VISCERAL DISGORGE - Ingesting Putridity CD Amputated Vein Records Genre: Death Metal Rating: 4/5
For those of you out there who are not familiar with my sick sense of humor I'm not trying to be mean spirited whenever I mention the press release info in a review and how it doesn't correspond with the actual music. I've gotta admit that sometimes the info I receive is more like window dressing. This particular email package came in with the words "one of the most brutal releases of 2011". Now maybe some snob type of music scribe might take that in a bad way and be a prick to this band. Not me because anyone who would send that out has to have a set of brass balls and the music is probably going to be really brutal as fuck. So even before I listened to this I had the release up in points as if it was hand delivered to me by a crotch crushing ape with a note saying "like it or your head is next". After listening to the first few songs I must admit that VISCERAL DISGORGE are definitely a brutal sounding death metal act. Although I've heard some pretty brutal stuff this year and my office floor is still covered in empty pain medication bottles to prove it.
I wasn't surprised to see that VISCERAL DISGORGE hails from Baltimore, Maryland. I spent a week in that city years ago while visiting a friend who was going to school there. Now except for the downtown area, the water front and a cool bar where my friend hung out at that catered to loose art school sluts and had two types of National Bohemian (aka: Natty Bo) on tap, the rest of the city was a shithole. No offense of course but obviously if you're in a death metal band from there then you're going to be a brutal one. So I kinda have more respect for these guys and their music then a typical brutal sounding DM band from California. I mean except for the high taxes how brutal can living in California be in order to influence a band's music? But anyway this release is the debut by VISCERAL DISGORGE who are not just brutal sounding for brutal's sake. For starters the music they create is actually interesting to hear as well as blast loudly. Their songs contain varied tempos but for the most part are from the slow crawling death doom spectrum. It's from that base where they formulate various scenarios in order for their all out attack.
On the opener, "Force Fed Shredded Genitalia", things start off with this dark atmospheric back drop of sound. It's kinda like the audio equivalent of the anxiety one gets while walking down a dark alley at night. Twenty five seconds goes by then someone jumps out of the shadows and rapes you. Yeah that's also when the band starts cranking out the brutality. Somewhere shortly after the three minute mark the sound breaks to allow a voice sample stating "tonight you will get your dick ripped off". They could have just as well used someone saying "welcome to Baltimore" as far as I'm concerned. Of course that's nothing compared to what follows. Some people might consider the song titles on here to have come from rejected SAW movie scene ideas for their overwrought hostility. I don't think so in fact they look more like ideas the band found in their local newspaper. Songs like "Sedated and Amputated", "Strangled and Sodomized", or "Ball Gagged and Gutted", hey that's just a typical Saturday night in Baltimore. While speed is not of the essence here VISCERAL DISGORGE adds enough tech death brilliance like a sadistic surgeon slowing dissecting you without anesthesia. "One of the most brutal releases of 2011", yeah sure especially when you hear "Maggot Infested Fuck Hole".
I've received many comments, all good of course, for posting old show videos from the club I used to work at in the 90s. Of course remembering the past is fine but hey people we're in the here and now. We're a sneeze away from 2012. So before you make that oh so important decision on what type a stupid looking party hat you plan to wear during this weekend's New Years Party (which you'll end up regretting once those photos appear on Facebook). I believe it's time for all of you (or how they say it here in the South "ya'll") to check out something I'm starting up for the new year as
SCUMFEAST METAL's Video Spectacular
I'm gonna start by saying technically this ain't a real video but more of a promo vid to alert you as well as get you psyched. For me I don't need to be reminded (ok that's not true since I do drink) on this band's greatness. Usually when I'm running naked through my neighborhood being chased by professionals eventually being caught, cuffed and thrown into the van. I never have a decent explanation for my sudden outbursts of insanity. But back in January 2011 I did because that was when I had this New Zealand bands CDEP, Coming Out, sent in for review. RAZORWYRE were this explosion of NWOBHM and Thrash influenced Metal. They had it all; galloping rhythms, chugging guitars, fiery solos and of course the clean vocals as well as the classic heavy metal scream. And frankly if you don't care for a cool heavy metal scream then you can just leave.
Where I live here in the great state of North Carolina (we're number one in strokes) classic metal styled bands still reign supreme in appreciation. Seriously I've been to shows and it's true. Don't believe a word of what indie-phile press scribes say. If they see someone wearing an IRON MAIDEN Killers T-shirt they have the same reaction like sticking a cross in Dracula's face. And it's not just were I live either. The whole of America still raises the horned salute to this type of classic sounding metal, except for NY and LA. No revival needed or asked for. Then there's Europe where band's like RAZORWYRE would be treated as royalty. When reviewing this band's CDEP last year I named dropped MAIDEN and METAL CHURCH as comparisons from the past. Fine if you want some modern names, if you're a young hesher into ENFORCER, WIDOW and VOLTURE, then you'll like RAZORWYRE. If you think Heavy Artillery Records doesn't release enough cool classic metal styled stuff for you to crave over then you will be looking else where for their 2012 full length, Another Dimension.
If you're an older fuck like me and after listening to this video you do not climb up onto your roof naked, playing air guitar on that ceremonial battle axe you hang on the wall for decoration as well as home defense then you're already dead. Goodbye because we're going to blast this one by New Zealand's RAZORWYRE until the van shows up with the guys in the white coats who will drag us down from the roofs, cuff us and ask why were we doing what we were. Well then listen to this
Razorwyre from NEW ZEALAND -- the new Force in traditional 80's classic Heavy/Speed Metal proudly announce their forthcoming: Debut Album "Another Dimension" -- on a limited Edition Pressing of only 300 copies worldwide released in cooperation with Underground Power/Germany -- http://www.underground-power.de/
HEXIS - XI CD Enjoyment Records Genre: Post Rock Rating: 4/5
Here's an act from Copenhagen, Denmark that I had the painful pleasure of enduring when they appeared on a three way split release put out by Throatruiner Records this year. In fact that particular release, AS WE DRAW, EUGLENA and HEXIS split CD, ended up being chosen as the best various artist compilation of 2011 by me. Here's the band's full length debut and I'm trying to decide whether or not listening to this is akin to being in a rain storm of nails or it's just the audio equivalent of the coming apocalypse. I mean that all in a good way of course. That split they were on only contained two cuts to brutalize one's psyche. This is a full length's worth assault of seven and they do not hold back for a second. You get no time to catch your breath or pick your brains off the floor. When I played this my first thought was "oh no I remember this band." Then after the fourth cut I wondered what their shows are like. By the release's end I was telling myself that I'm getting too old for this stuff.
HEXIS combines the sounds of 1990's post hardcore, grind and some black metal to forge a fierce audio weapon. There are various bands on both sides of the Atlantic doing similar styles of this combination. Now I love my country but the European bands got us beat in this musical area simply because their sound, as evident on here by the ton, which really bleeds angst ridden hardcore influences that are not pretentious crap. Trust me on this because once you hear Filip's vocals you would think he screamed out his cords and left them on the studio floor. That's just one part of the intensity. Musically the band's sound is all over the place as you would expect but you will be amazed how well structured their cuts are. Of course this is a fast album with a running time somewhere over the twenty minute mark. Repeated listens are mandatory if you have the stamina to survive an hours worth of their pummeling. If someone decided to come up with another one word sub genre term for what HEXIS does my suggestion would be "EXTREME".
BLACK CROW KING - To Pay The Debt Of Nature CD Bad Good Music Genre: Drone Rating: 2/5
Creating gloomy drone oriented experimental black metal is no way to go through life there Corvus. In fact with all of those descriptive terms, taken from two of your label's promo sources, one would guess that you just might be a hipster (might be that is) and that's before anyone would give a listen to the pretentious music on To Pay The Debt Of Nature. Corvus is the one man mastermind behind BLACK CROW KING who created a agonizing bunch of noise on here the likes of which I think a SUNN O)) fan might reject. Oh yeah that would also be me although of late I'm starting to question my fascination with them as well. I believe the proliferation of these types of noise acts of late has been because the music is easy to create yet sounds pretentious and edgy.
All this consists of is some guitar noodling by some friends of Corvis, some drums, keyboards, plenty of distortion and feedback plus Corvis screaming in harsh black metal styled tones. If this is what pseudo intellectual music snobs call "forward thinking music" then I'd rather stick with good o'l knucle dragging neanderthal sounds, you know like real black metal. According to the press release “To Pay The Debt Of Nature is a harrowing journey into death, darkness and despair." I totally agree with that accessment especially the despair part. People usually coin the phrase "experimental" with this type of music which is getting to be an ad hominem type of genre classification. It's basically noise and incoherent screaming albeit I'm sure whatever lyrics being thrown out are meaningful to Corvis. I'm sure someone out there likes this stuff.
