Eyeconoclast

Eyeconoclast stands out big time with their high quality death/thrash metal in “Drones of the Awakening.” The sound allows room to hear what the guitars are doing, and the excellent drumming cuts across very well; it’s a balanced mix and the ears will immediately notice how good the album sounds. Also, the guitar work grabs attention for the clarity, despite the fact that Eyeconoclast is a metal high-intensity, tight, blasting frenzy. It is difficult what Eyeconoclast has achieved: play very fast, and make the songs sound different from each other. Good drumming can often make or break an album, and this band has a drummer that sounds human, but the patterns, rhythms, blasts, rolls and all sorts of cuts, zigzags—the elbow grease—will make you like this album, if you like fast metal drumming that employs creativity, not just monotony. With Eyeconoclast it’s easy to hear good guitar solos, some melody, some thrashiness, and the vocals have personality and energy, not just burping into a microphone. This album has surprised way beyond expectations. Very recommended. www.eyeconoclast.it

What have these filthy punks done now? angry new jack punks and old sarcastic punks

What have these filthy punks done now? angry new jack punks and old sarcastic punks

Nails Call of the Void Suicidal Tendencies

Nails‘ positive message for the living: “Abandon All Life.” Not exactly grind, but in the realm of grind; not really crust, but pretty crusty stuff; not death metal, but fast, heavy and harsh as the “brutal” bands, Nails’ 10 songs revolve around harsh sounds. Careful not to wear out their welcome, these songs go by pretty fast, a good thing. This is over before you can catch your breath, anyway. I think the riff/guitar work is a bit too generic/faceless (chug-ish) in places, but Nails gets it done competently.

Call of the Void sort of has the same guitar tone, but it’s slightly more memorable and bit more grind, a bit tighter than Nails, but a just notch less heavy and harsh. Both bands just sound angry, though. Call of the Void’s “Dragged down a Dead End Path” does not take long to get to the point, either.

The new jack “brutal” anger of the above bands is a different feeling when channeled by a bunch of old punks like Suicidal Tendencies and their album “13,” whose attitude comes across as wiseacre and sarcastic rock n roll. Suicidal in 2013 is less thrash and more punk and even more rock n roll than some of their popular songs. This guitar tone is a 70s and 80s sound, not the “groove and brutal” sound. www.suicidaltendencies.com www.facebook.com/CalloftheVoid303 www.southernlord.com www.suicidaltendencies.com www.facebook.com/CalloftheVoid303 www.southernlord.com

Anaal Nathrakh

Mick Kenney and Dave Hunt, the two guys in Anaal Nathrakh with their album “Vanitas” just seem to enjoy spending time in the studio and messing around with whatever technology they have handy to create stupidly noisy rackety banana bonkers freeway car collision jackhammer toilet rock. These are the sounds of different styles chopped into tidbits, and thrown into a blender. After the blender is done, they take the mixture and put it in the toilet, and then let it sit for a while. They take that mixture and smash it against the walls. Then they pick up the stuff from the walls, rub it all over their faces, and get naked, and they go out into the street and run around screaming. Industrial, techno, punk, grind, black metal, and who knows what else are all in here, but very distorted and redonculous. It’s no wonder that the studio recording sounds very different from the live videos on YouTube. How would they even reproduce those cartoonishly insane sounds live? www.facebook.com/Anaalnathrakhofficial www.facebook.com/Anaalnathrakhofficial

Carry the Storm

Thanks to The Herminator, I finally get to hear Carry the Storm, a band whose name The Master seems to mention often during the concert calendar portion of the Sweet Nightmares radio show. To the music: there’s a fun energy in the songs, meaning that the enthusiasm of the band goes a long way towards getting across their sound. The songs are for rocking out, moshing, headbanging or for doing your daily routine of Rex Kwan Do. The band’s enthusiasm to join Texas groove metal with metalcore sensibilities shines through on here, in two main ways. First, the vocals have a Pantera “Cowboys from Hell/Vulgar Display of Power” shout/scream energy, in a fundamental vocal style of energetic midrange semi-growl borderline singing, though clearly not growling and not singing per se. Second, the guitar has both chugging/groove parts and the metalcore melodic notes, perhaps partly descended from Gothenburg/In Flames, too. Take note that Carry the Storm is good at their art: Pantera fans, metalcore/melodic growl metal fans, melodic thrash fans, and even the audience into bands like Disturbed would find something fun and catchy to rock.www.reverbnation.com/carrythestorm www.reverbnation.com/carrythestorm

