But I'm making time for you, the reader, to fill your eyes with words, and expose your ears to sounds that clearly you never asked for. I do it because I care.
AUSTERITY PROGRAM, THE, “Bible Songs 1” EP
Every few years the duo known as The Austerity Program
emerges from their dad caves and decides to unleash more fresh hell upon the
dozens of fans they have across the world in the form of total Big Black
worship and absolutely perfectionist tones. The pair scrutinize every iota of sound they write and
record and dial in their drum machine so accurately it takes a team of NASA
scientists to check their work for any hint of error (maybe that’s why it takes
them awhile to put out new records?).
This new batch, “Bible Songs 1” is six tracks of punishing industrial
(and by that I mean they use a drum machine that sounds like a drum
machine)/noise rock bile. With
mountains of guitar cabs, aluminum neck guitars, and computers at their
disposal they begin the record by lurching through the slow plod of “Isaiah 63:
2-6” before blasting into the freak-ish death ride of “Ezekiel 39: 17-20”. Things come to a head on “Numbers 31:
13-18” (if you haven’t guessed, all the songs are named after Bible passages)
with it’s tweaking jittery vocals/guitar intro that breaks into some crazy
squealing/samples before closing with some apocalyptic crushing
destruction. It doesn’t get much
weirder and uncomfortable than that but the last two tracks certainly try. The band has a number of releases under
their belt at this point, all of which pine similar territory, and pine it well
they do. This is a perfectly good
place to start if you’re unfamiliar (Controlled Burn)
EX-HEX, “It’s Real”
It’s been about 5 years I think since Ex-Hex dropped their
debut LP “Rips”. In that time they
toured a bunch, then laid dormant while bassist (now second guitarist?) Betsy
Wright did some work with her similar-sounding duo Bat Fangs, and now here we
are with “It’s Real” and it’s a worthy follow up. Total bad-ass catchy rock n’ roll happening here. To give a visual idea of what their
music sounds like the group has a live backdrop consisting of a silver curtain
with a giant, real-deal neon ‘EX HEX’ sign behind them. Add some fog machine and Judas Priest
t-shirts and let your imagination do the rest. Or you could just listen to their records. As opposed to their debut it feels like
primary vocalist/guitarist Mary Timony is sharing the vocals and leads more
with Wright on this one. They have
also transformed into a 4-piece in the live setting, whereas before they were a
trio (though it seems they mostly continue as a trio on record). Fans of 80’s bands like early
Pretenders, Runaways, Cheap Trick take note, which may not mean much to regular
readers here, but that’s why I’m mentioning. Expand your frickin’ horizons. It may show up early on in the record but “Rainbow Shiner”
is the official badass jam of the summer, especially if you’re planning on
getting into trouble. (Merge)
FULL OF HELL, “Weeping Choir”
I am by no means an authority on this band and their
voluminous output. I’ve listened
to random releases from them over the years, but never delved deep into their
material. However, I know they’ve
always played around with various extreme subgenres and this record is no
exception. Somehow they manage to
make powerviolence, death metal, grindcore, power electronics, and even a
little black metal blend seamlessly into one ridiculously aggressive stew and
it works. And in 26 short minutes
(one of the songs is nearly 7 minutes long) they cram all that business into 11
tracks and about 10,000 blast beats.
Some of it feels a little throwaway to me- “Rainbow Coil” is essentially
three minutes of junk falling down a staircase recorded through Radio Shack
mics, but it ends with a machine gun-like industrial beat that connects into
“Aria Of Jeweled Tears”, one of the most blastingly satisfying tracks on the
whole record that also closes with those same industrial machine gun
repetitions. “Angels Gather Here” more successfully blends that mixture of
noise, industrial, and doom-y sludge into a whopper of an end-of-the-world
style melee. But for my money, I
guess the more straightforward death metal approach of “Thundering Hammers” is
the safe bet insofar as the likelihood of maniacs beating the pulp out of one
another being in the 100% range.
