Ritual Arcana – Ritual Arcana Review By Saunders

I’m a tad slow out of the blocks to kick off the new year. Though in reviewing terms, it seems par for the course for yours truly. Time spent enjoying a break from the everyday job grind, catching up on the bounty of overlooked 2025 releases, and, as per tradition, enjoying the comfort of personal favorites and metal classics has occupied my time. As we plunge on through a wild, erratic, and intermittently sweltering Aussie summer, some hard-rocking doomy fun seems like a suitable seasonal pastime. Thus, while wading through the promo sump, I stumbled across the self-titled debut of fresh project, Ritual Arcana. Soon discovering this seasoned power trio features none other than the legendary Scott ‘Wino’ Weinrich (Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan), wielding his scuzzed-up axe alongside Sharlee LuckyFree (ex-Moth) on bass and vocals, and drummer Oakley Munsen (The Black Lips).

Rather than a stoned cruise through the desert, Ritual Arcana play a raucous, bewitching blend of hard slugging doom and occult-tinged rock, fit to appeal to fans of nostalgiacore retro rock, Wino’s various projects, and other smoky doom persuasions such as Sabbath Assembly, Jess and the Ancient Ones, Castle Rat, and Witch Mountain. Imbued with dark, alluring vibes and a riff rumbling bluesy edge, Ritual Arcana features the requisite doom-laden heft and freewheeling grooves to accompany songs that rock and rumble with a sprightly bounce. The jammy, psych-drenched swagger leans as much into heavy rock and stoner realms as it does dour doom. LuckyFree’s beguiling pipes boast an undeniable appeal and hooky charm. And while perhaps not the most unique female vocalist in the biz, she holds her own and supplies plenty of earwormy hooks atop a solid foundation of hefty rhythms and fat, swaggering riffs.

Right off the bat, the opening title track lays a groovy path, riding a thick, simplistic central groove and catchy vocal flow, enlivened by Wino’s easy-on-the-ear lead work. Similarly, bluesy, hard-rocking fare and juicy hooks feature prominently (“Free Like a Pirate,” “Summon the Wheel,” “Road Burnt,” and “Judgment XX”) to fun effect, nestled between doomy, heavier fare. These are solid examples of Ritual Arcana’s formula; however, the most interesting material leans deeper into their doomy roots. “Mistress of Change” possesses an ominous atmosphere and lurching, drunken gait, highlighted by LuckyFree’s slightly unhinged vocal performance. Similarly impactful bursts of rugged doom, molten riffage, and rawer vocal turns feature on the highlight-worthy “Subtle Fruits.” There are no blatant weak points, just certain tunes that hit harder and stick for longer. Ritual Arcana do the bluesy hard rock stuff well, yet it’s the brooding doomier forays that sustain greater interest.

What they perhaps lack in innovation, Ritual Arcana compensate through lean and tightly wound songwriting, solid musicianship, and familiar yet delightfully catchy songs. Wino is an iconic metal legend, and even minus the gruff, well-lived presence of his vocals, he makes a punchy impact through his accomplished guitar work. The well-worn riffs carry a fresh, catchy edge; however, it’s the flashier leads and psych-drenched embellishments that complement the no-frills riffs. And as cool and effective as LuckyFree’s vocals are, it is a tad disappointing that Wino’s grizzled voice doesn’t pop up in cameo or dueting form. Meanwhile, the production may be a little clean for some tastes; however, it’s easy to appreciate the clarity and chunky tones.

Ritual Arcana is a likable, gratifyingly catchy exercise in seasoned doom and psych-riddled occult rock from experienced hands. It plays things a little too safe at times, and as enjoyable and undeniably infectious as the songwriting on this debut platter proves to be, it rarely hits truly outstanding levels. Regardless, this style of doom/occult rock has an infectious charm, and when in the hands of veterans and a legend like Wino, it is difficult to fuck up. Ritual Arcana is a cool example of the saturated style and perhaps a precursor to greater things to come from this unit.



Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 304 kbps mp3
Label: Heavy Psych Sounds | Bandcamp
Websites: facebook.com/ritualarcana
Releases Worldwide: January 23rd, 2026

#2026 #30 #AmericanMetal #CastleRat #DoomMetal #HardRock #HeavyPsychSoundsRecords #Jan26 #JessAndTheAncientOnes #Moth #OccultRock #Review #Reviews #RitualArcana #SabbathAssembly #SaintVitus #SpiritCaravan #TheBlackLips #TheObsessed #Wino #WitchMountain

Grayceon – Then the Darkness Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

Novelty in the metalsphere exists in many folds, whether it be the marrying of virtuosity and familiar structures or the exploration of foreign sounds and textures in a rock/metal context.1 Grayceon, for the better part of the past twenty years, has lingered in the latter path from 2007’s self-titled debut to this newest grand work, Then the Darkness, finding value in the riffy and amp-driven space between emotive, layered electric cello work. Trading a traditional, handheld four-stringed pulse for a classical, stand-up, sullen expression, Grayceon’s Jackie Perez Gratz (Giant Squid, ex-Ludicra) has led this San Francisco-based troupe through waxing journeys of post-inflected, prog-minded heavy metal grandeur with a bowed breath of fresh air time and time again. And now, with Then the Darkness, Grayceon looks to double down on their signature sound—a culmination of frustrations in fancy form.

Possessing both the prowess to open Then the Darkness with a blistering cry (“Thousand Year Storm”) and approach its close with a near lullaby (“(Untitled)”), Gratz and Grayceon continue to find a necessary diversity in their growing body of work. And in the capable engineering hands of trusted partner Jack Shirley,2 Gratz’s lilting vocal lure against counterpoint chamber-influenced swings find an increasing warmth against thick, finger-picked guitar runs and long-drawn crescendos. Time has weathered Gratz’s voice into a full crackle and alto croon that reflects the kind of mystical incantation that you might hear in latter-day Sabbath Assembly, as well as providing room for growth in harsh screeching accompaniment reminiscent of the minstrel Jekyll and Hyde performances of early Ludicra. Yet Grayceon remains in their own element first, even weaving moments of self-referential melodies throughout the back half of Then the Darkness to root deeply the recurring nature of the traumas each of their works explore.

As an exercise in textural excellence, though, Then the Darkness would struggle to entertain through its mammoth eighty-minute sermon if not backed by its aching heart narrative. With themes revolving around the complex nature of evolving relationships—between parent and child, between friends, between partners, between society and its most downtrodden—Gratz navigates each sorrowful tune with a warbling pathos that reads full and earnest in its many cracks. And while this downcast reading flows through much of the journey, the long fadeout from “Mahsa” to instrumental segue “Then the Darkness” renders most of the C-side (“Then…” through “Song of the Snake”) far more placid and buried than the lively bounce that “Holding Lines” provides to the closing chapters. It’s hard to escape the “what if” in terms of what could happen in a more streamlined experience—despite the high quality of Grayceon’s strongest offerings, the slightest dip or departure feels like a missed opportunity where their other works to date have chosen a lighter load.

However, Grayceon’s mastery of studio play emboldens simple structures with deft attacks to fuel the craveability of Then the Darkness. With the ebb and flow of a jam session, quicker cuts fill the air with rockin’ riffs, tight rhythms, urgent melodies, and a classic, volume-driven tone (“One Third,” “3 Points of Light,” “Holding Lines”). And while it’s up front harmonic excess in plucked guitar ascensions that collide with sliding bow tension pepper these tracks with short-term pleasure, it’s the subtle double-punched lines and diverging, hard-panned cello-guitar fill flickers that stimulate an urge to devour all nooks of sound available. And as buttery-yet-jagged riffage finds a crooked home between layered cello stabs (“Thousand Year Storm”) and slithering, off-kilter refrains (“Song of the Snake”), each cut in careful construction escalates to crescendos coordinated in explosive and sullen moods. The longest track, “Mahsa,” cranks all of these techniques to keep each recursion along a gentle climb rather than a flat stroll.

