Warm weather finally is becoming a more regular visitor here on the East Coast. For the most part. Just as I’m typing this, our local weather forecasters are warning that the weekend might not be so awesome. Eh, what can you do?

But last weekend was a different story, and it was prime time for some grilling, something I love doing. And like a dork, I eschew gas grills, preferring the archaic charcoal method. Not sure why. I think’s it’s because I like the smell of burning charcoal. When it gets closer to fall, I use some beer-soaked wood chips too, making my backyard smell like a campground. I do cheat a bit, buying the easy-light coals that only require you ignite them with a lighter, because I don’t trust me with lighter fluid.

So, as noted, since last week was a nice one and we were rewarded with a stretch of warm, sunny weather, we decided it would be a fitting time for a grilling doubleheader: Steaks on Saturday; burgers on Sunday. Pretty easy, right? Of course, but also a ton of fun. We even took an extra-long drive out to the fairly new Settler’s Ridge Giant Eagle (a good 45 minutes from where we live) to buy some freshly cut steaks from the you’re-not-rich-enough-to-shop-here butcher shop. We made the sides simple, with baked potatoes, steamed veggies and baked beans. We were stupidly excited driving home, and I even buckled and didn’t make my wife listen to the new Batillus twice, instead mixing in new ones from Low and Marissa Nadler (hers is out in June, and it’s pretty different from her other work). We didn’t have anything special planned drink-wise, though I did pick up a few bottles of choice brew for Sunday, which we’ll discuss in a moment.

The only real problem with Saturday’s steak grilling was that we used Kingsford Match Light mesquite charcoal, and it burns like total shit. The actual mesquite chunks sort of chuckle at you when you try to light them because they’re total assholes, so it took some time to get the grill hot enough to make the steaks, and once it got to the right temp, it dropped pretty quickly. Usually I’ll grill each side of the steak 5-6 minutes, but I had to do them about 8 minutes each to even get them medium rare. They were fine – my wife likes hers pretty damn rare, so she was happier than I – but I won’t use the mesquite stuff again. We followed with strawberry cupcakes with chocolate sauce and whipped cream, so yeah, can’t really complain.

Sunday was a little better. After a nice 2.5-mile walk (where my wife decided we needed a detour to go see our friendly neighborhood greyhounds … good choice, by the way), it was back for more grill action. I put on Darkthrone’s “The Cult Is Alive” (am I the only person who doesn’t hate that album?) and lit up some regular, normal Match Light charcoal. Went up in a total blaze with no problem, and it heated up properly and maintained its temperature. We used simple ground sirloin and combined it with chipotle-seasoned sweet potato fries. My burger, pictured moments after I hastily took a bite, was topped with cheddar cheese and thick cuts of turkey bacon. Pretty damn fine burger, and I’m excited to have another go at it soon. Just probably not this weekend since we’re looking at a ton of shitty rain.

I did mention finding some beers at the Giant Eagle, and it’s one I haven’t had before. Southern Tier Brewing makes a ton of interesting brews, and you can research them at the link below. I’ve had their excellent Choklat Stout, a seasonal brew available in November through the winter. It’s a potent 11 percent ABV formula, and it’s a really sweet-tasting brew. Some people have complained it’s too sweet, but I didn’t feel that way. I’m actually sad I can’t find it again for many more months. But I was able to land their spring choice Jah*va Imperial Coffee Stout, itself 11 percent ABV. I love coffee-based beers a lot, especially strong ones, so I couldn’t wait to get these chilled so they could be consumed. And that said, I was a little bit disappointed. It’s bitter, which is a plus for me, and dark, and strong, but it doesn’t really have much of a coffee kick. Tried as I might, I could detect anything other than a pleasantly bitter beer wash. Eventually, I put in a splash of vanilla vodka, to see if maybe it would have sort of a creamer effect, and that DID work. It also fairly rocked me, as the beer’s already strong, and the vodka is 80 proof, so you know … I do have another bottle, and tomorrow night I’m going to give it another shot.

For more on Southern Tier and their 52,000 beers, go here: http://www.southerntierbrewing.com/beers.html

Not sure what’s on the menu for this weekend yet. We plan to do some Record Store Day shopping, and tomorrow we’ll have a preview of some of the metal goodies available Saturday. So come back! There’s a lot of quality releases coming your way, and I know I’ll return home that afternoon a little lighter in the pocket.

