The Living Doorway

Ascension - Abomination (1998)

2012-01-27T12:45:00.000-08:00

Hey you fucking meatheads, have you always wondered what it would sound like if you threw Integrity, Catharsis and Gehenna in a blender? Now you know. Ascension play Clevo-style "holy terror" hardcore, the type of thing that seemed like the most metal fucking thing you have ever heard back in 98', but now pretty much just sounds like 'JUN JUN JUNNNN' with Dwid's little brother screaming over it.

FUCK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

Tracklist:
1. Center Circle Pawn
2. Being and Nothingness
3. Progression Struggle
4. Suffer the Sickness
5. Primortium
6. Abomination
7. Clayden
8. Disaray
9. Elemental
10. Mortal Decay

LIFT WEIGHTS.

Ramlord/Condensed Flesh- Split EP (2012)

2012-01-27T05:00:00.000-08:00

The good ol' boys in Ramlord (who happen to be from my home state of New Hampshire) sent this my way earlier last week, and it's a pleasant if not entirely too short split with another NH band called Condensed Flesh. Unfortunately, I was only sent the Ramlord material, but I am to understand that the CF material is a live demo recording, which I'm not really going to shed any tears over missing out on.

The Ramlord side is reason enough to check this out, though - a down n' dirty slug fest of crusty dark hardcore in the vein of His Hero Is Gone and Artimus Pile, though not quite as explosive or latently melodic. The recording is imperfect, yet solid enough to let the raw energy of the songs blast through (I believe this was recorded at Dead Air Studios with Will from Orchid/Ampere, if that means anything to you). Sure, this might not turn the world on it's head, but it's definitely worth a spin or two, and it's certainly nice to know that the granite state is keeping it crusty. Live free or die, motherfuckers.

Tracklist:
1. Restrained
2. Retrained
3. Reality
4. Relapse

what the fuck
bandcamp

The Convocation Of... - Pyramid Technology (2001)

2012-01-26T05:00:00.000-08:00

Lazy awesome guitar-hero post rock from this unsung band featuring members of Moss Icon, Universal Order of Armageddon, and Born Against. I don't really feel like talking about it, but I will say that this band is better than all of those bands, with the exception of Born Against. At least that is my opinion, which you trust implicitly because you keep coming back here day after day after day after day after day after day after day.

Listen here, and then stick it to the man by downloading it.

Tracklist:
1. Face to Face With the Beast
2. Crimson King's Deceit
3. Ramblin'
4. Recognize
5. Dark Stone
6. Eternal Dreamtime
7. Walk Like a Panther
8. The Time Portal
9. Unlimited Outer Thought Broadcast

face the beast

WFH Wednesday: A Minor Forest - Flemish Altruism (Constituent Parts 1993-1996) (1996)

2012-01-25T10:17:00.000-08:00

It seems when it comes to music complicated for complicated's sake is pretty boring, which I think stems from my theory that great technical musicians aren't always the best songwriters. A lot of what Joe Satriani or Steve Vai write just bores me. Same could be said for the slough of math rock bands that cropped up in the 90's. There were a few gems, Drive Like Jehu, Slint, and Don Caballero to name a few. One of my all time favorites in that category though was A Minor Forest. (I think math rock is an odd term. To me it just means indie rock with better drummers and more complex time signatures.)

A Minor Forest was a three piece from San Francisco who kicked the ass of their many math rock contemporaries. When it seemed others were drifting into the shoe-gaze-space-snooze territory, AMF injected a bit of punk and hardcore into the complex rhythms and tonal passages. They still have the quieter introspective moments, but there is enough punch to keep you on notice.

I couldn't find a clip of my favorite track on this album, Dainty Jack and His Amazing Technicolor Cloth Jacket (which actually contains a blast beat), but the one below is still a good example of the dynamics they could create as well as some great riffs.

It isn't the full song, but you get the idea. Sadly they broke up a couple of years later. I missed my one chance to see them play, but I heard from my friend they were even better live. They set up so that the drummer would face the band, which instantly makes them more creative than most boring rock bands who set up the same boring way.

Next week I will begin my 6 month battle with JGD. I'll outline my plan for total domination, because the only thing that tastes sweeter than victory is a free hot fudge sundae.

Tracklist
1. ...But the Pants Stay On
2. Bill's Mom Likes to Fuck
3. Ed Is 50
4. So Jesus Was at the Last Supper
5. Jacking Off George Lucas
6. Speed for Gavin
7. Perform the Critical Straw Transfer
8. Dainty Jack and His Amazing Technicolor Cloth Jacket
9. Beef Rigger
10. The Lonliest Enuretic

Don't you hate pants?

Chispa/Enfold - Split CD (1999)

2012-01-24T05:00:00.000-08:00

Greetings and salutations, humans. Today's post is something I've been looking forward to for quite some time, as this split is all-but-impossible to find and exists as a genuine artifact from the late 90's hardcore-era. Chispa and Enfold were both woefully overlooked yet utterly awesome chaotic hardcore bands from Germany (they actually shared several members), who seemed to have came and went without much fanfare. We have this to remember them by, though. Bloodlink Records released this hand-numbered split exclusively for Chispa and Enfold's US tour (Chispa's songs were taken from their 7" plus an additional unreleased track "Neuschnee," while Enfold's tracks were taken from the split 7" with Junes's Tragic Drive and the track "Memesis" of their album), which I missed out on, but am to understand that both bands were pretty fucking intense live. Musically, this falls somewhere between early 90's metalcore and screamo-style hardcore, like some bastardized mix of Carol, Page 99. and Unbroken. I personally prefer the Chispa tracks to Enfold's, although 'On First Hand Down' has some sweet mosh parts.

Anyway, getting this fucking thing onto the internet was a total pain in the ass, as I've been looking high and low for this Cdr for the last several months, and FINALLY managed to locate it in a pile of unmarked CD cases rotting away in my closet. It wasn't fucking easy, considering that the actual CDr was label-less and had somehow separated itself from it's insert/sleeve; the only recognizable feature being a black dot I had marked it with to tell which side of the CD was up. Smart.

A lot of work for something that probably no one really cares about, but I guarantee you it's better than that new Alcest jam or whatever the fuck.

Tracklist:
Chispa:
1. Alientation
2. Iskra
3. Neuschnee
4. Bradley
5. Glorification

Enfold:
1. Comfort
2. Run Down
3. On First Hand Down
4. Mimesis

iskra

It's the End of the World As We Know It (I Feel Fine).

2012-01-23T14:31:00.000-08:00

If you happen to hang out in the same seedy underbelly of the internet as I do (i.e. mp3 blogs), you have no doubt noticed that there's a lot of doomsday scenarios flying around regarding the future of file-sharing, and the plight of blogs like this one. While the part of me that welcomes total Armageddon is pleased as punch at all the tears and hand wringing (it's like Y2K all over again!), I admit that there is a small part of me that worries I won't be able to have whatever record I want whenever I want it anymore. You probably feel the same way.

If you are not aware of the recent SOPA drama, I suggest dragging yourself out from whatever rock you are hiding under and getting your shit together. Though the bill was shelved for the time being, that didn't stop THE MAN from shutting down one of the largest file-storing sites on the web (Megaupload), and the impact of the blow was enough to shut down several massively popular blogs already. So, where does the lowly little Living Doorway stand? I'll tell you where we stand:

Fuck it. Music existed before the stored digitalization of records and it will exist long after. My goal here was always to make the work day go by faster for myself and others, and dl links are simply a handy byproduct of writing about records that I felt were worth sharing. Even despite the recent Mediafire purge (which I'm sure has has rendered at least 95% of the links on this blog defunct), I have to say that I pretty much don't give a shit - I'll continue to write about music (and all the other garbage I go on and on about) until I decide it's no longer fun or worthwhile. Just don't ask me to re-up any dead links... we're moving forward, not backwards.

Thanks for sticking around, I appreciate each and every one of you... even if you're a fucking asshole.

Elitist - Fear In A Handful Of Dust (2011)

2012-01-23T04:00:00.000-08:00

Nope, not the Meshuggah-raping-Born of Osiris metalcore Elitist - this is gnarly hybridized death/sludge/hardcore/crust from my own backyard of Portland, Oregon. Fear In A Handful Of Dust is eleven filth-ridden tracks of crumbling dirge, blasting grind, ugly distortion, and seething hatred that I didn't even think could exist in a city as laughably "nice" as ours (we've all seen Portlandia by now, right?). But they are here, nonetheless, to foul our hearts and minds with this agonizing crawl through the catacombs of a ruined psyche. They have a song called 'Tower of Meth', for christ's sake. How awesome is that?

Anyway, prepare to get drenched in a sea of feedback between the meat of the material, as Elitist drags you through a rancid bog of incessant noise and battery. Though the pace of the tracks remains stubbornly mid-paced (bringing to mind bands like Swarm Of The Lotus, Engineer and Gaza), there's a crusty hardcore vibe ala Cursed or Early Graves that takes charge every now and again. Vocals are varied and strong: a sore throat, midrange scream trades up with beefy death growls and glass-gargling rasps, and every single one of them exudes more negative vibes than you can shake a stick at. I'm actually finding myself enjoying the longer, more drawn out tracks on Fear In A Handful Of Dust, as they sound more complex, layered, and fleshed out than some of the short-burners, but it's all laced with enough vitriol to decimate just about anything in their path.

Doesn't matter what I think, though, since Elitist are coming to collect all of our teeth whether we want em' to or not.

Tracklist:
1. Burning the Unspoken Gospel
2. Cult Malevolence
3. Ivory Shavings of the Tools Unknown
4. Black Wool
5. Watch as They Worship, Yet Be Silent
6. Slowly Fucked and Force Fed
7. A Howling Wind
8. Human All Too Human
9. Bound and Bent
10. Toothless and Yawning
11. Tower of Meth

put a bird on it

**BONUS:

Elitist - S/T EP (2009)

Tracklist:
1. Back To The Funeral
2. Tidal Influence
3. Determinism
4. United Banks of America
5. Blasphemy Article

s/t

The Living Doorway Fit Club, Part Three

2012-01-22T00:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to part three of my weekly installment of FIT CLUB. This time around I will tackle the BIG ISSUES, which are:

1) Diet/Nutrition
2) Fighting Shelby Cobras
3) A head-to-head weight loss contest with WFH
4) Sick jamz

Lets dive right in, shall we?

PART ONE: DIET & NUTRITION
First off, I'm not a dietician, nutritionist, personal trainer, or even anyone that currently has visible abdominal muscles, so I suggest you completely ignore everything I have to say in this section and just go pick up a copy of Muscle & Fitness. All I can do is tell you the basics of my diet back when I was pretty lean and hope that it works for you. That said, if you are new to this whole fitness thing, let me make it clear that if you are overweight, you can do as many fucking jumping jacks, sit-ups, and halfhearted jogs around the dog park as you want, but if your diet sucks, you are basically fucked. Diet is the cornerstone of effective weight loss (calories in, calories out) and if you can't reign in the pizza and ice cream consumption, your quest for ultimate rippedness is a big waste of time.

So let's make this shockingly simple, to the point that you might even think that I'm kidding: 95% of what you eat is skinless chicken breast, fish, eggs, non-starchy vegetables, brown rice, steel cut oats, and water. That's it. That's all there is to it. Don't count calories, don't pump yourself full of shitty overpriced why protein powder, and don't make it any more difficult than it needs to be. Just eat clean, whole foods three-to-five smallish meals a day, get some exercise in there, and you will lose weight. I ate pretty ONLY those foods for six months, worked out regularly, and lost nearly 60 lbs of bodyfat. Every Sunday I'd eat an epic cheat meal (usually some sort of Lebanese feast or maybe a whole small pizza) and then get right back on the wagon on Monday. There are some caloric alternates in there, of course: beans and legumes, natural peanut/almond butter (in small quantities), raw almonds, and maybe some tofu or tempeh here and there, but as long as you eliminate as much sugar and processed carbs as possible, you will be in good shape.

Side note: If you happen to dislike vegetables, I suggest getting into sprouts. They are low calorie, nutritionally dense, and can be grown at home, in the office.... or at sea. The only reason I even know about sprouts is because we have friends who used lived on a sailboat, and sprouts were the only 'produce' that could be grown and harvested right in their own living quarters. Since they only need water, dim light, and a couple of rinses a day in order to flourish, they might just be the world's best post-apocalyptic food, so stock up on as many cute little life-supporting seed mixes as you can. My girlfriend and I ordered a few seed starter kits from Sprout People a few weeks ago, and we are absolutely glowing with healthitude right now. Also, you can feel good about supporting them because it turns out they like death metal, too:

PART TWO: GET A MORTAL ENEMY
Taking a stab at a fat loss journey entirely solo can be daunting for some individuals, but a little company/competition is a healthy way to keep yourself motivated and on track to your ultimate fat-loss goal. Many people participate in office weight-loss pools (everyone pitches in $50 and whoever loses the largest bodyfat % wins the whole enchilada), or start running/biking/rock-climbing/whatever-the-fuck clubs so they will have the support of other like-minded folk to keep them focused. OR, you can just pick one dude and be like 'I'M GONNA SMASH YOU WITH MY RELENTLESS DISCIPLINE' and go totally head-to-head in an epic fitness battle just for sheer bragging rights. I was originally planning on having Shelby Cobras (my favorite bro-tard from Illogical Contraption) as my mortal fitness enemy for this weight loss project. He's recently been on a fitness kick so I thought he'd be totally down for it, but it turns out we are just going to have some sort of street fight or something, instead. I don't know. I just got into knife throwing so I'm pretty sure he's fucked. And even on the off chance that it WAS a fair fight, we're long lost twins and instinctively know each others moves, so the whole thing would play out exactly like DOUBLE IMPACT ("Double the Van Damme, double the Van Damage"). So whatever. He totally blew it and I wasted 9 minutes of my life making this awesome image:

PART THREE: MAKE SOMEONE SUFFER WITH YOU AND CALL IT 'BEING BROS'
Misery loves company, so I've focused my competitive sites on my fellow blogger, music collaborator, and dear friend WFH. Like myself, he has triumphed over bulging waistlines in the past, and I have no doubt he will be a fierce gym combatant in the war against flab. He has unwittingly agreed to go head-to-head with me in the quest for smaller pants, and I salute him for allowing my bullshit to crap up his life for the majority of 2012. The battle will commence on February 1st, and end on July 1st, which will allow a full six months (that's half a year!) to get our muscles as big (and our body fat percentages as low) as possible. As with most things on this blog, the rules of the competition are pretty simple and stupid:

1) No steroids, human growth hormone, or other illegal fat-burning stimulants
2) No quitting

Whoever loses the highest bodyfat % (as measured by an approved local fitness instructor) wins a free hot fudge sundae, courtesy of the loser. I'd also like to point out (on the off chance that WFH ever even reads anything I post here) that I just ate two bowls of Cinnamon Toast Crunch while writing this.

PART FOUR: STEAL MUSIC FROM THE INTERNET TO LISTEN TO WHILE LIFTING WEIGHTS
Anyway, last week I promised some sick workout jams to fuel your workouts, and that is exactly what you are going to get. But before we go down that road, I have to mention that a couple of days ago, Cobras appropriated my entire Fit Club idea and claimed it as his own (which is why he's obviously the scummier Van Damme twin), and even had the audacity to criticize my photoshop skills in the process. What he doesn't realize is A) I don't even know how to use photoshop, I just use the basic edit modes in Flickr/Picnic, and B) 95% of the music he listens to is recommended by me. It's true. He said so himself.

So get into some sweatpants, grab some iron, and dig these sweet tunes I put together:

JGD'S SELECT GYM JAMZ AS COMPILED BY S. COBRAS PART ONE

JGD'S BRUTAL SLAMMAGE AS COMPILED BY LOWLY ASSISTANT SHELBY C. PART DEUX

COMING NEXT WEEK:
I don't fucking know. Maybe just a bunch of shitty bodybuilding gifs.

Plague Widow - EP (2012)

2012-01-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

Hi. Most of the time Facebook is a useless sack of shit that I can barely stand logging into every day, but sometimes it actually serves a purpose other than just helping you remember your parents birthdays. Anyway, some dude (their drummer, I think?) suggested I 'like' this band called Plague Widow and I went ahead and did it because I liked their skull n' roots metal font. Unlike everything else I've ever bothered to 'like' on Facebook, this is quite good. Plague Widow managed to merge rapidfire, no-bullshit grinding death metal with sinister, blackened passages without sounding corny or forced. A quick and delightful beating of relentless death/grind awaits you over on their bandcamp band (no dl link for you, suckers), but these two quick tracks should be just enough to leave you chomping at the bit for a proper full-length.

Why don't you all go ahead and 'like' them and then head over here and 'like' me, too.

Tracklist:
1. Assimilated Subconscious
2. Operating The Segmental Apparatus

bandcamp

Behexen - My Soul for His Glory (2008)

2012-01-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

We interrupt what should have been today's FIT CLUB post in order to bring you a black metal record from Finland's Bexehen. My Soul for His Glory was released four years ago and is totally old news at this point, but maybe enough time has passed for everyone to get over the fact that it's very different from By The Blessing Of Satan, and can finally start to embrace their "new" sound? I don't know. Who gives a shit.

