Well, nobody died since the last edition, which is a good thing. (As long as you aren't trying to sell a Watain album, anyway.) Normalcy returns, and it's time to get back on the trading block. After a bit of a lull, the metallic action is starting to heat up again. June has started with a bang, and 2010 is poised to finish with immense strength. There isn't a hell of a lot of underground filth crossing my desk lately, so let's focus on the heavy hitters, shall we? Buy or sell...
He's back, and he's gone full sci-fi gonzo. "El Dorado" kinda came out of nowhere, and has proven to be a bit of a grower. Though a bit lackadaisical at first blush (Bruce sounds like he recorded the vocals on the couch, with a beer in his hand and the remote balanced on his gut), the song has a certain Somewhere in Time-ish charm to it. I'll spare you the usual fan-poring over art direction and production choices--the Reverend is more of a Priest guy, anyway.
These guys get more annoying by the second. In their ongoing quest to make Rhapsody of Fire sound like fucking Hellhammer by comparison, everyone's favorite antibacterial superheroes recently announced that over 101 musicians have contributed to the recording of their new album. One hundred and one. Great to see that they haven't let success go to their heads, and that any potential delusions of grandeur have been held in check. Speaking of delusions...
Music journalist Randy “Rocket” Cody is an undisputed legend in the world of heavy metal, and the creator of the only site that also promotes “unsigned” metal talent. He has served as a great mentorship [sic] for literally hundreds of upcoming musical acts around the globe. You could call [him] the only heavy metal journalist/historian and promoter on the planet. With his worldwide fame at its height right now, every one [sic] and their mother wants to work with him....
...but you would only believe this if you were a) Rocket himself, b) a fucking moron, or c) a fucking moron that read this interview that he conducted with himself (via his wife) and posted on his own website. The entire "article" is a one-man bukkake volcano of clinically delusional self-promotion. (The straight-out-of-1998 clip art only adds to the unintentional awesomeness.) Someone get this dude a towel. Or some meds.
Timing is everything. Let's be honest: the wind is out of the tech-death sails. Anata is nowhere to be found, Willowtip has become a grindcore label, and quite simply, the whole movement has lost the plot. The also-rans are about to fall to the wayside in the wake of over-saturation, and when Decrepit Birth drops Polarity in late July, it'll decimate the herd. This isn't unfounded speculation. This is absolute FACT. You have been warned.
In the midst of the media whirlwind that accompanied Lawless Darkness, Erik Danielsson told Melissa Mercury that on June 8th (the date of the album's release), fans should commit an act of supposed "free will" by "stabbing a motherfucker" or burning a church. Remember when black metallers would actually stab people and commit arson, instead of twisting the actions of others into contradictory, chickenhawkish marketing slogans? Me too.
*will be back in two weeks, provided he doesn't quit this gig for a mailroom job at The Metal Den.
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Posted
Jun 11 2010, 08:24 AM
by
Rev