Fuck it, here's day 2!
Funebrarum: "The singer yells "FUCKING' METAL" a lot. That about sums it up.
Aura Noir: If Haunted Castle didn't suck we would have almost sounded like this. In our fucking dreams. And that's including the fact that they say shit like, "Here we go!"
Machetazo: Hearing dudes with fancy Castillian accents play meaty, gnarly grind is pretty funny. They'd make a killer doom band if they just played their opening riff for like 20 minutes though.
Cripple Bastard: Well, I guess we figured out where all the people in Italy actually getting shit done instead of sitting around drinking cappuccinos are... They're in Cripple Bastard making sure that we know the world has gone to the fucking dogs.
Corrosion of Conformity: Jesus, way to live the hardcore life fellas. At least it still sounds hardcore. Really hardcore. Shit, well this is pretty good! I'll be damned!
Neurosis: Still the best in the business. This band was absolutely worth tearing my shorts in to make pissing all over my left foot so I didn't lose my spot at the front gate [editors note: true story. I did that. It was worth it.]. Seriously, nothing heavier.
Exhumed: Oh, now I remember why I like death metal played by punks! Because it's fucking rad! That's why! And I don't even like deathgrind all that much.
Marduk: This sucks less than I thought it would! A lot less. Dunno why I thought this would suck but it's pretty rocknroll. Always a plus for black metalers to avoid the fucking synth.
Showing posts with label neurosis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neurosis. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Shrinebuilder - Shrinebuilder
If you read the last post, you'll noticed I mentioned that I had TWO heavy hitters to put up today as tribute for my lack of posting albums recently (Kinda like the Yom Kippur of metal or something). Thus, I now follow through with my most awaited album of the year. By far.
Shrinebuilder, as every metal website in the world has said, is a supergroup made up of Scott Michael Kelly (of Neurosis) Al Cisneros (of AsbestosDeath, Sleep, and OM), Scott "Wino" Weinrich (of basically every classic doom band ever including The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan, The Hidden Hand, and most recently Wino), and Dale Crover (Drummer of the Melvins). Basically, a legendary doom gathering of the tribes/minds/spirits/whatever.
When it comes to supergroups, I will almost always be the first one to set my expectations super, super fucking low. Hype through the roof + the reality of them being side-projects of other already amazing bands + my usual completely over the top ridiculous hyperbolic tendencies = total fucking let down with the end product most of the time. Shrinebuilder completely blows that shit away.
If I were to sum up my first couple of listens in middle school science terms, Shrinebuilder is a beautiful heterogeneous compound. In other words, when you put sugar in water it becomes the homogenous "sugar water," but when you put sand in water, it's still water and still sand. You can see both of the component parts. In Shrinebuilder, you can definitely pull out each player's contribution to the group. Not just like, "Hmmm... this song sounds a lot like Neurosis..." or whatever, but even parts of songs. I guess the most visible example of this is in "Pyramid of the Moon." You can definitely feel the Wino and SMK lead in the beginning of the song and as it progresses, the whole song pulls a slow shift towards Al Cisneros's lead until he kicks it full gear in to a Sleep/OM style drone for the 2nd half of the song. Each riff shows the fingerprint of the person who wrote it. Most riffs gotta lotta fucking fingerprints though.
Usually when a band sounds so strongly like it's components, it almost always fails at sounding like a comprehensive whole. Somehow, probably because every person involved in this project is a fucking genius when it comes to doom, Shrinebuilder feels whole. No song feels out of place, no section feels jarring or confused, no tone or note doesn't belong. That's what really makes this album interesting to me. How unbelievable the balance between the parts and the whole is from start to finish. Just listen and tell me I'm wrong.
All of this being said, Shrinebuilder is surprisingly different than what I expected, but not different than what I hoped for. I was kind of expecting Dale's tribal, crushing, war drums to be driving a Dopesmoker bassline with Neurosis uber delayed guitars and Wino singing. What I got was a whole shit ton of Wino/SMK guitars and atmosphere mixed with some OM droning and driving, Dale acting as an anchor for the band to swirl around, and everyone takes turns on the mic. It's fucking cool.
Fuck this, I've said too much. Listen to the album and tell me I'm wrong. I could talk about this band for another fucking decade man. I am so stoked to see them next month at Poisson rouge with Rwake.
Get tix now kids.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The Big Scion Rock Fest Recap Review Thing Part 4 - Boris, High on Fire, & Neurosis
Well boy am I fucking lazy this week. Sorry this is stretching out in to a fucking month long process but I've had a shit load of other stuff going on. Anyway, here's your next installment.
