ALBUM REVIEW: Dead Cross - "Dead Cross"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 04/08/2017

Label: Ipecac Recordings |

Three One G

While Dead Cross don’t quite deliver the all-out face-melting insanity you may expect from their constituent parts, this debut is still an exhilarating burst of queasy punk rock mayhem that reminds most young pretenders who’s in charge.

“Dead Cross” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Seizure and Desist
2. Idiopathic
3. Obedience School
4. Shillelagh
5. Bela Lugosi’s Dead
6. Divine Filth
7. Grave Slave
8. The Future Has Been Cancelled
9. Gag Reflex
10. Church of the Motherfuckers

The Review:

It’s impossible not to get excited about the talent gathered to form Dead Cross. Any new project from Mike Patton comes with high expectations, but throw in the mighty drum skills of Dave Lombardo, The Locust’s Justin Pearson on bass and Festival Of Dead Deer’s Michael Crain unleashing six-string carnage and anticipation goes through the roof.

What’s most apparent on the band’s debut LP is that they sound like they are having a total blast. Dead Cross’ blend of no-nonsense hardcore punk, restless metal and goth-tinged weirdness may be slightly more straightforward than the band member’s career peaks but it packs a real punch.

The highlights of this album come when Dead Cross switch between breathless intensity and slower sections within the space of a track. “Idiopathic” and “Obedience School” are sub-three minute epics that find the band ripping through furious riffs and sections of reverb-assisted grandeur. This backdrop of ever-changing sounds and moods give Patton freedom to unleash his full arsenal of vocal talents from smooth crooning to incomprehensible gurgles and screams. Most disturbing is his mumbled utterances of “Tampax” over the bizarre locked groove that ends “Gag Reflex”.

“Shillelagh” is the closest Dead Cross get to Faith No More territory with a strong “King For A Day...” feel to its ever-shifting punk rock churn. The second half of the album finds the band channelling the spirit of Pearson and Crain’s 31G Records past, particularly the off-kilter rock’n’roll discord of “The Future Has Been Cancelled”. The only slight misfire here is their cover of Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”. They deliver a spirited version of the track but its presence in the middle of the LP is jarring and disrupts its breakneck flow.

While Dead Cross don’t quite deliver the all-out face-melting insanity you may expect from their constituent parts, this debut is still an exhilarating burst of queasy punk rock mayhem that reminds most young pretenders who’s in charge.

“Dead Cross” is available here

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

FOR THOSE ABOOT TO ROCK: Riffs of Canada with Jean Mustard (British Columbia)

By: Mark Tremblay

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 29/04/2017

Label: Independent

“Sonic Jam” DD track listing:

1). Stinkbomb

2). Under The Oceans Maybe I Know

3). A Version  Of Black Pigeon

4). Yo Dude

5). There Was A Rhino

6). B

7). Afro Lavine.....to Be Continued

The Review:

Jean Mustard is the sonic equivalent of an anxiety attack and “Sonic Jam” sounds like the band took everything they listen to, and tossed into a blender to see what came out. If you enjoy any combination of sludge metal, noise rock, indie rock, and jazz, this record is right up your alley.

The EP opens with a dizzying track “Under The Oceans Maybe I Know”; picture The Dillinger Escape Plan with beat poetry vocals. Traditional song structures are thrown completely out the window with this EP, as each of these songs have moments pasted together that make no sense, and yet they work. The drumming plays a myriad of jazz beats. These beats pair perfectly with the cacophony of sound, and helps transition all of the hairpin tempo changes on “Sonic Jam”.

 “Yo Dude” acts as a palette cleanser for the listener before being pummelled into the ground with the albums heaviest of riffs. The EP ends with its heaviest track, “Afro Lavine...To be Continued”, which consists of one extremely heavy slow riff. Overall, the EP is a breath of fresh air into the sludge metal genre. If you enjoy bands like Mare and Faith no More, this is for you.

“Sonic Jam” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

TRACK PREMIERE: Manchester's gonzo sludge triplets Under display their "Innards"

Under are a trio from Stockport, Greater Manchester. Though rooted in the blueprints of sludge and doom metal, their sound is harder to pin down with elements of prog, noise and avant garde creeping in. Under play with jagged, slow, off kilter riffs that tease the listener into a false sense of security. With dark and abstract lyricism evoking a trippy and sinister unease, the trio cite Swans, Mr. Bungle, Melvins and Radiohead as prime influences.

After the success of their debut EP 'First Attempt', Under built up a solid reputation playing frequent live shows in and out of Manchester and in 2016 they embarked on a successful UK mini-tour with Kurokuma.

