Lingua Ignota "Caligula" (2019)

Caligula

release date: Jul. 19, 2019

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]

producer: Kristin Hayter

label: Profound Lore - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "Do You Doubt Me Traitor" - 4. "May Failure Be Your Noose" - 5. "Fragrant Is My Many Flower'd Crown" - 9. "Spite Alone Holds Me Aloft"

3rd studio album by Lingua Ignota follows two years after her self-released international breakthrough All Bitches Die. The album is released on Profound Lore and features Kristin Hayter as songwriter, composer, instrumentalist, singer, photographer, and as producer, just as was the case on her two previous albums.

With this, Hayter refers to the dark time as partner in a long-lasting violent relationship, which she uses here to direct the general focus on. Central to the tracks are motifs such as (violent) revenge in the form of satanic brutal forces. Or perhaps rather: the prince of darkness himself as the righteous (?) avenger of violence against women. The brutality is drawn out through all eleven tracks, which have a total running time of 66 minutes, but in a refined way, where Hayter performs in slow ceremonial lamentation as well as extreme experimental noise-metal - and with throat singing, where her screams take on the form of apocalyptic dimensions.

The album garnered good reviews and ended up on several lists including the year's best albums, and Hayter herself has been highlighted as one of today's most remarkable musicians.

It's difficult to point to outstanding or especially distinguished tracks on Caligula because the compositions offer such unique melodic structures that it makes just as much sense to compare them with parts of classical works. Hayter mixes styles and genres like a painter mixes colors. There is classical or neoclassical music, folk - as in traditional folk music - you'll find metal - as in industrial metal and there is experimental noise metal and more nuanced darkwave. The album is her most complex work to date, which is not only either gentle or brutal. In places it's calm, quiet, soothing and elaborated. And it contains beautiful passages, yet it's mostly black on black. It's music formulated in capital letters BLACK. And, like her two previous albums, it's still quite fascinating. Even for someone who doesn't care much for death metal or related styles like black metal. I don't care about Slipknot, Korn, Metallica, Iron Maiden, etc., but Hayter is as attractive as car headlights to a deer: Scary, fascinating, and something that you deep down just know you should stay far far away from, yet you're gravitated towards it. I'm not a fan, but I can easily sense quality underneath a disturbing surface.

[ Footnote: and yes, Hayter actually has "Caligula" tattooed across her chest ]

Recommended? For a listen or two: Definitely! For multiple full spins: No way!

[ bandcamp ]

[ 👎Gaffa.dk 6 / 6, PopMatters 4,5 / 5, Soundvenue 5 / 6, Pitchfork, The Guardian 4 / 5, 👍Blabbermouth 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Volbeat "Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie" (2016)

Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie

release date: Jun. 3, 2016

format: digital (2 cd) (Deluxe Edition)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,78]

producer: Jacob Hansen; Michael Poulsen & Rob Caggiano

label: Vertigo / Universal Music - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 2. "Marie Laveau" - 3. "For evigt" (feat. Johan Olsen) (live) - 4. "The Gates of Babylon" - 5. "Let It Burn" - - Bonus disc: 2. "The Bliss"

6th studio album by Volbeat released more than three years following Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies (Apr. 2013). The album is the band's so far only to be released as a trio with founding members, band leader and primary songwriter and composer Michael Poulsen and drummer Jon Larsen together with Rob Caggiano, who is not only credited as lead guitarist but also as bassist after longtime member bassist Anders Kjølholm left the band in 2015. One month prior to the album release, it was announced that Kaspar Boye Larsen would be the band's new bassist. The standard release contains 13 tracks, whereas the 2-disc Deluxe Edition adds four tracks to the album of which track #2 is an English version of "For evigt" with Mia Maja as (hardly noticeable) additional vocalist.

Musically, the band continues in the same circles, or you might suggest: on the exact same spot, as it sounds like yet another extension to what they did on their previous two releases. But that's just my opnion. Poulsen's vocal hardly ever leaves a fixed register and the guitars repeat 1970s melodic hard rock notes while song choruses repeat familiar choruses from other songs - only with some new words as only difference. The band's previous big hit "The Garden's Tale" featuring Johan Olsen from Magtens Korridorer has actually been surpassed by the band's new huge hit song "For evigt" again featuring Olsen on additional vocal. That song has by now nearly gained status as an alternative national anthem. A few fine songs just don't make the whole big difference for a band who seems to be satisfied in reproducing itself - indefinitely. After a few highlights - where you still notice the band's reproductive sound and melody structures, the album simply fades, approaching mediocre.

