Walter Trout | Blues for the Modern Daze

by Alissa Ordabai
- Senior Columnist –

Walter Trout’s career of the blues torch-bearer over the past 40 years included 32 albums as a solo artist, a band leader, as well as a member of Canned Heat, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, and supporting musician to such luminaries as John Lee Hooker, Big Mama Thornton and Joe Tex.

Backed by his touring band, on his latest record Trout goes back to his musical roots, steeping its most poignant tracks in country blues sensibility, and in the process comes up with some of the most introspective material he’s released to date.

Big, rough-edged, but at the same time windy, airborne guitar tone, classic space-rocking grooves, and swaggering assertiveness of Trout’s chops is what strikes you first on opener “Saw My Mama Cryin’.” It’s an autobiographical track, which on par with the ruthless confessional “Recovery” conveys realities that are anything but clichéd, despite the age-old formulas serving as a launching pad for Trout’s emotional and instrumental extrapolations.

And speaking of extrapolations, it’s the improvisation where Trout is at his best on this release with his measured, assertive approach to soloing, yet never sounding formulaic, connecting the inner with the outer in a direct, immediate way. His phrasing is the reflection of his temperament – often conversation-like, sometimes impatient, sometimes cheeky, sometimes melancholy, but always recognizable as uniquely his. And just as true feelings are never smoothly sleek, never is his playing, which channels actual feeling instead of showcasing virtuosity.

Which doesn’t mean Trout isn’t showing off his chops when he feels like it, as on sassy stomper “The Sky is Fallin’ Down” with its gritty slide work juxtaposed against the swaggering harp, or on the rousing blues locomotion titled “You Can’t Go Home Again”.

After decades given to blues, to this day Trout remains committed to the impulse at its heart – still exploring and finding ways to direct the prism of the genre to seemingly trivial modern occurrences. On standout “Lonely” he suddenly makes us realize that we are all just as alone as people were at the dawn of blues as a musical form some 100 years ago, regardless of what inventors of modern technology may be trying to make us believe.

Apart from launching into extended electric guitar excursions, Trout also showcases his understanding of the acoustic blues on this release. “I Never Knew You Well” is a hauntingly lit country blues with a modern twist where the acoustic guitar runs an eerie commentary to the exuberant electric guitar leads. “All I Want is You” is another standout which moves slow-tempo between the shadowy suspense of acoustic guitar parts contrasted with melancholy harp and eerie floatation of the open-ended, unconventionally phrased electric guitar solos.

The closing title track goes down the same route, but sounds grittier when Trout channels echoes of Blind Willie Johnson in the intro. There is a reason why he decides to mine this approach: “My main inspiration for this album was the country blues-man Blind Willie Johnson,” Trout explains on the web site of his management company Intrepid Artists. “His music is so beautiful, primal, direct and deeply spiritual that I wanted to feel it at my back when we were cutting these songs.”

The times are different now, but while 80 years separate Johnson and Trout, there is still continuity to the tradition which this album shows so transparently, while making sure the genre remains relevant to modern realities.

Genre: Blues

Track Listing:
1. Saw My Mama Cryin’
2. Lonely
3. The Sky is Fallin’ Down
4. Blues for My Baby
5. You Can’t Go Home Again
6. Recovery
7. Turn off Your TV
8. Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous
9. Never Knew You Well
10. Puppet Master
11. Money Rules the World
12. All I Want is You
13. Brother’s Keeper
14. Blues for the Modern Daze

Label: Mascot Records

Web: www.waltertrout.com

Hardrock Haven rating: 7/10

Dublin Death Patrol | Death Sentence

by Alissa Ordabai
Staff Writer –

The contrast of two sui generis voices – Chuck Billy’s fire-eating roar and Steve Souza’s gelastic snarl continue to stamp Dublin Death Patrol’s releases with an instantly recognisable sound. Having three guitarists proves to be not a trivial decision either, and the end result is a high-powered sophomore record full of tension and drama.

