The Rock Blogger

Krallice. Krallice . 2008. 4.5 stars .

When I first heard Mick Barr’s impenetrably fast guitar shredding on his experimental Ocrilim project, I thought his wall-of-sound technique would be perfect for atmospheric black metal. Now, just a few months later, Barr has found just the right niche for his unconventional style with Krallice. Each of the six punishing tracks here run long, most over 10 minutes, extending into suffocating fits of mania.

The trace-like effect of Barr’s wailing riffs, along with the pounding drums and raw, distant screams is quintessentially black metal, yet startlingly unique at the same time. Barr doesn’t just play with impossible speed, he plays as if he is hypnotized, scaling across patterns with an almost inhuman precision. While this may all sound very cold and detached, the fluidity of Krallice is incredibly powerful, carrying you along its relentless current rather than drowning you in a wash of white noise.

Despite its undeniable virtuosity, I found Ocrilim to be too thinly produced and inaccessible to warrant repeated listens. Krallice on the other hand retains the avant garde ambition of Barr’s previous work and props it up with clearer production and the robust accompaniment of actual band mates (what a concept!). Krallice’s debut is a tremendous experiment that has a serious edge over the countless other black metal projects popping up across the US. While you may not want to call them ’songs’, the compositions here are complex and immersing. Even with all its arty aspirations, Krallice’s intensity will still burn the place down. Recommended.

Wolf Parade. "I’ll Believe in Anything" Apologies to the Queen Mary 2005.

I’ll start off by apologizing for the lack of pictures and video from the show, I don’t usually drag my camera along to venues, so I’ll try to convey the concert experience with mere superlatives. In short, Wolf Parade’s live show puts their already excellent recordings to shame - the energy and speed of their set was simply electrifying. Spencer Krug’s spacey keyboards dueled marvelously with Dan Boeckner’s high-strung guitar work, keeping up with each other as they burned through their dancable anthems. All the nuanced vocals, with the harmonized yelps, falsettos and ‘la-la-las" were pulled off perfectly as the duo traded roles as the band’s front man.

Arlen Thompson’s drumming was also impressively frantic and gave their songs a crackling urgency. Hadji Bakara’s sound manipulations were produced with precision, giving the band that oddball, regal quality that hearkens back to the glory days of 70s prog-rock. Dante DeCaro’s bass thundered along without overpowering the others, and gave their whole performance a strong, powerful backbone.

While the band was in top form, the audience wanted to make their voices heard as well - which was both a good and a bad thing. The fist-pumping, chanting and singing along certainly added to the epic and raw quality of Wolf Parade’s set, especially the barn-burner encore of "I’ll Believe in Anything’ with its life-affirming refrain, "Because nobody knows ya, and nobody gives a damn". The crowd was in full agreement. That being said, there was plenty of jackassery to go around, with all the drunken shoving, pushing and falling taking place. I guess indie rock brings out some of the worst in hipster crowds, specifically those who are just there to get plastered and look ‘cool’. Fuck them. And did anyone else notice that water was dripping from the ceiling? Whatever maintenance problem the Kool Haus was having was distracting to say the least.

Despite the annoyances, which were far beyond the band’s control, Wolf Parade put on an incredible show, running through every song off At Mount Zoomer and the most notable fan favorites from their groundbreaking debut. All the bases were covered (see set list below). With their latest tour ending stint in Toronto, Wolf Parade showed that they possess both stellar musicianship and the ability to get people’s hands in the air. It’s just too bad that those hands were spilling Budweiser down my back.

Set List

You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son
Soldier’s Grin
Call It A Ritual
The Grey Estates
Dear Sons And Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts
Language City
An Animal In Your Care
Shine A Light
Bang Your Drum
Fancy Claps
Fine Young Cannibals
California Dreamer
This Heart’s On Fire
Kissing The Beehive
Encore:
Grounds For Divorce
It’s A Curse
I’ll Believe In Anything

Equilibrium. Sagas . 2008. 3.5 stars .

Sagas is probably the most over-the-top metal album you’ll come across this year, with blaring synths, pan flutes, and even accordions rounding out epic tales about viking conquests and battles. Even with the snarling black metal vocals and blistering drum patterns, Equilibrium’s sound is not as much dark as it is adventurous. Feverish pacing, soaring melodies and wild musicianship make this a surprisingly fun, if not downright silly, soundtrack for your daily pillaging. With so many musical elements layered against each other in every song, its remarkable that things sound as fluid as they do. Thankfully, the band’s performance is as virtuosos as it is raucous, barely letting up in intensity across these 13 tracks.

