WINTER
2012 REVIEWS
TOTIMOSHI
AVENGER
AT A LOSS
Continuing to project a sideways southwestern tinged approach in their vibrant and adventurous rock ‘n roll presentations, California troupe Totimoshi return with another 10-track potpourri of eclectic heaviness with AVENGER. Doling out a sludge addled hard rock bonanza (“Mainline”) with shaman-like spirituality at the core, these perennial road dogs’ latest offering includes an intriguing barrage of barroom blues (“Rose”), acid rock (“Waning Divine”), and desert metal (“The Fool”) yielding a wealth of primal bottom-end, innovative psychedelic guitar (“Leaves”) and uncompromising grittiness that allows Totimoshi’s critically lauded levels of enthusiastic expansiveness to ascend to greater heights while maintaining the raw and unorthodox style of hard rock that keeps them one of the underground scene’s most cherished entities.
----Mike SOS
RX MUNDI
IHVH
DEBEMUR MORTI
French black metal squad Rx Mundi manages to make a mark within a confined genre as exhibited on IHVH. Unquestionably draped in misanthropic malaise passed down from the raw and relentless elite such as Marduk, Immortal, and Mayhem, this re-released seven-track affair voraciously conveys vitriolic venom with a flurry of unorthodox elements for added dread and despair. Championing the combination of throat-ripping lead vocals, barrages of hypnotically redundant buzzing riffs and hellacious percussive blasts from the depths of hell while a menagerie of eerily captured chants solidify an already foreboding atmosphere, Rx Mundi’s chilling debut affair contains all the evil one can endure before succumbing completely to the demonic world. ----Mike SOS
AS YOU DROWN
RAT KING
METAL BLADE
Swedish quintet As You Drown whip a dastardly mix of redundant and bludgeoning deathcore with a string of savvy modern death metal elements on their sophomore effort RAT KING. While a bulk of the compositions on this nine-track offering suffer from a lack of originality which compounds the unit’s glaring interchangeability, this squad’s concoction of Gojira-esque riffs (“You Should Be Paranoid”) and battle-ready rhythms that sound like a melding of Job for a Cowboy and Through the Eyes of the Dead (“Cleansing Hands”) are indisputably crushing, demonstrating that these guys are capable of obliterating everything in their path while relentlessly delivering an intense skull pounding with familiar extreme metal ferocity propelling the savagery. ----Mike SOS
MORKOBOT
MORBO
SUPERNATURAL CAT
Avant-garde Italian trio Morkobot unleash a mesmerizing array of mechanical menacing on seven-track release MORBO. Consisting of two bass players and one drummer with no vocals, this troupe’s tone switches up between noisy industrial clatter and viscous blasts of bottom end with a double dose of weird acting as the music’s guiding force. Channeling a varied set of influences while maintaining a dirty rock ‘n roll swagger throughout (“Orbothord”), Morkobot create a quirky album that illuminates their unique brand of modern-day progressive heaviness. ----Mike SOS
BATTLECROSS
PURSUIT OF HONOR
METAL BLADE
Furiously ripping through 11-tracks of explosive skull pounding blasts of heaviness, Michigan quintet Battlecross unleashes a top shelf mix of punchy modern metal on their debut entitled PURSUIT OF HONOR. Ferociously channeling death metal melodies from fellow statesmen The Black Dahlia Murder while employing Maiden interpreted guitar heroics third hand from As I Lay Dying, Battlecross uses these elements merely as a springboard to launch past obvious influences into new levels of mayhem. Sporadically interjecting shards of Swedish metal sweetness, galloping metal majesty, and organic old school thrash metal rage, Battlecross assuredly delivers a crushing presentation brazen with the kind of memorable metallic moments the extreme end of the spectrum can repeatedly enjoy (“Breaking You” and “Push Pull Destroy”). ----Mike SOS
MEGATON LEVIATHAN
MEGATON LEVIATHAN
VOLATILE ROCK
Portland, OR trio Megaton Leviathan casts a gargantuan-sized psychedelic heaviness with warm and rich tones on the unit’s five-track eponymous 2009 reissue. Combining haunting drone and hypnotically downtrodden sludge to form syrupy rhythms that freely explore avant-garde sound territories (“Guns and LSD”), this squad’s fearless stylistic shifts and intense interplay yields a bombastic release custom made for those who enjoy uninhibited loud and heavy music stocked with intriguing twists and turns. ----Mike SOS
ELKS
DESTINED FOR THE SUN
TEE PEE
