Album Review: Bloodbound - Rise Of The Dragon Empire

It's been a long, strange road. I heard Bloodbound right as "Nosferatu" was released, and I was quickly won over by the fun they brought back to power metal. What I didn't know then is that, regardless of who was in the lineup, they would be a band defined by their lack of identity. Over the years, that would become extremely troubling, as it's hard to know what to make of a band that doesn't know what to make of themselves. They have made records that are essentially tributes to Iron Maiden, Soilwork (one of my favorite records ever, by the by), Judas Priest, and Sabaton. We expect bands to evolve, and I welcome growth, but the wholesale shifts from one band's identity to another with each record is bizarre.

So who are Bloodbound now?

As a philosophical question, I don't think I can answer that. As a practical matter, this album finds Bloodbound turning in a direction more influenced by Blind Guardian and Nightwish. The title track, which was released prior to the record, showcases this new sound with a main theme that has a medieval or even Celtic flair. The use of wind instrument sounds is something entirely new for Bloodbound, and is a rather drastic shift from the orchestral overtones of the previous record.

This time around, the choirs backing the choruses are even bigger than ever, which is another cue back to Blind Guardian. They don't take on the thrashier aspects of that band, but the feeling is persistent through most of the record. It doesn't stop "Slayer Of Kings" from being a powerful piece of work, but it does keep it from ringing as true as if the band had a history devoted to making this kind of music. I can't help but think of each of these albums as experiments, which diminishes how much I invest in them.

"Magical Eye" features melodies that are catchy, but I also immediately hear in my head being sung by either Floor Jansen or Anette Olzon, given how eerily similar they are to later Nightwish. At a certain point, I'm torn between two very different thoughts; one being that Bloodbound is once again absorbing someone else's identity at the expense of their own, but also that they are very good at wearing these other personas. I can't recall any other bands that have so easily taken on so many guises, while doing them all justice.

Tht's what I find most frustrating about Bloodbound. Ever since the first record, they have written a lot of good power metal songs that I should be more fond of than I am. The issue is still that every good song they write is tarnished by the comparison to what it sounds like. Let me use this example. When Soen put out their first record, it was so much a clone of Tool that even the good parts were hard to embrace. They grew over the years, to the point where they are now one of the most striking and unique metal bands. Bloodbound hasn't done that. Instead of using a base to then graft their own sound onto, they continue to wear bands like robes, tossing each one in the wash for a fresh one when it becomes soiled.

So it comes down to this. Bloodbound is a decent band, and "Rise Of The Dragon Empire" is a fun little power metal romp. However, it never gives you any sense of who Bloodbound are, because it's clear by now the band doesn't know either. At least for me, that diminishes the fun. I'm probably being too hard on this album, considering that it's good at what it aims for, but I'm not going to apologize for that. At a certain point, you have to draw a line somewhere, and Bloodbound's usurping of other's creativity is too much for me. They're pretty good, but half the credit goes to whoever they're inspired by at any given moment.

EP Review: A Brilliant Lie - Threads:Weaver

Although I never got into them, it seems I owe Paramore a debt of gratitude. While they have escaped my focus, they did set in motion an entire scene of bands that continues to this day, many of which I have become quite fond of. That is a style of music I have found myself gravitating towards, especially as other strains of rock have had the color wash away like cheap grease-paint in a rain storm. And so that leads A Brilliant Lie into my sights, the latest band playing upbeat, alternative rock/pop-punk with a feminine touch on the vocals.

The EP kicks off with "The Tarot", the single chosen to showcase the band. The verses are the kind of pulsing chords that give a bounce to the rhythm, and then the chorus slows things down so the band has the time to make everything sound huge. It works, and the song makes a strong impact, in part because it deviates from the usual format of bands their style trade in. There's a bit more room to breathe, which is interesting for a lead-off statement.

"Unwoven" follows, and plays with the loud/soft dynamic. The verses focus on the tom drums, while the guitars pluck mostly clean notes in the background. But then the chorus comes, and the band swells into action with a propulsive energy that plays very well off the first track. "A Burial" is more somber, where the slightly down-beat attitude meshes with the natural verve their music has, which once again works well. It showcases there's more to the band than repeating three-minute pop songs, which are great, but plague the genre in the form of bands that only do one thing again and again.

