Cult of Luna Announce EP - Vertikal II

         

          Last week,  I listed  Cult of Luna's new record Vertikal as part of a series on the best records of 2013 so far. With its classic Cult of Luna-style simplicity, complete with dubstep wubs to fill the silence, Vertikal was a mind-bending masterpiece of prog. But, as it seems, the Swedes have seen fit to reward us twice in one year. Today, Cult of Luna announced they will be releasing an EP in the fall simply titled Vertikal II. The EP will feature three new songs and a remix of Vertikal's 18-minute odyssey 'Vicarious Redemption'.
           The  EP will be released during their co-headlining tour with Katatonia, which features support by Anciients, Intronaut, and  TesseracT. Vertikal II is slated for a release on  September 21st, through Indie Recordings.

Russian Circles release new song - 'Deficit'

            Russian Circles have released a new song from their upcoming album Memorial, which is set to be released in late October. The instrumental post-metal group is known for their airy, atmospheric ballads - 'When the Mountain Comes to Muhammad', and 'Schipol' have been my favorites for quite some time. That being said, 'Deficit' is blisteringly heavy. There's nothing light or airy about this song - it's a distorted beatdown from start to end, but retains that Russian Circles-type vibe that makes it so awesome. The break about halfway through with the melody layered on top of a heavy rhythm is particularly drool-worthy.

              You can stream it below:

And now a rant on Ghost

gimmick

Syllabification: (gim·mick)

Pronunciation: /ˈgimik/

noun

a trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity, or business. 

 

Sweden's Ghost, over the past few years, have exploded into the forefront of popularity. With the identities of all six members still a closely guarded secret, the "satanic" metal act has enjoyed an unprecedented amount of publicity for a band that's only four or five years old. Advocates call it a return to the metal of the 1970s, while critics dismiss the band as satanic pop rock putting stock in an aesthetic. Whatever your stance on the matter, Ghost are here to stay, especially after their sophomore album Infestissumam was met with glowing praise from several review aggregates.

 

As for my stance on the matter, I staunchly and unquestionably fall into the latter category. I've listened to both of Ghost's albums several times, and I definitely see the appeal - catchy instrumentals and a talented vocalist make them both pretty solid releases - there's definitely some fun to be had with singing along to 'Secular Haze'. However, are they the resurrection of old school metal? Absolutely not. In my opinion, Ghost ride on a tired aesthetic, the marketability of their style of music, and nothing else. When you peel back both, this isn't really a metal act, so how are they supposed to bring back the old school?

When you look at the picture I supplied (created by yours truly), the first thing that comes to mind, besides the inane shibe text, is that this is another black metal act who fantasize about burning churches. The band members do adopt stage names (vocalist 'Papa Emeritus II' and his court of 'Nameless Ghouls') and feature satanic themes en masse, but that's where the resemblance ends. 

 

Clean vocals reign unopposed on all of Ghost's music, and you'll be hard pressed to find any blast beats or other features of stereotypical black metal. Instead, organs, synths, and generic Halloween sounds abound - 'Ghuleh/Zombie Queen' is the farthest thing from any form of metal you can think of. Now, the instrumentals are the band's own in that they aren't black metal, but the aesthetic of a skull-faced pope and his hooded followers? Inverted crosses? Satan everywhere? C'mon.

Metalheads have been contending with this type of look since the early 90s. It's not a novel idea by any stretch of the imagination, but for some reason, when Ghost does it, they're hailed as unique. That by itself is already a bit silly, since we've had King Diamond doing the exact same thing Ghost is in the midst of 'creating' since the mid-80s. 

 

Why? Is it because Ghost have appropriated black metal tropes when they themselves have nothing to do with it? Or is it because, unlike King Diamond, the band is born into a scene that has already seen the rise of BM, and is refreshed by this band's familiar look but unfamiliar approachability? 

In this way, the praise Ghost receives for their 'unique' aesthetic is bizarre. When a black metal act wears corpse paint in 2013, they're spurned as 'silly' and 'has-beens' (modern BM bands like Woe or Anaal Nathrakh have done away with corpse paint entirely, and classics like Satyricon were done with it by the late 90s). Hell, Watain's live show (which is complete with pig's blood) has been getting more and more flak as the years go by. If the aesthetic of dressing up like a demon or a 'satanist' is passé, then Ghost should be racking up condemnation for it. 

