Grindcore
still feels like the red-headed stepchild of the hardcore punk and metal
world. 35+ years later it continues to
stand as the genre too extreme for even the most seasoned underground fan of
the wildest, least commercial bands.
Seth Putnam wrote a song called “Grindcore Is Very Terrifying.” Well...yeah…it is. I think anyone in a grindcore band would
agree. Grindcore
has zero boundaries and doesn’t give one flying fuck about restraint.
For example:
-Go
slow, go slower, go fast, go faster.
-Guitars…clean
or dirty…who cares?
-Recording
sucks? Oh well.
-Lyrical
subject matter from politics to porn.
-Throw
in a saxophone, kazoo, or some other random instrument.
-Have
one or multiple inaudible singers.
-Use
samples.
-Play
tight or sloppy.
-Add a
shitload of noise.
-Write
a 5 second song.
-Use a
drum machine.
Basically,
be punk as fuck in attitude and do anything you want. It doesn’t matter. That’s the glory of the genre. Yet, it’s also
what keeps most bands buried well below the level of popularity that other
extreme music, such as what many death and black metal bands, has achieved. Singapore’s Wormrot choose the very direct approach that rattles my head just like nineties stalwarts Insult, Assuck and Spazz did previously. They don’t pull any huge surprises reflected in the list above; just pure speed and brutality. There is so much auditory violence happening
in these songs which are just brief moments in time as most barely reach the 1
minute mark. 25 songs in 18 minutes
leaves no time to breathe. Wormrot are
tight players, but the humble production of the album feels like you are right
in a room with them giving the record a live feel that could go off the rails
at any time. They do utilize a bit of
hardcore influence to divert slightly from blasting away at blinding speeds. It becomes difficult to speak at length about
an album like Dirge. It’s going
to be one of those black and white things; either you like it, or you
don’t. It’s not going to be the album
that breaks grindcore out to the masses, but it is an extremely strong output
by a tremendous band.
Album Of The Year:CavaleraBestial Devastation / Morbid Visions
Top 5 Contenders:
The DamnedDarkadelic
Grove StreetThe Path To Righteousness
Home FrontGames Of Power
RenSick Boi
TrespasserἈΠΟΚΆΛΥΨΙΣ
For the few weeks I have been genuinely questioning my choice for the best album of 2023. I finally settled my internal argument between some excellent releases. My choice turned out to be rather odd. Not only am I choosing two albums for the top spot, but I am also choosing two albums that have been re-recorded. The world is officially spinning in the opposite direction. If you seek out my full review of Cavalera’s redo of Bestial Devastation and Morbid Visions, you’ll get a dose of my disdain for re-recordings. I don’t like them and don’t think they’re necessary. In this case, I was wrong. So wrong, in fact, that Bestial Devastation and Morbid Visions albums are my favorite and most listened to records of the year. What the Cavalera brothers pulled off needs to be the future blueprint and standard for what a re-recording should be if a band decides to go that route. Not only did they keep the aesthetics of the original recordings, but they modernized in all the right ways. If these two records sounded like this in 1986, we’d be talking about them as a couple of the greatest death / thrash metal records in history. Kudos, Max and Igor! Next…The Damned are a gift to the world! 47 fucking years later they remain a force when they play live and consistently release wonderful albums. I know when bands get a bit long in the tooth, the tendency to put out a record that is a poor facsimile of their glory days becomes a real thing. Well, Captain and company prove that wrong with Darkadelic. No, they don’t play as aggressively as they once did, but boy do they come off with major style and atmosphere on this record. Mr. Vanian turned in a stellar vocal performance and sounds like he’s 25 again. It definitely takes me back to their Phantasmagoria / Anything and, as any Damned fan knows, there’s zero wrong with that. The Path To Righteousness by UK’s hardcore unit Grove Street entered my world very late this year. It’s been a while since a pure, street-level hardcore record has caught my ear. Upon my initial listen, I instantly heard the best parts of Leeway and Biohazard. The riffs are super and take the songs back and forth between traditional stomping hardcore and some thrashy, crossover vibes. I feel like you could throw a rock at the hardcore scene and hit 10 bands that play this style, but Grove Street have something special happening. Canada’s aggro unit Home Front absolutely killed it with their second release, Games Of Power. They seamlessly incorporate aspects of industrial, post-punk and new wave and wrap it up in an anarcho punk rock blanket without falling directly into any one of the genres. They are so energetic live, and that same vigor just jumps off this record. This album is insanely infectious. Wrapping up my Top 6 was the biggest contender for the number one spot. For those not in-the-know, Ren is a multi-instrumentalist artist from the UK that has gained well-earned fame and respect through YouTube the last year or so. His phenomenal yet harrowing video for the mesmerizing song “Hi Ren” hooked me immediately and since April of this year I have been studying Ren’s music like it’s a test. Sick Boi, his deep stab into the hip hop / electronic world, is only scratching the surface of his talent. I have a full-scale review of the record posted that goes into much more detail because the music is too difficult to explain in this short commentary. It's been quite a while since a new artist has dominated my attention like he has. Ren is someone that I truly believe could become a generational musician and I am feverishly anticipating what he does next. Just because their name falls late in the alphabet, it doesn’t mean Trespasser are in 6th place. Yet, another record that I found further into the year which makes me realize that I need to pay way more attention to new releases. Nowadays it takes quite a bit for a typical/true, more straight-forward style black metal band to remain at the top of the heap. Usually, it’s a new Deathspell Omega, Spektr or Blut Aus Nord and their mangled, maniacal sounds that gain my attention. That should tell you a lot about Trespasser’s sophomore effort ἈΠΟΚΆΛΥΨΙΣ (don’t ask…I have zero idea). This is HEAVY black metal with lyrics that don’t rely on fascism or satanic idiocy. Death metal tones enhance the incredible riffs. Some people call Trespasser melodic. No, they aren’t. What’s being mistaken for melody are their top tier arrangements which make each song memorable and individualized. Trust me, they are quite pulverizing and vicious. If I had more time with this album, it may have crept up to first place. Now, I’m not usually a “honorable mention” type person, but it you haven’t checked out Dolenz Sings R.E.M. and you are a fan of The Monkees or R.E.M., you’re missing out! Happy New Year everyone and stay safe out there!
