Dying Fetus is an institution in the goregrind scene, marrying technically dead-on performances with laughably putrid lyrics, undeciferable pitch-shifted vocals and a singleminded focus on absolute sonic decimation. Depending on your immediate reaction to the band’ s name, this might sound absolutely awesome or tasteless and horrific. If you do actually give the album a chance, you likely won’t need to listen beyond the senselessly fast doublekicks and ridiculously downtuned doom breakdowns of 2 minute long opener “Invert the Idols” before deciding if the record is for you. Should you proceed further, you will be rewarded with one of the most devastating sonic experiences one could sensibly conceive of. Reign Supreme is the work of a veteran band (it’s their 7th album) comfortable with its sound and with the recording studio; it’s clearly been painstakingly assembled using the finest of studio enhancements. Sometimes this sort of thing can get tedious for the well-seasoned extreme metal listener, so what makes the album stand out is the actual songs that are here. “Subject To A Beating” and “From Womb To Waste” contain myriad twists and turns amid their byzantine song structures, but they also feature memorable riffs and licks, and Dying Fetus know how to make you wait before dropping those tasty giblets in for maximum impact.
For some reason I’ve listened to Wreck only sporadically since it’s release early this year. But every time I put it on, the thing knocks me flat. It could be because I’m still a relative newcomer to these guys. It’s not for lack of memorable songwriting – that riff in “No Chance” is an absolute steamroller. Throughout they grind and stomp like the kind of band the Jesus Lizard would have been if Paige Hamilton from Helmet was the guitarist. This is noisy, loud, bloody rock n roll played as a weapon of blunt force trauma. But it’s not all pummel. “Stuck” might be the best song on the album, a slow-burner that builds sporadically with some tasty slide guitar before exploding into the hammer to the temple parts. I’ll definitely be spending some more time with their catalog in the future. People talked a lot about how good the Metz record was this year (and it was, it barely missed cracking my top 50), but I’m not sure how many people were aware that these guys have been mining pretty much the same territory since ‘89.
48. Moonless – Calling All Demons
For some reason, Sweden seems to be the home for quality stoner rock these days. Moonless is axiomatic of the kind of bands we’re seeing out of them. While they don’t do anything radically different from thousands of other psychedelic-tinged hard rock bands who have been around since the 70’s, they get by on the strength of their great riffs, solid songwriting, compelling instrumental interplay, and a ballsy vocalist who drinks razors and gasoline. I didn’t hear a ton of bands in this style that rose any higher than mediocrity this year, but I’m happy to say that these guys sound truly inspired. As long as bands like Moonless are around, good old fashioned rock n’ roll will be just fine.
47. Neurosis – Honour Found In Decay
Nothing particularly unexpected here. Neurosis has crafted a new post metal opus, burrowing deeper into a sound that they basically invented but has been virtually done to death in recent years. However, Neurosis are still the kings of the genre, and they prove it here with a record that cements their reputation as iconoclasts of the modern metal scene, even while the title knowingly winks at charges of obsolescence. “We All Rage in Blood” opens the record with the kinds of majestic builds and galactic heaviness that listeners have come to expect. The 10-minute “At the Well” brings the epic, with doom riffs suffocating the life out of you in between bouts of pensive psychedelic exploration. The sprawling journeys that dominate the album for the most part replicate a familiar template; Moody, brooding interludes building to glacial riff crescendos and Scott Kelley’s wizened bellow over top. Hey, this sound is as much theirs as anyone’s, so if that’s what they wanna stick to, good for them. They spent the first 20 years of their career forging a band new heavy metal archetype, so I think they can be forgiven for a little legacy consolidation. They still do this kind of thing better than anyone else.
46. Napalm Death – Utilitarian
Since inventing grindcore as the world’s fastest band in the mid to late 80s, Napalm Death have been grinding out ferocious, professional death metal records as a matter of course. These have varied in quality but never strayed too far from template. What sets the great ones (Fear, Emptiness, Despair and Enemy Of The Music Business come to mind) apart from the merely good ones are that intangible feeling you get when a song or riff hits your ears… you can just tell when they are really on fire, and when they are just punching the clock. That’s why opener “Circumspect” is such a thriller. From the slow, ominous beginning to the cavernous riffs that follow, the song immediately sets the tone for a fine LP from a band that still does sonic death and destruction as well as anyone. Exploding into a full on hyperspeed assault complete with stop-on-a-dime calisthenics, “Errors in the Signals” follows up this great opening by playing to the band’s strengths while subtly adding those little nuances that sets a good metal album apart. This isn’t just one-dimensional bashing. Actual dynamics you say? Why yes actually. Technically sound yet still human sounding performances? The record has the beefiness and presence of four dudes jamming in a room combined with the economy of sound that comes from a highly practiced veteran unit. And there are a pile of memorable songs here. “Protection Racket,” “Fall On Their Swords” and “A Gag Reflex” are all fantastic. A band that has been around as long as these guys can be intimidating for the neophyte who doesn’t know where to start, and runs the risk of seeming redundant to the old fan who thinks they’ve heard it all before. If you truly do care about extreme music, you’d be doing yourself a disservice to let this one get by you without a listen.