Therefore, it must be the music that gives the band a pass from such criticism. Strangely enough, this is not the case. Most of Ghost's music is barely 'metal' in that there's very little in the way of heaviness - and yes, they did cover 'Here Comes the Sun'. I like the Beatles too, but c'mon! The plethora of Halloween sounds furthers this departure from metal. They're not even 'experimental' in the vein of Om or Neurosis in that Ghost as a band rely entirely on well-worn and safe rock tropes - catchy instrumentals, clean, mid-range vocals (in this case eschewing King Diamond's operatic-style falsetto), and never too much distortion.

What this culminates in is a band and musical sound that are in no way original, in no way progressive, and in no way even remotely metal. The insistence that they play old school metal isn't even close - you really want to compare the neutered riffs of 'Body and Blood' to Iommi's challenging riffwork on Sabotage? For me, Ghost as a sound are closer to the Doors or the Beach Boys - again, nothing wrong with that. I particularly like the Doors - but with a satanic streak to most of their music. 

 

Does that make them 'metal'? That's a question that's not up to me to answer, but I personally think Ghost shouldn't be considered metal, because they don't play metal. They play pop rock and avoid criticism as such because of their aesthetic. Since most metalheads have never heard a metal act playing songs the way Ghost does, everyone's impressed and thinks they're reinventing the genre, when instead Ghost is pulling the wool over everyone's eyes by mixing the music of one genre with the aesthetic of another.

 

 

Kellin Quinn: Shrewd Businessman

Okay, at this point picking on Sleeping With Sirens is like shooting fish in a barrel, and I wish I could say I'd moved past that and grown up from my childish rants from last year, but this is too good to be true. As Stuff You Will Hate mastermind Sergeant D reports, the band has released an 'autograph package'. For $80 you will get your photo taken with Kellin Quinn, some random shit signed (read: jailbait cleavage), and a poster.

To say the very least, this is genius. As any record label knows at this point, teenage girls are an incredibly viable source of income - they'll throw money at anything remotely cute. So, good on the band for realizing this monetary venture, even though Bring Me the Horizon is calling you out on it.

Sleeping with Sirens' ingeniously titled new record Feel is now on sale. Yes, it sucks if you're above the age of 14, and the band is touring with Hands Like Houses this fall.

