31 Records To Listen To Instead Of Mastodon's "Once More 'Round The Sun"

“I mean, it’s a terrible record, man. I just don’t get it. If you’re gonna put out a record like that, just do a fucking side project or something, ya know?” -Phil Anselmo on Metallica's "Load"

It's clear as crystal that "Once More 'Round The Sun" isn't what got the initial mass of fans into Mastodon ten years ago at the time "Leviathan" was released. Yet it is exactly what got the second big wave of fans into Mastodon; at the time of "The Hunter"'s release. So what we've got here is a crowd of people who don't like the new sound, and some who adore it; plus the band making comments like "this is different stuff". The 'different' stuff answer might even be the case, but not in the way one might think it would be. "Crack The Skye" was different, yes, and so Mastodon, too. Why then the same thing can't be claimed to be true about Mastodon's next two records? If the band's decision to sing and abandon the growl on those were to be read as their mistake then "Crack The Skye" might as well been called into question; so, why it wasn't so? Because of the embracing of the prog rock structure. Yes, it is that simple. Mastodon, more or less, meant three things: mania, complexity, and a rock n' roll vibe most popular metal bands couldn't materialize even if they sold their collective souls to God, the Devil, and every demon in between; and "Crack The Skye" had two of those for sure.

Still, the entire argument about "Once More 'Round The Sun" not being Mastodon is only valid when seen through the scope of a fan who became a fan because of a certain understanding of the band's attitudes towards music at one point, something ceasing to exist now. Here is the problematic part with the notion of a 'band'. While it is always possible for an artist who produces music under his or her name to change the directions drastically every time he or she pleases, the same thing always causes major dispute for bands. So why is it so crucial for a band to go under the same moniker even though they realize what they're doing is in complete contrast with their origins? Obviously; recognition, fame, and factors of such. If Brann, Brent, Bill, and Troy were going to release the last two records as something other than Mastodon, neither Warner would have released their record, nor it would have reached the same number of people it has reached now. So their decision is a completely rational one if you've been wondering, and nevertheless one with numerous negative results.

Interviewer: Do you think that people who live from their music compromise on their artistry?
Steve Von Till: I don’t think it is a given, but I think it is more than likely true. There’s always an exception. Mastodon perhaps, time will tell. We love those guys and wish them the best, but they are in the belly of the beast and we’ll see how it goes. For us independence is important, even as people we are not willing to have people telling us what to do.

What Von Till said in that interview has been on my mind for the past three years. Up until the release of "The Hunter", Mastodon -- while always getting an equal amount of positive feedback -- have always been this weird band to most 'metal' listeners and/or critics; not because of the albums they're making today, but because of their otherworldly brand of metal. There have been always those who found them not particularly 'metal' and my claim here is that that the same people are now enjoying the new Mastodon. Mass media has been extremely supportive of the last two Mastodon records as they were never before. With Kerrang! awarding them the best album of the year title and so on. I believe that should be observed as a signal hinting us that something's very very wrong.

Why should they be enjoying what they've never been able to fully understand in the past? Because it has changed. Yes. And precisely in a way that it now pleases their pop-demanding ears. The songs lack instrumentality and are heavily vocal-driven. That's pop music, with the mere difference that it's been hailed as the contrary. That's also a sublime process of eliminating a threat in the music business that was Mastodon. Mastodon, if nothing else, manifested a hope for great music being possible through the medium of mass media and it sure as hell wasn't something that mass media wanted. Quite an amazing instance of situational irony when Brent shares his love for Zappa, whose long-time dispute with Warner is known to almost everyone.

Getting to the list, first, I wanna make a polite request to shut your pretty mouth up if you're one of the countless people who's enjoying the new record and simply continue your listen, for I don't aim at interrupting your nice experience, and please, don't come up with anything like this guy did; deathcore? Seriously, if you think early Mastodon is comparable to deathcore, you must be either out of your freaking lil mind or have found Mastodon thru a shitty magazine like Metal Hammer. In any case, my point here is simple: "Once More 'Round The Sun" isn't Mastodon, as with the one before it, and so I'm giving you a list of records, each of which can be counted as one damn good alternate choice. Enjoy your blast.

