Month: February 2023

71TonMan, Of End Times (Transcending Obscurity 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , ,

The title of 71TonMan’s new album is no exaggeration: Of End Times.

I got on board with 71TonMan late, with their EP from 2021, War Is Peace // Peace Is Slavery. Hearing it, I quickly went back and consumed everything else they had released – two full-length albums, 71TonMan (2013) and Earthwreck (2017), and a split. Doom is heavy by nature, of course, but this doom will sink you. The band is from Poland and its members are Daniel Jakub Kida (vocals), Tomasz Gardecki (guitar), Michał Zieleniewski (guitar), Jędrzej Wroński (bass), and Jakub Jankowski (drums).

There are four long tracks on the new record, each running about ten minutes. “Conquest” starts off with a sour squeal, leading into clanking percussion. Crushing funeral doom-paced riffs smash down and take over, withering any hope of escape. “Plague” takes a more rolling thunder kind of approach, a crashing waves sort of manifestation. It is a marching menace that brings the plague with it and spreads it to every corner of the land surveyed. This music cannot me negotiated with – it is going to do what it does.

Side two brings “War” and “Famine.” These two clearly go together, musically and in reality. Because you won’t have one without the other, which comes first is a matter of happenstance or intention … it doesn’t really matter. The vocals are like a choir that does not soothe, opting instead for grim truth. The final ten minutes of the set are the darkest and most dangerous, clawing away any comfort that somehow still remained. The music that came before sat on the event horizon and these final minutes are when you fall into the black hole where there is no escape. Highly recommended.

End Of Times is out on Friday, March 3rd through Transcending Obscurity Records. Touch the links below to explore the options.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://71tonmanband.bandcamp.com/album/of-end-times-sludge-doom-metal

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/71TonMan

Transcending Obscurity Records, http://transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.com/

FFMB review of previous 71TonMan EP, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2021/07/09/71tonman-war-is-peace-peace-is-slavery-transcending-obscurity-2021/

© Wayne Edwards

71TonMan, Of End Times (Transcending Obscurity 2023)

Nuclear Holocaust, Sailing The Seas Of Nuclear Waste (Selfmadegod 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

Sailing The Seas Of Nuclear Waste is a fitting return to full-length form for Poland’s Nuclear Holocaust.

It all started 2015 when the grindcore first started to percolate in Poland as Nuclear Holocaust. To me, it is the thrash punk elements that stand out brightest on their newest work, but in it and in their music from the past you will find a variety of styles and essences. They have so far released two long-players and splits with Leb Prosiaka, Expurgo, and Straight Hate (among others) to go along with their live record and a compilation in 2020. The band is Bloodseeker (vocals), XXX-Bomber (guitar), Overkiller (drums), and Doomtrigger (bass).

There are sixteen tracks on the new album ranging in length from fifty one seconds to one hundred twenty eight seconds. So, in every case, we could say these are sharp punches to the throat, a loud battering to your ears. For example, the first track, “The Last Day of Serenity,” is those things in spades. It is a menacing blender, with gruesome, croaking vocals and belligerent rhythm. The very next song has those underlying qualities in general, too, but it is lighter in aural spirit, despite its title: “Mutant Blitzkrieg.” It is almost pop punk in its clippiness. “The Finishing Blow” has the harder edge of the first song and takes that idea even farther and darker. So, no, the music does not all sound the same even when fundamental similarities are present – each son has its own festering essence.

If you are listening to this album, you are looking for thrashy punk metal, and you’ve found the motherlode. “Undead Hordes Special Forces” is a beautiful spout of horrendous menace with killer riffage, and “Suicidal Paranoia” has a fine crackle to, like a good draw on a water pipe and what comes after that. I also appreciate the aggressive determination of “Like Lambs to the Slaughter,” and the unlikely pace of “Synthetic Sea.” In all, this hard-edged set is ultimately endearing in a black hearted kind of way. Recommended.

