ALBUM REVIEW: Gurt - "Skullossus"

By: Andre Almaraz

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 01/05/2017

Label: When Planets Collide

 

This is some quality music that draws from many influences and I feel any metal fan should be able to enjoy it…. possibly even as the soundtrack to their next doom party.

“Skullossus” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Welcome to the Shit Show
2. Gimme the Night, any Day
3. Battlepants
4. Double Barreled Shot-pun
5. The Crotch Wobbler
6. Existance is Pain
7. Broken Heart Heroin Man
8. Meowing at the Fridge
9. John Gar See Ya Later
10. The Balled of Tom Stones and Reg Montagne (Part 1)
11. The Balled of Tom Stones and Reg Montagne (Part 2)

The Review:

Gurt is a four piece metal band from London, UK. Their new full length album is called “Skullossus” and it is set to be released on May 1st, 2017. Gurt is a self proclaimed “party doom” band but based on this album alone (it is all I know of the band), I would have to somewhat disagree with that categorization. While it is true that everyone loves a good party and that this album gives off an air of playfulness and sleaze with its song titles, sound, and lyrics, to my ears, there seems to be only slight traces of doom to be found within this volume of their music. Instead, the sounds I hear on it are more like a mix of Black Breath, Pungent Stench, and Clutch; bands that are not very doomy but bands that most metal heads hold in high regard nonetheless. Subgenre classifications be damned - let’s get down to business…. 

The album opens with a short intro track called “Welcome to the Shit Show,” which consists of a cryptic spoken word message that warns of the end of the human race as we know it over what seems to be some type of warping carnival organ notes setting the stage for what is to follow. Shortly thereafter, the recording kicks off the embarkment with a boot stomper called “Gimme the Night, any Day.” This tune initiates their heavy buzzsaw sound and begins with a sludgy pounding groove before a middle section breakdown gives way to a storm of phasers that eventually leads us to a flurry of tortured screams and grim chords which sound like they could have been pulled right from a classic Swedish death metal album. This is a great, no nonsense opener to get the album rolling off to a good start. 

Third track, “Battlepants,” is a rock solid death march loaded with nothing but slam, stomp, and pound, that will pulverize your speakers in a militarized procession for the entire duration of the song. Some eerie and haunting background vocals in the post-chorus part are a very nice touch and give the song that little extra something to show us that Gurt is not just another one-dimensional, ugly face. Fourth song, “Double Barreled Shot-pun,” is another stone-faced groover of classic rock and roll revolutionary riffs. This one, however, has a bit more of a bouncy 80s crossover feel. Being a child of the 80s myself, the song quickly got my blood pumping and my feet tapping with its permeating rhythm. The fifth track, “The Crotch Wobbler,” has a sexy and seductive saunter to it. It is chock full of big stoner rock riffs and I can definitely hear this one being played at numerous strip clubs in the Southern and Midwestern United States as some freckled farmer’s daughter butters your corn cob amidst a back drop of soiled Confederate flags.

Sixth track, “Existence is Pain,” is a playful little instrumental number, almost Primus-like in its funk and silliness. It also comes complete with a cameo appearance by none other than MTV stars, Beavis and Butt-Head to end the song. The track may seem a bit out of place, stuck in the middle of all these heavy ragers but fuck it - this is art and the artist is free to express themselves any way they choose. I salute the band for flying their freak flag high and letting everyone know that they don’t take themselves too seriously. Honestly, to me it’s a breath of fresh air in today’s modern metal climate, especially for a band this heavy. Rolling right along to the seventh track; “Broken Heart Heroin Man,” is a raging, straightforward punk blast that will blow your hat off as it stays in high gear energy for the entire eighty-three seconds of its duration. “Meowing at the Fridge” is a thick and chunky, slow to mid-tempo chugger. The vocalist really gets guttural on this one as he croaks, bellows, and screams his way through almost the entire four minutes of the song.  “John Gar See Ya Later” is another straightforward riff rocker with an extremely catchy chorus which I found myself inadvertently humming after the first listen. Its dominating chorus coupled with a funky and psychedelic middle section featuring some tasteful soloing by both guitar and saxophone making this one a unique and interesting stand out track of the album for me. Tenth track, “The Balled of Tom Stones and Reg Montagne (Pt. 1),” is where we finally get the doom side out of Gurt; death-doom to be more exact. The song is suffocatingly heavy with moroseness, and serves as another nod to classic Swedish death metal.

