Sunday, December 4, 2011

A Pale Horse Named Death ...And Hell Will Follow Me


A Pale Horse Named Death - And Hell Will Follow Me

Sal Abruscato, has gone from being a former drummer of Type O Negative (Slow, Deep, and Hard, Bloody Kisses), and Life Of Agony, and reinvented himself as a front man of his new band A Pale Horse Named Death.

Where has Sal been for the last umpteen years? Who knows. He’s been somewhat of an enigma away from a band construct in quite some time. He wasn’t content sitting around doing nothing when Life Of Agony went on hiatus.

Sal’s been under the radar. The beginning stages of A Pale Horse started in 2009. When Peter Steele (Type O Negative fame)passed in 2010, I think it spurred Mr. Abruscato into action. Where am I going with this? I think drummers get a lot of shit because of their position within bands they play in. If there wasn’t such a stigma associated with the cliche of being one sole position in a band, I think the field can be a lot more open, and interesting. Otherwise Sal’s evolution of being a drummer to a singer/songwriter is proving to be a welcomed endeavor.

I enjoy listening to this record. Sal handles himself very well with And Hell Will Follow Me. Some of the topics range from personal addictions, sorrow, pain, loneliness, and death. For many listeners this would be depressing subject matter to even broach let alone listen to. What impressed me with this record is how well Sal took an honest approach these serious problems, as I truly believe he really doesn’t insult the listener.

Every single track on this record are favorites. The songwriting has strong influences i.e The Doors, Judas Priest, Deep Purple, Alice In Chains, with twinges, and nods to Type O Negative. Sal remarkably remade his image, making this his own entity, while utilizing a very clever marketing strategy to promote this record. I’m impressed that he’s embraced the social media avenue, and has worked his butt off getting this to masses. Color me super impressed.

Summarizing: ...And Hell Will Follow Me is without a doubt one of my favorite releases of 2011. There is emotion, feeling, and a sense of closure. Though the lyrics lean towards familiar, and a tad cliche, the overall feel of the record is a comfort blanket to already unknown and disturbed period of time for a great many of us. I think this record encapsulates what all of us endure. If the subject is to dark, then this maybe isn’t your thing to check out. This I highly recommend to fans of Type O Negative and Seventh Void.

Thanks for reading.


B.

Unowned Diseased Thoughts


Unowned - Diseased Thoughts EP

Hailing from Istanbul Turkey, Unowned employ a mixture of doom, and dark metal with their third release Diseased Thoughts. Not much is known besides their locale, I was curious nonetheless.

A couple things I liked about this EP were the keyboards, and guitars. The keyboarding is interesting because of the constant shifting of tone between the twin guitars. The keys are subtle, and shine with the thick, crunchy, and moody fretwork. There are hints of their middle eastern music, but I felt this was pushed way into the background.

The low marks are the pedestrian vocals, even though they are very audible, leaves little remark or separation from the pack. Secondly, the drumming is pretty much paint by numbers. No real variation, sounds as minimal and simplistic as possible.

The EP mixes the slow, agonized atmosphere, but I would have liked it better if it didn’t feel incomplete. Each song (4) total needed more time, development, and better execution. Unowned could be a nice addition to the scene, if they could break free of the sameness which has stagnated the doom scene. Thanks For Reading.


B.

Sepultura Kairos


Sepultura - Kairos

Since the 90′s I’ve been an ardent supporter of Sepultura. I’m engrossed in they’re history, members leaving, and their constantly evolving musical changes. Each preceding record has had a variation/theme that separates prior releases, while still retaining a sound still uniquely Sepultura. I think and believe they’re as relevant now as they’ve always been, but have received ample amounts of cynical attitude from one legion/era of fans.

The last two records Dante XI, and A-Lex wove a greek narrative/mythos centered around the human condition. Here we are in 2011, Kairos returns them to a period of familiarity, while eschewing upon modern circumstances. Kairos is literally about life’s moments, each track looks at this idiom, and expounds upon this succinctly.

Roy Z produced Kairos, his touch pushes the continued variation with the signature guitar tone, while balancing out the bass and drum work. The vocals remain powerful, gruff, while evoking a warm distinction. Overall feel to Kairos is its organically raw, and methodically rhythmic prose. There is no other band that sounds like Sepultura, and this is why I love them.

The two covers Ministry’s Just One Fix, and The Prodigy Firestarter are interesting, whereas breaking tracks up with filler is annoying. It breaks up the albums flow, and frankly I wished they’d stop doing this. Otherwise the material on this record really is their finest, and I would like people to at least give this a spin. Thanks for reading.

****/*****

B.

