no.227 December 28, 2023 (WA state, USA) www.metalbulletin.blogspot.com Sacred Outcry
Frostnatt
Tombstalker
Carma
Y&T
Kuyashii
Tyrants Blood
Plus: Holz, Sinheresy, Necronomicon Ex Mortis, Grot, Receiver www.facebook.com/The-Metal-Bulletin-paper-zine-238441519609213/ Twitter @MetalBulletinZn
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Sacred Outcry: Towers of Gold
No Remorse Records 19.05.2023 I often listen to new albums without looking into the details. I like to hear the music and make a judgment call on the songs, the skills and the sound quality, and see where things go from there. So, I was listening to this music and it sounded awesome, but there was something very interesting taking place. After some time, I had to look it up. I’ll come back to this point in a minute. Anyway, in 2020 Sacred Outcry debuted with a strong album titled Damned for All Time, a tour de force of riffs, melodies, singing and epic traditional heavy metal, all marked by a certain quality to make people sit up and take notice. The new 2023 album Towers of Gold (10 tracks in 55 minutes) is even better, if that is possible. The music remains the sound of heroic traditional heavy metal in all its glory, with the aim of delivering to the audience nothing short of excellence. The standards that this band sets for itself are rather high, and the beneficiaries of such compulsive, demanding objectives is the listener. So, back to my earlier story. The one thing that I got my attention was the singing. It sounded familiar and very good. I had to look it up and what do you know?! The new singer on this album is none other than Daniel Heiman, the singer who captured the attention of the heavy and power metal audiences with Lost Horizon’s two albums in 2001 and 2003, both nearly perfect albums. Besides nearly perfect music, there was the beauty of the acrobatic singing, with a voice as luxurious as the most elite beautiful voices in all of metal. The reason why Sacred Outcry is noteworthy is because they seem to have convinced Daniel Heiman to sing in the style of Lost Horizon (and even use the words “lost horizon” on one of the songs), to use his voice in all of its grandiosity, to showcase its elegance. It is quite the achievement to behold. Come for the songwriting and lyrics, stay for the marvelous singing. https://sacredoutcry.bandcamp.com/album/towers-of-gold https://www.facebook.com/SacredOutcry/ Frostnatt: Den russiske frosten April 7th, 2023 I enjoyed the 2022 EP Dette stedet kjenner bare kulden (“This Place Only Knows the Cold”) of instrumental melodic black metal by Frostnatt, a solo entity by one Alex Evenson in Yekaterinburg, Russia. This new 2023 album Den russiske frosten (“The Russian Frost”; all Frostnatt songs have titles in Norwegian) is eight tracks emphasizing melody, mostly played at an uptempo speed for headbanging or physical movement (sometimes launching into all-out black metal blasting frenzy), although one can just as easily focus on the melodies for a type of meditation through tremolo-guitar black metal mu-
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sic. Here’s the thing: Frostnatt seeks to convey the imagined interpretation of the Ural region (the city of Yekaterinburg is located about 880 miles to the east of Moscow [a distance comparable from Seattle to Bakersfield, California] {some 100 miles from Los Angeles}). Yekaterinburg is on the Iset River between the Volga-Ural region and Siberia, in the Ural Federal District. Generally, the region is seen as a type of border between what is considered Europe and Asia. Put it this way, the Ural Federal District, which is an enormously huge territory of some 700,000 square miles, is not considered cosmopolitan, to say the least, even though Yekaterinburg itself is the fourth largest city in Russia. The Ural Federal District is bigger than Alaska; by comparison, Alaska is some 663,000 square miles, and Alaska is 3.7 times bigger than California; Alaska is more than twice the size of Texas; Alaska is bigger than California, Texas and Montana combined. Thus, how could black metal be as a sound of the Ural region, of the landscape and especially of the winter, a vast land of frozen forests and mountains? This album right here is the answer provided by Frostnatt. I would say that this music depends on the melodies to make its mark. It's really the guitar melodies that are the central attraction for the audiences interested in uptempo melodic black metal. Come away with Frostnatt to a land of ice and snow. https://frostnatt.bandcamp.com/album/den-russiske-frosten https://www.facebook.com/frostnattofficial/ Tombstalker: Age of Darkness Boris Records 29 May 2023 In 21 minutes Tombstalker provides an immensely enjoyable serving of something like a hybrid of Entombed and Dissection or like Entombed covering Dissection or a band combining Swedish death metal with Swedish melodic black metal. The production is death metal and this duck quacks like a death metal duck, but once you look closely at the legs and feathers of this duck, this duck has black metal