The closing track, “The Balled of Tom Stones and Reg Montagne (Pt. 2),” consists of little more than some faint gypsy music set to a background of howling winds and is an interesting way to bring the album to a close. It is the final brick in the shit house and brings to light yet another side of the band’s many faces. Although the heart and soul of “Skullossus” proves to be straightforward, lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek, rocking songs, the band also has many other distinctive sounds and quite a bit of depth when they feel like showing it off to us. Many fragmented bits and pieces of death metal, doom, punk, sludge, thrash, stoner, and funk also make their way into the album’s well rounded repertoire. I really enjoyed “Skullossus” and although many others may already be familiar with Gurt as they’ve apparently been touring and releasing material for the past seven years, I was not previously familiar with the band and I’m glad I was given the chance to review their newest offering and become enlightened. This is some quality music that draws from many influences and I feel any metal fan should be able to enjoy it…. possibly even as the soundtrack to their next doom party.

“Skullossus” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Æges - "Weightless"

By: Phil Weller 

 

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 22/07/2016
Label: Another Century Records

 

 

The rampant, ground-shaking riffs in which ‘Above & Down Below’ both hinged and thrived on, while still present, are sparse and feel a little undervalued. Instead, a radio friendly, vocal and chorus centric approach orchestrates the album’s sonic personality.

 

“Weightless” CD//DD//LP track listing:

 

1). Weightless

2). Save Us

3). A Reason Why

4). Clear

5). All of Me

6). Another Wasteland

7). Echoes

8). What If

9). Nothing to Prove

10). Better

11). Drown

12). Listening

13). Drying Out

 

The Review:  

 

Since the release of 2014’s album, ‘Above & Down Below, Æges’ stock has been slowly rising. The icing on the cake for the band during this whirlwind past few years will no doubt be their appearance on a bill alongside Tool, Primus and Coheed & Cambria on Halloween of last year. Rubbing shoulders with Maynard and company however seems to have had a big influence on the band as far as media hyping is concerned. Already bigging up what initially appeared to be a rapid follow-up to ‘Above & Down Below’, for a while before the show, posting snippets of video shots in their studio in Downtown LA, since that Halloween show the hype machine has gone into overdrive. And so at first glance now ‘Weightless’ has arrived, it feels a little anti-climatic.

 

The rampant, ground-shaking riffs in which ‘Above & Down Below’ both hinged and thrived on, while still present, are sparse and feel a little undervalued. Instead, a radio friendly, vocal and chorus centric approach orchestrates the album’s sonic personality.

 

Although the gap between the two albums, in context, is far from vast, it just feels that, after such a long, winding trail of hyperbole from the band, they’ve veered away from the magic that the excitement from within their fan base was founded upon.

 

That being said, this is a record which gains momentum and weight upon heavy rotation. The more the title track’s thumping introduction and melodious chorus hits your ears, the more fun it becomes. ‘A Reason Why’ marries their individualistic big, romping riffs with an even bigger chorus well, finding the perfect balance between the two schools of thought which seem to be waging war on each other across this record. It stands tall, the record’s stand out moment and a song to keep hold of.

 

‘Clear’ is bolstered by a slick usage of the whammy pedal – with elephantine squeals aplenty – while ‘What If’, a real snaking song, is driven by a venomous vocal performance. Yet, you feel it tries too hard to be anthemic, repetitions of the chorus too common and, at 4:42 it does little to keep your attention after the first couple of minutes.

 

Surprisingly, ‘Echoes’ returns from ‘Above & Down Below, and its conclusion seems pointless. Any variations here are very minor and it leaves you feeling a little cheated, detracting from the new material so many have been desperate to hear for a long time now.

 

Then there’s ‘All of Me’.  While it is still a weighty song, its riffs and the admittedly potent music feels undervalued in favour of that aforementioned radio friendly approach. Not enough of their original magic shines through a top layer which doesn’t truly justify its dominance.  ‘Another Wasteland’ picks the momentum right back up however, with a pulsating main riff. Wrapped in an airy atmosphere, the slow bludgeoning riff that thunders throughout the latter stages provides more evidence of what this band is capable off, just not executing enough here.

