DAY 19: WROUGHT IRON - Rejoice & Transcend

DAY 19: WROUGHT IRON - Rejoice & Transcend [grimoire]

Credit to Steel For Brains for finding this one, and the one-sentence review is spot on.

"Gnarliest vocals I’ve heard in a hot minute, and the music is like someone beat all the pretty out of black metal with a lead pipe."

http://wroughtiron.bandcamp.com/album/rejoice-and-transcend

DAY 18: GENERATION OF VIPERS - Coffin Wisdom

DAY 18: GENERATION OF VIPERS - Coffin Wisdom [translation loss]

The long, arduous, but well-deserved, growing trickle of praise these 3 dudes get is justified I think. Reminds me of KEN Mode at their scuzziest, or Doomriders at their sleaziest. Head-bobbing trance riffs everywhere with some gnarly bass tone. GUH.

Day 17: CRETIN - Stranger

Day 17: CRETIN - Stranger [relapse]

It's safe to say Cretin are a unique band. I mean, take the whole Marissa Martinez story out of the equation and they still are a class above. 8 years later and they still pummel and pervert. There is not a moment in where this lets up or stops to breathe, it continuously pummels and sounds utterly disgusting all the way through.

Day 16: SWANS - To Be Kind

Day 16: SWANS - To Be Kind [young god]

OXYGEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Day 15: THE BODY - I Shall Die Here

Day 15: THE BODY - I Shall Die Here [RVNG]

These rednecks have yet to disappoint me. From this to that collab they did with Thou, the wall of noises, shreiks, and thumps they make is unmatched. Like if Krystof Penderecki could not stop listening to Godflesh, he would be this.

Day 14: JOHN ZORN - Psychomagia

Day 14: JOHN ZORN - Psychomagia [tzadik]

I could just be picking a random album from the 46 or so he made in this year alone, but the doom/surf combo on this is infectious.

Day 13: EARTH - Primitive And Deadly

Day 13: Earth - Primitive And Deadly [southern lord]

I've followed Carson evolution from heroin addict into sobriety, and this might be his/their best work to date. I'm reminded of 90s Swans in parts, but there's this strange vibe to it I can't really describe. "Awakening" I guess?, follows their spiritual theme. Very rich, colorful, melodic...opposite of the cold, monochromatic, minimal style he had on HEX.

Day 12: TIETANBLOOD - Death

Day 12: Tietanblood - Death [norma evangelium diaboli]

There's this brief moment in discovering metal at a young age in where you go "this is the scariest shit I've ever heard", but it only lasts for that brief moment, Tietanblood captured it for an entire albums' length. Trip through Hell complete with searing pain.

Day 11: BOLZER - Soma

Day 11:  BöLZER - Soma [invictus]

The hype that surrounds these guys is justified the minute you see them onstage. It's primal, loud, visceral, intimate, fuck man, he holds the mic Cronos-style. It think it's cool that these guys have a "duality" theme going, even if unintentional. 2 players, 2 instruments, the male/female duality of this EP and Aura. It's nice to see that. Plus dude rocks a BC Rich Bitch, can't really get more metal than that. Labyrinthian Graves is possibly the best song I have heard from them and top contender of the song of the year, fuck...

Day 10: GODFLESH - A World Lit Only By Fire

Day 10: GODFLESH - A World Lit Only By Fire [avalanche]

I'm actually being awkward and posting this because i'm confused at this. It's a good album, but this isn't Godflesh. It needs mention because this is unique in a way that it's more like ideas that came VERY FUCKING CLOSE to being Godflesh songs, but somehow are missing the mark. I'm a huge fan of shit like Pure, Selfless, Love and Hate, Streetcleaner, even Messiah. No idea if it's that 13 year gap, the 8-string guitars, the beefed up sound, the absence of reverb, something's not adding up. That said, if Justin gave it another moniker i'd be on board with it. But pasting the impact-type on this is not sitting with me. All that said, this is a good album, but, just not a Godflesh album to me.

