The Devil's Trade - "The Call Of The Iron Peak"

Photo credit: https://www.season-of-mist.com/release/the-call-of-the-iron-peak/

        The Devil's Trade dropped their new album The Call Of The Iron Peak as of August 28th, 2020. They've been featured here on Mainly Tuning Out as various track releases have been dropped, and we're big fans of what we've been hearing. As such, we're going to be looking at the whole album! With a run time of ~46 minutes across 11 tracks, it looks like a solid lineup of music.

        The Devil's Trade is a Doom Folk solo outfit hailing from Budapest, Hungary,  and helmed by Dávid Makó. The music swings from cold winds blasting through empty mountain tops, to soul-crushing wails calling into the night. Featuring guitars, banjos, and some excellent vocal harmonies, this release oozes with bleak emotions.

        

        Track one is titled "The Iron Peak", and it begins with these string-like notes that hang in the air for a brief moment before giving way to a somber and slow electric guitar. With a slight hint of delay on the guitars, the tone is set for this journey and further solidified as Makó's voice starts singing. At ~1:52 the music takes a dissonant turn as Makó sings a dark harmony and then returns to the guitars in the beginning. It's truly amazing how successfully Makó's performance paints an image of a cold mountain, standing against a dark sky, cold, and uncaring. 

        Track two is titled "Dead Sister" and was featured here on a previous post. The added context of the intro carries on the idea that "Dead Sister" is a catalyst moment in the character's journey, a horrible life event that sparks a descent into darkness. It's still hauntingly beautiful. 

        The third track is titled "III" and has a runtime of ~0:44. It's an odd little track, featuring some guitar work in the background. If feels like a memory trying to take root in one's brain. It segues right into the next track, "No Arrival"

        "No Arrival" has one of my favorite riffs on the album layered with muddy bass notes and a great clean guitar lick. It's sinister and cold, and I love it. Makó starts singing at ~0:33, and the music cuts back to just the clean guitar behind an excellent vocal performance. Honestly, Makó's vocals shine on this track, with a brilliant little moment over skilled guitar work at ~2:18 - 2:48, where it segues into that gripping chorus. This track is a heavy hitter and is definitely worth a listen. 

        Next up is "Expelling Of The Crafty Ape", which is an odd name compared to the rest of the track line up. The vibe created in the first minute is one of mysticism. It's not quite sad, it's not quite evil or dark, it just feels very introspective. What stands out is the power behind Makó's vocals as he belts out the chorus, or highlights portions of the verses. His grasp on dynamic performance is clear on this track, and it's used powerfully. This is not my favorite track on the album, but I doubt I would skip it on a drive while listening to this album. 

        Track six is titled "IIIIIIIIIIII" and appears to be another transitional track, running ~0:35 in length. Coming off the tension of "Expelling Of The Crafty Ape", this feels like waking up from an awful dream, or to a horrible hangover. 

        The next track is "Három Árva" which also has been featured here previously. Három Árva feels more sinister and forlorn within the contest of the full album. Coming off "Expelling Of The Crafty Ape" makes me feel like this story of a man who's lost everything, walking up to the Iron Peak to reckon with his maker, and his memories are haunting him every step of the way. 

        Track eight is titled "Eyes In The Fire". It starts with a fade-in that has a nice change in flavor from the bleak and dire palate of this album, and the verse flirts with this major toned moment now and again which changes up the feeling of this release. It's hard to describe the tone of this track, but it's surprisingly enjoyable. It's echoing and washed in reverb, with an 80's rock vibe, like Tears For Fears meets Simple Minds, but with no synths and a much bleaker tone. "Eyes In The Fire" is a captivating track and paints a really interesting sonic picture especially in the last minute and a half it crescendos into this amazing moment at ~4:26 that's dripping with anger and frustration as Makó yells into the air "eyes in the fire," over and over again. Perhaps these are the eyes of the character's demons facing him as sits on the Iron Peak. 

         There's another transitional track titled "IIIIII" that's more ethereal than it's companions, with some really interesting harmonic choices made. I really like it. This track runs ~1:03 in length. Sonically it's very different than the previous tracks on the album. 

