I look forward and equally don’t look forward to this week. It’s Thanksgiving week in the States, and while that’s fun for copious amounts of food, hours of football, and days of relaxation, there’s also that issue of hectic travel, listening to arguments, and getting annoyed. The good with the bad.

So some serenity and tranquility are most welcome, and come Friday, only alcohol will make me feel better. Or so I’m guessing. I also realize how ridiculous and misguided these complaints are, because there are far more serious and aggravating things going on elsewhere. Like, people are still under water in some places. Nonetheless, it’s not like some of you aren’t going to be annoyed too.

Lots of times I’ll retreat to hateful black metal or bludgeoning doom to absorb all the negativity, but that’s not always the best place to go. Being able to close your eyes and sit back also has plenty of merit, and some would argue that’s the healthier option. That being the case, I’m getting ready to have the new Mamiffer/Pyramids split release fired up so that I’m not boiling over. After all, it’s a holiday that only comes once a year, it’s a chance to reflect and think about the things you cherish, and someone like me could do well to be a little less negative.

So we have this new three-track, 35-minute, limited-edition effort from Hydra Head who, in case you haven’t heard, won’t be releasing new music anymore after the year. There’s something to be sad about. But we have a couple more releases from the label, and this is one of them, a collection that matches two like-minded outfits that make some of the more mentally stimulating music out there. As you probably know, Mamiffer is made up primarily of Aaron Turner (ISIS, Old Man Gloom, Split Cranium) and Faith Coloccia (Everlovely Lightningheart), and they have a few releases to their credit, most recently “Mare Decendrii.” Pyramids hail from Denton, Texas, and they have a self-titled album from 2008, as well as an excellent split effort with Canadian dream droners Nadja.Also, member R. Loren runs the killer Handmade Birds label.

So while Mamiffer and Pyramids don’t sound the same and do have different approaches, they share the same mind space and sound right together on a shared effort. The three songs on this release are varied atmospherically and philosophically, but if you start with, say, Pyramids’ side of the exchange, once Mamiffer hits, you’ll still be able to relax and reach out. You’ll just notice your thought patterns change. It’s a pretty neat experience.

Mamiffer have two songs on the effort, both of which are pretty calm, often beautifully dreamy, and spiritually ascending. “Sophia” sets a woodsy trance, an atmospheric hush, and some drizzling piano that sets a scene like a misty wooded area. There’s some noise, yes, and it has ghostly feelings, but it set me at ease every time I heard it. “Ticha Noc” opens with chanting, wooshes, and cosmic serenity, before Turner and Coloccia’s chants can be heard behind all the ambiance. The songs are some of Mamiffer’s most gentle and easy flowing, but they’re also great at arresting your heart and capturing your mind.

Pyramids’ track “This Is One for Everyone” begins with whirring that’s met by programmed beats, and eventually static fills the air and washed-out vocals spill into the picture. The noise is picked up by a wind and begins circling in the air, and once it settles, random sounds can be heard chipping away. Clean vocals drip in, the vortex of dust picks up again in tornadic intensity, and the song burns out in a haze of static. It’s a song that certainly works wonderfully with the rest of Pyramids’ catalog but also adds some new colors to their presentation. Pretty great piece.

So when assholes like me are having a meltdown over the holidays because they’ve endured one too many stupid comments made about an election that’s been over for three weeks, slip one of those angry souls a copy of this Mamiffer/Pyramids split. See if the person’s mood doesn’t change appreciably. I know I’ll be going back, probably somewhere around 2 p.m. Thursday.

For more on Mamiffer, go here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mamiffer/110768695615501

For more on Pyramids, go here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pyramids/199484580063400

To buy the album, go here: http://www.bluecollardistro.com/hydrahead/product_info.php?products_id=7607&cPath=4_137&store=

For more on the label, go here: http://www.hydrahead.com/

I don’t know if there’s such thing as destiny or chance, but I don’t dismiss it. Sometimes things happen because forces align and a path is forged before you, giving you an opportunity you may never have had before or never will again. What you do with it is what matters.

That type of thing can be used to describe how Pittsburgh hardcore band Code Orange Kids ended up on Deathwish Inc. for their debut record “Love Is Love//Return to Dust,” an album that’s already getting a lot of attention and even was featured on NPR. They happened to share a spot on a bill with Converge at a weekend hardcore/metal event in Braddock, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh in May of 2011, and their presence and performance moved Jacob Bannon. Later, when the band’s demo arrived at his Deathwish Inc. office, he instantly remembered the group, liked what he heard, and signed them to the label. Who knows what would have happened had the band played the other day of the festival?

Chances are the Code Orange Kids still would be raising unholy hell in the city. The group’s members — guitarist/vocalist Eric Balderose, guitarist/vocalist Reba Meyers, bassist Joe Goldman, and drummer/vocalist Jami Morgan — all recently finished high school, so the Kids part of their moniker is kind of literal. But don’t mistake that as meaning their brand of abrasive, doom-infested hardcore is anything but fully realized and ready to blow your face off. The accolades that already have greeted this band have been levied for good reason, and their debut is one of the most impressive releases Deathwish has put out this year. And they’ve had a damn good year.

