The Rise of the Heraldic Beasts

Jaldaboath is a three-piece band from United Kingdom, they've been around since 2007 and Grand Master Jaldaboath have previously played in The Meads of Asphodel which you can clearly hear, since the band sounds like it could be another album from The Meads of Asphodel or rather, a side project. This band is pretty unique still though, managing to create socalled "Monty Python Metal".

The theme of this band is medieval, you might be able to figure that out a little from the album cover and titles of the songs. Jaldaboath plays a sort of cartoon like kind of metal, Grand Master Jaldaboaths vocals are clean and fun, he goes lower in his voice in some cases though (Bring me the Head of Metatron is an example of that). The guitar sound is heavy, but it is not playing a big role here, it's the the synthesizer, vocals and other crazy instruments. The synthesizer to create a thick and at times chaotic atmosphere along the guitars. It feels like you are in some medieval festival in modern times at times mostly.

The music is heavy, but pretty cheerful. I caught myself laughing while listening to this record, the lyrics are pretty hilarious also. There are examples of some more alternative instruments (considering it's metal) such as blowing instruments, you can hear that in "Bash the Bishop" and "Axe Wielding Nuns", flute is also present in "Seek the Grail" however I suppose they are played on the keyboard since no one in the line up is credited playing any of those instruments. The bass is pretty audible, playing alone along drums and vocals at times, there is an example of that in "Bash the Bishop".

If you like the Meads of Asphodel I would recommend this album to you since it kinda reminds me of them, and I like both of them. If you are into folk music, try this out as well, and if you are looking for something fun, then again, this is something for you. I certainly had fun listening to this album!

With mixed emotions on initial spins, I decided to give 'The Rise of the Heraldic Beasts' a shot while test-running my recent NES purchase of Rampart ($4 CIB!), just so I could really get medieval on this album. You see, Jaldaboath alternately calls their music “Hammering Heraldic Metal”, Crusader-core” or “Tumultuous Teutonic Templar Thrash” (according to Encyclopaedia Metallum) and like one of their main influences, Monty Python, it’s all very silly.

But it’s not like this is a mistake or anything. As an important member in The Meads of Asphodel for years, eponymous mainman Jaldaboath (actual name: James Fogarty) is used to experimenting with heavy music. But there is an odd juxtaposition of sincerity that runs along the goofy tunes, mostly in the sense of not breaking character. Kinda like the album art, which looks inspired by frescoes from the Middle Ages, it’s rather cluttered with lots of clashing ideas that sometimes work but are mostly confusing.

The biggest offender—that blasted keyboard. I have seen many comparisons with Alestorm, and this mostly comes by way of melodic folk injections, plus they likewise hail from the UK. Both groups employ a multitude of synthetic instruments, but they sound especially goofy here. The horns in “Hark the Herald” don’t sound as true as in other places, like “Seek the Grail”, and should not take center stage. There is also lots of repetition for such a short album, especially considering half of it had been written and released a year earlier on the 'Hark the Herald' EP.

I tolerated the pseudo-flute in “Calling on all Heraldic Beasts” much better, as well as the horns that fade more to the background. Here they triumphantly sing of fabled creatures, but in a curious description mode. It gets even stranger about three minutes in, where there is simply, literally, a list: “lion, wyveryn, cockatrice…griffon, dragon, unicorn” (…and isn’t a lion…you know…real?). Two of my favorites from the first half may have trouble with broadcasters, though, as the bass-driven “Bash the Bishop” drops the c-bomb and the slightly blackened “Axe Wielding Nuns” are “claiming fucking skulls”.

The alluded heaviness comes darker on the second half, with the track that boasts the band’s namesake. I believe it uses the “Sally Forth” intro from the EP, which originally came before another leftover from the previous release, “Bring Me the Head of Metatron” (btw, Metatron is the vocalist for The Meads of Asphodel). It feels less playful and more vengeful, which is alright, but it still needs focus. Retain more evil vocals, acquire better synths, but otherwise stay the course. The production on “Jacque DeMolay” and especially album closer “Da Vinci’s Code” are commendable. Even though I think the latter’s lyrics are a load of horse hockey, it is still one of the best-realized songs from Jaldaboath thus far. Overall, 'The Rise of the Heraldic Beasts' is unique, but still best received as novelty.

FCC: 3, 5
Try: 1, 2, 4, 8, 10

Originally written for MindOverMetal.org

The Rise of the Heraldic Beasts is the first album by Jaldaboath, the musical brain behind the first Meads of Asphodel album and their demos. While it contains many elements indicative of his former band’s work, Jaldaboath represents a post-black metal work more heavily dependent on medieval melodies through trumpets and a myriad of keyboard instruments rather than his previous work (which was musically dominated by black metal). Although this album contains many folk elements, it would be a complete error to label it black metal. The best description for this work is simply what Metal-Archives describes it: The Rise of the Heraldic Beasts sounds like what would be produced of Medieval troubadours hung out with James Fogarty with Poxy Boggards and Monty Python writing the lyrics at some point through the nights where both the troubadours and James are too thoroughly wasted to do anything about it.

Before anything substantive is said about this album, it is important to understand that with song titles such as Axe Wielding Nuns, it is almost impossible to even attempt to pretend that this album is meant to be taken seriously. Quite thoroughly, the trumpets at the beginning of Hark the Herald and gang shouts about wasting witches should thoroughly enforce that concept. The Rise of the Heraldic Beasts is a splendid work combing the best elements of black metal riffs and folky medieval music into a blend that can be best described as a happy, joyful, entertaining but with a mild touch of bitterness. There are two parts to this album. The first part represented by Hark the Herald, Calling All Heraldic Beasts, Axe Wielding Nuns and Jaldaboath represent enjoyable songs with silly lyrics heavily leaning to the non-black metal spectrum of music. These songs were written to the tune of medieval melodies and are jammed packed with keyboard work not meant for anyone who cannot musically conjure the idea of silly into their heads. The second part is essentially all the material that appeared on Hark the Herald EP (minus the title track) and represents the darker aspects. Songs such as Jacque De Molay and Bring Me the Metatron don’t just feature aggressive atmosphere and a heavier dependence on electric guitars, but also contain black metal shrieks notably missing from the rest of the album’s songs. Jaldaboath manages to combine contrasting elements weirdly well and it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine him playing at a Renaissance Fair. The lyrics are fun as well. Songs are mostly about doing knightly things in a catchy method. While the lyrics don’t approach the poetic level of Metatron in the Meads of Asphodel, to think of them in any way but complimentarily and addictive would be false.

The only true complaint regarding this release is what seems to be a clear divide between material written for their previous EP and the material solely written for this album. For example, Calling On All Heraldic Beasts is clearly a fun song with clean vocals shouting just as entertaining lyrics but it appears on the same album as Bring Me the Head of Metatron, an overly dark songs (as dark as possible within the flow of the album), but the song shares that in similarity with Jacque De Molay and Seek the Grail. The vocals are now clearly of the black metal discipline, the mood shifts entirely into a more hostile one. While they are certainly excellent songs, the flow of the album is interrupted fatally as it becomes extremely obvious that there are two creative eras joined together in one CD because it’s more impressive to have an album over an EP. The different creative eras aren’t completely alien to each other, but it left me mildly disappointed in the sense I expected a complete album and not a double EP.

Even with the issue of presentation, The Rise of the Heraldic Beasts is a strong effort by Jaldaboath that is completely worthy of a listen. It’s a fun album for a fun time.