The closest this gets to that "throes of hopelessness" felling I got with them would be this track:

Day 9: YOB - Clearing The Path To Ascend

Day 9: YOB - Clearing The Path To Ascend [neurot]

I've been on board with Yob ever since the Catharsis days. Kept up with them battling through the Middian days, and braved a Tool show just to see them play "Afdrift in the Ocean". They still show improvement on each release and showcase some DARK riffage on this.

Day 8: TOMBS - Savage Gold

Day 8: TOMBS - Savage Gold [Relapse]

This is a little more polished than I anticipated, and stripped down as well. But, the writing shows through very well & I get lost in "Deathtripper" too many times to count. No problem getting onto my top picks this year and easily the best album from these guys so far. Exist outside of time.

Day 7: GRIDLINK - Longhena

Day 7: GRIDLINK - Longhena [handshake Inc.]

Initially (and admittedly) I wanted to reserve a spot for them because it's their swan song, but it holds up as a very well-done, thought-provoking work of grind. This isn't trying to be the fastest album of the year, but it could very well be. "Thirst Watcher" gives me a little chilly feeling every time it plays.

DAY 6(66): ELECTRIC WIZARD - Time To Die

Day 6(66): ELECTRIC WIZARD - Time To Die [witchfinder]

This is SCUZZY, not doom, not sludge, not stoner, just sleazy satan rock. They look and play the part of some 70s biker gang or at least extras from some lost exploitation occult film.

Day 5: HORRENDOUS - Ecdysis

Day 5: HORRENDOUS - Ecdysis [dark descent]

The right death metal album is all about production and these guys nailed it and then some. The nastiest tone tickled with sweet leads all over the place. I really don't give a shit it's 3 American kids playing the Swedish style. It fucking rips.

Day 4: DIOCLETIAN - Gesundrian

Day 4: DIOCLETIAN - Gesundrian [osmose]

When opposite spectrums in music collide it's fascinating for an almost infinite amount of time to the listener. Take note of Diocletian's Gesundrian, it's both raw and clear. For a genre that takes pride on the former, it's almost impossible to recreate it with the latter, but these guys do it.

Day 3: CONAN - Blood Eagle

Day 3: CONAN - Blood Eagle [Napalm]

Sludge gone into Beast Mode. Extremely primitive and dense. these 3 English dudes have a fantastic sound and ever since thier EP 4 years ago it just keeps growing. The only band to take SunnO)))'s mantra of "MAXIMUM VOLUME YEILDS MAXIMUM RESULTS" and puts it to use.

Day 2: EYEHATEGOD - Eyehategod

Day Two: EYEHATEGOD - Eyehategod [housecore]

Holy mother of fuck I love this band. The most violent show i've witnessed, and just overall the best experience a band can bring to the audience is them. Over the course of....shit....the 23? years i've known of them, they've been my companion through a lot of shit, good and bad. I can't describe it exactly but they catch this balance of angst and frustration to meld it with groove and hooks....I mean, playing a Sabbath riff kind of explains the latter, but the two together is just blissfully wonderful, feedback and all.

Day 1: MORBUS CHRON - Sweven

Doing my top o' the year list a little different and posting an album/song a day for the next 30 days. I realize i'm doing what everyone of facebook is doing, and it's an excuse to keep this blog going. But whatever maybe i'll divert that one Tool fan who is 35 and still downloads songs through soulseek and torrents hardcore porn....maybe. Anyway, here goes:

MORBUS CHRON - Sweven [century media]

This has been something i've been waiting for, and got right on board with.  Think Autopsy playing Voivod all the while drowning in reverb. Or maybe Opeth if they ditched the prog wankery and started binging on Unholy or something. Very eerie, complex, unsettling...really awesome Halloween album actually, that and the new Occultation album worked for that mood. Anyway, must have. For a relatively new band, this is a gigantic step to venture out into their own territory. Whatever the Swedish word for BALLS is, you dudes have them.

