Dead Cross : "s/t"

Mike Patton and Dave Lombardo have teamed up with members of the Locust and Retox for what is darker than I hoped, though still coated in a great deal of noise. It's eerie and angular in the same way Sleepy Time Gorilla Museum was. The songs are typically compressed into under four minutes.You can hear the grind core influence of the Locust on " Divine Filth", despite Mike Patton's vocals still bringing a little more melody even on the more punk inspired sections. Though the chaos ins out more on "Grave Slave". The production finds the distortion jagged , mixed with a claustrophobic tension. You might wonder what the difference between this and Tomahawk is. Well that is easy. This is darker and heavier than Tomahawk. There are some moments that are more blatantly metal than others. "Gag Reflex" is more metal than not.  

"Idiopathic"  rides the line between chaos and a song that makes sense. They launch in more of a thrashing speed for "Obedience School" . I expect a little more from Lombardo when it comes to playing at this intensity, and it sounds like it could be anyone behind the kit. The sound of dial up internet starts off "Seizure and Desist". Patton trades off screams, squeals and singing. "Shilelagh" finds him doing more angry punk ranting.  This almost sounds like a more feral version of "King For A Days" harder rocking moments. This metallic punk temper tantrum continues on " the Future Has Been Cancelled".  As far as songwriting goes while Patton has an abundance of energy, I don't think the melodies that do show up are really his most thoughtful or strongest work.

The reckless spastic moments that have the most in common with grind core are not the album's strongest points and keep it from being a solid piece of work so on sheer merits of the darker tone and covering Bauhaus I will round this up to an 8, but considering the level of talent present here I think expecting more is ok.

Mizmor : "Yodh"

 This one man black metal project out of Oregon is dark and dense, but that is the minimum requirement for the genre. So we are going to see if this project is worth the hype beginning to simmer around it. Not always relying on blast beats the openers drops down into weighty doom laced sections. At thirteen minutes are is album going to be capable of creating songs or sprawling sections of heavily drone distorted mush? Six minutes in and I am beginning to have second thoughts as it seem this album might be trying to find life in just heaviness alone.The vocals varying from lowered death metal growls to a mid ranged rasp of torment. It's fine that this is black metal, but sonically the first song has only colored this song with similar shades. Another color is added on "Semblance Waning" with an acoustic intro. This song is eleven and a half minutes long so it can afford to kill time in the way. The guitar tone shifts as feed back hovers over it threatening to take us back to the murk.I like this song better as it meets at the hellish cross roads where you find your self asking where does doom begin and depressive black metal end? The arrangements still need some help as half way into the song it's let hand on atmosphere when it feels like this is where a more defined structure would benefit it.The answer is blast beats. This always the answer when taking the easy way out.

With the albums longest song " the Serpent Eats it's Tail" a more melodic intro is allowed for and the more doom leanings are indulged. Almost Four minutes in and we are still just getting started as the slow build lingers. I zone out on in, but nothing happened that would have jarred me from that state. By the time we get to the next song "Inertia, An Ill Compeller" I being to wonder if the beginning of the album was geared to lure you into this album thinking this a black metal album when it's a doom album, so the title blackened doom could be earned here. Two combine my two favorite sub-genres of metal you would think I would be more moved by this album since I am the target audience. Both "Inertia, An Ill Compeller" and the final song use similar clean guitar tones with it's time to stop and take a moment to think.

Ten minutes seem to be a better threshold for this project when it comes to song length as anything more it seems to be an over indulgence that doesn't benefit the song. It all ends in spastic chaos.While this album sounds good from an production stand point and it's impressive one guys pulled all of this off at the end of the day music is about songs, so I'll round this down to a 7.5. Coming from the hipster haven of Oregon, it might not be Portland, geographically it's almost like Brooklyn when sorting through the hype these days. Not the first album of the year to be hyped and not the last.
 

