War of Ages - Arise & Conquer

by Cosmo Lee

Orthodoxy is so relative. For example, right now American politics are almost suffocatingly Christian. On the other hand, metal is almost suffocatingly anti-Christian, to the point where it's rebellious to be Christian. It's ironic how rebellion against orthodoxy in one context only creates more orthodoxy in another. Perhaps the metal thing to do is to have no metal at all: to walk one's own path.

Generational Curse
The Deception of Strongholds

As for Christianity/anti-Christianity in metal, I could care less. There are good and bad bands of both stripes. I'm against Christianity, but I'm just as against the small-minded mentality that one somehow makes a statement by flashing a pentagram. Allowing oneself to be defined by one's enemy is a poor war tactic. There's no Satan without a God; to wage war on monotheism, step one should be to deny the validity of the entire system and be atheist. The whole Christian vs. Muslim conflict is a gigantic, unfunny joke; it's really a deadly game of shadow boxing that will probably annihilate the human race. Serve Satan, or serve no master? For me, the choice is clear.

Rant aside, War of Ages are a Christian band I can get behind (except for the Christian part). Being basically Killswitch Engage meets Lamb of God (in the true sense of that phrase), they're not a band I should like. Indeed, they've taken a few albums to warm up. Their new record, Arise & Conquer (Facedown, 2008), is their best to date, mainly because they've finally turned the guitars loose metal-wise. They've essentially become a Swedish melodic death metal band - one of the best I've heard in a while. I can't stop listening to this record. The solos and harmonies are just so juicy. This album easily matches up against, say, the latest Soilwork or In Flames records. Perhaps that's not saying much. These guys, though, have a fire that their inspirations lost years ago.

I've interviewed singer Leroy Hamp on three separate occasions, and each time he was completely personable, articulate, and, most importantly, critical-thinking about his beliefs. I don't agree with them, but I appreciate anyone of any creed who can carry an open dialogue. If more people were like him, humanity wouldn't be as doomed to certain extinction. Maybe spiritually he's my enemy, but maybe I should also stop thinking of people as enemies. That mentality got us into this mess in the first place.

Buy:
Facedown

Austrian Death Machine - Total Brutal

by Cosmo Lee

The idea of an Arnold Schwarzenegger-themed band isn't new. The Bay Area's Arnocorps and Finland's Goretorture got there first, and Graf Orlock has deployed many an Arnold sample. But Austrian Death Machine is the first to truly embody what Arnold is about: the one-liner. All that brawn, that über-warrior-ness condensed into a stupidly brilliant bon mot. Think about it - if Arnold had a band, it wouldn't be Arnocorps (middling rock/metal), Goretorture (unintelligible death metal), or Graf Orlock (ass-kicking but unintelligible grindcore). It would be big, dumb metalcore, full of breakdowns and circle pits. More importantly, one-liners would be the choruses. They would be shouted ad nauseum until drilled into you like Benny's demise in Total Recall - which gets its own song here, the anthem "Screw You (Benny)."

Get to the Choppa
Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers
All of the Songs Sound the Same

In fact, all the songs are anthems. How could they not be? "Get to the Choppa!" "Who Is Your Daddy and What Does He Do?" "If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It!" You already know the choruses. Austrian Death Machine may be a joke band by Tim Lambesis, but I enjoy it much more than his real band, As I Lay Dying. He's billed it as a pure testosterone-fest, which is only mostly true. The exoskeleton is Hatebreed-style metalcore, but the insides are surprisingly meaty for songs supposedly written in under an hour each. In "I Am a Cybernetic Organism, Living Tissue Over (Metal) Endoskeleton," Lambesis lets fly singing that recalls Fear Factory's glory days. Guest guitarists contribute solos to great effect. "Come with Me if You Want to Live" has a smoking break from Killswitch Engage's Adam Dutkiewicz, while "Get to the Choppa" and "Screw You (Benny") sport Dave Mustaine-esque leads from Jason Suecof. (It's nice to hear his playing again - when's the next Capharnaum record coming out???)

While musically robust, this record is really about the cheese factor. Today in the shower, I found myself singing "Rubber baby! Rubber baby! Rubber baby buggy bumpers!" I never sing along to songs, much less in the shower. These jams are that catchy. Best of all, Total Brutal (Metal Blade, 2008) is punctuated by interludes of "Arnold" speaking. Whoever they got to impersonate Arnold is amazing. The record opens with almost a minute and a half of acappella Arnold, and the impression is dead-on. I practically know all the interludes by heart. Add over-the-top artwork by Ed Repka, and you have a brilliantly stupid masterpiece. Top 20 for me this year, easily.

Buy:
Amazon (MP3)
Austrian Death Machine (CD, brutal apparel)

Devin Townsend, DEP, Dub Trio, and more

Devin Townsend

I've published 22 pieces since my last update a month ago. I've also started to write for Pitchfork. Both are somewhat ridiculous propositions, I realize, so I don't even know where to start. Just look at the sidebar and see if anything appeals to you. If you think all that will take a while to read - imagine the time it took to write it. I'm particularly proud of my Landmine Marathon live review. It's the first thing I've written in a long, long time that I actually enjoy reading.

