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Well, it’s been a half a minute, during which a lot has happened, inclusive of more recordings and two fully researched and prepped shows pending the final recording over at Weird Scenes.

Even have two more in process, if you can believe that. All edits remain on hold, but come the new year, there will be a rather large backlog of regular shows over on that front.

So without keeping anyone waiting even further, slavering with bated breath over their long awaited meal of Roundup Reviews…here’s your somewhat delayed, if very much up to the minute fix. Dig right in!

Trouble – The Distortion Field (Hammerheart Records) (October 14)

Trouble takes an odd left turn into aggro territory in the wake of losing anti-mask Covid denier/anti vaxxer Eric Wagner (whose adamance against getting the vaccine sadly resulted in the inevitable.)

Without Wagner’s unique and instantly recognizable vocals, the band was forced to turn to a guy who fronted the crudely named “Alabama Thunderpussy”, not to be confused with the crudely named “Thunderpussy” of Seattle, who gave us the classily entitled “Greatest Tits” and at least was comprised of folks with the referenced sex organ in question. Oh, and he’s a raspy voiced aggro growler not far removed from aggro leading light Phil “what a swell guy” Anselmo.

Naturally, despite occasional rifs and solos sounding somewhat Trouble-esque…whatever this is, it ain’t fucking Trouble.

Now, to be fair, the band took a very weird turn in the 90s. From the essential doom classic Psalm 9 and the more mainstream but still quite essential popular breakthrough self titled under the helm of a still top tier Rick Rubin (whose merits around that time were effectively unparalleled), Trouble was more than a force to be reckoned with.

Their trademarked but never truly replicated guitar tone and Wagner’s reedy, apocalyptic vocals and lyrics left the band as one of the most important bands in the eventual doom genre that sprung from the loins of themselves, Witchfinder General, Candlemass and the mighty Black Sabbath alone.* As a longtime aficionado of each of these acts in their respective heydays who’s played their records, cassettes and CDs for literal dozens of times over the intervening decades, Trouble always held tremendous respect and much love from yours truly.

* Well, Cathedral and even Reverend Bizarre also became notable forces, if more than a tad later than any of these folks…and we won’t get into stoner and the likes of Kyuss, Monster Magnet, Sleep and Electric Wizard, who ALSO debuted many years after the primal fo(u)rces aforementioned.

Even their later, oft dismissed “psychedelic stoner groove” works like the recently reissued and reviewed Manic Frustration, Simple Mind Condition and One More for the Road more or less still bear strong elements of the Trouble we all know and love. But this one’s kind of a mess.

For every vintage Trouble riff like the one that (eventually) comes to dominate tracks like “hunters of doom”, there are far too many concessions to Anselmo wannabe Kyle Thomas’ faux-Pantera inclinations.

In short, while occasional riffs, leads and guitar tone will remind all those sweaty young fanboys of the absolute dogshit that Americans have come to believe is somehow “metal” by any stretch of the imagination over the last 3 decades that maybe, just maybe, Wartell and Franklin dropped by this half assed “NWOAHM” Mudvayne Slipknot Madball cover band for an open mic night.

Yeah, their presence does occasionally spruce up the subpar poseur screamo growly constipated fat guy squatting to take a dump onstage while on mic foolishness that totally pissed off and heavily tattooed teenage wankers form wall of death mosh pits to, but is that really enough to save this stinking turd bomb posing and marketed as one of the greats of doom metal’s post-Wagnerian “reinvention?”

To paraphrase one of their own “supergroups” of the genre’s chosen moniker? HELLNO.

Or if you prefer, does this one suck?

HELLYEAH!

Thy Listless Heart – Pilgrims on the Path of no Return (Hammerheart Records) (November 18)

“Peaceville Three” style gothic doom from a Briton one man band.

Something about his clean, laid back and somewhat overdramatic tone calls both Ian Arkley’s My Silent Wake and the pre-Paul Thomas Kearns Solstice to mind.

There’s some of the post-death metal feel of (certain periods of) Paradise Lost to be found in tracks like “the precipice”, but if anything, the moroseness feels more prominent, the sound more broad and metaphorically oceanic, as if Frozen Ocean met up with early, pre-clean vocalled/proggy Ahab for a wrist slitting competition.

