Cynic's 'Carbon-Based Anatomy' - For Those Who Know

No aliens to the metal world, Florida's Cynic adopted a new perspective on progressive extreme metal and remain a fundamental part of technical metal history. The heart of the band is Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert who were part of Death for the seminal Human recording. Cynic released the universally-lauded Focus before disbanding in 1994. However, like many thrash acts from the eighties and early nineties, a reunion dawned in 2006. Traced in Air was the debut's successor, with material strong enough to be considered superior to Focus. Last year, the American due released Retraced, an EP containing alternative take on songs from Traced in Air, reformulated to embody a very modern and emotive rock shape, albeit with as much thoughtfulness as their original takes. The final track was new number 'Wheels Within Wheels', which shared the same musical DNA as the other tracks. This year, Cynic polarised opinion with Carbon-Based Anatomy, a EP bearing all new material very different to what adherents were expecting.

Carbon-Based Anatomy is essentially three full-length songs conjoined by three embellishing interludes. The most striking comparison to their older works is the complete erosion of any metal elements. Once bequeathed with death and thrash metal teeth, Cynic's music has embodied an idiosyncratic progressive rock form. Astral soundscapes and off beat drumming remain but the signature vocal decoder has been substituted for a clean Steven Wilson-esque vocal effort from Masvidal, as heard on Retraced. The solos are less unorthodox than the Focus days but the release comes across as a personal one, more interested in depicting emotive flares rather than metal complexity. The lyrics certainly feel more personal. From 'Box Up My Bones':

Haste to cure the old despair,
No antidote, still I repair.
Someone said that bird has no wings,
But I've seen it fly, I've seen it fly in dreams.


On my way to love someone,
On my way to love the one.

The level of atmosphere has been dramatically increased; Masvidal explains that this is due to an appreciation of the ambient works of Brian Eno and Eno's vast and lonesome atmospheres are evoked on this release. Additionally, in truly being progressive, the introductory 'Amidst the Coals' is from an Amazonian tribe's Icaro - a song said to have had healing properties.

This release is a sign of Cynic's maturity and a testament to their desire to do what they wish rather than be directed by trends or what the fans expect. Masvidal states that his music references his life and is naturally going to become "more interesting, expansive and colourful." [1]. Some detractors consider Carbon-Based Anatomy to be closer to an Aeon Spoke record than a Cynic one, but Aeon Spoke are more folk inclined and devoid of the celestial musings prominent in Cynic's music, including this EP. It is fair to conclude that the negative attention that plagues Carbon-Based Anatomy is predominantly from metalheads wishing for Death-hangover, interested in Cynic because of the shared members and are frustrated Cynic have no metal tendencies any more [2]. Masvidal stated that even in the early years, Cynic attracted may who listened to jazz and were completely ignorant to metal [1]. New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratcliff believes Cynic's music to be better understood outside of a metal vessel. Perhaps this is true.

The vigour of 'Veil of Maya' may be absent but the tenderness of 'Textures' remains. Either way, Masvidal does not intend for Cynic to be a nostalgia act so those desperate for the old Cynic should stick to Obscura. Or listen to Focus.


---
[1] Metal Discovery interview with Paul Masvidal, 2011.
[2] A similar argument can be made for the split opinions on Opeth's Heritage album.

Back from Hell - Helstar's Heavy New Legacy

Originally written for Soundshock.com

Texan classic thrash metallers Helstar disbanded in the mid-nineties like countless other thrash acts but, like a phoenix, rose again in 2007. The following year, the band released their recorded comeback ‘King of Hell’, a surprisingly vicious update on the classic Helstar sound. Two years later, the quintet struck back with ‘Glory of Chaos’. Larry Barragan discusses the reactions Helstar have secured and what their future plans are at their first UK show.

‘Glory of Chaos’ is a behemoth of a record, with Halford-esque shrieks, thick modern metal riffage, and bloodthirsty drumming, quite a far cry from Helstar’s classic ‘Remnants of War’ or ‘Nosferatu’ releases. Did this polarise the fanbase? “The first reaction was like ‘Wow what the hell is that?’” Larry recalls animatedly. “And now everybody just…they love it. They’re like “That’s the heaviest album you guys have made.” It’s been pretty good. I haven’t had any real negative reactions from the fans. We used a lot of James’ [Rivera, vocalist] voice on this one. A lot of people didn’t realise he could do a lot of that stuff.”

The ultra-heavy sound the band has adopted works and is a feature signature to metal that Helstar were known for before their reunion. “I always wanted to make ‘Glory of Chaos’ since…forever. I’ve always wanted to be heavy. Different members of the band pull us in all different directions. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. We’ve never had that album where you listen to it and you felt like you’ve been punched in the face and that’s what I wanted for this album.” Plenty of reactivated classic acts stick to what they mastered and became best at, perhaps slightly modernising their sound but certainly not directly drawing influences from newer bands. Larry takes pride in stating that Helstar are the opposite. “We’re all metal heads and we’ve never stopped listening to metal. There’s all these influences from newer bands like Lamb of God and Sacrifice. What we wrote, that’s the way it came out. If you go back and listen to all the albums, we’ve never done part two of anything. It’s hard to do. It’s hard to not repeat yourself.”

The new sound is also a fantastic way to introduce the new generation of metal fans to Helstar, with a fresh sound as opposed to an outdated, nostalgic one. “The fanbase has actually grown since we’ve reunited. Last night, we played old songs and everyone was absolutely cool with it and then we played ‘Alma Negra’ and the place went nuts. Every time we played one of the new songs, I could tell there was different energy all of a sudden.” In a world where bands are struggling to remain relevant or stand out in some manner, Helstar have accomplished what they need to do with new music.

With the surge in popularity with retro thrash and heavy metal bands emulating a sound that was commonplace in the eighties, it seems like Helstar are taking the intrepid route by introducing new sounds, rather than capitalising on their classic metal status and potentially catapulting themselves into the same sphere of attention as these newer acts. Larry believes there is a strong difference between retro acts and those who were actually there at the time. “I think they have the knowledge of it, I don’t know if they have the feel that these bands like Helstar and some of the other bands that have been around. Those guys – when they write an album, it has a certain vibe and feel and you can tell these guys are gonna be around for a while. When you listen to those [retro metal bands], it sounds polished and everything but maybe they don’t quite get it. You gotta have your own identity. That’s just my biased opinion I guess.”

One of the prominent attributes as to why Helstar’s new found heaviness is around can be attributed to new drummer Mikey Lewis. “On ‘Glory of Chaos’, we’ve got Mikey in the band as our drummer and he understood us more from a drum perspective than any one. I think the album sounds as heavy as it does because of him. He made a huge change in us. It’s subtle, I don’t think people realise when they listen to it – the drums are fucking heavy – they just think ‘Wow, it sounds so heavy, it’s so fast.’ Actually he plays guitar too. He wasn’t in the writing process but for the next one, for sure. He’s already said ‘I’ve got some parts. Let’s get together.’ Yeah, anything to make my job easier.”