Sailing The Seas Of Nuclear Waste is out on Friday, March 3rd through Selfmadegod Records. Peruse the links below.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://selfmadegod.bandcamp.com/album/sailing-the-seas-of-nuclear-waste

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Nuclearmetalpunks

Selfmadegod Records, https://selfmadegod.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Nuclear Holocaust, Sailing The Seas Of Nuclear Waste (Selfmadegod 2023)

Photo Gallery: Bassists, Part 3

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Buckcherry
Death Angel
Doyle
Gatecreeper
Michael Schenker Band
Prong
The Native Howl
Tommy Stewart’s Dyerwulf
Year of the Cobra

Photos by Wayne Edwards.

© Wayne Edwards

Photo Gallery: Bassists, Part 3

Kings of Thrash and Hatriot at The Vogue, Indianapolis, February 20, 2023

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , , ,

The Mega Years Tour of the Kings Of Thrash raised Indy’s blood pressure at The Vogue Theatre in Broad Ripple.

Kings of Thrash is a band formed by bassist David Ellefson and guitarist Jeff Young to celebrate the early, classic creations of thrash juggernaut Megadeth. Specifically, on this tour they are playing Killing is My Business…and Business is Good and So Far, So Good…So What in their entirety. Don’t ask any questions about Peace Sells … Actually, the reason they are playing the first and third Megadeth albums is because the second one is so well known that it sometimes overshadows the great music on the other two. It is a clever idea, and a boon for fans to be able to hear this rarely-played music.

The opening act was Hatriot, pronounce to rhyme with “patriot” – an important point, especially since I was pronouncing it more like Hat Riot until I heard better. Imagine my surprise when no one in the band was wearing headgear of any sort. Created in 2011 by Exodus vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza and guitar maestro Kosta Varvatakis, the band is now peopled by Cody Souza, Kosta Varvatakis, Nick Souza and Kevin Paterson. They have a solid discography behind them, including last year’s record The Veil Of Shadows, and they carry the Bay Area banner with pride. Hatriot played several songs from the new album, naturally, and spread music from their other albums liberally across the rest of the set. They were great, and my only complaint is I wished they had played longer because I was ready to hear more.

Hatriot

Kings Of Thrash did what they said they were going to do. They played those early Megadeth albums in their entirety, with a slightly altered song order, if I heard it right. Principals Ellefson and Young performed exceptionally well, and they deserve enormous credit for bringing this music back to the forefront. After all, many of these songs haven’t been performed live regularly for decades. The performed a few shows last October, finishing off at the Whisky A Go Go. Things went so well they decided to mount a bigger tour in 2023.

David Ellefson
Jeff Young

Lead guitar and singing duties were handled by Chaz Leon, and the drummer for the tour is Fred Aching. The band played flawlessly, whipping up the modest Broad Ripple crowd and keeping the thrash rolling song after song. The encore held a few surprises, with “Peace Sells” showing up and other bands getting the cover spotlight as well. It was a great show, and even better than I expected it would be.

Chaz Leon

Kings of Thrash and Hatriot are on tour for the next several weeks. Check out the tour poster to see where they will be playing near you. Catch them if you can.

Photos by Wayne Edwards.

Links.

Kings of Thrash website, https://www.kingsofthrash.com/

Hatriot website, https://hatriot.bigcartel.com/

The Vogue Theatre, https://thevogue.com/

Photo Galleries.

Kings of Thrash, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2023/02/25/photo-gallery-kings-of-thrash-at-the-vogue-theatre-indianapolis-2023/

Hatriot, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2023/02/25/photo-gallery-hatriot-at-the-vogue-theatre-indianapolis-2023/

© Wayne Edwards

Kings of Thrash and Hatriot at The Vogue, Indianapolis, February 20, 2023

Mammoth Caravan, Ice Cold Oblivion (2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , ,

The new record from Mammoth Caravan has the weight and pace of an ancient glacier of doom: Ice Cold Oblivion.

