STEREO
INVADERS
Review by Thiess
Ci imbattiamo, per la nostra
prima volta, nella one-man band Umbah, mancanza che andiamo subito a
colmare grazie alla I, Voidhanger Records. In effetti, per chi va alla
ricerca di suoni fuori dagli schemi, questo project è una vera manna
dal cielo. Attivo dal lontano 1990, e con alle spalle ben quattordici
album, arriva un nuovo capitolo discografico alquanto sconvolgente. Il
sound è un ibrido tra Industrial e Death Metal, il tutto decisamente
avanguardstico nelle strutture e nella follia stessa dei vari pezzi via
via inanellati con genialità. Per attitudine e cerebralità, ci viene
in mente un parallelo con i Throught Industry, anche se qui siamo su
generi assai diversi. Il fatto è che la fantasia, i cambi di tempo, le
sfumature Progressive e Jazz, il tono del comparto vocale e la totale
deframmentazione e dissonanza delle note, ci rammentano proprio quel
gruppo. Non vi è frenesia alcuna, tutto arriva spontaneo, anche se
incredibilmente slegato da ogni cliché o qualsivoglia parallelismo. Il
comparto vocale mastica elettronica, sputando poi un’interpretazione
gelida ma allo stesso tempo irreale. Luce ambarica pulsa inanimatamente
su una lastra di ghiaccio, caduchi fiocchi di neve che, nella loro
intima promiscuità, tutto ricoprono, per poi essere furiosamente
sospinti dal vento. Molte band dovrebbero prendere spunto dalla
personalità di Cal Scott, autentico genio del Metal.
[9.5 out of 10]
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SEA
OF TRANQUILLITY
Review by Kim Jensen
With a release from I,
Voidhanger Records and affiliated labels, you can be certain about one
thing: it is bound to be an interesting experience – whether you
actually like the music or not, you know that, at least, you are going
to embark on an interesting musical journey. Thus, while quite different
from many of the other acts associated with I, Voidhanger Records, the
British madman electro-metal project Umbah is a fitting artist to
release through this label.
Enter the Dagobah Core, which
is the thirteenth album to be released by Cal Scott under the Umbah
monicker, is definitely an instance of an extreme music release.
Combining extreme metal with extreme electronica, Scott takes the
listener on a chaotic and often mind-boggling journey to the Dagobah
core and back (Star Wars reference noted, by the way) through
songs that combine elements from death metal, thrash metal, grindcore
and even some hardcore punk with various types of extreme techno music
whose genres label I cannot name due to my lack of insight into
electronic music.
The overall approach of the album is
one of avant-garde chaos, as every song is a flurry of riffs and
electronic drumbeats – most of the time emulating drum patterns from
exterme metal and sometimes more obviously electronica-derived – and
contains numerous shifts, changes and impressions. As a bonus, the
guitar leads occasionally go off on a Spheres-era Pestilence-ish
jazz fusion path. The vocals which are at times growled, at times
screamed, at times sung, and at times processed and enhanced digitally,
pretty much reflect the overall chaotic feel that there is to Enter
the Dagobah Core. However, the more you listen to the album – if
you can take it (in all fairness, this is not easy listening music) –
the more you realize that there is absolute order to this chaos.
This release is interesting. Is it
good? I think it is. I think that there are a lot of positive qualities
to Enter the Dagobah Core, but it is also an extremely
challenging listen that requires a lot from its listener. Fans of both
extreme metal and extreme electronica who are interested to hear what
those two genres combined might sound like should check this release
out.
[3.5 out of 5]
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AVANTGARDE
METAL
Review by Suleiman
The
first thing that should grab you here should be the jaw-dropping artwork.
It nails the alien- / sci-fi nature of most of Umbah's body of work ,
but steps it up a notch much like the music on this ferocious beast of a
CD. This would have been at the top of my 2011 top ten list, except it
will be seeing release now, due to various reasons. Trust me, this wipes
the floor with the tired mass of cliches that passes for industrial
metal or tech-death these days. Its going to be one of the few times
that I will do a track by track review.
