Issue 2024-086
Avneya — Road To I
Avneya, from Isreal, is no stranger to the music world. As a member of Obsidian Tide, he has been around for a while. After 8 years of work, he has released his first solo album, as almost a supergroup. Drums are provided by Dan Presland (Ne Obliviscaris) and harsh vocals from Zed Destructive (Winterhorde). Having enjoyed Obsidian Tide, I look forward to this release.
A gentle intro leads us Upon The Shores Of The Afterlife, before a blistering intro of heavy riffs and harsh vocals sow the Seeds Of Immortality. A mix of harsh and clean vocal sections, complete with the melodic sound gives a Amorphis type vibe. Through the rest of the album, there is an abundance of technical and chugging riffs to back up Zed's harsh and aggressive growls, complimented by the various guests on the album.
Emotionally Attached forms a nice break in the ferocity as a soft and minimal ballad before we get thrust back into blistering riffs and solos again.
In short, it is a solid half hour of melodic death metal infused with progressive elements. Technical riffs and complex drums are present at all stages, and the balance between harsh and clean vocals compliments the overall stylistic choice well.
Musically it is extremely well put together and the band Avneya has put together are clearly tight and comfortable with each other's abilities. Unfortunately, his vocals occasionally fall a bit short of the high bar that has been set, but these times are few and are more than made up for by the quality of music throughout.
I'd suggest having a listen to this if you enjoy works by Amorphis, Orphaned Land, Moonspell or Witherscape or the other bands by the members.
Crooked Mouth — Lost:Time
Lost:Time is the fourth album by the Scottish band Crooked Mouth. (Not to be confused by the Lithuanian band with the same name, who seem to be having a much better coverage on social media, where this Scottish band seem to be unaware of Facebook or Bandcamp.) I reckon I've had seen the band name somewhere but never listened to their music, so I decided to change that and picked this album to review it but also to see what I had missed.
Crooked Mouth is the project of composer and guitarist Ken Campbell. The project has been hibernating for nine years due to different reasons, including of course the global pandemic, daily jobs, etc. According to their website, the band remains the same except for the singer, who's has been replaced by LA-based vocalist Randall Thomas. On that point I have to say that there's a lot to appreciate: haunting vocals, atmospheric instrumentation, and a sense of mystery that the band clearly wanted to convey.
The band attempt to merge melancholy with ambition, but ultimately falls short of delivering a truly engaging experience. More than once I have found myself lost in my thoughts while listening to this album. This is a pity, because I really like how the album begins and how the vocals fit into this first song.
Some reminiscences of the great Jerry Cantrell made my expectations grow at first. This started to change really soon since the second song appears as a mix of many things that I don't understand very well. Female vocals that somehow hide the grunge voice I mentioned before, and there are some growls at the end that don't make sense to me. I do like some harsh vocals but not like these. I like it when bands have a combination of female and male vocals, but here I don't see the point.
The raspy and rocker main voice fit well with the most of the music here but the female one adds some folky tone that somehow diverts attention from the music, which in itself is very interesting. Opener title and Shadows Of Our Good Intentions are good examples of this. Interesting dynamic structures and letting the main vocals sound on top of some softer female choruses. This Time is also a favourite of mine for the same reasons.
I don´t feel very comfortable with my review since I'm saying I prefer the female vocals to be less important or even disappear in the whole album but this is how I feel for this particular album. I like several of the songs, but ended up skipping the rest. Please check this album and prove me wrong because I'm sure many of our readers can find this album very interesting.
Feathers And Greed — Feathers And Greed
Every now and again bands go beyond the call of duty and send over an additional album to accompany their most recent effort. Feathers And Greed, originating from Hamburg, provided DPRP with a vinyl version of their 2019 debut Feathers and Greed when they sent us their sophomore album Pari shōkōgun (see below). As first impressions go, this naturally hits top marks, but what about the music?
Well, this admittedly took me quite some time to get into. For as I lowered the needle into the groove I, based on the album cover, was kind of expecting a new-wave 80s sound. Which as it turns is rather besides the truth. The quintet of Feathers and Greed — Jacob Jordan (cello), Luca-Yannik Gierth (vocals, rhythm guitar), Lukas Hagemann (percussion, vocals), Marek Feddern (lead guitar, vocals), René Kretschmer (percussion) — play a mixture of melodic folk rock and classic rock with pinches of psychedelics and prog. Recorded in an organic setting with a focus on acoustic guitars and hand percussion instruments and only sparse moments of electric guitar and keys.
