Jarboe and Helen Money – Self Titled

It is almost frightening how spellbinding the collaboration between Jarboe and Helen Money is on their self-titled album, how immersed into its dark inviting depths and ravenously siren-esque shadows ears, imagination, and simply reality becomes. The release is quite extraordinary, embroiling the listener in a soundscape of harmonic drones and sonic distortion but equally a sinister beauty and psyche engulfing adventure. It should probably be no surprise the impact of the album. When you place the evocative invention, craft, and voice of Swans co-founder and former vocalist Jarboe alongside the creative dark majesty of visionary cellist Helen Money (aka Alison Chesley), something startling was bound to happen, though an understatement in the case of their album.

Neither lady is a stranger to the skills and adventure of collaborating, Jarboe having worked on over 63 projects with the likes of Philip Anselmo, Neurosis, Jim Thirlwell, Merzbow, Bill Laswell, A Perfect Circle, Colin Marston, Cobalt, Cattle Decapitation, Justin K. Broadrick, Jesu…and the list goes on, alongside her 36 solo albums, whilst Helen Money has linked up with artists such as Mono, Anthrax, Russian Circles, Joe Lally and Shellac over time. They are experiences and bold adventures which have added to their own subsequent imaginative creativity, something their album reeks of.

The delicious tones of Money’s cello is the first caress as album opener For My Father embraces ears, its melancholic voice provocatively coaxing senses and thoughts under a just as darkly lit ambience. The heavy emotional air parts just a slither for the instantly magnetic presence of Jarboe, her radiant tones instantly poetic like against the shadows and the crinkling texture of her keys. The track continues its increasingly broadening embrace as both ladies unveil further shafts of melodic light and doom lined expression through their respective skills. The song is simply mesmeric, a golden sunrise of enterprise and melodic temptation but equally a breeding of dark clouds and imposing drama. As expansive a minimalistic proposition you are ever likely to be lost within, certainly outside of the album, there is an immediate immersion into the heart of the release, external light not to be seen and felt again until the album decides.

The following My Enemy My Friend is similarly a swift fascination of noir wrapped radiance; the alluring string plucking of Money tensing the spring for the flight of intensive sonic and emotional exploration. Within seconds the instrumental is resonating through body and thoughts, the lyrical and social nudging of the first track seemingly spreading into the intimidating but seductive breath of its successor. Keys and cello create a labyrinth of haunting and ominous suggestiveness, an incitement the imagination tenaciously casts scenes with whilst emotions bow before the weight of the track’s rousing portentousness. It is meditative and unsettling, and quite riveting, a success matched by the outstanding Hello Mr. Blue.

The almost carnivorous opening of what feels like bestial bass is glorious, something to sell your soul for. Whether it is bass or a brilliant merging of keys and cello which is also possible as repeat listens twist and turn with indecision, it is an enslaving start which only escalates into a kaleidoscope of, well creative alchemy to be honest. The floating harmonies of Jarboe seduce with celestial beauty whilst Money’s cello flirts with darkly centred eyes, every note having a knowing smile to their heavy persuasion. As Jarboe unveils the warmly delivered narrative, the track in contrast becomes a brewing maelstrom of agitation and aggravation, egged on by the contagious rhythmic dance of the piece. Every track already has breached new plateaus and taken the listener into inventively denser and increasingly threatening exploits, and this continues that exhilarating success as its marches towards its controlled but vocally bedlamic closure.

Wired is pretty much what it says on the tin, its presence a fibrous mesh of sounds and sonic intrigue presenting an intensive and feverish climate for ears and a sea of opportunities for the imagination to interpret and develop further, whether through its voracious incitement or the more of a harmonic smoulder it also harbours. There is little time for those thought bred adventures to take long term root though before the intimacy of Truth inspires with its own reflective beauty. Keys and sublimely drifting harmonies soaked in an air of loneliness kiss ears first before Jarboe opens up her vocal heart in a theatre of those continuing initial croons and just as emotive guitar stabs.

