ALARUM – Recontinue Review by: Shell Dahlia Review Score: 8.5 Melbourne progressive metal outfit ‘Alarum’ have released their fourth studio album entitled ‘Recontinue.’ This
The Swedish band Portrait is poised to release their sixth full-length album, The Host. Formed in 2005, they infuse a modern flair into their classic heavy metal sound. For newcomers to Portrait, the influences of early Mercyful Fate and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal are evident. The vocals of Per Lengstedt resonate with the power and operatic quality reminiscent of Bruce Dickinson‘s solo work, with a hint of King Diamond‘s falsetto.
This album is the first concept album for the band. According to guitarist and founding member Christian Lindell it’s a story dating back to 17th century Sweden. “It’s an occult tale of sword and sorcery”.
Guitarist Karl Gustafsson makes his debut with Portrait on this album. Rounding out the band is Fredrik Petersson on bass and Anders Persson on drums.
The album begins with a slow instrumental that sets the tone, before diving into ‘The Blood Covenant,’ which bursts forth with energetic guitar leads, setting a rapid pace reminiscent of early Mercyful Fate. Vocalist Per Lengstedt unleashes Halford-esque screams, while the dual guitar work of Lindell and Gustafsson takes center stage in this explosive opening track.
‘Oneiric Visions’ blasts out some Maiden like galloping riffs and Lengstedt shows the King Diamond influences showing some falsetto vocals.
‘One Last Kiss’ begins as a gentle ballad before transitioning into a robust, melodic semi-ballad, reminiscent of Dickinson’s solo work. Lengstedt’s performance notably reaches epic heights. ‘Sound The Horn’ stands out as a fast, heavy track, characterized by galloping riffs and exuding the speed and emotion typical of Portrait’s classic sound.
The album concludes with the epic 11-minute track ‘The Passions of Sophia’. As one might anticipate, this track showcases a variety of tempo and mood shifts, demonstrating that the band’s skills extend beyond straightforward, tradition-rich metal songs. This particular song reveals their progressive tendencies more than any other on the album.
Spanning approximately 70 minutes and comprising 13 tracks (plus intro), the album is a testament to the band’s evolution, showcasing their maturing music and songwriting with each new release. Brimming with traditional metal sounds and exceptional musicianship, it features a dynamic range of tempos, from galloping riffs to melodic interludes and complex guitar solos. The album is sure to satisfy long-time fans and attract newcomers alike. The recording of the album took place at JFK Studio in Sweden, while singer Per Lengstedt oversaw the mixing and production at his Perilous Productions Studio.
The Host releases June 21st on Metal Blade Records. Pre Order HERE
ALBUM REVIEW – DEICIDE
Deicide – Banished By Sin
Reviewed By: Jon Santitoro
Review Score: 9.5
Since crashing onto the scene with their self-titled debut album in 1990, Deicide have been synonymous with death metal. Their punishing live set, blasphemous lyrics and savage musicianship have won them legions of fans during the course of their legendary career. And despite various setbacks, controversies and multiple lineup changes at the guitarist position; front man Glen Benton (bass, vocals) and drummer Steve Asheim remain very much at top of their game. Rounded out by the uncompromising guitar tandem of Kevin Quirion and Taylor Nordberg; Deicide have finally returned with their long-awaited new album, Banished By Sin. And they have never sounded better.
At it’s core, Banished By Sin is a powerful tour-de-force of tight, catchy, old-school death metal; very much in the vein of Deicide‘s debut. The cohesiveness in the songwriting is quickly evident, and the recording production is stellar. Glen’s bass lines sound great in the mix, the guitar work provided by Taylor and Kevin is top-notch, and Steve is his usual, precision-guided bomb self. In true Deicide fashion, the songs are short, focused and hold the listener’s attention with relentless intensity.
The lead-off track, ‘From Unknown Heights You Shall Fall’, opens with a short intro that rapidly builds in intensity and seamlessly leads into the “backbone” riff. This is a great opening track that serves as the perfect harbinger of things to come. This one is both ferocious and infectiously catchy; grabbing the listener’s attention immediately and never letting go.
‘Doomed To Die’ is an unabashed throwback to Deicide‘s formative years, featuring vocal patterns reminiscent of ‘Sacrificial Suicide’. A solid track that longtime fans will no doubt enjoy.
‘Sever The Tongue’ is a groove-laden sledgehammer that heavily features Glen’s trademark dual-layered vocals and should be quite the crowd pleaser in Deicide‘s live set. It’s well suited to be a single, and showcases the band’s versatility and willingness to experiment somewhat with their signature sound.
