Mils – We fight We love

Jul18

There is a boldness to French outfit Mils which is within every aspect of their sound and invention, a fearless creativity and spirit within songwriting and its imagination, their sound and its execution which makes We fight We love, their latest EP, one compelling encounter and pleasure.

Based in Montpellier, Mils began in 2008 initially as a studio seated collaboration. The release of their debut album, Man is a lonely Soldier, in 2012 lured strong attention the way of the outfit, especially with its re-energised push the following year through Dooweet Records. Praise carrying reviews and a host of new fans came with its reboot; support accelerated by the single Come Home in 2015 which was the first release with recently joined singer Mélodie alongside lead guitarist Tristan, rhythm guitarist Cerise, bassist/keyboardist Jack, and drummer Ben. Weaving a sound inspired by a host of flavours from varied rock, industrial, electronic, and new wave landscapes, Mils create a proposition as unpredictable as it is intriguing, again the evidence vocal within the Thomas ”Drop” Betrisey (Samaël / Sybreed / MXD) produced We fight We love.

Looking at themes inspired by “the confrontation of man with his own emotions and with others”, the EP opens up with that earlier mentioned single Come Home. The early steely union of guitar and keys is quickly joined by the alluring tones of Mélodie, an engaging growl to her tones matching that of the sound which already reveals an array of spices in its brewing roar. Once hitting its broad stride, electro and rock melodies weave their patterns around the firm kiss of beats, a more intimidating edge added by bass and riffs as things only continue to blossom and evolve. The track is sheer magnetism and easy to see why its potent draw and success as a single as well as the anticipation it nurtured for the EP.

The outstanding start is quickly and as powerfully backed by No Body; it’s opening electronic glide across industrial textures a blend of M83 and Nine Inch Nails. Soon the impressive tones of guest vocalist Duja, from electro rockers MXD, are captivating, his rich darker presence perfectly united with Mélodie’s fiery presence. Carrying a great eighties essence, the track is as thickly compelling as its predecessor, almost lava-esque in its emotive and energetic heat yet masterly controlled and harmonically elegant within its potent smoulder.

It is fair to say that Escape had a hard task to live up to the first pair but soon has the body bouncing with its lively electro shaped, muscular rock ‘n’ roll. Again there is a tempestuous edge to the great vocal presence of Mélodie, an aggressive instinct as tenacious in the broadly textured sound and boisterousness of the song. If it does not quite match up to those before it, it is a paper thin size miss as body and appetite can attest to as they devour its spirit rousing incitement.

A mellower but no less dramatic embrace comes with next up Strange Night; the song’s climate electronically seductive but with a sinister hue pushed by the controlled but rapier swings of Ben. Reminding a touch of Danish outfit Forever Still at times, the track smoulders and boils time and time again across its inflamed landscape, never being anything less than one incandescent proposition.

The EP closes with the equally roasting climate and emotive power of Casus Belli. Though the song has a firmer rein on its fire it persistently singes ears and stokes the imagination; a blaze which may have not lit the fires within as others before it but brings things to a striking piping hot conclusion.

Like for us, Mils may be a prospect which is new to ears. We suggest that you swiftly change that situation through the forcibly impressive We fight We love; and as to those in the know, the band has just grown to major new heights which real attention surely can no longer ignore.

We fight We love is out now via most online stores.

http://www.milsxperience.com/ https://www.facebook.com/MilsXperience/

Pete RingMaster 18/07/2017

Tunabunny – PCP Presents Alice In Wonderland Jr

Jul14

PCP Presents Alice In Wonderland Jr is the new and fifth album from US Transcendental Dance Poppers Tunabunny, a huge adventure which sees the Athens, Georgia hailing quartet at their most poppy, darkest, experimental, and compelling. A double album breaching 28 imagination stoking tracks, it is a kaleidoscope of sound; no track like any other or pretty much any offering from the band to date, and a carousel of creative drama which pushes the listener into places they might not know exist let alone have contemplated.

