No Funeral

Neon Christmas from No Funeral

2011-12-23T15:29:00.000-08:00

With the holiday season upon us and with 2011 winding down, I'd like to extend a fond season's greetings to the No Funeral readership. I can't believe there still is a readership after all this time, so thank you very much.

2012 stand to be the most exciting year yet for No Funeral. Wait until you see what's in store for SXSW. In the meantime, here's an early Christmas present for you: the most exciting electronic act in Texas, the mighty Neon Indian. Enjoy!

Neon Indian
Era Extrana
Static Tounges/Mom+Pop

Neon Indian - Era Extrana

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Beyond Gods and Empires - Descolada EP (No Funeral exclusive)

2011-12-19T14:35:00.000-08:00

Beyond Gods and Empires
Descolada
self-released

This is Beyond Gods and Empires; one of Austin's more cerebral and literate metal bands. Their EP Descolada is filled with the rhythms, riffs, and structures similar to challenging bands such as Botch and Burnt By The Sun. Long-time No Funeral readers who are familiar with my taste and the taste of this website, you've got to trust me on this. Beyond Gods and Empires is about to become your new favorite band.

I'll be interviewing vocalist and lead raconteur Marcos tomorrow and the interview will be posted later this week. In the meantime, please enjoy the Descolada EP; another No Funeral exclusive. I hope you enjoy Beyond Gods and Empires as much as I do. Stay tuned...

Beyond Gods and Empires - Descolada

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SBS - 2011 Demo (No Funeral exclusive)

2011-12-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

SBS
2011 Demo
self-released

Greetings weirdos! It's time for everybody out there to get hip to Central Texas hardcore powerhouse SBS. Current Indisgust members Crudo (vocals) and Zach (guitar) team up with new rhytm section Marty (drums) and Nick (bass) to dish out circle-pit-inducing riffs and skull-cracking breakdowns. SBS takes a more straight-ahead approach to metallic hardcore than the previously-mentioned No Funeral favorites.

For those not familiar with the geography of Central Texas, two smaller cities named San Marcos and New Braunfels are situated in between Austin and San Antonio. With each of the four SBS members claiming residence in a different one of these four cities, SBS can truly claim to be a Central Texas band.

Recorded in New Braunfels, the three-song 2011 Demo shows SBS as a band mixing the best parts of Satisfaction... era Hatebreed and the new(er)-school East Coast stomp (Madball, Most Precious Blood, Indecision, etc...) and taking this sound in a new direction. This is an exciting demo from an exciting band. Stay tuned this spring for an SBS studio report as the band records its new EP.

No Funeral is proud to bring you this demo for the first time on the internet. Tell your friends that you heard it here first. Then tell your friends about SBS. Seriously, this is the underground. Give all your ding-dong friends the link to this post. Burn copies of the demo and give them to people at school or at work. Tell the people!

SBS - 2011 Demo

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Bloodlined Calligraphy - The Beginning of the End

2011-12-11T16:55:00.000-08:00

For those keeping score at home, it was six months back when I promised "big news" within the "next two weeks." Well, the big news is that I've relocated to Austin, Texas and No Funeral will be redesigned and relaunched "soon." "Soon" actually means soon this time; 30-60 days away. In the meantime, new content will be posted on the old site. Think of this as batting practice before the game. As always, you can reach me at no-funeral@hotmail.com. Now, down to business...

Bloodlined Calligraphy
The Beginning of the End
Facedown/Strike First

The last time Rocky Riddell (law student/liberty advocate) and I hung out before we both moved away from Huntsville, we ate lunch in Conroe. Upon the successful devourment of chicken-fried steak, we walked over to Hastings and pawed through the dollar bins. That where and when I found The Beginning of the End.

I’d heard the band off and on over the years but I never owed one; so I took a one dollar gamble that paid off. Bloodlined Calligraphy play destructive, solid metalcore in the vein of a Midwestern Indecision. The Beginning of the End is filled with melodic guitar work and jackhammer breakdowns, sprinkled with crushing blastbeats. For that early to mid-2000s metalcore sound, the clean singing is kept to a minimum.

Bloodlined Calligraphy was a Christian, straight-edge band who’s members never acted like glassy-eyed fundamentalists nor flag-waving crusaders. They simply offered an uplifting message for the positive youth and the more open-minded old fucks standing over by the bar. Also worth mentioning is Bloodlined Calligraphy’s hometown in the decidedly non-living-nightmare part of Michigan known as Ypsilanti.

Vocalist Amy French pullsw off a Great Lakes miracle by delivering a vocal performance not at all reminiscent of Candace Kucsulain; she of regional superstars Walls of Jericho. Speaking of regional superstars, The Beginning of the End was recorded and produced by none other than Ryan “Bart” Williams of the Black Dahlia Murder, so there’s your daily dose of death metal trivia.

Although an official announcement has not been made, it is unlikely that Bloodlined Calligraphy will continue as a band following the death of bassist Eric Cargile in 2010. It’s a shame they never got their due. The Beginning of the End is the middle ground between All Out War and All That Remains.

Overlooked. Forgotten. Recommended.

Bloodlined Calligraphy
The Beginning of the End
(link posted in comments)

Before I go, I'd like to take a moment to thank all of the grinders and thrashers in the ATX for making me feel at home. You guys welcomed me with open arms and I'd like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Back from the Dead

2011-04-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

I've been on the U.S.S. Enterprise, playing space-chess with Chewbacca. He started getting lame so I beamed back down.

Big news is coming soon (really! check back in about two weeks for rad news!). In the meantime, here's a record that will blow the walls off of the joint. Right here.

September Countdown, plus EHG EP

2009-09-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

It's the end of month, so that sounds like as good as time as any to run down the most popular downloads of the last two weeks. Stay tuned at the end of the post for something pretty rad.

1. Earth Crisis - To the Death

Earth Crisis continues to lead the pack. To the Death was the most popular download of the summer and it's shaping up to be the most popular of the year, adding another 112 DLs to its total.

2. Cypress Hill - Greatest Hits from the Bong

Posted back in April, Cypress Hill laid dormant for months but Greatest Hits from the Bong has sprung to life with 75 downloads in the last half of this month.

3. Gummo - soundtrack

The Gummo soundtrack has just missed the last few countdowns but an additional 63 downloads pushed it to the #3 spot.

4. Assuck - Anticapital

Assuck's Anticapital consistently makes the countdown. With 54 more downloads, it retains the #4 position from the end of the summer.

5. Rorschach - Autopsy

Like the Gummo soundtrack, Autopsy has been barely missing the countdown for months but 50 downloads in two weeks put it over the top.

Since it's the weekend, here's some EyeHateGod. It's the three-song EP 99 Miles of Bad Road, featuring one of my favorites, "Jackass in the Will of God."

EyeHateGod
99 Miles of Bad Road
2+2=5

EyeHateGod - 99 Miles of Bad Road

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An Interview with Eric of Torture Garden Pictures Company

2009-09-25T02:46:00.000-07:00

Eric, owner and proprietor of Torture Garden Pictures Company, released high-quality, DIY records for years before relocating to Houston this summer. Now that he calls the Bayou City home and immersed in the burgeoning GCHC movement, he's got even more projects on the way. I recently chatted with Eric, via e-mail, to discuss all things brutal.

No Funeral: What spurred the creation of Torture Garden Picture Company? Were you involved in any bands, labels, or other projects prior to TGPC?

Eric TGPC: Torture Garden Picture Company was created solely to release the INPITE one sided 7". I was in a band with the singer at the time and thought the material shouldn't be gathering dust unreleased. I was in a band called 13 S.O.S. which later changed its name to KERUM and I did a radio show called The Mongolian BBQ before starting the label.

No Funeral: The label started when you lived in Maryland. However, you recently relocated to Houston. What was it about Maryland that was bumming you out? What is it about Houston that is not bumming you out?

Eric TGPC: I've lived in Maryland ever since I moved to the US in 92 from Germany. I was bummed on their underground punk scene ever since I became involved with it in the late 90's. Apathy and bad taste seems to thrive there. I actually didn't see how positive and productive the underground scene could actually be until my old band KERUM went on a full US tour in 2003.

My move away from the East Coast has been overdue for years. Without shit-talking, I'll say that my confidence and trust of the MD/DC scene was broken beyond repair over three years ago. So far I see a higher caliber of bands here in Houston and a really fun gay bar scene!

No Funeral: The Torture Garden Picture Company features underground stalwarts like Machetazo, Frightmare, and Agathocles. You’ve also released material from bands like Mind of Asian, Coffins, and Brody’s Militia; bands that don’t neatly fit into the general preconceptions of metal or punk. What is the motivation or driving pathos behind the records you produce? Is it a matter of being a fan, feeling that these bands deserved to be heard, or is it something else/more?

Eric TGPC: I'm glad you used the term "features" when describing my label's relationship to bands. Too many times you hear someone say bands "on" this or that label. That makes it sound as if a label OWNS the band...

I'm a fan first and foremost. I think most people involved in the underground scene likes more than just one sub genre of metal or punk. Hardcore, grind, thrash, doom, powerviolence, whatever... When I first started the label I mainly just wanted to help friends get their bands' record out. There had seemed to be some strange barrier at the time preventing bands from releasing vinyl themselves. It was before the use of computers and CDrs made record pressing more accessible. Sometimes I'll have an idea for a record that I'd personally love to have and start from there. Sometimes I'll hear CD only release and think "This would kill on vinyl!" Most times though, I'll be contacted by the band itself asking me for help or wanting to work with me. There are only a few releases I regret being involved with, but I did what I could the help the band out at the time.

No Funeral: You mentioned the apprehension of DIY bands to release their own vinyl. I want to know not only what you attribute to that behavior but how you make the TGPC releases so spectacular. The ones that I own all have tri-colored vinyl, glossy inserts, and an overall aesthetic that major labels like Roadrunner don’t have. How do you do it? Are you going broke doing it? What tips or tricks do you have to share?

Eric TGPC: I really don't know what it is about bands not releasing their own material. There are bands that have, of course, but I think it may be a problem of distribution maybe. The idea of "Ok, we've got 500 of these records now what do we do with them?"

I've never really though about it but major labels in stereotypically are not going to pay special attention to individual projects. When someone at a larger record company is laying out a record, deciding what color to press the wax on, or designing the center labels- they are at work on the clock at the moment. Is someone at Jack In The Box going to focus extra time and care with your chicken sandwich order? No, they want to get it done and on the next one. Plus there may be one employee talking to the pressing plant, another employee involved with the printing plant and so on. I think that is their main difference from smaller labels in general.

With my own releases, I get to focus on designing with the end result. I deal with every aspect of production- so in the end it rests on my shoulders. Cover art is important to me and I like to somehow tie in the color the record is pressed on. I'm color blind, so generally I'll take two or three colors from the cover art and use them thematically for the rest of the record.

Sometimes my ideas will come back to bite me in the ass. That tri-color record came out great in my opinion, but cost as much as an LP to press in the end. Unless I wanted to charge $9 for a compilation 7", there was no possible way of breaking even on that. Same with the packaging for the RAINBOW OF DEATH 10"... Don't get me wrong, profit and return does not factor into my decision process at all when I decide on a release. But it’s silly to be so wasteful. Since I started the label in 2002 I dare say that I have not encountered one penny of profit.

As far as tips go, I’d say to take you time and do it right. Don't bite off more than you can chew and don't expect to make money.

No Funeral: In addition to all the cool music, Torture Garden Pictures Company takes the aesthetics of vinyl such as artwork, colored vinyl, and packaging to new heights. Each release is top-quality. Why is releasing high quality material important to you? Do you demand this level of work from yourself, do you feel that the listener deserves a total sensory experience, or is it a little of both?

Eric TGPC: I hold myself responsible for how a release turns out. I'm a bit of a control freak which is why the label has always been a one man operation. I try to do the best I can with the small amount of money I have. There has certainly been releases I'm not proud of or have been unhappy with and unless it’s a co-release (which I hate doing for this reason) I've only myself to blame.

No Funeral: Have you ever considered running a festival like No Idea Records’ Gainesville Fest or Initial Records’ old KrazyFest?

Eric TGPC: No. I've only set up a handful of shows in the past and I don't think I'm very good at it. Plus, although it’s cool to see that many bands in one or two days- I think it’s almost impossible to treat bands properly. Most bands on those ridiculous fests don't even get paid enough to make it back home.

No Funeral: How has Houston treated you so far? You’ve come at a when the city is filled with cool music and venues. This was a pretty stagnant scene in the first half of the decade. What are you’re impressions of heavy music in the Bayou City?

