Evoke Thy Lords - Drunken Tales (CD)

Review
Metal Temple
6/10
23.05.2013

The great thing about Doom Metal is its tendency to bring out and highlight Metal’s Rock and Blues background. With a lot of other subgenres, the Rock and Blues sound is almost obliterated, making Doom Metal much more listenable to rockers of all genre affiliations. A prime example of such a Doom Metal record would be EVOKE THY LORDS’ “Drunken Tales”, their second full-length release off Solitude Productions. Veering off the traditional path set by Doom Metal pioneers CROWBAR, which included less interludes and more agonized screaming, EVOKE THY LORDS has produced an album that sits more on the atmospheric fence than the normally neck-snapping heaviness of other Doom Metal records.

This is in line with their description of themselves as Psychedelic Doom Metal, as they have incorporated atmospheric effects to change-up the genre. Progressing from their last two releases, this can be seen as a revamp of the band’s identity in the Doom Metal scene. As they said: “The renovated EVOKE THY LORDS include solid guitar sound, powerful groove base and meditative trance dressed with hypnotic flute sounds”. The flute does a lot to accentuate and highlight melodies that the crunching guitars cannot, bring out the melodic side of Doom Metal, which is most of the time lost in other records, buried beneath the heavy buzz of instruments.

The vocals have a distinct relation to MARILYN MANSON’s style, evident in the whispered verses and low tone. “Drunken Tales” also eludes the normal Doom Metal musical themes that serve to conceptualise the recurring themes of “agony, suffering, and pain”, floating into a more Zen vibe that blends nicely with the genre’s typical slower and heavier sound. Track number 2 “Dirty Game” even had a little (to my ear) “Freezing Moon” a la MAYHEM vibe with all the background descending arpeggio-ic tinkling.

That being said, I am not of the opinion that Psychedelic Doom Metal is exactly a great idea. It’s not bad, but it isn’t great either. It would be like having Punk / Thrash Metal or classic Symphonic Metal – it just isn’t very necessary or current. In fact, it is a bit of a repetition. Doom Metal already has a very sludgy sound. Psychedelic Rock on the other, is all about stoning and zoning out. Couple the two together and it is like trying to get a fit between like-charged particles. I’m not trying to say the two styles repel each other. However, the Psychedelic influences do get too easily absorbed into the vibe of Doom Metal, making it an overtly subtle and not very effective stylistic choice, especially when the songs are rather long.

For a Doom Metal record, the band definitely took a risk and experimented. Kudos to them for being standouts in the scene in terms of style, but they have become less listenable with that experimentation. This is not a bad album, it is rather good, and this is probably one of those “to each his own” situations. I would give the album a 6/10 review because I acknowledge that it is a commendable effort, I just didn’t enjoy it fully from beginning to end.

Author: Dorothy Cheng

Review
Ave Noctum
8/10
16.04.2013

The first time I listened to this album I thought “what the fuck is going on with my computer?” The vocals were lost in the mix, so it must have been a problem with the equaliser (fans of Edward Woodward need not despair, he is still the man!). Play two, same problem; despite much fiddling of electronic knobs, and still, the vocals are indecipherable. It was only at play three I got the whole point! This is an instrumental album where the vocals are just another layer, not a deliverer of stories that needs to be followed! It was within seconds of that realisation that the whole album made sense and I could settle back and let the excellence of the music just drift over me. For me, this is an instrumental album in which the vocals were just another layer, not the driving force.

When I tell you that this is a full length album with only four tracks you’ll know you are in for a laid back stoner trip. The fact it has an extra fifth track as a bonus to pad it out to 43 minutes is in no way a criticism; this is not a CD for flailing elbows and mad moshing; this is an album to loll back to and left it drift over you like a THC flavoured London Smog.

