Looking Back At 2013: Part 3 of 3

And so we reach the summit. Be sure to check parts 1 and 2, as well!

10.  Obliteration, «Black Death Horizon»

Oh, sure, another old school death metal revival band. Those are a dime-a-dozen. Next! While this may be your first thought, and one we could not sympathize more with, there are however exceptions to every rule. Norway’s Obliteration are accountable for it, not just because they’re one of the best examples of invoking the old spirit (read: slime) but also because they have been doing this for a while now despite their young age. So if you’re still in your mid-20s and you rip through the good ol’ DM like this, you’re doing something right. «Black Death Horizon» is where these kids really come of age and the first 30 seconds of a song like “Goat Skull Crown” should be all the convincing you need. And if our word is not enough, take fellow Kolbot native and Darkthrone master Fenriz’s instead.

9.  Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats, «Mind Control»

If you thought «Blood Lust», Uncle Acid’s debut record, was a fluke … well, you might need to think again. Because «Mind Control» is everything you want a sophomore effort to be. And then some. The most striking of its many virtues is perhaps the incredible riff fest contained in its 50 minutes of amazingly groovy retro rock. The other could be how varied this record really is, maximising its replay power all the way to the roof. «Mind Control» retains the lo-fi sound of its predecessor but adds it a little polish, just enough to make it sweet without ruining it. Each song plays like a hit single, yet it sounds like a real album all the way through, never for a second losing sight of what a great rock ‘n roll album should be: fun.

8.  Modern Life Is War, «Fever Hunting»

Some bands have this aura around them, that unique quality you cannot really put into words but which renders them special whichever way you look at them. Converge are like that. Darkthrone are like that. And don’t get us started on old classics like Led Zep or Deep Purple. While Modern Life Is War’s cult may be of a lesser dimension than those just mentioned, it burns no less bright. «Witness» put this Marshalltown, Iowa band in a pantheon they would no longer step down from and they didn’t need to come back this year to prove it. That they did, with no fanfare, but simply with what is probably their strongest and most cohesive effort to date. The very first chords open the gates for Jeffrey Eaton’s all-out, desperate screaming of “old fears/new frontiers”, a diptych that perfectly encapsulates what Modern Life Is War is all about. From there, the band dispatches song after song with each and every of their trademarks, stuff to send shivers down your spine as you connect with the deeply arresting power of their lyrics coupled with the intensely melodic guitars and rock-solid rhythm section. Perhaps they will never again soar as high as those iconic first few minutes of "The Outsiders" off «Witness» but that's perfectly OK. Welcome back, guys. We missed you.

7.  Satyricon, «Satyricon»

Ever the polarizing band since they decided to leave raw (medieval?) black metal by the wayside after «Nemesis Divina», Satyricon have been sticking the middle finger out for quite a while now. The aptly titled «Satyricon» can stun due to its apparent lack of energy and restrained sound but that's just how tricky it really is, as repeated listens start to reveal different shades of the band's past masterfully melded together. Eschewing a frontal attack in favor of a more calculated one, the stylistic leap is not as big as before but, rewarding as it may be, it still requires the sort of investment that Satyricon fans may not be used to have to dispense with. If, however, there’s one thing that this particular band cannot be accused of, is of being stagnant and treading water. «Satyricon» is not only an incredibly refreshing departure for the band, it’s also the record that perfectly snapshots most of their two-decade career. [RD review]

6.  Corrections House, «Last City Zero»

If you voluntarily get Mike IX Williams, Scott Kelly, Sanford Parker and Bruce Lamont in the same room with the purpose of creating new music together… well, you have it coming. The first few moments may have you thinking Neurosis right off the bat but it soon becomes apparent that the whole is way bigger - in every conceivable axis - than the sum of its parts. The end result is a surprising record that twists and morphs into a thousand different forms, never predictable in any way whatsoever. It seems to come with insurmountable talent the ability to write - to create - music spontaneously, doing away with the proverbial game plan while somehow maintaining an unconscious focus. «Last City Zero» sounds like a product of four incredibly apt musicians giving free reign to their inner muses - and their inner demons too. In a day and age where everything has been pretty much done, it’s refreshing to come across a record that somehow shuffles a deck of well known cards, coming up with an incredibly innovative take on portraying chaos, decay and insanity. «Last City Zero» is that record.

5.  Beastmilk, «Climax»

A late entry in the year, Finland’s Beastmilk have not reared their head just now, but «Climax» is the record which breaks the secret wide open. Good thing, too, because secrets like these are not meant to… well, be secret. And the thing is, quite frankly, if there’s an impending doom and the apocalypse is coming and all that, being told all about it through incredibly addictive, post-punk rhythms is probably not such a bad idea. Mathew McNerney, aka Kvohst, left Code a while back and if his dark folk project Hexvessel wasn’t reason enough for that, Beastmilk should be. While lyrics like “when the blood starts to rush, I've got a genocidal crush" advise against taking his lyrics too seriously the whole time, «Climax» is simply a hugely addictive album, thanks to its many riffs and melodies that harken back to an unholy, psych-ridden mixture of Joy Division, Danzig and Roky Erickson, with Killing Joke closely looming in the background. Perhaps its uncanny glamour will subside quite rapidly, but while it lasts, it’s immensely enjoyable.

