Lines In Wax

TWELVE YEARS OF UNWANTED OPINION

Day: November 6, 2023

Forgotten Tomb – Songs To Leave (2002)
black metal

Forgotten Tomb – Songs To Leave (2002)

Over the last few months, this debut record from Forgotten Tomb has cemented itself as one of my favourite records in the “DSBM” style. Possessing a crisp, clean production which is the exact opposite of what I look for in my black metal, Songs To Leave is part horrifying / scary and part achingly beautiful. Such is the fragile balance that music in this style is attempting to tread, I suppose. I was going to report to some stand out songs but after putting this record on one more time to refresh myself, I found myself listening to the whole thing in one go and just loving the whole experience. The whole record flows beautifully, and I don’t know if it’s my imagination and that I’m going into some sort of low-key trance state, but there seems to be reoccuring motifs, or at least thematically similar riffs, that pull these epic tracks together into one coherent 50 minute experience. Truly, excellent stuff.

Cathedral – The Last Spire (2013)
doom metal

Cathedral – The Last Spire (2013)

The Last Spire is the chunky but somewhat underwhelming final output from legendary UK doom metal band, Cathedral. The fact that I have avoided listening to this album for over a decade speaks volumes about my apprehension for finally addressing the final nail in the coffin for one of my all time favourite groups. The Last Spire then, is, a relief in some regards, because it is not a bad album. It mixes together a few eras of Cathedral, somehow going full circle to the “funeral” pace of the earlier material, whilst retaining the groove and vibe of the later stuff. For me, this album gets better as it goes on, and whilst all the songs are quite epic, the songs in the second half really speak to me in all their gothic doominess. Stand outs would include “Infestation of Grey Death”, “An Observation” and the closer “This Body, Thy Tomb”, which despite ending rather abruptly is an absolute banger. I dunno though, I expected more from Cathedral for their last hurrah. I guess they got all their experimental bones tickled on their previous record, and decided to reign in back in to skullcrushing doomery for the final goodbye. RIP Cathedral, ye shall be missed.

Peste Noire – Ballade Cuntre Lo Anemi Francor (2009)
black metal folk, neofolk & acoustic

Peste Noire – Ballade Cuntre Lo Anemi Francor (2009)

I think I am going to have to admit to myself that Peste Noire is not the band for me. As I work my way through the group’s discography, I’ve gone from absolutely astounded to bored to fucking tears. I have no idea what’s going on here, I guess there is some sort of artistic vision that I simply “do not get”, specifically in the mix of French folk and black metal. I’ve given Ballade Cuntre… (lol) a number of playthroughs and it is just not working for me at all. Throw the personal politics of Famine in on top and I’ve got no reason to keep plowing on if all of the albums after the first sound like this. I guess we shall see, but for now, my verdict is, this sucks ass.

Judas Priest – Unleashed In The East: Live In Japan (1979)
metal rock

Judas Priest – Unleashed In The East: Live In Japan (1979)

This doesn’t sound like a live album at all. In fact, going in blind, all I could think of was that this was one of those “fake” live albums which are recorded in a studio. It seems I was half-correct, with the vocals being re-recorded at a later date. To be honest, they should have just scrapped the whole thing if it came to this, but whatever, live albums don’t exactly have a history of being transparent and honest with the music consumer. As for the material? Well, it’s classic Priest 70s stuff, of course, captured as the band were finding their stride in more straightforward songwriting. An interesting document of course, especially in light of the whole vocal situation, but one that I could only really recommend to completionists. There is no reason for a new fan of Judas Priest to be listening to this thing.

Tony Martin – Scream (2005)
metal rock

Tony Martin – Scream (2005)

As nice as it is to explore the back catalog of Tony Martin, one of my favourite Sabbath singers, Scream really just misses the mark. The production is muddy, the songs are mostly mediocre at best, and beyond bad at worst (I’m looking at you, “The Kids Of Today”). It’s really cool that Geoff Nicholls is on this thing too, providing keyboards, and I believe some of the songs were built from Cozy Powell drum tracks, but honestly, this album just isn’t very good, I’m sorry to say.

Tony Martin – Thorns (2022)
metal rock

Tony Martin – Thorns (2022)

Thorns is the very recent full length album by once-Sabbath vocalist Tony Martin. With Sabbath, and I’m guilty of this myself, his output is often overlooked, which is a shame because albums like Headless Cross have gone on to be my favourites from Black Sabbath. Anyway, let’s talk about Thorns. Thorns has a stacked line-up, and a polished, modern sound. This gives Martin’s rock numbers a shot in the arm, essentially I guess this is Martin’s version of Painkiller (lol). Never thought I’d hear LD.50-era Mudvayne slap bass on a Tony Martin song but hey, life is full of surprises. Most of the songs here are very, very good indeed, and I’m very to happy to see that Tony Martin has such a strong and unique voice, even into his old age. Age is no doubt the enemy of heavy metal vocalists, especially those who have legacies built in hitting the higher notes. I’m not saying that Martin can still belt out the chorus to “Headless Cross”, but he’s still got a fantastic range, and his voice is very balanced. What draws points from Thorns however is some of the most awful songs I have ever heard in my entire life. One of these was on Tony’s last album, Scream, and there is – of course – one here too. I’m talking about “No Shame At All”, with some of the cringiest lyrics I’ve ever had the displeasure of hearing, and on top of that the song itself sounds like something Mushroomhead would have created in 2010, which is uhhh, not great, folks. This album is also front-loaded, with all the best stuff at the front. Oh, and that art. Good heavens above!