In many ways, Palms sounds just as you would imagine. Moreno’s voice-as-an-instrument presence is an otherworldly facet, crafting an ethereal atmosphere, maintaining his ghostly melodic croon throughout the album. Meanwhile, the instrumentation borrows from Isis’ final two albums Wavering Radiant and In The Absence of Truth, specifically those records’ more lighter shades.

Quiescent and hypnotic vibes run throughout this album and the artwork is a near perfect visual accompaniment to the lush sonic landscapes held within. The guitars craft hazy ambience that blossom into rich, dexterous walls of soothing sound and while there’s very little here that you could call riffs, it’s never anything short of invigorating.

The album opens with the serene climes of ‘Future Warrior’, where Palms lay down mesmeric guitars that glimmer on the horizon, and when Chino enters vocally, this record begins to unwind before us in engrossing fashion.

The sprawling ten minute ‘Mission Sunset’ is where this album takes on a whole new life force with brooding passages, before blooming into an Alcest-like wash of ambient guitars that are equally as imposing as they are life-affirming. It’s a common theme of ebullience, without cliché, that runs through this album and each twist and turn is simply stunning and breathtaking. Around halfway through the record, it has become well and truly clear that Palms have exceeded expectations.

‘Tropics’ was the first taste we had of this album and it was certainly a song that bolstered expectations for this self-titled with its serene landscapes, but Palms still have the ability to swell in intensity – just listen to the wavering crescendo of ‘Shortwave Radio’ for proof. However, the band’s aural explorations are mostly that of the tranquil and almost easy listening, occasionally haunted by the band members’ individual heavy tendencies.

Whichever way you cut it though, Palms is a beautiful album first and foremost and one that will certainly appease the tastes of Isis’s final days and Deftones’ more serene areas and especially Chino Moreno’s work with Team Sleep. However, given the side project nature of this band, it’s difficult to predict what the future will hold for Palms beyond the next year or so but what we have now is more than satisfying.

Palms is released June 25th through Ipecac Recordings

The post Palms Debut Album Review appeared first on CVLT Nation.

With incredible artwork by the creative mind behind Pallbearer’s Sorrow and Extinction – Sean R. Williams (Animetalphysical) – Endless Night revels in the mystery of the arcane (just check out the full gatefold artwork below) whilst imbuing the proceedings with a sultry groove and more hooks than you can shake a stick at.

The balance between the many different sounds on Endless Night is handled with great style and aplomb and it’s to TOAD’s credit that they don’t let one genre dominate another. The influences are there to be heard yet the band throw them together in such a way as to create a unique sound and a fun as heck record to boot. From the symphonic elements of Emperor to latter day Darkthrone, to shades of Entombed, Endless Night is a rollicking and fast paced record that is steeped in horrific knowledge and a lot of attitude and arrogant swagger.

Check out the full review after the jump, plus a little something extra in the way of an exclusive preview of “Boundaries of Flesh.”

“Taste of the Grave” throws you into the Take Over And Destroy deep end with an immediate burst of life and groove-soaked rhythms of darkened rock overlaid with flighty guitar lines and a nicely incorporated stream of rich organ courtesy of Pete Porter. The organ is a wonderful touch that serves to add that old school vibe to their already huge sound and gives them an edge over other bands peddling the black and roll sound. As the band themselves say, they are “An American rock & roll band from the 1970s trapped inside a Scandinavian metal band from the 1990s,” and that’s as accurate a description as anything we could come up with. Which would pretty much be the same thing. Honest.

“Cosmophobia” begins with the band’s take on horror film soundtracks of old, the twinkling keys breathing over an unsettling course of guitar before the break comes to sweep it all away and massive crunchy tones of bass (Trey Wilson) shatter the off-kilter calm. Huge swathes of sound pour from the guitars of Nate Garrett and Alex Bank Rollins which lend a heady and spiralling atmosphere to the lyrics spat by vocalist Andy, or Chthon as their website leads us to believe is his name. Sure thing Andy. Doomier strides are taken during “Howling House” and the pace is slowed down a tad to showcase soaring guitar lines and intertwining effects of sludgy dirt and blackened aspects of rock. The track is streaming over at Pitchfork and gives a nice taste for what else you can expect from the album.

