Cannabis Corpse, Mammoth Grinder, Inanimate Existence, Artillery Breath

December 18, 2014 • Ace of Cups, Columbus, Ohio

Concerts this year were sadly slim. It looks like things might pick up next year, though. Anyway I was excited to finally hit another death metal show—as I've said before, I think death metal is one of my favorite genres to watch live, if only for the sheer insanity some bands bring out on stage.

Artillery Breath

The token local opener, and pretty decent stuff to get the show started at that. They're kind of like a death-metal-oriented Kvelertak—lots of heavy grinding extreme metal with old-school high-energy hard rock riffs, with that same sort of high-energy performance and silly and fun attitude. They're not really the kind of thing I'd spin very often on my own, but they were definitely good to watch and a great opener.

Inanimate Existence

The obligatory second band playing that I'd never heard of but wound up liking the best. (Weird how often that happens.) As I soon as I saw them breaking out the seven-string guitars and warming up with some jazzy lines, I could tell it was going to be good. This band falls much more into the brutal/technical death metal side and have a much more serious stance than the other bands playing, but what they were playing was ridiculous—the kind of complicated wall-of-sound riffing where the drummer is somehow the sanest one playing. I did my best to keep up with what the guitars and bass were doing, but the complexity and fluidity was too much, as if they were just waving their fingers over the fretboards at random but still having something awesome come out. This sort of very-long-form through-composed material isn't for everyone and it can be tough to get through at a show, but in this case I don't think I ever found myself anything but engrossed. So yeah, they're good, very good, if you can stomach the wall of intensity.

Mammoth Grinder

This band was the primary reason I went to this show, as they were the only one who I'd heard before. As it turns out I don't really like them at all. I'd listened to their 2009 album some time ago and forgotten about it, and now I know why. Their particular style of modern metallic crust punk isn't really my thing at all. There are some good bits here and there, but most of their music is pretty flat and to be honest they aren't really that fun to watch, either. Oh well. If they're already your thing, it's probably worth it to check them out, but don't stress about it.

Cannabis Corpse

It's been ages since I heard any Cannibal Corpse, but if I remember them right, these guys are (musically) by far the better band. They're pretty traditional death metal with a little bit of groove metal fusion going on, and clearly with a lot of songwriting talent. On the other side of the coin, though, I'm not a stoner, and unfortunately most of their fans are, and we don't get along. I am not a real big fan of moshing, but at many shows I wind up standing right where people want to open a pit, which is usually in a prime spot for, you know, just watching. So I was forced to stand in the back where I couldn't really see, and at that point you might as well just go home and listen to it on YouTube. Usually the audience at metal shows I go to here in Columbus is pretty reasonable, but not this time. Shame, because the band themselves seemed like pretty cool guys. Oh well.

Trap Them – Blissfucker

June 10, 2014 • Prosthetic Records

Trap Them got pretty successful with their last album Darker Handcraft (which was, admittedly, pretty good) and the followup shouldn't have surprised me so much. They put together a pretty solid album, though.

This album is the same sort of blistering, raucous, metal-tinged crust punk we know them for. Lightning-paced punk rhythms, buzzsaw guitars (probably the most appropriate time I've used that word so far), the occasional foray into slow stomping sludge rhythms, the rare grindcore blast. It's got it all, and they do a good job at what they do.

The downside is that this album feels far too long. Trap Them doesn't offer much in the way of giving the listener a break, and when it comes to punk in general forty-five minutes is usually just too much. I find myself getting exhausted about halfway through, which is unfortunate because this album has a lot of good songs on it, especially near the end like "Former Lining Wide the Walls". Maybe I just ought to listen to it in two chunks or something.

But it's good. Not fantastic, but more than listenable for sure; not punk-of-the-year, but something to throw on casually now and again when I can't think of something else to listen to. I won't say if they topped Darker Handcraft, but it's still worth checking out, of course.

7 Inch Grab Bag, part 1

In case you missed my recent haul post, I got a grab bag of ten randomly-selected 7" records. Here are my thoughts on the first three!

