Julie Laughs Nomore – From the Mist of Ruins (Vile Music, 2001)

I don’t recall exactly how I discovered long-defunct melodic death metal quintet Julie Laughs Nomore; it could have been while traveling down a Metal Archives rabbit hole, or perhaps perusing a random list of melodic death metal albums on Rate Your Music. Struck by their weird-ass band name (I’m not a big Candlemass fan so I had no idea that’s where they got it from), I went to check them out on YouTube and was blown away by what I heard. After much digging, I found a CD copy of their second album From the Mist of the Ruins for a ridiculously reasonable price and it has been one of my favorite melodic death metal albums ever since.

If you’ve never heard From the Mist of the Ruins, I’ll start by saying that Julie Laughs Nomore possess a sound that should have made them huge. Combing sweeping, epic guitar melodies and devastating straight-up death metal passages with a light yet zesty sprinkle of heavy/power metal influence and just a dash of black metal, the band did much to separate themselves from the hordes of melodeath bands that flooded the market from the mid-nineties to the mid two-thousands. I can only assume that the misfortune of being signed to a series of fly-by-night micro labels hampered their ability to get the attention they deserved; I’m sure the oddball band name and rather hideous album art probably didn’t help matters.

Whatever the case, the album is one of the true hidden gems of early 2000s extreme metal thanks not only to Julie Laughs Nomore’s unique approach to melodeath, but also due their expert craftsmanship. These guys were excellent songwriters and musicians, which makes it absolutely criminal that songs such as “Children of the Empty Cross” “Bringer of Misery” and “From the Mist of the Ruins” have still yet to be heard and embraced by a larger audience. From the exquisite riffage to the highly varied vocal approach that features everything from higher-pitched rasps, to low growls, to rough-around-the-edges cleans that somewhat recall Emperor-era Ihsahn, every element of From the Mist of the Ruins is meticulously placed and perfectly executed.

While the band’s musical chops and knack for great melodies are certainly key to the album’s success, one the greatest aspects of From the Mist of the Ruins is the fact that Julie Laughs Nomore aren’t afraid to put the death in melodic death metal. Whereas many bands of the era were far more concerned with the melodic side of things, Julie Laughs Nomore were more than capable of bringing the brutality, as on the aforementioned “Children of the Empty Cross;” the ultra-heavy passage that kicks off at the 01:53 mark accompanied by dueling death growls is enough to cave in the skulls of most mortals. On the back half of the album “Lords of Pleasure” begins with hefty chromatic chugging before morphing into speedy tremolo riffs, with some of the album’s most wicked vocals tying it all together. These are just a few examples of Julie Laughs Nomore at their heaviest; rest assured that similar moments are found throughout From the Mist of the Ruins, making for an album that’s both catchy and crushing.

Produced and engineered by Jonas Kjellgren (Scar Symmetry, The Absence, Centinex), From the Mist of the Ruins sounds great; guitars and vocals dominate the mix with the drums and bass playing a supporting role, which makes perfect sense for a band who’s two greatest strengths are stellar guitar-work and a multi-pronged vocal attack. If there is one gripe to be had, it’s that the bass drum could use a little more oomph, but aside from that, Kjellgren’s production work here is as masterful as the band’s writing and playing, emphasizing everything that makes From the Mist of the Ruins such a stellar slab of melodic death metal.

Sadly, Julie Laughs Nomore never got their due while they were an active band and it doesn’t seem as if they’re going to get the reappraisal they so desperately deserve anytime soon. It’s a damn shame too, because From the Mist of the Ruins is far more deserving of a deluxe reissue than roughly 99.9% of the crummy third and fourth tier OSDM albums that get such extravagant treatment. I guess it’s a case of those who know, know for the time being, but at least maybe the five people who read this review will become new fans of one of the most underrated melodic death metal albums in the multiverse.

Interview: YE GOAT-HERD GODS

It’s been two long years since THKD featured any interviews; perhaps due to laziness on my own part, or perhaps because I hadn’t heard any new bands that intrigued me enough to seek them out for an interrogation.  But from the moment I heard Ashes Shall Be Made of Them, the second album from Canadian death-dealers Ye Goat-Herd Gods, I knew that I wanted to dig deeper.  Having struck up a correspondence with guitarist/songwriter Jeanie Keebler over the course of reviewing the album, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to pick her brain.  She graciously agreed and in the process revealed to me a story that’s as much about staring death in the face and overcoming adversity as it about simply loving heavy metal.  Read on as the mastermind behind Ye Goat opens up about the making of the album and beyond.

THKD’s Top 100 Metal Albums #3: Soilwork – Natural Born Chaos (Nuclear Blast, 2002)

My first exposure to Swedish melodic death metal quintet Soilwork was 2001’s A Predator’s Portrait. It’s a great album in its own right, but it’s also a transitional one; the band were still striving to define the sound that would eventually become their signature, moving into groovier, more melodic territory and allowing Bjorn “Speed” Strid to make use of his phenomenal clean vocals. A fine step in the right direction to be sure, but it was with the Devin Townsend-produced Natural Born Chaos that Soilwork hit the jackpot, creating a style they’d more or less stick to for the rest of their career, influencing legions of imitators and becoming one of the most successful bands to emerge from the incredibly fertile Scandinavian melo-death scene.

There are many elements that make Natural Born Chaos a masterpiece, but the most important is obviously Soilwork’s now patented songwriting approach; groovy verses with growled vocals followed by anthemic, clean vocal choruses that demand to be sung along with and worm their way into your skull for a lifetime. The band follow this formula for damn near every track on Natural Born Chaos, but they’re so damn good at it that things never get tedious or tiresome. The craftsmanship on display here is absolutely off the charts, making for an album that’s memorable front to back; from the raging opener “Follow the Hollow” to the incendiary choruses of “The Flameout” and “Mindfields” to the ridiculously catchy “Blackstar Deceiver,” Soilwork are in top form for the duration of the album’s forty-two minute run-time.

This set of topnotch songs is powered by topnotch performances. The guitar tandem of Peter Wichers and Ola Frenning is the absolute best the band ever had; whether unleashing pummeling, thick ‘n’ chunky rhythms or sleek melodic lines, Wichers and Frenning are the true sonic architects of Natural Born Chaos. They’re bolstered by drummer Henry Ranta and bassist Ola Flink, who’s thunderous, driving rhythm work supplies the foundation for the guitarists to work their melo-death magic. Sven Karlsson’s keyboards are almost always lurking in the background, but they fill out the band’s sound adding layers of atmosphere and subtle textures that take the songs to the next level.

What more can be said about Bjorn Strid? He’s simply one of the best vocalists in modern metal and Natural Born Chaos is arguably the finest vocal performance of his career. Equally adept at growling and crooning (not to mention just about all points in-between), Strid’s voice sounds powerful and confident throughout the album, setting an impossibly high bar for every extreme metal vocalist that would follow over the course of the next decade. In short, his performance cements the album as an all-time classic.

Soilwork would continue to hone their craft for the next twenty years, losing most of their grit in favor of an increasingly streamlined, almost poppy sound that would garner them even more mainstream attention, but would ultimately lose me as a fan. But regardless of their trajectory, Natural Born Chaos remains an album that hasn’t stopped popping into my head on the regular since I first heard it back in 2002. By transcending their humble melodic death metal beginnings, Soilwork managed to create something that still sounds as fresh now as it did all those years ago and proves that great songwriting is timeless, no matter the genre.

Soilwork official website

Read other entries in THKD’s Top 100 Metal Albums