Year in Review - the Releases of February 2013

      Portal - Vexovoid

      Genre: Experimental Death Metal     

       From the first crash of the cymbal and distorted weirdness of the guitarwork on 'Kilter', the Australian “experimental” death metallers in Portal returned to sow musical terror and confusion this past February with their fourth studio album Vexovoid. Trying to apply conventional sense to this music is a lost cause – it's loud, intense and borderline schizophrenic with its constant riff changes and reverb-ridden soundscapes. Portal records tend to mold together into dissonant, hour-long terror trip with enough claustrophobia and mind-numbing weirdness to reduce listeners to gibbering wrecks, and Vexovoid is no different. Nevertheless, Vexovoid is Portal's shortest record to date, with most songs falling short of five minutes. But, as is the case with them for all their records, this outing with Portal makes its stay much longer than you'd expect – never in a bad way, but sitting through a Portal record can be likened to sensory deprivation torture. Minutes turn into hours and hours turn into eons. Portal make music to lose yourself in as chaos surrounds you totally. For the masochist lurking in all of us, it's some of the most terrifyingly perverse ways to torture oneself sonically.

              Some may know Portal from their bizarre, otherworldly video for the single 'Curtain', off of Vexovoid, which was released just in time for Halloween. The video, based on one of my favourite poems by Edgar Allen Poe (The Conqueror Worm), immediately piqued my interest in the band, and since then I've found myself confronted by some of the strangest, most unnerving music I've had the misfortune to cross paths with. Vexovoid, in particular, acts the bleaker, darker successor to 2009's Swarth as it combines the dread of Outre' with the effervescent, mutated riffwork of Swarth.

               Yet there's a bizarre stillness to most of Vexovoid – almost oxymoronic in nature since the instrumentals are about as fast as your average death metal band. Rather, it's the way the guitar, bass, and drums work together that forces you into the eye of the hurricane – as sound rages all around you, there's a sense of being very confined and very much in danger. As though you're stuck in an elevator with these motherfuckers playing very loudly and howling right in your ear. In a way, it's the opposite of a lot of ambient bands, who rely on very little noise to do so much – Earth, for example. Portal use a whole lot of noise and do very little. Dissonant, gut-wrenchingly heavy noise, but noise nevertheless.

               What keeps Vexovoid from going stale is that the band is, as usual, willing to ease up just enough for you to tense for the next explosion – the nail-biting intro to 'Curtain' and 'Awryeon' or, ironically, the tail end of closer 'Oblotten', which features a few noxious notes amidst total silence as you tense up for the final torment before, miraculously, the music vanishes. Just as you're starting to get used to something, the band shakes you up again, either with a riff change or an explosion like in the first minute 'Black Wards'. Portal pull no punches and aren't afraid to smother you if you give them the opportunity. Not for the faint of heart.

Notable Tracks: 'Black Wards', 'Orbmorphia', 'Awyreon'.

Moon - The Nine Gates

Genre: Black Metal

          But we're not just done with Australia yet, because from the Outback comes the ghost of Xasthur, reborn in the mysterious, otherworldly black metal of one-man band Moon. Mastermind Miasmyr emerged from his silence after 2011's Caduceus Chalice with his newest endeavour the Nine Gates. At first listen, Moon's music, especially the case with Caduceus Chalice, with its distant, eerie production, comes across as total Xasthur worship – and the barely recognizable vocals add to the effect, recalling Malefic's harsh, processed shriek. However, while the influence is clear, it is just that – an influence. Miasmyr isn't concerned with making you want to kill yourself the way Xasthur was. Instead, the grandiose atmosphere and distant coldness is more evocative of mystery and mysticism. This is ritualistic black metal – fans of Wolves in the Throne Room or Throne of Katarsis will know exactly what that means.

             Caduceus Chalice was notable in just how far away the music seemed to be from the listener – and the brutally cold production both Caduceus Chalice and the Nine Gates enjoy gives Miasmyr even more space to howl his apostasy at the stars. But unlike its predecessor, which gave the impression of a distant “wall of sound”, the Nine Gates' instrumentals are fairly easy to discern. It's still black metal to totally dissociate yourself to, in the vein of DSBM, but never veers too far into the melodies and heart-wrenching lyrics of Thy Light or Shining. Hell, 'Poison from the Abyss' starts out with a classic “blast beats and tremolo” passage before subsiding into a brooding mood with a borderline catchy drum line.

             Is it depressive? Is it atmospheric? Moon seems hover between the two, at once wrapping its listeners in a cold cloak like the former, but at the same time projecting itself across a vast space like the latter. The Nine Gates is majestic, yet grand, even bringing in an organ on 'Sabbat' to heighten the mood, or the slow crawling of 'Astral Blood'. If ghosts made music, it would probably sound like the Nine Gates – and, indeed, the sprawling netherworlds Miasmyr paints, for me at least, recalls the tragedy of Orpheus as he proceeds to the underworld, or Dante descending through hell.

            There is suffering in 'Lillu Drowning' but it's outstriped by the malevolent guitar and synthwork that oozes throughout the record. The guitar, in particular, almost literally drips with perverse malice during the passages where Miasmyr lets each individual note of a chord ring.

