Deez Nuts Word Is Bond Review

DEEZ NUTS

Word Is Bond

Century Media Records

Review by hutch

If you love hardcore for the sake of hardcore, as I do, Deez Nuts deliver an incredible album. For fans of bands like Skare Tactic, Donnybrook, Terror, Madball, this is the jam. Admittedly, when I first heard of these dudes, I thought the name was laughable. But for whatever it triggers in you, as immature as it may seem, this is serious hardcore. Founder and vocalist, Peters, JJ addresses this in “Pour Up” with a bold declaration, “never let the man hold you down, never grow up”.

This is Peters’ fourth full length for DN; plus they’ve had EPs. Deez Nuts is a relentless tour machine. That synergy has fused a tight bond and energy between the band members. Many ex-members of bigger bands have played for Peters, now he has Matt Rogers, guitar; Sean Kennedy, bass (like Peters, an ex-IKTPQ); Alex Salinger, drums. Production was handled by Andrew Neufeld (Comeback Kid) and Shane Frisby (Bury Your Dead, The Ghost Inside). And while those aren’t bands that I associate with DN’s type of hardcore, they handled the job marvelously. Deez Nuts sound better than ever. There is a good thick crunch to Rogers’ riffs.

The Deez Nuts’ lyrics of past have been reviewed and explored as harnessing a ‘party vibe”. I can see where that would rile up there demographic. With the unabashed hip hop influence, older songs sound like a hardcore version of rap; check the “Make Money, Money!” chant from “I Hustle Everyday”. But here, the anger is more focused. The lyrics now hone in on self-reliance and unity among outsiders. And while these are common themea in the subculture of outcasts, it never gets old to me. Hardcore is often good at sniffing out posers. Deez Nuts have many guests in the past claiming the real. As someone who has the news fed through an IV and works a desk job; the constant stress of feeling depressed and inadequate needs a rebuttal.

Photo by Dennis Tesch

This is not some breakdown band on repeat. This is fast moving hardcore band with the beat not stuck in idle repeat, but drums moving forward. Punkier bass lines feed an energetic “Word Is Bond”. Moments of two step occur. But take a song like “What’s Good” and the whole track is almost a breakdown. Kung Fu kicks will be ravaging venues. While “What I Gotta Do” is a bullet train, with a swing.

Oddly enough from bands Deez Nuts associates with; there is no additional bass drops or auto-tune. Deez Nuts boast no clean singing parts. This is straight modern heavy hardcore. The energy and fire that Deez Nuts put forth relays vicious stamina. Songs of perseverance and fighting hard should get old fans swinging fists in the pit and new fans piling on.

RIYL: Terror, Trapped Under Ice, Rotting Out, Skarhead, (first) Your Demise, Stray From the Path, Malfunction

Abominator Interview for Evil Proclaimed

Abominator

Evil Proclaimed

Heads Hellbangers

Interview by hutch with: Chris Volcano

Line-up: Chris Volcano – Drums & vocals, Andrew Gillon – Guitars, BM Brad – Bass & Vocals

 “It all started on a blood chilling day in late 1994, when I forged a pact with Andrew (Gillon) to write beastly tunes for Satan.”  A bold mission statement is precisely what defines the Melbourne, Australia metal band, Abominator. Despite many line-ups, the core of Chris Volcano and Gillon, recently recruiting new bassist, BM Brad, deliver their new album, Evil Proclaimed. Their sound may have evolved, but the fire inside burns brighter.

“Today, it feels as though we have started the band all over again.” Volcano discusses his spark after commenting that this album took a long time to record. “We remember what it was that motivated us in the beginning, but we have wiser heads on our shoulders. The band can continue in the darkest possible direction for the next few years. The new album is massive, but also harsh and scathing.”

Volcano is direct about the disease of current metal bands’ grand production techniques. He secures Abominator’s oath to “not falling victim to a weak, overly digital production. It is absolute black chaos from start to finish.” Volcano’s pride is palpable; as sin is worth total indulgence. Abominator produced Evil Proclaimed with Sam Johnson on the boards and Alan Douches of West West Side mastering the album. Seeking premier professionals is “a product of the way we chose to do things. We've had enough experience to know what does and doesn't work. Money wasn't really a factor, as we paid for some of the recording ourselves.”

Reading some early rviews online, I am confused by some purists wanting a strictly defined, genre aligned album. Volcano laughs at these rigid “wimps”.  After the two decades which Abominator has recorded, people should expect change. “It is impossible for a band like us to go into a studio and replicate the sound from our first album, it just doesn't work like that. The album is relentless, heavy, raw, and chaotic. It is more or less straight black metal, but it does have the aesthetic of that time honored tradition of the bestial sound.  If you are a true black/death maniac, there is enough variation in tempos and riffing to get your head around.”

Opening already this year for Black Metal legends, Marduk and Inquisition, Abominator are looking to tour. For now, the Melbourne scene is where Abominator will play their home scene. Members have other bands; Ignivomous, Cemetary Urn, and Voidchrist, perpetually participating in the scene. Volcano is quick to boast about Australia’s strong metal history. Volcano is quick to list many current and historical bands. “Australia has had a rich and diverse metal scene for years now. There are a lot of bands who are trying to be the next big thing in tech death or the next Dark Funeral. We need more young bloods who crave the bestial sounds of old.”

That 1994 oath Volcano procured with Gillon has been fulfilled with creating savage war metal. There is the portion addressing who it is created for, though. “Satan, and the portrayal of it, is very important to us, but it is crucial to express it in the right way. It represents the duality of our human condition, and I have some deep demons to deal with. I use this music as a focus for that dark, primal energy. It has been fascinating for me to learn about Satanism and various branches of occult knowledge. It is not necessarily about the outright praise of evil, but an understanding and acceptance that the darkness is a fundamental aspect of life on this Earth plane. Besides, God and Satan are very subjective in terms of the forces that currently influence this world. Somebody like myself may be closer to the truth than your average hypocritical Christian. Look at the rich and greedy elite, how they ravage the environment, brainwash people and send people off to their doom in wars they have created.”

Volcano boasts that this is no image like some black metal bands. “For me, it is a way of life, especially having experienced the spiritual dissociation from the rest of society. That is the extent of it. I perform Satanic art, but I haven't got time to go out and burn churches or sodomize goats. That is not how it (actually) works anyway. Literally, there is a divine force in the universe, as well as a force opposing it.”

While those opinions may seem brash or abstract, it pales to Volcano’s distress over the tangible plane’s fruit of the metal scene. “I don't think metal could get any more popular in such a fickle society, unless there was a massive paradigm shift away from shitty mainstream culture. If that were to happen, you can be sure that others like me will have had nothing to do with it. None of the true fans want it to get that big anyway, it just wouldn't be the same.”

Chris Volcano suggests other Australian metal:

Current:

ESKHATON, BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS, IMPETUOUS RITUAL, INVERLOCH, DENOUNCEMENT PYRE, NOCTURNAL GRAVES, DESTRUKTOR, TZUN TZU, LUSTRATION, ALTARS, PORTAL

Historical:

 HOBBS ANGEL OF DEATH, SADISTIK EXEKUTION, BESTIAL WARLUST, SLAUGHTER LORD, ARMOURED ANGEL, DESTROYER 666.