SH*T THAT COMES OUT TODAY – THE OCTOBER 25, 2011 EDITION
This week’s list of releases covers a lot of ground, between the sludge punk of Black Tusk, Noctem’s blackened thrash, a heavier side of Russian Circles, East of the Wall, Carnifex, Hammers of Misfortune and much more. Check it all out by clicking below.
Black Tusk – Set The Dial (Relapse)
Only a year and a half after the band’s debut record for Relapse (Taste The Sin), Black Tusk are back with another slab of the music they’ve coined “swamp metal”. In actuality, the music is sludge metal, just simpler and faster than many of their peers. The whole album is streaming over on Youtube, and judging by these tracks, the band definitely hasn’t lost a step.
Carnifex – Until I Feel Nothing (Victory)
This band doesn’t do anything for me. I can dig some deathcore, but this is just dumb and uncaptivating to me. Deathcore vocals mixed with death grunts, simple chunky guitar riffs and double bass overkill are all over this record, and these things just don’t work together. This is the follow-up to 2010’s Hell Chose Me.
Counterparts – The Current Will Carry Us (Victory)
Counterparts are a melodic hardcore band from Canada releasing their second album today. I’m not really any expert on melodic hardcore, but this isn’t too bad. It’s vicious yet melodic, and the songs don’t kill you with melody, they just break up the monotony of the rhythm guitars. Not the worst thing Victory has put out this year at all.
East Of The Wall – The Apologist (Translation Loss)
Sometimes it seems we give this band a lot of praise, but they completely deserve it. East Of The Wall’s balance of stunning instrumental prowess mixed with their aggressive nature makes for one hell of an interesting record, not to mention their incredible live show. The band’s last album, Ressentiment, was an excellent record which saw the band move away from being just an instrumental band. This record continues in their resolve to include vocals and make them work within the songs, and it’s done well. Do yourself a favor and stream the whole record at Brooklyn Vegan this very second.
Elitist – Earth (Blkheart Group)
Elitist are a band that stand just above many of their brethren in the same genre, but not by much. They include hints of prog and everything seems to be going good for the band, but they just need some more time to adjust. This is their first record since gaining new singer Alex DeHeart and drummer Andrew Slane, and I still think the band has tons of potential. File this in the “It’s alright, but I’m really hoping the next one blows it out of the water” category.
Giant Squid – Cenotes (Translation Loss)
Giant Squid are one of the strangest bands on the heavy music landscape today, and this naturally polarizes fans. Cenotes, the band’s third record, is an interesting listen, but many of the doomier elements of the band aren’t present in the handful of tracks already streaming online. The band’s music can be described as prog rock, incorporating sort of a post-rock style and adding cello and a kind of dreary, haunting vocal style into the mix. It’s alright, but it doesn’t stack up to the band’s earlier material.
Haken – Visions (Sensory)
Haken play a pretty sweet style of progressive metal, using a lot of melodic and complex elements into their style. The only complaint I have of their previous album, 2010’s Aquarium, is that the music isn’t really that heavy. Sure, there are riffs, but it takes quite a while to get to them. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though, as the music is still captivating and interesting. The band released this at ProgPower USA in September, but today is the release day for the rest of us.
Hammers Of Misfortune – 17th Street (Metal Blade)
Although Hammers Of Misfortune are primarily a heavy metal band, they pull from many different sides of metal in their work, and it makes for a pretty good blend of tunes. The excellent track “The Grain” is streaming on Metal Blade’s YouTube account. For the uninitiated, HoM is a band featuring current and former members of Ludicra, (Lord Weird) Slough Feg, Amber Asylum and more. This is their first record since 2008’s double concept record Fields/Church Of Broken Glass.
Junius – Reports From The Threshold Of Death (Prosthetic)
After releasing a split single with Rosetta last month, Junius drop their full new album on us this week. Fans of their previous album The Martyrdom Of A Catastrophist (2009) will not be disappointed with this, as the band continues to pepper heavy passages with uplifting textures. The whole album isn’t the heaviest thing coming out this week, but it might be one of the most creative and dynamic.
Molotov Solution – Insurrection (Blkheart Group)
After their last album, 2009’s The Harbinger, Molotov Solution have undergone a pretty significant lineup shift. The only remaining members are guitarist Robbie Pena and vocalist Nick Arthur. As far as the new music, the band produces a brutal and excellent blend of technical death metal and hardcore. The leads are excellent, the rhythm section is tight and the vocals (while not being ground-breaking) fit perfectly with the product.
Noctem – Oblivion (Metal Blade)
Noctem provide the blackened death injection we need for this week’s release list. The Spanish group delivers in a big way on their new record Oblivion, the follow-up to 2009’s Divinity. The album is the second part of a trilogy that began with the aforementioned record and it’s seriously worth checking out.
Russian Circles – Empros (Sargent House)
The fourth release from the Chicago post-rock band strays slightly from what they’re known for by incorporating some heavier riffage into the mix. The result is incredible. The band is still comfortable in their post-rock niche, but bringing in other elements from the metal spectrum produces some amazing results. The whole album is streaming over at Spin magazine’s website (gag), so check it out.
Structures – Divided By (Sumerian)
Structures play pretty typical metalcore, and that’s all I can really say about that. They’re better than a lot of Sumerian bands I’ve heard, but that’s not really too much of a compliment. This is the follow-up to last year’s All Of The Above EP.
-VV
