Tuesday, February 28, 2012

+HIRS+

+HIRS+ play power violence. If you don't have any idea what that means, maybe you're reading the wrong blog. At any rate, these two Philly dudes have been releasing a ton of material over the last year and you can cop it all for free over at their bandcamp page.

In keeping with genre traditions, +HIRS+ music is a spazzy combination of grindcore and d-beat crust that coalesces into a hulking mass of putrid sound that will have you bobbing your head and cursing your god.  My favorite +HIRS+ release thus far is their Worship 7". With a total running time of just over 4 minutes, these 10 tracks crack like a whip. Imagine the best possible vomit noises, and you'll be somewhere close to +HIRS+ wheelhouse.

I can't recommend this enough. If you fancy yourself a fan of grind, crust, or even good old fashioned hardcore, you should get your shit together and spin some +HIRS+

xoxo,

Beardo

Monday, February 20, 2012

Some Quickies

Obolus - Lament
Already releasing an album is Obolus, shortly after their 2011 demo which was largely well received. This new album Lament is about as good as the demo was. I do wish it had a slower song similar to "Selfless" from the demo, cause that was really the song I played over and over. Lament does have a pretty diverse range of songs, but a lot of it is filler tracks that are just meandering instrumental songs. "Desolation" is a pretty awesome song though. Overall: GOOD

Download | Buy




Les Discrets - Ariettes Oubliées
Back in 2010 France's Les Discrets released a monster of an album with Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées, getting them a lot of nods from both post-rockers and metalheads. Their recent follow up album Ariettes Oubliées is much in the same vein, although it feels more like a cohesive album -- but with that there is also lack of intensity as their debut. It's still good and you should get it over the new Alcest if you are at all into metalgaze

Download | Buy




Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction
Pallbearer's debut has been much anticipated by most metalheads after their 2010 demo made a shit load of year end lists, and rightly so -- it was an awesome demo. Maybe that's why almost half of the album is recycled from their demo. Still, the newer material is just as solid as their previous stuff. Heavy riffing, awesome vocals, this will probably be one of the better traditional doom albums of the year. Gloomy Sunday is still their best song though.

Download | Buy




Earth | Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II
I'm almost hesitant to mention Earth since every review I have read continues to talk about Earth's releases in terms of their old doom drone. Stop talking about Earth 2! Now, Earth's Angels of Darkness sequel has been out for a while now and it is surprisingly different from part I despite being recorded at the same time. More of the songs were improvised in this go, but part II suffers from the same setbacks as part I in that the songs meander without much purpose. Their 2008 album The Bees Made Honey... is still the pinnacle of Earth's creations and what they are doing. It wandered with purpose, subtly building and crescendoing, albeit at a snail's pace. Both of the Angel albums wander, but more so because they seem lost.

Stream | Buy


Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Rituals of the Oak - Come Taste the Poon



I haven't been into Rituals of the Oak for a long time. The first I had heard of them was their 2011 split LP with Apostle of Solitude and The Flight of Sleipnir. Rituals of the Oak only contributed one song, but it was a monstrous 17 minute doom masterpiece that blew the other two bands away.

The major selling point to Rituals of the Oak is that they are a no bullshit/no frills doom band. They write music that stands on its own, and they are smart enough to let their vocalist Sabine Hamad-Linfoot take center stage by writing riffs to compliment her singing rather than competing with her.

All of this continues to hold true for their new album "Come Taste the Doom". And despite having such a silly album name, and not to mention album art that looks like similar to something I made in photoshop when I was 14, it is largely a breath of fresh air. Contrast this album with something like the new Uzula, both with great female vocalists, but the latter buries their vocals behind mediocre riffs or distracting effects pedals. Everybody is trying to reinvent doom and give it their own unique sound, but that is damn near impossible at this point. Rituals of the Oak don't need to worry about lame gimmicks or getting "cvlt" (pronounced kah-vult) approved album art because they fucking rock too hard to worry about that bullshit.


Rituals of the Oak - "All Wells Are Poisoned"


Buy
Download

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Royal Talons



Royal Talons of Denver Colorado have just released their debut ep on Handshake Inc, although the songs had technically already been released on the bands own bandcamp page back in 2011. Overall its a phenomenal sludge/stoner release that is massively big sounding. While at times I wish they wouldn't succumb to the temptation to rely on guitar effects and stick to their expansive riffing, the huge sound and trio of vocals makes for a pretty rad sounding album.


Royal Talons - "Shark Skull"


Download at Handshake Inc's bandcamp and name your price