Lines In Wax

TWELVE YEARS OF UNWANTED OPINION

Month: July 2016

Cradle Of Filth – Dusk… And Her Embrace – The Original Sin (2016)
black metal death metal

Cradle Of Filth – Dusk… And Her Embrace – The Original Sin (2016)

Well, first things first, this is something that I never, ever thought I would end up hearing. This was one of the painful parts of the early Cradle Of Filth lore; a massive causality of the ever-shifting line ups and legal battles. Personally, in my mind, probably due to always being disillusioned by the production styles on both Dusk… and it’s follow up, Cruelty And The Beast, I concocted the thought that this original shelved version of Dusk… would be like some extended session of the Vempire recordings. I figured, as they offered Vempire up only to fulfill contractual obligations, that those songs offered so hastily were from these sessions (crazy how that last-minute, half-arsed release is one of the bands best). So, the rest of it was sitting out there on a shelf somewhere, just waiting… I wasn’t entirely right in my assumption. The production here is a lot rawer, and is easily the most notable difference. This original recording of Dusk… lends a lot more to the sound of Principles Of Evil Made Flesh (only much faster) than anything that it would become on the re-recorded version that came out in 1996. The second thing that’s mostly different is the vocals. They are a lot less “effected” and again sit more towards the original black metal style rather than the super high-pitch squawks that would become Dani’s trademark. I’m not sure what kind of devilish pact the band have entered into to twist Cacophonous’ arm into releasing this finally, but 2016 being the 20th anniversary of the original Dusk… cannot be a coincidence. I’m super stoked to have finally heard this, and although this release will offer nothing new to more recent fans of the band, it is the most interesting and valuable of the “cash in” releases the band have done as of late (the extortionate Total Fucking Darkness repress, that awful orchestral record, etc. etc.). This is a piece of metal history and it’s release into the world, for monetary gain or no, can only be a good thing in the long run, although it does destroy some of the mystery of the early Cradle lore in the process.

Gronibard – Satanic Tuning Club Turbo! (2004/2012)
grindcore

Gronibard – Satanic Tuning Club Turbo! (2004/2012)

Holy Shit! The French are coming! Armed with turbo goregrind! Fukk! It might be daftly grandiose to label Gronibard as legendary, but these guys were stalwarts of the 90s/00s silly goregrind scene. A lot of party grind to follow simply does not possess the speed and carnage that these guys pack, especially on this particular album – the fantastically-titled Satanic Tuning Club Turbo! I mean, think about it, tupa tupa shit is becoming the death of party fucking grind. Yeah, it’s fun and all, especially live, but I fear it won’t be long before we tupa tupa our way off a cliff into stagnation; the base of the precipice littered with corpses stripped to waist, wearing Mexican wrestling masks and clutching half-drank cans of Gambrinus. Gronibard’s high-pitched squeal-orrific vocal approach to blasting mental goregrind is akin to GUT on amphetamine, and may have been a precursor for bands such as Intestinal Disgorge to push this style to the limit. It might sound even more ridiculous, but the acoustic stuff here is my favourite, especially “March Of The Gronibard”, which was sent to me over MSN Messenger yeaaarrrs ago, and has been in regular playlist circulation since. So yeah, if you don’t take your grindcore too seriously, and are a bit fed up of endless tupa tupa in your party music, don’t forgot underground gems like this; blasting, spastic, rude, insane French grindcore! Fukk you! Note: The “Turbo” edition throws in the stuff from the split with Gorerotted and Gruesome Stuff Relish, extended acoustic tracks and some other unreleased stuff and live bits and bobs.

