Free Flush Volume 12
Why am I always drunk when I do these Free Flush articles these days? Forgive me as I try my best to quickfire review more albums than you can really even listen to in a day. I did listen to them all today, and the new Turnstile, and the new MouthBreather, and the new Filth Is Eternal – and then I even listened to Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park. What did you listen to today? I hope you’ll listen to these albums, and donate money to the artists.
I updated the Free Bandcamp Wiki 2021 again
Previous Free Flush volumes:
Vol 1 – Vol 2 – Vol 3 – Vol 4 – Vol 5 – Vol 6 – Vol 7 – Vol 8 – Vol 9 – Vol 10 – Vol 11
Cara Neir – Phase Out
NICE DAMNATION BRO. Recently on this column I presented the incredible Sallow Moth project, and now I bring to you another project featuring the same human being. Cara Neir has been going for quite some time longer and has a heap of releases I will eventually immerse myself in. Where to even begin describing this album? URGH, why do I always review albums made by people musically smarter than I am? [Spear note: big fucking mood ] It’s as if someone remixed a blackened screamo album with badass synth and whatever amount of bits the soundcard of a Nintendo Sega System is. There’s some great samples that are probably from really cool video games thrown in the mix to great effect, as I quoted at the top from the song “Damnation”. Phase Out does such a great job of appealing to nostalgia while simultaneously playing a very modern style of music.
It’s enthralling to say the least and has some common ground with a couple of my favorite synthy hardcore albums like Natural Living by Horse The Band or any Enter Shikari. I love the catchy Protomen-esque nature of “Shady Blades” and the surfy vibes happening on “Floodgates Of Doom” (THAT guitar tone). Next column we can go into the other other Gary project, Gonemage. How blessed we are that such a fine and prolific musician has made all of their releases name your own price.
World Eaters – Crushing Advance
I’VE SEEN WAR IN ALL FORMS. I better sprinkle some proper metal throughout this hardcore heavy volume and what better way to start off the sprinkler than with a hard hitting old school death metal EP based on Warhammer 40k. Do I need to even review it further? Merely presenting the genre and themes is enough for you rabid death metal nerds. One thing this thrashing death metal album has that others don’t usually have is a fucking flute. This one has been making the rounds and sets up an exciting future for the project. I’d be surprised if this community hasn’t heard it yet, but it must be documented in this column for posterity sake. I don’t have a whole lot to say, it just works and I’ve let it spin a fair few times tonight while I try to remember what I’m doing. Just look at that artwork by Adam Ujhelyi.
Bedroom Floor – Fullbring EP
AM I NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU? FUCKING TRAITOR. This emocore EP covers a pretty broad spectrum of melodic hardcore, emoviolence and even a track with emo rap beats. The vocals are very forceful in their sorrow no matter how heavy they become, even on “Soul Society” which feature black metal vocals, there’s always a sense of sadness. I’ve found a lot of my favorite screamo records through the process of finding free albums for this column, there’s something about the rawness of the production paired with the rawness of the vulnerability that really makes the genre pop in comparison to the overproduced post hardcore bands we usually hear these days. It’s just good self made independent bedroom emo. There’s also free instrumental version of the EP on their Bandcamp page.
Witchfucker – Bäd Vibez Önly – Aufarbeitung einer Krise
Horny af blackened stoner sludge with psychedelic elements and all sorts of other shit. I love this album, and for how free it is it’s so big in length and sound. It can be a bit rough around the edges which I don’t mind; it gives it a lot of character and charm. It feels like you’re in the room with a bunch of people jamming out and feeling it, occasionally adding some spicy moments to the riffs. Vocally, there’s a couple of clean vocalists and a growling vocalist, with the latter being a bit of rarity as the focus is primarily on a catchy rock song type of delivery. They do this quite a bit where they bounce between a noisy almost kvlt style and a poppy stoner style. There’s some weird tones and extra instruments like horns thrown in over the course of the album that keep you intrigued and blend well into this weird black metal hippy sound wall. They’ve been around for a bit with a few releases under their belt but they have kept an intentionally raw production style, they’ve nailed down a whole aesthetic here. Witchfucker have actually done a lot to subvert the typical writing of stoner and sludge to make something way more sophisticated than their name would imply. Like, damn, maybe they really do fuck witches though.
