I wonder if Keenan and his bodies will ever again find the resources to put together another Tool album? When back in ’95 Keenan describes Puscifer as a series of musical ideas he did not have an opportunity to explore with Tool or A Perfect Circle, but “Telling Ghosts”, “Toma” and few other moments, for instance, might quite fit onto a Tool album. Although “Conditions Of My Parole”, is a quite colorful trip between Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer and a few other influences from Radiohead to The Smashing Pumpkins, juggling between trip hop and industrial metal, defines genres, merging sounds and delivering – once again – something quite different and unique.
This time Keenan and his long list of contributors including Mat Mitchell, Tim Alexander, Jonny Polonski, Danny Lohner, Josh Eustis, Gil & Rani Sharone, Jeff Freidl, Matt McJunkins, Lustmord, Laura Milligan, Carina Round, Jackie Harris, Paul Greenberg, Micah Player, Juliette Commagere, Mike King, Ainjel Emme, Meats Meier, Evil Joe Baressi, Trey Gunn, Milla Jovovich, Lisa Germano, Tim Cadiente, Ford Englerth, Jeffrey Brooks, Micah, Eddie McClintock, Joe Nagy, Satan’s Muse, and more, delivered a quite dark and tensioned album. Read more Puscifer – Conditions Of My Parole (2011)
post metal
Nothing – The New Psychodalia (2011)
Born Jeffrey Lewis Hetrick, infamous for being the vocalist for the alternative/industrial metal band Mushroomhead, but also some other Cleveland-based metal bands such as Purgatory in the mid 80s and later Hatrix, Jeff Hatrix also known as Jeffrey Nothing, is one day away from the official release of his first solo album under the moniker Nothing through Suburban Noize Records. In 2008, Jeffrey announced he will release a solo album titled “The New Psychodahlia” and due to Mushroomheads hectic recording and touring schedule, the album was written over a four year period. The 13 tracks written, shows a quite diverse, colorful collection of songs from alternative to classic metal sounds and from rock to industrial, Nothing throw in his own blender of sounds and styles many different influences and approaches to bring to life his own little monster. “I feel it’s a sort of Sepultura meets Alice in Chains, meets Acid Bath” – said Jeffrey Nothing and with each song listened from the album other and other names are popping up. “Psychodalia” for instance sound like Down, “Burial” is a haunting track where post-grunge and goth rock influences collide while “Deathbed Masquerade” reveals some of their industrial roots. But “Mnemerator” might fits right in onto a Tom Waits or Primus album. And every and each song deliver another taste and surprise. Read more Nothing – The New Psychodalia (2011)
Eyes Front North – EP (2011)
Hard to stick a label to them, the French band Eyes Front North delivered on their debut EP a gloomy and extremely diversified mixture of metal blended through their own filter and blue colored. From classic, Venom taste like black metal to the brutal riffing of thrash/nu grinding Sepultura and from hardcore like raging to contorted match metal and post-rock, these guys took the literal sense of crossover (and back, and through again), they take inspiration from different roots and (sub) genres and it seems that they targeted the elimination of any musical and stylistically boundaries, but staying metal. Future metal? Well, the future sounds dark, cutting and distorted, but definitively worth a trip into it under the guidance of Eyes Front North. Read more Eyes Front North – EP (2011)
Wayne Static – Pighammer (2011)
Might be unbelievable, but there are 12 years since the release of Static-X’s killer debut album “Wisconsin Death Trip”. God! how old I am?! Still, it seems – and feels – like yesterday. Last time, in 2009, Static-X delivered the Ministry versus White Zombie resonating “Cult of Static” and the band seems to keep up with their one album at two years precisely tempo. Meanwhile bass player Tony Campos left Static-X and joined Soulfly replacing Bobby Burns, while guitarist Koichi Fukuda since 2010 became a member of the industrial metal/ambient band Drugstore Fanatics. Wayne said: “It’s doubtful I will do anything with Static-X for the next couple years”, so “Pighammer” is the closest thing to Static-X, and officially the band went on hiatus.
But fans definitively will be satisfied by “Pighammer”, this is another crushing industrial release and Wayne delivered his best. Evil disco? This time, eventually, a facelift for the Devil. 👿 Read more Wayne Static – Pighammer (2011)
Unfold – Cosmogon (2011)
Released on September 27, 2011, “Cosmogon”, on Division Records, the third album by Swiss metal outfit Unfold came after a gap of eight years.
Alain – guitars & keys, Bastien – bass, Danek – vocals, Elie – guitars & keys, Laurent – drums, and Simon – guitars & keys delivered a dark and raw mix of slow grinding crust/doom/sludge like vibes with cutting edge and explosive riffs, hurricane like metal butcheries. Combining classic metal themes and modern sounds, twisted solutions, sometimes scremo like vocals, subtle elector-acoustic passages with post-grunge after taste and merciless grindings, they create their distinctive, own blended metal, and open the gates of an unheard universe.