Apparently PCP Presents Alice In Wonderland Jr is “structured as a song-by-song response to The Beatles’ White Album” and through its songs explores themes such as surveillance, futility, alchemy and winter, metamorphosis and anger whilst its fourth side features a twisting song cycle about motherhood; from pregnancy to birth, through postpartum emotional desolation, to the rebirth of self. Whatever their inspiration, the album’s songs challenge and arouse physically, mentally, and emotionally ensuring you get a full and thrilling workout with the foursome of Mary Jane Hassell, Scott Creney, Brigette Adair Herron, and Jesse Stinnard.

Rather than do our usual track by track look, such its bulging size, we are going to pluck the moments which ignited the imagination most forcibly but be assured barely a moment passes within the whole release without making a potent and appealing impact. From the opening atmospherically sinister Cartesian Theater, a track which appears like an intro but is so much more, Tunabunny set the speakers and passions on fire with Incinerate. A recent single, the track is glorious; a slice of indie pop which has the head bobbing, feet shuffling, and ardour brewing within its first round of seduction. Adding one’s own breath is inevitable to a sublime chorus, the vocals a flirtatious beauty matched in temptation by the gentle swing of the sounds cradling their charm.

There is no better moment within the album but plenty of times rival the height of the superb encounter, the following Noise Problems a swift example with its post punk/new wave canter carrying a definite resemblance to eighties UK band The Passions. The stroll of the bass is as deeply appealing as the wiry jangle of the guitars, vocals again an inescapable magnetism in diversity and harmony whilst the song’s emerging discord is simply delicious.

The indie/psych pop of Seek Consequence is another major magnet; the swaying vocals siren-esque as darker hues brew and evolve behind their lyrical wiles until heatedly bubbling up with a drone like fever while Blackwater Homes rises up from a gentle melodic murmur into another virulently infectious and shadowed canter playing like a mix of Stevie Nicks and Pylon. Worryingly easy to be seduced by its haunting lures, and not for the first or last time fiercely tempting post punk bass bait, the track swiftly worms into the psyche.

The bass again grips the instincts within Oracle, its Psycho Killer like coaxing backed by shiny tendrils of guitar as vocals procrastinate; its success followed by the matching triumph of Start It where PiL meets The Breeders is a good hint to the track’s melodic post punk clamour. These tracks alone show the diversity within PCPPAIWJR, The Raincoats tinged pop clang of Nevermind The Cobblestones and the Slits scented monotone shuffle of Yellow Heart Is My Sky Sign further evidence, both tracks bringing fresh greed in a healthy appetite for the release.

A healthy addictiveness is spawned by the raw swing and charm of the boldly infectious The Way The World Works, the song a dulled yet sparkling gem in the album’s jewellery box of sound and another collusion of band and listener rarely matched outside of the album though within, the minimalistic pop of Me And Nancy, a track with an echo of The Cure on their very first outing, and the dark scuzz fuelled post punk of Pretending To Bend as well as the similarly styled but oh so different Count To Ten rise to the challenge.

There are tracks on the album which explore noise and its depths of suggestion, each inciting the imagination even when they barely grasp a handful of seconds in length; times which really test but reward the listener’s ability to compose and interpret. With further moments of never less than thoroughly enjoyable and provocative adventure across the album, songs like It Could Be Something, the absorbing and inexplicable Shiftchanger featuring Jason Jackson Wellz, and Magic January all tantalising and enthralling, things are brought to a lengthy imposingly and enjoyable close with the fuzz pop clamour of I Thought I Caught It (With You).

As suggested, every track is a fresh and rewarding twist in the landscape of PCPPAIWJR, not one of them merely filling space and all firing up ears and imagination. Not for the first time Tunabunny has provided not only a real treat to mull over and enjoy, but another new plateau in their invention and imagination.