After a solid hour and a half of thrashing myself mad, it was time to head back outside to catch the end of Boris's set. This was the 3rd time I've seen them... in theory... The 2nd time I fell asleep midset... Long day, don't ask. Right, this time I didn't fall asleep and they were solid solid solid. Boris is great for a variety of reasons. Their ability to go from a 20minute beatless ambient drone straight into a 70's prog metal jam, into some punk inspired breakdown, right back into doom jams; their flare for showmanship; the sheer volume at which they play; the fact that their guitar player doesn't even make it to my shoulders! Hell they're pretty much just great all around. Their performance at Scion was definitely up to par with the first time I saw them as Wata, Takashi, and Atsuo used all the tricks at hand to achieve the highest degree of spacey stonerness possible. Fog, flashing lights, gongs, white sparkly shirts, double necked guitars, massive stacks of Orange and Sunn amps, you know, all the usual suspects. I only caught the last 20min of their set and they were in full swing the whole time. Fucked if I can remember what the songs were but they were loud and there was enough smoke that you could actually see the lights even though it was still daytime. Long and short, fun even if you don't smoke.
After Boris I tried to get in to Harvey Milk but the security guards were starting to get dickish and claimed the room was "at capacity"... which is some bullshit considering I saw like 40 people walk out of that motherfucker. Anyways, they sounded heavy as shit from the outside but I couldn't tell what was up inside.
Since that shit was full I headed back out to score a good spot for High on Fire under the main tent. As a massive Sleep fan and a pretty big HoF fan I was pretty stoked for that show. Vic and I scored a spot basically front and center and kind of set up camp. The tent packed out around us and was pretty much full to the brim from there on out. Matt and the gang came out, took their places, and rocked the fuck out. Playing a pretty even split of songs from all their albums they kept the fans happy with their patented blend of speedy yet sludgy riffing. Matt was looking surprisingly good (probably due in large part to his decision to wear a shirt...) and all three members looked generally happy to be on stage in front of a huge crowd.
OK fuck this I'm tired of not posting other more fun shit than this. Here's the short version.
High on Fire was fucking awesome, rocked hard, crowd was in to it. Bang.
Neurosis. Hard to put in to words just how fucking amazing they are onstage. If you've never seen them you really need to fix that shit. They play like once every millenia and it's always packed and generally far away but if you can see them, get on that shit. It's not so much a concert as a fucking experience. The video, the extreme volume, Steve, Scott and Dave looking like the physical embodiment of a fucking nightmare, the completely massive riffs. In a weird way, even though they're a "doom" band with a hardcore history, it kinda harkens back to the old Hawkwind type hippy extravaganza shows of the 60's when the idea of what a pop concert "is," was still up in the air and music, video, and spectacle all combined. Fortunately, Neurosis crowds tend to be fairly hippy free but the spectacle is still there. Their new material is really heavy on the ambience and atmosphere and even for a thrash fanatic, if you let it, it'll get you in to a nice trance. Throw a few beers in to the mix and you can nod off with the best of them. That is of course until they drop one of their massive hits. The first time I saw them in Brooklyn I couldn't hear for a week and a half and I almost shit my heart out the sound was so intense.
In ATL the sound wasn't quite as overpowering but the spectacle/set/performance was just as intense. Fuck me man, I would cry if I ever met Scott or Steve in an alley. Massive, unabashedly threatening, tried by fire, and undyingly hardcore. If you don't believe me head over to the Shrinebuilder Blog and read that post. Fear is a word that comes to mind. Anyways, they were everything I wanted to see. If you're trying to see them, just remember they pretty much stick to the slow heavy stuff and lean towards the new right now.
After a solid hour and a half of thrashing myself mad, it was time to head back outside to catch the end of Boris's set. This was the 3rd time I've seen them... in theory... The 2nd time I fell asleep midset... Long day, don't ask. Right, this time I didn't fall asleep and they were solid solid solid. Boris is great for a variety of reasons. Their ability to go from a 20minute beatless ambient drone straight into a 70's prog metal jam, into some punk inspired breakdown, right back into doom jams; their flare for showmanship; the sheer volume at which they play; the fact that their guitar player doesn't even make it to my shoulders! Hell they're pretty much just great all around. Their performance at Scion was definitely up to par with the first time I saw them as Wata, Takashi, and Atsuo used all the tricks at hand to achieve the highest degree of spacey stonerness possible. Fog, flashing lights, gongs, white sparkly shirts, double necked guitars, massive stacks of Orange and Sunn amps, you know, all the usual suspects. I only caught the last 20min of their set and they were in full swing the whole time. Fucked if I can remember what the songs were but they were loud and there was enough smoke that you could actually see the lights even though it was still daytime. Long and short, fun even if you don't smoke.
After Boris I tried to get in to Harvey Milk but the security guards were starting to get dickish and claimed the room was "at capacity"... which is some bullshit considering I saw like 40 people walk out of that motherfucker. Anyways, they sounded heavy as shit from the outside but I couldn't tell what was up inside.
