Don't Try #7

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.