The Radavist

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll notice that in lieu of Tuesday Teardown, I’ve started a #PiNPLP hashtag. I wish I could stay on top of reviewing music, but it’s been increasingly difficult over the years. What I have been on top of however, is expanding my catalog into some pretty strange and obscure acts.

Here’s a disclaimer first: PLEASE go out to your local record shop and have them order these albums for you if you’re interested in including them in your own catalog. They could really use your business.

This year’s Top 10 Albums of 2013 is hardly all metal but there are some very dark bands in there. I’m pretty stoked on this list, so check it out, in no particular order below!

Everyone that thinks Darkthrone was better when they had their brief affair with black metal might as well not even continue with this Tuesday Teardown. Back when F.O.A.D. hit, it was greeted with high amounts of cynicism from people expecting more of their death / thrash / black metal cross-over melee. F.o.A.D. marked a key point in Darkthrone’s timeline: they started to have (even more) fun with music. Then came Dark Thrones and Black Flags, one of the best punk / d-beat albums of 2008. Finally, in 2010, the band’s magnum opus, Circle the Wagons hit, blowing everything else out of the fucking water (I’m being a bit partial here). It is still one of my favorite all time albums. Ever.

Each of Darkthrone’s albums have experimented with metal in various states, so a NWOBHM album shouldn’t surprise anyone. That’s exactly what The Underground Resistance is pushing and I fucking love it. So far, the whole package looks great. The first single “Leave No Cross Unturned” is the last cut on the album and with a howl Fenriz and Nocturno Culto kick it into high gear. Typical of their previous releases (mention Sarke, mention Sarke), Fenriz wrote half of the songs and Nocturno, the other*. So far, I like what I hear! I ordered the vinly and t-shirt package from Peaceville last week!

The Underground Resistance was mastered by Jack Control at Enormous Door, here in Texas and the artwork was penned by Jim Fitzpatrick. Check out the first single “Leave No Cross Unturned” below.

I absolutely love Finnish death metal and I can now add Krypts to the rank of Claws / Hooded Menace, Unholy and Amorphis. This band creates such an enveloping sound that they very well may be the new, true arbiters of death in Finland. The torch of heaviness has been passed and with the buzz surrounding this new album, they’re doing a hell of a job.

Enter the metaphors: Krypts’ sound is a dying behemoth, flailing its limbs before death. It envelops you like a breached submarine as it topples into an abyss, seconds before crushing you like a tin can. Their riffs crawl like a venomous centipede out of decaying corpse and the percussions thunder like the drums of an ancient, subterranean cannibal race of rats.

That’s how menacing Krypts’ highly-anticipated album, Unending Degredation is. Over four years in the making, this album represents the hard work of a band that made its name by crawling from the crypt to the pit. Simply listen to “Inhale” before “the Black Smoke” surrounds you. Like their death doom brethren, some tracks linger. “Dormancy of the Ancients” and “Beneath the Archaic” are as slow as a swarm of maggots, devouring a carcass.

How else are you to describe death metal? Just look at the fucking artwork. Are you not scared shitless? As dark and foreboding as their sound may be, Krypts brings a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. Maybe 2013 won’t suck for death metal after all? Check out one track from Unending Degredation below and pre-order the vinyl direct through Dark Descent.

Bongripper? What do I have to say about Bongripper? For starters, I’ve been a fan of these Chicago doom destroyers since I first heard Hate Ashbury in 2008. Then Satan Worshipping Doom hit me in the gut in 2010. The intense momentum this fucking band has picked up since then is insurmountable. Everything they touch turns green and emits pure heaviness when sparked. After a successful show at Roadburn last year (which you can now buy their live recording here), the band has been working on re-issuing one of their classic albums, Great Barrier Reefer (also for sale now). Still, it had been a while since there was new material from the band. Their Sex Tape / Snuff Film 7″ was just enough to hold over my craving for wall-punching heaviness and now, their new split with Hate features their newest track “Fisting”.

So how is it? Fucking brutal. It’s difficult to type this write up while the song is playing. 11 minutes of giant riffs, heavy as fuck bass and colliding percussions. Just imagine the Old Ones colliding in a battle for the last rip from the bong. Around the 9 minute work, the well-coined Bongripper riffs hit the table and the entire world collapses before a cacophony of d-beat erupts. What I’m trying to say is, this album is intense and I haven’t even talked about side B…

By contrast, Hate’s songs crack open the sky and shatter the stars. As hell rains from the heavens (yes, that is possible), you’re left picking up your teeth. It’s an interesting contrast but that’s what make splits so great, right?

Pre-order the Bongripper / Hate – Split LP here at BONGRIPPER’s site and listen to the whole thing for free at their Bandcamp, where you can also buy the digital version.

It’s only by coincidence that this week’s Tuesday Teardown pick is also on Profound Lore. Hey, I’m a sucker for USBM and SF’s Bosse-de-Nage has been on my radar for the past year or so. While re-organizing some desktop material, I came up on their latest album that I never got around to listening to (cue my discussion on vinyl vs the digital junkspace that is MP3 music). Anyway, onto post-black metal, or as Bosse-de-Nage comes to call it, grey metal. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a suitable title for this band, as is post-hardcore and for that matter, I tend to think of USBM as a little ambiguous anyway.

Check out more Tuesday Teardown below!

