By The Swizard (CA)
In a time when extreme music is becoming more acceptable in the mainstream, Trash Talk are a defiant reminder of punk, hardcore, and metal’s violent, unpredictable roots. In their six years of existence, they left behind the over-saturated, insular world of American hardcore, self-released an LP (with Steve Albini behind the boards, no less), and garnered the admiration of a lot of mainstream and larger indie media outlets without compromising their sound or especially their live show. Anyone who’s seen the band live will undoubtedly have stories about frontman Lee Spielman beating himself bloody with a microphone, crowds exploding into some of the most violence heavy reactions since early 80s hardcore, and incidents where Trash Talk and their crowd ended up going to battle with venue security or even local authorities. There probably isn’t another band active in music today who are truly living punk rock’s “we don’t give a fuck” attitude in the way that Trash Talk are.
Last week, the band released an EP entitled Awake, which is the band’s greatest recorded work thus far. Their debut, Plagues...Walking Disease, was ferocious, but a little too length. Their self-titled LP (recorded with Steve Albini) was dark, ugly, and showed the world they weren’t Bane or Terror, but lacked hooks and was a little rough to listen to at times. Eyes & Nines started strong, but fizzled towards the end. Awake is perfect. In eight minutes and thirty-nine seconds, Trash Talk show their ability to write memorable hooks then put those hooks through a anguished, frenzied world view and end up with some of the greatest American hardcore songs since Minor Threat or the Circle Jerks. “Burn Alive”, aside from being one of the greatest music videos produced in recent memory, could be the greatest punk rock song written in well over a decade.
Hardcore has been alive and well since the late 70s. The genre has changed with and often reflected the time it was in, and many have used a band or hardcore kid’s “scene lifespan” to either bolster their own time served or more often, downplay the involvement of the younger generation. Awake has that same frantic, desperate feeling found on Black Flag, Minor Threat, or the Dead Kennedys' early records. Trash Talk has managed to put a truly ugly, nihilistic record in the same way that hardcore’s first wave of bands did: by tapping into the struggle and despair of the time they live in. This is more than a best record of 2011, this is a best record of the decade and potentially the century.
Trash Talk will play Fun Fun Fun Fest's Black Stage on Saturday, November 5 at 3:15 PM. They will also perform the night before at Empire Automotive Service (604 E. 7th St.) with Kool Keith, Death Grips, and Blackie as part of FFF Nites.
October 31, 2011
CRUSTCAKE PICKS - NEW CAKE IN THE OVEN: TRASH TALK - AWAKE
October 28, 2011
CRUSTCAKE STREAMS: SPEEDWOLF - 'UP ALL NIGHT'
This whole "We are the 99%" thing isn't very metal. It's much cooler to be a 1%er, and Denver thrashers Speedwolf would agree with us. They've already put on one of the best shows this year, and with their sleazily catchy biker metal ditties, it's not hard to see why this band's profile is rising. Can you argue against good-time tunes with brass balls? Unless your favorite band is The Decemberists, the answer is a solid NO! If your interests include stage dives, hanging dudes upside down from windows, and taking body shots of 151, Speedwolf are your new favorite group.
Speedwolf will release their debut, Ride With Death, on November 22 through Hells Headbangers. If you can't wait that long for a taste of the album, we have the world premiere - and that's not just here, that's the whole world - of "Up All Night." In a perfect world, this and every song on that album would be blaring out of every strip club instead of Buckcherry. We can dream.
Stream "Night" below!
Speedwolf - Up All Night by crustcake
October 27, 2011
LIVE REVIEW: ENSLAVED
Photo via The Swizard's iPhone
Enslaved
When: October 13th, 2011
Where: Slim's, San Francisco, CA
With: Alcest, Junius
by The Swizard (CA)
Black Metal is certainly a hot topic today. Whether it's shoddy New Yorker articles, stellar rebuttals to shoddy New Yorker articles, band members allegedly assaulting women, or Brooklyn hipsters attempting to redefine the genre, it seems as though its just as shrouded in controversy as it was 20 years ago.
In the midst of all sorts of extracurricular band activities and misconstrued journalistic opinions, some black metal bands actually tour and make music, and a handful of those for two decades.
One such band, Enslaved, hit the states to celebrate 20 years of black metal innovation and keeping at it consistently while many acts have softened up, imploded, or turned reclusive. Enslaved have kept it going and managed to stay fresh throughout their career without appearing like reclusive maniacs (Darkthrone) or getting too “Hot Topic oriented” (Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth). Enslaved’s sound has evolved markedly throughout their existence, so I was curious to see what sort of set they had put together for this milestone tour.
Junius, by George Dubose
Initially, the band had chosen French black metal shoegazers Alcest and Swedish masked metallers Ghost to join them on this trek, but Ghost pulled out due to visa issues. Alcest moved up to main support, and Boston alterna-metal band Junius stepped up to open the tour.
The absence of Ghost and the addition of Junius (a good band in their own right, but not quite as high-profile as Ghost) led many to wonder if the tour was going to fall a little flat. Turns out that the tour didn’t need Ghost to completely blow everyone’s mind.
Junius opened the tour and while their gloomy, indie metal certainly fit the bill in terms of aesthetics and overall feel, they lack traditional black metal musical elements like blastbeats or screamed vocals. Black metal audiences can often be very unforgiving, so I was half expecting the Bay Area black metal crowd to eat these guys alive. However, their doomy Morrissey-meets-Neurosis metalgaze managed to enrapture a crowd notoriously known for being unforgiving towards bands who operate outside (un)clear genre guidelines.