The Nine Gates is an interesting record because no matter what kind of black metal you are in the mood for, (well, except maybe old school) it rapidly adapts to. Fans of DSBM and atmospheric black will absolutely enjoy this album, and whatever Miasmyr has up his sleeve next, I'm quite excited.

Notable Tracks: 'Spiritless Winds', 'Lillu Drowning', 'Astral Blood'.

        Silverstein - This is How the Wind Shifts

         Genre: Post-Hardcore      

       I always feel weird transitioning from intense metal to bands like Silverstein. Pretty much as soon as I finished my summary of Moon I put on the new Silverstein album This is How the Wind Shifts and it took me a few seconds to adjust to the genre shift. But anyway, I've been rantingabout this album since it was released in March, even going so far as to include it on my halfway retrospective.

So I'll say it again. If you're a fan of post-hardcore or emo rock, this album is an absolute delight. It's actually difficult to put into writing how much I love this album, and easily consider it one of the best -core albums of the year (well, maybe not the best objectively, but more on that later). This is How the Wind Shifts is the band's first album with new guitarist Paul-Marc Rousseau, and the band of Canadians have never sounded better guitar-wise. Equal parts heavy and poppy, 'Massachusetts''s sing-along chorus and equally infectious guitar work is equal parts bravado and fun, building up to a big ol' breakdown before dissipating into a minimalist sound.

          This is How the Wind Shifts is a concept album – and while that may sound cringe-worthy for one of the more famous scene bands, it works well, and explores two possible outcomes for a couple having some issues. But if that doesn't catch your attention, there's enough variety on this record that each individual song stands out. Sure, there are ups and downs – 'A Better Place' is a fairly nondescript unrequieted love ballad, but then there are songs like 'In a Place of Solace' or 'Departures'.

          I'm going to let the sizeable amount I've written about this album speak for itself, but rest assured it is not to be missed.

Notable Songs: 'In a Place of Solace', 'To Live and to Lose', 'In Silent Seas We Drown'.

HRVRD - From the Bird's Cage

Genre:  Indie Rock

         I first heard of HRVRD – a mellow, melancholic indie rock group for North Carolina – when they mystifyingly opened for Letlive last year. Sure, the post-hardcore influences were there, and the band is touring with A Lot Like Birds at the time of writing, but HRVRD play and sound a lot closer to the Lumineers than the Fall of Troy, and contrasted especially brightly considering Letlive's stage show was, as expected, totally insane.

         In any case, I was shocked to learn that HRVRD have been around for nearly nine years, and in that time have released a scant three records, this year's From the Bird's Cage included. Their last outing, 2009's The Inevitable and I, was a bemused, bittersweet, if somewhat redundant at times jaunt through prog and post-rock studded soundscapes. In any case, the album suffered from too many ideas, and at a whopping fourteen songs was an absolute beast of a record that I've had trouble sitting through multiple times.

        From the Bird's Cage is the natural progression from the Inevitable and I – the band has applied themselves and hunkered down on a set of ideas that work together, and even manages to throw in a few more upbeat passages amidst the mournful guitar work. 'Futurist' is a key example of this – at once fast and loose, while maintaining the space and low-key atmosphere HRVRD are known for. Part of what makes From the Bird's Cage an excellent album is that HRVRD know exactly what their strengths are, and mix the catchy with the nebulous yet familiar. The vocals, which come across as both resigned and frustrated, are the centerpiece of the record, and lyrically they match the music's somber nature – hell, intro song 'Black Creme' even takes the form of a villanelle.

         In many ways, HRVRD show their musical experience and savoir-faire, but it's always in highly subtle ways that topically make From the Bird's Cage an excellent record, and an even more excellent album when you delve deeper. Take, for instance, the eerie, theramin-riden 'New Information', which takes queues from melody and dissonance in equal parts before breaking into the acoustic, atmospheric classic 'Cardboard Houses', which in turn gets heavier with the transition line “I'm in hell, I'm in hell, I'm in hell...”.

           But no matter where they go, HRVRD always find their way back to the style we know them best for, which is impressive because on From the Bird's Cage they go all over the place – lots of people tend to bash on indie rock for all sounding the same, and HRVRD are testament to just how wrong that is.

Notable Songs: 'Cardboard Houses', 'Futurist', 'Eva Brucke'.

Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance

Genre: Black/Heavy Metal

          What's inherently funny about black metal is that, for the most part, its Norwegian progenitors have largely renounced the genre they helped spawn. Mayhem, the powerhouse that put out Deathcrush and De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas have faded into the background, while artists like Burzum or Immortal have moved on to ambient and heavy metal influenced music.

            Darkthrone, the Norwegian duo acclaimed for their early 90s 'Unholy Trinity' of albums (A Blaze in the Northern Sky, Under a Funeral Moon, and Transilvanian Hunger), have been very vocal in their condemnation of modern black metal, claiming the sound they created was never meant to be a trend and withdrawing from the limelight as other artists from Scandinavia – Taake and Watain spring to mind – took their place, citing Darkthrone as one of the most important bands in the genre's history.

