PIG DESTROYER: “BOOK BURNER”

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Oct 022012
 

(In this post, BadWolf reviews the new album by Pig Destroyer.)

Pig Destroyer showed me that grindcore could be good music in 2008, at the lowest point in my personal life. In that time of need, my palate for metal expanded in manifold ways. That was the time I got into Black Metal, Death Metal, and metallic hardcore. Suddenly the idea of NO CLEAN SINGING clicked with me.

And Pig Destroyer (along with early Napalm Death) opened the Grind gateway for me. The album, Phantom Limb, was relatively new then. And up until now it has remained Pig Destroyer’s most current work. Best album or not (probably not), Phantom Limb is my permanent personal Deathgrind yardstick.

So, Book Burner is my first ‘new’ Pig Destroyer album. Until I heard it, the band was synonymous with the Phantom Limb sound. I knew there had been lineup changes—Adam Jarvis now drums in the group—but they didn’t matter until now. Now they do, because Book Burner, while still a great album, is a step away from Phantom Limb. Its predecessor felt Lovecraftian in its looming malevolence. Book Burner, by contrast, is as human as Pig Destroyer have ever been.

The sound has been taken out to dry, especially in Jarvis’s drums—the snare pops like Chinese firecrackers here. Jarvis also rolls with a little more slop than his predecessors, which probably works to his advantage—grind albums all flow together anyway, and at least this one doesn’t have any jarring breaks. Scott Hull’s guitar has dropped some heft in exchange for clarity. The spaces between his notes are audible. You can imagine his fat monkey fist sliding up and down the neck of his guitar. Continue reading »

ABIOTIC: “SYMBIOSIS”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Oct 022012
 

 

South Florida’s Abiotic have experienced a meteoric rise, launching themselves with a couple of singles and a seven-song EP in 2011 (A Universal Plague) and then signing with Metal Blade Records this year after being contacted by that venerable label out of the blue. In three weeks, Metal Blade will release Abiotic’s debut album, Symbiosis. It consists of “tweaked” versions of the seven songs from A Universal Plague plus three new songs.

The songs on Symbiosis follow an unrelenting pattern. The template is in fact so consistent that on a first listen the songs tended to merge together into one long sonic barrage that left this listener battered, bruised, off-balance, and with a head full of thoroughly scrambled wiring. Subsequent spins through this chaotic album allowed me to focus more on the variations among the songs, but in the end they still emerged as a fractal design in sound, with the highly intricate structures multiplying yet unfolding in fundamentally the same shape:

Blasting start/stop rhythms, with drums, bass, and rhythm guitar all firing in bursts like a heavy-caliber machine gun. Schizoid time signatures that change rapidly and unpredictably. Percussive riffs that jab and punch like a nail-gun in overdrive. Periodic atonal hammering in the low end, like concrete girders being wielded as hammers by robotic giants.

Through that maelstrom of hard-punching sound come spacey bursts of weird guitar arpeggios and shimmering, swirling, blazing segments of fluid sweep picking (or finger tapping), giving shape to a futuristic atmosphere. Strange, skittering electronic noises appear and then disappear, and a variety of other electronic effects, including channel-shifting, are applied to enhance the mechanistic vibe of the music. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: NECROWRETCH – “NOW YOU’RE IN HELL”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Sep 302012
 

I first became curious about Necrowretch (from Valence, France) in February 2012 when I saw that they had been signed by Century Media based solely on two demos (in 2009 and 2010) and a four-song EP in 2011 — Putrefactive Infestation. I tracked down and listened to that EP and reviewed it here.

At the time of that review, there were plans for the Belgian label Detest Records to release  a 7″ NecroWretch EP titled Now You’re In Hell before the band turned to recording their debut album for Century Media. That release did happen last spring, though I overlooked it until recently.

The 7″ release includes two songs — an original Necrowretch number called “From A Hideous Summoning” and a cover of Death’s “Zombie Ritual” from Scream Bloody Gore (1987), which Necrowretch recorded on the 10th anniversary of Chuck Schuldiner’s death. Yesterday, Necrowretch uploaded the original track to YouTube, with the video providing a detailed survey of the beautifully beastly cover art provided by Montenegrin artist Milovan Novakovic. Continue reading »

ANAAL NATHRAKH: “VANITAS”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Sep 282012
 

(Andy Synn reviews the highly anticipated new album by the UK’s Anaal Nathrakh.)

