Monthly Metal Mixtape: September 2020
Steve O - September 10, 2020
So years ago, I tried out this column I called Monthly Metal Mixtape. The idea was that I’d give a quick glimpse at a handful of metal records that I’d been listening to and thought you should check out as well. It didn’t last very long because… I’m lazy who knows, I got busy? But it’s time to try this again! With a twist this time. I’ve asked some friends to chip in, so it’s really a mixtape this time. So huge thanks to you all for contributing, and if you, dear reader, want to participate as well, just get in touch.
Enjoy!
Def.Master – Destroyer Has Godmind (1994, Destroy Method)
[Kicks down the front door] Who were Def.Master you ask? Why, only a Japanese industrial metal band that beat Fear Factory to the punch, have gnarly songs and a grimy attitude. You can find their first album Destroyer Has Godmind on Youtube below. [Grabs your six-pack from the fridge and leaves] – Richard
Devil Master – Satan Spits on Children of Light (2019, Relapse Records)
Alright, hear me out, I know Devil Master is a super cheesy name for a band… especially in the twenty first century… but this shit is good. Devil Master put out their first demo, Manifestations, in 2018. It was an exciting and refreshing take on punk and metal. The band combined elements of black metal, d-beat and crust with surf rock inspired guitar riffs. It was like if East Bay Ray played with Darkthrone during their crust punk years. It was raw and punk as fuck. The band was picked up by Relapse Records on the strength of the demo and they quickly delivered with their excellently titled 2019 full length, Satan Spits on Children of Light. On this album, Devil Master continues their punk/metal crossover with cleaner recordings that bring out their metal side a bit more. The riffs are a little less surfy but the guitars are SOAKED in reverb and they might even give a little nod to Dick Dale’s “Miserlou” on “Black Flame Candle.” The album is dark and ominous but it’s really fun to listen to and great to mosh around to. For a band named Devil Master, they don’t seem to take themselves too seriously (that’s the punk influence) but they’re also no joke. I’ve been listening to this band a lot ever since they put out their demo. Looking forward to seeing what they come up with next! – Danny Collins
Entombed – Left Hand Path (1990, Earache Records)
Entombed is an undeniable pillar in the pantheon of death metal, particularly in the Swedish scene, and their debut, Left Hand Path is universally lauded as fucking impeccable. Virtually every death metal band coming out of Sweden owes some influence to Entombed. Left Hand Path is grimy, but tight, with riffs that rip and absolutely pounding drums, and it all worms its way into your brain. And L.G. Petrov’s vocal delivery, more of a raspy bark than the low grunt-growl style that you saw coming out of the Florida scene at the time, is just so timeless. And that’s why I’m highlighting it here – Petrov has been recently diagnosed with an incurable bile duct cancer. You can donate to his Go Fund Me here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-petrov. Additionally, Earache is donating all proceeds from Entombed’s sale to Petrov’s fund. Support a legend. – Steve O
Fister – Gemini (2013, Pissfork Anticulture)
Punishing nihilistic doom. The album starts with the kind of grating aggression you'd expect from Fister. “Antitheist” slowly melts from unforgiving harshness into the melancholic and then on to this sprawling, beautiful symphonic dirge. Despite this progression it never loses its edge. “Suicide Hessian” doesn't know if it's d-beat or death/doom and it's perfect; like Asphyx, slowed down and played with more hate. And then there's the crowning achievement of “Gemini.” Sparse piano mixed with the slow repetition of acoustic guitar, upright bass, and the slow wail of violin. A perfect union of eerie acoustic elements with monolithic, aggressive doom; like a lullaby for a long dormant god. A juggernaut of feedback and pessimism. – Cry Baby Hank
Lord Mantis – Pervertor (2012, Candlelight Records)
RIYL: Records that rule and bands that fucking shred.Chances are you’re familiar with Chicago’s doom powerhouse Indian, but what about their brethren band Lord Mantis? My first encounter with this noisy “heavy as fuck” five-piece was 2014’s Death Mask (Profound Lore), which I absolutely couldn’t get enough of and I recommend to everyone reading this. Granted, they’ve released an album as recent as 2019 (Universal Death Church also on Profound Lore), but what I want to showcase here is the band’s ridiculously gnarly, epic and “in your face” second output Pervertor from 2012. Everything about this album just destroys and slays. Supreme riffage, pummeling drums, and throat ripping vocals make for one helluva auditory experience. Favorite tracks include ‘At the Mouth’ and ‘The Whip and the Body.’ If you don’t know, now you know. – James Bauman
Rebel Wizard – Magikal Mystical Indifference (2020, Prosthetic Records)
Bob “nksv” Nekrasov hails from the frost-bitten hills of Australia to bring a screaming beautiful fusion of traditional heavy metal, thrash metal, and black metal to the world. The one-man DIY bedroom black metal auteurism of Rebel Wizard’s sound lies in fitting nksv’s obviously huge spectrum of metal influences into the framework of heavy metal. Classic metal cheese is a healthy component of this sound. Xasthur this is not. However, the black metal atmosphere here is unmistakable with the album’s intentionally raw, but not too raw, production style. Nksv’s vocals, delivered strictly in a throat-shredding bark, call to mind many a corpse-paint wearing Norwegian rogue. He’s really doing something different here though.One look at the song titles and promo pictures for this band will show that the wizard hat wearing Nksv engages with metal tropes in a playful and absurdist manner. The man is having fun, but this isn’t a parody. The fun-having feels deeply sincere. It’s almost like Bob is a melodic black metal Andrew W.K. Reinforcing this A.W.K.-ness are oddball esoteric spoken word self-help passages from a feminine voice weaved into the tunes. It’s definitely the strangest element in the mix, but I think it works. From song to song, the focus shifts from bright melodic leads to blackened riffs to shredding guitar solos and back again. At their best, these compositions seamlessly move between these styles. The refreshing eclecticism, catchiness, sincerity, and oddity on display in these thirty-three minutes begs for repeat listening. – Mike Tri
Vientre – Fronteras (2020, Self-Released)
If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent this past year so far trapped in your head trying to catch up with the things you swear you’d be able to do if you had the time. Lost within, you find some chaotic thoughts and tie some loose ends. You accept who you are and try to grow from your past into a culmination of knowledge gained by your mistakes instead of simply being mistakes. In this growth, you dive into your roots and look up music from your parents birth countries and come across a band called Vientre from Colombia who just so happens to have put out a short album called Fronteras with lyrics revolving heavily on nostalgia and internal conflict accompanied by cavernous ambient guitar reverberations and twinkles walking the line between fury and serenity. The last song, the title song, as I interpret it following the rest of the album, feels like an internal grudge match with the subject’s self begging to change their own ways or risk loneliness and emptiness as alluded to in the previous songs. A beautifully dark, poetic and emotional album short enough to digest in these jumbled times of turmoil. If you’re familiar with Chicago’s own Indisposed, you’ll feel right at home. – Carlos M