I don’t want to mince words today and try to make some long introduction, as usual, about today’s topic. Let me cut right to the point: If you haven’t already, you need to listen to Cloud Rat. That means right now, not after you backup your hard drive, not after you go make coffee, not after you finish that inane text message. Now.

The Michigan-based grindcore band recently put out their latest release “Moksha,” on the mighty Halo of Flies and IFB Records, and it’s already an album I’m writing down — in ink! — for a contender for album of the year. It’s explosively good and alarmingly vital, and you can’t possibly understand that magic behind this thing until you hear it for yourself. As hard as I’m going to try, I won’t be able to convey the magnitude of this 13-track release with mere words. The fury and punishment contained within these songs is unmistakable, but there also is plenty of melody, thoughtfulness and variety in their compositions, unbridled passion in their playing, and Madison, who also handles lyrics and art, is a pot boiling over vocally. You hang onto her every word, follow every line, and can’t help but get caught up her whirlwind of intensity. Not to discount the rest of the band, because they are tremendous, but Madison’s delivery and very presence is what elevates this band from very good to unstoppable.

Cloud Rat’s self-titled debut album came out in 2010, and since then they have put out a number of split releases, a couple of offerings on Grindcore Karaoke (including “Live at Vaggie Fest”), and now have responded with this volcanic document. The band also is just as weighty lyrically and philosophically as they are musically. Topics range from drugs, neglect, emotional, physical and sexual violence, poverty, racism, and sexism, and the band holds true to a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle and hopes to help inspire social change and promote tolerance and respect for others. It would seem that, in 2013, that wouldn’t still have to be a platform that needs to be ingrained in others, but I’m sure anyone who follows the news on a regular basis knows we’re nowhere near fully embracing these ideals.

Along with Madison, the band is rounded out by Rorik, who handles guitars, design and layout, as well as Adrian, who’s on drums and electronic samples. As noted, while this is grounded in grindcore, there are so many other influences at play, from punk to hardcore to shoegaze to dreamy rock, and each song carries with it great weight and builds your expectations for what follows. “Moksha” also is an album that is supremely listenable, meaning it’s easy to put this thing on and get lost in it, finding yourself greatly surprised when the thing is over. It just flies by and flows so seamlessly, you can’t help but restart when it’s done.

The first side of the record begins with some easy, smeary noise on “Inkblot,” but then a riff blows up, Madison goes off, and a total fury sweeps over you, completely capturing you. It’s a go-for-the-guts assault both musically and lyrically, and it’s just the beginning. “Aroma” has a nice sludgy finish, with chugging, churning riffs, and a total impact to your chest, robbing you of breath. “Corner Space” has an airy, atmospheric start before it blows into a death metal/thrash groove. “Olympia” goes back into grind demolition, and “Widowmaker” is mean, and menacing, drowning out in a haze of bizarre noise. “Infinity Chasm” is the first curveball with pulled back, gazey music, clean vocals (Madison’s voice proves quite pretty, and she sounds a bit like Sharon Van Etten), but when you think the calm is here, it’s back to break-neck intensity and killer, metallic insanity as the track finishes.

The second side starts with “Inimitable Sea,” a song that remains heavy and aggressive, but it also adds new textures to the mix, including some guitar work that sounds a little black metal. It’s a really neat piece that shows their musical interests are all over. “Daunting Daughters” peels a bit into pure hardcore territory, with Madison howling passionately, dealing with the tumult facing her, and there’s no denying the pain behind the song. “Casse” is positively crushing and also sort of muddy, and that leads us to the second head-jerker of the record, their cover of Neil Young’s “The Needle and the Damage Done.” Generally I’m disinterested in cover songs because most of them have nothing to add to the original composition, but this one’s different. The band gives the song a different personality, a different perspective, and they take the track from delicately, painfully gorgeous, to self-destructively desperate. It’s a fucked up, incredible version of the song. “Vigil” fires one last thorny salvo, with Madison howling, “We should not exist!” and it’s onto the ambient, dreamy, piano-dripping title track that lets the record fade out on a perfect dark note.

Whatever you need to do to get Cloud Rat in your ears, do it now. The band’s web site address is listed below, and you can hear whatever of their releases interests you, including the one we described above. But also, don’t be a cheap ass. Try to grab “Moksha” while you can, since it’s in limited supply. Cloud Rat play with purpose and panic, and they’re easily one of the most exciting new bands in the world.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://www.halooffliesrecords.com/releases/current-releases/

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

I try to take suggestions from friends pretty seriously, if I trust that person’s tastes, and so when I recently was prodded on Facebook by someone to dive head first into a band’s new record, I knew I had to take heed. I won’t name the person (I try not to be a name dropper), but we certainly will get into the band at the heart of the matter, that being Vex.

I knew I had the Vex album in my inbox, so it being a Friday night and there being beer at my disposal, it seemed like as good a time as any to download the promo for “Memorious,” the band’s second album for excellently named Horror Pain Gore Death Productions, and their follow-up to 2010 debut “Thanatopsis.” I listened to the band’s debut when it came out, and I have it on my computer, but what happens often times when you’re a writer and have hundreds of promos at your disposal is things get lost in the mix. It happens all the time. It probably seems like a great luxury to have so much new music at your disposal, and it is, but it also is nearly impossible to keep track of all of it, resulting in a band such as Vex flying under my radar.

