Rapid Fire Reviews: Episode 5

Rapid Fire Reviews is a series where I give some quick takes on some albums I recently listened to and did not have enough thoughts on to make a full scale review, but still garnered enough interest from me to give them acknowledgment. In this episode, we look at some prog, some more prog, and even more prog... and also some other band.

Aeon Zen - Inveritas

This group managed to sneak into my top 20 of 2014 with their last album "Ephemera", so naturally I was interested in what they would do with their fifth full length effort "Inveritas". The result? A much lighter and more organic record that still had the band's technical touch, so not much is lost. "Inveritas" is a great, varied product of some talented minds, displaying some excellent progressive metal that has tastes of Dream Theater, Scar Symmetry, and Symphony X. I do miss some of the djent influences that we saw on "Ephemera", and I am not fully sold on Andi Kravljaca and his new vocal style, but "Inveritas" is still a nice, competent record that prog lovers should check out. If for nothing else, just listen to it for the out of nowhere line in "Disconnected" (classic wtf moment).

Rating: 7,5/10 Rebel Theories

Avandra - Descender

You can seemingly find small prog gems anywhere you look, and fortunately for Avandra, I caught a glimpes of them, a band from Puerto Rico who released their sophomore effort "Descender" earlier this year. This album is filled to the brim with some beautiful stuff, a harmonious aura of excellence that creates several magical moments, like the exhilarating mid part of "The Narrowing of Meaning" and the angelic ending to "Beyond The Threshold, Pt. 1 (Helios Awakens)". There is this soft Cynic vibe to this group that works exquisitely, certainly making them stand out amongst other bands. Although there is some dead meat on this album, there is still enough fresh flesh to feast on for days. Definitely worthy of a look or two... or three.

Rating: 8/10 Derelict Minds

Mother of Millions - Artifacts

On to another atmospheric prog metal group, the Greek outing Mother of Millions and their third record "Artifacts". This band must certainly has Leprous as one of their main inspirational bands, because this record has a lot of that blend of harmonies and spaced out sound scapes that the Norwegians are known for. The only thing different here is that Mother of Millions are consistently mellow, rarely raising the volume or the tempo for anything, which is both a strength and a weakness. It may not be the most dynamic album out there, but the clear cut vision of the band is definitely showing, and it leads to some fantastic melodies. It does leave me wanting more though with only a run time of 40 minutes, but it also means that I can spin the records more often, so it still works out for this promising group of musicians.

Rating: 7,5/10 Rites

Savage Messiah - Demons

It sucks to see talented bands fiddle around with a sound that has no real direction, and Savage Messiah is unfortunately a prime example. They have all of the elements to be successful, a great vocalist, good riffs, and solid production value, but the band seems indecisive in if they want to be a thrash metal band, or more of a melodic heavy metal band, so they settled somewhere in the middle. "Demons" is a step forward from some of their previous works, having better song writing and more memorable songs ("The Bitter Truth" is a banger), but this 50/50 approach is rearing its ugly head again, sort of pulling the band apart, making them unable to unleash their full strength. My hopes on the band completing this symbiosis to something that works are still there, but it will have to wait at least one more album for it to come to fruition.

Rating: 6,5/10 Parachutes

Gloryhammer - Legends From Beyond The Galactic Terrorvortex (2019)

There are few bands out there that are as entertaining as the British power metal lords Gloryhammer. Their parody take on the genre is on a completely different level, spewing out music that takes everything cringy about the genre, amps it all up to 11, ultimately creating some good, epic shit. To understand how bat shit crazy this band and albums is, you just need to hear that Angus McFife is once again trying to defend his kingdom against the evil sorcerer Zargothrax and his forces, the rest pretty much speaks for itself.

As expected, "Legends From Beyond The Galactic Terrorvortex" (it just rolls on your tongue, doesn't it?) is another epic display of our heroes and their grand battles. To defeat Zargothrax once again, they have to go to "The Land of The Unicorns", use the almighty "Power of The Laser Dragon Fire", gather together the "Hootsforce", and last but not least, wield the awesome power of the "Legendary Enchanted Jetpack". Jesus Christ, this song titles are just plain awesome, and it certainly let your imagination go buck wild, like how the hell can a jetpack be more enchanted? Science is after all the ultimate form of magic, isn't it?

The songs are just as fun as the titles speak of, giving us enough epic orchestral power metal to last for years to come. There are just so many instances in this album where you find yourself screaming along the music while making big gestures, embarrassing yourself in front of unsuspected people who might be watching, but you do not care because the music is awesome. This is all possible thanks to the complete commitment of the band in their music, going 110% all of the time. Especially vocalist Thomas Laszlo Winkler delivers a big time performance, really hammering in the music into your skull with disgusting efficiency.