Initium – Self Titled
Members from the bands Cloak and Irreversible have come together to play “post hardcore” apparently. I don’t really hear that tag in the music much myself but what I do hear is some slow heavy Neurosis-style sludge metal post metal combo where the drums are the loudest thing in the mix. I mean that in a good way, it’s fucking WET. You can very clearly hear every time a stick touches skin while consistent chord progressions and screams keep things flowing. There is a hardcore element, especially when there’s a breakdown and some palm mute chugging but it never breaks the metal frame that contains the four tracks of this uproarious debut LP. As a trio, every instrument is a solid performance, particularly the strong vocal performance. It’s not entirely ground-breaking but I definitely like it and see a lot of potential, so I look forward to seeing a fuller release where they can showcase the extent of their writing
Snuffed On Sight – Snuffed On Sight
This is some bonkers shit ya’ll. Some heckers deathcore slam beatdown hardcore type shit from Cali featuring Foghorn and 200 Stabwounds. It’s a small EP with just four tracks but fuuuuuck it comes packing. The third track has a phenomenal breakdown with the band Foghorn that just shreds entire arse. You’ll know it when you hear it because as the music stops, as will your life. “Blunt Cough” has a hilarious sample that speaks to the weed smoking side of this beatdown band. The squeals on this album are fucking stupid fast and high pitched. By the time this little pocket rocket of an EP ends you’ll be gagging for more of that Bay Side shit. Forget what you know about moshing, this is music for those cavemen motherfuckers to kill each other to. So fucking ignorant.
Violent Ends – Decades Of Despair
I CANT SLEEP ANYMORE. I DONT DREAM ANYMORE. Lets keep the stupidly heavy flowing with this bit of North Carolina mathematical hardcore type band Violent Ends. Fuck knows what they’re screaming about here but I’m digging the old school punk style of speed riffage going on here, it goes really well with the abrasive in your face drum volume. In the middle of the tracks “Dregs” is a nice bit of super slow Slayer. “Open Wounds” shows us the kind of feedback driven bullshit I haven’t heard since Code Orange were but Kids™. Each track blisters right on by a minute or two at a time presenting a variety of styles through the same voice. Towards the end the songs get lengthier and we’re treated to something more prolonged and thought out. Don’t expect to get your daily affirmations out of this lot, it’s a soul crushing kind of jig.
Hranice Abyss – Aphagy
I dunno what Hranice is but this rips pretty hard. Groove riddled deathcore from Brazil that is honestly very heavy into the death metal side of things with some blistering riffs, stomping palm mutes, speedy solos and consistently deep death growls. I barely heard a pig squeal until the fourth track. Hang on, this just in, we have an update about what a Hranice Abyss is: “The Hranice Abyss is the deepest flooded pit cave in the world. It is a karst sinkhole located near the town of Hranice, Czech Republic. The greatest confirmed depth is 473.5 m, from which 404 m is under the water level. Moreover, the expected depth is 800–1200 m.”. Damn, that’s a deep ass abyss, almost as deep as my love of death metal. Lyrically, this EP explores, like many of us do in our online day to day, the shittiness of corporate greed and manipulation, among other things like life being pointless and death being a perfectly FINE alternative to this life. Well it IS DEATH metal after all so I’m not sure who would be surprised by such a take away.
Coreback – Humanophobie
Have I said Deathcore yet?? Do you hear the howling of the crows?? CAW Xdddd I have no idea what these French mfs are singing about but this is a chunky boi of an EP full of menacing, although surprisingly melodic deathcore. Getting strong misanthropy vibes from the EP title, R E L A T A B L E. I may have drunken myself to the point of being unable to communicate with you dear reader, just know that my ears do not deceive me. This band shows some promise and keeps it interesting with catchy guitar licks and the occasional clean vocals. They also repeat some of the good bits because who doesn’t want to hear those bits again? What do you have so many good bits on your plate that you can just have a brand new one every time?? Do you actually like music?
Rare Olives – Paper Skin
I’M STRANGER TO THIS DANGER. NO PHRASING CAN MASK THIS. Oh what, you thought the last one where I appeared too drunk to continue would be it? no, I had to make it 10 albums just to feel right inside and I’d be remised if I didn’t talk about fellow Aussie’s Rare Olives. It’s death metal, it’s djent, it’s mathematical and it is COMPLETELY unPREdictABLE danfd0wifdn0i nah seriously this is some fucked up music I hope to see live when all the pandemic bullshit chills out enough to get a Melbourne band to Brisbane. They have that Dillinger energy, NO self control, and yet… TOTAL CONTROL. This is perhaps the most uneasy listening of the entire night as Rare Olives will challenge your ability to find an appropriate rhythm to head bang to.