             From the turn of the millennium on, Fenriz and Nocturno Culto have been hard at work following in the style of 80s giants like Sarcofago, Venom, and Bathory, and have morphed Darkthrone into a heavy metal machine, with all of the motifs and goodies of Panzerfaust a memory. Fortunately, their output has been continuously excellent, combining the pomp and bombast of 80s metal with their own ideas. Their most recent effort, the Underground Resistance, raises the Bathory worship to a new level, and it's definitely a great time.

            One of the most praiseworthy practices Darkthrone have repeatedly shown is a refusal to skate on nostalgia, instead spurning anything 'kvlt' they might have once done. The Underground Resistance is 100% heavy metal, and while Fenriz' vocals are harsh, they never approach the demonic growl of his previous work, while 'The Ones You Leave Behind' features Nocturno Culto on cleans as Fenriz demolishes the drumwork (as usual), and it's almost sing-along like in its catchiness and lack of subtlety.

         Aside from its headbang-inducing attack, the second most striking element of this record (and, indeed, of most of Darkthrone's later catalogue) has been the almost palpable amount of fun Darkthrone had making this record. On 'Come Warfare, the Entire Doom', you can almost see the smirk on Fenriz' face as he sneers “You are not welcome here”! There's a permeating lightheartedness throughout the distorted corridors of the Underground Resistance that differentiates Darkthrone's later music from many of its contemporaries, who are obsessed with darkness and death.

           Where black metal is intricate and finely honed to a misanthropic edge, the Underground Resistance tramples and rushes forward. It's a refreshing take on a genre many consider tired and uninteresting, and a few classic 'OH!'s and 'OOOH!'s and King Diamond-style falsetto and operatics round out the last song of the album 'Leave no Cross Unturned', adding to the sarcastically heavy-handed taste this album brings to the table. To conclude, Darkthrone have done it again – the Underground Resistance is as much fun to listen to as it must have been to create.

Notable Tracks: 'Leave No Cross Unturned', 'Dead Early', 'Valkyrie'.

Shai Hulud - Reach Beyond the Sun

Genre: Metalcore

          Speaking of influential bands, let's talk about an act that has never enjoyed much of a spotlight. When it comes to metalcore, potentially one of the most important bands in the genre, Shai Hulud, remain inexplicably underground. Never mind that the band is the missing link between 90s hardcore like Parkway Drive, Shai Hulud probably just aren't cute enough to enjoy mainstream popularity in the -core genre. It's a deeply unfortunate fact, because Shai Hulud have been cranking out excellent melodic hardcore since the mid 90s, and in 2001 released the stellar That Within Blood Ill-Tempered – a manifesto on honorable misanthropy. If that's not hardcore, you tell me.

           Thus it shouldn't be a surprise that Shai Hulud are exceptionally talented lyricists and musicians, and are known for taking nearly five years between each release. February's Reach Beyond the Sun, which saw the light of day after 2008's similarly excellent Misanthropy Pure, sees the band taking their music – thick and stoic as its always been – in new, riff-heavy directions.

            From their inception, Shai Hulud have always been anthemic and epic in their music, and Reach Beyond the Sun is no exception. This is a profoundly good album, packed with more hardcore intensity than you can shake a two-step at. Whether it's the ending 'amidst this chaos!' of 'I, Saturnine', or the chill-inducing introduction of 'A Human Failing', Reach Beyond the Sun delivers an expected, but eagerly anticipated, eleven anthems, supported by gang vocals and a ton of riffs to get your head banging.

          As I've gotten more and more entrenched in metal, I've found myself having trouble with listening to entire hardcore albums at once – it took me a few listens to really get the hang of Mammoth Grinder's massive Underworlds (to be covered later) - but miraculously, I didn't have this issue with Reach Beyond the Sun. The album, which features the almighty Chad Gilbert before he left the band earlier this year, is the band's fourth since 1997, and with every song having its own rhythm and feel, it's a varied thirty-five minutes that I'm not going to regret any time soon.

          Lyrically, as I said before, Shai Hulud have been resolutely putting -core to shame for years. 'Man into Demon: And Their Faces are Twisted With the Pain of Living' features my favourite lyrics on the album in the form of: 'The pain of life has twisted your face, You stagger with the hooves on which you walk. The pain of life has altered your physical state of being. Devolved and mutated, a mortal mockery, grossly winged and given flight.' and though it's painfully short, the song, while fairly nondescript Shai Hulud fare, trumps most -core lyrics of the past ever – and yes, the Color Morale's new album is awful and you should feel bad if you think it's 'deep'.

Notable Songs: 'Reach Beyond the Sun', 'A Human Failing', 'If a Mountain Be My Obstacle'.

Terra  Tenebrosa - The Purging

Genre: Post-Metal/Avant-Garde Metal

          Sweden's Terra Tenebrosa (Latin for 'Dark Earth') sprang from the ruins of post-hardcore legends Breach, and since then have imposed their bizarre, claustrophobic, borderline uncomfortable post-metal on an unsuspecting audience. When people hear the words 'post-metal', bands like Neurosis and Isis spring to mind, artists who combine the flighty whimsy of post-rock with the downtrodden gaze of sludge metal to create swelling, melody-driven, relaxing metal, right?

          Guess again.

