Lux Interna: There Is Light in the Body, There Is Blood in the Sun (2013)

There Is Neurosis in the Wovenhand

If you’re sick of my talking about dark Americana and want me to stick to the death metal, you can stop reading this review right now. If you’re eagerly waiting for the next recommendation, or just morbidly curious, Lux Interna should be next on your list.

I have not heard this band before. From my written and audio research I think it’s fair to say they’re a neofolk band, though nothing so light and airy as Amber Asylum. With There Is Light in the Body, There Is Blood in the Sun it seems they’ve done the same transformation Wovenhand took on their most recent release: They decided to make dark Americana heavy, weaving in a thick layer of bass and touches of electric guitar.

Balam: Demo 2012

Drop the "L" (& an "A)

Review by joanismylover, the third metal attorney.

What makes a good doom record? As a long-time aficionado of the genre, I struggle a bit with the question because, candidly, Black Sabbath did it all from 1970 to 1975, laying Teutonic foundations for music that, 40 years on, doesn't really vary that much. Doom doesn't veer far from Iommi's foundations, and rightly so. If it does, we don't like it. Oh sure, there's variety, from the death crawl doom of early (and most recent) Cathedral to the gothic stylings of bands like Paradise Lost with the classical influenced doom of Candlemass somewhere in between. There's extremely slow (Sunn) and extremely heavy (Electric Wizard). And then there's Balam.

Suffocation: Pinnacle of Bedlam (2013)

SUFFOCATION!!!! AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

As much as people look down on slam death, brutal death, anything with breakdowns, and even technical death, nobody looks down on the band who created all of those things. Suffocation are legendary. Every few years they come down from the mountain, see all this pointless golden calf worship, smash the tablets of the law and then lay it down again. Pinnacle of Bedlam marks the fourth time they’ve done this since the band’s reformation. No matter how many times they do it, nobody else seems to get it, and nobody else does it like they do.

I’m really late to the game on this one, and you can blame Nuclear Blast for that one. But as I was buying a couple other records from labels that don’t send me promos, I decided it was time to get this one too.

Malignancy: Eugenics (2012)

Reckless Technicality

Review by Metallattorney. He is the law.

Malignancy has been around for a long time, forming in the early 1990's, but despite hearing of the band several times, for some reason I had just never gotten around to checking them out. Until now that is. Malignancy formed out of the same area of the country and in the same general time frame as Immolation and Mortician. But other than playing death metal, they really do not have a lot of similarity to them. Malignancy is far more technical than their more straightforward death metal peers.

The music on this release is hyperactive, technical, and bizarre. Malignancy is a brutal death metal band that utilizes a lot of very technical riffs and sweeps throughout their songs. But there is just something off-kilter about their brand of technical brutal death metal. The whole thing feels off somehow. Malignancy does not really follow a lot of the cliches and expected ideas that a lot of technical death metal bands do. Though their style is definitely technical, something about them just does not fit in with groups like Necrophagist, Obscura, or any other bands. I am not sure how to explain it really, something is just different about Malignancy.

Country Briefs

Shit Kickin'

I grew up in a rural area in northeast Nebraska. As such, I was exposed to a lot of what was presented as country music. In truth, it was just pop music with affectations of country. As I got older, I discovered the legend of Johnny Cash, and realized there must be more to the genre.

My country exploration has been generally timid. I've listened to some Hank Williams III, but I've found that I like the idea of Hank 3 more than the reality. Thankfully, there's more country to appeal to metalheads than just Hank and Johnny.

Bob Wayne: Outlaw Carnie (2011)
3.5 out of 5 stars

Of the records in this post, this is easily the closest to what you might think of when you think about Hank 3 or country music. In a way, it's really quite fitting that Bob Wayne's Outlaw Carnie is on Century Media. It's dumb and straight-forward, with an attitude. Like the great Cash (who gets mentioned on "Ghost Town"), it's a lot about storytelling. But the stories are worth listening to, even if (like me) you're not usually interested in lyrics.



Buy Outlaw Carnie

Serpentine Path: Serpentine Path (2012)

Earthly Trance

The bad news: Unearthly Trance has disbanded. The good news: They’re actually still together, operating under a new name with an expanded lineup (including Tim Bagshaw of Ramesses/ex-Electric Wizard renown).

Other bands have expanded their lineups in the past, adding members and making their sound more complex, and haven’t bothered to change names. But it’s fitting that Serpentine Path has been released under a new moniker, because the music is quite different from anything Unearthly Trance has ever done. But still quite good.

Exhumed: Vanilla Fudge

Yum

Vanilla Fudge is often cited as an important proto-metal band. In 1967, their self-titled debut was filled with cover songs played at about half speed, anticipating Sabbath's slow-rolling crush. They infused all of the songs (originally by the Beatles, Cher, The Supremes, and others) with a thick layer of psychedelia.