Code Orange Kids holed up in Godcity Studios with the master Kurt Ballou at the production helm, and as usual, he finds and enhances the finest qualities of this band. They have a thunderous, volcanic approach to their sound, but Code Orange Kids also appreciate texture, emotion, and vulnerability. Yes, they certainly have those Converge traits, but I also hear some Cave In, some Gaza, and even some Thursday. And this band has grown significantly ever since they formed as a punk outfit in 2008. They have numerous mini-releases to their credit, and as time has gone on, they’ve matured and evolved. Ballou does an amazing job making them sound great on this album, but Code Orange Kids should be credited with their killer chops and disruptive nature that has them positioned as one of hardcore’s bright hopes for tomorrow.

“Flowermouth (The Leech)” rips the album open immediately, with a mathy, gritty hardcore assault full of vitriol and passion. The vocals are harsh and alive, a melody cuts through the center and knocks you on your ass, and it dissolves into murk that leads right into “Around My Neck//On My Head,” which is a total demolition act that’s over before you know what hit you. “Sleep (I’ve Been Slipping)” is sludgy and scream filled, and when it grinds to a slower, more calculated pace, it begins to hint at a shift in tone. That pays off even more on “Liars/Trudge,” a song that opens with a windmill assault before it slows into an atmospheric pocket. There, Meyers’ clean vocals slip behind the madness and coat the song with a soothing, surreal lather.

“Colors (Into Nothing)” has a post-hardcore feel to it, with moody strumming, clean vocals, and eventually some aggravated noise. “Nothing (The Rat)” kicks things back toward the tumultuous, with a thick, menacing bassline, a thrashy center, and harsh, throaty screams. “Roads Are Certain/Sky Is Empty” goes back toward classic hardcore, with a tradeoff between rough growls and piercing shrieks, and the bleeds into “Choices (Love Is Love),” that’s muddy and storming. “Calm/Breathe” then goes back to curveball territory, with calm, nearly tropical breezing, and gazey shoegaze cool. This is a path on which I’d like to see them travel more in the future, just to see where they go with it. Closer “Bloom (Return to Dust)” drops the doom hammer again, as blood-curdling screams burst through, ultra-heavy mashing is employed, and noise and feedback are smothered over everything, leaving you in a mess.

As a fellow Pittsburgher, I’m psyched to see this band doing so well and coming up with a record this crushing. It’s also cool that Deathwish still has their ears to the ground, listening for what’s vital and fresh in extreme music. This is an excellent pairing, and Code Orange Kids and Deathwish should have a long, fruitful relationship together.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/codeorangekids

To buy the album, go here: https://deathwishinc.com/estore/

For more on the label, go here: https://deathwishinc.com/

Winter is coming, or so a book series I can’t seem to finish keeps telling me. But it’s also the case in real life that, quite soon, we here in the States are going to be dealing with snow, ice, bad road conditions, and, as a result of all of that, moronic assholes. The rite of the season, I guess.

It’s already getting pretty damn chilly around here (that is when it isn’t 70 degrees for 12 hours), and the coats and gloves are out in full force. The warmth of summer has passed us by, and it’s time for hibernation again. Those days always get me heading back to the classic days of black metal’s first and second waves. Those were frosty times, and as a result, they spawned bands that knew how to convey frigidity both of emotion and temperature. Listen to some of those early ’90s Nordic bands and tell me you can’t see your breath in front of your face as you battle along with their songs. It’s a state of mind as much as is it a climate condition.

Richmond, Va., is pretty damn far away from the Scandinavian forests, though folks living there aren’t exactly shielded form wintry conditions when they blow into town, yet Bastard Sapling have that same aura that freezes you to the core. Majestic guitar work, infernal thrashing, lonesome, forestal howls, and a blizzard of violence is what greets you on the band’s new record “Dragged From Our Restless Trance,” and if you’re way into the sounds of old Darkthrone, Immortal, and Bathory, you’ll be pretty excited to welcome this collection into your home as well. To be clear, these guys aren’t trying to recreate a scene of which they weren’t a part, but instead they have a grasp on true, ugly, classic back metal that’s ugly around the edges, unrefined, and bloodthirsty at heart.

Bastard Sapling have only been around barely half a decade now, and following a demo and 2010 EP, their first full-length finally has arrived by way of Forcefield Records. The band — vocalist Mike Paparo, guitarists Drew Goldie and Steven Russell, bassist Trey Dalton, and drummer Elway (the only member who is not of or formerly of Inter Arma) have been blowing doors down live and turning heads with break-neck velocity since the word’s gotten out about their dark majesty. This debut is a four-song record that runs about 40 minutes, so you’re in for some epics, but as noted, you’ll find classic-era ferocity most black metal these days completely forget to add to the mix, making the trip through this album exciting and punishing.

“Prophecy Born From Dismal Terrain” rips the lid off the album with a furious drum assault that reminds me a lot of the work on Nachtmystium’s “Instinct: Decay.” It’s aggressive and spirited, giving you a stiff punch in the chest, robbing you of your wind. Actually, the drumming on this song is its highlight, giving you a glimpse into Elway’s abilities. Always thought he was a hell of a quarterback, too. “Cold Winds Howled Across Desolation” is nearly 13 minutes long, with windy riffing, creaky vocals, and a measured pace that then blows apart and goes into full gallop. The song is chaotic for sure, but they pace themselves very well, making the most of the track’s challenging running time.