MAUSOLEUM - Back From the Funeral CD Razorback Recordings Genre: Death Metal Rating: 2/5
I must admit that twelve months of reviewing OSDM (Old School Death Metal) bands has taken it's toll on my psyche. I was good up to the Fall but these past weeks have been some stretch especially when the bands in question are all new yet all sounding too reminiscent of their fore bearers. Take this one from Pennsylvania, a state I use to live in as well as being the place where the whole zombie movie phenomenon got it's start. I'm talking about George Romero's Night of the Living Dead for any of you hoovers slumming on here for street cred. For Death Metal fans Romero is god, Evans City is hollowed ground and zombies became a prevailing theme with bands straining the remains for lyrics. MAUSOLEUM are unfortunately second tier DM playing with the remaining dust after genre overkill. Think AUTOPSY and OBITUARY for the overall sound with a reworking of the last ideas imaginable for lyrical themes. It all reminds me of those remakes of Romero's movies, although Tom Savini's 1990 remake was decent.
Back From the Funeral is MAUSOLEUM's second full length. Their debut and much better titled Cadaveric Displays of Ghoulish Ghastliness came out in 2003. Maybe they are returning from a funeral or this was just slapped together with mediocre ideas. In between the fast then slow dirty groove tempos you get your prerequisite wannabe scary samples. The band does try to bump up the excitement with the opener "Doomed in the Desecrated Cemetary" which is followed by the not bad "Dead Walkers", a reference to the show on AMC? The twenty three seconds (I'm serious) of death grind "Raped Within the Casket" also bears mentioning. From that point on or in other words the whole second half of this is average. "Brains" (I Must Eat Your Fucking Brains), really now I'm even offended at that lack of conscious effort on their part. The finale is mostly death doom gloom and goodbye. Look people I really like this music, well not a lot of this particular release, but in general. It's been a great run of OSDM bands making a second full fledged go of it for close to three years now. I think 2011 was the peak and it's all down hill now. Case in point this one here, nuff said.
KROSSFIRE - Learning to Fly CD Pure Steel Records Genre: Power Metal Rating: 3/5
KROSSFIRE originally put this out themselves in the Spring of 2011 but the good people at Pure Steel Records decided to pick it up, repackage the thing with new artwork and have it planned for a January 2012 re-release. Perfect time since there's a few references of trudging through ice and snow on Learning to Fly. Although it's late December where I'm holed up at and it's a balmy sixty nine degrees. Wahfuckinhoo if you ask me. Anyway KROSSFIRE could be considered Bulgaria's version of BLIND GUARDIAN and I mean that in the most sincere way. That latter band put the orchestral power in Power Metal and this band follows suit. After an obligatory intro, "Visions", the band comes out swinging their perniks (that's a medieval sword from their homeland) on "War Machine" which I wouldn't be surprised was conceived while a band member or two were in the audience the last time MANOWAR played in Bulgaria. (they tour through there often) Waitaminute maybe KROSSFIRE opened up for them?
Although the band has been around for a decade now this is their debut full length. As far as this release goes it's obvious that this five piece act clearly paid strict attention to detail. The melodies soar, their vocalist Dimo Petkov has that all perfect strong clean voice that's not operatic. Their guitarist Georgi Kushev floats in a MAIDEN riff or two but most often it's power chord heaven. Like most modern European Power Metal this is not as rough sounding or NWOBHM based. The orchestral intros and keyboard interludes add that progressive feel to the mix. Strangest thing about this is that they placed a ballad at the end of this instead of somewhere in the middle. The song, "The One" is a piano and string arranged duet between Petkov and a woman named Violeta Kousheva. Sure nice song but in the wrong place. The woman's probably a friend of the family who didn't make it on Bulgarian Idol so the band gave here a vocal shot on here for a few minutes. Learning to Fly has nothing really going for it which will excel it past any of their genre peers. At least the next time you're vacationing at the resort on the Black Sea you know who to see in town if you want some power metal.
The Caboose was a small biker bar / rock club on the edge of Raleigh NC in Garner. 100s of underground hardcore punk & metal bands performed there in the 90s. My friend Andy miller not only booked all of these bands but filmed them. I worked at the Caboose back then and was lucky enough to witness all of these shows.
This video is from the tour when INCANTATION brought a new and then unheard of young band, NILE, on the road with them in 1998. Yeah now look at em. This was historic.
THORAZINE WERE A COOL PUNK BAND OUTTA PHILLY IN THE 1990S WHO PUT OUT A FEW LPS AND BECAME GOOD FRIENDS WITH THE LOCALS HERE IN NC. PERSONALLY I ALWAYS WONDERED WHY THEY WERE NEVER BIGGER AS FAR AS IN THE PUNK SCENE THEN THEY WERE.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following are quick reviews of releases I got in late but wanted to include prior to the end of the year. No ratings since everything is great stuff.
COFFINS - Ancient Torture 2xCD compilation Deepsend Records Genre: Doom / Crust / Death
This came out early in 2011 but is well worth picking up. For anyone who is a fan of this Japanese trio you probably hate the fact that they've been on a lot of split releases which you simply have not kept up with buying and Ebay prices suck. Well here you go sick dogs because this comp has the stuff you've craved for so fuckin long. I'm talking their original material plus the covers.
TSJUDER - Legion Helvete CD Season of Mist Genre: Black Metal
This was these Norwegians come back album after lying low for a few years. Fine release but fans knew their trio of work like Kill for Satan from 2000, Demonic Possession in 2002 and the almighty greatness of 2004's Desert Northern Hell were hard to surpass. Definitely a for fans only release.
THE FUCKING WRATH - Valley of the Serpent's Soul CD Tee Pee Records Genre: Sludge
I still talk about the greatness of this band's debut from 2007, Season of Evil. A year afterwards I found out they played a show some shit hole in Durham with two local bands. One of those bands played with BARONESS so I walked up to that band's singer/guitarist and asked him about THE FUCKING WRATH. He probably was pissed because I didn't ask him about his band and BARONESS was on stage but they kinda sucked that night. So the dude really didn't have much to say about THE FUCKING WRATH because they were better than his band which broke up by the way.
XIV DARK CENTURIES - Gizit Dar Faida CD Einheit Produktionen Genre: Pagan Folk Metal
Normally I'd get a Viking's longboat full of pagan folk metal in for review. Was it something I said? Maybe someone didn't like that AMON AMARTH review from earlier this year. Anyway these Germans are pretty epic on this release.
HIGH PRIEST OF SATURN - Self Titled 2 song demo Self Released Genre: Doom
Two long SABBATH inspired with Hammond organ spilling all over the place and female vocals. Oh yeah they're from Norway. I'm sure I originally heard this on Crestfallen's Podcast but I got it, the demo bandcamp link, from a Euro Doom connection who sends me all of this obscure shit from Europe. If this band doesn't get a full length out in 2012 (hello Van Records) then it will be a crime.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following are quick reviews of releases I got in late but wanted to include prior to the end of the year. No ratings since everything is great stuff.
BLASPHEMOPHAGHER - The III Command of the Absolute Chaos CD Nuclear War Now Genre: Blackened Death This Italian band's 2010 release, For Chaos Obscurity and Desolation, was on our best of that year's list. This one could easily have made this year's list as well. Simply put this is extreme metal which will have you running like werewolves through the streets.
CULTES DES GHOULES - Spectres Over Transylvania CDEP Hells Headbangers Genre: Black Metal I learned about this Polish band in 2008 with their Haxan (yeah like the movie) full length. Any of you H.P. Lovecraft followers into the Cthulhu Mythos here you go. A one song multi part piece which will curl your hair with fright.
VEKTOR - Outer Isolation CD Heavy Artillery Records Genre: Thrash
I must admit that I should have had my head cut off and handed to me for not giving this one a full review if not a place on the best of listings because of it's weirdness. For anyone out there into progressive thrash here you go.
EXELOUME - Fairytale Of Perversion CD ViciSolum Productions Genre: Death Metal / Thrash
Finding something from Norway that's not influenced by black metal is still a rarity in this day and age. Some people blew this off because of the cover art. Get over it pussy boys because the music is what counts first. Besides I don't have a problem with the artwork. If you do then you must be new to metal so guess what, it's politically incorrect. Go fuck yourself with a unicorn hopefully while this is playing in the background.
