Welcome to Episode the Ninth! As usual there’s a lot to get through so I’ll keep the chat to a minimum – Enjoy the music and if you do, please support the bands we feature! Cheers!
FAUSTIAN
As if running death metal’s biggest Cottage Industry wasn’t enough, Melbourne-based filth mongers Werewolves have rented a couple of lockups and expanded their empire with the arrival of their new black metal project, Faustian!
The lineup is the same as Werewolves, with Sam Bean belching blasphemies whilst blasting bass (that’s enough alliteration – Ed.), the musically fecund Dave Haley on drums and Matt Wilcock on guitars; If you’ve any experience of Werewolves – or indeed any of the many other bands these guys are, or have been, involved with – you’ll know that the music on offer here is frighteningly good. When you consider the amount of music these guys put out each year it’s doubly amazing, but really it’s hard to detect any weakness in major ragers like Into The Pig or my personal fave Gadarene.
These guys continue to raise the bar as far as commitment to high-quality extremity goes, whatever their amusingly self-deprecatory press utterings might say, and this new album, which I forgot to say is called We Come As Angels, is no different – get involved!
ACID FORCE
To Slovakia now, and the ear-gouging traditional thrash assault of Acid Force!
To be honest, I tend to avoid bands labelled ‘traditional thrash’ like the plague these days, unless they have their roots in the mid eighties, but my colleague Chris ‘Feculent Chris’ Arrowsmith badgered me for some while to have a listen to Acid Force’s World Targets In Megadeaths album – and I’m very glad I finally gave in!
Seriously, the opening brace of tracks on World Deaths… are spectacularly good, authentic slices of ‘proper’ thrash metal. Preachers of Mayhem, especially, is a full-on celebration of clanking crossover that parties like it’s 1986 with no concession to modernity whatsoever – just how we like it! That said, there’s a freshness and vitality in Acid Force’s sound that breathes life into these tracks with a vigour that’s a joy to listen to. The groovy, goofy skank of Fast Friday is a case in point, with Juraj Ondrejmiška‘s bass clanking away in the background in finest Lilker fashion, weaving in and out of Federico Petrik‘s drums whilst the guitars of Andrej Petro (who adds impressive vocals too) and Erik Leško hack and slash over the top will bring a tear to the eye if you’ve ever donned a pair of high tops in anger. Great stuff!
DREAMWHEEL
A real change of pace, this, and to be honest Dreamwheel wouldn’t really be in a column called ‘Metal Morsels’ at all were it not for the presence of Skeletonwitch bassist Evan Linger; But I like to think my readers are as open-minded musically as I am, and it would be criminal not to point you in the direction of Redeemer, the band’s excellent debut EP.
I say band, but Dreamwheel is actually Linger and vocalist Julia Gaeta augmented by a few chums across five tracks that, whilst they probably fit neatly into the ‘post-punk’ pigeonhole actually cover a far broader scope musically. Linger adds a varied palette of guitar tones from icy jangle to, well… other flavours of jangle actually, but you get my drift, but it’s Gaeta’s beautiful vocals that really snare the listener and don’t let go on gently alluring numbers like Promised Land, which is a no-brainer new fave track if names like Throwing Muses or The Breeders tantalise your tastebuds every now and then.
Best track for those of a more rockular bent will be Bayou Rouge, led in by some nice guitar from Linger, throbbing bass and angular drumming from James Stewart, but to be honest I’ve been listening to the whole thing on repeat for ages and I’m sure you’ll enjoy everything this band has to offer if you give Redeemer the chance it deserves.
WALKING CORPSE
Finally we get back to business as usual with the kitchen sink grind of Sweden’s Walking Corpse, who release a new album at the start of December through the ever-reliable Transcending Obscurity Records Label!
They’ve got all yer grind bases covered on the album, with a variety of sub-two minute anti-anthems like Brainworm jostling for the attention but, unusually perhaps for aband operating in this area, they ain’t afraid to spread out and develop ideas a little when the spirit moves – Nothing Grows Here, for example, extends out over five minutes in length. A true Symphony of Sickness!
Me? I probably prefer the more direct charms of absolutely coruscating belters like title track Our Hands, Your Throat, which is as good a straight up slab o’grind as I’ve heard all year. Biscuit tin snare, cement mixer bass, sandpapered vocal chords – they’re all here, all present and correct and absolutely ready to do untold damage to your headphones.
The chugging The Wheel is another highlight, with Fredrik Rojas‘ guitars really hitting the spot alongside that ever-present bass churn and drumming from Magnus Dahlin that is punishing in every sense of the word; There are no corners of extremity that these blokes don’t investigate on OHYT and that makes for an immersive listening experience. Like being immersed in a vat of liquid ordure, yes, but immersive nonetheless… Well done, Swedish grind Gods!
There you go then, four really good bands and I hope you enjoyed what we’ve dug up for you this time around – see you next time!
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