This Toilet Tuesday (10/21/14)
One does not truly know strife until they have experienced a full week of hard drinking and Thai food. Sure, it all seems good at the time; you’re banging back a veritable cornucopia of craft beers and some of the best food southeastern Asia has to offer. But it will inevitably all come crashing down. You wake up in the middle of the night, sweating and cramped. You feel your innards swell and roil within you, and you wouldn’t be surprised to find your lower intestine in the bowl when you’re done. After what seems like hours of fruitless straining, it all comes to a sudden stop with a sickening squelch. Still not sure if it’s over, you hazard a glance into the newly-defiled porcelain chalice beneath you. What lies below is wholly unnatural; a rancid morass of sludgy bubbles. Behold, the unadulterated filthy weirdness of This Toilet Tuesday. -Spear
Nightcreepers – Hreidd (Independent) [Folk Metal/Core]
After listening to a short teaser of Hreidd, I initially expected Nightcreepers to be the French version of Wintersun. After going through “The Hreidd’s Path,” however, they strike me as a combination of the former and Ovid’s Withering. “The Hreidd’s Path” shares the grandiosity and structure of a Wintersun song, but with a deathcore-ish breakdown in the middle that’s overlaid with clean guitars and a synthetic accordion. It’s a weird blend of styles to be sure, and it took me a couple listens to warm up to it, but I believe that Nightcreepers have some potential. (Spear)
Oozing Wound – Earth Suck (Thrill Jockey) [Thrash]
Listen to “Going Through the Motions Til I Die”
Oozing Wound are one of a mere handful of bands in 2014 that are making the case that thrash still deserves some attention. “Going Through the Motions Til I Die,” the first single from their awesomely titled Earth Suck, is actually a bit of a change of pace. In it they opt for mid paced groove instead of breakneck speeds and the results are crushingly satisfying. Don’t worry though, the rest of the album promises obliteration by velocity, so you speed freaks can rest easy. Well, if you ever even rest at all. (Leif Bearikson)
Dantalion – Where Fear is Born (Sleaszy Rider) [Blackened Death]
Listen to “Listen to the Suffering of the Wind”
The youtube description for Dantalion calls them atmospheric black metal. I don’t think that’s quite right. There are too many riffs, shifts, and intricacies here to really think this group is just about atmosphere. However, the band does excel at setting a somber mood. Between the throaty snarls, crashing fills, and sinister chords that bounce off the main riff, this group of Spaniards most certainly know how to create an air of dour menace. I’d be down for a full-length of this. (W.)
Inferion – This Will Decay (Horror Pain Gore Death) [Black Metal]
Now, let’s inspect the other side of the black metal coin. Right off the bat, Inferion assault you with an absolute flayer of a tremolo riff. This song starts off blasting and scorching and never offers you a moment’s reprieve. The bludgeoning is constant and sharp, the blasts pointed and pummeling. The throat-serrating vocals only add to the violence here. However, there are enough little nuances and tricks up Inferion’s sleeve to keep you interested throughout the runtime. Don’t miss all of This Will Decay when it drops officially. (W.)
Encoffination – III – Hear Me’ O’ Death (Sing Thou Wretched Choirs) (Selfmadegod) [Death/Doom]
I can’t help but laugh when I see members of a band using absolutely absurd stage names. I’m sorry, but when you declare yourself “ELECTROKUTIONER – Leader of rats” it is going to elicit a chuckle. That is, until you hear the music. Once Encoffination hits you all laughter will cease. Part of this is due to the fear of suffocation instilled by what you’re hearing, the rest from fear that ELEKTROKUTIONER might be as demented as the music he creates and will track you down and deem you unworthy of your skin. Bottom line: jam hard and don’t laugh. (Leif Bearikson)
Furia – Nocel (Pagan Records) [Black Metal]
I’ll admit that I don’t really know a whole lot about black metal, but that might be why I enjoyed Nocel so much. Furia’s latest offering is a solid album in all respects: the riffing and drums are tight, the vocals are downright nasty, and slow parts are appropriately somber and atmospheric. More than that, though, this album could be taken as a study in the various facets of black metal as a genre. The album opens fire with some old-school thrashy black metal goodness interspersed with the tremolo picking and blast-beating that are now trademarks of the genre, but it slows down midway through for a more minimalist, melancholic feel and some more experimental bits. I’m sure purists (pvrists?) will brush it off as unfocused or hipsterish, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Give it a listen and judge me as the massive poser I am. (Spear)
