The Scrolls of Akhenaten: April 12th, 2024

April 13, 2024 / Akhenaten / Leave a comment

This one is coming to you a day late because life got in the way this past week and I didn’t get as much time to hammer out which albums I wanted to recommend to you all on Friday. I was also busy hosting a show at The Traxide in Montreal featuring some rather excellent bands from the Maritimes, namely the blackened death metal stylings of Paratomb and progressive metal wizardry of Omnivide, along with local thrashers Grimhold and death-sludge riffologists Obelisk. Now that I’ve got a few moments of free time to myself this Saturday (between recovery) I’m going to make up for it. Read on for some of your (somewhat) regularly scheduled riff recommendations!

Black

The first time I heard this record I was absolutely floored and to this day it continues to shock me. I’d like to thank Devon Milley for this recommendation as it was through him that I discovered this band. I’ve never heard a band so perfectly emulate the sound of Darkthrone’s early material. Everything on this record from the guitar tone to the drum approach to the production to the vocal approach is the closest I’ve ever heard a band mimic that style, and they do it wonderfully. The riffage is so pure and kvlt and trve and devoid of any bells and whistles. Even the vocals sound eerily similar to the range and tone of Nocturno Culto on those classic black metal albums as well as the post-Panzerfaust era of the band. All you have to do is listen to the first track here, “Three Desecrated Hosts”, and you’ll see what I mean. If you’re at all a fan of that style of Norwegian black metal, then Germany’s Pakkt is a must-listen, especially for Darkthrone die-hards like myself.

Death

I first discovered this band through a video made by the YouTuber known as The Punk Rock MBA. I think that guy sucks but I’d be lying if I said he hadn’t put me on to some cool music over the years. Human Remains is definitely one of those bands. The first time I put this record on I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing. “A deathgrind diamond” as one Bandcamp reviewer named Brett put it, this thing is fucking weird. There are sounds on here that I didn’t even know a guitar could make before I listened to this thing. It’s exceptionally brutal, uncompromising, relentless, and unapologetically experimental. There’s plenty of moments where the music remains firmly rooted in brutalizing the listener with blast beats and atonal guitar riffs before launching into interludes that feel like they’re drawing upon bands like Mr. Bungle and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Of course Dillinger was probably influenced by this band considering that Human Remains predates them.

Doom

Wardehns – *Now Cometh the Foul*
**December 21st, 2018**
**Stoner Metal / Sludge Metal / Crust Punk**
**Independently Released**
**Wausau, Wisconsin, USA**
**Standout Song:** “Denim Dogs”

I was put onto this band through a friend of mine who just happened to be playing them out loud on a Bluetooth speaker while I was hanging with some pals at their house. I was pretty much immediately hooked by the quality of the riffage, the production value, and just how similar it felt to the kind of sludge metal that I am really drawn to: bands like Mastodon, Kylesa, and Black Tusk. The ones who are a little artsy but aren’t afraid to get deep, down, and dirty with their music. Wardehns certainly scratches that itch for me and I’ve had this record on repeat ever since that initial encounter. It’s monolithic in size, with every song imparting the image of a group of intrepid travelers and warriors climbing their way to the top of a frostbitten mountain, surviving blizzards and avalanches, and fighting horrible beasts all along the way. The album cover is indeed a perfect representation of what kind of music you’ll hear on this thing. It comes highly recommended.

Prog

I brought up Omnivide in the intro to this article not just to tell you about the show I was at last night, but also as a genuine recommendation for a band that kicks fucking ass that doesn’t live all that far from Newfoundland. This New Brunswick progressive metal outfit just released their debut album, A Tale of Fire, last month, and are currently embarking on a tour across Canada in support of it. Having seen them live a couple of times now as well as having listened to this thing all the way through time and time again I can attest to this band absolutely ruling. If you want your brain to be disassembled and then put back together wrong then this is the record for you. Their music certainly draws heavy influence from big-name prog bands like Between the Buried and Me, but there are also shades of groups like Cynic, Obscura, and Beyond Creation to be found within. If you like any of those bands you’ll almost certainly like this.

Punk

I was lucky enough to catch Flower at Varning Fest last year, an annual underground crust punk and metal festival that occurs in Montreal. They came up from New York City to play here and absolutely tore the place apart. I thought their live performance was already great but it was checking out their recordings after the fact on my own that really sold me on them. This right here is the kind of punk I like the most. It’s loud, aggressive, angry, and dirty as fuck. All the best crust punk is only a few steps removed from speed metal and black metal and Flower really embrace that vibe on this LP. The album opens with an atmospheric blackened guitar riff that reminds me extensively of Gallhammer and Darkthrone, before the unruly punk ripping starts at full force. It’s so gross and nasty, from the raw guitar tone to the punchy drums to the pissed off vocals. Flower are fantastic, and this LP absolutely slays.

