Review - Colonia

Colonia
MMXIII

As the name might suggest, this EP was released in 2013, but it was too late to make my year-end list, so I'll review it now.

Now, I know what happens when you say the word "emo". Everyone immediately assumes you're talking about some kind of My Chemical Romance shit, and you run a mile. But that's not emo - not real emo. Real emo, '80s emo, came out of hardcore, and it was fucking intense. So when I say that Colonia's new album sounds like an emo record, I mean it sounds like what emo was back when it meant something - back in the days of Rites of Spring, for example. So it's chock full of anguished hardcore yells (like Ian MacKaye giving birth), atmospheric guitar passages and crushing riffs. Fortunately, the lyrics are much less intelligible than the old emo bands', and when you can hear them, they're in Spanish - basically, Colonia are like Rites of Spring, but better.

Rating: 8/10

Review - Mogwai

Mogwai
Rave Tapes

Up to now, my only experience of Mogwai has been their film soundtrack work, but judging from their new album Rave Tapes, that was a good introduction. The peices on this album have the same dynamic as the soundtrack to 28 Weeks Later: slow-burning intensity that builds into overwhelming riffs, like Part Chimp's polite, arty big brother. In fact, Part Chimp are probably the best band to compare them to. Rave Tapes doesn't have the crushing, mind-altering heavinness of a Part Chimp album, but the songs do focus atmosphere above melody or hooks, and they certainly sweep you along in the same way. There's a fair amount of distortion, but it mostly takes the form of a bit of fuzz, low down in the mix, adding to the atmosphere rather than changing the sound of the instruments.

Stand-out track "Blues Hour" is an exception to the uplifting atmosphere of the rest of the album. The minor-key chord progression and barely-decipherable vocals combine to give an impresssion of inexpressible sadness. It's like the band are desperately trying to communicate some deep sorrow.

Overall, this is an incredible album, and I onlly wish I had discovered this band earlier.

Rating: 9/10

Top 5 EPs of 2013

Ok, so I've already posted my top fifteen albums of last year, but I realised that, seeing as some of the best music of last year was released on EPs, I should do a list for them, too. For the purposes of this list, any release under fifteen minutes counts as an EP.

5. Methmouth
Demo

Just when I thought hardcore was over, Methmouth came along to prove me wrong. Their recent demo is seven minutes of pure rage, channeled through production so raw it makes Minnor Threat look like Queen.

4. Endless Swarm
Mindkiller

Endless Swarm offer something of a change of pace after Methmouth, choosing as they do to pummel the listener into submission using a relentless barage of low-frequency rumble. Aside from that, the two bands have a lot in common - they both have throat-shredding vocals that sound considerably more human than the open-throat screams and growls that most extreme bands these days seem to prefer; they both revel in cheap, sleazy production; and most importantly, they're both brilliant.

3. Besta
Herege

Besta's Herege is a classic example of how to produce grindcore. The production is well thought out and effective, but it never detracts from the sheer aggression of the band. Instead, the distorted vocals and constant background of well-calculated fuzz add to the atmosphere, giving this EP and extra layer of heaviness that puts it head and shoulders above most grindcore releases.

2. Islam85
S/T

Islam85  starts slowly, with a few atmospheric chords, before the band slip into the irresistible headbanging chug that is their trademark. Islam85 are a band that know how to get you moving, and their self-titled EP is an adrenaline-fuelled masterpeice - if you can listen to this without grinning liike an idiot while headbanging furiously, there's something wrong with you.

1. Gets Worse
Year of the Bastard

I wrote all I need to say on this album in the original review, so here it is again:

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.

Review - Endless Swarm

Endless Swarm
Mindkiller

I came across this band completely by accident. I was listening to the last Detroit album on Youtube and I saw their EP in the sidebar, so I clicked on it and found something just as good as what I'd been listening to. This Edinburgh-based band play chugging, bass-heavy grind/PV in a style that reminds me of the sadly deceased Islam85 - crushing, low-end grooves that break out unpredictably into blistering flurries of blastbeats.

According to the band's Facebook page, they're made up of former members of Black Talon and Horrors That You've Seen - two bands I've never heard of, but will be sure to look up - and Mindkiller is their first EP. If this is what they can do now, I can't wait to see what they come out with later on. These guys may well be the only competition Gets Worse have in terms of low-end, grindy powerviolence. Definitely a band to keep an eye (and both ears) on.

Rating: 8/10

Stuff I Missed

Ok, I published a best-of list a few weeks ago, but with so much great music released last year, it was pretty much impossible to stay on top of it. So, in the interests of giving coverage to as much quality music as possible, here are some of the best albums that I didn't hear.

Rectal Hygienics
Even the Flies Won't Touch You

These guys are a real find - a filthy, sludgy, misanthropic quartet from Chicago, they put out Even The Flies Won;t Touch You in late 2012, but apparently the vinyl version only came out last year, so I'm putting them on here. Also, they're just too awesome not to include. If you like your music as brutal and nasty as they come, but are looking for something other than standard grindcore or death metal, then listen to this. Or, better yet, go out and buy it.

Rating: 9/10

David Bowie
The Next Day

To be honest, I didn't exactly miss this album - I knew it was out, and I even gave it a listen or two, but I never got round to writing a reciew of it. It really is a hell of an album. I'm not sure I quite understand most of the songs on The Next Day, but then I could say the same about plenty of Bowie albums - it's not about understanding, it's about listening. The Next Day is refreshingly original, a fresh start for Bowie - which, ironically, makes it a fairl;y typical David Bowie album.

Rating: 8/10

Pig Destroyer
Mass and Volume

Ok - wow. I genuinely can't belive that a new Pig Destroyer EP passed me by. They released it in March, in memory of the late Pat Egan, and freind and fellow traveller of the band. It's olny two tracks, but "only" is the wrong word in this context - at a total of 25 minutes, those two tracks add up to more music than most grindcore albums. The 19-minute title track is a noise-doom epic reminiscent of Natasha in style, but in tone it's completely the opposite. While Natasha is frighteningly dark, "Mass and Volume" has the same uplifting beauty as a hymn or an Arvo Part composition. It's a moving, elegiac peice, but it still has that Pig Destroyer heaviness that we all know and love.
 "Red Tar," on the other hand, is a brutal slab of deathgrind that will knock you for six.It's no-nonsense heaviness is a great palate-cleanser after "Mass and Volume," but even though it's a pretty heavy track, it has some unusual major-key elements, and it even gets (dare I say it?) kind of melodic at times. Seriously, even for PxDx, this is great stuff. And all proceeds go to the college fund of Pat Egan's daughter, so you should totally buy it.

Rating: 9/10

Primitive Man
Scorn
Not only did I hear this album, but I wrote a review of it here. I'm re-reviwing it now, because I think I was far too harsh on it the first time around. Maybe it was because my atention span had been ruined by too much grindcore, or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it, but I completely failed to get the brilliance of Scorn. It's genuinely one of the best sludge records I've ever heard - noisy, nasty, misanthropic, and just fucking amazing. This should have been in my top ten albums of the year. Sorry guys.

Rating: 9/10

The Butcher of Beirut is dead

"I hope that you die
And your death it comes soon
And I'll follow your casket 
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch as you're lowered
Down to our death bed
And stand over your grave 
 'Til I'm sure that you're dead"

Bob Dylan wrote those words fifty years ago, about very different people, but they are appropriate today. Ariel Sharon, the man who was instrumental in the Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973; who was Minister for Defence (a laughable title in that country) when three and a half thousand people were massacred in the Sabra and Shutila refugee camps in 1982, an atrocity for which he was personally responsible; who was prime minister while Palestinians were killed in their thousands by Israeli troops; who was responsible for more outrages against the Palestinian people than I can enumerate; is dead. There are many people rejoicing at the news, and they have every right to - Sharon was a filthy criminal who ought to have been put down long ago. But that's the thing - he wasn't. It wasn't a bullet from a freedom fighter that killed, but organ failure. He did not die young, as he should have, but at the age of eighty-five. And, worse, the state of Israel is still there; the people of Palestine still face appalling conditions, violence from settlers and soldiers, and worse.

So by all means, celebrate; an evil man has left the earth. But the conditions that allowed him to perpetrate his crimes still exist, and others are doing what he no longer can.

Review - Sick/Tired

Sick/Tired
King of Dirt

"Everyone should be treated equally - with the same cruelty"

That's all the biographical info that Sick/Tired's Bandcamp page provides, and it's all that you need. The lyrics to their songs aren't displayed on Bandcamp, so there's no way of knowing what they're actually singing about, but it's pretty obvious that they're not happy. Their music perfectly embodies the bitter, misanthropic aspect of grindcore, spewing out vitriolic bursts of discordant semi-Noise that hit like a punch in the kidneys (and only last slightly longer - of the fifteen songs on King of Dirt, half are under a minute long, and only three exceed ninety seconds).
Sick/Tired tend to stay away from the lower end of the scale - their music takes its intensity from mid-range abrasiveness and squealing feedback - but songs like "Who Cares" show that they know their way around a bass groove too. This is genuinely one of the most intense albums I've heard all year - it's guaranteed to get your adrenal glands going, but more from fear than excitement. Listening to King of Dirt is like going on a rollercoaster (well, it would be, if I liked rollercoasters) - scary as fuck, but great fun.

Rating: 9/10

Review - Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen
High Hopes

Well, it's finally here - the new album from the Boss. I came to this with mixed expectations - on the one hand, he's been in kind of a slump recently. Magic was awful, and both Working on a Dream and Wrecking Ball were mediocre at best. But on the other hand, it's Bruce fucking Springsteen.Whatever he puts out, it's always wort a listen - he's made very few bad albums.

The title track is a vibrant, anthemic album opener, the kind of song guarunteed to get concert audiences singing along. Harry's Place shows a surprising return to Springsteen's '80s days - it's all swirling synth atmosphere and subtle, pulsing beats. It's fantastic, especially Tom Morello's guitar outro. The version of American Skin (41 Shots) is a little lacklustre, suffering from Springsteens recent tendency towards anthemicness for its own sake. Personally, I prefer this version. The next track is Just Like Fire Would, wich sounds like a rejected track from the Wrecking Ball sessions. Down in the Hole is no better - it's beginning to sound a lot like Springsteen's lost it, and that impression is only strengthened by the piss-weak attempted gospel of Heaven's Wall. Frankie Fell In Love is a half-decent pop song that rises above the previous tracks on the strength of its chorus and the fact that Springsteen actually appears to have some degree of emotional investment in the song. This Is Your Sword is just shit. Just utter, utter shit. Hunter of Invisible Game can go fuck itself, and the new version of Ghost of Tom Joad is pointless. The Wall is prety good, actually, but we've come to expect a lot more than pretty good from Springsteen. Fortunately, the album finishes with an excellent cover of Suicide's Dream Baby Dream, but that's not enough to save this abortion of a record.

Rating: 3/10

Review - Doom

Doom
Corrupt Fucking System

So, my first review of the year, and what better album to kick 2014 off with than a new release by crust legends Doom? Technically, Corrupt Fucking System came out in late 2013, but seeing as it was so late in December, I think it should count as a 2014 album. Doom have been around since the beginning of the crust movement (a long time by punk standards), and if this album is anything to go by, they haven't seen any reason to change their tried-and-tested formula: simple riffs, socio-political rage, and production covered with a layer of dirt about a foot thick.

With song titles like "Apostasy" and "Human Meat," you know what you;re going to get from this record; it's heavy, it's crusty, and it's pissed off. There is absolutely nothing new here, no surprise dubstep passages, no acoustic track. It's Doom doing what Doom do best. And what's wrong with that?

Well, to be honest, quite a bit. The songs are all good in and of themselves, but when you put all fourteen of them together, they get a bit boring. Don;t get me wrong - each track is a blistering adrenaline rush, everything you'd expect from a band of their stature, but there just isn't enough variety here to make it a great album. Any of of these songs would make a fantastic single, but at times it does sound like I've been listening to the same song for half an hour. There's nothing wrong with making every song very similar on a ten-minute EP, but over the course of Corrupt Fucking System's thirty-plus minutes, it gets quite wearying. I love Doom as much as the next man, and I really like each and every song on this album, but...overall, it's just kind of meh.

Rating: 6/10

Bigmouth Strikes Again (and he's right)

So - Morrissey! It seems as though every word out of this man's mouth offends a vast number of people. Recent scandals include reactionary bollocks regarding the Falklands, ill-judged comments on the Utoya attacks, and some welcome, if poorly thought-out, criticism of the royal family; but the main target of Morrissey's ire is meat. Meat eaters, the meat industry - he's like a parody of an in-your-face, preachy vegetarian. Now, he's compared eating meat to paedophilia, prompting the predictable chorus of outrage from the interwebs.

But, I have to wonder, do people really hate Morrissey because they're offended on behalf of child abuse survivors/the victims of Anders Breivik/whatever else he compares the meat industry to? Or are they simply shocked to see an outspoken vegetarian, one who dares to question the morality of slaughtering defenceless creatures en masse so that you can have a bacon sandwich? Here is a sample of some of the comments from articles about the incident:

Fuck the diet! Full English breakfast for me this morning after hearing this nonsense.

 This is what happens when people exist outside of societal norms for far too long... they go absolutely stark raving mad.
I will not greet a flesh eater? What utter nonsense. Poor delusional twit.

Just goes to prove veggies' don't have a brain.

And so on...

Penny Rimbaud once said that one of the reasons that so many meat-eaters seem to have so much hatred/ridicule for vegetarians is that nobody likes having their ideas challenged. A lot of the outrage online about Morrissey's anti-meat comments looks to me like people shouting down any dissenting opinion. It's a common tactic - get angry and berate someone for their lack of "respect" so that you don;t have to think about what they've said. You can see it in the way a Tory MP tried to shut down Glenda Jackson'scriticisms of Thatcher, or in what happened when people protested about the London Olympics, and I can certainly see it here. Nobody likes to be told that something they consider to be perfectly normal is in fact wrong.