Metal Monday: Ninth Circle, Animalize, Soul Remnants, and Oxygen Destroyer

It's another Metal Monday folks. That special moment every couple of weeks when I plug some metal releases that I've been listening to. One of the greatest aspects of heavy metal is that it tends to get right to the point. To that end... 

Ninth Circle - Dis, Emerge (Self-Released)

If you're going to go to hell, why stop at the fourth, fifth, or even eighth ring? Just go all the way. Dive head first into the center of the abyss and give it some gusto! Who knows? The swirl of chaos and disembodied horror might even rise to meet you. That seems to be the hope on Dis, Emerge, the debut from Texas blackened crust and thrash band Ninth Circle. Its a grizzly and well-bile-oiled monstrosity that forges a path to its own damnable ends without restraint or remorse, sounding like some twisted spiritual bonding of Kvelertak and Watain and breath of fresh, cold hell to set the mood at a backyard beer fest near you. It will inspire a mosh of revenants so amusingly frenetic and foul that it could cause the devil to heave up partially masticated bits of Judas all over his hoves from a combination of motion-sickness and excitement. Need I go on? Dis, Emerge is disambiguously good at being bad.  

Animalize - Tapes from the Crypt (Dying Victims Productions)

Resuscitated by popular demand, France's Animalize reissued their 2020 debut Tapes from the Crypt on vinyl earlier this year. It's not hard to understand the demand once you've seen this beast in the wild- its a leopard-printed burst of deadly rock and roll fury, swift as a jungle cat, determined as a dive-bombing eagle, and proud as a lion extracting a rib from a vanquished gazelle (or luckless tourist). Tracks like "Jungle Dance" are crowd-pleasing frolics played at speeds that would give Enforcer whiplash, while hungry numbers like "Meatnight Race" combine the tasty licks and camp of classic-era hair metal with the deadly resolve and executioner's grin of Iron Madden, with a prayer going up to mighty Judas Priest in the album's final moments in the form of the lockjaw iron bite and road warrior credo of "L'Aigle de la Route." You can't cage that which can't be tamed. 

Soul Remnants - Raising The Sacrificial Dagger (Self-Released)

I learned about Soul Remnants when talking with Cody of Cryostasium a couple of months back, and I'm not sure how they remained hidden from me before that point. These guys are unbelievable! Raising The Sacrificial Dagger is their fourth LP and kind of picks up where their 2017 Ouroboros left off, constituting a reentry point into an incredibly vicious but refined variety of overdriven American melo-death, a skewering of the perceptions of pain and pleasure that would even have Pinhead taking notes. At this point, Soul Remnants riffs are as catchy as anything Hypocrisy is laying down at this late stage in their career, maybe even catchier, as the intensity of the playing never really lets up, not during the chorus, not during the bridge, or even the outros- they are maxing out the effort with every distortion summoning strum and driving percussive wallop. The vocal performances are particular exciting, with singer Mitchell Fletcher sounding like he's half hyena about three-fourths of the time, and during the remaining quarter, he sounds like he's challenging you to a fight from the opposite side of the bar while your drowning in the drippy stooper of a bad, psilocybin trip. With Raising The Sacrificial Dagger, Soul Remnants have carved for themselves an idol of rogue ambition worthy of your adoration. 

Oxygen Destroyer - Sinister Monstrosities Spawned By the Unfathomable Ignorance of Humankind (Redefining Darkness Records)