Artist: Jumpin’ Jesus Album: The Art Of Crucifying Year: 1991 Genre: Death Metal
THIS
is the reason I still seek out and open my ears to old, unfamiliar music!I don’t know what it is with me, but even at
what now is a slightly advanced age, I continue to look for bands from the past
that have never crossed my path with the hopes that I find something that
knocks me for a loop.I look at it as
finding undiscovered treasure.Jumpin’
Jesus only existed for only 2 years and released a demo and one album, so they
were easy to miss.With a relatively
stupid name like Jumpin’ Jesus, there may have been a chance I would’ve skipped
over them even if I was aware of their existence.Since I’m so much more open-minded now (ha!)
I was very eager to spin this record when it walked through the doors of the
record store where I still put in a whole 3 hours a week.Dumb names don’t even stop me now when an
album I’ve never heard of is available to me.I borrowed this record to take home and spin on my turntable with zero
expectations.The cover art is
great.The guys look pretty cool on the
back.It’s from a superb, relatively
uncharted era of death metal.Oof…but
that name!?!Any apprehension was put to
rest within the first minute and a half of the album.Jumpin’ Jesus is classic, early 90s death
metal with a heavy concentration on instrumentation.Depending which way your fandom sways, you’re
going to think of Morbid Angel, Deicide, Immolation, Hellwitch when listening
to this German wrecking crew.
This
is a pretty technical album for extreme metal standards in 1991. The playing and the avantgarde nature of the
songs really make their mark. Maybe only
Atheist’s debut proceeds this record in the technical category, but the overall
styles of the two bands aren’t comparable.
Death wasn’t even doing the overtly tech technical style until the Human
album. So, not only is this album a nice
surprise, but it’s also rather innovative. Jumpin’ Jesus got a whole lot right on The
Art Of Crucifying. The production is
raw and unrelenting. The vocals are very
convincing and don’t just stick directly to the typical grunting so prominent
in early death metal. The playing is the
right balance of musical and unrelenting brutality. As I said, there is some flashy stuff
happening mixed in with the chaos. The
songs twist in all sorts of directions that aren’t expected and there isn’t a
dull moment on the record. Except for
one 7+ minute epic, they keep things shorter and to the point. I’ll say it, I’m impressed. Wish I would’ve discovered them years ago.
Artist: Ren Album: Sick Boi Year: 2023 Genre: Hip Hop / Alternative / Electronic / Acoustic
This is a new one for me. Previous to stumbling upon the multi-instrumentalist sensation Ren, I’ve never been wrangled in by a YouTube sensation. Obviously, since I’m writing this, I’m not against it. I’ve just never fallen into the trappings of an artist whose main platform is YouTube. My relationship with Ren’s music began in April this year. I started with his uber-talented busking cover band The Big Push whose fantastic cover of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” made me listen further and I soon landed on the breakout solo video, “Hi Ren.” What he achieved on “Hi Ren” is one of the most artistic creations I have seen and heard in a very long time. Hell, maybe ever if we’re just talking about video. It’s a 9 minute, initially confusing, emotionally engrossing journey into the existence of a young man’s relatable struggles. I cannot count the times I’ve watched the performance and to this very day it’s still able to jar something emotionally in me. Everything about it fascinates me. The facts that it is played and recorded live, the raw story it tells, the unbridled talent on display, the minimal but effective use of scenery and camera angles and the self-reflection of his unfortunate medical history all play into what is a genius-level piece of art. After the first viewing, I knew this was a person I needed to dedicate attention to in the future and catapulted myself into a continual YouTube rabbit hole discovering the world of Ren’s music and his ever-increasing levels of artistry.
From that moment forward, I did my research into Ren’s back catalog and enthusiastically awaited every future release. The person running the Ren’s online street team sure knows what they are doing, from the timing of song releases, well-placed social media segments, multiple versions of songs, encouraging the viral song reactions market and even a rap battle propelled him toward his million plus subscribers and multiple millions of views. From the information I have, Ren oversees much of this. There have been 12 video releases leading up to this full album, which only has 18 songs total. Remarkably, he has 6 or 7 other current songs receiving above 5 million views that aren’t even on the album. He’s been a busy guy. The end result is him having the #1 album in the UK the week Sick Boi was released. It should also be proudly said that he has no major label backing him. He is an independent artist. It’s exactly what Prince dreamed of! Also, Ren is sick. I mean literally sick (way too long of a story to go into here) and has been recovering from ailments the last 10 years that have plagued his mental and physical health. His personal touch of giving health updates has also endeared him to people. He’s worked this whole time and has come out on top even with intimidating challenges.
