Don't Try #8

So I’m back in action after leaving the Bay Area. I’ve settled into Olympia and have been here about a month at the time I’m writing this. Loading up that fucking moving truck made me realize I have way too much shit. True a lot of it was 20 Buck Spin label stock, but at least half of it wasn’t and it made me feel foolish. I unloaded as much shit as I could before leaving but it’s never enough. Didn’t Tyler Durden say “the things you own, end up owning you”?

The weather here is predictably cold and dreary. Walking around downtown after midnight a few nights ago I realized I hadn’t felt cold like that in quite some time. Being a California boy hasn’t prepared me much for the harsher weather the vast majority of the country gets. And really, this isn’t even that harsh. That’s how weak I am.

It’s a MUCH smaller scene here, and as metal goes it’s pretty much dead. There’s Wolves In The Throne Room and there is/was Funerot, and to my knowledge that’s it. So if there’s a heavy Olympia band reading this that I don’t know about, please get in touch.

Not many people wear black here. Maybe I’m just used to a big scene full of black clad warriors in Oakland. A few months back there was a Gilman show with Ludicra, Wormwood and others, and I decided to wear some Rodney Dangerfield shorts, a white Coffins t-shirt and some blue and white tennis shoes (what the Brits call trainers I think). I stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the crustastic dreads and sullen faces. Like a ditched Muni Waste roadie. Everyone in Olympia is very colorful – it’s freaking me out. Maybe it’s the grey skies inspiring color into people’s lives. Now I feel like I stick out just the way I normally look. Good thing nobody knows me. Half the appeal of moving was a little anonymity afterall.

Not a lot of shows of interest happening here yet either. Decent amount of shows. Just of no interest. Lots of indie and irony all over the place. Thrones and Grey Daturas came through on a day I just happened to be back in the Bay Area. Oh well. Iron Lung plays here tomorrow with Agents of Abhorrence at least.

What’s nice about Oly from the perspective of a worn out Bay Area native is the less densely populated landscape, the lack of vehicular traffic, less foot traffic downtown, empty barstools, cheaper drinks, less cops, seemingly less bitterness and the funny looking sweater sleeves people put on over their clothes (they’re just sleeves, with no torso, like a sleeveless shirt inverted). And there’s wireless internet access all over the place; I’m writing this column from a coffee shop called Caffe Vita at the corner of 4th and Washington.

In the two months since I last wrote this column there has been a ton of good new metal released and even more that’s completely terrible. This may be the same album to some people. Like the new Darkthrone. I love it. But Andy Nolan from The Endless Blockade says, “Everyone goes through this stage where they talk down the pub of all these "great" ideas they want to do musically but thankfully they never accomplish them. Darkthrone is the "dude, it would be RAD if we did..." conversation manifested.” Given that Herr Nolan tends to be just a tad cynical though, closer inspection seems prudent.

The new Darkthrone album is called F.O.A.D., which as you can guess stands for Fuck Off And Die. Yes Broken Bones already did it, but since Darkthrone is arguably way better than Broken Bones it can be forgiven. This is not Darkthrone at their most serious, in fact it’s about as unserious as they could get. 15 years ago it’d seem insane to think that the band that would ultimately violate Euronymous’ code of No Fun, No Core, No Mosh, No Trends and put the fun back into black metal would be his close allies Fenriz and Nocturno Culto. But a lot of these songs, for lack of a better word, are indeed fun.

The album starts with “These Shores Are Damned” which is a tune in line with the Darkthrone of the past few albums, a good, memorable opener. But next they hit us with “Canadian Metal”, a tribute in song form to some of their favorite Canuck’s like Slaughter, Voivod, Razor and others. At first and even second listen it’s ridiculous, but the songs Hellhammer riffing and perfectly inept soloing eventually reels you in and soon enough you’re bangin’ along.

Next up another humorous entry in the form of “Church Of Real Metal” with more lyrics about being old school and a chorus that again, seems silly at start, but soon you’re hooked. At least I am.

It’s followed by another more serious tune, “Banners Of Old” and then the amazing title track, which I can’t imagine any punk rocker gone metal not liking. It’s basically a perfect Motorhead meets Venom cocktail, and yet it don’t sound like Amebix, it sounds like Darkthrone. It’s a perfect anthem and captures exactly where Darkthrone are at on the “difficult” 13th album as Fenriz calls it.

“Raised On Rock” delivers the goods again, musically and lyrically. “You have nothing in common with me, you think old school is 93, I’ve been a thrasher since 84, and almost nothing sounds true anymore.” And later, “If you don’t understand what I mean, fuckin’ listen to Venom’s Acid Queen.” They’ve been around long enough, they’ve earned the right.

