Before I start with the monthly album releases, I figure it’s worth mentioning that I finally checked out Until The Light Takes Us, a documentary about the beginnings of Norwegian Black Metal in the early 1990s, complete with the murders, church burnings and sensationalism surrounding the whole scene. For the most part, the movie focuses on interviews provided by the imprisoned Varg Vikernes of Burzum and Fenriz of Darkthrone, each explaining their participation of the scene they helped create. Watching the film really left me with a deep feeling of despair and depression, though not for the subject matter considering I’m a fan of many of the bands involved and have read the infamous expose Lords of Chaos. For one, Until The Light Takes Us shows Norway as a cold and lonely place, so of course you’d be naturally depressed in such an environment but what really got to me was the pervading sense of closed-mindedness. Whether it be Fenriz’s understandable need to keep Darkthrone’s sound as true as possible or Varg Vikernes wanting to get away from the oppression of Christianity forced upon their ancestors leading to the supposed upheaval and erasure of Norwegian culture. While their motives may be clear, sometimes they act like petulant children who have to watch something else when the Spongebob Squarepants marathon is over. In short, they fear change. I believe music needs to evolve and though I like the Black Metal sound, preventing it from evolving is completely missing the point. Also, there’s a subplot involving a Norwegian artist who wants to run a Black Metal-themed art exhibit and enlists Frost, drummer of such bands as Satyricon and 1349, for some interpretive performances. The disgust on Fenriz’s face as he checks out the exhibit is pretty obvious and a bit funny, but from his interviews and his willingness to just go with everything, Frost really comes off as someone who doesn’t exactly think for himself, which is a bummer considering how much I enjoy his work. I suggest anyone interested in Black Metal to check out Until The Light Takes Us but it’s definitely not a feel-good film, so know that going in.
Metal Releases For September
Sources: About.com and Wikipedia
September 6, 2011
An Autumn For Crippled Children – Everything (AFMF)
Arkona – Slovo (Napalm)
Crossforce – Rockin Til The Final Day (Roxx)
Exmortus – Beyond The Fall Of Time (Heavy Artillery)
Goregast – Desechos Humanos (FDA Rekotz)
Hank Williams III – Ghost to a Ghost/Gutter Town (Megaforce)
Hank Williams III – Attention Deficient Domination (Megaforce)
Hank Williams III – 3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin (Megaforce)
MonstrO – MonstrO (Vagrant)
Mordbrand – Necropsychotic (Deathgasm)
Pyrrhon – An Excellent Servant But a Terrible Master (Selfmadegod)
Saviours – Death’s Procession (Kemado)
September 13, 2011
Alice Cooper – Welcome 2 My Nightmare (Bigger Picture)
Anterior – Echoes Of The Fallen (Metal Blade)
Anthrax – Worship Music (Megaforce)
Arabrot – Solar Anus (Fysisk Format)
Arch/Matheos – Sympathetic Resonance (Metal Blade)
The Devil Wears Prada – Dead Throne (Ferret)
Doro – 25 Years In Rock DVD/CD (Nuclear Blast)
Dream Theater – A Dramatic Turn Of Events (Roadrunner)
Edguy – Age Of The Joker (Nuclear Blast)
Elks – Destined For The Sun (TeePee)
Evil United – Evil United (MVD)
Haste the Day – Haste The Day vs Haste The Day DVD/CD (Solid State)
Neurosis – Sovereign Re-Release (Neurot)
Nightbringer – Hierophany of the Open Grave (Season Of Mist)
Pathology – Awaken To The Suffering (Victory)
Primus – Green Naugahyde (ATO Records/Prawn Song)
Untimely Demise – City Of Steel (Sonic Unyon)
Vader – Welcome To The Morbid Reich (Nuclear Blast)
Wolves In The Throne Room – Celestial Lineage (Southern Lord)
Wolves Like Us – Late Love (Prosthetic)
September 20, 2011
3 – The Ghost You Gave To Me (Roadrunner)
Amebix – Sonic Mass (Alternative Tentacles)
The Atlas Moth – An Ache For The Distance (Profound Lore)
Cryptborn – Into the Grasp of the Starving Dead (Dark Descent)
Fyrnask – Bluostar (Temple Of Tortuous)
Mournful Congregations – The Unspoken Hymns (20 Buck Spin)
Neurosis – Sovereign EP Re-Release (Neurot)
Opeth – Heritage (Roadrunner)
Tiger Flowers – Tiger Flowers EP (Path Less Traveled)
September 27, 2011