God, what a mess. Oh, you thought I was talking about Oxygen Destroyer's music? Nope. They're tight as hell. What I mean is the brazen path of destruction they leave in their wake. It's like a scaly typhoon just split the town in half like a fortune cookie... and it didn't even buy us dinner first. Oxygen Destroyer's second LP Sinister Monstrosities... is a tribute to classic kaiju cinema, from American entries like The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, to admirable UK efforts like Gorgo, to definitive Japanese titles like War of the Gargantuas. True to its inspirations, the album is relentless, unstoppable, and able to melt steel building frames with its radioactive halitosis. It's on the technical side of the death-thrash equation, but with a strong emphasis on groove, and singer Lord Kaiju's notably gesticular performances, the band deploys its skills effectively to embark on a captivating and raucous rampage. Like the end of most monster movies though, and despite the carnage that the titular beast has unleashed, you'll find yourself missing the gargantuan presence of Oxygen Destroyer once their swath of terror through your town has led them back to the open sea. However, their bittersweet departure will only make their return in a much-anticipated sequel all the more triumphant... hopefully you've upped your home insurance coverage by then. 

Metal Monday: Belushi Speed Ball, Foot, Limousine Beach & Mortal Relic

For the first Metal Monday of 2023 we're keeping it on the lighter side. Metal can be a dark and depressing place, with themes of depravity, mayhem and wanton bloodshed filling its tomes... and we haven't even touched on the anti-social stuff yet! So instead of finding the evilest, meanest-sounding bands I could, I'm offering you a short list of artists who have a sense of humor and humility. More than that, these bands are fun (imho)! This is the fun metal list. Welcome to 2023! The fun year! 

Belushi Speed Ball - What, Us Worry (SonaBlast! Records)

I had heard rumors of Louisville's Belushi Speed Ball and their misdeeds and misadventures for many a year. It's honestly kind of shameful that I didn't take the time to listen to them until about three weeks ago. From what I can tell, they've been around since at least 2014, doing a kind of sonic parody thrash-punk hybrid in the vein of Lich King, who are themselves more of a "fun-guy-at-a-bar-fight" blending of VIO-LENCE and S.O.D. I anticipated a party band with some riffs. I did not anticipate that Belushi could convert some semblance of a shenanigan-fueled jamboree with any sort of life-like fidelity to a record like What, Us Worry. I'm struggling to find parallels with other "funny" thrash bands like Gwar and Ghoul, because as much as those other bands commit to the bit, they lack Belushi's raw (and even, at times, distressing) sense of spontaneity. I am encountering a kind of delightful consternation with this album. I want to shout, "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!?" about every three minutes. But I am counseled by the sage advice which the album's title evokes. Honestly, you kind of have to be along for the ride with this one. All the knuckle-scalping, side-winding riffs that you'd expect from a modern thrash album are here, but the wild energy and genre-twisting antics of What, Us Worry is without a genuine pear, plunging like a trust-fall mixed with a head-first stage-dive into the jaws of death, they bungee between biceps-flexing hardcore and pickled-brained ska, while somehow still managing to cram in an entire grindcore album worth of material into the last four minutes of runtime. I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that there is song length riff on a Spongbob bit, too... and it kind of slaps. This album also contains some of the weirdest fucking skits I've ever heard. Like, they kind of have the structure of psychotic episodes or mass delusions. It all seems to work because the band makes you feel like you're in on the joke, which beyond the musicianship, is a true feat of showmanship (or possibly a sign that I'm susceptible to professional-grade malarkey [Or both!]). My poor brain and my liver feel bruised and abused after imbibing to this record multiple times, and yet I still feel obliged to recommend it to you. Is it possible that I've become such a glutton for punishment that I'm compelled to divert the overflow of my anguish downstream to you? Or maybe, just maybe, Belushi really is just that fucking good at what they do. Either way- THINK FAST! 'cause here comes a Speed Ball, center plate and up your nose! 

