Death is June- Deicide- "Legion"

 

Their second album finds the production tightened, creating a more fluid machine of sound they wield like an instrument of war. Glen's vocals are more balanced in the mix with the overdubs. The riffing sounds like it's played with tighter palm muting. Lyrically, the themes are more focused, even if they are questionable on the opening track. "Dead But Dreaming" is even tighter than the opener, with Benton's vocals finding a punchier lower growl to attack from. These guys show you how to play fast death metal as it does not work off blast beats, but it has a smooth, steamrolling feel. 

"Repent to Die" finds them hammering at you harder, though the songwriting is not as memorable as the first two songs. The vocals are pretty deliberate, which works. The arrangements are also more intricate this time around. Glen's bass playing is underrated, as he is keeping up with some crazy flourishes better than most. "Trifixion" is another silly lyrical concept rooted in sheer occult poppy cock for the sake of it. He sounds more like Cookie Monster on this one. But even with all that, what they are doing works. Still not sure how evil controlling the way he dies works with anything, but I loved it as a kid.

"Behead the Prophet" is another brutally hammering thrash fest, but it felt more unique back when this album came out. There is something about how he spits out the lyrics on "Holy Deception" that always worked for me. You can hear the Slayer influence on this one. "In Hell I Burn" is a speed fest. But they do lock into a powerful gallop that balances it all out going into the chorus. They learned from Slayer well on the last song at being blazing fast but still writing hooky songs. This album si not as raw and more controlled than the debut, which makes for a better overall sound. I will give this album a 9.5, as the refinement takes away some of the magic from the first release, as silly as it was.

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The D.O.O.D. : "Dissonance"

I have seen this band's name around the Brass Mug, in Tampa, where these guys play frequently. This band thrashes in a manner not unlike Overkill to some extent. But you can hear a great deal of influences coming from other thrash bands of that era, Testament being at the top of the list. I was expecting more nu-metal in their sound, and while they experiment a little with an electronic atmosphere on "The Black of Hell". They have captured a reasonably well-produced sound that might sound good at high volumes, but their songwriting so far is not that catchy or memorable, which is a skill that separates bands from being that one local band that does all the right things to draw a crowd and a national act whose album you listen to for years.  

I think I heard the "Pentecostal" before sitting down to review, this album, but like I said about things not being memorable, well there you go. I can hear some similarities between these guys and Exhorder when their vocals sing in his more dramatic upper register. He retains a rasp to his tone and sounds better on some of the punchier growls. Though the song is dynamic and aggressive enough to work, with decent guitar work. The chords feel more like Machine Head or Slayer leading into "Parasite 6-4-2" The vocals are produced pretty well on this one. A more thrashing part pops out of nowhere which feels like an odd cut and paste. This would have sounded like next-level shit in the 90s, but now .. not so much, 

I appreciate their willingness to write more melodically on "2000 Miles" as it does not feel like they are writing with their singer's strengths in mind. So he sounds like he is straining in the studio."Chaos For the Fly" finds the vocals taking on more throaty aggression then reverting to him belting it out with a power metal vibrato. He does growl but it's done in more of a Chuck Billy manner. When he takes the rasp higher it's pretty weak, At times it feels like their songwriting is reduced to just throwing riffs out and seeing what sticks. Though the breakdown riff of this song is one of their strongest they are inconsistent in this regard versus a band like Maul, who has an endless supply of killer riffs. What separates the pros from the weekend warriors. 

The title track does not stand out from the other songs. In fact, it's more of the same thrashing. Maybe marginally more groove, though this margin makes it catchier.  The riffs remind me of some of the more recent Flotsam & Jetsam. It's not until midway into "The Well" that they muster up a riff that catches my ear and then the rule here is ... cool riffs alone does not a good song make, There is a little more melody that brings some cohesion and makes it more of a worthwhile listen outside of that riff. "Slayer of Gods' comes across like filler on a Gwar album.  They do not know that Chrvches already has a song called This and About This, though these guys are taking it from a different lyrical perspective. It's not much darker than their other songs and it should be. I do like these guys are playing melodic thrash , so I will give this album a 7.5 , If you like thrash you might dig it, but not the most original thing you are going to hear this week. 