If providing an audience with a plate too full to finish was the goal, Then the Darkness has more than fulfilled the task. From humble roots as a scrappy power trio to this newest incarnation as presence-demanding storytellers, Grayceon’s path of human travail has brought about a gargantuan work that demands attention and dedication. In its four-sided tale, Then the Darkness strikes with an undeniable, hook-laden melancholy when its fire burns brightest. In isolation, no track falters. And though a waning intensity keeps it from being a masterpiece, Grayceon offers enough top-shelf material to make a long service worthwhile.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Translation Loss Records | Bandcamp
Websites: grayceon.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/grayceon
Releases Worldwide: July 25th, 2025

#2025 #35 #AmericanMetal #GiantSquid #Grayceon #Jul25 #Ludicra #PostMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #SabbathAssembly #ThenTheDarkness #TranslationLossRecords

Castle – Evil Remains Review

By Steel Druhm

I had quite a torrid love affair with Castle from 2011 through 2016. Their gritty, back alley take on occult doom really got into my bones and I was helpless to resist their demonic charms. Albums like In Witch Order, Blacklands, and Under Siege were in near-constant rotation at the House of Steel and I wanted more, more, MOAR. They were just so skilled at their chosen brand of minimalist street doom and Elizabeth Blackwell’s rough yet seductive vocals were nigh irresistible. By the time 2018s Deal Thy Fate rolled around, some of the bloom was off the black rose and things were starting to sound a touch less essential. Fast forward 6 years and we’ve survived a million crises and the whole occult doom trend has died down considerably, with acts like Jex Thoth and Sabbath Assembly going quiet. This new world order awaits Castle as they finally return with a fresh album. Will the long absence make my rusty heart grow fonder for Castle, or will Evil Remains fall victim to the insidious Law of Diminishing Recordings?

As opener “Queen of Death” kicked off I got a warm, nostalgic feeling in the empty void where my heart should be. It’s good to hear Elizabeth Blackwell’s demonic snarls and sultry crooning again and Mat Davis’ beefy leads are still aces. It’s the same hard-rocking doom they’ve excelled at forever and the big, burly grooves are a pleasure to be crushed by. Blackwell sounds great and she’s still unmatched at changing tones to suit the moment, moving from menacing to alluring. This one could have been on In Witch Order, which means Castle aren’t fucking around here. “Nosferatu Nights” is even better— aggressive and dark but chock full of hooks that pierce the flesh. Mat Davis shines brightly with some filthy, very Wino-esque playing and Elizabeth sings her witchy heart out. “Deja Voodoo” is also pure fire and one of the better songs in the Castle stable, fully leveraging the band’s strengths on a very good piece of mood-drenched writing. Elizabeth owns this song completely with her necromantic exhortations and the riffs are just the right amount of damn-nasty.

Evil Remains is a consistently spry album. “Black Spell” is almost NWoBHM in style, upbeat and urgent with Judas Priest-adjacent riffage, but it manages to keep the occult doom aesthetic intact. “She” is a badass song crackling with inky, doomy magik. The guitar playing speaks to the olden days of American doom but the hard rocking energy forces it into more vigorous, shambling action. A few songs feel less mighty, but none are bad or skip-worthy and the album’s tight 37-plus minute runtime is very easy to digest. Everything flows well and the energy levels are kept in that sweet spot between doom and rock to prevent your eyes from glazing over.

There are traces of Pentagram, The Obsessed, and Saint Vitus in the DNA of Mat Davis’ guitar work, and I hear a lot of Wino in his phrasing along with a deep love of 70s rock. He’s always been great at channeling the ghosts of doom’s past and shocking them with extra power and he does it again across the album. He’s especially good at locking into weighty grooves only to depart to hit a righteous solo or colorful flourish. Elizabeth Blackwell has always been one of my favorite metal vocalists and she’s on her game here. Her ability to chill the soul one moment and enchant the next has always been the biggest piece of the Castle puzzle and she’s lost none of her power. She gives it her all on “Nosferatu Nights” and “Deja Voodoo” and I can’t imagine anyone else doing it better. In the end, Davis and Blackwell demonstrate yet again that their stripped-down take on doom rock is a winning one and that I’m still a sucker for it.

