Hailing from South Wales, UK is the band CONTINENTS, who play the kind of uncompromising, hardcore inspired metal that can take them far in the current scene of cookie cutter bands. It takes a lot to stand above the crowd and on your own two-feet these days, metaphorically speaking. By bringing the energy and the angst of old hardcore and a modern edge that borrows from Deathcore, Tech Death and a few other styles, CONTINENTS is a band that will get heads bopping and breaking at shows. Idle Hands has a very live feel to it, and the sound of a hungry band pushing their own limits.
Setting it off with “224”, the track swells like the onslaught of an attack on your ears. Great syncopated riffs and a killer beat kick things off right. This is a great little nugget of a track that would make for a good stage intro. The title track comes next and is really quite brutal. I like the angular, complex riffs and interesting shifts between Metalic Hardcore, sludge, punk, Deathcore and back again. Vocalist PHIL CROSS: remember this name well. In a few years time he is going to be mentioned along the same lines as PHIL BOZEMAN and EDDIE HERMIDA among others. He has a beastly growl, a great high scream, and a screechy sounding thing he does too. When contrasted with the gang vocals the band does, it works to great effect. “Pegasus, Pegasus” has a some great grooves in the verse and then the song takes a total left turn in to melodic Metalcore. And it works. The rest of the song is full of atonal licks and breakdowns. Phil changes things up and actually carries a decent melody. I can see this track being a big hit for them. “Inhale” has a slick urgency to its tempo and delivery. It almost sounds like a rabid animal breaking out of a cage, and has some of the best riffs on the album. Guitarists Darryl Sweet and Tom Weaver make sure to pummel chords with low-tuned authority, but deliver a lot of tuneful textures in every song as well. The track has another brutal/catchy chorus part that I liked. Drummer Duncan “Ken” Hamill makes the beat hot with his blistering kick drum work. I rather like his dry, not-overly processed sound, which bucks the current trend. “Land of the Free” is another hyperactive, killer track. It has almost a techno/industrial feeling to the beginning, before it slows down and grinds away. With many songs this short and to the point, it means a direct impact that cuts to the chase musically. The next track “Sheeps In Wolves Clothing” almost caught me off guard by sounding like Death Metal HATEBREED. The track is barely a minute and a half long, but it is great. I hope they play this one live. Following up that with “Regrets”, the band lays down another sick groove and rides it into your skull. The middle-section has some interesting off time riffing that is cool. Easily one of the top tracks on here. I wish at times bassist Dom Turner would get to step up and out a bit more, but he mostly holds down the low end of the riffs. “Loathe” is an intense instrumental, while “Trials” gives way to more aggressive, bruising staccato chords. I could do with a few less bass drops from this album, but I really I can’t quibble with them too much. The band has the good sense to not overdo them. On the plus side, they have done a good job incorporating other electronic ear candy into the mix. “Exhale” is another Punky, anthem and you can just imagine the pile on at the foot of the stage live. So angry, so brief. “Truth and Lies” switches back to the tried and true Deathcore, not unlike WHITECHAPEL and THE ACACIA STRAIN, until the refrain. “Lion’s Den” is a great closer. Lots of rage and tunefulness too, which is kind of the story overall on the album. CONTINENTS is a band unafraid to blend genres and step out of the mold. For that, I applaud them. It will be fun to see where they go from here.
This album masturbates my ear pussy and I’m cumming hard on it. Its refreshing to hear that at twelve releases in, they still produce quality music. Nothing here is phoned in or half-assed. There’s something about this album takes me back to the days when I first heard The Fourth Dimension. Maybe its the varied tempos of the songs, or the 101 voices of PETER TÄGTGREN. I’m not sure yet.This also marks the return of Osculum Obscenum cover artist WES BENSCOTER. Whose work keeps getting more bizarre with each image he drafts.
From the opening of the title track “End of Disclosure” we treated to mid-tempo goodness and out standing production. Bassist MIKAEL HEDLUND is one of the most solid bassists in Death Metal. He fills up the massive low end skilfully on “The Eye” and “United We Fall”. Displaying some of his many voices, PETER gives it deep with “Hell is Where I Stay” and gets you high with “Soldier of Fortune”. His guitar work and tones fit together effortlessly. It was really cool to hear a song based on the now cancelled Sci-Fi show, The “4400” too. The percussive beast known as HORGH just grinds away on “Tales of the Spineless” and “When Death Calls”. His drums are warm and organic, with very sharp cymbals. You damn near feel every hit from this frost giant.
