TORMENTED - Rotten Death CD Listenable Records Genre: Death Metal Rating: 4/5
With all the fun the latest generation of Death Metal maniacs are having you would think that sooner or later a few vets would show up just to demonstrate that the old flames still burn hot. Guitarist/vocalist Andreas Axelson and bassist Roberth Karlsson are two of those veterans most notable for their work with proggy death metallers EDGE OF SANITY as well as a few others. They're joined by guitarist Claes Holmberg and drummer Jocke Olund to resurrect some OSDM (Old School Death Metal) the only way these Swedes know how. This originally was recorded and released in 2009 on Iron Fist Records. If ever a release needed a second chance offering then this one is it. Do you want some more DISMEMBER and ENTOMBED worship or rehash? Hey as far as I'm concerned why not since the band self describes themselves as Rotten Death Metal. Once I was knocked back by "Tomb Of Corpses", as well as "Vengeance From Beyond The Grave" plus the back to back assault of "Burning Torment" and "Death Owns The Night", I just didn't care anymore. Look here cookie pusses originality and experimentation is over rated. Let all of the whiners pine for those glory days of Tech Death bliss (what year was that again?). You know you just want a filthy dirty pummelling and TORMENTED does it on here. Nuff Said.
40 WATT SUN - The Inside Room CD Cyclone Empire Genre: Doom Rating: 5/5
A while back I received the promo info about this release which included a link to one of their cuts on Youtube. After posting the promo info and the song, a friend listened to it and remarked that it reminded her of the band WARNING. Well as it turns out 40 WATT SUN is made up of two former members of that band; guitarist/vocalist Patrick Walker and drummer Christian Leitch. The trio is rounded out with William Spong on bass. To be honest with ya I'm not familiar with their old band's music although I do know of their cult like reputation within English Doom circles. Be that as it may I felt it wiser not to go about immersing myself in their past works and forge ahead with a clean pair of ears.
After one listen to The Inside Room I was pretty much sold on what 40 WATT SUN brings to the Doom table. Musically it's fairly straight forward depressive doom with a style that flows across the land at the speed of a fog bank, maybe slower and with just as much excitement. The songs on here, five in all at a total of forty seven plus minutes, are one dimensional to say the least. The atmosphere is bleak but Walker's voice in a way doesn't completely convey sadness to the point where you find yourself loading a revolver and finishing off the note to love ones. Amidst the gloom there's a feeling of hope which lingers on throughout. That's a compliment to Walker's vocal style as well as electric crunch flowing through the riffs.
On the shortest and arguably the saddest of cuts, "Between Times", the song invoked images which were pleasing as far as lifelong memories go. In order to enjoy what 40 WATT SUN is doing on The Inside Room it would help if you had a life to start with. Yes not only am I invoking the age rule but if your number of close relationships with other human beings (barring family of course) is at a minimum than maybe you should pass on this one. Speaking of which the title of this seems to me to be a metaphor of you're inner self. While listening to songs like "Restless" and "Carry Me Home" the memory center of my brain starts working overtime. For me it's OK since I sold my heart and soul long ago but for you weak ones you might want to keep a box a tissues handy, fucking crybabies.
The songs on here were placed perfectly. The final cut, "This Alone", conveys this image of complete sorrow without a glimmer of happiness or enjoyment to be found. Talk about a downer, this is the type of dink you do not let leave the house. If you're taking a long car trip and decide to put this in the stereo I'd wager you would end up wrapped into a bridge abutment. Then again you could be a real prick and aim for a packed school bus, one in which has no orphans on board that way emphasise the misery onto family members. Like I said before I have no heart or soul. (hell I was rooting for the nazis when my ex forced me to watch the Sound of Music with her. I wanted to watch Wrestling.) Be that as it may I can still appreciate the beauty of the music which 40 WATT SUN has created here.
