First of the Styigan at Myspace

As a way of getting your music out there as a new band handing out your demo to random passers-by at a metal festival is certainly a novel approach, but it’s the one that Wales First of the Stygian took and I guess since it got them this review it’s worked to some extent. First of the Stygian describe their music as “Progressive power thrash” and at least two thirds of that is true. Their straight up heavy metal approach is too straight forward to be progressive, but for what it is, it’s very promising. Taking influence from Judas Priest, Overkill, King Diamond, Helloween and Metal Church, these boys have a style that is both rooted firmly in the 80’s but is original enough to with enough songs of this calibre evolve into their own distinct sound.

Of particular interest are vocalist Tyrone Leigh Williams who seems to be able to perfectly mimic both King Diamonds hissing voice and James Hetfield circa Ride the Lightning along with coming up with a death metal growl, and bassist James Macdonald who can play one mean bass solo if he needs to. It’s not quite the finished product yet, but it’s certainly very good for a new band.

Colosseum at Myspace

Not to be confused with the 60’s prog rock pioneers or the American Sludge-core band on Relapse Record, Colosseum are the latest in a long line of traditional funeral doom metal acts that have come out of Finland. They follow in a long line of such acts such as Thergothon, Skepticism and Shape of Despair but whilst taking ample influence from these acts, they have their own take on the genre. It is a more guitar centric take that owes a very slight debt to Paradise Lost era Gothic and some of the more tuneful displays that Esoteric have put on. The vocals are suitably gruff and uninviting and interplay with the despairing yet humane synth lines.

It’s not what they do though, but what they don’t do which makes them worth your while. A lot of  second wave funeral doom acts drench their songs in keyboard lines. Yes the synth is almost as important as the guitar in finnish style funeral doom, but if it is louder than the guitar line then as metal itself it fails. The synths in good funeral doom are supposed to add to the ambience and pathos of the music and on “Chapter 1: Delirium” this is exactly what happens. The momentum of the perpetual sorrow of this record is seemingly never-ending, and Colosseum has proven themselves to be a definite band to watch out for which future releases.

Baroness at Myspace

“The Red album” is a record that is of the age it was created but yet seems ageless. Combining  both metal influences (Mastodon, Isis, Opeth, Floor) and non metal (Fugazi, Yes, Tool, Pink Floyd) influences to give birth to a sound that is so individual its hard to describe. The foundation of this sound is Stoner tinged progressive metal that is both extremely technical yet flows organically. More than in most metal releases, the vocals play second fiddle to the guitars. The leads and riffs twist and turn down many musical passageways and wormholes yet each songs highly unique and memorable melodies remains as a central cornerstone anchoring the experimentation and innovation that happens in each song.

Baroness could certainly teach the Symphony X’s and other widdle-fest lovers out there how to do progressive metal properly. This musical technicality with a deep emotional resonance and an a ambience that harks back to the early 70’s glory days of prog rock itself. The production is warm and earthy and gives the music a splendidly human feel to it. There are notable psychedelic touches to it with the cosmic “Wailing Wintry Wind” being a notable example with its calm and chilled out Pink Floydian intro segueing into a post rock influenced stoner rock epic that although having a fairly relaxed tone has just the right amount of drama and tension.

There are some Appalachian folk elements with “Cockroach en Fleur” country acoustic instrumental being a prime example. Baroness are one of many acts to be hailed as “the new Mastodon” but they are perhaps the only of one those acts who could not only equal such a tag but might go on to beat Mastodon themselves in the Progressive metal stakes.

Devildriver at Myspace

There comes a time in most trend-hoppers time when the first trend they attached themselves to dies and they hop onto the next. This doesn’t just apply to teenagers but to musicians. Bullet for my Valentine, Atreyu, and Norma Jean all started out as rap/nu metal bands, but perhaps the most famous trend hopper of modern metal is Dez Fafara. Fafara made his name donning fishnet tights on his arms and a  terrible gothic haircut fronting stereotypical nu metal band Coal Chamber. When the wheels came off that wagon, Fafara created a new band aimed at targeting the new trend in metal in an absolutely cynical fashion. With their Melodic death influenced metalcore sound, their boneheaded lyrics and the ubiquitously annoying Fafara, Devildriver seemed custom made to appeal to every “true metal” teenage knucklehead wanting to get into “the real heavy shit” in the most superficial fashion possible.

