Double Review: Morbus Chron- Sleepers In The Rift(2011)/Morbid Blood- Reborn In Death(2011)

Morbid Flesh- Reborn In Death

Morbus Chron- Sleepers In The Rift

I could not think of a more appropriate time to write my first double review then after listening to these two new LP's. On one hand we have Spanish Death Metal band Morbid Flesh, and on the other we have Swedish Death Metal band Morbus Chron. Both bands play a very similar style of Death Metal, one that hems closely to the very roots of the genre: early Obituary, early Death and most obviously early Autopsy. The sound is unmistakeable: blast-beat free and decidedly Old-Fucking-School. So what is the difference? Only one is worth listening to.

Sleepers In The Rift, the first LP from Morbus Chron, fits the aesthetic perfectly while at the same time being utterly worthless. Inoffensive, safe and completely listless, Sleepers In The Rift goes through 9 tracks in the most painfully uninteresting way possible while mindlessly ripping off Severed Survival for it's entire 34 minute running time(which feels much longer and elicits more yawns and feelings of total disinterest than any album barely over half an hour ever should.) Add in a vocal attack which brings to mind a mentally-disabled and dangerously drunk John Tardy(a fully-functional Tardy is unbearable enough) and you have a recipe for a headache and a shitty album. The phrase "all style, no substance" was made for an album like Sleepers In The Rift, which is an embarrassing symbol to the obsession with Old-School credibility and 13 year old metalfags who talk like they saw Death in Florida just after they released Scream Bloody Gore. Only in this time when scene credibility matters more than competency or creativity could an album like Sleepers In The Rift ever find a legitimate audience.

Reborn in Death is everything that Morbus Chron failed miserably to accomplish with Sleepers In The Rift: each riff has power and heft that smacks the listener right in the head like the pick-axe of an inbred psychopath, while the ferocious vocal attack alternates deftly between a solid and very old-school sounding guttural and one of the more unique, and awesome, high vocals I have heard in a long time. The drums carry weight and smash against your ear-drums, and the grim and Doom-laden atmosphere creates a feeling of impending and ever encroaching death. Imagine a faster, more technically active Decrepitaph, and you have some idea of what to expect for a portion of Reborn in Death. Despite being an incredibly young band, with only demo before releasing their debut LP, Morbid Flesh show a comprehension of Death Metal that is hard to deny. While using early Death, Obituary and Autopsy as a baseline, Morbid Flesh jump around almost the entire early history of Death Metal: "Gulag(Cracked Bones)" has an overwhelming Altar of Madness feel, while "Impaled Ratzinger" brought to mind early Suffocation at certain points. Meanwhile, Morbus Chron fearfully stick to Severed Survival and never let go, living in dread terror that any semblance of originality or uniqueness will draw the ire of quick little fingers behind a keyboard.

I wish I could say something positive about Sleepers In The Rift, or mention a specific song as a highlight, but after a dozen listens I was tuning it out on instinct: in contrast, I have listened to Reborn in Death almost two dozen times for the sheer enjoyment of it. Reborn in Death is more powerful, more adventurous, more technically proficient and flat out more interesting. Throughout the whole process, Sleepers In The Rift had only one thing over Reborn in Death: a superior album cover. Score one for aesthetic, hype and internet credibility, score a whole hell of a lot more for good music.

Rating: Sleepers In The Rift: 4/10
Reborn in Death: 9/10

The Antlers- Burst Apart(2011)

The Antlers- Burst Apart

Following up on perfection is impossible.

That was the task that Brooklyn Indie Pop purveyors The Antlers had when they had to release a follow up to 2009's Hospice. Hospice was, for all intents and purposes, perfect: one of the most powerful, inventive, heartfelt and sincere musical releases of the decade, a literal and hyperbole-free tour-de-force. With it's heart wrenching sincerity and inescapable hooks, Hospice represented a massively high plateau for the band to try and reach with any follow up album. Burst Apart was doomed from the very beginning.

