Natalie Zed returns with another installment in her series of bite-sized reviews. In this edition, Natalie explores the apocalypse, MMA, duct tape mummification, and alien abductions.
Yakuza – Of Seismic Consequence (Profound Lore Records, 2010)
The skin of the earth has come cracking apart. This is what is sounds like.
Weedeater – Jason…The Dragon (Southern Lord 2011)
There are strong parallels between the kind of MMA matches that get someone the most excited and the type of metal they enjoy listening to. Welter and light heavy are my favourite weight classes: the fighters are light enough to retain killer hand speed, but big enough to have devastating power as well. Weedeater squats solidly within the sludge/stoner/doom category, the super heavy weight of metal genres. Everything is about thick, languid lumbering, dinosaurs wrestling in tar. But when something connects, when a blow lands, the result is devastating.
Redeemer – Global Exorcism (Death of the Earth 2010)
Like the architects of any excellent work of horror, Redeemer understands archetypes. They work the the distilled essence of their medium, untroubled by subgenre or other dilutions. They are going towards something pure, something essential, and the result is as unsettling as it is familiar. Redeemer understands how monsters are made.
Aluk Todolo – Finsternis (Public Guilt 2010)
This album is like being kidnapped. Whether you wake to find yourself strapped to an alien’s examination table or mummified in duct tape in the trunk of a car, the result is the same: a combination of torturous boredom and soul-slicing terror.
Grayceon – All We Destroy (Profound Lore 2011)
Grayceon have built a labyrinth. It coils in on itself, intricate and suffocating. For all of its ethereal complexity, the walls are very solid, a clever trap as pretty as it is cruel. You are going to be wandering here a while. At least is is a lovely place to be lost.
Godstopper – Empty Crawlspace (2011)
This is not easy to suck on. Candy that cuts, sharp and angular against you cheek, and it grows the harder you work at it. Angry candy.