PCP Presents Alice In Wonderland JR is out now via HHBTM Records @ http://hhbtm.com/item.php?item_id=640 and https://tunabunny.bandcamp.com/album/pcp-presents-alice-in-wonderland-jr

https://www.facebook.com/Tunabunny/

Pete RingMaster 12/07/2017

Rat Fancy – Suck A Lemon EP

Jul14

There is nothing artificial about the saccharine sound of Californian trio Rat Fancy or indeed excessively sweet yet a particular tooth is still a requirement for their sugary melodies and the intimate affability of their music. An instinctive almost sour look at life and its fake lures, often found in the Los Angeles climate the band springs from, ensures things never get too sickly and a similar underlying discordance to their music which ensures intrigue and unpredictability is a potent essence. It all comes nicely together within Suck A Lemon; the band’s new captivating EP.

Consisting of vocalist/guitarist Diana Barraza (ex-Sweater Girls), guitarist/keyboardist Gregory Johnson, and drummer Gavin Glidewell and formed last year, Rat Fancy has already blessed 2017 with a trio of tracks via their Bandcamp. Each has been a fresh breeze of their shoegaze glazed indie pop now blowing even more eventfully within Suck A Lemon. Across the EP, the threesome resemble a fusion of eighties band Weekend and The Pixies with a light Belly-esque scent to it all; a mix emerging as something deceptively familiar yet distinct to Rat Fancy.

The release opens with I Can’t Dance To The Smiths Anymore and swiftly has ears drawn to its guitar jangle and the sweet tones of Barraza. Keys equally cast an amiable lure as the guitar weaves a magnetic twee toned melody; it all uniting in an infectiously lively serenade at times reminding of another British band from times past, The Freshies.

It is a bright and tempting start which is built upon by the more boisterous exploits of Five Fingers. Rhythms are a tenacious guide into the raw melody woven web of the song, everything from voice and sharp words to a wandering keys bred warble offering enticing hooks taking the EP to another level in no time.

It is a height backed up by the title track, the first of two versions found within Suck A Lemon. This first take has an energetic swing to its melodic carousel and bare sonic dance; a rawness which exposes all of their alluring attributes with honesty as Barraza’s vocals again captivate.

Beyond Belief is a gentle frank caress in sound and emotion with a smouldering melancholy in its charm while About You seduces with a Young Marble Giants like minimalism and beauty which with an emerging darker snarl to the guitars, takes best track honours. Both songs leave intrigue with a greedier focus; the second especially memorable even in its brief tenure of ears.

The EP closes with an equally impressive offering in a slower version of Suck A Lemon and boy does the already strong song blossom in this alternative guise. It is a siren of ears and imagination, so much more than simply a tempering of its earlier energy with Rat Fancy finding a richer presence and allure in its slimmer but more radiant variation.

Rat Fancy make a proper introduction to themselves with the Suck A Lemon EP, a thoroughly enjoyable encounter offering the promise of adventurously bright times ahead with the band.

The Suck A Lemon EP is out now through HHBTM Records and available @ https://ratfancy.bandcamp.com/album/suck-a-lemon and http://hhbtm.com/item.php?item_id=639

http://www.ratfancyla.com/ https://www.facebook.com/ratfancyla https://twitter.com/ratfancyla

Pete RingMaster 12/07/2017

Kabbalah – Spectral Ascent

Jul13

For everyone there are certain encounters which forge an instinctive union with personal tastes; records which more than most tap into the creative imagination. We have come across a great many over recent years, having the privilege to listen to and assess a constant flood of offerings, but few have made the immediate lustful impact as Spectral Ascent, the new album from Spanish psych/doom trio Kabbalah. The release is a siren for the senses, an enchantress for the imagination, and one of the most desirable proposals heard in recent times.