After this tour, Helstar plan on heading home to work on a new release. “I’ve got parts here and there that I have on my laptop already but not anything concrete. I’m sure Rob has a bunch of parts as well. Like I said, Mikey has some guitar parts too so we’ll get together and start piecing everything together.” As ‘Glory of Chaos’ was composed through emails and recorded without the band rehearsing together, it could be that the follow up album will be more thought out with more intricacies as Larry believes it could be beneficial to write the album together. “I think everybody wants to get together a little bit more and take some more time over the stuff. I like the solos but I think if I had a little more time, I could have made the solos more elaborate. But overall, I’m happy.”

Why Kampfar Respect Women

Originally written for Soundshock.com

Since signing to Napalm Records for their 2006 release ‘Kvass’, Norway’s Kampfar have received a significant deal of attention worldwide. In the last two years, the black metallers have managed to play prestigious metal festivals such as Wacken and Hellfest and soon they will embark on their debut North American outing. But despite the peaks they have accumulated, frontman Dolk considers these past two years the most strenuous and draining of Kampfar’s career since their inception in 1994.

“When a band gets more interest, in a way, you have to make new decisions every single day and it starts to become more like a job. It feels at least sometimes that it’s not good to be in a band any more.” It has been two years since

 Kampfar’s last comprehensive tour and Dolk is more than enthused to return to the road, delivering a stellar show to those in attendance. “I’m really happy to be playing again and I haven’t felt like that for the last two years. “ Drummer Ask submits the footnote: “We finally get the reward of the stress and the chaos.” This year marks the release of the Norwegians’ fifth album ‘Mare’, a mature release adding a bevy of variety to the black metallers’ catalogue. Naturally, Dolk is proud of the album but is more astounded by the attention the release has earned: “We sold as many albums of ‘Mare’ in the first five days as we did with our last album for two years. So it was like “Wow!”” Perhaps this impressive result can be partially attributed to Kampfar working with legendary metal producer Peter Tägtgren for the first time. “It was a natural choice. For me at least, it was very very important that he wanted to do this because we didn’t want to go into a studio because it’s a famous studio or it’s a famous guy doing the sounds. We wanted to take a new direction, of course, to create art. We needed someone who wanted to push the boundaries and limits to get with us. It was really important for me that he really wanted to do this album, not just “Yeah, I’ll do it,” but with passion. The last time I talked to Peter before we really decided to go that way, I asked him “Are you really up for this?” and he said “Fuck yeah!” The only thing we can say is in some ways it’s bad that we didn’t do this earlier.”

Ask highlights how important it was to have a producer who knew precisely what the band needed for their record and this kind of producer would have to be well-versed in all kinds of music as opposed to exclusively black metal. “We’ve always been a bit stubborn about keeping it a little on the low-fi. We’ve always taken thing away and this time we said “Fuck it, we’ll do everything. We’ll see what happens because if it doesn’t work you can always remove things.” So we choose to work with a producer who could do bigger productions and it’s very interesting how focused he is because we played Hellfest last year and he played there with Hypocrisy and the studio had been booked well in advance. We were watching Fear Factory play from the side of the stage because we both love the drummer and I’m talking to him and he’s well drunk. I’m explaining exactly what kind of sound I want for the studio and he remembered everything and had everything set up for that sound and he completely nailed it, exactly what I wanted. He thinks with a band. He doesn’t go in there and say “OK I’m going to give you my sound.” He says “I’m going to give you the sound that is best for you.”” Naturally, Kampfar will not consider anyone else when producing their next album.

‘Mare’ is something out of the ordinary for Kampfar and indeed black metal as a whole. The album is dedicated to all those women brave enough to subscribe to their own lifestyles and follow their own paths in life. This idea was inspired by the fate of women who were misunderstood by priests hundreds of years ago in Norway and were branded a witch and burnt. Ask sheds light on Kampfar’s only profound religious remark: “The thing is that to be a woman today and do what you want to do then maybe it’s a little harder than men but two hundred years ago, it was a lot worse. If you were a woman two hundred years ago and you said “No, I want to do my thing. I want to learn about what I want to learn,” [they set you on fire]. That’s our religious statement.”

Kampfar’s fortunes have not come without misfortunate. Late last year, founding member Thomas decided to part ways with the band on good terms. Thomas’ guitar work is instantly recogniseable and signature to Kampfar, carving a unique identity for the band. “The reason his guitar playing is quite different to other guitars is because he’s actually playing piano on a guitar. He thinks in piano. There were never two guitarists so he always played two melodies at once, basically, two harmonies at once. He plays deceptively simple. He’s actually an incredibly skilled musician,” Ask notes. Dolk is highly optimistic about Kampfar’s future with one of the founding members now absent from the line up: “We’re gonna nail it, without Thomas or not. We’re still brothers. When I go back to Norway, we’re having a barbecue party and he’s invited. We’re really connected but we just had to stop work with this kind of music together. We ended the line there, really.”

With the unhinged success of ‘Mare’, Kampfar’s position as co-headliners on tour with black metal stalwarts Secrets of the Moon and Vreid and a

highly anticipated North American tour, the band’s limits are not yet capped and they will continue to harvest a multitude of success that most black metal bands will never achieve. Kampfar demonstrate that persistence and artistic endeavour is the key to their outstanding results.

The End for Bal-Sagoth?

Originally written for Soundshock.com

Recently, black metal in the UK has truly developed a consistent scene with bands like Fen, A Forest of Stars and Wodensthrone acting as the vanguards of a new movement. However, before these bands, one of the most uttered names both at home and internationally in the UKBM scene was Bal-Sagoth. In the past few years, the fantasists have kept a low profile but why? Mainman Byron Roberts explains why he considers the band to be in semi-retirement.

  

In 2006, Bal-Sagoth released their last studio effort, entitled ‘The Chthonic Chronicles’ on one of the biggest metal labels Nuclear Blast. The album was very well-received by the metal community and an international showcase of UK black metal.  “We haven't been writing any new material, because we have yet to decide whether to carry on for further albums. I think eventually you will see the other members of the band branching out into various other projects, as realistically Bal-Sagoth won't last forever. I suppose you could say that Bal-Sagoth is in a state of semi-retirement, which wouldn't actually be too far from the truth! So essentially, the band has just been playing a handful of shows per year since our last album "The Chthonic Chronicles" came out in 2006,” Roberts notes. “Over the last five years, we've played in countries such as Finland, Norway, the USA, Portugal, the Czech Republic, etc. It hasn't been a deliberate decision to avoid playing the UK, it's just that no suitable offers had really come in until recently.” 

