Anathema - The Crestfallen / Pentacost III

Every so often I just gotta come back to early Anathema. Most often, it used to be to Serenades, but as time has gone on, I find myself revisiting this compilation rather than the debut album. Despite the engine of pure brilliance that modern Anathema has become, I do genuinely miss the old doomy Anathema. Honestly, this comp always gets looked over by me, but lets be frank here: as awesome as Serenades is, the production on both of these sessions is much more rounded and level. There is a haunting hollowness to Serenades (comparisons can be made to early My Dying Bride and even the first Cradle Of Filth album), but Crestfallen in particular is a lot dryer and clean. The songwriting is on point, the delivery flawless, and the vocals savage as fuck.

Enabler - La Fin Absolue Du Monde

Tell you what, this has been on my review-list for over three years. I initially added it on when they were announced for a Temples Festival line up way back when. The initial review fell under the bus when some seriously dodgy accusations were made against the main man in Enabler by their ex-bass player. Now all that has blown over somewhat, I have finally decided to crack open the ancient draft file of this review and get on with the show.

Decent bit of metal-tinged hardcore, if I could be so straight up. The bass tone is proper, and lends a nice distorted rumble to the fairly polished proceedings. The drumming too, is of note and the production helps bring out the performance excellently. The vocals are a bit irritating, but not the worse shit I've ever heard. 

I give it a meh/10. Neeeeeeext.

Neuropathia - Satan Owns Your Stereo

They do say that the devil has all the best tunes, and that is mos-def the situation here with Neuropathia's 5th album (I could be wrong as the band have a long and varied discography and I just took a cursory glance at Discogs lol). Prepare yon lugholes for a bombastic explosion of somewhat rock-n-roll tinged grindcore madness. Imagine Regurgitate meeting Blood Duster at a Malignant Tumour gig and distill all of that through a modern yet still organic production, and you'll get something akin to this devilish recording.

It's not all-go however; the carnage is punctuated with some doomier moments, slower tracks with samples running over them, or with sludgier riffs that call back to the song structure styles used by acts such as Gut (but with layers of grume scraped away by the clear sound). Song titles such as "On Your Knees", "Transsexual Worshipers of Satan" and "Iron Midget Buster of the Elephants" similarly hark back to that particular school of grind.

The one thing about this record that I don't understand is the bizarre inclusion of the ambient, moody track "Brain Damage" bang at the end of the, err, first act, as it were. As the listener, when you are full swing into the type of carnage presented here, the last thing you'd expect (or even particularly want) is a curve ball thrown at you in the shape of a drifting soundscape that goes absolutely nowhere. Bizarre choice, saved by the plethora of amazing tracks that follow it. 

Doyle - Abominator

I can't really remember how I stumbled across this record. I guess I was on "that part of the internet". Regardless of how the stars aligned, this is nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be, I'll be completely honest with you. Things get off to a shaky start, and it takes some time for me to get used to the vocalist on this project (Cancerslug's Alex "Wolfman" Story offers a grunge meets horror punk approach to the scenario at hand, which is a little jarring to start off with), but by the time track three is playing (the excellently catchy "Dreamingdeadgirls") I'm fully on board for the entirety of the journey, even though I cringed reallllly hard at the line "The quickest way to her heart is to cut through her fucking chest". Yeesh. 

Honestly, it all kinda blurs into one, but its nice to hear Doyle riffs again, especially with that chunky Dr. Chud percussion holding it all together. I always thought his playing style on the 90s Misfits records was itching to break out of the typical poppy punk conventions that the band practiced (his fills especially, longed for massive rolls, and his thrash-paced beats are top notch) so it was great to hear him tear out a little more behind the kit on something a bit more metal related. The overall production sound is much more metal actually, even of that of the sound on the 90s incarnation of The Misfits, but Abominator still retains overarching vibes of horror punk, which is to be expected. Not bad.

