Blackest Mass

 So what is it about this band everyone I've ever met seems to love, Black Sabbath? What makes them the go to band for....well everything? And why do so many bands makes so many amazing(and equally horrifying) covers? Is it Tony Iommi's stupid inventive guitar playing? I mean, who else hammers on all the notes because the cut their finger tips off, with their left hand nonetheless. Was it how Geezer Butler fucking RIPS that bass apart during every second of every song? Maybe it was his sweet moustache. Maybe it's Ozzy's untrained, nasally vocals evoking dark images written by other band members. Or what about Bill Ward taking the concept of playing drums and blowing it apart. Could there even someone like Bran Dailor without Bill Ward? Whatever it is, all these forces come together to create a truly moving force.
 I really can't express why, but somehow the factors coming all together create something truly magical. Their proto-everything musical concoctions always lifts spirits, and is everything good about art and music. When I went through a break up of three years and was left with $600 rent/utility payments by myself the only thing that made me feel good was sparking a fat bowl and turning up my Black Sabbath vinyl well beyond reasonable limits.
 This band really is proto-everything, but you should all know that by now. Certain songs exude everything that is all aspects of metal. They have fast thrashing parts, bluesy prog parts and stupid heavy sludge/doom riffs that make your head hurt. Even bands like Black Flag took chops from them to make something unique and heavy, in their case with the punk ethos. But a person can go on for days citing references and influences to/of the Sabbath. They even have slow songs and gorgeous interludes that don't suck. Well minus "FX" on Vol. 4. Sweet Merlin I hate that song. It's just three minutes of endless effects from what I assume is the guitar and whatever pedals Mr. Iommi uses. He must have been so fucking high when he said, "Hey guys, this song will fit PERFECTLY in between "Changes" and "Supernat" which is by the way the most awesome song I wrote for this record and fits perfectly at the end, but only right after "FX". It'll give it that trippy, psychedelic vibe we've always wanted.". No Tony Iommi, that shit is fucking stupid. I digress, songs like "Solitude" and "Electric Funeral" really set the tone for deep, emotionally intense, the former even being by Tony Iommi. Whom as it turns out has written a large chunk of their lyrics. Knowing who wrote what becomes obvious at one point. His lyrics are about religion/spirituality, the consciousness and other spacy shit while Ozzy's seem almost juvenile. Not that I could do better. That's why Iommi did it. And I don't want to sound like I'm literally masturbating Tony Iommi. He's musical legacy is already in stone. But the other two key elements never get the praise they deserve. Bill Ward practically pioneered the concept of frantic, sloppy drumming with amazingly creative and fast drums fills. Where would the precursors of metal be without the most important foundation of a band, the drums. The man that creates the beat and tone of the songs. Or Geezer Butler. The guy that makes Rex Brown eat cereal out of his asshole! These two men created many solid grooves and moments of headbanging ecstasy together. I've heard stories of the band going through ounces of cocaine in a single setting so it's sort of surprising they didn't grind more. It was only like 15 years between these guys and Mitch Harris' hyperactive blasting, but I could see the Sabbath pulling it off. Can you imagine that insanity!?
 I guess this is a good spot to point out I'm not reviewing albums. I'm just talking about one of the greatest bands ever. Just ask Hank. And really anyone not extensively familiar with the first four albums should drop everything they're doing in their lives right now and listen to each one consecutively in a row. Then do it again the next day. There is simply NO reason any human shouldn't love at least one of this bands songs more then they love another human. My fave all time Sabbath songs, in no order, are: "Supernaut", "Solitude", "Symptom of the Universe", "Children of the Grave", "Electric Funeral", "Black Sabbath" and "Hole In the Sky". Those there's some reference for you.


Instead of uploading a bunch of songs or posting link to a discog download, here's a fucking SWEET piece written by Cosmo at Invisible Oranges about their live 1970 set in Paris. Just watch and be in awe. 
Note: Links no longer work, but you can still find the footage somewhere.
Full discog available at Angrychairs blog. Dig it. 

Thursday Song to Do Bong Rips To

 Metal's version of Willy Nelson, Mike Scheidt, sure knows his way around heavy as fuck riffs. I've been jamming the new YOB album "Atma" for a couple weeks now and I'm coming around to the musical styling of doom metal much more easily then ever before. Especially the first song "Prepare the Ground". This track fucking KILLS and is to me the best on the album. The last three or four songs are much slower paced and emotionally heavy while "Prepare the Ground" is just heavy as fuck. It starts out with down strummed riffs that are chunky and full aurally. The same chord progressions remain prevalent through almost the whole song, building up the whole time. Not in speed but atmosphere and energy. There is a little slowing down before everything explodes at 6:45 into an ultra heavy Hadouken to pummel your face with the bong you are holding. It makes me want to swing a four foot glass bong around Pineapple Express style. This song is long enough to take a couple rips before the song and then one more big one four or five minutes into the song. Not my normal preferred song length but they're a doom band, what do you expect?



