Missing Pieces: The Best Of What We Missed In 2023 So Far, Pt. 2

It’s time for Part 2 of our yearly round-up of all the great records we didn’t manage to cover in the first six months of the year. If you also missed Part 1, it’s available here, and stay tuned for one more to come…

FREEROAD ‒ DO WHAT YOU FEEL!

released January 27; Dying Victims Productions

Freewheelin’ and freeballin’ rock straight from the 70’s playbook! Burnin’ out of Monterray, Mexico, Freeroad’s Do What You Feel! debut feels like a bounty of lost jewels from an era–even the loose ‘n swingin’ production sounds like something dusted off from the back corner of a record shop! Don’t get ‘em twisted though, the recording is surprisingly clear. It hits and simply begging for a good crank of the volume. 

Ok, aesthetic established, but it’s only a point of note thanks to the virility of the songs. The lively, playful groove of the opener to the hard-rockin’ “Rock Chaser” set a mood, soulfully speaking the language of UFO and Thin Lizzy. Then “Pray For The King” swings the big cojones with a speedy little number that could as easily be attributed to the musk of the burnin’ rubber tempo on “Highway Star” mixed with the saccharine harmonized vocals of “Angel Witch” and the potent aggression of (Tygers Of Pan Tang’s) “Gangland.”

The B-side maintains a gallant stride, with the bouncy, bluesy “Nature Of Change” giving way to the top-down, carefree, wind-in-the-pubic-hair “Five Hours To Mexico.” By now, the band’s strengths are apparent–not only can they sack the hell out of a hook, but their bridges add a fresh and inspired dynamics to the songwriting. The unexpected, funky breaks in “Liar” bring a confident, whiskey-sipping, Nightlife sexiness to the whole affair that lays out the cheetah-print sheets for a seductive, fireside solo that somehow works the song back up to a street rock energy. Even closer “Twilight Row” highlights a more progressive edge of the band, taking the lightest of cues from Yes and Rush amongst its more easily digestible, straightforward rock edge.

Do What You Feel! hits all the right notes without feeling overly calculated. It’s ultimately comprised of not just an excellent understanding of the era they’re going for, but finding inspiration in it and delivering what amounts to good, heartfelt, free-spirited, and interesting Rock ‘n Roll Tunes. A release of particular note for 2023–or any year, really, thanks to Freeroad’s exceptionally timeless nature. [RYAN TYSINGER]

NEGATIVE VORTEX ‒ TOMB ABSOLUTE

released January 20; Sentient Ruin

With no disrespect to the fine degenerates at Sentient Ruin, one of the best compliments I can think to pay to Negative Vortex’s crushing debut album, Tomb Absolute, is that it sounds like it would fit in equally well on Lavadome Productions. To anyone who has kept up with Lavadome’s remarkable string of recent gems from the likes of Heaving Earth, Altars Ablaze, Beyond Mortal Dreams, and Garoted, this means that Negative Vortex’s death metal is serious but not ponderous, explosive but controlled, fiery yet heavy as a lead-coated Cadillac dropped into Jupiter’s 2.528g gravity.

The dense, claustrophobic racket churned out by the Brazilian-born, US-based duo of Negative Vortex is a palpable demonstration of the idea that less is more, but sometimes more is also more. Each lengthy song unspools its razor-sharp line and then, sometimes directly and sometimes with great, stalking patience, reels it in. Influences range from old death metal to doom death metal to sad death metal to fast death metal, so you’ll likely hear gruesome wads of Autopsy or Coffins, spitfire blasts of Krisiun or Execration (particularly on the extra flail-y “Enthroned Suffering”), and the muck and scour of classic Asphyx in both the guitar and vocal tone.

If I have painted the picture insufficiently: Tomb Absolute is heavy as all goddamned heck. Stick it in your ears and cast an immediate obsidian-dark cloud over even the clearest of sapphire-gauze skies. [DAN OBSTKRIEG]

ANTHEM ‒ CRIMSON & JET BLACK

released April 21; Reaper Entertainment

Despite having been at it for more than 40 years, Japan’s Anthem sounds fresh and invigorated on Crimson & Jet Black, which is no surprise to anyone who’s kept up with their post-reunion output. True to their bearing in the new millennium, Anthem’s twentieth album generates palpable energy from the arc between traditional and power metal, bursting from the gate and coursing unremittingly through 11 songs in just under an hour. That album cover gets at it pretty well, actually: bright, shiny, dark in turns, strong and agile, somehow elegant in its ferocity.

