Sh*t That Comes Out Today: January 24, 2020
It’s Friday, which means it’s new metal day! Look forward to my usual idiosyncratic recommendations as well as things people actually want to hear about.
Acid Mammoth
Under Acid Hoof (Heavy Psych)
Another week, another mammoth-centric stoner doom album from Heavy Psych. I’m starting to notice a theme here. This one also has druids, though, so that’s something different. Serious Sabbath vibes abound, obviously. They certainly stick to a theme — at least two of the songs are actually about pachyderms. Also there’s a tune called “Jack the Riffer” that has nothing to do with elephants but kicks ass nonetheless.
Annihilator
Ballistic, Sadistic (Silver Lining)
Annihilator have been around forever. At this point, it’s just band mastermind Jeff Waters and some other guys, and their 17th(!) studio album shows why they have a huge cult but never quite broke through. While Waters undeniably knows his way around six strings, he’s never quite had the songs to match his killer solos. “Psycho Ward” proves he has it in him — it’s an almost perfect thrash song — but nothing else on here lives up to that promise.
Kirk Windstein
Dream in Motion (Entertainment One)
Who knew that the guy who wrote most of sludge legends Crowbar’s music could also do other stuff, and do it well? In this case, the “other stuff” consists of doom metal, but it’s enough of a departure to make it worthwhile. Windstein’s first solo effort feels incredibly personal, applying the deeply emotional underpinnings always present in Crowbar’s music to less abrasive fare. Even the cover of “Aqualung” impresses.
Konvent
Puritan Masochism (Napalm)
These Danes’ fantastic taste in t-shirts translates to fantastic taste in influences. Heavy effin’ death doom that perfectly evokes the unstoppable downhill momentum of early Paradise Lost and Winter, the debut album from this four-piece will appeal to anyone who likes their depression to steamroll everything in its path. Despair is timeless; so’s this sound.
Midnight
Rebirth in Blasphemy (Metal Blade)
Midnight have always had a certain Motörhead-ish charm to their straight-ahead black n’ roll attack, but goddamn, at some point in the last three years main masked man Athenar picked up riffs to match. This totally rips. The addition of a more trad metal vibe to their latest certainly helps, but whatever the reason, this is indisputably the best release in an incredibly prolific catalog. More rebirths like this, please.
OTHER SHIT THAT COMES OUT TODAY
Blasphemer – The Sixth Hour (Candlelight) Listen
Breaking Benjamin – Aurora (Hollywood) Listen
Brothers Of Metal – Emblas Saga (AFM) Listen
Davey Suicide – Rock Ain’t Dead (Out Of Line/InGrooves) Listen
Defiled – Infinite Regress (Season Of Mist) Listen
Hazzerd – Delirium (M-Theory) Listen
Jorn – Heavy Rock Radio II: Executing The Classics (Frontiers) Listen
Marko Hietala – Pyre of the Black Heart (Nuclear Blast) Listen
Mortiis – Spirit of Rebellion (Omnipresence) Listen
Nero Di Marte – Immoto (Season of Mist) Listen
Surgical Strike – Part of a Sick World (Metalville) Listen
Temperance – Viridian (Napalm) Listen
Thy Catafalque – Naiv (Season Of Mist) Listen
SHIT THAT COMES OUT AGAIN TODAY
Blue Oyster Cult – Cult Classic (Reissue) (Frontiers) Listen
Blue Oyster Cult – Hard Rock Live Cleveland 2014 (Frontiers) Listen