Here Behexen dip their craggy toe into the orthodox black metal milleu, and trade up their raspy shrieked vocals for a hoarse mid-range that is neither offensive nor particularly mind-blowing. Of course, they can still blast like no one's business, though the varied pace makes for a somewhat subdued effort in comparison to previous works, focusing on atmosphere and regal odes to sweet lord Lucifer's glorious reign (you might remember him as the dude who recently shut down Megaupload and is working on destroying the rest of the internet).

So anyway, I don't really care if you like this or not, but you might as well get as many downloads in as you can before we all go to jail.

Tracklist:
1. Let the Horror and Chaos Come
2. Born in the Serpent of the Abyss
3. Demonic Fleshtemple
4. O.O.O.
5. Cathedral of the Ultimate Void
6. My Soul for His Glory
7. And All Believers Shall be Damned
8. My Stigmas Bleeding Black

O.O.O.

Hedorah - Detroit EP (2011)

2012-01-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

I think Detroit might be the worst place on earth. While I have had mercifully little exposure to this terrible, terrible place, I did spend roughly 24 hours there when my old band toured through a bunch of years ago. As far as I can tell, the city is inhabited entirely by thugs, juggalos, and disreputable women. The amount of jarring, crazy shit we saw in just that tiny time frame was simply mind-boggling, and I've never been happier to leave such a depressed, ugly town. I would seriously rather vacation in the ruins of Chernobyl than spend another minute in that foul petri dish of ruined lives. So when I saw that Hedorah's recently submitted EP was entitled 'Detroit', I knew I was in for some ugly shit.

So here's the recipe for some proper Detroit sludgegrind: take that gritty, down-tuned sludge template as laid out by bands like Gaza, add a splash of noisy grind, a pinch of powerviolence, and a whole lot of misanthropy. Tracks like 'A Shallow Grave For Rick Snyder' rumble through some massive doom riffs that rumble through with floor-cracking heaviness, while others go for the throat with filthy angularity. Pretty solid stuff, even if the production is somewhat raw and the EP flies by quicker than a Michigan auto plant going under. Just like their city, there's not a single pretty thing about Hedorah - the disgust seeps from every track - but that's totally expected when you create music in the butthole of America.

Tracklist:
1. The World To Save
2. Hivemind
3. Cop Crusher
4. A Shallow Grave For Rick Snyder
5. Epitaph

bandcamp
crush cops

ThWhatFreshHell ThWursday: forcefedglass - When Backs Are Turned, Knives Are Pulled (1998)

2012-01-19T12:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, that is the best image I could find.

Forcefedglass was a band from Cape Cod... until they moved to Virginia. Their sound is like a chaotic clusterfuck with great drumming. Some blast beats, some great metal riffs and a lot of screaming. There are some similarities to early Converge, Barrit, Jesuit, but with a little more sensitivity. All three members on this recording went on to do other bands, but the most notable is Ben Koller who went on to play drums for Converge after they kicked out their drummer (and before they kicked out their second guitarist).

Little known fact, they started out as a joke band and all the lyrics were just references to various metal songs and bands. But then people actually liked forcefedglass so Evan (guitars/vocals pretty much wrote all the songs) did everyone a favor and re-wrote all the lyrics making the band a little bit easier to take serious. Ok, that all could be untrue, but that is what I heard back in the day from a reliable source and I choose to believe it as fact. Especially since the first time I saw that name on a flyer I thought it was a Cannibal Corpse cover band.

Fourteen years later (has it been that long?) and these tracks still hold up. I know there was a discography released so if you like this, get it.

Tracklist:
1 Paper Mache
2 M.P.
3 What Do You Think Of That?
4 A Hollywood Ending
5 Something To Say
6 The Plague
7 Nailed To The Wall
8 Can't Look Back
9 Proper Use Of Explosives
10 Emobombs
11 Deadeyes
12 Strapped In

Get it, girl.

Blackout.

2012-01-17T21:16:00.000-08:00

Learn here, fight here.

More here.

Torchure - The Essence (1993)

2012-01-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hola, fucktards. Still mad about that emo post yesterday? Good. Here's some thrashy old school German death metal to keep your blood boiling. Torchure's The Essence might just be the best fucking death metal metal album with the worst cover art the Germany has ever seen, possibly even the world. Even though that shit went straight from my 7th grade sketchbook directly to the cover of their 2nd (and final) full length, don't hold that against them - the material here is truly excellent.

Picture a great mix of ripping death ala Pestilence, Slayer-ish thrash tempos, and a dark and brooding atmosphere in the vein of Asphyx. I absolutely love the production on this thing; buzzy and dense, with a pummeling drum sound that's akin to wandering onto the track at the Kentucky Derby and getting trampled to death (speaking of which, I think I read somewhere that a couple of members were killed in a car accident after their first LP Beyond the Veil was released? Someone confirm/deny/clarify).

Anyway, The Essence is a veritable cornucopia of awesome solos, burly death growls, and rock-solid musicianship, all performed with an absolutely ferocious delivery. I doubt most people would even give this a second glance if they saw it collecting dust in a bargain bin, but they'd be passing up a severely overlooked gem from one of Germany's most under-appreciated acts.

Tracklist:
1. Invisible Truth
2. Sense of Death
3. Sinister Seduction
4. Voice of Power
5. Terminus
6. No Rest in Peace
7. Between the Urges
8. The Essence
9. Cry of Madness
10. X
11. Traces
12. Lost Souls

for chure

Heroin - Discography (1997)

2012-01-16T04:00:00.000-08:00

Heroin were an awesome screamy hardcore from San Diego who formed in 1989, thusly predating 99.9% of the absurdity of the late 90's screamo plague. These dudes were more in league with bands like Angel Hair, Moss Icon and Mohinder than any of the white-belt garbage that spawned from these earlier acts, and this discography is something I still find myself reaching for every now and again when the mood strikes me. I'm not sure how many people really give a fuck about bands like Heroin these days, but I always appreciated them for being noisy and discordant without being obnoxious, "heavy" without relying on generic chugging, and emotive without crying between every song. Fans of Honeywell, Swing Kids, Antioch Arrow will already know all about this, everyone else can just call me an "emo fag" in the comments. See if I care.

Tracklist:
1. Head Cold
2. Undertaking
3. Indecision
4. I've Got Mine
5. This Time
6. Never Ever
7. Has Been
8. Leave
9. Wander
10. Blindly
11. With No Name
12. Meaning Less
13. A Portion
14. The Obvious
15. Untitled
16. In General
17. Moving Parts
18. Another
19. Destination
20. Has Been
21. Comes To Mind

get some sleep

Von Goat - Septic Illumination (2010)

2012-01-15T13:43:00.000-08:00

I just suffered a six-day work week and I'm fucking tired, so I'm only doing the bare minimum for everybody today. Here's a disclaimer from an astute review of Septic Illumination on Metal Archives:

"...for those who might not know, that VON GOAT shouldn't be related in any form with all the drama that arose from VON's resurrection. This project has nothing to do with infamous Von Venien nor with controversial and grotty seal VON MUSIC GROUP. While Septic Illumination was unfortunately launched right after the polemics stirred by VON's reunion, it's a work that has been macerating for years and reflects to perfection the anguish, decadence and darkness seemingly experienced by VON's mastermind Shawn Calizo (a.k.a S. von "Black Cactus" Goat) during a whole decade estranged from music scene."

You should have this.

Тracklist:
1. (Intro) Clay Jackals
2. The Gathering
3. Thru Your Skull
4. My God Your God
5. (intro) Syringes
6. Syringes
7. (intro) Black Wall System
8. Spiders
9. (intro) Poison
10. Poison Bottle
11. Voodoo Word
12. Private Horror

getting septic

Converge - Caring And Killing (1999)

2012-01-14T17:24:00.000-08:00

Tell you what: I'll spare you the technical details of Caring & Killing by just directing you to it's wikipedia page, okay?

There are two types of Converge fans: the ones who got into them after their landmark album Jane Doe was released in 2001, and old hardcore dudes from New England that remember moshing to songs from Halo in a Haystack at some random warehouse in Worcester. I don't know where you stand, but Caring and Killing (along with Petitioning The Empty Sky) was in constant (like, CONSTANT) rotation back in the day. The nostalgia extracted from these songs could power I LOVE THE 90'S for a millennium. Sure, none of this stuff is quite as powerfully executed as their current output (I really do think Axe to Fall is their strongest record since Jane Doe), but I'm surprised how easy it is to listen to this.

Tracklist:
1. Shallow Breathing-I Abstain
2. Two Day Romance
3. Fact Leaves Its Ghost
4. Becoming A Stranger
5. Antithesis
6. Dead
7. Tied To My Neck
8. Divinity
9. Blind
10. Sky
11. Down
12. Zodiac
13. Yesterday
14. Savior Salvation
15. But Life Goes On

I call it your weakness

Suffocation – Human Waste EP (1991)

2012-01-13T12:15:00.000-08:00

Friends, I am hugely appreciative of all the positive feedback on TLD's Fit Club posts. It was exactly what I was hoping for, so keep up the great work, and keep the commentary coming. Come hell or high water, I swear to fucking christ we're all gonna be Gucci models by August.

So let's not fuck around today, work is hectic and I have shit to do. Suffocation is not only the best brutal death metal band to lift weights to, they are also the best brutal death metal band that ever existed. EVER. This classic EP is an absolute MANDATORY release, the type of thing that I haven't even bothered to post since I just assumed everyone already had it. Rawer, faster, and grittier than the slamming-yet-technically-adept beast they would become, Human Waste is the archetypal brutal death metal from a band that begat untold numbers of admirers and copycat acts, yet has never been superseded in terms of overall songwriting/brutality.

Some might call it blasphemy, but I'll take this over Abominations of Desolation any day of the week.

Tracklist:
1. Infecting the Crypts
2. Synthetically Revived
3. Mass Obliteration
4. Catatonia
5. Jesus Wept
6. Human Waste

god has turned his back on you

The Living Doorway Fit Club, Part Two

2012-01-11T23:50:00.000-08:00

We're back! Last week I promised some background info regarding my initial interest in ripped-fucking-abz, so allow me to breeze through the basic storyline before I start posting rep schemes and protein shake recipes and shit.

Long story short: I basically grew up in a drive-in style family restaurant, which meant that I had unlimited access to enormous quantities of hot dogs, burgers, french fries, and soft-serve ice cream from the ages of 1 to 19. My parents were loving and attentive and wonderful, but also very, very busy. Fall off your bike? Have an ice cream. Fall out of a tree? Have a milkshake. Fall into the river? Have a brownie fudge sundea. That sort of thing. Understandably, I was always a somewhat chubby kid, but I didn't blow up into straight-up fat (I maxed out at almost 230lbs at a height of only 5'10") until my early/mid 20's.

The cause for this drastic shift in body composition could be blamed on my punk-influenced "ethical awakening", in which I became a strict vegan (cold turkey, from 1995 to about 2004). You'd think that a switch to a diet based on grains and vegetation would lower the average persons BMI, but not in my case. Instead of being a normal vegan who eats fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, I pretty much survived on pasta, bagels, honey bbq corn chip twists, and Toffuti cuties (which are pretty revolting, in retrospect). I was basically carbo-loading every single day for nearly a decade, without bothering to do any sort of physical activity that would warrant such a massive caloric intake. I probably could have won the fucking Tour De France on the amount of carbs I was eating, assuming I had any sort of cardiovascular endurance. Which I didn't.

So I guess one day I woke up and was like, "holy shit, I'm actually a legit fat dude now" because all my clothes fit like Chris Farley in David Spade's coat. It became necessary to un-fat myself as quickly as possible, so I did all sorts of research on diets and exercise (turns out eating 6 bagels a day isn't very "healthy"), got a gym membership, and started a regular routine of machine-weight circuit training and running on the treadmill. I managed to clean up the diet by cutting out refined sugar and carbs, and started eating eggs, chicken, and actual vegetables again. I did this for about three months before I started to get bored, and gradually worked up the nerve to check out the weight room downstairs. The weight room is fucking scary if you are a total noob and have no fucking clue what to do in there. A bunch of puffed-up tanktop bro's stalking around with inflated lat syndrome is intimidating, but not so much because you think they are going to beat you up or whatever. It's actually just because they are the only people IN the weight room who could potentially laugh at you when you strangle yourself with the bar while benching. It's humiliating enough being overweight and uncomfortable in your own skin WITHOUT making a total fucking jackass of yourself in front of people who know what they are doing.

Fortunately, the bulky bros slamming reps in the weight room were actually some of the nicest people I've interacted with in any public fitness facility, and they went out of their way to be helpful to me and all the other nervous dorks who didn't know how to work the Smith Machine. This one huge dude (who I was afraid of the most) actually gave me some great unsolicited pointers, and got comfortable enough that we'd spot each other and high five every now and again. I almost wanted to buy a pair of Zubas and a muscle-t, but I didn't want them to think I was being ironic. It's also worth pointing out that although I had slimmed down considerably via diet and cardio, the most drastic changes to my physique took place after I started lifting weights. I started seeing actual definition in my limbs. Upper abs became visible. Size medium shirts became a little too big. The more progress I saw, the longer, heavier and more taxing my workouts became. In six months, I had dropped from 225 lbs down to below 165, and whittled my bodyfat down to about 6.5-7%. Obviously a pretty big accomplishment for me, and something I believe I was only able to do once I actually started to enjoy the process of of it all. An experiment in discipline, of sorts - how lean can I get? How much farther could I run? How much more can I lift? How many more new holes can I put in this belt? And all that other fucking cliche 'Thrill-of-Victory' and 'Agony-of-Defeat'-type shit.

Fuck it, here's the before n' afters (about 6 months):

*No photoshop, fat burners, diuretics, or human growth hormone were used in the making of those abs. And no, I won't blow them up bigger so you can talk shit about my stupid tattoos.

Since then, I wandered in and out of periods of high physical output (running a few 5 & 10K's and a marathon) and excessive laziness (spending a winter doing nothing but eating pizza and playing Skate 2), and I'd say I've gained and lost the same 25-30 lbs a handful of times since relocating to Portland 7 years ago. To be honest, I don't really mind hovering around the 175-190lb mark, it's only after I breach the 200 lb barrier that I start to feel pretty uncomfortable. Once I reach that point, it's like I can't get out of my own way - too fat to skateboard, too fat to run, too fat to fit into a size medium shirt. I feel lumpy and oafish, I snore louder, and I find myself 'covering up' more in flannels and sweatshirts.

No one ever seems to notice, though, which makes me think that I have a skewed perception of my appearance. I call it 'Fat Kid Syndrome', which is basically a self-diagnosed body dysmorphic disorder that stems from years of slouching my shoulders forward to hide manboobs, wearing big shirts to hide the lovehandles, and overall just feeling incredibly insecure about my appearance. For instance, I can honestly say that the only time I've ever felt 'thin' was when I was down down to nearly 160 lbs and sustaining myself on a just a single grilled chicken breast, a cup of brown rice and some broccoli florets a day (aka "an impossible diet to maintain for any length of time"), while still spending upwards of three hours a day working out and running. It's too much, and the thrill of feeling 'in shape' wears off after you realize that anybody who really loves and cares about you doesn't give a single fucking shit about how you look - they just want you around every once in a while.

So I'm into moderation at the moment, which is very new to me. The current goal is to get some running and lifting in when I can, eat good most of the time, and have an ice cream or whatever when the mood strikes me. Maybe I'll feel like hopping back onto a strict diet and exercise plan in the next few weeks/days/hours, but for now, it feels good to function like a normal human being that doesn't have to exist on one end of the spectrum or the other.

*Coming next week: JGD gets back to the gym, discusses basic nutrition, and regrets putting shirtless pictures of himself up for public scrutiny.

WFH Wednesday: Obsession - Marshall Law (1983)

2012-01-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

This week I want to start by saying, "Goddammit, Shelby." Normally I don't really care if another blog has posted something I'm going to write about, but this was a little too close to home since 1. he posts here and 2. he is joined at the brain to JGD. It really sucks when you are pretty much done writing and a google search forces you to completely change topic.

I'm still undecided if or what theme I want to do for this weekly column, but I think I am leaning towards records I own/buy. I'm hesitant to firmly announce such an endeavor, because I don't really want to sign myself up for spending money I don't have right now. Speaking of which, can anyone spare any change? I need to catch a bus and my car is out of gas...

This week's record is Obession's first release, Marshall Law. Many things about about this record screams 80's metal. Everything from the similarities to Iron Maiden to the hand drawn D&Desque cover complete with rows upon rows of Marshall stacks to the band photo on the back complete with mustaches and leather outfits (and more rows of Marshalls).

now if I could only remember where that fashion is popular these days

Some of you may recognize the singer who went on to sing for Yngwie Malmsteen. And maybe one or two of you know that after his stint with Yngwie he took all that knowledge of being in a band that is named after one member and started his own, the Mike Vescera Project or MVP for short. Which surprisingly has no songs about any sports players what-so-ever.

Tracklist:
1. Only the Strong Will Survive
2. Hatred unto Death
3. Execution
4. Marshall Law

Procrastination Nation

Combatwoundedveteran - I Know A Girl Who Develops Crime Scene Photos (1999)

2012-01-10T10:32:00.000-08:00

For those of you who were looking for the exact polar opposite of what was posted yesterday, you can stop searching now. Combatwoundedveteran have always been a massive headache, and I'm happy to report that a decade later, they are STILL a massive headache. I Know A Girl Who Develops Crime Scene Photos is an frenzied, hard-scrabble all-out blitzkrieg of chaotic grinding hardcore, blasting through 19 tracks in just about 20 minutes. Fans of In/Humanity, Charles Bronson, and Reversal of Man will enjoy it since it's noisy and obnoxious as fuck, and for some reason I'm loving this more NOW than I ever did back when I first bought it. Even their snarky little song titles have retained their charm (they were better at it than most), and I'm sure the lyrics are very clever despite being completely indecipherable. Christ, my leg is sore.