Conny Ochs; The Gathering; Wardruna

“Black Happy” by Conny Ochs features acoustic, folky, alternative-ity, maybe college rock-y sounds enjoyed by hippies and hipsters in Portland and Seattle. And Bellingham. Don’t forget Bellingham! Acoustic, acoustic, acoustic music for people who dislike shoes and showers. Look, just go here, and take those stupid shoes off. We don’t wears around here. www.connyochs.com

“Disclosure” by The Gathering hovers around something like prog poppy space rock. Mellow throughout, with no rocking in sight anywhere, this one is strictly for those into easy listening pretty sounds. www.thegathering.nl

Wardruna so far has two albums, and “Yggdrasil” here is the second one. Ambient chanting is the gist of the music. It’s also meditation music or for going to sleep or putting people to sleep or to play at a funeral, or for doing yoga, who knows? So, go get your pajamas, get your pillow, and get ready to snore. If you don’t go to sleep, that means you might have insomnia, amnesia or something which what or other one.www.wardruna.com

Extinction Protocol

Extinction Protocol does two things a lot on “Aeonic Obliteration”: Are you tired of nonstop blasting? Are you bored with monotonous slam death metal? Extinction Protocol has a zesty recipe for you: spice up grind and slam by combining them into “slam grind,” plus they turn up the temperature on this hot dish with pig squeals. As you already know, pig squeals go well with slam and grind, which is why Extinction Protocol wants you to give them a call. If you call in the next thirty minutes, they will also add in pinch harmonics, for free. Don’t miss this offer: pig squeals and pinch harmonics! You heard right! Call now 1-800-pig-squeal. www.facebook.com/pages/Extinction-Protocol/490898727623887

Dehuman; Destroyed In Seconds

In the case of Dehuman’s “Black Throne of All Creation” the blasting and massive death metal is progressive and the music gets better with each listen, given that there is a lot happening in the songs. For example, “Apocalypse and Perdition” has obvious black metal riffing, as well as prog, in a blasting death metal context, so labeling this does not work too well. Dehuman has some very good moments throughout the album, and the vocals are classic-style death metal, in a Death/Pestilence/Gorguts/Obituary way. Really, there are many positives to Dehuman and their enjoyable concoction of the massive, the intense and the musical. This is their debut, so they had a lifetime to put together this album. Their task now is to improve the songwriting/arranging to make the songs more memorable. After listening to this repeatedly, that’s one area where Dehuman will take their most important step. Right now, it is good, but this shows they have the wherewithal to focus on songwriting. www.facebook.com/dehumanDM

D.I.S. (Destroyed In Seconds) is for you if you want your music to sound dirty, unpleasant like a garbage dump and smelly like a city street (in a good way, of course), and “Becoming Wrath” will bring you smiles. Crust, death metal and punk crash into each other here, and sound like Stockholm-death metal buzzsaw guitar with crust vocals and a dirty punk musical sound: a growling, screaming, obnoxious racket, with a bit of a rock n roll edge in brief moments, like some of the soloing. “Crossover” is a label people use to describe DIS, but “crossover” to me means punk/thrash, and DIS is way, way more a crust/death metal monster: definitely heavier, nastier, with a bit of catchy rock and roll soloing. www.facebook.com/DestroyedInSeconds

The Amenta; Beyond Mortal Dreams; Centurian

The Amenta's “Flesh Is Heir” starts with a one-two punch of modern death metal production values (read: Behemoth) and a huge chugging heaviness. Loud, upfront rhythms energized by The Amenta’s obsession with plucking away at the low strings with magnitude. They play fast, and they slow down to highlight the groove, with robotic-machine-industrial sounds. Snippets recall Fear Factory, Behemoth, maybe Dimmu Borgir, too. The mix of “futuristic-robotic-industrial” and metal is clearly competent and strong. The songs hit hard, with groove. This band is more experimental and has a “samples, programming” member, so it’s groove industrial growl metal. www.theamenta.com