If this sort of mellow, utterly miserable gothic doom is your cup of tea and you don’t mind the frontman emoting like Ghostbound’s Alec A. Head trying to work a Patrick (Warning) Walker sans Prozac over the top, this one comes quite recommended.

Just be warned, it’s so dark and suicidally grim, you’ll want to refer a certain Simon Bibby to the local hotline.

Fans of the aforementioned acts should absolutely adore this, it’s quite competent, affecting and well produced.

Roots of the Old Oak – Blot (Hammerheart Records) (August 19)

A pair of unsuccessful musicians working somewhere in the UK death to black metal hinterlands way back around the dawn of the millenium (have YOU ever heard of a band called “Slaughter of the Souls”? No, not the At the Gates album that alongside Carcass’ Heartwork was solely responsible for the existence of metalcore (and its slightly more accepted twin, “melodeath”). A band swiping that name for their own. Of course not.)

But fans of doom/death, even the likes of post-IVth Crusade Bolt Thrower (“light the pyre”) should find this one more than interesting: a very much death vocalled and HM-2 riffed but oddly lumbering and slightly gothic doom oriented act that takes the moody sound of Morgoth’s excellent Cursed and adds the death groove of acts like later Carcass (check out the vox on the title track) or even Haunted-era Six Feet Under.

The result is a highly appealing, catchy if gloomy three track demo (with the obligatory pointless instrumental intro…though at least this time it’s guitar and drums, not the aimless keyboard noodling and silly sound effects so sadly endemic to filler tracks on metal albums nowadays.)

I really, really dug this one.

Let’s hope the full length slays as hard as this opening salvo did.

Horns raised high!

Therion – Theli (Hammerheart Records) (September 9)

The album that changed Therion from a third rate black/death/thrash act (…Of Darkness) to a leading light of the nascent symphonic power metal genre is reissued 25 years on from its debut.

With powerful, clean and crisp production from Dan Swano, this one hangs on a trio of standout tracks; the amazing “to mega therion”, “in the desert of set” and “nightside of eden”.

All three tracks are packed to the rafters with eerie, soaring guest soprano vox and choir (the band would become notorious for chewing up and spitting out then and later famous male and female guest and touring vocalists,) expansive, moody, guitar and drum based but oddly classical orchestral feeling sonic pallette.

The rest here is pretty much filler, but wow. Fans of Epica back when they mattered circa Phantom Agony and Consign to Oblivion who haven’t experienced Therion need to check this one out to see where they got the idea in the first damn place.

For those tracks alone, pretty much essential listening.

Therion – Vovin (Hammerheart Records) (September 9)

Here frontman/guitarist Cristofer Johnsson goes nuts, leaving himself as the sole remaining member and bringing big names like Primal Fear frontman Ralf Scheepers and Cradle of Filth virago Sarah Jezebel Deva onboard for the album itself (rather than using them as touring vocalists, as would become his wont.) The next time he’d commit a name vocalist to vinyl would be for Lemuria, a full 6 years and three albums later.

Sadly, it’s a major letdown from the comparative genre defining highs of Theli, with even relative standouts like “the wild hunt” sadly moping along at a middling pace and without half so much choral and soprano forefronting. It’s like comparing Epica to Delain (or perhaps more precisely, Within Temptation from Silent Force forward.)

Where Theli was triumphant ala Verdi…Vovin is barely Massenet, and even that’s giving it a huge stretch of overpraise.

Yes, it’s still Therion, and they’re still playing symphonic metal.

It just sounds like this was recorded at 4am after a long, long bender, all somnolescence and despairing sighs over not getting laid after a long night of boozy barhopping.

Ignore its ostensible reputation. After Theli? This one’s an easy pass.

Therion – Deggial (Hammerheart Records) (September 9)

Now that’s more like it!

Here Johnsson establishes an ongoing lineup that would last through the subsequent five years (and four albums total), dropping the famous guest vocalists for the next few releases (save as touring members, which would become a hallmark of Therion going forward.)

More importantly? This time he’s got a fire under his ass once again.

Kicking off with* a triumphant take on Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, this one is filled with the sort of standout tracks that made Theli so damn good in the first place.

“Seven secrets”, “enter vril-ya” with its stolen Scorpions riff, the almost Liv Kristine-era Leaves Eyes worthy “the invincible” and “via nocturna” are all orchestrally minded, neoclassical symphonic metal standouts, with “flesh of the gods” an unexpected if quite solid radio friendly power metal track.

