Monday 28 January 2019

Terra Mater - Holocene Extinction Parts I & II


Labels: Alerta Antifascista Records/Les Nains Aussi Records/Counteract Recordings/Bad Habit Records/Tasmanian Alcoholic Zine & Records
Formats: Vinyl/Digital
Release Date: 20 Feb 2019

Tracklist: 

1. Holocene Extinction Parts I
2. Holocene Extinction Parts II

Me and mate were chatting over some beers the other night and the topic of conversation that came up was about the music scenes in New Zealand and Australia. Namely, if we could think of any heavy bands aside from the obvious, more mainstream acts. We could only think of a few, so this post acts as an education for both of us, as it features the new release from Australian melodic crust band Terra Mater. 

Terra Mater is a new name for me but I heard about them via Alerta Antifascista Records, which make sense considering that label has released records by Fall Of Efrafa, Archivist and Morrow, who could certainly be called kindred spirits. This two-song LP gathers together their debut recording and also their newest.

Two long songs make up this release and as with UK band We Came Out Like Tigers (RIP) and Dawn Ray’d (as well as probably a whole host more), Terra Mater’s strings provide stirring melody on opener Holocene Extinction Part I. Their crust is made of something more than just the typical textures and delivery. There’s atmosphere, furious riffs that cross the boundaries between hardcore and metal, and dual male/female vocals that borrow from black metal and grind. There’s a lot going yet it’s groovy and catchy, which is a bit of surprise given the sub-genre’s often overpowering use of feedback and reverb. The different sections of this first song are interspersed with uplifting violin passages and dramatic layers of sound provided by both the guitars and the percussion. Through it all, Terra Mater’s punk-ethic shines bright.

Part II breaks to the sound of what could be Whales (it’s the strings again) and what follows is breathtaking. There’s a real drive about the band as they tear through the opening few minutes of the song and with the tempos being constant and the vocals caustic, there’s a real sense of rage that even the melody can’t temper. The best thing you can do is sit back and breath it all in, as it’s more than just controlled aggression. It speaks to you in a way that only this form of music can and with its anti-fascist/left-leaning subject matter, there’s also a message to be sought. Trying to describe the music in my own subjective way is one thing, but sometimes it’s futile and it’s the listening that says more.

This is an excellent tome and Terra Mater will no doubt be one of crust/d-beat’s brightest hopes in 2019.

The full release can be streamed and pre-ordered on vinyl and as a digital download below:-




It's also available to pre-order from the below labels:-

Les Nains Aussi Records - http://www.lustucrust.org/LesNainsAussi/

Sunday 27 January 2019

2018 End-Of-Year-List - Jaccob Hanley (Burial Etiquette)


(Photo Credit: Keegan Richard | stolen from Burial Etiquette's Facebook page)

Here's the second EOY list that I promised to post up before the of January. This one comes courtesy to Jaccob Hanley, guitarist/vocalist in Canadian post-hardcore band Burial Etiquette. Apologies for my slowness with this but I promise you it's been worth the wait (and again it's in no particular order)...

1. Coma Regalia - The Mirror
Labels: Middle-Man Records
Formats: Vinyl/Tape/Digital
Release Date: 10 Mar 2018








3. Closer - All This Will Be
Labels: Lauren Records/Middle-Man Records/Conditions Records
Formats: Vinyl/Digital
Release Date: 19 Jan 2018








5. Hex Lariat - Empyrean
Labels: Middle-Man Records
Formats: Tape/Digital
Release Date: 26 Jun 2018





6. Dianacrawls - Sporadic Defenestration
Labels: No Funeral
Formats: Tape/Digital
Release Date: 06 Sep 2018





7. Rayleigh - If History
Labels: Middle-Man Records
Formats: Tape/Digital
Release Date: 01 May 2018





8. Respire - Denouement/Memorial(An Accompaniment)
Labels: Middle-Man Records/Zegema Beach Records/Nashardaa Records/Dingleberry Records/Belle Epoque Publishing/Left Hand Label
Formats: Vinyl/Tape/Digital
Release Date: 01 May 2018








9.  Coma Regalia/Drei Affen - Split
Labels: Pifia Records/Discos Fina/Krimskramz/Dasein Records/Middle-Man Records/Muerte Matar Records/(We Built The World And) Miss The Stars Records/Producciones Tudancas/TimTam Records/Zegema Beach Records/Adorno Records/Dingleberry Records
Formats: Vinyl/Digital
Release Date: 10 May 2018





