This Toilet Tuesday (8/22/17)
Welcome once more to This Toilet Tuesday! This week has backed up the plumbing to the point of overflowing, but we have snaked out the pipes and scraped the bowl pristine for you to comfortably rest your cheeks upon. DumpsterLung and I snagged a couple of the chunkier bits for further examination; let us know if there’s anything else that should be saved from flushing.
Bloodlust – At the Devil’s Left Hand (Caverna Abismal Records) [Black Thrash]
Stream
If you think there’s no room for innovation in Satanic black thrash… well, you’re probably right, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for more sweet riffs. The newest from Bloodlust delivers those in spades, from the savage “Deadly Force” to the delightfully punky prechorus in “Death the Conqueror.” Does it do anything new? Not really. Is it a damn good time? Hell yes. 8/24/17 (Spear)
Xanthochroid – Of Erthe and Axen Act I (Erthe and Axen Records) [Folk/Black/Prog Metal]
Listen to “In Deep and Wooded Forests of My Youth,” “To Higher Climes Where Few Might Stand”
Two things become apparent when listening to these Xanthochroid songs: they are tremendous nerds, and they are extremely good musicians. That nerdery certainly bleeds into their music, but the strength of their compositions and performances sells it. Gorgeous folk-dappled prog and black metal comprises “To Higher Climes,” and “Deep and Wooded Forests” is a purely acoustic piece that avoids many of the contrivances of other folk metal bands. Powerful, emotional vocals and musicianship are the constants between them; both songs are good enough that even if they were the sole high points of the album, it would still be worth your time. 8/22/17 (Spear)
Schafott – The Black Flame (High Roller Records) [Black Thrash]
Listen to “By the Lust of the Witch,” “Eucharistic Birth”
This is fantastic. Whether or not you typically enjoy any of the various intersections of black and thrash metal, in fact, especially if you don’t, you owe it to yourself to check out Schafott. When the first riff in “By the Lust of the Witch” kicks in, you’ll be immediately reminded of. . . classic death metal, actually. Schafott combines a broader range of styles and riffs than would be expected from such a band, and riffs closely resembling both Death and Darkthrone can be found within that very same song. There are as many galloping thrash riffs as there are black metal tremolo bits, making them feel like a true hybrid of thrash, black, and death metal that seamlessly combine into one excellent package. 8/25/17 (DumpsterLung)
Vulture – The Guillotine (High Roller Records) [Thrash]
Listen to “Clashing Iron”
I’ve always loved thrash with all my heart, but ever since the massive thrash revival some years ago, it’s felt like there’s a 75% chance of newer thrash bands just not being memorable enough to stand out. Fortunately, Vulture is the kind of band we all hope for when we see the word “thrash.” Imagine Show No Mercy-era Slayer with a generous helping of Kill ‘Em All/Ride the Lightning-era Metallica, and you’re at least in the right ballpark. Still, to call simply call Vulture another retro, 80s-styled revival band would not do them justice. Much like the general consensus regarding Power Trip, though stylistically not really on the same side of the thrash spectrum at all, Vulture’s relentless and stellar execution ought to put them a cut above the rest, or very many others at the very least. That comparison actually holds up in terms of sound quality, too. In that regard, Vulture also sounds like they were ripped straight from ’80s, and the razor sharp riffs and aggressive falsetto shriek of the frontman are highlighted by the reverberrific production. I’m really looking forward to hearing the rest of this one. 8/25/17 (DumpsterLung)
13th Moon/Ritual Death – Mors Triumphans (split- Triangulum Ignis) [Blackened Death Metal]
Preview
Abated Mass of Flesh – Eternal Harvest (Independent) [Deathcore]
Listen to “Drowning Beneath,” “The Longest Thorn”
Akercocke – Renaissance in Extremis (Peaceville Records) [Prog Death]
Listen to “Disappear”
Alone – Death Hoarder (Independent) [Sludge/Death Metal]