Necrosis – Catatonic Psychosis (2013)
death metal

Necrosis – Catatonic Psychosis (2013)

There are a lot of bands that have been called Necrosis. This particular Necrosis (the second Necrosis that I know personally, although that first Necrosis was spelt Nekkrosis, not Necrosis) are listed as the 15th registered instance of the name Necrosis on Discogs. They hail from the Bristol area and play straight up brutal death metal. Their guitarist Jason also plays in Kraanium, so there is an inevitable slam feel to the groovier riffs when they present themselves, but Necrosis is an exercise in speed and brutality, rather than in the chug and the slam (and the inevitable ensuing hammers). I might be wrong here because I’m an idiot but I believe that Catatonic Psychosis is the band’s debut EP, containing five tracks of brutality to massage your innards into a lovely bloody pulp. It is recorded well, and packs a hell of a punch, but isn’t too over-produced and still has an edge of grime, which is something that is very important I think, especially in death metal; it’s easy to lose your way in immense studio trickery. I’ve seen it befall bands many a time; polished-to-fuck records, but messy, useless live shows, where the gimmick and effects don’t translate over, and the triggers sound like someone stamping on empty milk cartons. Thankfully none of that tomfoolery is present on Catatonic Psychosis, which is a strong offering from the UK death metal scene. I really hope these guys work on an album sometime.

Abruptum – Casus Luciferi (2004)
black metal

Abruptum – Casus Luciferi (2004)

A while ago I was on some mad quest for black metal mixed with harsh noise. I was given a whole bunch of recommendations, one of which included Abruptum, who are apparently the most evil band in the world ever. Like, ever ever. I’m serious (well, they are, or were, at least). They even had a member called Evil, and if that doesn’t prove anything then I don’t know what will. Earlier material was even released by Deathlike Silence before Euronymous got carved to bits by Varg Vikernes. Those records sounded like Anal Cunt or 7MON having a stab at black metal, and to me seem to lay some sort of blueprint for projects such as Stalaggh to follow on with. This however is a much more ambient affair. The first track is an irritatingly-lengthy piece of martial drums repeating over and over. The rest of the record is thankfully much better. I guess there is a black metal vibe, but for the most part the whole thing is just lo-fi soundscapes of sinister noise, which is absolutely perfect for 4am RPG sessions, I’ll say that much. I ended up chaining the Abruptum discography after hearing this, and I much prefer their ambient “noise” stuff to the earlier “noisecore” style to black metal, which even for someone who absolutely loves noisecore, just sounds a bit crap, if I’m honest. I promise you after 15 minutes you’ll be hearing these drums in your sleep. 

7 Minutes Of Nausea / PTAO – Split CD (2000)
grindcore

7 Minutes Of Nausea / PTAO – Split CD (2000)

Pár Teček A Otazník, almost always abbreviated to PTAO, were a noisecore band that were initially active through the nineties up to the early 2000s (although there has been a full length released last year, and a series of CDrs a few years back). On this release they mix bizarre classical background music with very high studio-quality noisecore blur attacks, topped with goregrind style pitched vocals, which is a nice change for this type of thing. 7 Minutes Of Nausea seem to sometimes just transcend noisecore into all out…… I’m not even sure. All constructs and designs of music are completely absent, resulting in complete and utter nonsense. I guess that is the point though and this is the next step forward. Nothing matches, not even in the style of noisecore, just pure non-music dissonance and chaos. Released on Bizarre Leprous Productions.

Immortal – At The Heart Of Winter (1999)
black metal

Immortal – At The Heart Of Winter (1999)

At The Heart Of Winter is an essential black metal record – if you can even call it that. I mean, this is Immortal, so it’s obviously black metal, but I get so much more from this than the standard blackened metal vibes. The songs are huge and grandiose, almost with a “power” feel to them; a hidden, storming melody within the clusterfuck of blasts and gurgled grimness. Drums drenched in reverb. Riffs cut across the sky like lightened cast from ice-dusted war-hammers; six battle hymns for the trve northern warriors. Tales of lands forgotten and treasures buried in time. These are the attributes that classic Immortal deal in; a swirling maelstrom of power-tinged black metal, if you can call it that (I will). Stand out tracks – “Solarfall”, “Tragedy Blows At Horizon”. Blergh!

