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Site closing

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

At this time, I will no longer be updating this site as personal life has intervened for the last 18 months and made this entirely unfeasible to do. The site will continue to run for at least a year or two more for archival reasons but nothing new will be added by me. If someone is willing to pick up the reigns of the site, I will be willing to negotiate.

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As the water envelopes you

Monday, June 30, 2008

The instrumental and stoner/sludge musical arena isn’t a crowded one but its got its own number of very big fish. Guys like ISIS, Neurosis, and Sleep have laid down the very foundation that makes much of this genre what it is today, and for the most part, still drive it. Epic songs full of atmosphere, musicianship, depth, amazing sounscapes, and blow-your-mind riffs. Yorktown Heights’ own Swallow the Ocean enter the genre with gauntlets thrown and full of confidence. And for damned good reason: their debut is heavy and extremely atmospheric. They’re listed as “atmospheric sludge” on Metal Archives, whatever that is. Whoever categorized them as that forgets that most bands in this genre can have that very same title and not be sludgy at all.

Their self-titled debut Swallow The Ocean is insanely heavy. Pounding riffs, soundscapes as big as the Grand Canyon, insightful lyrics. The album weighs in at barely over 27 minutes over 8 tracks, not nearly enough time to wrap your head around these guys and their sound. Their lyrical focus is apparently Christian although, I’ve paid less attention to the lyrics themselves and more how the vocals meld seamlessly into the music as a whole. It shows that they’ve taken great care in crafting their sound while not trying to sound like imitators of ISIS or Neurosis which undoubtedly will happen in this genre — it happens to almost every band playing this atmospheric heavy epic metal.

But how does it sound?

Awesome, that’s how. The album starts off with a 19 second instrumental intro, fairly standard for albums like this. Then you’re straight off into track two, Amphibian. Starting off on the right foot, it’s a pounding guitar riff sweetly laced with bass drum and heavy bass. Bass heavy enough that you’re hearing the strings hit, this isn’t something you get everyday as most bands back filter bass lines to simply be a part of the overall rhythm or timing but not these guys. Will Zuconni is a fantastic bassist, we need more guys like him. Amphibian’s lyrical focus is an interesting one. The song starts out about men evolving into amphibians and growing gills and becoming one with the ocean then starts off into ascendancy to Heaven but being turned away, probably because man grew gills. It sounds like a devolution story to atone for sins, but man seems to not want to go (ed. – I’ve gotten a note from Rory in STO that the lyrics are not Christian in nature as I originally had written) But the music, it’s amazing. Throbbing bass the entire time, spotlighted in the bridge segue halfway through, and a monotone but driving lead guitar rhythm. This is a great way to start an album if you ask me, it pulls no musical punches instrumentally and widens the soundscape during the bridge with a beautiful synth piece that’s backgrounded.

Track three, Dancing Upon A Sunken Vessel, starts out with some mournful bells and sounds much like an old wharf or dock may, lending to the overall theme of the band’s name and their oceanic premise. They then interlace the bells more and more with guitars and high hats, ramping up to the song itself. This song continues track two’s heavy but almost somber feel with heavy riffs and non-stop high hat action, intermixed with some serious blastbeats that are set further into the soundscape’s background. Vocal styles sway from typical growls to some heavy/soft mixes. For the song’s laid back mid-tempo, it all works. The song gives you a feeling of the ebb and flow of the ocean itself, segues slowing you down as you ebb back and forth from heavy riffing and throbbing bass. The next track Latitude continues this formula by actually continuing the previous song’s outro with a reverse mix and a shrill continuation of a high chord, it’s a short segue track to number 5. I would say that Sink or Swim ramps up the tempo but it’s a solid mid-tempo song spotlighted with a great drum-centric intro straight into heavy vocals and the same/similar guitar riff that’s been a constant current throughout the previous tracks. There’s a definite pattern to the songs but I wouldn’t say they’re formulaic but I can see that Swallow The Ocean planned these songs as a continuous listening session, something that takes a lot of balls and planning.

After track two, Amphibian, it seems like the lyrics of each successive song revolve around a never-ending battle with Satan and/or sin. However, the lyrics of Sink or Swim seem to revolve around the lack of a savior but choosing to roaming the sea floor for eternity. Since I don’t have a printed sheet of the lyrics around and Amphibian’s lyrics are the only ones officially published, I’m taking guessing at lyrical themes here. I would’ve gone for a more Leviathan/Kraken villain but that may be too cliche for this nautical-themed album.