Natur: Head of Death (2012)

NWONWOBHM

The New Wave of New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWONWOBHM for short) has been going for a while now, and I only wish I could take the credit for being the first to come up with that acronym. It’s a little unwieldy to see much widespread use, but it’s also a succinct way to describe Natur.

The New York band unleashed their debut full-length on Earache in June, and it’s fair to say they sound like Angel Witch fanboys. Of course that means twin guitar riffs, clean vocals, and pretty much standard heavy metal drums all around, with a hook and a couple solos for every song.

Realmbuilder: Fortifications of the Pale Architect (2011)

Judge a Book By Its Cover

They say you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover. But on occasion, that could save you a lot of time.

Take Fortifications of the Pale Architect, for instance, the sophomore album of New York epic doomsters Realmbuilder. The cover looks like it was very earnestly created (in MSPaint) by someone with a rudimentary grasp of perspective, but without any real knack for composition, no comprehension of proportions of the human body, a lack of appreciation for the distinction between good and bad fantasy, a lazy streak--and most importantly, a complete inability to look at his own finished product and say, "Well, that sucks." Translate that critique of visual art into a critique of music, and you can see where this is headed.

The Howling Wind: Of Babalon (2012)

Hellkrallice

The Howling Wind is a two-man black metal outfit. Given that the two members are based out of Portland, Oregon, and New York, it's a safe bet that they're not plying the trade of "pure kvlt black metal." Tellingly, their third full-length Of Babalon was recorded by Colin Marston. Yet I don't think it's fair to place them completely within the realm of what some call "hipster" black metal, either.

Starting at the end, you'll find a cover of Hellhammer's "Horus/Aggressor," and it's quite faithful to the Tom G. Warrior original. It's entirely possible they chose it purely because they're huge fans of Hellhammer. On the other hand, it could be a calculated decision, an effort to guide discussion and opinion on their little contribution to the USBM scene. Either way, I'll bite.

Folk Briefs, Part 3

Go Folk Yourself

I hope you've been enjoying these excursions into the darker side of folk music. I always keep at least one of this type of record on the front burner, and I think there's a good chance you'll like them, too. Either way, let me know what non-metal style really gets you going.

Munly & the Lupercalians: Petr and the Wulf (2010)

Along with 16 Horsepower, Jay Munly is considered one of the most important figures in establishing the "Denver sound" of alt-country/neofolk. And in many superficial ways, it's quite similar, but Munly & the Lupercalians sounds more like the Century Media to 16 Horsepower's Profound Lore, if you get my meaning. Which is not to say that it's bad. It's not as dark, or as honest, but it still has many redeeming qualities, not the least of which is the hook on opener "Scarewulf" or the Tom Waits-esque spoken word of closer "Wulf." Apparently this is the first in a planned series of connected concept albums centering around a folk story, so it also has some concept album baggage (like a handful of sucky songs). I give it 3 out of 5 stars, but there is enough positive here to make me want to check out some of Munly's earlier, non-Lupercalians work.



Buy Petr & the Wulf

Metal Briefs: Clearing the Docket #2

Keeping Up

Have I mentioned that, so far, every band or label that's contacted me has been reviewed on the site? Well, except for the occasional item that doesn't come anywhere near what this blog usually covers. So far, I've been able to keep that up. Obviously, that sometimes entails giving a brief review and lumping two or three albums together.

Here are a demo and two EPs that I've been asked to review.

Void Forger: Ruined Demo (2012)

Hailing from Romania of all places, Void Forger play a tough-to-define extreme metal style that's sort of a crusty blackened sludge/doom. Short of defining it any more closely, I'll just say it should appeal to fans of Withered, Tombs, or (in a stretch) Dragged into Sunlight. It's heavy, and there's plenty of experimentation in how they compose their riffs. This led to the incredible "Relief"—which contains what may be my favorite riff of the year. If they can replicate that success, Void Forger is bound to be a name you'll hear a lot in the future. I give the Ruined Demo 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Occultation: Three & Seven (2012)

The Ghost’s Negative Blood Plane

"Occult" hard rock is a small but steadily-growing trend. Thus far, it has been almost entirely an exercise in nostalgia, its practitioners content to copy Blue Öyster Cult and Coven. Bands like Ghost and The Devil’s Blood have done a fantastic job of it, but they haven’t brought anything new to the table. New York’s Occultation is going to change that.

Like other bands in the movement, it might be a stretch to call what Occultation does metal. If it is, it’s avant-garde doom. If you took Ghost, replaced the vocalist with a woman, and traded the guitarist for the guy from Negative Plane, you would be well on your way to replicating this sound.

Exhumed: Blue Öyster Cult

Legends of Heavy Metal?

