Crabby Tunes

I've been a crabby Novak all week. It's hard to say if these albums have been calming me down or fueling my short temper. Either way, eat shit and buy me tacos. 

The drums on this are especially amazing to me. It's too bad everything this band released wasn't as good. I cannot fucking wait to see this band in a few weeks at the Grog shop with Dale Crover on drums for it! 

When the day finally comes that I snap and twist off everyone's empty heads, this will be the soundtrack.



-Novak

Godflesh- "Decline and Fall EP" (Avalanche Recordings, 2014)

Much has been said about the decline of industrial music in the last decade or so. What was once seen as a confrontational stance against pop melodies and feel good rhythms is now either fully immersed in the mainstream or so derivative it has lost any and all relevance. Finally, the band who helped define what human beings know to be industrial are back to breathe life into this rotting carcass with their first recording since 2001 fittingly titled "Decline and Fall." Released on founder Justin Broaderick's own label Avalanche Recordings, Godflesh's latest slab of music is a straight forward assault on the ears reminiscent of the band's early catalog. Make no mistake, this may be the heaviest Godflesh material to date. The dissonance is back, the drum machines found their way home, and all of the harshness that Godflesh's music exhibited is again at the forefront of their sound. Fans of "Pure" will especially take kindly to this EP and, in typical Godflesh form, nothing sounds forced and every note reeks of conviction.

"Decline and Fall" is the predecessor to the upcoming LP "A World Lit Only by Fire." I for one am extremely excited about this new material and hope to catch Godflesh on an upcoming tour soon.

- Joe

Don't Sleep On the Clarity

Sleep have just unveiled their first new track in nearly two decades entitled "The Clarity." Live streams are available throughout the internet and the song was released as a free download for the Adult Swim Singles series that former label mates Pig Destroyer also recently participated in.

Whereas I felt that Electric Wizard's recent single failed to capture the power and essence of the band's back catalog, "The Clarity" will certainly remind EVERYONE why Sleep were and still are the giants of stoner / sludge / doom...whatever the hell you want to call it nowadays. "The Clarity" has it all from a hypnotic and groovy riff that carries the song, a tasty lead from Pike, percussion that perfectly compliments the wall of amplification fuzz, and vocals that ascend at the right moments to greet you with a smoke filled hand to walk into the abyss.

 I highly suggest everyone check this out immediately.

- Joe

Top 3 Favorite Songs

Hi. This was originally a top 5 but after 3 songs it can usually change with the weather. In case you've been living in Stupidville, you should probably get to know these songs. 

#1

Arist:Autolux

Album: Future Perfect

Song: Plantlife

This was an inarguable number one for me. Musically, nothing comes close to this song. With the amazing production aside, this song is fucking perfect. It starts off slow and hypnotic and then gets weird and groovy towards the end. This has been my album and band for almost ten years now and I don't see that changing any time soon. The entire album is flawless. I've been on an Isis kick as of late, but I played this song as I was posting it and now I'm sucked into Future Perfect for what will probably be the entire day. 

"It's a violent way we have, even when we smile." 

#2

Artist: Nine Inch Nails

Album: The Fragile 

Song: The Fragile

The lyrics to this song mean more to me than any silly blog post will explain. A loner is trying to help a special girl whose head is falling apart while his head is falling apart in the process.. definitely been there. Not only is it a damn good song, but I get the goosebumps each and every time I hear this song because there just simply isn't another song out there that I connect more with lyrically. It's always like he found an old journal entry of mine and wrote a song to it. I actually secretly get slightly uncomfortable if this song is on with other people around because of how much it means to me. 

 "We'll find the perfect place to go where we can run and hide.

I'll build a wall and we can keep them on the other side." 

#3 

Artist: Brian Eno

Album: Before and After Science

Song: By This River 

This is one that would make the most sense to Brian Eno fans. Coming out in a time when he was writing his most cinematic sounding pieces, this song is bare bones compared to his other material. It always reminds me of having a lot of heavy, stressful conversations and thoughts about what the fuck we're doing on this planet, only this song makes the entire concept of that question seem so beautiful.  I'm always reminded of the many restless nights spent at a secret spot by the lake with headphones, completely losing my mind over thoughts like these. 

"You and I, underneath a sky that's ever falling down" 

-Novak

Electric Wizard- "I Am Nothing" (New Track)

In September of this year doom metal legends Electric Wizard will release their eighth full length album entitled "Time to Die" on Spinefarm Records. As they tend to do nowadays, the 'Wiz have dropped a teaser of a single called "I Am Nothing" today to entice their groggy stoner zombies to put the bong down long enough to remember to buy the new record in the Fall. If only the song lived up to the hype.

Simply put, "I Am Nothing" is a fitting title for this new song, it's nothing special and certainly pales in comparison to the band's early recordings despite a concerted effort to revive the spirit of said material. "I Am Nothing" has a fairly heavy opening riff, plenty of feedback, fuzz, and distortion ala, say, "Supercoven," but simply fails to create the same dark, turbulent aesthetic that the trio of Greening, Bagshaw, and Osbourne seemed to effortlessly bring to life. This has been the Wizard's problem for a number of years now and personally I think they should have continued in the more psychedelic rock / proto-doom style prevalent on "Black Masses." "I Am Nothing" is not a bad song, Electric Wizard are too talented to fall to those depths. The song attempts to remind fans new and old alike that Electric Wizard were pioneers and among the first in this genre to take it to new, exciting, and dangerous places. Unfortunately, listening to the song's shortcomings remind us of something we already have known for a long time, this kind of material exists already in the band's back catalog and will never be made the same way again. That's fine, I for one support the Wizard's progression and have abandoned any hope of the original three piece joining forces once more. Perhaps rumors of Greening's rejoining the band inspired this new material? Perhaps this is the band's way of enticing him to return to the fold? If it is, I'm sure he's as bored as the rest of us.