AKHLYS : "The Dreaming"

We come to this album which was released back in April to catch up on all the things we might have missed, this one has thus far appeared on a few end-of-the-year lists so it merited giving it a listen. Naas Alcameth who brought you Nightbringer blasts into this project after an extended intro of a minimalist atmosphere. The first phrase screamed as he dreamed. The darkness is very tangible on this album, but if not for the perfect timing of me clicking back onto their Bandcamp page then it would have just sounded like they sped up and grew more intense as the second song bleeds out of the first. The challenge with harsh growls is making sure the vocal patterns do not all sound the same. They use dissonant chords in a very similar way as well creating a monochrome blackness, that while is convincingly evil sounding also begins to all sound the same. It is impressive that something this fiendish sounding came out of America, whose black metal tends to be more punk-influenced. 

 The first of the two songs on this album that are over ten minutes and the album's longest it's apparent where the fat could have been trimmed in the mixing of 'Consummation" as its two minutes into before the tidal wave of double bass rolls in and the last two minutes of church music that sounds like it could have been lifted from a horror movie, that would have brought this down to twelve minutes. In this song, they create a sound that distinguishes this one from the previous blast fests. The rather angular guitar melody that echoes out in the verse adds to the hellish ambiance and the drummer really pays attention to detail and deviates from the kind of beats you would expect from black metal. Ten minutes in and the double bass is still going I am not sure if it justifies a ten-minute length much less six more minutes."The Dreaming Eye" finds this project descending back into blast beats and retreading ground we have already stomped across.

 Overall the idea of this album and the sounds we are giving to build this idea of what it could be if the songwriting was given more room to explore the bounds outside of the color by numbers black metal is better than what is the final result. It has plenty of moments, it is certainly dark enough and angry enough to please less discriminating fans of black metal, but if we are talking about the best metal or even black metal albums of the year this one is not in the same league. I'll give it a 6.5.

 

Azavatar: s/T

Not sure why I decided to give Azavatar's album a spin aside from the fact that when there is nothing else new to listen to begin digging back into my in-box.  This German band boasts vocals that are grim and scraping closer to a croak than not. They are eager to blast beat you when given the chance. I am glad these guys do not sound anything like Deathspell Omega there are too many black metal bands coming out that are influenced by those guys. The drums do get a little overzealous toward the end of the song as the riffs grow more restless, but it's not a total prog out. This album is brought to you by the letter K as "Kurse" comes after "Kvlt", suppose I will have to throw this up on Cvlt Nation for that reason.

I was surprised the lyric "as you kissed me goodbye" came out of this band. They do hit a nice sonic field that floats you away on "Kurse". Midway through the song there is a cool change in guitar tone as it is cleaner and re-verbed out. "Kaos" and yes every song begins with K, starts off at creep to catch you off guard for the blast beats to come. The lyrics to "Kaos" focus on worshipping the stars and the sun.  The fourteen minute "Krest" follows. It opens with a doomy throb, but from what we've hear up until this point I am expecting the speed to kick in at any minute, it's a test to see how long they can restrain themselves from defaulting into it. By the three minute mark the build has them about to burst if they don't go into a blast beat, the drummer fighting the temptation with an undercurrent of double bass.  They give in at the right minute like you knew they were going to.  They redeem themselves with the disjointed darkness the delve into in the song's final three minutes.

They start "Krypt" with the blasting making no attempt to do anything other than blast you with it. They only keep it up for a minute and a half. It's an eleven and a half minute song so you knew they would relent into something more melodic since that is the formula they seem to work upon. They go for something dreadfully creepy after the blasting and keep digging into deeper and darker places which is fitting for a crypt with a k, there is something about a putrid womb, as he tells his mother the crypt was her all along. So who doesn't enjoy some self deprecating black metal.  I'll round this one up to a 9 as these guys really delivered and surprised me with this one. I look forward to catching what they do in the future.Art of Propaganda will be releasing this album June 29th.

Infestum: Monuments of Exhalted

I think an industrial band who gets heavier  might work better than a black metal band who adds the synth effects as an after thought and to be honest I haven't listened to this album enough to for a hypothesis in this regard. These guys have been on my shuffle radar for a  week or two and have popped up in the rotation three or fours times. I do know that to say these guys are black metal, refers to a Dimmu or Behemoth version of black metal so Industrial Blackened Symphonic metal perhaps.The strength of this becomes the fact they try to write real songs rather than throw a bunch of blasting riffs in your face.