Blue Öyster Cult is widely considered to be one of the progenitors of heavy metal by non-metalheads. They have been covered by metal bands a number of times, perhaps most notably by Metallica and Iced Earth, and they introduced the metal umlaut that has been used by so many bands since (reportedly inspired by the Wagnerian aspect of heavy metal). They are also one of the first groups in hard rock to seemingly endorse the occult, adopting a suggestive name and obscure symbolism.

But why don't metalheads claim the band, even if everyone else seems to think they're one of the genre's founding fathers?

Blue Öyster Cult (1972)

Listening to this with today's ears and today's expectations, it's hard to understand how the band was ever considered heavy metal. Only "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll" could fairly be called metal. Maybe it's because their most well-remembered hits were the metallic songs. Other than that one, only opener "Transmaniacon MC" could even remotely be considered metal, and that's under the broadest definition of the term. Aside from those, you'll find plenty of decent blues-rock and psychedelic rock. While there's nothing wrong with that, most of it doesn't grab me, and it's definitely not metal. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

The Saw v. Look at These Teeth

v.

Saxophone has been popping up in a lot of metal albums lately. But I was still surprised to find that there is not one, but at least two grindcore bands which completely replace guitar with saxophone. I decided to compare and contrast the three-song EPs the two bands have released.

Providence v. Noise

v.

Normally it wouldn't make much sense to compare Immolation to Wormrot. One is a death metal band out of New York that's been around for over 20 years. The other is a grindcore band out of Singapore with a 4 year tenure. But both have recently released free five-song EPs through the controversial Scion A/V.

The question of corporate sponsorship for music has been discussed many times by many other people. I don't feel I have anything to add to the discussion, so I'll just tell you where I stand. Free music is good for the consumers, and when a band can get paid to release it, then it's good for the band, too. The company gets good will and viral marketing out of the deal. Everybody wins, so long as the company doesn't exert undue influence--and by all accounts, Scion A/V does nothing of the sort.

Negative Plane: Stained Glass Revelations (2011)

Review

I am pretty much the only metalhead who didn't like Deathspell Omega's Paracletus. There are 14 reviews on Metal Archives, with an average score of 91%, and the next-lowest score is 79%. I gave it a 40%. The crux of my problem with it was summed up thusly: "[W]hen all you have are dissonant riffs--without anything to ground them--then it doesn't make any sense."

Even though I didn't publish my review until February, and Stained Glass Revelations came out in January, it sounds like Negative Plane know exactly what I was talking about and set out to write the record Paracletus should have been. Or at least one of the forms it could have taken.

Metal Briefs: Death Metal 1994

The Golden Era, Part 5

The golden age of death metal was coming to a close in 1994, with grunge "killing" metal in the eyes of some, black metal coming to prominence for others, and the simple fact that the first creative juices were running out. Because of death's surprising level of success and expectations that sales would continue to climb, record labels were releasing albums by the bucketful. Many of those releases are decidedly nonessential, and the glut may also be partly responsible for death's downfall. But there were still many good ones coming out.

Infester: To the Depths . . . In Degradation

Speaking of grunge, Infester was from Seattle. And speaking of black metal, they incorporate some of the strained vocals, tremolo riffing, and overall symphonic aesthetic of black metal into their ugly death. It doesn't go far enough to be true blackened death, though, and at heart this sounds like a New York death metal band. They bear the strongest resemblance to the doomy death of Incantation, lo-fi recording, guttural death growls, and all. Even with the occasional synths in the background, there is no mistaking this as pure, grotesque death metal. Allegedly, they have a racist agenda incorporated into their sadistic lyrics, but if you can understand them I'll let you decide. And, by the way, it's fantastic. I give their only full-length 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Flourishing: The Sum of All Fossils (2011)

Review

Flourishing has been mentioned alongside Ulcerate and Mitochondrion. Since I enjoy those bands a great deal, I picked up their debut full-length The Sum of All Fossils.


The aforementioned article posed the question: Is post-death metal a new genre? It's been addressed in other places as well. Based solely on this album, you couldn't come to a definitive conclusion. Flourishing certainly exhibit some of the "post-" tendencies--especially their dissonant atmospheric riffs. But I understood this album as an example of death metal blended with hardcore.

Archon: The Ruins at Dusk (2010)

Review

Archon is a sludge/stoner doom band out of New York, led by Andrew Jude (formerly of Agnosis). He contacted me with review copy of the band's debut full-length, The Ruins at Dusk.

You're already familiar with their sonic palette. It's heavy, slow, sludgy, trance-inducing riffs with steady drumming. Interest is added by way of mellow, psychedelic guitar leads. The vocals are sludge-style growls, both male and female, along with some clean female droning (not too far from Laura Pleasants). Think of Zoroaster, or the slower moments of High on Fire, and you'll get the picture.