1782 - Clamor Luciferi (2023)

There's just so much 'right' about Italian bands performing horror themed metal, so much that it crosses most of the sub-genres, from the brutal bludgeoning of Fulci, to the cult blackening of Mortuary Drape, the shock rock/heavy metal of Death SS, escapist giallo doom of Paul Chain, or the funeral parlor sounds of Abysmal Grief. Sardinians 1783 definitely conform most to that final category, but they definitely eschew a lot of the atmospherics and cinema-reel creepiness to bludgeon you straight in the face with a sluggish brand of primitive stoner doom that borders heavily on the nihilistic sludge made popular by Eyehategod and Electric Wizard. The sort of 'bad high' or 'bad trip' which just beats on you repetitiously with dour guitar tone, fat evil bass, wanton and wastoid vocals, steady and simple drums, little else to distract you.

So the album title, the band name, the cover artwork, and the sinister/occult themes of the songs are all a win for me, but unfortunately, when you've got such a straightforward style, it relies so heavily on you getting those riff patterns that bore themselves into the listener's psyche. When you're working with such basic chord progressions, I think there's an impetus to play it safe and then just flood those ear canals with crushing ton, and Clamor Luciferi might partly wind up a victim of that. There are some moodier bits here like "Tumultus XIII", where the guitars rumble along at more of a dirge against the plodding bass, and you feel like the music is rising to some vaulted cathedral ceiling, but others like the minimally titled "Succubus" and "Demons" are almost TOO one-track, with nothing in there to really surprise or freak you out. The vocal mix is interesting, he has a sort or dirty chanted style which is almost entirely smothered by the guitar tone and bass, but at the very least it feels like someone is whispering you subliminal messages very close to the rhythm of the instruments.

Whenever the band stretches out of these samey patterns, it gets more interesting, even in "Devil's Blood" where it starts out sparser but emits the most threatening, basic doom riff on the album. The production is never the issue, that bass sounds fat enough to rupture your tires, and the guitars have a dirty fuzz to them which works in the format. Perhaps the vocals could be more pronounced, but really 1782 needs to take this stylistic concept and then broaden it out, with more atmospheres, organs, or maybe some unexpected, minor key harmonies, or more psychedelic guitars/blues, because it grows dull fast unless you are in this super specific mood for something so drawling. Clamor Luciferi album is by no means a terrible album, it's fine, but it just needs a lot more ambition; the organ intro "A Merciful Suffering" set me up for some further expeditions that never manifest.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

https://1782doom.bandcamp.com/album/clamor-luciferi

Candles and Wraiths - Candelabia (2019)

The first impression upon seeing this album, and perhaps the best case scenario, is that it's going to sound somewhere like a cross between King Diamond and Cradle of Filth. You've got the period piece séance, the graceful but haunting specter possessing several of the attendants, all the staples for some good Gothic or Victorian horror writ unto metal. In fact, it's definitely a lot more in the latter's direction, an Austrian CoF with only a few subtle differences, largely the ramping up of the pomp and symphonic components to a near constant, a little less of the death and thrash metal that the Brits often verve off into as complement to their black metal core, and vocals that aren't as over the top as Dani Filth, though they definitely cover the same alternation between the black rasps and death grunts, or a combination of both, with some ethereal female/choir in there and that decrepit, whispered narrative on a few of the verses.

I guess this actually comes across as if Cradle of Filth extracted about 75% of their fundamentals and then spun them into an even more Wagnerian direction. The symphonics and riffs are on full thrust for a good portion of the record, more majestic than creepy, and I'm not sure that it's the best fit for an album that is ostensibly about haunted castles and classic horror. That said, it's pretty competent and enjoyable, from the sweeping orchestrations implemented by Hannes Sandrini who has also contributed similar to some of the Obsidian Chamber albums, to the slick guitar theatrics of Jürgen Klier (also doubling in that same band), there is nary a moment here to ever grow bored, because they are piling on some agile exercise in symphonic black metal over the blasting beats. Although this album is mostly on 'attack' mode, don't be fooled, there are plenty of intricacies in the guitar work, there is zero monotony as they like to rile up the songwriting with these epic breaks where either the symph synths will blaze off or some percussive, choppy riffing and drumming.