"Covenant"

Artist: Holocaust

Year Of Release: 1997

One of the finest examples of prog metal, a relatively underrated record from heavy metal veterans; Holocaust.

"Ox"

Artist: Coalesce

Year Of Release: 2009

When TDEP were busy infecting their music with pop vocals, getting inspired by Justin Timberlake, blah blah blah, Coalesce recorded one of the most brilliant comeback records of the past ten years. Personally, I think it hasn't been topped yet.

"Days Of Fire"

Artist: Meatjack

Year Of Release: 2003

Meatjack were capable of nearly anything; anything, except making money out of their music.

"Cryptomnesia"

Artist: El Grupo Nuevo De Omar Rodriguez Lopez

Year Of Release: 2009

Back in 2009, the now deceased Mars Volta were also starting to make 'different' records, but then at least w/ Omar you always have this insane variety of outputs that one of his countless records of that year perfectly matched the Volta sound.

"Voyager"

Artist: Elodea

Year Of Release: 2010

This one's for those of you who are particularly fascinated by those Neurosis rip-offs on "Remission". Elodea's music is also an (unconscious) attempt to capture the Neurosis sound using a more 'metal' framework; and it sounds like early Isis, Meshuggah, Botch, and everything in between. Totally underrated compared to bands like Intronaut, the Ocean, or even Deadbird, if you ask me. I mean, just take note of that drumming; it's simply matchless.

"Subject To Change Without Notice"

Artist: Keelhaul

Year Of Release: 2003

People/and or websites like Last.fm usually suggest bullshit like Gojira and Red Fang when asked about a similar band to Mastodon. Wrong. The answer's Keelhaul.

"Intransience"

Artist: Zebulon Pike

Year Of Release: 2008

Prog metal band of the decade, period.

"Strap It On"

Artist: Helmet

Year Of Release: 1990

Sick, sharp-edged riffage w/ some pissed-as-hell vox on the top.

"Dollars For Red Books"

Artist: Four Hour Fogger

Year Of Release: 1999

If Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson came up with Sunn O))) when they tried to pay tribute to the Melvins, Four Hour Fogger was what Brent and Troy came up with, trying to do the same thing, their own way.

"Ruder Forms Survive"

Artist: Capricorns

Year Of Release: 2005

This is what happens when a punk/metal act gets influenced by a band like Oxbow.

"Redemption Is Only Skin Deep... It's Time To Cut Deeper"

Artist: Social Infestation

Year Of Release: 1998

Way better than Killer Be Killed. Way way better.

"Dimension Hatröss"

Artist: Voivod

Year Of Release: 1988

Who were the first prog metal band again? Sorry, I didn't catch you.. dream what? you mean Voivod? Right on.

"Larval"

Artist: Larval

Year Of Release: 1996

The term heavy-rock always sounds out of place, unless you're applying it to Larval.

"Praise"

Artist: Sweet Cobra

Year Of Release: 2003

Like Keelhaul, Sweet Cobra have a long-running history of touring/friendship with Mastodon, but unfortunately they don't get to play with them on the same bill anymore, obviously because they aren't as crap as phonies like Ghost to be liked by fans of Mastodon at this point.

"Ruins III"

Artist: Ruins

Year Of Release: 1988

Recommended for those of you who think could use more of that 'Bladecatcher'/'Capilarian Crest' type of madness on the (bass) fretboard, that is neither virtuoso nor fancy.

"It's Hard To Write With A Little Hand"

Artist: Lethargy

Year Of Release: 1996

Get your faces melted while Brann and Bill manifest mathcore at the time it hardly existed.

"You Ruin Everything"

Artist: Pigs

Year Of Release: 2012

From "Lifesblood" up until "Leviathan", the vox on Mastodon albums were extremely noisy, paying tribute to the kings of noise rock/metal: Unsane.

"Only Time Can Tell"

Artist: West End Motel

Year Of Release: 2012

The problem isn't with singing, the problem is with bad, pop-infected singing; the problem is that Brann, the same person who spoke in disregard of Britney Spears back in 2004, has been digging her shit for the past few years.

"Ideas Of Reference"

Artist: Psyopus

Year Of Release: 2004

Do the math yourself.

