Sh*t That Comes Out Today: November 27, 2012
In your post-gluttony semi-consciousness, look to Shit That Comes Out Today for your new releases that have narrowly missed Cyber Monday. It’s like a heaping plate of lukewarm scraps scrounged up for your enjoyment!
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Amenra
Mass V (Neurot)
On a playlist with: Neurosis, Old Man Gloom, Norska
Listen Mass V full stream (here)
Amenra’s Mass V has just four songs but still covers 40 minutes of carrying-a-tractor Neurosis heaviness with no shortage of apocalyptic octaves, 50 bpm drum beats, and distressing howls. Said howls are an acquired taste — not quite the gravely hardcore gutturals the genre often calls for, but a kind of pained-shriek. (Think of the sound you made when mommy put rubbing alcohol on a particularly severe boo-boo.) Few surprises here, but if you found Given to the Rising pretty spectacular then attend this Mass.
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I Am Abomination
Let The Future Tell The Truth
On a playlist with: Periphery, Protest the Hero, Coheed And Cambria
Listen “Ninety-nine” (here)
I Am Abomination is one of those metal bands that eschew screaming to purr gently in your ears. IAA singer Phil Druyor’s bombastic hooks recall Spencer Sotelo and Claudio Sanchez’s distinctive wails, and ride atop semi-djenty progressive metal. Noteworthy are Future‘s socially conscious themes — more interesting then nebulous lyrics about enlightenment and Greek mythology.
Bloodbound
In The Name Of Metal (AFM)
On a playlist with: Steel Panther, Judas Priest, Captain Black Beard
Listen “In the Name of Metal” (here)
Do you like metal? Yeah? Well you’re probably not liking it hard enough for Bloodbound. These guys, eat, snort, and fuck metal. (At least one of those is really painful.) They attended the University of Metalsburg and graduated cum laude in heavy. They speak Metalese and sport only the fashions of Metalich Von Metalst. They are black-belts in the deadly metal arts. Okay you get the point. Metal!
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Finsterforst
Rastios (Napalm)
On a playlist with: Enslaved, In Vain, Agalloch
Listen “Nichts Als Asche” (here)
I am not shy about my distaste for music that conjures in my mind an ancient ritual by angry elves in an Everquest symposium, and I can surely picture those furious fairies rocking out to Finsterforst — but at least these German black metalers are interesting songwriters via memorable riffs, intelligent clean sections, and judicious use of blast beats. A solid offering for the genre.
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Kuolemanlaakso
Uljas Uusi Maailma (Svart)
On a playlist with: Swallow The Sun, KYPCK, Celtic Frost
Listen Uljas Uusi Maailma full stream (here)
Kuolemanlaakso is a super group — but only in the loosest sense of the term. With members of Chaosweaver, Barren Earth, and Swallow The Sun, the uncooperatively-monikered crew plays a stripped-down blackened death/doom, but occasional synths and STS singer Mikko Kotamäki’s range — low growls, morbid screeches, and catatonic croons — tilt Uljas into Swallow The Sun territory. Which is good, as Swallow the Sun has gotten pretty grandiose over the years; that means this back-to-basics album is a welcome return. Fun fact: Uljas is all in Finnish, a language that’s unrelated to like every language except Hungarian.
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Secret Sphere
Portrait Of A Dying Heart (Scarlet)
On a playlist with: Symphony X, Kamelot, Prototype
Listen “The Fall” (here) “Healing” (here)
Sccchhhh … Don’t tell anyone! Itschh a Schhhecret … Schhhhphere! This Italian power metal sextet earns themselves a spot on my weekly highlight list strictly because the intro to their song “The Fall” (above) sounds like a dorky prog version of one of my favorite jams this year, “You Won’t” by The Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza. Elsewhere, Portrait is by-the-numbers melodic-progressive metal. But do check out those pinch harmonics.
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OTHER SHIT THAT COMES OUT TODAY
Dio The Last In Line gold remaster (Audio Fidelity) listen
Rage Against The Machine Rage Against The Machine XX 20th Anniversary deluxe remaster (Sony Legacy) listen listen listen
