Like any good teenage metalhead, I hated rap music. In my early youth, I had enjoyed the pop rap antics of MC Hammer, The Fresh Prince and yes even Vanilla Ice, but once metal came along, that rather embarrassing part of my musical evolution was deliberately buried and left for dead. In high school, I found myself hitching rides on occasion with my friend Jon, an eclectic, down-to-earth dude with a taste for rap in addition to rock and metal. I distinctly remember him saying, “I know you don’t like this shit, but we’re gonna listen to it,” and throwing on some random 2Pac (or was it Too $hort?) album. Even in Iowa, rap music was everywhere in the 1990s; on TV, the radio, magazines, my friend’s cars and parties, there was no escaping it. At some point I finally caved, and although my appreciation of rap never grew to the obsessive levels that my appreciation for heavy metal did, I began to appreciate it nonetheless.
Tag Archives: California
Muknal – s/t (Crepusculo Negro, 2012)
The Black Twilight Circle/Crepusculo Negro collective of musicians have made some serious waves in the black metal community over the last few years. But, one cannot live by black metal alone, as evidenced by this self-titled three track cassette from Muknal, a mysterious trio that one can only assume is comprised of the usual BTC suspects (although I have not been able to confirm this, perhaps some THKD readers can?).
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For Those About to Rot: Exhumed @ People’s Court 04/16/12
The last time Exhumed played in Des Moines, it was the middle of July. If you’ve never been to Iowa in mid-Summer, imagine being trapped in a giant pair of sweatpants and forced to walk through someone’s sweaty, overheated crotch; now you’ve got a pretty good idea of what humidity in the Midwest is like. It’s the kind of heat that causes old people and animals to spontaneously drop dead. Now, imagine a tiny venue with no air conditioning smack dab in the middle of that nasty-ass environment. These were the conditions Exhumed were forced to weather their first time playing our little one-horse town, so it’s something of a small miracle that they actually agreed to come back. Granted, they’re in the midst of a high-profile tour with death metal kingpins Cannibal Corpse (for more on them, wait for my upcoming review of their new album, Torture), but still, I can’t imagine that initial encounter made a very good impression.
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Obolus – Lament (Flenser, 2012)
California’s Flenser Records has become one of the go-to labels for infinitely interesting black metal and doom releases over the past few years, and Lament, the debut EP from the mysterious black metal entity known as Obolus is no exception. Information on the band is virtually non-existent; their Metal Archives page yields no answers and the Flenser is keeping things decidedly on the down-low when it comes to details. I prefer my black metal with a dose of mystique and it’s fun to speculate about Obolus’ origins; is this the the work of one twisted individual or a like-minded group of musicians? Who are they and where do they come from? Ultimately, it doesn’t matter as long as the music’s good, and lament is certainly one of the better black metal releases I’ve come across so far in 2012.
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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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Sutekh Hexen – Larvae (Handmade Birds, 2012)
Somewhere between raw black metal, dark ambient and experimental noise lies San Francisco’s Sutekh Hexen. Their second full length album, Larvae is a hellish yet ethereal sounding affair that’s relentlessly, unendingly dark; permanent fucking midnight. I’m not talking about the Earth being covered in eternal blackness here, I’m talking about the dark night of the soul, the abyss within. It is outsider music designed to take you on a journey to the darkest recesses of inner space, a crepuscular womb of crumbling distortion.
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All Tomorrow’s Funerals: Autopsy’s maggot-ridden motherload unleashed.
I don’t typically do “news bit” type posts, but you guys know how much I fucking love Autopsy. So, when the kind blokes at Fresno Media contacted me regarding the band’s latest release, I just couldn’t resist letting THKD readers know about it right away.
The legendary California death metallers have been pretty much unstoppable since rising from the grave in 2009, releasing an EP, a full length album and a demos collection, in addition to playing just about every metal fest known to man. Now, with the help of longtime label Peaceville Records, the band has gathered all of their hard to find and out-of-print EP material on one convenient piece of gore-drenched plastic (or two slabs of wax) with All Tomorrow’s Funerals. Loaded with twenty-two cuts of the quartet’s patented brand of filthy, smoked-out death metal, the disc/DLP contains Retribution for the Dead, Fiend for Blood and The Tomb Within, as well as the Horrific Obsession single. You’re probably already thinking that’s a whole lotta Autopsy, but the band sweetens the fetid pot with four brand new songs, giving fans an additional EP’s worth of material on top of everything else. The new tunes are exactly what you’d expect from Autopsy, and just might be the ugliest, most morbidly heavy music they’ve recorded since reuniting. Here’s the title track below, just in case you need further convincing.