This is one serious skull-scraper of a record. I’ve seen the Acacia Strain referred to as a “deathcore” or “death and roll” band, but since this record was my first encounter with the band I took them as a straight up death metal unit. Their ultra low riffs and liberal use of punishing double bass drumming and growled lyrics that resemble the play by play of a slasher movie certainly led me to that initial reaction, but The Acacia Strain have more than just that going on. Rather than simply barrel ahead into an impenetrable morass like so many brutal death outfits, album opener “Doomblade” cuts from it’s unsettling intro into a rigid ultra-heavy lurch, showcasing the band’s technical proficiency, and their predilection towards sheer gut punch impact. Elsewhere “Braindeath” sports a guitar solo with enough dive bombs and pinch harmonics to make Dimebag sit up and smile. I’ve heard their brand of extremely downtuned, syncopated guitar riffs called “djent,” an onomatopoeic reference to the sound of this music. It’s the Meshuggah sound. And make no mistake, the influence of that band is all over this record, but combined with enough brutally violent and mysoginistic imagery to make most Cannibal Corpse fans happy. Lots of bands have started copying that style in recent years, but The Acacia Strain is one of the few who are putting their own unique stamp on it.
A vast, multiheaded suite of icy Nordic riffs, feedback sprawls, relentless blast beat onslaughts and psychedelic interludes and contemplative drones. At nearly 90 minutes in length, Occult Rock is an intimidating beast, but one that is meant to be swallowed whole. The entire album undulates and evolves through a number of different chapters, tweaking and playing with the standard black metal palette in interesting ways throughout. It starts with the kind of suffocating blizzard of chaotic drums and barely controlled guitars that you might expect from prime-era Darkthrone, but it doesn’t take long for these guys to go off script. Utilizing the variable level intensity of what Liturgy’s Hunter Hunt-Hendrix refers to as the burst beat, they soon pull the sound back from full throttle pounding while retaining much the same tempo. The sound eases into a more relaxed and spacious tempo while exploring the tones and emotional moods possible on this wider canvas. Although undeniable heavy and brutal parts show up, much of the album retains a psychedelic feel for texture and repetition that should appeal to many non-metalheads. Influences as diverse as jazz, krautrock and drone music can be seen rearing their heads up out of the murk. Throughout its considerable runtime, Occult Rock is a journey that never fails to hold the listener’s interest. Not everyone will be prepared to take the pilgrimage, but those that do will be richly rewarded.
Featuring former Electric Wizard and Ramesses member Tim Bagshaw on guitar along with all 3 members from now defunct Long Island doom institution Unearthly Trance, these doom metal lifers know exactly what sound they are going for, and the nail it on their first record as Serpentine Path. Opener “Arrows” kicks things off with the kind of horror movie evil priest type intro you’ve heard on a thousand metal albums, then crushes the life out of you with a thick, oozing guitar tone that bashes out of the speakers with considerable alacrity for a band in this weight class. Serpentine Path adhere steadfastly to the doom rulebook, but these musicians are as sharp as they come and the quality of the performances are top notch. Unlike a number of extreme doom bands that have flooded the scene in the past few years, the DNA here isn’t too far mutated from the hard rock origins of the genre. These songs move and gain power and momentum, rather than sag and drag the way the music of so many of their peers does. A fine record from a band of veterans keeping the flame burning strong.
42. The Secret – Agnus Dei
Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou seemed to be associated with every other awesome record that came out this year. On Angus Dei, the fourth album from superheavy Italian d-beat hardcore unit The Secret, his viciously loud and crushing production work meshes well with the band’s ultra-aggressive attack. The vocals here are so covered with grime and filth they might as well have been recorded in a grave. They also know how to slow the tempo to a torturous crawl and suffocate you with that ultra-dense buzzsaw guitar tone, as on “Heretic Temple.” Recalling vintage Tragedy as well as Entombed and any number of European metal bands you’d like to name, The Secret have tapped into a vein of heavily Swedish-influenced hardcore that’s been bubbling under the radar for some time, only to emerge only recently as the most vital strain of modern heavy music.
Clinic has been a consistently solid band for over a decade now, churning out album after album of slightly off kilter psychedelic indie rock. But on Free Reign, it sounds like they might be smoking something a little darker than their usual stash. This record is a full on drone rocking drug trip, mashing up motorik rythms, skittering electronics, free jazz harmonics, dub bass, fuzzed out guitars and ethereal vocals into a dark, undulating bag of gloom. Showing a heavy influence from Austin’s Black Angels, Free Reign is going to soundtrack countless blacklit basement gatherings in the years to come. It also happens to be Clinic’s best record in about a decade.