This is the third full length this band has released since their inception 14 years ago. I can't imagine they have much competition in Belarus, but this also could mean when their line up has changed finding suitable replacements has taken longer as well. Their influences seem to be more metal than industrial. The Venom cover reaffirms this. In fact the more I looked into this band it seems the evolution of there sound started with them as more of a pagan metal band that blackened up and not have taken the industrial turn.

The one thing leaning them more closely to the black metal ledger is the cold dissonance they let the chords ring out with.This is especially effective in "Temple of Mirrors". The riff is staggered and the sprawling rasp of these really well produced vocals drips of of the guitars. The industrial elements just got the icing on the cake here. There is a slight Skinny Puppy wink to some of the more sung vocals on the song "Ordo Infestum".

I can hear some of the more pagan elements on "Iron Hammer Upon the Skull of  Slave". It rips into the more thrashing Behemoth vibe soon after."Zero Beyond" blasts by slightly like a Pysclon Nine song in it's best moments. The keyboards in the back ground add to the overall sound , but the barrage is pretty much a blur. The groove to "Obsidian Exile" is much more memorable. It churns in a manner like some of Immortals more melodic moments before taking off into a rapid flurry.

In the album third act more galloping blasts come out you . They are sometimes book-ended by catchy sections of punching riffs like those in "Renaissance". At others they are asked to hold the songs together by sheer virtue of their speed and viciousness.The title track is a strong number for this album to end on. it makes better use of the synths than they have been implemented through out the bulk of the album. the lower chanted vocal line is pretty creepy and add a different sense of dynamics and feeling to the song.

I like where these guys have gone with this over all. The album is not perfect as the need for speed many bands of this ilk fall into makes thing muddy in the songwriting department. I like where these guys are going with this and there are enough great songs to round this up to an 8.

Die Antwoord ;" Donker Mag"

The anticipated follow to their last album "Ten$ion" that  kicked doors open for them. They have more to prove here . They need to show that they are not just a novelty, but are able to make lighting strike a third time. I am not looking for them to become serious artists, but to at least make something as fun as what they brought to the party last time.

"Ugly Boy" is more electronic than it is rap, with Yolandi singing in a mock Asian manner.The synth line leading into " Happy Go Sucky Fucky" hearkens back to Lords of Acid's "Lust" album and many of the albums sounds return to the early Rave til Dawn days.  The second verse finds more originality in Yolandi's approach.

The interlude skits almost out number the songs."Raging Zef Boner" is a silly as something from the first Marshall Mather album. The reggae inflection of this one does give it more of its own identity as long as this is is the only flirtation with this style. They do switch it up and go with more of a dance hall feel on "Girl I Want 2 Eat U". Ninja's raps work better on "Raging Zef Boner" , but this one isn't a fast forward classic.

As far as the singles we have already heard I prefer "Cookie Thumper" over "Pit Bull Terrier"  and hearing the album versions of those songs doesn't change my opinion.Things get weird when they shift into the slow jam of "Strunk". This is not really a direction I would encourage them to go into, but the novelty on it works for this album. Setting a song like that before the darker " Rat Trap 666" works really well in the albums flow. This one reminds me more of something Tricky might have done at one time.

"I Don't Dwank" has one of the albums best beats. Yolandi's rhymes do it more justice as Ninja seems to be dialing most of his verses in this time around. Things drop down into a more bubbling chill beat , that Ninja redeems himself from his other lack luster flow he showcased earlier in the album, but by this point I am well aware this is not going to rock the house as hard as the more focused "Ten$ion".The interlude "Moon Love" had some interesting sounds that could have been turned into a cool song , so it leaves the title track to decide this albums fate.

It starts off with Ninja once again trying to sing. By first minute and a half you are waiting for the beat to come in rescue this song.It is the sort of thing some one like Zola Jesus could have soared over , as the dark synth accompaniment is well crafted it just doesn't work for Ninja's voice or lack of one.

I'll give this one a 7.5, as it has its moments and even a few really cool songs, but I think despite the improvement in the backing tracks they are doing their thing over, these guys are capable of doing better as they have already shown us.