There are loads of melodies across these 40 minutes, with a huge neo-classical leaning layered into them rather than an excess of masturbatory noodling. Occasionally, it takes on a bit of a carnival vibe as in "Wartorn Lovelorn" which has a bit of an aesthetic fit to the period horror influences, and is one of the more memorable pieces on Candelabia. But it's all tight, tidily produced as obviously a great deal of effort went into the performance and balance of the instruments. The bass isn't a strong point, there aren't a lot of highly catchy moments throughout; you won't find that amazing, diabolical poeticism in the lyrics that is the unsung hero of Cradle of Filth's discography, but this Austrian trio's execution is undeniable. The symphonic instrumentals make for a nice backdrop to accent the adventurism of the heavier elements, nothing overstays its welcome, and if you're looking for another, comparable disc to fill in time between Cradle of Filth or Carach Angren marathons, you've found it.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://candlesandwraithsofficial.bandcamp.com/album/candelabia

Summer Slashaway 2025

 

Thanks as always for stopping by and reading! I'll be back with the usual horror-themed metal reviews in October!

-autothrall

Dawnbringer - Snake (2020)

Snake is another unusual highway stop in the Dawnbringer trajectory, an album that very heavily leans of heavy metal traditions but also tries to mix a few of them together into a novel outcome. Gone (but not entirely gone) are the melancholic strains of Night of the Hammer, and in its place we've got what feels like a modern tribute to London's grimiest sons Motörhead. There are riffs here or there which feel exactly like them, as in the uncomfortably "Iron Fist" intro to "Out of Mind", or the bridge of "Paradise Lust", or "Killed by Death", etc being contained as a medley in "Inferno" (also, coincidentally an album title). Others seem more to capture that punk/metal/speed in spirit, like the opener "Return to the Shrine" which doesn't quite clone Lemmy and the boys, but plays around in the same sort of sandbox. And I think that was the better way to approach this. Then you have a few of the band's further embellishments, a melodic sensibility which is more reminiscent of other NWOBHM bands or maybe some Thin Lizzy, or Chris Black's other band Superchrist which is a little more rock & roll to begin with.

It's an odd choice as a follow-up to their style from a few years before, but as more of a tribute to Lemmy who had ben gone a half-decade by this time, it at least delivers on the studio mix and energy. While I wish they hadn't included a few of those too-close, albeit brief mirror riffs, there are also some tunes which feel rather unique in that bass-driven speed/heavy sound, like "The Idea of Progress" with its great glaze of melodies and guitar effects, or "Twisting the Nest" with the great bass lines and snaky grooves, or "Loyal to Death" which puts an almost atmospheric, poppy polished spin on this sort of rock & roll. The bass tone is awesome throughout, as is the guitar tone, everything, with Chris continuing some of his more refined vocals. The best produced Dawnbringer record? Quite possibly, but only in service to a hybrid of styles that don't feel much like their own. Granted, there has always been a Motörhead influence in the vocals of this band, and some of the riffs, sure, but I feel like a project as this one could have been more effective if they changed the name, excluded any direct covering of riffs or tracks and just gone with something in that style, all dressed up with their own penchant for melodies and other influences.

I do realize this was allegedly written long ago, finished around the time of Lemmy's passing and was never meant to be a proper release. There's nothing malign about it, it's an independent release and by no means some sort of cheap commercial cash-in on a tragic loss. However, once you smack it down into the Dawnbringer lineage it kind of sticks there, and thus feels like another weird anomaly in a steady progression of them. Plenty of style here, also some substance, Chris Black clearly groks his inspiration and even expands upon it; he's a talented chap, but the presence of the direct referential licks/covers kind of betrays what could be an amazing peripheral tribute to one of the greatest musical institutions our ball of mud has spewed forth. It's also just not that memorable other than the strange story of its very existence. It's fine, but I'm never choosing it over the original article, nor am I choosing it over records like Unbleed, Nucleus, Sun God or Night of the Hammer. It remains as just a curiosity and hopefully a speed (metal) bump on the road to their next original work.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

Dawnbringer - XX EP (2016)

Kind of how Into the Lair of the Sun God mirrored Nucleus,  XX is a stylistic sibling to its predecessor Night of the Hammer, which you probably could tell from the very glum nature of the cover art. There are a few differences, the production here really kicks ass, it's every bit as accessible as that last album but it's got more depth and power to it, and that has a transformative effect on some of the saddening heavy metal anthems here, giving them a brighter edge of hope. Chris has developed his vocals even further, and these might honestly be some of the best he's done throughout his career. It's a little hard to pinpoint, they've got a lot of NWOBHM influence to them, but I find it hard to think of the exact bands; essentially he's punching way beyond his range until he actually MAKES that his range, and that creates an immediate uphill, emotional battle which drives the music below. At least once or twice here he even reminds me of Jonas from Katatonia, just that sad, spoken harmonic style. Overall, the highlight of this EP.