Dimitri's Dungeon

BLOG

I kind of wanted to make a shrine to this guy because:

- His mixes RULE
- His tastes RULE
- I imagine him being this really awesome & humble dude who knows an insane amount of music knowledge
- He's gone MIA for over a year and I'm hoping all is well (he posted about being sick some time ago)...
- I'm kind of missing blogs and downloads like his.

To those that don't know, this is a guy from somewhere in Finland (I think...the blog is in Finnish, but his English is pretty stellar.) that makes these huge, absurd, but very rewarding mixes all focusing on one mood or theme. Most averaging about 70-80 songs each and 5-6 hours of play time total. But they are all these overlooked, scrapped, and forgotten gems of funk, soul, r&b, late 80s/early 90s hip hop, film scores, reggae, synth, ambient library music, psych rock, etc. all carbondated from the 70s until today ...just warm tones and chill beats. The type of shit you'd take a day off work and sit in your bathrobe, drinking tea on the porch watching the sunrise to. The antithesis of what I've been posting. But, his shit is infectious and artful and I'd really like some solace to know dudes doing OK. If anyone out there in internet land could post a status on here, that'd be cool...

EDIT: OK, so his links are mostly dead and that doesn't inspire any good thoughts. I'll attempt to upload what I got from him on here. Starting with his Dungeon Mixtapes. He included a ton of weird/trippy images (like the above) in them as well, and they're prevserved in the files too. So no fret on that.

DDM I:
DDM II:
DDM III:
DDM IV:
DDM V:
DDM VI:
DDM VII:
DDM VIII:
DDM IX:
DDM X:
DDM XI:

MDF XII, or Heavy Metal Parking Lot 2014

Another year over. My bruises and hangovers are gone and bittersweetly adjusting back to the work grind. A truly wonderful experience yet again and many a story to tell. Obviously we didn't get to see every single band because unless time travel or telepathic cloning was real, it would be impossible to pull off, or i'd just see barely 3 minutes of each band even if I had the stamina or funds to get me back and forth from each venue.

DAY 1 (THURSDAY):

Our group and I broke tradition of waking up hungover at 4am to catch our flight at 6:45 to adjust to a more comfortable 1pm flight which worked out way smoother than planned. We were also one body short this year which put the accommodation fee up a bit, but nonetheless was confident in the fact that my money was being invested in a comfortable bed that would await me each and every night I staggered back to the hotel room. The flight up was bumpy, which upset one of our buds since he hates flying (personally, I love it) and the bimbos in front of us were making us a little uncomfortable passing a 2 year old around like it was a teddy bear, but otherwise uneventful. We landed, texted our loved ones that we are still alive, unpacked, found food, and headed straight into The Rams Head.

A bit of a back story with MDF. Last year they got some criticism from attendees who complained Sonar (the venue it was held at for the last few times), was either unprepared for the horde of metalheads (which led to some last-minute executive decisions like a "tent stage" for the smaller bands, and all the complaints about the slow lines throughout the weekend), or flat out lied to the organizers about curfew times for Baltimore (which are set for 11pm, which was why Venom's set was cut short). Whatever the reasons behind the infamous year, it's past and they've since learned from it. So, onto this year. I surveyed Rams Head as it was a new venue (for MDF attendees at least) and found it to be quite luxurious. A 2 story auditorium, with not only bars but food courts on each level, plus a built in public bleacher room where people can take a load off.

WHITEHORSE was just starting as I walked in and hypnotized the crowd with their own doom/sludge/noise hybrid sound for a good 30 minutes. I've never seen them live but liked the music, albeit it's kind of enduring to make it through a 17 minute song of the same riff over and over. But a good appetizer to what I dubbed the "doom day" (Seven sisters of Sleep played before them actually, so they didn't actually start off the night).