Abhor – Ab Luna Lucenti, Ab Noctua Protecti (Moribund)
Axel Rudi Pell – The Ballads IV (SPV)
Brutal Truth – End Time (Relapse)
Corroded – Exit To Transfer (Ninetone)
Derek Sherinian – Oceana (Mascot)
Extreme Noise Terror – Holocaust In My Head Re-Release (Candlelight)
Evile – Five Serpent’s Teeth (Earache)
Falloch – Where Distant Spirits Remain (Candlelight)
The F–king Wrath – Valley Of The Serpent’s Soul (Tee Pee)
Glorior Belli – The Great Southern Darkness (Metal Blade)
Hatesphere – The Great Bludgeoning (Napalm)
Hundredth – Let Go (Mediaskare)
Iron Lamb – The Original Sin (Pulverised)
Kyng – Trampled Sun (Realid)
Landmine Marathon – Gallows (Prosthetic)
Machine Head – Unto The Locust (Roadrunner)
Mastodon – The Hunter (Reprise)
Morbus Chron – Sleepers In The Rift (Pulverised)
Nightbringer – Hierophany of the Open Grave (Season Of Mist)
Nightrage – Insidious (Lifeforce)
Oh Sleeper – Children Of Fire (Solid State)
Pain of Salvation – Road Salt Two (InsideOUt)
Rose Funeral – Gates Of Punishment (Metal Blade)
Rwake – Rest (Relapse)
Saxon – Call To Arms (EMI)
Textures – Dualism (Nuclear Blast)
Van Canto – Break The Silence (Napalm)
Warbringer – Worlds Torn Asunder (Century Media)
Ryno’s Pick: Mastodon – The Hunter
Alright, this is a bit unfair considering I gushed about Mastodon enough last month. So while this may be the sole album I might purchase this month, there’s plenty of other albums for me to shine the spotlight on. But before I do that, I might as well talk a bit more about Mastodon considering I recently snagged their Live At The Aragon CD/DVD from my local Borders store closing. Even though I’m a huge Mastodon fan, I’m not quite sure I liked this. The entire package is basically Crack The Skye x3 as the CD is the live audio of the album played in its entirety (with a bonus encore of pre-Crack The Skye songs) and the DVD contains the same live show in addition to “Crack The Skye: The Movie” which what plays on the screen behind the band during the live show. As a whole, it gets a tad bit repetitive. Crack The Skye: The Movie is an interesting feature if you care at all about the album’s concept of Rasputin and failed astral projection or something, I don’t know, I figure it’d make more sense if I was high. Anyway, as for the live show itself, Mastodon proves that they are the best band going today when it comes to what they do…except for singing, unfortunately. When guitarist Brent Hinds stepped up for vocal duties, I wasn’t a fan of his style until Crack The Skye. But for the live show, Hinds sounds like he’s singing with a clothespin on his nose. And as for bassist Troy Sanders’ vocals (which I prefer), they too sound a bit off with the exception of the pre-Crack The Skye songs. Don’t get me wrong, all these guys are awesome at their respective instruments but maybe they just suck at live harmonizing or something. In that case, just watch the show on DVD as you can appreciate seeing the talent. Listening to it, the off vocals take away from the whole experience a bit. I’d suggest only the die-hard Mastodon fans pick up Live At The Aragon but chances are they already have. Anyway…
Ryno’s Pick (Other than Mastodon’s The Hunter): Opeth – Heritage
Holy crap, is September a stacked month for metal or what? There is literally something for anyone’s taste. But I do have to comment about how random this combination is. First of all, you have Hank Williams III releasing four, count ’em FOUR, albums on the same day! Technically this would be his fifth album this year but that’s counting an album recorded back in 2003 and released by another label without his permission. Then on the 13th, you have albums from such legends as Alice Cooper, Anthrax, Dream Theater and Primus (their first full-length album in almost 12 years!). Oh yeah, also some band Arabrot who decided to name their album Solar Anus. I just thought that was worth mentioning. Over the course of month, there’s new albums from big names like Mastodon and Machine Head, brutal releases from the likes of Brutal Truth, Wolves in the Throne Room, Landmine Marathon, Hatesphere and Vader, even a capella metal from Van Canto (who I like to call “Riddley Diddley” thanks to their cover of Nightwish’s “Wishmaster”, YouTube it).
