Omnium Gatherum – Beyond | Review

Mar 22 • International News, Releases, Reviews, The Slumbering Ent • 2541 Views

Today we have Jude Mascarenhas reviewing the new album from Omnium Gatherum titled Beyond, released via Lifeforce Records. We usually don’t go for a track by track review, but then Mr.Jude here seemed to be too enamored with the album that he insisted it’d be the best way to put it across to the reader. Read away lads!

Omnium Gatherum – Beyond

Tracklist :

1. Luoto
2. New Dynamic
3. In the Rim
4. Nightwalkers
5. Formidable
6. The Sonic Sign
7. Who Could Say
8. The Unknowing
9. Living in Me
10. White Palace

Omnium Gatherum are a melodic death metal band from Finland that has been around since 1996.

With the level of experimentation going on in today’s metal scene it was a refreshing break to be reviewing some straight forward melodic death metal. Now while I have heard alot about omnium gatherum, I hadn’t actually heard any of their releases. which really left a blank slate while reviewing Beyond.

TRACK BY TRACK :

luoTo – the first track off the album gives off a very ‘sparkly’ feel but not in the R-Patz way. When you’re done listening to the first few seconds of that chimey clean guitar transition into that soaring lead passage. You kinda get the gist of what Omnium Gatherum is all about : Dynamics and ambience

The New Dynamic – A little cheeky for a song title but unfortunately here’s the part of the album that I really have a bone to pick with : The vocals. The vocals just don’t fit in with the beautiful soundscapes the instruments manage to create. It’s like shoving a piece of bacon between two slices of fluffy cheesecake. That too it’s generic over the counter bacon, not the good stuff. Now I know some of you are ok with pairing sweet things and bacon (You heretics) But I’ll take the soaring clean vocal delivery towards the end.

In The Rim – The driving tempo of the previous track carries on into In The Rim. This is a pretty straightforward track but I do believe the vocals actually gel with the music and the arrangement on the track is pretty amazing as well.

Nightwalkers -Not really fond of this song. This track trudges along slowly and unfortunately puts a lot of emphasis on the vocals. You’ve got a musical break which is pretty trippy but it can’t save the song from sounding like a filler

Formidable – ok that intro sounds alot like Hotel California, but despite this heinous crime I really adore this track a lot as it manages to shift between sullen driving and upbeat trippy atmospheres quiet well and those clean passages have aurally pleasing acoustic guarantee some tasty bass licks to boot

The Sonic Sign – Cheesy intro. It’s like Dragonforce on valium. But despite that deceptively cheesy intro, the song does have some really nifty riffs, plus the best lead work on the album, they really do tear it up on this one.

Who Could Say – This song could easily pass for an 80’s pop-rock song (minus the uber-reverb on the snare drums) but the transition into that growling passage really hits you like a righthook cushioned with a dozen pillows. What the track lacks in complexity, it makes up with beautiful melodies, soul and an extra dash of epicness.

The Unknowing – This is the most, dare I say it, beautiful, track of the album. The track oozes epicness like a Lord of the Rings movie. The growls fit this track perfectly, and the addition of clean vocals would’ve hit this one right out of the park. The music is heavy but the overlay of subtlety and the generally soothing atmosphere make this a wonderful track.

Living In Me – The solo guitar on the intro could tell you that this is probably gonna be one of the heavier tracks on the album. And you wouldn’t be wrong. The last few tracks on this album is where Omnium  Gatherum really seem to hit home. The song is groovy, driving and has some really well-placed riffs. Straightforward in song structure but exceptional arrangement and sick riffs make this worth the listen. Also, the song has a sick solo with some stellar lead guitar passages.

White Palace – The sleeper hit on the album. Moderately paced and laced with that atmosphere of serenity. It’s almost like they want you to lie down in some open field, staring at the sky while you contemplate the wonders of the cosmos. This song could easily contest for best album closer of the year. Not because of extraordinary music or kickass riffs, but the ability to fit the mood of the albim perfectly and give it that final gentle push before it closes.

Just a heads up : It ends with the same riff on LuoTo, which probably is a hint that you might wanna play the album all over again.

PRODUCTION:

The production on this album is one of the vital elements as to why the album is so good. The ambience on the album with the synths and strings, and the underlying guitars gives you that feeling of ethereal awe. The same way you’d be impressed if you were to suddenly see a dragon burst out on the silver screen. While the latter is something we’ve grown accustomed to in movies.

The synths saturate the album while the guitars add the technicality without sounding wanky. The distortion doesn’t sound overly crisp but that suits the sound of the album just fine. The lead tone is probably influenced by a certain bald, sunglass-toting virtuso, but it is orgasmic (Ha..Zohan) The bass is actually audible and lends to the mood perfectly. I can’t imagine those sparkly clean guitar passages without those funky bass lines to add that extra tinge.