But having a chance to revisit the band anew, I approached Vex with great curiosity and a peaked interest after reading through the band’s bio materials. The Texas-based band plays an amalgamation of death metal, prog, and thrash, and while that doesn’t seem like any new stew or anything, I’m not sure many other bands pull off such a grandiose sound as well as these guys do. Basically, the recommendation I was given to seek out Vex I pass onto all of you, especially for fans of bands such as Cormorant, early Iron Maiden, Primordial, early-era Amon Amarth and groups of that ilk. The songwriting is super sharp, the band’s playing is incredibly advanced, and their storytelling should keep you tuned in from beginning to end. Also, if you’re turned off by the prog-death tag, don’t be. It’s not loopy and dorky at all. There simply is a level of playing that delves into that territory, but it never comes off as pretentious and only is sprinkled in here and there when the drama needs an added boost.

The band is comprised of vocalist Joe Jackson (not the guy with the keyboards), guitarists Michael Day and Ciaran McCloskey, bassist William Edgar, and drummer Eoghan McCloskey, and Vex formed way back in 1998, and issued their initial demo “Overview” a year later. They put out an EP in 2002, another demo in 2005, and eventually worked on a split with thrashers Divine Eve in 2010, before Vex’s debut album “Thanatopsis” landed. In a way, they’re just now gaining their stride and coming into their own, despite their years together, and “Memorious” is hands down their best work yet.

“Terra Soar,” the opening track on the record, gives you a pretty good indication as to what’s ahead: growly singing, lots of melodic guitar, a body-mashing combo of death and thrash metal, and a glorious, epic feel all around. I know the term melodic death metal is scary, and I get why, but think of Vex as more of a death metal band that has a knack for melody. “Carve My Eyes” has a watery, trickling open before it launches into classic Maiden-style guitar work and more punishing vocals from Jackson. “Astride a Grave” is the first of three instrumentals on the record, and it’s designed to take you into “No Such Thing,” a shaking, speedy, lurching song that contains some of the ugliest moments on the album. There are prog-fueled lead guitar work, heaviness that’s a little understated but still pretty meaty, and an epic quality due to the nature of the song, not its length. It is incredibly impressive. “Spectral Nature” has some cleaner tones, vocals that have a goth ring to them, and eventually an unexpected explosion where things round back to death metal and carnage.

“Away from the Sun” is a woodsy interlude piece that bleeds into the volcanic “Wasteland (How Long Ago…)”, seemingly inspired by the T.S. Elliot poem, as the track is complete with a sample of lines pulled directly from that piece. It’s a pretty dark section of the album, and it also happens to be one of the heaviest musically. “Solace In Sleep” is another interlude, setting a haunted stage for what follows, namely “Those Days Are Gone,” a vicious number that’s like a best-of containing all that Vex do well. The guitars are majestic when need be, gut-wrenching at other times, and Jackson emits both his furious growl and clean croon, proving how flexible a frontman he is. Closer “A Drinking Song” is a bit of an oddball at the end of this thing, with a tempo that doesn’t really lend itself to wild antics, and a personality that doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the album. It’s a good cut; it’s just weird next to the rest of the song.

The Vex recommendation paid off big time as, ever since I downloaded the promo that fateful, brew-filled Friday night, I’ve visited with it regularly. I love how it plays with different styles but never stays with one exclusively, the sense of adventure, and how the music is both well played and emotionally connected. This an impressive records from a band that, from this point forward, is going to remain in my stream of consciousness.

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

To buy the album go here: http://hpgd.comoj.com/store/hpgd057.html

For more on the label, go here: http://hpgd.comoj.com/indexmain.html

http://hpgd.comoj.com/indexmain.html

It’s hard enough to tell a compelling story or convey emotion properly using words. It’s altogether different to try to do the same things without using language and still remain exciting and thoughtful, keeping an audience interested and tuned in until you reach the end of your tale.

That’s one of the reasons instrumental bands fascinate me — though often they frustrate me — because you have a group of musicians trying to put together a package of music to make your heart race simply on how they communicate instrumentally. Yes, I know the classic composers did the same thing, and there are orchestras everywhere that sweep up listeners and take them on massive journeys, so the concept isn’t new or anything. But I always find it a little extra special in the metal medium when a band can do that same thing without horrifying growls, terrifying shrieks, or dramatic bellows and still keep me tuned in and following on the edge of my seat as if I was hearing a great mythological tale.

This leads me to introducing you to Sannhet, the latest product of an ever-bustling and creative Brooklyn metal scene that’s done a hell of a lot to change the face of underground American heavy metal the last few years. It also gives us a chance to talk about the new label Sacrament Music, a venture by the St. Vitus Bar in the same borough that has been one of the premiere places to experience heavy music in all of New York City. Sannhet is one of the locals that have played St. Vitus since their formation a few years ago, and now the new label is throwing their support behind the group in an even more meaningful way, by making sure the group’s incredible music finds its way into more hearts and more ears, and if this first release by Sacrament is any indication of their future, it’s going to be a hell of a place to follow.

Same can be said for Sannhet, as their debut album “Known Flood” is an astonishing piece of work, an almost entirely instrumental record that is volcanic, experimental, stunningly well played, smart, and punishing. The trio of guitarist John Refano, bassist AJ Annunziata, and drummer Christopher Todd worked with Colin Marston on their initial record, and that seems like a really good choice. The band sometimes sounds a lot like Marston’s band Krallice with their cosmic metal and black metal experimentation, but that’s only part of the time. But no matter what they’re doing, they keep you guessing and engaged through nine songs.

