Norway's Diskord have a reasonably old school sound to them, but calling them an old school death metal band would do them a disservice, I believe. Rather than be a clone of whatever classic death metal band they prefer, Diskord have infused themselves with the elements of what made death metal of that era so great. What do I mean by that? I mean that there's a little big of grit, not the immaculately polished sound that's part and parcel of modern death metal. I mean that if I saw Diskord live, I would furiously bang my head rather than stare at the guitarists hands the entire set. I mean that it's interesting and even inventive, rather than treading a path so well worn it's become a ditch. It seems that being inventive in metal music (or music period) these days means combining seemingly disparate influences to create something fresh, if that's the case, than Diskord are surely among the leaders of the pack in that regard. If there was one band to compare them to, it would be Atheist, whose proclivity for the progressive they share. On occasion they ascend to Cynic-esque levels of jazz fusion and Disharmonic Orchestra oddness. But Dystopics isn't all strange chords and timing, Diskord take their time to slog through the muck with a Mental Funeral era Autopsy vibe. Autopsy and Athiest might be on opposite ends of the death metal spectrum, but there are some totally out there moments on this record that remind me more of Iceburn than any death metal band. Yeah, let that one sink in while you're downloading this and adding it to your music library...which you should start doing right now.
Showing posts with label new favorite albums. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new favorite albums. Show all posts
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Diskord- Dystopics (2012)
Been on a pretty big death metal binge recently, so how about some more totally rad death metal from 2012?
Norway's Diskord have a reasonably old school sound to them, but calling them an old school death metal band would do them a disservice, I believe. Rather than be a clone of whatever classic death metal band they prefer, Diskord have infused themselves with the elements of what made death metal of that era so great. What do I mean by that? I mean that there's a little big of grit, not the immaculately polished sound that's part and parcel of modern death metal. I mean that if I saw Diskord live, I would furiously bang my head rather than stare at the guitarists hands the entire set. I mean that it's interesting and even inventive, rather than treading a path so well worn it's become a ditch. It seems that being inventive in metal music (or music period) these days means combining seemingly disparate influences to create something fresh, if that's the case, than Diskord are surely among the leaders of the pack in that regard. If there was one band to compare them to, it would be Atheist, whose proclivity for the progressive they share. On occasion they ascend to Cynic-esque levels of jazz fusion and Disharmonic Orchestra oddness. But Dystopics isn't all strange chords and timing, Diskord take their time to slog through the muck with a Mental Funeral era Autopsy vibe. Autopsy and Athiest might be on opposite ends of the death metal spectrum, but there are some totally out there moments on this record that remind me more of Iceburn than any death metal band. Yeah, let that one sink in while you're downloading this and adding it to your music library...which you should start doing right now.
Norway's Diskord have a reasonably old school sound to them, but calling them an old school death metal band would do them a disservice, I believe. Rather than be a clone of whatever classic death metal band they prefer, Diskord have infused themselves with the elements of what made death metal of that era so great. What do I mean by that? I mean that there's a little big of grit, not the immaculately polished sound that's part and parcel of modern death metal. I mean that if I saw Diskord live, I would furiously bang my head rather than stare at the guitarists hands the entire set. I mean that it's interesting and even inventive, rather than treading a path so well worn it's become a ditch. It seems that being inventive in metal music (or music period) these days means combining seemingly disparate influences to create something fresh, if that's the case, than Diskord are surely among the leaders of the pack in that regard. If there was one band to compare them to, it would be Atheist, whose proclivity for the progressive they share. On occasion they ascend to Cynic-esque levels of jazz fusion and Disharmonic Orchestra oddness. But Dystopics isn't all strange chords and timing, Diskord take their time to slog through the muck with a Mental Funeral era Autopsy vibe. Autopsy and Athiest might be on opposite ends of the death metal spectrum, but there are some totally out there moments on this record that remind me more of Iceburn than any death metal band. Yeah, let that one sink in while you're downloading this and adding it to your music library...which you should start doing right now.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Godspeed You! Black Emperor- ALLELUJAH! DON'T BEND! ASCEND! (2012)
The internet went fucking bananas this week when it found out Godspeed You! Black Emperor was selling their first new record in a decade at their Boston show and Constellation confirmed it's existence by opening up pre-orders. I too was among those going bananas on the interhole. Godspeed You! Black Emperor is one of my favorite bands of all time and in the top five bands I've ever seen live. I couldn't fucking wait to hear this record. Luckily we live an an age of instant gratification and I didn't have to wait long. A mere hour after I found out this record existed, a vinyl rip was making its way around the web. In my excitement I almost posted it before even hearing it, but decided to give it a few listens to try and digest it a bit first so I wasn't tossing something up on the blog that I hadn't vetted. In retrospect I'm an idiot for even entertaining the thought that GY!BE might release something less than stellar.
