So this my TWELTH (!) end of year list which seems faintly unbelievable....

And so to my top ten albums in their customary alphabetical order

• Abrasive Trees - Nothing Exists for a Moment
• Arabrot – Of Darkness & Light
• Jenny Colquitt – Lost Animals
• Cruel Diagonals – Fractured Whole
• Happy Axe – The Tiger Dream
• The Lost Trades – Petrichor
• Myrkur – Spine
• New Model Army – Sinfonia
• Public Service Broadcasting – This New Noise
• Silver Moth – Black Bay

If I was really pushed to choose a favourite it would be either Silver Moth or Myrkur but it would be impossible to call.

 Second part of my 2023 roundup are my favourite gigs:

In June I saw Carcass at the Exeter Phoenix. Absolutely packed and possibly the most brutal bands I've seen live. Great to enjoy it as well with friends from the Pig & Pickle pub.

October took me to my first church gig at St Mary’s Church in Totnes to see Jo-Beth Young & Serious Child - The acoustics were amazing and the whole experience was magical

On to November a trip to see The Sisters of Mercy at the Marble Factory in Bristol. One of my favourite ever gigs - The band were sensational even with a set full of unreleased songs.

Finally the only band I saw twice in 2023 was The Lost Trades. The best of the two gigs was the November gig at the All Saints Church in Kenton. The church acoustics suited the acapella voices of the band beautifully.

 Think it might be time to start the festive round up of 2023 - First up are my favourite half dozen standalone singles

• Marie Eidolon – Drive
• Maer – Poisoned Waters
• Regan & Bricheno – Winter 2023
• True Foxes – 17
• Tusks – Artificial Flame
• A.A. Williams – Without You I’m Nothing

Interesting that the list is very female orientated and hopefully some of these will appear on albums in 2024.

Finally it is so great to see Julianne Regan and Tim Bricheno working together again.

 We return to the beguiling and unique world of Australian Emma Kelly and her third album as Happy Axe. As with previous releases, The Tiger Dream, doesn’t adhere to any regular notion of song writing such as verse or chorus but exists in its own realm.

At only four tracks and 30 minutes I guess this just about qualifies as an album rather than EP

Canopy, the opening track, is almost like a dream like soundscape with ghostly vocals floating over harp and flute with plucked violin strings providing what rhythm there is. It sounds like the soundtrack to a spookily atmospheric but as yet un-filmed cinematic masterpiece.

The throb of a heartbeat and violins dominate Injuries while the title track is possibly the most straightforward song on the album.

I would suggest there was no set plan for the aptly named final track, Something Strange is About to Happen, before recording it – We are looking instead at an intuitive 15 minute piece of improvisation where the music ebbs and flows. More plucked violins, the eerie whine of a saw and wordless intonations conjure up strange, unsettling images in your head.

Even if I don’t fully understand it, I love her work

 Another year, another Doro album and at this point it’s a bit like a pudding after a good meal – You know you will enjoy it but hardly essential

Conqueress: Strong and Proud follows the same template laid down with her debut album Force Majeure (34 years ago!) with a mix of old school heavy metal, ballads and the odd duet/cover all housed in artwork that is so distinctively Doro. 

At 15 songs it’s far too long. I never need to hear the awful Lean, Mean Rock Machine, a sort of hackneyed metal version of Greased Lightning with some terrible lyrics or the butchered Total Eclipse of the Heart duet with Rob Halford ever again.

There is still some great fun to be had – The rollicking All for You or the naggingly catchy Bond Unending for example.

There is also a much better duet with Rob Halford on Living After Midnight. You can clearly hear the enjoyment both are having with the song as they trade lines.

For someone celebrating 40 years in the business, Doro’s voice is still in fine form 

Never going to be album of the year but I still wouldn’t miss out on it.

 Now this is fun – The latest album from the musical chameleon that is Myrkur.

Spine, like her previous works, is almost another change in musical direction but still with that DNA that links all her releases.

9 track and only 38 minutes long it’s a short but thrilling ride.

The black metal of the first couple of albums has almost been fully done away with except for occasional traces (the short burst of blast beat drums in Like Humans or the metal shrieks as backing vocals in Mothlike) and the folk influences are a lot less noticeable

A lot of the songs put that gorgeous voice front and centre with the music built around it - See the stunning piano ballad of My Blood is Gone for example. 

Like Humans is a perfectly formed pop song and those synths in Mothlike are as catchy as hell but both songs still have those eccentricities you only get with Myrkur.

Valkyrienes Sang is the closest track musically to old school black metal but topped with those clean crystalline vocals rather than the screams of yore.

A word also about the artwork which is just so beautiful.

Another album of the year contender 

 An odd review as I’m still not sure about the album. The Fell is the latest from Snow Ghosts and described as a collection of “old folk songs that were never written” which is as good as a description as you could give.

So, it’s folk but with the electronic ‘strangeness’ that the band have bought to their previous releases. It’s very atmospheric and a really pleasurable listen (especially with headphones) especially the pulsing Curse and the swirling electronica of Magpie

But:

Give it an hour or so and I struggle to recall any individual tracks, just a memory that I enjoyed it.

