Uragh "Maelstrom" Album Review

 

   On the rare ocassion a new band will come to fruition and for some unknown reason you'll think they've being playing for a very long time,this is the effect the absolute force of nature Progressive Metal act Uragh have had on me when i first witnessed them live for the first time almost a year ago at the Grand Final of Metal 2 The Masses 2023,since then they've continued to garner a wider audience with their stellar live shows, a few months ago they entered JSR Audio  to record their absoutely earth shattering debut album Maelstrom, i knew they ahd something special for us all but nothing prepared me for the absolute magnitude of quality within this album.

   Straight from the off they go for the jugular with the full on assualt of  Monarch, the Pounding Bass and Drums drive a barage of  disorientating riffs combined with a visceral vocal delivery,the lyrical theme with this is about a Baroness who rules over a district and rules over them through fear and subjugation,the line "Let The Rats Fight Amongst Themselves" shows the level of disdain she has for them, the rhytnm sections throughout Apparition are unnervingly dark and relentless with the Guitar intertwining and meandering through various time signatures leaving your brain mangled and continously guessing what sort of mind blowing passages are on the horizon, the pace and relentlessness is brought down a bit for the short atmospheric bassline interlude of  Gewissenbiss, this serves as a nice way of splitting proceedings before the next part of the relases.

 

   We're treated to the mid paced groov laden heaviness of the brilliant The Widening Gyre the Guitar passages are taken to another level of abrasiveness the combination of those crushing grooves and screeching guitars are like  a short sharp shock to the senses,the drumming gradually builds an atmosphere,then we're thrown another bit of a curveball with the clean vocal passage this adds a really passionate and awe-inspring element to  the overall product.

  At This stage of the album you think you've heard everything the band are capable of doing,not likely with the absolutely mind blowing Capsize which drags you every which way through plenty of Progressive passages with amazing clean vocal delivery then switching into barages of Death Metal brutality,at times during this you feel like your been tossed through a grinder then floating through dream-like psychedelic passages which ,the way Vocalist Craig Murphy orchestrates the different vocal styles between the clean and aggressive is like some puppet master controlling all your emotions, this next track Ar An Tra Fholamh is really interetsing and feels like some sort of time lapse ,having the spoken word As Gaeilge adds a really eery and dream like sequence as if your lost in some sort of upside down alternate reality

    There's still more superlatives left to explore within this monumental offering especially when were treated to more groove infused heaviness with Regrowth At The Mouth Of Sickness ,the levels of crushingly heavy passages throughout this are mind numbing ,combine that with the trademrk fantastic rhytmn section and the absolutely amaizng lead guitar work of  Marcelo Varge and you have a track of truly epic proportions, another things that needs to be pinted out is the fantastic bassline of Sebastian Sparr and the phenomenal drumming from Jason Hodgkins these become even more prevelent throughout the quality El Cazador which throws up even more disorientating passages, closing track Mo Dhia Mhaith remember i mentioned the clean vocals well they're more to the fore throughout this track, if you're thinking the add a similar feeling to the other times ,not a chance this time they're have a melancholic aura to them which adds extreme levels of vitriol to the aggressive ones,the epic structure throughout this is absolutely phenomenal and is the perfect way to close out this part of the bands stories.

  

Not only is it mind blowing to believe this is the bands debut album but also that thet formed less then 2 years ago,although the members may have previously been in other band before,the levels of how tight and brilliantly structured the whole album is a monstrous testament to how much hard work and attention to detail they put into not just this release but also their live performances,which i may add are a sight to behold is, Maelstrom is possibly up there with one of the best debut albums from an irish Metal act,this is definitely a bonafide contender for album of the year for me and i will add this is only the beginning of what this band will deliver in the future.

RATING: 9.8/10

FB: https://www.facebook.com/uraghband

IG: https://www.instagram.com/uraghband/

Immaculate Deception "The Beat Of The Craw" Album Review

  

  Crossover Punk/Metal veterans Immaculate Deception are possibly one of the oldest bands within the Irish Punk(& Metal) scene,founded by the legend that is Declan Caffrey way back in 1982/83 under the moniker of Dreamcreeper,he set upon creating some of the filthiest and heaviest form of Punk known in existence,influenced by bands such as Discharge, Motorhead and Slayer with social and political themes part of the subject matter lyrically all delivered with a F**k You attitude, for years "Caff" has written some fantastic tracks but for various reasons never saw the light of day until midway through 2023 with the release of the bands absolutely facemelting debut album The Beat Of The Craw.

