CD REVIEW: The HAARP Machine - "Disclosure"

UK-based death metal band, The HAARP Machine combines technical death metal and mind-bending prog with a flair for the melodic for one of the most impressive debuts to come across my desk in ages. “Disclosure” is a tech-death total package written by a band capable of crafting intriguing and dynamic tunes that rely more on intelligent structure, originality and mood than senseless fret board gymnastics to get over.

The vocals range from impassioned croons to beast-like growls. This diverse and soulful approach lends a human element to the machine. This is a nice contrast to the calculated precision with which guitarist Al Mu’min wields his instrument. One of the more intriguing guitarists in metal today, Mu’min is rarely a loss for crushing and intricate riffs, many of which he textures with hints of prog rock or exotic, Middle-Eastern flavors. These little twists and turns, along with bits of studio trickery and ambient noise, add depth to the music without becoming distracting. But even without all the bells and whistles, these guys are skilled enough songwriters that even the most dizzying display of musical showmanship is delivered tastefully. 

CD REVIEW: FINNTROLL's "Blodsvept"

The sixth chapter in the epic tale of Troll-King Rivfader, the character who serves as the common conceptual thread through the discography of Finnish metal unit Finntroll, has been told. And it’s a good one. Among the most unique creatures in the fantasy land that is folk metal, Finntroll continues the Rivfader saga with “Blodsvept.” Moving farther away from the gimmicky elements that come along with being a troll-metal band, Finntroll’s newest album sounds more developed and focused than its predecessors.  

While “Blodsvept” is unmistakably Finntroll with its traditional European folk backbone and polka flourishes, the band has made it a point to write some of the catchiest and heaviest songs the genre of folk metal has experienced thus far. The title track kicks the album off with a metallic roar flavored with a symphonic hook and folksy interludes. Much of “Blodsvept” retains the energetic, blackened melodic death/happy thrash vibe of the opening tune, but the eclectic array of non-metal elements play a major part in this record.

Big band horns, hummpa breakdowns and speed metal banjos played with enough fury to make Mumford slaughter his sons all see “Blodsvept” stand out as one of the most intense and interesting listening experiences metal fans will find this year. A credit to their skills as songwriters, Finntroll are able to blend this wide array of styles, moods and instrumentation together without sounding forced or jumbled.  The end result is an album that’s not only wholly entertaining, it’s practically addictive.

CD Review: LIKE YOU TO ME gets poppy and punk-y on their self-titled debut

Taking their name from a Set Your Goals tune and their sound from New Found Glory, Maryland’s Like You To Me are another addition to the overflowing pop punk pool. Much like their main influence, Like You To Me delivers upbeat and fast-paced tunes, barely off-key hooks, bright melodies and more good vibes than a puppy roller-blading down a ray of sunshine.

Fans looking for a throwback to the heyday of Drive-Thru Records should find plenty here to enjoy. The big, hook-y anthems and peppy are sure to blast many of you back to a time when gas was cheap and Blink-182 was about to become the next big thing. However, nostalgia is about the extent of what Like You To Me have to offer. They’re a band that proudly wears their influences on their sleeves, and in a genre as limiting as pop-punk, one really has to strive for originality. These Marylanders seem to have little concern for that.

“Sofa King Desperate” and “You’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat” are two of the disc’s biggest attention-grabbers, but there isn’t much difference between them and the rest of the album. Repetitiveness aside, Like You To Me delivers a fairly good time on their self-titled debut. If you’re a fan of energetic three-chord merriment, this one won’t muck up your collection. 

CD REVIEW: ZODIAC gets the blues on "A Bit of Devil"

The wide, wild world of rock n’ roll is one place where truly anything is possible. Dave Mustaine made peace with Metallica, Thurston Moore joined a black metal band and Keith Richards still has a pulse. As these and many other head-scratching events transpire on a routine basis, there should be nothing shocking about the spirit of southern rock rising up from the swamps of Florida and landing in the lap of the drummer from a German post-rock band.

Sounds crazy enough to work, doesn't it? Well, it does.

Backed by Long Distance Calling drummer Janosch Rathmer, Zodiac plays a sweet and soulful brand of blues-soaked classic rock that could have a 30 year coma patient believe he only took a short nap if this album were the first thing he heard upon awakening. Vocalist/guitarist Nick Van Delft delivers a whiskey-drenched croon that sounds like Wino singing an Allman Bros. tune. Anything remotely modern about “A Bit of Devil” comes from the fact it wasn't recorded straight to tape and sent directly to the vinyl plant. Otherwise, this eight-song platter of wax (nine, if you get your mitts on a version featuring the awesomely moody bonus tune “Dying Done”) comes straight from the heart of the ‘70s rock world. Fans of ZZ Top, Thin Lizzy, Rory Gallagher and Led Zeppelin should check out “A Bit of Devil.” 