Hands Folded, Eyes to the Sky, track seven, is definitely the most laid back track on the album. For about two minutes. Then it’s back into pummeling riffs and the heavy high hat action although the bass lines have definitely taken a bigger backseat in the latter half of the album. Fast forward to about 4 minutes and you’re treated to more up-tempo guitars where the band really shines on the culmination of the entire album, it’s definitely a climax that you’d want to leave the listener with. Huge riffs with vocals all over the place, they lay it all on the line in their oceanic battle. The final track, It’s Safe To Sleep Now, is the somber and appropriate outro to an album that never gets too fast and heavy but stays right in the middle of too slow and face-shredding fast. Two blissful minutes of synths and feedback.

Overall, the musicianship on this entire album is astounding for a young band. This post-metal progressive sound melded with a great theme envelope the listener, giving them an idea of what a bad ass metal ocean may sound like at any given time. They’ve got a huge sound that lacks a lot of distortion or feedback but still manages to sound huge, tsunami huge. Great segues with slow and cool to blasting riffs that never teeter too far on the speed gauge. If you’re a fan of guys like Rosetta (and you damn well should be) or ISIS, you will pick up Swallow The Ocean’s self-titled debut from Forgotten Empire Records and feel right at home sonically. I highly recommend this album.

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Reviews are currently on hold

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

So about 3 weeks ago, the DVD drive in my computer went out and I haven’t been able to get a new one. I’ve got a few new discs to review but I haven’t been able to listen to them long enough since I have no way to rip them to a more portable digital format. I hope to be buying a new one soon, hopefully this weekend. After that, new reviews!

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Splitting Death

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

A new three-way death grind split just landed in my mail box and I was eager to bleed my ears with it! This is a three-way split between Bile Nephrosis, Dash The Brain Out, and Corpse Disfigurement called Groove of Death. The split is supposedly a mix of death metal and goregrind but really, it’s pretty much all grindcore. Bile Nephrosis is a three piece according to their Myspace profile, with one member programming the drum machine along with guitar duties. Thailand’s own Dash The Brain Out are another three piece while Corpse Dismemberment is a one man project. Why any grind band that’s nothing more than a drum machine, a guitar, and a singer has to be three people is beyond me. The split is just over 28 minutes with 18 tracks, average run time of around 1:45. With a three way split, I expect some face melting, ball searing grind.

Unfortunately, I didn’t really get any of that. The first 6 tracks are from Bile Nephrosis and are very drum machine-heavy and I can’t reason why they’re a three piece. The tracks are sort of middle-of-the-road death grind, more grind than death with that blazing drum machine, with guttural vocals and fairly straightforward but boring guitar lines. I’ve been listening to a lot of grind in the last year and I’m fairly let down by all 6 tracks, they’re too generic. You feel like you’ve heard this stuff somewhere before and changes are, you probably have. For a second, I thought Mortician dropped a bunch of ecstasy and made a new album. I was almost disappointed that it wasn’t them. Frankly, these 6 tracks are forgettable as they all sound very similar with the exception of track 6, Repeatophile, using a stock sample from some movie and then it blasts into a song that doesn’t such as much as the other five as it sounds like they actually tried. This is their stand out track. It’s a decent mix of programmed drums with an actual melody slapped right in the middle of the track. How this one track trumps the other five is beyond me. Again, comparisons to Mortician come to mind.

Tracks seven through thirteen are from Dash The Brain Out and instead of being tracks they simply put on a split album from their back catalogue, this sounds like they just put a whole album on it. A roughly 7 minute album but hey, it’d be a full grind EP. This stuff just starts off right: blistering programmed drums and extremely modulated pitchshifted vocals. This is more of what I was expecting from the first six tracks. While it’s not the best goregrind out there, it’s definitely fast and ear splitting. Due to the track length, each song is over before you know it but there’s plenty of down-tuned crunchy guitar riffs and drumming that sounds like it could come from a real drummer, that’s a plus in my book. Dash The Brain Out’s fifth track, Blood of Her Vaginal, is a stand out track with punishing guttural vocals and a drum track that simply slays. It’s fast and on the verge of ear bleeding. The next track Grind De Killer is a mid-tempo number that was over before I realized it was another track but its drum line is simply pummeling. Their final track weighs in at nearly 4 minutes, entitled Untra Sound Exsamination. Yeah, I don’t get the title but they’re from Thailand so I don’t expect an excellent English title. However, it’s 3:40 of hyper tempo black metal-influenced speed guitar riffs and mile-a-minute drum programming. I enjoy the track but its length does start to grate on you since the track doesn’t really vary from the first minute to the third. Overall, this is a much better place to start listening to the album than the beginning.

