Transcript
Speaker: What's up everybody, thanks for tuning in. This is the first episode of the Hauntology Reviewcast and we've got Sean from Teach Them to Weep and Fear of Horses with us. He is going to be joining us for these, which is awesome.
Speaker: And you've got me, Alan, and Adrian from the label as well and ah we're going to give you our unsolicited opinions on three albums that we picked. So if you if that sounds like a good time, then sit back and relax or keep working hard at your job, whatever you're doing, and listen to us bullshit a little bit about some music that we enjoy or don't enjoy.
Speaker: So um today we've got three albums. We'll start with the first one, which is my pick. I picked probably my current album of the year. Spoiler alert for anybody that cares.
Speaker: um Fragile Wings by Cave Sermon, which is one man kind of progressive death metal project by this guy, Charlie Park from Australia.
Speaker: And I found out about it. Um, You know, I actually don't remember how I found out about it. I'm pretty sure it was a Facebook group post, somebody sharing it in a Facebook group, the last album, ah the one from 2024, Divine Laughter.
Speaker: I'm pretty sure that's what it was. And I just really liked the cover art. It's got this like abstract painting that was really evocative. So I checked it out and immediately fell in love with it.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. It's a really great album, but we're here to talk about the follow-up to that, ah which is called Fragile Wings, and it came out just a couple months ago.
Speaker: um like i said it's it's like a progressive death metal type of thing but this one in particular has some interesting influences that i didn't hear on the last album it's got kind of shades of a little bit of like post-hardcore and some of the the the way that he chooses chords on these songs and also some black metal elements for sure it's sections so um
Speaker: The big thing is but about this album for anybody that's been following Cave Sermon is that up until now, Charlie hasn't done the vocals, but he started doing vocals on this album as well. So now it's just a total one man band and the vocals are great.
Speaker: The vocals are they don't really necessarily remind me of any other death metal vocalist, which is always cool. um, it's like a mid growl and it's just a really nice tone that he's got. So I'm sure he's worked hard on that or or not. It's just, you know, some, some people, it just comes completely naturally too. So, but yeah, it's, it's really cool. It's got unique textures.
Speaker: Um, some of the guitar, I think it's guitar textures, although it could be synth stuff. I'm not entirely sure. It's kind of hard to tell. Some of the textures are like, They almost have this audio quality to them, or this quality to them where they sound like the audio version of paint strokes. That's how I hear them.
Speaker: If that makes any sense to anybody out there, I'd be surprised. But it's just got this interesting feathery quality to some of the ah guitar textures that I really don't know how he's getting, but it's very unique to this project. I don't hear that anywhere else.
Speaker: And like, you know, there's there's a certain sound that I don't really know how to describe that some of these songs have. It's almost like an Egyptian scale that he's using, like a Locrian or Phrygian type of scale that he's using for some of these songs that gives it this really cool, you know, just like Middle Eastern vibe, um which I really enjoy too.
Speaker: I mean, I can keep going on. Do you do you guys have ah anything to say about the points that I've made so far? Yeah, I mean, it's a very interesting post-metal album.
Speaker: In my opinion, is it's definitely got like that post-influence. Oh, yeah. Yeah, totally. um when i so When I say progressive death metal, it's like you hear the death metal vocals, you hear the distorted guitars, the blast beats, and you think death metal, but you know that it's more than just that. That's why I call it a progressive death metal. Post is a huge influence on this for sure. Yeah.
Speaker: There's almost like psychedelic elements to it. Also, I feel like, like, I think my favorite song off of it is the three headed moth and i can definitely hear like the middle Eastern, like you're talking about in that.
Speaker: And I think that's why I love it so much. Like the guitar work is incredible.
Speaker: Yeah, as far as favorite tracks, the first two really stand out to me. And then the last one, I really love all three of those. The whole album's great. like i don't There's no skips for me, but the the first two songs are like a really strong start.
Speaker: they're They're also very different from each other. And then that last song, just it's got some really cool crescendos in it. Um, yeah, I talked a little bit about the guitars. The drums are also immaculate sounding. I think they're programmed. I don't think he has live drums on here, but you know, there's nothing wrong with that at all.
Speaker: They sound great. Um, and I do want to talk a little bit more about the guitar tones because on the last album, the, um, The first thing that really jumped out to me was like, the guitars are almost... So here's the thing. We're used to hearing modern metal guitar tones, and everything's kind of become a little bit homogenized at this point, I would say.