Medicine Man – Céad Míle Fáilte

1993 • Thrashing Mad

I wasn't expecting this at all. From the cover, it looks like some kind of cheesy folk rock, but in reality it's more like old-school hardcore punk, Minor Threat style, with a bit of a hard rock / heavy metal feel at times and not-very-good vocals. The riffs are a bit dissonant and not particularly memorable, but there's some really nice bass work going on. All in all, I kinda like it. Not something I can see myself getting super into, but it's pretty good stuff.

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The Rumour – Frozen Years / All Fall Down

1979 • Stiff Records

Cheesy '70s pop/rock, as I had suspected. Sort of an XTC feel with the spacey synthesizers and acoustic guitars, but not as carefully composed or expressive and it's a bit too repetitive for me. The B-side "All Fall Down" is definitely a bit better with an interesting dub feel, but it quickly gets too silly. Nice guitar soloing, though.

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DCOi! – DCOi

2008 • xTruex Records

Nice and crusty! Fast, modern-sounding west coast punk (well, it was 2008), and it's some really good catchy stuff, switching between noisy blasting and crunchy, driving rhythms. I won't say it's the best modern hardcore I've heard and they're certainly not unique or anything, but it certainly gets the job done well for when you're in the mood to break stuff.

Blank – Susperia

December 12, 2014 • This Charming Man Records

Blank is a modern-style crust punk band through and through, with a dark and gritty aesthetic and a sound that is quite dense and often complex. They also can comfortably move from crust to blastbeats and there are also some good atmospheric parts (like "Society of Glass"'s and "Lich un Eisen"'s intros and endings). So there's a good amount of different things going on in their songwriting, which is nice to hear from a modern hardcore band where diversity is often sadly absent.

I'm not totally sure how I feel about Suspiria, though. Blank has definitely laid down a solid foundation, but the songs seem to go by too quickly before they can really hook the listener. But there are still a lot of good ideas and some great riffs and I like where it's going, and maybe the fact that it's just an EP and not a full album has something to do with it.

So while this release is definitely a fine listen, especially for people already into this scene, and I am liking it, there is still a lot of untapped potential to be exploited yet. We'll see; I'm probably going to keep my eye out for future material from these guys. Blank feels like they are probably a great live band, at the very least.

Sangharsha – Bayou

February 8, 2014 • Alerta Antifascista Records

I don't think that, before this week, I'd ever heard any music from Nepal before. It's not a country you really hear much about, especially when it comes to contemporary popular music. But of course it's always good to expand one's horizons. Sangharsha plays modern hardcore, and although there really isn't that much about them that sounds at all Nepalese to me, they're still definitely putting out some quality stuff.

Bayou was actually recorded in the United States with Converge's Kurt Ballou helping out, so the album is definitely Western-sounding and you can definitely feel a bit of the Converge sound in there. But Sangharsha is a band all their own; at its core Bayou probably falls under "crust punk"—they alternate between D-beat, blasting, and heavy, sludgy chugging sections. There isn't a whole lot in the way of technicality, but the riffs are plenty great as it stands; I especially love the breakdown sections like at the end of "Muslo". There is the occasional almost-post-rock-like bridge as well (see the longer tracks "Aseena" and "Kachuli") where their intense sound lets up temporarily, keeping things interesting and diverse, always a good thing.

It's a short album, but I think that is probably best—the quality doesn't let up throughout and I don't feel like there are any moments where the band coasts along on a dull riff or filler track. Short and sweet, like good punk should be. These guys are definitely on the right track with Bayou; I'm looking forward to hearing more from them.

Burning Bright – Domesday

December 15, 2012 • self-released

I found this band on Bandcamp (of course) some time ago and finally got around to actually checking them out. I've heard more than my share of crap in my mission to find the world's best crust punk, but Burning Bright is definitely one of the better bands so far and this, their debut, is certainly worth the time.

Domesday is a pretty simple album at its core: a straightforward fusion of melodic hardcore and crust punk, like a skatier version of Tragedy. Unlink a lot of other crust punk, though, the production is pretty clean most of the time (and you can easily hear that awesome bass guitar sound) and the melodies are, well, more melodic than usual (almost power-metal-esque on a few tracks, and there's even trumpet on the final track). I quite like the approach, actually; it's a very accessible album and easy to listen to as far as hardcore goes. You don't always have to get bogged down in the dirty, dank sound most crust albums have, and I appreciate that here.