Eric TGPC: I've already had a strong impression of Houston. I've worked on five projects with bands from the area prior to my move and already have a few things lined up. Venues come and go, just like anywhere. But what’s good about this scene is that most of the people I deal with have been involved with the underground for at least a decade. There is probably a bunch of fly by night jerks around, but I have yet to deal with any!

No Funeral: Texas has a long history of bands that don’t ever leave the state, neither to “make it big” nor even to be heard in other parts of the country. You mentioned the number of musicians in Houston that have decades of experience in the underground. Houston, more than any other city in Texas, has and has had so many bands (Aftershock, Dead Horse, Bamboo Crisis, etc…) that were content to stay here and start band after band. What do you make of this makeshift philosophy?

Eric TGPC: Texas is sort of an island in that respect, unaffected by what’s going on elsewhere. My first visit here opened a world of punk/metal that I didn't know existed. My friend Dan playing records and tapes by ripping bands I had never heard of!

Some of that may be attributed to the apprehension of bands to release their own material, or an apprehension to tour outside of the state. Back on the east coast you have New York, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Richmond and so on all in a line making small tours easy. You could drive the same distance here and not even be out of the state yet!

No Funeral: Are there any bands you have not worked with that you want to? When are you going to release an Insect Warfare record? You’re damn near the only label that hasn’t put one out?

Eric TGPC: There are too many bands to mention that I'd love to work with, but I have my hands full at the moment. Well, I love INSECT WARFARE and I actually have worked with them on three releases already (the Violent Noise Party compilation, the split cassette with THE KILL, and another compilation not released yet). I had a few plans for releases with Beau that all kind of fell through when the band split up.

No Funeral: Speaking of Insect Warfare, I completely forgot about the split cassette with The Kill. You also released the Warmaster demo on cassette (one of the best demos in years, by the way). Why cassettes? Is it a grim and cult gimmicky thing? Is it an honest love of the format? Is it a matter of “why not cassettes?”

Eric TGPC: I've always loved cassettes. Bands have consistently been releasing demos on tape and I think that is THEE format for demos in my mind.

With the split for THE KILL, it was just a realization of an idea I had years ago for a one minute split. 30 seconds on each side. The cassette is the only format that makes sense for that. It has sides to split the bands on (unlike CDs) plus its possible to adjust the amount of tape spooled as to not waste space (unlike vinyl). It was never a question of "why not cassettes"- the cassette was the only format that made sense.

No Funeral: Beau’s a bit of an odd bird, isn’t he? Even though Insect Warfare maybe gone, sort of, are you interested in working with any of his leather punk bands? KG Beasley and the Leather Violence are, umm, interesting.

Eric TGPC: Beau's great! Besides Dave from PLF, he's the first person I became friends with in Houston. I'd be down to work on any of his projects. I love the whole leather punk idea and I've been a fan of bondage and Tom Of Finland-esque imagery for years. I've actually used that imagery for a couple of my old bands in the past!

No Funeral: As the owner of an independent record label, what are your thoughts on downloading music? How is it impacting TGPC releases?

Eric TGPC: Downloading and MP3s have never concerned me. People that want records and the real deal with cover art/inserts will always want them. Downloaders would never have bought the record in the first place. I don't feel as if it impacts the label in the slightest.

No Funeral: What future releases do you have planned?

Eric TGPC: The VACANT COFFIN and NASHGUL LPs are both going to press this month. I'll be doing a compilation CD for the much overlooked Swedish band LEFT IN RUINS and I'll also be releasing another split EP for EMBALMING THEATRE, this time with GRIND CRUSHER from Norway. As far as Texan bands, expect records in the near future from WAR MASTER, THE DRUNKS and THE FILTHOUNDZ!

Chainsaw Justice rules, but...

2009-09-25T02:07:00.000-07:00

In response to this review of the Magrudergrind S/T LP from Chainsaw Justice, I feel the need to defend the album. I post a short review of the album without much information the other day, so let me explain why the record doesn't suck.

The charge of Magrudergrind selling out to Willowtip is a tad ridiculous. Six Weeks released the LP so Magrudergrind still has some respect and affection for the grind underground. It's my assumption that the album's polished sound is the result of having resources and higher-quality recording gear available to them for the first time. They've got the toys and they're going to use them. Everyone does. The sound on the new record is not an attempt to court the MTV/Hot Topic crowd. If that's the case, the change in their sound would have been drastic and not a mere polish.

Chainsaw Justice compares the S/T LP to Napalm Death's Harmony Corruption. It was not meant as a compliment but it's a totally fair comparison. Magrudergrind has adapted/changed their sound to include influences from the more professional metal scene, namely Nasum and Trap Them. I enjoy this change and I think it brings a dynamic new element to their sound. Besides, some of us enjoyed Harmony Corruption.

With No Funeral, I evaluate bands and records on their musical content. Other aspects of a band's existence are given consideration but whether or not said band is bringing it on their instruments is the key, deciding factor between whether they suck or not. While I fully understand the points raised by Chainsaw Justice, I have no qualms with the new music produced by Magrudergrind and you shouldn't either.

However, if you're the grim and kvlt type who prefers raw, DIY hardcore, give Coke Bust a chance. It's straightedge thrash by members of Magrudergrind.

Coke Bust
Lines in the Sand
Six Weeks

Coke Bust - Lines in the Sand

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More PxDx for you D.A.s

2009-09-25T01:50:00.000-07:00

Pig Destroyer
Phantom Limb
Relapse

Here’s another (un)healthy dose of Pig Destroyer – the single most popular band amongst the No Funeral readership. On Phantom Limb, Pig Destroyer has not deviated from the classic grind/thrash attack that made the band the biggest thing to come out of the D.C. suburbs since Patton Oswalt. However, this is the record where Blake Harrison of Hatebeak notoriety was added to the line-up as noise artist and electro-destruction specialist.

Guitar terrorist Scott Hull did mix in more Bay Area thrash riffs on Phantom Limb. There are riffs reminiscent of classic, early Metallica but ripped off by no means. Brian Harvey is still killing it on the drums, playing like a literate, non-transplanted Los Angelino version of Pete Sandoval (Morbid Angel, Terrorizer). The afore mentioned Harrison brings the only thing that Pig Destroyer was missing – devastating electronic manipulation and samples in the live setting.

The lyrics of JR Hayes are less existential and more direct on this album. They are closer in spirit to Prowler in the Yard but without the arching motif of a concept album. Example from “Lesser Animal”: “Got no use for psychiatry. I can talk to the voices in my head for free.”

Look at me; I’m rambling on and on about Phantom Limb and you’ve probably already got it downloaded. I expect nothing less than for this to be another giant “hit” on No Funeral. I can picture you all jamming this on your iPods during your next grave-robbing spree. What are you waiting for? Click on the link.

Pig Destroyer – Phantom Limb

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Okay, call it a comeback.

2009-09-25T00:17:00.000-07:00

Coalesce
OX
Relapse

OX is the comeback album for metalcore titans Coalesce. This isn’t a comeback in a they-were-never-successful-and-are-giving-it-one-more-shot, Anvil sort of way. No, this is a comeback in a they-never-should-have-split-up-in-the-first-place sort of way. This is around the 800th break-up and reunion for Jes, Sean, and the Nathans and (hopefully) they’re here to stay this time. Ten years after the release of 012: Revolution in Just Listening, Coalesce is here to put all the chumps and suckas in check.

Turning 30 hasn’t chilled out these dudes at all. The band that once put the physics in hardcore has now put their collective fist into the face of rock and roll and it’s about flipping time that someone did. Recorded in Kansas with long-time collaborator Ed Rose, OX is as angular and jagged as any past Coalesce material but the resulting album is more refined. Before anyone has a panic attack, this is not the result of any studio polish. If anything, they sound rawer now.

No, Coalesce is the rare band that is getting better with age. I love Mastodon but the riffs and the changes on OX puts Crack the Skye to shame. Everything on this record, every lick, every kick/snare pattern, everything; is written and played for maximum effect. OX molests your ears and buys you ice cream afterwards. This is one of the finest examples of musicianship in extreme music.

OX is the best Coalesce record since Functioning on Impatience; which puts it in the running for their best. All of you need this album. If any of you plan on attending November’s Fun, Fun, Fun Fest in Austin, this is THE band you must see.

Coalesce – OX

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I suppose this is the new sound for the new decade.

2009-09-24T23:10:00.000-07:00

Suffokate
Oakland
Mediaskare

Suffokate is another band ensconced in the debate of the year for 2009: is this or is this not deathcore? On Oakland, I’m inclined to say no. I say no because I define deathcore as the amalgamation of death metal, nu-metal, and grindcore; bands such as Suicide Silence, Impending Doom, and Animosity. Suffokate doesn’t fit this description.

Like Emmure (who I reviewed last week), Suffokate plays no blastbeats, aren’t particularly fast, and draw heavy influence from the better nu-metal bands, specifically Slipknot, Korn, and Fear Factory. There’s nothing here that fits the bill of grindcore and the band doesn’t seem to be influenced by any hardcore at all.

This is not to say that Suffokate are a bad band. It’s simply that this isn’t a deathcore band. Personally, I’m sick of the deathcore rip-off artists that sprung up overnight to steal/leech from Suicide Silence and Job for a Cowboy. Plus, I’m intrigued by this new sound. It’s almost as if the second generation of nu-metal bands has arrived and they’re pretty good this time around. No chumps like Primer 55, Unloco, Union Underground, or Powerman 5000 are to be found. You know, jackasses that could barely play?

These young bands are taking the musical proficiency, technicality, and brutality of Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, and Suffocation and mixing it with the previously mentioned Slipknot, Korn, and Fear Factory. I’m not opposed to this. Thus far, the results have been pretty cool. Suffokate plays this nu-metal/death metal hybrid and Oakland is an entertaining album. All I ask is that when the meeting is held to put a name on this new sound, please come up with something better than “nu-death.”

Suffokate - Oakland

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Most pissed album of the year.

2009-09-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

Magrudergrind
Magrudergrind
Six Weeks

I'm tired and it's time to go to sleep, so this is going to be quick. Magrudergrind rules. The self-titled LP is mad. The band doesn't play pure grind, and that's part of what makes it so awesome. Jason from Deadthyme thinks it's the best album of 2009 and I'm not inclined to disagree with him. Like Trap Them, Magrudergrind has pulled together many, many different influences to create an almost wholly original sound. What sound? An urban Hatred Surge? What would happen if Nasum was from the East Coast? These are questions you'll have to answer for yourself. This is all I know: Magrudergrind is the maddest shit since Mr. T made that rap song about being nice to your momma. Recommended for everyone and everything.

Magrudergrind - Magrudergrind

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Too Gay To Rock

2009-09-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

Too Pure To Die
Confess
Trustkill

It's been some time since I posted something that sucks. My generally view on bad music is to ignore it. There's too much good music in the world made by worthy bands to waste time on the chumps, but I feel that it's my duty to show the nation that I'm not looking at things through rose-colored glasses.

Which brings us to Too Pure To Die. These jokers went from metalcore to nu-metal to deathcore while enduring 4000 line-up changes in the span of a few years. The band was really good at selling merch and not much else. Confess is an album of tepid deathcore junk. Half of the record was co-written by Jamey Jasta, which explains a lot. Fortunately, these posers broke up a few weeks back. Adios, Too Pure To Die. You will not be missed.

Too Pure To Die - Confess

.

Destined for Greatness

2009-09-17T22:49:00.000-07:00

Trapped Under Ice
Secrets of the World
Reaper

Although Secrets of the World isn’t one of those perfect, earth-shattering albums, it is a very good album by a young band that has made amazing strides in its two-year existence. Fresh off of this summer’s 10 for 10 Tour, (alongside Madball, Poison the Well, Bane, and many others) Trapped Under Ice delivers, on its first LP, exactly the kind of hardcore record the world needs right now; one that’s actually a hardcore record and not a metal record.

Trapped Under Ice should be commended for being able to sit in a tight groove on a song without descending into Pantera territory. The band doesn’t rely on cheap, gimmicky breakdowns to convey any mosh-itude. It’s just ignorant East Coast heaviness. While describing this band to Casey from Yatagarasu, I said that Trapped Under Ice sounds like what would have happened had Biohazard been a Dischord band from D.C. I stand by this statement.

Long-time No Funeral readers know that I don’t give much credence to lyrics. I think that great lyricists in shitty bands should quit those bands and get into the poetry game. That said, Justice did a great job on the lyrics to Secrets of the World. He speaks of topics as varied as the economy, Baltimore, relationships, friendship, and the modern condition without ever coming across as preachy or condescending. Of course, after interviewing Justice last year, I know what a witty and intelligent person he is, so I expected nothing less.