For weeks now, I’ve been trying to listen to the new Septicflesh album “The Great Mass,” and for some reason, I just couldn’t make it through. Not even once.

I kept trying to go back where I left off, then I tried to do the whole thing at once again, and no matter what way I went about this thing, I couldn’t listen to it. That was odd to me because I really liked their 2008 reunion album “Communion” (as well as some of their early work) and was kind of disappointed I had to miss their stop in Pittsburgh a few years ago. So this was one I was kind of looking forward to hearing, yet the Greek orchestral black metal band didn’t seem to be holding my interest. Finally, I made myself sit down, removed all distraction, and forced myself to listen to “The Great Mass” from front to back. That was how I realized why I couldn’t get a hold of this thing: It kinda sucks.

If you’re not familiar with the band, let me give you a quick, rudimentary history. The band formed in 1990, and a year later, they released their debut EP “Temple of the Lost Race.” Their first full-length “Mystic Places of Dawn” arrived in 1994 (later repackaged with “Temple”), and they put out five more discs before their breakup in 2003, their final being “Sumerian Daemons.” They announced their reformation in 2007, and while they always had symphonic/gothic elements in their music, they heavily amplified that on “Communion,” recording with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague.

The Prague players returned for “The Great Mass,” and it should be pointed out that Septicflesh guitarist Christos Antoniou has studied classical and concert composition, so he’s no slouch. But simply being well educated doesn’t make you infallible, and the band just goes off the rails on “The Great Mass.” It’s a mess, the songs aren’t terribly compelling, and at times the material is laughable (“Apocalypse” starts off sounding like music from a children’s Christmas pageant; “Mad Architect” could not have a better name as it sounds like that’s who constructed this wacky piece). I don’t doubt the Philharmonic players hold their own – I’m not exactly the best judge of orchestral music, admittedly – but it’s like a head-on collision of blackened death metal and the “Fantasia” soundtrack. Dimmu Borgir often is guilty of this as well, but typically they remember to include a solid song structure and a memorable hook.

Bassist Seth Siro Anton’s growling vocals are the highlight. Many bands such as Dimmu and Cradle of Filth who dabble in this stuff often don’t have vocals you can take very seriously. As much as I like some of Dimmu’s and Cradle’s stuff, I often find myself chuckling at the overly dramatic, goofy vocals, but I never do that with Anton. So that’s a positive. But it doesn’t help this album transcend beyond silliness. I’m not even sure I totally grasp what’s going on thematically, and the band’s explanation sure hasn’t helped. Even their explanation of the album’s exansive artwork is befuddling. Try this on:

“It is a small part of an occult machine made from marble and flesh, fantasy and reality, order and chaos. A great machine composed from the blasphemous union of strange figures, creations of Man, the creator of the gods and demons. Their grotesque purpose will be revealed soon, when all the cover editions of the new album will be presented and will be combined together… Let the great self-cannibalistic symposium begin.” 

I don’t have any idea what that means, and considering it’s taken me so long to make it through this entire thing one time, I don’t even care. They lost me completely on this one. Opener “Vampire From Nazareth” probably doesn’t need (or deserve) much introspection, and even when they begin a chant that sounds like some sort of conjuration, it doesn’t chill at all. “Pyramid God” is just bizarre and eventually works itself into a jazzy sort of chugging breakdown that feels like it might want to be a pop song; “Five-Pointed Star” and “Oceans of Grey” use some sort of Middle Eastern-flavored woodwinds that feel a bit clichéd; and closer “Therianthropy” begins with terribly nasally gothic vocals, and the track doesn’t really improve from there.

I can’t say anything positive about one song on this album. Not one. I guess I admire the band’s ambition, Maybe it’s overindulgence, actually. It’s a total miss of an album, and this does no justice to “Communion” as its follow-up. It’s never a good sign when you outright laugh during a record one time, much less a bunch of times. I listen to some ridiculous shit, and there times when I can smirk at something silly that I actually like. But this reminds me of when I, as a critic, had to see the “Poseidon Adventure” remake, and when the cruise ship was being smashed to bits and people were dying horribly, I was guffawing out loud. I’m sure that wasn’t the intended reaction Septicflesh hoped their listeners would have, so I’d assume they wouldn’t be thrilled someone responded in that way. Even a cynical critic who laughs heartily when he sees people on the big screen drown on a boat.