“Boundaries of Flesh” snaps with tight rhythms and a head-nodding beat that’s difficult to forget after your first listen. Heady sections of stripped back and echoing vocal lines gives the whole track a different and intriguing mood that calls to mind extreme doom-sensibilities and lends a deeply effective 70s B-Movie soundtrack quality to the song before the title track lurches into being with slow, weighty and dastardly destructive proportions. The song swirls with extended motions of climbing guitar wails and gruff vocal bellows that grind with a distinct resonance and the hurtling speed of the closing seconds is enough to raise the dead themselves. Excellent fun indeed.

Take Over and Destroy – Boundaries of Flesh

Pre-order Endless Night on vinyl here, and check out the Rotten Tide EP here.

The post Take Over And Destroy – Endless Night + Exclusive Stream! appeared first on CVLT Nation.

From the relentless hardcore sound of the opening track ‘No turning back,’ you are stopped in your tracks by the breakdowns on the Link Euro Tour CD. When played real loud the drums have this quadraphonic shattering sound which blasts out of each individual speaker. It then goes straight back into the fist pumping sound that vents all that anger. To draw musical comparisons, bands like From Ashes Rise or Alpinist would certainly come to mind, but of course Link are no imitators and certainly stand their own ground with their sound.

The production is top notch also, giving each instrument the perfect amount of breathing room. From hauntingly melodic to heavy doomy riffs, Link are full on. This album is a special edition of unreleased tracks and two tracks from each of their previous albums Chapter I and Chapter II (Düster). It is good to hear how the band have progressed in sound from each one. When you get to the most recent recordings, they show great variation, yet in keeping with the dark and gloomy. ‘Breaking Point’ has a great, almost ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ riff, accompanied by an aggressive mantra of the title. The album finishes off perfectly with the calming acoustic sound of ’28072012.’

Released by Irish label Distro-y, whose impressive discography of releases so far are by heavy contempories such as Putrefaction, Krang, Bacchus etc. It certainly is an ideal label for Link, as it’s releases all have one thing in common, and that is crushing, heavy music and independent ethos.

Link’s Euro Tour CD is available HERE.

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heavy tunes of Belgium’s Link appeared first on CVLT Nation.

Kicking off on a Friday night in The Silver Dollar Room, noise mongrels Catamites are playing their first show for the lucky few that have made the trek in early. The duo offers up a caustic serving of noise rock with grinding guitars and utterly frantic drumming complemented by maniacal shrill vocals.

Meanwhile, Blastronaut deliver a similar sort of meandering chaos but from a different approach. Their mathy post hardcore is a little like Britain’s Alright The Captain filtered through a few hardcore records, with their largely instrumental pieces complemented by the occasional gang vocal.

Pretty Mouth totally up the intensity though with a breed of experimental grinding dissonance that grows and grows in barbarity throughout the set, as the crowd in the venue begins to grow with it. Special note must be made of the employment of an eight string guitar that adds thick, devastating layers to the assault.

Moving on, Akroid return us to plains similar to those explored by Blastronaut, with their angular post hardcore tinged with erratic melody that’s short and sweet. Next, things take another turn for Ayahuasca, in the best possible sense. Their psychedelic-imbued sludgy rock is a real grower with its unabashed melodies and sleek lead guitar work.

Altarus flip things over though once again with trudging doom metal that’s rife with Electric Wizard and Sleep worshipping riffs but the energy and vitality discharged is all them. Their doom is mostly instrumental causing a hypnotic swirl of riffs only for the reverie to be disrupted by bellowing vocals from the abyss – definitely a band not to be missed.