I’ve long supported Trapped Under Ice and I’m a fan of their music but I took of the “fan glasses” when reviewing this record. As awesome as Secrets of the World is, the record feels slightly under-cooked. The groove in the middle of “TUI” only lasts four bars. The riff rules too much for it to end so quickly. Don’t get me wrong, this is one of the best hardcore albums of 2009 but, in situations like the above, it seems as though they were rushing to get the album released.

Again, this is one of the best hardcore albums of the year and I assure you that it will turn up in the year-end Top 10 list. However, if we’re giving out grades for these things, this is an A-. It’s almost great and Trapped Under Ice is destined for greatness. I patiently await the day when they release a record on par with Damaged by Black Flag – which will happen and soon.

Trapped Under Ice – Secrets of the World

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Elegance

2009-09-17T22:14:00.000-07:00

James Brown
20 All-Time Greatest Hits!
Polydor

The space program has done more for America than put a flag on the moon and give MTV the template for that bullshit award they give away each year. It's a high-technology industry which spawns good and services beneficial to mankind. Examples include Velcro, global positioning systems, and the integrated circuit.

Fountain pens do not work in space. When astronauts needed a writing mechanism that would work in a zero-gravity environment, NASA spent millions of dollars developing the ball-point pen. Today, you and I use ball-point pens all the time. No one is going to deny that the ball-point pen is a useful invention. We have all benefited from its creation.

When the Russians needed a writing mechanism that would work in a zero-gravity environment, they used pencils.

Sometimes, simpler is better.

James Brown - 20 All-Time Greatest Hits!

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Oh, man. Y'all are gonna kill me...

2009-09-17T21:21:00.000-07:00

Emmure
Felony
Victory

Let's go ahead and get the negatives out of the way. Yes, Emmure is THE band to hate in metal and hardcore right now. Yes, many a high school linebacker is getting fired up for the game on Friday by listening to Felony. Yes, Emmure engages in ridiculousness like this and this. However, a good album is a good album. If I deviate from my criteria of judging music, then I'm being intellectually dishonest and I'm doing you a disservice. Felony is a good record.

First off, this is not a deathcore album. Maybe Emmure's older material is, I'm not familar with those records, but Felony is not. This is the evolution of doomy nu-metal with some early 2000s metalcore mixed in for good measure. Emmure plays a modern take on the classic Korn sound with an obvious Bury Your Dead influence but also with shades of bands like Sinai Beach and even Burnt by the Sun. Before I get death threats, let me say that I would be shocked if the similarity of Felony to the S/T Burnt by the Sun EP is anything other than a coincidence or an accident; but here we are.

Anyway, this record has no blastbeats. There are no songs that are particularly fast and all of the songs are stuffed to the gills with mosh/slam riffs. If Suicide Silence is the standard bearer of deathcore, then Felony doesn't fall into the category.

I can't say that I'm down with Emmure's gangsta/wigger posturing or the borderline sexism in the lyrics. Musically speaking though, Felony is a superb listening experience. Of all these young kids and new bands exploring the nu-metal sound and making it their own, Emmure has impressed me the most.

Emmure - Felony

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No Funeral PodTape Vol.1, No.1

2009-09-14T21:56:00.000-07:00

This is part of the secret laboratory project I've been working on lately. The other part is something truly epic that will (hopefully) be finished this week. Concerning this portion of the experiment, I've been tinkering with recording software in order to rip various audio samples that tickle my fancy. I've sort of got it down at this point, although I'm having difficulty ripping audio from DVDs. If anyone has a tips on this, please e-mail me at no-funeral@hotmail.com.

Welcome to the inaugural No Funeral PodTape. What the hell exactly is a PodTape you ask? Well, it's equal parts podcast and mixtape. I've been kicking around this idea for awhile now and it's finally going forward. Much like the current MP3 blog and the zine before it, this is a constant work in progress.

Everyone is familiar with the concept of a mixtape. What sets this apart from other, lesser-quality mixes is that the music is culled from my vast collection of No Funeral-approved recordings. The other thing that sets it apart is the samples inserted between the songs. This isn't a mere collection of music. I'd like to think of the No Funeral PodTape as an experience; the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. That's the goal, anyway.

For the first edition, I've pulled choice selections from Jello Biafra, Bill Hicks, and Hunter S. Thompson; interwoven with the tracklist below. Feel free to leave feedback and comments about what works, what doesn't, and where I should go cram it. This is an experiment in audio radness that conveniently fits onto an 80-minute CD-R (or easily fits on you iPod). Enjoy!

No Funeral PodTape
Vol. 1 No. 1

Part One
Part Two

1. Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! – “Poke On” – Tim & Eric Awesome Record, Great Songs!
2. Trapped Under Ice – “See God” – Secrets of the World
3. Trapped Under Ice – “Believe” – Secrets of the World
4. Jello Biafra
5. Meatjack – “Falling Down” – Trust
6. Himsa – “Rain to the Sound of Panic” – Courting Tragedy and Disaster
7. Bill Hicks
8. Scissorfight – “Mantrap” – Mantrapping for Sport and Profit
9. Insect Warfare – “Manipulator” – World Extermination
10. Bill Hicks
11. Eyehategod – “Serving Time in the Middle of Nowhere” – Preaching the End-Time Message
12. Hunter S. Thompson
13. ABACABB – “Destruction” – Survivalist
14. The Warriors – “War is Hell” – War is Hell
15. Jello Biafra
16. Giant Squid – “Neonate” – Metridium Field
17. Jello Biafra
18. The Jesus Lizard – “One Evening” - Head
19. iwrestledabearonce – “Tastes Like Kevin Bacon” – It’s All Happening
20. Jello Biafra
21. Mastodon – “Ole Nessie” – Remission
22. Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! – “Love Slaves” – Tim & Eric Awesome Record, Great Songs!
23. Magrudergrind – “Built to Blast” – Magrudergrind
24. Infest – “Judge Me” – Mankind
25. Bill Hicks
26. Starkweather – “Shroud” – Into the Wire
27. Hunter S. Thompson
28. Trap Them – “Destructioneer Extraordinaire” – Sleepwell Deconstructor
29. Hunter S. Thompson
30. Cursed – “Hell Comes Home” - II

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End of Summer Countdown

2009-09-10T13:05:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year again. School is back in full swing. Yankees and Canadians are bracing for snow which should start falling in about three hours or so. Yes, Summer is unfortunately over and we're embarking on the death march that is the final quarter of 2009. None of you went outside and did anything while the weather was nice because you were too busy downloading music. Let's take a gander at the most popular downloads on No Funeral during the Summer of 2009.

1. Earth Crisis - To The Death

One of 2009's finer album smoked (ha!) the rest of the competition with 389 downloads. That's over 150 more than #2 on the list. I love this record and clearly you guys do as well.

2. Coalesce - 0:12 Revolution in Just Listening

Is it 2009 or 1999? Another recently-reunited, much-missed, 90s metalcore band scored a hit this summer. Coalesce's classic album 0:12 Revolution in Just Listening racked up 223 downloads.

3. Pig Destroyer - Terrifyer

Long-time No Funeral favorite Pig Destroyer continues to perform well with 212 summer downloads of this classic LP.

4. -tie-

Assuck - Anticapital/Blindspot/+3

Hatred Surge - Collection 2005-07

Old-school meets new-school in an orgy of Southern grind/violence in the #4 position. Assuck and Hatred Surge each pulled down 190 downloads during the summer.

5. Pelican - The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw

Pelican occupies the final spot on the list with 185 downloads. I would say that they swooped into #5 but you deserve better than that.

Thank you for your continued support of this website. Traffic and downloads on the site keep increasing and I'm humbled by the whole experience. I'm pleased to know that there are so many people who take this music seriously and don't treat it like a disposable widget. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write. I love hearing from you.

Finally, the "cover" photo at the top of the post is dedicated to Grim Chris Spann. Two can play at that game.

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democracy in action, part one

2009-09-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

Aim for the Sunrise
The Bigger Picture; Hope
self-released

My man Fairty requested The Bigger Picture; Hope by Aim for the Sunrise. I'm here to give the people what they want and this is what at least one person wants. See... the shoutbox gets you results.

At first glance, this EP seems to be more swoopy-haired nonsense. However, DC the Medic (who is lost in the ATX somewhere. Where are you, dude?) once pointed out that many a cool band in the 80s had ridiculous haircuts. Even Repulsion had terrible 80s hair. You can't judge anything off of appearance, so let's move on.

Upon closer inspection, some cool stuff is occuring in The Bigger Picture; Hope. Formed last year by teenage Swedish maniacs, Aim for the Sunrise earns points for being a young band with NO deathcore tendencies. Instead, you get early 2000s-style melodic metalcore in the realm of early Killswitch Engage and early Poison the Well. The clean vocals don't come off as whiny as those by Howard Jones. Aim for the Sunrise brings serious heaviness alongside some seriously epic riffs while not forsaking melody.

As well-worn as this style may be, it sounds refreshing coming from this band. Maybe that needs to be chalked up to youthful enthusiasm. Moments akin to Refused abound on The Bigger Picture; Hope, but I suppose with the band being from Sweden that it's only natural. The only clunker on the EP is the title track and even it recovers in the second half of the song. A band you need to keep your eye on has produced some very cool stuff.

Aim for the Sunrise - The Bigger Picture; Hope

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Devoured, but not Wasted

2009-09-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

Everybody Goes to Hell
Time Devourer
self-released

Yeah, I know I said I was going to be gone for a few days but you guys should know the drill by now. If I say I'm going to post everyday this week, that really means that I'll see you next week. If I say that I'm taking a few days off, then new stuff will be posted tomorrow. What can I say? Welcome to Dick Cheney's America. In all seriousness, I'm working on a multi-part posting project that will (hopefully) expand the parameters of what a music blog is and can do. In the meantime, let's get into some Everybody Goes to Hell.

Straight out of Bowling Green, OH, Everybody Goes to Hell plays d-beat hardcore with a twist. I'd expect nothing less from Midwestern weirdoes. I love Midwestern hardcore precisely because the stuff is never played straight and always delivers a left-hook to the listener.

The self-released Time Devourer has the typical d-beat influences of Discharge and Anti-Cimex but the other inspirations are what make the EP a rich listening experience. There are shades of Poison Idea's thrash attack and hints of the His Hero Is Gone/Tragedy sound. Drew of Everybody Goes to Hell expressed a particular love of Italian screamo like La Quiete and Raein.

I've heard to many people, especially my co-workers, bitching about the lack of good music these days. That's a totally jive argument and all No Funeral readers know it. There's tons of good music out there. In the last week, this site alone has posted Bowel, Tona, and now Everybody Goes to Hell. I challenge you to support these hardworking bands. All Houstonians need to be at the Die Young show at Walters on 10Oct09. Everybody Goes to Hell has a handful of shows lined up over the next few weeks. I also challenge all Ohio/Kentucky punks, grinders, and thrashers to check out this band. Backed!

Everybody Goes to Hell - Time Devourer

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Heading into the Laboratory

2009-09-02T06:21:00.000-07:00

Madball
Demonstrating My Style
Roadrunner

I'm working on something special for later this week (or the weekend, it depends on when I get it finished) so there won't be any new posts for a few days. On that note, I wanted to leave you maniacs with something that doesn't require much explanation. That album would be Madball's Demonstrating My Style. We can argue this point all day, but I think this is their best album. It's one of the last albums made with the "original" line-up. It's hard-hitting NYHC with a metallic tinge and it's heavier than Oprah. Madball holds it down for the DMS crew and you should, too. Remember, mind-blowing hate is coming this weekend. Stay tuned...

Madball - Demonstrating My Style

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Balkan Revenge

2009-08-29T12:38:00.000-07:00

Tona
1000
SKC Novi Sad

I started corresponding with George in Serbia this year and he's one of the most dedicated musicians with whom I've interacted in a long time. George is the lead vocalist in Tona -- a band that treads the ground between stoner metal and heavy punk. Tona is one of those bands that marries a billion different influences into an entirely new being that fits lke an old shoe. Say what? Follow me on this.

"Go Find Jays Circle" is reminiscent of the long-forgotten stoner band Nudeswirl with moments of Into Another's heavier material. "Oreol" throws Dag Nasty, the Minutemen, and SST/Sub Pop-era Soundgarden into the musical blender, to splendid results. "Go Slow" finds guitarists Boris Radin and Filip Radovanov doing their best Josh-Homme-in-Kyuss impressions that do not come off as contrived.