4.  Carcass, «Surgical Steel»

Ah, the classic band comeback number. We’ve been seeing many of those, eh? Mixed results, alright, and with Carcass you can even say they’ve been received with mixed feelings. If «Reek Of Putrefaction» and «Symphonies of Sickness» are what Carcass are all about for you, chances are you’ve been thoroughly disappointed with «Surgical Steel». Hell, you probably stopped paying attention when «Heartwork» rolled out in 1993, anyway - if you were even born, that is. On the other hand, if that and «Necroticism» is your thing, there couldn’t have been better news than to have these guys return. Because that’s a pretty safe way of looking at «Surgical Steel». Steer and Walker recruited young blood that technically delivers on every promise made, namely Trigger The Bloodshed’s drummer Daniel Wilding, but that would not have been sufficient if it weren’t for the sheer power and urgency of the album’s 47-minute running time. Sometimes albums like these surrender all the gold in their early stages, losing steam throughout, but «Surgical Steel» never lets its foot off the gas, proof being the insanely grooving riffs that carry along songs like “Unfit For Human Consumption” or “316L Grade Surgical Steel”. Carcass’ penchant for dissecting the dead has not abated since they left and the same goes for their songwriting abilities.

3.  The Psyke Project, «Guillotine»

One thing these Danish folks never lacked in their decade-strong career is sheer heaviness. On the back of that however also came quite a lot of complexity in outputting their often intricate post-metal textures, as is the case of «Dead Storm» back in 2009. The will to simplify things, effectively turning them into a plug-n-play kind of band also added an incredible amount of grit to their sound, rendering it dark and ugly like never before. And in the midst of all that, they kept writing great riffs, perhaps even more so. The result is this year’s «Guillotine», an apt title for a beast-like, relentless record that akin to all simple things has a huge potential to turn into addiction. How many 4-minute songs entirely made of a single chord that actually work can you come up with? That’s what The Psyke Project achieved in the form of “Partisan” yet that’s just one piece of this puzzle. Renowned for the intensity of their live shows - check out their Facebook page and get grossed out with the image of their singer Martin puking his guts right on stage - «Guillotine» is a perfect mixture of sludge with blackened hardcore and one that is going to be pretty difficult to beat any time soon.

2.  Clutch, «Earth Rocker»

Clutch vocalist Neil Fallon sings a particularly interesting line in «Earth Rocker»’s title track which pretty much defines what these Maryland natives have achieved with their latest outing: “Break it down, to brass tacks / Break it down to just the facts.” And in Clutch’s case, the facts are quite simply bluesy heavy rock to make your groove meter explode. The four-piece has been quoted as saying that recent touring with Motörhead and Thin Lizzy got them in the right frame of mind to write an album like «Earth Rocker» and rightly so. While they have been doing their thing far too long to not have a signature all their own, there’s enough punk flair here coming from the aforementioned bands that helps this record to become the definitive statement in Clutch’s 20-year strong career. Looseness may be an appropriate word to describe the proceedings, from the Screaming Jay Hawkins’ bite to Fallon’s lyric and vocal delivery - especially in the title track - to the incredibly freedom Jean-Paul Gaster enjoys in his drumming, not forgetting the free-floating, wah-induced guitar melodies, everything being supported by the exact right amount of low end in Dan Maines’ bass. When all is said and done, «Earth Rocker» is such a fun album to listen to, packing just the right punch in all the appropriate places that it seems to bear all the hallmarks of a timeless classic, one that doesn’t redefine anything per se, but which does everything just right. And let’s just hope this momentum allows for a new record sooner than the 4 years it took them to follow «Strange Cousins From The West».

1.  KEN mode, «Entrench»

Sometimes, for some bands, it just takes finding the right person to fill in the appropriate spot. In KEN mode’s case, Canadian brothers Jesse and Shane Matthewson have stood their ground supporting their vision since 1999, yet the bass player position has been a like a revolving door. That didn’t keep them from writing great records, though, as 2011’s explosive «Venerable» clearly demonstrates. But it was ithe introduction of American bass player Andrew LaCour that seems to have provided KEN mode with that little extra they needed to produce a truly outstanding record, one that doesn’t redefine the band’s sound so much as refines it. They have not done away with the Converge-like math for the most part - they even amplified it in places - and Jesse Matthewson’s vocal delivery became even more aggressive, more demented, all the insanity displayed on stage very much transported into the studio and onto “tape”. One pass through “Counter Culture Complex” though, or “The Terror Pulse”, and it becomes evident how Andrew LaCour’s bass really gives KEN mode a backbone they never really had before. He does not just fill in the gaps, he actually plays the instrument and contributes decisively to the end result, something decisively important when it comes to power trios like these. “No; I’m In Control” is a particularly compelling cut in the way the band keeps evolving the song so that when it reaches boiling point with both Jesse and Andrew barking the track’s title, you can’t help but convulsively headbang. Much could also be said about centerpiece “Romeo Must Never Know” which, beyond its devious title, shows that this band is not all bile-spitting hardcore, they can also pull an understated finesse that is just as effective. «Entrench» is the record that really put KEN mode on the map and it’s not every day a decade-old band gets a second opportunity at a (kind of) first shot. And they sure made the most out of it.

