Black Tower – The Secret Fire

Canada is home to all sorts of fantastic unique and interesting bands, and one of Unspeakable Axe Records’ newest signings, Black Tower, is no exception. I often like to compare bands to other groups or label them pretty rigidly with genres because it makes it easier to get an idea of what they sound like, but that just won’t work with Black Tower. Put simply, their sound incorporates a variety of influences, which are both internal and external to metal. At its core, “The Secret Fire” is somewhat of a traditional heavy metal/speed metal album that has heavy leanings towards punk, all while throwing in black metal sounds. Although the album itself feels like a cohesive experience, the band jumps all over the map, many times within the same track. The first song, for example, opens with an awesome thrashy riff before devolving into something a bit less heavy. Later on, however, Black Tower’s vocalist seamlessly adds incredibly raspy black metal shrieks alongside her normal more punk-influenced voice.

It is worth pointing out that the singing on this album wild. The primary vocalist is Erin Ewing, but there are songs and sections with male vocals in them as well. Put quite bluntly, Erin’s singing takes a bit of getting used to. The harsh vocals are executed to perfection, but the cleans sometimes feel like they don’t necessarily fit with the rest of the music that’s going on. Perhaps a better description would be to say that she isn’t exactly virtuosic. This is one of the primary areas where punk fans will really dig this record, as it isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just something that differs from more standard metal albums.

A couple of the tracks on “The Secret Fire” are deserving of special mention. The first of these is “Black Moon”, which is as close as the band gets to any of the newer traditional heavy metal bands out there like Striker or Enforcer. This song’s chorus is the highlight of the album, as it is exceptionally catchy. The other track that stands out is “Shadows”. As mentioned earlier, black metal influences are prominent all throughout the album, but this song takes it to the extreme. It is not afraid to mix in blast beats, weird dissonant riffs, and of course, shrieking vocals.

Overall, “The Secret Fire” is a very eclectic release. There is no one band that Black Tower could be compared to, which makes this album a refreshing listen. Admittedly, if you don’t like either punk or black metal, the album may be hard to enjoy. These elements are pervasive within the songs rather than being isolated to a particular track or two, so it’s not something you could just skip over. Nevertheless, what is presented on this album is done so skillfully, and is another testament to Unspeakable Axe Records’ ability to find unique bands that put interesting spins on familiar styles.

Be sure to check out and like Black Tower on Facebook!

Highlights

"Black Moon"

"Shadows"

Final Rating

4.0/5 or 80%. 

Written by Scott 

Suffer The Pain – Midnight Sacrifice

“Midnight Sacrifice” is the first full-length from Swedish band Suffer The Pain. At less than 30 minutes, this 14 track ripper is a short, but sweet offering of crusty, punky death metal. The songs on this record tend to be largely in the same vein: fast-paced, driven by solid buzzsaw riffs (check out the tremolo-picked riff in the title track for the best example, though quite a few tracks have a similar-styled riff), and drums that worship at the altar of punk. This sound means that not too many of the tracks stand out from one another, but they all offer lots of aggression and quality riffs. The vocals tend to be standard growls. They’re not excessively guttural, which means that you can pick out words here and there, and would likely be able to follow along easily with the lyric sheet. Though the vocals and guitars are quite competent, the highlight on this album is the drumming. They're incredibly active, both with fills and standard beats. They help to keep the record going at full force for its entire playtime.

One potential area of improvement for Suffer The Pain is the production. With this style of release, it is understandable that the production isn’t exactly crisp or clear sounding; however, because the guitars are so distorted and the album sounds so quiet, it actually doesn’t make things particularly heavy. What the band plays is heavy, but it just doesn’t sound as heavy as it could, especially when compared to the giants of Swedish death metal like Entombed or Unleashed. Another minor complaint is in the lyrics on “Nightmare”. The band starts doing some counting, which, to be honest, sounds kind of lame. This music is supposed to be brutal, but it ends up sounding like a kid’s version of a death metal song.

In any case, these two issues are definitely not problematic enough to ruin the album. In fact, “Midnight Sacrifice” is a pretty solid ball of energy, and will likely appeal to anyone who wants their death metal to start crossing over to punk. Though the band is firmly rooted in metal, the outside influences on this record are clear, and add something unique to the band’s sound.