1000 is an album that would get the full, 100% Carducci seal of approval. The record is filled with soulful melodies that beautifully synchronize with the driving rhythms. It get the No Funeral seal of you-have-no-taste-if-you-don't-dig-this approval. America is a country full of rich weirdoes. Can't one of them pony up the dough to bring Tona to the states? 1000 is highly recommended for the living, the dead and those stuck in purgatory. Really, you need to download this. It's the only way to make up for that whole Bill Clinton thing.

Tracklist:
1.Red Cylinder
2.Pieces
3.Oreol
4.Box
5.Go Find Jays Circle
6.Go Slow
7.Bull May
8.Grafit
9.Down to Play
10.Breakout
11.Through Water

Tona - 1000

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The sound of one hand shooting up.

2009-08-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

Bowel
Four-Song Demo
self-released

Bowel is Houston’s best-kept secret. It’s almost criminal that these H-town sludge masters aren’t better known but I have a sneaking suspicion that the band members like things the way they are. Bowel has been gigging around the South and blowing minds for a few years now and it’s high time the rest of you got with it.

When considering the sound of Bowel, the most obvious comparisons are -16-, EyeHateGod and BuzzOv-en but there is way more going on than just that well-worn sound. Bowel has a sound that’s sort of like a crusty/death version of the AmRep sound. You know… Today is the Day, Helmet and the like? Drugs and the heavy percussion of bands like Unsane and Bloodlet also figure into the mix. This demo is as disgusting as the pollution in Houston. You guys are going to love it.

Bowel – Four-Song Demo

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Pitchfork readers are zombies

2009-08-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

Mortician
Zombie Apocalypse
Relapse

Short-review week is coming to a close. Don't worry, I have something special planned for next week. In the meantime, I leave you with Mortician's mini-album masterpiece Zombie Apocalypse. It's eight songs of Mortician's patented, tuned-to-Z-flat, kick-off-every-song-with-a-movie-sample brand of gore-grind. You also get covers of Repulsion and Slaughter(CAN). I suppose I should say something about Will Rahmer but I won't. What needs to be said that hasn't already?

I thought Zombie Apocalypse would be appropriate considering that terrible-music website Pitchfork Media's list of this decade's 500 greatest song. Click here for the gory details that I can bring myself to repeat. I will say this: for a site that (allegedly) digs rock music, what the fuck are Beyonce and Eminem doing on that list? Better yet, what's up with all the major label douchebaggery on that list? The whole hipster thing is a giant pose that has nothing to do with music and everything to do with wearing shitty clothes, doing shitty drugs, and date-raping other hipsters. Fuck that shit.

If you need further proof, click here for the real zombie apocalypse; written by an actual zombie. Feel free to detonate this poser's website and be sure to tell him that Brian No Funeral sent you.

Mortician - Zombie Apocalypse

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grunge gravy

2009-08-27T07:33:00.000-07:00

Pelican
City of Echoes
Hydra Head

Yeah, it's another post in short-review week. This is the mighty Pelican. They play instrumental groove/metal/stomp/grunge/boogie/something awesomeness. Most vocalists are false as fuck and, in the case of Pelican, would simply get in the way of killer riffage. I recently bought the Ephemeral 12" EP (featuring special guest Dylan Carlson of Earth) and, while that EP rules, City of Echoes is a total masterpiece. The credits of Ephemeral state that Pelican has been making grunge gravy since 2000. Sounds good to me. I'm not going to keep droning on-and-on about it so here's your assignment for today (in order): download. smoke up. rock out. kill yourself.

Pelican - City of Echoes

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Three-way tie for last.

2009-08-26T05:21:00.000-07:00

Pig Destroyer/Coldworker/Antigama
3-Way Split EP
Relapse

Here's an amusing but in no way essential EP. This 7" was limited to 1000 red-vinyl copies and was given away as a freebie with Relapse mail-orders a few years back. Pig Destroyer contributes covers songs of Integrity and Unsane. Coldworker and Antigama provide one new song (at the time anyway) each.

It pains me to say that this is the worst Pig Destroyer material I've ever heard but, then again, most bands will never be good enough to sound this "bad." You've got to keep everything in perspective. Coldworker, featuring ex-Nasum members, rages through a song titled "Far Beyond Driven" that has nothing to do with Pantera. Antigama is a band. Good for them. They've never done much for me but maybe you'll dig them. This EP is recommended only for those obsessive types who have to have EVERYTHING ever released by their favorite band.

Pig Destroyer/Coldworker/Antigama - 3-Way Split EP

.

Late to the party.

2009-08-26T04:18:00.000-07:00

Evergreen Terrace
Burned Alive by Time
Eulogy

Let me start by admitting that I'm appoaching Evergreen Terrace all ass-backwards. I never listened to them a few years back when they were an internet buzz band. I always assumed that they sounded like that strain of lame emo-ish metalcore that was going around for awhile. You know, some miserable marriage of Shai Hulud and Poison the Well. Gag.

So, what changed? I bought season seven of The Simpsons. On said DVD is the episode Two Bad Neighbors where George Bush moves in across the street from the Simpsons. Most of the episode takes place on Evergreen Terrace. This prompted me to go back and check out the band. How bad could they be if they referenced The Simpsons? The answer is, of course, not bad at all.

Burned Alive by Time, while not the most original or groundbreaking album of this decade, is a solid, well-played, well-constructed and enjoyable affair. Evergreen Terrace takes many of their cues from fellow Floridians Poison the Well but that's not a bad thing in this case. The moshy parts are heavier than Oprah without ever descending into jock-idiot territory. The best example of this is the cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" which concludes the album. The song is rearraigned into a rock context (from the original electro-pop context) and contains a seriously evil breakdown, but it never sounds like something off of Hatebreed's ill-advised cover song album.

Evergreen Terrace does tend to go overboard with the clean-vocal, screamo parts. They sound like Howard Jones-era Killswitch Engage, but they don't sound forced like Howard Jones-era Killswitch Engage. In other words, they are annoying but tolerable as they naturally flow with the music.

If we're giving out grades for these things, Burned Alive by Time gets a B+. Besides, I've got a soft-spot in my heart for bands that really know their movies.

Evergreen Terrace - Burned Alive by Time

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I don't hang out with lame-Os that don't like Scissorfight

2009-08-26T03:58:00.000-07:00

Scissorfight
Live at the Middle East
Instant Live

It's been over a week since I posted anything which means that it's time to remedy that situation. This week I intend (ho-ho) to post some short reviews of bands with which most of you are at least passingly familiar. Today, we start with the almighty Scissorfight.

In November 2004, Scissorfight stopped taking bong rips long enough to drive down to Cambridge from New Hampshire and record a live album at legendary Boston-area venue the Middle East. Needless to say, the band tore it up that night.

The setlist is a greatest-hits of sorts for these rock-n-roll outlaws. Iron Lung is pissed and the rest of the band sounds great. The crowd is screaming for (and goes off to) the songs from the Balls Deep record. I find this odd since my favorite Scissorfight album is Mantrapping for Sport and Profit. I suppose that I have different taste than most of the folks up in Taxachusetts. Not much else to say. Scissorfight rules. Uhh, you're ugly.

Scissorfight - Live at the Middle East

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The Perfect Metaphor for Human Suffering

2009-08-15T06:56:00.000-07:00

Iron Lung
Life. Iron Lung. Death.
625 Thrash

Many bands try to be brutal and scary. Few bands accomplish this feat. Iron Lung exceeds it. Released in 2004, the band's first LP, Life. Iron Lung. Death., is downright frightening.

Iron Lung is a two-man band that plays modern power violence along the same lines as Hatred Surge and The Endless Blockade. Drummer Jensen Ward (ex-Gehenna, Cold Sweat, Artimus Pyle) and guitarist Jon Kortland (ex-Gob; the band from the Pig Destroyer split EP, not the MTV band also called Gob) throw up a blasting, grinding wall of noise that is well-written and structured.

This is a band with a unique voice. Ward and Kortland share vocal duties. Their bizarre harsh-vocal harmonies coupled with their tight playing and artful arraignments create one of the best listening experiences in underground hardcore.

In a 2006 interview with Heartattack magazine, when asked about Iron Lung being a medically-themed band, Kortland said, "...I felt like Iron Lung was a perfect metaphor for human suffering." (HaC #49, p.20)

This is no big talk. Life. Iron Lung. Death. serves as a concept album about immobility and pain but it's also a metaphorical and symbolic tome about the modern condition. The record is a challenging listen as is but, when heard while reading along with the lyric sheet, it becomes an exercise in fear.

In addition to the Life. Iron Lung. Death. LP, this CD features the Demonstrations in Pressure and Volume EP as bonus tracks, along with Iron Lung's sides of the split EPs with Brainoil and Teen Cthulhu.

Download it, listen to it, feel the funk; but I encourage all of you to track down a copy of the real-deal album so as to the the full effect.

Iron Lung - Life. Iron Lung. Death.

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Fastcore in 140 characters or less.

2009-08-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

Each day at work, I have the opportunity (and the time) to read several different newspapers. These papers, specifically USA Today and the Houston Chronicle, along with a disturbing amount of internet chatter, would have you believe that Twitter is the most important development in human history since the polio vaccine. While Twitter does serve a useful purpose, I invite the entirety of mankind to chill out over Twitter's perceived importance.

When I say that Twitter has a useful purpose, I mean that it has a lone, solitary, single useful purpose. The only reason you should ever use Twitter is to provide updates and URL links to whatever band/website/comic book/fetish porn/etc... that you really do with your time. Using Twitter to provide insights into your life is beyond lame. It's boner-crushing lameness on the level of Coheed & Cambria.

Before proceeding, I must admit that I'm a tad hypocritical in this regard. I have and use a Twitter account for the No Funeral blog. I use it as an alert mechanism when something new is posted on this site. Yes, I occasionally post a playlist, respond to another Twitter user, or simply write some nonsense. However, 99% of my "tweets" pertain to this website.

My gripe about Twitter-as-information-consolidator is twofold. The first, most obvious problem is that you're limited to 140 characters. This isn't enough space for a cogent thought, much less a simple paragraph. It's enough space to post the link to your real content and should be used for this purpose. Twitter is a poor forum for self-expression.

Which brings me to my second gripe with Twitter -- no one on Twitter is that interesting; myself included. At least with my Twitter account you're getting the links to rocking, free music. Twitter is especially guilty of perpetuating the fascination with celebrity culture and those folks tend to be the least interesting of all.Don't believe me? Check out the sub-literate musing of T.O., or the hyper-commercialized, crushing depression that is Jamey Jasta's Twitter page.

Twitter, aside from its ONE useful purpose, is another sign of dumbing-down of America, in addition to the coming apocalypse. 140 characters, my ass.

In honor of Twitter and in remembrance of America's dignity, I present Your Chaos Days Are Numbered by the almighty Hellnation. This album is for those who like their thrashy hardcore the way God intended: short, fast, and loud. Not a song over 140 seconds!

Hellnation
Your Chaos Days Are Numbered
Sound Pollution

Hellnation - Your Chaos Days Are Numbered

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Welcome to Forever

2009-08-12T08:08:00.000-07:00

Impending Doom
The Serpent Servant
Facedown

Here we go again. Is it deathcore or not? I’ve expressed my views on this subject multiple times before, like here and here. When it comes to Impending Doom’s first album, Nailed.Dead.Risen., that album is firmly entrenched in the deathcore sound. However, the mark of any good band is improved songwriting and further development of said band’s overall sound, which The Serpent Servant has in spades.

You want to talk about development? Listen to the mosh riff in the middle of “Anything Goes.” Listen, during the change, to the bass player keep the same rhythm with the drummer’s high-hat and snare while the drummer double-times his kicks and the guitarists double-up the picking of the riff. No, it’s not technicality on the level of Necrophagist but it’s worlds apart from what the deathcore scenesters are doing. Plus, the scenesters can’t lay down a groove like the one found on “Storming the Gates of Hell.”

The members of Impending Doom call their music “gorship” – a combination of gore-metal music and worship-based lyrics. While the tag may be a bit silly, I couldn’t think of a more accurate description of their sound than they already did. The gore-metal influence is pretty obvious (think Suffocation) but Impending Doom accomplishes something remarkable with the lyrics.

Like the band, I’m a believer and I’m very impressed with the fearlessness Impending Doom displays on The Serpent Servant concerning the band’s Christian beliefs. I burned this album for Jerry Phillips, the pastor of my church; a dude who is by no means a “square.” His first comment was that Impending Doom is influenced by Slipknot (true) and that, while he likes the music, he could never get into the harsh vocal thing. Then he opened up the lyric sheet. Phillips was pleasantly surprised at the large portion of the lyrics influenced by scripture and the number of direct quote from the Bible. For the record, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the four books of the Gospel are the lyrical influence of The Serpent Servant.