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Horsewhip : "Consume and Burn"

 The extra angered pummeling of the Tampa band's dense sound packs a punch. Horsewhip leans the most in a hardcore direction while integrating dark metallic moods into its attack. It is so intense and explosive, that you are left reeling after the first song to wonder if they can in fact write a song. While the vocals are screamed with the same monochrome aggression on the second song, you can hear the journey they are taking you on letting me know they care about songwriting. "Buried " has dark echoes but is primarily concerned about being a vehicle to document this expression of rage. 

"Dark Matter ' is an interlude whose melodic colors might have been better severed worked into an actual song. The songs are very compact staying in the three-minute range. The only drawback is that once we get to "Pain" things begin to take on a more uniform feel. They throw themselves into a thrashing style of hard-core that is suitably in your face, but so much so it begins to leave not as much room for melodic and charges at in a head-on attack. "Pain" does find a little more atmosphere in the last minute , but the same can not really be said for the songs that follow it. 

"Plague Machine " carries a more punk energy to it's angry burst of compressed chaos. The drummer is good, but all over the place. They do find a commanding chug or three, but the rule here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make. They also follow a formula similar to the previous song where the atmosphere is only used in the last minute of the song. "Full of Fury"  is marginally darker. It feels more like a sped-up Neurosis.  The last song shows improvement in terms of a greater range of sonic shades they attack you with, but you are still being attacked. I will give this album an 8, if you like metallic hard core then these guys lean in the more metal direction with tasty dissonance. 

Consume and Burn by Horsewhip

Live Review : Mudvayne "the Psychotherapy Sessions" Tour @ the Mid-Credit Amphitheater

Having not seen Mudvayne since they opened for Kittie in 2000. They blew Kittie off the stage that night, and I bought their first album the next day. I had a curious optimism about the band, but the addition of Gwar to this tour's line-up is what sealed the deal for me. Granted outdoor concerts in July are not ideal in Florida. Despite the hype "nu-metal" is getting about it's second coming as "nu-core" the lawn was closed and only half of the 10,000 seats were filled.  I caught the last two Butcher Babies songs. I like the new albums , and they were very professional , though one of their singers was wearing jeans on stage, which seemed overdressed in the heat , when she used to just wear duct tape on stage.

Next up was Non-Point, I am always willing to give this guys a chance, never seen them before. They had a great deal of energy. but all there songs began to sound the same half way into their set. Then Gwar who I saw several times going back to 1990 when I saw them with Murphy's Law. This was my first time seeing them since Dave Brockie's death. I enjoy the Blothar album's I think they do justice to the band's legacy. I have never seen Gwar playing anywhere larger than a club, so  the Amphitheater at even half capacity was weird as well as seeing them trudge out on stage during the day in costume. The stage show was dialed back due to limited back line. If this has been the band at the height of their Scumdogs fury , they would have blown every one off the stage, but we got what we got and it was entertaining. The crowd was a mixed bag of people old enough to have seen Gwar in their hey day, and younger kids in their twenties who might have not had much of a clue about them. The victims continue to change with the time as Vladimir Putin and an AI Chat GPT bot as the victims of  the day. I can say in Blothar's defense, Oderus could not pull an AC/DC cover. I think Gwar could stand to thrown in a few more classics. 

Coal Chamber turned out to be the surprise of the show. I don't recall seeing them back in the day but they could have been playing the side stage on an Ozzfest back in the day and I might not remember. I was really only into the first album .When "Chamber Music" came out , I was into heavier music, I should go back and give it another listen. The two albums that followed came out off my radar and without me caring. I think what was most compelling about Coal Chamber is how they fell back into their roles , like they were picking up where they left off without missing a beat. Energy wise, and how they pulled everything off , they made the best showing of the night. Granted the bar was never set very high for them ,as their stuff is easy to play and not very demanding vocally. At 57 you never felt like his age was making him struggle at what he did. The songs you know... "Loco",  "Big Truck" etc...hit with the kind of impact you would want them to. 