This band here CROATAN pre-dated all of the now familar male / female guitar/drums duo type bands by a decade. They got signed to Man's Ruin Records and released a few things with them as well as putting out material on their own. CROATAN really didn't fit into the pre-described genre holes of punk or metal. They appealed to those who liked it all.
CROATAN were from Ohio which might be why most people never heard of em. If they hailed from one of those "cool & hip" citioes then maybe they would've been on the cover of magazines.
The Caboose was a small club in Garner, North Carolina (just outside of Raleigh the state capital) owned by Ed Warner, who later would become one of my closest friends. From 1996 to 2000 Andy Miller, another one of my closest friends, booked shows there. Andy and I also did Scumfeast Fanzine which covered the extreme side of underground music and culture. I had the good fortune to work security at the Caboose which afforded me the incredible opportunity to be at almost all of the shows. Since Andy had great taste in music, the bands that would appear on the small stage at the Caboose were the ones he wanted to see. So for close to four years the Caboose had the best shows, as far as extreme Punk and Metal go at that time, in all of Wake County. Also Andy video taped a lot of these bands in order to keep a historical record, give copies to the bands and trade via mail to other video collectors across the globe. Right now Andy Miller and Ed Warner are appearing on stages and making history themselves as part of the punk/metal act KNOWLEDGE IS FOR FOOLS. Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/kiffknowledgeisforfools
Andy also is owner of Buttons Made For You, a small company that creates buttons/badges. Through constant inquires from fans about those old videos Andy has finally took some time out of his busy schedule in order to upload some of those old videos to Youtube. Scumfeast Metal 666 is proud to present some of these videos, with a few words about the bands and show memories, on a regular basis.
HEAVY METAL IN YOUR FACE!
ORDAINED were a heavy metal band from Virgina were had that classic type of METAL style which was cool to listen to, had great riffs to bang your head along to and were worthy of raising the horns to.
The band played quite a few shows at the Caboose (two different ones here from 98 & 97) but after a few years they moved out to Las Vegas. The band came back to town once in the past decade (2003?) and played another club where I wore my original ORDAINED "Flow To Hell" shirt.
The Caboose was a small club in Garner, North Carolina (just outside of Raleigh the state capital) owned by Ed Warner, who later would become one of my closest friends. From 1996 to 2000 Andy Miller, another one of my closest friends, booked shows there. Andy and I also did Scumfeast Fanzine which covered the extreme side of underground music and culture. I had the good fortune to work security at the Caboose which afforded me the incredible opportunity to be at almost all of the shows. Since Andy had great taste in music, the bands that would appear on the small stage at the Caboose were the ones he wanted to see. So for close to four years the Caboose had the best shows, as far as extreme Punk and Metal go at that time, in all of Wake County. Also Andy video taped a lot of these bands in order to keep a historical record, give copies to the bands and trade via mail to other video collectors across the globe. Right now Andy Miller and Ed Warner are appearing on stages and making history themselves as part of the punk/metal act KNOWLEDGE IS FOR FOOLS.
Andy also is owner of Buttons Made For You, a small company that creates buttons/badges. Through constant inquires from fans about those old videos Andy has finally took some time out of his busy schedule in order to upload some of those old videos to Youtube. Scumfeast Metal 666 is proud to present some of these videos, with a few words about the bands and show memories, on a regular basis.
It's THOR from Canada. Although THOR, in this video, ain't as buff as he was back in the late 70's when he was doing Muscle Rock. This was a great show, like watching a professional wrestler sing power metal plus THOR had his long time squeeze, Cherry, on stage with him. Old CREEM readers from the 70's will remember her, like I did.
This was from the Thunderstruck tour in 1998. THOR would later return to the area but that was a year or two later and at another club since the Caboose had closed it's doors. Here's a second video from the Caboose show.
The Caboose was a small club in Garner, North Carolina (just outside of Raleigh the state capital) owned by Ed Warner, who later would become one of my closest friends. From 1996 to 2000 Andy Miller, another one of my closest friends, booked shows there. Andy and I also did Scumfeast Fanzine which covered the extreme side of underground music and culture. I had the good fortune to work security at the Caboose which afforded me the incredible opportunity to be at almost all of the shows. Since Andy had great taste in music, the bands that would appear on the small stage at the Caboose were the ones he wanted to see. So for close to four years the Caboose had the best shows, as far as extreme Punk and Metal go at that time, in all of Wake County. Also Andy video taped a lot of these bands in order to keep a historical record, give copies to the bands and trade via mail to other video collectors across the globe. Right now Andy Miller and Ed Warner are appearing on stages and making history themselves as part of the punk/metal act KNOWLEDGE IS FOR FOOLS. Myspace: www.myspace.com/kiffknowledgeisforfools
Andy also is owner of Buttons Made For You, a small company that creates buttons/badges. Through constant inquires from fans about those old videos Andy has finally took some time out of his busy schedule in order to upload some of those old videos to Youtube. Scumfeast Metal 666 is proud to present some of these videos, with a few words about the bands and show memories, on a regular basis.
What you are about to watch is INSANE!
Once that mic stand came flying out from the stage the people stayed back. This is UPSIDEDOWN CROSS from Boston, a band formed in the late 1980s from the ashes of KILSLUG. On this night they were the closing band of the Scumfest 1998 fest. Oh yeah that's Liz Buckingham, now in ELECTRIC WIZARD, to the left side of the stage. She was in the band for a short time. The fog and strobe lights had people at the show calling it something akin to watching a UFO landing. Close Encounters of the Sick & Twisted Kind is more like it.
Normally I try to keep politics separate from my website but in this case I'll make an exception. This year I've noticed a lot of people here in the states who in 2008 supported Obama for President but now clearly have buyers remorse. Hey you know what, it happens to everyone sooner or later. So come election day in 2012 it looks like the overwhelming majority of people who voted for Obama in 08 but feel like complete idiots for it, will throw their support behind the more qualified candidate, whoever it may be. Of course there are those in the minority who will still support Mr. Obama on election day fully knowing that he's a failure but they just can't bring themselves to admit it. I don't consider those loyal supporters, on the contrary these people are ignoramuses. They realize they supported a bozo in 08 but will continue to ride inside his clown car for as long as they have to because the alternative is to admit they were wrong, that their man's policies were complete failures and lose all credibility.
But this is not about the political situation here in the states. This is about dragging music into the political swamp, creating false controversies and pseudo intellectual types being exposed as phonies. When I jumped into this whole alternative to the norm of music journalism back in 1987. There's been one thing that's never changed as far as the way I looked at music. I've always called myself a music fan and not a music critic which is similar to the difference of being a public servant and not a politician. The job is similar but one takes it as a profession. You see a music critic considers them self an authoritative figure, an intellectual who knows what you should be listening to. In some ways they even believe themselves to be creators of taste and interest. They feel that the keys to the gates of greatness are in their pockets which gives them the power to make or break careers. On the other hand a music fan has a more simplistic common sense approach which actually wields more power then any critic. The music fan simply knows what they like and hates what they don't. Also since they (music fans) vote with their own dollars they can tell the critics to fuck off which is something music fans have been doing for a long long time. A perfect example is BLACK SABBATH a band the critics hated but fans liked and well the rest is history.
Here's something else that separates music fans from music critics. The music fan is into sharing what they like in order to create a family or a community of like minded individuals. Once something like that is established then good things come about. The bands or artists sell more records and CDs, people come out to see shows, non musicians start bringing in their own talents like art, promotions and technical performance like lighting and sound. Record labels are created, distros and fanzines sprout up in order to spread the word. A micro economic situation is created that benefits all who are involved. On the other hand what the music critic does is more selfish. The whole idea of the music critic is ambition. Don't get me wrong since I have nothing against personal ambition. I'm just calling it out to what is going on. To the music critic it's all about themselves and not the music. To the critic, the music is secondary to their own ambition towards social economic climbing and becoming arbiter of taste. Years ago I read a book on music criticism and it pissed me off so much that I wanted to find the author to kick the living shit out of him. Ten percent of the book actually dealt with the writing craft but the rest of it was about how to become a pseudo intellectual, lying in order to gain influence and peer respect along with occupation standards. Since I couldn't find the book's author I did the next best thing. I looked for the students and beat them to a pulp.
