Hung - 'Hung' Review

After listening to Hung's self-titled debut album, the musical feature which lingered most prominently in my mind was the violin. Coincidentally, this New York melodic death metal band was started by renowned violinist Lyris Hung (the band's namesake). She trained at Juilliard and Columbia University, and has performed with Bryan Adams and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, among others. Hung came to life in early 2005, with the addition of Jon Clark and Sam Roon. Dmitry Kostisyn joined as frontman, and drummer Kenny Grohowski joined after the band went through a few drummers. Hung is not the band's actual debut release, instead it is their first release on an official label (ReThink Records, as well as The End Records).

An acoustic instrumental track begins the album. Titled Eos, it is a hauntingly beautiful combination of soaring violin, acoustic guitar and a little bit of banjo. Desert of Sad gallops off into a lively melodic death metal track. The violins complement the electric guitars very well. Some bubbling guitar notes come just before a catchy clean singing chorus. Other tracks also contain a mixture of clean and harsh vocals, often with both death metal and black metal harsh vocals. This mixture sounded somewhat random at times, but otherwise added interest to the songs. A solid rhythm guitar line provided a great base for the lead to weave around the music, and the drums were the engine of the song. The next track, Maria, sounded quite similar to Desert of Sad. Upon multiple listens, I found that Maria had a slower drumbeat. This song has a juicy bassline and some good riffs.The end of the song has some catchy riffs, as do most of the songs on this album.


Slower interludes among the gallopy rhythms give the songs breathing space, and also prevent them from being monotonous. Track six, Left For The New Life, clocks in at 12:08, yet doesn't feel as long as that because of the interesting tempo changes. Matter of the Blood is another epic (7:01) which avoids tedium. An acoustic and electric guitar duet opens this track. The sound gradually builds in intensity, with the addition of rising violin notes, and a progressive rock sound. Just when I thought this track would be a prog rock number, marching drums and harsh vocals arrived, taking the song in a different direction. The slow interludes in between faster rhythms don't sound abrubt, and work very well.

All the instruments on this album have their standout moments. Recently I broke out of my habit of paying close attention to the guitars only, and as a result, I have found some memorable bass riffs and drum patterns. Drummer Kenny Grohowski does much to drive the songs on this album. He also adds in some interesting patterns, like on Evil Tsar, and goes thrash-like on Sediment of War. Jon Clark and Sam Roon create layered guitar sounds, with a good amount of counter-rhythms. I enjoyed the solos and riffs too: the high-pitched solo on Progeny dances across the soundscape, while the lead guitar wails on Left For The New Life. Progeny also contains an Opeth-like intro with delicate-sounding acoustic and electric guitars. As I mentioned in the beginning of the review, the violin is a prominent feature on Hung. It soars, drops down into darkness and enhances the emotion of the guitars in particular. Lyris Hung is clearly a top-flight violin player.

Hung sounds a bit like it has been done before, but it still has brilliant moments. I enjoyed listening to this album; I felt that the songs told interesting stories, both through the lyrics and the music.

MetalSucks.com is streaming the whole album here: http://www.metalsucks.net/2012/05/07/exclusive-premiere-hungs-self-titled-album/
Find Hung's official website here: http://hungrocks.com/

Deep Snow, Ice in the Loo and Baked Beans

 Just for a laugh, I've decided to post the blurb from the back of the Best Of Budgie LP. I do not intend to steal Roger Bain's intellectual property (he was the author of the blurb).

Budgie are a Welsh hard rock/heavy metal band from Cardiff. They are said to have influenced the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, as well as Metallica.  The following words appear on the back cover of 1979's Best Of Budgie:

Pre-flight Budgie - an album containing the best, i.e. the heaviest tracks from the first two seminal albums by this band.       

I first saw Budgie when Kingsley Ward, the mastermind behind Rockfield Studios, arranged for Burke and the lads to audition in his studio. I had just finished some heavy recording sessions with ''The Earth Blues Band'' who were later to change their name to ''Black Sabbath,'' and Kingsley thought I would be interested in hearing the Welsh answer to ''The Birmingham Bashers.'' Kingsley was quite right, I was.