The cookie cutter growls just don’t cut it, even if clean vocals were to be properly introduced. The style and delivery is boring and stale and lacks the punch to perfectly top off the beautiful music.

Nothing special about the drums, just your regular melodic death metal drums. Lots of double kick, occasional half-timed blastbeats. Lather,rinse amd repeat. But hey, that’s exactly what this album calls for and I would’t have it any other way.

FINAL  REMARKS :

Few albums and bands can actually bridge the gap between heavy and ambient without overdoing any of the two or both. Omnium Gatherum have bridged a fine working link between the two but there is still a lot of work to be done when it comes to vocals. I do hope Dan Tompkins comes in on a silver shining horse, wearing a white cape, after being tossed down an abyss while battli-…..ok enough LOTR references. Here’s wishing Omnium Gatherum the best of luck and that they continue to improve on this beautiful work of art.

Sanath Kumar • No Comments on Omnium Gatherum – Beyond | Review

Cultes Des Ghoules – Henbane | Review

Mar 22 • International News, Releases, Reviews, The Slumbering Ent • 2254 Views

Today we have reviewer Jayaprakash Satyamurthy reviewing the new LP from Cultes Des Ghoules titled Hexbane, released via Hells Headbangers.

Cultes Des Ghoules – Henbane

Tracklist:
01. Idylls Of The Chosen Damned
02. The Passion Of A Sorceress
03. Vintage Black Magic
04. Festival Of Devotion
05. The Devil Intimate

When it’s all said and done, black metal is at its best when it is absolutely morbid and twisted, when it evokes a palpable miasma of the unclean, unholy and occult. Genre pioneers Mayhem nailed this vile, eerie atmosphere with the ponderous guitar layers and unearthly vocals of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.  And if that kind of vibe is your cup of tea, no sorry, your splintered bone-goblet of brackish moonshine laced with hallucinogenic herbs, you’re ready to join the acolytes of the Polish black metal sect that goes by the name of Cultes Des Ghoules.

Another one of those orthodox black metal collectives that veils its individual identities, Cultes Des Ghoules established a reputation for crushing black metal that projects an undeniable aura of primal evil and dark rituals with their first album, Haxan, and they’re back to unleash a new set of pandemonic chants and horrific soundscapes.

Stream the album below…now!!!!!

The first thing that stands out is the sound – it’s thick, dense, not at all crudely produced, but still somehow raw and oppressive. The guitar tones are just that little bit over the top in true black metal form, and the drummer varies between fast, double bass-anchored parts and lurching, tribal patterns. This makes the drum work an integral part of the atmospheric effort, not just a faceless obligato running its fleet-footed way in complete disregard of the musical context. The vocals are utterly ghoulish, as indeed they ought to be, and if someone told me the being that uttered these rasping chants and guttural cries was in fact some graveyard-scouring, subterranean monstrosity from a Lovecraft story, I wouldn’t have too much trouble believing them.

The songs are frequently bracketed in brief atmospheric melodies and a restrained use of samples that add to the uncanny atmosphere. Highlights include the rank ululations and simple yet darkly insinuating guitars of ‘The Passion of a Sorceress’ and the acolyte-march riffage and swooning vocal invocations of ‘Festival of Devotion’, but there really isn’t a false step here. These 5 songs are lengthy, hypnotic and completely effective in their creation of an atmosphere of obscure horror. This isn’t the kind of black metal that will dazzle hipsters with an eclectic mix of influences or appeal to the mainstream metal crowd with epic guitar solos and technical drumming. Instead, it’s the equivalent of the kind of horror movie I keep hoping they’ll make some day, something with the lush atmosphere and visceral horror of a Dario Argento film, crossed with the immediacy and immersion of a found-footage film. That’s a combination which we may never see; but in the meantime, Cultes Des Ghoules is putting out the same mix of rich texture and engaging spontaneity, all in service of a chillingly effective whole, in musical form.

Sanath Kumar • No Comments on Cultes Des Ghoules – Henbane | Review

Redwood Hill – Descender | Review

Mar 22 • International News, Releases, Reviews, The Slumbering Ent • 1956 Views

Redwood Hill – Descender

Tracklist:
1. Aten
2. Dybbuk
3. Tristesse
4. Poseidon
5. Croatoan
6. September

*Released via Bloated Veins

A marriage of restraint and despair

As metal, as a genre broadens its horizons with the word experimentation thrown about rather too freely, a small portion of it chooses ‘restraint’ as their path ahead. In a way this rids the genre of one of its more primal elements, the deep rooted proclivity to aggression. Yes doom, sludge and stoner does come under this rather broad yet small terminology and yet they show more in common with the metal aesthetic than this relatively newer offspring.  The art of restraint and the beauty that lies within, is best emulated in the genre that is post-metal. Heralded by Neurosis in the late 90s the genre has now gained household status. Together with Isis, they seem to have garnered worldwide attention with their brand of musical restraint which has been rather inanely dubbed ‘thinking man’s metal’. What with their cryptic yet thought provoking lyricism, it really does not seem far off. Unfortunately like anything new what follows is a wave after wave of insipid stereotypes paying homage at the same altar. But like the preacher and the preached, the bands and their influences, markedly differ in execution. Mediocrity sets in and holds ground.