As far as I’m concerned, the bands on Profound Lore are some of the best. Krallice and YOB are just a few of the bigger names on their roster but by chance, if you let Ash Borer slip past your fingers while flipping through the stacks at your local shop, you better get back there and pick it up. Named after an invasive species of beetle, this USBM group resides in beautiful Arcata, California. Like their Cascadian brethren in Oregon, Wolves in the Throne Room, Ash Borer mixes a bleek and atmospheric sound that at times is closer to Sunn O))) than black metal pioneers, Mayhem or Gorgoroth. But don’t you dare think for a second their sound is the same! Their newest release, Cold of Ages was released in August of last year (bear with me here) and it’s quite the album. In fact, it should have been in my Top 10 of 2012 list.

Check out more Tuesday Teardown below!

God, I fucking love this band. When I first found out about Blut Aus Nord in the mid 2000’s, something made them stick out from the rest of the more traditional black metal acts I was into at the time. Now, over a decade later, I’m no longer listening to the older bands and have been addicted to these French black metallers. I’ll even go out on a limb here and say that the 777 series is hands down the best thing to come to black metal in the past few years. Each of the chapters is unlike the last and yet, the symbols and songs somehow tie together.

Their latest release under the 777 guise is Cosmosophy and it plays larger than life. Huge, swooping riffs undulate before crashing against cymbals and percussions. This is not your Pure Norwegian Black Metal. It’s more intelligent, even more solitary and by all means less self-aware. The Epitome tracks arise from the darkness and pick off right where they left off, at “Epitome XIV”, before finishing at “Epitome XVIII”. And the only critique is the female vocals threw me off a bit. Pick up this record at your local shop. It’s well worth it. I only hope they release the entire 777 series in a box set.

Check out more Tuesday Teardown below!

Tuesday Teardown is back and in a new format. Rather than review a single album, I figured it’d be better to post up quick reviews on albums that recently came out, in various genres. They’ll all be metal(ish) and they’re all worthy of a record store visit. Starting off with Panopticon‘s newest LP, Kentucky. Just listen to that opener. Since when has black metal and blue grass waltzed hand in hand through the forests of Kentucky? Believe it or not, it works. Really well.

See more Tuesday Teardown below!

“No Love”

Even if you don’t know who Chris Colohan is, or what his previous projects are, it’s damn near impossible to listen to Rotten Things to Say and not make a connection, at least audibly to his earlier project, Cursed. Now, I loved Cursed. They were one of my favorite bands and like my taste has changed, Colohan’s has evolved a little bit. I say evolved because it implies for the better, or at least more fitting to this environ of a war and violence filled world.

Burning Love‘s Rotten Things to Say is not metal. It’s not hardcore. But it is somewhere in between. The aggression found in hardcore is there but the riffs and breaks all scream good old fashioned rock and roll. Just the “Intro” alone tells you this band has their shit together, even if it is in the form of a shit-eatin’ grin. But don’t let that catch you off-guard because “No Love” immediately busts through the wall and goes for your throat.

Check out more Tuesday Teardown below!

“Home of the Grave”

If I could sum up Black Breath‘s newest album up with one word, it’d be “Entombedcore”. Since their debut LP, Heavy Breathing, the Seattle band has really come into their own. Mixing hardcore, thrash and death metal, their newest release Sentenced to Life on Southern Lord really solidifies the band’s sound.

You know how a pair of leather gloves take a little to wear in and form to your hand? That’s how I look at Black Breath over the past few years. It’s like they finally broke in that tough, black leather and the end product is an audio assault. I’ve been listening to the vinyl of the album since it was released and am in love. To be honest, I can’t think of a better Tuesday Teardown at the moment, so read on!

“Serums of Liao”

Ok, it’s been a while but what better album to kick it back into high gear than the latest from High on Fire. If you need an introduction to this band, you’ve fucked up. Bury your head back in the sand and await the worms that will end your life. I was fortunate enough to catch High on Fire during SxSW here in Austin and was surprised to hear new material from the band. Alas, De Vermis Mysteriis was announced and all I thought about was Lovecraft. Then Matt Pike released a quote, outlying the album’s conceptual background. I won’t bother quoting it, because it’s irrelevant to the review.

High on Fire’s last album, Snakes for the Divine didn’t sizzle for me. In fact, Arik Roper’s artwork was the only thing I really liked. It had been a while since the band had the same intensity of say, Blessed Black Wings or Death is this Communion but don’t cringe, De Vermis Mysteriis has found a place next to them. While Kurt Ballou is no Steve Albini, he did manage to hone the devil within Pike to a sharp ax and chop the mother fucking head off a cave troll.

Check out more Tuesday Teardown below!

Don’t forget about the White Orange Tuesday Teardown giveaway! Details here.

Psychedelic, cult rock, mixed in with Pacific Northwest vernacular influences is how’d describe White Orange‘s sound. But since they’re such stoners, they rant on about how White Orange embodies a “synesthesia of sound and movement, an ideological translucent experience, jammy epic psychedelic trance rock”. If you grew up listening to desert rocksters Kyuss, or had your skateboarding sessions fueled by Dinosaur Jr, these guys are for you. Hell, my dad’s love for King Crimson trickled over into my childhood music taste. All of these bands, mixed in with some Alex Grey-inspired cult album art make White Orange one unique band. And you can win some of their music, including a 2x LP.

Tuesday Teardown is back and I figured I’d start it off with something a lil different.

Check out more below.

Believe it or not, I actually catch a lot of flack from readers, asking where Tuesday Teardown has gone. Truth be told, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to really seek out new music. Instead, I’ve been buying my favorites on vinyl and getting back into flipping through stacks. Next week I’ll fall back into my routine to deliver you the best in doom, death, black and thrash. Till then, check out the best album art ever. Done by Putrid, for Hooded Menace‘s Never Cross the Dead, this LP is killing it!