evil".
Hazzerd's full on thrash assault is of the Bay Area variety. The vocals share the spitting razor blades style of Exodus' Steve Souza and at times comparisons to Chuck Billy of Testament could also be made but the Souza stylings are much more prominent. Musically Hazzerd also look towards those bands beginning with the full on assault of "Tendencies of a Madman", which has some tasty guitar leads towards the end of the song. "Absolute Destruction" starts with a little guitar noodling then transforms into destroying thrash with some background gang vocals that can't help but bring "Fabulous Disaster" to mind although the background vocals aren't utilized on the Hazzerd tune to the same extent. In fact, "Absolute Destruction" changes path into an instrumental as the song reaches its conclusion. While the singer still sounds like Steve 'Zetro' Souza on "Execution of the Damned", the all-in parts are more reminiscent of "Practice What You Preach" era Testament. The contrast works in Hazzerd's favour but the complaint here is this track comes to a seemingly abrupt ending.
The album's title track "Misleading Evil" is a seven and a half minute instrumental that soars and thrashes although it really should have been snipped as it drags as much as Metallica's lengthier material. However, here's my major point of contention, it's difficult not to consider that naming the album after an instrumental track was a big mistake. An album title that gets stuck in your head due to a catchy chorus is a much better choice, eg: "Master of Puppets", "Fabulous Disaster", "Practice What You Preach", "Number of the Beast". It's difficult to imagine a world where thrash metal fanatics talk about Metallica's "Orion" album as a classic.
The intro to "The Fallen" is similar to Metallica''s buildups when they were on top of the thrash metal heap. The vocals are still very much in the Exodus mould but they're not a major part of this track, which instead features an abundance of guitar noodling and drum pummeling. "Under the Influence" is no holds barred thrash and it's easy to imagine smiles on both the band's faces and audience members as a moshpit goes crazy just in front of the stage.
The vocals take a slight turn on "Apocalypse Dawn" with the type of high pitched shriek that many a traditional band used to favour but thrashers can relax as thankfully this style isn't stuck with throughout. There's a definite Iron Maiden influence at work here (especially with the finishing "The Trooper" wooohooo vocals) although Hazzerd play much faster than those lazy old farts. Album finisher, "Road to Nowhere" thrashes a a whiplash inducing pace for a while but slows down to a basic rock drumbeat a little after the four minute mark allowing the drummer to catch his breath before the trashing commences again. A Kirk Hammet style guitar solo follows which once again which really means the song is too long and would have worked better if the band had cut the fat and the tune had come to an end around the four or five minute market instead of pushing for Metallica style excess.
As Hazzerd appear to be a young band, it will be interesting to see how they develop their sound as Hazzerd are definitely on top of their game on headbanging tracks like "Under the Influence" and"Absolute Destruction", so the songwriting skill is there. It just needs to be honed further to stand out in the retro-thrash crowd.
Sometimes, it takes a while to discover or uncover music just due to the sheer amount available. What I'm trying to get at, is that this isn't debut album and when "A Battle Won" landed on my desk, it was the first time I have heard Swedish ban
d, Binary Creed but I'm sure I can be forgiven since the band formed in 2013 and this album is only their second. Binary Creed sit firmly in the Progressive Power Metal box.
Singer Andreas Stoltz sins in a operatic style that brings Michael Kiske from Helloween to mind. A number of tracks remind me of Helloween but Binary Creed take themselves more seriously lyrically than early Helloween took themselves. There's a touch of Geoff Tate to Stoltz's vocals on "In A Time to Come". The song is slow and allows the vocals to shine but also features a great guitar solo finally fading out with keyboards. The song's follow up "The Fallen King"is a wall of metallic power metal which is propelled along with both strong vocals and a heavy guitar sound with the drummer keeping the beat as the band all move in direction together.
"The Ones to Bleed"is a catchy mid-tempo head nodding rocker. "A Better Man" starts with some rocking out distortion but slows down to power ballad speed. There are moments where Stoltz goes a little Ronnie James Dio but ends up deciding Kiske is more his style. It does suit him but it would have been nice to hear the man and maybe the entire band go full Dio . "These Hands"is reminiscent of Kamelot's style of power metal with a slightly laid back yet still showy approach to the singer's vocal talents.
Binary Creed are clearly great musicians and showcase their talent but they do sound a little too much like other bands rather than having their own distinct sound. However, power and progressive metal fans will lap this album up.
My initial thought upon perusing MRTVI's chosen handle was that they would somehow be influenced by Iggy Pop and The Stooges but in their Serbian and UK dwelling places MRTVI have their collective feet within the realm of experimental black metal. The members of MRTVI say this of their "Negative Atonal Dissonance" 3 track release.
"Negative Atonal Dissonance" is not an album. It is a statement, a philosophy, an experiment; a rejection and reaction to the current trends within the mainstream and underground alike. Extreme metal has painted itself into a corner. Production values that serve no other purpose other than to sound recognisable and palatable. Arrangements, rhythms and harmonies that are more concerned with being identifiable and 'viable' than with originality. In an infinite universe, music is endless; a spectrum of emotion, of atmosphere, a vibrational connection running through and joining all frequencies; a spiritual, meditative practice, a dream and a nightmare connecting the creation with the creative force..."
The first track "As Consciousness is Harnessed Pt1" is very much experimental music and will have black metalists pondering whether this is true metal or just as kvlt as it gets. This track is stylistically closer to Einstürzende Neubauten than any black metal band. The second track which shares the same name as the first starts out very much in the black metal camp but then becomes much more chaotic and experimental. The production here could only really be described as raw. At times MRTVI convey a feeling of minimalism, the drums sound like drumsticks banging on a desk and at the other times it sounds like a kettle is being hit. The lengthy tracks combined with the black metal requisite soundscape of bumblebees from hell convey an eternal living nightmare. If sounds like your cup of black metal tea, the second track on MRTVI's bandcamp page linked below.
Australian band Screamfeeder have been knocking and playing their brand of indie pop for about for quarter of a century. The combination of male and female vocalists has drawn comparisons to The Go-Betweens however for many Screamfeeder songs the female voice is upfront rather than relegated to the background.
The band mix up the style of their song without straying far from indie pop territory. There's a definite Pixies influence seeping through the tunes "Falling" and a touch of the poppier side of Husker Du in "Got a Feeling". "Going to California" is a quick punk style burst with a heavy dosage of pop.
Prepare yourself for cake and booze, because the distorted "Making it Up" is a good cause for fans of Australian indie pop as it looks to Australia's indie pop past as it contains a hint of Grant McClennan without feeling like a carbon copy of what has gone before.
While there is variation between the songs on "Pop Guilt" which takes away any boring sameness, there's a lingering feeling that editing this album and chopping a number of songs would have been much a better move than lengthening the album by providing bonus tracks.
If you've been involved in the metal underground since the days that metal fanzines were printed on paper then there's a good chance that you've heard of German noisecore band Blood especially since the band released their first record on the US label Wild Rags records back in 1989 and at the time the label seemed to be in every metal fanzine.
Vic Records recently released their fourth album "Mental Conflicts"which the band released back in 1994 finds the band utilizing both grindcore and slowing down and edging towards death metal within their rotting musical stew so it's not all fast and furious. As the best Blood tracks are short and quick bursts that's the review over.
On this four song EP, the circle of life is evident. Boston band Black Helicopter take their sound from 80's indie/college rock. Comparisons to Pavement, Husker Du and Dinosaur Junior will be made by many when they tune into the EP's opener "And I > Drive At Night". There's an undeniable geeky indie rock feel to both "Not Kewl Who"and "Show of Hams". "Not Kewl Who" comes across as a stripped back to the basics and much rawer version of Weezer. The follow-up song "Show of Hams" has a similar sense of fun and also a similar sound to the Violent Femmes. At times the vocals are reminiscent of Gordon Gano. The album's title track closes the album and it's a lengthy instrumental with a quirkiness that doesn't make the track outwear its welcome.
Right now you can listen to the album on bandcamp for free for a limited time so if any of the mentioned bands are of interest you should check out Black Helicopter's latest musical offering below.
Sometimes you get a knockout punch first blow from a band with their first track and the dirty noise wasn't delivered in the title track which opens this album by Londoners HAG. The song has a heavy Pink Floyd influence running through it although there is a grungier feel. Think Soundgarden's "Down On The Upside" album. The second song is an unbathed version of Rage Against the Machine with a heavy Cows noise-rock dirtying proceedings even further. There's a dirty grunge metal heart beating through "Rainbow Dust", Once again think Soundgarden but go back to their earlier work. "Trauma Yauma" is damned heavy and kicks close to High on Fire's unashamed metal. The slightly rapped parts betray the metal leanings of the tune. There's a definite heavy stoner-metal heart to "White Lion" which rips and aims and shoots straight for the throat. This is easily the stand-out track of the album.
The riffing throughout "Fear of Man" assault the senses with the dirty sludge that will make many a metal fan as happy as a pig caked in mud.
Any dedicated record collector will deny that old adage "You can't judge an album by its cover" and then tell you a story about the album or albums that they bought solely because of the cover and then they found out that the music was also solid and the purchase was worth it for more than just the artwork. From the moment I laid eyes on the cover of the second album from UK band Reign of Fury, I didn't know whether it would be death or thrash metal but I suspected it would be right up my alley and knew it would be one of the two metal sub-genres. Reign of Fury are not death but straight up no-nonsense thrash metal.
The band's sound is very much 80's metal. There's a little bit of "And Justice For All" Metallica here and there. At times vocalist Bison Steed sounds like a youthful James Hetfield. A number of the all-in shouts hark back to Tesament's "Practice What You Preach" which followed the Metallica blueprint that countless bands were following back in the day. Remember UK metallers Onslaught's "In Search of Sanity" album? Metallica had a song called "Frayed Ends of Sanity" and Reign of Fury have a song called "Gates of Sanity". Reign of Fury clearly aren't looking to reinvent the wheel and just want you to headbang along to their thrash and with songs like "Hypnotise the Masses" they succeed at their goal. Bison's vocals are melodic although not in the Joey Belladonna style and fit the band's Bay Area style of thrash. The bridges work well and the band are tight as hell.
"All is Lost" is the obligatory ballad. Haha, remember on "Practice What You Preach" that Testament simply named theirs "The Ballad". Reign of Fury's ballad does speed up into more traditional metal territory. For straight out thrash, it's difficult to go past "The Love of a Dying God", with its speedy intro and all-in shouts. The tempo does slow down a little but it's only so the band catch a small breath so that they can speed up again. The band works the slow/fast dynamics really well in this particular tune making it one of the album's highlights. "Sorrow Made Flesh" cops a number of Metallica riffs but it isn't quite paint by numbers as Reign of Fury manage to inject a little of their own style there largely due to Bison's vocals. The title track "Death Be They Shepherd" is the longest track on the album and clocks in at over ten minutes. Fortunately the band knowing when to speed up and when to slow down doesn't make the song seem quite that long
Reign of Fury might not be setting any new ground but in this day and age, what recent thrash metal band does? Reign of Fury and "Death Be Thy Shepherd" should be checked out for those looking for decent late 80's style thrash metal or just solid thrash metal. The full album is streaming on the bandcamp link below so check it out.
Spanish band Tears of Martyr are musically very much in the same symphonic metal band mode as Nightwish and Leave's Eyes. A major factor of the band's present sound is the female soprano singing style of Berenice Musa. She's not the only vocalist but is her voice that contributes to a major factor of the band's sound.
When a male vocalist enters the picture in "Golem" there is a nu-metal feel fortunately it's only a small snippet of the sound. The vocal delivery in "Mermeid and Loneliness" is incredibly operatic and the whole band don't come across very well. It's difficult not to imagine the "Metal or Die" crowd running for cover with their fingers in their ears when the band plays this song live. The contrast of the dirty male and cleaner more operatic female voice works well on "Vampires of the Sunset Street" as does the spoken word interlude, which gives the song a fairy-tale feel. "And Ravens Born" uses the same techniques and it comes across really well as the spoken male voice adds a doom metal element.
The operatic style doesn't always mix well with the band's more metallic leanings. If you want to sell your Grandmother on metal, this album would be the one to convert her with. Fans of Nightwish, Leave's Eyes and other female fronted symphonic metal bands will want to give this one a look into. However, those seeking grittier metal will want to stay well clear. That the band actually has their own website is a huge plus in this day and age.
San Francisco melodic punk rock band, Songs For Snakes are back with a new album. The Husker Du and Jawbreaker influences are still shine clear. The band's knack of writing tight catchy songs certainly hasn't disappeared.
There's a Simon and Garfunkel fights 90's Epitaph pop punk and wins feel to "Small Talker". In case you were wondering, this is actually a good thing. "A Perfect State" has Husker Du written all over it. A poppy indie feel washes over "A Caffiene Sugar Mean" due to the jangly guitars coupled with the bouncy rhythms. For my money, album closer and title song, "The Year of The Snake" is the highlight of the album.
Although as an album "The Year of The Snake" is a good listen it's difficult to shake the feeling that there are too many songs on offer here and it'd have been a much stronger album if about three songs had been cut.
Instrumental albums have always been tricky beasts to review. New Yorkers Clouds Taste Satanic wear their influences and sound a lot like "Dopesmoker era Sleep. There's that same Sabbath at a turtle's pace vibe over two long songs. That's one more than "Dopersmoker" had! However, it's clear at times that these guys come from a post-rock background and ambience takes over as heaviness isn't always the goal. The two songs are an enjoyable listening experience.
3/5
The band are selling CD's from their bandcamp site.