10. Nanette - The Dedication Line Vol.1
Labels: Self-Released
Formats: Digital
Release Date: 30 Jul 2018





11. Tower of Silence - S/T 
Labels: Mount Seldom Records
Format: Tape/Digital
Release Date: 28 Mar 2018





12. Sonnets - Of Wrath and Sorrow
Labels: Self-Released
Formats: Tape/Digital
Release Date: 24 Nov 2018





13. Infant Island - S/T
Labels: Middle-Man Records/Conditions Records/Dingleberry Records/Zegema Beach Records/Left Hand Label
Formats: Vinyl/Tape/Digital
Release Date: 





14. Short Fictions - There's A Flame On The Dark Shadow Of The Burning Sun Pt. 1
Labels: Self-Released
Formats: Vinyl/Tape/Digital
Release Date: 04 Oct 2018





15. The Sylvia North Story - The Sylvia North Story (V)
Labels: Callous Records/Self-Released
Formats: Tape/Digital
Release Date: 25 Apr 2018




16. Beach House - 7
Labels: Sub Pop/Bella Union/Mistletone Records
Formats: Vinyl/CD/Tape/Digital
Release Date: 11 May 2018





17. Permanent Tension - Dedicated To The Guilt That Should Have Been Felt But Never Was
Labels: Forced Abandonment Records
Formats: Digital
Release Date: 10 Oct 2018





18. Ostraca - Enemy 
Labels: Skeletal Lightning/I.Corrupt Records
Formats: Vinyl/Tape/Digital
Release Date: 06 Jul 2018





19. Chivala - EP
Labels: Nothing Left Records/Strigide Records/Boned/Dischi Decenti/Santapogue Media/Dreamingorilla/Emocat Records
Formats: CD/Tape/Digital
Release Date: 17 Mar 2018





20. Hundreds of Au - Communications Link Re-established
Labels: Middle-Man Records
Formats: CD/Tape/Digital
Release Date: 14 May 2018





21. MEIAN/Diva Plavalaguna - Split
Labels: Emocat Records/Kitty On Fire Records
Formats: Vinyl/Tape/Digital
Release Date: 14 Sep 2018





22. Massa Nera/Thisismenotthinkingofyou/EF'IL/YO Sbraito Split 
Labels: Adorno Records/Dead Tank Records/Dingleberry Records/Zegema Beach Records/Blessed Hands Records/Pundonor Records
Formats: Vinyl/Digital
Release Date: 17 Aug 2018






https://www.facebook.com/BurialEtiquette/

Sunday 20 January 2019

Tytus - Rain After Drought


Labels: Fighter Records
Formats: CD/Digital
Release Date: 08 Jan 2019

Tracklist:

1. Disobey
2. The Invisible
3. The Storm That Kill Us All
4. Our Time Is Now
5. The Dark Wave
6. Death Throes
7. Rain After Drought - Pt.1
8. Rain After Drought - Pt.2
9. Move On Over
10. A Desolate Shell Of A Man


The likes of Khemmis and Haunt have been taking metal in a more traditional direction over the last twelve months; however, they're not the only ones. Europe has it's fair share of traditional heavy metal bands too and one label that's doing their bit to bring these bands to the forefront of people's attention is Spanish label Fighter Records. An imprint of Xtreme Music, Fighter has been working tirelessly since 2017 to do unearth stellar heavy metal bands from their homeland and from further afield, like Italy's Tytus. Tytus are now in their fifth year and having already released a 7" and an album (debut "Rises, released in 2016 via Sliptrick Records), they've now returned with their second album and first for their new label. The press blurb talks about the band being influenced by heavy metal greats including Iron Maiden, Metallica and early-Megadeth. Let's see...

Tytus certainly have been paying attention to their heavy metal forefathers on “Rain After Drought”. Opener Disobey is melodic, majestic and clean sounding. There’s a lot of thrash-like percussive tempos and guitar work that go alongside the twin-melodies and solos. the vocals are also clean, though not too the point of being power metal in style. At times their music brings to mind Death Angel, which is no bad thing. They continue with the up-tempo gallop of The Invisible, which is an outstanding all-round metal song. It certainly seems more focused than the album opener, but not all bands hit their stride straight away. This bodes well for the rest of the record. 

Tytus’s song-writing is more off-kilter on The Storm That Kill Us All, especially in the verses though these make the chorus sections even better. It’s classic in every direction and not too overweight in the playing-time department either, which seems to be a characteristic of their music. It’s over before you know it and is followed immediately by Our Time Is Now. The band’s full-scale attack keeps on coming and with it, more awesome solos and sing-along opportunities. The Dark Wave blurs the lines between heavy metal and punk in subtle ways. The tempos are there and so is the melody (I feel like I’ve been banging on about both of these too much already here). I guess there’s more of a hard rock slant to it. It’s still brilliant.