A quiet tension had built up in the room as the crowd awaited Alcest’s first Bay Area performance. The band is absolutely haunting on record and there was quite a bit of expectation from the increasingly gathering crowd at Slim’s. As the band took the stage, a rather large long-haired fellow yelled “AALLLCEESSSTTT!” in his best metal voice, which seemed a bit out of place seeing how they aren’t the most aggressive band putting records out in 2011. As Alcest started their set, it was clear that their elaborate, moody black metal was going to replicate live. The guitars sounded muddy and a lot of the clean vocal parts lacked reverb and sounded weak. As the set continued, the sound problems continued and while it was somewhat underwhelming, one couldn’t help but continue to watch Alcest. Even plagued by sound issues, Alcest were still superior to most bands I’ve seen this year. As their set drew to a close, the band played “Percees de Lumiere,” off of 2010’s Écailles de lune, and it was as if all of the sound issues vanished.
With one song, Alcest redeemed an entire set’s worth of shoddy sound. For that seven minutes, Alcest were absolutely mesmerizing. They were absolutely haunting in a way that many black metal bands intend to be but fail miserably at. With a touch more live experience, Alcest have all the potential of ending up crossing over to the mainstream in the way that Opeth have. It was remarkable to see a band so powerful that they could overcome technical issues by coming together on one song.
Finally, two decades of evil incarnate hit the stage. Enslaved came out blazing and, when contrasted with the moody dynamics of Junius and Alcest, made the stage explode. Enslaved may be the Norwegian Black Metal band that has managed to walk that fine line between that cold, primitive-sounding second-wave black metal and its subsequent, keyboard-heavy generations. Their ability to bolster that noisy, distinctive guitar distortion and tortured vocals, as well as their use of synthesizers in a subtle, eerie fashion (one that doesn’t evoke memories of the ESPN Sportscenter theme song) is something they’ve truly made all their own. The band sounded powerful and Slim’s was going absolutely wild.
However, there was something about Enslaved’s set that struck me funny. As I watched the band from the Slim’s DJ booth, I saw five guys walk onto the stage in leather pants, then proceed to do their best “rock 'n' roll guy" stage poses. A little further into the set, frontman Grutle Kjellson asked the crowd if they wanted to “HEAR SOME NORWEGIAN METAL TO-NIGH-TAH!” in his best David Lee Roth voice.
Now, I am all for rock 'n' roll grandstanding. Some of my favorite bands do that shit all the time. However, it seemed funny coming from a band who arstically and historically come from a wave of music often shrouded in darkness, seriousness, and evil.
It's nice to see that 20 years of black metal doesn’t have to damper a person’s ability to have a good time.
October 26, 2011
CRUSTY CLIP OF THE WEEK: CYNIC - 'UROBORIC FORMS' LIVE IN ORLANDO 7/15/94
Every single Wednesday without fail, 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 (Denver)
Steinberger guitars? Robotic vocals? Windmills? It must be Cynic. The first half of the 1990s were certainly a prog-friendly time for death metal - in addition to Cynic's classic album Focus, Death were getting more technical with Human and Individual Thought Patterns, Opeth were just starting out, and Pestilence and Atheist were also in their heydays. There of course has been a backlash to technicality in recent years, but when it's done well, prog and death metal make potent bedfellows. If you're feeling extra prog-nerdy today - and I certainly am after seeing Opeth last night and Devin Townsend over the weekend - we're gonna treat you with a live clip of a 1994 performance of "Uroboric Forms."
Cynic will release a new EP, Carbon-Based Anatomy, on November 11 through Season of Mist. They'll tour in support of the EP, bringing 3 and Scale the Summit in tow. Those dates will follow the video.
Cynic/3/Scale the Summit Fall Tour 2011Nov. 03 - West Chester, PA - The Note
Nov. 05 - New York, NY - Gramercy (The Metal Suckfest)
Nov. 07 - Worcester, MA - Palladium
Nov. 09 - Montreal, QC - Les Foufounes Electriques
Nov. 10 - Toronto, ON - The Annex Wreck Room
Nov. 11 - Pontiac, MI -Clutch's Cargo - iLounge
Nov. 12 - Joliet, IL - Mojoes
Nov. 13 - St. Paul, MN - Station 4
Nov. 15 - Denver, CO - Marquis Theatre
Nov. 16 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex
Nov. 17 - Sparks, NV - The Alley
Nov. 18 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne
Nov. 19 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
Nov. 22 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's
Nov. 23 - West Hollywood, CA - Key Club
October 24, 2011
CRUSTCAKE PICKS - NEW CAKE IN THE OVEN: THOU - TO THE CHAOS WIZARD YOUTH
Thou | NYC @ Abc No Rio | 08 Oct 2011 from (((unartig))) on Vimeo.
by Van Damned (TX)
Thou's Summit, (Gilead Media/Southern Lord) was one of my favorite albums of 2010. It was black, oily and rotten and anchored in hate and bile. Yet it was buoyed by moments of floating beauty and effortless grace. It was, as I said then, the sonic equivalent of the Gulf Oil Spill -- massive, profound and tragic.
It was those moments of melody and color -- the horns and strings; the voices and pauses -- that elevated Summit from being more than a trudge through swamp death and gloom into a truly sublime listening experience.