Devin Townsend - By Your Command (excerpt)
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Milk Lizard

Despite all this, I'm already horribly behind on 2008 releases, and hopelessly so for 2007. And the other day, I saw some metal site's top 10 lists for 2006, and realized I hadn't heard the vast majority of those picks. Fie! You'd think it were a crime to listen to records more than once. Devin Townsend and The Dillinger Escape Plan added to my ever-expanding list of Top X records I didn't hear last year. Both appeal to me for their humor - Townsend, for his hilarious space opera about an alien in search of the ultimate cup of coffee, and DEP, for essentially cloning Faith No More, who were always winking and nodding at something, even if you never knew what it was.

Animosity, Impaled, Marblebog, Hirax, etc.

Last year, as a goodwill gesture to hometown fans, Animosity played a free show in a San Francisco park. I wasn't there, but the event was captured on video (see above). It's so San Francisco, from the decidedly mixed crowd to the incongruity of death metal outside on a rainy afternoon. Dig the guitarists' matching Stryper-esque Alexi Laiho Flying V's. The video's sound seems to come not from the gig, but from a demo. I've posted the final version of the song, "You Can't Win," from Animosity's Animal, which I've reviewed here.

Animosity - You Can't Win
Impaled - G.O.R.E.
Marblebog - I Am the Forest Heart (excerpt)

At Metal Injection, I've reviewed South Carolina deathcore-rs Through the Eyes of the Dead and Hungarian black metallers Marblebog. At Decibel, I've reviewed Bay Area goremasters Impaled and Danish death metallers Corpus Mortale. I've also started writing for All Music Guide, so the sidebar gallery will see more flux now. Of the latest batch of records I reviewed, the highlight was Hirax's The New Age of Terror, my favorite post-'80s thrash album.

Also new in the sidebar, some additions to the blogroll - Driftglass (aka Forrest Norvell, an astute musical polyglot), I'm the Most Important Fucking Person in the World (focusing on the heavy and hairy), MetalJazz (does as advertised), Metal Jew (aka Keith Kahn-Harris, author of Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge), and Umlaut (aka Brian Lew, who did the legendary Umlaut zine; he was there back in thrash's heyday, and his blog has amazing firsthand accounts of Metallica, Slayer, and Ruthie's Inn).

High on Fire, Glorior Belli, Inked in Blood, etc.

High on Fire

When I saw High on Fire recently, I was astounded by the number of females in the crowd. Only Enslaved in Berlin had more girls - go figure. Actually, I kind of get that. Europeans invented metal, so it's in their blood. There, black metallers actually have Norwegian names, and girls go to the local Saturn (the German equivalent of Best Buy) in full metal gear, spikes and all, and shop in the "Hard 'n' Heavy" section like it ain't a thang. I think I just gave myself a boner.

High on Fire - Rumors of War
Glorior Belli - Sinister Resonance
Inked in Blood - Somewhere Familiar
Sebastian Bach - Back in the Saddle (feat. Axl Rose)

In American record stores, though, the only long hair in the metal section is male (admit it, guys - you've checked out fit longhairs before, only to have them turn around and be male - oof). I'd basically resigned my American metal life to "bro'ing down" until I saw High on Fire. There were so many women, it felt almost wrong. It was seriously disconcerting. And they were totally getting down. The sight of a girl throwing the goat is a mighty aphrodisiac indeed.

Here's my theory: girls like 3-over-2 accents. You'd see them raise their fists, as one is wont to do at High on Fire. But Matt Pike's guitar playing is mostly strumming, so there's actually not much to pump your fist to. Drummer Des Kensel is a fucking force of nature, and he's cranking out thrash and d-beats like his singer's named Lindberg. So it's a tug-of-war, this percussive onslaught with mushy strumming and the molten river of distorted bass. Thus during the verses, fists are raised but not pumping. They're just drifting.

But when the 3-over-2 accents come, it's indeed like coming, a simultaneously orgasmic vice grip of synchronicity. Fists pump involuntarily - then go back to drifting. High on Fire probably know this, as they dish out 3-over-2 accents with much greater frequency than any other band. The 3-over-2 accent is normally reserved for punctuation at the end of phrases (e.g., "time for primal concrete sledge"). High on Fire practically write entire songs around 3-over-2 accents. And this is why girls love 'em.

At Metal Injection, I've reviewed High on Fire, as well as French black metallers Glorior Belli and Deathspell Omega, Dutch death metallers Severe Torture, hair metal pinup Sebastian Bach, and the mammoth new live DVD set from AC/DC. At Decibel, I've reviewed ancient thrashers Overkill and Christian metalcore outfit Inked in Blood. The latter surprised me - extremely clichéd good cop/bad cop elements, but arranged with creativity, skill, and passion. It's the most uplifting record I've heard this year, and I find myself returning to it often.

RIP Stylus

Behold...The Arctopus

As you may have heard, Stylus Magazine closes its doors today. However, the site's pages will stay up. My final review for Stylus is of Soilwork's new album (I also have a review of Jesu's Lifeline EP and a dual review of Behold...The Arctopus and Byla & Jarboe). This brings me full circle: my first review for Stylus two and a half years ago was of Soilwork's previous record. Since then, my Stylus portfolio has 116 full-length reviews, 19 features and interviews, and 8 Left Hand Path columns. In total, I've reviewed 226 albums for Stylus.