All Tomorrow’s Funerals is out now (officially released on 02/28/12), and is available directly from Peaceville or down your local shoppe. Check out my brother from another mother Dave Schalek’s review of the compilation for all the pertinent info.
Additionally, our pals over at Invisible Oranges are giving away two copies of the album, one on vinyl and one on CD. The contest ends on 03/07/12, so get your worthless ass over there and enter to win.
After you’ve entered to win a copy of the album (or gone out and bought the damn thing), swing back over to THKD and check out the two interviews I’ve conducted w/ Autopsy drummer/vocalist Chris Reifert here and here. I also reviewed The Tomb Within, which is included in this release, here.
Behold! The Monolith – Defender, Redeemist (self-released, 2012)
I’ve always been fascinated by power trios. It surely has something to do with my love of all things raw and stripped down, since it doesn’t get any more stripped down than tres hombres against the world, brandishing only electric instruments and bad attitudes. The power trio is the bare minimum of musicians needed to produce a full and complete sound within a rock or metal format (although I’m sure there are plenty of duos who would beg to differ… eh, fuck ‘em); it’s all about maximizing the minimal, and I’ve often found that power trios are inherently heavier and more powerful-sounding than these bands that feel the need to have three guitarists, two vocalists, four drummers, a percussionist, a keyboardist, a DJ, an acrobat, a lion tamer, etc… just listen to Motorhead, Venom, High on Fire or Hellhammer and you’ll catch my drift.
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Exhumed @ Vaudeville Mews 07/22/2011
Over the past twelve months, I’ve been thinking a lot about death, due to the untimely passing of several friends and loved ones. You’d think that the last thing I’d want to do is listen to death metal, let alone go to a death metal show. But you see, I never thought of death metal as music that makes light of, pokes fun at, or otherwise devalues death. On the contrary, death metal (at least the good stuff) is a celebration of life, a potent cultural reminder of our own mortality, that life is often too short and should therefore be lived to the fullest. I can’t think of many things in life more exhilarating than blastbeats, heavy riffs and careening guitar solos. So going to a death metal show is exactly what I did when the recently re-animated California gore lords known as Exhumed brought their patented brand of musical malpractice to my home town.
My wife and I arrived at the Vaudeville just as the first of the opening bands was finishing up their set (why do venues/bookers insist on cramming so many bands onto these bills?) and it was already sweltering, the pitiful excuse for an A/C unable to keep up with the heat-advisory level temperatures we’ve had here in the sweaty asshole of the Midwest of late. During what is apparently to be one of the final sets from local death/grind stalwarts Black Market Fetus, I had the pleasure of meeting Exhumed mastermind Matt Harvey, who is an old acquaintance of my wife’s. It’s always great when a musician you admire turns out to be a genuinely nice guy as well, and Harvey was one of the most friendly and down-to-earth I’ve encountered during my years doing this metal thing.
When Exhumed finally hit the stage however, Harvey was all business, leading the rejuvenated band in storming through a career-spanning set. Having long-since surpassed their origins as Carcass-worshippers, Exhumed are a death metal force to be reckoned with, as evidenced by the pure ferocity and precision with which they attacked their instruments, in spite of the oppressive heat that threatened to sap the show of its energy. The band showed no signs of faltering under the brutal conditions, and the crowd responded in kind, whipping up some serious (at least by Iowa standards) pit action for much of the set.
Of course, professionalism will only get you so far in death metal. If you really want to stand out from the pack and get the heads banging, fists pumping and beers pounding, you’ve got to have songs. Exhumed has always had them, and this night they deployed some of the gnarliest hooks in all of death metal. Tracks from the band’s back catalogue, such as “The Matter of Splatter” “Decrepit Crescendo” and “Necromaniac” are as catchy and fun as they are overwhelmingly brutal. Exhumed also unleashed a battery of songs from All Guts, No Glory (their first album in eight years, not counting covers collection Garbage Daze Re-Regurgitated), with “As Hammer to Anvil” and “Through Cadaver Eyes” demonstrating an even more refined songwriting approach. Call it murderous yet memorable, call it stadium rock for flesh eating zombies or just call it gore fucking metal, as was emblazoned on the backs of the band’s guitars.