'Slick' is their highly anticipated debut full length album, completely self produced and recorded by the band themselves. The trio have successfully built on everything they have been working towards, carefully fine-tuning every detail on the record. This eclectic listen is chock full of crushing riffs, odd time signatures, and a mixture of aggressive screaming vocals juxtaposed against a backdrop of more relaxed tripped out clean sections. With all three band members providing vocals, often harmonising together to create epic melodic textures. The record's bizarre lyrics, out there vibes and unpredictability will surely pull in listeners for repeat listens. 

'Slick' is destined to be one of those special records where you hear something new with each listen and today we’re excited to premiere a track from the album ahead of its official release via APF Records, ahead of its official release on May 31st 2017.  So if you’re fan of Melvins, Big Business, Swans, Faith No More, Dillinger Escape Plan, Mr. Bungle, check out the track “Innards” below.  'Slick' will be initially released on CD and Digital formats. So be sure to preorder a copy here

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

REVIEW: Grizzlor / Godstopper - "Grizzlor / Godstopper 7inch"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: 7inch

Date Released: 17/02/2017

Label: Corpse Flower Records

 

Overall this is an excellent split that showcases two awesome bands with differing styles united in their bizarre approach and love of the riff.

“Grizzlor/Godstopper 7”//DD track listing:

1). Grizzlor – Are You Doing Your Job?

2). Grizzlor – Jack and Diane

3). Godstopper – Down Here For Long

4). Godstopper - Cellphane

The Review:

Corpse Flower Records have brought together two titans of oddball noise rock in the form of Grizzlor and Godstopper to create a killer split 7”.

New Haven’s Grizzlor came to my attention with their mighty 2015 7” “Cycloptic”. This time the band have slowed the tempo slightly to pack two songs into seven minutes, making these tracks almost prog in length compared to their previous output. Their unique brand of lurid, sludgy weirdness is as potent as ever though coming across like the Melvins providing a twisted soundtrack to Saturday morning kid’s cartoons. “Are You Doing Your Job?” sees the band expand their twisted surf edge in the form of unhinged reverbed-out guitar solo while “Jack and Diane” is a perkier slice of damaged punk rock. These two tracks offer a tantalising glimpse of Grizzlor’s power and hopefully they will be back soon with a longer release.

This split is my first taste of Godstopper and it has definitely made me hungry for more. The Toronto quartet deliver two tracks of wildly contrasting style but both of high quality. “Down Here For Long” is the heaviest track on the record, with crunching stop/start riffs giving way to outbursts of glorious Torche style melodic sludge. “Cellophane” provides a complete change of pace in the form of a strange power ballad. Consisting mostly of sparse guitar, piano and rim clicks, it’s a catchy tune that has hints of Faith No More’s quieter moments, particularly during the brief eruption of distortion. 

Overall this is an excellent split that showcases two awesome bands with differing styles united in their bizarre approach and love of the riff.

“Grizzlor/Godstopper 7” is available here

Band info: facebookgrizzlordestroys || facebookgodstopperband

The Sludgelord's Sour 16 for April 2015

Welcome to The Sludgelord’s Sour 16. Each month, you the reader are unwittingly compiling a list of the top 16 records of the month, covering all genres of metal, but predominately the best the doom, sludge, stoner-psychedelic genres have to offer. I have been promising to do this since the beginning of the year and in essence you can call it what you wish, is it chart? Not really.  It is merely the 16 records you guys have been most interested in over the last month and you have been checking out on this very page.

Our idea for this thing was to turn the power over to you guys, yes it would be easy for us to choose our favourite records of the months, however it is you the reader, the fans that support these bands, buy their records and attend their shows.  So here is the inarguable Sour 16, the 16 records you’re most looking forward too or are currently checking out.  Check em out, spread the word and perhaps revisit some records you may have overlooked.  

The results are compiled based on page views alone and calibrated into the list below. So without further ado, this is the Sour 16. So until next month, roll up, kick back, chug a beer and Hail the riff! All review links, are held under the artwork.   

  

16). Wild Throne – ‘War Is A Romance’ (299 views)

Read the review

15). Ghold – ‘Of Ruin’ (301 views)

Read the review

14). Iced Out – ‘Man’s Ruin’ (304 views)

Read the review

13). Abrahma – ‘Reflections in the Bowels of the Bird’ (305 views)

Read the review

12). Domovoyd – ‘Domovoyd’ (314 views)

Read the review

11). Holy Serpent – ‘Holy Serpent’ (315 views)

Read the review

10). Fister – ‘VI’ (322 views)

Read the review

9). Deep Sea Thunder Beast – ‘So Goes The Madness’ (336 views)

Read the review

8). War Iron – ‘Precession of the Equinoxes’ (361 views)

Read the review

7). Drudkh – ‘A Furrow Cut Short’ (381 views)