ALLELUJAH! DON'T BEND! ASCEND! features two songs, each of which runs just under 20 minutes and two drones of 6 and 8 minutes respectively. To be honest (and I'm sure this isn't a totally unpopular opinion) GY!BE's drones have never done much for me and these two are no exception. I don't mind some of the field recordings and other things they have done in the past while transitioning into and out of movements, but the standalone drone tracks are somewhat tedious. I get that they're there for atmospheric purposes, but drone has never floated my boat. The two actual songs however? If my ears could ejaculate, they would be doing so right now. Godspeed's approach to songwriting has not changed in the past decade, they still opt for the mood setting -> crescendo -> climax -> diminuendo and/or seemingly random part format. I may be jumping the gun here, but "Mladic" might be one of my new favorite Godspeed songs. After the usual formalities, the song builds into a guitar and drum driven section that reminds me quite a bit of Burning Off Impurities era Grails in it's Sabbath meets the Middle East vibe. It eventually moves into what is quite possibly my favorite section on the record, a classic Efrim weepy guitar line segues into a big swells of shoegazy guitar that will having you rocking back and forth in your chair until the bottom simply drops out. "We Drift Like Worried Fire" is another winner. A pensive opening section builds meticulously under blooms of fuzzy guitar, falls by the wayside and is replaced by volleys of tremolo picking. The song also features what is undeniably the most "poppy" movement in Godspeed You! Black Emperors' history, albeit rather brief.
This album is a complete and very welcome surprise. One of my top records of 2012. Welcome back you magnificent bastards. Now, if you could give the guys in Fugazi a call and get them do a new record this could be the best year for new music ever.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Eagle Twin- The Feather Tipped The Serpent's Scale (2012)
Many years ago Rob introduced me to a band out of Salt Lake City, Utah called Iceburn. Iceburn (later known as the Iceburn Collective) began as a hardcore band with progressive rock, metallic, jazz and even some classical elements. Iceburn's music constantly evolved throughout their career. Much of their later output had more in common with Ornette Coleman than it did with their Revelation Records peers. Iceburn went through approximately a billion lineup changes, but the driving force and sole constant member was guitarist/vocalist Gentry Densley. You may also be familiar with that name from Ascend, Densley's doom project with Greg Anderson. In 2007 Densley founded Eagle Twin with drummer Tyler Smith. Eagle Twin flew under my radar until last year when I finally heard The Unkindness of Crows. It's a fine album, but holy shitballs, The Feather Tipped The Serpent's Scale is like a Gatling gun turning those unkind crows into chunks of carrion and blood mist. Densley's tone is pretty much unrivaled in doom metal these days. His riffs and the grooves he creates with Smith could go toe-to-to with Sleep, Goatsnake and Yob at their absolute best. I will say I've never been big on this style of vocals in doom, but everything else is so goddamn righteous I'm more than willing to give them a pass. Strong contender for album of the year.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
White Lung- Sorry (2012)
Well, after a highly productive (for us) month of June, we're on our way to our least productive month since we started this thing. We're officially bad at this again! It's gonna be alright though, because White Lung are about to rock your goddamn socks off, regardless of whether you're wearing shoes or not.