We recommend that you listen to the album while reading the review.

Now we come to one such prospective humdrum all set to make your time uneventful yet again. Fortunately it is not to be. The Danes in Redwood Hill instill their brand of post metal with the harrowing tendencies of black metal. The blackened element seems to be more in line with the likes of Burzum, Xasthur, early Forgotten Tomb than compared to the likes of the acidic ferocity of say, Mayhem and Gorgoroth. Opener Aten and Dybukk are more straightforward post-metal, the latter being the more hard hitting, featuring a short clean vocal section where guitarist Toby utters in hushed innuendos :

“Like rocks into rivers,

Like trails in the dust”

One tends to feel a sense of strong conviction behind these verses, unlike their contemporaries. The blackened side of the band makes its presence felt on the track Tristesse where a foreboding clean guitar line sets the stage for the heart rending blackened assault that is to follow. The discernible change in the vocal style into the more raspy and abrasive one serves to be a perfect illustration of the fact. When Tristesse is about to completely overwhelm the listener with its suicidal connotations you are ushered in with the melodious intro of Poseidon which seems to have slipped its way into my ‘my personal favorite’ category with much ease. A tormenting melody permeates throughout the entire track all the while serving as a build up to the epic climax which features one of the catchiest lead lines heard in a bloody long while. A closer analysis of this part will make it clear that the drumming does not remain subdued as is staple throughout the genre. Andreas plays with a certain clinical restraint, adding in fills and rolls where it only matters and striking a perfect balance overall. The guitars and bass, in Toby, Brian and Jens populate the bleak setting with even bleaker elements, all the while never failing to eke out an emotive melody or two. Croatoan’s sludgy rhythm, closer September’s contrast of moderately uplifting(by strictly depressive standards) and arching dissonance further exemplifies the fact that how  good an album this is.

Innately depressive, both post- metal and black metal combine to deliver a thoroughly potent concoction in Descender. An interesting portrayal of everything forlorn that you must not miss.

Sanath Kumar • No Comments on Redwood Hill – Descender | Review

Inter Arma – Sky Burial | Review

Mar 22 • International News, Releases, Reviews, The Slumbering Ent • 1792 Views

Today we have Mohammad Kabeer reviewing the new album from Inter Arma titled Sky Burial released via Relapse Records.

Inter Arma – Sky Burial

Tracklist

1. The Survival Fires
2. The Long Road Home (Iron Gate)
3. The Long Road Home
4. Destroyer
5. ‘sblood
6. Westward
7. Love Absolute
8. Sky Burial

Often  you find that Metal  seems to   push itself  towards  a particular cage, and doesn’t  even  try to come out of it , sometimes to create something  that will appeal  to the  mainstream  audiences, sometimes  because  of the narrow-mindedness of the musicians  and fans themselves  and sometimes because it just doesn’t  want to . Once in a while however you do come across a band that changes things, Inter Arma is that band .

Stream the entire album from the player below

Inter Arma is a five piece from  Richmond Virginia,  consisting of T.J. Childers(Drums) Steven Russel (Guitars)  Trey Dalton (Guitars) Mike Paparo (vocals) and Jon koerkes ( bass). The band’s sound is very hard to categorize in one single word, the best way to describe it would be   black/sludge/doom metal that is strongly influenced by psychedelic rock   but that barely scratches the surface. One word that describes this album perfectly is rich, both in terms  of production, which  encompasses  a really thunderous, deep  drum sound  and also   multiple layers of guitar tracks,  and in terms of the actual  performance  which  dosen’t really stick to one formula or genre for that matter. The Survival Fires  mixes   avante-garde black metal  with  crushing sludge while  Sky burial   does the same, except mixing it with really melancholic rock ,  whereas you  have   less extreme tracks   like The Long Road Home(Iron Gate). The long road home and  Love Absolute  which  have more of a psychedelic  vibe,   mixing  spacey  effects   with simple  acoustic  guitar .  And if that’s not all there are  tracks like  ‘sblood  which is driven  by very tribal  drumming, mainly on the toms  accompanied  by  really mystical  guitar work  that sounds almost like a didgeridoo and  Destroyer which has really buzzing ,hypnotic  almost drone like guitar work accompanied  by simple minimalistic drums, which  reminds of Venus in Furs by  Velvet underground.

All of these factors make Inter Arma a challenging yet quite intriguing listen; these guys are doing something different and thinking out of the box.  This is definitely an album that I think every  music  fan will enjoy regardless of their  preference in music .

Sanath Kumar • No Comments on Inter Arma – Sky Burial | Review