Paradise Lost – Tragic Idol – Album Review

‘Tragic Idol‘ is Paradise Lost’s 13th full-length release…yes you read right 13! This prolific band just keeps on getting better with ever release. I had the pleasure of witnessing their live performance at this years Soundwave Festival, they were fantastic with ever song they had the power of an extremely young band but the musicianship of an extremely grown and mature band, they are one of the most under-rated bands in the metal scene, they deserve to be as big as Metallica. The reason why I believe they have stayed so consistently great, is due to the fact their line-up has basically never changed, apart from the drummer who has changed several times, this allows them to have such a musical connection that can progress in such a way that a band with many line-up changes just can not. However this is not to say that a band without line-up changes will stay consistently good, there are a lot of examples that I could mention however I will not in this review.

This album is such a pleasure to listen to, the main thing that I love about Paradise Lost is their doomy riffs, ‘Tragic Idol’ is in a lot of sense an album that goes back to their roots but in a matured fashion. Paradise Lost has become more and more melodic, this is shown through many of the songs but most in ‘Worth fighting for‘.

The first glimpse I had for this album was the song ‘Crucify‘ that they released 2 months prior to the release of the album on the 23rd of April. ‘Crucify’ is such a chunky song, there is so much balls behind this song, the guitars and vocals together just make you want to get out of your seat and bang your fucking head, especially at 2:34 with the vocals roar of “CRUCIFYY” this slow tempo classic doom riff made the hairs stick up on my arms. The next highlight on this album is the music video track of ‘Honesty in Death‘ this song is as easy to headbang to as ‘Crucify’ but this song just chugs along with so much power..as I say of this kind of track, it is a great walking song. The melodic guitars on this song contrast perfectly with the chugging of the rhythm. The song ‘Worth Fighting for’ as mentioned before is fantastic the melody is perfect, the song has a such a fantastic structure to it that makes for such a powerful, epic feel.

For lovers of old-school Paradise Lost, this album is for you, the rich melodies and fantastic vocal work makes for an album that comes close to the album of 2012. I recommend this album to anyone who likes Gothic, Doom, Melody or bands like Metallica (old-school) I guarantee you will love this album. View Track listing, Duration, Genre and Rating below video.

---

---

Track Listing

01. Solitary One
02. Crucify
03. Fear of Impending Hell
04. Honesty in Death
05. Theories from Another World
06. In This We Dwell
07. To the Darkness
08. Tragic Idol
09. Worth Fighting For
10. The Glorious End

---

Duration : 45:58

---

Genre : Doom/Gothic Metal

---

Rating: 9 out of 10

---

Hour of Penance – Sedition review

Hour of Penance are a technical death metal band from Italy; When listening to ‘Sedition‘ their fifth full-length release in a long thirteen year career, your heart is ripped from your chest, consumed then…handed back to you, let us say that this album is not for the faint-hearted. The first thing I noticed after the ambient-choir opening of ‘Sedition’ was the amazing sounding drums, the production on this album is fantastic extremely clear sounding however not at all sounding over-produced.

For Hour of Penance this is the first time with current drummer Simone Piras and second time with vocalist Paolo Pieri who replaced Francesco Paoli that left the band for Fleshgod Apocalypse, which I find weird due to the fact that this album has sounded the most similar to Fleshgod’s style than previous albums. The new members have really shown why the deserve to be musicians of Hour of Penance from Piras’s crushing drums to Pieri’s guttural vocals from the depths of hell.

The highlight songs on this album are, ‘Enlightened Submission‘ this is the introduction to Sedition, this song has a very Vital Remains sound originating from the guitar tone. This song crushes your brain, from the constant battery of the drums to the roar of Pieri’s vocals. The second highlight is ‘Ascension‘; this song starts of with a morbid sounding horror sample, then comes the a cry of war from the drums, with a fantastic guitar riff over the top that creates a power that only Hour of Penance can create. The third highlight is ‘Sedition Through Scorn‘ this wall of sound is brilliantly spaced out with ride bell hits that make it sound so brutal, followed by various guitar lead sections that bring a harmonic texture to the album.