The final band on the split is Corpse Dismemberment which is one guy with his drum machine and a guitar. It’s five tracks of sheer speed and modulated vocals but has very decent production values, the best on the split honestly. Mike Neste, the band’s sole member, started the band only a year ago and he sounds like a seasons grind pro which unfortunately, isn’t saying much. I wish I could say there’s a number of influences here at work but really, there’s not. A lot of grind sounds almost identical and this is no exception but for some reason, I like it quite a bit. Punchy hyper tempo programmed drums through all five tracks, pit of hell guttural lyrics, and down-tuned guitar riffs. Again, this isn’t really stand out stuff and this is the band’s first appearance on an album but I get the feeling it’ll get better as time goes on. Best track of the five? It’s Corpse Dismemberment’s last track, A Vile Disgust. It has a searing bass line that doesn’t quit and has some different vocal stylings on it than the other tracks which really gives it a good deal of variety but almost on the verge of being a “kitchen sink” song. Almost too varied but it shows that Mike can be more than a one trick pony. I’ll be keeping an eye on this band as I expect some good releases from them in the future.

Overall, this is a pretty generic three-way split between two decent bands and one that’s not very good. I found the beginning of the split to be nothing but a letdown but that’s how it is with grind, extremely hit or miss. Almost anyone can make grindcore and it’ll sound similar to their peers but it takes a lot of work to make something good, something stand out. Truthfully, skip over the first five tracks and save yourself a few minutes of listening time. Both offerings from Dash The Bran Out and Corpse Dismemberment show promise but each band’s catalogue is a bit thin at the moment so there’s not a lot to compare with for variety or signs of growth. The split was released by Gut of Dash The Brain Out’s own label Darkroom Productions and in roughly 100 copies so if you want a copy, trust me, there won’t be many left. I guess two out of three ain’t bad.

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Bringing Adelaide’s Thunder

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

South Australia’s A Red Dawn have been busy making a name for themselves in the Aussie scene since they started busting some skulls in 2004. The quartet formed from the dissolved remains of Embryonic Soul and Counterfit. Their Myspace profile clearly states they’re not in this to gain ’scene points’ or conduct mindless breakdowns. As they say “You had me at hello.” A Red Dawn play straightforward Aussie death metal infused with a hardcore mentality, lyrically. Since busting into the scene in 2004, they’ve toured with some of Australia’s biggest names including The Jonestown Syndicate, another favorite of mine. Currently they’re playing support for Psycroptic’s upcoming Australia tour. If it’s anything like the few times I’ve seen Psycroptic play, it’ll be one hell of a brutal show.

Their latest EP, aptly named A Need to Defy, was recently released via Australia’s own Truth Inc. Records. Can’t say they picked a bad label with stellar label mates such as Black Like Vengeance. The EP’s name is appropriate as A Red Dawn are setting themselves up as forerunners of the South Australian metal scene with up tempo riffs, thunderous drum lines, and brutal vocals handled by singer Wayno. The EP weighs in at just a hair over 20 minutes and 5 tracks, averaging 4 minutes in length, not bad for a sophomore demo. The album starts off with a mid tempo intro to Smoke, Mirrors, & A Razorblade, aside from the double kick drum, it’s got a nice jazzy feel to it. Then you’re immediately showered with a flurry of strong riffs, up tempo blast beats and Wayno’s own mix of metalcore’s good cop/bad cop vocal stylings — but don’t worry, there’s no girly singing here, it’s all guttural from start to finish.

The first track is a nice introduction to the band as it’s not too fast but not mid tempo enough to sound cookie cutter, it’s got a very nice hardcore feel to it. The lyrics of all the songs have a hardcore feel to them as well, empowerment and not backing down in the face of adversity. Track two, Draw the Line, is possibly my favorite from this all too short EP. Between upper mid tempo pacing and less-blast-beats-more-cymbals, the band intelligently mixes in some sweet time signature changes with a very jazz-influenced — and technical death metal-influenced — guitar-heavy chorus. It’s not entirely free-form but there’s definitely a hint of more to come on future albums, I’m sure. Between these interludes, which are on almost every song, A Red Dawn have masterfully paced each track to drive you forward only to pull you back and slow you down with the chorus. These down-tuned choruses must be their version of the breakdowns so prevalent in many bands today. Jazzy, crunchy, drop D choruses? Bring’em on, they’re excellent.

