85 incredible metal albums of 2017

METAL: 

Fucking hell. It was a ridiculous for metal and all its hyphenated, nerd arguing, split genres.  This is no order. And i didn't want to split hairs in comparing genres - but then did not want to pick 5 from each.... Basically this is 100 awesome metal albums of 2017. maybe more. i lost count.

I even broke up the spoitfy lists: Part A and Part B

NOTE: if forced to choose a top 10 or 50, I’d have to whittle down and that would leave some great shit out. Also – I am not a musician – sometimes ‘best’ to me means impact and energy; not technical proficiency.

DIRTY BLACK N ROLL:  8

Craven Idol The Shackels of Mammon Dark Descent (next level noise evil gritty metal)

Malleus Storm of Witchcraft Blood Harvest - Boston madness! Probably my #3 of the year.

Midnight Sweet Death and Ecstasy Hells Headbangers -  little different, slower songs, still amazing

Goatwhore Vengeful Ascension Metal Blade - another banger from them! Just flawless

Tombstalker Chaotic Devotion Boris 7” - only wish there was more. Black metal foundation with Thrash Rock – well produced. could be my #2!

Implore Subjugate Century Media - drums are like if Jerrys Kids played satanic metal. Caustic delivery, BM riffs.

Moral Void Deprive Translation Loss - straight forward, no frills. Stripped down brutal ugly metal. Fast as fuck. Songs like “Bereft” and “Dust”: clear black metal, but its thicker and more captivating to me

Wormwitch Strike Mortal Soil Prosthetic – again just such a great blend of styles. Punches hard

THRASH – Dbeat and Misc...whatever i can't keep up with all these distinctions: 10

Kreator Gods of Violence Nuclear Blast *brutal from the best

Power Trip Nightmare Logic Daymare - #1 with Loudwire, MetalSucks Readers + Writers, BangerTV Viewers; #37 Decibel – below Converge, Integrity and some others. I have loved these dudes from day one. Cuz i love hardcore and metal and all in between.

Iron Reagan Crossover Ministry Relapse – infectious and energetic after many listens – simple formula that works. Momre hardcore than thrash. Took a friend who hadn't heard them yet. He's 43 and said "this is the new DRI! This is perfect." I prefer this to new MW.

Lurking Fear Out of the Voiceless Grave Century Media played this frequently. Swedish supergroup (holy fucking line up) that grabs its opportunities and nails it.

Vallenfyre Fear Those Who Fear Him Century Media side project get d-beat/swede Death fusion – loved it all year.

Blood Feast The Future State of Wicked dirty underground – blackened thrash stood out to me Love this album after repeated listens

All Out War Give Us Extinction Organized Records - Decades ago, hardcore guys unabashedly made a Slayer record. No one matched their ferocity. They are back. Classic line up delivers best LP in years.

Wilderness Dream Paralysis Rise Creator Destructor -  raw sludge USDM with vocals llike Human Fuirnmace of RIngworm - i listen to this a lot. Great band.  2-3 min songs. Probably one of my favorties, i just know it is not technically superb or whatever. But actually it is rather fucking sick! Good hardcore feel like Ringworm or All Out War.

HON MEN: 

Odious Icon Planet of Immense Decay Negative Vibe - new thrash but not too clean, little darker smoking tracks. I love the tuning and tone. Just uh, again, not ground breaking. Maybe it's not thrqash and I want it to be more thrash. It's not polished enough or guitar focused to be 'pure thrash' which IS WHY I LIKE IT. Still worth a listen or five. @ - 3.5 min songs and a heavy hardcore sound, just with death metal vocals.

Havok Conformicide Century Media - little choppy for me – but when the go forward, they do it well. Been a band I liked for awhile

Warbringer Woe to the Vanquished Napalm

Witchery I Am Legion Century Media -- very like a Skeletonwitch – just blends thrash and black metal so well.  Produced clean and fierce.

DOOM:  14

With the Dead From Love Rise Above - droned out cavernous despair, Lee Dorrian‘s nihilistic perfection. Triumphant!

Spirit Adrift Curse of Conception 20 Buck Spin - glorious. Better than Pallbearer to me. Clean Vocals; spot on 70s riffs with crafted intentional doom

Loss Horizonless Profound Lore - painstakingly slow – but gorgeous. Epitome of melancholic funeral doom

Paradise Lost Medusa Nuclear Blast - back. True doom, growled lyrics. Continue their upswing of the last few years.