SOURVEIN got up onstage soon after, and it was bittersweet watching them set up as I thought this would be their last ever performance (later to be a rumor, as they were confirmed for a handful of shows afterwards as my friend pointed out to me). They ripped through their set with a ferocious speed and strength it was a little intimidating.

TORCHE followed promptly after, and this was a good contrast to the brooding sludge Whitehorse brought before. They woke up the crowd and belted out song after song with no time to talk or chit-chat. Steve's guitar (or mic) was feeding back pretty bad throughout the whole set which he was getting more and more annoyed with as the set progressed...

COFFINS were up next and, again I was a first time viewer of them and they practically stole the show for me. Just high energy (albeit playing at a dooms pace), but they were all over the place, especially the small bass player, whose bass wah solos were everywhere and completely LOUD.

CROWBAR were Crowbar, and admittedly I left 20 minutes in because the combo of beer & jet lag was not sitting well and I felt like I was about to pass out. I missed quite the fuming rant by Kirk when a fan (or just drunk guy) got up on stage and got promptly tackled to the ground next to Kirk and he swung around and foot-clocked him (the fan) right in the temple, thus followed by a scathing bitching from Kirk feuled by what I assume is lack of sleep. Skip to 2:25 and just keep it playing....

All I had (I bitched about)

DAY 2 (FRIDAY):

We treated ourselves to a delicious chicken & waffles lunch at Miss Shirleys, and properly fueled up we set down to the Edison Lot. Now, again i'm comparing to last year but I feel it's necessary only to show A.) People who were there last year, who didn't attend this year, and B.) invert A. This couldn't have been a better upgrade than what Sonar was. Picture if you will a HUGE parking lot with 2 main stages, with more than enough room to mingle around and move comfortably from each stage with no hassle or spilling a drink. Here's visual proof:

Not shown are the food vendors, which besides being plentiful were easy to navigate through even with bands playing. Merch & other vendors had a space to themselves behind the food vendors along with a tented area for the bigger distros and T-shirt print shops that needed all the space they could get. Additional bonuses were a shaded (under an overpass, yeah) area with picnic tables ideal for recuperation and feet resting, and a bathroom corner that made the lines of Sonar a distant and laughable memory. Security too, and I feel strange to even rave about this, was FANTASTIC! Quite possibly the best team (or if they are all friends of the organizers, kudos to them) of people anyone could ask for. I've been an avid concert goer since '95 and these people were almost like old friends. Spraying all the sunbruned people with water, handing out the occasional beer and sunscreen, even crowdsurfing a few times. If you want a good vibe, I guess get people who are into it as much as you are, right? Hahaha! Alright, all of that is in place.

CASTEVET - Admittedly one of the oddball additions I thought, and not many were into them either. Still, I was liking them and the bass tone dude has was just a twangy, gnarly mess of low end.

MGLA - A band I seriously thought I'd never see at all and HOLY FUCKING SHIT they were amazing! They played their set faster than on record and it just added to the amazement. Really catchy stuff. One of the highlights for sure

RUINS OF BEVERAST - Again a "never thought I'd see" band, and while I liked them, not many others did. People complained mainly about the vocals not translating well, but I was fine with them.

CANCER - At this musical juncture, I met a buddy of mine and we drank in salute to his long trek over to the east coast for this thing. But, yea Cancer were pretty good, musically tight, but performance wise a little on the forgettable side, however the novelty of seeing them wasn't lost.

AGALLOCH - Saw them before, and their set had highlights that time. This time the luster wore off kinda quickly. It was mainly unfamiliar material (haven't heard anything new since 08) and it wasn't exactly resonating well with all the black & death metal that played earlier.

AT THE GATES - Another highlight. 16 year old me was moshing like crazy to "Suicide Nation" and "Terminal Spirit Disease", full of energy, on point and busted out song after song. No complaints, other than the time conflict with Bolzer who were playing right up the street. Had to duck out around the 7th or 8th song though.