Muudvayne's strengths as a band seemed to play against them at time. It is hard to tell if the crowd could tell. Things felt off when they hit the stage with "Not Falling" . It felt like Gray could have uses another song to warm up with. The smoothly sung verses suffered because of this and the higher passes into falsetto felt choked. This carried over four songs later when they went into "World So Cold" and the struggle still could be felt when they covered the Police's "King of Pain", despite doing their own version of it. The only three songs I was not as familiar with were from "New Game". I like the Shining inspired "Dull Boy" the best of the selections from that album. The addition of the second guitarist worked sonically though I think bassist Ryan Martinie could have been louder in the mix in order for their sound to have the kind of impact it achieves online. Their set did have strong moments in some of the more progressive jams, and Gray's screams were on point, despite his actual singing making his voice feel a little out of shape. I was inspired to give "the New Game" another chance , but doubtful I would spend money to see these guys again.  

Live Review : Goatwhore & EYEHATEGOD @ The Brass Mug

 Seeing Iron Maiden is more than just a metal show, it’s an arena sized spectacle that reels in a broader rock n roll crowd. . Given this, the last actual metal show I had been to was pre-covid, when I saw Morbid Angel and Watain. This was not only the first metal show since the pandemic but the first since moving to Florida. Tampa once had a legendary metal scene that spawned most death metal, but in my two years here I had not found a ton of metal heads. The Goatwhore / Eyehategod show would give me a better glimpse into the scene. The local openers were a mixed bag for various reasons. Dirt Witch had an excellent singer , but sound issues that plagued the band seemed to be the fault of the bass player and guitar who needed to have their tone dialed in. The Kate Bush cover, should have been rethought as well. They were followed by Tunnels of Set,a  blackened thrash band with an affinity for Kreator and fetish for occult poppycock lyrics that drop plenty of legit names and concepts in a fantasy soup of non-sense, though the vocals were articulate enough to make this out and they care about writing songs. 

The main support came from Tampa locals Tickle , who were old enough to know how to dial their tones in. They also played a very deliberate style of hard-core influenced doom crunch. They were tight and professional on stage, with a playful attitude and grind core humor to their songs. I was surprised to find out that for as good as they were at what they did, these guys had not done more in terms of releasing music, or even having a website. Then came Goatwhore who I have seen at least twice before this. While they are also impressive live, their aggression was infectious. The crowd exchanged this energy with the band and Ben formed a genuine connection with the audience, in a manner few front men of extreme metal do. There is rocking at you, then rocking with you. 

Goatwhore’s set let leaned heavily into the new album “Angels Hung From the Arches of Heaven”, but this was fine with everyone since the album kicks ass and goes to show how well those songs seamlessly stand with the rest of their discography as there was never a moment where the energy ebbed due to the fact they were playing new stuff. The “Blood For the Master '' and “Constricting Rage of the Merciless” albums were also pulled from more heavily to flesh out the 12 song set listl, but every album was represented. If you are a fan of this band, they had something for you. Even if you are just a fan of heavy, they displayed their ability to win you over. Given the nature of what EYEHATEGOD does their was a crusty punk element in attendance that made up perhaps forty percent of the crowd and they too were won over by the energy that Goatwhore brought with their cranked up fury . 

EYEHATEGOD casually took the stage. It took a song and a half for them to get warmed up and dialed into the kind of performance you expect from these guys. Even front man Mike Williams joked about this fact saying that they were not as professional as Goatwhore. The swampy New Orleans signature to their sound was firmly in place with the crusty riffs grinding out a Sabbath like lumber that prevailed more than the punk shifts into more up-tempo thrashing . The crowd was there for it and the pit, while not as fierce as what exploded during Goatwhore’s set , kept it moving and people were drinking more and having fun. Mike Williams middle finger attitude exemplifies punk, and even though they are more of a metal band, even to the extent they are commonly thought as the creators of sludge. His don’t give a fuck attitude that finds him joking about what are today thought of sensitive issues like suicide , is what today’s climate in heavy music needs more of. This carried over into the overall energy of their performance to show how they have held such a long lasting place in music, as they bridge genres in more ways than one.

