Meth Drinker - Oil (2014)

 •  •  •

If you are unfamiliar with Meth Drinker then please let me acquaint you. Dearest reader, this is Meth Drinker, Meth Drinker this is dearest reader, be gentle with them. Isn't the name quaint? It's kinda like Bongripper, with a bit more fuck you to the upper class cadre. These New Zealanders join the venerable echelon of country mates; Witchrist, Diocletian, Heresiarch, Vassafor, Ulcerate and that dude that directed one of my favorite sci-fi horror movies ever, Bad Taste.

Meth Drinker will fill your day up with palpable dread and they will shit directly into your soul and rape the youthful effervescence you thought you had retained.

The droning crunch of guitars give way to a few riffs reminiscent to early Autopsy, only played at an even slower paced tempo. The drums are mixed in with a peculiar fragility to the toms and it seems the bell cymbal overpowers it, which works well to give it that calcified in rot vibe I like my sewer doom to have. 

Based on the two songs I have heard, I like it a lot. And maybe when the variance between the American to Canadian dollar conversion ceases to fuck my Paypal purchases I will actually buy the album in full and relish in the cankering charm of 'Oil'.

Meth Drinker (bandcamp)

Caveman Cult - Rituals of Savagery [EP] (2014)

Found this sucker buried in my email inbox. Filthy death metal married with feral black metal flowing through the same abscessed vein as Teitanblood, Proclamation, Weregoat, Heresiarch, Archgoat, Wrathprayer, etc.

It is a suitable soundtrack to listen to whilst charging through the gates of Babylon in search for Persian scalps or while you're sitting on the shitter reading your subscription to "Satanist's Quarterly".

•  •  •

I was given the link to the EP by thee dank dudes at WORHT Records, check them out and throw 'em some cash if you are touched by their venerable collection of filthy tunes.

Caveman Cult (Bandcamp)

Dark Times - Give (2014)

Really good female-fronted punk from Oslo, Norway. I am not going to dip into the well of platitudes with this one because my hangover requires hydration but I will say this; Dark Times aren't your run of the mill, stripped down punk band… Stripped down yes, but they have a sound to call their own and an eclectic delivery to their sound that frees them from the clutches of "heard this before". It was produced by Pål Bredrup, who also produced Okkultokrati and Haust with that same basement grime charm I've been into lately. This album will fit in with your crusty lifestyle.

Bandcamp (buy)
Zippyshare (listen)

Leather Slave - Leather Slave S/T (2014)

 "…Then I'll cut off all of your fingers, and then I'll make you try on pairs of gloves… I'm going to pull a knife stunt. And then. I'll cut off both of your ears, so you can't hear what I'm going to do next. And the blood will just run out of your head, like two faucets… I'm going to pull a knife stunt." –  

Like any good serial killer or nefarious creature, nobody knows who Leather Slave is, they could be your weird neighbour, or your postman, or the rambling junkie on your street calling every passerby a "handjob and a half!", it's a veil of anonymity that may seem less crucial when compared to the likes of John Wayne Gacy but it is an essential component to the harrowing and seedy vibe of Leather Slave's sound.

A sound that is much less punk and much more looping. But it is still punk, sort of. It sounds like horror-punk because it is scary not because it's content is about b-grade horror movies and Alice Cooper worship. Leather Slave doesn't have a cover of "Monster Mash" and they never fucking will. I promise. This preamble is not a jab at The Misfits, (I like The Misfits more than I could ever love my own children), but it might shed some light on how something actually scary might sound. Unsettling would be the better word to describe it. Seedy and depraved even. Or for you fans of  multiple choice, all of the above.

It's impressive because I get the same vile feeling as I do with bands like Meth Drinker, The Body, Impetuous Ritual, or even Canada's beautifully repulsive Revenge would give me although Leather Face are far less abrasive (or extreme) at face value. Instead, the unsettling vibe is manifested through a series of looping sickly riffs and an equally poisoned to the bone style of drumming with singing that isn't singing so much as it is spoken, sounding more like threats and rambling through a telephone more than anything else.

I stumbled on this band via the incredibly good and highly recommended ONGAKUBAKA blog and I scored myself a download link to the album from somewhere else on the deep wide web, and you can too. Otherwise I'd highly suggest buying this fucker, so you can be that cool kid with an obscure record collection nobody will every really see but you wish they would.