My Summer Slaughter Experience

       "The Most Extreme Tour of the Year" came to Worcester MA yesterday, and I decided to ship on out from Boston to see it. Being the odd person I am, I actually primarily went for the first act (Thy Art is Murder), and the last (Dillinger Escape Plan). What happened in between I was more ambivalent about. Altogether, though, it seemed like quite the tour - DEP and Norma Jean? Score! - and after my less-than-stellar experience with the All Stars Tour two weeks prior (75% of people left before seeing Every Time I Die), I decided to restore my faith in the Massachusetts metal scene. And while people complimenting my Intronaut shirt definitely raised my spirits, I was primarily excited for the music.
           The opening act was a local deathcore group from Lowell called Pathogenic. They seemed decent enough (read: not that many breakdowns), albeit they did begin a song with "GOD. IS NOT. FUCKING. REAL!", but all in all I didn't feel too strongly about them. If you're so inclined, you can listen to them here.
             Next up was the first act of the tour, the Australian beatdown Thy Art is Murder. After a truly rapid soundcheck (something like 7-8 minutes), the band killed the lights and, in total silence, took the stage. The tension mounted as vocalist CJ McMahon stalked about the stage in a hoodie, glaring at the audience as they cheered raucously and put their horns up, before exploding into 'Immolation'. McMahon roared "if  I don't see your horns up, I'll find you after the show and punch you in the FUCKING face!" and the set began in all its crushing heaviness. McMahon hit the beautiful balance between badass and hilarious, crooing 'circle pit time, motherfuckers!' in a falsetto, and dedicating 'Whore to a Chainsaw' to 'the beautiful girls of Massachusetts'. Thy Art is Murder played five or so songs before going out in a blaze of glory.
            I'll admit, it would have been hard to follow an act like those Aussies, and while Rings of Saturn definitely had the same confidence, the show was truly...mediocre. I really hesitate to use the term 'tech wankery' because lots of incredibly technical bands - Behold the Arctopus, for example - are really, truly talented, but get flak for it. But in the case of Rings of Saturn, the term is totally applicable. The band didn't even use a bassist and relied entirely on swept riffs and tapping to accomplish their end. Add in a total screw-up on one of the guitarists' end (which led them to have to start over), and Rings of Saturn were probably one of the less amazing bands on tour.
            I'd never heard Aeon before, and while their set was enjoyable (gargantuan bearded Swedes playing death metal, what could go wrong?) my lack of knowledge prevented me from really enjoying it. Revocation, on the other hand, really stole the show. I'd previously heard 'the Hive' from their upcoming self-titled, but seeing them live was a totally different experience. It was easy to recall seeing Trivium a few years back, and my respect for them grew even more when I realized they were all performing drunk - as they came to the end of their set vocalist David Davidson slurred 'we're doing shots all night.' In a funny twist, I found myself chatting with the bassist's parents, as they had come to watch their son's show. The music was viciously tight tech death that would have put Rings of Saturn to shame, and the pit didn't quite stop moving the whole time.
            The next two bands - the Ocean and Cattle Decapitation - were more of the same. I don't particularly like grindcore, so Cattle Decapitation's set was utterly lost on me, but the Ocean were a bit of a disappointment. Two of my favorite albums of the summer have been Anthropocentric and Heliocentric, and I'd heard nothing but praise for their most recent record Pelagial, but it felt as though their specific blend of prog was utterly destroyed in trying to make a setlist conductive so a live audience. It didn't particularly sound good, and though there were parts that got me headbanging with the rest of the crowd, the Ocean's live delivery was ultimately what made me consider them a headphone band.
             Norma Jean, to my chagrin, couldn't play that night, so instead we got Boston seminal metalcore act Unearth to fill in. It was a spectacular set - the breakdowns were the tightest I'd ever heard, and for a minute I remembered why -core concerts are so much fun. Once again, the crowd was whipped into a frenzy as the band pumped out song after song. Before any of us knew it, their 40 minutes were up, and they chose to leave to the fast and heavy 'My Will Be Done'.
              Following Unearth, the tour went into its headlining acts, beginning with Periphery. Time for a confession - I don't understand the djent craze. Okay, Misha Mansoor is a brilliant guitarist and the djent tone is really cool sounding, but I just can't really get into it. Periphery's set was a lot of fun - at first. Yes, I did really enjoy 'Icarus Lives' and 'Scarlet' when the band played them, but otherwise the set pretty much devolved into an AxeFX wall of noise that, while catchy, I couldn't really find anything positive to say about. It wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but I just couldn't get into it. More power to Periphery and their fans, but it just isn't for me.
               Animals as Leaders came on next, and comprised potentially the coolest set of the tour. Despite technical difficulties involving their drummer, Tosin and the boys cranked out a mind-blowing mix of technical prog that, when combined with two projectors displaying a visualization of the music, was beautiful to behold. Again, I couldn't help but think back to Rings of Saturn as I watched Tosin's guitarwork in awe - I honestly think I swore off guitar three or four times in the course of that set. Truly incredible.
                Finally, after nearly nine hours, it was time for the headliners.  Amidst a sea of strobe lights, projectors displaying creepy film clips, and a giant, flickering banner with their name, Dillinger Escape Plan took the stage to the stacatto one-two-three of 'Prancer'. While their stage antics were undoubtedly hampered by Massachusetts venue laws, it was thrilling to see Greg Puciato leap into the crowd as guitarist Ben Weiman - luckily recovered from a terrible hand injury - swung his guitar at dizzying speeds about his head. It was just as I suspected, and the band even managed to make the pop-y 'Milk Lizard' the most brutal part of the tour.
                As I left the venue with ears ringing (and they're still ringing today), my Intronaut shirt covered in sweat and exhausted out of my mind, I remembered exactly why metal shows are so fun. Despite the somewhat 'meh' supporting acts, this is a tour you do not want to miss. If you have the opportunity, see these bands. They will not disappoint.

