Revisionist Western

 I have a new review up at DIY Conspiracy of the new albums by Bonjour Tristesse and Trespasser which, more broadly, discusses black metal as a rejection of modernity and how leftist bands draw on that tradition. Check it out if that sounds cool to you. 

I have a theory that most  bands are a mix of genres, even if some of the genres are subtle, and the secondary, more submerged genres often make a difference as to whether or not you like something.  For example, I like a lot of sludge and post metal, but a lot of the (big scare quotes, here) "big sludge bands" aren't the ones I like (for example, I can't really get into The Melvins). I think the reason why is that I'm just, frankly, not that into a lot of the submerged genres that lots of the big sludge bands are built on and which seem to be a lot of people's way in to listening to that sort of thing. Grunge, prog rock, dessert rock, etc., none of those genres do much for me. So if you're a sludge or post metal band that has an undertow (see what I did there?) of one of those genres, I'm almost certainly not going to like it. Nothing personal, you do your thing, but it's just not something that resonates with me. Liträo, on the other hand, are sl...

I tend to think that musical barriers that are highly pronounced in one generation tend to fall in the next because young people are musical sponges, soaking up all kinds of different influences that might seem antithetical to older generations. For example, I can't imagine trying to explain to someone who is 21 now that there was a point where mixing metal and hardcore was controversial. Whether  to incorporate metal and, if so, how  to incorporate it into hardcore were open questions when I was a kid. Now, a band like Portland's Screwed just throw chainsaw grind, metalcore, d-beat, sludge, and thrash in a blender like there'd never be a question all those things should go together and we're all better for it. On Terror Cycle, Screwed churn their way through eight menacingly ugly songs, reminding me of something like Moral Void, on the hardcore end, or Primitive Man, for the sludge influence. The guitar tone is spot on HM-2 worship, but they tend to be slower and chugg...

  Out of nowhere, one of my favorite dark hardcore bands just dropped a new album and it's exactly what I want from them. Dark Circles put out a number of fantastic, raging crust albums about six or so years ago. I remember the timing explicitly because, when they were dropping albums, it was when I was living somewhere I wasn't thrilled about living and Dark Circles where one of the bands that really got me through that time. This album picks up exactly where they left off, with a punishing chainsaw-crust sound that manages to keep an undercurrent of melody running through the songs to keep them interesting, even as they pummel you with noise. I would liken them to bands like Barren, The Secret, and Trap Them. I would also note that they were a direct influence on my hardcore band, in particular the first album which was written while I was mainlining their first two albums. Please, please check out Dark Circles. It's PWYW so you have no excuse not to.  Frantic Death by D...

I mean, come on. Look at that album cover. You know exactly  what you're getting here. And yes, it shreds.  Mist of Doom is an absolutely ripping mix between raw black metal and crust. I would compare them to a more hardcore-influenced version of bands like Bütcher, Hellripper, and Bewitcher, with the same kind of driving, raw, blackened attack, but a little less-NWOBHM in the mix and a little more dis-crust going on. If you listen to those bands and wish they sounded more like Wolfbrigade or Martyrdöd, Mist of Doom is your band.  The songs on Revenge of the Ancient Gods are short, the beats are fast, the vocals are throat-ripping, and the riffs are catchy and anthemic. This is really everything I want in blackened crust, up to and including a furious album closer called "Black Metal Nazis Must Die." It's the kind of quick, brutal listen that makes it hard not to bob your head along as it pummels you.  The album is free on Bandcamp, and given that I've listened ...

  Not sure what it is, but Russia just kills it  with the genre bending bands these days. На том берегу (don't ask me how to pronounce that, I couldn't begin to guess) are a new neocrust/hardcore band from over there who've recently put out what appears to be their first EP, entitled Мистраль (once again, no idea). This is easily some of the best stuff I've heard like this in a while. It reminds me of the late 90s/early 2000s hardcore (the stuff kids half my age call "skramz"), like Lack , Yage , or even City of Caterpillar, a little bit, with driving, melodic riffs under mostly screamed, impressionistic lyrics. Throughout the EP, though, На том берегу maintain an undercurrent of furious, d-beat hardcore, which helps keep the intensity ratcheted up to 11.  I cannot stress enough that I love this EP. Few records I've heard recently have been as aimed right at me as this is. If you're a fan of bands like Morrow , Fall of Efrafa , or Respire , На том бер...

Damn, this is right up my alley. Just wanted to draw some attention to this great two track preview of Leviatán, which appears to be an upcoming album by Spanish band Ansïa. These two tracks are some really well written, melodic neocrust, seamlessly blending mid-tempo, melodic hardcore, with some anthemic, atmospheric sludge and grind. Neocrust is, obviously, one of my favorite genres and I'm really stoked to hear a band do it so well. This preview is NYP and I'll be sure to mention if and when the full album drops. prewiew Leviatán by Ansïa

Dumange is a Spanish neocrust band and this appears to be their first release. Dropping a single, 40 minute song as your first release when you're a crust band is a gutsy move, but Dumange pull it off with this release. Writing long songs when you're a hardcore band always means that you have to use every trick you have to keep things interesting in a genre whose tools are designed to give you minute long bursts of energy. Dumange combine a variety of sounds and textures in this song, ranging from driving, post-rocky parts, to gentle passages with whispered vocals over them, to full on raging d-beat. The end result is something that, to me, sounds like melodic crust like Remains of the Day or Deszcz mixed with Envy or City of Caterpillar. If any of that is your jam, this is PWYW over at Bandcamp. I'd recommend it.   Entre ratas by Dumange

Okay, kids. History time. There was a point, back in the 90s, when a genre called "screamo" didn't exist and most bands that played what now gets called screamo actively rejected the label (because, let's be honest, it's an embarrassing term). Those bands (including bands I was in that sounded like that) typically thought of what they were doing as good old hardcore, albeit slightly outside the box hardcore. Then, somehow, the "screamo" label started to stick, and then later generations needed a whole new word (skramz) to differentiate original pretty good screamo from later much worse screamo. Which I get. If I were 22 I wouldn't want to admit I listen to a lot of "screamo" from the the last ten years, either. Anyway, where I'm going with this is that Lagrimas is a band from Los Angeles that sits right at this intersection in a way I really appreciate. What I think people responded to about the 90s hardcore that gets called sk...