There’s really nothing new at all on Crimson & Jet Black, which is more a testament to the band’s consistent quality than any sort of knock on their creativity. This isn’t a band seeking to discover themselves, after all, to define their creative trajectory. When you’ve been making kick ass heavy metal since 1981, there’s nothing left to prove but that you still have fun making it and, shoowee, is this band ever having fun on this album. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, for sure, but even as it gets dark and foreboding there is an epic and ascendant strength signifying a connectedness among the members that can only come from years and even decades of playing together. And, if the power in Yukio Marikowa’s voice, the agility in Akio Shimizu’s fretwork, and the vigor in the rhythm section are any indication, there’s plenty of fire left in the forge. [LONE WATIE]

ANUBIS GATE ‒ INTERFERENCE

released June 2; No Dust Records

There are very few bands, if any, that sound anything like Denmark’s Anubis Gate. That may be even more true now than was the case almost twenty years ago, with the band’s debut, Purification. And even as jaded as I am, there are still a few bands that stoke the fire. Anubis Gate is one of those bands.

That isn’t to say that I didn’t approach Interference, the band’s eighth full-length (of originals) with some trepidation. As much as I enjoyed the band’s 2020 covers album, Covered in Colours, the sheer variety of artists covered made me slightly concerned that they were going to spread themselves a bit thin sonically.

In hindsight, that concern was somewhat naïve—mostly because Anubis Gate has never shied from pushing things sonically and they’ve always knocked it firmly out of the park regardless. Interference is no exception.

Anubis Gate layers their music just enough that two people can hear two very different things—so, “grain of salt” and all—but what stood out to me here, at least initially, was the dissonance between the surprisingly poppy stuff such as “Emergence,” “The Phoenix,” and “Equations,” and the sheer density of songs such as the title track, “World of Clay,” and “The Intergalactic Dream of Stardom.” In other words, there’s even more to unpack than what one would normally expect from this band.

Quickly, though, as my feet settled, and the songs began to feel more lived in—and less like quicksand–Interference took a more cognizable form. And when I felt comfortable enough to take a real look around, I was left with the impression that I was listening to something quite special. That feeling hasn’t left me since. Anubis Gate did it again. [CHRIS C]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7YE0XD43ZU

AXIS OF DESPAIR / BRAINWASHER ‒ SPLIT

released Feb 8; Flyktsoda Records

Now nearly two decades removed from the untimely (and eternally heartbreaking) demise of the almighty Nasum, Anders Jacobsen is still grinding away, and we’re all the better for it. Coldworker came and went, and Axis Of Despair has settled in, a decade old now, and bringing a raw and vicious grindcore sound that’s reminiscent of Scandinavian classics, but not a direct copy of their forebears.

With splits, I’m never sure which band to tackle first, but here, the legacy reigns supreme, so first up is Anders and Axis, a killer collective of Swedish all-stars, comprised of three-fourths of Coldworker plus Kristofer Jankarls from Infanticide and Livet Som Insats. “Phantom Fiend” blasts out of the gate with the requisite slicing riffage and frantic blasting, slowing down to lead into the almost-grooving intro of “To Hell With Tomorrow.” All four minutes of the Axis side is pure savagery, tightly wound but possessing that certain punky looseness that lends itself so well to great grinding. Final track “Ripped Off And Left Behind” is the side’s highest point among high points, a short, sweet, rocking and rollicking ride that perfectly encapsulates the fast and furious aesthetic.

On the flip side, thrashing bashers Brainwasher match suit admirably. After a misleading introduction (wherein the production is thin, weak, before it finally kicks in), this half settles into an absolutely ripping punkish rage, pure fury driven by Victor Berglund’s drums, beneath Imre Göthe’s raw-throated growls. This isn’t rocket science — merely grindcore. The riffs chunk along, cycle and spin, twist and turn, and the rhythms never relent. The vocals are rough, raw, sore-throat growls. But it’s infectious as hell, undeniable energy. By the time the swaggering breakdown hits in the latter half of “Perpetual Conflict,” it’s evident that this is a meeting of two top-notch grind outfits, and that’s the whole point. Grindcore splits are the best, and they’re almost never better than this. [ANDREW EDMUNDS]

MOURNFUL CONGREGATION ‒ THE EXUVIAE OF GODS – PART II

released May 26; Osmose

As this is a part deux you might be aware that the title suggests a related prior EP (a review of that one is here). Unshockingly, the two EPs make perfect sense when spun back-to-back-and-a-belly-to-belly.

As my coal mine supervisor said in his review, the length doesn’t “quite create the kind of extended mope session” as their prior LPs but guess what? The two EPs together certainly do. And, as Mournful Congregation is potentially the most underrated funeral doom band in existence, it’s an experience I recommend as much as I would recommend being vaccinated for The Plague circa 1345.

Mournful Congregation has proven, time and again, that all their works are required listening for any fan of the genre. Whether you have forty-ish minutes to spare or the full eighty for both EPs, this is a work you absolutely need to dive head first into. [WILLIAM OF UR-SAG]

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