All Pigs Must Die - Nothing Violates This Nature

This is one of the chunkiest metal productions I have heard in quite some time. Nothing Violates This Nature is an amazing performance from start to finish; mixing the blistering ferocity of grindcore with the, dare I say it, artsy hardcore edge of stuff like Converge, even Dillenger et al. (2017 edit: I have since discovered that not only is Converge drummer Ben Koller in the fucking band, but this record was produced by Kurt Ballou! Ha!) 

I've caught the band live on a few occasions, and I can confirm that this record is an accurate depiction of the violence and carnage that comes with the band. The guitar work of Adam Wentworth and Brian Izzie expertly walks the line between hardcore and the downtuned hell of death metal. One is reminded subtly of Entombed, but stripped of the trademark (and often imitated) guitar tone, instead plunged headfirst into a more jarred, mathematics frenzy. Great stuff!

I mean, this is brilliant, it truly is (favourite tracks: "Of Suffering" and "Articles Of Human Weakness"). It's just... I keep expecting Kurt Ballou to screech out a tortured roar over everything. I'm having trouble dealing with that expectation at every turn, but then again I'm an idiot. Check it out below. 

Godflesh - Post Self

Wellity wellity wellity, this just fucking came out of nowhere didn't it? There is always room in the world for more Godflesh so thank the heavens that Justin & Mr. Green have decided to bleed more of that sweet, sweet crushing goodness out into the world. Post Self might be one of the best Godflesh records ever. That is a sweepingly bold statement I know, but the band have expanded on their previous release with all of the experimental freakery that made them so brilliant in the first place. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the brutal simplicity of A World Lit Only By Fire, but what Post Self lacks in hammering riffs it makes up for tenfold in crushing atmosphere. Plus, the fucking hip hop beats are back, fam - 10/10! This type of thing was hinted at with "Dogbite", but then scaled back for the previous album itself. 

"Post Self", "Parasite", and "Mortality Sorrow" are three examples of how fucking stunning hip hop and break-style beats can sound in Godflesh's music, whilst songs like "Be God" and even more so "Pre Self" are something altogether more 80s Swans than Godflesh has ever attained to, even in their primitive beginnings. 

All in all, Post Self sounds everything like Godflesh but also sounds nothing like anything Godflesh have done before. A phenomenal progression, and a glistening, holy yet unholy, head-noddingly good step in the right direction. Knocked it out of the fucking park! A contender for one of my favourite releases this year, without a doubt. 

Hellbastard - Feral

One thing I will say about Hellbastard is that Hellbastard live is a different beast to Hellbastard on a record. Whilst the band have always stood apart from their peers (even when they wallowed in the crust scene), there is an undeniably experimental, forward-thinking edge to the band's bizarre mix of metal, punk and other things in-between. Granted, this experimentation doesn't always pay off, but on the Feral record, it pays off in spades.

My only initial complaint is that the snare sound is pretty synthetic, but you can adjust to this fairly quickly. That aside, the production is solid and dense, and nothing is left fighting for breathing space. I remember checking out the video for "We Are Coven" when the single first dropped and was taken aback by the ambitiousness of it all. "Shame On Us" is super catchy in a chuggy way, and "And The Point Of Your Being Is...?" has a cracking guitar solo towards the end.

All in all, the world is a better place with Hellbastard in it, and Feral is a solid addition to their repertoire.

Killing Joke - Pylon

Pylon is the latest (at time of writing) in a long line of consistently excellent contributions from the legendary Killing Joke. It would be rather cheap of me to say the ol' "if it ain't broke..." thing that I always say, but that is somewhat true here: Pylon offers nothing new to the Killing Joke palate of sounds, but that is absolutely not to say that it doesn't offer a whole new menu of phenomenal tracks, boasting a massive, impressive production thanks to Tom Dalgety (known for working with (uch) Ghost, and having been a producer at Wales' own Rockfield Studios). 

