Twingiant – Devil Down

There is smog like quality to the sound of US band Twingiant which invades every pore and corner of the senses with voracious appetite; within that thick immersion though the band infuses a searing melodic veining and smouldering enterprise to leave the imagination keen and appetite even hungrier. They describe their sound as simply loud and heavy, but as shown by new EP Devil Down, it is also bracingly flavoursome and rigorously compelling.

Devil Down is also uncompromising in its touch and intensity, Twingiant blending fiery stoner and heavy rock with imposing sludge richness for an inflammatory and predatory cauldron of sound. Formed in 2010, the Phoenix, Arizona based quartet drew keen attention with debut album Mass Driver two years later and last year’s Sin Nombre EP. Their success only backed and reinforced the band’s live stature which has seen them persistently impress and inflame audiences whilst sharing stages with the likes of Windhand, Pallbearer, Weedeater, Intronaut, Metal Church, Satan’s Satyrs, Guttermouth, Black Tusk and numerous more. Now with their self-released and produced Devil Down EP, the band look poised to awaken a more momentous spotlight upon themselves. May be it is not a release to ignite a explosive blaze within thunderous rock ‘n’ roll climes but it Devil Down is certainly a fierce proposition to firmly thrust Twingiant upon a broader landscape of attention.

The striking presence of the release begins with the instrumental Old Hag. Starting from a restrained and elegant flame of immediately enthralling enterprise and craft, the track grows within the ears as its melodic acidity and sultry charm creates a spark for the imagination to run with and explore. There is also a sinister edge to the invention and sonic beauty fuelling the track, the guitars of Tony Gallegos and Nikos Mixas providing a highly suggestive soundscape and narrative courted by raw shadows provided by the gripping rhythms of drummer Jeff Ramon and bass predation from Jarrod Le Blanc. It is a transfixing proposition which as it reaches its finale, digs into a new texture of aggressive tenacity and attitude.

The impressive start is followed by Dead To Rights, a track striding forcibly with a combative swagger from its first second. Loaded with just as magnetically swinging grooves it soon adds the coarse texture of Le Blanc’s vocals to the mix, his tones strong without blowing anyone away but with their generally minimalistic presence in the context of songs, they make the perfect incitement to the blistering tempests of around him. A brawling eruption of skilled endeavour and resourceful voracity, the song makes way for the carnivorously toned Daisy Cutter. From its first breath the bass growl is carnally bestial and soon matched by the thickly gravelled vocals. Heavy metal seeded grooves entwine the intensive weight and prowl of the song, at times taking over with their engaging flames and mouth-watering beauty, though the scuzzy hostility of the bass is a constant prowling intimidation ensuring every twist comes with its share of menace.

Through The Motions is another enslaving instrumental and with no slight on Le Blanc’s vocals, these are the tracks where the listener can really play and immerse into the creative emprise of engagements and release. They are a canvas for the imagination and emotions to dance freely, and this track a virulent persuasion weaving sizzling strands of sonic and melodic temptation with inventively rabid rhythms for a fascinating evocation, a tapestry for thoughts to cast adventures with.

Tiger Lily suffers a little being sandwiched between its predecessor and the next up instrumental, but still provides a feisty and aggressive enterprise of heavy footed riffs and spicy grooves to persistently enjoy. There is something missing though, a spark which evades even the enticing twists and shifting textures within the song, and whilst it is a potent companion it does not linger around as other tracks on the album, and especially like Under A Blood Moon. The third instrumental is the best, a sultry twang to guitars an immediate seduction which only grows as melodies and grooves embrace the flavouring for their own infectious web of wonderfully unpolished and organic temptation. Once more it is a piece which simply ignites ears and imagination into eager life, every diverse flavour and note seemingly a seed to expanding adventures, especially the dark beauty of strings at its conclusion.

