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GOATSBLOOD - "DRULL"
GREEN MACHINE - "THE ARCHIVES OF ROTTEN BLUES"
KYLESA - "NO ENDING / A 100 DEGREE HEAT INDEX"
LORD STERLING - "TODAY'S SONG FOR TOMORROW"
MASTERS OF REALITY - "GIVE US BARABBAS"
NEUROSIS - "THE EYE OF EVERY STORM"
>>MORE ROADBURN PICS: Pt.III
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GOATSBLOOD
"DRULL" [ CD - Willow Tip Records ]
Goatsblood sophomore album, "Drull", is an absolute gift to insomniacs, not that it engenders
drowsiness, quite the polar opposite in fact, should you, like me survive on barely
enough sleep to keep a bulimic moth larvae alive. You will tend to feel a tad delirious and washed
out of a morning, and on this fateful morn I had the dubious pleasure of commencing my day
with "Drull."
Listening to "Drull" first thing in the morning invigorates with the bracing immediacy of having both
your corneas harvested with the aid of rusty soup spoon –needless to say I awoke fairly swiftly
milliseconds into the monstrous opening, "Drull."
After some Drano gargling from Blair Kirkpatrick the song begins in earnest, I won't soil the noble art
of singing by calling him a vocalist, as he clearly isn't -he uses his larynx with all the subtlety
of Max Hardcore and his arsehole torturing cock , poetry it 'aint', it's a form of aural pornography
which is comparable to the lunacy of rinsing out the wax in your ear pipes with a
pint of boiling rattlesnake venom.
We have travelled to these stygian depths of sloth sodden misanthropy before with the likes
of Grief, EHG, Mistress, Iron Monkey, Buzzoven, Sourvein, Toadliquor etc [add sludge act of choice]... but
it has to be noted that there is a compelling potency to Goatsblood's sludge-core which beguiles your
sensibilities like the perverse moral complexities aroused by the site of a gruesome road accident.
While you don't ACTUALLY wish anyone to be dead you can't help but crave the sight of a dead body, and
feed vicariously on the mangled remains. Drull is a cruelly effective aural Rorschach test, which is
guaranteed to unlock a myriad of perverse Pandora's boxes deep in the animal cortex of your mind
that anyone with any degree of decorum will want to remain unmolested.
One can't really wax too lyrical about the dynamics of sludge-core as the instrumentation is generally
buried too deeply in a mire of amplitude, distortion and screaming feedback, but it is this
very nihilistic simplicity that makes this bastard child of doom so damn persuasive.
Mention has got to be made of their song titles, eight gleefully vile monikers that are monstrously
apropos, as could 'Astray Cunt Eyes' really come from any other band outside of Goatsblood?
'Ashtray Cunt Eyes' is a glorious onomatopoeia as the base image conjured up in your mind is faithfully
replicated by it's musical equivalent [Iron Monkey notwithstanding] Dog's have an eerie ability to
hear well beyond the human sonic range and can always be seen looking quizzically at
seemingly invisible objects, and they to respond loudly to other equally elusive
phantoms.
And fans of uber nihilistic sludge-core are similar in that their ears are equally
attuned to enigmatic grooves that are pitched way below the normal tolerance of Mr & Mrs MTV and
their 2.4 Slipknot loving progeny, but this doesn't invalidate Goatsblood’s worth nor the tawdry
pleasure that can be derived from listing to it.
"Drull" holds up an oily tar black mirror on the world which adequately reflects the misery of terminal
illness, abject poverty, the craven greed of capitalism, warmongering, globalisation, insurmountable
class divisions, violent bigotry, genocide and a populace crippled by a deadly
miasma of alcohol and drug addiction.
Due to the extreme nature of Goatsblood credo it's a case of preaching to the perverted as
the miserable bastards who will actively seek out "Drull" don't need the sermon as they are only
too painfully aware of the pointlessness of it all.
I personally love the destructive nature of Goatsblood, like a poisonous need for alcohol, you know
that you really should stop as it will ultimately kill you, but you secretly know
there is no alternative. Sobriety? Moderate Rock? New age spiritualism? No, it's time
for the chat room miserablists to disinter themselves from the graves of their complacency, crank
up "Drull" and taking a verbal cue from Peter Finch, scream out of the nearest
window; "I’M MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE."
