Adam "Nergal" Darski: Winning at Metal.

Depending on your perspective,this guy is either going to hurt your feelings or validate your poorly justified sense of elitism over fans of other subgenres of metal.

I haven't ranted online about metal in a few...months I suppose.  So what motivates me today? Adam "Nergal" Darski and some recent comments he made in published interviews that managed to stir up the metal scene who otherwise would be having yet another pointless debate about "Pantera vs Metallica vs Iron Maiden" or upsetting themselves over why, one again, the Mayhem tour only has 3 quasi-listenable bands on it. For the sake of me throwing my opinion out there about a week after this was truly relevant, let's examine the pair of "controversial" quotes.

 “Extreme art should be shocking and provoke a reaction. I really hope we are viewed as more than just a Black Metal band. We are an extreme band that can communicate our ideas on so many levels. Extreme Metal music these days is often only extreme by definition. It is a never-ending process of striving for perfection. Too many bands are chasing this and the scene is becoming like the X-Factor for Black Metal. There is no danger and unpredictability anymore. The majority of Death Metal bands from the U.S.A are so generic, they all sound perfect. It is fast and technical but there is no substance. Bands forget about emotion when they strive for perfection. You should be driven by your intuition and not just be concerned with shredding on your guitar. Perfection is boring and uninspiring. When people listen to The Satanist, it will stimulate them in many different ways. I saw Cabaret at the theatre recently and it was extremely moving. Extreme art must make people uncomfortable whether it is music, art or films. It has to be thought provoking. It takes a lot of energy for me to do this. I remember after my transplant when we started playing shows again. There was a time I thought I was going to pass out on-stage because it was so taxing playing the show and I did not have as much energy as before but now I am ready. I know I can give my all to this.”  

I guess this comment got some peoples panties all wadded up since he appears to be taking a shot at American bands and American death metal in particular.  Other people have used it as an opportunity to point and say “neener neener, Nergal agrees! Death metal blows d00d! I’m gonna listen to Finntroll and dress like a confused mess of a pirate…er…viking…er…Peter Pan!”  Honestly, I don’t think he’s doing either.  I don’t think all or even most American death metal is in a race to see who the most technical, or fastest, etc is.  I do think there’s a massive amount of overly similiar sounding bands that (predominately) emerge from California, signed to either Unique Leader or Sumerian Records (or perhaps Prosthetic?), all of whom seem to be playing a style that’s pointlessly technical and way too digitally enhanced.  Bands from that scene that sound like a cross of Suffocation and Deeds of Flesh (such as Inherit Disease, for example) I can totally dig on, but it doesn’t make Nergal’s assessment invalid; those bands are generic, seemingly a dime a dozen, and largely without personality.  If someone plays you Carnophage or Severed Savior, do you really know the difference?  And Brain Drill, for all of their hyperspeed, is boring as fuck.

That doesn’t reflect the whole American death metal scene, however.  Besides Malignancy and maybe Immolation, the bands from New York don’t play a super technical style.  The Florida scene, decrepitly old as all of those bands are, doesn’t fit Nergal’s profile, either.  And I don’t think he meant for them to; it was merely an off the cuff comment focusing on what does appear to be popular among the youngest generation of fans these days.

"One of the factors that makes this record so different, and also I really hope it's something that distances our new record from the majority of extreme metal albums in the market these days, is that most of the music that is offered by so-called extreme metal bands is not extreme. The paradox is that the average extreme metal band these days is just another friendly band, which actually pisses me off, because that's not how "extreme metal' — black metal, death metal — was meant to be. 

How fucking spot on Nergal is here.  These days anything with double bass drums and some variation of screaming/growling vocals is automatically considered “extreme”.  Am I supposed to think Killswitch Engage is “extreme”?  Slipknot? In Flames?  Perhaps in the 1980’s, playing a thrash beat and having a bit of gritty snarl in your vocals made you “extreme”, but these days grindcore has fully evolved.  Shit like Kill The Client or Wormrot is as fast, unrelenting, and anti-melodic as anything I can imagine this side of pure noise or some insane sort of electronic music.  Playing fast and growling isn’t extreme except to neophytes to the genre.  Behemoth has been around since the early 1990’s; Nergal has more perspective on this than I think he gets credit for since Behemoth never really gained a high profile until the “Demigod” album in 2004 or whenever it came out.