“The Apex of Suffering” is the surprise of the record, with a more chilled-out melody yet one that still manages to be ominous. Once the track goes aggressive, it heads more into the death metal realm than black metal, especially with the vocals, and there even are some power metal-flavored guitar lines toward the end of the song that dip just a bit into bombast. Nice touch. The record ends with “Beyond The Void of Life,” which runs 13:42 and takes a little while to get going. That’s not a bad thing. The guys set the stage in a calculated manner, with building clean guitars, bubbling noise, and a strange atmosphere before it has a complete meltdown. Paparo’s gurgly growls and shrieks erupt, but even when the band is at its most savage, they still lift you up with a daring melody that’ll make you want to take a late night run through the woods.

Having new music like this makes the oncoming ice bullshit worth enduring, because it’s perfectly aligned with that time of year. Not much really lights my fire from the black metal world these days because so much of it sounds heartless and cheap, but Bastard Sapling are one of those bands that gives me hope. This is a promising debut album from a band that I will follow with great curiosity.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bastard-Sapling/182498921826233?ref=ts&fref=ts

To buy the album, go here: http://www.forcefieldrecords.org/store/

For more on the label, go here: http://www.forcefieldrecords.org/

You know, I often mention the album experience on this site, meaning a record that is meant to be absorbed front to back with no singles being pulled out and you not taking a break. It’s not just me who mentions that concept, obviously, so that sounded kind of dumb, but if you read regularly, you know this is kind of a theme of mine.

The album concept also is turning into a mini-theme for the week with yesterday’s look at the new Aluk Todolo and today’s examination of “III,” the mega epic new album by French doom unit Monolithe (out on Debemur Morti now in Europe; in January in the U.S.). Come to think of it, I guess France also has become something of a focal point so far this week. In all honesty, that’s totally by accident. Anyhow, Monolithe’s new document, just like “I” and “II” that preceded it, is comprised of one album-length song. It clocks in at 52 minutes exactly, and obviously you cannot pick and choose moments for a playlist from this album because it is a whole. It’s forced all-encompassing listening, so if you don’t have time or patience, you won’t get much from this record.

If you do take time to visit, which I recommend, you’re in for quite a journey through all sorts of metal forces. Yes, it is doom metal by trade, and that’s there in heaping doses, but there is fantasy and power metal, thrash, prog, and post-metal pathways that keep this thing going over its very challenging run. Thematically, the band has been on a mission to explore the origins and development of mankind, starting with their 2003 debut, continuing into their 2005 sophomore release, and now extending into “III,” that now follows seven years later. In between were a couple of EPs as well, and all of this music has given their audience a lot of things to consider about what’s around them and what the future holds.

The band is comprised of Sylvain Begot, who handles guitars, bass, keyboards, and other devices; Benoit Blin, who takes care of guitars and bass; vocalist Richard Loudin; and Sebastien Letour, who adds other keyboards and orchestration to the mix and is new to the band. While they already were well thought of in doom and underground circles, that apparently wasn’t good enough for them, and you can tell they poured a lot of time and detail into progressing musically and taking things to places they haven’t before. For the most part, they succeed with that effort.

The song begins with layered synth, doom riffs, and power-style lead lines that make things more dynamically exciting than on their previous pieces. They veer into bluesy Black Sabbath territory, and Loudin’s growls begin to rise, giving way to the more savage parts of the piece. There’s a dreamy gaze that sets in, and the whole things gets murky and cloudy, going into the middle section of the song, where things start to bog down a bit. It’s a little bit of a downer for those few moments, but eventually things kick into high gear again, and a groove-filled riff similar to Lamb of God’s earlier work breaks out.

A blues swagger returns to pull things into the song’s second half, then more dramatic lead lines are unleashed, mystical doom synth is piped in, and things begin to feel a little like Candlemass, which certainly is never a bad thing. The song progresses yet again toward a section that boasts of castle metal, and at about the 36-minute mark, they launch headlong into a pushy prog section that also gets dressed in keys and ambiance. The final 10 minutes of the song has the thorns coming out, eerie lurching making the scene uglier and muddier, growls growing more aggravated and scary, and the whole thing fading out in noise and woods-like chants. The final few minutes drag to the finish, as it could have been capped a few minutes earlier without harming the message, but it’s a small complaint.

Monolithe put a lot of thought and effort into this 52-minute piece, and it’s worth your investment, be that time, money, or both. They certainly don’t adhere to convention, as not many bands dare to put out one-song records anymore, but they keep things moving well enough and color the edges with interesting shades, so you never find yourself losing interest. Set aside an hour and give “III” a go, and you’ll find one of doom’s more adventurous releases of the year.

For more on the band, go here: http://monolithedoom.tumblr.com

To buy the album, go here: http://www.eitrin.com/

For more on the album, go here: http://www.debemur-morti.com/

Falling into a trance of getting spaced out is something you can do without the aid of drugs or alcohol. And I don’t mean you’re tired and fall into daydreams because of your exhaustion. No, I’m talking about falling into a state of zoned-out comfort where you can relax, think, explore, whatever.

Sure, a lot of people take  yoga or do meditation to achieve this state, and that’s all good. But what if you aren’t interested in those activities but still would like a way to reach beyond and achieve a spiritual or intellectual branching out that stimulates your mind and body? Might I suggest a run in with Aluk Todolo, the French power trio that can help you slip away just by visiting their new, third album “Occult Rock”? It’s an expansive double album that’s infectious and mesmerizing, never losing an ounce of steam over its 85-minute running time.

