EXTINCTION OF MANKIND

 

"storm of resentment"

Year:  2018

Country:  UK

City:  London

Label:  Agipunk

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  11

Time:  40 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Crust Punk

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"northern scum"

Year:  2006

Label:  Profane Existence

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  10

Time:  33 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Crust Punk

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"the nightmare seconds"

Year:  2004

Label:  Profane Existence

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  12

Time:  40 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Crust Punk

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"baptised in shit"

Year:  1995

Label:  Skuld

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  11

Time:  35 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Crust Punk

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TORCHE

 

"admission"

Year:  2019

Country:  US

City:  Miami

Label:  Relapse

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  11

Time:  36 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Stoner Rock

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"restarter"

Year:  2015

Label:  Relapse

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  10

Time:  40 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Stoner Rock

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"harmonicraft"

Year:  2012

Label:  Volcom

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  13

Time:  40 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Stoner Rock

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"meanderthal"

Year:  2008

Label:  Robotic Empire

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  13

Time:  36 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Stoner Rock

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"idem"

Year:  2005

Label:  Robotic Empire

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  11

Time:  36 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Stoner Rock

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MAN MUST DIE

 

"the pain behind it all"

Year:  2023

Country:  UK

City:  Glasgow

Label:  Distortion

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  10

Time:  50 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Death Metal

Man Must Die was formed in May 2002, with John Lee, Alan McFarland, Danny McNab and Joe McGlynn. The band members were known throughout the Scottish metal scene through other bands such as Regorge, Confusion Corporation, Co-Exist and Godplayer. They released a four-track demo, The Season Of Evil, in 2003 which attracted label Retribute Records who released their debut album ...Start Killing, in 2004. They released their second studio album through Relapse Records, titled The Human Condition. In 2007, Man Must Die parted ways with John Lee who was replaced by Matt Holland, the former drummer of Inversus, Zillah, Sons Of Slaughter and Madman Is Absolute. And in 2012, Matt Holland was replaced by Australian drummer Todd Hansen, of Canadian band Amplitusion, Australian bands Headkase, Rome, F.U.C., and formerly of The Berzerker. In 2009 Man Must Die released their third studio album, entitled No Tolerance For Imperfection through Relapse Records. They toured extensively supporting the likes of Machine Head, Hatebreed, Decapitated, Dying Fetus, Suffocation, Cephalic Carnage, Kataklysm, The Rotted and Exodus. Their 4th studio album, entitled Peace Was Never an Option was released on 11 November 2013. Man Must die entered the studio in 2018 to record the "Gagging Order" EP. This included 2 covers and the "Slave to the Animal" single and was released in 2019. On 20 January 2023, the band announced their fifth album, The Pain Behind It All, would be released on 17 February, and also released the music video for the album's title track.

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"peace was never an option"

Year:  2012

Label:  Lifeforce

Format:  CD

Tracks:  9

Time:  40 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Death Metal

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"gagging order"

Year:  2019

Label:  GrindScene 

Format:  CD

Tracks:  7

Time:  20 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Death Metal

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"no tolerance for imperfection"

Year:  2009

Label:  Relapse

Format:  CD, 2 x LP

Tracks:  11

Time:  45 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Death Metal

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"the human condition"

Year:  2007

Label:  Relapse

Format:  CD

Tracks:  11

Time:  50 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Death Metal

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"start killing"

Year:  2004

Label:  Retribute

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  9

Time:  30 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Death Metal

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SLIPKNOT

 

"idem"

Year:  1999

Country:  US

City:  Iowa

Label:  Warner

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  17

Time:  35 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Nu Metal

It’s odd that a band who, unconventionally, has nine members can be so formulaic. Slipknot is a huge gimmick and it is of no surprise that, given the American metal landscape that their gimmick was marketable, and has led the band to commercial success. They wear gruesome masks and write seriously heavy, angst-ridden music. Add in some rap and heavy distortion to make them appear hip and you’ve got a band that angry teenagers (usually for little reason), who know nothing about real music, will eat up. These same elements will also make them despised by most metal purists. I for one, tried my best to hate these guys when they first broke into the mainstream, but I could not ignore their heaviness, attitude and aggression which are elements that I enjoy in my metal so I decided to check them out. Sure, the anger is contrived and the lyrics are designed for disillusioned youth everywhere to identify with, but that marketing strategy is hardly new and neither is metal bands that use gimmicks to sell records, so I won’t hold this, their image and their commercial success against them. Rather, I will focus on their music, which really should be the ONLY reason some one does or does not like them.