Burning Bright can definitely do some quite catchy rhythms, although many of the songwriting and riffs lean more towards the average side, playing off on a single note or really basic chord pattern that doesn't stay interesting very long. There are some nice exceptions, though—"Vitriol", as an example, has a nice proggy-sounding bridge to it and some really great guitar interplay with the solos; a few of the closing songs bring a great sludgy sound missing from the rest of the album.

So no, it's not a particularly challenging or mind-expanding release, or one that I'd eagerly push on everyone I meet, but it's still a fine album for those days when you just want to rock out and have your brain numbed by some heavy hardcore sounds. Definitely recommended for hardcore fans—and it's free, too!

7

No Omega – Shame

April 10, 2013 • Throatruiner Records

No Omega is another piece of evidence as to how metal and punk are slowly assimilating into the same thing—just some heavy, angry music—but they're also making me wonder if that's necessarily a good thing.

Stylistically, it's quite a mixed bag; there are some nice sludgy breakdowns, plenty of faster hardcore/crust sections, and even the occasional blasting bit, but they're all stacked one after the other and don't fit together particularly well into one whole. One one hand, it keeps things from getting too samey, but at the same time it can feel too chaotic sometimes. (Not on a huge scale, but it's there.)

It comes off like an album that doesn't feel entirely sure of itself; the vocals imply music a lot more aggressive than what is actually going on most of the time musically and songs often stop with no discernible ending. None of the riffs in particular stick out, and songwriting is equally unmemorable. It's a weird experience that I don't really care that much for.

Overall, I guess it's definitely a listenable album, and plenty of people will find it good, but it's not one that's going to be making any waves and I personally will probably have forgotten all about it in a month or two. Plenty of other bands are doing this better and I can do without Shame.

4

Consume – Consume

March 2007 • Insane Society Records

I don't know a single thing about this band, Consume; I simply found this compilation on YouTube the other day and decided to give them a shot. It's decent d-beat stuff, though nothing terribly unique. I've been listening to a lot of this sort of punk lately, though, the old-school crusty sound of bands like Discharge and Amebix and all them. With its catchy, simplistic guitar lines and drumming, there's hardly anything about Consume's music to dislike. It's tough to pick out highlights since all the songs are pretty similar, but there are plenty of moments that make me want to air-drum along.

Therein lies the problem, perhaps—long punk compilations like this have never sat well with me. I love punk EPs for their brevity, their ability to deliver quick bursts of anger, and in short order. With eighteen tracks and a forty-plus minute runtime, this compilation feels like too much. I guess that's kind of the point, probably; this is probably their entire discography to date and if you want to listen to the band you get a lot to choose from. And that's not a bad thing. They may not the best band but this release is enjoyable for what it's worth.

6

Struck by Lightning – True Predation

April 24, 2012 • Translation Loss Records

So I've been following Struck by Lightning for a while, ever since I saw them open at a show and checked out their debut from a few years ago. This, their second album, is almost a year old by now but I'm finally catching up. Anyway, it's good. It seems that the band has moved up a bit in terms of sound and created something pretty darn cool.

The crust punk style that defined Serpents definitely still dominates the album, though (if you couldn't tell, just look at that classic cover art)—dirty, crunchy, and fast guitars, standard yet aggressive hardcore-punk-style drumming, and raw, angry, nihilistic sludge vocals. Some of my favorite elements of different kinds of heavy music all smashed together, and it's awesome.

While Serpents often flaunted a prog-sludge formula that was catchy but admittedly not terribly original, on True Predation it's more or less gone. Basically, there's less of that Mastodon sound (though the dual-guitar harmonies show up now and again). I think it's a good change for them; it seems they're a little more comfortable with their own sound and are developing a more tailored style. Songs still range from the more plodding ("Mindfucker") to fast and blazing ("Stalk and Prey"), so it doesn't get stale.

Essentially, Struck by Lightning is just as good now as they were back on their first album. I'm not totally sure if I'd say they're tons improved, but True Predation definitely doesn't disappoint. I can only wonder why they haven't done any shows around here lately (or, if they have, why I haven't found out about them).