heritage in some of the riffing and melodies, and some of the drumming. Devoted fans of death/black/thrash should be very entertained by the ways that these Kentuckian-Americans prepare such a headbanging-friendly concoction. It must be all those nighttime shifts working at the local cemeteries and part-time side hustles at the Lexington mortuaries. At this point, I do not know how many times I have heard this EP because it’s just goes on and on, on repeat, and pretty soon I will have this whole thing memorized from beginning to end. It’s three songs of headbanging material, and one instrumental mellow clean or acoustic guitar song. Let’s hope this EP is a sign that an album is in the works. If not, I'm going to Kentucky, I’m going to take my iron horse to the old town roads and ride gas pedal to the floor and talk some horse sense into these guys. https://tombstalker.bandcamp.com/album/age-of-darkness
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https://www.facebook.com/tombstalkerband Y&T: Yesterday and Today Live (Expanded Edition) Metal Blade Records 9 June 2023 The legacy heavy metal band Yesterday and Today (Y&T), which formed in 1972 in Oakland, California, U.S., is a great lesson in hard work and the desire to become great at your craft. In 1976 and 1978 they had their first pair of albums. They are good albums and those early songs have been in the setlist for a long time, but the improvement in the singing on the second album is a wonderful change. I believe that I remember singer/guitarist Dave Meniketti explaining in interviews that he came to the realization that he needed to take singing more seriously. Then, on the third album called Earthshaker (1981) the entire sound got tighter, and now the singing was even better, stronger, with Dave singing in a full voice and the music tightened up to the new sound of the young heavy metal of the time. The moral of the story is that musicians are able to become better at their craft if they take their art more seriously by working harder at it. Regarding this recording, at one time Y&T had made the silly decision to call it quits. Thankfully, they rectified, it was not permanent and they continue to this day. This album at the time (1991) was made as a testament to the band up until that point in time. It is a wonderful set list full of fan favorites. The only complaint is that it could have easily included a dozen more songs that are also cool Y&T songs from all their albums. The production is great, the performances awesome, the songs fantastic, and the singing by Dave is a treat to the ears. Dave has one of those voices that sounds powerful, not strained, not thin, and not annoying, and it stays at such an ear-pleasing range. This album is an excellent place to start for people not familiar with Y&T. https://www.metalblade.com/us/releases/yt-yesterday-today-live/ Carma: Ossadas March 3rd, 2023 Monumental Rex Satellite surveillance shows that these battalions have been flanking the hills by the Mondego River in Portugal for years, since 2012. In 2015 they organized their debut selftitled incursion of six tactical units in 38 minutes, and the cannons went silent again until 2023 when a new 77-minute detachment was amassed again in the territory of Coimbra. Footage of the action on the field reveals a slow-gathering wave moving across the region, patiently, at a snail's pace of melancholy and misery. The tactical units consist of funeral doom that require that the infantry advance as slowly as possible. Carma is looking for a few good soldiers for funeral doom. To join the newest campaign you must be physically fit to last 77 minutes of heavy exercise. Bootcamp
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begins promptly at dawn by the Mondego River. You must have the ability to work laboriously and patiently through the tremendously slow paths of the Coimbra hills. Funeral doom is not for weak minds nor for instant gratification. Charlatans and dilettantes need not apply. The reward is to crawl in the rain through the mud, dragging your exhausted body through this test in patience that is Carma. The few, the proud, the Carmines. https://carmadoom.bandcamp.com/album/ossadas Kuyashii: Dreams January 27th, 2023 This melodic-melancholic instrumental album (45 minutes) has good potential for audiences that understand or enjoy subdued melodicism expressed through guitar. It is very easy on the ears. The pace of the drum programming is rather uptempo as a general rule, not very fast, but certainly not slow, while at times there are segments of faster, more extreme speeds. The melodies are not meant to be sugary, but there is an abundance of melodies in every song. There seem to be background sounds to fill out the mood for smoothness. Even when the music is going in the faster tempos the overall feel is not aggressive nor obnoxious but rather friendly on the ears. I mention all this to say: all those components accompany the center piece of the music, namely, the guitar playing. Sometimes it is more prominent, at other times the background music