Sedition is filled with raw power, fantastic production and brilliant musicianship, the only thing that lets down this album, is the length, it is their shortest album to date weighing in at only 31 minutes, but I guess you cannot be too picky. This album would make a perfect addition to any death metal lovers collection, 8 out of 10.

Seth Siro Anton

Seth Siro Anton

Seth Siro Anton is a Greek Artist, his art is mainly Paint and photography art manipulated to the point it is practically indistinguishable that it is actually a photo. I found his art through his other art; Music, he is the lead singer and bassist of one my favourite bands Septic Flesh. His music completely complements his art, extremely similar in many ways, dark, brutal and terrifying, just the way I like it. He creates something out of people, disjointed monsters that are perfectly evil in everyway. He does many album art in the metal scene, Seth is my favourite contemporary artist and deserves more attention to the masterpieces he is creating. Here is some of my favourite pieces by him, off his Facebook page which can be found here

---

The Hierophant

---

Salvation II

---

Untitled

---

The High Priest

---

Here is an interview with Seth and through this interview he talks about the main concept of the art for the latest Septic Flesh album ‘The Great Mass’

---

Untitled

Storm Corrosion – ‘Drag Ropes’

Steven Wilson and Mikael Åkerfeldt

Storm Corrosion is the brain child behind two amazing musicians Steven Wilson and Mikael Åkerfeldt, this long awaited collaboration couldn’t have been more hoped for from fans of Opeth and Porcupine Tree alike, the duo have worked together for a decade by Wilson producing the majority of Opeth’s albums and even writing some of their lyrics. Both bands are very close, I went to a Porcupine Tree concert around 2 years ago and there were more people wearing Opeth shirts than Porcupine Tree shirts, it was insane.

This first song ‘Drag Ropes‘ is a very strange song, but sets the foundation that we might be in for an extreme ride, well that can go unsaid when talking about these musicians. The song is very ambient however extremely progressive at the same time. It starts off with a slow ambient string piece, then it progresses to Åkerfeldt’s vocals, these vocals go perfectly with the ambient nature of the song and blends with the strings perfectly. These almost psychedelic synths comes in however used very sparingly and no way in the traditional manner, Wilson’s vocals soon arise and give a perfect harmony with Åkerfeldt. Piano’s start to come in and the song starts to build up a with a combination of string and woodwind instruments. It hits a peak and something really odd happens, from what I can tell Åkerfeldt has a mono-toned deep voice with Wilson’s vocals in a riff that makes up something I can not describe and have never heard anything alike it in my past, it builds up into a fantastic guitar riff with a choir behind it. The song keeps going with high synths and piano with a steady hi-hat groove to keep it going. Then it breaks back into the chorus…if you can call it that….this song is everything and more than what I expected it to be and makes me extremely impaintient for their debut album.

Jack White – Blunderbuss review

Blunderbuss is the solo debut album from the prolific, multi-instrumental Jack White. Like a lot of people, I had very high expectations for this album, and it did not disappoint. The first song I heard from this album was ‘Sixteen Saltines’ on triple j around a month ago , the first riff of Sixteen Saltines made me excited for was to come, it contained White’s signature tone that we all know and love, this combined  a classic blues/rock song structure, a fast-paced nature and White’s fantastic vocals left me wanting so much more, a pure tease. However I did not listen to any of the other singles that he brought out before he released the album due to wanting to consume the album in one sitting.

I got my hands on the album a couple of days ago and have already listened to it multiple times. The album opens with ‘Missing Pieces’ , this is an extremely strong introduction to the album it sets a mood to what the rest of the album will be like, as I like to describe it a Blues filled Rock theme park with a hint of Folk. The progression on this album is outstanding when you think you have figured it out he throws a very swing orientated song like ‘I’m Shakin'” that you just can’t help but get up and dance to.

In February 2011, The White Stripes broke up due to ‘Musical Differences’ and ‘Not wanting to continue’, personally I think this has been the best move Jack White has ever made, what is clear through other projects of White’s such as The Dead Weather, it shows that he has been completely held back by the simple musicianship of Meg White.  Jack White is now exploring the foundation that is music by creating an album so rich in influences that it can melt the brain. This is an album that everyone should hear at least once and take a trip through Rock history. In an age where rock is dominated by the Nickleback’s, Blunderbluss is such a breath of fresh air, I give it a 8.5 out of 10