SERPENTCULT - Raised By Wolves CD Listenable Records Genre: Doom Rating: 3/5
I have this Belgium band's 2008 debut release Weight Of Light which came out on Rise Above Records. That was some incredible sounding crunchy downtuned destruction accented with the wails of their vocalist Michelle Nocon. So when I saw this new one come in for review I was, shall we say, slightly excited. So while I'm listening to the opening title cut I'm wondering where are the female vocals? I'm not saying that Michelle Nocon was the complete draw for this band but it did set them apart from all of the other female fronted Doom bands out there especially when you figure in that their sound is thunderous. So from I've read Michelle Nocon left in 2010 and the rest of the band (guitarist Frederic Caure, bassist Steven Van Cauwenbergh and drummer Frederik Cosemans) have continued on as a doom power-trio.
After a few spins it's obvious that this material was written without Nocon's vocals in mind. SERPENTCULT still serves up crunch filled sludge with riffs that contain the weight of the world upon them. Although the four long cuts on Raised By Wolves represent the trio exploring a more post rock ambiance. The opening title cut starts out with the sound of thunder and pouring rain then goes into a doom dirge loop until finally exploding forth with vocal shouts crying out over the waves of ambient drone. The distorted riffs escalate with intensity and filth as the song moves along at a snail's pace. Three quarters of the way through I was thinking Michelle who? The thunder and rain returns to close things out. "Raised By Wolves" is not what I'd call a happy opener since it conveys more misery than watching the nightly news. Better yet I don't end up throwing things at the stereo.
"Crippled And Frozen" continues with the depressing scenario in a completely instrumental structure. Here is where the post rock ambiance saturated with high end distorted trebled guitar riffs takes you on a hypnotic psych trip for close to ten minutes. I probably would have enjoyed it better with the room lights off, strobe light on and some incense burning. "Longing For Hyperborea" is another long jam session which didn't require the strobe light in order to become part of the trippy experience. In fact I was put off by it's desert session's style of grungy stoner groove. The final installment, "Growth Of The Soil", at least returns to the sludge albeit sliding along on the slime that the above mentioned snail was doing at a faster pace then this cut. While the band was definitely shooting for a hypnotic effect I found myself dozing off and would have fell into a deep sleep if it weren't for the shouts which come near the songs closing. Obviously without their vocal muse for excitement this release if more background noise for house chores.
NACHZEHRER - Pestilence Hungers in the Shadows EP Demons Gate Records Genre: Black Metal Rating: 4/5
Well first off I need to thank this band for sending in what I'd say is a no nonsense band bio. All it says is 'black metal/black thrash band from Boston, MA (USA)'. To me that's a good thing since they're not trying to tell me what to write about them. All we got here is what they consider themselves, where they're from and their music. Basically if I find their music interesting to review I'll look the rest up which I did. I don't expect much promo material from new bands as it is. As far as NACHZEHRER goes they're not lying. This is blackened thrash which sounds more like they're from Finland than the states. Their songs, six on here, have that filthy stench about em which is almost a prerequisite for what those Finnish Black Metal stalwarts are known for. It's a threatening wall of noisy hate coming at you which is totally second wave bliss to me. The guitars have that pissed off hornet's nest sound quality. The bass is inaudible, which is standard, the drumming is pure blast beating and the vocalist sounds like he's in the throes of transformation from human to beast. Either that or he's relating his frustration over his hometown baseball team's performance in the final month of the season. Pestilence Hungers in the Shadows goes by quickly at just over twenty seven minutes so there's no room for atmospheric moods to be forged upon the listener. I can imagine the band playing this live in it's entirely and leaving the crowd left bloody and bare. As far as I'm concerned the ferociousness of NACHZEHRER is USBM's latest great blackened hope for the future.
