No Funeral - Six Songs EP (2011)

Band: No Funeral
Country: USA
Style: Black Metal/Punk
Label: Wands

My recent love affair with blackened punk, hardcore, crust, etc. has obviously come to the point where if a band looks even remotely interesting, chances are I'll look into it. This debut release from this new band definitely interested me, since I had heard some good things, and I was buying the Sutekh Hexen stuff anyway I bought it. Other than that, I really didn't have any idea what I was getting into.
I was curious as for how this band would present themselves, would it be more black metal sounding, would it be more punk-ish and hardcore like, would it be sludgy at all? Once Muck begins, I was hit with a sound that I did not expect. I already knew, coming into it, that this would be pretty raw, but I didn't anticipate it to be as brutal it actually is. I had no idea that the vocals would be as pummeling as they actually are, they just grabbed me from the get-go with the almost moaning style in which their performed in. With all that being said, this album is still pretty melodic and straightforward, sonically having a lot more of a punk sound than a black metal one, Hour to Die or The Train Is On My Head for example. If you can get past how raw and primal this is, these songs reveal themselves to be pretty catchy. There's also this continuing sound, which comes from the ride cymbal, I think, that wound up sounding like chains hitting an object, and that really hit home with me, and made the music and lyrics more unified, but that's just me.
Though I'm not much of a punk guy, I found this to be really enjoyable and a good listen. For a debut EP it shows a lot of potential, as these guys are doing something interesting. Check it out if you like raw punk or think the idea of black metal influenced punk sounds cool, like I did.
Overall Score: 7.5
Highlights: No One Around, Cancer

Night Hag - Gilded Age (2011)

Band: Night Hag
Country: Adelaide, Australia
Style: Blackened Hardcore/Crust Punk
Label: Independent

I haven't covered this sort of stuff in a couple of months so I kind of wanted to find something interesting. Blackened crust and hardcore is a style that I've found quite interesting, as all the bands I've checked out have been quite good and interesting. This Australian group interested me with the cover of this album as well as that I haven't heard a whole lot coming from down under this year.
With my increased interest in the likes of screamo, post-hardcore, and crust punk music in recent months, this album sounds just as passionate as those genres should, but provides the intensity and technicality of black metal. This thing just doesn't relent, at just over thirty minutes total, this thing is just an injection of energy for any listener and just got me excited. The vocals also bring the whole hardcore and screamo vibe to life, because they are performed in a throaty yell rather than a scream. Personally, while I prefer the usual screaming, I feel that this style of vocals brings a type of authenticity to a band that definitely makes a vocalist more believable. I also believe that the vocals on here actually suit with what the band are doing and bring an very graspable tension in the music to the surface, which I was quite surprised by.
Along with the obvious black metal infusion, there's also a nice helping of sludge on here as well, probably coming from the crust influence. Songs like Tooth & Hand and Wood Teeth are much slower and work on building much more tension before releasing it into a high-speed burst. I feel like a lot of these songs are also quite well written, most have a natural flow from beginning to end, and almost no track left me unsatisfied, with the exception being Cynic. Personally, I kind of wish that this album had a few more songs or that some songs were a little longer because this left me wanting more.
This is a great album and one that has definitely made me a fan of the band. It's nice to hear a band that presents a nice melding of genres into something that sounds so authentic and passionate, bare-bones exposed and no frills. Definitely check this out if you like any of the above genres, this is some good stuff.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Fog Fever, Ash Cloud, Golden Age

All Pigs Must Die - God Is War (2011)

Band: All Pigs Must Die
Country: Massachusetts
Style: Hardcore Punk/Sludge Metal
Label: Southern Lord

