-(16)-: “DREAM SQUASHER”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Jun 112020
 

 

(This is Wil Cifer‘s review of the new album by San Diego’s -(16)-, which was released by Relapse Records on June 5th.)

With anger as the universal language and the Apocalypse looming, sludge is a fitting soundtrack.

This band continues to stand out from the pack. They are not a Neurosis tribute and more Anger closely aligned with noise rock than doom. Hardcore influence can be heard in their more explosive moments, and I like the effects on the vocals. Lyrically it reminds me of the Melvins in their chaotic musings. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS: NEWLY DISCOVERED SPLITS (HORNA, PURE, SPECTRAL LORE, JUTE GYTE, FISTULA, COME TO GRIEF, -(16)-, VOLAHN, XAXAMATZA, BHL, KALATHON, HAUNTER, SOVEREIGN, II, LIHHAMON)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jan 082018
 

 

In an effort to catch up with new music that appeared last week (or in some cases that I only discovered last week), I’ve resorted to a two-part OVERFLOWING STREAMS post. And for those who haven’t noticed the format of these posts, they’re a form of personal surrender to the flood of new music. I enjoy writing thoughts about what I want to recommend, but in posts such as this one I just let the music speak for itself because there’s so much to recommend that I don’t have time to blurt out my own reactions.

In the first part of this post I decided to collect only new split releases that I’ve recently found. To be sure, these aren’t the only splits that I’ve discovered recently — some I intend to listen to but haven’t heard yet. These, I’ve at least listened to once and have had positive reactions, and perhaps you will too. The first one is really hot off the presses, since it just appeared over the weekend. Continue reading »

EYE-CATCHERS: 16

 Eye-Catchers, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Feb 062012
 

I seem to be on an album-art roll over the past week, featuring the new Gorod cover plus new covers by Valnoir, Dan Seagrave, and Niklas Sundin, but as long as the grown-ups continue stuffing my Halloween bag with eye-candy, my wide-eyed inner kid will continue to light up.

SoCal’s 16 began recording their new album, Deep Cuts From Dark Clouds, last September. On Halloween they completed the final mix. In early November, they sent it off to Scott Hull (Pig Destroyer) for mastering. And then two days ago Relapse Records announced a release date (April 26) and delivered unto us the album art you see above. They’re pre-selling the CD and LP versions here.

I had a feeling it would be sweet, because the cover art for their last album, 2009’s Bridges To Burn, was one of the best metal album covers ever. In fact, not having heard 16 before seeing that cover, I bought the album about two seconds after I did. Plus a shirt, which still draws looks when I wear it (unless people are looking at the space where my head is supposed to be — that’s always a possibility).

Anyway, the cover art to Deep Cuts is by Orion Landau (Red Fang, Rwake). It’s not quite as striking as the cover for Bridges that Florian Bertmer (Napalm Death, Converge, Pig Destroyer) created, but I guess it would be too much to get two home runs in a row. After the jump, I’ve collected the rest of 16’s full-length-album covers, plus a song from the last album. Continue reading »