* well, the way we hear it, anyway. You’ll close on this one.

Is it better than the best of Theli? Maybe not. But it’s a hell of a lot more consistent, and far more filled with the good stuff than the more formative earlier album was.

Another highly recommended one.

Therion – Secret of the Runes (Hammerheart Records) (September 9)

The original coverage of the other three Therion reissues was discovered to be lost just before an intended final posting early this afternoon, so if the next three seem more terse, you know why. Nevertheless, we shall endeavor to not so much “recreate”, but deliver what the heart of the matter was.

The bottom line is, Johnsson takes another dip on this one, which comes off like some weird cross between Bathory on Hammerheart, Twilight of the Gods and Blood on the Ice and the original cast recording of Phantom of the Opera or “Les Miz.” As that might suggest, far too much of this album plods along at a turgid pace, failing to distinguish itself in the wake of far more potent works like (the highlights of) Theli and Deggial.

There are certainly tracks that work, and work quite well. “Asgard” chugs along at a Leaves Eyes meets Finntroll circa Trollhammeren pace, all lilting calls to the audience to sway along, beer mug frothing away in hand. “Muspelheim” bears a midtempo power metal feel that brings the best of Finntroll, and surprisingly enough, Edguy to mind. And at a lesser level, “ginnungagap” bears the vibe of the less engaging and worthwhile Consign to Oblivion tracks.

But while Johnsson’s production (or coproduction, as the case may be) is fairly strong and allows all the vocal and band elements to ring out clearly throughout and it’s hardly the maudlin snoozefest Vovin was…it’s a definite letdown comparatively speaking.

Therion – Lemuria (Hammerheart Records) (September 9)

Johnsson brings Candlemass/St. Vitus fill in frontman Mats Leven onboard for both this and the subsequent Sirius B, the first time he’d utilized a notable name on record since Vovin a full six years prior.

Opener “typhon” is pretty strong and bombastic symphonic power metal, with some prominent soprano and Omen-style chorus, and “uthark runa” comes off like Floor Janssen-era Nightwish.

But tracks like “three ships of berik pt. 1” come off cheesier than the most yawn inducing tracks of acts like After Forever, Sirenia or Nightwish, with “pt. 2” so ridiculously campy, you’d think Sabaton was doing a production of 1776 marketed to the Schoolhouse Rock crowd.

The biggest problem with Lemuria, however, has precious little to do with the music itself. It’s the production from a Lars Nissen, of few if any further credits, who saddles the mix with a bizarre hollow center, with the outer louder signals prone to distortion and bleed, but the core swishing about like the entire recording took place as far beneath the ocean as the fabled sunken continent it centers upon.

Just check out tracks like “uthark runa”, the aforementioned “berik pt. 1” or “abraxas”. As soon as the distortion pedals kick in, it’s an overcompressed mess, giving some weight to the assertion that Nissen was only prepared to record clean toned lightweight schmaltz, and totally unprepared for a metal band with amps turned up to 11.

Think about the trajectory, here. Theli is blessed with prolific and generally well respected Dan Swano at the helm, and it sounds great. Johnsson himself takes over for the questionable Vovin, but his work is certainly competent and if clearly not at the same level of top tier quality, works well enough for the music throughout the course of the next three albums.

Then along comes Nissen, and we wind up with this relative audio stink bomb. Remember the legendarily variable if not occasionally awful mix and production on Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours? That was due, by the bands own admission, to far too many drugs in the studio and some spilled substances ruining the master tapes.

Was that the case with Lemuria? Was Nissen operating on the heels of an all night barhop bender, dumping half empty beers or bongwater all over the tapes and fritzing out the mixing board? I mean, we’re hardly talking black metal levels of bad production here, but after the rest of these, Nissen’s dicey production skills really do stand out like a throbbing sore thumb.

Therion – Sirius B (Hammerheart Records) (September 9)

Johnsson pulls his shit together long enough to deliver one of Therion’s strongest overall records, despite the same crap hollow-ass production from Lemuria’s substandard producer Lars Nissen.

I mean, seriously. “Blood of Kingu” became such a fan favorite and concert staple, there’s even a Ukranian band there was some minor buzz floating about over who swiped it for their moniker. “Dark venus persephone” may well have inspired Cradle of Filth’s Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa.