RAW DOG - Proud to be Weird, Proud to be White Trash CD Self Released Genre: Punk Rating: 4/5
Take Wesley Willis, Zoogz Rift, El Duce plus G.G. Allin as influences and that's were abouts you'll find yourself with RAW DOG. What the heck you might as well take me away while you're at it. After listening to these hosannas from the trailer park of no return I'm pretty much done as a writer. Strange as it may seem I actually know this guy and seen him perform some of these songs at a local music festival. After he was finished there wasn't a dry eye (or full stomach) left in the crowd. Although he did get plenty of applause from the crowd on hand. I won't ruin the excitement of you discovering what really resides within the songs on here. Although I'll let you in on a few surprises. The CD is set up like an LP with one side titled Proud to be Weird with the other Proud to be White Trash. Each portion containing songs dealing exclusively with the corresponding title. There's even a self posted warning on the front cover which clearly informs you that this CD "is intended to be as offensive as possible." Whether that pertains to the quality of the music or the lyrics is still up for a guess. I say that because I'm drinking now which I'm hoping will work as an excuse when my credibility is challenged in the future because of this.
RAW DOG is a one man singer songwriter (obviously) and as much as the offensiveness here is simplistic, there's a catchyness about his repertoire which keeps you fixated. It's the audio equivalent to a car crash. You simply cannot turn it off until the whole release is over. Trust me my hand was reaching for the 'stop' button many times but I kept telling myself "I've got to hear it all out." Then I took a shower afterwards. But anyway I'm reminded of the fact that some of the most corrupt minded musical artists of our time are also genius' when it comes to working with lyrics. (except for hip hop of course) Someday RAW DOG could be mentioned in the same sentence with the previously named filthy four at the beginning of this review. Maybe we'll even find out why there's a photo of a little growling dog on the back of the CD. Then again after listening to this I might not want to know. One thing for sure is the enlightenment I received after listening to the opener "The Story of Rock n Roll". I'll file that one under too much information. One thing is for sure and that's RAW DOG will make it into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame before KISS.
ABSU - Abzu CD Candlelight Records Genre: Black Metal Rating: 4/5
A few years ago while at an ABSU show I kinda lost my perspective on where I was at exactly. I took my eyes off the band to peer at the sparse crowd (a Tuesday night show which I was surprised to make) and noticed how everyone there looked like statues staring at the stage. Trust me these people were not your typical bunch of losers there doing the indie rock genuflect to a band they read about on a hipster site. These people (most of whom I know) were local diehards mesmerized at the performance they were witnessing. That was back in 2009 when ABSU toured in support of their self titled comeback release. The story which accompanied that self titled CD was drummer, lyricist and vocalist Proscriptor McGovern bringing ABSU back after a seven year absence albeit with a new line-up as well as the start of a new trilogy. For that night's performance ABSU peppered their set with various cuts old and new all fitting in with their mythological occult fascination.
Aside from what I thought of that particular release for the moment, I remember how it was treated harshly by other writers (in print as well as on the Interweb) for not being like their past releases preferably 2001's Tara. On the flip side were people praising this slab for it's prog elements and forward thinking take on Black Metal especially after the greatness of 2001's Tara. You know what the funny part of it all was? Not only did I doubt the validity of what these so-called critics were saying but I believe the first time they actually listened to the band was not 7 years before or 7 months but in reality it was 7 minutes after they received the promo material. Also anyone who mentioned the band's Tara release from 2001 in a review should be executed on the spot. I'm completely serious since Tara was part of a trilogy which you took in with the previous two releases as a whole. These so-called critics (who obviously never owned anything by ABSU) merely went back to their last release (which they listened to on Youtube) for guidance.
As far as my opinion about it went well I thought it was alright but we would have to wait until more of the trilogy unfolded. If history is to be our guide, Proscriptor will kick things up a notch and point the way to the third part. At least that's what he did in 1997and you can't learn that from listening to a song on Youtube. With all of those thoughts in mind I started listening to Abzu. I already knew the opening track "Earth Ripper" starts off with a bit of a SLAYER-esque mind-fuck courtesy of posting a preview of it weeks ago on here, along with the artwork. It's an annoying little thrash ditty which I considered bait for indie rock webfag losers. (I'm trying not to say 'hipster' as much because it confuses people on who I normally direct some dislike towards.) Once you get past it then the real essence of ABSU enters the picture. I'll be a spoiler and explain that Abzu is basically two pieces joined together. You have the first part which consists of the five tracks all relatively short by ABSU standards and then the finale which is almost fifteen minutes in length.