          The Purging, the band's second full-length following 2011's The Tunnels, is as creepy and uncompromising as it comes, replete with howling screams and twisted ambiance. 'The Redeeming Teratoma' is nearly three minutes of ambient whistling and bizarre, monstrous swells before the band emerges ponderously in 'The Compression Chamber'. The band, who are part of the “mysterious masked members” revival alongside bands like Ghost, Portal and Deathspell Omega, are fronted by screecher 'The Cuckoo', who adds his throaty rasp to the layers of bizarre atmosphere, and his companions 'Hisperdal' (a corruption of a common anti-schizophrenia drug, risperidone) and 'Hibernal'. As of writing, only the Cuckoo's role as vocalist is known, but for only three people to accomplish such chilling, massive music is a massive undertaking.

          People have been talking about the song 'Black Pearl in a Crystalline Shell' for quite a while, and it's easy to see why. It's in this song that Terra Tenebrosa run their full gamut of tricks – bizarre post-rock breaks, schizophrenic vocals and insanity-inducing instrumentals. The Purging is a different kind of terror than bands like Portal, who assault the listener with walls of sound, and is more akin to the twisted work of Gnaw Their Tongues in terms of how utterly twisted and murky it is.

            In the end, though, Terra Tenebrosa have an interesting take on post-metal as a genre, introducing an element of negativity and fear to a genre that's dominated with artistic swells and tryhard hipsters. In this, they may be the first catalyst of a splintering within the genre, gravitating towards the darkness of metal instead of the light of post-rock.

            That's not to say there aren't any post-rock elements at play, but they're put to work in ways you wouldn't expect and that serve to send a shiver down your spine. The bizarre, distorted vocals on 'the Nucleus Turbine', or the dark crescendos and crackling drums at the start of the title track can be likened to Isis or Leviathan. It's an interesting take on the genre as a whole, but it isn't entirely free from fault.

           Perhaps the most notable fault of the album is that it's very difficult to listen to individual songs. This is a record that requires your full attention for it entire fifty minute duration, and it especially starts to drag on its second half. The Purging also requires a very specific kind of mood – in all of its creepiness, it's highly introspective music that lacks anthemic, epic passages – but unlike Cult of Luna, this is a trip to dark corners of the mind, to places you potentially might not want to visit again. When all is said and done, though, the Purging is a truly intriguing record, not only for its avant-garde take on metal, but on the perverse images it conjures up. Turn down the lights, look at some Hieronymus Bosch paintings, and put on The Purging for a spine-chilling evening you won't regret.

Notable Tracks: 'The Compression Chamber', 'Terra Tenebrosa', 'House of Flesh'.

Alcest premier new song 'Opale'

 

     French blackgaze mastermind Neige's project  Alcest have premiered a new song from their upcoming album Shelter, along with a music video. For a while, Alcest have been notable for scaling back their black metal elements - indeed, their 2010 opus Les Voyages de l'Ame featured harsh vocals as its only claim to fame, trading Ecailles de Lune's strident guitar work for dreamy instrumentals.
        Shelter is slated to be a pure shoegaze project, with Neige even going as far as to label the album (and, subsequently, Alcest) as dream-pop. 'Opale' is a prime example - it's still as chill-inducingly beautiful and warm as previous work, but brings a sweet sense of sunlight and hope with it as well. Be it through Neige's mumbled, muted vocals, or the echoing, ringing guitar, 'Opale' is as dreamy and soothing as it is exciting.
         Shelter will be released January 21st, and the date can't get here fast enough. You can stream the video for 'Opale' here.

Year in Review - the Releases of January 2013

Howdy, folks, and welcome to this year's retrospective! Below you'll find summaries of January's album releases of note to me. The next few months should appear on the site in the next coming weeks. As usual, if you have a comment, a suggestion, or even if you want to tell me my taste is shit and I should quit blogging, leave a comment below.       

 ██████ - Demo

Genre: Post-Black

          When you're intensely bored and find yourself perusing the Metal Archives to find something new to listen to, you sometimes stumble upon some strange material – sometimes I find bands like Drowning the Light or Terra Tenebrosa, other times I alight upon horrible death metal. But one evening in August, as I was reeling from how good Sunbather was, I stumbled across this intensely obscure Czech band with a wholly internet-unfriendly name: if you can even figure out how to type ██████, give me a call.

         This band, or NIC as they sometimes call themselves out of respect for the sanity of the curious, are a completely new act, and released their first demo this past January for free – visit their Metal Archives page for a download link. NIC play an entrancing, dark form of post-black metal that bounces back and forth between intense old school passages and flighty Alcest-like clouds, always against the encroaching darkness of their rhythm.

          NIC aren't your average dull Lantlos ripoff that tries to come off as depressive and shoegaze-y at the same time; NIC are happy to provide the melody, but it's cast against the backdrop of dark, crushing percussion – see the intro to closer 'IV'. The riffs struggle and twinkle against a downtrodden, ghostly bass and rhythm guitar. Amidst a genre that tries too hard to pull of shoegaze elements, NIC have completely eschewed them, instead taking their cues from bands like Altar of Plagues or Weakling and opting for a darker, heavier soundscape.

