Earache pushes Carcass LP box set

by Gabe Kagan on November 10, 2015

Carcass - Casket Case (2015)
On Friday, November 13th, you will be able to purchase Carcass’s latest compilation (Casket Case) for up to one minute. Earache Records claims that their previous ultra-limited box sets have sold out incredibly fast and it seems unlikely that this will be an exception. Casket Case features all five of the studio LPs Carcass released for Earache, meaning that you get the later underwhelming “melodic death metal” material as well as earlier, formative grindcore and death metal if you manage to get your hands on this. As a consolation price for those who fail to get their hands on this apparent bounty, Earache is also discounting the separate albums on CD for some time, as well as two compilations from when the band was dissolved during the late ’90s and early 2000s.

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Lugubrious Burial – “Rehearsal” (1989)

by Brett Stevens on November 10, 2015

lugubrious_burial_-_rehearsal_1989

This track calls to mind the more underground edge of the 1985-1987 period. Its roots lie in speed metal and hardcore crossover, with much of its riffing relying on the type of heavily-downpicked recursive patterns that Metallica would have used if they, like hardcore bands, wanted to quiver on the edge of dissonance. The trudging riffing picks up the pace and is balanced by full-on necrotic underground metal vocals, dropping into a mid-paced groove with lots of chromatic riffs with more abrupt changes that you would see in speed metal. The vocals tend to carry this with a full mucosal drip distorted as if shouts after a bombing raid as the city burns. Would like to hear more from this band.

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Samuel Smith Old Brewery – The Celebrated Oatmeal Stout

by Cory Van der Pol on November 10, 2015

samuel_smith_old_brewery_-_the_celebrated_oatmeal_stout

Whenever I try a new beer, I compare it to a similar offering from Samuel Smith Old Brewery. These venerable beers have decked the shelves of quality liquor stores for at least two generations in the states, and continue to sell because of their fundamental quality as interpreted by people who enjoy having a pint that is a flavor experience in itself.

The Celebrated Oatmeal Stout has a slightly bitter, thoroughly grainy, and rich dark taste that rewards the drinker with an even consistency from top to bottom of the glass. Unlike the hipster beers which ramp up a single flavor component, the slight bitterness expands into a creamy caramel which balances the yeasty tastes. The reason for its bitterness is revealed as it becomes clear that without that to balance the sweetness, this beer would seem like syrup, where with it, The Celebrated Oatmeal Stout takes on the flavor dimensions of a good coffee: an initial bite, then a caramelized nuttiness, followed by a smooth and warm taste, all of which are ensconced in a basic richness that makes this the beer you want if you can have only one.

It is not exactly the news to write a review praising Samuel Smith Old Brewery in 2015, but it is a good reminder: for half of what you spend on hipster IPAs, you can get a classic that has nurtured casual drinkers for generations. It is too intense in both flavor and body to drink like an alcoholic, but serves as the perfect complement to a winter afternoon. Unlike most beers, it feels clean and whole in the mouth and does not break down into its constituent components. Like the best of beers, it combines flavor with composition and delivers a 5% ABV without it overshadowing the other aspects of the beer. Keep your trendy beers; this is all I’ll need.

Quality rating: 5/5
Purchase rating: 5/5

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Enforcer – From Beyond (2015)

by Gabe Kagan on November 9, 2015

Enforcer - From Beyond (2015)
Enforcer has colonized 1983 and created an album that synthesizes much of that era’s above-ground metal, along with some careful additions from early speed/power metal into a coherent and musically proficient, if not particularly inventive whole. When you take into mind that there was just as much disposable crap being released then as now (at least by ratios), this probably pulls ahead of much of its inspirations for taking advantage of the historical perspective granted by 30 years of hindsight. Whether or not that’s enough to make it worthwhile is one of the questions I had on my mind as I evaluated From Beyond.
(more…)

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Update on Summoning’s upcoming studio album

by Gabe Kagan on November 9, 2015

summoning-large-headline

Summoning has been working on their latest studio album for about a year now. More recently (although admittedly some months ago), they spoke to a writer at Darkview about their plans for the upcoming album. So far, the band members continue to emphasize a degree of continuity with the style established on Old Morning’s Dawn, ranging from its more depressive atmosphere to the reuse of material originally intended for that album. On the other hand, Silenus suggests that some aspects of the music (like the melodic lines) may end up more like older albums, such as Oath Bound and Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame. Regardless of what material it takes after, it’s likely that Summoning’s next album will be of some merit, and we’ll certainly update you on it once we have more concrete information.

