Heavy metal’s highway is stacked ten miles deep with bumper-to-bumper short-player traffic in 2013, and we’re doing our best to pick through the releases most likely to land on our readers’ collective radar. Here’s round number three of our ongoing EP cluster-bonk-gang-bang.
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The last effort from this Northern Virginia-based trio, 2012’s Corroded, was a grand grinding mash-up of ‘cores, both grind- and hard-, with a hearty dose of post-punk / noise-rock crash and bang, and all of it fueled by the sociopolitical anger of lead-Drugger Rich Johnson (also of Agoraphobic Nosebleed and formerly of Enemy Soil). Architectural Failures is stylistically no different, but it’s every bit as good, and it’s anything but rehashed or retread. Like its predecessor, it’s a killer burst of grind-punk-rock, as indebted to Fugazi and AmRep noise than to the grindcore purveyed by Johnson’s other bands.
The chaos of Johnson’s clanging guitar and Taryn Wilkinson’s gnarly bass seems like more than the sum of two people should. Top it off with Johnson’s hardcore-indebted shout, and the whole thing is a seething storm placed perpetually at the point of explosion, that anger perfectly displayed in the pummeling grind of closing number “Placing Bets.” Turn it up, and get pissed off for all the right reasons. [Andrew Edmunds]
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News of this release might’ve gone over like a champ if Darkthrone hadn’t opted to steer the ship away from churlish black metal four albums ago in favor of waters domineered by heavy metal’s progenitors. As it stands, however, word of Nocturno Culto’s desire to jump into “pure unbridled heavy metal excellence” mostly sparked folks in the know to wonder how the material might contrast to what’s been cranked out under the Darkthrone flag for the last eight years.
The short ‘n’ sweet: it’s not much of a stretch to imagine any of this EP’s material falling onto a Culto/Fenriz B-side. “Looking for an Answer” – the most infectious cut of the four – throws down a slightly cleaner vocal approach, which helps to separate the goose from the gander a bit, but the lead single that dropped a month ago – “Enlightening Strikes” – along with the instrumental title-track and closer “Last Solstice” (which, admittedly, explores some very rewarding lyrics: “Outside the castle walls / I saw your long black hair / A body to die for / Your face is so fair / Let’s see the world fall together!” – fantastic) all travel a hair too close to the gloomy, gravelly croaked trad-metal fare many of us already quite enjoy from Culto’s primary breadwinner.
The quality of the Receive‘s music isn’t really the unfavorable point here. It’s just that it’s so… familiar. If you’re really Interested in hearing prime movers going out on a limb and hitting the target, point your ears toward Shane Embury and Mitch Harris’ Absolute Power project that dropped a couple years back. Now that’s unexpected. Gift of Gods, as much as it bums me out to admit, comes across as something that’s been re-gifted. [Michael Wuensch]
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This may be the debut release for Secrets of the Sky, but it’s not the first time at the dance for some of those involved – which makes To Sail Black Waters all the more surprising. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, just keep on wondering. If they’re not going to publicize that information, then neither am I. Some things are best left a mystery. Thankfully, one of those things is not this EP, which should be promptly explored and consumed.
Consisting of four tracks clocking in at just over 40 minutes, this slab of progressive doom barely qualifies as an EP, but I’m not going to split hairs over it. Secrets of the Sky create massive soundscapes: drums and bass provide a lumbering, monolithic backbone for a three guitarist juggernaut, and keyboards and violin tastefully fill in whatever airspace remains. The crushing sounds are only occasionally tempered by softer acoustic moments, which is good because the accompanying clean vocals are their weakest facet. Most of the time it’s a raspy black metal-esque growl that perfectly accentuates the music beneath it. Fans of Insomnium, Agalloch, Opeth, and even Neurosis should be particularly interested in checking out the newest – and some of the heaviest – sounds coming from the Bay Area, CA. [Dave Pirtle]
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Released as a stop-gap between last year’s debut You Ruin Everything and a new album planned for next spring, Gaffe is an interesting development from these New York noise purveyors. While not deviating far from the Unsane/TAD/AmRep style of sludgy ’90s noise rock of the debut, Gaffe does show the band lightening up for a hint of melody. There’s hooks and space in the title cut that let each part breathe a bit more than usual, and their cover of Cheap Trick‘s “ELO Kiddies” takes the song to a dark place that brings to mind the Alice Cooper band circa 1971. It’s a poppy, malevolent sound with window-rattling bass. But the wall of molasses returns for their de-funkified and gut-churning cover of Betty Davis’ “If I’m in Luck I Might Get Picked Up” (here shortened to “If I’m In Luck”). It’s grinding and foul and wrong in all the right ways.
The two covers make Gaffe a curio, but a surprisingly engaging one. If some of the melodic touches make their way to the new record, it will definitely help Pigs stand out from the rest of the noise rock morass. [Erik Highter]
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The name Kuolemanlaakso – Finnish for “Death Valley” – might be a bit of a mouthful, but the music on Musta aurinko nousee is pretty darn easy to identify. Even before it becomes apparent that this band shares a vocalist with Swallow the Sun, the melodic doom/death style has poured out of opener “Me vaellamme yössä.” Pummeling, plodding, polished. Riffs are generally of the simple, slightly grooving variety, while dashes of (read: not quite enough) spooky keyboards add to the atmosphere.
Songs range from that signature mid-paced plod and even doomier terrain to almost fast passages and a touch of goth. But much like with his full time band, vocalist Kotamäki is the star, offering a full range of harshness but just destroying with his deep end growls, as if he’s intent on detuning his vocal cords to the extent that his six string bandmates have done. The man can just reach down for it when he so chooses. Overall, Kuolemanlaakso’s final product won’t exactly wow you with variety or complexity, but it sure packs a pretty wallop, and ought to please fans of this limited but increasingly rarely-practiced style. [Zach Duvall]
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Praised be! The first new October 31 material in eight years! Shit fire! It’s only a 7″!
Fret not, ye olde bängers, a brand new full-length is right around the corner via the tyrannical heavy metal hub, Hells Headbangers. In the meantime, Gone to the Devil offers up a ripping rendition of Uriah Heep‘s already ripping “Too Scared to Run,” plus a quick peek into what’s in store for the next wave from these guardians of the primeval flame: the ignited boot-to-the-chiclets that is “Gone to the Devil.”
Unbridled energy wrought in the same fires that birthed scores of paint-peelers in our distant past – October 31 return with an intense example of savage heavy metal that’s begging for a glossy [THIS IS HOW YOU FUCKING DO IT] sticker to fire onto the foreheads of the countless charlatans currently mewling about in today’s game. Scope target; exterminate target – it’s a beautifully simple directive. And it’s a snap to grasp not only because of the fiery music at hand, but also due to the fact that chief butcher Kingsley “King” Fowley (of the always lovable Deceased) roars through the cut like a deranged St. Bernard. Must. See. Them. Live. [Michael Wuensch]