Whipsers of a Dying Sun Part 1 starts out with a deceptively
charging chug before descending into beat driven uber death madness.
Then the calmer bits (relatively) show up, just to emphasize the horn
raising nature of the riffing that hits the listener again. This opener
does its job of getting the listener hooked with its melding of
technical death metal and dark electronic touches.
Bolderok Naron: Within a few seconds, you know you are in for a
ride. All the signature elements that make Umbah such a treat are
present. The riffing is no less than headbangingly awesome, while the
electronica and sampling takes it places lesser musicians dream of. It
manages to show Cal's grasp of groove, brutality and the outer reaches
of space in one go.
Temple Bar: is a mid-paced charging freak rocker with the
requisite synth and drum and bass flourishes (which are again quite
different to typical dnb). The guitars remain top-notch, while vocals
switch personalities at will.
Dr. Geiger: One of my favorite tracks on this album, its a
masterwork of the new metal weird. A sci-fi tech-death goth epic, you
need to hear it NOW ! Once you hear it, try getting that refrain out of
your head. Again, the accessible electro-goth elements blend seamlessly
with technical death metal of the highest caliber. The schizophrenic
vocal presence is in full force too, covering a lot of bases yet making
it work in the context of the song.
Enter the Dagobah Core: The futuristic drum and bass will have
you dancing the cyborg in a jiffy, even as the strange aura envelops you.
And when the guitars and vocals kick in, its like the perfection of what
Skinny Puppy tried when introducing distorted guitars to their sound.
Sounds are mangled beyond recognitions, yet fit the malfunctioning
android groove like a cybernetic glove.
Hypnotic Implant: Here is further proof that creativity and
accessibility can mix in a brutal matter. The pads, synths , beats ad
samples show the will and skills to explore that has always been a forte
of UK electronica, while the guitar work simply crushes (Morbid Angel
via Killing Joke!).
Cosmic Garland: Extreme death metal through an alien filter that
manages to sound effortlessly modern , especially with the very sci-fi
electronic (calmer) bits. If you wanted an integral mix of damn near
perfect metal and electronica (minus the cringe worthy cliches) this is
your ticket. I have yet to hear anyone else marrying such savage forward
thinking riffery and dizzying electronica.
Mad Zu Chong: has some super tasty slower/doomier riffing along
with aspects of the usual blitzkrieg, combined with Cal's vocal
personality # 475 (the goth intergalactic bounty hunter). Its strange,
how like previous albums, the whole thing seems like a sci-fi concept
album, but despite the lyrics and artwork its hard to fathom exactly
what the plot is (or maybe its the cohesion of the concept of all the
elements that's making me read too much into it). Its more abstract this
way and allows for various interpretations.
Oberon Tales: Another tune that most tech-death bands would be
too stuck up to write, this is almost a synth goth ballad, with a very
memorable vocal performance backed by a understated but effective
framework. The feel is decidedly epic,and you will be humming by the
second or third listen. The metal parts will make you punch your Uranium
236 space modulator for sure.
Rackborn Skin Expulsion: starts out closer to conventional
extreme metal, yet would still freak out most metal heads (and
guitarists) with the tremolo speed and discordance of the axework. It
touches the outer limits of what is possible in technical brutal death
metal arrangement, but always with the signature eccentricity of Umbah.
Serokate Fornion: comes in with a head down modern groove and the
disorienting vocal manifestations of the many clones of Cal. The
mid-section using a very catchy and relatively simple progression to
great effect before again venturing into a worm hole of avantgarde
metal.
Zombinods aptly lurches, jitters, falls, picks itself up and
stumbles towards you with a menacing bass riff. The vocals have a slight
black metal rasp this time, which matches the odd menacing mood to the
t. The bass and drum work stays top-notch through out.
Whispers of the Dying Sun Part 2 is on another plane entirely, a
grinding haunting industrial ditty of anthemic proportions. You too can
sing along :”No meaning, no meaning...” as your subconscious is
seeded with the germs of an alien e-virus.