Although Ren has touted Sick Boi as a hip hop album, it is much more than that. Certainly, hip hop is the at the heart of this record, especially the majority of the vocal delivery, but it incorporates aspects of alternative, reggae-fusion, new wave, EBM and straight up pop. The other important fact to know about Sick Boi is that Ren is the sole composer on the record. No producer. No engineer. It’s all him front to back. Due to my YouTube obsession with him, I had already heard all but 6 songs on this record, so there weren’t many surprises. Yet, listening to an album in its sequenced entirety is significantly different than hearing one-offs online. I love hearing the production value of the songs. There are aspects that listening on computer speakers don’t do justice in the recording and mixing. Musically, Ren’s songs run the gamut of simple to complex and there are plenty of subtleties in the instrumentation as he explores the use of synths, drum programming, sampled sounds, acoustic stringed instruments and piano.
The album is intensely vocal-centric and it is immediately recognizable that the music is only a backdrop for the vocal performance. What I found from his performances in The Big Push is that Ren commands an extraordinary range and is not one to be boxed in stylistically. He expands this even further with his solo outings on non-album songs such as “Chalk Outlines” and “Humble” which showcase his formidable capability. On this record he incorporates some major league MC skills along with a variety of singing / spoken word techniques. Ren is a talent and it comes to the forefront on the songs “Seven Sins,” “Su!cIde” and “Lost All Faith” which he utilizes multiple styles in a single song. That’s not to say the pure and brutish hip hop nature of the aggressive and semi-political “Animal Flow,” the horrorcore influenced “Masochist” or the somewhat lyrics-in-a-blender nature of “The Hunger” aren’t A-list songs, but they are singularly focused and glued directly to the genre. He also proves he likes to have fun and not everything has to be deathly serious as one will hear on the extremely Beastie Boys influenced “What You Want” and the slightly juvenile “Down On The Beat” will get you moving and smiling and proves he can flow with the some of the heavyweights. The most audacious piece on the album is “The Money Game Pt. 3” which almost seems out of place on the record since it dives more toward Ren’s madness-driven creativity he’s shown multiple times outside of this album. It' is part of a trio of the "Money Game" song and video series and it’s a song that’s very difficult to separate from the video and its stunning, powerfully brooding visuals that present a unique approach to the disease money can become when a person gives their life trying to obtain it. Much akin to “Hi Ren,” it works more like a play than it does a song. It’s definitely the pinnacle of the album.
After listening to the majority of these songs via YouTube, I was very interested in seeing how this album would come together. Due to Ren’s immense and unique talent, many fans give him a blanketed pass on everything he creates. While his innovation and talent cannot be knocked, not everything is exactly perfect. The record plays as a random collection of songs rather than a cohesive assembly with a purposeful scope and sequence. I find this odd since Ren pays so much attention to detail in everything he releases, especially the videos he creates with Samuel Perry-Falvey. The fact that the album’s opus, the aforementioned “The Money Game Pt 3,” is in the fourth spot and not ending the album is odd. I’m sure there is a reason, but it doesn’t flow sonically. The groupings of songs also feel off and doesn’t lead to much variety as the record progresses. The bangers hit hard, but their superiority over other songs make 18 tracks feel unnecessary. Songs such as “Loco,” “Genesis,” “Uninvited” and the album closer “Wicked Ways” hit like white noise amongst the other songs and feel like they’re there to expand the length of the record. Yes, even someone as talented as Ren is capable of having filler. It happens. Am I just being super picky? Yes, and that’s ok. It’s good to have high expectations of a potential generational talent. Does this have any effect on me listening to this album over and over again? Not in the slightest.
From the moment I heard the opening song on the reissued Bestial Devastation EP, I knew I was also going to enjoy what was to come on the reissued Morbid Visions LP. Little did I know how much I was going to love both of these releases and that they would both end up in my top albums of 2023. The Cavalera brothers did something magnificent that few are successful in pulling off.
Let’s go backwards a touch. Max and Igor Cavalera ranged from age 14-17 during the time the first two Sepultura records were recorded and released. If you’ve never heard either album, you can imagine what death metal by a couple of young teenagers from Brazil, not exactly the hot bed of extreme metal at that time, sounds like. Their effort should be commended, but the results were substandard at best. Many hold Morbid Visions as a “classic” thrash / death metal record, but I believe it has more to do with nostalgia and what Sepultura became than the actual recording. No one can tell me those original recordings sound good. Even when I was young, just discovering new bands in the same genre, these sounded like garbage. That shouldn’t be insulting. They were just kids and were miles ahead people their age.
I can only imagine the Cavaleras felt the same way and that’s why they decided to re-record both records. As a personal rule, I am against the re-recording of previous material. If a band wants to update a song here-and-there I don’t have a problem. But a whole album? One…it feels like a money grab. Two, and more importantly…it rarely turns out good. Yes Exodus, Twisted Sister and Suicidal Tendencies, you all screwed up. In fact, I think only Testament did this well on The First Strike Still Deadly, but that wasn’t a full album, just cherry-picked catalogue tracks. Well, I proudly stand corrected when it comes to Cavalera. Not only did they do their past justice, but they also greatly improved upon their humble beginnings with zeal and conviction. These recordings are fucking brilliant!