Kekal 8

Kekal8

In this review I’m reviewing a different direction of music, as I think metal tends to be weighed in its own pretentiousness, here we have something connected to the style but is expanding upon the tome.
Hailing from Indonesia, and later settling in various locales, Kekal started in the mid to late 90′s as a band of raw, unrefined black metal. Their first record Beyond The Glimpse Of Dreams shows off their potential. Embrace The Dead is more focused, followed by the The Painful Existence.

By their third release the splintering from extreme metal begins. Each release thereafter i.e. 1000 Thoughts of Violence, and Acidity shows Kekal evolving and morphing of musical boundaries. There isn’t just one style that one stays true to anymore, and that’s a bold statement considering how militant the average metal fan has become in today’s climate. I find this be the allure of their existence, pushing what is acceptable, making one think about what is perceived as ‘metal’.

Specifically, they are not atypical group of persons, nor a single entity. They are a criss crossing river, engaged with enigmatic personalities pushing music forward. Their focal point is with merging both known and unknown influences into a cohesive structure. They are experimental without having the baggage of the artsy part, its interpretive yes, but at the same time it underscores the importance of hearing and letting it fuse into whats already known.

Tabula Rosa the first single encapsulates this idea succinctly. But, at the same time the foundation is rearranged again with the preceding tracks. A Linear Passage for example, is layered with bizarre effects, overlapping with beats, electronic rhythms, all while enhancing the emphasis upon subtle distortion. Guitar wise, there is the hard aspect but its played in almost stream of conscious aspect. Each song has its own reason for being, and this might put people off.

8 relies more upon hybrid, and morphism, and is a deliberate extension of prior releases like Audible Minority, and The Habit Of Fire. Kekal’s records are cryptic, and they will make the listener work for uncovering newness, invention, while pushing musicality forward. 8 is a record meant to be explored, and after many listens I still find new aspects to uncover. I wouldn’t say this is a strange record, but I’d say its very different to what is out there. Take a listen. Thanks for reading.



B.

Primus Green Naughahyde


PRIMUS - Green Naughahyde

 Ah, the new Primus record released in September 2011. Green Naughahyde their 8th full length release with a bristling twinge of excitement. Its been twelve years of since their last full length record: The Antipop dropped. The Antipop was gamut of mish mash who’s who of guest musicians, was disappointingly unfocused, and after repeated listens fell extremely short of what I loved about Primus. Largely it missed their critical spontaneity, and gravitas of their signature weirdness. So learning Primus would be put on ice for the foreseeable future, Les Claypool decided upon going into a varied musical journey.

I’ve largely been indifferent to his solo output. His involvement with Oysterhead, and self titled material resonated more with me. Whereas his jaunts with Buckethead, Vinyl, Frog Brigade seemed to be more about settling into pure experimentation. I’m somewhat of a music snob when it comes to what is interesting to me. Typically it has to really sit within my predilection of taste, and this sometimes will change on a whim. I’m not saying this to be snobbish, but its clear that the work has to hit within the first few minutes or I lack the interest to continue listening. Which brings me to his 2000’s decade of output, it was a distant curiosity for me. Some of the work just didn’t capture my interest, or it wasn’t profound to me as I was going through a catharsis. I’ve grown older, and much more refined in my music aptitude, plus time does make one more susceptible to more varied to those tomes, and this seems to be where my head has been for the last three years.

When Primus announced last year they would be getting back together, I was skeptical because of the prior history, and issues within the band (notably drummer changes). When Jay Lane returned to the fold, Les Claypool, and Larry LaLonde set about being a slow and sure thing. They recorded a live EP which was free to download in 2010. Upon listening Primus is older, more relaxed, and aged like wine. The songs were reinvented to fit what Primus is now currently. Without spoiling too much here, the EP is essentially Primus incarnation 3.0.

Then the announcement that Primus had completed their next album Green Naugahyde, I was awaiting the release. Upon first listen there is a Tom Waits adulation from frontman Les Claypool. His strong affection to Tom’s do it yourself musician. Everything is top form his bass work is sharp, and exploratory. Whereas Larry’s guitar parts are more about stretching notes, and bending pitch. Lastly there is Jay’s drumming, which fits into a off the cusp, crisp symbol work, while having a driving snappy fluid foundation.

There is a familiar feel to the tunes like Lee Van Cleef, Eyes of a Squirrel, Jilly’s on Smack, and Eternal Combustible Engine. These tracks have minor hints of Primus and Les Clapool lore, some remind me of Antipop, whereas Tales From The Punchbowl is lightly dusted on Moron TV. Green Ranger hails to his track Delicate Tendrils from his High Ball with the Devil record.

I was hoping for more, but I’m glad to see Primus back, if only for a brief period before Les decides to go on some other whim that takes him away from his well recognized band. If there is another record, it won’t take twelve years. Thanks for reading.


B.