Given the bombastic and grand sound Bal-Sagoth exude on record, it can be incredibly difficult to replicate the music live. Opinions on Bal-Sagoth shows vary widely, dependent on the quality of the sound and the knowledge of the sound engineers at the time. “It's impossible to accurately recreate the multi-layered sound of the albums in the live environment. We just have to settle for getting it as close as is humanly possible within the overall confines of the live show. That's partially why I've never been satisfied with our gigs over the years. I personally don't think there's any need to play this stuff live. Every time we play a show it perhaps erodes a little bit of the magic this band has. I would hope that the energy of the live experience might go some way to make up for it, but there's only so much you can do. Quite honestly, our material is not designed or written to be performed accurately live. Bal-Sagoth has always been more about the album experience; sitting back with the stereo on, booklet in hand, with the listener getting lost within the sonic universe of our discography.”

Unlike many metal acts, Roberts admits that Bal-Sagoth’s strength is not in the live show. The prominence of the lyrics in the band substitute for this though; each album is a conceptual piece, concerning itself with fantasy and sci-fi worlds conceived by Roberts himself. “The whole concept for the band was essentially built around the lyrical content. I had many of the lyrics written and the albums planned our years before I even met the people who would eventually end up being in the band. I came up with the band concept around 1989, but back then, seemingly no one was interested in being part of a high concept metal band with fantasy and sci-fi lyrics. That was the height of the whole socio-political thrash and death metal band surge, and it just wasn't "cool" to want to start a band dealing with mythological and fantasy topics. It was a real problem finding people willing to give the idea a chance. Eventually a guy I knew called Mac introduced me to some people he had been jamming covers within their bedroom. They were looking to start a serious band too, and to cut a long story short, Jonny and Chris ultimately agreed to be part of the Bal-Sagoth project. Only then did the music start being composed.”

With such dedication to the lyrics that are written over a period of years, it seems unusual that Roberts expresses these stories through music as opposed to a medium that would allow him to limitlessly narrate, such as a novel. “The reason I wanted to tell these stories via music was because of my love of black and death metal, and fantasy & sci-fi literature. Fusing those two loves seemed like a good idea at the time. The whole idea was that the band would be an extreme and symphonic musical project which would be underpinned by this elaborate lyrical universe. Originally, it was also driven by a desire to create the kind of music and lyrics that I myself would like to hear and read as a fan, because there wasn't much of that kind of stuff around back then. Pretty much everyone opposed the idea at some point, even people in the band itself, believe it or not! But eighteen years and six albums later, here we are.” Persistence is obviously the key for Byron. He states: “The other members aren't really reading enthusiasts, to be honest, and they certainly aren't big readers of fantasy, sci-fi or mythological books. I'm sure they eventually read the album booklets once they get copies of the CDs, but they generally don't take any great interest in the lyrical side of the band, and never have. And that's fine with me, because the lyrical side is exclusively my domain anyway.”

With a power-struggle between the music and the lyrics, it is worth considering how the songs are written and which aforementioned aspect is the priority. “When we write albums, I'll give the composers an outline of the kind of stuff I need for each song. Sometimes it will be a very broad outline, merely mentioning the overall mood required for a piece. Other times, for the "flagship" songs, it will be a much more detailed outline listing the events of the story and so forth. A lot of the time Jonny just comes up with something unconnected to an outline and just submits it to me, and I then decide which lyrics are best suited to that particular composition. More often than not, the actual final lyrics are kept a secret from all the other members of the band until the mixing process is underway! So, ultimately, our way of writing songs is a mixture of collaboration and isolation, and that's the Bal-Sagoth method.” A method that is unlikely to change if Bal-Sagoth decide to continue with new material but for now, it’s all up in the air and all dedicated fanatics should catch the live shows because nothing is set in stone for these symphonic black metallers.

...of 2010

I think this year's edition will be even less interesting than last year's predominantly because I rekindled a love of '80s hard rock, which completely dominated my listening habits (and is certainly to blame for a drought of posts here). There were countless albums I wanted to investigate but never found the time or desire to, more so than usual.

Best Album
Pain of Salvation ~ Road Salt One

Pain of Salvation win by default, really. This album is more conventional than previous full-length Scarsick but in a rock-orientated way, rather than a metal one. The focus is on emotion, with influences from throughout rock's history creating yet another creative album that evoked plentiful spins before it finally hit me. That and I wasn't really in much of a progressive mood at all this year.

Honourable mentions: Alcest ~ Écailles de lune; Atheist ~ Jupiter

Best EP
Murder Construct ~ Murder Construct

With members from Cattle Decapitation, Exhumed and Impaled, Murder Construct could be considered something of a super group. This EP may not actually be as amazing as I thought but I hadn't listened to grind in a while until I heard this and it punched my teeth in. Death metal-articulated grind passages positioned next to straight-forward death metal moments with that dark atmosphere Cattle Decapitation enjoy using nowadays. Has a few quirky moments. Repeated listens aplenty. I'm not sure I actually heard any other EPs this year, come to think of it...

Best Song

Pain of Salvation ~ 'Sisters'

If another band churned out a song like this (someone like Nightwish), it might ruin the nature of sounding too sickly-sweet. Pain of Salvation go there though and make it sound completely genuine and non-cliché, possibly due to Daniel's vocals. The fragility of this song and the colourful climax at the end mark it particularly from the remainder of the album. A very beautiful number.

Honourable mentions: Alcest ~ 'Solar Soul'; Pain of Salvation ~ 'Curiosity'


Biggest Disappointment
James LaBrie ~ Static Impulse

Oh dear. Oh dear. From the mind of Mullmuzzler, the voice of Dream Theater hands us his interpretation of melodic death metal. Really. Compared to the grand Elements of Persuasion, this song features simpler instrumentation (in the melodic death metal vessel) and is entirely one-dimensional throughout. LaBrie's vocals are juxtaposed with Peter Wildoer, who I believe is from shitty Swedish melo death/thrash act Darkane, and his unbearable screams. It's an odd mix and they certainly do not compliment each other. LaBrie additionally tries to inject heaviness into his own vocals to measure up to the heavy riffs but the result isn't very convincing. Perhaps LaBrie should revive Winter Rose; the glam metal revival is fruitful in Sweden at the moment.

(Dis)Honourable mentions: Sabaton ~ Coat of Arms; Forbidden ~ Omega Wave


Best Cover Art
Death Angel ~ Relentless Retribution

Sadly, I never got round to listening to the new Death Angel album but when they announced this as the album art, I was ecstatic and knew most bands would struggle to produce such an arresting image for their release this year. This realisation of the saying 'wolf in sheep's clothing' is so beautifully violet and evocative of Hell that it fits the name of a band dubbed Death Angel perfectly. I'm assuming it's painted, which recalls the classic metal album art of the '80s ~ truly epic scenarios captured with oils on canvas. However, it does look like the most prominent wolf has been based off Courage Wolf. Oh, the Internet.