Kabbalah is the creation of Carmen and Marga, former members of Pamplona rock band Las Culebras. 2013 saw the well-received release of their self-titled debut EP, its success followed and backed by the Primitive Stone EP fourteen months later. Both lured keen attention towards the band’s fusion of occult rock, 70s retro, and classic heavy-psychedelic sounds of the late 60s; a mix creating a cauldron of temptation and dark suggestion, a snarling trespass of predacious uniqueness nestling often irritably under the beauty of alluring vocals and swarming harmonies. With Alba completing the current line-up in 2015, Kabbalah sound has blossomed again for Spectral Ascent, hints of its fascinating evolution coming in the 2016 single Revelation and earlier this year its successor Phantasmal Planetoid, both prominent lures within nothing but across the album.

Spectral Ascent quickly coaxes attention with its opening title track; a short intro of melodic flirtation with a shadowy undercurrent which plays like a music box enticing entrance to an alluring dark realm. It’s elegant if sinister coaxing leads into the equally beguiling lure of Resurrected where from the heavy throb of bass and the magnetic pull of vocals the song has ears and appetite swiftly engaged. Guitars similarly draw the senses with their melodic sparkling, teases leading into the more formidable and imposing heart of the track. Never deviating from its seductive swagger though, the song twists and crawls through ears right into the psyche, moments of almost carnal intensity and calmer flows of romancing melodies igniting the imagination and body like few other encounters.

The sheer drama of the outstanding proposition continues through next up Phantasmal Planetoid. Its climate is instantly darker and more formidable as the bass snarls, never losing its heavy trespass as the song moves on to court a boisterous gait with turns of tetchier growls. It is masterful stuff, stoner and doom essences colluding with those earlier mentioned flavours as vocals and harmonies soar. No lightweight on addiction loaded hooks either, the song is manna for ears and instincts, a consuming persuasion also bred in the voracious antics of The Darkest End and immediately after within The Reverend. The first of the two aligns carnivorous riffs and bass irritability with spell spun grooves and the ever bewitching vocal union across the band. It resembles a fusion of Blood Ceremony and Jess and The Ancient Ones, yet is as individual to Kabbalah as you could wish for. Its successor is almost punk like at times, an underlying crabby edge flaring up across its psych and post punk spiced tapestry like a hybrid growth from a union of Au Pairs, Cradle, and Deep Purple.

Following their triumph, The Darkness of Time offers a funk fuelled swing of psychedelic rock, its body a web of heavy and classic rock honed enterprise which might miss the more predatory traits of its predecessors but has body and spirit wrapped up with ease. Its occultist lure only adds to its relentless charm; bait which is taken to more threatening places within the outstanding Dark Revelation. Its first breath has a garage punk taste, the subsequent canter more of that Au Pairs like post punk tempting before Kabbalah turns it all into a compelling and virulent, almost unruly, tango of creative flirtation.

The Shadow slinks up to ears in its own inauspicious way, tempting and warning with portentous charm before its fires break from an initial smoulder into a white hot rock ‘n’ roll stroll while the album closing Presence shares a calmer though no less heated weave of retro and modern nurtured adventure to further enthral. The dancing prowess of the drums, not for the first time, is almost consuming in its rousing and resourceful drive of the magnetic sounds bringing the album to a masterful conclusion.

The need to go again is controlling as Spectral Ascent drifts away, and the pleasure in doing so ever rewarding. The album is immense and rich food for a passion for psych/doom infused rock ‘n’ roll. Some bands feel destined for greatness from their first moments; Kabbalah is one and their new offering commandingly intensifies that belief.

Spectral Ascent is out now via Twin Earth Records and available @ https://kabbalahrock.bandcamp.com/album/spectral-ascent

https://www.facebook.com/Kabbalahrock/

Pete RingMaster 12/07/2017

Suicide Generation – 1st Suicide

Jul13

Basking in its own dirt and scuzz, the Suicide Generation sound is a fervid rush of trashy goodness which ensures the band’s new album is an unmissable treat for all fans of uncompromising rock ‘n’ roll. The bastard son from a salacious collusion between members of Atomic Suplex, The Cavemen, and Trash Culture, the London based punksters feverishly graze ears with a raw wash of garage punk/rock from start to finish within their debut full length 1st Suicide, sucker-punching the senses along the way with rapacious hooks which just worm into the psyche like a virus.

