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
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