Tracklist:
1. My Spine! My Spine! My Spine!
2. Watching Stock Car Racing On My Wedding Night
3. Propaganda Films Shot with a Sitcom Script
4. Assassination Attempt Part 2
5. I Talk, You Listen
6. You'll Never Be Where I Am, Ever in Your Life
7. Fuck The Ghouls
8. Mercury Streams, The Proliferation of Foreign Matter
9. One Arm Left
10. Folded Space- Lead Poisoning & Distortion
11. You Win, I'm Stupid
12. Appendix: Proportion Zero
13. Operation: Head Superimposed
14. You Make Statements Concerning Things That You Know Nothing About
15. Christ, My Leg is Sore
16. Let the Surgical Strike Begin
17. One Third of the Perfect Man*
18. The 7-10 Split
19. The Party Asteroid Apocalypse

you win, this blog sucks

Chelsea Wolfe - The Grime and The Glow (2011)

2012-01-09T11:21:00.000-08:00

I'm just gonna act like my research for this post didn't yield all sorts of unsavory results from the likes of Pitchfork, Nylon, and the Gaurdian, because I didn't even know this person existed until a couple of days ago. Described as 'doom folk' (ugh, sorry) Chelsea Wolfe is an LA singer/songwriter that straddles the line between piano-based indie rock and dark-alt-folk, while somehow managing a grimmer aesthetic than Urgehal (or whatever is grimmer than Urgehal these days). Slow, simple arrangements of acoustic guitar, piano, and the occasional tambourine play background to some of the most hauntingly melancholy female vocals you are ever likely to hear, invoking some suicidal incarnation of Hope Sandoval during a morose teen-cutter phase. I think it's fantastic, regardless of how fast this gets jocked over on the shitty side of popular culture. Maybe it already is. The fuck do I know? Maybe this blog IS the shitty side of pop culture.

Anyway, the album cover reminds me of something between a SunnO))) promo photo and that super weird ass 80's movie Ladyhawke. You know, where that lady turns into a hawk? I could point out that Rutger Hauer also turns into a wolf, but I guess 'Manwolfe' is an even gayer movie title than Ladyhawke. I suppose it could alternately be called Ferris Bueller's Medieval Adventure, but that sounds vaguely pornographic and not appropriate for a film boasting the mute, bug-eyed talents of Michelle Pfeiffer.

Tracklist:
1. Advice & Vices
2. Cousins Of The Antichrist
3. Moses
4. Deep Talks
5. Fang
6. Benjamin
7. The Whys
8. Noorus
9. Halfsleeper
10. Bounce House Demons
11. Widow
12. Gene Wilder (Bonus track)
13. Move (Bonus track)
14. You Are My Sunshine (Bonus track)

nobody wants to sing about death with me

*Bonus:
ἀποκάλυψις (2010)

Timeghoul - Panaramic Twilight EP (1994)

2012-01-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

There's a strange attitude that rears it's ugly head every once in a while on blogs like mine. It's infrequent, but every few weeks I'll get some comment that something I posted was somehow "way too late" to be considered worth writing about. These types of comments confused me at first, until I finally realized that they are absolutely 100% correct. It turns out that ALL music has a definitive expiration date, and if you wait too long to listen to it, you'll find it curdled and rotten like some long-forgotten carton of milk in the back of the fridge. This is among the most major blogging faux pas you can be commit, and quite frankly, it's just not cool to suggest spoiled music to your readers. I know that now, and thank you for helping me step up my game, you beautiful anonymous people.

The reason I mention it is because nothing hurts my feelings more than being made to feel as though I'm behind the times - whether it's regarding popular fashion, hip new black metal bands from NY, or the state of the Kardashian's relationships, I just can't stand it. I consider myself to be on the cutting edge of virtually every cool new thing that happens in America (and to a lesser extent, the UK), and I struggle endlessly to bring my readers only the freshest content to appease their ravenous appetite to be the very first 'in the know.' So from now on, I promise everyone that I will never fall behind the eight ball again, and make sure that every record posted on TLD is up at least three full months before it's actual release date.

Actually, you can all eat a bag of dicks while I revisit this mindblowingly excellent two-song Timeghoul demo from 1994. Fuck you.

Tracks:
1. Boiling In the Hourglass
2. Occurence On Mimas

I am a god, the prime being
I shall impale you
On the crumbled pillars of the millennia

Flourishing - The Sum of All Fossils (2011)

2012-01-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

This is the post in which JGD petitions for a late pass on Flourishing's The Sum of All Fossils, a record that would have surely knocked off one of it's contemporaries on my 'Best of 2011' list. Let me tell you why: because it's awesome. Take bits and pieces of Gorguts, Mitochondrion, early Ulcerate, and all that other harsh dissonant shit that I love and post all the fucking time, throw it into a blender, and reap all the glorious aural damage that has been sown. It's brutal, harsh, atmospheric, and technical, and if you need me to paint you a better picture than that, it's not gonna happen. Hop in and get wrecked.

Tracklist:
1. A Thimble's Worth
2. The Prospects of Rejection
3. By Which We're Cemented
4. In Vivid Monochrome
5. Momentary Senses
6. Fossil Record
7. Summary
8. As if I Bathed in Excellence

as if

Ash Eaters - The Cruel Side EP (2011)

2012-01-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting EP of a newer project from Umesh Amtey, the enigmatic force behind Brown Jenkins. I'm sure that sentence alone will peak plenty of interest, though this is a considerably different animal than his former band. The Cruel Side features two lengthy tracks of blackened doom rock, both chock full of serpentine riffs, buzzingly dissonant distortion, and gritty menthol vocals. The pace is stubbornly even - no hyperblasts or creeping dirges here - and the tracks play out with an odd sort of disassociated nihilism that is hard to pin down. At times, it reminds me of a punkier and slightly more sterilized version of Blut Aus Nord, all chaoticly jangly with a very cold and detached feel. Not necessarily "grim" or anything, just sort of... disengaged? I don't know.

What I do know is that the somewhat thin, lo-fi recording buries those guitars directly into your cerebellum, where it goes to work on your synapses like a swarm of hornets. Before you know it, you're listening to these same two fucking songs back to back for hours on end, because the Ash Eaters are assholes and just turned you into some sort of retarded zombie with their hypnotic hymns of disharmonic blankness.

Recommended (especially if you can get past the fact that this is NOT a follow up to Death Obsession).

Tracklist:
1. The Cruel Side
2. We want Oblivion

cruelty
blogspot

Bonus:
Cold Hearts Demo (2010)

Witch Mountain - South Of Salem (2011)

2012-01-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

If you are anything like me, you are A) very handsome, and B) in need of a break from the relentless battery of black/death metal every once in a while. So today I bring you something different: a swaggering, groove-ridden doom record from the ever-fertile soil of Portland, Oregon. A less-fatally inebriated Janice Joplin/Ann Wilson/Alannah Myles hybrid fronting Black Sabbath by way of Goatsnake paints a fairly accurate portrait of what's happening on South of Salem, though there's enough 70's guitar-hero classic rock influence to awaken the dusty corpse of Jimi Hendrix. A warm and refreshingly analog production job will see you through from beginning to end, and it's got to be said: Ms. Uta Plotkin's got a hell of a voice on her. A soulful, bluesy croon that bounces loosely and carefree from spoken segments to pop-ready rock (ala Heart) to wild banshee wailing without ever sounding too contrived or forced. Whether it's an acquired taste or not, it's certainly a bold and distinctive choice for a vocalist, placing them far ahead of the pack in a genre generally content to generically growl their way through song after indistinguishable song.

As an aside, look at that fucking awesome artwork. Few things fill me with as much regional pride, and I'd like to point out that I've actually been to each and every point on interest on that map. My suggestions for potential visitors to our neck of the woods would be Crater Lake, The Oregon Vortex, and Devil's Punch Bowl, all after a quick skate session at the Corvallis park. Tell 'em JGD sent you.

Tracklist:
1. Wing Of The Lord
2. Plastic Cage
3. South Sugar
4. End Game
5. Hare's Stare
6. End Game (Slight Return)

here be monsters
bandcamp

WhatFreshHell Wednesday: Umberto - From The Grave (2010)

2012-01-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

In an effort to make 2012 not as shitty as 2011 I made a list of "Things I want to get done in 2012." Sort of like a list of resolutions, but these aren't lofty goals that I will "change about myself." It is just a list of shit I'm going to do. On that list is to do a weekly post here on TLD. Over the past couple of years I have posted sporadically (mainly when JGD sends me an email at the last minute because he is too sick of all the bullshit to bother to post that day) and I think it is time to be more consistent. At least in the when it is done department, can't guarantee the how it is done.

I don't have an overall theme, but I may do some series pieces. I'm not really sure right now. I just think that if JGD can manage to post pretty much every single day of the week, I could at least try to do one day a week. I guess we'll see how long until I devolve into posting various youtube clips of cats.

This week I bring you an album that feels like it is ripped out of a giallo movie soundtrack. Think Goblin, Ennio Morricone, Fabio Frizzi and even some early John Carpenter and you have the right idea. Umberto is the work of one Matt Hill who has collaborated with Justin Wright in the band Expo 70 on bass and electronics. I'm sure that last sentence was gibberish to most of you, I hadn't heard of any of them when I bought this record.

The album is arranged like it is straight off of the soundtrack of some late 70's/early 80's movie and while the music is merely of an homage to the genre and nothing more, it doesn't really matter. If you are a fan of this style of music this is definitely worth the listen. You don't always have to bring something new to the table, just makes sure it is well done. And this sure is.

This was originally released as a tape (Sonic Meditations), but recently was released on vinyl (Permanent Records). The only disappointing thing about the vinyl was there wasn't an insert. A real missed opportunity there Matt Hill.

Tracklist:
1. Opening Titles
2. Running Blade
3. Forsaken Dawn
4. The Child
5. Dream Sequence
6. Intermission
7. It Came From The Swamp
8. Shower Scene
9. In The Name Of Zuel
10. End Credits

From the Grave... of Goblin, probably

The Living Doorway Fit Club, Part One.

2012-01-03T21:31:00.000-08:00

There isn't a whole lot of information to be gleaned from my blogger polls, and usually the results are generally as meaningless as the poll itself. This last poll, however, was pretty cut n' dry: at least 64% of TLD readers (thats 113 out of 174) who bothered to cast their vote want to get fucking ripped with me. Or at least a little less fat.

I always found it strange how well fitness posts went over on a blog that is primarily geared towards metal. Take this post about running, for instance. Some of the best comments/insights ever posted on this site had absolutely nothing to do with music, metal or otherwise. Which leads me to believe that there's some value in taking a break from the run-of-the-mill music posts and talking about some real-life shit. You know, like Energy drinks, or really fancy art, or dogs eating all your Halloween candy, or even just being out of shape and bummed about it. Aside from getting fit, one of my other goals for 2012 is to break up the monotony of TLD by making it less one-dimensional. Talking about records is easy, and finding links to good stuff is even easier (I'm dead fucking serious when I say that I don't upload or host ANY download links of my own), so you can certainly locate anything you want just as easily as I can ( hint: I use a top-secret web engine called GOOGLE.COM).

So it's fucking January 2012, and we're all a bunch of fat slobs. Big deal. Losing weight is easy, as long as you can stay reasonably consistent and have a little encouragement, motivation, and support from someone. That's where we come in: The Living Doorway Fit Club. Now, I have no idea if my girlfriend or WFH or José or Shelby or anyone else who contributes to this blog has any intention of going on this fitness journey with me, but I like to use the term "we" so I don't feel quite so fat and alone. But hey, I know my boy Brett is working on shedding a few pounds in time for beach weather, so even if this series of posts is just me and him talking about creatine powder and squat thrusts for the next several months, that's fine with me.

So here's the deal: there are over a HUNDRED of you that said you wanted in. All I really want from you is some feedback, via either email or in the comments, regarding your current goals and the steps you are taking to get there. I'd also love to hear about past victories and failures, no matter how great or small. Send pictures. Give advice. Discuss the rising price of synthol. I don't care, just keep it positive, lighthearted, and SUPPORTIVE. I will be publishing one Fitness Club post a week for the next three or four months, where I will discuss my own personal goals and progress, along with stories, insights, and possibly even some photos of rippling washboard abdominal muscles. I might even post links to the godforsaken soundtracks that got me through each workout. It's gonna be a long, brutal ride, but hopefully we'll all make some serious progress along the way. Fuck yeah.

Coming next week: The story about the time I lost 60 lbs in 7 months, being afraid of the weight room at the gym, and coping with Fat Kid Syndrome (FKS). Stay tuned.

Anhedonist - The Drear Demo (2010)

2012-01-03T05:00:00.000-08:00

Here's a little pick-me-up to aid your post-holiday depression. This demo from Washington's Anhedonist plays out like a slightly deathier version of morose acts like Evoken, dISEMBOWELMENT, and Mournful Congregation - slow crawling doom with sparse melodic flourishes and clean breaks. The genre-requisite cave bear vocals are excellent, sometimes trading off with hoarse screaming from some distant corner of the room. It should also be noted that the tones are great for a basement-recorded demo, fairly raw, but beefy enough to feel the true oppressive weight of the songs. Doom-heads who are fans of the aforementioned bands (as well as local Pacific NW acts like Aldebaran) will want to snap this up posthaste, before heading back down into your bleak cellar of eternal disappointment.

Tracklist:
1. The Insatiable Hole
2. Despond
3. Ouranophobia

down in the hole
blog

Ehnahre - Taming the Cannibals (2010)

2012-01-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

This disjointed mess of shambling death/doom is not what I remember of New England's Ehnarhe. TWW had played a show or two with these fellows early on when we were just starting out, and as I recall, they were akin to a sludge-ridden screamo band: very high on noise-fueled intensity, yet low on discernible songs. You know the deal: lots of unclothed writhing on the floor, instruments falling to pieces as they are hammered mercilessly, a singer screaming his vocals chords into shreds. More of a spectacle than a 'concert', really. Absolutely nothing about their performance compelled me to want to listen to their records, despite being entertained by the apparent mental/emotional breakdown set to music that had just taken place.

This is something different, however. Taming the Cannibals abstract collision of death, doom, sludge, and noise could be construed as free-form jazz from some other hellish dimension. Alternately, you could describe it as the sonic equivalent of witnessing an anesthesia-less lobotomy as performed by a deranged homeless person on Peyote. This torrent of gibbering and nearly incoherent doom washes over you in waves: sometimes just warbling vocals and singular chugs play out through sparse feedback, and the next minute you are ensnared in a wall of clattering deathened noise. Unlike most records where you can put it on and finish some homework or vacuum the carpet, I've found that there is virtually nothing you can 'do' while listening to Taming the Cannibals... I don't even suggest driving while listening to it. And for christ's sake, don't even think about trying to have a conversation with your girlfriend while it's playing. You just have to sit down, all alone, and macerate in every single drop of unhinged psychological terror by one of the most unsettling bands I've heard in the last decade. Sure, it's certainly not an 'every day' listen, but worth the mental damage if and when your curiosity gets the better of you.

Tracklist:
1. The Clatterbones
2. Foehn (Lullaby)
3. Animals
4. Birth-Dues
5. Revelation and Decline
6. Birth

the clatter zone

**From Metallum:

According to Ryan McGuire, John, DJ and him started an earlier version of Ehnahre in high school, going through a variety of phases, playing hardcore, metalcore, doom/sludge, and grind. This incarnation of the band split up around 2000. When Ryan joined Kayo Dot in 2003, they needed a soundguy and a guitar player, so John and DJ joined up. After leaving Kayo Dot in 2006, they started up another band together, keeping the name Ehnahre, even though musically they were doing something totally different.

The band that DJ, John, and Ryan started in high school, was first called Negative Reasoning, named after a song title on Eyehategod's album, "Dopesick" called "Non Conductive Negative Reasoning", and were frequently referred to as NR. When they wanted to change the band name, DJ suggested take NR, and spell it phonetically. This became Ehnahre (pronounced N-R). So it really has no meaning, other than a somewhat tenuous tribute to Eyehategod.

They call their style "Witch Metal".

Ash Borer - S/T (2011)

2012-01-01T13:06:00.000-08:00

I'm not the type of dude who's worried about openly liking something 'popular', nor am I concerned about liking stuff that is obviously total garbage (not that the two are mutally exclusive), which I think I've made abundantly clear by now. As far as I'm concerned, good is good, even if all the skinny hipster kids in Williamsburg are raving about it on their shitty ironic Tumblrs. I'm even perfectly happy to say that I generally enjoy the music of early Wolves In The Throne Room, regardless of whatever bullshit kvlt backlash against them is taking place at the moment. Two Hunters? That shit was great. Listened to it a bunch when it came out, and still listen to it to this day.

