Death is June- Umbra Vitae : " Light of Death"

 Despite being less of a love letter to the classic death metal these guys grew up on, the sophomore release from this supergroup is every bit as angry as their first album. Riffwise there are more hints of Jacob Bannon's main band Converge. His screams are less guttural than what we heard from him with "Shadow of Life".  On the second song, the stomping riffs are catchy, but it feels more like metallic hard-core or a less spastic take on grind-core. "Clear Cutter" is the first death metal-tinged song. The lower accents of the vocals and thundering drums aid in steering it in this direction. It is admirable that they are playing music that is extremely unhinged and aggressive but it's still hooky. 

Jacob's more punk bark appears on "Anti-Spirit Machine". I am sure the lyrics are interesting, but it might take a few listens before I can discern anything aside from the gang chant of the song's title. The best riff that gives this song its backbone has a more thrashing chug to it. " Reality in Retrograde" is more of a grind-core temper tantrum as they hurtle at you in blasting speed. "Past Tense" is death metal tempered with combat boots of a hard-core band. "Velvet Black" makes no attempt to conform to any genre, and is the best song so far thanks to Bannon, singing on the verses. An absolute slapperoni. 

"Twenty Twenty Vision" rages full speed ahead. This is metal and hard-core in equal balance and what people should mean when they use to the term "metal-core". There is plenty of Slayer influence taking the wheel on this one. "Algorithm of Fear" has a slight wink in a Morbid Angel direction at times. An interesting factor to the sound of the album is the very raw and organic guitar sound that has more in common with Converge than any death metal band not named Entombed. "Empty Vessel' is another fine example of how melody can be used no matter how extreme you are dishing out your heaviness. 

"Cause and Effect" is a chaotic collision of sounds. I need to have a few listens before I wrap my head around the full picture here. The lyrical tone of the album seems to be a bleak condemnation of society which I am glad to hear. "Deep End" is very violent in every respect. "Nature vs Nurture" has more of a death metal chug to it. It reminds me of the coolest parts of the Converge song 'My Great Devastator"  expanded upon in another song. "Fatal Flaw" has more of a groove to it, aligning it more closely with death metal, despite Bannon's scowling and screaming. The title track closes the album with more of a Morbid Angel grind to the main riff driving what seems to be the verses. I will round this up to a 10 as the songs that did not click as solidly the first time will 

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Job For a Cowboy : "Moon Healer"

 Truth be told I never gave these guys much of a chance, though was never really impressed by what I heard from them in passing. This marks the first time they have been reviewed here. There are more melodic elements slithering under the burly exterior of their brand of death metal. Like most bands of this sort when they indulge the need for speed things feel rushed and lose the groove. To their credit for all the technical wonderment and guitar solos burst from the seams of these songs, they stick to cramming them into around four to five minutes rather than long sprawling progressive indulgences. The second song does not do this in a manner that kept my attention like the opening track.

This album is well produced, I appreciate the effect on the vocals. Everything is multitracked to create a massive sound that hits you. They are certainly students of Death's more progressive later years. They indulge younger fans in something closer to metal-core with "The Sun Gave Me Ashes So I Sought Out the Moon". This at least has more groove when they are not racing along rubbery riffs. "Into the Crystalline Crypts" is not as compelling. It weaves and winds with great execution, but does not connect with me in the same way a band like Cattle Decapitation does. Perhaps everything is dialed in so perfectly that it feels sterile.  "A Sorrow Filled Moon" does not bob and weave in the same way taking a more deliberate approach that gives things more room to breathe. 

They pound into "the Agony Seeping Storm" with plenty of authority, which is true to what they do as a band. Does it cover ground that really sets them apart from other bands? Not really.  Perhaps the reason this sort of thing does not click with me is that it doesn't feel heavy to my ears because it is too busy. Morbid Angel is more crushing even on their lackluster material. Carcass is a better balance of the two. This is however well executed and created in a pristine manner I will give this an 8.This drops on Metal Blade Febuary 23rd.  

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1349 & Tombs @ the Basement

Here’s my first concert of the year. It came on the day I found out David Bowie died so it served as a catharsis to vent out some of the depression hanging in my chest. Normally I would have had a harder time getting motivated to get out of the house at 9:30 at night but I had been wanting to see both bands for some time. And since my family over at Cvlt Nation was sponsoring the “Chaos Raids” tour, I felt even more obligated to make it out.

My wife had to work late so we got to the Basement right when Tombs was doing their sound check. We missed local openers the Vimur and Full of Hell. The latter I have previously seen with Mutilation Rites. Bassist Ben Brand from Woe was still in the band and had a pretty mean tone. The big surprise in the unexpected line up changes is the addition of Fade Kainer from Batilus/ Statiqbloom he often splits the vocals duties with Hill and has his own personality when it comes to his stage presence which honors the more black metal elements of the band, but also brings forward the more industrial influence that has been simmering under their surface. These cast a larger shadow in the live sound and the more post-punk moments were toned down, obviously touring with a band like 1349 they have had to bring it in the most furious fashion possible. Addition to the band and adds a lot to their sound. His synth work added punch to the low end as he accented certain hits.

First off before we get into their set, which cares what you think of black metal's more theatrical elements, these guys are the real deal and played with dead serious conviction. The stage was set for the ritualistic pageantry of black metal. The drummer first came out in a hoodie and full corpse paint on to adjust his drums before returning to the stage covered in sigils scrawled over his bare torso. Frost was no able to make it over so they employed Jon Rice of Job For A Cowboy, and I can’t imagine Frost being better than this guy who didn’t even break a sweat, but for a little guy hammering everything out with power and machine like precision . Singer Ravn brandished Gwar like gauntlets on his forearms and had a stage presence that was commanding and engaging. The mix shifted and the vocals were much more audible from the house p/a, so the closer you stood to the stage the more his croaks and screams faded behind the buzz saw guitar.

The band’s energy and intensity keep the momentum of their set flying by you no matter if they were playing blast beats or not. They won the Atlanta audience over due to the fact they have a punk rawness to them live. With Archaon handling all the guitar duties by himself, some of the layers that are on the album were given a more stripped down and straightforward treatment. From behind his cowl their bassist kept the rumble going for the occasional run up the neck Archaon took, but these happened so quick the wall of razor sharp sound kept it’s lacerating attack. While the material from “Cauldron of Chaos” dominated the set they came out and for their first three songs crammed “I am Abomination” , “Nathicana” and “Sculptor of flesh” in your face . If you have not caught these guys yet and call yourself a fan of black metal you are doing yourself a disservice. In fact both bands are a must as they approach their respective sounds with all the passion of their black hearts.