Since that shit was full I headed back out to score a good spot for High on Fire under the main tent. As a massive Sleep fan and a pretty big HoF fan I was pretty stoked for that show. Vic and I scored a spot basically front and center and kind of set up camp. The tent packed out around us and was pretty much full to the brim from there on out. Matt and the gang came out, took their places, and rocked the fuck out. Playing a pretty even split of songs from all their albums they kept the fans happy with their patented blend of speedy yet sludgy riffing. Matt was looking surprisingly good (probably due in large part to his decision to wear a shirt...) and all three members looked generally happy to be on stage in front of a huge crowd.
OK fuck this I'm tired of not posting other more fun shit than this. Here's the short version.
High on Fire was fucking awesome, rocked hard, crowd was in to it. Bang.
Neurosis. Hard to put in to words just how fucking amazing they are onstage. If you've never seen them you really need to fix that shit. They play like once every millenia and it's always packed and generally far away but if you can see them, get on that shit. It's not so much a concert as a fucking experience. The video, the extreme volume, Steve, Scott and Dave looking like the physical embodiment of a fucking nightmare, the completely massive riffs. In a weird way, even though they're a "doom" band with a hardcore history, it kinda harkens back to the old Hawkwind type hippy extravaganza shows of the 60's when the idea of what a pop concert "is," was still up in the air and music, video, and spectacle all combined. Fortunately, Neurosis crowds tend to be fairly hippy free but the spectacle is still there. Their new material is really heavy on the ambience and atmosphere and even for a thrash fanatic, if you let it, it'll get you in to a nice trance. Throw a few beers in to the mix and you can nod off with the best of them. That is of course until they drop one of their massive hits. The first time I saw them in Brooklyn I couldn't hear for a week and a half and I almost shit my heart out the sound was so intense.
In ATL the sound wasn't quite as overpowering but the spectacle/set/performance was just as intense. Fuck me man, I would cry if I ever met Scott or Steve in an alley. Massive, unabashedly threatening, tried by fire, and undyingly hardcore. If you don't believe me head over to the Shrinebuilder Blog and read that post. Fear is a word that comes to mind. Anyways, they were everything I wanted to see. If you're trying to see them, just remember they pretty much stick to the slow heavy stuff and lean towards the new right now.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Neurosis - Given To The Rising
This one's for Thomas from the Sleepies (see previous post, probably on 1st page for deviously fucking insidiously catchy album d/l). Last night in the worlds most crowded asshole bar where I came nigh on slaughtering the people in the way of my beer consumption, Thomas and I got to talking about Metal, and how even as someone who has no fucking clue about the first thing about metal he can still get behind the fucking Melvins. I, as someone who enjoys the fuck out of some Melvins got behind that statement and had to back it up by saying that perhaps his first hit was good, but maybe he should up the fucking ante and step in to some Neurosis.
Neurosis is perfect. It's got the hardcore roots that a punk like myself demands and the massive, spinewrenching, skullcrushing, bowel emptying riffage a doom fan desires, and then some weird ambient shit for everyone else. Basically they are fucking unstoppable. Thomas, here's the new album I was telling you about. Give it a shot.
Neurosis - Given to the Rising
Friday, January 16, 2009
Doom Metal Wet Dreams Come True
Sometimes a musical project comes along that just stops you in your tracks. Sometimes the very idea of the project is just so good, so unreal that you have to stop and pay attention.
If you like Doom, then Shrinebuilder is this band. The hype is so huge for this project for those who listen to this crap that the results had better be fucking monumental.
Basically, Shrinebuilder is Scott Michael Kelly, the singer and guitarist from Neurosis, Dale Crover the Melvins Drummer, Al Cisneros the bassist from Sleep and Om, and Scott "Wino" Weinrich, doom metal god and legend for over 25 years (St. Vitus, the Obsessed, Hidden Hand, Spirit Caravan, Place of Skulls, etc.) getting together to churn out what is bound to be some of the heaviest shit ever laid to track.
Apparently the recording is done and it's off getting mastered somewhere now. I can't wait to hear this shit.
Check out Shrinebuilder Blog by Scott Michael Kelly of Neurosis
If you like Doom, then Shrinebuilder is this band. The hype is so huge for this project for those who listen to this crap that the results had better be fucking monumental.
Basically, Shrinebuilder is Scott Michael Kelly, the singer and guitarist from Neurosis, Dale Crover the Melvins Drummer, Al Cisneros the bassist from Sleep and Om, and Scott "Wino" Weinrich, doom metal god and legend for over 25 years (St. Vitus, the Obsessed, Hidden Hand, Spirit Caravan, Place of Skulls, etc.) getting together to churn out what is bound to be some of the heaviest shit ever laid to track.
Apparently the recording is done and it's off getting mastered somewhere now. I can't wait to hear this shit.
Check out Shrinebuilder Blog by Scott Michael Kelly of Neurosis
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