Originally written by Matt Longo
Before I came to Last Rites (then Metal Review), I was still writing fairly regular articles on my site, Mind over Metal. I compiled an article twenty months ago with an animal theme, and since there also seemed to be a deluge of music with animals in the names during the last quarter of 2013, I decided to resurrect the idea for my final contributions of the year …y’know, apart from the lists of DOOM.
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BAT- PRIMITIVE AGE [TANKCRIMES]
This nasty little beast is a crust-a-licious demo-nic hybrid of ugly gutter thrash with a vicious punk spirit and a dose of injected blackness. Jump back 30 years to an uncomfortable-yet-awesome three-way between Cronos, Lemmy, and Tom Warrior (or, whatever, Satanic Slaughter) — then BOOM, Bat!
A close 21st-century equivalent would be Midnight, only with less sleazy Satanic debauchery and more of an all-encompassing generalized rebelliousness. It’s a Chiropterrific 13:37 of hellacious hijinks, and its elite underground members sound solid, with pedigrees that spread from D.R.I. to Cannabis Corpse to Municipal Waste.
Released on cassette because we are horrible people, but also via digital download because we are capable of reason, Primitive Age sounds muddy as fuck, yet hits a discernable sweet spot where everything is pretty audible. At least they didn’t make it music for echolocation only; they DID make it free at http://bewareofthebat.bandcamp.com. 8/10
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HARM WÜLF – THERE’S HONEY IN THE SOIL SO WE WAIT FOR THE TILL [DEATHWISH]
The better-known music from the mainman behind Harm Wülf would be better suited on a bill with Bat — Blacklisted is hardcore punk from Philly. Or they were, anyway. It seems like the longer the album names get, the further George Hirsch stretches from his roots. Blacklisted’s No One Deserves to be Here More Than Me ventured into grunge-y territories, and now Harm Wülf’s There’s Honey in the Soil So We Wait for the Till is largely acoustic.
Hirsch selectively adds shade where needed: sound samples from The Seventh Seal in “Oldfur”; electric elements and backup vocals in “Silk Soul”; additional percussion in “More Weight” and the title track. Considering the overall history, the most obvious comparison would be to Ancient VVisdom — except, funny enough, like the Bat–Midnight parallel above, Harm Wülf is also markedly less Satanic. Hirsch’s personal project serves as an interesting stopgap before a new Blacklisted album likely drops (it’s been since 2009), but if he pursues a solo route again, I’d like to hear these harmonies more clearly differentiated. Something in the strums lacks color, and while the vocals are pleasant, the comforting blanket of fuzz also makes everything bleed together. 6/10
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THE LION’S DAUGHTER AND INDIAN BLANKET – A BLACK SEA [GOOD DIE YOUNG MUSIC]
Alright, now THIS is what I’m talking about! If we’re gonna be serious about blending genres, let’s get fucking adventurous. Progressive sludge may have the momentum of molasses, but it gets extra sweet when it fully melds with folk sensibilities.
It flows best with a doomy backdrop and the more delicate instruments — like violin, banjo, and mandolin — front and center (dig that balance in “Gods Much More Terrible”). They even speed things up in tracks like “Swann”, packing a merciless wallop following the intro’s gently feinted strains. Echoes of the American Southwest radiate from the peyote-fueled acoustic spirit journey of “A Song for the Devil”, and “Timeless Waters” brings the bass up in a body-moving mantric instrumental opposite delicately shimmering strings. Bits of blackness creep deeply into “Sea of Trees” between confident gallops and triumphant battle cries, while curiously titled closer “That Place” brings things to a quietly mournful conclusion, dripping with nostalgia in all the right ways.
The Indian Blanket folks make a habit of collaboration, and this journey with The Lion’s Daughter is likely successful due to the chemistry between the two groups; they may be separate entities, but A Black Sea is a perfect example of that old trope ‘greater than the sum of its parts’. 8.5/10
http://thelionsdaughter.bandcamp.com/
http://indianblanket.bandcamp.com/
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PIGS – GAFFE [SOLAR FLARE RECORDS]
I forgot that Erik Highter scribbled about Pigs in the last EP roundup Still Keeping it Short, Stupid — hell, that may even be why I remembered to listen to it — which makes the title of the EP all the more apt, considering I mapped out a review before double-checking our articles first. So since Highter hit many of the important musical points already, we could talk about the significance of their lowercase cursive band logo in all of its ostensibly offhand, crudely scrawled, unassuming glory. Or we could examine their choices of cover tunes, further suggesting the direction they may be headed on their next full length.
Cheap Trick seems strange on the surface if one’s frame of reference is mainly commercial radio, however Pigs chose one of the most driving from the Cheap Trick self-titled debut, when they were still wrangling their raw live sound and before they became power pop arena icons. “ELO Kiddies” hasn’t been widely covered, but Betty Davis’s “If I’m in Luck I Might Get Picked Up” was recently covered by Iggy Pop and the Zig-Zags last year.
Pigs takes the spirit of that interpretation and then drags it along at an agonizing crawl, just past the seven-minute mark. These boys get so damn nasty, I wouldn’t be surprised if two of them were named Knobbs and Sags. Don’t dismiss the din; it sounds like the NYC trio knows how to work it. 8/10
