Album Review - INDESTRUCTIBLE NOISE COMMAND

Indestructible Noise Command – Black Hearse Serenade

Ferocious, 2014

8/10

Reactivated 80s thrash band INC has made up for their disappointing initial reunion releases (2010’s Bleed The Line EP and 2012’s Heaven Sent… Hellbound) with a devastating new album that takes the intensity of their music to new heights. If you’re familiar with the band’s first two albums from 1987 and 1988, Razorback and The Visitor, prepare yourself to be shocked at how different INC sounds today. Twenty-odd years have passed since those minor classics so it’s not unreasonable for the band to change their sound. INC still seemed to be finding their way into their new sound on Bleed The Line and Heaven Sent…, but their persistence has paid off as things coalesce into a focused, cohesive statement on Black Hearse Serenade. Opening track “Stirring The Flock” hits like a sledgehammer with tight, heavy riffing and double-bass drumming that leaves no doubt about the extreme leanings of the album. Vocalist Dennis Gergely has dropped his distinctive, quirky vocal style for a tough-guy approach more akin to what you’d expect on a metalcore album. “Sainted Sinners” settles down the speed, but not intensity, of the album into a mid-tempo thrashfest for most of the songs. INC treads into Pantera-like territory on “Cyanide & Whiskey”, but there’s a more distinctive style to be found on the gems “The Lies We Devour” and the title track. The album ends brilliantly with “No Turning Back”, which treads new ground for the band with keyboards and choir chants, and “Love Like Napalm”, an acoustic ballad that dramatically builds up into a powerful solo to make what could be the band’s best song. The difference between INC’s first two albums and the reunion efforts is still jarring, and I miss the band’s unique qualities that made them so endearing back in the 80s. Black Hearse Serenade, however, brings INC fully into a new era with an album that’s relevant in present times and cements their rejuvenated sound.

Indestructible Noise Command performs tonight, Tuesday, November 18 at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis as direct support to Tantric with Emperors & Elephants.

Album Review - TESSERACT

Tesseract – Altered State

Century Media, 2013

9/10

Altered State follows the release of one previous album and two EPs from this English progressive metal band, and despite new singer Ashe O’Hara being the third vocalist across this output Tesseract has delivered an outstanding album that should earn them a place among the prog elite. More thoughtful and introspective than technical and flashy, Altered State occupies a musical space somewhere between the melodic beauty of the 90s output of Fates Warning and the rhythmic, modern vibe of Karnivool. The album is divided into four multi-song movements that seem to have more a lyrical than musical thread between them. Songwriting is the major strength of Altered State, rather than the performance of any individual band member. Strong from start to finish, Altered State is the type of album that commands attention through out its entirety. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why the album doesn’t score a 10, but it would have to be distilled down to the fact that there is not a single song that demands inspiring passion which creates a bond with the listener. For example, “All I Know” and “Goliath” draw me to Karnivool’s Sound Awake, and I can’t listen to the album without hearing those songs. While there’s not a bad song to be found on Altered State, I’ve yet to be so enraptured by one to the point that my listening experience feels incomplete without it. That said, the last 2–3 years have been incredible for the growth of progressive rock and metal, and Tesseract deserve a place alongside the burgeoning list of young bands that are poised to lead the field into the future. Tesseract has released an album or EP in each of the last four years, and I hope they keep up this pace of output for I’m eager to hear further developments to their sound.

Tesseract performs tonight, Wednesday, October 16 at Skyway Theater Studio B in Minneapolis with support from Scale The Summit and Anciients.

Album Review - THE SAFETY FIRE

The Safety Fire – Mouth Of Swords

InsideOut, 2013

6/10

I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this one, and fail to quite see how this English band lives up to the hype as the next progressive metal hope. There’s certainly elements of bands like Karnivool and Cynic with more of a hardcore bent with the occasional screaming vocals, but Mouth Of Swords primarily consists of discordant, arpeggio- and scale-based guitar noodling. It’s not in the vein of the old shred-fests you can find on any Shrapnel album from the 80s, so the guitar work isn’t the self-indulgant wanking you might expect. I’ve given this several listens over the last week anticipating that the album would take some to sink in but it just hasn’t happened. The guitar work bores me; there’s a lack of real riffs on which to latch, and the scales just drift by like white noise after a while. There are some interesting moments and song structures to the band’s credit, but not enough to overcome my general feeling of boredom when listening. Boredom is probably a bit harsh, but the album seems here and gone when I listen like background music that neither offensive nor inspiring. Fans of experimental hardcore are more apt to enjoy this; if you think of bands like Dream Theater and Fates Warning as progressive metal then Mouth Of Swords will likely disappoint you.

The Safety Fire performs tonight, Friday, October 11 at The Varsity Theater in Minneapolis as support to Between The Buried And Me, The Faceless, and The Contortionist.

EP Review - IRON REAGAN

Iron Reagan – Worse Than Dead

A389, 2013

8/10

If you long for the glory days of crossover, when the fusing of metal and hardcore gave us bands like Excel, Wehrmacht, Gang Green, you might as well go purchase this debut EP from Iron Reagan right now. Fast thrash riffs combine with breakneck-speed drumming and shouted vocals to deliver non-nonsense songs that get right to the point. There’s no screwing around – nothing is over 2 minutes long, and a whopping 19 songs clocks in at just 25 minutes. Crossover was pretty well beat to death in the 80s so don’t except a brilliant new take on the style; enjoy Iron Reagan for what it is – fun, short blasts of thrash that delivers a punch to the gut. Iron Reagan is also notable for featuring members of Municipal Waste, Darkest Hour, and Cannabis Corpse. If you missed out on the original crossover craze, Worse Than Dead is also a great starting point for discovery.

Iron Reagan performs tonight, Saturday, October 5 at First Avenue in Minneapolis as support to Gwar with Whitechapel and A Band Of Orcs.

Album Review - WINTERSUN

Wintersun – Time I

Nuclear Blast, 2012

8/10

Time I is the first of a two-album project from this epic, symphonic metal band from Finland led by former Ensiferum guitarist Jari Mäenpää. While comparisons can be drawn other like-minded bands such as Epica and Therion, Wintersun brings enough of their own ideas to make this a notable effort. As a whole, Time I encompasses covers an enormous amount of musical ground. Kicking the affair off is the orchestral instrumental “When Times Fades Away”, which leads into the four-part suite “Sons Of Winter And Stars”. The first part, “Rain Of Stars”, is a brutally fast composition that blitzes along with lightning technical speed and has Jari swapping vocal lines with opera singers. “Surrounded By Darkness” slows it down a little, more to an aggressive power metal style. The third part of the suite, “Journey Inside A Dream”, is a short acoustic interlude before “Sons Of Winter And Stars” closes the 13-minute epic with soaring melodies that picks up at the end for a grand closing. “Land Of Snow And Sorrow” is a slow, drab number that would have been better left off the album. Following another short acoustic instrumental, “Darkness And Frost”, the title track “Time” closes the album and leaves you longing for the impending follow-up album. Overall, Time I is a brilliant album of intense complexity and depth that demands your attention through multiple listens. Keyboards are used liberally throughout; this, as well as the grand scope of the album, remind me a lot of the sole, mind-blowing album from Norway’s Mundanus Imperium (The Spectral Spheres Coronation from 1998). The brilliance lapses here and there, most notably on “Land Of Snow And Sorrow”, but this album should be at the top of any fan of epic, symphonic metal.

Wintersun will perform tonight Saturday, August 17 at The Oxford Theater in Eau Claire with support from Fleshgod Apocalypse, Arsis, and Starkill.