Listen/Buy

Encoffination - Hear Me, O' Death (Sing Thy Wretched Choirs) (2014)

Hear Me, O Death (Sing Thy Wretched Choirs) is aptly named because this album sounds like a heinous funeral march, crawling and plodding much like death itself, scraping away years off your life with each listen. Encoffination have always been about lurching through tracks with a molasses like consistency, moving slower than old people fuck and hitting harder than a dull axe to the face, but this album is exceedingly slower than the rest…

The riffing is slow-cooked in delay and reverb and the vocals are of a brittle guttural secrete, basically gurgling and belching in an almost near death type phlegm coated whisper. It makes me want to clear my fucking throat and bang my head around like an abiding peon of the underdark.


Hear Me, O' Death (Sing Thy Wretched Choirs) on bandcamp

Ggu:II - waan:hoon (2014)

This album was submitted to me via email a little while ago with the message: "Hi Chris, a few months ago I asked you for the Leucocis album. I really like it a lot and want to thank you for sending it to me. I'll be doing this in the most risky way possible... Sending you some recordings of my own band. Don't pay for them, if you like 'em I'll send 'em to you."


See, who's to say that spreading music around can't be a self-sustaining beneficiary to the underground movement? It can be, and this proves it fuckface.

The two song EP titled 'waan:hoon' is a warm-sounding collection of sludgy doom with tinges of post-metal riffing and drone atmospherics. The two songs plod along earnestly and fester within whirring guitars and slogging drum patterns that build up to these moments where you want the sledgehammer to be dropped only to be teased by more gnawing doom/drone. I'm please to know the member of this band is a fan of Leucosis too, because few bands of that ilk have impressed me as much as Leucosis has with their venerable and modest catalogue. They are masters at creating palpable tension that finally spawns into a very satisfying peek, to understand this fully, listen to the song Taiga. If Ggu:II follows a similar path then I expect nothing but good things.

Ggu:II - waan:hoon (bandcamp)

(I will update and upload download links upon the bands accordance.)

Torch Runner - Endless Nothing (2014)

A month has passed since my last post, but I'm dusting off the keyboard and getting back to this virtual pit I call Severed Heads Open Minds, which is, at times, a formidable commitment to be consistent with, but I'm trying dudes! * My hat is off to all the blogs that are far more consistent than this one *

A bevy of new releases have fallen onto my lap and into my ears recently, most of those worth dusting off the keyboard for, and as such, I will do just that… First up, Southern Lord's Torch Runner follow up their debut album 'Committed To The Ground' with 'Endless Nothing', a savage offering of filthy downbeat punk/hardcore infused grind distilled into 23 minutes of a supremely pissed-off and raucous audial assault.

I won't be posting a download link to this album as the flack I will inevitably receive is heavy, but the links are out there if you can't afford to buy the album with money.

Endless Nothing (bandcamp)

Saor - Aura (2014)

Ahh man, it's been too long since an album has sincerely made me want to seek sojourn in the comfort and unpredictability of the woods, in nature among the trees, flora, fauna, grub, moss, leaves, rivers… Well shit, you know how forests work.

Saor's Aura is some of the most gripping and earnest takes on that atavistic type black metal that I like so much, you know the type, rife with that raw and endearing naturalistic potency that lends so much life to the soundscape you can practically feel a fucking pulse. It possesses that arcane ability which seems to speak a whole other language, an elemental language lost and neglected by time. That's deep I know… Let it sink in.

I'm reminded of bands like Myrkgrav, Falls of Rauros, Alda, Kroda, Falkenbach, Wodensthrone and Panopticon, which all have that authentic outdoor presence to them, even though that's brought out in different ways by each of those bands… It feels like a gimme listing Panopticon as an example, since the entirety of the drumming on Aura is provided by none other than Austin Lunn of Panopticon, and to his credit the drumming is notably very well handled, sounding like distant gunfire and cannon fodder spewing out of the Scottish highlands.

Eric Marshall is the lad behind the one-man band and as a solo effort it's quite alright to enlist the talents of guest musicians, and on Aura, he does just that by getting help with the strings, viola, bodhrán and Gaelic female vocals. The dude clearly has a keen sense of Celtic melody and that shines through on Aura with the beauty of the melodies contrasting nicely against Eric's shrill howls, which range from what seem like resonant conversations amongst gods and wartorn distant battle-cries.

It's been a while since an album of this ilk has really galvanized an atmospheric black metal post on SHOM, so enjoy.