The one thing that strikes you about “The Last Kind Words” is how falsely perfect it sounds. It sounds like it was constructed by a committee to appeal to a certain audience. The chord progression and musical ingredients are tried and trusted to a level that sounds sterile and stale. Elements are taken from every obvious source and used in an exceedingly obvious way. Imagine the first band you formed with your mates in your teens. It was probably influenced by what can be called training wheels metal, (eg, Pantera, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer etc) as that’s the stuff you knew and loved. Now imagine a bunch of guys with 10 years experience in music theory who know exactly what they are doing trying to do the same thing but with a modern “core” edge.

That might be a dream come true to a lot of metal fans, but it’s not mine. Metal, even accessible and commercially viable metal has to have a real dangerous edge to appeal to the discerning metal fan in even the slightest capacity. Metallica, Iron Maiden, Pantera and co took influences from bands that weren’t popular then and certainly aren’t popular now. The same can be said for Opeth, In Flames, Lamb of God, Shadows Fall etc whatever you may say about their current career choices. Devildriver are a lot heavier than the likes of Bullet for my Valentine and Avenged Sevenfold but they are just as unthreatening and safe. Just like Coal Chamber are barely remembered today, I doubt Devildriver for all their popularity will be remembered after they split up. Just like Coal Chamber this shit is just too tame and teen friendly to be long lasting.

Alestorm at Myspace

If you haven’t heard the term “Battle Metal”, then you haven’t had the misfortune of reading Metal Hammer UK recently. After previously covering Oasis and the The Verve in the 90’s and in recent memory given My Chemical Romance and other emo bands front covers, said magazine has now decided it is “the defender of the faith of metal”. As part of this transformation, they have been promoting “battle metal” which seems to be name one can give to any bunch of keyboard wielding attention seekers in comedy costumes playing a piss poor combination of Power Metal, Folk Metal and AOR.

Alestorm are one of the only UK bands to come under this bizarre label and play something called “True Scottish Pirate Metal” that is unique though I’m not sure if it’s a good thing. All of the folk influences have been picked up second hand from mostly Finnish folk metal bands rather than drawing any influence from Scottish folk music or indeed actual folk music itself. Alestorm have two modes of operating. One as exhibited on the first few tracks of the album such as “Captain Morgan’s Revenge” and “Nancy the Tavern Wrench” is to play mid paced plodding power metal for the “randomness” crowd. These songs combine the Keyboard drenched cheese of Turisas with the faux-old world sound of the Dropkick Murphys with lyrics full of cheesy references to pirates clichés that even “Pirates of the Caribbean” would be ashamed of.

On “Death before the Mast” and “Terror on the High Seas” a different approach is taken. A fast paced punky take on traditional heavy metal is infused with some funky Janne Wirmann style synth theatrics. The high tempo and razor sharp riffs get the heart racing and on these songs the band stays the right side of cheesiness. When they try and combine this approach with the more generic Turisas-esque approach that was mentioned in the last paragraph it just doesn’t gel at all. An example of this, “Set Sail and Conquer” proves this with any momentum and excitement being drowned out in a thousand musical and lyrical clichés. It’s no surprise that the two tracks stand above the rest of the offering on this album were the most lyrically subdued.

For every “funny if you are 16 years old” line such as “I want more wrenches/more wrenches and mead” there are 4 or 5 clearly audible cringeworthy ones that not even the biggest fan of “randomness” can stomach. The most embarrassing moment is their awful power metal cover of the Scottish nationalist ditty “Flower of Scotland” which is terrible beyond words. Alestorm have the capability of being more than just another gimmick band for teenage “random metal LOL” fans, but on this album at least, there are too many lumbering cliché fests to see whether they can weather the storm when this type of metal eventually becomes unpopular.