Beast Maker Inside the Skull Rise Above - from the look to the hook; riffs and lyrics and aesthetic make this one the best records in years on a stellar label. 

DOOM Hon Men:

Demon Eye Lies and Prophecies Soulseller Records - NC's finest hit the target with their third brilliant LP.

Elder Reflections of a Floating World Stickman 4x 11 min songs then 2 9 min. Crafte dwell – great rhythms and guitars. Bluesy at times – like early Graveyard… Lots of layers of sounds. Smart men

Bell Witch Mirror Reaper – always liked these dudes – and now a 83 minute one track. Epic (a duo) – with drummer/vox guy died – Adrian Guerra and got a new, first time drum/vox guy Jesse Shreibman

Temple of Void Lords of Death Shadow Kingdom - monolithic plodding but death metal riffs

Unearthly Trance Stalking the Ghost Relapse - another staggering return.

Northless Last Bastion of Cowardice

Tongues Hreilia I, Voidhanger Records

Omotai A Ruined Oak Ruined Carnage - AZ trio of dirgy punk-doom; rebellious, smart, weighty

Ditch and The Delta Hives in Decline Battleground Records – killer sludge doom – about to tour w/ 

Conan

DEATH:   12

Cannibal Corpse Black Before Red Metal Blade - a fuckin monster. thank you, CC

Necrot Blood Offerings Tankcrimes - yep. nailed it. Dark and evil.

Acephalix Decreation 20 Buck Spin - another great one from all these Necrot and Vastum related people.

Dying Fetus Wrong One to Fuck With - Relapse Nasty. Powerful. Genre defining; heavy but clean production with the weird guitars (not a musician but that high pitched noodling)

Obituary s/t Relapse - mid-paced, hardcore like - and fucking great. Listen to it a bunch.

Exhumed Death Revenge Relapse *Concept album of drunken serial murders. Great LP

Cannabis Corpse Left Hand Pass Season of Mist - call them a joke or whatever. But as ecibel review said - other bands lauded as genius rehash (pun intended) subjects of war or Satan again and again. SO their thing is weed. The music is bonkers.

Incantation Profane Nexus Relapse - just a personal favorite. so grimt, just down and dirty death metal. More on thick riffs and loos production than tech wonder.

DEATH Honorable Mentions:

Decapitated Anticult Mystic *tops Blood Mantra, killer record overshadowed by horrific claims - now vindicated.

Extremity Extremely Fucking Dead 20 Buck Spin 3 chicks & a dude; member of Vastum (Shelby); Swedish style. 

Entrails World Inferno Metal Blade  - down to the logo, this is intentional Entombed worship – handled flawlessly. (Gruesome: Death / Entrails: Entombed)

Black Dahlia Murder Nightbringers Metal Blade – Death Metal that the HC kids love

GRIND:   6

Haemorrhage We are Gore Relapse - From Japan. Been around awhile but this is their most realized release.

Friendship Hatred Southern Lord - scary shit from Japan

Expulsion Nightmare Future Relapse *literally Exhumed Matt Harvey + Repulsion Matt Olivo. Add Danny Walker of Exhumed, Intronaut, and Phobia. Damn find grind.

Phobia Lifeless God Willowtip - classic road dawgs snuck in the under radar to gift us this gem

Lock-Up Demonization Lifeless  - All Star line up (Nicholas barker, drums, Shane Napalm, Kevin Sharp – brutal Truth, VC) this is when Death/grind gets fun and invigorating. Angry and political. Big death metal stomps and breakdowns.

HON MEN:

Complete Failure Crossburner Season of Mist - sludgy dark spazz grindcore. Nasty

SLUDGEY/NOISE: 5

Ledge Cold Hard Concrete Translation Loss - Heavy Chicago shit, tough plodding like Harms Way – dude from Spine/Weekend Nachos – doom/industrial hardcore. Heavy and ugly and depressing suicidal shit.

Primitive Man Caustic Relapse. Sometimes I am in the mood – sometimes it’s unlistenable. Ugliest doom out there.  Misanthropic

Iron Monkey 9-13 Relapse - reconstituted with new/old members as a trio – but captures the spirit and sound. Gnarly.