7

The Holy Mountain – Entrails

May 31, 2005 • No Idea Records

Entrails is an easy album to describe, yet a tough one to review. Its sound is straightforward, balls-to-the-wall Discharge-style punk—heavy guitar riffs, angry gang vocals, furious and nonstop drumming. This isn't anything new for punk, and The Holy Mountain is simply piggybacking on a style that's been around for about twenty years at this point, but to be honest they do it pretty well.

It doesn't strike me as a prime example of the genre—not a lot from the last decade really has—but for throwing back to the early '80s sound it's fine. They do switch up their approach now and again, such as the occasional groovy breakdown riff like the end of "Slaves" or the powerviolence-like blasting of the end of "Oversight". The aesthetic provided on this album is pretty nice if you're in the mood for something aggressive.

Unfortunately it's a bit tough to say much else about them as there isn't a lot unique about this album. If you're into the D-beat style, this is just another competent and enjoyable addition to its history, and that's just about all that can be said.

6

Instinto – Instinto

March 12, 2012 • Hysterical Records

I found Instinto randomly browsing Bandcamp's punk section, and again I'm pleasantly surprised by my discovery. Instinto is a Spanish crust punk band—a country that I haven't heard much heavy music from ever—and they bring a very satisfying album to the table.

It's pretty typical crust, I suppose; simple three-chord riffs, D-beat drumming, harsh metal vocals. They don't really do anything special or unique with their music, but what they do do is write some really damn fun songs. They're fast and catchy, in a way that almost borders on being silly, but in an obviously entertaining way. They're not trying to be serious (at least, I hope) and the album's all the better for it.

Again, though, it's very typical music, so even at a mere 25 minutes it gets a bit stale. But still, it's a fine album, and it's free, so... what do you have to lose?

6

Numb – Numb

March 1, 2011 • self-released

Numb is yet another crust punk / sludge fusion sort of band, a style I haven't gotten tired of yet although its days in my library's rotation may be numbered. The band calls their self-titled debut an EP, but to me if feels a lot more like a full album; though its quality is consistent throughout, I'm not finding a lot of replay value in it.

The sound is right up my alley, though: lots of heavy, sludgy riffing with deep death metal vocals, contrasted with faster sections that verge into grindcore territory with blasting and angular guitar lines, in addition to some more straightforward crust punk in between. It's something I've heard a lot and written about before, but every band seems to do it slightly differently. Numb seems to prefer switching back and forth rapidly, and it works pretty well in keeping the listener on their toes, not to mention the slightly jazzy flair that crops up now and again—see the beginning of "Cower", for example—that reminds me slightly of Le Scrawl. It's pretty neat.

"Pretty neat" is about as far as I'll allow it, though. Superficially I'm enjoying Numb quite a bit, but this release gets a bit tough to listen to. Each track is basically the same thing, and half an hour is pretty long (at least by punk standards) so listening to the whole thing becomes tedious and I feel like it should have been about half as long. Maybe I just have a shorter attention span for this kind of stuff than I used to, I dunno.

Still, it's not bad. I like where Numb is going and I'll probably keep an eye on them to see if they can put out anything a little more focused and varied. In the meantime this is solid, especially for a debut, so even if it's not necessarily my thing I'm sure plenty of fans of this style can get into it.

5

Homewrecker – Worms and Dirt

May 26, 2012 • A389 Recordings

More modern hardcore! Is it obvious yet that I can't get enough of the stuff? I hardly know anything about Homewrecker, but they're a relatively new band who are showing a lot of promise for a genre that might be a bit stagnant with some really neat sounds and styles.

Homewrecker's songs are filled with high-speed punk riffing combined with a super-heavy, chugging metal sensibility, sometimes switching back and forth between quick blasting and slow thrasy riffs. It's a neat combination—of course their sound is nothing necessarily original (I hear shades of Napalm Death in there, among other bands), but that doesn't mean they aren't creative with it. Despite the occasional slow tempos the songs are very fast-paced, so the band is always keeping the listener on their toes and it doesn't ever get boring. They also throw in the occasional despairing ambient bridge here and there just to keep the mood bleak, only to jarringly jump back into some of the angriest punk I've heard. (And that's jarring in a good way.)

And it's all over just as soon as it starts; even though Worms and Dirt has a relatively average runtime for a punk album at just over twenty minutes, there's so much to it that these guys could probably fill an album twice as full and it'd still be just as interesting. Homewrecker is definitely a band to watch and I'm eager to see where they go in the future.