Foot - You are Weightless (Copper Feast Records)

Australia's Foot earnestly have one of the better takes on the whole stoner/ dessert rock thing that I've heard in a while. This area of rock and roll really only has two speeds, either gunning for a land speed record or hitting the emergency break and letting things grind out at a lurching crawl- either way you're going to be in danger of heatstroke from all the microwaving feedback the guitars give off. Foot's innovation on their latest album You Are Weightless is to strike a balance between the two oft-elected gears and keep things buoyant and discernably temperate. While a lot of stoner rock intends to be set in space, very few actually illicit the sensation of floating in the void, something the band accomplishes consistently with overlapping and oscillating grooves, skyward punching organ riffs, and satellite signaling electronics a la latter-day Cave In. They also freshen things up with cool, mucky distortion and mirky, smooth, determined and oddly ominous melodies that trace a kabbalistic thread between Alice in Chains and Ghost. There is also a cover of Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Gold Lion" situated in the middle of this baby, which is alright by me! 

Limousine Beach - Limousine Beach (Tee Pee Records)

Limousine Beach are cruising at their own delightful pace on their self-titled for Tee Pee Records. The album harkens back to a simpler time in rock and metal's storied past, to an era when everyone lived for the weekend, tights were a wardrobe option for all sexes/genders, and a big enough riff could take you anywhere you wanted to go. I love that the band is reviving Phil Lynott's playing and guitar tones with the record and bending them to a simple kind of hook structure that you'd expect from one of Kiss's jaw-dropping smackers. It's kind of the best of both those worlds. They then mix it up a bit more with some Deep Purple propulsion on the likes of "Black Market Bus Pass," then stir up some proto-hair metal entanglements with "Hear You Callin'" and even let in a light breeze of Styx-esque whimsy on the opener "Stealin' Wine." In the dead of winter, everyone needs a get-away, and Limousine Beach is offering as good of a destination as any to escape from the ice-box doldrums of January. 

Mortal Relic - Lair of the Dungeon Lord (WereGnome Records)

This isn't strictly a metal album, but it kind of gets the vibe right. Especially, if you're into the more cosmic-sounding stuff, or like me, are a huge nerd. Mortal Relic's Lair of the Dungeon Lord is a dungeon-crawler-themed synthwave record that sounds like it is attempting to soundtrack a documentary on supernova formations. Just as often, though, it is an acoustic, medieval folk album... that is also attempting to soundtrack a documentary on meteorites that periodically tour our corner of the galaxy. Did I mention this thing sounds like it's from outer space? Well, it does. It's also pretty wholesome and cozy feeling at times, which is not what I would expect for an album that takes as its premise the plundering of tombs and the mass slaying of Kobolds. If you're going to be up late for any reason, particularly doing something creative, this is hard to beat. Also, there is one black metal track. It's near the end and it's called "Battle Magic." So it counts for the list, after all. I bet feel silly now for having doubted me.  

Metal Monday: Rolo Tomassi, Vanda, Warcoe & Lord Dying

Alas, another Monday is upon us and I have therefore taken up the burden of trudging my way down to the belly of my metal vaults to retrieve some malformed treasures to bestow upon you. We're starting out with the highly conceptual new album from UK's Rolo Tomassi and ending with a lash of brutality from Portland's Lord Dying. There is no theme this week. These are just some of the metal albums I listened to today and that I felt inspired to write about. 

Rolo Tomassi - Where Myth Becomes Memory (MNRK Heavy)

It's hard to keep a bead on where the UK's Rolo Tomassi is headed next with their sound. The only thing that is certain is that they will always be on the move. First taking shape in the metalcore scene of the mid-00s, they have fashioned for themselves many different permutations over the years, from shoegaze rockers, to acid jazz jockies, to ambient architects, to sonic cosmonauts, only to finally come back to roost in their metalcore roots, darker and more dangerous sounding than before. Their latest album Where Myth Becomes Memory is the latest incarnation of their perfidious, shadowy cosmic-core phase. The last in a three-part series (following 2015's Grievances and 2018's Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It), the band takes the time on this album to contrast their dichotomous aural belligerence with increasingly golden guitar tones and a bath of cleansing feedback, which showers the progressive unfurling of their designs in an air of forgiveness and redemption. Part feral space horror; 2/3rds divine epiphany; all the stuff of legends. 