HOW TO GAIN INTEREST AND NOTORIETY? START A FAKE CONTROVERSY
Opinions are like assholes, everybodys got one but they don't sell papers, controversies do. If there's one band that knows all about that one it's DIMMU BORGIR. For the past decade every time the Norwegian band released a new album a so-called controversy surrounded it prior to it hitting the streets and the band got to talk about it in magazine spreads. What was the big controversy? Some people thought DIMMU BORGIR was not a black metal band anymore because they were on a major label (Nuclear Blast) and became popular. Personally I thought those were pathetic reasons to discount a band from being part of a genre. Call me old school but to me it's always been the music which matters, not the label who puts it out. As far as popularity goes well that's something all bands want in order to make something of a living off of their music. Now I can see one story concerning the topic on whether or not the band's sound and style has progressed away from what it originally started out as. But to run the same damm story line for every album, along with cover photos, they've put out for the past ten years shows that some people have created the so-called controversy in order to sell magazines. Personally I think the band's sound has strayed away from their original black metal roots since they now incorporate more signature song structures used by various European power metal bands. Their releases owe more to the symphonic and orchestral elements than black metal. I also see them as boring. But opinions like that don't sell magazines now do they? Trying to create a controversy by pitting one side against another does. Using that controversy in order to slip in your own personal dogma is the disgusting part.
Is this guy above telling you what's great in modern metal?
FALSE ADVERTISING
Have you ever had vegetarian beef tips and rice? I have and well it made me sick. I have nothing against vegetarian meals it's just that the flavor of the fake beef as well as the sauce tasted horrible. I also have a problem with the use of the word "beef" in a dish were there clearly is none. Sure it might look like beef but one taste will tell it's not. And if one important ingredient, the beef, is missing from a two main ingredient dish than it's not really beef tips and rice. Now someone will come along and say well it's for vegetarians. Fine but it's really vegetable product and rice, slapping the "beef" title on it is a lie. Here's another food analogy for ya to savor. I use to live with this one chick who wanted to cook me dinner. For the time we lived together, which was just a year, I did all the cooking at home. One day she decided to cook me a meal which she promised I'd love. When I came home from work that day she kept me out of the kitchen in order to surprise me. When dinner time finally came I sat down at the table and was presented with a plate of pink spaghetti with some brown bits of matter mixed within. I politely asked what she called her dish which she proudly said was spaghetti and meat balls. As I ate she told me that the sauce was made from one 8oz can of tomato sauce and a half a bottle of ketchup. The browns bits were crushed up meatballs from a can of spaghetti-os she threw in. That was fuckin it! Yeah the meal sucked but what I'm trying to convey here is that what she made was a sad interpretation of a traditional dish. Here's another example using food. You ever have infused dining? That's when a chef will take some traditional recipe and infuse it with something different there by changing it. Some people will swear it's just a modernized version but no it's changed. If you take a traditional recipe, remove key ingredients and add new ones than it's changed. Look you can make chicken soup with various added ingredients but as long as you got the chicken in it then it's okay. Do the same recipe but minus the chicken then it's not chicken fuckin soup.
This idea also works with the various genres of music but here we're going to concentrate on metal. Now we all know what metal music is but for any bozos lurking here I'll supply a simple definition. Metal is traditionally characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound, and vigorous vocals. It also has splintered into sub genres which variously emphasize, alter, or omit one or more of these attributes. I got that definition from Wikipedia by the way but it works. If you're a fan of metal music you can disseminate what's metal and what is not. Metal music has a specific base recipe. Just like you can't make chicken soup without the chicken or beef tips and rice without the beef. You can't create metal music without it's base ingredients. Also like the horrible spaghetti meal I got, if you've never made the traditional meal then throwing a bunch of things together is not the same thing. You can't be a metal band by just tossing in few characteristics and calling yourselves metal. Finally by infusing two complete opposites does not mean you can call the creation one or the other, it's now a different item all together. You could even call it a hybrid but not a clone. Some people, normally non metal fans, will call this attitude elitist or intolerant because it embraces rigid boundaries. I say those people who disagree with me are the real intolerant ones because they want their own personal tastes and ideas embraced universally, by stealth if possible by force if necessary.
ONLY A DICKLESS WONDER OF THE ELITIST MEDIA WOULD COME UP WITH THE TERM "FORWARD THINKING METAL"
How do outsiders destroy traditions they disagree with? They start by attacking the loyalists by calling them stagnant, unflinching, elitist and ignorant. Next they produce a different version which they call new improved, progressive and diverse. Finally they use hype within various informational institutions in order to promote it. Now this goes on with a variety of institutions be it political ideology, religion, economics and so on. The question that needs to be asked is why do outsiders feel a need to do this? For me the only reason is that these outsiders are not comfortable with themselves. They perceive themselves as inadequate therefore they need to water down everything else in order to be build themselves up. I call this the intolerance of diversity. You have these outsiders who hate the existence of your traditional group so they tear it down in the name of diversity and progressiveness. Of course they tell you it's for your own good which is a complete lie. When these outsiders get caught in that lie it's like watching a snail squirm in a pile of salt.
ah yeah sure, wanna try that search again?
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME TRANSCENDENTAL BLACK METAL?
Black Metal is a sub genre of metal music. It's relatively looked upon as an extreme genre of metal with common traits such as fast tempos, shrieked or raspy vocals, distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, a rapid fire drumming technique called the blast beat, barely audible bass plus unconventional song structures. Now throughout it's history the black metal music genre has been diverse as far as bands adapting different characteristics. At it's peak in popularity in it's second wave you could take five top releases and each one would have it's own distinctive style and unique sound. Today there are black metal bands on every continent. The template has been expanded to include a lot of diverse musical as well as ethnic influences specific to their nations like folk and various ties to pagan religious beliefs. That's only a small portion of it all which I'm referencing. Black Metal has also gone on to influence other established metal genres like death metal, thrash, doom, grind and crust. It has also influenced non metal genres like punk and post rock. The key wording used is "blackened" as in blackened thrash or blackened death. Yes people Black Metal is diverse. Black Metal is influential. But there's one basic tenet to the genre that separates it from all others and that's it's dark foreboding atmosphere which conveys extreme evil. You take that important portion out and all you are left with is noise. That's why in order to create truly evil music one must be evil to start with in order to reach that goal. That's why you can never have something like blackened indie rock because it would be a pathetic joke.
THE LAUGHING STOCK AND BIGGEST LOSERS OF 2011
There was nothing funny about MORBID ANGEL's long awaited 2011 release Illud Divinum Insanus. It was clearly looked upon by fans as a disappointment. Things like that happen. But there was one real laughing stock of 2011 and they are all of the music critics who laid their proverbial reputations out to be shit upon when they promoted the band LITURGY and their 2011 release Aesthethica. Now before we go into this year's joke lets review this band as well as bring everything I've previously written about together. A few years ago LITURGY was an unknown act from New York City who released an CDEP in 2008, Immortal Life, which was rejected by the respected metal media because it was simply nothing more than pretentious noise created by a few stoned losers. The band considered themselves "experimental black metal" even though there was little to do with black metal in their music. They basically were a handful of indie rock losers still dressed up in 90's grunge attire fucking around in a studio for fifteen minutes. Normally bands like this quickly disappear without even leaving a shit stains worth of evidence to show of their existence. Unfortunately that wasn't the case.
Enter in the pseudo intellectual music critic crowd who specialize in musical propaganda. It was these domesticated herd of pigs who for a while watched their past favorites like Indie Rock and Alt. Country die horrible deaths on the music vine although they still have hip hop and Lady Gaga type acts to fall on. It was these sanctimonious pipsqueaks who were responsible for the urban subculture known as hipsters. It was these decrepit imbeciles, who in the past championed music only fit for coffee house worms, which decided it was now time to move on to other feeding grounds. Their new target was a musical genre they have always despised and ridiculed, metal. Although these masturbating monkeys without a culture of their own to speak of didn't just go after any genre of metal. They went for the unholy grail of black metal, although they also planted their parasitic cock sucking lips onto certain versions of Doom. Of course they really couldn't jump into the traditionalist black metal crowd because of their non masculine behavior. So they found someone who not only defied the orthodoxy of the genre but also looked like a bunch of pretentious douche bags, which was like looking in the mirror for the pseudo intellectual music critic crowd . They broke LITURGY into the music world by way of websites like Pitchfork and magazines like Spin who cator towards the trendy indie rock loser crowd.