Photo by Tommy Kearns

Improvement is something one should expect from a band. Putting out multiple records, playing live, understanding one’s art should pave the way for getting better. Yet it doesn’t always happen that way because stagnation and resting on the laurels also seems as natural.

Then you get a band such as Batillus, who seem to have been born again. I was introduced to the band a couple years ago with their debut, self-titled EP. It is an all-instrumental piece, with three cuts that bleed over 10 minutes long each, and as interesting and dark as it is, it lacks something that could help them transcend beyond the point they found themselves at the start. As time went on and the band got more experience, they started to develop. Then, they made a move that clinched their rise from contender to one of sludge doom’s best bands when they brought Fade Kainer on board to provide vocals and synth/noise weirdness.

“Furnace” is Batillus’ first full-length album, and it is one of the grimiest, dreamiest, most convulsive, most exciting albums I’ve heard so far this year. They’ve taken the elements from their two EPs and their split with Hallowed Butchery and carved out a six-song collection that demands and achieves your attention, and a lot of that has to do with Kainer’s delivery. Simply, he gets it. There are tons of dudes out there who growl and gurgle over backgrounds of blackened doom that’s similar to what Batillus do, but Kainer’s delivery and passion are unmistakable. You want to hear what he has to say next, and you follow him closely, almost like you’re one of those dots bouncing over song lyrics in those old cartoons. Except instead of a dot, you’re a blot of volcanic lava. Kainer is so crucial to making this band as powerful as it is, and while I don’t mean to make the music take a back seat, because it’s awfully good, a run-of-the-mill singer would have made this a good album, not a great one.

The music itself shows a maturity, especially over what they accomplished on their debut EP. And again, that first effort was a good one, so no complaints. But where they are now as compared to where they stood just two years ago is stunning. They still slow-drub you, which you’ll realize right away from the opener “…And the World Is as Night to Them,” which opens with some Wold-like noise before leading headlong into tarry, ashy doom and eventually atmospheric traveling. It certainly sets the tone for what follows and provides a very clear indication just how much they’ve developed. “Deadweight” is my personal favorite song on the record, as Willi Stabenau’s bass feels like a half ton of rock lumbering along, Greg Paterson’s guitar chugs and eventually spirals off like Kim Thayil, and Geoff Summers’ drums keep the pace calculating and chewy. Fainer howling, “Fall on your knees,” over the chorus is that touchstone moment in the song that your brain tabs as the go-to point. The song is ton-of-bricks heavy.

Batillus cite bands such as Swans, Godflesh and Ministry as influences as well, and that can be felt on “The Division” and its feedback drone; “What Heart,” with its beastly keyboards; and closer “Mautaam,” that opens with a weird, warped vocal sample before corroding into a foggy doom storm. The oddball of the whole album is “Uncreator” because it actually opens up with some speed and fire, making its pace something that sets itself apart.

I know from how I wrote this I made it sound like this is a band that’s been shape-shifting for a decade, but really, their life span has been awfully short. That’s what makes what they display on this debut so damn impressive because they’re already this good and have made giant leaps ahead in such a limited time. Their next record should be scary, as long as they continue to grow and understand what makes them so special. I haven’t had a chance to witness this beast live yet, and make no mistake, next chance I get I’m going. The music on “Furnace” sounds like material that, as good as it is to hear on my home speakers or from my headphones, it will be that much more cathartic and arresting watching them recreate this live. Batillus is one hell of an exciting young band, and they’re only just beginning to feel their way around. There’s no limit for where they can go from here, and I imagine they’ll continue to push whatever boundaries they find in their way.

For more on Batillus, go here: http://www.batillusdoom.com/

To buy “Furnace,” go here: http://www.seventhrule.com/store/

There are bands whose albums you can’t just pick up cold and expect to understand them right away.