Vanda - Covenant of Death (Majestic Mountain Records)

Vånda is a truly wicked-sounding band. They emerge from Stockholm as if they've just rushed out of the deep woods- blood streaked across their faces, wild mayhem in their eyes, hair thick, wet and gnarled as if they've been sweating petroleum, and with fire leaping up from the footprints left by every galloping step. Their steps spark and ignite their surroundings as they move with maligned intention- a farce of humanity cast by the devil himself. A human-shaped avalanche of death that is now bearing down upon you. Apocalyptic imagery aside, Vånda's debut Covenant of Death most assuredly hits a sour, satisfying balance of death-thrash and black metal in a way that few bands can. They're like Watain if they focused less on shock value and more on the structure of their songs, or Necrophobic but with more earthy grit and a firm undertow of incurable gothica. Covenant of Death will leave you headbanging the whole time that you're fleeing for your life.

Warcoe - The Giant's Dream (Morbid And Miserable Records / Forbidden Place Records)

Italy's Warcoe nails the occult ambiance and aura that a lot of '60s heavy metal was able to tap into on their debut LP The Giant's Dream. Relying on melodic guitar grooves to do the bulk of the lifting on these tracks, they paint a picture of arcane practices and bring the essence of ancient knowledge thundering into the breach of the modern world. When I hear these high-cast, burning guitar riffs lumbering through the cool muddy pound of percussion, I am visited by visions of wizards pouring over ancient texts to discover the secrets of turning dragon scales into gold, or various tales of misfortune, such as a poor shepherd who stumbles into a tomb of forgotten treasures where he encounters a scroll that turns him into a great hungry wolf. It's hard to imagine containing the untamed, willful and timeless motion of these songs within the confines of a single eight-track album. You might as well be trying to push a glacier across the tundra with your bare hands, yet Warcoe proves themselves more than man enough for the task. The Giant's Dream is truly a beast and Warcoe are both its progenitor and its master. 

Lord Dying - Poisoned Altars (Relapse Records)

To me, Lord Dying belongs to that era of the mid-'10s when sludge metal appeared to be finding new inroads into the realms of death metal and hard rock with results that, improbably, had some hooky commercial potential to them. Red Fang appears to be the most successful of the band to come out of that milieu, but Lord Dying had a lot going for them as well, as a darker and more outwardly punishing version Inter Arma and a more direct and less cosmically inclined version of early Mastodon, Lord Dying on their second LP Poisoned Altars have wrought forth an absolutely crushing affair that still manages to pack in some captivating hooks among all the deluge of bruising riffs. And when I say captivating, I mean it! Tracks like "A Wound Outside of Time" and "Offering Pain (and An Open Minded Center)" literally feel like they are trying to warp themselves around you with snaky grooves and put you in a headlock. Every half-choked, half-sung line forcefully ejected from singer Erik Olson mouth feels like a narrowly missed haymaker, rushing past you and creating a frightening vacuum in its wake. Ultimately, I think the key to their aggression can be unlocked by clues found on the track "Suckling at the Teat of a She-Beast" which feels like a combination of crust punk and West-Coast chopper rock, that will educate you in the ways of their brutality in the most hostile ways possible. Lord Dying went in a more space-rock and psychedelic route with their 2019 album Mysterium Tremendum, but 2015's Poison Altars is still the pinnacle of their discography, in my opinion. Long live Lord Dying! 

Album Review: Hell Machine - Relentless Aggression

I wrote about some uncompromising blackened thrash out of Australia for New Noise today. Check out what I had to say about Hell Machine's Relentless Aggression below: 

Review https://newnoisemagazine.com/bandcamp-of-the-day-hell-machine/

Relentless Aggression was self-released by the band. 