It is hard with words to present the drama and emotive intensity which comes with every bewitching track and the pair’s creative ingenuity which unrelentingly and deeply works away once breaching ears, but easy to enthuse over the ever evolving experiences which re-invent themselves in sound and visceral adventure with every listen. The closing Every Confidence is a perfect example. We can only hint at the tempestuous nature and climate which seeds from and descends on the senses and psyche after an initial gentle mesmeric croon of sound, but rigorously recommend its rapacious hunger to stretch not only the listener and their emotions, but the creative emprise bred by the artists pushing their instrumental and vocal limits.

It is a challenge and success which applies to the whole of the album. It is an astonishing encounter, a scourge of everything bland and predictable in modern music which goes beyond being something merely to listen to. You feel and almost taste the dynamic and intensive atmospheres of the tracks, you breath the drama and emotional intensity of the sounds and their inspiration, and ultimately it is a journey provided by Jarboe and Helen Money which you take and will never be the same again after.

Jarboe and Helen Money’s album is available now via Aurora Borealis as a black vinyl LP, on CD and digitally.

http://www.thelivingjarboe.com/     http://helenmoney.com/

RingMaster 04/03/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard on Reputation Radio @ http://reputationradio.yooco.org/

 

 

Louis Ramos – Under The Mortar

It is proudly raw, it is old school DIY, and similarly bullish in nature but most of all though Under The Mortar, the new EP from US musician Louis Ramos is an unapologetically enjoyable and abrasing, not forgetting bracing proposition. In many ways there is no surprise at the potency of the release, as Ramos has frequently lit our and numerous other’s ears and imaginations through his band The Amputees. The New York hailing band he created and drives, has persistently offered magnetic slices of inventive garage punk, whilst his songs more often than not have sculpted a tenacious mix of infectiousness and intrusive voracity, generally coloured by his own guitar enterprise. Now he has done it again, though in a primal offering which is his most intensive challenge on the listener yet but equally one of the most fascinating.

Consisting of eight songs which delve into various strains of punk and fierce rock, Under The Mortar opens with its title track and swiftly has electronic rhythms jabbing ears and attention into action before the sonic coaxing of the guitars catch melodically alight. There is a spiciness to the emerging acidic infectiousness and restrained but magnetic grooving which emerges within the song and vocally Ramos uses a warm texture in his delivery which tempers and works with the more abrasive textures well. Like a noise rock interpretation of The Pixies with an underlying pop punk catchiness, the song provides a strong and enjoyable start to the release.

The following Killing Spree is simply one minute and a handful of seconds of unbridled punk rock, a sound closer to Ramos’ exploits with The Amputees and virulently addictive. It is also a potent lyrical swipe which impacts as potently as the busy fury of sound. Its brief but pungent ferocity pushes the EP up another step which is backed by the outstanding Cruel Lip. Think Melvins and Sonic Youth in an industrial sonic blender and you get a sense of the excellent song. Melodically seductive at certain moments and psychotically warped in other times, the track hits the sweet spot whilst ‘punishing’ agreeable senses with its sonic rabidity.

It is fair to say that Get Off My Dick is not as romantic as it sounds, but is a hostile threat of defiance and guitar sculpted ravishment. The track though never goes for the jugular, its gait even paced yet confronting as the fingers of Ramos lure out some insidiously appealing and scarring hooks and sounds from his guitar. It is also another offering which has ears and thoughts absorbed before handing its hold over to the furious protagonist that is Trepanation Nation. Hardcore seeded in many ways, the song brawls with and bawls at the senses and thoughts, but again has a certain reign on its assault compared to the earlier Killing Spree.

The senses get a real testing with Gods And Devils, a song where Ramos vocally croons with impressive radiance but within a sonically tempestuous smog of sound. The guitar offers a raw misting which smothers ears and psyche yet within its caustic touch the vocals and a melodic expression simply blossom. It is an intriguing and compelling offering, like Frank Black engulfed in a harsh winter of sound. Its striking blend of textures is somewhat emulated in the more hard/classic rock balladry of Trophies. It does not have the same immediate potency as its predecessor but over time grows to become another enthralling part of Under The Mortar.

