Sanctorum - Semper Fidelis

As I have previously mentioned, I've been a big fan of Sanctorum for ages. I got their first album on a whim and thought it amazing. I have pre-ordered the last two. I'll be seeing them live at the end of next month. This last few weeks has all been very exciting, waiting for the imminent arrival of their 3rd album, Semper Fidelis.

Release day finally arrived and I began my daily vigil, watching the doormat for any sign of a roughly CD sized packet. Then one day, there it was! I opened it up, looked at the artwork, read the little book, generally appreciated the form of the thing.

I put it in the player and got ready to be blown away. My mind was buzzing with superlatives ready to splurge them into Blogger. I pressed play, and it was ... well, it was alright I guess.

Anticlimactic, ain't it? All that build up. Don't get me wrong, it's a fine album, but it's definitely a grower. At first I just didn't get it. The vocals aren't as deep or powerful as before, and they seem to be buried in the mix. There are more clean vocals this time, more slower paced sections. In some places it sounds a bit whiny and gothic. In others it starts to sound a little, um, crappy metalcore.

When the album is good, it's really good. A bit thrash, a bit melodic, a lot death. The riffs are strong and the drums are thundering. Having listened a few times, I've come to realise that it's only two tracks that make me double-take and wonder what the hell I've got on the iPod. Those tracks are Severed and Empty Glass, or the "crappy metalcore" one and the "whiny gothic" one respectively. Every other track on the record is superb.

Sanctorum have always been proud of being genre-defying. They play their own music how they want to play it. The don't limit themselves to the labels applied to them by others, and I respect that. It does have a tendency, though, to include bits that not everyone will like.

The more I listen to it, the more I'm hearing the bits I like and accepting the parts I don't. It would, unfortunately, frustrate my obsession compulsion to keep albums together to remove the two tracks I'm not that keen on. I must keep them together and appreciate it as a whole, or not at all. For Our Sins, Son Of Perdition and All We Are stand out as being particularly listen-worthy. Dying Breed has echoes of THSB in the opening riff, and that riff seems to run on into the following two tracks, Burn Away and Crown Of Scars. The album feels cohesive, with riffs and breaks shared between tracks so there is a thematic feel to the album.

And so it is. This is a mostly good album, but it's not finished growing on me yet. I'm not sure it ever will. The Heavens Shall Burn shall continue to be my usual Sanctorum hit. One day it might come on shuffle and I will gain a new appreciation of it. Or when I see it played live in April it will all make sense. You never know with these things.

The King Is Dead - The Decemberists @ Leeds Academy, 11th March 2011

I first heard of the Decemberists a couple of years ago on the Dark Was The Night compilation with Sleepless. The simple yet densely layered melodies and Colin Meloy's heartfelt vocal caught my ear and I listened to that one track several times over before moving on.

Shortly after this discovery, I found that the Decemberists were producing a prog/folk concept album. I rushed out and bought The Hazards Of Love and enjoyed it very much. The baroque stylings, the almost Shakespearean characters and the complex, prog-infused musical interplay was a great listen. A world away, though, from Sleepless, and the sound that first attracted me to the band.

And so we come to The King Is Dead. The latest release, and a return to their roots. Musically the album is an upbeat mix of simple melodies and complex harmonies. There is a subtlety to the music, each instrument clearly audible if you listen for it, and yet the whole seeming to spring from its constituent parts in a manner that belies its complexity.

Thematically, the album is steeped in Americana and folk tradition. Each song tells a story although, while lyrically simple, they are not always obvious. The folk-styled, heavily accented vocal of Colin Meloy work well on every track. His peculiar intonation, to my English ear, lends itself well to the sound. The feel of the songs vary dramatically, from the upbeat, uptempo jig of Rox In The Box to the more dreamy, melancholic sounds of June Hymn. Album opener Don't Carry It All is more like the sound of Sleepless, while This Is Why We Fight packs an emotional punch within its simple, traditionally structured lyrics that makes it a standout track on an album of great tracks.

Not long after hearing about the imminent release of The King Is Dead, I also found out that the Decemberists were planning a UK tour. The big day finally arrived last Friday as 23inertia and I headed over to Leeds Academy to see them play the new material. But before I wax lyrical on how amazing they were, and they were, I'll briefly mention the supporting act.

Blind Pilots are a relatively young indie folk band, also from Portland, OR. Having never heard of them, I obviously had no idea what to expect, but they turned out to be a very talented group. Utilising a wide variety of instruments and singer Israel Nebeker's vocal and songwriting talents. It's really good stuff. I had opportunity for a quick chat with the band after their set and they're a lovely bunch. Humble, talented, and producing great music. I picked up their debut album, 3 Rounds and a Sound, from the merch stand and am enjoying it greatly.

