ODDS AND ENDS: YELLOWTOOTH, ERYN NON DAE., ODYSSEY, HACKTIVIST

It’s Sunday morning here in the Great Pacific Northwest, and I’m moving at a glacial pace, having headbanged way past my bedtime at a Korpiklaani–Moonsorrow–Tyr–Metsatöll show last night (about which there will be more later). My computer screen is kind of blurry, though I haven’t yet figured out whether that’s because I sneezed on it or my eyes are just filmed over. Still, I’ve been able to make out a few pieces of news that are worth sharing, though it’s possible the band names are all wrong.  Blurry.

My ears are still working reasonably well, though there’s a ringing noise in them. I haven’t figured out whether that’s an after-effect of last night’s show or the space aliens have altered their frequency to get past my foil helmet. Fuck space aliens. Before they fuck you. Anyway, I’ve heard some new music I like, and I’m sharing that, too, though when I mention the ringing noises that I hear in the music, you might want to take that with a grain of salt.

YELLOWTOOTH

I’m gonna start with the music. The music comes from an Indiana band named Yellowtooth and their debut album Disgust, which will be released on Sept 11 by Orchestrated Misery Recordings. Yellowtooth is a trio of 40-somethings who’ve paid dues in other bands going back to the early ’90s, and Disgust reflects an amalgam of their interests. I’ve only just begun listening to the album, but it has really struck a chord in me, and I mean the chord that connects the reptile part of the brain stem and the gonads. That baby is now just twanging away something fierce.

The music is loaded with fat, sludgy, primal, throwback riffs, with a meat-grinding bass tone and well-executed solo’s. And although the music may be best classified in the stoner/doom category, the hoarse death-metal vocals (which I fuckin’ love) turn the songs into something else — something that wants to eat your liver and brain. The shit is really catchy and really foul, and I’m digging it mightily. There’s also an interesting ringing noise that’s like an ever-present atmosphere in the music.

Here are three songs that are now streaming on Stereokiller:

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yellowtooth/216048345074088

ERYN NON DAE.

You’re going to like the new album by these Frenchmen. That’s not a prediction, that’s an order. It’s called Meliora, it’s coming out on October 8, and it has become available for pre-order here. Of course, it wouldn’t be sensible to order the album without knowing something about the music — unless, like me, you were a big fan of this band’s last album, Hydra Lernaïa (reviewed here), in which case it would be a logical gamble. But if the band is new to you, you can now have a taste of the new music.

The French VS-webzine has begun streaming a track from the album named “Hidden Lotus”. It begins snapping bones immediately with dark, granite-heavy riffs and augments that with flesh-scraping vocals. But END. aren’t in the habit of keeping things simple or predictable, and this song is no different. It moves in different directions with unpredictable rhythms and a very cool drum-and-bass workout behind and underneath the atmospheric guitar melodies and those immense, crushing riffs.

The song also makes interesting use of ringing noises.

I’ve made no secret of my fandom for this band’s past work, but this song has immediately become one of my top END. tracks yet.

Go HERE to stream “Hidden Lotus”. Look for the little green “play” button below and to the left of the album cover. I’m telling you that because it looks a little blurry and is hard to see.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eryn-Non-Dae/355648971624

ODYSSEY

This instrumental metal band from Eastern Washington has been a perennial favorite of mine. I reviewed their second album (An Abstract Existence – 2011) last fall (here), and raved about it. As I said then, I hadn’t been as captivated by an instrumental metal album since 2009, when Animals As Leaders debuted and Scale the Summit released Carving Desert Canyons.

Odyssey have a new EP coming out soon. It’s a 3-song, 24-minute release by the name of The Conscious Device, and I’ve now seen the cover art, which I thought was cool. At least I’m pretty sure this is the cover for the new Odyssey EP. The name of the band is kind of blurry. I’ll tell you, though, I am immensely stoked for this EP. And if you wonder why, go check out their music on Bandcamp.

And in other Odyssey news, I saw that the dudes will be embarking on a regional tour with All Gussied Up. Happily, it includes a Seattle stop. Here’s the current schedule. Check out Odyssey’s FB page for updates.

The Mad ExperimenTour w/ Odyssey & All Gussied Up

October 6th: The Charleston – Bremerton, WA
October 7th: The Kraken – Seattle, WA
October 8th: The Red Room – Portland, OR
October 9th: The Gathering Place – Eugene, OR
October 10th: On the Y – Sacramento, CA
October 11th: Tahoe or Reno, NV @ TBA
October 12th: The Shredder – Boise, ID
October 13th: Ray’s Golden Lion – Richland, WA

HACKTIVIST

Every time we post about Hacktivist, it seems to stir up the shit around here. I do understand why, because this isn’t the kind of music we normally cover, and it seems to punch the wrong buttons for a lot of people. But I enjoy what they’re doing, and I know at least a segment of our readers do, too, so I’m spreading this word.

In late July, we featured a video for the band’s latest single, “Unlike Us”. Tomorrow, the band will be releasing a single on iTunes that includes that song plus a remix of the song by a UK artist named N Dread. It’s available for pre-order at the UK iTunes now, but is supposed to go global tomorrow.

And that’s all I’m saying about that.