milking the sick farce

thank you, Corrosion of Conformity, "Ahh Blugh"

A recent facebook post from Season to Risk reminded me of the passing of C.O.C.’s Reed Mullin. The man was a jackhammer. He owns one of the best drum captures recorded in the underground on Blind. Truly phenomenal tones and performances there. Return to that album and relive its glory.

Speaking of S2R, the space metallurgists and Init Records have 1-800-Meltdown vinyl primed for record store day April 12. “Echo Chamber” is a new track that isn’t on the original bandcamp release of the album. Track hits with S2R wrapping their noise rock lock grooves around the Bad Seeds swing. I think it’s the squirming noise in the background that makes me think Bad Seeds. Whatever the case, nice to see the KCMO wrecking machine back.

Coltsblood brings its unfathomable doom from the north to Translation Loss. Into the cauldron a dash of old school Celtic Frost, pinch of 2nd wave black metal, sprigs of feedback, a dollop of doom. Bring to a boil. Enter the miasma and drown a burning death.

Right now, Threat is album of the year for me. This came out of nowhere. A long time removed from 2014’s Liars/Bastards Hateful Abandon come bearing 8 missives for an apocalypse. Killing Joke is a placemarker from the jump. As are Test Dept, SPK, Swans (84-87), Knife Ladder, Wiseblood, Klinik/Dive, Amebix and Antisect as the album unfolds. Normally I push back against nostalgia, but, Hateful Abandon have crafted a violent, depressive atmosphere throughout a varied attack that never sounds schizophrenic. While its scars are from yore it is so authentic in execution that I succumb to the energy and song writing. “Shimmer Road” strikes me as “Corridor of Cells” as interpreted by Beyond Dawn circa pity love and revelry. The perfect elegy for this burning world.

Speaking of UK legends… Peter Murphy has something new. This track is not my bag, but could be yours.

Chaos Inception sort of brought this stupid substack thing back in motion. As I had nothing to for you dear readers to listen to a couple of weeks ago, Jan at Lavadome provides the aural damage. Gladly pay him now for physical copy in the future.

Triumphant return of Cali’s Burning Palace sounds of with a bass intro a la old school piece of time Atheist before metalmorphing into the 21st century with a combination attack melding hints of melo-death and dissonances. Crushingly heavy at moments, grinding at light speeds and transitioning suddenly into sci-fi tech fretboard gymnastics of the Amott/Loomis variety. This track doesn’t seem far removed from the Hollow debut, but, it has a warmer production and more melodicism here than almost the entirety there. Can seen Burning Palace working in tandem with UK death thrash kingpins Damim or sci-fi death tech of Siderean.

Very interesting to see Denisa on the Deathwish roster. While this song isn’t the best off the album, you should head over to the Devil’s Mouth for a low down on what to expect.

AmenRa aren’t the only post hardcore esoteric, ritual sludgesters roaming Belgium. Pothamus have just released Abur. Tribalism, mysticism converge into sprawling hypnotic epics that will sweep over you and take you to nether realms yet unseen. O Yuki Conjugate meeting VHK and Grails at a drum circle.

Staying within the Pelagic Records family BRUIT ≤ are set to return late April. First track is making me think Tod Dockstader, in a case of time travel, is manipulating recordings of Dirge and early Pink Floyd. The Machine is burning and now everyone knows it could happen again was a thing of majesty, will the Age of Ephemerality be the of similar royal cloth?

One look at the cover of PNEU Get Old Or Die Tryin you expect No Wave. You get a dynamic duo that rolls as if Coptic Light met U SCO at a Lightning Bolt/Locust gig. Frantic as fuck, herky jerky, mathy chaos with a few moments of respite in squiggly synth noodlings and modulations.

Based off this following track, I suspect BaarRa has similar DNA as Hateful Abandon reconfigured into occult, mystical trappings. There are strands of post punk, psyche, industrial and metal here as well as an impassioned, burly vocal delivery. Very much looking forward to see what this full length brings.

Signing off with something from 2024 that it doesn’t appear enough people have picked up… Paranormal Violence from Teutonic terror squad Omegavortex. Raw demo recordings for an upcoming album. Pure, unbridled raging death. Vocals sitting somewhere in the GISM school of glass gargling. Music in spasms of dissonant noise and bludgeoning drums. Khthoniik Cerviiks gone grind? Deiphago using Voivod chords? An unearthed collab of Nuclear Death and Nuclear Exorcist Deceased? Whatever the case, looking forward to the forthcoming album.

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