        Track ten is titled "Dreams From The Rot", and it begins quite slowly. It's grim, somber, but in a different way from the previous album. It's hard to pull the exact emotion out. Makó's vocals are different, almost self-reflective, or talking something out even though there's no one there. Suddenly the music jumps up in intensity at ~2:47, and the vocals take on an equally dire intensity before returning to the dreamy stillness of the beginning at ~3:30. We ride this reflective stillness through to the next bout of dire intensity at ~5:40. The music cuts out at ~6:22, and there is silence. Music comes back at ~6:29, but it's quieter, more in the background of the sonic landscape. This was a big narrative moment, the climax of the story, though Makó has done an excellent job of keeping the story just obscure enough to be quite open-ended. This is the longest song on the album with a runtime of 7:41.

        The album ends on track 11, which is the title track of the album, "The Call Of The Iron Peak." This song begins with a bleak banjo melody paired with dark bass notes, and Makó's vocals hanging over them. The banjo work is incredible, painting this grey landscape along which Makó's melodies can bluster against, like the wind trailing around the Iron Peak. This moment is cold and forlorn. Drums join the mix at ~3:25, and Makó's wails slowly fade away into the back of the mix, creating quite a cinematic closing to this album in a truly magical way. 

Photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/TheDevilsTrade/photos/a.711034722301127/4318871671517396/?type=3&theater

        This album is a great example of when the whole is greater than the sum of each part. The tracks we looked at earlier in the year were great on their own, but together, "The Call Of The Iron Peak" paints a rich landscape of woe and sorrow that is truly enjoyable. If you're looking for a unique album to take in, I cannot recommend this one enough, and you can check it out here or at The Devil's Trade's Bandcamp which you can find here. 

Small break

 Hello readers, 

I meant to post this Monday, but I'm taking this week off from writing to mourn a co-worker who passed away. 

Be well and thank you. 

The Jazz Project - Album 90: Charlie Haden - "Liberation Music Orchestra"

          To further my understanding of Jazz, I'm listening through Jazzwise Magazine's "The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World". Each album is presented with my stream-of-consciousness thoughts for each track, my general thoughts of the album as a whole, and any relevant information I can capture about the album. Also included is my drink of choice while taking the album in. Thank you for joining me on my journey to [partial] Jazz enlightenment.

Album 90
Charlie Haden - Liberation Music Orchestra
Drinking: Equal Exchange Love Buzz Coffee

Photo credit: https://img.discogs.com/be_Au75s05DbfPM-zyaKgyoxqfU=/fit-in/600x591/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-606519-1492881439-5278.jpeg.jpg