And that grim foreshadowing has indeed come to fruition, as Burst Apart fails in every conceivable way to match Hospice. Instead of an amazing ode to life and love, we get 10 Indie Pop tracks, no more and no less. The whole thing is a very standard and somewhat lifeless affair. Which is not to say Burst Apart is incompetent: the band understand how to write an instrumental Pop song, and each track is a well made and sturdy piece. So is your table, and I doubt your table got you very excited today. Burst Apart exists, but the question becomes does anyone care?

There are a few tracks that float up above the mediocrity of the whole affair. "Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out" is by far the strongest track and is a fantastic mix of lightning fast guitars and ridiculously catchy verses, while "Hounds" has that haunting quality that made Hospice such a masterpiece. But most of the rest of the album is severely nondescript: The Antlers are incognito, much to the listeners chagrin.

Burst Apart is, for lack of a better word, boring. It comes and goes without any real staying power, and even if the band had not released Hospice, it would be hard to find a lot of love for this record. It is not bad, just functional. Like a toothbrush, or your crappy car in High School.

Rating: 6/10

Feist- Metals(2011)

Feist- Metals

There is not a more powerful and distinct set of pipes in all of Indie music than those possessed by Leslie Feist, or know by most as only Feist. Ms. Feist has without a doubt one of the most beautiful and insanely powerful voices to have ever been recorded. But her Siren-like vocals also stand apart from most of her contemporaries for their uniqueness: the slight rattle and throttle she gives every note makes her voice stand out in a sea of incredible female singers. And she has ridden those golden vocal chords to the top of her profession, while becoming one of the most recognizable and beloved Indie stars in the world.

Metals is Ms. Feist's newest release, and it sticks closely to the sound she established with 2007's brilliant The Reminder: lo-fi, quiet and dream like Pop songs that act as vehicles for her voice to soar. Whether it is a bit of horns and violin on "The Bad In Each Other," sugary sweet instrumental Pop in "The Circle Married The Line" or smokey, run down bar themes "Anti-Pioneer," Ms. Feist shows that she can sing the holy hell out of any song, any genre and any emotion. Metals somewhat lo-fi production also does wonder for the album: compared to many of her squeaky clean contemporaries, Ms. Feist is the one who still seems to be recording at the local studio instead of the multi-million dollar music factory.

There really is no comparison to the sheer power of emotion that Ms. Feist unleashes with each note. The only one I can honestly make is to the legendary Joan Baez, although whether that is unfair to either party has been difficult for me to assess. Her voice is one that must be heard, but how much enjoyment you get from Metals will be on how much you enjoy amazing vocal performances. Ms. Feist is a singer who can match the best, but her song-writing is rarely as adventurous as her voice. Which is not to say she is generic: any songwriter who has the guts to write a pop song driven by the banjo(as she did with "1234") is not one who understands the meaning of the word safe. It is more that Metals is very similar to The Reminder musically, and The Reminder was very similar to Open Season. Ms. Feist has been playing with the same instruments and similar arrangements for 3 albums now, and it is clear that she may lack the conviction to take the massive changes that artists like Bjork and Joanna Newsom have been willing to make. It doesn't take much away from Metals, but it bares mentioning.

I was hoping for a slightly more adventurous release from Ms. Feist, but my issues are nearly pointless in the face of the overwhelming beauty of her voice. Metals works because Ms. Feist simply won't allow it to fail: she will merely carry the whole damn record on the back of her Siren Call. We should all be so blessed as to listen to, and appreciate, this voice that will not be silent.

Rating: 8.5/10

Bon Iver- Bon Iver(2011)

Bon Iver- Bon Iver

It must be just awesome to be Justin Vernon.

The figure head and main creative force behind Bon Iver, which contrary to the various promotional photos is not a solo Vernon project but a band featuring Michael Noyce, Mathew McCaughn and Sean Carey(who released a solid solo album this year), Vernon is a huge fucking deal. And the thing is, he always has been: this meteoric rise to the top was destined since high school, when Vernon fronted the band Mt. Vernon, whose music was utterly fantastic and was miles ahead of anything you would expect a band whose members were still taking Algebra 2 classes to ever pull off. He then fronted deYarmored Edison, which released a few critically acclaimed albums before Vernon left for solo stardom. It is debatable how much influence Vernon had on the song-writing process at this time, since the rest of dYE would go on to form the incredible Megafaun, but regardless Vernon used his previous experience as a stepping stone into a log cabin to write For Emma and become the Indie darling he is today while kicking it with Kanye West. The whole process reeks of an ego almost as big as the hype, if not bigger, but then again it takes a serious ego to make an album like Bon Iver.