The closing Little Jimmy is an acoustic serenade with a Bolan-esque lure to the vocals and provocative lyrics looking at amongst things, the social apathy to war. The less intensive track musically on the release, it makes up for it emotionally and makes a great end to an attention grabbing encounter.

Certainly Under The Mortar will not make a comfortable playmate for some but for uncompromising and unashamedly imposing punk/rock ‘n’ roll which makes additional demands, it is easy to recommend checking out. The EP takes us back to the days of unpolished, bedroom recorded punk demos; just one more reason to take a punt on Louis Ramos.

Under The Mortar is available now @ http://louisramos.bandcamp.com/album/under-the-mortar

https://www.facebook.com/louis.ramos.1804   https://www.facebook.com/theamputees

RingMaster 04/03/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

 

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard on Reputation Radio @ http://reputationradio.yooco.org/

 

 

 

Foetal Juice & Human Landfill Split

Picture the scene, you are lying naked on a cold floor, your entrails being clawed from your thrashing body as surrounding bones are ground into the merciless surface under you. Despite the assault all you can think about is the swinging hypnotic light accentuating the visceral portrait. That is what listening to UK extreme metallers Foetal Juice is like, a savaging violation of the senses equipped with a bewitching of contagious grooving and irritable hooks. Further proof comes in the new split release from Grindscene Records which lines up the Bury quartet with the equally mercilessly vicious and equally magnetic US band Human Landfill. Unleashing six tracks of grind and death metal inhospitality; the EP is a mouth-watering intrusion which just gets under the skin.

Since forming in 2005, Foetal Juice has been an increasingly potent and striking protagonist on the British extreme metal scene. An early demo was followed by their self-titled debut EP which certainly nudged attention their way, though it is fair to say that it was A Split Worse Than Death, which saw the band share its twenty one tracks with Basement Torture Killings, Decimation, Zombified, and Nailed, and certainly their Big Trouble in little Vagina EP, both in 2013, which sparked new intensive interest in the band. Live too the band has been earning an increasing reputation and acclaim, shows with the likes of Entombed, Wormrot, Exhumed, The Rotted, and tours with acts such as Desecration, Basement Torture Killings, and Zombified only pushing the band into broader spotlights. Now they have this new split to twist up British metal and listener’s psyche, which they do with devilish efficiency and craft.

Their first track is recent single Albert Grindstein, a gem of an incitement whose video upon its solo release gained 30,000 views in a handful of weeks. A sonic lure and beats keen to escape their leash make the first trespass of the ears, their bait swiftly ripped apart for vitriolic grooves and thunderous rhythms to descend ravenously on the senses. It is a gripping assault, the raw vocal squalls being driven by caustic venom whilst guitars cast an inescapable web of acidic grooves and predatory hooks. Behind the bloodlust there is that swing hinted at in the opening of this piece, its swagger as prevalent and persuasive as the individual textures which collude to exploit the listener’s weakest points. It is a treat of a track matched swiftly by Blue Waffle. In some ways this is an evil, more brutal scourge of sound and intent, but again it has that contagiousness which rich grind and death metal thrives on to express deeper and further reaching aspects. It is also more bestial in presence, a bear like smothering which voraciously barks rather than gutturally growls vocally, but devours wholly all the same.

The band’s final offering is Tumour Has It, and it is more of the corrosive same just in an individually appealing and intimidating guise. Grooves and twisted rhythmic assaults create the irresistible canvas over which vocals spill every fluid ounce of their rancor and hate. As the previous pair, the song is sheer creative spite and virulent temptation for any grind and extreme metal enthusiast.

There is much less to reveal about Ohio band Human Landfill as background, though they appear to be a duo consisting of guitarist/bassist Larry Brown and vocalist/drummer Shawn Slusarek, the latter also a member of death metallers Necrophagia. Again they bring death metal and grindcore into a flavoursome brawl, as evidenced on the split, before which a single and well-received debut EP, The Dead Are Not Silent has been tucked into their antagonistic belts.

