ALBUM REVIEW: Author & Punisher, "Beastland"

By: Elliot Paisley


Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 05/10/2018

Label: Relapse Records

The savagery does not dilute in the presence of melody, and instead, it complements the moments of pure mayhem that are indeed present throughout.

“Beastland” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Pharmacide
2. Nihil Strength
3. Ode to Bedlam
4. The Speaker is Systematically Blown

5. Nazarene
6. Apparition
7. Night Terror
8. Beastland

The Review:

There is no artist in the world quite like Author & Punisher. One may accuse such a statement of hyperbole or ignorance, but when one analyses the character of the man and the nature of his work, it is clear such art is being made without relevant precedent. Aesthetically there is influence from Godflesh, Nine Inch Nails and Throbbing Gristle, but even those bands feel entirely distant from what Stone is producing. While the project can be loosely defined as a ‘one-man industrial doom metal band’, when one discovers the story behind it and the music being produced, this feels woefully lacking.

Tristan Stone, the brainchild ofA&P, is not just a musician, but also a mechanical engineer. This may sound like unnecessary trivia, but it is important to bear in mind when listening to this album. The majority of the instrumentation and controllers he uses, affectionally labeled "Dub Machines" and "Drone Machines", are designed and constructed by Shone from raw materials and electronic circuitry. This level of individualism scares off pretenders, who are simply incapable of recreating it. His live performances employ the same tools, and visually it barelen resembles a musical recital.

“Beastland” is his 6th studio album, but it was only on his album “Melk En Honing” when the music world at large appeared to finally take notice. While it is evident that the metal community has been far more welcoming of Author & Punisher than experimental music circles, he is just at home in both. A guest appearance on Cattle Decapitation’s 2015 effort “The Anthropocene Extinction” endeared him and signing to Phil Anselmo’s Housecore Records endeared him further to metal fans, to the point where Relapse Recordstook notice and employed him on their roster 2 years ago. Following up “Melk En Honing” was no easy task, and many feared that A&P, like their influences, was doomed to fall into repetition and not explore the necessary frontiers

However, on this album, perhaps with the confidence that comes with the backing of a cult fanbase, Author & Punisher has strode into even more experimental territory. This is the most wildly diverse album he’s released thus far, and for that reason, it is also his finest achievement. Music of this nature can wear on one’s psyche upon repeated, unrelenting listens. However, “Beastland”, with its refreshing experimentation and unwillingness to compromise, cures this ill. While there are plenty of ‘home comforts’ (for lack of a better term) present here, with such songs as “Pharmacide”, “Nihil Strength” and “Night Terror”providing the unrelenting, atonal bludgeoning fans have grown so dependent on, A&P remains unafraid to explore new horizons. “Apparition” and “The System Has Systematically Blown”sees Stone channelling his inner Trent Reznor, as his will for arcane melody bleeds through to the surface. This is the closest they have come to replicating the style of another band, and it would possibly prove problematic to fans, was it not done to such a marvellous standard. The savagery does not dilute in the presence of melody, and instead, it complements the moments of pure mayhem that are indeed present throughout.


This album is also the most complete work in his discography: never before has he released a collection as all-encompassing with as an impressive a scope as here. From the opening crushing moments of “Pharmacide”, likely to liquidize your teeth if listened to at too unforgiving a volume, to the closing moments of the title track, an angular and alluring finale, the album drags you through a merciless nightmare, meticulously engineered by Stone. In the past, he has shown promise of such accomplished creativity, but all his past works pale in comparison to what has been done here.

Author & Punisherremain one of the most exciting acts in underground music, and it is only a matter of time before the world at large acknowledges the importance of his work. Whether it be in our lifetime or simply in the coming years, let it be known that Tristan Stone will receive the praise he deserves beyond his existing community, and “Beastland” is all the proof necessary.

“Beastland” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Yob, "Our Raw Heart"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 08/06/2018

Label: Relapse Records

Clever arrangement, subtlety over volume and a clear-eyed grasp of honing an atmosphere make these cuts inviting in myriad ways. They're the kind of songs that give you a front-row seat for Yob's past meeting its future, and you cannot help but be transfixed.