Calling these losers the new leaders of USBM is equal to career suicide
So in 2009 the band released their full length debut, Renihilation, on the label 20 Buck Spin which supposedly gave it street credibility. It was at this point were the outsiders started their attack on black metal's loyalists by calling their devotion to their norm as arcane, stagnant and dwelling in the past. They used LITURGY, as well as a growing number of pseudo metal acts (strangely enough mostly from NYC), as their plastic versions of weapons in order to knock down the black metal orthodoxy. Ladies and gentlemen (and you others) it was like a bunch of hipsters with their purses versus a battalion of panzer tanks. The best the hipster crowd could do was hold up in their hovels of hoover-dom whining over the Internet like a bunch of faceless pussies while the blackened stormtroopers surrounded them. Google LITURGY - Renihilation review and the first post you will see is from Pitchfork. From that post on you will find other websites calling it a parody, an experiment with mixed results or simply indie rock. That's only from the sites with questionable integrity the ones who have been known for respectable practices wanted to know what was the punch line to this joke which came with all the hype. When it came to black metal purists the general consensus was enough was enough. It's one thing to lean over the edge of the black metal template (aka: shoegazer, ambient noise, drone, seventies prog rock influences, goth) but there was no way they would accept a bunch of black metal haters into their collective consciousness. It was bad enough when mall rats started donning corpse paint a year before now you had this infestation from the indie rock stool walking in to claim a seat in black metal? Fuck you and your self satisfied rules of conformity.
Which brings us to 2011 and the band's latest release which naturally was hyped by the hoover class but out right rejected by black metal / extreme metal enthusiests. The difference this time around is that the cocksucking media elitists got more than they bargained for. Not only were their boy toys, LITURGY, rejected once more but the debate which transpired before was over. Not only was LITRUGY's 2011 release a shitty joke but the now laughed at elitist hipster media's support for them only made them look even more pathetic. These psuedo intellectual types who look down their brown noses at everyone outside of their circle jerk got their noses broken forever. All they could do was create a fake controvesy by claiming victimization because their pussies hurt from being kicked in the mouth by the evil, mean black metal purists. Well it didn't work. They are the fake beef, the pink spaghetti and the infused fools of congealed ignorance. Their faces are red from the back handed slap from a extreme music loving public who rejects them more than ever. There once hipster havens now resemble colonies for lepers. Hell a week ago I chastized a few on a Facebook post. Even while I was leaving my size 13 boot marks on their parasitic behinds (covering up the lip marks by their fellow brethran) I was receiving thank you remarks and encouragement from people not involved but just reading the post and laughing at my victims. They rooted for a final death blow as if it were some type of gladiator game which I gladly performed for their amusement.
But I'm not niave to believe these cowards of the music revisionism will die. In 2012 I'll have been writing about extreme music for 25 years and in that time I've come to the realization that the elitist music media are like a roach infestation of an apartment building. You might remove them from your place but they just move on to another apartment and so on and so forth. Even if we tore the whole place down they would still move into the next building over. Therefore if we (aka: the extreme music community) cannot exterminate them permanently the only thing left to do is crush them with extreme prejudice publically for all to see. So what does this all mean to you the reader, the fan, the extreme music enthuisiest? Well first off know who the person is you're getting your music information from. If the person telling you who's great in black metal also hypes on in the same breath about the greatness of some lesbian bluegrass act then I'd walk away. Far be it for me to say a person can't have variety in their personal musical tastes. I am saying if your tiolet breaks who are you gonna call first to get it fixed, an expert in plumbing or someone who knows a little about plumbing as well as Ethiopian fertility rituals? That analogy works with music as well. Besides liking those two styles of music seems more like forced ironic symbolism than edgy musical taste. That's a trait of hipsters who are better to be seen and laughed at than heard.
NEXT MONTH: Why Your Social / Political Ideology Ruins Your Music Credibility
AVERSE CONCEPT - Symbol of Loss EP Self Released Genre: Black Metal / Post Rock Rating: 3/5
Here's a five song EP (actually four songs and an opening instrumental) from a Los Angeles act that I'm going to go out on a limb about and say you might hear much more about in 2012. Hey look I don't make a killing at the track but in this band's case it's as easy as picking the non lame horse in a pack of cripples. I have no info on this band other than the basics. Normally I'd ask them for more but I'm pressed for time trying to get as much done before party weekend. AVERSE CONCEPT are not really doing anything new but don't let that disturb ya. On Symbol of Loss they (I don't know it could be a one man act) join together black metal aesthetics with post rock's early aggressiveness. Think of it as atmospheric with brass knuckles. Some people might compare this to what has also come out of NYC in recent years. The difference with that is those NYC bands are mostly playing by numbers, along with being tagged as just hipsters experimenting and I've heard French & Swiss post rock / post hardcore / post metal acts (as well as a French Black Metal act to be named later) doing similar styled material to this. Albeit those French and Swiss acts are more into screaming where as this has better vocals that are contained.
Like I mentioned earlier the opener "Grey Skies" is an instrumental which is kinda melancholy and really has nothing to do with what comes next. "Welcome to the Trance" is explosive as well as hip deep in 90's post rock angst. Ironically the riffs have an ebb and flow to them which is hypnotic yet powerful enough like someone grabbing hold of your collar and yelling in your face. "Resigned Devotion" is cut from the exact same cloth but with more dynamics added to the song structure. Imagine yourself floating free but then the drum fills here turn everything into a bumpy ride. "Desolate Alleviate" starts off with some mild guitar picking that brings back the dream sequence and then shocks you back to reality with an icy riff. The vocals are a mix of venomous screams and a punk snarl. Obviously they're not trying to toss in phony shrieks or rasps. There's a short but nice tremolo riff break about three quarters of the way through. I'd also say that AVERSE CONCEPT definitely has some shoegazer influence, as evident on the the final cut "Clouded Recovery", yet it's tempered and there's a slight technical sheen flowing with it all.
I seriously doubt AVERSE CONCEPT will blow away your snarky elitist metal media types with this EP's worth of material. That's alright since they will instead spark interest with, hopefully, some label people who actually remember the excitement they felt with that first ALCEST release. (yeah that's the French Black Metal act to be named later which I'm naming now who've taken the off the blackened template route well) They're definitely not copying the Frenchy's early style but there are many similarities especially having one foot firmly planted (as opposed to those experimental NYC acts who just dip a toe in) in black and the other locked down in the post material world. As far as a downside I'd say there needs to be more variety but it's an EP which could also be a demo and yet it's a fuckin decent one. Maybe if this band had a good amount of recording time in a studio to produce a full length well now we are talking. I wish them luck since they have everything else.
BLACK PYRAMID - II CD MeteorCity Records Genre: Stoner Rock Rating: 4/5
I seriously believe a bag of weed should have come in with this release for review. It's not that I need it of course but BLACK PYRAMID is so 1970's centric that the addition of a bag of weed would bring back childhood memories even more than the music. Of course you can't clean your weed with a CD case although I've heard that some new doom types (hoovers) still try it. You've got a problem there people besides we used records with gatefold sleeves back in the day. Yeah I know you thought it was just for the artwork but no it wasn't. Also those Frisbees we had in the back seats of our cars? Same thing since we were too fucked up to play Frisbee. But anyway this new one by Massachusetts' own three some, BLACK PYRAMID, is a winner for nostalgia purposes in my book. The opener on here "Endless Agony" sounds like SABBATH covering DEEP PURPLE's "Pictures from Home". Seriously it does and I haven't been smoking anything.
The rest of this release is just good 70's hard rock influenced stoner stuff. There's only two long jam type cuts on here like twelve plus minutes of "Dreams of the Dead" and the fifteen plus minute closer "Into the Dawn". Now I point that out because hippie blues jams are tiresome. If you're into that then just go pick up a GRATEFUL DEAD soundboard bootleg and choke on your love beads loser. That's not stoner rock because there's no "rock" in it. BLACK PYRAMID have actual songs with are memorable and are hard fuckin rock. This is their second full length. Their first, which I never heard, was self titled and came out in 2009. Since that time they've appeared on a few splits and released some singles. I'd say if you are a fan of the genre yet have everything I've told you about, as far as stoner stuff goes, then needs to be in your bag as well.
North Carolina doom icons HOUR OF 13 have released a brand new track titled “Lucky Bones” from their forthcoming album, which is due to be released in 2012 via UK’s Earache Records.
In an statement the band’s vocalist Phil Swanson commented: “Chad and I are excited to announce writing and recording is done on the new hour of 13 record to be titled ’333′ that should be out the first quarter of 2012 on Earache Records.
