Originally featuring members from the Ukraine and Hungary, NordWitch formed at the beginning of 2015. Although firmly selling themselves as blackened death metal, it’s only ever really frontwoman Masha’s vocal style that holds them to that, since so many of the tunes on their debut ‘Mørk Profeti’ have more variety than your average blackened death band. For starters, none of this release is blighted by the cold sheets of sound so often associated with black metal; the band much prefer to concentrate on classic contemporary death styles, but take things further by mixing those traditions with the melodicism associated with early In Flames and the more extreme elements of Soilwork.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
GLENN ROBINSON – Unimpressed
Glenn Robinson’s 2013 release ‘Modern Mistakes‘ is an underground classic. On that album, the ex-Prozacs man delivered several first class punk pop nuggets which, tempered with the performer’s love of old school power pop, resulted in a record that kind of defied the passing of time. The Ramonescore influences were channelled through various 90s punk outfits; the occasional nods to skinny ties and power pop borne from something a little older, but whatever the style, Robinson’s energy and enthusiasm always shone through. His following EP – ‘Everything Is Stupid‘, released in March 2015 – perhaps seemed to be that album’s leftovers, but was no less enjoyable for sticking to tried and tested formulae.
FAITH ELIOTT – Faith Eliott EP
Released as a stop gap between demo recordings and entering the studio to record something properly, this EP from Edinburgh based singer-songwriter Faith Eliott was recorded live to tape in one afternoon at The Happiness Hotel in Leith. Although Faith recorded these tracks quickly and out of necessity (in her own words, “to archive songs that have been disappearing from setlists”), the organic nature of the recordings really brings out the best in her songs. For here are four tracks that are hugely professional and yet still retain a little of that spirit that lots of great acoustic music needs if it is to remain true to its roots. Various studio overdubs could have made these songs fuller, but not necessarily better.
THREE DIMENSIONAL TANX – Attack
With an inventive approach that combines indie rock with psychedelia and a touch of 70s Krautrock, sci-fi obsessed Lancaster band Three Dimensional Tanks fill their fourth album ‘Attack’ with tunes that can be sharp and upbeat, lax and hazy and sometimes mange to be both at once. For lovers of music driven by retro organ work, it’s a recording that needs to be heard, since the energy these guys sum up is really impressive.
VULTURE WINGS – Funeral Grounds EP
Despite being billed as a death metal band, the material that makes up the bulk of Brazilian outfit Vulture Wings’ debut EP is surprising. Their music is very heavy, but retains almost none of the relentless pneumatics so often associated with the genre. This, of course, has the potential to make ‘Funeral Grounds’ a more accessible listen than most – provided that is, of course, you can get your head around a growling vocal.