For nearly twenty years Norway’s Aura Noir have reigned as overlords of blackened thrash metal. The band have just released their fifth full length, the filthy and lacerating Out to Die via Indie Recordings, proving that their patented black thrash attack is as ugly and vicious as ever. I spoke with multi-instrumentalist Apollyon, whom you might also be familiar with from bands such as Cadaver, DHG and more recently Immortal, regarding Aura Noir’s latest assault and subsequent plans for world domination.
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Napalm Death – Utilitarian (Century Media, 2012)
Napalm Death are an institution. In three decades of existence, they have remained at the forefront of extreme music, constantly evolving and refining their sound while at the same time staying true to the band’s roots in early grindcore and punk. Despite the fact that there are no original members left in the lineup, they have never faltered in quality or watered down their singular vision in order to get ahead; their integrity and dedication has become something of a gold standard by which all other grindcore bands are judged. Utilitarian is Napalm Death’s fourteenth album, and it finds the band sounding as potent and relevant as ever.
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Midnight – Satanic Royalty (Hells Headbangers, 2011)
The death of rock ‘n’ roll has been greatly exaggerated. In the mainstream sure, rock ‘n’ roll is as cold and lifeless as Kurt Cobain’s corpse (yeah, yeah, I know he was cremated, whatthefuckever), repeatedly shot in the face by the malformed and talentless post-grunge spawn of crumbling major labels. But in the underground, it’s a different story. Rock music is alive and well in seemingly endless permutations, from stoner to goth to death n’ roll, as raw and dangerous as ever.
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Blood for Blood – “Ain’t Like You (Wasted Youth II)”
I don’t listen to a lot of hardcore, but I fucking love Blood For Blood. While other hardcore bands are preaching unity, positivity, straight edge, blah blah blah, Blood For Blood are getting shit-faced, hating everything that breathes and generally fucking up your world. Their music is a bludgeoning, nihilistic fist in the face and their lyrical tough guy-isms aren’t mere posturing; Blood For Blood are tough because life as they know it is complete and utter shit.
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Revenge – Scum.Collapse.Eradication (Nuclear War Now!, 2012)
It’s been four long years since we last heard from Canadian filth purveyors Revenge, but I can assure you that the aptly titled Scum.Collapse.Eradication was more than worth the wait. No other band on the planet is capable of harnessing hatred and scorn into a chaotic yet controlled whirlwind of pure electric death the way the duo of drummer/vocalist J. Read and guitarist/bassist Chris Ross (aka Vermin) do on Revenge’s fourth full length. Even though the band’s basic approach on Scum.Collapse.Eradication differs in only the most subtle of ways from that of previous outings, the fact remains that Revenge are so goddamn good at what they do that their return to the frontlines of the war metal battleground is always a welcome one.
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Metallicus Ex Mortis: Ghoul @ People’s Court, Des Moines, IA 03/27/2012
It was a not-so-dark-and-stormy night when the creepy Creepsylvanians known as Ghoul brought their patented brand of uh, ghoulish splatterthrash to Des Moines, IA, aka the asshole of the Midwest. I was excited to see them for the first time, and that excitement was only heightened by a lengthy wait outside the venue (at least I wasn’t standing next to the Juggalos), followed by what seemed like an eternity sitting through a rather abysmal opening band (the less said on that, the better). After a declaration by the Grand Basilisk stating that we were all in violation of Creepsylvanian law for harboring these four maniacal hooded fugitives, the band hit the stage, immediately launching into “Off With Their Heads” from their latest album, 2011′s Transmission Zero. From the very beginning it was clear that Ghoul had come to kill, and the musical evisceration didn’t let up for a moment over the course of their thirty-odd-minute set.
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Professional Wrestling ist Krieg
Japanese wrestling legend The Great Muta
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Wildernessking – The Writing of Gods in the Sand (Antithetic Records, 2012)
Wildernessking’s The Writing of Gods in the Sand is one of the most mind-boggling debut albums I’ve ever heard. How did a band that’s only been together since 2010 (they were previously known as Heathens) manage to craft something so stunning, so epic, so complete sounding, on their first time out? Sure, there have been some great metal debuts throughout the genre’s history, but let’s be honest, more often than not, especially these days, it takes the average band a couple of albums to hit their stride and release something truly great. Wildernessking is no average band; after listening to The Writing of Gods in the Sand, I’d say they’re bonafide prodigies.
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Corrosion of Conformity – s/t (Candlelight, 2012)
I first discovered Corrosion of Conformity during the mid-’90s Pepper Keenan (guitar/vocals) era; by then, they had fully traded in the crossover thrash of 1985′s Animosity album in favor of the swaggering, metallic southern rock of Deliverance and Wiseblood. That’s the COC I had come to know and love over the years, so I was admittedly apprehensive upon hearing that the band had reconvened without Keenan at the helm to record their first new material since 2005′s underrated In the Arms of God. Would they abandon the smoked-out stoner-isms that had made COC so near and dear to my heart in favor of revisiting the crossover days of yore? Would Keenan’s absense leave an unfillable hole in their sound?
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Aksumite – The Gleam of Wetted Lips (Colloquial Sound Recordings, 2011)
Michigan’s Aksumite are named after the Aksumite Empire, an African nation which existed from 100 – 940 AD. They were among the first major empires to convert to Christianity and the land it once occupied (now Ethiopia) is allegedly the final resting place of the biblical Ark of the Covenant. Too bad then that there’s nothing pious whatsoever about the blood-curdling racket the duo (comprised of drummer/bassist Blood and guitarist/vocalist Cult, according to Metal Archives) whip up on The Gleam of Wetted Lips, their debut effort for up-and-coming cassette label Colloquial Sound Recordings.
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