01. The Games We Play in Hell 06:24 02. So I Can Not Lose My Way 07:56 03. Nancy Thompson Gravewatch 04:40 04. Just a Ride 07:20 05. Tonight, Houston, Texas 10:59 06. Prayer for the Crippled Ballerina 08:48

I have been a fan of Dundee based Stewart Griffin’s music for quite some time and having worked with him in two bands I was excited to hear of the launch of his new project; Bergen St.

Bergen St are a hard band to categorise as there are many wide and varied influences at work in their debut EP including the likes of Sigur Ros, Pink Floyd, Leonard Cohen and even the now disbanded Dundee based act Eye. Despite all of these different influences the band has a unique style which can be clearly heard throughout each track. For the readers out there who require a label for the band I would recommend progressive, experimental, metal.

Although only featuring six tracks this EP is over 45 minutes, surpassing some albums in length (looks at Alestorm). Despite the long track lengths the songs never become tedious or repetitive and instead draw the listener into the sometimes ambient, sometimes heavy soundscape.
Read the rest »

Episode 41 of the podcast features interviews with Blaze Bayley and Municipal Waste.

Blaze is of course is the former vocalist of both Iron Maiden and Wolfsbane. We caught up with him in Glasgow during ‘The Tour That Would Not Die’ series of gigs promoting the album ‘The Man Who Would Not Die’ - the fourth studio album released by the band in 2008.

US thrashers Municipal Waste also talked to us during their last UK tour. The Waste are of course set to release their new album ‘Massive Agressive’ on August 25th, you can hear a preview track entitled ‘Shredded Human’ in this show right before the interview!

Blaze Bayley - The Man Who Would Not Die
Celtic Legacy - Live By The Sword
Trail Of Tears - Dead End Gaze
Death In Blood - Hell Within A Hell
Municipal Waste - Shredded Human
Witchmaster - Total Annihilation
Tiamat - The Temple Of The Crescent Moon
Kivimetsan Druidi - Blacksmith
Alter Of Plagues - Earth As A Womb

 

 Ragnarok Radio - Episode 41 - Blaze Bayley and Municipal Waste [82:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

01. Oblivion 5:46 02. Divinations 3:38 03. Quintessence 5:27 04. The Czar: Usurper/Escape/Martyr/Spiral 10:54 05. Ghost Of Karelia 5:24 06. Crack The Skye 5:54 07. The Last Baron 13:00

Mastodon have always been a band I’ve held in the very highest esteem; extremely technically proficient, an excellent live act, and above all the rare beast of a prog metal band who manage to avoid Lord of the Rings entirely in their subject material. So, great things were expected of their fourth full-length, Crack the Skye, when it was released earlier this year. And my god, did Mastodon deliver.

At first listen, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Georgia 4-piece have mellowed a bit over the years. The vocals are relatively clean throughout, and they’ve shed some of the wilder, more experimental musical content - there’s nothing quite as unhinged as Bladecatcher here. It’s still much more complex and intricate than your average metal album, still unmistakably Mastodon, but you get the feeling that while Leviathan and Blood Mountain foamed at the mouth, Crack the Skye merely looks at you a bit funny. That’s until you start to explore the story a little.
Read the rest »

01. Pray for Villains 4:02 02. Pure Sincerity 4:38 03. Fate Stepped In 5:10 04. Back With a Vengeance 3:42 05. I’ve Been Sober 5:16 06. Resurrection Blvd. 3:59 07. Forgiveness Is a Six Gun 4:42 08. Waiting for November 5:07 09. It’s in the Cards 4:25 10. Another Night in London 3:05 11. Bitter Pill 4:25 12. Teach Me to Whisper 4:01 13. I See Belief 3:55

I should start out by pointing out that I was excited, properly excited by the release of the new Devildriver album, Pray for Villains. I still regard their previous effort, The Last Kind Words, as one of the best albums at least of 2007, and their formidable live show has only added to the wave of hype behind this latest release.

And for the most part, it does not disappoint. The album opens with title track and lead single Pray for Villains, which showcases everything we’ve come to love about Devildriver. Breakneck riffs, soaring melodies, utterly ludicrous drumming, and of course the distinctive vocal stylings of Mr Dez Fafara, who has come a long way from his dubious origins in Coal Chamber. I think it’s actually a legal requirement to bring that up at some point when discussing Devildriver. Anyway, the title track sets the theme for the album, starting as they mean to go on. The technical execution is nothing short of fantastic, with both guitarists showing off their lead and rhythm skills on every song (I‘ve Been Sober and Resurrection BLVD in particular), and John Boeklin’s drumming frankly jaw-dropping throughout. I have often observed that you could listen to just the drum parts from The Last Kind Words in its entirety and never get bored, and the same is largely true on Pray. Boecklin, despite his propensity for double-bass, rarely settles for a simple beat and spends much of his time engaged with wild breakdowns and fills, while keeping his work interesting throughout. Perhaps this is why the drums sit so high in the mix; this contributes to them occasionally drowning out more subtle moments from the guitars, such as on Forgiveness is a Six-Gun.
Read the rest »

