Welcome The Howling Tones – Eyes To Hypnotise / Broken Man

Make way for another band, on the evidence of their debut single, that will be lighting up British rock and stretching its boundaries and appeal to new irresistible plateaus in the future. The band is Welcome The Howling Tones, a quartet from Farnborough, who employ contagious riffs, heavily plated grooves, and blues lined soul bred enterprise to stoke up a distinctive fire which smoulders and burns with insatiable hunger. The double A-sided Eyes To Hypnotise / Broken Man is their first introduction to the nation and world, and an entrance which within moments of its tempting tantalising of the ear and emotions you know it is just the appetiser for greater incendiary things to come…no pressure lads.

It seems the seeds of the band started with rhythm guitarist Pauly T who regularly jammed with drummer Lawrence Arnold and numerous local musicians including bassist Chris Gilday. One session led to Gilday trying out guitar who consequently was persuaded to take that role in the emerging band such his prowess. This led to a search for a replacement four string exponent who arrived in the shape of bassist/vocalist Iain “Cat Scratch” Turner. Pulling on a passion for blues, rock, metal, funk and much more, Welcome the Howling Tones stepped forth fully last year and have not looked back since one suspects. Just completing an April tour with Godsized on top of their own shows, the band has earned strong and eager whispers which surely will turn to loud acclaim as the recently released single reaches more and more willing ears.

     Eyes to Hypnotise sizes up the ear with a distant guitar riff before leaping into clarity framed by drum slaps and bass growls. It is the beginning of a compelling and scintillating cruise of voracious energy and thrilling enterprise. The bass and drums are soon commanding the ears, taking them and the senses on a ride of formidable and slightly intimidating mastery whilst laying the canvas for the guitars to imprint their colour rich sonic endeavour and imagination. With vocals which dance across the track with swagger and vibrant expression, and an irresistible groove which ebbs and flows but never leaves the passions alone to take a breath, the song is as virulent as it is impressively crafted and layered with melodic and inventive flames. A mix of Red Fang, Eagles Of Death Metal, and Wildhearts with a breath of classic metal, it is a sizzling voyage of excellence.

Companion song Broken Man starts off with the best moment on a nothing but impressive release, its blues/noise combo rife with discord and blistering sonic temptation, and the tap to lustful ardour. Into its stride the song coaxes thoughts and emotions with a weave of stoner and desert rock that erupts into spires of intensity and captivating imagination. It is pure seduction which licks at the heart and will certainly incite the most instinctive enamour of all rock fans. Again riffs and the excellent rhythmic enticement provided by Turner and Arnold sculpt the perfect landscape for the vocals and ever evolving melodies plus varied guitar blazes to invent further vibrant voices.

Both tracks are nothing less than blazing triumphs and the start of a very fruitful and rewarding future for Welcome The Howling Tones and thus us. Do not wait though, make this single the time to join their certain rise, you will not regret it.

https://www.facebook.com/WelcometheHowlingTones

10/10

RingMaster 06/06/2013

 

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ASG – Blood Drive

It may have been five years between last album and the new one Blood Drive, but North Carolina rockers ASG have made up for the gap with their finest release and sound to date. A welcoming storm of hard rock, stoner, sludge and more than a whisper of metal, the album is a compelling and invigorating expanse of invention and enterprise. You can debate whether it offers anything truly new across its enthralling length but there is no question it feeds the widest appetites possible for fire fuelled, passion bred rock.

Formed in 2001 in Wrightsville Beach, ASG has evolved from an instrumental trio at the start to one of the more engaging yet potently powerful rocks bands in the American underground, though with this their debut Relapse Records release, a place at the widest table of awareness and recognition surely beckons. Moving from a threesome, which came about as the band could not find a dedicated vocalist, ASG eventually had guitarist Jason Shi stepping up to handle vocals too. Completed by bassist Andy Ellis and drummer Scott Key, the band released debut album …The Amplification of Self Gratification in 2003 followed two years later by Feeling Good Is Good Enough which was recorded with producers Matt Hyde and Phil Caivano. Strong responses were earned by the album and followed by the band expanding to a quartet with the addition of second guitarist Jonah Citty. Impressive shows and tours alongside the likes of Motorhead, Fu Manchu, Saviours, The Sword, Torche, Dwarves, and CKY followed before the band returned to the studio with Hyde for third album Win Us Over. With a sound which had been evolving all the time since forming, the 2008 release took the band to greater heights which Blood Drive builds upon and pushes to a greater impressive plateau.

Again with Hyde (Slayer, Fu Manchu) alongside the band, the album is a fascination of ripe and impacting riffs, gripping rhythms, and grooved melodic temptation honed into twelve anthem dressed slabs of masterful persuasion. Opening track Avalanche steers through a sonic lure into an expressive and warmly enticing wash of fiery riffs and melodic persuasion. The stoner groove which spines the heated embrace has a barbed surface which ensures focus and satisfaction whilst vocally the outstanding tones of Shi shine and embellish the lyrical and musical narrative with passion. He is a vocalist who plays with variety and harmonies with ease to offer any song what it wants and needs.

