Every single Wednesday without fail (fuck it, Thursdays too), your hosts post a suitably stale video clip that we think needs to be revisited. Click here for more Crusty Clips. Got a clip you think we should post? Send it to crustcake@gmail.com.
by Andrew Wilhelm (TX)
Hey 'cakers, the Crusty Clip got neglected due to SXSW hoopla, but it's back!
Earlier today, our bros at Invisible Oranges posted the videos from Black Sabbath's Born Again, their sole album with Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillian. We're going to top them by showing you Black Sabbath's video for "No Stranger to Love" back in 1986. Yes, Black Sabbath were still a band in 1986, contrary to revisionist ignorance.
While the Born Again videos were bad, at least they were for good songs. "Stranger" does not have that luxury.
There are a lot of issues with this song and video.
1. Notice the artist is "Black Sabbath and Tony Iommi." That's like saying "Megadeth and Dave Mustaine" or "The Melvins and Buzz Osbourne," so what gives? Seventh Star, the album on which this song appears, was originally intended to be released as a Tony Iommi solo album. Warner Bros., not quite realizing that the Black Sabbath name wasn't as great of currency as it was in the 70s (or now), pressured Iommi into releasing the album under the Black Sabbath name. Somewhere along the way, it was released as "Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi." The dynamic shifts of power in the music industry are starting to make a lot of sense now, aren't they?
2. Tony Iommi's fringe jacket. If you've watched Metal Mania on VH1 Classic at 2 AM as much as I've had, you recognize that fringe jackets are never cool. If a metal god like Iommi can't pull it off, can you? Funny I mentioned Mustaine earlier - he must have borrowed Iommi's jacket for Megadeth's "No More Mr. Nice Guy" video.
3. The lyrics. I could get all literary critic on your ass, but the video has subtitles. You can make your own interpretations.
4. What is going on in the video? Iommi gets rejected by a lady and proceeds to walk around a nearly deserted urban area while said lady follows him around. There's a dog running around for NO reason. Iommi gets in a car in the end and is whisked away into whatever he was doing in the 80s. I've seen exhibits at contemporary art galleries that make more sense than this video. Really, what the hell does the dog symbolize? Is the lady supposed to be the music audience in 1986 that leaves Iommi without direction? Is this whole thing a really roundabout way of Iommi saying "Fuck, I wish I could have some of Ozzy's coke stash?" Like many videos in the 80s, it raises more questions than it answers.
5. Iommi is clearly a fan of the synth + slow, sad minor key solo intro. In "Die Young," it sounds awesome, but here, it's just sappy. He's also used the strategy in "Dying for Love" and "Feels Good to Me," two other songs that are also not prime Sabbath.
6. If Black Sabbath is going to do a ballad, it can't be a pop tune. It has to go epic, like the magnificent "Sign of the Southern Cross" or the gloomy "Born Again."
7. A minor quibble, but Iommi just isn't Iommi without a black Gibson SG with cross inlays.
Watch the video below and tell me if I'm right or wrong in the comments.
March 31, 2011
CRUSTY CLIP OF THE WEEK: BLACK SABBATH - 'NO STRANGER TO LOVE'
LIVE REVIEW: SXSW - SATURDAY, MARCH 19
Primitive Weapons, all photos by Carmelo Espanola
Crustcake, represented by the intrepid Andrew Wilhelm and Van Damned, spent four days in Austin, Texas, at South By Southwest, one of the world's largest, film, interactive and music festivals. Between the two, they saw 49 bands, ate 10 tacos, four slices of pizza, four gyros, three bratwurst, and drank 52 beers, five whiskey and cokes, five rum and gingers and exactly one shot of tequila. They insist that you come with them to SXSW 2012.
There's a reason people call it South By South Death. By Saturday -- if you've made it that far -- sleep deprivation, liver cirrhosis, indigestion, tinnitus and ear fatigue, and sheer physical exhaustion have begun to take a major toll, putting a serious dampener on your fun-having. Sure it's a bummer, but on the other hand, it'll be a whole 'nother year until this many badass bands roll through at one time. So you gotta get while the gettin's good, right? Right. So grab another beer and make the best of it. You're a sucker if you don't.
Words to live by, and ones Van and Andy took to heart. Perked up from their post-Vitus rest, they headed down to Lovejoy's once more for the Profound Lore/BrooklynVegan day party. Cruscake's final SXSW recap begins there.
Wolvhammer were winding up as Andy entered the room. Mssrs. Pessaro and Bruni deserve major thanks for thawing those Minneapolis boys out to play in Austin. Now sporting a dedicated singer and Jeff Wilson (ex-Nachtmystium) on second guitar, SXSW was given another taste of their new-and-improved, crusty, D-beaten death/black fusion. Does the world need another crusty, D-beaten death/black fusion band? When they're as good as Wolvhammer, the answer is a resounding "Yes!" Van arrived late (again), but in time to catch Deafheaven for his first time. The ink spilled about this Deathwish Records-signed black metal five-piece has grown exponentially in recent months and for good reason. Searing, soaring, euphoric -- these kids will go far, mark our words. Grayceon were the heavier alter ego of Amber Asylum: still rooted in chamber music, but with more of an emphasis on metal. Carm compared cellist Jackie Perez Gratz to Voivod's Piggy (RIP), which is no insult at all. Floridian duo Dark Castle spewed forth an filty stream of shred, scream and pummel, but were hamstrung by a muddy mix. Too bad, too. Guitarist/vocalist Stevie Floyd is a banshee on the mic and nimble-fingered to boot.