Championing a sound that crosses southern sludge metal with unabashed hardcore fury, Elks deliver a mammoth six-track endeavor entitled DESTINED FOR THE SUN. This Brooklyn, NY based quartet serves their down and dirty hybrid with a slew of familiar modern metal inflections in tow, achieving the scalding vocal fire, spry fretwork manipulations, and menacing bass and drum battering of the likes of Baroness, Black Tusk, and Kylesa while ambitiously intertwining the concept about the history of a tribe of nomadic space Vikings into the grand scheme. While some may argue Elks relies on their influences a bit too prominently, this band demonstrates the skillful chops and fiery musical sensibility necessary to present a formidable array of thrash metal thunder, rollicking rock ‘n roll hostility and cosmic metal jams. ---- Mike SOS
THE HOUSE OF CAPRICORN
IN THE DEVIL’S DAYS
SWAMPS OF ONE TREE HILL
Slow-churned stoner doom quartet The House of Capricorn go slow and aim low on their 10-track offering IN THE DEVIL’S DAYS. This New Zealand troupe’s sunshine stoner shuffle (“Illumination in Omega”) to suffocating doom (“Horns”) switch-ups are gracefully handled and feature a slew of 90’s metal influence that manages to cram Electric Wizard, Danzig, Cathedral, Type O Negative, Melvins and Clutch. Guided by attentiveness for tempos, The House of Capricorn balances dread and despair to proper levels with versatile and well-versed musicianship skillfully surveying the dark and heavy atmospheres.
FUCK THE FACTS
DIE MISERABLE
RELAPSE
Multifaceted Canadian grindcore vets Fuck The Facts challenge the metal universe with eight tracks of unhinged aggression with DIE MISERABLE. Tactfully weaving in and out of genres while championing a grindcore mindset chock full of brawny blasts and brainy compositions laden with jagged melodies and twisted tendencies, this quintet effortlessly shifts directions from velocity-driven demolition (“Drift”) to bludgeoning and unorthodox heaviness (“Lifeless”). Pushing the grindcore paradigm without abandoning the style’s basic crush at any cost principles, Fuck the Facts confidently creates a chaotic and exhilarating extreme metal ride aimed to pique the adventurous metal listener’s fancy. ----Mike SOS
UNEXPECT
FABLES OF THE SLEEPLESS EMPIRE
ASCENDANCE
Exemplifying the term avant-garde, seven-piece Montreal metal troupe Unexpect have returned after a five-year hiatus with the 12-track FABLES OF THE SLEEPLESS EMPIRE. Intertwining modern melodic death metal fury with luxurious orchestral string arrangements, flurries of tech metal excellence, three distinct vocalists, and a jazzy undercurrent, this act’s superfluous style leaves no stone unturned while yielding a hybrid sound that transcends the works of even the most eclectic in the metal genre (“Mechanical Pheonix”). Off-kilter and experimental, Unexpect have developed a polarizing yet potent potpourri of progressive metal insanity that requires a predilection for complex and exploratory arrangements and an open mind to fully comprehend the madness this band has concocted. ----Mike SOS
DUB TRIO
DUB TRIO IV
ROIR
Boasting an extensive list of artists they’ve worked with that reads like a who’s who in the music industry from Lady Gaga to Mike Patton, Dub Trio steps out of the shadows of the sideman role that took them around the globe to return to original form on the NYC-based squad’s latest nine-track excursion IV. Meshing menacing hard rock rhythms inspired by Big Apple heavy hitters like Unsane and Helmet (“Control Issues Controlling Your Mind”) with head-spinning dub sequences that would make Lee Perry proud (“1:1.:618”), Dub Trio sticks out like a sore thumb in the sea of angst-ridden bands with their unique combination of masterful electronic manipulation and sinister grooves paving the way from the dancehall to the moshpit. ----Mike SOS
BLACK TUSK
SET THE DIAL
RELAPSE
The Georgia metal scene has arguably spawned heavy music’s most ambitious and prolific bands in the last decade, as the likes of Mastodon, Kylesa, Torche, and Baroness are a few of the notable acts hailing from the region that have made waves towards the mainstream from the same sludge metal foundation. Yet there is one band who opted to stay true to its primal roots without adding progressive pre-fixes to their sound; that act is the trio Black Tusk, whose latest swampy 10-track salvo SET THE DIAL digs deeper into the earth to deliver dirty grooves and scalding rhythms left behind by their peers (“Set the Dial to Your Doom”, “Growing Horns”). Lifted by the coarse production skills of grunge guru Jack Endino behind the boards shaping their savage snarl (“Mass Devotion”) to reach the painstaking levels to what an amalgamation of the aforementioned bands would have sounded like five years ago, Black Tusk unloads a molten menagerie of stripped down bare bones crust metal (“Bring Me Darkness”) that proudly serves the Georgia sludge and swamp metal blueprint with an unbridled intensity and unsurpassed integrity. ----Mike SOS