While Sagas may seem too busy or ham-fisted in its attempts to be epic, its speed and eclectic instrumentation is certainly daring and refreshing in a genre vastly populated by the glum and the suicidal. It may not have the viciousness of Bathory’s groundbreaking Viking albums, or even the incredible scope of Moonsorrow’s work, Sagas still stands as a unique, and strangely satisfying effort. So, if you can stomach the unrepentant saccharine flavor, Sagas has plenty to offer.

Equilibrium - “Wurzelbert”

Coldworld. Melancholie². 2008. 4 stars.

Germany’s Coldworld (aka Georg Börner) has created a highly accomplished black metal album with dense melodic layers and spooky ambient flourishes. While Coldworld clearly fits within the genre with its relentless blast beat percussion and tremolo riffs, its use of symphonic elements and strings (”Tortured by Solitude”, “Escape”) makes this album stand out. In its more atmospheric stretches, Coldworld seem to blend drone, post-rock and shoegaze elements together in well crafted torrents. The clear production work reveals Börner’s talent for composing, drawing in disparate sounds to direct an expressive musical vision. While many of these passages are certainly bleak, they do have a ghostly beauty to them, as distant choral samples and keyborads give off an icy sheen.

Overall, Melancholie² is one of the most effective (and non-ideological) black metal albums to come along in recent months, and carries the same hefty emotional weight as the much gritter Paysage d’Hiver and the more elaborate Wolves in the Throne Room. For its thematic clarity, fleshed-out arrangements and powerful, frosty atmosphere, Coldworld’s first full length is an important gem and easily one of the best metal releases of the year.

Coldworld - Tortured By Solitude

Odawas. Raven and the White Night. 2007. 3.5 stars.

Odawas play wispy psychedelic folk songs that are tinged with subtle symphonic and harmonic elements. While their sound fits nicely along the dreamy shoegaze of bands like Grouper, Odawas’ take is slightly more complex, and also more confounding. They certainly don’t seem to like sticking in one place for too long, as their ethereal acoustic moments can take flight into bluesy jam-rock solos (”Getting to Another Plane”), often sounding like a bizarre cross between Neil Young’s Crazy Horse and the haunting melancholy of Jeff Buckley. When they do decide to settle down on a singular vision, they have incredible emotional clarity, like on the heartbreaking “Alleluia’ where gentle whistles and mournful vocals take on a hypnotic effect.

There are odd left tuns taken as well, like the bombastic orchestral intro of “The Maddening of Raven” or the speech giving samples on “Love Is… (The Only Weapon With Which I Got to Fight)”, accomapnied by electric instrumentation. These tracks point towards some overarching narrative or theme for the album, but they don’t seem to blend with the more cryptic and fluid sounds of their pared-down acoustic counterparts. Once again, the band’s often unnerving sense of dread and tension is better expressed in the quiet, rustic corners of their songs, where their humble tones lead to humbling passages.

Fortunately, the band’s shining moments outnumber the confusing ones, and they frequently take on the astral quality that shapes and defines the modern psych-folk movement. So if you are looking for something heady, trippy and pastoral, Odawas will be sure to satisfy. Once you get past the stranger fixtures of this record, the eclectic musicianship and experimental edge will lift you up. How high you go may depend on the environment in which you take this in.

Odawas “Alleluia” - set to Reuters’ best photos of 2007

Torche. Meanderthal. Hydrahead Records. 2008. 4 stars.

I’ve seen Torche perform twice before, opening for Mogwai and Jesu, and I while I was impressed by their crushingly loud sets, they just seemed like a slightly above average doom band.  To my pleasent suprise, their latest LP Meanderthal lives up to the internet hype with its brisk and infectious stoner metal jams. Sounding like a cross between Queens of the Stone Age and Pelican, Torche’s songs are full of tight melodies and furious riffs, moving along at a speedy pace while still laying down the heaviness. The majority of the tracks here are short and sweet, with only one song pushing past five minutes, making Meanderthal a breezy and accessible listen that begs repeating.

While Torche successfully culminate several styles together in a satisfying package, there is no ‘Feel Good Hit of the Summer’ to knock it out of the park. Still, that may not be a bad thing, since Torche will fair well with the avant-stoner crowd (fans of Boris and Isis take note). Torche may sound like a band teetering on the fence between arena-rock stardom and the underground, but they’re still carving a sizable niche for themselves with their ‘fun’ brand of doom metal. If Meanderthal is any indication, I’m expecting many more great things to come from this band.

Torche “Healer” - live
(Hey, the lead singer has the same Jesu shirt as me!)

Empyrium. Weiland. 2002. 4.5 stars.