Mammoth Caravan is from Little Rock, Arkansas. They are a doom band, and they don’t sound like anything I heard when I was last in Little Rock. Huge riffs and inventive constructions surround variegated vocals and flaring guitar to produce fantastic results. The band is Brandon Ringo (bass, vocals), Evan Swift (guitar vocals), and Robert Warner (drums).

The odd tinkling sounds that open the set on “Ice Cold Oblivion” give no clue that titanic riffs will follow. Neither do they hint at the gravely vocals which align perfectly with the other instruments. Mystical, freezing doom is what this is. “Nomad” is a clomping continuation, a revving up of the premise established in the opener. With a tighter pace and steady drive, much ground is covered, and a tasty lead guitar break is introduced, opening the way for huffing vocals that might have come from an actual mammoth. “Petroglyphs” is a melancholic spellcaster, a cratered celestial body of ancient wisdom. The beautiful wind-down is haunting.

Side two offers first “Megafauna,” a temperamental tune that rattles you and brings on an itch. “Periglacial” is a fascinating piece, with unexpected drumming and vocals, that latter being clean and clear at the front, creating an epic metal expectation and delivering something off to the side of that. It is one of my favorite tracks on the album. The set closes on “Frostbite,” an eleven-minute creeper that is so entrancing you might forget to breathe. I love this song. The entire album has impressed me, clocking doom as it does and ploughing a course all its own. Recommended.

Ice Cold Oblivion is out on Saturday, February 25th. Listen and buy at Bandcamp through the link below.

Band Photo by Kurt Lunsford.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://mammothcaravan.bandcamp.com/album/ice-cold-oblivion

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/MammothCaravan

© Wayne Edwards

Mammoth Caravan, Ice Cold Oblivion (2023)

Necrovation, Storming The Void / Starving Grave (Blood Harvest 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , ,

Death metal band Necrovation breaks back into this dimension with a new EP, Storming The Void – Starving Grave.

Necrovation first stirred in Sweden twenty years ago. They laid down a string of reliable heavy metal releases including a couple of EPs, a demo, and two long-players, Breed Deadness Blood (2008) and Necrovation (2012). After that, they went on an extended recording hiatus. Until now. I am not sure what happened between now and then, and maybe it was nothing more than the musicians choosing not to record anything. Whatever it was, the new music is what is important today. The Metal Archives reveals the band members to be Anton Wanstadius (bass), A. Bünger (drums), and Sebastian Gadd (vocals, guitar).

There are two tracks on the new EP. “Storming The Void” is a lunging production, fierce enough the wake the dead. The death metal framework is at first familiar, but the music veers off in obscene directions with no notice at all, playing freely with multiple genres and subgenres. The muted aggression at the end of the song is a withering, frightening affair.

Its companion, “Starving Grave,” challenges the opener in intensity, but at a different pace and approach. After a measured beginning, the engine explodes and shrapnel flies in every direction, opening wounds. The melodic passage that follows is not reassuring, but is instead taunting, and a critical pummeling does indeed follow. There is a constant feeling of the presence of disembodied souls drifting nearby in the midgame, putting an elemental twist on the composition.

There are only two songs here, and they are both great. It makes me want to hear more, but until that comes to pass, this brief return is more than welcome. Recommended.

The new EP is out on Friday, February 24th through Blood Harvest Records. In the US, Bandcamp is the reliable source.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://bloodharvestrecords.bandcamp.com/album/storm-the-void-starving-grave

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/necrovationdeathmetal

Blood Harvest Records, http://shop.bloodharvest.se/

© Wayne Edwards

Necrovation, Storming The Void / Starving Grave (Blood Harvest 2023)

Coffinborn, Cadaveric Retribution (Xtreem 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , ,

The long-awaited debut album from death metal band Coffinborn has arrived: Cadaveric Retribution.