I believe the old saying; “Too many cooks spoil the broth” is a good way to describe many of the songs on this album. Yes, they are extremely heavy and their sound is nice and thick, but having nine band members trying to contribute often results in a jumbled mess. Add heavy distortion and constant guitar feedback and often what you end up with is unlistenable noise that actually bothers your ears. Tattered and Torn is a great example of this. Distortion and screeching sound effects are an effective and easy way to create filler for an album and a cheap way to try and make an album sound angry. Marilyn Manson is often guilty of this, as he and Slipknot both go for the same pseudo-disturbing image and sound. I believe that both bands would do well to strip down their sound a bit and ease off the distortion.

Another element of this album that turns me off is the rap element which there is plenty of on this album. Whenever Corey Taylor begins to rap, virtually whatever potential the song once had goes out of the window and the song turns to crap. This happens on Only One, Spit it Out and No Life, and effectively ruins these songs. It’s a shame because I like some of what Slipknot offers on this album, such as the crunching heavy riffs, the drums (When the percussionists aren’t over doing it and using the lame “Tin drum sound” which Metallica would eventually copy) and the vocals (When Cory is barking and not rapping) as well as the anger and aggression (no matter how contrived it is, it still sounds convincing) However, on this album, the negatives far outweigh the positives.

Highlights of this album include the tracks Sic, Wait and Bleed and Surfacing. Sic is seriously heavy and pissed off and despite the presence of a turntable, still manages to be a good track. Wait and Bleed is commercial Slipknot so it is turned down a notch and has some actual singing on it, however, the song gets super heavy at the end and features a killer last riff. What separates Surfacing from other filler and wastes of time on this album is the killer chorus. It screams attitude. Every other song on the album is either average or crap. Unfortunately, the nihilistic theme of this album and the angst starts to wear thin after a while. It seems that somewhere, maybe half way through the album, that “I’m so pissed” seems to turn into “Why Me?” which makes the album seem to drag on and on effectively burying what interest I had left for the songs at the end of the album. Speaking of dragging on, the last track Scissors has a huge pause at the end of the song and then, around the 13:24 mark, there is some dialogue which is just plain stupid and I won’t even go into that. However, the track doesn’t end there, as there is one super fast and heavy song played which is better than half of the songs on this album. It’s a shame that they buried this song at the very end of the album and that you can’t just skip right to it. Instead, you have to manually fast foward if you don’t want to sit through silence and silly banter. Personally, I hate it when bands do this as it makes putting the CD on random a pain in the ass.

This album is only listenable to those who are fans of nu-metal as each song contains elements of the genre. However, although there are some things that I like about this album, in the end, there is also way too much that I don’t (*Review by Shane ).

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"iowa"

Year:  2001

Label:  Warner

Format:  CD, 2 x LP

Tracks:  14

Time:  36 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Nu Metal

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"all hope is gone"

Year:  2008

Label:  Warner

Format:  CD

Tracks:  12

Time:  50 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Nu Metal

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"slipknot the gray chapter"

Year:  2014

Label:  Warner

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  14

Time:  60 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Nu Metal

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"we are not your kind"

Year:  2019

Label:  Warner

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  14

Time:  50 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Nu Metal

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"the end, so far"

Year:  2022

Label:  Warner

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  12

Time:  57 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Nu Metal

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HENRY FONDA

 

"front antinational"

Year:  2017

Country:  Germany

City:  Berlin

Label:  Nerdcore

Format:  LP

Tracks:  16

Time:  20 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Power Violence

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VEIL OF MAYA

 

"[M]other"

Year:  2023

Country:  US

City:  Chicago

Label:  Sumerian

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  10

Time:  40 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Metalcore

Veil of Maya is an American metalcore band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 2004. The group consists of guitarist Marc Okubo, drummer Sam Applebaum, bassist Danny Hauser and vocalist Lukas Magyar. They are currently signed to Sumerian Records and have released seven studio albums. Their seventh studio album, Mother, was released on May 12, 2023. It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Chicago-based progressive metal titans VEIL OF MAYA, with almost six years elapsing since the release of False Idol. A string of single based releases have kept the hungry fans at bay but now is the time to finally unveil their hotly anticipated follow-up album [m]other, which is due for release on May 12th via Sumerian Records. How will this effort fare against their already impressive catalogue?

Toyko Chainsaw is an emphatic opening statement, launching into a surge of frenetic energy with immediacy. This track is strictly business, snappy intricacy makes an instant impact. Artificial Dose possesses a similar maniacal streak as the buoyant tempo gets your blood pumping. A rush of colour washes over proceedings as the chorus line is introduced. Godhead continues the unrelenting instrumental assault with volleys of vicious vocal sequences and chaotic drum patterns. It’s as invigorating as it is dangerous.

