2016 was a hard year, it came to a crushing conclusion that is opening a frightening new chapter, and I have hinted and mentioned certain events in various posts and social media, those closest to me in real life know the details, others might just have clues, I have shared my life in writing and pictures with you on this blog so here is my 2016 month by month paired up with the most fitting song. Some of these fit more neatly than others. In OCD like fashion I debated with the committee of one in my head how to do this. At first this was going to be all songs from 2016, and while there are some I think the songs gathered here provide the most fitting soundtrack to describe what the past year of my life has been like. There are multiple layers and emotions connected to various events in certain places in time, so I am trying to depict the shifting perspective of the years events in a manner than not as cryptic as it could have been. I'll let the music do the talking from here.
January -the Talking Heads - " This Must Be the Place"
February-
The Decemberists - "Of Angels and Angles"
March-
The National - " I Should Live In Salt"
April-
Black Foxxes - "Slow Jams Forever"
May -
Peter Murphy "Keep Me From Harm"
June-
Cold War Kids- " All of This Could be Yours"
July-
Siouxsie and the Banshees - "Happy Home"
August -
The Weeknd - "Attention"
September-
Pallbearer- "the Sound and the Fury"
October -
Sia- " Elastic Heart"
November
Planes Mistaken For Stars - "Clean Up Mean"
Going into 2017 I needed to look at what I am doing when it comes to the time I expend covering bands. How many bands do I find myself writing the same old shit about because they are playing the same old shit. I was talking to an A&R rep from a fairly well known label about an Atlanta band I am friends with and why the label never took an interest in them. The reason was they already have more than enough of what said band was selling. Sure they play a ton of shows and even tour, but all the hard work is to sell something that people already have. So this year I am going to try to cut out the middle of the road. By middle of the road here I do not mean, you are not heavy enough. In fact you can be less heavy , but if you bring to the table sounds that are your own and not recycled bands already have then I am good with you and will give your album a listen, but if I am hearing just a blur of distorted guitar and growling with nothing else to call your own, I'll press stop and delete the email, I might even start to send a pre generated letter of disinterest to the label or p/r company so they can know what not to send me.
Black metal and death metal might be the worse offenders here, but there are many metal band, my friends band I was talking about earlier included, who ride the line between a few genres they might be thrash, but have a denser death metal guitar tone and then add a little bit of a black metal rasp to the vocals, well we have already heard that. Punk and hard-core bands are not much better about this and with all of the sub-genres of various music I review here the band wagon is rolling. What this means if you are in a band contacting me to review your music ? If you are a black metal band who feels like they are a little out of place when playing with other black metal bands then you are a band I want to hear , because the other bands that fit neatly into the black metal box are not for me since I already won Burzum, Darkthrone and Inquisition albums.
Metal is supposed to be a genre rooted in giving your middle finger to the rest of the world, so why conform? Why follow the blue print that Sabbath made then everyone has been marching behind. Sure it worked for Trouble and Candlemass, but even those bands brought something else to the table. So if you are a fan of cookie cutter bands or carbon copies, then you might need to start looking else where for your music since that is not what I want to do here. Does that mean I am going to stop reviewing death metal since they tend to sound the same ? No, I am going to review death metal bands that bring something new to the table. If that is not what you want then find the kids table.
Ever wondered what Primordial might sound like if they were into doom rather than black metal ? Well Dread Sovereign answers that on their new album. It is a huge improvement from their 2014 album which was pretty decent. They waste no time praising Satan in a a hair raising fashion on the opener which also employs a wider range of chops from the guitarist and the bass player. "This World is Doomed" gathers more steam and launches off with a bristling thrash tinged energy that reminds me more of Metal Church, especially when the higher layer of backing vocals come in.
Speaking of vocals they are one of the main focal points that sets this band part from their peers. While the guitars on this album are what is most improved , the vocals are certainly smoother this time around. They have a similar dramatic flair to them that conjures.Things then get weird when "the Spines of Saturn" rides in on a wave of psychedelia. The drums are more relaxed and very non-metal.
They close the album with a cover of Venom's "Live Like an Angel, Die Like A Devil". I am not sure why this is one here as I would have rather heard another original from these guys than them trying to get cool points with this.
Aside from the Venom cover , which doesn't suck, the rest of the album is much better than decent. I'll give it an 8. I would like to hear more of a full length than this which boils down to being an ep. But that is a success if they made me want more from them and they scored higher than their last album .
The year anniversary of Bowie's death this seems fitting and since I have been listening to him for 31 years, then this is not a band wagon I am jumping. If you know me in real life then you will concur I am the most qualified to do this so sit back you are in the hands of a pro
10- Magic Dance
Thanks to the drugs I can never remember if I owned the Labyrinth soundtrack before I got Lets Dance, but this song still holds up and has gone on to become one of my daughter's favorites.
9-"Hallo Space Boy"
This one hits so fucking hard for a David Bowie song it's almost metal.
8-Andy Warhol
From his days as an art house hippie in a dress, the song is incrediballs. The guitar riff alone earns it a space here
.
7- "Under the God"
From his Tin Machine days this one rocks pretty hard and Reeves Gabrels really proved himself to me on this one. This is not Bowie's most impressive vocal, but it does prove he can sing with a much grit as needed.
6- "Scary Monsters (Super Creeps)"
Trent Reznor already knows he owes his career to Bowie, this song is a reminder Bowie is the goth-father
.
5-"Neighborhood Threat"
While I want Bowie crooning to me, I also want him to rock and this song he does both as only he could. "Tonight" is an under rated album and a good way to find out who is a posthumous poser.
4-"I Know It's Going Happen Someday"
Did you think I was going to let Bowie covering a Morrissey song slip by ? He can still circles around Moz and brings a gospel feel to it.
