Yep. Episode six-six-sixteen. “It’ll be out during our Metal May series, so make sure it features plenty of metal”. Thus spake the bossman, and who am I to countermand such an order? So welcome to the latest edition of … Morsels, bolstered by extra metallic content!
SUPERMODEL TAXIDERMY
First up we head to Alberta and some quality crossover courtesy of the excellently-monikered Supermodel Taxidermy. Their latest effort, At What Cost, emerged digitally last month with a physical version due to drop at the end of May, and if you like meaty NYHC riffs laced with a bit of humour and a whole lot of attitude then you might want to start putting those pennies away now ahead of a May 31st investment.
Obviously, there’s not a whole lot of innovation going on here, but tracks like Exorcist For Beer are pretty hard to resist if crossover is your thing. Michael Cheney‘s bass work is a particular highlight in the best Lilkeresque fashion, and as a whole the band are tight as the proverbial Gnat’s chuff, with Cheney, guitar-playing vocalist Shawn Maynard and drummer Reilly Williams locking together in airtight fashion to ram home their point again and again over the course of the album’s tent racks.
WITCH VOMIT
Well, he did say he wanted plenty of metal… So here we are with some very tasty metal of the deathly persuasion from Portland, Oregon’s Witch Vomit. Originally a two piece, they’ve thankfully expanded into a full, quartet lineup now and have just released a new album, Funeral Sanctum, that’s a right rotten old listen and no mistake…
Drummer Filth – and there’s a name to capture this writer’s heart! – is impressive throughout as the band expand their sound from their primitive beginnings to embrace their most blackened palette of sounds yet. Make no mistake, this is still death metal, but they do deploy that ‘blackened’ edge very tastefully indeed.
That said, Witch Vomit don’t over egg that particular pudding; As required, they keep things short, sharp and to the point just as much as they spread their wings occasionally; three of the nine (four of the ten if you include the intro) tracks here clock in at under three minutes in length, and even the five minute plus Serpentine Shadows has a real impact and urgency about it. And some neat divebombing from guitarist Tempter, just to remind you where the band are really coming from…
Well worth a listen!
GRAUFAR
I like Graufar. As you’ll find out when you press play on the video I’ve thoughtfully attached here for your delectation, they’ve got a nice mashup of styles going on on their just-released new EP, Scordalus.
Ostensibly finding themselves in the black/death metal theatre of operations, there’s also a healthy blast of traditional metal bombast in their tuneage, not to mention an irresistibly crusty, punky element to their buzzsaw riffs. However, anyone can have impeccable influences – it’s what you do with them that matters, and I’m happy to report that Graufar have used theirs wisely…
Did I say EP? Clocking in at over half an hour in length, Scordalus is actually a bit longer than a fair few releases being touted as full lengthers doing the rounds at the moment, not that I’m complaining. The band throw the kitchen sink at tracks like standout Authoritarian Scum, hammering away with wild abandon as Gernot Graf roars his tonsils into an early grave with some of the most impressive barking I’ve heard in a while. As noted, the band aren’t afraid to mix things up, which means that you won’t have time as a listener to get stuck in a rut or find yourself wondering what’s for tea. This is immersive, riveting stuff which I’m sure you’ll enjoy if full-on metal mayhem is your bag.
EVILDEAD
We don’t normally feature bands as well-known as Evildead within this column, but having checked the Sentinel Daily review schedules I noticed that nobody was due to review the band’s new album, Toxic Grace, a sorry state of affairs that I couldn’t allow to happen – so here we are!
Opening up with the monstrous chug of F.A.F.O. (Fuck Around and Find Out for all you acronym fans out there), the band give anyone within earshot a timely reminder of the joys of unvarnished, un reconstructed thrash metal. Reverie may have a joyously ironic title but that’s as far as the joy extends as Rob Alaniz hammers away like a man if not possessed then certainly quite distracted. Of course, Evildead is all about the guitars, and Juan Garcia and Albert Gonzales don’t let anybody down in that department.
The pair weave in and out of one another’s playing with practised, slick ease, bolstered by Karlos Medina‘s throbbing four string accompaniment, and as a unit these blokes leave little to be desired as they explore all parts of the late eighties thrash playbook. Indeed if I have any quibbles it’s in the slightly one dimensional vocal approach of Phil Flores, who on tracks like Raising Fresh Hell is just a little too polite for this reviewer’s taste.
But that’s a personal thing and, in reality, any band happy to release a song called Stupid On Parade gets the Mickey Stronge vote; Add to this a steadfast refusal to get involved in anything in any way ‘modern sounding’ and you’ve got a pretty strong release – and I think you’ll enjoy it when it comes out later this month if names like Anthrax and Suicidal Tendencies are generally on your dance card, listening-wise. If that’s the case, Get involved!
THE LORD WEIRD SLOUGH FEG
Another ‘bigger than usual’ name for our humble little column! Metal mavericks The Lord Weird Slough Feg have recently put out an interesting compilation album which I din’t want to let slip under anybody’s radar…
Compiled lovingly with special liner notes written by mainman MikeScalzi himself, newly-restored cover artwork that Scalzi hand-drew in 1990 for a show, and with a showcase of a variety of lost-to-time gig posters drawn by Justin Phelps (bassist for the band from 1991 to 1996) through the nineties, Radical Man being touted as ‘a must-have for both superfans of the band and for fans of the “lost years” of American heavy metal in the 1990s. It’s also the next best thing to finding a new 1990s The Lord Slough Feg sitting in a dusty crate in someone’s basement’.
I couldn’t have put it better myself, and this is a lovely little time capsule from one of American metal’s most singular bands. Great stuff!
Well, that’s the most-metal ever edition of Morsels wrapped up – as ever I hope you enjoyed at least some of what we’ve dug up – see you next time!
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