RINGS OF SATURN

After 2021's "Embryonic Anomaly Remake" the band began implode after guitarist / bassist / keyboardist Lucas Mann threatened long term record label Nuclear Blast with slanderous assaults on the label's reputation. What initiated this remains a mystery however the label was having none of Mann's explosive vitriol and dropped the band like a hot potato. Soon vocalist Ian Bearer jumped ship followed by guitarist Joel Omans and drummer Marco Pitruzzella which pretty much left Lucas Mann as the only founding member. Having no record label MANN decided to release new material independently and completely reinvent the band.

The eponymously released RINGS OF SATURN album has finally risen from the ashes in the middle of 2022 and shockingly takes the project in a completely new world of experimental metal. While the tech death, deathcore and prog metal are still here to be heard, this album deviates significantly from anything from the past in that for a majority of the album's run it drops the metal completely and dabbles in everything from trap EDM and jazz to trip hop and even symphonic orchestrations. Probably quite a shock for those who follow the band considering this is one band that has always delivered an electrifying energetic delivery of deathcore in full fury with the psychedelic and progressive accouterments serving as contrast as opposed to the majority of the musical style.

Another feature that is completely new is that RINGS OF FIRE is now completely instrumental with no vocals to be heard. The result of all these changes amounts to a very bizarre mishmash effect that isn't as bad as it sounds given the complexity of the instrumentation and virtuosic performances but isn't as good as it should be either. Deathcore fans are not known to be the more open-minded and explorative in nature when it comes to the cross-pollinating of disparate musical genres so it comes as no surprise that this one is getting panned big time. Yeah, pretty much everything the band had developed in its career is mostly gone. No more themes of extraterrestrial civilizations and outer space sagas. No more vocals, no more energetic fury. This sounds like a completely new band because it basically is.

Whatever happened between Mann and Nuclear Blast has resulted in Mann getting the raw end of the deal. Was it a dispute over creative license or something more childish? Whatever the case this new direction from RINGS OF SATURN is an interesting one but not well executed in the least. This really sounds like an artist stumbling over itself to find a new direction to head. The music equivalent of throwing spaghetti on the wall to see what will stick. All in all i can't say this is a totally bad release if taken on its own terms but it's not really a memorable one either. Even the hardcore death metal and core elements have been neutered. This album really sounds like a lost puppy trying to find its home. Something tells me this one is leading it straight to the humane society. Too bad. A Bay Area cult legend is no more. R.I.P.

2.5 rounded down

Ultu Ulla is one of their studio albums. Released in 2017, it has all the things that were listed above. The only way you can truly experience this band is by listening to their albums all the way through, a difficult task for someone who never listens to the heavier side of progressive metal. For an idea, if Opeth is the heaviest progressive metal band you listen to, you won't even have a chance with this band. They are that heavy. This album in particular has acoustic guitar, and even some melody at some points throughout, hard to believe, isn't it?

Like I said before, the only way to experience Rings of Saturn is to hear one of their albums all the way through. If you can get through even the first song, you will be amazed at the bands sound and the members technical skill on their instruments. Pretty good playing, considering the members are still very young. For the heavy progressive metal fans only.

One such band is RINGS OF SATURN that formed in the San Francisco / Oakland / San Jose suburb of Dublin, CA in 2009 as a studio only project by Lucas Mann (guitar, bass, keyboards), Brent Silletto (drums) and Peter Pawlak on vocals who were only ages 16 to 18 and still in high school at this point. While the band would expand its lineup, it was this core trio who wrote and recorded this debut album EMBRYONIC ANOMALY which emerged the following year. This debut, the only album to feature Pawlak on vocals before his departure pretty much set the stage for the band's growing popularity in this field of extreme metal. With lyrics based on extraterrestrial life and outer space, RINGS OF SATURN crafted a unique hybridization of deathcore and progressive metal along with the more astute virtuosic wizardry associated with technical death metal.

While many such deathcore albums can be a noisy affair which is what true metalheads like them for, more often than not many bands can also fall into the sea of mediocrity with no redeeming features to help them stand out from the excessive crowded club. No such case with RINGS OF SATURN on EMBRYONIC ANOMALY as this band found a few ways of standing out from the getgo. While the band cranks out all the expected death metal rampaging guitar riffs with incessant blastbeats bantering away along with beastly guttural growls, these guys also make ample use of silence with staccato palm muted riffing as well as technical soloing and angular time signature assaults that add a touch of brutal prog to the already caustic metal ambush. There are also moments of jazzy interludes that bring tech jazz-metal wizards like Atheist to mind at key moments but mostly these guys manage to weave a noisy tapestry of dissonant deathcore angst with enough varying elements to make this is pleasant experience for my ears.