Devil Down ends with its title track, a bruising prowl of heavy metal and sludge rapacity aligned to groove and noise rock causticity. It is a predator, an emotionally blackened stalking which lumbers and crawls with the varied creativity of the guitars its light and merciless rhythms its teeth. The song is an immense end to an outstanding release, where even though for personal tastes the instrumentals steal the show, every track is an almost primal incitement to want plenty more from Twingiant, a band whose stock and presence surely from this point will be infesting the world’s full awareness.

The self-released Devil Down is available on vinyl from 2 December @ http://twingiant.bandcamp.com/album/devil-down

A cassette version of Devil Down will be released via Medusa Crush Records on February 7th.

http://twingiant.com/

RingMaster 02/12/2104

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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Beneath Dead Waves – Inertia

There is a storm brewing within UK metal and it comes in the thrilling shape of London based quintet Beneath Dead Waves. The quintet has just unleashed debut album Inertia, a thunderous and magnetically diverse slab of modern antagonism which is one of the most potential soaked exciting introductions to a band in a long time. It is a monster of a release, an encounter mauling and gnawing the senses but equally seducing with a technical craft and striking imagination which ensures swift allegiance to its call. There is also an undefined vein of familiarity to the proposition which brings a kinship to the unpredictable and ruggedly inventive exploits unveiled. Inertia is not the greatest album this year but right on the frontline of the most thrilling.

Beneath Dead Waves was formed in 2007 in Dorset by vocalist Joey Draper, guitarist Doug Cartwright, and drummer Leigh Costanza, the trio bringing the inspirations of band such as Between The Buried And Me and Tool into their creative whirlpool, as well as varied styles from thrash to groove and nu to progressive metal. The result as evidenced by Inertia is a rigorous persuasion which though holding familiar aspects, is still a unique incitement. The band relocated to London spending the next few years writing and recording before finding guitarist Matt Reeves and bassist Chad McCamlie, whose recruitment brought the band a new depth and potency in sound. Last year saw the band igniting stages and playing with the likes of Monuments, Intronaut, and Scale the Summit, and before its end the single Imperfect released to acclaim and eager appetites. Inertia is the next mighty step in the ascent of the band, one impossible to ignore or not find a forceful hunger for as well as what comes next from the five-piece.

The release opens with Nemacyst, the song taking mere moments to intrigue and fire up attention with its initial swirling graze of guitar swiftly joined by dramatically textured riffs and demanding rhythms. Setting down its frame, the song erupts into a thrash fuelled rampancy driven by the raw vocal squalls of Draper, his tones an appealing irritant to match the nagging surge and intensity of the guitars. It is a stirring start which only strengthens its lure when Draper switches to clean a delivery, the frontman showing impressive prowess in both his attacks, and a weave of technical resourcefulness from the guitar. Admittedly on first listens the impressively skilled flourishes felt out of place, walking the wrong side of showing off within the rapacious turmoil, but though here it still does not quite convince, across the album the stunning skills and invention only warm a lustful want for more. The song continues to twist and flirt with ears and thoughts as it crosses it’s almost eight minutes of compelling adventure, painting a startling landscape of expressive ingenuity across an aggressive canvas. It is a stunning start straight away backed up by its successor.

Delirium similarly comes out with all guns blazing, riffs and rhythms crowding senses as a sonic toxin coaxes the imagination. Establishing its intent, a step into a slower predatory stalking ensues, guitars and vocals prowling ears whilst bass and drums draw an intimidating bait to further the seduction. As its predecessor the track swerves into unexpected detours and inventive asides, all seamlessly sculpted and each imposing new narratives and textures to contemplate. As all songs those earlier mentioned influences add spice to the maelstrom but equally here and more so through other songs, you can hear slithers of bands like Dillinger Escape Plan, Korn, Lamb of God, and Exodus at play, though ultimately it is something individual to Beneath Dead Waves.