Honourable mentions: Alcest ~ Écailles de lune; Atheist ~ Jupiter


Best Newcomer
Triptykon ~ Esparistera Daimones

Okay, so they may not be brand new but Tom G. Warrior's Triptykon definitely aren't Celtic Frost, as the photo proves. This full-length is dark and heavy doom metal and essentially a natural continuation from Celtic Frost's 2006 Monotheist. With a great diversity of track lengths, this debut full-length chronicles a journey through anguish. Warrior is clearly enjoying his freedom here.

Honourable mention: Murder Construct

Best Live Show
Transatlantic, Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, 21th May

Prog rock supergroup Transatlantic decided to immortalise their European tour by taping their London concert for a future DVD release. Despite having to endure the mutton-dressed-as-lamb Mike Portnoy crowd-surfing, I was fortunate enough to enjoy hearing all of The Whirlwind in its entirety, executed with excellent attention to detail. The band were down-to-earth and were fully behind the live show, particularly Neal Morse who had tears in his eyes during some of the performance. As a bonus, Pain of Salvation's Daniel Gildenlow was a session member. It did feel as if the audience were there for individual members as opposed to Transatlantic and they could have been more visually enthusiastic, otherwise I'm sure all will agree the show was superlative.

Honourable mentions: Fozzy, The Garage, London, 15th May; Therion, Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, 31st October


Best Festival
Hellfest Open Air 2010, Clisson, 18th - 20th June

Last year, I said I'd probably be listing Hellfest as festival for the year yet again and I was right. This year was particularly exciting for me, seeing Freak Kitchen for the first time ever and enjoying a few of my other favourite bands like Kampfar, Urgehal and Sabaton. UDO, Raven and General Surgery are rare sights in London and it was fantastic seeing Twisted Sister, KISS and Alice Cooper without the hefty price tag that comes with seeing them in horrendously huge venues. Oh, and Bloodbath, Nile, Tankard and Asphyx all deserve mention. Ah, there were so many bands. This year's line up is only looking so-so. Having been for the past four years, I might skip Hellfest this year. I'm not sure I could drag anyone along to it either.

Honourable mentions: Hard Rock Hell III, Prestatyn, 2th - 4th December; High Voltage, London, 24th - 25th July

Best Discovery

Dangerous Toys

Nope. No metal here. Dangerous Toys are the Forced Entry of the '80s hard rock scene. That is, criminally underrated, probably because they too arrived on the scene too late. Fusing hard rock with Southern rock (they are from Texas), they managed to crank out their addictive and infectious self-titled effort, which is flawless. The vocals of Jason McMaster are screeched admirably and the guitars are either creatively melodic or heavy in a Southern cowboy style unique to this quintet. The second album is less in-your-face with some adventuring into different song structures but the final two tracks are such effortless one-two punches. When the third album was released, it saw the band desperately trying to adapt to the nineties scene and the release, interestingly entitled Pissed, is more aggressive musically and lyrically with no sign of cowboy-ness. I haven't heard the fourth album and I don't want to any time soon because after that, there will be no unheard Dangerous Toys releases out there for me. Isn't it sad? The band still play the rare show but from what I can glean, they never leave Texas. If only they would come to Hard Rock Hell...

Honourable mentions: Enuff Z'nuff, Pretty Boy Floyd

---

Perhaps next year, I'll get into metal again. I did check out some old school death metal, actually, but maybe this year will be my reintroduction to modern metal. If I can stop listening to the '80s hard rock, the NWoBHM and the old school death metal. And the non-metal stuff I also indulge in now. I have no idea what metal releases are coming out this year. Dream Theater, I assume and...? I'm useless.

Hellfest Summer Open Air Review 2010

This June saw me returning to Clisson in France for the fourth time in four years, for the extreme music festival Hellfest. From Friday 18th - Sunday 20th June 2010, I would be immersing myself in a plethora of live acts.

Day 1 - Friday 18th 


The day began with France's own Gorod, a brain-bendingly technical bunch of death metallers on Mainstage 2. The precision in their music did not compromise the brutal nature that is frequently associated with death metal. Unlike 'riff salad' tech death bands that rely on a barrage of hundred riffs per song, Gorod maintain a great sense of memorable composition, complete with a melodic edge that compliments the music. Frontman Guillaume Martinot raged across the stage, barking his rasps admirably. A great wake up call for the early morning start.

The next stop was Ortagos in the Rock Hard Tent. These French black metallers are signed to Season of Mist, a label I usually associate with quality,  and after around four songs, I left their set. They were simply a hybrid of monotonus, double-bass black metal ala Marduk with simplified ideas akin to a watered down Secrets of the Moon moments.

Returning to the second Mainstage, Swallow the Sun's melancholic doom swarmed over the sun-drenched audience. It was difficult to watch them in the heated environment. Their cold and bleak melodies were lost in the festival atmosphere, particularly outdoors on a large stage. Nonetheless, the members avoided compromising and put on a decent show. The best moment was closing number 'Swallow', which provoked more action from the audience.

In the Rock Hard Tent, one of Norway's premier lesser known black metal acts Urgehal were about to commence spewing rabid blasphemy all over the festival. An austere performance, the band pumped out new songs from Ikonoklast, including 'Stetsolid Self Destruction' and 'Dodelagt'. The crowd were treated to the staples 'Satanic Black Metal in Hell' and 'Goatcraft Torment' alongside the non-album anthem 'Nekromisanthrop'. Despite the anti-human exterior these Norwegians have been successful in portraying in the past, they frequently thanked the audience, which destroyed their credibility. Nonetheless, Urgehal were still vastly enjoyable and entertaining.

I watched a little of Crowbar on the second Mainstage. They were quite amiable with their gritty sludge metal and were certainly enthusiastic to be playing live even after over twenty years.

On the smallest stage of them all, the Terrorizer tent, Sigh took the audience by storm with their innovative black metal and avant garde songs. With Dr. Mikanibal in a skimpy white outfit, embellished with bloodstains and angel wings, they had the entire audience focussed on their performance. However, the absence of a keyboard removed one of the dimensions of their music and songs like 'Death Before Dishonour' were seriously lacking their quirk. In spite of this, the band terminated their show with a grim rendition of the Venom classic 'Black Metal' with Mikanibal pouring candle wax all over herself.


Necrophagist were clearly comfortable exercising their technical prowess in front of the large multitude gathered at the Rock Hard Tent. Muhammed Suiçmez was a wonder to behold with his progressive slant on technical death metal. The quintet stormed through prime cuts from both of their full-lengths, such as 'Extreme Unction', 'Fermented Offal Discharge', 'Epitaph', 'Foul Body Autopsy' and 'The Stillborn One'. 'Stabwound' and 'Only Ash Remains' received particularly notable reactions from the audience and for good reason. There was little movement from the band on stage but with so much concentration needed to effortlessly execute their delicate music, they cannot be blamed.


