The Oxford Coma: "Morphine ep"

In the beginning  was noise, samples and feedback. On the sixth day they got to the  meat of the matter. Angular and husky guitar playing uncoils the frayed edges of riffs. They stab out at your ears  like the Amp Rep bands from the late 90's. The grooves tightly wound around the over wrought vocals. Singer Billy Tegerhoff flirts with wild man howling though not really harshly growled. Hailing from Phoenix the band's density of the flailing chaos is well calculated.  From the taunt bass thump of "Tradition" that recreates more of a latter era Kyuss feel. Plenty of post-grunge angst coats the melodies. "Tradition" also holds a slight Clutch like bounce offsets the more sludgey leanings.

The Killing Joke like chant to the verses of "Grindstone" drift the song in a more post- rock direction. There are echoes of the Catherine Wheel, in drone of the riffs  stoney haze. It finds its self more unwittingly post-punk, really the vocals are what gives it a more accessible mid ground almost drawing it back with the more Mike Patton like moments to the border of falling into a Primus meets System of  A Down sort of thing. The roughened up production saves the day here to hone it's edge.

Slightly to the right of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum when it comes to the cerebral leanings of their proggy spasms. The singer's choices of melodies border something Filter might have done early on.
"Black Balloons" starts of with an almost ballad like quality. The sound effects zooming around faintly behind the mix, keeps you from pulling out your lighters like this was  Stone Temple Pilots song. It straddle the line between being grunge and something more Sunny Day Real Estate here.

Tegerhoff has said they are not really a metal band, but a throw back to Nirvana's Bleach Days and Eyehategod's  Dopesick album, along with Steve Albini and Neurosis. It's good to know I am not crazy for hearing some sort of grunge thing going on. Vocally  Black Balloons  carries a Cobain quality . Otherwise the sound of this album is centered on the live feel . It's the noisey gift wrap this thing is tied up in as musically, they share little common ground with Neurosis aside from being more about heavy sonics than heavy metal. Eyehategod , one can assume the same thing as the New Orleans band was more jarring and almost punk in it's explosive sound, the punk element to these guys is minimal at best, due to the fact they wind things up in more of a Jesus Lizard or Tool like manner.

Overall these guys have a pretty raging machine going. The rawness keeps it in check from becoming too Arena rock grunge ala' Filter and they stay the course. Hope to hear more from these guys in the future . If you miss the big throbbing over drive of underground 90's metal then you would be a fool not to check these guys out, you'll be surfing the crowd in your Doc Martens all over again.  

Aevangelist: "Writhes in the Murk"

It's amazing that two dudes are responsible for this slab of nocturnal emission. It's a radical departure from "Omen Ex Simulacra". The album starts with a burst of spastic darkness that slowly begins to take form. True to it's title the guitar riffs writhe together. This is as dark and murky as any of the occult death metal that began cropping up a few years ago after bands began re-discovering Incantation. At first It seem like this chaos is just the intro and you are waiting for every thing to congeal together, but it stays loose and noisey like a jazz album. Abstract death metal coming together for one mammoth chug at the end of the song, but with so many bizarre over-dubbed tracks swirling around it.

"The Only Grave" spills out of the opener like the guts of a slaughtered pig. There are blasty section cut into this slab of dinosaur meat, that is almost to tough for your ears to chew. Not unlike that Hexis album this is so heavy it takes several sittings to fully digest. The vocal are inhumanly guttural, just a sewer drain of a gurgle bubbling into a microphone. In a similar fashion the next song spills out of it. This album comes across as feeling more black metal to me due to the dissonance and the ambiance, despite the gore ridden take on the spewed vocals.

With a casual listen this might sound like a tangled mess, but these guys have not forsaken their chops. The drumming might be even more technical than their previous work. The riffs when they do come together are crushing. There are sections that you almost don't want to listen to in your house alone at night, they are so creepy. Clean vocals moan out from under the gurgling. "Aelixir" has a coat of white noise over it, before morphing into a John Zorn like jazz exploration churning in hell.

"Harken to the Flesh" plods from a cess pool of lurching doom. The growls are more haphazard it reminds me of a section from "My Ass is on Fire" off the first Mr. Bungle album. The more black metal element slither in as the song spirals down into a denser climate not unlike Deathspell Omega. This lead to the most traditionally metal song "Halo of Lamented Glory" which at first seems trite compared to some of the sonic filth this album has already unleashed upon your ears. It is the most death metal song of the album.


The title track actually includes some clean guitar that rings out into the dissonance and at other time offsets a heavy groove that takes place in the distance behind it. The sample of a girls voice speaking fades in out of the din. This almost takes the place of the vocal which gurgle here and there out of the shadows.

