REVIEW: NO FEALTY / KOLLAPSE - SPLIT 7"

Hello, growlers. It’s Decibel Magazine deadline week, so my attention has been (happily) kidnapped to focus on a few fun pieces for issue #112, but I was alerted that a band previously featured on Mister Growl is coming out with a new split 7” record.

If you recall, I reviewed No Fealty’s debut In the Shadow of the Monolith back in August, and said “there’s enough fury here to inspire god to eat his cherubs.” The Copenhagen band’s newest song, Side A’s “Ravished,” combines rabid noise and a crusty D-beat to create a chaotic take on hardcore punk that’s meaner than a retired executioner and heavier than his crippling guilt. They’re a socially conscious band that actually sounds dangerous.

Kollapse are from Aalborg, Denmark, and offer a bleak track called “Father,” which feels like sludgy post-hardcore covered in scabs, scars, and thorns. With tortured, throaty vocals and deliberate momentum, it feels like a march towards the edge of a cliff.

It’s about a 5 hour drive between these two Danish cities, and there’s also distance between their approaches to heavy music: Kollapse offer mood and atmosphere and structure, while No Fealty endeavors to tear every structure down into a pile of rubble. It’s worth your time, and acts as a solid introduction to both bands.

Check out Kollapse’s track for the split over here on Bandcamp: http://kollapse.bandcamp.com/

And while you’re at it, check out No Fealty’s In the Shadow of the Monolith over here. I expect it to be on my list of “Top 50 Albums of the 2013” and it’s still offered as a “Name Your Price” download: http://nofealty.bandcamp.com/

REVIEW: GURT / LIMB - SPLIT ROAST

I don’t always review albums song by song, but when I do, it’s usually a Witch Hunter Records release. The newest album from the DIY label based in the UK is a truly collaborative effort from two filthy sludge bands with varying approaches to the subgenre. On this split EP, both bands include, in order, one new original song, a cover of their choosing, and a cover of a song by the other band sharing the split. I absolutely love this approach, as it invites some playful competition and camaraderie as well. Here are my thoughts on each song:

GURT

1) Sophisticate - Gurt start the hunting party with a throbbing rhythm and a thick, mucky sound that invokes Slabdragger and the bluesy flourishes and brawny chugging of late-career Pantera. Take old Chicago electric blues, channel it through an Orange amp, then dip it in hot tar and vulture feathers. The vocals from Growth/Gareth Kelly sound like the crusty howls of a swampland degenerate from a Cormac McCarthy novel.

2) Psycho Killer - Yep, a Talking Heads cover. There’s the initial, beard-growing bass tone from Spice/David Blakemore, then the novelty of hearing David Byrne’s voice replaced by the caustic roar of a gutter demon. Parts of the song feel a bit rigid (the fa-fa-fas don’t work quite as well as the ay-ay-ays, for those  familiar with the moments of non-lyrical vocals), but the last minute of sprawling, trippy rock is totally inspired, and Gurt own this song and make it their own monster.

3) Gift of the Sun - Covering the title track of the last Limb EP, Gurt extend the psychedelic rock with shades of Church of Misery’s quietest moments, and then rips a hole in the earth’s crust with a riff that could summon Cthulhu for its turn at the hookah. This song is seriously, supernaturally heavy.

LIMB

1) Plaguedoctor - Groovy sludge that’s closer to stoner metal with its hallucinogenic bounce, like Electric Wizard without the occult, just a perpetually loaded bong and a bathtub full of homemade swill. Great song, catchy as hell is hot. Rob Hoey’s vocals remind me of LG Petrov from Entombed, if his throat was shredded from acid tab paper cuts.

2) Son and Daughter - Covering a supremely heavy Queen song from their debut album, Limb explore gender roles with a strong, Sabbath stomp. I was expecting some harmonica to join the fray, as this song feels like it’s dressed up in a denim jacket with fringe. They cut the hacky synth effects that plague the original and trim it down to basics, resulting in awesome throwback heavy rock with raw-doggin’ attitude.

3) Soapfeast - Choosing a Gurt song from another split, the shared EP with Dopefight, Limb soak in the joys of profanity and all its unexpected combinations, as the vocals are the most diseased on the EP as they chant the mantra “you really don’t give a cunting fuck.” The song itself has a surprisingly low-key, smoke-a-spliff-in-the-van’s-back-seat energy, apart from one dangerously bombastic release of fury.

In summary, I had a blast with this entire release. Sludge is often considered one of the more misanthropic genres, riddled with tales of addiction and hatred and self-loathing. But on Split Roast, Gurt and Limb both scoop their sloppy, delicious gruel onto the listener’s plate and growl with a grin, “Eat up, you cunting fuck.” And that’s music to my ears.