The Body – No One Deserves Happiness (2016)
doom metal noise & power electronics

The Body – No One Deserves Happiness (2016)

(words by Le Manifico Doomfindaaaah Jenerales) Before anything else, can you just take a second to appreciate how amazing that artwork and album title is…. The Body are a two piece sludge band from somewhere in America. Well I say sludge, but they don’t sound anything like Eyehategod et al, but they are slow, heavy and unpleasant, so it’s close enough. The album opens up pleasantly (if not miserably) enough with “Wanderings” which has just a simple drum beat and some nice female vocals telling you repeatedly to “go it alone” for about 2 minutes until some of the best high pitched harsh vocals join in. The second song keeps the same sort of feeling, adding layers of distorted heavy slow guitar but with the female vocals being used solely for the chorus this time. Just as you think you have the measure of the album though, “For You” pummels you into submission with a barrage of noise, drums and screams. “The Fall and the Guilt” strips back everything to pretty much just piano and lovely vocals, but with a creepy, constant crackly hum underpinning it. The last track, “The Myth Arc” manages to do this same sort of thing but better, with the vocals almost being drowned out in a sea of horrible noise.  All in all the whole thing is just wonderful. Well, horrible. But you get the idea.

Agalloch – Pale Folklore (1999)
black metal

Agalloch – Pale Folklore (1999)

I’ll admit, it took me repeated listens to get into this. Folk-influenced black metal is hardly my strong point, but there’s always been something about this Agolloch record that keeps dragging me back to try and listen through it again. Now, I identify with a subtlety to the music, something which took me a while to understand whilst deciphering the three-part epic “She Painted Fire Across The Skyline”; an incredibly ambitious piece to open up an album with. I think that’s it, actually – getting through this mammoth opener to the continuing gems beyond. Past this point the epic journey continues in leaps and bounds, but with – what I feel – more room to breathe, not having to constantly reprise the thematic of “She Painted Fire…”. Case in point, “Hallways Of Enchanted Ebony” and “As Embers Dress The Sky” are two fantastically spellbinding compositions of song-weavery; black metal’s dim, lo-fi velocity meeting the intricate web of forgotten folklore, resulting in tracks positively dripping with magic.

Dead Infection / Malignant Tumour – Split 7″ (1998)
grindcore

Dead Infection / Malignant Tumour – Split 7″ (1998)

This is classic Dead Infection shit right here. I’ve heard this before on one of the collection / compilation CDs, and I absolutely love the mix of growls and pitchshifters – usually when vocals contrast to shifted stuff it’s gonna be yelled, screeched, shouted or screamed, but not here. Growls not brutal enough? Well, top that off with some pitchshifted gurgles! Lo-Fi blasting grinding madness, but with enough finger-wagging classic riffs for the crusties to mosh to. A genre staple! Malignant Tumour have such a strange back catalogue of stuff; tracing their development as a band is extremely entertaining, although I must confess to enjoying the older incarnation of the band more than the rock’n’roll style stuff (however they are always great fun live). Catching them on this 7″ marks their transition from goregrind out into a more politically motivated, almost mincecore approach. There is an Agathocles cover, which says it all, to be honest. This stuff is class, but Dead Infection’s material on this takes the win for me.

AFX – Hangable Auto Bulb (1995 / 2005)
electronic

AFX – Hangable Auto Bulb (1995 / 2005)

If I wanted to hear freaky English kids talking about fucking potatoes over a meltdown of electronics, up until now I’d have said that I’d have to either a.) knock up my ex a few times (aayyy lmao) or b.) hit a shitload of acid. But now, thanks to the Aphex Twin side-project / spin off AFX, I can just wap Spotify on, and away we go! Wow, technology has come so far, I think I have a tear in my eye! Progress, people, progress! As far as AFX goes, Hangable Auto Bulb is AFX to the core. That may be just as ignorant as that time I did a review where I said Electric Wizard sounds like Electric Wizard, but literally I fail to see how you can listen to this and not know who you are hearing (unless you’ve never heard AFX / Twin before, of course). Anxious, blippy electronics meet mellow, almost nostalgic synth work and downright bizarre sampling, culminating in a concoction that is just simply gorgeous. Case in point, “Every Day”, taking this mixture to a new level. All hail AFX. Cool pro tip – This is the CD compilation version of 2 12″ EPs (from 1995) together on one release, and I’m sure a few others, unless I’m going insane… 

