Album Review: All Shall Perish - This Is Where It Ends

Since their last album, All Shall Perish have parted ways with both guitarist Chris Storey and drummer Matt Kuykendall. A large couple of obstacles dumped on their road to stardom then, and just when they seemed to be building up an unstoppable head of steam. So often during these times of trouble the inevitable infusion of so much fresh blood can lead to a weakening of bonds and a blunting of edges. That certainly seemed to be the case early on when they claimed to be experiencing slow progress and subsequently lost one replacement. However, listening to this end result, now Francesco Artusato and Adam Pierce have come in and truly established themselves, they’ve clearly inspired the Californians to even greater heights.

From the first to the last, they absolutely grip it and rip it. This Is Where It Ends is intensely heavy, yet still coyly melodic in parts. The technicality is firing on all cylinders but a little of that exciting, experimental edge and rich layering that featured on Awaken The Dreamers has been left by the wayside. You see, you simply can’t define this band as deathcore and leave it at that. They pick and mix flavours from track-to-track like kids in a candy store. Sure, death and hardcore run through most of their work but there is also a distinct metal edge that hits tech, prog, groove, and thrash all at different times.

One thing is for certain, vocalist Hernan Hermida’s human-suit has split a seam; at times here he’s clearly flashing his green, reptilian skin beneath. C’mon, the man is quite clearly an alien being. No man or woman can make sounds as diverse, rough and bollock-janglingly heavy as these and get away with it. He’s right up there with all the other pink-painted, multi-organed, genii vocalists – Randy Blythe, Mitch Lucker, Guy Kozowyk, [insert your own particular favorites here]. Consider that and then know he repeatedly scowls “We are the dominant species!” during “The Death Plague”. His low, gargled, animal grunts are particularly powerful on tracks like “A Pure Evil” and “Royalty Into Exile” and his scouring pad squeals on “My Retaliation” are enough to turn your brain to mush – “I hope to see you fucking dieeee” – especially when he follows that up by showing off his full range.

The guitars so often split into these two distinct factions, both burble away along threaded arpeggios but one is firing out crisp high- and mid-range melody and the other is laying down dirty, low-end groove – there is a sublime example of this at 3:30 of “A Pure Evil”. They are also there blasting out speeding thrash for “Spineless”, “Embrace The Curse” and the magnificence of “The Past Will Haunt You” – which also features, by the way, an equally addictive barbed riff and pained roar of “How could we be so wroooong?” – oh, their audiences will love yelling that one, fists clenched, at the full moon. The drums are crushing – listen to “Rebirth” for a perfect cross-section of the various speeds and power that Pierce wields. On the downside, the album pacing does feel a tad lop-sided and there is perhaps a little too much of that spleen-slicing groove for my own personal taste, but I’m the sort to go misty-eyed during bits like the softly, softly acoustic outro to “Procession Of Ashes” or the orchestral intro to “In This Life Of Pain”.

Zach Ohren’s steady hand once again has been tasked with the production, and that continuity allows for nothing to dull the impact that the new boys have had. All Shall Perish are back with an album that can easily go toe-to-toe with The Price Of Existence – time will tell if this lasts as long in the memory as that little doozy. The road ahead seems to be straight and smooth once more, and if Hermida’s driving they’ll be once more heading for those glistening lights of the ASP mothership – we’re all doomed, I tells you, doooooomed!

Also online (with samples) @ The New Review = http://thenewreview.net/reviews/all-shall-perish-this-is-where-it-ends

Album Review: AXXONN – Let’s Get It Straight

What is a rulebook if you can’t tear it up once in awhile? Brisbane’s Tom Hall has the imagination to do such a thing and, now he’s commandeered AXXONN as his solo project, latest album Let’s Get It Straight proves he wields the power to grip it and rip it.

Previously, with No Anchor bassist Ian Rogers on board, the band were known mainly for driving out dirge-riddled electronica, but here Hall goes one stage further by combining all his musical loves in one place; taking genres as far apart from each other as black metal and J-pop (although you’re doing well if you can spot that one), drone and electronica, doom and ambient rock or, as his biography reads so eloquently, “powernoise and icecream”, and sinking them all deep into a soundtrack that speaks to both the mind and the soul.

It could be that Hall was feeling a bit peckish when he concocted this brutal crossover recipe but there’s definitely a food theme here with titles like ‘Cod & Chips’, ‘Choc Milk Addiction’ and ‘Frosties 2L’ knocking about. The music itself often brings the eclectic output of 65daysofstatic, Fieldhead or, even, Mogwai to mind. Hearing skipping, downtempo rhythms being fed into a heap of electro-noise is thrilling and, in the case of ‘Choc Milk Addiction’, a smothered, shoegazing vocal is thrown into the mix aswell – it’s quite possibly how 65DOS would sound if they joined forces with The Big Pink. And yet, to focus on that one thought, ignores the rest of the musical spectrum that Hall explores. ‘Golfini’, for instance, combines crisply strummed and plucked acoustic guitar, then smothers it in electric fuzz, squeak and overdrive, and ’10 Pound Trouble’ presents us with a bravely bare field recording of territorial bird squabbles before crystallizing our minds with a hammering, resonant piano layered up with synth beats.