Both the compelling Deliriant and the title track grip the tightest hold of attention and appetite, the first a hypnotic mesh of dark seduction and rabid hostility which bewitches and violates simultaneously. It is a glorious and exhaustive tempest of merciless attitude and creative intensity, riffs scything across senses whilst rhythms badger and pummel their walls further. It is a formidable provocation to which the again dual vocal incitement of Draper, alluring shadows, and a searing solo cast rich tempting hues. Its successor soothes the bruising with a gentle opening, guitar and keys a warm caress courted by the darker but no more intrusive tone of the bass. With clean vocals adding their tender touch, the song is an elegant breeze though soon prone to eruptions of expressive causticity and sonic abrasing. Again there is a web of technical resourcefulness holding the imagination, taking the listener deeper into a storm gathering weight and passion within the alluring terrain. Eventually that pressure breaks for an equally tempting flame of thrash bred suasion veined by sonic spires, though one bred with melodic and stoner-esque colouring. It is another forcibly convincing emprise of sound and thoughts, the album growing with every breath and song into a mighty marker for the band.

Next up You Were Nothing pushes into a heavier rock fired premise, the vocals of Draper clean but equipped with a great growl which easily slips into his caustic side whilst the guitars groove and court the passions with a smoothly evolving and changing intent. Not the strongest song on the release compared to its companions, the track still pleasingly shows the potent and richly pleasing diversity of the band in songwriting and sound as it makes way for the outstanding Imperfect. It is easy to see why the single lit fires in so many people and the media. From its first Korn like bait, the track just grows and towers over ears with a bitterness soaked antagonism and harsh smothering of riffs. As always it is just a moment in a constantly moving onslaught, clean vocals and melodic crooning worming in on the persuasion as technical enterprise fires up its invention. It is a scintillating encounter, the band merging styles and flavours with creative alchemy so that the song alone sparks determined interest in its creators whilst within the context of the album it shines like an anthemic beacon within a raging fire.

Inertia is completed by firstly the virulent and emotive hurricane of A Life Worth Taking and lastly the excellent fiercely yet seductively impacting Suppressional. The track brings hints of Josh Homme inventiveness into a melodic rock embrace which itself is encased in an agonizing swamp of metallic and vehement kissed voracity. It is a stunning end to a striking release, a last showing of the already impressive and sure to grow to greater heights, craft and invention of the band. They and their sound can only get better which is a thrilling thought, one you suspect a new army of fans will also have for Beneath Dead Waves from now on.

Inertia is available now via Nemacystem Records through all stores.

http://www.beneathdeadwaves.com/   

https://www.facebook.com/beneathdeadwaves

9/10

RingMaster 30/06/2014

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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BENEATH DEAD WAVES crash in with ‘Inertia’ on 30th June.‏

UK NEWCOMERS  BENEATH DEAD WAVES RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM THIS SUMMER!

 

London metal combo ‘Beneath Dead Waves’ drop their debut album ‘Inertia’ on Monday 30th June through all digital outlets.

Originally formed in Dorset back in 2007 by Joey Draper (vocals), Doug Cartwright (guitar) and Leigh Costanza (drums), the band take from a cluster of influences spanning from old guard luminaries such as Tool through to contemporary heavyweights such as Between The Buried And Me. The Southern riff masters blend key elements of thrash, groove and nu-metal with an aggressive attitude and progressive mindset to create a unique and striking signature sound.

 

After relocating to London and spending several years writing and recording, the band finally recruited the right members to fully enhance their sound when Matt Reeves (Guitar) and Chad McCamlie (Bass) stepped into the breach and added further weight and depth to the group. By 2013, the quintet began to hit the road and in passing opened for the likes of Monuments, Intronaut and Scale the Summit. By the end of the year, the metal crew released their new single ‘Imperfect’ which garnered strong praise and helped to boost the band’s growing following.

In 2014, Beneath Dead Waves turned their attention to recording their full length debut album, entitled ‘Inertia’. Spitting out eight tracks of venomous edgy heavy metal, the record is laden with mighty riffs and skewed phrasing all fuelled by real invention and earnest intent. From the guttural attack of ‘Nemacyst’ to the album’s namesake ‘Inertia’, which oozes true groove and innovation with its shifting sections and keen use of dynamics, and onto their recent single ‘Imperfect’ which is a blistering full frontal blast of Thrashcore aided by shrewd craft and another thoughtful arrangement, this record is sure to make its mark. Look out as Beneath Dead Waves hit the road this Summer.