In some respects this album was as easy as it was difficult to write. When faced with the reality of sitting down to put it together it came fairly quickly, but in the months leading up to it there seemed to be allot of pressure and fear that ideas wouldn’t come, personally I was considering reaching out for help in putting the lyrics together and wasn’t sure I would be able to gather my thoughts or come up with anything new to offer. In the end once I sat down with the record I was able to get it all on paper and tape within a very short time. Once the ideas came they came in a flood.
I think it was sitting there in our subconscious just waiting for us to get the headspace to let it out.
The concepts here are far removed from the controversial ideas on the first 2 records. I know Chad always wanted to do something more obscure than I was offering and since this was my second time back I figure I’d attempt to oblige him with a more serious effort, steering clear of the shock value gimmick of the past. So in some respects this is much more serious heavy metal record.
Musically, there is a lot more variation throughout this record, lots of upbeat tempos and atmospheric pages that make a record out of songs like the arrangements found in ‘Missing Girl’ and’ Crawlspace’ plus a couple of less familiar moments that bring new elements into fold. Lots of NWOBHM, doom and deathrock flavor… yum! Yes everyone wants to say their new record is their best yet, but I honestly feel I can say with complete confidence this is our finest ‘hour’!”
When I first read this band's email there was some confusion on my part. I first thought it was "IMPALED offering demo" as in that IMPALED from California, "The Dead Shall Remain Dead" IMPALED! Yeah I can be a freakin idiot sometimes. Although it would've been cool to receive something from IMPALED with a message saying "dude here's our latest pre-release demo for you to check out, horns up." Hey people I might be closing in on the half century mark but I still get excited by things like that which means I'll never be jaded. Case in point take this band here who hail from Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is some fairly insane stuff right here people, dare I say "brootal". Although the way I look at things what IMPALED OFFERING is doing on this five song demo of theirs is not some casual listening experience that you share with just anyone. To me this is like those two cans of beer you've had in the refrigerator since last weekend and it's now Friday so you share one with a friend. (sorry people but I can't afford fine wine so you're stuck with the beer analogy) Then again sharing the existence of this release to you people is equal to me telling you where I hide the dead bodies.
I don't consider myself a connoisseur of everything brutal when it comes to death metal. (I'm still quite sane) I'm pretty much stuck with old school sounding bands. If ya have any doubts then look at my year end best of picks as far as death metal is concerned. Be that as it may every year I hope to find something that stands on that brutal side of the aisle in order to break out and play extremely loud to clear the office of dust and garbage. There have been a few releases this year that were decent but I wish I had this one earlier in the year. IMPALED OFFERING are not brutal for brutality's sake which can be enjoyable at times especially when you need some loud music to cover the sound of the chainsaw when you're cutting up the corpses. This three piece act is real death grind that's brutal as well as an exciting listen for anyone whose also into old school DM influences. There's nothing simple about this band. They throw a lot of variety at you like the blackened influences on "Reality Engorged" or the title cut which reminds me a little of NAPALM DEATH when Barney first took over. And this is just their fuckin demo so can you imagine what their full length is gonna be like when they record and release it in 2012?
IMPALED OFFERING are the true embodiment of what I categorize as extreme and crossing over the death metal / grind boundaries. The opener, "Contortion of Souls", shows plenty of tech death level appeal without being annoying and then they shift gears into a head banging groove which could also influence one to slam into one another. "Down Syndrome Lust" is pure run through solid walls screaming insanity. I say that because there's a section within the song which kinda reminds me of early GRAVE. It's not a lot but enough to get a GRAVE fan like myself to stare at the wall as if it were a target and plan my attack. In fact I'll say it's my favorite track on here not for the subject matter of course. Hey now I don't coach college football alright. I just like extreme fuckin music and for some mainstream people that's weird in itself. Whatever the case this band here clearly gives a few nods to the greatness of extreme metal's past while at the same time giving us psychos something to look forward to hearing in the future, actually the near future. Hopefully they come out with their full length next year before supposed end of the world thing happens. I need to plan my playlist for that last twenty four hours. Also a friend of mine and former house mate (Angela) is from Albuquerque, New Mexico so I've gotta turn her onto this band.
RITUAL - The Resurrection CD Funeral Rain Records Genre: Blackened Doom? Rating: 3/5
For all of you reading this and thinking "RITUAL has a new record out", please note that it might not be who you are thinking about. In all honesty I didn't know who this actually was until the music kicked in and it sure as hell wasn't the death metal band I was thinking about. This RITUAL is Ian Ritual (or is it Ian Flemming?) who achieved a cult like status amongst USBM stalwarts back in the mid-90s after putting out three releases and then just stopped after 1998. For any interested parties, if you can't find those three releases from years ago (aka: 1995's The Summoning, Demonic Winter Metal from 1997, and his last from 1998 Soldiers Under Satan’s Command) there's also a compilation CD floating around with his earlier demo recordings called Chapter 666. I've heard it once but it did leave an indelible memory upon me. Unless you are a diehard collector than novices to underground black metal need not apply.
Which brings us up to date and this latest release which is the first in over a decade for Ian Ritual. Basically this is a one man BM act as Ian is responsible for the instruments (guitar, bass and drums) as well as the vocals. Other than the previously mentioned demo material I cannot say I'm that familiar with his previous studio full length recordings from years ago. Therefore if you're expecting to read "it's a great follow-up to his last opus" then you're going to be sadly disappointed. As far as I can fathom this is a one man parade of melodic black metal peppered with moody ambiance as well as doom aesthetics. The first thing I noticed is how clean sounding this is. You would figure someone from ages ago would at least leave things rough around the edges. There are also parts of this that come off like mainstream friendly blackened rock like "Blinded by Hatred". The title cut for example reminds me a little of modern day SATYRICON (minus the production excess) as well as a few others. Welcome to the new decade Mr. Ritual.
After multiple listens with blood emanating from my ear drums to prove it I see The Resurrection more as a doom release with harsh shrieking vocals that traditional black metal. Although I believe everything on here comes straight from this man's gut (he has no heart for it to be heart felt) and there are some cuts worthy of modern attention grabbing greatness. "Executioner of the Elder Gods" contains some speed that relaxed my coffee intake for a few minutes as well as "Temple of Baphomet's Sons". Maybe if I listen to this fifteen more times I'll become a zombie with these sounds echoing within my rotted skull replacing the previous grey matter.
LEGIONS OF CROWS - Stab Me CD Funeral Rain Records Genre: Blackened Doom Rating: 3/5
When I saw the title of this release I was reminded of a woman I use to date years ago who had some interesting sexual fetishes but you don't wanna hear about that. Speaking of which the opening organ infused "hymm" portion on this UK doom duo's debut (say that three times fast) stabbed me in the head until the blackened rasps and short circuit sounding riffs kicked in. Of course by the second cut, "Fellating the Lamb", their intentions are made clear. LEGIONS OF CROWS are not your run of the mill church goers by a long shot but then again that's a given when it comes to extreme metal. Although I doubt they're the arsonist type since they seem to be more into throwing rotten veggies at parishioners than playing with matches. Plus the kerosene would ruin their own fancy attire. I'm grasping at cliches there if you haven't noticed. As far as their blackening of the doom canon goes there are industrial elements that clearly stand out as if this was recorded in a steel lined studio with Al Jourgensen as producer. The added keyboards also add a surreal dissonance of gothic proportions along with the spoken word poetics.
As I said earlier LEGIONS OF CROWS are a duo consisting of Attila (aka: Ian Marshall) whose responsible for keyboards, the programmed drums and the inhuman like rasping which is classified as vocals. Obviously he's using studio effects to make himself sound more like the snake from the garden of eden. The other half of this duo is someone who simply goes by the name Herod who takes care of the trudging guitar and bass rhythms. Yes for the most part Stab Me is not for anyone into the speed of tremolo picked riffs. The lion's share of the cuts are slow and methodical like torture down right. The guitar tones are crisp like the crunching of dried leaves under your feet in the Fall. By the releases halfway mark the simplicity of the bass and the drum programming starts to drag on you. Attila's use of the keyboards as both lead and background atmospheric accompaniment tends to soften the dreariness of a song like "Dull Grey". Although there are also times when they meander far too long like with the blind SABBATH worship of their namesake cut "Legions of Crows" or worse on "Bullshit Acres".