“Absecon Isle” opens the album, and it’s one of those that should bring to mind Krallice, as noted, and is a whirlwind of blackness, dizzying guitar work, and surging emotion that starts things on the perfect note. “Safe Passage” is spacey, the drums pound with viciousness, and as it draws to a close it gets chunky and then eerie and chant-filled. “Invisible Wounds” continues the chants and then melts into a sludgy doom riff, picking up momentum and fury as it builds, with forceful blast beats. It then dissolves in a bed of synth drone and ambiance, with noise rising up that blows right into “Endless Walls,” that has weird things going on and people shouting in the background, and its heaviness is obvious but also a little understated.

“Moral” begins with a radio dial shifting around, and then it erupts into gloomy, doomy transmissions and a fully cathartic musical display. “Slow Ruin” has more pulverizing drumming from Todd, the track on which he really gets to stand out and be a star, though piercing guitar lines come in and slice the sucker in half, letting more ambiance float out like a cloud. That paves the way for “Haunches,” which begins in a foggy dream state but then turns into a mind-numbing black metal display very much in the same vein as Ash Borer. It’s also the one song with vocals, albeit buried infernal cries. “Still Breathing” has a clean intro like a classic metal song, then a loops plays of a man speaking about doing time, and when it seems like it’s all going to stay on the level, the drama cascades, and the band responds with one of their punchiest sections on the record. Closer “Flatlines” is full of hums and pulsations, letting you drift into nothingness as the record fades away.

Sannhet’s debut is an exciting one, and they’re one of those special bands that tell great stories without words, with only their instrumental prowess to forge the path. I’m also curious to see if the band changes at all from this point and adds more sounds and drama into what they do. If they don’t, there’s enough in their arsenal already to keep them interesting for a long time. As for Sacrament, if their future projects are as good as this one, that’ll be a label to watch.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://sacramentmusic.com/products/sannhet-known-flood

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

There are people who cannot survive without their smartphones, their tablets, the Internet, cable TV, and a bunch of things that do not exactly guarantee survival and merely help one pass the time. It might help us fight off boredom or do useful research, but we’re not going to die without any of those things. We may want to die without them, but they hardly keep us safe.

But what if you were dropped in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but your human survival skills to keep you safe, and no electronic technology to help you? What would you do? There are people who practice bushcraft, long-term survival skills used in a natural environment that often employ things such as hunting, tracking, fishing, and working with tools to maintain one’s existence. That’s kind of a sloppy explanation, but it’s basically a way for people to survive long-term in the wilderness or in nature or in an environment where all the comforts of home are not available. Not everyone is cut out for it or would be excited to do this, but those who do probably aren’t scared by too many things.

Vancouver hardcore crushers Baptists named their debut album “Bushcraft,” and I’m not sure if there’s a reason why. If they feel they need to have a little something extra, something deadlier to keep them moving through a scene that’s becoming clogged up with a ton of bands, more power to them. Survival of the fucking fittest. It’s also gotten to be quite an effort to stand out on Southern Lord’s label anymore since they’re flushed with so many hardcore, D-beat friendly, crusty bands that I’m wondering if they remember doom metal anymore. Not to be critical. They’re signing who moves them, and to do anything else would not be genuine, so this is what the Lord is right now. Baptists are another band dotting the suddenly flooding roster.

So Baptists must be wily and different in order to make people notice them and to stand out, and they prove to have some neat tricks on “Bushcraft.” Their music is a little messier and mathier than many other hardcore bands, and if they had wound up on, say, Deathwish Inc., they would have been properly placed as well. Kurt Ballou of Converge, produced the record, naturally, and all of his sonic fingerprints are here, and Baptists sound like they really benefitted from having him behind the boards for their debut. If you’re down with bands such as Cursed, Trap Them, and, of course, Converge, you’re bound to find something to like on this record. You know where this is all going.

“Betterment” is the opener and is tied together by steely doom guitar lines, shouty vocals, and strong drumming, and from there you can tell these guys have a different frame of mind than most other hardcore bands. “Think Tank Breed” opens with feedback wail much like Ballou’s noise with his band, and there are chugging riffs and vocals that reek of hardcore punk. “Bullets” is loud and throaty, with menacing growls that bubble up and a slick bluesy guitar riff that pokes a bit at Black Sabbath. “In Droves” is driving and intense, and “Still Melt” is slurry and smeary, with a hint at black metal and vocals that sound inspired by Henry Rollins. “Mortar Head” is speedy, monstrous, and even spacey and weird, which is a nice touch and should be used a little bit more.

“Crutching Trails” blends math into the picture, has some really weird compositions, and the vocals are traditionally hardcore-based. The title track explodes, has tricky guitar, and reveals some of the most spirited vocals on the record. It’s a really awesome song, the best one that’s on this record. “Soiled Roots” is slurry and damaged, with more of the Converge influence sliding back into play, while “Russian Spirits” is fast and explosive, and closer “Abandon” has talky yelling, molten punishment, and a final salvo that ends the record on a pretty good note.

I didn’t mean to insinuate Baptists ape Converge because I mention them so much here. It’s sort of a natural thing working with Ballou and with some of their creative ideas that they would draw those comparisons, but they’re not outright mimicking anyone. As noted, Baptists and many other new bands need to have something different to say and something interesting to add or they’ll just get caught up in a glut of other like-minded bands. Baptists have sounds and sparks that make them exciting and enthralling, and more of the weirdness and cosmic noises would be most welcome. “Bushcraft” is a good record, one of the more curious things Southern Lord have released since beginning their campaign to expose underground hardcore. I’m curious to see how this band shape shifts in the future and what their next record sounds like, and if it doesn’t have new twists and turns not heard here, I’ll be really surprised. I’m guessing it’ll be an even greater exploration into the dark.

