New Music Roundup: Slugdge, Buckshot Facelift, Scar Symmetry, Machinehead
The digital era of music distribution presents us with a glut of options. No more are we confined to experimenting with sweaty used headphones at the local record dealer to find out if we might like a release. Bands release new tracks constantly to build excitement for upcoming releases or to engage with fans during a particularly dry spell. As fans, though, we can sometimes suffer from option paralysis. What do we choose? Which albums should we buy?
Lucky for you, we here at the Toilet love you little, tiny goofballs. Therefore, we’ve collected four songs here for bands that you may be keen to check out. No more deliberation! So open your mouths, baby birdies, because I’m going to vomit a whole bunch of awesomeness down your gullets.
Slugdge are the absolute best band that sings about slugs. Moreover, they’re one of the most exciting death/black bands to come out of the UK in quite some time. For those uninitiated, I’ve previously discussed our slimy overlords and mentioned that they’re hard at work on album number 3. Riding the steam of the two previous releases, this new song demonstrates the fact that this band is a monster when it comes to song-writing. The riffs crush, but it’s the drumming here that I find most enthralling. I don’t even care if this band has a gimmick. Slugdge are three-for-three in my book. Check them out on bandcamp.
This next band is likely one with which you are unfamiliar. The other night Papa Joe got to meet the totally awesome dudes in Artificial Brain (a fact about which I am totes jelly), and he got a little secret news from frontman Will Smith. Turns out the mouth of madness has been sneakily working on a side project called Buckshot Facelift, and the group has an album slated for a November release. You can check out the first track from Living Ghosts of the North Shore on bandcamp. I definitely hear the Artificial Brain influence, but it seems that the spaced-out brutality has been filtered through an insane hardcore cheese grater, producing a brutal and chaotic zinger. I’m seriously excited for this album. Keep your ojos peeled for a review.
This next selection may be a bit polarizing. Personally, I used to really, really like Scar Symmetry, but their more recent output has been hit-or-miss for me. That said, I owe it to the band that wrote Holographic Universe to at least give this little ditty a chance. In preparation for their upcoming and ambitious concept album, Scar Symmetry are conducting a “Cryonic Harvest.” After giving it a listen, I think I will at least give the full length a chance. The solos here are fun, and the growls are bone-shaking. What say you?
I’m going to cap my blurbs with another divisive track. Let me be real here. I love Machine Head. I’m one of those guys who thinks The Blackening is one of the best albums of the Aughts. I even loved Unto the Locust. Therefore, I’ve been cautiously anticipating the third album since Empire. Will it be a hat-trick, or will it fall flat? “Now We Die” certainly sounds like Machine Head. The chugs, pinch harmonics, and battering rhythms are all present. The orchestral flourishes are nice too. I don’t think this song quite matches up to “Clenching the Fists of Dissent,” but I dig. I’m eager to hear it in the context of the whole album.
So, are your little bellies full? Want more? Well, here are a few more tracks to hold you over. No blurbs from me because I’m about to leave town to visit my main man Stockhausen (and sit through a conference). Listen to these tracks by Sick of It All, Encoffination, and Aversions Crown and tell me what you think.
(Photo VIA)