          Most of the record, actually, is blast beats, tremolo'd chords, and howled vocals – if you told me this was a Weakling demo, I wouldn't have questioned it. But the truly defining moments of NIC's demo come in the gaps between, during the beautiful, melodic breaks of 'II', or the intro of 'I'. It's this duality that distinguishes the demo from the hordes of identical post-black bands that have clogged the scene recently. NIC refuse to play to the cliches, and instead break the genre down into its purest form – black metal musicians experimenting with the black metal formula.

          NIC's first demo takes the painfully short form of four songs, one of which is 70% instrumental, and much of it is spent in utter fascination. Anyone who goes into this demo expecting another uninteresting post-black band will be sorely mistaken. This demo is one of the best representations of the “missing link” between “old-school” and “post” black metal I have seen in a while.

Notable Tracks: II, III, IV.

Cult of Luna - Vertikal

Genre: Post-Metal

       Lots of people who don't totally understand metal claim it's all about breakneck speeds and intense musical complexity, citing 80s thrash as the perfect example of what metal's really about. Never mind the entire genre of doom, the first band I would use to put these rumors to rest would be post-metal legends Cult of Luna.

     Cult of Luna hail from the winter paradise of Sweden, a country singlehandedly responsible for melodic death metal as we know it, to say nothing of progressive giants like Opeth and Vildhjarta. However, Cult of Luna have always shied away from death metal leanings, busying themselves instead with constructing something gigantic out of almost nothing. With the exception of their sophomore slump the Beyond, the quartet have churned out four mystifying works of art since their 2000 self-titled debut.

      I listed the band's newest release Vertikal as one of the best releases of the year so far back in July (let's ignore the fact that I thought Baroness put out Yellow & Green this year, all right), and since then Vertikal has stood the test of time – this is a piece of music that stands on its own two feet, both as an utter departure from Cult of Luna's previous work, and as a contribution to the genre of post-metal as a whole.

      Minimalism is the name of the game, the way it has always been with this gang of Swedes. Cult of Luna play a methodical, patient music that is at times sharp and heavy, and at other times nebulous and distant. Inspired by the German silent film Metropolis, the band successfully conveys the sense of majesty and wonder that the movie's avant-garde imagery evokes even today. Take the mammoth, 19-minute long odyssey of a song 'Vicarious Redemption'. Through all of its ups and downs – beginning from a melodic debut to a crushing finish replete with unclean vocals – there's a handful of riffs and plenty of wide-open space between notes.

            Then, just two songs later, behold the massive, electronic-studded 'Mute Departure'. The simplicity remains, but it's been replaced by a smooth, clean taste. Or bask in awe at the magnificent efficiency of 'Passing Through'. So simple, yet absolutely massive in scope. Hypnotic isn't a word I like to throw around with regard to music – it implies borderline soporific repetitiveness – but with Cult of Luna I can't help but feel it applies.

           Vertikal's uniqueness and replayability comes from the introduction of electronic elements to the band's arsenal. As with almost everything else, it's used sparingly and smartly, and provides another layer to get lost in – a simple melody amongst the distorted metal twang of the guitars and drum.

The album's one downfall, and, admittedly, it is hardly a 'downfall' is that the first half drags its feet getting into the action. 'Vicarious Redemption' is a defining song, but it's not a very approachable song, if only because of its length, while 'Synchronicity''s bizarre stacatto instrumentals aren't very appealing and make it one of the less enjoyable parts of Vertikal. The second half of the record is a total, flawless victory, fronted by the nostalgically heavy 'In Awe Of' that grabs you with its first riff and runs its nine-minute course all to quickly.

          If slow, ponderous metal gets you excited, Vertikal will utterly shock you and leave you agape. Cult of Luna's art is not an easy one to understand, but for those who persevere, it is easily some of the most rewarding music in the genre.

Notable Tracks: 'Passing Through' 'In Awe Of', 'I: The Weapon'.

Hatebreed - The Divinity of Purpose

Genre: Metalcore

         What can I say about the new Hatebreed record. White trash and hardcore scumbag machismo jokes aside, the Hatebreed formula has been a winning success since Satisfaction is the Death of Desire put metalcore on the map as what it truly was supposed to be: a crossover genre between hardcore punk and heavy metal, before the frill and pomp of the emo wave ruined the genre.

         Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately if you were looking for any sort of evolution, nothing has changed on the band's 2013 effort the Divinity of Purpose. Frontman Jamey Jasta delivers another nine or so yelled motivational ballads about never giving up, and never backing down. Given my limited experience with Hatebreed before, hearing the gang vocals of “Who's got more heart than you!? No one!” at the start of 'Own Your World' was borderline funny, but then the song kicked in.

            I don't know why it took me by surprise but Hatebreed have always written surprisingly catchy, if

mindless, music. It's not music to put on and thoughtfully wax on the various intricacies and musical innovations – this is music so high in testosterone it almost screams “chug whiskey and/or go to the gym”. In a way, it's nice to have around because as far as I stray from metalcore, I can always thread my way back to the stupidity of 'Before the Fight Ends You', yelling along to the intensely feel-good lyrics, even if they are contrasted by thick, D-beat ridden hardcore instrumentals.