At times this band has some seriously mathcore-ish chops and remind me of Psyopus with guitar wizardry whizzing up and down the fretboard while other times guitar stomps punctuated by silence offer brief moments of reflection on the incessant stampede of freneticism that sounds impressive considering this is a mere trio of high school kids! Many of the neoclassical guitar solos mixed with the death metal aspects reminds me a bit of Necrophagist but the metalcore breakdowns keep this from sputtering out in that direction. I'm impressed by Pawlak's vocals as well as he manages to venture beyond the one-dimensionality of guttural growls and provides some serious screams that have some octave range. There are a few atmospheric moments that make use of the keys but mostly this is a metal moshpit inducing eruption of energetic overflow. Deathcore is one of those styles of metal that you either love or hate and by adding progressive elements may make some hate it even more but i'm quite impressed with this debut by RINGS OF SATURN as it has a dizzying display of youthful angst with the unexpected depth of more seasoned professionals.

In the case of "Rings of Saturn", a Tech/Extreme Prog Metal band formed in 2009, I decided to give them a go after seeing them on Tapfret's favorites list of 2019. We seem to like a lot of the same things, so I thought I would try out their new album "Gidim", released in October of 2019. The cover looks more like a psych/space band piece of cover art, which I also found intriguing. The album is made up of 10 tracks and has a run-time of 43 minutes. The line up for this album consists of the trio of Ian Bearer on vocals, Lucas Mann on guitars, bass, keyboards and synths, and Joel Omar on guitars. There are also 3 guest vocalists that appear on 3 separate tracks. The album is also available in a "Ghost Edition" which has instrumental versions of all of the tracks.

I was a bit surprised to see that no one has ever done a written review on the band in the Archives, so there was really nothing to go on as far as that goes. One thing that is quite obvious is that out of the original line-up, only Lucas Mann remains. However, Joel Omar was brought on early on in order to begin touring, so I suppose that would make him an original member. Ian Bearer was also brought on for vocals on the 2nd album in 2014, so as far as the remaining trio goes, they have been working together for 5 years.

So, bringing my prejudices for the genre into the experience, yet trying my best to keep an open mind, I delved into the experience. Beginning with "Pustules" with Charles Caswell (from "Berried Alive") as a guest vocalist, the music comes barreling forward at full volume, full extreme sound and growling vocals. The music, however, has some nice layers of chaotic guitar and keys, which breaks up the wall of noise a bit, and the riffs are definitely unique and interesting. I can't get over the fact that the vocals sounds like barking dogs, but other than that, it's not too bad. I like the chaotic interplay between the guitar and synths. "Divine Authority" doesn't tone anything down, but it does barrel itself at you with a vengenance, amping up the thrash sound and destroying all of the surrounding air molecules around you with abandon. Those vocals are unrelenting, but the progressive side of the music is at 100 percent craziness.

On Hypodermis Glitch, Dan Watson (from "Infant Annihalator") does some guest vocals and sounds like Gollum's baby child against Ian's deathly growls. "Bloated and Stiff" makes you think that the album is going to just be unrelenting chaos and noise, but as it gets around the 2 minute mark, and at the end, there is a bit of a reprieve, even though the sound is dark and dissonant. "Tormented Consciousness" features another guest vocalist Yo Onityan, who temporarily sat in for Mann to play guitar for Rings of Saturn in 2018.

The album continues on and continues to play at full noise and chaos levels all the way through. Of course the musicianship is awesome, but its just way too unrelenting for my own tastes. The vocals remain dirty all the way through the album, and that is also a drawback for me. If you love the djent and technical sounds of extreme metal, then this is for you. It's not for me though, but I still have to rate it. Since I don't hear anything really that stands out from the fray, I have to go with 3 stars, as it just seems like average extreme metal to me. But my ears are not attuned to the genre, so take that however you want. If you love this music, then please review it so that my rating doesn't necessarily reflect the album's average if it is non- deserving, but it is too hard for me to say, as I am not an expert at this type of noise and chaos that never lets up and that moves too quickly for my old brain to keep up with. But, I at least gave it a try.