  Launching straight into the  rip roaring title track Beat Of The Craw plenty of rawness, an overload of speed and subtle rock n roll hints ala Motorhead,there's also a rebellious element to the track, War On The Streets opens with a beautifully crafted lead that has a lot of feeling and emotion in it before you're hit upside the head with a relentless barage of razor sharp riffing, you can hear the Slayer influence throughout this song with alot of the riffing while the drumming sounds similar to the likes of Discharge, those wailing Guitars on the intro to A Lesson In War are ridiculously vicious and set the tone for an absolute cacophony of filthy heavinesss,the rawness of the vocals add a really gritty and angry element to proceedings like some anti-hero preaching for the disadvantaged and downtrodden and a middle finger to authority,as soon as those sirens hit on Spoils Of War you known there's going to be loads of elements of unrest and civil disobedience, the drumming goes into relentless D-Beat territory and the constant switching between mid paced heavy riffs and the trademark relentless speed is nothing more then perfection, Driven To Hell  while extremely raw has a lot of Melody and Harmonics with the riffing and vocals while still maintaining that aggressiveness and anger throughout.

   the subtle element of groove at the start of No Masters,No Slaves adds another perspective to the overall delivery of the album,as you can guess lyrically the rack is about those in authority are condemned for thinking they're above or better then everyone else and society will teack them a lesson in humility, therefore the rules will be broken, the drum intro on Exiled to Armageddon raises the bar to another level with regard to the absolute relentlessness  throughout this releases,at times it almost feels energy draining to take in the sheer speed of this release and i mean that in the best possible way, once again there's subtle homages to Slayer with the  haunting intro to Profession Of Promiscuity once the trademark speed kicks in you'll be thinking you're listening to similar style riffs and guitar tone to Reign In Blood then things get even more explosive with yet more relentless barage of filthy riffing ,this is possibly one of the nastiest guitar tones i've heard in a long time especially when the lead kicks in, Chemical Warfare is the shortest track on the album and has plenty of Punk elements throughout while still having that filthy guitar tone,this has all the elements for getting a moshpit going, closing track 213(The Gateway To Hell) goes into serial killer territory as some may know this is referncing Jeffrey Dahmer,the song has a really haunting atmosphere with it's slowish riffing and gritty vocals, which gives the overall proceedings something different then previous tracks, amore then suffucient way to close out a phenomenal album.

  Not only was the long wait to hear all these tracks worth it,this body of work is a commendation of years of graft,struggle and to get something truly worthwhile out to the masses, if you're into the likes of Discharge,Slayer or Motorhead this album is a must listen,every track is full of quality and upon numerous listen to this offering you'll find it hard to forget these tracks,they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but the old dog will teach you a trick or two on how to write truly quality Crossover D-Beat/Thrash Metal songs .Immaculate Deception have unleashed an absolutle unforgettable masterpiece with The Beat Of The Craw.

RATING: 9.5/10

 FB: https://www.facebook.com/caff666

Hero In Error "Hero In Error" EP Review

   Dublin Hardcore/Metal Stalwarts Hero In Error have been tearing it up since 2007 with consistently quality releases and a plethora of live shows supporting luminaries such as Mastodon,Parkway Drive and more,despite a few line up changes and two hiatus's from 2013 to 2016 & 2020 to 2024,the addition of Kaan Tasan(Heart Of A Coward) on vocals gave the band a renewed vigor and another level of quality ,all of this culminates with the release of their absolutely monumental new Self Titled EP, let's dissect the finer details within this release.

    Instantly you know you're about to delve into something special when that first chord hits on Enemy Within the vocal delivery is both gut wrenching and full of angst combined with some thought provoking lyrics of self doubt and the struggle to communicate your true feelings, Moths To a Flame delivers some  really fantastic groove laden hooks with relentless drums ,the switching between clean and abrasive vocals adds a really melancholic atmosphere to the overall theme of personal struggle.

  Closing track Left In Your Absence goes into even more emotionally tinged  territory with the delivery of both extremely aggressive and emotiinally charged vocals,it feels like there's a gradual build within each song to the point where the emotions become too difficult to cope with and they eventually explode into an uncontrollable anger.

  Hero In Error may have been absent from the scene for a prolonged period of time but upon listen to this phenomenal EP it feels like they've never been gone ,they've even come back with a renewed purpose and intent all designed to deliver absolutely crushing and thought provoking passages,

RATING: 9.5/10

FB: https://www.facebook.com/HEROINERROR

IG: https://www.instagram.com/heroinerrordublin/