Each track flows well into the next with track three, The Harbinger, bringing you face first to Aussie brutality and speed and tossing you into track four’s technical-influenced and slowed intro. Wish Yourself to Death may start off slow but it’s a track of ebbs and flows, hyping you up only to drop you dead on their technical hardcore-styled chorus. Another excellent track, I want to hear more like this from them in the future. The track takes you out on some seriously blazing kick drum blasts that, while not the fastest, sure as hell kick you in the teeth. These guys lace every track with a little groove and a lot of bloody punches, a beautiful mix for Australian death metal.

When you hear the EP The Need to Defy, you’ll be sad that it’s a mere five tracks but more than happy at its constantly changing pace and time signatures with the band mates’ own personal musical influences shining through on every track. This album takes me back a few years when Florida’s technical death metal scene was in full swing and the bands cared about their music first and foremost. No one down here wanted to fit into a mold and A Red Dawn certainly don’t fit the mold of their Aussie brethren who, outside black metal and one of the sickest grind scenes on the planet, are busy one upping each other with tight pants and two step breakdowns.

If you’re in Australia, pay these guys a visit on their summer tour and prepare to get pummeled. If you’re not down under, grab the album from Amazon. You won’t be disappointed.

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From the bleak, comes the “new”

Thursday, April 17, 2008

There are some things that just cannot be stopped and black metal is one of those forces. Much of the black metal I’ve listened to in the last year has sounded remarkably similar, hence why I’ve tried to review so little of it after July 2007. It wasn’t hard to tell albums apart but it was getting increasingly difficult to find truly distinguishing characteristics amongst my CDs. While the Scandinavian scene is busy producing cookie cutter bands, the US black metal scene has been chugging along quite nicely. Especially prominent is the still growing ambient black metal scene. Much of this music is coming from the Midwest — the Bible Belt, no surprises here — and is blowing the pants off of the Scandinavians right now. My current new CD is In The Falling Snow by Illinois one-man bleak-fest I Shalt Become.

I Shalt Become is a band of questionable band status; since it’s a one-man outfit an infinite hiatus without disbanding is common. Neither their Myspace nor Metal Archives gives much of a hint on what the band is up to these days. When reading over other reviews of this CD, what’s most prominent is the many references and comparisons to NSBM bands such as Drudkh or Burzum or Graveland. I can see the valid references to Drudkh or Burzum, but Graveland? Not so much. The mid period Burzum influence is immediately noticeable, from the sheer bleakness of the soundscape to the “lyrics” of groans and screams. Physical instrumentation has taken a backseat to programmed drums and samples, this is expected in ambient black metal. The album In The Falling Snow is a tad under 35 minutes and flows over 10 tracks. One review I read said the tracks stretched into “nearly epic proportions”, but don’t let this fool you. Only the second track Burning actually passes the 6 minute mark, the title track is the only other track to surpass 5 minutes. I wouldn’t call this epic by any means. Given the number of tracks, it’s an average of 3:50 per track, fairly on par for short LPs. But I digress.

Over the span of ten tracks, I played the album three times through without noticing it had actually looped. Normally, I’d be a bit ticked off since I’d be able to tell the album doesn’t cleanly flow together but this one does. The outro flows seamlessly into the intro and all tracks segue into each other nicely. As I stated, the drums are programmed and there are samples here and there. This is bleak and depressing music so don’t expect dual guitar lines or hyper tempo drumming. Their American peers such as Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice, Nightbringer all have similar misanthropic and downright dreary albums. This is the stuff I love. Bands like I Shalt Become may be blips on the global BM radar but these guys end up influencing someone and that’s what makes this album so good. Their reach may not extend past US soil but the incestuous nature of the USBM scene will ensure their music gets out. Each track is infused with fuzzy feedback and has a crusty feel to it, lending to the dirty and depressing feeling portrayed by S. Holliman (that has to be a stage moniker). It’s very hard for me to pick out a truly standout track as I don’t think it’s really possible, this isn’t a track-for-track album, it’s about a soundscape of solitude and utter despair. I’m not saying a favorite couldn’t be picked out, I just think it’d be a poor choice to do so since each song is intertwined with the others.

