Shitty Person : "Judgement"

Call a band heroin rock and I'll be more likely to check them out than if you are to say 'Weird doom tinged indie rock" . They meet somewhere between doom and slow core, when the sax comes in you imagine Morphine coming back from the dead. There is a western swagger to "Take Your Clothes Off". The narcotic drone of the pacing is the only thing heroin to what they do. The male and female vocals are layer, both sound equally detached. There is more attitude in the first song, as this one is more instrumental than not. "Champagne and Cakes" has a depressed country feel. The vocals remain in the low end of his slacker baritone and lack the twang of country, but the mood is there. These would be better drinking songs than anthems for a shooting gallery. "Nobody Likes You" is very similar in how it drags your through the waters, though it feels less country and more like Jesus and the Mary Chain. There is a guitar passage that falls in a more shoe gaze direction.

Then they are shuffling through more dark western slow core on "Your God is Ending You". It drones against the bleak monotone of the vocals. The pace picks up into a song that actually rocks in it's own way, which was needed from these guys , as I like what they do, but the drone of it was beginning to make them dynamically one dimensional. This is far from punk, but has a rambling grunge swagger to it. It has a little more explosive chorus. Well it explodes for what they do. Explosion is relative considering some of the bands I review around here. They slow back down while retaining some of the rock edge of "Behemoth". It's like doom metal run through the filter of indie rock from the 90s. They did say they were influenced by old Monster Magnet albums, which is weird , but I can hear it more on this song than others.

Overall this album was a lot of fun, it has a doom mood that is married to the smart ass sense of humor that 90s bands like King Missile once carried. King Missile is the band that was stuck in my memory banks whose name I could not remember during the duration of my first listen to this album. I was like "I know these guys remind me a little of someone but who is it". Then as I began writing the paragraph it hit. These guys are not a King Missile tribute band, in fact they have a life of their own. I enjoyed it and will give this one a 9 and let it grow on me. It makes sense that this album is being released on one of my favorite labels Svart Records.

the Top 10 Death Metal Albums of 2016

There seemed to be more death metal coming out than anything though black metal was hot on it's heels. I need my death metal to be dark and hateful, this was a dark and hateful year so here are some of the albums that provided the best sound track to that. If you want to hear some of these guys then look to the review links posted along this countdown of 2016's top death metal albums. 10- Death Cult- "Beasts of Faith" The debut from the Swiss band, comes with a strong sense of influence from early death metal in the raw pummeling they dish out. The vocals are manically croaked rather than just growled. This places a sometimes emotionally charged aspect to them. It's dark and for death metal of this kind a reasonable sense of songwriting and dynamics. http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/08/deathcult-beasts-of-faith_16.html 9-Wayfarer -"Old Souls" his band from Colorado creates some dark brooding metal makes you forget they are from the States. Primarily they strike me as being a blackened death metal band with the vocals leaning them more in the death metal direction. When the pace picks up a little toward the end the shadowy feeling reinforces the looming black metal influence, but over all there is just a great mood and atmosphere coating this death metal which gives your ears the impression of black metal. http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/10/wayfarer-old-souls.html

8-Krypts-"Remnants of Expansion" en at it's most cheese filled Finnish metal has a knack for darkness. There is not any cheese to be found on  the new one from this band from Finland. They dig up  all of the elements I need from death metal and puts them together in one nasty package. I like the painful ache of their throb that almost borders on doom. When they speed up into the faster double bass sections it makes more sense as we have been shown the contrast of what this sounds like when it is not coming at us with this speed to we can full appreciate the shift. http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/10/krypts-remnants-of-expansion.html

7-Master- "An Epiphany of Hate" In need of some old school classic 90's sounding death metal, I jumped at the chance to give this album a shot , even though back in their hey day, I never really listened to these guys. The first thought that hit me is they sound like a faster version of Obituary. This is in part due to the gnarly but decipherable growl of bassist and sole founding member Paul Speckmann. Speckmann comes from a time when no matter how heavy you are trying to be at the end of the day it becomes all about songs . This is the case even when his growl takes on a more garbled sound that is an dynamic effect in and of itself. http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/01/master-epiphany-of-hate.html

6-Be'Lakor- "Vessels" Right from the onset of the Australian death metal band's fourth album it is clear something is different here. All too often the term melodic death metal means something is going to go very wrong and we are going to be more concerned with clean singing and shredding than kicking your ass. I would not say this band is really concerned with kicking ass. They have the synths and the clean guitar tones. Which in and of themselves if placed in the right hands can be valuable tools to create metal with. The vocals are a low growl that has been dipped in effects, which is fine by me it gives it a little bit of a Morbid Angel edge. http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/07/belakor-vessels.html