"Autonomous Zone" and "Dawn Of The Hive" kick things off in proper Killing Joke fashion; the former boasting a spine-tingling bass guitar performance. "New Jerusalem" brings more of that Hosannahs... grade brutality'n'chug to the table, whilst tracks like "Big Buzz" show that the band are still more than capable of unfurling massive euphoric choruses. If you are looking for beautifully crafted, slightly weird and paranoid industrial rock, then you really should look no further. 

Kilslug - Sin, Tricks And Lies

Kilslug are a sludgy band from the USA fronted by the mysterious Larry Lifeless, who initially comes across as a mix between Eyehategod's Mike Williams, Scott Walker and err, Crank Sturgeon or something like that. Kilslug have been around for yeeears, and the Limited Appeal (what a label!) pressing of Sin, Tricks and Lies is so awesome it makes me want to start collecting vinyl again. I mean, just mosy on over to Discogs and look at that cover, and it plays from the inside out, for fuck's sake!

I get an almost Christian Death vibe here (run through a thousand fuzz filters, of course!). The opening croons of "Your God is not real!" sets the bar for the type of journey that we are going on. Imagine if Lou Reed fronted Black Sabbath, just for a second. Really, the comparisons can go on and on, but you should really just listen to this thing, especially now that it is in Spotify. Stand out tracks for me are the opener "Hangman's List", and the spoopy "March Of The Skeletons". 

Lamb of God - New American Gospel

I've never been much of a fan of Lamb of God. I've seen them live multiple times, but they never really connected with me. Their fans, and the whole "southern" metal thing really just turned me off. I'm not entirely sure what it was that made me add New American Gospel to my Spotify to-do list, but I finally got around to listening to it all the same.

The best thing about Lamb of God is their drummer Chris Adler, who is nothing short of a complete pleasure to listen to. The rhythm section of the band carry the performances, placing the somewhat typical riffing and so-so vocals on very high shoulders indeed. The second half of the record is where stuff really picks up for me. "The Subtle Arts of Murder and Persuasion" is incredible, as is "Confessional", again where the intense drum work stands out.

Overall, the record is very well produced, although I find the vocals to be a bit low in the mix at times for my liking.

Abigail Williams - In The Shadow Of A Thousand Suns

This is one of those albums that I ended up checking out purely because of the cover art. I've been avoiding Abigail Williams for the best part of a decade, purely because I thought they were some sort of shitty scene metalcore band or something, and whilst they do bring that kinda "edge" to the table, In The Shadow Of A Thousand Suns is a complex piece of a work and a decent contribution to modern black metal. Imagine Dimmu Borgir meets Suicide Silence, or something along those lines.

Speaking of Dimmu, I could swear this band picked up Mustis after the Norwegian titans shuffled their staff; the keyboard playing is fucking on point. The metal is solid, especially the guitar work, but I keep waiting for the onslaught to end so I can get a earful of that sweet, sweet piano. Anyway, an incredibly solid record, although not something that I would usually pick.

Oblivionized - Life Is A Struggle, Give Up

Oblivionized are a grindcore / tech death answer to the distillation of sounds purveyed by those such as early Dillenger Escape Plan, Fuck The Facts, and even to a degree, Antigama. The shredding guitar / intense drum work is reminiscent of fellow British grinders Evisorax, but Oblivionized have a much more - how should I put it - "progressive" edge that sees a lot of interesting elements brought into the firing line (like the singing bowl on "I Pity You").

The only downside here is that the band is missing a bass player. This doesn't usually matter in circles such as these, but unfortunately, in some of the more adventurous or experimental parts of Life Is A Struggle... (i.e. - when it isn't just blasting or shredding to fuck) the missing dimension of the low end can really be felt.

Killbite - Discrimi-Nation

Killbite are a hardcore band out of Bremen in Germany, playing in the heavy, almost metal style rather than the punky, upbeat style of hardcore. Discrimi-Nation isn't a million miles away from the powerviolence sound; hard-hitting, dark, distorted, angry as fuck - there are many tracks here worthy of getting the pit moving, whilst a few others are more thought provoking and morose, especially the untitled closing number.

