Armed For Apocalypse - Palm Reader EP

Sometimes brutal can be a bit too brutal, as was my initial inclination of Armed For Apocalypse; well, if you’re going to name yourself something like that, then I guess it all makes sense to go full on knock your lights out sludge. Armed For Apocalypse has more of a Hatebreed meets Crowbar vibe, with some Napalm Death thrown in for good measure. With that being said, their EP Palm Reader is a blistering assault of extreme metal; the soundtrack to smashing your face through a plate glass window and asking for seconds, Palm Reader only relents to drag your body across groovy breakdowns.

Breakdowns and grind induced sledgehammer riffs, acidic vocals, and a tempest of beats that will drive you wild; Palm Reader is a pretty good return to form for the Chico, California band. From the abyss to the mosh pit, they fuse the despair of underground doom with hardcore and if you get caught sleeping you may very well be knocked out. Armed For Apocalypse plays music that assures you the only safe space you’ll find, at least through this EP, is in a morgue.

The album is available for pre-order on their official bandcamp page. Their last two albums are free to stream. Check out their last full length release The Road Will End below.

 

Deadbird - III: The Forest Within The Tree

Featuring members of Rwake, Pallbearer and at least a dozen other bands, Deadbird is a colossal project that has been collecting dust for a decade since their last album Twilight Ritual was released in 2008 through At a Loss Records. Now 20 Buck Spin has teamed with the band for a third album, The Forest Within The Tree.

Falling into the genres of sludge and post metal, Deadbird are dripping with angry raw southern doom with hints of ISIS and Neurosis. Effortlessly fusing the spirit of Arkansas with melancholy and nihilism, Deadbird is beautifully epic and packs some heavy punches. Recorded at Ardent Studios and mastered by the genius Brad Boatright of Audiosiege, The Forest Within The Tree burns on slow fuzz and atmospheric energy.

“Alexandria” is an eclectic track that resonates with elements of grunge, slowed down power grooves submerge you into a psychedelic hell on “Brought Low” and eject you into the meat grinder that is “Bone & Ash”.

While the new Deadbird album may not be something that bandwagons them out of exile into the next big thing, I do think this eight track package of gut wrenching experimentation offers some pretty tight twists. If you really want to be dragged down low and suffer morose melodies, then Deadbird might be worth checking out.

The Forest Within The Tree comes out on October 12th and can be ordered now via Bandcamp.

Morag Tong - Last Knell of Om

Elegant. Progessive. Compelling. Those are three words that I would use to describe the music of Morag Tong. There is surely something enchanting about the group’s slowly moving psychedelic melodies, and then they hit you with eye-opening heavy rhythms of doom that come with a specter of death. Last Knell of Om offers sensuality with tenacity, mystique with brutal cadence, and harmonies that lure you into passive submission. This is exactly the kind of music that should be envisioned when I see the name Morag Tong.

Foremost in the big chunk of things I did with my life that took up way too much time for my own good was play video games. You are probably aware of Bethesda’s popular and hugely successful title called The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but nearly a decade before that was released, the giant world of Morrowind was created and for a long time it was my deliverance from the cruel shackles of this mortal world.

Around that same time period between the years of 2003 and 2006, the heavy metal underground and in particular the doom subgenres opened up before me; as I traveled through the misty shores of Morrowind’s Bitter Swamp region and scaled ash mountains beyond the Ghostfence, Electric Wizard and Candlemass accompanied me on quests into a strange world of xenophobic mystical dark elves.   

I would like to think that members of this band were sharing the same experiences all the way out in London. Morag Tong is the name of an assassin cult that perform legal writs of execution against uppity out of line nobles all throughout Morrowind, and this atmosludge group from the UK had some heavy shoes to step in when they assumed their name.

Ethereal and otherworldly, Morag Tong dance around the primal substance at the axis of the music. The overwhelming drumming from Adam Asquith and hypnotic bass of James Atha carry a palate of eclectic melody that pulls in a multitude of directions.

The tones add depth down the surreal path of Alex Clarke and Lewis Crane’s spellbinding and often empowering chords. The Last Knell of Om is a sonic bath of realization, a cryptic invitation, and probably too cool for most.

I can honestly say that if this were a terrible album I would have shit all over it with the ferocity of an angry Nord on 15 bottles of Sujamma, but finding a band that pays tribute to my favorite video game of all time without even sucking really gets my mood to some nifty plateaus.

Do you need to spend over 1800 hours on the third installment of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind to get Morag Tong? Absolutely not. Does the backdrop of that beautiful region of Tamriel provide a splendid template for where this album will take you? Of course, it does, but without it, you may likely see yourself through the doors of your own imagination and discover a fantastic place beneath the layers of Morag Tong’s atmospheric fuzz.

Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals - Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue

Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals second album Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue takes the listener down a thousand mad corridors and guarantees a bumpy ride. This style of sludge meets experimental death metal works wonders for Anselmo and it feels like here is where he belongs in his present state, and certainly no one knows that better than he does. 

While I do plan to write in great lengths about Anselmo, the Illegals are actually the standout contributors to this band and it would be disservice to ignore what they bring to the table. Mike DeLeon offers a plethora of talents to showcase in his riffs and change ups as their new lead guitar player. Stephen Taylor and DeLeon conjure up a wild tempest of sounds that approach the verge of old school Morbid Angel and even range around the technical versatility of Atheist. Jose Gonzalez clockwork drumming is impressive, and the dynamics of the band’s rhythms are upwards of the experimental metal wonders of Mr. Bungle. I’m often left wondering where the music is going and how many turns the band is going to take, but somehow it never actually loses focus. If Phil Anselmo weren’t the front man, every hipster in the scene would love this album for its deranged brilliance.

Although we’ve all laid to rest dreams of ever hearing the effervescent siren falsettos of Anselmo’s youth i.e. Cowboys From Hell, Power Metal, Anselmo’s continued use of guttural cries and deep scathing growls can still pack quite a punch. At times his delivery sounds tired or drained, but it feeds into the aesthetics of entropy that endear hearts to the sludge metal scene, and I picture Phil working within this realm for the long haul as years continue taking their toll. There are definitely strengths that Anselmo is capable of playing despite the wear and tear. If nothing else, the Henry Rollins influence on Anselmo comes to life stronger on the Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals albums than I’ve heard it before, with the frequent use of spoken candor in each song becoming a credible supplement to enhance his waning range.

Anselmo’s creative versatility and depth has few surviving equals, given his experience and contributions to more bands than I’ve had warm meals, and his storied history certainly propels the charm of an occult like myth. His lyrics can either be brutally forward (“Walk”, “Dress Like A Target”) or boggling with mystique (“Landing On The Mountains of Megiddo, “Pillamyd”). The lyrical content of Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue certainly contains landmines of open accusations, which aren’t deliberate or specific, but certainly broad and suggestive remarks about the state of culture today. I don’t think you’re going to get a point on this album that matches the blissful tranquility of “Jail” or sorrowful acceptance of “Nothing In Return.” Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue is an assault, not a tome.

In many ways, for his fans Anselmo remains the godhead of sludge, groove metal, and a variety of hardcore styles that intersect with Sabbath influences. Of course he’s also the subject of so much hostility due to his steadfast dedication to tongue and cheek humor and a politically incorrect ethos. His middle finger toward etiquette has on occasion led to quarrels with some of the more properly behaved and fashionably keen, and Rob Flynn.  This air of dimensions and dispositions that enshroud Phil Anselmo make it impossible to listen to an album featuring the front man without conjuring an opinion of this notoriety. It is an irremovable blot that Anselmo embraces and tackled quite well in Walk Through Exits Only, as he does again with amplified vitriol on the follow up Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue.

If anything can be taken from the second Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals album, it’s that this old monolith isn’t going anywhere soon. He has the support and independent resources to continue pissing off his haters and charming his fans. Love him or not, Anselmo’s ministry continues in the dark swamps outside of New Orleans, and the force will be heard. The madman behind Nodferatu's Lair and all of its many spawn cleverly manages transformations to overcome each storm he's faced so far, and one should expect the beast will very well do it until he's dead.

Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue was released on January 26th 2018 through Housecore in North America and distributed via Season of Mist abroad.

Iron Monkey - 9-13

There is just something about a classic 90s sludge band that cranks the atmosphere up a notch. Either Iron Monkey album that came out of that decade still holds up.

9-13 is an abrasive assault on par with the gutter music of Iron Monkey's youth. Its juicy grooves and song structures maintain a level of interest from forward to back. Undeniably catchy, the Nottingham three piece have cranked up some voodoo with hooks that downshift into kinetic bluesy jams, then burst out into a spiral of fast break mania; the tracks are casually pummeling and never lose sight of that muddy hardcore punk vibe of the 90s sludge scene. Jim Rushby churns out viscous bayou juke music while simultaneously spitting out glass each time he opens his mouth. The drumming of Brigga is a relentless flood of pulse pounding energy that will guide your step into the undertow of England's hard hitting sludge scene. Steve Watson's bass heavy grooves will shake you loose in any situation whether its in standstill traffic, mopping the floor, or knocking up your neighbor. Solid album. Great stuff.

Release: 10-20-17
Bandcamp