That said, Celestial Lineage didn't even make a blip on my radar this year. I gave it a few cursory listens and shelved it indefinitely, never to return. Not sure why it left me so cold and disinterested, but I chalked it up to spending too much time in the death metal zone to really bother with it. On the other side of the coin, we have Ash Borer's eponymous debut, which immediately caught my attention and has been in constant rotation since I first heard it. Three epic tracks of scathing atmospheric black metal (in the cascadian vein, hence the typical/boring WITTR reference), with haunting ambient flourishes, trance-inducing drone, and a metric fuck ton of song-crafting skills. It's a near-perfect balance of elements that all but demands repeat listens, and if you haven't dug in to this one yet, I highly suggest you quit lagging and get your shit together. It's already 2012, son.

Tracklist:
1. In the Midst of Life, We are in Death
2. Rest, You are Lightning
3. My Curse was Raised in the Darkness Against a Doomsday Silence

I am Lightning

Wrathprayer: Preview track from 'The Sun of Moloch'

2011-12-31T15:02:00.000-08:00

We are fucking amped on this. Will probably leak any minute now.

The Sun of Moloch: The Sublimation of Sulphur's Essence Which Spawns Death and Life by Wrathprayer

Kalibas - Rumors Of Our Demise Have Been Barely Exaggerated (2011)

2011-12-31T14:36:00.000-08:00

A pleasant surprise to discover the release of a new Kalibas record in 2011, considering their last full length Product of Hard Living was from way back in 2002. Some splits and EPs came and went between 2003 and 2007, but that was the last we heard of 'em. If the album title is any indication, it appears as though the band itself would forgive us for assuming they had all moved on to greener pastures after such a lengthy hiatus.

Fortunately, the grueling chaotic grind attack from Rochester is still very much intact, laying waste to the masses with a blitzkrieg of technically-tinged deathgrind without skipping a beat. Think Human Remains, Lethargy, and Sulaco going off the rails on a crazy train, with relentless blasting, riffs-a-plenty, and screechily unhinged vocals layered on top. There's also a track with a small break, cuing a brief segment of just bass, quiet strumming and whistling ('Digital Humanoid Slave Inventory'), which I fucking love. More grind/death bands should utilize whistling in songs, don't you think? It's sounds so awesome and weird, and hey, if it's good enough for Axl, it should be good enough for everyone.

Anyway, these eight tracks blow by at a pretty rapid pace: pedal to the floor, balls to the wall, ass to your face grinding chaos - the type of material that would snuggle up nicely with the majority of the early Willowtip Records bands. Looks like Kalibas are flying solo on Rumors Of Our Demise Have Been Barely Exaggerated, though, as it is self-released and available for purchase/download on their bandcamp page.

Label or not: welcome back, gentleman. It's a pleasure to see you again.

Tracklist:
1. All Hail The Extropian
2. On With The Puppet Show
3. Kaczynski Them All
4. Downward Slopes Diminish Hopes
5. Sworn To No Order
6. Digital Humanoid Slave Inventory
7. Reduced
8. Neosapian Eclipse

*Update: since I'm incapable of actually researching anything, I should point out that this record is not "new" material; it's actually an older unreleased recording that is just now seeing the light of day, courtesy of guitarist Jody Roberts. I'm too lazy to re-write this whole post due to my complete and utter lack of giving of a shit, so fuck it.

get Kaczynski'd
bandcamp

Coffinworm - When All Became None (2010)

2011-12-31T13:07:00.000-08:00

Here's something that everyone shat themselves over back in 2010, triggering an avalanche of Coffinworm worship in like-minded blogs all over the world... and honestly, not a single one of them was wrong about it. The dust has settled now, so lets take a moment to revisit one of the more impressive sludge/doom debuts of last year, this towering monument of nihilism entitled When All Became None.

Now, nobody should have to try too hard to sell anyone on a band with song titles like “Spitting in Infinity’s Asshole", but in case you are dubious of the hype, let me spell it out for you: When All Became None is a crusty, blackened monolith of diseased sludge and misanthropic doom, falling somewhere between the life-aborting buzz of Eyehategod, the crushing groove of Thou, and the punked-out, 'fuck-off-and-die' attitude of latter day Darkthrone. This whole fucking thing is absolutely saturated in negative vibes and utter disgust for everything and everybody, like the sonic embodiment of Carl Panzram's sociopathic worldview.

In short: the perfect record to kick off the new year.

*Note: members also did time in the grimy grind clusterfuck Black Arrows of Filth & Impurity, which makes perfect fucking sense.

Tracklist:
1. Blood Born Doom
2. Start Saving For Your Funeral
3. Strip Nude For Your Killer
4. Spitting In Infinity's Asshole
5. High On the Reek Of Your Burning Remains
6. The Sadistic Rites Of Count Tabernacula

born of doom

Xothist - S/T (2011)

2011-12-30T10:48:00.000-08:00

Not only does this cassette from the mysterious Xothist have a great description ("Negative astral projections of colossal and bleak USBM"), but it's also just fucking great in general. Who is Xothist? I don't know. Where are they from? Grand Junction, CO. What do they play? Harsh, noisy black metal with some darkwave ambiance and raw guitars that sound like how a sandpaper colonoscopy feels. This cassette is long gone, but you can listen to the entirety of this release via Soundcloud or Youtube... and I highly recommend doing so.

*^*

Tracklist:
0. Xothist 0
1. Xothist 1
2. Xothist 2
3. Xothist 3
4. Xothist 4

*Many thanks to thee awesome blog OMENVS for the heads up.

Tunic (Song For Karen)

2011-12-29T23:20:00.000-08:00

It's like a ghost town around here so none of you deserve a real post, but here's a cover my old band There Were Wires did of Sonic Youth's Tunic (Song For Karen). I still like it a lot, even if nobody gives two fucking shits about anything anymore.

Dolorian - Voidwards (2006)

2011-12-28T05:00:00.000-08:00

Here's a curiosity from 2006 that I recently came across in my internet travels: a Finnish ambient doom metal band called Dolorian (ugh), and their highly-lauded album Voidwards. Despite the abundance of excellent reviews, this record isn't for everybody. It's wrist-slashingly somber tones, quiet atmospherics, and hiss-whispered vocals all point to a hilariously humorless album, but there is enough sinister heaviness here for me to overlook it's exaggerated, po-faced solemnity. And for real, when Dolarian finally crash down with those meaty tones and scalding vocals, it's well worth the wait.

Of course, dead-serious doom riffs aren't all that they bring to the table... psychedelic flourishes flit in and out of dark ambiance, that one dude whispers incessantly, and the whole shebang plays out like a long, lonesome journey to the ends of humanity's emotional endurance. Jesus, that sounds fucking horrible. Maybe you should just download that new Agoraphobic Nosebleed EP, instead.

Tracklist:
1. Dual – Void – Trident
2. In the Locus of Bone
3. Co-il-lusion
4. Ivory Artery
5. The Flow of Seething Visions
6. The One Whose Name Has No End
7. The Absolute Halo Is Awakening
8. Epoch of Cyclosure
9. The Fire Which Burns Not
10. Raja Naga – Rising

spiraling down

Bahimiron - Rebel Hymns of Left Handed Terror (2011)

2011-12-27T12:00:00.000-08:00

I'm on a black metal kick lately, and the Texas scumfucks in Bahimiron hit the rotten sour spot on my soul with their third full length Goathorned Messiah Of The Seven Gates. You can't really over-analyze records like this, since it's basically nothing more than blasphemous, filth-ridden odes to Lucifer set to some of the scuzziest black metal you are likely to hear: bestial, misanthropic, and utterly vile. This depraved attack on your senses is made all the more palatable with a thick n' grimy production (that has more in common with the suffocatingly claustrophobic sound of Teitanblood or Vasaeleth than the shrill tinniness of Blaze-era Darkthrone), and there's a palpable undercurrent of crusty death to the whole shebang, which helps those phlegm-coated growls go down smooth. All in all, another gorgeously executed befoulment of god's holy kingdom by the reprobates over at Moribund Cult. Infernal hails, and all that shit.

Tracklist:
1. Anointed in Serpents Blood
2. Goathorned Messiah of the Seven Gates
3. Their Blood Shall Fill My Chalice
4. Bestial Raids of Antichrist Darkness
5. Wielder of Demon Blades
6. Throes of Oblivion
7. The Abattoir Inferno
8. Rebel Hymns
9. The Death of Divinity: I. Storm of Lucifer II. New Dawn Fades

storm of lucifer

Archgoat - The Light-Devouring Darkness (2009)

2011-12-27T05:00:00.000-08:00

There's a very special type of human being that loves records like The Light-Devouring Darkness, and unfortunately for my girlfriend, that type of human being is me. Who wouldn't love this satanic pounding of godless death metal offered here? The sickeningly down-tuned guitars? The simple-yet-highly-effective old school DM riffs? The burbling inhuman slorp of vocals, rendered from the far corners of Beelezebub's colon (and probably the closest I've heard yet to matching Antti Boman's of Demilich)? It's a fucking mystery to me, but I guess that's what makes me so special.

Tracklist:
1. Intro: 3rd Invocation
2. Apotheosis of Lucifer
3. Tribulation of the King of Worms
4. Goat and the Moon
5. Sodomator of the Doomed Venus
6. The Light-Devouring Darkness
7. Blessed in Beast's Blood
8. Worms Born of Martyrdom
9. Fornicated Messiah
10. The Dawn of the Antichrist

worship the beast

Volahn - Dimensiónes Del Trance Kósmico (2008)

2011-12-26T11:53:00.000-08:00

"Volahn is the next progression where your physical existence ends and you are a entity of pure kaos. Transcendence of flesh to stars, Black Twilight manifest where art is greater than the artist. Four years of pushing mind and flesh. The incomprehensible kosmic truth. Covers adorned in Mayan Blood through Black Twilight bloodletting Kaos ritual."

If that doesn't sound promising, I don't know what does. Some background: Volahn is a member of the "infamous" Black Twilight Circle, which is essentially a collective of black metal artists in the LA area creating some truly raw, harsh, and dissonant music with an experimental bent. Neither you or I are cool or kult enough to reach the inner circle, but fuck it if there isn't some gloriously unique sounds taking shape in that blistering hellhole, and you can get caught up on most of them over on uncle Aesop's blog, if you are so inclined.

Dimensiónes Del Trance Kósmico is the one that really caught my ear, however, and it was created by one solitary individual who goes by Volahn (previously of Ashdautas). With just a cursory listen, you'll be immediately struck by the raw-yet-fantastic guitar work which drips from every pore of this fucking thing, and the more you listen, the deeper into the void you fall. There's a convergence of elements meeting at a crossroads here, a cerebral journey of spiritual enlightenment through harsh black metal, driving tribalistic patterns, and an ungodly swarm of cosmic riffs - a heathen ceremony of epic proportions. If all black metal was as compelling as this, you'd certainly see a lot more of it posted here... but for now, Volahn stands alone. Highly recommended.

Tracklist:
1. Trascendencia Del Espacio Y Tiempo
2. Soledad En Despertar
3. Uno Con Kaos
4. Crepúsculo Negro
5. Cuerpo De Fuego
6. Trance Ceremonial
7. Caliz Del Purgamiento

kaos ritual

Antediluvian - Under Wing of Asael (2008)

2011-12-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

Before Santa Claus, before organized religion, and before the birth of Jesus Christ was Antediluvian. Some rotting, timeless entity lurking at the threshold of humanity, biding it's time in the shadows before unleashing it's foul essence upon god's decrepit kingdom in 2008. The archaic malevolence contained within this four-song demo festers in the body, corrupts the mind, and consumes the soul with it's onslaught of hellish blackened death. There is no reprieve from it's ungodly torment. There is no stopping the foul blight reaped unto mankind. There is no escape from the abyss.

Merry Christmas.

Tracklist:
1. Solarburst
2. Indomitable Time-Eater
3. Hemipenes Eversion
4. Under Wing of Asael

eat time

Wolvhammer - The Obsidian Plains (2011)

2011-12-24T09:31:00.000-08:00

Topping the number one position for 'blowin' it on my year-end best-of list' is Wolvhammer's The Obsidian Plains. I don't know why I avoided this for as long as I did... maybe something about the band name irked me. Maybe I thought it was just another boring wolf-related d-beat crust band. Maybe I'm only interested in technical space slam and shitty Incantation knock-offs. I dunno. But I saw this on some best-of lists over on Equivoke and Forever Cursed and thought I better get my shit together, because Sanakan and Haxan are always on point.

So here's some fucking epic blackened sludgecrust, from them to me to you.

Tracklist:
1. The Gleaming
2. Writhe
3, Bones Of The Pious
4. Ghosts In The Water
5. Shadowhorn
6. A Defiled Aesthetic
7. The Sentinels

wolv

*Christmas Bonus:
Wolvhammer - Black Marketeers Of World War III (2010)

Ritual Killer - Upon the Threshold of Hell (2005)

2011-12-23T06:50:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I'm just hearing about this now, but Ritual Killer is (was?) a side project from Sammy Duet (Acid Bath and Goatwhore) featuring Jordan Barlow (ex-Cancer Patient) on vocals and Zak Nolan (ex-Goatwhore) on drums. Metallum says they are still active, but 6+ years is a pretty long time to lay low, so who fucking knows.

What I DO know is that Upon the Threshold of Hell is a brutally fast-paced torrent of raw black metal from New Orleans. No symphonics, no clean choruses, no glistening black bondage gear: just harsh blasts of grimy, working-class black fucking metal. The tones on this thing are absolutely eviscerating, the drumming is relentless, and the vocals sound like they were birthed from a hearty diet of gravel and cigarettes. Singer dude's got a sick forehead tat, too.

At the end of the day, I enjoy this about a zillion times more than anything Goatwhore ever put out, so put that in your big rasta bong pipe and smoke it.

Tracklist:
1. Demonic Possession
2. Invoking The Twilight Void
3. Empire of Shit
4. Hordes of A Black Storm
5. Dead River Intervention
6. Scourge of A Satanic Infinity
7. Axis To Mutiny
8. Witch of The Sabbatic Fire

god is dead, he can't help you now

Murder City Devils - R.I.P (1996 - 2001 )

2011-12-22T11:48:00.000-08:00

Look, I'm generally not a huge fan of bands who break up and then play a million different "reunion" shows year after year, but I'll make an exception for the Murder City Devils. After they split in 2001 (or whenever it was), the band splintered off into several different projects (Dead Low Tide, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Big Business, etc...) that all fell woefully short of the sloppy rock n' roll greatness that was MCD.

So it's almost 2012 and everyone's a little rounder and hairier now, but the boys (and girl) from Seattle can still rock, whether you care about them or not. Here's a video of the song 'Bear Away' from their set at Fun Fun Fun Fest to prove it. Spencer even appears to remember the words, for cryin' out loud!

The point of this post, however, was to discuss this "final" live recording, captured in 2001 at their "last show ever" in Seattle. Like every Murder City Devils show, it's far from perfect - drunken rambling, guitars out of tune, lyrics forgotten - but all wrapped up in that same loveable, energetic commotion that always made them so endearing. What you get is 19 tracks covering the span of their career as the drunkest, sloppiest, funnest garage/punk/rock band around, and the sound quality ain't half bad, either. Guest appearances by dudes from Botch, which makes 'Idle Hands' sound brutaller than I ever thought possible. The last song 'Grace that Saves' is a new one that they had never played and left me a little flat, but otherwise, an excellent (and now totally pointless) farewell set.

Word on the street is that they even have a new 7" due out in a couple weeks time... stay tuned over here to get a hold of one, if you are so inclined. They are also playing Portland on Feb. 3rd, 2012, which I will most certainly be attending. Come hang out with JGD, if you can, or just stay home and be boring. I don't care.

Tracklist:
1. Bear Away
2. I Drink the Wine
3. One Vision of May
4. Midnight Service in the Mutter Museum
5. I Want a lot Now
6. Rum to Whiskey
7. Dancing Shoes
8. Waltz
9. Dear Hearts
10. Thats What You Get
11. Idle Hands
12. Boom Swagger Boom
13. Dance Hall Music
14. Cradle to the Grave
15. Murder City Riot
16. Press Gang
17. Broken Glass
18. 18 Wheels
19. Grace that Saves

"I just found 25 cents."

Entrails Eradicated - Viralocity EP (2011)

2011-12-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to lie to you: Entrails Eradicated is walking that precarious line between 'incredibly tech-savvy brutality' and 'ridiculous noodling mess.' You know how Brain Drill took the whole Origin template and just ran that shit straight into the 'unlistenable' zone? These neckbeards from Australia rip through some insanely fast, complicated, and tightly executed death metal that falls just a butt hair shy of being overtly cartoonish. I'd be hard pressed to suggest that Viralocity offers much in the way of "restraint," but there is a notable lack of slams, wiggerish arm movements, and other distasteful deathcore-isms, which leads me to believe that Entrails Eradicated are indeed totally legit. My only real qualm with this EP is the use of too much bullshit atmospheric filler for such a short run-time. Let this be a lesson to anyone who is in a band - absolutely NO ONE wants to hear your shitty intro track that sounds like you ripped off some old Godflesh song and threw a bunch of movie samples of people crying/being tortured/having sex over it. It's totally beat.

Otherwise, this shit is totally awesome and actually makes being in a death metal band look sorta fun, for a change.

Also, be honest: once that dude started singing, you thought he looked exactly like Glen Benton, too, right?

Tracklist:
1. Visceral Winds
2. Harnessing Gravitational Endurance
3. Disintegrating Complex Entities
4. Impending Annihilation
5. Collapsible Continuum
6. Viralocity

cool song title words

Derkéta - Premature Burial EP (1990)

2011-12-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

Can't chat long today, my friends. I'm off to traffic court to fight a $200 speeding ticket.