Once I got past the opening track on Stab Me I thought this was fairly interesting with the sickness of the riffs paired up with Attila's venomous serpentine vocals. Songs like "Fellating the Lamb" and "Defecate", which sounds like they're savagely raping a TYPE O NEGATIVE cut, are worth while listens. Unfortunately like I mentioned before by the halfway point the headache induced boredom starts kicking in which left me with the choice of reaching the volume control or the aspirin to relieve the pain. I believe some of this material also appeared on their 2009 demo so I'll give em the benefit of the rehash and hope any future endeavors are far more creatively enhanced to the degree where this genre packaging could believable lead.
SCUMFEAST METAL 666 Looks at the Most Anticipated Releases of 2012
Ladies and Gentlemen, and you others, this is only the second time I have done a Most Anticipated Releases article. I did one for 2010 but laughed so hard at what others were saying for 2011 I didn't bother. But for 2012 hell why the fuck not plus it keeps the promo people happy that I do read their press releases. Some here are obvious choices while others I've been told about to look out for. Yes the promo people are doing their jobs. For those of you who don't know, you new readers, I have a love/hate affair with these Most Anticipated Releases listings that I see year after year in metal mags or on websites. On the obvious note yeah it's cool to know when one of your favorite bands is coming out with a new release. That way you can plan your parties (not me of course but...) like a former roommate of mine did for that last IRON MAIDEN release. My former roommate and her boyfriend were big MAIDEN fans and they had just seen them on tour not too long before. My former roommate also liked to throw parties, seeking reasons to do so as an excuse to get drunk during the week. (I love ya baby wherever you are, Clayton?) Yes she was great to live with I must say. Anyway on the day of the release her boyfriend scoured the city's record stores looking for that new MAIDEN CD. Unfortunately he couldn't find it anywhere which put a damper on the party. I had it on my computer the whole time since it was sent in for review but I wouldn't say anything about it. It was a turd as you all soon learned. My old roommate wasn't impressed with it either when it finally came out for her boyfriend to pick up. After that she went back to playing DIO's first album since she was still in mourning from his death. (still wearing black as well)
Then there's the pre-release hype associated with the Most Anticipated Releases listings. The best example came in 2010 with ELECTRIC WIZARD's Black Masses. From January onward the hype, whether by schmoozer interviews written up by hacks or the insufferable name-dropping in reviews. Then the release didn't come out on time and that's were the fun started. It was first supposed to come out in October which worked perfect for print magazines in order for them to add it to their best of the year picks articles. Then it didn't come out which kinda made everyone who called it a best of 2010 release look stupid since they never even heard the thing. (yes someone actually listed it as a best of release and admitted they hadn't heard it yet but they just had to put it in) Then there were the Youtube video leaks which had fans, the ones who actually liked the band for more than two years that is, questioning the whole hype thing because those snippets were like lingering fart scents. To make matters even worse the thing was released in Europe which made interweb scribes go on mad Google searches in order to find it leaked on download sites. As it turned out the hype was total bullshit. Black Masses was a complete turd I know because I got it officially and reviewed it. Of course I wasn't let down as much as all of the losers who had hyped it all year and now had to eat crow. So much for their credibility but at least in 2011 they stopped name-dropping ELECTRIC WIZARD every chance they could. Better for them to shut their fucking mouths less they allow everyone to see they're full of shit. (and just for the record I like ELECTRIC WIZARD)
Now we have SCUMFEAST METAL 666's Most Anticipated Releases list for 2012. I tried to make this a "hype free" zone. Enjoy and Learn. But before we get started a few important words to remember.
NAGLFAR - Teras Label: Century Media Release Date: spring/summer 2012
THE DEVIL'S BLOOD - The Thousandfold Epicentre Label: Metal Blade Release Date: North American release on January 17, 2012 Supposedly some magazines and websites have already opined about this Dutch band's second full-length of psychedelic & occult 70's worshipping rock since it's already out in Europe on Van Records. I wasn't floored by their debut EP or full length as were most Interweb scribes who acted as if they just lost their virginity over em. Yeah well amateurs do that sometimes. We'll just wait for it in a few weeks Outlook: We'll See
LVCIFYRE - The Calling Depths Label: Pulverised Records Release Date: January 2, 2012
London chaos-horde LVCIFYRE featuring, according to their press release; "current and past members of Adorior, Corpus Christii and Necrosadist, will unleash their debut full-length, The Calling Depths in a few weeks. Supposedly LVCIFYRE is a manifestation of pure evil" (yeah we will see) The follow-up to their Dying Light ov God EP released via Sweden's Blood Harvest in 2008, The Calling Depths was recorded, mixed and mastered at Poland's Factory Studio, features album art by Alexander L. Brown (Mitochondrion, Corpsessed, Witchrist, Wodensthrone, etc), and offers up an unapologetic slab of riff-decimating death metal for fans of early Morbid Angel, Angelcorpse and Immolation. In other words it's gonna be old school sounding death metal with a technical edge. Said the band in a collective statement: "LVCIFYRE raise a black flag salute to the ancient powers of Chaos! Our creation is a scream heard in the deep abyss!" Lets hope it's not all hype which will drive it over into the fuckin abyss. Outlook: Hmmmm?
ASPHYX - Deathhammer Label: Century Media Release Date: February 27th, 2012 in Europe and February 28th, 2012 in North America
My favorite Dutch doom-death metal act ASPHYX have now finished work on their 8th studio album, Deathhammer. Recorded at The Mörser Studio as well as at Harrow Studio with their long-time engineer Harry Wijering, Deathhammer was mixed and mastered in Sweden by Dan Swanö, who previously worked with the band on 2009's Death...The Brutal Way as well as on the 2010 Live Death Doom release. Deathhammer features artwork by the band's long-time partner in designs, Axel Hermann (http://www.axel-illustrator.de). Hermann has not only worked on all of the early ASPHYX artwork (and most recently on their Live Death Doom release), but is also responsible for a lot of the classic Century Media artwork by bands like MORGOTH, UNLEASHED, SAMAEL, or GRAVE. Outlook: High but then I'm bias
GRUESOME STUFF RELISH - (tba) Label: FDA Rekotz Release Date: Spring of 2012 Spain's GRUESOME STUFF RELISH, newly signed to FDA Rekotz, plan to release their next full length in the Spring of 2012. GRUESOME STUFF RELISH are considered one of the most intense death/grind bands to ever emerge from Spain's metal scene. The band plays a fusion of old-school Swedish death metal like DISMEMBER or CARNAGE and the splatter/gore sound and feel of early CARCASS, IMPETIGO or NECRONY. G.S.R. was formed in 2000 by members of the early 90's death metal band REPUGNANCE. G.S.R has released two full length albums along with several splits with the likes of Call The Paramedics, Engorged and more. The band's concept revolves around their extreme love for the classic Italian horror films from the 60's, 70's and 80's - Giallo films, cannibals, zombies, and other lurid tales of terror. You get the idea. Outlook: We'll See
NAPALM DEATH - Utilitarian Label: Century Media Release Date: February 2012 As always NAPALM DEATH will be part of many most anticipated releases lists for 2012. Their last one 2009's Time Waits for No Slave was a decent release. Seeing them live that year was much better as showcased by the photo of me, Barney and some friends which you can find by scrolling down the page to the left. NAPALM DEATH has never put out a bad release in my not so humble opinion although some are obviously classic. In this stage of the game you would expect people to treat them with criticism the same way they do with their peers. Obviously there's a double standard in the metal media as far as tastes and favoritism go. Outlook: We'll See
SAINT VITUS - Lillie: F-65 Label: Season of Mist Release Date: March 23rd (27th in North America), 2012 SAINT VITUS recently completed the recording of their eighth studio album, their first since 1995. Scott "Wino" Weinrich is behind the microphone again and just about everyone and their buck toothed auntie are dying to hear it, praise it and worship it like a pagan idol. I'm guessing it'll have a the same shelf life as PENTAGRAM did in 2011 with their own "comeback/reunion" release. There was a release which got some hype but was crapped on by the critics. Maybe SAINT VITUS should wait till Fall then release it since the mainstream metal media are such pigs. Outlook: We'll See
ANGUISH - Through The Archdemons Head Label: Dark Descent Records Release Date: February 2012 New Swedish Doom on the rise with this debut full length by ANGUISH. Expectations are high since it's said that this band delivers monolithic doom metal influenced by the likes of Candlemass, Pentagram and Black Sabbath. The band released a demo entitled Dawn Of Doom in 2010 and people went apeshit. Then again since the Gods of Swedish Doom are saying farewell in 2012 and calling it quits afterwards, until the reunion show that is, maybe it's time for new blood. Outlook: High
