Kalisia at Myspace

Despite the fact that the French progressive death metal band Kalisia was founded in 1994, Cybion, released earlier this year, is their debut. With choral vocals and the heavy use of keyboards, I felt that this album is best looked at from the perspective of progressive metal than death metal. When I want to hear death metal, I want something sickening and I want something brutal; this doesn’t deliver on either count, despite the frequent use of harsh vocals. It’s just too melodic to be a really great example of death metal.

Cybion is considerably better as a progressive metal album, but it still has its flaws. It’s supposed to be some sort of sci-fi concept album, but I never really understood it (the fact that many of the vocals are growled didn’t help). It also seems more than a little derivative of Ayreon, what with the multiple singers, squelchy synthesizers and Arjen Anthony-Lucassen himself appearing on one track. It’s messy and overlong, but there are lots of interesting musical passages so it evens out fairly well in the end. I can’t recommend Cybion to death metal fanatics, but prog metal fans should like it. I think it’s decent for a first effort, but I’ll probably never listen to it again.

Dol Theeta at Myspace

Dol Theeta is Thanasis Lightbridge’s second project. His first, Dol Ammad, was unique among metal bands in that it employed a 14-member choir and relied heavily on electronics. Dol Theeta is different, as it lacks a choir and is quite a bit more laid-back than either of the Dol Ammad albums. And there’s the rub- to me, this seems more like a straight-up electronica album with a few metal influences than a metal album. While Dol Ammad straddled the line between “metal” and “not metal”, the choir and epic nature of their songs at least reflected metal aesthetics; the metallic content on “The Universe Expands” is limited to the occasional guitar solo. It’s not a bad electronica album by any means, and open-minded metal fans might enjoy it, but metal purists will want to pass this one up.

Meshuggah at Myspace

Let’s face it the quality of Meshuggah’s material has been on a downward spiral since 1998’s “Chaosphere”. 2002’s “Nothing” was a mid paced boring trudge and 2005’s “Catch Thirty-Three” was an overly pretentious journey to the musical equivalent of the middle of nowhere with nothing to show for it. The problem with both of those releases is they were too obtuse and for want of a better term ‘mathematical’. You are probably saying “but the whole point behind Meshuggah’s music is their use of complex almost mathematical rhythms; how can their music be too mathematical!” The problem is when the mathematics overpowers all the other elements of the bands formula so that it becomes a staid series of theoretical musings in obscure time sequences and forgets the adrenalin rush and off kilter momentum that made songs such as “Future Breed Machine” and “New Millennium Cyanide Christ” so memorable.

The songs on “Nothing” and “Catch Thirty-Three” had the momentum of a bulldozer stuck in quicksand and instead of making you want hurl yourself around your room instead lulled one into a feeling of drowsiness. “ObZen” at first listen seems to have rectified this problem with the first song “Combustion” which is a full throttle poly-rhythm attack that engages the senses like having a hive full to the brim of hornets flung at you at top speed. In theory if there are a few fast songs on “ObZen” then that should allow the slow ones to be more memorable as they won’t blend into one featureless mid paced chug a la “Nothing”.

However, this is not the case as the next six songs are mid paced and whilst tracks such as “Lethargica” and “This Spiteful Snake” have unnerving yet atmospheric discordance that the material on “Catch Thirty-Three” could never hope to achieve. Unfortunately tracks two to seven to seem to blur into half an hour of mathematical chugging nearly always at the same tempo that betrays however unworldly and mind-blowing this material may appear to be at first listen, when presented like this with not enough fat cut away from the meat, the Meshuggah sound seems as formulaic as Cannibal Corpse or Dark Funeral.

“Pravus” is a faster paced and less samey track which helps to some degree to bring any listeners attention that may have wandered back to the fore. It’s too late though as it’s the penultimate track and its now the turn of the nine and half minute album closer “Dancers To A Discordant System” to finish off the job of disappointing us once more. A moment roughly around 5:45 is oddly reminiscent of Gojira which isn’t surprising given the influence Meshuggah have had upon them, but it further hammers it home that barring a surprise return to form, Meshuggah’s time as innovators and leader seems to be over. With one brilliant track with the rest ranging from “kinda alright” to “deserving to be on “nothing” ” this has proven to be a disappointing album.

Amaseffer at Myspace

Israel’s best known metal export, Orphaned Land, is notorious for the paucity of its releases. When they released Mabool, their best known effort, in 2004, their previous album had been eight years prior, and their next album still has not surfaced. So it’s fortunate that Amaseffer has stepped in to fill the void. Their first album, Slaves for Life, sounds more than a little like Mabool, but with more emphasis on symphonic keyboards. It is intended to be the first in a trilogy of albums about the story of the Israelites in the Old Testament.

The band had difficulty finding a vocalist, but they managed to get Mats Leven of Therion to perform most lead vocals, and Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy guests on one track. I was originally shocked that Amaseffer had allowed goyim to perform on this album, but it didn’t matter because Leven’s performance was quite good. If Slaves for Life has any real weaknesses, it’s that at 77 minutes and 45 seconds, it goes on a little longer than it should. The song “Midian” also used a horse whinny at about eight minutes in which I’d heard in so much stuff that it’s basically the equine version of the Wilhelm Scream. This is a quality release and I heartily recommend it.

Rosetta at Myspace

Rosetta’s particular strand of Post Metal takes the ethereal melodies present within Katatonia’s “Brave Murder Days” and The Angelic Process’s “Weighing souls with Sand” and merges them with the that staple of the Genre, the mid period Isis sound. The quiet/loud/quiet/loud dynamics are infused with a gradually increasing sense of urgency that many post metal bands try and fail to achieve. There is a sense of nearly but not quite linear progression in the song writing which adds a progressive and epic feel to the compositions.

“Wake/Lift” is a hauntingly beautiful yet exquisitely savage record and one that proves that Rosetta might be able to one day make the leap and join Isis, Pelican, Cult of Luna, and Neurosis as the accepted leaders of the genre. It is a measured and expertly crafted release which throws up new discoveries with each listen. If you like Post Metal you will probably like this!