There's more anger seeping through "I Was Never Her", while "Tiny Secrets" tones down their pop inclinations for a more rocking tone. Both songs continue to deliver what A Brilliant Lie does best; hooks that shimmer, and music that rocks hard enough to prove their worth. Then there's Tara Lightfoot, whose voice ties everything together with power, tone, and just a hint of Riot Grrl attitude.

The only downside to A Brilliant Lie is that they are far from alone. Even this month, there is Yours Truly delivering a very similar sound, with a slightly different bent to it. A Brilliant Lie has to fight through a lot of competition to get to our ears. Once you hear them, there's a lot to like here. I've been listening to a lot of bands of their ilk, and A Brilliant Lie compares well with them. I've been extremely fond of Yours Truly, and The Nearly Deads, and now A Brilliant Lie gets added to their list. With "Threads:Weaver", A Brilliant Lie has almost proven one part of their name. And let's just say I don't think they're lying.

Album Review: Forever Still - Breathe In Colours

I have yet to be able to explain why certain voices, and certain records, stick with us, while others that are similar fade into our memories. There is something ethereal about great music, or at least music that speaks to us, that words cannot capture. A few years ago, I happened upon Forever Still, who were in the process of releasing the EPs that would become their debut album. For whatever reason, those songs, and Maja Shining's voice, spoke to me more than the myriad other modern rock bands I heard around the same time. And since then, I have continued to return to "Tied Down", enthralled by their dark sound, hooky songwriting, and yes, Maja's voice. Needless to say, as an early arrival to their music, I was excited to hear a new album was ready to meet the world.

Our first tastes of new music came from the singles, "Rewind" and "Breathe In Colors". Both of these tracks continued the Forever Still story, taking a slightly darker tone than they had previously, while Maja's vocals soar over the top. Her voice is glass-shattering (in the good way), full of power and pristine tone, and she's able to sing melodies where every note is so distinct you can almost see the sheet music floating in the air. That's a very rare quality, even among singers I love, so it's certainly worth noting how Maja's voice is a highlighter for the melodies.

The other notable aspect of their music is how it comes across sounding classier than most dark rock is capable of. So much of this music I listen to is ugly and dingy, still carrying the worst aspects of the 'grunge' label. Forever Still avoids all of that, with their music sounding powerful and resonant. The lyrics on this record are dystopian, but for once the landscape is not a world that hasn't seen soap since the fall of civilization. The lights may be dimmed, but the mirrors we hold up still shine.

I admire how the songs aren't committed to the rock formula. Maja throws in a few screams in "Fight!", and almost growls on the title track, little details that are used to heighten the tension, and to balance the beauty she brings to the choruses. Even though the album's tone is dark, as is the subject matter, the sound is still beautiful. Forever Still aren't going to use the concept as an excuse to half-ass their songwriting. And let's be honest, there are plenty of conceptual albums out there that bands didn't put their all into, because they didn't think songs were as necessary when there was something 'bigger' in play. Forever Still don't make that mistake.

If you've heard "Tied Down", you know what to expect from this record. The new wrinkles are subtle, adding to Forever Still's core sound, rather than changing it wholesale. That's a good thing, because they incubated that debut long enough that it came out fully-developed. They know who they are, and what they're good at, so they can already tell us exactly who Forever Still is. A lot of young bands spent several records trying to come up with their identity, and some never do.

The only complain I can muster is the same one I had regarding "Tied Down"; these ten songs clock in at roughly thirty-five minutes, and they pass by so easily it leaves me wanting to hear more. That sure beats the alternative, doesn't it? Forever Still throws everything into this record, from heavy breakdowns to gorgeous emotional passages. They are a well-rounded band that is making records that are able to spread wings from their core sound. They are songwriters better than their experience would imply, and they have mastered the art of modern rock. "Breathe In Colours" is everything I was hoping for; a contender to be among the best records of the year. I can now sigh a rainbow of relief, knowing Forever Still is the real deal, and will continue to be.

Album Review: The End Machine - The End Machine

George Lynch has been rather busy lately, and no matter how many records I hear with him as a player, I don't get why he's supposed to be a legendary figure. I suppose I had to be there in the 80s to get it, but he sounds like everyone else from that time period to me. The End Machine is his latest attempt to get a non-Dokken band up and running, this time featuring the rest of that band's classic lineup, along with singer Robert Mason, who currently fronts Warrant. So yes, this is rooted in hair metal, although it's filtered through a grunge aesthetic.