Flash-forward to 2011. A new year means new material from the hyper-prolific Thou and first out of the gate is To the Chaos Wizard Youth (Vendetta). I'm always interested to hear what the boys from Baton Rouge have in their stew pot and after the acme reached with Summit, I was doubly so.
From the label's info blurb: "(To the Chaos Wizard Youth) was meant to be counter-side to the songs on the Summit LP: little-to-no melody, more straightforward and succinct." And that certainly shows. Crushing and merciless, Youth is a 25-minute slog through the earthy depths of Thou's back catalog. New drummer Josh Nee is appropriately monolithic and vocalist Bryan Funck again delivers with four mini-sagas of despair, vengeance and catharsis.
The precedent for this kind of unapologetic sludge is certainly there -- 2008's Baton Rouge, You Have Much To Answer For stands among Paso Inferior, …and Justice for Y'all and Take as Needed for Pain as standouts of the genre -- but compared to the sweetly (yeah, I said it) moving sensibilities of Summit, the tracks just kind of charge forward; crushing, rather than creating.
It's not without its own bright spots, however. The industrial grind of "Skinwalker" and the drum break on "Helen Hill Will Have Her Revenge on New Orleans" are particularly compelling examples of Thou's superlative ear for tension and drama.
I hope Summit wasn't the exception to the rule -- I'd like to see the counter-side to this one.
+++
PS -- Start at 4:30 for a real treat:
October 21, 2011
FUCK THE FACTS BREAK DOWN DIE MISERABLE SONG BY SONG
If you missed Fuck The Fact's superb offering in last year's Unnamed EP, don't miss this year's double downed LP, Die Miserable. The Canadian grinders recently released said record last week, which you can buy and stream here. And just for us, the band has given us a track-by-track breakdown of the record. Find out how Cannibal Corpse, playing a boat in Amsterdam, white-collar crimes and more influenced the record below.
“Drift” (working title: "Cannibal Blindex") –
Topon Das, guitars: This was one of the first songs we wrote for the new album and probably one of the fastest and most intense ones we’ve ever written. We originally called it “Cannibal Blast”, cause it made us think of a blasty Cannibal Corpse. But then we added a riff that made us think of Misery Index, so we changed the title to “Cannibal Blindex”. We had just done a few shows with Origin and there’s a riff near the end of the song that’s influenced by them, though I don’t know if it really sounds like them at all now. I can remember when we were first putting this together; it was almost killing us to play it from start to finish. Now it’s wicked to rip through it at practice and we just started playing it live as well, so it definitely keeps us on our toes.
"Cold Hearted" (working title: "Morbid Revenge") –
Topon: Straight up Morbid Angel influence here with blast beats and double bass all the way. The first riff in this song is actually just a slowed down version of another riff in a still unreleased song. I doubt you’ll be able to tell when you hear the other song, but it’s neat to think of how this song came together from that idea. I’m pretty sure every album we ever release will have at least one Morbid Angel rip-off song.
"Lifeless" (working title: "Idee") –
Vil Vilandre, drums: This reflects one of the ways we write some of our songs; a mixture of old riffs from our personal recordings and the result of many jams plus some last minute studio stuff. Some of the riffs in this song are close to 10 years old! We don’t like to throw away ideas, we believe in giving each and everyone of them a chance. It’s probably why we are releasing so much crap at the same time. "Lifeless" is a one-way deal, symptomatic of a song created by jamming (literally) ideas together and making it somewhat coherent. Death metal, grindcore and epic melodic crap! There are also a couple of versions of this song that were released, so check them out.
"Census Blank" (working title: "March 6") –
Vil: This song started taking form while we were on tour a couple of years ago. We were playing this boat (Stubnitz) in Amsterdam and we had to kill a bunch of time before getting really, really drunk. I sat down in my cabin with Marc and Johnny and started fucking around with his guitar and that’s how it started. A main theme propelled by essentially one melody repeated over and over under different forms and styles. Definitively a lot of progressive metal influence in there, changes a bit at the end just to make sure you know your not where you were 7 minutes ago. I hope this song successfully takes you from point A to point B!
"Alone" (working title: "Kwiztach") –
Marc Bourgon, bass: "Alone" was a song that was originally called "Kwizatz Haderach", from the Dune series. I just finished watching Dune in its entirety when I crapped out a few riffs to get this one started. Topon still doesn't believe that I was able to watch it in one full sitting and the truth is, he's right. I had to break up the viewing of the film into about 5 sessions. Can you really blame me? That movie is long as fuck! I would recommend watching this movie in this fashion to someone who has never been exposed to the Dune universe, as you are less likely smash your DVD player/Kazaa media viewer this way. The song itself is an ode to self reflection. Starts off grim but ends up getting a bit brighter in the end. It's also about how shitty people are in general. Myself especially.
"Die Miserable" (working title: "Tomb") –
Marc: This track was just Topon and I after a long day in the studio. We were going to have some noise after "Alone" and before "Cowards" but there was something more that needed to be in that space. Start to finish, the track took us about 4 hours to complete. Topon had some old lyrics and I just went in, made it up on the spot and we kept the first take. To me it was the embodiment of that recording session. It had all the desperation, depression and anxiety that we experienced during that session. I like this track a lot.
"A Coward’s Existence" (working title: "Nabob Breath") –
Marc: I wrote the bulk of this song after getting the news that my Dad was back in jail for some white-collar shit. The original title was "Overall Liar" but was changed to "Nabob Breath" as an ode to Napalm Death who I was listening to a lot of at the time. It was a shitty time in my life for sure… especially shitty. The lyrics Mel wrote over it do that time a lot of justice and it's definitely my favorite track on the album. Sorry Pops.