Be sure to check out and like Suffer the Pain on Facebook!

Highlight

"Midnight Sacrifice"

Final Rating

3.5/5 or 70%. 

Written by Scott 

Flash Out – Terminated Efficiency

Flash Out is a Canadian band that plays a twisted form of crust-infused metal and punk. “Terminated Efficiency” is relentless release that displays a complete mishmash of styles (or at least, to someone like me who isn’t a crust guy) into one noisy sound. The songs are short, fast, and absurdly furious. This album is highlighted by some solid, albeit unmemorable, riffs that are sure to get your head banging. Like many bands, the faster Flash Out goes, the better they get. “Derailed” reaches tempos that many dare not dream of, yet its ferocity makes it an immediate winner. The speedier numbers emphasize the incredibly tight performance by drummer Cory Thomas. His playing is always on the mark, and is relatively creative.

The vocal approach on “Terminated Efficiency” is somewhere between death groans and less coherent mumbling. The words are difficult to understand, even for a seasoned death metal listener, and the phrasing consists largely of short grunts. Sometimes this makes the vocals blend in with the already heavy low end. With that said, some songs, such as “Brain Fart”, sound like the vocals just weren’t mixed loud enough in the first place. To the band’s credit, they keep the songs relatively short, which makes it hard to lose interest. Even though the general sound is the same across the record, many tracks have their own slight nuances (be it a bass intro like on “Grey-Scaled”) that keep things engaging. 

In the end, “Terminated Efficiency” does exactly what Flash Out has attempted to accomplish. For those who don’t dig much crust, it is difficult to derive much from this release, simply because the album comes across as very samey. But that was the same thing I (and many others likely) said the first time we heard a death metal album. Flash Out is good at what they do, but that is a very acquired taste.

Be sure to check out and like Flash Out on Facebook!

Highlight

"Derailed"

Final Rating

3.5/5 or 70%. 

Written by Scott 

Overcharge – Accelerate

When you name your band Overcharge and put out an album called “Accelerate”, there’s only one thing the release should deliver: energy. This quick outburst of music lasts less than a half hour but delivers double the enthusiasm of most bands out there these days. The style the band plays on “Accelerate” is really indescribable because it’s a huge mash-up of other styles. Their name says it best though: Overkill + Discharge. Throw in a lot of Motorhead influence, and you’ve got a rock ‘n roll album with some hardcore, punk, thrash, and even a bit of death metal influence.

Every track on this record on this album completely rocks. They’re all upbeat and a lot of fun. In general, punk riffs tend to dominate; the riffs are short, simplistic, but relatively fast. The metal influence takes hold in the vocals. They’re relatively low grunts that are somewhere between death metal vocals and harsher thrash ones. The lyrics are, for the most part, unintelligible. There are a couple of moments of easy to understand lyrics though; lead singer Fabio spends the last moments of “Dirt” screaming the word over and over, as one example. Beyond the vocals, however, the best part of this release is the guitar work. This is where the Motorhead and rock influence shines through. Guitar solos appear often, can become incredibly bluesy, and are just flat out awesome. The best solo is on “Leave Behind”, where the band ignores their punk roots and breaks down into a mellower, melodic section. It isn’t necessarily the fact that the band tames things down that makes this section great, but rather that they do whatever they want and it fits in perfectly. 

Aside from that one unique section, the band generally maintains their standard sound on “Accelerate”. Because it’s such a short album, there is no need for experimentation, especially when Overcharge is so good at delivering this style. As you might imagine, this means the songwriting can run together a bit. There are definitely some obvious standout sections; the extended solo in “Drown In Your Own” is a highlight, as is the false ending in “Don’t Waste A Breath”. But when a song starts, it generally takes a while to know which one is playing. “Accelerate” is exactly the type of album that is not harmed by this approach because of its brevity. This album is awesome, but more importantly it’s fun. “Accelerate” is an album you can throw on, forget all of your troubles, and rock out to.

Be sure to check out and like Overcharge on Facebook!

Highlights

"Accelerate"

"Dirt"

"Leave Behind"

Final Rating

4.4/5 or 88%. 

Written by Scott