   Acid Vat Descent is their opening play and instantly there is a raw intensity to their sound and song compared to that of Foetal Juice, you could almost say a sombre nature to its outpouring of malice. The song has a few strings to its violent bow though; darker grooves and a great scarring blend of vocals bringing the unpredictability and adventure always needed. The song seems to lose more inhibitions as it explores its addictive qualities and though the flame of a solo does not quite work for personal tastes and the fade out frustrates, the track is a great introduction to the band.

Their other pair of tempests similarly stirs up appetite and increasing enjoyment, Corpse Wine first providing a torrent of primal riffs and sonic acidity within an evolving gait of rhythmic predation. Whereas Foetal Juice’s tracks seem to instantly ignite the passions and hunger, Human Landfill takes a slower but persistently persuasive route to, certainly on the EP, breach the same kind of success. Their second song is a compelling offer but soon overshadowed by the outstanding Dirty Bomb Euthanization. All the hints of uniqueness and manic agitation in design and delivery found in the first two songs come to full life on their third, the track at times a tsunami of lethal beats roared on by vocal rapacity and in other moments a twisting temptation which bares all the wiles of a demonic temptress.

It is an impressive end to an excellent union of two of the world’s exciting emerging bands. Foetal Juice is a bit of a known prospect already to be fair and has only enhanced and pushed on again their thrilling presence whilst the relatively unknown Human Landfill, until now, have surprised and only highly impressed. So there we have it, another fine split all metal fans should explore.

The Foetal Juice & Human Landfill Split is available via Grindscene Records now @ http://grindscenerecords.bigcartel.com/product/foetal-juice-human-landfill-split-pre-order

https://www.facebook.com/FoetalJuice

RingMaster 05/03/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard on Reputation Radio @ http://reputationradio.yooco.org/

 

 

Offal / Zombie Cookbook – Split 7” EP

 

 

There is a certain individual sickness to the visceral charms of Brazil’s most prominent and inventive extreme metal bands, an insidiousness which seems to coat riffs, grooves, and indeed songs. That sickness is a creeping toxin flavouring the new split release from Offal and Zombie Cookbook too; a poisonous and malevolent offering which worms under the skin with infectious temptation. It is not a release which actually startles, not initially anyway, but over time emerges as a visceral sonic assassin to which imagination and emotions become playthings. A swift and lethal scourge of the senses from two bands which are potently emerging on the broader extreme metal scene, the 7” split comes courtesy of a label, Black Hole Productions, which is no stranger to unleashing underground treats from band such as Lymphatic Phlegm, Xxx Maniak, Haemorrhage, and Gruesome Stuff Relish.

Offal is first up on the release, a quartet from Curitiba consisting of vocalist André Luiz, guitarist Tersis Zonato, bassist João Carlos Ongaro, and drummer Igor Thomaz. To the release of their well-received self-titled debut album in 2006, the band has added a second full-length and a string of splits with bands such as Bowel Fetus, Anatomia, Decrepitaph, and Mausoleum, all helping to increase their reputation and stature in the underground. References to Autopsy and Carcass have been cast over their sound, and as opener Dementia Trash. The Cult Of The Low-budget Cin devours ears it is something to agree with yet only slightly flavours the band’s voracious sound. Riffs are an immediate scrub of aggression in the song, swiftly backed by the thunderous and turbulent assault of rhythms. Lorded over by the dark coated cavernously toned growls of Luiz, the track is a mix of predacious stalking and rabid intent. It is a rather compelling proposition gaining greater strength of persuasion across its length, imposing sonically and in success as its narrative courts the craft and blood-fests of cinematic gore/cult b-movie movie pioneers like Herschell Gordon Lewis, Ed Wood, and Roger Corman.