The level of consistency that Umbah has shown in its prolific output of
the last 5 years (with a total discography spanning a decade) is a
tribute to the sheer genius of Cal Scott. The fact that Umbah is still
so unknown just confirms what a shitty BUSINESS mainstream metal really
is,and that most CONSUMERS and so-called critics cannot see beyond the
hype of the current flavour of the week. Here is a true testament to the
vitality of the underground, and proof that true art follows no trends.
All of that and more, while remaining so metal it hurts. I believe the
holy grail of industrial / sci-fi metal has been found.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FROM
THE DUST RETURNED
Review by Autothrall
For whatever reason, my
paths have never crossed with Umbah
in the past. Unusual, since the project has produced a dozen albums to
date, but we can't all hear everything, and I'm willing to bet most of
these earlier works were small pressings, self-released with a limited
audience in mind. If Enter the Dagobah
Core is any indicator of their quality, then I admit I might have
missed out, because not only is this a high strung, entertaining
manifestation of cyber industrial death thrash, but comforting proof
that there are human beings far stranger than I out there. The kind I
typically tend to hang out with. The kind we could all benefit from. Now,
autothrall is no square, but Enter the
Dagobah Core is a humbling, eccentric experience which fuses the
geek-chic of its creator into a harness of spatial, spastic, plastic and
technical absurdity which gives the aesthetic impression of flying a TIE
fighter into a Macarena party while huffing glue and gasoline.
I'm not exactly a stranger to Cal Scott, the project's sole member at
present. Or rather, HE is no stranger to the scene. He once slung the
six-string for the fairly enjoyable British death bangers Necrosanct,
who produced a pair of sadly forgotten second tier gems in Incarnate
(1992) and Desolate (1993)
through Swedish imprint Black Mark Productions. However, aside from the
fact that it flirts with the extreme side of the metal spectrum, Umbah,
at least in this present state, has little to nothing in common with his
alma mater. Enter the Dagobah Core
is more like listening to Germans Mekong
Delta while you're trying to perform speed runs of Mega
Man, or a clusterfuck of Florida hybrids Atheist
and Hellwitch with Devo.
In fact, I don't think I've had so much fun with a cybernetic metal
beatdown of this sort since Alf Svensson's Oxiplegatz.
Or, more accurately, Gigantic Brain's
Invasion Discography, but while
that was more of an alien abduction grind outing, this is more like a
man entirely off his meds, shredding and growling his way through some
16-bit future.
It's not total chipset video game death metal like the amazing Norrin
Radd, so the guitars still play an important part of the picture.
However, the architecture of the songs here is absolutely batshine
insane. With "Whispers of a Dying Sun Part I" alone, the first
three minutes of the CD, we've cycled through warbling, pulsing
electronic noise to dissonant spikes of driving thrash, tense and
complex electro freakouts, and even an EBM framework or two which would
not have been out of place on a KMFDM
record. Scott's vocals engage a wide, schizoid array of personas that
range from the usual rasp or death grunt to a more Gothic, doped up edge
redolent of The Kovenant or Marilyn
Manson, to bursts of nasal paranoia or even pitch shifted
narrative via Darth Vader. There are no rules to which he strictly
adheres, and this creates a massive sandbox of personality through which
he gets to explore through the lurching, chugging diatribes of "Cosmic
Garland", Cannibal Corpse
gone psycho-hyper-fuck of "Rackborn Skin Expulsion" or
destructo dancer "Zombinods".
I swear, I heard such divergent voices here as an opera singer and a
horse whinny. The entire 13 track progression of the album feels as if
its almost always about to burst at the seams, succumb to its own
energized clutter, but Scott hurls one interesting passage after another
in your path, and I found myself unable to turn away from it. Each
successive spin drowned me in the chaos, a whirlwind of electronic
drumming and choppy, thrashing precision. There must be six thousand
riffs on this thing, and while not all are incredibly distinct of their
own volition, the rapid, surefire succession of their arrival is bound
to drill itself into even the most A.D.D. addled cranium. On the flip
side, this is not something you want to listen to if you're sporting a
pacemaker. Or if you have epilepsy. A few songs are mildly calmer, like
"Mad Zu Chong", but in general you're dealing with a strobe
light of frenetic industrial trance excess.
