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Genre: Doom Metal / Folk / Stoner Metal
Country: US
Web: Myspace
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At this point, it seems this is posted everywhere, but in case you haven't run across it yet, I'd suggest picking it up now. A really good mix of doom (harsh and clean vox), stoner/psychedelic rock/metal, and folk.

EoN

When the Kite String Pops was released in 1994 to very little fanfare. Like most, I discovered this record (and the follow up, Paegan Terrorism Tactics) well after the band had disbanded in 1997 following the death of Audie Pitre, the bass player and founding member. And, I'm glad I found this album, because it belongs in the collection of any doom, sludge, or groove aficionado. The compositions often seem schizophrenic, swinging wildly between a slow doom riff to a staccato machine gun blast, and it often seems as if a thick layer of madness is somehow keeping it all together. Unlike the more self-aware and carnivalesque metal that purports to be evil while offering a nod and a wink, this record is just downright filthy and has me pulling police reports from Louisiana, convinced that there must have been a string of murders that somehow went unreported. At times, this record seems more like a confession letter than fiction.

That's also what makes it so remarkable. From the first track, the blend of sludge, doom, southern rock, and thrash is evident. The record starts off with feedback and syncopated drumming that builds tension until, suddenly, it stops, resolving itself with a low bass line. The kite string has officially popped, and we are all well and truly fucked. A few measures later, the guitar provides some higher pitched contrast and “The Blue” is in full effect. The instruments are layered on until Dax Riggs screams “Across your face I see what you are,” and the song takes a turn towards something groovier but no less heavy. Like many Acid Bath songs, “The Blue” transitions between slow and fast with incredible precision. The transitions never feel forced, and Riggs' vocals go from a hardcore scream to croon without seeming forced or awkward.

'Everybody whispers where birds fall dead
I smell the yellow sickness churning inside your head
Wiping flecks of foam, twisting with rabies
Bloody, we run through these fields of dead daisies'

While “The Blue” sets the tone for the album, and many other songs incorporate the style shifting seen here, none of the tracks feel like a rehash of previous ones. This record builds throughout the first five songs, culminating in “Jezebel,” one of the fastest tracks on the album and probably the most straight forward example of what happens when the full force of Acid Bath is unleashed. The tremelo picked guitar sections hearken back to Heartwork era Carcass without feeling derivative. It is here that we see the first big shift in style on the record as the relentless guitars give way to a lone bass line at the beginning of “Scream of the Butterfly,” perhaps the creepiest ballad ever written. The song builds from the lone bass line and along the way picks up clean vocals and the occasional guitar flourish until the last minute when the drums become more audible and driving, leading us to the grisly conclusion and some of my favorite lyrics from the album.

'With sunlight in her hair she smiles like she don't care
Her dreams of liquid blue
I cut my self again and again to remind myself of you'

While I would be perfectly content if the album ended here, it doesn't. The album reverts back to the beginning and “Dr. Seuss Is Dead” begins much as “The Blue” does: feedback gives way to a sludgy bass line, and we are in for eight more tracks of madness and even another ballad. The rest of the album is as unhinged and brilliant as the first half, and during “Dope Fiend” it seems the band asks its listeners why we are punishing ourselves by experiencing this album at all:

'Why do you love to lick my wounds?
Why do you love to feel my pain?
Why do you love to suck my life?
Why do you love to lick my wounds?'

Somehow, all of these disparate elements combine to form something coherent, and the conclusion of the album makes me feel a bit more like I just escaped a serial killer's lair than listened to an album. The wild style shifts conjures images of an unhinged person who may be tranquil and sedate one moment until something snaps and they have a knife in your face asking if you ever wanted your last moment to be one in which you glimpse your still beating heart.

Verdict: Epic Win [10/10]

http://www.myspace.com/realacidbath

Outside of the obvious exception (Moonspell), Portugal has yet to really draw much attention unto its metal scene, whether that's by a sheer lack of individuals bearing the resolution and ambition to see it through, or a general lack of interest in the international space. That said, the 90s saw a number of Gothic, death/doom hybrids with ample potential, namely Desire and Heavenwood. The latter put out a pair of solid, memorable efforts in Diva ('96) and Swallow ('98), then took a 20 year hiatus before casting themselves back into the struggle that is the underground. In 2008, Redemption turned up, a rather forgettable return to form, but not without its moments.

Through Abyss Masterpiece, their fourth full-length, they return to the summit of accessible songwriting they achieved with the debut Diva, pleasurable enough listening for those that have not abandoned or eschewed the primary concepts of good Goth metal: sad, driving chords that are glazed in melodic overtures or symphonic swells, deep clean vocals and the added gravitas of the death growling. Normally, bands are hit and miss with this vocal hybrid, but Heavenwood excel in balancing the pair with a fluid, immersible contrast as opposed to dorky awkwardness. They also possess the ability to hit hard and hit often, even more so than their more somber, 90s records, and this results in an album balanced to evoke both sorrow and anger in equivocal concentrations. Tracks like "The Arcadia Order", with its escalating orchestral maneuvers and grunting climax, or "Goddess Presiding Over Solitude" and its chugging digs, are born of thunder uncommon to this genre, and its welcome.