More black metal was presented in the Rock Hard Tent with Norwegian four-piece Kampfar. The introduction of 'Valgalderkvad' looped through the PA before the band took the stage. When they did (save frontman Dolk), the members launched into 'Vantro' from their latest full-length offering Heimgang and exploded into 'Inferno' when Dolk joined them. Dolk was highly charismatic, racing around the stage to get the pulses of the audience pumping, even during the lengthier numbers like 'Hymne'. The setlist was fairly representative of all the Norwegians' four albums and very well selected, even if they were no major surprises.The crowd reacted solidly to their Viking metal embossed formula and judging from Dolk's reaction, he was appreciative of it. Closing with 'Ravenheart' was a particular highlight, sealing a remarkable appearance at the festival already.


Kampfar's setlist: Vettekult / Inferno / Norse / Troll, Dod og Trolldom / Hymne / Vettekult / Ravenheart.


With large banners at either side of the stage, Secrets of the Moon's innovative black metal emanated from the Terrorizer Tent. Despite their diligence, the band looked somewhat subdued and following Kampfar's performance, the quartet appeared somewhat sedate. Still promoting their latest full-length Privilegivm, a decent flavour of the album made the setlist, including 'Sulphur' and 'Queen Among Rats'. The newer songs were bolstered among typical staples, such as 'Lucifer Speaks' and 'Seraphim is Dead', painting a strong representation of what these Germans have to offer.


The Rock Hard Tent was fairly crowded with a congregation eager to witness Ihsahn's first live appearance outside his native Norway. Those expecting Emperor covers were fools as the prog mastermind layered prime cuts from each of his albums for the audience to feast on, backed by the entire line up of fellow Norsk prog metallers, Leprous. The dark progressive metal was a welcomed change of pace from the extreme metal I had been ingesting previously. Opening with the first song from After, 'The Barren Lands', Ihsahn demonstrated his musical dexterity. Handling guitars and vocals meant limited stage presence from him but the music was too emersive to notice. The particularly tender songs like 'Unhealer' were received solidly by the audience and Ihsahn's entire attitude to the live show was nothing but positive. Closing with another new track 'Frozen Lakes on Mars', it is clear to see why Ihsahn will be relevant to the current metal community, even after the demise of seminal black metallers Emperor.


Ihsahn's setlist: The Barren Lands / A Grave Inversed / Misanthrope / Scarab / Emancipation / Invocation / Called By Fire / Unhealer / Frozen Lakes on Mars.


A gathering swarm at Mainstage 2 awaited Hypocrisy. Opening with 'Fractured Millennium' from their self-titled album, Peter Tägtgren appeared completely confident wheeling his guitar and growling along to the large mass of people who appeared mostly curious of what the highly acclaimed band had to offer. In an attempt to perform as many songs in their allocated time, a medley of 'Pleasure of Molestation', 'Osculum Obscenum' and 'Penetralia' attempted to satiate as many Hypocrisy fans as possible. Despite the universal great reception that the Swedes' latest full-length A Taste of Extreme Divinity received, only 'Weed out the Weak' was played from it, this compromise obviously in favour of dishing out the much loved songs such as 'Fire in the Sky', 'A Coming Race' and 'Adjusting the Sun'. Despite their efforts, I found the band to become somewhat tiresome after some time. Closing with 'Warpath' and 'Roswell 47' was actually quite relieving. 


Hypocrisy's setlist: Fractured Millennium / Weed Out the Weak / Eraser / Pleasure of Molestation/Osculum Obscenum/Penetralia / A Coming Race / Adjusting the Sun / Let the Knife Do the Talking / Killing Art / Fire in the Sky / Warpath / Roswell 47.


Having heard plenty about their latest album, Watain were unsurprisingly vomiting their blasphemy over a commendably-sized crowd in the Rock Hard Tent. Their gritty black metal with digestible melodic strains were a clear crowd pleasure. Bedecked in their corpsepaint, the band handled the entire performance seriously with no pandering to the attendees. Only 'Reaping Death' was heard from the new Lawless Darkness but with lengthy songs like 'Stellavore' and 'Legions of the Black Light' hitting the setlist, the black metallers had little time. Conversely, the brief 'On Horns Impaled' closed the set, the oldest song they conjured up. 


Being their only European show, matters grew painful for Godflesh at the Terrorizer Tent. The British industrial group got off to a slow start with impeding technical issues that bit into a portion of their set. However, like most industrial groups, Godflesh's live show was devoid of enthralling elements and felt repetitive just staring at the band members doing very little on stage. I am sure they are more accessible on CD. The entire experience was quite a disappointment over all.


Following Godflesh were another experimental, non-metal band: Ulver in the Rock Hard Tent. Of course, none of their older, metal or folk songs would be showcased in their hour-long slot but their music came complete with their projections. Captivating both visually and musically, the Norwegians sped through their post-metal, avant garde numbers including 'Porn Piece or the Scars of Cold Kisses', 'Little Blue Bird', 'For the Love of God', 'Let the Children Go' and 'Like Music'. The experience was aurally overwhelming with so many beautiful nuances that grafted a strong personality into the music. It is a shame that the crowd appeared to dwindle in number as the set progressed but perhaps Ulver were not heavy enough to appear at an extreme metal festival for some. As the set closed, Garm graciously thanked those present, in a way that was devoid of pretence. 


Concluding the night for me was The Devil's Blood, a psychedelic rock group in the Terrorizer Tent. The band are familiar in black metal circles because the Dutch group consider themselves an occult group and make appearances at many metal festivals. Their music was very seventies influenced with a female singer who does not possess a 'typical' female voice. The music was thick with atmosphere and, although the band were only allotted an hour long slot, they played for approximately an hour and a half. I struggled to endure the music for this long and think that they would be a richer listen in solitude as opposed to the live environment. Nonetheless, I am glad I caught their performance, even if it grew a little tiring during its tail end.


Day 2 - Saturday 19


The second day began with death thrash metallers Dew-Scented on Mainstage 2. The only original member, Leif Jensen, literally barked out his vocals in such a commanding manner that it shook off the cobwebs of the morning. Their brand of thrash socketed with death metal was aggressive and uncompromising with sinews of melody although ultimately unvaried throughout. Having said that, for a thirty minute set first thing in the morning, this was not a particular point of contention and it was relieving to enjoy 'Soul Poison' so early.