It’s easy for any band to get on stage and talk about how much they hate George Bush. That’s what Family Guy does – taking easy shots at easy targets without any fear of repercussion from the public. Whether you agree or disagree with the views expressed, you have to respect the bravery displayed by Impending Doom in this day and age. Also, the album rocks. Highly recommended.

Impending Doom - The Serpent Servant

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Midwest Metalcore Meltdown

2009-08-07T04:36:00.001-07:00

Disembodied
The Confession
Moo Cow

The Midwest has a history of producing powerful and unusual music and no Midwestern state has produced more of it than Minnesota. The land of 10,000 lakes is also the land that gave us Husker Du, Prince, Code 13 and the Replacements. At this point, it’s safe to add Disembodied to that list.

Recorded in 1995, The Confession embraces the mid-90s metalcore vibe while pushing the sound forward. The EP features three songs of slow, down-tuned, stomping heaviness. It sounds similar to what Undertow was doing around the same time.

The Confession is one of Disembodied’s earlier recordings. It’s not as influenced by metal as the band’s later material -- the Slayer riffs had not surfaced yet. The Confession combines the heaviness of Quicksand and Helmet with the righteous anger of Judge and Outspoken. It’s killer, early stuff from a band that kept getting better.

Disembodied - The Confession

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An Acquired Taste

2009-08-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

SUNNO)))
Black One
Southern Lord

SUNNO))) is the drone/doom project of Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley (Southern Lord Records, ex-Goatsnake, ex-Burning Witch, etc…). Travis Keller, founder of the increasingly frustrating website Buddyhead, once described SUNNO))) as, “Ex-straightedge dudes in robes seriously bumming out everyone.” While this description is accurate, there is so much more going on with SUNNO))).

Black One, like all SUNNO))) releases, is plodding heaviness drenched in feedback and punctuated with harsh electronics. The band redefines the concept of slow. The typical SUNNO))) “song” features experimental guitar and bass arraignments, electronic manipulations that border on cryptic and sparse percussion. Black One is where noise and doom meet and fight to the death.

Black One inverts the paradigm of blasphemous black metal. Instead of outrageousness and blinding speed, SUNNO))) takes the motif of evil in the opposite direction. This album is withdrawn, sinister and conspiratorial. SUNNO))) captures the frostbitten despair of the Norwegian dark masters while simultaneously taking a musical back-azimuth.

You’re never quite sure what’s going on but you know that “they” are out to get you. You should not listen to this album if you have been diagnosed with paranoia.

This is not rock music according to the Carducci-ian definition. As Joe Carducci said in Rock and the Pop Narcotic, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, and Big Black may be cool but they’re not rock. While the aforementioned bands may be rooted in the electronic scene, SUNNO))) is undoubtedly a noise band. They’re not doom or black metal, although they draw considerable influence from those styles. No, SUNNO))) is depressing and evil noise. We are all better off for it.

In the realm of heavy music, SUNNO))) is one of the only groups that has truly earned the moniker of unique. This is for the open-minded. Black One is highly recommended for stoners, depressives, maniacs, rape-eyed weirdoes, people under house arrest and the unemployable. As the warning label on the back of the LP states, “Maximum Volume Yields Maximum Results.”

SUNNO))) - Black One

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A Portrait of Chaos

2009-07-29T00:35:00.000-07:00

Job for a Cowboy
Ruination
Metal Blade

Jason warned me. Jason Beck, of the mighty Deadthyme program on KPFT, told me, “Dude, a lot of people aren’t into this record. It’s okay for mall metal but watch out.”

I heeded his warning. Jason knows what he’s talking about. Plus, the evidence was on his side. Metalheads with a clue were seriously disappointed with No Time to Bleed by Suicide Silence. Smart metalheads knew to avoid that travesty altogether.

I’m happy to report that, with Ruination, Job for a Cowboy has left the increasingly tedious deathcore pack in the dust. Wave goodbye flat-brimmed hat, plug-sporting d-bags. Job for a Cowboy won’t be returning.

Ruination is an achievement for several reasons. With this record, Job for a Cowboy avoided the dreaded sophomore slump (Doom doesn’t count; more on this later). Musically, the band has achieved its goal of moving into the realm of technical death metal. Socially, Ruination should make their younger, trendier fans pause and reflect.

A few years back, I had some acquaintances in San Antonio who were heavily into the fashioncore scene. In the time I knew them, they bounced from Coal Chamber/Slipknot-style nu-metal to the Eighteen Visions thing to this new stuff coming out of the Western U.S. These guys were obsessed with As Blood Runs Black (remember them?). They latched on to the formulaic song structures and cheap gimmicks such as pig-vocals. Of course, these dudes spent hundreds of dollars a month at the hair salon and spent all of their free time smoking weed and playing video games, so superficiality and visual stimulation were all they asked of the music to which they listened.

These guys introduced me to Job for a Cowboy. These guys were obsessed with Doom. These were the early JFaC fans.

Job for a Cowboy didn’t impress me until the Genesis LP. That record is head-and-shoulders better than the cheap thrills offered on Doom. That was the record where Job for a Cowboy started to demand more of themselves – to grow as musicians, to expand the sound of the band. Maybe they saw the limited future of being a scene band but I chalk the maturity displayed between Genesis and Doom up as the same maturity spawned by getting older and smarter. If this were a marketing move, why keep a sound this intense? Why not go the Burn Halo route?

No, Job for a Cowboy is the real deal. In interviews posted all over the internet, the band’s members have no answer for why Genesis succeeded so well. They don’t know why Dave Mustaine chose them for the Gigantour. They don’t know why hundreds and sometimes thousands of people keep turning up at their shows. This is a measure of humility and candor rarely seen in the Age of Me. It’s as if, deep down, Job for a Cowboy knows that Doom was scenester garbage. They made an honest record and the response was nothing short of breath-taking. This is why Doom doesn’t count as their “first” record.

Yes, it was first but Genesis is the first Job for a Cowboy album that anyone does or should care about. Of course, there will be too-cool-for-school metal folks for whom Job for a Cowboy can do no right but the open-minded will see this band as a unit achieving greatness in front of our collective eyes. Ruination provides the scene kids with a chance to see if they’re maturing at the same rate as one of their favorite bands. It also provides an opportunity for the jaded old fucks to see if they’re as good at evaluating new bands as they think they are. Good bands come out of every trend.

Which brings us to Ruination, a record that avoids the sophomore slump by being a true metal record. What do I mean by true? It’s true in that it avoids the cheap deathcore trappings. There are no breakdowns on the album; not in the modern sense of the term. Yes, there are moshtastic riffs all over Ruination, but nothing that Suffocation, Immolation, or Dying Fetus didn’t do first. It’s a true metal album in that it’s heavier than Oprah, it has a driving rhythm section propelling the songs forward (though drummer Jon “Charn” Rice overplays at points), it has adventurous guitar work, and the vocals are worked into the songs rhythmically and harmonically.

Speaking of vocals, Jonny Davy must have graduated from the Ben Falgoust Vocal University. Much like the legendary Soilent Green/Goatwhore frontman, Davy varies his delivery from near-black metal screeches to low death-grunts and everything in between while artfully arraigning his vocals alongside the mind-blowing guitar work of Bobby Thompson and Al Glassman. It’s not all blinding speed. Thompson and Glassman sneak quite a bit of sludgy, Morbid Angel moments into the album.

As mentioned earlier, Rice over-does it as points with jamming super-technical drum fills in between blastbeats instead of just rocking a solid rhythm. Fortunately, he’s reigned in by the purposeful bass playing of Brent Riggs. What purpose? To keep these songs flowing and keep his fellow musicians on mission. Riggs is the musical glue that holds Job for a Cowboy together. Without him, this album could easily have turned into a riff salad. With him, art and skill marry to make Ruination a powerful record.

In the supplemental materials of the Slacker Criterion Collection DVD, which I encourage all of you to buy or shoplift, Ron Rosenbaum of the New York Observer calls Slacker a portrait of chaos. The same can be said of Ruination. The record is not chaos. It is a skillfully and artfully created portrait of chaos. It’s an album that in the sum of its parts creates something new. It’s an album of ultra-fast, hyper-technical death metal that stands alongside anything past or present. Job for a Cowboy strikes again.

Job for a Cowboy - Ruination

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No Funeral to resume killing trees shortly

2009-07-20T00:38:00.001-07:00

After careful consideration, I've decided to relaunch the print zine. The basic breakdown goes like this:

Music reviews, MP3s, and updates will be posted here while interviews, essays, features, and general weirdness will be saved for the bi-monthly (maybe(?!?)) print zine. I think this will be an interesting way to balance the two formats. Ideas, suggestions, and criticisms are welcome. Send all complaints to no-funeral@hotmail.com

Sorry that there hasn't been more frequent posting. I've been spending my time trying to work 150 hours a week while moving (again) and figuring out the above situation with the other 18 hours. Once I get the internet hooked up at the new crib, frequent and bizarre posting will resume.

In the meantime, here's July's hatelist:

Music:

Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley
Hatred Surge - Collection and Isolated Human
Coke Bust - Cycle of Violence
Job for a Cowboy - Ruination
The Warriors - Genuine Sense of Outrage
Black Flag - Damaged
Metallica - Binge & Purge
Trapped Under Ice - Stay Cold
Impending Doom - The Serpent Servant
... and an unholy amount of Disembodied.

Movies:

Snatch
Burn after Reading
Sicko
Slacker
Unbreakable (M. Night Shamalamadingdong's only good movie)

Books:

Too many to list. I've been reading a ton lately. Been on a big I-hate-George-Bush kick.

Stay tuned for more details on the relaunch of the No Funeral magazine.

Raoul Duke’s Unique Definition of Humor

2009-07-10T03:19:00.000-07:00

In his collection of personal correspondence Kingdom of Fear, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson wrote that the Bible is humorless and, therefore, God is humorless (p. 17-18). By examining the two components of his statement, it seems that Dr. Thompson ignored the obvious in order to make his point. Sitting here in Huntsville, Texas, with no money and no accolades, I can’t help but notice that the good doctor is dead wrong.

The first component of Dr. Thompson’s statement is that the Bible is devoid of humor. Maybe, but I don’t see it that way. Proverbs 16: 13-16 read sarcastic to me. King Solomon would fit in nicely over at the Daily Show.

When Proverbs 16-14 says, “A king’s wrath is a messenger of death”, the verse is not referring to King Tut, King Edward or the King of Beers. It’s King Solomon transposing God’s word in the third-person perspective. It’s textbook sarcasm. He saying that a king’s wrath (wink, wink) means God and death means you. If necessary, try reading the verse in Pee Wee Herman’s voice. Not everyone will see the humor in this but I certainly do.

Then again, let’s run with Dr. Thompson’s assumption that the Bible is a drab and dreary history book. This, in and of itself, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The Bible is the instruction book for life. It doesn’t need to be filled with zingers.

Here’s another drab, humorless instruction book that receives no criticism from the public-at-large: the owner’s manual to your car. Go ahead, flip through it. There’s not a joke to be found. It’s also safe to assume that, when calling tech support, no one wants Jerry Seinfeld answering the phone while the hard drive is crashing. Sometimes, it’s okay not to be entertained.

I’m not sure exactly what point Dr. Thompson was trying to make with his barbed criticism of the Holy Scripture but he clearly didn’t get any of the points that I’m making.

As for the second component of Dr. Thompson’s statement, that God is humorless, I defer to filmmaker Kevin Smith and his controversial yet poignant film Dogma. If you he honestly thought that God has no sense of humor, then I would love to hear the good doctor’s explanation for the platypus.

Brian No Funeral
2July09
Huntsville, TX

Clear Channel Indignation vs. Common Sense

2009-07-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

Formerly relevant broadcast outlets ABC and NBC are conducting newscasts from inside the White House. Clear Channel, through its various slimy and spineless radio outlets, is quite indignant about competitors, err... news organizations getting too cozy with the government.

It's funny. There was no Clear Channel outrage when President Reagan was deregulating the broadcast industry in the 1980s. I wonder if the fact that Clear Channel was primarily a billboard company during the Reagan Empire has anything to do with their dignified silence during said decade. That no one has profited more from Reagan's deregulation than Clear Channel certainly wouldn't be a contributing factor, now would it?

