Fates Warning - Theories of Flight
After the magnificent The Blackest Beautiful (2013), Letlive. is back with their 4th studio album. In terms of song writing If I'm The Devil... is at par with the predecessor maintaining the mix of punk, rock and soul. But this time around the balance among the elements being more focused on the soul instead of the punk. I think that's not a surprise given that Jason Aalon Butler is one of the most passionate and intense frontman I've ever seen on stage. This album touches deeper into that emotion from their live performances. A clear improvement from this new release is the production. Overall a great album, but it may upset the punk fans who would prefer a more aggressive sound.
Periphery - Periphery III: Select Difficulty
Blues Pills - Lady in Gold
The Swedish rock band Blues Pills released their 2nd album on August 5th following a successful self-titled debut album. I'm digging it. Singer Elin Larsson is a superb mix of Aretha Franklin, and Janis Joplin. This is a retro rock band inspired by the 60's and 70's rock with a big influence of Soul music, think "rockier Adele". This is by far not metal, it's barely rock and much more soul than the predecessor.
I was trying to figure out why in just a matter of days this album became one of my all time FW favorite albums. And then it struck me, Theories of Flight basically combines the best of two worlds. The more progressive side of FW is represented in "From the Rooftops", "The Light and Shade of Things" and "The Ghosts of Home" and the more direct style from the earlier albums is in a modern and fresh way coming alive on "Seven Stars", "SOS", "White Flag" and "Like Stars Our Eyes Have Seen". And to conclude the album, a nice Easter egg of the album Disconnected: an instrumental title track full of sampling. Actually the title track and "The Ghosts of Home" are almost one song and both remind me a lot of the duo "Still Remains"/"Disconnected part 2". But let me be clear, Theories of Flight is not at all a recycling of old ideas. Quite the opposite, it's FW at its best and upgraded. The first noticeable difference is that the record features one of the best drumming performances I heard in a long time. In his second album with FW, Bobby Jarzombek is simply relentless. The grooves, constant time changes, odd signatures don't ever stop. It will be interesting to watch him playing those live. Aresti, who was playing guitar int he previous album, is not an official band member in this one anymore. And his contribution was limited to two, but great, guitar solos. Of course he did not participate in the song writing. With that said, Matheos stepped up to deliver one of his best guitar work, it is pure art! Most of the songs have at least 3 guitar tracks each doing some very specific riffs and rhythms that intertwine giving such a beautiful texture. All of this without loosing heaviness. And last but not least, Alder is singing better than never, very confident hitting some high notes without sounding forced or exaggerated, I mean his performance in "The light and..." Is simply amazing. By the way, this is the best song I heard this year and one of my favorites of the last few years. Now, if I'd be picky and split hairs, then I'd say that the bass is a bit too low in mix, specially compared to their previous albums with Vera. In sum, it's been just two weeks and Theories of Flight is my second favorite FW album. With time, it could still become my favorite FW album of all. However, it is already the strongest contender for album of the year.
Black Crown Initiate - Selves We Cannot Forgive
In 2014, the progressive death metal group from Reading, Pennsylvania released their debut full-length, The Wreckage of Stars, that was highly acclaimed. I remember hearing about them, but didn't have the opportunity to check them out in detail. Now, BCI is back with Selves We Cannot Forgive, an album that impressed me by a very well written and executed balance between progressiveness and modern metal. The album clocks at 52 min with 8 great tracks, fairly long songs but not excessive and there are no low points. My first highlight is the vocal work throughout the album. Singer James Dorton has a good harsh vocal range and additionally the band lead, songwriter and guitar player Andy Thomas uses his clean vocals in most of the songs. Secondly, there is no question that those are highly skilled musicians playing their instruments with superb techniques. But they don't overuse those to create an instrument lesson but rather to create great music. I love the slow parts in contrast with the heavier ones and I specially impressed with the guitars. The title track has a beautiful and mind-blowing guitar work, specially the solo. With that said, the album is very well produced and the drums and bass are clear as well. This balance between guitar and bass/drums is very well represented by the groovy 7/8 time signature track "Again". In sum, Selves We Cannot Forgive is a fantastic album, progressive metal lovers must check BCI out.