A great incitement for ears and imagination, the band’s second proposal Spinal Extractions Fiend For Blood is a more savage and irritable, no make that violent encounter, and just as highly palatable even at its mere 45 seconds. It hangs around enough to get the teeth into and to ignite a healthy appetite but is too short to get as much satisfaction out of it as wished, though that want is soon fed impressively by Zombie Cookbook.

The band’s name and indeed that of its members, in vocalist Dr. Stink, guitarists Horace Bones and Ed The Dead, bassist Purgy, and drummer Dr Freudstein, alone provide colourful and mischievous bait, a lure instantly backed by their first track Motel Hell. There is thrash bred ferocity to the charge and hostility of the song, energy and creative adventure which is as psychotic as it is groove infectious. The vocals equally have a character and captivating rabidity to them which only ignites ears and enjoyment, bringing a chunk of the originality which revolves within an accomplished if familiar template of sound.

Its voracious appetite and body only gets more deviously addictive and magnetic over time, much as that of its successor Eredità Maledetta. The first of the band’s two songs ends on a great finale of pure unbridled thrash contagion, a sonic tirade plainly contrasted by the demonic seeded entrance of the second, though it does not take long for the track to expel a spiteful breath and leap into its own ravenous destructive tempest. It also is much shorter than its companion, but does offer two minutes of furious extreme metal combat to reinforce a greedy appetite as sparked by the EP to explore the band, something which applies to Offal also.

It is hard to suggest you will hear anything dramatically new on the split but with undeniably impressive songs both bands make invigorating additions to the full underground arena of extreme metal. Both Offal and Zombie Cookbook could be looking at infiltrating the broadest spotlights sometime soon too, especially if they continue uncaging beasts like those on their shared offering.

The 7” Split EP is available now via Black Hole Productions @ https://blackholeprods.bandcamp.com/album/split-7ep

http://www.offalgore.com/       http://www.zombiecookbook.com.br/

RingMaster 05/03/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard on Reputation Radio @ http://reputationradio.yooco.org/

Fossils – The Meating

Released a year ago, Flesh Hammer from Danish noise alchemists Fossils has, from fusing the senses and passions on its first touch, continued to reign on our weekly playlist, and more often than not in a daily burst or two. The outstanding release from the instrumental noise rockers as their sound generally, is a primal temptation sculpted by the bass and drums of Simon Tornby and Per Silkjær respectively. In that union though, the band breeds hooks, grooves, and rhythms which are as sinister and predatory as they are contagiously all-consuming. The album was pure addiction in our ears and the band exactly one year later have done it all over again with a new release, this one coming with a thrilling twist.

With their new instrumental exploration scheduled for 2016, Fossils have filled the gap between albums and impressively fed anticipation with new EP The Meating. Where that twist comes in is in the fact that this encounter is awash with tempestuous vocals. At the time of the unleashing of Flesh Hammer, the duo enlisted various singers to interpret tracks vocally from the album at its release show. Originally planned as a one off occurrence, the band subsequently took the performers into the studio to record their additions to the original songs, and now we have the quite scintillating and compelling devilry of The Meating; seven pieces from the last album re-interpreted and ignited again vocally. Renamed and presumably re-mixed or re-tweaked musically, unless the vocals transform tracks even more potently than we thought, the EP is another irresistible and storming onslaught from Fossils.

Opener Deadringer features Jacob Bredahl of The Kandidate and once of HateSphere, and under the torrential bombardment of Silkjær’s addictive beats it instantly has ears and attention submissive. It is of course prime Fossils bait, the snarling lure of the bass and its crunching riffs aligning to voraciously swinging rhythms for immediate manna to the ears. Bredakl is soon roaring with his distinctive tones, challenging and raging with attitude and animosity within the increasingly virulent sounds. Already a pungently confronting encounter, the song is given extra causticity and rancor by the singer, and as all the songs becomes a brand new proposition.