Speaking of eternal misery, here's a brief EP from PA's Derkéta, and all female death/doom metal band from PA. Slow and plodding as fuck, with that perfectly underproduced and muddy atmosphere. Hard to believe they got started back in 1988, which is right around the time I started wearing jams and a skate rags hip pack every day.

Fun fact: The name Derkéta was taken from Stygian Mythology; Derketa was the goddess of death of a blood drinking cult... as if anyone gives a shit.

Tracklist:
1. Premature Burial
2. Eternal Misery

sippin blood

Funerus - Reduced to Sludge (2011)

2011-12-20T14:06:00.000-08:00

Craig Pillard wasn't the only Incantation alumni keeping himself busy in his downtime - John McEntee's side gig Funerus (often billed as 'his wife's band' lol) unveiled some monumentally heavy death metal this year with Reduced to Sludge. As usual, the ever-present Incantation comparison is warranted, but only if they happened to be fronted by Martin Van Drunen.

I have a shit ton of work to do today, so I'll just let this pudgy youtube metal nerd spell it out for you:

Tracklist:
1. Behind the Door
2. Corroded
3. The Comfort in Depression
4. Bedpan Commando
5. Reduced to Sludge
6. Leatherface
7. Death of a God
8. Create / Destroy
9. Sound of Oil
10. Time of Death
11. E. Histolytica

straight outta the digestive tract

Nachzehrer - Pestilence Hungers in the Shadows EP (2011)

2011-12-19T22:18:00.000-08:00

Nachzehrer's unholy black thrash attack sound like they could come from any one of those cool foreign countries that produce all sorts of obscure kvlt black metal, but they are actually from Boston, MA, which is actually a lot more grim than you'd think. You motherfuckers think Norway is scary and frostbitten? Try shoveling your car out of a snowbank and hopping on Commonwealth Ave during rush hour, and you'll find yourself completely surrounded by the most brutally pissed drivers on Earth. That's right. Every single one of them would be more than happy to shoot you in the face for a decent parking spot. I know it's true, because I lived there for five years and was forced to kill a lot of innocent people in order to get to work on time.

Pestilence Hungers in the Shadows has that raw, evil, and ugly sound as founded by their overtly satanic brethren overseas: acid-throated rasps, limb-tearing tempos, and unrelenting aggression all summoned forth in the name of the dark lord. It will surprise no one that there isn't a whole lot here that I haven't already heard from the genre's forefathers, but I'm finding myself absolutely loving the vicious and nearly unhinged performances captured on this cassette. For once in my life, I actually sort of miss the city that makes this type of hatefully negative vibe an absolute necessity for everyday survival. Recommended!

Tracklist:
1. The Awakening
2. Bärsärkar-gång
3. Howling and the Imminent Stench of Decay
4. Black Order of the Goat
5. Incestual Demoncy
6. Atavist

love that dirty water

Shroud of the Heretic - Boiled to Death (2011)

2011-12-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

Just in time for Christmas, my boy JT over at Coffinpsalms (one of the better new blogs of 2011, for sure) sent me his band's new EP entitled Boiled to Death. You probably don't remember me glossing over Shroud of the Heretic's set in my review of Ritual Necromancy/Impetuous Ritual show a while back, but I definitely and undeservedly did. Their particular brand of dense, doomy death metal makes great neighbors with the likes of Aethyrvorous, Cruciamentum, Encoffination, and Vasaeleth, but often has some great mid-tempo chugging sections similar to Undergang. I'm always stoked when a new festering boil rears it's head on the Portland death metal scene, and I'm looking forward to future releases (and whole lot of shows) from these dudes.

Tracklist:
1. Frigid Waters
2. Boiled to Death
3. Mourn
4. Fall to Ruin
5. Ageless Shadow
6. Womb of Darkness

acult

Teitanblood - Black Putrescence of Evil Compilation (2009)

2011-12-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

Interesting that 99% of the world's population would consider Black Putrescence of Evil an unsightly sonic bruise in the annals of music history, while the underground black/death community hails Teitanblood as one of it's most crevcial existing entities. While this particular collection certainly won't do for completists, it's a fine beginner's kit for the uninitiated - nine tracks of festering blackened death metal by way of Spain, each of them as murky, primitive, and trve as it gets. The first six songs are nabbed from their Genocide Chants to Apolokian Dawn demo, and assault your senses with the rawest, muddiest, and most lo-fi Teitanblood material you're likely to hear, which is followed by two tracks from their split EP with Necros Christos, and finalizing with the beastly 9th track, 'Infernal Abomination of Death'.

Also of extreme interest is the upcoming release of Teitanblood's Purging Tongues LP, which promises to be a "revelation of blood-stained truth from behind the wall of life. Death Metal told in blind voices, guided by mute vision from the bottomless pit". Hails yes.

Tracklist:
1. Anvil of Doom (Intromancy)
2. Leviathan Division
3. Ultimate Revelation Descend
4. NecroSemen
5. Extermination Temple
6. Anvil of Holocaust (Outrogramatton)
7. Necrosemen
8. Black Pasch (Carnivore Eucharist)
9. Infernal Abomination of Death

total necro

Deus Otiosus - Murderer (2010)

2011-12-17T10:16:00.000-08:00

Cool. That Joanna Newsom post went over like a turd in a punchbowl, so let's make amends by posting an overlooked death/thrash gem from 2010. The Dutch sons of bitches in Deus Otiosus pummel you with some punchy, riff-centric death metal on their debut LP Murderer, and while it's not pushing any boundaries in terms of innovation, it's a got an infectious fist-pumping spirit that's hard to deny. Strong songwriting, vocals, and production, too. Check it out, or don't. See if I care.

I'm off to buy a bunch of throwing knives with my girlfriend because that's what we're into now.

Tracklist:
1. I Have Seen Him Slay
2. Thousand Arms Of The Dead
3. Wall Of Violence
4. Ye Pigs Of Little Faith
5. Whore Limbs
6. No Life
7. Ash World
8. Murderer

pigs of faith

Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender (2004)

2011-12-16T11:00:00.000-08:00

Welp, I've had my fill of metal for a while, so I might as well post this Joanna Newsom record that I've been putting off for the last three years. Even though she's some hip NY recording artist playing with full orchestras and dating Andy Samberg now, there was a time when she was just some weirdo harp-strumming wood nymph from California with a voice like no one else on earth. The The Milk-Eyed Mender is her debut album, and quite honestly, one of my favorite records of all time. On paper, I suppose I'd turn my nose up at a mix of harp-centric folky bluegrass with Lisa Simpson on vocals, but there is an inexplicable delight in her music that I can't deny... metal cred be damned.

At the time of these recordings (and even more so on her demos Walnut Whales and Yarn & Glue), Joanna essentially sounds like some autistic Appalachian child with no formal musical background, but with an incredible child-like zeal to her songs that often trades off with more mournful, somber tones. The tracks bounce in and out of sad, happy, ridiculous, naive, and sometimes overwhelmingly graceful with the greatest of ease, and I'm hard pressed to find anything not to love. And yes, the term "love it or hate it" definitely applies here, but I guess if you've ever wanted to know what the exact polar opposite of Abominable Putridity sounds like, this is it.

Tracklist:
1. Bridges and Balloons
2. Sprout and the Bean
3. The Book of Right-On
4. Sadie
5. Inflammatory Writ
6. This Side of the Blue
7. En Gallop
8. Cassiopeia
9. Peach, Plum, Pear
10. Swansea
11. Three Little Babes
12. Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie

there are some mornings where the sky looks like a road

JGD Fucks Up, Internet Complains.

2011-12-15T13:50:00.000-08:00

Far be it from me to pander to a bunch of internet jerk-offs, but it looks like my best-of list didn't quite jive with everyone else's opinion this year. Here's a few of the omitted records that everyone pouted about, all packaged together in one handy little crybaby post. I'm not even going to review this stuff for you, since everyone is so smart and knows everything about everything already.

WHO'S CRYING NOW?

Speaking of sad things, it appears that a hefty portion (heh) of TLD readers are total fatasses and bummed about it (62% of you, by the current poll standings). That sad, bloated 62% also includes me, and that's why I'm probably going to start the official TLD Fitness Club in the very near future. I currently have only a vague idea of what this will entail, but will flesh it all out shortly. There might be prizes. Trophies. Gold medals. I don't know. But keep your eyes peeled.

Tombs - Path of Totality

Mournful Congregation - The Book of Kings

Autopsy - Macabre Eternal

Gorgasm - Orgy of Murder

Immolation - Providence

Cruciamentum - Engulfed In Desolation EP

Rwake - Rest

The Living Doorway Presents: The Best of 2011

2011-12-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again, my friends. Before I get started on this long pain-in-the-ass-to-compile list of the years best, I'd like to say thank you to all the contributors, readers, followers, commenter's, and assorted rabble that make TLD what it is. That's right - I even appreciate the anonymous dudes that call me a 'fag' in the comments all the time. 2011 was a fine year for music, but also a great year for connecting with rad new bro's via this retarded blog, and I'm thankful for all the people that make it fun to waste my life writing about metal, skateboarding, and dogs.

There was so much awesome stuff this year that I was forced to expand my list to a top 25. While many of my favorites were easy calls and more-than-expected to wind up here (Yob, Mitochondrion, Disma and Ulcerate), there were definitely a few left-field surprises (Atriarch, Gigan, Antediluvian and Dephosphorus) that stoked me out enough to warrant inclusion on this very prestigious list. So without further ado, here's my favorite shit of 2011:

25. Dephosphorus - Axiom

It's entirely possible that Axiom was the best reader submission TLD received all year, and I believe we might have even been the very first to post it anywhere on the world wide web. An honor for us, of course, especially since just about everyone who came in contact with this blistering clusterfuck of blackened space-grind got burnt to a crisp with utter delight. Seriously. This is the audial equivalent of eating solar flares and shitting space lava.

24. Vomitory - Opus Mortis VIII

Honestly, I don't think dudes are giving Opus Mortis VIII it's proper's this year. There are virtually NO weak points on this album, just solid-as-fuck old school death metal that pummels mercilessly. Unlike some records, you can listen to this album ANYWHERE and it sounds great: at home, in the car, on the farm, at the beach... ANYWHERE. You guys are blowing it. So hard.

23. Gridlink - Orphan

How long was this fucking thing? 13 minutes or something? Still enough to blow a zillion other bloated records out of the water (and off the top 25). Mr. Chang and Mr. Matsubara continue to shred minds apart in the shortest amount of time possible with Orphan, a sonic blitzkrieg of synapse-snapping technical glitch-grind. Not recommended for epileptics.

22. Hate Eternal - Phoenix Amongst the Ashes

Erik Rutan gets a bum rap, but I totally stand by my extremely favorable review of Phoenix Amongst the Ashes. It's easily the best record they've released since Conquering the Throne, and not just by playing faster and more incomprehensibly. Nope, they stepped outside the box and created something big, bold, powerful... and even a little bit slow, at times. It's also worth pointing out that there was and absolutely ravenous push to acquire this record via download, and I'm pretty sure over 25% of TLD's traffic over the last year was related to searches for it. At the very least, he deserves props for not playing anything on Illud Divinum Insanus, right?

21. Today Is the Day - Pain Is a Warning

Crazy dude made a crazy strong comeback record. I said all sorts of nice things about Pain is a Warning in my official review, so you can go check that out, or just put your faith in José, who I'm pretty sure will claim this as the best record of the 2011. As I write this, he is currently working his way through his top 100 of 2011, which is a testament to both his dedication to music and a hint towards a very serious mental condition. Insane or not, he still writes for Terrorizer, so I guess you should probably listen to him, huh?

20. Blaspherian - Infernal Warriors of Death

Rad, here's that Incantation album that was never released. Super-contrived-yet-suffocatingly-intense rotten death that shits in the face of god and everything else beneath his beautiful kingdom in the sky.

19. Entrails - The Tomb Awaits
Let's not fuck around here - Entrails just might be the new standard for contemporary Swedish death metal. It's all here, dudes: chainsaw riffs, ripping solos, and even a guest vocal appearance by Dan Swanö, which is basically like being blessed by the unholy god of Swedish death metal himself.

18. Miasmal - Miasmal

MORE excellent Swedish death metal, but faster-paced than our pals in Entrails. Everyone knows that you suck if you don't love Dismember, Entombed, and Carnage, so you suck by default if you don't love Miasmal. It's that simple.

17. Spearhead - Theomachia

Spearhead was a band I was only peripherally aware of before this year, and they made a very big impact on me with the relentless blackened death on Theomatchia. Very Angelcorpse-ish in delivery, but not quite as... monotanous? In any case, I feel like Theomachia will be another excellent record that gets overlooked by a lot of people this year, so I'm just doing my part to keep you dudes in the know.

16. Necros Christos - Doom of the Occult

O Lord, thee unholy doomened death of Necros Christos shall foul your soul with rapacious desecration of mind, body and spirit. It shall also make the top 25 records of 2011 on the stupidest blog known to man.

15. Visceral Disgorge - Ingesting Putridity

One thing I've had a really hard time coming to terms with is that woman on the Oprah show who got her face ripped off by an enraged chimpanzee. It really, really, really bummed me out. I remember watching the episode when she revealed the aftermath of her injuries, and when I asked my girlfriend "where her face went," she sang a little song she wrote called 'Down the Monkey's Gullet'. None of this really has anything to do with Visceral Disgorge, but I sort of feel like if there was one band on this list that would have no problem ripping your face off and leaving you a messily deformed freak for the rest of your life, it would be Visceral Disgorge. As far as I'm concerned, this absolute ass-annihilating slamming death metal unit takes top honors in the 'outright brutality' category this year.

14. Desolate Shrine - Tenebrous Towers

CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS. CRUSHING DARKNESS.

13. Gigan - Quasi-Hallucinogenic Sonic Landscapes

Full disclosure: I always thought Gigan were some boring stoner/sludge band. No idea why I thought that, but it sort of seemed like the sort of thing everyone over at Stonerobixxx would get all boner'd out on or whatever. Turns out they are actually a mind-bending blitzkrieg of tech/grind psychodelia, hurtling through time and space in a sonic spaceship made out of speed and LSD. And if THAT doesn't get you interested in them, I don't know what will.

12. Encoffination - O' Hell, Shine In Thy Whited Sepulchres

This record sounds exactly how the cover art looks, which is why it slid into the top 12 so easily. A burbling cauldron of masterfully executed ritualistic death/doom, straight from the catacombs and into your heart.

11. J. Mascis - Several Shades of Why

You know, if a practice space was burning to the ground somewhere, and I only had time to save one dude in the entire building, I can 100% guarantee you that it would be J. Mascis. That's right, I'd let Danzig, Glen Benton, all the guys in Mastodon, Jo from Bolt Thrower, Adam Ant, Henry Rollins, Meatloaf, Beyonce, Corpsegrinder, Prince, and everyone else perish in flames in order to save him. Several Shades of Why is an absolutely fantastic solo project by Mr. Mascis, and while it's somber and subdued tone fails to excite me as much as, say... a new Dinosaur Jr. record would, it still spent a lot of time in heavy rotation this past year. It's okay to have feelings, guys.

10. Blut Aus Nord - 777 Sects
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Ugh, I hate talking about Blut Aus Nord. Those dissonant, hissing atmospherics. The serpentine riffs. The perpetual bending, twisting, and reshaping of a genre that used to be so easy to describe. And here they are once again - deconstructing the whole fucking thing and making people use their brains to comprehend their music. Fucking bullshit.

9. Ritual Necromancy - Oath of the Abyss

I'm exceptionally proud of Portland's own Ritual Necromancy. I had high hopes for them this year, and they did not disappoint with their debut full length, which has made a hefty splash heard round the metal globe. Some of the thickest, murkiest, and heaviest occult death metal since Vasaeleth's Crypt Born and Tethered to Ruin , Oath of the Abyss is a suffocating onslaught of Incantation-style death, which is just how we like it around these parts. Keep your eyes peeled for my official Ritual Necromancy interview, coming soon!

8. Rotten Sound - Cursed

It warms my heart to know that Rotten Sound are sitting comfortably in the fabled catbird seat as one of the top active grind acts in existence. As far as I'm concerned, these Finns slid right into slot #2 (right behind Napalm Death) after Nasum closed up shop. Few records are as devastatingly razor-sharp as Cursed, and listening to it is akin to going 16 rounds with Mike Tyson in his prime: just relentless, savage battery from start to finish.

7. Ulcerate - The Destroyers of All

If your existence has become too difficult and miserable to keep on living, I suggest ending it all by heaving your feeble frame onto the piercing, jagged edges of Ulcerate's The Destroyers of All. Expanding their Gorguts-meets-Immolation-meets-Crowpath sound with a darker, slower, and more brooding direction, Ulcerate unleashed one of the years most monstrous records, which I have yet to tire of, even though it's exhausting as fuck to listen to.

6. Absu - Abzu

Is there any other band on board with the 'mythological occult metal' tag? No? Then that means Absu is the best mythological occult metal band on earth, and on Abzu they rip through some of the most excellent tracks of their career in their inimitable blackened/thrash style. I listened to nothing but this record for three days straight when it leaked.

5. Yob - Atma

I had my money on Yob's Atma for ROTY, and when a behemoth like this falls into 5th place, you know it's been an epic year for metal. Oregon's psychadelic doom troupe never disappoint, though, and came though with another molten lead extravaganza, as well as one of my favorite live shows of 2011.