The music is glorious too, though. Tunes like "Into the Maze" and "North by North" are similar in scope, with these bright, airy guitars, slow to mid paced rhythms, the latter having some great backup chants in the verses, maybe even a tiny ounce of later epic Bathory poking through. Leads are resplendent and bluesy and 'felt', rather than the more technical flights they provided on the past few records. Having said that, the riffs are themselves nothing too special, they all move along in a predictable fashion, it's just that they sound so well produced and supportive of the vocals that they succeed anyways. The opening tune "Why Would You Leave Me" is a little too short to leave any impact, that probably should have been extended or just left off to allow the better tracks to do their business. Also, I feel like it can get a little too emotionally 'one-note'. Basically, the three best songs here ("Into the Maze", "North by North", "Earth") would have been better utilized as parts of a more diverse full-length where they could be countered off with some faster tunes, busier licks, just something to give them more poignancy than running straight into one another. But I do dig much of this, especially the singing.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

Dawnbringer - Night of the Hammer (2014)

Night of the Hammer is not a complete mellowing out of the style that Dawnbringer had explored with the two albums before it, but it's for sure a more comfortable and subdued slab of melodic heavy metal. The thing is, Chris and Scott brought the RIFFs with them, and this has a plethora of meaty, laid back chord and tasteful melodies that help to complement some of the best vocal structures and chorus lines they've had. The cover art here is quite different, just a photo of a guy staring out across some farmland or plain, with a silo or something off in the distance? With a hammer, of course. I often wondered if this is supposed to be the same figure from In Sickness and in Dreams, just captured from a different angle, with a weapon this time...perhaps a little bit of conceptual connection there.

In fact, this album has a heavy air of melancholy to it, which also begs that comparison, even though the style here is FAR removed from the surging melo-black/death of their formative years. Whereas the last two discs before this one were defined by ambition and redemption, Night of the Hammer is sad and self-reflective, with lyrics to match. It's got tasty, mid-paced rockers like "Alien", but also a lot of slower, sad heavy metal tunes like "Nobody There", "Hands of Death" and "Damn You", some of which, like the last, are definitely flirting more with a pure doom metal aesthetic, albeit unique with the little atmospheric guitars and Chris's vocal style. Speaking of which, he's dropped some of that gruffer edge for something more piercing and melodic, and it's pretty awesome since he's clearly becoming a more confident and effective singer (in this and other bands). The guitars sound smooth, some of the cleanest tone of the band's career, and most accessible; the drums as well. The songwriting in general is just as refined as Nucleus or Into the Lair of the Sun God, but the focus is much more grounded and personal...

That is, until the final three tracks of the album, which heard the band starting to 'fuck around' with a number of different style. These aren't deal breakers, but they definitely leech the record of some of its emotional weight. "Not Your Night" is a throwback to their more extreme metal days, with a blast beat and breathy, harsher vocals recalling In Sickness and in Dreams. "Funeral Child" is a Mercyful Fate and King Diamond tribute, and a pretty good one, but it's just something you don't expect at all in context with the rest of the new material here. The falsetto had me laughing, but I guess they had done the one song in the past that sounded like 80s/Painkiller Judas Priest, so I guess I can't be too shocked they could pull it off...and weirdly, the end of the tune goes right back into the style present on the rest of the record, which makes it even stranger. The finale, "Crawling Off to Die" does fit the record the most of these three but it's definitely got a feel of electrified folk balladry to it, and vocals that are more like a Pink Floyd vibe. None of these tunes are bad at all, in fact they're all catchy, but I just don't think they serve Night of the Hammer as a whole, and I always found them distracting. Otherwise, this is another compelling milestone on the band's journey, a shade of melancholy to disperse some of the Sun God's gleaming.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

Dawnbringer - Into the Lair of the Sun God (2012)

Into the Lair of the Sun God is a continuation of the sound Chris and Scott had found with Nucleus, only it sounds more refined and 'mature', as if the duo had really settled into this like some band having played around in it for decades. It's got another classy Christina Casperson cover like its predecessor, and I think both are the best in the whole Dawnbringer catalog at reeling a prospective listener into the journey that awaits them on the actual album, without giving away the content. Normally I'd look at these and think I might be bound for some dungeon synth or obscure black metal (which I'd be okay with in either case), but it's such a great pairing with this epic USPM sound. There should also be some kudos that Chris manages to explore this style without stepping on the toes of any of his other heavy metal projects, numerous of which were well active by this time, like High Spirits, Superchrist and the brilliant Pharaoh.

