Should one listen to this record – or the two records that proceed it – without knowing the background of this project, it would be expected for them to be at least a tiny bit concerned. After all, Aaron West is a man who sings about his experiences in divorce, child loss, homelessness, barroom brawls and now spiralling addiction in a way that’s so candidly intimate it’s genuinely uncomfortable. It’s the sound of a man who is quite literally melancholia made incarnate, a vessel for nothing but suffering via self-sabotage. It’s all good though; he doesn’t actually exist.
Originally envisioned as a songwriting exercise and fictional character study by Dan Campbell of The Wonder Years, Aaron West has gone from a personal experiment in songcraft to something of a dearly devoted figurehead and bastion of survival against every personal catastrophe possible. Across the two records exploring this character’s turbulent life post-divorce so far – 2014’s We Don’t Have Each Other and 2019’s Routine Maintenance – Campbell has illustrated the last disastrous decade of West’s life with increasing detail and musical intricacy. Now, with The Roaring Twenties a fifteen person ensemble encompassing brass, violas, cellos, banjos and some good ol’ fashioned sad slide guitars, In Lieu Of Flowers sees Campbell and company narrating the latest chapter of West’s lonesome journey in the most evocative and illustrative way possible. It’s the most textured, dynamic and detailed record under the Aaron West banner thus far, and whilst this isn’t always a joyful listen, it is brilliantly rich and most wonderful.
Their first fully independent release post-Hopeless Records, SH!T YEAH is a collection of songs most energetic, but lacking in any real original substance. The first half of the EP features the majority of the singles released previously, including a collaboration with Knuckle Puck on the first song ‘Kill My Vibe’. Vocalist Jake Wilson embodies the feeling of experiencing young love and bitter breakups as a youth by featuring lyrics such as “if I had a penny for you every time I said the wrong thing and you start a fight”, and other acclamations mostly reserved for the back tattered teenage notebooks. The buzz words Kill My Vibe are repeated in the verses and choruses to create a typical pop-punk anthem.
‘In The Middle’ is the next song which also falls into the same verse-chorus structure and repetitive buzzword lyrics. From these two songs, it is shown that the instrumentals provided by Chris Bowerman and Jai Gibson on guitar, James Karagoizis on bass and Jamey Bowerman on drums, are falling towards the more “pop” side to pop-punk in thanks to feeling very upbeat, over electrified and just a bit obnoxious.
Their heady blend of sludge, post metal, black metal and more is just as potent as ever, ‘Nomad’ a sprawling, nine-minute opus of an opener that fades into view with fizzing amps before slowly unfurling, winding across its opening minutes. The most immediate comparison is perhaps Cult Of Luna in the way that the guitars swirl and the drums beat at a mid-paced stomp. Vocally, it’s cavernous with Ray Arrell’s vocals a guttural, commanding presence.
Nobody should truly be surprised that Vnder A Crvmbling Moon are so heavy, or so good; with members of underground stars Conjurer and Garganjua amongst others, they know their way round a lumbering riff, as the seven tracks of II: Aging & Formless attest to. After its behemoth opener is the equally crushing ‘Nocturnal Passenger’, a lumbering beast of a track that once more focuses on overpowering atmosphere and suffocating the listener beneath its sonic weight.
It’s a strange question from a band that makes some of the loudest, most exciting noises in the Aussie core scene, especially when many of their songs on Half Living Things are angry, aggressive pieces. It certainly doesn’t seem like they are half-alive. But then again, sometimes volume hides hurt, and as Alpha Wolf’s third studio album progresses, this may be the key to learning what the half-living things are.
Alpha Wolf have always leaned a little closer to the hardcore side of the fence than the metal side, and this third outing is no different. The first track on Half Living Things is “Bring Back the Noise”, and they’ve done just that. From the fade-in roar like a train to turntable scratches that hint at a huge feature, “Bring Back the Noise” demonstrates early on why Australia can still claim the title for best metalcore scene.
After the noise is re-introduced, the band hit the gas. They add palpable urgency on the second track, “Double Edge Demise” by the repeated ticking of a time bomb. By track four, they’re speeding at a breakneck pace, but their featured collaborator dusts the band with his bit: original noise-bringer Ice-T. It’s a no-brainer, really, a collab between one of the fiercest metalcore bands and one of the fiercest rappers, and it’s just as exciting as it sounds. Ice-T’s question, “You wanna die?” makes GNR’s famous threat, “you’re gonna die”, sound like a playground insult. “Sucks 2 Suck” will bring down venue roofs from the US to Australia on their 2024 tours.
Turtle Island/Tkaronto doom metal crew Ethereal Tomb are no strangers to us. Whether it be interviews or music reviews, they always seem to be on the radar. And that does not change with long awaited release of their new EP Life Beyond Oppressor’s Brutality. Not only does this record contain four amazing hardcore infused sludge and doom metal tracks, it is also full of absolutely raw unfiltered emotion that almost anyone might be able to relate to. Vocalist and guitarist Alexander Senum, alongside Caleb Eskins (drums track 1) and Jake Ballah (drums tracks 2-4), have made a record for the people by the people and it’s exactly what the people have been asking for. Recorded and mixed by Jake Ballah as well in their parents basement while mastering was completed by Matt Gunn; Ethereal Tomb have perfected the doom metal style and made it entirely their own on this new EP and it really shows. When asked about the record, Senum states “This music is for people that hate their jobs, people that hate the cops, people not being able to afford to put food on the table, and people that hate the other wonderful things that come with imperialism, captialism and colonialism.”
The record opens with a deadly Dance Me Outside movie sample before slamming into ‘Landback Stomp’, a three minute track which contains the perfect blend of hardcore and sludge metal right down to its very core. If you’ve been following their Ethereal Tomb then you’d know their very clear indigenous lives matter and anti-colonial message. “Landback Stomp”, void of many lyrics overall, sets that very tone with the title of the track alone.
After the widely celebrated release of 2022’s Ashes Lie Still, Mancunians Ingested return to the forefront to reaffirm their status as top dog in the UK and beyond. Staying true to who they are and what they love has paid off, as The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams is a fantastic album, sure to delight fans and new listeners alike. Pummelling, unrelenting drums, precise, brutal riffs and filthy, acrobatic vocals make this another diamond in the band’s back catalogue.
Behind the hot-blooded display of savagery though, lies a cold, calculating intelligence that reveals itself throughout The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams. Compare it to Surpassing the Boundaries of Human Suffering for example, and you’ll still find similar elements – breakdowns, slam riffs, guitar solos shredded finer than confidential CIA documents – but there is something special about Ingested’s latest offering.
There’s a kind of clarity to The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams that only years of writing experience can surface. Each song resonates with absolute brutality and the album flows from strength to strength, the band exploring new elements alongside old sounds. After well over a decade of solid release after solid release, it’s amazing to still hear the band clearly enjoying themselves.