Nothing can really prepare anyone for the crushing dirge of Hammerhands though. Crafting earth shattering slabs of sludgy doom, the four-piece are a sound to behold as they lay waste to the venue. Their latest record, Glaciers, is an aptly titled one as their slow, brain crushing doom moves at a glacial and overpowering pace for the most part but with flourishes of celerity mixed in for good measure. In a live setting, these threnodies of wreckage take on a whole new life force that’s utterly pulverising. Hammerhands are easily the band of the night.

However, don’t let that take anything away from the pairing of Lullabye Arkestra. Equipped with just drums, bass and vocals, the husband and wife team serve up a ridiculously rocking malaise of energising space rock-influenced psychedelic riffs that’s easy to get lost in. Also, their drummer sets fire to his snare drum for a couple seconds. Hey, why not?

Vilipend bring night one to a close, and do so on short notice after original headliners Dopethrone were forced to cancel due to injury, mere hours before the show started. As expected, they’re a treat. Their gaunt and provocative hardcore has grown in quality with each release, more than evidenced by last year’s Inamorata LP, and somehow their energy and vitriol is magnified in a live setting.

On Saturday night, we take a trip a few doors down to The Comfort Zone for night two of BriefcaseFest that’s mostly dominated by black metal acts but also hints of noise and death metal. The dark ambient act Cetacea, the solo project of Gates’ Bryan W Bray, opens things up as he sits forlorn with guitar in hand before a table of electronics, crafting droning hypnotic noise that’s totally enveloping.

Meanwhile, Ischemic are a totally different beast with their unbridled primitive black-death hybrid with an affinity for doom metal’s slower shades. It’s quite interesting as the band appear a bit so and so to begin but once they find their groove and start growing in momentum, their set is utterly pummelling. Murky dense riffs dominate their sound while piercing lead guitars slice through sporadically in each track, all complemented by the scathing vocals and special note must be made to the devastating drumming.

Ottawa’s Occult Burial then take us back in time a little bit through the medium of old school black/thrash with horns firmly pointed towards Bathory. They may only have one demo tape under their belts right now, but they’ve more riffs than you’d care to count. Things then take major swerve for Ride At Dawn. The trio employ a drum machine alongside guitars, bass and vocals for a dissonant grinding cacophony tinted with black metal that’s quite repetitive but relentless, imagine Mysticum colliding with Bologna Violenta.

Nyodene D are next and plummet us further into the void. The man behind the power electronics and HNW project is kind of the odd one out of the bill, being the only non-Canadian act on this night’s line-up, but he more than makes his presence felt. Harsh electronic acts like this can be hit or miss live but make no mistake that Nyodene D hit… repeatedly… to your temple with molesting electronics reverberating throughout the venue, with the use of non-instruments like chains and sheet metal and our protagonist’s unnerving vocals that submerge spectators and as if the wave of noise engulfing the venue wasn’t enough, Column of Heaven’s Andrew Nolan joins Nyodene D adding his own caustic vocals to the fray – an invigorating and bracing, and at times bizarre, set from start to finish.

As previously mentioned, black metal is a big part of the second night’s bill and the final four bands are ones loyal to BM’s dark beating heart. First is Toronto’s Sortilegia. A small pulpit is erected in the middle of the stage, illuminated by candles as incense burns through The Comfort Zone creating an otherworldly atmosphere as the pairing of guitarist/vocalist Koldovstvo and drummer Haereticus slowly enter the stage, garbed in black robes and unfurl their old school black metal. Raw buzzsaw riffs and harrowing ambience are the order of the day with Sortilegia, and Koldovstvo’s vocals are simply on form as she shrieks her bitter diatribes over hellfire and brimstone. It reminds us that they only have two demos out and an album couldn’t come sooner.

Speaking of bands that have sparse recorded output, Thantifaxath are outright enthralling. The three figures come dressed in similar dark robes to unleash their hail of chimerical black metal. For the most part it’s scything and unrelenting stuff but every so often, the trio will throw a spanner in the works like the mesmeric and twisting vibes of ‘Violently Expanding Nothing’. This is another band that needs to get a new release out soon and strike while the iron is hot.