Kalisia released a debut last year (that took fifteen years to make) that received such striking attention, nominated as one of the best debuts of last year by many. Cybion is essentially a concept album formed of one song (but divided into tracks on the CD) and it was impossible its entirety would fit into the half hour slot they had in the Rock Hard Tent. Nonetheless, the astral progressive metal melodies swept over the audience in a captivating fashion with growls providing a brutal undertone. The keyboards were particularly atmospheric and swamping, truly envisioning the sci-fi universe the plot of the CD takes place in. Plenty of effort was put into the album and the band appeared grateful to be playing Hellfest. I presume Kalisia live to be a rarity.


Kalisia setlist: Reception/Translation / Union/Construction / Declaration/Revolution / Division/Integration / Lost Soul / Activation/Production / Confusion/Resurrection / Realisation/Penetration / Disconnection/Comprehension / Salvation/Connection.


After a break, it was time for German drunkards Tankard to play on the second mainstage. Opening with 'The Morning After', Tankard's coarse brand of old school thrash metal was clearly popular with the observers. Frontman Gerre bounded around the stage at such a frequency that was rare for a man of his size (although, admittedly he had lost weight since my last encounter with him in September of last year. At this Hellfest show, he kept pulling his shirt up to reveal a shrunken stomach yet plenty of loose folds of skin...) and really suited the frantic pace of the music. With only 'Octane Warrior' and 'Stay Thirsty!' from their latest album Thirst, there was  room for older favourites such as 'Chemical Invasion' and 'Zombie Attack'. Not to be seen as a band twenty years past their glory days, newer songs 'Rectifier' and 'Slipping From Reality' we poured on to the audience, meaning they ignored their nineties days ('Beermuda' felt missed). Closing with another staple '(Empty) Tankard', it felt like the entire audience were singing along "Wanna drink some fucking beer, wanna drink some whiskey!" over and over again and indeed even after the performance, large groups of people were still singing it, long after Tankard had left the stage. Brilliant.


Tankard's setlist: The Morning After / Zombie Attack / Stay Thirsty! / Chemical Invasion / Rectifier / Slipping From Reality / Octane Warriors / (Empty) Tankard.


Tankard would be a near-impossible act to follow but it was up to Y&T to do so. On Mainstage 1, the American hard rockers attempted this task. They were in good spirits and that emanated into their live show. However, it felt strange that they ignored some of their better known tracks in favour of others. I assumed 'Summertime Girls' was a staple but I suppose they had newer material to play. They did play 'Mean Streak' though but the set was lacking in something, lacking in the sing-along atmosphere that plenty of eighties hard rock acts captured. Perhaps they were swamped by Tankard's performance.


Swapping over to Mainstage 2 again, it was time for some classic NWoBHM in the form of Raven. Opening with 'Take Control' from their much loved All for One album, I was completely taken back by the freshness and power of vocalist John Gallagher. His falsetto was stunning, certainly mistakable for the voice of a twenty-something year old. He was clearly very proud of this feat and frequently stole the opportunity to show off many a time as he added in falsetto cries that were not on the original. Although they are not a widely known band, they successfully invited the crowd to sing along to some of their catchy choruses as they ripped through a slew of classic tracks including 'Break the Chain', 'All for One', 'Breaking You Down' and 'Live at the Inferno'. The trio were a fantastic afternoon treat and a prominent reminder that Britain's heavy metal was premier at some point in history.


Returning to the light-deprived Rock Hard Tent, Dutch classic death metallers Asphyx were also proving to the festival why they were still relevant. Vocalist Martin Van Drunen essentially had his audience in the palm of his hands from the get-go as the quartet sliced with vicious death metal and hammered down with their unique doom metal groove. From their latest full-length album Death...The Brutal Way, Asphyx displayed a sense of purpose in the modern metal scene with the title track and 'Eisenbahnmorser' particularly storming through the venue. 'M.S. Bismarck', 'Wasteland of Terror', 'Asphyx (Forgotten War)' provided a bounty of headbanging opportunities and an atmosphere of chaos. Of course, no Asphyx set would be complete without the stunning 'The Rack' and this received a rightfully thunderous applause. Asphyx certainly secured the title of one of the best acts of this year's installment of Hellfest.


Anvil would have to do plenty to top Asphyx's performance. On the second Main Stage, the Canadians had attracted a large audience, no doubt on the strength of their documentary. Nonetheless, their music was too stale and their stage presence was fairly plain. Playing songs from their latest album This is Thirteen, the three-piece sounded desperate with dull tracks that plodded along to no tasteful climax. I ended up leaving their set early because their heavy metal was doing absolutely nothing for me.


With a good number of people watching them in the Rock Hard Tent, Sadist from Italy were a very impressive band from a technical point of view. With the guitarist handling guitar and keyboard duties simultaneously. Their progressive death metal was intricate and intriguing, particularly with the in-your-face keyboards. The quartet were quite comfortable on stage and after this performance, further investigation into this band beckons.


Returning to Main Stage 2 for further extreme-tipped prog metal, Nevermore opened their set with the older 'Beyond Within' with their devoted fanbase singing along. Following this track, the Seattle band begin to unleash songs from their new album The Obsidian Conspiracy on to the audience, beginning with 'The Termination Proclamation' and later including 'Emptiness Unobstructed', 'Your Poison Throne' and the title track. These new tracks received a great ovation but, naturally, less so among the other classics hand-picked for the set. Warrel Dane poured his emotional sentiments into his vocals with guitar virtuoso Jeff Loomis providing backing vocals as best he could. 'The River Dragon Has Come' was a sing-along affair to the fans; 'Born' was an emotional spectrum that reigned supremely in the outdoor environment; 'The Heart Collector' saw the band showcase their softer side with just as much appreciation as the heavier 'Inside Four Walls'. The Americans were in good spirits and put on such a fantastic show with Dane seemingly interacting with the audience on an individual basis. Closing with the muscular 'Enemies of Reality' was a spectacular finish with an eruption of mainstream scorn - what Nevermore are best at really.


Nevermore setlist: Beyond Within / The Termination Proclamation / The River Dragon Has Come / Born / Emptiness Unobstructed / Your Poison Throne / Inside Four Walls / The Heart Collector / The Obsidian Conspiracy / Enemies of Reality.


I half-watched Slash on the first Main Stage. His music was fairly inoffensive with Velvet Revolver and Slash's Snakepit but when he arrived at the Guns 'n' Roses songs, I had to depart because they are musically terrible.


Eventually, Canada's Annihilator arrived on the second Main Stage and many were eagerly anticipating the older material, specifically 'Alison Hell'. Opening with 'The Box' from King of the Kill was a little surprise but not necessarily a particularly positive one. Jeff Waters and Dave Padden appeared quite austere on stage and it was interesting to see them both handle vocal duties. From their new album Annihilator, they were doing the fans a favour by only selecting two songs: 'Ambush' and the lengthy 'The Trend'. 'King of the Kill' and 'Set the World On Fire' may have appeased some but certainly myself. However, ears perked up when the undeniably thrash classic 'Fun Palace' from Never, Neverland made its arrival. When it came to the closing number, Waters cheekily said "I suppose we have to play 'Alison Hell' now..." which had the audience in roars of ovation. The song was totally stellar, destroying the rest of the set. The pair's vocals were a great replacement of Randy Rampage's, sounding identical at times. This is why Annihilator's earliest efforts should be loved.