[re]connect is where VEIL OF MAYA‘s progressive ingenuity really shines through. Swathes of majestic riff work wrestle for prominence with an abundance of crushing heaviness. Glimmers of soothing melodies cut through the aggression. Red Fur has no right to be as infectious as it is. Electronic experimentation and soaring vocal sequences lead the charge but there is still plenty of bite on display. Pulsating drum work also has a pivotal role to play in creating this anthemic whirlwind. Disco Kill Party hits you from all angles with a vibrant, dynamic soundscape of sheer madness. It doesn’t sit still for even a second, slickly shifting through varying moods and tones.

Mother Pt. 4 brings an enthralling bundle of synths to the table before gearing up for another aural assault. Spilling a breadth of emotions all over the floor for everyone to witness, this effort will keep you constantly guessing as to where it is heading next with its captivating narrative. Synthwave Vegan delves into the more barbaric side of the spectrum with its wild, bludgeoning ferocity determined to stomp the wind out of your lungs. Lost Creator keeps the white-hot momentum firing on all cylinders with rounds of pummelling blast beats and neck-snapping grooves leaving your head in a spin. Death Runner fully intends to leave the listener in a state of disarray by the time this release departs. A rapid pacing and formidable rushes of anarchy leave a lasting impression.

[m]other is one hell of a journey and is VEIL OF MAYA at their most laser focused. Boundless creativity and jaw-dropping technicality are made to look effortless as the innovative quartet have undeniably constructed their finest work to date. It’s scary the sheer amount of artistry that has been crammed into this 36-minute beast. A surefire contender for the top rankings at the end of the year (*Review by HERE )

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"false idol"

Year:  2017

Label:  Sumerian

Format:  CD, 2 x LP

Tracks:  13

Time:  40 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Metalcore

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"matriarch"

Year:  2015

Label:  Sumerian

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  12

Time:  40 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Metalcore

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"eclipse"

Year:  2012

Label:  Sumerian

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  10

Time:  40 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Metalcore

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"[Id]"

Year:  2010

Label:  Sumerian

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  11

Time:  40 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Metalcore

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"the common man's collapse"

Year:  2008

Label:  Sumerian

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  10

Time:  40 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Metalcore

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"all things set aside"

Year:  2006

Label:  Corrosive

Format:  CD

Tracks:  9

Time:  30 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Metalcore

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SHOW ME THE BODY

 

"trouble the water"

Year:  2022

Country:  US

City:  New York

Label:  Loma Vista

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks: 12

Time:  30 min.

Genre:  rock, electronic

Style:        Post Hardcore

On an adventurous new album, the New York hardcore band populates a swamp of chugs with weird creatures of electronica and sudden clearings of melodic, galloping punk. I saw Corpus, the label formed around New York hardcore punk band Show Me the Body, participate in the Red Bull Culture Clash in Brooklyn earlier this year. It’s a corporate event modeled on dancehall soundclash culture, where crews of musicians face off on opposing stages. From one corner of the Greenpoint venue Warsaw, one of Corpus’ opponents, the DJ collective Half Moon, proclaimed that they “represent Brooklyn. The real Brooklyn.” Taunts are part of the sportsmanship of a soundclash, but this one struck a nerve—on Corpus’ next turn, one of the label’s crew responded with an emphatic “Suck my dick!” This is an old problem for Corpus, Show Me the Body, and a lot of artists in New York: How weird can they get before they’re no longer “real”? How close to dance music will Show Me the Body be allowed to come before Redditors curl their lips?

On Trouble the Water, Show Me the Body’s third full-length album, their experimentations often strike gold. The band’s daring pays off when vocalist Julian Cashwan Pratt breaks his voice wide open on tracks that dig into sounds that are firsts for the band, and consummate what were previously flirtations with dance music. On “Radiator,” a single chanted refrain of “Don’t it make you wanna go home?” with double-tracked vocals calls up the Ramones. The band pairs the look at punk’s past with one from its future, overlaying the whole track with an incessant synthesizer belch. Whereas on their previous full-length, 2019’s Dog Whistle, they leaned primarily on their proficiency for creating menacing atmosphere, throughout Trouble the Water, the band populates what might otherwise be a swamp of chugs with weird creatures of electronica and sudden clearings of melodic, galloping punk. On “Demeanor” and “Using It,” they switch between hardcore and noise, sometimes fluidly, sometimes abruptly; press materials attribute the glitchy textures to bassist Harlan Steed. “I wanna feel what I’ve never felt before,” Pratt growls over “Demeanor.” Yes!