Speaker: Guitar tones that are different are usually found more in extreme metal. um But Charlie's guitar tones, they have this breakup that's almost like fuzz as opposed to just straight distortion. like It's almost on the edge of like fuzzy guitar tone, which I really like. like It's still got clarity and definition and tightness, but it's almost like fuzzy. It's really unique sounding guitar tones.
Speaker: And as somebody that you know nerds out about mixing, that's really just something that I noticed for sure. Yeah.
Speaker: ah Yeah, and like I said, the vocal tone, great vocal tone for death metal vocals here. um As somebody that does that myself, you know, I have no critiques there. Really good. And then...
Speaker: I guess here's the here's the main question for me is like, is it better than Divine Laughter? Right? Because that was the one I discovered first and I fell in love with that album. And I have to say that Divine Laughter is a very special album. It has a lot of moments that are like unexpected twists and turns.
Speaker: And because of that, it really keeps you engaged throughout. and i And I hesitate to say that um Fragile Wings is worse. It's different for sure, though. It's a different experience. There's less twists and turns, I feel like, although there are a couple tempo changes.
Speaker: the The main thing that it does really well is it just combines new elements into the formula and it leans into the post-metal side of things more um and obviously creates a great backdrop for Charlie's vocals as well.
Speaker: So no, I don't think it's better than Divine Laughter, but you know I wouldn't say that it's worse either. it's a They're both really good in different ways, and I really love both of them. And Divine Laughter was almost my album of the year last year, and it only got superseded by an album that I just listened to more, so I had to kind of pick it.
Speaker: But yeah, so far, this is my album of the year. Anything else you guys have to say about it?
Speaker: I didn't know until recently that it was a one-man project because I've been listening to Cave Sermon whenever they were an instrumental band. and Right.
Speaker: I loved it, but and I think that someone had commented and said about wonder what it would sound like if there was vocals on it on band camp.
Speaker: And yeah i had wondered the same thing. And then they got that guy from Mico or M-I-C-O. I'm not sure. They got Miguel from Mico or Mico or however you pronounce it. And he did an amazing job.
Speaker: Yeah, it was incredible. And I love Maiko or Miko. and Yeah, me too. But I was really surprised with this album to find out that he did the vocals too.
Speaker: Because i i just thought it was, i mean, I knew it sounded different, but I thought maybe it was the guy from Miko doing just like a different style or something. Then I looked and I was like, holy shit, like he did everything on it. And yeah, it turned out incredible in my opinion. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's like probably my, you know, in my top two favorite death metal albums of the 2020s along with his last album.
Speaker: So, you know, um I can't really give any higher praise than that. So it's incredible. um I do think Divine Laughter will maybe stand the test of time just a hair more, but we'll just have to see about that, you know.
Speaker: Yeah, this is a this was the first one i I've heard from him. So I can't really comment on Divine Laughter. But man, it it it really did blow me away. It was a fantastic album, a really great pick, one of my favorites of the year so far.
Speaker: um Hell yeah. Yeah, i can't I can't think of many of that beat it. So fantastic work. You know, I'm kind of surprised that you like it so much because it's a very clean production. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, like like we've talked about, like it's more it's more about just songwriting in general. like I do tend to listen to more raw music, but if if the songwriting is good, like um um'm so I'm going to like it yeah no matter how it is. you know Yeah, which is you know that's a universal truth about songs is you know if they're good on their own, then it could be a bootleg live recording and you'd still like it. so Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: Well, hell yeah. I'm glad that you guys both enjoy the album. um That may not be a continuing theme for the rest of this review. a Spoiler alert. But it's okay for us to not all be on the same page about everything.
Speaker: That's kind of the point of this. is to it's The way I see it is it's kind of just us hanging out and discussing music. And if anybody like you know has thoughts about our our opinions and wants to comment them in the comments on YouTube, then we'll definitely continue the discussion there. But you know We're not always going to agree on everything.
Speaker: That's just impossible. I'm sure there's going to be plenty of albums where it's literally just the person that picked it that's on With that said, let's go Sean's pick, which was... How do you pronounce this, Sean?
Speaker: Uh, that's a good question. I'm, I'm think it's war them by Parthian. Yeah, that sounds right. And they're a four piece progressive death metal band from Wichita, Kansas.
Speaker: And, uh, Yeah, ah this album, I kind of, I almost expect one or both of you not to like it, but I'm not i'm not positive. ah That's kind of why I picked it I just kind of wanted to pick something.