Improvement in production was most likely their main focus and they nailed it! This isn’t your typical “trying to sound dirty, but it’s super clean” extreme metal recording trap so many bands fall into now. Just because you slap an HM2 pedal on everything doesn’t mean it’s filthy or heavy. It’s an art to connect tones that all work with one another to sound like a band playing together instead of different instruments piled upon each other. This new recording is like a raw wound; stinging and vicious. This is the most feral the brothers have sounded in an extremely long time and not two 50+ year old men traveling down memory lane. You just know the blood was pumping hard and the sweat was hitting the ground during the recording. They kept the speed of the original recordings and even some of the original esthetics from back in 85/86. The vocals sound cavernous just like they did originally and it works so well with the new production. Which brings me to the biggest surprise, the songs themselves. As mentioned, I hate the way the originals sound, so I can truthfully say I didn’t put too much time into listening to them. One thing for sure, it really was the sound of those records that irritated me. Now hearing the songs, played exactly the same way they were almost 30 years ago, makes me realize the band was exceptional even at such a young age. I appreciate that the labels that signed them for having the foresight that my ears didn’t. The fucking riffs! They’re all so brutal. Paired with Igor’s primal drumming generates a mood and tension other bands only dream of creating. Granted, all the players are exceedingly more talented than their teenage selves, but I caught so many things that hinted at what was to come on their next few albums that I never recognized previously. These now sound like Sepultura records. Major props to everyone involved in this project. I will still stand against the concept of re-recording, but this is more than a welcomed surprise and shows the reverence the band has for their early work.
Artist: Graveview Album: Ruthless Obliteration Of
Sanity Year: 2023 Genre: Death Metal
This
makes me so happy. I’m sure that isn’t
the intent of this gruesome quintet, but I can’t help it. Sometimes the uglier the music, the better it
makes me feel. I’m just a weirdo, I
suppose. This is pure, unadulterated,
old-school death metal with some extreme weight behind it. Graveview isn’t reinventing the wheel here,
but they are doing it right. Ruthless
Obliteration Of Sanity reminds me of Grave, Morgoth and Incantation and instantly
takes me back to the very early 90s and the terrifying thrill of discovering the
most extreme sounds metal had to offer at the time. Graveview take a no frills approach to their
songs and ruthlessly slam the listener from the first note to the last. This release only has 5 songs and clocks in around 16 minutes, giving the band no room to fuck around with intros or
exit passages. What is very noticeable
is the band’s ability to seamlessly transition without the typical start-stop
approach of introducing new parts. Their
songs are very well constructed.
Graveview are also comfortable with tempo changes ranging from doom to
grind which really keep you guessing where they are headed. Brutal is the most common word for what death
metal is and the only time the band lets up is when the last track ends. They waited quite a few years to release
anything between their 2018/2019 demos and this CD. Here’s hoping it’s not another 4 years until
we hear from them again.
Fastbacks are one of those bands you know exactly what you’re going to get regardless of the record you pop on the turntable. What are you getting, you may ask? The comfortable familiarity of upbeat, sugar-coated pop punk. Not a whole heap of use going into a long-winded, overly detailed description because, as with so many of their peers, this tiger that doesn’t change her stripes. It’s the same as asking what the new Queers or Screeching Weasel releases are about. It’s almost a useless question since you’re pretty much guaranteed that some memorable and hyper melodies are going to blast your eardrums to have you humming along in no time. This is not to imply that Fastbacks are typical in any way. Guitarist Kurt Bloch was creating the modern pop punk framework back in 1979 while Joe Queer and Ben Weasel were still Kiss fans. His guitar work is chock-full of little intricacies that other guitar players would do well to check out. The other standout attribute Fastbacks have to offer is the wonderful female vocal presence of Kim Warnick and Lulu Gargiulo. Do I dare to say that the vocal tone almost sounds “cute?” Yep, I'm going there. The vocals are almost delicate and the melodies complement the powerful attack going on behind them, which makes for a unique approach to a formulaic genre. Fastbacks didn't last past 1999. Their legacy is made up of six wonderful records and more singles and EP's than you can count. All are worthy of your attention.
Artist: Polyphia Album: Remember You Will Die Year: 2023 Genre: Progressive / Experimental /
Trap / Math Rock
God. Damn. It.Unfortunately, that is not an expletive
leaning toward the total positive or total negative side of the emotional spectrum.It takes a whole lot from a new band to make
me feverishly anticipate their new release.Polyphia did it.I enjoy their
first two releases and love their last album.The build up to this one with the release of the YouTube sensation
singles “Playing God” and “Ego Death” had me hooked.The third song they threw out, titled “ABC”
did zero for me, but there was always the hope it wouldn’t end up on the
album.I’ll explain why in a little
bit.Remember You Will Die was
unleashed upon the world in October 2022, but I intentionally ignored any digital
formats of the full release until I was able to buy the LP.My goal was to sit and bask in what would I
had planned to be my new favorite release.The vinyl dropped in May of 2023 and I patiently waited to listen to it
without interruption.I’ve now immersed
myself in it at least 8 times and…well…I’m torn.Let’s get into it.
We’ll start with the positive
first.When this album is on, it’s
mind-bending.For those not familiar, Polyphia
are consummate masters of tones, production, instrumentation and are pound-for-pound
one of the most imaginative acts in the broad realm of rock.Polyphia have a strength in writing
ambitious, mesmerizing instrumentals.They utilize a cornucopia of genre influences yet retain the distinct auditory
identity they’ve carved out for themselves.Their songs are exorbitantly overplayed but it doesn’t present as
pretentious or just instrument-wanking for the sake of showing off.Every second of their music drips with laser
focused intention to construct absolutely unique music.No other band sounds like them and this is
the result of labor-intensive writing and production technique.As perfectly as this album is engineered and
performed, it never feels robotic or stiff.They successfully avoid the trap set for bands that decide to use Pro
Tools to make them perfect.Whether it’s
due to intent or style, Polyphia do not sound cold or mechanical like so many
others.They sound perfect, but still
remain human.Somehow Polyphia keep
their ultra-precise music almost loose sounding.It’s rather amazing.I’m not going to prattle on about the intense
level of musicianship they possess.You
can throw a dart at any of their songs and you will be instantly schooled at
how talented Polyphia are.With zero doubt, the best and my
favorite songs on this record are the instrumentals. The band remains fiercely original and the
songs require multiple listens to delve into what they laid down.