But nobody, and we mean nobody, was prepared for just how mind-numbingly loud The Body was. Not even the twisted, funhouse noises made by Bruce Lamont and Eyehategod's Mike Williams beforehand prepared the audience for The Body's never-ending torrent of low-end. In fact, Crustcake was kind of disappointed the floor didn't give out, they were that magnificently loud. Guitarist/vocalist Chip King is soft-spoken in real life, but you sure as hell could not assume that from his yell, which resembled Xasthur at his depraved best. Lee Buford wailed on his North drums, those war-horn-shaped drums bellowing with resonance, adding more weight to the already pulverizing vibrations coming forth. The whole experience felt like a video game boss flaunting your weak point -- in this case your ears -- and The Body kept hitting it over and over and over.
A Union Dissolves
Van and Andy split up at this point, Van to accompany Earsplit PR to the Profound Lore night show at Valhalla, Andy to take on Eyehategod/Pentagram at the Scoot Inn.
Here's Van's report:
Having already seen EHG and Pentagram several times each, I decided to check out some new bands. First up was Yakuza's Bruce Lamont, who pulled out a subdued solo set of sax warp, noise loops and vocal contortions. Castevet guitarist Andrew Hock jumped on stage for an apparent improv collaboration on Lamont's final song. (Lamont later high-tailed it across town to the Scoot Inn, soon after that. You'll hear about him later.) Wolvhammer wowed again -- they're quickly becoming my favorite Minnesotan act since Prince Rogers Nelson first donned a pair of purple tights some 40 years ago. Castevet roared through a powerful set of what I've taken to calling their peculiar brand of post-angular blackness: they're to black metal what McBride Charles Ryan are to architecture. Look 'em up. They certainly were much stronger live than on recent album, Mounds of Ash. Grayceon were even heavier and more majestic Saturday night than they were during the day. It was at this point that I decided to make an early exit. The ever-genial Brandon Stosuy invited me to Stereogum's LiveNation party. We went, got way drunk and heckled the hipsters that lined up in the thousands outside to see such Pitchfork-ready acts as Cults, Gold Panda and Das Rascist. If you're looking for a play-by-play from that night, you'll have to ask Brandon. He may (or may not) remember better than I can.
Here's Andy's report:
Pentagram and Eyehategod may hail from opposite ends of the Mason-Dixon Line, but both have singers who have told you that your deification of the "edge" is probably bullshit, so you gotta see them whenever you can. Like the Saint Vitus show, the openers were hit-and-miss, this time more on the miss side. Cough are not so much a band as a cry for Jus Osborn to come to the States. Ancient VVisdom ... fuck, what can I say about that band that I didn't already? Naam were not terrible, they were just ... there. Primitive Weapons, however, did light my fire. As I wrote about them before, they take the best elements of Integrity and Deadguy and make a potent cocktail. Another one to look out for in the days to come. There was a couple ballroom dancing towards the end of their set -- true love. They were happy and didn’t give a fuck about the moshing mongoloids orbiting their celestial body of careless bliss.
Somebody's guaranteed to get a fist or boot to the face at an Eyehategod show. We got a twofer! The person to get punched was Lamont, who didn't seem that mad about it when we chatted about it at the end of the show. Jimmy Bower evidently kicked a heckler during the band's set, which wasn't as crazy as some of the other times I've seen them, but still a worthy show. Austin got its first taste of new Eyehategod material in the form of "New Orleans is the New Vietnam," and it did not disappoint. About time they changed it up a bit. In classic form, they ran over the set time, which was good for the fans, but bad for the organizers. Allegedly, a dude was letting himself get Tasered during the band's set. That would have been a great addition to the stage show?
Question: Why doesn't Bobby Liebling have a style column yet in Decibel? (Or better yet, here? Bobby, get at us, dude!) Editorial dreams aside, Pentagram showed these young buck who's boss. The songs Pentagram played, mostly from Relentless, took on a new life now that Liebling has his partner in crime, Victor Griffin, back. Pentagram also performed a couple new songs from their forthcoming record Last Rites: "Call the Man" and "Treat Me Right." If this is a preview of what's to come, then h-o-l-y s-h-i-t! It's too bad they couldn't have fit any songs from Be Forewarned in their set, as "Petrified" and "Live Free and Burn" would have smoked. "When the Screams Come" closed out the set, and thus, my time at SXSW 2011. Who better to cap it all off then the doom legends themselves? A lot of screams came my way through the fest, and now I was ready for some much-needed silence.
Shout out to all the new and old friends we saw at SXSW – Carm, Rebecca, Will “The Rumor Mill” Hubbell, Fred “Rick Ross” Pessaro, Sam Marble, Headovmetal, Dave and Liz Brenner, Carl Schultz, Pellet, Bruce Lamont, “The Other Andy” Bonney, Kim “Wine and Coke” Kelly, Brandon Stosuy, Errol Schwiezer, Daine "Not Cook" Vineyard, Lev Weinstein, Chris Bruni, Laina Dawes, Aesop Dekker, Chris Weingarten, Stavros G., Darren Cowan, and everyone else who said hi to us!
A special note from Andy:This day could have gone catastrophically different if a speck of a square had gotten into me. Sporting my Atlas Moth "Drop Acid, Not Bombs" shirt, I arrived at a brunch party in the wee hours of the morning (that’s noon for the non-Austinites) to meet up with some old friends from The Daily Texan. Not three minutes after I arrived, someone tried to hand me a hit of acid. Getting offered drugs is nothing new for me -- in fact, due to my overtly Hessian appearance, I have to accept it -- but the speed of which I was offered the bounties of Leary was astonishing. I, of course, declined, because I had professional responsibilities. This article would have been a lot more interesting had I been trying to engage in celestial tango with Bobby Liebling. Maybe Chris Bruni would have recorded my ramblings and released it as a spoken word album. I would probably have put my own non-coherance on my Top 10 List for 2011.
I hope my readers don’t hate me.
March 30, 2011
CRUSTCAKE REVIEWS: MAMMOTH GRINDER / HATRED SURGE 12" SPLIT
by theseseans (NYC)
Riffs, riffs, riffs. On the latest offerings from Hatred Surge and Mammoth Grinder -- a 12-inch split between the two bands -- riffs seem to be the focal point. Big riffs. "Meaty" riffs. Both Mammoth Grinder and Hatred Surge slow things down a little, groove a lot and play well together.