 

In the end then, you are left with a mixed bag of songs. Their best elements are still present but are chained up, shackled. It comes across as a tamer effort than its barnstorming predecessor, their crosshairs honing in on a more mainstream audience. But if that is their plan of attack then they really should have worked harder on giving these songs a more predatorial edge. There is no real killer instinct about them apart from a few trend breakers. There just isn’t the array of songs which, upon first listen become instantaneously infectious and memorable; the kind that ‘Above & Down Below basked in.

 

Not a bad record, but one marred by never really getting out of third gear.

 

“Weightless” is available now

 

Band info: facebook

Live Review: Primus & The Chocalate Factory @ Tivoli, Utrecht (NL) 16 June 2015

I’m not a fan of Primus. I don’t mean I don’t like the band, I mean I don’t know the band. Primus has been an enigma for me. On the one hand, they have been associated with a lot of bands I listened to while growing up, I’ve always wanted to check them out, but nothing ever came of it. So when my buddies asked if I’d be interested in joining them on a Tuesday night for a Primus show, I jumped in head first knowing that this would be my opportunity to check one more thing off of my bucket list.  Primus took the stage in Utrecht’s brand spankin’ new Tivoli on Tuesday June 16th. The venue spilled over with people, all of whom wanted to be up front. So it was hot, crowded, cramped, and most of all, fun. Shortly after the clock struck 8.30pm, Les Claypool and his two friends came out on stage. Not a word was said, the crowd went apeshit.

A trilogy of songs that flowed nicely into one another was what got things underway. Les’ bass was high up in the mix, where it should be, overshadowing his secret weapons; Larry Lalonde on guitar and Tim Alexander on drums. This wasn’t to do with an ego trip or anything, as it turned out the guys were having a blast, but Primus is a bass-driven rock band as opposed to many of their contemporaries who fill the mix with blasting guitars. Primus doesn’t make ‘guitar rock,’ though, its bass driven. I suppose that makes it ‘bass rock?’ Whatever their sonic delivery is called, it was something that I got used to quickly and it certainly wasn’t the strangest thing to witness during the three hour set.

Les Claypool’s voice was in form but not in any sort of traditional sense. His stoner mumble oozed out of the side of his mouth, as he went on about some girl’s beaver, his name being Mud, and Jerry, a friend of his who is a race car driver. (Well look at that, I guess in passing I did pick up a few Primus songs in my time). Claypool flapped, tapped, swigged, strummed, and picked his bass, moving his fingers along both meticulously and effortlessly, which somehow transformed into a precise melody. My mouth hit the floor, as did those of the bassist friends I was with. This wasn’t particularly heavy music but it’s not necessarily music for the light of heart. This wasn’t stoner rock, either, but the guy behind us gobbling up truffles didn’t come across as too out of place. This was mellow, well executed, music for the music lover.

And then the band left the stage, prematurely. The curtain was closed, house lights went up, and life returned to normal. This wasn’t the end of the show; however, this was merely the intermission. A short thirty minutes later, the curtain was opened, revealing a stage that was decorated with props that were one part twisted, one part industrial, and two parts sexual. The occasion, of course, was the Primus and the Chocolate Factory Show! And what a show it was! Electric stand up basses were played by bows, xylophones were being hit with frantic passion by a man whose grey hair did not match his vivaciousness or talent. “The Candyman” started things off hauntingly, the rest of the set followed suit, and Primus spiralled out of control one song at a time. All of a sudden, this innocent movie that I loved as a child was put through a filter for adults, which added a whole new layer to each character. And then real life Oompa-Loompa’s with over sized heads came out for what at first served as comic relief but later came across as a judgmental parent. Oh boy, did Primus know how to twist this well-known story around and do a fantastic job of it.

Once the Oompa-Loompa’s left the stage for the last time, the band followed. The ridiculous roller coaster that the audience had been through was docked, it was time to put our feet back on the ground. Or so we thought. Primus returned to the stage again for a double whammy of “Here Come the Bastards” and “Too Many Puppies,” which since I recognized these songs not only was proof that somehow Primus had seeped their way into my life, but that they have a following who eat this bass-crazed-post-polka-rock up. A quick look at their tour dates shows me that they’re playing Las Vegas in September with Clutch, so I’m going to sign off now and figure out how to get my ass out there.