2 Wolves – Shelter (Inverse Records) [Gothic Metal]
Aevum – Impressions (Fuel Records/WallRecords) [lolbuttz]
Listen to “Lost Soul”
Allen/Lande – The Great Divide (Frontiers Music Srl) [Heavy Metal]
Listen to “Lady of Winter”
Amaranthe – Massive Addictive (Spinefarm) [Melodic Metal]
Listen to “Drop Dead Cynical”
Anthem – Absolute World (Universal Music Japan) [Heavy Metal]
Atrabilis/Negativa – MMXIV (Independent) [Black Metal]
Listen to “VI”
Bridear – Light in the Dark/No Salvation (single- Independent) [Power Metal]
Preview
Burn the Army – The Tide to Sink the Summit (Independent) [Post-Metal/Doom]
Listen to “Sea”
Convictors – Envoys of Extinction (Independent) [Death Metal]
Listen to “Proclivity”
Deserted Fear – Kingdom of Worms (FDA Rekotz) [Death Metal]
Listen to “Kingdom of Worms”
Dr. Colossus – IV (physical release- Totem Records) [Stoner/Doom]
Stream
Easy Rider – From the Darkness (Krea Films) [Power Metal]
Listen to “Lab’Otomy”
Electro Baby – Flies are Happy about Coyote Shit (Eucalypdisc) [Stoner Rock]
Stream
Escapetor – Fear (Crime Records AS) [Thrash]
Preview
Eternal Khan – A Poisoned Psalm (Independent) [Black Metal]
Listen to “Raging Host”
Evil – Ashes of Old (Infinite Wisdom) [Black Metal]
Listen to “In the Bottomless Pit”
Furious Anger – Bloodsword (Independent) [Melodeath]
Preview
Galar – De gjenlevende (Dark Essence) [Black/Folk Metal]
INC – Black Hearse Serenade (Ferocious) [Thrash]
Listen to “Organ Grinder”
Iter Pactum – Bringer of Evil (Independent) [Black Metal]
Listen to “Sacrifice,” “Eighteen Stones”
Khaøs – Risen (MRR Records) [Hard Rock]
Listen to “After the Silence”
Kingfisher Sky – Arms of Morpheus (Suburban Records) [Prog Metal]
Listen to “King of Thieves”
Korzus – Legion (AFM Records) [Thrash]
Listen to “Bleeding Pride”
Lagriment/Blackmoon Spells – Memories Become Dust (split- Satanica) [Depressive Black Metal]
Listen to “Imminent Nostalgia,” “Rose Shaded Nostalgia”
Lonewolf – Cult of Steel (Massacre) [Heavy Metal]
Listen to “Hordes of the Night”
Mägo de Oz – Ilussia (Warner Music Spain) [Folk Metal]
Listen to “Cadaveria”
Pitch Black Forecast – As the World Burns (Ferocious) [Groove Metal]
Listen to “So Low”
Ragnell – Consumed by the Eternal Darkness (physical release- Frozen Archives) [Blackened Death]
Stream
Red Circuit – Haze of Nemesis (Limb Music) [Power Metal]
Preview
Resonecia – Traum (Independent) [Power Metal]
Preview
Ruinside – 10 Forms of Dominion (Mighty Music) [Thrash]
Listen to “In the Arms of Bitterness”
Scott Walker/Sunn O))) – Soused (4AD) [Drone/Doom]
Preview
Silent Knight – Power Metal Supreme (Independent) [Power Metal]
Listen to “Keeper of the Seven Keys” (Helloween Cover)
Snake Oil – Triptych: A Passage in Time (Independent) [Stoner/Doom]
Stream
Sonata Arctica – Ecliptica Revisited (Nuclear Blast) [Power Metal]
Preview
Tarnkappe – Tussen Hun En De Zon (physical release- Hammerheart) [Black Metal]
Stream
The Body/Sandworm – Split (Thrill Jockey) [Sludge/Black Metal]
Listen to “Desert Warfare” (Sandworm)
Tormenter – Prophetic Deceiver (EBM Records) [Thrash]
Listen to “Exile From Flesh”
Unbowed – Collapse the World (Independent) [Melodeath]
Listen to “Befallen I Am”
Vanderbuyst – At the Crack of Dawn (Van Records) [Heavy Metal]
Listen to “At the Crack of Dawn”
Vanir – The Glorious Dead (Mighty Music) [Viking Metal]
Listen to “Fall of the Eagle”
Vanish – Come to Wither (Massacre) [Power Metal]
Preview
Vargsang – In the Mist of the Night (Obscure Abhorrence) [Black Metal]
Listen to “Chains of Life”
While Heaven Wept – Suspended at Aphelion (Nuclear Blast) [Power Metal]
Listen to “Icarus and I”
Withdrawn/Demented – Things Change Others Remain (split- Great Dane) [Death Metal]
Stream
Woccon – Solace in Decay (Deathbound) [Melodeath/Doom]
Listen to “Giving Up the Ghost,” “Impermanence”
XecsNoin – Corridor to the Frozen Sky (Black-Listed) [Melodeath]
Listen to “Disillusion”
Xerxes – Collision Blonde (No Sleep Records) [Post-Hardcore]
Stream
Zapruder – Fall in Line (Apathia Records) [Hardcore]
Stream
Did we forget a new release? Is there a way we could improve this list? Let us know in the comments below!
(Photos VIA, VIA, VIA, VIA, VIA, and VIA)
