Half Time Review 2012

It's that time again; June, halfway through the year, the summer solstice. Half the year done with already, but what a cracking half a year it's been, musically speaking. Some surprises, few disappointments, many new and exciting things.

Getting straight on with business, here are my top 5 albums of the year to date. These are the albums I've got most excited about, tweeted about, played over and over and over, and generally got "in to". So, in no particular order:

Cormorant - Dwellings

A complicated mix of progressive black metal, a touch of folk and a good dose of hard rock. Starting the year with style, Dwellings was the first album I bought this year, and is still one of my favourites.

Anathema - Weather Systems

Anathema doing what Anathema does best, following nicely on from We're Here Because We're Here but improving in almost every respect. Heavier, noisier, calmer, cooler, and perfectly orchestrated.

Woods Of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies And Electric Light

Doom, gloom and epic riffs. A collection of utterly miserable, yet somehow wonderfully listenable songs. More than a passing nod to the style of Type O Negative, throw in some black metal influence and add an oboe. Perfect.

In Mourning - The Weight Of Oceans

In Mourning create precisely the sort of melodic death metal I like. From the strident, monumental opening track to the more progressive latter half, this is as much a musical journey as it is an fantastic listening experience.

Krokmitën - Alpha/Beta

Why have multiple songs when you can have a single 46 minute death metal opus? When I first heard of the multimedia event that is Alpha/Beta I was fascinated. Then I heard it, and was amazed.

Of course, the problem with choosing the top five in a year like 2012 is that there are loads that don't quite make the cut, while still being great albums. Some honourable mentions include: Bloodshot Dawn, a cracking death/thrash explosion with some amazing artwork, Sanguine, with their self-titled debut hot on the heels of last year's Bloodstock New Blood appearance, Mortad, female fronted politic death metal with some clout, Gwynbleidd, proving that prog metal really can be all heavy, all the time, and Alcest, whose soporific blackened folk still chills me in two senses of the word.

There are a few albums who I would have liked to have heard this year but haven't. Maybe I'll get round to it later? A.A. Lucassen's Lost In The New Real is definitely on my to-get-round-to list, as is the new Before The Dawn, Phoenix Rising, conspicuous for its lack of clean vocals.

So, that's my quicky round-up for the first half of 2012. Marvellous. And now, on to Bloodstock, where much metal, mayhem and mild inebriation await!

Sanguine - Self-titled

My first experience of Sanguine was on the New Blood stage at Bloodstock 2011. First impressions were simple "Crikey", followed swiftly by "she's got quite a set of pipes!" That was in reference, of course, to lead singer Tarin Kerrey's startling mix of clean, screamed and growled vocals that took me quite by surprise. I picked up a copy of their EP, Live, Consume, Drive and enjoyed it immensely. Six months later and I discover that the band was ready to release their eponymous debut album. I secured a signed copy of the CD, being still a fan of the physical medium, and eagerly awaited its arrival.

Sanguine's sound is primarily alt-metal, although throughout the album they pull influences from all over the place. From gothic to death to ... dance? Everything gets the Sanguine metal treatment. This eclectic mix of genres comes from the band's stated intention to break down the walls between genres, as exemplified by Tarin Kerrey's statement in the band's bio:

"Sanguine are on a mission to break down the walls that divide the genre's and show the world that you can be anything you want to be - as long as it has fire, passion and kicks ass!" Tarin Kerrey

Listening to the album for the first time, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Sanguine are completely bonkers. The ridiculously catchy Contagious, for example, with its infectious silly lyrics. Then there are straight up rock tracks like Simplify, Anger Song and Live, Consume, Drive, providing the aforementioned kick-ass metal vibe. Things are taken down a notch, in a sense, for Given Up, the more balladic A Place That You Call Home and the utterly miserable In The Sky. There's even a place for the band's seedier side in Bangkok Nights.

But it never lets up, with growled backing vocals from Nick Magee, distortion and synthesisers providing ambience, and of course the metal triumvirate of guitar, bass and drums driving proceedings with great riffs, memorable melodies and a selection of songs that always surprises, never rests on a particular style or repetition. Every song is totally different, and memorable in its own right.

Sanguine has already seen some success with their earlier work, and this debut album demonstrates that the length and breadth of this band's creativity is just getting started. Well worth a listen, and even sing along, if you can match those epic vocals.

Get a copy direct from Sanguin at sanguineband.com

Bloodstock Free Stuff Roundup

While shopping in the little market at Bloodstock I picked up a new Sanctorum - Semper Fidelis t-shirt. For some reason this entitled me to a bag of free stuff. Most of it was, of course, tat. There was a Sting & The Police keyring, magazine of some sort, some stickers, some badges and a bunch of CDs.

Some of the CDs I got rid of straight away. A strange Japanese "visual kei" band didn't take my fancy. The CD with a bunch of guys who looked like a cross between Boyzone and the Kwik Fit Fitters didn't inspire me. And the EP containing lyrics primarily about abusing prostitutes just wasn't my bag.

So what was left after the crap-cull?

Iced Earth - The Crucible Of Man

Power metal. Lots and lots of power metal. Not really something I'm a massive fan of, but not bad. It seems to be disk 3 of a 5 disk set, which is odd.

Soul Sanctuary - Afterlife

A bit of alternative metal from down south. I'm always a bit dubious about "alternative" metal. It's a bit nothingy. Anyway, the album opener, Afterlife, is a great death metal track with good, catchy riffs and nice technical bits. So that's a good start. After that it all goes a bit Bullet For My Valentine, with definite overtones of Lostprophets. If they'd stuck the the style of the first track, it would have been awesome. Instead it feels a bit contrived to sound like popular bands, and not particularly well. Should have stuck to the original style.

Xes_1 - InSaneVoice

More "alternative" metal, but this time a little more specifically "alternative industrial", with some electronic twiddly bits and decent riffs. It's all pretty depressing stuff, with titles like "Self-abuser" and "Deep scar". The vocals aren't really my sort of thing; not harsh enough to match the music. But not bad.

I have also acquired free stuff from other sources. Sanguine, who were playing the New Blood stage, were handing out copies of Live, Consume, Drive, their debut EP. It's pretty good. Sounds a bit like Tystnaden with more screaming.

I also managed to source a copy of Shreddertron's EP, Turbo Future Gladiator. Just as good as I remember them from the set on Friday morning. Great stuff.