Man, there’s a lot going on recently isn’t there? Bands are wanting salaries from their fans… Nails has announced they never broke up and just put out a raging split with Full Of Hell… Decibel announced their beer-a-polooza show next year in April… The new Metallica is coming out this month… Oh yeah, and there’s that president thing.
Sooo… Superjoint, which used to be Superjoint Ritual is releasing Caught Up In The Gears Of Application on Housecore, this record starts off pretty strong. A kind of punky thrash, southern rock amalgam that shows a lot of intensity. I gotta say this is catchy and there are riffs here that move and swing so the record never really gets boring, but the whole album runs out of steam near the end. Phil sounds just as pissed as ever and after his January Dimebash outburst, who knows? The record is a little more cohesive than their last two releases, and kind of struggles to stand out from its obvious influences, but is a solid release nonetheless. The production here is pissed and polished enough to sound professional but loses no anger or energy. Fans of Phil and of Superjoint will not be disappointed, but it’s by no means the record of the year. 6 Fucking Pecks.
I feel like I start a lot of these things with “this isn’t my thing” and in the case of In Flames and their new record Battles, it’s most definitely true. Melodeath kinda leaves me flat as more of a “death” bird and less of a “melo” bird, but hey, I digress… This is the weak sauce and even though there is a catchiness here, this is an exercise in whimpishness. Apparently this is better than a lot of their better releases, like I would know. This is polished and slick and packs all the punch of a toddler. To call this pop metal is pretty accurate and if that’s your thing, I guess this doesn’t suck, but you know what? Peck it, it sucks. 2 Fucking Pecks.
So like you know, not my thing right? There seems to be a theme here, and typically black metal is NOT my thing, but Ash Borer’s new record The Irrepassable Gate (whatever that means) IS my thing (see how I did that?) This is a very strange, esoteric sort of black metal. It’s artful and broad, and at times shows a dark sort of majestic sound while still having some grit to it. There are elements of funeral doom, post metal and obviously black metal. This is an intense listen, and not in a techy sort of way, but an enveloping Lovecraftian imminent doom sorta thing. Just a nod to the production, it fits the music to a blackened “T.” I’m pecking liking this. 7 Fucking Pecks.
Also check out the band Vermin Womb, blackened grind, killer stuff….
Waldo out!
