We’re winding down our week of albums that you might have missed so far, but we’ve still got some great music for you. Today’s five range from the extremely traditional to the outrageously avant-garde, so you’re sure to find something to suit your mood. Be sure to join us tomorrow for the conclusion of the series. Bang your head, it’s Day Four!
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BELOW – ACROSS THE DARK RIVER
So, for all intents and purposes, Candlemass exists solely as a live entity now. I’ll bet the thought of never hearing new material from them again has you pretty bummed, even moreso than you usually are as an avid listener of doom metal. Well, buck up, cupcake – Sweden’s Below is here to help ease your pain. Across the Dark River is the result of years spent worshiping at the altar of the doom metal gods. Their sound is almost as big as the void they are attempting to fill with it, which I think is how traditional doom is supposed to sound. Vocalist Zeb may never be as revered as Messiah Marcolin, but he’s got a powerful set of pipes nonetheless, and he uses them to paint the aural landscape as much as the musicians behind him, while a crisp production job from Andy LaRocque (who knows a thing or two about doom himself) creates an atmosphere of despair, as though the entire thing was performed in a deep dark dungeon…of doom (with perfect acoustics, of course.) Listen now and thank me later, but keep praying that Leif Edling will change his mind.
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ALASKAN – DESPAIR, EROSION, LOSS
Despite only having released two albums, Alaskan is quickly rising to the top of the post-metal genre. Building on its debut Adversity; Woe, the band has begun to carve out an identity of its own, drifting away from the popular Neurosis/Isis mold by adding sinister cello melodies to balance out its avalanche of sound. Despair, Erosion, Loss deals with some very macabre and personal lyrical topics, based around the true stories of famous murders from various points of view; “Guiltless,” in particular, is a gripping journey built around massive riffing and desolate string bridges. Despite a short running time, Alaskan’s sophomore effort is a complete effort, and one that sounds unlike any other in the genre. Those willing to embrace its dark imagery and sweeping sonic scope will be duly rewarded.
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LAY DOWN ROTTEN – DEATHSPELL CATHARSIS
Just east of death metal’s left hand path is the middle path. The music here isn’t cavernous, brutal, overtly melodic, ludicrously technical, or egregiously modern. Lay Down Rotten have been walking this road for a decade without differentiating themselves from its denizens. On Deathspell Catharsis, however, the band have discovered some special sauce, stirring up metal mojo from the underworld. The album is graced with a fluid agility, creative cadence, and a cohesive vision. Righteous riffs, of course, fuel this unforeseen career crest. Grand compositional strokes bring the goofy glory of God Dethroned to mind, while movements both staccato and thrashy recall a nascent Lamb of God. It’s catchy and more than a little bit fun; Deathspell Catharsis makes me want to move more than just my bowels.
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PORTRAIT – CROSSROADS
Yes, the similarities between Portrait and In Solitude are numerous. Both are Swedish quintets playing a style of heavy metal whose influence draws heavily from Mercyful Fate/King Diamond. Both recorded dramatically drawn out sophomore sets when they likewise signed to Metal Blade. Both broke the confining mold in which they were compartmentalized to create classic third albums with one-word names, demonstrating a compositional prowess that neither had fully realized before.
Like the title of the album itself, Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae is too goddamn long. On Crossroads, there’s no more slapdash histrionics; the music functions with purpose. Each riff adds shade, the vocals harmonize and punctuate, no song is without infectious melodies; there’s a place for everything, and everything is in its place. If tracks like “We Were Not Alone” and “Our Roads Must Never Cross” aren’t lodged in your head after listening, then I’m deeply saddened to learn of your crippling cochlear problem.
Plenty of music crosses my ears every year, and since I’m no musician, I can’t explain exactly why something clicks when it does. All can do is report my findings as best I can, even when reasons are elusive—and honestly, Portrait has found their voice. If Crossroads doesn’t make its way onto enough year-end lists… let’s say 1/3… then my faith in humanity just got that much smaller.
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CLOAK OF ALTERING – PLAGUE BEASTS
Extreme industrial metal has seen its ups and downs. While on the one hand you have bands pushing the limits like Stagnant Waters or Author and Punisher, on the other you have Aborym and whoever the Fear Factory rip-off of the season is. Cloak of Altering definitely falls into the forward-thinking camp. On Plague Beasts, prolific madman Mories combines digitally destroyed drum madness with…well, all kinds of noise. There are keyboards and pads, but nary a hint of actual guitars. I’m often reminded of 8-bit artist DisasterPeace; sometimes of industrial outliers like Cyanotic and Hellsau or black metal transgressives like Anaal Nathrakh.
Plague Beasts lives to be unnerving. Whether it’s the way it mixes Easy Listening-style chord progressions with noises of torture and fury in “Plague Beasts” or the glitched-out madness or songs like “Translucent Body Deformities,” Cloak of Altering knows how to keep the listener on edge. By the time you get to closer “Altering Forever,” the 8-bit synths and shattered Amen breaks seem almost peaceful. Almost. Nobody will be confusing this for club music anytime soon. Plague Beasts is a howl of agony amidst a mundane existence in an uncaring universe. Sometimes that’s exactly what you need.