From what I gather, this album was released in January 2008 but there has been some confusion as to whether In The Falling Snow is an I Shalt Become album or a Birkenau demo/bootleg (Holliman’s other “defunct” project). Either way, it’s a stellar and depressing album released on No Colours Records but they may no longer be in stock. Finding any of I Shalt Become’s releases is difficult enough so hopefully NCR still has some in stock because I highly suggest you buy it if possible. You will not be disappointed when all you want is something depressing on a rainy, death hallowed night.

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Back again…again

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Yes, I’m back again, promising more reviews. Of course, the last time I did that was September 2007 and I haven’t written one since then. It’s the same litany of excuses, though they have not changed with one exception. I’m busy with school although I’m almost done with this semester and I’ve got an active concert season coming up so I’m ramping up for more reviews, for real this time.

I’ve already got two or three sitting in my pending queue, waiting for publishing, I’m just waiting to put the finishing spins on them. I said that last time as well but these are actually written, I promise that. There’s wind of some old band favorites of mine putting their new albums together slowly or albums I’ve been waiting on for a while. I haven’t been buying many CDs lately mainly because I’m poor and school makes me even more poor.

Reviews will be coming.

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From Pennsylvania, with Hate

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

When I think of the cold frigid, bleak north I don’t typically think of Pennsylvania. Of course, I also don’t think of black metal, I think progressive metal and hip hop. However, a one-man hate machine has spawned from the unholy depths of somewhere in Pennsylvania in the form of Satanic Dirge, the latest artist to hit my desk. Outfitted by Wight, the band play quite the modern yet kvlt mix of US black metal, with tracks ranging from atmospheric and ambient to more mainstream and orchestra-laden. The album Tribulation is the only full length so far put out by Wight although a demo was released back in 2005 and then re-released by Burnt Oak Productions.

Despite the fact that Wight’s probably younger than I am, the press pack sent to me was still professionally put together. Complete with press release, the CD looked to had been professionally labeled although I was very surprised to find out it was actually a Lightscribe’d CD label. Call me fooled but if it weren’t for the slimline jewel case, I would have sworn it was from a small label, given the attention to detail of the CD itself and the press release even though it was lacking a catalog number. Seems my disc was number 10 of the batch Wight’s put out as indicated by the handwritten number on my liner notes, something the collector in me loves to see. I’m sure his next release, due out sometime next year, will have improved aesthetics over this CD although I can only imagine the next step would be professional production of it. Off to the real guts of the release.

Tribulation is a 10 track blister pack. I remarked to Wight in an email that I was surprised this was a one-man show given the tightness of the songs and the overall production. Each song sounds very well engineered and produced, they do not sound like they were recorded inside a garbage can inside a frozen garage that is so commonplace in underground black metal. The production on this album is fantastic. It starts off with Venom which pummels you with drum machine blasts from the start that are unrelenting and could play out well if Wight ever wanted a session drummer for live shows. With an overall mid-paced tempo, this gives the song a lot of room to work from guitars to Wight’s subdued — via production — vocals to the powerful choruses composed only of drawn out wails. The riffs are strong and if you didn’t pay attention, you’d think the drums track was done by some of the best in the business, it’s a great way to begin a debut full length album. Each track from then on is strong, each showing progressive tendencies. There are two interludes on the disc to help break up the incredible tracks and give your ears a quick release from the pummeling drums.

Track 5, Stages of Rapture, begins the album’s somber slide into depressive and melancholic black metal intermixed with blackened ambient. Given the first half of the album and the second half, if there were a few more songs of each style, this could easily be released as a two disc set; one disc the up tempo and hate-filled black metal, the second filled with despair and despondent suicide dirges. While each song after track 5 has some upbeat/up tempo bridges, they have an overall dark feel that’s best listened to on a bleak day. Perhaps my least favorite track is number 7, Torrent of Souls. That’s not to say it’s a bad song, I’ve just got a library full of songs just like it. The track is slow, brooding, mechanical and makes you want to kill yourself. Its strong use of organs overlapped with a slight amount of reverb give the track a destitute and doomy feel which I do like however, I do have songs very similar to this on other CDs and it’s like I’ve heard the song before. This is nothing against Wight himself, I just own a lot of melancholy black metal similar to Torrent of Souls. The next track Aerial View continues this downward spiral into nothingness with an even slower tempo, just above cold molasses that you’d find in Pennsylvania in December. Atmospheric, doomy, utterly slow, hateful, excellent score. Once again, there’s a good use of organs in this track that really add to the overall depressing feel of the latter half of the album. Clocking in at 7:51, it’s definitely a doom inspired song that Wight could play out on a concept album.

