Sh*t That Comes Out Today: June 3, 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6blgjF6UkU&feature=kp
As we careen through 2014, I constantly wonder whether this year’s best album has already hit the racks/inboxes. I’m still preparing my shitpants for Fallujah’s newest in July, but for now here are (omg count them) two contenders for end-o’-year Top Ten listage! Pro challenge: See if you can guess them. Superpro challenge: Tattoo one of ’em to your buttocks. You’ll be famous!
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Vader
Tibi Et Igni (Nuclear Blast)
On a playlist with: Behemoth, Decapitated, Morbid Angel
Listen Tibi Et Igni full stream (here)
Bands with long histories are treated a bit differently — sometimes old-timers’ releases take a more critical edge from fans given the built-up expectations. But then again, mediocre releases from well-established bands can easily be overrated. Vader’s been at it since 1992, and I expected nothing less than liquid kickassery from Tibi Et Igni. And guess what! They delivered. Central to Vader’s ethos is that blast-from-the-past + modernity dynamic which makes you feel nostalgic even if you never lived through the classic age. Few bands capture those feels, even fewer with such solid delivery.
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The Cutthroats 9
Dissent vinyl (Lamb Unlimited)
On a playlist with: The Unsane, get yourself a record player, hipster
Listen “Dissension” (here)
Doom and a slide! I’ve listened to “Dissension” a few times now and I can’t get over the coolness of the slide in its intro and chorus. The rest of Dissent carries on with the same (but light) blues influences — even though Dissent is a dirty, gritty, basement-rock release. That distinctive “hangover” feel wears thin on some albums, but not here. Nor do the lovely vocals and guitar variations. The best way to experience this album, though, would be live.
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Voyager
V (IAV)
On a playlist with: The Safety Fire, Scar Symmetry, Anubis Gate
Listen V full stream (here)
All those bands we wrap in the banner of “modern progressive metal” are quite disparate. Voyager occupies the much lighter, melodic side of things, like a hybrid of The Safety Fire and Scar Symmetry. Things I like: the small circa-1980s EDM-influence moments + dat groove. Things I don’t: the fairy vocals and lack of guitar punch. So, as an easy-listening, complex, and moody album, V is a true rocker. Just don’t expect any kicks to the gut!
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Deep In Hate
Chronicles Of Oblivion (Kaotoxin)
On a playlist with: Whitechapel, Carnifex, early Fit For An Autopsy
Listen “New Republic” (here) Chronicles of Oblivion full stream (here)
True fact: A deathcore band can be pretty fucking good. True fact: There is still reason to hate deathcore: 1) it’s tropey, 2) it’s talentless, and 3) its purpose is singular. True fact: The latest album from Deep In Hate is one of the exceptions. You’ll like its measured pace, you’ll like the technical legato interludes, and you’ll like the well-timed breakdowns. It sounds like a deathcore-influenced metal album, not just a bunch of dudes with off-the-rack 7-strings making 0-0-000-0-0-000 with your brain cells.
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Divine Chaos
A New Dawn In The Age Of War (Evil Eye)
On a playlist with: Exodus, Destruction, Kreator
Listen “Death Toll Rising” (here) “Shadow Of God” (here)
A New Dawn In The Age Of War‘s lack of originality is reconciled with sheer riffage. There’s nothing that special here among the constructions, the vocals, the music videos, or the production. But your attention will be snagged cuz every guitar segment is spot-on. Divine Chaos may be no Revocation, but their album still is no-bullshit 100mph-down-the-highway thrash!
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Son Of Aurelius
Under A Western Sun
On a playlist with: Wretched, a collaboration by Gorod and Vulture Industries
Listen “Clouded Panes” (here) “A Great Liberation” (here)
Six months ago I voted Vulture Industries’ The Tower the best metal album of 2013. Part of why is that The Tower is completely different than anything else I heard that year but still felt traditional. That’s innovation! Under A Western Sun flows along the same vein, maybe with a bit less weight on the traditional. So no fussing about, this album is righteously sexy — the dude can sing — and stands tall as a hyper-strong left-field release. Weird always wins.
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OTHER SHIT THAT COMES OUT TODAY
Daemonheim Tidian (Naturmacht) listen
Darkest Era Severance (Cruz del Sur) listen listen
Demonic Rage Venomous Wine From Putrid Bodies (Iron Bonehead) listen
Diseased Reason Recombinant (Handshake) listen
Dragon’s Kiss Barbarians Of The Wasteland (Killer Metal) listen
Fallen Angel Crawling Out Of Hell reissue (Killer Metal) listen
The Great Sabatini Dog Years (Solar Flare) listen
Hard Riot The Blackened Heart (Pitch Black) listen
Massacra Enjoy The Violence reissue (Century Media) listen
Massacra Final Holocaust reissue (Century Media) listen
Massacra Signs of the Decline reissue (Century Media) listen
Mongrel Evolution EP (Unable) listen
Nightmares Suspiria (Rise) listen
» On Top Top To Bottom EP (Horror Pain Gore Death) listen
Opium Warlords Taste My Sword Of Understanding (Svart) listen
Buzz Osbourne This Machine Kills Artists (Ipecac) listen
Pylon Homo Homini Lupus (Roxx) listen
» Rude Soul Recall (FDA Rekotz) listen
» Run With The Hunted The Sieve And The Sand (Panic) listen
¤ Sacrocurse Unholier Master (Hells Headbangers) listen listen
Stoic Dissention Autochthon (Rain Without End) listen
Valdrin Beyond The Forest (Blast Head) listen
Via From The Ashes (Dark Harvest) listen
Vomiting Corpses Coma: The Spheres of Innocence reissue (Wartorn) listen
Warlord (UK) We Die As One (Xtreem) listen
Witheria Devastating Return (Violent Journey) listen
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