The following Taxon is graced by the blistering industrialised contribution of Ultimate Combat Noise, the track brewed into a corrosively attractive and psyche scorching antagonist whilst next up Meat Lover takes on a punk crafted guise thanks to Mads Stobberup of Cola Freaks. He vocally brawls over the spicy infectiousness of the equally agitated sound; the track like his voice is not exactly looking for a fight but given a nudge will lash out with relish. It is not the last track to have an infusion of varying punk revelry and those tracks do emerge as favourites, though everything excites without reserve.

   Marie Højlund of Marybell Katastrophy gives Ridge and the Rock a siren-esque seduction next, her ethereal and seductive tones wrapping like a temptress around the wiry lures of the bass and the ravenous energy of the drums. It is a bewitching infestation of senses and lust, an increasingly rabid and psychotic enchantment matched by the punk ferocity of Speedbacon. Seb Doubinsky provides the voice to the Dead Kennedys like take on the original rasher of noise bestiality. The track is ravenous in nature, though nicely contrasted by the vocal porcine fun in a presence barely lasting a minute of length.

The final two tracks steal the show, even if by a slither. Firstly Ham Reader expels an acidic and venomous bluster over its tempest of noise through Mikko Mansikkala Jensen’s bracing throat bred squalls. It is a ferocious and wholly magnetic assault which sets the emotions up perfectly for the final devilment of Ködhabit. The track is blessed by Kim Kix, one half of psyche rock ‘n’ rollers Powersolo, who thanks to Fossils and this release have just swiftly been added to our lustful favourites list. The song as expected launches a torrent of delicious grouchy bass growls and insatiable rhythms but grows further with the deranged tones and delivery of Kix. The song we would suggest is the most startlingly evolved of the bunch from the original templates set by Flesh Hammer, a hellacious rocker which relentlessly flirts with the passions in a way which only an image of Gene Vincent being twisted inside out by and thrust on stage by Cleve Barker’s Cenobites, who then provide the backing sounds fits. We said that every track is a massive and equally thrill, and they are, but the final song of The Meating is another type of creature and looks down on all with majestic lunacy.

The Meating is and feels like a brand new offering from Fossils as we await their next instrumental escapade. Flesh Hammer graced many a best of list in 2014, and we can find no reason why this new offering will not be doing the same come December.

The Meating is available from March 2^nd via Indisciplinarian.

FOSSILS will be performing at the three Danish Indisciplinarian Label Nights in late March with label mates Piss Vortex and Anti Ritual at…

26/3 – Stengade, Copenhagen (DK)

27/3 – Radar, Aarhus (DK)

28/3 – 1000fryd, Aalborg (DK)

http://www.meatrush.com/   https://www.facebook.com/fossilsmusic

RingMaster 03/03/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard on Reputation Radio @ http://reputationradio.yooco.org/

Shitkill – The New Breed EP

The bigger the expanse of sounds and bands we all hear, the more we go looking for that something extra to get excited about. It might not be a big twist which sparks a fire in personal tastes, but something which certainly ignites the imagination and shows that there is still varying degrees of originality within modern music. American metallers Shitkill is a band which with new EP, The New Breed, has plenty of those little differences and definitely teases a burst of enthused attention to ears and thoughts. Hailing out of New York, the quartet cast a sound which draws on a diverse flavouring of sounds; they more often than not seemingly are tagged as groove metal but as the EP shows it is just one shade of many creative colours ripe in their music.

Formed in 2009, Shitkill has continually nurtured a potent reputation for their live presence and sound, not only locally but into broader attention. Their stage impact has been one reason, the band increasingly strengthening their stock as they played with bands like Twelve Foot Ninja, the Cro-Mags, Eyehategod, and D.R.I., but also through their releases. 2010 saw the Asylum EP released but it is fair to say that their self-titled album a year later made the first real mark. Its well-received success was followed by two live albums in 2012 and 2014 respectively, but The New Breed EP is where it is easy to imagine the band soon luring a more global attention.

