Sh*t That Comes Out Today: April 2, 2013
Thomas Jefferson possibly once said “All good things must come to an end,” and today it is with many tears, and running eye-liner, that I lovingly hang up my STCOT hat for good. (Yes I wear a STCOT hat every time I write this column!) It’s been a blast, and let’s all take just a brief moment to think about all the gr8 muzak you heard thanks to me! You’re welcome! Get Shanbombed one more time below!
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Warbeast
Destroy (Housecore)
On a playlist with: Pantera, Crowbar, Lamb of God
Listen “Nightmares In The Sky” (here) “Nowhere” (here)
Many people marveled at Phil Anselmo’s half of his split EP with Warbeast back in January. It was neat to hear the Down frontman reverting to the extreme sounds of his earlier career, but still the Texas gentlemen of Warbeast more than matched his pace. Those thrashy, filthy sounds exhibited on War of the Gargantuans ease listeners nicely to their aptly-titled sophomore album, Destroy. All of its nine tracks are totally relentless, smokin’ Southern groove metal that says hell to diversity, and yes to phunk-you aggression.
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Killswitch Engage
Disarm The Descent (Roadrunner)
On a playlist with: All That Remains, Shadows Fall, Times of Grace
Listen Disarm The Descent full stream (here)
Read Axl Rosenberg MetalSucks review (here)
If there’s a unified opinion to be found on MetalSucks, I’m usually opposed to it. But on this rare occasion I agree with the general vibe around here — Disarm The Descent is decent (hah!). Marking the return of original vocalist Jesse Leach, Descent does nothing to damage their legacy in mainstream metal, but it does painfully little to achieve their long-needed creative overhaul. Still, guitarist/producer Adam Dutkiewicz and crew go a little harder on Descent than on 2009’s Killswitch Engage and the other Leach/Dutkiewicz project, Times Of Grace. So it’s worth checking out.
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Fallujah
Nomadic EP (Unique Leader)
On a playlist with: Circle of Contempt, Veil of Maya, The Contortionist
Listen “The Dead Sea” (here)
If they didn’t already have it on 2011’s The Harvest Wombs, Fallujah has caught the bug — the prog bug! The San Francisco tech-deathians further expand on their debut’s celestial sounds via atmospheric sections reminiscent of The Contortionist’s best melodic interludes. Add prominent use of those epic add-9 chords á la Cephalic Carnage and Gojira, and Nomadic makes a promising next step for Fallujah.
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Hypocrisy
End Of Disclosure (Nuclear Blast)
On a playlist with: Zonaria, Infernal Poetry, Dimmu Borgir
Listen “Tales Of Thy Spineless” (here) “End of Disclosure” (here)
Read Kellhammer MetalSucks review (here)
Hypocrisy is another band in this week’s STCOT that is so freaking good at their thing that they can’t bring themselves to do anything else. Most of frontman Peter Tägtgren and his minions’ records are the same apocalyptic, mid-tempo melo-death, and the trio doesn’t mess with success on End Of Disclosure. The whole package here is rock solid like 2009’s A Taste of Extreme Divinity, but we know the group is capable of stepping outside of their comfort zones — like on Virus, their best album — so Disclosure is a little disappointing.
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No Consequence
IO (Basick)
On a playlist with: The Safety Fire, Monuments, Aliases
Listen IO full stream (here)
Something about the cross-section of noisecore and djent/prog metal is very distinctly English. No Consequence, from England’s southern region, carries the torch in 2013 carried by fellow Brits The Safety Fire and Monuments last year. The quintet don’t stray too far from the work of their predecessors, but proves very apt at a mix of dark clean guitars, brutal low tunings, cacophonous leads, and catchy harmonies.
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Azure Emote
The Gravity Of Impermanence (Selfmadegod)
On a playlist with: Unexpect, Obscura, Okular
Listen “Puppet Deities” (here) “Epoch of De-Evolution” (here)
Avant garde metal isn’t supposed to come from outside of Scandinavia (and some regions of Canada), but lo and behold we have Florida’s Azure Emote. Conceived by Mike Hrubovcak (Vile, Monstrosity), The Gravity Of Impermanence is fairly brutal death metal with electronics, synths, female choir vocals, and all sorts of esoteric instrumentation. With that description, I’ve either sold you or sent you running. If you’re on the fence, listen to it, silly!
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OTHER SHIT THAT COMES OUT TODAY
Abyssal Novit Enim Dominus Qui Sunt Eius (Profound Lore) listen
» Adema Topple The Giants (Pavement) listen
» Beyond The Shore Ghostwatcher (Metal Blade) listen listen
Bleed From Within Uprising (Century Media) listen listen
Blood Bright Star Solar Infinite (Antithetic) listen
Bring Me The Horizon Sempiternal (Epitaph) listen listen
Chasma Codex Constellatia (Moribound) listen
Dead Awaken Where Hope Turns Dripping Red (Abyss) listen
» Echtra Sky Burial (Temple Of Tortuous) listen
Finntroll Blodsvept (Century Media) listen listen
For Today Prevailer EP/DVD (Razor & Tie) listen
» A Hero For The World A Hero For The World (Jacob K) listen
Lost Society Fast Loud Death (Nuclear Blast) listen
Mad Season Above deluxe 3CD (Sony) listen
The Mongoloids Mongo Life (Six Feet Under) listen
Monsterworks Album Of Man (Mortal) listen
Morgengrau Extrinsic Pathway (Blind God) listen
¤ Moss Horrible Night (Metal Blade) listen
My Endless Wishes My Endless Wishes (Doolittle) listen
Niacin Krush (Prosthetic) listen
Paint It Black Invisible EP (No Idea) listen
Pryapisme Hyperblast Super Collider (Apathia) listen
Set To Reflect A New Path To Walk On (Standby) listen
Shadows Past Perfect Chapter (Doolittle) listen
Some Stranger Some Stranger EP (Robotic Empire) listen
Spock’s Beard Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep (Inside Out) listen
Terror Live By The Code (Victory) listen
Thy Art Is Murder Hate (Nuclear Blast) listen
Toxic Holocaust From The Ashes Of Nuclear Destruction collection (Relapse) listen
Wardruna Yggdrasil (Indie) listen listen listen
Years Of Tyrants Leading The Blind (Kaotoxin) listen
Zozobra Savage Masters (Brutal Panda) listen
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