For more on the band, go here: http://xdrownyoursorrowsx.blogspot.ca/

To buy the album, go here: http://www.southernlord.com/store.php

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

A more recent version of Slough Feg

There are plenty of classic heavy metal bands that everyone knows about. Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Slayer, Morbid Angel, what have you. They’re out there, they shaped the genre and its many offshoots, and they’re often considered some of the most influential and important bands of all time. Just go to a metal show in any sub-genre, and there’s a good chance you’ll see a T-shirt from one of these bands in the crowd.

Then there are those bands that, for some reason, fly under the radar. Their excellency cannot be denied, and though they may not have spawned the same amount of followers and fame as have the big names, they have giant pockets of rabid devotees who swear by them, and for good reason. For instance, why didn’t Manilla Road capture more hearts in their prime? They had amazing chops, wrote great songs, and seemed to land in a timeframe perfectly suited for them. You could say the same for Pentagram, a band many people revere, though perhaps chalking up the personal demons that battled Bobby Liebling for years can be explained for why they aren’t bigger.

Another of those bands is The Lord Weird Slough Feg, who originated in Central Pennsylvania before moving to San Francisco and took their bizarre moniker from a British comic book series “Slaine.” The band is now known simply as Slough Feg, and they released their excellent “The Animal Spirits” in 2010 on Profound Lore, but their history goes back pretty far. And sadly, it seems most modern metal fans aren’t terribly aware of them, at least here in the States, and that is a shame. They combine classic heavy metal, folk tendencies, and exemplary songwriting and playing into their style, and Mike Scalzi’s unique, personality-rich vocals hammer their tales home and make them one of the most interesting, compelling bands of their time and one nobody seemed to know about.

Perhaps the relative anonymity of this band can be taken care of due to a re-release of their earlier work, when they maintained “The Lord Weird” in their moniker and recorded for Dragonheart Records. Starting with their second album “Twilight of the Idols” and stretching to their fourth release “Traveller,” Metal Blade has a box set perfect for those who have tried to get their hands on these records for years (me!) and for those who aren’t terribly familiar with this brilliant group but love classic heavy metal. These make for adventurous listening and a nice reminder for how epic and emotional heavy metal truly can be when it’s done right. If you love Maiden, Judas Priest, Jethro Tull, or bands of that ilk, you need to get your hands on this collection.

“Twilight of the Idols” was released in 1998 at a time when horribly down-tuned, hair-brained nu-metal was dominating the world. These guys were as far away from that as you could be, finding inspiration in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and it’s cool to go back and hear how raw they were at the time. Scalzi’s voice had not quite matured yet, so he’s a little raspy and challenged when the high notes come, but the record showed the promise ahead and was quite glorious musically. From the bagpipes-rich opener “Funeral March,” to the incredible gallop of “Highlander,” to the Pirate folk treatment of “Brave Connor Mac” (also a “Highlander” reference, naturally) to rustic metallic of “The Wickerman” onto the band’s own title track, it’s raucous explosion that’s  a barroom blast to hear and showed furious potential to what was ahead for the band.

That promise would pay off huge two years later with “Down Among the Deadmen,” where the band finally hit on all cylinders and sounded like a total machine. This also was the album that brought the great John Cobbett aboard (you know him as the leader of Hammers of Misfortune, another favorite of this site) and continued to establish the band as one of classic metal’s great revivalists. The 13 songs should cause an adrenaline surge for those who love classic metal sounds and tales, and if opener “Sky Chariots” doesn’t knock you on your ass, then you’re hopeless. Add to that other killer cuts such as “Warriors Dawn,” an amazingly well-sung song that sounds a lot like modern Iron Maiden mixed with Irish folk; the blistering trio of attached songs “Heavy Metal Monk,” “Fergus Mac Roich,” and “Cauldron of Blood,” and the fairytale-on-fire nature of “Traders and Gunboats” that all boast some of the band’s best material of their entire run. It’s such a great record that, had it been released in 1985 when this sound was far more accepted, this would be known as an all-time classic. Eh, it is anyway, even if people don’t realize it yet.

“Traveller” followed in 2003, and it also capitalized on the band’s rousing musicianship as well as their knack for telling great stories. The album is based on the 1977 sci-fi role-playing game of the same name, and those familiar with said game surely will get a huge kick of how this thing progresses. I, for one, am not well-versed in the game, but it didn’t prevent me from enjoying the hell out of this album. They hit so many high notes on this record that it’s impossible to name them all, but some of the ones that come to mind first are the fiery opening, interconnected trio of “The Spinward Marches,” “High Passage/Low Passage,” and “Asteroid Belts”; the NWOBHM-flavored “Professor’s Theme”; the Southern rock + Queen-like harmonies of “Vargr Theme/Confrontation”; all the way to stunning closer “Addendum Galactus.” From this record, the band would move into Cruz del Sur, where they’d stay until 2009’s “Ape Uprising!”

The Lord Weird Slough Feg are one of the greatest hidden treasures in the heavy metal world, and luckily Metal Blade are bringing their brilliant early work into clearer focus. This is one of the truest, most adventurous heavy metal bands of the last 15 years, and no one sounds quite like them. These are must-have albums if you’re walking around calling yourself a heavy metal fan, and these treasures never have been easier to attain.

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

To buy the set, go here: http://www.indiemerchstore.com/item/17803/

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

It’s become a theme here and most other places that embrace true, ugly death metal, in that the sub-genre is packed with way too many slickly produced, Hot Topic-pushed, mundane, garbage bands calling themselves death metal when, in reality, nothing about them rots except their reputations. But the real stuff is out there, and one must just find it.