A complete departure from the Iron and Wine-influenced For Emma, Vernon has taken the band in an entirely new direction without any real warning. Synth, electronic music and electric guitars, drums: Vernon bought out the local music shop and jammed it all into the recording studio. Yet it speaks to Bon Iver that despite this new found love all things musical, it remains one of the softest, most sincere releases this year. Ego aside, Vernon just fucking gets it. As here proves here, he can out Dream Pop the Dream Pop-players in one album, with no real practice at is. He remains an idiot-savant for all things hook infused and beautiful. Vernon remains one of the best singers in Indie music: his ability to move effortlessly from a powerful baritone to a charming, if off-kilter, falsetto remains unmatched by any singer in Indie music. This is displayed perfectly in "Minnesota, WI," while the floating guitars of "Holocene" evoke Vernon's criminally over-looked solo album Hazeltons.

I was more than ready slap a 9.5 or even a 10 on this album as it winded down. I was flat out blown away how easily Bon Iver had transitioned from Freak Folk to Dream Pop, and started musing my writings as the song "Beth/Rest" began blasting from my headphones.

I had to pause the record, for I could not stop laughing.

In another absolutely wonderful and wholly misguided effort of the ego, Vernon crapped the bed with "Beth/Rest." The synth will instantly cause you to sing "I can feel it coming in the air tonight..." should be a deadly foreshadowing of the shitstorm that is to come, but when Vernon's auto-tuned moans come groaning over the top of them, it is time to board up the windows and invest in some plastic gloves. It takes serious balls, and frankly a belief that anything you write will be loved automatically, to make a song like "Beth/Rest" and use it as the closing track! It is like Vernon took us on a magical journey we would never forget, only to end at a 65 and over singles bar, complete with slow dancing. No doubt "Beth/Rest" will make it into some High School proms DJ rotation, but for the rest of us this is completely insane and a serious atmosphere killer.

The closing track is a big deal on just about any record, but the way Bon Iver ends is a little inexcusable in my book. This album still has some of the most finely crafted songs of the year, and I would still recommend it to anyone. Just make sure to hit stop before Phil Collins starts his set.

Rating: 8/10

Patti Smith - Horses (1975)

‘Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine’. Thus opens ‘Gloria’, the opening track from Patti Smith’s seminal debut album Horses. The track itself is actually a cover of a Van Morrison song, originally written for Them, but Smith recreates it – including a reinvention of lyrics to include said opening line – in such an idiosyncratic manner that the song sits quite happily among the rest of the album, well-disguised as a Smith original.

But idiosyncrasy was always one of the main objectives of the then-budding punk movement; a fact which was somewhat forgotten by the better-known English bands after the original rush of ’77. Smith used the lyric as a method of rebellion against the institutionalized religion she felt had been forced upon her; the three-chord progression was the style which came to be known as the ‘punk style’, sure, but by the time the likes of the Sex Pistols attempted to see commercial success past the surprising success of Never Mind The Bollocks, their attempts fell flat – not so much, I believe, due to the lack of another full-length, but more so because the style had had its 15 minutes.

So when the Pistols came stateside, performing just down the road from Patti Smith one night and frontman John ‘Rotten’ Lydon talked about ‘some woman singing about fuckin’ horses’ (or words to that effect), it was evident that they had lost touch with the roots of the movement. The diversity in Smith’s influences is evident throughout this album – for instance, second track ‘Redondo Beach’ takes a bouncy approach akin to reggae, predating ska punk by several years, whereas the first 9-minute epic of the album, ‘Birdland’, is loosely based around a piano ballad throughout.