Supposedly coming together “to fill in for cancelled support slots across the Tuesday night London gigging circuit”, Suicide Generation has quickly become an eagerly devoured proposition on the capital’s live scene with their chaotic and explosive shows; their attack and intent as unpredictable as their sound. Recently linking up with Dirty Water Records, the band is now gunning for bigger attention with 1st Suicide, a release which swarms through ears like a plague of buzzsaw carrying harpies.

The album descends on ears with opener Suicide Generation first of all; one minute and a handful of seconds of clanging rock ‘n roll led by the exasperated tones of frontman Sebastian Melmoth. Every aspect of the track is as muggy as it is concussive but veined by intricate melodic acidity which winds seductively around the fuzzy antics of Emily Crowler’s rhythm guitar. It is a potent, enticing smog of sound swiftly out powered and shone by Why Can’t I Play With You. The second track needs mere seconds to lay down heavy seductive hooks within a similarly intensive weight of sound. A Cramps-esque hue smokes vocals and sound alike, Suicide Generation finding a gripping rawness which even their assumed inspirations would have eagerly embraced as the song flirts and dances with garage rock and punk irritability.

Set Me On Fire has a certain air of The Reatards to its similarly crotchety rock ‘n’ roll straight after, guitars scything across the senses as rhythms rumble with tenacious zeal, while Nora aligns a fifties smoulder with seventies punk waspishness for its individual stomp. Both tracks have the body and imagination eagerly throwing discord loaded shapes before London Blues strolls along with dirty blues punk falling like drooling saliva from every note and syllable. An open psychosis oozes through voice and music alike, its mercurial heart unpredictable and constantly in flux as it captivates and assaults the listener.

They are instantly involved with the brawling escapade of Love Is Hate straight after, the track a beguiling animus of sonic and emotional testiness enjoyably harassing the senses with the clamour of guitars and the spite of rhythms. It is a mix also fuelling next up Little Mama, the track resembling The Phantom basted in rock ‘n’ roll filth whilst sending the hips into an anxious frenzy.

That same instinctive primal sound infests Evil Everywhere and once again the band twists it into something distinct within the release and other propositions; the track a hyperactive dirt ball of sound and energy leading into the closing treat of You Love Me. Initially prowling ears with a devious glint in its creative eye, the band’s punk instincts soon ignites in a high-strung blaze of sonic causticity and wired verbal dexterity driven by rhythms which just seduce attention whether the track smoulders or roars.

1st Suicide is a collection of songs which just please themselves with a similarly arrogant creativity, in turn their brashness and swagger turning on ears and an ever keen appetite for unpolished rock ‘n’ roll. The Suicide Generation is here and openly ready to tear up your world.

1st Suicide is out now on Dirty Water Records @ https://suicidegeneration666.bandcamp.com/releases and http://www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk/shop/#!/Suicide-Generation-First-Suicide-album-download/p/86922972/category=2749844

https://www.facebook.com/suicidegeneration666/

Pete RingMaster 12/07/2017

Serenading webs and trapping harmonies: introducing Tali Dennerstein

Jul13

Tali Dennerstein is a British rock singer, songwriter, and producer who is beginning to lure eager attention with her unique mix of Pop/Folk Rock, Gothic Rock, Grunge and Dark Ambient Music. It is a kaleidoscope of flavours embraced by imagination and invention as evidenced by her latest release and videos. We seized on the chance to find out more by talking to the lady herself, exploring her creative beginnings, her solo project, new EP and more besides…

Hello Tali and thanks for taking time out to talk with us.

Can you first give us some background to yourself?

