Harm's Way - Blinded (2013)

Harm's Way seem eager to put forth tunes that are still filled with vitriol and barbarity with their lowbrow, heavier than thou take on hardcore, and they do… But time has seen Harm's Way explore uncharted territory, allowing songs to breathe and swell over lengthier tracks, further exaggerated tension with doomy and brooding sections that sometimes lend itself for experimentation. Well shit, pretty much every track on this EP harbors an example of this whether it be subtle or blatant; Towards the end of the opening track 'Frontal Lobe' sounds like one of those chieftain war cries that you would hear on a sludge record, 'Blinded' is an all instrumental half intro and buildup that results in the track ending with a subtle whirring example of a little sound experimentation, but the best example is on the closing track 'Live to Loathe' when the drums morph into an 8-bit drum beat.

 (Thanks to the blog "I Would Have Stolen You A Whole Orchestra" for letting me steal the Zippyshare link)

BLINDED

Mumakil - Flies Will Starve (2013)

Mumakil (moom-a-keel) consider their music "blastcore", which is as fitting as it is fucking stupid. Gravity blasts and blast beats don't cause for pioneering another genre, so fucking what. "Nintendo-core" was stupid then and is sure as shit stupid now. Anal Cunt didn't profile their music under the moniker of "banging out heroine, getting blowies and stealing riffs - core", even though they were fucking qualified… Come to think of it, "Anal Cunt - core" is probably fairly accurate anyway.

I digress, besides genre inventing I have nothing but good things to say about Flies Will Starve, just as I did about Behold The Failure. The formula is simple, fast fucking tunes surrounded by a barrage of blasts, buzz-saw guitar work and vocals that your dad would fucking hate.

Pick this up. I have a pretty hefty queue of new and exciting tunes to bring to this blog so stick around, or not, but stick around because this blog will be fresher than your grandma's freshly douched… Just stick around fellas.

Eat shit.

Sincerely,


Chris D'Alessandro

PS; Flies Will Starve (Zippyshare)

Take Over And Destroy - Endless Night (2013)

Here's what's going on – I downed a quarter bottle of this Jack Daniel's honey whiskey with a couple cups of coffee in record time, this was my only breakfast and now I'm starting to feel the affects of this creative lubricant… "It's high-time I cleaned out those fucking cobwebs on my music blog so the tens of thousands (?) of my followers (Or do you guys prefer disciples?) can revel in the excitement of tunes that I certify as good." said myself somewhere in the beguiled brain-space of mine. It was either that or make a couple batches of freshly baked Rice Krispie squares… This time, the guilt of abandoning my followers (disciples?) outweighed my hunger.


So here I sit, cup of whiskey sweating, teeth unbrushed, hair uncombed, still beautiful, cracking my knuckles in eager preparation to start the writing process I was once all too accustomed with (fuck, just spilled my cup of whiskey on my desk soaking the bottom half of my "Listen To This" book while at the same time receiving a text from my pal in the band Oxtongue saying "Tell me you can sing." – I can't sing.

Take Over And Destroy sound like sewage encrusted blackened church bells. No they don't, I was just trying to be clever in my description like those dudes over at Cvlt Nation, and immediately felt stupid for what I had wrote. What they really sound like is a well mixed blend of black n' roll, sludge, and doom with a healthy dose of some organ shit.

Endless Night (320, Zippyshare)
TOAD Bandcamp

Burialkult - A Call From Beyond The Grave (2013)

I'm really fucking digging this Canadian barbarity thing going on man, this shit sounds filthy and callow (in a good sense), everything you want bestial black metal to be. Over the top with its Luciferian worship and ardently callous and putrid in its atmosphere with a sound strongly rooted in the 80's. There is also a healthy dose of thrash woven throughout A Call From The Grave, arguably earning it blackened thrash, whatever let's not get nit-picky.

Burialkult is by no means an accident or fluke, these dudes know exactly what sound they are going for, and are fully cognizant of the scene around them, letting their influences seep into the music. I can't speak on behalf of members of the band but there are undeniable influences reminiscent to bands like; Sarcófago, Venom, Beherit, Teitanblood, Blasphemophagher, Vulture Lord, Blasphemy, etc.
The lo-fi production is muddy, but not so grim and murky that it's rendered unlistenable, rather it serves as a strong point to the album which only further accentuates the instrumentation and gives it that fuck you charm only welcomed in the sewers of the underground.


Give Burialkult a warm welcome, this is their debut into the realms of fetid scum. (It's worth noting that the drummer used to be in Black Lotus, Harvest of Seasons is still an album I play much too often.)

Burialkult (bandcamp)
A Call From Beyond The Grave (Zippyshare)

The Broderick - Free To Rot, Free Of Sin (2012)

Let's cut through the shit, you're not going to like this album if you don't like any form of hardcore. Not the, youth of today, x'ed up fists and sing-a-longs type hardcore, OR the crossed arms stance tough guy hardcore, BUT the kind of hardcore that doesn't fear coalescing and mingling with other genres.

Free To Rot, Free Of Sin adventures between a sludgy landscape ensconced in a furiously angry post-hardcore niche, hard hitting and dynamic! Here's an album that is deserving of more praise than it so far has received, it hasn't been under the scalpel so to speak, but I cut this fucker up, and all I could find is some emotionally charged fast and furious jams that are competent enough to be melodic and crushing in one fell swoop. 