Old-school thrash elements are the bedrock of Death Throes, which is a meaty song filled with yet more classy riffs. I don’t really know what else to say. By the time you reach this point on the record, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting with Tytus and will no doubt be hooked. If not, you’ve got no soul. Next up is the two-parter, starting with Rain After Drought - pt.1, which is the band’s longest song here and what you get is an instrumental piece that shows a different side to Tytus. There’s an obvious not to the progressive nature of many of their countrymen and women, as Italy is known for it’s theatrical and experimental bands. This is a bit a journey but in a good way.

Rain After Drought - pt.2 is an altogether more bluesy number with superb clean singing. There’s a classic rock/ballad feel to it, which is definitely nostalgic. It’s followed immediately by the furious and urgent Move On Over, that gets the heart racing a bit more. As does album closer A Desolate Shell Of A Man. Tytus has shown that there’s still room for good old heavy metal in 2019 and the genre that was built stronger by Metallica, Megadeth and Iron Maiden is well and truly in safe hands.

You can stream and grab "Rain After Drought" for super cheap digitally below:-



Physical CD copies are available here - http://shop.xtreemmusic.com/

Sunday 13 January 2019

Noctambulist - Atmospheres Of Desolation


Labels: Blood Harvest Records/Helter Skelter Productions
Formats: Vinyl/CD/Tape/Digital
Release Date: 21 Jan 2019

Tracklist:

1. Dimming Lights Illuminate
2. Abnegation
3. Atmospheres Of Desolation
4. Jubilant Cataclisym
5. Denial Of Autonomy
6. Habitual Falsehood

The underground is bristling with bands that seemingly out of nowhere are becoming coveted by not just fans of extreme metal but also by labels. Look at the rise of bands like Outer Heaven (USA), Outre Tomb (Canada), Tomb Mold (Canada) et al over the past twelve months and you'll notice a theme; death metal. US/CAN DM to be more precise is laying many ears to waste and there's no sign of it slowing down. Blood Harvest Records has long been synonymous with the metal of death and now they're bringing you Denver (Colorado, US) band Noctambulist and their debut album, "Atmospheres Of Desolation". Coming from a band with only one prior recorded song, this epitomises how quickly things are moving below the surface. Let's see how Noctambulist fare. 

The first song of an album should grab the listener and pull them in. It should show them exactly what they’re getting into and why they should stay listening to a record. Attention grabbing in this day and age is good and it’s exactly what Noctambulist does with Dimming Lights Illuminate. It’s filled with sewer-like atmosphere and a ridiculous amount of feedback/ambient noise that envelopes the percussion and guitars, and which sticks around as the sickening growls bring this short piece to a close. What follows is blasting, technical and metallic death metal that spares nobody. Abnegation is an absolute riff-monster, which shows Noctambulist at their vicious best. It’s unlike a lot of current DM in that it’s not gore-obsessed nor just another take on Swe-death. There’s an air of originality to it. 

The raging noise that was eluded to in the record’s opener is more than present on Atmospheres Of Desolation and it’s here that you get a true sense of the mastery that exudes from the band. The song-writing is such that Noctambulist doesn’t come across as being too highbrow, meaning fans dipping their toes into underground death metal will get as much from this as those who call themselves veteran listeners. The introspective moments especially point to that and despite the venomous delivery, there’s also real musicality here. Chugging isn’t something you’d associate with the more forward thinking bands in the genre, but it’s present during Jubilant Cataclisym (in very small proportions). It adds a modern slant to Noctambulist’s death metal and it does add something to their sound, breaking up the technicality. Extra atmospheric guitar work towards the end gives it a feeling of real grandeur as well.

These songs are about average length but the sheer amount of music that fits into them is something else altogether. Penultimate song Denial Of Autonomy is probably the fastest song of all and that description doesn’t even do it justice. This is the stark realisation that all of your hopes and dreams are crashing around you and all chances of rescuing them are futile. It’s like waking up with sleep paralysis and not being able to move, ever. The final deathly hymn on “Atmospheres Of Desolation” is also the longest. Habitual Falsehood starts with a build-up that’s in place to create anticipation and following it is some of the darkest and dankest mid-paced death metal you’ll hear, interspersed with grinding ferocity that Noctambulist does so well. The angular riffs and metallic nature of it maintains listener interest really well and helps to round out an album that’s pretty much perfectly proportioned to these ears. Noctambulist doesn’t mess about with an overtly lengthy record. They’re too-the-point and because of that they have much more impact.