Livid Beneath Shroud The Earth Erodes Prosthetic - oomph. slow as molasses. and fucking good.

HON MEN:

Rig Time! War Innerstrength - pretty much straight hardcore (like this year's great Left Behind) but they like Eyehategod too. Smart social lyrics.

Blackish:  Note the "ish" 5

Low Estate Covert Cult of Death Flenser – best new surprise for me. Chaotic metal + splashes of AmRep/NY noise. Unsane meets black metal; rough n tough and low-fi.

Cloak A Venomous Concept Season of Mist - this split a lot of people this year, but most endorsed and gave at least a 7/10. I enjoyed this immensely and they are getting big tours now. Well deserved on a well crafted album. Good production. Not first wave black metal, but not that symphonic shit. Thick riffs still played with well rounded production. But structure is often black with a classic metal feel. I like it much.

Chaos Moon Eschaton Memoire Blood Music/Fallen Empire - 6 - 10 minute tracks, produced not tinny but still with early black metal aesthetics. Grandiose atmosphere with muted production, i guess. Ebbing and flowing song structures. Dandy. Double bass insanity with high tones meandering - i have it as background music and i suddenly realize how depressed I feel.

Tombs The Grand Annihilation Metal Blade - another bomb ass record by these Brooklyn dudes. SO full. It takes many listens to appreciate, I feel they are one of those bands who set the bar so high early - that in their 4th and 5th LP you're like "yeah, of course it's awesome". But then you don't dive into it. I need to dive into this again.

Scour Red Housecore - I don't really know if the TRVE KVLT BM scene poo poo these cats as tourists - but i think it's amazing musicians killing black metal. Phil Anselmo [Vocals] (Ex-Pantera, Superjoint, Down, Arson Anthem), John Jarvis [Bass] (Fulgora, Pig Destroyer), Chase Fraser [Guitar] (Animosity, Continuum), Derek Engemann [Guitar] (Cattle Decapitation, Unmerciful, Covenance) and Adam Jarvis (Misery Index, Pig Destroyer) on drums. Jarvis is one of my favorite drummers. I think its big and focused and fucking dark.

SPLITS:  3

Livid/No Funeral Live Fast Die Recordings - ugly satanic doom

BLK OPS/Cave Bastard accident prone - black metal doom noise

Hands of Orlac/Wandering Midget Cruz Del Sur - 15 min doom songs but super good)

STONER ROCK: 4

Summoner Beyond the Realm of Light Magnetic Eye - dudes can write. Big bendy riffs with thundering delivery. Witness the madness. 4 - 6 minutes tracks with clean vocals mixed evenly. It ain't pop. It ain't Mastodon or Sword - but hella approachable. Solemn and heavy shit.

Here Lies Man Here Lies Man Riding Easy – riffs, fuzz; stoner rock with afro-beat rhythms. One of the most original albums this year. Thin Brown Sabbath doing original tunes.

Atomic Bitchwax Force Field Tee Pee Records Stoner Rock per se but done on hyperspeed in 2- 3 min songs. Killer riffs, guitars blazing leads, spaced out 70s jamming.

Duel Fears of the Dead Heavy Psych Sounds - dusty desert tunes for muscle cars and Harleys. Love it. One of my faves this year. More 70s rocking than others in this list. If Earthride didn't growl or tune as low at times; then they switch to boogie a la Trouble / The Skull. Dark and occulty.

Honorable mentions:  16

Integrity Howling… Relapse expanding their sound. Solid LP, love the addition of Dom Romeo. I loved it. Then I was bored. Some straight USBM stuff, some hardcore, then the slow and 'profounbd' spoken shit. Metallic. Felt like a collection of songs rather than one cohesive album. But ya know, divebombs.

Unsane Sterilize Southern Lord - what an album! great stuff. could use slight more variety - but still a crusher. This sits in this list more becauseit does not have peers, less than its quality.

Darkthrone Arctic Thunder - pretty good. I'd like better production. I like their classics of course. But I also love FOAD, Sardonic Wrath, Cult is Alive, Dark Thrones and Black Flags. I like variety and their experimenting. So with this, i just wish it packed more of a punch. But I will certainly throw it on.