Attila: Brilliant Satirists

        So the sheer idiocy that is Attila recently dropped their third (and shittiest) record, About That Life, and have firmly cemented their place as the new Limp Bizkit in the metal world. With a combination of horrendous lyrics, too many breakdowns, and Chris Fronzak's urgent desire to (horribly) rap, the only thing I can conclude is that these good folks are trying to make fun of mainstream rap.

       Because who else would use a line as eloquent as "suck my fuck"?
       Oh wait.
       You can stream Attila's hilarious new video below.

Halfway Retrospective - the 10 Best Albums of 2013 (So Far)

          So a few weeks ago, Metalsucks debuted a few editorial pieces about each of their writers' picks for the top 10 best albums of 2013. It goes without saying that this has been an impressive year for metal and punk - metalcore's heavy hitters (August Burns Red, Bring Me the Horizon, etc.) have all released albums, following their 2-year schedule. But that's only part of the fun - 2013 is, without a doubt, a prog year. Bands like Scale the Summit and the Ocean have released game-changers in that field, and insane tours have been appearing out of the woodwork.
           To that end, I decided to compose my own list. Without further ado, here are my 10 best albums of 2013 so far. I'll conclude the section with five more albums I'm looking forward to.

       

1.  Intronaut - Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words with Tones)

      Genre: Progressive

            Intronaut's fourth album Habitual Levitations is a light-headed yet paradoxically heavy trek through a beautiful blend of sludge-prog. This fusion allows the band to toy with the entire feel of the album, giving it a decidedly unique texture that will haunt your ears from the first few thick chords of 'Killing Birds with Stones' to the last feedback screeches of 'The Way Down'. Habitual Levitations is a decidedly mellow
album, but it's within its melancholy passages that the band manages to weave complex atmospheres as the melodic vocals of frontman Sacha Dunable (who completely eschewed uncleans for the album) wrap themselves around you. As with previous releases, the instrumentals are the album's high point - virtuosos Joe Lester (bass) and Danny Walker (drums) will make any musician jealous as their rhythmic complexities lend themselves to the melancholic atmosphere of the record.

     2. Stomach Earth - Stomach Earth

Genre: Doom

      Some of you may remember seminal deathcore band the Red Chord – who were most famously remembered for the hilarious stage antics of frontman Guy Kozowyk – inventor of a hardcore dancing move dubbed the ‘Panteradactyl’ – and for their heavy-hitting machine of a record Fed Through the Teeth Machine. Unfortunately, the rise of Suicide Silence silenced (see what I did there) the Red Chord, who went on hiatus in 2009. This year, Kozowyk joined the New Hampshire police force, effectively reducing the likelihood of a new Red Chord album from nil to less than nil. In the meantime, however, former guitarist Mike “Gunface” McKenzie released his funeral doom project Stomach Earth’s first record and christ is it something. Echoing the unrelenting, methodical assault of doom acts like Ahab or the Abominable Iron Sloth, Stomach Earth is pure audible punishment, delivered in a torturously slow dosage. ‘Heavy’ is an understatement, ‘crushing’ more accurate, and as McKenzie roars 'I am the one they fear!' on the track of the same name, you'll find yourself trembling at the sheer badassery. McKenzie proves to us with Stomach Earth that one-man doom is not a dead art.

     3.  Nails - Abandon All Life

     Genre: Hardcore

     Starkly unapologetic and brutally quick in its delivery, Nails' second album (after their first audible beating Unsilent Death) is potentially one of the most unmelodic, punishing hardcore records of the year. The band, which features ex-Terror guitarist Todd Young, had its second record produced by Converge's legendary Kurt Ballou, whose oversight really shines through on tracks like 'Tyrant' or 'Suum Critique' (the longest track at 5 minutes) - where you could mistake Young's shrieked chant for Jacob Bannon. Clocking in at a devastatingly brief 17 minutes, Abandon All Life echoes 90s heavy hitters like Converge and Napalm Death as the band masterfully blends hardcore and grindcore into a devastating mess of sound that you can't quite tear yourself away from. As is, the record is potentially one of the most unapproachable albums of the year, coming across as more noise than music at times, but that's what makes it just so endearing. Additionally, if you don't find yourself nodding along to the medieval break in the title track, you have no soul.