This is thoughtful, powerful hardcore music with a strong message. Asides from a 10" on German label Break The Silence, the band have been very dedicated to the DIY approach and this album is self-released on both CD and vinyl. Physical copies are available directly from the band. 

Facebreaker - Dead, Rotten And Hungry

Before we start can we all just take a moment to bask in that truly awful album art? Why did the zombie guy take the time to keep his pants on? Oh, the mirth! Maybe one day when I'm old and dying alone in sheer misery I will make an archive of awful record covers to stave off depression and an early suicide. But anyway, as usual, I have digressed...

Thankfully the music isn't as nearly as fucking dreadful as the image chosen to represent it. Dead, Rotten And Hungry is a punishing lesson in mixing Entombedcore with modern death metal; heavier than a sack of dark-matter-coated iron bolts, yet crisper than a slap to the face whilst in Siberia, in the middle of January. The band also draw subtly from slightly more melodic strains of metal, and even the stylings and structures present in something altogether more deathcore. An interesting mix!

Meshuggah - Catch Thirtythree

I'm not entirely sure what it was that struck me, but I randomly went out of my way to finally listen to a Meshuggah record, and what suprised me more than anything was that I was able to make it all the way to the end without turning it off. I have nothing personal against Meshuggah, except for inspiring a worldwide fucking legion of brocore brown-nosers and carbon copy chug and/or "djent" bands that believe that having expensive guitars and a ridiculous low end tone somehow compensates for actual songwriting. Yeah, we get it, the guitars are playing out of time with the drums. We know. Beefheart did that shit in the fucking 60s.

But Catch Thirty Three is a pretty decent slab of metal, if I'm honest, if not a little repetitive. I'm a grumpy sod when it comes to metal, but I would be lying if I said this was bad. 

Burial - Unholy Sedition

(Revievv Invokked by Griefmonger)

Polish Darkthrone if they were from Manchester. It's good; there’s a nice mix of heavy and tremolo riffs with a production that you can hear, both without sounding polished or like it was recorded in your Nan’s shed. I like it. It’s not afraid to go slow and the vocals are just crossing the line of black from death. There's a fine line. The UK black metal club scene sports a lot of bands who want to be Behemoth, but there is a lot of Darkthrone channeled here, as well as the death metal influence. Track five, "Nothing Awaits", sums it up for me. There be a little bit of Carpathian Forest as well as the influences I aforementioned. 

All in all, a great album. Great band. I have seen them live (and under very difficult circumstances) deep in the valleys of South Wales and they nailed their set. CD is a nice cardboard gatefold; cool grey and black (fuck you Xerox), with cryptic artwork. I would have liked a lyric sheet, but that is always my bugbear.  Go listen to the music, buy the t-shirt, fuck the girlfriends. Cool band.

Released by UKEM Records.

Ghost - Opvs Eponymovs

Ghost (or is that Ghost B.C.?) have easily become one of the most over-rated bands in modern rock and metal, and it is sometimes easy for me to forget about their fairly awesome beginnings. It would possibly be super-hipster of me to consider them to have entered the realm of plebs and rocker dads (I played this for my Dad in 2011 and he didn't like it, FYI) but I'm gonna be unprofessional as fuck and just sweepingly generalise that everything Ghost has done Infestissumam onwards is a steaming pile of mediocre shit. As soon as I heard that fucking Abba cover, my relationship with Ghost was over.

Opvs Eponymovs still exists, however. It isn't as if I spin this thing often, but I would have considered myself a fan, and I own this on purple vinyl. I kinda saw it as everything I ever wanted King Diamond to be, and I was initially charmed with the band's image and kooky occult rock songs. On Opvs, Ghost played fun, quirky rock that was as infectious as it was stupefying. Case in point, "The Night Of The Witch", with one of the hammiest choruses ever written, is also one of the greatest things ever put to tape. The same can be said for "Prime Mover", and even "Elizabeth", to a degree. "Genesis" is a fantastic instrumental song and a perplexing closer to the album. 

