Morphing and mutating their sound out of radio active collision of metallic hardcore and progressive metal, Vatican’s take no prisoners, show no mercy approach to music is equal parts brutality and complexity. With a plethora of influences coming together with bestial vigour, welded together with a forward thinking mentality which pulls in with it a love of video games and subtle sense of humour. These elements make Ultra a widely varied and intense affair. Vatican have charged out of the gates hard, vanquishing all those that stand in Ultra’s way. If the Matrix films had a hardcore soundtrack, the odds are that it would sound like this.
Ultra is an album that will no doubt keep listeners on the edge of their seat. Built around the polyrhythmic mastery of Meshuggah, the savage sonic abrasiveness of The Dillinger Escape Plan and the brutal breakdown riffs of metallic hardcore, yet the album harnesses a complex set of emotions through melancholic electronics and the unique tones of Mike Sugars clean singing. There is a surprise round every corner, just when you think you’ve settled into the album’s groover Vatican take great delight in swinging in a curveball from left field. The album is a finely balanced mixture of dissonance and melody, whilst that may be a contradiction in terms, Vatican have managed to make discordant hardcore riffs to work in tandem with eerie, glitchy synths in a way that fosters interdependence across the album. In explanation, each element would sound empty and have less of an impact without the other. Like the metallic cyborg woman adorning the Ultra’s cover, Vatican have fused these elements inextricably to create an intimidatingly intricate album. Ultra in many ways is The Algorithm meets Knocked Loose.
Such soon-to-be appreciated instances of greatness demonstrating the bands effortless balancing act between the angels above and those down below, are as follows; the band’s first of six singles released in its album cycle, ‘Paradise’ speaks on the ache for the reanimation of self in the face of seemingly inescapable loneliness, ‘Sleep Tight’ sends us into a shivers overload as it begs for reprieve from what is depicted as a waking nightmare, while ‘Wounds’ captures the essence of palpable sorrow as it transports us to the penultimate moments of a derailing love affair, which left us needing a moment to catch the tear shed for our own bouts of heartbreak.
We know that the love and care we hand over in any and all kinds of relationships, that we give a little piece of our hearts away each and every time; as time goes by we begin to realise that the person we see in the mirror, knew and even loved above all else, has been hollowed out due to endlessly pursuing those who wish to use and abuse that most coveted essence of our humanity. It is with ultimate bangers like ‘Defeating Gravity’, that we begin to realise that the insurmountable can be toppled when our fragility can be used as our fortitude. With vocal gymnastics on full display, a wondrous instrumental odyssey empowering us to rise to our full potential and keep the faith, we begin to see that conquering our demons and choosing liberation is the way we begin to take back those once lost pieces of our soul.
The conclusion of their trio of extended plays – preceded by 2019’s Hex and Hound – Haunt is a barreling bombardment of bile-speckled noise that tackles existentialism, austerity and addresses the fact that this county is not green nor pleasant, but a coop now filled with our own filth. As you can imagine, this isn’t a subtle listening experience. But that’s the point entirely.
Much akin to the EPs that came prior, Haunt aims to authentically mirror the grim reality of the perpetual modern struggle. But whilst the aforementioned Hex and Hound did so finely, Haunt portrays the macabre nature of existence and the now integrated desperation in a way that’s graphically visceral. Opener ‘All’ encompasses this immediately. Less of a gentle introductory handshake and more of a bat to the back of the cranium that hammers home the fragility of society, the track is an urgent and borderline feral ordeal delivered with weighted riffs, piledriving drums and the spittle-soaked vocals of James Thompson, who delivers his lines with throat tearing intensity. It’s relentless, a mercilessness mirroring of the cruelty of austerity, but one that’s composed with consideration in contrast to it’s barrelling nature.
Since releasing their critically lauded album Aokigahara Jukai, Thrall appeared to all but vanish, save for two small releases in 2015, the single ‘Our Sufferance Howls On The Wind’ and a three track EP entitled Entropy. Now in 2022, Thrall are back with an enlivened line-up featuring members of Gatecreeper, Noose Rot, Wood of Suicides, Slothferatu and Mortuum – to name but a few. Picking up where they left off, Thrall have set out to expand their musical horizons with Schisms in the hope of cementing themselves as one of the most interesting and creative bands in the Australian extreme metal scene.
Much like Mary Shelley’s modern Prometheus, Thrall appear to have played the part of one Dr. Frankenstein by cherry picking the components they require but instead of creating something pure and ‘trve’, they’ve instead created a disappointing monster. Title track and opener ‘Schisms’ pretty much lays down the blueprint of what to expect from the entire album with its slightly thrashy, doom-laden riffing, before progressing into something much more typically black metal sounding. The addition of vocalist and guitarist Tøm Vøld’s weary and desperate howls add unforgiving tones but sadly, they’re all too often interrupted…
Describing themselves as one of the most interesting and intriguing musical projects of the year, IANAI is the name of a new neofolk project aiming to bring together elements of folk music from Scandinavia, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. An ambitious project given the obviously wide ranging differentiations between these genres of folk music. It should be therefore stated from the beginning, that IANAI is not attempting to provide any kind of authentic experience of the traditional music of these cultures; merely creating something new from them.
Combining the speed of thrash, evil of death, groove of hardcore and a touch of beatdown, have the 5-piece landed themselves in the golden ratio of metal? Or has the task of merging subgenres proved too great a struggle? Journey through the ten-tracks and find out.
Album opener ‘To The Hounds Go The Faithful’ lays down speed and energy in foundations which are built upon with slower tempo, truly evil sounding heavier vocals and guitar work. The early section of this album feeds the hunger of the thrash demon inside all metalheads. ‘Mask of Sorrow’ is a tidal wave of smart guitar work paired with clean and machine-like drumming execution. Blastbeats and pained vocal delivery create a terrifying atmosphere in much of this track and this feeling is carried on through the entirety of the album. ‘Vulture Culture’ continues the salvo of constant riffage so far, straight out of Slayer’s textbook. The first five songs of Servants of Violence are very thrash-heavy, loading the chamber with speed and firing from the hip relentlessly. Although yielding great results, those who like their metal slower or more experimental might find themselves satisfied already. The second half of the album, however, is certainly more varied in its offerings and should quell any concerns.