Side A features three total songs, two of them new, from Mammoth Grinder. "Pulverizer" wastes no time in establishing 'the riff's' dominance on this record. The song totals 6 minutes and 12 seconds, and spends its first 2:40 establishing several different riffs before any vocals come in. Right off the bat, this song contrasts Extinction of Humanity's general rage and fury with a more patient swagger and groove. Extinction hinted at riffs like this with "Societal Collapse" (which, fittingly, gets updated for this split) and "Resurfacing," but neither of those songs reached the level of "Pulverizer" or the closing track, "Surveilled." Both of these newer songs not only bring big riffs and the patience to wield them, but more mid-tempo sections that, strangely, remind me of Coffinworm's faster moments.
Side B gives fans what they've been waiting for: the recording debut of Rahi Geramifar (Insect Warfare) on vocals with Hatred Surge. "Invega" starts Hatred Surge's side and will instantly becomes a favorite of the the band's long catalog. When Rahi comes in and delivers "I can feel them all over me," his rhythmic emphasis will leave the line stuck in your head for days. Hatred Surge find themselves stepping away from their previous material as well on this split. Only the third song, "Mood Stabilizer," reaches any real speed, and the riff on the closing song, "Supernova," is big, lumbering, and would not have seemed out of place at all had it appeared on the Mammoth Grinder side. Taking into account the fact that both bands share guitarist Chris Ulsh makes this less surprising, but comparing it to Hatred Surge's back catalog makes it stand out. This song's 1:30 outro -- by way of pounding the central riff over and over -- makes a nice counter to Mammoth Grinder's "Pulverizer" intro. Once the riffs lie down for the night, stars expand we're treated with the real outro: 2:30 of noise. This works as a satisfying chunk of audio therapy and also like a palate-cleansing piece of ginger. After all the riffs this split shoves down your throat, a little noise feels refreshingly calm.
The record itself is simple, but awesome. A comically gruesome man is featured on the front cover in a Hellraiser 3 by way of, well, Hellraiser 3-type disembowelment/skinning. The insert gives the consumer clarity in print along with the generally paranoid, death-obsessed, societal rejection that underground collage work is so good at conveying.
Front Cover
Back Cover
Insert - Mammoth Grinder
Insert - Hatred Surge
Vinyl - Side A
Vinyl - Side B
This is sold out, but was put out through Cyclopean Records.
LIVE REVIEW: SXSW - FRIDAY, MARCH 18
Crustcake, represented by the intrepid Andrew Wilhelm and Van Damned, spent four days in Austin, Texas, at South By Southwest, one of the world's largest, film, interactive and music festivals. Between the two, they saw 49 bands, ate 10 tacos, four slices of pizza, four gyros, three bratwurst, and drank 52 beers, five whiskey and cokes, five rum and gingers and exactly one shot of tequila. They insist that you come with them to SXSW 2012.
By Friday, the wear begins to manifest. Knees, ankles and heels ache. Sunburns begin to redden. Guts churn under the onslaught of cheap food and cheaper beer. The cure? Drink early and drink often, solider. You've made it this far. Why stop now?
Van and Andy, masochists both, worked their way downtown for more punishment. Andy made better time, managing to catch grinders Owen Hart before Van arrived. The narrative begins there.
You can’t get off light if you name your band Owen Hart. There's the obvious heckling from wrestling fans, but if you're consciously going to have a lightning rod for a name, you better have some killer music to back it up with. Thankfully, the Tacoma, Wash., quintet does. The band's riffage is diverse. Doom enters seamlessly into Discordance Axis grind, followed by noise rock angularity with some melodeath as an icing on the spiked cake. Adjust the order as needed. Too sweet and too short. They're welcome back to Austin any time.
Andy skipped on over to Southern Lord's Power of the Riff party at ND at 501 Studios. The County Bucks were playing as he got in. He said they sound a helluva lot like ZZ Top, and that's nothing to fault. Van arrived just as they were ending. Metal bros unite!
After making both Van and Andy's Best Of lists last year, Cleveland’s Masakari were near the top of their SXSW Must See lists. (We like lists here at the 'cake.) After a couple Lone Stars served up by none other than Yakuza's Bruce Lamont -- on loan from Chicago's Empty Bottle, filling in for a no-show bartender -- it was time. Vocalist Tony Yanick lunged into the pit and dove onto the ground within seconds of the first song. The intensity never let up. They sampled new material for the crowd, and we feasted ravenously. Where's the full course?
When Trap Them stalked off the stage about an hour later, there were questions as to whether their set was a performance or a plane collision. By far, this was the most intense show the group has put on. Guitarists Brian Izzi and Every Time I Die's Andrew Williams plumbed depths in their sound that jostled kidneys and loosened bowels and ex-Coliseum drummer Chris Maggio is Proscriptor without the sequins or the Bud Ice. "In the red" would imply that they were playing on a tangible level -- honestly, we didn't think they were. Newcomers All Pigs Must Die simply could not follow that. Few could. They're a fine bunch of boys, but honestly, it was lighting some sparklers after an H-Bomb. Even Converge's Ben Koller looked like a tabby on the skins after Trap Them's pummeling assault.
