I'm glad this year has already been filled with a bevy of new music to check out. It truly does make my world continue to spin. And once again, there's plenty of variety to go around here so I highly encourage all reading to give this stuff a shot if you're unfamiliar. Oh, and Deadguy stuff. No shit.
ABSENT IN BODY, “Plague God”
So a couple guys from Amenra have this project band with one of the Cavelera brothers and Scott Kelly from Neurosis. So what the heck does it sound like? It pretty much sounds like Amenra mixed with Neurosis, but more industrial. To be completely honest, I’m not an Amenra fan, or basically most any band that already sounds a lot like Neurosis. That being said, I’m not sure whose influence on this project shines the most because this is mostly unsettling and scary end of the world music. The lengthy, slow-moving, doom-riff, moving-heaven-and-earth heft of Neurosis is ever present. But there’s also a cold, mechanical slough that would not be out of place on an Author & Punisher record. It’s not the sort of thing I would typically give much time to but I have to admit this did evoke a feeling of hopelessness, like a nuclear winter in a burned out city, and, well… I don’t get feelings like that really from most music (I often go for ‘anger’, ‘joy’, and so on). So, hooray for bad feelings? Try watching the video they made for “The Acres/The Ache” to get a visual idea of what all of this doomy-coldness is like. The whole thing is five tracks and around 37 minutes of the wasteland in the beginning of “The Terminator”. (Relapse)
BRAIN CAVE, “Drained Wisdom” 7”
These Cleveland dudes keep busy. After just recently releasing their awesome “Log World” 7” they’re back with another EP. This time it’s three quick burners that collectively clock in at around 6 minutes total. But I’ll go out on a limb and say it’s some of the band’s best stuff yet. “Drained Wisdom” remains consistent with Brain Cave’s rust-belt grunge-y post-hardcore but for the most part these songs are overall faster than the majority of their catalog to date, particularly on opener “High Rise”, and through much of closer “Bloodletting”. Each song still throws in those catchy/tricky grooves the band does so well so it’s no departure for those already fans of the group. If you’re just getting hip to Brain Cave I advise checking it all out really, you can’t go wrong. They are always a blast to listen to and inspiring whether it’s as the soundtrack for hiking misty mountain forests or sledgehammering through drywall. This EP is a digital release with a very limited lathe-cut 7” physical release. (Head2Wall)
CHRMR, “Low In the Glow”
Several releases in Rochester’s metallic monstrosity known as CHRMR (or, for those who like vowels, ‘Charmer’) finds the band further homing their sound in what I feel can only be broadly (and vaguely) described as a modern metal sound. While the fact they call Rochester home immediately makes me search for the Lethargy/Mastodon sound in their DNA, as there seems to be a permanent footprint left in that scene’s metal community by those musical titans, it would be lazy writing for me to just stop at that. To a degree it’s true when one hears the stampeding double bass hammering your eardrums in certain songs. But I feel that is limiting to CHRMR’s overall sound, which also includes a lot of the more melodic strains, especially in the vocals, to more current Cave-In material, or Gojira’s massive crunch. The vocals primarily stick to the sing-y side of things, which isn’t really what I look for in metal like this, but I’ll cop to them being exceptional for what the band is attempting to accomplish. There are a couple songs which also stick to somewhat somber, very melodic, and less heavy vibe where the vocals are exactly what the song calls for. Personally, I get a bigger thrill from when the band is going full bore and plowing listeners over crushing riffs, which there is no short supply of here. (self-released)
DEADGUY, “Body Parts” b/w “Die With Your Mask On” 7” + zine
It’s 2022 and you read that correctly. This is a review for new (sort of) Deadguy material. I never thought I’d see the day either. But, alas, it’s kind of just a new thing, not so much music. There are two tracks here, the first of which is “Body Parts”- a long lost/abandoned track from 1994. I believe the story is that the band recorded it, decided it wasn’t up to snuff, and ditched the track. They lost any record of it until a friend of the band actually dredged up a copy. The second track you all should know. This is a demo version of “Die With Your Mask On”, which appeared officially on “Fixation On a Co-Worker”. This version doesn’t quite have the drive of the known version, and lacks a little bit of the precision killing that makes the album version so vicious. It feels like drummer Dave Rosenberg is still feeling out his parts in certain areas. I will say, though, it’s a bit slower and sludgier which gives it an ugly edge, something Deadguy certainly never shied away from. As for “Body Parts”, I can see why they ditched it. While it’s a Deadguy song for sure it kind of operates in a different sort of space and mish-mashes parts together to form some sort of Frankenstein whole. It’s cool, it just doesn’t fit the vibe Deadguy is known for.