These guys know how to close an album, “The Return” sludges on for what feels like a lot longer then its six minutes. Death Metal bands should take a lesson here on how to use keyboards to enhance the atmosphere. Don’t distract, blend in. This album is sonic greatness. From the production to the song writing, this is a top notch. This is forty five minutes you’ll gladly hit repeat for.
GOJIRA’s headline tour made a stop at the venerable Worcester Palladium on a February’s night. The place was packed in anticipation of GOJIRA’s first performance in the larger downstairs stage after five times playing the smaller room upstairs. JOE DUPLANTIER even made a joke about it from the stage.
THE ATLAS MOTH opened things up with their depressive, sludge mash up and they were loud as fuck. They actually blew a speaker out in the venue and that has only happened a few other times. They are one of the most exciting bands in the scene right now.
Dave of THE ATLAS MOTH
STAVROS of THE ATLAS MOTH
Alex of THE ATLAS MOTH
DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT was next and they were amazing. I do believe DEVIN TOWNSEND gets better every time I see him play and this was one of the best shows I’ve seen him put on. His band was great as usual and turned in the absolute heaviest versions of “Kingdom” and “Juular” I have heard. “Grace” was an amazing closing number. At the end of the set Devy thanked the audience for coming out, since metal is such a small genre. He then jumped off the stage and hugged and thank the crowd personally!
DEVIN TOWNSEND is amazing!
RYAN VAN POEDEROOYEN
BRIAN WADDELL of the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT
DEVY shreds!
GOJIRA was incredible and certainly has grown into an impressive headline act. Their stage set was ominous and compelling with their L’Enfant Sauvage album artwork inspired backdrop. They used very creative lighting effects and smoke to set the mood, which was perfectly matched to the brutality of the music. I wonder for some of the mosh pit regulars who just wanted to slam, the artsy element of the show was lost on them. Still, it was an amazing set with songs mixed in from the newer to the classics like “Flying Whales”, “Toxic Garbage Island” and “Wisdom Comes”. At the end of their set the band took a bow and also went down to the barricade and thanked the fans up close. It was wonderful to see!
JOE DUPLANTIER and GOJIRA played on a terrific headline set.
GOJIRA had an inventive, creative light show.
GOJIRA guitarist CHRISTIAN ANDREU is a passionate performer.
This is the fourth album to date from DEVOURMENT and it is excellent! With nine tracks clocking in at just over thirty five minutes, there is no fooling around. ERIK RUTAN (Mana Recording Studios) does a masterful job with the production of this album, making it the band’s best sounding in their seventeen plus year career. The cover art by COKI GREENWAY makes me want to but that shirt right now. Seriously, the cover art alone is worth the price of admission.
This album starts off with one of the finest guttural wails I’ve heard in a while. Vocalist RUBEN ROSAS really shines with his powerful phrasing and a strong clarity in his growls. With songs like “Fucked with Rats” and “Heaving Acid”, his voice at times reminds me of DYING FETUS but that’s not a bad thing at all. There’s a lot of well placed blasting all over the record thanks to ERIK PARKS drumming. On “Fifty Ton War Machine” his playing just makes me smile. “Today We Die, Tomorrow We Kill” is just insanely good. It’s my favorite song on here. CHRIS ANDREWS (bass) has a massive presence on this album also. On opening track “Legalize Homicide” he busts out the album’s only solo type part. Guitarist MIKE MAJEWSKI simply shreds on “Parasitic Eruption” and the title track “Conceived in Sewage” has a tone on here that’s very distinct.
DEVOURMENT doesn’t just stick to one style of death metal, they keep mixing it up. There isn’t one song or point on here where it starts to feel boring. They even have an a killer interlude with “March to Meggiddo”. My only complaint if you can call it that, is “Carved in Ecstasy” should have been the closing track. It has one of those sludgey endings I really dig. This album has good everything: performances, songs, mixing and cover art. I wish they were playing a show tonight.
DEVOURMENT turns in (maybe) the best album of their career.
