Sh*t That Comes Out Today: October 8, 2013
Oh my god, the leaves falling. That cool, crispy wind infiltrating your jacket and/or black tee with screen-printed guts and gore. Chills your skin, gives you goosebumps. And the crunching of the leaves and twigs and autumn bugs under your foot. Just close your eyes. Take in the sounds. Take in the scents. Of today’s new shit! (Did I just tell you to smell shit?)
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Ghost Avenue
Ghost Avenue (Pitch Black)
On a playlist with: W.A.S.P., Helloween, Judas Priest
Listen “Ghost Avenue” (here)
One word: throwback. Those throwback feelings. Like, when you hear something new, with that smooth, jelly-like production and edgy/burst modern feel, but the riffs and vocals are just so ancient! Makes you want to dress in leather (if you already don’t, yow!) and karate chop motherfuckers while crusing the boulevard in your busted-ass Corvette. The speed, the “yeaaaaaaaa” moments, and the stadium drumming all add up. Such an upper, such a drug! So check out the title track for Ghost Avenue. Pay special attention to the solo as well, cause it’s diamond fucking hard. You love metal, you love this.
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Gypsy Chief Goliath
New Machines Of The Night (Pitch Black)
On a playlist with: Abstracter, Birch Hill Dam, Black Thai
Listen “Uneasy Kings” (here)
You ever been to a bar or venue? Of course you have. What about one with huge dagnasty dudes slappin’ chaw and reveling in their unshowered putridity? They’re like, uh, slow-moving, undulating beasts of hair, sweat, power, and raw? They want shit like New Machines — gore-tastic in the most nonviolent of ways, unrelenting, choppy, and just so dirty. Vocals sporadic, short bursts of grunting, and you can barely see because of the pot haze and dimmed lights and oh god, that stench, so good, so visceral, and the tunes just go into you ear and into your brain and then it all makes sense!
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Secrets Of The Sky
To Sail Black Waters (Kolony)
On a playlist with: Type O Negative, Carnivore, A Pale Horse Named Death
Listen To Sail Black Waters full stream (here)
Power/doom/thump/prog/underwater outfit Secrets Of The Sky — What about them? Well, foremost, To Sail Black Waters is a real lovemaker of an album. It lives in the depths of the ocean (in the same neighborhood as The Ocean, actually), and mines pathos (like Uneven Structure). Elsewhere, Waters is a light show, glimmering at points and blinding at others, constantly bobbing like a little lost buoy, making ya seasick in a good way. God, there are even gentle soothing interludes and all those little post-whatever bits which suck you into that “oh it’s so pretty and meaningless but ugh I feel it, I feel it!”
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Dance Gavin Dance
Acceptance Speech (Rise)
On a playlist with: A Lot Like Birds, Emarosa, Lower Definition
Listen Acceptance Speech full stream (here)
To scene or not to scene? Ugh, sometimes it’s so hard to tell. From its cheese-stuffed lyric video and mega-whine vocals, you kinda sense that Axe body spray and general angst figured in the writing of Acceptance Speech. But there are some good moments here: Imagine softcore hardcore. Like scrambled cable porn with black censored bars, because you hadn’t discovered the Internet yet and you have an active imagination. There’s a semi-DEP dynamism there that cannot be discounted, and hey, given my H8 for bloody-ass scenester bands, that helps a lot. Still, DGD ain’t going to the moon or anything.
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Ulver
Messe I.X-VI.X (Kscope)
On a playlist with: a gentle breeze
Listen Messe I.X-VI.X full stream (here)
Ulver is weird. We know that. Their latest, Messe I.X-VI.X, is a soundtrack to a Hitchcock-esque Lynch movie with no-cut progressions about a guy with his eyes sewn shut slowly rotting away in a desert. (Something like that.) Postmodern? Yes. This is all about the feels, moods, intensities, and ups-and-downs. Metal? Eh, sure. Cause it’s not like anything else. But if you’re going to be hanging out in a sensory deprivation chamber, then Messe is your soundtrack. Otherwise the deafening thump of your heartbeat will drive you nutso. Then it’ll stop. Quick, get the Ulver! Ready?! Clear!
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Beaten To Death
Dødsfest! (Mas-Kina)
On a playlist with: Rolo Tomassi, The Locust, Brutal Truth
Listen Dødsfest! full stream (here)
Oh, to be free of all rules. Convention be damned, amirite? Well most bands feel this thing called “artistic freedom,” but seriously, you can’t fully believe that scenes, genres, fans, criticism, etc. has no effect. Though when you hear an album like Dødsfest!, you know that some guys really give no fucks. (No knuller? Is that the right word in B2D’s Norwegian?) That’s why Dødsfest! sounds like a coke-induced post-grind nuthouse punch/death combo. Løve it.
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OTHER SHIT THAT COMES OUT TODAY
A Day To Remember Common Courtesy listen listen
Alter Bridge Fortress (Universal) listen
Earthless From The Ages (Tee Pee) listen
King’s Call Lion’s Den (Mausoleum) listen
Korn The Paradigm Shift (Prospect Park) listen read
Mörkö Itsensänimeävä (AAP) listen
Promethium Origins (Sky Rocket) listen
Running Wild Resilient (SPV) listen
SpiralArms Freedom (SPV) listen listen read
Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington High Rise (Play Pen) listen listen
Strangelight 9 Days EP (Sacrament) listen listen
The Vision Bleak Witching Hour (Prophecy) listen
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