Here is that album on Bandcamp

Bad Energy - Dead Magic EP (2014)

Bad Energy brings the good energy. Dead Magic brings the living magic. Hailing from where cheese steaks are best (Philadelphia, dummy), one can obtain the grittiness you get when you live in the asshole of the United States, surrounded by abandoned heaps of wood that once stood proudly as somebody's home. I guess I'm really describing where chicken wings are made best (Buffalo, idiot). Though Pennsylvania is pretty gritty as well man. Whatever. This EP is good, listen to it and dig it if you are into punk/hardcore.

If you want good punk from Buffalo though, Brown Sugar and Bad People are killing it.

EP is up for "name your price" on bandcamp, which is pretty much the best thing to happen to music since The Mojomatics introduced a harmonica to their music. If you can't afford anything, input 0$ and enjoy sucker!

Dead Magic

Maveth & Embrace of Thorns - A Plague Through The Heavens [split] (2014)

I was initially going to challenge myself by reviewing Noia's new album Obstinate Sacrifice while trying not to talk about how much it sounds like a cleaned up version of Venom playing Nuclear Assault songs or how the lyrics should be swapped out for pseudo-human grunts, belches, growls and farts… But I decided against it because I'm already going to be reviewing Midnight's No Mercy For Mayhem for favorite Icelandic human Birkir and his blog Halifax Collect later this week.

•  •  •

Instead, I give you filth. I give you death. I give to you a split that is actually worth checking out, A Plague Through The Heavens released by Dark Descent Records. Two bands that aren't new to the game, Maveth from Finland and Embrace of Thorns from Greece band together to bludgeon you senseless with their dragged through the muck and fecal decay of the sewers take on black/death metal. I'm sure this is best listened to in the dark, sitting in a pentagram drawn with goats semen but I'm sitting on a park bench withe the sun beaming down on my fucking forehead, and it's still pretty sweet man.

  

A Plague Through The Heavens (Buy + bandcamp)

Wöes // Wölvefröst Split (2014)

Hmm shit… How do I start one of these things again? This split is heavy, you should listen to it.
Nah, that won't do.

Yeah dudes, I know, it's been a really long time since I've updated anything at all, and frankly my fingertip muscles are rusty, which is a major bummer because my inbox has never been more full of new and exciting shit to post up on here for your sorry ass eyes. I wish I had a really sweet excuse as to why I have been so removed from SHOM, like I was kidnapped by a pack of wolves, dragged into the Taiga forest to learn and hunt with the wolf-pack and howl at the moon all while the opening riff to Wolfchant's "A Pagan Storm" appropriately played in the background, but no man the boring truth is due to a broken "e" on my keyboard. I wouldn't lie to you, the "e" letter key on my keyboard stopped working and I just couldn't be asked to fix it right away. Do you know how many letters have the fucking letter "e" in them? Basically every goddamn shit sucking letter in the English language!

Anyway, I have a lot of catching up to do, and I will do just that with this mega bestial, dragged through the shitter, crusty black metal split from Wöes & Wölvefröst. Both bands bring a blistering paced handful of songs to the split. all of them raw, cloaked in noise, and unrelenting, encompassing a simplified punk-like aesthetic to the structure, but still very much black metal with the crust turned way up.

haha check out that opening riff to the Wöes song "Tyrant King", sloppier than a baby eating mashed potatoes, but it is great, because we are stone cold rebels. My favorite track on the split is by Wöes and it is called "Martyr With A Serpents Tongue".  Here is that track;

Full album streaming over at Cvlt Nation!
Preorder it here at Orc Tusk!

Judd Madden - Everything In Waves (2014)

Judd Madden is a person. And, Judd Madden is a one man band. His impressive ant colony like work ethic is made apparent through the discography of the band; 7 full-length albums in the span of 5 years, and all of his releases are available for free download on the bandcamp page, what a gentleman! I bet you he donates to beneficial charities and helps old women cross the street too.

Instrumental sludge/doom at it's center, with some post-rock and THC soaked riffing to bang thy skull to. The guitar tone is washy and hypnotic but remains mega crunchy and those drums sound like fucking hells cannon fodder. Listening to this album makes you want to shotgun beers while riding on a woolly mammoths tusk into a snowstorm. It has cool artwork as well.

Toss a buck or two, or if you're broke enter $0, it is to my understanding that the downloads through the bandcamp page still help support the artist.

Judd Madden bandcamp

Dephosphorus - Ravenous Solemnity (2014)

I don't know about you guys, but I fucking hate flip-flops, skateboarding in the wind, fluctuating weather patterns, weak handshakes, the aftertaste of coffee, people who don't find rape humorous, people that don't listen to Wormrot, timid sneezing, and the parents of those Mormon kids that go door to door on their spare time, fuck all those things and many other things… Fuck those as well.

