GUEST REVIEW: NAILS - ABANDON ALL LIFE

Continuing our series of metal reviews by non-metal fans, Mister Growl welcomes back guest reviewer Shane Frasier, Acquired Taste Booking owner and creator of the Behemoth Music Festival (a series of concerts in Upstate New York that recently reached down into Brooklyn). He has also been a member of roughly seven thousand bands, ranging from hardcore punk (Daytime Soiree) to electronic/dance music (Mr. Owl) to eccentric insanity (The Lanky Mofos and The Bumblebees). He was nice enough to accept our invitation and review Nails’ newest album Abandon All Life:

“Every now and then, I need a reminder that life isn't so boring. That something out there, maybe lurking in the shadows, is ready to kick my ass and give me a much needed wake up call. I think I may have found that special something with Nails’ album, Abandon All Life.

Nails combine their love for death metal and grindcore to make a sound I'd liken to a bunch of cannons going off. A bunch of really angry cannons being fired off by a really angry singer. With "Tyrant" and "Abandon All Life,” these guys are able to express everything and anything they need to in only a minute’s time, creating just enough havoc to ensure we don't die from its brutality. "No Surrender" continues this trend of ear-numbing madness, double bass-pedaling itself into your heart with a relentless barrage of metal and fear.

“Wide Open Wound,” which plays more like a traditional death metal song, never succumbs to its similarities, giving me a deeper sense of appreciation of Nails. It's easy to get lost among all the similarities bands possess today, although I believe it is less prevalent in the metal world, but it's nice to know these guys don't play to be like everyone else.

“Suum Cuique,” which clocks in at over 5 minutes (Whhhhhaaaatttt?), proves these guys could become an epic doom metal band at any moment. That's a testament to how much work these guys put into their sound, which, for some, may not be as noticeable as it was to me.

When I told Mr. Growl that I'd like to review something 'brutal' he sent me this. And, uh, yeah, I'd say that's an understatement. Nails are quick and relentless, like a tornado of fists to the face. The album is over before you know it, even with a song like "Suum Cuique" to end the album. If you feel the need to have your bland world rocked, I'd recommend listening to Abandon All Life today.

(Editor’s note: I would have opted for a “sharknado” of fists and dorsal fins.)

Many thanks to Shane for covering this release, and we seem to have some momentum with TWO positive guest reviews in a row. Note to self: Send Shane all crusty grind/d-beat releases we need reviewed.

Stream Abandon All Life over here at Bandcamp and buy it for a well-spent $7.99:  http://nailssl.bandcamp.com/releases

GUEST REVIEW: P.O.O.R. - EXTINCTION OF TRUST

Continuing our series of metal reviews by non-metal fans, Mister Growl welcomes back guest reviewer Shane Frasier, Acquired Taste Booking owner and creator of the Behemoth Music Festival (a series of concerts in Upstate New York that recently reached down into Brooklyn). He has also been a member of roughly seven thousand bands, ranging from hardcore punk (Daytime Soiree) to electronic/dance music (Mr. Owl) to eccentric insanity (The Lanky Mofos and The Bumblebees). He was nice enough to accept our invitation and review the new release from P.O.O.R. (Point of Our Resistance), their album Exttinction of Trust. With the NSA ‘bating while listening to our calls and reading our e-mails and more toxins filling our food every day it’s a perfect time to listen to this album:

“I always thought the saying, 'It's the little things in life', was bullshit. Really? Are you really content with the little things in life? If a gentle breeze whiffed by your face for a few seconds on a brutally hot summer day would you really say to yourself, 'That made my day'? No, you wouldn't, and don't lie to me, because I know who you and know where you live and will make you tell the truth. But, for the first time ever, I found myself uttering this phrase while listening to P.O.O.R's album, Extinction Of Trust.

What I am trying to say here is that you don't need to be fancy in order to deliver good music, and P.O.O.R does it well. Fitting itself somewhere between thrash, grindcore and hardcore, Extinction Of Trust passes you by quickly (Not having a song longer than 2:26), but leaves a fun, lasting impression because of the obvious joy these guys clearly had making this music.

The album is comprised of 24 tracks, each one more mosh-pit inducing than the last.  “Bastard Complex,” “Flip The Scripture” and “Your Bullshit” remain my favorite tracks on the album, delivering quick hardcore punk ditties in an otherwise growly thrash album, which, I must admit, is a welcome addition if for any other reason than I am a huge hardcore punk fan. That's not to say I don't appreciate the other songs, on the contrary, they're all great, I just have to make my loyalties clear sometimes.