1. "The Introduction": A sweet, full sounding, melancholy introduction to the album. It creates a feeling similar to the beginning of an old school motion picture. I wish I had more to say about this track, but the above thoughts capture it pretty well. 
2. "Song Of The United Front": I acknowledge that this is usually treated as a single track combined with "The Introduction", but the streaming platform I use treats it as a separate track, so I will be doing so as well. This track captures the sound and feel of old propaganda movies from the '40s and '50s. It sets the tone of the story this album is trying to tell which Jazzwise Magazine describes as "one of the most explicit endorsements of leftist sentiments to found in the entire jazz world." 
3. "El Quinto Regimento (The Fifth Regiment)/Los Cuatro Generales (The Four Generals)/Viva La Quince Brigada (Long Live The Fifteenth Brigade)": The three acts to this track is made up of traditional Spanish Civil War tracks that were arranged by Carla Bley, the piano player on the album. The acoustic guitar evokes the feeling of the calm before a battle, the quiet before the storm, while also honoring the Spanish origins of the music. The full band joins in and transports the listener into the deserts of the west. Musically it transforms into this wild and cacophonous battle between instruments. The brass is the screaming victims of war, and the percussion beat out the back and forth of gunfire. While these moments aren't necessarily pleasant, it captures the moment beautifully. Eventually, the battle subsides and the somber acoustic guitar returns. In my mind, I'm seeing each side search the field for survivors, while others are mourning the dead. The music starts to pick up as a muted trumpet starts creating a heated tension. The brass solo feels like a lamenting general looking out over the field. Perhaps the battle didn't turn out the way they planed, or perhaps there's a momentary pause in the battle and he's planning for the next round. Honestly, it's a great brass solo, very emotive. Soon after the solo the music transitions into this wild, swinging party. Whoever was the victor in this conflict is having a wild party to celebrate and the music suggests it's starting to get out of control. Out of the chaos, a lone saxophone pierces the crazy wildness, and tension begins to ramp up as the saxophone starts wildly screaming. Perhaps a scout has brought a troubling warning back to the camp, or something else is not going well. A group of men chats in the background as this track winds down to a close. As the song finishes you can almost see the curtain closing as this motion picture draws to a close. 
4. "The Ending To The First Side": I find it curious that a track would announce that it's the last track on an LP, however, it does a great job creating a recap of everything that has happened on the first half of this record. It is surprising to me how cinematic this album feels in its presentation. 
5. "Song for Ché": Right out of the gate there is a Mingus vibe to this song. The sound is a mix of nostalgia and a cinematic documentary about a political figure's childhood. Haden achieves a melodic sound on the double bass, which I thoroughly appreciate. It's almost lyrical, even before voices join the mix. Flutes also join in after the singers fade away, and a wild saxophone solo joins after the flutes. It feels wild and manic-like previous tracks too. At times a television or radio journalist vibe comes to mind when the saxophone plays. 
6. "War Orphans": This is a cover of an Ornette Coleman song. The intro is so delicate in its performance. It's a dark sounding track, which matches the vision the title evokes. The bass joins in with a sinister sound, creating the feeling of something prowling around the darkness when compared to the fragility of the piano. Nothing jumps to mind in my imagination for this track, but it fills me with this strange peaceful tension, which feels weird to say and even weirder to experience. This band loves to end their tracks with a large swell of tension, which I find oddly interesting. 
7. "The Interlude (Drinking Music)": This track feels like a classic jazz piece, definitely the most traditional piece on the album this far. I get this picture of a swanky politician drinking and schmoozing over war updates, not showing any care for those in danger or slain in battle. The tempo increases and decreases in this weird tilting way, probably to create the feeling of being drunk. 
8. "Circus '68 '69": This song starts with a cool bass solo, Haden plays with clear intent and meaning. It feels cold and matter of fact. Soon the room fills with all sorts of wild calls from the brass section, it feels like the bass is the voice of reason because it just keeps plodding away under all of this wild sound. The general feeling I'm getting is people are getting too caught up in their own small personal needs and not seeing the large impacts of what's going on. Soon police whistles are screaming as this church organ starts swelling up from the back of the mix, almost like a holy man trying to calm the people. Or, perhaps it's the powers-that-be looking down in disappointment. This song sounds like an argument, and it captures that feeling perfectly. The song closes out with the same bass melody it started on, but with the band accompanying. It all goes quiet and the bass cuts the silence and continues plodding on. This was an amazing track. 
9. "We Shall Overcome": This song was harmonious. The band plays with a wonderful harmony, and it feels like a goodbye telling you it's all going to be okay. A great ending to an album. 

Overall Thoughts: Lester Bangs, of Rolling Stone magazine, captured my feelings exactly "an extremely tight, moving, substantial record" (Rolling Stone, February 21, 1970), with a huge nod to substantial. There's a lot of material here to chew on and this record is worth several listens because of it. 

Info: This album was released in January 1970 through the Impulse! label. It was produced by Charlie Haden and recorded in Judson Hall, New York City. It features Perry Robinson on clarinet, Gato Barbieri on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Dewey Redman on alto saxophone and tenor saxophone, Don Cherry on cornet, flute, Indian wood and bamboo flutes, Michael Mantler on trumpet, Roswell Rudd on trombone, Bob Northern on french horn, hand-wood blocks, crow calls, bells, and military whistle, Howard Johnson on tuba, Sam Brown on guitar, Tanganyikan guitar, thumb piano, Clara Bley on piano and tambourine, Charlie Haden on bass, Paul Motian on drums and percussions, and Andrew Cyrille on drums and percussion. 

Listen to the album here, and you can purchase the album here. 

The Ocean - "Oligocene"

Photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/theoceancollective/

        The Ocean has dropped another track from their forthcoming album Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic which is set to release September 25th, 2020. Mainly Tuning Out dug into the previous track earlier this year, and what a track it was! The album is still available for pre-order through Metal Blade records here. 