The three guys who make up Aluk Todolo – Antoine Hadjioannou, Matthieu Canaguier, Shantidas Riedacker — are members of underground black metal bands Diamatregon and Vediog Svaor, but they don’t entirely pour all of that influence into what’s on this record. It’s there for sure, especially the opening track, where it sounds like a boiling cauldron of hell and chaos, but they do so much more than that. You have a heaping dose of doom, the Krautrock and space rock thing, some psychedelics, and just plain bubbling rock. They have an excellent grasp of how to make all of these things work together, and their compositions are expertly constructed and played. That’s a major reason why these eight long songs, all that range around the 10-minute mark, are so effective and never feel long or overstretched.

Another thing these songs do so well is, as mentioned, set up that state of trance. It’s recommended you listen to these songs front to back and devote the time necessary to do so. It’s appointment listening, where you set up camp somewhere comfortable, put on a quality set of headphones, and let these songs establish themselves in your mind and soul. The music swirls and infects, enraptures you, and takes you on an adventure. The songs draw you in with the surging melodies and sense of invention, and they keep you going by layering in repetition, stunning sections of molten doom and drone, and dreamscapes that go along with the mangling and thrashing that do the physical damage.

The songs are called “Occult Rock” 1-8 so you can keep them apart. While there are no words, there still are themes at play that deal with alchemy and primordial vibrations being turned into matter, and the sonic manifestation of all the forces of the universe into an octagonal prism that is this album. OK, that’s pretty abstract as a thought and gives you a lot of weird things to think about, but if you keep those cosmic, magickal thoughts in mind while absorbing this record, it’ll all make sense eventually.

The first half begins after sticks crack together with a fluid, black assault that also would sound fine with wild growls and shrieks over top. Then again, the music is interesting and expressive enough on its own that it doesn’t need them. The music bores a tunnel through the middle of you, and it soars nicely into the second track, that opens a bit like an early Rush song and has some great bass work attached. The climax builds early on, or so it seems, but they manage to take the song even higher with added aggression and some strong lead guitar work. The third track begins in a drone fog, with doom-like feedback, eerie rumbling, and a prog melody. The Kraut influence really sinks in heavily here, and madness erupts to its conclusion. The fourth cut, the last of the first set, is hypnotic and also has a prog feel, and eventually it settles back to a spacey, watery landscape.

The second half opens ominously, with a great doom melody, thick bass work, guitars simmering, and an edgy classic rock-style melody. Psychedelic guitars burst and swirl, and the song’s pace eventually grinds into a fog. The sixth cut has a pushy, guttural opening, but then it heads into an off-kilter pattern, some crazy drumming, and a completely trance-inducing cloud. It’s, by far, the weirdest song on the record, and that’s a really good thing. It’s the pace changer. Song seven keeps with that new personality and bizarre path  with a surfy opening that sticks around for a while and shows the band willing to be a bit more playful. The bass just goes off, rumbling and churning throughout, as the rest of the song settles into the mist. The final and eighth song brings back the tumult, with whirring keys, a sinister, downright mean guitar line, a crush of feedback, and a finish that’s like the band waking you from your dreams by beating you into the ground. It’s a rude awakening, but a needed one.

Aluk Todolo’s “Occult Rock” is wonderfully thought provoking, always enthralling, and trance inducing, so they achieve exactly what they set out to create. You can read, work, relax, or run to this music, and it really would fit the scene just fine. But again, set yourself a nice 90-minute window to appreciate this record, because you owe it to the band and yourself. It might help you sort the scattered thoughts and feelings in your mind and reach beyond your own reality.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.amortout.com/aluktodolo/

To buy the album, go here: http://www.theajnaoffensive.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=6&Itemid=31

For more on the label, go here: http://www.theajnaoffensive.com/

As much as I love doom, in all its various incarnations under the metal banner, it’s really easy to get bored. That probably seems strange on the surface, especially if you don’t know a lot about the subgenre, because it would seem that variety is abundant. Well, it is, but that still doesn’t prevent occasional boredom.

As many different ways as there are to play doom and as many different descriptions as there are for this style of music — traditional, sludge, funeral, occult — it can be overwhelming. My inbox is just swimming with promos from any number of doom bands, and I’ll be honest, I’m probably only going to fully digest 20 percent of what awaits me. For the most part, it’ll be a song here, a song there, and delete. I’m cynical, yes, and maybe even a little burned out as the year draws to a close, but as much as seeing the doom tag on a subject line or band description intrigues me, it also equally deflates me. Is it really doom, or do the people playing it only think it is?

Coming across a strong new band that breathes new life into the territory is a blessing, and I felt that way the first time I heard Bell Witch’s 2011 demo, a four-track excursion that I’ve listened to pretty regularly ever since I came across the recording. When I learned the band had hooked up with Profound Lore for their debut full-length offering “Longing,” it made complete sense to me. The band seemed they’d be right at home there, and the autumn, post-Halloween release date is prime time for such a dark release. As expected, it’s really compelling and has made for excellent repeat listening.