Track #3 aside, this is not recommended.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Gaffa.dk 4 / 6 stars ]

Deftones "Around the Fur" (1997)

Around the Fur

release date: Oct. 28, 1997

format: digital

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,06]

producer: Terry Date, Deftones

label: Maverick / Warner Bros. - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "My Own Summer (Shove It)" (4 / 5) - 6. "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)"

2nd studio album from American band Deftones following the debut Adrenaline (1995). The band is a quartet consisting of Chino Moreno as lead vocalist, Stephen Carpenter on guitar, Chi Cheng on bass & backing vocals, and with Abe Cunningham on drums.

Stylistically, alt. metal is at the heavy end of the foundation, where you also find bands like System of a Down and Marilyn Manson. I only discovered Deftones with the song "My Own Summer (Shove It)" which was part of the original soundtrack to the first "The Matrix" movie from 1998 and I have to admit that along with track #6 those are the album's highlights, as these tracks contain a good amount of aggressiveness and at the same time also have a harmonic side, which the album's other compositions simply lack. Both Marilyn Manson - who is admittedly more of an industrial rock act - and System of a Down play on the opposites of beauty and ugliness - somewhat in the manner as Rammstein, but where Deftones, at least in the band's early phase lacked the counterplay to the raw, the dirty, and the brutal, and then alt. metal just isn't one of my favourite styles. The '95 debut and the follow-up to this one, White Pony (2000) have roughly the same shortcomings, while on later albums the band, starting with Deftones (2003), where the simple title indicates a change in style, but also Saturday Night Wrist (2006), Covers (2011) and Koi No Yokan (2012) reveal a soundscape where the band partially succeeds in bridging to other styles thus creating something other than a brutal wall of sound.

Not recommended.

Marilyn Manson "Antichrist Superstar" (1996)

Antichrist Superstar
release date: Oct. 8, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Sean Beavan, Marilyn Manson, Dave Ogilvie, Trent Reznor
label: Interscope - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" - 2. "The Beautiful People" - 4. "Tourniquet" - 7. "Deformography" - 12. "Antichrist Superstar" - 15. "The Reflecting God" -

2nd studio album by American industrial metal band Marilyn Manson originally released by Nothing Records. Guitarist Daisy Berkowitz (aka Scott Putesky) left the band while still recording the album with bassist Twiggy Ramirez, vocalist Marilyn Manson, additional musicians Danny Lohner and Robin Finck, as well as both co-producers Sean Beavan and Trent Reznor taking over the remaining guitar recordings.
Stylistically, the album marks a shift to a harder, simpler and in many ways more traditional hard rock style with loans from punk rock, gothic rock and metal rock. The band has left, what I find a murky, style and also the many samples and instead focused on a clearer industrial form, which has been praised by many. The two single releases (tracks #2 and #4) were both promoted with (acclaimed) music videos directed by Canadian-Italian director Floria Sigismondi. The album is regarded as the band's breakthrough album, and it was nominated and awarded several prizes. It's also the so far only Marilyn Manson album to be enlisted in "1001 Album You Must Hear Before You Die."
The album is not a favourite of mine but I do acknowledge the musical qualities of the album, although, I find it hard to listen to in its entirety. Tracks #1, #2 and #4 are the clearly best tracks here, and they all have a distinct punk rock influence, whereas several other tracks are more metal rock-founded, and therefore, from my perspective, less interesting; however, as a whole, I find it quite amusing / disturbing and clearly the band's best effort.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Spin 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Marilyn Manson "Smells Like Children" (1995) (ep)

Smells Like Children, ep
release date: Oct. 24, 1995
format: digital
[album rate: 2 / 5] [2,16]
producer: Trent Reznor
label: Nothing Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 6. "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" - 9. "I Put a Spell on You"

Studio ep by the band Marilyn Manson, which by now also consists of bassist Twiggy Ramirez (aka Jeordie Osbourne White) and new drummer Ginger Fish (aka Kenneth Robert Wilson). The album is filed and issued as an ep, although, it enlists 16 tracks and rightfully consists of 10 ordinary tracks, but with a playing time at above 54 mins, it seems like a rather long ep.
Stylistically, it's very much in the same ball game as the debut album. And the only reason I wanted to listen to this in the first place was because of the inclusion of 3 cover songs: The Eurythmics song "Sweet Dreams" , Screamin'Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" and the Patti Smith composition "Rock 'n' Roll Nigger", none of which come close enough to the quality of the original versions.
However, I think, this is even worse than the debut, and I can't really find any reasons for listening to the album.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Marilyn Manson "Portrait of an American Family" (1994)

Portrait of an American Family
release date: Jul. 19, 1994
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,32]
producer: Trent Reznor
label: Nothing / Interscope - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 5. "Cyclops" - 7. "Get Your Gunn" - 8. "Wrapped in Plastic"

Studio debut album by American metal rock band Marilyn Manson produced by Nine Inch Nails' front figure Trent Reznor and released through his newly founded label Nothing Records. At this stage Marilyn Manson was now seen as a band, although, it was initially named Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids from 1989, which included founding member Marilyn Manson [aka Brian Warner] on vocals with guitarist Daisy Berkowitz [aka Scott Putesky] and bassist Olivia Newton Bundy [aka Brian Tutunick]. From around 1990 Bundy left and was replaced by Gidget Gein [aka Brad Stewart], and from around '91 the band also included keyboardist Madonna Wayne [aka Stephen Bier] and drummer Sara Lee Lucas [aka Fred Streithorst]. The band name was shortened to Marilyn Manson in '92 when the five initiated the works on what would be this album - initially titled "The Manson Family Album", but the band was very unsatisfied with the production sound and contacted Reznor who accepted to rework the recordings at what point Gein was replaced by the band's roadie Twiggy Ramirez [aka Jeordie Osbourne White] due to Gein's heroin addiction.
Stylistically, it's industrial metal and alt. metal, which incorporates various samples on almost all tracks, and thematically, the band keeps to compositions and songs drawing its attention on the hypocrisy of American lifestyle.
The early works by Marilyn Manson nor this album has never been a personal favourite of mine. It's simply too heavy metal-based for my liking, and I reject the music like I do with albums by Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, Metalica, Korn and many others who deal with heavy metal, as I never was a fan of the metal 'circus'. The only reason I ever came around this album is because of my interest in the band's later works with a stronger gothic rock tone pointing at some of the 1980s post-punk artists, and because I do like some alt. metal bands, who incorporate elements from the world of alt. rock, post rock or punk-rock, and then I really like the videos Marilyn Manson made together with Canadian-Italian director Floria Sigismondi.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 2 / 5 stars ]

Volbeat "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies" (2013)

Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies
release date: Apr. 9, 2013
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / ] [2,74]
producer: Robert Caggiano & Volbeat; Jacob Hansen
label: Vertigo - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 2. "Pearl Hart" - 3. "The Nameless One" - 5. "Cape of Our Hero"

5th studio album by Volbeat follows 2½ years after Beyond Hell / Above Heaven (Sep. 2010) is the band's first not to be with Jacob Hansen as only producer. In fact he is "only" credited as co-producer and the album being produced by Robert Caggiano (guitarist of Anthrax) together with Volbeat. The line-up has changed with Caggiano also replacing Thomas Bredahl as lead guitarist. The album is the band's final with bassist Anders Kjølholm, who left the band in 2015.
Slowly, and almost unnoticed these guys have become the biggest international Danish act. They haven't changed much but they have distilled what they do the best. Soundwise, this may be on another level, but I don't really think, it's their best. Some would probably say that this is their most popular heavy metal or their most alternative metal-shaped album so far. The style copies their successful 2010-album with a few tracks with hints of alt. country, which doesn't make it much better. Too many tracks are simply not my taste and there's too much headbanging heavy metal, but overall, it may be a small improvement.
Not for me - not recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Volbeat "Beyond Hell / Above Heaven" (2010)

Beyond Hell / Above Heaven
release date: Sep. 10, 2010
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]
producer: Jacob Hansen
label: EMI - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "The Mirror and the Ripper" - 2. "Heaven Nor Hell" - 4. "Fallen" - 5. "A Better Believer" - 13. "Thanks"

4th studio album by Volbeat follows one year after Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood, is like all the band's previous albums produced by Jacob Hansen.