Their work isn’t a matter of verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure or melody or hooks. So why listen? Because not all music is designed to sound the same. Wouldn’t that be utterly boring if everything, no matter the genre, followed the same structure? Hey, maybe some people would be OK with that, hence the blossoming pop music scene at a time when it is most boring. But some artists don’t operate according to the status quo and tend to find enjoyment with branching out to the extreme. That brings us to metaphysically conscious black metal outfit Blut Aus Nord.

The mysterious band hails from France, a place that claims other like-minded bands such as Glorior Belli and Deathspell Omega, but unlike many other black metal bands, they’re not terribly concerned with Satanism and horror and blood. That’s even too stagnant a concept for this band. Their music is nightmarishly disharmonic, and their songs feel more like large tarps that are being dragged over you, with a muted, black-and-white series of seemingly unrelated images shown to you over and over to strike a chord deep within you that you perhaps didn’t know was there. Maybe what you see and hear will make you uncomfortable, like you’re in the middle of a suffocating nightmare, but it’s all a matter of getting out of the ordinary and letting your brain travel and understand more deeply what’s around you.

So yes, it’s black metal, but Blut Aus Nord really sound like no other band because, even as other bands have popped up since and tried to feed off their sound, no one’s done it nearly as convincingly. This leads us into their new album “777-Sect(s),” which is the first of a trilogy (second volume out in September; third follows in November) that will play out over the length of 2011. So yes, there’s way more to come, so we’re just scratching the surface of what’s ahead. The guitars can be vicious and atmospheric at the same time, and often it sounds like all of the leads and melodies are poured on top each other, letting the elements make sense of their place. Vindsval’s vocal emissions act the same, as they’re often buried, sometimes backward (my wife thought a goat was moaning on “Epitome IV,” but alas, it’s all mashed backward), and often are a mix of many, many different tracks blended together, not always smoothly, always interestingly.

“Epitome II” (all the songs are called “Epitome,” followed by a Roman numeral) has gothic style synth, feels like it rushes with air, and growls are buried underneath. Opener “Epitome I” shockingly – or not so shockingly – ends in a bizarre dub step beat and key whirring, and this is after the damaged slurred guitars and gurgling growling seem to indicate you’re headed to the back end of a blast furnace. The final two of the six “Epitomes” are haunting, ghoulish, damaged, and completely freakish. In all, the entire album sounds like one piece with six movements, and I guess that’s really what it is. You can’t drop in on “Epitome III,” for example, and expect to totally understand where you are. And if you’re not familiar with this style or Blut Aus Nord, you may be in for one hell of an education. There’s no guaranteeing you’ll ever get it or accept it, either.

Eight records into their career, Blut Aus Nord certainly have their own identity, and while they have their own style to which they adhere, they never do the same thing twice. Calling it a style isn’t even accurate. It’s more of a headspace, a place where they transcend to create. All of this said, it’ll be interesting to hear the other two pieces of this project and how they compare and contrast with one another. This is one time I do fear they could be overlapping themselves, because three separate pieces in a year is a lot of music, and it’s going to a hell of a challenge keeping all three apart in people’s minds if they don’t have their own, distinct identities. I don’t know yet. I haven’t heard the rest.

If you’re interesting in grabbing this thing, there are some details below. It should be pointed out Debemur Morti also re-released the band’s seminal 2001 album “The Mystical Beast of Rebellion,” which has a second disc of new, complementary material attached. It’s definitely worth your time and cash, as is “777 Sect(s).”

For the label’s site, go here: http://www.debemur-morti.com/

For the band’s site, go here: http://blutausnord.com/

To buy “777-Sect(s)” or the “Mystical Beast of Rebellion” reissue, go here: http://www.eitrin.com/search.php?mode=1&match=1&search=blut+aus+nord&action=

For a track-by-track dissection of the record, go here (it translates into English fairly roughly, but enough that you can make sense of it): http://www.obskuremag.net/articles/exclusif-blut-aus-nord-777-sects-track-by-track-par-vindsval/

My review, courtesy of metalreviews.com:

http://www.metalreviews.com/reviews/detail.php3?id=7072

One of the many nice things attached to writing about music for a (sort of) living is sometimes you get pleasant surprises in your mailbox. And with the age of digital music in full swing, the days of getting promo material delivered by your neighborhood mail carrier is becoming something of a rarity.

