earMUSIC

Don’t be fooled by the plinky piano and music hall humming on the intro to album opener ‘When Winter…’ Within seconds, Shawter unleashes a death roar to split brains and splinter souls. This is damn fine album, full of power, twists and thrills. But for my money it’s Shawter’s epic vocals that steal the show. The range of styles, effects and distortions is impressive, ranging from full force gutteral screams to multi-layered melodies and hints of properly harmonious chorus.

This is the French metallers 5th album and the first to be released since the departure of founder lead guitarist Izakar. The band have grown from death/doom/industrial roots and all those influences are welded together with craft and ambition on this new platter. Shawter is joined by Z on guitar, Werther (that’s original…) on bass and Franky on the drum stool.

‘When Winter…’ sets the tone with changes of pace and mood, though it’s Shawter who dominates the sound. As the album develops, the rest of the band muscle the front man out of the way to hog some space for themselves. ‘The Realm Black’ slams in with doom-laden riffs and vocals, but the mayhem is stalled with a gorgeous mid-paced lead guitar outro. ‘I, Reptile’ is a high point, powered by thunderous drums that make way, mid-track, for pretty synth strings swelling under a tenderly plucked guitar, counterpointed with a killer machine gun guitar salvo. It is seriously all going on.

‘Kiss Me Kraken’, picks up the pace with a bass drum weave that agitates the pit of the stomach. The stomping guitar and growling vocal are irresistible enough, way before the soaring doom (is such a thing possible?) tingles the spine and would put you in mind of prime time Paradise Lost.

The brief instrumental interlude ‘Nevada’ emphasises the band’s confidence. Picture the scene: It’s a dusty, empty frontier town. A cowboy picks at his dobro, Stetson shading his eyes. And then all hell breaks loose as the bar doors swing open and the band sweeps down the street bashing out thick guitar melodies underpinned by gloopy keyboard hooks. And just as you are trying to make sense of all this, they are gone into the sunset. Well, you get the idea.

‘The Great Wonder’ is the first single and presents slightly more straight forward imagery! There is a hint of commerciality around the churning riffs but that doesn’t make it uninteresting. Indeed the whole album reveals its patterns of intensity and movement more fully on repeating listenings.

This is cracking disc for those who like their metal hard but with a bit of progression. The only reason it doesn’t get a big 5 is because, though Shawter’s vocals are rightly front and centre, that power is sometimes at the expense of some seriously nasty guitar bite. Logan Mader from Machine Head has done a fine job behind the desk. And maybe this is splitting hairs. But sometimes you want the guitar chug and snarl to really claim centre stage by leaping out of the speakers and planting oily size 10 combat boots all over the shagpile. A minor quibble.  ****1/2

Review by Dave Atkinson

---

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

---

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

---

Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)

---

---

Popular (last 10 days)

---