Opener “Mind Sewn Shut” is a perfect synergy of ambitious production and crafty songwriting, setting the tone for the rest of the album. Somewhere between old-school thrash a la early Testament and hypnotic, effect-laden industrial gloom, the record builds a big, sprawling soundscape while simultaneously showing muscle with its superb riffs and focused, intense composition.

As much as the proceedings are haunted by a dark, sinister mood and as much as the band likes to show off their no-nonsense chops, there is still enough room to occasionally deviate from the formula and to throw in some starkly aggressive punk numbers (see standouts “My Riot” and “Butcher Baby”) while not breaking the unified feel of the record. Charting the lineage of thrash and proving how it can still thrive in the new millennium, this release is a must both for veteran fans and newcomers to the genre.

Genre: Thrash Metal, Industrial Metal

Personnel:
Chuck Billy – vocals
Steve “Zetro” Souza – vocals
Willy Lange – bass
Steve Robello “Steevo” – guitar
Andy “KK” Billy – guitar
Greg Bustamante – guitar
Danny Cunningham – drums

Track Listing:
1. Mind Sewn Shut
2. Dehumanize
3. Blood Sirens
4. Broken
5. Welcome to Hell
6. Conquer and Divide
7. Death Toll Rising
8. My Riot
9. Macabre Candor
10. Butcher Baby

Label: Mascot Records

Online: www.dublindeathpatrol.com

Hardrock Haven rating: 7/10

Pestilence | Doctrine

by Trevor Portz
Staff Writer

Following their welcome reformation in 2008 (and fittingly titled album, Resurrection Macabre), death metallers Pestilence are back with another new batch of morbid tracks, this time in the form of Doctrine. Reuniting front-man Patrick Mameli with classic-era bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling, Doctrine sees the band simultaneously moving forward and looking back. Unfortunately, however, they seem to have overlooked an important part of the band’s signature sound, which may cause long-term fans a bit of dismay.

While Doctrine is a solid, technical death metal release, boasting John Tardy-like agonizing screams and a fair bit of groove that the band is known for, it lacks the weirdness that made Testimony of the Ancients and Spheres such groundbreaking death metal releases. For those unfamiliar, these albums saw Pestilence mix their death metal styling with a healthy portion of fusion jazz, creating a completely original (at the time) metal monster. While still present in small doses (notably in “Absolution” and the bass lines of “Amgod”), the fusion elements are far too sparse to sustain the band’s uniqueness.

While still a decent release, what ultimately keeps Doctrine from being a truly great album is this lack of fusion elements that made Pestilence so interesting in the first place. Instead, Doctrine sees Pestilence sounding a bit too much like bands of their ilk, and with its inherent lack of modern death metal hyper speed, the album ends up feeling a bit dated. While it’s easy to understand that a band may want to shake off some of the chains that bind them to a style, it can also take away their individuality. Mudvayne’s self-titled LP from last year is a great example of this, as is Cruachan’s Blood on the Black Robe.

The bottom line is, those who were fans of Pestilence because of their unique classic albums may be a bit disappointed with the less-bizarre 2011 incarnation of the band, longing for the days of headbanging dark fusion. New listeners would do well to pick up the aforementioned Testimony of the Ancients and Spheres to experience the majesty of Pestilence, as Doctrine is not the best indoctrination into a once brilliant band. Both groups should stay hopeful for a more far-out album next time, lest the band become just another drop in the ever-growing death metal pool.

Genre: Death Metal

Band:
Patrick Mameli (g,v)
Patrick Uterwijk (g)
Jeroen Paul Thesseling (b)
Yuma Van Eekelen (d)

Track Listing:
1. The Predication (Intro)
2. Amgod
3. Doctrine
4. Salvation
5. Dissolve
6. Absolution
7. Sinister
8. Divinity
9. Deception
10. Malignant
11. Confusion

Label: Mascot Records

Website: http://pestilence.nl/

Hardrock Haven rating: 6/10