Rites of Darkness III adds several new bands including ZEMIAL
NEWS AS OF 2/28/11
I understand December is pretty far away but hopefully you guys can arrange your travel arrangements to get to Texas. The festival will now officially take place for 3 days from December 9th to the 11th. Tickets will officially go on sale when all bands have been announced. Individual days will be announced shortly around then. Here are a few more bands set to decimate in December including ZEMIAL performing a special ritual for their first and only ever North American appearance:
ZEMIAL (First and only ever North American performance)
MORTUARY DRAPE (Italy)
MOURNFUL CONGREGATION (Australia)
INTERMENT (Sweden)
ANATOMIA (Japan)
IMPETUOUS RITUAL (Australia)
DEMONICAL (Sweden)
HOUR OF 13 (NC)
GRAVE UPHEAVAL (Australia)
DIVINE EVE (TX)
ADVERSARIAL (Canada)
ALDEBARAN (OR)
ANHEDONIST (SE)
ILSA (WA)
GRAVE RITUAL (GA)
BIRTH A.D. (TX)
The full line up is as follows:
ZEMIAL (First and only ever North American performance)
DEMIGOD (Finland)
MORTUARY DRAPE (Italy)
MOURNFUL CONGREGATION (Australia)
SARGEIST (Finland)
URFAUST (Netherlands)
IGNIVOMOUS (Australia)
INTERMENT (Sweden)
EVOKEN (NJ)
ANATOMIA (Japan)
WEAPON (Canada)
FUNEBRARUM (NJ)
CIANIDE (IL)
IMPETUOUS RITUAL (Australia)
HOUR OF 13 (NC)
MITOCHONDRION (Canada)
DEMONICAL (Sweden)
GRAVE UPHEAVAL (Australia)
DIVINE EVE (TX)
ADVERSARIAL (Canada)
ALDEBARAN (OR)
ANHEDONIST (SE)
ILSA (WA)
BIRTH A.D. (TX)
GRAVE RITUAL (GA)
P.L.F. (TX)
WARMASTER (TX)
SEE YOU IN DECEMBER!
Low Threat Profile – Product #2
Low Threat Profile – Product #2 LP (Out now on Six Weeks/Deepsend Records)
What a surprise! To hear a NEW
power-violence band that DOESN’T sound like a Hatred Surge clone! (don’t get me wrong, I love Hatred Surge, just not their clones.) Low Threat Profile is not going for anything new, instead they are playing hardcore at a high speed and caliber. This is the formula for much of the early power-violence, and it is a sound all too forgotten. It is no surprise that this is a classic west-coast super-group. Vocalist is Andy (No Comment), the guitar duties are courtesy of Matt (Infest) and to top it off the drummer is none other than Bob (Lack of Interest). Rumors say that Chris Dodge (of Spazz and Despise You) has joined on bass since this release. The line-up alone was enough to make me have to check this band out!
It takes a lot for a power-violence band to really grab my attention nowadays, with so much mediocrity and lack of innovation within the genre. This one has managed to “stick”, but not without reason. The songs are much more well-written than most modern power-violence. Each song has a memorable song structure, in a genre that is full of half-assed songwriting. Sticking to their roots, each song is under a minute aside from one which is slightly longer than a minute. They use a variety of different tricks without repeating themselves and getting stale. Enough flow and varying song structure to keep you entertained through the whole record, something actually very uncommon for Power-violence. Their sound is generally a friendly mix of all the bands they come from.
The vocals are fun, pissed off, consistent and fresh. I always thought that about No Comment, so that is no surprised. The guitar is stop and go, with memorable riffs, much like Infest, so that is carried well into LTP as well. The drum-work is impressive, plenty of variation. Charging punk beats keep the hardcore edge alive, while keeping up with the fast change-ups and timing. Some rather well used one footed blast beats can be heard from time to time. These dudes win at what so many power-violence bands fail at, which is having enough tricks up your sleeves to write a memorable album which will resonate and maintain variation.
My only complaint, is that this is not as incredible as the self-titled EP they did in 2009. I’m not reviewing that one, because its not that new, but I highly recommend it. You should hear why when you listen to it. The band did improve their mix with the new LP, the guitar is more audible I believe. Generally, this band correctly and memorably plays power-violence in a caliber that I feel is almost lost. Other than that, they aren’t up to much else. They have a third release in the works, I hope that beats both done so far, and I will continue to follow them and hold high expectations. Catch them at Chaos in Tejas 2011!
8.5/10
Wormrot new album news, US tour and Interview coming soon.
