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Surtr, Pulvis et Umbra: The Doom of the Doomed… Also, Doom

Posted in Reviews on May 17th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Some harsher vocals from guitarist Jeff Maurer add a darker, metallic edge to the proceedings, but at its heart, French trio Surtr‘s second album, Pulvis et Umbra, is traditional doom all the way. Whether you run it back to Saint Vitus and The Obsessed or Count Raven and Reverend Bizarre, it rounds out to the same downward spiral of riffs and misery. That seems just fine by the Lorraine outfit, who release the album on Altsphere Production as the follow-up to 2011’s World of Doom debut, as the material shows no real ambition to transcend beyond the occasional flash of early Viking metal (read: Bathory) influence on a song like “Three Winters of War” in its reaching past genre, and the band are decently suited to their style. Production throughout is clear but largely flat and shifts in tempo offer little change from the mood, which is as dreary as one might expect across the seven-track/42-minute full-length, and while perhaps unremarkable in offering a groundbreaking take on doom, Pulvis et Umbra — the title translating from the Latin to “Ashes and Dust” — stands as an able execution of genre and a cohesive release nonetheless. It ain’t gonna change the world, but as doom for doomers, one could probably find bands with much less to offer than Surtr, depending on how deep into the mire one wanted to look.

The album begins with “Rise Again,” organ holding a melody line under Maurer‘s guitar, Julien Kuhn‘s bass and Régis Beck‘s drums initially but seeming to fade away once the slow crawl of the track’s central progression is introduced. Straightforward through and through, Maurer has a traditional metal inflection to his cleaner singing that’s instantly familiar as “Rise Again” plays out, Kuhn offering a few engaging fills in the open spaces left by the guitar. Gradually, they solidify to a forward thrust, but it’s not until the final minute that they really pick up the pace and Maurer reveals a screaming approach that’s soon layered with growls underneath to varying success, capping with barks of “Rise! Rise!” to act as an apex before the Viking-style drum thud of “Three Winters of War” sets the tone for the riff before dropping out to make way for it. This time it’s the verse that’s more active and the chorus that slows down. Fine. Maurer‘s voice reminds a bit of Slough Feg‘s latter day incantations, but without the Celt-folk idiosyncrasies, keeping the melody in line with Kuhn‘s able basslines, which actually wind up providing most of the character the band shows throughout. That’s not to take anything away from Beck or Maurer‘s performances, they’re just more straightforward, and even when “Three Winters of War” shifts into its Cathedral-style ending progression, there’s no sense of flourish to be found from either of them.

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Rote Mare, Serpents of the Church: Words for the Converted

Posted in Reviews on May 10th, 2012 by JJ Koczan

It’s easy to tell right off the bat that Australian traditional doom outfit Rote Mare are well versed in the ways of their forebears. What began as a one-man project for guitarist/vocalist Phil Howlett, the band released seven CDR demos between 2005 and 2009, and after evolving into a full four-piece, wasted no time in issuing the Sorrows Path EP and the subsequent Serpents of the Church long-player via Altsphere Productions. The album, which came out toward the end of last year, consciously offers grand paeans to Black Sabbath and Celtic Frost, and winds up in the process having plenty in common with bands like Reverend Bizarre and Apostle of Solitude, who took and take a similar guitar-led, sans-frills approach, letting riffs and melodies carry across the ideas and moods they want to convey. In the case of Rote Mare, the mood is pretty singular: Doomed. Five of the total seven tracks on Serpents of the Church are over 10 minutes long – centerpiece “Funeral Song” hits 14:36 – and though the pace varies somewhat, it’s mostly from crawling to lumbering to creepy. With a total runtime of 76:20, Rote Mare’s first full-length as a complete band is a cumbersome affair. Howlett is joined in the band by guitarist Sean Wiskin, bassist Jess Erceg and drummer Ben Dodunski, and together they plod through the songs, mostly led by the guitar (the aforementioned centerpiece is an exception in this regard), and though it doesn’t lack personality, it’s a long trip to make and a long time to be drenched in Rote Mare’s woes. Serpents of the Church (as opposed to, one assumes, its “servants”) probably could have been two full-lengths and no one would’ve batted an eye. Though that kind of glut of material generally speaks of some self-indulgence on the part of the band involved, none of these tracks feel overwritten, so it may just be a case of Rote Mare, and Howlett as the one who’s probably still the guiding force despite having brought in the other three members, continuing an already established prolific nature in this form. So be it.