But I have to point out the dearth of progressive metal that’s being released this month. I’ll admit, I’m not a HUGE fan of prog metal but it looks like all the mainstays of the sub-genre, the guys that get it right, are all releasing their albums at the same time. In addition to the aforementioned legendary Dream Theater, September has releases from the likes of 3, Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian and Pain of Salvation. But when it comes down to it, if you consider yourself any kind of metalhead, you just CAN’T turn down Opeth. Considering their death metal background, you could argue with their classification of prog metal but as the band constantly changes and evolves with each release, Heritage looks to be more “prog” than Opeth’s sound has ever achieved. Just listen to the first single “The Devil’s Orchard” (or look at the album’s cover art for that matter) and tell me that doesn’t scream “prog”. You can’t.
Ryno’s Recommendation: Dir en grey – Dum Spiro Spero
Fine, fine! Between Dir en grey and Mastodon, I could basically repeat last month’s article here but I won’t. Though I guess it wouldn’t be fair to keep my opinions of the new album to myself, would it? Personally, I think Dum Spiro Spero is great but I don’t know if I’d suggest it to people trying to get into Dir en grey. I think I’d start them off with something basic like Withering To Death or Vulgar then, if they liked that, move them onto Uroboros. After that, then I’d give them Dum Spiro Spero to listen to. I know that makes it sound like the band has progressed their experimental sound but in fact, I think they’ve regressed a bit. If Uroboros was a 50/50 blend of heaviness and experimentalist, Dum Spiro Spero is more like 70/30. That’s not to say it doesn’t try; in fact, on my first listen I didn’t even know what was going on until halfway through the album. However, once you get used to the songs, they do tend to blend together and sound alike thanks to the syncopated, yet repetitive, drumming. Kyo’s death metal growls are improving, but at the expense of the rest of the ranges he can achieve with his voice. That’s not to say that he can’t sing, he does and quite well, just not as often. But the real star of this album is the bass, which seems to be constantly overlooked in the metal world but thankfully sticks out on Dum Spiro Spero. Definitely a recommendation for existing fans but not quite the breakthrough album I was hoping for.
Ryno’s Recommendation (Other than Dir en grey’s Dum Spiro Spero): Fleshgod Apocalypse – Agony
I’ll admit, I know next to nothing about Fleshgod Apocalypse beyond seeing their name in last month’s album release list and thinking it was kinda cool. But when I stumbled onto the video for their song “The Violation” a few days ago, I was hooked instantly!
Even better, a fan on YouTube created a music video with their song “Mafia” and their cover of At The Gates’ classic “Blinded By Fear” set to one of my favorite horror movies of all time: Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond. (Warning: Totally not safe for work!)
So yeah, that’s sometimes all it takes to get a band on my radar, and hopefully I’ve done it for you as well. If this urges you to check out Fleshgod Apocalypse or any other band previously mentioned that you may not have listened to yet, then I’ve done my job here.