He simply has one of the most powerful and emotive voices in metal, and has since he worked to create some of Killswitch Engage’s most enduring albums and anthems almost two decades ago. But Jones was always someone who seemed to yearn to show his diverse range and tastes, and his Light the Torch project (which evolved from the now defunct Devil You Know) has been both an excellent return to classic vocal form and a potent emotional outlet for his deeply personal lyricism. On the band’s new sophomore release, You Will Be The Death of Me, Jones has self proclaimed this to be one of his most personal writing endeavours yet. What lies inside is indeed an often heart-wrenching and extremely well composed group of songs that don’t always hit mark, but more than not land sonic and lyrical blow after blow.
The first aspect noticed is how great this record sounds. Every instrument is crisp and at the forefront in almost perfect equilibrium. The drums snap, the bass thunders, and the guitar gleams all at once, with one element never drowning out the others. This, mixed with Jones’ standard of excellence on vocals, creates a very pleasing listening experience front to back.
Few bands can boast the kind of feverish adulation that Belgian post metallers Amenra inspire. Across twenty years and six albums, named Mass I through VI respectively, they’ve cultivated an emotional, atmospheric style that draws on post hardcore, sludge and ambient as much as it does post metal. Now, with their seventh album, they’re breaking from tradition. Not only is this their first album to not carry the Mass moniker, instead carrying the name De Doorn (The Thorn) but it’s also the first where the lyrics are sung entirely in their native Flemish and it’s their first album with their new label, Relapse Records.
It’s a distinctly more experimental affair than before, too; another break with tradition, but one that doesn’t stray too far. There’s still plenty of crushing heaviness to be found and vocalist Colin H. van Eeckhout’s screams are that bit more feral, interspersed as they are with moments of poignancy and ambience. Opener ‘Ogentroost’ is initially soft, as synths swell through its opening minutes but moves into a churning, heaving riff replete with Colin’s vicious scream.
Over the course of their respective discography thus far, Free Throw have lucidly turned their personal troubles and issues into infectiously relatable offerings that blur the faint lines separating emo, pop punk and post-hardcore. Whilst their sense of genre dynamism has remained consistent since their humble origins back in 2012, each of their records has seen Free Throw journeying through the process of growing up and navigating the mental troubles that come synonymous with the coming of age. 2017’s Bear Your Mind was articulated as a call from the void and it’s 2019 successor What’s Past Is Prologue saw the band staring back into the abyss in which they escaped from trying to make sense of how they got lost within it in the first place. Approximately two years on from that escape, the band have healed and are now navigating their first steps since such trauma. Piecing It Together is exactly what the band are doing with this release.
Over the span of the 12 tracks that compose this record, Free Throw take stock of what has came before them and nestle into a new perspective. Prior to this release, the band where locked into a consistent rotation of album cycles and perpetual, ceaseless touring; an exhausting routine many artists deem as a sign of success despite being mentally and physically eroding. But with the pandemic halting the music industry to extent, it seems like the writing process of this record came at the time where the band where able to recess, review their progress, and breathe. With that in mind and when considering the overall theme of the record, Piecing It Together see’s the band in their most comfortable and content form to date.
Since the project’s emergence in 2019 we’ve witnessed a steady stream of stand alone singles for a small but committed fanbase, however there’s a tone to the new LP Forthcoming Past that seems aged & matured – more like a band several years into a well rehearsed career as supposed to one only just preparing their debut album. An eclectic mix of contributors unite under one banner to deliver ten tracks of well articulated metal, and by the end of a morose listening experience any listener should prepare to feel exhausted, intrigued and curious about which direction this ambitious collective will take next.
Scheduled for release on June 18th via Rude Records ‘…but for the moment’ is bound to be an interesting listen for an encompassing fanbase, and even now a few years into their career the band are still persistent with finding ways to come out of nowhere with the shock of your life. An articulate fusion of eccentric uplifting pop alongside a dominant heavier influence, tracks such as the record’s lead single ‘btw! I adore you’ pinpoint perfectly the bands stance across an already diverse discography. A symphony of both cinematic synth lines & heavily processed vocal effects and a gargantuan riff machine that should sit at completely opposite ends of the spectrum – yet seemingly balance together as one seamless composition.
Entierro are a trad metal band hailing from Connecticut, their latest release (the first since their 2018 debut album) is the El Camazotz EP, a taster of the next stage of their evolution that sees them doubling down on NWOBHM influences. Replete with stompy riffs alongside Maiden and Priest-esque guitar heroics, sonically the EP sits comfortably alongside stalwarts of the emergent US trad metal scene like Khemmis and Spirit Adrift.
