Sh*t That Comes Out Today: November 12, 2013
November 12’s new releases include some massively heavy hitters — just in time for everyone’s forthcoming list of 2013 best ten (or 15/20/whatever) list. But don’t forget about the bands you’ve never heard of!
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The Acacia Strain
Above/Below EP (Rise)
On a playlist with: ABACABB, Despised Icon, Impending Doom
Listen “Above” (here)
I <3 The Acacia Strain. They perfectly balance between tongue-in-cheek and massively heavy, and their lyrics actually add to the music’s effect (more on that later). The pair of new jams on Above/Below EP have a quicker pace — especially compared to Wormwood (2010) and even last year’s Death Is The Only Mortal — and that works fantastically with the touch of hall-echo on its drawn-out vocals. Still, the TAS selling point is huge thug-thug-thug riffs behind wicked lyrics like “Nothing will grow around what’s left of your body.” Oh boy!
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Glorior Belli
Gators Rumble, Chaos Unfurls (Agonia)
On a playlist with: Aosoth, Funeral Mist, Merrimack
Listen Gators Rumble, Chaos Unfurls full stream (here)
In the expanding dialects of black metal, it’s hard to find one element: groove. Groove brings you to a dimly-lit bar with rock-‘n’-roll playing — and a night or two of that can benefit all listeners. The good news is that Glorior Belli’s Gators Rumble, Chaos Unfurls is groovy as fuck and still pitch black. This isn’t your mum and pop’s rock, there’s something decisively modern and even a little bit post about it. The biggest plus comes from the fact that you can have this jamming in the background and it doesn’t command your full attention. You can feel it. Right in the pants.
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Man Must Die
Peace Was Never An Option (Lifeforce)
On a playlist with: Rings Of Saturn, Abysmal Dawn, Neuraxis
Listen “On The Verge Of Collapse” (here) “Antisocial Network” (here) “Abuser Friendly” (here)
Core or extreme? Extremecore?! Who cares, Man Must Die blasts fast. I can’t help but focus on the wicked double-bass syncopation. It’s mesmerizing like Meshuggah, but on the opposite end of the spectrum: The more notes, the better. In fact, Peace Was Never An Option has a classic ethos, kinda like LOG’s As The Palaces Burn (see below). It’s authentic and self-aware, gritty and riff-focused, but definitely core and always on fast forward.
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Weekend Nachos
Still (Relapse)
On a playlist with: Full Of Hell, Magrudergrind, Mind Eraser
Listen Still full stream (here)
Read Emporer Rhombus MetalSucks review (here)
About 400 miles west of sanity and convention we find Weekend Nachos. Their flavor of hardcore/punk/whatever is that smash-and-grab adolescent foolery that actually gets a bit violent. You know, like those dystopian movies about youngsters going crazy and looting the city remains for toilet paper and pharmaceuticals? That means Still is focused and short-sighted in all the right ways, but also weird. Kind of like The Acacia Strain, the tongue-in-cheek element here is well-balanced if not a bit veiled. And while there are slow moments, Still keeps your heart racing, which is good, cause you’re gonna need the blood flowing!
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Malevolence
Reign Of Suffering (Siege Of Amida)
On a playlist with: Destrage, Desolated, Eye Of The Enemy
Listen Reign Of Suffering full stream (here)
Upbeat, riff-centric, semi-prog tech-death from the UK. And here comes Nigel with the brie! It seems like our friends over in the UK don’t get as much credit for their metal outputs. We always toss France and Belgium a bone for their postmetal, Germany for their off-beat acts, Scandinavia for pretty much everything, and, well, the list goes on. Malevolence’s Reign Of Suffering isn’t the most original tech-death album out there, but it’s a goddamn solid one. But there’s something decisively UK about it — maybe the smooth transitions, sexy lines, or erratic tempo shifts? Still getting my feelers. But this should give you yours!
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Lamb Of God
As The Palaces Burn 10th Anniversary Edition (Razor & Tie)
On a playlist with: Machine Head, Chimaria, DevilDriver
Listen As The Palaces Burn reissue full stream (here)
Read Axl Rosenberg MetalSucks review (here)
If you could pick one album to re-record, which would it be? I always hear: “Zomg, fucking As The Palaces Burn, the original recording was horrible!” But no, it wasn’t, it was fucking brilliant: hollowed-out, dry, as raw as blisters, not amateurish or cheap. Even listening to my beloved Resolution, I still miss the grit and grime of the original Palaces. Still, this remixed and remastered reissue is actually great. It’s more compressed and does away with most of its background fuzz. And while it’s not as good as the original, it’s nice to crank it and not hear so much hiss. And it’s still one of the greatest metal albums of all time.
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OTHER SHIT THAT COMES OUT TODAY
Artical Illusion X (Pitch Black) listen
Brutal Truth/Bastard Noise Axiom of Post Inhumanity split vinyl, CD (Relapse) listen
» Crawling Chaos Repellent Gastronomy (Memorial) listen
Cronian Erathems (Season Of Mist) listen
Dark Funeral In The Sign… reissue (Century Media) listen
Dark Funeral The Secrets Of The Black Arts reissue (Century Media) listen
Dark Funeral Vobiscum Satanas reissue (Century Media) listen
Darkmoon Warrior Nuke ‘Em All (WTC) listen
Demonical Darkness Unbound (Metal Blade) listen
Drugs Of Faith Architectural Failures (Malokul) listen
Endstille Kapitulation 2013 (Season Of Mist) listen
Hammer Fight Chug Of War (Horror Gore Pain Death) listen listen
Handful Of Hate To Perdition (Code666) listen
Heart Of A Coward Severance (Century Media) listen
Heretics In The Lab Suture (Sacrifice) listen listen
Hollow Sunshine Held Above (Robotic Empire) listen
Index For Potential Suicide The Newest Youth Rebellion vinyl reissue (Foreign Sounds)
Living Sacrifice Ghost Thief (Solid State) listen listen
» Nocturnal Graves … From The Bloodline Of Cain (Hells Headbangers) listen
Obliteration Black Death Horizon (Relapse) listen listen
» Pentagram Chile The Malefice (Cyclone Empire) listen
Pestilence Obsideo (Candlelight) listen
Pierce The Veil This Is A Wasteland DVD (Fearless) watch
Psyclon Nine Order Of The Shadow: Act I (Metropolis) listen
» Satan’s Wrath Aeons Of Satan’s Reign (Metal Blade) listen
Slave Zero Disambiguated Visionary EP (Double Standard) listen
Solstafir Í Blóði og Anda (In Blood and Spirit) reissue (Season Of Mist) listen
State Faults Resonate/Desperate (No Sleep) listen listen listen
Stonecast Heroikos (Pitch Black) listen
» Temple Of Baal Verses Of Fire (Agonia) listen
Thaclthi Erat Ante Oculos (Avantgarde) listen
Valkyrja The Antagonist’s Fire (W.T.C.) listen listen
Vastum Patricidal Lust (20 Buck Spin) listen
YOB Catharsis reissue (Profound Lore) listen