Five out of
the twelve songs have vocals from various guest artists and that’s where my deep
problems with this record lie. I could
do a breakdown of what the vocals don’t bring to each song, but it’s easier
just to say that they sound out of place and severely unnecessary. Yeah, I know, who am I to say what a band
should do creatively? But they’re my
ears and it doesn’t sound right. Most of
the performances are just bland. Shit,
the song Chino from Deftones sings on hits like a throw away idea from his real
band and almost sounds like he’s vocalizing to a different song. The truth is Polyphia don’t write for vocals,
so having anyone to sing over their complex writing is a tough ask, and an unnecessary
ask in my not too humble opinion. The aforementioned
song “ABC” is a fusion of very technical progressive rock and kiddie-pop. I hated it my first play on YouTube and I
hate it still. But, if it was one song
with annoying vocals that was just tucked away deep on the record, I wouldn’t
be down on this album so badly. It’s not
the only one and the rest are just as irritating. My best guess is the band is
doing what they want and their immense artistry is leading more and more down
less traveled avenues. The band has had
some vocals in the past, but the songs here just sound so damn out of
place. I know people as creative as Polyphia
can’t be kept in a restrictive box, but I just wish they would find another way
to expand without resorting to vocals. Or,
at least write songs that will compliment the vocals. This is my only issue with this album, but it’s
a huge one. Unless my brain finally “gets
it” at some point, Remember You Will Die will land far from my
expectations of being the finest of 2023.
Metal Blade Records and The Replacements. I’m curious if those two entities have ever previously been put in the same shitty sentence fragment. Metal Blade, the pioneering independent US heavy metal label that gave the world its first recorded exposure to bands like Ratt, Black ‘N Blue, Armored Saint, Trouble, Lizzy Borden, oh, and a couple of bands that basically changed music history in Slayer and Metallica. Visionary Metal Blade owner Brian Slagel took gigantic risks and built an empire of heavy metal that marches forward this very day. Now on to The Replacements; the groundbreaking, bombastic modern rock band whose fierce dysfunctional independence kept them out of rock stardom, but placed them in the hearts of every kid who liked their rock ‘n roll a bit left on the dial. For a band that didn’t sell well, their history and music live in infamy amongst fans and peers.
So why am I putting these two mortal enemies of the music business together? Well, something strange happened with Metal Blade Records in the early 90s. In 1989, Death Records, a division of Metal Blade, released the second album by then punk band Goo Goo Dolls. Yes, you read that right. Who would have ever thought the biggest bands related to Metal Blade would be Metallica, Slayer and Goo Goo Dolls? Although the album, titled Jed, is a punk record, it was still odd for a label that housed the thrashing insanity of D.R.I., Mentors, C.O.C., Cryptic Slaughter, Beyond Possession and more. One year later the Goos moved up from Death Records to the main label with their 1990 seminal album Hold Me Up. One year previous, Metal Blade released Soul Cakes by Detroit’s beloved indie rock all-stars Junk Monkeys.
So where do The Replacements fit into this equation? Well, you have never heard two bands whose sound and style are more influenced by The ‘Mats than Junk Monkeys and Goo Goo Dolls, and both of these bands, whose style was firmly planted in independent rock, were signed to a record label that was not a label exactly known for genre diversity. By the early 90s Metal Blade Records released as many good bands as bad bands, but there was no question that it was all heavy metal. So, was the truest headbanging label on the planet at the time going to turn into an alternative record label? Well, that’s the oddest thing of all…they never signed another indie-type rock band ever again. These bands’ albums were released right before the monumental, Nirvana-inspired alternative wave of bands dominated the 90s, and, subsequently, it predates Goo Goo Dolls rocket-like ascent into superstardom which conquered airwaves and MTV. It’s strange to think that Metal Blade was once again on the cutting edge of music in which they had zero association. What is even more strange is that the label could’ve easily cashed in on the opportunity, but did not. Well, that’s not necessarily true. Metal Blade was listed as a co-label on Goo Goo Dolls first two Warner Brothers albums, which, I assume, made Mr. Slagel a ton of cash. Quite an interesting story that I would love to know more about, for sure.
That leads us to my hometown heroes Junk Monkeys, who, unfortunately, did not make the same colossal leap as their Goo Goo labelmates. It has always made me wonder if being on Metal Blade hindered their growth, because it certainly wasn’t the music. Junk Monkeys played modern rock with a pulsating and passionate punk heart underneath. They had excellent songwriting and gravely hooks. They maintained their quirky, off-beat style just enough so that they never fully embraced the pop punk world, much like the other two greats from that 80s Minneapolis scene, Husker Du and Soul Asylum. Instead of landing them in rotation on 120 Minutes, they ended up buried in obscurity. Songs such as the blistering opener, “Sad Letters” and the more subdued and heartfelt “I Don’t Mind” have hit written all over them, especially in an era where the world was preparing for a mammoth 120 Minutes, alternative musical shift. Five releases later, they called it a day and never returned to recording. Junk Monkeys will now be a band that people reminisce upon fondly, or accidentally discover and question how or why they have never heard them previously.