             It's beginning to get difficult to write anything else about this album, otherwise I risk BS'ing about qualities that this album lacks, but suffice it to say the Divinity of Purpose is a punishingly fun album – the kind of music to drunkenly headbang to surrounded by sweaty crusts in a tiny room.

Notable Tracks: 'Before the Fight Ends You', 'Honor Never Dies', 'Nothing Scars Me'.

Fen - Dustwalker

Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal

           Fen have always been one of those bands I really should enjoy more than I do. I love atmospheric black metal – especially this time of year! - and sitting on my balcony and watching the snow fall with some Gallowbraid or Woods of Desolation is one of the best parts about winter. But in any case, Fen released their third record Dustwalker this year, and, once again, I can't quite get into it.

           I've done all the requisite steps. I've listened to it while walking in the snow. I've listened to it in the quiet of my room with eyes closed. I've patiently sat through the band's entire discography – including their demo Ancient Sorrow, but it just doesn't resonate with me. And that's unfortunate, because I can tell this is

really good, lonely music for a cold winter's morning.

          But then the vocals kick in.

           I have nothing wrong with blackened vocals – hell, a ton of the bands on this retrospective are black metal – but Fen puts their vocals right up near the front of the mix, and ultimately it breaks the serene, atmospheric spell of the music – case in point, the whispered post-rock swells of 'The Black Sound'. The strongest point of the song is either the introduction, the quiet portion around three minutes in, or the clean break a little later.

            Maybe Dustwalker falls a little flat for me because I need to consciously tune out the vocals, or because I only enjoy scant portions of it, but this is a thoroughly middle-of-the-road album. Most Fen records, to my untrained ear, sound intensely similar, and the tradition continues with Dustwalker, unfortunately.

The album drags its feet plenty, and never really goes anywhere with any of its ideas – and as a whole Dustwalker just isn't a very interesting record. Fans of Fen will definitely enjoy this, but I for one remain unconvinced.

A Teaser of this Year's Retrospective

      If anyone reads this blog regularly, they'll know around last year I  smade a fairly limited retrospective on the (mostly -core) albums that 2012 brought us. Well, it's been nearly a year (crazy!) and it's getting to be that time that people start to think about the albums of the past year.
      Now, this year's been an interesting year for me - I finally cracked the -core shell I'd firmly stuck myself into and for the first time discovered the amazing world of metal. For this reason, this year's retrospective is going to be an utterly massive undertaking. Don't believe me? Here's a preliminary chart of the albums I'll be covering next month:

(Click on this bad boy to zoom in).

And December hasn't even come yet. By my estimates there's going to be at least sixty albums, so I'm definitely going to be occupied all through finals and the holiday season. 

      With regards to the "categories" I had last year (best metalcore, best lyrics, etc.), I'm going to be completely redoing them all so you can expect some truly comprehensive lists. I hope you guys are getting as excited about this as I am!

     In the meantime, stay trve!

A Day to Remember - Common Courtesy REVIEW

        Two of my close friends up here are really - really - into A Day to Remember, and actually asked me to do this review. I'm not going to pretend to be the trvest motherfucker on the planet and say I don't like this band, but it was with no small amount of trepidation that I heard the acclaimed Florida pop-punk quintet was set to release their fifth studio album, Common Courtesy. The band's had a rough few years - we've had no new material since 2010's lukewarm What Separates Me From You, a band that somehow upped the melodrama as the band pushed themselves deep into pop-punk territory, parting from the metalcore roots that made the previous year's Homesick as amazing of an album as it was. My views on What Separates aside, the band's been through its fair share of endless touring that comes with newfound fame, and a grueling legal battle with Victory  Records over the rights to self-release Common Courtesy, which only resolved themselves a few months ago.

        The first single of the album, 'Violence', was actually released almost a year ago - and as a teaser, it was definitely indicative of what the record has in store. As with previous releases, Common Courtesy takes queues equally from pop-punk and metalcore, but upps the intensity (read: stereotypical accoutrements) of each - the breakdowns are that much tighter, and the lyrics are that much more about how much their hometown sucks. 

        It bears saying that I'm not the biggest fan of pop punk -  I find the genre charming, but somehow even more melodramatic and juevenille than almost any other -core subgenre. That being said, "stay posi" is the name of the game here - every riff, chorus, and breakdown almost  drips with youthful enthusiasm - including a beautifully strung-out 'Biiiiiiiiiitch' on 'Right Back at it Again'.

         A Day to Remember have always been good at getting a crowd riled up - and in a genre where repetition is as endemic as breakdowns, that can sometimes be hard to accomplish. Never fear, that's not the case with Common Courtesy - with the exception of a few acoustic ballads to help you chill out, the album is, to quote Sum 41, all killer no filler. 

         I'm not going to say anything about the lyrics - but if you come to pop-punk looking for essays on the existence of God, you're going to come up dry. You have the requisite song about their hometown - 'City of Ocala', the requisite song about standing up for yourself - 'Sometimes You're the Hammer, Sometimes You're the Nail', and a quiet love ballad ('End of Me'). 