The EPs title track is first to persuade ears, and does so with swift success thanks to the opening rhythmic dance cast by drummer Damien Moffitt. It is inescapable bait aided by the sonic glances playing around the beats and taken to new heights by the deliciously carnivorous tones of Karina Rykman’s bass. It is animalistic in voice, every flick of a string bringing a predatory edge which simply grips an already awoken appetite. Things only get more compelling as the opening grooves and riffs cast by guitarists Danny Chpatchev and Josh Musto add to the tantalising proposition. The track swings and leaps round with devilment in its heart and creativity, but also an ever increasing unpredictability and imagination. The vocals of Musto scowl and rage, a gravelly delivery somewhere in the ball park of Phil Anselmo. The song itself can be best described as a mix of System Of A Down, Bloodsimple and indeed Pantera, yet there is plenty more hinting and teasing within the provocation, and showing stronger glimpses as the release proceeds.

It is a potent and highly enticing start, but in some ways just the appetiser as things get more inventive and flavoursome. The next up Vultures instantly brings a new tempest of intrigue and aggressive flavouring, its hardcore essences a buffeting ire against metallic grooving and tangy melodic enterprise. From its initial stomp, the song slips into a compelling noise rock infused stomp, riffs and hooks shuffling with rhythms in a psychopathic yet fluid tango before returning to the stormy onslaught it began with.

Death Giver pushes the adventure of the EP to further riveting heights straight after, the track making a tenaciously imposing entrance with a torrent of riffs pierced by powerfully swung beats. Bass and subsequently vocals only add to the dark drama and intimidation though it is only the lead to greater irresistible temptation. A rugged proposal at first it suddenly throws off its severe manner and goes on an escapade of creative mania. There might be better ways to describe the sudden burst of ingenuity but with deranged grooves and hooks which feel bedlam bred, there is a delicious insanity to the track. The grooving reminds of The Cardiacs whilst around them the roars of vocals and rhythmic predation is as much punk as it is metal. The track is quite brilliant and those insidious grooves, a lingering serpentine infestation.

An even greater punk ferocity fuels Faceless, the song from its first breath a raging brawl unafraid to bring addictive hooks and spicy grooves into its hostile armoury. Though it cannot quite match the brilliance of its predecessor, the turbulent treat has pleasure full and hunger for more, greedier by the second. Punk metal at its best, the song makes way for the closing excellence of Underworld. It is another almost bestial in presence and tone, riffs and rhythms prowling the listener with persistent hostility whilst adding distractions like sudden agitated beats and vocal causticity. Those demonic grooves make their return again, nestling seductively into the different but no less enthralling landscape of the song. Embracing the metal side of the band’s sound with potent whispers of more classical breeding, the encounter has body and emotions engrossed and complicit in its dark deeds, especially through the closing stretch of heavy footed and superbly lumbering beats from Moffitt courted by the cavernous basslines of Rykman and the equally uncompromising enticements of the guitars.

It is a scintillating end to an impressive and thoroughly thrilling release. Probably like a great many, The New Breed is our introduction to Shitkill, another succumbing to their not majorly original sound but certainly a strikingly inventive and most of all fiercely enjoyable one.

The New Breed EP is available now digitally @ https://shitkill.bandcamp.com/

http://shitkill.com/     https://www.facebook.com/shitkill

RingMaster 03/03/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard on Reputation Radio @ http://reputationradio.yooco.org/

 

Not Tonight Josephine – Self Titled EP

Released the same week as the new self-titled EP from Not Tonight Josephine, the debut release from UK band Death Kindly Waits For Me ignited a fresh breath in the post hardcore scene. It set down, even in its raw but potential drenched proposition, a new adventure for the genre which for us made a marker all other offerings would now have to match up against. The Florida hailing quintet are the unfortunate ones to step up next and within hours of that striking release, the first to have to impress new demands and hopes. It is fair to say that Not Tonight Josephine do a fine job, their six track encounter might not have that special ingredient we found so thrilling but it out crafts and out shines most other post hardcore proposals over recent months to leave thick pleasure in its wake.

