Get Prep’d: Plead The Fifth
If you’ve missed the last four installments of Get Prep’d, you’re really fucking up. But there’s this trick that you can use to get away with your ignorance. It’s easy too, just plead the fifth. In this edition, we get you ready for new releases from Sanzu (Godzilla-sized death groove), Baroness (The Sounds of Purple) and Invocation Spells (South-American blackened thrash).
Sanzu
Breaking out of the isolated artistic hotbed of Perth, Western Australia are groove-infused death purveyors Sanzu. Originally releasing their 6 track debut EP in April this year, the 5-piece just announced they will be dropping a full-length on December 3rd 2015. To celebrate, they have reduced the price of the digital EP for us. Yes, just us. Simply use the code “TovH” (without the quotations, of course) and you’ll receive 50% of the marked price. That’s in dollarydoos too, so it’ll be even cheaper for those of you with fancy US$ or €. With the money you saved you can pre-order the upcoming LP (+ various other deals) and sort yourself out a killer xmas gift.
As you can hear, Sanzu sound like a demonic version of Gojira. While the similarities are stark at surface level, Sanzu manage to replace most of the French-band’s overtly melodic aspects with a crushing blend of callous riffs and pounding rhythms without sounding dispassionate. The vocals sound like a chimeric three headed beast comprised of Joe Duplantier, Jens Kidman and Randy Blythe, suiting the music impeccably. The guitars have a sufficiently thick tone and utilise practically all the techniques associated with this style, not in the StayTech sense but rather in performing minor duties to colour in the song-writing’s overall picture. There’s even a couple of pick scrapes to satiate those who are that way inclined. If you’re liking what you hear so far, head on over to their bandcamp page and pre-order Heavy Over The Home or check out their Facebook page and tell them the Toilet sent you. – Lacertilian
[Note: I wrote this piece just over a month ago, and in that time Sanzu have released two tracks from the upcoming album which you can check out on here. Spoiler – they rip!]
Baroness
I’ll keep it brief for you dummies that have somehow missed the boat on Baroness. First we saw Red, the 2007 debut that showed off a Savannah sludge band in peak form (Essential listening: “Isak“). Next we felt Blue, a record that had the band turning down the aggression and adding elements of post-metal (Essential listening: “The Gnashing“). 2012’s Yellow & Green showed the band moving even further away from mosh pits and closer to heavy rock & roll on a grand scale with this ambitious double LP. It’s one of my favorite albums in any genre (Essential listening: “Take My Bones Away“). Then… well then there was a gnarly bus crash. Shortly after the release of Yellow & Green, the band came damn near close to death in England. After taking many months to heal their wounds and adding a brand new rhythm section, Baroness is back and ready to unleash another record for fanboys like me to obsess over.
For this release, the band ditched longtime home Relapse in favor of their own, newly-created label Abraxan Hymns. Will that mean Baroness will take more creative risks with Purple? Seems unlikely considering that Yellow & Green was a double-LP that further alienated fans longing for a return to Red-era sludge. Based on the single “Shock Me”, it seems the band might be making a bid for wider appeal with more accessible, finely crafted tunes. I think I speak for everyone when I say, “Someone, send me this album already, why don’t I have it FUCK.”
Purple is out December 18th, preorder it here. Look forward to upcoming albums Orange and Indigo so Baroness can finally hit for the ROYGBIV cycle. – Joe.
Invocation Spells
After missing last year’s full-length debut Unholy Blasphemies from Chilean demons Invocation Spells, I vowed to make amends. Come December the 11th I’ll be getting my fix of blackened thrash courtesy of their upcoming follow-up titled Descendent The Black Throne. Since I started fiendishly pummelling the replay button just on the album opener the band teased us with back in early October, Invocation Spells have recently released a second track to further whet our collective bloodlust. The effortlessly sinister combination of bestial underground 80’s thrash riffs combined with the reverb-laden vocals and raw-edge production is executed in a way that only a malandro-slaying South American band can authentically manage.
If you’re not banging your head by the 1:26 mark of album opener ‘Betrayal Of The Bastard’, you’re fucking dead to me. Pre-order your copy of Descendent The Black Throne by Invocation Spells through Hell’s Headbangers Records here. – Lacertilian.
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