It’s that time of the year, and well, normally I bitch about nothing coming out, but this time, there’s ACTUALLY things I like, well, not everything. So, like, let’s get into it…
Serpentine Dominion, a supergroup, has been in the works for a long time, and is releasing their self-titled full length on Metal Blade. Let me first start by touching on the supergroup aspect, this features Corpsegrinder from Cannibal Corpse, Adam Dutkiewicz from Killswitch Engage and Shannon Lucas, ex-Black Dahlia Murder drummer. I gotta say, that this is heavier and more death metal than one would expect from someone from KSE doing the bulk of the writing, but this is still not my thing. There are a lot of melodic elements here, enough to break the monotony, but it just comes across as, I dunno, something I don’t really dig. I do have to say that Corpsegrinder’s vocals are killer and even though most supergroups are kinda lame, this one stands out. This is just ok, and people other than me seem to like it (let’s be honest, I’m not people) so, check the teaser track, if you dig it, get it, if not, don’t. Oh yeah, and this thing is short, like really short, so it’s not much of an investment. 4 Fucking Pecks.
Alright, onto one of my favorite death metal bands out there now. Ulcerate is releasing Shrines Of Paralysis on Relapse, and as one could expect, this is a barn burner. Imagine if HP Lovecraft could compose a technical, brutal death metal record, and this is what you have here. This thing is weird, heavy and is the literal translation of hopelessness. The one big gripe is the way the record sounds, there’s a lot of dynamics in the music, but not so much in the master which can come across as pretty monotonous at times. There are grooves here and the best way to describe the record is dense, and the riffs move and warp yet maintain their brutality. Just to mention, because I think I should, this drummer is arguably one of the most creative and brutal in extreme metal… Period. 8 Fucking Pecks.
So not really metal, but internet famous Whores is releasing the noise rock jam Gold, and it’s pretty dope. The obvious comparisons here are Amphetamine Reptile-style punk that recalls the sounds of the Unsane. That’s not to say that Whores is derivative, they’re not at all, they are just kind of what they are, and what they are is a nasty, heavy punk band drenched in irony. Upbeat is mostly how Gold rolls, as there are a couple mid-paced moments, but that means it’s no less destructive. The thing here is this is not just an angry, aggressive record, it’s catchy and it pecking rocks, it beaking kicks out the jams. So after just a couple of eps, this full length kicks those in the dick. So yeah, Whores… killer. 7 Fucking Pecks.
