Sh*t That Comes Out Today: September 17, 2013
Hey MetalSucks readers hello! Want some totally crazy perspective? Okay, but don’t let this put a whammy on your brain just as you’re to begin cranking all of the new Shit That Comes Out Today. The new Carcass is out today, and it’s awesome, which is awesome. Annnd the last Carcass album was released in fuckin’ 1996. And whoa this is what we were doing in 1996. That was only 17 years ago? In America? Looks like 1940s Ecuador.
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Carcass
Surgical Steel (Nuclear Blast)
On a playlist with: Sodom, Napalm Death, Morbid Angel
Listen Surgical Steel full stream (here)
Read Emperor Rhombus MetalSucks review (here)
I’ll spare ya the nitty-gritty because Lord Equal-Sided Parallelogram has already boxed up Surgical Steel (above). But here’s a reminder: It’s fucking orgasmic. It’s one of those eccentric flipbook albums containing snippets of all the great moments in metal: Speed-trotting riffs, blast beats, refreshingly swampy (non-thrashy) vocals, and enough violence to keep Tarantino’s dick hard.
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The Devil Wears Prada
8:18 (Roadrunner)
On a playlist with: Miss May I, Attack Attack!, August Burns Red
Listen 8:18 full stream (here)
The Devil Wears Prada has always been on my shitlist for inventing Rugrats-core. And for boosting sales of Axe body spray. And for giving pre-hipster Jesus freaks a yelling mantra. But through all the cheap thrills and adolescent sweat-staining, 8:18 is a partial redemption. There are fantastic moments (a pair of intros) and could-be-worse moments (clean singing). It’s obvious that TDWP tried so hard. It paid off a bit, but the rest is shit.
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Stray From The Path
Anonymous (Sumerian)
On a playlist with: lol
Listen “Badge & A Bullet” (here) “False Flag” (here)
So you’ve probably read something to the effect of “omg SFTP released a Rage-esque song and it’s actually alright, but wtf why aren’t their other songs like that brah?” I’m guessing that’s because 1) they’re not RATM, 2) they’re not original, and 3) they’re not RATM. I can’t spare the same amount of props I give “Badge & A Bullet” for the rest of Anonymous. And if you rip off one of the greatest heavy bands, your original shit better be as good. Lest you want to go down in history as irrelevant (i.e. not go down in history ever). At least it’s better than the new I See Stars album. Goddammit Sumerian Records, goddammit.
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Felix Martin
The Scenic Album (Prosthetic)
On a playlist with: Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Joe Satriani
Listen “Spam II” (here) “High Spirit” (here) “Triangle Tune” (here)
No doubt this guy Felix Martin is a fuckin’ guitar ace. I mean, the more strings (14, lol) the better, amirite? But instrumental super-prog can be endearing + intellectually simulating or cock-tugging + self-obsessed. The latter is what comes of no choruses, a $1.50 drum track, and horrible cover art. But The Scenic Album is the former: funny, lighthearted, eclectic, and you don’t feel like you’re at Guitar Center. Point for discussion: what other super-prog instrumental solo acts don’t annoy you?
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Ulcerate
Vermis (Relapse)
On a playlist with: Gigan, Baring Teeth, Flourishing
Listen Vermis full stream (here)
Read Sammy O’Hagar MetalSucks review (here)
Ulcerate should leave the music business and go into designing roller coasters. Vermis is Satan’s idea of what topsy-turvy should be, all edged and razor-sharp, incongruent, and obtuse. And you get the feeling that they mastered a wicked magical formula for maximum darkness; I mean, the blasting at 4:05 on Vermis‘s second track is the definition of macabre. That’s only one of so many “omg I’m in hell and I’m loving it” moments.
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Cult Of Luna
Vertikal II EP (Density)
On a playlist with: Isis, Baroness, Rosetta
Listen Vertikal II EP full stream (here)
The first time I listened to Cult Of Luna’s Vertikal, I thought it was the tits. Vertikal II is that sudden extra pair at the party. That extra flash! I mean, this band is a gem in the crusty grounds of post-metal, all full of shit, oil, and dead things. So alive, so palpable. The fourth and final track of Vertikal II, with its gentle bass sweep and semi-dubby womp-womp background for gentle guitar lullabies is inspired, and its outro makes you shiver. If you want your music to move you somehow, then Vertikal II is this week’s winner.
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OTHER SHIT THAT COMES OUT TODAY
American Sharks American Sharks (The End) listen listen
Anathema Universal live DVD (Kscope) watch
Ashes Of Ares Ashes Of Ares (Nuclear Blast) listen
» Bombus The Poet And The Parrot (Century Media) listen listen listen
The Charm The Fury A Shade of My Former Self (Pavement) listen
Coldblood Chronology Of Satanic Events (Metallic) listen
Damnations Day Invisible, The Dead (Nightmare) listen
Deals Death Point Zero Solution (Spinefarm) listen
¤ Eve To Adam Locked & Loaded (Megaforce) listen
Eyes Set To Kill Masks (Century Media) listen
Focussed Minds The Fact Remains (6131) listen
Grave Morbid Ascent EP (Century Media) listen
Grave Miasma Odori Sepulcrorum (Profound Lore) listen
Gwar Battle Maximus (Metal Blade) listen listen
Haken The Mountain (Inside Out) listen
I See Stars New Demons (Sumerian) listen
Means End The Didact reissue (Rogue) listen
Mindcage Our Own Devices (Kinematic)
Pinkish Black Razed To The Ground (Century Media) listen
The Persevering Promise An Illusion In Shambles (Pavement) listen
Ringworm Bleed EP (Relapse) listen listen
Satyricon Satyricon (Nuclear Blast) listen listen
Season Of Mourning Salvation (Toil) “listen“
Seidr Ginnungagap (Bindrune) listen listen
Siren’s Cry Scattered Horizons (Nightmare) listen
A Storm Of Light Nations To Flames (Southern Lord) listen listen
» Subrosa More Constant Than The Gods (Profound Lore) listen
» Taberah Necromancer (Dust On The Tracks) listen listen
Tantric 37 Channels (Pavement) listen
» Tyr Valkyrja (Metal Blade) listen
Windhand Soma (Relapse) listen listen read
Wolvserpent Perigaea Antahkarana (Relapse) listen