Mistur - In Memoriam
We're going a bit deeper in the underground here with Mistur. A band from Norway that released their debut album Attende in 2009 with apparently rave reviews but I never checked it. Now, 7 years later In Memoriam sees Mistur return with a masterpiece mixing black/pagan metal with progressive elements. The songs are long (only 6 tracks in 56 min), epic and complex. Mistur sound like a mix of Moonsorrow and current Enslaved. All the 6 songs are very good, but track number 3 "Firstborn Son" is one of the best songs of the year. After a 2-min build-up intro, the song explodes with aggressiveness in a typical black metal style but with some interesting breaks that include a very groovy progression. Then goes into a breakdown with some of the best traditional heavy metal guitar riffs I've heard this year. It's a fantastic piece of heavy music.
Witherscape - The Northern Sanctuary
Witherscape is a progressive death metal band from Sweden run by multi-instrumentalists Dan Swanö and Ragnar Widerberg. After the success of 2013's The Interitance, what was supposed to be a one off project is now on the second album. The same formula applies here: Clean singing is well balanced with concise growls, the riffs are great, production is top notch, and all of it very catchy. My only small complain is that the debut was a bit heavier and The Northern Sanctuary has one low point "Marionette". All in all, another masterpiece from Dan Swanö.
Gojira - Magma
I must confess that I jumped late into the Gojira wagon and I'm far from being a devoted fan. But I did appreciate their previous albums, including the predecessor Les Enfants Sauvages (2014). So I came to Magma, which is already the sixth studio album from Frenchmen, with open mind and no expectations. And still I was surprised with the opening track, mid-tempo, melancholic and with clean vocals. It's actually an excellent song, but sets from the get go the contrast between Magma and Les Enfants Sauvages. Luckily for the old-time fans, track number 2, "Silvera" brings back the aggressiveness but without going too complex. Overall, these songs set the tone for the rest of the album. A very diverse and interesting experience full of sadness with shorter, less complex songs. Gojira continue to sound unique (if any doubts, check the tittle track). But while I appreciate the diversity of the record, in the end the songs that I really like are the heavier with limited clean vocals. Not their best album, but anyways their bar is set so high, so it's still a great album, and it will certainly be heading many year-end lists.
Nails - You Will Never Be One of Us
The third studio album by the American Nails is their longest release to date at 21 minutes! Todd Jones (guitars/vocals) said that Nails believes that the best albums have 10 songs, and to deliver this level of brutality and speed most of the songs in this album are around the 1-1:30 min mark. Traditionally they have been closing their albums with a long song and YWNBOOU features their longest song, "They Come Crawling Back", which runs for eight minutes. I found their second album quite good but YWNBOOU is way better. More technical with nice hooks and grooves without loosing the grindcore/hardcore violence but also adding some thrash metal elements, specially in some guitar solos and riffs, think of Slayer. One of the best extreme metal albums of the year so far, very addictive!In 2014, the progressive death metal group from Reading, Pennsylvania released their debut full-length, The Wreckage of Stars, that was highly acclaimed. I remember hearing about them, but didn't have the opportunity to check them out in detail. Now, BCI is back with Selves We Cannot Forgive, an album that impressed me by a very well written and executed balance between progressiveness and modern metal. The album clocks at 52 min with 8 great tracks, fairly long songs but not excessive and there are no low points. My first highlight is the vocal work throughout the album. Singer James Dorton has a good harsh vocal range and additionally the band lead, songwriter and guitar player Andy Thomas uses his clean vocals in most of the songs. Secondly, there is no question that those are highly skilled musicians playing their instruments with superb techniques. But they don't overuse those to create an instrument lesson but rather to create great music. I love the slow parts in contrast with the heavier ones and I specially impressed with the guitars. The title track has a beautiful and mind-blowing guitar work, specially the solo. With that said, the album is very well produced and the drums and bass are clear as well. This balance between guitar and bass/drums is very well represented by the groovy 7/8 time signature track "Again". In sum, Selves We Cannot Forgive is a fantastic album, progressive metal lovers must check BCI out.
Mistur - In Memoriam
We're going a bit deeper in the underground here with Mistur. A band from Norway that released their debut album Attende in 2009 with apparently rave reviews but I never checked it. Now, 7 years later In Memoriam sees Mistur return with a masterpiece mixing black/pagan metal with progressive elements. The songs are long (only 6 tracks in 56 min), epic and complex. Mistur sound like a mix of Moonsorrow and current Enslaved. All the 6 songs are very good, but track number 3 "Firstborn Son" is one of the best songs of the year. After a 2-min build-up intro, the song explodes with aggressiveness in a typical black metal style but with some interesting breaks that include a very groovy progression. Then goes into a breakdown with some of the best traditional heavy metal guitar riffs I've heard this year. It's a fantastic piece of heavy music.