Possibly because of trying to tie all the songs into a theme it loses out on individuality, but I’m just not sold on the album as I have been with previous offerings.

It’s strange and I can’t put my finger on the problem, but I will persevere with it.

 There is an album to be reviewed here but I think the post is more to do with a modern trend for which Taylor Swift seems responsible for – That is re-recording your old albums.

It seems a lot of the time unnecessary and just done for the money or a massive ego (hi there, Roger Waters) but I also understand an artist wanting control of their music.

I think whether I would bother to investigate a re-recorded version would depend on my emotional attachment to the original. For example, I have no wish to hear Waters version of Dark Side of the Moon as I love the original but I’m happy to give the Cavalera Conspiracy take on Bestial Devastation a go as I have only had a fleeting acquaintance with the 1985 release.

So, the Cavalera brothers have decided to re-record the debut EP from Sepultura and it’s a very good listen if you already like their work.

It’s only 20 minutes long and that’s including a new track  

Musically it’s fantastic, lyrically its terrible (originally written in Portuguese, the band got a friend to translate directly to English). The sound is as brutal and fast as you expect with some spectacular drumming from Igor.

Whilst I enjoy the EP and it bears repeated listening, I still find myself asking, is it actually necessary?

 Weirdly this is the second review in a row where a bands goes orchestral - In this case it's the New Model Army with Sinfonia.

As before with the PSB album this is superbly done. As you would expect from New Model Army this is not just bolting on some strings to the hits, this is so much more.

An overture of orchestral snippets from some songs to come tease you in before the tumbling, tribal drums power you through the Devil's Bargain. A statement of intent.

There is a lot more between song chat which is quite fun (as Justin notes, with orchestras there isa lot of page turning)

Other highlights include Winter which works so well in this format that it suddenly becomes one of my favourite NMA songs - "I fear the age of consequence and I wish that it was over"

Vagabonds has an amazing new intro where the single violin of the original is magnified by an orchestra of strings and extended to nearly 10 minutes.

There are surprises with tracks that haven't be heard live for decades - Shot 18 and 1984.

Of course the whole package is wrapped in another stunningly, beautiful bit of artwork from Joolz.

This is the sound of my favourite band, becoming better and better. Love them. Always.

 It’s been a whole year but finally the recording of the Public Service Broadcasting love letter to the BBC performed at the Proms has been released. 

This New Noise encapsulates all that is so brilliant about this band – The imagination, the story telling and, in this case, seamlessly adding an 80 piece orchestra to the mix.

 

A lot of bands add strings to their songs, but this is a whole new level of sound and is done to absolute perfection. The orchestration makes everything sound so huge and heroic without overshadowing the band at the centre of it. 

 

It’s not a long album (50mins) and need to be heard as a whole rather than as individual tracks. It’s a more sedate, grandiose statement than previous albums and there’s not a Blue Heaven or Gagarin to get your feet twitching but it’s no worse for that.

 

Highlights include the bombastic This New Noise, the terribly British sample at the beginning of Broadcasting House and the 9 minute epic of The Microphone which even includes some of Lit Up from the debut album.

 

The inclusion of Seth Lakeman to provide vocals on the A Cello Sings in Daventry is an interesting interlude that adds some variety among the samples (which as always on a PSB album are impeccable in their context and use).

 

I remember watching the Prom and hoping it would be recorded and thankfully they did an amazing job with it. Need to get myself a vinyl copy of this as soon as possible.

 

 If you decide to give this album a try, it will probably be the strangest thing you hear this year

Fractured Whole is by an American musician Megan Mitchell, going by the name of Cruel Diagonals.

The thing to understand is the whole album is a collage of sampled sounds of her voice, all electronically distorted, stretched and twisted. There are no other instruments to be heard which at times is difficult to get your head round

Opening track, Penance, is like a Latin mass being conducted in a warehouse full of synthesizers which are being tested to make sure they still work.

Full of unsettling electronic soundscapes topped with the wordless soprano type voice it has the feel of an aural art installation rather than a musical album

It’s a challenging listen and depending on how Avant Garde you like your art; it is likely to be a step too far for many. However, considering what they have achieved and how it was constructed you have to admire the courage it takes to attempt something this daring.

 We now come to an early front runner for album of the year. Black Bay is the album from the collective band of musicians know as Silver Moth.

It’s very likely that due to the circumstances surrounding its creation (a global pandemic, enforced isolation) this will be a one off.

Just six songs long the album showcases a very talented band of musicians who each bring a flavour of their own band/solo work to the table but still construct something special to this band.

From the 15 minute epic of Hello Doom full of slow burning post rock chaos and guitar feedback to the almost spiritual Gaelic Psalm and its poetry reading to the beautiful female vocals on The Eternal this is a special album.

The opening track Henry is full of chiming guitars and ethereal voices with a building wall of noise that fully takes off before drifting back to earth.