Looking Back At 2013: Part 2 of 3

This week, we progress further up the hill of our Best of 2013 list, now presenting you the #11 to #20 portion of it.

20. Hierophant, «Great Mother: Holy Monster»

Italy’s Hierophant had already injected mayhem into the ears of whoever got turned to them thanks to their self-titled debut in 2010. With that, they let everyone know that blackened metallic hardcore with sludge leanings were not a domain exclusive domain to the better known The Secret (no pun intended). With this year’s «Great Mother, Holy Monster», they surely got closer to that band’s sound but that is alright when your penchant for writing great blackened hardcore riffs is such that you can fill a whole album with them. Hierophant, who nowadays actually feature The Secret’s bass player Lorenzo Gulminelli as a guitarist, can slap you repeatedly in the face with their d-beat fueled downtuned anger yet they can be just as effective at bringing you down with their midtempo. Check “Son of Four-Hands Way” for evidence. All killer, no filler.

19. The Dillinger Escape Plan, «One Of Us Is The Killer»

The behemoths of math core - or whatever you want to call the seizure-inducing brand of hardcore these guys have been up to for a good while now - have refined their pop sensibilities (!) coming up with one of their best efforts while at it. Sure «Calculating Infinity» and «Miss Machine» will always be regarded as DEP’s timeless classics of schizophrenia but there’s no denying a song like “Nothing’s Funny” can dazzle just as much as “Unretrofied” did years earlier. More accessible, but no less uncompromising.

18. Gorguts, «Colored Sands»

Canadian entity Gorguts started as a regular old-school death metal band but was quick to devise a new language, writing its bible in «Obscura», an album that was light years ahead of its time with all the misunderstandings something like that entails. That time though has already come and Luc Lemay came back from a 12-year hibernation with a clear mission: to remind the world that technical death metal is still pretty much his domain. And now that the world understands the language, the end result is «Colored Sands» easily becoming a staple in the genre, while brilliantly retelling the history of China’s invasion of Tibet. How’s that for a history lesson, Van Drunen?

17. Hessian, «Manegarmr»

A close look at «Manegarmr»’s cover art might turn your stomach but it’s a damn good indication of the music contained within. Part of the Church of Ra collective and sharing members with Amenra and The Black Heart Rebellion, Hessian’s approach is however much more direct than that of those bands. The chaos induced by their frenzied, guitar-driven brand of crusty metallic hardcore can be exhilarating and the black metal aesthetic is never far away, but their strongest asset is on how they maintain full control over the proceedings, suddenly plunging into a huge breakdown as in highlight “Swallowing Nails” and easily getting back to speed. Intricate riffs, sharp guitars and a galloping, impactful rhythm section - what’s not to like?

16. Inter Arma, «Sky Burial»

It takes a certain quality to be able to mix up a gazillion different genres in one’s music but it takes a lot more than that to get it right. «Sky Burial» is where Richmond’s Inter Arma did it, the whole package emerging as something much bigger than the sum of its parts, simply because they have the ability to process all their obvious influences - from Pink Floyd to USBM by way of Neurosis, shall we say - and come up with something so meticulously crafted, it simply becomes their own. Being over an hour long can make it a tad overwhelming at first, but that is only until you surrender to it and just enjoy the ride. Which by the time third track “The Long Road Home” rolls out, you’ll most certainly do.

15. Terror, «Live By The Code»

This Los Angeles-based hardcore institution have been coherently doing their thing since 2003 until they really hit the spot with «Keepers Of The Faith» three years ago, a landmark within the hardcore community and one not at all easy to surpass. Whether they did so with «Live By The Code» is up for debate, but the fact of the matter is that after a couple of spins there is virtually no track in there that doesn’t stick to your brain like bubblegum. “From a broken home I was thrown straight into this world”, barks Scott Vogel in the first verse of initial cut “The Most High”, channeling all their renowned live energy, and that’s all the statement of intent you need going into this.

