The Flying Eyes “Burning Of The Season” Album Review + Stream…

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The Flying Eyes

Burning Of The Season – Vinyl // CD // DD

Ripple Music // Noisolution (Europe) – released September 22nd, 2017

Reviewed by Eric Layhe

 

The Flying Eyes:
Adam Bufano – Guitar, Lap Steel
Mac Hewitt – Bass
Will Kelly – Vocals, Guitar
Elias Schutzman – Percussion, Vocals

Tracks:

  1. Sing Praise (4:17)
  2. Come Round (3:26)
  3. Drain (4:41)
  4. Circle of Stone (7:29)
  5. Fade Away (5:18)
  6. Farewell (4:29)
  7. Rest Easy (4:56)
  8. Oh Sister (8:09)

 

 

Review:
The Flying Eyes know exactly what kind of band they are: A riff or two, some vocals, a solo, and a heaping tablespoon of Black Sabbath worship- that’s all they want, and to be frank, that’s all they really need.

Despite it being reminiscent of “the good ol’ days”, it’s always refreshing to hear a band that knows that all they need are guitars, bass, drums, with quality guest keyboards from Trevor Shipley, and a good, solid overall composition.  That’s precisely what Maryland natives The Flying Eyes deliver.

Pro Band Shot 2

Opening track “Sing Praise” bursts out of the gates with an astonishingly memorable bass riff. “Drain” opens with reverb guitars that one would be forgiven to expect out of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” before taking a left turn into Sludge and Doom territory with an absolutely blistering guitar solo. Even though the music is well-composed and performed even better, the vocals of guitarist Will Kelly are the real standout here. They won’t be fronting an opera or performing a Tenor aria anytime soon, but they are absolutely perfect for the music that is focused on here. When this music is coming out of a sound system, images of cruising through the desert in a 1970’s muscle car are sure to follow. This is the type of music that should accompany a vision quest or a protest montage of the Vietnam War and The Flying Eyes seem all too aware of this, owning that image with all the confidence in the world.

However, this album wears its influences (or “influence” in this case) on its sleeves perhaps a little too proudly. The Flying Eyes seem to have listened to Black Sabbath’s “Master of Reality” many, many times and that particular influence seems to show itself quite a bit. That’s not to say it’s their only influence, as by the time the 7th track, “Rest Easy”, begins, some sections are reminiscent of Pink Floyd rear their heads. but by the time the listener gets there, they may have already gotten used to the already strongly-established vibe, giving them something of a case of stylistic whiplash. The riff-verse-riff-verse-solo-riff structure permeating throughout this release gets a little old after a while, and a listener would be excused for needing a couple of listening sessions to really get the intended effect from Burning of the Season, and it takes a little bit of patience despite being a fairly short album at a very digestible 43 minutes. Make no mistake, this is a high quality and highly recommended album.

On the whole, Burning of the Season is an album that knows what it wants to be.  If you are looking for an album that provides what is promised very effectively despite putting nothing particularly new on the table, then you should look no further than The Flying Eyes’ excellent new release.

Live Band Shot

SHADOW WOODS METAL FEST 2017 Announced; Metal & Camping Weekend To Kick Off In September

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For the third year in a row, the invitation-only Shadow Woods Metal Festival is set for Thursday, September 14th through Sunday, September 17th at White Hall, Maryland’s Camp Hidden Valley. The popular festival will host 39 of the underground’s leading bands, representing all genres and subgenres of heavy metal. But there is much, much more to be experienced and enjoyed at SWMF once again this year like camping, various artist workshops, yoga classes, food vendors and more.

Taking place on four stages, a gathering of some of the best underground and extreme metal bands like All Hell, Castle, Churchburn, Cut The Architect’s Hand, Dee Calhoun, Earthling, Foehammer, Heavy Temple, Panopticon, Seasick Gladiator, Toke, Withered and many more will perform. The full roster of acts are listed below along with ticket/pricing information.

Weekend Package: $175 Full weekend package (Thursday evening -­ Sunday morning) including all musical events and camping.

Single Day Tickets (advanced ticket pricing):
$50 Thursday Only
$80 Friday Only
$80 Saturday Only

Purchase tickets at this location.

Here are the daily schedules (in alphabetical order):

Thursday: Aerial Ruin, Amigo The Devil, Dee Calhoun, Green Elder, Nechochwen, Take To The Woods

Friday: Castle, Churchburn, Dark Water Transit, Dead In The Manger, Elagabalus, Erlkonig, Fiakra, Foehammer, Heavy Temple, Human Bodies, Immaculate Deception, KYOTY, Mome, Night Raids, Sloth Herder, The Owls Are Not What They Seem, Voarm

Saturday: All Hell, Amigo The Devil, Bearstorm, Black Table, Cut The Architects Hand, Earthling, Hexis, Infera Bruo, Panopticon, Percussor, Seasick Gladiator, Toke, Vastum, Withered,  Woe, Worthless, Zud 

– Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker

SWMF

Album Review – MANGOG “Mangog Awakens”

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MANGOG – Mangog Awakens

Argonauta Records – CD/DD

PREORDER – SAVE 20% – Release date: Jan 9th, 2017

 

Coming together from the remnants of the bands REVELATION and AGAINST NATURE, MANGOG represents the latest in what makes ‘doom’ what it is; riffs that punch you in the chest, bass that will rattle your ribcage and time sig’s that seem to twist you around as you roll along with them through this 9-song debut.

Citing Black Sabbath / The Obsessed / Trouble as their influences, it is no surprise that the feel is dark and foreboding. The clock ticking as this opus begins belies the awakening referenced in the album title and five seconds later, the first power chords hits right between the eyes as “Time Is A Prison” makes its way through your veins with a power and rumble that grabs you and doesn’t let go. Clocking in at just over seven minutes, it is quite the introduction to these four guys that stay their mission as using riffs to turn the air solid and taking long walks on a post-apocalyptic beach with a zombie-bride. By the time you get to the first extended guitar solo, you feel it enveloping. Not wasting a second between, “Meld” comes in faster and shakes you awake with the trifecta of cymbal/bass guitar that leads you through the path they are clearing for the first four measures before Myke Wells’ vocal rises to remind you that is is ‘your thirst to my thirst, your mind to my mind’ and there is no turning back.

 

Band Release Info Montage

 

Full of twists and turns and tales of walking those decimated beaches ‘drunk with fear’, Mangog delivers what promises to be a disc that does not come out of your player anytime soon once you put it in. One of the standout tracks on this is “Daydreams Within Nightmares”, chock full of those time signatures that make it seem like the ‘fills’ are the body of the rhythm line. Closing out this 45 minute opus with “Eyes Wide Shut” demonstrates the roots of mist-filled shadows that gives MANGOG the doom-tag they have assigned themselves. Breathe deep before you hit ‘play’ the first time and keep your eyes open as you never know what is behind you as you wonder if ‘today is a good day to die’.

 

Words by Ric “Sui-Syko” Dorr