Hailing for the California Bay Area, OBLIVION come out the showing their teeth and ready for blood. The most noticeable member of the group is bassist and mastermind BEN ORUM (ex-ALL SHALL PERISH) he has clearly upped the game for himself and this band. This album is full of grindy, techy, beatdown goodness. Produced by Nick Vasallo and former DECREPIT BIRTH drummer ZACK OHREN. This massive sonic opus was recorded, mixed and mastered by Ohren, at Castle Ultimate Studios in Oakland.
The first song “Black Veils of Justice” just gives you a taste of what’s to come. Nick Vasallo’s vocals come across as FRANK MULLEN (SUFFOCATION) meets TRAVIS RYAN (CATTLE DECAPITATION) There are a few well placed bass drops. It’s always nice to hear them not get over used. Guitar wizards Ted O’Neill and Victor Dods lay down some of the most tech infused solos I’ve heard in awhile. “Multiverse” is so good I almost want to say it is ‘Epic”but I refuse to. It’s a very surreal track with so many layers it warrants repeat plays. I get a strong ABIGAIL WILLIAMS /THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER vibe and its not a bad thing at all. Drummer Luis Martinez is a beast. This kid is definitely one to watch, songs like “Binary Souls” and “Reign of Fire” show off some mature chops for a guy not yet twenty. Depending on what version of the album you get, it comes with a few sweet bonus tracks. An instrumental version of “Black Veils of Justice”, as well as a string version of “Multiverse”, which is just awesome and closes out the album.
This doesn’t sound like a debut album, rather a band that has been at this for years. I look forward to what they do next. Hell, I want to hop a flight to the Bay Area and catch them live! You can get the album from their Bandcamp page.
OBLIVION: One of the best releases this year, so far.
Local dudes BOG OF THE INFIDEL opened up this shindig, and they play Black Metal. I am unwilling to take pains to elaborate any further, so we shall move on. HOUR OF PENANCE play Death Metal of the sacrilegious variety, and are Italian, so I can talk about them more in depth.
HOUR OF PENANCE are one of those bands that I dig, but can’t see where all the massive hype comes from. Personally, I prefer their classier symphonic offshoot, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, but even their latest release has taken a dip in quality. HOUR OF PENANCE are good, but since I’m alone in not bristling with excitement at their mere existence, I can’t expect the same in a live setting. They were tight, heavy, and energetic, like their technical brand of Brutal Death Metal should be, so they fulfilled at least that base set of requirements.
HoP delivered as far as getting the crowd pumped up, but the crowd was playing shoulder-tackle tag, so clearly this isn’t my scene. I took the opportunity to perfect some of my dance moves of the non Hardcore variety, so there’s that for productivity. Up next were ex-Fetus toothgrinders MISERY INDEX, bringing the brutal in a more meaningful fashion.
Set list:
Sedition Through Scorn
Paradogma
Absence of Truth
Slavery in a Deaf Decay
Ascension
Decimate the Ancestry of the Only God
Misconception
Baltimore’s MISERY INDEX are angry, and it shows in their music, as well as the types of pits they get. One had to be on the lookout for the odd mosher that didn’t know that intentionally hurting others isn’t how it’s done, viz. a fridge-sized bastard in a CANNIBAL CORPSE tour shirt knocking everyone down, and a guy running around karate chopping to “Traitors” with no regard for those near him. To say nothing of the odd piggybackers going around punching people in the back of the head. Whatevs, I got free beer after.
MISERY INDEX may have had a crowd full of damn fools this time around as opposed to that time in New York, but the music was top-notch, as always. Blasturbating and smashing the patriarchy one anti-Capitalist//pro-Death hymn at a time.
Set list:
Sleeping Giants
The Carrion Call
The Great Depression
Ruling Class Cancelled
The Seventh Cavalry
Spectator
You Lose
The Illuminaught
Heirs to Thievery
Traitors
And now for the fun part: Ugly longhaired guys (some drunk) making a mess. CANNIBAL CORPSE themselves and their crowd did splendidly in equal measure. For this set I headbanged harder than I have in years, and my neck responded with “fuck you”. Even though I’ve seen them before (Summer Slaughter to be exact), I didn’t quite feel the power of simple barbaric Death Metal from so far away. Separated by a barrier and sweaty security guards, to say nothing of the actual distance from the stage, I enjoyed it, but I felt like it was missing something crucial. Now, The Met is a little dive-looking place in Pawtucket (a.k.a. Nowhere) Rhode Island with no barriers, no security to speak of, and the capability to touch band members’ dicks, if such is your game, baby. Being front row to headbang my medulla out just about blew Summer Slaughter’s performance into the forgotten regions of Cybertron. You haven’t lived till you run the risk of knocking head against headstock while seeing a band that’s so well known that everyone who’s anyone at least knows their name.