Of course, you gotta travel a little deeper for some truly memorable impressions, and I found these in the fiery gloss of "Winter Slave", charging "September Blood" and the sluggish epic "Poem for Matilde", but the wealth of the 60+ minute track list is dynamic and emotionally powerful as it weaves through apertures of controlled terror and elegance. A few of the tunes, like "Leonor" with its guest female vocals, felt a little swollen and unnecessary, and several of the chord progressions throughout Abyss Masterpiece are too predictable, but on the whole you're getting a fine tuned experience with much polish in the production department. This is certainly a more symphonic affair than Diva or Swallow, but if you're seeking out some solid Gothic metal or a more subdued alternative to the cataclysmic swelter of Hollenthon, Therion and the recent Septic Flesh material then you may damn well want to give this one a spin.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (where words and love duel)

http://www.myspace.com/heavenwood

The career of Sweden's preeminent psychedelic Goth doom mobsters Lake of Tears has long been one of climaxes and fallouts, perhaps phased to the cycles of the moon, perhaps dependent on how drunk the members are during their songwriting process. Having seen the cover art for Illwill, their eighth full-length album, I was not holding out much hope for the quality of its contents. Sure, they've had some stinker imagery before, like the lazy cover to Black Brick Road or the incredibly boring photograph gracing Forever Autumn, but this looks more like a new album from the Swedish supergroup Illwill than anything else, a fat cheesy logo interspersed with the limbs of some suicide tree...how do you go from beautiful hippie distractions like A Crimson Cosmos and The Neonai, or the cosmic ball tripping of Moon and Mushrooms to something so drab?

Speaking of that last album, it was phenomenal, and the emotional resonance of tracks like "Children of the Grey" and "You Better Breathe While There's Still Time" had me chomping at the bit for more. Finally, the band had closed the gap towards the authentic power they wielded through their earlier output. Illwill was one of my most anticipated albums this year, but I'm sad to say that it's a letdown. Perhaps not so much of a disappointment as Forever Autumn had been after the brilliance of A Crimson Cosmos, but an eyebrow raiser nonetheless. To be fair, there are a few solid tracks that deliver the mood rock we expect, and the general tone of the album is redolent of Moons and Mushrooms, but a lot of the life leeching here comes in the form of its experiments. Lake of Tears have decided to strike up the tempo and explore some terrains alien to their backlog, so we end up with the speed metal (honest to Gods) of "The Hating", or the meta-black metal thunder of "Midnight Madness", which reminded me of the Wolfheart era of Moonspell, sans the goofier gothic vocals, and in which Brennare borders on sheer rasping.

Now don't get me wrong: if these Swedes wanna fuck around with pacing and attempt to crack a few new nuts, nothing should stop them. The issue is that these songs are simply not very good. The guitar tone and velocity of "The Hating" seem initially exciting, but they don't pan out over the course of the track. Likewise for the uplifting punk fuel of "Parasites", or the driving rock of "Floating in Darkness". All are rich sounding due to the mix, and possess subtleties similar to the huge rock of Moon and Mushrooms, but the vocal lines and riff patterns seem to drag. Luckily, the band has not plummeted entirely off the deep end. There are some sultry rockers like the Pink Floyd influenced "House of the Setting Sun" or the accessible Gothic sway of "Behind the Green Door", with fun but cheesy lyrics that seem to center on the finer sex (or possibly the Marilyn Chambers flick). Then you've got some borderline fare, like "Taste of Hell" which mirrors the mighty "Children of the Grey" with a few rasps, but far less memorable structure; or "Illwill" itself, with a steady driving melodic wall of force that has much precedent throughout their discography.

It always pains me to be underwhelmed by a Lake of Tears record, because when this band is 'on', they are one of the best in the world at delivering deviously simplistic Gothic doom rock. I know that when the watch-fires of inspiration are lit, they are fully capable of kicking my ass and having me sing along for the next decade or more. To be fair, this is not so vapid an album as the navel gazing Forever Autumn. There are a couple moments where I was bobbing my head along, absorbed in the weight of the chords and lyrics. But it's no more than 'okay', equivocal to their 2004 effort Black Brick Road in impact. No "Sweet Water", no "Cosmic Weed", no "Devil's Diner", no "Head One Phantom"; nothing to keep the attention engaged until the band's next creative outlet. The blame can't be wholly placed upon the shoulders of their experiments in acceleration, the broaching of other genres, but neither does that benefit the content.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

http://www.lakeoftears.net/

Band: Forest Of Shadows
Genre: Death/Doom Metal
Country: Sweden

Beautifully melodic death/doom metal from Sweden with a nice mix of clean baritone vocals and some harsher growls.

Where Dreams Turn To Dust (EP)