Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Oct 23 Vol. II

CIRITH UNGOL – Dark Parade
I love Cirith Ungol, always did, despite Baker’s voice being more of an acquired taste than Marmite, and “Dark Parade” is the best REAL heavy metal album from a bunch of 70-year- olds you’ll hear in 2023. (8)

ORA COGAN – Formless
A fascinating “under the radar” release, Cogan’s compositions often have a gothic cinematic vibe that brings to mind Cocteau Twins whilst her voice has a Sharon Van Etten-y quality. And she covers a Lhasa De Sela song, which is a big plus in my book. (8)

ROBERT FINLEY – Black Bayou
Septuagenarian Black Keys protégé is having a blast belting highly entertaining stories over some great funky blues tunes. (8)

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM – History Books
The Springsteen influence was always there for these New Jersey punks, and on their comeback album they got the Boss himself to sing with them on the title track. Not an all-time classic like “The ’59 Sound”, but a very welcome return.  (8)

MYRKUR – Spine
Amalie Bruun’s Magnum Opus, she finally nailed that perfect marriage between Nordic folk and black metal she’s been aiming for since 2015. (8)

ISRAEL NASH – Ozarker
I described his previous album as “Chris Stapleton meets My Morning Jacket, music-wise and hair & beard-wise”. On the new album both the sound and the hair & beard can be more accurately described as Bob Seger. (8)

ØXN – Cyrm
Featuring members of Lankum and Percolator, this experimental dark folk/post-rock/with-shades-of-drone-and black-metal supergroup of sorts releases an excellent, startling debut. (8)

MARGO PRICE – Strays II
Her psilocybin-fueled and very good country rock album from earlier this year, now expanded with 9 unreleased tracks from the same sessions that are bit more traditional country-ish. (8)

REVEREND KRISTIN MICHAEL HAYTER – Saved!
Kristin Hayter kills off her Lingua Ignota persona, gets ordained, and releases something that sounds like Diamanda Galas doing a Nick Cave impression inside a Pentecostal church. (7)

THE ROLLING STONES – Hackney Diamonds
They’ve been a legacy act for 40 years already and everyone still goes to their gigs only to hear “Satisfaction” and “Paint It Black”, but they are Artists so they have an intrinsic need for new music. And there’s some really good stuff on this, too. Truly the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band on Earth. (8)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – If There’s Hell Below
A compilation of 13 tracks by totally unknown/forgotten black rock groups from the 70’s, drenched in fuzz and wah-wah like the illegitimate offspring of Funkadelic and Hendrix. You can give it anything between 10 and 6 depending on how much you value history and effort Vs. quality and talent. (-)