I’m an alternative rock singer, songwriter and producer. I’ve always been very passionate about music and from a very early age, I grew up listening to a lot of 80’s and 90’s Gothic and Grunge Rock music, which really inspired me to want to start my own musical journey. I’ve always enjoyed writing lyrics and after being in a few different bands, I decided to become a solo artist, mainly because I liked having control of the direction my music was taking.

You mentioned previous bands. How have those experiences impacted on your own musical explorations?

I’ve been in a few different bands in the past. My first band was a more electronic /trip hop style band and my last band was a heavy rock/grunge band and I think it definitely helped me to decide the style and direction that I most enjoyed working with. I’ve also collaborated with a couple of artists online and recently I’ve also started a synthwave side project, which has been really fun to work on because I love the 80’s electronic sound and it’s been fun to do something so completely different.

Many solo projects decide to go under a created moniker; you?

As a solo artist I decided to use my own name, although I did consider having a band name but I just couldn’t think of anything that was good enough.

Was there any specific idea behind the direction you wanted your work and sound to offer?

I had a lot of song material, which I’d written over many years that I hadn’t really had a chance to do anything with for a long time and I really wanted to get as much of it completed and out there, as possible for people to hear. That was my main reason for starting my solo music. I also really wanted to try and create my own sound by merging both gothic and grunge rock styles together, as those were my two favourite genres of music styles, when I was growing up. I like folk and electronic music too, so I also tried to add some of these influences into my sound as well.

Are you driven by the same creative things and intent from being a fresh-faced musician or have they evolved over time?

As a solo artist, I’ve only really just begun so it’s relatively new for me but I think the same thing drives me as a songwriter and that’s always been to create meaningful music, that people can enjoy and relate to and that helps them in some way.

Since your early days as a songwriter how would you say your sound has evolved?

My sound has evolved quite a bit. I started with a very 90’s indie pop and folk rock and ambient electronic sound but my next album will be much heavier and a lot darker, both lyrically and musically.

Has it been more of an organic movement of sound or more you deliberately wanting to try new things?

I do like to experiment with different ideas and sounds, so I try new things to hear how they might add to a song but with regard to changing the direction of my music to a heavier sound that was deliberate because it’s how I felt the songs on my future album worked best and it just felt right. I do still like to write softer more folk rock and electronic tracks, as well but I tend to go with what feels right for each individual song, when it comes to creating the right sound.

Presumably a wide range of musical tastes you have an equal array of inspirations; are there any in particular which have impacted not only your music but your personal approach and ideas to creating and playing music?

I’m inspired by a lot of artists and bands but my biggest inspirations are Curve, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, and Nick Drake. I love Curve’s Doppelgänger album and the way the guitars create just this huge wall of distorted sound. I also loved the way they used a lot of electronic elements, which merged in with the guitars. It made the tracks sound quite industrial, even though they were considered a shoegaze band. They had a very interesting and unique sound. I’ve also been very inspired by how grunge bands wrote their lyrics. They were often really deep and introspective and really made me think about what message they were trying to convey. I liked the fact that the lyrics weren’t straightforward and were hard to figure out and that everyone could find their own meaning in them.

Is there a particular process to your songwriting?

I always start by recording any melody ideas that come to my mind and I get a lot of ideas every day, so I like to keep my sound recorder next to me no matter what I’m doing. I tend to think of the subject matter usually after I’ve thought of the melody and that’s because I get an idea for the theme, usually based on the feel of the melody.

Where do you, more often than not, draw the inspirations to the lyrical side of your songs?

I’ve drawn a lot of my inspiration from some very tough situations I’ve had to face in my life, so my lyrics have sometimes reflected my hopes for things to improve, as well as my need to face the pain and fears I feel each day, due to my situation and to become stronger, despite the circumstances. I’ve also written lyrics based on things I’ve experienced in the past, such as heartbreak or bullying or about things that are happening in the world around me, that I feel strongly about such as war conflict and also about peace.

Could you give us some background to your latest release?

My latest release is a 7 track EP called Live For Tomorrow and I recorded the songs a while ago but I’ve only just recently released them.