4. Mitochondrion - Parasignosis

Mitochondrion's Parasignosis is essentially a black hole of negative energy, and I don't think there was a darker or more unsettling record released in 2011. Absolutely soul-withering destruction from top-to-bottom, and completely overwhelming in it's relentless oppression. This will suck the life right out of you, which is totally fine because your life probably sucks, anyway.

3. Atriarch - Forever The End

At this point, I am so goddamn sick of writing this fucking best-of list that I'm finding it difficult to say nice things about the records I like the most. But I assure you that Atriarch's Forever the End is easily one of the years most compelling releases, and if you don't believe me, just click on that little link up there, and watch me fan out on it super hard back when I had energy to be super stoked on stuff. Pure doom-soaked atmospheric bleakness is right, motherfuckers.

2. Disma - Towards the Megalith

A while ago, I asked Shelby if he had heard Disma's Toward the Megalith and he said it "sounds how a lot of death metal sounds these days" (or something along those lines) and it turns out he's right. Much of my list this year is comprised of thick, cavernous death metal in the age-old tradition of Incantation, yet Disma presents such a stunningly perfect blend of death and doom that it sounds like they invented the genre themselves. Seriously, there's not a single note out of place here, which is understandable given the pedigree of the members (Incantation, and Funebrarum, and Evoken, amongst others), and the crushing power contained within this debut LP is undeniable. And hey, if you don't love massive walls of churning death metal, then you are definitely reading the wrong blog.

1. Antediluvian - Through The Cervix Of Hawwah

A lot of reviewers go on and on about the formal definition of Antediluvian as it relates to their music (i.e. "any ancient and murky period"), which I usually find irritating, but if ever a band lived up to it's namesake, this is it. Through The Cervix Of Hawwah is what I imagine Portal's Swarth would sound like if it had just crawled out of the primordial soup - an ancient hellspew of dark, chaotic death metal that their previous records merely hinted at - full of twisting occult incantations and doom-ridden lurch. Antediluvian have created a perfect hybridization of everything I love about death metal: technical astuteness buried beneath aeons of primeval malevolence, and soaked in a shroud of palpable dread. Is that enough hyperbole for you? This is the best record of 2011. See you next year.

*Other good stuff:
Thou - The Archer And The Owle EP
Corpsessed - The Dagger and the Chalice EP
Prosanctus Inferi - Red Streams of Flesh EP
Apocryphon - Self-Titled EP
Heresiarch - Hammer of Intransigence EP
Mithras - Time Never Lasts EP
Blasphemophagher - The III Command of the Absolute Chaos
Corrupted - Garten Der Unbewusstheit (if only for the last track)
Blessed Offal - Blessed Offal
All Pigs Must Die - God Is War
Trap Them - Darker Handcraft
Condemned - Realms of the Ungodly

*Disappointments:
Decapitated - Carnival Is Forever
Vile - Metamorphasis
Deicide - To Hell With God

*Best Shows Attended:
1. Inquisition at NW Black Circle Fest
2. Rorschach Reunion
3. Yob/Dark Castle
4. Decrepit Birth/Rings of Saturn
5. Impetuous Ritual/Ritual Necromancy

*Guilty Pleasure of 2011:
Mastodon - The Hunter (the creature liiiiiiiiiives)

*Best Dogs of 2011:
Billie and Olive

Thank you, friends. You may now commence arguing in the comments section.

Cult of Youth - Cult of Youth (2011)

2011-12-12T18:06:00.000-08:00

I will preface this by saying JGD had asked me to make a post today. I thought for a while and I felt like I had a good idea of what to write about... then I greatly underestimated how much time would be needed to make my intended post.

So instead I'm throwing together a post about something I have been listening to a lot lately. Which is Cult of Youth's self titled release. It doesn't take long when you listen to them to hear the Death In June influence. I have to admit I haven't heard the earlier releases, which were pretty much founder Sean Ragon solo work, so I can't compare. This album is very much in the Neo-Folk world, but with more punk/rock leanings than most other acts I have heard.

Also, I have been listening to Roky Erickson,but we have already posted all of it.

Tracklist:
1.   New West
2.   The Dead Sea
3.   Monsters
4.   Casting Thorns
5.   Through the Fear
6.   Weary
7.   The Pole-Star
8.   Cold Black Earth
9.   Lorelei
10. The Lamb
11. Lace Up Your Boots

We wash up the blood of those who had passed

Threadbare Reunion Show (Live)

2011-12-11T11:28:00.000-08:00

Please enjoy this live reunion video of one of my favorite 90's hardcore bands of all time: Threadbare. I'd love to say more about this, but I'm taking my girlfriend to Portland Meadows to bet on horse races now. We're gonna be rich.

TLD's 'Best of 2011' list is coming soon.

Vengeful - Vengeful (2011)

2011-12-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

Holy fucking shit. You might remember my gushing review of Vengeful's 2009 album The Omnipresent Curse, which was a blisteringly masterful slice of technically proficient death metal that came out of no where, and basically tore my head clean off with it's unrelenting speed and precision. There is absolutely no fucking around for this young band, as they take all the right cues from some of the best the genre has to offer (Gorguts, early Cryptopsy, Origin, Immolation, and Hate Eternal, in particular), and just fucking run with it.

It's two years later, and Vengeful are back with a monster of a new record. Dudes have clearly been hard at work to unleash a beast of this magnitude, because this is probably the most overwhelming full length I've tackled in a while. A double CD divided into two parts ('Towards Obliteration' and 'Leaping Through The Void') spanning over an hour of music... it's just....I dunno... a lot to take in. From swirling vortexes of full-bore blasting to dissonant string-bending passages, there is very little to calm the nerves between the relentless beatings. The most relief is found within the albums longest track 'Distant', which lurches menacingly at an Immolation-esque pace before breaking up and dissolving into sludge-riddled crawl and feedback of 'Exit'.

As good as it sounds, and as much as the performances are spot-on, I can't imagine anyone wanting to subject themselves to the audial abuse of listening to this entire releases in one sitting... but godspeed to anyone who wants to give it a try.

Tracklist:
Disc 1: Towards Obliteration
1. Decay
2. Abyss
3. Consumed
4. Skinned
5. Delirium
6. Pernicious
7. Delusional

Disc 2: Leaping Through The Void
1. Visions
2. Still
3. Malice
4. Distant
5. Exit

62.30 minutes

*Thank you TFTv5 for the link!

Vile - Metamorphosis (2011)

2011-12-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

Vile's first album since 2005 is kind of a bummer. Regardless of my extremely half-assed/lukewarm write up of Depopulate (their second full length from 2002), it was essentially a pitch-perfect representation of what a brutal/technical death metal band should sound like. Zillions of riffs with almost zero variations, deep yet entirely one-dimensional growls, and an obstinately violent ferocity ingrained into each track. Doesn't really matter that there wasn't an original idea within a 100 miles of it, it only mattered that the shit was brutal, vicious, and well-executed. Which it was. If you are interested, you can watch a huge dude on steroids perform some guitar covers from the album right here. Just LOOK at the vascularity of those fucking forearms.

Anyway, Vile wrote another record in 2006 called The New Age of Chaos that I didn't care very much about. It had it's moments, of course, but also introduced a more melodic approach that fell a little bit flat for me. Not to be one of those 'I only like their demo' type of dudes, but it sounded absolutely neutered in comparison to their first album Stench of the Deceased.

So what does Vile sound like in 2011, especially with just one remaining original member? Well, I think they sound a lot like Deeds of Flesh meets Amon Amarth, if you can stomach a comparison as retarded as that. There's a sort of anthemic, euro-melodic flair settled betwixt all that Californian riff salad, which is awkward enough when they're not trying to force ill-placed progressive elements (and operatic vocals?) down our throats. Sure, bands like Decrepit Birth and Fleshgod Apocalypse are able to ramp up the dextrous prog from album to album, and it (usually) sounds great, mainly because they are able to maintain a certain level of intensity throughout. That intensity just isn't present on Metamorphosis, and I can't imagine ever needing to revisit this album again. It's a shame, because as much as I wanted to like this new era of Vile, they are simply neither anthemic, progressive, or brutal enough to warrant anything other than a stamp of mediocrity.

Like I said, kind of a bummer.

Tracklist:
1. March Towards The Dawn
2. The Revealing
3. What Lies Beyond
4. Rise
5. I Am Alive
6. Wolf At Your Door
7. I Am Become Death
8. Shadow Work
9. Prophetic Betrayal
10. As One
11. Redemption

tell your friends at the Vatican that the game is up

Hazzard's Cure - S/T (2011)

2011-12-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

A thousand apologies to the fine (and assuredly bearded) gentlemen of Hazzard's Cure. Their demo has been lying in wait in my inbox for god knows how long, and it wasn't until I was alerted to their fresh new debut album that I finally remembered it. HC play a wizardly hodgepodge of bearded stoner metal, gritty sludge, and blackened thrash with some truly ripping guitars (just listen to 'Wolves' Banquet' and you'll see what I mean). As the band themselves pointed out, this description "may sound like a trainwreck", but does indeed come across as a cohesive and thoughtfully constructed slab of metal. If I had to compare their sound to anything, I'd tell you that it falls somewhere between Saviours, Kylesa, and Lair of the Minotaur, with just a touch of death metal holding it all together. Essentially, it's music for people who like beer, weed, and jean jackets. And hey, I only like 1/3 of those things, and I still think it's great.

As with most records these days, the entire album is up on bandcamp, so you can go check out a few songs before forking over your hard earned dough.

Tracklist:
1. Psilocybin
2. Meet Me At The Mountain
3. Tossed And Dethroned
4. Clashing Of Hordes
5. Wolves' Banquet
6. Prayer Of The Hunted
7. Great Dishonor

bandcamp again
blogspot
Demo (2010)

Ossarivm - Emanation EP (2010)

2011-12-07T09:36:00.000-08:00

Dudes are sending in so many great submissions that it's like shooting fish in a barrel these days. Ossarivm are a one-man band from Portugal and unleash a putrid form of ritualistic blackened death metal with their Emanation demo EP. The backbone of Ossarivm's music is relatively rudimentary old school death (in the ever-present Incantation vein), yet wanders out into more bizarre territory with slow stop/start chugs, drawn out ambiance, and some great gravelly, growled vocals. You can expect plenty of unsettling atmospheric passages like 'Ceremonial Horns and Thunder', which was obviously engineered to create a foreboding sense of dread. Don't let that deathcore cover art fool you... this is delightfully foul, my friends.

Tracklist:
1.Dissolving The Divinity
2.Ceremonial Horns And Thunder
3.Enpowerment through Blood

hail

Built To Spill - Live (2000)

2011-12-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

This is a decade-old live album from an indie rock band that I listen to more than probably any other band on earth. I might have just a heard a collective groan from every metalhead reading this, but eff you guys - it's absolutely true. The fact is that Built to Spill's songs are built into the landscape of my life here in Oregon - every one of their albums has traveled endless miles with me, from lake to mountain to desert, and they never seem to lose their charm. Built to Spill is what it sounds like to set up a tent in the pitch dark while it's raining. It's what it sounds like to wade into a freezing cold river found in the middle of the woods and lose a shoe over a waterfall. It's what it sounds like to find ourselves waist deep in snow (in the middle of summer) on our way to some long lost swimming hole. Sure, if 20+ minute covers of Neil Young songs aren't your thing, then you might want to steer clear. But if soaring guitars, haunting melodies, and entirely engrossing performances sound like something you can endure, then this might be the new soundtrack to your life.

Was that too earnest?

Don't care.

Tracklist:
1. The Plan
2. Randy Described Eternity
3. Stop the Show
4. Virginia Reel Around the Fountain (Halo Benders)
5. Cortez the Killer (written by Neil Young)
6. Car
7. Singing Sores Make Perfect Swords (Love as Laughter)
8. I Would Hurt a Fly
9. Broken Chairs

uno
dos

Inquisition - Anxious Death/Forever Under (Demos 2006)

2011-12-05T12:22:00.000-08:00

Looking back over the last few years of blog entries, I've come across more than a handful of half-started 'leftover' posts that never got posted. There's a whole bunch of reasons they never see light of day: sometimes it's a release a sister blog just posted and I don't want to step on their toes, sometimes it's a half-assed idea that I never got around to fleshing out, or sometimes I just decide that the record is mediocre and isn't worth wasting my time writing about it. I'm not really sure what happened with this leftover from 'Inquisition Week', but it's been biding it's time in limbo for way too long. I feel as though I've said all there is to be said about Inquisition already, so here's a rare photo of our cat Mano being humiliated by overzealous pre-Christmas cheer:

*Thanks to my long lost brother Shelby Cobras for the reindeer antler pro-tip, and please remember that there is only 20 shopping days left to get me a new iPhone.

Tracklist:
1. Anxious Death
2. Intro
3. Low Superiority
4. Intro / End Of Process
5. Wasted Importance
6. What We Want To Be
7. Abstract Confusion
8. Wild Abuse
9. Artist Of Illusions
10. Neurotic Depression

only Mano is real

Cara Neir - Stagnant Perceptions (2011)

2011-12-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

I've been receiving a lot of cool submissions lately, and Cara Neir's latest album Stagnant Perceptions is no exception. They present an eclectic mishmash of seemingly disparate genres, and streamline them into an interesting and altogether well done piece of work. Stylistically, Cara Neir seem rooted most closing to modern-day Enslaved, with some slightly progressive post-rock elements embedded between plenty of blackened grind. Here's the story straight from the horses mouth:

We just self-released Stagnant Perceptions on 11/11/11 after working on it since March of 2010. We are a two-man project that started in the fall of 2008 and are based in Dallas, TX. Our style is primarily black metal but with a lot of influences from crust, hardcore, grind, post-rock. Couple of these tracks feature Dorian (Noisear/Phobia) on backing vox and guest guitar leads.

Get into it.

Tracklist:
1. Imperialist Design
2. Return to Torquemada
3. Two-faced and Tight-lipped
4. Dethroned and Leprous
5. The Bridge of Despise
6. Amaranthine Figures
7. Temporal Realm
8. The Apothecary
9. Limitless Drift
10. My Apology
11. Not Enough

all apologies
bandcamp

Who Fucking Cares - A Show Review.

2011-12-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

Going to death metal shows alone is sad, but it's even sadder when you have to drive a bright yellow rental car that looks like a goddamn bumblebee there and park it in front of a bunch of burly metal dudes. I could feel their eyes on me, judging me and my adorable little Chevy and seething in disgust. The other sad thing is thinking the show will start at the time specified on the flyer, but arriving way too early (before the first band even sets up) and having to wait around trying to look busy. You can only text pancake kid jokes to your friends for so long, so I eventually broke down and ordered the worlds shittiest personal pizza from the bar menu when I wasn't even hungry, just trying to pass the time. While I wasn't expecting much, the pizza was deplorable enough that I think we should try to get Gordon Ramsey over there for some Kitchen Nightmares-style intervention. Seriously. I bet the dude over on this cool pizza blog called Slice Harvester would rip them a new asshole.

Horrible pizza and an embarrassing vehicle weren't the only problems I was facing: aside from Grave Upheaval, Ritual Necromancy, and Impetuous Ritual, I had no idea what other bands were playing the show or at what time. So after sitting around and sulking over the shitty pizza for an hour, some band started playing and I never found out who they were. Some doomy death metal band that was pretty good. Some blasts, some creeping dirges, and a whole lot of reverb on the vocals. Next time I'll ask someone who the band is, so I don't seem like such an amateur when I do these reviews.

Then some other band I didn't know started to play, but I decided to give my girlfriend a ride home from work because it was really cold outside. While she was happy to not have to walk an hour to get back to the house, she was also really unimpressed with the little yellow car I was forced to rent. I dropped her off and scooted back to the show, where the previous unknown band was finishing up their last song. I can't really tell you if they were awesome or not, but the crowd seemed pleased with their performance, so I assume they were good. Sorry, dudes. Next time my girlfriend tries to get home by walking seven miles in the freezing cold, I'll just let her die on the side of the road so I can write a review of your band on my shitty metal blog.

At this point, you've probably noticed I haven't reviewed a single fucking band yet.

The mighty Grave Upheaval push the boundaries of patience with extended blasts of dirty, ultra-fast riffing that descends into slow churning Incantation-worship at the drop of a hat. What I enjoyed most was the use of drawn-out ritualistic chants by the vocalist during the more doomy sections of the songs, which helped distinguish them from the the rest of the bands on the bill. When they blast, though, they fucking BLAST. The gravelly tones exuded from this three piece are, to be perfectly honest, absolutely mind-melting, ear-destroying, and barely intelligible. It was like living inside a rock tumbler set on 100 RPM's, and then flushed down a sewer drain into the hellish slop below. 100% awesome.

Impetuous Ritual, however, are a beast of a different color. They saunter onto the stage in bare feet and fake (?) blood, and proceed to completely destroy the place with a relentless execution of ceremonial excrescence. There's no other way to describe it. A nightmarish mindfuck of distorted riffs, thundering doom, and sickeningly sour oppression erupts from every orifice of the band members, ritualistically slaying the audience and leaving them to choke and drown in their own bile-ridden bloodvomit. The foul stench of Portal lingers in the air throughout their set, of course, yet Impetuous Ritual do not transcend a mere multiverse as the Curator & Co tend to do... instead, they stay right here on earth to soak in all the sweet, blessed suffering.