Is this a worthy follow up to their multitude of other releases? You be the judge of that. As someone giving them some undivided
attention for the first time, as opposed to cursory listens, I’d say it’s
pretty tight and does a great job of mashing various influences together in a
way that somehow makes sense among the chaos. (Relapse)
HELMS ALEE, “Noctiluca”
At this point Helms Alee are totally their own thing. Not much has changed with their sound,
but they’re incredibly consistent at delivering really good records filled with
equal parts huge, powerful sludge and harmonized weird melodies. I’m partial to the creepy, chunky thud
of “Beat Up”, while “Be Rad Tomorrow” focuses on big, swirling bliss. I suppose the band continues to make
strides towards building riffs and songs around their individual voices (all
three members take turns singing, sometimes separately, sometimes in unison),
as opposed to throwing down a massive riff and adding vocals on top of it. So in that respect their songwriting
takes on more angles and dimensions, which are already pretty unique to begin
with. Helms Alee have always had a
wonderful way of taking creepy, serpentine melodies and making them beautiful
and super heavy at the same time.
While those gargantuan riffs from ultra-loud amps still exist it feels
as if the band isn’t out to prove anything anymore with just how loud and
distorted they can get because, well, you already know it. So while “Noctiluca” isn’t anything new
for the Helms Alee trio it’s a perfectly fine addition to their already stellar
catalog. (Sargent House)
LOW DOSE, s/t
Listening to the debut from Philly’s Low Dose is a bit of a
mixed bag. It opens and closes
with heart wrenching ballads, and what’s crammed in-between is a feast of wild,
chaotic noise rock. Low Dose is
made up of all of Fight Amp (who split up a couple years ago), plus
vocalist/guitarist Itarya Rosenberg, previously of the way-too-short-lived
Legendary Divorce. So a lot of
this sounds like someone else singing Fight Amp songs, or Legendary Divorce
songs that never got their proper due.
To fresh ears it works, but having been very familiar with all parties
involved and their previous endeavors there’s some clear distinctions over who
was probably writing what parts.
Whatever the case, after having those heartstrings pulled, you get a
couple of rippers in the form of “Right On” and “For Sure” to tear the rest of
them out and put them through a meat grinder. “Away” lurches through a Jesus
Lizard-esque dirge with Rosenburg screaming her guts out. But I think “Otherworldly Motives” is
the most interesting song on the record because it sounds like any of the
members previous outfits really and acts as sort of mid-point coda/anthem (even
though it falls later on in the record), and really emphasizes the vocals over
the beefy riffs that beat you over the head on most of the record. It’s a twist that I hope the group
takes some inspiration from going forward. All in all it’s a solid debut that certainly pays tribute to
what the individuals here have done in the past, and I certainly hope they
continue to grow going forward.
(Knife Hits/ Brutal Panda)
MANDATE OF HEAVEN, “Least Concern”
In the top slot for ‘band that should have been huge but
never quite made it’ category Mandate Of Heaven will win each time. The prime musical outlet for Syracuse stalwart
Greg Pier, and backed by a cast of various people over the last 15 plus years,
but most often by solid-beyond-solid drummer Bob Kane and Chuck Gwynn on the
thunderous, yet study, low end, has released a treasure trove of albums pretty
much all self-released. While the
output was more prolific years ago life, kids, jobs, and other adult matters have
kept the group from creating a new full length in almost five years. But here we are in 2019 and “Least
Concern” is easily one of the best efforts Mandate Of Heaven has ever
released. It’s hard to nail down
the MofH sound exactly outside of it just being really good rock music. When they’re more aggressive it translates
to an early 90’s grungy Northwest sound, like album opener “County Seat
Syndrome”, which might be one of the ‘heaviest’ songs the band has made since
way back in the “Real Devil Music” days.
But often, Mandate create slower songs that can flow between wistful
stoner rock to breezy, beautiful ballads.
“Double Negative” goes in that sort of slower, kinda heavy direction
while “Hey Headbanger” takes another MofH twist into melodic, yet sardonic and
wry wit about having to suffer through heavy metal cover bands as the only
outlet in town that people consistently plop down money to see (it’s
true). But I want to discuss the
mid-way highlights on this record, two songs which I feel are some of the best
material they have ever done.