Bella Union also deserve praise for a superbly packaged album, I’ve got the clear vinyl and even the sleeve with the artwork is stunning

Chances are it will take something special in the rest of 2023 to top this album 

 I don’t normally review EP’s but its Midas Fall so of course I want to.

Covers albums tend to be space fillers or an indication that a band is running low on inspiration. In this case I would suggest a three track EP is the former and calling it Cover Songs suggests the latter.  

The choice of cover song normally falls into one of three categories – The obvious, the left field choice and the obscure. In this case we get one of each.

First up is the left field choice of Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen. Slowed downed and full of twinkling keys, the vocals are full of restrained defiance. (there’s even a guitar that sounds suspiciously like it was lifted from Boys of Summer) Overall I’d say it was a successful cover.                                                     

I’m not a Radiohead fan and Creep has been done too many times by too many artists. Here it starts at absolute walking pace before at least getting a bit interesting when the big drums kick in. The vocals are impeccable though as they swoop and soar but as a song not for me.

Finally a more obscure tune in the form of Every You, Every Me from Placebo. In terms of the Midas Fall post rock musical template this is the closest fit and the slightly menacing atmosphere works really well. My favourite of the three.

As with all covers album your enjoyment will depend on your love of either the band or the original material but as a stop gap this EP al least warrants more a than a cursory listen  

 

 The number of new releases is beginning to rise so time to crack on with some more reviews

Anno 1696 is the ninth (!) studio album from Insomnium and is probably my favourite since Shadows of the Dying Sun back in 2014

At just 8 tracks and 50 minutes long there isn’t an ounce of filler on the album and is based on a short story written by the singer (though if you weren’t told or looking at the lyrics may not be obvious)

The opening track 1696, is unusually for Insomnium, not an instrumental and has some of the most ferocious drumming I’ve heard from them.

There follow two tracks with two contrasting guest vocalists and highlights the strength of the band perfectly

White Christ features Sakis Tolis from Greek black metal legends Rotting Christ and is suitably dark in terms of vocals and lyrics though of a slower pace than expected.

The next song, Godforsaken, starts with the clear folk like vocals of Johanna Kurkela (who I last heard singing about Scrooge McDuck) before musically hitting it stride showing what Insomnium do so well – mixing the melodic guitars with the brutal vocals and drumming and quieter reflective passages.

Overall, there is a bit more of a blackened edge than recent releases and a dash more folk metal but in the end this is just a really good album of the genre.

Petrichor is the second album in for The Lost Trades.

Clearly not suffering from second album syndrome, this is again another gorgeous collection of vocal harmonies backed by acoustics

There may be a more American West Coast feel rather than English Folk this time round but that’s not a bad thing.

Already Keep My Feet Dry may be my favourite track of theirs. The emotional weight of the song with some stunning vocal work make it’s very special.

Possibly the album is too front loaded with big emotional songs about loss and longing (Old Man of the Sea, Keep my Feet Dry and Long Since Gone) but then you get the change of pace and the joyful Daffodils.

A simple song about friendship and guaranteed to make you smile, Daffodils also deserves extra bonus for managing to include ‘devil’s avocado’ in the lyrics. 

The almost acapella Valhalla closes the album and is a great showcase again for the band’s harmonies – Amazing what you can do with just three singers, each which their own distinct voice.

So looking forward to see them in concert again soon 

 Must be time to start on some new reviews….

First up is Lost Animals, a mini album (six songs) from Jenny Colquitt.

I not a great fan of the singer/songwriter description as nowadays it’s used lazily to describe anyone who picks up a guitar or plays piano.  There’s a very Classic Rock feel to this album, maybe even a hint of Heart or Alannah Myles (circa Rockinghorse)!

Opening track, I’m Just Lost, starts out as a piano led power ballad but at just under 2 minutes the pace changes dramatically. From there the track thunders along with that gorgeous, powerful voice soaring over the top.

Open Pages repeats the trick of starting slowly but this time the song builds and builds to full throated crescendo before bringing the song gently to a close.

Paradise is the big old school power ballad you thought you were getting earlier, while Soldier of the Modern Day beautifully conveys the struggles of life without being mawkish about it

The album may be short but that means there no filler to distract from some truly stunning vocals which are the star of the show

Great way to start a new year of new music

 A Look Forward to 2023

The year has started slowly for new music but there is a lot on the horizon to look forward to - Firstly albums I know are due:

• Petrichor - The Lost Trades (March)
• The Fell - Snow Ghosts (February)
• Lost Animals - Jenny Colquitt (February)
• Black Bay - Silver Moth (April)
• Elevation - John Reed (October)
• Broken Spells - Jo Beth Young (TBC)
• Anno 1696 - Insomnium (February)

Also I've slowly started gigs for this year but it's looking fairly quiet at the moment:

• Pale Blue Eyes - Exeter Cavern (February)
• The Lost Trades - Exeter Phoenix (March)
• Jo Beth Young - St Mary's Church, Totnes (May)
• Molly Hatchet - Exeter Phoenix (July)

Hopefully there will be some reviews to come soon!