Luckily, Century Media is making your quest a little easier. OK, yes, I know that they also have championed some of the fakey death stuff that’s blotted national tours and probably brought in a lot of money to keep the label going as strong as it is. Whether you or I like it, that’s economics, especially in an era when record sales aren’t exactly at an all-time high. So to CM’s credit, they also brought in a nice new crop of true death metal bands lately, including Sonne Adam and Morbis Chron, maintained ties with great artists such as Asphyx and Grave, and have a stellar history of bringing you some of the best metal there is to offer from groups including Bloodbath, Celtic Frost, Immolation, Tiamat, Emperor, and so many more.

So in the spirit of keeping their death reputation strong, they also recently inked French trio Necrowretch, a true throwback-style death-and-doom-laced band that only had a few smaller releases–two EPs, two demos– to their name before they got signed. Small resume aside, whoever went out and pursued this band and got their debut full-length “Putrid Death Sorcery” under the CM banner really did his or her homework. This is a great sounding, worm-infested, true death metal band that brings back the haunted spirit of the sub-genre and easily could help revive what this style of music was about when it started and is desperately trying to get back to again. Oh, by the way, Vlad points out in the group’s bio that the band doesn’t give a shit about following idols or trying to revive a sound. They’re playing what they feel, so the old-school tag just comes naturally. It’s not contrived.

Necrowretch are comprised of Vlad, who handles vocals and guitars, and Amphycion, who plays bass. There also is quite skillful drumming on their debut performed in studio by Morkk, though live the kit will be inhabited by Desecrator. The record is retching (fitting, eh?) and horror-filled, and at times when I’m not thinking about classic death metal with these guys, my mind wanders to Finnish beasts Hooded Menace and their tapestries of horror. Either way, you’re in perfectly good, albeit calloused and wart-filled, hands with Necrowretch if you like your metal ugly and scuffed up. Also, if you like skillful playing and classic metal chops, you’ll also have plenty to love about these guys, because they’re really skillful at what they do and obviously have the spirit and energy to get across their message effectively and violently. It’s one hell of a great listen.

While “Putrid Death Sorcery” is not a concept record, the songs do involve a character known as the necrowretch, or priest of doom, going around and infecting, not saving, souls. Actually, we get right to that on nasty, guttural opener “Ripping Souls Out of Sinners,” where the damned face what they have coming to them and the nasty riffs and growls set the stage for what follows. “Purifying Torment” has tortured vocals, a flurry of lead lines, and some piercing noise to hammer-smash home the point. “Goat-Headed” is a speed demon, with a thrashy, blinding pace, throaty vocals, and heavy and thunderous death sequences. The title cut is more calculated and creepy, but it has its fiery, gory moments as well. “Impious Plague in Catacombs” begins with creaking and monstrous yelps for help before a cascade of ugly doom and death bleeds out, including some truly scintillating leads and soloing.

“Spewed From Hell” should be fairly self-explanatory from its title, and it mostly is as menacing as you’d think. The vocals sound yacked up, the screams are menacing, and the drumming is outright brutal. “Defiled of Sacrality” has doomy leads and really strong guitar work that pays homage to thrash and death, and it’s one of the tracks that really shows how talented these guys are as musicians. “The Anthropomancer” has a flurried opening and dips into some classic metal terrain, then into a killer thrash metal storm. “Soiled Into a Crypt,” aside from being an awesome song title, is fast, blistering, and takes no prisoners, while “Necrollections” has dizzying, swirling melodies and a tricky composition that makes you feel trapped in a vortex. Closer “Repugnizer” closes the record with more bone-crushing drumming, mind-blowing speed, and a monstrous classic death display that ends everything on a proper, blood-soaked note.

Thumbs up to Century Media for plucking Necrowretch from the underground graveyard and giving them the wide release they deserve for “Putrid Death Sorcery.” Hopefully they give this album a nice push. As for Necrowretch, they’re another example of a new death metal band that has its sights toward devastation and horror and not getting glossy photos into magazines. They are another band reviving what true death metal is about, and their debut is providing plenty of grisly fun to get us through these winter months.

For more on the band, go here: http://necrowretch.net/

To buy the album, go here: http://www.cmdistro.com/Item/Necrowretch_-_Putrid_Death_Sorcery_-PRE-ORDER-/44365

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

This is one of those refreshing days writing stuff here at Meat Mead Metal. Refreshing because I get to dig into something different, out of the ordinary, challenging, and weird. Don’t get me wrong, I love writing about copious amounts of new metal records because it’s what I do and what excites me. But it can get mundane. Today is not one of those days.

When Profound Lore announced the release of “Arriving Angels,” the new album from Helen Money, the stage name of cellist and composer Alison Chesley, one of the more unique musicians of this day and age, it both was surprising and totally logical. She was a member of Verbow in the 1990s along with Jason Narducy, was a member of Poi Dog Pondering for a while, worked with Bob Mould, and added her work as a contributor to bands such as Anthrax, Broken Social Scene, MONO, Russian Circles, Plaguebringer, and many others. She was one hell of a hired gun when it came to cello work, but her most fascinating creations came along with her Helen Money project, which highlighted her aggressive, amplified, fucked up string work that was scarier and more riveting than what a lot of people dream up with multiple guitars.