The highlight of the entire album could very well be ‘Faithless’; a brilliant standout that features ingenious riffing, otherworldly leads, and Steve’s masterful drum work. ‘Faithless’ highlights both the band’s technical prowess and songwriting chemistry in a way seldom demonstrated among the old guard death metal bands.
Following ‘Faithless’ is ‘Bury the Cross…With Your Christ’, an energetic anthem that will suit the band’s live set very well. Some tracks are just written to be performed live, and this one seems tailor-made for the pit.
‘Woke From God’ is an interesting, high energy track that combines elements of Deicide‘s older sound with the newer, more progressive stylings not unlike their ‘Homage For Satan’ single. This is a rather innovative song that gets better with every listen.
The back half of the album is equally as strong as the front, starting off with the stompy, multi-faceted, ‘Ritual Defied’. This track is a monster, with Kevin and Taylor supplying killer work on both lead and rhythm guitar.
The following track, ‘Failures Of Your Dying Lord’, is probably the most catchy, thrashy song on the album. If not for Glen’s scathing death metal vocals, this one could have easily graced any major thrash album of the early to mid 90’s. This one is likely to be a fan favorite, and staple of Deicide‘s live show in the future.
The title track is a mid-tempo stomper with a different flavor of guitar work that once again showcases the band’s ability to diversify and expand upon their sound. An interesting choice to bear the album’s name; but a tight, thrashy track worth spinning multiple times nonetheless.
Deicide kicks up the tempo again with ‘A Trinity Of None’ and then returns to a more “meat and potatoes” approach with ‘I Am I… A Curse Of Death’, with both tracks harnessing the fury and power of the band’s take-no-prisoners approach to death metal songwriting. Steve handles the various tempo changes and odd time signatures throughout the album masterfully, like the world-class musician he is.
Finally, Banished By Sin closes out with ‘The Light Defeated’, a classic OSDM opus highlighted by epic guitar leads and the punishing rhythm section of Glen and Steve powering forward like a Panzer tank without regard for human safety.
Overall, Banished By Sin is an excellent album that hammers home Deicide’s relevance in the world of death metal, and should very much be in the conversation for AOTY consideration. This is, without a doubt, the album that both old-school death metal fans and longtime Deicide fans have been waiting for, and could easily be considered an “instant classic”. Very well done, indeed!
Melvins experiment with their songwriting on Tarantula Heart as they are one of the most legendary alternative rock bands out there. They have been active for quite a long time, and they also have inspired musicians who went on to define generations, including Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Despite achieving widespread acclaim and success, Melvins never bowed down to any trend or market, and they continued to do exactly what they wanted to do over the years, and that is – creating uncompromising music that keeps pushing the limits. They will never blend in with the mainstream and that is why we love them.
The cult band has recently announced a new album named Tarantula Heart. The album was recorded, mixed, and produced by long time Melvins collaborator Toshi Kasai at The Sound of Sirens Studio in Los Angeles. The cool album cover art was created by Mackie Osborn.
This record features many special guests, which seems to be a new way for the Melvins to keep exploring ideas and expand their sound. Most notably, this new record features two drum kits, creating an even more exciting barrage of aggressive sounds and grooves.
Analyzing this album in the usual manner is somewhat challenging though due to its unique creation process, but I am going to do it! The opening track ‘Pain Equals Funny’ dominates a significant portion of the record, showcasing a structured and doom/psych-influenced sound. It’s a twisted masterpiece. It could even be considered a standalone piece of work. Following this, ‘Working the Ditch’ takes the next spot, lacking in melody but compensating with its solid structure that adheres to the typical conventions of a rock song.
The remainder of the album spirals into a bit of disarray with the track ‘She’s Got Strange Arms’, a standout song title for sure. This is where the album could potentially lose a listener, especially if it’s a new one as it leans more towards a heavy chorus and a barrage of beats rather than a traditional song structure. The same goes for the song ‘Smiler’.
One of the previously released singles from the album is titled ‘Allergic to Food’ and it feels like a great introduction to what people can expect from the aesthetics of this record overall. The free form guitar jam in the intro is reminiscent of something that Black Flag would’ve concocted during Greg Ginn’s most experimental period – the song hits hard with a unique form of controlled chaos, the kind that only Melvins are seemingly able to conjure up to such a high degree of freedom and aggression in their music.
Many of the songs on this record have more of a metal twist, also thanks to the contributions of drummer Roy Mayorga, known for his work with bands, like Ministry, Stone Sour and Soulfly among others. According to King Buzzo, the frontman of the group, another notable difference between Tarantula Heart and many other Melvin records is the creative approach. He previously explained that the band would normally hear the songs, learn the material, and then approach the recording studio. However, Tarantula Heart was different in the way the Melvins developed their jams into fully finished tracks, writing new music to fit the jams as they were being created.