When she actually becomes violently passionate during a song, therefore, it comes as quite a surprise – the first chorus to ‘Free Money’ comes out of seemingly nowhere, as does the vocal attack when past the introduction to ‘Land’, which for all intents and purposes is the title track. The point is this; although the instrumentation is interesting, sure, the focal point of this album is Smith’s outstanding vocal performance – one which has not since been paralleled in popular music.

This performance demonstrates quite capability the sheer range of Smith’s vocal styles – although upon one’s first listen to the album, one might remember the ‘monkey noises’ during the chorus of ‘Gloria’ and Smith’s tendency to take her pitch sharply upwards at the ends of vocal lines, but equally memorable upon repeated listens are the cavernous vocals utilised in ‘Land’ and the percussive approach used in many verses, which really aids in the appreciation of the quality of the timbre of her voice.

In essence, the variation in this album means that the post-punk genre is here before much of the groundwork of punk itself had been laid down. It may seem strange, a ‘post-‘ genre being spawned before its suffix was fully created, but that is the only way to demonstrate aptly the full level of innovation of this album. This album was, and is, one of a kind. Patti Smith did indeed go on to make more wonderful music with the likes of Radio Ethiopia, but this is by a long shot her best. An absolutely wonderful album.

9/10

Iron and Wine- Kiss Each Other Clean(2011)

Iron and Wine- Kiss Each Other Clean

Sam Beam, better known by his performace moniker Iron and Wine, is without a doubt one of the most influential modern American Folk artists to ever strum an acoustic guitar. His string of highly influential releases, starting in 2002 with his debut LP The Creek Drank The Cradle, led to an army of imitators and was the stepping stone for dozens of modern Folk artists to enter the semi-mainstream. His legendary "whisper Folk" sound perfectly evoked the feeling of listening to a light wind rustle a Georgian oaks branches as dogs barked in the distance.

Yet since Beam released his most successful album, the unforgettable Our Endless Numbered Days, in 2004, he has done everything in his power to completely abbandon the sound he pioneered and the sound that made him such a legend. When Beam dropped the truly incredible The Sheppards Dog on his unsuspecting fanbase, it was met with as vicious a reprisal as any album has ever received from a belegured fanbase. The Sheppards Dog was so massively different from anything Beam had done before: no longer was Beam strumming a guitar or banjo as he whispered poetry over the fleeting notes. Now, with a full band of musician, Beam went into a smokey, psychedelic Country Rock direction, and many of his long time fans were disgusted. Which of course was insane, as The Sheppards Dog was an adventerous masterpiece the likes of which has not been seen since(opinions are grand, no?).

Now four years later, Beam is back with Kiss Each Other Clean, and the neon-colored and LSD-influcence cover art was to many a grim foreshadowing of what was to come for Beam, who seemed to delight in angering his original fanbase. But the glory of Kiss Each Other Clean becomes evident from the first track: loaded with synth, electric guitars, layered vocals and keyboards, "Walking Far From Home" would seem to be yet another slap in the face to the old fans while high fiving those fans who embraced The Sheppards Dog. But it isn't. In fact, much of Kiss Each Other Clean is a synthesis of Beam's early work and his new, progressive style. "Walking Far From Home" is the perfect example of this: a soaring, high volume love-letter to the lo-fi solo folk of days gone by.

Throughout Kiss Each Other Clean we see this stark, beautiful contrast. One minute Beam is mastering soft rock with "Tree By The River," then returing to his solo Folk roots with "Glad Man Singing," right before upping the Funk to 11 with "Big Burned Hand." Beam no longer whispers his cryptic poetry however: his vocal strength is better than ever on this album, and no Beam's mild falsetto has the power and emotion that his earlier work was missing. Beam is never more haunting then on the final track, "Your Fake Name Is Good Enough For Me" as he declares "we will/become/become" to a crescendo of static, saxaphones and blaring electric guitars. This is not the Beam you discovered back in High School.

Despite an eternally grim chorus of detractors, Beam has easily shaken his past and embrace a future eterally bright with possibilites. No longer limited by his own innovation, Beam is free to explore whatever he wishes to explore, and we are all invited along on his journey. Consider me one of those ready to follow him to wherever his path takes him.