I was rather intrigued by the first single, "Alive Today", which caught my attention as the sort of song that fits between what radio rock was in the glory days, and what it is now. The guitars have more space and nuance to them than the simple chugging we get most of the time today, but the vibe and melody is darker than we got from the 80s. It's a wonderful blend of the past and present, and already put this project ahead of KXM or Sweet & Lynch, for me.

The rest of the album tries to fit into that same vibe, but the melodies aren't quite as sticky as that first impression. Mason is a capable singer, but his writing is too caught up in the past, where simple gang chants were the norm, and more developed melodies were harder to come by. There are some of those on the record, "Ride It" being the worst example, and that's when I feel the band is at their best. It's on tracks like "Ride It" that I grow less interested, as the rehashing of the past is more apparent, and the ideas in the song aren't strong enough to cut through space and time.

I don't want to sound too harsh, because I do actually like the record. There's enough in it that reminds me of the time when I was starting to listen to music that I can feel some of the pull towards it that those a generation older than me will feel more intensely. I imagine anyone who was a Dokken fan all those years ago will be jumping for joy over this record, since I have to imagine Dokken itself couldn't make anything that sounded this good, if for no other reason than Mason's vocals being so much stronger at this point.

The run through the back half of the record, with "Hard Road", "Alive Today", "Line Of Division", and the closing "Life Is Love Is Music" is a strong statement, with each song delivering muscular, hooky hard rock. As the songs keep coming, the band's focus becomes clearer, and I find myself really enjoying what they are offering. There are a couple of songs at the beginning of the record which are a bit weak, and their placement doesn't help matters, but they are redeemed as the record moves along.

I didn't go into this record knowing what to expect, given that I don't have much affection for anything these guys have done before. That said, it makes it more impressive they were able to win me over by the time the record was over. The End Machine does well for themselves here.

Album Review: Indestructible Noise Command - "Terrible Things"

It’s official.  For all the press about Indestructible Noise Command’s accomplishment and influential power back in the day, they now have more full albums post-reunion than in their original iteration.  Which is significant because it means the band is living up to their commitment from so many years ago of resuming their career once the marketplace make it possible to do so without the complicating machinations of a major record label.

The interesting twist here is that “Terrible Things,” this shiny, new compendium of classic thrash, bears more resemblance to the albums before the hiatus than it does to the ones recently.

The album sees the band return to thrash in its truest sense – a snarled vocal, a shredded guitar riff, a pulse-pounding drive that inspires the listener to tear their furniture apart and run up and down the street screaming until a concerned neighbor summons the local constables.

There’re some conscious choices being made by the band here.  In making what was old new again, the band has sacrificed the platforms that made “Heaven Sent…  …Hellbound” and “Black Hearse Serenade” stand out from so many of their competitors.

That doesn’t mean that “Terrible Things” comes as a pale echo from three decades ago, far from it.  What it does mean is that gone are the ravine-deep groovy riffs of their reinvention, and also gone is vocalist Dennis Gergely’s stylings in the vein of Phil Anselmo.  The latter of these is a more than fair trade – Phil and his ilk have their place and their legacy, but that style only goes so far, and wouldn’t have worked as well for this effort.

As for the former, the value of the tradeoff is really contingent on the listener’s preference.  Erik Barath and Tony Fabrizi are equally at home as a guitar tandem working in this idiom as they were in crafting the deep undulations that previous albums required.  Their craft comes with the confidence of having played together for the majority of their respective lives.  From the album’s thumping opener “Fist Go Rek” to the more measured closure of “Devil of Hearts,” the pair creates a symphony of thrash brilliance.

As it happens, the mastery displayed by the duo is one of the two things that sets Indestructible Noise Command apart from their modern contemporaries, and if we’re being honest, disciples.  There are few bands in the world of thrash who can contend with the level of guitar virtuosity that these two bring to the table on a track by track basis.  Their blend of speed and craft, as evidenced in the solo of…oh, just pick one…”Declaration” is the kind of lost art that we haven’t really seen since Lazarus A.D and recalls the original, untamed days of Slayer.

