Metal is one of those genres of music where being obscurity is no indication of quality. I get a fair number of emails each week from people looking to have their new metal projects reviewed and I always feel little guilty because I never get around to even saying more than five words about any of them. Not that I'm obliged to talk about anything anyone ever sends me, but a lot of the stuff I get sent is really good and I want other people to hear it! That's why I'm starting a new segment for the blog: Metal Monday.
Every two weeks (maybe) I'll do a quick run down of some of the underground releases that I've run across and that I think are worth sharing. What counts as underground? Well for starters, unsigned bands, or bands that are on labels smaller than Nuclear Blast, Relapse, etc... Also, bands with small social media followings or who aren't covered in any depth by the major music pubs. I don't know. Underground is kind of a fuzzy term and I'm not even particularly married to my own definition of it (as accurate as I believe it to be). Maybe I'll do a Century Media release run-down at some point. We'll see what happens. Right now the segment is taking the form of short reviews, but it may evolve into a column in future editions. I treat this blog like a living thing. I give it what it needs and let it take on the form it needs to.
Anyway, enough filler, let's get to the killer (recommendations)!
Heavy Sentence - Bang To Rights (Dying Victims Productions)
Spellbound Suffering is the second EP from Toronto's Phantom Crawl. It was released in 2020 along with their first EP Grotesque Seance, and it is out via Sewer Rot Records, who also dropped some killer albums by groups like Mortuary Spawn (who I've reviewed here) and Celestial Sancutary (who I talked about here). A lot of bands get labeled OSDM when they're actually doing something you would never have heard back in 1989 (see Tomb Mold's Planetary Clairvoyance). Phantom Crawl is a pretty gleeful outlier here in that Spellbound Suffering actually does sound an awful lot like classic Obituary- complete with big ballsy, thrash leads, grooves that feel like they are constantly at war with the backbeat, and of course, super grainy production. The most distinguishing aspect of the band's sound though is the vocals. These aural eruptions sound totally wet and degenerate. Completely sapped of their humanity and decency. Like a minister with a curse on his head, slowly turning into a boar on the steps of his chapple during a late summer thundershower. It sounds like the singer is literally burping and vomiting some of his lyrics. It's disgusting and I love it.
I came to metal through punk, so any band that combines the two is alright in my book. And for my money, the dynamic German grindcore band Lifetaker really hits this musical and cultural confluence right between the eyes- exists in a glorious cloud of pink mist on their latest EP Pit Viper. The album is a follow up to their LP Night Intruder, also released in 2020, and takes a more powerviolence approach to their sludgy, pernicious churn. This is a vicious little album that will take a larger bite out of your than you'd expect, based on the run time and the fact that it's coming on the heels of an already ferocious LP. There are a couple of moments here that sound like pure noise, but once the band is able to get their footing, they sound extremely capable and ready to split your head like and katana blade gliding through an apple. At their best on Pit Viper, Lifetaker takes on the aesthetic and presence of Nails, rapidly phase shifting with Agoraphobic Nosebleed, until they become a single abomination, Brundlefly style. Get ready to feel the sting of Pit Viper in your veins!