Anyway, Clear Channel via 740 KTRH wondered aloud what purpose NBC would have for cozying up to the executive branch of the U.S. government. Fortunately, I have an answer for the billion-dollar corporation.

General Electric, one of the world's largest arms manufacturers, is the parent company of NBC. The president is the commander of the executive branch and by extension the Department of Defense. As of now, you can't sell ballistic missiles to the public-at-large (remember to vote in November) so, like any good business, GE is sucking up to its largest client. It's a business move at the expense of the american public; meaning that its just another business move.

Clear Channel's self-righteous tone and phony outrage over "objective" journalism is reminiscent of Columbus -- Clear Channel discovered something that millions of people already knew existed. It would be cheaper and far more honorable for them to use one of their billboards to announce, "We wish that we had thought of it first."

Brian No Funeral
18 June 2009
Huntsville, TX

No Funeral 2: The Electric Boogaloo

2009-07-04T05:20:00.000-07:00

The future has been on my mind lately. While away, I’ve been reprioritizing my life: getting sober, deciding what is and is not important in my life and where life will take me next. No Funeral has played a crucial role during this internal dialogue. This zine started four years ago when I first got sober. In the course of its development from productive-use-of-free-time to critical-evaluation-of-rock-music, the zine’s mission became clearly defined. Unfortunately, I fell off the wagon during this period. Eventually, I learned that substance abuse and the No Funeral mission don’t jive together. So, here I’ve been – reevaluating anything and everything around me.

I’ve toyed with the idea of taking the site down. Google censors my material. Crying-ass record companies are all run by con artists, as are most “popular” bands concerned about “pirated” music (but that’s a separate issue). The thought that entered my head repeatedly was, “If I really wanted to be underground, I’d go back to print”, but I’ve come to the conclusion that this whole train of thought is self-pitying nonsense.

Flawed as it is, I love No Funeral’s current webzine format. I choose to communicate this way because I have extreme difficulty communicating with those in my life. This is why I took time off; so I could get my head together. I’ve learned that communication with a head full of dope is damn-near impossible. That’s why I went straightedge.

Let me explain this. I’m straightedge in the same manner that I’m Christian. It’s a matter between me and my creator that allows me to live my life effectively. I have no intentions of flying anyone’s flag for anything. Being Christian and straightedge allows me to not only write effectively but also to execute God’s will through my work. What does that mean? It means bringing glory to the kingdom of God, not proselytizing. I failed to accomplish this in the past due to mis-prioritizing and living for myself. In all honesty, this has nothing to do with you, as the reader, in this equation.

Taking the site down is an idea that has intrigued me. The internet sucks. Aside from Google tracking everyone’s web surfing, it has no permanency. The “audience” is an unsavory cast of know-nothing lowlifes and too many people can monkey with my material. Alas, too many people actually enjoy No Funeral and actually get what I’m doing. Besides, quitters never win – they just get to live their lives stress-free.

One option is to buy my own web domain and this will likely happen, eventually. Also, don’t be surprised if you see issues of No Funeral #5 floating around later this year.

Another idea is to compile the existing No Funeral material into some manner of cohesive volume and shop it around, particularly to a publishing house like AK Press. I really like this idea and it too will likely happen, eventually. What is certain is that No Funeral will not end, not now or ever, but things will change.

In using the old No Funeral format, (actually the second format after I abandoned print copies) I wanted to start a community-wide dialogue about rock music’s place in the spectrum of art and to determine this music’s place in the modern world. In this regard, I have failed you. Over 15,000 site visits and 5000 downloads this year have produced barely over 100 comments. I have failed to effective communicate the intent of this site.

That said, all you folks want is free music. In this regard, you have failed me. You continue to treat this music like a collectible and/or a disposable widget. Whoever dies with the most MP3s wins, right? I do not wish to perpetrate this behavior.

Will music be posted on No Funeral in the future? Yes, but in far less frequency than before. I’m done keeping up with the Jones.com. Music will be posted less-often but the analysis will go even further in-depth than before. More arching motifs/unifying themes will be employed and future posts will delve into subjects beyond the realm of metal and hardcore.

How does this affect the price of tea in China? No Funeral will no longer post albums, or anything else for that matter, simply for the sake of posting them. As mentioned earlier, I’m through keeping up with the e-Joneses. No Funeral will be more artfully and skillfully crafted; abandoning the current blogger-vogue of meaningless post after meaningless post.

Bizarre and experimental territories are what the future holds for No Funeral. I’m interested in further blurring the line between fiction and non-fiction. I’m interested in going back to my roots of exploring my own brand of no-future, miscreant journalism. In short, think of this site as interactive Gonzo Letters.

Why Gonzo Letters? A few reasons come to mind. The main reason is me rectifying my previously gut-level Dr. Thompson influence. I never really understood why I loved Hunter S. Thompson’s work so much; I just knew that I did. I wondered how he could produce so much quality work while stoned around the clock and why I could never do it.

I’ve spent a large portion of my “vacation” rereading the works of Dr. Thompson and I now have answers to these questions. I now know that I need to be sober and in touch with my creator to produce work of that quality. I now know that Dr. Thompson had amazing, natural talent and I often wonder what he could have produced if he were sober and in touch with his creator. It’s too late to spend any energy on why it didn’t work for Dr. Thompson and what could have happened if things were different. I consider myself blessed that I did figure it out before it was too late.

Americans are like lightning – filled with unfocused, kinetic energy that can kill at a moment’s notice for no other reason than seeking the path of least resistance. I’d like to think that my energy is better focused now and that I’m losing less of it through the wires. In my life, the wires were drugs.

Another reason for employing the Gonzo Letters tactic is that I feel no need to communicate with anyone directly right now. Instead, I will communicate with everyone and no one simultaneously. The Gonzo Letter format perfectly fits this intention. Maybe this is nothing more than large-scale self-gratification. I’ll leave that for you to decide.

Regardless, shit is about to get weird around here. We’re headed into a strange, new direction. Remember what the good doctor said? “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” THAT is what’s happening at No Funeral. Consider this my declaration for the pro draft. If you thought No Funeral was weird before, then hold onto your fucking hat. If you haven’t the stomach for it, I recommend that you get out now.

Top Five of 2009
(Half of a year, half of a list)

1. ABACABB – Survivalist
2. Mastodon – Crack the Skye
3. Coke Bust – Line in the Sand
4. Impending Doom – The Serpent Servant
5. Earth Crisis – To the Death

No funeral for No Funeral

2009-06-08T00:43:00.000-07:00

What up? I've been on "vacation" for a few weeks and I'm taking a few more weeks off. After the July 4th weekend, No Funeral will resume its regularly scheduled programming. I'm going through some major life changes right now and I need to focus on those. If you need to contct me, either e-mail me or hit me up on Myspace. Also, if you're around when it comes through, go to the Trap Them/Skeletonwitch/Saviours tour. That thing should be called the No Funeral tour, since all of those bands have received glowing reviews from me. The DLs are available on this site.

Again, No Funeral will be back on its regular schedule in early July.

-BNF

Kyuss - ...And the Circus Leaves Town

2009-05-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

Kyuss
…And the Circus Leaves Town
Elektra

It would probably make more sense to review the Kyuss albums in order of their release, but I’ve never been too crazy about following the rules. Besides, Kyuss wasn’t big on rules either. These legendary inventors of Desert Rock had an arching, unifying sound, but their albums were so different from each other that order doesn’t really matter. Each Kyuss record needs to be analyzed and digested individually.

Kyuss had been considered genre leaders in the (then) growing stoner rock movement; especially after the release of the mighty Blues for the Red Sun. However, with the modern definition of stoner rock being bands like Baroness and Isis, …And the Circus Leaves Town does not fall into this category. Instead, Kyuss used its final LP to rediscover its West Coast roots. Except for passing moments on their first album Wretch, …And the Circus Leaves Town sounds the most SST-like than any other Kyuss material.

In addition to the typical Kyuss hallmarks like John Garcia’s unique vocals and Josh Homme’s psychedelic guitar style, this record has an intense Minutemen vibe about it. My War-era Black Flag is also scattered throughout the album, such as on the song “Gloria Lewis.” Kyuss may forever be linked to stoner music but …And the Circus Leaves Town is proof that Kyuss was birthed from West Coast punk and not Black Sabbath.

Kyuss - …And the Circus Leaves Town

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Savage Republic - Tragic Figures

2009-05-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

Savage Republic
Tragic Figures
Mobilization

by Jason from Deadthyme

Released in 1982, Tragic Figures was way ahead of it's time. Savage Republic mixed punk, early industrial, post-punk, and rhythmic tribal drumming. You can still hear bands today who draw influence from this classic record yet, unlike most early influential bands, these guys have remained relatively under most people's radars to this day. So I guess it would be more accurate to say you hear bands today who draw influence from bands who were influenced by Tragic Figures.

The pounding rhythms, experimental instrumentals, and heavy, distorted bass are what make the record great. The sparse vocals range from a gruff, punky bark to more death rock-esque throaty singing; which became more prevalent on later releases. I suppose the closest comparison would be perhaps C.R.A.S.S. mixed with Christian Death or maybe Hunting Lodge. Tragic Figures is pretty original, primal stuff, and worth a listen if you're looking for something different.

Savage Republic is from a time when people made music just for making music and art's sake and not because they thought they'd become the next myspace sensation. Evidently, these guys reformed in a much different line-up a few years ago.

Savage Republic - Tragic Figures

Jason Beck produces and DJs the Deadthyme counter-culture music show. Listen to Deadthyme from 2:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. every Monday morning on KPFT 90.1 fm in Houston (and online).

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Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life

2009-05-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

Fucked Up
The Chemistry of Common Life
Matador

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I've been too depressed to live. In that spirit, here's some Fucked Up. Also, there will be no Top Five this week since the schedule got thrown off last week. The next Top Five will be posted on Friday.

Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life

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Mastodon – Crack the Skye

2009-05-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

Mastodon
Crack the Skye
Reprise/Relapse

Crack the Skye is all the proof necessary to show that Mastodon, one of the best American bands currently going, is not content to rest on its laurels. This is the band's third consecutive concept album, with the other two being the Moby Dick-inspired Leviathan and the epic Blood Mountain. Crack the Skye aims even higher by tackling Czarist Russia in a prog-metal context.

The writing and recording of Crack the Skye makes for quite the sordid, little soap opera involving vertigo, the Las Vegas strip, physical therapy, and fighting System of a Down. These events have been covered thoroughly throughout the internet so, please, click here to read all the gory details.

Listeners with a penchant for brutality will likely be disappointed with Crack the Skye, as the album firmly cements Mastodon in the progressive music world. Even the dudes in Dream Theater are down with Mastodon. This in no way means that Mastodon isn’t metal anymore. It simply means that the band is playing a different style of metal; especially for an arena band. On one hand, it’s very easy to throw Mastodon in the group of bands like Porcupine Tree. On the other hand, Mastodon could be seen as the unofficial leaders of the Savannah/SCaD scene that birthed it. In either case, Mastodon is not “a bunch of pussies now.” The Lamb of God crowd may not dig it, but there are thousands of others that do.

Like all Mastodon albums, I bought my copy on LP. Unfortunately, I haven’t done the vinyl/MP3 rip yet (that’s a project for this weekend). I did find a promo copy online but it’s missing the album’s last song “The Last Baron.” I apologize for posting an incomplete album and I’ll repost the corrected link in a timely manner. In the meantime, please enjoy most of Crack the Skye.

Also, while we're sort of on the subject, how about a hand for Mr. Paul Romano and all the awesome artwork he's done over the years; even that Trivium album cover. Click here for art radness.

Mastodon- Crack the Skye

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Light Yourself On Fire - Intimacy

2009-05-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

Light Yourself on Fire
Intimacy
Seventh Rule

by Jason from Deadthyme

Featuring the singer of now-defunct Forida band Reversal Of Man, Intimacy is Light Yourself On Fire's third release (tho' no full length yet). The band sounds a little like a less thrashy Reversal Of Man with longer songs, but with a strong late 90's/ early 2000's progressive hardcore influence. Think along the lines of Non Compos Mentis, Deadguy, Humans Being, and maybe even Today Is The Day; stuff like that. The guitars chug along at a (mostly) mid-pace, sometimes seemingly going nowhere until they finally break into a new progression. The vocals are harsh but, every once in awhile, he'll throw in a cleanly spoken line just for the hell of it. Samples are plentiful. If you miss that millennial hardcore sound, these guys are bringing it back. When this stuff is done badly, it's really boring and terrible to listen to. However, Light Yourself On Fire do it right. Don't get them confused with I Light My Friends On Fire. Those guys suck ass.

