We’ve covered German/Greek band Unverkalt before in these pages and they received a favourable review for their previous record,
A Lump Of Death: A Chaos Of Dead Lovers, from Mr Young. So this time I grabbed their third album
Héréditaire settled in for just over 50 minutes of post-black metal which has heady claims to be for fans of Cult Of Luna, Myrkur and Julie Christmas, or as they’re known in the trade ArcTanGent/Damnation acts.
Their previous release must have turned heads like it did ours as this album is their first for Season Of Must and it sees the band refining their definition of heaviness. Always delicately balancing atmospheric highs with crushing lows, the divide between their duality is more pronounced here, Unverkalt creating an album that will solidify the decision to sign them to a roster of so many legendary and influential bands.
Héréditaire sees the emotional, romantic moments of the band given space to breathe, some tracks just sitting in that ambient space where clean guitars shimmer and haunting vocals, paint pictures of soul searching before the band descend into lamentations of gargantuan chaos. Band founders Themis Ioannou (guitar/keys/production) and Dimitra Kalavrezou (vocals/lyrics) still use this band as a way to translate grief, sadness and the eternal questions that plague us.
The guitars of Eli Mavrychev can soar hopefully or bring introspective regret to a song, then about face, unleash city levelling heaviness and flurries of tremolo picked hellfire with Ioannou, all aggression and ferocity, as the engine room of bassist Joscha Hoyer and drummer Christian Eggers, shift just as easily into the many forms Unverkalt take from insistent doom to insidious black metal blasts. This polarity also comes in the vocals where Dimitra Kalavrezou’s voice is angelic, ensconced in reverb and waif-like mysticism but never lacks any efficacy.
They blend with Mavrychev’s growls and with the guest vocals from one Mr Sakis Tolis of Rotting Christ on
I, The Deceit, but with the third album they can also manifest as blackened banshee shrieks. A new addition to their sound that sees them pushing boundaries, experimenting with what Unverkalt is as a band and album three, exposes the lies of dogma and the cursed nature of existence without every finding catharsis.
The previous two records were inspired by art, theatre, culture, the things we should strive for, escapes from the every day.
Héréditaire undoes all that hope with a mixture of melancholic acceptance and unbridled rage. Still in the Avant-garde but with a move to the angry, Unverkalt adopt the history of their new home with their most “extreme” record yet.
9/10HÉR – Monochrome (Season Of Mist) [Mark Young]Every now and then, the boss sends a curve ball my way. Add into this particular mix that Monochrome has fallen into my not so regular episodes of ‘stragglers weekly’ and I’m faced with an unusual dilemma.
How do you review (quickly) an album that is so fundamentally different from what you normally listen to without falling into cliché or resorting to a few withering jibes, the kind that Kerrang etc used to do back in their heyday. The simple approach is to give it the same attention as you would any other release and go from there. Monochrome starts with Chant, a long, sprawling introduction to what the next 41minutes or so will be about. Make no mistake, this would normally have me throwing the towel in and pressing skip, but then you would be missing out on what turns out to be a mesmeric experience.
As drawn out as this feels, it also gets under your skin, the repeated vocalising set with building instruments behind so that gradually your ears are filled. It changes into what I normally associate with folk but presented in a more authentically sounding way. For me it’s the way that they have built this track, the ever-expanding wave of noise that also increases in tempo as it navigates its way to an ultimate end. Is it an easy listen? Absolutely not. Worthy of my time? Absolutely.
After that, Needles And Bark wisely pulls back, but at the same time keeps a similar vocal delivery in place (I’m not sure if that is Maciej or Tomasz so I mention them both) where it does the hard work in getting the emotion across. Its still folk, in that traditional instruments are at play, but this isn’t the traditional form that I have heard before. This is frenzied, unhinged and controlled at the same time.
Going Down takes that unhinged mantra and runs with it, almost entering the realms of space folk with some of the effects they deploy. The way that they have picked up pace as a means of dragging you along with their tales has to be applauded because I’ll be honest. I didn’t think I would be giving this the attention I have done. And I’m glad, because I would have missed out on something decidedly unique.