 

–BENEATH DEAD WAVES RELEASE ‘INERTIA’ ON MONDAY 30th JUNE THROUGH ALL STORES-

www.facebook.com/beneathdeadwaves

Plebeian Grandstand – Lowgazers

French extreme metallers Plebeian Grandstand has one of those sounds which is so viciously ugly and vehemently destructive that you cannot understand why it is just so compelling as evidenced by their second album Lowgazers. Consisting of eight mercilessly voracious smogs of corrosive ambience and sonic violence, the release is pure noise toxicity; an insatiable pestilence of sound and hostility but as it suffocates and violates ears and beyond it is also dangerously addictive. To be honest it is hard to say exactly why this is so, though certainly the band craft the demise of the senses with undeniable invention and antagonistic passions, but the bottom line is that it is one compelling scourge and at the end of the hellacious day that is what it is all about.

Plebeian Grandstand have fused the darkest venomous, uncivil aspects of black metal with the equally poisonous core essences of hardcore and sludge metal; the result a maelstrom of spiteful dissonance and ravenous intensity which takes the listener into a ruthless tempest of sonic devastation, leaving them there basking and cowering in a primal wasteland, in this case Lowgazers. The release is the most destructive and bedlamic onslaught from the Paris based quartet yet, pushing intensively further the boundaries and inventive vitriol of their sound as first unveiled on their self-titled EP of 2008. Debut album How Hate is Hard to Define two years later ensured the band make an attention forging scar on the metal scene as equally did the band’s live performances which across the past years has seen them leave waste stages across Europe alongside bands such as Pelican, Horse The Band, Loma Prieta, The Holy Mountain, Off Minor, Intronaut, Celeste, The Ocean, I Pilot Daemon, Carnival In Coals, and Manimal. Two splits with firstly Divider and Bone Dance in 2011 and Cortez the following year arguably hinted at the jaundiced proposition to come but Lowgazers reaches far deeper into the blackest rancorous depths than imagined and could have been anticipated.

Recorded and mixed by Amaury Sauvé (Birds In Row, Calvaiire, Death Engine), the album immediately has thoughts running scared as opener Thrvst emerges from a cold sonic ambience. Its sinister embrace is soon joined by slow sonic chords which entwine their lures tightly around ears before the onrush of barbarous blast beats and a tortuous sonic enslavement of the senses. Vocals viciously squall from within the storm, spewing their grudging malevolence across the unrelenting rhythmic abuse. All the time though there is a caustic groove, for want of a better word, which lays down the fullest contagious toxic bait from the inside of the noise friction consuming air and victim.

It is a crippling start to the album which evolves without real respite or respect for wounds into the following Endless Craving, another rapacious torment which smothers, gnaws, and devours body and soul. As I am sure you have assumed this is not easy listening, not an encounter with any ounce of comfort or mercy musically or vocally, and most like lyrically, though at times only the intensity of the delivery and surrounding fury is a clue but you can safely assume these will not be tales of love and golden fields. The track rages and ignites every rabid muscle and raw breath within itself for the nastiest rewarding exploit.

Whether it is an accumulative effect or simply the greater brutality of the songs, both Flail in the Bliss and Lowlifer put the listener under the strongest examination yet on the release, the first an inharmonious swamp of inventively cast malice and the second a synapse searing cacophony of vocal and emotional pain within an equally tormented furnace of mentally permeating sound. It has the senses ringing as it fades into fluid transformation into the ambient noise bred Relief of Troth. It is hard to call it an instrumental as the piece is more a pass over a caustic wasteland with hazardous shadows and sinister breath.