Listen to Gurt and Limb over here, where Witch Hunter Records always makes the albums available as a “Name your price” download. Then buy the CD, which is made with a completely DIY mentality, and features artwork from the bands:  http://witchhunterrecords.bandcamp.com/album/split-roast

Add Gurt here on Facebook, and follow their swampy reign:  https://www.facebook.com/GURTsludge

And do the same for Limb, while convincing them to record the Queen epic “The Prophet’s Song” in the future:  https://www.facebook.com/LimbTheBand

REVIEW: ASHENCULT / MEPHORASH - OPUS SERPENS (SPLIT)

The perfect way to discover Opus Serpens, the split EP from Ashencult and Mephorash, would be to mysteriously unearth a black cassette with ancient symbols carved in the plastic from the soil of your lawn while gardening. The fact that I listened to it on Bandcamp is only unfortunate because it denies me that story. But it’s a good thing for every black-hearted metalhead that this split exists, even in digital form. But soon that won’t even be necessary, as you can now pre-order this release on either silver or black vinyl and conjure unknown evil from your turntable.

Ashencult hide somewhere in the meatless ribcage of Philadelphia, in a neighborhood I imagine looks like the elephant graveyard from The Lion King. “My Tenth Death” is based in melodic, somber black metal that brings the grace and danger back to the genre that thrived in the days of tape-trading. But there’s a sharpened, sophisticated edge of this double-sided axe, and even while it blasts without mercy there’s an overarching sense of drama that makes it feel immediate and emotive. The lead guitar work is superb and the drums plow through fields of bones with a rock vibe that avoids the occasionally stiff blastbeats that lesser BM bands employ. The vocals sound like they come from some creature who has seen dinosaurs come and go and watched the forces of nature and man drive species to extinction. It’s a fantastic song with texture and suspense that compares favorably with early Emperor, but with a little less grime.

“Atramentous Ungod Suspect” closes the album, a 9+ minute song from Uppsala, Sweden’s own Mephorash. Commencing with low groaning and gothic organs, it sounds like it could be rooted in the candelabra-lit crypts of early-90s Cradle of Filth. But don’t let that fool you, when the song begins foaming at the mouth and thrashing wildly the guitars provide extra bite and sound heavy as hell. With guest vocals from Acherontas V. Priest, the song features a variety of vocal approaches, ranging from a traditional black metal rasp to the insane whispers of some leprous gatekeeper. The fastest moments of this song could stab unprepared metal novices to death. When all’s said and done, the song reminds me of a grittier Borknagar song that was raised in complete darkness in some forgotten catacombs, nursed on the milk of plague-carrying rats.

This is a must-purchase for anyone who likes bleak black metal with tasteful keyboards, or anyone who enjoys extreme music with a sense of mystery and majesty. I’m definitely excited to hear this spinning in my room, and I’m looking forward to each band’s future releases.

Listen to Opus Serpens over here on Bandcamp, and check out the pre-order links for their beautiful 10” records:  http://unholyanarchyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/opus-serpens

Or support these bands and this awesome release from Unholy Anarchy Records by pre-ordering this on vinyl from their address:  http://unholyanarchyrecords.bigcartel.com/product/ashencult-mephorash-opus-serpens-10-split

Follow Ashencult over on Facebook here:  https://www.facebook.com/ASHENCULT

And do the same for Mephorash here:  https://www.facebook.com/Chaliceofthagirion

REVIEW: COUGH / WINDHAND SPLIT (REFLECTION OF THE NEGATIVE)

Reflections of the Negative features two colossal doom bands from Richmond, VA, both on Relapse Records. I just listened to this split album a couple times on repeat and I’m pretty sure the music impregnated me and a baby demon is now forming in some egg of sulphur in my tummy. Not gonna be fun shitting that out, but this split was totally worth the future discomfort.

The opening of Cough’s 18 minute track, “Athame,” sounds eerily similar to the music created by the coven of black-toothed witches in The Lord of Salem, a film I found tedious and completely uninspiring. This song, which plods defiantly into oblivion for nine minutes before switching gears into an even more unpleasant circle of hell, features more suspense and chills then that film mustered in 101 minutes. The connection to witchcraft isn’t just a convenient bridge into mentioning my recent film reviews either, as an “athame” is a ceremonial dagger used in many neopagan witchcraft traditions. Like the dagger, the percussion cuts through the suffocating fog of black smoke just enough for Parker Chandler’s strangled vocals to sneak through the forest of briars. Halfway through the song, when the lyrics announce “the time has come for sacrifice,” you can picture a procession of hooded figures lead by a single dying lantern flame to a black altar crafted from burnt bones and warped wood. The droning chant, soaked with reverb and haunted to the core, accompanies pummeling drums that rejoin the heavy groove of the main riff leading into the thirteenth minute. It’s all entirely captivating, a testament to the power of one ungodly riff and a whole lot of phantasmal atmosphere. Try listening to this in some woodlands after dusk without something dead rising from the rotten leaves and muck.

