Alright everyone, settle in and savor this one, because not only is there a Costco-sized of new sonic insanity on tap, but it’s also the last you’re going to get for a fortnight on account of my upcoming “summer vacation” (if you want call a long weekend in Cooperstown such a thing). Apologies in advance and, as always, take your time perusing the wares.
WHAT TO BUY: First out of the gate this week are Philly death metal heathens Pissgrave and their much-buzzed-about debut, Suicide Euphoria (Profound Lore). Combining the gutter grind of Scum-era Napalm Death with the gore-Pollock aesthetic of Exhumed, Suicide Euphoria is perhaps the most unlistenable (in a really good way) extreme record of the year—a feral, frothing rampage of technical, tight-fisted noise that, in some fleeting act of mercy, numbs listeners as it maims them. I could go on about the insane quality of the metal bands Philly is currently spitting into the market, but that is a conversation probably better fit for the bar. Instead, I’ll just say that Suicide Euphoria scared me more than any death metal record I’ve listened to since high school, which, for a band named something like Pissgrave, is probably very high praise indeed.
For a palate cleanse after that one, turn your attention to Chelsea Wolfe, who is beaming her fifth full length, Abyss (Sargent House), straight from the dark side of the waning moon (or, less poetically, NPR’s First Listen platform). A massive and melodic synthesis of folk, doom, and goth influences, Abyss—a more dynamic counterpoint to King Dude’s black leather folk—is arguably Wolfe’s finest work, so open your mind and check it out. If you like what you hear, tickets to her MHoW appearance with Wovenhand on September 9th are still available.
After that, we dive back into the cesspool for Cattle Decapitation‘s The Anthropocene Extinction (Metal Blade). Picking up where the eco-minded San Diego grinders’ career highwater mark, Monolith of Inhumanity, left off, Extinction tells the tale of humankind’s last days (oceans choked with plastics, us by our own pharmaceutical dependencies, etc.) via a catchy breed of deathcore and grind that has also helped to land the band a supporting slot on the Summer Slaughter 2015 marquee. These veggie terrorizing warriors have come a long way, both musically and conceptually, since blasting onto the scene in the mid-oughts, so make sure to look them up if you haven’t already.
Next up are the ever-infamous (and prolific) Gnaw Their Tongues, who drop their latest full length, Abyss of Longing Throats (Crucial Blast), today. It’s been three years since we’ve received new music from Mories—the sole proprietor of Gnaw Their Tongues’ industrial horror shop—but the wait seems more than worth it, with Throats clanging and banging its way through 45 focused minutes of memorable (let’s be honest, this stuff starts to bleed into itself after awhile) blackened noise. If you missed Mories when he was in town for Apex VI earlier this year, make sure to check this one out.
And as long we are broadening our sonic torture horizons, it only makes sense to our attentions to the Philippines, where twisted death metal horde Deiphago have their 4th full length, Into The Eye Of Satan (Hells Headbangers), ready for its initiation rites. Invisible Oranges has called the record both “utter sonic chaos” and “true evil”, so you know it’s good stuff. Give it a listen if you’re into such things.
Blackened thrashers have plenty to moan about this week as well, starting with Black Fast‘s riff-infected debut, Terms of Surrender (eOne). You can catch those dudes on tour with Revocation this fall (including a stop at The Studio at Webster), so lend the full stream a few minutes of your time. When you’ve had your fill of that, go check out Brooklyn’s preeminent cemetery metal outfit, Throaat, and their new EP, Black Speed (Invictus Productions). Like stepping onto the fog-choked set of a B-horror movie, this one is well worth howling along to when the band hit the road this fall (local dates surely pending).
Finally, let’s wrap things up with Talismana (Ripple), the debut LP from Austin vest metal outfit, Sweat Lodge. Following in the boot prints of their Texas brethren in The Sword, Sweat Lodge live and die by pentatonic riffage, wah-soaked solos, and Sherpa-lined denim, so if that’s your sort of trip, make sure to grab a beer and give it a spin. If not, perhaps STATS twisted, mathy mayhem, Mercy (New Atlantis), boasts the brain-bending experience you’ve been looking for.
WHAT TO SEE: The shows come in thick and fast tonight, with Mildfest Vol. 2—featuring Dying Fetus, Artificial Brain, Organ Dealer, and more—at Clash Bar in Clifton; the start of Latino Punk Fest at The Acheron with Lupus and La Equi; and Mutoid Man, Netherlands, and Moon Tooth at Saint Vitus. Latino Punk Fest keeps that flame burning into Saturday, with Muerte, Mocoso, and more set to hit the Waterbury Street stage, while Department of Correction lands at Vitus alongside Pyrrhon and Mother Brain. If that’s not enough, then perhaps Whiplash, Sinners, Bloodline, and more at Blackthorn 51 will help to scratch that Saturday night itch.
Sunday doesn’t let up either, with Catharsis, Die Young, and Grudges all set for some Vitus insanity, while Van Halen at the PNC Bank Arts Center and the Summer Slaughter tour—which rolls into the Starland Ballroom with Arch Enemy, Born of Osiris, Cattle Decapitation, and a host of others—offer some big-budget options for arena-rocker in all of us. Monday welcomes Nosiem, Homewrecker, and Detriment to the Acheron (plus Dave Lombardo’s PHILM to Mercury Lounge), but you might want to save that energy because Tuesday goes absolutely off, featuring Insomnium at Gramercy, Coal Chamber/Fear Factory at Irving, Shai Hulud at The Studio at Webster, The Body at The Acheron, and Weedeater at Saint Vitus.
There’s no rest for the wicked, as Lucifer’s most worn-out proverb goes, however, and Wednesday certainly offers little in the way of respite with Summer Slaughter at Webster Hall and Motley Crüe and Alice Cooper at Barclays both strolling the metal royalty red carpet. Thursday, meanwhile, wraps things up with Van Halen (yes, again) at the Jones Beach Theater; Krallice and Geryon at Trans-Pecos; and Between The Buried and Me at Starland Ballroom. If you’re still hungry after all that, check out The Atomic Bitchwax at new Bushwick BBQ joint, The Shop, or Godhunter and Destroyer of Light at Vitus, where the beer’s always cold and the buns are always hot.
WHAT THE FUCK: Calling all Slayer fans [gets trampled in cloud of cartoon dust], you’re definitely going to want to check out the band’s new 6-minute mini-doc, Slayer: The Origins of Thrash in San Francisco via…uhh, The Smithsonian. So yeah, Kerry, about that whole “grey and bald” thing…