Territory's Edge - Best New Metal of December 2021

Happy New Year 2022! As December tends to be, this month was lean for new metal albums, and none of these entries cover new full-length material.  However, heavy music still provided plenty to cover.  One particular song marked an exciting return for a band that has been essentially MIA for over eight years.  Arch Enemy and Venom Prison both released excellent second singles this winter, while other bands familiar to me like Sylosis, Nonpoint, and Fit For an Autopsy put out songs this month as well. 

Be on the lookout for several big posts on the way in January.  I'm currently working on finishing an in-depth breakdown of my best-of list for 2021, as well as a full-length review/essay on Silent Planet's Iridescent. 

Karnivool - "All It Takes"

Let's start with the big one first.  Australian progressive alt rock group Karnivool, whose 2009 opus Sound Awake combined an energetic catchiness with sprawling prog-rock ambition, is back. "All It Takes" uses the same producer as that album and marks the first stage of a new project with more to come.  While their vocalist Ian Kenny has remained active in the alternative group Birds of Tokyo, December 10th ended an eight-year-and-a-half gap since 2013's Asymmetry.  (In the interim though, Karnivool still played shows, including supporting Deftones for their 2016 Australian tour and recently livestreaming a playthrough of Sound Awake.)  It's suffice to say there's no rust in sight on the new single.

Sevendust - "All I Really Know"/"What You Are"

 

Reliable Atlanta alternative metal mainstays Sevendust put out a special edition of last year's Blood and Stone with two newly released tracks and three remixes.  "All I Really Know" and "What You Are" are the two B-side tracks recorded during the album sessions.  On a side note, while I'm generally not a fan of remixes of rock and metal songs, the three that appear are all mixed by artists well-versed in the metal world and retain much of the identity of the originals.  Jake Bowen (electronics in Periphery) produces a chilled-out take on opener "Dying to Live", and his solo ambient electronic project The Daily Sun is worth checking out as well.

Cult of Luna - "Cold Burn"

The Swedish post metal band releases their new album titled The Long Road North on February 11, which the band described as "big-sounding" and "cinematic".  "Cold Burn" is a slow-burning, brooding sludge metal track that opens up the upcoming 9-track project.  The black-and-white visualizer video doubles as a preview from The Long Road North game designed in collaboration for the album, representing a lengthy, uncertain journey.  Building visuals to accompany the music and taking it a step further by allowing listeners to interact within that visual plane is a creative premise.  The band aims to move forward and believes that adding these storytelling elements will be prevalent in the future of music video design. 

Arch Enemy - "House of Mirrors"

 

December brought another single from Swedish death metal outfit Arch Enemy.  The melodic opening guitar riff from Michael Ammott immediately commands attention, in a track that vocalist Alissa White-Gluz described as being "about the dark twists and turns of the human psyche".  While its predecessor "Deceiver, Deceiver" was good in its own right, I consider "House of Mirrors" to the be the stronger single of the two.  While no additional full-length been confirmed at this point, a new album announcement within early 2022 seems likely. 

Venom Prison - "Pain of Oizys"

When covering "Judges of the Underworld" last month, I took note of the Greek mythology metaphors present on Venom Prison's upcoming album Erebos.  The UK band's most recent song holds true to that concept, taking its title from a lesser-known goddess of grief, anxiety and woe.  "Pain of Oizys", as interpreted through its music video, represents the struggle with inner torment - and ultimately finding liberation in the midst of it, as the protagonist finds her way to the dawn of a new day at the end.  The band's most dynamic track to date, "Pain of Oizys" is the first to completely pivot away from Venom Prison's established death metal style.  However, it does not sacrifice intensity as the subdued instrumentation hosts both cleanly sung and screamed vocals.  It's a song intended to lead the listener into a "false sense of security", as guitarist Ben Thomas described.  Vocalist Larissa Stupar has indeed made good on her word that Erebos would represent a new phase for her group while still remaining recognizable.  Larissa stated that "Pain of Oizys" ultimately represents a message of empowerment while acknowledging her own depression.  Saying, "It's about respecting that I want to live with it, instead of not wanting to live at all.  It's about catharsis; about feeling empowered in who you are instead of looking to find yourself as somebody different.  If you stay strong, you can survive anything." It's an excellent message of both honesty and hope, and one of the reasons why this band earned a spot here two months in a row. 