The band has been working on the new release since mid-2014, creating songs to push their sound on again from its acclaimed successor, the Common Gold EP released the previous year. With a more aggressive and voracious character to it, the band has certainly achieved that with the EP and it is right to suggest the release is their finest moment yet. Not Tonight Josephine formed in 2008 and has consistently lured in praising attention locally and across broader spotlights leading up to that previous EP. Live too they have earned a potent reputation, shows with the likes of A Day To Remember, Underoath, Ice Nine Kills, Rise Against, New Found Glory, and The Colour Morale only adding to that. Common Gold followed a line-up change and seemed to find that flush of heavier and arguably rawer adventure which now roars from within the Not Tonight Josephine EP. As mentioned at the start, for us the bar has been raised recently, but it is all relative to personal tastes and definitely this new protagonist leaves only the fullest satisfaction and impressed reactions.

Recorded with From First To Last duo Taylor Larsen and Spencer Sotelo, the EP opens with brief instrumental ;) . It is an atmospheric forty seconds which intrigues but is really the intro to the following ReEmerge. Why it has its own track listing it is hard to know but it is soon a thought of the past as the new track erupts with thumping beats and aggressive riffs bound in an instantly inviting melodic enterprise. Even as the song settles in to its tempestuous stride, the swings of drummer Christian Turt show no mercy, only impressing with their weight and tenacity. The raging vocal squalls of frontman Danny Garry and bassist Evan Foley also have a potent angst and attitude to them but it is the clean delivery of Garry that really impresses and steals the attention. It is fair to say that post hardcore bands have been predominantly impressing and grabbing our plaudits through the melodic side of their attack vocally, maybe too much of the same caustic shouting talking its toll on our patience and simply feeding expectations, and there is no doubting the might of that area in Not Tonight Josephine matched by the creative enterprise evolving round them. The use of strings and production twists only add to the drama and increasing success of the song, unpredictability an open weapon in the great start.

The following Nothing To Show is a brawl of vocal hostility and antagonistic sounds from the off, riffs and beats a delicious baiting as they intimidate and lead the listener into a maelstrom of vocal deliveries and twang lit grooves under a thunderous sky of attitude and sound. Not quite having the individuality of its predecessor or the imaginative punch, the song still intrigues and persuades with its mix of almost metalcore hostility, djent bred ferocity, and melodic expression woven by the skills of guitarists Scott Vallina and James Purcell. Whereas the last song broke ranks, this feeds expectations for the post hardcore sound, something you can say about Eyes which follows. Featuring a guest performance from Spencer Sotelo too, the track bellows and revolves with ear seizing adventure and satisfaction breeding pugnacity. It is wholly enjoyable but again does not surprise which is a real want in our admittedly demanding tastes.

Don’t Hold Your Tongue though is another matter, a fairer and mellower croon, it is bewitching. It is melodic rock at its captivating best, the balladry of sound and Garry’s outstanding vocals spellbinding and another excuse for us to say less caustic styling ahead please; save just for textural use. Song and band reveal a fresh charm to their songwriting and composing through it, with only the ever fiery beats of Turt offering dark and complimenting intensity.

The final song finds the band back in turbulent mood. Barefaced also shows the band to have the kind of invention and skill to help drive their genre on to new heights. The song is sensational, the EP’s top temptation where even the aggressive squalls work perfectly within the unbridled animosity and inventive spite of the encounter. It is a predator of a song but also an inescapable seduction, tearing the senses asunder then soothing the wounds with a vocal and harmonic caress. It has something special, a heavy dosage of startling and exciting imagination in thought and sound which reignites, what are becoming, tired ears for the standard post hardcore template.

Not Tonight Josephine band and EP is a highly enjoyable and impressing encounter; yes we know we have become picky and did pick here, but we come away from the release with satisfaction full and hopes for new creative blood in this genre re-energised a little more.

The Not Tonight Josephine EP is available from March 3^rd

http://nottonightjosephine.com/     https://www.facebook.com/nottonightjosephine

RingMaster 03/03/2015

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