Light Yourself on Fire - Intimacy

Jason Beck produces and DJs the Deadthyme counter-culture music show. Listen to Deadthyme from 2:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. every Monday morning on KPFT 90.1 fm in Houston (and online).

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Devourment – 1.3.8.

2009-05-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

Devourment
1.3.8.
Corpse Gristle

Devourment is by far the heaviest band to emerge from the DFW area (sorry Pantera). During Devourment’s existence, which is sort-of still going on, the band made the biggest impact on TXDM. They play brutal death metal in the vein of Suffocation and Deeds of Flesh. I suppose Devourment also sounds like Dying Fetus, but without Dying Fetus’s politics or guitar wizardry. What Devourment brings to the table is brutal death metal mixed with beatdown hardcore; paving the way for today’s deathcore bands.

Originally released while vocalist Rueben Rosas was incarcerated, 1.3.8. is a compilation of Devourment’s early material. What you get is one new song called “Babykiller”, the three-song Impaled demo and the eight-song LP Molesting the Decapitated. Get it? 1.3.8. The vocals on the CD are very cool and the music is exactly what you would expect.

The only thing about 1.3.8. that bugs me is the false snare blast the drummer uses. He does that stupid thing where the drummer slides the stick across the head of the snare. False! This album rules, except for the blastbeat thing.

Devourment – 1.3.8.

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Gummo – Soundtrack

2009-05-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

Gummo
Soundtrack
Polygram

Like the film, the Gummo soundtrack is not for everyone but those who “get it” will love it. Also like the film, it’s an amazing feat that a major label released the Gummo soundtrack. To some degree, I believe that Harmony Korine pulled the ultimate fast one on the media corporations. This is based on more than the outrageous amount of black metal on the record. Think about it. Korine put Spazz on a major label movie soundtrack in 1997. Eyehategod is on there too. That’s pretty hip. The movie Gummo is about the weirdo rednecks in Xenia, Ohio following a tornado that devastated the town. Gummo isn’t for everyone, but it is for deranged headbangers and clinically-depressed punk rockers. In short, the movie and the soundtrack were both custom-made for the No Funeral readership.

Gummo – Soundtrack

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Black Ships - Omens

2009-05-04T07:04:00.000-07:00

Black Ships
Omens
New Romance for Kids

by Jason from Deadthyme

By simply looking at the cover of this CD, you know it's going to be dark and brooding and that you aren't disappointed. Along side bands like Tragedy, Cursed, and Cobra Noir, these guys play some excellent metallic hardcore seethed in sludgy down-tuned doominess. The vocals are hideous and effects-ridden while the music is bottoms-out heavy,even though they do go pretty fast at times. Sometimes, it's so tuned down and distorted you almost can't hear all the tunefulness that the guitarists actually put into the music; almost. Luckily, you can but that keeps it heavier, I guess. If you like the above mentioned bands, check out Omens. Black Ships won't disappoint.

Black Ships - Omens

Jason Beck produces and DJs the Deadthyme counter-culture music show. Listen to Deadthyme from 2:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. every Monday morning on KPFT 90.1 fm in Houston (and online).

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Wolf City! - 2009 Demo

2009-05-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

Wolf City
2009 Demo

Wow! That was fast! A mere half-hour after the interview with Wolf City! was posted, a Mr. Kyle Savage of Reno, Nevada sent an e-mail with the MP3s of the Wolf City! demo. I highly recommend that everyone pick up this record. A demo like this, where you instantly know the band is on to something, doesn't come around very often.

Kyle Savage wants you to know about other xRENOx bands. Kyle Savage wants you to check out She Has a Fashion Vice, Dorcia, and xBarcadiax. Kyle Savage says that xRENOx is pissed and I'm inclined to agree.

Wolf City! - 2009 Demo

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Wolf City! Interview

2009-05-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

An Interview with Wolf City!

Late one night in East Texas, No Funeral conspirator El Jefe and I were watching the National Geopraphic Channel's documentary Inside Straight Edge. Reno hardcore band xAFBx was prominently featured in the documentary. Having never heard them before, I went online to get the scoop on xAFBx the very next day. It was at this point when I read on Lambgoat that xAFBx broke up, but a new band named Wolf City! was rising from its ashes.

Wolf City! is an intense, metallic hardcore band with a message. This is very different from being a straightedge scene band. Wolf City! is aware of this difference and this difference is shaping the band's approach. A musically solid band appeals to everyone, edge or not. Wolf City! is here to start the next chapter in the book of Reno Hardcore.

This interview was conducted via e-mail with:
Bryant Sparks (vocals)- BS
Tommy Sage (guitar) - TS

No Funeral: Was Wolf City! chosen as the band name for its symbolic value or is it a reference to something? For me, the name conjures images of both distrust and vigilance at the same time.

BS: Wolf City! was chosen by our drummer Carlos. In Reno, the local college team is the "Nevada Wolf Pack." It's all about having pride in your city. Wolf Pack. Reno = Wolf City. At first, it seemed cheesy but, now, people are really starting to dig it.

No Funeral: The demo posted on the Wolf City! Myspace page sounds like the metallic hardcore I listened to as a kid back in the 90s. I hear bits and pieces of bands like Damnation A.D., Overcast, All Out War and Unbroken; in addition to the legion of Upstate New York bands from back then. Is this influence a conscious decision made as the band develops its sound or is it a natural development; a result of gaining experience and becoming a more accomplished musician?

TS: We all kind of agreed when we started that we wanted to have an older sound. We also play in C standard tuning. We're not dropped down or anything like that. Like I said, the decision was to just have a fast-paced, heavy sound.

No Funeral: Wolf City! counts Earth Crisis and early Throwdown among its influences. In addition to being a fan of both bands, I think both are instrumental in spreading the straightedge philosophy. They toured with more than just other hardcore bands. Hell, both bands played the Ozzfest. My point isn’t the amount of success both bands achieved but, rather, its’ that both bands were willing to reach out beyond the straightedge scene. Is the influence of these bands (and others like them) just a musical influence or does Wolf City! intend to embrace this spirit of cooperation with folks who are not only not straightedge but who have never heard of it?

BS: I think that the influence of these bands is built by the sound and the image. Although we are an all straightedge band we would like to spread the word to anyone who can get into it. We are down to play with anyone, anytime. As long as fans dig it there shouldn't be a problem.

TS: Agreed. Hardcore kids try to shut people out because they appear that they don't belong. This is music for the sake of music. Anyone should be able to be into it just as much as the next kid.

No Funeral: The song “Pound for Pound” sounds like Houston’s late, great Will to Live. How aware are you guys of TXHC and the bands down here? Any plans on touring through Texas this year? Did you ever play here before in your previous band xAFBx? This is the kind of state that’s going to love Wolf City!

BS: We've played Texas many times with xAFBx. Every time we've played there, it's been a great experience. The kids are awesome and the show turnouts are always good. We'd like to head out south as soon as we possibly can once we get the word out.

No Funeral: Speaking of xAFBx, Wolf City! is comprised of four of xAFBx’s former members. The only one not playing in the new band is vocalist Tony Medellin. What were the circumstances surround his departure? On the NatGeo documentary Inside Straight Edge, Medellin came off as abrasive and, at times, self-righteous. Was he not interested in expanding the sound of the band? Was developing the sound of the band not one of his priorities?

BS: Well, first off, it was really hard with xAFBx and Tony because of his egotistical attitude towards everything. Even our own friends and other bands would make comments about the way he treated everyone. That's not really the type of person you want leading a band. I mean, during the high point of xAFBx, we were all good friends but the guy is competing with the sun for the center of the universe.

TS: In January, xAFBx did a little weekend thing in California and, when we returned, Tony told everyone he didn't really want to be around us anymore. We all decided that xAFBx was too stressful and that it wasn't worth all of the drama, but the four of us didn't want to stop playing music for good. That's when we started trying to write and head for a totally different sound. Tony does his own thing now. None of us really talk to him anymore. Plus, writing music for xAFBx was incredibly difficult because we would try to write music that we weren't really into. Our first record came out with a metalcore sound and then after that record, and about 40 line-up changes, we went towards a more mainstream sound that the four of us weren't into.

No Funeral: What are Wolf City!’s plans, as far as releasing any records, in the near future? Are you seeking a label or are you going to self-release it, DIY style? Any plans for any Wolf City! vinyl?

TS: We are going to return to the studio soon to record seven songs and then try to release it as an EP. I wouldn't say we're trying to do it DIY. I mean, if any good opportunities come up for the band then that would be awesome. We talked to our friend Danny at Seventh Dagger (who released all the xAFBx records) and he said that they would release it on vinyl, but we're not sure quite yet.

No Funeral: The NatGeo show mentioned that Bryant (Wolf City! vocalist) went to Reno’s Reed High School. Reed High School reminded me of The Woodlands High School in the Houston suburbs, when I went there. Did any other Wolf City! members attend Reed? If Reed is anything like The Woodlands, it’s a constant tug-of-war between the beer-swilling football jocks, the drug-addicted sloths and the (alleged) weirdoes who exist outside of the typical school dynamic. When I saw that Reed was “cracking down on straightedgers”, I wondered to myself, “Don’t they realize that straightedge, underground music and art, and the entirety of DIY ethic runs counter to everything you do and believe? Don't they see that, in the big picture, they provoked this?” What are your feelings on this subject?

TS: I'm old as shit, man. I didn't go to Reed High but, when I went to high school, straightedge wasn't a big deal at all.

BS: Ha ha. Yeah, I went to Reed a few years back and it was hell. My personal opinion on the whole reed subject is that all these authorities are trying to crack down on a "possible threat to society" but all they are doing is fueling these kids even more. When I went to Reed, before they started cracking down, everyone co-existed fine. I mean, there were fights here and there, but that's high school. Then, the minute they started making a huge deal about all these "punk kids" and "suburban terrorists", other groups of kids would try and challenge our reputation that the cops were making. So kids would start all of these huge feuds and we'd finish them. Of course, [they're] making the authorities think even worse of anyone associated with the movement.

No Funeral: What are your views on downloading and file-sharing? Personally, I don’t see the low-quality, free MP3 as a one-for-one equal of the actual record. Then again, I’m a passionate vinyl collector, so I may be in the minority here. I see downloading as a replacement for rock radio, since Clear Channel now owns all of the radio stations. How do you see this, collectively or individually?

BS: I have no problems at all with downloading bands music. I mean, yeah, if you actually buy the CD it's supporting the band financially but, either way, you're getting the music for the same reason: to listen and enjoy it. So, either way, I think downloading it or buying it kids are spreading the word and supporting us.

TS: BACKED.

Wolf City! - 2009 Demo

(Although no MP3s were available, the entire demo has been posted at the Wolf City! Myspace page. Might as well add them while you're there, you know? If any of you computer psychos can hook up some Wolf City! MP3s, then e-mail me and hook me up so I can post that shit.)

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Sayyadina - Mourning the Unknown

2009-04-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

Sayyadina
Mourning the Unknown
Sound Pollution

by Jason from Deadthyme

I reviewed Yacopsae's Tanz, Grosny, Tanz... recently and said that it was one of the best modern grind albums I've ever heard. I also said it was a shame that they are so unknown. Well, I'll say the exact same thing for these Sayyadina.

I have another album by Sayyadina, as well as tracks on Relapse's Swedish Assault comp, and they never cease to amaze. Mourning the Unknown is tight, blasting but controlled chaos somehow captured on vinyl to give grindheads orgasms. These guys might be just a tad more on the hardcore side of the metal/ hardcore mix which makes up grindcore, but most of the best grind bands are. Yeah I know, Repulsion and early Carcass are great bands but both are a little on the metal side of the mix. Then again, they're really the exceptions to the rule, unless you like the ridiculous level that goregrind and pornogrind have reached.

The key to amazing grind bands like Sayyadina and Yacopsae (besides the incredibly tight musicianship) is to include just enough originality for it to stay interesting, but not enough for it to not be considered grindcore anymore I guess since all kinds of crap is considered grindcore these days that really isn't, that might now be a moot point. Anyway, Sayyadina (whose name is taken from Frank Herbert's Dune book series) was, like Yacopsae, not mentioned in either Decibel or Terrorizer magazines' grindcore issues. Shame on them.

Sayyadina - Mourning the Unknown

Jason Beck produces and DJs the Deadthyme counter-culture music show. Listen to Deadthyme from 2:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. every Monday morning on KPFT 90.1 fm in Houston (and online).