Annihilator's setlist: The Box / Ambush / King of the Kill / Hell is a War / Set the World on Fire / The Fun Palace / The Trend / Alison Hell.


Twisted Sister were to continue the vein of heavy metal/hard rock on Main Stage 1 and they would do so in a fantastic fashion. Frontman Dee Snider demanded all eyes on him for the entire duration of the set. Opening with 'Come Out and Play', the party atmosphere was installed into the audience. There were plenty of sing-along opportunties, including 'Stay Hungry' and 'You Can't stop Rock 'n' Roll' but most importantly, 'We're Not Gonna Take It', which was elongated for the fan's amusement. It was quite surprising to hear Twisted Sister's most popular song come in the middle of their set but they had other plans. In a tribute to Dio, Snider announced the band would play the Rainbow song 'Long Live Rock 'n' Roll', which had the audience singing the tribute to the fallen metal superstar. The cover was performed excellently with a truly celebratory atmosphere. After the sinister 'Burn in Hell', the band vacated the stage only to return for an encore of 'I Wanna Rock' and 'S.M.F.'. All in all a fanastic set and Snider was a very likeable frontman who truly understood how a rock 'n' roll show should be executed.


Twisted Sister setlist: Come Out and Play / The Kids Are Back / Under the Blade / Stay Hungry / Captain Howdy / We're Not Gonna Take It / Shoot 'em Down / You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll / Long Live Rock 'n' Roll / The Price / Burn in Hell / I Wanna Rock / S.M.F.


According to Twisted Sister, Abbath from Immortal was watching their show. Next up on Main Stage 2, were these second wave black metal superstars. Opening with 'All Shall Fall' from the album of the same name, had people excited over seeing the band more than the music itself. Unfortunately, this mediocre comeback album populated the setlist strongly, with 'The Rise of Darkness', 'Hordes to War' and 'Norden on Fire'. The setlist on the whole was somewhat disappointing (possibly due to time restraints?) with nothing from the debut, no The Call of the Wintermoon', 'The Sun No Longer Rises', 'Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark)' or 'At the Heart of Winter' - and these are just the popular, older Immortal tracks as opposed to my favourites. Nonetheless, the fans were overjoyed with 'Pure Holocaust', 'Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms' and 'Sons of Northern Darkness'. Abbath's fire-breathing was entertaining and you could literally feel the heat. Closing with 'One by One', I considered the show somewhat lacklustre (especially compared to last time I saw Immortal), I believe people were just happy to see the corpsepainted caricatures themselves.


Immortal's setlist: All Shall Fall / The Rise of Darkness / Sons of Northern Darkness / Hordes to War / Pure Holocaust / Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms / Norden on Fire / Withstand the Fall of Time / Damned in Black / Tyrants / One by One.


Still keeping in tune with the theatrical side of music, Alice Cooper on the first Main Stage put on a fabulous show. The legend commenced with an abridged version of 'School's Out', which set the mood perfectly. What followed next was a show consisting of Cooper's best known hits (except 'Bed of Nails') and a theatrical show that included Cooper being killed in a variety of ways, such as by guillotine, being hanged and injected by an over-sized syringe. The guillotine trick was particularly convincing as his head fell into the basket and later he would be dancing around with it. His outfits changed numerously, all flashy and demanding of attention. 'No More Mr. Nice Guy', 'I'm 18', 'Poison', 'Only Women Bleed', 'Billion Dollar Babies', and 'Elected' were particularly highlights to this glitzy show. During 'Dirty Diamonds', Cooper threw out plenty of silver necklaces into the audience, which were snapped up quickly. Vocally, he sounded on form and suitably dark and twisted. He put so much effort into the show that his age seemed irrelevant. Even those not familiar with most of the set would have certainly appreciated the theatrical entertainment that accompanied the music. After 'Elected', the band vacated the stage only to return with the full length version of 'School's Out', another remarkable performance. It is clear to see why Cooper is such a household name as his show was unforgettable and it was very fortunate that he had the opportunity to play Hellfest. Such a fantastic headliner.


Alice Cooper's setlist: School's Out (abridged) / No More Mr. Nice Guy / Under My Wheels / I'm 18 / Wicked Young Man / Ballad of Dwight Fry . Go to Hell / Guilty / Cold Ethyl / Poison / From the Inside / Nurse Rosetta / Be My Lover / Only Women Bleed / I Never Cry / Black Widow Jam / Vengeance is Mine / Dirty Diamonds / Billion Dollar Babies / Killer / I Love the Dead / Feed My Frankenstein / Elected / School's Out.


If Alice Cooper wasn't horrific enough, the next band would take horror to a more realistic edge. The temperature had dropped for Carcass on the second Main Stage - the final band of the night. After their intro, the English gore connoisseurs launched into a hybrid of 'Genital Grinder' and 'This Mortal Coil'. Vocalist and bassist Jeff Walker radiated confidence with his English sense of humour. He was indeed quite a likeable man. Having appeared at Hellfest two years previously, the grind stars wanted to do something a little different and so they performed the vast majority of their seminal Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious release, breaking up the set with two other classics: 'Buried Dreams' and 'Heartwork'. The music was dark and heavy with headbanging rhythms leaking all over the place. 'Corporal Jigsore Quandary', 'Incarnated Solvent Abuse' and 'Carneous Cacoffiny' unsheathed riffs that were worth salivating over. However, the montage of infected penises projected behind the band may have contradicted this. After the show, Carcass left the audience wanting more...and in some ways, they got a great shot of gore with an autopsy video being shown in its entirety. A very appropriate way to end a Carcass set and the second day of Hellfest.


Carcass' setlist: Genital Grinder/This Mortal Coil / Inpropagation / Corporal Jigsore Quandary / The Sanguine Article / Symposium of Sickness / Pedigree Butchery / Incarnated Solvent Abuse / Carneous Cacoffiny / Buried Dreams / Heartwork / Lavaging Expectorate of Lysergide Composition.


Day 3 - Yes, I was here but out of laziness and a sheer lack of desire, I cannot be bothered to write a review for it. It was fun and I managed to see KISS bisected with Bloodbath.

In-Depth Analysis: Joyless' Wisdom & Arrogance

Not quite what one would expect from a band called Joyless.

Depression and experimentalism are two attitudes common in (modern) black metal but what happens when they are taken to their absolute limit? 