Aetherius Obscuritas - Víziók
Behold...The Arctopus - Canada
Byla & Jarboe - 10:58 (excerpt)

I never thought I'd do half as many. Writing on metal for an indie rock audience has been an uphill battle. I'm proud of some of my work, embarrassed by lots more, and glad for the chance to sharpen my chops. My fellow Left Hand Path writers Stewart Voegtlin and Todd DePalma are working on a new site, so keep your eyes peeled. Looking back at the old Left Hand Path columns is quite a trip.

Up at Metal Injection, I have reviews of Hungarian one-man black metal band Aetherius Obscuritas, deathcore outfit Whitechapel (my review is drawing an amusing amount of ire), and Paths of Possession, the other band of Cannibal Corpse's George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher.

I don't do this enough - big up the work of other writers. Phil Freeman (The Wire, Village Voice, etc.) has a humorous piece on Marduk for The High Hat. Julie Graf has done a nice interview with The Dillinger Escape Plan for Stylus. The tireless Adrien Begrand has two mammoth pieces for PopMatters, on Ulver and former Gathering singer Anneke van Giersbergen, and on The Heavy Metal Box by Rhino. If anyone has the knowledge and stamina to tackle a 4-disc set that purports to cover heavy metal's history, it's Begrand.

Romans - All Those Wrists

At first Romans' name had me fearing yet another Botch rip-off. But while math meters and spiraling dissonance are present, the band's sound also spans melodic post-hardcore and atmospheric metal. The caustic riffs here contrast nicely with dreamy, wide-eyed textures. Romans would be equally at home on Blackmarket Activities, Hydra Head, and Crucial Blast (labels, take note!). In fact, some of the reverbed, Americana-ish tones recall Crucial Blast band Souvenir's Young America.

All Those Wrists
Carve Up and Give Away

All Those Wrists (self-released, 2007) is this Burlington, VT band's DIY debut. At under 24 minutes, it's more of an EP than a full-length. Brevity is a virtue, though, and leaving me wanting more is a good thing. The track sequencing is incredibly seamless. In fact, the band chopped up passages into separate tracks when it could easily have left them together and called them one track. Thus, this release feels like it has fewer than its 12 tracks. The recording is crisp and punchy, with gnawing guitars and round bass tones.

My only complaint with this disc is that it's too short. I've listened to it many times, and it hasn't lost any luster. Those of you who dug that Aussitôt Mort I posted a few days ago should check this out. To pick up this disc, contact the band via its MySpace.

3 Inches of Blood, Fugazi, Ministry, and more

3 Inches of Blood

Some new writing up - at Metal Injection, I have reviews of film buffs/metalcore-rs Killwhitneydead and Relapse retro thrashers Dekapitator. At Stylus, I have a look back at Fugazi's most underrated record, Steady Diet of Nothing, as well as reviews of the Speed Kills...Again compilation on Heavy Artillery, metal-obsessed rapper Necro, falsetto-fueled 3 Inches of Blood, Ministry's final album (that cover of The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues" is unbelievably banging), Xasthur's excellent latest mopefest, and Bloody Panda, who actually sound like their name - slow, fuzzy, wounded.

3 Inches of Blood - Night Marauders
Ministry - Roadhouse Blues
Xasthur - Cemetery of Shattered Masks

I would never have forecast this, but 3 Inches of Blood's Fire Up the Blades is my favorite metal album this year. Their last record was OK, but they seriously stepped it up this time. I have not had this much fun with metal in a long, long time. Every time I hear this album, goats and invisible oranges start flying and one-man moshpits erupt in my apartment. This is the kind of music that leads to unwise, impulsive tattoos. I'm no danger of being like the guy who got Ken Susi's face tattooed on his ass - but I'm just sayin'.

Resident Evil: Extinction - Soundtrack

I recently saw Resident Evil: Extinction, which I recommend halfheartedly (i.e., one invisible orange). Basically, it's Mad Max with zombies, with the girl from The Ring as an AI hologram (if you program your talking computer to appear as a girl, you'd think you'd make her not so needlessly creepy). I watched the first Resident Evil ages ago, liked it, didn't see the second one, and paid to see this third installment mainly because the silhouette on the poster seemed hot. I know I am not the only person to do so.

Shadows Fall - Stupid Crazy
Chimaira - Paralyzed

There's a storyline - barely - with Milla Jovovich as Mad Max in a desert-fied, post-apocalyptic, zombie-filled world, and Ali Larter leading a band of human survivors. But even though the movie is really about nothing (every character is a stereotype, with almost zero character development), it's entertaining throughout, which is all one can ask for these days from Hollywood. Disappointingly, the zombies are uninteresting (though in one part they have nifty Slipknot-esque jumpsuits), not fast nor smart, but Jovovich does a good job slicing and dicing them up. My three main impressions:

1. Are these movies how Milla Jovovich pays her bills? Poor thing.
2. For a desert-fied, post-apocalyptic, zombie-filled world, Larter's hair and makeup sure are perfect.
3. Why does Jovovich's character wear garters???