“Our Raw Heart”CD//CS//DD//2LP track listing:

1). Ablaze

2). The Screen

3). In Reverie

4). Lungs Reach

5). Beauty In Falling Leaves

6). Original Face

7). Our Raw Heart

                     

The Review:

Yob has emerged as perhaps doom's most popular band of the moment, though the band's presence has hardly been momentary. Since 2002's "Elaborations of Carbon," the Eugene, Oregon-based collective have stoked a passionate fan base. Its albums have gotten progressively stronger as Yob's sound has matured. "The Illusion of Motion," released by Metal Blade in 2004, and "The Unreal Never Lived" offered up the following year, were considered watermarks for the group. Yob's 2006 breakup did not last too long. Its return in the form of"The Great Cessation" was greeted with much praise for a deeper, denser aural than ever before.

And so it has gone. Solid but infrequent albums and lots of live performances became an unfortunate drought of about four years. "Clearing the Path to Ascend" in 2014 was a stunning record, one that vaulted Yob even higher. Without question, the band has been consistent in its growth and overall quality. "…Ascend" helped the group's mythos only expand.

"Our Raw Heart," has already won plaudits from across the spectrum. For good reason. Yob's return is magnificent. Yet it's outstanding not because it's heavy. It is, somewhat, but "Our Raw Heart" succeeds because it is visionary, emotional and more innovative than virtually every single one of Yob's contemporaries. It's a great album because it sounds wholly atypical of what you think of metal, yet it is quintessentially metal.

Yob's newest is influenced by Mike Scheidt's brush with death in 2017. He nearly succumbed to an infection created by complications related to other problems, but it is not the first time the band's spiritual leader has looked over the abyss with his tribe. Fans of "…Ascend" and other albums may have most loved Scheidt's vulnerability, and his examination of his own mental health issues and other struggles in his songwriting and performances. Thus it is fitting that "Our Raw Heart" would beckon this tattered brother- and sisterhood into Scheidt's world one more time. And, as you may have heard on "The Screen," released just before the album, there's going to be pain. "Sensing old death, sharing no house with it," Scheidt muses. "In moments obscure, that which endures."

That’s part about being somewhat heavy? Truth be told, Yob will never be a pop band and are not abandoning the wall of sound the band so masterfully creates. Those tense moments as in "The Screen" (tightly wound in its own right, surely) are paired with all-out harsher tracks such as "In Reverie," with some of the cascading, volume-notched heavy music you will hear in a minute. "Original Face" in another one of those songs certain to remind you how hard Yob can bring its music, and why their creativity in doing it is so revered. Clever arrangement, subtlety over volume and a clear-eyed grasp of honing an atmosphere make these cuts inviting in myriad ways. They're the kind of songs that give you a front-row seat for Yob'spast meeting its future, and you cannot help but be transfixed.

What may end up etched in your own heart, however, are the more delicate, complex songs. "Lungs Reach" lolls gently out of the mist, as wisps of guitar and then that challenging voice come for you. "Beauty in Falling Leaves" glances by with affirmative chords that lead you to a valley of despondent rhythms, until it soars with Scheidt's inimitable vocal. By the time the album closes with the title track, a 14-minute cohesive yet inescapably macabre centerpiece, you learn slowly that this is why Yob has fashioned an arc of almost mythological proportions. Greater than most, more dynamic than more, "Our Raw Heart" is what makes metal you cannot but love.

“Our Raw Heart”is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Skinless, ‘Savagery’

By: Daniel Jackson

Album Type:Full Length

Date Released:11/05/2018

Label:Relapse Records

On “Savagery” Skinless are very clearly still Skinless, they’re just a better and more imaginative version of what they’ve always been  and in the process they’ve come up with an album that stands up to their legacy albums and then some.

