REVIEW: Come to Grief / Fistula & Fistula / -(16)- [Splits]

By: Ernesto Aguilar


Album Type: Split

Date Released: 29/12/2017

Label: PATAC Records

 

“Come to Grief | Fistula” & “Fistula | -(16)-“ Split 7”//CS//DD track listing

1). Come to Grief – “Take Me In My Sleep”

2). Fistula – “Confusion”

1). Fistula – “Mongoloid” (Devo)

2). -(16)-  “Complications” (Killing Joke)

The Review:

In a year of conflict and uncertainty, one thing came out clear as anything: legendary Ohio sludge crew Fistula did not piss away the end of 2017 binge watching garbage on Netflix. Nope. In fact, the band dove headfirst into creating new music. It is featured as part of a new seven-inch series, where the band is paired up with other veteran acts – Maine four-piece Come to Grief and Los Angeles long-timers -(16)- for sonic adventures aplenty.

The pair of singles begins with Come to Grief's entry, a dense and dangerous cut built around Jonathan Hébert's searing vocals and the brawny guitar of Terry Savastano. "Take Me In My Sleep" is deceptively powerful. From the slow climb of its opening, Come to Grief maintains a thick and ominous rhythm throughout this song. As fans may recall, the quartet arose from the ashes of the 1990s group Grief, reconstituting to some range the songs for that group written by Savastano, and which include former Grief drummer Chuck Conlon. However, it was evident even early on that the new incarnation is not a tribute band, but an altogether intriguing evolution of the progenitor's classic sound. Much credit for this growth is to some degree owed to the presence of Hébert behind the microphone. His voice demands your attention and obedience, with a wiry snarl and dexterous attack. With a foundation ballasted by Conlon and bassist Tim Simpson, "Take Me In My Sleep" is a lethal selection for this seven-inch.

Speaking of veteran experience, -(16)- makes their presence felt on the second seven-inch, employing its renowned sludge prowess with slicing riffs, grave soil dark bass and vocals that rattle you like kicking a pile of spent bullet shells across a concrete floor. In the hands of -(16)-, a song by iconic post-punk clan Killing Joke is not just a particularly savage cover, but a fearless reimagining of some of the English band's best work. The showcase player here is Bobby Ferry, whose guitar plows through this originally brisk paced song with a hint of speed yet still faithful to what -(16)- does best. Similarly Cris Jerue's singing takes a page from Jaz Coleman, yet blows open the doors to put his band's stamp on this rendition. With Barney Firks on bass and Dion Thurman at the drum kit, -(16)- shows new and stalwart fans just how effectively the group is able to rejuvenate this material.

These tracks – and the sheer quality of the performers – taken in, it is evident that Fistula has quite a high bar to meet on what is a marquee placement for the band.

If you are familiar with the Devo song Fistula covers on that split with -(16)-, the 1994 track is one of those sublime post-rock/electronic hybrids that made the band innovators so visionary, as well as one of the best known Rock & Roll Hall of Fame snubs. It is a bold choice; its early-math rock guitar and slinky synths could be hard to pull off for a band loved for its sludge. Where it works best is when Fistula are faithful to the original, with just that hint of vacant eyed stare that made them such a musical terror. With a similarly terse beginning, it's into a straight-ahead mashing of guitars and boiling-over vocals. Fistula are wildly accurate with their strikes – a driving rhythm section is met at flourishes by effects, growls punctuate the mood with urgency, and, in less than three-and-a-half minutes, the squad owns the song.

It is its original music, however, where Fistula delivers its real coup de grace. "Contusion" is its selection from the split with Come to Grief, and it delivers a delicious mix of sludge, with a hint of hardcore and doom. A pulsing bass courtesy of Greg Peel undergirds the impenetrable riffs, while Dan Harrington's anguished vocals command your focus. As a quintet, the group uses all its instruments to their fullest potential; dual guitars, drums and bass stretch out across the nearly six-minute track and set a pensive mood, only to recoil with fury again and again as the song cranks up and finally down. You have a lot to look forward to in the next release from one of sludge's best.

Both Splits are available here

Band info: fistula || -(16)- || Come To Grief

Blood Farmers - Headless Eyes (Album Review)

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 01/03/2014

Label: Resurrection Records/PATAC Records

‘Headless Eyes’ CD/LP track listing:

1). Gun Shot (06:17)

2). Headless Eyes (10:49)

3). The Creeper (04:51)

4). Thousand-Yard Stare (06:34)

5). Night of the Sorcerers (10:15)

6). The Road Leads to Nowhere (David Hess Cover)(05:59)

Bloodfarmers is:

David Szulkin | Bass, Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals

Tad Leger | Drums

Eli Brown | Vocals

Review:

A little bit Corrosion of Conformity, a little bit Black Sabbath Vol 4, and a lot of St Vitus, and Pentagram.  That’s pretty much what you'll get with Blood Farmers' album "Headless Eyes". Those of you who prefer Speed Metal, and lightning fast tunes with brain-smashing blistering guitar pyrotechnics can just stop reading now, and return to mastering that Dragonforce song on Guitar Hero.  You need not apply!!