Best to ever break out of the often overlooked Southeast Asian grind scene. These Singapore dudes waste no time, after the success of their first album, Abuse, their subsequent US tour and signing to Earache records, these guys are back less than a year later and will also be soon releasing a full-length record. See their spiraling whirlwind of epic blasting destruction in a city near you.
Dirge out in May on Earache records as follows:
25 track CD – USA – 3rd May
25 track CD – UK/Europe – 23rd May
25 track CD +DVD – UK/Europe – 23rd May
Limited Vinyl LP with 2 bonus tracks UK/Europe/USA – 23rd May
New songs:
Interview coming soon with Voice of Disgust! Subscribe/Bookmark my blog and check back.
Dissent/Hellbastard – Split EP
Dissent/Hellbastard – Split EP (Out now on Torture Garden Picture Company)
Dissent side:
Dissent is a band from Texas, if not the band from Texas, that deserves more attention. Maybe now, after outdoing their idols, they will get it! This is definitely the side of this record getting all the spins from me, I must be honest about that. Since Dissent is so underrepresented outside of our lone-star state, I will first tell a little tale.
Dissent has been flirting with Crust and Metal since 2005. They started off playing anarcho-punk in the vein of Conflict and Aus-rotten. This was never released, and you will probably never hear it. They quickly grabbed a new guitarist as the guitarist/vocalist decided to focus on vocals. They started ripping out a unique brand of fast anarcho-punk with some thrash metal riffs in between and shreddy solos. This is what you hear on their first release, By Any Means Necessary. (Their most unique release, as the band has had its own sound from the beginning, but they get better from there.) Unfortunately, this album was subject to poor distribution and a small pressing which disappeared quickly, but it can still be found on some blogs.
When the band matured and added a second guitar shred machine, the band got heavier, and began their evolution from a metallic anarcho-punk band, to a death/crust band. I must say this was before the craze began, and before bands started throwing Entombed and Bolt Thrower riffs on top of some D-beat and becoming overnight DIY legends. Dissent was the first on that train, but unfortunately once again were not as well esteemed for it. This is a tragedy, as the bands second CD (which they’re calling an EP nowadays) was once again given a small pressing and disappeared before anyone like me could talk it up. I was listening though. The band did their second tour, and the second guitarist left the band.
Now is where we get to this release. This band has gotten heavier and faster altogether. Grind has been brought into the mix obviously, but the kind of grind is sort of crusty and is now what represents the punk sound. Napalm Death, Terrorizer, and Extreme Noise Terror are what I am hearing. The band has less apparent punk elements, but of the grind bands they seem to sound like, well they are all the really punk ones. The worship of Entombed, Bolt Thrower, Carnage and Carcass is all still there. The band is just generally faster then all their death/crust contemporaries. This sounds like a death/grind record from before 1990, when a whole bunch of those bands were still really crusty.
Every riff pummels and charges. Song structure is more solid and generally faster then previous works. While all the 2 guitar parts are gone (they will be missed), the songwriting has not stopped its progression. The individual riffs do not linger for too long. In fact, I haven’t had enough of it by the time its done. Thats a sign of a good release, when the listener hears parts and entire songs, and feels the riffs were memorable enough AND tolerable enough to want hear them immediately again! I swear, since I have gotten this, I haven’t listened to it a single time without immediately listening to it again. True story.
The production is audible and produced well! I actually have a bit to say about it. It sounds like the overall mix is conservative and much more well done then their previous releases, getting past their previous slightly overpolished sound. There’s even something great to say about the mastering. I hate the sound of compression done post-2000. Its because of CD’s and because of the loudness war, that major labels (as well as underground artists) are compressing tracks to make them louder and thus more full. Well I have a volume knob of my very own, and I am learning as an Audio Engineer that this is actually the stupidest thing you can do, and often done post-mix or even automatically by some software. Take the thin layer air out of the song, and you also lose certain frequencies, and sounds. The song (which you can look at as a long sound wave) needs that “air” to “wiggle”. The engineer obviously knows about this. The release is done with an overall master that doesn’t suck and is not overly compressed so it sounds loud which means well done to some idiots. It sounds like it was made at Morrisound or Sunlight studios in 1988 or something, with equipment all from today.
I encourage you to read the lyrics. They are delivered in a powerful manner when read along with the music. This is your choice as this is not Behind Enemy Lines, where the lyrics are audible. Half the time, I don’t read bands lyrics, because I don’t take the time. I take the time to read this bands lyrics, and they complement the music, like the music illustrates the lyrics. You could also just jam the record.
Track this 7inch down! While unlike Dissent’s previous release, this has been given a decent pressing by a good label who has distributed it well to many good distros. Order it from Torture Garden or Dissent asap! Its not on any blogs, as no one has ripped it, so you will need to be a wax-head until someone decides people deserve to hear this without paying for it.