I play this and remember the good ol' days, as I sit in my rocking chair with my whiskey and my hipster beard. Sometimes I like to think how much money Lee Dorrian has made off this band, but sometimes I can be a pointless asshole. Next!

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Pissgrave - Suicide Euphoria

Pissgrave are one of the few bands out there these days that actually fucking scare me; what a crazy explosion of disgusting sound! And I mean, what in the holy hell is going on with the sleeve art? Granted, I've seen the world's innards on many a goregrind sleeve but there's something entirely menacing about the unknown fate of whoever's bones are on the cover. Is that weird? Fuck it. The murky mystery of the cover art compliments the muddy clusterfuck that is Suicide Euphoria absolutely perfectly. It almost sounds like the music itself is spluttering out of that horrible brown liquid.

The vocals are something else. Definitely some of the sickest lows I've heard in a while; borrowing heavily from the nauseating spit and gurgle heard more in goregrind than in any type of death metal. Stand out tracks for me are "Impaled Vibration" and "Blood Fog".

Bulldozer - Unexpected Fate

Bulldozer are a ridiculous thrash band from Italy. They have been broken up for quite a while, but they played Obscene Extreme a few years ago and this turned me on to them. They keep parading that some dickhead Kerrang! journalist labelled them as the worst band in the world (like anyone ever gave a fuck what Kerrang! thinks anyway) and with a history of songs about pornstars and terrible experimental techno records, I can see why people would think this.

But despite the gimmicks, including the zany onstage presence, this is a solid record. It has a proper pacy old school thrash feel to it, kinda like classic Slayer if I could be so bold with my comparisons. I've checked out quite a lot of their old stuff too, and whilst some of the of the charm is lost through the fairly meaty studio production sound, this is still a thoroughly entertaining listen, despite what the cover art would have you think. Tune in!

Metallica - St. Anger

For some godforsaken reason I've spent the last decade or so defending this album. I've even claimed on social media (and also in public, after too many beers) that St. Anger is my favourite Metallica record. After a while, I realized that I wasn't actually trolling, and that I was being deadly serious. First things first though - that snare drum *definitely* explains my love for goregrind and the somewhat dubious genre production values held therein. I guess it also manifests unhealthily in my own drumming style, as my dustbin lid snare approach is sometimes raised as a chagrin point, especially during record sessions. 

Anyways, onto Same Tango. A lot of the criticisms thrown at this thing do have ground behind them. I mean, yes, "Frantic" is fucking terrible. And yes, the songs go on way, waaaay too long. The low tunings and Hetfield's baffling, child-like lyrical ramblings only highlight how ham-fisted the band's approach at cashing in on nu-metal was. Unfortunately, not only did they fail terribly at doing so, but they dropped the album a long time after the genre uttered its last real death rattle. 

That aside, this is my favourite Metallica album because its a shuffling, claustrophobic mess. It sounds like a rehearsal room recording, and it also contains some of the best shit Metallica have ever written. I raise you "All Within My Hands", "The Unnamed Feeling", "Sweet Amber" and "My World" for starters. "All Within My Hands" is easily one of the heaviest songs they've ever written, and its an interesting downward spiral listening to the whole thing unravel in the finale.  "The Unnamed Feeling" (despite the cringe moment when Hetfield spits "get the PPPHHHHHuck away from me") has a simple yet bizarre riff structure, with two guitars chugging essentially out of time with each other and the drums playing stupidly heavy for a song so slow. Again, its a total fucking mess, but it works on so many levels. 

I'm not going to be able to deliver an Anthony Fantano grade analysis of why this is the best record, but I think I've written enough on it, especially considering you're all just going to keep hating it. Oh-ahhhh!

Tell me this isn't the heaviest Metallica song (inb4 "Blackened").