Vassafor - Vassafor III, To the Death (2020)

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New Zealand's soil is no stranger to dredging up some filthy and uncompromising death metal over the last few decades and Vassafor has always been at the forefront of this auditory barrage, along with the likes of Heresiarch, Diocletian, Witchrist, and Vesicant to name a few of the prominent forces within the Kiwi stratosphere.

Vassafor is one of my favourites out of the bunch, consistently being a barbaric force within the arena of death/black metal and with the newly released Vassafor III, To the Death I'm even more bullish. This album is a big breath of fresh air in a genre that sees a lot of futile attempts at invoking any real atmosphere, which Vassafor has done in spades on this record, giving lengthy songs ample room to move around a cavern of densely layered guitars, mollifying and calcified under the weight and plod of the drumming. Everything is recorded and produced perfectly, harkening to a much more underground sound, nothing plasticky or over-produced to be found on here, pure old-school filth and sonic evisceration that lends itself to be one of the better death metal albums of the year by my count. Absolute penetration!

Vassafor III, To the Death (bandcamp)

Spike Fuck - The Smackwave EP (2019)

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Here's a really janky one for this blog, neither touching the spectrum of genres I normally post up on here but hey I have a taste that goes much beyond the borders of what's baked into the DNA of Severed Heads Open Minds since I created this blog 10 years ago…

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A good buddy of mine turned me onto this one knowing that it would be something I'd be into and he was perfectly right and I revere him for it. The EP's title is a direct nod to the type of genre Spike Fuck of Australia is championing, which she has described as an impersonation of a washed-up middle aged rock star attempting a comeback in the 1960's or 1970's. Seems accurate, straddling the line between personification and uniqueness, of the halcyon days smothered in fog machines, fluorescent lights and clubs that smelled of sweat, semen and cigarettes and half-shut eyelids. This music is absolutely infectious, coming across at times like Jonathan Richman of Modern Lovers, or floating around Lou Reed's deadpan delivery and structures that nod to the Velvet Underground & Nico, or a more minimal Joy Division playing through Duran Duran songs with Rowland S. Howard's dismal driving guitars.

This might be something for you to get into, or it might not. Doesn't matter, your loss, pal.

The Smackwave (bandcamp)

Primitive Blast - Animalistic (2020)

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Primitive Blast as a name for the band really shows total awareness of ethos, even moreover that the name of this EP is 'Animalistic', which it is. These Aussies know exactly what they're going for, a clear vision of an almost primordial sounding mix of Mental-era hardcore with a stripped-down and raw punk sensibility, delivered in an almost stomp like cadence a la bands like Judge, Close Shave or even Unified Right. A primitive blast it most definitely is and just another very sharp arrow in the quiver of the Australian punk scene… I don't understand what's in the drinking-water down there but it's been a consistent hotbed for a plethora of good bands. And I mean good as an absolute understatement. Give this a try, and if it doesn't click you're probably just soft… and that's okay too.

Animalistic (bandcamp)