Thrash

Mexico’s Phantom are pretty much everything I want from modern thrash. Their sound is supremely old school, drawing clearly upon the bands of the 80’s, with the Teutonic sound in particular being a primary influence. If you like Sodom, Kreator, or Destruction, or at least the way those bands used to sound back in the day, then Phantom may be for you. That’s not to discount the American influence in their sound either, because notes of Slayer and Metallica definitely crop up from time to time, but ultimately they keep things rooted in that more aggressive sound that veers on the edge of black metal without ever stepping forth into the blizzard. What makes this album even more impressive is that the dudes in this band are really young, most of them being around the ages of 18 to 20. For being as young as they are they’ve got a fantastic grasp of their instruments and their songwriting capability is excellent. I’m stoked to hear what they put out next.

Trad

I never thought I would unironically enjoy a NASCAR-themed metal band but then I am the Intimidator came out of nowhere and showed me the errors of my hubris. This is the new solo project of former Poison Idea guitarist Andrew Stromstad and the entire thing is lyrically and aesthetically based around the final day of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt’s life. If that wasn’t already enough to sell you on the concept, then I’m happy to report that the music contained within is just as fucking awesome. It’s old school speed metal that draws as much influence from Metallica, Motorhead, and King Diamond as it does from a blackened speed metal act like Venom and an epic doom metal band like Candlemass. While the record may be all over the map in terms of influence it is surprisingly consistent all the way through, featuring fabulous riff after fabulous riff and vocals that’ll put hair on your chest.

Non-Metal

Shpongle – *Tales of the Inexpressible*
**March 29th, 2001**
**Chillout / Psychedelic Trance**
**Twisted Records**
**Chobham, England, UK**
**Standout Song:** “Star-Shpongled Banner”

I discovered Shpongle years ago when I was still in high school. While sick and staying home from school one day I went down an enormously long musical rabbit hole on YouTube (this was back in the day before algorithms ruined everything) which eventually led me to a fan-made animated music video for the song “Star-Shpongled Banner”. I was so enamored by the combination of the music with the visuals I was experiencing made that song stick with me for years to come, and to this day I still revisit this record from time to time. While I don’t often find myself listening to electronic music, when I do I prefer the kind of stuff that’s outside the realm of the typical club fare. I don’t go to clubs often, mind you, but I have a hard time imagining that this is the kind of thing played anywhere outside of a hippie drug den. It’s not for everyone, but if you like weird electronica you should definitely check this one out.

~ Akhenaten

Album Review: Häg – Häg

July 22, 2020July 19, 2020 / Akhenaten / 1 Comment

If you could look me in the eyes now, would you though?

Häg – Häg
June 5th, 2020
Progressive Doom Metal
Independently Released
St. John’s, Newfoundland

Arising from the ashes of the band formerly known as Goon, Häg have picked up from their original demo released way back in 2017 under their old name and have pushed full steam ahead into their debut full length studio album, a self-titled effort to boot. With Häg we see a band with numerous influences coming together to create a sound that is both unique to the heavy music scene in the province as well as unique to themselves. There aren’t many bands out there that sound like Häg, and for that they’ve already done themselves a service in helping to get noticed outside of our own insular world here in Newfoundland.

With the album’s opener, “Summon the Earth to Lay Claim Back into the Soil”, a wordy title if their ever was one, we immediately get hints of both Black Sabbath and Candlemass with the riffage, provided by axe-wielding duo Adam Hefferman and Andrew Wicks, who waste no time launching into some sweet guitar sounds that get stuck in your head. But while the song may start off with the typical epic doom metal bent, it doesn’t take long for the group’s more experimental and unique leanings to creep in. The chorus is epic, massive and bombastic, featuring these rampaging double bass kicks from drummer Keith Harding and some truly soulful crooning from vocalist and frontwoman Clair Hipditch who sings the song’s name above swelling, atmospheric, black metal-esque chords. It’s near the end of the track when the band’s progressive elements make themselves known front and center with some pretty and engaging guitr noodling that reminds me of the prog bands of old such as Yes, King Crimson or Pink Floyd.

As the album’s opener closes we come to “Your Skin”, a track that was previously recorded on the group’s original demo. This track does well to showcase the group’s more atmospheric and melancholy side. The guitars and bass, provided by Josh Ward, are at the same time heavy and crushing in the instrumental sense but also in the emotional sense. This song feels so mournful in its tone, especially when Hefferman and Wicks harmonize their guitars. Hipditch reminds me much of fellow doom vocalist Julie Christmas in both her tone and enunciation on this track, though the comparison to Christmas could honestly be applied to the rest of the record.