"If I hear one more garter joke..."

Like the movie, the soundtrack is a pure commodity. You can practically smell the ink drying on the licensing agreements it took to put this together. There's metal (Shadows Fall, Chimaira), hardcore/metalcore (Poison the Well, Throwdown), and electronic remixes of emo/screamo (The Bled, Flyleaf, Aiden), which aren't that bad, as they're merely new shells on something soulless to begin with. None of this music makes much of a dent on the movie, though Charlie Clouser's catchy main theme does its job throughout.

All this might sound like harsh criticism, but it's really not. I'm happy I saw the movie, if only for Ali Larter's hair. And the soundtrack is a similarly guilty corporate pleasure. With so much variety among the songs (which are all exclusive to this soundtrack), it's basically a mixtape. There's a perverse pleasure in seeing what Shadows Fall does with a song title like "Stupid Crazy." The track is decent, though its Shad-by-numbers and literally just peters out at the end. The drum work at the end is nuts; it's like if Jason Bittner said, "Screw yall's lame riffs, I'll just let it rip." And that descending chromatic riff is so like Megadeth's "Symphony of Destruction." B-movie with an A-movie budget - and the soundtrack follows suit.

Again, the black people die first

I don't normally get into bed with industry types, but free stuff is free stuff - the powers that be at Resident Evil: Extinction are giving away a free prize pack that includes (1) a copy of the soundtrack, (2) a T-shirt, (3) a military-style cap, and (4) a high-gloss poster. For a chance to win, email invisibleoranges at gmail dot com by midnight EST, Friday, October 5, with the subject header "Ali Larter is hot", and the following info: (1) your name, (2) address, and (3) T-shirt size. Giveaway only open to US residents. I will randomly pick a winner, and the powers that be will mail him/her the schwag. I will not share your personal info with anyone else. Simple as that.

Obsidian, Modern Life Is War, Beatallica...

Slowly regaining my productivity - up at Metal Injection, I have a review of Dutch prog death metallers Obsidian. I think I might like them even more than Meshuggah, their most obvious inspiration. At Stylus, I have reviews of the fantastic Modern Life Is War, Beatallica, 108, and the American Nervoso reissue by Botch.

Obsidian - Footprints
Modern Life Is War - Stagger Lee
Beatallica - Helvester of Skelter

In print, in Unrestrained! #35 (Symphony X cover), I have features on Danzig, Cephalic Carnage, and Odious Mortem, as well as a new column called Invisible Oranges that focuses on metal scenes worldwide (this issue spotlights my hometown of Minot, ND). The magazine seems to have ceased web updates, so you'll have to find #35 on dead trees. It's a fun, voluminous read, and once made me miss two straight buses because my nose was buried in it.

Also on newsstands is my first piece for Decibel (Down cover), a review of the muchly improved The Absence. I remember reading the magazine when it first came out, and dreaming of the day when I could write for them. Many thanks to Adrien Begrand for the kind namecheck in his blog. He's one of the main reasons I got into metal writing, and to be in the same masthead as him is beyond awesome.

The Red Chord, Darkest Hour, Halford, etc.

The Red Chord

I'm moving from Berlin to San Francisco at the end of this month. This, combined with excessive travel (five trans-Atlantic crossings in six weeks, with five destination airports and way too much sleeping while sitting), has severely hampered my recent productivity.

The Red Chord - Tread on the Necks of Kings
Halford - Made in Hell
Year of No Light - Traversée

However, I've published a bit since my last update - dual reviews of Azalea City Penis Club/Robin Allender and Caina/Godheadscope at Stylus, as well as a review of Immolation and an interview with Year of No Light. At Metal Injection, I've reviewed The Red Chord, Darkest Hour, Halford, Mortuus, and Ion Dissonance, as well as a DVD of the Metalmania 2006 festival and a fine book by Keith Kahn-Harris.

Converge, Job for a Cowboy, Rise and Fall, Animosity @ SO36, 19.06.07

SO36, Berlin, 19.06.07

SO36 isn't just a club. It's a friggin' complex, with stairs in back and on the side leading up to an immense backstage area that resembles an office, albeit a punked-out one. Graffiti from previous occupants litters the walls. In multiple rooms, band and crew members sprawl on couches, check email, and warm up on guitar. I am astonished to see someone firing up a full-on buffet for Converge, Rise and Fall, and Animosity, who are touring Europe together. Today's Never Say Die! festival adds Job for a Cowboy, as well as two bands of utterly forgettable, breakdown-crippled hardcore.

Animosity

Animosity goes on way too early, at 7:30pm. At this point, they should never play first on any bill. For youngsters barely of drinking age, they have more chops and maturity than most of their peers. Technical death metal crunches through the speakers, but new material from the upcoming album, Animal, detours through prog and rock. Leo Miller isn't using his low death growl so much now, sticking instead with a more natural midrange yell. He stomps around like an angry bull and pours water over himself, scaring the delicate girls in front wearing metalcore T-shirts. New bassist Evan Brewer confidently pumps out complex lines without looking at his instrument. The band is a well-oiled machine.