It is a pleasing and strong if unremarkable start soon followed by greater triumphs such as the title track and the excellent Scrappy’s Trip. Both continue the perfectly crafted merger of mellow melodic and mesmeric charm with feisty and impacting sinews rhythmically and in heavy toned riffs. The band has drawn comparisons to the likes of Torche, The Sword, Kyuss, and Queens of the Stone Age, and even  the promo accompanying the release offers up the same examples, but equally in many tracks such as the first pair on the album, thoughts of Yes with the progressive elements washing the release and Jane’s Addiction make their claim too. The fascinating grooves and swagger tracks such as the second of the just mentioned two have spark a definite comparison to the Californians, often through the vocals alone.

The album continues to impress and captivate through songs such as the excellent fevered punk tasting Castlestorm and Blues For Bama, a smouldering entrapment of the passions which sees the vocals bring out a Bowiesque breath to the magnetic kiss of the song within electrified beauty from the guitars. It saves its greatest pinnacles though for the last stretch of the release in the sensational shapes of Hawkeye and Stargazin’. The first is an aggressive and fiery tempest of instinctive rock ‘n’ roll. Vocal squalls light up the contagious yet restrained groove whilst harmonies soak the chorus with insatiable ease and grandeur, it all within a frame work of tight and gripping drum muscle and bass prowling which pulls out virulent shadows to the addiction being ignited. The second of the two also has a hunger to its energy which recruits full subservience from the passions, but replaces the more demanding intensity of its predecessor with more Jane’s Addiction like funk seeded grooves and incendiary enterprise. Wholly appetising and furthering the expanse of ideas and sound already upon Blood Drive, the songs as if needed, make the final cementing of the new levels the band have explored and ignited in thoughts and reactions.

The Ladder and Good Enough To Eat finish the album, a sludge gait and blues breath unveiled by the first and an acoustic led encounter from the second. To be honest neither makes a big impression but then the heart was still locked in with the couple of songs immediately before them. Nevertheless Blood Drive shows that the time waiting for another ASG release was well worth taking and it just might take the band to a level of attention long deserved.

https://www.facebook.com/asgnation

8/10

RingMaster 27/05/2013

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Shinin’ Shade – Sat-urn

Taking the listener on an evocative and intensive journey of heavy lumbering riffs, bulging rhythmic resonance, and a fire of melodic rock ridden by quite compelling vocals, Sat-urn the new album from Italian band Shinin’ Shade is a masterful triumph which thrusts the band into a certain spotlight. Creating a riveting fusion of progressive and stoner rock with the dark shadowed intensity of doom and searing psychedelic blazes, the release even without the band yet arguably finding their true unique voice, offers a classy irresistible persuasion which cannot be dismissed. The seven track beast leaves the listener exhausted, enthralled, and most of all richly satisfied with the thrilling offerings laid before the ear.

Formed in 2005 by Allen Kramer (guitar, mellotron) and Roger Davis (bass), the Parma based band first made a mark with their self-titled demo in 2009 which was followed immediately by Mike De Chirico replacing the departing original drummer to join the pair and Mek Jefrey (guitar, vocals).  The following year saw Shinin’ Shade release their debut also self-titled album via Italian label Moonlight Records like the demo and subsequent releases, to strong responses. Then in 2011 vocalist Jane Esther-Collins joined the band and as their Slowmosheen EP showed upon release in in January 2012, the band found it’s most potent and formidable presence. Draped in strong acclaim the release was backed up by impressive performances across festivals and shows in Italy and Europe. The new album Sat-Urn is their most accomplished release to date, a powerful and imagination capturing journey alongside a burial procession through dark and desolated landscapes into the deep, sacred desert of Wiriguta.

The adventure starts with Our Time And Space, thick plunging bass grabs spearing lumbering fiery riffs and concussive rhythms before the track elevates all aspects into a sweltering furnace of sonic declaration. There is heavy treacle like ambience soaking the breath of the song with guitars and bass crawling intensely over the senses whilst the cracks of drum maliciousness attach themselves to bone and emotions. Once the wonderful vocals of Esther-Collins walk all over the encounter with pure majesty the track rises to a pinnacle which instantly sparks up a form of hungry rapture. Brewing a blend of beauty and intimidation with her stunning voice and delivery, her presence has the strength to bring the best out of song, sounds, and the passions in the same way that Jess does for Jess and the Ancient Ones, the songs impressive pieces of craft but the vocals turning them into a different terrific experiences. The track itself almost stalks thoughts and feelings, its evolving gait and intent unveiling dark corners and invasive shadows within perpetually changing aural scenery.

From the scintillating start the release ventures through Keyhole/Inner Saturn and Over-Sea Nightmares, two tracks which bring stunning ports of call in the overall emotive trek of the album, the first a track enriched with stoner grooves and seductive melodic temptation within a rapaciously encroaching atmosphere and labouring enveloping energy, the seamlessly almost toxic move from energetic flames to white hot smouldering sonic malcontent as impressive as it is corrosively invigorating. The second of the pair immediately slaps Sabbath like riffs to the ear before the guitars fire up another contagious dance of sonic alchemy and melodic acidity for a continued expressive satisfaction to the extensively pleasing release.