BOLZER - Yet another highlight. 2 dudes that literally brought the venue down to it's knees. These guys were the diamond in the rough as literally NO ONE knew who they were and were playing over some of the main attractions as well. So yeah, glad I could be a part of their set.

IMPALED - It's Impaled, you either know them or wandered in randomly to them. Their set at Soundstage was a huge gore party and I got tossed up unwillingly within the first 10 minutes. Crazy kids.

ENTHRONED - Wandered out of Impaled a bit to catch my breath and watched them. Eh, take it or leave it.

INCANTATION - After all these years, Kyle STILL has a mustache! They delivered, but like clockwork fatigue and drunkeness set in and a good 30 minutes in I had to leave from utter exhaustion. Still from what I saw it was good.

So, cons being I missed Necros Christos (which dude looked like a pirate? lol) Taake, and Solstifir who (according to instagram) looked like drag queen cowboys that were playing $3,000 instruments. Pass on that.

 

lolwut?

DAY 3 (SATURDAY):

Washed and happily letting the pain meds do their work we set off (again) to the Edison Lot.

DIOCLETIAN - Fast & noisy as all hell.

ENTRAILS - Totally fucking ripped!

MACHETAZO - The bassiest grind I've ever heard. Just TONS of low end going fast as fuck too.

GOD MACABRE - Well received I thought. Would have liked to pick up their vinyl relapse had out, but oh well.

NOCTURNUS AD - Literally put me in a trance on how tight they were. Literally they sounded just like The Key, only live. Bonus to covering Chapel Of Ghouls at the end. Even if drummer flubbed it.

TANKARD - This is more about the pit that happened for them, Tankard were good but the fucking 80 foot wide pit that opened for them was the highlight easily.

SACRIFICE - People were divided on them, but I thought they were vicious! Just an all out thrash attack, bonus to Jed from SYL coming out and jamming for the last song.

BIRDFLESH - First time seeing them, and they were absolutley crazy. They had a good 4 or 5 songs in a row talking about anal sex and several kids were screaming every single lyric to them. Glowsticks, blow-up dolls, and backpacked kids (including myself) in spades.

UNLEASHED - Sounded good, good energy, song selection sucked I thought.

DARK ANGEL - I'm understating this when I say people went apeshit for them. When "Burning Of Sodom" started, people were screaming hysterically, cutting their wrists open and bleeding all over themselves and other people.

PUNGENT STENCH (SCHIRENC) - Klystar Boogie!

ASPHYX: I got 10 minutes up front and was content with hearing Martin Van Drunen scream for that long. Watched from the bleachers the rest of the time...shit i'm old.

DAY 4 (SUNDAY):

My most anticipated day. Ironically, the most sober i've been was for this day too.

WINDHAND - Saw 10 minutes and merch shopped. I was hoping they played Amaranth but no dice on that, eh.

BONGRIPPER - Seeing them sober was oddly enough a good time. Played 2 songs in 30 minutes, several people took pride in making a flag with HIPPIE KILLER written out to show them while they played.

GRAVES AT SEA - Absolutely fucking crushing live, add them to the list of "Never thought I'd see..." It was hard to have recording control over the grooves they laid out, but I managed a minute of this before the phone crapped out...

MISERY INDEX - Adam Jarvis is a BEAST on the kit.

MARYLAND FUCKING DEATHFEST 2014

 

My tradition of being absolutely trashed, sweaty, bloody, near broke, and all around stupid for 4 days of heavy metal parking lot starts up again next week.  All I love and am grounded to here, I leave yet again for the 4th year in a row. I yet again have no idea what to expect and/or anticipate (other than Gorguts blowing my head off), and I still embrace it with a drunken smelly bro hug.

Neurosis in 2011 was an absolutely phenomenal time, and I see why people drop their shit and see them live every chance they get.

Autopsy in 2012 I think raped me at some point because I felt violated in every way after they finished (well, after the cops showed up). The pit itself was partly to blame.