“The more things change, the more they stay the same“ is usually used in a negative context. Not here. The consummate ease with which Anaal Nathrakh vomit up quality album after quality album, all without straying too far from their core sound, makes that statement one of unshakeable intent, reaffirming the band’s commitment to sheer sonic superiority.

It takes a masterful band to truly embrace their sound and continue to push it for all it is worth, without falling into a comfortable rut or succumbing to the lure of the ‘new’, but Anaal Nathrakh have always been anything but comfortable. Masters of the lethal musical arts, with each album their unholy fusion of blackened fury, grinding filth, and industrial-strength death metal power is re-tooled and reworked to further plumb the depths of humanity.

With Vanitas Anaal Nathrakh have produced their most melodic, yet also most blackened, record in years, with a heavier focus on intense, virulent remolo melodies and bleak, haunting moodscapes. Closest in character to Eschaton, the main touchstone for the music is the work and sound of Emperor; the soaring, almost arrogant, clean vocals recalling Ihsahn at his finest, while their juxtaposition against flaming torrents of scalding riffage and twisted, contorted song structures echoes a similar ability to effortlessly strike multiple targets at once – the melodic, the blistering, and the crushingly heavy – without weakness or hesitation. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: FLOOD THE DESERT — “STOLEN PROPHETS”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  7 Responses »
Sep 282012
 

(Not long ago BadWolf reviewed a live show in Grand Rapids that included a band named Flood the Desert that made quite an impression. Now BadWolf reviews their debut release.)

When I last checked in with Flood the Desert, they were nearly done completing their first official release. Just a few months later I have the finished product sitting on my iPod. Stolen Prophets is the debut four-track EP by this Grand Rapids, Michigan power trio.

First and foremost, Flood the Desert know how to play their instruments. I hear their material and think “this is what it was like to see Dream Theater in 1988,” except Flood the Desert pull it off as a three-piece and without pompous vocals slathering everything. In fact, the band is so proud of their instrumentals that they offer instrumental versions of each track. Both versions are worth your time.

Stolen Prophets clocks in at just shy of a half hour, and runs a wide tonal gamut in that brief time. If you’re looking for music that can take you somewhere else when you close your eyes, Flood the Desert are that band. They keep things relatively low on extremity—no song here gets much heavier than any given track on Mastodon’s Crack the Skye—and opt instead for a cleaner sonic palate. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: DEAD RIVER RUNS DRY — “WINTER”

 Album Reviews, Free Shit, SHORT BUT SWEET  5 Responses »
Sep 272012
 

Well, despite my predictions earlier today, I managed to find time to write another post. To be more accurate, I came across a new discovery that compelled me to make time for another post.

Dead River Runs Dry is an Australian band who e-mailed me early this morning. In fact, the e-mail was the first thing I saw when I fired up my computer after dragging my sorry ass out of bed following a grand total of 3 hours sleep. In a fit of impulsiveness I decided to listen to their music before moving on to anything else because I liked their name. It didn’t hurt that they also linked to a laudatory feature about themselves, with an accompanying interview, that appeared at DECIBEL magazine’s web site (though I read that only after listening to the music).

They’ve self-released a four-song demo entitled Winter that they’re distributing for free, and that of course was another plus. And the final plus is that Winter kills.

With their music, Dead River Runs Dry paint a portrait of a torn and blasted wasteland — damned, desolate, and dangerous. Yet it’s a landscape with its own bleak beauty and vibrance. Continue reading »

PATHOLOGY: “THE TIME OF GREAT PURIFICATION”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Sep 252012
 

(TheMadIsraeli reviews the new album by San Diego’s Pathology, which is out today on Victory records.)

So yeah, remember these guys?  They released one of the most brutal slam albums ever last year, Awaken to the Suffering?  Yeah.  I reviewed that album (here) cause it ran over waves of children and chopped them up as if it were a blasting, grinding lawn mower in a field of miserable little shits who didn’t deserve to live anyway.  I’m kind of surprised that we’ve already got a new album, but I’m not at all offended because The Time Of Great Purification is as brutal, if not more brutal, than its predecessor.

I think it’s fair to say that Pathology have consistently released quality death metal, but I definitely think the introduction of Jonathan Huber on vocals changed this band for the better.  The music on this album is intensely violent, and if you can believe it, Huber has turned up the roid rage on his vocals even more than before.  Now, instead of a blood-gurgling beast, he sounds like he’s gurgling blood as bile and worms spew out of his mouth and the ground beneath him corrodes and rots away.  It’s fucking mental. Continue reading »

“EPICLOUD” – THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Sep 252012
 

(Today we’re posting two different reviews of “Epicloud” by the Devin Townsend Project. In this one, DGR gives us his take on this unusual album. You can read Andy Synn’s assessment here.)