Artist: National Suicide Album: Massacre Elite Year: 2017 Genre: Thrash Metal
“Imitation
is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” Oscar Wilde’s infamous statement carries
heavy weight and undeniable truth when related to thrash metal of the mid 1980s. Like any wave of a movement that starts to
gain momentum and a larger audience, the untraveled path and popularity of the
80s first glimpse at extreme metal had musicians stagediving onto the bandwagon
Metallica and Venom constructed and that was being propelled forward by now
legends Slayer, Megadeth, Celtic Frost, Exodus, Kreator, Destruction, and
Anthrax. Some bands took the influence
and forged monumental records that are now revered and worshipped by fans
across the globe and have gone on to influence the next generation. Yet, if you dig deep into the early catalogs
of Metal Blade, Combat, Megaforce and New Renaissance Records you can pile up
the corpses of bands that just didn’t live up to the standards set by the
architects of the scene. For 40 years
now, bands have both intentionally and unintentionally ripped off their
predecessors with huge degrees of success and failure. This brings us to 2017 and the band National
Suicide, a band that seemingly has zero issue with wearing Xerox copies of
their influences sewn deeply into their denim vest. So why give a band that boarders on
plagiarism the time of day? To put it
simply, this album is fucking awesome!
Let’s just
get this out of the way. National
Suicide are Exodus and Overkill. There
is no getting around it. No, they don’t
just, “sort of sound like” or have moments where they, “remind you of” those
bands. They are what would happen if
cloning existed. My assumption is that
National Suicide know this and do not care whatsoever because they run with it
every second of this recording. The
truth of it is that there is nothing mediocre about this record and they do an
incredible job of doing their forefathers proud. It’s the same way Guesome emulates Scream
Bloody Gore Death era in a very fine fashion. So many of the retro thrash bands are
competent, but the novelty wears off
quickly. National Suicide prove that not all copycats are disposable facsimiles.
Massacre
Elite is
modernized, 80s Bay Area inspired thrash metal.
It has the speed, the talent, the fury, and all the necessary aesthetics
right down to the band’s Nuclear Assault appropriated logo. The music is razor-sharp and instantly brings
to mind Fabulous Disaster and Impact Is Imminent by Exodus, but
without Steve Sousa’s lame, follow-right-along-with-the-guitar vocals which severely
took the quality of those records down. The
band slashes and burns through 9 songs in a quick 35 minutes and they don’t
waste a moment. The guitar players are playing all the right riffs and the
drummer is crushing with the rhythms.
The bass player? Pretty much
non-existent…just like in the 80s! The
songs conjure images of flip-brims, white high tops, sweaty circle pits and tons of long hair
banging against the stage in the front row.
So where
do Overkill come into this? First, let’s
take a slight offramp. For me, Overkill
are one of the most dependable bands in heavy metal. Since 1983 the have been cranking out albums
with consistent high quality. Of course,
one can find a few albums that aren’t as strong as others, but they have survived
the test of time and remain a dominant force as a band. Overkill have always stood out with the
vocals of the legend Bobby Blitz due to his unique tone and delivery. Nobody sounded like Mr. Blitz. Well, that was until Sefano Mini
surfaced. Wow does he sound like
Blitz! There are stylistic and some tonal
differences, but it’s as close as anyone is going to get to the original. The vocals are such a welcomed change from
all the Hetfield / Araya / Petrozza replicas in what are seen as “retro” thrash
bands. Although he doesn’t take his
lyrics too seriously, he belts out a convincing, memorable performance right
alongside his bandmates and outdoes himself as compared to their other two
releases.
No two
ways about it, this album rages! If this
was released in the golden era of thrash, it would be put up there with greats
like The Legacy, Survive and Extreme Aggression. That doesn’t mean it can’t have its place in
history but it tough to be a candidate for a Mount Rushmore-esque list as a
modern band. National Suicide do an
admirable and authentic job of bringing the past back to life.
Artist: Gray
Matter Album: Thog Year: 1992 Genre: Punk / Alternative
This album is a touch of a mystery to
me. Not for anything trivial such as the origin of the band, how
they recorded it or song meanings. What I don’t understand is
Dischord Records and what they choose to repress. Thog by
Gray Matter is easily one of the best post-Dag Nasty/Fugazi releases on
Dischord, and yet they keep it out of print and continue press the band’s
earlier releases, which are good, yet, don’t come close to the greatness of
this record. I suppose if demand means anything, people probably
request the more “punk” album by this unique band and not the album people
should be begging to hear. It’s also a mystery to me as to why this
record is one of the more overlooked releases on that label. I suppose
I'm just easily baffled.
Washington DC’s Gray Matter
existed on and off for close to a decade and released 2 full lengths and few
EPs and 7”s. The early years of the band saw them trying to combine
the dense, vibrant influence of the DC hardcore scene and an overshadowed, more
refined, style that would ultimately become the soundtrack for their final
release. What Thog lacks in youthful, inexperienced
punk energy it more than makes up for in style, personality and
songwriting. The album flows with a slightly schizophrenic demeanor
with its pace, angst, tenor and volume. Gray Matter gives the
listener room to breathe on this record and doesn’t try to compress everything
into three-minute blasts to the senses. The songs are entities unto
themselves, with melody and innovation being the standout factors; which makes
giving a overly-detailed review of the record difficult. Saying the
band is all over the place is accurate, but they never take the listeners so
far out into the weeds that they lose them on the journey. On this record, Gray Matter could be called
punk, pop, alternative, indie and even 90s emo. Some of that
terminology might be taken in a negative way, but this band takes the best of
all those genres and compiles them into a phenomenal record.