"95" (working title: "Whitney Houston Disappoints Caribbean Fans") –
Mel Mongeon, vocals: I was hanging out at the jam space while the guys were working on a new song. They started playing this punk influenced riff and it really grabbed me. For a small lapse of time, I literally felt like I did back when I was 16. Back then, I was a crazy party kid and I listened to a lot of punk and hardcore, I also went to a lot of shows. That flash back feeling really inspired me for the lyrics. I tried to describe that girl, from the perspective of the person I have become. I don't often put myself on paper that bold, but for that song, it just felt right.
PACK OF WOLVES CALLS IT QUITS, RELEASES FINAL 2 SONGS
Austin's Pack of Wolves are a band that I've been watching for a few years now. They caught the eye of Decibel awhile back, opened for some righteous bands and released a knockout of an album in 2009.
So I was super bummed to see vocalist/guitarist Trey Ramirez post via their Facebook that the four-piece is breaking up. The band is performing two final shows, so if you're in or near Central and South Texas, come out and say goodbye to one of the finer blackened technical hardcore* bands to come out of the Live Music Capital of the World.
As a peace offering, Pack of Wolves is offering two unreleased songs to download for free. Links to both, as well as the full farewell message from Ramirez on behalf of the band, and final show information available after the jump.
Pack of Wolves has offered two unreleased songs for free download.
The band will play their final shows Friday night, at Red Seven in Austin w/ Skycrawler, The Garuda and The Dead See, and Saturday night, at Full Throttle in San Antonio w/ The Rippers.
Below is the full farewell message from Ramirez:
Family, Friends and Fans. The time has come for us to call it quits. We all have other projects in music and in life that we are working on. Our last two shows are Friday Oct 21st @ Red 7 in Austin, Tx and Saturday Oct 22nd @ Full Throttle in San Antonio, Tx.
*I totally made that up.
Thank you to Arclight Records for putting out amazing vinyl for us. Our two LPs can be purchased here www.arclightrecords.com and to all our buds we've met along the way for your support and friendship throughout the years. Come say goodbye with us as we play old and new stuff with current and past eras of the band.
New merch will be on sale, including our DVD of last years tour up to CMJ. Skycrawler are also now added to the Austin show in addition to the return of the mighty GARUDA (Dallas, Tx). Attached is the posters to the San Antonio show.
Spread the word to friends to like our Facebook page for future links to our new projects.
Trey is starting a heavier band with shredder buds from around the country.
Josh is now married and has a great folk band called Kill County out of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Adrian is in a ton of bands in the Austin area including Trip Crystals.
Posted soon will be two links to un-released songs we want to share with you guys, to allow for free download for anyone who'd like to hear.
Thanks again for your support and help. -Trey
CRUSTCAKE PICKS - NEW CAKE IN THE OVEN: TRAPPED UNDER ICE - BIG KISS GOODNIGHT
by The Swizard (CA)
Metal in 2011 has evolved into a rather sophisticated, complex subculture. Due to technological and cultural advances, metal music and culture has taken leaps and bounds in new directions, and evolved in ways I’m sure Ozzy himself couldn’t predict back when Black Sabbath hit the streets in 1970. In my opinion, there’s a metal band for every taste out there. It is truly an exciting time for the genre.
That being said, let’s not forget what this music is at its most rudimentary: brutal and aggressive. It’s awesome that so many forward-thinking people have put unique and mindbending spins on the world’s most extreme music, but sometimes all you need is something that will drive you to punch the shit out of whatever is within arm’s reach. Sometimes you need to shine sophistication and put some on a record that exorcises every shred of pent-up rage you’ve kept locked inside of you since adolescence (or last week, if you are still in adolescence [Ed. note: Or are a normal human]).
That record for 2011 is Trapped Under Ice’s Big Kiss Goodnight. From the moment the record stops, it is a nonstop ass-beating of metallic New York-style hardcore with a touch of anthemic punk rock production courtesy of New Found Glory’s Chad Gilbert and former Death By Stereo bassist Paul Miner, who handled the production and mixing duties
Baltimore’s heaviest band is still heavy, just a little more refined.
Goodnight is what happens when five dudes who have been playing some of the most brutal, breakdown-laden hardcore in recent memory hang out with two guys who have spent a total of 30 years writing some of the Warped Tour’s catchiest sing-alongs.
While the band’s last full-length, Secrets of the World, was heavy and mosh-friendly, it came off as disjointed and it ultimately lost steam by the time the record finished. Goodnight has all of the power, the mosh, and clever song-writing that Trapped Under Ice is known for, but with the keen eyes of a few guys who get hardcore but have spent some time outside of “da hawdcore scene."
I’d like to give an extra special shout out to Trapped Under Ice vocalist Justice Tripp for both using “motherfucker” in a way that sounds so fucking righteous that you can’t help but smile as you smash your fists against the car dashboard and the fact that he has continued to use "TUI" as what I understand as a “state of being” in lyrics. It's inspiring, to say the least. You have to hand it to anyone who takes a phrase that they’ve made up and just ride it out. When he says “'Cos I'm TUI / Until the day that I die / I live to spite you," fuckin' A, man!
Goodnight could be the greatest tough guy hardcore record since Sick Of It All’s Scratch the Surface. This record is so brutal that it transcends genre and is worth a listening to by anyone who appreciates heavy music. They are about to hit the U.S. with Betrayal, Hundredth, Backtrack, and Take Offense. That tour is definitely a must-see show for fall of 2011. Pick up Goodnight and get that pent up rage out of you before you pull a hammy. You’ll thank us for it.