14. Whores., «Clean.»

With song titles like “I’m An Amateur At Everything” or “I Am Not A Goal-Oriented Person” you’re either a Pitchfork darling trying to channel the juvenile insecurities by way of Pavement or The Flaming Lips (cue hate mail) or you’re saying it tongue-in-cheek while delivering devastating noise rock based grooves, full of spit and bile. There are probably other ways, but this is the one Whores. chose with their music and in particular with their latest offering «Clean.». And what’s with all the trailing dots anyway? In any case, these guys are exactly how a power trio should sound like, each member contributing decisively to the mix, big fat guitar and bass and a no-frills approach to drumming that hits all the right spots. Imagine a groovier KEN mode without all the math and you’ll get the idea. [RD review]

13. Darkthrone, «The Underground Resistance»

They may have now delivered their 16th (!) record in a career foreign to stagnation, but never before has a Darkthrone album title been more fitting of the band’s ethos. They may be accused of messing up with people’s expectations, laughing about it while simultaneously being dead serious with their music, but one thing they can never be accused of is selling out in any shape or form. After a run of necropunk infused albums, Fenriz and Nocturno Culto have gone all NWOBHM and speed metal on our faces and, unsurprisingly, their approach hasn’t changed one iota. Uncompromising, old-school sounding heavy metal with an uncanny modern air of freshness, of which “Leave No Cross Unturned” is their definite statement. If you’re not headbanging and playing your air guitar right off the gates on this one, then something’s not kosher.

12. Chelsea Wolfe, «Pain Is Beauty»

Sounding fresh and innovative becomes an ever-increasingly difficult task nowadays. This may be an ongoing debate - whether everything has pretty much been done one way or another - but while you think about that you might as well just listen to Chelsea Wolfe. She’s been hovering under the radar for a good while now but «Pain Is Beauty» was the album that broke the door open and let her secret out. The fact that she accomplishes such feat while not compromising in the slightest is a testament to her art - and that of the musicians that she smartly surrounded herself with. Chelsea has a way about her - which is readily apparent to anyone who’s caught her act live on stage - appealing to extreme metal fans while at the same time soundtracking an art film featuring Sasha Grey (in a more… upright position) or repping for fashion designers. Her poise is hard to put into words but «Pain Is Beauty», dark yet delicate and almost Swans-esque as it may be, is the perfect starting point to work backwards on unravelling the wonders of this contemporary singer/songwriter.

11. Nails, «Abandon All Life»

A little over seventeen minutes is exactly how long it takes for Nails to obliterate all human (and inhuman) form off the face of the planet with their new album «Abandon All Life». It’s like the only thing remaining is the band members themselves alongside the charred remains of their own instruments, such is the vitriolic power of hatred contained herein. Their vengeful «Unsilent Death» debut had already established the band as perhaps the most destructive act in Southern Lord’s ever expanding hardcore punk roster, but this is a whole different ball game. Producer turned God Kurt Ballou has injected enough steroids in their sound to make a billy goat puke and its short duration, together with the menacing (and quite memorable) riffs, make its replay power immense.

Keep an eye out for the final part of our 2013 retrospective, the infamous Top 10, coming next Tuesday, 17 Dec.

Goin' Round Bandcamp #3 - Paris, Je t'aime

Wanna see your band's Bandcamp featured here? We welcome your submissions.

LODGES, «Walking On Hands And Knees»
"Donkey Punch est mort, vive Lodges!" Or, how the demise of one band instantly leads to the foundation of another, as so often happens. Paris-based Lodges are thus very recent but they wasted no time in coming up with their debut, «Walking On Hands And Knees", a fitting description of something we all seem to doing quite a lot lately. These french sound pretty pissed off about it, like a heavier and nastier Trash Talk mixed with Cursed and a hint of Converge. While that new Trap Them is still in the blender, this is more than enough to keep you going.

DELIVERANCE, «Doomsday, Please»
Another recent band hailing from the beautiful French capital, Deliverance are in stark contrast with, say, the Champs Elysées on a lovely and warm autumn Sunday afternoon. They attack the post-metal behemoth from a black metal standpoint, not shunning the ocasional tremolo picked section but definitely more concerned with riffs and the building of oppressive, dark atmospheres. Tales of doomsday are nothing new to write home about, but Deliverance do it quite well from the get go while displaying future potential.

COWARDS, «Hoarder»
Close your eyes and try to replay that thick, sludgy, downtuned, blissful tone of Eyehategod. Got it? Now you know pretty much how Cowards will blast out of your speakers, even though Paris is their hometown, courtesy of their new EP «Hoarder». But don't let that sound like they are copycats, as they only use that particular trait of NOLA's masters to wrap their hardcore-infused, menacing brand of sludge with a crust attitude. In fact, one quick look at their latest EP's cover tells you pretty much what you need to know. Except for the excellent 16 Horsepower cover at the end. Didn't see that one coming, now did you?