“Arriving Angels” is the third album from Chesley’s Helen Money, and she’s joined by drummer Jason Roeder (Neurosis, Sleep) on what’s already one of the most unique records in January, but one that’s likely still going to hold that distinction when we’re putting up Christmas trees in December (or October, if you’re an asshole). If you’re new to Chesley’s work, then chances are you never heard anyone use the cello in quite this way before. You’re going to think you’re listening to a damn suffocating and dark doom metal record created by a roomful of people working to dump as much fog and chaos as possible from walls of amps. But you’ll be wrong. All of the fire and brimstone on here is Chesley and her cello, sometimes played classically, sometimes offering comfort, but often distorted and mangled like a never-ending nightmare.

There are many moods and atmospheres created on this eight-cut record (recorded and mixed by Steve Albini), and the music here can be absorbed in a number of different settings, from meditation, to studying, to confronting and battling your demons, to simply watching nature outside your window. This mix of classical, ambient, drone, and doom may not, on the surface, seem like something we’d traditionally call metal, but again, I invite the more closed minded out there to expand your thinking. This record very well could be your gateway to stretching out your boundaries and discovering new and exciting things.

Opener “Rift” doesn’t grab you and yank you to the floor. It seeps into the room like a ghost, makes some initial sounds so you know something might be there, before it rises up and takes you. The doomy melodies, dark, chunky playing, and ominous tones make for a provoking, chilling open. “Upsetter” has sweltering, strong work and piercing sounds, and a strange melody loops behind everything else, making this feel like the score to a real-life horror story. Not a slasher film or the likes, but something where a human being melts down from the inside and faces himself or herself as a villain. “Beautiful Friends” is mournful and baroque, with distortion and drone pouring in and filling the room to your knees, and percussion kicking in, adding more drama to the story. “Radio Recorders” opens with a panic of echoes, sort of like an old Voivod song, and despite the muck and grime of the track, there’s a gorgeous light that breaks through the clouds and chaos, offering a glimmer of hope.

“Midwestern Night’s Dream” allows you something of a downhome breather, as Chesley delicately plucks her cello, and the song maintains a simple, quiet aura. The title track then lets the noise rip you apart again, with a breath-taking build, windswept passages, fucked up riffs, and a boiling pot that, just when you think it’s going to burn you, it settles back down. Then it rises back up again just as violently. “Shrapnel” has some more traditional cello playing, deliberate, calculated drumming, and a cool pace that gets you ready for the finisher “Runout,” where melodies bend like rubber, eerie echoes allow your mind to wander through the song, drums kick in to keep your lungs blowing, and eventually cool piano drops tap like an easy rainfall.

This record isn’t going to strike everyone the same, and I’m sure some listeners will be too confused or bewildered to accept it. But “Arriving Angels,” as far as I’m concerned, is an intoxicating, fascinating listen that proves not only is Chesley a disarming force in the metal and extreme music world, but is one of the most inventive and creative in all of music. This is a landmark release for Helen Money and should get her the recognition she deserves not only for what she’s contributed in the past but mostly for what she’s still offering us today. She’s a killer.

For more on Helen Money, go here: http://helenmoney.com/

To buy the album, go here: http://www.profoundlorerecords.com/products-page/plr-items/helen-money-arriving-angels/

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

We’ve covered/complained about certain sub-genres of metal swelling up to the point of gruesomeness and having to search extra hard to find the good bands because there are so effing many of them. We kind of said that last week when discussing grindcore and the millions of bands doing that these days.

It’s getting close to the point of adding occult rock and metal bands into the saturation category, because every time you turn your head these days, new ones are popping up. There have been some exceptionally good ones such as JexThoth/Totem, Jess and the Ancient Ones, and The Devil’s Blood, who just announced their dissolution, and some that haven’t been all that wonderful. Needless to say, you didn’t read about any of those bands on this site because we try to champion the good stuff and shove mediocrity to the side.

Bloody Hammers is the latest addition to the occult rock category, and perhaps their name is a little misleading. Before I heard a note of music and read a word of their bio, I assumed we were talking heavy, death-oriented, muddy madness, something that could please your need for violence and fury. But this band is anything but that. They’re more of a rock band than a metal outfit, and while they have some bluesy, gooey riffs similar to classic Black Sabbath, they don’t really exude heaviness. And that’s OK. There still is going to be plenty of crossover appeal for listeners who are more metal-entrenched but like bands with a knack for darkness, and Bloody Hammers deliver on that end of it. There are traits of classic horror, stories from the coven, and chilling evil that should do the trick, and on top of that, this band writes some really strong songs.

Going back to assuming, I initially thought Bloody Hammers could hail from somewhere in Europe, but instead they call Charlotte, N.C., home. So that was a weird, unexpected discovery, but again, it’s why you should not assume. Their self-titled debut is finally available physically now, via Dutch label Soulseller. The group is a four-piece with weird, yet fitting stage names, with Anders Manga (OK, that might be his real name) on bass and vocals, Zoltan handling guitars, Devallia on organs and keys, and Curse on drums. They just formed in 2012, so they’ve gotten a lot done in a short amount of time. Despite their very short existence, they already play with a polish and cohesion many bands far more experienced fail to muster.

The record establishes its identity quickly, with the buzzing guitar lines that are a trademark, and a catchy melody and chorus that makes opener “Witches of Endor” perfect for sucking you into the album. “Fear No Evil,” that begins with haunting organs, quickly kicks things into high gear, revealing a really enthralling dark rock song with ritualistic imagery. It’s this type of thing, helping the listener create an image in his/her mind of the ceremonies and horrors going on, at which that they prove quite effective. “The Last Legion of Sorrow” has slinky, fuzzed-out guitar work that reminds me a bit of Clutch and some ominous words such as, “The vengeful blade is coming down.” “Say Goodbye to the Sun” keeps thing mid-tempo and captivating, appealing to the vampire quotient and poking, “How’s it feel to know you’re going to live forever?” It’s a curse, not a blessing. “The Witching Hour” is calculated and effective, a nice bridge to the record’s second half.