As the album’s chaser, Windhand is the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down, if the medicine is actually laced with the blood of a leprous monk and poison sumac. The riffs are similarly massive and leaden, but while Cough just try to get through the woods alive, Windhand seem to have found the safest clearing and stroll there a little bit. Sure, they’re surrounded by the skeletons of ill-fated travelers, but the way the light bounces off their skulls and femurs is kinda pretty at this hour. “Shepherd’s Crook” features some soaring lead guitar and Dorthia Cottrell’s vocals wind between the pine trees to awaken some ancient evil. But of the two songs “Amaranth” leaves the largest impression in the mud, with resourceful drumming from Ryan Wolfe powering the attack. it turns out that Amaranth is a blossoming weed that has symbolized immortality reaching back to early Greek mythology. Windhand’s music is similarly everlasting, as you can find roots of this music in ancient incantations and the rawest forms of blues. Both of these bands show up at the top of their form on this split, making it essential listening for fans of doom, sludge, or extreme occult rock. When that demon egg hatches I’m gonna name it Coughand, and this album will be his lullaby.

Listen to the album over at Bandcamp and feel the black magic consume you:  http://coughwindhand.bandcamp.com/album/reflection-of-the-negative

And order the beautiful vinyl LP from Relapse over at:  http://www.relapse.com/label/catalog/product/view/id/83006/s/reflection-of-the-negative-lp-white-and-black-splatter/category/52/

REVIEW: BONGRIPPER / CONAN - SPLIT

Warning, this may be the first and last time Anne Hathaway has been referenced in a doom metal review. While AMC theaters were pushing promo hype for Les Miserables this past year I must have seen their 7 minute making-of featurette twenty times. It really didn’t matter what sort of movie I was seeing, AMC felt it was an appropriate regardless of genre. Nothing pumps you up for a bloody action flick or a supernatural chiller quite like Russell Crowe in a Napoleon hat. As much as I resented being forced to see this promo video so many times there was one line from Hathaway describing her ill-fated character that came to mind while listening to the Bongripper/Conan split album: “She's literally at the bottom of a hole and realizing she's never going to climb out of this.”

There’s a prevailing sense of hopelessness in both of these tracks, but Bongripper’s Side B offering “Zero Talent” truly captures the horrific disintegration of joy. Even the song title feels like someone who has cut their own worth down to nothingness. The track begins with droning ambience, like a room-tone in some desolate futurescape of dilapidated office buildings filled with skeletons where the only sounds are the computers that keep eerily humming. Once the riffs drop from the sky they land with enough force to sink continents. The guitars are weighed down by suffocating pessimism, crawling forward through glass shards and rat shit through cobbled streets where the dreamless wait to die. “Zero Talent” also pops an upper late in the song and rampages at about a million times their normal speed, blasting forward and suddenly halting with a vicious stop-and-go pattern that bruises brains like slapping the listener’s skulls against a truck windshield. It’s a nasty slab of grimy depression that should be the bright spot in every doom fan’s year.

Conon’s track, titled “Beheaded,” also plows through the muck at a frighteningly low speed, tasting the sewage as it shuffles deeper into a steaming fecal swamp. There was once a moment when I saw Winter play and felt like the distortion seeping from the towering speakers was crushing me into the ground. It was like the gravity in the venue was exponentially increasing each minute, threatening to flatten me across the cement floor and squeeze the precious fluids from my skin. Conan’s entire discography reproduces that feeling. If you’re looking for pure, unrelenting heaviness, the type of sound that feels like the widening anvil shadow right before impact, then Conan is your lethargic jam. While I usually think of decapitation as a swift punishment this song feels like someone is just pulling their enemy’s head off with their bare hands, working at it patiently with fingernails and brute strength. The song doesn’t offer much in riff ingenuity or tempo shifts, but it does transport listeners into a slow-motion world painted with dried blood and fresh shit. It’s not pretty or clean, but there are people who will feel completely at home there.

I also want to mention here that both of these bands will be terrorizing audiences in Conan’s home country, commencing a nine day tour towards the end of the month. If you can check out these bands and survive without feeling like their bass guitars laid a demon egg in your stomach I commend you.
 

Listen to Bongripper’s track here: http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2013/03/exclusive-song-stream-bongripper-zero-talent/

And the Conan track is streaming yonder:  http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/15163-conan-beheaded/

And pre-order from Holy Roar Records over here: http://holyroarrecords.com/album.php?id=2010&shop=1