The Dark Side

I first heard Conjuring Fate some time last year when I was looking for somewhat old-school, shred-heavy bands. I was then lucky enough to catch them as one of the supports for Temperance in Dublin back in April. Strangely enough, while their songs and performance were both excellent, what stood out to me about Conjuring Fate was how much fun they seemed to be having. Temperance seemed slightly uncomfortable in the small, underground venue (the Gypsy Rose) and Selene (❤) were being their usual gothic, melodramatic selves, but Karl and Phil of CJ were ripping out riffs with big grins on their faces. The kind of passion I saw there is reflected throughout Valley of Shadows ; it’s an old-style heavy metal/power metal beast where the sometimes grim tone of the lyrics is masked by the upbeat performance. Expect solid, consistent tempos alongside long, sprightly solos and Dickinson-esque vocals with harmonies aplenty. I’m a huge power metal fan, so I’m in my element when review...

If I’m not already familiar with it, I  make a point of listening to as much a band’s back catalogue as possible before reviewing their latest release; it gives me more context and helps me enjoy killer tunes in a more productive fashion. From a practical standpoint, I feel like I get more of a sense of why a band is doing the things they do if I know what leads up to it. In the case of Cursed Sun , I found a lot of excellent thrash and death metal in their earlier EPs (plus one full-length; ' Premonitions '), but I feel there’s a definite growth in both creativity and cohesion as they go on. ‘ The Amygdala ’, released in April of this year, showcases them at full strength, offering enough complexity to compliment their raw, no-nonsense sound. Situating it in a binary I’m very fond of, this is a thoroughly ‘American’ album, but technical overthinking aside, I’ll run through it song-by song. Cursed Sun are not fond of tense build-up; most of their releases drop the listen...

Old Season have a big, booming sound built on slow, pounding drums, energetic old-school guitars, tasteful sampling, and soaring clean vocals. Though they've been active for almost a decade and a half at this point, their releases have been few and far between. I was only familiar with their 2009 album ' Archaic Creation ', and had (shamefully) not heard the 2005 EP ' Volume One ' so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going into this latest offering. What I found in the new record was a thorough refining and polishing of their sound. With a focus on vocals and melody, and some variance between fast and slow rhythms, Old Season are close to the spirit of power metal and the more elegant side of the doom spectrum, while not accepting all the conventions of either. It’s a record that will please fans of both old and new artists, provided that melody and epic storytelling are your thing. Old Season sidestep the ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ problem by ca...

Genres can be a pain: and doom metal is a classic example of why. Classifying a band as doom metal tells you very little, because its necessary features boil down to slow pace and bleak themes, and those can encompass bands with wildly different sounds; ranging from ambient Gothic mourners like Trees of Eternity to slow, destructive black/death metal acts like Ereb Altor. The Crawling execute a style that is far to the latter end of the spectrum, and do it damn well. ‘Anatomy of Loss’ is a dense, punishing album in which the band demonstrate their brutal sound at its best and justify their rising position on the NI scene.  The band’s sound is defined by slow, miserable, repetitive riffs and vocals which – while not remotely ‘clean’ are always loud and clear. They pace themselves, opening songs with accessible introductions and then gracefully dropping into the abyss. My language is proving a bit more florid than it should be; The Crawling do not have the romantic/gothic...

Selene  are a Northern Irish symphonic power metal band; to the best of my knowledge, they’re the only act filling this niche on the Emerald Isle. Making waves in Ireland and the UK, they’re proving themselves worthy of a place on the more populous European symphonic scene. ‘ The Ravages of Time ’ (out June 23rd) is the band’s second full-length offering, and continues the movement that ‘ The Forgotten ’ made; bigger and louder in both metal and orchestral elements. It’s a resounding success, with the increased scope fitting comfortably with the band’s existing sound, and giving them room to experiment. The primary challenge of this whole gothic/symphonic/power metal mode is knowing when to be dramatic and when to be restrained. Without care, it’s very possible for the operatic elements to drown out everything else and lose their impact, or to be so calm as to seem unnecessary alongside other solid metal. Selene tread this tightrope carefully: their lyrics are simple ...

Blogs that begin with a 'hey guys, welcome...!' post have a tendency to stop updating shortly after that, so I wrote a couple of standard posts first: there are more lined up in the 'scheduled' section. This blog accompanies The Dark Side, a radio show and podcast based in Limerick, Ireland. We focus on heavy metal and other alternative genres, and are especially interested in the Irish scene. As of now, I'm only intending to cover Irish bands on the blog's gig and album write-ups, but that's a decision rather than a pledge; when the next Eluveitie album drops it may get more than a mention. Music criticism is a strange game in itself, and if you've read any of my articles you'll have noticed that there's more of a tendency to list things that are excellent rather than balance the bitter with the sweet. It's partially because I like to give good press to new, rising artists; but also because I'm freely choosing what to write about. It...

It’s groovy. That’s the first thing to note. I want you to imagine punk, hard-rock or grunge energy, but with a medium tempo that gets you nodding along; a Goldilocks zone that’s not fast or slow, but just right. I’ll be absolutely honest; this is not my scene (I’m a fan of overdramatic European metal), and I say that to emphasise how quickly Limerick’s Xero overcame my misgivings. There’s a consistency and confidence here that’s matched in their live performances. ‘Beyond the Glass’ is a song that’s clearly designed to open; it’s got a quiet psychedelic feel that elevates through fuzz and into full-on stadium grunge. ‘Spires’ follows this with the same laid-back tempo and energetic vocals. These tracks are catchy ; not a word I’d use often, and they tie together nicely. ‘Dragonesque’ throws in more thrash influences, with a rhythmic riff that makes stationary listening an impossibility. ‘Abaddon’ continues the escalation of the album’s heaviness, but the clean vocals keep it fami...

Hey all, welcome to the blog. That'll do it for intros. To start with, let's talk about last night's showing in the Kasbah Social Club, the smallest, heaviest part of Dolans, and home to most of BadReputation's gigs. It was the usual story; three bands, a few quid on the door, a hell of a night. If you're a metal type and you're in the Limerick area, you owe it to yourself to check these out. For starters, Xero, a brand new gang of young'uns from Limerick provided something in between groove metal and alternative rock. Their new album, 'Beyond the Glass' is a fine collection, and we'll get a review of that up shortly. Groovy rhythms (technical term!) are complemented by hard-rock clean vocals, and gain surprising melody from the addition of a keyboard. This is a band that are melodic and laid-back enough to appeal to alternative rock fans, but retain the necessary punch to be well at home among the Limrock metal scene. Hope to see them as a r...