So, if you’re a fiend like me, you will have splurged for the version of this that came with a zine too and I was hoping for an abundance of crazy Tim Singer design work. Instead the majority of this is just photos documenting the band’s first reunion show in Philly last year. Yeah, good photos, but maybe some anecdotes, or just cool design stuff would have been more up my alley. Whatever the case it’s Deadguy and I’m on board because I’m a sucker for that band. (Manalive)
DUG, “Pain Machine”
I passed on this band initially because I rarely ever go for the slow drone sludge that spends five minutes feeding back off of a single note while the drummer hits the snare a few times. I got nothing against amplifier worship, but if it’s just droning I can’t really hang with that. And, originally, that’s what it felt like the duo making up Dug were going for, if anything just to get their own rocks off to making ugly noise for half an hour. But then I saw them live last year and they seemed to be having so much fun for a band that sounds so low and agonizing (hell, this new record is titled “Pain Machine”), and found they actually throw in some riffs here and there. So I had to give it a second chance and I’m glad I did. Maybe that first record was just feeling out a concept. This time around they got a handle on what they aim to do and pull it off really well. Yeah, they’re still working off ultra simplistic riffs/sparse caveman drumming mostly at a glacial pace, but there’s songs in there with structure and movements and it’s gnarly. You get one throwaway track of tuning/dissonance, but six more of slow, evil crushers. “Sulk” is the high water mark and actually moves with some degree of discernable tempo and lays down riffs so thick you need a table saw to cut through them, despite the depressing title. I’m glad I gave this band another chance because for a subgenre that often bores me to tears this is a rare example of a record of that ilk that gets me pretty excited when listening to it. (The Ghost Is Clear)
GOOD GOD, “Hollow Tree”
I feel as if writing a review for this rather new Syracuse-based group for an audience that comes from many different places may be a moot point because the references I am about to make will be so hyper-local most readers will just scratch their heads, or shrug their shoulders. I got a feeling from listening to Good God that I haven’t really felt since first discovering some of the local bands from my hometown back in the early 90’s. They honestly sound like they belong on a bill playing a Friday night at either Styleens or the Lost Horizon with Dracula Jones, Wallmen, and Spamhammer. Maybe once the show is over you and your pals dip out to Cosmos for a slice, or Zopies for a late night espresso, or perhaps Happy Endings if you’re already in Armory Square to catch an open mic slam poetry night. You remember the tape the band gave you at the show so you toss the Zig Zag Zen dub out the window and throw Good God into your tape deck as you wonder when the next time they will play? You assure yourself there will no doubt be a flyer advertising such at Olivers or Knuckleheads, so you lean in and enjoy the sound. And honestly, if I pivot from the way back machine to less of a ‘what the fuck is he talking about?’ position I’ll say that Good God bring about shades of local institution Mandate Of Heaven while dropping a decent amount of psych-doom rock into their sound, mixing in a serious dose of the kind of Northwest rock you might hear from the early Sub Pop catalog (maybe Mother Love Bone minus the glam,? Green River with better riffs?). It’s a very time-and-place sounding recording to me, one that digs deep into the cobwebbed recesses of my early teenage youth. (self-released)
MODEL PRISONER, “Compulsion Analysis” EP 12”
I’m not sure what world we now live in where a couple of guys from The Minor Times feel comfortable with playing in a band that is a shade removed from potentially devolving into a beatdown hardcore band. If it weren’t for the down-tuned blasting reminiscent of Trap Them, Black Breath, or even a bit of Nails that’s slipped in regularly there would be a whole lot of punch-you-in-the-face thuggery going on. So as just a bit of background, this band was started by a couple guys outside of Philly who were doing this as more of a recording project. Enter guitarist Tim Leo from Minor Times to fill out the sound, as well Minor Times vocalist Brendan McAndrew to lend his throat-shredding scream to these songs. And honestly, that dude has been away from the mic for far too long so it’s good to see him using it again as his voice is perfectly made for such assaulting music such as this. This is up online now, but the band is making some fancy-schmancy lathe cuts with screened b-sides for collector types who enjoy that sort of thing in the near future. As if a record of any kind could contain stuff like this. The grooves will have to be cut clear through the wax. (self-released)
PLOSIVS, s/t
Upon first listen to this debut full length from the San Diego supergroup featuring John Reis (Speedo, you know who the fuck he is), Rob Crow (c’mon, Pinback dude), Atom Willard (RFTC, drummer of every band ever), and, well, I don’t know the last dude… but whatever… I was assuming a combined talent of each members known styles and instead it just felt like a Hot Snakes record with Crow’s melodic, tenor style vocals. Like, a very clean version of Hot Snakes. I wasn’t mad or anything, just a bit nonplused. So I gave it a few more spins and yeah, Reis’ patented garage-punk guitar style does dominate. But it’s more tailored to Crow’s adroit singing style so those melodies really shine here, as opposed to the somewhat dirtied-up playing you’ll often hear on Hot Snakes, and other Swami-related records. And then you hear a few tracks where Rob Crow’s songwriting style is very apparent such as “See You Suffer” and the shimmering “Pray For Summer” and it begins to become apparent these dudes are acting as a unit and combining their individual styles in a way that is familiar but has it’s own voice and style. The first few tracks on the LP really exhibit the tandem lock step Reis and Willard have from playing together for so many years and it isn’t really until “Never Likely” where Crow’s more melodic tendencies (in his guitar playing, not just his vocals) begin to show up. So yeah, it took me a couple listens to really grasp it, but this is an awesome album from some seasoned dudes who have all been pals for ages, but I would have never really expected to collaborate on music. But here we are and it came out pretty awesome. (Swami)
SCIENCE MAN, “Nines Mecca”
Science Man is the one-man project of Alpha Hopper guitarist John Toohill, who apparently cannot go more than a week without coming up with some new, insane music or art project. In this case it’s both. For Science Man’s second LP in just as many years this collection feels a bit more organic. I say that because previously the drum tracks were all programmed, which gave the music a bit of an intentional industrial bent to go with its wild garage-y hardcore/punk. It’s like every song had “Jesus Built My Hotrod” as a referential framework. On “Nines Mecca” not only does the instrumentation feel less drum-machine based (either a live drummer did record this or our man just got way more refined with his drum programming) but the overall sound comes off even more vicious and unhinged. It’s pretty much just a crazy hardcore record in the spirit of stuff like Hank Wood and the Hammerheads or Gag. In addition, there’s a video for every song from this record (all ten of them) that were released week by week leading up to the LP and each one is fucking bonkers, some of which feature other Alpha Hopper cohorts and friends performing cult rituals, taping balloons to people and smashing them in some weird bondage/S&M sort of situation, and bits of animation. It’s a hell of an undertaking, but one that pays off in quality. Heck, you can even grab a VHS of all the videos to go along with the record if you want. (Swimming Faith/ Feral Kid)