The short answer is that you leave black metal. Originally [1], black metal's primary motivation was hatred but in recent years suicidal black metal (also known as depressive black metal or DSBM (depressive suicidal black metal)) has leaped into good fortune with adherents of the subgenre. Bands including Shining, Lifelover and Xasthur have gained considerable recognition within black metal circles with their bleak attitude and self-destructive themes. It is not all positive though; many detractors think such misery is merely 'emo'. 

Regardless of attitudes, Joyless are are interesting study in black metal becoming so depressive that they waive the metal component of their music. The earliest origins of Joyless can be traced back to 1991 with the conception of Forgotten Woods in Norway. Alongside Buruzm, Forgotten Woods are considered the pioneers of DSBM. Penning two full-length albums before they initially split up at the end of the '90s, they played emotive, black metal, drawing influences from rock genres. It sounds very organic and melancholy without resorting to the post-rock overload that many contemporary DSBM acts employ. Influences include Celtic Frost, Bathory and European thrash metal alongside The Velvet Underground and The Doors [2]. They reunited in 2007 and released Race of Cain, a raw and intolerant release with memorable melodies.

Joyless' birth was in 1996 with a line up composed entirely from the then defunct Forgotten Woods and their first release was the full-length Unlimited Hate. Some of the songs are old Forgotten Woods ones, recorded between 1994 and 1996. Like Forgotten Woods, the metal on this endeavour is atmospheric, despairing black metal with a good sense of emotion and hints towards more general rock music.

By 2000, the rock influence took over in time for Joyless to release their sophomore album Wisdom & Arrogance. This album strips Joyless of their black metal casing in favour of a depressive rock stance with a pop mentality. Although they pre-date Lifelover by almost a decade, this release can be described as Lifelover's bipolar younger sister. The most striking asset of the band which appears to divide listeners is the voice of new singer Ida Helleboe. Her voice sounds juvenile, nearly whiny and on the spectacular 'Transpire', she practically launches herself into a vocal tantrum.  Theoretically, these vocals sounds challenging to endure but in reality, they compliment Joyless marvellously and sum up the attitude of the band succinctly. Her vocals are greatly varied but within the boundaries of pop music and inscribe accessibility on to the release. The spirit of teenage curiosity, angst and innocence is preserved flawlessly in her voice. The closing track, 'Room of Velvet Splendour', sees Olav Berland handle lead vocals and his deep, clean voice (no growls here) takes repeated listens to get used to, after hearing Helleboe throughout the release, but compliment the lengthy number perfectly. He sounds depressed but insightful. The vocal duet on 'Why Should I Cry?' is nothing short of sublime, with the different vocals bizarrely gelling seamlessly together.

The music is varied throughout the album and the entire release lacks unity, save for the introverted and/or sardonic lyrics. Sometimes the guitars play icy leads with the most subtle of guitar fuzz in the background (a hang-over from their black metal origins) as can be heard on 'Close to God' or 'Room of Velvet Splendour'; sometimes they bounce with a near-bluesy feel on the poignant 'Transpire'; sometimes they joust with post-rock such as on 'Stand'. The drums are usually simplistic but occasionally make a departure from this, promoting dynamic rhythms with a progressive flourish, 'Close to God' being a great indication.

Although the music is inherently depressing, the mood it harbours is not entirely melancholic at certain points: 'Divine' and 'Isn't It Nice' are edged with rich and decadent textures, much like The Velvet Underground while the aforementioned bouncing blues-cum-rockabilly guitar rhythms on 'Transpire' actually contradicts the frustrated vocals of Helleboe. 'The Nails' has no music; it is simply a recital of a striking and thoughtful poem by Helleboe in her thick Norwegian accent. In spite of these diversions, Wisdom & Arrogance is wholly miserable over all.

Lyrically, the band deals with poetic imagery, depressive/frustrated emotion, irony and inner struggles. The lyric for the entirety of 'Stand' are:

Happy be a face
Nobody understands.

Happy be a face

Nobody understands.

No, stand.

Stand, stand.

Happy happy happy happy

Happy happy happy happy

Happy be a face

Nobody understands.

Happy be a face

Nobody understands.

The last note is higher than the pentultimate one, turning the statement into a question, interestingly. Less subtle are the teen angst lyrics of 'Transpire'. The opening lyrics are:

Hey, do you know where I am going? (I can hear something has happened)
I'm going angry
On you (I can feel it)
It didn't matter anyway (Something is wrong)

Fuck off (Look where are you)
And still you are signing my song along
And that is (Everything)
Fuck off (I'm going crazy)
Did you understand me? At all, at all, at all. 

These lines are straight-forward and totally imperfect, marking them all the more human and genuine. 'Why Should I Cry?' opens by taking a typically poetic image and ruins it:

The swans appear
And they sing the loveliest song I’ve ever heard
I gently caress
I believe I broke their necks
My eyes no tear shed. 

My eyes no tear shed.

The chorus of the same song relinquishes any chance of hope:

I have reached the end (The End)
I've reached my earthly end. (The End)
And I do know that all I do is die
So why should I cry?


'Isn't It Nice?' has lyrics that would not be out of place on a modern DSBM band's album, expressing the disaffection of life and hatred of the world:

I am lost
And I feel so alone
But it really doesn't matter
There ain't a thing I can do.

Judgment day
Let me know when you are here
I want to see
The world go down

Drag me deeper down
I don't care
Down here there is nothing
Nothing but myself

and concludes with:

Point a gun at my head
Do you think I care?
Point it at yourself
And pull the trigger now.

Could you give me a reason to celebrate?


Throughout the album, there are plenty of references to the colour blue and velvet, particularly velvet shining. The latter could be a  reference to the Forgotten Woods song 'The Velvet Room' (which also mentions dying swans in its lyrics). The associations of the colour blue are quite obvious and Joyless have mentioned it poignantly a few times prior to the release of Arrogance & Wisdom; Unimited Hate debut had a song entitled 'Blå melankoli' (blue melancholy); the EP Blue in the Face, released 1999 [3] has 'Room of Velvet Splendour' and 'Room of Velvet Splendour pt. 2', divided by a track entitled 'Swansmile'. 


This is actually a beautiful record that finds some comfort in defeatism and solace. The title sums the music up perfectly. Its amalgamation of personalities and its flaws work in its favour, mirroring the human psyche. The music is recorded impulsive emotion. It is a struggle to find a band as raw, emotive and unrefined as Joyless. They have not recorded an album since but 2009 was a busy year for the band with three different splits and a compilation. It seems impossible to imagine a follow up to Wisdom & Arrogance but it would be wonderful to see such a release.

---

[1] Referring to the second wave bands, not first wave.

[2] Mortem Zine interview with Forgotten Woods, 2007.
[3] But recorded in May 1996 and arranged in 1995.