Back to the Decemberists, then, and their live set. They are certainly an efficiently talented group, each member switching instruments as required for the various requirements of each song. Multi-instrumentalist and fantastically named Chris Funk had a rack with a variety of stringed instruments on it. Colin Meloy's between song banter was amusing and fitting with the tone of the event and really helped bring the audience and band together. The gig opened with a voiceover, ostensibly the mayor of Portland, encouraging the audience to get to know each other, wave and blow raspberries. A bit of silliness, but it set the mood off just right.

With a return to a more simple folk sound, eschewing the prog stylings of Hazards Of Love, the Decemberists have also returned to form. While Hazards Of Love was their magnum opus, The King Is Dead is a brilliant folk rock album with some wonderfully catchy songs.

Epica & ReVamp @ Corporation, Sheffield - 12th March 2011

After much waiting, the day finally arrived and Epica played the Corporation, supported by Floor Jansen's ReVamp. We knew it would be a busy night, and we weren't wrong. The queue was right up the side of Corporation, and rightly so.

ReVamp took the stage by storm. A great set, a great sound, and the crowd loved it. The place was packed from the off. This could easily have been a double-headliner. Floor Jansen commanded the stage, and the crowd, and whipped the place into a frenzy.

After being suitably warmed up, Epica took to the stage and continued in ReVamp's loud, heavy footsteps by keeping the crowd psyched until the very last. The buzz was palpable, the sound was staggering and the showmanship was top notch. Every band member played their part in making this a rip-roaring metal event from the moment the music started until the crowd carried it into the street.

I've been to many gigs, but can't remember one recently where there was such a surging, heaving crowd reaction. Horns were flying, voices were shouting and the room was alive. One of the best atmospheres of any gig I've attended in recent years.

Of course, I took my trusty camera along to try and capture the moment to share with you all. I hope the pictures do it justice.

Kabát - Banditi di Praga

Ah, Prague. City of spires, beer, goulash and lovely, relaxing short breaks. And alternatiff, which appears to be a rough approximation of the goth/metal/punk scene in jolly old Blighty.

The metal scene in the Czech republic is both awesome and perplexing. Several bands I listen to regularly hail from there or thereabouts, and have won awards in the "hard and heavy" category. This seems to be a catch-all for metal and hard rock of all types. I like it.

The music shops are great. Lots of bands, both Czech and international, whose albums simply can't be found on the British high street because HMV don't deem them commercially viable are there on the shelves, interspersed with all the pop and soft rock music. It's weird to see Scar Symmetry for sale beside Britney Spears, or Rotting Christ and Rammstein beside Rihanna.

One thing that did catch my eye was a poster for. Czech band I'd never heard of; Kabát, with their new album Banditi Di Praga. What better souvenir of a city than a local band's new album about the city in question? Of course, being a sucker for new and interesting, I bought it.


It turns out that Kabát have been about for a while. 28 years, in fact. Although they were formed in 1983, they didn't have a stable lineup until 1990, and didn't release their debut album until 1991. Since then they've released 12, all with the same lineup.

Perhaps the strangest bit of trivia is that they represented the Czech Republic in it's first ever Eurovision Song Contest in 2007. Fitting, as it was the year after Lordi took the prize and the contest was awash with hard rock, metal and gothic bands.

Never being one to judge a book by it's cover, I had no idea what to expect from this album. Actually that's a complete lie. I expected a sort of roguish strand of old-school heavy metal, perhaps similar in style to Amon Amrth's Viking metal, or Alestorm's Scottish pirate metal. And that's exactly what I got.

There are loads of different styles and influences on this album, making it nicely varied and not samey-samey in the least. The riffs are distinctly reminiscent of heavy metal acts of the seventies and eighties, with Deep Purple mixing with Black Sabbath, throwing a bit of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Judas Priest in there for good measure.

There are some stand-out tracks, Banditi Di Praga being the first. Don Pedro von Poltergeist, the absurdly titled Mouse Decadence and the awesome Kdo Neskáče Není Švéd (He who does not jump is a Swede, apparently. Some sort of colloquial insult?) The songs are largely based around traditional metal pastimes. Notably drinking, more drinking, drunken introspection, partying and drinking. This seems to be quite a popular form of entertainment for Czechs so it makes sense, and the chanted choruses would make great drinking songs if I could but pronounce them. Must improve my Czech...

On the whole, as randomly bought souvenir purchases go, this is a good one. Highly recommended, even if I can't sing along.

The Classic Rock Society Best of The Year Awards with Tinyfish & Pallas - 5th March 2011

On Saturday 5th March myself and Tanzeelat headed to Wath Upon Dearne for the annual Classic Rock Society Best of The Year (BOTY) 2010 Awards.  Headliners this year were Pallas, supported by Tinyfish.  Sadly Doozr had to miss the event due to being double booked.