      4. Thy Art is Murder - Hate

       Genre: Deathcore

      Australia always seems to do things better than us Yanks, and this is exactly the case with Sydney's Thy Art is Murder. At first glance, deathcore doesn't seem like a particularly technical genre - the odd exceptions being djent bands like Born of Osiris or Structures, who play with polyrythms and time signatures - but TAIM manage to bring all sorts of technicality to the table without resorting to Axe FX. As the band growls 'I am hell!" with the opening track, it's clear exactly what you're in for. As with more traditional deathcore albums, the pace doesn't quite let up, but the difference between TAIM and, say, Whitechapel lies in the drumwork of Lee Stanton. While he won't be competing with Intronaut's Danny Walker, Stanton's precision and power allow him to amp up the intensity without losing rythm, and when you consider that deathcore is a genre founded on being catchy and rythmic, this is where the band shines. That's saying nothing of the other instrumentals. Guitar solos - a rarity in any sort of -core genre - abound, tying songs together and getting you just that much more pissed off. Hate is already being considered a classic, despite being out less than six months.

5. Silverstein - This is How the Wind Shifts

Genre: Post-hardcore/Emo rock

    And now for something completely different.
Silverstein have quietly been a part of the emo rock/post-hardcore scene for years since their 2003 release of When Broken Easily Fixed. Since then, it's been only uphill as the band has continuously matured with each release. March's This is How the Wind Shifts is actually their second take at a concept album - after the 2009 melodramatic A Shipwreck in the Sand was heralded as their best album so far. This is How the Wind Shifts follows two characters as they make vastly different decisions, ultimately culminating in two very different endings. It's a unique idea that's executed professionally and emotionally, and is overall a far better record than 2011's lukewarm and profoundly uninteresting Rescue. Lyrics are at an all time high, and new guitarist Paul-Marc Rousseau's riffwork gives the album a mystifying feel - including the ambient, powerful  post-rock-tinged ballad 'In a Place of Solace', which steals the rest of the album. This is How the Wind Shifts has been on my playlist almost continuously for the past five months. It's, to say the very least, a truly stellar record.

 6. Cult of Luna - Vertikal

Genre: Progressive

        Swedish progressive band Cult of Luna take a unique perspective on progressive metal, one that isn't clouded by worship for their compatriots Opeth or by the multitude of excellent melodeath bands the cold north has produced. Instead, Cult of Luna's unique strain of metal focuses on a mixture of electronics and atmospherics, supported by guitar and traditional metal accoutrements in a way that creates one of the more unique sounds on the market. The bizarre reliance on electronics might seem like a bit of a gimmick, or detract from the heaviness Vertikal has to offer, but in fact it's quite the opposite. The band has gone on record stating that they used electronics to fill the holes organic sound left, and for the most part it's definitely the case. Vertikal is as airy and lilting as it is still a metal album. In this way, Vertikal is similar to Habitual Levitations (see previous) in its simultaneous lightness and heaviness, but in the case of Cult of Luna the entire album enjoys a grandiose presence, with both electronic and instrumental bass providing the soothing, baritone undertow for the numerous layers of instruments and effects to masterfully pile atop of, to an utterly hypnotic effect.