Rise and Fall

Belgium's Rise and Fall have a familiar sound - "death 'n' roll," "punk 'n' roll," whatever you want to call it. Think Motörhead crossed with High on Fire through a hardcore lens a la Doomriders. I don't understand a single word, but the philthy bass tone and Ramones stances speak volumes. Boys and girls bop along in a rather cute slam dance fashion. Sometimes the attack is too pulverizing, and the pit flags accordingly, but screw being a "warm up band"!

Job for a Cowboy

Job for a Cowboy is the hottest band in metal at the moment because of MySpace. Even before its first full-length came out, its profile got millions of hits, and bands were already citing it as an influence and imitating its pig squeal vocals and logo font. Only a month after the debut album's release, half the kids here wear JFAC shirts. Girls scream, guys call out to band members by name, people request songs. JFAC prove themselves a technically proficient but otherwise mediocre death metal band. I don't see what the fuss is about.

Converge

Converge blows away my highest expectations. I talk to Jacob Bannon before the show, and he is exceedingly humble. Actions speak louder than words, though. Birdlike, he flies around the stage summoning death and catharsis. He often crouches at the front and lets the kids sing his words. They pile over each other to get at the mic. I am pressed against the stage so hard my hip bone gets bruised. In fact, my entire back feels like a bruise. Fists, hands, fingers, faces, and elbows push and punch against it. A kind-faced girl clutches my shirt as she disappears, feet flailing, into the pit.

Electricity runs through the band. Kurt Ballou may be the most underrated guitarist alive. He sprays forth chunky chords, cutting runs, all manner of strange noises. Nate Newton hoists his bass skywards, sending dirtclods of distortion flying. When Ben Koller pounds out blastbeats, the venue shudders orgasmically. Slam dancers keep knocking the wind out of me. I am afraid; I am alive.

For the full 23-photo gallery of the show, go here.

In the Guise of Men - Demo

France's In the Guise of Men features vocalist Heitham Al-Sayed from English rap/metal outfit Senser. Its demo is an intriguing but bumpy ride. The songs are extremely choppy, often stringing riffs together seemingly randomly. Math-y grooves a la Meshuggah butt heads with prog bits and melodic, more traditional metal. The latter is the most successful, highlighting Al-Sayed's strong singing. At times, though, he breaks into a fast, System of a Down-esque bark that's grating and unnecessary.

Sewn Receptors

The guitar work is colorful and diverse, slightly reminiscent of Teppei Teranishi's work in Thrice. For a demo, the production is quite good, and the performances are tight and professional. Catchy riffs and good ideas abound here; they just need focus. You can hear all five songs of this demo at the band's website.

No Heaven Awaits Us - Irony of Pure Hatred

Hateback

Lifeline
2005



No Heaven Awaits Us plays metalcore the way I like it - heavy on the metal. No bullshit, no technical nonsense, just riff after righteous riff, with death growls and bulletproof production. I could do without the requisite lyrics about hardcore punk, but when metal does lyrics about metal, it's often awesome, so maybe I have a double standard! Slayer and older Metallica influences are always good things, and the traycard under the CD is a tribute to Bill Hicks, so this Polish band obviously has its heart in the right place.

Warsaw label Lifeline put out this EP, so you know what to expect - jawdropping packaging, with a beautiful, three-panel digipak and liner notes where each page is like friggin' museum art. New demos are up at the band's MySpace, and they sound great, so I'm plenty jazzed for its upcoming output. In the meantime, you can pick up this slab of all killer, no filler at Interpunk.

In Twilight's Embrace - Buried in Between

The Hollow Men

Lifeline
2006



Given the volume of music that I review, I sometimes attach post-it notes to albums with short descriptions for reference. I've labeled this one "generic metalcore," which must have been evidence of initial distaste. However, on further listening, I'll disagree. Sure, In Twilight's Embrace has the "Swedish riffs by a non-Swedish band" that immediately send me into allergic fits. But, really, they're not too prevalent, and once I get past them, I hear decent breakdowns, blastbeats and bits of good metal, and interesting chord voicings.

Sealing the deal for me is a nice, midpaced instrumental, which I really wish bands of this type would do more. Take away the "raspy young guy" screams, which are truly generic, and the band shows its true capabilities! The performances are ripping, the production isn't overproduced, and Lifeline turns in another to-die-for packaging job. Interpunk says this is for fans of The Black Dahlia Murder and Unearth, but this Polish band is so much better.

13th Draft - Where Do We Go From Here...?

Fallout

Lifeline
2006



I really shouldn't like 13th Draft, but I do. Emo is pretty much its third strike after metalcore, but I find this Polish band's debut EP oddly listenable. Mostly, it's because the singer has a strange stubbornness to soldier on with screams even when choruses beg for the requisite clean singing. There are some clean vocals, and they aren't bad, but they're brief and in such unusual places that I can't help but think, "Oh, those crazy kids!" As I get older, it becomes ever-weirder to hear music for which I am so obviously not the target audience.

That said, the teenager in me digs this stuff with only a small degree of shame. It's not necessarily bad for music to be "emotional," nor is it necessarily bad that it's overtly so. Besides, there's enough metal and dissonance here to appease my grown-up side (that bridge in "Fallout" is so like Rush's "YYZ"). Energetic performances, silly arrangements, and Lifeline's trademark amazing digipak-aging - where do we go from here, indeed. You can find this EP at Interpunk.