It's not the perfect cure for a hangover headache, because admittedly
the music is so frivolous and fun to the point that its own goofiness
burdens the listener's ability to take it serious. Enter
the Dagobah Core is too spurious, synthetic and ridiculous for
its own good. Certified crazy. But then, that's rather the point of the
thing. Subject matter ranges from the obvious Star
Wars influence (the title track) to Germanic physicists
("Dr. Geiger") and Chinese astronomer-mathematicians ("Mad
Zu Chong"), and you get the feeling this guy had as much a good
time choosing them as you will have listening to them. I don't know just
how wide an audience a record like this will find, but I'd recommend it
to nearly anyone with the eroded mental health to appreciate it's
flabbergasting charms, or anyone who might appreciate a
Mr. Bungle remix of Illud
Divinum Insanus which DIDN'T suck. Can you imagine that? Nerd on,
motherfuckers.
[7.5 out of 10]
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HATEUL
METAL
Review by Aceust
Umbah
exisitiert bereits seit 1990 und ist das alleinige Projekt des Briten
Cal Scott, der Anfang der 90iger Jahre auch bei der bekannten
Death-Metal-Gruppe Necrosant war. Mit Necrosanct
hat Umbah allerdings nichts zu tun. Das aktuelle Album Enter
The Dagobah Core ist mittlerweile das 13. Album! Cal Scott wollte
mit Umbah traditionellen Death/Grind mit Elektronik
vermischen. Dabei kommt ziemlich abgefahrener Industrial Metal heraus,
den ich so noch nicht gehört habe. Der Death/Grind ist im Laufe der
Jahre einer experimentellen, extremen und avantgardistischen Spielweise
gewichen. Enter The Dagobah Core ist ein sehr rasantes,
lebendiges, komplexes sowie bewegliches Album, auf dem nicht nur die
elektronische Komponente für jede Menge Aufruhr sorgt.
Der Anteil an elektronischen Klängen, Veränderungen, Bearbeitungen und
Samples ist sehr hoch, und es wird selbstverständlich ein Drumcomputer
verwendet. Dieser hört sich sehr gut programmiert an und passt perfekt
zur Musik. Denn auch die Saiteninstrumente sowie der überaus
facettenreiche Gesang klingen oft steril, kalt und mechanisch. Es gibt
überaus viele Riffs zu hören, die manchmal extrem abstrakt und
technisch sind, gerade am Anfang des Albums gibt es viele schwierige und
sehr lebhafte Melodien zu hören, was durchaus auch sehr chaotisch
wirken kann. Diese stete Beweglichkeit ist ein wesentliches Merkmal des
Albums. Stillstand oder Eingängigkeit gibt es auf dem Album nicht, es
ist immer etwas in Bewegung, ständig gibt es Veränderungen und
Wandlungen. Und wenn dies dann auch noch mit eigenwilligen, sehr
abstrakten Melodien einhergeht, braucht man schon etwas Zeit, um in die
akustische Welt von Enter The Dagobah Core einzutauchen.
Mich erinnert die Musik ab und zu an Traumatic Voyage,
ob der psychotischen und überaus bizarren Kompositionen und
Arrangements. Auch wenn der elektronische Anteil, der Industrial, bei Umbah
hoch ist, sind es aber auch die vielen Stimmen, die dem Album ihre
besondere Atmosphäre verleihen. Es gibt unverzerrte Stimmen ebenso zu hören
wie mannigfaltig verzerrte Stimmen, die über Deathgrind bis hin zum
Black Metal reichen. Unterm Strich bleibt sehr vielfältiger und
experimenteller Industrial Metal, der sowohl sehr schnelle und extreme
Parts als auch tanzbare elektronische Passagen enthält. Um überhaupt
in den Genuss von Umbah kommen zu können, muss man in
jedem Fall experimentellen und modernen Metal sowie Elektronik mögen,
ansonsten ist es sinnlos, sich hiermit zu beschäftigen. Mir gefällt Enter
The Dagobah Core jedenfalls, vor allem, weil mir die zahlreichen düsteren
Industrial-Arrangements gefallen, die manchmal an elektronische Musik
der 80iger und 90iger erinnern - womit Umbah nebenbei
auch noch Moderne mit Retro verbindet.
