Blister Unit
Christ Ape
Ok - wow. That was my first reaction on hearing this album. From the opening track to the close, every track is a blistering, ear-destroying, blast-beating assault on the senses. The production is crystal-clear, the vocals sound like a lion with anger-management problems, and the guitar playing is accomplished without ever becoming wanky or needlessly technical - the guitarist even manages to pull off several grindcore guitar solos, all of which simply add to the brutality. Blister Unit are one of the best new grindcore bands around, end of story. the one downside is the eight minutes of silence unnecessarily tacked on to the end of final track Tusks - if I wanted to listen to silence, I'd turn off the music. Blister Unit don't do innovation - you'll find no disco passages, no flutes or covers of Elizabethan madrigals here, but that's alright. There's nothing wrong with being formulaic when you do the formula this well.
If you like full-on, no-frills grindcore, then this is a must-have.
Rating: 9/10
Wednesday 27 March 2013
Wednesday 20 March 2013
A few words on Comic Relief
So - it's not my style to venture into the world of politics*, but seeing as this has been such an eventful few weeks, I guess I'll have to.
Comic Relief
First off, Comic Relief. Did you donate? If so, then good - you mave have saved a couple of lives in Africa, or helped some needy people in our own green and pleasant land (the latter, as only Russell Brand had the balls to point out, the government should be doing.) What you have not done, however, is helped the general situation of things in Africa in any way. The effect of all the millions England donated this year will be minor, at best, because aid is not the answer. The reason that people in Africa continue to starve to death, and to die from HIV/AIDS and other preventable diseases, comes down to two things: debt and trade. Countries all across Africa owe the Western world thousands of millions of pounds, if not billions, and our governments continue to demand payment of these debts from countries in which vast swathes of the population live in abject poverty. By one simple act - cancelling that debt - we in the developed world could help those in need more than all the TV appeals, concerts and poor-quality comedy sketches in the world.
As for trade - have you ever looked at fair-trade products and thought, "fuck, why is this coffee/sugar/chocolate so expensive?" I'll tell you why - because that's how much coffee/sugar/chocolate costs. That is a fair price (hence the name) that covers the cost of production and allows the producers to make a decent profit. The suffering inflicted on the farmers of the developing world by Western companies more than undoes all the good we do with aid.
And that brings us to my big problem with Comic Relief. This is a program with an audience of millions, with dozens of celebrities, and a considerable amount of respectability. People will listen to what they say on that yearly broadcast. If they said - "Look, here's what the problems are, and here's how to solve them," then most of their viewers would do nothing. But a fair few would act - and when we're talking about a program with as large an audience as Comic Relief, "a fair few" means a hell of a fucking lot. So come on, Lenny Henry/Dawn French/etc - locate your testicles and speak the fuck up.
*it's funny, because it's not true
Comic Relief
First off, Comic Relief. Did you donate? If so, then good - you mave have saved a couple of lives in Africa, or helped some needy people in our own green and pleasant land (the latter, as only Russell Brand had the balls to point out, the government should be doing.) What you have not done, however, is helped the general situation of things in Africa in any way. The effect of all the millions England donated this year will be minor, at best, because aid is not the answer. The reason that people in Africa continue to starve to death, and to die from HIV/AIDS and other preventable diseases, comes down to two things: debt and trade. Countries all across Africa owe the Western world thousands of millions of pounds, if not billions, and our governments continue to demand payment of these debts from countries in which vast swathes of the population live in abject poverty. By one simple act - cancelling that debt - we in the developed world could help those in need more than all the TV appeals, concerts and poor-quality comedy sketches in the world.
As for trade - have you ever looked at fair-trade products and thought, "fuck, why is this coffee/sugar/chocolate so expensive?" I'll tell you why - because that's how much coffee/sugar/chocolate costs. That is a fair price (hence the name) that covers the cost of production and allows the producers to make a decent profit. The suffering inflicted on the farmers of the developing world by Western companies more than undoes all the good we do with aid.
And that brings us to my big problem with Comic Relief. This is a program with an audience of millions, with dozens of celebrities, and a considerable amount of respectability. People will listen to what they say on that yearly broadcast. If they said - "Look, here's what the problems are, and here's how to solve them," then most of their viewers would do nothing. But a fair few would act - and when we're talking about a program with as large an audience as Comic Relief, "a fair few" means a hell of a fucking lot. So come on, Lenny Henry/Dawn French/etc - locate your testicles and speak the fuck up.
*it's funny, because it's not true
Thursday 14 March 2013
Review - Misery
Misery
Misery
Ok, now that the weather's starting to cheer up, I thought I'd post a review of a nice, upbeat record for you. So, this this Misery, by Misery. Misery describe themselves on their Bandcamp page as an "experimental funeral doom metal band," and I can certainly hear what they mean - this six-track album has the funereal atmosphere, sludgy guitars and longform musical approach that you'd expect from a band with the name Misery. The vocals really live up to the band's name - low-pitched death growls give way to high, tortured screams, and although it's not possible to make out what the singer is singing about, it's pretty clear he's not very happy. The guitars churn and chug in all the ways you'd expect from a doom band, but this isn't just about the riffs (good though they are). Unexpected textures crop up here and there - an organ drives, among other tracks, The Box, which is permeated throughout with sounds like dragging footsteps, rattling chains and shattering glass. Sunn 0)))-like bass drones provide some bowel-quivering moments, and at times the organ sounds almost like something from a Burzum record.
There are two main problems with this record: the drums and the production. The latter isn't necessarily the band's fault; the former is. The drummer has some great moments, particularly on the title track, but a lot of the time he just meanders, as if he doesn't quite know what he's doing. And that's a major problem - on a lot of these songs, the band need a strong drummer to give them a sense of momentum, to create that feeling of being crushed under a heavy weight that the best doom bands do so well, and the lack of a decent drum part really brings a lot of these songs down.
The production is less of an issue. Although the band sound muted, almost like a bad live recording, their music is good enough that Misery is still an album worth checking out. Just sack the drummer, guys.
Rating: 6/10
Misery
Ok, now that the weather's starting to cheer up, I thought I'd post a review of a nice, upbeat record for you. So, this this Misery, by Misery. Misery describe themselves on their Bandcamp page as an "experimental funeral doom metal band," and I can certainly hear what they mean - this six-track album has the funereal atmosphere, sludgy guitars and longform musical approach that you'd expect from a band with the name Misery. The vocals really live up to the band's name - low-pitched death growls give way to high, tortured screams, and although it's not possible to make out what the singer is singing about, it's pretty clear he's not very happy. The guitars churn and chug in all the ways you'd expect from a doom band, but this isn't just about the riffs (good though they are). Unexpected textures crop up here and there - an organ drives, among other tracks, The Box, which is permeated throughout with sounds like dragging footsteps, rattling chains and shattering glass. Sunn 0)))-like bass drones provide some bowel-quivering moments, and at times the organ sounds almost like something from a Burzum record.
There are two main problems with this record: the drums and the production. The latter isn't necessarily the band's fault; the former is. The drummer has some great moments, particularly on the title track, but a lot of the time he just meanders, as if he doesn't quite know what he's doing. And that's a major problem - on a lot of these songs, the band need a strong drummer to give them a sense of momentum, to create that feeling of being crushed under a heavy weight that the best doom bands do so well, and the lack of a decent drum part really brings a lot of these songs down.
The production is less of an issue. Although the band sound muted, almost like a bad live recording, their music is good enough that Misery is still an album worth checking out. Just sack the drummer, guys.
Rating: 6/10
Wednesday 13 March 2013
Review - Gets Worse
Gets Worse
Year of the Bastard
Ok - this is something I was looking forward to immensely. A new EP by powerviolence band Gets Worse is always something that brightens up my day, so as you can imagine I was pretty excited to come across this on Youtube.So - what's it like?
The words "fucking awesome" come to mind. This is powerviolence at its finest - each track is a dirty, gritty, pummelling assault on the senses. It's a teasingly short record - four songs go by in less than five minutes - but not a second is wasted. Each track comes at you like an angry bull, all guttural roars and churning, distorted guitar. The production is perfect - distorted and nasty enough to make it clear this is PV, but good enough that the band's pure fury is undiluted. Plus, final track Year of the Bastard has what has got to be my favourite sample ever. There isn't really much left to say about this EP, other than - buy it.
Rating: 9/10
Year of the Bastard
Ok - this is something I was looking forward to immensely. A new EP by powerviolence band Gets Worse is always something that brightens up my day, so as you can imagine I was pretty excited to come across this on Youtube.So - what's it like?