"Taste The Sin"

Artist: Black Tusk

Year Of Release: 2010

The success of bands like High On Fire and Mastodon gave enough credence to the idea of pacing up sludge that many bands started to ape that. One sole record out of the Savannah scene's numberless fast-paced sludge albums/bands that was just as flawless and classy -- more hardcore-rooted than math/prog but still close -- as early Mastodon was Black Tusk's "Taste The Sin".

"In The Arms Of God"

Artist: Corrosion Of Conformity

Year Of Release: 2005

COC's most intricate, unique effort. Highly recommended if you crave some jazzy drumming like that of Brann's on a metal record, for it is none other than Stanton Moore playing drums on this monster of an album.

"Beyond The Lightless Sky"

Artist: Hull

Year Of Release: 2011

Still underrated as fuck.

"Mother Teacher Destroyer"

Artist: The Hidden Hand

Year Of Release: 2004

"Blood Mountain" had major stoner rock vibes to it, especially considering the clean vox. I believe I even saw Troy wearing a Hidden Hand tee in one of the recording sessions.

"In The Eyes Of God"

Artist: Today Is The Day

Year Of Release: 1999

Wanna hear more of Brann's magic on drums? Today's the day.

"Fiend Without A Face"

Artist: Fiend Without A Face

Year Of Release: 1998

If you're curious to find out about the roots of Mastodon's surf-inspired curiosities that went down in metal history (e.g. 'Megalodon', 'Deep Sea Creature', 'Divinations'), you're in for a real treat.

"Deep Cuts From Dark Clouds"

Artist: 16

Year Of Release: 2012

Huge, huge punk riffs.

"Hold Your Horse Is"

Artist: Hella

Year Of Release: 2002

One of the other names considered by Brann and Bill, before they picked up Mastodon, was Satanic Rainbow. Also, Bill played in a band called Girdle, who had this one record called "Satanic Love Songs". Just saying.

"Unipsycho"

Artist: Papa Wheelie

Year Of Release: 2002

A little too stoned to catch up with one's Mastodonian definition of sludge, but still savage enough when it gets to the vox to count as a record you might wanna listen instead of Mastodon's ridiculous brand of pop metal; and yes, this is Metallica's Jason Newsted playing pissed off stoner riffs on the guitar -- wonder why people ignore his most brilliant project, Papa Wheelie? People are full of shit.

"Mammatus"

Artist: Mammatus

Year Of Release: 2006

Want psychedelia and want it dark like in "Revenge Gets Ugly" or "Crack The Skye"? Get into Mammatus.

"Transnational Speedway League"

Artist: Clutch

Year Of Release: 1993

The sonic definition of sickness; heavier than any death metal record released in the 2000's.

"Cargo"

Artist: Men At Work

Year Of Release: 1983

There were days listeners could actually go pick a pop record, and run into some music, too. This final record is for those of you who desperately want to listen to pop music and knowing Mastodon's last few records have been poppy and all, plan to buy "Once More 'Round The Sun".

Swans - To Be Kind (2014)

"The Taste for Nothingness

Dull soul, to whom the battle once was sweet,

Hope, who had spurred your ardour and your fame

Will no more ride you! Lie down without shame

Old horse, who makes his way on stumbling feet.

Give up, my heart, and sleep your stolid sleep.

For you old rover, spirit sadly spent,

Love is no longer fair, nor is dispute;

Farewell to brass alarms, sighs of the flute!

Pleasures, give up a heart grown impotent!

The Spring, once wonderful, has lost its scent!

And Time engulfs me in its steady tide,

As blizzards cover corpses with their snow;

And poised on high I watch the world below,

No longer looking for a place to hide.

Avalanche, sweep me off within your slide!"

I wanted to quote the Baudelaire poem since I believe once read without its Romantic implications of the awe for nature, it would perfectly maintain what I've interpreted to be Gira's current philosophy, means, and perception of music — that is the avalanche, the flow of absurdity, and the Will to null. Jennifer Church; who performed guest vocals on "To Be Kind" - after being mistaken for Annie Clark by both fans and the press at the release of 'A Little God In My Hands' — when asked about what she was singing, referred to something radically interesting that I'd like to relate to what has been just said.  "The vocal line…hrmmm I suppose you could call it “Gira-nese” - It’s mysterious - and I think he likes it that way - (a little godlike chant in your head perhaps…)," she replied. And there exactly lies the answer. In fact, there are no words involved, there are no lyrics, there is "no story to tell" like Francis Bacon once said; leaving out 'Just A Little Boy'.

