|
|||
|
Drawing on the increasingly obvious theme of slumbering humanity guided by multi-national corporations using social networking sites as a virtual carrot on a stick, Ironweed’s sophomore outing for Small Stone records disguises itself as a sci-fi concept record. The press release goes so far as to call it “the Matrix with guitars.” But the façade of fiction wears away quickly when you stop reading this review right here to check Facebook. OK, the sheep are gone, let’s talk metal. Upstate New York has been a hotbed of shredding-edge metal for over a decade, the band Greatdayforup the vanguard. With the demise of that band, the core reinvented themselves and got someone who can actually sing – sometimes a bit too much like a young David Lee Roth – to act as mouthpiece. The result is a metal barrage interspersed with moments of melody and hairpin breaks in odd (i.e. jazz) time signatures. At times sludge, at times boogie-woogie, at times anthemic warrior rock (those who have heard the Valient Thorr will know what I’m talking about), the band will throw in some dreamy nuances ala Sonic Youth just to keep listeners on their toes. Sonically, the record attacks from all angles. Twin guitars hacking and slashing, sometimes in tandem, sometimes at odds but always working toward the goal of utter subjugation of the senses. The rhythm section holds the bottom down as though driven into the bedrock beneath the band. Which leads me to my only complaint. The drum sound on this record is… off. The percussion is just not very percussive. The cymbals sound fine – resonant and metallic, as they should. But the drums themselves sound muddy and dead. I’m not a drummer, I don’t have the vocabulary to adequately explain it, but you’ll notice. Just don’t let it be all you notice. A minor engineering complaint aside, “Your World of Tomorrow” is nothing short of hypnotic. Which may be the band’s intention. Get off the computer and worship us, the record seems to say. Which seems perfectly reasonable. - Trevor Wallace
|
|||
 |
|||
After
thirty lineup changes and over forty years of living in Never, Never
Land as Peter Pan while carving an underground 'Doom Metal' genre
with bleeding hands, Bobby Liebling has risen from his reclusive,
obscure underground rock vaults once again to read the last rites
of mankind away before the coming 'dog days'. In the song "The
Man" we are given a raw taste of the unfriendly, a reminder
of the inability to escape the life-robbing grip of the 'Hands of
Doom' upon our necks and deathbed. Pentagram in a roundabout way
are modern day philosophers with electric amplifiers pumping out
riff revelations or just as easily amounting to propaganda. Random
axe blastin', vintage riffs with apocalyptic lyrics meticulously
placed in songs composed to make history, not mainstream radio.
Partial reason, "Last Rites" is sounding more solid than
ever is with the help of longtime comrade and Death Row guitarist
Victor Griffin, who has rejoined the doom crew, as if Gargamel and
his doom-enthused assailant Azrael, re-united exclusively for one
last, epic spell bounding Smurfs' episode. Griffin, who parted Pentagram
after writing "Relentless", is back for a 'Second Coming'
that has Hells Bells ringing freely for their highly anticipated
2011 release on Metal Blade accompanied by European toiurdates and
festivals for the fortunate few who will catch this band on a good
side of the bed. This album by no means stays silent for long with
their hard blow, Doom-soaked solos, such as, "Horseman".
Current bass player, Greg Turley who has accompanied Griffin in
cutting choking 'Place of Skulls' tracks, like "Nothing Changes"
keeps a level-headed input on the band's new professional outlook.
If you asked friends and foes ten years ago where Bobby would be
now, chances are guesses would have been in a wheelchair with a
pace maker from extensive years of excess, drug addictions , but
"Last Rites" in all it's vital essence will go down as
a metal collecting artifact durable enough withhold disaster and
weather. - SMC
|
|||
 |
|||
Copyright © Rank and Revue. All rights reserved.Web Design by Groovee Fortune |
Ironweed
Pentagram