Bell Witch hail from Seattle and are a two-man operation, with Dylan Desmond (Samothrace, Lethe) handling bass and vocals, and Adrian Guerra (Lethe, Sod Hauler) on drums. They do play a muddy, sludgy style of doom for the most part, but there are so many other elements involved that make them stand out. First, their atmospherics scream with life, taking what would sound fine in a small room into something that would be equally as powerful in a cavernous hall. Second, they also have a bit of a freak folk element to what they do, and that’s mostly because of the vocals, both from Desmond and guest Erik Moggridge (Aerial Ruin). Yes, the bellows and shrieks are there, but the variation in the singing make Bell Witch sound downright bloodthirsty one moment, bookishly observant the next.

What Bell Witch create on “Longing” is episodic. Everything builds slowly on this record, from open to close, and it works best when you tackle the whole 67-minute document at once. It’s jam packed with peaks and valleys, and it never stays in one place for very long. The demo was an eye-opener, no doubt, but this record takes what they accomplished on that mini release and blows it open completely.

The first three songs on the record form something of a triptych. All have similar titles conceptually, and they fit together like a long, harrowing story that can’t do without one of its parts. “Bails (Of Flesh)” opens the record and is 20:41 long. It never feels remotely that lengthy, and it’s a totally satisfying piece that practically could have acted as its own EP. The first part of the song is methodical and mournful, as melodies and power begin to build, and when Desmond finally drops his lurching growl into the mix, the devastation arrives. But there are delicate moments as well, such as Desmond’s clean singing that sounds like it comes from deep in his soul, and the song has a vulnerability that shines through even at its darkest. “Rows (Of Endless Waves)” crashes open, with skin-peeling shrieks and epic crushing, then the vocals go to a clean bellow, making the track sound somewhere between Agalloch and the Decemberists. Later, the tempo changes and turns into something Pink Floyd might have churned out at their most paranoia-ridden. The vocal phrasing is menacing but clear, and when the line “drink blood from the masses” arrives, you realize the sinister intent. “Longing (The River of Ash)” opens solemnly and maintains a slow-driven tempo through most of its 12:05 running time, and it’s a powerful ending to the first half of the record.

The second half opens with two cuts you might know if you heard the band’s demo. Instrumental “Beneath the Mask” still has Vincent Price’s creepy dialog from “The Masque of Red Death,” and that acts as the spine to this piece, which acted as the intro originally. Then comes a new take on “I Wait,” which now has a murky, chant-like warble weaved into the first few minutes before the penetrating shrieks and hypnotic guitar work drops the hammer. It’s the most savage, violent piece of music on the entire album. The closing “Outro” is moody and returns to some melodies heard earlier on the record, closing the book on “Longing” and its autumnal, completely menacing majesty.

Bell Witch seemed to exude potential on their demo, and they cash in huge on “Longing.” This isn’t your run-of-the-mill doom album, and it’s chock-full of both heart and horror. Each moment drips with purpose and keeps you going through every slithering twist and turn. Bell Witch are a band you need to know right now, because they certainly seem like they’re going to be a major story going forward.

For more on the band, go here: http://bellwitchdoom.blogspot.com/

To buy the album, go here: http://www.profoundlorerecords.com/products-page/plr-items/bell-witch-longing/

For more on the label, go here: http://www.profoundlorerecords.com/

This week isn’t over yet? You mean with an election, a relatively childish aftermath by so many people, and a killer work week that there still is time left? That makes my desire to weave beautiful poetry about music sort of fleeting. It’s not that I don’t care. I do. I just want to get on with it, so let’s go.

There’s no reason to go all philosophical and essay-like anyway about a three-track EP, even one packed with such violent demolition as the new one from Flourishing. Let’s not piss around. We got to know these three NYC-based fellows on their 2010 EP “A Momentary Sense of the Immediate World” and awesome 2011 debut full-length “The Sum of All Fossils,” and almost as if intending to capitalize on that madness, they pick right up where they off on “Intersubjectivity,” this dizzying, industrially brutal, face-bruising collection that gets better with each listen.

I can rattle off a list of bands you might hear traces of when you take on this record: Helmet, Tombs, Portal, Godflesh. None perfectly summarizes the madness within, but my guess is a fan of any of those bands will find something to like on “Intersubjectivity.” Flourishing are brutal, no doubt, and there are hints of death metal, hardcore, doom, and sludge in what they do, but everything gets a nice coating of glass shards and sand that suffocates the whole thing and really dirties up the production. That, of course, is not a criticism. It makes the music that much more sweltering and swarming, with the noise coating your ears in madness and systematic punishment.

Flourishing is comprised by only three dudes, which is astonishing since it sounds like 50 furious robots made this noise. Guitarist/vocalist Garrett Bussanick, bassist Eric Rizk, and drummer Brian Corcoran wield their instruments like mighty battle weapons and make enough volume for a handful of bands. Their emotional output and complete meltdown musically is the thing from which burial dreams are made. Only you’re not underneath dirt, but a hundred million pounds of smoking steel.

“A Living Sundial” opens the EP like industrial smokestacks hacking pollution into your lungs, as the fellows play with a machine-like precision, Bussanick’s vocals take on an infernal growl, and the piece delves into hopeless, sooty doom. The path is harsh and unforgiving, and the music has no other goal than to maul you beyond recognition. “The Petrifaction Lottery” somehow achieves a level of madness even greater than the opener. The song is abrasive, vocals harsh and inhuman, and oddly enough, toward the end a beam of spacey beauty shoots through, riding a brainy prog wave. And then it’s strangled. The closing title cut opens with a thick bassline and near-tribal drumming, before a rather interesting melody slips in, sludgy, world-ripping riffs erupt, and the whole thing takes on a tunneling heaviness. It sounds like a drill boring its way into the Earth, looking for magma, and the tortured screams and shouts indicate the music has accomplished that mission. It all melts away into caustic glory that leaves your body a pile of ash.