Give us some insight to the themes and premise behind it and its songs.

The first song is called Summertime and it’s a very upbeat pop rock song, with a feel good Summer vibe. It’s about releasing and letting go of negative thoughts and instead embracing all of the small but meaningful and beautiful things that life has to offer, that we sometimes don’t always see, when we’re stuck in a cycle of depression. It’s also about keeping hope alive and just trying to stay optimistic. The second song is called Tonight and it’s a folk rock song. It’s about a girl being led on a journey, to find herself and unknowingly being guided by invisible forces in the right direction who are watching over her and protecting her. It’s lyrically written in a fairy tale style. The third song is called Live For Tomorrow and the track is an indie pop song, about a relationship that just isn’t working out and it’s about just accepting things and looking to the future and letting go of the past. The fourth track is called Hurt. It’s a slow electronic ambient song and is about unintentionally hurting someone you love and feeling guilty about it and how you miss them after they’ve gone. The fifth track is called See The Sun. This one is very 90’s Brit pop, in style and it’s about closing the door to the past and looking forward towards a brighter future. The sixth song is called Skyline and is about being there for someone who’s hurting and telling them you’ll always be there for them. The final track is called Far Away. That song is about imagining a better world, where hatred, greed and fear don’t exist.

Do you go into the studio with songs pretty much in their final state or prefer to develop them as you record?

I usually have some idea of how I think a song should sound and then I use that as a base to develop and add any ideas later on. I also work with a really great producer, and we work together until each song sounds right, so it’s a slow developmental process right up until a song is finalized.

Tell us about the live side to your music?

I love performing but at the moment, due to my circumstances I can’t perform, although I’d really love to. I’ve been concentrating on recording from home, as many songs as I can and I’m hoping sometime in the future, I’ll be able to perform them live.

It is not easy for any new artist to make an impact regionally let alone nationally and further afield. How have you found it?

I honestly don’t know because I usually use social media to get my music heard. I don’t think where I live, there’s much of a music scene.

So the internet and social media has been a potent impact on your music? Some see it as something destined to become a negative from a positive as things progress and grow. How do you see things?

I think social media is a great and very positive way for helping musician’s and bands to get their music heard. It can take time but it’s amazing to be able to connect directly with music lovers from all around the world. I think the only negative aspect is that there are a lot of musician’s and bands trying to promote themselves on social media and it can be hard to get people to click on music links as the market is saturated but it just takes determination and hard work and it is worth being on social media in the end.

Once again a big thanks for sharing time with us; anything you would like to add or reveal for the readers?

I’m giving away 3 free songs to whoever signs up to my mailing list, plus an extra free track off of my latest EP.

Explore the music of Tali Dennerstein further @ https://www.facebook.com/TaliDennerstein.music as well as https://talidennerstein.bandcamp.com/album/live-for-tomorrow-ep and https://twitter.com/talimusicartist

Pete RingMaster 13/07/2017

Temple Of Lies – The Serial Killer Suite

Jul12

From its predatory nature alone, The Serial Killer Suite ensures ears and an appetite for imposing metal are aroused; add potent individual craft and an instinctively woven web of grooves and rhythmic threat and you have a release which stalks attention. The third album from UK metallers Temple Of Lies, it is a rapacious contagion of sound and intensity living up to its theme and untamed protagonist.

With its first pair of singles making persuasive hints of things to come, The Serial Killer Suite swiftly shows each were accurate clues to, if still slithers of, the adventurous character of the album. The successor to the well-received From Sand, it also sees the Temple Of Lies exploring heavier and darker corners of their sound and imagination; areas as dirty and bloodthirsty as they are groove nurtured infectious and hungrily energetic. Since emerging in 2010, the Leicester hailing outfit has shown an imposing growth in their sound, an evolution now having its head within their third full-length whilst still suggesting the exploration is far from over.