Fortified by Bruce-slung brews and bolstered by photojournalismo Carm and our boy Monsoon Cobra, Crustcake made our way back over to Lovejoy's for another round of Brooklyn Vegan's phenomenal showcases. With the party already in full swing, we squeezed through to the bar, ordered a pint, and turned to face the wall of suffocating doom that is Cough's live show. The Richmond four-piece have been all but publicly shamed for ripping off Electric Wizard, but honestly, there are much worse bands to crib from. As a brisk change of pace -- like a shot of cold sake after a night in a warm sushi house -- D.C. punk grinders Magrudergrind tore into skin and flesh like feral cats in a dirty alley. Sadly missing were the booty-shaking hip hop samples that popped up in their much-loved 2009 self-titled album and Scion EP. Utah's Gaza rounded our our BV trifecta and hit like a sledgehammer to the diaphragm. Towering singer Jon Parkin prowled the front of the standing-room only crowd, like a caged panther, reaching over three rows of people to lead the mass in a unifying chant of "He. Is. Never. Coming. Back."
All We Had (We Gave)
One of the other marquee metal shows to hit SXSW was the megawatt star-powered Metaliance tour. Held at the woefully undersized, Sixth Street mainstay the Dirty Dog, the show was a dungeon of overpriced beer, terrible pacing, and rock clichés that weren’t cool 20 years ago, much less now (Harleys? Rattlesnakes? Backwards baseball caps? Seriously?). At capacity within minutes of opening, the staff later had to resort to removing all tables from the room, going so far as to strip some bands of their merch tables (or so we heard.) Even the evening's performances were up and down.
Chi-town's The Atlas Moth got the ball rolling on a promising note with a hefty, triple-axe kick of psychedelic doom. Gone is mouthpiece Steve Giannopoulos' (in)famous mustache, but here to stay is the Moth's lush and confident noise explosion. However, without Andrea Black anchoring follow-up act Howl on second guitar, the Providence foursome were left to wander an aimless stage, their doom and crusty death no more clicking with Crustcake than APMD's tepid 'tude. Which was too bad, really. They used to have a good thing going. Portland stoner rock hombres Red Fang followed, with little fanfare. Our ears told us second-rate Kyuss, our eyes showed us strangers. If their music had been half as gnarly as the cover of their Relapse debut, Murder the Mountains, they would have slayed the place.
As an aside, the Dirty Dog, with a captive, at-capacity crowd, could've taken the high road and made some kind of drink discount for the parched longhairs that had crammed their dingy floors like sardines. Instead, we were forced to swallow $4 Lone Stars, a price usually reserved in Austin for imports and craft beers. Buncha jerks. Anyway, this affront was more than compensated for by a surprise, one-night-only appearance by Southern sludge disaster-baitors, Weedeater. Dixie Dave and the gang were in fine form -- muggin' and spittin' and hollerin' and groovin' and kicking up a ruckus like only drunk rednecks can. Dave thrashed so hard, he broke a string. Beers were slammed, weed was smoked and toes were all but shot off. On the other hand, Savannah psych-doom-cum-indie-rockers Kylesa were marred by a flat mix: everything ran together in tepid waves. There was no punch to the guitar, no vitality in the dual drum attack, no attack to the vocals. Then again, that could have just be Crustcake's ears getting gnawed off by SXSW fatigue. But this group deserves more. When they've got a killer mix, they're on top of their game.
Crowbar, thankfully, was just what was needed to jolt some electricity back into the room. The New Orleans sludge godfathers proved why they're still relevant 20 years into their storied career, holding a rapt audience in their hairy palms and squeezing them til they burst. Band figurehead Kirk Windstein doesn't croon, exactly, but he does pour enough emotion and resonance into his growl to tug at even the toughest of heartstrings. And by mixing just enough up-tempo groove and thrash into their sound, especially in "Cemetery Angels" and "All I Had (I Gave)," four Crescent City lifers are proof positive that old dogs can teach young pups a trick or two. Extra awesome: Pantera's Rex Brown, recovering from acute pancreatitis, rocking out with Greg Anderson in the front row. Crustcake took a much-needed break during Helmet's set, who played neither "Unsung" or "In the Meantime." Page Hamilton is still sporting that fuchsia guitar, but that's about all we can say about the long-running alt-metal troupe.
Finally, the moment had come. It was clear from the crowd's reaction that the band everyone was waiting for was legendary doom founders, Saint Vitus. With the recent passing of original drummer Armando Acosta, there was an air of uncertainty about who would replace the mustachioed bruiser. But as the lights dimmed and the band broke into "Living Backwards," all fears were allayed as Sourvein's Henry Vasquez mounted the throne and performed with heft and grace. The core of the band, still looking like hippies bitten by the snake of cynicism in the desert, was still as strong as ever. Dave Chandler's guitar tone and energetic stage presence broke through any tiredness, overindulgence, or drag from how boring Red Fang were. Wino's voice was that of one who's seen a million faces and doomed them all. Mark Adams was...well, he was there, but it wouldn't feel like Vitus without him. "Saint Vitus" and "Clear Windowpane" allowed Chandler to reach into the side of his playing that recalls Albert Ayler and Kerry King more than Tony Iommi. Of course, the standout was the fucking doom anthem - "Born Too Late." Fists in the air, heads bobbing, crowd chanting "I WILL NEVER BE LIKE YOU" - the room was filled with majesty, even if the room wasn't so royal itself.
Our feet were so sore at this point, dipping them in acid would have made them hurt less. Saturday was calling our name though. We would submit to her, for she had Profound Lore and Pentagram in her hand. Shake our blood, she would.
MORBID ANGEL UNVEIL ARTWORK FOR ILLUD DIVINUM INSANUS
Death metal mega-minds Morbid Angel have released the album art for their upcoming eighth studio album, Illud Divinum Insanus, out June 7 on Season of Mist. The cover, created by Brazillian illustrator Gustavo Sazes (Arch Enemy, God Forbid), is dark and oblique, in typical Morbid Angel fashion, but still lightyears ahead of the technicolor day-glo abortion that was 2003's Heretic. Illud is the first Morbid Angel album to not feature long-time drummer Pete Sandoval (who is recovering from back surgery) but, on the plus side, MA frontman David "Evil D" Vincent has returned to the fray, for the first time since 1995's Domination. This record is going to rule, full stop.
PS - Is that Horror Illogium posing with a new headpiece on the cover?
March 29, 2011
STREAM NEW TOMBS NOW
A new Tombs song, "Vermillion," is streaming online. Listen here. "Vermillion" is the first taste of Tombs' new record, Path of Totality, and it is strange taste. All the principle elements of Tombs are here: black metal, post-metal and shoegaze all shimmer through in influence, but this song sounds distinctly different from anything on 'cake favorite Winter Hours. Also noteworthy is that "Vermillion" is the first recorded piece by Tombs to feature drummer Andrew Hernandez, who has been with the band since 2009.
Path of Totality will be released by Relapse Records on June 7 and features artwork by Thomas Hooper (who also did the art for Winter Hours). Read more for what Relapse is calling a "preview" of the album art. 
LIVE REVIEW: SXSW - THURSDAY, MARCH 17
All photos by Carmelo Espanola
Crustcake, represented by the intrepid Andrew Wilhelm and Van Damned, spent four days in Austin, Texas, at South By Southwest, one of the world's largest, film, interactive and music festivals. Between the two, they saw 49 bands, ate 10 tacos, four slices of pizza, four gyros, three bratwurst, and drank 52 beers, five whiskey and cokes, five rum and gingers and exactly one shot of tequila. They insist that you come with them to SXSW 2012.
South By Southwest is, essentially, a combination of spring break, Mardis Gras and Carnivale for music nerds. Thousands upon thousands of fans, bands and industry executives, from all parts of the globe, descend on the Live Music Capital of the World for a four-day orgy of cheap beer, warm weather and, appropriately, more live music per square block than anywhere else in the known universe. Van and Andy made their respective ways through the throngs of sunburned and drunk-by-noon festival goers and convened at Emo's, on Red River, a little before 2 p.m. The party downtown was already in high gear.
Best moment of Thursday afternoon? Fred Pessaro, of BrooklynVegan, and Andy wearing the exact same Ashdautas shirt. Too fly.
The first band we caught was Norway's ultra-hyped Kvelertak. Now that Turbonegro have been put on the All Tomorrows Parties waitlist, the tattooed six-piece are the Scandanavian party-rock band of our time. Even if you couldn't get into their music, there was a feeling you had to root for them anyway, given their passport fiasco. They do suffer a bit from Black Tusk Syndrome, though: killer live, so-so on record.
Longtime 'cake favs Trap Them put on one hell of a show, especially now that they've been strengthened by Andrew Williams, of Every Time I Die, on second guitar, but their energy was nowhere near the intensity of their set the following day. Their late arrival and prior van problems probably had a lot to do with that. Hull were about as good as they were the night before, and still much stronger live.
Word got out that Mellowhype were playing at Barbarella, and there was no line. We're music journalists! We love hype! It was a no-brainer. We had to see Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, a 10-heavy hip hop crew of teenaged skate punks, in some incarnation during our time at SXSW. Mellowhype is Hodgy Beats and Left Brain, but the rest of the Odd Future crew, including the group's unofficial leader, Tyler, the Creator, showed up, too. It was the punk equivalent of a hip-hop show – performer berating crowd, crowd coming back for more abuse, airborne Lone Star cans, skateboards, and a mosh pit. What's not to love about a group of teenagers getting hip folks young and old to shout, "Fuck tha police!" and "Free Earl?" Some people believe Earl is in juvie, and thus must be liberated, but he's actually grounded by his mom. Live music hasn't felt this fresh and exciting in a long time. Do OFWGKTL deserve the hype? In a word, absolutely. We really felt like we were a part of something huge.
Nightfall
We stuck around the Barbarella to catch the Nanotear showcase. Norwegian duo Arabrot sound like Big Black for these big, black ages. No subtleties, just rough penetration. Like Black Cobra had they been raised on Brutalist architecture and post-expressionism.
Amber Asylum's lush chamber-doom was rich and enticing, but hampered by the sound of whatever band was playing (loudly) next door -- one of the hazards of SXSW. Some idiot yelled, "Take it off!" during their set, in hopes the mostly-female ensemble would acquiesce and disrobe. If we had his name and picture, we'd send it to every venue in the Greater Austin Area -- and, for good measure, the D-FW metroplex, San Antonio and Houston, too -- advising that this guy should Fuck Off And Die.
Continuing the lucid music train was Worm Ouroboros, who, next to Agalloch, put on the best show of the night. Dreamy and slow, like lounge music for dark swingers, their self-titled 2010 album was one of Van's favorites. Drummer Aesop Dekker can go off when he goes off, but held himself back for this performance, showing finesse few drummers can match.
Since neither Andy or Van could make it to Christian Mistress, Witch Mountain were the next best thing. Girls singing classic metal never fail. This band reminded more of Candlemass than Christian Mistress' Angel Witch. More bands need to ape Candlemass.
Finally, Portland's Agalloch took the stage. Sans incense, banners and medieval atmosphere, the foursome were still truly something to behold. Their set was truncated; they performed three songs from Marrow of the Spirit plus "Falling Snow," but every minute was as powerful and majestic as expected. Grey clouds rolled in and a chill wind blew as they began -- divine intervention, we'll never know, but it helped create an appropriate setting amid the tents, corporate logos and manic energy of SXSW. No abrupt shifts between metal and neofolk -- everything flowed like it was supposed to. Dekker gave it his all on the drums, tightening the group as a whole. Guitarist Don Anderson still knew it was a metal gig, pumping the horns every now and then, thrashing out during fast parts, and raising his guitar like Excaliber at the end of the show.
The enigmatic -- and hermetic -- Yob closed out the show, debuting new material and pulverizing the crowd after Agalloch. The few hundred lucky enough to be in attendance stood enraptured as guitarist/vocalist Mike Scheidt led a spiritual seance of crushing doom and psychedelic heaviness. An epic evening for an epic festival.
ANAL CUNT RUINING MARRIAGES, LIVERS, ETC. ON TOUR
Get your pitchforks out! Holler at your smack dealer! Mr. "LOL U MAD" himself, Seth Putnam, and his band, Anal Cunt, are coming to a town near you in April. They're touring in support of Fuckin' A, which I hailed as a party grind masterpiece. Maybe they'll whip out their cover of Manowar's "Gloves of Metal?" Bring a lawyer, because you're definitely going to need an alibi the next morning.
Full routing below.
Anal Cunt Tour 20101 Frederick,MD @ Krugs
2 Baltimore,MD @ Sonar
3 Charlotte,NC @ Tremont
4 Atlanta,GA @ Drunken Unicorn
5 Tampa,FL @ Brass Mug
6 Columbia,SC @ New Brookland
7 Florence,SC @ Dr Buzzards
8 Savannah,GA @ Wormhole
9 New Orleans,LA @ Sibera
10 San Antonio,TX @ Korova
11 Austin,TX @ Emos
12 OKC,OK @ Conservatory
13 DAY OFF
14 Phoenix,AZ @ ICYC
15 Escondido,CA @ Cafe Metaphor
16 LA,CA @ The Blvd
17 Oakland,CA @ Metro
18 Portland,OR @ Branx
19 Seattle,WA @ El Corazon
20 Boise,ID @ Red Room
21 DAY OFF
22 Denver,CO @ tba
23 Omaha,NE @ Sandbox
24 Chicago,IL @ Memories
25 St Louis,MO @ Fubar
26 Indy,IN @ Vollath Tavern
27 Lansing,MI @ Macs
28 Pittsburgh,PA @ 31st street Pub
29 Columbus,OH @ Summit
30 Cleveland,OH @ Now Thats Class
March 28, 2011
LIVE REVIEW: SXSW - WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16
Batillus at Broken Neck, all photos by Carmelo Espanola
Crustcake, represented by the intrepid Andrew Wilhelm and Van Damned, spent four days in Austin, Texas, at South By Southwest, one of the world's largest, film, interactive and music festivals. Between the two, they saw 49 bands, ate 10 tacos, four slices of pizza, four gyros, three bratwurst, and drank 52 beers, five whiskey and cokes, five rum and gingers and exactly one shot of tequila. They insist that you come with them to SXSW 2012.
"Free" is one of those words that shares the same kind of reactionary quality as "terrorist," "Justin Bieber" or "Blake Judd." It completely strips people of any rationality they may have had. The BrooklynVegan/Feed the Beat party knew this well. Free Taco Bell? A touring band's dream come true. Free Sailor Jerry's and Sparks? Intense surges lead to intense crashes (as Andy learned the hard way.) Free raw food bars? You can be a freeloader without the guilt!
Andy, having arrived in Austin a day before Van, made this his first stop. The following is his account.
Deafheaven made me do a double-take when I saw them. Dischord poster models playing black metal? It works, though. And it works well. They've filled the void that Wolves in the Throne Room left once it became apparent their image couldn't take them everywhere. They use the repetitive nature of the tremelo pick, the workhorse of black metal, to emphasize a meditative quality not found in many black metal bands. Vocalist George LeSage has a searing yell and a confrontation glare in his eye. One to watch for the remainder of the year.
Coming in as a huge fan of The Secret’s most recent record, Solve et Coagula, they lived up to all my expectations. All the ghouls of D-beat, crust and death metal came back to life once their amps were on. Happy hour hadn't set in and my ears were already ringing.
KEN mode were also a pleasantly noisy surprise. Never mind that vocalist/guitarist Jesse Matthewson's black cowboy hat may have led to well-intentioned (if completely wrongheaded) recommendations to Austin's overhyped County Line and Chuy's restaurants, the band let out a fortified attack of metallic noise rock. Everyone looked real into the set, especially bassist Thérèse Lanz.
Austin transplant Dax Riggs served as a palette cleanser for the day. His affiliation with Acid Bath (RIP) will forever link him to metal, but he's all about blues and country these days. Sunglasses are cool indoors as long as you're Dax Riggs. Trash Talk put on a relatively calm set, and I say that because a few days later they would be hurling trash cans at Fader Fort. Kylesa sounded great, but given that I was sailing away on that Sailor Jerry’s, I can’t give you an honest assessment of them.
Broken Neck Brigade
My boy Carmelo "Anthony" Espanola and I decided $25 was an awful lot to pay for hardcore supergroup Arson Anthem, so we took the No. 4 bus down to The Broken Neck, a skate/punk squat in East Austin. The venue is surprisingly conducive to doom metal, and not just because it's BYOB. The bill for the evening was quite stacked.
Long-time readers will recognize former 'cake publisher Geoff Summers behind the kit for of New York's Batillus, whose industrial creep tied the evening together. The YouTube clips I've seen don’t hold a candle to how huge this band sounds live. Even if vocalist Fade Kainer had a crew cut and Brooks Brothers swag, his commanding howl shrieks “Don't fuck with me.” When Furnace is released to the public, it will slay you all.
I cannot get into Hull on record, but live, their three-guitar attack sounds beefy. Prog rock with an emphasis on the rock. They were also filming a video, and had a camera attached to the headstock on one of the guitars. I'm eager to see how that turns out.
Los Angeles' Green and Wood had Skeletonwitch's old bassist and an even older sound. Signed to Austin's Cyclopean Records, their '70s rock revival is more convincing than most. Royal Thunder also had the honor of being one of the mellower acts on the bill. A bit too mellow, perhaps -- my coming down demanded more heavy, not lightness.
Skycrawler had an interesting blend of synths and doom, but by then, I was getting impatient for Dark Castle. Aside from some push-shove, showers-not-growers in the audience, the Floridian doom duo did not disappoint. Their sound tore through the room and through my soul. Were the amps screaming with me or at me? Cannot wait for their new record.
One day down, three more to go.
March 24, 2011
MASAKARI TO RELEASE NEW 7" - SLEEP/ROT
If I had, prior to writing this piece, polled our writing staff on what our collective favorite band is from Southern Lord's recent singing slew of hardcore, grindcore and punk, I believe Masakari would emerge the overall victor (except for Andy, who is somewhere in Texas still listening to The Secret.) The Ohio five-piece's 2010 album The Prophet Feeds was a real favorite with us.
So it is with real excitement that we bring you news of Masakari's new 7", Sleep/Rot. Masakari will be releasing the 7" themselves in an extremely limited run of 300, 100 of which are available for a pre-order found here (well 99 anyway - I just bought one). A total of 100 will be available during the Rise and Fall tour that leads up to MDF, and the final 100 will be available from Halo Of Flies Records. Packaging for each 100 will differ.
Read more for Masakari's upcoming tour dates (see also: places to buy this new 7" if you don't have $6 for a pre-order right now).
Masakari 2011 tour5/8 w/ Rise and Fall At Club Hell. Providence RI
5/9 w/ Rise and Fall and Colony At Bogies. Albany, NY
5/10 w/ Rise and Fall At Ethical Humanist Society. Garden City, NY
5/11 w/ Rise and Fall At Charm City Art Space. Baltimore, MD.
5/12 w/ Rise and Fall The Warehouse .Richmond, VA
5/13 w/ Rise and Fall and Wisdom in Chains At Broad Street Ministry. Philadelphia, PA
5/14 w/ Rise and Fall, Death First and Grudges At ABC No Rio. NYC, NY
5/14 w/ Rise and Fall (Late Show) At Cake Shop. NYC, NY
5/15 w/ TBA At TBA. Hartford, CT
5/16 w/TBA At TBA. Boston, MA
5/17 w/TBA At TBA. Washington DC
5/21 w/ Black Dove, New Creases, And More At Forward Ohio Fest The Union. Athens, OH
5/27 Maryland Death Fest 2011. Baltimore Maryland
March 23, 2011
WITHERED TO TOUR EAST COAST WITH KRALLICE
In celebration of release of Krallice's new record Diotima (coming out April 26th fools!) , the band is hitting the road with Atlanta's genre-blurring Withered for a string of dates down the East Coast. These two bands seem like a perfect fit to me, but I'm curious what third band could help complete this lineup? I'm thinking haarp could be awesome. Let us know who you think would be better in the comments.
Dates after the jump.
KRALLICE SPRING TOUR WITH WITHERED4/24 - Great Scott - Boston, MA
4/25 Montréal, QC Katacombes
4/26 Toronto, ON Sneaky Dee's
4/27 Cleveland, OH Now That's Class
4/28 Pittsburgh, PA Gooski's
4/29 Baltimore, MD Talking Head @ Sonar
4/30 Philadelphia, PA The Barbary
5/1 Milford, CT Daniel Street
5/2 New York, NY The Studio @ Webster Hall
SAD NEWS: KAT KATZ LEAVES SALOME
Some unfortunate news came out today: vocalist extraordinaire Kat Katz has announced that she has left Virginia minimalist doom trio Salome. The announcement was made via her personal Facebook page and this is what she had to say:
I’m no longer in Salome because of personal conflicts within the band. I wish them well if they decide to continue on, and I hope they’re successful with all their projects. I’m continuing with Agoraphobic Nosebleed and will hopefully be forming another project in the future.We wish Kat and the rest of Salome the best of luck in the future. Your specific collaboration will surely be missed. Continue Reading...
Thanks for everyone’s support over the years. I greatly appreciate it.
NEW ANAAL NATHRAKH TRACK POSTED ONLINE, ALBUM DETAILS RELEASED
I've not been shy about my love for Birmingham (England, not 'Bama) blackened grind industrialists Anaal Nathrakh. Their 2009 blasterpiece In the Constellation of the Black Widow was a maelstrom of noise, shred and operatic vocal hatred. So I was super stoked to hear that not only was the duo coming out with a new album (Passion, May 17, Candlelight) but that a preview track of said album -- “Paragon Pariah” -- had been posted online. Shit is Epic with a capital E.
Make the jump for album art, tracklisting and live destruction.
1. Volenti Non Fit Iniuria
2.Drug-Fucking Abomination
3. Post Traumatic Stress Euphoria
4. Le Diabolique Est L'ami Du Simplement Mal
5. Locus of Damnation
6. Tod Huetet Uebel
7. Paragon Pariah
8. Who Thinks of the Executioner?
9. Ashes Screaming Silence
10. Portrait of the Artist
March 22, 2011
DON'T SLEEP THIS SUMMER ON SLEEP
If you were one of the unfortunate few who did not catch Sleep on their last reunion jaunt last fall (unlike me!) consider yourself smiled upon by the stoner metal gods. The riffs will create mountains out of wooden floors at the end of June, and if you can go, better jump on it now because their last string of dates sold out rather quickly. And who knows when the marijuanaut will descend from the moon again? Dates and vids after the click.
SLEEP SUMMER TOUR DATES:June 22 New York, NY at Terminal 5
June 24 Calgary, AB at Sled Island Festival
June 26 Los Angeles, CA at The Wiltern
CONVERGE ANNOUNCE DATES WITH TRAP THEM, BURNING LOVE
Converge are about to hit the road again. You know what this means. Hope your health insurance covers bangovers and attacks from stagedivers.
This time, they're bringing along Trap Them, whose new record is currently reprogramming the way our brains rage, and Burning Love, who recently played with Converge drummer Ben Koller's All Pigs Must Die. Some of these dates also include the band you've seen on a million crustpunks' vests, Dropdead. No word if Trap Them or Burning Love will be appearing on Converge's previously-confirmed appearance at Chaos in Tejas.
Check out an initial listing of dates below.
Converge/Trap Them/Burning Love 2011 Tour5/20 Baltimore, MD @ Otto Bar
Also, even though we hold vinyl king here at the 'cake, we gotta give it up to Jack Gunderson, who constructed a rendition of the Jane Doe cover using CD cases. Extreme music nerdery ist krieg!
5/21 Philadelphia, PA @ Broad Street Ministry w/ Dropdead
5/22 Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East (matinee) w/ Dropdead
5/23 TBA @ TBA
5/24 Syracuse, NY @ Lost Horizons
5/25 New York City @ Santo’s Party House
5/26 TBA
5/27 TBA
5/28 TBA
5/29 Braddock, PA @ Unsmoke Systems w/ Dropdead
5/30 Chicago, IL @ Reggie's
5/31 St. Louis, MO @ Fubar
6/1 TBA
6/2 Austin, TX @ Chaos in Tejas
6/3 TBA
6/4 TBA
March 21, 2011
FOOTAGE FROM AGALLOCH'S SXSW SET RELEASED
Our SXSW recap will be coming this week once Van and I shake off our respective bangovers (and trust us, they were severe cases). In the meantime, Hellbound has uploaded a clip of Agalloch playing "Into the Painted Grey" from the festival. Big ups to the Canadian outlet, whose Laina Dawes we had the pleasure of meeting during the course of the weekend, for putting up this video. The Portland group is currently on tour with Worm Ouroboros, who were also magnificent at SXSW. They play Baltimore tonight at Sonar with Vindensang and Aerial Ruin. The final show in Chicago is also crucial, as the label-defying Locrian will open. Check out the footage and the dates below.
Agalloch/Worm Ouroboros 2011
03/21 – Baltimore, MD @ The Sonar w/ Vindensang, Aerial Ruin
03/22 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge w/ Aerial Ruin
03/23 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East w/ Vindensang, Musk Ox
03/24 – Montreal, QC @ Cafe Campus
03/25 – London, ON @ The Music Hall w/ Musk Ox
03/26 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom w/ Non Fiction, Deadsea
03/27 – Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s Rock Club w/ Locrian
March 18, 2011
CRUSTCAKE REVIEWS: TRAP THEM - DARKER HANDCRAFT
by theseseans (NYC)
The changing of a band's sound can be met with harassment and disappointment from previously stalwart fans. In the case of Trap Them's Darker Handcraft, this should not be the case. Trap Them's sound has never been consistent. By constantly shifting between death metal and D-beat influences, Trap Them's "sound" is the merging of these two styles, and there is plenty of that sound on Darker Handcraft. While Trap Them now come with more hooks, these hooks are better and sink deeper.
Handcraft's opening is much what anyone familiar with their back catalog would expect: frantic, spastic riffs that from jump from top to bottom of the fretboard, only to crisscross again. Soon a mid-tempo swagger emerges on "Evictionaries," with guest vocals by The Hope Conspiracy's Kevin Baker adding to the attitude. "Sordid Earnings" embraces at a similar sluggish pace, but no matter how mid the tempo gets, the feeling of fresh bile in the back of your throat is always present. If anything, "The Facts" is the sing-along song that would turn believers into haters if it weren't just so damn good. The riffs, the words, the song, even Kurt Ballou's subtle addition of pop music's signature chorus trick -- a barely audible keyboard pounding key notes -- all work beautifully. Then Trap Them get faster and dirtier than ever before with the one-two-three punch of the three shortest songs on the record.
Although garnering all the attention, these slower "rock" moments have long been brooding in Trap Them. The final two songs, "Drag The Wounds Eternal" and "Scars Align," actually see Trap Them step out of their usual ways. At 1:49 in "Drag," Trap Them marks their biggest change in sound. The already minimal drums drop out as Brian Izzi's reaches his most "post" melody and lets it sit on top of Ryan Mckenney's unchanging throat. These few seconds recognize McKenney's vocal limitations while successfully using them to create a new experience, and it is wonderful. "Scars Align" is similar to Seizures in Barren Praise closer, "Mission Convincers," with its slow riffs, but fittingly, "Scars" is able to achieve closure with more traditional doom metal characteristics, in comparison to how "Mission" always had its right hand in hardcore.
Changes come. Some for better and some for worse. Trap Them's changes are just starting to boil up to their surface. Where these new paths will lead is still uncertain, but the future sounds promising.
Audio: 8/10
Visual: 7/10
I've bitched and moaned before about the unintelligible way Trap Them's lyrics have been presented in previous vinyl releases. This time, I can't. Only one line is presented to the consumer, "Where there is no light, there is chaos." While I appreciate this line's clarity and surprising presentation, I do, still, want to be able to sit with McKenney's lyrics and enjoy them along with the record. Justin Bartlett's artwork is creepy as usual, but it's heavier on the dark spaces than where his work normally ventures. The decaying corpse lost in a mausoleum stirs.
Front Cover
Back Cover
Insert - Front
Insert - Back
Vinyl A
Vinyl B
Open Gatefold
Close Up of Text
ALL COLORS OF THE DARK SHOWING IN ST. LOUIS
Austin isn't the only city in the US we're aware of at Crustcake. St. Louis has something pretty sweet happening through the end of March. Awful Nice, a gallery in St. Louis, is hosting "All Colors of the Dark" a small art exhibit of screeprints by artist's you should know and may love. Artists showing are: Arik Roper, David V. D'Andrea, Justin Bartlett, Coby Ellison, French, and Mark Riddick. The official reception is today, March 18th from 5-10pm. I'll be there and you should too, that is, if you're not in Austin. More times and location after the jump.
ALL COLORS OF THE DARKMarch 18: 5-10pm
Awful Nice Gallery
March 19: 11-5pm
March 20-31: by appointment
4066 Juniata St
St. Louis, MO 63116