The following Through the Wires of Your Mind initially sways in front of the listener with a fascination of progressive/psychedelic elegance wrapped in an almost wanton invitation before stretching it into an exotic flame of delicious temptation further expanded into a part caustic part golden allurement energetic wash. As with all the tracks there is no obvious prime direction, the song moving through numerous avenues of light and dark as well as emotive climaxes which is as compelling as the sounds sculpting their narration.

Before coming to the end of its quest, Sat-urn unleashes more impressive and creative enterprise with the excellent Nowhere Dimension and closing song Epic Talk but sandwiched within them both is the best song on the album. Denied Lovers has a carnivorous voice and texture to the drums and bass especially, which incites the predatory instinct of the guitars as they expose the senses to a scorching fire of sonic consumption. Within the tempest though Esther-Collins tempers the heat with her exceptional voice, its forceful and harmonic fusion demanding its own slice of the passions and thoughts to steer alongside inventive guitar craft a thoroughly entrancing victory.

Though the release shows that Shinin’ Shade is still in the process of developing its own unique voice, and it is not that far away on the evidence of the album, Sat-urn sets the band up as one of the brightest beacons in the rapidly expanding genre of doom/progressive rock. With elements fans of the likes of Blood Ceremony, Jess and the Ancient Ones, Pentagram, and Electric Wizard to name a few, will devour this band is set to rise to a very potent destiny for them and us.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/SHININ-SHADE/169113931530

9/10

RingMaster 11/05/2013

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Revelation – Inner Harbor

     

    Revelation is a band many have acclaimed as providing the seeds and spark for progressive doom metal and over the years since forming in the mid-eighties, the Baltimore band has richly earned and garnered the respect of fans and bands alike for their doom clothed progressive imagination. Admittedly it is a band which has eluded our focus at The RR more often than not over that time, though occasionally we have dipped into their melancholic familiar yet distinct sound without finding the spark to spending an intensive time with them. The release of new album Inner Harbor via Shadow Kingdom, with a vinyl version through Pariah Child, has changed that. The enthralling six track release is not destined to worry end of year best of selections nor send us diving into their back catalogue more intensively but it has a charm and intrigue which makes it hard to leave it alone.

The trio of guitarist/vocalist John Brenner, bassist Bert Hall Jr., and drummer Steve Branagan, have stepped forth with a new, for arguments sake direction for their songwriting and aural presence, Inner Harbor a mellower and warmer seductive persuasion compared to their expected heavier stance. It still carries heavy enveloping shadows and crawling alluring atmospheres rife with intensity but there is an air of light and playful energy which arguably has not featured in their creativity before. It is a relaxed and laid-back encounter with weaves and calming washes of progressive temptation taking the lead before their darker absorbing doom intent. The presence of seventies Italian progressive rock as an influence to the release has been cited and certainly across the tracks thoughts of Goblin were playing upon the surface of thoughts, but the release has many textures and flavours at work and is wonderfully hard to pin down. It is also a little inconsistent and even after multiple intensive plays the final opinion of it is undecided. It is definitely an enjoyable and as mentioned wholly intriguing album which refuses to let go but it never really lights any fires within for a long enough or truly lasting impact but there is still something which calls one back.

The album opens with the fiery breath of the title track, its stoner blues introduction a cautious but inviting welcome especially with the flame of sonic fire from the guitar. As the vocals join the song drops into a reserved stance and loses that initially grip, though the track still holds a healthy attention. The vocals are fine without inspiring any real reaction, their expressionless style lacking against the sounds and almost pulling them into a similarly less than dynamic voice, and in many ways the track epitomises the album. It does not leave flushes of thrills but there is something to it which magnetises and persistently invites an inquisitive appetite. The climax of the song with its teasing groove and lead laden prowl leaves thoughts in question and emotions feeling equally short-changed but equally hungry for more.

The following Terribilita with its abrasive tone and sonic blaze of craft and invention again opens up a depth of interest like the first and with the following sway of the keys instantly offers something new and compelling. Also like its predecessor the song almost taunts and teases the passions into life but lacks the weaponry to seal the deal, the melodic caresses and vocal arms around the shoulder mellowness verging on soporific. It is a deceptive lure though as again the band save the best moments of the track for its electrifying conclusion, the charged groove and elevated pace still veined by the electro brilliance, a rousing crescendo.

Rebecca at the Well opens with an excellent almost vintage punk groove and intensity, the guitars and bass holding a snarl to their intent which is lacking in the previous songs. The heavily gaited breath of the sound has a L7/Damned like spice whilst the drop into the dark slowly consuming bowels of the track for a moment is a predatory menace soon dispelled by the bright hypnotic groove and mutually lit synths which ushers it away. With more than a post punk whisper to it the track is an enticing piece of invention and the highlight of the album though soon challenged by Eve Separated and the outstanding Jones Falls. The first of the pair offers its own addictive hook and groove combination whilst the vocals again without taking a firm grip bring a strong and eager melodic embrace, especially in the adjoining harmonies. Though finding the same problem as the earlier songs in that it has moments where it brings real excitement in between others which only leave a respectful satisfaction, the track undoubtedly beckons with enough to want to share its presence again. The second of the pair starts off with a feel of The Stranglers soon merging with Sabbath like imposing riffs and a sonic growl. Into its stride the track unveils eighties electro shimmering, its acidic touch an unexpected and exciting contagious co-conspirator with the best vocal performance on the album. The song is a bewitching journey through a landscape of ideas and colourful aural scenery, bright yet as across the album not quite finding the clarity to explosively dazzle. It is a great track though and adds to the allure of Inner Harbor even if not able to force a full adoration for the whole release.

