Thomas V Jäger - Iron Nights (Album Review)

Release Date: November 17th 2023. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Iron Nights - Tracklisting

1.Side By Side 02:41

2.From One To Another 04:28

3.I'm Losing My Mind 04:36

4.No Doubt About It 02:53

5.Cold Blue Sun 03:29

6.It's Been A While 04:01

7.Light Of Yesterday 04:15

8.Weigh Me Down 04:17

Members

Thomas V Jäger

Guest Musicians

Peter Scherman / drums on Side By Side

Anders ”Pompe” Jacobson / drums on From One To Another & The Light Of Yesterday

Isa Jaeger Berglund / Vocals on It’s Been A While

Nicklas Hellqvist / Bass on The Light Of Yesterday

Review

Thomas V Jäger from Doom Metal Titans MONOLORD returns with his new album Iron Nights and it’s his second solo album release of the year following April 2023’s Foliage. This is another collection of spellbinding tunes where Thomas delves into areas of Psych Rock, Blues Rock and Classic Rock which has moments of melancholic moments of Doom Rock and Stoner Rock. This is quite a different journey compared to Foliage with Thomas offering a more heartfelt sound which draws heavily upon the 1970’s Prog Rock scene with its flashes of intricate Psych Folk sounds.

Opening track Side By Side is a varied style of different musical themes with the song exploring Semi-Acoustic grooves that merge into areas of Folk, Blues, Psych and slightly more aggressive Stoner jams which setup the main creative nucleus of the whole album. Despite the short running time of the track Thomas covers a lot of ground on this track which is quite progressive in its own way. The song has the mellow trademark vocal tones from Thomas which adds a friendly atmosphere and easy-going attitude that makes the album more easier to fully get on board with.

The second song From One To Another is a gloomy and emotionally charged track that drifts form semi-acoustic rock to mind-expanding 1970’s trippy Prog Rock which soon brings a more emotional performance from Thomas with the Folk-ish trappings of the song. The song is quite melodic which becomes quite heavier when the full-on electric guitars appear that thrust the song into the 1980’s arena of Classic Hard Rock before the music mellows out with soft Ambient tones.

Third song I'm Losing My Mind is mostly driven by Post-Doom themes with echoes of Psych Stoner Rock with moments of MONOLORD inspired gloominess within the solitary acoustic guitars. The track impresses mostly with the minimal vocal performance from Thomas that reminds me of certain classic tracks of THE WHO in places. One of the standout tracks on the album and perhaps one of my favourite individual tracks that Thomas has created to date. 

Fourth song No Doubt About It is an upbeat Blues Rock/Classic Rock number that has a more AOR or Soft Country Rock approach which I didn’t expect but it’s superbly played and a direction I wouldn’t expect to hear from Thomas. The vocals are calm, passionate and quite loud when they need to be with superbly written lyrics that have a loving and easy-going drive that will leave you with a nice warm glow inside you.

The second half of the album sees Thomas venture further into the different musical genres he’s created for this album with moments of Bluegrass starting to appear within the weirdly addictive fifth track Cold Blue Sun. Though, there’s still a wide range of fantastic sounding Classic Hard Rock sounds that blends the Acoustic and Electric styles of music to more magical sounds and extended grooves on other cool tracks such as It’s Been A While, Light Of Yesterday and Weigh Me Down.

Thomas had delved into his love and appreciation for the 1970’s Music scene where he brings so many different musical styles for an album that’s deeply warm-hearted and superbly engaging throughout. Iron Nights is another superb solo release from Thomas V Jäger which is also perhaps his most experimental and personal solo effort yet.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

BandCamp | Instagram

Thomas V Jager - Foliage (Album Review)

Release Date: April 20th 2023. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Foliage: Tracklisting

I Hope It's Black

Cold

Like A Storm

Sea Of Green

On YOur Own

Nocturnal Vision

When I Call Your Name

To Feel Alright

Review

The voice of Monolord, Thomas V Jäger returns with his second solo album Foliage and almost three years after his celebrated debut. The album follows the same creative path as that album with Thomas playing a style of Acoustic Doom, Folk Rock and Blues Rock with subtle hints of Stoner or Weedian themes heard within both the music and lyrics that Thomas has written for this album.