They have transcended death metal here and fans of Industrial and harsher noise, should try this on for size. It's extremely an dense listen which catches you off guard. I'll give it a 9.5, though I might grow to appreciate more with each listen.

Marla Mase:"Half Life"

Holding up to the True Groove Label's crusade to bring new music to 2014 on a monthly basis, Marla Mase is followis up her "Speak Deluxe" album with "Half Life". Since this is an ep, Mase doesn't waste time. She opens up with a driven punk number that caries the ambiance of Kim Gordon fronted Sonic Youth. The song brings to mind some of the more accessible moments from "Goo", laced with a PCP like hit of the Stooges.

Like her previous album their is no shortage of dynamics in the color spectrum of musical diversity that characterizes True Groove's Global Soul vision statement. The title track embraces elements of funk set against a Sade like simmer, while not forsaking Mase's alt-rock leanings. Her lyrics take a more introspective and personal turn this go around.She muses her idiosyncrasies with a sax backing the beat.

Mental health is tackled in her social dissection in "Things That Scare Me". The quirk in the melodies bring the B-52's to mind. Although this is a club mix is still rides the new wave line between dance and rock the Talking Heads once waltzed over. The distorted guitars keep a rock glaze over the song.

Bill Laswell pops up laying down the bass line to an almost Tom Waits inspired brooding number called "the Heart Beats". The lyrics ponder the universal truths music inspires, that is a familiar concept on True Groove projects. This is followed by the Rolling Stones like shuffle of "Gaping Hole".More lyrically self aware than Jagger's apologies for being a beast of burden, Mase instead questions the gaping hole the masses seek to fill with relationships as much as they do drugs of any flavor.

The reprise of "Drown in Blue" resembles the opener very little, instead taking a more intimate blues approach.Another True Groove alumni Charlie Funk contributes backing vocals to the blues rock of "Bitch in Heat" that finds Mase holding fast to her more subdued vocal approach while the groove winds around her. There is a pretty ripping guitar solo, I assume to be courtesy of Doncker , whose band once again backs Mase for this album.

The ballad "Hold Fast Your Dreams" is inspired by the Louise Driscoll poem of the same name. This goes back to the type of 1920's lounge , but with the air of indie rock to it, not unlike something you might hear in a more cheerful moment of a David Lynch film or even the Velvet Underground's Nico comes to mind.

This is more to the point than "Speak Deluxe" due to the abbreviated nature of the medium she chose to present these songs in, but sometimes less is more and this works for Mase as a more concise portrait of where she is . She continues to carry on True Groove's vision and does it in a very thought provoking manner. If you are in New York on June 12th , make sure to catch her at the Cutting Room and see how these songs translate live.
    

Juliette Jules - Black Crow EP

You would never guess that Juliette was releasing this ep to celebrate her 16th birthday,  if you were only judging by the sound of her voice. I normally pay little regard to the child prodigies. They often gather hype due to the novelty of their age then wind up as alcoholics in the where are they now file. Jules has a certain maturity to her voice and approach to composition that is as competent as her role models and I can hear her sliding into more of a Norah Jones role.

While the claim she has been performing on the street of Paris since they age of fourteen might not hold weight here since she recorded this at the age of fifteen, it is evident she care more abut capturing a timelessness in the organic warmth of what she does. However, if she was an American , she would have been pushed into pop and tarted up like a Lolita so her days on the streets of Paris gave her a chance to find her self in a more less marketed fashion, giving some hope to the next generation of song writers.

The first two tracks are reserved, yet honest balladry.  Its not until "the Game" that the album takes a more upbeat turn. She has great command of her voice. She knows how she wants to sound and doesn't stray from what works for her. I think her vocal talents are best displayed when she harmonizes with herself. This at times recalls Mazzy Star or the Sundays, though her aim is more in the direction of indie folk.Sure there is a slight suspension of disbelief in a 15 year old  asking "Why did you break my heart in this game", but the execution makes it at least easy on the ears.

She takes on Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" , which is not going to make you forget Jeff Buckley's more compelling take  but gets an e for effort.You could ask how fair is it to compare a 15 year old to Jeff Buckley, well it's not, but she clearly wants to play on the stages of the big boys.

Her breathy young alto takes command of "To the Mountains" . It stays in a similar range and dynamic as the rest of the album with "the Game" the only song that wanders far from the subdued formula Jules works off of . She has found her sound and I think the rest of her career will be about growing it from this point but she is off to a great start. If you like mellow female  folks singers , who aren't peddling pop , but are  nowhere near as dark as say Chelsea Wolfe , then this is worth your time.
 