The Broderick - Free To Rot, Free Of Sin (Zippyshare)

Verminous - The Unholy Communion (2013)

A full decade has passed since Verminous put out anything since their debut Impious Sacrilege (which fucks your mother… Don't worry, she loves it), but here we finally are roughly 3,650 days later with new material under the title The Unholy Communion.


Straight up death metal from Sweden, no gimmickry or cheap tricks to be found here, instead we have romping ass fucking riffs, drums that have more fills than a phone-book and a festering spew of vocals. Without scruples, this is one of the best traditional sounding death metal albums I've heard all year, it has all my laurels and admiration… And once I'm finished over playing Hordes - II I'll probably spin this quite a bit.

This album further augments my infatuation for graveyards, kinda like Misfits did back in the day.

Verminous - The Unholy Communion

Sun Worship - Surpass Eclipse (2013)

Sun Worship of Germany got in touch with me about a month or so ago, asking me if I would be interested in reviewing Surpass Eclipse for SHOM. They offered to send me their vinyl in the mail, which built up a significant amount of pre-cum because I knew this was an album that would sound incredible on vinyl. And it does…

Upon receiving the package in my mail, the first thing I noticed was a note attached thanking me for taking the time to listen to their record, really it was I who should be thanking them. The second thing I noticed was how rad the packaging was; The artwork is printed with metallic bronze ink on a thick textured cobalt grey card stock (Patrick Bateman would go off on this), and the 180g vinyl itself is adorned with a super sweet illustration silk screen on it! It's quite unique from all my other records, which for any type of collector or elitist dickhead alike, is appreciated.

Sun Worship sound like the end of days, playing a blend of ambient (post) black metal that has a few coats of noise drenched in the mix. Nothing is crystal clear, nothing is overly polished nor anything overly dominant in the mix. They have hit black metal equilibrium, they have put the proverbial nail in the coffin with this EP. Two tracks spanning for 15 minutes of aphoristic black metal; Beautifully spiraling riffs which sometimes hoist that 'nekro sound' and at other times that whirring ambient sound, and drums that are bulky which I find to be quite unique bit effective within their sound. Don't be surprised to hear riffs that would make Godspeed You! Black Emperor or Krallice turn a shade of red from blushing.

Surpass Eclipse comes highly recommended, support these dudes anyway you can. I'll throw up the Bandcamp with the awesome "name your price" option as well as the option to purchase the vinyl. If you do plan to get the vinyl, let me know, I'm more than sure the band would be willing to sign it in metallic ink along with maybe a scribbled penis or pentagram on it.

Download (Zippyshare)
Bandcamp ("name your price" + Vinyl purchase)

Eibon - II (2013)

Throatruiner is a label that has had my attention and respect, for they consistently put out filthy and engaging albums that are normally spread around for free download. Fucking right Matthias!

Eibon's II; sludgy, doom ladened black metal that crawls and festers between two lengthy tracks – The two colossal tracks dip and swell like a raging monsoon, dragging the listener uncomfortably under its blackened waters… Somehow you submerge, 43 minutes later, weakened and dreary, yet breathing and alive.

What a stupid fucking paragraph to describe an album, I'm not deleting it though, I spent at least 13 minutes writing that, occasionally distracted by my incessant tapping on my laptop and scarfing down roasted almonds… Look's like were both going to have to deal with that shit man.

Eibon's II seems to break the trend of free download though, so either pay your dues on the bands bandcamp or visit the scummery of Metalchesh

Leucosis - S/T (2013)

(Monthly Recap) Leucosis' self-titled album has been out for over a month now, hopefully you already have it, if not, that's why it's here. You would be missing out on one of the strongest releases this year (so far) – I'll repeat that, in bold caps – YOU WOULD BE MISSING OUT ON ONE OF THE STRONGEST RELEASES THIS YEAR CHUMP (I called you a chump because you made me repeat myself).

I thought Pulling Down The Sky was rad, and it was, but this sophomore release really shows the band progress and solidify a sound to call their own. The sound of the drums are my favourite part, they don't sound chunky, they sound fucking obese! The kick plods along with great force, driving a lot of strength and potency into the songs. The vocals aren't quite as suffocated in the mix, but fuck do they still sound ghastly. It definitely is less raw in sound, but still retains this organic element, and more visceral than ever.

I've found this album to sound even better through a good pair of headphones (I use a pair of Shure 425's). I'm not sure whether download links are out there for this, but if you can't afford the 5$ for this, email me (chris_dalessandro@hotmail.com) and I'd be willing to help you out.

Leucosis bandcamp


*In Lieu of total transparency, read what rhythm guitarist Isaac had to say about the S/T in the comment section (Remember, be cognizant that there is always two sides to a story… not to deject what Isaac has said)

Oxtongue - Where The Light Is Mute; Limited test press vinyl

First and foremost, you've really fucked the dog if you haven't heard this album yet. If you are a dweeb and need further convincing, read my original post about the album here.

Holy Mountain Printing recognized this morose cimmerian beast and decided to go ahead and press 300 vinyls of WTLIM! But until the final result, the limited test presses are in, and they are fucking beauty! (Only 5 were made available for sale) I wanted to post this here to give those of you whom I know really dig this release an oppurtunity to put your money where your mouth is… Oh, and there are only a couple left.

Here is the direct link to purchase the record!