Rating: 10/10

Krypts- Krypts EP(2011)

Krypts- Krypts

As insane as it sounds, I really was not enthralled with Krypts 2009 demo Open the Crypt. You may not know me that well, so let me explain how insane this is. I love Death/Doom and I love Finnish Death Metal. I worship the mighty disEMBOWELMENT and place Finland only behind The United States as the best scene in Death Metal history. Open the Crypt should have been like injecting sweet, sweet eggnog(I FUCKING LOVE EGGNOG) right into my veins. But I just could not get into it: something about the whole demo seemed lacking. Compared to acts like Hooded Menace and the sadly defunct Ascended, Krypts had the look of a second fiddle bandwagon jumper in a Finnish scene loaded with talent.

Still, my blood oath to listen to anything from Finland behooved me to give Krypts new s/t EP a serious listen. Not that this was hard: Krypts has only two tracks, while clocking in at a solid 12 minutes. Not a major investment of time or effort, and Krypts was worth it: I found this solid little release a major step up from the listless, carbon-copy demo. Krypts continue to invoke the Old Gods of Death/Doom: Autopsy, disEMBOWELMENT, Thergothon, early Demigod. Dense and highly polluted with crushing riffs and coffin crushing vocals, Krypts is a solid foreshadowing of the future for the young Fins. Some impressive leads also evoke fond memories of Transcendence Into The Peripheral ,which is always a wonderfully dreadful feeling and one I have not had since Ascended's Temple of Dark Offerings EP.

There is not a whole lot more to say about such a short and very straightforward offering. I still do not consider Krypts one of the elite: not even close. Two solid tracks, neither of which bring anything new to the table, is not enough to convince me this band is the next Hooded Menace. But Krypts has at least given me a window of some understanding into the incredible fanboyism the band has evoked so far in such a short career.

Rating: 7/10

Anti-Extreme Week Coming Up

To be honest, I have no idea if anyone is reading this thing or not. Regardless, a reminder that after this weekend is Anti-Extreme Week. I will be reviewing some of my favorite Non-Metal/Punk/Noise albums from this year. So be on the lookout for reviews of Iron and Wine, Bjork, St. Vincent, Feist, Fleet Foxes and all the other stuff.

Cheers,
Sharpy

Young And In The Way: V. Eternal Depression(2011)

Young And In The Way- V. Eternal Depression

Blackend Crust Punk is a relatively new phenomenon in Punk music right now, and one that is frankly spawning some of the best Punk on Earth. Hitting it's apex in popularity last year with Kvelertak's self-titled debut, the logical and natural mix of Crusty Swedish and American Punk with very early Second Wave Norwegian Black Metal is all the rage. I say logical and natural because one only needs to listen to Mayhem's legendary Deathcrush EP, or the recent work of Darkthrone to see how much Crust Punk and early Black Metal have in common. This correlation shines through even on recent, pure Black Metal releases(Ravencult's Morbid Blood is about as true to the early Norwegian sound as it gets, and I felt like skunking my way through most of the record and throwing Molotov love letters at cop cars.) Young And In The Way, a very young group from North Carolina, are firmly entrenched in this movement. Yet their most recent release, V. Eternal Depression, sounds like no BlackCrust I have ever heard.

With an obvious ode to Depressive Black Metal, V. Eternal Depression is a pitch black little LP. There are no rainbows, high school sweethearts or big eyed Golden Retrievers bringing light into your life. Instead, there are gnarled trees, dead birds being picked to pieces by armies of black ants and overcast skies foreshadowing an even bleaker tomorrow. The tortured shrieks of Kable Lyall do not evoke a desire to mosh and fuck shit up, but to hang out in the bathroom with a bottle of sleeping pills and some Sylvia Plath collections. The opening track, "Descending the White Mountain," never moves faster than a crawl, and ends with a somber piano piece. Right before exploding into the next track "Times Are Cold" with all the fury of a drug addled and depressed rage.