Hailing from the home of the one and only Narduwar (that would be Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) White Lung play a noisy, rollicking brand of punk rock quite unlike anything I've heard in a long time, or possibly ever. They're far from your average 4-chord punk rock band. Guitarist Kenneth McCorkell's hand scurries around the fretboard like a chipmunk seeking refuge from a hawk circling overhead. Sorry is executed at the breakneck pace of Morris era Black Flag. Guitar-wise, think Greg Ginn and his signature dissonant guitar squelches...on speed, with flourishes of melodious jangly indie rock played far too fast for wimpy indie kids to enjoy. White Lung's rhythm section could easily fill in for Hot Snakes should the masters of chugging garage punk find themselves in a bind and while I certainly wouldn't call White Lung d-beat, the drumming rarely breaks from the Discharge mold. Sounds pretty boss, right? It is.
White Lung should appeal to fans of Bikini Kill and the Riot Grrrl scene, frantic surf-punk a la Night Birds and perhaps to more adventurous fans of the Screaming Females. Sorry will undoubtedly make an appearance on my end of 2012 list.
Hailing from the home of the one and only Narduwar (that would be Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) White Lung play a noisy, rollicking brand of punk rock quite unlike anything I've heard in a long time, or possibly ever. They're far from your average 4-chord punk rock band. Guitarist Kenneth McCorkell's hand scurries around the fretboard like a chipmunk seeking refuge from a hawk circling overhead. Sorry is executed at the breakneck pace of Morris era Black Flag. Guitar-wise, think Greg Ginn and his signature dissonant guitar squelches...on speed, with flourishes of melodious jangly indie rock played far too fast for wimpy indie kids to enjoy. White Lung's rhythm section could easily fill in for Hot Snakes should the masters of chugging garage punk find themselves in a bind and while I certainly wouldn't call White Lung d-beat, the drumming rarely breaks from the Discharge mold. Sounds pretty boss, right? It is.
White Lung should appeal to fans of Bikini Kill and the Riot Grrrl scene, frantic surf-punk a la Night Birds and perhaps to more adventurous fans of the Screaming Females. Sorry will undoubtedly make an appearance on my end of 2012 list.
Buy it:
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Stoneburner- Sickness Will Pass (2012)
Migration by Buried At Sea is my favorite doom record of all time, regardless of subgenre. That might seem like an odd choice to many, but I've never heard an album as unrelenting and suffocatingly heavy. I'd go so far as to call it the heaviest album of all time (and those of you who know me know that I tend to do so without the slightest provocation). Growing up a punk kid who loved powerviolence I didn't know people made music that slow and heavy or that I could possibly enjoy it so much. I remember staring agape at the car stereo after hearing that titanic crash at the beginning of Migration for the first time. The closest analogy I can come up with is when, suddenly, a gigantic chunk of glacier breaks off and slams into the ocean with a roar. Since Buried At Sea is no longer with us, I always keep my ear to their grave, anxiously listening for bands down there nibbling at their sodden corpse. At times Batillus reaches Buried At Sea levels of trudging hugeness, but they've got their own sound and are on their own path that only on occasion winds its way through that corner of the graveyard. For the past few years I've been keeping an eye on Portland's Stoneburner who feature guitarist Jason Depew formerly of...you guessed it...Buried At Sea. Thus, I've been eagerly awaiting the release of Sickness Will Pass for a number of months now.
Does it deliver? Boy, does it ever. Don't think that, based on the above, Stoneburner is a Buried At Sea clone. Far from it (though I could get down with that, I like plenty of Discharge clones). Like Migration, Sickness Will Pass starts out with a thunder clap and immediately hits some of the same lows (and I mean that in the best way possible). This album is vicious. If Eyehategod is a PCPed-out first timer stabbing wildly and making a mess of things, Stoneburner are a seasoned vet, knifing you methodically while staring you in the eyes with a completely flattened affect. But as I said, this isn't Migration Pt. 2. Soneburner has plenty of tricks up their sleeves in the form of bluesy southern sludge riffs, Yob-esque pedal driven bits, guitar solos, up tempo sections and double bass.
This album is tremendous and in addition to capturing a spot amongst my favorites of the year it's made me completely reevaluate some of the notions I had about Buried At Sea. Being the most visible member and the member whose other projects I was most familiar with, I had always attributed much of Buried At Sea's sound to Sanford Parker. Sickness Will Pass changes all that. The tones, the riffs and the malevolence I now see were the work of one Jason Depew and he's back with another absolutely killer piece of doom history.