Beyond Mortal Dreams. The 4-song EP is called “Dreaming Death,” of which the last song is a Beherit cover. The first two numbers are high-intensity blasting, low-growling, instantly likable songs. Put these songs on and let the high-speed journey begin: massive riffs, good soloing, great vibe. Good. The third song shows a heavier, slower side of Beyond Mortal Dreams, and the soloing takes over and eventually the speed picks up to the expected level. Another blasting, frenzied track, the cover of “Beast of Damnation,” closes this impressive little ditty of an EP. www.facebook.com/beyondmortaldreams

Centurian’s “Contra Rationem” (which is Latin for blastattack death metal) continues where the band started out in 1999’s debut “Choronzonic Chaos Gods,” a monolith of blasting intensity, with very little fat. Now, in 2013, Centurian has more of the same. Blasting for the hungry death metal aficionado. The songs sort of sound similar, and that’s on purpose. It’s just the band playing death metal fast, the only way they know how. They merely want you to bang your head to meat and potatoes death metal (tofu and potatoes, vegetarians). Centurian’s back and seeks to destroy your hearing, and they are capable of doing it with this album. www.centurian333.com

Daylight Dies; Howl; Obelyskkh; October Tide; Swallow the Sun; Ufomammut

Six bands, six paths to doom Daylight Dies (U.S.) Howl (U.S.) Obelyskkhh (Germany) October Tide (Sweden) Swallow the Sun (Finland) Ufomammut (Italy)

Daylight Dies‘ “A Frail Becoming” is a bit of classic Opethian-style doom in the following sense: the heavy parts are really heavy, where the riff and the gruff growling are the center, and it sounds really great. In those moments there is melody, too, and that helps the songs a lot. Now then, Daylight Dies also has moments of clear singing, melody and melancholy. These segments sound like clean guitar or acoustic guitar, the clear singing is delicate—as opposed to obnoxiously loud “metal” singing—and have something in common with the clear singing in Opeth and Katatonia. In short, Daylight Dies is one the most exciting and interesting doom metal bands that I know of, currently. This album is another feather in their cap. www.daylightdies.com

Howl’s album “Bloodlines,” I had believed, was going to be slow, like some sort of sludge, maybe stoner album. Instead, it sounds it’s more like High on Fire: there is a good dose of Black Sabbath and Motorhead in this music, it is uptempo and midtempo, but nowhere near the neighborhood of slow music, and certainly not superslow stuff.

It is way better than I expected and more fun. Howl is a pretty rocking experience. They pick up the speed substantially in places, which, by the way, is a genius move because Howl is a bit of roller coaster, in a good way. The growled vocals are death metal-ish in vibe. Howl can easily tour with stoner, doom, death and bands like High on Fire and Mastodon, you know, that heavier rock stuff.

I find that the guitar work, while certainly heavy, does not quite draw my attention to the max. The soloing and the melodic hooks are good, but the meat and potatoes sound of the rhythms leaves me wanting more. As a result, the songs are not as memorable as they could be. They’re heavy, so the heaviness factor is a-ok. http://howl.bandcamp.com/ http://howl.bandcamp.com/

Obelyskkh‘s “White Lightnin’”is one heavy stoner rock release, a bit more hippy-ish than early Black Sabbath, more melodic in the vocals, with a guitar tone that rumbles along. “White Lightnin’” has three songs over 10 minutes, one about 16 minutes and three about 7 minutes. The last three are the hits for the radio (you know, the radio station that plays doom and stoner 24 hours a day, right?)

They do not do much in the way of guitar melody because it is one huge rumble, mostly. The melody takes place in the vocals, but it is dry, unmotivated, laid back melody, like singing psychedelic stoner doom with a hipster attitude. Don’t be fooled, they are motivated, but they have worked hard at sounding lazy and spaced out.

