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Review of The Felon’s Claw by Ilsa

Band: Ilsa
Album: The Felon’s Claw
Release Date: 5 May 2015
Record Label: A389 Recordings
Buy digital ($5) or CD ($8.99) or 2x 12″ vinyl ($29.99) on Bandcamp: Here
Buy various bundles with merch from A389’s web store: Here

Cover of The Felon's Claw by Ilsa

Washington DC based crusty death/doom band Ilsa has a new album coming out on Baltimore based label A389. DCHM writer Buzzo Jr has written the following review of The Felon’s Claw to give you all the details about the new full length from one of my favorite area bands. As usual we’ve got a couple of songs streaming at the end of the post so give them a listen while you read!

Lets get this out of the way quick: No, you’re not the only person who is immediately reminded of Spinal Tap’s infamous and fictional Smell the Glove album when looking at the cover art for The Felon’s Claw. However, the fourth full length from DC’s Ilsa sounds nothing like everyone’s favorite fake British band, but is instead full of Ilsa’s signature crust soaked doom metal.

Ilsa is well known for mixing death/doom, with crust punk and d-beat; their previous outputs often alternating between slow doomy passages with one song and then going into frantic punk influenced tracks for the next one. On The Felon’s Claw however, the faster punk influenced tracks are more rare, with only “Oubilette,” “Buried in the Bedrock and Concrete of Our Cities,” and “Armstrong’s Mixture” venturing into full on crust punk territory. The remaining 7 songs are all sludgy doom tracks, with “Katabasis” clocking in at almost 9 minutes. The slow, sinister mood and heavy riffs in these tracks combined with the harsh, high range vocals are sometimes reminiscent of Salome; another great doom band from the DMV area that unfortunately broke up in 2011. I find that I like Ilsa’s faster tracks a bit more than the slower paced songs on this album, since they are packed with much more aggression and energy. Their death metal influences are also more prevalent on the faster tracks, blending perfectly with the punk inspired d-beat drumming. Not to say that the slower tracks aren’t any good; quite the contrary actually. What they lack in speed they greatly make up for in crushing heaviness. A favorite of mine among these slower tracks is “Pandolpho,” which is actually a reimagining of a hymn written by Robert Parsons back in 1572. On this track, the band puts their crust and doom influence into a single song; starting off at a slow steady pace and then erupting into a much faster section in the middle, and finally slowing back down to a dirge-like speed at the end.

Tim Moyer and Brendan Griffiths’ guitar work on the album is great; their mammoth tone establishing the murky atmosphere of the album and their grimy riffs chugging away, hammering the listener into submission. Large amounts of harsh feedback flows in the background, following the example of sludge bands like Eyehategod and Acid Bath. Sharad Satsangi’s basslines follow the guitars perfectly, adding even more power and filth to the mix and chugging in unison with the twin axes. Orion Peter’s vocals are as intense as they’ve ever been as well, with his tortured, painful howls penetrating through the riffs and feedback to create a sense of misanthropy and hopelessness. Orion utilizes his harsh vocals perfectly, causing a great contrast between the low end riffs and his higher range screams. Josh Brettel’s drums unfortunately don’t sound as thick and powerful as the rest of the instruments do, which is a pity seeing as they are incredibly heavy and pounding when Ilsa perform live. That being said, Josh’s drums do get the job done providing thudding beats to complement the riffs and vocals, at some points overcoming the lesser production and sounding utterly bombastic on some of the much slower tracks such as “Smoke is the Ghost of Fire.”

Ilsa’s newest offering is a filthy chunk of crusty death/doom, packed full of great riffs and screams. If you’re looking for a record to play in your dingy basement for a seedy get-together with various lowlives, you won’t find a better one than this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kc5TlHwgc0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuBt1ufVrH0

May 1, 2015
Categories: Album Reviews, Doom Metal, Upcoming Album Releases, Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia Metal Scene . Tags: Buzzo Jr, Ilsa, The Felon's Claw . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: Leave a comment

Review of Foehammer by Foehammer

Band: Foehammer
Album: Foehammer
Release Date: 7 April 2015
Record Label: Grimoire Records
Buy digital or CD ($7) or cassette ($6) on Bandcamp: Here
Buy vinyl ($15) from Australopithecus: Here

Cover of Foehammer by Foehammer

This post is the debut piece from new DCHM contributor Buzzo Jr. Those of you that already know him can back me up that this guy is really passionate about his metal, and I think that he’ll do just fine here. In this post he’s writing about Foehammer, a new band in our area, though the members have been active in our metal scene for some time. Some of you may remember that they were the opening act at the DCHM Holiday Party last December at the Pinch. So take a few minutes to read his words about Foehammer’s debut and of course be sure to stream some of the tunes at the bottom of the post too.

One of the many things the DMV area is well known for is its fantastic doom metal scene. There is no short supply of bands worshipping at the altar of Tony Iommi with fuzz-fueled riffs in the area. One of the newest releases to do so is the self-titled EP from Foehammer, hailing from Annandale, Virginia. With only three songs on the album, each surpassing nine minutes and the final track at a whopping 14, these guys really know the meaning of slow, heavy doom.

First and foremost, the most important thing in all of doom is you’ve got to have solid riffs. And boy do Foehammer deliver. While very simple in structure, every single riff from Joe Cox’s guitar comes at you with full force, lingering on and setting the stage for the next. At some points the riffs sound almost trance-like, and influenced by drone bands such as Sunn O))). The basslines on the record are equally heavy, providing even more distortion to the already low and deep guitar tone. Many funeral doom acts tend to over-distort the bass in order to add to the overall “heaviness,” but end up sounding way too muddy. Foehammer fortunately avoids this misstep and keeps the bass at a perfect level of fuzz, the result being basslines that are clear and audible, but not overpowering the rest of the instruments. Another thing that sets Foehammer apart from other doom bands playing right now would be the vocals. Jay Cardinell’s vocals are not your typical doom vocals in the realm of Wino or Bobby Liebling, but are more reminiscent of death metal bands such as Incantation. The gurgling, low growls at times invoke images of a demonic cauldron, bubbling with an ominous mixture inside. Quite fitting for a band that takes its name from Gandalf’s sword from the “Lord of the Rings” series. Finally, Ben Blanton’s drumming on this record adds the final much needed element to the mix. Each time one of his sticks hit down they hit hard, creating a pounding procession of tribal-like grooves.

The songs, while limited in number, are all slow, heavy, and relentless; hardly ever straying from the set path of full on distortion-laden riffs and pounding drums. The only time the album does quiet down is during the halfway point of the song “Final Grail,” when a beautiful acoustic passage suddenly comes in. The contrast with the acoustic section demonstrates how crushingly heavy Foehammer’s sound actually is once the riffs come roaring back. A minor gripe I have with the album is that while the songs are great, the acoustic section in the first song is the only time the band seems to mix it up, with the rest of the songs not showing much variety in their structure or sound. Apart from that small issue, the album still delivers on what it intended to, and if you’re a fan of incredibly heavy doom in the realm of Samothrace, Conan, Buried At Sea, or even more melodic acts like Pallbearer, then I highly recommend this album.

Foehammer’s self titled debut is a great offering of slow, fuzzy funeral doom that’s bound to shake your speakers and probably your skeleton as well. You can pick it up on April 7 on CD, cassette, or digital download through Baltimore based record label Grimoire Records, or on vinyl through Australopithecus Records.