Metal Monday: Heavy Sentence, Phantom Crawl, Lifetaker, Pandiscordian Necrogenesis

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)

I'm really glad to see that the "trad" metal scene in England is still able to spit out bangers like Bang to Rights. Its creators Heavy Sentence have been sharpening their chops since the mid-10s and are bounding forth from the vaults of their inception with a thirst that can only be slacked by booze, blood, and vengeance. Bang to Rights is a filthy and potent album that seriously sounds like an early and unreleased Saxon album recorded in a sex dungeon while people squirm and wriggle around on the floor in various states of pain and orgastic satisfaction. "Medusa" has a very Painkiller-esque, leather-wipe bite to its guitar grooves, "Capitoline Hill" sounds about halfway between a quarry drag race and a Motorhead homage, and "Possession" rides headstrong, brass-knuckle fisted into battle where they change allegiances between the cartoonish chaos of classic black metal and highminded heroics of Lord Weird Slough Feg. Bang to Rights is a messy good time that you may need a shot of anti-biotics after enjoying but is well worth the trip to your primary physician (or you know, your local veterinarian if you're trying to be frugal) afterward.  

Get a copy on CD and cassette here. 

Phantom Crawl - Spellbound Suffering (Sewer Rot Records)

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. 

Buy Spellbound Suffering here. 

Lifetaker - Pit Viper (Lower Class Kids Records)

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! 

Get a copy of Pit Viper on vinyl and cassette here. 

Pandiscordian Necrogenesis - Immortal Initiation (Self-Released)

I have a soft spot for solo black metal bands. I have a soft spot for loner weirdos in general, but there is definitely, always, room in my heart for folks who lone-wolf a black metal project. And you really don't get much more focused in this notoriously idiosyncratic area of heavy metal than Pandiscordian Necrogenesis. This group is orchestrated by one, Ephemeral Domignostika, who plays every instrument, live to tape, simultaneously. What is probably most remarkable about Pandiscordian Necrogenesis is how Ephemeral Domignostika is still able to wring some melody out of these avowedly improvised tunes. His latest release Immortal Initiation, honestly sounds like a more tuneful version of Impurity. It's raw and primitive but possessed of a level of skill and a sturdy self-awareness that would be the envy of most metal bands who have more than one member to distribute the burden of performance between. Immortal Initiation is the kind of controlled chaos I need more of in my life. 

Buy Immortal Initiation here.

Album Review: Okrütnik - Legion Antychrysta

Polish death-thrash. I've read some review trashing this one. None of them are informative or good or written by informed people with good brains. All you need to know is that this album rules! 

Read my review of Okrütnik's Legion Antychrysta over on New Noise. 

Get a copy of Legion Antychrysta here. 

Album Review Nervosa - Perpetual Chaos

I'd be a complete liar if I didn't admit that I had never heard of Nervosa before picking up Perpetual Chaos. This is hardly surprising and hardly the band's fault. Metal can still be a boys club, even while it claims to be an all-encompassing club for misfits of all shapes, sizes, ethnicities, genders, and creeds. This means that it will always be the boys who take the leading roles while everyone else is relegated to the supporting cast. As an all-woman thrash band though, Nervosa was able to cut through the waves of beards, bullocks, and buttheads for over ten years, to great acclaim by pretty much everyone except for me (hey, I'll admit when I come up short). They held it together as long as they could... and then they couldn't. Due to a variety of circumstances, in 2020, original member and guitarist Prika Amaral found herself as the only remaining member of the once fearsome phalanx of feminine ferocity. When you're a three-member band, and two members quit, that's usually the end of the line. Either the band is done, or it continues as the conspicuous solo project of the one remaining member. Neither was to be the case for Nervosa. 

Not only did Nervosa persist as a full band, but it also dodged the easy trap of becoming a one-woman show under the eye-brow raiser banner of a royal "we." Through savvy recruiting efforts on Prika's part, she was able to reconstruct this ball-busting Bride of Frankenstein, and shock her monster back from the brink of oblivion, with the help of ex-Abbath bassist Mia Wallace, progressive metal drummer Eleni Nota of Lightfold, and Bloodhunter vocalist Diva Satanica. According to Prika, she deliberately recruited the band's new members from outside Brazil, with the new members coming from Greece, Italy, and Spain, respectively. The band's new international status made recording their fourth LP Perpetual Chaos, a logistical nightmare (especially during a global pandemic), but the results speak for themselves. Perpetual Chaos rules! 