For all it's hype, all the great press I've heard from people about this, it's not why I'm finally getting to this. The reason why I'm so late getting to this, because I've planned it for a little while at this point, is because I've finally found something else to pair with it. Members of Converge, The Red Chord, Bloodhorse, and The Hope Conspiracy, are the members, Kurt Ballou produced it, it's common knowledge at this point, we all know it.
Whether or not I've said it before or not, I am a fan of hardcore music, hardcore punk that is, I find the mid-to-late 80s scene bands just great. Modern hardcore doesn't bring me to the same place those early bands did, most are very uninspired and lackluster, at best. So what is it about these guys, well for me, it's the spunk and passion that actually emanates from these songs, it's feels real, it feels like four guys who are just playing their hearts out. I think it's also the production that makes it feel a bit more authentic, because this isn't a sterile, super polished album, it's produced, but the emotion still comes through. I love how the bass still comes through on a song like Sacrosanct and they just go into a feedback induced breakdown during the title-track, God Is War, this is stuff that wouldn't cut it on a produced hardcore record.
Granted, sonically, this doesn't differ too much from a lot of other modern bands in the hardcore/metalcore, mind you I'm referencing more Converge than As I Lay Dying here, but it's the shifts in the songs that keep it from getting too boring. There are fast, thrashy riffs, vocals that are more shouted and barked than growled or screamed, and constant tempos shifts, a single song rarely remains fast for it's entirety. The intent is to remain pummeling and brutal without being monotonous and single minded, which I feel they have done on here. I'll say that most of this album is fast, most of it, but there's a lot that is slower and mid-paced, the most obvious being closer Sadistic Vindicator which shows the clearest sense of sludge and doom metal influence. In addition to that, I loved the black metal influence included in Extinction Is Ours. Now, I know a lot of people are going to get upset by this, but this is what I feel metalcore should sound like, if you're a metalcore band, you should have equal parts hardcore, punk, crust, etc. and equal parts metal, whatever sub-genre, and should not be attached to all these emocore bands trying to imitate Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying.
Hardcore, metalcore, punk, sludge, whatever, so long as it's good, and this thing definitely is. A solid slab of punk inspired music that just made me want to get up and break stuff. Definitely look into it if you like metal influenced hardcore and punk stuff, and sorry for being so repetitive throughout this review.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Sacrosanct, Extinction Is Ours, Sadistic Vindicator

Deathspell Omega - Diabolus Absconditus EP (2011)

Band: Deathspell Omega
Country: Poitiers, France
Style: Progressive Black Metal
Label: Norma Evangelium Diaboli

It's been less than a year and DSO have already released another epic album. This little EP contains a single track, much like several other EPs that have been released in the last decade by the band. What can you hope for except for excellence from this band.
Unlike the more chaotic and intense performances that were used on the previous two albums, this new track slows the whole thing down to a crawl. Though the more dissonant harmonies and warped atmospheres remain, they are far more disturbing and morbid than those found on the last few releases, to me anyway. Even when this thing moves into a more traditional black metal pace, I feel like it never really reaches the same sort of intensity that was reached on the full-lengths, instead bringing a more atmospheric element into the forefront. This also sees, possibly, the most melodic moments yet for the band, with a very melodic, clean guitar section appearing just over half way into the track that really doesn't sound like anything I can recall. This is probably my favorite part of the entire song because the clean guitars are nice and folk-ish while a nice bass-line goes almost jazzy underneath it.
Great EP, though it really doesn't surprise me in that regard. This band has proven themselves able to morph into pretty much anything they like and succeed in it. Definitely check this out if you haven't already, I should have to tell you why.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Diabolus Absconditus

Nightbringer - Hierophany of The Open Grave (2011)

Band: Nightbringer
Country: Green Mountain Falls, Colorado
Style: Black Metal
Label: Season of Mist

I'll be honest and say that I ignored this band until earlier this year. Last year, their album, "Apocalypse Sun," got a lot of praise from various sources. I had heard a lot of praise from friends and acquaintances on that one in particular, so I decided to actually give this one a chance.
Now, it's not like I'm coming into this totally fresh, I've listened to the band's older material before taking in this new one. This album retains the band's signature style of playing from previous releases, but heightens them to a point on here. The usual idea of tons of reverb so we can sound all ominous and big doesn't really apply on here, even if I believe it is certainly working to their advantage, all the atmosphere on here simply adds to their Wagner-esque take on black metal. The comparison to Deathspell Omega has been applied to this record, and while I don't hear a lot of them, there are some similarities in building tension, an almost chaotic take on melody, and an utter disregard for all things traditional.
Personally, although I had imagined liking this album a lot, especially after hearing Lucifer Trismegistus for the first time, I did not expect it to blow me away like it did. I'm sure if you're a black metal fan, you've had experiences with the whole symphonic black metal genre, it's no secret, but this band trumps pretty much every symphonic black metal, or symphonic metal in general if you prefer, band I've ever heard. Without ever making use of any of the orchestral keys, or a real orchestra, these guys have seemingly created a totally new take on the genre, or symphonic black or black metal in general. I've never heard a black metal band manage to really capture the epicness and grandiose nature of classical and orchestral music in their sound without using any cheesy synthes or actual classical instrumentation, but these guys have done it. It's atmosphere is encompassing and at times claustrophobic, but always shifting and moving. There's just so much going on beyond the typical black metal assault that early songs like Eater of The Black Lead may lead you to believe after an initial listen.
Amazing album, one of the best black metal albums to come out this year in my opinion. This is definitely a game changer for black metal, it shows symphonic bands how it's done and trve bands how to really capture atmosphere. Definitely check this out, one of the best black metal albums to come out this year.
Overall Score: 9.5
Highlights: Every Song Is A Highlight