Stay Cold.
October 12, 2011
CRUSTY CLIP OF THE WEEK: MINISTRY - 'N.W.O.'
Every single Wednesday without fail, 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 Van Darden (TX)
Sunday was Al Jourgensen's 53rd birthday. Anybody familiar with the industrial music icon's sordid history will find this statistic, frankly, rather amazing. During his stint as figurehead for the long-running industrial thrash collective known as Ministry, the Texas-based vocalist/multi-instrumentalist has been unfailingly honest about his long-term addictions to heroin, cocaine and alcohol. The stories of violence, mental instability, drug abuse and debauchery that surrounded Ministry's tours, recording sessions, practices and listening parties are legendary. (You can watch the trailer for the forthcoming Ministry documentary, Fix, here.) Jourgensen maintains that he's been nine-years sober, and I certainly hope that's the case. The world needs more transgressive, wild-eyed button-pushers of his ilk. He's also promised a new Ministry album, Relapse, by Christmas. I say bring it on.
Among the earliest albums that introduced me to heavy music, 1992's Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs is one of the most important. It's opening song, the Grammy-nominated "N.W.O.", is a screed against then-President George W. Bush, whose voice is sampled over and over, intoning, "A new world order." In a year that saw the Rodney King/LA riots, deadly hurricanes and the continuation of a major economic recession, it was pretty vicious stuff. Below is a video for the song, taken from Ministry's 1996 SphincTour. Nearly 20 years after it was released, this song still hits like a kick to the teeth.
The song's official video is located after the jump. I chose the live version as this week's Crusty Clip due to its in-your-face immediacy and because it's so fucking loud.
Ministry will also do a series of shows next year:
Ministry 2012 TourJune 17 Denver, CO Ogden Theater
June 21 Los Angeles, CA Club Nokia
June 23 NYC, NY Best Buy Theater
June 28 Chicago, IL Vic Theater
June 29 Chicago, IL Vic Theater
October 11, 2011
DO BANDS HAVE PRIMES?
Photo of one of Zao's best line-ups.
By Chase Macabre (STL)
When the Dallas Mavericks defeated LeBron James and the Miami Heat to win the 2011 NBA Championship, the whole story line for the Finals was experienced veterans versus the young, athletic upstarts, and how fantastic it was that, after 17 years in the league and having had two chances in the past with the New Jersey Nets, Jason Kidd is finally a World Champion at the ripe old age of 38.
In fact, the entire playoffs' story line was this "changing of the guard." The older players, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, Tim Duncan and the Spurs, Dirk Nowitski and the Mavs, are trying to hold on against this rising tide of young talent in Oklahoma City, Chicago and Miami. Inevitably, as the older teams are defeated, the question of whether an athlete can still succeed when they have "passed their prime" comes up. This made me wonder if bands, like athletes, also have "primes"?
Are there specific periods in a band's life where they are at the peak of their powers and release their most compelling, ground-breaking and influential work? I think there is compelling evidence that there is! And if that's the case, what contributes to that break down? What athletes do they resemble most? I'd like to start with my favorite band from when I was in high school: ZAO.
ZAO started in 1993 and released two rather mediocre records in the early stages of metalcore before entering their prime with When Blood and Fire Bring Rest in 1998. The album represented a leap in songwriting, live performance and overall attitude, and songs from this record have been performed live throughout the band's career, even after releasing multiple new records.
The following two albums, 1999's Liberate Te Ex Inferis and 2001's (Self-Titled) were both equally as strong as Blood and Fire, but the band was on their way downhill after that. Parade of Chaos sounded like castaway songs from the (Self-Titled) sessions, and the band re-recorded All Else Failed to fulfill a contract liability to tepid results.
After briefly breaking up (this happened quite a few times in the band's life, actually) there was a brief glimmer of hope of a resurgence in "athletic" ability (perhaps HGH-induced) with Ferret Records' 2004 release, The Funeral of God. The record had several strong songs, including "The Rising End" (see video above), which is one of my all-time ZAO favorites, but the band never achieved the same heights again. Each subsequent release has been bearable at best. Possible reasons they lost it: the final exit of Russ Cogdell (guitar) and Jesse Smith (drums), followed by a revolving door of singers, bassists and drummers.
Comparable Athlete: Shaq.
With a trio of fantastic records akin to Shaq's three titles with the L.A. Lakers, and the last hurrah of The Funeral of God representing his No. 2 role in Miami for the 2006 title, but each following record was like each team Shaq jumped ship to from 2007-2011. ZAO should follow Shaq's example from this past year and retire as well.
Converge is another of my all-time favorite bands. Converge started off their career in 1990, slowly getting better with each new album. By 2001, and the release of Jane Doe (which is the best metalcore record ever), the band transformed into a monster. Each subsequent record has been on par in terms of performance, creativity, audio quality and diversity, but the band has yet to really knock it out of the park with any of them like they did with Jane Doe, although the band's latest album, 2010's Axe To Fall, was widely praised.
Maybe the band has lost a step? After seeing them live a few months ago in St. Louis, I felt they were starting to show their age, but because of the great things they've done in the past, I can't count them out or write them off (much like how everyone thought the Lakers would win the 2011 title. They were given the benefit of the doubt on past glories.)
Comparable Athlete: Tom Brady.