3- "Rock N Roll Suicide"
Lyrically this is kind of his wink to Lou Reed, but the way this song builds is incredible
2-"China Girl"
This song could have been number one. It is typically my karaoke go to as I can slay it
. One of the best songs ever written, at this point his voice had matured into a captivating baritone. Let's Dance would also have to battle it out in my head against Young Americans as his best album.
1- "Fascination"
I have rewound this song and replayed more than any other. It drips sex and his voice sounds amazing. One of the best vocal performances ever recorded.
Right from the first song you can tell this new album from the morose goth project is more fine tuned. The guitar sounds great and has more of an 80's pop sound to it.The vocals are slightly muffled and sit back in the layers of guitar and synth. This is one of the subtle touches that keeps this from being more of a pop album. At the four minute mark the song feels like it is being dragged out a little but the song is more impressive than anything I have heard from this act so far. The drum programming takes on more of a Cocteau Twins cadence on "By Design" this is further highlighter by the lush guitar. Far more introspective and dark than the opener. At the minute and a half mark there is some motion in the ocean as it edges toward the dance floor.
Things get more introspective and shoe-gazing on "Not Just a Name". This sets a tone that makes me think Deb Demure is taking the music just as seriously as his make up slathered persona. There is a more light-hearted new wave feel on " Too Soon to Tell" that doesn't engage me as much as some of the more somber dreamy songs like " Cold Souls" which follows it. This song naturally progress into something with more of a goth groove to it. The pace really expedites things to the dance floor for the more dark wave " Kissing the Ground". While it's more surreal nature doesn't make "Forget Tomorrow" the album's most well crafted song there is something to it's murky gray mood that works for me.
The dark wave pulse of "Behind the Wall" closes the album out. It is some where between depressive and dancey so not that different than the general tone already established on the album. The chorus gets marginally more hopeful. I think over all this album shows a great deal of maturity and growth for Demure and I can now take him seriously as an artist. I'll round this up to an 8.5 and contemplate loading this on my iPod, it might grow on me even more with time. Dais Records releases this January 20th.
The vocals of former Necrophagia singer Killjoy DeSade help to set this album apart as they are pretty nasty . what I love about this is the fact these guys are evil sounding yet in the first song I have not heard a blast beat. Truth be told they hover around a more Celtic Frost like sound and the vicious vocals keep it from really copping too much from Tom Warrior and friends. This is not to say they are a color by numbers replication. Instead the add layers of dark melody by way the guitars. The pace picks up into a bigger death metal sound on "93". At this point it bears stating that this album is paying homage to Crowley and references varied aspects of his thelemic works. The more straight forward second song is not as nuanced and to me doesn't come across as dark as the first song despite the moodier break past the mid way point.
The third song where they continue to chant the motto of "Love is the Law / Love Under Will" a fine statement to espouse, yet one of the more mainstream tenements that hardly requires much depth in the belief system to be aware of. This song however finds them closer to the kind of powerful writing that hooked me with their first song. "Babalon" breaks the five minute mark with it's mid tempo stomp, but like most of these songs is not an aimless wander hoping to break you down with it's drone. This song has the undulating pulse similar to Inquisition that makes it feel more black metal. They pick up things to a much more driving pace on "Disciples of the Silent" lyrically it is not as heavy handed in it's theme, to the point of straying from the more conceptual elements. Well played and punchy the bass tone is great , but it doesn't do as much to set them aside.
There is more of a groove to the onset of "Chemical Perversions" that gives my to something a little less inspired and at more of a death metal/ thrash pace. This song also has the first guitar solo that really makes it self known. The vocal become even more bestial on "Blackest Chasm" which has an oppressive lumber. It doesn't feel like this one is as tightly constructed as previous songs and the album begins to lose a little momentum. They come back stronger for "Beyond the Grace of God" this might be the album's strongest song after the opening and finds the band back in a more dense Inquisition like sound. Overall despite losing some of it's momentum in the latter portion of the album it's pretty strong so I'll give it an 8.5.
Hells Headbangers is releasing this beast February 17th.
This album starts off pretty interesting almost like a black metal version of Strapping Young Lad and then a couple of songs in the Slayer influence flairs up and speed seems to get the best of them. They eventually decide to check back into the more industrial side of what they do which is a wise move as this helps "Wear My Crown" rise above the over played metal muck. It could be argued that this is derivative of what Fear Factory has already done and that would not be untrue however there is enough of the blend of extreme metal these guys are about to make it relevant in 2017. There is more heading banging here than throwing down on the dance floor and I think that is there intention at times it reminds me a little of my old homeboys Daath I used to play with in how the electronic elements are well blended with the more metallic assault. The thrashing speed comes back with a blind fury after they have already shown a more creative side so I am not as impressed with this temper tantrum like outburst. The electronics come in to save the day a couple minutes in.
They do have a straight up ebm styled interlude midway into the album. "Gray" might dip back into the more mainstream metal sounds of the 90s again, but it is solidly written with a refreshing sense of melody that works and finds the band at the height of their prowess proving brutality is not always the most virtuous trait. This is proved again with "Osiris" which is ten times the song of the more driving death metal that precedes it which when compared to this song comes up a little flat. The vocals on this one are more sung though heavily processed it's still pretty effective. They end this album with some electronic atmosphere which is well done and has some musical merits, but feels like more of an indulgent outro until they crash back into it in more of a Strapping Young Lad fashion.
This album is really well done even with some of the more Slayer like songs that kind of numbed me out the songs where industrial meets extreme metal in a manner that makes sense and does justic to the other genre are where this band is the strongest. I'll give this album an 8 though I am unsure if I will really get that many more listens out of it , I have enjoyed the time already spent with it.