As far as progress goes from their last album (the 2015 album "Space 1992: Rise of The Chaos Wizards"), there is not much that have changed. The band stay true to their style, and that is honestly all we could ask for, even if there is moments that are just incredibly silly. The chorus to "Gloryhammer" is just drowning in cheese, but it still gets you hooked in some weird way, even with lines like "My steel will blow you away, fighting mega battles every day". Speaking of laughable lyrics, "Hootsforce" opens up lovingly with "Fight for the king, for the hammer and the ring", which for some reason makes me burst out in laughter every god damn time. It is such a stupid line (and the rest of the chorus is not much better), but the disco beat that accompanies it wins me over. God damn it, the force is strong with these guys.

While "Legends..." is certain to be one of the most entertaining records of 2019, it still feels like a letdown, mostly because "1992..." was such a brilliant record (the fact that it has "Universe On Fire" makes it an instant winner). I also think that the ending track "The Fires of Ancient Cosmic Destiny" just takes it a little too far, both in length and in cheese factor. It is not as disappointing of a finish as "Game of Thrones" was (or so I have heard, never watched the show myself), but it could have certainly been done better.

"Legends..." serves well as a great follow up to "1992...", delivering more of everything, for better and worse. In a way, it is kind of like "Avengers: Endgame", a great product by itself, but its flaws makes it clearly inferior to its older brother. Still, if you have enjoyed the group's previous adventures, or if you are an average power metal junkie, then this album is definitely right up your alley. All hail the mighty Hootsmen of Dundee, and their king Sir Angus McFife.

Songs worthy of recognition: Legendary Enchanted Jetpack, The Land of Unicorns, Power of The Laser Dragon Fire, Gloryhammer

Rating: 8/10 Fires of Ancient Cosmic Destiny

gloryhammer.com/
twitter.com/gloryhammer

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Gojira - Terra Incognita (2001)

With the famous movie monster Godzilla being all of the rage again, with a new movie out right now, it feels more than fitting to start cover a band who is named after the King of Monsters, the French death metal group Gojira. The band may have become their own type of monster in the metal world, but at the beginning of their career, they were small, broke, and had no clue on how to release a record. No, seriously, to create their debut record "Terra Incognita", they went to Belgium twice (one trip for recording, one for mixing), then just sent all printed copies to their own home, from where they would be distributed to magazines, radio stations, and other parties who could spread the word. Oh yeah, they also did this without a record deal at hand. Love the commitment, but that was not smart in any way.

What did we get from this hassle though? Well, "Terra Incognita" (latin for unknown land) is certainly a curious death metal record that the people in 2001 probably never saw coming. It is a strange and dark journey into the psyche of a mentally disturbed human, one where we encounter countless riffs, blasts, screams, and beats that can easily scramble your brain into a mush. From today's perspective, this album is definitely Gojira to the core, it has that special technique to it that only this band can produce. You got these chugging riffs from Christian Andreu and Joe Duplantier that seem very alien like, on the verge of not being from this very Earth, and it is fascinating to behold. Add the intricate drum patterns by Joe's brother Mario, and the pounding bass of Jean-Michel Labadie, and you got some unique metal at your disposal.

There is something primal about this record that makes it quite intriguing. A lot of dark, ambient noises help in setting the mood, creating an unsettling atmosphere that crawls underneath your skin. It does muddle up the sound though quite a bit, and at points it is at an disadvantage, but still works most of the way. Songs like "Rise", "Space Time", and "Lizard Skin" are just wonderfully disturbing. The brutality is there as well, especially in the opener "Clone" where the drums are going buck wild, and the guitars are majestic in their heavy approach, both in the faster and slower parts. Other nice bone crushing songs include "Fire Is Everything", "Deliverance", and "Blow Me Away You - Niverse".

While there is a lot of good stuff in "Terra Incognita", there is also a lot of unnecessary padding. This album goes over the hour mark, and it angers me because it only does so thanks to all the fillers in here. One perfect example of this padding is the closer "In The Forest", a perfectly good track that ends around the 5 minute mark, only to transition into a strange instrumental that adds squat (and if you had the original version of the album, you had to wait 3 and a half minutes to hear this "hidden track"). I understand that these interludes are there to enhance the atmosphere, but to me they are just in the way for the real music, no matter if they were written for a relative or not ("04" was a birthday present to the Duplantier brother's mother, what an odd gift to say the least).

It feels wrong to say that I enjoyed my experience with "Terra Incognita", because its purpose is to make you uneasy, to bring out your inner demons, and I think it succeeds fairly well. It is a dark, strange record that still showed everyone what a force Gojira could become, with a unique sound and style that no one has heard before. This album has some issues for sure, but it has enough juicy nuggets to get you hooked into the band. Definitely worth a double trip to Belgium.

Songs worthy of recognition: Clone, Space Time, Fire Is Everything


Rating: 7/10 Lizard Skins

www.gojira-music.com/
twitter.com/GojiraMusic

More reviews of Gojira
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