NOCTEM
OBLIVION
RISING
Noctem is an extreme metal band hailing from Spain whose latest 11-track affair OBLIVION contains a ferocious mix of black, death, and atmospheric metal keeping listeners engaged in the veteran act’s decisively darkened delivery. From the droning bleakness to slicing death thrash comprising the title cut to the melodic death metal mayhem heard on a majority of the tracks (“Unredemption”, “Universal Disorder”) this quintet showcases the aggression and dexterity necessary to produce a powerful and intense brand of well-executed metallic vehemence. Despite a glaring lack of innovation, fans of the shred of The Black Dahlia Murder, the shriek of Skeletonwitch as well as the wrath of Behemoth are likely to thoroughly enjoy this seasoned troupe’s sophomore effort. ----Mike SOS
HEARTLESS
HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE
SOUTHERN LORD
The dilapidated and downtrodden spirit of the city of Pittsburgh, PA has yielded a caustic and cold quartet by the name of Heartless and their 13-track malevolent hardcore metal manifest HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE. Alternating between noise-ridden power violence breakdowns (“Tight Grip”), sludgy slow crawls (“Cop Out”), and punishing grindcore explosions (“Resuscitate/ Suffocate”), Heartless doles out a convincing sense of unmitigated rage with their unhinged hostility set on full-blast (“Pathogen”,” Late”), perpetuating the album’s combination of brevity and harshness like a punch square in the face. ----Mike SOS
ECNEPHIAS
INFERNO
SCARLET
Ecnephias is an Italian quartet who employs a dark symphonic metal style on their third release, the 10-track INFERNO. With tracks growled in both English and Italian, this unit’s appeal to the downtrodden is stretched thanks to not only their dual language vocals but a bevy of Gothic metal elements working overtime to create an ominous vibe (“A Satana”). Referencing the usual suspects from Paradise Lost to Moonspell to administer the piano-heavy doom-laden Euro metal sect with a familiar yet enjoyable array of blackened arrangements and melodies cloaked in melodramatic malaise, Ecnephias for the lovelorn and broken hearted to swoon over (“Voices of Dead Souls”). ----Mike SOS
LEPROUS
BILATERAL
INSIDE OUT
Besides being a critically acclaimed outfit, Norway’s Leprous also have the distinction of being the band behind pioneering black metal musician Ihsahn (Emperor) when he takes his solo act on the road. BILATERAL is the quintet’s latest effort, an exhilarating progressive metal excursion with discernibly less angst but arguably just as much intensity as the unit’s side gig. Finding comfort between the smoothness of Porcupine Tree, the maniacal musical acumen of Dream Theater, the memorable melodic outpourings of Opeth and unorthodox metal deliveries inspired by Faith No More and Devin Townsend, Leprous produces a multi-textured menagerie of cleverly arranged modern metal with waves of rousing keyboard and soaring guitar complimenting the polyrhythmic complexities laid down with authority by the bass and drums while the lead vocal spryly guides the twists and turns through with form-fitted virulent vocal dramatics. BILATERAL is a worthy way to spend an hour, as this 10-track record boasts an exceptional blend of musical craftsmanship without neglecting basic songwriting principles to allow accessibility to a wide array of fans that enjoy the progressive and modern heavy music approaches. ----Mike SOS
MYRATH
TALES OF THE SANDS
NIGHTMARE
Myrath bears the birthright to implement Middle Eastern elements into its progressive metal, as this quintet hailing from Tunisia successfully fuses generous amounts of synthetically reproduced ancestral sounds with technically proficient progressive metal to develop oriental metal on TALES OF THE SANDS. The unit’s latest 11-track affair seamlessly executes a precision-driven progressive metal salvo with a barrage of elements from their homeland, employing traditional instrumentation and native singing assisting tracks like “Sour Sigh” to push past typical thresholds into uncharted territory. While comparisons to similarly minded bands like Dream Theater and Orphaned Land are inevitable (and for the most part, warranted), Myrath chooses to pay homage to their heritage with considerably less experimentation to focus on their roots while a profound mix of power and prog metal fans the flames.