It’s a small dose of thunder from Flourishing (though it’s more than 20 minutes), but it’s also a nice stopgap before album No. 2. The band is as fiery and damaged as any others out there, and they seem to be tapping into their potential as a unit. They’ll damage your hearing and psyche and probably have a lot of fun doing it.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/flourishingnyc

To buy the album, go here: http://thepathlesstraveledrecords.com/store.html

For more on the label, go here: http://thepathlesstraveledrecords.com/

EDITOR NOTE! Hi, everyone who suddenly is stumbling upon this story. This piece is almost 9 years old. It’s based on one bad Tate solo album and how poor his voice sounded at the time. It seems fans of Tate (Taters? Tatians?) are very upset about this nearly decade-old story because I guess he sounds better live now? Which, if he does, great! I’ve been a fan since “Rage for Order” was released. I hope he IS sounding better now. Anyway, the comments section has been a good time, and feel free to ignore this and still fire away. Just figured I’ve give some context and a reminder of how old this story is before you lose your mind over it. I love you. 

When long-standing bands change singers, it’s generally never a good thing. That’s usually a symbol of decline, that the meaty years are over, and that desperation has set in. It seems other positions can be switched out, like guitarists, bassists, drummers, and things can go smoothly. For the most part. A singer change almost never ends up as a positive.

That said, why the hell did Queensryche wait so long to part ways with Geoff Tate? He’s been the epitome of badness for more than a decade now, turning in flat, emotionless vocal performances, with nary a hint of the razor-sharp, high-pitched wail he used to possess. At one time, Tate was one of the greatest, most dynamic, most charismatic singers in heavy metal, but some time after their heyday with “Empire,” he unraveled and hasn’t been the same since. It was a shocking decline that happened so fast. The band hasn’t been the same since, and they’ve put out some downright putrid albums. Only 1994’s “Promised Land” possessed anything approaching listenable vocals, though the rest of the material was sub-par, and after that, it was the pits with that band. I take no great pleasure saying this either, as Queensryche made two of my favorite albums ever — “Rage for Order” and life-changing “Operation: Mindcrime” — and were a gateway to heavier music for me. Their fall pains me greatly.

Most of the reason the music sounded so lifeless of late was Tate. He was a shell of his former self. I saw them live in 2000 opening for Iron Maiden and was blown away by how much of the group’s live act depended on pre-recorded high vocals since it was obvious the frontman could not hit those notes anymore. That was an eye-opener. Since then, I’ve taken a chance to listen to at least some of the band’s more recent records, and none have approached passable. “Operation: Mindcrime II” should not exist. Ronnie James Dio’s appearance aside, I do not acknowledge it. “Tribe” is an abomination. Finally, everything came to a head this past year when the band and Tate allegedly had a physical altercation in Brazil.It was said threats were made, perhaps weapons made an appearance, and Tate found himself out of the band. He, of course, protested that decision and decided to carry on with his own version of Queensryche. The other members did the same, replacing Tate with Todd La Torre. It’s all a big fucking mess.

Over the summer, a video that acted as a promotional tool for Tate’s revived solo career popped up online, and it was desperate and pathetic. It screamed mid-life crisis. It practically required promotional shots with Tate dressed in Tap Out gear, it was that silly. It was the Tom Cruise Scientology video of metal. Then came a new tour and a new album “Kings & Thieves,” released on Century Media’s prog-centered Inside Out imprint. My hopes and expectations were as low as you can imagine, and Tate still managed to find a way to disappoint me with his artistic output.

One of the things with which Tate accused his former Queensryche mates was that he was responsible for all the musical material as of late and they brought nothing substantive to the table. They disagreed and said their ideas were voted down for Tate’s much-worse compositions. I wasn’t around to hear these two parties’ ideas pitted against each other, but if I have to judge based on “Kings & Thieves,” my guess is Tate is a liar. This record isn’t just bad. It’s the worst metal album of 2012, bar none. It’s practically impossible to handle the whole way through, but somehow I managed. Barely.

Tate’s voice remains lifeless. He can’t hit the high notes at all, and when he tries, his voice just fades into an uncomfortable, off-key moan. His lyrics are embarrassing, out of touch, misplaced, and very, very creepy. He tries to spark sensuality in a song like “Say U Luv It” — and can we quit with the improperly misspelled song titles, for fuck’s sake? — but he sounds more like a guy who should be on a sexual predator list. He sounds old and borderline criminal, at least based on the lyrics. Tate is 53 and pretty damn smart. He can do better than this, at least lyrically.

“The Way I Roll,” a saying reserved for old folks who think they’re up to speed on the way kids talk but are like a decade behind, is humiliating. It’s Tate trying to convince you he’s an edgy, bad guy, and he loves danger. Sometimes he stays up all the way until 11 p.m.! Stay out of his way! It’s like some guy at the bar talking your ear off about his modern misadventures, and you know none of his stories are true. It makes him sound like a sad old man clinging ever so desperately to his youth. “Evil” is another song where he’s trying to be a bad ass. Plus the song has unnecessary, weird vocal effects. Ballad “Change” just doesn’t work at all.