         ADTR are clearly very proud of themselves, from the front cover that echoes Homesick, to an entire song about, literally, how proud they are ('Right Back at it Again'),  to a nearly six minute sample of the band reminiscing at the tail end of the record. It's a little annoying, but the band's rapid rise to fame is definitely something to be proud of.  

         The best parts of Common Courtesy, ironically enough, are the parts where the band plays up the metalcore influence a little more than they previously have, which brings me to easily the best song on the record - 'Life Lessons Learned the Hard Way'. No cleans are in sight for this song, and there's even a gruff 'OOOH' at the beginning. 'Life Lessons' is home to the record's most well-written breakdowns (wow, did I just seriously write that), and, as the record's flagship 'heavy' song (Courtesy's '2nd Sucks'), it definitely succeeds what it sets out to do, even if it is criminally short.

         Instrumentally, the band has also upped the ante - frontman Jeremy McKinnon's voice has never sounded better, although it remains to be seen if he can pull it off live. The drums are still beastly - kudos to Alex Shelnutt, and while the guitarwork leaves much to be desired, it's still got all the required pomp and might of a punk song or ten. 

           To conclude, Common Courtesy is a solid record. It's not mind-blowing or intellectually impressive, but it is fun as all hell, and if that's what you're looking for, you won't be disappointed.

Women in Metal - why is this still a thing?

Pictures (from top to bottom): Agoraphobic Nosebleed, All That Remains, A Forest of Stars

So Jezebel, who have made a name for themselves as the perennial whiny feminists of the internet (yes, worse than Buzzfeed), are running an interview with Nina Osegueda (A Sound of Thunder) tomorrow about "what it's like to be a woman in a metal band". Given the site's...biased...history, it's very likely this interview is going to be absolutely horrendous, painting metalheads as misogynistic knuckledraggers as hordes of disgruntled feminists with no real knowledge of metal or the scene descend upon poor Ms. Osegueda and besiege her with buzzwords like 'patriarchy' and 'privilege'.
        Which is unfortunate, because Osegueda seems quite smart - MetalSucks' brilliant reply to the Jezebel posting has her show up in the comments to dispel any rumors about what she is going to say, as well as crack some jokes with the MetalSucks userbase:

Hi there, Nina here. There's actually a lot of people out there (people who don't know much about metal) that have no idea how many women are in the scene. This is kind of my way of saying "hey ladies, we're here, no need to be afraid!" and showing the genre to mainstream folks. It's not a way to separate us from the dudes. Cheers!

          That's all well and good, but this entire interview and the resulting impending doom of tomorrow is enough to make me wring my hands in exasperation, namely because of how it shows how tenuous Jezebel's knowledge of metal actually is. Now, while metal is a fringe movement and will always remain a fringe movement, one of the only things the mainstream ascribes to metal is that it's a dudes' game (the other being metal fans are satanic degenerates, but I digress). But, as anyone who has actually been to a show can tell you, this isn't entirely true. Sure, most of the bands onstage are a pack of guys, but if you look at the audience there's generally a fair amount of ladies in the crowd - hell, when I went to see Dopethrone, who are a lesser known stoner band from Montreal, the crowd was at least 40% female. No one batted an eyelash. No one wondered aloud why there were a bizarre number of women at this show. No one actually in the scene cared. If you're going to run an article about how it's different to be a woman in a scene, find out if it actually is different.
           Women have been actually getting more shit from mainstream media sources about being women in

metal than from within the scene. Take a look at that interview, in which NPR interviews Liz Buckingham of the almighty Electric Wizard. Firstly, it's a little bizarre that NPR chose to interview Buckingham and not frontman Jus Osborn, who has been involved with the 'Wiz since its inception in '93. Additionally, there's a surprising amount of questions about what it's like to be a chick:

As a respected female heavy metal musician, you've never been one to make a big deal of or draw unnecessary attention to your gender, which is one of the reasons I was so keen to gain your perspective on a few things. I read a quote you made once about your desire to be known as "a good guitar player, not a good female guitar player," which is an incredibly strong statement. Do you find that a majority of female musicians think along those lines?

What are your thoughts on female musicians and front women that overuse their sexuality and appearance to gain more exposure for their bands?

How do you feel about the way women are generally portrayed in the rock/metal media? Revolver's Hottest Chicks in Metal issue and the perception of women musicians as either pretty faces or posers is diametrically opposed to the reality of the matter (which sees you and countless other female musicians focusing on riffs and songwriting instead of mascara and booty shorts).

      In this interview with Kylesa's  Laura Pleasants, Pleasants expresses my thoughts directly:

I think more than anything, it’s become a tired question. We’re on tour with three other bands,  right now and two of them have amazing women in them.

       It seems to me that, more than anything, people are either hypersensitive to the possibility metal is sexist or tired of thinking it is just because it started out as a dude's thing. Hell, even Jezebel's chosen prophet for tomorrow's interview is going into the interview ready to explain that women in metal are totally a thing.
        Secondly, misogyny in metal, while it does exist (remember, deathcore is a thing), is generally frowned upon as stupid and pathetic. The classic slut-shaming song that springs to mind for me is Pray for Plagues by Bring Me the Horizon.

She starts her new diet of liquor and dick,
Just like Hollywood, but laced in sick,
The sun goes down, and so does she.

