Lord Mantis : " Universal Death Cult"

There is still some pretty fucking great music coming out this late in the year. Here is a prime example why I am hesitant to really into into my end of the year lists until December. There was a time when I might have considered these guys to be a wildly feral sludge band , but from some of the chugging on this album it feels like they making a turn towards  raw and nasty death metal. Raw doesn't mean  the production is intentionally shitty for effect. In fact Sanford Parker who produced the album made some interesting choice on what he choose to to with the vocals on the opening track which is more unrelenting than the second that offers more clarity in it's mix. There is more of a thrashing sludge attack in the chugged riff.  At times this reminds me of Parker's other project Minsk. Though darker and uglier though this time around there is an undeniable weight to the sonics .

They are able to twist this into some more melodic moments that recall earlier non- progressive rock Mastodon. So in this way they straddle the line between sludge and death metal."Consciousness exe' is more deliberate. This song also provides of a good example of the kind atmosphere I could hear some one mistaking for black metal. It does come close to a band who might have been black metal but was influenced by other types of  modern music like say Nachtmystium. This album is much more experimental and diverse in the dynamics than previous efforts. There are some great drum sounds on this album bolstered by the great playing. The vocals production is great as well as the textures brought on by the effects coating the vocals brings out a more aggressive feel to the already poisonous performance.

I like the shift in sonics of " Low Entropy Narcosis" . The needed changed in guitar tone, but it seems to drone in one place and doesn't actually develop as a song so it is more of an interlude. "Damocles Falls" has a much nastier tone. There is an intense sonic side to this one.  The enraged chant of kill yourselves is the best part of "Flesh world". It does take a darker shift in it's mood and leans away from the straight up hammering. The bring out the saxophones for "Hole" to close the album. I like the slower pulsing throb of this one. It works off this droning throb with out any significant shift. This is a very solid return for this band I will give this album a  9. 

Abigail Williams : "The Accuser"

Their singer says this album was written from the perspective of a nihilistic occultist shit head, so I should find it very easy to relate to. Their last album "Becoming" found the band actually playing legit black metal and they are sticking to that formula for this one , though they are still melodic in much the same way Nachtmystium can be. Things get darker for the creepy pulse of "The Cold Lines". It feels more like up tempo DSBM, with some less coarse vocals crying out in the distance, not quiet sung yet very emotive. The go back to a blastier tone on "Of the Outer Darkness" .  The vocals have improved on this album there is much more anguish in them. Compared to the previous song the blast beats are well executed, but it gets more interesting when they slow down. Charlie Fell from Cobalt is on the drum throne for this album, so the drums are always going to deliver, but it is the slower more dismal grooves that are the most moving.

There is a more rock n roll vibe to the guitars leading into "Will , Wish and Desire". The keeps a mid-tempo throb, with the guitar weaving solos around it. It builds into a soaring drone. It good to hear black metal with plenty of guitar solos. They serve the song are are not distracting or overly flashy. These songs are well written and they waste little time with sprawling things out for the sake of atmosphere or cluttering the song with by forcing to many transitions into the composition. "Godhead" goes back to the blast with an almost Darkthrone like quality. They finally slow into the darker depths at the four and a half minute mark .The vocals take on a more sinister throat singing like chant in the songs closing moments.

"Forever Kingdom of Dirt" finds the vocals behind a filter of distortion and after a short burst of blast the tempo shifts around into a slower gallop. The bass emerges from the walls of guitar it is often buried behind. The double bass builds it back up , before dropping down into some tribal tom work. They duck in and out of grooves, through out this one defying traditional song structures. The guitar solo is well place in this one. He screams out about there being no future and nothing else to build on " Lost Communion" where a life time of mistakes is haunting him. Coming out of the faster opening verse they go into a gang vocal like chant  that is set against a more deliberate sonic texture of punches. The guitar tone gets really interesting on "Nuummite" with some almost gothy effects creating the atmosphere. I'm not surprised that the vocals are sung rather than screamed here. They are set back in the mix and under an effected filter.I'm pretty impressed by this album, there are a few moments when they blast beat a dead horse, but over all it's well written and compelling black metal American or otherwise. I'll give it a 9.5.

Anatomy of Habit : "Ciphers + Axioms"

This project gets points for being so influenced by the Swans. However it' worth a listen yet , not something I feel compelled to keep in my iPod as it's two songs that are both over twenty minutes. The First "Radiate an Receive" finds a Gira like Baritone chant, ranting over the slow minimal pulse of the songs subtle throb. Imagine a nightmarish version of Interpol. This incarnation of the project now enlists members of Indian, the Sea and Cake, Wolves in the Throne Room and Joan of Arc. So the sound is as crazy as their collective influences might be diverse, though it sounds like they all can agree on Swans.

They lumber at a powerfully plodding tempo, but are not what I would call doom, more like very deliberate Sludge infused post -rock, thought with a very indie rock take on the vocals supplied by Mark Solotroff, when they are not in a domineering baritone, that commands your attention his vocals are very quirky and not unlike a starker version of Interpol. So not as dark as Ian Curtis if you are keeping score at home. When the vocals take a harsher turn, it's pretty impressive and from a production stand point this album is head and shoulders above the project's previous work. Before the nine minute mark they begin to really start pounding you with some pretty solid metal. The chug is strong. Dynamically they can drop back into the post rock thing at will. When you get to the sixteen minute mark of the first song, you being to wonder why this is still being dragged as they have made the point already. They keep pounding the point home, sometimes soaring, but not really expanding on new ground with it.

"Then Window" doesn't catch it's groove until it's closing in on the five minute mark. It starts off exploding out of a womb of feed back. The song coasts along on this more straight forward post- rock section for a few minutes, gradually building with almost a psychedelic feeling, if we are talking about "Ummagumma" era Pink Floyd.He chants the album's title for sometime. You need a decent stomach for drone in order  to enjoy this album. I like it used as a device , but when it becomes they only element driving the ship, then they better well be droning on some next level shit. They hang on the chant until mid way through the song. Then for the following seven minutes they let the song drift out into outer space. This evolves into full blown noise. Something that Swans dabbles in but is not the be all end all of what they are about in order to be obtuse. So for almost a good quarter of this album is droning noise. So how many drugs do you do is the next question this album asks of you. Once upon a time I would have enjoyed sailing across my living room to this , now I'm a little more grounded so don't have the use for it. I'll give this album a 6.5 , because I like when they are making real songs and from a production stand point they are heading in the right direction, next time I hope they focus more on the songwriting as they have too much talent to waste on noise.

1.3