Hate - Awakening Of The Liar

Hate is a Polish death metal band that has the misfortune of being popular enough to release albums on a steady basis but not being notable enough to attract decent attention. I actually have a lot memories attached to this band for some obtuse reason. I vividly remember discussing their (then) latest album (Awakening of the Liar) on now defunct DarkLyrics forums. I also remember downloading their songs from their homepage with my shitty 56k modem and so on. They even came to play in my hometown but by then I was heavily into noise and power electronics so I didn't really care to see them at that point in time (2008-2009). I heard they were really bad live though.

Their career sadly isn't all that great. After a bit of an rocky start they had a string of solid, melodic yet sufficiently heavy albums but later on they had an identity crisis in which they were trying really hard to be Behemoth. Their latest album came out in 2015 and it seemed like a return to form when I heard it so things are picking up for them I guess. Of the albums I like from them I think this is my favorite one and I feel like their style shines the most here. Every other album has some kind of problem which prevents it from being really great but it seems like everything was in its rightful place when they recorded this one.

The album is essentially a packed tremolo riff ride through the valley of death metal. The songs are written to be catchy, headbangy affairs and general crowd pleasing riffs and solos. Most follow a similar style in composition focused on well written aforementioned tremolo riffs with breakdown-ish parts that separate them. The band has a great sense of pacing so it never gets overwhelming or boring, they never dwell on one riff too much which makes them sound fresh on each new track.

Overall it's a great little (hidden?) gem from Poland. It's a shame this band gets constantly overshadowed by bands like Decapitated and such but I guess not everyone can be a winner.

Get it.

Pharoah Sanders - Heart Is A Melody

Sanders is probably the shiniest example of late Coltrane's music. His very intense and aggressive style of playing expertly portrays the intensity of his and Coltrane's music. His early albums are perhaps best received by the jazz community while his latter career is a mixed bag of good and cheesy. Heart is a Melody is a live album recorded in 1983 and it offers one of the greatest renditions of  Olé that wasn't done by Coltrane himself. On this album Olé is a 22 minute behemoth filled with emotions of pain and joy and the longer it goes the more intense it gets culminating in screams by Pharoah near the end. This song alone makes this album absolutely fantastic. Other songs are much more subdued but are fairly serviceable. Some of them are cheesy but if you're in a mood for that positive spiritual jazz you'll probably like it. The only song that I don't like is the rendition of Naima which was disappointingly tame and safe for Sanders standards.

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Archie Shepp & Horace Parlan - Goin' Home

On this album recorded back in 1977 Archie Shepp paired up with a pianist called Horace Parlan to do several notable gospel and spiritual songs. The album is minimal in style, focusing mainly on the saxophone which is highly expressive and often resembles a church singer. Archie Shepp did a wonderful job here and on each track it's evident that they both care deeply about the songs which they're playing. Every note that Shepp blows from his horn is packed with emotion and grit, each passage brings chills down the spine. Horace Parlan to me is the weaker link here as his barrages of crescendos can get gimmicky at times but that is only a minor complaint.

Blissful is probably the most convenient word with which you could describe this whole thing.

Get.

Side note: If you're looking for a similar album but with the piano in focus you should check out "Steal Away - Spirituals, Hymns And Folk Songs" that Charlie Haden did with Hank Jones much later in 1995.