CD REVIEW: MINISTRY calls it a day with "From Beer to Eternity"

In 2007, industrial metal legends Ministry released "The Last Sucker," an album that founder and mastermind Al Jourgensen claimed would be his last. Later, in 2012, the band crawled out of retirement with "Relapse," which was also purported to be a swan song. While the former was a much more fitting final chapter to the Ministry legacy than the latter, apparently it wasn’t fitting enough. Yep, Ministry has returned yet again!

It’s hard to imagine anyone complaining either as From Beer to Eternity is a great record. Ministry’s 13^th studio album was primarily written by Jourgensen and longtime co-conspirator Mike Scaccia in the months before the latter's tragic onstage death. In tribute to the groundbreaking guitarist, "From Beer to Eternity" delivers a firestorm of his trademark thrash pummel. Part of Jourgensen’s evil genius is his ability to blend Scaccia’s blistering speed/thrash assault with circuit-grinding industrial and terabyte-sized grooves and hooks. "From Beer to Eternity" does this brilliantly. 

Album opener “Hail to His Majesty (Peasants)” slithers about with a mechanized weirdness. For the next six tracks, Ministry spits venom and breathes fire with a barrage of cyber-thrash chaos. “Lessoned Unlearned” kicks out some surprisingly awesome hard rock jams complete with female backing vocals. With jazzy grooves and spoken word cynicism Jourgensen sends a wink toward Tom Waits on “Thanx, but No Thanx.” As a final good-bye (yes, this is another "last album"), “Enjoy the Quiet” sends us home with an beehive of noise and a quaint goodbye message from the surprisingly affable Jourgensen. If this is truly Ministry's last hurrah, on behalf of all of us, thank you, Al. And R.I.P. Mike.

EXTOL'S Return to Glory - an interview with Peter Espevoll

In 1993, a group of young Norwegians banded together over a shared love of heavy music. Teenagers at the time – founding members David Husvik (drums) and Christer Espevoll (guitar) both aged 16 and Espevoll’s 14-year-old brother, Peter – EXTOL spent their earliest years exploring the vastness and diversity that is the metal universe. With a fondness for the progressive approach to extreme metal and the adventurous spirit that resonated throughout the European metal community at the time and sparked many a movement that have since become cornerstones of the genre, EXTOL began to turn heads in and around Norway’s burgeoning metal scene. At a time when many metal bands tended to rely on shock value and imagery to get over, EXTOL’s primary focus was on musicianship and expanding the known boundaries of death metal. 

Breaking the stereotypes of the day that equated metal with evil and wanting no part of the corpse-paint and hell-fire crowd that their Norwegian brethren in IMMORTAL and DARKTHRONE were busy turning into a kvlt phenomenon, EXTOL took the ‘higher’ road, so to speak. Though the band didn’t possess the sonic attributes to be a part of the "unblack metal" sect that played a yen to black metal’s unholy yang, EXTOL’s remarkable display of forward-thinking melodic death made them one of the most well-known and influential Christian metal bands of the day. Their reach extended well beyond faith-based fan-bases thanks in part to tours with the likes of MASTODON and OPETH. Despite a surge in popularity and the widespread dropping of jaws in response to 2005’s "The Blueprint Dives," personal issues led to EXTOL going on hiatus in 2007. “I wanted to take a break from everything,” said vocalist Peter Espevoll. “It wasn’t an easy decision but a very necessary one for me.”

Time, as they say, heals all wounds and it wasn’t long before the core members of EXTOL began to feel that familiar rumbling in their bellies. In 2012, it was announced that the trio of Espevoll, co-founder and drummer David Husvik and longtime guitarist Ole Børud had reunited and new material was on the way. While Christian, the elder Espevoll and band’s founding guitarist, was part of the initial reformation, outside obligations prevented him from fully committing and the band forged on as a trio with Børud handling all guitar and bass duties. As work began on what would become EXTOL’s self-titled return to glory, the trio realized that their time off had done more than just give them a chance to take shake off the wear and tear of the road. “We´re all older and (hopefully) more mature, so coming together now has been mostly just very fun and the three of us have a better way of understanding each other now,” Espevoll said. “I also think we were really hungry for doing a new EXTOL album, and that resulted in a good creativity boost and a good flow during the whole process.”