You’re probably in one of two pretty large camps when it comes to this album. Camp A probably saw the name attached to this disc and immediately rushed to check it out, and Camp B had absolutely no idea what was going on here.

It seems that Devin Townsend has attracted one hell of a following in the past few years. Watching that fanbase grow has been amazing, especially since I got the opportunity to jump on that train in ’05 with SYL’s Alien. I’ve heard a lot of his material, from solo works to band projects to joking band projects, and now it all seems to have come to a head with this disc.

It appears that everyone who consistently listens to him loves his stuff; very few people are on the fence when it comes to this material. For many fans, the name Devin Townsend seems like an almost instant purchase these days; it definitely carries a lot of weight. Not so much with me, because I’ll be the first to admit that, yes, he has created music that I haven’t fully enjoyed, and hey, they can’t all be zingers. So when it came to Epicloud, I like to think that I approached it free of supposition or any sort of false pretense as to what this might actually be.

So, if you do happen to be on the fence here and are looking for guidance about whether Epicloud might be worth your time, allow me to offer my services. No album is perfect, but I will say this: I have listened to Epicloud a ton since I was offered the opportunity, and I have enjoyed it tremendously. Continue reading »

DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT: “EPICLOUD”

 Album Reviews  11 Responses »
Sep 252012
 

(Today we have reviews of the new album from the Devin Townsend Project by two of our writers. As you’ll see, neither of them was aware the other was also reviewing the album. This first one is by Andy Synn. The second one, by DGR, can be found here.)

So it falls to me to review this one then? Well, I think we all knew it likely would do, since a) I’m generally the one who enjoys Devin’s work the most, while also b) being objective enough to treat each album, each song, with a good bit of critical clarity.

Credentials established, I’m going to start the review proper by giving it a 10/10… for the name anyway. This is certainly an album that is both ‘Epic’  and ‘Loud’. So it succeeds on both fronts there. Though you’d be amazed at how long that took me to ‘get’. Sometimes I’m a little dense. Still, Epicloud has crystallised for me why it is I like Devin’s work so much, despite (or perhaps because of) its unapologetic pop leanings.

Yes it has wide appeal, but it’s clearly not for everybody. Hell, it’s not designed for everybody. It’s not made to impress people, or gain critical plaudits. It does, however, prove that you can have a poppy vibe without dumbing down or selling out. And most importantly, it’s made for the sheer love of making music.

And THAT is precisely what gets me. Paradoxically, the more extreme and blackened my listening tastes become, the more Devin Townsend’s carefree, devil-may-care approach to music-making also appeals to me, as an opportunity to just let my hair down, and just FEEL. Continue reading »

OBLIVION: “CALLED TO RISE”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Sep 242012
 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli reviews the forthcoming debut album from the Bay Area’s Oblivion. In a companion piece that you can find here, TheMadIsraeli also conducts an extended video interview of Oblivion’s Nick Vasallo and Ted O’Neill.)

Oblivion are one of the most badass death metal bands to emerge this year, seemingly appearing out of nowhere in a sea filled with sub-par deathcore and been-there-done-that modern tech-death that’s completely devoid of soul and conviction.  Called To Rise is an album that really brings back what I’ve missed too often since my discovery of death metal: smart riffing, effective song composition, and a keen sense of when to show off and when to not.  In a lot of ways, the album bombards the listener with elements, traces, and straight-up throwbacks to the tech-death of the 90’s (my favorite era of death metal).

It doesn’t hurt, of course, that Oblivion has some undeniable talent behind the name.  Ted O’Neill is an astounding guitar player capable of producing soul-shredding riffs and brain-melting solos, but his partners in crime are also quite badass.  Vocalist/bassist Nick Vasallo is an accomplished classical composer (a talent that factors prominently into the accomplishments of Called to Rise), and drummer Luis Martinez of now-defunct death metal/deathcore greats Antagony (for whom Vasallo was the sole composer). Joining the fold recently is second guitarist Victor Dods of the also now-defunct progressive death metal band Hacksaw to the Throat.

For everyone in this band, Called To Rise is an official return back into the metal world.  Especially most impressive is Ted O’Neill, who’s been out of the game for 25 years.  To repeat: This is the first time he’s played guitar in TWENTY-FIVE YEARS.  Just think about that as you listen to what Oblivion have done so far. Continue reading »

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