This was the last, and probably most rewarding, album from Germany’s Empyrium. Their unique neofolk sound remains intact for their final outing, with greater emphasis on atmosphere and dramatic vocal delivery. The haunting German chants, acoustic interludes, piano keys and swelling strings work together in fluid, transcendent compositions, underpinned by swift, subtle drumming. The occasional flute, horn and brass accompaniment is also welcomed and lends many of these songs a certain grandiosity.

Weiland’s sound is full of mystery, nostalgia and catharsis, as delicate guitar passages lead out into orchestral climaxes and back again, laying out emotional processions into the wild unknown. The use of baroque choir-like harmonies (use again recalling the early work of Ulver) is chillingly effective, moving Empyrium closer to their neoclassical aspirations.

Weiland comes across as an almost ancient experience, whether through raspy whispers or a bellowing tenor, evoking some lost connection to a natural spirit. Empyrium’s project is instrumentally complex and riveting and manages to stake its territory at the forefront of the neofolk genre. While their sound is dark and moody, Empyrium manages to play a stable balancing act between delicacy and aggressive release. There may not be any clear standouts on this disc to return to casually, as everything blends together in a cohesive form, demanding full, meditative attention. The power and beauty of this album is well worth the time still. This is evening music with intense, contemplative energy and showcases Empryium at the height of their creative powers.

Empyrium - Die Schwäne Im Schilf

Urfaust. Drei Rituale Jenseits Des Kosmos. 2008. 4 stars.

Urfaust is a maniacal black metal band from Holland that incorporates noise rock and doom elements into their swirling, disturbing compositions. This recent EP features three long untiled tracks that waver between hypnotic drones, terrifying screeches and some stunningly operatic vocals that give this a baroque edge. The level of experimentation here is impressive and pushes their sound into dark ambient passages. Intense and expressive, Drei Rituale is one of the more unique contributions to the genre and serves as an adequate introduction to a challenging band.

Urfaust - Drei Rituale jenseits des Kosmos - Samples

The Tallest Man on Earth. Shallow Grave. 2008. 4.5 stars.

Sweden’s Kristian Matsson is The Tallest Man on Earth, a finger-picking virtuoso who plays inspired Dylan-esque folk songs. Matsson’s unique, crackling voice, lyrical imagery and complex guitar work puts him head and shoulders above the genre’s current mainstays, delving into a nostalgic and timeless sound. The songs here convey a feeling of weather-beaten discovery, where runaways and wanderers trace highways and open plains.

Accompanied solely his acoustic guitar, Matsson bellows out his serpentine verses with great passion, especially on highlights “I Won’t be Found” and “Where Do My Bluebirds Fly?”. The sparse yet intimate musicianship reinforces this album’s singular vision, drawing you into a darting stream of consciousness. Fans of Dylan, Will Oldham and Neutral Milk Hotel should take note of this release, as it seems to possess that strange magical quality that hides within eccentric, wonder-struck personalities. What The Tallest Man on Earth lacks in originality, he makes up with spirit, leading you into welcoming pastoral landscapes.

The Tallest Man on Earth - It will follow the rain (Live)

Esmerine . Aurora . 2005. 4 stars .

Esmerine is one of the lesser known projects to come out from the Godspeed/Silver Mt. Zion umbrella, playing sorrowful instrumentals centered around Becky Foon’s cello. She is joined by multi-instrumentalist Bruce Cawdron, whose graceful piano melodies and unusual percussion work gives their collaboration an experimental edge.

If you are familiar with Godspeed You Black Emperor or any of their many side projects, you’ll appreciate Esmerine’s subdued but cinematic flavor, opting out of lyrics and familiar song structures to play heartbreaking requiems that occasionally weave into unexpected places. Aurora, the duo’s second outing, features both brooding epics (the 16 minute "Histories Repeating as One Thousand Hearts Mend") and succinct recitals (like the remarkable "Why She Swallows Bullets and Stones").

While the music takes a generally somnambulist tone, its beauty is undeniable, as each swooning moan of the cello aches with sensitivity. The amount of emotion being poured into these movements, no matter how slowly it reveals itself, is certainly humbling. The album’s more moody and disturbing moments have enormous gravity to them, casting down an atmosphere of tension and despair rivaling the most expressionistic horror films. Its delicate parts also have a lyrical weight, displaying Esmerine’s subtle sense of melody and pacing. Sure, some of the sparser portions of this disc are rather abstract, perhaps a little too slow moving as well, but its overall impression is a lasting one. Fans of post-rock are sure to be pleased by this, even with the complete absence of guitars and regular drumming, as its dark compositions are full of intense drama. A criminally overlooked band and album.

“Why She Swallows Bullets and Stones”