The fine fellows in Portland's own Ritual Necromancy close out the show with their own suffocating brand of thickly-settled occult death metal, and they are in fine form this evening. Tracks from one of the year's best records Oath of the Abyss are shat forth with great aplomb, and the remains of the dwindling crowd (it's 1:30 in the fucking morning on a Wednesday, for christ's sake) headbang both drunkenly and furiously. While it puts me dangerously close to poseur status, the decision is made to surrender to exhaustion and head home halfway through their set. I am full of shitty bar pizza and totally dead on my feet, tortured by the 6:00 am wake up call that awaits me. I made amends by purchasing Ritual Necromancy and Impetuous Ritual shirts before leaving, and also secured an upcoming interview with my pal Lloyd from R.N., which is going to be awesome. Keep your eyes peeled, and please email me some more pancake kid jokes. Over and out.

Burn Everything - Last Run Through The Ruins EP (2011)

2011-12-02T12:07:00.000-08:00

I guess I'll just come right out and say it: there isn't a whole lot on Last Run Through The Ruins that hasn't already been previously explored by the likes of Botch, Deadguy, or Coalesce. Not a bad thing, of course, though Burn Everything are definitely riding out the third (fourth? fifth?) wave of chaotic grindy noisecore, saddling up nicely next to the likes of Burnt By the Sun, Architects, Jesuit, and Gaza with their jagged assault of mathy technicality and thundering discord. It's got that whole full-impact, car-crashy post hardcore/metalcore thing going, the type of stuff that probably would have floored me a decade ago, but doesn't quite get me stoked out of my mind anymore. Sure, it may be getting harder to unearth any pleasant surprises from the genre these days, but there's still some enjoyable clatter and undeniable heaviness at work here. The vocals help spice things up a bit, trading off and on with throaty screams, deep bellows and cleanish hollering (ala Kylesa), and the short run time keeps it from getting stale too fast. No wheels are being reivented, but at least Burn Everything are doing their part to smash that fucker into smithereens.

Tracklist:
1. Kenny Jihad
2. Ghost Of The Waves
3. Directed By David Lynch
4. "They Don't Advertise Killers..."
5. Ambulance Chaser
6. Crumbling Monolith

Kenneth Jihad
bandcamp

Pagan Altar - Mythical & Magical (2006)

2011-12-01T11:25:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you are at least aware of the third annual Rites Of Darkness fest taking place in San Antonio next weekend, if not already packing up your bags to attend. There's been a lot of recent commotion over band cancellations and possible mismanagement by the fest promoters, but from my point of view, even if HALF the bands slated to play show up, it's still gonna be a great show. All sorts of TLD favorites are still in the line up (most notably Inquisition, Stargazer, Mitochondrion, Disma, Vasaeleth, and Funebrarum, amongst a whole slew of others), but the big name everyone seems all up in arms about is England's Pagan Altar.

First off, some history:
Pagan Altar first formed in 1978 and after one independently released album, later named Volume 1, in 1982 they split-up and fell into obscurity. The story does not end there however; in 2004 they reformed and surprised everyone by succeeding in the rare feat of making a brilliant comeback album that arguably is even better than the debut. The quality didn’t stop there though as their third album, Mythical & Magical was released 2 years later in 2006, and is (arguably) their best effort to date.

Now, aside from a random Witchcraft post here or there, TLD isn't what anyone would consider a hot bed of traditional doom - if it doesn't sound murky, violent, or diseased, we're probably going to pass on it. You can't live in the slop forever, though, and when I finally took a moment to check out Pagan Altar, I was pretty much blown away. More than just another vintage biter of Black Sabbath, this is a wholly unique mixture of classic doom and NWOBHM-influenced rock that goes down incredibly smooth. Awesome guitar work, great clean vocals, and also the epic bummer of 2011 now that they've cancelled their (two-hour) set at ROD. No wonder everyone is freaking out.

Tracklist
1. Intro
2. Samhein
3. The Cry of the Banshee
4. The Crowman
5. Daemoni na Hoiche
6. The Sorcerer
7. Flight of the Witch Queen
8. Dance of the Druids
9. The Erl King
10. The Witches Pathway
11. Sharnie
12. The Rising of the Dark Lord

it's magic

Monkeypriest - The Psalm (2011)

2011-11-30T09:32:00.000-08:00

The whole fucking world might be sick of sludge bands at this point, but I don't give a shit. I'll just keep stuffing burly-ass/whiskey-soaked beard metal down your collective throats until the cows come home - especially when the bands keep sending me their records directly. Monkeypriest hail from Spain and have a terrible moniker, but they have unleashed such an ungodly torrent of beefy downtuned riffs with The Psalm that I just can't bring myself to hold it against them. Let's get one thing clear: these dudes aren't out to impress you with fancy fretboard gymnastics at raging tempos... not by a long shot. Instead, they opt for a slow smothering of ten-ton molten sludge, built around minimalist arrangements, creeping atmospherics, and some of the dirtiest riffs this side of Eyehategod.

You might think you're sick of sludge metal, but you aren't sick of sludge metal.

Tracklist:
1. Hanuman's Dance
2. The Word Of The Priest
3. The Psalm
4. Involution
5. Feast Of The Fools (Cerebral Fix Cover)
6. Capharnaum
7. Our Kingdom (Involution Pt. II)

try
buy

**Bonus:
Defending the Tree EP (2009)

Nebulous - Into Infinite Spectrums EP (2011)

2011-11-29T09:53:00.000-08:00

I've said this before, but I'll say it again: I like all sorts of metal. From the foul stench of old-school death to rapey wigger slam to bearded neanderthal metal, I can pretty much stomach it all, as long as it doesn't have the words 'nu', 'industrial', or 'symphonic' in front of it. Seriously, I'll listen to all sorts of awful shit. Finntroll? Fuck yeah. Hatebreed? Fuck yeah. Dragonforce? Fuck yeah. Kvelertak? Fuck... no.

I'll tell you what, though: I LOVE me some technical death metal. If you've been lurking around here long enough, you'll know that this whole blog was founded on my utmost appreciation for the intricate brutality of bands like Wormed, Decrepit Birth, and Spawn of Possession, so it makes my day when I can get 'back to my roots' with some fast-paced technical space jams.

That said, the good ol' boys in Nebulous hit the spot with a blistering EP entitled Into Infinite Spectrums. My immediate reaction is that this sounds like a less over-the-top version of Origin butting heads with Odious Mortem: quickly-paced and complex, yet retains enough brutal CA-style groove to keep fans of Suffocation and Devourment interested. If you can't tell by the cover art and song titles, Nebulous have elevated themselves above the tired thematic elements of blood n' gore, and most likely write lyrics about stuff they saw on the Discovery channel: deep space, worm holes, collapsing stars, and other shit like that. I'll also mention that the vocals are strong, and utilize a gruff guttural with the occasional rasp (ala Origin), all of which are enunciated with enough clarity that you can actually almost understand the lyrics. These four tracks blow by pretty quickly (each song averages 3:30 minutes long), but all in all, this is a strong effort from this young Alabama band. My hope is that they keep evolving their sound to create a bit more distance from their influences, and come back in 2012 with some next-level technical space slam.

Tracks:
1. Devourer of the Cosmos
2. Forever Impaled
3. Hivemind
4. Spectrums

in Birmingham they love the governor
bandcamp

Upcoming Ritual Necromancy/Impetuous Ritual/Grave Upheaval shows

2011-11-28T15:19:00.000-08:00

Impetuous Ritual (Australia), Grave Upheaval (Australia) & Ritual Necromancy (Portland):

Nov. 29th - Seattle, WA
Nov. 30th - Portland, OR
Dec. 1st - OFF
Dec. 2nd - Oakland, CA
Dec. 3rd - Los Angeles, CA
Dec. 4th - Las Vegas, NV
Dec. 5th - Phoenix, AZ
Dec. 6th - TBA
Dec. 7th - El Paso, TX
Dec. 8th-11th - RITES OF DARKNESS - San Antonio, TX

Expect a full show review by yours truly following their Portland appearance on the 30th.

Noothgrush - Erode The Person (2006)

2011-11-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

The first time I heard Noothgrush was from their 1997 split with Corrupted, and never was their a more fitting pairing of bands. It was a slow, miserable battery of stripped-down sludge and lumbering doom, ejected straight from the bowels of our dying humanity. Erode The Person is a collection of studio recordings made in the late 1990's before Noothgrush disbanded in 2001, and essentially functions as a catch-all for those of us who don't want to spend the rest of our lives trying to track down every little piece of vinyl they ever released. Besides, some us of are still working our way through the Agathocles discography.

Tracklist:
1. A People Defeated Will Never Be United
2. Made Uncomfortable By Others Pain
3. Flee From Hunger & Disease
4. Diseased Mammal
5. Stagnance
6. Deterioration
7. Oil Removed
8. The Slave
9. Erode The Person
10. Hatred For The Species
11. Draize
12. Starvation
13. Strawberry Shortcake And Friends Holding Hands And Going Around the Gazebo with Custard and Pupcake Watching

here or there.

Burial - Relinquished Souls (1993)

2011-11-27T15:26:00.000-08:00

Today I bequeath unto you more classically-themed death metal, this time a one-off entitled Relinquished Souls from the Netherlands own Burial. I don't think this made a very big splash back when it was released in 1993, but time has been kind to this overlooked hunk of death, and it sounds as putridly catchy as anything else that came out during that era. Most reviewers cite Massacre and Leprosy-era Death as the jumping-off point for the material contained within Relinquished Souls, which should be more than enough motivation for your pudgy little sausage fingers to direct the cursor down to the bottom of the page and click 'download'.

Tracklist:
1. The Second Coming
2. Failure of Technology
3. Traumatized
4. No Existence
5. Abhorrence Within
6. Frigid Cold
7. Inner Hostility
8. Untimely Demise
9. Pitiful God

download

Carnage - Dark Recollections (1990)

2011-11-26T05:00:00.000-08:00

Having to work the day after a major holiday is total bullshit, but I spent yesterday stickin' it to 'the man' by doing nothing but listening to early 90's death metal on youtube. Carnage were the band that would become the mighty Dismember, and aside from a handful of demo's and live releases, Dark Recollections is their sole claim to fame. It's quite excellent: ripping old-school death metal with that warm and chunky Sunlight sound, and classic Dan Seagrave cover art, to boot. Aside from four weeks paid vacation, stock options, and a company car, what more could you possibly want? Nothing, that's what.

Tracklist:
1. Dark Recollections
2. Torn Apart
3. Blasphemies of the Flesh
4. Infestation of Evil
5. Gentle Exhuming
6. Deranged from Blood
7. Malignant Epitaph
8. Self-Dissection
9. Death Evocation
10. Outro

recollecting darkness

Profanatica - Disgusting Blasphemies Against God (2010)

2011-11-25T14:32:00.000-08:00

Hey, it's black Friday. Last night, thousands of retards camped out at all your local Best Buys, Ikea's and Walmart's in order to save a couple of dollars off of a bunch of useless Christmas shit for their crappy kids and families. Fuck that. The Living Doorway's version of black Friday involves getting up at the crack of dawn to drive back to Portland from the coast in order to work for a few hours, getting pulled over by the nicest cop ever (who let me go without a ticket), and listening to Profanatica's Disgusting Blasphemies Against God.

Quite possibly the most overtly anti-christian act since Mr. Benton burned an upside down cross into his forehead, Profanatica is filthy blasphemous black metal of the lowest order, focusing on simplistic & repetitive riffs that still manage to sound compelling. Shit is darker than dark, grimmer than grim, and unholier than stampeding through a bunch of senior citizens on your way to Bed, Bath & Beyond. And yes, they are also that band who took that band photo with their wieners out.

Tracklist:
1. Black Cum
2. Pious Piece of Shit
3. Christ's Precious Blood Poisoned
4. Smashing Religious Fucking Statues
5. Fuck the Blood of the Lamb
6. Covered in Black Shit
7. No Trumpet Shall Sound
8. Crush All That Is Holy Defile
9. Excrement Sacrosanct
10. Angel With Cock

anyone that camps on a sidewalk for a discounted toaster is a DBAG

Thanksgiving Grind Bonanza

2011-11-24T05:00:00.000-08:00

Operating on the assumption that every living human being on earth is a huge fan of bands that sound like Brutal Truth, Assück, Kill the Client, Insect Warfare, Wormrot, Nasum, and Napalm Death, I present this plentiful bounty of ear-mangling grindcore for you on this Thanksgiving day. These five records should easily provide enough harrowing discord to get you through another awkward afternoon with your drunk spinster aunt and pervy uncle Warren, but maybe not enough to resist getting in a fight with your shitty stepdad at the dinner table. And hey, I don't blame you. Dude is a total dick.

Me? I'm packing up my car with my girlfriend, my little dog, and a metric shit-ton of carbs and heading off to the Oregon coast to spend the weekend ingesting as many calories as humanely possible. Later.

Defeatist - Tyranny Of Decay (2011)

Sulaco - Build & Burn (2011)

Maruta - Forward Into Regression (2011)

Noisear - Subvert The Dominant Paradigm (2011)

Worlds - Unforeseen Paths 7" (2010)

Corpsessed - The Dagger and the Chalice (2011)

2011-11-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

With caskets full of excellent releases by the likes of TLD faves Miasmal, Undergang, Entrails, Burial Invocation, and Ritual Necromancy (amongst others), Dark Descent Records is quickly becoming a "go-to" label, much like the underground darlings over at Profound Lore.

Christ, I just spent so much time hyperlinking shit that I don't even have enough energy to finish this post.

Let me put it this way, if you think you like death metal but don't have Corpsessed's The Dagger and the Chalice yet, you are 100% blowin' it.

Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Crypt Infester
3. Nameless Cult
4. Altar of Worms
5. Massgrave
6. The Dagger & The Chalice

Get some
Take some

Repuked - Pervertopia (2011)

2011-11-22T09:33:00.000-08:00

More than just a great band name, Repuked are a bunch of Swedish scumfucks doing the whole 'graveyard-party-metal' thing with sickening aplomb, mixing a gruesome cocktail of old school death metal, punked-out grind, and overt sexual deviance. The bros over at Autothrall aptly described Pervertipia as "some crass embodiment of Repulsion, Entombed and Autopsy in a cockfight", which pretty much sums them up in a nutshell, although I'm pretty sure Repuked are having a lot more fun than any of those guys ever did. Might not be 'album of the year' material, but enough to leave a greasy stain on your mind for a while. Recommended!

Tracklist:
1. Chemically Wasted
2. Gag!
3. Mental Vomit
4. Pervertopia
5. I Wanna Puke On You
6. Brainboiler
7. Standing By The Roadside…
8. …Fucking Something Dead
9. Morgue Of Whores
10. Orgasmic Death Deliverer
11. Toxic Constipation

puke on u

Deathened Haikus - A Lazy Record Roundup

2011-11-21T13:32:00.000-08:00

I have returned from the other side, my friends. After spending the weekend curled into a fetal position and battling a wretched onslaught of food-borne illness, I have seen sights, sounds, and vampire-themed pancake jokes that would crumble the average man to dust. Not me, though. My resolve to not only survive, but to supply the world with free downloads to death metal records is simply too strong. With pedialyte and a package of saltines in hand, I will now begin a slow-but-determined climb back to my regularly scheduled and totally half-assed posting. I'm still a little woozy and dessicated from the mind-flaying horror of having explosive diarrhea for 36 hours straight, so here's some reviews of the internet's hottest jams, by way of Japan's cutest 5-7-5 patterned poem. Thanks for all the well-wishes, by the way.

Prosanctus Inferi - Red Streams of Flesh EP (2011)

Get ravaged in hell
Pummeling onslaught of death
Best logo ever

Blasphemophagher - The III Command of the Absolute Chaos (2011)

Unholy Legions
Shat forth from Satan's anus
War in your colon

Heresiarch - Hammer of Intransigence (2011)

'O mountain of skulls
Trembling forever in fear
Diarrhea without end

Antediluvian - Through The Cervix Of Hawaah (2011)

Get gutted in filth
In thy sickening abyss
Record of the year

LIVE BLOGGING: JGD GETS FOOD POISONING

2011-11-19T20:44:00.000-08:00

I am typing from the sickbed of JGD. He has been wrestling with food poisoning all day. 6 hours in he started refering to himself in the plural and having "visions". I took the liberty of transcribing what he saw on the other side. The following conversation is raw and unedited.

JGD: While you were gone I was downtown and saw my car was on the garbage barge in the river and I said "who put my car on the barge? I didn't park it there" and a rough man says "hey, this car's never been on dry land" and he pointed out that there is no way for the car to drive on because it was all rails. And the car was buried in trash and it was all white trash and I did wonder what neighborhood the trash bags came from and if they had an agreement to all use white bags. I don't know how I got on the barge to yell at that guy. That was weird. Today Billie worked at Dominos on Broadway. She had a backpack that you could fit small pizzas in and maybe one salad. They didn't let her take any coca cola cause she shook em up too bad. Light eaters only. She got fired. She couldn't make change and we needed those dollars and we needed her to be worn out at the end of the day so we didn't have to go to the park anymore. I told Billie's boss that we would teach her to make change, she's just a baby and she can learn. And she had a visor and her ears were back the whole time because she thought she was in trouble. You should have seen her. She had those shoes that dogs wore at the world trade center. These are visions I saw. Clear visions. I wasn't asleep.