The second thing that separates INC is their ability to flip the switch and instantly go big on their presentation.  This was something “Heaven Sent… …Hellbound” did with great success, and we see the seeds of that here as well.  The opening build of “Nemesis” is a tremendous example of the way in which even as straight-ahead a genre as thrash can set a scene and create an atmosphere.

For all that, the album’s jewel is actually the second track, “Identifier.”  It’s possessed of a simple, wide-open riff that doesn’t evolve into something more until Gergely’s vocals, of all things, set the pace for the entire track.  The lyrics are deliriously random and better for the fact, so when the song finally breaks, the listener can’t help but start to smile.  The open space and throaty bassline come together to set the table for the Judas Priest-esque galloping guitar solo that follows.  This is the album’s high-water mark.

We’ve heaped well-deserved praise to this point, but there are some cautionary notes worth mentioning.  There are choruses that are disjointed to the point of being distracting, including “Unscathed” and even the title track.  In these moments, the attempt to change the pace or shift the focus of a song breaks too far from the established rhythm and loses momentum.  Also, as ever with a thrash album, the reality is that there will be songs that just don’t work as well, and “Salmonella” isn’t a bad track per se, but it’s easily skippable when weighed against the album’s other triumphs.

In the grand scheme, those are relatively minor and ultimately forgivable transgressions.  “Terrible Things” is an excellent return to form from a band who is proving with each effort that they are still vital and relevant in their chosen genre.  This album, when paired with the two that came before it, also cements the band’s versatility, which means the horizon is still an intriguing prospect; INC, after so many years, is still leaving us with the idea that we haven’t seen everything they can do yet.  In terms of pure thrash, INC stands at the forefront with Power Trip in leading the genre into the next age.  In fact, they should tour together.  Let’s make that happen.

Album Review: Louise Lemon - A Broken Heart Is An Open Heart

Music isn't fun anymore. That sounds a bit dramatic, doesn't it? I admit that, but there's more than a hint of truth to it. In the mainstream, pop music has become so dour and minimalist that there's no more bright shiny songs that make us smile. In the rock and metal worlds, more and more of the music that garners interest is venturing further and further into the recesses of darkness. It isn't fun to listen to music most of the time. But it doesn't have to be fun. There are times when the darkness is what we want, and when that happens, there is more than one way to filter the moonlight. For an artist like Louise Lemon, playing with shadows becomes an art form.

In these thirty-four minutes, she uses dark sounds and emotions to cut our heartstrings, rather than pull at them. This is a trying record, one that you can't take lightly, or out into the light. Like a vampire, it can only exist in the darkness.

Louise's songs are charcoal sketches, monochrome images that are as blunt as they are nuanced. But they are also sketches in the sense that they aren't fully fleshed out into songs that effectively carry out their mission. The opening "Sunlight" is three minutes long, but spends the entire first half setting up the mood, so there isn't much to reveal once the stage has been set. With this kind of slow-burning atmosphere, more time is needed to properly draw out the maximum effect. Many of these songs move in and out of the melodies so fast they feel incomplete.

"Not Enough" is a case where everything comes together, which is why it was chosen as the single to introduce the world to the record. There are spartan pianos that bring to mind some of Adele's ballads, but then the hook of the song swells with a fuzzy drone guitar, not the orchestral backing you might expect. That gives Louise's music a dirtier, grittier sound that contrasts well with her voice.

This is a subtle album, perhaps too subtle. Louise has a lovely voice, and the smoky after-hours vibe works, but I'm left with a hunger for a bit more bite to the songs. I can do soft and somber, but I still need something in the songs to hook me in. Neither the pianos nor Louise's melodies are able to do that. Everything is pretty, but ephemeral like a chalk drawing on the sidewalk. You know it will disappear as soon as a light shower passes along. In the same way, even though I can appreciate the music I'm hearing, I know it will wane in my memory until it is fully eclipsed.

I sometimes talk about prog being music made more for the musician than the audience. I get that same impression from this record. It feels like something Louise needed to make, and enjoys pouring her voice into, but it is so insular to her interpretation that we aren't able to make that same connection. There are a couple of moments when we come close, mostly the most upbeat (though still not happy) songs, "Not Enough" and "Cross". Those tracks hit on a sound that is dark, nuanced, but still lively enough to catch your attention. If the record was more like that, it would be easier to recommend.