“Tomorrow” is a breezy mid-tempo cut, but wow does Tate just strangle the song with his vocals. You know how sometimes you’ll hear someone sing karaoke and in your head you’re like, “That guys needs to come down a few registers. He’s killing himself up there.” How did anyone hear these vocals and find them acceptable for release? Terrible song. He struggles like crazy on “Dark Money,” and it’s another example where his voice just won’t let him do what he was capable of doing 20 years ago. It’s tough to hear. The harmony behind “These Glory Days” defines tone deaf. Who OK’d this?

OK, let’s be nice? Car crash opener “She Slipped Away” isn’t pure torture. Tate goes lower and deeper and sounds fine, but there are more stupid effects that just pop in, and it’s not all that memorable. But it didn’t turn my stomach. And that’s it. That’s where any hint of a compliment ends.

It’s not my business to demand Tate retire and stop making a fool of himself. That’s up to him, and he’s earned that right. He doesn’t need a moron like me giving him career advice. That said, it can only get worse from here unless Tate has a miraculous recovery vocally, which just doesn’t happen at his age. This is a sad, misguided tragedy of an album that encapsulates just how far Tate has fallen. Avoid this album at all costs, if you know what’s good for you.

For more on the band, go here: http://geofftate.com/

To buy the album, go here: http://www.insideoutmusic.com/

For more on the label, go here: http://www.insideoutshop.de/Item/Geoff_Tate_-_Kings_-_Thieves_-Ltd-_Edition-/15833

If you live in America, today’s a rather profound, gigantic day. We vote. We decide who the next president is going to be. Not that it really matters all that much. But even more than that, at least to me, is the hate no longer will be broadcast 24 hours a day in the form of campaign ads and people trading insults and treating each other like complete garbage. Until primary season, that is.

I’ve heard enough lies that last six months to last my lifetime, and I’ve tried to ex-communicate as many people as possible from my life who have this seething agenda, not to make a positive change that hopefully will brighten our lives, but to fucking win at any blood cost. No matter who suffers. No matters the depths to which they will sink. No matter the amount of misinformation they need to spread across the ears of any person who doesn’t have enough time to keep up with every dishonest blow. I put way more blame on one party over the other, but it’s all the same. It a cesspool of dishonesty and treating each other like a commodity and a number. And so help you if you disagree with the person across from you. The vilification never will be enough.

To an outsider, our country must seem like a dark, evil country. Like a land with two entirely different faces where we welcome you to this place of opportunity with one hand, and stab you in the back with the other for having the audacity to improve your lot. Reading some of the quotes inside the new Theologian release “The Chasms of My Heart” really kind of reignited the fires inside of me, because it’s clear that sole member Leech has been feeling the tumult, too. Maybe not in the form of physical and mental disgust over an embarrassing election that made people around here seem like the lowest form of life. But he seems to feel the cavernous pain, the betrayal, the poison, and the piss. Spending time with his latest album illustrates that point even more, and it was welcome listening for me as I crawled to the end of this finish line, where I really can take no more posturing and pretending. This feels like a voice crying in the wilderness for sanity, and I totally get that.

Inside “The Chasms of My Heart,” which is a gorgeously packaged album in a DVD-size digipak, Leech quotes French novel “The Torture Garden,” by Octave Mirbeau, written during the Dreyfus affair. In that text, you certainly can pull apart the hilarity of political fighting and the contradictions of government, but it goes much deeper than that. And Leech uses a line that centers on death and dispair and hopelessness, almost as if the situation you’re in never can be overcome. On top of that are the people around you, who look for any opportunity to dig another blade in and draw more blood. Salt for the wound. It’s a pessimistic a sentiment as they come, but at the same time, it’s also tragically true. This happens to all of us, though in varying degrees. Leech meets this head on, even himself dedicating the album to “others, there, the cruel ones; who from the depths, speak with two tongues; who in emptiness of spirit, leave me to struggle in the wake of their transgressions.”

If you’re not familiar with Leech’s music under the Theologian banner, or his previous work in Navicon Torture Technologies, then you might need to prepare yourself. This music loosely can be called blackened industrial, but that’s not really even accurate. It only gets you part of the way there. Underneath that, you can hear elements of ambiant doom, post-rock, and electronica, and the entire thing blends all of those sounds together to make a greater whole. It’s a claustrophobic, scary experience to take on this eight-track, near-hour-and-20-minute-long expression of grief, pain, and Apocalypse, though if you’re like me, you’ll get caught up in this heaving storm and live vicariously through the anguish. It’s not exactly metal. In fact, thematically, it’s much darker.

We open with 14:37-long “Abandon All Hope,” a rather fitting title considering what’s on this song and what follows. The synth haze and dank ambiance hang overhead threatening to blind you, and eventually a drubbing beat leads in, with washed-out vocals stretched out in the background. It’s an awesome, murky piece that will make you feel completely isolated. “Starvation Is a Legitimate Weapon of War” is the shortest track on the album, at only 4:40, and it’s equally cloudy and penetrating. “My Body Is Made of Ash … I Live as Ash” is already depressing when you read the title, then the whirring, buzzing synth takes you under and into a weird melody, banging like a hammer on steel, noisy, muffled screams, and hypnotic chaos that tears you in two.