I think what irks people is that it seems like Nergal is being quite full of himself at the same time he’s become something of a celebrity in Poland; doing energy drink commercials and judging contestants on reality shows and dating super models.  

Face it, metalheads; you're just jealous because he's living the life and you aren't.

Guess what?  You release a record like “The Satanist”, and you get to talk all of the shit you want.  I’ve had some time to let this record sink in, and I’m convinced this is the best album to be released since Opeth’s “Blackwater Park” dropped in 2001.  I don’t think there’s any one element that’s revolutionary about “The Satanist”, but Behemoth draws from enough varied influences to liven up what had become, over the last few albums, a predictable Polish style of death metal not dissimiliar from Lost Soul or Vader.  It’s the most adventurous album I’ve heard from a death or black metal band that didn’t go completely lame (I’m talking about you, Shining) since Akercocke’s “Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone.”  

So if y’all wanna get pissed at Nergal for speaking his mind, fuck off.  At least he’s interesting and provoking debate instead of the hippie love fest that the metal scene is starting to become, where fans are accused of closed-mindedness if they dislike nerd-metal approved releases such as Opeth’s “Heritage” (which still sucks) or a recording of Devin Townsend reciting feminist poetry inside of a porta-john.

Remember, no matter how much smarter and more sophisticated you think your choices in the music and media you consume makes you, you still look like these dorks to the rest of humanity.  Get over it.

Top 10 of 2013

I’m reasonably confident I won’t hear anything else in the 3 days left of 2013, so it should be safe to finally compose and produce my own year-end list for this year.  Ultimately opinions and tastes in the genre are subjective, but here’s what I thought.

For fun, you can also revisit my 2012 and 2011 lists.
 
10.) Imprecation Satanae Tenebris Infinitas

I’m a sucker for the Incantation sound, and I don’t mean that to lump a giant swath of bands into being Incantation clones, but when bands have low vocals and muddy low tuned guitars and the music churns a certain way, I get the warm and fuzzy feeling all over.  2013 saw the release of a debut by a band who released their demo back in like, 1993 or something?  At any rate, the theme for this year has been older, established bands producing some of the best music of their respective careers, so it would only make sense that a band like Imprecation finally emerges from the depths of obscure demo world to join the fray.

9.) Darkthrone The Underground Resistance

When I was really beginning to discover the metal underground in my late teen years I wasn’t much of a fan of Darkthrone; part of me wonders if today my opinion would change if I revisited Soulside Journey or A Blaze In The Northern Sky? That said, at some point Fenriz and Nocturno Culto evolved well beyond black metal into something 80’s inspired, celebrating crust punk and classic heavy metal.  And they didn’t do it in a faux ironic way or in an attempt to get cool points by being retro.  It has been authentic, genuine, and dare I say tr00?  The Underground Resistance, with its dirty Mercyful Fate in a garage vibe, is the peak of the path they’ve been on.

8.) Officium Triste Mors Viri

Probably the first underground subgenre I really took to as a teenager (approximately 1996?) was doom/death and the big three British bands (Anathema, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost.)  Mors Viri, with its massive crushing distortion, emotive guitar harmonies, tasteful and subtle keys, and grisly low growls takes me back to that time.  Not a particularly trendy subgenre in 2013 when most bands want to rip off early Katatonia, but this is the peak moment in the career of this longstanding Dutch band.

7.) Wormed Exodromos

It had been nearly 10 years since this Spanish band had released Planisphaerium, and the wait had been worthwhile.  Full of jagged time shifts and almost djent style riffing, Exodromos is one of the most unique sounding slam death albums to have ever come out.  And absolutely sick sick sick vocals.

6.) Carcass Surgical Steel

The most important album to come out in 2013 ended up being one of its best.  While certainly I would have preferred a little more of the goregrind era, I cannot dispute the quality of the songwriting or the execution of Surgical Steel.  Carcass immediately re-established themselves as one of the kings of the metal genre and proving that the old guys can strike with more venom than any of the younger bands borrowing their ideas.

