I found out a few weeks ago that this famous chef has the same sort of cancer that I had. Normally that wouldn’t be so weird except we’re talking about cancer of the tongue here. Yes, there is such a thing. I really didn’t think it could get more tragic then what happened to me, but they really did it with this guy. A chef. A guy whose whole life is food.
He has no idea what he’s in for either. His cancer is more advanced then mine was, and he’s basically going through a nearly identical treatment regimen. That shit left me ruined in ways I won’t even try to explain because it’s hard for a healthy, normal person to even wrap their naïve little brain’s around that kind of oddball damage.
It’s strange to hear the guy talking about how he’s gonna keep working through treatment. Apparently his restaurant in Chicago is one of the most famous in the country. You see, it’s tragic because in a best-case scenario this dude is gonna lose much of his ability to taste food. In a significantly worse case scenario he’ll lose his ability to eat food completely (and much of his ability to speak as well). The worst case of course is death, which at his staging isn’t uncommon. And he seems to have no idea – like it’s just business as usual while he goes through this minor setback. Total PR.
I thought that too. Figured I’d be in and out of the whole situation in a month or two. Instead it was nearly a year out of my life that completely ruined my health and altered me physically forever. And recovery is just as difficult and takes years, I’m still recovering. And won’t ever fully. That’s not even to speak of the mental anguish and permanent outcast status you achieve.
So I guess my point is, cancer of any kind ain’t no joke folks. But when it’s rare, it’s arguably worse because nobody pays attention to it, there’s no fundraisers, no cute little bracelets to wear, no celeb endorsements or PR campaigns. It’s just you and the system and whatever’s left of you after it’s done. It’s real fuckin life, a kind you’ve never lived. Try to remember that when you’re busy whining about how your boss made you do this or that, or it’s so horrible that some show cost you 10 bucks. Once your health goes, most other shit seems insignificant in comparison.
And with that, we charge forth to ruin…
We lead this month with two releases from the consistently great Profound Lore label. The first of which, Cobalt’s “Eater of Birds” album, is a contender for top album of 2007. Cobalt was previously unknown to me, and I have no idea how they managed to pass under my radar. If given the chance I would have released this record myself. Cobalt hail from Fort Collins, Colorado and currently consists of just two members.
“Eater of Birds” is a 70 minute epic that never gets boring and in fact seems over too soon – how many bands can say that about their 70 minute snoozefest? Stylistically it’s a mash up of Destroyer 666’s war metal blasphemy, Carpathian Forest’s blackened Motorhead steamroller and, of all things, AmRep style repetitive heavy noise rock. Strange formula, but one that works so perfectly for Cobalt.
In the case of several tracks like opener “When Serpents Return”, “Ulcerism” and “Blood Eagle Sacrifice”, they start on the blackened speed tip and then segue to a layered noise rock break that builds and builds until it’s a crashing wall of huge drums and repeated, sped-up (good) Neurosis riffs that lay waste like a jackhammer to a concrete slab. And the best part is, the riffs are memorable and catchy as fuck. You’ll break your neck to some of this stuff.
There’s three sort of different tracks that divide the album up into sections, all called “Ritual Use Of Fire” where Cobalt is free to explore noisy landscapes, some acoustic flourishes and creepy heavy breathing. Even Jarboe lends her pipes on a few of these. They are just slightly longer than they need to be, but do provide a nice respite from the beating one takes on the main tracks.
The more I listen to “Eater Of Birds”, the more I love it – and the best part is, it was a total surprise, I had zero expectation going in and was for some reason expecting something much more syrupy and wimpy. Cobalt also has another earlier record out called simply “War Metal” which was released by Displeased. I’m tracking that down as I write this… Do whatever you need to do to get this one.
Profound Lore also gives us a new album from France’s Alcest, “Souvenirs D’un Autre Monde”. Sounds very romantic and French doesn’t it? Alcest is not really metal at all, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing as certain metal types will get into this – particularly those into mellow gothic doom and also newer shoegaze inspired type shit – two genres I typically detest. With all the bands trudging the My Bloody Valentine waters these days it’s nice to hear something that’s not just a heavy metal bastardization of the sound, but more like a forward-thinking, only somewhat obvious tribute. The mistake of adding in crushing post-rock crescendos is avoided in favor of keeping a purity and innocence (a word used often in describing Alcest) about the music. Where MBV felt sexy and drug-hazed, Alcest has a child-like sentimentality that pre-dates those feelings. Only the slightest embryonic gleam of mainman Neige’s black metal side (he does the killer Peste Noire) ever creeps in as you could imagine some of the passages on a track like “Sur L’autre Rive Je T’attendrai” being rearranged in that context. If you feel like a total simp for listening to the new Jesu album – which you should – pick up “Souvenirs D’un Autre Monde” a far better proposition for the new wave of white light inspired unmetal.
Bloodhorse is a new band with a new release on the Translation Loss label titled EP. Although it’s called EP this is actually about 35 minutes long. This is “stoner rock” played by ex-hardcore people from bands like 454 Big Block, Shelter and even Saves The Day (!?). And with that in mind it’s hard not to see this as a bunch of dudes making inroads into a genre that they have not been involved with long. Theses songs for the most part are bland and rudimentary, utilizing the same riffs that third division stoner bands have been plying for over 10 years. I mean, why not just listen to the first Fu Manchu record instead? There’s more iommijuice in one Al Cisneros bassline then there is on this entire record. It’ll take another album, or even two, for this band to really find their feet I’d imagine.
Today is the Day has a new one out called “Axis Of Eden”. Been a while since I rocked anything by TITD so this one came as kind of a surprise. Gotta admit I think Mr. Austin has lost a step or two over the years. The drum sound on this one is ridiculously bad – the double bass patterns are total typewriter worship. The heaviest parts of this record come off as a more death metal sounding Ministry but with worse production. I wanted to like this record. I have a lot of respect for Steve Austin. Couldn’t make it happen though. I’ll stick with the AmRep stuff. “Axis Of Eden” was self-released on Austin’s Supernova Records.
Also on Austin’s Supernova imprint is Defcon 4 who play angry, noisy post-punk/metal with a vocalist who sounds a helluva lot like Sam McPheeters to my ears – a good thing. No surprise that Born Against is listed as an influence on their web page. The 22 minute album is divided into 4 “acts’ with each act having several different tracks. Those into Unsane might also dig some of what’s going on here. There’s some grindy moments thrown in a well – they cover a lot of ground in a short time. They’ll be touring with Today is the Day and I can imagine they rage live. I don’t like their band name, but I do like the music even if it does make me want to listen to Born Against instead. Strangely when I popped this into my computer it came up as Rage Against The Machine “Fuck Tha Police”.
Dipping into the vaults of obscurity again as I did last month, we gotta look back on the Gehenna album “Seen Through The Veils of Darkness” originally released on the Cacophonous label in the mid 90s or so. Norway’s Gehenna is a black metal band not to be confused with the American band of the same name.
Gehenna has gone through a few stylistic changes during their many albums. The first few albums were early Norse style black metal that incorporated moody synth patterns. Fans of this style often prefer the previous album “First Spell”, but both this album and the next one “Malice”, which started into a more aggressive direction, are worth checking out as well.
“Seen Through The Veils…” starts with the great “Lord Of Flies” beginning with a creepy, demented intro and blasts into a Euronymous style riff, then turns to a slower pace and eventually a killer 80s inspired Venom style riff. There’s weird chanting going on in certain parts as well.
“A Witch Is Born” is kind of a haunted, memorable tune that incorporates mid-paced riffery with buried samples of a witch actually being born. The synth sounds are ever present, and really, synth only sounded OK on a few black metal records, but this one managed to pull it off with out getting too much into Dimmu Borgir style carnival theatrics.
A personal favorite track is the nearly 9 minute “A Myth…” which infuses some jangly death rock guitar parts that almost sound poppy used in the context of a black metal record.
As mentioned previously Gehenna followed up “Seen Through The Veils…” with “Malice” which was the close of the first chapter in their history. The bounced back a few years later, I suppose around 1998 with the relentless onslaught of “Adimiron Black” an album that still stands as an all-time favorite.
“Adimiron Black” left behind any shred remaining of gothic whimsy and synth-based romanticism in favor of full on aggression. Basically it’s like a combination of Slayer’s “South Of Heaven” but much faster and almost death metal in its application of the black metal paradigm.
Opener “The Killing Kind” is total Slayer worship but thankfully incorporates blast beats and far more brutal vocals, yet maintains its Slayerness with catchy hooks and killer choruses. It’s followed by “Deadlights” a nuclear inspired tune that is just total fury in motion. A non-stop barrage of totalitarian riffing that actually sounds like a prelude to a bombraid set to music. “Devil’s Work” is a deadringer for Obituary’s doomed death classic “Slowly We Rot”. Brilliant.
After “Adimiron Black” Gehenna followed it up with “Murder’ which was even more Slayer-esque, yet lacked the punishing death vibe of its predecessor. After that Gehenna disappeared for years until they remerged a few years back with one member left, and recorded a return to black metal in the form of the somewhat lukewarm “WW”. Nonetheless, most of Gehenna’s catalog is well worth checking out with “Seen Through The Veils Of Darkness” and “Adimiron Black”, released by Moonfog, ranking highest.
Sticking with Norwegian obscurity, we get to an album I continue to return to over and over, Hades’ “The Dawn Of A Dying Sun”, released by Full Moon Productions. This is Viking metal, but not the cheesy shit like nowadays. No, this is epic style Bathory worship (think middle period) with some buried Bolt Thrower-esque ugliness here and there. Everything is mid-paced or slower, and the guitars are awash in distorted buzz, making this noisy as hell. Riffs that draw on the folk influence of their home country, yet managing to stay heavy as shit without wimping out. The ten minute “Alone Walkyng” and album opener “Awakening of Kings” could be called standout tracks that best exemplify the Hades style. The low-key Tolkien-inspired “The Red Sun Mocks My Sadness” brings things down a notch with just a sullen flute melody and synth backbone.
Hades would go onto record another few albums, but didn’t ever seem to recapture the grandeur and brilliance they managed on “The Dawn Of A Dying Sun”. Anyone into epic Bathory worship and I’d venture even those into retro-metalcrust like Stormcrow and Sanctum would find something to like here.
That’s it for this month. Don’t Try will be on hiatus next month as I’ll be in the process of moving away. I’ll be back the following month with more metal for your ma’s kettle. Should have a new contact address by then too.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Don't Try #6
I’ve decided that it’s time for me to leave the Bay Area. As great a place as it is, I’ve been living here my whole damn life and the need for a major change of scenery has finally won out over all the things that have kept me here for too long. In early October I’m calling it quits on the Bay and in the spirit of immigration – I’m heading north.
So what lucky place gets to receive me as a new resident alien? For now it’s Olympia, Washington. It’s a completely different, and smaller scene there then what we have in the Oakland / San Francisco area, and that’s exactly what I’m looking for. Plus the dreary skies, tall trees and damp grounds appeal to my uber metal mentality. So, to the other 8 metal guys and gals residing in the more widely known indie/punk enclave; I say, let’s build a new scene and cross the triangle of flames.
What I’ll miss about the Bay is all the great shows we get on a regular basis, even just from the locals, as we have one of the best scenes in the country. I’ll miss many close friends and family as well. Things I won’t miss include the traffic, dense population, high crime, general paranoia, plenty of bad memories and assorted backstabbers and fakes (apologies for the semi 25 Ta Life style reference, bitch).
As for Olympia, it’s clear to me that they need a metal injection up there. Maybe running my label there will help with that. Hopefully I’ll be able to convince more of the dark lord’s bands to come to town. Instead of the International Pop Underground, we’ll try to create the International Harsh Underground, or something. The point is, the Bay Area doesn’t really need me the way Olympia so apparently does, you see? It’s not just about me – I go where I’m needed.
And it’s in Olympia that this month’s album reviews begin. Perhaps the bleakest thing to ever emerge from the city’s borders, Wolves In The Throne Room have seen to fit to bestow upon us their second full length record in the form of ‘Two Hunters’ for the Southern Lord label.
More fully produced and layered then the bands debut album ‘Diadem of 12 Stars’, ‘Two Hunters’ begins with an extended buzzing intro that recalls some of Burzum’s more guitar/ambient moments run through a sort of post-rockish filter. The band espouses anti-modernism and a return to the ways of nature, and even without lyrics, the track musically conveys those ideas effectively.
Things really get going once the second track gets underway as the Wolves kick things into black metal tempos and riff patterns. Clearly the band takes a large influence from some of their Norwegian forbears with early Emperor and Ulver coming particularly to mind. Songs tend to be of the more depressive, melancholy and epic variety. Those looking for raw, necro blackness in the Darkthrone vein should look elsewhere.
Operatic and ethereal female vocals are incorporated in certain places, not in a way that detracts from the music (a mistake many metal bands end up making in an effort to be somehow ‘progressive’ or ‘experimental’) but not necessarily adding a great deal either – it just further affirms the albums bleak mood. Overall a strong second effort from another unique west coast metal band and I look very forward to seeing what they do next time around.
Also coming from the Pacific Northwest, Portland to be exact, is Oakhelm, a band comprised of members of Fall of the Bastards and Wormwood among others. And once again, we have a record firmly rooted in some European metal subgenres but with enough to make it stand out from all the usual clichés that bands of this ilk fall prey to.
On their debut album ‘Betwixt & Between’ Oakhelm are dealing in a Viking metal style that incorporates elements of black metal and death metal, with riffs that could often be played either acoustically or in metallized form. “Of Wood & Blood” starts the proceedings with great, epic riffing straight from the mead hall, an effective memorable chorus and enough speed and vocal venom for those into more aggressive stuff.
It’s followed by the acoustic, female-vocal ‘Skal Shanty’ and then “As The Murder Flies” a tracks that brings to mind a band who trolled these landscapes years ago by the name of Mithotyn. Vocalist/bassist Pete Jay (also drums in Wormwood) has several alternating singing/screeching styles to compliment the different moods, tempos and arrangements. “Maybon Shore” is an acoustic downer complete with rain samples and great viking-folk melodies recalling again Ulver’s acoustic forays on the amazing ‘Kveldssanger’ LP.
‘Betwixt & Between’ is especially recommended to fans of Fall of the Bastards. While not sounding in any way identical to that now defunct band, some of the influence in riffs and drum patterns is there and anyone into the Fall of the Bastards stuff will undoubtedly find a lot to like here. On a label called Forest Moon Special Products.
A band that was before now unknown to me is Avichi whose ‘The Divine Tragedy’ album made its way to me courtesy of NMB Records of Dekalb, Illinois. This is totally premium black metal done in similar style to the stuff being released these days by Ajna except this is better and more effective. Strangely enough this was recorded at Steve Albini’s studio, though was not recorded by the man himself.
Still, this album has a great, dark production value up there with the big boys of the scene like Deathspell Omega, Watain and Glorior Belli. Titles like “Messianic Deliverance”, “Purification Within The Eighth Sphere” and “Taedium Vitae” give you some sense of what you’re dealing with here. The tempo is generally just below blastbeat speed, but with plenty of changes and riff variation to keep things interesting for the more seasoned black metal veteran. Whether or not Avichi will garner respect remains to be seen but this album stands as one of the best in the current crop of American and Euro black metal.
A band I didn’t really want to listen to because of their name, The Fucking Wrath, ponys up with ‘Season of Evil’ an album described by their label, Goodfellow, as a cross between Tragedy, Sabbath and ‘Kill Em All’ era Metallica. So I figured I’d check it out, since I like all that stuff. ‘To the Eels’ starts off sounding like a more polished Anti-Cimex tune then makes a fairly believable transition into a stoner rock style jam before heading back into Swedish Kang territory. The influences mentioned definitely shine through on most of these tracks and are given a modern polishing, and one could imagine these tracks coming off pretty killer in a live setting. With 11 songs in about 26 minutes the album doesn’t overstay its welcome, which after a half hour probably would have worn thin. Ultimately not something I’ll be listening to repeatedly but a lot of you will find something to like here.
That’s about all the new music I managed to get through this month that was actually worth writing about – however there’s still a few things to discuss.
A new issue of Oakenthrone Zine has been released. Oakenthrone is easily the best metal zine in existence right now. Not a glossy style rag at all, this is printed in a very classy style with a black and metallic silver cover, and good quality paper inside at the size of a 7 inch. Printed by 1984 printing in Oakland . Issue #5 has it all people. Sure it takes them the better part of a year to get these done, but what you get is 84 pages of top notch metal writing, illustrations done exclusively for the zine and amazing graphic design work by magazine co-principal Ben West. This new issue features extended interviews with Asunder, Archgoat, Coffins, Moss, Portal, Caina and Cult of Daath among several others. The album reviews are extensive and well-written. This issue also comes with a compilation CD that features all of the bands interviewed including an exclusive KFJC radio recording from Asunder. The magazine doesn’t sell copies direct but many underground metal distros are carrying this as well as some in the know stores so just search online if you can and you’ll find it. You won’t be disappointed.
Now, since we still have some time and space left to deal with here, and no new stuff worthy of getting it, let’s revisit a few overlooked classics from the vault that you may not be aware of, but definitely should be.
First up is Deathwitch from Sweden. Deathwitch began in the 90s and released a string of amazing gnarly Swedish death metal records on the Necropolis label. Band mainman Nicke Terror has also been involved with Runemagick, The Funeral Orchestra and Sacramentum among others – all totally awesome in their own right.
After the Necropolis label took a shit on the band like they did to all their bands, Deathwitch split for a time while Nicke concentrated on other shit, but eventually came back to do our album of choice today ‘Violence, Blasphemy, Sodomy’, the last in a string of cleverly-metal titled albums like “Deathfuck Rituals”, “The Ultimate Death” and “Monumental Mutilations”.
The style here is ultimately most steeply based in Swedeath, but there are occasional flourishes of thrashy black metal in a South American vein. Nihilistic metal mayhem ensues on opener “Flamethrower Carnival” and follows with the amazingly necro-raw “Total Morbid” which features the brilliant lyrical nugget I don’t give a fuck, fuck you fuckin’ retards, I hate you, I hate everything… call me Total Morbid. Songs like “Necrosodomizer” , “Coffin Fornicator” and “Death Maniac” at varying times recall names like Nifelheim, Repugnant, early Entombed, Sodom and Autopsy. Surprisingly enough this was released by Earache, a deviation from the usual horribleness they’ve released this century. Not surprisingly the band went permanently awol soon after. Seek this, or any of the other Deathwitch albums mentioned out immediately.
Another somewhat overlooked masterpiece is the first album by Sweden’s Bewitched, Diabolical Desecration – really their only truly worthwhile record. Bewitched originally started as a side project of members of Ancient Wisdom and Katatonia (specifically Anders ‘Blackheim’ Nystrom) as a project to just fuck around and play some killer old school euro thrash and metal riffs. After this record hit and they did a small amount of touring, they found themselves at the forefront of a brief revival movement termed “retro-thrash” at the time. Having no idea that the band would gain the amount of popularity it did, Blackheim quit as Katatonia was always his main band. Once he left, the band continued to release albums, but never as good as the debut.
It starts off with Hard As Steel (Hot As Hell) a black thrasher that cops a riff straight from Mercyful Fate’s “Curse of the Pharaohs” altering it only just slightly to meet their needs. Tracks like “Hellcult” and “Triumph of Evil” don’t hide their obvious appreciation of Venom and you can hear references to bands like Judas Priest, Accept, Bathory and Slayer throughout, in some cases the riffs sounding eerily similar. Vocally it’s a trade off between Blackheim and Vargher with not a lot of difference between the two – a pretty standard angry black thrash rasp.
Although a lot of metalheads might see this album as somewhat standard, for me it hit at the right time and place and along with Aura Noir’s “Black Thrash Attack” stands as one of the great “retro-thrash” records of the mid to late 90s that copiously copped the riffs of the ancient ones. Released by Osmose.
So that’s it for this time brethren and sisters of my circle. I’ll still be in the Bay Area for a few more months but then I’m headed North By Northwest. For now, the same old contact info still applies: Don’t Try, 2340 Powell Street, #117, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA. donttry@20buckspin.com
So what lucky place gets to receive me as a new resident alien? For now it’s Olympia, Washington. It’s a completely different, and smaller scene there then what we have in the Oakland / San Francisco area, and that’s exactly what I’m looking for. Plus the dreary skies, tall trees and damp grounds appeal to my uber metal mentality. So, to the other 8 metal guys and gals residing in the more widely known indie/punk enclave; I say, let’s build a new scene and cross the triangle of flames.
What I’ll miss about the Bay is all the great shows we get on a regular basis, even just from the locals, as we have one of the best scenes in the country. I’ll miss many close friends and family as well. Things I won’t miss include the traffic, dense population, high crime, general paranoia, plenty of bad memories and assorted backstabbers and fakes (apologies for the semi 25 Ta Life style reference, bitch).
As for Olympia, it’s clear to me that they need a metal injection up there. Maybe running my label there will help with that. Hopefully I’ll be able to convince more of the dark lord’s bands to come to town. Instead of the International Pop Underground, we’ll try to create the International Harsh Underground, or something. The point is, the Bay Area doesn’t really need me the way Olympia so apparently does, you see? It’s not just about me – I go where I’m needed.
And it’s in Olympia that this month’s album reviews begin. Perhaps the bleakest thing to ever emerge from the city’s borders, Wolves In The Throne Room have seen to fit to bestow upon us their second full length record in the form of ‘Two Hunters’ for the Southern Lord label.
More fully produced and layered then the bands debut album ‘Diadem of 12 Stars’, ‘Two Hunters’ begins with an extended buzzing intro that recalls some of Burzum’s more guitar/ambient moments run through a sort of post-rockish filter. The band espouses anti-modernism and a return to the ways of nature, and even without lyrics, the track musically conveys those ideas effectively.
Things really get going once the second track gets underway as the Wolves kick things into black metal tempos and riff patterns. Clearly the band takes a large influence from some of their Norwegian forbears with early Emperor and Ulver coming particularly to mind. Songs tend to be of the more depressive, melancholy and epic variety. Those looking for raw, necro blackness in the Darkthrone vein should look elsewhere.
Operatic and ethereal female vocals are incorporated in certain places, not in a way that detracts from the music (a mistake many metal bands end up making in an effort to be somehow ‘progressive’ or ‘experimental’) but not necessarily adding a great deal either – it just further affirms the albums bleak mood. Overall a strong second effort from another unique west coast metal band and I look very forward to seeing what they do next time around.
Also coming from the Pacific Northwest, Portland to be exact, is Oakhelm, a band comprised of members of Fall of the Bastards and Wormwood among others. And once again, we have a record firmly rooted in some European metal subgenres but with enough to make it stand out from all the usual clichés that bands of this ilk fall prey to.
On their debut album ‘Betwixt & Between’ Oakhelm are dealing in a Viking metal style that incorporates elements of black metal and death metal, with riffs that could often be played either acoustically or in metallized form. “Of Wood & Blood” starts the proceedings with great, epic riffing straight from the mead hall, an effective memorable chorus and enough speed and vocal venom for those into more aggressive stuff.
It’s followed by the acoustic, female-vocal ‘Skal Shanty’ and then “As The Murder Flies” a tracks that brings to mind a band who trolled these landscapes years ago by the name of Mithotyn. Vocalist/bassist Pete Jay (also drums in Wormwood) has several alternating singing/screeching styles to compliment the different moods, tempos and arrangements. “Maybon Shore” is an acoustic downer complete with rain samples and great viking-folk melodies recalling again Ulver’s acoustic forays on the amazing ‘Kveldssanger’ LP.
‘Betwixt & Between’ is especially recommended to fans of Fall of the Bastards. While not sounding in any way identical to that now defunct band, some of the influence in riffs and drum patterns is there and anyone into the Fall of the Bastards stuff will undoubtedly find a lot to like here. On a label called Forest Moon Special Products.
A band that was before now unknown to me is Avichi whose ‘The Divine Tragedy’ album made its way to me courtesy of NMB Records of Dekalb, Illinois. This is totally premium black metal done in similar style to the stuff being released these days by Ajna except this is better and more effective. Strangely enough this was recorded at Steve Albini’s studio, though was not recorded by the man himself.
Still, this album has a great, dark production value up there with the big boys of the scene like Deathspell Omega, Watain and Glorior Belli. Titles like “Messianic Deliverance”, “Purification Within The Eighth Sphere” and “Taedium Vitae” give you some sense of what you’re dealing with here. The tempo is generally just below blastbeat speed, but with plenty of changes and riff variation to keep things interesting for the more seasoned black metal veteran. Whether or not Avichi will garner respect remains to be seen but this album stands as one of the best in the current crop of American and Euro black metal.
A band I didn’t really want to listen to because of their name, The Fucking Wrath, ponys up with ‘Season of Evil’ an album described by their label, Goodfellow, as a cross between Tragedy, Sabbath and ‘Kill Em All’ era Metallica. So I figured I’d check it out, since I like all that stuff. ‘To the Eels’ starts off sounding like a more polished Anti-Cimex tune then makes a fairly believable transition into a stoner rock style jam before heading back into Swedish Kang territory. The influences mentioned definitely shine through on most of these tracks and are given a modern polishing, and one could imagine these tracks coming off pretty killer in a live setting. With 11 songs in about 26 minutes the album doesn’t overstay its welcome, which after a half hour probably would have worn thin. Ultimately not something I’ll be listening to repeatedly but a lot of you will find something to like here.
That’s about all the new music I managed to get through this month that was actually worth writing about – however there’s still a few things to discuss.
A new issue of Oakenthrone Zine has been released. Oakenthrone is easily the best metal zine in existence right now. Not a glossy style rag at all, this is printed in a very classy style with a black and metallic silver cover, and good quality paper inside at the size of a 7 inch. Printed by 1984 printing in Oakland . Issue #5 has it all people. Sure it takes them the better part of a year to get these done, but what you get is 84 pages of top notch metal writing, illustrations done exclusively for the zine and amazing graphic design work by magazine co-principal Ben West. This new issue features extended interviews with Asunder, Archgoat, Coffins, Moss, Portal, Caina and Cult of Daath among several others. The album reviews are extensive and well-written. This issue also comes with a compilation CD that features all of the bands interviewed including an exclusive KFJC radio recording from Asunder. The magazine doesn’t sell copies direct but many underground metal distros are carrying this as well as some in the know stores so just search online if you can and you’ll find it. You won’t be disappointed.
Now, since we still have some time and space left to deal with here, and no new stuff worthy of getting it, let’s revisit a few overlooked classics from the vault that you may not be aware of, but definitely should be.
First up is Deathwitch from Sweden. Deathwitch began in the 90s and released a string of amazing gnarly Swedish death metal records on the Necropolis label. Band mainman Nicke Terror has also been involved with Runemagick, The Funeral Orchestra and Sacramentum among others – all totally awesome in their own right.
After the Necropolis label took a shit on the band like they did to all their bands, Deathwitch split for a time while Nicke concentrated on other shit, but eventually came back to do our album of choice today ‘Violence, Blasphemy, Sodomy’, the last in a string of cleverly-metal titled albums like “Deathfuck Rituals”, “The Ultimate Death” and “Monumental Mutilations”.
The style here is ultimately most steeply based in Swedeath, but there are occasional flourishes of thrashy black metal in a South American vein. Nihilistic metal mayhem ensues on opener “Flamethrower Carnival” and follows with the amazingly necro-raw “Total Morbid” which features the brilliant lyrical nugget I don’t give a fuck, fuck you fuckin’ retards, I hate you, I hate everything… call me Total Morbid. Songs like “Necrosodomizer” , “Coffin Fornicator” and “Death Maniac” at varying times recall names like Nifelheim, Repugnant, early Entombed, Sodom and Autopsy. Surprisingly enough this was released by Earache, a deviation from the usual horribleness they’ve released this century. Not surprisingly the band went permanently awol soon after. Seek this, or any of the other Deathwitch albums mentioned out immediately.
Another somewhat overlooked masterpiece is the first album by Sweden’s Bewitched, Diabolical Desecration – really their only truly worthwhile record. Bewitched originally started as a side project of members of Ancient Wisdom and Katatonia (specifically Anders ‘Blackheim’ Nystrom) as a project to just fuck around and play some killer old school euro thrash and metal riffs. After this record hit and they did a small amount of touring, they found themselves at the forefront of a brief revival movement termed “retro-thrash” at the time. Having no idea that the band would gain the amount of popularity it did, Blackheim quit as Katatonia was always his main band. Once he left, the band continued to release albums, but never as good as the debut.
It starts off with Hard As Steel (Hot As Hell) a black thrasher that cops a riff straight from Mercyful Fate’s “Curse of the Pharaohs” altering it only just slightly to meet their needs. Tracks like “Hellcult” and “Triumph of Evil” don’t hide their obvious appreciation of Venom and you can hear references to bands like Judas Priest, Accept, Bathory and Slayer throughout, in some cases the riffs sounding eerily similar. Vocally it’s a trade off between Blackheim and Vargher with not a lot of difference between the two – a pretty standard angry black thrash rasp.
Although a lot of metalheads might see this album as somewhat standard, for me it hit at the right time and place and along with Aura Noir’s “Black Thrash Attack” stands as one of the great “retro-thrash” records of the mid to late 90s that copiously copped the riffs of the ancient ones. Released by Osmose.
So that’s it for this time brethren and sisters of my circle. I’ll still be in the Bay Area for a few more months but then I’m headed North By Northwest. For now, the same old contact info still applies: Don’t Try, 2340 Powell Street, #117, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA. donttry@20buckspin.com
Don't Try #5
I am having severe writer’s block this month. Coming up with anything remotely interesting to lead this month’s column has become a test of endurance that I’ve simply given up on. The last few weeks have been characterized by a lot of personal upheaval in my life, leaving me feeling relatively uninspired creatively and probably expecting too much from the releases that have been sent my way.
As a columnist that reviews records and albums you’re always hoping for at least one that will totally blow you away, and become a permanent addition to your music collection rather than something to pass on to friends or co-workers. Unfortunately the vast majority of releases this month probably will not have a lasting impact in my life. In times of upheaval we tend to return to those albums which mean the most to us, and the older you get the more few and far between those become.
Nonetheless dear Hessians, I have a responsibility, an obligation if you will, to let you know what’s happening in the world of metallic sounds and like in a relationship, you persevere through thick and thin, in good times and bad – at least in theory. So, to this month’s metallic munchies we go…
From the Level Plane label comes a split album called Project Mercury from two east coast post-Isis groups, Balboa and Rosetta. Balboa gets first shot with their 3 tracks. This generally ain’t my style and I can’t listen to it repeatedly but I have to admit, they are bringing something different than most of the millions playing in this dead style. The first short track “Primitive Accumulation” starts off Isis-like enough but towards the end takes a turn into grind-lite territory before ending with a catchy melodic hardcore riff. The nearly 10 minute Kaddish is the kind of jam you’d imagine Neurosis playing at campfire, it builds and build and builds endlessly. Vocally Balboa has your fairly standard tortured Aaron Turner screams. I’ll be interested to hear a full length should one turn up.
Rosetta will be familiar to some from their previous double album debut The Galilean Satellites another post Isis/SUNN behemoth that managed only somewhat successfully to set itself apart from the masses. “TMA-1” meanders through about 5+ minutes of syrupy postmetalgaze before adding anything resembling the heavy to the mix and then continues on for another 5 minutes in the same way. Rosetta are very adept at their instruments and crafting long epics, but it’s all too monotonous and I can’t but think to myself “If I want this sort of vibe, I’ll just listen to Godspeed You! Black Emperor” because they do it infinitely better and far more interestingly.
Also from Level Plane (and Vendetta Records) comes the uniquely packaged new CD from Graf Orlock called Destination Time Tomorrow. It comes in a shiny little bag and the CD is stuck onto a diecut insect looking creature with its fingers wrapped around the disc. And although it looks really cool, this will be easily damaged and can’t be considered practical. Musically Destination Time Tomorrow contains 8 songs in 16 minutes of sample heavy techymathgrind with riffs galore at times interesting like the breakdown heavy “A Misappropriation Of Sector Resources”, and at other times, not so much. Fans of stuff ranging from Dillinger Escape Plan to Pig Destroyer will probably get into Graf Orlock. 10 bucks says they end up on Relapse. Any takers?
What’s this? A new album from cult legends Profanatica? Yes, it’s true one of the American undergrounds ugliest, older bands has returned. Profanatitas De Domonatia features 10 tracks over 40 minutes of underground black death metal that still sounds as though it could be a demo from the early 90s. “Unto Us He Is Born” , “Mocked, Scourged And Spit Upon” and “A Fallen God, Dethroned In Heaven” reek of a band of older dudes disgusted at what black metal has become. Fans of stuff like Blasphemy and early Incantation will find lots to like on Profanatitas De Demonatia. Blown out bass-heavy underground production values with no added trickery. Just pure blasphemous American black metal. Released by Hells Headbangers.
From the opposite end of the spectrum comes a few releases from black metal’s burgeoning religious/intellectual movement being spearheaded in the US by the Ajna label. Occult symbolism, latin and hebrew textual flourishes, and lyrical subject matter meant to make you seem stupid are all hallmarks of this scene with Deathspell Omega being the genre’s obvious reference point. Plenty of bands are bringing their own take to this new scene as well, none so effectively as DSO, but interestingly enough to warrant further investigation.
Secrets Of The Moon is the first of these bands to consider in this months column. The new album Antithesis is steeped in the band’s dedication to magic and a new personification of Satan, not as the exact opposite of all Christian values but as a muse for artistic inspiration and all things rebellious, according to the info-sheet from the label. A sort of positive spin on the dark lord if you will.
But let’s face it, behind all the conceptual bullshit and pseudo-intellectual posturing, if the music isn’t there who really cares. Thankfully for Secrets Of The Moon they do have the chops to back it up, as this is a pretty solid album of modern, technically proficient black metal. A lot of the songs on here stretch past the 6 minute mark giving them time to develop and play with interesting arrangements. Nonetheless, the album feels too long at nearly an hour in length and the songs tend not to stick out much from one another. A solid second division album not in league with frontrunners like Watain and Deathspell Omega.
Next up from the Ajna label is Mortuus with their album De Contemplanda Morte which I’m guessing translates to something like The Contemplation of Death or Contemplating Death. Mortuus should not be confused with Mortiis – make note of the different use of vowels and the lack of pointy ears and noses. Mid-paced black metal played in a vein similar to their contemporaries in Glorior Belli, Hell Militia, etc. “Penetrations of Darkness” is a decent enough lead track over it’s 7 minutes, but never really sounds like much more than a really long, glorified intro. Things speed up into Antaeus territory on “Astral Pandemonium” but you never get the sense that Mortuus are taking any risks with their black metal. They do what they do effectively enough, it’s solid work, but ultimately destined to be buried by time and dust.
Weedeater is back with a new album God Luck And Good Speed and a new label in Southern Lord. Weedeater remain a one trick pony and really, would you want anything else? Crustified, stoner jams like late period Buzzoven which makes sense given bassist/vocalist Dixie Dave did time in North Carolina’s scum legends toward the end. Having seen these songs performed live a few times before hearing the album, I was already somewhat familiar with the material. Title track “God Luck And Good Speed” opens things up on the album, as it does with their live show, and has one of the strongest, instantly memorably, stoned riffs on the whole record. “Alone” breaks things up as a quieter, acoustic style summer day porch jam and a cover of Skynyrd’s “Gimme Back My Bullets” is thrown in to further announce their southern roots. Production-wise this is bass-heavy and super-distorted with the vocals fairly low in the mix. Beer-swilling, weed-smokin’, speed dealin’ music for those low brow, blurry-vision moments.
Also on Southern Lord comes the new album by French black metal horde Glorior Belli, Manifesting The Raging Beast. The band’s debut LP O’ Laudate Dominus was a fairly standout piece of work, so I had a decent amount of anticipation for Manifesting The Raging Beast. However, after being inundated with the sort of mid-paced evil modern style black metal (see Secrets Of The Moon, Mortuus), I find this new record to be not nearly as much to my liking. Sure it’s got the twisting, contorting minor key riffs and anti-melodies, coupled with the usual fits of speed, but in 2007 the ante has been upped on this sort of thing and Glorior Belli sounds merely like one of many. Here’s hoping the upcoming Deathspell Omega record doesn’t suffer the same fate.
Moribund Records this month presents Merciless Hammer of Lucifer from Seattle’s long-running death metal band Drawn & Quartered. This is the bands fifth album for Moribund which in itself is an achievement in this day and age, considering the band, as far as I can tell does not have a huge following in the death metal world. And that’s kind of a shame because this is well-executed underground American style death metal that should appeal to those into the “bigger” names like Incantation and Immolation who have also been plying this style regardless of trends since time immemorial it seems. My guess as to why this band isn’t up in the big leagues is lack of touring. Merciless Hammer of Lucifer isn’t going to make a big impression on the history of death metal in the long run, but it’s a well-executed album that newer fans to the genre could certainly latch onto.
Once upon a time, in the early to mid 1990s there was an amazing Norwegian black metal band called Manes. Their demos were much sought-after artifacts of cold desolate blackness – one of the few to make a synth sound appropriate in the context of black metal and they were among the best the Norse underground had to offer. These amazing demos were collected on a CD a year or two ago and released in a limited edition that is now equally hard to find. Nonethless these demos should be sought out by any self-respecting fan of Norwegian grimness a la Emperor’s Wrath of the Tyrant. DO NOT seek out an album by a band still calling themselves Manes titled “How The World Came To An End” which is wretched electro-pop from a band masquerading under the same name. Change the fucking name.
Wold is a Canadian project with a new album called Screech Owl out on the Profound Lore label. This is a cross between Cold Meat Industries style noise destruction and black metal buried deep in the mix that might most closely correlate to the harsher moments of Sweden’s MZ.412. I love this kind of stuff but it’s not for the faint of heart or ear. The noisier, less structured side of Skullflower could also be a reference point. “Ray Of Gold” clearly has a black metal riff at its core but is completely over-processed and blown out, and stripped to its base element so much so that its architecture is just barely audible beyond sheer harsh noise. Fans of the aforementioned projects as well as Kevin Drumm, Abruptum, etc should look into this one. At 72 minutes in length it’s ideal for the torture chambers at Gitmo.
Godless Rising contains part of the original lineup of death metal veterans Vital Remains. Their new album Battle Lords is out now on Moribund. No nonsense mid 1990s style American death metal, more bestial then overly technical. At times the double bass sound is kind of irritating, sounding like a really fast typewriter – needs to be a lot deeper sounding. Not much setting this apart aside from this style of death metal isn’t being played as much now as it was 10 years ago. Sometimes that’s good, but not in this case. Vital Remains, Ritual Carnage and Morbid Angel fans should check it out, though it’s not as good as any of them. The cover art by Chris Moyen (Coffins, Beherit, Archgoat) is pretty weak, like his version of a Muni Waste cover.
Now this I like – Hacavitz from Mexico play bestial black death metal on their second album Katun that most closely recalls Angelcorpse and bands like Conqueror, Revenge, Nox and even some Morbosidad. It’s a little less full sounding then Angelcorpse, probably because there are only two dudes in this band, but the riffs are sick and evil, militant and barbarous and the drums a full on destruction ritual. Again to invoke a comparison to Angelcorpse, like that band’s albums, this one rarely lets up on the speed dial, yet the riffs and changes remains strong and interesting enough that they can maintain the brutality throughout the album’s 51 minutes. For all the thrashers there is a bonus Dark Angel cover, “Hunger Of The Undead” tacked on at the end. Definitely one of the best albums to come from this month’s crop of releases.
That’s the goods for this month. Keep sending the heavy stuff over to Don’t Try, 2340 Powell Street, #117, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA. donttry@20buckspin.com
As a columnist that reviews records and albums you’re always hoping for at least one that will totally blow you away, and become a permanent addition to your music collection rather than something to pass on to friends or co-workers. Unfortunately the vast majority of releases this month probably will not have a lasting impact in my life. In times of upheaval we tend to return to those albums which mean the most to us, and the older you get the more few and far between those become.
Nonetheless dear Hessians, I have a responsibility, an obligation if you will, to let you know what’s happening in the world of metallic sounds and like in a relationship, you persevere through thick and thin, in good times and bad – at least in theory. So, to this month’s metallic munchies we go…
From the Level Plane label comes a split album called Project Mercury from two east coast post-Isis groups, Balboa and Rosetta. Balboa gets first shot with their 3 tracks. This generally ain’t my style and I can’t listen to it repeatedly but I have to admit, they are bringing something different than most of the millions playing in this dead style. The first short track “Primitive Accumulation” starts off Isis-like enough but towards the end takes a turn into grind-lite territory before ending with a catchy melodic hardcore riff. The nearly 10 minute Kaddish is the kind of jam you’d imagine Neurosis playing at campfire, it builds and build and builds endlessly. Vocally Balboa has your fairly standard tortured Aaron Turner screams. I’ll be interested to hear a full length should one turn up.
Rosetta will be familiar to some from their previous double album debut The Galilean Satellites another post Isis/SUNN behemoth that managed only somewhat successfully to set itself apart from the masses. “TMA-1” meanders through about 5+ minutes of syrupy postmetalgaze before adding anything resembling the heavy to the mix and then continues on for another 5 minutes in the same way. Rosetta are very adept at their instruments and crafting long epics, but it’s all too monotonous and I can’t but think to myself “If I want this sort of vibe, I’ll just listen to Godspeed You! Black Emperor” because they do it infinitely better and far more interestingly.
Also from Level Plane (and Vendetta Records) comes the uniquely packaged new CD from Graf Orlock called Destination Time Tomorrow. It comes in a shiny little bag and the CD is stuck onto a diecut insect looking creature with its fingers wrapped around the disc. And although it looks really cool, this will be easily damaged and can’t be considered practical. Musically Destination Time Tomorrow contains 8 songs in 16 minutes of sample heavy techymathgrind with riffs galore at times interesting like the breakdown heavy “A Misappropriation Of Sector Resources”, and at other times, not so much. Fans of stuff ranging from Dillinger Escape Plan to Pig Destroyer will probably get into Graf Orlock. 10 bucks says they end up on Relapse. Any takers?
What’s this? A new album from cult legends Profanatica? Yes, it’s true one of the American undergrounds ugliest, older bands has returned. Profanatitas De Domonatia features 10 tracks over 40 minutes of underground black death metal that still sounds as though it could be a demo from the early 90s. “Unto Us He Is Born” , “Mocked, Scourged And Spit Upon” and “A Fallen God, Dethroned In Heaven” reek of a band of older dudes disgusted at what black metal has become. Fans of stuff like Blasphemy and early Incantation will find lots to like on Profanatitas De Demonatia. Blown out bass-heavy underground production values with no added trickery. Just pure blasphemous American black metal. Released by Hells Headbangers.
From the opposite end of the spectrum comes a few releases from black metal’s burgeoning religious/intellectual movement being spearheaded in the US by the Ajna label. Occult symbolism, latin and hebrew textual flourishes, and lyrical subject matter meant to make you seem stupid are all hallmarks of this scene with Deathspell Omega being the genre’s obvious reference point. Plenty of bands are bringing their own take to this new scene as well, none so effectively as DSO, but interestingly enough to warrant further investigation.
Secrets Of The Moon is the first of these bands to consider in this months column. The new album Antithesis is steeped in the band’s dedication to magic and a new personification of Satan, not as the exact opposite of all Christian values but as a muse for artistic inspiration and all things rebellious, according to the info-sheet from the label. A sort of positive spin on the dark lord if you will.
But let’s face it, behind all the conceptual bullshit and pseudo-intellectual posturing, if the music isn’t there who really cares. Thankfully for Secrets Of The Moon they do have the chops to back it up, as this is a pretty solid album of modern, technically proficient black metal. A lot of the songs on here stretch past the 6 minute mark giving them time to develop and play with interesting arrangements. Nonetheless, the album feels too long at nearly an hour in length and the songs tend not to stick out much from one another. A solid second division album not in league with frontrunners like Watain and Deathspell Omega.
Next up from the Ajna label is Mortuus with their album De Contemplanda Morte which I’m guessing translates to something like The Contemplation of Death or Contemplating Death. Mortuus should not be confused with Mortiis – make note of the different use of vowels and the lack of pointy ears and noses. Mid-paced black metal played in a vein similar to their contemporaries in Glorior Belli, Hell Militia, etc. “Penetrations of Darkness” is a decent enough lead track over it’s 7 minutes, but never really sounds like much more than a really long, glorified intro. Things speed up into Antaeus territory on “Astral Pandemonium” but you never get the sense that Mortuus are taking any risks with their black metal. They do what they do effectively enough, it’s solid work, but ultimately destined to be buried by time and dust.
Weedeater is back with a new album God Luck And Good Speed and a new label in Southern Lord. Weedeater remain a one trick pony and really, would you want anything else? Crustified, stoner jams like late period Buzzoven which makes sense given bassist/vocalist Dixie Dave did time in North Carolina’s scum legends toward the end. Having seen these songs performed live a few times before hearing the album, I was already somewhat familiar with the material. Title track “God Luck And Good Speed” opens things up on the album, as it does with their live show, and has one of the strongest, instantly memorably, stoned riffs on the whole record. “Alone” breaks things up as a quieter, acoustic style summer day porch jam and a cover of Skynyrd’s “Gimme Back My Bullets” is thrown in to further announce their southern roots. Production-wise this is bass-heavy and super-distorted with the vocals fairly low in the mix. Beer-swilling, weed-smokin’, speed dealin’ music for those low brow, blurry-vision moments.
Also on Southern Lord comes the new album by French black metal horde Glorior Belli, Manifesting The Raging Beast. The band’s debut LP O’ Laudate Dominus was a fairly standout piece of work, so I had a decent amount of anticipation for Manifesting The Raging Beast. However, after being inundated with the sort of mid-paced evil modern style black metal (see Secrets Of The Moon, Mortuus), I find this new record to be not nearly as much to my liking. Sure it’s got the twisting, contorting minor key riffs and anti-melodies, coupled with the usual fits of speed, but in 2007 the ante has been upped on this sort of thing and Glorior Belli sounds merely like one of many. Here’s hoping the upcoming Deathspell Omega record doesn’t suffer the same fate.
Moribund Records this month presents Merciless Hammer of Lucifer from Seattle’s long-running death metal band Drawn & Quartered. This is the bands fifth album for Moribund which in itself is an achievement in this day and age, considering the band, as far as I can tell does not have a huge following in the death metal world. And that’s kind of a shame because this is well-executed underground American style death metal that should appeal to those into the “bigger” names like Incantation and Immolation who have also been plying this style regardless of trends since time immemorial it seems. My guess as to why this band isn’t up in the big leagues is lack of touring. Merciless Hammer of Lucifer isn’t going to make a big impression on the history of death metal in the long run, but it’s a well-executed album that newer fans to the genre could certainly latch onto.
Once upon a time, in the early to mid 1990s there was an amazing Norwegian black metal band called Manes. Their demos were much sought-after artifacts of cold desolate blackness – one of the few to make a synth sound appropriate in the context of black metal and they were among the best the Norse underground had to offer. These amazing demos were collected on a CD a year or two ago and released in a limited edition that is now equally hard to find. Nonethless these demos should be sought out by any self-respecting fan of Norwegian grimness a la Emperor’s Wrath of the Tyrant. DO NOT seek out an album by a band still calling themselves Manes titled “How The World Came To An End” which is wretched electro-pop from a band masquerading under the same name. Change the fucking name.
Wold is a Canadian project with a new album called Screech Owl out on the Profound Lore label. This is a cross between Cold Meat Industries style noise destruction and black metal buried deep in the mix that might most closely correlate to the harsher moments of Sweden’s MZ.412. I love this kind of stuff but it’s not for the faint of heart or ear. The noisier, less structured side of Skullflower could also be a reference point. “Ray Of Gold” clearly has a black metal riff at its core but is completely over-processed and blown out, and stripped to its base element so much so that its architecture is just barely audible beyond sheer harsh noise. Fans of the aforementioned projects as well as Kevin Drumm, Abruptum, etc should look into this one. At 72 minutes in length it’s ideal for the torture chambers at Gitmo.
Godless Rising contains part of the original lineup of death metal veterans Vital Remains. Their new album Battle Lords is out now on Moribund. No nonsense mid 1990s style American death metal, more bestial then overly technical. At times the double bass sound is kind of irritating, sounding like a really fast typewriter – needs to be a lot deeper sounding. Not much setting this apart aside from this style of death metal isn’t being played as much now as it was 10 years ago. Sometimes that’s good, but not in this case. Vital Remains, Ritual Carnage and Morbid Angel fans should check it out, though it’s not as good as any of them. The cover art by Chris Moyen (Coffins, Beherit, Archgoat) is pretty weak, like his version of a Muni Waste cover.
Now this I like – Hacavitz from Mexico play bestial black death metal on their second album Katun that most closely recalls Angelcorpse and bands like Conqueror, Revenge, Nox and even some Morbosidad. It’s a little less full sounding then Angelcorpse, probably because there are only two dudes in this band, but the riffs are sick and evil, militant and barbarous and the drums a full on destruction ritual. Again to invoke a comparison to Angelcorpse, like that band’s albums, this one rarely lets up on the speed dial, yet the riffs and changes remains strong and interesting enough that they can maintain the brutality throughout the album’s 51 minutes. For all the thrashers there is a bonus Dark Angel cover, “Hunger Of The Undead” tacked on at the end. Definitely one of the best albums to come from this month’s crop of releases.
That’s the goods for this month. Keep sending the heavy stuff over to Don’t Try, 2340 Powell Street, #117, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA. donttry@20buckspin.com
Don't Try #4
Summer is finally, fully upon us. The East Bay is a great place to be during the summer. It’s sunny, and usually just hot enough without being too ridiculous – although there’s plenty of 90 degree and over days in which I do my best to cling to my trusty, but short-range, 5000 BTU air conditioner.
Summer also means lots of great shows and tours happening around the Bay. Right about the time this column hits the mighty Mayhem from Norway are set to play at San Francisco’s DNA Lounge along with Ludicra, Dekapitator and Amber Asylum. It’ll be the first time Mayhem has played in the US with singer Atilla Csihar, the vocalist who recorded the legendary De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas LP, the best black metal album of all time. No doubt, they’ll be playing many tunes from that great album, which they generally avoided before Atilla rejoined. This should be a show to behold.
A week after Mayhem, the Melvins will be doing two nights in San Francisco, the first performing the entire Houdini album and the second night doing the highly influential Lysol album, and Eggnog as well. As a long time Melvins fan this will be a summer highlight. Fucking Lysol!
Gigs from Christ On Parade, El Dopa, Wormwood, Intronaut, Phobia, Book Of Black Earth and Slayer are all on tap for July and August as well.
Summer started early in Austin, Texas this year where a week after Chaos in Tejas, the Emissions from the Monolith festival went down. Austin was typically humid, in the mid 80 degree range, and overcast and rainy for most of the Memorial Day Weekend.
I had originally bought a plane ticket to Austin for Emissions in order to meet up with two bands I’ve released records by, Coffins and Graves At Sea. Both were set to play at the time. However, the shady promoter of the event, after making multiple promises to buy plane tickets for Coffins (they are from Japan) decided to never give them the money, or even tell them. So Coffins had to back out. Later Graves At Sea backed out, for reasons I’m still not aware of.
So, knowing both bands were not playing, but being locked into a plane ticket, my friend Jason and I went anyway. The good news was that I’d still have the opportunity to meet up with and see Samothrace from Lawrence, Kansas, as well as some others like Middian, Rwake, The Makai, etc.
I’ll spare you, dear reader, of all the details of the weekend, as it’d take too long to recall it all, but needless to say we were treated very well in Austin, met many great friends and become closer with the ones we already had. Special thanks to Maria Mabra for letting us stay at her house all weekend.
Highlights of the weekend included Samothrace’s in store set at Snake Eyes Vinyl to a small but floored crowd. Middian played a crushing set, both at Snake Eyes and at Emo’s,, both times ending their set with a raging, albeit slightly slowed, version of Black Flag’s My War. Rwake’s blackened tarpit sludge destroyed all and Weedeater played their stripped down, stoned, late-period Buzzoven riffs with aplomb, after breaking down and nearly not making it.
What’s nice about Emo’s is it has two stages in the main building and you can pay for one show and apparently go between both. So, we ended up getting to watch Melt Banana who was playing in the main room. They played a terrific set of melodic hardcore meets total spazzed out insanity.
I do hope if Emissions continues on next year that it’ll be a more organized effort, and delivers on all the bands it advertises. I talked to many people who were disappointed at Coffins notable absence. Hopefully we’ll get them over for a tour in 2008.
As I go over the stack of new releases I received in the past month, there is unfortunately a lack of anything that really blew me away. The one exception would be the demo from Samothrace. 3 crushing tracks over 25+ minutes of ultra heavy, slow motion doom crust apocalypse. What sets them apart is the bands sense for adding great minor-key melodies and a dynamic ability to build a song up to a crashing mid-paced peak. The best demo I’ve received in ages. The band can be reached at samothracedoom@yahoo.com.
The latest album from Ensepulchered is called The Night Our Rituals Blackened The Stars, and has actually been out for about 6-8 months at this point. This is keyboard heavy black metal, focused on more ambient, moody, moonlit forest style haunting. Although Xasthur’s name is dropped in comparison, Ensepulchered hardly manages to create the thick-hazed, suicidal fog of that one man band, and instead remind more of early Dimmu Borgir, or a less good Emperor demo. The keyboards are so high in the mix that most of the time no discernable riffs can be made out, and the drum machine is too obviously a drum machine. On Autopsy Kitchen Records.
A far more grim and dark album comes from a project called Diagnose: Lebensgefahr and its debut album Transformalin. The “band” is basically one man, Nattramn who did a band called Silencer some years ago that turned out to be very influential on the current crop of bedroom black metal superstars. As the story goes, Nattramn, was institutionalized shortly after Silencer split, and this album, made with money from the Swedish psycho wards he was held in were part of his therapy. A great story regardless of its truth, and indeed Transformalin sounds like the work of a man on the brink. The album is not metal all, but actually darker and more disturbing. Tracks of black industrial noise, dark ambient textures, spoken passages of madness and torment and military style marches all bleed out through the razor sliced veins of the albums 11 tracks. Reminds at times of the work of Nordvargr, the prolific Swedish noisebastard behind MZ.412 and countless other projects, and perhaps Boyd Rice. An album I will certainly listen to repeatedly. Also on Autopsy Kitchen.
The Communion are a New York band who smartly made their demo less than 10 minutes long. It’s rare I give a demo more than a 10 minute chance unless it totally hits me over the head so it’s great to see a band (however consciously) aware of that, making their demo short and sweet, and as a result, far more interesting and effective. The Communion mix up some grind influences, but more often then not slow down to a rhythmic lurch. Nothing revolutionary here, but strong songs that probably come off killer when they play live. myspace.com/thecommunion
A few blackened morsels from the Moribund label this month. First up, a raw CD version of the split LP of a few years back from two of Finland’s ugliest cults, Horna and Behexen. Horna especially have released a lot of material over the years. Their four tracks on this split, all titled in Finnish, have a lo-fi but solid production aesthetic and they come from the filthy and evil school of black grime. It’s raw and nasty, with a mix of faster and mid-paced tempos that naturally recalls Darkthrone (not as good obviously) and manages to sound morbidly epic without long, drawn out tunes. Behexen’s three tracks are longer and given more space to build on. The production is not as raw as the Horna tracks but not even approaching the polish of major label black metal. Epic grandeur without the use of pompous keyboard passages and noodley acoustic parts. I prefer their full lengths By The Blessing Of Satan and Rituale Satanum, but these are solid tracks.
Returning this month is the mysterious Italian one-man project known as Fear Of Eternity. Moribund has released several albums from Fear of Eternity, all of which were recorded well prior to their release. This album, Funeral Mass, is apparently the first. This is ultra-keyboard heavy black metal that’s most similar to the Italian horror soundtracks of the cult legends Goblin. The only thing that makes this black metal are the use of heavy rhythm guitars in the background that give a foundation to the tunes and the vocals which are more silly then evil sounding but nonetheless fit with the tunes. If the characters sitting in the closet from Jim Henson’s Labyrinth movie attempted to make a black metal record, Funeral Mass would be it.
Apolstolum plays so-called atmospheric dark metal that the label compares to forefathers of the genre like My Dying Bride, Katatonia and Anathema. Apostlum aren’t as good as any of those bands on their debut mini CD Anedonia. Musically it is depressive, melancholy and dark but they lack the dynamic ebb and flow of the prior mentioned bands, as well as the oppressive heaviness the early recordings by those bands recalls. While the vocals on Anxiety Attack are at times embarrassingly bad, the mix of heavy riffs and clean, catchy goth style playing shows that the band does have the potential to do something more substantial. Full on black metal is thrown in occasionally for good measure. Their cover of Katatonia’s unfuckwithable Brave is musically completely faithful, and if it weren’t for the more mediocre production, less impassioned though note-for-note guitar leads and the shittier vocals (though who can ever really equal Opeth’s Mike Akerfeldt when it comes to vocals) you’d never know the difference.
All the way from Japan’s S.M.D. records comes a split CD between Japan’s Ryokuchi and Australia’s Fire Witch. Ryokuchi is a sort of experimental tribal doom duo consisting of just bass and drums. Songs build very slowly over several minutes and when the first track Homura finally explodes around the four-minute mark it’s much more of a slow, plodding Melvins/Thrones crawl then OM style transcendence. Both musicians are masters of their weapons and wield them with skill and conviction. With the popularity of bass/drums duos lately the time could be right for Ryokuchi to invade the States. Fire Witch are a band with two bassists and a drummer, playing a messy, unstructured stoner doom with a bluesey faux-Ginn style solo here and there and songs that veer off into meandering, experimental, totally wasted tomfoolery. As a stoner you’ll probably love these tracks. As a drinker like me, probably not so much. Like if Electric Wizard and Acid Mothers had combined in their embryonic states.
Finally we finish this month with what one might facetiously call Finland’s metallic answer to The Pogues, Korpiklanni whose Tervaskanto album on the Napalm label is referred to as Finnish Humppa Folk Metal. Like a lot of metal, particularly classic metal, if you can look past the obviously embarrassing aspects of the album and just appreciate it for simple-minded, beer-drinking fun, then you might be able to enjoy Korpiklanni. In Finland where the pop and metal world’s frequently collide with bands like Nightwish and Children of Scrotum I have no doubt this band is probably playing to a few thousand drunk Finns on outdoor summer festival stages. They probably go down like the Dropkick Murphys at a Red Sox game. Anthemic, folk melody driven, huge chorus, traditional drinking songs, metalized for stadium consumption. Good fun for a party or to play a joke on your way too serious metal buddies or elitist punk rockers. Recommended for fans of Blind Guardian, Isengard, Flogging Molly, etc.
That’s about all for this month folks. Reach me at the info below, until next time – DON’T SLOW PART!
Dave Adelson, Don’t Try, 2340 Powell Street, #117, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA, donttry@20buckspin.com
Summer also means lots of great shows and tours happening around the Bay. Right about the time this column hits the mighty Mayhem from Norway are set to play at San Francisco’s DNA Lounge along with Ludicra, Dekapitator and Amber Asylum. It’ll be the first time Mayhem has played in the US with singer Atilla Csihar, the vocalist who recorded the legendary De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas LP, the best black metal album of all time. No doubt, they’ll be playing many tunes from that great album, which they generally avoided before Atilla rejoined. This should be a show to behold.
A week after Mayhem, the Melvins will be doing two nights in San Francisco, the first performing the entire Houdini album and the second night doing the highly influential Lysol album, and Eggnog as well. As a long time Melvins fan this will be a summer highlight. Fucking Lysol!
Gigs from Christ On Parade, El Dopa, Wormwood, Intronaut, Phobia, Book Of Black Earth and Slayer are all on tap for July and August as well.
Summer started early in Austin, Texas this year where a week after Chaos in Tejas, the Emissions from the Monolith festival went down. Austin was typically humid, in the mid 80 degree range, and overcast and rainy for most of the Memorial Day Weekend.
I had originally bought a plane ticket to Austin for Emissions in order to meet up with two bands I’ve released records by, Coffins and Graves At Sea. Both were set to play at the time. However, the shady promoter of the event, after making multiple promises to buy plane tickets for Coffins (they are from Japan) decided to never give them the money, or even tell them. So Coffins had to back out. Later Graves At Sea backed out, for reasons I’m still not aware of.
So, knowing both bands were not playing, but being locked into a plane ticket, my friend Jason and I went anyway. The good news was that I’d still have the opportunity to meet up with and see Samothrace from Lawrence, Kansas, as well as some others like Middian, Rwake, The Makai, etc.
I’ll spare you, dear reader, of all the details of the weekend, as it’d take too long to recall it all, but needless to say we were treated very well in Austin, met many great friends and become closer with the ones we already had. Special thanks to Maria Mabra for letting us stay at her house all weekend.
Highlights of the weekend included Samothrace’s in store set at Snake Eyes Vinyl to a small but floored crowd. Middian played a crushing set, both at Snake Eyes and at Emo’s,, both times ending their set with a raging, albeit slightly slowed, version of Black Flag’s My War. Rwake’s blackened tarpit sludge destroyed all and Weedeater played their stripped down, stoned, late-period Buzzoven riffs with aplomb, after breaking down and nearly not making it.
What’s nice about Emo’s is it has two stages in the main building and you can pay for one show and apparently go between both. So, we ended up getting to watch Melt Banana who was playing in the main room. They played a terrific set of melodic hardcore meets total spazzed out insanity.
I do hope if Emissions continues on next year that it’ll be a more organized effort, and delivers on all the bands it advertises. I talked to many people who were disappointed at Coffins notable absence. Hopefully we’ll get them over for a tour in 2008.
As I go over the stack of new releases I received in the past month, there is unfortunately a lack of anything that really blew me away. The one exception would be the demo from Samothrace. 3 crushing tracks over 25+ minutes of ultra heavy, slow motion doom crust apocalypse. What sets them apart is the bands sense for adding great minor-key melodies and a dynamic ability to build a song up to a crashing mid-paced peak. The best demo I’ve received in ages. The band can be reached at samothracedoom@yahoo.com.
The latest album from Ensepulchered is called The Night Our Rituals Blackened The Stars, and has actually been out for about 6-8 months at this point. This is keyboard heavy black metal, focused on more ambient, moody, moonlit forest style haunting. Although Xasthur’s name is dropped in comparison, Ensepulchered hardly manages to create the thick-hazed, suicidal fog of that one man band, and instead remind more of early Dimmu Borgir, or a less good Emperor demo. The keyboards are so high in the mix that most of the time no discernable riffs can be made out, and the drum machine is too obviously a drum machine. On Autopsy Kitchen Records.
A far more grim and dark album comes from a project called Diagnose: Lebensgefahr and its debut album Transformalin. The “band” is basically one man, Nattramn who did a band called Silencer some years ago that turned out to be very influential on the current crop of bedroom black metal superstars. As the story goes, Nattramn, was institutionalized shortly after Silencer split, and this album, made with money from the Swedish psycho wards he was held in were part of his therapy. A great story regardless of its truth, and indeed Transformalin sounds like the work of a man on the brink. The album is not metal all, but actually darker and more disturbing. Tracks of black industrial noise, dark ambient textures, spoken passages of madness and torment and military style marches all bleed out through the razor sliced veins of the albums 11 tracks. Reminds at times of the work of Nordvargr, the prolific Swedish noisebastard behind MZ.412 and countless other projects, and perhaps Boyd Rice. An album I will certainly listen to repeatedly. Also on Autopsy Kitchen.
The Communion are a New York band who smartly made their demo less than 10 minutes long. It’s rare I give a demo more than a 10 minute chance unless it totally hits me over the head so it’s great to see a band (however consciously) aware of that, making their demo short and sweet, and as a result, far more interesting and effective. The Communion mix up some grind influences, but more often then not slow down to a rhythmic lurch. Nothing revolutionary here, but strong songs that probably come off killer when they play live. myspace.com/thecommunion
A few blackened morsels from the Moribund label this month. First up, a raw CD version of the split LP of a few years back from two of Finland’s ugliest cults, Horna and Behexen. Horna especially have released a lot of material over the years. Their four tracks on this split, all titled in Finnish, have a lo-fi but solid production aesthetic and they come from the filthy and evil school of black grime. It’s raw and nasty, with a mix of faster and mid-paced tempos that naturally recalls Darkthrone (not as good obviously) and manages to sound morbidly epic without long, drawn out tunes. Behexen’s three tracks are longer and given more space to build on. The production is not as raw as the Horna tracks but not even approaching the polish of major label black metal. Epic grandeur without the use of pompous keyboard passages and noodley acoustic parts. I prefer their full lengths By The Blessing Of Satan and Rituale Satanum, but these are solid tracks.
Returning this month is the mysterious Italian one-man project known as Fear Of Eternity. Moribund has released several albums from Fear of Eternity, all of which were recorded well prior to their release. This album, Funeral Mass, is apparently the first. This is ultra-keyboard heavy black metal that’s most similar to the Italian horror soundtracks of the cult legends Goblin. The only thing that makes this black metal are the use of heavy rhythm guitars in the background that give a foundation to the tunes and the vocals which are more silly then evil sounding but nonetheless fit with the tunes. If the characters sitting in the closet from Jim Henson’s Labyrinth movie attempted to make a black metal record, Funeral Mass would be it.
Apolstolum plays so-called atmospheric dark metal that the label compares to forefathers of the genre like My Dying Bride, Katatonia and Anathema. Apostlum aren’t as good as any of those bands on their debut mini CD Anedonia. Musically it is depressive, melancholy and dark but they lack the dynamic ebb and flow of the prior mentioned bands, as well as the oppressive heaviness the early recordings by those bands recalls. While the vocals on Anxiety Attack are at times embarrassingly bad, the mix of heavy riffs and clean, catchy goth style playing shows that the band does have the potential to do something more substantial. Full on black metal is thrown in occasionally for good measure. Their cover of Katatonia’s unfuckwithable Brave is musically completely faithful, and if it weren’t for the more mediocre production, less impassioned though note-for-note guitar leads and the shittier vocals (though who can ever really equal Opeth’s Mike Akerfeldt when it comes to vocals) you’d never know the difference.
All the way from Japan’s S.M.D. records comes a split CD between Japan’s Ryokuchi and Australia’s Fire Witch. Ryokuchi is a sort of experimental tribal doom duo consisting of just bass and drums. Songs build very slowly over several minutes and when the first track Homura finally explodes around the four-minute mark it’s much more of a slow, plodding Melvins/Thrones crawl then OM style transcendence. Both musicians are masters of their weapons and wield them with skill and conviction. With the popularity of bass/drums duos lately the time could be right for Ryokuchi to invade the States. Fire Witch are a band with two bassists and a drummer, playing a messy, unstructured stoner doom with a bluesey faux-Ginn style solo here and there and songs that veer off into meandering, experimental, totally wasted tomfoolery. As a stoner you’ll probably love these tracks. As a drinker like me, probably not so much. Like if Electric Wizard and Acid Mothers had combined in their embryonic states.
Finally we finish this month with what one might facetiously call Finland’s metallic answer to The Pogues, Korpiklanni whose Tervaskanto album on the Napalm label is referred to as Finnish Humppa Folk Metal. Like a lot of metal, particularly classic metal, if you can look past the obviously embarrassing aspects of the album and just appreciate it for simple-minded, beer-drinking fun, then you might be able to enjoy Korpiklanni. In Finland where the pop and metal world’s frequently collide with bands like Nightwish and Children of Scrotum I have no doubt this band is probably playing to a few thousand drunk Finns on outdoor summer festival stages. They probably go down like the Dropkick Murphys at a Red Sox game. Anthemic, folk melody driven, huge chorus, traditional drinking songs, metalized for stadium consumption. Good fun for a party or to play a joke on your way too serious metal buddies or elitist punk rockers. Recommended for fans of Blind Guardian, Isengard, Flogging Molly, etc.
That’s about all for this month folks. Reach me at the info below, until next time – DON’T SLOW PART!
Dave Adelson, Don’t Try, 2340 Powell Street, #117, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA, donttry@20buckspin.com
Don't Try #3
The freeway in Oakland blew up a week or so ago. Before you start having terrorist nightmares (or fantasies as the case may be), let me rephrase that. A truck carrying a bunch of gasoline managed to catch on fire and the flames were so hot that the freeway overpass above it melted and collapsed.
Everytime I drive to work now I get to see a huge chunk of this freeway overpass that’s completely missing, just waiting for some ingrate to attempt some ridiculous stunt when no one is looking. Not that I’ve thought about it.
The situation has caused some pretty massive gridlock and transportation problems throughout the Bay Area. I can’t really say the traffic has cause me many problems, but in a city where the traffic is already some of the worst in the country, it makes a good case for further innovation and resources in the area of public transportation, which is becoming more and more essential as our cities continue to swell. If not addressed soon, the situation in the Bay Area will become utterly dire within 5 years, no doubt.
But my main point, as this is not a political column, is that trucks blowing up and melting freeways is pretty fucking metal, hehe he ehehehe he.
Leading the pack in this month’s releases is the new full length from Sweden’s Watain. Titled “Sworn To The Dark’, (eerily similar to the Morbid Angel tune Sworn To The Black, - perhaps an homage?) it’s the bands third full length release and first for the Season of Mist label (Ajna in the States). With the step up to a bigger label there’s naturally been cries of sell-out coming from the underground police. And indeed, ‘Sworn To The Dark’ is easily the most polished, accessible Watain record yet.
Watain spent time a year or so ago touring with the reformed Dissection, the band from which they clearly take their biggest influence. It seemed almost prophetic when Dissection completed the tour for their Reinkaos comback record, and shortly thereafter frontman and songwriter Jon Nodtveit committed suicide in what was clearly a ritual, and very planned, act. Dissection’s Reinkaos, while a solid return to the scene, was largely viewed as lackluster when compared to their previous two albums, both genre-defining masterpieces.
Meanwhile, Watain has sort of picked up the slack and stepped into Dissection’s shoes, essentially filling the void. ‘Sworn To The Dark’ is a much closer approximation of what most people were probably hoping Dissection would come back with. Not as overtly melodic and technical as much Dissection material, the darker aspects of the band as well as the ability to write amazing hooks and memorable tunes are all there.
Compared to their previous albums, ‘Casus Luciferi’ and ‘Rabid Deaths Curse’, ‘Sworn To The Dark’ is clearly tailored for the live environment in which Watain seems to now thrive. And it’s that aspect that probably has the “true” underground complaining. Bedroom black metal has become the norm and people forget that great bands write great songs for the live environment (despite what the prophet Fenriz commands). Watain have already been on the road supporting this record in Europe opening for the mighty Kreator and Celtic Frost, and by the time this column hits will have done their first stateside shows with Angelcorpse and Nachtmystium.
The album leads with “Legions Of The Black Light” an eight minute epic that begins with a riff straight out of the Dissection handbook and by the second riff the song is a complete headbanger that will have live audiences freaking out before heading into the fist-pumping chorus. The song is a perfect opener and easily a highlight of the record. Other highlights include “The Light That Burns The Sun” and the album’s anthemic title track.
If there were one complaint to be made about this ripper, it’s that at nearly 58 minutes, it’s a bit too long. Single LP length would have been more appropriate and helped all the material sink in, rather than particular songs.
Nonetheless, ever since Dissection was put to sleep because of Nodtveit’s original murder arrest the scene seems to have been looking for a successor to the throne they left empty. Watain are probably as close as we’ll ever get, and they carry the torch with pride. This will probably go down as the best black metal album of 2007 (sorry Mayhem fans). Seek out the 2xLP version if you can, a killer gatefold with tons of original artwork, a huge poster and a nice, thick booklet.
As announced in last month’s column the mighty Angelcorpse has reformed after a lengthy vacation and recorded a new record, “Of Lucifer And Lightning”. It’s great to see these heralds of the apocalypse back in action after so long, pillaging with unclean desire, and bringing the aggression back to the live environment where they achieve the height of their destructive abilities.
“Of Lucifer & Lightning” is nine tracks of the textbook early Morbid Angel pumped through a Panzer Division style that Angelcorpse is well-known for. After the “Credo Decimatus” intro, the bands storms into “Antichrist Vanguard” with a chaotic but clearly controlled lead riff and devastating double-bass flailing from original drummer John Longstreth.
From there on through tracks like “Hexensabbat” and “Saints Of Blasphemy” it’s a non-stop storm of steel and iron. The band still has the effect on the listener of an army plowing forward at top speed leaving nothing but scorched earth in its wake.
“Of Lucifer And Lightning” is not the best Angelcorpse album. The songs, while chalked full of anger and aggression do not have the same catchy hooks and songcraft quality of older classics like “Sons Of Vengeance”, “Wolflust” or “Phallelujah”. The production feels murkier at times as well. For a band who hasn’t released an album of new material since 2000 or so however “Of Lucifer And Lightning” stands as a fine return to form and hopefully an indication of what’s to come from the reformed death metal masters.
I was ecstatic to receive all the material ever recorded by Disrupt spread out over two releases, a re-release of the classic Unrest album, and a collection of everything else cleverly titled The Rest.
The Rest is a 2xCD collection of all the splits Disrupt recorded with bands like Warcollapse, Taste of Fear and Destroy, comp tracks and an unreleased track. The second disc collects the extra raw 1988 demo, a rehearsal from 1990 and live tracks from 1992. All in all The Rest has 78 tracks of late 80s, early 90s crustgrind devastation (arguably the best time period for that style).
Also included in the well-designed booklet are a ton of lyrics, which were a vitally important part of the Disrupt experience, espousing their clearly pro Animal Liberation viewpoint among a variety of other topics like white power and the futility of the corporate lifestyle. Lots of photos, record covers and flyers included as well.
The Unrest reissue is identical to the original CD version music-wise which had both the Unrest LP and the Deprived 7 inch together on one disc. The album still stands up today as well as it did back in 1994. Sure bands in both the grind and crust genres have come a long way in terms of extremity and creativity since Unrest came out but these deluxe reissues prove there’s still plenty of interest in bands who helped pave the way for today’s scene.
731 is a devastating grind four piece from Australia that features members of doom titans Whitehorse among its ranks. The CD I received is called ‘Live On PBS 106.7 FM 06.12.2006”. 7 sharp blasts in just under 13 minutes recorded live to radio. The live recording gives things that extra rawness that sometimes is lacking on modern grind recordings, which often end up sounding too clinical and clean. This is messy grind played with a nice mixture of superfast and crushing mid-paced tempos. Not sure of the availability on this CD but a couple of these tracks will appear re-recorded on their upcoming split 12 inch with California Love. Keep an ear out for these dudes. Bonus points for the excellently titled “Record Collector Dissector”. Email: grind731@hotmail.com for more info.
With the immense popularity of both High On Fire and OM and the by now legendary status of Sleep it was only a matter of time before Asbestosdeath had their material re-released (something I’ve been wanting to do myself for years!).
A quick history for those out of the loop, Asbestosdeath was basically an early incarnation of San Jose’s Sleep that included all three members of Sleep, Matt Pike, Chris Hakius and Al Cisneros, and also Tom Choi on guitar as well. The band had two releases, one an EP on Profane Existence and another self-released.
The four total songs on Dejection/Unclean total about 20 minutes in length and are basically early versions of material that would later by re-recorded for Sleep’s crushing Volume I release. Clearly inspired by Melvins and of course Black Sabbath these tunes display a bit more aggression and anger, particularly in the vocal department, then Sleep later become known for. Recommended for those interested in hearing Sleep in its rawest, earliest incarnation. Released by Southern Lord who will release the next OM record (Sleep’s rhythm section).
Crucial Blast has released the debut album by France’s Year Of No Light simply titled “Nord”. The genre is classified as “brutal shoegazer” and while I have to admit that’s an accurate description here, I also have to admit that I’m a bit biased as I cannot seem to get past my disdain for this shoegazer style of music’s invasion of the metal scene. It seems akin to emo wrapping its clutches around every facet of current rock music.
Fans of bands like Jesu (whose wretched new album Conqueror would seem a point of reference here), Mouth of the Architect and Explosions In The Sky, of which I am not one, will probably find much to like here. Lots of drifting, epic, sentimental, shed-a-subtle-tear riffs and songs that pass the eight minute mark. The second track (the French title of which is much too long for me to attempt typing out) does bring a bit of aggression into the proceedings in the way Isis creates their ever-decreasing huge heavy parts, but those moments come too infrequently for my thrashin blood.
Indeed many of you will find a lot to like on Nord as it’s no doubt a quality record in a very modern context, just not to my particular taste. As good as any band playing this frustrating style of “metal”. Maybe I’m too impatient, but then again I had no problem getting through Crucial Blast’s epic, brilliant Monarch 2xCD…
For a REAL shed-a-ton-of-tears record the new album by England’s Warning called “Watching From A Distance” is essential. Holy shit is this album a downer. If some bands want to spend time gazing at their shoes, this band want to gaze into the abyss of failed relationships. I know what you’re thinking, music about failed relationships equals emo bullshit. No way, this is true classic doom in the vein of Solitude Aeternus or Candlemass with an equal dose of My Dying Bride and early Anathema style acquiescence.
It’s a fine line to walk between truly sad music and stuff that borders on cheesy balladry, but Warning balances themselves with ease. And these guys ain’t 17 year olds singing about high school love, these are older dudes who’ve been in the long-term trenches and probably fucked it all up. A clear St. Vitus vibe mixed in there as well. Stunning. Put your razors away upon pressing play. Released by the Miskatonic Foundation label.
A pleasant surprise came in the form of a band called A Second From The Surface with their new CD “The Streets Have Eyes” released by the This Dark Reign label. This band plays a not overly technical form of modern grind metal with fairly catchy riffs and high monotone shouted vocals, mixed with occasional lows. A song like “Fleeting Swarm” mixes in some moments of melody, but without letting up on the gas enough to make it sound wimpy. There’s enough variety here to keep things interesting through the 10 tracks, which last just under 20 minutes - the ideal length for this sort of record. Not sure if there’s a vinyl release on this, but it would seem appropriate.
I’ve got to say thanks to everyone who has been sending in music. I want to reiterate that smaller label releases will be given the priority in this column. There’s a million magazines and writers covering Dimmu Borgir and Cannibal Corpse, etc, etc, already and not enough metal mags give enough attention to the smaller stuff. That’s what this column is supposed to be for, so I need your stuff small labels!! I realize your budget for mailouts is small, I run a small label myself and can’t afford to send out many free copies either, but you have a much better chance of getting some word space here then in the usual glossy rags, not to mention a pretty different but no less interested readership. Hell, I’m fine if you want to get me your album digitally if that’s easier, I don’t necessarily have to have a hard copy (just don’t email it to me, I need to download it from you somehow).
Send whatever, LP, CD, Tape to Don’t Try, 2340 Powell Street, #117, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA. Email: donttry@20buckspin.com. Until next time… WE ARE A BLAZE IN THE NORTHERN SKY, THE NEXT THOUSAND YEARS ARE OURS!
Everytime I drive to work now I get to see a huge chunk of this freeway overpass that’s completely missing, just waiting for some ingrate to attempt some ridiculous stunt when no one is looking. Not that I’ve thought about it.
The situation has caused some pretty massive gridlock and transportation problems throughout the Bay Area. I can’t really say the traffic has cause me many problems, but in a city where the traffic is already some of the worst in the country, it makes a good case for further innovation and resources in the area of public transportation, which is becoming more and more essential as our cities continue to swell. If not addressed soon, the situation in the Bay Area will become utterly dire within 5 years, no doubt.
But my main point, as this is not a political column, is that trucks blowing up and melting freeways is pretty fucking metal, hehe he ehehehe he.
Leading the pack in this month’s releases is the new full length from Sweden’s Watain. Titled “Sworn To The Dark’, (eerily similar to the Morbid Angel tune Sworn To The Black, - perhaps an homage?) it’s the bands third full length release and first for the Season of Mist label (Ajna in the States). With the step up to a bigger label there’s naturally been cries of sell-out coming from the underground police. And indeed, ‘Sworn To The Dark’ is easily the most polished, accessible Watain record yet.
Watain spent time a year or so ago touring with the reformed Dissection, the band from which they clearly take their biggest influence. It seemed almost prophetic when Dissection completed the tour for their Reinkaos comback record, and shortly thereafter frontman and songwriter Jon Nodtveit committed suicide in what was clearly a ritual, and very planned, act. Dissection’s Reinkaos, while a solid return to the scene, was largely viewed as lackluster when compared to their previous two albums, both genre-defining masterpieces.
Meanwhile, Watain has sort of picked up the slack and stepped into Dissection’s shoes, essentially filling the void. ‘Sworn To The Dark’ is a much closer approximation of what most people were probably hoping Dissection would come back with. Not as overtly melodic and technical as much Dissection material, the darker aspects of the band as well as the ability to write amazing hooks and memorable tunes are all there.
Compared to their previous albums, ‘Casus Luciferi’ and ‘Rabid Deaths Curse’, ‘Sworn To The Dark’ is clearly tailored for the live environment in which Watain seems to now thrive. And it’s that aspect that probably has the “true” underground complaining. Bedroom black metal has become the norm and people forget that great bands write great songs for the live environment (despite what the prophet Fenriz commands). Watain have already been on the road supporting this record in Europe opening for the mighty Kreator and Celtic Frost, and by the time this column hits will have done their first stateside shows with Angelcorpse and Nachtmystium.
The album leads with “Legions Of The Black Light” an eight minute epic that begins with a riff straight out of the Dissection handbook and by the second riff the song is a complete headbanger that will have live audiences freaking out before heading into the fist-pumping chorus. The song is a perfect opener and easily a highlight of the record. Other highlights include “The Light That Burns The Sun” and the album’s anthemic title track.
If there were one complaint to be made about this ripper, it’s that at nearly 58 minutes, it’s a bit too long. Single LP length would have been more appropriate and helped all the material sink in, rather than particular songs.
Nonetheless, ever since Dissection was put to sleep because of Nodtveit’s original murder arrest the scene seems to have been looking for a successor to the throne they left empty. Watain are probably as close as we’ll ever get, and they carry the torch with pride. This will probably go down as the best black metal album of 2007 (sorry Mayhem fans). Seek out the 2xLP version if you can, a killer gatefold with tons of original artwork, a huge poster and a nice, thick booklet.
As announced in last month’s column the mighty Angelcorpse has reformed after a lengthy vacation and recorded a new record, “Of Lucifer And Lightning”. It’s great to see these heralds of the apocalypse back in action after so long, pillaging with unclean desire, and bringing the aggression back to the live environment where they achieve the height of their destructive abilities.
“Of Lucifer & Lightning” is nine tracks of the textbook early Morbid Angel pumped through a Panzer Division style that Angelcorpse is well-known for. After the “Credo Decimatus” intro, the bands storms into “Antichrist Vanguard” with a chaotic but clearly controlled lead riff and devastating double-bass flailing from original drummer John Longstreth.
From there on through tracks like “Hexensabbat” and “Saints Of Blasphemy” it’s a non-stop storm of steel and iron. The band still has the effect on the listener of an army plowing forward at top speed leaving nothing but scorched earth in its wake.
“Of Lucifer And Lightning” is not the best Angelcorpse album. The songs, while chalked full of anger and aggression do not have the same catchy hooks and songcraft quality of older classics like “Sons Of Vengeance”, “Wolflust” or “Phallelujah”. The production feels murkier at times as well. For a band who hasn’t released an album of new material since 2000 or so however “Of Lucifer And Lightning” stands as a fine return to form and hopefully an indication of what’s to come from the reformed death metal masters.
I was ecstatic to receive all the material ever recorded by Disrupt spread out over two releases, a re-release of the classic Unrest album, and a collection of everything else cleverly titled The Rest.
The Rest is a 2xCD collection of all the splits Disrupt recorded with bands like Warcollapse, Taste of Fear and Destroy, comp tracks and an unreleased track. The second disc collects the extra raw 1988 demo, a rehearsal from 1990 and live tracks from 1992. All in all The Rest has 78 tracks of late 80s, early 90s crustgrind devastation (arguably the best time period for that style).
Also included in the well-designed booklet are a ton of lyrics, which were a vitally important part of the Disrupt experience, espousing their clearly pro Animal Liberation viewpoint among a variety of other topics like white power and the futility of the corporate lifestyle. Lots of photos, record covers and flyers included as well.
The Unrest reissue is identical to the original CD version music-wise which had both the Unrest LP and the Deprived 7 inch together on one disc. The album still stands up today as well as it did back in 1994. Sure bands in both the grind and crust genres have come a long way in terms of extremity and creativity since Unrest came out but these deluxe reissues prove there’s still plenty of interest in bands who helped pave the way for today’s scene.
731 is a devastating grind four piece from Australia that features members of doom titans Whitehorse among its ranks. The CD I received is called ‘Live On PBS 106.7 FM 06.12.2006”. 7 sharp blasts in just under 13 minutes recorded live to radio. The live recording gives things that extra rawness that sometimes is lacking on modern grind recordings, which often end up sounding too clinical and clean. This is messy grind played with a nice mixture of superfast and crushing mid-paced tempos. Not sure of the availability on this CD but a couple of these tracks will appear re-recorded on their upcoming split 12 inch with California Love. Keep an ear out for these dudes. Bonus points for the excellently titled “Record Collector Dissector”. Email: grind731@hotmail.com for more info.
With the immense popularity of both High On Fire and OM and the by now legendary status of Sleep it was only a matter of time before Asbestosdeath had their material re-released (something I’ve been wanting to do myself for years!).
A quick history for those out of the loop, Asbestosdeath was basically an early incarnation of San Jose’s Sleep that included all three members of Sleep, Matt Pike, Chris Hakius and Al Cisneros, and also Tom Choi on guitar as well. The band had two releases, one an EP on Profane Existence and another self-released.
The four total songs on Dejection/Unclean total about 20 minutes in length and are basically early versions of material that would later by re-recorded for Sleep’s crushing Volume I release. Clearly inspired by Melvins and of course Black Sabbath these tunes display a bit more aggression and anger, particularly in the vocal department, then Sleep later become known for. Recommended for those interested in hearing Sleep in its rawest, earliest incarnation. Released by Southern Lord who will release the next OM record (Sleep’s rhythm section).
Crucial Blast has released the debut album by France’s Year Of No Light simply titled “Nord”. The genre is classified as “brutal shoegazer” and while I have to admit that’s an accurate description here, I also have to admit that I’m a bit biased as I cannot seem to get past my disdain for this shoegazer style of music’s invasion of the metal scene. It seems akin to emo wrapping its clutches around every facet of current rock music.
Fans of bands like Jesu (whose wretched new album Conqueror would seem a point of reference here), Mouth of the Architect and Explosions In The Sky, of which I am not one, will probably find much to like here. Lots of drifting, epic, sentimental, shed-a-subtle-tear riffs and songs that pass the eight minute mark. The second track (the French title of which is much too long for me to attempt typing out) does bring a bit of aggression into the proceedings in the way Isis creates their ever-decreasing huge heavy parts, but those moments come too infrequently for my thrashin blood.
Indeed many of you will find a lot to like on Nord as it’s no doubt a quality record in a very modern context, just not to my particular taste. As good as any band playing this frustrating style of “metal”. Maybe I’m too impatient, but then again I had no problem getting through Crucial Blast’s epic, brilliant Monarch 2xCD…
For a REAL shed-a-ton-of-tears record the new album by England’s Warning called “Watching From A Distance” is essential. Holy shit is this album a downer. If some bands want to spend time gazing at their shoes, this band want to gaze into the abyss of failed relationships. I know what you’re thinking, music about failed relationships equals emo bullshit. No way, this is true classic doom in the vein of Solitude Aeternus or Candlemass with an equal dose of My Dying Bride and early Anathema style acquiescence.
It’s a fine line to walk between truly sad music and stuff that borders on cheesy balladry, but Warning balances themselves with ease. And these guys ain’t 17 year olds singing about high school love, these are older dudes who’ve been in the long-term trenches and probably fucked it all up. A clear St. Vitus vibe mixed in there as well. Stunning. Put your razors away upon pressing play. Released by the Miskatonic Foundation label.
A pleasant surprise came in the form of a band called A Second From The Surface with their new CD “The Streets Have Eyes” released by the This Dark Reign label. This band plays a not overly technical form of modern grind metal with fairly catchy riffs and high monotone shouted vocals, mixed with occasional lows. A song like “Fleeting Swarm” mixes in some moments of melody, but without letting up on the gas enough to make it sound wimpy. There’s enough variety here to keep things interesting through the 10 tracks, which last just under 20 minutes - the ideal length for this sort of record. Not sure if there’s a vinyl release on this, but it would seem appropriate.
I’ve got to say thanks to everyone who has been sending in music. I want to reiterate that smaller label releases will be given the priority in this column. There’s a million magazines and writers covering Dimmu Borgir and Cannibal Corpse, etc, etc, already and not enough metal mags give enough attention to the smaller stuff. That’s what this column is supposed to be for, so I need your stuff small labels!! I realize your budget for mailouts is small, I run a small label myself and can’t afford to send out many free copies either, but you have a much better chance of getting some word space here then in the usual glossy rags, not to mention a pretty different but no less interested readership. Hell, I’m fine if you want to get me your album digitally if that’s easier, I don’t necessarily have to have a hard copy (just don’t email it to me, I need to download it from you somehow).
Send whatever, LP, CD, Tape to Don’t Try, 2340 Powell Street, #117, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA. Email: donttry@20buckspin.com. Until next time… WE ARE A BLAZE IN THE NORTHERN SKY, THE NEXT THOUSAND YEARS ARE OURS!
Don't Try #1
Writing about metal in Maximum Rock N Roll is no longer an oxymoron. When I was growing up it was. In Concord, California everybody at my high school (at least those into underground rock) was into A.F.I. and Screw 32. Me? I liked Napalm Death, Deicide and Eyehategod.
I remember seeing those old Bovine ads in MRR that would mention an Eyehategod EP and I’d be shocked that I liked a band who maybe wouldn’t be completely ridiculed by the punk rock fashionistas in my city. If it was in MRR it must be acceptable to punks right? Luckily I quickly stopped giving a shit what the punks thought, realizing my lack of hipster cool ultimately had little to do only with music, and just did my own thing.
Most kids seemed to get into punk first and then way down the line, in this more metal-friendly environment we live in today, they let some metal filter into their lives. My co-worker Jesse Luscious (of Blatz, The Criminals, The Frisk fame) is a perfect example of this – he’s constantly rocking out to Manowar at the office (sorry to out you Jesse, but if not me, somebody would) which probably would have been unheard of in his earlier days.
I on the other hand was always metal, and eventually got into punk and hardcore through metal. And metal remains my first, er, love. And that dedication and commitment to the most non-poser of musics, led me to pester Golnar and Chris that metal still needed to be represented in MRR, so all the closet metalheads out there – and I know there’s a lot of you – can get a taste.
First up I wanted to mention some shows that I hit recently. My buddy Jason (ex Deadbodieseverywhere, Funeral Shock, Agents of Satan) and I went to see Unleashed in Oakland at a place called The Metro. Unleashed go back to the early Swedish death metal days, and singer/bassist Johnny Hedlund was in the legendary Nihilist. When he split from Nihilist, he formed Unleashed and the rest of the band changed the name to Entombed.
After sitting through three mostly terrible bands including Belphegor (whose singer looked like Conan The Barbarian meets Conan O Brian) and Brazil’s Krisiun who played their usual uneventful set, Unleashed hit the stage to seemingly less fanfare then the openers, yet quickly stepped up as the highlight.
A lot of new tunes were played from the latest album Midvinterblot, but also classics like “To Asgaard We Fly”, “Neverending Hate” and “Before The Creation Of Time”. In true metal frontman fashion Hedlund lead the crowd in several call and response choruses, and did so without coming off as ridiculous or forced – just fuckin’ fun. And of course toward the end of the evening he raised his horn chalice thing and drank in tribute to the dedicated warriors in the hall.
My first roommate 10 years ago had an Unleashed shirt from their last US tour in 1992 and I was always jealous, as dumb as that may seem (afterall Unleashed has one of the best death metal logos ever). I finally achieved a lifelong goal and got me an Unleashed shirt. Good fuckin night for metal in the Bay Area.
Toward the end of February my girlfriend Sasha and I traveled to Seattle to hang out with our friends in Wormwood whose latest record Starvation I released on my label. They played two record release shows in their adopted hometown with several locals including Grey, Oroku, I Am The Thorn and a few others. As usual Wormwood were in a class of their own, leaving some amazed and some simply confused.
Grey plays a slow, catchy doom style that naturally brings 13 to mind due in part to the three upfront members being women. Winter, Coffins and other Celtic Frost/Hellhammer inspired bands come to mind as well. Although I believe they are labelless at this point, it won’t be long before someone releases a record by Grey.
Oroku really surprised me with their midpaced metallic crust onslaught. I was told by a few Seattle-heads not to miss them (which is what happened last time they were in the Bay Area) and I’m glad I didn’t. This band is totally powerful. The show was a release for their record out on Inimical, and you’d being doing yourself a favor to track t his one down.
Enough about shows, time to get to some metal releases that need to be mentioned. First up I have to bring to your attention an album that went mostly overlooked when it was released in 2006, Repugnant’s Epitome of Darkness CD.
If you, like me, were left feeling cheated by Death Breath’s lame label/press-hyped pisstake on old school death metal then Repugnant is the perfect antidote. One of the dirtiest, filthiest, ripping death metal albums to come out of Sweden since about 1991. A perfect cross between the first Entombed LP and Sweden’s vile blackened filth-peddlers Nifelheim.
Epitome of Darkness was released on Soulseller Records on CD and an LP and Picture LP are due to be released hopefully by the time this column hits. Absolutely essential for those into Swedish death metal circa 1988-1992. With songs like “From Beyond The Grave” and the (in my mind) hit single “Premature Burial” you simply can’t go wrong. Easily a top 10 of 2006 release.
Next up I have to mention a couple records being released by The End Records in the United States. First the new album from Melechesh called Emissaries. Melechesh are from Israel originally but have since emigrated to Europe. A lot of people reference Nile when talking about Melechesh because of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian themes, but whereas Nile comes from a death metal background, Melechesh approaches it from a black metal foundation.
And they actually make Nile seem ridiculous in comparison. Melechesh are far superior. Every song on Emissaries is packed full of insanely catchy yet technically masterful guitar riffs and weird Middle Eastern melodies and chants. Songs like “Rebirth Of The Nemesis” and “Deluge Of Delusional Dreams” will be stuck in your head for days. I played this record 5 times in a row when I first got it. Everyone remotely into metal should love this record. Released by Osmose Productions in Europe.
Also being released by The End in the US and Moonfog throughout Europe is the comeback record from Norway’s Dodheimsgard. A few of you might know that Dodheimsgard originally started as a typical black metal band in the mid 90s that included Fenriz from Darkthrone in their lineup. With the release of their “Satanic Art” EP nearly 10 years ago they took a huge right turn in favor of weird experimentalism that combined their old style with the style of other bands they had been involved in like Aura Noir and Ved Buens Ende with a post-modern eccentricity. The horribly-titled 666 International LP came next and took things completely off the charts of anything anyone had really heard.
Now 7 or so years later Dodheimsgard returns with the Supervillian Outcast album. It continues in the odd-ball yet addictive style of the last LP, but with a better flow and seemingly more consistent approach. Dodheimsgard mixes up so many styles into their sound – black metal, world music, electronic – that on paper it sounds like a total mess, yet somehow it works. I also have grown strangely fond of the demented Beach Boys meets Ved Buens Ende a cappela interludes. If you’ve got an extremely open-mind when it comes to experimentation with your metal, then give Supervillian Outcast a try.
Although both would probably hate to be called metal, I have to mention the new Split LP from Hatred Surge and The Endless Blockade recently released on Schizophrenic Records. This is one more for the grindcore and powerviolence lovers out there. Totally raging on both sides. Hatred Surge’s one man one woman grind devastation has all the elements that make a great side, incessant blasts, killer breaks, dual vocals. The Endless Blockade is one my favorite bands lately. They do a pretty even mix of fast powerviolence and monstrously crushing doom. Both bands have more coming in 2007 and this LP has a great layout, 12x24 full color insert and comes on half black half red vinyl.
Tyranny’s Tides Of Awakening CD on Finland’s Firedoom Music wins the title of most crushing, wrist-slicing funeral doom of 2006. 5 tracks spread over an hour of impossibly low vocal agony, super low-end yet ambient riffing and un-ridiculous synth arrangements. Makes Skepticism seem upbeat by comparison.
Bloody Panda has their first album about to be released on the Level Plane label. The band sent me a copy last year and they’re doing a somewhat different spin on the recent slow motion doom trend. They’ve got the slow, plodding rhythms and downtuned, wall of sound guitars intact, but the vocals set them apart from the pack. Vocalist Yoshiko Ohara comes with a mix of the usual screeching and an awesome take on Jarboe style singing, making Bloody Panda come off as something like a Burning Witch meets Swans (mid-period) behemoth. Aside from the vocalist the band all wear black cloaks and hoods when they play if you go in for that sort of thing. A split album with Kayo Dot was also released recently by Holy Roar Records. The band should be touring the east coast during April.
Nadja also does a heavy doom guitar drone style. The excellent Truth Becomes Death was released by Alien 8 a year or two ago and since then a lot of stuff has materialized, most recently Thaumogenesis on the Archive CD label. Archive is known for their great packaging and this one comes in a neat foldout cardstock with the CD stuck right onto it on a plastic hub. Musically this isn’t my favorite Nadja release. One long track of very moody My Bloody Valentine stripped down and slowed to 16 rpm. Sold out through the label but still available through various distros.
Obscurus Advocam is the name of a new project featuring members of Glorior Belli. Their debut Verbia Daemonicus is out on Battle Kommand Records, the label run by Blake of Nachtmystium. Mid-paced black metal aggression done with reasonable skill and craft. If you’re new to the genre or need to have everything then you should enjoy this. However, if like me you’ve been listening to black metal for upwards of 15 years or more and have become more discerning in your habits, then this one probably won’t really scratch you where you itch.
That’s about it for this first column. You can send stuff directly to me at Dave Adelson, 2340 Powell Street #117, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA. Email: donttry@20buckspin.com. Please be aware that if you send something directly to me it won’t be considered for review in the regular reviews section unless you send a copy to the regular MRR address as well.
One final note. I have to dedicate this first column to Roky Erickson for putting on an immaculate show at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and putting most so-called rock legends to shame. Until next time…
I remember seeing those old Bovine ads in MRR that would mention an Eyehategod EP and I’d be shocked that I liked a band who maybe wouldn’t be completely ridiculed by the punk rock fashionistas in my city. If it was in MRR it must be acceptable to punks right? Luckily I quickly stopped giving a shit what the punks thought, realizing my lack of hipster cool ultimately had little to do only with music, and just did my own thing.
Most kids seemed to get into punk first and then way down the line, in this more metal-friendly environment we live in today, they let some metal filter into their lives. My co-worker Jesse Luscious (of Blatz, The Criminals, The Frisk fame) is a perfect example of this – he’s constantly rocking out to Manowar at the office (sorry to out you Jesse, but if not me, somebody would) which probably would have been unheard of in his earlier days.
I on the other hand was always metal, and eventually got into punk and hardcore through metal. And metal remains my first, er, love. And that dedication and commitment to the most non-poser of musics, led me to pester Golnar and Chris that metal still needed to be represented in MRR, so all the closet metalheads out there – and I know there’s a lot of you – can get a taste.
First up I wanted to mention some shows that I hit recently. My buddy Jason (ex Deadbodieseverywhere, Funeral Shock, Agents of Satan) and I went to see Unleashed in Oakland at a place called The Metro. Unleashed go back to the early Swedish death metal days, and singer/bassist Johnny Hedlund was in the legendary Nihilist. When he split from Nihilist, he formed Unleashed and the rest of the band changed the name to Entombed.
After sitting through three mostly terrible bands including Belphegor (whose singer looked like Conan The Barbarian meets Conan O Brian) and Brazil’s Krisiun who played their usual uneventful set, Unleashed hit the stage to seemingly less fanfare then the openers, yet quickly stepped up as the highlight.
A lot of new tunes were played from the latest album Midvinterblot, but also classics like “To Asgaard We Fly”, “Neverending Hate” and “Before The Creation Of Time”. In true metal frontman fashion Hedlund lead the crowd in several call and response choruses, and did so without coming off as ridiculous or forced – just fuckin’ fun. And of course toward the end of the evening he raised his horn chalice thing and drank in tribute to the dedicated warriors in the hall.
My first roommate 10 years ago had an Unleashed shirt from their last US tour in 1992 and I was always jealous, as dumb as that may seem (afterall Unleashed has one of the best death metal logos ever). I finally achieved a lifelong goal and got me an Unleashed shirt. Good fuckin night for metal in the Bay Area.
Toward the end of February my girlfriend Sasha and I traveled to Seattle to hang out with our friends in Wormwood whose latest record Starvation I released on my label. They played two record release shows in their adopted hometown with several locals including Grey, Oroku, I Am The Thorn and a few others. As usual Wormwood were in a class of their own, leaving some amazed and some simply confused.
Grey plays a slow, catchy doom style that naturally brings 13 to mind due in part to the three upfront members being women. Winter, Coffins and other Celtic Frost/Hellhammer inspired bands come to mind as well. Although I believe they are labelless at this point, it won’t be long before someone releases a record by Grey.
Oroku really surprised me with their midpaced metallic crust onslaught. I was told by a few Seattle-heads not to miss them (which is what happened last time they were in the Bay Area) and I’m glad I didn’t. This band is totally powerful. The show was a release for their record out on Inimical, and you’d being doing yourself a favor to track t his one down.
Enough about shows, time to get to some metal releases that need to be mentioned. First up I have to bring to your attention an album that went mostly overlooked when it was released in 2006, Repugnant’s Epitome of Darkness CD.
If you, like me, were left feeling cheated by Death Breath’s lame label/press-hyped pisstake on old school death metal then Repugnant is the perfect antidote. One of the dirtiest, filthiest, ripping death metal albums to come out of Sweden since about 1991. A perfect cross between the first Entombed LP and Sweden’s vile blackened filth-peddlers Nifelheim.
Epitome of Darkness was released on Soulseller Records on CD and an LP and Picture LP are due to be released hopefully by the time this column hits. Absolutely essential for those into Swedish death metal circa 1988-1992. With songs like “From Beyond The Grave” and the (in my mind) hit single “Premature Burial” you simply can’t go wrong. Easily a top 10 of 2006 release.
Next up I have to mention a couple records being released by The End Records in the United States. First the new album from Melechesh called Emissaries. Melechesh are from Israel originally but have since emigrated to Europe. A lot of people reference Nile when talking about Melechesh because of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian themes, but whereas Nile comes from a death metal background, Melechesh approaches it from a black metal foundation.
And they actually make Nile seem ridiculous in comparison. Melechesh are far superior. Every song on Emissaries is packed full of insanely catchy yet technically masterful guitar riffs and weird Middle Eastern melodies and chants. Songs like “Rebirth Of The Nemesis” and “Deluge Of Delusional Dreams” will be stuck in your head for days. I played this record 5 times in a row when I first got it. Everyone remotely into metal should love this record. Released by Osmose Productions in Europe.
Also being released by The End in the US and Moonfog throughout Europe is the comeback record from Norway’s Dodheimsgard. A few of you might know that Dodheimsgard originally started as a typical black metal band in the mid 90s that included Fenriz from Darkthrone in their lineup. With the release of their “Satanic Art” EP nearly 10 years ago they took a huge right turn in favor of weird experimentalism that combined their old style with the style of other bands they had been involved in like Aura Noir and Ved Buens Ende with a post-modern eccentricity. The horribly-titled 666 International LP came next and took things completely off the charts of anything anyone had really heard.
Now 7 or so years later Dodheimsgard returns with the Supervillian Outcast album. It continues in the odd-ball yet addictive style of the last LP, but with a better flow and seemingly more consistent approach. Dodheimsgard mixes up so many styles into their sound – black metal, world music, electronic – that on paper it sounds like a total mess, yet somehow it works. I also have grown strangely fond of the demented Beach Boys meets Ved Buens Ende a cappela interludes. If you’ve got an extremely open-mind when it comes to experimentation with your metal, then give Supervillian Outcast a try.
Although both would probably hate to be called metal, I have to mention the new Split LP from Hatred Surge and The Endless Blockade recently released on Schizophrenic Records. This is one more for the grindcore and powerviolence lovers out there. Totally raging on both sides. Hatred Surge’s one man one woman grind devastation has all the elements that make a great side, incessant blasts, killer breaks, dual vocals. The Endless Blockade is one my favorite bands lately. They do a pretty even mix of fast powerviolence and monstrously crushing doom. Both bands have more coming in 2007 and this LP has a great layout, 12x24 full color insert and comes on half black half red vinyl.
Tyranny’s Tides Of Awakening CD on Finland’s Firedoom Music wins the title of most crushing, wrist-slicing funeral doom of 2006. 5 tracks spread over an hour of impossibly low vocal agony, super low-end yet ambient riffing and un-ridiculous synth arrangements. Makes Skepticism seem upbeat by comparison.
Bloody Panda has their first album about to be released on the Level Plane label. The band sent me a copy last year and they’re doing a somewhat different spin on the recent slow motion doom trend. They’ve got the slow, plodding rhythms and downtuned, wall of sound guitars intact, but the vocals set them apart from the pack. Vocalist Yoshiko Ohara comes with a mix of the usual screeching and an awesome take on Jarboe style singing, making Bloody Panda come off as something like a Burning Witch meets Swans (mid-period) behemoth. Aside from the vocalist the band all wear black cloaks and hoods when they play if you go in for that sort of thing. A split album with Kayo Dot was also released recently by Holy Roar Records. The band should be touring the east coast during April.
Nadja also does a heavy doom guitar drone style. The excellent Truth Becomes Death was released by Alien 8 a year or two ago and since then a lot of stuff has materialized, most recently Thaumogenesis on the Archive CD label. Archive is known for their great packaging and this one comes in a neat foldout cardstock with the CD stuck right onto it on a plastic hub. Musically this isn’t my favorite Nadja release. One long track of very moody My Bloody Valentine stripped down and slowed to 16 rpm. Sold out through the label but still available through various distros.
Obscurus Advocam is the name of a new project featuring members of Glorior Belli. Their debut Verbia Daemonicus is out on Battle Kommand Records, the label run by Blake of Nachtmystium. Mid-paced black metal aggression done with reasonable skill and craft. If you’re new to the genre or need to have everything then you should enjoy this. However, if like me you’ve been listening to black metal for upwards of 15 years or more and have become more discerning in your habits, then this one probably won’t really scratch you where you itch.
That’s about it for this first column. You can send stuff directly to me at Dave Adelson, 2340 Powell Street #117, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA. Email: donttry@20buckspin.com. Please be aware that if you send something directly to me it won’t be considered for review in the regular reviews section unless you send a copy to the regular MRR address as well.
One final note. I have to dedicate this first column to Roky Erickson for putting on an immaculate show at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and putting most so-called rock legends to shame. Until next time…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)