Speaker: I don't know, but I i do love this album. And I'm not usually a fan of... like singing in death metal a whole lot. Um, yeah but it is progressive death metal, but, uh, I think they did a lot did a really good job with it.
Speaker: Um, and like kingdom of scorn, that song has a part in it, like right in the middle of the song, I think that,
Speaker: I think it's kingdom of scorn. Uh, yeah, it is talking about the circusy part. Yeah. There's like a welcome, welcome ladies and gentlemen. And it almost, it's almost like cheesy in a way, but like, I don't know, for some reason I just, I just really like what they did with it.
Speaker: And, uh, uh, I guess I was reading the band camp and I didn't know this till recently, but I guess the whole band went through like,
Speaker: a bunch of tragedy. Uh, I don't, I'm not going to go into all of it, but, um, it said the vocalist father and a great uncle passed away.
Speaker: ah The drummer lost his uncle, the bassist, and his wife tragically lost a child and ah midterm. And lead guitarist's wife is like battling cancer. There's like a whole bunch of stuff, so it's kind of cool that they turned it into you know creative juices, I guess. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker: Yeah, I just... I don't know. I think they did a really good job with this album. this The last album that they had, i Kind of what you were saying with Divine Laughter with Cave Sermon, I'm not going to say this one's worse because it's not.
Speaker: I... Don't know if I like it better, though, um but Ceaseless or what is it Desolation of a Ceaseless Dawn was their last album, and I really like it.
Speaker: and And it's funny on Bandcamp. I mean, there's like not many people that bought their stuff and I don't get it, but i I think it's incredible and I think they deserve a lot more recognition.
Speaker: That's another reason why i wanted to bring them up.
Speaker: How do you guys feel about it? about it Rock, paper, scissors, Adrian?
Speaker: it's um It's definitely an interesting album. i'm not I'm not too much into progressive ah death metal. so like it was ah It was a very strange record for me.
Speaker: ah Particularly that song, Kingdom of Scorn, was like, really weird. um It's not bad. It's not just' not to say like, i it's just, um yeah, I don't know. did like the vocals.
Speaker: i really i did like the vocals I'm not crazy about ah singing, but like um I did enjoy ah some of the vocals on the record. And um overall, I think ah what they they were trying to do, I think they packaged very well.
Speaker: Everything from like ah the album art, they changed the logo, it seems, from the last record. And just the entire package. I mean, I think what they did was... um I think it was pretty cool what they've done, but...
Speaker: Yeah, I don't know. like its's It's definitely different from what I normally kind of listen to. ah for sure. Yeah. Yeah, so it's like, to me, when I listen to this, I hear melodic death metal more than progressive death metal.
Speaker: And because I heard it through a mellow death lens, ah the first thing I noticed was the production. It's it's somewhere between like modern metal and like MySpace era deathcore. Yeah.
Speaker: um just the way that the the drum samples sound and the way the guitars are kind of mixed ah into the mix the way they are but but particularly the vocals um The vocals, which are great, by the way, um are almost throughout, they're almost always doubled with hard pan left and right layers, which makes them sound like just this tunnel of vocals, which is something that, you know, I remember the first time I noticed that on a metal release was probably Suicide Silence, um that album Cleansing or whatever it was called, The Cleansing.
Speaker: Yeah. ah just throughout the whole song, just doubles. um And sometimes they're quieter in the mix than others. like that It's automated clearly so that certain lines stick out more. But yeah, I noticed that, and it just made me think of... It made me compare them to like Job for a Cowboy or Winds of Plague or like you know any of those MySpace era kind of melodic deathcore bands.
Speaker: um So that's kind of how I was approaching this. And I liked all that stuff back in the day, but I will say I'm definitely... less of a fan of it now. However, they're not, they don't sound like those bands. It's just a mix that what they sound like to me is more like the black Dahlia murder, which I love. i absolutely love the black Dahlia murder.
Speaker: They're one of my favorite metal bands. Um, but they're like, i touch you with I don't know if I've ever, this is gonna, this is like confession, but I don't know if I've ever even listened to one black Dahlia murder song.
Speaker: Yeah, that's a crazy, man. I don't know how. More for me, I guess. like yeah well they're one of my favorite bands. And to me, they're untouchable because they do the Melodeath mixed with MySpace era influences thing like so well.
Speaker: And that's... It's a high bar. Um, this didn't really get that close to it for me, but I appreciate several things about it, which I'll talk about. Um, yeah, the production, I talked about the vocals, um, the riffs, I can hear that the riffs are very athletic riffs. Like they're definitely burning their wrists for these riffs. Like, you know, I, um, that that's one of the staples of melodic death metal, um,
Speaker: and I know can name any of the classic bands that did that, but everybody knows. So very athletic riffs. There's elements of like groove metal in some of the parts of the song. There's like a breakdown or two that are like very groovy and like kind of Sepultura-esque.
Speaker: um I will say I was not a fan of the clean vocals. They just sounded a bit like radio rock to me, the way that they were executed. but i i completely agree, and that's the thing. like I normally do not like any of... For some reason, I don't know why, and I don't know why I like this, but I completely agree with you that I almost don't like it, like the clean vocals, but for some reason...
Speaker: I don't know, maybe I'm just a hipster and I like that they don't have many followers on Bandcamp and i that makes me like them more. i don't ah Truthfully, I don't think that's what it is, but I i right yeah i don't get it There are you know way more people that would enjoy this style of clean vocals out there than not. It's just that we're talking about death metal here, and most death metal fans are going to be a little bit surprised to hear that, just just to put it one way.
Speaker: So it's an interesting choice. But I will say the band said, i looked into their release notes for this album. They said that they were like intentionally kind of challenging people's expectations about what death metal sounds like.
Speaker: And they definitely succeeded with that. um Yeah, I mean, that's pretty much my my feelings on it. i I think overall, it kind of like I said, it they're trying to subvert expectations.
Speaker: it's It's not for me, but I do appreciate you know what they were doing here. um Just like Adrian does, we can see we can see who this is for. Definitely. Yeah, I don't really have anything else for it other than just if you hear this, you should go buy their album because it's really good and just give it a chance. Yeah, definitely give it a chance.
Speaker: Morturorum by Parthian from Wichita. Yeah. All right. Is that all you had to say about it, Adrian? We moving on to Martre? Sure. let's move Let's move on to Martre.
Speaker: Pronouncing this album title is going to be a little bit of an ask. Yeah. Huras, Liz, and Nars. I don't, I have no idea. per Close enough. Yeah. The people from Denmark are yelling at me right now.
Speaker: but idea. But yeah, it's a, no idea um but yeah it's a It's a brutal album, if you ask me. It's like harsh, very harsh with the vocals.
Speaker: Sounds like it's they're play they werere recorded through like distortion. So ah it's got a lot going on. There's like elements of like kind of softer, kind of like and this almost like like atmospheric black metal, but like just very harsh throughout and just like I don't know, elements of grindcore, black metal, death metal, experimental.
Speaker: um Yeah, I don't know. it's For me, um this is one of those albums, there's not there wasn't too many there there wasn't really any tracks that stood out in particular. I mean, and track five, Hafnia, I think that's how you say it.
Speaker: was probably my favorite, but I usually just throw it on and just listen. Usually when I'm lifting weights or something, but yeah it's got a lot going on with it. And it's like nightmarish.
Speaker: I don't know. It's a very chaotic album. So it'd be interesting what you guys have to say about it. Oh, I've got a lot to say about it, but you want to go first, Sean? ah Sure. To me, like,
Speaker: I love it also. um kind of reminds me of if like, a demon was like running around in circles and like in pain, but for like fun also to like torture people in hell or something. I don't know.
Speaker: That's just like the image that I get of like this creature almost running around, just freaking out. I love that.
Speaker: Um, and I think my favorite track is like the, I wrote it down because I, don't, if Vig if Vig Nat I think um which one is that number was that's a good question number three number three yeah yeah and I think that's five and three there's like I don't know if it's horns or not towards the end or something. I don't know. There's something going on at the end that, but either way that I love it. And like you were saying about the, how it has like atmospheric almost, or like maybe ambient or atmospheric parts. yeah
Speaker: Like, even though like it lets up, it's still drenched in like terror the whole time. yeah, so Yeah, but that's really all I have to say about it. I i love it. And it's something to put on whenever i want to get spooky. oh yeah.
Speaker: So yeah, it's a very bleak, ominous, and noisy black metal album made by one man as well, like um Cave Sermon. This is a one-man project as well. um And it sounds to me, it's got this interesting, like it's equally you got this traditional black metal thing as well as like an avant-garde thing as well.