“Black Magic” hits on a bluesy guitar groove that’s very vintage Sabbath and would be an excellent set-opener live. It would get your juices flowing in a hurry. “Trisect” is grinding and a bit sludgy, proving their metal chops are not to be questioned, and eventually the song thrashes out and leaves you devastated. It’s one of my favorite cuts on here. “Beyond the Door” hints at danger lurking where you cannot see, and after a somewhat mystical opening, it rocks out pretty good, serving up a nice start-stop approach to its chorus. “Souls on Fire” opens with a 1950s doo wop-style guitar line that sounds like it’s going to be a haunting torch bearer, but instead it gets grungy and abrasive, leaving behind any ideas that it was going to soothe. Closer “Don’t Breathe a Word” is a dark ballad with clean guitars that remind me of when 1980s thrash bands tried to do slower songs, and it’s a really great way to end the album on a high note.

Bloody Hammers may be new to the game, but they certainly have the ability to become one of the finer bands in the occult sub-category. They’re strong songwriters, the vocals can appeal to many audiences, and their material is just foreboding enough to keep a metalhead happy. This is a band to watch, one that seems primed to not only make an impact with metal listeners but maybe with those who wish mainstream rock was better and a little more dangerous.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://www.soulsellerrecords.com/index.php?choice=mailorder

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

Rotten Sound

Although the sub-genre has its tentacles all over the place now, when I think of grindcore, I always think of Relapse Records. It’s just where I expect all the stuff to be, never mind that labels such as Earache, Willowtip, and Hydra Head all have had their hands in the game for years now.

I just always lean back into bands such as Brutal Truth, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Pig Destroyer, Fuck the Facts, and so many others that Relapse have helped champion that I designate them the home for quality grindcore. And it’s not like this is some great revelation of mine, and many other metal listeners surely feel the same way. So when Relapse sends me e-mails containing promos with new grindcore goodness inside, I’m usually pretty excited to hear what they drummed up this time.

It’s only fitting then that Relapse have kicked off 2013 with, you guessed it, two grindcore albums that offer quality and relentless punishment for your listening needs. One comes from a  socially conscious French band that hasn’t had a new full-length in seven years, while the other is a Finnish act (apparently it’s Finnish metal week at MMM) that’s tiding us over until their new album arrives with a stop-gap EP. If you decide to invest your time and money in either (or both) of these, you’re bound to have a violent good time and maybe need some pain relievers when you’re done taking on all this grinding madness.

We’ll start with the shorter one first, that being the new six-track, eight-minute EP “Species at War” from Rotten Sound, their first new music since their crushing 2011 album “Cursed.” These Fins have been making chaotic, unforgiving noise since their formation in 1993, and with six full-lengths and countless mini releases under their belts, they’ve made plenty of quality noise over their two decades together. And apparently aware their audience was hungry for some new stuff, they answered the bell with this EP that’s blink-and-it’s-over short but satisfying.

The band’s remained half in tact over their years together, with vocalist G and guitarist Q members of the fold from the start, being joined by drummer Sami Latva in 2006 and bassist Kristian Toivainen in 2010. The unit sounds well-oiled and ferocious as the EP opens on “Cause,” a blast-filled mangler that’s made even crustier with G’s horrifying growls. That blends into “The Game,” which has elements of groove and thrash and gives you some swagger in which to sink your teeth. “War” follows, and it blows shrapnel everywhere, leaving you with a bruised body and psyche, while “The Solution” is grisly and grinding, standing as an example of what Rotten Sound do best. “Peace” sounds nothing like its title, with fast, violent, and sludgy emissions taking over, and speedy screams delivering their diatribes. Closer “Salvation” is like a lightning bolt of sound, striking before you have a chance to catch a breath.

An eight-minute EP might sound like a weird buy for those not accustomed to grind, but that shouldn’t deter Rotten Sound fans or grindcore enthusiasts as a whole. We’re used to short, direct assaults from our grind acts, so an eight-minute EP will be just up most of our alleys. Plus it’s only two minutes shorter than the last Nails full-length.

Blockheads

French death/grindcore manglers Blockheads have been making noise even longer than Rotten Sound, having formed in the late 1980s and who put out their debut full-length in 1995. They haven’t exactly been the most prolific band of all time since their first album, only releasing four more since that time, their latest being the new “This World Is Dead,” a 25-track, 40-minute effort that is grind through and through but also spills in some death metal melodies and powerviolence explosions. They’re more than just a mowing-ahead band and keep things interesting and fresh, splattering one song after another at you. It’s pretty damn explosively fun, and I found it’s quite useful for getting your ass moving when you’re on the treadmill running.