    Svn in Your Head mentally burns from its first acrid note; slowly unveiling an intrepid malignancy of sonic enveloping which stalks and invades with a doom spawned energy and sludge thick animosity, never relenting in its prowling weight of provocation and heavily leaning sound. As all the tracks, and album come to that, whether enjoyment comes into the equation is a debate for each to ponder but once more there is a persistent temptation which infects for a lingering need to suffer more, a pain both Aimless Roaming and the closing exploration of Mvrk Diving are keen to offer. Their individual enmities score and deplete the resistance of body and emotions even further bringing the album’s most inhospitable alienation in its conclusion, though again with riffs and rhythms horde like aggressors and lethal hooks the deepest transgressor it is hard not to want more.

Released digitally March 31^st and as a 2 LP release via Throatruiner Records on April 10^th, Lowgazers is a chaos hard to endure and ultimately survive intact against but a merciless adventure from Plebeian Grandstand that it is easy to recommend to those brave enough to face its discordant conflict.

http://plebeiangrandstand.tumblr.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/PLEBEIAN-GRANDSTAND/160680714032

8/10

RingMaster 30/03/2014

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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Earthship: Iron Chest

Like a sonic juggernaut Iron Chest the new album from German sludge metallers Earthship crushes the senses into a submissive but gloriously satisfied husk. It is a release of crushing riffs, corrosive intensity, and ravenous rhythms toned with a fiery progressive grooved breath, an album to incite passion and provoke primal responses.

Iron Chest is the follow up to acclaimed 2011 debut Exit Eden and shows the band has not only evolved their sound but expanded every element in their musical arsenal to create a release which chews one up greedily and spits them out as an intrusively pleasured wreck. The band was formed in the spring of 2010 by ex- The Ocean drummer Jan Oberg alongside Dennis Boettcher on drums and Bastian Gutschke on bass guitar. The line-up was completed soon after by The Ocean guitarist Robin Staps. The line-up recorded Exit Eden with its release on Pelagic Records coming in early 2011. Leading up to the release the band played their debut gig in December of 2010 supporting Torche and followed it with the Friction tour across Europe alongside The Ocean, Red Fang and Intronaut. Just before the tour Gutschke left to be replaced by Sabine Oberg, the wife of Jan, and the beginning of this year saw the departure of Staps with the band shrinking to a compact trio.

Again released through Pelagic, Iron Chest raises a tempest upon the ear from the first note of opener Old Widow’s Gloom, its charged breath and erosive energy a greedy rub upon the senses. The guitars fire up a dust bowl of coarse riffs whilst the rhythms flattened the air to resonate deeply. The song is the essences of Mastodon, Crowbar, Kyuss distilled through the unique waspish grooves of Earthship. It is a mighty start easily maintained across the length of the album to leave one breathless and smarting from the intensity and fire brought with every track.

The following Athena and title track twist and stretch the synapses with incendiary melodic weaves and smouldering vocals behind the abrasive tones of Jan, the first a smouldering piece of stoner venom and the second a lashing of sharp riffs and scything sonic craft. The pair show the diversity across not only the first few songs but album as a whole, imagination and thought within the overall doom/sludge presence of the release insatiable and wholly contagious. This is an album and songs you really want to listen to in detail, to delve in fully such the rich rewards continually received.

Every song is an impactful and invigorating welcome bruise, all intent on branding the senses and each the giver of acidic mastery which overwhelms and fulfils equally. Further notable highlights come in the form of the blistering Boundless Void with its more reserved attack just has musically malevolent as the aggressive slabs of sound elsewhere, the quite magnificent Brimstone, and the closing giant of a track, Teal Trail. The first of this latter pair is a shifting corruption which unleashes eager passions for its magnetic weaves and molten waves of melodic lava and erosive energy whilst the final song just stomps with all metal guns blazing and rock n roll intent fuelling its passionate assault. It is a final rampage to relish whilst offering another distinct facet to what is one immensely pleasing release.