Taake Kong Vinter Karisma - its hard to top Striden Hus

Pallbearer Heartless Profound Lore - a damn fine record. may be i am just have a stick in my craw over the hipster hype. But i also get kind of bored. and it's super polished music and clean singing. Again, i am not a musician so maybe i miss the genius.

Ufomammut 8 + Godlike Snake Neurot – Italian doom guys; psych mind expanders. Samples, electro, noise static and riffs. I know it's amazing but after 7 LPs of this (and EPS) you have to be in the right space. And again. more elctro shit in this one. Still brilliant.

Rope Sect Personae Ingratae + Proselytes Caligari Records / Iron Bonehead – dark, macabre rock

Godflesh post self Avalanche - I loved the return last year with Lit - but i just didn't get tiime for this. Still growing on me.

Sepultura Machine Messiah Nuclear Blast - best Derek Green yet; trashy, gnarly. I just wish they would just change their fucking name. But Machine Messiah is a great album. I definitely appreciate the cerebral lyrical shit; I liked A-Lex and Dante concepts. This is cool too. Often i just want them to play faster - like it needs to move forward, sometimes they reside in the stale bounce too frequently ("Alathea"). But i do like the layered percussion on "Resistant Parasites". Andreas and Paulo still kill. New kid on drums is nasty. Green's voice is commanding.

Cavalera Conspiracy Psychotic Napalm surprisingly good – old tight chaotic thrash – better than average – better than expected still a 3/5. Max's lyrics are still that of a ten year old tho. I love him in Sepultura - never git into SOulfly - i liked Nailbomb - i liked last CC and this one.

Converge The Dusk In Us Epitaph - meh, another genre challenging, boundary pushed milestone. meh.

Full of Hell Trumpeting Ecstasy Profound Lore - aggressive. and different. sometimes just too abrasive for me. And i was on that early bandwagon, i ain't fronting. It's good as fuck.

Old Iron Lupus Metallorum Good To Die Records - Bad Ass sludge. Really good, just not ground breaking

Belphegor Totenritual Nuclear Blast -  Love these guys. Back again. satanic thick Blackened Death Metal; super fast drums with staccato plodding riffs on the opener. Then others are just thick USDM.

Shambles (Thailand) Primitive Death Trance Blood Harvest 

MISC:

Quicksand ? not for me... yawn... 25 years later and it's an indie shoegaze album. Best part of QS was the dense tension, the pressure  and frustration. I would not expect them to make  QS part III. Use a new name!

Electric Wizard Wizard Bloody Wizard Spinefarm  - fine 60s rock but decidedly average

Melvins A Walk with Death & Love Ipecac - I will always love the Melvins. Best part is if you don't like this one, next year will be another installment in their supreme legacy. Still rocking this as i work once in awhile. But doesn't grab my nuts. I'll try again and maybe change my opinion. Again - just did not give it enough time yet.

Satanarchist stream new LP at Noisey

I recently interviewed Portland, OR. I'll post that next. Before you read, open up Soundcloud in another tab and press play. Noisey is streaming their new LP, Fire Against the Wall for y'all's enjoyment.

They thrash metal crust punk barrage is belligerent and bountiful. The duo crush as the blaze through their pugnacious opinions on politics and religion.

give a listen and check out my interview:
this is the original email Q&A form. To find the extracted, written interview by me - look for New Noise Magazine Issue 33 in print. cheers.

Satanarchist Interview

Satanarchist

First Against the Wall

Self-released.

drummer/lyricist, Mark Nunziata; guitarist/vocalist, John Edwards

Interview by hutch for New Noise magazine

https://satanarchist.bandcamp.com/

Is the duo thing out of necessity or choice? What does Satanarchist bring as a duo that differs from if you added a bass?

Mark: We started playing together in 4-piece black metal band Spectral Tombs almost 7 years ago, and Satanarchist was simply born from all the times that we were the only two available to practice. If the other dudes couldn’t make it, the two of us would still get together and mess around. That’s how most of the first record was written, as a casual side project. When the other members of Spectral Tombs both stepped out of the band, coincidentally at the same time but for unrelated reasons and on good terms, we just decided to keep going and focus on this. We considered finding other members for a while but settled on remaining a two-piece for a number of reasons. I’d been in a few duos before and always appreciated how easy it was to make decisions, schedule shows and practices and all that, one line of communication and no dead weight.