As it is, Louise Lemon has made a record that is sonically beautiful, and perhaps the right soundtrack for a certain mood. What it isn't, though, is a record that will be engaging enough to keep my interest over time.

Singles Roundup: Jasmine Cain, Kim Jennett, Rob Thomas, Pink, & Jazel

I have been absolutely swamped in both February and March with new releases, and I need a break from covering all of those albums, so let's take today to talk about a few singles, and what they may or may not mean for the near-term future.

Jasmine Cain - Brave

The first taste of Jasmine's upcoming album "Seven", this song hits all the marks I was looking for. The guitars mesh 80s rock (a la The Night Flight Orchestra) with undertones of 90s alternative, while there are sly melodic phrasings that make every line memorable. And then there's the chorus, which is a showcase for Jasmine's voice, which is massively powerful, and the right mix of rocking and sultry. I love her tone, and she sounds great on both the softer parts, and the huge belted notes. I've been wondering how Jasmine was going to follow up "White Noise", a record I still listen to regularly, and if this is any indication, the answer is going to be "very well, thank you".

Kim Jennett - Let Me Be The One

I previously mentioned her "Love Like Suicide" as one of the best songs of the year so far, and now we get the second single from an upcoming album. This one has more groove to it, sounding like it came from the 70s, and not the 90s like the first track did. It's a solid song, but the whole thing is centered around her vocals, which are fantastic. She's an ass-kicking rock singer, and hearing her belt this song is something. I'm looking forward to hearing more, because she's making a name for herself as a real vocal talent.

Rob Thomas - One Less Day

It feels like it's been forever since I heard from Rob Thomas, especially since the Matchbox Twenty comeback was a mundane bust. I loved Matchbox, and his first two solo albums were really good, so I'm always interested to see where his head is. Today, he's ruminating on being old enough that he can't 'die young'. He's always been a good songwriter, so melodically this is a fine track. The problem is it's modern pop, so it's filled with plastic instrumentation that sounds so small and fake, compared to the similar material he did on "Mad Season". Too old to die young, he's probably too old to rock again.

Pink - Walk Me Home

Production is apparently harder than I think it should be. I thought her vocals on "What About Us" were pushed to the point of distortion, which marred an otherwise lovely track. This time, "Walk Me Home" is hampered by synthetic production that doesn't allow the song to take off. It's a simple track, and it's fine (not as good as the aforementioned), but it relies entirely on the slowdown leading to the explosive last chorus. Except the production is so thin it never explodes. What could have been is left to the imagination, and this single wastes another fine Pink performance.

Jazel - Go Away

Speaking of Pink, Jazel has a strong vocal resemblance to her, but her song is a stronger pop number. The jangling guitars breathe well for modern production, combining with the synths to give layers and depth to the instrumental bed. It's a slinky number, with just enough bounce to stand out from the dark pop dominating today. She has a lovely voice that's breathy without being rough, smooth without being plastic. I don't listen to a lot of pop anymore, but this is the kind of stuff I can get into.

Album Review: Weezer - The Black Album

Let's dispel a notion; Rivers Cuomo was never great. He had a brief moment when he wrote songs that caught people's attention, and he helped start a movement that turned into a cadre of hipsters whining about their bullshit problems, but he has always been an immensely troubled songwriter. "The Blue Album" made people smile with the nerd image and "Buddy Holly" video, but underneath the surface were already clues that Rivers should have been kept at arm's reach. The depths of his lyrical genius were found as he wrote about having a Kitty Pride poster on his wall, or lamented a fraying sweater. He referenced Kerouac, which was an apt comparison. Like "On The Road", Weezer was ushering in a movement where reciting the minutia of the day-to-day was considered art, when it was really laziness.

I love "Pinkerton", as most awkward people around my age tended to. I still listen to that record, and I can get caught up in the angst that record captured. But let's not pretend Rivers was worth praising at that point in life. He was a miserable bastard writing miserable bastard songs, rattling off lists of women he either had sex with or wanted to have sex with, fetishized a letter from a barely of-age girl from Japan, and skirted the bounds of homophobia on "Pink Triangle". And all of that was during his 'good' phase.

Things only got worse as Rivers grew older, and couldn't cope with it. He chased trends, grew a porn 'stache, and wrote songs about being terrified of spiders (though I do like that tune), and how cheese smells on burnt lamb. Put it together and you get a portrait of a man who, fifty years ago, would have been shamed into a Howard Hughes type of seclusion. Rivers can come up with catchy melodies. That is his only redeeming feature, as his discography with Weezer has proven to us time and time again.