Deicide : "Overtures of Blasphemy"

The band's 12th album, finds guitarist Mark English from Monstrosity on board. His solos have a less chaotic feel and bring a more classic metal feel to the table. Benton has stayed true to what the band does, so much so that I have felt like I didn't need anything past "Once Upon the Cross", but I am giving this a shot as I have heard some stuff in-between that was pretty decent. The first three albums hit you with a steam roller intensity where they are chugging at you like a machine. That might not be the case here, but they are very efficient.There is more melody in the riffs as they are not giving you 39 lashes with them. Any problem I could have here is a problem I would have with death metal as a whole, it can be one dimensional aggression. This causes many of the songs to sound the same when they get more entrenched in speed.

The bass seems to be lower in the mix and Benton is not double tracking his vocals with the higher more demonic one which I think helped define their sound. This caused songs like "Crawled From the Shadows" to sound more like everything that has come after them. When the songs take on more of a thrashing feel, they grab me a little more with the relentlessness of "Seal the Tomb Below". The punchy vocals give it more of a hooky feel. "All That is Evil" doesn't capture this as well, though the syncopated march driving it does keep it from sounding like everything else. There is a Slayer feel to "Excommunicated". End the end the song blurs into the others. There is more intricate guitar work going into "Anointed in Blood" than I can really recall hearing from the band before. While its chug will give fans of death metal , what they want, someone like me who goes into with the mind set all metal is equal and want to hear song writing, gets a little boring.

The punch of  "Crucified Soul Salvation"  recalls more of their earlier days than anything thus far. The vocals have more purpose and are not just grunts as an after thought , but a working part of the song.  "Defying the Sacred" highlights the new more melodic side of the band, that would appeal more to fans of post At The Gates death metal. Then they revert back to a more meat and potatoes style of death metal. There is a angrier attack to "Flesh , Power , Dominion", that I think is done more effectively with the more accented "Destined to Blasphemy" If there was ever a debate over who is the best death metal band Deicide or Morbid Angel? This album doesn't touch Morbid Angel's last one in terms of blending musicality with brutality. I'll give this an 8 as it gets the job done, but doesn't touch the first three albums.

Obituary : " S/T "

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Tampa legends are still a finely tuned machine at what they do the first song is just much more uptempo than what I remember them doing and has less of the Celtic Frost stomp to it. John Tardy's voice still has isn't signature torment belch to it. The second song is cut from the same mold as the first so I am hoping they switch things up by the time we get to "Lesson In Vengeance" .  The guitar solos play it much safer than what I remember hearing from these guys in the late 80's . There is more of the Celtic Frost gallop when "Lesson in Vengeance" kicks in. Bass player Terry Butler from Six Feet Under  and former Andrew WK guitarist Kenny Andrews man their battle stations with vigor.

There is a more guttural hint to Tardy's voice on "End it Now" which has a much more solid groove. I don't hear the same amount of personality invested in "Kneel Before Me" , which sounds a little like they jacked some Morbid Angel. There is another repeating moment that we felt earlier in the album where it seems "It Lives " just picks up where "Kneel Before Me" left off. "Betrayed" finds the pace picking up and it is still clear that these guys are great at what they do, it just sounds like that is being coupled with a need to fit into death metal as a whole. The more deliberate groove reminds me of the band's more classic work. Tardy's phrasing is unique to what he does and is something aspiring death metal bands should take note of. The high impact guitar solo seems like it is a little out of place , but as a whole the song works more than it doesn't.


There is a slight hardcore hint to "Straight to Hell" . I really like when the song slows midway in. I am totally ok with the idea of laying down my peaceful vision on "Ten Thousand ways to Die" as it's groove is hard to not head bang at your desk to. While this album is a solid slab of death metal that holds up against younger bands I would like to have heard this done in a manner that as more in commong with the sound of  "Slowly We Rot". I'll give it an 8. .