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Metal music can be good medicine for coping with anxiety

by Gabe Kagan on November 8, 2015

Picture of Anna Noura Kuhlmann making the sign of the horns
We’ve occasionally written about the correlation between metal music fandom and various mental changes (often positive). More recently, University of Saskatchewan student Anna Nouhl Kuhlmann recently performed a study that lends credence to anecdotal stories of metal music resolving anxiety issues. Kuhlmann notably decided to focus on female fans, claiming that “A lot of the research I’ve found focuses on men…”, and that she “…wanted to show that metal music can have positive results for female fans, even though it has such negative stereotypes about it.” I personally doubt the results would be substantially different if the study had a different gender focus, at least based on my own personal experience of finding the genre less stressful than, for instance, mainstream pop. I’d also like to see the actual publications associated with this study, as it presumably would provide more details on her approach and findings that would definitely be of interest to our readers.

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Dakhma – Astiwihad-Zohr (2015)

by Staff on November 8, 2015

Dakhma cover
Article by David Rosales

What is up with this sudden influx of nonsensical war metal? Is this some sort of epidemic? Is there no end to subpar minimalist death metal clones? Dakhma’s Astiwihad-Zohr is one of the many albums that, once weighted and considered in the light of everything that has come before, forces one to ask if it was really necessary that someone waste any kind of resources recording it. While not outright offensive, it is lukewarm, at best while at worst, it is comical in its unabashed mediocrity.

It appears that anyone with a penchant for occultish themes and an appeal for the underground metal most superficial aesthetic feels entitled to put out one of these turds that the supporting community, the “scene”, considers an invaluable contribution to the ever-growing stack of EPs and albums nobody will give a second listen to. This needs to stop now. This metal funderground is destroying everything underground metal meant as an artistic refuge for true expression, even though uneducated and rough on the edges. No, it isn’t “cool” that we are immortalizing any of this shit in vinyls. No, it isn’t cool that nowadays there are so many bands to choose from when most of them are not worth a second of your life and they only drown and even suffocate those with actual potential.

With no heads or tale to speak of, these songs meander between heavy minimalist riffs, meaningless silences and long growls and grunts for “the feels”. This is all part of the idiocy of postmodernist thinking that falls into the trap of awarding relevance only to individual, ultra-subjective feelings towards passing moments in the music, and meaning to nothing in art. This is psychobabble for morons trying to feel smart. They forget that although human rules of social engagements are, indeed, “constructs”, this does not mean they are less relevant. They forget that all spoken or written language is also a “construct”, yet it is not any less meaningful because of it. This understanding that requires a journey into complexity and back again into perspective seems to be out of reach for most. Enslave the masses. Take away their means of assailing our senses with this display of mental retardation.

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Diavolos – You Lived, Now Die (2015)

by Staff on November 8, 2015

Diavolos - You Lived, Now Die (2015)
Review by David Rosales

Band and album names often reveal the character of the music contained in detail, but the art of discerning or intuiting these things requires some experience as well as conscious and active attention to correlations. A tongue-in-cheek and mainstream-friendly name like Diavolos already conveys an ironic attitude towards the genre itself. A empty and virtually meaningless album name like You Lived, Now Die lets through the stink of missionless, anarchist fun.

All that said, Diavolos does excel in its technical application and configuration of riffs and riff compendiums as a progressions. But this is only skin deep and it is right after middle of songs that their lack starts to show in the need for solos sections that break off from the initial idea only to connect with a speeding outro. These songs are built and pieced together as IKEA furniture. Cheap and convenient.

Diavolos’ You Lived, Now Die will prove an entertaining listen to those with a weakness for eighties Teutonic speed metal, but will probably not be spun more than once or twice as it provides little that cannot be found in older bands. I am guessing that the bet of a label on this is just to keep presenting the same thing in a new package. This works only because most are too lazy to explore and actually listen to the music, which would reveal most of this second-rate vanity as completely redundant and even more importantly, unable to achieve valuable communication.

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Desecresy releases Stoic Death

by Brett Stevens on November 7, 2015

desecresy_-_stoic_death

On November 1, 2015, Finnish doom-death metal band Desecresy released Stoic Death, its recent offering of mid-paced atmospheric death metal with structure melodic rhythm lead guitar guiding the development of each song.

This album, the fourth from this perceptive and morbid band, promises to develop its elegant and immersive death metal which creates a dark sensation and develops it with both emotion and crushing nihilistic emptiness. Stoic Death will be a perfect midwinter album.

    Tracklist

  1. Remedies of Wolf’s Bane
  2. The Work of Anakites
  3. Passage to Terminus
  4. Abolition of Mind
  5. Sanguine Visions
  6. Funeral Odyssey
  7. Cantillate in Ages Agone
  8. Unantropomorph

The album can be acquired at the following locations:

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Zloslut prepares to release U transu sa nepoznatim siluetama

by Brett Stevens on November 7, 2015

zloslut_-_u_transu_sa_nepoznatim_siluetama

Zloslut plans to release its latest album, U transu sa nepoznatim siluetama, on November 15, 2015 on CD. The band released the following statement:

The CD version of the new Zloslut album “U transu sa nepoznatim siluetama” is finally in the pressing plant.

Release date is fixed for November 15th. LP, MC and digital release will follow soon after.

Pre-orders are available through Winterblast Halls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io1jReCe_5Q

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