If you are a fan of Saint Vitus and Electric Wizard, you might think Obelyskkh is a worthy band to investigate. Of course, there is a garage-ish aspect to the music and vibe, so if you don’t like stoner stuff, you will need to steer clear of this band. www.obelyskkh.bandcamp.com/ www.reverbnation.com/obelyskkh

October Tide, Katatonia fans will be pleased to know, is the band of Fredik Norrman, guitarist in Katatonia from 1994 to 2010. I guess, one simple way to start the conversation on October Tide’s album “Tunnel of No Light” is to ask: Do you like early Katatonia, when the band was a heavy, melodic doom band? Well then, October Tide just happens to be a heavy, growl doom band that keeps the heaviness at a maximum level, while maintaining the growled vocals throughout, and bringing the melody from the guitar. On this last mentioned aspect, this means that there are no clean vocals, no keyboards, or any other instrument, to soften up the doom. This is why October Tide is interesting, it’s about the guitar and the songwriting. There is a sense that October Tide hides nothing, and also avoids making things too busy. The result on the listener is immediate. What a nice surprise, by the way: easily enjoyable, yet with plenty of riffs, vocal patterns, hooks and heavy shades to keep the listener’s attention. www.octobertide.net

Swallow the Sun is the type of doom that uses many things at its disposal for a song: death metal growling, black metal shrieking, clear singing, keyboards, tremolo guitar parts, melancholic guitar parts, heavy riffs, slow, midpace and uptempo are all found with this doom. Really, the band can give the impression of a hodgepodge of metal sounds, and all of this sounds unworkable on paper, and you would think this sounds like a crazy salad. At times, it does! They go from the symphonic black metal doom of “Hate, Lead the Way,” a headbanging tune to the slow, meditational sounds and whispered/folky singing of “Cathedral Walls” and it’s quite a change. Are they a black metal band? Are they a folk/gothic metal band?

However, all those concerns do not matter because somehow Swallow the Sun makes sense to my ears. They are good at all those things. I don’t know if all six band members write songs or why this is such an eclectic doom experience. The sound quality is excellent, it sounds like professional metal (NOT stoner sound), and the songs are very good. The one thing that you will need is patience, but if you like doom, you already know this is not instant music.www.swallowthesun.net/site

Ufomammut’s two albums “Oro: Opus Primum” and Oro: Opus Alter” are a test of the listener’s desire for drone-stoner trippy landscapes.

Ufomammut plays not just slow. No, not just very slow. They play way, way, way slow. They do these very long segments of nothing but trippy keyboard sounds (or whatever that is; I have no idea).

You are in Ufomammut’s house now. Take your shoes off. Sit down. Grab a beer. Relax. Grab another beer. Relax some more. How you feeling? You feeling good and ready for some super slow motion music?

No headbanging here. No rocking. Only slow, tripped out misery. Where are the songs?! Ufomammut are such a hipster postmodern band that they think writing songs is outdated. They’ll do 20 minutes of messing around with sounds, throw in some heavy stoner riffs, and some vocals here and there, but writing a song for the listener to remember? Nope. That’s not their deal. You will think this is far out or perhaps, just say, “W-T-F!” Indeed, wtf. www.ufomammut.com

In terms of memorable songwriting with heaviness and melody, and metal guitar playing proper, only three bands must be considered here: Daylight Dies, October Tide and Swallow the Sun. Daylight Dies brings a melodic singing and death doom to the table, while October Tide is immediately enjoyable in their heavy bleakness.

Swallow the Sun is the most varied of the three bands, the one that requires the most listens to understand. You might not like the fact that it is quite a metal eclectic experience, but they have crafted a strong doom album, without question, as have the other two bands.

4-way metal rendez-vous: Revelation, Freedoms Reign, Flotsam and Jetsam, Satan

4-way old metal rendez-vous

Revelation (U.S.)

Freedoms Reign (U.S.)

Flotsam and Jetsam (U.S.)

Satan (U.K.)

Where to start with the mindtrick magicians that is Revelation? “Inner Harbor” sounds like time travel to 1968, or another year that is a long time ago. Somewhere between doom, blues and prog, you will find Revelation. Sometimes doomy, sometimes trippy: forget everything about “modern metal” and all the growling and chugga-guitar that the young whippersnappers are into. Revelation’s warm and old sound will take you back to the days when bands played all types of songs and weren’t afraid to play outside a particular genre.

Did this band dust off some instruments that they found in old garage where a bunch of legendary British 70s classic band used to jam?

This band does not seem to have a website. Don’t try to find them on Facebook, either, because you will find a million acoustic bands with the name Revelation and they all play music for jeebus. www.againstnature.us

Next up is Victor Arduini, former guitarist in early Fates Warning, and his new band called Freedoms Reign and their self-titled debut of traditional melodic heavy metal.

