Friday 31 May 2013

Drunk Dad - Morbid Reality

Drunk Dad come from Portland and seem to have been
infected by the strange mutant/illegal chemicals that must
be pumped into the cities air to produce bands with horrific 
abilities to make your ears and head hurt.


Heavy noise rock with a swampy sludge sound threading through
the tracks make this EP essential listening for people who like
to shout at strangers and abuse all aural constraints.

Drunk Dad have some clever arrangements meaning the songs
stand out with their own identity. Varied vocal styles utter the
lyrics over a barrage of in-yer-face playing that sound like
drugged bikers kicking shit out of their instruments - which
is a good thing! All too soon the EP ends, leaving you shaking
your head clear of the after effects but wanting to hear more.

Recommended.


Band blurb:
In a constant barrage of new noise from Portland-based D.I.Y. noisemongers Eolian Empire, the label’s next conquest comes by way of the filthifying new 12” from local metalworkers DRUNK DAD. 
If they weren't such dirty fuckers they'd be one of the town's shining success stories of unrelenting hard work and dedication: in a surprisingly short time DRUNK DAD went from favorite-band-shirts-on-their-hearts-on-their-sleeves to a unique and dynamic fusion of the heavy, the noisy, and the aggro, with a healthy dose of high drama, as they consistently churn out some of the most devastating live sets Portland has seen in years. Complex but in-your-face arrangements, push-pull duel-guitar interplay, searing behind-the-head leads, heavy motherfucking bass, and hard-hitting, tight, technical traps with dynamic, disturbing vocals to hold it all together evolves to ethical scumbaggery at its finest.

Morbid Reality, the first vinyl release from Portlandian shitstarters DRUNK DAD, merges off-kilter sludge/noise the Pacific Northwest perpetuates so well into a drugged-out but aggro vibe; elements of scathing crust-ish degenerate punk brutality of El Dopa or Dystopia are cold-filtered with slow-motion acerbic sludge basslines and noxious riffage with a post-Melvins experimental vibe.

Eolian Empire will drop the four-song Morbid Reality via 12” vinyl and digital download on June 11th. In the meantime, DRUNK DAD were recently caught intoxicating the public via Eolian’s massive KEEP OUR HEADS Portland underground compilation alongside twenty-five more of the city’s finest filthriffing acts. Get wrecked with their pungent “S.O.U.” from the comp anthem RIGHT HERE.

Following their spot on one of the Eolian Empire KEEP OUR HEADSrecord release shows over the weekend, DRUNK DAD have the coolers loaded with frothy ammo as they plan on stumbling south across California this week, with shows booked in Eureka, Oakland and a happy-hour double in San Francisco. They also just booked a hometown record release show at Portland’s Ash Street Saloon with labelmates Diesto on June 7th, with much more public drunkenness to be had in the Summer months.

Order from Eolian Empire

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Thanks to Earsplit PR for links.

Thursday 23 May 2013

Harpoon - Deception Among Birds

One you might of missed.

Harpoon hit a high with their release of "Deception Among
Birds". This was an ambitious blend of punk and hardcore but
with elements of math/prog that also drew from the depths of doom.


Much like Humanfly, this band are not bound by a generic template
but rather just follow where the music takes them. Always heavy,
always changing, this was an excellent album, that for me,
stood out among the releases of 2011.

Repeated plays open up the expansive ideas that are offered up
to the listener. Do not take my word for it - Seventh Rule
Recordings have kindly put it up for a free download Here!

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Wednesday 22 May 2013

Ray Manzarek - RIP




Death Engine - Amen

Released on 20th June on Throatruiner Records, Matthias has
once again put out some music that wants to tear your face off.

Death Engine play hardcore/punk with lashings of noise rock to
give you a record high on visceral thrills and passion.


Led by the desperate vocals, these tracks rage along but with
enough different influences and twists to stop this being four tracks
of inter-changable songs. With some slightly slower passages, this
enables tension to be built up, using different dynamics to bring
the explosive climaxes home.

Heavy and tight, Death Engine play these songs like someones
gonna get hurt. Quick running times make sure nothing outstays
its welcome but do make you want to press play again.

Friday 17 May 2013

Kvelertak - Meir

Having enjoyed the first Kvelertak album so much, after 
reading some less than positive reviews of the new release "Meir",
I was apprehensive about playing this.


As always, everyone is wrong and I am right. This is a fucking
masterpiece of modern heavy music that has earned the right
to be one of this years best albums.

This mixes hardcore, black metal influences and filthy punk
rock'n'roll to devastating effect. The tracks barrel along, pissing
over the new crop of metalcore bands doing the rounds. You can
hear passion, anger, beer drinking and something that a lot of
people seem to have forgotten about - some decent tunes!

Taking all the intensity that they showed on their last release,
Kvelertak have expanded their sound with a powerful production,
creative song writing and a joy of making a righteous racket!

Hugely recommended.

Buy CD/Vinyl Here

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Wednesday 15 May 2013

Zeppheroin - Howl

It is that time of the year when I unleash some of my music
onto the world. 

Help spread the horrible tunes that exist in my brain!


Still drawing upon my holy scripture of hardcore aggression and 
noise rock discordance, I have slowly been drawn into the fetid 
depths of Riff worship - the slower the better. 

Elements of Doom are now apparent but with my needles 
in-the-red recording technique still favouring slabs of distortion 
rather than clarity or production, it is still lo-fi and rough as fuck. 

All Hail The Riff!


Monday 13 May 2013

Sea Bastard - S/T

(Before I start this review, my posts have dwindled somewhat - 
this is due to my spare time being taken up with finishing off
some new music I am making - given the choice between
reviewing some bands music or creating my own, this blog
will always come off second best!)