Indeed, CANNIBAL CORPSE keeps it simple, and they have been for many years, and we love them all the more for it. With song titles like “I Will Kill You”, “Born In A Casket”, “I Cum Blood”, and of course, “Hammer Smashed Face”, you can’t expect anything more than unfiltered audio gore to be blasted from the speakers into the expectant faces of all the moronic headbangers and moshers present.
Corpsegrinder. Nuff said.
When doubting the potential intensity of a bunch of screaming Death Metal fans hepped up on goofballs, just know that the Spaniard received a bloody nose during “Elbow Hammer Smashed Nose Face”. A fallen warrior he may be, but spare not your pity or tears, for he gave his nose to the cause of Death Metal-dom. Peace be with ye, fair prince. Even though this was two weeks ago I’m sure it still hurts.
It’s not often that I may be caught working this hard this fast interspersed with my normal amounts of procrastinating and slacking. However, I shall weather the storm and post daily until this decathlon of agony is complete, because you, reader, blew me once and I am extremely grateful. Ugh.
Here is Keefy’s final Top Ten from his overall Top 40 Metal Albums of 2012 list! Enjoy!
#10. CRYPTOPSY- Cryptopsy (Self Released)
To paraphrase comedian Chris Rock, I’m tired of apologizing for CRYPTOPSY. I was in the minority among people when I loved The Unspoken King. I’m sure as people are reading this; they are scratching their heads again. No matter, CRYPTOPSY has silenced all their critics with an album that matches the best work of their career. A brutal slab of technical death metal on every level the album is great for all the reasons that made the band stellar in the first place. Obviously, people talk about the inhuman level of Drummer FLO MOUNIER. However, the real strength of the band is returning guitarist and writer JON LEVASSEUR and mainstay guitarist/uber producer CHRISITAN DONALDSON. The songs they wrote are superb. I was nervous about Oliver Pinard being able to replace ERIC LANGLOIS on bass, but even he was great too! Lastly, MATT MCGATCHY‘s performance provides the shut the fuck up moment of the year to all the haters. Well done sirs!
#9. PRONG- Carved Into Stone (Long Branch Records/SPV)
I thought my birthday came early this year when PRONG’s new album came out. PRONG has always been one of my favorite bands and all of their recorded output has been always been strong. Carved Into Stone is actually the bands best album since 1996′s Rude Awakening. Not only is the album full of sick tunes, but over the top, guitar playing in general is terrific. TOMMY VICTOR (DANZIG, MINISTRY) has been known for two things in his career: great songs and being a riff master general. The album displays an unexpected depth for any record in 2012. Packed with just the right touch of technical mastery and catchy songwriting to please and the hardcore soul, which hearkens back to Tommy’s NYC metal roots. The performances from TONY CAMPOS (SOULFLY/ MINISTRY/STATIC-X/ASESINO/POSSESSED/OTEP) and ALEXI RODRIGUEZ (ex-3 INCHES OF BLOOD) are matched perfectly too, making this one of the baddest power trio’s around.
#8. GOJIRA – L’Enfant Sauvage (Roadrunner)
GOJIRA albums, when they come out, are an event. The metal world waits with baited breath and the results are always stellar. Armed with a new deal from Roadrunner, the band put out L’Enfant Sauvage over the summer to roars of approval. Perhaps, even I was too cynical to believe that GOJIRA would continue to get increasingly popular as they stayed true to who they were? L’Enfant Sauvage is a great blend of theProgressive Rock/Metal, Tech Death, old-school Death Metal and Thrash influences they are known for. Then there is their subject matter: they are one of the most thoughtful and socially conscious bands around, lyrically. The album hits the right mood on every level, every time and has the musical confidence of a band much more senior in years. Songs like “Explosia”, “The Axe” and “Liquid Fire” are going to be talked about in metal head circles for years to come.