One of the finer aspects in Feather And Greed's music is the delectable use of cello. This brings perfectly befitting bags of emotion, sombreness and melancholy to the music. This enhances the socially reflective context of the gloomy lyrics perfectly. Following the peacefully flowing serene entrance of Tiny Creek, an instrumental composition with virtuous acoustic play and slowly intensifying earthy percussion, you'll hear it is working out wonderfully in Sharing Is Caring. Especially when the cello starts to intertwine with the beautiful acoustic build-up. Next to fine temperamental guitar play, this song is also highlighted by another quality Feathers And Greed feature, which is Gierth's strong expressive and versatile voice, and the excellent harmonies that support him.
In the dark and moody Waste Of Time, his vocals together with the constant threatening melodies yields rewarding images of Pain Of Salvation which becomes even more appealing and worthy of one's attention when Ole Backhaus' keyboards accompanies them. In Angry this starts to share glimpses of Extreme. thanks to the strong harmonies and the alternative rock melodies embedded with tight metal riffs. Help! adds classic rock vibes and early 70s Led Zeppelin impressions. The melodies, from a vocal point of view, manage to conjure up memories of (mid 70s) Aerosmith to me.
Much more appealing and musically interesting are Fuck You (IWDWYTM), a groovy melodic composition that exhibits more proggy arrangements and a nicely constructed bridge that finales in a wonderfully performed restrained finale. And the gradually advancing snail-paced Winding Stair, which slowly intensifies and builds momentum. Expressions of aggression that evokes images of punk-ish Little King before melodies finally culminate in a wonderful swinging coda elevated by dazzling electric guitar work. In a successful saving-the-best-for-last effort, Galaxies I delivers tangible melancholy in small-played grandeur with another wonderful build-up. Excellent electric guitar work framed by deeply touching cello, after which melodies finally escape into infinite spacious silence.
Consistently growing in appeal and beautifully open layered in sound on a whole, I do still have some reservations towards the overall prog aspects of Feather And Greed's debut. But overall this is a nicely crafted album perfectly suitable for those enjoying artful psychedelic (prog)-rock that sometimes brings Pain Of Salvation, Little King, and Outside In to mind.
Feathers And Greed — Pari Shōkōgun
Which brings us to Feathers And Greed's sophomore 2024 effort Pari Shōkōgun. A title that directly refers to the "Paris Syndrome"; a severe form of culture shock characterised by symptoms like delusion, hallucination, de-realisation, and confusion accompanied by anxiety and other sorts of psychosomatic manifestations. Pink glassed psychedelic context in place? Check!
Welcoming Jasper Röthemeyer (bass, vocals) in their midst, Feather And Greed successfully crush the "always difficult second album" phantom. This is thanks to a much fuller and mature presented sound. Excellently construed and diversified compositions, which all sound more melodic, complex, dynamic, rockier, bombastic, heavier and proggier. Apart from the transient acoustic atmospheres of the autumnal resonating Grey Harvest, that is.
Psychedelic elements, lyrical dreariness, and strength of interplay are all still very much intact and at the heart of the compositions. As are the sextet's strong harmonies, Gierth's highly expressive compelling vocals, and the divine tangible sombreness of melancholic cello.
There are however two noticeable and very significant changes. The first one being that the acoustic setting has now favourably shifted towards that of being predominantly electric. And secondly, the one aspect that personally makes me admire this second album so much more, is the changeover of hand percussion into conventional drumming.
The dark Nine, a song designed with a dreamily touching end play and melodies that at times curiously reminds me of Wishbone Ash, and the bluesy restrained 255 0 0 both still feature a fair amount of hand percussion. As does the perfect hybridising Galaxies II, which starts the album most excellently with a moody opening of cello and heavy riffs. It slowly intensifies into organic rock akin to The Flock and Little King. It is followed by a lush rhythmic outburst and a wonderful passage that thrives on expressive vocals and interlocking play, highlighted by a marvellous melancholic guitar solo. But overall these percussive moments, and the accompanying folk influences, are becoming less apparent. And to be honest, this is a change of direction I heartily applaud.
A song I also happily applaud is Hidden Interest. Delightfully bluesy with a hint of Joe Bonamassa and Eric Clapton guitar play, plus organ by Leon Pock in spirit of Gregg Rolie (Santana, Journey), this groovy, funky and impressively variegated song features some extraordinary bass play with heavenly cello. And I wouldn't be much surprised if this irresistible feet-of-the-floor composition would be awarded with enthused sing-along and a salvo of sympathising hand claps when played live.