01. The Feverish Alliance 4:01 02. Once Kissed By The Serpent (Twice Bitten By Truth) 3:22 03. Bloodstained Endurance 3:36 04. Triumphant Gleam 3:41 05. In The Valley Of Ashes 3:55 06. A Storm At Will 4:00 07. Take Aim. Reclaim. Prevail 3:12 08. The Desperation Corridors 4:13 09. Farewell To Sanity 4:32 10. Dead End Gaze 3:58 11. Faith Comes Knocking 4:32 12. Onward March The Merciless (Digipak bonus track) 3:08

Roughly a decade ago the world of Gothic Metal had just been revolutionised by the appearance of three Norwegian bands; Tristania, The Sins of Thy Beloved and Trail of Tears. Out of the three bands Tristania was instantly the most recognisable and went on to redefine the genre and spawned many copy-cat acts.

Fast forward ten years and things are very different. The genre of so called “Beauty and the Beast” Gothic Metal hasn’t really changed much, some claiming it has become stagnant, Tristania’s future seems doubtful with members leaving faster than rats abandoning a sinking ship, Sirenia, a Tristania spin off band, released two glorious albums before sinking to glorified goth pop with their latest two offerings and The Sins of Thy Beloved have been on hiatus since 2001.

After the release of their previous album, ‘Existentia,’ most of the members abandoned the band and many fans feared the death of Trail of Tears. However after listening to the opening tracks of ‘Bloodstained Endurance’ Trail of Tears have proved that they are neither dead nor stagnant.
Read the rest »

Testament, Onslaught and Warbringer - Glasgow Garage, Tuesday July 21st 2009

ome things in life are indisputable: the sky is blue, the earth is round and a good thrash bill will always go down a storm in the city of Glasgow. Despite starting ten minutes after opening time, a well packed venue and very warm reception greets Warbringer. Visibly elated by the crowd, the Californian thrash revivalists provide a perfect warm-up for the devoted bangers in the pit.

Bristol’s Onslaught then proceed to kick everything up a notch or ten. Clearly a much-beloved band within the Glasgow thrash scene, it’s a shame that their otherwise crushing set is a bit too short due to the 10PM curfew. Highlights include the opening salvo of ‘Killing Peace’ plus the timeless and anthemic ‘Power From Hell’.

No disrespect to Anthrax, but is this reviewer alone in thinking Testament are musically worthier of belonging among the thrash genre’s legendary “big four”? Possibly not judging by the response welcoming these legends as they dive straight into ‘The Preacher’ and then utterly destroy for the next 70 minutes. Classics like ‘Over The Wall’ and latter-day gems such as ‘D.N.R.’ are fired from the stage like precision-guided missiles; each causing maximum carnage on the dance floor. It’s hard to find suitable adjectives to describe the sheer intensity of this gig or how on-form Testament are. Ending with the title track from the excellent ‘Formation of Damnation’ album, the band leave a venue and crowd so drenched in sweat it’s amazing we’re not paddling our way to the exit. Testament are brilliant live, now that’s fucking indisputable.

Article by Gordon Jeans

01. Long Lost… (Single Mix)         03:29 02. The Esoteric Order of Dagon   03:48 03. Long Lost… (Optimistic Mix)    03:19

‘Long Lost…’ is the first single to be released by Sunderland based artist Synoiz. The single is a preview of the upcoming album ‘Ambients’ and if these songs are an example of what is to come then the album will certainly live up to its name as each song is rich with its own ambient feel.

The title track begins with low organs and synths, ethereal drums are added to complete the nostalgic, yet foreboding atmosphere. Also included on the single is an ‘Optimistic Mix’ of the track which uses the original as a base and builds a new, more ‘up-beat’ drum line to give a completely different feel to the track.

For me the highlight of the single was the second track; The Esoteric Order of Dagon. This dark, threatening track gives the feel of a twisted ritual, indeed the track even contains Lovecraftian chants that become more distorted as the track goes on. If the deep baritone vocals of the chants are Synoiz himself then I hope to hear them used more often in future works.

My advice for listening to this single would be to lay back, close your eyes, get some good headphones and let the ambient tracks wash over you.

‘Long Lost…’ by Synoiz can be found on both amazon and iTunes.

Genre : Experimental, ambient, progressive

Article by Ewan McNulty