A perfect soundtrack for crying.

Bell Witch

Mirror Reaper

 Seattle based two piece Bell Witch have been making miserable music for a number of years now. Their extremely down tempo brand of Funeral Doom is both powerful and haunting at the same time. Over their tenure they have dealt with the themes such as ghosts, supernatural events, life, death and loss within their music. After their former drummer Adrian Guerra passed away last year these themes took on a much more cathartic meaning. Although he had already made his departure from the band the loss hit Dylan Desmond hard and Mirror Reaper is the first album the band has released since his passing and is dedicated to his memory. What they produced in this record is an extremely fitting and heart felt piece of art. Mirror Reaper is not for the feint of heart. This 86 minute long single track composition is challenging and the requires undivided attention of the listener (preferably in a darkened room). However the payoff from this album is definitely worthwhile. As is to be expected with a Bell Witch, Mirror Reaper is a slow and methodical piece of music building on themes and motifs throughout the entirety of the track. In many ways it isn't as heavy as some of their previous works, employing even thicker ethereal atmosphere than previous with extended lighter guitar sections and dizzying amounts of amounts of reverb. Whilst the addiction of organs add an almost mass like quality, like the listener is being given a peek into some kind of dark ceremony. This doesn't mean however that Mirror Reaper isn't a heavy record. Passages of crushingly heavy guitars are paired up with thunderous and methodically deliberate drums. Low inhuman guttural roars or echoed shrieks often sound like they coming straight from a dungeon. These harsh vocals are balanced perfectly with stunning clean vocals that deliver abstract and melancholic lyrics. Chanted vocals in the later half of the record add too the aura of a ceremony for the listener. The atmosphere in the record is palpable from start to finish managing to be both haunting and beautiful. Album artwork is something a don't really cover in any of my reviews, but the artwork for this album feels like a perfect accompaniment to the music. An eerie image reminiscent of the art of Zdzisław Beksiński that reveals more depth the more time you spend looking at it.  As I've already mentioned Mirror Reaper Is an incredibly cathartic piece of work. It feels introspective and mournful  but in many ways isn't as bleak as previous Bell Witch releases. The cathartic nature of the record almost feeling uplifting, especially in the latter half. You can feel the emotion that has been poured into Mirror Reaper... and what that amounts to ultimately is a haunting and accomplished work of art. 

FFO; Ahab, Mournful Congregation, Nortt

9/10 

BA'AL THO...

Ba'al

In Gallows By Mass

Ba'al have been a name whispered on the UK metal scene for a while now. This post metal quintet from Sheffield have quietly been making a name for themselves over the past year or so through  their  sporadic yet heartfelt and enigmatic live shows. So far their sludge infused take on post metal has managed to win over audiences, leaving many people wanting to finally see a studio release. Well, the wait is over as Ba'al become the next member of the ever growing APF family with their debut EP In Gallows By Mass. This 3 track EP clocks in at just over 30 minutes and in that time Ba'al manage to deliver much have what they have become known for during their time on the live circuit. Each track is a journey in it's own right, building upon motifs and taking the listener through passages of spacious post rock up to the more crushing ends of sludge metal. Songs twist and turn from being ethereal and introspective before the guitars and drums swoop in to deliver much chunkier metal and breakdowns. Steffan's vocals throughout the EP mirror this format, with his ability to switch between echoey yet soaring clean vocals to throaty screeches, whilst the lyrics seem to mirror the introspective nature of the music. The EPs highlight, closing track Days Of Yore, takes all of these elements to create a triumphantly building track that journeys through everything that Ba'al has to offer. In Gallows By Mass isn't an EP without issues though. Unfortunately some areas do feel like they need tightening up slightly, especially the timing from the drums on the odd occasion. The production does also leave something to be desired and I can't help thinking some of the heavier passages would feel heavier if the EP was produced slightly different. Having said that In Gallows By Mass is still a decent post metal EP and a decent debut effort as well. 

FFO: Cult of Luna, Hundred Year Old Man, Bossk, Isis 

7/10

In Gallows By Mass is available from the 11th of November on CD and digital formats through APF