After taking yet another route from Sheffield to Wath we finally arrived part way through Tinyfish's acoustic set.  Tinyfish bill themselves as the worlds smallest progressive rock band but there was something about their music that had us hooked.  It could have been the fabulous latin inspired percussion or it could have just been the love and passion this band clearly have for their music.  Either way it was a beautiful set filled with exquisite progressive rock qualities and laced heavily with humour and fun.  Tanzeelat was straight to the merc stand for a copy of their debut self titled album once their set was over.

The next part of the evening was the presentation of the CRS BOTY Awards.  The special guest presenter was Sonja Kristina of Curved Air fame.  The evenings categories included Best Track, Best Live Act, Best Band, Best Album, Best Female Vocalist and Best Male Vocalist, plus a new award for Best Personality of the Year,

Anne-Marie Helder was up and down all evening for various awards for her work with Mostly Autumn, Panic Room and Parade.  Mostly Autumn were flavour of the year with numerous awards including Best Live Act, Best Band and Best Album.  Olivia Sparnenn won Best Female Vocalist which must have been a real boost for her having stepped into the massive boots of Heather Findlay last year.

The winners were:

Best Male Vocalist: Peter Nicholls
Best Female Vocalist: Olivia Sparnenn
Best Bass Player: John Jowitt
Best Drummer: Gavin Griffiths
Best Keyboard Player: Clive Nolan
Best Guitarist: Bryan Josh
Best Album: Go Well Diamond Heart - Mostly Autumn
Best Track: Satellite - Panic Room
Best Band: Mostly Autumn
Best New Band: Parade
Best CRS Live Act: Mostly Autumn
CRS Personality: Anne Marie Helder

With the presentations and photographs over and with our unsuccessful raffle tickets thrown in the bin, the main act took to the stage.

Both Doozr and Tanzeelat are big fans of Pallas and have told me on a number of occasions that I should take a listen to their stuff.  When I heard that they would be headlining I decided to opt for a 'surprise' and resisted a sneaky listen to their existing albums or the free download of new material from their website.

The gig was much anticipated for many reasons but mainly because it was the first time Tanzeelat had seen the band perform with their new lead singer Paul Mackie after long serving lead singer Alan Reed left the band in January 2010. The other reason was of course to hear their new material.

They played a fair mix of old and new tracks with Paul even admitting at times that he didn't even know which album the song he was about to sing was from.  The new material seems to have a much edgier sound to it than previous releases and even feels somewhat prog metal at times.  We both approved and I was soon bopping along with what was an exceptional stage performance from the old hands and their new front man.

Thanks to the power of the Internet here is a video taken from that evening of Pallas performing 'Sanctuary'.



The tracks that really stood out for me on the night were new tracks Monster, XXV Part 1 and Violet Sky.  Paul's stage costume change to perform The Alien Messiah was an unexpected event with him vanishing for a short while before coming back on stage wearing an alien mask.

Pallas performed for 2 hours including their encore.  I couldn't even begin to give you a full set list because I was too busy lost in the moment to take notes.  It was a spectacular evening and a real contender for my best gig of 2011.

One slight disappointment for us was the running out of beer!  Montgomery Hall usually stock a host of local Wentworth Brewery real ales but ran out half way through the evening.  This left poor Tanzeelat to drink Newcastle Brown!  Still, it was an awesome night! ;)

If you want to get involved with CRS they are always looking for new members.  Visit their site and have a look at what they do, how important their work is and what gigs and events they have coming up.

http://www.classicrocksociety.co.uk/

2011 - A Year Of Metal

I suck. I've been far too busy holidaying in Prague to write anything for ages so here is my first attempt to put things right. 2011 is shaping up to be an great year for metal, and these four tasters and teasers should surely prove it.

Before The Dawn - Deathstar Rising

Out now, and available for a free listen on Spotify, this is Before The Dawn's 6th studio album, but their first on the mighty Nuclear Blast label. It's melodic death/gothic metal of the highest calibre, and it shall soon adorn my CD shelf.

Sanctorum - Semper Fidelis

I first discovered these guys when Zavvi, formerly Virgin Megastores, decided to offload a bunch of the band's first album, The Heavens Shall Burn, for three of your English quids. I bought it in jest, expecting something crappy, and instead discovered something awesome. Semper Fidelis is Sanctorum's third studio album, and I've already pre-ordered it. They're currently touring with My Ruin, but I'll be seeing them in Worksop on April 30th at the Frog & Nightgown for a freebie gig with Northern Oak.

Arch Enemy - Khaos Legions

I've not really known much about Arch Enemy before, and that has been very much my loss. 23inertia got into them when she was researching Angela Gossow for our sister blog, Femetalism, and liked it very much. It's melodic, it's death, it's growly and it's loud. Should be amazing, and out by early summer.

Insomnium - Untitled

What is there to say about this one? It's Insomnium. They're recording a new album. I can almost guarantee that it will blow your ears off with shear awesomilitude. Such is the band's dedication to high quality metal, they are having songwriting camps and training sessions to hone their skills. This will be spectacular.