‘Savagery’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Savagery

2. Siege Engine

3. Skull Session

4. Reversal of Fortune

5. Exacting Revenge

6. Medieval

7. Line of Dissent

8. Cruel Blade of the Guillotine

9. The Hordes

Bonus Track:

10. High Rate Extinction (Crowbar Cover)

The Review:

You generally know what you’re getting into when a new Skinless album finds its way to the masses. It’s going to be brutal, ugly death metal, just as they’ve done for more than 20 years now. But it’s also true that even the most diehard death metal devotees are likely to feel a need to toy with their own formula eventually. To a reserved degree; that’s the case on Skinless’ new album ‘Savagery’. The changes the band have undergone with this album are not the sort of abrupt sharp turns in direction of bands like Katatonia or Ulver or even Carcass. Instead, Skinless have gone with a more subtle tact to freshening things up.

One such change, which is obvious from the get-go is that the band has opted for a much warmer, dirtier production this time around. In the past, Skinless has tended to go with a more “brutal death metal standard” production approach, where everything sounds sharp, crisp, to the point of feeling clinical. On ‘Savagery’, a lot of that sharpness is replaced by a grimier guitar tone, and by going with a much more natural, roomy sound over all. The production works exceedingly well at setting this album apart from the rest of the band’s discography without even looking at their compositional choices.

The songs themselves feel different than anything the band have done too. There’s less of a focus on speed. You’ll still find plenty of intricate, hacking riffs, if that’s your thing, but you’ll also find a greater variety to what you’re hearing than Skinlesshave ever offered. “Siege Engine” tries its hand at bigger, catchier riffs to great success, which should make the track a live staple. Balancing those larger riffs with some blast n’ trem keeps the song from feeling too self-awarely anthemic, but the song’s a self-contained riff machine in either case.

Meanwhile songs like “Exacting Revenge” and “Medieval” have something of a moodier disposition, where the riffs have an almost sludgy texture to them, the pace sometimes slowed to a near crawl. With that in mind, “Medieval” might be the best song on the album. It’s absolutely rotten with ugly harmonizing and apocalyptic chord work. It harkens back to some of the slower moments on Suffocation’s ‘Pierced From Within’, but tackles that sound in a very different way, and the slower breakdowns in the songs second half are absolutely crushing.

It’s not that Skinlesshave reinvented their own wheel on ‘Savagery’, so much as that they’ve just found new ways to work within their established sound. They’re very clearly still Skinless, they’re just a better and more imaginative version of what they’ve always been. It’s a hard thing, trying to compete with nostalgia and legacy, but Skinlesshas come up with an album that stands up to their legacy albums and then some. No mean feat for a band twenty years on from their full length debut.

“Savagery”is available digitally, on CD and LP here

Band info: Facebook|| bandcamp

REVIEW: Iron Reagan & Gatecreeper, "Split"

By: Mark Ambrose

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 02/03/2018

Label: Relapse Records

“Split” CD//DD//LP track listing

1. Iron Reagan, “Warning”

2. Iron Reagan, “Paper Shredder”

3. Iron Reagan, “Take the Fall”

4. Iron Reagan, “Proudly Unaccountable”

5. Iron Reagan, “Burn for This”

6. Gatecreeper, “Daybreak” (Intro)

7. Gatecreeper, “Dead Inside”

8. Gatecreeper, “War Has Begun”

The Review:

               

Splits are regularly some of my favorite releases – so much so that in my yearly rundown I tried to highlight some of the real standouts in a growing field of collaborative metal albums.  With grind splits, you can end up with several bands spitting out double digit tracks and not break the twenty minute mark, or, in the case of Fister & CHRCH, you can have two sludge powerhouses spewing out 15-20 minute odes to suffering.  Maybe my favorites are those cross-subgenre cage matches, like the latest split between punky crossover thrashers Iron Reagan and decrepit death conjurers Gatecreeper.  Aside from rock solid production and rugged intensity, these two metal standouts have little in common.  But like a particularly memorable basement show, the disparity actually makes this brief hunk of aggression amount to more than its scant eighteen minutes would suggest.