John: As far as what being a two-piece brings, we get a lot of feedback after our live shows that we make a shit ton of noise for two people. People are like “holy shit I can’t believe how full your sound is,” or “I had no idea there were only two of you until I got a view of the stage.” Sometimes people say we need a bass player, but those people are usually bass players.

Mark: The only drawback to being in a two-piece is that we always have to load and unload the like five people’s worth of gear we use.

How is atheism/Satanism important in 2017’s society?

Mark: As the institution of religion gains traction in politics and society, it becomes increasingly important to resist it and support systems of belief based in radical ideas such as ‘facts.’ People can believe whatever they want but not if those beliefs start creeping into policy or affecting other people’s rights. With so many people and politicians using religious arguments to push oppressive attitudes and defend oppressive actions, we have a responsibility to stand up and call bullshit. I am disgusted by the injection of religious ideals into politics and our personal lives, things like health care, science, education and equal rights for people who aren’t straight cis white men.

What strengths do you derive from these beliefs?

Mark: We don’t reference satanic imagery or atheism because it’s the metal thing to do; we do it as a means to communicate our revulsion toward the influence of religion in society. There’s a very real overlap between radical left politics and freedom from religion, and the relationship between them runs far deeper than just our name.

John: Hail Satan.

Mark: And fuck homophobia, fuck transphobia, fuck “pro-life” Christian assholes who cut food and healthcare for the poor.

In the promo – specific amps are listed, Is gear, or are specific brands, important to Satanarchist’s sound?

John: I don’t particularly care about brands and, like, boutique or vintage gear, but Engl makes the best sounding amps for the kind of metal we play… so I use two. The Ampeg SVT is pretty much industry standard and fills out the low end.

Mark: What’s almost more important than what we list is what we don’t list. We wanted to just write fun, fast, heavy shit that doesn’t rely on effect pedals or bells or whistles to make it sound good, just amps and riffs. When we started writing for Satanarchist we set a couple ground rules. 1: No doom. 2: No Pedals.

Is it a tough decision to not shop this around to labels and just release independently?

Mark: It was mostly a matter of circumstance. We wanted to have this album ready to go before our Canada tour, and we knew that if we took the time to shop it out to labels then the timeline probably wouldn’t work out. We reached out to a couple Canadian labels early on but never heard back so just decided to slam it out ourselves.

John: We’d be open to working with labels for our LP release of First Against The Wall though.

In 2017, what are the pros and cons of releasing a record yourselves?

Mark: We did our first CD and LP independently as well, gives us a lot of control and flexibility over timelines and whatnot but it is pretty expensive.  Of course it would be cool to have the distro and promotions power of a solid label behind us but we’ve just kept everything as DIY as possible from booking tours to finding floors to crash on to putting our music out. I’ve never worked with a label before so I can’t really speak to the comparisons.

John: From the get go, one of our main goals was to tour as much as possible and releasing our own stuff is just easy. We just make it happen. No one’s going to do it for us so we do it ourselves.

How did recording go?

Mark: By the time this prints I will have recorded drums at Haywire studios with Fester five times between four bands so I pretty much knew what I was getting in to.  The dude’s a wizard, he has a way of hearing your music better than you do, he’s a skilled engineer but always ends up lending invaluable input as a producer as well. We also booked more studio time than we usually do for this record so I didn’t feel as much pressure to nail everything on the first take.

John: Fester is pretty much the shit for recording metal in Portland. There are other people to go to… but why?

With production or mastering, ever a worry it would be too clean or polished? How much dialogue was there between you and Fester/Boatright along the way?

Mark: Brad at Audiosiege does amazing work so we pretty much just let him do his magic. Our only specifications we gave for this were a) make sure you can hear everything and b) make sure it has balls. We wanted it to sound good without compromising weight, and be heavy without compromising clarity. We feel like he came through pretty solid on both points. With Fester we spent far more time mixing it than I ever had on anything before so I’m pretty fucking stoked on how you can hear every little goddamn snare roll.  We worked on the mix over a half dozen sessions over a few weeks.

How do things look for your Canada tour?

