Album Review: High Council – Cruel and Unusual (Self Released)
Riff heavy, melodic metallers High Council are back with their second full length, titled Cruel and Unusual, set for release on the 11th of April.
Hailing from Southern New Jersey comes High Council, an interminable force with one foot in Hell and the other crushing the throat of mediocrity. For years, High Council has been bludgeoning its loyal fans with ferocious epics of riff-fueled melodic metal delivering five studio EPs and a full length album. As well as that they have worked hard impressing audiences at venues all around the greater northeastern United States, consolidating their power in the Philadelphia area. Now, with the release of Cruel and Unusual, High Council seeks to spread their madness to the rest of the world.
Not a band to reside in a specific genre, High Council are labelled as being for fans of bands as differing as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Tool, Blind Guardian, Dark Forest and Gatekeeper, dabbling in genres like Heavy Metal, Traditional Metal, NWOTHM, Epic Doom and more. All connected by the one most important hing – heavy riffs and heavy metal.
Cruel and Unusual features eight new tracks and represents the culmination of the years the band has spent honing their performance and songwriting skills. Cruel and Unusual is dedicated to the memory of High Council’s brother-in-arms, Charles Carrado III. The band are also keen to ensure listeners understand that:
Cruel and Unusual contains 100% Human Generated artwork and music. Support Human Artists.
High Council is Bob Saunders on guitars and vocals, Steve Donahue on guitars and vocals, Lou DiDomenico on bass and keyboards and Greg “Wolfman Vegas” McKeever on drums.
Kicking things off with the title track, Cruel and Unusual, it doesn’t take long for me to feel comfortable and bedded in with High Council’s sound. Being the first time I think I have listened to these guys, I don’t know what to expect but the traditional sounding guitars, solid riffing and drums feels relatable. Vocals are strong, bringing a hard rock vibe to their delivery with elements of that traditional sound. Solid harmonising adds depth to the strong, singalong chorus and we have some really infectious guitar melody. It’s a strong start that gets stronger with Routed in the Wood (By Eldlings and Brackenguard) which really shows how multi genre High Council are.
The solid heavy metal start of the opener is left behind in a song that opens with a gorgeously sung folk intro. The metal drops and we have a combination of power metal and epic doom in a powerful song that hits hard with big riffs in it’s slower tempo. Keyboards take over for a piece adding a disconcerting layer of folk melody that creates a touch of atmosphere and a solid and suited solo elevates things further. As the song enters it’s final chapter, the pace and intensity picks up to more of a NWOBHM style with heightened vocals and a bit more edge and emphasis on all instruments. The final treat from the epic journey of a track comes with an absolutely phenomenal solo. I feel like I have just listened to a whole album in this one song.
To From Whence hits us with a short thrashy track that will fire up pits and get heads and necks working. Strong drums, bassy riffs and gang vocal shouts in the chorus all add fire and fury to this little ripper of a track. I do think the vocals suffer aren’t quite as strong here – maybe they just have less to do, but you feel that you get a lot more range and power on the bigger genre bending tracks. They aren’t bad, nothing is bad here, they are just suffering a bit as this song comes directly after a song where so much variety and creativity was on offer. It’s still an enjoyable track though and is sure to be a banger in the live environment.
Time for another change in style with Schwarzschild Radius. Gentler melody leads us in with nicely sung vocals. There is a touch of epicness, of grandiosity, to the intro which gets backed up when the gentler touches drop and we get a slam of heavy riffs, booming drums and elevated vocals. Drops back down to melody, then transitions into heavier stuff add excitement and a dollop of melodrama. I’m a big fan of the bass leading the transition into a rolling thunder/stampede section which is just perfect. The riffs and drums roll and force movement before the lead guitars take over and treat us to a soaring and extended solo that will have you dusting off that air guitar. The drop then back into softer melody leads us out in gorgeous fashion closing a masterful track.
Cruel and Unusual continues with Liberator. This track was written by High Council and Chris Haring, and also contains a lyrical excerpt from The Liberator, originally published January 1, 1831 by William Lloyd Garrison. The traditional feeling is prominent here with very catchy melody, punchy riffs and pacy drums. I like how the vocal passages are punctuated by short solos and the chorus is catchy, really well sung and packs really strong harmonising. Speaking of harmonies, the vocalists are confident enough to go full acapella for a passage too and still sound great. That signals a change to a darker vibe led by some powerful vocals and expert guitar work. High Council could never be accused of being predictable.
Jackal is up next and at just over 7 minutes long, offers a lot. Darkened melody starts us off with that feeling added to by the soft but threatening opening choral vocals. You feel bedded in, like something important is about to happen. The metal picks up in both volume, tempo and power with chunky bass lines, expert drumming and a dual vocalist performance that earns huge respect. It’s very atmospheric as a track in this style, though that atmosphere is one of despair and despondence. The dual guitar harmonising solo is fire but rather than add any light actually makes things feel even closer to the cliff edge – that’s well written. I like the vocal switch up to a higher pitch too, again it just elevates the tension. High Council have delivered a really clever, and really well written song here.
We approach the end of this epic journey with the penultimate track, Plaguebringer 2025. A song that comes with additional lead guitars written and performed by Dino DiDomenico. Another long one, at near 8 minutes, it is a huge track that is packed full of what I now know as High Council’s standard level of variety and creative genius.
A gentle melodic intro with softened vocals lead us in before the riffs transport us towards that epic doom sound. I really like the lead guitar in the softer sections and how it tracks the vocals line. Strong chorus vocals lead us into our first phenomenal solo/instrumental section packed full of different phases, meaty riffs and exciting drums. The chorus comes back, then we head into a section where the vocals are layered, but the second layer comes just after the first. I’m sure there is probably a name for this trick but I don’t know what it is. I do know that I absolutely love it though, just as I love the next solo that takes over and leads us to the end of this mammoth epic.
Sadly Cruel and Unusual must come to an end though and does so with the track Wildspace. It’s another really cool song and shows some more ideas and creativity delivering a full instrumental. Played at pace with basically a collection of riffs, drums, bass and lead guitars just going to town but led by some hyped up synth lines as the spine throughout, it’s a strong song, but probably not the strongest closer. Placed elsewhere on the album, for me, would make more sense. I just feel with albums like this you want that last taste to be something you can savour and unless you write Orion, no instrumental will leave as lasting an impression as say, ending on Plaguebringer 2025, or one of the many other masterpieces on this album.
I don’t want to leave this review with even the hint of a negative though because High Council deserve praise for Cruel and Unusual. An album that thrills and excites consistently throughout. The band showcase a diverse range of talents, ability and ideas and deliver an album that is “unusual” but in the best possible way. An album that you will go back to, time and time again, uncovering more and more as you do.
Preorder the excellent Cruel and Unusual from High Council on Bandcamp, here.
Tracklist:
1. Cruel and Unusual
2. Routed in the Wood (By Eldlings and Brackenguard)
3. To From Whence
4. Schwarzschild Radius
5. Liberator
6. Jackal
7. Plaguebringer 2025
8. Wildspace
High Council Links
Bandcamp – Facebook – Instagram – YouTube
Author
High Council - Cruel and Unusual (Self Released)
By Artist: High Council
Album name: Cruel and Unusual
-
The Final Score - 9/10
9/10