- Joe

Local Heroes: He-Chaw Frunk

He-Chaw Frunk

 When I first had the idea for this "local heroes" section, I thought I'd stay away from close friends because it just seems like I'm kissing asses, but these guys are the real fucking deal so I just can't help myself. One of my first real interactions with these guys was a few years back when I recorded their first full length. They were punctual, hard working, whiskey chugging rock n' rollers. 

Each member brings his own character to make this band have it's own unique textures to it. You've got Matt laying down a rock solid bass foundation complimented perfectly by Ryan's drumming, Sasha's smooth leads blending in with Chris's spooky guitar tones, and sprinkle a shit ton of Chris's beefy vocals and you've got yourself a He-Chaw cocktail. Be careful you don't order too many though. They usually order them without the tail and you'll walk funny for a few days. 

This video captures the He-Chaw live experience perfectly. Everyone is always having a blast, the music is always loud, and the music is always loud. If you go to a He-Chaw show and you don't have a good time, you're an asshole. I was a fan of them with their first drummer, loved every drunken minute of playing with them myself, and enjoy them with their newest drummer Ryan! Keep up the bad assness guys!

-Novak

Emma Ruth Rundle

Emma Ruth Rundle

Story time dorks. 

The other day I went to see King Buzzo at the Grog shop. I went alone and stood around awkwardly like Steven Glansberg. I had no idea who was opening or what to really expect except that my drinks would make me drunk. I had seen this gorgeous, mysterious looking girl floating around the show by herself. I'm not like most of you humans when I see other attractive humans, but I noticed an extremely vivid aura to her and I was curious to see what kind of cool shit she was doing at the show. Maybe a photographer? Either way, Bolles had nudged me 100 times in Words with Friends, so I played a word while waiting for the opener. 

Then she confidently and quietly walked on the dimly lit stage, with the house music still playing. There was no sound check. No douchebag singer who takes twenty minutes to get his monitors sounding just right. She just started. Within three seconds, I was in love. I could feel my phone buzzing from the people I was texting before the music started, and I didn't even care. 

I was immediately sucked into this girl's head when she was playing. I was picked up by a spaceship and taken away from the mouth breathers around me and sent to this isolated, dark world that I live in myself. I can get weird all I want when it's just me at my studio at 3am, but not only getting into that mindset myself in front of a crowd, let alone having the power to take them to that place with you? Fuck yeah. She wasn't winking at anyone in the audience, she wasn't flaunting  her tits, she was playing hypnotic amazing music for my hearing holes. There was just enough delay that it wasn't a boring, dry signal but it was still easy to make out the song structures and melodies. 

After she was done, I was instantly reminded that I was in a public place because all everyone was talking about is how hot she was. Are you that boring of a person that all you got out of that performance was how "hot" she is? Then King Buzzo played, which was of course amazing. I'm going to make a separate entry for that because simply saying it was amazing isn't enough. 

After Buzz played, I met up with my friend Liam who I hadn't seen in a few years. I was going on and on about how awesome Emma was as we stood off to the side by the merch tables. I was fucking hammered at this point. As I'm going on about how great it was, Emma walked over to grab something of hers and I froze up and started talking about tacos because I am a dummy. I love to tell musicians they did a great set in more creative ways than "good show dude" because I know that life on the road can be a challenge both physically and mentally. Maybe that band or musician is about to quit doing music and go back to being a lawyer or something lame, and a sincere compliment can inspire the person who just inspired you! How cool is that to do? Yeah, well I didn't do that. I just wrote this blog entry. 

Do what I did and buy her shit! Take $25 out of the taco fund and use it for something awesome! Or just glue a duck to your face you freak. 

-Novak

Mastodon- "Once More 'Round the Sun" (Reprise, 2014)

The sixth studio offering from critically acclaimed Georgia metal outfit Mastodon entitled "Once More 'Round the Sun" is an impressive step in the right direction for a band hellbent on avoiding monotony. Early on, tracks like "The Motherload" and "High Road" reveal the band's cool and collected approach to heavy, atmospheric songwriting that smoothly carries the listener on a nostalgic trip with Thin Lizzy lead guitar playing and Rush influenced progression.

Melodic without sacrificing the metal edge, Mastodon continues in tradition of bands like Neurosis (more on that later) who manage to retain their aggression even when they aren't necessarily playing at a sonic level that would obviously stand out as "heavy." "Chimes at Midnight," for example, blends melodic guitar playing with technical trash influences and powerful, almost operatic vocals that give the song an extra feeling of power and strength.


What I like about Mastodon's new album is that it is unapologetic about its progression and doesn't insult the listener with obvious nods to early records like "Remission" and "Leviathan." Although there are heavy elements to this record, it is done in a manner that compliments the band's new approach rather than avoids it by pretending that progression isn't there or noticeable. The overall mood of "Once More 'Round the Sun" is rather calming with the album feeling like a relaxing journey through sludgy metal tundras instead of a frantic chase with a wild, untamed beast. "Diamond in the Witch House," which features Neurosis founder Scott Kelly, is a sheer masterpiece and a meeting of the metal minds that holds power and beauty in a musical hand, crushes it, destroys it, resurrects it, then murders it again. The psychedelic qualities of the music and aesthetic will perhaps attract a new audience and could expand the band's appeal even more.


Overall, "Once More 'Round the Sun" showcases the band's inspirations, interests, and attention to detail when it comes to making quality records. With so many uninspired bands flooding the mainstream today, it's good to know that one of our own is courting it their own way.

8.5 /10

- Joe