Hacride, Means, Dying Fetus, Psyopus, Ludicra, and yet more hipster metal

Hacride

At Metal Injection, I've reviewed Hacride, whose Amoeba is the first metal album this year that drives me to evangelical fervor. It's like Gojira...but with acoustic guitar...and one song, "Zambra," with a Spanish flamenco group! Strange, thrilling, futuristic. Also up are my review of Facedown band Means and an interview with Dying Fetus.

Hacride - Fate
Hacride - Zambra

At Stylus, I have a review of crazy tech-spazzouts Psyopus and an interview with the world's most underrated band, Ludicra.

Andy at Clocked in - Punched Out has entered the hipster metal fray. He says that non-metalheads shouldn't be faulted for trying out metal, and that metalheads in turn shouldn't be close-minded and exclusionary. Good sentiments, for sure, though the issue is multifaceted. There's hipsters simply getting into metal. Then there's hipsters making metal, or metal that's not-so-metal and marketed towards hipsters. Then there's the global effect of all this, including certain media trends and public perceptions about metal.

There's a huge disconnect between what non-metalheads and metalheads think of metal. It reminds me of polls about the Iraq War, in which its supporters say that the US is in it for self-defense, and its critics say that the US is in it for oil or revenge. Like war, metal elicits visceral reactions, and what people say in public about it are probably rationalizations of those reactions.

In the end, I agree with Andy. I might raise an eyebrow if you're in heels at a Suffocation show. But if you're there at the next one, you're in. You've made the commitment, and you've supported the scene with your ticket purchase.

In his comments on Susie Horgan's photo book Punk Love (which looks fantastic, btw) about the early '80s DC punk scene, Henry Rollins quotes Bobby Bird (of James Brown fame): “I know you got soul, ’cause if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be in here.” Amen. Metal is so confrontational, anyway, that it'll select out the false among it.

Sunrise - Cursed Not Alone

Sleepwalkers
Nightmare

Lifeline
2006


Alienacja's Blades Shall Speak had some of the fiercest deathcore I've ever heard, so I had to find out more about its label. Evidently, Lifeline Records put out its first six releases at once last March. Not only that, each CD came in a beautiful three-panel digipak, with gorgeous, full-color booklets and top-spine obi strips.

How could the label afford this??? Having the owner do most of the artwork probably helped, and maybe prices are just lower in Poland (see Metal Mind's recent spate of high-quality live DVD's).

Lifeline #1 features Warsaw's Sunrise, who existed from 1995-2006. Cursed Not Alone collects the band's first two full-lengths, 1998's Generation of Sleepwalkers and 2000's Child of Eternity. The latter leads off this disc, and it's cookie-cutter metalcore and Swedish melodeath. Even the band's MySpace admits it was a mistake.

However, Generation is another story; it sounds like another band. The fact that Sunrise sounded so different in two years suggests that Child was the product of premeditation and not organic change. Whatever the case, Generation kicks ass. The raw production sounds like it's gone through sweetening, with artificial sheen on the drums. The result sounds fine, though, and the performances are ferocious.

Stylistically, Generation is metalcore with touches of thrash (Slayer) and death metal (Carcass). While the overall approach is "core," some of the metallic riffs are monstrous. The gruff vocals are an acquired taste, but they work. In fact, they scare me a little, in a "wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley" sort of way. Cursed Not Alone comes with three videos - a well-done music video and two promotional trailers (in Polish and English). This is a total package, folks, a real labor of love. You can find it at Interpunk.

Fall Behind - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Dead End Street
Between the Devil...

Lifeline
2006


Not only did Alienacja implode and Sunrise call it quits, Fall Behind also folded recently. Writing about defunct Polish metalcore bands somehow seems quite sad, but that's the breaks. As far as I can tell, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea was the band's only album.

Truth be told, I don't like much of it. It's extremely harmonically conservative, a mixture of metalcore and Swedish melodeath that makes me want to punch people, and not in a good way.

But there are reasons why each time I hear this album, I make it all the way through. First, it has really earnest samples from Waking Life. I haven't seen that movie, and I've only heard horrible things about it, but soundbites from it give this album a sense of youthful defiance. Second, it has energy. It reminds me of how Darkest Hour (until its last album, anyway) plays metal, but with a scruffy vibe that comes from hardcore. These kids meant what they played; they weren't some corporate construct with swoop do's.

Most importantly, I hear potential. Hear those key modulations at 2:34 in "Dead End Street"? Cookie-cutter metalcore doesn't do that. It's more of a black metal move. The closing instrumental is also lovely and not typical metalcore. "In Colours" begins with indie rock/emo guitars that are kind of interesting. Even though I don't especially like the vocals, their inflections totally stick in my head.

In other words, these kids had the right instincts. They had good music in them. They just needed time to learn more scales. But they split and left an album that comes with amazing artwork that fits the "dehumanization of existence" theme. This CD is worth it for the liner notes illustrations alone. What were a bunch of kids from Grudziadz doing quoting George Bernard Shaw? Maybe I like this album more than I realize. You can find it at Interpunk.