Songs like a “A Man Called Disease” often wake you up to the fact that you are listening to a grindcore album, but the fact that every song is different in a way really makes you love what these guys are doing. One second “Christian Science Fiction” makes you wonder if you're listening to a metal-influenced tough-guy hardcore band then, like clockwork, a song like “Cherrorizer” smacks you in the face waking you back up to the fact that the grindcore roots of the album are back into full swing. Also, putting one of the biggest smiles on my face is the cover of “Religious Vomit,” a Dead Kennedys song. Being a huge Dead Kennedys fan, I find myself embarrassed saying that I kind of prefer P.O.O.R's version more. I think my only problem with the album is that it ends, and I know that might come across as a cliched answer, but I could care less. It's how I feel. I didn't want this album to stop playing when it did.

Overall, P.O.O.R's Extinction Of Trust totally made my day. It's a wake up call, and a welcome one at that, knowing music like this is out there. Too often are we shoveled the same genre-sticking music day in and day out, knowing full well that, somewhere out there, a diamond in the rough awaits our discovery. If you have a soul, you'll love this album. If not, you'll be crying in your bedroom by yourself, slamming your head against the wall wishing you had a soul so you could like this album.”

- Shane Frasier

(Editor’s note: I also wanted to mention that Matt Harvey from Exhumed also appears for guest vocals and solos. I will be reviewing Exhumed’s Necrocracy sometime over the next week.)

Many thanks to Shane for covering this release, and YAY we finally landed a positive review from outside of the metal community. Sure, maybe I cheated a little, knowing he was a Dead Kennedys/Minor Threat fan and hearing a lot of that influence deep in the belly of this grinding punk album, but I digress.

Stream Extinction of Trust over here at Bandcamp and buy it for a totally modest $7 to support these Californians:  http://poorgrind.bandcamp.com/album/extinction-of-trust

And follow them on Facebook for touring news and info on future releases:  https://www.facebook.com/POORGRIND

GUEST REVIEW: COFFINS - MARCH OF DESPAIR

Continuing our series of metal reviews by non-metal fans, Mister Growl welcomes another guest reviewer into our unholy flock: Shane Frasier, Acquired Taste Booking owner and creator of the Behemoth Music Festival, a series of concerts in Upstate New York that recently reached down into Brooklyn. He has also been a member of roughly seven thousand bands, ranging from hardcore punk (Daytime Soiree) to electronic/dance music (Mr. Owl) to eccentric insanity (The Lanky Mofos and The Bumblebees). He was nice enough to accept our invitation and review one of the several 2012 releases from Coffins, their March of Despair EP:

“Full disclosure: I know nothing about metal.

Well, that's not entirely true. I like metal, but there's no way I'd proclaim myself an aficionado of the genre. It was, for lack of a better word, forced on me at a young age by my older brother. Bands like Cradle of Filth and Slayer paved the way to others like Emperor and Skinless. Not that I minded, but it was quite a culture shock to me when bands like The Clash were my main musical staple. Bearing that in mind, my understanding of the genre has blossomed into something more appreciative now, but I’m not entirely convinced. I say this so I don't come across as a complete idiot whilst I review a EP from a Japanese band called Coffins.

The five song album titled March of Despair, opens up with the track “Till Dawn of the Doomsday,” which, honestly, didn't quench the punch in the face opening track thirst I needed to really get into this album. It's a solid track, full of enough trudging guitar riffs and breakdowns to make me throw down at my desk chair, but it stalls in the beginning, which, in my humble musical opinion, is not the beginning of a great song. I know metal is about momentum, but when it’s forced on you early in the track, it can create an incomplete feeling to the rest of the track.

The songs “Carpet of Bones” and “In Bloody Sewage” remain my favorites, maybe because I myself own an actual carpet of bones and I have a fixation towards bloody sewage. These two tracks feel more refined than the others, if maybe not altogether more free form. While I liked these two songs, they created a bigger problem for me overall as I found all the songs on the album to have different production values. I could be going deaf, the end result of the hundred or more shows I've gone to in the last couple years where I haven't worn ear plugs, but I got the distinct notion these songs were all leveled differently, which can create a problematic listening experience if you’re a fan of audio consistency.

The other two tracks, “Grotesque Messiah” and “Corpsegrinder,” didn't hit me the way I wanted them to. “Grotesque Messiah” feels sloppy, and yeah, I know, I'm listening to a death metal band, sloppiness is appreciated in this genre, right? But considering the other songs on the album felt tight, this song in particular bugged me in a way no other song since “Mambo Number 5” has (THE TRUMPET!). And “Corpsegrinder” just doesn't feel like much of a song to me. That's a very vague review of it, but if you listen to it, maybe you'll agree.