Coffinborn formed in Szeged, Hungary just over ten years ago. In 2014 they released a demo, Beneath the Cemetery, and went on to write a full-length album at about the same time. It is a little unclear what happened next, but history intervened and the music was not recorded when it was composed. Fast-forward a decade and the band finally has the opportunity to chisel the music into digital stone. Their approach is classic death metal, as in Death and Grave, say, and the execution is absolutely deadly. The stage names of the musicians are Blasphemy (drums, vocals), Churchburner (bass), and Disguster (guitar, vocals).

“Self-Mutilation of the Soul” lays it on with a wail and a chop, gutting at the mid-tempo then speeding up the percussion to gain a rush. Fantastic, killer instrumental opening. “Undead Ceremony” is next, cracking the earth with growling vocals, blast beats, and careening speed. The weight of the music is pulverizing, and the doom downshift in the middle is a thing of beauty. The blistering lead break is excellent as well, with a nod to the classic posture while working new angles. “Flesheater” takes a different approach, with a steady, persistent riff and warning vocals that signal the flesh eater is here. If these first three songs don’t grab your attention and hook you then you are not a death metal fan.

There are no low points on this record. “Infernal Entombment” is a stand-out track for me because of its crushing heaviness, and “Gruesome Fate” turned me around, too, with its penetrating drive. The sets wraps-up on the title track, “Cadaveric Retribution,” which is a malignant beast all its own, chewing and spitting and rending the terra. The album is exceptional all the way through, and I am glad it is seeing the light of day after ten years. Recommended.

Cadaveric Retribution is out on Thursday, February 23rd through Xtreem Music. In the US, Bandcamp is a great place to pick it up, and you can stream it in the usual spots.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://xtreemmusic.bandcamp.com/album/cadaveric-retribution

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/coffinborn

Xtreem Music, http://www.xtreemmusic.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Coffinborn, Cadaveric Retribution (Xtreem 2023)

Street Tombs, Reclusive Decay (Carbonized 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , ,

The debut album from southwestern death metal band Street Tombs is Reclusive Decay.

Street Tombs has been around for roughly a lustrum, cranking out three solid demos from their Santa Fe stomping grounds in that time. Known for driving rhythms and chomping insistency, the music on the new album embraces and extends their hallmarks. The band is Damian Jacoby (guitar, vocals), David McMaster (guitar, vocals), Ben Brodsky (drums), and Galen Baudhuin (bass).

“Wretched Remains” is perfect music for a scene in a movie where a horde of evil creatures climbs a rock cliff intent on doing harm. They could be spiders, too, given the cover art. That would work. Crusty vocals are in step with the ascent, and the lead guitar remark is backing for an evil choir. Medium-speedy in the tempo, this opener grabs your attention and shakes the wax from your ears. “Diseased Existence” plays into the hands of the drama seekers, dripping as it is with mystical atmosphere. There is a tasty downshift in the middle that appeals to the doom within me. The ending seems to take place in outer space. “Devour” returns to the renderings of the first track, furthering the musical ideas and feasting on the dead. The wind-down is a callback to the second song.

Side two gives us “Rising Torment” to begin with. It feels like getting a shiv to the gut in prison on your way to the shower. It is not a life threatening wound, but it does get to you. Five and a half minutes in, a dark door to a secret mausoleum opens, revealing sinister works. The rumbling road rhythms return with “Commanding Voices of the Damned,” and “Volcanic Siege” is the fitting final word. The album blows in with a running time of just over thirty minutes. The songs have a nice solid crunchy metal structure with familiar bones and clever accoutrements. It is a good listen.

Reclusive Decay drops on Friday, February 17th through Carbonized Records. You can get yours at the links below.

Band photo by Caitlyn Stuart.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://carbonizedrecords.bandcamp.com/album/reclusive-decay

Carbonized Records, https://carbonizedrecords.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Street Tombs, Reclusive Decay (Carbonized 2023)