Surely, it’s cheaper to send out a download code or to post materials to a press site for consumption, and it’s way more environmentally conscious to halt mailing large packets with a CD and reams of bio material considering most of what you need can be found online. Plus, and this may just be me, but I never got when I’d get a huge packet of reviews from other outlets about the album in my hands (or in many cases, past albums … which is totally not relevant to me). I don’t give a shit about other reviews, so I NEVER look at those things. Never. Useless. And the majors wonder why they’re bleeding money. Well, THAT and all their shitty signings and mismanagement.

So back on topic. Today was one of those awesome days where, in the mail was a small, compact package containing a record I was chomping at the bit to hear – Krallice’s new “Diotima.” Profound Lore still mails out physical promos, but they keep it simple, with an informative one-page bio and the music. Easy, simple stuff. Plus, from what I’ve read of label head Chris Bruni’s battles with the Canadian postal service, we journalists who still like receiving physical music in the mail should feel thankful, because the rates seem fairly shitty (though it sounds like mailing within Canada is way more expensive than sending materials elsewhere, if you can believe it). That said, I’ve spent some time with the record today, as one might expect. Nowhere near ready to render a review of this thing. That takes time. I don’t get how some people can listen to an expansive piece of music and, five minutes later, crank out a review. That’s a very specific reference to something, but let’s not go any further with it. Anyhow, on just a very initial basis, the record sounds really great. It’s vintage Krallice progressive black metal, but there are some nice new twists and turns. There’s a section on “The Clearing” where the playing, to me, sounds like classic Rush. It’s imaginative, heady, exciting and morbidly nerdy, just as I had hoped. That’s all I can say, really, and that’s all top-of-my-head, gut-reaction stuff. Please, again, do not mistake this as a review. I have some links below if you want to hear a couple of the songs off “Diotima” (The Clearing” being one of them). Enjoy!

To hear “The Clearing” (and other PF stuff), go here: http://www.profoundlorerecords.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=14&Itemid=33

To hear “Litany of Regrets,” go here: http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2011/03/a_new_krallice.html

Also, Krallice is hitting the road for a short tour with blackened death metal troupe Withered (their “Dualitas” is one of last year’s best metal records). Should be an epic show, and for once, Pittsburgh’s actually get a slot on the routing. It’s at Gooski’s, where it’ll be asshole hipster central, but whatever. It’ll be fun hearing those pricks go, “Ewwww, metal,” while sloppily discussing the hops content of their beers, like they know what they’re talking about. I hope a pool table gets lit on fire. Poster with tour dates below.

This is a place for metal, but let’s not kid ourselves. Who among us ONLY listens to metal? Oh, um, if that’s you, then sorry.

I was just reading an article in Spin about John Darnielle, the leader of the Mountain Goats and contributor to Decibel Magazine. Anyone who’s ever heard the Mountain Goats knows they are decidedly not metal. Still dark in spots, but in no way metal. That said, Darnielle is a huge metal head who would put most people’s knowledge (myself included) to shame, and when he was putting together the new Goats album “All Eternals Deck” (their 16^th!!!), he called up death metal producer extraordinaire Erik Rutan (also leader of Hate Eternal) to work on some of the tracks. He said when he called Rutan, the man was thrilled because all he’s ever asked to do are metal records, and his tastes are far broader. Not to put myself in the same category as Rutan, but think of Meat, Mead, Metal the same way. Metal primarily, but there’s a lot more that gets us going.

That said, just like we did a couple weeks ago with the best metal records (so far) of 2011, we’re going to do the same here for non-metal releases. It’s funny, but as I was putting candidates on this list, I realized I have more to consider than I did for the metal list. So that tells you something. Anyway, some of these might be a little obvious, but whatever. I never worried too much about if I was listening to something that tons of other people were as well. So here we go…

Jessica Lea Mayfield is 21, and by listening to her way, way too blunt lyrics, it sounds like she’s on about her seventh life or so. And none of them, this one especially, have been easy. “Tell Me,” her second album, continues the heartbreak and damage she conveyed on her debut “With Blasphemy So Heartfelt,” but the music is far more fleshed out. Her singing, always her strong point, is even more confident, and the songs have a timeless feel. The music has a heartfelt Midwestern flavor, and she can get loud when she wants to, but she tends to let her volume come across in her words. Closer “Sleepless” is one of the most upsetting songs I’ve heard in a long time. If someone you knew wrote this or performed it for you, you’d be calling suicide hotlines in no time. I can’t say enough about how much I like Mayfield.