A lot of those who’ve supported Darkthrone over the years, and continued to defend them, will probably not make it through this time. Darkthrone has chosen to destroy the mystique that once surrounded them and in doing so have created an entirely new mystique, the one that says they’re just old heshers dedicated to the cause, defending the faith. Black metal has its Motorhead. Top 10 of 2007 for me, and this from someone that’s been with em since Soulside Journey. For more comedy check out, takemetoyourfenriz.com.

Black Cobra is back to batter us again with 8 new songs collectively called Feather And Stone. Since the release of their debut, Bestial, the Cobra has toured pretty relentlessly and have recently relocated to the Bay Area.

For those unaware, Black Cobra are a devastating two piece guitar and drum unit that play noisy, scuzz-covered heavy rock not unlike faster versions of their ex bands, 16 and Cavity. Both dudes are extremely adept at their instruments and witnessing this band live is total enjoyment in both sound and vision. For two dudes, they create a HUGE wall of riffs running together in a haze of distorto-grime.

The tracks on Feather And Stone continue in much the same vein as Bestial with alternating tempos, here and there, always moving forward with nary a second to breathe. At 24 minutes in length, they come in for the quick beating and leave the listener bloodied but wanting more.

The CD has some bonus live footage, and hopefully vinyl will be on the way soon. This band is probably gonna be huge real soon. CD released by At A Loss Recordings.

Nekrasov is an Australian one man project featuring the ex-guitar player from one of my favorite Aussie bands, Whitehorse. Yet while Whitehorse deals in slow motion experimental doom crust, Nekrasov has a more black spirit, black metal that is, with some detuned blackened guitar noisescapes on its first album “Into The No-Mans-Sphere Of Ancient Days.”

The 13 minute “Ashes Of The Lords In My Hand” features some Black Boned Angel / SUNN style guitar ambience, while Nordvargr like sounds creep into the background and rain falls endlessly. It’s followed by “Eternal Black Mistress” which is fairly straight-forward lo-fi black metal, drum-machine included. I’m feeling the creepy experimentation more than the black metal in Nekrasov’s case and would like to hear him more solidly fuse it together.

“Into The No-Mans-Sphere Of Ancient Days” is a 100% DIY effort, with classy mini-gatefold packaging. If you’re into any of the aforementioned bands, check out Nekrasov. Support this evil beast by contacting him through his myspace page myspace.com/nekrasovguts.

Syrach have a vocalist named Ripper and a guitarist named 8-Ball but that doesn’t stop them from playing English inspired death/doom in the vein of My Dying Bride with some Candlemass theatrics thrown in. The press release says “expect no lovely melodies or kitsch from Syrach”, an ironic statement from a label, Napalm, who specializes in just that sort of thing. Still this is decent.

Syrach has apparently been around since the early 90s, hailing from Norway, but have only managed two albums in that time, “Days Of Wrath” being their second. The production is clean, but the riffs aren’t mean and dark enough for my taste. You’re better off checking out their labelmates in Ahab who deliver a bleaker,heavier doomed vision.

Malachi is a Milwaukee based band with ex members of great bands like Artimus Pile, High On Crime and Laudanum among many others. A 5 piece sort of arty doom crust outfit, that includes a cellist amongst their ranks (this is not a bad or misplaced thing).

4 songs in just over 40 minutes that sounds a bit like a lost record from the 90s when bands like His Hero Is Gone, Logical Nonsense and Neurosis reigned supreme. Malachi aren’t exactly like those bands, but you get the idea, this is cerebral, well-thought out apocalyptic heavy music from a punk background and with a doom spirit.

Malachi is actively seeking a label to release this album, and once this thing is mastered it should be even heavier. Sounds like a collab album with Bastard Noise is in the works too. So labels and others, get in touch with them at myspace.com/malachimilwaukee.

Belgium’s Enthroned has been around since the early 1990s, and although they’ve released several albums in the meantime, I hadn’t actually heard anything by the black metal band since around 2001. Enthroned’s album’s were always decent, but never anything that for me warranted perpetual listening. Second division through and through. I’m glad to say their 7th studio album Tetra Karcist is the best thing I can recall hearing from them.

Tetra Karcist has a nice brutal production and the drumming, at times reminiscent of John Longstreth’s work on Angelcorpse’s Exterminate, helps propel this album and up the heaviness factor from prior works. Catchy arrangements and attention to song structure makes for memorable moments, with anthemic mid-paced portions and sickly aggressive speed parts. Tetra Karcist ain’t gonna change the black metal landscape but it’s a totally admirable record from a band whose hitting their peak when most have faded away.