Looking Back At 2013: Part 1 of 3

In Sergio Leone's seminal spaghetti western cult movie «The Good, The Bad and The Ugly», there is a recurring line in which the world is divided in two kinds of people. Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. Those with the rope around their necks, and those who have the job of doing the cutting. We here at Radioactive Decay believe the world can also be divided between those who are list freaks and those who aren't. We are.

With that in mind, it's not entirely surprising that as we step into December, it's that time of the year again, the time to review 2013 musically as a whole. To do just that, we lumped together thirty records that really rocked our world for the past eleven months. Regardless of our love for compiling lists, there's one thing we certainly love even more and that is simply enjoying great music. Something that, fortunately, is in no short supply, year after year after year.

Our "Top 30" list is ordered ascendingly all the way to the top, and will be published in three parts, each Tuesday until December, 17. Yet, for the most part, you could just shuffle it randomly and always come up with a coherent and meaningful order, as music this good is well beyond mere ordering or competition. And of course, for every thirty albums we choose, there's at least another three hundred we could have picked instead.

So without further ado...

30. ASG, «Blood Drive»

Huge stoner riffs coated in psychedelic overtones may be slightly old news but North Carolina's ASG really hit gold with their fourth album, «Blood Drive». Their brand of heavy southern rock has a distinctive poppy edge, bringing to mind the best of the 90's alternative crop, largely thanks to Jason Shi's incredibly melodic upper register, which he can twist and turn into an almost croon in the blink of an eye. Dangerously addictive, it's one of those records you find yourself, unexpectedly, craving like sugar.

29. The Winery Dogs, «The Winery Dogs»

A bunch of great players together not always a good team maketh, yet in the case of The Winery Dogs it's been like veni, vidi, vici. Of course when you put together ex-Dream Theater sticksman Mike Portnoy, bass virtuoso Billy Sheehan and wildcard Richie Kotzen, intently on scaling down and rocking out like their age is cut in half, things are bound to get interesting. Their self-tilted debut is a hook masterclass, every song a potential hit single, surely owing to a range of classic rock influences yet coming across all their own. [RD interview with drummer Mike Portnoy]

28. Krypts, «Unending Degradation»

The seemingly unending ressurgence of old school death metal by way of new bands strongly rooted in days gone by had led to some pretty interesting stuff. Finnish death/doom outfit Krypts are one such example, flying the Finnish flag pretty high on their debut full-length «Unending Degradation», compensating in putrid, claustrophobic atmosphere its slight deficit of memorable riffs. Fans of more modern sounding metal have no business here, but if OSDM is your cup of tea, missing this one would be a huge, hefty, stinking faux-pas.

27. Kadavar, «Abra Kadavar»

Some bands have to content themselves with just riding waves created by others. Kadavar, hailing from Berlin, proudly stand in the second pack, its retro rock and heavy psych brimming with authenticity while openly paying tribute to genre luminaries such as 70's Black Sabbath, the best of Pentagram and especially Blue Cheer. Derivative it may be, but few bands have been this convincing in reinterpreting the masters. And if you're not sold by the time second track «Doomsday Machine» rolls out, something must be up with your rock 'n roll fuse.

26. Earthless, «From The Ages»

Isaiah Mitchell and pals hadn't recorded as Earthless for half a decade, but their cult following can now rest assured that the flame is still burning. More than ever, actually, as «From The Ages»' four tracks display everything that has ever been great from the California-based trio and then some. Psychedelic, spaced out, instrumental rock with a free flow and general sense of larger-than-life jammin' entitlement that will satiate fans and have them entertained while soaking up this trip for a good while. [RD review]

25. Year Of No Light, «Tocsin»

A perfect example of evolution as a band, Year Of No Light became an instrumental sextet along the way and the exploration of that format has crystallized into the brooding yet somehow hopeful «Tocsin», a conceptual wake up call for this world of ours. While it may not be their easiest record to digest and absorb, taking its time to develop with a rhythm of its own, it can be extremely rewarding and it is certainly their most cohesive effort to date. [RD review]

24. Kylesa, «Ultraviolet»

Crust punk may be a long lost memory in Kylesa's catalog but that is to be expected from a band that always managed to turn adversity into evolution. Whatever got people to stick the sludge tag in them is also much less prevalent on the band's sixth outing, giving way to hazy psychedelia, often flirting with shoegaze while maintaining an acute sense of dynamics and pop(-ish) melody. It may not be the sensorial assault of 2009's «Static Tensions», yey the more restrained approach works on a different, but equally satisfying range of the spectrum.

23. Rorcal, «Vilagvége»

Rorcal have proved able to conjure an incredible racket before, but ironically it's on the eerie and absolute void between each sparse hit of the isolated drums serving as «Vilagvége»'s intro that they sound at their most menacing. Apocalyptic could be the fitting adjective here, but not in a slow burning, Neurosis kind of way. Rorcal's end of the world is violent, furious and unrelenting and even the moments of brief respite are draining and unsettling. Attempting to pigeonhole the band's sound is useless as by the time you reach the end of «Vilagvége» everything has been obliterated.