The album opens with the vicious ripper "Venomous," followed closely by the Sodom raising "Guided By Evil," and the riff and drum fill avalanche "People of the Abyss." A three-punch volley that will prime you for the knock-out blow of the title track, "Perpetual Chaos," which springs forth from the rubble of man's folly, like a scythe-wielding wraith, fueled by vengeance, come to cull the corrupt and callous architects of the vanel temples of villainy that direct the devices that arrange our arrogant social orders. Capitalists, politicians, whathaveyou- the heads of our oppressors are about to roll, like ripe melons plopping off fruit cart with a wobbly wheel as it bumps and bucks down a cobblestone street (metaphorically, of course, this is art after all, they can say whatever you want!). 

The problems that power, domination and inequality present to self-described "free societies," are explored on the album with the urgency they deserve. Global agribusiness and the genocidal slaughter of domesticated and wild animals alike, is reproached with bloody rage on the excessive, Exodus-esque scourge "Kings of Domination." The repugnant response of national governments in the public health crisis caused by the in Carona virus pandemic is address with an appropriate level of rage on "Time to Fight." And the need to seize one's own freedom and work for other's liberation, as well as your own, is dramatically illustrated on the ruckus revolt primer "Rebel Soul," wherein guest vocalist Eric A.K. of Flotsam and Jetsam all but declares that, "There is no authority but yourself" (he does refer to himself as an anarchist though, which is pretty close).  

While Nervosa is a serious band with messages pertinent to our time, they make room on Perpetual Chaos for some good old-fashioned, bloody fun as well. Particularly on the impressively revolting "Blood Eagle" which spills a full-bucket of acid fermented Destruction disgorging riffs over your head. Then there is also the fatal flair of the alienation greeting, void embracing "Until the Very End," where the grooves kick like a mule and the rhythm whirls like the blades of a jet turbine that has just caught the sleeve of your jacket.  

Some commentators I've read have bemoaned the direction that Nervosa has taken on Perpetual Chaos, transforming themselves into a bombastic Kreator-styled death-thrash group, and letting slip from their repertoire some of the black metal elements that had previously found a home in their sound. As I said in the beginning, I'm not familiar with the band's past work, but Perpetual Chaos delivered most of everything I want from an extreme metal album, and on that basis alone, it earns a hearty recommendation. 

Buy Perpetual Chaos from Naplam Records here. 

Album Review: Bas Rotten - Surge

 When I first saw the name Bas Rotten in a subject line of an email in my inbox, I thought, "Like Rotten Sound? That's got to be a grindcore band." Then I saw the cover art, an impressionist oil painting of two men boxing, their flesh appearing to merge as they batter each other's bodies with fists and force of will, and I thought to myself, "Yeah, that's got to be a hardcore band." And then I read that the band was from Portugal, and found my mind shifting gears, preparing me to evaluate some kind of communally minded crust punk cadre. And then I hit play on the streaming link they provided me, and... Turns out I was right. And wrong. About all of it. And none of it. 

Bas Rotten are a grindcore band. They're also a crust punk group and a hardcore band, who play like they're opening for Iron Reagan. Scratch that; they play like THEY ARE Iron Reagan! A clip from the film Take Shelter greets you in the foyer of the opening track of their album Surge. "The Blow" begins with the dialog above shrieked over a similarly disconcerting clip of Rod Serling of the Twilight Zone discussing his favorite topic, man's folly and penchant for self-delusion. Somehow the layering of these two clips failed to prepare me adequately for the point when the reigns of the track fall into the cruel hands of vocalist Joao. If you are like me, once those locked and loaded, grind-grooves kick into gear under Joao's menacing snarl, you'll feel like a trap has been sprung and like you're now helpless to fight back what's coming your way. Like a garrote had been looped around the base of your neck, you're being to choked into submission, the sound of Joao's gnashing rasp ringing in your ears, and the lash of the band's twin guitars (both performed by different men, also named Joao) churning the air like a blender, just inches away from your face, getting precariously closer to the bridge of your nose as you blackout. 