After the 5th or sixth spin of Drull, you are aware that Goatsblood are far more than yet
another predictable doom-sludge band, and when the dead skin cells of their obvious
influences fall away it leaves you with the naked and bloody musculature of an exciting new
extreme metal act.
DRULL’s payload is replete with 8 sludge seeking doom plated riff missiles that will
annihilate anything it's aimed at, and will make light work of the delicate calcium carapace
you use for a skull.
Goatsblood rule at creating homic idal Sludge-core-grind-death-dirge-swampy-hate-metal-slurry-grooves than
enervate the soul and disturb the mind.
While Goatsblood will remain musical underdogs, this
Canuck hellhound is a rabid, muscular beast with the kinda' ravening teeth that would
give Wolverine pause for thought. It's a moot point whether or not the sludge-core bar has been raised, as
these Vancouver dwelling sociopaths have drunk said bar dry and burnt the fucker down in a
frenzy of drunken misanthropic glee.
jason
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GREEN MACHINE
"THE ARCHIVES OF ROTTEN BLUES" [CD - Diw/Phalanx Records ]
Formidable Japanese desert/sludge warriors, Greenmachine have reformed after a four year hiatus
and after a much needed re-release of their 2 earlier albums, "D.A.M.N" [1997] and "Earthbeater" [1999] these
Japanese over-amped hell spawn are about to torture speaker cones and distend ear drums all over
again with 9 tracks of grimy, explosive, and elephantine riff rock.
It becomes immediately clear that during the last 4 years of inactivity Greenmachine has done
anything BUT tempered their signature sound of colossal, skull-popping, fuzzoid guitar damnation –in fact
one could say that this extended sabbatical has obviously been a source of both inspiration
and bracing invigoration because the 'Machine' are back and they are leaner, meaner and
greener than ever before!
It has been said the absence makes the heart grow fonder, and one can now add in metal
terms that absence makes a badass metal band rock louder... Greenmachine are back and they are about to
stomp yer ass to the size of an After Eight mint.
Proof positive of Greenmachine's renewed potency is the gargantuan opening track, 'Black Summer', a real
zinger that gets away from the gate at such a zesty gallop you wonder if the band weren't huffing
nitrous oxide, this track is the epitome of scumbag-loud, dirty Rock 'N Roll, with shades of Motorhead's urgency
at their prime but perverted with colossal guitars, propulsive drums and vengeful, mucoid vocals.
This is greasy riff rock where you immediately slip into to a world where all the men have beards the
size of glazed hams, and each Harley comes replete with a sawn off shotgun strapped to it's battered
fuel tank, and the pillion passenger is an 8 gallon keg of Crazy-leg moonshine.
'Anima' really is a vigorous track, HUGE insistent drums and nailbomb guitars that rumble like
stampeding buffalos, think Scissorfight, and Orange Goblin at their ugliest, and you’ve paid to get on
the correct rock whirligig, if this track doesn't put lead in yer pencil it's time to get a
cock pump!
And like true iconoclasts the next mammoth track, 'Into The Bigsleep [Red Eye pt. 3]' is
a startling change of gear, concrete-heavy, mountainous guitars grind
at a sluggish, almost Godfleshian pace and immerse the listener in so much dense riff slurry
that you eventually find yourself crimson faced and gasping for air, running in at almost ten
minutes it’s a bone fide sludge rock masterpiece.
And then like the petroleum sleek riff warriors take one more huff of the nitrous kit as 'Fire Never Ends' is
firmly back in dynamic Rock 'N Roll mode - damn, these Japanese Dirge Freaks keep you on yer toes like the
carpet was teeming with ravening Piranhas.
Just a wee word about the sound mix here, I have no idea who manned the controls for "The Archives of Rotten Blues"
but he should be given a Bafta for most convincingly performance from a rock band since
the recent Halfway to Gone album... whooah, all their instruments are supercharged and
the sound is brawny, earthy and maximum rock n roll.