Sevendust - Blood & Stone (2020)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rise Records, October 23, 2020

Tracklist

1. Dying to Live

2. Love

3. Blood From a Stone

4. Feel Like Going On

5. What You've Become

6. Kill Me

7. Nothing Left To See Anymore

8. Desperation

9. Criminal

10. Against the World

11. Alone

12. Wish You Well

13. The Day I Tried to Live

 

 Twelve albums in, Sevendust has little to prove.  The band long ago established their longevity and status as a respected and influential alternative metal group.  However, while Sevendust has gained a dedicated fanbase, they've remained slightly below the radar for an active rock band that's been around since the late 1990s.   In their earlier years, Sevendust was known for being one of the first prominent African-American fronted alternative metal bands at the time.  Lajon Witherspoon and his powerful, soul-influenced vocals have given the band a distinctive, unmistakable sound.  Looking at the track titles, one might assume the band to be in a state of turbulence and internal conflict, but that is not the case.  In actuality they get along well, and Sevendust's lineup of five has remained remarkably steady over the years.  The only change came in 2005 when guitarist Clint Lowery left temporarily and Sonny Mayo took his place for three albums.

Blood & Stone is not as intense as its predecessor, All I See is War, which was heavy and riff-driven on eleven of twelve songs.  Tracks like "Dying to Live", "Kill Me" and "Blood From a Stone" are fairly standard Sevendust songs similar to previous material on Cold Day Memory or Black Out the Sun.  These tracks are solid for what they are but don't deviate from the band's previously established sound.  "Desperation" is a spiritual, passionate track where Lajon sings about the desire to be free and finding a place to breathe.   It's unclear whether these references are in the context of an interpersonal relationship or addressing society at large, but they could easily apply to both.   Sevendust has had a larger social message of antiracism and unity from the very beginning with "Black", the first track on their self-titled debut and a quote that appeared inside the album credits.   

Other songs are focused on melody and hooks.   The fourth track, "Feel Like Going On" is the album's first power ballad of sorts.  "Alone" is reminiscent of the direction Sevendust took on Seasons.  Lajon's singing drives the track and the backing music stays restrained until the bridge.  Another slower, Seasons-style song "Criminal" pairs its frustrated lyrics with a moody post-grunge/nu-metal guitar sound.   Now these songs are nothing I would describe as "arena ready" hooks but left to their own devices, Sevendust have never aimed for being commercial anyway.   They are focused on making great music together.   The most accessible cut is their cover of Soundgarden's "The Day I Tried to Live", which has been pushed as a radio single. 

Overall Blood & Stone offers a strong performance from everyone involved.  Guitarist Clint Lowery has been an integral part of the band's quality since his return from a three-album absence.  He does seem to have a more significant role on here as a backup vocalist for Lajon, with "Love" being the song where he is the most prominent.  Lowery has stayed busy with his own solo material, releasing both an album and an EP earlier this year.  The same could be said for drummer Morgan Rose, who has a solo EP on the way this year.   The album does not have any songs that stand out as being bad or unappealing, with the weaker tracks simply being average at worst.   Sevendust maintain all elements of their signature sound.  They don't deviate from what works for them, though it is clear growth and change has happened when you look back at their discography.  In contrast to the passionate and often vitriolic lyrics on albums like Alpha and Animosity, subsequent albums used swearing sparsely, some dropping it altogether.  You get the sense that the band achieved a real catharsis on Alpha and would not write an album that angry again.  Progression is vital for a band to stay relevant over time.  Sevendust has maintained their core sound, not losing what made them a prominent band in the alternative metal scene, while growing and maturing along the way.   Blood & Stone earns a score of 9/10.

Northlane - Mesmer (2017)

UNFD/Rise Records, March 24, 2017

Tracklist

1. Citizen

2. Colourwave

3. Savage

4. Solar

5.Heartmachine

6. Intuition

7. Zero-One
8. Fade
9. Render
10. Veridian

11. Paragon 

 

A little over a year ago, the Australian progressive metal band Northlane released the dark and experimental project Alien, which became my favorite album of 2019.   Part of understanding Alien involves taking a look back at Mesmer, the band's 2017 album that preceded it.   Mesmer was released as a "surprise" full-length on March 24, 2017 with no foreshadowing of its release.  A major step up in quality from Node, this project marked Marcus Bridge's second album as frontman.  Mesmer was not only an excellent album in its own right, it showed glimpses of what was to come next for Northlane. 