As I said the first cut sucks so for me the real beginning of the second Abyssic Trilogy starts off with "Circles of the Oath". Here is the band, which now features new guitarist Vis Crom (aka: Matt Moore formerly of Philly's RUMPELSTILTSKIN GRINDER), flowing into a mode which if you're a fan then you are familiar with it. The appropriate term would be a blackened fury hotter then a summer breeze in West Texas. I expect to hear this one performed live even though it ends with a keyboard and acoustic guitar outro, which is typical of their past works and is perfect for what follows. "Abraxas Connexus" actually jumps out at you after being put to rest with the closing of the last track. The song is a foundation piece which lays out a solid flat plane that floats upon the atmosphere which underlies most of the cuts on here. Songs just don't segue into one another but instead as a listener you must jump from one plane to the other as if they were stepping stones used to cross one side of a stream to the other. Also there's building procession from one song to the next as the harshness grows upon you. "Skrying in the Spirit Vision" is flat out brutal until "Ontologically, It Became Time & Space" hits you with some real blackened thrash.
All of this brings us to the finale "A Song for Ea" which could have easily been broken down into three separate pieces but where's the diabolical fun in that. To me this was an instant reminder of ABSU's epic past and now I expect this, no I demand that, "A Song for Ea" be the opening cut on this year's tour. I'm not suggesting they play just the first three minutes either. That's right open the show with an over fourteen minute song then anyone who leaves the viewing area gets whisked outside and is immediately executed. Be that as it may what I predicted back in 2009 has come true. This second piece of the trilogy points to the third at being a multi part epic masterpiece. But before we get to that one let's stay here because Abzu is a serious buzzsaw mind fuck. Worse yet it is fast at only around thirty seven minutes, of course that's if you include the horrible opener. Still with all of that said it's obvious that you won't have to wait long for part three. When that comes out we'll play all three back to back then the ground will erupt and a ancient Sumarian stature will emerge for all to worship.
SALIGIA - Sic Transit Gloria Mundi CD Barghest Genre: Black Metal Rating: 3/5
Here we have a two man Norwegian Black Metal act featuring Ahzari (vocals, guitar) and Malach Adonai (drums). The duo conjure up influences from second wave giants MAYHEM and to some degree DARKTHRONE. It's not a complete copy of those band's former output but the traditionalist theme is evident even with modern production and deviations from the formula. The opener starts off with an industrial drill sound that lasts for over a minute until the BM blasts rumble in. After a quarter of the way through I was wondering where is the threat? Seriously when I listen to Black Metal I want to hear something that's threatening, has a foreboding atmosphere and will scare away the straight laced losers. Unfortunately there's really nothing like that. As the release continues it reminds me of De Mysteriis Light. The songs lack real intensity. I know some people reading this will be like "really there's stuff more intense"? Of course you pathetic posers, plus it's repetitive to the point where you'll slip into unconsciousness just to break the monotony. As far as musicianship goes Malach might not be Hellhammer or Fenriz still overall I find his drum skills on here a low point. Maybe that could be blamed on the production but there are times where he's just beating away to the point where you wouldn't even care. Ahzari vocals definitely are channeling a sleepy Attila as well as Nocturno and his tremolo picked riffs ain't far from the latter. On the up side this is basically BM for beginners which doesn't deviate from the formula. Yes that isn't a bad thing because there are too many hipsters trolling the underground BM scene. SALIGIA's sound, although not harsh enough for me, is certainly capable of chasing away the losers