5.) Jasad Rebirth of Jatisundra

Indonesia might be the next hotbed for brutal music, and if there’s justice in the world, Jasad will be the band that makes it big.  Another band with a huge gap since their last album, Jasad came back pissed off, brutal, and raw as ever.  This is raw, primitive death metal not too dissimilar to Japanese Slam, only better.  Sevared Records is distributing this one here in the States, so hopefully that’s a sign that Jasad is about to get a bigger profile in the near future.

4.) Suffocation Pinnacle of Bedlam
 
The reward for keeping my faith in this band, and a giant “I fucking told you so” to those who wrote them off.  Suffocation’s reformation was always going to be a difficult proposition; both Pierced From Within and the Despise The Sun EP are among the most lauded releases in the history of death metal and would represent a hell of a legacy to try to live up to.  Unfortunately, the albums that came were uneven at best, and suffered from a terrible production/mix that made the drums sound way too upfront and the music ploddingly slow.  That all changed with the replacement of drummer Mike Smith with Dave Culross (ex-Malevolent Creation, played on Despise The Sun) and Pinnacle of Bedlam is the result.  Sounding like logical followup to Despise the Sun, this is a leaner, cleaner, slightly thrashier Suffocation, yet it may have stayed in my car nearly all year long.  This album needed to be good if Suffocation was going to remain relevant in the scene, and it more than re-established them as lords of the genre they helped create.

3.) Defeated Sanity Passages into Deformity

Intense.  The fourth album by this German band is a relentlessly brutal yet technically exhilarating roller coaster of slams, breakdowns, and blasts.  I believe that Passages Into Deformity will be remembered as the album where Defeated Sanity emerged from the bowels of the underground scene to the big time.

2.) Vreid Welcome Farewell

The best melodic black metal album since Rotting Christ’s “A Dead Poem”, this is an album that should have had a lot more mass appeal than it ended up having.  The black metal snarls, tremolo picking, and grim vibe are all here, but so are the guitar harmonies and solos and big catchy riffs that would transcend that genre.  Another album that lived in my car for almost all of 2013.

1.) Gorguts Colored Sands

I don’t know how often I agree with the metal consensus, but there is no disputing that Colored Sands is a massive and epic listen.  I think what makes this album so awesome is that plenty of bands have tried to do the noisy, discordant sound but so few of them can do it with the focus and purpose that Luc Lemay did here.  This isn’t Ulcerate worship (I do like Ulcerate, btw); this has movements and a nearly orchestral sort of flow.  The way those clangy riffs synch up with John Longstreth’s double bass is extremely Immolation-like.  Yet among the dense and harsh sounding cacophony, there’s moments of classic death metal release too (that solo in “Enemies of Compassion” is a good example.)  Hopefully there isn’t a 12 or 14 year wait before the next one.

Metal musicians that bitch about money can GTFO.

Recently, guitarist Daniel Dlimi of 3rd tier Swedish death metal band Aeon announced his departure from the band and from "professional music", basically blaming it on the fact he couldn't make money doing it; lamenting that over the course of several tours the band lost money and that record sales were terrible.

To which, I ask "what the fuck did you expect, man?"  

Totally destined for the cover of "Entertainment Weekly"

The sort of musicians who become rich and famous are the fashionable types who produce syrupy sweet easily digested pop music. If you're into that sort of thing, cool. Whatever.  Have fun with it.  But Daniel Dlimi signed up to play in a fucking death metal band.  Your vocalist growls lyrics such as these:

"Preacher fake healer false prophet you must die 

I would love to see you nailed to a cross

Like your pathetic little god Jesus Christ

Lies you preach to your brain dead congregation

Take them with you and die"

(from the song "I Wish You Death" from their most recent album, "Aeons Black")

 Fucking hello, that's not a recipe for commercial success.

This probably isn't in your future if you play in a death metal band.

That's not to say that I didn't enjoy Aeon's music; because I have for the most part.  But there's a small audience of people like myself who are into this kind of music, and most of us aren't able to buy every single new album by every single band that comes out on a weekly basis so we can subsidize your fucking rock n roll fantasy.  If I have to download it until I can find the time and cash to drive 30 fucking miles to the nearest independent record store that might have it on the shelf...shouldn't you just be glad I'm at least jamming on your tunes and encouraging others to do the same?