Sure, there are a few points of crossover, especially with Pharaoh (Matt Johnsen even pops in for some lead guitars here). A few vocals, a few of the busier guitar lines, but this is it's own thing, a classy and atmospheric conceptual heavy metal record eschewing song titles for Roman numerals. Pretty atypical for metal of this style, but it does actually help the listener roadmap the album as something to experience fully without worry about the 'hits', and that's a good thing, because Into the Lair of the Sun God is an extremely consistent 44 minutes of steady or galloping rhythms, well-layered leads, balanced tempos that shift between momentum and atmospheric reflection ("III" is a good example). The drums feel the best in the band's entire career, the bass lines thrive where in the past they were somewhat suppressed against the other instruments. The guitars are as bright as the title demands, which create a good contrast against Black's middle-ranged, hazier vocals which still remind me a bit of Lemmy, if the legend had been fronting something less lewd and rock & roll. There is a fair amount of complexity to some of the riffing, not so far as Helstar or Pharaoh maybe, but certainly in that region (as with "IV"). On the other hand, there are also a few pieces like "V" which is basically a straight up radio rock anthem, or the plodding and potent "VI".

I have to reiterate how well composed this music is...this might be the best 'songwriting' they have ever done, even if I'm nostalgically connected to Unbleed, which was quite different in style, that record does seem like chicken scratch compared to Sun God's calligraphy. This is not a record without precedent, there are many points here where you'll find parallels to Omen, Riot, Manilla Road or most of the other bands I mentioned before, but the way it's imbued with theme and pacing and consistency and the vocals make it all quite unique regardless. A pretty strong showing for a band that doesn't seem to spend too much time re-treading the same terrain, they hit little peaks and plateaus. Into the Lair of the Sun God shares this particular plateau with Nemesis, but it's further developed, catchier, with little moments of grace and power in each of its rhythmic arcs that better reward the listener. I think it's the pinnacle of this entire later phase of the band's career, a record I put up alongside the works of a Slough Feg or Hammers of Misfortune, two of my favorite peers when it comes to modern/throwback US heavy metal.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

Dawnbringer - Three Soldiers Standing/Night of the Sinner EP (2011)

This was a weird little ditty to drop between Dawnbringer's two epic heavy metal albums Nucleus and Into the Lair of the Sun God, since it's a pair of unreleased tunes from back in the days shortly after Unbleed was released. As such, you can expect a much rawer style, and in fact, the mix on these is so disheveled and demo-level that it makes that debut album sound like it was recorded in an AAA studio by comparison. That does also limit my enjoyment a little, since the beats sound like a couple cans being slapped, the bass is just present on the edge of perception, and the overall effect is a little cringe. However, the guitars do sound pretty damn good, you can hear the brightness of the leads against the bustle of rhythm guitars performing a hybrid of heavy, speed, and melodic black metal, and the vocals are nasty in a good way, creating their own contrast against the cleaner backups belting out the choruses. Hell, they sound better than they did on the Sacrament EP, although I think the mix on that was overall much cleaner than this.

As for the songs themselves, they're both pretty good. They're not as rustic or melodic sounding or escapist as Unbleed, these have a more urban, aggressive, violent feel to them, with a bigger influence from thrash metal twisting into the other styles from that record. Granted, there are moments like the breakout rhythm in "Three Soldiers Standing" where it would have fit right in, but these feel more like they were being developed for a more asphalt-tearing sophomore effort that never quite manifest. The mix holds me back from giving this a higher recommendation, but if you did enjoy Unbleed, or if you like a lot of old demos from the first few waves of melodic death and black metal, or maybe some of the bands coming out through Invasion records back in the mid to late 90s, then this digital/7" release could be worth a listen. It's an artifact, for sure, and I think the songs could actually benefit from a re-recording if the band ever went back to that style. However, for anyone else who hasn't already heard Dawnbringer, the three full-lengths I mentioned in this very review are the better starting points. 

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

Dawnbringer - Nucleus (2010)

Four years and one deal with the budding Profound Lore records later, and Dawnbringer returned with a much more professional, refined sound that leaned far deeper into their heavy metal influences. Granted, the melodies and harmonies were always there in the guitars, and you can certainly trace some of the content here back to the last three discs, but the song structures definitely seem more brazenly epic, inspired by a lot of the NWOBHM classics, but with the same urgency and speed they applied to a lot of their black metal stuff. I also hear some comparisons to the cult US heavy metal gods Manilla Road, there's a similar sense or adventure being told though the guitars, though the production here is probably a lot more accessible, and certainly better than In Sickness and In Dreams.