It’s hard to go blow by blow through the entire record like we generally like to do, because it’ll take all day and we’ll be up to 1,000 words just discussing this album. So let’s hit the highlights. Xav handles lead vocals for the band, though his bandmates Fred (guitars), Erik (bass), and Niko (drums) also pitch in. They’re a punishing unit, with their years of experience behind them, and they launch into this thing on “Already Slaves,” a bone-crushing, brief number. “Deindividualized” is one of the longer songs on the disc at 2:09, and then it’s kind of off to the races with lightning-fast “Born Among Bastards”; the insane cloud of dust kicked up on “Final Arise”; the thrashy groove of “To the Dogs”; the drum blast madness of “Crisis Is Killing the Weak”; the 16-second explosion of “Sell Your Flesh”;  the precision assault of “Look Down,” where the vocals are menacing and, at times, deranged; meaty, sludgy “Pro-Lifers,” that should get things whirling out of control live; and the epic of the set, the seven-minute-plus closer “Trail of the Dead,” that’s both ultra-heavy and bathed in slow-driving doom metal. It’s an impressive display that drags your mangled body across the finish line.

That’s a really quick summary of a very involved album, and it’s hard to sum up the whole thing in just a paragraph or so. Blockheads are a group of experienced veterans who have been going at it longer than some of today’s younger grindcore bands have even been alive, and these guys are deadlier and more dangerous. Relapse scored again bringing this band back into wider focus, and they remain one of, if not the, bastion of grindcore. These records makes great investments for longtime grind fans burned out by the tidal wave of similar-sounding younger acts and even would be great source material for kids hoping to blaze the trail for the sub-genre but need a reliable place to start.

For more on Rotten Sound, go here: http://www.rottensound.com/

For more on Blockheads, go here: https://www.facebook.com/blockheadsgrind

To buy either album, go here: http://www.relapse.com/store.html

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

The era of the epic-length, post-metal bands is more than at its apex. It’s gotten a little out of control. Where before you had a few bands doing this kind of thing, leaving you plenty of breathing room, the scene is now flooded with groups trying the same thing. Not every band can do this right. In fact, the ones that do are few and far between.

In times like these, when the saturation level is out of control, it’s nice to get a visit from one of the bands that paved the way for these groups so they could show everyone how it’s done—all over again. We’re not going to hear from ISIS any time soon, but we did get a hulking new record from Neurosis last year that put everything in perspective and the pretenders back in their places. Now, several months later, Swedish titans Cult of Luna finally have returned with “Vertikal,” their first release since 2008’s “Eternal Kingdom” and a much welcomed return from this thought-provoking, adventurous act that are one of the finest post-metal acts going. Sorry again for the annoying, lazy sub-genre name drop. It makes things easier.

Anyway, “Vertikal” is the band’s first non-Earache Records effort since their 2001 self-titled debut (originally released by Rage of Achilles but later put out by Earache), as this 65-minute monster is out courtesy of Indie Recordings in Europe and Density Records in the United States. If you’re wondering if the band has changed a lot in the past five years since their last record, they really haven’t. You’ll certainly recognize them when you hear them, and their musical ambition is as active as it ever was. Yet there’s now a really interesting cosmic layer that’s been folded into the band’s music, mostly courtesy of the wooshing, dreamy keyboard work, so it adds a new intergalactic element. It’s really intoxicating and welcoming.

The band, personnel-wise, also hasn’t changed very much the last 10 years, so you’ll know the cast of characters. Johannes Persson is on guitars and vocals; Magnus Lindberg, Fredrik Kihlburg (also vocals), and Erik Olofsson handle guitars; Andreas Johansson is on bass; Thomas Hedlund plays drums; and Anders Teglund takes care of synthesizer and samples. On this record, they’ve got a pretty focused subject matter, that being the 1927 German sci-fi expressionist film “Metropolis” that’s set in a futuristic society and examines class division and struggle. That might explain why the synth work is so spacey and dark, because they were channeling both the dark personal nature of the film as well as the fantastical plotline that’s surprisingly applicable today. All of this combined makes for one of Cult of Luna’s best records to date.

“The One” is the perfect introduction to this record, with moody, cloudy keys setting up a soundscape and getting you in the proper frame of mind. “I: The Weapon” blows open and sounds like classic Cult of Luna, with deeply barked growls, imaginative guitar work, a later more of those icy keys that made me think of frigidity both from a weather standpoint and what was going on thematically in the film. “Vicarious Redemption” is an epic at 18:44, but it’s constructed in such way, and is so good, that it never feels half as long. Keys woosh in, dark spirits canopy the land, and the first eight minutes lean on instrumental storytelling before the vocals come in crushing. There’s a deep helping of shoegazey wonder and poetic playing that keep this song interesting and convulsive. It’s an incredible piece. “The Sweep” is an interlude, and it serves as both a breather and pace changer. It makes me think of red, cold skies and nighttime anxiety and panic.

“Synchronicity” has a watery base but also a sludgy foundation, and its mid-tempo keeps things stomping in place and bashing holes into the crust of the earth. “Mute Departure” has some clean vocals and is a strange but exhilarating transformation. There’s feedback and drone included and eventually some satisfying crunch, and it’s the second best song on here after the epic “Vicarious.” “Disharmonia” is another scene-setting instrumental that leads into “In Awe Of,” that’s built on top of vicious, throaty growls, star-bound key zaps, and a renewed sense of heaviness that brings grit and destruction back to the forefront. “Passing Through” closes things out with more hypnotic melodies, clean vocals returning, and a returning refrain of, “Time’s passing me by.” It’s both a lovely passage and one that can either fill you with hope or despair, depending on where you choose to go.

Cult of Luna are one of the finest bands in the world at what they do, and they’ve certainly spawned their share of disciples. This record proves why this band is so heavily respected and admired, and why having their music back in the metal conversation is a good thing for the genre as a whole. It’s only January, but chances are “Vertikal” is going to be remembered as one of the better metal releases of 2013.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://omerch.theomegaorder.com/Artists_Omerch/CULT-OF-LUNA_2

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