Iron Chest is a giant of an album, a titan which enflames the passions whilst wearing down the senses into an eager disciple before its malicious intent. The release sits as one of the best sludge/doom albums this year and Earthship a band equipped to flatten all rivals.

https://www.facebook.com/wearetheearthship

RingMaster 13/10/2012

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Abraham – The Serpent, The Prophet & The Whore

Bringing probably the most caustic and violent experience you are likely to be exposed to this year, the second album from Swiss metalers Abraham is malevolent beauty. Abrasive, corrosive, and at times verging on physically unbearable for sure, but at the same time it is destructively beautiful and one of the best senses stripping pleasures to be unleashed and willingly endured in a long while.

The Serpent, The Prophet & The Whore leaves one numb yet smouldering on the inside from the sheer might and force, let alone craft, at work within the violation. The band is tagged as post-hardcore/post-metal but as their second album shows there is much more at play. At times there is a sludge/doom smothering to entrap the listener, the thick oppressive weight of tracks a trap to sink into whilst the snarling and demanding rhythms donkey punch the senses and the flaming melodic sonic invention sears right through to the marrow, its acid presence fusing and extinguishing synapses. It is pure bliss with Abraham now one of the giants of extreme sounds as evidenced by the release.

From Lausanne, the band began working on short circuiting its victims from 2007. Hard work and the honing of their weaponry led to the eventual release of their debut album An Eye on the Universe in 2011, through Pelagic Records (who also release the new album), the label of Ocean guitarist Robin Staps. Critically acclaimed the band soon had Europe on its knees playing alongside bands such as Red Fang, Intronaut, Khoma, EF, Celan, Birds In Row, Mumakil, and Kruger. The Prophet, The Serpent and The Whore, an album inspired by a novel by J.G. Rawls, is the staggering successor and. The release is a tempest of emotions; despair, anger, hopelessness to merely scratch the surface, seeping from the eight songs and the lyrics freely adapted from  the story of an unnamed man falling from the sky to crawl through the lowest spheres of the world. Themes of falling from grace, primal fear, physical pain, loneliness and mystical visions stalk the release, Abraham exploring and bringing them forward to make a vivid presence and touch. Musically the sounds are as tortured and destructive as the lyrical content and intent, the combination upon this Magnus Lindberg (Cult Of Luna) mixed album, creating stark, bleak, and sonically pungent soundscapes.

First track Start With A Heartbeat immediately rips the air apart with astringent sonics and merciless beats. It is a slow salt rub upon the senses which elevates its energy to twist and crawl deep within the psyche. The vocals of Olivier Hähnel expel venom of varied shades watched over by the predator growl from the bass of Valentin Jallut. As the guitars of Jacques Viredaz and Mathieu Jallut blister flesh whilst simultaneously manipulating notes, their tight hold wringing every essence and passion from them, the song creates an abusive rapture which can only be welcomed hungrily.

Man The Serpent and The Great Dismemberment suck the light from the soul, their far reaching dark emotions and malicious sounds leaving the deepest scars and equal pleasure. The rhythms of drummer David Haldimann alone resonate through bone and when contributing to the cartilage shearing sonics and melodic thrashing elsewhere makes for the sweetest abuse. Both songs fire the imagination with their constricting breaths and scathing presences, the second of the two a cacophonous scalding which blisters the atmosphere let alone the senses. At times there is a Killing Joke flavour breaking through, predominantly in the vocals with Hähnel having a Jaz Coleman scowl, with this, the leaden bleed of This Is Not A Dead Man, Yet and the closer Dawn having the richest whisper.

The outstanding New King, Dark Prophet and the epic corruption that is Carcasses leave one grasping for a steadying surface whilst gasping for breath under their dehabilitating tempests. As mentioned the release is a challenge to thought and body but there are moments where one is taken to their limits. All the time though the musicianship and wonderful inventive craft is a raging burn to relish and draw rapture from.

The Serpent, The Prophet & The Whore is pure mordant majesty, a brutal beast which rewards time and time again giving new emerging treats with every confrontation. Abraham has taken their already impressive presence and creativity to further stunning inventive and violent heights for one of the albums of the year.

https://www.facebook.com/abrahamtheband

RingMaster 28/09/2012

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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