Still a two-piece here, and Chris has converted his vocals more to that dirtier style he used on the last album, only here the intonation works better against the music, more of a humble blue collar bludgeon against the constant barrage of heavy metal melody. What if Lemmy fronted Iron Maiden. That sort of sound, and while his delivery is not going to win any prizes, it does tend to function within this context. But the songs are just more robust and striving, inspirational in places like "Swing Hard" and the glorious, moody, atmospheric "Pendulum" which ends off the record with some vocal lines that remind me of "Astronomy Domine". They try their hands at pure Sabbath-style doom in "Old Wizard", and it works, Chris using a little bit of a higher, more forceful pitch to match the weight of the riffs. "You Know Me" is jammy, proggy and Rush influenced, while the end of the bridge in "The Devil" brings them right back around to some of their most intense material off the older albums, the blasting drums used to create a pummeling atmosphere which supports the feedback-driven guitars vaulting over them.

A few of the tunes, "All I See" and "Like an Earthquake", might also come across as more melancholic alternatives to the style he'd use in High Spirits. Nucleus definitely messes around and explores, about as much as the prior album, so I did come away from this with the same sense of growing pains. However, it almost all works well within the milieu of this particular record, and what's more, the individual songs here are much better than they were on either In Sickness... or Catharsis Instinct. But this is the real 'flex point' where they became more of a heavy/epic metal band as their defining trait. With the Profound Lore visibility and all-around improvements, it's no wonder this was the record that put Dawnbringer on a lot of radars, and rightfully so; it's one of the first I'll reach for when I'm not in the mood for the rustic melo-black of Unbleed, and also one of the first I'd recommend to newcomers, or honestly any fans of heavy metal or heavy/prog metal.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

Dawnbringer - In Sickness and in Dreams (2006)

In Sickness and Dreams is somewhat of a continuation of Catharsis Instinct, but also somewhat of an identity crisis, one of the more unusual albums in the Dawnbringer catalogue. It's characterized by a lot of very short songs, few over two minutes in length, and though Chris and Scott still manage to pack in a lot of ideas, I rarely felt as if they were fleshed out enough to really grasp onto them. The core style here is still melodic black and death metal, perhaps leaning more towards the latter due to the vocals, but it's also got some cleaner vocals, soothing or even hypnotic in parts, and a few straight heavy metal leanings which will foreshadow where they'll be ending up down the road. The opening piece, "Scream and Run", seems to portend a proggier, psychedelic style, and that does appear a few times, but it's more of a tease for later records.

The production on this thing is dingy, and that's one of my biggest issues. Chris is using a more croaked, death metal vocal and it sort of disintegrates against some of the guitars, almost like he's not putting enough force into the inflection or it's just mixed terribly. Sometimes it comes across breathy, and when he's using the cleaner vocals it can almost sound like Lemmy ("There and Back") chilling out behind the guitars, or brought to mind the later Swedish band Bombus ("Under No Flag").. It's a strange contrast with the blazing, melodic guitars, which definitely prove highlights on the records with a lot of riffs that sent a lot of the trendier Swedish death-inspired US metalcore bands home on a stretcher. However, there are some weird sections where they just keep jamming on the same repetitive notes, like almost the whole shorter tune "You Get Nothing" or the end of "Hell is a Desert", strange choices that feel like they almost exist on the album solely to floss out the listener's brain or palate.

It gets weirder..."11:58" has Rob Halford style power vocals, sounding like some sort of mock tribute, and then morphing into faster acoustic guitars. "Death in Time" is a 16 second fugue with a little doom lick that shouldn't have even been bothered with. Both feel unnecessary. On the other hand, there are some fun tracks deeper into the list, like "Attack of the Spiders" with some great speedy NWOBHM licks, or "Endless Guilt" which is a catchy melo-death tune with some organs in there. Overall, the music is pretty solid, I just wish there had been less songs, more focus making the better ones more substantial, and a brighter mix that would have benefited them. Some of the vocals here are my second least favorite after the Sacrament EP, and while the whole album clocks in at 24 minutes, and you never get a chance to get bored, the overall production is just underwhelming. Like an experimental EP sending out feelers for where Dawnbringer would adventure next. Some great riffs keep it hovering just above the precipice of mediocrity, but it's not one of their better offerings.

Verdict: Win [7/10]