And so we reach "The Black Album", the well-titled nadir of a career that has been sinking for half of my life.

If it wasn't for the fact Rivers has already written an even worse album in the form of "Raditude", this would be the key piece of evidence at the trial formally judging him no longer worth giving a damn about. As he has told people, he writes some of his songs by gluing together random lines he has written in notebooks. Keep that in mind when he gets to "blah blah blah" at the end of the chorus in "Zombie Bastards". He has copious lines he's been waiting for years to use, and he couldn't even fill out three more syllables in a song they RELEASED AS A SINGLE.

Rivers started his career talking about having a KISS poster on his wall, and then ripping off the solo to "Rock You Like A Hurricane". We are a far cry from those days, as he has fully sold out to the modern machine. These songs are glossy pop. Sure, they're played with more real instruments, but there isn't anything other than River's voice and insanity to tie this to any previous stage of Weezer's career.

"Let's do hard drugs," River opens "Piece Of Cake" singing. That's an apt metaphor for the record, since a state of mental impairment is needed to think this is anything other than a pathetic grasping at youth by someone who refuses to grow up. If Rivers was a man of more means, I can imagine him as batshit insane as Elizabeth Bathory, bathing in the blood of Weezer fans who are virgins to hearing good music.

For a long time, I was able to overlook some of Rivers' obvious issues, because he was able to write some great hooks. Let's dispense with that; there isn't a single good tune on this album. Even if you thought "The Green Album" was a formulaic, emotionless exercise in writing by spreadsheet (which it was), it was simultaneously more rocking, more fun, and more honest than this outing. "The Black Album" has only one thing supposedly going for it; Rivers now swears!

If ever there was a statement that shows how far Weezer has sunk, it's that they feel the need at this age to start saying "fuck" to give themselves some edge. "Island In The Sun" was like deathmatch wrestling compared to this.

Just when you think Weezer can't get any worse, they find a way to crush your soul even harder. At this point, I'm ashamed the band ever meant anything to me. "The Black Album" is a black hole of talent and creativity, a cosmic vortex of suck that eats everything alive. I've said it before, and I probably won't stick to it this time either, but Weezer is dead to me.

Album Review: Children of Bodom - "Hexed"

The first time listening to “Hexed,” the new album from Finnish death metal powerhouse Children of Bodom, compels the listener to immediately recall the past. 

For myself, this meant going back to three albums in particular, all in an effort to make sure that what I thought I thought was actually what I thought (my consciousness is a strange place.)  With haste, “Halo of Blood,””I Worship Chaos,” and reaching all the way back to “Follow the Reaper,” all went into my playlists.

The first two because “Hexed” sounds like a stark departure from the path CoB had been inexorably marching down for two complete album cycles.  The last because this was the closest touchstone to what “Hexed” represents.

That is not to say that this new album is simply a re-tread by a band wending their own nostalgic avenue through the corridors of what was successful before.  “Hexed” is a grinning, sauntering demon all its own, though it does remorselessly abandon the tenets of its two predecessors.

From the opening crunch of “This Road,” the mission statement could not be more lucid – “Hexed” is to draw from the myriad of influences that have shaped both Children of Bodom and their chosen genre since its collective inception.  Certainly and above all there is blistering metal in its undiluted form, but the molten liquid is poured into punk rock casts, producing ingots of an altogether different composition.

At the tip of this album’s spear is the glossy precision of Alexi Laiho’s guitar playing, which remains the band’s feature element more than twenty years into their career.  The acrobatics of the primary riff of “Glass Houses” is evidence enough that in an era of metal gone mad with brutality, Children of Bodom still carries the banner for comparatively clean guitar artistry and provides a safe haven where six-string nerds can get their daily bread.

Where the punk roots start to show is right at the album’s fulcrum from side A to side B with “Kick in a Spleen,” which surely bears the hallmarks of death metal’s doctrine, but abbreviates it with staccato riffs and gang choruses that sound like the intersection of the Casualties and classic Anthrax.
One need not get farther than the title track to see the tie-in to “Follow the Reaper.”  “Hexed” the song would have fit right in between “Children of Decadence” and “Everytime I Die” some eighteen years ago.  The very same idiomatic guitar exhibitions, furious snare pounding and consummate keyboard dressing that propelled that album lives in the blast furnace of this one.