For more, go here: http://www.jessicaleamayfield.com/

Wye Oak is a duo out of Baltimore that makes delicately soft and pulverizingly loud music. They manage to take those two elements and make them work together as well as anyone else. In fact, considering there are so many metal bands that do this very thing, chances are there will be some appeal. Plus, Jenn Wasner can absolutely rip on the guitar. She has quiet, sometimes child-like vocals (not in the annoying way … it’s hard to explain), but when she pounds on her distortion pedal, you’re sure to not be able to hear so well for the next few hours. Their new record “Civilian” is a tough one to grasp at first listen. It may take a few visits to really get this thing. It was that way for me, but I always wanted to go back and explore the thing. It’s hard to put a label on this band other than “indie rock,” which is so generic and really descriptive of nothing. But I think you know what I mean. And it’s also so much more than that.

For more, go here: http://www.wyeoakmusic.com/

Well, here comes Capt. Obvious, coming around on his space craft of obviousness. The new Decemberists is awesome. That’s it. No arguments. People detested their concept album “The Hazards of Love,” which happens to be my favorite of their records. I think in time, that album will get more respect and love. People have a hard time dissecting something in its immediacy if it doesn’t meet some sort of lofty set of expectations. So you may wonder from what I wrote if I like their new one, “The King Is Dead,” more than “Hazards.” I do not. But it’s still an excellent album, very indicative of the band’s earlier, more simplistic years, yet with more of an ’80s edge, likely due to R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck producing and playing on some of the cuts. The record actually debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts (shocking to me since so many people eschewed “Hazards”), but it was well deserved. There aren’t as many morbid tales on this one, but there are 10 damn good, stripped down songs you won’t ever get out of your head.

For more, go here: http://decemberists.com/

Esben and the Witch’s “Violet Cries” is a spooky, dark one. The band itself is named after a Danish fairytale, and they make more noise than any trio seemingly has a right to make. That doesn’t mean they always level you with decibels, because they don’t. They more envelope you with their gothy, shoegazey fog, which probably would have made them giant stars in the mid to late ’80s when “120 Minutes” and shows of that ilk were at their most influential. Anyone into Portishead, Siouxsie and the Banshees or even more recent bands such as Bat for Lashes or Warpaint probably will dig this. The highlight for me is Rachel Davies and her heavily accented, expressive vocals, that add even more lure and mystery to these songs (check her refrain, “We’re dancing,” on “Argyria” that sounds more like, “We’re don-cing”). I have a few Esben and the Witch cuts on the weekend mix my wife and I play as we’re cooking, playing trivia games, etc. And their songs always make me pause. Certainly give this one a shot.

For more, go here: http://www.esbenandthewitch.co.uk/

There are plenty others I could go on about, but I eventually need to do some things around the house. Here are some of my other favorites: Destroyer’s weirdly nighttime-friendly “Kaputt”; Metal Mountains’ waifish, dreamy folk lathering on “Golden Trees”; Caroline’s gorgeously delicate electronica on “Verdugo Hills”; The Head and the Heart’s heart-on-sleeves, emotive folk rock on their self-titled debut; and the Joy Formidable’s ear-splitting, arena-sized shoegaze lava on “The Big Roar.”

More metal to come, of course. We still need to discuss Goes Cube’s new one, as well as new stuff from Obscura and Summon the Crows, which is a monster. All in good time.

Metal Maniacs posted my Maruta review today. Check it out at the link below.

http://www.metalmaniacs.com/2011/maruta-forward-into-regression-willowtip-records/

Thinking about the fairly short history of heavy metal (in comparison to the history of the world, that is), there are a handful of labels that come to mind immediately.