Ending with An Allegory Of Want, an enveloping heady want of oppressive air and lumbering emotive, Inner Harbor is a release that will possibly open up a wider presence for Revelation. It does not leave a burning hunger in its wake but plants seeds of that irresistible intrigue which makes persistent entry into its almost puzzling realm a given.

7.5/10

RingMaster 03/05/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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Howl – Bloodlines

pic Andrew Fladeboe

 

Following their for the main impressive debut album Full Of Hell of 2010, anticipation for the follow-up release from US metallers Howl as they hopefully built on the promise ignited with the first record was certainly fuelled by a level of eagerness. This was a band which showed a sludge/stoner/doom mentality and strength which suggested major things from them ahead. The release of Bloodlines via Relapse Records, certainly shows the Providence, Rhode Island band as having evolved and expanded their sound though maybe to the detriment of real clarity of their direction but then predictability has no place in music so there is no problem with the stance of the new album in that respect. It does though leave a sense of missing its target. Bloodlines ravages the ear with accomplished potently sculpted aggressive sounds and an undoubted passion but it fails to ignite the passions and fervour their earlier promise suggested possible,  it is simply a release which just has not anything truly new to say.

It should be said right away that Bloodlines is a thoroughly enjoyable and commanding confrontation, the release showing the band evolving and honing their immense power through their relentless touring ethic which has seen the band alongside the likes of Saint Vitus, Kylesa, Pentagram and numerous others. Recorded with producer Zeus (Hatebreed, Crowbar, Terror), the album is a muscle bound predator with intimidating rhythms, malevolent riffs, and devious sonic acid combining to be an undeniably satisfying aggressor. It has hooks which carve lingering moments and a prowling snarl that has the measure of the defences and appetite yet at no moment does the album light a fire, something its predecessor was more successful at.

Opening track Attrition makes a rich and attention grabbing entrance, the early flames of guitar a sonic beckoning upon chewing urgent riffs and firm rhythms. Into its stride the track prowls and stomps with sinews pressing the ear and vocals scowling like a bear in heat, Mastodon and even more so Black Tusk references rearing their head quite soon on. Bass and drums provide a sturdy cage around the enterprising guitar teases and sonic cuts, and by its departure the song has lit a definite appetite for the release which the following Midnight Eyes with its rampaging drums and scything melodic blades alongside persistently niggling riffs has the fight for. A carnivorous death metal breath marks its charging metal gait whilst the song twists and turns on its feet, a thick stoner persuasion emerging from the savage intensity before changing into a doom lined finale.

The Devildriver like Demonic leaves an exhausting and enterprising if familiar onslaught upon the ear with a sonic wind from the guitar spiralling within the brewed raptorial intensity, whilst the likes of the excellent Down So Low and the equally impressive With A Blade reach higher pinnacles for the album. The first of the two emerges from a chilling sinister ambience, a heavy malevolence in vocals and energy wrapping its leering presence around the ear with devilish intent within a mesmeric yet muscular stoner embrace. The track soon brings thrash elements in to press thoughts and emotions to their limits before returning to the almost crawling insidious invidiousness. The second of the two again finds a compelling union of nastily aggressive intensity and a melodic touch which sears with acidic might and craft. The tracks standout with their inventive intent and ready to shuffle up their pace, energy, and directions, though again neither dramatically or effectively unveil anything new of enough potency to open up ardour or feisty passion. Of War is one song though which is close to doing both things, and though it like the others is delivering recognisable weaponry, the track is an anthemic and contagious storm from which its Lamb Of God toned voice makes a familiar but tempting call.

The Mouth of Madness with its vindictive bass sound and the closing rapacious Embrace Your Nerve complete the album with strength and notable craft if failing to find the lure of the bigger triumphs on Bloodlines. Maybe it is being unfair to expect the band to immediately fulfil the promise previously suggested and without doubt the album is one which gets the job done and makes for a pleasing hour or so but the feeling of a lost opportunity and a tinge of disappointment does accompany the release. With emerging bands such as XII Boar and especially Desert Storm finding original and far more heady heights with their new album, Howl have some evolving still to do to persuade ears and passions to go their way.

https://www.facebook.com/HowlHeavyMetal

7.5/10

RingMaster 30/04/2013

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Watertank – Sleepwalk

Though having graced music for ten years, the just released album Sleepwalk from Watertank is their long awaited debut full length and a monster of a release it is too. As rhythmically and dynamically intrusive as it is melodically addictive and compelling, the thirteen track album from the French quintet is a masterful conjuror of pure addiction. With muscles and intensity which ensures an intimidation of the emotions from their powerful and potent force and equally a lover’s seduction at times from a mellow resonance which is mesmeric enough to calm a raging beast, the album is a passion instigator of the purest temptation.