The vocals are more emotional and organic for this record compared to Thomas's work for Monolord. It's great to see Thomas adding eerie Psychedelic Sounds throughout the album and playing a wonderful sideline in Acoustic Doomed Out Rock with subtle Classic Rock influences. There are some beautiful and emotionally heavy parts of this album where Thomas does bare out his soul early on the record on such songs as I Hope It's Black, Cold and Like A Storm.

There's guest appearances from musicians such as Ryan Gut (STONER and Brant Bjork), Hasse Nyman, Isa Jäger Berglund, Ryan Lee and Esben Willems (Monolord) who all make this album a richer experience whenever they appear. Though, it's Thomas’s wonderfully diverse creative talents that make this album truly work. Even when the heavy WEEDIAN sounds move from semi-acoustic to full on Electric Rock. 

The songwriting is immense and some songs do have that classic MONOLORD energy within the background when the heavier moments appear. Foliage is mostly laid-back with a sweet-natured attitude but expect some catchy bouts of Hard Rock heaviness which gives this album a more atmospheric nature you wouldn't expect.

Standout tracks include: Like A Storm,  Sea Of Green, On Your Own and To Feel Alright.

Foliage is a super-fresh and down to earth release from a wonderfully gifted musician, singer and songwriter who I hope releases more groovy and interesting solo albums as this more often. Though, Thomas's time with Monolord may hamper these wishes but Foliage is an excellent album that oozes class from start to finish.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

BandCamp | Instagram

Thomas V Jäger - A Solitary Plan (Album Review)

Release date: July 24th 2020. Label: RidingEasy Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

A Solitary Plan – Tracklisting

A Solitary Plan.
Creature Of The Deep.
It's Alright.
From The Ashes
The Drone.
Goodbye.
The Bitter End.

Review

A Solitary Plan is the debut full length album from Monolord frontman Thomas W Jäger and I was quite surprised when this album was originally announced. As I thought Thomas would be too busy conquering the world of Doom Metal with the critically acclaimed band and after their recent album that was released via Relapse Records

This album sees Thomas take a step back in more ways than one. The music is a semi-acoustic style of Folk, Doom Rock, Psych and Stoner Rock grooves and RidingEasy Records are releasing this album who previously Monolord were signed to.

The first thing that grabs you with A Solitary Plan is how emotionally stirring and involving the album can be despite the different style of music that Thomas plays on this album. This is quite a riffier solo offering compared to other solo albums I’ve listened to from WINO and Steve Von Till.

The opening song - A Solitary Plan - has the gloominess that Monolord are known for but this album is definitely it’s own thing with Thomas putting a more sincere and heartfelt vocal performance. The semi-acoustic nature of the album is quite easy to fall in love with and the lyrics whilst emotionally charged are never boring and remain quite grown-up from start to finish. The music easily drifts along from musical hypnotic passage to the next with the gloomy folk vibes holding everything together.

Second song - Creature Of The Deep - opens with a secluded guitar before Thomas appears with his Doom/Folk based vocals leading the way. The Psychedelic nature of the song is quite claustrophobic but it has an eerie dreamlike quality to it all that harks back to the day of 70s Rock. The second half of the song sees a slight Electronica style of music coming into play which adds a more nuanced feel to the song.

Third song - It’s Alright - is easily my favourite song on the album with perhaps the most “Monolord” style song on the album whilst still retaining the semi-acoustic drive of the entire album and the beautifully written lyrics allow Thomas to deliver his best vocal performance on this album. The quietly played guitars are passionate and have real genuine warmth to them.

These 3 songs should give the listener a good picture on what to expect for the rest of the album. Thomas has 4 more songs left to impress folks with and he does with songs such as: From The Ashes, The Drone and The Bitter End. The album allows Thomas to continue his musical journey branching out into different styles of music you wouldn’t expect him to do especially on From The Ashes and The Bitter End.

The whole sound of the album is another highlight with A Solitary Plan sounding crisp and super-fresh in all of the right places. This album will surprise you with some of its heavy moments despite not primarily being a Heavy Rock album.

A Solitary Plan is a masterful album packed with great music and Thomas in fine storytelling form. You don’t have to be a fan of Monolord to enjoy this album. Take this album on it’s own merits and you will be rewarded with a beautifully charged and emotional album.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Andy at Palmer Turner Overdrive and Dave at US/THEM PR Group for the promo. 

You can now buy A Solitary Plan on CD/DD/VInyl via RidingEasy Records now.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp