Jams Of The Week 02/26-03/03
Over the last few weeks, there have been some great albums released, in fact, February has been the best month for metal in quite a while. Aside from all the new music i’ve been digesting over the last month or so, i’ve also been returning to some old classics. This edition of Jams Of The Week is a tribute to some of the awesome albums i’ve been listening to this week that I haven’t busted out in a while.
Metallica – Ride The Lightning
Every time I try to decide which Metallica album is my favorite, it’s always a tie between this album and Kill Em All. I recently pulled this record out after a long, stressful day at work, and immediately I forgot that I was pissed, and all I wanted to do was rage. Ride The Lightning has three of my favorite metal songs of all time: Fade To Black, Creeping Death, and For Whom the Bell Tolls, but it’s also got skull-crushing thrash anthems like Fight Fire With Fire, Ride The Lightning, and Trapped Under Ice. There is literally, not one bad moment on this entire album, and in my opinion, it’s better than Master Of Puppets…that’s right, I said it.
Obituary – Cause Of Death
This album is, without question, one of the definitive 90′s death metal albums. Everything about “Cause Of Death” is awesome; it’s got fantastically heavy guitar tone, mixed with the incredible lead guitar work of James Murphy, it’s got John Tardy’s maniacally violent vocals, and it’s got one of the best Celtic Frost covers you’ll ever hear. Admittedly, I didn’t like this album, or Obituary in general when I first heard them, however, after listening to more and more death metal over the years, it’s easy to listen to Obituary and appreciate exactly what they did for the genre back in 1990 with this glorious masterpiece of destruction. As a side note, after listening to alot of Autopsy recently, I would love to hear Chris Reifert and John Tardy compete in a “who’s vocals sounds more like the violent ramblings of a serial kiiller from hell” contest.
Meshuggah – Chaosphere
Meshuggah are definitely one of my favorite bands ever. Oddly enough, I first heard about them when Jack Osbourne used “Destroy, Erase, Improve” to terrorize his neighbors on an episode of “The Osbournes”. I honestly think Chaosphere is my favorite Meshuggah album, mostly because it’s got the thrashiness of their first few albums mixed with the technical prowess that has helped them continue to drop jaws. Songs like “Corridor Of Chameleons” and “The Mouth Licking What You’ve Bled” are pure audio violence thanks to their incredibly thrashy, belligerent, strangely timed riffs, and “New Millenium Cyanide Christ” was built specifically to cause serious degrees of whiplash. Their new album “Koloss” comes out in 24 days, and i’m not sure how it’s going to sound, but even if it sounds crappy, at least I have Chaosphere to fall back on when I just want to bang my head and break everything in a 20 mile radius..
Descendents – Milo Goes To College
I’ve listened to this album seriously five or six times in the last two days. In fact, i’m listening to it right now. Something about this album is perfect to listen to when i’m in a really bad mood. The lyrics are angry enough to appeal to my metalhead side, but they are also cheeky and humorous enough to make me crack a smile. Though I grew up in Florida on the east coast, and not the west coast in California, and even though I don’t ride a skateboard, this iconic punk album speaks to me in ways some records just can’t. My favorite song on this album is “Catalina” and always makes me miss home. There are also songs like “Hope” which anybody who’s ever been in “the friend zone” can relate to. It’s a shame that nobody makes records this good or meaningful anymore.
Dead Kennedys – Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
This is my favorite punk rock album of all time without question. It’s got angry political songs, as well as humorous tongue-in-cheek songs that create a perfect molotov cocktail. Songs like “Holiday In Cambodia”, “California Uber-Alles” and “Kill The Poor” are three of my favorite songs ever, and definitely three of the best punk songs ever written. You can have your Clash and Sex Pistols sell out, poser punk, DK are the real deal and this album still stands the test of time perfectly and it’s lyrics are still very meaningful even to this day.
Jams Of The Week 01/23-01/28
So far this year, there haven’t been many big name releases, save for the ones in my previous new releases post, which means i’ve been listening to alot of random music this week and I wanted to post about a few of the records/tapes/cd’s i’ve been jamming because they are all fantastic. If you’ve been listening to anything awesome that you’d like to talk about, please feel free to leave a comment.
King Diamond – Abigail
I purchased this album on vinyl when I had a little bit of Christmas money built up and it was definitely worth the inflated price and lengthy shipment from the U.K. This record is one of my favorite metal records of all time and it sounds absolutely incredible on wax, and since it’s a reissue it includes demos as well which is pretty cool. The King’s howling vocals on this album are easily some of the best he’s ever done, particularly on the song Abigail, the line “i am aliiiiivee insiiiide your wifeeee” is easily one of my favorite lines in any song ever, but the actual musicianship on this album is absolutely astonishing. This album is one of the best concept records i’ve ever heard and they go seamlessly from awesome thrashy riffs and solo’s to a more dramatic, haunting atmosphere.
Sacrifice – Torment In Fire
There are alot of awesome thrash bands from Canada, but Sacrifice are one of my favorites. The record starts off with a very scary intro and then unleashes some of the nastiest, blackest, thrash riffs you’ll ever hear, not to mention some incredible dive-bombs. Unfortunately, Sacrifice are never mentioned in the same breath as other thrash bands, but they really deserve alot more respect because this album is absolutely psycho and should be required listening for anyone who calls themselves a fan of thrash, or even black metal really.