(Seriously, Aeon is a really solid band, and you should listen to the song above and I'd tell you to go to their website and buy some merch and CDs directly from them...except they don't fucking have any! ) 

What I'm trying to get at isn't "hey everyone steal the album online so you can listen to it 3 times and then totally forget about it amongst the flood of other bands whose albums leak on an hourly basis" but that if making money is part of your equation in forming a death metal band, you're already doing it for the wrong reasons.  The entire business model that people have deluded themselves into following is absurd.  I mean, does it make sense to leave your job that you need so you can pay rent so you can get into a crappy, doomed to break down van with 12 other dudes and instruments, living on a per diem of ramen noodles and malt liquor, and fly across the ocean so you can tour 28 US cities; playing most of those shows on weekdays when working people can't actually even make it out to them?

- Side rant: I don't think most bands, American or European, realize what an undertaking it is for many fans to even go to a show.  Prior to my relocation to a major metropolitan area, going to a concert meant pleading with my job to get a day off or at least off from work early/come in late the next day, after which I had to beg and conjole a friend into doing the same thing so that I wouldn't fall asleep on the ride home after driving between 2 and 3 hours to the nearest date on the tour that *totally fucking awesome headliner band* was playing...assuming that after driving across creation to "the city" wasn't in vain because the club owner decided (while I was in route to the venue) to cancel the show because of poor ticket pre-sales (meaning, the 6 shitty high school bands the promoter put on the lineup in exchange for pay-to-play and selling tickets didn't work out.)  After arriving at said show, and spending money I didn't really have on merch and watered down beer, I hope to have gas money and spare change for some gas station food and that the mildly grumpy friend (who isn't even as into extreme metal as I am) won't pass out in the passenger seat as I drive under the moonlight across miles upon miles of cow fields trying to beat the sunrise home.  I easily did that over 100 times before I moved, and I know of people who still do it.  So dudes in bands need to stop bitching; most of your fans go through hell just to show up at that half-empty club on a Wednesday night. /end rant

This shit gets old when you're 70 miles from home and you've been up 23 hours already

.

It's just dumb on the part of the bands to try to do things in this manner.  I've long advocated fewer of these long tours and more weekend festivals and short regional tours.  Brutality and Skinless playing at the Delaware Deathfest this past weekend?  That was a big deal, and I wish I could've been there.  Because its not likely you'll see either of those bands on a cross-country tour again. Basically, if all bands did things the Pig Destroyer way, nobody would be complaining about money so much.  

Or if you're going to insist on doing it the way the labels and club promoters have set it up for the last several years, at least embrace it and have a sense of humour about it, like Fuck The Facts bassplayer Marc Bourgon.

 

 

RIP God Forbid

A few months ago, I wrote about Frank Mullen of Suffocation having to take a step back from touring full-time with the band because of grown up responsibilities, and how I respected him for making the decision and how I was glad that at least he's still actively recording music.  Killer music I might add.  Today, reading Metalsucks, I stumbled upon further evidence of band falling by the wayside because someone...well...grew up.

I never really gave a shit that God Forbid was part of the metalcore movement that sprung up at the turn of the century; I always admired how hard the guys in that band worked jumping on every tour regardless of whether or not it made sense (opening for Opeth in 2001?  Really?) and putting on devastating live shows (particularly when they were touring for "Determination".)  While they were never one of my favorite bands, I always found some substance worth enjoying from each of their releases, save "Earthsblood", which I admittedly never gave a serious chance too; I've been willing to give the band a pass for being metalcore but not from relying on the harsh singing verse/clean sung chorus dynamic that other metalcore bands used.  

Apparently reality has set in for the band.  Doc Coyle, one of the creative forces behind the band, made the announcement via Metalsucks that he was quitting God Forbid and the rest of the band was going their separate ways as a result.  He noted that the band had basically peaked, and were on a downward descent in terms of the business side of things if not the creative side (I liked the final album "Equilibrium" for the most part.)  Metalcore declined as a trend, supplanted by "nu-thrash" and later other subgenres that haven't really taken hold for very long or with the same dominance that metalcore held over the genre from 2001-2008 or so (i.e. "deathcore", "occult rock", "djent", etc.)  God Forbid accordingly declined in relevance, when in difficult times for record labels attention and resources have to be devoted to artists who are going to produce a return on investment.  In essence, God Forbid's "window" had closed.