[7 out of 10]
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METALLUS
Review by Alekos Capelli
Il solo-project Umbah,
animato dal chitarrista inglese Cal Scott, è uno strano ibrido fra
metal estremo e suoni elettronici, un pò come se Strapping Young Lad,
Cephalic Carnage, Marilyn Manson e gli Eiffel 65 fossero finiti nello
stesso frullatore intergalattico.
Fortunatamente la componente death/grind
è comunque quella preponderante, ed è svolta anche piuttosto bene. Non
c’è per altro da stupirsi, visto che gli Umbah sono in giro dal 1990,
e hanno totalizzato già ben tredici uscite. A dispetto della sua lunga
militanza underground, “Enter the Dagobah Core” sarà solo il
secondo album degli Umbah ad avere una promozione e una distribuzione ad
ampio raggio (dopo “Trilobeth”, 2010), in virtù del contratto
siglato con la piccola ma intraprendente I, Voidhanger Records.
L’approccio di base del progetto, a
causa della sua natura solista, è essenzialmente do-it-yourself, e vede
Scott impegnato, oltre che con la sua fida BC Rich Warlock, con un sacco
di effettistica e strumentazione elettronica (synth, drum-machine).
Già dalle prime note questo “Enter the Dagobah Core” mostra tutta
la sua componente sci-fi, attraverso il continuo ricorso a filtri ed
effetti che costruiscono un’atmosfera spaziale e aliena (cfr. il
bell’artwork, opera di J.L. Phlegeton). Le diverse suggestioni
prodotte da questo caleidoscopio sonoro sembrano quasi descrivere un
commento musicale estremo alla guida intergalattica per autostoppisti di
Douglas Adams, per il loro modo molto naìf di unire partiture
violentissime e veri e propri freak-show sonori, a base di rumorismi ed
effetti acustici analog.
Nelle tredici tracce di questa
corposa tracklist c’è spazio un po’ per tutto, dalle granitiche
bordate death di “Bolderok Naron”, “Dr. Geiger” e “Serokate
Fornion” a brani mutevoli e imprevedibili come “Temple Bar” e
“Hypnotic Implant”, per segnalare le tracce più convincenti.
Il songwriting di Cal Scott è a dir poco eterogeneo, inanellando senza
sosta e senza problemi, strutture apparentemente inconciliabili fra
loro, come chitarre iper-compresse e distorte e sample 8-bit, growl e
voci melodiche. Anche a livello ritmico si assiste a una grande varietà,
fra bpm alla velocità della luce e rallentamenti pachidermici.
C’è da segnalare anche la presenza di qualche filler (la title-track,
“Cosmic Garland”, “Oberon Tales”), mascherato da composizione più
atmosferica/ambient, o comunque imitante soluzione già sfruttate in
corso d’opera, caratteristica che abbassa il livello di adrenalina e
rallenta eccessivamente l’ascolto di un disco che altrimenti
scorrerebbe davvero molto bene. A parte questa piccola sbavatura, che
sarebbe per altro stata facilmente rimediabile, con una cernita più
rigorosa e sintetica dei brani da presentare, il nuovo disco degli Umbah
è un ascolto monto interessante e altamente competitivo.
Davvero assurdo come un musicista dalle qualità così palesi e
consistenti, sia riuscito solamente in tempi recenti, dopo più di una
decina d’uscite in altrettanti anni, a ottenere una qualche forma di
ufficialità e disponibilità. Ma, come si suol dire, meglio tardi che
mai!
[7 out of 10]
An independent division of
ATMF