5-Asphyx- "Incoming Death" This Dutch death metal band released their first full length in 1991 and have been storming the gates with their very manic take on the genre ever since. Their lead growler did some time in Pestilence, which gives them an edge over being just another death metal band from the 90s. There is more of dry snarling rasp to his weathered voice.  He is also the sole long standing member of the band. These guys are upholding a legacy of a band that hailed from  an era where writing songs came before just being heavy. This album shows great maturation as a band due to it's restraint. When it comes to death metal this might not not always be dark enough for me, but for straight up no frills death metal from the 90s then this is your jam. http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/09/asphyx-incoming-death.html

4-Ketzer- "Starless" This German band's third full length is well thought out from every angle. Well produced with out being gaudy. The vocals are the most black metal element to the  album, which is otherwise melodic death metal at it's heart. It is really on a song by song basis as to what shade of darkness these guys are bringing. The first song is oddly upbeat from the onset and they waste no time to defy what is expected from any genre. This is followed by "When Milk Runs Dry' that finds the band coming closer to a more Blackened Death Metal sound , but their is something about these riffs  carry a majestic air that death metal doesn't encompass. On "Godface" The punk influence on thrash can also be felt here, making this almost feel more like black n roll. http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/02/black-metal-history-month-ketzer.html

3-Withered- "Grief Relic"

 Speaking of black metal, these guys used to think of themselves as black metal and got on black metal torus , but they are really death metal.They embrace this on their first album for Seasons of Mist.their return after a six year hiatus roars up from the depths with a cavernous blasting. Very dense and heavy, the intensity it hits you with from the onset begs a question we ask most bands that are this heavy after the opening song plows us over ...O.k what else can you do? Write Songs? Yes they can and do with a sense of darkness and sonic heft to them.

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1-Lesbian- "Hallucinogenesis"

 Former members of the Accused formed this band back in 2007. Perhaps back then they might have been doom, but now they are proggy death metal. The vocals are varied and a good blend of sung vocals and growls. The opener has almost a black metal like throb to it. I like the fact that these guys are really dark. In some ways it makes me think of what might have happened if Acid Bath collided with Cynic. There are space like keyboard sounds zooming out of the corners of the song not inhabited by guitar solos.s I really like the weird myriad of genres that combine in the most twisted way possible. Sure it's proggy , but never awkward and puts being mean and heavy before showing off their chops. chops.http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/08/lesbian-hallucinogenesis.html

Lesbian : "Hallucinogenesis"

Former members of the Accused formed this band back in 2007. Perhaps back then they might have been doom, but now they are proggy death metal. The vocals are varied and a good blend of sung vocals and growls. The opener has almost a black metal like throb to it. I like the fact that these guys are really dark. In some ways it makes me think of what might have happened if Acid Bath collided with Cynic. There are space like keyboard sounds zooming out of the corners of the song not inhabited by guitar solos.

Then comes the over fourteen minute" La Brea Borealis" that opens with a commanding vocal. In some ways this reminds me of when Mastodon was transitioning into a more progressive direction , just without any of the Thin Lizzy influence. It is more sludge than any other sub-genre as it stays at a steady throb. Six minutes in the more chanted vocal line helps establish a pretty cool groove. It eventually picks up into an almost industrial hammering.

"Kosmoceratops" has more of a thrashing charge to it with vomit filled vocals howling behind the snare. It's a sprawling battlefield of sludge encrusted thrash that comes at you like a drunken mammoth on trucker speed. The throaty bellows come closer to singing in some places than in others. Not sure why anyone would use the doom word around this band, or even stoner considering the type of pummelling they throw themselves into on a song like "Aquailibrium". The vocals have a nasty hint of black metal to them.They do slow down and cast more of a shadow on things two minutes into the last song. I like how varied the vocals on this album are, though not really crazy about the whole every minutes reaching ten minutes thing. Some old Slayer like falsettos crop up to further solidify the whole thrash theory, even though this is set against some more melodic and introspect movements that further enhance the dynamic range. Even with the long and winding songs, I'll give this album a 9 and see how it sits with me as I really like the weird myriad of genres that combine in the most twisted way possible. Sure it's proggy , but never awkward and puts being mean and heavy before showing off their chops.