Metal Briefs: Clearing the Docket

Normally when I do a Metal Briefs post, there's something to connect the releases to each other. Here, that connection is tenuous at best. The only thing they have in common is that they were all submitted to me for review, and they can be best reviewed succinctly.

This just about clears my docket . . . except for the four from Heidens Hart, the three from TotalRust, the two from Godz ov War, the band from Ohio, the two bands from California, the band from Germany, and the Polish band who are after my own heart. Oh yeah, there's also a Mexican band I forgot about until now.

This is a good problem to have.

(If you submitted something to me and the above list does not include you, get in touch with me again.)

Sutekh Hexen: Larvae (2012)
(album to be released February 21)

Music that falls into the noise category is always hard for me to review. Like drone, I don't think I fully understand it. Luckily, there's some actual music buried in the mix on Sutekh Hexen's Larvae. The ugly lo-fi black metal, acoustic guitars, and droning doom are just enough to keep my interest in the music so the dark atmosphere can have its intended effect. It's kind of like the parts of Sunn O))) that actually work at lower volumes. But there's enough low-end to make higher volume a wise choice, at least on "Lead Us in Warfare". It does drop the interest level somewhat on the third and final track, but I'm still fairly impressed. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Last Transgression: Cynic Verses (2011)

Clearing the Docket

My spam filter nearly thwarted vocalist/guitarist Terry's attempt to submit Last Transgression's album Cynic Verses to me, but by odd chance I happened to be looking for something else in my spam folder. A lucky circumstance.

The Alabama band has been around since 1994, and have released prior albums in 1995, 1997, and 2002. But you'd never guess they've been around that long by listening to the record, which is almost purely modern death metal. Other than a short, dirty solo in album closer "Six Smiles Revolving", it's a relatively clean blend of modern death metal (not unlike Hail of Bullets) with some technical tendencies (a la Decapitated).

Cut the Crap v. Coming Out

Clearing the Docket

v.

I was recently treated to releases from two very old-school metal bands that impressed me a great deal. (You can get them free, too.) Since in the past I was critical of the retro metal movement, it made me think hard about what it is that I like about these records that I don't like about many others.

First up, I'm going to talk about the UK's Amulet. Cut the Crap is their four-song demo released in 2011, and it demonstrates that they are a band that does everything the way I think it should be done. They play a style of doomy heavy metal that goes back to the basics, in an unselfconscious and completely honest way. Their vocalist is good, and does his work in a straight-forward way. The production is a bit hazy, but the mix is great, with the instruments taking precedence over the vocals. Most of all, they have good riffs, and good solos.

The Reptilians: The Mentalist (2010)

Clearing the Docket

The Reptilians are a band out of Idaho. They contacted me to review their record The Mentalist, available free on their web site. The music is a combination of Tool and Isis, which on paper sounds like something I should like. On paper.

Apparently, they believe that simply stretching a song out for a long period of time is something you should do. The record is one song of nearly a half hour, and it takes forever to go anywhere. When their aforementioned influences play long songs, they are songs that deserve to be that long. They go places.

Wölfe: I (Demo 2011)

Clearing the Docket

Wölfe is a band out of Melbourne, Australia. Their demo was released as a cassette, although I'm not quite sure how you're supposed to get a copy since the band takes pains to point out they have no web site, Facebook, or MySpace. But they have been kind enough to allow free downloads (link below), and I think you might want to do that.

The demo is 15 minutes of what the band calls "grinding blackened filth", which is about as honest and complete an assessment as you really need. Each song is blisteringly fast, raw, and pissed-off like a koala on eucalyptus withdrawal.

Clearing the Docket

I've been getting disgustingly far behind in talking about music that's been submitted to me by bands, labels, and promoters. So, in an effort to catch up, I'll be clearing the docket all this week.