Opener ‘Routine of Life’ sets the pace, drawn out deep bass lines interplaying with a beat that sounds like every few seconds the drummer was awoken by his spliff burning his lips, growled vocals being interchanged with stoned guitar riffs, the whole marijuana influenced dirge bound together by a hypnotic combination of sustained guitar chords and warbling flute. Did I say “flute”? You are damn right I did! Eschewing guitar solos, the only vague urgency of the track is brought about by the flute, an instrument that sounds as urgent as Ian Anderson wandering into a dope den whilst high on ‘shrooms!

‘Dirty Game’ positively staggers out, riffs like swirling smoke fumes intertwining with the strident call of the flute as short, growled vocals interject. Think Tool, but without the pretence and unpleasant ego (and yes, I was at Download 2006 when Keenan went out of his way to abuse the audience). ‘Down the Drain’ equally suffocates the vocals in a sludge of bass, guitar, flute, and drums, with ‘Dregs’ being the perfect accompaniment to stoners young and old just to lean back into the wall and absorb. Back in the 80’s the saying “Pink Floyd Phase of the Party” was coined by me and friends; it represented that time at a metal party just after the Old Bill knocked on the door to make a complaint and the thrash was turned off to be replaced by ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ and frantic moshing was replaced by chemically enhanced huddles and giggles in assorted corners; this album perfectly encapsulates that chill out state. Listening to this album makes denim, long hair, and the floating stench of patchouli positively mandatory.

What Evoke Thy Lords is aiming for, who knows? What they hope to achieve, I just don’t care! What I do know is that they make this 43 year old so called reactionary pillar of the community want to get into a time machine, fly back twenty years, drop some acid, and just chill!

Author: Spenny

Review
Spirit of Metal
17/20
04.05.2013

Étrange cheminement que celui des russes d'Evoke Thy Lords.. créé en 2002 à Novosibirsk, ville la plus importante de la Sibérie, le groupe sort un premier album en 2008, officiant alors dans un Metal gothique d'assez bonne facture. Cinq ans plus tard la formation nous propose donc ce second album, marqué par un important changement de cap, le groupe jouant désormais du Doom Stoner ! Une métamorphose assez étonnante, le rapport entre le gothique et le stoner ne sautant pas vraiment aux yeux, à l'exception de leurs liens respectifs avec la scène Doom. Une métamorphose potentiellement sujette à polémique aussi, l'aspect opportuniste de la chose pouvant être débattue (disons le franchement, le psychédélique marche plutôt bien ces derniers temps). Une question sur laquelle je laisserai chacun se faire son avis, la qualité du résultat compensant à mes yeux tout questionnement à ce sujet.

La particularité de ce Drunken Tales, c'est que le groupe inclue dans son Doom Stoner certains éléments venus des débuts du groupe. Le chant d'abord: le growl d'Alexey Koslov, bien que relativement peu mis en avant au sein des morceaux de manière à privilégier l'aspect instrumental, est un témoin intéressant des influences Doom Death de la formation. On remarquera tout particulièrement le morceau final, Cause Follow Effect (légèrement plus vieux que les autres compositions de l'album puisque présent sur la compilation Doom-Art.ru 2009 et d'ailleurs considéré comme un morceau bonus dans l'album), où le growleur officie dans un registre plus guttural et moins éraillé, proposant au passage un gain d'agressivité toujours bienvenue.

De même la présence d'une flûtiste, point important du premier album, est ici aussi une particularité très mise en avant. Son instrument (une flûte traversière pour être précis) "adoucie" fortement la musique d'Evoke Thy Lords, qui de fait ne plaira sans doute pas aux personnes recherchant avant tout dans le genre la crasse et le stupre mais ravira les amateurs de mélodies efficaces et enchanteresses.. de même, cette flûte a un rôle non négligeable dans la dimension progressive de l'album, réellement très marquée. Ce coté rock progressif, travaillé et bien foutu, est d'ailleurs un des attraits de l'album, qui ne lasse à aucun moment malgré la longueur des morceaux. Une musique riche donc, mais qui n'oublie ni la lourdeur ni le groove, et conserve une efficacité appréciable en la matière.