Formed in 2003 and hailing from Nantes, Watertank has earned strong and eager acclaim with their live presence which has seen them play alongside the likes of Torche, Kylesa, Baroness, Capricorns, Lair Of The Minotaur, and The Ocean. The EP Sub in 2004 sets things off recording wise but it was with the following six track EP Fairy Crimes five years later that there was a concentrated wider attention bred around the band. Such its appeal and the continuing strength of sound and live shows from the band, that the anticipation for their first album has arguably outstripped the hunger for most others.

The Solar Flare Records released album immediately starts gnawing on the senses with the heavy ravenous riffs of Where It All Begins. It is a towering presence with crisp rhythms matching the intimidation of the guitars and bass whilst weaving in between the excellent melodic vocals of Thomas B. caress the wounds. With a laboured sludge gait and rasping intensity the brief but heavy track opens up the ear and beyond to the suggestion of something major impending, an assumption soon realised through the likes of Giant Heads and Pro Crook. The first of the pair is a noise rock sculpted engagement with teasing sonic grooves and pulsating cavernous bass riffs whilst again the excellent vocals and harmonies press their advantage home with ease and expressive craft. The second of the songs again steadily chews upon the psyche with carnivorous riffs from bassist Vincent A. and enterprising and equally scarring guitar invention from Bojan A. and Julien G. Riding a core of post hardcore and melodic rock with a doom seeded spine, the lure of the song is total and magnetic, as is the album to this point.

There are only highlights upon Sleepwalk to be honest but at times it just excites beyond legal allowances such as with Fear Over The City. A metronomic beckoning of its percussive finger leads in riffs which are prime bestiality, their snarling seduction joined and elevated by the following caustic and twisting guitar invention all framed by the punchy beats of Jocelyn L. With a groove as insidious as it is contagious and a raw squalling edge to the vocals, the track is a brute of a track, its sinews flexing at every turn and sonic abrasion igniting the passions.

The likes of the fiery Ants In Suits with its stoner/melodic rock presence holding aloud whispers of bands such as Alice In Chains and Quicksand, and the riveting title track with its wonderfully infectious yet niggling sonic scythes of sound within another stoner/grunge flavoured expanse, only cement and push on the strength of the release whilst How Fast recruits the passions with its uncomplicated yet carefully involved persuasion. Within this clutch of songs is another pair of the loftiest pinnacles upon the album, Far From Low and Holy Tranquilizer. The first is a thrilling heavy rock soaked encounter with more than a Thin Lizzy whisper about it especially in the blazes of melody flamed crescendos and the overall anthemic call of the song. The track actually reminds of nineties UK band Skyscraper a lot and that is definitely a good thing. The second of the two is the best track on the album, though that decision does fluctuate with each listen to be fair. Entering into view with again riffs which corrode upon touch, the song steps into a sinister ambience with the bass opening up its deepest inciting shadows whilst the vocals hold sway with a haunting embrace and narrative. Before the track presses harder onto the senses and thoughts with a rapacious greed and intensity, the song has the feel and sound of the first Comsat Angels album Waiting For A Miracle. It is outstanding, a sonic animal with a siren call.

Sharp Beaks Strike Back is another exceptional piece of sonic alchemy and the closing Six Days a progressively clad kaleidoscope of beguiling and captivating invention and colour rich imagination. It is the perfect melodic flourish to a fascinating and thrilling album. Watertank is one of the most refreshing and musically ingenious bands around so let’s just hope they do not take another ten years to unveil the follow-up to Sleepwalk, though more EPs will suffice too.

http://www.facebook.com/wtrtnk

9/10

RingMaster 29/04//2013

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Godsized – Time

    Time, the self–released debut album from UK rockers Godsized, quite simply slams the senses from pillar to post with massively chunky riffs and tight enslaving rhythms. It is a heavy handed storm of satisfaction veined with sonic enterprise and classic rock energy which admittedly does not rewrite the pages of rock music but does add an invigorating chapter.

Since its formation in 2009, the band has built an impressive reputation for their high octane sound and live performances with shows alongside bands such as Life of Agony and My Ruin included, as well as two extremely well received EPs, especially Brothers in Arms. That EP secured the London quartet the main support slot for Black Label Society on their 2011 tour, Zakk Wylde hearing and loving the release. Acclaimed appearances at festivals such as Bloodstock, Hammerfest, Bulldog Bash, Download Festival, and numerous other festivals across Europe have done their standing no harm either, the strength of all over the past years making the anticipation for their first full length release more than merely eager.