               

Iron Reagan need no real introduction at this point – the members have been responsible for some of the best death, crossover, thrash and hardcore of the last few years.  The five cuts they contribute are like a little tour through classic hardcore punk and 80s thrash – opener “Warning” has a bright, SoCal hardcore tone that, at first listen, almost sounds like a massive Hammond organ.  Paper Shredder ups the LAxHC antics, with a tapped out intro lead, Anthraxindebted gang vocals, and palm muted builds to full on mosh breaks.  “Take the Fall” swaps coasts as the most classically Bay Area thrash metal cut on the record – the chugging rhythm work is the real standout, while the lead flourishes are pure Hammett worship.  “Proudly Unaccountable” is the briefest outing on the record (at a pummeling 45 seconds), but the strange rhythm changeups had me thinking of midperiod Black Flag with blast beats.  “Burn for This” may be my favorite cut on the record, a brutal little number that practically sounds like skatepunk.  I could certainly imagine it blasting behind a Bones Brigade tape.  The whammy bar work walks a thin line between Slayer divebombs and East Bay Ray surfer leads.  As a closer, it’s a rad sendoff that speaks volumes to how Iron Reaganis far more than a nostalgia act – these guys whip up a punky metal cocktail with their own signature on every riff, every breakdown, and every shouted lyric.

               

Gatecreeper somehow slipped under my radar until this split and, boy, am I ready to delve into their surprisingly large catalogue (especially for a band only formed in 2013!).  Vomiting out filthy, nihilistic death, the Arizona five-piece inserts the right amount of punk rhythm into their crushing metal riffs.  Drummer Matt Arrebollo slides just enough punk fury into his galloping double-kick attacks to keep things from ever getting repetitive.   Intro track “Daybreak” is a neat instrumental pummeling, but one-two punch of the abysmally downbeat “Dead Inside” and the apocalyptic “War Has Begun” made me crave a lot more of what Gatecreeper has to offer.  Wagner and Garrett’s occasional harmonic flourishes really had me hooked into their old school death metal, while the rhythm is gut churning in all the right ways.  If I had any complaints about the release, it’s that Gatecreeper didn’t have five tracks of death to counter the five bursts of enervating crossover thrash from Iron Reagan.  Like the best splits, this left me craving more… I suppose for now another spin of this excellent record will have to suffice.

“Split” is available here

Band info: Iron Reagan|| Gatecreeper

ALBUM REVIEW: IIsa - "Corpse Fortress"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 02/03/2018

Label:  Relapse Records

After five full-length and three split releases, Ilsa is at a creative and musical high water mark. As such, "Corpse Fortress" is an outstanding experience.

“Corpse Fortress” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Hikikomori
2. Nasty, Brutish
3. Cosmos Antinomos
4. Prosector
5. Old Maid
6. Long Lost Friend
7. Ruckenfigur
8. Polly Vaughn
9. Drums of Dark Gods

The Review:

Fans of D.C. death/doom powerhouse Ilsa have been treated to a feast of albums over the years. Since 2009's "The Maggots Are Hungry," Ilsa has churned out a consistent and crunchy blend of extreme music that boasts a fresh intensity every time. "Corpse Fortress," the band's Relapse Records debut, shows that on its latest Ilsa is in prime shape to continue the band's five-album trip into savagery.

At first blush, "Hikikomori" feels like an unusual opener. At over six minutes, it is one of the record's longest cuts, and its languid drums fill the cut's first 15 seconds. Almost immediately thereafter, however, you are reminded why Ilsa has its reputation of impossibly heavy music, with thick bass lines and guitars cutting through the drums. Bassist Sharad Satsangi sets an impressive pace here and in the subsequent song, "Nasty, Brutish" – supported by guitar lines by Brendan Griffiths, the songs plant the flag for "Corpse Fortress" to be the distortion-fest of fury and noise that it is.

Vocalist Orion Peter makes the most of the incredibly dark atmosphere, painting grisly imagery in its anguished words. In "Cosmos Antinomos," he howls, "Show​ ​me​ ​your circles​ ​of​ ​violence." In "Prosector," his words are just as withering. "Ever-consummate capitalist/Ever-compassionate Christian," Peter seethes amid flailing drums and relentless guitars. "So slow to forgive, yet quick to forget/The sins of thine own." He and the rest of the group are at their best on a track like "Long Lost Friend," with vocals that singe the ears and a rhythm section that rumbles the gut. The guitar work remains peerless even this far into the album, as the band sinks into some of its best work yet.