Of course, one might ask what about Gira's own vocal lines, he does sing in proper English after all. First, this is by no means abstract music or — in the case of the lyrics — one-hundred percent Dadaist like those of Kurt Schwitters' in "Ursonate", this of course deals with inclusive songwriting as much as it deals with the exclusive. And secondly, I would like to refer to the point of creation of some of these seemingly sound lyrics, which at times — as stated by Gira himself in a number of interviews — is rooted in not an ordinary say, muse, but rather nothing at all. "I didn't have words, and I just started singing and at one point...I see it all I see it all I see it all...kind of seemed to fit with the kind of the spiritual aspect of the music" says Gira on who 'The Seer' is. This, whether call it method evolves into a more vulgar approach with "To Be Kind", as Gira frees his voice more and more throughout almost every song on the record; a possible upshot of their heavy touring and the various experimentations they did during each performance of the same song.

At this point, it is more or less clear that as Gira was inspired by Sade and Genet during the early Swans days; the time he also spent writing short stories that Hubert Selby, Jr. would later call them "hallucinatory" among other things. He is now relatively (or even more intensely) driven by what Heidegger called anxiety — an anxiety formed by the fear of nothingness, death. In the same interview, Gira clearly states that it is not the environment that inspires him but "the fear of death". Now, this anxiety is not the anxiety one might usually think of; that is, the anxiety the so-called psychotherapist would want to exorcise. This isn't being depressed in the sense most people tend to think either, and as a matter of fact, such thinkings are often implanted by the same, forgive me saying, pseudo-psychoanalysts. This is the very essence of living, and in this case, writing songs. And in the case of Swans, it can relate to the idea of the Will to null as well. The songs can be seen as manifestations of this nothingness that death brings with itself. One would want to become God and one would want to imitate death too.

Still and all, "To Be Kind" can be also seen as a more 'mild' effort in contrast to "The Seer". That statement might seem to contradict what I've said earlier about the vulgarity of the vocals, and it sure does. Yet the vocals tell but one side of the story. On the sonic side, "To Be Kind" uses the same formula "The Seer" did; the embracing of the lengthy, organic, and improvisational composings, contrasted with a number of more accessible, shorter songs, with the single difference that in "To Be Kind" those of the latter tend to be more groove-oriented and less startling compared to, say, their counterparts in "The Seer". The lengthy ones still remain as agonizing, though. And most of them offer a good deal of brand-new sections in comparison to their previous versions, which you might have heard before either on "Not Here / Not Now" or during one of the live performances.

Talking of previous versions of some of the songs, it would be relatively curious to hint at the unfolding of Swans' each composition, which has been revolving around the short tunes Gira writes on his acoustic guitar — since "My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky". The process follows with the rest of Swans accompanied with Gira himself initiating a long voyage, deep into the unknown, improvising and jamming around each of those acoustic pieces during the rehearsals and even live gigs. The function of multi-instrumentalist Thor Harris along with lap-steel guitarist Christoph Hahn here is of drastic importance, where the duo are practically capable of transmuting almost everything. The Thor Harris is to be regarded as the mastermind of all things esoteric about the new sound of Swans; whether because of him channeling sickening improvisations on his (at times handmade) wind instruments, or texturing each composition with the delicate, every so often menacing, sound of bells. On the other hand, Mr. Hahn injects sonic heroin in the body of each song. Add to that the unrelenting drumming — also the exceptionally beautiful hammered dulcimer lines — of Phil Puleo, the crackerjack bass-lines of Christopher Pravdica, the universal musicianship of Norman Westberg, and many of the other contributors outside the Swans; then you have what makes this line-up stand out as the most yielding, the most fierce Swans line-up since forever. In substance, Swans' music on "To Be Kind" remains as collective, as dangerous, and as organic, that it is as though a Hermann Nitsch piece is being performed by some krautrockers high on acid - it's psychedelic, it flows, and it swallows you up.