The album itself closes out with Chaos, a 15 minute candle burner, best played alone in the solitude of your own depression. Since the album took a swift turn from faster paced black metal to black ambient/doom, it’s an excellent choice of closing track. Satan himself would be proud to have something so hateful played on his own stereo.

At 10 tracks, this CD is just shy of 60 minutes with an average track time in the neighborhood of 6 minutes. Each track does well to showcase Wight’s abilities and talent as a multi-instrumentalist. From mainstream black metal to misanthropic elegies, the songs are well varied and keep the listener’s attention with relative ease. The first half of the album is mid-fast tempo black metal with progressive elements scattered throughout while the latter half is straight to the doom/ambient depressive tempo. I’ll be waiting with abated breath for the next Satanic Dirge album entitled Revelation which should be out in early/mid 2008.

You can purchase this album from Wight himself at satanicdirge.com or Satanic Dirge on Myspace.

Filed in BLACK METAL, CD, REVIEW, USBM | | Comments (1)

Is this The Finest Grind?

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Grindcore’s one of those genres you either love or hate, there’s absolutely no in between. Between pitch shifted pig vocals and insane tempoes, grind makes most people want to slam their head through a wall over and over. Aside from underground black metal, grind is probably the least accessible genre of metal that I have ever heard. So what makes it so damn amazing to listen to? For me, it’s the Mach 2 tempoes and subject matter. It’s always nice to put on a pornogrind album and laugh at the samples and whatever lyrics you can understand. Seriousness is not one of grindcore’s finer points and this is really where some good material comes from. Take New Jersey’s own DANNYTANNER. Named after the famous dad from a very popular 90s family sitcom, who would expect anything serious from these guys?

Well, everyone should. Despite the name, the silly cover art on The Finest Grind, and the samples, DANNYTANNER mean business. The lyrical content of all the songs is political in nature, even if you cannot understand them. Lyrics aside, the music is better than your average grindcore album. Like many bands, DANNYTANNER make use of a drum machine instead of an actual drummer to pound out their blast beats and every song have strong jazz and progressive influences. The album starts off like just about any other: fast and in your face. The riffs are set to obliterate and the drum machine is working overtime to get you hooked into listening. At least, this is exactly how I got hooked onto them from their Myspace page. They go beyond the typical grind template and infuse something real into their music. There is a lot of melody put into tracks like The Running Monk or Nonexistant (sic) and the jazz influences shine through on the latter parts of the album. Further going beyond the typical grind template, their track lengths range from 39 seconds to just over 3 minutes, quite a marathon length in grindcore terms.

Each half of DANNYTANNER make sure that the engineering is a top priority and that everything sounds right. I don’t have my CD in front of my right now however, I do believe that the CD was self recorded and engineered but not self mixed. I love this CD and have played it quite a bit since receiving one of the first copies to be sent out (iTunes says roughly 10 plays for the CD and about double that for playtime in my car). There’s really only one issue I have with the CD is the sound quality of the latter tracks. I understand that this was mostly self recorded however, in the latter tracks there are some serious volume normalization issues. Take the last track of the album 1/16 for example. It has a much louder recorded volume than any other song on the album. The last three songs on the album have appeared on other compilations and EPs before this album came out so it’s understandable that DANNYTANNER did not re-record these tracks and instead used the previous masters. But this has caused the audio problem that has me constantly lowering the volume at the end of the CD which is a real shame since this is where I feel the band really shows strength and potential. The 10th track off The Finest Grind is Overhwleming Profit Margins and is probably my favorite track. Judging by their Myspace plays, it’s their 3rd most popular track. It’s got a nice segue early in the song that tricks you right before Chris Netta unleashes some serious riffs that’ll melt your face. However, it’s that short segue that show some real progression in the band. It’s very short but shows that DT have influences outside the sphere of metal and are more than willing to put those influences to work.

