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| FEATURES | THE GOOD THE BAD THE UNSIGNED XVII | |||
IT'S A 7 INCH EXTRAVAGANZA IV |
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Alright, another solid batch of unsigned bands. I think I am pissing bands off by not covering their material as quickly as possible, but I am doing my best over here. More coming and until more comes, please enjoy. A lot of talent here, some should be snapped ASAP. Read on and spread the word.... |
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Funny thing, French doom band Goat River has two full-lengths under their belt and both are simply self-titled. Simple, right? As if their music was not simple enough, these garcons keep it beyond bare bones and craft the kind of stoner doom that’s single-minded and on occasion, borderline boring. As is typical of bands of the ilk, their songs are fucking long, which considering how little it is that they evolve over time may reveal Goat River’s overall laziness. That said, there is a time and a place for doom this blunt, and that is with Goat River as background, and conversation, alcohol and some illicit substances in the foreground. To make justice, Goat River do fall into a few entrancing grooves here and there. “Gemini” takes a few minutes to warm up, but is like the rest of the material, a cut that creeps up only after you’ve made up your mind that this is really a tad boring. Facebook |
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Iceland’s Five Will Die sent me a USB that doubles as a bottle opener, so they got on my right side right away. What got on my wrong side was their name. It smelled like douchy hardcore from the 90’s, but I trudged on with all their recordings, starting off with their average 2006 demo Year of the Dead. It’s rather groovy with guttural vocals. The mix of styles does not really come together. In 2008, Slung From a Tree was edited by the band. Initially, some of the mid tempo grooves seem to have been left behind in exchange for a better form of doom sludge, but as the first cut “Five Will Die” moves on, the music advances into some quasi nu-metallish games. The rest of the recording is a mixed bag. The mixture of brutal vocals with melodic music is not a new offering and Five Will Die are certainly, not doing just that, but the incredibly gruff vocals do not really support the bluesy stoner leanings of some of these tracks. In other words, the vocals take away from the music. “Only Remy” for instance, is blues stoner doom. Musically basic, but enticing as all hell. The vocals of Andrew Forrestal however are simply abusive and the contrast is hard to overcome and may prove to be a barrier to some. Included in the great package from Five Will Die was also their latest release Worth & Soul. It comes in a neat digipack and design wise is well above their previous releases. Musicwise not much has changed, except the music is more furious and by losing some of the bluesy edge, the hard stoner doom meets the burly vocals at the right spot. There are also obvious improvements in the musicality, the guitars remain limited, but there is a wider palette of textures, more playing on the thin strings and pulling on the high end. The vocals though, remain rough as fuck. Facebook |
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I know the band Warm has a Facebook page but I can’t fucking find it. It is crucial that I do so, since I’d like to provide a bit of background on Warm’s hard-hitting post-rock but Google ain’t working wonders and with a name as broad as Warm, it is almost impossible to find them. A total shame, because I imagine they may have been rejected by Metal Archives, even though their music is heavy enough and that’s about it. To sum it up II, I assume is their second recording, it contains four songs and it seems to borrow a bit from several places; it is post rocking, but wisely, the band avoids all the quiet moments and the obligatory crescendos, opting instead for kipping it heavy and melodic all the time. In parts, there is a heavy alt rock element that travels back to the 90’s. “Polar” for instance, belongs in rock radio back in the day, perhaps sandwiched between Hum and Soundgarden. II closes with “In Margins” a doom-laden cut where the guitars explode and bloom naturally. Warm are great, now if only they could pick a name that was easier to find online. Bandcamp |
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Not long ago we gave Adrift for Days (pictured above) three sparrows on their The Lunar Maria debut. The recording was strong, and the Aussie quintet definitely knew what they wanted but somehow, their songs fell a bit flat. They were long winded and at the end of the day rather dull. Their sophomore effort Come Midnight has not changed much in direction, except, some of these songs are fucking spectacular. The vocals of Mick Kaslik remain as once depicted in these virtual pages; sometimes Keith Caputo, sometimes Dax Riggs, but the songwriting has moved forward a great deal. The agonizing length remains with four songs that generously surpass the ten-minute mark, but you wouldn’t even notice it, because their songwriting is fucking tight. Had Acid Bath would have chosen to be a tad smoother and would have loved long jams, they would have written a song as perfect as “A Premonition”, a stunning three part song that unfolds swiftly and has a middle sequence that is warm and fuzzy. The album doesn’t quite reach that peak again, but Come Midnight seems to dive deep into the band’s unconscious with a very dark mood and an insistence with tribal percussion. Somehow, Adrift for Days get it, it is not just about the tempo, low tuning and diistortion, it is also about making evocative music and Come Midnight is just that. Bandcamp |