However, if Dark Chocolate Covered Doomy Goodness and Soul Crushing Guitar Tones is your thing, stick with me.  As mentioned, the first track "Gut Shot" is a pretty standard Goo Goo Cluster of Doom Metal. This one does not make the often fatal mistake of going for ten minutes, relying mainly on one riff. The second track, the title song, "Headless Eyes" stands out much more.  Here, we have some voice in the background which must be taken from a movie or TV show. You know what I mean.
Think Iron Maidens "The Prisoner", or White Zombie. This voice continues to pop up now and then and almost comment on the mood of the song, which is clearly the best part. Headless Eyes DOES paint a nice dark and spooky portrait. 

I think what I like about this song is that it contains all the classic touches all doom bands use, the "Iommi Guitar Tones", the heavy plodding drums, and subtle vocal harmonies. Not to mention a good ripping solo. That’s something I think more Doom bands should use. It breaks up the monotony of a slow lumbering doom riff, which can be an Achilles heel.  So, two tracks in, and so far, so good.

Track Three "The Creeper" starts out with Bass Wah.  We loves Bass Wah when it's all dark and fuzzy. Oh Yes, Precious.  Soon comes the wailing solo riding over it, and some faint heavy riffs in the backdrop. A nice, almost pleasant and Stoner-ey kind of mood piece, this of course, is to set you up for that moment when the guitars and bass and drums start smashing your skull. Everybody does that.  It doesn't stay like that long, and then goes into a much more rocking melody, which while it did kind of remind me of the second half of Black Sabbath's ‘Symptom of the Universe’, also shows that Blood Farmers don't use the standard Doom Cookie Cutter when songwriting.  I appreciate that. This is a pretty nice instrumental song.

All in all, I'm gonna give this one a thumbs up. A bigger one if you are a doom fan.
It turns out; Blood Farmers have a pretty good pedigree, since forming in '89 and performed with some of the bands I've previously mentioned.  This, no doubt, has influenced their sound, which can also mean that a band can get pigeon-holed into a certain genre. A good doom band doesn't just dive into the plodding, low droning melodies and stay there for ten minutes, expecting you to pretend not to get bored after 7.  A good doom band gives you some changes in the song, or a new heavy driving riff for a few measures or a wailing solo to perk up the bleak soul-crushing landscape of the song.

Despite the increasing obsession to categorize every band into a genre, which is something I intensely dislike, I’m going to be a little hypocritical and say, "Yes. This is Doom Metal." However, in case you missed the point I've been hammering on about, Blood Farmers occasionally climb out of that labelled jar, and offer bits and pieces to make things interesting all the way through each song. I really like that. There is some impressive guitar work to be heard here, and if you dismiss this album because of the genre, you'll miss out.

Blood Farmers are a good Doom band, and in my opinion, "Headless Eyes" is a good album.  I'm hoping they come around to my neck of the woods. I think I need to see them live.

Words by: Mike Borsum

You can pick up a CD here and vinyl here

For more information:

https://bloodfarmers.wordpress.com/

Wormwood - S/T EP (Review)

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 14/10/2014

Label: Magic Bullet Records/Patac Records

‘Wormwood’ track listing:

1). Hollow Black Eyes (04:00)

2). Indoctrination (03:52)

3). I’d Rather Die (04:19)

4). White Plague (03:43)

5). Reprise (02:19)

Bio:

Couple old friends getting together to make heavy depressing/empowering racket. Pupecki also plays guitar in doomriders and Bevilacqua was their original drummer

The Band:

Chris Bevilacqua | Drums, percussion, various rackets.
Chris Pupecki | Guitars, bass, vox, noise

Review:

When I first started paying attention to a random track playing in the background, I thought for sure I was listening to Celtic Frost, what with that medium-paced trudge and those lovely processed vocals. When I began paying attention though, I found way more sludge than black metal and discovered this Boston band made up of current and former members Doomriders, Disappearer and Phantom Glue are set to drop their first release on PATAC Records and Magic Bullet Records. Simplistic, yet thick and deep, these guys have put out a seriously heavy and haunting record.