You're going to want to keep your wits about you, though, because the surfy, side-swipe "Dissociation" is more than capable of bodying your ass into a nearby dumpster, even with less than a minute run time. It's followed in quick succession by the crusty, rust-lined chop of "Prime Cuts," and death-daring, slide and sever, proto-thrash of "Violence." It's amazing how quickly Bas Rotten can pull off some absolutely, heroic thrash riffs, and at bowel loosening, muscle-gelling speeds, shifting between Napalm Death-driven grooves and bone-chilling, doom metal channels, with the best example of this dynamic being possibly, incredibly grim and gnarly "Worth." 

Napalm Death would obviously win a paternity test if one were administered for Bas Rotten, but so would Trash Talk, DRI, Destroyed in Seconds, and Nuclear Assualt. It's impossible to really distinguish a dominant linage from any of these bands as their attributable genes have fused together into new, horrid hybrid phenotypes in Bas Rotten's sound. The result is, as the opening quote from Take Shelter implies, a storm, like a total force of nature. There really is no containing the belligerent monstrosity that these Portuguese punishers have unleashed. All you can do is watch helplessly from a distance and hope the stampede of sound doesn't abruptly shift trajectory and beeline for your undefended position. You can admire Surge, but I guarantee, you can't outrun it. 

Get a copy of Surge on CD and Cassette here. 

Album Review: Paralysis - Mob Justice

Mob Justice is the second LP from New Jersey’s cross-over hardcore punk band Paralysis. Following their 2017 debut Life Sentence, the band takes its cues from the gruesome gang of executioners who have emerged to define the genre in the ‘00s, such as late and great Power Trip, as well as High Command, Enforcer, and Red Death. All of these bands basically play one form or another of Cryptic Slaughter or Nuclear Assualt era punk-thrash, and Paralysis distinguishes themselves from this crowd by leaning into slightly more rangy material reminiscent of Iron Age’s The Sleeping Eye. Sure, all of the songs hit the bricks running with the force of a linebacker, but it’s really the weird detours that these tracks sometimes embark on that makes the difference. Opener “Mob Justice” sounds like an early Power Trip demo with its Nuclear Assault grooves and guttural Cro-Magnum screams. “Oblivious” slithers into Slayer’s toolshed and steals a couple of pit-inciting grooves, “Onward to Slaughter” plays around with the tempos in very 90s death metal kinda way, while “Had Enough” is sheer thrash animus. Fast, groovy, and brutal! What else could you ask for? 

Get a copy of Mob Justice here. 

Album Review: Vader - Solitude in Madness

Disney owns Star Wars. This means they also own Darth Vader. The crass commercialization of this character is now just another shade of the grey goop of nostalgia that serves a single master. A single hegemonic overlord of culture in the United States. Darth Vader, like so many things that you once cherished in your childhood, is now just one cog in an elaborate scheme to convert every dollar you spend to escape the hell scape of your reality into the marginal gain of a single conglomerate. But you know who Disney doesn’t own? Polish thrashers Vader, that’s who. Vader are their own dude and they’ve answered to no one fucking else since 1983. Sure, they’ve changed their sound over the years to incorporate more death metal flourishes, and yeah it's brought them closer in quality and feel to bands in the vein of Decapitated and Nile, but they did this of their own free will, not because they thought it would move cereal box unites or goad parents into buying tickets to an amusement park (in fact, if your parents are anything like mine, they probably instinctively hate Vader's guts). Solitude in Madness is Vader's sixteenth studio LP and it doesn’t deviate in style or quality from any of their previous releases over the past decade. And that fact is 100% fucking excellent because Vader flat-out fucking rule! “Into Oblivion” is a crushing death-thrash crusade that pushes the band’s sound into the epic red with ferocious guitars and pummeling percussion reminiscent of Kreator. “Sanctification Denied” combines Death styled OSDM with cutting Megadeth guitars and choruses. Later the band flexes their speed-metal muscles on “Emptiness” which harkens back to the style of their demos, while “And Satan Wept” gives their sound a ‘90s spin by embracing a head-banging Pantera groove. No one is sicker, and no one cuts through the crap quicker than Vader.