#7. CANNIBAL CORPSE- Torture (Metal Blade)
Like a beautifully marbled steak or a legendary work of art, CANNIBAL CORPSE truly does get better with age. It seems likely that much like SLAYER, the death metal godfathers will keep right on trucking on to oblivion, making skull splitting, gore filled albums for as long as they can. Torture is perfect in every way and all of the things you love about the band are in the mix. Perhaps due to being the most collaborative written album in the bands history, the sound from song to song is quite eclectic. Not like Dubstep, power-ballad eclectic, mind you, but the band has figured out how to blend different song styles seamlessly. Inventive new chord structures and riffs, hard to fathom bass lines and stupendous drumming are all topped off by GEORGE “CORPSEGRINDER” FISHER‘s impeccable voice from hell. Plus, don’t forget the grooves. Oh those crushing grooves! Nobody writes a grooving-ass, brutal riff better than ALEX WEBSTER. The band continues to be the yard stick by which all death metal music and consequently, all death metal bands are measured.
#6. C.O.C. – C.O.C. (Candlelight)
That C.O.C. was able to make a comeback as a trio at this point in their career is not a surprise. The fact that they reunited to make an amazing album is not even a question. What I am surprised by, is that it seems like the rest of the world has caught up to the sound of the band and the love from fans and the press is over flowing. When last we saw C.O.C. as a trio it was the 80s and they were mostly an underground phenomenon. Lots of bands like to say they were influenced by the Sludgy, Crossover Doom masters, but in this age of the Internet; flattery goes a long way to help a new bands rep.To hear WOODY WEATHERMAN tell it, the reunion circuit was totally un-interesting to the band, unless they were gonna make new music. C.O.C., the album has more quality and vitality than many of the upstarts of the genre they helped put on the map. MIKE DEAN‘s bass is full of fuzz and style; Woody‘s soloing is on fire and REED MULLEN, back for the first time in over decade, drums and sings like a man possessed. Let us not forget the poignant political lyrics, much welcomed in these troublesome times of a divided America. You might say the metal world needed C.O.C. to come back, as much as they needed to make a comeback themselves.
#5. MESHUGGAH- Koloss (Nuclear Blast)
What can you say about MESHUGGAH that hasn’t been said already? It’s not hard to run out of superlatives when talking about the most influential metal band of the last fifteen years. Whether Koloss was going to be great or not was likely not debatable. What was up for grabs, was what direction these geniuses would take the iconic music we have all come to expect. The results were stunning. Can you change things up, and still be the same band? By definition no, but that is MESHUGGAH for you. Koloss is a collection of songs much like the rest of the bands’ storied catalog: brutal, and complex. Most of the songs feature a pulsing groove that has come to the fore in the bands work of late. Every beat and riff is a maelstrom of twisting delight, overlapping time signatures and finger-defying licks galore. Most of all, the album sets another technical high water-mark for guitarist FREDRICK THORDENDAL and drummer TOMAS HAAKE.
#4. TESTAMENT- Dark Roots Of Earth (Nuclear Blast)
The return of TESTAMENT to their former level of greatness is nothing short of a triumph for all of metal. 2008′s Formation of Damnation was an excellent comeback album, after almost a decade of no new music. In the interim years since getting back together, they have toured tirelessly around the world, reignited their chemistry and fulfilled the promise of their early career. Dark Roots of Earth takes the concept of the old-school Thrash style, added a modern sensibility and took it all one step further. Only EXODUS and ANTHRAX have been able to pull of the feat of making new music for modern ears, staying true to their past and begin able to add a level of panache. ERIC PETERSON finally got his dream come true by getting GENE HOGLAN to write and record drums for a TESTAMENT album. The unrelenting bottom end of the songs gives the band a new power they have never had. Every song is a gem. “Native Blood” is one of the catchiest, yet grooviest songs I’ve heard in ages. The chorus is also the best of 2012. CHUCK BILLY‘s ageless voice carries the day and ALEX SKOLNICK displays the chops that verify his legions of fans. Even GREG CHRISTIAN is heard from, with some excellent bass lines. Dark Roots of Earth is all killer and positively no filler.
#3. BARONESS- Yellow And Green (Relapse)
One of the most anticipated albums of 2012 did not disappoint when BARONESS dropped the latest in their color-themed recent discography. The band made no pretense that this album would be not be metal and frankly, that was OK by me. If you have been following the band, they have been less concerned with the trappings of fitting in, in their career up to this point. They instead stayed true to their artistic authenticity. What BARONESS delivered is a double-album of incredible songs, displaying great chops and the best dynamics overall of any album on this list. Some of the songs are quite heavy, but more often than not, that heaviness never came the expense of melodies or tones. “Take My Bones Away” was my out and out favorite song of the entire year. “March To The Sea” was another stone cold rocker, the likes that haven’t been heard since the heyday of QUEEN or THIN LIZZY. Some of the best moments are the most unexpected ones; like the freak-out synth work in “Cocanium”. All of the keyboard work is stellar as is the bass playing, which band leader John Baizley played all of too. “Back Where I Belong”, “Eula” and “Board Up The House” will also rank at the top of the bands’ song book for years to come. The “Green” side of the double set is equally tuneful and more mellow, but no less mint song-craft wise. Finally, tying it all together is the brilliant cover artwork, the years’ best; also by Baizley once again.
#2. DYING FETUS- Reign Supreme (Relapse)
DYING FETUS is such a great band in its current incarnation that one almost forgets there were entire years in their history marked by upheavals and departures. The present day lineup has been intact since 2007 and the comfort level they have together creating the most brutal Death Metal possibly known to man is sky high. Through it all, JOHN GALLAGHER has been the one constant: constantly growing as a guitarist and writer and constantly writing pissed the fuck off, baffling and sick lyrics. Reign Supreme might be remembered years from now as one of the top three releases of the bands’ career with its non-stop violence inspired songs. GALLAGHER and his p-i-c SEAN BEASLEY crush it out of the park on the guttural vocals. Beasley, who was always an underrated bassist for the genre, plays some of the best passages ever recorded for the instrument in the context of technical death metal. TREY WILLIAMS also one-ups his performance from Descend Into Depravity, being a might less technical, but still precise as fuck and bludgeoning as all hell. His blasts are far and away my favorite of any drummer on album this entire year. The album is a masterpiece of death metal brilliance, and that is really saying something considering how deep the sub-genre is these days.
#1. IHSAHN- Eremita (Candlelight)
In what was a high quality year at the top of the heap of metal music, IHSAHN‘s fourth solo outing is my choice for the album of the year. It’s not the sexy choice compared with typical years past, but it is the best choice, by far. Eremita is a sprawling, ambitious album full of musical twists and turns, yet perfectly coalescing into a sensible piece of art. In an interview I conducted with him for Metal Army he talked about the creative process as a continual evolution, a death followed by a rebirth. That would just begin to cover the emotional and lyrical depth in the music. In many ways, this is the album that IHSAHN, famously known as the legendary front man of EMPEROR, has been building up to for his entire career. His mastery as a composer, guitarist, vocalist and lyricist is without equal at this point in his career. Musically the songs cover the gamut of emotions and styles and reveal a complexity that mirrors the artist himself. Songs like “Arrival”, “The Paranoid”, “Something Out There”, “The Eagle And The Snake” and “Departure” are among the best of the year. Topping off the package are the guest performances by the likes of DEVIN TOWNSEND, JEFF LOOMIS, EINAR SOLBERG (LEPROUS), JEFF MUNKENBY on sax and IHSAHN’s wife HEIDI S. TVEITEN‘s enchanting vocal turns, which sends the quality of the album into the stratosphere.
This is only one out of five reviews to come, so prepare for a veritable shitstorm of loquaciousness, jumbled memories, and chicanery that only your favourite poseur can bring consisting of equal amounts hilarity and pit dickery. I’m fucked, as is the world, and everybody in it.
Hailing from God-Save-The-Queenland, SYLOSIS are one of those bands that can only be rightly called “Modern” Metal. Being a combination of MeloDeath (as opposed to Melodic Death Metal, take note), Thrash, and Metalcore, they define genre tags, so your average Metal mag will love them (viz. Metal Hammer). They certainly are a talented band, and deserve the success they have received, though I’ve yet to get a full-on boner for them. They’ve got the skill and the shred that you’d ask for in a Thrash/Death Metal band, but end up being neutered by the cleanliness of their sound and the sheer lack of aggression that is called for in this thing we call Metal. However, they do know how to get a nice circle-pit going, and circle-pits are awesome in my book. SYLOSIS has only been on this side of the pond twice, but didn’t appear too excited to be playing in front of a decently sized crowd, so it almost gave the impression that they wanted their set to be over, and fast.