It seems my days in the occult doom bubble are not over thanks to Castle. Evil Remains features everything I love about their sound and offers a collection of punchy songs with enough weight to convince. It’s good to hear Castle alive and well and I hope they can keep the wicked times rolling. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hammerheart
Websites: castlesf.bandcamp.com | heavycastle.com | facebook.com/castlesf
Releases Worldwide: September 6th, 2024

#2024 #35 #AmericanMetal #Castle #DoomMetal #EvilRemains #HammerheartRecords #InWitchOrder #JexThoth #OccultMetal #Review #Reviews #SabbathAssembly #Sep24 #UnderSiege

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Sunnata – Chasing Shadows

By Dolphin Whisperer

“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.”

Does Poland evoke the heated and stinging breeze of the open desert to a lost mind? No? Sunnata likes to think otherwise, or at least it’s their life’s mission to expand on the ideas of exotic scales, eerie harmonization, and chanting repetitiveness to match the power of shifting sands in their homeland. Back in 2021, our very own Cherd had a tough time coming to terms with what these Eastern bloc mystics conjured on Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth. But now a few years wiser, ever iterating,1 and pursuant of their own self-produced visions, can Sunnata sway both our grumpy grandpa Cherd and his crack rodeo crew with Chasing Shadows? – Dolphin Whisperer

Sunnata // Chasing Shadows [May 10th, 2024]

Cherd: I wasn’t terribly keen on Sunnata’s 2021 record Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth, so I passed on reviewing their follow-up when it landed in the promo sump. Then Dolph decided to go and write a whole damn Rodeö about Chasing Shadows, so I figured I’d better give my two cents after all. Chasing Shadows is a definite step up, thanks to the heavy dose of 90s grunge these Poles have injected into their psych/stoner doom. I’m sure you’ll be sick of reading the name Alice In Chains by the end of this article, but good god do the vocal harmonies call them to mind. The strongest tracks, like “Torn” and “Saviour’s Raft” rely heavily on these. Meanwhile, when the band leans into their “exotic” side—vaguely Middle Eastern motifs—as they do on “Wishbone” and “The Tide,” the songs drag. There’s fat to trim across the album’s 60+ minutes, especially the throwaway closing quasi-dance track. That said, the eight-minute “Hunger” earns its entire runtime with a hypnotic tempo and the record’s best build up. There’s a lot to like in Chasing Shadows, even if there is some bloat. 3.0/5.0

Maddog: Sunnata’s Chasing Shadows is an hour of shameless psychedelia. Take Dvne riffs, add a pinch of Mayhem in Blue-era Hail Spirit Noir, and pour a bucket of fuzzy stoned melodies on top, and you get the gist. This recipe is a blessing and a curse. Chasing Shadows’ most well-formed pieces hit hard. When Sunnata focuses on developing melodies, they hold me transfixed, like on album highlight “Torn.” When Sunnata focuses on buildups, they whisk me out of the world and onto a dramatic ride (“Chimera”). When Sunnata focuses on rhythmic sections that hypnotize the listener, they conjure a beautiful soundscape, like the primordial chorus of “Hunger.” When Sunnata focuses on rock-solid bass lines, they add power and depth to their atmosphere (“Adrift”). But sometimes, Sunnata focuses on nothing. Even the strongest cuts overstay their welcome with meandering fuzz. As the album progresses, some full tracks get swallowed by tedium, and the moaned vocals become grating; neither undivided attention nor psilocybin can save songs like “The Sleeper” from fading into the background.2—Still, Sunnata has a talent for writing sludgy psychedelic passages that stand out from their peers. If they can trim some low-hanging fat and focus on their strengths, their next record could be a gem. 2.5/5.0

Dolphin Whisperer: Chasing Shadows seems to know exactly what it is—a dry, desert-wandering, bass-heavy affair that leans into psychedelia via shifting repetitions. And Sunnata seem to have figured out exactly how they want to explore this meditation—heavy and dark Alice in Chains vocal melodies, twangy stoner guitar refrains, and song drives that creep ever faster into their snaking swirl. Though, throughout this dusty adventure, guitar passages resemble less of the easy-to-digest percussive draws of a band like Kyuss and more of the modal and trilling explorations of similar sounds that you’d hear in an occult act like Sabbath Assembly. (“Chimera,” “Wishbone”). And on longer cuts, at least before Sunnata achieves maximum throttle, doom inflections, fat bass rumbling, and laser-pointing drone that bubbles and bakes and broils the experimental madhouse of Obake. But most importantly, as a fever dream like this sound, Chasing Shadows maintains a warping yet consistent tonality that slowly and sneakily lures as the rattle of a hissing pit viper to a lost and dazed traveler. It does, however, require a hefty dose of patience and practice to maintain a footing the whole way through its hour-long trial, its various interludes and strange darkwave closing adding little. To curious ears, though, Chasing Shadows will be an easy listen, despite its limited bag of tricks and hefty presence, and those who buy in fully to its tonal landscape may find even more rewards. 3.0/5.0