Digression Assassins - Next Step Can Only Be Supposed

Chaotic metalcore is getting very, very crowded nowadays. I generally like the style, but it takes increasingly more for such a band to impress me. Thus, I'm pleased to present Digression Assassins, who hail from Stockholm, Sweden. They fill me with unadulterated pleasure, and not just because their name contracts to "dig ass."

Bully the Weak
Existence Is So Latent
New Stars
Next Step Can Only Be Supposed

The band is aptly named, with songs that feel like high-speed pile-ons. Post-Botch, tons of American bands do the chaotic thing. For some reason, though, European practitioners of the style seem crazier. That is, American bands focus more on technique and heaviness, while Europeans are just plain gonzo. Americans play in community centers, while Europeans play in squats, which are ten times gnarlier - maybe that has something to do with it.

I don't know what the budget or production circumstances were, but this demo sounds phenomenal. The drums sound natural, the bass is audible, the guitars have the right amount of grit and twang, and the vocals fit perfectly on top. This is one of the best recordings I've heard this year, and it's self-released!

The performances have an unhinged quality that leaps out of the speakers. Of course, the band isn't really unhinged; disjointed material like this requires tightness. In "New Stars," the band demonstrates this by slowing down and speeding up as a group, yet keeping its raw energy. The title track, too, goes through delightfully dadaist pauses and accents that feel like elbows to the face.

Someone sign this band! You can find out more about Digression Assassins via their MySpace or by emailing them directly.

ChthoniC, Laethora, The Handshake Murders reviews

Su-Nung, ChthoniC erhu player

New reviews up - Taiwanese symphonic black metallers ChthoniC; Laethora, featuring Niklas Sundin from Dark Tranquillity; and Arkansas' answer to Meshuggah, The Handshake Murders.

ChthoniC - The Gods Weep
Laethora - Black Void Remembrance

Crimson Falls interview

My interview with Belgian metalcore band Crimson Falls is up at Metal Injection.

Year of Desolation, This Ending, Architect, The Network reviews

At Metal Injection, I've reviewed fine debuts by Indiana death/thrashers Year of Desolation and Swedish melodeath dealers This Ending. Over at Stylus, my dual review of Blackmarket Activities bands Architect and The Network is now up.

Botch - Unifying Themes Redux

Closure
Sudam

Hydra Head
2006


Since I recently reviewed Botch's 061502, I thought I'd revisit Unifying Themes Redux, which Hydra Head reissued last year. Excursion originally put out the compilation in 2002; it collects tracks from out-of-print 7"s, EP's, compilations, and a radio live set. Odds-and-ends collections like this sound like a good idea, but in practice usually aren't so hot. That's sort of the case here.

If Botch was known for mathcore, Unifying Themes has lots of the "core," but little of the "math." Evidently, the band started out in a garage playing Helmet covers. While this disc thankfully spares us the fruits of such labors, it doesn't hold a candle to American Nervoso, much less We Are the Romans. In fact, I'd call some of this material flat-out "bad." Songs often drag on and don't know how to end; some simplistic riffing is borderline nu-metal.

A few diamonds pop up in the rough. People cite the covers of Carl Orff's "O Fortuna" and The B-52's "Rock Lobster," but both are novelties and wear thin fast. "Closure," however, has an eerie midsection that hints at future greatness. "Sudam" puts King Crimson on mid-'90s Touch and Go. "Frequenting Mass Transit" (which appears on 061502 as "Frequency Ass Bandit") sounds like Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" courtesy of Don Caballero.

Despite the bumpy ride, a few constants are evident - Tim Latona's inventive drumming, replete with kick and snare rolls, and Brian Cook's unusual, prominent bass lines. No band starts out doing calculus; this disc finds Botch sliding by in algebra class, with occasional extra credit.

Antaeus, Botch reviews

My review of French black metallers Antaeus is up at Metal Injection. Norma Evangelium Diaboli have outdone themselves with the packaging this time, so be sure to pick up the real thing.

At Stylus, I've reviewed 061502, the DVD/CD of the final show by Botch. The gig is good, not great, but through sheer quality and quantity, the package is a must-have. With footage of an even better show, a hilarious commentary track, historical photos, and lovely artwork from Aaron Turner - run, don't walk, get it.

Crimson Falls, Meshuggah reviews

Two more reviews up - at Metal Injection, I've covered the new Crimson Falls, absolutely ripping Belgian metalcore that's pretty much death metal but for the occasional breakdown. At Stylus, I've reviewed the Meshuggah reissue of Nothing.

The Faceless, Born From Pain reviews

My reviews of The Faceless and Born From Pain are up at Metal Injection.

The Faceless - Ghost of a Stranger
Born From Pain - Scorched Earth

V/A - Hails & Horns Sampler Vol. 2

A town can be measured by its record stores. By that standard, Minot, ND, has gone to the dogs. I'm back in my hometown for the holidays, and I discovered that the one record store in the one mall here recently closed. Tellingly, a Christian bookstore also replaced the only toy store. Now, the only non-chain music store here is a place that sells incense and does movie rentals.