“We Can’t All Be Victims” opens with thick drone and rivers of sound full of electrical charges, and beneath it all is a thin line that’s damn near danceable. “I Don’t Exist” is wrapped in static and insect-like buzzing, and the finish gives you a feel that usually accompanies the deep throes of medicine head. “Bed of Maggots” wooshes and soars, carrying with it a banner constructed out of cosmic dreaming and doom drone, and again, panicked vocals are snuffed out by an oppressive blanket. The title cut reminds me a little bit of WOLD, but with alien weirdness traded out for human torture, and eventually the beats and synth lines remind me of techno. The violent kind. Closer “Every Road Leads to Abandonment,” that lasts 13:02, brings this whole marathon of punishment to a proper end, with pounding, disturbing noise hisses, a melody that sounds like a smoldering freight train chugging through tar, and a nightmarish howl that should fray nerves.

There are no sinister riffs, you likely won’t make out a word of the vocal transmissions, but if you feel like you’re on your way to some sort of hell abyss listening to “The Chasms of My Heart,” don’t be surprised. This is dark, foreboding stuff, and it’s not recommended to those with a fragile psyche and no willpower. Leech — fitting considering his name — bleeds every drop of himself with this effort, leaving no emotion, betrayal, or disappointment on the floor. It’s a well of sickness and frustration this Theologian album, and it’ll be a perfect companion long into the night when human beings trade insults and cut down each other’s character all for the sake of someone who doesn’t even know they exist.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.facebook.com/theologianprime?fref=ts

To buy the album, go here: http://www.crucialblast.net/theologian_chasms.html

For more on the label, go here: http://www.crucialblast.net/

We can all agree it’s been a miserable week here on the East Coast, right? And I’m not even on the coastal portion — Pittsburgh being a couple hundred miles away from the really bad stuff — but even we had a fairly annoying week with all the wind and rain and outages. Some to the south of us had a pretty bad snowfall. That’s not even scratching the surface of what our friends on the East Coast have dealt with, and we hope everyone is able to pick up and carry on, simplistic as that thought may be.

I sit right by a giant window at work, and all week long I had a bird’s eye view of the muck and dreariness, the miles of traffic backed up because of the poor conditions, and the lousiness of it all. The darkness has made me want music equally as suffocating and agitated, and wouldn’t you know it, almost as if on cue the debut album from Canadian scoundrels Paroxsihzem landed in my inbox. It’s a Dark Descent release, and as you may know by now, I really dig that label because they know what the fuck they’re doing. I assumed awesomeness with this album, and sure enough I was paid many times over for my faith, as this self-titled crusher was just what I needed to match the morbidity in my head.

Formed in Toronto in 2007, this band offered up a couple of full-bodied demo recordings before finally carving out this seven-track, nearly 38-minute opus of chaos. If you’re into bands such as Portal, Mitochondrion, and even Autopsy, you probably can get with this band, whose traits are quite similar. The music is grinding and charred, the vocals are buried a bit, yet still powerfully infernal, and the arrangements sound like a cacophony of madness. But listen closely and you can hear the machination of it all, which is quite impressive. You’ll be required to peel back many layers on this record, but doing so will reward you with a better understanding of everything going on with this mangler. I’ve only had it a week, and I’m totally hooked.

Thematically, Paroxsihzem — vocalist Krag, guitarist Impugnor (also of Nuclearhammer), bassist Orpheus, and drummer The Desolate One (also of Nuclearhammer) — are vague yet focused. They touch upon history, psychology, philosophy, and suicide, but it’s up to you to determine what it’s all about. That’ll require a lyric sheet, something we don’t have as of this writing, but surely what you’ll discover will take some time to sort out in your head.

The record opens with a blurry intro of smeared noises and samples, conjuring an eerie spirit just minutes into this thing. “Vanya” then explodes out of the gates, sounding like blackened death metal burned in a furnace, with ominous vocals, chunky riffs, and a doomy ambiance. “Nausea” may give you just that, with its dizzying pace and churning melodies, and part of the way through there is a thrashy breakdown that rips the lid off the song. Awesome piece of carnage right here. “Deindividuation” is a disturbing mid-way point, with much of the song held up by more creepy voice samples, eventually leading the way to furious growling and a total menace of sound that blankets you with fear.

“Godot” (a Samuel Beckett reference perhaps?) is heavy and grinding from the start, feeling like metal on metal much of the time, and there’s a renewed sense of dread with this one, as it punishes without relent. “Tsirhcitna Eht” has an interesting, rising melody and some really bizarre guitar work that may cause you to tilt your head in confusing. But it’s a penetrating, effective song as well, and it will drub you into submission before too long. Closer “Aokigahara” is both mystical and doom-led, and its title is taken from the Japanese Sea of Trees, a site many go to commit suicide. The song is blurry and foggy, making the vision a bit distorted, though the intent of the song is clear in that you are to suffer internally. It’s a heavy ending to one weighty document.

Paroxsihzem are another astonishing find for Dark Descent, perhaps the most reliable death metal label out there right now. This band is ugly and torturous, the way this style of music should be, and devoting time to Paroxsihzem almost means submitting your energy as well. This record is an excellent late-year find, one that I’m certain is going to stick with me long into the winter months, when depression and solemnity pretty much are a given.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paroxsihzem/293704858374

To buy the album, go here: http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=2331

For more on the label, go here: http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/