With a strong breath of southern rock riding their intense riffs and melodic tones, the band in Time has created an album which immediately lights up the senses before working on the passions. Opener Soul Taker instantly makes its entrance upon a fire of inviting riffs and punchy rhythms before reinforcing it with further rhythmic sinews and muscular riffing. The vocals of Glen Korner are an easy persuasion upon the ear, his rich expressive swagger holding a snarl and equally potent cleanly delivered persuasion, whilst the guitar craft of he and Neil Fish chew and entrance the ear with sheer accomplishment and inventive intensity. The band has had comparisons to the likes of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Corrosion of Conformity, Down, Black Label Society, Clutch, and Alter Bridge, and this track instantly tells why. Admittedly it and subsequent tracks are not pushing existing boundaries but deeply satisfying riots of sound and pleasure they certainly are.

The following Through to You and latest single Heavy Load continue the strong start though for personal tastes their predecessor holds sway, both songs again soaked in addictive riffs whilst the bass of Gavin Kerrigan finds a growl, especially in the first of the pair, which sends tingles and intimidation ripping across the senses. A less intensive encounter but still bringing a towering stance to its pressing, the song is a flame of melodic strength and aggressive insistence whilst its successor is a cliff face of treacherous beats from drummer Dan Kavanagh, the attack restrained and controlled but with an edge which threatens to break out as upon other tracks. As mentioned it is the lead single from the release and it is easy to understand why the choice with the impressive sonic display within its heart but again it has a slightly less irresistible impact compared to the first song which would have been our choice.

As the likes of It’s a Hanging, a great track with a grunge lilt to its rock stance placing the song in the territory of Alice In Chains as much as say a Down area of sound, the stunning Mother, and the excellent Final Act, bring their varied and captivating presences the album continues to light the fuse to greater passion for itself. The second of the trio of songs is a continually shifting and unpredictable triumph; its slow stroll with rises of adrenaline powered enterprise is wholly magnetic with the guitars and vocals bewitching the ear upon the hungry prowl of the bass and punchy rhythms. It is also a song which slowly burns greater passion for its glory across each and every encounter, it is easily the most imaginative and impossible to predict track on Time. The latter of the three like the opener is a contagious brute of riveting riffing and melodic seduction, a song which plays with and recruits the listener into an infectious stomp of thoughtful yet unchained passion soaked rock n roll.

Around and between these songs the likes of No Reprieve with its heaving chest of muscular creative energy, the carnivorous Perfect Moment with its predatory intensity, and the equally intensive track The Bounty Hunter, inspire further submission to the cause. The songs fluctuate in their heights with none quite slapping the plateaus of the previously mentioned tracks, but neither do any leave anything but a pleasing lingering taste of expertise and rampant pleasure.

Ending on another forceful highlight in the cantankerous shape of Still Waiting, the album is a thoroughly satisfying brawl of rock n roll. The nagging thought that Godsized are on the brink of major things is rife upon Time and even if the album is not the trigger it is only a horizon away one suspects.

8/10

RingMaster 22/04/2013

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Electricjezus – Грязь поколений

Hailing from Russia Electricjezus creates a monster of a sound, a heavy expanse of weight and sonic oppression which absorbs the essences of multiple flavours and turns them into one exhausting corrosive pleasure. Their debut album Грязь поколений (translated as Mud Of Generations) is a consumptive introduction of their intense presence, a raw and merciless release leaving one drenched in their textured onslaughts and full promise.

Electricjezus is the two man project of Ruslan Frolov (guitar/bass/vocal) and Oleg Skorohodov (drums), two musicians who have reaped the seeds of their influences such as Melvins, Electric Wizard, Earth, Jucifer, Today Is The Day, Sunn O))), Monarch, Flipper, Dystopia, Pantera and many more , and twisted them into their individual forging of post rock, sludge and doom metal, black metal, hardcore, stoner and a further plenty of loud whisperings of other flavourings. With successful shows under their belt across cities such as Moscow, the Moscow region, and St. Petersburg, the pair entered the Go!Monkey studio in Dmitrov and recorded their debut album live using only analog equipment spanning years in age and from across many countries, the caustic, organically raw, and carnivorous results rife upon the release. With songs sung entirely in Russian, and an intriguing potent veining of audio samples from horror movies throughout, the album eats at the senses and oppresses the safety of thoughts and emotions. It is not the easiest listen to come across but one which lingers and inspires rich eager reactions.

As its title suggests, the album is a thick dirty expanse of sonic intrusion which starts with Корм. The track opens with an excellent film sample soon skirted by a resonating impacting bass provocation and sonic carving of the air whilst rhythms wait patiently to unleash their venom. As it moves forward a groove is equally just itching to expel its heart but first a filthy rub of expressive malevolence grips the ear before interchanging with its counterpart to tease and mistreat the senses impressively. Into its stride the instrumental gallops with a stoner urgency to its sludgier breath and continues to incite the senses with fluid and incendiary shifts in energy and enterprise. The abrasive air of the track adds to the pleasing scrub upon the ear and littered with the melodic flames of imagination and great synth crafted extras from guest musician Sasha Selezneff, it is a storm which pulls the senses right into its live heart.

