The most interesting albums of the week(s)!
Subnormal Dives is quite the experience. Released on Transcending Obscurity, the album opens with weird, squishy grindcore paired with serene jazz. Sometimes the jazz squelches itself into a more frantic form, but either way, the pairing works as well as you’d expect. Fans of Beaten to Death or The Sound that Ends Creation should check this out.
My biggest issue with the release is that it never comes across as serious. This is something of a grindcore-wide problem, but at times it seems that Byonoisegenerator choses to insert a spoken word passage or a jazz solo less because they think it propels the music forward, and more because it’s the zany thing to do. And while 95% of the time their choices work to create interesting and unique music, it’s music that’s more impressive than it is emotionally impactful. That being said, I can’t get enough of Subnormal Dives. The transitions from grindcore to claustrophobic jazz work like a dream, the performances are excellent, and at worst I leave the album feeling severely entertained.
Acoustic Doom is an odd genre combination, but Dolven makes it work. Sounding something like a cross between Summoning, Vehemence, and Cat Stevens, In My Grave…Silence was released on Winding Stairs Records. The vocals carry the album. There is an earnest attempt to grasp the listener that works more often than it doesn’t. And while the album is too mellow and introspective to work for every mood, Dolven reach places that more aggressive bands can’t. The guitar tones also work quite well throughout the record.
Fallujah carry on the lineage of The Faceless better than almost anyone. Xenotaph was released on Nuclear Blast, and is the band’s sixth release. This is a tech death purist’s idea of settling into a groove. There’s quite a bit of restraint of Xenotaph. You get the harsh highs that this genre can deliver but mixed with some influence from the melodeath and atmoblack worlds.
Fallujah manageto give flashy performances, catchy riffs and melodies, and satisfying songwriting. While this isn’t the newest sound in the world, it’s damn satisfying. Some of the tracks do last a bit too long, but it’s hard to get too fussed about that when you’re getting lost in space listening to a nasty guitar solo.
An Insatiable Violence was released on Season of Mist. Cryptopsy‘s ninth full-length, this release is darker and more aggressive than As Gomorrah Burns. As usual, the performances are spectacular, with Flo Mounier doing some absurd stuff behind the drum kit to steal the show. And while the younger Cryptopsy that could make music no one could imitate is gone, the elder Cryptopsy that simply makes death metal of a higher quality than their peers is plenty satisfying as well.
On my first listen of An Insatiable Violence, I had trouble telling some of the tracks apart. The riffs all work quite well, but few stand out as unique when listening to the album in one sitting. That being said, An Insatiable Violence works better as an album than as a collection of songs. There’s something so satisfying about Cryptopsy‘s direct and blunt approach to tech death. No gimmicks needed, no genre blending, just death metal played better than anyone else. Nothing but killer moments here.
I could not be happier with the direction that Helms Deep chose to go on their second full-length, released on Nameless Grave Records. The fist-raising descendants of Judas Priest make music so good that I didn’t even pause to consider the album cover until I began writing this. Chasing the Dragon contains a severe lack of restraint. The vocal tilts border on too much, the album’s length is excessive, the intro track doesn’t add a whole lot. Yet all of this excess adds up to something both engaging and sincere. I don’t think I’d like the record as much without the jagged edges.
The opening of The Battles I Have Won reminds me of a cross between Rhapsody of Fire and Sumerlands, and Reflection maintains this energy throughout their fifth album, released on Pitch Black Records. Fans of subtlety might not want to bother. Reflection wring ever last drop of energy out of their songs. And while the macro songwriting decisions made don’t overly impress, the performances and smaller decisions that this band makes add up to a very well put-together album with quite a bit of replayability. The Battles I Have Won can easily take the place of one cup of coffee per day.
