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Lovers
of all things heavy, groovy, pummeling and buttery I urge you to
check out the excellent work of this vinyl-only label. Land
o’Smiles is putting out some pretty darn good rocks and this
compilation perfectly represents what they are about. I mean the
palette of sounds has a common low end thread but keeps the
variation entertaining and the quality is even throughout. The
artwork is also quite inviting. And we all know that artwork can
only be fully enjoyed in vinyl format, right? Right.
To the
music: Boston’s Noosebomb start the festivities with “Loser
Porch”, a track that stands somewhere between a gentler and
cleaner Grief and the classic Boston hardcore sound that is
magnificently represented here during the first seconds of the
tune. Fistula are up next with “Cat Skulls Are Thick”, a song of
such contrasts it’s hard not to look surprised and buffled at
the same time. I think these Ohio band just split up too.
Regardless, this stuff deserves a few spins, with the band
delivering some hammering doom sludge for a couple of minutes
and dedicating the rest of the tune to some faster burly
hardcore. Virginia Beach’s The Misanthrope Project goes
psychedelic on our asses; some watery wah-wah, some clarity
before entering a tunnel of aural distortion, and nightmarish
vocals. The Misanthrope Project counts members of Electric
Frankenstein and Sourvein in its ranks so I am not surprised in
the least. Very powerful tune.
The UK’s
Ravens Creed bring up the first and only dubious song of the
bunch. The sound itself has all the stridence of a cheap black
metal recording, but that could be taken as charming. What I dig
less than that is the drum sound, which judging by their MySpace
I’d say might have been handled by a human being but here, the
floor toms sound as organic as a poorly recorded drum machine. Our new favorite Japanese
death doom trio Coffins also make an appearance with their track
“Decapitated Crawl”. This one will only win more hearts as the
deep vomitive vocals enchant anyone with a stomach.
Fossegrimen
are a total oddity. When they say they play 'unearthly doom' they
fucking mean it. There is a hiss to their song “Vistitigial
Sounds” that gives this band quite the spacey eerie vibe. This
sounds like a funeral on acid. At least this is how I imagined
that to sound like. Very interesting. Reno Nevada’s Witch-Lord
let their presence be felt via their agonizing song “Blood for
Kali”. It’s minimal funeral doom with moist cavernous and
humidifying vocals. Very properly lo fi. Kongh I am very
familiar with because I just reviewed their excellent release
Counting Heartbeats, and what can I say that I did not
already say? Actually plenty of things. But, I’ll just add that
these Swedes tear some new assholes with this
doom/post-rock/blackened tune. The voice is totally corrosive
and the riff is flesh eating. Can I say that?
AK’s
Deadbird just put out a new album via At a Loss Recordings and
though the tune included (“Skull White Stone”) here isn’t
exactly the best they’ve created it still capable of making some
heads bobble. Let’s just say the clean vocals of Chuck Schaaf
are more of an acquired taste than their meanest riffs. Closing
the festivities are Raw Radar War, led by Only Living Witness’
Jonah Jenkins, this more hardcore than hardcore band close this
orgy of loudness on a high note with two furiously stomping
songs. Like volume, power and riffs? Get this!
Noosebomb MySpace
Fistula MySpace
The Misanthrope Project MySpace
Ravens Creed MySpace
Coffins MySpace
Fossegrimen MySpace
Witch-Lord MySpace
Kongh MySpace
Deadbird MySpace
Raw Radar War MySpace |