Rot – Nowhere (2015)
grindcore

Rot – Nowhere (2015)

Nowhere is one of the latest releases from long running Brazilian grindcore mentalists Rot. Released 25 years after their formation, it shows that the band have absolutely no intention of slowing down their pace – blasting your face with 12 grinding hymns, which isn’t exactly bad going for a 7″ release. Rot take elements of mincecore and hardcore punk and mash it head on into the classic style of blasting grindcore. There’s honestly not a single bad track here – the whole thing is totally relentless from start to finish and has the impact that a proper 7″ release should. When you think that some bands struggle to keep one side of a split 7″ interesting, it really hits home just how awesome bands like this are. It only really slows down for the closer “Falling Apart”, but even then, it doesn’t really slow down….

2 Minuta Dreka / Umigliazione – Split 7″ (2003)
grindcore

2 Minuta Dreka / Umigliazione – Split 7″ (2003)

This is my first experience with Umigliazione – who play hardcore punk style stuff mashed up with super noisy freak-outs. They play 3 songs here, in 4 minutes or so, and it’s definitely not what I expect to hear. I’ll have to check these guys out more, as this is very brief. On the flipside, 2 Minuta Dreka offer up a massive contrast. This is far from the band’s later, groovy material. On this 7″ we have nothing but pure 7MON-worship; offering up 70 (yes, that’s right – 70) tracks in roughly 4 minutes. The “songs” are grinding blasts of scraping bass noise and guitar shreddery on top of the usual smattering of blast beats and distorted vocals. 2 Minuta Dreka self released this under the Grind Block label and it is limited to 1000 copies, so should be fairly easy to get a hold of if you are so inclined (copies are currently 2 Euros on Discogs).

Blink 182 – California (2016)
punk & hardcore

Blink 182 – California (2016)

(Words by Burra) Ok, so I’ll state the obvious, but there may be a lot of people who may not realise founding member Tom DeLonge is no longer a part of the group. Anyway… this is Blink 182’s first record with their revised lineup, featuring Mat Skiba who most of you will recognise as frontman of Alkaline Trio. A nice opener to this album comes with the track “Cynical”, which might I add has a really lovely bass guitar-driven sound to it, leaning back to maybe a sound we haven’t heard since perhaps the Carousel era. This type of sound can be heard a lot more throughout the album, and often there is warm chord-based playing in places. “Bored To Death” is a really strong track and I think the perfect choice of main single from the album, which shows off their new look and fresh sound nicely; showcasing both the vocals of Skiba and Hoppus together. Two personal highlights that stand out from this album for me are “Left Alone”, from which I really love the vocals, and also “San Diego”; both tracks being the album’s kind-of ballads. I also really like the track “No Future”, which has some really nice input from Skiba where the song dips into very Alkaline Trio-esque sounds, especially when his vocals come in and really push the track to another dimension. This is probably a favourite bit from the whole album. Overall though, I’d say this sounds a lot closer to Blink 182’s original sound than that of the last releases few from the band; especially the Dogs Eating Dogs EP, which was quite a dramatically different sound than what we were used to from Blink. There is a strong set of tracks here though; the only weak points and my only criticism being the little filler tracks “Built This Pool”, which I feel could have easily been left out as it doesn’t really fit with the vibe of the rest of the stuff here, and “Brohemian Rhapsody”, which again is just a quick bit of filler in an album that doesn’t necessarily require any. I can imagine however that there are lot of fans still unsure what to think of this album – or perhaps quite divided over it – maybe even a little bitter still at the departure of DeLonge. It still takes some getting used to myself; however I do think they made the right choice in who they’ve chosen to replace DeLonge – there’s no question of that, and it makes for a great album nonetheless.

