With Maryland Deathfest on the way this weekend, some of you are probably a little preoccupied at the moment and I get that. But the best way to prep for a metric ton of metal is with even more metal, so make sure to give this week’s installment of This One Goes To Eleven a skim. At the very least, you’ll have something to jam to while you cram your archive of Venom cut-offs into a black trash bag and hit I-95 with a thumb in the air.
WHAT TO BUY: This one of those weeks that boasts more than few lead-off worthy releases, but for my rolling papers, none slug quite like Weedeater’s sludgy, slimey, and totally unhinged stoner opus, Goliathan (Season of Mist). A resin-charring, cough syrup-swilling swamp monster of swing, Goliathan finds the North Carolina heshers—with some help from Whore’s T Boogie on the sticks—in vintage …And Justice For Y’all form, hacking up one heinous, flem-covered riff after the next while flipping off anyone who dares to ask that they maybe take it outside. Unlike so many other doom albums that are content to drone well past the 70-minute mark, Weedeater keep things tight, wringing maximum impact out of each Dave “Dixie” Collins screech and every decomposed riff before flicking off the amplifiers and lighting up the non-proverbial bong. If you’re looking to catch that contact high, Noisey has everything you need.
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Pulling us out of that life clambake is Tau Cross’s self-titled debut,which comes charging in today courtesy of Relapse Records. Featuring Amebix frontman Rob Miller, Voivod founder and drummer Away, War//Plague axe man Andy Lefton, and Misery’s titular Jon Misery, Tau Cross are a supergroup who aren’t afraid to let their constituent parts shine through, giving each their moment and due enroute to establishing a buzzsaw sound entirely their own. From bar-ready rabble rousers like “Stonecracker” to Route 66 anthems like “Midsummer”, the crust-minded quartet preach the power of the riff above all else, but it’s when they turn down and stretch out—as they do on the gruff, album-closing missive “The Devil Knows His Own”—that Tau Cross reveal the actual band lurking beneath all the big names. Check out the free stream over at CVLT Nation and see if you agree.
In other supergroup news, former Baroness guitarist Pete Adams, with some help from his brother Jake, resurfaces this week with Shadows (Relapse), the second full length from his long-dormant proto metal project, Valkyrie. The first real output from the Adams bros since the harrowing tour bus crash that cut down Baroness’s Yellow & Green momentum in its tracks, Shadows is a swaggering swath of Ronnie James Skynyrd that should fill your epic guitar solo coda quota for weeks to come. If you’re in the market for a metal record to throw on while grilling in the backyard with non-metal neighbors this summer, then look no further than Stereogum’s free stream. Valkyrie will be bringing the beer and the beer is going to be Miller.
And since we are on the subject of old things made new, on again/off again Swedish death squad, Entrails, are back with their fourth full length, Obliteration (Metal Blade), while Mantar reissue last year’s frothing, rabid hellhound of a debut LP, Death By Burning (Brutal Panda), for physical release on domestic shores. If you haven’t heard that one yet—which sounds a bit like Motörhead if Lemmy grew up in a post-death metal metal world—now’s your chance.
Faith No More also make their long awaited return to today with Sol Invictus (Reclamation), the band’s first LP since 1997. If you’re a fan of the LA shape shifters, then the one thing you have learned to live with is constant change, and Sol Invictus certainly lives up to that billing. With new keyboardist Roddy Bottum handling some of the vocal duties and post-punk brood playing a similarity expanded role, Faith No More have somehow found a way to get us talking about them in 2015, which is an accomplishment in and of itself. Check out the NPR First Listen if you’re interested in the hows and whys.
Finally, let’s mop up this brain matter and bile Pollock with a couple of international releases, beginning with King Parrot‘s nihilistic thrashterpiece, Dead Set (Agonia). The Aussie bogans have made the States their adoptive stomping grounds of late, touring with the likes of Inter Arma and Weedeater, so chances are you’re already familiar. If not, just think of them as a Southern Hemisphere Iron Reagan and go forth into the counter-clockwise circle pit. After that, cool off in the rotting ice dungeons of Scandinavia, where Finnish death crust outfit, Vorum, unleash their latest EP, Current Mouth (Sepulchral Voice), or unwind with the crushing sprawl of Valborg’s Romantik (Temple of Torturous), which spreads its black wings over Germany today.
WHAT TO SEE: The week gets off on the heaviest foot imaginable tonight, with Mastodon and Clutch set to scare Central Park Summerstage goers back to their UES penthouses and intergalactic doom mongers Ufomammut landing at Saint Vitus for a slow and low spectacular with Pacific Northwest crushers Usnea. You won’t have to wait long for the Greenpoint outpost to top that one, however, with the Weapons of Mosh Destruction 3-D tour rolling in on Wednesday with the Creepsylvania thrash heathens in Ghoul tow (plus Phobia, Nekrofilth, and Artificial Brain) while Anaal Nathrakh tackle Thursday-night duties with some help from Early Graves and Vattnet Viskar.
Back in Manhattan, Purge Fest hits Santos Party Haus on Wednesday with Lucifer Jones, Sweet Magma, Universal Truth Machine, and more, while Primal Scream headline a Union Square throwdown at Irving Plaza. After you’ve recovered from those, head back across the river where grindcore supergroup Fulgora are set for a sick Acheron appearance alongside Wake, Sunrot, and Scowl and Lycanthropy spearheads the Catbomb 5th Anniversary show at Silent Barn.
The weekend benefits from some insane Maryland Deathfest spillage, starting with NYC’s metal show of the week featuring Conan and in-vogue (and rightfully so) German duo, Mantar, at Saint Vitus, while Moon Tooth, Binary Code, Torrential Downpour, and more hit Backroom Studios, should Jersey readers want something closer to home. After that, it all wraps up at Vitus with a sold-out Melt Banana/Hot Nerds/Couch Slut noise blast on Saturday and a Samothrace, Unearthly Trance, and Trenchgrinder face-melter on Sunday.
WHAT THE FUCK: Mad Max Fury Road. The hype is real and you should see it, if only for Doof Warrior (below) and his Junkie XL-penned riffs, which represent the best use of ridiculous shredding in a movie since This Is Spinal Tap (a popular touchstone around these parts, if you haven’t noticed).