           Now, a fair amount of people would probably point at this song and loudly proclaim that all metal is misogynistic, but to that I'd have to point out that Bring Me the Horizon - hell, the deathcore genre in general, which is known for having  'songs about a cheating ex' as a cliche - is held in contempt by most metal fans. When Memphis May Fire singer Matty Mullins made disparaging remarks about girls being scantily clad in the summer heat, not only did he get a very verbal callout from the Amity Affliction (noteworthy, check out the band's remarks on racism), but he also earned the scorn of the entire internet. It's this level of self-policing when it comes to being intolerant that makes me scratch my head and wonder why metalheads are

painted as hating women - and that's saying nothing of the stigma NSBM has in almost every metal circle.
          Not only that, but bands like Butcher Babies and Huntress, who feature an SFS (Sexy Female Singer) - or two in Butcher Babies' case - prancing about with their tits out are also scorned and rejected as 'boob metal'. Again, this is potentially an example for people to call sexism and slut-shaming on the genre, but I'm not sure it's entirely true.
          The metal subculture - and, consequently, a fair amount of its followers - actually have a penchant for being highly cerebral about their listening material. All of my metal fan friends devote a not insubstantial amount of time to thinking about and researching bands they're interested in - the Metal Archives are testament to this. Sure, the odd knucklehead exists, but because metal is, as mentioned before, a fringe movement, people need to put time and energy into finding music they like. People don't have time to waste on a band whose only claim to fame is electrical tape on their frontwomens' nipples because they don't want to listen to an artist that attracts people by being sexy - it's music, you can't hear someone's appearance.
        So, idiotinremission, what are you getting at? Well, the reason this whole interview got me so riled up is because it's addressing what is, as mentioned before, a non-issue. As far as I have noticed, metal is welcoming and, in fact, highly supportive of women in bands. Claims that it's a highly toxic subculture are entirely false, and can be shown to be incorrect by going to one concert.
        While I have full faith in Ms. Osegueda's representation of us tomorrow, Jezebel definitely has an agenda with this, and they're going to use any excuse they can to paint metal fans as no better than any other fandom. Hopefully this post can help elucidate some of the myths around women in metal - if this entire rant can be surmised in one sentence, it's this:
           Go to a show and decide for yourself. Don't trust this interview.

          Best ~<3
             IIR  

Finally, some good Nachtmystium news...

Image Credit: Lambgoat  Facebook Page
     
     For the past few years, it's been a well-known fact that Nachtmystium frontman Blake Judd has been 1.) a notorious scam artist, taking fans' money and then refusing to ship merchandise, and 2.) using that money to fuel several drug addictions. Last month, however, Judd was arrested on charges of theft and imprisoned with a heavy bail set at about $30,000.
     Now, as Lambgoat reports, Judd has been released from prison and claims to be going to rehab to sort himself out. Judd also described Nachtmystium as a 'catalyst for chaos' in his life, and claimed he was not going to play any shows or write any new material until he had completely kicked his addiction, which casts some doubt on Nachtmystium's direction.
     Judd also confirmed the scams he set up for fans of the band, saying,

As for the merch issues and money stuff, yeah, I've fucked up with a lot of you and for this I'm terribly sorry. When you're in the throes of addiction, you'll find yourself doing things that are completely out of character because you're enslaved by something more powerful than you at that point in time.

     While this, of course, does not vindicate him from ripping hundreds of people off for years, it's quite a noble and commendable gesture on Judd's part. For his part, he does seem contrite in the Lambgoat press release, although for all we know he could be lying through his teeth - you know what they say, don't trust a junkie.
     So, good on Judd for coming to terms with his issues, but what's really bothering me through all of this is what's going to happen to Nachtmystium. The band's impact on black metal is undeniable - the bizarre mold of psychadelia and Darkthrone that they debuted and perfected on Assassins (2008) and Addicts (2010) completely launched a new style of music - so-called 'psychadelic black metal', whose proponents now include excellent acts like Finland's Oranssi Pazuzu and the UK's A Forest of Stars. Nachtmystium, for the most part, are a band that knows what they're doing.
      That being said, the act has had a turbulent lineup (to say the very least) over the years, almost completely changing lineups from record to record, and has featured mainstays such as Jef Whitehead (Leviathan) and Andrew Markuszewski (Avichi) While many credit Judd's difficulty to work with (and later, his addiction) as the reason why, now that Judd is out of the picture this represents an interesting opportunity for the rest of the band (which Metal Archives helpfully tells me have only been on board since 2012).
        While the temptation to call quits what has undoubtedly been a massive headache of a band must be sorely tempting, I believe that the ideas pioneered by the band still have some merit to them - anyone who's listened to Silencing Machine knows that the band was onto something. On the other hand, losing a vocalist puts artists in a particularly difficult position - to go to another end of the spectrum, Suicide Silence had a rough time deciding whether or not to carry on after Mitch Lucker's death about a year ago. Woods of Ypres up and called it quits when  David Gold passed away. Considering a vocalist is often the image of a band, this could very well be the end of Nachtmystium.
       That being said, this is just an editorial piece. Best of luck to Blake Judd, here's to hoping everything works out for the best!