Unlike the music of Revelation, Freedoms Reign has a more updated sound, based on 80s metal. The vibe is pretty fun, with a good energy of rocking.

Having said that, you should hear the vocals for yourself and see if Mr. Arduini’s singing is your cup of tea. I also hear a bit of studio magic with the vocals. Also, despite the rocking attitude, the guitar work has not yet clicked for me and I find that the songs are not moving me. www.reverbnation.com/freedomsreign

Flotsam and Jetsam’s “Ugly Noise” is 12 songs of “adult contemporary metal” with some immature/angry moments. As it turns out, the Flots this time were not able to top their wonderful previous album “The Cold.”

What a strange little ditty “Ugly Noise.” The first six songs are as good as “The Cold” and I was thrilled with the new album: catchy, great singing, uptempo songs, and deceptively simple structures.

The Flots have found a great niche, and are not afraid to do other things with their metal.

Then, out of nowhere, things go downhill and I don’t know what happened. Song number 7 “Rage” is one of the worst songs the Flots have ever done. It’s sounds like a punk rock song, too repetitive, too un-Flots. Surely the other songs will be better! Well, sort of. There are some cool moments but “Motherfuckery” sounds perhaps only a bit better than “Rage.” “I Believe” sounds rushed, too simple, bare bones. Oh, boy, the Flots have let their guard down and the result is uneven. Still, those first 6 songs are wonderful. www.reverbnation.com/flotsamandjetsam

Since the Flots have taken a misstep, maybe Satan can help. Of course, this is the Satan of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Brian Ross, also of Blitzkrieg, screams and sings his way through 10 songs of uptempo metal with lots of guitar melodies and rocking and/or semi-thrashy riffs, too.

Metal dorks will know that bassist Graeme English and guitarist Steve Ramsey are known for their work with folk metal founders Skyclad. They are back with Satan.

Anyway, songs like “Testimony” and “Life Sentence” recall the faster side of their music. On the other hand, it’s not all about speed. Satan has made music that stands up well to their back catalogue. Not a masterpiece, but a good album nevertheless. Perhaps the 80s metal freaks Darkhrone will be happy now that Satan has returned and the 80s metal party never has to end. www.satanmusic.com

Necrocurse (Sweden) review

Necrocurse (Sweden): Grip of the Dead (Pulverised Records Records)

Top ten reasons why Necrocurse should sell a trillion copies of their album.

10. Necrocurse is torn jeans, bulletbelts, leather and evil sunglasses metal.

9. They have a song called “Rotten in the Dark.” That’s for you, Dio fans.

8. The decomposing zombie vocalist on this album is Hellbutcher, from Nifelheim.

7. Anything that is Nifelheim related is bound to be great.

6. Necrocurse rolls up black metal, death metal and heavy metal in such a way that everyone, and I mean everyone who is not an idiot, will like it. Perfect concoction of Venom, Mercyful Fate, Sodom, Stockholm-style death metal, all sorts of no-nonsense black metal, zombie melodies and rotten catchiness.

5. This album will appeal to those that miss the days when Slayer sounded evil, “Hell Awaits,” 1985 and before.

4. You are never interested in a metal band, unless they have pentagrams, inverted crosses, skulls, fire or zombies in their songs or album covers.

3. The walls of your castle are covered with metal music decorations. And your castle is your grandma’s basement because the economy is bad and you need a place to stay during the winter because it’s difficult to sleep under the freeway during the winter months. It’s freaking cold, right?

2. During the summer months, when you live under the freeway, you decorate the walls under the freeway with Venom and Slayer logos. You also want to draw Death’s old logo, but you are still working on that spider, which you never seem to get right. But you will. You will. We know you will. You are determined.

1. This band has the word “necro” in their name. If they chose the word “necro” in their name, I don’t need to know much else. I know their intentions, their origins, their mentality of metal. You have the word “necro” in your band’s name. Say no more. I’m in.

www.necrocurse.com www.facebook.com/necrocurse www.facebook.com/posthumofficial www.myspace.com/necrocurseswe www.reverbnation.com/necrocurse

Posthum (Norway) review

Posthum (Norway): Lights Out (Indie Recordings)

The inheritance of Norwegian black metal has proven to be a tremendous weight upon the shoulders of younger Norwegian metal musicians. Inescapable and inexorable, classic Norwegian black metal is the starting point for modern metal music in Norway.