As heavy as a really heavy thing

Primitive Man

Caustic

Colorado three piece Primitive Man have been attacking the metal scene with their depressing, violent, misanthropic take on sludge metal for a number of years now. This is a band that has made a name for themselves by making extremely heavy terse music and performing dark and sinister live shows. The bands latest full length offering, Caustic, doesn't breakaway from this tradition. Right from the word go you are hit in the face with a tonne of feedback that breaks into crushingly heavy guitars on opening track My Will. The vocals are a terrifying mix of low inhuman growls and gutturals. This paired with the slow, methodical and crushingly heavy guitars helps to create the uneasy and claustrophobic atmosphere that Primitive Man are known for. The sound they manage to create often feels like it sits somewhere between Sludge metal and Funeral Doom. The entire album is uncomfortably tense. Despite the slow pace of the album the drummer manages to earn his keep, never missing an opportunity to fit in flurrys of drum fills in between the slow caveman-like crashes and slams. The album does also find room to pick up the pace with vicious bursts of grindcore, these moments make up some of the highlights of the album such as the closing section of second track The Victim and track from deeper in the album Sterility. I'm also personally very fond of the fact that their are several named tracks on the album, Caustic, Ash and closing track Absolutes entirely dedicated to harsh and uncomfortable feedback. Absolutes especially, a track close to the nine minute mark and made up entirely of samples, yawning ambient noise and feedback is another highlight and a great way to close an already tense album. This isn't to say however that it isn't an album without its problems. Caustic is an incredibly long album clocking in at close to an hour and twenty minutes and with a large number of tracks that are over the ten minute mark. This makes for an incredibly exhausting musical experience especially once you manage to get about three quarters of the way through the record. I think in a lot of ways Primitive mans music may lend itself better to the EPs and Splits we are used to them releasing as apposed to a full length album like this. That doesn't change the fact that Caustic is still an extremely heavy album and definitely a worthwhile listen for fans of Primitive Man and any fan of extremely heavy music.


FFO: Thou, Seabastard, Meth Drinker, Corrupted

7/10

Remember... they own your scene...

Iron Monkey

9-13

Anyone with a passing interest in sludge metal know who Iron Monkey were. Their aggressive brand of metal, dark cryptic lyrics and gargled black bile spewed out as vocals have made an indelible mark on the UK underground metal scene. This along with the band's incredibly short tenure after the untimely death of twistedly charismatic front man Johnny Morrow has given the band a mystique that  helped garner their cult status. The band's reformation in January of this year was met with a considerable amount of excitement and intrigue but after they announced their comeback album, 9-13, the cracks began to show and the whole affair started to split opinion. For the most part the album delivers what we would expect from an Iron Monkey release. Opening track crown of electrodes kicks off the tone with  a hardcore flurry before breaking into the meat of the album. The album is full low end groovy riffs played on crunchy distorted guitars that jolt and lurch their way through each track. The tempo swings between a slow trudge and faster paced hardcore sections. The vocals are probably the most interesting aspect of the entire album which is a pleasant surprise. The distorted snarls and gargles of Jim Rushby are distinctly his own as he delivers confrontational lyrics alongside straight howls and unsettling laughter. However, it doesn’t take long to realise that Iron Monkey don’t have a great deal of anything new to show us. Only a few tracks into the album the songs become repetitive and very formulaic as certain patterns emerge. The unremarkable drums are one of the blandest parts of the album. This isn’t to say that it  doesn’t have its highlights. Track 7, The Rope, is one of the high points of the album as it rolls in straight off the previous track and feels like an extended uneasy breakdown with it’s slow trudge and unsettling vocals which are mostly lyric-less growls and the track title barked in pain. For the most part however the album really does have very little to show us. It’s not necessarily a bad album… Just an incredibly average album which in a lot of ways feels worse. The whole album has an air of complacency about it, like the bare minimum effort has been put in to make a passable sludge metal album. Unfortunately something that has also worked to the album’s detriment is the inability to leave any preconceptions behind when listening to it. Because of Iron Monkey’s “legendary” status for certain fans this album was never going to be an easy sell. The band's general arrogance on the lead to this album hasn’t done anything to ease any of this apprehension. Comments like “we own your scene” have managed to turn a lot of people cold to the idea of Iron Monkey comeback. When framed with miscalculations and missteps like this even the album cover has an air of cynicism about it. Unfortunately with a band like Iron Monkey, for better or for worse, the expectations were always going to be high. It’s near impossible to recapture lightning in a bottle and this album goes a long way to proving that.

5/10

Mastiff are better than your band.

Mastiff

BORK

Seemingly bursting out of nowhere Mastiff have been making a huge name for themselves on the live music circuit with their dark brand of metal and intimidating live performances. By their own admission this hate sludge quintet from hull are a miserable band from a miserable town. Not here to make friends and definitely not here to make party music these lads have set out to carve their own black festering mark on the UK metal scene. Their first recorded effort Wrank acted as a kind of mission plan, giving listeners just a taste of the hostility yet to come. Mastiffs upcoming EP, BORK, makes good on all of these threats. Everything is turned up to 11... its nastier, more aggressive and more importantly heavier. Filled with downtuned heavy riffing and guitar tones so thick they will crack your teeth, BORK doesn't shy away from mixing up the tempos. Mastiff are able to switch from a methodical grinding trudge to faster paced hardcore beats at a moments notice all kept together by the tight drumming throughout the EP. This is one the things that is great about mastiff, they seem to have remembered the Hardcore punk roots of sludge bands like Eyehategod, Buzzoven and graveyard rodeo that many modern sludge bands seem to  have forgotten. Tracks like Nil By Mouth and Threats show their chops as a hardcore band just as much as a sludge band. All this is coupled with the confrontational, nihilistic lyrics. Jim's vocals throughout the EP sound great with his ability to switch between aggressive barks, piercing shrieks and gut wrenching low growls that at times almost sound inhuman. Blazing through the 6 tracks on the EP, BORK barely gives the listener time to breath, creating a dark and claustrophobic atmosphere throughout and eventually reaching a crescendo when yawning feedback breaks into the final track Eternal Regret. An excellent way to close out the EP, this track almost feels like a ballad compared to the rest of the album and with heavy shades of introspection and self loathing as the title suggests. Bork is one of the heaviest things to be released this year and with how heavy the EP sounds its almost unbelievable that the entire thing was recorded in two days! For fans of real sludge metal BORK is a really exciting EP. This isn't another wish washy affair from a band that don't know whether they want to be stoner, sludge or doom whilst somehow missing the point of all three. Mastiff know exactly what they want and what they want is to produce real nihilistic sludge metal, which in my opinion is something the UK music scene needs more of. There is no bullshit, there is no pretension... just pure fucking hatred. 