Fellow Torontonians Sylvus are up next. They’re celebrating the completion of their new record, due for release sometime soon, so the set is rife with new material. Their brand of black metal is much more au fait with the snow covered forests of Norway, being focused on old school frosty atmosphere and searing vocals. A few amp issues almost impede the band’s momentum at first but after a couple of songs, things clear up and Sylvus return to their destructive ways.

Finally, Quebec City’s Forteresse are tasked with capping off this lengthy jaunt that has surely left some ears and necks weary but ultimately satisfied. The Quebecois black metal band have become seasoned veterans in the last couple of years, a status bolstered by the quality of their last two records, Par Hauts Bois et Vastes Plaines and Crépuscule d’Octobre, in particular.

In a live setting, they’re just as impressive delivering hammering, soul destroying black metal that’s equally hypnotic as it is devastating across their extensive headlining set that only means certain victory for the Quebecois band and BriefcaseFest.

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BriefcaseFest Toronto appeared first on CVLT Nation.

Forestelevision is quite the experience and Lesbian take their time to build sections of massive sound and move the piece onwards at a steady pace without it becoming boring, or trite or predictable. The music twists and dances between a multitude of sounds and influences and it has to be said that the most ambitious and evocative work by this group is certainly their best. Forestelevision is a terrific example of a band forgoing their own limits and letting the composition breathe with its own life.

The first section of Forestelevision is a mesmerising extended instrumental that takes in unnerving elements of dissonant sound structures and works them into an almost melodic trance-like passage before Dorando Hodous’ deep and guttural growl fleshes out the sinister tone with dark intonations. The hypnotic strangeness continues beneath great swells of guitar (Arran McInnis and Daniel La Rochelle) that are underpinned by steady drum beats and a constant, synth-like presence.

Lesbian transfer the sound into a higher gear and Forestelevision picks up a little pace along with a decidedly psychedelic hue and a deep harmonised vocal kicks the album into new realms of otherworldly curiosity. Switching step slightly gives Forestelevision a constant changing pattern which keeps you hooked and wanting to know where the band are going to take you next. The styles used fit together neatly – doom giving way to psych with shades of sludge and later black metal and classic rock elements making themselves known – and Lesbian have an obvious knack for incorporating the genres they enjoy into something they’ve created and giving it new directions. It’s really something.

Seventeen minutes in sees that off-balance beginning rear again, but this time with more rage burning over the discordant feelings of the rolling guitar. Hodous’ vocal takes on an urgent scorn and the avant-garde black metal textures stain and infiltrate every corner of the mind and then Lesbian turn another corner and fly head-on into wild passages of crunching guitar and mind-bending landscapes of heat and tripped out electro structures.

Around the twenty-five minute mark we hit another black metal style passage that’s all synth-laden and harsh screams and furious before the band segue into a stripped back moment of peace and reflection that again changes the entire mood of the piece. Lesbian have truly worked some kind of magic with Forestelevision as each different section (and it’s easy to note the shifts) has its own mood and atmosphere yet there’s a definite cohesion to the album as a whole and the contrasting movements in no way hold back the band and their capabilities.

The closing minutes of Forestelevision takes a sudden turn into classic 80s metal territory and echoes of King Diamond are heard in the high pitched wail of the vocal and the subsequent maniacal laughter is completely bonkers. Of course, it makes total sense considering the previous forty minute journey into the unknown that Lesbian has taken us on and when the harmonised vocal breaks and the drums rage and signal the end, you’ll want to go back and do it all over again.

See what they did there?

Find Lesbian on the internet, listen to their music and pre-order Forestelevision from Translation Loss Records ready for the June 25th release.

The post Lesbian – Forestelevision Review appeared first on CVLT Nation.

Many bands try to blend styles and genres. Many fail. A lot end up sounding forced, and with that, fake or processed. Sannhet succeeds in every aspect with Known Flood. There’s something for everyone. Blast-beats coexist with melody, sludge and drone parts give way to recorded samples and bits of crusty goodness. The band, made up of Christopher Todd, John Refano and AJ Annunziata, make it sound easy. They seamlessly fuse these sounds together in a very unique way. Songs such as ‘Safe Passage’ and ‘Invisible Wounds’ flow into one another perfectly. The same can be said for ‘Moral’ and ‘Slow Ruin.’ It’s quite artful, in that the record never loses any steam. It plows along, crushing everything in its path.