“Funeral Song” and “The Martyr,” which between them account for a full 27 minutes of listening time, provide a fitting summation of what Serpents of the Church is all about. Touches of Trouble show up in Howlett’s riffing, and his tradeoffs between sorrowful melodic singing and gruffer shouts, especially in “The Martyr,” remind of Chuck Brown of Apostle of Solitude, but Rote Mare seem less concerned with carving out a highly individualized niche in doom than with paying homage to their favorite bands via riffs and crashes. I’ve heard far worse done with less noble intentions, and if Serpents of the Church has anything at all, it has its heart in the right place. The first thing you hear on the record, for example, is the slow riff that becomes the central figure of the opening title-track, and as much as the already-noted later two tracks summarize the scope of the album as a whole, that initial riff tells a lot of the tale. It comes through a rough but relatively flat production and sounds downtrodden in the doomed tradition. It’s not long before Howlett’s vocals kick in – the second guitar seems to be the final element to arrive – and the slow rolling groove continues as he switches to a throatier approach during the chorus. The riffs are relatively simple, and if you’re familiar with the genre of traditional doom or have ever seen the inside of the Bizarre Reverend’s rectory, then a lot of what Rote Mare are doing here won’t be shocking. “Crossroads,” which follows the titular opener, follows a similar course, marking its territory early on a grooving doom riff and building around it, picking up its pace and filling out the sound somewhat later on, but keeping more or less the same progression throughout that process. Hey, if you can’t take slow, agonizing plod, you might as well pack it in as regards doom.

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Wizard’s Beard, Four Tired Undertakers: Not Sleepy, Just Angry

Posted in Reviews on March 15th, 2012 by JJ Koczan

Listening to Leeds four-piece Wizard’s Beard’s first outing, 2011’s Pure Filth, there was no mystery as to their mission. The record (review here) was a disaffected output of sludge metal malevolence; it set a course for hate and did not waver in its aggressive onslaught for the full 32-minute runtime. Just months later, Wizard’s Beard return with a full-length some 20-plus minutes longer, Four Tired Undertakers (Altsphere Productions), an album that furthers their sludgy cause with six tracks of ultra-pissed screaming, riffing and crashing that’s neither for the uninitiated, nor the faint of heart, nor the sober. The guitars of Craig Jackson have grown thicker in tone, and that only helps bolster the attack behind Chris Hardy’s vicious, metal-style screaming, and while just like if you play space rock, someone’s going to compare you to Hawkwind, if you play slow and scream, someone’s going to compare you to EyeHateGod, the reality of the situation is Wizard’s Beard are less punk-based and more metal than that band ever became, and Four Tired Undertakers may have some of that influence – I’d argue it does, whether direct or as filtered through other acts who had it – is nowhere near as raw as the New Orleans sludge progenitors’ formative or even later works. It’s a different kind of groove, more aware of the genre in which it resides and not necessarily content to stay within those confines – because there’s nothing about Four Tired Undertakers that sounds content really on any level – but not yet fully in a position stylistically to weave into and between them.

The crux of the album is the aggression, though, no doubt about it. Wizard’s Beard offer no quarter for subtlety as they pummel and drive these six songs into listeners’ skulls. It’s not a pretty process and it’s not supposed to be, and it’s not long before opener “Subrise el Muerto” establishes what will become the almost completely unipolar burn of which Four Tired Undertakers is comprised. Jackson riffs out in mostly familiar doomed diligence while drummer Dan Clarke punctuates and crashes behind, riding the groove even as much as he’s helping set it. Bassist Neil Travers offers periodic backing vocals, coming on as a lower growl to supplement Hardy’s higher-register nastiness on “Abandon the Wolf” and elsewhere, and the whole atmosphere of the album feels like burning. 53 minutes is a long time to keep that up, and Wizard’s Beard set themselves to precisely that task, varying some in pace – the mega-slowdown later into “Abandon the Wolf” being especially effective in this regard – if not in mindset. It’s an engaging blend, as far as this kind of music is allowed to engage. As “Abandon the Wolf” transitions directly and smoothly into the upbeat beginning of longer third cut “Daemon,” which spends the first three of its total nine and a half minutes in a faster push, Clarke even getting some time on double-kick, before once more being consumed by a slower, tidal sway. Hardy’s scream is adaptable to whatever speed of riff it tops, and follows the rhythm of the music closely while also offering some intricacy of cadence, particularly when Travers gets involved, as he does just before the slowdown in “Daemon.”

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Wizard’s Beard Premiere New Song on The Sleeping Shaman

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 6th, 2012 by JJ Koczan

Kudos to Lee and company from the mighty The Sleeping Shaman blog for having the fortitude of server to withstand the onslaught that a new Wizard’s Beard song stream brings. The ne’er-do-well sludgers have a new album, Four Tired Undertakers (review forthcoming), up for release this week, and The Sleeping Shaman are hosting the song “Seeth Inside” here if you’ve got a couple minutes and want to check it out. Obviously I’d recommend doing so.

If you’d like to know more about the band, Wizard’s Beard were kind enough to answer Six Dumb Questions back in September. Four Tired Undertakers is available for pre-order here.

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