MELVINS
«Tres Cabrones»
(Ipecac)
In this day and age, you'd have a hard time coming up with a band with a better knack for reinventing itself than the Melvins, be it in terms of sound or even its line-up. But as long as good ol' Buzz and Dale are there you can count on it being the Melvins with all the racket, riffing and even good-hearted nonsense that it entails. Founding drummer Mike Dillard - who left before the band even released its first album - returns to the fold almost thirty years later, a move which sees usual sticksman Dale Crover picking up bass instead resulting in what Buzz himself describes as being the closest they are willing to get to their 80's lineup. What results is the exquisite feeling of listening to (Los) Melvins rocking like it's 1983 all over again yet brimming with a confidence acquired through more than twenty albums and a gazillion other releases.
The aptly titled «Tres Cabrones» showcases a band that never fell into the trap of taking itself too seriously, as is readily apparent on its three short joking tracks, but who can at the same time lay down a groove like no other, nowhere more incisively than in the gargantuan riff of opener «Dr. Mule», which keeps looping in your head long after you're done with the track. Most of these songs have already been released before in one format or another over the years but even the die-hard Melvins collector is bound to be deeply satisfied by this partial re-recording with a classic, yet never before seen line-up of a band that simply refuses to tread water. Quite the opposite, actually. [PA]
CONVULSE
«Evil Prevails»
(Svart)
Eighteen years may seem like a long time but to Finland's death metallers Convulse that's no reason not to pick up exactly where they left off almost two decades ago. With a crescent cult following as the newer generation got wind of their classic debut «World Without God» - largely thanks to a Relapse reissue in 2010 - Convulse now joins the ever growing ranks of classic bands coming back to spread the foul stench of their death metal again. No wheel whatsoever is reinvented here and while the band doesn't fall into the trap of attempting to "modernize" their sound, it also becomes fairly obvious that «Evil Prevails» has trouble attempting to surpass the earlier output. Suffering from a certain unevenness that was already present in their first incarnation, «Evil Prevails» has Convulse at its best when the vibe is punkier such as in «Unholy War», «World Downfall» or «Reborn In Chaos», resulting in very competent no-frills OSDM. Elsewhere, however, the band's third full-length sort of wanders around aimlessly, such as in the accoustic, Opeth-like accoustic dirges that hint at something but end up leading nowhere.
While being a worthwhile addition to the band's catalogue and easily justifying their coming back from the grave, it's hard not to compare it with the drive and irreverence found in the new breed of finnish first-wave influenced DM acts such as Vorum, Corpsessed or Krypts, and ultimately find it a bit lacking. [PA]
(Ipecac)
In this day and age, you'd have a hard time coming up with a band with a better knack for reinventing itself than the Melvins, be it in terms of sound or even its line-up. But as long as good ol' Buzz and Dale are there you can count on it being the Melvins with all the racket, riffing and even good-hearted nonsense that it entails. Founding drummer Mike Dillard - who left before the band even released its first album - returns to the fold almost thirty years later, a move which sees usual sticksman Dale Crover picking up bass instead resulting in what Buzz himself describes as being the closest they are willing to get to their 80's lineup. What results is the exquisite feeling of listening to (Los) Melvins rocking like it's 1983 all over again yet brimming with a confidence acquired through more than twenty albums and a gazillion other releases.
The aptly titled «Tres Cabrones» showcases a band that never fell into the trap of taking itself too seriously, as is readily apparent on its three short joking tracks, but who can at the same time lay down a groove like no other, nowhere more incisively than in the gargantuan riff of opener «Dr. Mule», which keeps looping in your head long after you're done with the track. Most of these songs have already been released before in one format or another over the years but even the die-hard Melvins collector is bound to be deeply satisfied by this partial re-recording with a classic, yet never before seen line-up of a band that simply refuses to tread water. Quite the opposite, actually. [PA]
«Evil Prevails»
(Svart)
Eighteen years may seem like a long time but to Finland's death metallers Convulse that's no reason not to pick up exactly where they left off almost two decades ago. With a crescent cult following as the newer generation got wind of their classic debut «World Without God» - largely thanks to a Relapse reissue in 2010 - Convulse now joins the ever growing ranks of classic bands coming back to spread the foul stench of their death metal again. No wheel whatsoever is reinvented here and while the band doesn't fall into the trap of attempting to "modernize" their sound, it also becomes fairly obvious that «Evil Prevails» has trouble attempting to surpass the earlier output. Suffering from a certain unevenness that was already present in their first incarnation, «Evil Prevails» has Convulse at its best when the vibe is punkier such as in «Unholy War», «World Downfall» or «Reborn In Chaos», resulting in very competent no-frills OSDM. Elsewhere, however, the band's third full-length sort of wanders around aimlessly, such as in the accoustic, Opeth-like accoustic dirges that hint at something but end up leading nowhere.
While being a worthwhile addition to the band's catalogue and easily justifying their coming back from the grave, it's hard not to compare it with the drive and irreverence found in the new breed of finnish first-wave influenced DM acts such as Vorum, Corpsessed or Krypts, and ultimately find it a bit lacking. [PA]
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