Roadrunner? Sure, though that label has been so bastardized by lowest-common-denominator signings as of late that the days of King Diamond and Obituary seems lifetimes away, and the era of Nickelback is nauseatingly apparent. How about major Elektra? They had Metallica, Metal Church, Flotsam and Jetsam. Century Media and Nuclear Blast both have done a huge job singing quality bands and breaking them into more mainstream recognition. And how about Metal Blade, the first label that pops into my head when I think of the history of the genre? Their “Metal Massacre” series helped introduce bands as large as Metallica and Slayer, and through the years they were home to Mercyful Fate, GWAR, Armored Saint, Manowar, Cannibal Corpse, and more recently Amon Amarth and Primordial (more on those later). In addition, they have found success with the surge of metalcore with bands such as Unearth, Job for a Cowboy, and As I Lay Dying. Some metal purists would take issue with those bands, and while they’re certainly not my favorite acts, they did expand exposure for the label and metal in general. Nothing wrong with making money, and unlike Roadrunner, they didn’t wreck their reputation (well, at least with me) to do so.

This calendar year has been a surprisingly strong one for Metal Blade, and certainly those who do fall into that purist category would be hard-pressed to disagree. They have two notable album releases and a DVD from veteran acts getting ready to hit store shelves, as well as two others from bands who haven’t yet made their mark but certainly should soon.

Primordial frontman Alan “Nemtheanga” Averill has a hand in two of the bands, because he signed them himself to his Poison Tongue Records, with Metal Blade exposing them to America. Australia’s Assaulter have a raw, primitive feel, kind of mixing death and black metal with a sense of rock and roll. Their songs surge and punish and feel like they’ve been dragged kicking and screaming over thorn bushes. The dudes themselves even look more like a classic metal band (see above!), adorned in jeans no hipster would be caught dead wearing, leather jackets, jean jackets with the sleeves cut off. And they’re not doing it to be ironic. They’re the real deal, which you can hear by taking on their new album Boundless! Their promo materials mark the band’s sound as similar to Destroyer 666, Sodom, and Invictus, and I even hear a little bit of early Bathory in what they do. This trio brings savage fun that most younger bands trying to feast on eras gone by never seem to get right. This just hit stores, so go get it.

For more on Assaulter, go here: http://www.myspace.com/burningfront

Another I talked about last week in my favorite albums (so far) of 2011, that being Celtic warriors Darkest Era (also a Nemtheanga signing). That’s them above. Their sound is more epic and sweeping, and while they’re not exactly power metal, you can hear some of it in their style. They’re more just classic heavy metal, a band that would have sounded great decades ago opening shows for titans such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Dio and even Mercyful Fate. Opening track “The Morrigan” is such a great song and one of my favorite metal tracks of the year. Their debut full-length “The Last Caress of Light” is in stores now, and ever since I got my promo a few months ago, I’ve listened to it at least a few times a week. It’s actually a good workout record, because it’s one that can cause that surge of adrenaline you need right when you feel like you can’t go any further.

For more on Darkest Era, go here: http://www.myspace.com/darkestera

Now, about those veterans. Amon Amarth (those guys above!), your leaders in Viking metal, return next week with “Surtur Rising,” an album that took me some time to get used to but, now that I’ve spent plenty of time with it, I find to be quite the experience. It doesn’t have one of those sure-fire classics on first, second, even third listen, but the more you take on these songs, the deeper impression they make. Now it’s easy to hear the unique identities each of these songs have, and while the record isn’t terribly different from their past few discs in spirit, it does stand apart. That’s different from what I said last week, but I say that after several more listens. Really digging the opener “War of the Gods” and “Live Without Regrets,” my favorite cut on the album at this moment. Odd for the band is there isn’t a title track. Also up soon (like, at the end of April) is Primodial’s latest “Redemption at the Puritan’s Hand.” Haven’t heard this one yet, and I’m chomping at the bit to do so. Easily my most anticipated record of the second quarter of the year.

Cannibal Corpse have their new DVD “Global Evisceration” in stores, and it culls live performances from two 2010 shows, giving you two hours’ worth of live and behind-the-scenes carnage. There also is a documentary look at the band’s tour in support of their “Evisceration Plague” album as well as their European tour. I admittedly am not the world’s biggest Cannibal Corpse fan, but this DVD was a fun time and I’ll certainly watch it again.

On top of this are records originally out on England’s Rise Above that Metal Blade brought to our attention, including the new Electric Wizard and Blood Ceremony, and the first one from mysterious rockers Ghost. Also up soon are new ones from doom legends Pentagram and prog-death mashers Between the Buried and Me. That’s quite a kickoff to the year for one of metal’s most important and influential labels that clearly is not interested in resting on its reputation.