The eleven tracks of Mesmer maintain an atmospheric, spacey overtone at some point or another.  Aggressive riffs from Jon Deiley and drop-tuned basslines from Alex Milovic set a heavy backdrop that is balanced out with atmospheric vocals and electronics.  Compared with Node, the overall presentation is more cohesive, as the writing and structure builds around Marcus Bridge's vocal skill rather than simply integrating his voice into the band's previous sound.  Showcasing his beautiful vocal delivery, tracks like "Colourwave", "Zero-One" and "Savage" float in and out and emphasize melody.  The catchiest song "Heartmachine" recalls Periphery with an infectious djent riff and vocal melody.   "Intuition", the heaviest and angriest track, follows as a strong counterpoint.   Northlane show that dynamics are a clear strength.  Overall, the pacing and structure of Mesmer is excellent.  This includes "Veridian", the song I consider the weakest of the bunch.

While I consider Alien to be Northlane's opus in terms of concept, structure and lyricism, Mesmer shows great strength in the songwriting department as well.  The music and writing work in sync - the subject matter reflects the sound of these songs.  A key example of this is album highlight "Savage" which is about space exploration and opens with some otherworldly sounding production.  On Mesmer, rhythm guitarist Josh Smith wrote most of the lyrics, while two tracks were written by Marcus Bridge.  While the songs are about specific situations, they vary in subject matter.  Opener "Citizen" is about surveillance and refers to the CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden.  The final track "Paragon" is a tribute to Architects guitarist Tom Searle, who died from cancer in 2016.   Other tracks deal with personal issues such as "Colourwave", which Josh wrote about "a really dark time in my life" and  "Heartmachine", which is about a former girlfriend of Marcus and the fallout they both experienced.  However, none of these songs feel out of place here.  "Fade" which mentions Marcus' father's death.  This was the first Northlane song to discuss his violent and troubled father, but was a subject that would be discussed more in-depth on Alien.  And like on Alien, the music of one song often flows right into the next track.  So while these songs may be discussing different topics, the album maintains a cohesion and unity throughout its runtime.  The production, which is neither raw nor polished, is also consistent.  While overall it could be sharper and clearer, it gets the job done.

Northlane is a band of two different eras.  Their early material with Adrian had a distinct sound that other artists would follow after and be influenced by (Invent Animate's Stillworld album is a good example).  With the arrival of Marcus they again found a niche, emphasing atmosphere and his vocal strengths.  Through it all, Northlane is a band that never stops moving forward, always trying something new while keeping the quality high.  Mesmer scores a 9.5/10 rating.

Haste the Day - Attack of the Wolf King (2010)

Solid State Records, June 29, 2010

Tracklist

1.Wake Up the Sun

2. Dog Like Vultures

3.The Quiet, Deadly Ticking

4. Travesty

5.Merit for Sadness

6.The Un-Manifest

7. The Place Where Most Deny
8. White As Snow
9. Crush Resistance
10. Walk With a Crooked Spin
11. My Name is Darkness

This entry is one in a series of ten-year retrospectives from my favorite albums of 2010.

There seems to be a theme of wolves within Christian metalcore, with bands such as Wolves at the Gate and To Speak of Wolves making their mark in the scene.  Before Wolves at the Gate released their debut album, there was Attack of the Wolf King, which I consider to be Haste the Day’s best and most engaging album by a wide margin.  The band has had some lineup changes over the years most notably with original harsh vocalist Jimmy Ryan leaving before Pressure the Hinges and returning after the band reunited.  The band has definitely made some catchy and memorable songs over the years like “Stitches”, “Chorus of Angels” and “When Everything Falls”, but the albums themselves tended to be follow a similar formula the whole way through.  Attack of the Wolf King, however, mixes different styles and moods showing different creative ideas and within the metalcore genre.

This album is not short of standout tracks.  “Travesty” has an upbeat chorus and sounds bright and uplifting, while “Crush Resistance” is aggressive and menacing.  Taking a slower approach but still heavily guitar driven is “White As Snow”.  This song follows an alternative metal style and is capped off with an excellent guitar riff that stands in place of a bridge.  As one would infer from the title and cover art, the lyrics are themed around sheep and wolves (and also include multiple references to jackals).  Stephen Keech's vocals also are much improved from his first album, particularly the lower range screaming.  

The songwriting is another strong point, as the songs use metaphors to tell a story and making good use of imagery.  Some of the songs are rather clear in terms of their message like "Travesty", which talks about grace, while others like "Walk With a Crooked Spine" are more ambiguous.  The sheep and wolf theme stays consistent throughout the album, and it's a nicely done concept record.  As a whole, Attack of the Wolf King is easily the most interesting and diverse album Haste the Day has released.  It earns a score of 8/10. 