One of the joys about attending something like Desert Fest is
the chance to see a band that you have no expectations of.

Sea Bastard were one of those bands. Coming on at 1.45pm
at the Underworld, they fucking tore the place down with a display
of power, passion and heaviness that put some of the bigger 
bands on that day to shame.


This was sludge/doom/stoner with a swaggering punk attitude
that made my head move up and down uncontrollably. Like
Sleep or Cough, the riffs drive the music, sometimes evolving
into different passages but always keeping the riff worship at full
praise.

Their lastest release has 5 tracks of sonic mayhem, none of
which clock in shorter than 10 minutes. In the hands of some
other bands, this could lead to boredom setting in but these relative
newcomers have the musical chops to keep the atmosphere and immense
heaviness moving along to transport you along into an almost trance-like
state of total involvement with the tracks.

This is hugely recommended - I love it.

Name your price at Bandcamp

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Friday 10 May 2013

Akimbo - Live To Crush

With this album, Akimbo bow out gracefully and retire. In the
hands of a lesser band, this could of produced some outtakes
and filler but instead Akimbo have left us with one of the
albums of the year.


Carrying on with their brand of noise and hardcore with juddering
walls of feedback puts this album into the "not-to-be-fucked-with"
genre. 

Bass and guitar throw out riffs that cause sonic carnage while the vocals
are spat out with a caustic rage that hold anger as well as disgust. Traces
of sludge are threaded throughout with great effect to produce a collection
of songs that demand to be played at full volume.


Akimbo have left us with a rich legacy that can be celebrated with this album.

Highly recommended.


Band blurb: 


AKIMBO WAS A SEATTLE ROCK BAND. WE PLAYED REAL HARD, 
REAL LOUD, AND CRUSHED SHIT ALL OVER THE WORLD. THE 
MEMBERS CONTINUE TO PLAY KICK ASS SHIT IN OTHER BANDS 
AND STILL THINK INDIE ROCK SUCKS. WE HAD THE GIFT OF FIFTEEN 
BUSY YEARS FILLED WITH VALIANT WARRIORS WHO MADE OUR 
LIVES BETTER AND WILL ALWAYS HAVE OUR PRAISE. OUR GRANDCHILDREN 
WILL KNOW YOUR NAMES. WE WILL SPEAK OF YOUR DEEDS IN 
VALHALLA. YOUR FACES ARE ETCHED INTO OUR AXE HEADS. 

ALL THIS BAND EVER WANTED TO DO WAS PLAY BRUTAL MUSIC AS 
LOUD AS POSSIBLE. LIFE IS BETTER WHEN YOU KEEP IT SIMPLE. STAY 
PURE. GET HIGH, GET DARK, GET LOUD. RAGE HARD. HAVE A GOOD 
TIME ALL THE TIME. DRINK FAST. KISS THE SUN. LICK THE KNIFE. 
KICK OUT THE JAMS OR GET OFF THE 
MOTHERFUCKING STAGE. 

EAT BEER, SHIT RIFFS. 

LIVE TO CRUSH.

Friday 3 May 2013

Koresh - Chump

Koresh play hardcore/noise rock and then stomp over everything
with rage and aggression.


This is wildly ferocious stuff which is played to make your guts 
throb in time to the beats. The vocal howls are buried deep in the 
mix which add to the dark heavy atmosphere created by the 
sonic hurricane of power.

Thick and dense, this pummels your speakers from start to finish. 
This is not for the faint-hearted! When the end of the world comes, this 
will be the soundtrack.

There are flourishes of stoner guitar riffs that flit across your senses
and jerky time changes that ensure that this does not conform to
a musical template. 

This is good shit.

Band Blurb: Listening to Koresh is like being spat on by a tramp, getting kicked in the balls, having your 3 litre bottle of cider taken off you and watching it get thrown at a dog. In the rain. The London five piece make a truly hideous racket; a filth-ridden, booze-drenched thunderstorm of hatred delivered with a shit-eating grin and a firm English middle finger. Channeling the spirit of Iron Monkey after three tabs of acid, Koresh plough through 7 tracks on this new EP 'Chump' and kick up a whirlwind of sludge misery, stoner paranoia, grind chaos and a rock solid hardcore stomp. Bravely captured by John Hannon at No Recording Studio and set for a split release between Witch Hunter and Withered Hand Records, 'Chump' will drag you through piss soaked backstreets by your hair, and you'll be loving every second. 

Recorded by John Hannon at No Recording Studio - October 2nd & 3rd 2012. Front & Rear Artwork by Luke Drozd. Wizard Duck Illustration by Ross Butter. Band photo by Jack Sheen 

A joint release between Withered Hand (Blood Island Raiders, Dead Existence, Pombagira) and Witch Hunter. Limited to 300 copies on a jewel case CD, also available as a pay-what-you-want download through Bandcamp, and the traditional digital outlets such as iTunes, Spotify and Amazon
credits
Released 20 May 2013

Get from Witch Hunter Records

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Thanks to Chris at Witch Hunter for links.


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Thursday 2 May 2013

Old Wounds - From Where We Came Is Where We'll Rest review

After a handful of singles and EPs, Old Wounds have finally
come up with the album we all knew they were capable of 
producing. 


They have re-recorded some of the tracks from previous EPs
but this is no lazy-filler job - songs you liked before have been
overhauled and given a powerful boost of energy and power
that make the album a full frontal attack from start to finish.

Frenzied hardcore is order of the day with sludge like intensity
running through the tracks making each note heavy and urgent.
Passion is very much evident in this record - not just the vocals
but with the instruments being played with assault like abandon.

Crunching riffs howl along at breakneck speed while the drums and
bass lay down a foundation of sonic destruction that makes me
want to jump around breaking things.

Highly recommended.