Itchymenace: Chasing Shadows reminds me of the Albert Camus story, The Adulterous Woman. In fact, the cover art seems plucked directly from the final scene in which the protagonist runs out into the Algerian desert a changed woman after realizing life with her husband will never fulfill her. The music provides the perfect soundtrack for the existential metamorphosis she goes through, or that anyone might go through when they peel back the delicate layers of life and search for deeper meaning. I did not expect to like this as much as I do, but Sunnata has created a masterpiece. This album drags you across a jagged desert landscape and drenches you in rich, dreamlike musical passages that leave you questioning your very existence. The music is complex, varied, heavy and meditative. The arrangements are deceptively simple to make the journey seem easy—until you realize you’re not in Kansas anymore. Especially noteworthy is how the bass guitar drives the compositions. Bassist Michal Dobrzanski’s tone is massive but somehow leaves plenty of room in the soundscape for Szymon Ewertowski and Adrian Gadomski’s intricate guitars and vocals. Drummer Robert Ruszczyk keeps a ritualistic tempo that seamlessly moves the caravan forward through the heart of darkness. If I were to try to describe this to a metalhead, I’d say imagine Alice in Chains trying to play Gorguts by way of Earth. Brilliant! Original! Frightening! And a new experience with every listen. 4.5/5.03

Mystikus Hugebeard: True to Sunnata’s desert prog premise, Chasing Shadows is a mirage: captivating, frustrating, and an incomplete vision of something spectacular. At sixty-two minutes long, the length will likely prove to be as controversial as it is intentional; repetition is key to Sunnata’s songwriting, as it weaves a surreal soundscape through thick, drawn-out riffs. Sometimes, it’s entrancing. Other times, I’m just bored. The more evolutionary tracks are where Chasing Shadows come to life. The off-key vocal layers and thick, fuzzy guitars are in “Chimera” and “Saviour’s Raft” take their time to progress into explosive riffs that feel earned by the buildup. Even a less progressive track like “Torn” works just by nature of how palpable the desert atmosphere is, with the chugging bass, elusive guitar lines, and hallucinatory vocals hypnotizing the listener. “Hunger” and “The Sleeper” also have a satisfying chug to them but feel emptier, with resolutions that are satisfying in the moment but still less memorable than those from earlier tracks. The worst offenders, “Wishbone” and “The Tide,” are almost completely aimless and are fully devoid of the strong atmospheric qualities that makes the rest work. The emulation of an endless trek through an endless desert is uncanny, and the aimlessness can work when paired with hypnotic songwriting like in “Torn,” but overall the lack of a meaningful destination or payoff within the already less engaging tracks only gets worse as the album drags on, and it slowly begins to drown out the parts that work well. I really love the thematic intent behind Chasing Shadows, which only makes the final result all the more frustrating that it falls short of being a truly great desert odyssey. 2.5/5.0

#2024 #AliceInChains #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo2024 #ChasingShadows #DoomMetal #Dvne #Earth #HailSpiritNoir #IndependentRelease #Kyuss #Obake #OccultRock #PolishMetal #PostMetal #PsychedelicDoomMetal #PsychedelicRock #SabbathAssembly #SelfRelease #StonerRock #Sunnata

Kólga – Black Tides Review

By Iceberg

Texas-based Kólga bill themselves as a “blackened surf rock collective.” With a descriptor like that, and an album cover like THAT, there’s no way I could pass up on seeing what lurked beneath the Lizard People pool. Boasting members from a boatload of bands from across the spectrum (Dead to a Dying World, Cleric, Tyrannosorceress, Sabbath Assembly, to name a few) this is Kólga’s first stab at a full-length: and barely at that, running at a lithe 27 minutes. But if the band calls it an LP, then an LP it is, and a review it receives. Unsure if I’ll get Dick Dale in corpsepaint or Euronymous in board shorts, I let the churning waves of the opening seconds of Black Tides wash over my frozen skin.