True, perhaps not for Norwegian melodic metal bands.

Question: Name one Norwegian power metal band in your music collection?

Exactly.

In view of this situation, Posthum play a form of metal that shares some common elements with black metal, such as the vocals, the production values and a general vibe, like on “Red”, “Down on Blood” and a few other moments. However, Posthum is certainly not much of a black metal band, as their midpaced songs clearly show prog leanings, maybe punk, maybe classic rock.

Basically, the guitar work shows some other sounds that I am not qualified to talk about because I don’t listen to “postrock” or “posthardcore” or “djent” or “drone” or whatever the heck is meant by the idea of “beyond metal.”

“Postblack metal” or “Prog black metal” or something like that is the domain of Posthum.

“Post,” see what they did there? www.facebook.com/posthumofficial

Savage (UK) review

Savage (U.K.): Sons of Malice (Minus2Zebra) Savage is the New Wave of British Heavy Metal band whose 1983 album “Loose ‘n’ Lethal” is held in regard by enthusiasts of the NWOBHM. Their song “Let it Loose” was covered by Metallica on their 1982 demo “Hit the Lights” (“Ron McGovney’s ’82 Garage demo”). Savage in 2013 is more of a blues/rock band, with some moments of hard rocking. Overall, though, this doesn’t have a bang-your-head energy. The drumming is very laid back, more in the style of The Rolling Stones or perhaps AC/DC. This drumming would benefit greatly from more energy and a bit of craziness. Unfortunately, it’s not just the drumming, the guitar playing and the vocals also would be better served if the Savage simply decided to live up to the heavy metal sound that earned them their reputation in the first place. www.facebook.com/savageuk www.myspace.com/savageuk

Aphelium (Venezuela): review

Aphelium (Venezuela): Demo Aphelium is a power metal gem from Venezuela. These two songs are very impressive, due to the band’s knack for assembling all the elements of power metal so well. The songs work at a speedy rate, with air-raid-siren singing, and build up and up to the catchy chorus, with bit of a symphonic feel, and lots of sing-along moments. “Cleopatra” is in Spanish and “Fate of a Promise” is in English, but the band does well in both. I prefer the Spanish because the Spanish just sounds better, but the English song rocks, too. If you don’t speak Spanish, it’s ok, the song “Cleopatra” is so catchy, you’ll be singing in Spanish and you won’t even know it. www.facebook.com/ApheliumBand www.myspace.com/apheliumband www.reverbnation.com/aphelium

Sacred Steel (Germany) review

Sacred Steel (Germany): The Bloodshed Summoning (Cruz Del Sur Music) Sacred Steel is a particularly tight, energetic, thrashy heavy metal band, with no love songs/ballads, just headbanging heavy metal, song after song. The guitars rage, some melody added in selected places, and the drumming keeps the pounding going for the hour that comprises the album. The singer, one Gerrit P. Mutz, has a gritty vocal style, with a thrash energy, some growling and screaming, with plenty of melodic singing, too. In that sense, Mutz’s performance is a varied effort, and done well in all counts. Sacred Steel, by the way, seems to be hated by the critics. Rarely do you see a metal band that gets ridiculed as much as Sacred Steel. The crime? Playing heavy metal unashamedly, with a vocalist that is not afraid to scream, belt it out and rage. The complaining is pretty stupid, actually. Listen to this album, if you want something along the lines of thrashy, no-nonsense heavy metal, with songs for headbanging. They really do just about everything that there is to be done in heavy metal: play fast, loud, energetically, melodically, shred, have hooks, good solos, play uptempo, and do it all with an enthusiasm that is contagious. This is without a doubt, a high quality heavy metal album. I have no idea what the complaining is about.www.sacredsteel.eu I have enjoyed this album a lot. This one is worthy of coming back to again and again.

Fuglymaniacs has live concert videos from Houston

Recently www.fuglymaniacs.com has been putting up a bunch of cool videos from concerts in Houston. One of those is the live footage of punk legends The Casualties tearing it up in Houston. Check it the footage and see for yourself! www.fuglymaniacs.com By the way, go Fuglymaniacs' Facebook page and give it a like, too!