Summary Judgments, Volume 4

Bags

Sometimes, it's just not my bag. Sometimes, I've already got a bag like it, and I'm happy with that. Sometimes, it's a bag of shit.

As always, the X out of Y songs tells you how far I made it into the record before shelving it.

Persefone: Spiritual Migration (2013)
(5 out of 13 songs)

I haven't read the site in a couple years, but I bet the guys over at MetalSucks absolutely shit their pants over Persefone. It's very high-quality prog-metal with (synthesized) symphonic elements, like a heavier version of Symphony X (or to a lesser extent, Dream Theater). I'm not so much into that kind of thing anymore, but this was good enough to hook me for a while anyway. The thing that eventually turned me off was, I can hear how much these guys are a part of the metalcore generation. They have some of the rhythms I hate from metalcore, and the vocals (both clean and harsh) are right out of that school of metal. I'm just too old for this, but for what it is--it's pretty awesome.

Summary Judgments, Volume 3

It's not you, it's me.

This is an occasionally-recurring feature wherein I mostly apologize for deficiencies in my own taste. Hey, at least I'm trying. The numbers in parentheses show how much of the record I listened to before calling it quits.

Aluk Todolo: Occult Rock (2012)
(6 out of 8 songs)

Aluk Todolo's Occult Rock has some really cool music on it. Progressive, psychedelic metal that explores elements of many different genres. Generally, just a tour de force or whatever. The problem is, it's a completely instrumental double album. Considering the instrumental part, it's amazing that it's good enough to get me through one disc and halfway through another, but I don't think I want to go any further. If you like instru-metal, though, it's rare to find anything better than this.

Metal Briefs: Death Metal 2012

Death before Dishonor

I don't think there's been any lack of death metal coverage on this site as of late, but I personally haven't written many death metal reviews this year. It's still one of my favorite genres, behind only doom metal (and maybe dark Americana these days) and it's not like I haven't listened to much of it. Here are just a few of the new ones I've heard.

Doomsday: Doomsday
(4 out of 5 stars)

Chicago's Doomsday play some seriously crusty death metal on their self-titled debut EP. It sounds more or less like early Acephalix (before they went Swe-death), so if you have Interminable Night then just play "Christ Hole" to decide whether you'll like this one. In other words, death metal that's been hit in the head with a brick and then sandblasted. Doomsday can groove, but they are at their best when going balls-out fast. I love the drums on "Empty Vessel," too. They close it out with the much more punk-oriented "I Kill Everything I Fuck," which, incidentally--probably not a good pick-up line.



Buy Doomsday

Sectu: Gerra (2012)

Meshuggah Non-Ripoffs

Guest review by Patrick, proprietor of Beards Etc., home of metal, beards, and more.

Sectu are a Swedish death metal group who have only been around for a few years. Gerra will be their second album, and was released May 16. I was not familiar with the band prior to this, so I didn't really know what to expect.

When I first put this record on, it took me a few tracks before I really started to get a feel for it. I'm tempted to stick "progressive" or "technical" somewhere in this group's genre label, as they incorporate odd tempo shifts and counter-intuitive riffs in several of their songs. The stuttering start-stop-start action in "Court of the Sloths" is a good example of these peculiarities. In addition, slow strings of twangy single-note guitar lines are sometimes layered over top of the heavier main riffs, creating a vaguely unsettling effect. This album is not just some sting of odd experiments though. The songs are consistently heavy and well played, with some more traditional death metal riffs reinforcing the overall structure. When the choppy timing comes into play, it reminds me of the herky-jerky motion of 1980's movie monsters. Somehow, the decidedly alien nature of its motion makes the horrific creature in front of you all the more disturbing.

Souldrainer: Heaven's Gate (2011)

Review

I was contacted by ViciSolum Productions with a review copy of Souldrainer's sophomore album, Heaven's Gate. Souldrainer is a melodic death metal band from the home of melo-death, Sweden.

Now, I've made disparaging remarks about the genre in the past. It's not that I don't like melo-death, it's just that nobody has done anything worthwhile or different with it for the past couple of years. But this is just different enough to warrant a second look.