Connected by a bedlamic soundbite the opener passes on to Петли обмана another track which immediately engages intrigue and appetite for its hungry intensity. Harsh squalling vocals bring another raw uncomfortable additive to the album and within the prowling course of the song, scars with insidious malevolence. A black metal embrace through the vocals especially, lays intrusive shadows within the piece whilst its successor Улицы twists it all again within an infectious beat inviting rampage. With the vocals enclosed in a seemingly secluded environment, like they were recorded in the bathroom compared to the hallway for the music which for most releases this would just fall flat, upon Грязь поколений it all adds to the villainous and satisfying experience.

The following intensive title track with its epic soundscape in length and malicious pressure upon the senses, the blink and be consumed swift attack of Плеть культуры, and the predatory Бассейн, all immerse the listener in their violations of sonic invention and rapacious greed. The last of the trio is a stoner/sludge/hardcore punk confrontation speared by a tempting groove and acidic blues lilted guitar, the rasping punishing vocals feeding on the passions and sore senses with further thrilling results. It is hard to pick a favourite track on the release but certainly this steps forward boldly with each deliberation.

The album ends with Все позволено, the song a furnace of sonic fortitude and flesh peeling grooves. As throughout, the guitar is a scything blade across the ear, its abrasive edges searing and cauterising the senses at every turn whether in a slow laboured intent or an urgent annihilation, whilst the drums chain and slap with unguarded treachery. The song is a great end to a great album. Its coarse breath and dirty touch will not be for all but for those it does enflame, the album pushes Electricjezus forward as one exciting prospect.

Grab the album as Name your price release @
http://electricjezus.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Electricjezus/575252375818127

8/10

RingMaster 21/04/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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Bovine – The Sun Never Sets On The British Empire

Brawling, squalling, and impossibly contagious, The Sun Never Sets On The British Empire is an album which charms and harms the senses for easily one of the most thrilling and exciting albums this year. Its sculptors are UK rockers Bovine, a band who has set another bench mark within the realm of exhausting sludge, rapacious heavy rock, and predatory progressive metal alchemy. Released via FDA Rekotz, their new album is a scintillating and threatening tempest of insatiable invention and primal aggression fused into an even greater storm of muscular sounds and equally imposing intensity brought with a sonic persuasion as addictive as it is viciously imaginative.

Tapping up the keen essences of the likes of Mastodon, Kyuss, Black Tusk, and Soundgarden and twisting them into veining for their own startling invention, Bovine has created a brute of an album which is forever evolving and turning on the senses for an unpredictable and compellingly enthralling confrontation. With melodies and barbed hooks as lethal and addictive as the primal rhythms and carnivorous riffing, The Sun Never Sets On The British Empire is nothing less than an album of the year contender.

From the short opening ambient instrumental Barium, there is little warning of what is to follow, its dawning haunting atmosphere a portent of something sinister yet undefined. What does step from its chilled shadows is the rapacious assault Ghost Chair, a track bruising the ear within a short breath of time with crippling rhythms from drummer Damon Cox and the scything and searing guitars of Marcus VVulfgang and Thomas Peckett. Within their encounter on the senses the bass of Christophe Schaunig prowls and leers with pure intimidation whilst the vocals of VVulfgang roar and soar across the attack with a clean but snarling might. Across its blistering presence the shifts in pace and energy are demanding with equally rich rewards, the greed of the guitars and drums insatiable as is their inventive rage whilst all the while that bass stalks and hounds with a resonating beauty.

From the staggering start things only crave and succeed in grabbing a bigger slice of the passions firstly with Thank Fuck I Aint You and then Heroes Are What. The first of the pair is a blaze of towering rhythmic persuasion and burning sonic voraciousness with an urgency to brand the senses with scorching melodic mastery and crushing riffs bound in a ravenous expulsion of bone splintering rhythms and gluttonous intensity. The track devours the ear and beyond, finding an absence of resistance for its appetite in return. The second of the pair takes all that came before and stops it in its tracks, the acoustically led emotive caress with equally expressive vocals a smouldering invitation. This is just its opening gambit though and a minute into its journey the song unleashes another tirade of malevolent rhythmic bombardment from Cox and a furnace of caustic sonic fire. Like the previous songs the stoner/sludge like components are an open vein yet the pulverising onslaught of every atom of the track is an intensely textured maelstrom of diverse and  riveting sounds, peel them away layer by layer and the eclectic and resourceful invention in place is as riveting and impressive as the overall results.

The title track emerges with Cox and Schaunig in control, the metronomic demanding of the drums courted by the bestial throaty grizzle of the bass. A shimmering heat soon is expelled by the guitars to offer a sultry caress to the commanding core, the union leading into a fuller flame of irresistible brilliance. Arguably with a recognisable yet impossible to define breath to its voice, the track is a grunge lilted crawl over the ear with climatic crescendos of seismic intensity and another major highlight on the release which hands over to a fellow conspirator in securing long-term ardour. The Battle Of The Sinkhole is a sensational carnal consumption with an invidious swagger to its debilitating corrosive attack. Again there is something familiar at work but mere intrigue to the enormous rage of malicious beauty at play. As with all tracks the progressive persuasion ensures its voice is heard to bring further mesmeric temptation to the infernal intrusion, and as the song offers its full abrasion things really can get no better.