Overall, sound issues aside, this CD is vying for my top5 of 2007 so far. I’ve heard a lot of grind this year but frankly, nothing has come close to the sheer level of face shredding, ear bleeding, or rocking out that DANNYTANNER have spit forth in their 23 minute full length The Finest Grind. The CD was only pressed in a run of 500 copies so hit them up on Myspace for a copy and prepare to shred. Now I’m just waiting for UNCLE JESSE to release a disc.

Filed in CD, GRINDCORE, REVIEW | | Comments (8)

Departure is such a haunting action

Monday, July 9, 2007

Doom metal has never reached a massive audience here in the States like it has in the UK and Europe. There are powerhouse bands out there such as My Dying Bride, Saint Vitus, early Paradise Lost, and even the mighty Black Sabbath. These bands have laid down the groundwork for doom as we know it today and some such as My Dying Bride are still at the forefront of it. However, they’re no longer alone. The cabal of doomsters grows every week with some sliding into comfy cookie cutter role and some choose to do their own thing. And the latter is just what Illinois-based Novembers Doom have done. They’re spearheading the doom/death movement in the US and probably in the rest of the world as well.

Their unique blend of death metal growls and grunts meld so perfectly with the somber tones of doom metal. One minute it’s in-your-face death metal splendor, the next it’s quiet and all to relaxing dreary doom riffs taking you to a darker place. They’ve been in the doom scene for nearly 20 years with a pretty regular release schedule of one album nearly every two years. While not at the beginning of the movement, they certain were around at the formation of the second wave of doom in the late 80s. Not content with the dreary (pun intended) state of doom when they formed, they intended to blend in death metal influences such as blazing riffs, tight up tempo double bass drumming and guttural vocals and they succeeded where many have failed. Their 2005 release The Pale Haunt Departure is a testament to their well honed craft.

Released by The End Records, the album hit the ground running with excellent reviews all around. Some christened them doom’s Opeth however, I do not feel this is appropriate just because vocal stylings may be similar but the aesthetics and thematics of both bands are vastly in different universes. If one wanted to try and make this austere link, they would be attributed to mid-period Opeth in terms of musicianship and writing. However, I’m not going to try and make this link.

The album The Pale Haunt Departure hits you full speed from the first track which just happens to also be the title track. Opening with a quick choral intro, double tempo drumming kicks in almost immediately and sets the pace for the rest of the song. Next drop the crunchy guitar riffs, perfectly distorted, in part of the build up to the first verse. The lyrics do well to echo the album’s rather creepy farm-based cover art, but is truly talking about the rise of man and his eventual death. As with most doom lyrics, if they’re interpreted a certain way, they seem to deal with Christian undertones quite often. This is not always the case however, it is rather frequent when reading a lyric sheet. In the latter quarter of the song there is an excellent drum/guitar bridge mirroring the opening barrage. Excellent way to start an album.

This in-your-face tempo is not always the speed at which the album chooses to progress. Case in point track number three, Autumn Reflection. This actually starts off like most doom songs do: slow, dreary, kind of boring with a lone three cord guitar bridge to intro the song with. When Paul Kuhr starts in with the lyrics, it cements the typical doom sound until Vito Marchese steps in with more distorted guitars and steps up the tempo a bit. The tempo of the song switches from mid tempo during choruses and some bridges and segues into slow and sombre during other bridges and the verses. So far, the album is a good mix of their hard-hitting doom/death and more true to style doom metal. The up-and-down nature of these songs continues throughout the CD both showcases how well the band is progressing how much they’re trying to out out varied music. In their earlier efforts, most of the disc — if not all of it — was comprised of similarly tempoed songs and variation was low on the radar. While this variation is great and very welcomed, it can really give listeners a mixed bag of results. Many people are listening to doom for something slow and dreary or listen to doom death for dreary growling, they don’t want both.

I really like the progression that the band is taking and it’s thrusting them into more mainstream waters but they must take care to not alienate the fans that got them to where they are now. The Pale Haunt Departure is a real rollercoaster with a healthy mix of doom and death metal sure to please fans new to the band. However, this is a potential stopping point for the seasoned fans who remember the band when any given track could lull you to sleep or into a depression and do not like this new direction the band has been heading in for some time now. While the songs are not interchangeable, some of them could be mistaken for others at first listen. I thoroughly enjoyed the record and can understand the progression from earlier works and highly recommend this for first time listeners of the band.

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