Apparently the band had never met a ''Record Producer'' before, and expected me to arrive in a Rolls Royce, smoking a foot long cigar and wearing a nine carat gold knuckle duster! When they were told that their roadies had to meet me off the train at Gloucester station, they were quite relieved. I knew straight away I wanted to work with this band, and we agreed there and then to record the first album, despite the fact that it was now in the middle of winter and the snow lay five feet deep around the Welsh studio. Every playback was preceded by a fight for the best place in front of the parrafin stove, in fact Burke wore woolen gloves for most of the takes (so that's the secret of his heavy bass sound!); and those 'cordon bleu' trained roadies - I have never tasted baked beans on toast like that before! (what a glamorous life it is in showbusiness).

The personnel on these sessions reads as follows:
Burke Shelley - Bass Guitar/Vocals (studying to perfect a method of keeping his glasses on while poncing around on stage).
Tony Bourge - Lead Guitar, which he had stuffed with old newspapers in order to reduce the feedback from his amp (you should have taken the fish and chips out of the newspaper first Tony!).
Ray Phillips - Drums. An expert at a hundred miles per hour without recourse to unnatural substances.
And, of course, Tom Allom, whizz engineer, who despite his constant complaining about ice in the loo, and double portions of baked beans for breakfast, went on to success as producer of 'Judas Priest' and 'The Tourists.' We had fun recording these albums, and having been allowed to combine the best tracks, I feel that all dedicated Budgie fans (God help them!) will be in seventh heaven (that's just outside Cardiff you know) when they get this piece of recorded history onto their turntables.
Roger Bain
1980
(Ten years after the event, and I still wake up screaming.)

'Under The Sign Of The Black Mark' - 25th Anniversary

Yesterday, 11 May 2012, was the 25th birthday of the album Under The Sign Of The Black Mark by Bathory. The album is considered a classic of black metal.

I don't intend to do regular metal news posts on this blog, but Bathory was the band which got me into black metal, so I wanted to mention this special metal birthday. There are two great posts on Invisible Oranges related to Under The Sign's 25th birthday: one is an analysis of the album, and the other is a more personal piece. Read the articles here:
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2012/05/%E2%80%98under-the-sign-of-the-black-mark%E2%80%99-turns-25/
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2012/05/%E2%80%98under-the-sign-of-the-black-mark%E2%80%99-turns-25-part-2-metalion/

Here are a few songs from Under The Sign Of The Black Mark.








Horns up to Quorthon - R.I.P.

Absence of Light - Vyom Chakra review

Absence of Light is a most fitting name for this Kenyan death metal band. The name conjures up images of a profound darkness from which there is no escape. The songs contained on the album fit in well with that image. Vyom Chakra (meaning ''never-ending sky'' or ''cycle'' in Sanskrit) is the debut release from the Nairobi-based trio.


This review is very late, since the Vyom Chakra EP was released last year! I only managed to get round to it this year. A hint of the darkness to come is apparent from the first track, Narakas, an atmospheric instrumental with a guitar melody that winds through the fog of noise.

Aural pummeling begins with the second track, Daksha. The fast drums leaped out from the speakers and attacked me. Angad Gupta's guitar tone has a hypnotic quality to it. The drums and rhythm guitar create a wall of sound, with lead guitar parts weaving around it. Atmosphere is not usually something associated with death metal, but the guitar work here is guided down interesting paths by the drums and vocals. Earworm riffs got firmly stuck in my head before mutating into new forms.
 

Drums with a marching rhythm open Arkasodara. An acoustic guitar's seductive melodies weave around the intro. There is a brief pause before an explosion of agression; vocalist Shiv Mandavia puts in a vocal performance that matches the music's atmosphere very well, both on this track and throughout the album. The melody from the intro remains, making for a smooth transition between the slow and fast tempos. A softer interlude gives respite before the crushing wall of sound falls onto the listener once more. Absence of Light's songs are well-paced; the extremity of the music is counter-balanced by lighter moments. These lighter moments don't weaken the impact of the extreme moments, which is a testament to Absence of Light's excellent songwriting. Another seductive guitar riff appears on Khalasamhara, I, with an ominous quality attached to it. This track floats, yet melts my face at the same time. A combination of grace and aural pummeling is a great combination in death metal.