Deftones - Diamond Eyes (2010)

Reprise Records, May 4, 2010

Tracklist

1. Diamond Eyes
2. Royal
3.CMND/CTRL
4. You've Seen the Butcher
5.Beauty School
6. Prince
7.Rocket Skates
8. Sextape
9. Risk
10. 976-EVIL
11.This Place is Death
12. Do You Believe (bonus track)
13. Ghosts (bonus track)

A favorite of critics and musicians alike, Deftones’ style of alternative metal takes the term influential to the next level. Like the album before it, Diamond Eyes is a study in the beauty of contrasts. Guitarist Stephen Carpenter's affinity for the Swedish technical metal titans Meshuggah has been well documented, as is vocalist Chino Moreno's appreciation of decidedly softer acts like Interpol and Depeche Mode. Deftones' guitar sound has also evolved over the years - initially they used six-string guitars on their first few albums, before incorporating seven strings and finally eight, as is heard on Diamond Eyes. The presence of Carpenter's pummeling 8-string riffs and Chino's dynamic vocal performance ensure that both influences are well represented here. The keyboard and DJ sounds from Frank Delgado along with the technical rhythm section of bassist Sergio Vega and drummer Abe Cunningham add further nuance to the band's sound.

The circumstances behind this album were very difficult ones, as Diamond Eyes was written while the band members were in the midst of a tragic situation with the loss of their founding bassist Chi in an auto accident. Part of the therapeutic process in the midst of these terrible circumstances was the direction Deftones took toward the tone of the album. Chino has stated that the band made a concerted effort to pour their energy and emotion into a new album that was more optimistic. The members of Deftones kept writing together and reworking the songs until they sounded perfect, and it shows. Also worth noting is that Chino's vocal performance on this album is far superior to their previous effort Saturday Night Wrist, an album he admits he dislikes because he sounded unconfident. Here he sounds much more in control, and fully centered on these songs. “Royal” is a nice showcase of his vocal strength as he switches effortlessly from soothing tenor vocals to screams that convey the ferocity of a cougar. In addition to the wide range of vocal styles, the structure of the album is also varied and set up very well. Two of the album's heaviest, most riff-centric cuts, "You've Seen the Butcher" and "Rocket Skates", are immediately followed up with the two softest, most serene tracks. "Beauty School" in particular is a song that really excels in the laid-back, ballad style. 

Diamond Eyes is a project I see as being the most essential record of the year. The dichotomy on this album had a major impact and influence, especially to the progressive metal and djent movement of the decade. While maybe not as influential as their 2000 landmark White Pony album, it at least comes close. Meshuggah is the group that is often viewed as starting that subgenre, but Deftones were the band that combined that riff style with a dynamic vocal style that made melody just as important to the songs. For these reasons, Diamond Eyes makes a strong case as the best album of 2010 and earns a score of 10/10.

Sevendust - Cold Day Memory (2010)

Asylum Records, April 20, 2010

Tracklist

1. Splinter
2. Forever
3. Unraveling
4. Last Breath
5. Karma
6. Ride Insane
7. Confessions (Without Faith)
8. Nowhere
9. Here and Now
10. The End is Coming
11. Better Place
12. Strong Arm Broken

Sevendust has been known for their solid track record in the alternative metal scene. This particular album had a lot of hype from the bands fanbase, and when you combine a fantastic vocal performance as always from Lajon Witherspoon with the return of founding guitarist Clint Lowery, the end result has to be good. This album remains their highest charting project to date. Alpha contained a few fantastic songs like “Burn”, and the experimental Chapter VII explored interesting new territory for the Atlanta alternative metal band, but you could tell that Clint brought something special to the band when he came back. In between that time, Clint had stayed busy with Dark New Day and touring as a temporary guitarist for Korn.

“Unraveling”, their highest charting rock single to date, showed that Sevendust is one of the most consistently talented groups to be part of the active rock scene. There are no bad songs anywhere on Cold Day Memory, however there are a couple of tracks on here that, while still good, didn’t quite live up to their full potential. Namely, these are “Confessions (Without Faith)” and “The End is Coming”, both of which had excellent buildup and verses, but choruses that weren’t so strong. I was listening to the first part of these tracks expecting to hear something amazing and they just came up a little short of that. However, elsewhere on the album, songs like “Unraveling” and “Karma” ramp up the anticipation with the introductory sections and each has just as strong of a hook as it were building up to be. “Better Place” and “Last Breath” also stand out nicely. The heaviest cut “Strong Arm Broken” closes out the album with a bang and really showcases Clint Lowery’s guitar work, proving that his return only made the band stronger. I’d say this album is on equal ground with their self-titled debut in terms of how I view it.