CONCLUSION Tarantula Heart stands out as a testament to the band’s continual commitment when it comes to blending metal, punk, and experimental rock. The result is a mighty fusion of distorted guitars, pounding drums, and raw energy, which feels right at home with the rest of the Melvins discography.
Gloryhammer brought the fun and the heat from Europe to Toronto on Tuesday night, with outstanding touring support from Sweden’s Twilight Force and local openers Ammo.
AMMO The perfect local opener for this show blending in unique Toronto-styled heavy metal, paying homage to all of the bands from around the world before them but with modern flare, a Toronto edge, and lots of feeling. Ammo absolutely got the crowd ramped up right from the start, continuing throughout the performance, even gaining the acknowledgement of the most staunch metalhead in the crowd with fists in the air and headbanging all around. At one point, viewing the crowd from the back of the venue and observing things, after the first three songs, Ammo absolutely had the crowd in the palm of their hands.
Alex, the vocalist, has endless vocals for days and a barrage of stage banter to match the outstanding vocals, bringing in the same level of screams as heavy metal legends who’ve been singing for decades. Brett, the guitarist with the orange guitar, much like Alex, just screams away on the guitar with endless riffs, endless grooves, and a better head of hair than anyone else in the crowd. Jeff on bass just sounded so massive on the Phoenix sound system, just thumping away the whole performance from start to finish. Matt, the other guitarist and the newest member of the band, would absolutely blow your mind with how seamless he plays in the band, all business and compliments, playing back and forth with Brett all throughout the performance. Last but certainly not least, Struan plays like an absolute timepiece, effortlessly playing the drums to the point where, multiple times throughout the performance, having the time to provide faces that would express Struan is having fun rather than work behind the kit.
Speaking of Struan, mid set it was brought to the Toronto crowd’s attention that it was Struan’s birthday. With the request from Alex, the Toronto crowd delivered all the happy feels to Struan on his special day, coming together and singing happy birthday.
Together, this five-piece local Toronto heavy metal band put on a consistent, headbanging, and just flat-out fun performance. I can’t wait for the next performance, which thankfully is later this month at the Bovine, as proclaimed by Alex mid-set, and most importantly, can’t wait to see the new music from this fully-loaded, well-polished, and standard-setting Toronto heavy metal band. Bravo!
Setlist Tombstone City, Into Death, Street Metal Werewolves, Doomsayer, Mortis Rex, Empire, Too Metal For Metal
TWILIGHT FORCE This concert is my first time even hearing this band, and it’s music live and in person. This band, full of story-telling through songs and in-between songs, was in full LARP (Live-Action Role-Playing) style costumes and caused a lot of crowd-going members to dress up as well. Each member came out one by one, to the roar and delight of the Toronto crowd, and at the end of band introductions, new vocalist Kristin absolutely burst out onto stage horns first, seemingly with the same amount of energy someone would need to run a marathon.
Within the first minute of the first song, the Toronto crowd was deafeningly loud, singing the songs word for word and creating a lot of vibrations with movement and stomping feet to the degree that the floor was vibrating, which is not an easy feat in any venue. Twilight Force cruised through the setlist, getting to the first part of addressing the crowd, to which Kristin let the uninformed know that the main vocalist, Allyon, was MIA for this tour due to family issues. To this point in the performance and to the end of the performance, I was hard-pressed to believe that this band had a missing vocalist. Seriously, that impressive. Kristin absolutely belted through the songs, singing in all the ranges from the most gentle operatic voice, so something more fitting of the horns on their head, growls from down below.
Both guitarists, Aerendir and Lynd absolutely brought a new flavour of guitar work and symphonic power metal throughout the performance. Trading off rhythms, riffs, and melodies back and forth absolutely hooked me in. Born, the bassist and no argument here, the most photogenic in the band complemented the strings throughout the performance, genuinely expressing a lot of happiness in the reception from the Toronto crowd. De’Azsh, on drums, just brought the sound of a dragon, roaring through as easily as the loudest member of the band. Last but certainly not least, Blackwald plays the keyboard backing vocals and also fills in the blanks with stories in-between songs. For someone who is standing in one spot almost the whole performance, Blackwald easily did the most work.