SYLOSIS was an early delight.
After SYLOSIS came everyone’s least favourite Hick-Metal project, going under HELLYEAH, a name that may only have been conceived after a night of Jack Daniels and rawhide. With members coming from MUDVAYNE, PANTERA, and NOTHINGFACE, they had potential to at least make some okay music. How on Satan’s green Earth do you make VINNIE PAUL’s spectacular drumming sound lackluster? It’s almost criminal how painfully popular the insipid excuses for “songs” HELLYEAH produces became. The fact that their front man could stand up on that stage and grandstand to a crowd of drunken fools and get applause for namedropping the U.S. armed forces, as well as make the audacious claim that “we’re all Metalheads” without the slightest degree of irony is appalling and offensive. I’ve seen a better live presence and consideration for the audience’s feelings from BLESSTHEFALL, and they’re godawful, pun fucken intended because they’re Christcore. HELLYEAH is so bad that an actual stench, an unmitigated olfactory assault, was making itself apparent while they went about abusing guitars and making them honk like abused geese rather than sing gracefully. HELLYEAH is a bad band, and VINNIE PAUL lending his drum talents is no excuse for this shameful waste of equipment, cotton, and time.
HELLY EAH has VINNIE PAUL, and little else going for it.
After that torture, pain was renewed, however more earnest in spirit, by IN FLAMES, Sweden’s biggest export aside from perhaps meatballs.
ANDERS FRIDÉN of IN FLAMES.
IN FLAMES may have crossed the line into pure fucking un-metal with Soundtrack To Your Escape, but I just have too big of a heart to deny them access into my ears and soul. Though yes, Sounds of a Playground Fading is beyond (and I say this acknowledging my own presence in the LGBTQ community) gay, IN FLAMES’ overall output has been to my satisfaction.
Set List:
Sounds of a Playground Fading
Where the Dead Ships Dwell
Reroute to Remain
Embody the Invisible
Cloud Connected
Fear Is the Weakness
The Mirror’s Truth
System
Deliver Us
Take This Life
My Sweet Shadow
And now for the fun part: LAMB OF GOD, in the flesh, and proselytising their message of fear, pain, hatred, and power. To deny you grew up with LAMB OF GOD, either as a young-un just discovering Metal, or an OG watching Metalcore hatch from an egg comprised of obsidian and cheap beer piss, would be a bloody lie at worst, and a fib and best. To say that you weren’t mindlessly headbanging to “Laid To Rest” or “Ruin” during their set that night would be to deny that you have a soul or a passion aimed towards something real. Sure, LAMB OF GOD are what you can call “entry-level”, but damn they’ve got soul.
RANDY BLYTHE: The stuff of legend on this night.
Due to RANDY BLYTHE’s recent incarceration in Czech prison for “killing” someone, it wasn’t surprising to see a few “Free Randy Blythe” shirts in the crowd, even though the man was alive, well, and hairy on that stage, appearing space-ship like as they performed their vitriolic version of a “Walk With Me In Hell” with a fervor that just about blew away every other band playing that night. Randy poured bottle after bottle of water upon his head, as though making up for a missed shower, CHRIS ADLER beat his kit like it owed him rent money, and the dual guitar attack of Mark and Willie had more crunch than on record. John Campbell played bass and looked like a wizard. Cool. Randy commanded the crowd to “get ignorant”, but in all reality, it got ignorant when a fight broke out during SYLOSIS. To say nothing of the praise HELLYEAH, for being god awful.
WILLIE ADLER jams!
LAMB OF GOD is one of those bands that I can check off my list of “gotta see live before I die”, and damn was it a blast. “Now You’ve Got Something To Die For” made HELLYEAH’s own shout-out to the U.S. Army pathetic in comparison (and this is coming from someone who isn’t all “hoo-rah” about what our men & women in uniform are made to do, by the way), “Ruin” was insurmountably heavy, “Set To Fail” had even slicker blasts and grooves, “11th Hour” had vitality unmatched, the final breakdown of “Black Label” was impossibly brutal, etc. etc. In short, seeing LAMB OF GOD live just about re-affirmed in my mind that they’re not to be fucked with. They may be placed alongside bands like CHIMAIRA, TRIVIUM, SHADOWS FALL, etc., but they’re just a tad bit more pissed than your average “Heavy Metal” band, and that’s the bottom line.