HEY GUY
HEY GUY 1
NAUGHTY BRAINS
Hey Guy is an eclectic NYC-based modern rock project bolstered by classically trained musicianship and immersed in rock ‘n roll grandiosity. This virtuoso outfit’s latest collection of tunes entitled HEY GUY 1 showcases a brash and durable array of songs with a bevy of quirky genre hopping tendencies shifting moods from boisterous to dream-laden and fragile to furious without missing a beat. Featuring 10-tracks of emotionally driven rock with emphasis on creating luxurious musical atmospheres, Hey Guy applies a smarter and sleeker design to their strong set of alternative rock signatures, exceeding boundaries to create a collection of intricate compositions and haunting melodies with an undercurrent of soulful heaviness. ----Mike SOS
VENOMOUS MAXIMUS
THE MISSION
CUTTHROAT
www.myspace.com/venomousmaximus
Houston, TX quartet Venomous Maximus serve up a scalding six-track stoner rock sojourn striking the middle ground between High on Fire, Electric Wizard, The Sword and proto-metal pioneers Pentagram on THE MISSION. Pounding rhythms and viscous guitar grooves are this squad’s primary weapons of choice, as this offering blazes with tenacious twin guitars and punishing bass and drums while a hazy vocal presence drapes a psychedelic rock aura across the entire affair. Conjuring a headbanging style with an ethereal sense of vintage occult metal at the helm, Venomous Maximus deliver a throwback album with authentic chills and thrills aplenty. ----Mike SOS
SANNHET
SANNHET
SELF-RELEASED
Emerging from the burgeoning Brooklyn metal underground, Sannhet is a trio that utilizes tribal rhythms, looped samples, and noise rock bravado to form a murky metallic sound derived directly from the catacombs of Kings County. This trio’s eponymous three-song endeavor features no vocals, allowing the waves of guitar dissonance to usurp the steady stream of belligerence from the bass and drums. Experimental and jagged, Sannhet creates an intense and uneasy listening experience for the adventurous from the post-metal set. ----Mike SOS
CLOSE YOUR EYES
EMPTY HADS AND HEAVY HEARTS
VICTORY
Abilene, TX quartet Close Your Eyes present a punchy 12-track record chock full of memorable melodic hardcore with EMPTY HANDS AND HEAVY HEARTS. Featuring a nonstop onslaught of upbeat tempos, contagious near pop-punk vocal melodies, fast paced bass and drums, and rousing guitar-driven song structures summoning the positive energy doled out by Comeback Kid and Rise Against almost to a fault (“Paper Thin”), this Christian rock squad keeps the outlook optimistic while serving high octane punk-influenced anthems illuminating the way towards hope and away from the darker recesses of the human soul (“Wolves”, “Carry You”). Even though the stylistic derivativeness and religious overtones the band delivers may turn some away, Close Your Eyes overall exhibit a gritty catchiness that should appeal to all fans of hardcore and punk no matter what your personal views are. ----Mike SOS
CRAFT
VOID
SOUTHERN LORD
After a six-year hiatus, Craft returns with a subterranean slab of hate and rage entitled VOID. This seasoned Swedish squad maintain the misanthropic musical integrity past down by the trailblazers of black metal with their patented slow cooked blend of Darkthrone-esque crawl and Celtic Frost battering while lead singer Mikael Noxs’ venomous rasp blasts in full effect with vehement vitriol (“Bring on the Clouds”). Providing simple yet harsh compositions containing a wealth of sinister riffs and menacing grooves with subtle titles that leave little room for debate such as “I Want to Commit Murder”, Craft returns and reclaims their spot as the kings of all that is negative with a convincing concoction of mid tempo black metal malice and despair. ----Mike SOS
ANUBIS GATE
ANUBIS GATE
NIGHTMARE
Danish quartet Anubis Gate display the results a new label home and a lead vocal switch can bring on their latest 10-track eponymous offering. With former singer Jacob Hansen trading in the microphone for the producer’s chair and bassist Henrik Fevre stepping up to fill the lead singer position, Anubis Gate change their game ever so slightly to implement somemodern metal nuances expected from the likes of In Flames into their arsenal (“Golden Days’), breaking away from the standard sound. And despite comparisons to acts such as Fates Warning and Symphony X not being entirely off base, this unit’s fifth album descends towards darker atmospheres thanks to an increased electronic presence, meshing power metal majesty and progressive metal innovation with an abundance of hard to resist rousing melodies (“Circumstanced”, “World in a Dome”). ----Mike SOS
HUMMINGBIRD OF DEATH/TITANARUM
SPLIT CD
GIVE PRAISE
