A very late 'Best of 2012' list

I didn't get round to listening to as many 2012 releases as I wanted to, so my list would probably look different from the list below. I also didn't write as many reviews as I wanted to write on this blog. In no particular order:

Sigh  - In Somniphobia (avant-garde black metal with jazz influences)
 Wildernessking (South Africa) - The Writing of Gods in the Sand (black metal)
Absence Of Light (Kenya) - Vyom Chakra (death metal)

Sindulgence (South Africa) - Recollections (progressive death metal)
The Ocean Doesn't Want Me (South Africa) -  As the dust settles (post-metal/ sludge/doom)

Grave - Endless Procession of Souls (old-school death metal)

Sophicide - Perdition of the Sublime (technical death metal)
Electric Wizard -  Legalise Drugs & Murder EP (doom metal)

Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone (melodic death metal)

Dodecahedron - Dodecahedron (atmospheric black metal)

My album of the year was In Somniphobia by Sigh. I found to be a refreshing and highly original listen. Had I listened to more 2012 releases, my album of the year choice would probablly be different too.

The most disappointing album I heard was Psalms for the Dead by Candlemass. It fell short of being a suitably grand send-off for a doom metal institution.

Ahab - The Giant review

The Giant is a continuation of German doom band Ahab’s nautical theme. This release is a concept album based on The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, the sole novel of Edgar Allan Poe. The music is somewhat faster and more progressive in parts, but retains its crushing funeral doom core.

The album begins with soft guitar riffs, which are then joined by sparing drums. The laments of the echoing clean vocals are beautiful. The song then goes into heavy territory, with sea beast growls. Clean vocals appear once more; the two vocal styles have more equal balance on this album than on earlier material. The reverb-laiden guitar solo has a melancholy beauty. Like its predecessor, Further South, Aeons Elaspse also begins with quiet guitar riffs. Whispers and growls join a guitar riff which sounds like a whale call. A quiet interlude comes after the heaviness, with a Spanish guitar like lead riff. The quiet riffs create images of seascapes in my mind. The clean, chant like vocals on this track and others show Daniel Droste’s vocal versatility. His clean vocals are emotional yet poised, and are the saving grace of the meandering, sometimes-boring track Antarctica the Polymorphess (the latter was the only notable low point of the album for me).

Amid the great guitar riffs and solos, the drums have a chance to feature prominently in the songs Aeons Elapse (a guitar fade gives way to the slow drumbeats) and Deliverance (Shouting at the Dead) (on which the drums sound like a funeral march), and Fathoms Deep Below (slow, pounding drums add significantly to the heaviness of the track).

The guitar work and song structures have a more progressive feel on this album. More solos feature, as well as more changes in song dynamics. The guitars echo with laments, create harmonies and weave like mist over the sea (on Fathoms Deep Below). A lot of the riffs had a post-metal feel to them. The acoustic guitar features prominently, contributing in such a way as to meld well with the lumbering behemoths of the heavy parts.

While some of the riffs were not as memorable as some of the earlier material, The Giant is still a great slab of funeral doom.

Personnel: Daniel Droste – guitar, vocals, keyboards

                   Christian Hector – guitar

                   Stephan Wandernorth – bass

                  Cornulius Althammer – drums

Web presence: www.ahab-doom.de

                          www.myspace.com/ahabdoom

                          www.facebook.com/AhabDoom

 

The Ocean Doesn't Want Me - As the dust settles review

This mysterious post-metal/sludge/doom album is the second full-length from Pretoria band The Ocean Doesn’t Want Me. It is a concept album, with each song being about one of seven characters attending a funeral of the deceased – a friend, a husband, a father, an adulterer, and acquaintance and his origin. It was fun to try and figure out which song was about each character.

The Ocean Doesn’t Want Me (TODWM) creates melancholy, epic soundscapes. The multilayered passages contrast well with the sparse parts. The latter give the impression of vast, empty spaces.

It feels like all the sound effects are relevant, and none stray into pretentious territory. The effects on opener Roots Point The Way has an oceanic feel. Most of the album reminds me of the coast, making the coastal town where I live the perfect setting to listen to this album. I imagine the funeral taking place in a small coastal town where everyone knows everyone, yet some secrets remain hidden. The instruments and effects combine with the lyrics to tell the story of the funeral very well; I always enjoy albums that tell a story well and create pictures of it in my mind.

Album highlights for me were Roots point the way, This castle stands alone, Property line and Until our mouths are filled with earth. None of the tracks are fillers though, and all make important contributions to the album overall. The lyrics are mysterious poetry that makes one think about their meanings. It’s mostly unclear which song is about each character, which will make discovering who is who more rewarding.

As the dust settles is a stellar body of work from a professional outfit. I thoroughly enjoyed getting lost in the vast soundscapes and the narratives of this album.

Personnel: Robin - Drums and synths

                 Beastie – Bass and vocals

                 CF – Guitars and vocals

Web presence: http://theoceandoesntwantme.com/

                       www.facebook.com/TheOceanDoesntWantMe

                       www.last.fm/music/The+Ocean+Doesn’t+Want+Me

                       www.theoceandoesntwantme.tumblr.com

                      

It came from the Florida swamps

The 'it' I refer to is a metal compilation of swampy, evil Florida goodness called SWAMP ABYSS SORCERY: The Now Sound Ov Florida Heavy. It's available for free download via the Satanik Recordings Band Camp page.

Florida is known for producing death metal bands (like Death, Obituary, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse et al). If this compilation is anything to go by though, a number of doom and death/doom bands are emerging from the Sunshine State. Highlights: Burn In Pagan Fire by Druid Lord, Warbeast by Hollow Leg, Those of Non-Being by Orb Weaver and Civilised Swamp by Fire In the Cave. Druid Lord (death/doom) blend crushing heaviness with great clean solos. The main riff is an earworm of note. Hollow Leg (doom) introduce themselves with droning guitar notes and tribal-style drumming. I enjoyed the clean-growl duet in the chorus. Orbweaver (death/doom band named after a very poisonous type of spider) manage to sound spider-like in the drum break which combines effects-laden guitar work. I say spider-like because that guitar riff that accompanies the break makes me think of thousands of spiders crawling up a cave wall. The band also slows things down at certain points with jazzy, somewhat trippy interludes. To me, the best song on this compilation is Fire In The Cave's Civilised Swamp. Death metal and doom metal blend harmoniously with an American Southesque guitar passge and a beautiful, dirge-like clean guitar solo. The fast tempos transition smoothly to slow tempos. The diverse elements in this song don't cause the song to descend into meandering incoherence, which is what makes it such a great song.

SWAMP ABYSS SORCERY is an interesting beast, and definitely worth a listen.