St. Vincent : s/t

Annie Clark earned her place on her by contributing vocals on the new Swans album, but she has also collaborated with Talking Heads front man David Byrne, so she runs in some illustrious Manhattan circles. This electro pop weirdness on this album is not unlike that from Bowie's "Scary Monsters" album. This is her 4th solo album, she got her start with Polyphonic Spree, though there is hardly a trace of their happy hippy pop.

The first single "Birth In Reverse" an ode to her bi-polar disorder, is poppy enough for the hooks to do their job, but not screaming sell out by any means.John Congleton of the Paper Chase produced this album. Clark calls it a part album you could play at a funeral, and I don't here this until the 80's synth ballad "Prince Johnny". It reminds me at times of Cindy Lauper. Despite having the talents of the drummers from Midlake and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings on the album, most of the percussive elements are programmed.

Though I would not call his album goth or dark wave as it's in the same sphere as maybe Imogen Heap, it still has the depressive undercoating to off set the more manic dance tendencies. The close to acid jazz "Huey Newton" might not carry the despair of Portishead, but expresses similar emotions. Normally electronic based music has a more plastic coating , but this album still manages to evoke a broad scope of emotions.

If you caught her performance on Saturday Night Live then you heard the very Prince influenced "Digital Witness". This vocal lines are also Sinead O Connor in the way the fuse quirky solemn phrasing with pop gloss.  "I Prefer Your Love" has kind of a "Nothing Compares 2 U" feel , but it is not as well crafted and is the first song that doesn't hit me on first listen.Lyrically I appreciate it. Her melodies are still better than whats on the radio today, but is the first awkward moment of the album.

Redemption comes in "Regret" a pop song of sorts that carries more punch, though her trademark seems to be to float out of  the groove in a more airy vocal line. It is some of her best guitar playing on this album. The song is arranged as a call and response. The song that resonates most with me on first listen is the often
acapella "Bring Me Your Loves" it has a dose of funk in space, that coils around her vocal acrobatics.

For the songs to be called "Pyschopath" it is very happy. The pulse of it is is cheerfully tense. The lyrics convey a similar state of mind, though bi-polar in they dynamic in way the chorus of this song juxtaposes it self against the pulse.The song works though it's not my favorite on this album but works better for me than "I Prefer Your Love". It's sense of movement keeps it going and compliments the often upbeat feel of the album. But she is upbeat in a similar manner to Xiu Xiu's more song oriented efforts.

The groove to "Every Tear Disappears" is pretty decent, but after you have delivered some pretty stunning moments, I think pretty decent isn't maintain your stride and falls more towards filler. I think the fact the vocal lines don't have the same attention to detail given in their construction is what keeps this song from soaring. The Sinead O Conner vibe returns on the slower paced "Severed Crossed Fingers" . As far as the albums slower moments go this song is stronger than "I Prefer Your Love".The melody is more defined and the music kinda floats behind it forcing her vocals to do most of the heavy lifting, but in this case it works.

I will give this one a 9.5 . I might grow on me, the songs I was lukewarm on were still good, they just didn't contribute to what I felt to be the album's momentum. The more amazing moments balanced things out and make this a pretty fun listen overall ,

Ringworm : " Hammer of the Witch"

This is the 5th full length by the Cleveland, hard-core band who has taken a much more metal turn since their inception in 1991.  There last album "Scars" sold me on these guys, it was always go go to angry music. It put this one my most anticipated metal releases of the year so expectations were high. This album is not much different despite the fact there are hints of Dissection influence on the opener , but by "Bleed" we are reminded that hard core come from the term "hard-core punk" as the punk element is more present than a need for breakdowns. This is still chock full of gang vocals and the straight forward sprint of the snare characteristic of punk drumming. I appreciate the fact this really takes me back to the punk - metal crossover of the 80's where bands like D.R.I, were blurring the lines between the two . The solos are much more metal , even Slayer inspired on "Leave Your Skin at the Door". This album does retain the mean snarl the others have and is consistent for the band, some of the metal elements might even just come from the fact these guys have grown as musicians, as the old saying goes once a punk bands learns how to play they start playing metal.

The riff to "Exit Life" threatens the cool riffs don't make a good song rule we have here. The vocal accents are like stabs in a knife fight so that helps the case . The production on this album is awesome for sure, the vocals benefit from it as there is a fine layer of distortion plugged into the performance and run through a filter of some sort. "Psychic Vampire" is almost too straight ahead hardcore for my tastes, until the riff entering the first minute cuts in. "King of Blood" feels a little less inspired despite the rapid chug fest and comes across a little like filler, rather than actual songwriting that allow the song to form an identity of it's own. .