Wolv
es In The Throne Room – Celestial Lineage
I didn’t actually listen to this record when it came out last year because I read some non-favorable reviews calling it boring, but when I saw Southern Lord put it out on cassette, I had no choice but to check it out. Wittr are a band i’ve been a fan of for a while, in fact, they are one of my favorite american black metal bands. This album doesn’t have alot of straight ahead black metal, but the atmosphere it has is very cool and when the black metal parts kick in they are very, very heavy and worth cranking up. Also, the actual cassette itself is black with gold font and looks cool, really all of the packaging is very legit, and I am definitely glad I got this album on one of my favorite formats.
Liberteer – Better to Die on Your Feet Than Live on Your Knees
This album is absolutely insane. I’m not going to say too much about it right now because i’ll be reviewing it on Tuesday, but i’ve listened to it at least six times since i’ve gotten it and each time it gets about ten times better. If it weren’t for the new Napalm Death, I would say this record is, hands down, the winner of best grind album of 2012.
Flying Humanoids – Arrival
This band from Monroe, La are getting ready to unleash this album at their show with Torche on March 18, but I got to hear this record early and it’s absolutely crushing. I’m going to be reviewing it soon, but for now i’ll just say that it has some parts that remind me of The Bronx and Every Time i Die, as well as plenty of moments that would appeal to fans of Baroness, Mastodon, or any number of awesome rock n’ roll bands. I’ll be interviewing these guys in the March issue of the Spazzine and it’s going to be awesome, go check them out.
Jams Of The Week: 01/03-01/07/12
Like any good music nerd, I listen to music as often as i can, and on whatever format I can. I’m starting a new category called “Jams Of The Week” which will spotlight some of the best records, tapes, cd’s, and mp3′s i’ve listened to during the week. I’m going to try and make this an every week column, because it’s incredibly fun for me to write about the music i’ve listened to during the week when i get an over-abundance of tasty jams.
Floor – Below & Beyond 8 disc boxset (Cd)
Floor is a doom metal band formed by Steve Brooks who later formed Torche, it also feaured Juan Montoya from Torche in one of its incarnations. This boxset contains pretty much every song ever written and recorded by this now defunct, sonic titan from Miami, Fl. I heard about Floor a long time ago when I first got into Torche, but never could find anywhere selling their music, so naturally I was very excited to see this boxset get released. This set was released on a version with 8 lps and 8cds and a version with just the cds, I really wanted the vinyl version, but there was no way I could afford it, so when I was at Good Records in Dallas a few months ago and came across it, I elected to purchase the cd only version.
Most of the songs in this collection are from ep’s, and demos, however, there are also 2 full length albums as well, the 2nd of which is their self-titled which is my favorite disc in the set because you can really hear alot of the elements in it that are now employed in Torche, in fact, disc 8 features demos from the self titled album as well as live songs, one of which is “Charge Of The Brown Recluse” which turned into a Torche song. This collection is worth what I paid for it just for the self titled disc, the full length “Dove” and disc 5 which features songs like “Ein”, “Figbender”, and “/Song” which are all full of some of the heaviest noises i’ve ever heard. If you are a fan of Torche, or doom metal in general, this collection is ABSOLUTELY essential, without question.
Exodus – Pleasures Of The Flesh (Cassette)
I recently picked this cassette up at Spazz Records because it dawned on me that, for some reason, I have never heard this album before. After Exodus released “Bonded By Blood” they fired their singer Paul Baloff and hired Steve “Zetro” Souza and signed a major label deal to Sony/Combat Records and thus, Pleasures of the Flesh was born. This album is in the same vein as it’s predecessor, but with Zetro’s howling, Bon Scott influenced vocals, and honestly, I think i enjoy Zetro’s voice more than I do Baloff’s. This album fits in my tape collection perfectly alongside other Exodus classics like “Bonded By Blood” and “Fabulous Disaster” and it is an absolute monster and i’m very glad I finally checked out this album.
Lamb Of God – New American Gospel (Lp)
I’ll never forget the firs time I saw the video for “Black Label” on Headbangers Ball, because it scared the crap out of me. I was iffy about checking this album out back in the day because i thought the album title was stupid, but after listening to it multiple times, I really do believe this album title is appropriate, due to the fact that it set down the groundwork for a brand new breed of american heavy metal. This record is full of preposterously fast and complicated drums, monster riffs ripped straight from the Pantera discograhpy, and some of the meanest vocals i’ve ever heard. With all the hoopla that will soon be surrounding their new album, I saw this in the store the other day and felt the need to pick it up to be reminded of the band I used to be obsessed with, instead of the commerical metal machine they are nowadays, and after giving it a few spins, i’m very glad that I did, because this record is an absolute beast.
Dark Angel – Darkness Descends (Cassette)
I previously wrote about this cassette in my “music buying adventures christmas day cassette shopping” post and I finally got around to listening to it in my car and i’m very lucky I didn’t run anybody over because this album is incredibly intense. It’s got that awesome old school thrash metal vibe combined with some of the greatest thrash metal drumming ever courtesy of Gene Hoglan the human drum machine. For some reason this album and band are incredibly underrated, but it’s easily one of the highlights of the genre for sure. Also, unlike some tapes, it’s very loud which makes it even more fun to drive fast to.
Autopsy – Mental Funeral (Lp)
I bought this record on Amazon a couple weeks ago and when it arrived I was very excited, I then showed the super gory album cover to my wife and she gave me a very confused look in return. This is one of the all time greatest death metal albums ever, and it boasts one of the greatest album covers ever, actually, every Autopsy album cover could be on that list. When I put the record on, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was printed on red vinyl and it’s back cover was hand-numbered by Peaceville number 1329/2000. As far as the sound goes, the drums and vocals sound like they were recorded 6 feet under my house while the guitars and bass were recorded in my bathroom, so needless to say, it sounds exactly like it’s supposed to.