You can stream the title-track and pre-order the record below:-



News - 13-Jan-2019

Here's some news that you might not have seen over the last week. These press releases have dropped into my mailbox and I wanted to take the time to write some words and condense them into smaller portions for you. This will hopefully be a regular thing now.

Indian mathcore band Orchid released their latest full-length on January 10th. "Miasma" was mixed by Mumbai-based Apurv Agrawal (Shepherd, Death by Fungi, False Flag) and was mastered by Colin Marston (Gorguts, Atheist, Origin, Krallice, Dysrhythmia). It contains eight songs and you can hear third track Master Supreme here  FFO: Botch, Atheist, Behold...The Arctopus!



February 22nd will see the release of "Aberrant Calamity" from Argentinian death metal band Prion. It'll be the band's fourth full-length and will be released via Comatose Music. It will be available on CD and digitally and pre-orders can be placed here. The official lyric video for Observed Reality is live on Youtube now.


https://comatosemusic.bandcamp.com/album/aberrant-calamity
https://www.facebook.com/Priondeathmetal/

Texas heavy rock trio Crypt Trip will be heading over to Europe to support the release of their new album "Haze Country", which is due out on March 8th via Heavy Psych Sounds Records. In preparation for the album's release, the band have put up song Wordshot for streaming here. The tour flyer are posted below:-



Death industrialists Xiphoid Dementia and harsh noise legends Bastard Noise have announced a new split record called "Human Extinction Machine", which will be released on March 1st. It will be available both on LP and also digitally with help from Scry Recordings, Existence Establishment and Phage Tapes. To give you a taste of what to expect, there is a video teaser available here.


Pre-order and social media links are below:-

US punks Such Gold will be touring the UK next week alongside Brooklyn-based musician Koji. Support on the tour will come from UK punks Ducking Punches. You can order tickets for the shows via See Tickets here. Check the poster below for tour dates and venues.


https://suchgold.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/suchgold
https://kojisaysaloha.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kojimusic
https://duckingpunches.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/duckingpunchesuk/

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions has recently announced the signing of Virginia death/doom band Night Hag and the label will be releasing their new EP "Insemination Rites If The Succubus" on February 8th, on CD and digitally. You can stream the EP's opening song Buried In Gore here. Pre-orders for the limited CD version are available here and digital pre-orders can be placed here.



Legendary US hardcore/metal band Integrity has released an exclusive song via Adult Swim, as part of their 2019 singles series. The song called All Death Is Mine and can be streamed here. The band has announced two April dates alongside Toxic Holocaust, All Out War and Funeral Chic. Check out the flyer below.




US melodic death metal band Light This City will be playing their first ever shows in Mexico, starting at the end of January. The tour dates and the flyer are below. Light This City are still touring in support of their incredible 2018 album "Terminal Bloom", which was released via Creator-Destructor Records and can streamed and purchased here.



Legendary US metal band Usurper has recently released a lyric video for the title-track, which will appear on their new album "Lords of The Permafrost". The album will be the first album from the band in 14 years and will be released in March via Soulseller Records. The video is available here



UK metal band Venom Prison has just annoucned a Eruo/UK tour alongside Fit For An Autopsy, Vulvodynia and Justice For The Damned. The has announced that they will be releasing an as-yet-untitled album later this year via Prosthetic Records.

17.05.19 Germany Karlsruhe @ Weiße Rose  
18.05.19 Germany Leipzig @ Naumanns  
19.05.19 Germany Berlin @ Musik & Frieden  
20.05.19 Austria Vienna @ Viper Room  
21.05.19 Germany Munich @ Backstage  
22.05.19 Italy Milano @ Circolo Svolta  
23.05.19 Switzerland Aarau @ Kiff  
24.05.19 Germany Bochum @ Matrix  
25.05.19 Germany Hamburg @ Hafenklang  
26.05.19 Netherlands Den Bosch @ Willem 2  
27.05.19 Belgium Antwerp @ Kavka   
28.05.19 France Paris @ Gibus   
29.05.19 UK Birmingham @ Mama Roux  
30.05.19 UK Bristol @ Exchange  
31.05.19 UK London @ Underworld  
01.06.19 UK Leeds @ Key Club  
02.06.19 UK Manchester @ Rebellion