Witherscape - The Northern Sanctuary
Witherscape is a progressive death metal band from Sweden run by multi-instrumentalists Dan Swanö and Ragnar Widerberg. After the success of 2013's The Interitance, what was supposed to be a one off project is now on the second album. The same formula applies here: Clean singing is well balanced with concise growls, the riffs are great, production is top notch, and all of it very catchy. My only small complain is that the debut was a bit heavier and The Northern Sanctuary has one low point "Marionette". All in all, another masterpiece from Dan Swanö.
Architects - All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us
Architects is one of the very few metalcore bands that I truly like. The previous album from 2014 Lost Forever // Lost Together scored quite high in my 2014's list. Now they are back with AOGHAU which is already the 7th studio album from the Brits. This disc pretty much follows the direction of the predecessor with a bit more dark sound to reflect the theme of the lyrics. But they don't stop there, they go further. Within the predictable and often boring metalcore genre, Architects bring an inspiring new breath and leave their peers behind. The music writing is as good as previously, with aggressive but melodic and catchy vocal lines. Sam Carter has a nice voice and balance harsh screams with cleaner singing very well. The album open very strongly with 3 heavy songs with big choruses. You would think that you can't get much better then you find yourself screaming the lyrics of "Gone with the Wind" or "Gravity". But by the time you get to the 10th song you may wonder if the album lacks variability. Then Architects throw you a very nice curve ball, the 8 min long "Memento Mori". Here they experiment and get the rewards. The only thing those guys need to do now to get really big is disassociate themselves from the metalcore scene. Maybe this new experiment will take them to new places in r next album.Gojira - Magma
I must confess that I jumped late into the Gojira wagon and I'm far from being a devoted fan. But I did appreciate their previous albums, including the predecessor Les Enfants Sauvages (2014). So I came to Magma, which is already the sixth studio album from Frenchmen, with open mind and no expectations. And still I was surprised with the opening track, mid-tempo, melancholic and with clean vocals. It's actually an excellent song, but sets from the get go the contrast between Magma and Les Enfants Sauvages. Luckily for the old-time fans, track number 2, "Silvera" brings back the aggressiveness but without going too complex. Overall, these songs set the tone for the rest of the album. A very diverse and interesting experience full of sadness with shorter, less complex songs. Gojira continue to sound unique (if any doubts, check the tittle track). But while I appreciate the diversity of the record, in the end the songs that I really like are the heavier with limited clean vocals. Not their best album, but anyways their bar is set so high, so it's still a great album, and it will certainly be heading many year-end lists.
Nails - You Will Never Be One of Us
Letlive. - If I'm The Devil...
Periphery - Periphery III: Select Difficulty
I personally consider the 3rd self title album their 4th studio album since Juggernaut is a double one. I really liked the last two albums, even if Juggernaut is not easy to digest. And surprisingly in less than 2 years, Periphery is back with another album. I don't consider Djent a music genre but a guitar style. In this case Periphery is a Progressive Metal band who mixes Meshuggah and Slipknot adding a very versatile vocal (at times Death Metal style e.g. "Motormouth", others hints a clean Power Metal e.g. "Remain Indoors" and even Pop Rock, e.g. "The Way The News Goes..."). Of course the guitars do sound Djent throughout the record and the solos are usually quite well done. The album opens very strongly with two short and heavy songs: Slipknot-ish "The Price Is Wrong" and the Meshuggah-ish "Motormouth" follows. Now, this start is misleading, both songs are heavy and clean vocals are only heard at the very end of the second track. But the 3rd track changes that, more progressive and using more clean vocals, "Marigold" is more on the lines of Juggernaut. And the rest of the album follows the same style with two exceptions "The Way The News Goes..." and "Catch Fire" that are radio friendly songs. The powerfullness of the first two tracks can be seen again at the end with "Prayer Position". Overall, I'm a bit disappointed, there are good moments, but not their best work.
Blues Pills - Lady in Gold
The Swedish rock band Blues Pills released their 2nd album on August 5th following a successful self-titled debut album. I'm digging it. Singer Elin Larsson is a superb mix of Aretha Franklin, and Janis Joplin. This is a retro rock band inspired by the 60's and 70's rock with a big influence of Soul music, think "rockier Adele". This is by far not metal, it's barely rock and much more soul than the predecessor.