Hellbastard side:
Okay Hellbastard gets sort of torn apart by the Dissent side, but I will try to be nice to one of my favorite old crusters. The band reunited out of nowhere in 2007, and has gone through a million members since, all rotating around guitarist/vocalist/original member, Scruff.
Hellbastard’s new material is not something to write home about. But thats okay, because this record only has one new song. Its not even a new, new song, its a different version of a song release on one of their new full-lengths. I’ve heard it before, so I listened to this new version once. Its 
not as bad as I make it out to be, its listenable music, but sometimes I think Scruff is losing his mind. If you’ve ever met him, he’s a character. This is a part of Hellbastard, so I guess this song is okay. No, I just relistened to it, its nothing like old Hellbastard, and instead sounds like they’re trying to sound like a radio-metal band. Skip at will.
What saves this side is the rerecorded version of the old song from 1985 called Massacre. Its a great old song from when the band was good. And well, its a good song. I’ve listened to it a few times, always skipping the first song, because I cannot stand to hear new Hellbastard. The fact that I just gave it another shot mid-review and changed my mind has reminded me of that. Yet old Hellbastard still rules, and luckily they still mostly play old stuff live, so good for them! I don’t have anything else to say about this release, I keep it on the Dissent side and don’t really flip it over. I’m not cut out for new Hellbastard.
So I unfortunately cannot rate this side as high as Dissent’s side, as the Hellbastard technically didn’t do shit for this release, they just threw 2 previously released songs in there and called ‘er a day, after knowing about this split for years. I am sort of proud of Dissent for showing them up. So buy the EP for them.
Dissent – 5/5
Hellbastard- 3/5
Overall – 8/10
Noisear – Subverting the Dominant Paradigm
Noisear – Subverting the Dominant Paradigm
(Out February 1st on Relapse Records)
Now here we have a good old Texas gem that called it quits a few years ago much to my dismay, but boy am I glad to see them back. They did not come back to fuck around. This album rips and shreds, with speed and fury that will make most contemporary grind want to call it quits.
Its obvious this band loves Discordance Axis, and the guitarist has an affinity for shred, so don’t expect a conventional classic old school grind style of strict power chords with punk beats interchanged with blasts. This is shred grind and technical wankery all over the place done RIGHT. They clearly want to stay to true to traditional grind but also offer some level of technicality and experimentation. Its no surprise that members spend their spare time in Gridlink and Kill the Client.
This is a rifftastic release. So many memorable, authentic riffs from Dorian and the other guys. Some of the most technical guitar work in grind. While he consistently delivers straight up true grindcore, there is experimentation done very well, in manners that aren’t apparent on the first spin.
As an example, I catch myself thinking “oh wow, that’s almost an Iron Maiden riff formatted into a grind riff!” or “damn, did I just hear Hellhammer get grindy?” These aren’t things you’ll catch on the first spin, because its other styles adapted to shreddy grind riffs.
But that’s why this album has true depth and replay value, which is rare in grindcore, to have a 45 minute grind album with 30 songs each jam packed with 20 unique riffs. That sounds like some tedious advanced composition that deserves appreciation.
Consistent conventional grind that appreciates the old but also wants to push the envelope. While I love my straight-up grind bands, sometimes I need something with some “fresh” authentic riffs, and they’ve done that.
Not discounting the bass section either! Its audible and appreciative too, with bass harmonies, solos and intros. The bass work contains fills and he’s doing his job and then some.
The drum section deserves just as much praise. Bryan always delivers and this release is no different. Bryan starts and DOES NOT. NO slow shit, NO mid-pace, all grind from this dude. This is what he is known for. And this is his best so far, (although with New Gridlink coming this month, he may out-do himself, we will have to wait and see.)
He of course is aware of his punk roots as a grinder, and the punk beats are there, but not once on the album does he let the punk slow it down. A lot of mid-pace punk breakdowns are being used in grind nowdays since the Insect warfare craze started, but Bryan isn’t and NEVER will be apart of that, he knows how to add the punk aspect and not let it hurt the speed. He matches the shreddy guitar work with unstoppable speed instead of playing it cheap and turning it into a mid-pace part.
His blasts are furious and long, and generally as a drummer, he goes against the lazy grain that has become popular in grind the last few years. Modern grind drummers could take a note or two from him, and cut it out with the half-ass mid-pace IW clonage. Bryan kicks it up a lot, and knows the punk aspect of grind is still meant to be FAST.