Mark: We’re psyched to reunite with our brothers in Hard Charger. We met those guys last summer when we played four shows together on the east coast of the US and have kept in touch. They did all the legwork to book the shows and we’re grateful for the opportunity to play metal with them north of the wall. I think we’re covering like five provinces and playing in some really cool towns. I grew up in Vermont and loved Montreal when I was a kid so it’ll be rad to get to play there.

John: Hard Charger borrowed my backline for a west coast tour last fall and all I got was a bottle of whiskey so basically they owed me one. Best buds tour 2017.

What is it about the TVZ cover that stirs you enough to cover it?

John: We’d been talking about it for years. Have you heard Silver Ships of Andilar? The form and content, It’s basically asking to be a metal song. It’s a story about going to war on a boat, getting lost at sea and everyone starving and killing each other. Plus I’ve been listening to Townes Van Zandt my whole life, I was raised on it. My mom introduced me to his music as long ago as I can remember. When I told her we were covering one of his songs she was like “You’re going to ruin Townes.”  But he’s been one of my musical idols since I was young, so we did our best to do it justice.

Amended explanation of the title of the album:

First Against The Wall or "First against the wall when the revolution comes" is an echo of radical left sentiment toward members of the elite who will face firing squad after being deposed by popular uprising. References to the phrase or variants of it can be found scattered throughout radical and popular culture back to the 60's and 70's. We use it as an imagining of retributive violence against police, heads of state, businessmen and agents of the church who've committed injustices and atrocities against the people. It also invokes images of violence by the police which we find appalling and stand firmly against. In today's political environment, it is also intended as a a reference to Trump's border wall. Imagine Trump, Sessions, Ryan, Bannon, Spencer, McConnell et. al. facing a firing squad with their backs to a wall on the southern border. A band can dream.

Hutch would like to thank John and Mark for their time. Also Lisa Root at New Noise. Dave and Liz Brenner at Earsplit PR

Nightfell Darkness Evermore Review

Nightfell
Darkness Evermore
20 Buck Spin

If DIY street cred was currency, Todd Burnette could retire today. His past includes Deathreat, His Hero Is Gone, Severed Head Of State, Tragedy, and Warcry. These hardcore bands were uncompromising, heavy, down-tuned and furious. They all claimed a stoic hardcore stance fettered by unrelenting DIY ethics. In Nightfell, Burnette is joined by Tim Call on drums, who has an impressive roster of metal bands to his name. Nightfell released Nightfell’s debut, The Living Ever Mourn, with Southern Lord and McCall’s own Parasitic Records. Call spoke on the pros and cons of this. “The response was positive. I am not sure how much of a push there was behind it. I co-released the vinyl on my label, which is more of an underground entity. I don’t do a lot of big promotion. My releases tend to sell at a moderate pace, as people hear about them through word of mouth. I have noticed more interest in the first record since the tracks for the new one have been streaming.”

Now Nightfell unleashes their second offering, Darkness Evermore, on 20 Buck Spin. Joined in the studio by cellist, Julia Kent, Nightfell churn up some intense d-beat black metal. Use whatever fusion of genre titles you wish, the impact is still as resonant. Heavy, dark, cold music that can trudge glacially and the spark into incendiary speeds. The cynicism is palatable on each track, demining this existence. Burnette’s guttural growls are lower than ever. The weaving dark harmonies of Tragedy are present. That element is cool, but Nightfell truly stand apart from any project either member has done. Heavy and powerful.

The staccato rhythms enveloping the first track’s ending are a belligerent delivery until we return to the cello. Atmosphere and brutality are priority in Nightfell. That is accomplished and surpassed. The opener, “At Last”, is a sinister ten minutes. Forging through “Cleansing” is demonic growl embedded in a swinging riff and thrashing drums. Brad Boatright’s mastering and Evan Mersk’s mixing present all instrumental factors as equal weapons.

Savage misanthropy backed by heavy distortion and whiplash beats, Darkness Evermore is a bleak statement on the desperation of today’s world.  The album holds respites of disconcerting plucks and vibes. But, this LP consistently returns to the meaty, dreadful morose sounds. The eight to ten minute durations give Burdette and Call ample time to destroy with reckless abandon. The building of tension and venting is continuously rewarded with a tenacious delivery. Stark and cold while avoiding the thin, tin production of trve kvlt BM is refreshing and welcomed. Thick low end chugging breathe new life into this loathsome genre. 