(A few minutes of JGD moaning)

JGD: We were so sick and we had thick pedialyte and I spilled red in the tub and I also layed down on the floor near that heater that Mano knows about. Have you seen it?

JGD: I feel queasy queasy uncomfortable breezy. I did write a pancake joke. How does the pancake dracula kid like his coffee in the morning? De-coffinated.
E: That has nothing to do with pancakes
JGD: It's just a joke. It's funny in any context. On any continent.

JGD: Ever had the dream where you did something irreparably bad to your hair?
E: I don't think so.
JGD: I had a vision that I gave myself a mohawk and I had to hide it at work with a very tall hat. My boss would say like "nice hat, where did you get that" and I'd say "Saturday market Dr. Suess hat." My eyebrows are so long, bud. Anna's really rough on them. This one I can hold from five feet away.

JGD: What are you typing?
E: Your dreams
JGD: Anything in there that we can learn from to make me feel better? I'm nude as a jaybird. I did write a song today and I don't remember it. It was about gym class and having sass. It rhymed perfectly. I feel like I'm not sleeping though. I just go away and I come back with some new insights. I don't feel good. I have a sore tum. I think I might be sick in a real way. My butt is so warm. Feel this.

Encoffination - O' Hell, Shine In Thy Whited Sepulchres (2011)

2011-11-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

If you've ever wanted to be buried alive beneath a thousand rancid corpses in the dead of the night, now is your chance.

Tracklist:
1. Sacrum Profanum Processionali
2. Rites Of Ceremonial Embalm'ment
3. Ritual Until Blood
4. Elegant In Their Funebrial Cloaks, Arisen
5. Crypt Of His Communal Devourment
6. Washed And Buried
7. Pall Of Unrequited Blood
8. Annunciation Of The Viscera

viscera arise

Cavity - Supercollider (2003)

2011-11-18T12:57:00.000-08:00

My inbox is currently overflowing with record review requests, to the extent that I simply don't have enough time in the day to listen to everyone's stuff without forfeiting my god-given right to sit on the couch playing Xbox for a few hours every day after work. From the little bits that I've heard, however, there's a lot of great material lying in wait, and I appreciate each and every submission that is sent my way. I swear that I will get to it all eventually, so please be patient and hopefully you'll see a half-assed write up of your record here before too long. Until then, I'm just going to focus on finishing half-started posts from several months ago.

Today we shall revisit Cavity's 1999 sludge masterpiece Supercollider (by way of the re-released Hydrahead Records version). Expect southern-fried sludge metal from swamps of Florida, the type of grisly shit that goes hand in hand with the drug-addled dirge of Eyehategod, Buzzov*en, and Weedeater. I will say that Cavity sounds a bit cleaner (and, dare I say more 'sober') on Supercollider than your average heroin-centric sludge unit, and the production is thick, clear, and rich. I could go on all day about it, but I'm not gonna beat around the bush - this is a goddamn must-have, folks.

Tracklist
1. Supercollider
2. Set In Cinders
3. Taint and Abandon
4. Inside My Spine
5. Xtoone
6. Threshold
7. Black Snake
8. Damage Lv
9. How Much Lost
10. Last of the Final Goodbyes
11. ...Who Doesn't Even Know Yet?

tain't misbehavin'

Thou - The Archer And The Owle EP (2011)

2011-11-17T11:21:00.000-08:00

As predicted, The Living Doorway has nothing but kind words for Baton Rouge's sludgiest sons in Thou. These dudes are nothing if not prolific, and their newest EP The Archer And The Owle spans six tracks of the lumbering heaviness we've all come to know and love. Featuring one new song, two older ones, and three covers (two of Pgymy Lush and one somewhat disarming version of Nirvana's 'Something in the Way'), I'm hard pressed to find anything to criticize here. I guess I could say that, as my brother pointed out to me, owls are totally passé right now. Everyone knows that people are into deer, foxes, and olde-tymey shit now, dudes, so get your shit together.

Tracklist:
1. Voices In The Wilderness
2. Something In The Way
3. Summit Reprise
4. Bonnet Carré
5. Cold World
6. There There

welcome to 2008

Snapcase - Steps EP (1995)

2011-11-16T15:35:00.000-08:00

I don't know if anyone cares about them anymore, but Snapcase were probably the biggest hardcore band on Earth before Hatebreed started touring with Slayer and shit, right? I listened to both Steps and Lookinglasself all during my high school and early college years, before heading into heavier territory. I haven't really thought about Snapcase in FOREVER, but this little EP holds up better than everything Strife, Earth Crisis, or whatever other awful hardcore band ever released combined.

This week fucking sucks but I still feel like stage diving.

Tracklist:
1. Cognition
2. Steps
3. Windows
4. Run and Fall

I abandoned you and now I'm free

Sonic Youth: Last Show... ever?

2011-11-15T16:31:00.001-08:00

It is possible that yesterday's Sonic Youth concert in Brazil could be their last ever. Here is the high quality video of the event.

Confusion is Sex (1983)
Bad Moon Rising (1985)
Evol (1986)
Sister (1987)
Daydream Nation(1988)
The Whitey Album (1988)
Goo (1990)
Dirty (1992)
Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star (1994)
Washing Machine (1995)
A Thousand Leaves (1998)
NYC Ghosts & Flowers (2000)
Murray Street (2002)
Sonic Nurse (2004)

Illogicist - The Unconsciousness Of Living (2011)

2011-11-14T12:43:00.000-08:00

Rad, score another one for Willowtip Records. I like when new releases from good bands pop up out of nowhere unexpectedly. Illogicist have returned once more to plunder the rotting corpse of Death's The Sound Of Perseverance, and they brought a fresh batch of jagged rhythms and off-time riffs along the way. I'd love to paint you a beautiful picture of this album from top to bottom, but I'm buried under an avalanche of shit at work and can't get out. However, I assure you that fans of later-day Death, Atheist, and Theory In Practice won't have much to complain about with this one, even though you motherfuckers are going to, anyway.

Tracklist:
1. Ghosts Of Unconsciousness
2. Hypnotized
3. Perceptions From The Deceiving Memory
4. The Mind Reaper
5. A Past Defeated Suffering
6. The Same Old Collision
7. Misery Of A Profaned Soul
8. A Never Ending Fall

never ending suffering (aka 'work')

Absu - Abzu (2011)

2011-11-12T12:48:00.000-08:00

Look, unless you happen to have absolutely nothing better to do, 'blogging' consistently for more than a couple of years can become really tedious. I speak from experience, because TLD was birthed wayyyy back in Feb of 2009, and I've done my damnedest to keep up with it on a daily basis, even if it meant shirking work duties or staying up late to write about some stupid record that no one cares about. Hell, I went as far as recruiting dudes with good taste and actual writing skills into the fold, all in the name of having the type of blog that I would want to read and re-visit often. Still, as much as I love music (metal in particular), there always comes a time when I need to take a break from all the pressure and just post a bunch of of dumb shit about my dog and stuff.

So the last time I took a hiatus from the competitive world of non-profit metal blogging, I was scolded mercilessly for my lackadaisical attitude towards Absu's newest record, simply entitled Abzu. It wasn't that I didn't care about it, far from it, in fact. It was simply that I was lazy and didn't feel like listening to a record I was excited about just so I could make a post about it. Some things need and deserve time to sink in, which is why posting about brutal guttural death metal every single day is so easy... you only need a single adjective to get your point across, and then you can go back to watching online skateboard videos online while you're supposed to be working.

So it's way too late and everyone already has this and knows that it rules, but I'm going to put it up anyway. Why? Because fuck you, that's why.

Tracklist:
1. Earth Ripper
2. Circles of the Oath
3. Abraxas Connexus
4. Skrying in the Spirit Vision
5. Ontologically, It Became Time and Space
6. A Song for Ea

Theoretically, He Became a Waste of Time and Space

Lantlôs - Agape (2011)

2011-11-11T11:30:00.000-08:00

Not to be a genre nazi or anything, but is "post black metal" even a real thing? I mean, you are either grim and frostbitten and tremolo-picking your way into Satan's heart, or you aren't, right? Lantlôs is less Darkthrone and more Alcest with their shoe-gazy brand of atmospheric beard metal, and trades in all that icy hatred for some emotionally heavy post-rock jamz. As dark and brooding as it is, there really isn't a 'sinister' moment to speak of on Agape, which Herbst explains here:

“With our new album we’ll tread new paths, both musically and conceptually. In general, the upcoming album will be very vanguard and rather unaccessible and the black metal vibe will be gone almost entirely. Still the record will be much darker than its predecessors, nihilistic, and strange. It’ll be bulky, ugly and will feed off its listeners.”

I don't know if 'ugly' or 'nihilistic' is how I'd describe the material here, but it's certainly dark, whether it has smooth jazz segments or not. More than anything, Lantlôs have created a very mature record, with a solid equilibrium between seemingly disparate elements. File under: Adult Contemporary Metal.

Tracklist:
1. Intrauterin
2. Bliss
3. Bloody Lips and Paper Skin
4. You Feel Like Memories
5. Eribo – I Collect the Stars

I like technical space slam.

Fields of Elysium - Unraveling Arcane Dynamics (2009)

2011-11-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

No, not this guy.

Good morning. Here's an epic headache to start the day. Fields of Elysium are a brutally technical grind unit from New Mexico, and their sole full length Unraveling Arcane Dynamics unloads a freight train of fucked-up, scattershot jazz-influenced deathgrind right into your stupid face. Imagine early Dillinger Escape Plan (up to Calculating Infinity) being manhandled by the likes of Wormed, Dripping, Anomalous, or...I dunno....Elevator Music. You know, the type of thing where the bass player probably writes all the songs and makes everyone practice six days a week. I should point out that the production work here is considerably less than breathtaking, but it has enough bass-heavy charm to sway me into liking it (which isn't really saying much, considering I'm Artery Eruption's fanboy numero uno).

Tracklist:
1. Decomposing Celestial Mass
2. Imp of the Perverse
3. Tangle of Discarded Corpses
4. Feed Me A Stray Cat
5. Vomitous Mistress
6. Sentint Worm
7. Intravenous Meat Injection
8. Millipus

imp of the universe

Haapoja - Hallitsematonta Voimaa (2011)

2011-11-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

Note to solicitors: I like when I get demos of darkly-lit chaotic hardcore/metal from Finland in my inbox, which is why this demo from Haapoja went up so quickly. Also, stop sending me noise records. I'm never, ever, ever going to listen to OR post them.

"Haapoja was formed in Oulu, Finland in 2007. Originally the plan was to play death metal. Since then the style has evolved and influences have been taken from various styles of heavy music, like Converge-style hardcore and black metal. There have also been some line-up changes and some pretty long breakes mostly due to the mandatory military service in Finland. In summer 2011 Haapoja recorded their first proper demo, called Hallitsematonta Voimaa."

Tracklist:
1. rajamailla
2. tajunnan laidalla
3. hallitsematonta voimaa
4. ihmiskoe
5. tartunta
6. teko tapaani johtaa

jom jom jom
bandcammmmp

Ritual Necromancy - Oath Of The Abyss (2011)

2011-11-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

Okay okay. Let's get real. Portland's Ritual Necromancy have obviously been poking around Incantation's backyard with their murky brew of suffocatingly heavy death metal. I was fortunate enough to catch their live ritual with Portal last year, and they crushed with such impunity that I dare say they just might be the best death metal outfit in Portland at the moment. Oath Of The Abyss sees these morbid gents expounding (and improving) on their sound and production from their demo, while still retaining the foul decrepitude that is inherent from having song titles like 'Desecrated Omnipresence.'

Fans of foggy wet-blanket death metal ala Vasaeleth, Portal, and Impetuous Ritual shall not go wanting.

Tracklist:
1. Accretion
2. Cacophonic Dementia
3. Descent
4. The Chasm
5. Desecrated Omnipresence
6. Penitence
7. Consummating Crypts Of Eternity
8. Oath Of The Abyss

kind regards to uncle Zito for the link!

Blood - O Agios Pethane (1993)

2011-11-08T10:21:00.000-08:00

This putrid hunk of gore was purloined from our pals over at Slays For Days exactly one year ago, so it's cool that it decided to rear it's ugly head on today's installment of iPod Roulette. I very much enjoy this record and would LOVE to ramble on and on about it for you, but Inflorescence of Decay wrote such an incredibly eloquent review of O Agios Pethane that I suggest simply heading over there and learning all there is to know about this German killing machine for yourself. In fact, you should probably just get all your downloads there from now on, because I'm pretty much useless at this point.

The Living Doorway: where quality is job number ~~one~~ seven.

Who wants to see more pictures of Billie?

Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Kadath
3. Cannibal Ritual
4. Profanity
5. Submission
6. Sodomize The Weak
7. Punishment
8. Christbait
9. Dread
10. Wings Of Desecration
11. By The Way Of Grace
12. God Left The World
13. Aesta Ta Malakja Sou
14. Revelation
15. Divine Seed
16. Spasmo Paralytic Dreams
17. Lamentation
18. Stream Of Anguish
19. Blood For Blood
20. Outro

blood blood blood

Leng Tch'e - Hypomanic (2010)

2011-11-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

Today's post is brought to you by the letter 'L', as in "Lazy'. I have absolutely nothing up my sleeve in terms of life-altering metal for you at the moment, so I guess we're all at the mercy of an impromptu ipod roulette week until I get my shit together.

Leng Tch'e are a pretty good Belgian deathgrind band that feature a bunch of dudes from a bunch of other bands, but now those dudes aren't in the band anymore and Leng Tch'e is kind of boring. Today's track was 'Wirehead Imbeciles' from their 2010 release entitled Hypomanic, and it's a beefy yet rather unspectacular slab of alternatingly grinding and grooving death metal. I'm hard pressed to call any of it "bad", but it sounds so familiar and generic that it withers in comparison to their earlier material. Mostly I think it's because I liked that one vocalist dude with the burly death metal vox from ManMadePredator, not this guy who sounds like he was rejected from one of The Haunted's auditions.

Still, you could do worse, of course.

Tracklist:
1. Wirehead Imbeciles
2. A.men
3. The Stockholm Malevolence Project
4. World State Abomination
5. Refined Torture
6. Misleading Innuendos
7. Obiter Dicta
8. Death's Head Cockroach
9. Totalitarian
10. Anthropocentric Suicide
11. Silence is Better Than Unmeaning Words
12. Violence Does Even Justice
13. Corrosive Rotgut
14. Perfervid Odyssey

rotgut

GodheadSilo - Skyward in Triumph (1995)

2011-11-06T11:27:00.001-08:00

Pardon the absence, I have friends in town and yesterday we spent the entire afternoon watersliding out of a 747 affixed to the top of a building. It was the most fun I've ever had in an aviation-themed waterpark, bar none.

Being an adult is awesome.

Tracklist:
1. Echo Challenge
2. Booby Trap
3. Chuckanut Overdrive
4. Just Friends
5. Guardians of The Threshold
6. Dan vs. Time
7. Buttress of Solitude
8. French Loan
9. Skyward in Triumph

splashdown harbor

New Day Rising - Memoirs of Cynicism (2001)

2011-11-03T12:38:00.000-07:00

One serious contender for inclusion in 'Worst Shit Ever' was this awful, awful Canadian band called The China White, who attempted to play this miserably shitty hybrid of brit-pop influenced indie rock with emo crooning. They had a CD called the 'The Gun of the Enemy' or something stupid like that, and it was really bad. The reason I even know about the China White is because the band contained ex-members of Canada's New Day Rising, which were one of my favorite politically-charged moshcore bands of the 90's. They put out a handful of 7"s before releasing their one and only full length entitled 'Memoirs of Cynicism' which took a decidedly more metallic approach with a fuller recording, deeper vocals, and an overall heavier mosh attack.

Holy shit, look at this tiger gif!

Anyway. I used to work with this weird goth girl at a health food store in Chicago, and she kept asking me to hear my band. Every single day: "when can I hear your band? Do you have a tape for me? What's it sound like?" So one day I played her a couple of songs from this and said it was my band and she hated it and I never had to talk about it again.

Tracklist:
1. Hired Angel
2. Cash Core
3. Old Souls Can be Beaten (A Song About Revenge)
4. Holy Martyr
5. Shithead
6. Annoying
7. Punishment
8. Predator

it's time for the ritual, let the rounds-up begin

Yattering - Genocide (2003)

2011-11-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

Oh christ, I'm out of the loop. Someone recommend something to listen to that isn't almost a decade old, ok?

Yattering are a technically proficient brutal death metal from Poland who sound like some bastard offspring of early Cryptopsy, Deicide, and Meshuggah. I don't believe Genocide made much of a splash when it was released back in 2003, but I assure you it has plenty of staccato riffing, syncopated rhythms, and grinding chaos for everyone. They also randomly employ some weird industrial robot effects on the gutturals vocals every now and again (which I don't particularly like or dislike), which might be the spoonful of sugar needed to help the seemingly questionable lyrical content go down.

I don't know, I can't even tell if this is good or not. All I know is that every time I've hit 'shuffle' on my ipod this past week, a song from this record has popped up, so now you have to listen to it, too.

Tracklist:
1. Genocide
2. Schism
3. Message to M.A.R.I.O.
4. Non Adapted Socially
5. Panic in a Sea of Blood
6. Inflow (Thought from Outside)
7. Non Typical Homo
8. Rap Victim
9. Sentence (To Die)
10. Temptation of a Crime
11. Murderer (You Are)
12. Living Bomb

non typical momo