That process was unhindered by the outside pressures placed on the band during their first run and the trio was able to focus on what matters most – the music. “Since no one even knew that we were writing new EXTOL material, and we didn’t have any labels on our back with deadlines or pressure of any kind, we could use all the time we needed for a result that the three of us were extremely happy with," Espevoll said. "We basically just wanted to take the time we felt we needed to make a really good and unique death metal album. In some ways we wanted to go little bit back to our roots and find some inspiration in the moods of our previous releases. But also, we wanted the songwriting to be more mature and ‘thought-through’ than earlier [albums] and with a better and more modern sound than we´ve had before.”

           As news does in this era of social media in which we live, word of EXTOL’s return and the summer release of their self-titled masterpiece on Facedown Records soon spread like wildfire among the legions of die-hard fans who had spent the last several years pining for more prog-death majesty. To sweeten the deal, EXTOL is currently at work on a retrospective documentary chronicling the band’s career and comeback. For the time being, however, EXTOL-ites seem perfectly content whipping themselves into frenzy over the new jams. The outpouring of excitement had left quite the impression on the band. “To us the reaction was quite overwhelming," Espevoll said. "We got so many people telling us how much EXTOL has meant to them over the years and how excited they are about us coming back together. When you´ve been away from the scene for many years, it´s really inspiring that people still get excited about what you do and want to hear new music!”

Interview with DEVILDRIVER vocalist Dez Fafara

DEVILDRIVER front-man Dez Fafara has a lot to be excited about this year. Not only has the band breeched the ten-year mark, but they’ve done so with some of the hardest-hitting and intense material they’ve conjured up thus far. Following their trend of not following trends (self-imposed or otherwise), Fafara and guitarists Jeff Kendrick and Mike Spreitzer, drummer John Boecklin and new bassist Chris Towning have assembled collection of frenzied, yet calculated groove worth writing home about. Titled "Winter Kills," the album is a milestone in DEVILDRIVER’s career as it’s the band’s first release on Napalm Records, who they signed with after the mass Roadrunner Records exodus. It’s also among the vocalist’s personal favorites, as he explains during our talk. 

When listening to "Winter Kills," I’m reminded of some of Devildriver’s earliest material. What sort of end result were you looking for when writing and how do you feel about how things turned out.

It’s a very groove-heavy record. We know what we do and we tried to do it well this time. Devildriver is kind of a square peg in a round hole. Nobody can really decide what kind of music we make, so our fans have dubbed us the ‘California Groove Machine.’ That’s a hell of a title to live up and we needed to make sure we did that with "Winter Kills." We went for big grooves, bigger hooks, tight arrangements and the instrumentation is absolutely incredible. The guys really out did themselves this time and we all had a great time making this record. The headspace around the entire process was incredible; very positive all the way around. I’ve never once said this because I feel like it leaves you with nowhere to go, but I honestly feel that this is Devildriver’s best record.

At what point did you start to realize that?

Once I started getting the song demos from the guys, I started to realize that we had something really special; I knew it was going to killer. From there, the writing process really started happening for us. There’s a flow and a magic about that’s just really hard to explain. It felt like I was holding lightning in a bottle. The chemistry with this band has always been there, so nothing much changed in that aspect. We just really got down to business on this record. We knew we had to make the record of our lives, so we got in there and did it. We love to make music and we love to experiment. We experimented with "Pray for Villains," we experimented with "Last Kind Words," we experimented with "Beast," and on this record we experimented again. We sat down and told ourselves, “Look, let’s experiment on every record, but make sure we keep the grooves big and arrangements tight.” The arrangements on "Winter Kills" are much tighter than they were on "Beast" and I think that allowed us to make a better record.

Was part of that extra push to make this the record of your lives, as you put it, related to the fact that this is your first after parting ways with Roadrunner Records?

First of all, I gotta tell you that we do that with every record. We never try to best any previous effort, but we always try to make our best record. When we got to work on "Winter Kills" and started hearing the initial results, we realized that this was looking to be a very special record, so we started paying attention even more and said, “Alright, this is what we need to do.” What we had to do was absolutely groove, make sure the hooks stood out and that they grabbed a hold of people. We had to make sure this was different sounding than the other records, which it is. And that this record kept itself separated from any other album we’ve, which it does. It’s important for us to be different. I think that’s the one word that sums up Devildriver; different. We’re just a different kind of band and every record has a signature sound. 