Drug : "Infinite Stimulant"

Here is another album that came recommended by Dead Air at the Pulpit, whom I have gotten some pretty good stuff from, but it gets hit or miss when we get into albums that are not heavy. They throw the word post-punk around and get my hopes up more often than not as these post-punk bands typically are just punk bands who happen to be using effects on their guitars. Here is a case in point. This band from Tampa  opens  their new album with a pretty much straight up punk rock song and it isn't until "No Odyssey" that we begin to hear some darker colored garage rock that you can try to connect the dots to post-punk if you are desperate enough to. It's similar brand of reckless punk with a side of sludged out bass on "Burned Out Transport". There is a more surreal take on punk that finds the band coming closer to living up to their name on "Space Scape" which actually has a guitar solo and song room to breathe in the arrangements.

I know it is a part of punk, but the vocals on this album bug me. They are at their very best on "Hive-Mind" and sound like some of the more muttered moments from the first Gwar album. It' fine with me if a singer uses their voice like an instrument. I don't need to be able to make out the lyrics, but I need more than the free form chaos this guy engages in.  I'll give this album a 6, there are a few moments, but it generally doesn't do much for me. If want some punk rock that is a little more warped than your typical 1...2....3..go fare and have a thing for garage rock then you might be able to get a little more out of this than I did. Not bad...just not my thing.

Hate Eternal : "Infernus"

Its the time of year when I dig back into some of the years earlier releases. My guidepost being the first wave of best of lists that are coming out the first being Decibel's. I know Erik from his time in Morbid Angel, the band has been around for almost seventeen years, so I am sure I have seen them open for some one at some point in time, but this is my first time really sitting down to give them a proper listen. These guys are not holding back and prove they are just as any of the post- Myspace death metal bands. The inclusion of young drummer Chason Westmoreland, certainly doesn't hurt. Erik Rutan has a mean gurgle that fits here better than Morbid Angel, though he is no doubt a better bass player than Vincent. Darker and dissonant its old Tampa death metal injected with new life. The verse riff also waltzes around under the solo before they return with a more feral attack. Big production , finds all the sounds crisply amplified, leaving nothing buried in the chaos.

"Pathogenic Apathy" is the first song that finds the aggression of death metal becoming slightly monochrome in its sonic dimensions. The beat is a little too straight forward for me and typifying  what I did not care for during his tenure in Morbid Angel. The song is a little rushed for the sake of speed. Some of the layered growls work well, but every thing is being thrown at you with little regard for what makes a song a song. The double bass is as punishing in execution as it needs to be, but not sure that saves the song. Putting their best blast forward they lunge into "La Tempestad". The vocals are spat out like bullets, but start to become rather uniform as they refuse to relent for melody. Even the riffs are are starting to become a blur. If you just want a storm of fast death metal then these guys are deftly dealing  that out , however here no matter what form of extreme metal you are playing we still want songs not just bull-dozering us.

Thankfully for the title track they slow things down into more of a groove and become much heavier in so doing. There are more Morbid Angel like effects dripped upon his more articulated growl."the  Chosen One" is shorter and more straight forward, sure it has a pretty blistering solo , but otherwise doesn't do much more me with the blinding blur it largely relies upon. "Zealot , Crusader of War" starts slightly slower, but doesn't wait to speed back up into a full speed blitz ahead. It does eventually finds a rather Morbid Angel like groove, but I would rather here where they are going than where they have been. "Order of Arcane Scripture" rumbled by me with little effort to regain my attention its not until the groove of "Chaos Theory " that they pull me back in.This might be the album most thoughtfully written song and on top of that its an instrumental , making me wonder what they have been relying on the vocal for in their writing. Not saying I think they should forgo vocals , but they should always make the songs sing and the growls the icing on the cake .

Some interesting sounds are summoned at the onset of "O' Majestic Being, Hear My Call" before they are blasted out of the way for another full frontal assault that does little to distinguish itself from the other such rampages.The guitar solo is the first place where any kind of melody emerges on this one, before the punches come in to take the album out with some double bass. I am a little split because this one , because the execution is dead on and air tight as a coffin, but the songs begin to sound the same at certain points and that is what really makes for a great album for me is it's dynamic range. So I'll round it down to a 7.5 for that reason.