Starting with “Human Ashtray” (another rally against the dumpiness and
depression that can emerge from Syracuse and it’s chorus of “You’re just
another human ashtray, dying on the North side.”) and it’s alternating from
slow to mid-tempo it has a strong Jason Farrell (Swiz, Bluetip, Retisonic, Red
Hare) vibe in terms of the guitar lead and overall feel for the first
half. It’s just a great song. Next is “Nummenuff”, one of the
prettiest ballads the band has ever created. It moves slowly and breezily and meanders into one of the
best damn bridges ever as Pier almost whispers the lyrics and into a sort of
Zeppelin-esque kind of solo. I
mean, just sit out in a park, or take a walk through a field on a really nice
day and listen to this song.
You’ll understand. The
album closes with a couple rippers- “Turned Table” (a speedy song carried by a
heavyweight bass tone) and “Who Comes At Night To Steal” (if tuned a couple
steps lower it could be a Torche B-side).
I’d say the only track on this whole record I’m not totally feeling is
“Shutdown Man” just because it runs pretty long and it’s not even a bad
song. Honestly, if you want one of
the best rock records you’ll hear all year this is a worthy contender. (Neon Witch)
PILE, “Green and Grey”
Six albums into their career and Pile finally does a double
LP. Although, to be fair, I doubt
they were intent on making a double LP.
I’m guessing the run time ran just a couple minutes long of what would
fit on a regular LP. That’s really
not important though. This is
really the first Pile record to feature some new musicians ever since there was
a band to go along with ringleader Rick Maguire’s musical project. Touring guitarist Chappy Hull (of the
wildly complicated Gnarwhal) has officially joined up and long time bassist
Matt Connery has left the fold.
However, the foundation of primary songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Rick Maguire
and drummer Kris Kuss remains to make a Pile album that still definitively
sounds like Pile. And just like
every other Pile record out there it’s impossible to pin down exactly what they
sound like because no one quite sounds like them, and it’s very good. I hate to state, though, it’s really
tough for them to top what I feel was a near perfect record on their last
outing “Hairshirt of Purpose.”
“Green and Grey” feels a bit more esoteric and meandering in a lot of
places, both musically and lyrically and takes several listens to really sink
in. “Bruxist Grin” is an excellent
song that may be the closest thing to a direct 4/4 style stomper, while “The
Soft Hands Of Stephen Miller” creates no mysteries about the nature of it’s
lyrics and “My Employer” is a pretty frank declaration of how being a working
musician on the road can sever relationships. The rest though?
I really like it. It’s just
a lot to take in, both in the back-and-forth with the band bouncing off
Maguire’s unique sing-drawl, shifting the melodies of the music to his timbre
and the more aggressive tendencies where they are coming at you fast, hard, and
shouting (“On a Bigger Screen”). I
don’t tend to label Pile as a band that mixes politics in their music, but it
feels as if there are more than a few songs on this that indirectly nod towards
a feeling of unease and outright disgust in America post-2016. But maybe I’m reading too deep into
their stuff. Either way, as a long
time Pile fan this is certainly a worthy addition to their catalog. But if you’re just wading these waters
and are looking for a record to start off with may I suggest either “Dripping”
or “Hairshirt Of Purpose”. This
one’s a little more labyrinthe than others. (Exploding In Sound)
RINGWORM, “Death Becomes My Voice”
Ringworm just slowly gets more metal with each release. They were already pretty metal to begin
with, but this just moves the needle a little further into just saying ‘fuck
it’ to retaining a semblance of being a hardcore band. If you have always liked Ringworm you
won’t be disappointed because they are a band that generally remains consistent. Human Furnace still sounds just as
pissed as ever and the rest of the band is firing on all cylinders to make for
a well-seasoned metal record. I sort
of feel like a band such as this is a little too ‘safe’ for Relapse, who tend
to deal with a wide variety of extreme bands, but each are generally pushing
the envelope in their respective sound.
Nothing against Ringworm, but they’re not really pushing things in any
new sort of direction. They just
remain as heavy and (slightly more) metal as ever. So yeah, you can’t go wrong with them if you liked them
before, just don’t expect as many breakdowns. (Relapse)
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