Blackened surf-rock is certainly a facet of Black Tides, but it doesn’t paint the whole picture. The idiosyncrasies of surf-rock do indeed form the floor of the album: lightly distorted tremolo melodies, and that classic double-tap snare drum pattern. The blackened portion of the album is confined mainly to lo-fi cavernous vocals (“Space Beach Massacre,” “Squall of Cthulu”) and some heavier, more distorted passages that feel a little more Black Sabbath than black metal (“Tethis,” “The Kraken”). Much of this album would be better described as bad-trip surf rock, with shades of the psych-revivalist The Black Angels or even the theatrics of Alice Cooper. It’s also important to point out that this is predominately an instrumental album, though the band has a formidable treasure chest of timbres and textures on hand to keep the sound from stagnating (plenty of synth pads, auxiliary percussion like guiro and tambourine, a theremin, and even a waterphone, an instrument I’ve certainly heard before but never seen in action).

It’s this diverse palette of sound, along with a slavish adherence to their tongue-in-cheek concept, that gives Black Tides it’s je ne sais quois. Black metal and surf rock share more DNA than you may think, thanks to the prevalence of tremolo melodic guitar lines and fast single-stroke fills down the drumkit. Guitarists Jason Mullins and James Magruder do an admirable job of making me believe I’m in Surfin’-USA-gone-wrong with creepy laid-back numbers (“Squall of Cthulu,” “Endless Bummer”) and more maniacally driven ones reminiscent of a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack (“Riptide,” “The Kraken”). The vocals—by Mullins as well—revel in their role as a caricature of second-wave black metal (“Space Beach Massacre,” “The Kraken”), or a de-tuned acid trip narrative (“Squall of Cthulu,” “Tethis”). The band feels at ease in their performance, playing it a bit fast and loose with the timing, but not so much that it sounds like a jam session. And with the aforementioned lean run time, Black Tides manages to leave an impression without wearing out that inherent weirdness.

While Kólga aim to revel in their monster mash-up of a style, not everything on Black Tides has me buying what they’re selling. While bookends “Space Beach Massacre” and “The Kraken” make me believe the band is serious about Scandinavian Surf, the interior of the record strays from the thesis. Other tracks feel pulled from 70’s doom (“Tethis”) psychedelic rock (“Squall of Cthulu”) or straight surf rock (a sagging three-song run of “Riptide”-“Is This Real?”). These pieces are by no means poorly executed, but the divergence from the original genre pitch feels like the band threw everything at a wall to see what would stick, making for a listening that feels more unfocused than confident. The mix also feels a hair thrown together, with the drums—cymbals especially—feeling less crisp and seated than the rest of the instruments. I commend Mullins for committing to the bit with his vocal performance, and while I enjoy his Davy-Jones-on-LSD voiceover in “Squall of Cthulu,” the clean singing at the end of “Is This Real?” is strained and beginning to replace parody with cringe.

Gripes aside, Black Tides manages to provide a wacky, whimsical, yet under-baked detour from the more self-serious sides of metal. While I’d like to see the collective create a more cohesive and focused sound for future records, I can envision myself using a few of these tracks as background for Halloween or other mind-enhancing get-togethers. The band seems to have had fun making this record, and I hope they return to the project to make it bigger, bolder, and weirder. Now to find out the going rate for used waterphones on Ebay…

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Ottis Media Records | Bandcamp
Websites: facebook.com | Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: March 29, 2024

#25 #2024 #AliceCooper #AmericanMetal #BlackMetal #BlackSabbath #BlackTides #Cleric #DeadToADyingWorld #DickDaleAndTheDelTones #Kólga #Mar24 #OttisMediaRecords #PsychedlicRock #Review #Reviews #SabbathAssembly #SurfRock #TheBlackAngels #Tyrannosorceress

Ponte del Diavolo – Fire Blades from the Tomb Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