Does it deliver? Boy, does it ever. Don't think that, based on the above, Stoneburner is a Buried At Sea clone. Far from it (though I could get down with that, I like plenty of Discharge clones). Like Migration, Sickness Will Pass starts out with a thunder clap and immediately hits some of the same lows (and I mean that in the best way possible). This album is vicious. If Eyehategod is a PCPed-out first timer stabbing wildly and making a mess of things, Stoneburner are a seasoned vet, knifing you methodically while staring you in the eyes with a completely flattened affect. But as I said, this isn't Migration Pt. 2. Soneburner has plenty of tricks up their sleeves in the form of bluesy southern sludge riffs, Yob-esque pedal driven bits, guitar solos, up tempo sections and double bass.
This album is tremendous and in addition to capturing a spot amongst my favorites of the year it's made me completely reevaluate some of the notions I had about Buried At Sea. Being the most visible member and the member whose other projects I was most familiar with, I had always attributed much of Buried At Sea's sound to Sanford Parker. Sickness Will Pass changes all that. The tones, the riffs and the malevolence I now see were the work of one Jason Depew and he's back with another absolutely killer piece of doom history.
Buy it.
Physical (CD)
Digital
No vinyl yet, but I will certainly be making a post about it when it becomes available.
Physical (CD)
Digital
No vinyl yet, but I will certainly be making a post about it when it becomes available.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Azoic- Gateways (2012)
Yes, goddamnit. Yes. I don't know about you, but all of this weird, dissonant, cacophonous and angular death and black metal that's coming out these days gets me all antsy in my pantsy. Deathspell Omega and Mitochondrion are two of my favorite bands on the planet right now and released my favorite albums of 2010 and 2011 respectively. Since I'm name dropping those two bands it shouldn't come as a surprise that Gateways will likely nab a high spot on my best of 2012 list. If you were to make a box and whisker plot with DsO as the lower extreme and Mitochondrion as the upper extreme, Azoic would fall somewhere in the interquartile range, between the median and the lower quartile (remember box and whisker plots? they ruled!). What makes this album even more impressive it that's it's the work of just two dudes, who based on the only picture of them that is on the internet look like they're 17. But who knows, maybe the delightfully mild Icelandic summers and hot springs keep inhabitants baby-faced into their 30's. Alright, enough inane rambling. Fans of the aforementioned bands, fans of Enslaved's more recent output and fans of modern black metal acts like Dodecahedron absolutely need to check this out. Highly recommended.
Not available in a physical format or as a legit download yet.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Ignivomous - Contragenesis (2012)
Ignivomous' debut full length Death Transmutation was one of my favorites of 2009, so when they announced they were gestating a new one to be delivered this year, I was pretty excited. And deliver they did, this thing goddamn rules. I'm not big on the term old school death metal since it generally implies a simple rehashing of what's come before without really adding anything of merit and that's what the overwhelming majority of OSDM bands seem to be comfortable doing, so perhaps I'll call what Ignivomous does "traditional" death metal. If I had to compare Ignivomous to another band, it would be Incantation. If you know me (or Rob), you know that if someone across the room happens to mention Incantion our heads turn so fast that whiplash ensues. So having your band compared to Incantation is like getting the mother of all gold stars on your homework assignment in our book. Heavy as hell, tons of tremolo, Immolation-esque side-winding riffs and great vocals, this thing's a beast. Already on my best of 2012 list.
Buy it:
Not available yet, but when pre-orders are announced I'll definitely be making a post about it.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
The Men- Open Your Heart (2012)
Oh snap! The Men have a new record out! A mere 10 months after their Leave Home LP which garnered heaps of praise, The Men are back. With this band one should never assume anything. They've shown themselves equally adept at everything from droney sludge to shoegaze to Stooges style proto-punk to black metal (albeit briefly), so I had no idea what to expect with this album. While still showcasing The Men's ability to wear many hats genere-wise, Open Your Heart manages to sound more cohesive than either of their previous full lengths. There are a few exceptions, but this album mostly features straight ahead rockers which are more accessible than much of their previous material.