Slightly less to say about the vocals, but they were perfect for an album this technical. In the favor of the band in general, the vocals are more down to earth and traditionally grind. They are consistent from song to song, mostly mid-ranged but slightly gutteral. The patterns match with music well. He obviously knows what he’s doing.
Could the vocals been crazier and more wild, like Dead infection or Impaled? Sure, but that would distract from the amazing composition of the instruments. The vocalist’s decision to keep it consistent and humble was what was best for this album. Would rather him keep it straight-up so I could pay attention to the band as whole. So the vocalists are the least experimental of the album but the most well-suited as well.
The production on this album also deserves some praise. All the instruments are audible, and leveled correctly. Produced and mixed well enough to sound heavy and get all the guitar wankery, but DIY enough to sound like tradtional gritty grind we all know and love. There’s a sweet spot between “overproduction” in grind/death metal and “underproduction”, and this hits that spot. I’m an audio engineer myself, so while I’m overall impressed, a couple of “little things” bother me. Only complaints are the vocals are too loud sometimes, and the bass is inaudible at times, and the 2 guitar parts sometimes cause a level of “out-phasing” that is barely noticeable, but kills some harmonic parts.
So Noisear has definitely raised the bar. Lets see if the rest of the grind scene follows. Bryan’s other band, Gridlink, also has their long-awaited full-length coming this month, so we will see who grinds 2011 the hardest!
Either way, Noisear has made their best and most memorable release yet. I’m sure I’ll be spinning constantly for the next several weeks, then regularly for years once I get preoccupied with other new stuff. Glad they’re back to destroy and did not disappoint! Make sure you catch them in May at MDF and their tour around it!
9/10
Deathspell Omega – Paracletus
Deathspell Omega – Paracletus
(Out Now on Norma Evangelium Diaboli/Season of Mist)
This is unlike any Black Metal I have ever heard. I know, we’ve all heard that before, but before you dismiss this as another flash in modern Black Metal’s rather lackluster and rusted frying pan, this release might have you breaking out the corpse paint one more time.
At the forefront of the French Black Metal scene, Deathspell Omega is the best known example of a much needed sound “Avant-garde” or “progressive” sound within Black Metal. If you’re expecting a Celtic Frost or Venom clone, or a Norwegian second-wave sound, or a bullet-belt toting War Metal classic, you may want to look elsewhere. This band offers something entirely different from all of that. Think the love child of Gorguts, Immortal and Darkthrone with hints of the melancholic, melodic and powerful soft dynamic of bands like Neurosis. Might be way off the map, but this is not an easy band to describe. All the technical wankery, romantic melody, depressive dissonance, and diabolical fury you can handle!
This album does not stop, with exception to a few parts, it flows easily from one song to the next. The riffs carry so well that it is easy to look and realize you are actually several songs into the album further than believed. Silence is their worst enemy. Riffs are your friend on this one, usually layered and deliver in a unique and unconventional manner. The riffs and melody will not materialize on the first listen, much like the first time I heard Ulcerate’s “Everything is Fire”, it may take a few spins to really retrieve the awe of this album. Once it becomes memorable, it is addictively captivating. Like I said early on, while riffy, this is a very avant-garde release, pushing the limits of both melody and advanced composition. The depth to this album is endless.
A certain amount of mystery surrounds the band, which explains their cult following amongst those in and out of the Black Metal community. Vocalist Mikko Aspa is a very renowned musician of other styles such as grindcore and power-electronics, and is a distant session member actually residing in his homeland of Finland, not France. The band has never been known for playing live, or doing too many interviews or even having a “public” line-up. At the moment, their metal-archives page doesn’t even cite a drummer. While it is possible that virtual percussion is utilized, the drums sound very organic, real and could easily be the work of one of the members. Lryically the band utilizes an Orthodox Satanic philosophy with quite a conceptual, metaphysical approach that is much more interesting than most diabolical corpse-painters. This is the third and final installment in a trilogy of full-length albums representing Heaven, Earth and Hell (in the case of this album). Outside of the trilogy, which deliver the bands more technical, avant-garde progression, the band has a few previous full-lengths (before Mikko) in a more traditional black metal vein, and several EPs and splits between the installments of the trilogy that may be worth checking out, especially if you dig Paracletus.
All in all, this album has awakened my once dead interest in Black Metal. I listened with conviction that most modern Black Metal is overrated and takes itself much too seriously. Paracletus is a journey like none other, that may or may not be your style, but certainly will not conform to any expectations from the simple description of “Black Metal”. With a bold, stylish and new approach to the genre, Deathspell Omega is one my new favorite bands. Roll a joint, light some candles and let Paracletus take you to Hell and back.
9.5/10
VOICEOFDISGUST 