Enough of sounds, let's get back to language. Within this affair of the nonsense, there are numerous allusions too — think Finnegans Wake — from the obscure and more personal ones like Nathalie Neal, to Howlin' Wolf, Toussaint Louverture and Kirsten Dunst. Yet this record, more than celebrating the supine Justine from Von Trier's "Melancholia", celebrates the child. It could be Howlin' Wolf, it could be Bob Biggs' screaming baby-image, it could be the Freudian id, it could be the Deleuzean child dreaming of the cosmos, or it might be the child Bataille observed in Kafka, Sade, Baudelaire, Genet, William Blake and Emily Brontë — "the child in revolt against the world of Good, against the adult world, and committed, in his revolt, to the side of Evil." (Literature And Evil, 1957)

Elliott Sharp, Melvin Gibbs, Lucas Niggli - Crossing The Waters (2013)

The more I get into Elliott Sharp's wide and eccentric output, the more I get disturbed by the fact that there are only a few listeners who're familiar with him. His latest release "Crossing The Waters" is a collaboration with bassist Melvin Gibbs (who has played as part of the Sonny Sharrock Band, and who also played with Sharp back in 2002, for "Raw Meet") and drummer Lucas Niggli (Steamboat Switzerland). "Crossing The Waters" is probably the most ingenious electric free jazz record of all time; it's subtle and it's not subtle, it's beautiful and it's ugly, it's Henry Flynt and it's James Brown, it fluxes and it bursts, it's perilous and it's protective, it cares about techniques and it doesn't care about techniques, it's minimal and it's maximal; it is all and it is none. With the sound layered into three, we hear Sharp's guitar/tenor sax from the left, Niggli's kicks and snares in the center, and oddly, Gibbs' bass from the right; what makes him sound like a second guitarist, which he more or less is. The achieved music, while not orchestrated, sounds radically strange to have such a discrete impact. The textural drones of songs 'Flow Fever' and 'Kayak' sound as Xenakis would have imagined a Tony Conrad piece in his unconscious, and the twisted improvisations in 'Waving High' and 'Transatlantic Tunnel' are as if any of the songs from the Carbon album "Monster Curve" would have found a way out of the groove and freed themselves. The record ends with the post-western anomaly 'Forellen', leaving you in a sonic desert after having crossed the mirage.

Rapeman - Two Nuns And A Pack Mule (1988)

Albini's most obsolete, short-lived project is also a matchless one: Rapeman. Some may say however, that it's too much like Big Black, what I must disagree with, as Big Black, no matter how chaotic and noisy, didn't have much to do with the no wave/free jazz inspired, fortuitous time signatures that would lead to math rock, what Albini came to perfect, later with Shellac. In addition, while the presence of dissonant chords and angular melodies is undeniable in Big Black's music, we're missing the the atypical rhythmic structures. I believe Rapeman was Albini's first (un/onscious) attempt to form a project going in the opposite direction to that of the industrial consuetude. Their only studio full-length, "Two Nuns And A Pack Mule", stands out as one of the earliest math rock albums, and here I'm not talking the stepping stones to the genre, such as the Mothers Of Invention, Henry Cow, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, or Mahavishnu Orchestra.

2012: A Sonic Apocalypse

21st of December is over and there was no apocalypse because everything about all religions is nothing but superstition and hoax. The only thing real in this world is art, and so here I am and a list of great pieces of art, released in 2012; records that the mass media overlooks, tunes that define an actual apocalypse that happened -- the sonic apocalypse. As said before in the Holy Grails Of 2011 article, 2012 seemed to be a very potent year in music from the early days, and so it was. The number of great records released this year was nearly insane. In fact, several times I came to the decision not to arrange a list at all, but since I hadn't reviewed anything in 2012, except for some records in January, it would have been a total disgrace not to write about all these fantastic albums. Anyway, the list is here, and I should also mention that like the previous year's list, this year's list isn't in any order -- which means it's all randomly arranged, and the reason to that is simply because we're talking different music, so, to compare those would be sheer idiocy.

Swans - The Seer

There is something private about Swans' latest album that makes both the fake critical acclaim and the collective element in the making of it, extremely disturbing.

Nels Cline & Elliott Sharp - Open The Door

The soundtrack to the svelte.

Van Morrison - Born To Sing No Plan B

Folk jazz delivered with elegance.

