Shit That Comes Out Today: October 1, 2013

Hey you. Yeah, you, STCOT lover! So now it’s October, aka the best month of the year. I mean, there’s nothing better than a delicious brew, some oh-so pretty falling leaves, the crisp/cool hoodie weather, and some goddamn new releases! Tis the season, motherfuckers! Enjoy! (Okay, sorry to y’all who live in places without seasons).

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Broken Hope
Omen Of Disease (Century Media)
On a playlist with: Internal Bleeding, Brodequin, Deeds of Flesh
Listen “The Docking Dead” (here)

So for their first album since 1999, Chicago-based grind-’em-up outfit Broken Hope lays Omen on us. Lemme tell you, it’s disgusting. One of those nasty grit-laden deals which feels like it just went to the shitter and forgot to wipe. Now, I’ve gotten word that the lyrics are dagnasty. Unfortunately, I can’t understand any of them. But when the album drops and you pick it up (like omg you should), check out the cover jacket and report back! In the meantime, “hnnnnggg blnnnngggg funnnngggggg” on top of slam riff after slam riff will do just fine.

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Cleric
Gratum Inferno (Tofu Carnage)
On a playlist with: The Crinn, Gaza, Hunab Ku
Listen Gratum Inferno full stream (here)

For a few seconds I read Gratum Inferno as “gratis inferno” and I was like, oh, thanks guys! Cause on the listen-through there’s just so much — you know, that overwhelming feeling you get when something is as dense as pound cake and actually pounds you right in the cake. Not sure what that means, but I’m sure that Gratum sends out the kind of fulfilling old-school death redux that can only be listened to in a dark cave (or bar/bedroom/labyrinth). Or some other forlorn place. Now some of you might be like, “but omg DLR, the vocals are completely one-dimensional and the drumming amateur at best.” I say to you: fuck off, old school is what old school does!

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Mephistopheles
Sounds Of The End (Willowtip)
On a playlist with: Necrophagist, Soreption, Obscura
Listen Sounds Of The End full stream (here)

Holding a candle to Necrophagist is not an easy feat. But Tasmania-based Mephistopheles rocks it with their second full-length. And by “rocks it” I mean “fucking devours my entire head trying to get into my brain.” Lets see here: clean/dirty vocal mix, hyper-sharp ascending and non-repeating riffs, spazoid drumming, and even a bit of harmony! (For a great taste, check out the third track, “Soldiers Of The Endtime”). Anyway, I classify albums like this in the “intellectual” section of my, uh, digital library. Sounds takes a lot of listening power — there’s a literal fuckload going on — but your undivided attention and appreciation will pay enormous dividends.

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Serocs
The Next (Comatose)
On a playlist with: Cryptopsy, Iniquity, Wormed
Listen The Next full stream (here)

You ever feel that feel when you hear a newish/amateur band who rocks like the pros? Now this isn’t to say that none of the new guys on the block can keep up — there certainly have been plenty A-class freshman and sophomore releases. But there’s this gentle middle ground where ballsy execution and semi-decent production quality meet. And at that nexus bands like Serocs exist. I know I use the word “organic” a lot to describe tons o’ things. Well, here’s one excellent application. The Next is sexy tech-death without pretension or ball-jangling.

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Empire Of Rats
Empire Of Rats (A389)
On a playlist with: 100 Demons, Cold As Life, Homewrecker
Listen “Another Minute In Hell” (here) “Society’s Zero” (here)

Ugh I just love saying it: The right mix of hardcore and metal is usually a winning product. Somehow it’s a perfect way to throw back to old classic metal, but with a new core-like twist. And Empire is right there: thrashy solos and breakdowns, grungy vocals, and plenty of speed. All that pumping-up! I’d have to say that “Society’s Zero” is the strongest song, too (which is great, cause there’s a link above). Just get a load of 0:50 and start breaking shit.

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Vulture Industries
The Tower (Season Of Mist)
On a playlist with: Devin Townsend’s Norwegian cousin
Listen The Tower full stream (here)
Read Sammy O’Hagar MetalSucks review (here)

If you’re a label hound, then you already know that Season Of Mist has an excellent roster. But what every label (and every genre and sub-genre) needs is an act from left field. But not the left field where instruments become objects for anal insertion and where high-pitched duck squashing passes for music — I’m talking about the left field where things are odd, obtuse, seemingly misaligned. Goofy even. But even with all the eccentricities, it all works. That’s the point. That it produces that harmony in your brain, that thing that makes you attracted to music on the most basic of levels, but it does it so markedly differently. The Tower does and is just that. It doesn’t just come from left field, it helps reinvent it for heavy music.

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OTHER SHIT THAT COMES OUT TODAY 

Abyssous …Smouldering (2012) (Iron Bonehead) listen
The Answer New Horizon (Napalm) listen read
Argus Beyond The Martyrs (Cruz del Sur) listen
Atlantean Kodex The White Goddess (A Grammar Of Poetic Myth) (20 Buck Spin) listen
Black Moth The Killing Jar (New Heavy Sounds) listen listen
Blind To Faith Under The Heptagram EP (A389) listen
¤ Bloody Hammers Spiritual Relics (Soulseller) listen
A Breach Of Silence Dead Or Alive (Eclipse) listen
The Browning Hypernova (Earache/Century Media) listen listen
Concrete Dawn Of Revival (Mulligore) listen
Daksinroy Tournament Of Destruction (Blacksnake) listen
Deathpoint Sinister (Spread The Metal) “listen”
Drottnar Stratum (Endtime) listen
Fates Warning Darkness In A Different Light (Inside Out) listen listen
» Goregast Covered In Skin 7″(FDA Rekotz) listen
Hearts & Hands My Own Machine (Artery) listen listen
Horisont Time Warriors (Metal Blade) listen
In Solitude Sister (Metal Blade) listen listen
Iron Man South Of The Earth (Metal Blade) listen
» Masada Hideous Rot EP (Blood Harvest) listen
Master The Witchhunt (FDA Rekotz) listen
Melt-Banana fetch (A-Zap) listen
Oceano Incisions (Earache) listen
» Praise The Flame Profane Cult EP (Blood Harvest) listen
Rush Vapor Trails Remixed (Anthem/Atlantic) listen
Sawthis Youniverse (Bakerteam) listen
Scar The Martyr Scar The Martyr (Roadrunner) listen
Shameless Beautiful Disaster (RSR) listen
Sinheresy Paint The World (Bakerteam) listen
» Slutvomit Swarming Darkness (Invictus) listen
Soulfly Savages (Nuclear Blast) listen
Terrorway Blackwaters (Bakerteam) listen
Thought Chamber Psykerion (Inside Out) listen
Twilight Of The Gods Fire On The Mountain (Season Of Mist) listen
When The Deadbolt Breaks Drifting Towards The Edge Of The Earth (EarOne) listen

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