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This is 'Liberation through Amplification.'
Minsk,
Belarus can't be an easy place to reside- so Eximperitus
(abbreviated from Eximperituserqethhzebibšiptugakkathšulweliarzaxułum)
have clearly decided to do the only thing that any outsider would do: form a
death metal band and release dark and original music. The themes here are
actually middle eastern- not rooted in Russian or European folklore at all.
There
are further surprises in store, namely the pacing. This is not like US
tech-death. It's surprisingly slow and deliberate with a rather downbeat vibe
to the riffing and even a black metal feel to some of the melodies. The riffing
is pretty deathly- just slower than you might expect- and the drums of course
take on blast beats as well as doom pacing.
If
that sounds intriguing to you, I definitely recommend checking this one out. At
six tracks of varying length (3.5 mins to over 10 mins) the album isn't an
exercise in endurance either. As usual with the death metal genre, a little can
go a long way. If you want speed try “Tahâdu”
for size, if you want that lumbering death/doom feel then try the opening title
track or mix all three with “Anhûtu”.
There
are some great passages of music here and the record itself is pretty unusual;
yes, Nile or Melechesh could be lazy
comparisons- even if they are valid, thematically speaking- but this stands on
its own convincingly. If you enjoy any of the bands mentioned and/or if you
fancy trying some different death metal, then this is one for your listening
pleasure. Give Exemperitus
a try.
This new EP from Gatecreepershows them both at their
grindiest and doomiest. Inspired by Black Flag’s“My War” album the first seven tracks show them at an
almost deathgrind pace and fury. It’s in your face and it’s raw. It’s riff
city. I’ve caught the band live three or four times, each time being a blast,
and this just sounds like the soundtrack to pitting when shows eventually come
back.
However, the majority of the EP’s
length is actually contained within the final eleven minute song. The listener
is circle pitting for awhile and suddenly these droning guitars come in as if
someone slammed on the brakes. There’s even a sorrowful lead part, typical for
traditional doom metal. The song evolves quite nicely through its various
sections, from chugging guitars, a short clean section, some double kick, and
some great lead lines.
Overall this EP is a wonderful,
headbang-worthy experiment in dynamic taste and songwriting experiments from
the Arizona death metallers. They show that they’re more than capable of writing
both brutal grinders and longer, more emotionally impactful dirges. This adds a
bit more flavor to the band that I already consider to be one of the better
ones out there making straight-forward, riffy, and simply ‘fun’ death metal.
1.
The Sole Cure is Death
2. Molten Black Earth
3. Mount Skull
4. Knights Templar Stand
5. Three Years of Famine
6. Botox Implosion
7. In Blazing Oceans
8. The Nameless Elite
9. Yield or Die
10. Necroceros
The Review:
Asphyx are back with this, another
feral stab of doom-death. Van Drunen's wail is intact and as rough and ready as
ever. The production is as gnarly as you might expect from these Dutch death
masters. Asphyx
have had a pretty solid career with a death metal classic as their debut (“The
Rack”) and then “Deathhammer” being a real late period
highlight. Their last outing, “Incoming Death” was good
and punk infused, but this is the band back to their best.
The
songs are pretty urgent and the band sounds focused and vicious; the riffs are
stellar, the slower passages invoke Bolt Thrower at their doomiest and the whole effect is one
that is really rather majestic. If you want to sample the wares here, just go
for the opener, “The Sole Cure Is Death”. It's Asphys, through and
through- as are the remaining nine tracks here. As usual, there are plenty of
those aforementioned slower passages and, again as usual, the band don't break
type by doing any silly blasting passages or trying to go for a more American
sound or any such folly.
I've
always been very fond of Asphyx
because of their idiosyncratic sound; I view them as a kind of Euro-Obituary in that they
stand out and stand apart from the others. “Mount Skull”, for instance,
starts slow but gets up to thrash pacing with some nasty lead work and truly
neck snapping riffage before... dropping back down again. There are plenty of
post-five minute songs here, as well as a smattering of more urgent tracks but
it's the listener who win as each song has its own characters and the band,
thankfully, have gone for a finely crafted album approach rather than front
loading with the most immediate songs and then just tailing off (naming no
other death metal bands, of course....).
The
subject matter, well, it's death metal. Not entirely, though. You get a song
about the Knights Templar here, a little dark sci fi fantasy there- it's varied
enough for a band at this stage in their career for sure. The sound,
incidentally, is superb. Probably the band's best production yet in terms of
clarity and ferocity. The whole band sounds like a well oiled machine
(obviously a tank- what else?!) and whether it be the straightforward deathly
joy of “Botox Implosion” or the more measured “Three Years of Famine”,
they are never less than deadly in their delivery.
Of
course, fifty minutes of this level of heaviness is a lot to take in but the
record is varied and brings a fair amount of light and shade (or shades of
black, maybe) that makes the album work as a whole. There is no way you could
say that “The Nameless Elite”, say, is the same as “Yield or Die”.Asphyx have
always been quirky and this record is no different.
The
title track is epic in length and scope, allowing the beastly bass tone to be
heard clearly at the start. Just like that, the record is over. The title,
subject matter and delivery are all very appropriate for the current times we
find ourselves stumbling through. It is hard to say where “Necroceros”
will sit in their overall discography rankings, but I'm confident it will be
right up there. It is certainly better than “Death... The Brutal Way”
and “Incoming Death”. “Deathhammer” is a personal
favourite of mine... but this has all the elements that you could possibly want
from the band and has the production, vitality and songs to challenge anything
they have put out. Truly, Asphyx
are the band for these times.
Thouis really,
really good at being a (heavy) alt rock band. This EP, sibling to the full
length (“May Our Chambers Be Full”)that came out a
few months ago, also shares with it a spirit of the early 90s grunge era. The
fusion of Thou’sand Rundle’sthick guitars, dynamic songwriting,
extremely tasteful drumming, both clean and growled vocals, and a focus on
hooks makes for a sonic ride that I cannot get enough of.
The truth is that this does sound like
the leftovers, or b-sides, of the full length project. The truth is also that
these tracks are still of high quality. B-sides of one of 2020’s best records
still make for a phenomenal EP. Maybe the first song takes awhile to build up,
my only real complaint, but then the huge, disgusting guitars come in like a
runaway truck ramming into concrete. Our next tracks are just so damn
excellent. They drift perfectly from section to section with a display of
dynamic taste, versatility, energy, soul, and guitar riffs that Kim Thayil
probably wishes he had written. Finally, we conclude with a well executed cover
of The Cranberries’
“Hollywood” where Rundle’s
vocals are a highlight. As different as her style is from Dolores’ (RIP) she
did a fantastic job and the cover is a brilliant tribute.
Overall, like the full length before
it, these musicians combined their efforts and tastes into a phenomenal project
of 90s flavored sludgy alt metal. It feeds right into my love of artists like Deftones, Alice in Chains, Melvins, Neurosis, and the like.
The songwriting is so catchy and full of flavor that I think anyone who can
withstand screamed vocals will appreciate this sound (your dad will definitely
say he likes the song “but why do they have to scream?”). I really, really hope
that we will see more collaboration albums and EPs in the future.
Album Type: Full Length Date Released: 15/01/2021 Label: Nuclear
Blast
“Too Mean To Die” CD//DD//LP track
listing:
1. Zombie Apocalypse 2. Too Mean To Die 3. Overnight Sensation 4. No Ones Master 5. The Undertaker 6. Sucks To Be You 7. Symphony Of Pain 8. The Best Is Yet To Come 9. How Do We Sleep 10. Not My Problem 11. Samson And Delilah
The Review:
Accept are back in 2020 with another
polished album of stainless steel. Wolf Hoffman is now the sole original
member, but is very ably assisted by Mark Tornillo- now well established as the
band's modern era front man, but not by Peter Baltes on bass as he has departed
the band for, presumably, retirement.
Baltes was a consistent figure for the
band and a big part of their live show, but the band here are great. The info
sheet does not feature the names of the band members nor production and
engineering credits, sadly.
It
certainly sounds like an Andy Sneap production as the opener “Zombie Apocalypse” roars out from the
starting gate. This sounds like... modern day Accept.
That headbanging tempo and those agile riffs are in place and carry the opener admirably-
as they do the title track. It's pleasing that the band have gone for the
throat here. If “Blind Rage” promised much metal mayhem with its title but
actually delivered a rather measured hard rock/metal album, then this one
delivers on the promise made by the title. It's closer to “The Rise of Chaos” or “Stalingrad”
in style and approach.