38 minutes, 6 tracks, Unfold express anger, despair, suffering, and delivered the darkest future-metal. Read more Unfold – Cosmogon (2011)
As We Draw, Euglena, Hexis – 3​-Way Split (2011)
Encouraging free download, releasing classic vinyls and spreading real underground metal and alternatives for the mainstream crap, Throatruiner Records from France seems to be a nowadays Don Quijote of the music industry. One of these days I was thinking about my old record collection, I really miss now the scratches and the warm sound of the vinyls, I miss the big covers and the touch of the paper, I miss the good times they represent at least symbolically. The good times of the music when music was more about music and less about business and industry. I fucking hate the plastic cases, the cellophane coating as I hate the folders on my hard drive and the mp3s. Everything is so plastic and so tasteless.
What I’m saying is that the effort of Throatruiner Records and other-likes worth some respect and recognition. Their new 3-Way split is once again available to listen, free download or buy at their Bandcamp page, but I think both – bands and label – deserves some remuneration. Read more As We Draw, Euglena, Hexis – 3​-Way Split (2011)
XMRV – Disimmunized (2011)
Absolutely sick! Lasting only one minute, “Noodles” clarify at least this aspect. Xenotropic murine leukemia virus (XMRV) – is a gammaretrovirus that was first described in 2006. Initial reports linked the virus to prostate cancer, and later to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), but these were followed by a large number of studies in which no association was found. It has not been established that XMRV can infect humans, nor has it been demonstrated that XMRV is associated with or causes human disease. Numerous researchers have suggested that XMRV detection may result from contamination of clinical specimens and laboratory reagents with mouse retroviruses or related nucleic acids. I told you it’s sick!
A clash of nationalities, cultures, quite different tastes and musical influences and backgrounds, XMRV blending through their own creative filter hardcore, thrash metal, grunge, noise, punk, jazz, Latin music and delivering a killer sonic cocktail which will definitively knock you down. Are you ready for a punch directly in your immune system? Read more XMRV – Disimmunized (2011)
Machine Head – Unto The Locust (2011)
Robb Flynn is back. Although “The Blackening”, their previous album, was released in 2007, it seems it was a lifetime ago. Acclaimed by fans and critics, “The Blackening” definitively raise high expectations. But the million points question is: the media can make a new metal god out of Machine Head? Generally speaking, probably yes, not only of Flynn’s band, but out of any band they picking it up. Particularly, Machine Head are a goddamn hell of a band, I still believe, their debut album, “Burn My Eyes”, back in 1994 was one of the strongest and most expressive metal album ever delivered. Meantime Machine Head aimed too much to be popular, to be on the right trend, eventually become “the next Metallica”. Shifting from one subgenre to another, Machine Head miss the essence: they always remains one step behind the trends instead to settle one. And metal is not a popularity contest. Don’t miss understand me, they are a killer band, but eventually too… audience-friendly. And lately media-friendly. Because yes, without media don’t matter who you are, you are nothing. Read more Machine Head – Unto The Locust (2011)
Marilyn Manson – Mechanical Animals (1998)
The world was frightened by Marilyn Manson back in 1996 after the release of the (in)famous “Antichrist Superstar” and expectation was set high for their next release. “Mechanical Animals” showed a different face of Marilyn Manson and take the world by surprise once again. Marilyn Manson had “sold out”? Some old-time fans were dissapointed by the more glam rock oriented sound and less aggressive approach of the album, some consider it even radio-friendly, still, “Mechanical Animals” contains music far more complex than most of his work. Inspired by 1970s style, Bowie-esque glam rock and borrowing both from Roxy Music and T. Rex, Manson delivered a rock opera concept album and the second installment in a trilogy that was started with “Antichrist Superstar” and was closed by “Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)” and as it was later explained, it was released backward. Read more Marilyn Manson – Mechanical Animals (1998)
Mediocracy – Asoma (2011)
“Humanity may be closing in on it’s end but for now we are still here and we resist as much as possible…and Mediocracy is only at the beginning!” – they said one year ago and the guys from Mediocracy are strikes again. Their second installment, “Asoma” it’s been released today, lucky 13 😀 , 13th September, 2011, and it’s available for free download just like their previous effort at Asiluum.com , the web site which promote most of the uprising Romanian artists.
“Mediocracy is a situation in the society in which mediocre people prevail. The society is subordinated to a quasi-egalitarian ideology in which words and ideas are redefined to be convenient for the average people. Other symptoms include dumbing, jargonism, infantilisation, vacuity, phoney democratisation and authoritarianism.”
Read more Mediocracy – Asoma (2011)
