Sh*t That Comes Out Today (And Yesterday): October 23, 2012
Hey so this is unusual: Most of this week’s awesome hard and heavy new releases came out yesterday, a Monday. Wha-wha-what?! Okay now steady yourself and stop your bowtie spinning, for there might be an explanation: It seems that porcelain pop star Taylor Swift’s team hatched the brilliant plan to pad first-week sales numbers by unveiling a day early her next timeless, ages-spanning collection of songs about celebrity guys who’ve let her down. And other releases followed suit for surely uninteresting reasons. But we don’t at all mind bending to her majesty’s whims, but let’s get on with this week’s very special um Shit That Comes Out Today (And Yesterday) lest Swift be spurred to title her next smash, “I’ll Never Again Read MetalSucks.”
*
A Life Once Lost
Ecstatic Trance (Season Of Mist)
On a playlist with: Gojira’s The Way Of All Flesh, Meshuggah’s Koloss, Alchemist’s Organasm
Listen Ecstatic Trance full stream (here)
From the feedback I’ve seen so far for this bad boy, it seems people either think the long-awaited sixth album from the Nor’eastern groovers and shakers is pretty cool in a drugged-out, mesmerizing kind of way or … it’s just kind of boring. A lot of the latter opinions sprout from new drummer Jordan Crouse’s “less is more” approach to the band’s bruising, crawling-paced new material. As a drummer, I’ll say that Crouse can play and do some cool things (check out the polyrhythmic battering of “Miracle Worker” for proof of that), but his largely barebones performance probably results from the band’s direction on this record, which is an interesting spin on their sound.
*
Bison B.C.
Lovelessness (Metal Blade)
On a playlist with: KEN Mode, Goes Cube, High on Fire
Listen “Anxiety Puke/Lovelessness” (here) “Finally Asleep” (here)
Read Mad Sourman MetalSucks review (here)
The new A Life Once Lost record may be a little sludge, but this here, is sludge. Like their fellow Canadians in KEN Mode, Bison B.C. on their fourth outing play a grimy yet epic concoction of hardcore punk, noise rock, and borderline-proggy sludge. It gives Lovelessness a diversity of tempo and track length, keeping this fuzzy affair fresh and listenable from start to finish.
*
Peter Dolving
Thieves And Liars
On a playlist with: The Cure, A Perfect Circle, Jane’s Addiction
Listen Thieves And Liars full stream (here)
In an exclusive MetalSucks interview back in August, Peter Dolving, the now two-time ex-frontman of The Haunted, spoke of a forthcoming solo project. Here it is a few months later, and the results are interesting. What we have here isn’t metal so much as it is all kinds of late 80’s/early 90’s alternative rock in Dolving’s eccentric style. For example, Dolving’s backing on Thieves recalls the warm, minimalist sound of The Cure’s Disintegration but with a bluesier edginess. Both Dolving followers and fans of dark, intelligent rock album, give this a listen.
*
The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza
Danza IIII: The Alpha – The Omega (Black Market Activities)
On a playlist with: Ion Dissonance’s Cursed, Car Bomb’s w^w^^w^w, The Acacia Strain
Listen “You Won’t” (here)
Read Dave Mustein MetalSucks review (here)
As a Swedish friend of mine likes to say, Jävla fågelholk!, or “This album is fucking birdhouse!” That’s what we’ll say about the fourth and final album by the illustrious Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza. After all, it might be the most stupidly heavy album I’ve heard … ever. But it isn’t really that stupid. The killer songs of Josh Travis, who performs every instrument on Danza IIII, are every bit as stylish and texturally sophisticated as they are holy-fuck heavy. And despite the album’s length, almost every track is for pumping serious iron to. It’s a real shame that this is the last we’ll likely hear of TTDTE; Danza IIII is some of the freshest brutality you’ll hear in 2012.
*
While She Sleeps
This Is The Six (The End)
On a playlist with: Oh Sleeper’s Children of the Fire, Darkest Hour’s The Human Romance, Counterparts’ The Current Will Carry Us
Listen “This Is The Six” (here)
I’ve had this gem for a little while now, and it’s safe to say that if you like metalcore with great riffs and larger-than-life-leads, then very enjoyable you will find it! Vocalist Lawrence Taylor adds a unique dimension to the group’s sound with his wet, gravely screams and slightly melodic rasps that one might liken to Darkest Hour’s John Henry in his catchiest moments. Rock solid.
*
Ill Niño
Epidemia (Victory)
On a playlist with: Killswitch Engage’s The End of Heartache, Nonpoint’s To The Pain, Sevendust’s Cold Day Memory
Listen Epidemia full stream (here)
Ill Niño gets more shit than they deserve. I’m not a huge fan, but if we can find it in our hearts to write frequently and complementarily about Sevendust, Nonpoint, Taproot, etc, then we can suck it up and give this one a listen. I’ve enjoyed occasional Ill Niño songs over the years, but Epidemia is their first album I’ve heard that is pretty good from start to finish. Epidemia profits from a darker and more mature approach via basement-low riffs, surprisingly spicy leads, and killer drumming in no small supply. Christian Machado’s vocals are stupid brutal and his cleans their smoothest and most expressive in ages. Oh, but their silly Spanglish shtick — you can mostly forget that ever happened.
*
OTHER SHIT THAT COMES OUT TODAY
Abiotic Symbiosis (Metal Blade) 
De Magia Veterum The Deification (Transcendental Creations) listen
Pig Destroyer Book Burner (Relapse) 
Trillion Red Metaphere (Badgod) listen