From
there, the album delivers what fans will want from the band; AC/DC style hard rock, melodic but up tempo trad metal and
the harder tracks that fans such as I crave- in the style of the two openers
here. It's artfully crafted, with the flow of tracks maintaining a nice
dynamic. The songs are memorable and hooky with plenty of Accept
trademarks in there as well- the backing vocals and strong riffs are ever
present. If advance single “The
Undertaker” was a little too hard rock or Spinal Tap
for you, don't worry- there are nine other tracks that are nothing like it
here. I like that track, though, and enjoy the dark hard rock style.
While
there may be nothing here as dark or aggressive as some of the material on “Restless
and Wild”, the band know what they do well: big metal songs with catchy
choruses and superlative guitar playing. Whether it be the chugging of “Sucks To Be You” or the overtly
metallic “Symphony of Pain”, this is
prime Accept material. As I've stated in the past,
I love Tornillo as the front man; his voice is excellent yet again here. I
truly think that the band have now as many great albums in the Tornillo era as
they did with the iconic Udo. That takes nothing away from “Breaker”,
“Restless
and Wild”, “Balls to The Wall” and “Metal Heart”- they are all classics-
but other albums left a little to be desired. Even “Objection Overruled” was
a little flawed and front loaded.
As
is the case with Accept records of the modern era,
there is a ballad- “The Best Is Yet To
Come” fills that niche here. It's a good one, not overdone (I seem to be in
a minority with my dislike of “Shadow
Soldiers” on “Stalingrad”) and it acts as a good 'circuit break' from the
more vicious material on offer here. It's a hopeful and rather charming track.
The
album features eleven tracks total. It throws a couple of curveballs out too...
The aforementioned ballad is one and the instrumental closer “Samson and Delilah” is another. I
really enjoyed hearing that to finish the album off. It's a welcome move- not
that there is anything wrong with “How
Do We Sleep”, which is a rather introspective track, or the pedal to the
metal “Not My Problem”- which I
almost expected to be the last track when I heard it! It's nice to hear the
band trying something different and offering up a moody coda to this muscular
album.
Where
this record will sit in the pantheon of Accept classics is not
entirely clear after only a handful of listens. Of the latter day records, I
rate “Stalingrad” at the top with “Blood of Nations” just
below. “Rise of Chaos” comes next for me and then “Blind Rage” (which IS a
quality album, just too restrained for my tastes). Based on the qualities and
styles of those albums, I see “Too Mean To Die” sitting at least in
the middle of that pack.It may be the
case that it does nothing new, but so what? It sounds committed and vital with
plenty of enthusiasm. With Accept having now been
around for over forty years and there won't be too many more records, so this
is as welcome and familiar as an old friend. It's exactly what I want from the
band- an album as tough and polished as steel with a sharp edge.
A degree of antihumanism, both
philosophically and literally, has flown through the veins of black metal since
its founding. As the shock-value aspects (ie anti-Christendom, actual murder)
withered away over time due to oversaturation, more bands sought to position
their interests beyond the anthropocentrism of certain reactionary artists and
more aligned with environmentalist romanticism. This has been especially true
within the American/Cascadian scene. References to landscapes and preservation
grow in prominence over more traditional and human ideas such as mythology.
Botanistlies at the end
of this polarity. All remnants of human experience are removed in favor of our
chlorophyll-filled friends. Biosphere over anthrosphere. As silly as this may
appear on paper it makes sense as a reaction to black metal culture, taking the
ideas from bands like Wolves
in the Throne Roomto their radical end points. We all know the rumor about Ulverrecording in a forest.
Well, Botanistis the forest. And of
course ideology is meaningless without praxis. Botanist’spush beyond black metal (while staying within
the subgenre’s core elements) features the replacement of guitars with hammered
dulcimers, a stringed instrument that is struck with mallets. Again, this may
sound silly at first mention but it creates a feeling of melodicism and
atmosphere not too distant from other experimentalist extreme metal artists
such those already mentioned. This is achieved while also giving the project a
unique quality.
“Photosynthesis”
is the culmination of Botanist’sjourney after a decade.