        "Oligocene" is an instrumental track with a run time of four minutes, likely acting as an interlude or transitional track on the larger album. This is potentially confirmed by a comment left in the YouTube comments "The instrumental track was written by drummer Paul Seidel, but recorded with synth player Peter Voigtmann on drums. It serves as a transitional track from the busy and heavy first half of the record (Mesozoic) into the more relaxed, spacious and cold ambient vibes prevailing on the second half of the record (Cenozoic)." Oligocene is a geological epoch, and the Berkeley University of California describes it as, "right smack in the middle of the Tertiary Period (and end of the Paleogene), lasted from about 33.9 to 23 million years ago ... These changes include the appearance of the first elephants with trunks, early horses, and the appearance of many grasses — plants that would produce extensive grasslands in the following epoch, the Miocene."

        Musically this track is elegant, to say the least. It begins with some somber instrumentals over some percussion which honestly feels like an 80's track reworked into a modern sound. It works well and is captivating. The volume slowly crescendos over the whole piece as more and more layers filter into the mix. My favorite part is the synths that are layered throughout this track and provide an ethereal flavor to the music that thoroughly grips my attention.  

        Do yourself a favor and check this track out ASAP. Running counter to the crushing flavors of the previous release "Jurassic | Cretaceous" it further demonstrates the wide musical skill this collective brings to the table. If it jives with your musical palate check out the pre-order! 

The Jazz Project - Album 91: The Music Improvisation Company - "The Music Improvisation Company"

         To further my understanding of Jazz, I'm listening through Jazzwise Magazine's "The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World". Each album is presented with my stream-of-consciousness thoughts for each track, my general thoughts of the album as a whole, and any relevant information I can capture about the album. Also included is my drink of choice while taking the album in. Thank you for joining me on my journey to [partial] Jazz enlightenment.

Album 91
The Music Improvisation Company - The Music Improvisation Company
Drinking: Yorkshire Gold Tea

Photo credit: https://img.discogs.com/e0ss0opdQbwdABApb9MuxIGde_I=/fit-in/600x607/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-560235-1404564281-5614.jpeg.jpg

1. "Third Stream Boogaloo": I immediately realize I might be in some trouble as this whole track sounds like a group warming up though a volume pedal. It's atmospheric while also very weird, but it's cool to  hear a guitar utilized in a new way. The track comes crashing into a cacophonous ending, like a group of animals escaping a forest fire. 
   
   
2. "Dragon Path": Coming in just shy of ten and a half minutes, this track was a slog. I have a hard time with free jazz as it doesn't really speak to me beyond using it as background noise to an art-house film. It does give me time to see what it says to my brain, and I get the feeling of an engineer's work desk while he's building a new effects pedal or an amp. Or perhaps it's the brain of a computer finally reaching self-awareness. I'm enjoying the use of feedback on this track. Surprisingly, ten minutes flew right by once I got in the zone of it. 
   
   
3. "Packaged Eel": I got the distinct feeling that this group is attempting to rebuild found sounds from places like a subway station, or the sounds of kiosks setting up in the morning at a shopping mall. Perhaps a circus setting up as well? I almost would have preferred if this album was presented as one long track instead of broken up into small chunks. 
   
   
4. "Untitled No. 1": I'm having a hard time digesting this music. I'm spending the time reading about the free jazz movement. I enjoy the idea of exploring what sound is and what it means to be on both a cosmic level (Coltrane) and a microscopic level (TMIC). Perhaps someday this style will speak to me more. I'm now wondering what kind of prep goes into this kind of music. 
   
   
5. "Untitled No. 2": Like my thoughts on the album, I wonder why these two tracks were separated instead of being one long track. Perhaps it's the lack of narrative that makes it  so attractive, like an inside joke. For a brief moment, there was something similar to a standard jazz sound before it was blasted away. I do enjoy how this track is a bit more dynamic in volume than the previous tracks. I'm hearing what might be as described as mechanical birds in an electronic ice storm. As said storm rages the track peaks in a screaming outcry before quietly dissipating.
   
   
6. "Tuck":  This is the shortest track on the album. Like some previous tracks, it sounds like the room is warming up and not a composition. But! Perhaps that is the experiment. 
   
   
7. "Wolfgang Van Gangbang": An immaturely funny title. Each voice is more prominent than the previous tracks. One reviewer from ECM Reviews really nailed the sound of this track and the album as a whole, "A radio being tortured to give up its innermost secrets."

Overall Thoughts: To be honest, I had a hard time sitting through this album, but I did it. I can appreciate it for being experimental as experiments can discover new ways of doing things. But, beyond being used as the soundtrack to a weird movie, or a foundation for frantic free-writing I don't see revisiting this album though I do thank the artists for the experience. 

Info: This album was released in 1970 through the ECM label. It was produced by Manfred Eicher and features Derek Bailey on guitar, High Davies on electronics, Jamie Muir on percussion, Evan Parker on soprano saxophone, and Christine Jeffrey performing vocals on tracks one and five. 

If free jazz is your jam, pick up the album here! 

Spirit Adrift - "Harmony Of The Spheres"

Photo credit: https://www.20buckspin.com/collections/spirit-adrift

         Phoenix, AZ. based Heavy Metal band Spirit Adrift dropped a new track on Friday, August 14th, 2020, and what a banger it is! It's titled "Harmony Of The Spheres" and it sounds like what I wished Ghost could sound like. With the new track comes the news of a new album dropping via 20 Buck Spin label on October 16th, 2020 titled Enlightened In Eternity. Spirit Adrift isn't new to Mainly Tuning out, we featured them in June when they dropped their EP Angel And Abyss Redux. 

        "Harmony Of The Spheres" kicks in the door with some great harmonized riffs over a chugging rhythm. The drums hold the rhythm down really well which keeps the guitars on the track. Were I to be picky, I'd like a little more from the bass but overall it sounds incredible. The vocal delivery over the verse is excellent, clean with just a little bit of grit over the last lines. Upon reflection the vocals are where I get the biggest Ghost vibe, but don't confuse, this isn't a Ghost copy, this stuff rips! The chorus offers up even more licks and a nice rhythmic change of pace. It's a pretty short chorus which I greatly enjoy as the main riff is gripping. Periodically group vocals back various lyrics, and it works well. 

        After the second chorus, there's a great dual guitar solo over some great guitar chords and a rhythm section that essentially has hunkered down in the pocket and will likely never come out.  At ~2:41 we return to the main riff, but the mini licks between each chord are mixed even better and interplay with the lyrics in a way that I wish I could show more musicians as it's excellent songwriting. The track follows this through the end to one final chorus before it closes out at just over four minutes. 

        If the rest of the album sounds like this then Spirit Adrift might have a killer album on their hands and I look forward to seeing what's coming down the pipeline as we get closer to this release. Currently Spirit Adrift is Nathan Garrett on guitars and vocals with Marcus Bryant on drums. You can already pre-order this album here at 20 Buck Spin. Check out their other work here as well. I doubt you'll be disappointed. 

Could it be? New Red Fang? Yes please!

Photo credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUym_HJ9J3w

 

        At the tail end of July, we were graced with another track from Red Fang, a favorite of mine and one that has been featured here on Mainly Tuning out before. "Stereo Nucleosis" comes to us from Relapse Records via the singles series on Adult Swim, a popular place for numerous bands to release new music. It's exciting to see considering we haven't seen much from the Red Fang camp since their single "Antidote" in 2019.

        If you're a fan of Red Fang this track will not disappoint you though it's definitely not the crème de la crème of their offerings. It starts with some Mastodon worthy chords and riffing before some washed-out vocals join in over this excellent intro. The chorus has a delightful hook though, "Bloodless, but breathing, no hope," which is sung over an equally catchy musical riff. It's 3 minutes of some excellent Heavy Metal. 

        The things about this album that take away from it are few, but I believe they are big enough to mention. Most of this track feels like a Mastodon b-side, which isn't a bad thing because most of Mastodon's catalog is full of amazing material, but it does make this track seem a bit like a cover track. Honestly, the reverb/delay that's on the vocals is my least favorite part of this offering, and it's too bad it was mixed the way that it was because I think a tighter vocal track would punch this bad boy into a higher weight class. 

        Check the track out and let me know what you think! Are you a fan of Red Fang and did this song live up to your internal image of them, or is it meh? If you want to purchase or stream this track elsewhere, you can do so here. Thank you for sticking around while I took a week off as a summer break, and I look forward to curating some more goodness for you in the coming weeks!