On remarquera enfin sur le morceau bonus précité la présence d'une chanteuse, techniquement loin des envolées lyriques de la demoiselle présente sur le premier album mais s'intégrant bien au genre pratiqué ainsi que de quelques nappes de claviers, accompagnant la montée en puissance du growl et donnant un coté étonnement épique plutôt bien vu, tout en restant nuancées.

Au final, pas vraiment de réel défaut à signaler. Le groupe sibérien parvient à se créer une certaine personnalité dans un genre très fréquenté, bien que sans innover sur le fond. Certains regretterons sans doute le coté très mélodique et progressif, mais il s'agit alors d'une question de goût et non de qualité. Evoke Thy Lords nous offre un album composé avec talent, quelque part entre Blood Ceremony et Ramesses, une transformation réussie donc...

Author: Peacewalker

Review
Funeral Wedding
5/5

Num passado não muito distante, foi formado na Russia mais uma entre muitas bandas de Gothic/Doom Metal. Anos se passaram e eles debutaram com o bom Escape to the Dreamlands e na sequência lançaram um split intitulado Twofaced com a banda Riders on the Bones.

Esse split ainda mantinha em sua sonoridade aquele Gothic/Doom mas apresentava um algo a mais.

Eis que chegamos a esse novo material intitulado Drunken Tales, e o que ouvimos aqui, segundo rótulo do selo trata-se um “Psychodelic Doom Metal”, o que nada mais é do que um Sludge/Doom.

Talvez a parte psicodélica fique a cargo das passagens de flauta de Irina Drebushchak que dão um toque viajante para as músicas.

A música de abertura Routine of Life, serve como uma amostra do que nos espera esse álbum, pois além das já citadas passagens de flauta, encontramos andamentos arrastados, ora intrincados (vide a bateria swingada de Alexandr Mironov), ora pesados, onde podemos sentir o peso do baixo do também vocalista Alexey Kozlov.

Dirty Game começa com um belo trampo das guitarras de Yury e Sergey, onde novamente a linha de flauta se faz presente, levado o ouvinte para longe. Uma coisa que podemos notar no trabalho deles, pelo menos nesse álbum, que as letras não são muito extensas, o que dá uma ênfase muito maior no instrumental.

Down the Drain é a faixa mais curta com pouco mais de 7 minutos, e seu início traz consigo uma certa influência stoner. Apesar de manter o peso das guitarras, próximo ao meio da faixa, temos um riff numa linha Sabbathica que poderíamos imaginá-lo em qualquer álbum que o mr. Iommy teria composto.

Dregs segue numa linha jazzistica, sendo carregada pela linha de flauta deixando totalmente chapado o ouvinte, e lá pelo final que a pessoa se toca que essa faixa não possui vocal e devido a massa sonora que ela produz, nem fez falta.

E para finalizar essa caminhada pelo psicodelia, Cause Follows Effect. A única faixa que traz um vocal feminino, lembrando de longe sua antiga sonoridade. E na metade dela temos aquele clima característico do Type O Negative, guitarra pesadíssima, linha de teclado dando o clima e bateria extremamente lenta.

Para quem procura algo diferente para escutar, eis a banda que procuravam. Evoke thy Lords: guardem bem esse nome.

Review
Darkview
8/10
30.04.2013

Geen dronkemansliederen of de Marie Louise hier te bespeuren!

Integendeel dit Russische combo brengt een heel interessante mix tussen psychedelisch groovende doom in de stijl van Yob en Sleep en vintage retro folkrock. De nummers zijn grotendeel instrumentaal waar een grote rol is weggelegd vor zweveige dwarsfluiten die het folky aspect benadrukken. Net als je denkt per ongeluk een plaat van Fairport Convention of Pentangle te hebben opgelegd, smijten ze er een loodzware rif tussen met zo’n lekkere stonergroove. Af en toe moet ik ,vreemd genoeg, zelfs denken aan Alice in Chains. Zeer origineel en een leuke afwisselling voor al die mensen die denken dat je met folkinvloeden in de metal automatisch uitkomt bij halfzacht, pseudoromantisch gezwijmel.

Author: Samoht