It does set itself apart from the rest of your work, but it’s still very much a Devildriver record. It’s recognizable, but not recycled; which I assume is the goal.

We do different records and I think that’s important. I don’t think our fans want to hear the same record twice. It’s a compliment when someone tells me it doesn’t sound like Beast or whatever other record of ours. They’re right! That’s a compliment right there. There are too many bands out there that have been around for a long time, especially 10 years like we have, that will make the same record two or more times because they know what their fans want, so they stick to it. We test our fans. We test them each time out. If you liked that record, let’s see how well you like this one. If you didn’t like that other record, then try another on for size. Either way, we’re going to do what we want to do.

Is that level of integrity a challenge to maintain after so many years and albums? Have you ever been tempted by the comfort zone?

No, man, because there are so many different influences that are constantly at work in this band and different players will take the lead from time to time.  With each record, a different guy in the band will step up at different times and sort of lead the march. I think that’s an important thing.

How do you feel about starting a new stage in your career now that you’re with a new label?

I’m happy, man. I’m very excited about things. I’m really happy with Napalm and to be with someone with passion for music. Roadrunner, in the United States, just kind of put us out there for the last couple records. They knew they were selling the label. They did it do a bunch of other bands too. They let a lot of good people go and they let a lot of good bands go, and that was that. It was time to go. I wasn’t experiencing the passion for the music. I don’t want to do business with bean counters, I want to be with passionate people who knew business and aren’t going to mathematically equate me into what I can and can’t do. This band has been on a steady growth since inception, and that’s due to us working our asses off and earning the respect of the bands and fans one person at a time.  None of that came from a massive label presence. In the beginning of my career, with Coal Chamber, that might have been true, but now it’s good to be able to move forward and keep at it. 

KYLESA interview with Laura Pleasants and Phillip Cope

“There are these intangible objects and ideas that we can’t reach or see,” says Kylesa guitarist/vocalist Laura Pleasants. “We were kind of dealing with a lot of these philosophies while writing this album. The idea of Ultraviolet light is a nice visual metaphor for the whole thing.”

The whole thing, of course, is Ultraviolet, the band’s sixth full-length album since forming right after the turn of the century. Drawing from the hazy, yet heavy-handed soundscapes from previous efforts, while simultaneously following the band’s tradition of pushing their own envelope, Ultraviolet sees Kylesa reach new heights, both sonically and cerebrally. Among the most notable aspects of Ultraviolet is the album’s dark and often chilling vibe. As if it wasn’t obvious from the swirl of anger and confusion permeating from Pleasant’s voice throughout the album, the pain and emotional tumult that went into Ultraviolet is as real as anything set to tape. Laura’s co-pilot and fellow guitarist/vocalist Phillip Cope explains why the band’s newest album is also their darkest.

“Rough times, man,” laughs Cope. “During that period of time after Spiral Shadows, things got a little rough here and there. Because we were writing on and off during that time period, I would say this album came across as significantly darker. Some of what went on, we talk about and some is better kept to ourselves. I had some health problems and Laura was dealing with death in the family. Everything that went on effected how the album came out, but we weren't writing to say, ‘Oh woe is us.’ We approached it with the idea that everyone goes through these things and we all deal with it at some point.”

As darkness always does eventually give way to light, the creative minds behind Ultraviolet used the album as beacon to guide them ashore from rough waters. “The writing process was really hard for me, says Pleasants. “When I write, I allow myself to open up that part of brain and psyche, which leaves me vulnerable and emotional. The writing process for Ultraviolet was a difficult and emotional process.” Once the demons had been exorcised, Pleasants and Co. were able to put the rubber to the road and etch their emotionally-charged sonic masterpiece in stone. And doing so was a much healthier process.  “Recording the album felt really good,” adds Pleasants. “I was confident about the material and it felt good to sing and play everything.”

The writing process for Ultraviolet wasn’t all doom and gloom, and crafting the album also gave Cope, who has donned a producer’s hat almost every time Kylesa has entered the studio, plenty of room to play with a new box full of toys. One of those toys, the Theremin, which was a cornerstone of the psychedelic rock sounds from the 60s and 70s, quickly became one of Cope’s favorites. “When Corey [Barhorst, ex-bassist/keyboardist] decided to leave the band, that left the keyboard spot open, which I happily took over. I had a lot of free reign over that. It was really awesome to pick up something new like that. I had already been playing Theremin for a while so I had some tricks up my sleeve. Carl [McGinley, drums] had been experimenting with electronic drums at the same time, which we also had a lot fun with.”