Driven by a bestial, hard-hitting mid-tempo grind and a distinctly unpolished, ugly, and bottomless bass rumble, the wheelhouse of this band is clearly the rhythm section. Above the maelstrom, the guitar alternates a discordant ooze with effect-laden sludge atmospherics and consistently unsettles you with brutally effective tritonal dissonance before spacing out in smooth doomed slow jam riff territory (sometimes within a single phrase).

In the length of 18 minutes and 5 tracks they will keep your head bobbing even as the groove wobbles and weaves in gruff almost-disharmony. Ragged feedback and thick-as-hell crunch, set the abysmal mood for the submerged hypnosis of the main riff in ‘Hollow Black Eyes’, which barely moves on the fretboard yet somehow feels liquid and mobile. The strange and phenomenal lead near the end howls with a curious sort of offset wavering/watery feel that matched the yawning void of the verse in a perfectly subtle way.

"Lies, raised on lies, condition your mind"

‘Indoctrination’ begins with the savage delivery of this elegaic motif, as it slows down the trudge into a plodding stomp. Authoritative lines "don't question it - obey" set atop a bass tone that is thunderous and sulphurous; almost slimy. ‘The Liar's Theme’ continues into ‘I'd Rather Die’, the midpoint on the record, as vocalist Chris Pupecki of Doomriders fame growls "I'd rather die than live a lie." Solid sentiment if a bit simplistic -which is a bit of a catchall thought on the EP as a whole as well, though I don't think it suffers from it.  If anything, the lack of complexity makes it more accessible and keeps it uncluttered.

For the last legit song before the outro/reprise slogs through 2 minutes of grimy noise-groove ambience, ‘White Plague’ amps out the impious Frost-veneration, setting off a modern tube-worshipping take on that proto-black metal sound that is fiendish in its stuttering heaviness. It never allows you to fall too far into a groove, keeping you on the edge of resolution as it lyrically "pushes further - further away."

Sometimes crushing, sometimes creeping, this piece reimagines a modernist ‘Morbid Tales’ for the -very- angry, whils being a whole lot more than simply derivative. It will take you back while it situates itself in the right now.

Words by: James Harris

This EP will be available Magic Bullet Records and Patac Records  

For more information:

https://patacrecords.bandcamp.com/album/wormwood

https://www.facebook.com/Wormwoodboston

Hellbastard - Sons of Bitches EP (Review)

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 20/12/2012

Label: PATAC Records

The whole thing works superbly well and comes from a band backed up by three decades of history. If you have an interest in the heavy, odd, forward thinking or music with a split personality- check this out. Fantastic stuff.

‘Sons of Bitches’ EP track Listing

1) Arcadia

2) Sons of Bitches

3) System Whore

4) We Had Evidence

5) Throw The Petrol Bomb

Hellbastard is

Malcolm "Scruff" Lewty | Vocals, Guitars

Tom McCombe | Guitars

Paul O'Shea | Bass Guitars

Josh "Buda" Harris | Drums

The Review

The John Peel endorsed Hellbastard are truly in a class of their own. You can't categorise it, other than to say it is a mixture of, amongst others: thrash, crust, punk and hardcore.

This five track EP kicks things off with “Arcadia”. No death growls here- hardcore-ish vocals, lyrics about real things and a rhythmical approach make this opener grab the listener's attention. A killer riff snakes in at the 4 min mark, but the track will have made its mark on you by then. The production is clean and bright- if you didn't know; you could be forgiven for thinking that this was a brand new ground breaking band.

The title track gives us an almost death type riff to start but then the track grooves like American hardcore, the temp changes upwards the lyrics are full of vitriol- what is not to like here?! “System Whore” boasts a raging opening riff with an early lead break to keep you off balance. There are even echoes of, dare I suggest it, Cronos in the vocal approach here. Workplace/white collar sellouts seems to be the theme on this track, samples drop in an out and then, astonishingly, a mellow kind of proggy (?) section comes in just before the four minute mark to close out the track.

“We had Evidence” starts melodically but this vibe is replaced at 2.20 or so by a truly frenetic riff. A half time groove then jumps in and the vocals begin in earnest. There is even a Slayer type riff a little later to give us something to think about. Winston Churchill is sampled to great effect as the song reaches its rather unpredictable conclusion. “Throw The Petrol Bomb” is a reggae dub type track that will give all you budding and even seasoned anarchists something to think about and marks an interesting conclusion to this rather schizophrenic EP.

The whole thing works superbly well and comes from a band backed up by three decades of history. If you have an interest in the heavy, odd, forward thinking or music with a split personality- check this out. Fantastic stuff.

You can purchase the record here. 

Band info: Hellbastard Patac Records