“Funeral” is also a song from the original Goon demo that was rerecorded for this album and it continues the absolutely devastating melancholy tones from before, reminding me of groups in the larger death-doom world like Swallow the Sun or Paradise Lost with their intricate compositions and beautifully sad compositions. I absolutely adore Hipditch’s vocals on this song, especially when she sings “If you could look me in the eyes now, would you though?” at the very beginning, or the chorus when she sings “Underneath you, underwater, I’m drowning and you don’t seem to mind. You told me one day that you would bury me, I told you one day the undertow would drag us down”. The ending of this track sees the band get punishingly heavy with a post metal style breakdown featuring relentlessly chunky chugs and an endless war-drum beat on the toms.

We then come to “Slow Ghosts” which is the final song rerecorded from the Goon demo. On this track we see the band get much more stripped back and toned down, channeling those 70’s prog vibes with some quiet, fluttery guitars, lightly patted drums and ethereal echoing vocals, while the bass offers a tone in the background smoother than a seal’s pelt. When the heaviness does kick in a little bit more towards the end of the track it feels very much like a natural progression and continues to make the song feel like a strong and silent centerpiece to the record.

“Slow Ghosts” sees the end of the rerecorded tracks from the demo and we get back to the wholly original material with “At the End of the Ambush”. The best way I could describe this track is that it feels like a beefed up, heavier version of a bluesy jazz song that you’d hear in a smoky noir nightclub back in the 1940’s. This is by far the standout moment for Hipditch on the record, whose vocals scream out over the rest of the band, taking center stage. The guitars and bass play these really sultry, sexy riffs (or, at least as sexy and sultry as doom metal can really be) that evoke the nightclub I was talking about, while the drums stay very basic and stripped back while also being loud and bombastic.

“House Sparrow” was released as the album’s lead single prior to the record’s full release, and even now after having heard this song many, many times, I still notice little things about it in the mix that I never caught before. I love the intricate feelings on this song, from the low key techy moments during the verse with the complex drumming to the Mastodon and Sahg vibes that I get during the pre-chorus and the chorus with the tempo changes. It’s clear that having released this song as the lead single that this is the track the band is most proud of, and it shows. The multitude of textures on this track and the multiple segments that complicate the arrangements on here are evidence of a band that works extremely well together both as writers and as players.

“Ruins” may be the band’s most upbeat and basic ‘rock’ track on the whole album, with it’s fast-swing drum beat on the toms and the almost Clutch-esque guitar riffing going on. It’s kind of hard for me to describe this track but the weird vibes and two-step inspiring tempo easily make this the most danceable song on the whole album. For real, if I was to ever see Häg live and they didn’t play this song I would consider it a crime. While doom metal isn’t known much for moshing, this is the mosh track on the record and I fucking love it for that.

The album trudges to its bitter end with “The Grim Sleepers” which is perhaps the most traditional doom metal track on the record. Taking cues from Sabbath and Candlemass once again, the riffs on here are slow, heavy and punishing. There are some quieter moments throughout the song but by and large this is a straightforward doomy steamroller that plays the album out and serves as a culmination of what the rest of the album had going for it.

If you couldn’t tell by now I fucking love this record. The vocals are epic and powerful, the guitars and bass work together to create a mixture of heaviness with atmosphere baked in the tones of melancholy mourning, and the drums are both loud and in your face while also being able to hold back and be quieter when needed. This album is the result of a band that has clearly been playing together and writing together for some time and it shows. If this is what Häg come out of the gate swinging with then they’re destined to go places. Check this record out now. You won’t regret it.

Final Verdict: 10/10
Flawless

Favourite Tracks:
“Your Skin”
“Funeral”
“At the End of the Ambush”
“House Sparrow”
“Ruins”

For Fans Of:
Candlemass
Swallow the Sun
Julie Christmas
Pink Floyd

~ Akhenaten

Jaded Truth Release New Off-the-Floor Demo “Ms. Frankenstein”

September 10, 2019 / Akhenaten / Leave a comment

New-on-the-scene sludgey grungers Jaded Truth smashed into the downtown St. John’s music world earlier this year with their debut recording “Darkest Night” and a smattering of shows played throughout the summer. Now the band has followed up their debut release with another new off-the-floor cut, “Ms. Frankenstein”.

If you’re wondering what these guys sound like before listening to the YouTube embed down below, take the darker and harder side of Nirvana, mix in the sludge of the Melvins and a touch of doom metal a la Candlemass via the funeral march riff at the end of this track and, well, you’ve got yourself some Jaded Truth. Check it out, maaan!

~ Akhenaten

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Candlemass

The Scrolls of Akhenaten: April 12th, 2024

Album Review: Häg – Häg

Jaded Truth Release New Off-the-Floor Demo “Ms. Frankenstein”