And for all your slavering bass monkeys, 'Future Daze' is furnished with low end that is so monolithic
you actually wonder whether your delicate arse pipe can cope with the submariner frequencies – BITCHIN'!
'Burning The Door' almost has a retro Detroit beat, except the garage grooves have been perverted
by Herculean amplification so that it's solid-gawnest, most hellraisingiest goat gnarliest rock beat
this side of Alabama Thunder Pussy, HELL-FRIGGIN’ YEAH!!!
Fortunately by this time whatever Greenmachine have been one has worn of as 'Path Bloody Path' opens
with a swampy acoustic serenade, but like the duplicitous calm before the storm the guitars
crash back in like a freakish, denim-clad tsunami.
The final track is the scorching 'Hammer & Burner' this the point where they might actually
have OD'd on their nitrous pipes as we are way deep in killer Zeke country with guitars crackling at
ungodly speeds and the world whipping by at a truly delirious velocity. RIDE, BABY, RIDE!!!
Think of a more virulent, weightier version of Orange Goblin, Scissorfight or Speedealer –this is
the incendiary and undiluted raw aggression with which Greenmachine have equipped themselves
to destroy all monsters with on their new dynamite album.
The bowdlerising riff gurgling at the epicentre of 'Into The Bigsleep [Red Eye pt. 3]' is ample
insurance that this album is well worth the entrance fee.
"The Archives of Rotten Blues" is an Obnoxious, devastating and furiously adrenalized riff rock album, and
is a resounding 10/10 and a mighty return for Greenmachine.
This is AUTHENTIC and electrifying greebo rock right down the rabid maggots squirming in their blackened
and heathen bones. There is absolutely zero excess lard on this album and it is as compact and virile
as a leopard's heart.
jason
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KYLESA
"NO ENDING / A 100DEGREE HEAT INDEX" [ EP - Prank Records ]
Kylesa are a surprisingly little known act who comprising ex-members of lauded noise merchants, Damad.
This EP is the follow up to their wonderfully abrasive self-titled LP from 2001.
I discovered this sterling band of crusty riff lords via an interview in an underground extreme
metal magazine and I made it a bit of a mission to track their material down, and while it was a
wee bit of a grail-like search I was very glad that I made the effort. Their latest release is a four
track EP plus one enhanced video track of the titular single, 'No Ending.'
What is genuinely shocking about this band is at how fucking amazing they are, and what scant
recognition they seem to receive outside of esoteric music circles. Each of the four tracks on
the EP are equally incendiary, truculent, crust/metal/punk implosions that gout aggression like
a severed femoral artery, after you have dragged yourself off the floor due to the immensely
gonzoid, metallic thrust of ‘No Ending’. You then begin to appreciate the myriad subtleties
of Kylesa’s profoundly unique hybrid of punk/crust/metal/grind.
They are literally unclassifiable, but what is unambiguous is how nerve shavingly heavy they
are, imagine a more complex and enigmatic version of Mastodon’s bombastic stoner/metal-core and you are
partially on the way to imagining the unrelenting sonic whirlwind whipped up by these frantic, hopped up
rock dervishes.
Track two, 'A 100 Degree', starts off with a potent, stabbing guitar riff that sounds as if were
being played by Ian MacKaye's more muscular, and decidedly non straight-edge brother; Fugazi on cheap
methamphetamines. This track is fucking intense from cock to stern, all the instruments are super-sized
and played in an epileptic fashion, propulsive, scratchy rhythms succeed in swamping you
with megalithic crusts of musical terrorism.
Christian Depken pounds his drum kit with such ferocity you don't wander if he wasn’t transferring
some deep seated hatreds against his innocent pig skins, he’s a deranged percussionist, and the
beats are so HUGE in the mix it appears as if your speakers are having fatal palpitations, TOTAL ROCK!!!
Both guitarists Phillip Cope & Laura Pleasants deliver hysteric guitar thrills with their angular, planetoid
sized scum riffs. In simplistic terms Kylesa are here to take care of business. T.C.B BABY!
There is only one negative aspect of this EP, as when their feral cover of Nausea’s 'Crutches' comes to
an end, and you have to face that awful silence and tremulous realisation that these is no more [The live
performance on the disc is mouthwatering - KYLESA rock like they were made out of marble].