Overall, I'm a bit torn. Like the 80's song, but in reverse, Japan is big with me, and I often go out of my way to either listen to music from Japan or at least appreciate their take on the punk and metal genres. But I couldn't help feeling this was more of a faux version of what death metal is supposed to be, the culmination of one band’s attempt to replicate bands that they've loved, but couldn't fully execute musically. If you have a half hour to spare, and just feel like giving something a try, March of Despair is as least worth a listen, if not completely unforgettable.”

- Shane Frasier

(Editor’s Note: “Corpsegrinder” is a cover of a song off Death’s second demo tape. Just a little pop-up trivia for the diehards. - MG)

Many thanks to Shane for sharing his thoughts! He introduced himself with modesty but he did actually suggest Black Cobra and Withered when deciding what album to review. That’s pretty obscure knowledge for someone who knows “nothing about metal.” Check out Coffins on Spotify, they have several albums available, and their upcoming album The Fleshland is due out July 9th.

Pre-order The Fleshland here: http://coffins.bandcamp.com/album/the-fleshland

GUEST REVIEW: HORSEBACK / LOCRIAN - NEW DOMINIONS

Mister Growls welcomes our second guest reviewer today, Mr. Rick Sahlin, to share his thoughts on the Horseback/Locrian collaboration New Dominions. Unlike the previous guest assignment (Jude Gullie’s review of Evoken’s A Caress of the Void) I had not listened to this release prior. I entrusted this task to Rick knowing that he is a passionate fan and scholar of the full spectrum of music. Take delight in his following musings as he asks difficult questions and gives me cautious credit for not being an elitist metalhead:

“Sean says the leader is into Neil Young. Neil Young is my favorite. I’ve said this out loud many times and Sean must have heard me say that. Lots of people love Neil Young and that’s fine. I don’t need to feel like I have idiosyncratic taste in music.

I just recently heard “Slip Away” for the first time. It was the version from the Year of the Horse album and I fell in love all over again. There’s always another great Neil song to discover.

So there was a chance that maybe I would like this. I initially thought maybe the point of the exercise was to shock the non-metal fan or make him uncomfortable so metal fans can jeer and congratulate themselves for being tough enough or open-minded enough to like the thing that scares or alienates the non-metal fan. But I should have known Sean would not be up to something like that. Sean is inviting me to metal’s house and I am in metal’s house now as his guest. I’m thankful to have been invited and I will a be a respectful guest and I will sample the banquet that metal has prepared.

Why invite a non-metal fan to review metal? Probably you know more about metal than I ever plan to learn. About how metal works and what metal means and how effective this particular metal is. I can only tell you how someone with a limited knowledge of metal and, today at least, more curiosity than suspicion about metal, will receive this.

I was playing “Sway” by the Rolling Stones around my brother. It sounded like the best goddamn song as I was listening to it and it just made me feel great about music and the Rolling Stones and life and I was dancing around with a big grin on my face. When it was over I asked him what he thought about the Rolling Stones and he said, “They don’t need me to like them.” Sharing your music with others is not always rewarding.

But maybe you want to share metal with your friends. Maybe sharing metal with your friends and family will enrich your relationship with the people in your lives and also with metal. I personally wish I knew more people who were into hip-hop because I just need to share my thoughts about hip-hop sometimes and also hear some fresh thoughts from others. I hope everything works out for both of us.

I can't get into the newest Ghostface album but I enjoyed hearing his recent Wu-Block collaboration on a recent walk through the park. The beats are functional. You'll nod your head. There's a song where Ghost and Sheek Louch compare their guns to children they diligently care for. In the intro of another Ghost breaks down his preferences for cold remedies. He browses the Encylopedia Britannica while drinking lemonade and watching Larry King Live on mute. It's just fun.

My metal background: I took a friend’s extra ticket to Ozzfest 2002. Ozzy was fine - the time-tested songs are familiar to a novice and he is a cute and doddering old man. I took my shirt off even though I’m fat and I was one of several shirtless fat guys yelling and throwing up the horns. System of a Down were also fine - you could shout “Disorder!” during that song and alternate between pogo dancing and swaying side to side. I also enjoyed Rob Zombie. I later lived with that same friend for a while and he made fun of my Sonic Youth records.