Speaker: It's like somewhere in between those two camps. Yeah. I first put it on. I haven't heard this until this morning. I put it on and the intro reminded me of like, scott it's it's kind of like what you were just talking about, Sean. There's just this agonizing ambience throughout the album, regardless of whether there's like the onslaught of the the instruments or not.
Speaker: And the intro made me think about, i don't know if anybody out there has ever played Path of Exile, but you wash up on shore in that game, like half dead, and you're just like surrounded by zombies and stuff. That's what that reminded me of. It's the image it put in my head.
Speaker: um Speaking of washing, the the production is fairly washed out, I would say. But with that said, the drums still do cut through enough, which can be a gripe I have sometimes about these more experimental black metal albums. Sometimes the drums are so in the distance that it's like hard to nod your head to it.
Speaker: yeah um This album isn't necessarily head naughty to begin with, but there's there's a little bit of there's a couple sections of groove in there. There's a couple points where there's a backbeat and you can kind of nod your head to it.
Speaker: And I appreciate that when those moments happen, you can hear the drums. um So you can enjoy that respite of like familiarity. ah But yeah, the noisy distortion coating everything on this album is, it's definitely off-putting at first, even for somebody that listens to noise like me. But eventually it starts to like, it kind of after a while of listening to it, it's because like in the beginning, it's very harsh. It's very kind of anti-musical almost, but um it just has this like,
Speaker: I'm trying to think of how to put this. So it's, it's like hypnotic and then numbing. Like eventually you get, you get numb to the, like, the, like the pain almost, which I i almost wonder if that's kind of like the intent of making this 40 something minutes long.
Speaker: Yeah. Um, yeah, I mean, vocals are totally indiscernible without reading the lyrics. Like you can't tell what he's saying. Um, which I do enjoy the musical themes that are, are that that you can hear through the chaos are very bleak and depressive. Um,
Speaker: it's not all just blasts. Like I said, there's some groovy drum parts, which I really like. Um, Yeah, that's that's mostly everything I had to say. i think overall, this album, it's like a like a lullaby, not a soothing one, but it's like a lullaby of noise that challenges you and has some pretty memorable moments.
Speaker: um And it has this numbing effect after listening to all all the chaos for so long. that pulls back occasionally and reveals some of the softer instrumentation and stuff. Uh, the composition is really cool.
Speaker: I would never be able to create anything like this. So really an interesting experience to be sure. Yeah, it's a definitely like, it's, it's not like many bands I've heard. It's like really, really kind of out there with like the direction it's going.
Speaker: I love the artwork. I love the logo. Yeah, I know. The cover art for this one, I think, like fits very well. Yeah. yeah It's a great pick.
Speaker: And I need to go back and listen to Ophelia now because I'm sure I'll like that too. Yeah, that's the one I i discovered the band. Ophelia was fantastic.
Speaker: um Again, also awesome or cover art for that one. It's very depressing. Yeah. yeah Just very, very intense and harsh record. Definitely.
Speaker: Yeah, and see, that's one more that's one more point that I'll make about it. um I was kind of put onto noise music earlier this year. Like you'd you'd mentioned it a few times to me, Adrian, but I was kind of put onto harsh music like earlier this year and got into it.
Speaker: And ah even now that I am like, even Even now that I've made some myself and I can can consider myself a fan of it, like I said, when I first started listening to this, it was a little bit off-putting, which is, you know, there's there's there's a barrier to entry there for most people, I would say.
Speaker: um But it's worth, you know, sticking through that for sure. it's a you know it's ah It's more a black metal album than a noise album, I would say. But yeah, but yeah it's a challenging listen and it was a rewarding challenge. So I'm glad I took it.
Speaker: Hell yeah. ah or I think that's pretty much going to wrap it up for the reviews. These are probably going to be shorter episodes. I mean, they're definitely going to be shorter episodes unless we do like a more than three albums, which I don't think we're going to do.
Speaker: But that's okay. We've got the longer podcast episodes. Dissonant Echoes, by the way, if you haven't checked it out, definitely subscribe to the channel or subscribe to the podcast on Apple or Spotify.
Speaker: And these will be going out on that same feed, so you can listen to them alongside the longer episodes. But I hope everybody enjoys us doing these. It's great to have Sean on here to talk about music. And maybe next time we won't completely shit on his pick.
Speaker: I hope you do. I hope that's just becomes a ah trend and you guys hate everything. i I'm sure there'll be like somebody in the comments defending you and your, your tastes. So that'll be all right.
Speaker: But yeah, everybody, thanks for tuning in and we'll see you on the next one. Bye.