A highlight of this performance was ‘Dragonborn’. Kristin, and the band threw an inflatable pool dragon into the crowd, and the Toronto crowd played with it too much, causing it to deflate by the end of the performance. There was lots of joy and laughter over this from the Toronto crowd. Twilight Force definitely played its part as the supporting band for the main event, Gloryhammer. It definitely opened my eyes to wanting to check out more symphonic power metal, and I hope they come back to Toronto again. Swords, dragons, and LARP, oh my!
Setlist Dawn Of The Dragonstar, Twilight Force, Dragonborn, Thundersword, Flight Of The Sapphire Dragon, Sunlight Knight, At The Heart Of Wintervale, The Power Of The Ancient Force, Knights Of Twilight’s Might (outro)
GLORYHAMMER “Magical and cosmic” power metal, has a nice ring to it. The reason for this Red, White, And Hoots tour. Seemingly simple, but Hoots has somewhat of a cult following with this band and their interactions with the crowd. One of the stage hands dropped off a cut-out of Tom Jones, and on the p.a. ‘Delilah’ cranked through the speakers, a sign of the performance to come, as this crowd was laser focused and ready for this venue-sized karaoke session with Gloryhammer. High energy overtook the stage after the second intro, and the band was on a warp-speed path to deliver this set.
Right out of the gate after the first song, the comically large Gloryhammer came out with a goblin, who was easily defeated by Angus McFife on vocals, took the large hammer, and did lots of victory poses throughout the rest of the song, much to the delight of the Toronto crowd and me as a photographer selfishly. Vocally speaking, the new version of Angus McFife (the third) brought such energy, passion, and charisma, and it would be hard to say this is the new version and/or incarnation of the vocalist for Gloryhammer. Absolutely blended with the band as the newest member, and I would challenge any die-hard Gloryhammer fan to see if any errors were made.
The Hootsman on bass duties, an ominous figure on stage that absolutely commanded everyone’s attention with presence, costume, and sheer power of pounding the bass notes, I genuinely felt bad for the bass towards the end of the set for how much pounding happened! Ser Proletius on guitars, crazy how this band can sound like two guitarists are on stage, but Ser Proletius commands the guitar by themselves, playing everything to the letter and delivering the goods. Zargothrax on keyboards, evil, dark, and more evil than ever before, with five years away from the last Toronto performance, something really took over them from the last viewing; maybe it’s just the corpse paint. Last but certainly not least is Ralathor on drums, another drummer who makes it look easy; seriously, he looks as though he didn’t miss a note, didn’t have a care in the world, and just smashed through all the music.
The most surprising moment for me was the little break of hearing ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra (Richard Strauss song)’. If you are a wrestling fan, you know why, and of course I had to get a woo chant going, which worked from where I was standing in the back and traveled all the way to the front. Speaking of chants, multiple times through every song, random pockets of the crowd bellowed “HOOTS” (almost akin to random people screaming Slayer in the same vein).
Surprisingly, mosh pits happened during this performance, and while the band touched on every album in their discography, I would have lost money on no moshing at this show. The goblin also made a return by the end of the set, with a big, awesome hammer in tow, and got brained for troubling Angus. Good fun all around. This five-piece performing a near 90-minute set was the perfect set for a return to Toronto, who definitely believes in The Red, The White, And The HOOTS!
Setlist Delilah (Tom Jones song) (Intro #1), Incoming Transmission (Intro #2), Holy Flaming Hammer Of Unholy C, osmic Frost, Gloryhammer, The Land Of Unicorns, Fly Away, Angus McFife, Questlords of Inverness, Ride To The Galactic Fortress!, Sprach Zarathustra (Richard Strauss song), Wasteland Warrior Hoots Patrol, Fife Eternal, Masters Of The Galaxy, Sword Lord Of The Goblin Horde, The Siege Of Dunkeld (In Hoots We Trust), Keeper Of The Celestial Flame Of Abernethy, Universe On Fire, Hootsforce, The Unicorn Invasion Of Dundee, The National Anthem Of Unst
It may have only been a Tuesday night at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, but for the over 75% capacity crowd who no doubt enjoyed the days seasonally above average March weather temps, this line-up was bullet-proof, performed on multiple levels, and would satiate even the most ridged concert goer. Shout out to Inertia Entertainment, who recently celebrated a 28th birthday being in the business, for being one of the leaders in southern Ontario’s extreme and heavy music experiences.
Remaining dates on the Red, White, And Hoots Tour are as follows…
March 16 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room 18 – Denver, CO @ The Oriental Theater 20 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall 22 – Seattle, WA @ Substation 23 & 24 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre 25 – Roseville, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post 26 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater 27 – Mesa, AZ @ The Nile Theater 29 – Austin, TX @ Come and Take It Live 30 – Dallas, TX @ The Studio at The Factory