After being taken at No. 199 in the NFL Draft in 2000, Tom Brady had to compete for his spot on the team before settling in as Drew Bledsoe's backup. After a an injury to Bledsoe, Brady took over the starting job and eventually led the team to Super Bowl championship in 2001. This parallels When Forever Comes Crashing, showing a band with obvious talent with flashes of greatness to come. Two Super Bowls in 2003 and 2004, including a 14-2 record in that year, is the utter domination of Jane Doe. Each subsequent year the Patriots and Brady would get close. Losing in the the Divisional round (No Heroes), the AFC Championship game (Axe To Fall) and in the Super Bowl (You Fail Me) represent how close Converge have gotten to greatness, but each time just falling just short. Also, it doesn't hurt that Converge are from New England, the same area where Brady plays.
As if we couldn't talk enough about Mastodon on this site lately, I feel like the band are the perfect example of the aging superstar. Their first several releases, including the EP Lifesblood, and the LPs Remission, Leviathan (definitely their finest hour) and Blood Mountain, are all excellent. Leviathan is constantly mentioned in top albums of the Aughts lists (by Decibel and NPR, among others). I haven't found their recent work compelling. Crack the Skye was sterilized by its attention to detail and The Hunter feels undercooked. Mastodon needs to rediscover their center, and who knows if that'll happen or not.
Comparable Athlete: Derek Jeter.
Derek Jeter is the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees since 1996. He won the Rookie of the Year award that year, and helped take the Yankees to their first title since 1978, which is one of four titles his team would win in a five-year stretch. Hmm, four titles and four albums? Sounds like Mastodon to me. The Yankees went through a title drought since then (with the exception of '09) and Jeter has lately fallen under some criticism for his lack of performance. Once the leading superstar of an unstoppable juggernaut, many critics question whether he still has it especially at his defensive position of shortstop. And the Yankees were just knocked out of the 2011 race. Jeter's showing his age, and so is Mastodon.
CRUSTCAKE PICKS - NEW CAKE IN THE OVEN: HEINALI AND MATT FINNEY - AIN'T NO NIGHT
By Andrew Wilhelm (Denver)
The barriers to making a living off of music are higher than they've ever been. Making the actual music? Those gates aren't as daunting as they once were. Most chatter of this nature focuses on amateurism, but something not discussed as much is the fact that musicians do not have to be on the same continent to record music. We've already seen this with grind unit Gridlink, whose members hail from the United States and Japan, but now we're going to turn to another example that is quite the opposite from Gridlink's 12-minute mini-masterpieces.
Drone/ambient duo Heinali and Matt Finney make sounds far apart from each other -- she hails from Ukraine and handles the music, while he resides in Alabama and focuses on the words. While only having collaborated since 2009, they are certainly prolific, having released several albums digitally, as well as brooding covers of Radiohead's “Creep,” The Cure's “Plainsong,” and, most recently, Nirvana's “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Their latest, Ain't No Night, out now through Paradigms Recordings, both refines and expands upon their sound.
The distance between the two lends to a heavy sense of isolation in the music. One can sense this before you even press play – the sepia-toned cover is centered on a mostly consumed, lonely glass of whiskey (I'm going to assume it's whiskey, given Finney's origins). Night is not for breaking out that Macallan to celebrate a job promotion, it's what you listen to when mentally talking yourself out of breaking a bottle of Macallan over your boss' head. “Do you see yourself as a failure, drowning in your own bullshit,” Finney asks the listener on “Tinderbox” -- this is exactly the experience. For the duration of the record, he's making the listener look into a cracked mirror, a mirror that might provide a more accurate -- if less pretty -- depiction of one's self.
Heinali uses a combination of musical techniques to drive melancholy. “In All Directions” and the title track start with a little bit of scratchiness found when unearthing archived and presumably forgotten media, or, in this case, memories best not remembered frequently. Her guitar work recalls the more somber moments of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai, when triumph gave way to reflection. Heinali manipulates these guitar surges to make you think there's a way out, but the duo smacks you back down to Earth with more depression. All the songs end not with a bang, but with a drawl of ambient drift that crawls toward silence. Heinali also knows that minor key pianos are a fail-proof way to evoke sadness, as evidenced in “Directions” and “Hallelujah.” The piano in “Directions” is rickety and slightly out of tune, mimicking the loneliness present in the album. Too much? Put the pills away, it's only 36 minutes long.
Back when I was a hack at The Daily Texan (and not a hack here), I reviewed Mouth of the Architect's record Quietly, and while I wasn't impressed with the record as a whole, it did have hints of a “small town” aesthetic that I thought were interesting and wanted the band to expand upon. Heinali and Matt Finney took up that challenge for them on the Night's title track. This is most obviously carried out through the use of twangy guitar that accompanies most of Finney's verses, but also in what Finney is saying as well. It's a homecoming, but like Bret Easton Ellis' seminal novel Less Than Zero, it's really a homecoming that reveals the untreated, almost cancerous fungal underside. Finney's understated delivery makes a line like “Fucking waitresses and getting blowjobs in the parking lot” turn from a teenage dream to an adult nightmare. Sounds like a grand old time, but not if that's all you aspire to live by. Bleakness gives way to more bleakness, as Finney continues on: “You spend a week at your father's house right before he dies, but he doesn't have any wisdom to pass on.” Finney inverts the very purpose of a father: the mental death happened long before the body failed. Is that what someone should want to remember their father by? Throughout the entire record, that feeling of finding out what you've known isn't true -- and the social and emotional estrangements that result from such revelations -- persists. Finney commandeers that feeling politically on “Tinderbox,” where he exclaims, “Since birth, I was told this was democracy, but I was never taught about the Sand Creek Massacre in school.” You can read about the Sand Creek Massacre here, but Finney is right in that it has been brushed under our collective rug, as has a great deal of Native American suffering. When no one remembers you, it fucks you up.
