Not a huge week for metal, but certainly an interesting one. So come in, stay awhile, watch as I contemplate the "Roadrunner Effect" on Gojira's highly anticipated release, descend into madness with Old Man Gloom, and subject myself to the wonderful metalcore stylings of Memphis May Fire. Here are all the new releases coming out today:
Gojira – L'Enfant Sauvage
Genre: Groove/Progressive/Death Metal
Country: France
Label: Roadrunner Records
Listen: "Liquid Fire"
Without question, Gojira's L'Enfant Sauvage is one of the most highly anticipated albums of the year. But does it deliver? In short: not quite. I hate to be that "they sold out" guy; and to be fair, that's not really what's going on here. But as with most bands who transition to Roadrunner (looking at you Opeth, Dream Theater, etc…), what we wind up getting is a "watered-down" version of what used to be. This is Gojira-lite. This is user-friendly Gojira. This is Gojira completely streamlined; gone are the stunningly violent riffs and the punishing dissonance, the angular brutality, the moments of sweeping atmospheric beauty, the thought-provoking song structures; replaced instead with something completely accessible and easily-digestable; saccharine and melodic, faux-aggressive and minimally experimental. L'Enfant Sauvage is Gojira without the edge or ferocity that we've come to expect. While a few moments on the album did manage to pique my interest, it is at large uninspired and painfully recycled, as the band makes their way through minutes of aimless chugging and forced atmospherics; pushing through the same handful of riffs that they've done a million times before and that were better then. At most, the album is listenable and enjoyable; at worst, unmemorable and vapid. A disappointment on all fronts.
Old Man Gloom – NO
Genre: Sludge/Noise/Hardcore
Country: United States
Label: Hydra Head Records
Listen: Full Album Stream
Old Man Gloom is one of those bands I've been hearing about forever but haven't gotten around to hearing hearing until recently (really, just last week). To keep it short and sweet, I was highly impressed with NO, the bands latest offering in filthy sonic madness. With the standard conventions of sludge as a foundation (thick distortion, down-tuned goodness, general sludginess), the band manages to embody what I can only call the musical equivalent of schizophrenia. Indeed, vocalist Caleb Scofield does a pretty good job of expressing this insanity by way of his horrid, blood-curdling screams, spread violently over a canvas of noise, static, feedback, glitch, ominous atonal dissonance and brutally violent metallic chaos (that still manages to groove). Despite fleeting moments of melodic clarity, the album maintains this dark and foreboding atmosphere nearly the entire way through, to the point where the end and the following silence comes as sweet mental relief. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Good stuff.
Memphis May Fire – Challenger
Genre: Metalcore
Country: United States
Label: Rise Records
Listen: "Prove Me Right"
Every week I seem to get one of these damn bands; you know the ones, hopelessly stuck in the early 2000's, faithfully pumping out recycled metalcore without any self-awareness, holding steadfast to the idea that having the guy scream in the verses and sing in the choruses is really a novel thing. Two weeks ago it was Miss May I, this week it's Memphis May Fire, and holy shit I just realized how similar the names are. It's just as well, because I could write one review and it would be applicable to all of them. I hate to be SO harsh, but this stuff just gets under my skin. A lyric video for the song "Prove Me Right" contains all the info you need; chuggy-chug verses with harsh screaming, 4-chord super-produced melodic choruses with auto-tuned singing, edgy chuggy-breakdown (slower version of the verse riff), and lyrics about evil record labels and people who steal music. Oh, and epic synth-laced outro. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum. Why do I subject myself to this?
Bosse-De-Nage – III
Genre: Black Metal
Country: United States
Label: Profound Lore Records
Listen: "The Arborist"
Time for my weekly obscure black metal release; this time we have Bosse-De-Nage, a raw black metal band from the US. And as usual, the fact that they're signed to Profound Lore is enough to at least get me interested. After listening to the album, however, it seems that interested is as far as I'm gonna go with this one. There are some good ideas here, no doubt, and the music manages to strike a nice balance between the melodic aspects of post-black metal and the frenetic rawness of 2nd wave stuff. As with most bands in the genre however, "good" is simply not enough to separate Bosse-De-Nage from the hundreds of other bands who are doing the same exact thing. Enjoyable record but not all that memorable in the long-run.
More Releases:
Animetal USA – Animetal USA
The Body – The Body Re-Release
Desolate Oasis – When Dreams Become Reality
The Devil Wears Prada – Dead & Alive CD/DVD
Evocation – Evoked From Demonic Depths – The Early Years
Morgoth – Cursed To Live
Radiation Sickness – Reflections Of A Psychotic Past
Seth – Les Blessures de l’Ame Re-Release
Throw The Fight – What Doesn't Kill Us