The words "fucking awesome" come to mind. This is powerviolence at its finest - each track is a dirty, gritty, pummelling assault on the senses. It's a teasingly short record - four songs go by in less than five minutes - but not a second is wasted. Each track comes at you like an angry bull, all guttural roars and churning, distorted guitar. The production is perfect - distorted and nasty enough to make it clear this is PV, but good enough that the band's pure fury is undiluted. Plus, final track Year of the Bastard has what has got to be my favourite sample ever. There isn't really much left to say about this EP, other than - buy it.
Rating: 9/10
Saturday 9 March 2013
Review - Ed Wood / Monolithian split
Ed Wood / Monolithian
Split EP
Made in the Meth Lab
Another review of something I found on Bandcamp - seriously, if you're interested in new music and you aren't looking on that site, you're missing out on a lot.
Ed Wood are a by-the-numbers punk band from Portsmouth, who are reminiscent (for which read derivative) of Crass and Conflict. Their side of the split is uninspiring - it's all been done better, before. Still, if I were at a gig and these guys were the opening act, I'd probably have a good time listening to them. the real stars of this EP are doom duo Monolithian. Their black metal-inflected doom riffs sound crushingly heavy even through the low-budget recording - this EP, by the way, is yet more proof that cheap production doesn't have to mean bad production (something certain bands don't seem to realise). Their five-minute, one-song side has a slow, punishing riff and some fantastic Melvins-esque distortion. They aren't perfect - their lyrics are awful, and they don't really have their own sound yet - but they have talent.
Rating:
Ed Wood side: 2/5
Monolith side: 3/5
Split EP
Made in the Meth Lab
Another review of something I found on Bandcamp - seriously, if you're interested in new music and you aren't looking on that site, you're missing out on a lot.
Ed Wood are a by-the-numbers punk band from Portsmouth, who are reminiscent (for which read derivative) of Crass and Conflict. Their side of the split is uninspiring - it's all been done better, before. Still, if I were at a gig and these guys were the opening act, I'd probably have a good time listening to them. the real stars of this EP are doom duo Monolithian. Their black metal-inflected doom riffs sound crushingly heavy even through the low-budget recording - this EP, by the way, is yet more proof that cheap production doesn't have to mean bad production (something certain bands don't seem to realise). Their five-minute, one-song side has a slow, punishing riff and some fantastic Melvins-esque distortion. They aren't perfect - their lyrics are awful, and they don't really have their own sound yet - but they have talent.
Rating:
Ed Wood side: 2/5
Monolith side: 3/5
Thursday 7 March 2013
Review - Besta
Besta
Herege
It's easy to forget, in our anglocentric culture, that other countries have great music as well. Take Besta, for example - this four-peice grindcore powerhouse from Portugal have put out what will almost certainly end up being one of my albums of the year. Blasting, grinding and howling their way through six songs (five originals and a Napalm Death cover) in just over seven minutes, these guys show yet again that, in the world of extreme music, less is more. What I really love about this EP is the texture - there's more to it than the standard play-fast-and-scream approach that most grind bands take. This is a grindcore EP (I refuse to call seven minutes of music an album) with layers, and that makes a refreshing change from all the bands out there who seem content to copy Scum ad infinitum (and ad nauseum). The production is what stops this from being just another decent grind record, and makes it something truly special. I don't quite know how to say it - there's just something truly inhuman about this band. The instruments mesh together perfectly, they combine the traditional low-end grind assault with higher, more abrasive tones, and those vocals sound like they come from the pit of Hell itself. If you're looking for great modern grind bands, then look no further.
Rating: 8/10
Herege
It's easy to forget, in our anglocentric culture, that other countries have great music as well. Take Besta, for example - this four-peice grindcore powerhouse from Portugal have put out what will almost certainly end up being one of my albums of the year. Blasting, grinding and howling their way through six songs (five originals and a Napalm Death cover) in just over seven minutes, these guys show yet again that, in the world of extreme music, less is more. What I really love about this EP is the texture - there's more to it than the standard play-fast-and-scream approach that most grind bands take. This is a grindcore EP (I refuse to call seven minutes of music an album) with layers, and that makes a refreshing change from all the bands out there who seem content to copy Scum ad infinitum (and ad nauseum). The production is what stops this from being just another decent grind record, and makes it something truly special. I don't quite know how to say it - there's just something truly inhuman about this band. The instruments mesh together perfectly, they combine the traditional low-end grind assault with higher, more abrasive tones, and those vocals sound like they come from the pit of Hell itself. If you're looking for great modern grind bands, then look no further.
