OK, here's a bunch of short reviews because I can't be bothered waxing
lyrical about anything. The moral of the story is, the new Agents Of Abhorrence album
is the shit, so go get it!
Agents of Abhorrence - Relief (Psychocontrol Records/625 Thrashcore)
Holy shit! The first time you listen to some albums, you know,
before the first song is over, that you are going to have to listen to
it again and again. This was my experience with the latest album by
Melbourne grind geniuses Agents Of Abhorrence, I sat down and listened
to this record three times in a row. It's a relentless, uncompromising,
and blasting beast of an album that captures the brutal intensity of the
band's live show. As well as A+ tunes, Relief features killer production,
great artwork, and its pressed on bronze vinyl. Fuck yes! I can't
recommend any particular song overall, because the whole thing is
basically a flawless masterpiece. Grind 'til death, rockers!
Power Trip - Manifest Decimation (Southern Lord)
The logical follow-up to classics like Reign In Blood and Seven Churches,
if 2013 was actually 1987 in an alternate universe. This album has it
all: utterly crushing riffage, gang vocals, ripping leads that betray
obvious debts to Hanneman (RIP), reverb covers the whole thing like it
was recorded in a gnarly death metal cave, and cover art that is fucking
incredible! "Conditioned To Death", "Crossbreaker" and "The Hammer Of Doubt" are all massive tunes, the kind that probably open up mosh pits that resemble the portals of Hell in a live forum. Let's face it, everything probably did sound better 25
years ago, but with Manifest Decimation, at least Power Trip are able to capture the essence of that time without being recklessly regressive.
Melvins - Everybody Loves Sausages (Ipecac)
Melvins are fucking excellent at covers: "Goin' Blind" from Houdini, "Youth Of America" from Electroretard, "Rambling Man" from The Crybaby.
All awesome! They can basically do justice to anything they try, which is the difference between most other bands' cover albums and the Melvins. So this album comes as no surprise, and the cool thing
about it is they enlist their pals to provide guest vocals. We get to
hear Jello Biafra doing "In Every Dream Home A Heartache" by Roxy Music
and Jim "Foetus" Thirlwell doing a Bowie impression on "Station to
Station." Also featuring turns by Scott Kelly of Neurosis doing Venom,
Mark Arm from Mudhoney doing the Scientists, and Amphetamine Records
owner Tom Hazelmyer (also of Halo Of Flies) doing the Jam, the unifying thread between the disparate material (Queen to Divine to the Kinks to Throbbing Gristle) is the fact that this was clearly a totally fun record to make!
Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance (Peaceville)
Darkthrone
Fucking Darkthrone! These guys are basically the conscience of true
metallers worldwide, posers be damned! Case in point: Fenriz's Band Of The Week blog
is well worth checking out if you are looking for something new to
listen to, whatever your preferred style. This has proved such a success
that the Live Evil festival, devoted to keeping the old school metal
flame alive with acts culled from the BOTW blog, has been running in
London for the past couple of years. So; Darkthrone are like Renaissance
men of modern day heavy metal, armed with the kind of knowledge that
makes really good musicians great - beyond just knowing about the
history, they are an entrenched part of it, and the role that Fenriz
plays as a heavy metal taste-maker is much less a intellectual position
than just wanting to share all these ripping bands he has heard from
across the globe. The whole Darkthrone back-story doesn't need repeating
here: A Blaze In The Northern Sky, Under A Funeral Moon, and Transilvanian Hunger
are all absolutely essential metal albums! However, after continuing to
release quality BM after the turn of the decade, Fenriz and Nocturno
Culto began to incorporate elements of crust punk and NWOBHM into their
music. This continued until their most recent album (2010's Circle The Wagons) which was essentially an out-and-out old school heavy metal record, with a heady mix of punk attitude and NWOBHM anthems! The Underground Resistance continues
in that fine tradition, although the more punchy punk-rock side of
things has been somewhat sidelined by a more traditional heavy metal
approach. "Dead Early" storms out the gate with a fuzzy intro riff
before a massive bass and drum pound begins. The main riff is classic,
timeless heavy metal, done in a style that could only be Darkthrone's.
On "Valkyrie", Fenriz finally unleashes the soaring, epic vocals he has
teased on their previous albums. Nocturno Culto leads some forays into
doomier material ("Lesser Men", "Come Warfare, The Entire Doom"), but
there is no room for the blasting grimness of their earlier material.
The whole album just feels like a tribute to the vintage heavy metal
styles of the 80's. This is nowhere more apparent than the mammoth track
"Leave No Cross Unturned", which twists and turns through 13-odd
minutes of epic riffage that basically leave you wanting more. Considering
that many of these songs had their genesis back in 2009/10, hopefully
this means that new material from the band will be forthcoming. At any
rate, The Underground Resistance seems to encapsulate some kind
of "eternal now" for Darkthrone - they can help pioneer a whole genre,
and some twenty years later they can return to the styles that inspired them in the first place.
http://www.darkthrone.no/
Baptists - Bushcraft (Southern Lord)
Axe-weilding takes a literal place on the cover of Vancouver band Baptists' debut full-length Bushcraft.
A double-exposure of a dude hacking into a tree trunk, it captures the
raw power that this album possesses. It is a wild 28 minute ride, and if
the overall flow of the album is anything to go by, these guys probably
put on a totally awesome live show. From the blistering d-beat
onslaught of "Betterment" to the almost Jesus Lizard-style noise rock
groove of "Still Melt", Baptists cover a wide range without losing their
singular identity. Recorded by Converge's Kurt Ballou, like many recent
great hardcore and metal albums, this album sounds absolutely huge. The
guitars razing a furious metallic blues swathe across the crushing
drums, as best evidenced on the title track, which undergoes a myriad of
transitions over its two and a half minute length. "Soiled Roots" is a
another great slow-burning slice of noise rock, the aggression holding
back during a creeping midsection. Unsure of where to put your metalcore
records? Burn them all, then make a shelf for "kick-ass hardcore and
metal LPs". Make sure Bushcraft is in there.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/BAPTISTS/
Speaking of fantastic metallic hardcore, Milwaukee act Enabler are embarking on a tour of Australia, with Melbourne band Urns in tow.
All shows $15 on the door.
Wednesday 3 July – TBA, Byron Bay AA
Thursday 4 July – Crowbar, Brisbane 18+
Friday 5 July 5 – Hermann’s Bar, Sydney 18+
Saturday 6 July – Black Wire Records, Sydney AA
Sunday 7 July – Yours & Owls, Wollongong AA
Tuesday 9 July – Croatian Wickham Bowls Club, Newcastle 18+
Wednesday 10 July – The Pot Belly Bar, Canberra 18+
Thursday 11 July – The Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne 18+
Friday 12 July – Black Goat Warehouse, Melbourne AA
Saturday 13 July – The Enigma Bar, Adelaide 18+
Check out the title track from their great 2012 full-length, All Hail The Void.