comes forward to allow other things, like atmosphere or keyboards. The guitar work tends to find nothing pleasant melodies. There is some tremolo or shredding in some spots but expect abundant subtle melodicism throughout. https://kuyashii.bandcamp.com/album/dreams https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063571175257 Tyrants Blood: Into the Kingdom of Graves Vic Records 22 June 2023 Vic Records (Holland) is reissuing this 2013 album that features former members of Canadian cult bands Blasphemy and Infernäl Mäjesty. The guitarist is Marco Banco, who was with Blasphemy from 1989 to 1991 and played on the 1990 album Fallen Angel of Doom. The vocalist is Brian Langley, who was with Infernäl Mäjesty from 2005 to 2011. Vinnie Borden (Process, Shattered Throne, ex-Omega Crom) plays bass and on drums is Matt Modder, who according to Metal Archives, has since been replaced by Stephen Shaw. However, according to Vic Records, the drums were recorded by Terry Murray, who they say is or was with Infernäl Mäjesty and also 3 Inches of Blood. The vocals are full-on brutal death and the music is all-out primal death/black/thrash with a bit of a certain technicalbrutal vibe. The drumming is hard-hitting blasting. The guitar work is a barbed wire fireball of brutality, headbanging and crunch, lots of crunch, in the category of war metal. It is a relentless, frenetically paced album of ten tracks in 48 minutes, including a two-
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minute respite of melodic guitar. Besides the performances that are convincing beyond all doubt, the sound quality is rather surprising. You can hear the bass guitar and the recording feels like you can hear everything well, which is no easy task when the music is total savage energy, like on here. https://vicrecords1.bandcamp.com/music https://vicrecords1.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-kingdom-of-graves Holz Here on the western side of the mountains of the state of Washington there is a band called Dilapidation featuring the crushing heaviness of death doom and they drive up and down the freeways, eating street tacos and gas station chili dogs, between Olympia and Everett (and have most likely driven much further south and a bit further north, too) bringing their sound to any number of people gathered in the taverns, pubs, bars, backyards, parks and abandoned bridges in this region. Anyway, I recently learned from Dilapidation’s Abraham Watson about another endeavor that he calls Holz. Who is Holz? He explains, “Holz is just me in the studio. I play guitar, bass and do the vocals with programmed drums. Live I bring in my longtime friend and collaborator Jerald on guitar and I do bass and vocals along with a drum machine.” It turns out that Abraham has a bunch of other projects. In an effort to compile a list of his works, he gives the following: Chromatic Death (guitar/vocals, 2004-2011); Wreck 'em Killed 'em (drums, 2011-2015); Pesado Ranchero (bass, 2014-2016); Misuse of Power (bass/vocals, 2010-2018); Jen's Tits (guitar, 2013-2018); Large Marge (guitar, programming, 2009-present); Dilapidation (bass/vocals, 2012-present); Schmutzhund (guitar, 2017-present); Holz (bass/guitar/programming, 2018-present). Holz is a bit like the soundtrack of factory assembly machines in rhythmic patterns of industrial production. In my opinion, fans into big-time mechanical-like heaviness could be an audience for Holz. The growled vocals and the dominance of the guitar/bass/programmed heaviness may appeal to a person that wants no melody, just forms of massive heaviness and a sense of machine movement. So far, there are four demos of four tracks each, and the duration times range from some 14 to 20 minutes. https://holzindustrial.bandcamp.com/music https://www.facebook.com/dilapidation1 Sinheresy: Event Horizon Scarlet Records 25 August 2023 On their fourth album Event Horizon the melodic band Sinheresy (Italy; 2009-present) presents a solid collection of catchy tunes featuring female and male singing and songs that tend to stay in memory after the music ends. The band turns in a great effort to make audiences sing along on song after song. In large part, they achieve their objective. A contemporary band, they use the pairing of female and male singing to win over the listener. In terms of style, this is ear-friendly melodic music, heavy rock that sometimes showcases the riffs, sometimes the grooves, with a direct, pop-oriented approach. Check out this band, if you want catchy, uptempo and melodic songs. https://sinheresy.bandcamp.com/album/event-horizon https://www.facebook.com/sinheresy Necronomicon Ex Mortis: Silver Bullet 11 August 2023 I have not heard this EP enough to know it very well, but the couple of times that I have been listening to it now, it sounds like a good proposition for fans of thrash riffing and