When looking for comparisons, Open Your Heart brings to mind a veritable who's who of loud, guitar-driven rock bands including The Stooges, MC5, Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth. I'll make a few less obvious additions to that list from the punk rock and indie realms with Scared of Chaka and the criminally underrated Meneguar. Also, the first time I put this record on I thought it started out with a cover of "Suspect Device" by Stiff Little Fingers, because man, the first riff on "Turn It Around" isn't paying homage, it's straight lifted. Come to think of it "Cube" sounds remarkably similar to "Slip It In" by Black Flag as well.
Anyway, I've always thought The Men were at their best when writing driving rock tunes and apparently they can read my mind, since they've just put out an album full of 'em. Well done boys.
When looking for comparisons, Open Your Heart brings to mind a veritable who's who of loud, guitar-driven rock bands including The Stooges, MC5, Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth. I'll make a few less obvious additions to that list from the punk rock and indie realms with Scared of Chaka and the criminally underrated Meneguar. Also, the first time I put this record on I thought it started out with a cover of "Suspect Device" by Stiff Little Fingers, because man, the first riff on "Turn It Around" isn't paying homage, it's straight lifted. Come to think of it "Cube" sounds remarkably similar to "Slip It In" by Black Flag as well.
Anyway, I've always thought The Men were at their best when writing driving rock tunes and apparently they can read my mind, since they've just put out an album full of 'em. Well done boys.
Buy it:
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Obsequiae- Suspended In The Brume Of Eos (2011)
Wow. Yeah, wow. I somehow managed to not hear of this band until I read the totally awesome interview with them in Chips & Beer #2, but I'm retroactively adding this to my favorites of 2011.
"Classical" is a term that gets bandied about far too often."Classically trained" or "classically influenced" seem to get tossed out every time someone hears a guitarist with better than average talent who writes anything that can be considered "epic". However, the two gents from Minnesota that comprise Obsequiae are the real deal (seriously, one dude specializes in harp composition from the 13th century). Fine, maybe they're not influenced by the classical period as much as they are by the medieval and renaissance periods, but you know, most people just lump all of it together as classical music anyway.
A lot of reviewers seem to want to tag this as black, melodic black or post-black metal. So I guess I'll jump on that boat. However, other than the vocals and what adds up to perhaps a minute of blast beating and trem picking, there isn't a whole lot of black metal here, though I can see how this would appeal to fans of bands with progressive, epic or atmospheric tendencies like Krallice, Agalloch and Drudkh. Actually, if you took out the vocals, I don't think there would be anything too objectionable on this album to fans of medieval music with a soft spot for rock 'n roll or prog rock fans either.
So what does this actually sound like? Melodic black metal? Yep. Progressive black metal? Sure. Medieval music? Absolutely. You'll have to check it out to get an idea of what that sounds like all mashed together.
According to Bindrune a vinyl version is in the works for later this year! I'll make a post about that when the pre-order is up.
"Classical" is a term that gets bandied about far too often."Classically trained" or "classically influenced" seem to get tossed out every time someone hears a guitarist with better than average talent who writes anything that can be considered "epic". However, the two gents from Minnesota that comprise Obsequiae are the real deal (seriously, one dude specializes in harp composition from the 13th century). Fine, maybe they're not influenced by the classical period as much as they are by the medieval and renaissance periods, but you know, most people just lump all of it together as classical music anyway.
A lot of reviewers seem to want to tag this as black, melodic black or post-black metal. So I guess I'll jump on that boat. However, other than the vocals and what adds up to perhaps a minute of blast beating and trem picking, there isn't a whole lot of black metal here, though I can see how this would appeal to fans of bands with progressive, epic or atmospheric tendencies like Krallice, Agalloch and Drudkh. Actually, if you took out the vocals, I don't think there would be anything too objectionable on this album to fans of medieval music with a soft spot for rock 'n roll or prog rock fans either.
So what does this actually sound like? Melodic black metal? Yep. Progressive black metal? Sure. Medieval music? Absolutely. You'll have to check it out to get an idea of what that sounds like all mashed together.
According to Bindrune a vinyl version is in the works for later this year! I'll make a post about that when the pre-order is up.
Buy it:
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)