Black Label Society - Catacombs of the Black Vatican
Zakk
Wylde and his Black Label Society are the perfect example of an
artist who has established his identity and has stuck to his guns.
Over the course of his nine albums with this band Wylde has created a
formidable style of Southern heavy metal boogie rock that is
instantly recognisable and dripping with personality. With every new
release he explores the possibilities within that realm. Their 2013
release Unblackened
showed off their subdued, soulful, and largely acoustic side.
Catacombs of
the Black Vatican
is a violent lurch back towards good times and guitar heroics. It
opens with the powerful combo of ‘Fields of Unforgiveness’, ‘My
Dying Time’, and ‘Believe’. Yes, the Society are in full swing
here and nobody does it better than they do. When it comes to
scorching guitar solos ‘Damn the Flood’ takes the proverbial
cake. But Wylde’s penchant for poignant ballads is present too.
Given his gruff appearance many will be surprised at the tenderness
that he brings to a song like ‘Angel of Mercy’. But that’s just
part of the mystique – the heavy and the heartfelt stand side by
side. This is a gutsy album, entirely assured of its identity, and
willing to play things to the hilt. Catacombs
of the Black Vatican
is everything we have come to love and expect from Black Label
Society.
Rating:
B+
Recommended
tracks: Damn the Flood, My Dying Time
The Afghan Whigs - Do to the Beast
If Ohio’s The Afghan Whigs never got the recognition they deserved in the 80s and 90s their comeback might just right some of those wrongs. With everything to gain and nothing to lose, we have their latest album Do to the Beast, a mere sixteen years since their last release. This albums serves as an apt reminder often that just because music is dark doesn't mean it’s got to be mopey. This album swings, grooves, and often flat-out rocks. 'Parked Outside' opens the album up, kicks the doors wide open, and is possibly the heaviest thing they have ever recorded. What makes this album so thrilling to listen to is that while the songs mesh naturally amongst themselves, inside each one you will find a strange assortment of familiar elements. Elastic guitar leads butt heads with gritty funk ('Matamoros') and soaring pop melodies clash with a creeping piano dirge (‘Lost in the Woods’). This incarnation of the band has been constructed to very much make singer Greg Dulli the star. He and bass player / multi-instrumentalist John Curley are the only two original members who perform here. Luckily these two have an easy chemistry between them. They have reinvented Afghan Whigs into something far broader and more dramatic than the original blueprints allowed for. Do to the Beast achieves something that happens all too rarely in the world of 21st century rock music: it never loses sight of its intelligence and its heart.
Rating:
A-
Recommended
tracks: Parked Outside, Matamoros, These Sticks
Brody Dalle - Diploid Love
Maybe it says a lot about
females in rock nowadays but Brody Dalle seems fated to be spoken of
in relation to the men in her life. At the turn of the millennium she
made snotty, caustic tough chick punk in The Distillers that
coincided with her marriage to Rancid’s Tim Armstrong. Fast forward
to 2014 and we have her debut album under her own name and Diploid
Love will be held up against the work of her new husband, Joshua
Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. While it is a well-made album in
its own right this new comparison is also entirely apt. They both
share a tortured rock sensibility and a penchant for finding the
groove amidst the darkness. From the brutish chords that kick off Rat
Race you have a fairly good idea what you’re in for. This is
straight-forward, fast paced, fist in the air, kick you in the guts
rock and roll. There are moments that are designed to shake up the
formula (like the flamenco flourishes in ‘Underworld’ or the new
wave strut of ‘Carry On’) but they never hang around very long.
Dalle is also backed by a couple of QOTSA players on the album which
further pushes her family ties. Alain Johannes and Michael Shuman
contribute along with Shirley Manson (Garbage) and Nick Valensi (The
Strokes). Manson in particular has great chemistry with Dalle as a
co-vocalist and helps turn ‘Meet the Foetus / Oh the Joy’ into a
high point of the album. Even if Diploid Love doesn’t turn out to
be the most original rock record of 2014 Dalle herself remains a
powerful and engaging figure.
Rating:
C+
Recommended
track: Meet the Foetus / Oh the Joy
Killer Be Killed - Killer Be Killed
Is
there such a thing as too much star power in a band? This is a valid question
that needs to be applied to Killer Be Killed, a new heavy metal super
group and their self-titled album. When you put Max Cavalera
(Soulfly, Sepultura), Troy Sanders (Mastodon), and Greg Puciato
(Dillinger Escape Plan) and Dave Elitch (Mars Volta) together you are
bound to make headlines. With three vocalists on board the
singing/growling is going to play a large part in the album. Puciato,
Sanders, and Cavalera are all well-respected in their own fields and
tackle every track with gusto. Elitch’s background in prog rock
more than equips him to keep pace with these guys on the drums as
well. The riffs are never short of solid, the music energetic, and
this is a heavy album, but the style is fairly uniform right through - a hybrid of groove and thrash with a hint of punk and sludge for flavour. As
fun as ‘Wings of Feather and Wax’ and ‘Face Down’ are at a
certain point fatigue has to set in. The odd track mixes up the tone
and pace (‘Save the Robots’ and ‘Forbidden Fire’ are
particular stand-outs) but they are just not frequent enough to
create a serious deviation from the punishing grind. In spite of the
harsh tone this is on the ‘fun’ end of the metal spectrum. It’s
the sort of fun that inspires young metalheads to mosh manically and
heads to bang. Still it’s hard to shake the feeling that Killer Be
Killed came together as a statement of music celebrity first and
foremost, a solid metal record second.
Rating:
B-
Recommended
tracks: Face Down, Save the Robots
Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots
No
matter what else he does Damon Albarn will always be best known to
most as the real frontman for Blur and the fictional frontman for
Gorillaz. It is little surprise then that his numerous solo projects
have been largely overlooked for these big name affairs. His latest
record is called Everyday
Robots and
it is a marked departure from his previous work. The album cover
portrays Albarn sitting hang-doggedly on a stool in front of a grey
background. Just like putting his name front and centre, this is a
clue as to the sort of album we are in for. For starters the itchy
guitars and bombastic hip-hop beats have been traded in for a gentle
acoustic strum and confessional, sing-along tone. In doing this he
doesn’t sacrifice his sense of humour but the sheer power of his
personality shines through just as bright as ever. The beats are
still there but here Albarn favors the sedate and organic over
rattling club bangers. They are the heartbeat that underpins these
constructions instead of the framework on which everything hangs.
Some of these songs are not entirely divorced from his previous work
(especially some of the more stripped down Gorillaz tracks) it’s
just that they have been allowed to inhabit a new creative space and
shine through with a new voice. And then there are the rare moments
of unrestrained levity when he unleashes joyous numbers like ‘Mr
Tembo’ on the largely unsuspecting listener. Everyday
Robots is a
quintessentially English album from an iconic English artist, veering
casually between the poles of ‘cheery’ and ‘glum’.
Rating:
B-
Recommended tracks: Mr Tembo, Hollow Ponds
And there we have it folks, the end of the month is upon us. In May we can look forward to big-name releases from The Black Keys (Turn Blue) and Jack White (Lazaretto) as well as albums by Lykke Li, Mushroomhead, Swans, and The Roots. Strange times are ahead, true believers. Until next time be a good neighbour and improve your street with good music - if you don't do it, who will?
- Ricardo "The Professor" K
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