Artist: The Estranged Album: The Subliminal Man Year: 2010 Genre: Punk / Post-Punk
For a
decent amount of time now I’ve been bitching up a storm that punk rock has let
me down the last 20 years. Most of my
rants have been to friends and some have been touched upon in other reviews on
this blog. I’m still having the inner
fight of “Is it me? Have I changed?” vs.
“has a large amount of punk rock just kind of sucked for quite a while now? Is it just repeating itself?” I’m very aware that is an enormous blanket
statement and undeniably there have been punk-based albums that have lit my
world on fire in the 2000s; just not an overabundance of them. There are even a smaller number of new bands
with records that become part of my regular listening. Uggg.
The “getting old” factor sucks no matter the reason.
What this
brings us to is The Subliminal Man by The Estranged; an album that seems
to slip away from me for long periods of time, which is an unfortunate mistake
to make because this album is really, really good. Recently, I had some digital files on random
and songs from this record kept popping up.
So, I put the LP on, sat down and gave this record a focused listen,
front-to-back, and got instantly pissed at myself that I don’t have these songs
burned more into my memory. The
Estranged play the perfectly balanced amalgam of punk and guitar-based post-punk. The songs are extremely straight-forward and
don’t bullshit you with drawn out passages or energy drains. Instantly the reverberations of The Cure’s first release, Joy Division and
The Wipers come to mind, but The Estranged don’t exactly sound like any of them
and have clawed out their own little niche in the same dark corner in which
those bands reside. On this second
full-length, they have smoothed out the rough edges of their previous
work. Some people might not like that
they dialed down the aggression a couple notches, but I find their balance
between youthful hostility and melody much more appealing and seems to play
directly to their strengths as musicians.
The production gives the album a timeless feeling as it sounds like it
could’ve been recorded during the last 40 years, but doesn’t sound dated and
fits the music perfectly. Thank god
there are albums like this negate my terrible attitude and remind me to quit
being “get those skateboards off my driveway” guy.
Artist: Haunter Album: Discarnate Ails Year: 2022 Genre: Black Metal / Death Metal
Holy
freaking god! This album is a crusher and made my top 6 picks of 2022!3
songs in just over 31 minutes of surprisingly original sounding death metal
influenced black metal.The album
certainly has a short runtime, but it leaves zero room for messing around and makes you want more by the end of it.I personally like a band that gets going, pummels you and gets our
before you know it.With my attention
span these days, I’d rather have a half hour of pure quality than 50 minutes of
a band trying to come up with material to make a 50 minute record.
Few bands
play music like Haunter.The songs are
pushed to excesses sonically and technically, and, although, that doesn’t sound
that foreign for extreme metal, this band is a different beast.Discarnate Ails is a challenging and
overbearing record and not all metal fans are built for a band like Haunter,
who barely lets you breathe from the riffs they are throwing down. If bands like Deathspell Omega or Blut Aus
Nord make you shake your head in confusion or in negativity, then Haunter will
most likely do the same.What these
bands do is deliver severely harsh, swirling sounds with complex songs that often don’t
repeat parts.It’s both genius and
madness and definitely not built for a conventional audience.If you are a listener that enjoys traveling
through a thorny, unforgiving brush, Haunter
delivers in droves and will have you spinning this record over and over to
discover new things not heard in previous plays.
Artist: Psyclon Nine Album: Less To Heaven Year: 2022 Genre: Industrial
If anyone has read even a smattering of the album reviews I’ve feverishly typed for this blog, the reader would’ve noticed I don't go negative too often. It makes some sense as the majority of these reviews are about albums that came out well before the existence of the internet. Meaning, I’m not going to take the time to write a review slamming some band that put out an album in 1987. New releases, though, get unbiased treatment and are open to both praise, criticism and indifference. After listening to Less To Heaven, this not going to bode well for Psyclon Nine this time.
I’ll preface this by saying that at one point Psyclon Nine were the most exciting band in the industrial kingdom, playing with relentless ferociousness and then taking their aggro-industrial into the realms of metal after a few albums. No, they aren’t the first band to do this, but their approach to the fusion was unique and severely vicious. They were the band to beat and frontrunners of the early 2000s electro generation. It's been since 2013 since I’ve listened to a new Psyclon Nine album. No real reason for the lapse in listening other than bands sometimes get lost in the shuffle. When I saw they were releasing a new record, I thought I’d take a chance and I picked it up.
I intently sat in front of my speakers to give the initial listen my full concentration, anticipating an exhilarating, yet, terrifying experience. By the time the needle hit the runout groove on side 2, I was incredibly underwhelmed and disappointed with what I heard. The term I would use for this album is lackluster; it has a few peaks but many valleys. It was instantly obvious to me that the direction of the band was no longer to be the scariest, harshest most grinding industrial band around, but rather to create an album made to shift the listener's mood. Not a problem. I’m absolutely fine with this. The trouble is the band’s output. For the most part it’s bland and uninteresting, with the exception of the sequential tracks “The Poison Will Deaden The Pain” and “Off With Their Heads,” the rest of the album sounds uninspired. Their effort to step into Skinny Puppy “spooky” territory using layers of synths, noised coming from nowhere and whispered vocals falls short and comes across as unconvincing. It adds so much filler to an album of songs that aren’t good enough for time-wasting intervals. Instead of achieving and artistic balance of aggression and darkness, the album feels disjointed. I’ll break this down technically. The album is just under 39 minutes long and there are 4 instrumental-ish interludes (3 of which are the last 3 fucking songs on the album) and they take up 19 minutes of the record. Psyclon Nine are good, but they are not Cevin Key, Nivek Ogre or D.R. Goettel to be able to pull off that type of concept. I took a few days away from this record and have revisited it at least three more times with no change in my opinion. It anything, it got worse. I now believe they should have gotten Chino Moreno to sing on “X's On Her Eyes” because I realized how much it sounds like a Deftones song and how much better it would’ve been. This album isn't a complete waste, just so much of it is. Sorry Psyclon Nine. I’ll catch up with you on the next record.