Rating: 8/10
Wednesday 6 March 2013
Review - Cloud Rat (!!!)
Cloud Rat
Moksha
Halo of Flies
Typical - just when I finally get together the money to buy this album, it's on Youtube. Ah, well, at least I found that out before buying it.
This is a record that I've been looking forward to for some time - their previous, self-titled album came out two years ago, and it was one hell of a record, so when Moksha came out I was itching to hear it. And, for once, the record lives up to my expectations.
The lyrics are deeply personal, without ever slipping into self-pity - rather, this is a genuinely harrowing exploration of trauma; the vocalist sounds as if she's falling apart on record. Although the songs aren't as fast as some bands, nor as chaotic, and they don't have that low-end heaviness that makes a lot of grind bands so punishing, this is one intense listening experience . The abrasiveness here comes mainly from the vocalist. Her screams are truly intense - mid- to high-pitched, dripping with emotion and just scary as fuck. This makes her voice the perfect delivery system for the pain-wracked lyrics. At the end of stand-out track Infinity Chasm, that singing almost had me in tears - not something you often experience with a grindcore album.
The rest of the band kick some arse as well, of course.The guitarist and drummer lock in perfectly together, delivering mid-paced riffage that must make the crowd go wild when these folks play live. The guitar tone here is just perfect - heavy and distorted, but still clear enough that you can hear every note, which is important when the guitarist is as good as this. The drummer, also, can really play - he switches seemingly effortlessly from blast-beaten fury to slow, rolling passages that have the quality of those moments in a horror film when you know the monster is going to jump out at you, but you don;t quite know when or from what direction.
Another great thing about Cloud Rat is how they incorporate other styles of music into their work. For example, the crashing guitar and dreamy vocals on Infinity Chasm are reminiscent of nothing so much as Smashing Pumpkins - until Madison starts screaming like she's being disembowelled alive, that is. And, of course, there's the version The Needle and the Damage Done. There aren't many grindcore bands that could pull off a Neil Young cover - and, unfortunately, Cloud Rat aren't one of them. I'm not slagging off either Young or Cloud Rat here, but the two go together about as well as Lou Reed and Metallica.
The title track - which closes the album - is an atmospheric, seven-minute epic that leaves the listener floating, finally given respite from the twenty-two minutes of carnage that precede it.
Simply put, this is a stunning record. It may only be March, but I think we may have my album of the year right here.
Rating: 9/10
Moksha
Halo of Flies
Typical - just when I finally get together the money to buy this album, it's on Youtube. Ah, well, at least I found that out before buying it.
This is a record that I've been looking forward to for some time - their previous, self-titled album came out two years ago, and it was one hell of a record, so when Moksha came out I was itching to hear it. And, for once, the record lives up to my expectations.
The lyrics are deeply personal, without ever slipping into self-pity - rather, this is a genuinely harrowing exploration of trauma; the vocalist sounds as if she's falling apart on record. Although the songs aren't as fast as some bands, nor as chaotic, and they don't have that low-end heaviness that makes a lot of grind bands so punishing, this is one intense listening experience . The abrasiveness here comes mainly from the vocalist. Her screams are truly intense - mid- to high-pitched, dripping with emotion and just scary as fuck. This makes her voice the perfect delivery system for the pain-wracked lyrics. At the end of stand-out track Infinity Chasm, that singing almost had me in tears - not something you often experience with a grindcore album.
The rest of the band kick some arse as well, of course.The guitarist and drummer lock in perfectly together, delivering mid-paced riffage that must make the crowd go wild when these folks play live. The guitar tone here is just perfect - heavy and distorted, but still clear enough that you can hear every note, which is important when the guitarist is as good as this. The drummer, also, can really play - he switches seemingly effortlessly from blast-beaten fury to slow, rolling passages that have the quality of those moments in a horror film when you know the monster is going to jump out at you, but you don;t quite know when or from what direction.
Another great thing about Cloud Rat is how they incorporate other styles of music into their work. For example, the crashing guitar and dreamy vocals on Infinity Chasm are reminiscent of nothing so much as Smashing Pumpkins - until Madison starts screaming like she's being disembowelled alive, that is. And, of course, there's the version The Needle and the Damage Done. There aren't many grindcore bands that could pull off a Neil Young cover - and, unfortunately, Cloud Rat aren't one of them. I'm not slagging off either Young or Cloud Rat here, but the two go together about as well as Lou Reed and Metallica.
