SH*T THAT COMES OUT TODAY: JUNE 5, 2012
We get that metal people are not a target audience for that Rock Of Ages jive, just as we know that the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise did not covet the historians of high-seas pirates demo. Same deal. With that knowledge, a metal dude’s mild buttrage at its overall pussyness might dissipate into a faint cloud of lulz at its fascinating Mr. Show-esque surrealness. Or maybe the opposite. Fuck who knows, the point is that the shit is rancid but salve your bums, chums! Cuz there are a billion hard and heavy new releases to acid-scorch that bunk from your consciousness. So here’s Shit That Comes Out Today! Look, listen, learn, and listen some more after the jump. Start with the Marduk holy shit!
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Cardiac Arrest
Vortex Of Violence (Ibex Moon)
On a playlist with: Obituary, Malevolent Creation, Cannibal Corpse
Listen Vortex Of Violence full stream (here)
Of many bands that make old-school death metal in the new school, Cardiac Arrest somehow stands out from the pack. Vortex Of Violence‘s chunky riffage sounds familiar and different, drummer Nick Gallichio warrants only super-praise, and the cookie monster vocals are what this music absolutely needs. Death metal is one genre that never really waned and will continue to have hoards of new bands keep pecking at the style for years. Cardiac Arrest is a band that makes new out of old quite effectively, keeping death metal rolling.
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The Cory Smoot Experiment
When Worlds Collide (Metal Blade)
On a playlist with: Meshuggah, Darkest Hour, GWAR
Listen “Mutilation” (here)
Late Gwar guitarist Cory Smoot planned When Worlds Collide as his solo debut, and it features guest vocals from Oderus Urungus (Gwar) and Randy Blythe (Lamb Of God). The thing is that due to Smoot’s death last year, Collide is unfinished. Dirge-y with a Meshuggah influence and frantic pace-shifting drums, When Worlds Collide is a fitting send-off for Smoot, as it shows his skill for commanding a band and for his guitar. RIP.
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Grand Magus
The Hunt (Nuclear Blast)
On a playlist with: Spiritual Beggars, Judas Priest, Helloween
Listen “Valhalla Rising” (here)
Sweden’s Grand Magus has done doom, stoner rock, and heavy metal, but The Hunt falls neatly into the latter category. These are classic grooves, familiar riffs, and a solid rhythm section. Janne “JB” Christoffersson’s vocals have a swagger and bravado to them, but not in a power metal way. This is classic heavy metal with a twist, another great moment for Grand Magus.
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Kreator
Phantom Antichrist (Nuclear Blast)
On a playlist with: Exodus, Fueled By Fire, Hexen
Listen “Phantom Antichrist” (here)
Kreator is one of thrash metal’s greatest innovators, and one of the genre’s most diligent stalwarts. Like Overkill. And likewise, Kreator still has new and immense chops to show off, even if Phantom Antichrist is not their most stellar work. (It’s merely damn good.) Riffs here are raw and intense, and Mille Petrozza’s vocals are insistent and powerful, so yeah, Phantom still kicks the shit out of most young thrash bands’ best work.
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Marduk
Serpent Sermon (Century Media)
On a playlist with: Darkthrone, Thy Serpent, Limbonic Art
Listen Serpent Sermon full stream (here)
The blast-metal attack strikes with full ferocity on Marduk’s twelfth (!) record, and stings with just as much fury as their earlier releases. The change this band has undergone is time: Music is much cheaper and easier to record in 2012, so Marduk music has gotten more audible and clearer. Is it less black to clean up the sound? Well, here listen to the shit and try to tell yourself Marduk has gone soft. Not gonna happen.