Nobody likes to be sad, but we have to confront the unpleasantness of life so that we can enrich our own. Living in a bubble of self-esteem pumped like insulin does not prepare you for the real world and how messy it can be. Maybe that's why the most down-trodden music is often the most moving, the most resonant. Night is another great of example of that principle.
"Ain't No Night"
October 6, 2011
EDITORIAL: CRUSTCAKE VS. THE NEW YORKER
Pictured: Wolves in the Throne Room
By Andrew Wilhelm (Denver)
If The New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones was looking to stir the cauldron with his recent piece on U.S. Black Metal, he no doubt succeeded.
When one writes about a chronically misunderstood topic such as black metal in a nationally prominent publication, there is a delicate balance that will ensure volatility if upset. Most New Yorker readers are more than likely at least tangentially aware of heavy metal on the whole. Beyond that, the finer intricacies that separate black from death and psych from doom are probably outside their general purview. As such, writing about music at such subterranean depths presents an ontological struggle: you can't use cryptic "insider info" and jargon, but on the other hand, unless you really do your research, the devotees who know their stuff will eat you alive.
Frere-Jones, sadly, blew an opportunity to enlighten a substantial readership about the U.S.' contribution to black metal.
Frere-Jones immediately undermines his credibility by rehashing the look of the Norwegian black metal groups and the two points of Varg Vikernes' history that everyone who knows about him pounces on, and then has the gall to start the subsequent paragraph with "Until recently, it was a legacy that the genre couldn't shake."
Well, not when you keep bringing it up.
Almost no note is made of the musical innovations of the Second Wave of Black Metal. Nope, just the fact that inverted crosses and corpse paint were the armor du jour of Norway's blackened youth. Between Lords of Chaos and Until the Light Takes Us, the story of Stave church arson and snow-bound murder is pretty much settled. It's time to move on.
And while those initial macabre images have bounced around the collective zeitgeist for more than nearly two decades, the pioneering Norwegian bands -- and their individual members -- never stayed the same. To wit: Darkthrone, notably, moved towards a crust-black fusion; Mayhem flirted with the avant-garde (and Attila Csihar still does), Emperor got increasingly Wagnerian, and Vikernes has mellowed with age.
Josh Haun, of That's How Kids Die, wrote a great essay a few months ago on a trio of works from Thorns, Dødheimsgard and Satyricon that injected a futuristic perspective on black metal. While I'll leave the specifics to Mr. Haun, it's safe to say at least that some of black metal's original guard were interested in advancing the form.
You wouldn't know that from Frere-Jones' article though -- to the uninitiated, True Norwegian Black Metal was nothing more than a bunch of dudes who dressed up like KISS and burned churches and killed each other. "A self-sufficient, distinct subgenre that wasn’t looking to expand" my ass.
Having a bad lede sinks the ship from the very start, but it just gets worse.
Frere-Jones goes on to list a few of the American black metal bands making waves, and while the usual suspects show up -- Liturgy, Krallice, Wolves in the Throne Room -- he also lists Absu, Inquisition and Leviathan as part of this new movement.
Absu and Inquisition in particular are not young bucks, as both have been playing metal since the early '90s, and Leviathan has more than a few years on this most recent crop of U.S. black metal groups.
Is it because these groups have had spurts of recent attention -- Absu recently had a song premiere on Pitchfork, Leviathan's upcoming album is one of the most anticipated of the year, and Inquisition's latest record has garnered heaps of critical praise -- that Frere-Jones name-drops them? "Name-drops" is key, as the other references read like a checklist of "Gotta mention the popular band; gotta mention a kvlt band."
The only thing these bands have in common is that they formed and live in the U.S. Musically, they are worlds apart. Each band has its own take on the sound, and with a place as big as the United States, geographically and demographically, that alone does not a scene make.
Referencing Absu and Inquisition becomes more troublesome when Frere-Jones states, “The quickest way to understand the newest wave of black metal is to imagine that Satan did not score a visa and is still stuck in Norway." Inquisition is traditional in its getup and imagery, and Absu, while not Satanists, use the occult as a cornerstone of their overall presentation. Going back to the Norwegians, Burzum does not invoke Satan even slightly, and Immortal were more interested in the might of winter than of the fiery pits of hell.
Black metal cannot be divided neatly or cast by broad stereotypes, both of which Frere-Jones attempts to do in this piece.
Which two bands are focused on most in the article? If you guessed Wolves in the Throne Room and Liturgy, you are correct. I am not going to debate the merits of either's music. Rather, the fact that Frere-Jones does not challenge the narrative that for non-metal publications writing about black metal, Wolves in the Throne Room and Liturgy are the only bands worth covering. Both bands have distinguishing characteristics that are ready-made for journalistically lazy angles. "Oh, look, Wolves in the Throne Room live on a farm! And they eschew Satanism! Gee whiz, Liturgy look like art school students and get hated on metal dudes! Not only that, their singer wrote a whole manifesto!"