Read the review

6). Acid King – ‘Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere’  (383 views)

Read the review

5). Weedpecker – ‘II’ (385 views)

Read the review

4). Red Mountains – ‘Sun’ (475 views)

Read the review

3). The Atomic Bitchwax – ‘Gravitron’ (618 views)

Read the review

2). Stonebirds – ‘Into The Fog...And The Filty Air’ (649 views)

Read the review

1). Faith No More – ‘Sol InVictus’ (985 views)

Read the review

Faith No More - 'Sol Invictus' (Album Review)

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 18 May 2015

Label: Ipecac Recordings/

Reclamation Recordings

‘Sol Invictus’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. "Sol Invictus"
2. "Superhero"
3. "Sunny Side Up"
4. "Separation Anxiety"
5. "Cone of Shame"
6. "Rise of the Fall"
7. "Black Friday"
8. "Motherfucker"
9. "Matador"
10. "From the Dead"

Faith No More is

Mike Patton | vocals

Jon Hudson | Guitars

Billy Gould | Bass

Roddy Bottum | Keyboards

Mike Bordin | Drums

Review:

‘Sol Invictus’ is an album that only Faith No More could have produced. Unique and flavoursome, it bastardises and mutilates a plethora of styles and moods, moulding them to the shape of their own distinct musical mantra. Patton is on tremendous form, his caustic and witty lyrics in many ways the centrepiece to the record. He's the figurehead, the father figure even, of a dysfunctional family befitting of the silver screen; such is the excitement of the sparks the interweaving personalities of this band create when living alongside one another. But it's that perfect disharmony that we as the viewer, or indeed listener in this instance, love to see, it's what got us hooked in the first place.

The keys of Roddy Bottum are the musical voicing of the creepy uncle of the family, he acts dramatically, forcefully even, when all else in the house is quiet. When the atmosphere is rowdy meanwhile, you'll find him yearning sorrowfully out the way in the corner. The rhythm section is either side to the multi-personality of the Mother Hen. Half worried and frantic carer, half the proud and headstrong that, when called upon, will always pull her family through whatever hardship may come their way. Jon Hudson's guitars are very much the naughty son, the high octane, prank-making wild child who never does as he's told. Musically there's a shadowy moodiness to it that, somehow, couples itself with an edgy, punk driven energy when it should be a confusing juxtaposition. Similarities between guitars and keyboards are innate, and so often tangle up in the most inspiring of ways.

As a collective they are forever unpredictable. They slap you in the face when you expected a kick in the balls, they'll drop a punchline just as anger bubbles uncontrollably out of your throat. Lest we forget that 18 years is a hell of a long time away from the limelight. Sure, they've been ever-present on the European festival circuit since their 2009 reformation, a resurrection crowned with a headline performance at Donnington Park, but they've not been present like this in nearly two decades. Of course, adrenalised journalists will be dipping their quills in their finest ink to wax lyrical about how this 40 minute long record might just be one of the finest comebacks in rock n' roll history - and they'll be too quick to drop that clichéd and devalued c word - but I don't think we should seem so surprised. ‘Sol Invictus’ is an album that only Faith No More can make because there is simply no one like them. They're special, undeniably so; they don't fit into any category you may try and box them into, they swim upstream, alien to any contemporary movement that flows around them. As a record, it goes to great lengths to confirm that, but it's all done so effortlessly. They make 18 years in limbo worth it, more so forgotten about entirely, the second that first, crooked piano chord sways into motion like a wind-up toy.

The whole thing plays out very theatrically, raising its curtains to the dark and twisted inner workings of the Californian quintet's brain.  But at the same time, it's also a very delicate beginning. You'd think after such a long time away from the foray would see them turbo charged and going for the jugular from the off, but no. It emphasises the band's eccentric nature, never once do they fall in line with your predictions and it works brilliantly. The sulking theatrics of the title track have you hanging on a thread, waiting for the next move and it's one which comes in the form of an instant classic. ‘Superhero’ is a ravenous, blood thirsty monster of a song, driven by the apathetic spit of Patton's lyrics. The band are tightly coiled around one another here, an explosion of fast paced guitars, bass and drums who's aural submission timelessly makes room for an intelligent melodicism that seduces you like Eve with the apple.