The line-up remains intact and the writing/composer-procedure continues with the same pattern with poulsen as only songwriter and composer of 9 out of 13 songs and as co-composer with other band members on 4 songs.
Again, the music is within narrow boundaries of primarily hard rock and as on the 2008 release, they succeed with a personal expression. They also explore the use of featuring artists as on their national monster-hit "A Garden's Tale" with Johan Olsen to much further extend. Henrik Hall of Love Shop features on track #2, Mille Petrozza of Kreator and Michael Denner of Mercyful Fate / King Diamond both feature on track #6, Jakob Øelund of Taggy Tones is featuring artist on track #8, and Mark 'Barney' Greenway of Napalm Death appears on track #11. The album is the band's final with guitarist Thomas Bredahl, who left the band in Nov. 2011.
I do recognize the band's contribution to the genre and their hard-headed determination. Still, the style is not really something I listen much to, and I still think many of their tracks sound too much alike. Compared to the predecessor that in some ways signaled a new way, they once again seem stuck with a matrix they think is the right combination to open the hidden safe box, which will let them have all the money and fame instead of making some new great music. Again, it's not entirely bad, it's just not something I would recommend because it's like the C and D-sides to an earlier album and I frankly think they are stuck in a bubble with no doors.
Not recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Rammstein "Du hast" (1997), single

Du hast, single
release date: Jul. 21, 1997
format: cd
[single rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Jacob Hellner, Rammstein
label: Motor Music - nationality: Germany

Tracklist: 1. "Du hast (Single Version)" (5 / 5) - 2. "Bück dich (Album Version)" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Du hast (Remix by Jacob Hellner)" - 4. "Du hast (Remix by Clawfinger)"

Single release by Rammstein and the second single issue prior to the release of the forthcoming second album Sehnsucht to be released the following month. The title track seems the same as on the album, which also goes for the second track, whereas the last two remixes offers new versions. The first and best remix by producer Jacob Hellner is an electronic big beat (The Prodigy-like) version of the single, and the last Clawfinger remix is an alt. metal hard rock version, which is a rather inferior version; however, the original version is a truly fabulous track.

Schwarzwald Library "Silver Surf" (1995)

Silver Surf [debut]
release date: Jan. 1995
format: cd
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]

Track highlights: 2. "So Prime" - 7. "August in Rain" (live) - 13. "LAIKA" (4 / 5)

Studio debut album by Danish (post-) grunge rock, alt. rock, alt. metal band Schwarzwald Library released on AGM Music. The band consists of Jens Gotthelf (vocals, otava), Peter W.A. Sandorff (guitars, keyboards, vocals), Jeppe B. Jessen (bass guitar), Kristian A. Sandorff (drums, percussion). In 1995 grunge rock with Cobain was more or less all over and certainly this Danish band is very much inspired by Nirvana (at times too much), but Silver Surf remains a first draft, and it definitely has its moments. Like Psyched Up Janis, and their phenomenal debut Swell (1994), SL tries to combine grunge rock with its personal and unique style within the vast pool of alt. rock, but what is successfully established by Psyched Up Janis, never really works for SL. Having said that, I still find this album interesting, and not as a whole, 'cause the single tracks are of various quality, but for "So Prime", "August in Rain" [Nirvana copy], and especially "LAIKA", which truly is an original disturbing but great composition: "LAIKAAAAA!!"

Grind "The Glorious Kind" (1994)

The Glorious Kind [debut]
release date: Jan. 1, 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,72]
producer: Anders Bonde
label: AGM Music / Black Pilot - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Fool's Stuffing" (4 / 5) (live) - 2. "The Silver Walk"

Studio debut album by the Danish band Grind consisting of vocalist Peter Buur, bassist Jacob K. Leth (ex-member of De Må Være Belgiere), guitarist Kim G. Hansen (member of Institute for the Criminally Insane and Antenna), guitarist Jens Danielsen - credited as Jens Valo (ex-member of Kliché), and drummer Andreas Jørnvil.
It's difficult to categorise the style but it's predominantly alt. metal, although, not really heavy metal, and then again, it's also 'heavy' but more like experimental or actually what is known as thrash metal.
I bought the album shortly after its release, and I really loved the opening track "Fool's Stuffing", which is why I decided to purchase the album, 'cause it's a brilliant noise rock progressive alt. metal... composition. I also remember being more than just interested in the band because of the cover..., although, that wasn't really enough to go and buy it. Unfortunately, only the second track is also of any interest, and the rest of this 7-track album (with tracks running from 3:03 to 11:20 mins.) are not that good.
The album was launched to some enthusiasm but the band didn't receive much recognition for its music, and after their second (and slightly lesser) album Creampetal (1995) they disbanded.