Patience In Observation dials that back, bringing a more percussive touch that is surprisingly deft. Slipknot and Praise The Day occupy similar spaces, taking on approaches and motifs explored earlier to ensure that your attention doesn’t drift away. Special mention has to be given to how they make the songs move without using guitars which for me is the staple of the music I listen to.
Farewell is just that, their closing statement and one that is an achingly beautiful piece of music. As a bookend it works remarkably well, keeping it memorable without making it too dense or complex.
It goes without saying that fans of folk in general will find a home here. That is a given. But it is that intriguing that non-fans could find something here that attracts too. 8/10
Phoenix Lake – Seraphina: The Fall Of Eden (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
Phoenix Lake have been creating waves on the UK scene for a while now. The alt metal band have been sculpting these songs on the live stage, creating an epic, theatrical, concept piece as their debut record. Although they didn’t initially plan to write a concept album they adapted a song from their debut EP and from there came “a concept album that chronicles the journey of a fallen angel as she navigates the complexities of human existence.”
It’s a way for Phoenix Lake to put their personal emotions and feelings about this often suffocating and scary world into music but from the perspective of a fantasy protagonist. Fall From Eden is the first track proper and introduces to anyone who may not know what Phoenix Lake do as a band, on the instrumental side Ash Wilson (guitars), Zak Smith (bass) and Joe Synott (drums), combine chunky alt metal with symphonic metal trappings, as melodic lead guitars cut through thick grooves.
But it’s more than that, there’s piano and orchestrations all fleshing out the record as the influences of bands such as Visions Of Atlantis or Xandria come through on the galloping This Abyss. Any band trying to create these fantasy worlds need a great singer and the vocals of Lana Phillis are a massive benefit to the band, like Birmingham band Vanitas, Phillis’ voice has a soaring power but can switch to a scream in an instant.
Now at 14 songs it’s a record that needs a lot of investment, but with modern metal fusing with symphonic metal styles, Seraphina: The Fall Of Eden manages to engage you with the conceptual nature and great performances. A concept record as you debut is a risk but it pays off for Phoenix Lake. 8/10
ØVI – Hedera Helix (Self Released) [Mark Young]
So here is a cheeky little 4 speed gearbox, 4 songs in 17minutes delivered with some venom and velocity. The band themselves acknowledge influences from Gojira to Nine Inch Nails in their effort to shape a sound that bludgeons with finesse. EP’s are a wonderful thing, a way of dipping one’s toe to see if a band’s style is one you can get behind. Hedera Helix is such a thing, 4 pugnacious tracks of unremitting heaviness that favours a direct approach and really, what more do you want in an EP?
Lilith takes no time in getting its muscular set up across, and despite that squat form of attack they inject a measure of melody within it. Its sound is what I would describe as that modern sound – guitars tuned low, possibly 7 or 8 strings getting a royal kicking whilst the drums are racing without pause.
In terms of an arrangement, its circular, constantly revolving around its axis and in that respect, it does a decent job in getting things going for us. Penanggalan takes over next, bringing that similar approach so that the two are barely distinguishable in all honesty. I’m not saying that it’s a bad song by any means, especially the interlude where they step back a little. It is simply that by following straight after Lilith its too close in build.
Prometheon is lighter by comparison, the tonal shift is massive when sat next to the others. It still races at a considerable tilt, the drumming is crushing whilst still having an eye on when to ease off. By having that lighter feel to it, it makes them more interesting to me in that they don’t just rely on the lower end to be heavy. And then they do it again, with Absolve sounding like they have purposefully tried to write a song that bridges the three that came before it.
There’s prominent keys in there, syncopated riffs and of course that exemplar drumming that has been a keystone all the way through. Ultimately, it’s a brief introduction to a band that is finding its place. Yes, they sound like a number of different bands, but then doesn’t all of them at some point in their existence? With Promethean and Absolve there are two tracks that show that there is more to them than just simple riffing. 7/10