If Fugazi were a benign musical Dr Jekyl, Kylesa would be the barbaric and murderous Hyde.
jason
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LORD STERLING
"TODAY'S SONG FOR TOMORROW" [ CD - Small Stone Records ]
Lord Sterling has returned with "Today's Song For Tomorrow." This isn't a typical album [in
the normal sense of the word]. There are no cross fades between songs. There is no constant musical
thread that lines itself throughout this album. No! This is a vast musical exploration and, more
importantly, ode to all that was/is holy in distorted music.
Each song has it's own emotion to share that differs from all the other songs. The lyrics are
poetically structured both in word and form. This is a jukebox within the borders
of one CD -whatever you're in the mood for, "Today's Song for Tomorrow" will provide.
At times, the music has that 'in your face' presence -not giving the listener a chance to realize
what's going on. At other times, they distance themselves -leaving room for the minds wings
to spread out. But, these are not just songs that have been jumbled together and
thrown in random order; this is a melting pot of ups and downs, clean and dirty, fast and slow, and
Lord Sterling executes it with super-sexy STYLE!
The first track is a vital ingredient to an album if you wish to keep the listeners attention
throughout the release's entirety; 'Pivotal Planes' is one of the freshest openers I've heard
in a long, long time -for real. Atmospheric. Deep. Artistic. Bagpipes. BAGPIPES! Not to mention
a wealth of swirlie sound effects that will tweak your eardrums to no end.
'This Time Is For Real' is the raw, dirty "HEY! FUCK YOU, MAN!" anthem that we all can't get
enough of. The cool cruise feeling of 'Poison Lips' has just the right amount of momentum to
keep your car running off it's fumes for the next 20 miles.
Then, of course, there is the lullaby 'Thread Will Be Torn.' With all honesty, you could
play this for an infant having the biggest hissy fit ever, and the child will sink
into the deepest of sleep.
Just like 'Pivotal Planes' is a perfect opening track, 'Set Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is
the perfect closing -this song will fuck you up! There's no need to go into detail... No! It needs
to be experienced on an individual basis in its entirety...
I guess, now that I think about it, that same idea goes for all of "Today's Song for Tommrow." I could
sit here all day and type all the influences I hear in the music, but no amount of nit
picking would do this record the justice it deserves. It just NEEDS to be HEARD. So, at that: Congratulations! I've
just wasted three minutes of your time.
dr.jones
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MASTERS OF REALITY
"GIVE US BARABBAS" [ CD - Brownhouse Recordings ]
A new Masters of Reality album is always worth waiting for and perhaps
doubly so in this case.
"Give Us Barabbas" is ostensibly a release of the majority of tracks from
the elusive and never released "The Ballad of Jody Frosty" from 1994 with
some additional tracks thrown in for good measure.
As one of the blessed individuals to have obtained a copy of "Jody Frosty"
a few years ago, the impact of this album is somewhat lessened, although it's
rather nice to have a good quality recording of the tracks.
Of the tracks on this album, 'The Ballad of Jody Frosty', 'Voice and the
Vision', 'Bela Alef Rose', 'Brownhouse on the Green Road' and 'Still on the
Hill' are original "Ballad of Jody Frosty" recordings. The remainder are mainly written
over the past 20 years -'Jindalee Jindalie' was previously released
on the 1998 live "How High the Moon" record, and features Scott Weiland [now in Velvet Revolver]
as a guest vocalist. The general vibe of these tracks is of a slightly more
mellow "Sunrise on the Sufferbus", more Beatles than Cream from an influence perspective.
The remaining tracks like 'I Walk Beside Your Love', 'Hey Diana', 'The Desert
Song', 'Off to Tiki Ti', 'It's So Hard' and 'Dont't Get Caught By The Huntsman's Bow' are all
pretty missable, to be honest. They're quite frivolous in comparison to the masterly songwriting on
the other better tracks. Compare 'Off to Tiki Ti' with 'Bela Alef Rose', for example.