7

False Light – False Light

June 12, 2012 • self-released

Sometimes, there are days when I just want to have my ears mercilessly pounded with sound until I can't feel anything anymore. False Light is pretty good at doing just that: it's one of the heaviest punk releases I've ever heard, and very much in a good way.

The sound is pretty simple, with typical grindcore/powerviolence blastbeats, intense shouted vocals, and heavy muted guitar, occasionally punctuated by slower doomier sections. It's a very effective contrast, of course, and they make it seamless (the really low and dirty guitar tone helps). Sometimes they even set up a really neat rhythmic groove (see "Lung"), as well—they have a surprising amount of diversity considering the length of this EP. (And man—that ride bell in some of the blastbeats. Unexpected, and awesome.)

I've probably made it more than clear in previous reviews that I love this kind of super-intense punk, so it's probably no surprise that I wholeheartedly recommend this band, and I hope they stick around and put some more stuff out soon.

7

Enslaved, Alcest, Junius, Struck by Lightning

October 1, 2011 • Outland Live, Columbus, Ohio

I hadn't been to a concert in a long, long time, so I was pretty excited for this show. A Saturday night, and only $17 to see four bands? Not a bad deal, I thought. This was my first visit to Outland Live and I have to say that I was pretty impressed. It's nicer than just about every venue I've been to (besides the House of Blues and the Wexner Center); it has some bizarre decor but the place seemed pretty clean and had a nice bar area set off from the stage area. I'd go back if another good-sounding concert came there. Anyway, on to the bands:

Struck by Lightning

I'd never heard of this group before the show (apparently they are not only from Columbus but have a former member from Mouth of the Architect, which is awesome) so I had no expectation of what I was getting, and I was really impressed with them. They play a sort of crust punk-sludge metal hybrid that sounds really nice; it didn't get too deathcore-y like a lot of bands who try that do. The band all had pretty good chops and although the music wasn't anything incredibly mind-blowing, they did put on a really good show even though the crowd wasn't much into it, and I'm a bit disappointed they didn't have any CDs for sale (no, I'm not paying $25 for your record).
8 • Coolest-Looking Speaker Stacks Award

Junius

Junius is another band I had almost no experience with—I heard their track on their split with Rosetta the day before so that hardly counts. They put on a hell of a show, though. Their music is of the "heavy alt/post-rock" variety and the songs all sounded basically the same to me, but they were pretty energetic and always set up a really great groove and atmosphere. Their drummer is pretty magnificent, too. Worth seeing again.
9 • Best Beards Award

Alcest

This was more or less the band that I actually came to see, and I wasn't disappointed by them either. They sounded pretty bad at first—you could barely hear anything but drums, probably some mixing issues—but that was fixed throughout the show and they wound up sounding really great. I was a bit disappointed that they played mostly new stuff that I wasn't terribly familiar with, but they played "Souvenirs d'un autre monde" which is one of my favorites of theirs, so that was really cool to see. At this point in the show some of the crowd started to get a little rowdier (perhaps it was the effects of the bar) and there were some people who were a little too excited to see Alcest play, but I guess these things happen.
8 • Sexiest Band Award

Enslaved

I have never really been a huge fan of Enslaved; I heard one of their older albums, Below the Lights, and thought it was pretty good, but by the time Enslaved started their show you'd think you were at a goddamn Lamb of God concert or something, everybody went pretty crazy. It was especially irritating since for some reason I decided to stand behind two pretty tall guys and couldn't see much. Anyway, their set was decent; they only played one song I knew (from Below the Lights) (and "Immigrant Song" for their encore—since when do metal bands do encores, anyway?) but the stuff I didn't know wasn't bad. I will say that their more Viking metal type stuff translates better to a live setting since you can actually tell what they are playing rather than just blasting, during which I couldn't tell what they were playing at all. (I'm pretty sure their keyboard player didn't actually play anything, either, because the keyboard was completely inaudible throughout.) Enslaved was definitely my least-favorite act of the night but they aren't really my style of music anyway; besides, they had a lot of hardcore fans cheering them on anyway.
6 • Biggest Tom Rack Award