I've distilled my personal metal canon to 1-2 songs each from the acts I mentioned above and also “Ace of Spades.” I like some of Alice in Chains’s stuff, if that counts as metal. Also I've heard some Sleep and sun0))))))))))) but I’m guessing Mister Growl readers consider that hipster dilettante metal. People are beyond hating “hipsters” I hope, I mean that gets pretty tiresome.

So this album drones. The idea of droning appeals to me.

I’m not feeling this album though and I don’t really have it in me to say much more than that. They lose me at 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the first song when drums make their first appearance and they are not nearly thunderous enough to satisfy my admittedly cliché-informed expectations. I didn’t listen to it all the way through, to be honest. I checked out last track which is a “(remix)” of the first track because I thought it might have some additional aggro-techno drum machine beats you know like a remix but it didn’t.

This very well could be a good or great metal album. As a non-metal fan I am in no position to say and obviously this isn't a real review. But if the newbie or hipster dilettante in your life asks for a recommendation I would suggest more aggressive and demon-y. That is probably what he had in mind when he asked you.

If you want to recommend something to a Neil Young fan I would suggest Several Shades of Why by J. Mascis from 2011. The song “Can I” is just beautiful. Kurt Vile plays on that album and I would also recommend the new Kurt Vile album which is the consensus pick of internet indie culture this month. The consensus chose well this time.”

Not to self: Listen to each album first. Bad job by me. I’ve enjoyed releases from Horseback before and thought I was going to woo someone over to the metal playground with droning Swans-by-way-Burzum-if-they-were-both-from-Arkansas extreme noise. Many thanks to Rick for sharing his thoughts, hopefully we can convince him to review a future release that is appropriately demonic.

Listen to New Dominions here: http://horseback.bandcamp.com/releases

GUEST REVIEW: EVOKEN - A CARESS OF THE VOID

Editor: So this is the first guest review from a non-metal fan, an occurrence I hope to make a bi-weekly staple. One of the reasons I created this site was to share heavy metal with a wider, reluctant (or maybe even suspicious) audience. I could have easily assigned a more approachable record (think: Baroness, Anciients, Mastodon), but our first guest writer encouraged me to give him something challenging and relentless. Jude Gullie is a corporate stooge, medicine man, John Candy connoisseur, and extremely talented chef. He was a vital part of the now-defunct folk crooners The Holy Crows and was one-third of the vaudevillian performance team The Broken Banjo Boys. Here is Jude’s take on A Caress of the Void, the latest album from New Jersey funeral doomsters Evoken. - MG

GUEST REVIEWER: JUDE GULLIE

When I heard that Mr. Growl wanted non-Metal fans to review albums for his blog I jumped at the opportunity.  I had been wanting to listen to some Metal ever since I had the pleasure of watching a gentleman (who was listening to what I believe was metal) violently air-drumming next to me on the L train.  Why should that guy be having all the fun?  

My first assignment was to review the “Funeral Doom” band Evoken’s A Caress of the Void.  I had never heard of “Funeral Doom” prior to this experience, but I will say that it piqued my interest.  If I have ever talked with you more than a few minutes you would probably know that I have a morbid fascination with the character of Pallbearer from 1980s and 1990s WWF fame. (Editor’s Note: R.I.P - MG) I was really hoping that the music might invoke images of that fat man with white caked on makeup holding an urn.  I was sorely mistaken.

I don’t know if it gets easier to understand this kind of music if you listen to it often, but I spent the majority of this album (all the parts with vocals) with my hand to my ear like an elderly man trying to listen to the soup specials being listed at a Friendly’s Restaurant.  I could understand words like “me” and I think I heard the phrase “delicious skittles” at one point, but I wouldn’t put money on my being correct.

The more I listened to the album the more the mental image of the lead singer burping into a microphone while trying to form words popped into my head.  That is how this type of music is made, right?

By around the fifth song “Descend the Lifeless Womb” I felt like I was in the groove of listening to the album, but the next song was thirteen minutes long!  I found myself getting distracted and watching an “Easter Toys” ad on the side of the Grooveshark website. I did end up listening to the whole album, but I would say that I was not swayed to start listening to more metal.

Editor: NOOOOO! We were one 13 minute doom opus away from claiming the soul of another non-metal fan! Here’s hoping Jude will sign on for another review in the future. Maybe a grindcore album with 15 songs in 13 minutes is more his (hyper)speed? Thanks again to Jude for participating and being a good sport. Next time we will capture your soul and keep it in Paul Bearer’s urn for eternity.

Form your own opinion by finding Evoken on Spotify and learn more about them at their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/evokendoom