For completists, the other tracks from the original listing of "Ballad of
Jody Frosty" includes 'Baby Mae' [the original recording appeared on
1999's "Welcome to the Western Lodge"] and 'Pussy Pie Blues' [which was
renamed "Alder Smoke Blues" on 1998's "How High the Moon" and recorded as
a live cut]. In my opinion, the recorded 'Pussy Pie Blues' is far superior
to the live version, although the latter is still awesome!
To sum up, this is a hard record to review properly because I feel the original
form of "The Ballad of Jody Frosty" had a more cohesive feel of 11 themed
tracks as opposed to "Give Us Barabbas" which has some excellent tracks
presented a bit out of context with some ropey filler tracks. That said,
Chris Goss' songwriting is outstanding and, if you haven't heard the bulk
of the material, the CD is an excellent purchase. Tracks such as 'Bela Alef
Rose', 'Still on the Hill' and 'Voice and the Vision' are worth the entry
price alone.
a.descartes
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NEUROSIS
"THE EYE OF EVERY STORM" [ CD - Neurot Recordings/Relapse ]
It was with quite a little trepidation that I approached this album, not with the abject terror a
bomb disposable expert feels moments before gingerly approaching a suspicious looking 'Device' but in the
sense that I'm a huge fan of Neurosis and I really needed this to be a Doozie... and joyously it is, it is
in fact a magnificent Doozie.
I genuinely felt Neurosis had outdone themselves with their previous album, the glacial and elegiac "A Sun That
Never Sets" and let's be frank it takes a very shrewd group of musicians indeed if they are still
able to surprise and inspire after 13 years of existence, and by Jove both could be said of "The Eye of
Every Storm."
One has always got to be weary of people who over eulogise albums, especially if they have a fan
bias, but glibness aside, "The Eye of Every Storm" is the Neurosis album I always hoped I'd hear.
Their grand and intoxicating interpretation of extreme rock music remains intact but forceful guitar
histrionics have been replaced by subtle, expansive and more ambient musical arrangements.
Neurosis are one of those bands that I enjoy listening to in the wee hours when I really should be
asleep, as their heartrendingly primal and rapturous soundscapes make for emotive nocturnal
listening, and they tend to engender wildly hallucinatory dreams, but to be fair, many of
their previous albums are far too turbulent to suit the slumbering hours.
So it is with unabashed joy that I can reveal that "The Eye of Every Storm" is the perfect twilight
listening experience as the mood of this album is a deeply reflective one, and these dense, ambient rhythms
eschew the almost 'expected' sonic confrontations between fragile atmospherics and demoniacal
guitar ferocity, instead they weave a more spare, transcendental and evocative orchestration
which gives the whole listening experience a quite breath taking continuity.
It is a spurious exercise to liken a mercurial collective like Neurosis to any other musical combo, as
during their lengthy and groundbreaking career Neurosis have resolutely avoided any facile rock
compartmentalization, and their philosophy of musical uniqueness remains unsullied with "The Eye of
Every Storm."
What I can say without any fear of contradiction is that this is unequivocally a Neurosis
album and one replete with all the abstruse and beguiling guitar symphonies one secretly yearns of them.
Any true Neurosis fan will find much enjoyment immersing themselves in "The Eye of Every Storm's'" profoundly
enigmatic tunesmithery.
Any genuinely innovative band will always strive for musical perfection, and sweat blood in
order to create an album that is the ideal distillation of all the individual band member’s manifold
talents, and sadly this happens very rarely in contemporary music, and while I am no mind
reader I feel that with "The Eye of Every Storm", Neurosis have given us a unique and privileged
view deep into their musical heart and soul as I, the enraptured listener felt bedazzled by
the gloriously panoramic vistas on display.
And Steve Von Till and Scott Kelly's vocals are freed from the shackles of rage and their smoother, mellifluous
and beguiling delivery is a revelation and suit the album's bitter sweet pathos quite magnificently.
I found "The Eye of Every Storm" to be a very passionate, sensual album and the tender
yet decidedly emphatic harmonies therein are genuinely affecting. This could well be the album that
brings more followers to the tribe, and if any band deserves wider appreciation it's
the ineffable Neurosis.
jason
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