Grab a copy of Solitude in Madness from Nuclear Blast here.

Album Review: Sanctifying Ritual - Sanctifying Ritual

I've got a review of Sanctifying Ritual's debut LP up over on Scene Point Blank. The self-titled album is a decade in the making and worth the wait for fans of German death-thrash. It's an incredibly ugly and brash album sure to raise hair follicles and dampen spirits in its putrid, swelling rage. Check out my review here, and grab a copy of the LP from Iron Bonehead Records here. 

Album Review: Red Death - Sickness Divine

Red Death are back with a sick new album. I really thought crossover thrash had peaked but then I heard Sickness Divine. The band continues to refine their sound, release after release, and become more fierce and deadly with each iteration. My thoughts on Red Death's new LP are up over at Post Trash. Direct link below.

Review of Red Death's Sickness Divine

Be sure to rest your neck between spins.

Album Review: Sacred Reich - Awakening

It’s always annoying when people say that metal is apolitical. Almost like metal has nothing to say about the world, politics don't affect people's daily life in any meaningful way, or that you can just opt out of the decisions made for you by those in power. That’s one of the reasons why I appreciate Phoenix, AZ thrash icons Sacred Reich. They’re whole thing is being political. SR was is the product of lead singer and guitarist Phil Rind’s desire to start a socially conscious speed metal band back in 1985. However, by the time they released their first LP Ignorance in 1987, the group had transitioned to a full-on thrash band to keep pace with the more muscular sound of their contemporaries, namely Death Angel and Testament. Awakening is the band’s first album since 1996’s Heal. The band had previously been on hiatus, but reunited and started gigging again in 2007. Awakening is the band’s response to the contemporary state of affairs and sees them sounding pissed off, revved up, and ready to unleash mayhem in the name of change. The album opens with “Awakening” a straight banger with scorching leads and a concrete ripping biker-rock groove. Next up is “Salvation,” a dose of double-time doom and gloom with a cloud parting chorus. Later, “Killing Machine” puts a mean pit igniting groove to service in dismantling the logical of military adventurism, while “Death Valley” is a grungy, hard-liquor quenched, fist-pumping march through the desert heat. On Awakening, SR don’t sound like they’ve missed a beat since 1989. They sound every bit as determined and forceful today as they did during their ostensible heyday. It’s a great reminder of what a banging party an old school thrash album can sound like. I’m happy to recommend it to any headbanger looking to wax nostalgic about the second wave of American thrash or who is looking for some inspiration to make the Man choke on his tie as it's jammed down his throat (or both… or just the latter).

Grab a copy of Sacred Reich's Awakening. Out now on Metal Blade. 

Album Review: Death Angel - Humanicide

Last week we saw the release of Bay area thrash legends Death Angel release the fantastic Humanicide. I like it quite a bit. My review of this politically charged return to form by the band is up over at Chicago Crowd Surfer. Link below. 

Review of Death Angel's Humanicide

Humanity had it's chance. 

Album Review: Possessed - Revelations of Oblivion

This week I covered the original death metal band, Possessed and their new LP Revelations of Oblivion. They're back from the abyss and I've got some thoughts on their return which you can read over at Chicago Crowd Surfer. 

Review of Possessed's Revelations of Oblivion

Spoilers: They nailed it!