22. Autopsy, «The Headless Ritual»

There's a reason why Autopsy gets name-dropped like the plague and that has not been lost during the California death metal staple's 15-year absence from the studio. While their return with «Macabre Eternal» in 2011 showed a willingness to attempt some new ideas, their new «Headless Ritual» harkens back again to the old days. Take the incredibly groovy carnage of «Mangled Far Below» or the refined death/doom in «She Is A Funeral» or «Coffin Crawlers» and it becomes clear that Autopsy still excel at this particularly grimy genre of death metal.

21. Cult Of Luna, «Vertikal»

Given this band's past history, five years was already feeling like a long time in the making for their next offering. But when «Vertikal» surfaced, the delay was "forgiven" for the new album turned out to be ambitiously conceptual and based around Fritz Lang's 1929 cult sci-fi movie «Metropolis». Sweden's Cult of Luna earned its right to be among a triad known as the Cult of Neurisis (you can guess the other two) and synth-heavy «Vertikal» honors their tradition, largely thanks to the huge riffs of cuts such as «I: The Weapon», «In Awe Of» or the near-20 minute epic, «Vicarious Redemption».



Look out for the final two installments, coming on tuesdays, Dec 10th and 17th, respectively.

Reviews: Year Of No Light • Whores.

Year Of No Light
«Tocsin»
(Debemur Morti)

The third proper full length of Bordeaux-based instrumental outfit Year Of No Light (if you discount this year's «Vampyr» soundtrack-of-sorts, that is) gets going with a low, single synth key drone making you immediately feel ill at ease, like something bad is brewing somewhere, setting the tone for what follows. Juggling crescendos with a firm yet dynamic grip, these french have been evolving their atmospheric brand of post-metal in a very deliberate way ever since doing without their former vocalist after 2006's «Nord» and where «Ausserwelt» already hinted that something was very right with the new approach, «Tocsin» reveals an even more developed beast, crystalizing the sextet's current phase. Extremely cathartic, it succeeds by having desolation and hope joining hands throughout in an uncanny marriage, something Godspeed You! Black Emperor usually master to perfection. The shortest song, «Gehénne», actually wouldn't be out of place in those canadians latest record, its euphoric galloping making it the album's catchiest and most immediate cut. And while the remainder of «Tocsin» demands time to be properly digested, it's a fully rewarding process in the end. In a day and age where most seem to be looking for the quick fix, thankfully some bands still have it in them to be at odds with that. [PA]

Whores.
«Clean.»
(Brutal Panda)

There's a sense of abandon on Whores.' sophomore effort, «Clean.», like this Atlanta-based noise rock trio simply has nothing to lose. Whereas their rage was directed at the outside world in their late 2011 debut «Ruiner.», now they turn inwards in a self-deprecating way, yet soaked in irony and defiance. Sounding in-your-face enough to bring Shellac's Steve Albini to mind soundwise - recording engineer Ryan Boesch's credits are no small feat either having worked with Melvins and Fu Manchu - «Clean.» contains so many grooves and ecstatic riffing, being so damn catchy, that its biggest disappointment comes when it abruptly ends after only 25 minutes. Vibes of Unsane and even the feral, unbridled agression of KEN mode come to mind, but the in-the-pocket playing of the bass/drums combo of Travis Owen and Jake Shultz, coupled with Christian Lembach guitar leads and especially his urgent, overdriven voice, gives Whores. a signature all their own. Leimbach in particular leads you to believe he's constantly on the verge of a mental breakdown. And breaking down never sounded this good. [PA]

Feature Interview: Mike Portnoy

Being at the top usually comes at a price, especially when you make it a point of always being accessible to your fans. For Dream Theater's founder and former drummer Mike Portnoy, it took its toll but the legacy he left is beyond question and as it turns out, the end of a chapter was actually the beginning of many others. We sat down with the man himself to find out what he has been up to and how his wheels are (still) in constant motion.

Some people are born to become the walking definition of workaholic, constantly seeking that ever elusive feeling of fulfillment, cringing at the thought of treading water. Having a boring 9-to-5 job turn into a 24-hour round-the-clock obsessive experience is one thing, but when that character trait is channeled into producing art, that can be an entirely different ball game. Mike Portnoy is certainly familiar with the term, having fit the description for his entire life. With a planet wide reputation of being one of the greatest rock drummers in existence, he spent most of his career building the progressive metal juggernauts Dream Theater from the ground up, with all the scars - and accolades - that naturally stem from the process of nurturing a band from the rehearsal room’s obscure anonymity into the biggest arenas in the world.