Closing Vyom Chakra on a powerful note is Samadhi, the highlight of the EP for me. The notes gradually get louder, like an approaching storm. The drums blast the song to life, and rain down blastbeats like bullets. The bass riffs enhance the overall impact of the other instruments. A slow interlude is introduced by an echoing guitar riff, which continues its mesmeric song. Drums join in, sounding as if they are echoing down the passage of a centuries-buried tomb. The bass throws the song back into the dark, chaotic pit, then the interlude delivers me to safety once more. I felt as if the album was too short, yet if it had been longer I surely would've been crushed by the dark sounds of Absence of Light.

Cormorant - Dwellings Review

Dwellings is the second album from impressive Californian newcomers Cormorant. After the exceptional 2009 effort, Metazoa, I was very much looking forward to hearing what aural treats were awaiting me. The album was self-released last year. Not only does the album contain high-quality production, it is beautifully packaged as well, with stunning artwork.

Cormorant starts the proceedings with a rollicking number in the form of The First Man.  The song contains a newsclip of the then Australian Prime Minister apologising to the Native Australians for the tragedy of the Stolen Generations. The lamenting guitar solo that follows emphasises the impact of the spoken word passage. Fuzzy rhythm guitar parts add texture and depth.
Track two, Funambulist, maintains the quality standard set in The First Man. The pretty intro riff pulls at my heartstrings, drawing me into the song. The vocals on this track are dynamic, going from sorrow-imbued harsh vocals, to a tougher phase, to dissonant clean singing with great harmonies. Ear-catching riffs abound on this track. There is a delicate echoing riff in a jazz-like, proggy section, and a quiet electric guitar passage. Following that passage, there is a powerful launch out of the melancholia, and a crying guitar solo. Cormorant keep the music cohesive through all the tempo changes, which is something they do with flair. Jazzy drumming, whispered harsh vocals and haunting guitar notes end off this interesting composition. The jazzy drumming also makes an appearance on the track A Howling Dust.

Slowness and heaviness introduce Junta. The other instruments exit for a brief guitars-only interlude accompanying a spoken-word passage, which sounds like some politician giving a speech. The guitars have that 'wah' sound at one point (for lack of a better description), and a haunting tone. The song then explodes into a scream and a faster pace, with pounding drums. The vocals sounded particularly black-metalesque on this track - very raspy and evil-sounding. Another tempo switch comes in, with acoustic guitars joining the rest of the instruments. Von Nagel's lyrics focus on tough issues on this album; eugenics and the junta in Guinea are two examples. He manages to avoid falling into the abyss of pretentiousness (although one could call Von Nagel a bit pretentious), and does a great job on the lyrical content. Just like on Metazoa, the way Von Nagel sings is a noteworthy feature - the growls on Dwellings are distinctive.

A Howling Dust gives the listener the impression of just that - the mostly slow, doom metal-like pace and the bubbling guitars in the later half of the song bring this image to mind. Another aspect of Metazoa that has distinctly reappeared on Dwellings is the music's ability to create clear pictures in my mind. When I heard mid-tempo album closer Unearthly Dreamings, an image of outer space popped into my head, due to its otherworldly sound effects. The harmonised vocals and the guitar melody are a beautiful combination. The sparse and introspective instrumental interlude is also beautiful, and allows the song breathing space. From there, the song takes on a darker tone, with blastbeating. The sparse interlude reappears, and then slows down for the full band's comeback. The tone of this part of the song has a feeling of pathos. There is a great, rock-like guitar solo, and then the song ends with the 'outer space' effect of the intro.

Dwellings has more of a rock feel than Metazoa. Both feature excellent guitar riffs and interesting song structures, but I enjoyed Metazoa a bit more. Nonetheless, Dwellings is still a solid album from a standout band of the American underground.