As the album begins to sunset, it lashes out again with “Say Never Look Back,” which for all the memorable tracks contained within, might be the album’s singly most infectious.  A fire-starter at the outset, the song pauses with genius at the one-minute mark to introduce a new, simple and entirely too catchy main riff, before it folding it back into the larger mix to be revisited later.  The insistent but not overbearing beat makes the song easily digestible and suddenly we have the makings of a true album ear worm.

“Hexed” is easily the best CoB album since 2011’s “Relentless Reckless Forever,” though it is an entirely different beast than that timeless classic.  “RRF” reveled in deep riffs and groovy hooks, which “Hexed” eschews in favor of climatic guitarcraft.  Neither is right or wrong in the grand scheme of composing a great album, but the dichotomy serves to illustrate just how versatile the band has been across their career.

There are no real weak points to “Hexed.”  Even the lesser cuts such as “Soon Departed” are enjoyable and can be disparaged only in the sense that they do not meet the lofty ambitions of some of the selections discussed above.  The album also goes by in a flash; in just a shade over forty-five minutes, eleven songs have come and gone, so the album doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Following the incessant hammering of “Halo of Blood” and the introspection and change of “I Worship Chaos,” “Hexed” is a reminder that Children of Bodom hasn’t forgotten their roots, or forgotten how to set to standard for the occasionally floundering genre of death metal.  This album damn near everything right and is a worthy addition to the band’s evolving legacy.

Album Review: Twin Temple - Bring You Their Signature Sound... Satanic Doo-Wop

Over the course of a year, I listen to what I feel is a lot of music. In that exploration, I find plenty of great music, and plenty of terrible music, but most of it all fits into neat little boxes. The genres we have created are rather tight, and with so many years of being influenced by exactly the same kind of music being made now, it all starts to get a bit derivative. That doesn't stop that great stuff from being great, but finding something truly unique is a rarity. So when something does come along that is completely out of left field, that I can honestly say I've never heard before, that deserves a bit of attention. That's where we are today.

Twin Temples have the distinction of being the first group I have ever encountered who are mixing 50s doo-woo and rock n' roll with outright satanism. No, you didn't read that wrong. They really are combining the origins of rock with the origins of evil.

We kick things off with "The Devil (Didn't Make Me Do It)", which opens with a shuffling rhythm, saxophone hits, and a guitar line that is as reminiscent of The Munsters as Chuck Berry. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be taking things deadly serious or not, but I have a hard time not cracking a smile and chuckling when the backing vocals in the chorus start crooning "Beelzebub". It's charming stuff, even if it isn't meant to be. That's the main feeling I get from the record, one of warm nostalgia for a bygone sound. The record does a remarkable job of sounding like a lost 50s album, from the songwriting notes to the slight distortion washing over the sound.

On a song like "I'm Wicked", the duo takes on the guise of a film noir jazz club, with a sultry number that builds some dark drama. It's the sort of thing I could easily imagine playing in the background of a montage in a period film about a serial killer. It's remarkably effective at capturing that mood, even if the multiple key changes in the last minute might be one too many. Being a bit over the top is fitting, anyway.

This record is challenging in the sense that it's a sound we don't hear anymore, so few people will go into it already a fan of what Twin Temple is doing. You need to have an open mind to appreciate this twisted throwback, but if you give it a chance, I think you'll find there is something delightful about their dark offering, for the most part. Through the bulk of the album, we get some rather intriguing sounds. The two segue pieces aren't necessary, but they also don't really get in the way. The first ten tracks of the record are easy to enjoy.

But then the record spoils a lot of that good will by ending with a nearly seven minute recitation of a satanic 'initiation'. It's much talking and organ chords, and not a song at all. Including it here might reaffirm their commitment to their beliefs, but it doesn't do a thing for the record. Putting non music on an album is always a terrible idea, and it is here as well. Thankfully, it's the last track, so it's easier to ignore, but for the purposes of reviewing the album I can't pretend it doesn't exist.

In the end, what Twin Temple has given us is temptation. They have created a sound, and a record, that slithers alongside and points us in the direction of darkness. Until the end, it's not hard to see how one would be swayed to the dark side.