Insatiably sinister songwriting, with sharp commentary, has been a hallmark of Ilsa's sound. Slayer's "Disciple" is widely recognized as one of the most excoriating metal songs about religion, by Ilsa's 2010 cut "120 Days" is a close second in the discerning music fan's book. With lyrics like "Trampled underfoot, all life that springs forth afresh/Unnoticed, till broken under grinding wheels" ("Traphouse") and many more gory sonnets, Ilsa has a flair for the hostile. Tracks on "Corpse Fortress" such as "Rückenfigur" ("Willful​ ​ignorance, painful​ ​indifference, pedantic​ ​inquiries") mix at moments social critique of the rot around us. While imagery of beasts and demons may be the stuff of nightmares, Ilsa reminds us that humanity's ignorance and violence ("Old Maid") and pure happenstance ("Polly Vaughn") may be the most fearsome of all.

For nearly a decade, Ilsa has been seen as among the best of breed when it comes to the strain of hardcore/crust-influenced metal that has only grown more in recent years. The group has also been showered with lofty though good comparisons to Eyehategod and others. With such high expectations, it is impressive to see that there is really very little to pick apart about "Corpse Fortress." The nine tracks each compose a very formidable package, with no filler or songs you might not consider as strong as the rest. After five full-length and three split releases, Ilsa is at a creative and musical high water mark. As such, "Corpse Fortress" is an outstanding experience.

“Corpse Fortress”is available here

Band info: bandcamp || Facebook

REVIEW: Windhand & Satan's Satyrs - "Windhand & Satan's Satyrs Split"

By: John Reppion

Album Type: Split LP

Date Released: 16/02/2018

Label: Relapse Records

This is two bands at the top of their game, producing some of their finest work to date

“Windhand & Satan’s Satyrs Split” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Windhand – “Old Evil”

2). Windhand – “Three Sisters”

3). Satan’s Satyrs – “Alucard AD 2018”

4). Satan’s Satyrs – “Succubus”

5). Satan’s Satyrs – “Ain’t That Lovin’ You, Baby”

The Review:

I was lucky enough to catch Windhand and Satan's Satyrs playing together when they toured the UK at the end of 2017. At the time I didn't quite see the kinship between the two bands, but thanks to this new Relapse Records split release, the connection is now somewhat clearer to me.

On first listen Windhand’s opener, “Old Evil”, sounds like a track straight off of “Griefs Infernal Flower” (and that’s definitely no bad thing). Further plays however, reward the listener with something that’s actually a few degrees heavier, and tighter than the content of the 2015 album. Essentially it’s like the most Windhand that Windhand have ever been; they are well and truly on point here. “Three Sisters” is built around one simple and massive riff, with added keyboard gloom courtesy of Jonathan Kassilow (of Sinister Haze and former Windhand Split-buddies Cough). The track is staggeringly doomy: lumbering and powerful and miserable, and pretty fucking wonderful overall.

“Alucard A.D.” starts things off on the Satan’s Satyrs half of the record, and it does so in heavy style. Now previously, thanks to their 2015 album “Don’t Deliver Us”, I thought of Satan’s Satyrs as a kind of Glam Punk retro rock kind of band, but that’s not what they sound like here. This is juicy, juicy stuff which reminds more than a little of Electric Wizard’s “We, The Undead”, in the best possible way. 

“Succubus” follows on wonderfully well with a main riff that’s both doomy and kind of cheeky and funny. There’s more than a hint of NWOBHM in the guitar work, and the whole thing just slots together in such a way that, even after several listens, still hasn’t failed to put a smile on my face. Closer “Aint That Lovin’ You Baby” is much more in line with my previous expectations with regard to Satan’s Satyrs. It’s a sleazy 12 bar blues that clicks into double-time half way through before going down in a blaze of Cock Rock guitar solos. Claythanas'/Clayton Burgess' shout of “thank you, goodnight!” is all that’s really missing from the end of this obvious set-closer.