The Hawkwind-ish space-prog vibe spawned from the Theremin is only one of the many ways that Ultraviolet is Kylesa’s most expansive record to date. The band’s ability to grow is something that Cope accredits to several different factors, one of which being his dual role as songwriter and in-house producer. “There’s no set rule in the band that says I have to be the guy to do it and I certainly wouldn't mind working with other people. It’s really just that no one understands what we want more than I do. I’m around everyone in the band all the time. When I’m at practice or we’re writing I can hear an idea as it’s coming out and say, ‘that’s totally possible,’ or ‘that’s going to be a complete nightmare.’ So there are certain advantages with me being around all the time versus someone else who isn't  That’s not to say we won’t ever roll the idea out and the time may come when we do bring someone else in for an album. If I ever feel like I’m not learning or figuring new stuff out where producing is concerned, that would be a good time to go with someone else.  Fortunately I keep learning new things with each album and have been able to pull new tricks out of my sleeve.”

Balance, Cope contends, is key to keeping things moving forward both in the studio and in the jam room. “The main thing is that I have to keep in mind that everyone in the band needs to be able to express themselves in the way they want. As a songwriting, I have to step back a little bit and make sure they have the room they need to get their ideas out. As a producer, I need to make sure those ideas sound as good as they can.”

As songwriters, Cope and Pleasants have formed a bond over the years that allow the pair to evolve as one without putting so much as a thought behind the actual growth process. The end result is an organic cultivation of ideas that eliminate any need to force things in one direction or another. “Phillip and I will have discussions about creative process or what we've jamming on or listening to, but there general ideas and we give each other complete creative freedom to try thing,” says Pleasants. “We have this chemistry together after working so closely over several years which allow us to be comfortable with giving each other that space.”

“We always push ourselves to grow each time,” adds Cope. “We never try to settle into a normal way of doing things. This album is just us staying true to how we've always been. I want to try new things and so does Laura. We just go for it and stick with what works. “

Though Kyelsa was born in the trenches of the underground/indie scene and proudly remains there to this day, there’s no arguing that since the release of 2009’s Static Tensions and subsequent tour with Mastodon, the band’s stock has been steadily rising. Fortunately, succumbing to the pressure of success has left the band’s approach to their music unaffected. In fact, they’re probably clinging to their indie-bred values now more than ever. And it only takes a single spin of Ultraviolet to hear the band’s integrity full intact. “It’s easy to stick to your formula or your comfort zone, just out of habit, but we’ve never really liked doing that,” says Pleasants. “It gets boring after a while. Plus, it becomes a challenge to think of new things that you’re into and how to incorporate them into the context of Kylesa. That’s what we’re interested in doing and that’s what we’ve always been interested in doing, but without alienating ourselves from our fan base or who we are as a band. I think that Ultraviolet is very much a Kylesa record.”

CD REVIEW: GEOFF TATE - "Kings & Thieves"

FORMER QUEENSRYCHE VOCALIST NOT IN THE ‘RYCHE FRAME OF MIND ON SOLO OUTING 

 Divorce is always hardest on the children. It’s even worse when the break-up gets ugly and unfolds in front of the entire neighborhood. As the legal and verbal battle between Queensryche and former frontman Geoff Tate drags on, longtime fans of the ‘ryche can’t help but feel like that poor kid caught in the middle of it all the bickering. Things can get really awkward when dad shows up with his sleazy new girlfriend and expects you to call her mom. Well kids, meet "Kings and Thieves." She’s not exactly what you would expect from Papa Tate and, at times, well beneath his standards. However, he seems pretty content to parade her around on his arm like a prize. 

 The disc starts out with a handful of strutting schlock-rockers, each one a little less tolerable than the last. Not only do the tunes tend to drag on or wander around aimlessly, they’re peppered with lyrics like “she rides me hard like an exercise machine.” For a guy whose legacy is based on being the voice of “the thinking man’s metal band” to name a song “Say U Luv It” is a letdown to say the least.

For all its flaws, "Kings and Thieves" isn’t a complete bust and Tate does show flashes of his former glory here and there. It’s just hard to focus on the album’s high points when Kid Rock-inspired songs like “The Way I Roll” take center stage. Let’s hope this is Tate's rebound. [Inside Out Music]