I would love to visit Turin, Italy. Besides hosting one of my new favorite punk bands (The Turin Horse) who released an album with truly inspired artwork, the city’s cultural exhibits include the controversial Shroud of Turin, an artifact which may or may not have graced the dead body of Jesus. In many older cities throughout Europe, religion still plays a central role either explicitly or implicitly in the culture, even if just through the existence of tourist-fixating fixtures like cathedrals and dead guy blankets. In construction too, the opposite of holiness exists, such as that of the ponte del diavolo—the “devil’s bridge”—a medieval stone arch bridge, usually a severe arch at that. Perhaps inspired by one such feature that crosses the stura di lanzo, and a healthy fascination with the Devil, Ponte del Diavolo summons a tongue-out punk attitude with black metal and occult rock leanings to stir Fire Blades from the Tomb into existence—a new attraction for the fine city of Turin.

Having spread the spectrum of their influences across a few EPs, Ponte del Diavolo reigns in the fettering ambience and shriekier black metal extremes of their formative work for this debut full-length. In this regard, these witchcraft-worshipping Italians come across like a punk-edged, tremolo riff-informed Sabbath Assembly, with mic-echantress Erba del Diavolo capturing the same essence of cult-fearing warble that a fervent Jamie Meyers possesses. Except Meyers doesn’t speak Italian—Ponte del Diavolo leans on their native tongue for a majority of the album, and Miss Diavolo feels even more wild in expression on those tracks as a result. Though, the departure from that on the closing cover of Nick Cave’s “Weeping Song,” an unexpected duet with Shores of Null vocalist Davide Straccione, lands just as effectively. Oh, and did I mention this band has two bassists?

Don’t fret though, mood is the name of the game here. Ponte del Diavolo’s double low-end assault doesn’t render as jazzy madness so much as it creates the kind of effect that a band like Kylesa desires with two drummers—a doubled rhythmic presence that splinters in warped ways. While one bassist keeps a rock steady thump, the other might flit about in higher string fills between tremolo guitar runs (“Covenant,” “La Razza”) or recall a riff after it snakes down a different path (“Nocturnal Veil”), all recalling the bouncing energy of post-punk swings. And when these swelling tunes take a turn down the path of echoing occult rock refrains, guest instruments like a bellowing bass clarinet (“Red as the Sex of She Who Lives in Death,” “Nocturnal Veil”) or a screeching Theremin (“Covenant”) cut through the incensed air to increase the atmospheric hypnosis.

But more than just these eclectic touches, though moments across Fire Blades can ring self-similar, Ponte del Diavolo expresses tone in shifting, subtle ways to maintain freshness throughout. In many songs, this comes down simply to vocal choices that add character to the already snarling and charming tones that del Diavolo conjures. Quick swings into sharp highs (“Covenant”), the sardonic “la la la la la la la la la” of “Red as the Sex…,” whinnying inflections that pepper verses (“Covenant,” “Zero”)—her bags of tricks gives and gives. Conversely, guitarist Nerium stitches together phrases from a more limited repertoire but with tones ranging from chiming and wobbly (“Red as the Sex…”) to twanging and weighty (“Nocturnal Veil”) to cutting and frosty (“Demone”) to give each song a its own little wrinkle.

Ponte del Diavolo focuses foremost on the sultry, slow burn that they can imbue amongst their various identities. In its focus on tension and release through call and ritual, Fire Blades from the Tomb can hit a bit understated when it’s not in full punky black metal mode—but then again it’s not really much of a black metal album. The album’s aggression functions merely as a link between its trembling croons and its ungodly incantations with Ponte del Diavolo aiming for a jam-laden, occult doom akin to their countrymates Messa.1 And while this full-length debut may lack the intensity of success for true greatness in its six original statements and one borrowed tune, stepping away from its mystic grip never crosses my mind. Can someone please buy me a ticket to Turin already?

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: Season of Mist | Bandcamp
Websites: facebook.com/pontedeldiavolo | pontedeldiavolo666.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: February 16th, 2024

#2024 #35 #BlackMetal #DoomMetal #Feb24 #FireBladesFromTheTomb #ItalianMetal #Kylesa #Messa #NickCave #OccultRock #PonteDelDiavolo #postPunk #Punk #Review #Reviews #SabbathAssembly #SeasonOfMist