Looking at their subsequent releases over the decade, I see that this group has not looked back since in terms of consistent quality output. While the band may have albums like All I See Is War and Animosity that I enjoy more, Cold Day Memory is nothing short of another solid release from Sevendust. It earns a score of 8/10.

Loathe - I Let It In and It Took Everything (2020)

SharpTone Records, February 7, 2020

Tracklist

1. Theme

2. Aggressive Evolution

3. Broken Vision Rhythm

4. Two-Way Mirror

5. 451 Days

6. New Faces In The Dark

7. Red Room

8. Screaming

9. Is It Really You?

10. Gored

11. Heavy Is The Head That Falls With The Weight Of A Thousand Thoughts

12. A Sad Cartoon

13. A Sad Cartoon Reprise

14. I Let It In and It Took Everything...

Based in Liverpool, England, Loathe is making their mark as one of the most multidimensional and interesting up-and-coming bands in the metal scene. Inspired by groups such as Slipknot and Deftones, as well as soundtracks like Silent Hill, the band hybridizes those influences into a punishingly heavy hardcore/djent sound that is not short of melody or experimental elements. I Let It In and It Took Everything is the follow-up to their 2017 album, The Cold Sun. In between, they released two tracks "White Hot" and "Servant and Master" for a split 2018 EP with Holding Absence. Both of those tracks displayed Loathe's songwriting growth and abilities within a short time, and their new full-length album progresses the band even further.

Kadeem France, the band's frontman and vocalist, has plenty of raw power to his voice. His voice complements the dual guitar attack of Erik Bickerstaffe and Connor Sweeney. "Broken Vision Rhythm", "Gored" and "Heavy Is the Head That Falls With the Weight of a Thousand Thoughts" are all-out onslaughts that show just how heavy Loathe can get. The latter track even ventures into black metal territory with its use of blast beats and Kadeem France incorporating a snarling vocal style. Other songs like "Aggressive Evolution" and "New Faces in the Dark" display that signature aggression and cover similar territory to "White Hot" with punishingly heavy sections that give way to ethereal choruses. While Loathe has plenty of ferocity to their sound they also maintain a dark, ethereal undercurrent throughout. Like a well-written horror movie, I Let It In and It Took Everything is full of peaks and valleys, and the moments of calm give the album a chance to breathe and only further accentuate the brutal sections. The four shortest tracks, "Theme", "451 Days", "Red Room", and "A Sad Cartoon (Reprise)" all act as interludes and add cohesion to the album, strengthening it as a whole. "Screaming", "Two-Way Mirror", "Is It Really You?", "A Sad Cartoon", and the closing title track are heavily atmospheric tracks with varying amounts of melody and experimentation. The haunting closer "I Let It In and It Took Everything" brings all of these elements in full circle and is comparable to Slipknot's "Iowa" in its ability to convey a horror film-like soundscape. 

But before we reach that point, it's by the fourth track "Two-Way Mirror" where it becomes clear Loathe is covering new ground. It is the album's softest song and is driven by ethereal, shoegazy vocals in its entirety. Instrumentally, the guitars are restrained in the verses before coming in with a heavy riff in the chorus. The song has been noted for its Deftones influence, and in fact Chino Moreno, Deftones' lead singer, is a fan of the song. Moreno gave the band some additional promotion prior to the album's release, sharing the music video for "Two-Way Mirror" on his personal social media account, as he frequently does to share a wide variety of music he enjoys. "Is It Really You?" is another Deftones-inspired track that feels like Loathe's homage to Koi No Yokan. The song has a truly beautiful chorus and a song structure that ventures out into atmospheric post-metal territory. While many bands in the rock and metal scene claim Sacramento-based band Deftones as an influence, Loathe is doing something special by making that influence part of their own unique entity rather than attempting to clone or recreate an existing sound. 

The song "Two-Way Mirror" asks the question "What would you do if you weren't afraid?" Loathe is a band who is clearly unafraid to experiment and explore the possibilities of heavy music. I Let It In and It Took Everything is an easy early contender for album of the year and earns a score of 9.5/10. As strong as this album is, it may merely be the beginning of Loathe's potential as they show willingness to continue to take their sound even further.