The production is very impressive as well. Known Flood was recorded by Colin Marston (Krallice) at Menegroth: The Thousand Caves, and was mastered by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering. These guys made great sounds sound even better.

Known Flood, is heavy stuff meant to be paired with heavy things. (Figuratively heavy, not dumbbells or free weights, unless you’re going to use them to crush someones skull.) Best to let the tunes handle that. Just put it on, turn it up, and let the aggressiveness cleanse you. Repeat if necessary.

Sannhet’s Known Flood was released February 19, 2013, via Sacrament Music. Visit sacramentmusic.com to pick up the LP. You will not be disappointed.

— JH Statts

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Known Flood Review appeared first on CVLT Nation.

Mind Control is completely and totally infectious. Songs like ‘Poison Apple,’ ‘Valley of the Dolls,’ and ‘Devil’s Work’ do eventually control the mind. Listen once. It will call out. Listen twice. It will own your soul. The third listen will be mostly subconscious. Utterly doomed. Any and all future listens will be for fun, or to show friends and family how good this band truly is. Bottom line: it will not disappoint. This is doom for the masses; a superb blend of styles, swirling and heavy guitars, booming bass, pounding drums, and vocals good enough to soothe the occult rock beast. Alarmingly great. Guaranteed to take up residence in your head, in your CD player, and on your turntable for many spins. Again, relatively perfect.

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats formed in Cambridge in 2009. Volume 1, the group’s debut full-length, appeared in 2010, to little attention. The band self-released their second full-length, Blood Lust, in 2011, generating quite a stir in the industry, and landing them an appearance at Roadburn that same year.

The songs on Mind Control, and the band, made up of Uncle Acid (lead guitars, organ, vocals), Yotam Rubinger (guitars, backing vocals), Thomas Mowforth (drums), and Dean Millar (bass), will be (should be) relevant for years to come. If not, there is no hope for music, or for humanity. These songs deserve to stand the test of time. Bring on the fourth release. Controlled minds are ready.

JH Statts

The post Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats
Mind Control Review appeared first on CVLT Nation.

The Dutch outfit ACID DEATHTRIP recently released its debut EP via the well-known Reflections Records and fall into the latter category. Ridiculously hard riffs that seem to have more than a pair of extremely hairy balls dangling between their legs, a totally fuzzed-out distorted sound and an überheavy, neck-snapping rhythm section make your facial hair instantly sprout and your thirst for alcoholic beverages grow.

The six songs on ACID DEATHTRIP‘s self-titled EP clock in at about 19 minutes, so be assured that these guys don’t fuck around too long. The tracks get straight to the point; if you’re looking for endless solos and redundant repetitions, look somewhere else. Somehow ACID DEATHTRIP sounds like a real heavy version of some sleazy biker-rock band that plays exclusively in shady pubs for free drinks. Espoused by the extremely powerful, thick production, ACID DEATHTRIP provides a perfect soundtrack to slam loads of beer and devastate your living room. Witnessing this live is surely hella fun, too.

I could imagine that opinions might differ on the vocals. Whereas a lot of singers of comparable bands stick to roaring or screaming, Bob Paulus actually knows how to sing properly, well, at least in a sleazy Rock’n'Roll kind of way. I admittedly had to get used to the vocals as well, and in some songs (like the opening track Short Cut To Hell) I’m not really 100% into it. In others, like The Aftermath I find them totally okay. Decide for yourself.

ACID DEATHTRIP surely is band to look out for; just like their fellow-countrymen of Herder they know how to keep things low, slow and filthy. So get your Harley out of your garage and get ready for the ACID DEATHTRIP to hell.

facebook.com/aciddeathtrip
reflectionsrecords.com

The post Raising the Chalice…
ACID DEATHTRIP Review appeared first on CVLT Nation.