Jesu – Duchess / Veiled (2012)
doom metal electronic

Jesu – Duchess / Veiled (2012)

This is a short, limited edition EP that Jesu released towards the arse end of 2012 on some ridiculously limited quantity (I can’t remember what number it was exactly but it sold out and I missed out on a copy, but to be honest, I probably wasn’t paying enough attention and let it slide). It contains an unreleased Jesu track in the form of “Veiled” and a beautiful cover of The Stranglers’ “Duchess”, redesigned in the usual more-sombre-than-sombre Jesu approach. I’ve linked the cover below because it’s simply amazing, but the B side is just as good. I believe this came out not so long after the Ascension album, which was a bit of a miss in my opinion, so it was nice to find that Jesu hadn’t completely lost it’s way (future releases also completely cemented this fact). Doomy, gloomy, and as a YouTube commenter so rightfully pointed out – very Killing Joke-y. Excellent! There is just something magical about the guitars on this thing, and I’ve poured my heart out about Jesu synths to you all before….

Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Arc (2016)
doom metal

Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Arc (2016)

(Words by Gumpy, Doomfinder General) Agoraphobic Nosebleed return faster than ever, this time managing to squeeze 27 songs into only 3 minutes…. Wait a second, there’s only 3 songs and one of them is 12 minutes long? It’s a sludge album? What the hell is going on? Shit talking aside there is a very good reason for this drastic change in direction; instead of just making another album, Agoraphobic Nosebleed decided to make 4 because… why not? Each one is being written by a different member of the band, and the first of these – Arc – is Katherine Katz’s one. However how does it hold up? Agoraphobic Nosebleed may have dabbled with slow in the past but they are predominantly a fast-as-absolute-fuck band. It’s amazing, of course it’s amazing. Agoraphobic Nosebleed could make a power metal album and it would still kick the shit out of every other power metal album (that’s not a challenge by the way). Kat’s vocals, which if I’m being honest I thought were a bit off on Agorapocalypse, are perfect here. The slower pace gives them a bit more room to breathe and they sound better for it. There are massive riffs flying about everywhere, and the programmed drums sound meaty and must have some sludge drummers worried about their jobs. It might not be Agoraphobic Nosebleed as we know it, but when the music is this good who cares? (I still want more weird ultra fast grind, though.)

Cattle Decapitation – Ten Torments Of The Damned (1997)
grindcore

Cattle Decapitation – Ten Torments Of The Damned (1997)

I love this 7″, simply because it is so far removed from what Cattle Decapitation would become, and also because most people have absolutely no idea that it exists. I saw Cattle Decap recently and the thought of them breaking into anything off of this amused me greatly, although I would be super stoked to see how Travis would handle doing vocals on this material. This is a relic from the past, and a super cool look at how one of the juggernauts of the current death metal scene began their career. If you’ve never heard it, I think you are definitely going to be in for a bit of a shock. Ten Torments Of The Damned showcases a completely different band and musical style. The band was still in very early days, playing some sort of cranky version of hi-energy hardcore punk. I guess you could say this would fall into the powerviolence ballpark. Several members would quickly go on to form The Locust (now you know where you’ve heard those vocals before, right?) and really push the boundaries within this genre of music. I once owned the beautiful clear 7″, but it was robbed from me by some mouth-breathing redneck cunt in a botched trade. I have no words that can vilify that individual enough. Anyway – check this out!

Nagelfar – Jagd (1996)
black metal

Nagelfar – Jagd (1996)

This was a totally random listen for me, and holy shit, did it pay off. I’ve recently started playing Elder Scrolls Online in the days I’m off as I’m on a shift pattern now, and the best thing to accompany games like that is old dungeon music, dark ambient, and a smattering of black metal. This was a random YouTube pick of an old demo from a band that has a name suspiciously similar to the seemingly more well known Naglfar (they started around the same time). This tape is either highly sought after or highly commended, as prices exceed £30+ on Discogs for an original copy of the cassette, at the time of writing. To describe Nagelfar quickly to the more casual listener, I would compare to Hvis Lyset Tar Oss-era Burzum, only taken to new heights, with very Nordic (TES forever!) singing passages and moody, non-black metal instrumental downtime with a folky twist. This has definitely opened up a whole new tin of worms as I cannot wait to explore this band’s discography further (edit: I’ve listened to a few albums and this is by far the best of the bunch). Easily the best black metal record I have heard since…. I dunno, but in a bloody long time! An absolutely fantastic hidden gem.