Dissonant Hymns Records released the album Father Of Serpents by US band Diabology. The band is made up of Jesse Bergen (lead vocals, guitars, bass), Jack Kleinman (guitars, bass *tracks 5 and 9*) and Matthew Morales (drums, backing vocals), with them describing their music as thrash, though I think that is a far too simplistic summarisation.
I’m not an expert on metal, though musically, I know what is good when I hear it. I’ve really struggled to do this review, not because Diabology are awful, far from that, but rather I’m probably limited by what I have listened to. The heaviest, metal music in my collection is possibly Amorphis and Sentenced .
These guys are young, I mean really young and yet they are excellent at what they do. The music pours out of them, talented and charismatic, while you can hear hints of other influences within. This is my advice… if you like thrash music then you should listen to it, if you like most metal then you should definitely have a listen. It is focused, raw and has no compromise.
When i was younger, Ministry and Rammstein were considered industrial metal. Meet DunwichDreams of Albuquerque, who dropped the single “Rise Of The Seventh Sun” on October the 21st.
The beginning seems pleasant enough with synths playing until the drums come in and it all changes. The vocals roar and bellow at that unnaturally low tone that constitutes death or black metal, though you can still understand the lyrics.
“Rise Of The Seventh Sun” is heavy, visceral and like a punch to the guts. It bangs along, savage and cryptic. I have the disclaimer of not being a metal expert but have the feeling there are others out there that will love this heavier style of industrial metal from Dunwich Dreams.
My first experience of October Noir, is via this new album, Fate, Wine And Wisteria, that was released on September the 22nd. It is rather confronting at first to think of a band actively trying to take up where Type ONegative sadly could not due to the untimely death of lead singer Pete Steele, especially when the band themselves could not find the heart to continue without him and followed with other projects such as APale Horse CalledDeath.
OCTOBER NOIR
Down in Pensacola, Florida, the weather is warm and the wisteria grows wild in the lost places, so to the album has thirteen tracks, though to be fair the tracks “Fate“, “Wine” and “Wisteria” are kind bridging instrumental pieces and maybe a minute long at the most. “Windows” is the first track with vocals and the single off the album. Fairly taken aback how much this actually sounds like a Type O number, There is the longing in the deep vocals and the long guitar riffs that drift away to then crash back in a revisit.
This is indeed a strange experience. It pays to read the lyrics at times as well. “Effigy” almost seems to be based on one of those teenage horror movies where they go down to the lake and the main character is lured away with the promise of carnal delights, only to find all their friends have been murdered and being Halloween, did they do it?! Equal parts defeat and howling anger in the Greek inspired “Persephone” and “Wanderlust” really reminds me of the iconic “Everything Dies” in places.
Really liked “Sistinas” with the moody harpsichord and the extremely low vocal range that was being plumbed. Anyone that ever listened to Type O Negative, would know that often Steele would firmly have his tongue placed in cheek and liked to create songs about forbidden encounters or the nitty gritty of sexual lust and October Noir have followed post haste in their footsteps with the tracks “Reverence(Make You Love)” and “Proverbs“. Whatever the theme, there is always that underlying darkness that humans are fallible and prone to causing great pain and misery as well as picking others up from the deepest pits of despair in this album.
It was the first time hearing their sound which floored me a little to hear a band that sounded so like Type ONegative, from the bass lines, to the guitar chords and unmissably the vocals so hauntingly like Pete Steele’s. Now some will say they are copy artists and that often happens a lot, ie all the bands that want to be Sisters OfMercy, though unfortunately they are flawed and normally unable to do this well. October Noir don’t hide the fact they are standing in Type O Negative’s shadow but rather embrace the fact and actually create new music I think that even Steele would have been impressed by.
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