Evoken/Venom in 2013 tie for various reasons (even with the mandatory shutdown on Venom).

Here's to 2014...

FLOOR | CHURCHILLS PUB (Miami, FL)

So, my band got to open for the Floor show the other night. My first time playing Churchills since...shit, before they had a record store next door and all this gentrification talk ever happened. Having Henry Wilson watch you play and give you props pretty much made all of our days and many more afterward. Bittersweet seeing how Churchills is going under new ownership in the next couple weeks and we are essentially playing a "farewell" show to the old dump. Anyway, Floor fucking killed it. Played the whole new album and some selections from the S/T. My eyesockets are still rattling from the resonance.



And, shameless plug ;)

GODFLESH | CHURCHILLS PUB (Miami FL) | 04/25/14

BREED

LIKE RATS

COFFINWORN/COLTSBLOOD

I'm on 2.3 hours sleep and running on 3 PBRs and an AM crunch wrap. I feel about as disgusting as these 2 albums.

COFFINWORM - IV.I.VIII

I lived near (well, 3 hours away, but would make a weekend trip whenever I could) Indianapolis for several years. I have a few friends there and consider it a splendid city. There's a thriving music scene and you can find a band for just about every genre you can think of. Coffinworm, to be quite honest, I had no idea even existed until their debut came out in 2010 and it literally came out of nowhere. Just this mess of blackened doom saturated with screams and feedback everywhere. Enter now 2014 and they return with well, more of the same...BUT I couldn't have asked for anything more. What they've stepped up a lot this time was the vocals...D(ave?) has a remarkable speedtime of gutterals-to-screeches and delivers them in spades on this. Also, the overall feel of the album is downright disgusting. Like a weekend-binge, hungover-Monday-morning, haven't-showered-in-3-days, puke-crust-on-mouth disgusting. Just delving into all the evil, heinous, bad, life-ruining things men do to themselves and others. Play this over Disney movies.



COLTSBLOOD - INTO THE UNFATHOMABLE ABYSS

Skip across some water over to Liverpool and you'll find Coltsblood. The ex-bass payer from Conan's doom project....yea that's redundant. Anyway, it's nasty stuff. Definitely the Conan drone & chug is there, but they're more...doomy I guess? In a good way, if any of you dudes (or lady!) are reading this. Like, they're taking fragments from Asunder, Evoken or even Nortt at times and calling it their own. Impressive debut I'll say. Once you get the funds, fly over here and melt some American faces off. We'll forever be grateful.



Doom on, Monday...

Bohren & Der Club Of Gore

2 weeks into the new year and with no new music to be giddy over I'm going in full reverse and sulking in nostalgia with what I feel is the darkest album I own and have heard to date: I present to you, again: Black Earth.



So chill, yet so chilling. I came across this in late 2004 from a friend from an old band on the subject of minimalist albums/artists. Being dude was a fan of Ipecac Records and the like he was selling me on it, and by the 3rd track I was hooked. It's really almost indescribable how dark this gets. If you can make it through to the end you feel like your soul was crushed. I imagine this as the soundtrack to a bunch of Stephen King novels or the occasional Von Trier flick.

Musically speaking, I fucking LOVE how quiet everything is...I mean it's supposed to be, but stuff like the drumming being done so slowly and so quietly, all the brushing and reverberating cymbals, and how you can hear the sax players' fingering and just the sound of wind blowing against the reed. So quiet it's positively maddening. Their other works before and after haven't really lived up to the hype this gets (though i'm curious for this new album in February), although Sunset Mission is a good album too, but...fuck man, this is so dark. It's funny to read that dudes in extreme metal like Ulcerate praise this album, but it's well worth the praise when you aim to set a bleak mood in your music. People compare it to doom when hearing the speed of it, but really the tone just says black metal to me.

Random sidenote: while deciphering the German track listing, I came across this: http://ackuna.com/badtranslator