7. Aosoth - IV: An Arrow in Heart

Genre: Black Metal

France's Aosoth comprise a small pocket of traditionalist BM amidst a sea of bands like Year of No Light or Alcest that have looked beyond the BM of the past and molded with genres like post-rock in a strange, controversial new wave of music dubbed 'blackgaze'. Yet despite their countrymen's direction, Aosoth's influences remain firmly ensconced in the giants of the 90s - Gorgoroth, Carpathian Forest, Watain, etc. While Aosoth's work (down to the eerie cover art) in the past has been criticized as unabashed Deathspell Omega worship, An Arrow in Heart has the band standing on their own two feet with sweeping, blasphemous aural landscapes. An Arrow in Heart is as black metal a record as can be - complete with blast beats and tremolo'd chords, but the album's strongest suite is the pervasive element of darkness that infiltrates each and every piece. 'Under Nails and Fingertips' conjures up images of heretical, candle-lit rituals in its awe-inspiring majesty and dreadful hints of melody that lurk beyond crushing riffs. 'Broken Dialogue, Pt. 1' is a black march through staccato gloom that couldn't be more different. To recapitulate An Arrow in Heart is a triumphant sequel to Aosoth's splendid first record, a wonderful recovery from their lukewarm second, and definitely the BM album of the year so far.

8. Baroness - Yellow & Green

Genre: I haven't the faintest clue.

If ever there was a textbook definition of genre fusion, Georgia's Baroness would be first on the list. Since their 2007 debut (Red Album), the band has been famous for their masterful blend of progressive metal, sludge, stoner metal and a healthy serving of melody into their bizarre sound. 2013's Yellow & Green, the band's latest endeavor, is a continuation of the bizarre sound the band has made its own. At once familiar, with Baroness' signature heavy-but-not-too-heavy ballads ('Take My Bones Away', 'Little Things') contrasted with soulfully quiet songs ('Twinkler', 'Cocainium'). While Yellow & Green's risks often work beautifully, I personally think it falls short of Red Album in terms of scope. Yellow & Green sees the empty spaces on Red Album filled in with atmospheric bass and rhythm guitar, but it was that abrasiveness - the perfect contrast between melody and heaviness - that made Red Album so awesome. That's not so say Yellow & Green doesn't kick your ass, but as a whole it flows a lot more than the stacatto rush of, say, 'Isak'. To some, this is a wonderful development, but I personally feel as though there ought to be more room.

 9. Anciients - Heart of Oak 

Genre: Progressive

  

Anciients are total newcomers to metal, having released their first EP only two years ago. But even so, they've learned quickly and skillfully, and their debut album Heart of Oak is certainly indicative of talent we can expect from them in the future. As I said before, 2013 is a prog year, and Anciients' unique take on the genre might seem close to Cult of Luna, but the Vancouver act's reliance on clean vocals, as well as its methodical, head-bobbing drumwork, distinguish them from the Swedes. Heart of Oak features more melody than it does abrasion - the intro to 'Falling in Line' and 'Raise the Sun' are most indicative of this - but this melody doesn't put the album on the same level of semi-heaviness that other bands on the list like Intronaut have been perfecting (although that style is certainly awesome). Instead, Anciients play up technicality, offering solos and musical prowess to weave a progressive, atavistic portrait filled with complex riffs and head-nodding noodling (damn that was fun to write). As said before, if this album will be indicative of their later work, we have some good times to expect from these Canadians.

          

 10. Kylesa - Ultraviolet

Genre: Sludge

Kylesa and Baroness collectively represent the amazing Georgian sludge scene, but while their countrymen in Baroness busied themselves more with progressive elements, Kylesa have stayed true to the more hardcore-influenced side of sludge. The band's brooding, yet vitriolic psychadelic punk ballads have been in a constant state of refinement since their inception. Ultraviolet, May's latest achievement by the band, is as much a continuation as it as an experiment. The previous two albums by the band were clearly influenced by progressive rock bands like Yes, as they combined psychadelic ramblings with the power of Laura Pleasants and Phillip Cope's twin guitars. Ultraviolet, however, furthers this influence. While the introductory track 'Exhale' conjures up memories of their first album, the omnipresent echo pedal adds a distinct linger to the sound, in that its punk-y attack lingers in your ears after the last chord is strummed. Songs like 'Vulture's Landing' or 'Unspoken', which feature Pleasants' cleans prominently amidst wailing, psychadelic solos, are perhaps the most striking developments in the band's discography, nailing Ultraviolet as one of the year's best.

       And now for my five most anticipated albums of the fall and beyond!

1. Watain - The Wild Hunt
2. The Devil Wears Prada - 8:18 
3. Trivium - Vengeance Falls 
4. Thou - Heathen
5. Alcest - Shelter