Unsane - Wreck

Five years after the release of their last album, "Visqueen", Unsane have returned with a real monster. "Wreck" conquers both of their post-2000's albums; "Blood Run" and "Visqueen", beating"Occupational Hazard", and standing on top with "Scattered, Smothered & Covered". Having been labeled as a noise rock band, the overall aesthetics to Unsane's sound and imagery have always been metal, so, although noise metal doesn't exist, you can have them as its best example.


16 - Deep Cuts From Dark Clouds

Sludge metal of the year.

Steve MacLean / Chris Cutler ‎- The Year Of The Dragon

RIO in 2012? Yes, RIO in 2012.

Evan Parker / Georg Gräwe - Dortmund Variations

Gräwe's necromantic piano work on Frisque Concordance's "Spellings" made it practically impossible for me not to check out his latest collaborative work with Evan Parker.

Bong - Mana-Yood-Sushai

Bong's most terrestrial effort to date is also the most cosmogonical piece of music I've ever listened to. Partly based on Lord Dunsany's "The Gods Of Pegāna", it transcends Om's religious roots, as well as any Greek or Norse mythology-themed work.

Merzbow - Uzu Me Ku

Gerhard Von Graevenitz manifested in the sonic realm.

Dirty Three - Toward The Low Sun

How can you possibly have a Dirty Three album released in a year and not have it in the top-albums list?

Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch - Concerning The Entrance Into Eternity

Esoteric acid folk and drone.

Saint Vitus - Lillie F-65

Goddamn it. 33 minutes after 17 fucking years? What the hell, the junkie needs junk.

Cosa Brava ‎- The Letter

Sorrower.

Hawkwind - Onward

Finest thing they've put out since 85's "The Chronicle Of The Black Sword".

Phobia - Remnants Of Filth

Phobia are neither into the experimental sound that Brutal Truth are always trying to grasp, nor the death metal that Napalm Death fuse into their sound. Phobia is about one-hundred percent grind, right into your face.

Kanada 70 / Pacha / Hangedup & Tony Conrad - Musique Fragile Volume 02

Is there anyway to fuck the Holy Ghost?

haarp - Husks

"The Filth" saw haarp digging the grave of everything groove-related about metal, and so "Husks" was not only a continuation of that, it was the band's attempt to observe the ultimate darkness -- the desolate sonic realm that is usually overlooked by the sludge metallers. The record renders the same landscape funeral/death doom acts like Disembowelment and Thergothon try to depict, only thru a swamp.

Han Bennink / Uri Caine ‎- Sonic Boom

Comics and drama do not go well together. Tragicomedy, that's something else. And don't even think of comparing Nolan with Beckett, unless you want to prove yourself as the stupidest person on earth.

Lord Mantis - Pervertor

While their name continuously reminds me of Zorak and the lone locust of the apocalypse, locust/mantis argument with Space Ghost, what in fact drew my attention towards Lord Mantis was neither Zorak nor the band members' previous bands -- it was Justin Bartlett's fascinating artwork.

Black Bombaim - Titans

"Saturdays And Space Travels". That was great, wasn't it?

Eagle Twin - The Feather Tipped The Serpent's Scale

Who cannot remember Eagle Twin's terrific record "The Unkindness of Crows"? Really, I mean a record full of 15, 17, and 19 minute pieces of drone doom poetry doesn't just drop every single year.

John Zorn ‎- Rimbaud

Rimbaud and Zorn. No further comments needed.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

Less politics, less drama.

They Yearn For What They Fear - Eat.Work.Sleep.Die

The reason why I didn't put "The Infernal Plains" in previous year's list is still unclear to me.

Conrad Schnitzler - Endtime

While I've always felt allergic to posthumous releases in the spectrum of rock music, the Schnitzler record challenged my view, re-appearing in many of my playlists from the past year.



Karnarium - Otapamo Prałaja

Esoteric, orchestral death metal.


Buck Satan And The 666 Shooters - Bikers Welcome Ladies Drink Free

Read the review.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill

Two Neil Young/Crazy Horse records in one year? YES! One of them running over 1 hour and 20 minutes? YES! One of them an acid rock record akin to the "Dead Man" soundtrack and 2010's "Le Noise" with the addition of drums? YES! Three giant tracks; one running over 27 minutes, and the other two over 16 minutes? HELL YES!

Jim O'Rourke - Old News #7

Wait a moment...