Young And In The Way clearly have a higher, more somber purpose for their music. Not that there is anything wrong with the Kvelertak or Martydod method of mosh pits and 30 packs of domestic brews: an admirable mission if ever there was one, I assure you. But Young And In The Way are seeking to push an already fairly new and only recently popular genre in new directions. I never thought the words would cross my lips, let alone be typed on my keyboard, but Young And In The Way have managed something incredible: an atmospheric, multi-dimensional and layered Punk Rock album.

This is a tremendous feat no doubt, and V. Eternal Depression has become one of my favorite albums of this year. Everything about it is finely crafted and perfectly tuned: each track flows into the other, creating a constant flow of sadness and carnage few albums can compete with. How unfortunate it ends so quickly: the whole album is over in 23 minutes, with an incredible 11 minutes taken up by the last song. True, this is the bands second major full-length this year(the other titled I Am Not What I Am, which I have not heard yet.), but the whole thing ends too quickly. The last track, "The Gathering," is mostly ambient noise and drumming, and although it is sufficiently atmospheric and fits the album, I can't shake the feeling that the band could have delivered a few more tracks here.

Length aside, V. Eternal Depression is a must own album. What these young, obviously unhappy North Carolina natives have accomplished here needs to be heard by any fan of music period. No album this year has taken me to such dark places, places sealed in the confines of the mind, as this fantastic LP. You will be touched: the question is, how will you react to it?

Rating: 9.5/10

Antediluvian- Revelations In Excrement EP(2011)

Antediluvian- Revelations In Excrement

As if there was never another Death Metal band to ever exist in the genres history, Incantation have become the most imitated band in Death Metal over the past few years. Spewed forth form the mighty loins of a New York scene in the early 90's that also spawned to more infamous -ations, Incantation were doing something just a little bit different from their peers in 1992 when they unleashed their magnum opus Onward to Golgotha: excruciatingly thick with distortion, choked into Doom-laden grooves and crusty with blackend, blasphemous filth, Onward to Golgotha was for its time the most extreme Metal album ever. While Suffocation mastered their brutality and Immolation implemented the discordant, Incantation sought only to drown you in suffering and death. This aesthetic has been the driving force behind the Old School Death Metal Revival that stared around 2005-06 and kicked into high gear in 2009, with Incantation, or more accurately their various immitators(and a few innovators), have been the flag-bearer of this movement.

Antediluvian are another in an increasingly large group of Golgotha's, or newer artists adhearing to the sounds of Incantation, who are making waves in the Death Metal scene. Last years compilation CD Watcher's Reign got the hype train rolling for these corrupted Canadian cadavers, whose aesthetic(this has been coming up a lot lately) is spot on and whose sound is a dead ringer for Golgotha style Incantation. Revelations In Excrement is the bands new EP, and it is 3 tracks of Antediluvian doing what they do: play Incantation.

Revelations In Excrememnt is short, no non-sense worship of New York's reviled blasphemers, as well a less than subtle wink-and-a-nods to earlier purveyours of the sound before it became popular, like Dominus Xul and Molested(one of the few classic bands who were able to match Incantation atrocity for atrocity without mindlessly imitating them). Cavernous, demonic ritual Death Metal with hints of Doom Metal groove and Black Metal imagery, textbook style for a soild A+ on the grading scale. If the scale was merely getting the sound and style right anyway. Revelations In Excrement is, for lack of a better phrase, well worn and played out. These tracks have the smell of "been-there, heard-that," delivered with a deadly serious attitude and as little joy or exploration as possible. With bands like Mitochondrion, Witchrist and Adversarial doing so much with the basic concepts and expanding them into something new and exciting, it is hard to get up and feel the evil here. There are only so many cavernous, Lovecraftian static-fests with Craig Pillard impersonators one can absorb before the whole thing grows a bit stale.

I am a huge Incantation fan, and the inherent enjoyment I get from that sound rubs off on me with Revelations In Excrement. Despite my somewhat tired stance, I still got up for this one and still found some primal comfort in the bands brutal and primitive style. If you are a hardcore fan of this sound, I would recommend Revelations In Excrement to you in a flash. The rest may be better off with the original, while we of less discerning taste deploy our cookie cutters and shape our own little piece of Golgotha.

Rating: 6.5/10