Of course the likes of I Will Make You Real and Military Wife disagree, both songs making their own distinct and voracious declaration. Across the whole of the album the variety and diversity of sound and imagination is as enrapturing as the sounds and this pair is no different, the first seducing thoughts and passions with a twisting spiral of sonic grooves and scarring riffs with the drums beating a submission out of the listener with jolting invention which borders on emotional and physical affray whilst the second opens up its stoner cauldron for a breath taking excursion through fervent sonic and melodic passional ferocity.

As the equally stunning Not Another Name brings the aural convulsion of invention and bewitching imagination to a close with arguably its finest moment, though admittedly that choice changes constantly, The Sun Never Sets On The British Empire is a release you cannot escape from and the temptation to re-enter its torrents of delicious abuse impossible to refuse. If there has been a better senses battering passion feeding album this year so far we missed it but doubt that there will be many this year which will rival Bovine’s exceptional release.

http://www.facebook.com/bovinemusic

10/10

RingMaster 13/04/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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Devil To Pay – Fate Is Your Muse

Returning with their fourth album Fate Is Your Muse, Indianapolis rockers Devil To Pay continue to feed the hunger for rich powerful and impacting rock n roll. Combining the richest essences of heavy intensive rock with fires of stoner and sludge flaming intensely within, the album is an irresistible feast of perfectly sculpted sounds muscular and evocative. It offers what you expect from the band and the genres they seed their creativity within but delivers it with an enterprise and near hypnotic embrace which can either squeeze the breath from the lungs or mesmerise out a submission to its inventive lures, often combining both in a singular blaze of sinewy seductive persuasion.

Formed in 2002, the band has ridden numerous obstacles as they drove forward. A year after forming, Devil To Pay saw vocalist/guitarist Steve Janiak hospitalized after a medical emergency and placed in a drug induced coma.  Despite the grim prognosis of doctors, Janiak came through despite being besieged by visions and hallucinations from the ‘other side’ because of it and the band strode on to release debut album Thirty Pieces of Silver the same year. Creating a strong response for the album the band hit the touring road and despite the setbacks of dissolving record labels, a continual change of rhythm guitar players, tour van breakdowns, and a lack of proper distribution the quartet released their second full length Cash Is King in 2006, to be followed by the acclaimed album Heavily Ever After and the DVD 48 Minutes both in 2009, all self-released by the band. The year before the third album Devil To Pay found guitarist Rob Hough who joined founders Janiak, bassist Matt Stokes, and drummer Chad Prifogle, and for many the moment when things truly clicked for the band as Heavily Ever After readily proved. Released via Ripple Music, Fate Is Your Muse is a powerful return and though it arguably does not markedly improve on its predecessor, the album is easily its match and partner in cementing the potency of the band, both releases thought provoking and passion inciting temptations.

Within a breath opener Prepare To Die easily captures the imagination, its striding riffs and muscular rhythms ridden by the excellent tones of Janiak, his gravelly vocals shaping the lyrical narrative with compelling expression and varied textures. The track is an infectious stomp which shifts upon its core intent with magnetic teasing from the guitars and roaming bassline, but from first note to last it is a direct and forceful riff fuelled thrill marking an anticipation for the album ahead though the band are not slow in offering open diversity starting with its successor. Wearin’ You Down is a slow burn of incendiary blues kilned riffs and classic rock swagger all slowed to a Clutch/Orange Goblin like consumption. Sonically pungent and fiery to the touch, the track is a hypnotic inducement with little respect for clean living or restrained peace.

The heavy opening prowl of Ten Lizardmen and One Pocketknife comes next and immediately the track stakes claim as the major highlight of the release though it is continually challenged and equalled elsewhere. The song soon slips into a more urgent gait with the vocals a boisterous expulsion of passion within the charged and energetic stomp of the groove littered treat. A rampant beast with the wares to recruit the most resistant of passions, the song is a QOTSA plays Down type of glory which switches intensity and heat at a blink of a note and with that deliciously contagious insidious groove breaking free at times, the song is rock manna for the heart.

The likes of Yes Master with its mix of intensive progressive rock, weighty riffs, and expressive Soundgarden like shadows, the bluesy stomping Already Dead, and Black Black Heart with its hungry energy yet restrained patience to pounce on the senses, bring further variation to sound and intensity as well as like all the songs a greed to satisfy and ignite the passions, which all do with ease and skilled tenacity. Amidst this trio is This Train Won’t Stop, a track which leaves an exhaustion and grinning pleasure in its rampant wake. As furious in pace and intensity as its title suggests and as heated, the song is a riot of fatiguing riffs and frazzling sonic invention all within a juggernaut of rapacious energy and melodic enterprise. The best track on the album it is animated rock n roll at its very best.

Right through to its completion the album inspires the passions with tracks such as The Naked Truth and the heavy groove laden Mass Psychosis raising major sparks within, though it is fair to say every track achieves that. Simply Fate Is Your Muse is a mighty encounter offering massive rewards for every rock soul’s melodic horizon.

www.deviltopay.net

9/10

RingMaster 11/04/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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