Massachusetts-based DIY label Give Praise Records brings us another evenly matched split release from two more bands proudly keeping the flames of blistering grindcore burning bright, Boise, Idaho’s Hummingbird of Death and California’s Titanarum. Coming up first are two tracks of brutality courtesy of Hummingbird of Death, clocking in at a little over 11-minutes and containing an amalgamation of supercharged powerviolence and crusty hardcore punk. Titanarum crashes through the gates next, championing a chaotic spirit that fuels an angst-ridden and aggressive eight-track encounter whose savage brevity leaves listeners disoriented, bruised and confused. Play this album on a loop and watch you world turn upside down before your eyes. ----Mike SOS
IN SOLITUDE
THE WORLD, THE FLESH, THE DEVIL
METAL BLADE
In Solitude’s sophomore effort THE WORLD, THE FLESH, THE DEVIL showcases the young Swedish quintet’s comprehension of the occult 80’s metal style with a hearty helping of NWOBHM’s twin guitars exploding with captivating riffs and alluring solos. Heavily inspired by the likes of Mercyful Fate, Candlemass and early Iron Maiden, lead singer Pelle Ahman does an admirable job of recreating King Diamond’s chilling vocal delivery without attempting the King’s sacred and fabled higher register while the band dispenses a dastardly traditional metal vibe radiating with the right levels of intrigue and suspense to accentuate the music’s power and glory on “Serpent Are Rising” and the 13-minute closer “On Burning Paths”. While In Solitude are not going to win any awards for originality, their stark recreation of the menacing gallop and sinister songwriting from metal’s days of yore are bound to impress both old and new fans alike. ----Mike SOS
NECROVOROUS
FUNERAL FOR THE SANE
PULVERISED
Keeping their malevolent output simple yet painfully heavy, the death metal assault perpetrated by Greece’s Necrovorous is deep rooted from the genre’s early underground period with no modern additives or filler included. Led by a plethora of growled vocals, primitive rhythmic callousness and crust-ridden guitar fuzz, this quartet does little in the way of creating their own identity and brings nothing new to the table to fans have heard the forefathers of the style such as Dismember, Entombed, or Autopsy before. Necrovorous conveys a vintage vibe of destruction and mayhem with their loving replication of predictable and palpable vile aggressiveness, evoking the spirits of the past to assist their dastardly musical mission. ----Mike SOS
PTAHIL
FOR HIS SATANIC MAJESTY’S GLORY
WRAITH
Two-man band Ptahil unloads a flurry of Satanic metal fury direct from the shadows of the hoary netherworld on their aptly titled nine-track excursion FOR HIS SATANIC MAJESTY’S GLORY. While the tandem’s delivery is unabashedly ruthless and utterly abrasive, the black/death/hardcore punk metal hybrid Pthail employs perfectly suits their diabolical message of praise for the dark lord despite its basic approach, matching twin vocal disdain and blasts of raw rhythms up with their contemptuous attitude to form a scathing salvo of salacious sinfulness for metal loving devil worshippers to immerse themselves in. ----Mike SOS
LAKE OF TEARS
ILLWILL
AFM
Since 1992, Swedish squad Lake of Tears have been cross-pollinating brooding hard rock and vintage extreme metal with to make a blend of heavy music that is unquestionably dark and experimental. The unit’s latest 10-track endeavor ILLWILL continues the trend, as this veteran troupe crams Motorhead’s punk metal snarl, Voivod’s sideways metallic stance, WASP’s anthemic gallop, Moonspell’s haunting Goth metal, and The Haunted’s modern thrash approach with a smattering of left of center psychedelic nuances to create an album that runs the metal style gauntlet without unraveling at the seams. Showcasing a chameleon-like ability to effortlessly change their direction from death rock to doom metal with a bevy of melancholic melody, Lake of Tears provides a potpourri of heaviness proud of its robust diversity. ----Mike SOS
THE RESURRECTION SORROW
THE SCORPION SAVIOR SESSIONS
SELF-RELEASED
www.myspace.com/theresurrectionsorrow
NYC’s The Resurrection Sorrow hit the mark when describing themselves as dark, heavy rawk judging by their most recent three-song EP THE SCORPION SAVIOR SESSIONS. Unleashing a substantial shot of sinister swagger with doom metal constancy, this outfit takes liberal cues from the likes of Danzig, Black Sabbath, and Earthride to concoct a headbanging hookfest with a noticeably menacing bottom end attack tailor made for folks that enjoy the combination of driving rhythms and contagious choruses. Brief but powerful, this release manages to cram gobs of groovy heaviness into a 10-minute timeframe, truly offering a considerable bang for your buck. ----Mike SOS