Words by: Victor van Ommen



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Heikousen - 'Parallels' (Album Review)

By:  Aaron Pickford

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 5/06/2012

Label: Translation Loss

The record has some of the most awe inspiring, truly breathtaking guitar work and is every shred heads fantasy. The musicianship is immense, think Botch meets Burst meets The Dillinger Escape Plan, then you’re getting halfway close to the superior quality of this record.

‘Parallels CD//DD track Listing

1). Like Whiskey at 11 am... (3:55)
2). Shit is the Business We're In (1:53)
3). Tax Fraud(3:01)
4). Untitled 1 (0:43)
5). Savant of Scum 2:28)
6). Devil is Double is Deuce (2:26)
7). Simulated Encounters with God (2:46)
8). Untitled 2 1:27)
9). On Accidental Purpose(3:16)
10). The Gravel in Our Guts (4:43)

Heikousen is:

Dave Grossman | Vocals
Josh Mahesh | Guitars
Steve Dever | Bass
Dan Dalton | Drums

The Review:

Sometimes with specific record labels, we know as music fans that we are in safe hands when it comes to the quality of bands and releases from them.  Having reviewed the stunning album by Generation of Vipers, I was excited to get my grubby mitts on the next release from the brilliant Translation Loss label. 

Despite having a release date of June 5th, it has taken me up until now to review this debut album from Heikousen.  Was it worth the wait?  Absolutely!!  Heikousen have quite possibly released the quintessential tech / progressive metal album of the year!  The record has some of the most awe inspiring, truly breathtaking guitar work and is every shred heads fantasy. The musicianship is immense, think Botch meets Burst meets The Dillinger Escape Plan, then you’re getting halfway close to the superior quality of this record.  Something which is parallel may relate to something having the property of being analogous to something else, however let us be clear Heikousen have produced something which is genuinely unique and unparalleled, radically distinctive and without equal.    How's that for starters? 

‘Parallels’ is full of Botch esque, discordant noise, with violent roars and a lashing of intricate guitar fills reminding me of much missed band The Fall of Troy at times.  Everything on the record is tight, intricate and aggressive.  Vocally, Dave Grossman (Rosetta) is a powerful front man, however for me the guitar fireworks from Josh Mahesh, is what defines this record.  He is every inch the guitar hero, hell if Eddie Van Halen played in a progressive hardcore band, they'd probably sound like this.  The musicianship is just exemplary and is played at such a blistering pace.  Hell you're gonna need whiskey at 11am to cope with this aural battering.

Having wiped away the whiskey residue from your lips, shit hits the fan, Heikousen continue to bombard you with the mother load of dissonant destruction, and this record is the Hunter S Thompson of metal.  Completely gonzo, with its bizarre; unconventional guitar histrionics, the rhythm section tearing it up with the syncopated guitar, bass and drum lines into a stunning slapped bass solo.  This is progressive hardcore metal with a side order of Primus.  We're subjected to the dominating flurry of bass and drums, immeasurable guitar trickery and the unadulterated fury of the vocals. There is nothing deceptive about this record, everything is played with virtuosic ability, stunning guitar flurries, blast beats, you name it, and this record delivers in spades.  What's more, the guitar solos appears to have elements of neo-classical influences of say, just about every Shrapnel Records guitar hero of the late 80's and 90's. 

The three instrumental tracks, "Untitled", "Untitled 2" & "Simulated Encounters with God" are the perfect segue between the wanton destruction of the math core synaptic assault.    Ambient passages and acoustic strings demonstrate that these guys are not just a band that have one trick up their sleeves and further exemplifies what a talented band they really are.  This juxtaposition is also typified by the stunning vocal work by Dave Grossman on the track On Accidental Purpose which adds further depth and texture to the album.

‘Parallels’ is unashamedly heavy and a technically brilliant record.  This record will bitch slap that Djent smile from your face.  These guys are no imitators, but trend setters, hopefully for many albums to come.  I for one cannot wait to see what they offer up next!  Stunning work guys. 

Band info: Facebook | Bandcamp