Another top 5 black metal album for 2007 is an obscure one from Mammoth Lakes, California of all places. The band is Valdur and their self-titled album released on their own Bloody Mountain Records is a bludgeoning cacophony of Gorgoroth inspired blasphemy. Unlike a lot of black metal, the rhythm section here is huge with both the drums and bass given a fat low end sound. Valdur’s metal is epic and battle ready enough to appeal to those into war crust as well as witnessed on tunes like “Thor’s Hammer” and “Slekt Av Fortidens Krigere” (there is actually a dude from Norway in this band). It’s sad that so much pathetic shit is released on big metal labels, and then something like this comes along, self-released, that just destroys it all. If these guys can take the show on the road, they’ll be big. Excellent fucking record and highest possible recommendation. Myspace.com/valdurkult.

Australian death metal weirdos Portal have returned with the follow up to 2006’s Seepia, which was actually an older album, re-released. The production on this album is totally insane. It’s a death metal record, but it’s swamped in this murkiness like it was recorded in a vacuum through a phone. And it’s perfect that way, cuz for death metal songs, these tunes, like “Abysmill” and “Omnipotent Crawling Chaos” have creepy arrangements and strange riffs that in some ways parellel more the black metal genre, yet Portal doesn’t really belong there either. At times it sounds as though nobody in the band is playing along with each other, but each doing their own separate thing – chaotic, but it’s controlled to a degree that it’s cohesive somehow. It’s worth noting that the members of the band are called Aphotic Mote, The Curator, Horror Illogium, Elsewhere and Monocular, respectively. A seriously, weird and great record, with outstanding packaging. You’ll either love it or loathe it. Released by one of my favorites, Profound Lore.

Turning back the clock once again as I’ve done in the past few columns, we need to remember a classic album from Sweden’s Merciless, The Awakening. Merciless were right there with the first wave of Swedish death metal bands and always kept a healthy dose of their Eurothrash roots in the mix. Maybe not as groundbreaking as Nihilist, Entombed or Dismember, they nonetheless crafted a minor classic with The Awakening, something Mayhem’s Euronymous realized even back then when he agreed to start his Deathlike Silence label in order to release it – AntiMosh001 (get it,like anti-Earache).

And unlike their Swede contemporaries who held Autopsy in the highest regard, you hear some of that with Merciless, but a lot of Scream Bloody Gore era Death and 7 Churches era Possessed as well which is probably why it was more appealing to Euronymous then Digby Pearson.

But listen to a song like “Dreadful Fate” and you’ll see why this album remains an overlooked gem. Killer deaththrashin’ riffs, followed by a catchy chorus that their Swede counterparts often lacked. Or check out the total Mercyful Fate homage during “Realm of the Dark”. Vocally it’s again much more in the deathrash style then the throaty, lower register sounds of Grave or Unleashed.

The Awakening has a perfect blend of death, thrash and early black metal, along with a raw, gritty production, and those into the aforementioned bands as well as stuff like Sodom, Kreator and even Massacre should get immediately hooked on this record. Merciless is still in existence today and has released several quality records in the meantime, however have never quite recaptured the recklessness and youthful abandon they had on Awakening. Originally released on vinyl only on Deathlike Silence it has since been re-released with bonus live tracks on both CD and LP formats via Osmose Productions, and should be relatively easy to track down. The original vinyl goes between $50-75 these days, not only because it’s a killer album but because it’s a rare Deathlike Silence release, always sought after by collec-tors.

Guess what, I don’t always listen to metal. Here’s some of the stuff I have been listening to outside the realm lately: Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, Daniel Higgs, Venetian Snares (new album My Downfall), Totally Insane (East Palo Alto), Neko Case, Pentangle (not to be confused with Pentagram, who also rule obviously), Dax Riggs and Philip Glass too. All worth checking out if you’re not a total snob about punk and metal.

A few people have asked, so I’m going to set up a blog with these columns so people can read em online as well. New columns won’t go up until the issue of MRR with that column in it hits the stands even though these columns are written over a month before publication. But the old ones will all be there, and I’ll keep adding em as the months wear on. Look for it at dontfuckingtry.blogspot.com.

Finally new mailing address. Send stuff to: Don’t Try c/o Dave Adelson, 120 State Ave NE #136, Olympia, WA 98501 USA. Until next time dear reader…