I like the new Dephosphorus album "Ravenous Solemnity", though. I've seen this album slapped with every genre tag under the sun, black metal, hardcore, crust, sludge, noise, punk, deathened doom, and astrogrind? To hell with all of that. Most importantly, Dephosphorus sound like nobody else, the instrumentation is super tight and dynamic, and it will bang your goddamn skull. Those vocals make me happy.

I'm not sure this album is receiving the laurels and appreciation it deserves from other high-horsed interweb bloggers and "critics", and I'm too lazy to check, but if anyone knew anything, that someone would have this album, and listen to it, and like it, a lot.

It has been out for a few months, so if you don't have it, follow these words down and grab it. Update;  I was asked to take the link down right away, so put your email in the comments if you want it. Sharing tunes among friends can't be illegal.

Dephosphorus (Bandcamp)

Heresiarch - Wælwulf (2014)

Begrimed, soupy bestial death metal from New Zealand. I've been a fan of these Kiwi's since I bought their EP Hammers of Intransigence back in 2011 and have been impatiently waiting for a full-length release ever since, but instead another EP is released to sate my lust for destrvktion…

Also, thanks to New Zealand for Meth Drinker, Ulcerate, Witchrist, Diocletian, and Vassafor.

Wælwulf
Heresiarch Bandcamp (Buy Wælwulf $666 NZD)

Sun Worship - Elder Giants (2014)

Ever since Sun Worship got in touch with me to review their EP Surpass Eclipse I have been a huge fan, watching their every move, which consisted of a split with German country-mates UNRU, whom I'm also completely and unequivocally a fan of, obtain all their shit!

I digress, Sun Worship are one of my favorite bands circling this big blue ball we're stuck upon. What the fuck is there not to love? They play an incredibly poised blend of ambient black metal with notes of other musical subtleties that could range from shoegaze, drone, noise, to a post-rock atmosphere. They are independent and fuel their own music in a DIY way and they put their albums on bandcamp for a "name your price" option so you can pay what you can afford.

Elder Giants is a giant itself, and one of the best this year. Climb out from under that rock and buy it.

Elder Giants on Bandcamp (name your price)
Here is the review for Surpass Eclipse

The Body - I Shall Die Here (2014)

Last night I went to sleep listening to The Body's newest release 'I Shall Die Here', which is probably tantamount to watching a snuff film before going to bed. It fucks you up. It fucks your dreams up, and it ruins your sleep as well as the entire day thereafter.

I'm really digging the sounds on this new album though, which the band has said was meant to be wholly experimental. Thought it's not like The Body's catalogue isn't already entirely experimental in nature anyway. 'I Shall Die Here' is still heavy, terrifying, ominous and warped. Instead of The Assembly of Light Choir we've come to know and love throughout The Body discography, the band recruits The Haxan Cloak to contribute on 'I Shall Die Here', resulting in something more industrial, ambient and nearly cinematic in sound. I don't know why, but it fucking works man. I hope The Body and Death Grips collaborate on the next album. Friggin' rights.

Listen to this, the strongest track on the album… Yes, in my opinion.

I Shall Die Here.

Coffinworm - IV.I.VIII (2014)

I don't have anything clever to say.
This album is heavier than Chris Farley's bloated corpse.
The blackness of this album is like the inside of a coffin on a moonless night.

Profound Lore though, man does Chris Bruni know hot to pick 'em. Avichi and Artificial Brain also put out albums in 2014 on Profound Lore Records (both are worth checking out), with Impetuous Ritual releasing their sophomore album "Unholy Congregation of Hypocritical Ambivalence". in April.

Grab this, turn it up loud and fuck your ears into early hearing loss.

IV.I.VIII (Took this link from Echoes of Demise)

Indian - From All Purity (2014)

Indian, from Chicago, Illinois, play an insanely robust and caustic blend of doom and sludge with the crumbling filth of crust thrown into the bubbling cauldron. This wall of noise is brought forth by swirling guitar and bass tones that are heavier than a dead dog, drums that pound and plod like a fucking migraine only to be occasionally pierced by crude and tortured vocals. Vocal duties are shared between the two guitarists, and they sound like hyenas… Hyenas that are actually wolverines… Wolverines that are rabid and starving, and possibly (probably) sexually frustrated. Pissed.

Indian on Bandcamp
From All Purity (try)