They tap the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra for some even more solid than usual big choral vocals and backup, resulting in odd if pleasant tracks like “the wondrous world of punt”, Theli/Deggial worthy bangers like “son of the sun”, “kali yuga pt. II” and “melek taus”, probably the most radio friendly song about Old Scratch you’re ever likely to hear this side of King Satan.

The bottom line is, if you’ve managed to avoid Therion for the last two decades or more and just now decide it’s time to see what everyone’s been talking about in death, symphonic and for that matter esoteric circles, by all means grab yourself a copy of Theli, Deggial and Sirius B.

The others all have a track or three of definite merit, but that’s about the best that can be said for them, even if you’re a diehard symphonic power metal fan.

Arallu – Death Covenant (Hammerheart Records) (November 11)

Apocalyptic sounding Israeli black/death.

It’s the usual for the (more well produced end of the) genre, sort of like a slightly desert-tinged take on Belphegor by way of post-anyone caring about their sorry asses Behemoth (which means immediately following …And the Forests Dream Eternally).

Maybe there’s a vague hint of Inquisition in there, but this is far more polished, and the band is very much on point. No surprise, that, given that this is their eighth album (plus two EPs) and that they’ve been kicking around more or less unheralded since around ’99.

I always appreciate hints of local folk culture and instrumentation married to metal (particularly the darker, more “extreme” end thereof), and like I said, it’s very much a professional, surprisingly listenable endeavor all ’round (growly/shriek vox aside, but you kind of have to expect that with black/death.)

Regular Third Eye readers (and listeners to the podcast) are well aware of exactly what we feel about black/death per se…but there are occasional nails that stick up above the rest, who maybe don’t merit the same well deserved beatdown hammering of their exponentially prevalent peers.

To judge by Death Covenant, Arallu stand among that rarified handful.

Maybe I can’t say I liked this one, no. But it was more than listenable, had some clever local colour and definitely skews the curve dramatically by its inclusion in a notoriously abysmal and miscegenated subgenre of black metal.

Aurora Borealis – Prophecy is the Mold in which History is Poured (Hammerheart Records) (November 4)

…and on the other hand, here we have another band who’s been around since at least ’98, also with eight albums and one EP under their belt…who unlike Arallu, don’t appear to have learned a thing from their long time in the trenches.

Ever wanted to hear Centurian or Necrophobic crossed with Carcass?

Seriously. Atari Teenage Riot worthy computerized-style high speed double bass and blastbeat drumming, buzzing bee swarm guitars and some sub-Jeff Walker snarling and cackling away, with the expected Bill Steer belches as punctuation.

Haven’t we heard this crap a million times before, and with less bizarre, untoward crossover into grindcore/melodeath?

Only “technical” in the sense that Hoffman-era Deicide can claim to be such, it’s just repetitive high speed blasting and buzzing with occasional black/death faux-dramatic bridges (or occasional choruses). They even toss a few Inquisition string bend riffs in for bad measure.

Did you really think this one would get a pass, even with strong production values?

…don’t believe the hype about their supposed “Morbid Angel/Malevolent Creation influences” (as if those two bands had anything whatsoever to do with each other beyond recording under the great Scott Burns at Morrisound...)

Just ask He-Man baddie Stinkor.

“What’s that smell?”

oh, yeah. That’s just Aurora Borealis.

Can we get someone in to fumigate my ears after being subjected to this?

Slaughter the Giant – Depravity (Hammerheart Records) (October 28)

Black/death out of Belgium that tries to lean slightly melodeath.

Never mind the shrieking, growling vocals, atonal and tremelo riffs, they actually want to have their cake and eat it too.

Yes, you can pull out some Sony era Cradle of Filthlike riffing that’s supposed to sound like At the Gates or Arch Enemy, or black metal growly-snarl vox trying to sound more like Jeff Walker than they ever actually do. So there is some vague justification for their claims to at least attempting to sound vaguely akin to this genre.

Just keep in mind that promo materials equally reference The Black Dahlia Murder.

Need I continue?

…sigh. They sort of tried, at least. And again, it’s well produced, which always is a surprise when it comes to black metal subgenres like black/death.

Even when they’re trying to sell themselves as some blackened take on melodeath, as if that were a viable approach.

Whatever. Next?