All good things eventually come to an end, though, and in September 2010 he announced his departure from Dream Theater, after an incredible run of twenty five years not only as the band’s skinsman but also as the one member who historically brought upon himself the burden of calling the shots and carry its inevitable weight of responsibility. With the benefit of hindsight, it comes as no surprise that the drummer pointed the burnout derived from the relentless cycle of recording, publishing and touring - and the other members’ reluctance to taking an extended break - as the main motive behind his farewell. Another Mike took the best seat in that particular house, the whole affair leaving in its wake a seemingly endless discussion on the merits of Portnoy versus his replacement Mangini.

But that didn’t take away Mike’s OCD-like personality, if anything it only amplified it. Well known for his many side projects during his time with Dream Theater, he wasted no time in getting new collaborations up to speed, Adrenaline Mob (featuring Symphony X’s Russell Allen) and Flying Colors (with Neal and Steve Morse) being two prime examples, having already left the former. Ironically, it was a failed start to a new project with ex-Thin Lizzy and ex-Whitesnake guitarist John Sykes that would eventually lead to what is so far the most successful venture of his post-Dream Theater career.

Photo: John Zocco

“It’s been amazing, I’ve never seen such a great response for something so brand new,” Mike reflects, as we sit behind the still closed doors of the venue where his brand new The Winery Dogs will wrap the European leg of their first ever tour. “Anytime I've done something brand new, it's taken a lot longer to catch on, including Dream Theater. But this one has been really immediate. Everywhere we go the shows are packed, most of them are all sold out, the reviews have been great, so it's really very exciting to see such a great start to something that the three of us view as a real band.” He goes on about the expected longevity of the band in which he shares duties with bass virtuoso Billy Sheehan and guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen, both of whom have had a past stint in Mr. Big. “This isn't just a one-time project. All three of us plan on building this many, many years into the future, as our new home.”

With Dream Theater playing huge arenas virtually every night, there was inevitably an element of scaling down on many levels, especially with a band like The Winery Dogs. “I've kind of had to start over and start from the beginning,” he says. “I've spent 25 years getting Dream Theater into the arenas and when I left that I knew I was going to be starting over and going back to the clubs, no matter what band I'm going to play with. When you start from scratch, you have to build it from scratch and I'm fine with that, it's actually been a lot of fun. I like shows that are very intimate.” Having played his fair share of giant, sometimes double drum kits, that is also something that wouldn’t quite click with the bare bones approach of what he is now attempting, in the vein of rock giants such as The Who or Led Zeppelin. “I'm coming back to my roots stylistically,” Mike explains. “I've always been a fan of this kind of music, I never left, this is where I started out when I was a kid, even before progressive rock existed and even before heavy metal existed, I was listening to this kind of music. So this to me is a very natural evolution to come full circle. And as far as the small kit, for me that's part of my quest right now which is to try new things. I played the big giant kit for 25 years, right now I'm all about doing different things that are gonna challenge me and make me try and do things differently. So, playing in a small kit has been a lot of fun because it gives me a completely new and fresh approach which is what I'm all about right now.”

Being a control freak has been an assumed modus operandi for most, if not his entire career and juggling too many things at once for too long - all of twenty-five years, in fact - eventually lead him to publicly state that he felt the need to just be the drummer. How successful has he been on that quest so far? “Well, it depends on what band, you know?” Mike reflects. “Like with Avenged Sevenfold I was just the drummer. When I'm with Neal Morse, I'm just the drummer. But with The Winery Dogs, or Transatlantic or Flying Colors it's more like a collaboration, I'm working with other people that I share a load with.” But not so with his former band. “With Dream Theater, I controlled everything because that was my personality. The other guys never had the kind of controlling personalities so I ran the show and I made every decision in that band. But now when I'm working with Billy Sheehan and Richie Kotzen, or when I'm working with Roine and Pete and Neal in Transatlantic, or Steve Morse in Flying Colors, we make decisions together. So I have to kind of wear different hats for different bands. Sometimes I get to be just the drummer, sometimes I have to be a team player, sometimes I have to be a leader, depending on the situation.”

Photo: "Iron" Mike Savoia

A lot of musicians, especially if they are successful and have already climbed to the upper echelons of the music business, can live almost completely disconnected from their fan base. The opposite, though, is rarer and it can make one prone to a lot of headaches and misunderstandings. Being an extroverted, outspoken kind of guy, Portnoy has always made a point of being close to his fans, especially on the Internet, where his online forum is rampant with all kinds of interesting discussions, a place where Mike himself regularly posts. An exercise which, more often than not, places him in the line of danger. “I think that’s one of the drawbacks of being a fan-oriented artist like I am, I put myself out there.” asserts Mike. “A lot of artists shy away and don't even bother and they don't touch their Facebook or their Twitter. But I do and sometimes it backfires on you. But whatever, it's just... I try to not let it bother me but I'm human so inevitably of course it does bother me sometimes,” he admits.