The title track - which closes the album - is an atmospheric, seven-minute epic that leaves the listener floating, finally given respite from the twenty-two minutes of carnage that precede it.
Simply put, this is a stunning record. It may only be March, but I think we may have my album of the year right here.
Rating: 9/10
Saturday 2 March 2013
Review - Immerse
Immerse
Immerse EP
Ok, for my next review, an EP longer than some of the albums I've reviewed here...don;t quite know how that works.
This is the new EP by progressive metal band Immerse, and it's pretty good. Prog metal is not a subgenre I'm particularly familiar with - basically, apart from Dillinger Escape Plan and Meshuggah, it's foreign territory to me - but I'll try to do Immerse justice. The band's Bandcamp page describes this release as "8 tracks of pure, unbridled aggression, laced with groove and technicality." While I'm not so sure about the "pure, unbridled aggression," (once you've heard thedowngoing, most other bands sound tame by comparison) the groove and technicality are certainly there. It's pretty heavy, and the guitar has a nice, muscular tone, but the band leave room for some more melodic passages - piano interlude Plenitude is a rather lovely break from the relentless beatdown riffs and shouting. Well, I say riffs - riff is more accurate. One of the main flaws in this EP is the band's lack of imagination - most of the tracks here sound like the same song played at slightly different speeds.And, of course, the shouting. Notice I say shouting, rather than screaming. That's because most of the vocals here sound like the work of someone who is half-way through learning to scream properly. And let's not go into the clean vocals - the singing is just barely in tune, and the lyrics are the standard adolescent wank that makes inarticulate screaming a blessing.
For me, the best parts are the tracks (such as Ray(e) and the aforementioned Plenitude) where the band takes their foot off the accelerator and stops trying to be Enter Shikari. When Immerse slow things down, they show some genuine flair, and those slow songs are what saves this album from dullness.
But that's not to say this is a bad or boring EP - some of the heavier tracks genuinely have some power. Mitigate, and opener Obelisk, for example, are both songs that I can easily imagine causing havoc in a moshpit. Really, if the band had left out Gehrun, Fallacy and Integra, this would be a pretty solid five-track EP. As it is, it's worth a listen, and maybe worth buying - but I can't say I'll be waiting with baited breath for their next effort.
Rating: 6/10
Immerse EP
Ok, for my next review, an EP longer than some of the albums I've reviewed here...don;t quite know how that works.
This is the new EP by progressive metal band Immerse, and it's pretty good. Prog metal is not a subgenre I'm particularly familiar with - basically, apart from Dillinger Escape Plan and Meshuggah, it's foreign territory to me - but I'll try to do Immerse justice. The band's Bandcamp page describes this release as "8 tracks of pure, unbridled aggression, laced with groove and technicality." While I'm not so sure about the "pure, unbridled aggression," (once you've heard thedowngoing, most other bands sound tame by comparison) the groove and technicality are certainly there. It's pretty heavy, and the guitar has a nice, muscular tone, but the band leave room for some more melodic passages - piano interlude Plenitude is a rather lovely break from the relentless beatdown riffs and shouting. Well, I say riffs - riff is more accurate. One of the main flaws in this EP is the band's lack of imagination - most of the tracks here sound like the same song played at slightly different speeds.And, of course, the shouting. Notice I say shouting, rather than screaming. That's because most of the vocals here sound like the work of someone who is half-way through learning to scream properly. And let's not go into the clean vocals - the singing is just barely in tune, and the lyrics are the standard adolescent wank that makes inarticulate screaming a blessing.
For me, the best parts are the tracks (such as Ray(e) and the aforementioned Plenitude) where the band takes their foot off the accelerator and stops trying to be Enter Shikari. When Immerse slow things down, they show some genuine flair, and those slow songs are what saves this album from dullness.
But that's not to say this is a bad or boring EP - some of the heavier tracks genuinely have some power. Mitigate, and opener Obelisk, for example, are both songs that I can easily imagine causing havoc in a moshpit. Really, if the band had left out Gehrun, Fallacy and Integra, this would be a pretty solid five-track EP. As it is, it's worth a listen, and maybe worth buying - but I can't say I'll be waiting with baited breath for their next effort.
Rating: 6/10
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