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One of these three dudes owns a Cirith Ungol T-shirt, so they get about a quarter sparrow from the getgo. There is an extra quarter sparrow because the guitarist has a Voor sticker in his guitar and, oh, what’s that? Oh yeah, a Cauchemar sticker right next to it. But enough with the bullshit, if France’s Projet RL gets points is because of their tepid sound, which is miles away from any Cirith Ungol ripoff of the world. Quite frankly, despite their obvious predilection for the metallic, you’d have a hard time guessing it by listening to this nine song recording. Projet RL open with “Waves of Alienation”, the most mundane instrumental I’ve heard in quite a while, and then they move into a far more subversive sound. “Chronique” is fantastic post punk, underwater music really, with dank ambience, repetition and a vague vocal delivery while “Betrayer” is much punkier, with a frenetic pace and a totally fuck you attitude. “Colorfull Melancholia” is old school The Fall, so how can you go wrong? Facebook |
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New Mexico’s Drought are fucking minimal. If there was ever a blurry line between droning and dooming, this is it. While the Santa Fe trio remains organic and never forgets its music simmering in the backburner, it is obvious that their intentions are nefarious. Out of the four cuts included in this their first official release, all of them move at such a lethargic pace it may be easy to get them mixed up. Drought throw few curveballs; like the sparse vocals that show up about twice throughout the recording, or like the sped up phase in the long as cut “Penitente”, but for the most part this recording is ruled by a constant. The music of Drought is not for all. That much is clear from the start. Monotony rules and when it does so with such an in your face attitude and simple sound, then it is clear that the band demands certain type of attention. It is clear that what these guys do has as much to do with excess as it does with doom, it is just that they are letting the flavor of doom overtake the softer more subtle ingredients, and is precisely within the latter that Drought kind of rule. Blog |
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You can always trust a greek band to pull off the most unoriginal music. There is this band called 1000Mods who could pass as pretty good Kyuss impersonators and still have you dig them without having to feel like a total sucker. Lord 13 are a tad more upbeat, which is to say their guitars are far lighter, which is to say their production is quite inadequate, which is to say, when I listen to Lord 13 I miss Chris Goss. Without being a pussy though, I would almost like to ask Lord 13 to get a little shy with their grooves. Some are too sunny and lightweight and too many ‘yeah, yeahs’ gets them a bit too close to the light side of rock. There is something to 2013 (their second self-released full-length) though, some of the guitars are quite nice, delicate and detailed. Short passages on the lamely titled “Get You High” elevate the tune from mediocre to above average and the straight-forward approach of “Off the Edge” is quite refreshing. Lord 13 never really escape their self-imposed limitations and that may translate in frustration on the listener who expects a little bit of boldness. Ben Ward from Orange Goblin shows up in “Wicked Thing” so if that helps, there you go. Official Site |
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Over the past decade it seems as if kids have just gotten so much better at their instruments. Maybe they have been listening to Messhuggah too much, or maybe, that air of proficiency is just in the air. Not Necroriser though. The once South American, now London-based trio plays like it’s 1991 and they are all the better for it. It is safe to say that had Necroriser been a band back in the halcyon days of the Florida death metal scene they would have signed to Roadrunner Records. That’s how they sound, somewhat tepid Morrisound-ish production included. Suicide is their first EP and is truly back to basics. It’s as if these guys haven’t listened to anything that has been recorded after 1998. In “Pain” Necroriser sounds dangerously close to Sepultura back in the Beneath the Remains days, heavy accent included. The whole EP has this proto death metal feel to it, it is actually quite the nostalgia trip. Songs like “Horror” and “Suicide” which comes to an abrupt end, have this early retro riffage that is direct and economic and as a result the music of Necroriser sticks like wet gum. Facebook |
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