Stream the whole album here.

Saturday Song to Do Bong Rips To

  Nails is a punishing hardcore band from California made up of stalwart scene vets, such as Todd Jones from Carry On and Terror. While still totally original and unique sounding, they can easily be lumped into what bands like Trap Them do, though only douche bags. The bands influences come from all over the place utilizing blast beats, short songs lo fi bass and circle pits. The obvious ones(to me) are Holy Terror bands (Integrity, Gehenna), Napalm Death, C.o.C./Crowbar and of course being fucking angry. But they have this song near the end of the new album that just shreds and is perfect for loading up a fat bowl on a bong.
 This specific song was the first Nails song I heard. It was on a Deathwish Inc. comp and is by far the sickest song on it. It's fast as fuck hardcore until 1:08 when it gets sludgy and heavy as fuck , finding it's relentless groove for the last (almost) two and a half minutes of the song. The end head banging groove has it's own tone with changing chord progressions, chugging riffs on guitar and bass, the latter of which incites old school stomps until the instruments fades out into a wall of distorted feedback.


"It's just a fucking lie!"

Murder Metal

 Macabre is to me another incredibly underrated band, just like Cryptic Slaughter. I hear their influence in many, many bands (even if it's not really there sometimes) and feel it's criminal how overlooked they get. Macabre have been weaving tales of about serial killers and mass murderers for upwards of fifteen years and have never had a line up change, but somehow people still overlook these modern metal geniuses. After many splits and LPs (including with PV's prodigal sons, Capitalist Casualties) this is quite a feat, especially in such a trying musical venue such as metal. Countless hours touring and crafting insidious tunes have garnered tremendous respect for this band from me. And to me their milestone has to the be "Dahmer" LP.
 Most Macabre albums focus on one person per song, but the "Dahmer" album is solely about the life of Jeffry Dahmer. The album is arranged in chronological order to tell a full story, from childhood to his death in prison at the hands of Christopher Scarver(who gets his own song). It's 26 songs in just under fifty-two minutes, in true grind fashion. Most songs are mid-paced metal jams(ungrind) though some kick up the speed notch. When not playing fast(most of the time) Macabre is just grooving out making your foot tap or head bang. There are a few sludge moments to change pace, but I'm not a big fan of slowing down and usually skip those couple songs. A night with some Yeti imperial stout and this record will give you a serious bangover. Something I think that's fun is how the band utilizes some traditional songs(folk and otherwise) to craft songs. "In the Army Now", "Grandmother's House", "Jeffry Dahmer and the Chocolate Factory", "Coming to Chicago" and "Scrub A Dub Dub" are all takes on traditional songs you will recognize, but made to fit with the Macabre murder metal motif. My personal favourites are "Blood Bank", "McDahmers" and "Do the Dahmer", with "Hitchhiker" as a secondary choice. "Hitchhiker" just has a fucking huge and heavy riff in it. Just TRY to not bang your head against a brick wall from the heaviness. A sludgey song I can get behind!

Odd fact: Producer Neil Kernon, who's worked with Cannibal Corpse and Nile amongst other death metal bands made himself rich and popular by engineering and producing the first three Hall & Oats albums. 

"Everybody do the Dahmer!"

Saturday Songs to Get Stoned To

Editer's Note: Metalsucks actually did a good job on both Saturday and Sunday of providing songs to get fucked up to.
I know it's not Saturday, but I'll be out of town this weekend for a day battle, so this will have to do because I'm sure Metalsucks won't do any better.
On one of the occasions deathgrindfreak posted something not death metal or grindcore related it turned out to be the full album of a band I've always wanted to hear more of after seeing them play with Despised Icon and Ed Gein. Swarm of the Lotus is by far one of the loudest bands I've ever seen. This counts Ted Nugent and Slayer. Although those bands played in large venues, Swarm of the Lotus had the same full stack rigs in a fucking bar. It was almost excruciating.
I've always had a couple of random Swarm of the Lotus songs I listened to, but this is a pretty fucking solid album containing melodic, sludgy riffs. Slower music really doesn't usually get my attention, but these guys pull of the heavy really well. I've uploaded the first seven songs as I truly have music ADD if it's not absolutlely enthralling, and this drones on at about track eight. If you dig all these however feel free to get the rest of the album and enjoy in your indica induced bliss.
These guys have some other material out as well. Some sort of sweet picture disc, a song on an Eyehategod tribute at least, maybe more.

Terror
Filth Vermin
Smothered
Blackened putrid open sore
You're rotted