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Review: 'After Smoke Clears'
'Edification'   

-  Label: 'Self Released'
-  Genre: 'Heavy Metal' -  Release Date: '12.11.20.'

Our Rating:
This is After Smoke Clears debut album of what they describe as Aggressive High Adrenaline New Core Metal of the sort that would go down a treat at Bloodstock or Hellfest. They make metal of the sort I don't often choose to listen too, unless I'm out at an rock and metal club or gig, which means I may not have the right tools to compare them with other bands within their scene, but well it makes a change to hear something this heavy.

The album opens with The Vine a hard and heavy tune that underneath sounds like they are trying to re-work a Type O Negative tune into something heavier and succeeding in making a heavy heavy tune with a quite melodic undertow.

Machine Dependent is certainly a song for our times as we have become more dependent on all the machines we use in everyday life, over skull crushing beats the screamed and howled vocals make a good few points about the state of the world today.
Deterioration is a howling with rage epistle of pain and agony at the decay they see all around, over raging guitars pummeled drums and a rock-solid bass sound that never lets up.

Invigorate is the sort of Metal tune to go mental in the pit too, to make sure you feel totally invigorated by the end of this as you try to work out how the lyrics will Invigorate you as the bass seems to get more low-slung beneath the raging vocals and guitars.

Beta To Gamma will feel like a ray gun has exploded in your brain as the drums detonate after the break down and they get more and more furious at the injustice they see all around.
Rapacious has Sturm Und Drang style marching towards hell riff and bass that feels like you could march in time with this as they sing about the Rapacious times we live in and the way greed infects everything, or at least I think that's what they are singing about.

Extinguo is frantic as all hell thrash fest like they have gone all Annihilator or something similar on us as they try to put out the flames of decay licking at us all currently with a huge dose of musical rage.

Buried finds them afraid of what is happening and what's to come over raging guitars pummeling drums and a bass line that is insistent in some rather cool ways.

Awaken is the sort of tune that even my other half would fail to fall asleep during and she has managed to fall asleep while watching Slayer live twice at festivals!! The riff could easily have been taken from a Slayer record set against the angry impassioned vocals.

The album closes with Edify that has what sounds like keyboards or synth at the intro that soon gets buried beneath the rage filled guitars and pounding bass and drums trying to re-wire our minds to a new way forwards and a more edifying world than the one we are currently in. This has a mid-song breakdown where strings and a piano come in and some female vocals that suddenly make them sound like Lacuna Coil that is an interesting respite from all the rage.

Find out more at https://www.aftersmokeclears.com/ https://www.facebook.com/aftersmokeclears
  author: simonovitch

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