Its probably for the best.  Breaking up now ensures they don't evolve into a pathetic hanger-on that would be accused of following some new trend every time they try to freshen up their music with a new element.  They leave behind a solid legacy; alongside Shadow's Fall and Lamb of God they helped spearhead a movement that in the commercial sense eradicated much of the first wave of Walmart-core/nu-metal and paved the way for later bands to progress back to thrash, death, and genres I actually am passionately interested in.  Their live show never became an uninspired and dull husk of what it was at their peak.

One of modern metal's most underrated frontmen.

Metal is a young man's game, ultimately.  And the game is changing rapidly; long nationwide treks in a shitty tour bus with 4 other bands are going to be obsolete.  Record labels are becoming increasingly outdated; 360 deals ensure the bands that rely on the old structure get even less money at the end of the day, while Kickstarter and self-funding has shown promise to bands willing to embrace the new reality.  God Forbid had their time, but they're not young men anymore.  Frank Mullen accepted this and made a decision that I think is the best for both him and his band.  The members of God Forbid, whether or not they ever record music together again, will remain active in music.  And if it goes back to being a hobby rather than a career, then I'd imagine the quality of what they produce artistically will benefit, even if working a 9-5 job most of the time means it takes longer to record and distribute it.

I guess I'd just like to take a moment to thank God Forbid for helping kill nu-metal as a popular trend, and for fighting the proverbial good fight.  RIP

 

They call it "Walmart-core"

Apparently everyone's least favorite purveyor of poverty wages and unsafe Chinese made products, Wal-mart, has begun promoting artists whose records they sell (edited, of course) on their shelves.  Metal tabloid site Blabbermouth decided to inform us that Five Finger Death Punch, the latest miserable label-manufactured cock rock tough guy "metal" band meant to cater to Hot Topic shoppers and rural mullets, was recently featured on their website.

These guys are the world champions of douchbag fake toughguy radio rock.

 

It's brilliant, really.  Five Finger Death Punch is mass produced, cheaply manufactured, and a false version of genuine heavy metal.  As an analogy, Wal-mart shoppers also prefer the taste of Easy Cheese over a nice Roquefort or perhaps Brie.

At least Easy Cheese comes in "Bacon" flavor. 

So my question is, who else fits into this new genre of "Walmart-Core" and is there an identifiable sound or history to the genre?

It would seem that Disturbed would be the alpha-dogs of Walmart-core; bands like Godsmack, Korn, and their ilk fit in.  It seems like the peak of the First Wave of Walmart Core peaked around the time of Ozzfest 2003.

Absolutely brutal.  In the wrong way.

Before anyone passes judgement, go to the next major corporate sponsored "rock" or "metal" festival (like those things that Rockstar Energy Drinks sponsors) and I defy you to tell me the crowd isn't almost entirely lower income white trash.

I think Walmart just struck up a winning formula here.  We may soon see the Second Wave of Walmart-core.  Evil bastards.

Another rant (LOL Varg!)

So I come home from work, retrieve a cold beer from the sacred beer fridge (which must never be profaned by anything other than beer, other alcoholic beverages, and beverages that can be mixed with alcohol...) and out of habit more than anything, I scour the headlines of Blabbermouth.net.

At one time, probably around 2002 or so (?) Blabbermouth.net was a daily source of news regarding heavy metal music, its assorted subgenres, and events relative to it.  Being the complete asshole I am, I vividly recall hitting refresh on my browser hoping to see a new body count of the fire at a Great White Concert, which was frequently updated on the site (over 100 hair spray hags and mullets died that day!)  Long since, Blabbermouth has deteriorated into the metal equivalent of the National Enquirer or TMZ, obsessed over the latest batshit insane quotes by Dave Mustaine or the never-ending retarded drama between Geoff Tate and Queensryche.  Blabbermouth has long been surpassed by wittier, more interesting websites who offer better reviews, but I think as a mere matter of habit I find myself checking the site 2 or 3 times a week alongside Metalsucks, Lambgoat, AngryMetalGuy, etc.