Speaking of guitars, the six-string work of Harvey and Wes Caley (ex-Uphill Battle, Fatalist) was in stellar form throughout Exhumed’s set. Caley treated the crowd to an extended solo in between songs, proving that it’s possible to play your ass off without degenerating into the ludicrous tech-death wankery that plagues today’s DM scene. Caley and Harvey traded off on lead and rhythm while laying waste to the stage, slicing through the mix with a blitzkrieg of bent strings, punishing riffage and whammy bar abuse. The band as a whole was incredibly tight, but as a (painfully mediocre) guitarist myself, it was a pleasure watching these two demonstrate such a high level of axe-mastery.
As the band blasted through the remainder of their set with reckless abandon, the intensity never waned and I found myself totally lost in the sonic bloodbath, throwing up the horns and headbanging to the point of exhaustion. By the time Exhumed concluded the evening in a barrage of distorted cacophony, I was dog tired and sweating bullets (and that was just from being in balcony, I can’t imagine what it was like on the floor or on stage), but extremely satisfied. Some death metal was exactly what I needed to feel alive. Exhumed delivered and then some.
Exhumed 2011 North American Tour (remaining dates)
Jul. 25 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave Bar
Jul. 26 – St Paul, MN – Station 4
Jul. 27 – Winnipeg, MB – The Royal Albert Arms
Jul. 28 – Regina, SK – The Exchange
Jul. 29 – Edmonton, AB – Pawn Shop
Jul. 30 – Calgary, AB – The Distillery
Jul. 31 – Kelowna, BC – Sapphire Nightclub
Aug. 01 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theater
Aug. 02 – Seattle, WA – Studio Seven
Aug. 03 – Portland, OR – Branx
Aug. 04 – San Francisco, CA – Slim’s
Aug. 05 – Sparks, NV – The Alley
Aug. 06 – Las Vegas, NV – The Cheyenne Saloon
Aug. 07 – Hollywood, CA – Key Club
Interview: FIENDS AT FEAST
California-based quintet Fiends at Feast came out of nowhere and impressed the hell out of me with their debut EP, Shadows of Extinction (see review). It remains one of the best metal releases I’ve heard so far in 2011 and the band’s attention to craftsmanship and willingness to work hard to accomplish their goals make them a band to watch. I spoke with vocalist/lyricist Loki about the making of Shadows of Extinction and Fiends at Feast’s plans for black/death metal domination.
THKD: For our readers who may not be familiar, can you give us a little background on how Fiends at Feast got started?
Loki: Fiends started sometime in the spring/summer of 2008 when David and Sammer met and started jamming some cover songs, then not long after that they met with Nathan and the original drummer (a girl who got replaced by impalor few months after). I was in another band, but I got an offer to audition for the band and I got asked to do vocals. From there Fiends have played some good shows and others not so good, but always with big visions of getting noticed locally and nationally.
THKD: Fiends at Feast’s music strikes a good balance between black and death metal styles. Was this intentional or just a natural part of the band’s evolution?
Loki: I think it comes naturally to us, we have diverse taste in music and what we do is just use some of the influences. We do try to keep the old school death metal, but I think black metal is a huge influence on us (especially for me) and what you hear on our EP is the result of everyone’s creativity and obsession with music.
THKD: You recently released your debut EP, Shadows of Extinction. What were you looking to accomplish with this release and are you pleased with the results?
Loki: We are pleased with the results, definitely after having some experiences with other engineers I think this is so far the best. What we are trying to accomplish with this recording, I guess, just like a lot of bands, is to get signed to a record label and expose what we do and enjoy doing. Touring is one of Fiends’ goals as well.
THKD: Let’s talk a little about your lyrics. What are some of the themes you’re singing about on Shadows of Extinction? What inspires you to come up with lyrics? Are the lyrics a collaborative effort?