The Serial Killer Suite opens up with Epic Doom and instantly prowls ears with its groove lined swagger and growling riffs and bass line. Like a ringmaster vocalist Si Shaw steps into the middle, sowing the seeds to the psychotic devil in the album’s midst. Equally from the song’s initial breath, Jon Scranney’s guitar spins a web of enticing yet rapacious hooks and grooves, bait matched by the tenacious swings of drummer Alex Gamble and Jags’ similarly grouchy bass. It is an irresistible welcome into the waiting emotional carnage and ill-intent and swiftly backed by the just as gripping exploits of Broken Mind. Again band and sound court the senses with a threatening stealth, the bass pressing intimidatingly as Shaw’s gravelly tones join its trespass. As thrusting beats and harrying riffs add their lures, the song surrounds ears with hungry enterprise, the wiry tendrils of Scranney’s guitar rich spicing.

Illusion of Choice draws on the grungier side of the Temple of Lies sound, fusing it with their ever ferocious and enticing blend of metal. Instantly the track is on the boisterous balls of its feet, rhythms scything and riffs snarling as vocals and hooks collude in a virulent temptation with a touch of Disturbed meets Spineshank to its short but fiercely persuasive body before Modus Operandi lays down its individual creative intent. Often tempting like a fusion of Monster Magnet and Suicidal Tendencies, the track has ears and imagination hooked in no time, every twist a captivating moment, each turn a fresh treat merging the familiar with the unpredictable; an essence which applies to the whole of The Serial Killer Suite.

Latest single Skin is next, the track starting with a great bass grumble and proceeding to place layer upon layer of growling dexterity whilst creating another seriously catchy proposal. Shaw again prowls it all with vocal character and quality, every syllable spawned from the psychotic menace of the album’s heart. It is inescapably magnetic stuff pretty much matched in the irritable presence of I Cut You Bleed, though the song for personal tastes just misses finding the final persuasive ingredients of its predecessors. In saying that, there are also times when the song has ears and pleasure truly in the palms of its venomous hands.

Through the calmer though still instinctively volatile Sleep and the tenebrous tone and heart of its initial single, Dark Energy, the album has ears firmly gripped and enjoyment full. The first is a mellow proposal compared to those around it but deviously dark and tantalising with Scranney again showing his melodic craft and invention. Its successor also offers a less imposing proposition initially but there is a tempestuousness and emotional toxicity which brews and catches throughout the track’s poisonous embrace.

Both are tracks which also do not quite reach the heights of earlier roars yet leave the listener wanting for nothing before being eclipsed by the crabby rock ‘n’ roll of Teeth, another song with a great whiff of the crossover thrash of the previously mentioned Mike Muir led Californians in its snarl. Gamble’s beats leave the senses bruised from within the compelling encounter, the grievously addictive tone of Jags’ bass mutually greedy as Shaw and Scranney again enthral.

In turn Face of Grey hits the spot with its almost carnally toned intent and nature though it too is overshadowed by the following Symbiotic Parasite. As soon as church bells and senses intruding beats rise, there is an air of something special brewing, a suggestion only added to by the nagging riffs and controlled but fiery net of fleeting grooves. Subsequently things erupt in a voracious stomp, a swarm of infection and energy though still on a ferocity rein sparking a gripping tapestry of adventurous enterprise.

Nihilist Dreams brings things to a fine conclusion, the song an epilogue of emotional admission and creative resourcefulness which grows more tempestuous and imposing with every passing second. It is a great end to one of the year’s most enjoyable moments so far. Certainly being picky, it would have been interesting to see Temple Of Lies push the majorly adventurous and unpredictable moments of the album with an even bolder intent, to see it become truly distinctive, but there is nothing about The Serial Killer Suite that leaves disappointment or a lack of rich enjoyment. Temple of Lies is ready for global recognition; whether the world is ready for them time will tell.

The Serial Killer Suite is out now through Attic Records on iTunes and @ https://templeoflies.bandcamp.com/album/the-serial-killer-suite