The imagery as you proceed through the album comes thick and fast and most of it is convincing enough to prove that this is no walk in the park. ‘Slave Driver’s sub-heavy cannon blasts stick you in a barren desert, watching helplessly as shells burrow their way into a sandstorm of white noise and industrial drone. Then, the eking build of ‘The Slow Death’ casts you adrift, oxygen-starved, floating through star-spattered space, whilst ‘Perfect For Acid’ ties you up in its basement and performs dark, aural torture on you as you swing back and forth through a blinding sea of strobes. It all adds up to one messed-up, wildly introspective trip.

Inevitably, there is material here that wouldn’t even bond together if you used superglue, and the title-track is the standout black mark. Throwing a church organ into a jumble of 80s house music it seems is just a step too far. But then there are wham-bam tracks, like the eight-minute industrial mallet that is ‘From Blacks Void’, that wipe the slate clean and make you think again. It’s not an easy record this – it’s that banana boat ride you opt for instead of the relaxing option of simply lazing and tanning on the sand. You’ll feel nauseous, you may get flung off every now and then, but it’s the kind of thrill ride that leaves you stuffed full of adrenaline, gasping for breath and with a mile-wide smile on your kisser.

Also online @ TLOBF = http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2011/02/axxonn-lets-get-it-straight/

Album Review: But We Try It - Dead Lights

So, The Matrix Trilogy. Now there was a high-concept project that set new standards with its innovative approach, incredible action sequences and stunning effects. Sadly, it’s legacy is rather hampered by its intricate and increasingly ludicrous storylines which tied everything up in knots leaving us with an overwhelming sense of disappointment. The reason for my retrospection is Germany’s But We Try It. They too have big ideas, pile in as much action into their music as possible and can do it to stunning effect. I’ve set things up nicely for there to be a down side, but I’ll get to that later.

Combining thrash, hardcore and melodeath, BWTI are a powerful cocktail of Darkest Hour, After The Burial, In Flames and Despised Icon served up with an eye-bulging Red Bull mixer. On top of all this, you’ll find plenty of punk moxie in their debut album. It fires out like a fist from tracks like “Bloodritual” and “Embracing Darkness” giving them an extra bite. It’s a big, big sound and from the dual action vocal (one an abrasive bellow, the other a scouring scream) to the grunt of the chug and the visceral clarity of the shred, it’s all delivered with the force of a wrecking ball.

Perhaps this determination to pile everything in at once is partly down to the folks at Woodhouse Studios, in Hagen, Germany, who helped birth this beast – producer Waldemar Sorychta (Enemy of the Sun, Sentenced) and mix-master Siggi Bemm (Caliban, Samael). Both have plenty of experience producing wall-of-sound albums and Dead Lights can get pretty chocka.

The first three tracks here are manifestly dominant with much that follows failing to ignite in the same manner. Too often there are lumps of uninspired songwriting that leak out (much like those Matrix scripts, eh?) merely mimicking the band’s European forebears. It is filler that will all to readily get lost amongst peers that are doing much the same, only better. Take “City Of Ghosts” which bounces you from pillar to post with Swedish death metal chord structures, finger-taps and, even, wordplay. Compare that to “Dead Lights II – The Path To New Hope”, loaded with addictive lyrics and expansive melodics, or “The Great Disaster” with its monster gang chants, clean vocal harmonies and bombardment of breaks, leads and mighty, mighty bass. These labyrinthine tracks are an utter revelation that work on so many levels – the latter will have you banging your head so hard it may just part from your shoulders.

Jörn Preidt (I like to think of him as a heavy metal Neo) is listed as the sole vocalist, despite the multiple and overlapping styles. He most certainly dominates everything with his shrieking vocal – he’s even described as sounding “like a dying pig” by his own bassist Stefan Trautmann. Have a listen to his grating Dalek vocal at the start of “Everything Falls Apart” and tell me that’s not a step too far. It’s a full-scale war between vocal parts and they overwhelm all too often. Their one saving grace is the clarity with which they are delivered – you can understand virtually every word and that’s a definite plus.

But We Try It are, without a doubt, trying hard, and their album could well be a bit of a grower. I’d bet my Morpheus action figure, if they focus on raging heavy and writing complex in the future, they could well become a real force. Right now, their inconsistency is driving me nuts much like The Matrix Trilogy drives me nuts, but then I keep on going back to view that again and again in the vain hope that it will get better “this time”. You should do the same with BWTI.

Also online (with free samples) @ The NewReview = http://thenewreview.net/reviews/but-we-try-it-dead-lights