Trouble the Water is also a showcase for Pratt’s expanding talents as a vocalist and a lyricist. He roars, shrieks, leers: On “Food From Plate,” he breaks suddenly from a credible death-metal bark to a light chuckle. Right after “They think it’s sweet” in his trademark snarl on “War Not Beef” comes “They think it’s e-e-easy” in a mocking falsetto, before the tempo hikes and the track tumbles forward in double time. He is a shapeshifter, becoming a different entity nearly every second. The first half of “WW4” is melancholy, and by the end, the very same lyrics are a martial chant.

The waging of war is a consistent concern on Trouble the Water. “They don’t belong here!” Pratt spits on the chorus of lead single “We Came to Play,” and “I don’t regret violence” on opening track “Loose Talk.” Gentrification and a fierce hostility to the changing New York remain a lyrical focus. I think this disposition reveals why Show Me the Body find it more difficult to shake off sneers like the ones thrown at them at Warsaw, aimed at their authenticity. When you wield the double-edged sword of Not Fucking With Certain Shit, you can get cut: laughed at for cringey interviews or called assholes for swatting phones out of the hands of the audience. Show Me the Body are in the arena, where they choose to be, where they belong. Here, you can’t get by being a guy who everyone likes. You have to be really fucking good (Review by Adlan Jackson ).

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"dog whistle"

Year:  2019

Label:  Loma Vista

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  11

Time:  30 min.

Genre:  rock, electronic

Style:        Post Hardcore

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"corpus I"

Year:  2017

Label:  Loma Vista

Format:  digital

Tracks:  17

Time:  30 min.

Genre:  rock, electronic

Style:        Post Hardcore

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"body war"

Year:  2016

Label:  Loma Vista

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  10

Time:  30 min.

Genre:  rock, electronic

Style:        Post Hardcore

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ZULU

 

"a new tomorrow"

Year:  2023

Country:  US

City:  Fullerton, CA

Label:  Flatspot

Format:  CD, LP

Tracks:  15

Time:  28 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Power Violence

Zulu have no time to waste. In the five-second gap after “Africa,” the reverent orchestral introduction of their debut album A New Tomorrow, but before the forceful drop-tuned power chord buzz of “For Sista Humphrey,” the Los Angeles-based powerviolence quintet raises a quick question: “Ayo, it’s Zulu in this bitch, what y’all niggas on?” The music drives forward, anchored by drummer Christine Cadette and bassist Satchel Brown, who back a chugging riff played by guitarists Braxton Marcellous and Dez Yusuf. Then comes a death metal growl from vocalist Anaiah Lei, and the band’s full-length debut A New Tomorrow takes off on a trajectory that cannot be predicted or contained.

Lei is a multi-instrumentalist who got his start as a teenager alongside brother Mikaiah Lei in the indie rock band the Bots and went to play in California punk bands DARE and Culture Abuse. He founded Zulu in 2018. Two early EPs, 2019’s Our Day Will Come and 2020’s My People… Hold On, solidified the band’s signature style: blastbeats and mosh-worthy grooves injected with samples of classic soul and reggae artists who sing of fortifying Black community. If the EPs were experimental studies, then A New Tomorrow holds nothing back, sounding confident and all-encompassing. The record has a mind and a memory that examines all angles of Black legacy while working to define the future without fear or strife.

In a recent interview with NPR, Lei expressed disinterest in writing lyrics that only address suffering. “When people think about the pain of exclusion, they think about Black people. And then we end up getting tokenized one way or another,” he said. A New Tomorrow confronts prejudice, alienation, and anger on its own terms. “52 Fatal Strikes,” updated from Our Day Will Come, is two-stepping hardcore that speaks of racial injustice: “I’ve done nothing/I just exist/Don’t front/I know you wanna kill me.” The lyrics are forward and fluffless, even on softer tracks like “Crème de Cassis,” a spoken-word critique of a nation that fixates on Black people’s pain without providing space to celebrate their resiliency. “Why must I only share our struggle/When our Blackness is so much more?” asks vocalist Aleisia Miller over piano accompaniment by Precious Tucker. “We’re favored by the sun from the moment we’re created.”

The dynamic force of powerviolence isn’t the loudest part of A New Tomorrow: It’s the way the album juxtaposes the sludge and the shrieks with songs performed in styles popularized by Black people. At times it is poignant and reverent, like the tearful little prayers of the layered voices that ask “Must I only share my pain?” on the mid-album interlude of the same title. Zulu are at their most confrontational in this mode, revealing vulnerability while daring hardcore purists to try to enforce a distinction between Lei’s guttural roar of protest on “Music to Driveby” and the sampled croon of Curtis Mayfield that follows. By refusing to be flattened, Zulu make clear that working within genre lines is far less meaningful than a commitment to the history of Black music, Black love, and Black might (by Lindsay Temple ).

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"our day will come"

Year:  2019

Label:  none

Format:  CD

Tracks:  10

Time:  18 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Power Violence

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