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY - Self Titled Label: Candlelight Release Date: Early 2012
Ever since the classic original 3 piece COC line-up of Woodroe, Mike, and Reed got together and started touring and performing songs from their Animosity and Technocracy releases, as well as some teaser new stuff, the extreme underground has been in a relative tizzy. This is the original COC and not the Columbia records era band. For many people into metal today this line-up is totally unknown to them, present company excepted of course since I've lived in Raleigh since the fuckin mid-80's and seen this line-up perform live a dozen or more times. So to put it mildly this is a big fuckin deal. Early news is that the band has taken parts of all of their past material and placed it on this release. That's enough to blow some people's minds. Outlook: High
CANDLEMASS - (tba) Label: Napalm Records Relase Date: Spring 2012
The Swedish Doom legends are saying farewell in 2012 with one last release and a tour. The band finished up recording this December and hopefully their last release will be out by the Spring. The band plans to to one huge tour in 2012 although I'm guessing it will mostly be festivals. Outlook: High
PALLBEARER - Sorrow And Extinction Label: Profound Lore Release Date: February 21st, 2012
This Arkansas band put out a damm good self released debut this year and I figured that they would eventually be signed by the end of the year. Frankly it was a no brainer about that prediction considering the musical climate these days. I should have been more specific as to who would sign them but then that would have just been as easy to pick. They're Doom so there you go. Outlook: High
NILE - (tba) Label: (tba) Release Date: 2012
According to Karl Sanders’ Facebook page, tracking for the new Nile release is underway. Karl had this to say, “We are finished tracking drums for the new album – George , Dallas , Neil Kernon and I spent a week with Bob Moore at the Soundlab in Columbia SC tracking drums . We were expecting a long grueling session. Some of this material is very computationally challenging and technically demanding, but George knocked it out by finishing a FULL WEEK ahead of schedule. Some of the drumming on this record will be boggling people’s minds for years to come. At the moment we are back in Greenville and will commence tracking guitars any day now.” Hey as long as it ain't techno goth then it will be well received. Outlook: High
Another death metal legend is poised to set 2012 ablaze. INCANTATION are currently writing new material for an album to be released next year. Along with longtime members drummer Kyle Severn and vocalist/guitarist John McEntee, the band is writing and recording for the first time with newer members guitarist Alex Bouks from GOREAPHOBIA and Chuck Sherwood of BLOODSTORM on bass. This is the first new release by INCANTATION since 2006's Primordial Domination. According to Severn, "The new material we have been writing are by far the darkest and most demented Incantation tracks I've been a part of since Diabolical Conquest." That's not really a bold statement considering INCANTATION has never released a bad album, hell they've never released an average album as well. Outlook: High
WOLFBRIGADE - Damned Label: Southern Lord Release Date: 2012
2012 will be the 30th anniversary of DISCHARGE's Her Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing LP arguably one of the best hardcore LPs of all time as well as being the template for D-Beat. Compared to that WOLFBRIGADE's nine year stint (1995 - 2004) is a blip on the radar. Sure they re-united in 2007 but guess what? There are plenty of D-Beat acts out there today doing the crust thing, the better ones are blackened up. So this is going to be looked upon by thrill seekers (hipsters slumming) as greatness while the punks will be jamming to the likes of DISHAMMER.
Outlook: We'll See
CARNIVORE - (tba) Label: Abyss Records Release Date: 2012
Don't get your panties in a wad this is a new Swedish band who put out a three-song EP called Faces of Death last June and the thing sold out in 2 hours. The good people at Abyss Records decided to sign them up now plus re-release their EP early in 2012 as a teaser for their upcoming full length. The band entered the studio in December and we're expecting something based on old school elements with a modern and progressive touch, as well as an philosophical and occult lyrical element. In other words the OSSDM (Old School Swedish Death Metal) revival is still alive and well for another year.
Outlook: We'll See
UZALA - Self Titled Label: At War With False Noise/Witch Sermon Release Date: Early 2012
On the "hype machine" we have UZALA a female fronted doom act out of the Northwest who made a quick name for themselves in 2010 by releasing a four song demo which it seems only scribes at Doom websites heard, ergo the hype. Probably the other thing of importance to note is that their vocalist Darcy Nutt also plays guitar which still confounds hipster types. With the exception of Liz Buckingham most hipsters, as far as playing an instrument goes, still feel women are only reserved to just playing bass like in indie rock bands. Personally I believe women can do what ever the hell they want as far as extreme music goes (and they do as documented by SFM666) but hipsters are still in suspense when they see a guitarist with tits. UZALA will supposedly follow in the foot steps of all the other female fronted doom acts which have come before them, especially this year as documented by SFM666. The difference being they'll have a cadre of scribes behind em ready to name drop JEX THOTH and BLOOD CEREMONY every chance they get. I've heard a new song already so how bout we judge em on their own merits for a change.
Outlook: We'll See
IRON SAVIOR - The Landing Label: AFM Records Release Date: January 2012
Fans of German power metal rejoice because IRON SAVIOR who haven't been heard from in four years are now back to rock your world with German steel. On this one, IRON SAVIOR´s classic Condition Red lineup has been reunited as their promo states: "resulting in the expected impressive blend of power riffs, haunting melodies and rough, expressive vocals of the band's landmark sound together with full force, while also achieving their most versatile and varied album to date." Ah yeah and like the band's previous albums, The Landing was recorded at founding vocalist/guitarist Piet Sielck´s Powerhouse Studio, and yields eleven powerful tracks. So get ready to taste their German steel.
Outlook: We'll See
OMINOUS CRUCIFIX - The Spell of Damnation Label: FDA Rekotz Release Date: Early 2012
This is the long awaited (seriously it is) full length from this Mexican death metal act who have already brutalized listeners with their various splits, demos and EPs. Look here people any band that gets compared to ASPHYX is on my list.
Outlook: High
POISON IDEA - Various Reissues on the way Label: Southern Lord / TKO Records Release Date: throughout 2012
Expect plenty of shout outs for a band who I've called the best Hardcore act EVER in my not so humble opinion. Southern Lord Recordings are officially re-releasing several titles from Portland, Oregon's greatest punk/hardcore exports, POISON IDEA. On a personal note if you don't have any of the originals or at least the reissues on Taang from years ago then; A) you're a loser B) you're not punk or hardcore but are dirty and C) here's your chance to really be cool, you hipster retards. Most younger punks, the ones who are not left wing brainwashed idiots, will probably pick these up on vinyl from TKO Records just for the collecter aspect of it. The label did a great job years ago when they reissued all those ANTISEEN albums as well as getting banned from Maximum Rock n Roll which was fine by me because that zine really turned into a joke by 1993 and never recovered. But if you are a real POISON IDEA fan you'll want to have their material on vinyl and CD. Southern Lord will be releasing the CD versions of several POISON IDEA reissues. All of the material is being re-mastered by Jack Control (I don't know who that is) and each release will include new, extensive liner notes as well as never before seen photos and previously unreleased bonus material, aka: cool stuff to look at while the dink is playing.
This POISON IDEA reissue series kicks off January 31st, with the re-release of Darby Crash Rides Again: The Early Years. Boasting twenty-nine tracks from the band's earliest days, the album includes the 100% previously unreleased Boner's Kitchen demo from 1981, the complete Darby Crash Rides Again demo from 1982, the complete uncut live-on-the-air set from the 1983 KBOO radio benefit, and outtakes from the Record Collectors Are Pretentious Assholes recording session. Much of this material has either been out-of-print or never before officially released! All the recordings have been meticulously restored and mastered by Jack Control at Enormous Door Mastering. The booklet contains liner notes, old flyers and tons of previously unpublished photos from the band's beginnings. This is a complete no-brainer for POISON IDEA fans or any fan of the early days of American hardcore punk. Following Darby Crash Rides Again in January, Southern Lord will also re-release The Fatal Erection Years (Pick Your King/Record Collectors are Pretentious Assholes), War All The Time, Ian Mackaye, Feel The Darkness, We Must Burn and Last Will & Testament throughout 2012. Pig Champion will be happy.
Outlook: High
Some other bands that SFM666 hopes will put something out in 2012, simply because of their past greatness are PIG DESTROYER, FINNTROLL, WARBEAST, COFFINWORM, ENFORCER, DISHAMMER, HOODED MENACE, DARKTHRONE, TRIPTYKON, ACID WITCH, GOD DETHRONED, PROFANATICA, MUNICIPAL WASTE and WATAIN.