CHRIS ADLER kills it all night!
Set List:
Desolation
Ghost Walking
Walk With Me in Hell
Set to Fail
Ruin
Now You’ve Got Something to Die For
11th Hour
The Undertow
Omerta
Contractor
Encore:
The Passing
In Your Words
Laid to Rest
Redneck
Black Label
Review by Sean Genovese. Concert photos by Echoes In the Well
Omar Cordy of The Metal Army Blog interviewed Death Metal drumming legend Donald Tardy of OBITUARY at the start of the “Carnival of Death Tour” this past fall. OBITUARY is on tour in EUROPE while they ready their next album.
(Special thanks to Don Tardy, Obituary and Earsplit PR.)
Virginia’s PIG DESTROYER has been blasting disease into this bloated organism we know as “happiness” since 1997. From the frightening atmospheres of Prowler In The Yard to the daringly sparse doomscapes of Natasha (EP), PD have never failed to write something that commands attention in some way shape or form. Sure, some releases such as Phantom Limb may have lacked in memorable tracks, but one would be foolish to say that they have ever put out anything that can be called mediocre. Aside from perhaps that odd demo tape where the members all went under pseudonyms, but I haven’t heard it, and don’t have an extra 50 bucks to investigate what could otherwise be a life-changing audio fieldtrip to the backwoods of VA.
For fear of digressing further, PIG DESTROYER is a fucken good band. Ever since Phantom Limb, they quieted down significantly, though never went comatose. Since they don’t tour often or play more than the odd show or fest here and there, PD fans had to make due with other Grind bands in the meantime. Digging through NASUM’s back catalogue, making friends with ROTTEN SOUND’s belt-sander-to-the-groin approach to music, or provoking the sound-barrier with HIVESMASHER’s weirdo-grind was a worthwhile distraction for some, but PIG DESTROYER, man. That takes top priority.
Book Burner, which is charged with melting a hole in the altar of the optimistic blind-eye we turn towards mindless consumer products, politics and the church, is proving to be well worth the wait. Recorded throughout the summer of 2012 A.D., I get the feeling that they planned everything out over a long span of time before going in to finally make the recording equipment sorry it was born that way. J.R. HAYES, ex-vocalist of defunct VA Grinders ENEMY SOIL, along with SCOTT HULL (nucleus of ANAL CUNT, AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED, and JAPANESE TORTURE COMEDY HOUR) form the core of the musical operation, with Adam Jarvis on drums and Blake Harrison on samples and additional vocals to add a new dimension of sonic terror. One may ask, is Book Burner really that good?
This may just be the fact that I’ve been salivating ever since I got word that they were still alive and kicking in the abyss, but fuckin’ A, it’s everything you could want from a return-to-form PD release. Though it’s carrying a lighter production than efforts like Terrifyer and Prowler, opting for a more standard Hardcore vibe and also ditching much of the aural creepiness, this proves not to be a handicap. If anything, this more compact PD shows a side that’s all tooth, blood, foam, and fur standing on end as opposed to a rapist in the dark armed with a hook hand and bad hygiene. Both approaches are equally nasty, just in their own ways. The opener, “Sis” shows that PD still have what it takes to skin a man alive in under a minute and a half, and boy is it one of THE best opening tracks of the year. Just try not to snap your neck during that ending breakdown.
I could go track-by-track since the album’s so rich with the intelligent depravity of J.R.’s lyrics, to say nothing of his vocals in addition to Blake’s (and possibly others, as many different throats seem to pop up), Scott’s ever inventive yet focused guitar lines, and the insane drumming that puts the “destroy” in PIG DESTROYER. While they certainly aren’t traversing much new ground, and are in fact simplifying their serial-killer-grind approach to a twisted version of the Hardcore they all grew up listening to, it’s just great to have them back. Catch them at Maryland Deathfest, I know I’ll try to.
The Verdict: My sister is also dangerous.
PIG DESTROYER: Slightly less politicized. Still, no fucks given.
Grade: A-
by Sean Genovesse
(Editor’s note: If you dig Sean’s reviews and writing style like we do, do yourself a favor and check out his blog. You’ll thank us for it. )