Melvins - Freak Puke

There comes Trevor Dunn, making the Melvins sound twice as spooky as they've ever been (that is with"Pigs Of The Roman Empire" in mind).

Horn Of The Rhino - Grengus

Better than the new HOF? Correct.

Incantation - Vanquish In Vengeance

Read the review.

Meshuggah - Koloss

Never this concrete since "Destroy Erase Improve".

Pilgrim - Misery Wizard

Read the review.

Dragged Into Sunlight - Widowmaker

The band behind "Hatred For Mankind" sound as though they've met Christ midway in the air upon his return to earth, while on their way to purgatory.

Stephen O'Malley & Steve Noble ‎- St. Francis Duo

Noble & O'Malley? You must be joking.

Pigs - You Ruin Everything

Don't you?


Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas

To break into your afternoon and steal your soul for a moment.

Floratone - Floratone II

Never mind its ugly cover, "Floratone II" is an album of beauties.


West End Motel - Only Time Can Tell

Featuring the ol Blood Vessels tune, 'Bite', among its tracklist, WEM's "Only Time Can Tell" made it quite clear that Brent has no intention of continuing with BV, and that he will most probably merge it with West End Motel. The record itself, despite being extremely short, was an impressive one.

Swarm Of Arrows - The Great Seekers Of Lesser Life

Swarm Of Arrows' selftitled EP had sounded great enough that when the band contacted me about their debut full-length "The Great Seekers Of Lesser Life", I stopped right in the middle of "Lawless" (which was by far Nick Cave's worst attempt at entering the domain of cinema. Although the idea wasn't his originally) to check it out. A clever mix of sludge, doom, and post-hardcore; their music lurks somewhere between Sweet Cobra, early Baroness, and Trouble.

Hooded Menace - Effigies Of Evil

"[Do you] know that I could hear every sound she made? That I heard her breathing in her casket? Heard her first gasps as she awoke? Her first scream of terror? Did you know that I could hear the scratching of her fingernails...on the casket lid? [You are mad!]"

Tygers Of Pan Tang - Ambush

As a huge fan of 80's NWOBHM, I had definite sex with Tygers Of Pan Tang's new record, "Ambush", also Tank's "War Nation"; however, the Tank record was more a leather metal, Saxon/Dio sort of record than the punk metal Tank that we all know from "Filth Hounds Of Hades" or "Power Of The Hunter". And sorry, I don't believe in guilty pleasures.

Goatwhore - Blood For The Master



Goatwhore's fifth full-length to date is also their finest. They've finally mastered a sound that is as death metal as it is black metal, something that they've been seeking since the release of "The Eclipse Of Ages Into Black", back in 2000.

Sons Of Otis - Seismic

As high and heavy as the mountains.

Eddie Prévost / Giancarlo Schiaffini / John Tilbury ‎- PST: Live In Rome

45 minutes of non-stop improvisation.

Asphyx - Deathhammer

Eventhough I thoroughly dig the Ron van der Pol era Asphyx, and consider the selftitled album to be one of the best death doom releases, ever; Martin van Drunen is the fucking man. He's one of the very few vocalists in death metal who can fuse intense emotions into his growls instead of just preserving a cookie monster of his own. That said, "Deathhammer" is one ruthless son of a bitch. And that means a number of things: One -- the guitars scourge and slay, and not a single attempt has been made to polish their sound during the mix. Two -- the sound of snares and cymbals make your ears bleed and Three -- the maddening growls make you cry out so loud your neighbors would think you've jumped off the roof to commit suicide.

Sardonis - II

Imagine Matt Pike not open his mouth during a High On Fire gig. I know it's fucking hard, but that's what Sardonis sound like.

Nate Hall - A Great River

Inevitable.

Soundgarden - King Animal

"King Animal" is the definition of a comeback.

Trippy Wicked & The Cosmic Children Of The Knight - Going Home

This is rock n' roll.

D.O.A. - We Come In Peace

14 tracks that top anything D.O.A. have recorded since the Jello Biafra collaboration "Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors".

Jon Mueller & James Plotkin ‎- Terminal Velocity

Only one remains.

Grave - Endless Procession Of Souls

Barely has anything to do with early 90's Grave, including "Soulless", as the title suggests.