Mogwai - Earth Division EP (2011)

Band: Mogwai
Country: Glasgow, UK
Style: Post-Rock
Label: Rock Action/Sub Pop

Just over half a year and we have yet another release from one of post-rock's leading groups. "Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will" demonstrated a more streamlined approach to songwriting but this four song release is supposed to be something different. It's been quite short, but I was certainly hoping for something a bit more abstract.
Within these four tracks you get a very different side of Mogwai, one that isn't showcased all that often. Each of these tracks presents a different idea, one that certainly gets me excited, but I'm sure will anger others. Opener, Get to France, is a nice piano and string led ballad that is very calm and somber and leads perfectly into Hound of Winter, a vocal led ballad, which melds a post-rock background to a more singer-songwriter type of song. But the track that I'm sure will take most people by surprise is the noisy and glitchy Drunk and Crazy, which definitely incorporates a lot more of the noisier elements from their past couple of albums in full. Does This Always Happen?, the closer to this release, is probably the most typical song for Mogwai, it's definitely based more in their usual style, but has a great classical accompaniment flowing along with it.
Personally, I'm very happy with the outcome of this little EP. Sure, it's not the band's best work, but it's a nice helping of what I can only hope the future might bring. Definitely check it out if you like post-rock or even modern classical music.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Get to France, Does This Always Happen?

Sleepmakeswaves - ...And So We Destroyed Everything (2011)

Band: Sleepmakeswaves
Country: Sydney, Australia
Style: Post-Rock
Label: Independent

I'm sure I've said in a previous review that while I love metal, I also have grown quite fond of post-rock as well, and thus, enjoy looking for new bands from that genre. This one was recommended by a friend of mine, Matt Finney, who also guests on here, so I decided to look into it. I have high hopes seeing as I don't take recommendations from just anyone.
Post-rock, as a genre, I usually like to express emotional states, because I feel like it's one of the few genres that comes across as, I guess, authentic in conveying different emotions. From happiness to sadness to anger, and so on, I feel like they can all come out through the build-ups and falls the music is so typically goes through. There's a broad spectrum of emotions used throughout this album, but I feel that it works so well on here, in comparison to other bands, is how well these guys use dynamics. Like I just said, ups and downs in the music, but there are all sorts of influences coming in from folk and acoustic music, electronic music, and metal in here as well, which really expand upon this from being a solely post-rock album.
Coming from Matt, I expected something a lot darker, but this really doesn't express darkness all that much. There are moments where the music is a lot more somber and melancholic, Our Time Is Short But Your Watch Is Slow, but a lot of the album doesn't really dwell on that. There's a lot of beautiful melodies weaved throughout here that are just fantastic, I personally love the short ballad, We Love You When You're Awkward. I also like how even though this album isn't really "metal," there are more than a few parts on here where they come off as just being really heavy sounding. The most metal part of this album comes out in the title-track, ...And So We Destroyed Everything, where you get some nice doomy riffs and brooding atmosphere.
In the end, I really enjoyed this record, there wasn't a song that I thought was out of place or bad. Though I expected this to at least be decent, it blew away the expectations that I had for it and surpassed the expectations I had for most post-rock this year. This comes highly recommended from me, definitely check this out.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: A Gaze Blank and Pitiless As The Sun, Now We Rise and We Are Everywhere, ...And So We Destroyed Everything