What's most impressive about ‘Sol Invictus’ is how the band are able to resonate every mood, style and aesthetic that makes up this most complex of mosaic sounds without every letting the momentum slip. ‘Sunny Side Up’ and ‘Black Friday’ unmask their more poppy, light hearted side with hip shaking rhythms and a bright musicality while the veneering and venomous ‘Matador’ sounds at points like a dark flamenco musical, a lavishly decorated stage and rapt audience jolting into your imagination in an instant. The grinding bass and snarling vocals on ‘Separation Anxiety’ and the contemptuously crazed and evil ‘Cone of Shame’ then, are very much the flip side of the album’s happier songs. The former unravels maniacally, every spec of the canvas painted with just the right colour in just the right places, the drum fills are on point, the crescendo lurching impeccably. The latter though, is simply a filthy, love-at-first-listen kind of song. It leaves you breathless. ‘Motherfucker’ is a piece of nightmarish prose from Patton, backed suitably by his cohorts. It’s poetry. If Jim Morrison was still around today, he’d be writing songs like this.

You could sit and list every element of spectacle about this album, every moment that grips you vice-like – such is the attention to detail here. But all you really need to know is this: ‘Sol Invictus’ sounds like Faith No More and no one else. It’s diverse, thrilling. The burdening weight of expectancy may have hinged on their shoulders, the desperation from the fans of this record being worth the slow and painful wait, but Faith No More didn’t even seem to notice. They perform like they never went away and, when it sucks you in, it honestly feels like they never did.   

Words: Phil Weller

‘Sol Invictus’ is available USA and Europe

For more information:

Official: http://www.fnm.com/ | Tweet: https://twitter.com/FaithNoMore

Like: https://www.facebook.com/faithnomore

The Sludgelord News: FAITH NO MORE STREAM “SUPERHERO” VIA MARVEL.COM

Faith No More press photo (credit: Dustin Rabin)

  SOL INVICTUS COVER ART REVEALED; DIGITAL PRE-ORDERS AVAILABLE NOW FOR MAY 19 RELEASE

SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2015 – Faith No More offer up a second song from their forthcoming album, Sol Invictus (May 19, Reclamation Recordings/Ipecac Recordings), with the single “Superhero” currently streaming via Marvel.com (http://marvel.com/news/comics/24157/faith_no_more_brings_superhero_to_marvel).

The band has also revealed the cover art for Sol Invictus, which features an image from Ossian Brown, a member of Coil and Cyclobe, who also published the book “Haunted Air” in 2010.

Sol Invictus digital pre-orders, which feature an instant download of the single as well as the previously released song, “Motherfucker,” are available now via iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sol-invictus/id968564846?ls=1).  “Superhero” will be available as a limited edition 7-inch single on March 17.  The song made its worldwide radio premiere last night on BBC Radio 1’s Rock Show with Dan Carter.

Sol Invictus track list:

1. Sol Invictus
2. Superhero
3. Sunny Side Up
4. Separation Anxiety
5. Cone of Shame
6. Rise Of The Fall
7. Black Friday
8. Motherfucker
9. Matador
10. From The Dead

The Bay Area band recently announced their first North American tour since 2010, with all dates sold out upon on-sale. 

Faith No More tour dates:

March 3     Auckland, New Zealand     WestFest

April 15     Vancouver, BC     PNE Forum

April 16     Seattle, WA     Paramount Theater

April 17     Portland, OR     Keller Auditorium

April 19     San Francisco, CA     Warfield

April 20     San Francisco, CA     Warfield

April 22     Los Angeles, CA     The Wiltern

April 23     Los Angeles, CA     The Wiltern

April 24     Los Angeles, CA     The Wiltern

April 25     Santa Ana, CA     The Observatory

May 7     Chicago, IL     Concord Music Hall

May 8    Detroit, MI     The Fillmore

May 9     Toronto, ON     Sony Centre for the Performing Arts

May 11     Boston, MA     Orpheum Theatre

May 13     New York, NY     Webster Hall

May 14     New York, NY     Webster Hall

May 15     Philadelphia, PA     Electric Factory

May 29     Nurburgring, Germany     Grune Holle Festival

May 31     Munich, Germany     Rockavaria Festival

June 2     Milan, Italy     Sonisphere

June 4     Vienna, Austria     Vienna Rocks Festival

June 5     Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic     Rock For People Festival

June 6     Berlin, Germany     Zitadelle Spandau

June 8     Krakow, Poland     Tauron Arena

June 12     Landgraaf, Netherlands     Pinkpop Festival

June 13     Donington, UK     Download Festival

June 20     Clisson, France     Hellfest

June 21     Dessel, Belgium     Graspop Festival

June 23     Hamburg, Germany     Sporthalle Hamburg

June 24 - 27     Seinajoki, Finland     Provinssi

June 25 – 27    Norrkoping, Sweden     Bravalla Festival

June 28     Odense, Denmark     Tinderbox

Aug. 7 – 9     Montreal, QC     Heavy Montreal

Sept. 24 – 27     Rio de Janeiro, Brazil     Rock in Rio

-30-

www.fnm.com

www.facebook.com/officialfnm

www.twitter.com/faithnomore

Source: Speakeasy PR