Music is a primordial vehicle to convey all sorts of feelings, but the written word can sometimes carry just as much weight and meaning. Writing lyrics has never been a priority for Portnoy but still he penned his fair share of words during the time he spent with his former band. The untimely death of his mother lead him to write the entire lyric sheet for the particularly emotional «A Change Of Seasons» back in 1995, but perhaps his most decisive and enduring contribution in this department was the ongoing “12 Steps” saga - spanning multiple Dream Theater albums up to and including “Black Clouds & Silver Linings - where he depicts the successive stages of his past battle with alcoholism, a problem he faced for most of his adult life. So for him to write, there has to be something that needs telling. “I've never considered lyric writing one of the more important of my many jobs,” Mike says. “In Dream Theater, I did it because when Kevin Moore left the band, it seemed like someone had to pick up the slack so I stepped up and ended up writing a lot of the lyrics because it was kind of, you know, needed without Kevin there. But to be honest, after the Black Clouds album I was done writing lyrics. Even if I hadn't left the band, I wasn't planning on writing lyrics anymore. Once I finished the 12 Steps suite, once I wrote «The Best Of Times», I had really said everything I wanted to say.” But then again, there’s always something else that needs to be said, is there not? “I hadn't felt the need or the desire to write anything over the last couple of years but when The Winery Dogs had the music to «You Saved Me», it kind of spoke to me, I heard some melodies and some melodies came to my mind. I had a subject that I wanted to write about, I wanted to thank my wife for standing by me and for being such a great support system,” explains Mike, before concluding the thought. “I want to be able to write lyrics when I want to write lyrics, you know? If I feel the inspiration. I don't have to write lyrics, so I think it's the way it will be. If I feel the need to write about something, if I'm inspired about something then I will but otherwise it's not going to be a job that I have to do.”

With such an already long career, filled with all sorts of achievements and experiences, it’s only fair to ask the New York drummer about his sense of accomplishment and what is still left for him to do. “Well, for me it's just artistic expression and goals,” he replies. “I've achieved everything I could want to achieve on paper, every drum award I could want, I've played every country or every venue I could want and played with every band I would want to play with.” But does that translate into complete fulfillment? The answer turns out to be a mixed bag. “I feel 100%, like in terms of benchmark achievements, yeah,” Mike initially agrees. “But artistically I'll never be fulfilled, I'll always want more, I constantly have things I wanna do and people I want to work with and music I want to make. So, that's what inspires me, just the constant wanting to just keep creating, work with different people. There's a million musicians I love and admire that I still would love to work with, so that's what drives me.” And here’s to at least another 25 years of it, Mike.

Photo: Javier Bragado

(Thanks to José Rodrigues, José Carlos Santos, Daniel Makosch and Prime Artists for helping arrange the interview.)

Reviews: Obelyskkh • Satyricon

Obelyskkh
«Hymn To Pan»
(Exile On Mainstream)

There's a certain irony in the fact that Germany-based quartet Obelyskkh were assembled with no intention of putting out any of their recorded music. The benefit of hindsight makes it all the more funny as the sprawling «Hymn To Pan» now marks their third release in as many years. So much for reclusiveness, thankfully. While the first two tracks won't surprise those already privy to their brand of trippy, psychedelic doom in a segue-of-sorts from what they had already laid on wax last year with «White Lightnin'», «The Man Within» shows a more punishing side, the necro-infused raspy vocals of Woitek "The Polish Hammer" Broslowki spewing considerable amounts of bile over the heavy grooves that get your head bobbing back and forth way before you actually notice it. The piéce de resistance, though, is the 22-minute «Revelations: The Will To Nothingness» which closes proceedings with an hyperbole of everything that preceded it, completed with a brief piano-only epitaph. Perhaps Obelyskkh still have an actual masterpiece in them, but up until now this is their most accomplished effort yet and a very satisfying one at that. [PA]

Satyricon
«Satyricon»
(Roadrunner)

Five years is a long time and for Satyricon that is the longest they have gone between full-length releases. If someone, somewhere, was still hoping for them to go back to their second wave roots, «Satyricon» is definitely not the ticket as this material, while not as much of a stylistic jump between records as they have undergone before, sonically moves even further away from their acclaimed «Nemesis Divina» era. Going all analog helps the warm, introspective mood evident in songs like «Tro Og Kraft» or closer «Natt», yet the poisonous edge has not been lost, «Walker Upon The Wind» and «Our World, It Rumbles Tonight» being prime examples of that, with Frost's drumming taking turns between his renowned all-out attack and the novelty of a softer, more refined and imaginative touch. Deceptively lukewarm at first, that feeling evaporates as the almost anthological «The Infinity Of Time And Space» sinks in or the criminally melodic hooks of «Phoenix», featuring Madrugada's vocalist Sivert Høyem, take hold and turn it into compulsive listening. For those who cherish and embrace change, who allow for evolution away from the genre's core and still rightfully believe the band to be a black metal institution at heart, «Satyricon» is not only their most organic album to date but also the one that perfectly ties almost every thread of their two decade career. [PA]