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



So that new Haunted album got some mileage, did it not?

By far, that post made for the most successful day of our short run here at Meat, Mead, Metal.  So thanks to everyone who stopped by. I also said last Thursday that on March 18, the day of the infamous Haunted review, that I’d be running my favorite non-metal albums of 2011. I sort of didn’t. Basically, I have some eye strain right now (way, WAY too much exposure to our VDU monitor … like, WAY too much), and for someone like me who thinks every ailment is taking me directly to the graveyard, I didn’t want to aggravate it further. So look for that list March 25, this Friday.

Mondays typically will be the day we discuss the mead and meat portions of the site, and so let’s go there together. Well, OK, so I didn’t exactly drink mead. It’s … we needed a third M. But there was beer to be had, and usually I try to stop somewhere locally that sells loose six-packs. In case you don’t know what I mean, some establishments let you mix and match different types of beers. Like, this local hot dog shop D’s has a gigantic cooler filled with all kinds of beers, and you can just load up on whatever you want. It gets pricey, but it at least allows you to try some different things.

This week, I bought two different types of Duck-Rabbit, a beer made by a small brewery in North Carolina that I’m actually kind of shocked I can find around here. I went with their barley wine and their Baltic ale, and since both have a fairly high ABV, I left it at that. I started with the barley wine, which was very bitter and very hoppy. I am not a big hops fan. I don’t hate it, but I tend to stay away with beers that have a more pronounced hops taste. That said, this beer grew on me. I went from being slightly disgusted by the taste to, once I got to the end of the bottle, kind of wishing I had more. Also, since its ABV is 11 percent, I felt pretty awesome once I finished it. Cartoon arms. It was then onto the Baltic ale, which is darker and has a bit of a cocoa bend. It’s pretty smooth, tastes good, and when I secretly splashed a little vanilla vodka into it, the taste got even better. Both beers I’ll try again, with the slight edge going to the Baltic. If you want to check out the Duck-Rabbit site (which looks like it was designed in 1996), go here: http://www.duckrabbitbrewery.com/

Saturday, we got to the meat. Uh. Anyway, we usually do something fun with the crock pot on Saturday, but we didn’t have time to do that, and my wife and I were more in the mood for some grilling. We got home a little later than usual, so by the time I lit the grill (and the fire pit about 10 feet away), our dark yard made it look like we were holding some kind of ritual. Maybe we were. My part of the preparation was really simple: I was grilling the burgers. By the way, don’t put too much spice or enhancements into your ground meat. It’s not necessary. Usually, just some salt and pepper will do the trick, but I put a little BBQ sauce into mine. Not sure what my wife put into hers, but it was all basic.  My wife made a recipe she found on the Betty Crocker web site that was a sort of cheesy potato salsa kind of deal. I didn’t pay a lot of attention to how she whipped this thing together because I had fires to stoke, but you can see the final product. She warned me the salsa she was using was pretty spicy (I tend to not be a big fan of hot, spicy foods), but it really wasn’t too hot. Everything worked together, and you could taste the cheesiness and the salsa at the same time, as no flavor got canceled out. I can’t think of more to say about it because I had a few drinks at the time of consumption. Go make it yourself and find out.

To check out the cheesy salsa potato thing, go here: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/easy-cheesy-salsa-potatoes/b279ec6e-8686-4cce-b730-d9fb0ddd007d?WT.mc_id=taf_recipe_BC

As for the burgers, they were grilled perfectly. That’s not bragging. It usually takes me a few grilling efforts each year to kind of get it right, but this is only the second time we’ve grilled in 2011, and it worked fine. My wife put some sort of seasoning on top of her burger before I grilled it, and apparently that didn’t work out so well. She complained it made everything taste like pickles. Lesson learned. Less is more.

Not too exciting, but altogether it was a pretty successful Saturday night. Beverages were had, I tried not to worry too much about my visual strife (as much as I can, being a life-long hypochondriac and chronic worrier), and I even got in a few visits with new albums from Trap Them and Goes Cube (more on that one later). Not sure what next weekend will bring, but it’s supposed to be chilly, so maybe the grill will sit out and the crock pot will come back.

More to come this week.