Obolus: Another Freebie from The Flenser

The Flenser is giving away another album, but this one is for a limited time only. I haven't listened yet, but considering the label's history it's a good bet it'll be worth your time. The press release stated, "The 2011 Obolus demo . . . demonstrates a supreme balance of harsh 90’s black metal and somber California depressive gaze." Now, Lament "is the mysterious black metal band's second release and expands upon the gazed-out harshness of their debut demo." Is that good, bad, whatever? I don't know. But it won't be free anymore once the record goes up for sale (which is said to be soon). So I thought I'd take a risk and point you in the right direction without evaluating it myself first.

Lamb of God: Resolution (2012)

Summary Judgment

Lamb of God's Ashes of the Wake was an important record for me when I began the transition from a mostly mainstream metal fan to a more extreme metal fan. The band's combination of an extreme sound with accessible songwriting was just what I needed at the time. But despite my love for that album, I've paid no attention to them since. I have no idea what "Redneck" sounds like, despite that being (apparently) their best-known song.

I am a different person since then. Then, I had no kids, I was still in school, I was renting, and the only really extreme metal I had came from Opeth, Meshuggah, and Death. Now, I have three kids, am in a career, am about to buy my second house, and I'm more likely to listen to a self-released record than a Roadrunner one. So, I think it's not them, it's me. I've changed, but Lamb of God hasn't. I couldn't even get through the record, stopping it at the instrumental cut halfway through and thinking, "I don't think I can listen to this same song seven more times."

Oak Pantheon: The Void (2011)

Review

I first read about Oak Pantheon on Metal Bandcamp. MaxR indicated that their album The Void had managed its way onto a number of year-end lists. I haven't seen it on any lists myself, but considering it's a name-your-price download, and the art is pretty cool, I thought that was a strong enough recommendation.

The Minneapolis band plays a style of black metal that's a little folksy and a little shoegaze-y. Most striking about their sound is the prevalence of major chords and the overall uplifting mood of the whole thing. The closest comparison I can come up with is Deafheaven, but even Deafheaven's work, while sometimes pretty, can't fairly be called uplifting. Several bands have tried to make black metal positive lately, usually with disastrous results. But for some reason, it mostly works on The Void.

Metal Briefs: "Unblack" Metal

Christian Black Metal

I love black metal. Today, thankfully, it seems to be the most forward-thinking and flexible subgenre within metal. This is definitely a good thing. If it means I can have Botanist and Cobalt, then I will tolerate the existence of Liturgy.

But it hasn't always been that way. And in some corners it's still not that way. There are those who have a very narrow conception of what black metal is. I could bear that narrow-mindedness if it stuck to the music itself, but it goes into ideology as well. I have repeatedly harped on the stupidity of drawing musical genre lines based on non-musical characteristics. You may as well kick a band out of the black metal club if they don't wear corpse paint, or if they're from the wrong part of the world, or if they don't have the right logo.

This is not to say that Official Black Metal Ideology is an extremely narrow field. In fact, the genre nazis will accept just about any ideology within black metal, from neo-Nazism to paganism to theistic Satanism to atheism. There is only one exception: To them, you can't be black metal if you follow one of the Abrahamic religions. In this case, your Metal Archives genre will almost never be listed as black metal, but instead as "black" metal (with quotes) or unblack metal.

Well, let the genre nazis be butthurt. I'm going to talk about Christian black metal.

Horde: Hellig Usvart (1994)

Satanism--at least as it's found in black metal--is a parody of Christianity. The symbolism, lyrical content, and even the music are all in many ways Christian traditions turned on their heads (in some cases quite literally). Horde took that, and then righted it. Hellig Usvart (said to be the first "unblack" metal album) is a parody of a parody, as titles like "Invert the Inverted Cross" demonstrate. Musically, it's pure Norwegian style black metal, with fantastic (and gorgeous-sounding) drums and the occasional tasteful synth. Thematically, it was taken as a deep insult by the black metal community. In a sense, it's more black metal than thou, designed to insult them on their own terms and show that not everyone takes them seriously. As a result, it's said that some people demanded to know who was behind the project (it was an Australian) and death threats were supposedly made. That could just be the label trying to generate controversy, but in any case the album stands on its own in terms of quality. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.