I think Varg gets photoshopped almost as much as the guys in Immortal.

Anyhow, if we're going to have a metal tabloid, could it possibly be complete without good ole Varg Vikernes?  Convicted murderer, unrepentant racist, and totally lousy musician?  Most famous for being a member of Mayhem long enough to have a cup of coffee and kill Euronymous, Varg seems to love attention and the spotlight.  He's also not a particularly bright fellow; for all of his longwinded ramblings about European identity and what nationalism means to him, etc...which you can read in it's brutally non-comprehendable nature here (seriously, did he learn to write by reading Mein Kampf?  Talk about fucking long-winded...), he doesn't seem to grasp that when he, or his wife, buy guns that based on his past history of violence and controversial statements that legal authorities in any jurisdiction might be concerned.

Well, the fun part is that after Varg's recent hijinks and legal issues, Blabbermouth has informed us that he has decided to "crowdsource" a legal defense so he can sue those mean French bastards that busted into his house while he was wearing his orange underpants (his words, not mine.)  I guess crowdsourcing would be appealing; after all Obituary is running quite the successful Kickstarter campaign to record a new album.  But if I know anything about fans of Varg, I know that they all seem to be basically broke-asses, and their unfortunate broke-ass-ness seems to be what drives their "anger" towards everything else which in turn draws them into NSBM and the philosophies that associate with it (feel free to disprove me.)  

I'm curious to see how many people cough up any spare change so Varg and family can sue those mean frog police; I'll be particularly interested in seeing how many people from non-European backgrounds donate to his cause.  It's not like Varg has had anything nice to say about cultures and ethnic backgrounds that aren't North-European....

This ironic fellow is probably not welcome in Varg's home...

Gotta say, I think throwing your change to Obituary to do that proper Morrisound Documentary is more worthwhile.  Just my thoughts.

I don't have worthwhile things to say, but this guy does...

I was never a particular fan of The Berzerker, they had the misfortune of coming out on the underground metal scene wearing masks and using various samples at a time when Slipknot was breaking out huge in the commercial metal scene (1999-2003) and of course, us underground metal cavemen and simpletons are too quick to find a reason to piss on everything, and accordingly The Berzerker didn't get the appreciation that perhaps they deserved during this era.

With age and perspective, it's pretty funny that in 2003 that The Berzerker got shit on for wearing masks and using samples, while Immortal can wear face paint and stupid spikes and no one cares.  Likewise Anaal Nathrakh can distort their vocals, use drum loops and samples, and it's considered avant-garde.  I guess its unfair how the metal scene works, and how as a fan someone, including myself, can be susceptible to the "groupthink" of a segment of the scene.

Anyhow, I'm writing this post because I stumbled upon the blog of one of the former members of The Berzerker which I think is a fantastic read.  Sam Bean maintains a blog called The Senseless (which also happens to be the name of his current band.)

I think Bean's recollections of the touring life in a signed band, particularly his experiences in America, are hilarious and quite telling of how things really are on the road.  As a native of the state of Virginia, I completely agree with his assessment:

"We went to play Jaxx in Virginia again and were banned from even parking in the parking lot. If I get the access codes and the red button tomorrow, I guarantee you there will be a massive radioactive crater in Springfield Virginia where Jaxx used to be. We played at some wonderful venue in Norfolk which seemed to be staffed by hobgoblins, and had a gloriously comfortable backstage…the catering was sensational, and there were steam rooms and a jacuzzi to relax in. I asked one of  the staff if the venue was owned by a touring musician who’d won the lottery. He smiled enigmatically and said “something like that”.

He's referring to the Norva, which is in fact one of the absolute most gorgeous clubs in the world based on both my experience and that of others.  And Jaxx, which was taken over about 2 years ago by a new owner who renamed the club Empire but supposedly still sucks.  Funny how often the experience of both fan and artist are the same, despite different perspectives.  Perhaps I'll write something about the local DC/Maryland/Virginia venues and my experiences with them someday.

So about The Berzerker now that I'm older, wiser, and such?  I don't think they're bad, they definitely were extreme enough for my tastes.  And shit, they made music videos with slutty half naked women because slutty half naked women totally are what comes to mind with this music!