The New Flesh : "The Absurd"

I you can't wait for the new Bellicose Minds , well there's good news the new album by New Flesh is here to tide you over and they can't wait for it either so they are taking another step towards sounds like Bellicose Minds themselves. On the punk side of the post-punk equation, they get the dark element right. The throw in some thoughtful vocal hook, but the monotone shout of their lead singer's baritone further cements them into sounding like Bellicose Clones on this one.

This style of post-punk comes really close to sounding like horror -punk, the Misfits elements are strong. These guys aren't bad song writers, it just I have a creeping feeling I've heard this before. I don't remember their previous album leaning so far in this direction.Not until the third song"Bound By Flesh" that I feel they are searching for their own sound. Even here we have the archetypal death rock bass tone leading the way.The guitar follows behind and I think if the vocals had more though and nuance behind them then they could really have sunk their fangs into something here.

The more thundering punk of "No Way Out" carries a mid night train of weight behind it's drive and compensates with sheer energy alone. The similarly paced"Blood and Sweat " doesn't come across as being as inspired.They bounce back with "This Crushing Fate". The guitars wander off into some interesting places. The vocals continue to hold the songs back. The does variations of the same thing though out the album. The one trick pony he rides takes to "This Crushing Fate" better than some of the other songs on this album.  does. The title track captures the album's best mood and goes into the darkest place yet for the band. From the effects on the bass to the distant scarping of the guitars you wonder why they were not doing this all along. The singer's vocals benefit from the distant catacomb like production they sit back into.

The bands best effort almost proves to be too little too late.It's even more of disappointment after they say good bye by letting you know they could have made other choices the whole time. I'll give this album a 7, if you like the more punk side of post-punk some of the problems I had with this album my not phase you.

The Top 15 Goth/Industrial Albums of 2013

The state of the goth scene is evident here in this year's Top 15 Goth/Industrial Albums of 2013 list. Last Fm helped me sort these according to which albums demanded the most repeat listens.


15- the New Flesh- Reality

This Bay area band emphasized the punk in post-punk but still keep things dark enough to earn their place here.



14- Psyclon Nine- Order of the Shadow

The 5th and final album by this band makes you sad to see them go.



13-the Haunted Horses- Watcher

This Seattle trio churned out a dark swathe of post- industrial noise rock.



12-  Author& Punisher -Women & Children

Man meets machine but this time with more ambiance and melody. The post-apocalyptic landscape is still just as bleak.



11-Psychic Teens -Come

Dark and angular like Jesus Lizard jamming with Joy Division, this album has a rock propulsion that keeps it moving.



10-Night Sins- To London or the Lake

This album find the Philly band moving from post-punk into a darker cold wave sound.


9- INVSN- S/T

Former front man of the Refused crafts some pretty convincing songs that are heavily shadowed by 80's bands like Crowded House and the Cure's more radio friendly moments.



8- Zola Jesus -Versions

Zola collaborates with Foetus to re-imagine her songs in a more organic manner.



7- Nine Inch Nails- Hesitation Marks

Trent steps away from the distorted guitars of industrial into a more EDM direction, that still holds up due to his songwriting chops.



6-Holograms-Forever

The Swedish post-punks show a lot of maturity in their songwriting on their sophomore lp. The choruses carry more refined hooks and attention to detail.



5-Ministry- From Beet to Eternity

Uncle Al still has a taste for mean metal riffs but the song are not weighed down by this as they have in some of the other post- Dark Side of the Spoon albums.



4-Savages- Silence Yourself

There are many other bands out there trying to imitate Siouxsie, but these gals take the influence and meld into into their own punchy sound.



3- Skinny Puppy - Weapon

More synth driven with with EDM friendly beats, this album is more dark wave than industrial but still demands repeat listens.



2-Beastmilk -Climax

They took the whole post-punk resurgence and made it more balanced from every end of the sonic spectrum. I hear as much Echo and the Bunny Men in this as I do the Misfits. Some of the years best song writing with hook that sink their steely talons into your skull.



1-Chelsea Wolfe- Pain is Beauty

Wolfe goes even darker on this painfully beautiful album. She knows how she wants her voice to haunt the songs, then wails like a desperate siren detoxing off dope. The songs have more twists and turns and take from being doom-folk into a more goth direction.

the New Flesh: "Reality"

This Bay Area band puts the emphasis on the punk in post-punk.So rather than going all in at the grave yard, they lean more towards the darker direction bands like T.S.O.L and New Model Army dipped into. Their songs move much more like punk than death rock which still keeps more of a serpentine slink to it.With that said and to dispel an talk of them being goth or dark wave this is still a fun album. It's dark enough for me to rock it as we know  most punk rock is too happy for my liking.

It's until the 3rd song "Gravity" that I can begin to hear where the goth label might be warranted and the singer's voice also takes on a more death rock moan than the shouty baritone which was more like Joey Ramone in pain than say Bauhaus. So far on my first listen it was the first one that really perked my grim ears up. The drums take on more of ominous pound like the Damned on " Only to Fall" and the vocals themselves fall back into more of  shout crooning more on the chorus. The bass player who needs to be further up in the mix for the sound they are going for does have the goth tone dialed in ala Pornography Cure, but the guitars crack a dominant whip over them.

It gets darker on "Age of Reason"  and I'm sure the tug of war the band is fighting with themselves but they need to cross over to the dark side for when the lean in that direction it certainly does them more favors than sticking to what I suspect are their punk roots.  I heard metal being tossed around in relation to the bands and I'll set the record straight and say there is nothing metal about this album, not to say it won't appeal to fans of metal that listen to punk as well, in fact I would suspect that's their target audience. "Age of Reason" does carry some tension to it , but it's never released in  a metal manner.

The descent into shadowy alley ways continues on "Systemic" which carries a similar tension, but the drumming and guitar are really intent on this being punk, though they have a pretty open mind as to what punk is , yet it still fits in with what the definition was in the eighties. The lower ranged mush mouth vocals are actually the bands weak point as they tend to give the songs a similar feel. The bass finally emerges to it's rightful place on " Kneel and Pray", the vocalist loses some of the mush in his mouth on this , though not dramatically, maybe he's fucked up or lazy , this could also be a hipster apathy, but they seem pretty genuine to me so I'm guess fucked up laziness.

Though the guitars aim for a similar bull's eye on most of this song there is something clever interplay and though put into the craftsmanship of the way the two parts mesh together leaving most of the hooks hidden  in the guitar parts. There is a great kinetic energy to these songs which I'm translates well live and pretty solid songwriting which could have benefited from  a better vocals mix, unless they leave the vocals buried in the monitor mix which wouldn't surprise me. I'll round this up to an 7.5, I appreciate the energy and where they are trying to go I think they could have benefited from a better vocal performance and production, which becomes a chicken or the egg riddle when trying to figure out which would have bolstered the other. If you have punk leanings are are already into goth/ death rock revivalists check this out for sure.    


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