The thrash vibe consumes this album, there are cool accents on the title track, that would cause hardcore dancing to break out in line in the supermarket if this was on your iPod. I think thrash fans that would be quick to dismiss the band as hardcore will be missing out. The thing about the album to me is while it is bursting with confrontational energy it doesn't strike me as being as dark as "Scars" , so when I am in my more depressive state it seems like baby sitting a hyperactive child and requires more energy to sit through it than I can muster. The Kerry Kingisms run rampant, and fans of Slayer and Hatebreed or if you are in Atlanta Death of Kings, alike would do themselves well to give this a chance. There is plenty of blatant metal moments like "One of Us is Going to Have to Die" , but the hardcore moments sometimes clutter them up like clichés. I find myself tempted to skip ahead on " Vicious Circle of Life" to search for more appealing sections.

The albums does hide some great moments like the S.O.D like groove to " Die Like Pig", that swings into a more modern hardcore style.Here some honest to god songwriting crops up and shows that this is what needs to happen. The riff to "Height of Revelation" hold more hook than most of the album, the accents are solidly arranged. These guys are still good at what they do , this album feels like a side ways step while smiling back at their Slayer collection, I'll give it a 6.5, round it up a point if you are not a depressed person with this sort of energy to spare.  

Nadja: "Queller"

This is the duo's 35th full length so you hope they know what they are doing at this point. Some friends of mine were raving about this like it was the perfect blend of shoegaze with sludge, so I went in with high expectations. My initial response was rather under whelming, though with further listens the layers of subtle melody do seep in a bit, but the fuzzed out production creates a murk I suppose that is intended by doesn't get with me as a listener even though I respect what is being done here.

There is a very  Jesu vibe on most of this album though the vocals aren't as strong and are more meagerly sung. Some of the more droney elements could but dialed back a bit for my taste buds as well. On the opener what would have been a more dynamic. Sure it is slow but as a general rule you would be hard pressed to call this album sludge.

A more cohesive My Bloody Valentine like distortion cranks up on "Mouths". The hushed vocals step up in the mix here and give it more of the feeling this is an actual song. The chorus seems well thought out , and the vocals as slight of a sonic element as they are don't seem like just an after thought. There is an element to this song that makes me think this is what A Perfect Circle would sound like if they ever got smacked out. It does lift off at the end like a more pounding version of "Obscured by Clouds". But I would not yet say the album hits a metal moment.

The album maintains it's ebb and flow. Only 4 songs it still breaks the thirty minute mark."Liderc" it darkens up closer to what some may consider sludge. The vocals disappear behind the wall of fuzzed bass. It sounds like some growling might be occurring , though the effectiveness of it is diminished as it is so buried in the mix. This song does develop a few pulse point, but is hot and cold in the manner it throbs.

The title track employs more of a riff, which in fact brings Godflesh to mind. This song also is really the only song on here that touches on metal in a tangible fashion. They jame on this riff for the first five minutes of the song , so you better like it. The only problem is when they build it up at the end the pay off is a fuzzed out sonic freak out, sure being experimental is cool and all, but noise here seems to be a slight dynamic cop out.

There are some elements I like, but this is on the inconsistent side for my tastes I'll give it a 6.5 as the second half of the album doesn't hold up as well. If you are a fan and have the other 34 albums then give it another point.    
 

Psyclon Nine : Order of the Shadow Act 1

This is the San Fran band's final album, so there's no second act. I did not give these guys a shot until, clicking around on Spotify one day because I had had always assumed them to sound like they looked which is a bunch of pretty boys from Vampirefreaks.com, and lumped them in with the other bands from the Myspace era like Motionless in White. While the black metal tag gets thrown around a lot with these guys, I think it is safe to say that regular readers here who know their metal will all confer this is not black metal. It is pretty decent industrial metal,  ignoring the fact this sort of thing died with Fear Factory. They wail on into a vacuum and some how managed to not sound like dated mall metal.

They pick where they left off on "We the Fallen" the syncopation is a tad heavier on the opening track. The screechy vocals are a static layer over the dense chug. They avoid most of the radio clichés the genres forefather's used in terms of hooks, though the call and response on the verse of "Suffer Well" has echoes on Marilyn Manson to it. But this type of smarter song writing is a welcome departure from the vocalist doing variation of the same pattern like the previous album. The song crescendos into several wrathful cheers.