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shredding, done with a death metal vibe, including the vocals. They seem to be horror movie nerds, or at least the person writing the lyrics and doing the artwork is. I don't really keep up with movies, and don't know enough about horror movies to know the references. Yes, the artwork looks stupid and the lyrics are probably really dumb, too, because what do you expect from horror movies, anyway? Regardless, if you want to hear guitar players that have spent time really learning their instruments and pouring their blood, sweat and tears into giving people metal that shows attention to detail, quality and songwriting, then you might be pleased by this band. necronomiconexmortis.bandcamp.com Grot Hymns of the Woodland (2021 EP; 19:06) Beneath the Waves of Eternity (2023 album; 35:32) line-up: Houston -guitars, bass, vocals Hunter - drums Here in the Washington Territory the mail wagon does not come by often; therefore, after plowing the land ahead of planting or after harvesting, I like reading the newspaper several times, writing long letters to friends back East and listening to the music of Grot. Grot, which reportedly originates from the Town of Chicago, has provided a much needed distraction from my quotidian tasks. Their first work is called Hymns of the Woodland is some 19 minutes of frenetic velocities, with a short mellow intro and outro. Given my affinity for traditional-classic raging black metal, I enjoy the moonmad shrieking. The guitar work moves at wrist-breaking speed but it is also melodic. I wonder how the hustle and bustle of life in the Town of Chicago, which reportedly now boasts a population of six thousand people, influences the music. Be that as it may, there is a second Grot recording called Beneath the Waves of Eternity and it is some 35 minutes of raging black metal, too. Last month the mail wagon came to my farm and the delivery man told me that the vocals reminded him of the sound of the wind rustling through these forests, which is a curious way to think of the shrieking. The compositions function at blasting speeds, with tremolo picking spiraling throughout the frenzied tempo of the entire recording, with a small amount of slower segments. Once I
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learned to focus on the guitar melodies, then I was ready for the speed. I have enjoyed Grot so much that I have neglected to keep up with latest news about the political conflicts of the Northern and Southern States. It seems like the political infighting is as bad as ever, from what the mail wagon man tells me. Anyway, I better finish writing this letter now because the mail wagon is supposed to be here tomorrow morning. I would recommend Grot to zealous fanatics of high-speed, lo-fi tremolo-and-shriek black metal. grotblackmetal.bandcamp.com/album/beneath-the-waves-of-eternity https://www.facebook.com/GrotBlackMetal/ Receiver: Whispers of Lore Gates of Hell Records 10 November 2023 After initially hearing this album I had a good feeling about it because the music sounded real. The band says that they do not use autotune on the singing. Therefore, what we hear on the recording is meant to be the real voice of Nikoletta Kyprianou. That's the sensation I got, that she is singing naturally with her own voice, and I like the sound of it. In fact, the music sounds like the band wants to be able to perform these songs live in a faithful way. For instance, listeners will notice that the rhythm section is vibrant, the bass lines are clear and the drums do all sorts of interesting details, when a drummer employs all four extremities for the craft. Metal Archives lists Loizos Koukoumas on bass and Yiannis Xanthou on drums (the band says that these are real drums, too), a rhythm team that provides the anchor for guitarists Charalambos Vassiliou and Andreas Kyriacou. On the topic of riffs and leads, while there are lots of riffs for headbanging, there is also a specific melodic strain in the guitars, melodies that Thin Lizzy/Iron Maiden/classic rock fans will enjoy. In other words, while there is a crunch to the riffs, it is not all crunch and muscle, a song like "Arrow" is so smooth in its melodies, which the band calls folk melodies. Thus, Receiver uses "folk" melodies in the sense that the smooth melodies of Thin Lizzy, UFO, Boston, 80s Omen (U.S.; Metal Blade Records), some Manilla Road or some Iron Maiden are "folk." Lyrically, they work with concepts that read like stories or poems of personal or collective struggles, while keeping the IQ level good for all audiences, regardless of age, which metal parents with children will appreciate, as they are able to play this music as general entertainment. To conclude, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea there is the island nation of Cyprus, there in the city of Nicosia, you will find Receiver. If you, like Odysseus a long time ago, find that sailing to Cyprus is a difficult endeavor right now from where you live in boondocks of Walla Walla, this album is a fantastic alternative to witnessing Receiver rocking out in the bars of Nicosia. https://receiverofficial.bandcamp.com/album/whispers-of-lore https://www.facebook.com/ReceiverCY
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