Monthly Metal Mixtape: March 2021

One of the fun things about doing this is seeing how diverse the list we end up getting is. None of these four records really sound much alike at all. Each one falls into its own genre, but that overarching idea of metal holds them all together despite all their variables. So, if you like one of these, that’s not a guarantee that you’re gonna like another. Hell, it doesn’t even mean you’ll recognize what’s going on in the other. But by the same token, if you’ve got a picky palate, there’s something for you. If you’ll try just about anything? Well then, you’re in luck, cause you’ll probably find some part of all of these that you’ll enjoy.

Darkthrone – Under A Funeral Moon (1993, Peaceville Records)

Listening side by side, A Blaze in the Northern Sky and Under a Funeral Moon are wildly different. Funeral is a much more accurate representation of the Norwegian Black Metal scene of the time. The sound is thinner, despite the bass being much more present. It leans less on that chaotic feel and opts for a more hypnotic approach; at least in regard to “Natassja in Eternal Sleep” and “Summer of the Diabolical Holocaust.” It's not a drastic change but the shift is notable especially given the tone of Transilvanian Hunger. Overall this album feels much 'colder' as silly as that is to say; so grim, much kvlt. I will say, Funeral is my least favorite album of the three. It doesn't move me the way Blaze and Hunger do. At times it feels like more energy was devoted to making a 'true' black metal album rather than making a truly great black metal album. It can lag a bit at times and it doesn't convey the same sense of power that Blaze does. Some songs are too short and don't feel fully explored. Despite these minor faults, the careful crafting of certain riffs peppered throughout really saves the album. The interaction of the guitar and bass definitely strengthens the album which is something Blaze was lacking; though I don't feel that album suffers for it. The choices made in “Crossing the Triangle of Flames” leaves me feeling satisfied overall with the album as a whole. Fenriz uses this weird stuttering beat on the hi hat in a few places which works against the guitar and lends a sense of discord within the song's structure. There's a great dirgey outro starting at about the 4 minute mark that embodies how great this album can work. The use of these Hellraiser-esque bells as the music fades out is very effective in my opinion; especially with the punctuation of that boomy (almost too loud) floor tom. As a whole this album hits all the marks of what a black metal album should be. However, it can feel less inspired at times when considered alongside Blaze and Hunger. – Cry Baby Hank

Estuarine – Nyarlathotep (2021, Self-Released)

How can I describe this ten-minute-long avantgrind EP? There are enough ideas and notes played for an album. It’s incredibly weird. The mishmash happening is Gorguts meets !T.O.O.H.! and I dunno, like, Braindrill (?) played with a toilet-grind guitar tone, but the audio is produced like an OSDM album. If that means absolutely nothing to you, all the better. This is a one-man band that you hear, and you’re like, “Yeah, that sure is music.” It’s described on the Bandcamp page as technical blackened deathgrind, and y’know, that isn’t wrong. Hydrus is clearly a dude who knows what he wants out of the music he makes, and the music he wants to make is cybergrind playing ten feet under the surface of a lake, but instead of a drowning Agoraphobic Nosebleed, it’s like Timeghoul learned how to breathe underwater. This thing has an infectious upbeat energy to it while at the same time feeling like staring into the eyes of a Lovecraftian horror. It feels good! It just feels pleasant. It’s so short so it feels good to run on repeat through the absurd buzzsaw shred guitars and nonsense blast beats. It’s got this atmosphere that’s fun, intriguing, and weird. Gosh I don’t know how to talk about this. Just put it on. Maybe you’ll end up listening to it ten times in a row like I did. – Mike Tri

Protest the Hero – Palimpsest (2020, Sheet Happens Publishing)

So way back in 2006 I saw DragonForce on their first tour through the US. This was when they were on the ascent, shortly before they really took off with that song on Guitar Hero. They were starting to get popular, but they weren’t a pop culture thing yet. Opening that show was this basically unknown Canadian band, Protest the Hero, who, if memory serves right, looked super fucking young. Well, now, fifteen years later, DragonForce are basically a caricature of themselves, while Protest the Hero are crafting technical, proggy, thought-provoking records, culminating with last year’s Palimpsest. (Let’s digress with definitions first, a palimpsest can refer to either a writing material that has been reused after the original writing was removed or something that has multiple elements present beneath the surface.)

I’m a sucker for records with storylines or ones where you get the fuller picture when reading the lyrics and Palimpsest definitely falls into that camp. Essentially telling stories of American history, each song has a different focus, but usually on the lesser-known historical tomes. Take the masterful “All Hands” about the Great Molasses Flood, when a tanker spilled over two million gallons of molasses into Boston (sidebar: also known as the Boston Molassacre, which is a great name for a sludge band). The song highlights the technical riffs that each song is absolutely brimming with, vocalist Rody Walker’s absolutely stunning range, and sly lyrical lines like “Sweet taste of death in my mouth.” Or “I'm dreaming of a life I can't afford.” Is there a line that sums up the failure of the American Dream than that? The equally impressive “The Canary” is about Amelia Earhart while also referencing the sexism of the time (which hasn’t really gone anywhere nearly 100 years later), featuring bass from Propagandhi’s Todd Kowalski, which is always a plus in my book. At the same time as revisiting these historical tales, the band also revises the way we think about events from history and how they relay down the eras – “The Fireside” is about the almighty economic power of the military-industrial complex, specifically relating to World War II, while “Soliloquy” and “Reverie” about the failures of the for-profit prison system through stories about “Baby Face” Nelson and John Dillinger, the latter of which closes out with some fantastic guitar acrobatics. “Little Snakes” is scathing in its teardown of US policy towards the Lakota and the desecration of Mount Rushmore on a sacred site in the Black Hills, propelled by the discovery of gold there, with lines like “But colonialism by all definitions is the father to a genocide.” The lyrics are brilliant in their duality, telling a story but also bringing to light the darkness that abounds and how that has continued basically as a structure of the country, but one that gets cast aside for the “accepted” version of history. Throughout the record Walker’s vocal acrobatics abound as do a constant barrage of riff gymnastics. It’s melodic and technical and fast – while the band do dynamics and pace well, the best moments are those that allow everyone to highlight their technical proficiency. But it’s not showing off for the sake of it. They craft these moments into inspiring and complete movements. – SteveO

Sons of Ra – Cognitive (2020, Self-Released)

Chicago trio Sons of Ra are a metal band, sure, but they’re also a jazz band. If it’s possible to be both of those things at once. You could call it “experimental” music and that’s accurate to some degree but it also feels a little lazy. The progressive metal and jazz fusion labels hit a little closer. Get ready for a lot of twists and turns, guitar noodling, and precise rhythm. The music can shift from idle musings to firing blasters in a matter of seconds. The Cognitive EP, released last February, is the first part of an album called Cognitive Dissonance. Being the month before everything went bananas, who knows when part two will come out. However, with each of the four songs clocking in between five and seven minutes, Cognitive is a hefty document in its own right. It’s all instrumental music and it gets especially playful during the closing track “A Minor.” Sons of Ra also released a live recording of a show they played at LiveWire Lounge in January of 2020, including a few songs from Cognitive and a couple others. You can find both releases on Sons of Ra’s Bandcamp. Listen to Cognitive below. – Phil Collins