The trash tinged "Glamour Through Debris" delivers a riff that reminds me of the more metallic moments from Front Line Assembly during the 90's. It breaks down into an apocalyptic drum march and builds up using restraint rather than just going for the throat again. The album sounds great and the production is just what they need. The machine like white noise at the beginning of "Use Once and Destroy" transitions nicely into the fuzzed out synth of the verse. The songs are a lot catchier than what I have heard from the band previous to this release, they could use a slightly wider dynamic range , as aggression seems to be the only color they are painting these songs with most of the time. The exception to this rule comes by way of " the Saint and the Valentine" where they switch over to an acoustic guitar and clean vocals for the verse, not unlike Stabbing Westward and use the soft to loud formula. It's done effectively and provides a more melodic balance the album needs.

From the static "Remains of Eden" buzzes to life in a way that remind me of Author & Punisher at first before the more familiar vocal cadence emerges. It is well executed because normally I require a hint of more melody but the robotic crunch keeps me listening. Though the songs drones at the half way mark, it still manages some cohesion as it tests my tolerance for noise.Which might be weird because Skinny Puppy is one of my favorite bands and they use a shade more abrasion on albums like Rabies.

The title track lingers on its intro almost two minutes before kicking into what is a fairly straight forward militant drive.The pulse to the beat in the final minutes of this one is more like overdriven edm, if you really want to count straws.This is probably the most dynamically flat song on the album but even then it's not half bad.

I like the coat of darkness that hangs over everything and it takes center stage on the more Skinny Puppy feeling of "Take My Hand While I Take My Life" that is one of my favorite songs on the album, I like the guitar  melody haunting the chorus.While it's cluttered with noisy little interludes I'm not counting qas songs, since they are not taking up the space on my iPod, I'm sorry this is the bands last album as they are really growing as song writers , I'll round this one up to a 9.5.    



   

Up From the Underground : Stoney " More Than Animals

Singer songwriter Mark Stoney could be called a Brit pop artist , but such a description would not fully encompass the scope of ground covered on his newest full length "More Than Animals." He manages to find common ground with bands like Arcade Fire and Flaming Lips, in  this lavishly crafted indie rock flourished with Sgt Peppered Orchestrations.

He spared no expense on the lush production that finds him occupying a middle ground between electronica and organic indie rock, the thick synth fuzz to bass lines of songs like "the Score" would appeal to fans of  Bloc Party and even moving into the dirtier dance territory of the Faint, when the beats crescendo with the build of the song.  

Stoney possesses a voice of his own, quirky but capable of floating into falsetto laced harmonies. There are plenty of thick layers of choral vocals chiming in for every corner."Defiantly Loved" is the first song where the verse holds traces of his relocation to Texas, as the guitar twang  more and the song carries a lazy gallop into the sunset.

One of the  biggest stylistic shifts occurs on the song "We Belonged" where he strips everything down to an acoustic guitar and builds it back up from there. Of course I'm partial to when things take a darker turn on "Devil on My Back", which takes an ominous flow down the river Styx, but their is still an up beat cadence to the vocal phrasing and an almost funky syncopation set against, the oohs and aahs of the backing vocals, It is in moments like these where his true voice is found and it's most apparent he has really created something unique.

Stoney takes all of the redeeming elements from modern alternative radio and mixes them together to make this work. The angular groove to "House of Mirrors" strikes a brilliant balance of indie rock swagger and jangle, but keeps it moving with his sixth sense for creating riveting beats.  His most compelling  moments occur ,when he brings it back down with a song like "Bedpost" and strips away all the smoke and mirrors of pro-tools production magic to let songs like this stand on their own two feet. Sure he builds it back up into his trademark sweeping grandiosity, with layers of psychedelics beneath him, but the fact he can capture the range of dynamics out of a stripped down melody is the most telling. Because a big sound can be produced , but good song writing can't be faked.

The albums ebb and flow continues on a Technicolor roller coaster from the very Beatles like waltz of  "Let it Go"  that soars over strawberry fields, before the intimate beginnings of "Albatross" Mark singing up on the mic in a more restrained hush.There's a feeling that evokes Gotye's earlier electronic work in the opening groove of "Cock of the Walk", but once it hits the chorus the song morphs into a glammed out strut of its namesake.

The sleepy folk of  "Wanderlust" borders on being a lullaby, but rather than lulling you the melody keeps the listener engaged. The almost Everlast flavored blues funk of "Round Here" comes as an unexpected close to the album. Overall expect big things from Stoney, he has the song writing smarts and the ear in the studio to craft a wide array of compelling sounds.