Sometimes these split EPs can feel a bit like filler between “proper” releases; songs that didn’t make it on to the main record, or versions of some work in progress that’s not yet quite come together. That is definitely not the case with this Windhand / Satan's Satyrs release however. This is two bands at the top of their game, producing some of their finest work to date. So much so in the case of Satan's Satyrs that

I’m really regretting missing the beginning of their set back in October.

“Windhand & Satan’s Satyrs Split” is available here

Band info: Windhand || Satan’s Satyrs

INTERVIEW: Primitive Man @ Meat Locker, Montclair, NJ (8/11/2017)

By: Mark Ambrose

Denver’s Primitive Man has amassed a truly impressive discography since their debut, “Scorn”, was released in 2013.  Remarkably, 2017’s “Caustic” is only their second full-length, but gathered rave reviews from every heavy music outlet that matters.  Rather than exhaust their prime material on a number of splits and EPs, Primitive Man seems to have an endless supply of brutal riffs and despairing lyrics to hammer into sludge masterpieces.  Ethan (guitar/vocals), Joe (drums), and Jon (bass) took a few minutes to talk to THE SLUDGELORD before their November 8 gig with Bell Witch to talk about their record, touring, and the inspiration behind their bleak, uncompromising music.  Primitive Man will be embarking on yet another US tour this spring with Spectral Voice.

While there has been steady output from Primitive Man, it’s been four years since the last full length.  What made now the right time to release a full length album?

Ethan: We had a year and a half where we were doing a lot of touring and we were just writing a lot of songs in the process.  There was enough material there for a really long record and it just came together that way.

Jon: Because we did all the other stuff, too, we just wanted a really focused Primitive Man release.  Those were all splits and shit.  It’d been so long since our first record.

Ethan:  Yeah, the reason we did all those splits is because we wanted to see things through.  It took all of that time to get through that stuff.

Joe, you’re relatively new to the band.  What has the process been like?

Joe: Yeah I’ve been with the band about a year and a half.

Ethan: Two years.

Joe: Wow.  Yeah two years.  I started practicing with these guys about two years ago and the idea I generally got from these guys that we’d work toward a full-length.

And you’ve become comfortable in this lineup since you’ve been touring nonstop?

Ethan: Yeah we’ve played a lot of shows in the last two years.

Any standout locals that you’ve enjoyed playing with?

Ethan: Figures, from Omaha.  Heaviest.

Jon: Swollen Organs.

Joe: Worthless from Milwaukee.

There seems to be a lot more political content to your lyrics that many heavy bands seem comfortable with at the moment.  What’s the process like when writing?  Is it a concerted effort to address political, racial, or economic themes?

Ethan: I’m just writing about the life that I’m living, the way that I’m experiencing it.  My perception of the world around me.

What are your nine to five lives back at home?  How is that work/band balance?

Ethan: I mean, yeah we all have regular jobs that we go to.  I’m a substitute teacher.

Joe: Jon and I both work at bars back home.  We’ve committed to this situation so we’ve somehow found ways to balance our home lives with Primitive Man.

Jon: It’s still really hard, though.  I lost a job coming out for this tour.

Ethan: It doesn’t always work out that well.  We arrange our home lives around this.

Jon: Even just with partners and stuff it’s hard.  You go from living with someone every day.  Ethan’s been with his wife a long time.  I’m with this lady and living with her – it’s hard.  But it’s also that I wouldn’t have it any other way.  You just make it work.  The technology really helps.

What do you guys do to wind down?  Any music, books, movies?

ALL: Smoke weed. *laughter*

Jon: And eat chicken wings.

How has traveling with Bell Witch been for this tour?

Ethan: Oh great.  We’ve known them for a long time, before all this. 

Jon: They’re frosty little darlings.  Love those boys.

And what does 2018 look like?

Ethan: We have a split coming out.  Bunch of touring.  And writing music – keeping it going.

The End

Band info: bandcamp || facebook