I am not against metal bands of any stripe being featured in mainstream outlets. Metal can't stay insular forever -- it has to attract new converts. Nobody was born with a genetic predisposition towards bowing to the Ross Bay Cult. But there's a difference between simplifying complex material for easy digestion and presenting incomplete -- or worse, incorrect -- material. It does a disservice to everyone.
While most mainstream writers fail to give metal the proper articulation it needs, the situation is not a total wasteland. NPR's Lars Gotrich, in particular, does a fantastic job of reversing the stereotype that public radio only cares about indie, folk, and classical. Since taking the helm at Pitchfork, Brandon Stosuy has given metal a much greater voice on the indie-dominated site. Five years ago -- hell, two years ago -- you think they would have premiered an Absu song or reviewed a Circle of Ouroboros record? As I mentioned earlier, it's a balance easily prone to failure and I congratulate Gotrich and Stosuy for their accomplishments.
Frere-Jones is a smart guy -- you have to have your wits about you to get in the door at The New Yorker -- but it's a shame he didn't thoroughly examine the genre he was paid to write about.
And to the editors of The New Yorker, if you ever need any consultation on metal in the future, please drop us a line.
LIVE REVIEW: SAVIOURS
Saviours
When: Sept. 29, 2011
Where: The Independent, San Francisco, CA
With: Bison BC, Fight Amp
by The Swizard (CA)
Thursday night was most definitely the new Friday night as this epic banger of a tour rolled into the Bay Area last week.
Dudes with beards, chicks that like to bang dudes with beards, and drug dealers from both sides of the Bay repped hard for what was undoubtedly shaping up as one of the premier metal gigs and scumbag social events of the season.
But in addition to the show being a meat market of metal dudes and chicks and a drug buffet, some bands played too.
New Jersey’s Fight Amp started the party with their Am Rep/noise-heavy stoner rock, which managed to flesh out the rapidly filling room nicely. For the most part, Fight Amp hadn’t really impressed me, but live, it was a whole new world. On record, Fight Amp thrives in noisy channels, but had a surprising amount of low-end heavy on stage, compared to what was expected. I didn’t expect to be swayed to rediscover their discography, but the performance was that powerful.
What comes off sounding similar to Helmet or a more chaotic Quicksand on wax was pummeling in the same way Sleep or Black Sabbath is live. A pleasant surprise, indeed.
Bison B.C. played second and were down a member. According to rumor, they lost a guitarist after the tour hit Vancouver earlier in the week. The juicier details have yet to surface, but it was a bit odd seeing Bison B.C. hit the stage as a three-piece, and I wondered if they were going to be able to hold up their end of the deal, performance-wise.
I caught Bison B.C. a few times in in 2010 and their live sets are a big part of what sets them apart from a lot of their peers. Bison B.C. delivered at The Independent, and upon learning the member loss was only two days old at the time of that show, it gives that particular live set not being their greatest a free pass.
However, it is a rather notable feat that a band that relies as heavy on dueling guitars as Bison B.C. was able to pull it together enough to deliver a set that while not as on par with their performances under normal circumstances, still danced circles around a lot of touring bands on the road these days. For those who are still questioning, “Slow Hand of Death” and “Stressed Elephant” were still punishingly brutal live.
Time will tell what the future holds for Bison B.C., but in the meantime, they are still worth showing up early on this tour to see.
Saviours, having recently released Death’s Procession, were playing to a hometown crowd for the first time in a long time and the room was fucking ready for it. In addition to tying together all of their most formidable musical attributes on Procession, Saviours made their live show unfuckwithable. The set drew heavy from songs off their latest record, and even older songs like “Cavern of Mind” (off of 2008’s Into Abbadon) sounded revamped and more vigorous than when they were originally released.
The highlight of the set, and really the night, was the dueling guitar solo at the beginning of “To The Grave Possessed,” which had Saviours’ guitarists Austin Barber and Sonny Reinhardt playing the leads while facing each other in the most epic, rock 'n' roll, shred-your-fucking-face-off guitar stance that I had seen since Megadeth at the Cow Palace in 1992.
By the end of their set, the crowd at The Independent was riled up and rowdy, and Saviours proved that not only had they put out one of the best records of 2011, they had become one of the best live bands of 2011.
Weedeater headlined that night, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I was forced to leave the show before they want on.
However, it's Weedeater, so we all know that it was loud, heavy, and more likely than not, fucking awesome.
If this tour hits your town before wrapping up, do yourself a favor and treat yourself to an epic night out and catch this tour, because its undoubtedly one of the best to hit the US this year.
Weedeater/Saviours/Bison B.C./Fight Amp10/06/2011 Emo’s – Austin, TX
10/07/2011 Fitzgerald’s – Houston, TX
10/08/2011 Siberia – New Orleans, LA
10/09/2011 The Earl – Atlanta, GA
10/10/2011 New Earth Music Hall – Athens, GA
10/11/2011 Engine Room – Tallahassee, FL
10/12/2011 The Orpheum – Tampa, FL
10/14/2011 The Jinx – Savannah, GA
10/15/2011 Casbah at Tremont Music Hall – Charlotte, NC
October 5, 2011
CRUSTY CLIP OF THE WEEK: MASTODON - 'CRUSHER DESTROYER' LIVE IN LATHAM, NY
Every single Wednesday without fail, 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 (Denver)
If you read our recent discussion on Mastodon, you may have wondered to yourself, "Remember 'Crusher Destroyer?' That song ruled." Well, I certainly agree with you. That song eats wimps and poseurs for lunch. Here is a performance of that song in Latham, NY, in the pre-vocoders-and-Decibel-covers days of the band:
