Venomous Maximus: Beg upon the Light (2012)

Slipped through the Cracks of Hell

There’s something infinitely rewarding about finding some hidden gem, an excellent album that nobody else knows about. Metalheads love that shit. For good or ill, those kinds of releases are getting fewer and farther between, because labels with clout will no doubt pick them up and re-release them.

That’s what’s going on with Venomous Maximus’s debut Beg upon the Light. Supposedly it was released on Occulture last October—as far as I can tell, that means it was self-released on Bandcamp. Napalm Records took note of this extremely deserving record and has given it a lot more exposure.

Lycus: Tempest (2013)

”Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises” –Shakespeare, The Tempest

Oakland funeral doomsters Lycus released a demo in 2011 that got some fairly positive press (including at Full Metal Attorney). Apparently that was enough to grab the attention of 20 Buck Spin, who released their proper debut full-length yesterday.

Tempest continues the band’s slowed-down version of early Swallow the Sun, blending morose lead guitars and equally hopeless clean vocals with a solid underpinning of steady, heavy riffage. The production is the most remarkably different aspect of the release. Where the demo had a strong, immediate, straight-forward approach, Tempest sounds distant and cloaked in reverb, a style many funeral doom bands tend toward. Just as with their demo, the album has three songs, but here the final product clocks in at 41 minutes instead of 25.

TOAD: Endless Night (2013)

Take Over and Destroy? Don’t Mind if I Do.

I took a brief look at the promo material for TOAD’s Endless Night, downloaded it, put it on my iPod, and forgot everything I knew about it. A couple days later, I came to it with fresh eyes and ears, looked at the cover art, and thought, “OK, I’m ready for some old-school doom metal.” Despite the cover art, that is not what I encountered.

You may recall a few years ago when Kvelertak blew everything wide open, and a few people (myself included) did what we could to find someone, anyone else who sounded like them, but nobody really did. Phoenix, Arizona’s TOAD (Take Over and Destroy) may be one of the first bands to list Kvelertak as a primary influence.

Squash Bowels: Grindcoholism (2013)

Surrender to Grindcoholism!

Review by joanismylover, the third metal attorney.

"Holy shit!" The Second . . . the listener is pounded with Squash Bowel's first full length since 2009, that's what she'll say. Especially since the release is from a band that's done splits with "Catasexual Urge Motivation" and "Cock and Ball Torture". If the utter Tastlesness of the names, song titles and cover art by most of these "artists" isn't enough of a put off, the music usually is. Or at least that's what one would expect. Maybe there is a Trap these bands like to play on the listener, hiding excellent, down-tuned, pummeling riffing over hyperblast beats without losing a sense of songcraft. Maybe The Theater of it all dissuades those of us not prone to grind and its porno sub-genres to ignore it and there's actually a whole bunch of new pornogrind records we all have to go out and get. Or maybe most of it is what it is - shit.

Brutus: Behind the Mountains (2013)

Reflections on Thin Lizzy and Wondering Why Others Can't Match Them

Review by joanismylover, the third metal attorney.

In the movie "Once", about star-crossed lovers in modern day Ireland, the protagonist is a musician. It's all serious but comic relief comes in the form of a Thin Lizzy cover band, who like any band if it sounds like Thin Lizzy. They only liked Thin Lizzy. At the time I thought that was amusing, but I didn't really get it. I'd only known the band through the much over played now on a Citibank credit card commercial, "The Boys Are Back in Town." Well, I've been discovering Thin Lizzy for the last couple of years and now I want to watch that chick flick again. Now I understand the obsession.

Dark Americana Briefs, Part 7

You know the drill.

Across Tundras: Electric Relics (2013)
4 out of 5 stars

As I've mentioned before, Across Tundras is one of those few bands who expertly land themselves at the crossroads of metal and dark Americana. They sound like an old-school country/Western band (complete with nasally cowboy vocals) mixed with the desert rock of Kyuss. The production is extremely dry, and listening to it feels like a walk through the desert to a marginal frontier town. It's tailor-made for me, but your mileage may vary.

Toxic Holocaust: From the Ashes of Nuclear Destruction (2013)

Compiled

Review by Metallattorney. He is the law.

Hmmm. I am not quite sure why I am reviewing this. I did not realize it at first until listening to it for the first time that this is a compilation rather than a full-length release. I realized it finally when I kept thinking to myself "I know I have heard this song before". I guess it helps to pay attention occasionally.

Anyway, I am a big fan of Toxic Holocaust so even though this is a compilation, I enjoyed listening to it. This is a collection of tracks off of EPs and splits that the band has done over the years. Toxic Holocaust has a lot of music out there and this puts together some of the rarer tracks for easier consumption. That is what a good compilation does after all.

Vestiges / Panopticon: Vestiges / Panopticon (2013)

Splitting Vinyl

The Flenser is always out there giving it away for free in the hopes that people will feel compelled to buy the vinyl. It seems to be working out well for them. Among those releases is a Colin Marston-mastered split from Kentucky’s Panopticon and D.C.’s Vestiges.

Panopticon released the phenomenal Kentucky last year, earning the number three spot on my end-of-year list with a brilliant combination of black metal, Appalachian folk, and miner protest songs. Vestiges, on the other hand, doesn’t even have a Metal Archives page, so I went into that one blind.

Impiety: The Impious Crusade (EP 2013)

Stealing

The esteemed Metallattorney should be writing this review. He’s written about them several times. In 2009 he wrote, “Impiety has been one of the most extreme, powerful bands in underground metal for years.” And I pretty much operate on the assumption that he wants to hear everything from Hells Headbangers. Because it’s completely within his realm of expertise, and he’s expressed such admiration for them, first dibs on anything from Impiety should have, by all rights, gone to Metallattorney.

I guess he just did too good a job at selling them. He hasn’t sold me a lemon for the better part of a decade, and Impiety is no exception to that winning streak.

Kylesa: Ultraviolet (2013)

Drifting

The first time I heard the Pixies was at the end of Fight Club, and I didn’t find out the band’s name until about a year later. In other words, I was barely aware that there was such a thing as indie rock in the 90’s. Growing up in a tiny town in northeast Nebraska, I didn’t know anyone who listened to it, although I suspect my hipster cousin (who went to school in the nearby tiny city) was probably aware of it. Hell, I’m still barely aware of what indie rock is. I’ve listened to The Mountain Goats and sometimes hear whatever indie band-of-the-moment is on Letterman or some TV commercial, but that’s about it. I think Coldplay might have something to do with this conversation, but I don’t know. If you do know, and you think the references I’m making are completely off base, then all the better.

When people say that the Kylesa of today sounds like 90’s indie rock, I have only the vaguest idea what that means. It sounds right from what very little I’ve heard, but my exploring that angle would be disingenuous, asinine, and a complete waste of time. Instead, I’ll just say that I love the new Kylesa. They’re not the best metal band out there, but they are certainly one of the most unique and interesting.

Sidhe: She Is a Witch (2012)

Lacuna Mass

Around 2005, there was a time that I was really into female-fronted gothic metal. I devoured as much Nightwish and Lacuna Coil as I could find. (Don’t laugh. I heard about the stuff you were listening to.) It was a phase I outgrew quickly, but there are a handful of tracks from either band that I wouldn’t mind hearing again.

Italy’s Sidhe brings up a lot of those associations, at least with respect to Lacuna Coil. The singing style, and plenty of the music (like the riff which opens "She Is a Witch"), bears a strong resemblance to Lacuna Coil. But it also owes a good deal to Candlemass, in many other places (like “Witchcraft Way”).

Man's Gin: Rebellion Hymns (2013)

Doggamn, Don’t Let It Go

Any time you read the words “dark Americana” on this blog, you can blame Man’s Gin. Sure, I’ve always liked acoustic-electric material on the order of Alice in Chains Unplugged going back to my teenage years, but Smiling Dogs is the album that sent me down this rabbit hole. It’s the reason I listen to things like Steve Von Till, Dax Riggs, and Wovenhand nearly as much as I listen to Suffocation, Darkthrone, and Evoken.

Rebellion Hymns is the long-awaited follow-up to Smiling Dogs, and it is well worth the wait. Not only does it continue in the dark rock/country/folk of its predecessor, it builds on it.

Solothus: Summoned from the Void (2013)

A Band to Watch

I reviewed the demo from Finland’s Solothus at the end of 2011, declaring them “a band to watch.” The record was straight-forward, simple death/doom but with a lot of great things going for it. There is just something special about certain metal demos.

Now the band is signed to Memento Mori and they’ve unleashed their debut proper, Summoned from the Void. They’ve kept a lot of what you could hear on the demo: dynamic tempos from slow to mid-paced and back again, hefty death growls, and a caveman level of sophistication, to name a few. But they departed significantly from their demo in at least two key respects, and that makes all the difference in the world.

