Just as those proponents of the early 20th Century avant-garde cultural movement that seeked to release the creative potential of the subconscious mind called themselves “Surrealists”, Horseback mastermind Jenks Miller probably thinks of himself as one too when it comes to this eclectic project of his which fuses psychedelia, drone metal, and noise music together.
Alright, we’ve been out a while and need to maintain a strict publishing schedule, which means I’m going to nail some quick hits to the wall and then you’re not going to get to hear much more about these records.
March has really been one hell of a month, hasn’t it? To think after Amon Amarth and Vintersorg we get to follow it all up with Obscura’s Omnivium. If any record counts as the most-anticipated of the year, Obscura is probably getting pretty close to that level. Having released in 2009, what was really a hell of a surprise for most listeners (including people who’d purchased their previous record) in Cosmogenesis, these technical death metallers built on their Necrophagist cred (and sound) and on the legacy of the mighty Death with their technical, progressive death metal, complete with awesome fretless bass attack. So, while this isn’t really a record that can fall victim of the sophomore slump (being the band’s third record), it certainly is an album that could fall victim to overly heightened expectations. And, I must admit, this Angry Metal Guy certainly had heightened expectations
I’ve been waiting for a long time to get to Abysmal Dawn’s new disc Leveling the Plane of Existence. Having had a 2010 that was sadly devoid of mind-blowing technical death metal (excepting Hour of Penance’s Paradogma), I was really looking forward to a slab of technical death metal mastery that is being sold by Relapse as the savior of American death metal. While I wouldn’t go that far, Abysmal Dawn does offer up some solid technical death metal that is well-played, well-written and full of enough novel ideas and good riffs to make the record enjoyable. And the band has a unique, melodic voice that separates it from the pack.
Every now and then, a band comes along and I’m utterly at a loss for how to classify them in the official Steel Druhm Book O™ Metal [That’s what you get for not using the Angry Book o’ Metal Classifications, n00b. – AMG]. Generally, this causes me anger and vexation, but I always give a nod of appreciation for the bands that resist easy classification. The latest recipient of the nod is Gift Horse, the second album by Mose Giganticus, for they have truly baffled my considerable pigeonholing acumen. They have forced even me to admit I’m stumped. Mose Giganticus is apparently a one-man entity created by Matthew Garfield, a staple of the Philly punk rock scene for some time. While some of that punk ethos is apparent on Gift Horse, this isn’t exactly a punk album. What is it then? Good question!! Let’s try to piece this puzzle together shall we.
Relapse Record’s Baroness have put up their new record Blue Record up for streaming on Myspace. I’d review it, but I’m a little bitter that these guys let lots of other people review it first and then want me to go to the streaming audio on their site to do the review. So, we’ll see. […]
Tech metal legends Atheist has posted a track on Myspace off of their forthcoming Unquestionable Presence: Live at Wacken DVD which is set to be released on the 21st of July (in the states) via Relapse Records. You can check it out here: www.myspace.com/kellysatheistwebsite. Unquestionable Presence: Live At Wacken track listing (first disc only): 01. […]