FFO: Eyehategod, Buzzoven, Seven Sisters Of Sleep, Methdrinker, Noothgrush, Fistula

9/10

BORK will be released on the 31st of august available in physical and digital formats through APF records.

Melancholic echoes in the distance

Jon Vernon

Every Living Creature Dies Alone

No one can accuse Jon Vernon of being lazy. Drumming in a successful metalcore band whilst also providing his talents in a two piece grind band and an amp worshiping post black metal band has shown us not only his versatility as a drummer but also his amazing work ethic. Amazingly along with all of this he has found time to be producing a solo music as well! Every Living Creature Dies Alone, now Jon's second solo effort exploring ambient and electronic ideas, is an EP that feels like it has two distinct halves. The opening tracks Emissary and Glassworks make up the first cohesive half of this EP pairing ambient noises with melodic strings, pianos and building to a thickly layered burst of post rock at the end of the first track with searing guitars. Glassworks carries over the motifs of the first track but pairing the pianos with an off kilter drum beat making for a sound that is strangely beautiful and the highlight of the EP. The next track, Song Of The Lord, acts as an interlude with its samples of religious ramblings and bell chimes eventually making way for the closing track. White Coffin is an epic fourteen minute track that takes further exploration into moody ambient vibes but this time with a distinctly eastern flavour with addiction of oriental strings. Without warning the EP closes with a jarring burst of harsh noise that jolts the listener out of their melancholic malaise in a most unceremonious and uncomfortable way and brought a wry smile to my face. Melancholic is probably the best way to describe Every Living Creature Dies alone. It's a moody and dramatic exploration into down-tempo and ambient music. Its an EP that is incredibly sure of itself and definitely in a good way. He manages to blend electronic and live instruments near seamlessly and It feels like an incredibly accomplished piece of music with complete and articulate musical ideas. Every Living Creature Dies Alone is an incredibly exciting EP and personally I can't wait to see where Jon takes this solo project.   

FFO: Aphex Twin, The Orb, Lustmord, The Body, Godspeed You! Black Emperor 

8/10   

Listen to Every Living Creature Dies Alone for yourself now. Available to stream and download through Jon's bandcamp.

The spirit of Motorhead lives on!!!

Blind Haze

The Bastard EP

After high kicking their way onto the scene a few years ago Blind Haze have made steady waves in the UK music scene with their high octane take on hard rock and energetic live shows. After a previous single and EP release and with a new guitarist in tow this Leeds trio now have their third offering with The Bastard EP. Right off the bat as the EP kicks of with the opening track Never Getting Out Alive the first noticable thing that really sets this apart from previous Blind Haze releases is the production quality. This cleaner production is something Blind Haze really benefits from. Conan's graveled vocals and the guitars sound much thicker and not a moment of the drums are lost. The pace of the EP is relentless as we are hammered with amphetamine fueled riffs and the double kick of the bass drum. The tempo only ever slows down to a jogging pace on the tracks Crawling Through Hellfire and You Can't Have It. Blind Haze predominately deliver Motorhead worshiping hard rock and this EP is no exception. Graveling vocals, power chord bass, break neck speeds and a live fast die young attitude can all be found on The Bastard EP. Even the title of the EP feels like a nod to Motorhead. But in my opinion if you are going to pay homage to any band it might as well be the greatest band in the world! having said all this Blind Haze still manage to bring something of their own flavour to this sound. John's slick and tight guitar solos that are scattered throughout the EP are distinctly his own and occasional moments of groove add slight stoner tinge to the sound whilst the drums also carry Jason's signature with his equally slick drum fills and unrelenting double bass peddle. This adds something of a modern edge to this extremely classic sound. All in all This EP is much like Blind Haze's live show... It's tonnes of fun, packed full of energy and well worth your time. So grow out your side burns, bust out the Jack Daniels and put on The Bastard EP!

FFO: Motorhead, Speedwolf, Midnight

7/10

listen to The Bastard EP for yourself now, available in CD and Digital formats through APF Records