Top 5 Contenders: Blut Aus NordDisharmonium – Undreamable Abysses Hangman’s ChairA Loner HaunterDisincarnate Ails Johnny MarrFever Dreams 1-4 Napalm DeathResentment Is Always Seismic – A Final Throw Of Throes
I have to admit that 2022
was not my most active year for purchasing new music. In fact, there’s a chance it was the slowest
year I’ve had since I started buying records with “my own money”…way back
around 1982. Still, the overall lack of
quantity didn’t make the quality suffer.
I suppose I should just know by now that any year Voivod or Napalm Death
release a record, it’s going to end up charting in the top 6 with me. I’m not exactly sure what those bands could
do musically to lose my seemingly everlasting adoration for what they
play. They’ve both had top records with
me in various years which can be found in the post called Favorite Albums From 1970 Through 2020. My top-of-the-mountain album this year, Voivod’s
Synchro Anarchy, picks up where the 2018 masterpiece The Wake
left off, but packs a bit more of a 1-2 punch harkening back to the Angel
Rat / The Outer Limits era of the band intertwined with their crazy
take on progressive metal. Once again,
all the members are utilizing every inch of their talent, but the guitar work
is off the freaking charts once again. I know
there will never be another Piggy (RIP you beautiful genius) but Chewy fits
Voivod so well and keeps adding to the legacy of this revolutionary band. His mangled chords and left-of-center
delivery have made their last three albums some of the best in the band’s
catalog. Voivod finds themselves in a
very elite group of artists that been around for 40 years and still improve with
age. No rest on your laurels bullshit
here; they are writing some of the best music of their career. Johnny Marr is also a icon at the other end
of the music spectrum. The Smith’s ex-guitarist is also on a hot streak as this is the third solo album in a row that
I absolutely love. More guitar-based
electronic pop that has you hooked from the moment the record starts. Johnny’s records really make me think I would
not hate The Smiths if he sang those songs and not that pompous, pretentious, psycho
windbag they had. Yes, I still hate Morrissey. Hangman’s Chair is
another band that keep blasting out high-quality records and deserve a much wider audience for their body of work. Hopefully the record deal with Nuclear Blast will help Also, Dear Nuclear Blast, could you please reissue their extremely hard-to-find albums? Thanks! The newest album, A Loner, doesn’t
stray at all from the melodic doom they’ve always created; and they
shouldn’t. When you’re as gifted as
Hangman’s Chair are at writing depressive, plodding, melodic sadness, you roll
with it as long as you can. Fans of Pallbearer should check out these doom merchants. Two
spots were taken by black metal bands this year. Blut Aus Nord is a last minute entry as I
only picked up the record in the last week.
That right there should tell you just how phenomenal Disharmonium –
Undreamable Abysses is. (just FYI, the record it knocked out of the top 6
was Kirk Hammett’s Portals) This
album is a cacophony of dizzying and swirling dark passages. Blut Aus Nord is one of the leading bands in
only what can be called a progressive movement in black metal as they are
pushing the boundaries of the genre and taking listeners into new and
overwhelmingly bleak places. It’s not
surprising they are from France, where black metal bands currently seem to be
the most experimental and courageous with their music. What is surprising is that the band Haunter
is from San Antonio, Texas. Yes. Texas! Actually,
it’s fucking crazy because they sound as if they belong in the same
conversation as Blut Aus Nord and especially the French phenoms Deathspell
Omega. If you would’ve played this
record without me knowing who it was, my first guess would have been Deathspell
Omega. That is a compliment of the
highest honor as DSO are a just so groundbreaking and exceptional. Disincarnate Ails is a bit of a slower
voyage than most black metal bands take, but the addition of death metal and prog
elements drag you through a bludgeoning journey of multilayered
instrumentation with vocals straight out of the deepest pit of hell. Fun fact: Not only are Haunter from Texas,
but they used to be a screamo band. Now
they are officially the weirdest new-ish band in quite a while. Both Disharmonium – Undreamable Abysses
and Disincarnate Ails are highly recommended listens for those who like their music to play out more like chess than checkers. Last but never least, the kings
of grindcore, Napalm Death. Talking
about Napalm is now becoming redundant.
No other extreme band is as consistent, ferocious, or daringly
adventurous. Resentment Is Always
Seismic – A Final Throw Of Throes is a short sharp shock of a record was
released as a partner recording to their 2020 release. While these would
assumingly be tracks that didn’t make the original record, Napalm Death castoff
songs surpasses what most bands release as their best
material. No other heavy band would dare
to cover the song “People Pie” by SLAB! and pull it off brilliantly! They are the best at what they do. Period.
Well, it wasn’t the most abundant year in music for me, yet it definitely had
some epic releases that will not doubt turn into timeless classics for me. Bye-bye 2022.
Happy New Year and stay safe!