Loki: I come up with lyrics at very random hours, sometimes when I’m waking up (hahaha). My inspiration comes from people forcing others to believe their crap. I have a very low tolerance for stupidity, ignorance and poor behavior, I think you can say a bit of a sociopath. Look around and you’ll know what I mean, especially the ones who copy other bands to make a name for themselves and that is just one example. I also like to use metaphors to describe certain things which some people don’t get and I don’t care if they do or not.
THKD: What is your personal favorite song on Shadows of Extinction and why?
Loki: I think “pariah” is one of my favorite ones I guess because it has a piece of my life in it. It has the obsession with death, depression, hate, obscurity and hate for organized religion, although “scars in my soul” has a big attachment as well.
THKD: What can you tell us about your vocal technique? How do you prepare yourself to record vocals or perform in a live setting?
Loki: I don’t like to think I use any special technique, all I do is try to sing from the stomach rather than with the throat. My inspiration started in the late 80′s but it wasn’t ’till I heard Chris Barnes that I said to myself “fuck I wanna do that shit like him” and make use of the vocals as another instrument. At this moment my inspiration has been black metal way more than any death metal singer and as always I try not to copy anyone but learn from them and do my own thing. I do warm up for the recording but when performing live I just let my demons take over (haha).
THKD: How were the songs for Shadows of Extinction written? Do you work on songs as a group?
Loki: All songs were and are written as a group (band), most of the time Sammer and David work on riffs in their spare time, then we all work with whatever they have and everyone gets involved to shape the songs.
THKD: The EP cover is very striking. What can you tell us about the artwork and how does it tie in with your music?
Loki: We had a hard time coming up with the artwork and at the end we came up with the idea of having a drawing of a landscape that represented the area where we live and gave some feeling of obscurity with the raven and the dead corpse in the fox hole. It doesn’t have as much of a connection to the lyrics as we were hoping for but, I guess you can link it with the endless obsession with death in the lyrics.
THKD: Fiends at Feast hails from Santa Cruz, CA. What is the metal scene like there? Do you get much local support?
Loki: The metal scene is not so great but I guess it is just like any other place, and to be expected when you play this kind of music in an area where hip-hop, reggae and other genres are more predominant. We do appreciate the support from the handful of metal maniacs that come to our shows. As I say many times on stage “you fucking maniacs”.
THKD: How does your environment/surroundings inspire Fiends at Feast? What is it about California that inspires dark and heavy music?
Loki: I don’t think any climate gets us inspired, but we do get some sort of motivation when we see bands playing the same old shit that other bands have done or playing some commercial sound, a thing that Fiends is always trying to stay away from. We are trying to write a new blueprint with our style and our own way.
THKD: You recently played a record release show for Shadows of Extinction. How did it go? Do you enjoy playing live?
Loki: We had a good time and we would like to think that it was a success. We had people who came from San Francisco, Hayward, San Jose, Salinas, Sacramento and Alameda and it seemed like everyone got involved with our performance. I do enjoy performing live most of the time, sometimes I don’t feel the energy I need to get in my zone although a lot of the times I wish to bite the head off.
THKD: What is the best way for fans to get a hold of Shadows of Extinction?
Loki: Our merchandise can be purchased at our gigs for now, we are currently working on setting up a Paypal account or indiemerchandise account, any suggestions? (hahaha). We have our EP in our local record store Streetlight and we hope Rasputin’s agrees to sell our EP as well.
THKD: What are you listening to right now? What bands do you find inspiring/influential as far as what you do with Fiends at Feast?
Loki: At this moment the only genre I listen to is black metal. I think it has a lot more to offer on many levels and ways to be performed compared to death metal. On my list right now are Orcustus, Impiety, Sadistic Intent, Black Witchery and Endstille. I feel influenced by this and other bands in the way I perform with Fiends but I think my twist evolves from bands like Behexen, Immolation and Shining.
THKD: What does the rest of 2011 have in store for Fiends at Feast?
Loki: We are working on new material to possibly record as soon as we are ready, but for now a tour in California/Nevada is in our minds and exposing what we have worked so hard to accomplish.
THKD: Are there any final thoughts you’d like to add?
Loki: Stay dark and away from friends.