Doomentor Second Ceremony Review

Doomentor

The Second Ceremony 7” EP

Iron Bonehead

Release July 24^th 2015

 The trio, Doomentor, slip us two songs via Iron Bonehead. Over twelve minutes of raw doom metal bless this vinyl. The crew cultivates a mysterious aura in reputation and sound, wearing cloaks on their first LP or not at all here. As if emitted from a cursed castle during Walpurgisnacht, an organ opens up with a haunting tune. The one minute-plus intro dives into “Maligne”. “Maligne” has a swinging, thrashy feel.  The production is extremely raw, appreciating a lo-fi aesthetic.  The music is fast, galloping, riff-loving metal. “Nocturniae Monumentalis” is side B with nearly eight minutes of slower but menacing metal.

They describe themselves as “black occult imperial doom metal hell”. That could sum it up. They list influence like Trouble and Manilla Road. Certainly, those bands are applicable for a foundation. But, this music is much darker and infuses nuances of thrash and speed metal into the mix. There are elements deriving from Venom, Hellhammer, and Motorhead. This is stripped down doom. The vocals are low growls and sneers. And they should be. I don’t want this sung. Even a Wino approach would detract from the sinister punch Doomentor packs.

This is a great seven inch. The songwriting and execution is bad ass. I do wish for a higher quality of production. I get the sound they are going for, but the low end needs more of a punch. And while the cymbals are up in the mix, lower toms should be more present. I don’t need clean by any means. But doom should have big thick fuzzy bass, in my opinion. Their self titled embraced a thicker feel while maintaining the savagery and raw grit. I still recommend it.

https://doomentor.bandcamp.com/

Terveet Kadet Lapin Helvetti Review

Terveet Kadet

Lapin Helvetti

Svart Records

 Svart Records is an incredible. I always pay attention to their releases. They are an incredible resource for sludge, doom, psych, and stoner. When I pressed play on this though, all I heard was awesome thrash influenced d-beat punk. Unfortunately for me, my mind had lapsed. But as soon as it played I recalled the Musta Hetki LP from two year ago. Beginning in one form in 1980, TK have been putting put albums since 1983. These Finnish curators of fury have done it again.

Skilled guitar work and thick production reinforce the fast and tight rhythm section. The music is a soundtrack to an anxiety attack. Laja Aijala’s vocals are gnarly and pissed. He may have had some line-up changes behind him through the years but this version is amped and spews treachery on stages. They just wrapped a US tour two days ago.

A lengthy review of this is not needed. “Awesome” would just as easily sum this up. The band is just so friggin tight. And if I say, most songs sound the same, that’s a compliment. This is punk; no one is redifining anything.  TK is not deconstructing the punk paradigm to filter through post modern rhythms or some arty shite. There is Discharge, of course, in her. American noisey hate punk like AF and NA; and especially the darkness of a Poison Idea is an influence.

 And the band kicks a “thank you” to some metal riffing on “Mina Olen”. The opening riff conjures a solid swing riff before jumping into pure mayhem. Similar to Kill ‘Em All Metallica covering Discharge or Misfits, the sound is sinister. Again, the bass stands out, giving the sound a rounded out dirge tone. Two songs are over two minutes, none hit the three minute mark. Half of the tracks stay under one minute. “Brutaali” stands out to me with a crunchy riff over 4/4 drums and Aijala’s raspy snarls. “Verinen Jeesus” has some great chunky hardcore riffs they smash together providing a forty-nine second melee. Following is “Elamalle vieraita piirteita” which goes from blast beat to breakdown that Coke Bust would revel in. 

This band is amazing. Any skate thrash blackened hardcore punk should find an aspect that enthralls them in this harsh sound. Short Fast Loud; it describes many bands. Kadet have earned it proudly. I’ll take another thirty five years, please.

Band Site

RIYKL: Heresy, Hard Skin, Vitamin X, Iron Reagan, Violent Arrest, Dead Stop, Victims, Cops N Robbers, Poison Idea, Negative Approach, Rattus, Raw Power, Venom, Okkultokrati, Minor Threat, Agnostic Front, SSD