At the mall, I saw Hails & Horns No.2 at Hot Topic. Sure, I'm twice as old as everyone else in the store, but there's no better place to find a leather-free studded belt. H&H caught my eye, as I interviewed Cannibal Corpse for it. But since it's print and not online, I hadn't yet seen it published. That's one of the quirks of writing for print - sometimes you have to buy your own work.

Misery Signals - Failsafe
Gwar - School's Out

The magazine pleasantly surprised me. H&H is the metal sister to AMP, a free fanzine available practically everywhere in America. Unsurprisingly, it bears the AMP trademarks - tons of bands, tons of writers, virtually no spell-checking. But it's also lovable for the same reasons. For sheer quantity, it's unbeatable. Interviews with Bruce Dickinson, Kerry King, Devin Townsend, Jamey Jasta, Steve Asheim, Barney from Napalm Death, Dragonforce, Goatwhore, Merrimack, and Gorgoroth, not to mention guest columns from Kurt Ballou and friggin' Bill Ward from Black Sabbath? Sign me up!

Add full color throughout (as opposed to AMP's usual newsprint-type paper) and a 21-track CD sampler, and you have a diverse, enjoyable package perfect for short attention spans. I always check out metal CD samplers, as they're a great way to discover new bands. And sure enough, two songs on the sampler for H&H No.2 jump out at me.

First is Misery Signals' "Failsafe." At last, metalcore that doesn't suck! No Swedish riffs or bullshit clean vocals, just cool, post-hardcore chords, passionate vocals, and perfect songwriting. I can't believe I slept on this band for so long. Then there's Gwar's cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out." Evidently, this track isn't like the rest of Gwar's new album, as the label forced the band to record it for "hit" purposes. But the cover is both faithful and punchy in a modern way, and it accomplishes its purpose - Devin Townsend produced the record, so maybe it's worth checking out.

Suddenly I'm that 15 year-old kid again, racing home from the record store with magazines and CD's practically glowing in their shrinkwrap.

Chiodos - All's Well That Ends Well (Deluxe)

CD reissues are a mixed bag. Sometimes you get true labors of love, with good remastered sound, expanded liner notes, and fancy packaging. Other times you get horribly brickwalled sound, worthless "extras" (screensavers, anyone?), or blatant cash-ins released a year after the original with maybe a bonus track tacked on. I'm not naming any names, but we all know who they are.

Chiodos' All's Well That Ends Well (on Equal Vision) came out last summer, so I was dismayed to see a reissue appear this October. However, the label's publicist assured me that the purpose was simply to have product on the shelves for the band's high-profile tour with Atreyu and Every Time I Die. Regardless of motivation, the Deluxe Edition is packed with content, and should satisfy both diehard fans and those who missed the album earlier.

By all rights, I should hate this band. Their sound draws from screamo and metalcore, they sing with high, boyish voices, and they look like indie rockers. Then again, The Dillinger Escape Plan look like indie rockers, and they rule. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised by this Michigan band's second album (you can read an interview I did with them here). Sure, they have quasi-Swedish riffs, screaming alternating with singing, and so on. But the guitar tones aren't heavy, and the band isn't going for the usual "angst-ridden in eyeliner" vibe most bands of this type have. Rather, they seem to be looking at their genre from the outside and playing with it, inserting wacky prog passages and some gorgeous piano and keyboard work. And, man, can Craig Owens sing. I get a similarly colorful vibe from Between the Buried and Me and that band's big inspiration, Queen.

Chiodos - All Nereids Beware
Chiodos - To Trixie and Reptile, Thanks for Everything

The Deluxe Edition adds three acoustic tracks that really highlight Owens' voice. It includes a DVD with live cuts, tour hijinks, recording-of footage, and a particularly enjoyable video for "Baby, You Wouldn't Last a Minute on the Creek." Paul Romano, who did the album's original and awesome artwork, also contributes a new slipcase to wrap up the package. Thus, the Deluxe Edition earns its name. It's available for a time along with a T-shirt for only $12

@ MerchNow

(EDIT: To my astonishment, I discovered that Andee from Aquarius Records rated this his #1 album of 2005. If you search on the site for the record's blurb, you'll see he's just gaga over it. Somehow I wouldn't expect Aquarius folk to dig Chiodos, but what would you know. If only more black metal folks could be so open-minded...)

Writing Roundup - Xasthur, Manowar, War of Ages, Formicide, Killswitch Engage

My review of the new Killswitch Engage is up at Stylus, as well as an interview I did with Facedown Records artist War of Ages.

Over at Metal Injection, I have reviews up of the new Xasthur, Manowar, and Formicide. The "Immortal Edition" of the Manowar EP has one of the most enjoyable metal DVD's I've seen, with a great documentary about the 2005 Manowar fan convention. The Formicide CD is a labor of love from the Due Process label, run by Andrew from Aversionline.com, and is a must-have for any fan of thrash.

Finally, I've joined The End's affiliate program. I dig the label, and they run a good distro, so I don't feel qualms about supporting them. If you enter the coupon "INVISIBLE ORANGES" during checkout, you get 8% off your first order. Enjoy!

The Esoteric - With the Sureness of Sleepwalking

Given my recent review of T