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Rise To Remain
City Of Vultures (Century Media)
On a playlist with: Through The Eyes Of The Dead, Trivium, Bullet For My Valentine
Listen City Of Vultures full stream (here)
Rise To Remain’s vocalist Austin Dickinson is the son of Iron Maiden wailer/god of all things Bruce Dickinson. But the UK group doesn’t take the same path as their guy’s famous father: Rise To Remain is a tight, melodic metalcore outfit, and the younger Dickinson’s super-produced clean singing and gruff roars fit his band’s aggression and melodies. City Of Vultures is no game-changer, but these kids are great.
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MORE SHIT THAT COMES OUT TODAY
Aenaon Cendres Et Sang (Aural) listen
The Agonist Prisoners (Century Media) listen
Altars Conclusions (Facedown) listen
Anhedonist Netherwards (Dark Descent) listen
Architects Daybreaker (Century Media) listen
Astras Maze Of Time (Digmetalworld) listen
Autopsy Born Undead DVD (Peaceville) watch
>>Be’lakor Of Breath And Bone (Kolony) listen
Black Shape Of Nexus Negative Black (Exile On Mainstream) listen
Black Sheep Wall No Matter Where It Ends (Season Of Mist) listen
Call Me No One Last Parade (7 Brothers) listen
>>Carach Angren Where The Corpses Sink Forever (Season Of Mist) listen
Catamenia The Rewritten Chapters (Goomba) listen
Chaos Inception The Abrogation (Lavadrome) listen
Cianide A Descent Into Hell reissue (Dark Descent)
Circus Maximus Nine (Frontier) listen
Decrepid Live At The Purple Turtle (Digmetalworld) listen
Deride The Void (Goomba) listen
Downfire Damnation (Digmetalworld) listen
Eths III (Season Of Mist) listen
Fates Warning Inside Out reissue (Metal Blade)
>>Fear Factory The Industrialist (Candlelight) listen
Gates Of Slumber Suffer No Guilt reissue (Deepsend)
Generation Of Vipers Howl And Filth (Translation Loss) listen
Gorefest False/Erase 2CD reissue (Metal Mind)
Grand Magus Wolf’s Return reissue (Metal Blade)
Grand Magus Iron Will reissue (Metal Blade)
Heikousen Parallels (Translation Loss) listen
Ivory Tower IV (Made In Germany)
Kid Gorgeous Blue Romance EP (Eulogy) listen
L.A. Guns Hollywood Forever (Cleopatra) listen
>>Manipulator Voidbound (12th Street) listen
Felix Martin Live In Boston (Prosthetic) listen
Melvins Lite Freak Puke (Ipecac) listen
The Memorials Delirium (Blood Thirsty Unicorn)
Ministry The Very Best Of Fixes And Remixes (Cleopatra)
Morglbl Brutal Romance (Free Electric Sound) listen
Neonfly Clever Disguise EP (Digmetalworld)
Nevermind Eternity Truth (Accel Ent.)
Offending Age Of Perversion (Deepsend) listen
Phobia Remnants Of Filth (Willowtip) MetalSucks review here
>>Predator Homo Infimus (Digmetalworld)
Profanatica Sickened By Holy Host/Grand Masters Session (Hells Headbangers) listen
Pseudogod Deathwomb Catechesis (Hells Headbangers) listen
Reinxeed Welcome To The Theater (Doolittle) listen
Sarcofago Decade Of Decay reissue (Greyhaze) listen
Sarcofago Hate reissue (Greyhaze)
Sarcofago The Laws Of Scourge reissue (Greyhaze)
Sarcafago Rotting reissue (Greyhaze)
Sarcofago Inri reissue (Greyhaze)
Sarcofago The Worst/Crust reissue (Greyhaze)
Spider Rockets Bitten (P-Dog) listen
Tank War Nation (Metal Mind) listen
>>Watain Opus Diaboli DVD (Season Of Mist) watch
Winter’s Verge Beyond Vengeance (Goomba)
Wormed Planisphaerium reissue (Willowtip)
Wormed Quasineutrality (Willowtip)
Write This Down Lost Weekend (Tooth & Nail) listen
XFactor1 Famous Last Words (Megaforce) listen
-VV