Alpha Tiger – Alpha Tiger (Steamhammer) [Power Metal]
Listen to “Comatose”
Battle Raider – Battle Raider (Fighter Records) [Heavy/Speed Metal]
Listen to “Battle Raider,” “Flying Fingers”
Blues Funeral – Awakening (Independent) [Doom/Rock]
Listen to “The Gathering Dust”
Bound by the Grave – Abuse of the Flesh (Lost Apparitions Records) [Death Metal]
Listen to “Necrotic Contagion”
Bound to Prevail – Omen of Iniquity (Independent) [Death Metal]
Preview
Brendon Small – Galaktikon II: Become the Storm (Independent) [Death Metal]
Listen to “My Name is Murder”
Crafteon – Cosmic Reawakening (Independent) [Black Metal]
Listen to “What the Moon Brings,” “Dagon”
Dagoba – Black Nova (Century Media Records) [Groove Metal]
Listen to “Inner Sun”
Der Weg einer Freiheit – Finisterre (Season of Mist) [Black Metal]
Listen
Die Apokalyptischen Reiter – Der rote Reiter (Nuclear Blast Records) [Melodeath]
Listen to “Der Rote Reiter”
Dimman – Guide My Fury (Inverse Records) [Melodeath]
Listen to “Pitch-Black Morning”
Drudkh/Paysage d’Hiver – Десь блукає журба (Somewhere Sadness Wanders) / Schnee (IV) (split- Season of Mist) [Black Metal]
Listen to “The Night Walks Towards Her Throne” (Drudkh)
Elbow Deep – Sexually Offensive (Horror Pain Gore Death) [Death Metal]
Listen to “MacGAYver”
Grotesque – Feedback Loop (Independent) [Tech/Brutal Death Metal]
Listen to “Feedback Loop”
Gutted Souls – The Illusion of Freedom (Independent) [Brutal Death Metal]
Stream
The Haunted – Strength in Numbers (Century Media Records) [Thrash/Groove Metal]
Listen to “Brute Force”
Head in a Jar – Take It Too Far (Independent) [Crossover Thrash]
Listen to “Lab Rat Combat”
Howling Giant – Black Hole Space Wizard: Part 2 (Independent) [Stoner Doom]
Listen to “The Pioneer”
Inanimate Existence – Underneath a Melting Sky (The Artisan Era) [Tech Death]
Listen to “Forever to Burn,” “Formula of Spores”
Review
Indignity – Realm of Dissociation (Sliptrick Records) [Death Metal]
Listen to “Consumed by Anhedonia”
Jack Starr’s Burning Starr – Stand Your Ground (High Roller Records) [Heavy Metal]
Listen to “Hero”
Kal-El – Astrodoomeda (Argonauta Records) [Stoner Doom]
Listen to “Spacecraft”
Leng Tch’e – Razorgrind (Season of Mist) [Grindcore]
Listen to “Gundog Allegiance”
Leprous – Malina (Inside Out Music) [Prog Metal]
Listen to “From The Flame,” “Illuminate”
Low Flying Hawks – Genkaku (Magnetic Eye Records) [Sludge]
Listen to “Smile”
Morbid Evils – Deceases (Svart Records) [Doom/Sludge]
Listen
Mordatorium – Obsessed with Death (Independent) [Death Metal]
Listen to “The Culling,” “Biting Cold”
Nervecell – Past, Present…Torture (Lifeforce Records) [Death Metal]
Listen to “Proxy War,” “Abyssviand”
No One Gets Out Alive – Hidden Bloodlines (Rotten Roll Rex) [Banjo Slam]
Listen to “Unintentional Deformity”
Nyss – Princesse Terre (Three Studies of Silence and Death) (Avantgarde Music) [Black Metal]
Listen to “I”
Old Night – Pale Cold Irrelevance (Naturmacht Productions) [Epic Doom]
Listen
Pagan Altar – The Room of Shadows (Temple of Mystery Records) [Doom/Heavy Metal]
Listen to “The Room of Shadows”
Portrait – Burn the World (Metal Blade Records) [Heavy Metal]
Listen to “Burn the World,” “Martyrs”
The Quill – Born from Fire (Metalville) [Heavy Metal]
Listen to “Stone Believer”
Sannhet – So Numb (Profound Lore Records) [Post-Metal]
Listen to “Salt,” “Way Out”
Serious Black – Magic (AFM Records) [lolbuttz]
Listen to “Serious Black Magic”
Terrible Old Man – Fungi from Yuggoth (MDD Records) [Heavy Metal]
Listen to “Recognition,” “The Port”
Under the Church/Revel in Flesh – Beyond the Gates… Death Awaits (split- Pulverised Records) [Death Metal]
Stream
Undying Lust for Cadaverous Molestation – Glory Glory Holelujah! (Rotten Roll Rex) [Goregrind/Slam]
Listen to “Fuck ’em All”
Unru/Tongue – Intimhölle Regression/Omega Male (split- Supreme Chaos Records) [Black Metal]
Ursinne – Swim with the Leviathan (Transcending Obscurity) [Death Metal]
Listen
Woeful Silence/Euphrasia – Woeful Silence/Euphrasia (split- Cruel Bones) [Atmospheric Black Metal]
Listen to “Echoes of the Past” (Woeful Silence), “Away” (Euphrasia)
Did we forget a new release? Is there a way we could improve this list? Let us know in the comments below!