Other strong compositions are the blues-inspired To Be Honest which showcases a beautiful build-up of catchy classic rock melodies that slowly progress towards a heavy psychedelic high. It is injected with raw and intense vocal deliveries by Gierth. There is also the easy to fall in love with Crush, with its intricately guided melodies and comfortingly fine harmonies. Soothing cello flows gently into deeply touching melancholic movements that from a distance remind of Pavlov's Dog. Until rousing guitar takes passionate hold and the song enchantingly progresses into a slowly fading percussive finale.
The final truly outstanding loveable track, a quality it shares with opener Galaxies II, is the mightily impressive Hometown. With lyrics and musical interpretation in perfect symbioses, Feathers And Greed really pull out all the stops. A profound and increasingly intense stream of moody alternating melodies filled with tense emotions of loneliness, insomnia and despair. It culminates in a coda of heavy psychedelic rock which in combination with Gierth's expressive vocals perfectly evokes visions of a human being's mental breakdown. A beautiful fitting way to round of the album.
Pari Shōkōgun is a great follow-up to Feathers And Greed's solid debut. Bookended by two fantastic composition and captivating on multiple levels from start to finish, it does have some unusual flavours which in likeness to their debut take some effort to get into. But having said that I have to confess that I really enjoy this album and have visited it many times over.
Packed with well-arranged high quality songs that showcase a great balance between expert musicianship and strong melodies full of emotion, this is on a whole an assured offering that shows plenty of promise. I recommend it highly and look forward with anticipation to Feathers and Greed's future endeavours.
Held By Trees — Held By Trees And Martin Smith
For those currently unaware of Held By Trees, they describe themselves as "an instrumental post-rock collaboration of musicians, heavily inspired by Talk Talk / Mark Hollis, and working with musicians that played for them". That is probably the first and only time you will hear Talk Talk and post-rock mentioned in the same sentence, but it makes a sort of sense if you only consider the last couple of albums by the band in addition to the eponymous Mark Hollis solo album.
So far they have released one album, and EP and a live EP, all of which are unbelievably excellent. For their second album then have taken on board a vocalist, a certain Martin Smith, an established singer-songwriter initially in the Christian rock group Delirious? but more recently as a solo artist. Any who have enjoyed the fact that Held By Trees have eschewed the use of vocals and concentrated purely on instrumental music should not fear as the three songs are also included without the added vocals.
However, it has to be said that Smith's singing fits in perfectly with the musical soundscapes created by Held By Tree's main composer David Joseph, who is not afraid to break the 10-minute barrier in his compositions. In reality, Held By Trees is not so much a band as a musical collective centred around Joseph who invites other musicians to contribute as and when necessary, although several musicians have made appearances on other items in the band's catalogue to date, including guitarist Robbie McIntosh, pianist Laurence Pendrous, flautist and saxophonist Andy Panyani, bassist James Grant and drummer Paul Beavis. Also joining the these musicians for this release is Smith's long-time friend and former Delirious? guitarist Stuart Garrard, saxophonist Daniel Newberry, organ and synth player Grant Howard and synth bass player Ryan Rich. Of course, not all perform on every song!
Opener You Deserve has a slow build that creates a relaxing atmosphere and mellow vibe. There are strong hints of early Floyd most notably in the guitar work of McIntosh and Garrard and echoed by the piano fills of Pendrous. The vocals are quite sparse, consisting mainly of repeated lines, and are so in synch with the music that the instrumental version does not sound as if anything is missing. Newberry adds some spiralling sax solos that weave around the vocals.
Lay Your Troubles Down has a rather ambient opening section that lasts for a couple of minutes before Smith's plaintive voice intervenes. I think the vocals work better on this piece than on You Deserve, and they certainly add to the soothing and empathic nature of the music. In complete contrast is Oh, My Love which is very much a joyous studio romp that sees each of the musicians taking solos over a steady party-atmosphere groove. The wah-wah pedal on the guitar gives a somewhat 1970s feel and Smith's improvised lines just ooze with the fun that they all must have had during the recording.
A bonus track is provided by Hong Kong-based ambient duo, Salt Of The Sound, whose peaceful ambient version of Lay Your Troubles Down is quite delightful. Extra vocals, of a somewhat ethereal nature, have been added by Anita Tatlow and although not immediately obvious or unduly prominent add something extra to the proceedings.
Overall, this first release of adding vocals to the previously entirely instrumental Held By Trees cannon can be considered a success. Of the two major compositions I find it is honours even, preferring one of them without the vocals and the other with them. Held By Trees are a very interesting group and this album only adds to the high quality of their previous releases.