While Botanisthas sought to become-plant
it has also been slowly becoming-Botanistthrough a series of releases, usually through Flenser, one of the prime exporters
of challenging and experimental artists today. Botanisthas made a name for itself as such a project
but past outputs, while generally great, have differed in both musical quality
and production value. “Photosynthesis”is the first time tracks
bring me pure pleasantness without the occasional distraction of “wow this is
really weird.” This album achieves Botanistat a high point, a coalescence of uniqueness and togetherness within the
post-black metal world. Botanist is still weird, yes, but it no longer sounds
as if that has been a goal in itself.
It is really amazing how great the
often-piano-like dirges of hammer dulcimers flow over the more familiar sounds
of aggressive drums and distorted bass. The singing vocals carry weight and
sensitivity, like a mysterious choir heard underneath the canopy during a
nightly hike, while the shrill screaming is more like a forceful declaration of
both a desire and a right to life. It is the language and refrain of the
vegetation around you, the human outsider, simply existing because it can.
We are brought beyond civilization,
beyond human. We explore that which is often cast aside by our anthropocentric
attitudes, especially in Western culture. There is more to life than 46
chromosomes and skin. To better understand ourselves we must occasionally cast aside
our humanity.Botanistholds its hands out to invite us to higher
thinking, to connectivity with that which we have segregated ourselves from.
1).
Dislocated
2). Everlong
3). Suckerpunch
4). Anthem
5). Diagnosis
6). TV Tan
7). The Jackson Whites
8). Let Em Go
9). Vanilla Radio
10). Urge
11). Mazel Tov Cocktail
12). Sick Of Drugs
13). Someone Who Won’t Let Me Go
14). The Revolution Will Be Televised
15). Caffeine Bomb
16). Love U Til I Don’t
17). I Wanna Go Where The People Go
The Review:
This
double live album celebrates The
Wildhearts' 30 year existence in some style. Culled from their 2019
tours, it is an extensive document of a band that really does have... songs.
Great songs. Catchy, riffy, endlessly playable songs.
For
even a casual fan there is so much to enjoy here. Of course, there are a fair
few of the big hits from over two decades ago- “Caffeine Bomb” is here, “I
wanna Go Where The People Go” closes the record- as well as mid period gems
such as “The Revolution Will Be Televised” and later material from “Rennaissance
Men” and so on.
The Wildhearts are a band I
have seen a fair few times over the years; at their own shows, supporting Motorhead, at
festivals, at swanky London venues and in a couple of smaller venues, too. They
are a band I hold in the highest regard, much like Brit noise monsters Raging Speedhorn, they
ventured to parts of Northern England where other bands didn't. I saw them in
1997 at The Cleethorpes Winter Gardens (supported by Doncaster's finest Groop Dogdrill). It was
an incredible gig. Everyone I knew went, as this was an EVENT. There were
hardly any bands that bothered coming to Grimsby/Cleethorpes but Ginger and the
boys did and it was nothing short of incendiary.
I
recall turning up at the venue and seeing Ginger at the stage door at the back.
Tall, tattooed, lean and the first man I had ever seen in real life wearing
leather trousers- that alone marked him in my mind as some kind of alien being,
beamed down to Humberside with a guitar and probably a load of drugs. They were
so good, so life affirming... the very essence of rock and roll. The gig has
stayed with me ever since. Ginger was great onstage, a natural frontman and
raconteur. I remember him praising Groop Dogdrill and wryly remarking: “Keep playing like that
and you'll be headlining this place one day....” Ha and indeed ha.
That
life force is still undimmed. The band and its members have had their ups and
downs over the years; suicide attempts, addiction, loss of limb(!), they've
been through it all and survived. Ginger is, in my view, one of the best
songwriters to have come out of the UK in the last thirty years and his oevre
is on full display here across these sprawling 17 tracks. The sound is big and
brash- the brief given to the producer was “Loud guitars and loud crowd.” That
accurately sums up what you get here- along with insanely beefy drums from
Ritch Battersby.
Simply
put, there is nothing wasted here, no weak tracks and nothing less than the
finest rock and roll band from England since Motorhead. It's a superb live record and one
that reminded me just what a force to be reckoned with The Wildhearts are and
how many great songs they've written over the years. Yes, I'm biased and
forever fated to look favourably on the band- nostalgia will do that to you.
But, as a not so dissimilar band once said; teenage dreams are hard to beat.
It's true: rock and roll of the finest vintage that reaps souls AND saves
lives.