Amon Amarth: Deceiver of the Gods (2013)

We March Again to Reach Valhalla’s Mighty Royal Gates

This would be the second entirely unnecessary review in as many weeks. Instead of writing a typical review, I considered writing a vignette of a Viking battle scene. At the thought of inviting such a direct comparison between my words and the experience of hearing Amon Amarth, I decided against that option.

Deceiver of the Gods is the eighth full-length record from the mighty Amon Amarth. They only need one more to have as many albums as there are homeworlds in Norse cosmology. If you’ve got any of their previous seven records you have a pretty good idea of what to expect. If you don’t have any of their previous seven, you need to buy this one, buy another one, or get the Hel out of here. There’s not another way. If you don’t love Amon Amarth, then you can’t claim to be a metalhead.

Author & Punisher: Women & Children (2013)

What Is This? Does It Matter

Review by joanismylover, the third metal attorney.

I like the Crystal Method. I can shake my ass and nod my head to it. It’s electronic, but it’s large. It’s dance music but it’s excessive. It’s also kind of heavy. It’s got atmosphere – maybe not a metal type of atmosphere, but there’s a presence to the music that gets my attention. Maybe there’s not a lot of substance to it but there’s good songs there. I’m not really sure what type of music it is, but that doesn’t matter. It’s good and I want to listen to it.

I’m not really sure what kind of music Author & Punisher is, but I’m also not really sure it matters. The question is whether it’s any good and do I want to listen to it. At first I didn’t. I gave it a once-through and wasn’t really captivated or even interested. But then I played it again. And I got a bit more interested.

Goatess: Goatess (2013)

Born Again

Lord Vicar is easily one of the most underrated metal bands out there right now, creating traditional doom metal on the same level as The Gates of Slumber. A big part of their appeal is the vocal talent of Chritus, who sounds a little bit like Ozzy with a much fuller voice. So, when I found out Chritus had his own solo project, I had to check it out.

Goatess is said to be an outlet for Chritus’s “desire to create music that is based on atmosphere and the worship of the heavy riff, as opposed to the strictly structured doom metal of Lord Vicar,” according to the promo materials. That’s true, there is quite a bit of Sleep in the way they create memorable, ultra-heavy riffs and then ride them until the riff is tapped out. Opener “Know Your Animal” is the perfect example. But there is more to it than just that.

The Dillinger Escape Plan: One of Us Is the Killer (2013)

Everybody’s Got One . . .

A new release by The Dillinger Escape Plan is, at this point, not really an opportunity to write an album review. Not a necessary one, anyway. The event is essentially the catalyst for everyone to voice their already well-established and strongly-held opinions, which fall into one of three camps. One, the people who don’t get it and don’t care. Two, the people who think they were great at Calculating Infinity but they began to suck more than any other band, ever. Three—and this is where I’ve pitched my tent—the people who love what they’ve been doing for approximately the last decade.

Grime: Deteriorate (2013)

I’m Nerding Out

Until about ten years ago, I was an avid player of Magic: The Gathering. (Every time you learn something new about me, I seem even cooler, right?) Swamps play a prominent role in the game, fueling spells centered around decay and the undead. In the last expansion I committed to, the setting was a world of metal, where the swamps brimmed with acid and belched caustic gas.

Grime belongs there, in the Mephidross of Mirrodin. As when I reviewed their debut EP, I still can’t believe these guys are from a port city in the foothills of northern Italy, so I’m going with the only account which makes any sense, even if it does involve a fictional place.

Inter Arma: Sky Burial (2013)

Writ of Heavius Corpses (TM)

Wherein joanismylover takes issue with one of my reviews.

The issue on appeal is whether Inter Arma, as evidenced on Sky Burial, is “boldly combining influences in new ways, or do they lack identity?”*  The rule applicable is whether the release kicks enough ass to make the listener say, “Whoa, this some good fuckin’ shit.” (hereinafter “the kick ass good shit rule”).** Respondent argues in essence that the length of the release, combined with its allegedly mis-placed acoustic interludes and discordant influences present a confused but potential-laden release.  We granted this writ because it presents an issue of first impression – i.e. significant disagreement between FMA and joanismylover.  Because real-party at interest – Inter Arma – despite some minor mis-steps, ultimately satisfy kick ass good shit rule, joanismylover will, as explained below, give Sky Burial an improved rating.

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.