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Earth Crisis – To The Death

2009-04-29T14:57:00.000-07:00

Earth Crisis
To The Death
Century Media

Earth Crisis, the straightedge metalcore kingpins of Syracuse, returns after a sort of eight-year-long break and delivers a powerful album in To The Death. Like Metallica’s Death Magnetic, To The Death is the record that should have come out years ago; after Gomorrah’s Season Ends. It sounds enough like the pre-Breed the Killers stuff to get all the 30-year-olds psyched about dancing down, but this is no trip down memory lane. Earth Crisis delivers crucial, well-written metalcore-with-a-message that immediately rises to the top of the heap, legacy or not. Yes, To The Death is actually that good.

Earth Crisis’s musical growth is no shock. After all, they never exactly went away. Plus, while we’re on the subject, the attacks on Earth Crisis’s talent and musical ability back in the 90s were totally unfounded. These guys have always been good. Do you not realize how awesome Destroy the Machines actually is? These guys can play their asses off and, if you don’t dig mosh metal, maybe you should just keep on trucking.

With all of my gushing about the old Earth Crisis material, it should be noted that the Breed the Killers line-up recorded To The Death; considering how Kris Weichmann broke edge, joined Brand New Sin and whatnot.

To The Death isn’t a retro album but, instead, is an album dragging the old-school values into the 21st century. There are moments on the record that sound like Hatebreed’s Perseverance and there are moments that sound like Ceremony/Bitter End style modern hardcore; not to mention To The Death sounds like the old Earth Crisis albums. Whether you’re a plug-sportin’, flat-brimmed-hat new jack or a brittle-boned old fuck, To The Death can, should and will be enjoyed by everyone.

Houstonians! Earth Crisis is coming to Java Jazz on May 22nd with Walls of Jericho, Reign Supreme and Unholy. Other cities, you’re going to have to check online for your tour dates because DC the Medic and I are going to this one. See you there, Houston weirdoes!

Earth Crisis – To The Death

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Autopsy - Horrific Obsession

2009-04-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

Autopsy
Horrific Obsession
Peaceville

by Jason from Deadthyme

Holy shit, they're back (briefly)! It's very hard for me to say what my favorite album is in any form of music but, in death metal, Autopsy's Severed Survival would definitely be in my Top 5. To commemorate the 20th anniversary (whoa!) of the release of that album (released in Jan. 1989), most of the original guys got together and recorded two new songs. They make a big point of saying that this is not a reunion; no shows or anything else. You just get two new tracks to celebrate the release of a classic.

And how are they? Well, they said that they tried to get back into the mindset they were in when they recorded that album (which evidently comprised mostly of lots of dope and gore flicks) so they could recreate the sound. However, both tracks make me think a lot more of the songs off their second album Mental Funeral (which is also an excellent album, though I still like Severed Survival better). Steve DiGorgio's bass is missed, but the songs are still the sick, twisted death metal Autopsy excelled at. The band's sound is pretty unique; you can tell Autopsy from all the generic death metal bands that are out there. The title track is the standout with the B side "Feast of the Graveworm" sounding like a B side; though it's still pretty good.

Horrific Obsession is also available on the two-disc re-release of Severed Survival that just came out. The reissue also features tons of outakes, live songs, rehersals, and, best of all, some earlier versions of songs that later appeared on Mental Funeral. The Horrific Obsession 7" is limited to 1,000 copies.

Autopsy - Horrific Obsession

Jason Beck produces and DJs the Deadthyme counter-culture music show. Listen to Deadthyme from 2:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. every Monday morning on KPFT 90.1 fm in Houston (and online).

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Violent Arrest - Criminal Record

2009-04-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

Violent Arrest
Criminal Record
Grave Mistake/No Way

by Jason from Deadthyme

These guys must love the 7" format since they released Criminal Record as a double EP, instead of a 12" or something. Anyway, this is Violent Arrest's third release; the others being another 7" and a 12" EP. Violent Arrest has a pretty awesome history. It's two guys from Heresy and one guy (the singer) from Ripcord. They pretty much sound like Heresy with Ripcord's singer, which is excellent.

This is the kind of hardcore I love. Going all the way back to D.R.I.'s 1981 Dirty Rotten EP/LP to now, no one has really improved on the sound, but there have been no shortage of bands who love to belt out this kind of honest, fast thrashin' punk and hardcore. Violent Arrest have been doing this for a long time and it shows, with a tightness to the playing that a lot of hardcore bands don't have. Good stuff indeed.

Violent Arrest - Criminal Record

Jason Beck produces and DJs the Deadthyme counter-culture music show. Listen to Deadthyme from 2:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. every Monday morning on KPFT 90.1 fm in Houston (and online).

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Assuck - Anticapital

2009-04-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

Assuck
Anticapital
Sound Pollution

Sometimes,an album is so good that you feel compelled to but it on multiple formats. Many factors contribute to such behavior, such as collectible fetishism, car and home stereos, and record-nerd vinyl completism. After all of the albums I've bought more than once over the years, I've noticed that these record tend to be remarkable achievements, considering the behavior they spawn. Anticapital is one of these records.

Florida's anti-everything grind champion Assuck earned its legendary status. The band incorporated metal techniques like harsh vocals and double-bass drumming into its political grindcore without falling into Napalm Death's trap of turning into a death metal band. Both Assuck and Napalm Death recorded at Tampa's infamous Morrisound Studio but Assuck never ended up on MTV. The band felt at home in the MRR/HaC style DIY scene and its message would have never flown in the mainstream. Unlike Rage Against the Machine, Assuck wasn't full of shit.

I bought my Anticapital LP at Austin's late, great Sound Exchange record store. A couple of years later, I saw the CD version for $8 at Austin's formerly great Waterloo Records. The CD version includes not only the amazing Anticapital LP but the Blindspot EP and three previously unreleased tracks. I've uploaded the CD version of this album and you can thank Sound Pollution Records for this radness. You're going to dig Anticapital so much that you'll be ordering your own copy before the end of the week. Better act fast, because Sound Pollution is closing down. This is highly recommended for everyone.

Assuck - Anticapital

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Void - Inner Ear Studios Demo

2009-04-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

Void
Inner Ear Studio Demo
unreleased

by DC the Medic

First, let me say that Void is my favorite DC hardcore band. Yes, I like them better than Minor Threat and Scream, which is to take nothing away from those two great bands. Void played with a certain energy, even in the studio, that I haven't heard in many, if any, other bands. They seemed to create a maelstrom that threatened to make any song at any time fall apart into total chaos. Punk rock, indeed. Void were far from a technically proficient band, normally I would say that sloppy playing is not a valid aesthetic choice. However this is the exception that proves the rule. Although, to be more specific I don't consider Void to be sloppy or bad musicians, but rather reckless ones. All four guys just play as fast as they can as hard as they can, and if someone drops a beat, comes in late, or doesn't play in perfect synchronization with the rest of the band, then, oh well. Like I said before, the effect of all this is to create the legendary Void musical maelstrom.

Speaking of legendary, Void never seemed to get their due back when they were active. The closest they ever came to a full-length release was the Faith/Void split (still available through Dischord Records) even though they recorded Potion For Bad Dreams for Touch & Go Records. However, according to internet rumor, guitarist Bubba Dupree had some kind of undisclosed issue with it and has subsequently blocked the album's release for more than 20 years. And for Bubba Dupree, I found the comparisons between him and Greg Ginn to be both inaccurate and unnecessary. In my opinion, Dupree's work stands on its own and it should be enough for him to the manic guitar player from Void instead of "the Greg Ginn of the east coast" but I suppose there are worse people to be compared to.

As for the demos, they were recorded in the famous Inner Ear Studio in late 1980 and would eventually be released in a different track order as the Condensed Flesh EP. Different versions of some of these songs would later appear on the Faith/Void split. The sound quality here is excellent, and all the songs are killer. Recommended for any Void fan, any old school hardcore fan, and anybody else except for Hatebreed's lawyer.

Void - Inner Ear Studios Demo

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Wolves in the Throne Room – Two Hunters

2009-04-24T17:02:00.000-07:00

Wolves in the Throne Room
Two Hunters
Southern Lord

If I may borrow from Conan O’Brien’s S.A.T. analogy jokes, Wolves in the Throne Room is to black metal what Giant Squid is to System of a Down-style heavy, radio rock. Two Hunters is epic and brutal but those seeking a Norwegian-style, church-burning good time will be disappointed. To put it another way, Wolves in the Throne Room deconstruct black metal by sticking to the tenants of the genre while putting its own unique spin on them. Many of the riffs and progressions on Two Hunters seem influenced by Bathory although they don’t actually sound like Bathory.

More than just the Bathory influence, Two Hunters is informed by the forefathers and standard bearers of black metal but the album in no way sounds retro or old-school. By respecting the music, Wolves in the Throne Room has achieved a timeless quality. The samples and electronics used on “Cleansing” are reminiscent of Neurosis. The term post-black metal doesn’t fit what Wolves in the Throne Room is doing. Two Hunters is the next step in the evolution of black metal. It’s not post- anything.

Wolves in the Throne Room – Two Hunters

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Hatebreed – For the Lions

2009-04-24T16:38:00.000-07:00

Hatebreed
For the Lions
E1 Music

Cover song albums are a tricky lot. Sometimes, as with Napalm Death’s two Leaders not Followers records, they are a righteous insight to how a band’s sound evolved into existence. At other times, they can be ambitious failures (Slayer’s Undisputed Attitude) or colossal misfires (The Spaghetti Incident). With For the Lions, Hatebreed achieves a 70/30 split in favor of righteous.

Hatebreed’s, ahem, creative take on Slayer’s “Ghost of War” is counterbalanced by the band’s enjoyable version of “Suicidal Maniac.” Hatebreed truly shines when they cover Metallica, Black Flag and Obituary. It’s no coincidence that the best songs by the best bands are going to sound better than the others. Conversely, "Your Mistake" is kind of lame, but Agnostic Front is kind of lame. Hatebreed's versions of “All I Had I Gave” by Crowbar and Madball’s “Set It Off” are the most passionate performances on this collection. This is no cynical cash grab. For the Lions is Hatebreed’s salute to metal and hardcore’s class acts from the last 20 years.

Hatebreed – For the Lions

EDIT: Yeah, so someone on Hatebreed's street team (or something) threw a fit and e-mailed the band's lawyer, yadda, yadda, yadda, the link is gone. I didn't throw a fit because I honor all requests for link removal. However, I do think this is beyond ridiculous. If Korn doesn't care, why should Hatebreed? Hatebreed has now joined the ranks of Landmine Marathon and whoever controls Chuck Schulinder's estate as the only people who have complained out of 230+ records posted this year. I'm doing what they asked, but I don't have to like it. The old Hatebreed must have died with Lou Boulder.

EDIT 2: Jamie, you have nothing better to do than harass my friends into giving you my phone number? Really? How old are you?

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Insect Warfare/Hatred Surge – split EP

2009-04-23T13:01:00.000-07:00

Insect Warfare/Hatred Surge
split EP
RSR

The ultimate Gulf Coast Grindcore split release has returned. Returned? It never really left. All of these tracks are available on the Hatred Surge Collection CD and the CD version of Insect Warfare’s Endless Execution Through Violent Restitution. Why then? Because we are all nerd record collectors. Seriously though, check out that awesome Daniel Shaw artwork. Shaw has been doing his thing in the Houston area for quite some time and I understand that he’s now tattooing somewhere on Richmond Ave.

Seriously, seriously though, all of these releases deserve their own space to breathe and exist; especially the Insect Warfare stuff. That’s a band that ended too soon. Plus, special mention needs to be given to Sandro and the awesome job he’s done with RSR over the years. Everyone should check out his distro for your mail order needs. Euro No Funeral readers, you guys don’t have an excuse.

Insect Warfare/Hatred Surge – split EP

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Beastie Boys – Ill Communication

2009-04-23T12:31:00.000-07:00

Beastie Boys
Ill Communication
Grand Royal/Capitol

Ill Communication provides a glimpse of what could have been. Back in 1994, rap had a choice. It could have followed the Beastie Boys model of live band, rock-based hip-hop. Instead, rap chose the easy cash of keyboard-driven pop and we, the listeners, are all worse off for this betrayal. Ill Communication is more than just a successful album. Did it sell millions of copies? Yes. Did it spawn a popular MTV video? You bet. Large arena tours? Totally. Cultural and critical respect? Just a smidge. More impressive than all of these accolades is the window that Ill Communication provides into a world where hip-hop didn’t sell out.

The Beastie Boys provide far more than the brand of lyrical wordplay they patented on Paul’s Boutique. The punk side of the Beastie Boys, not seen since the Polly Wog Stew days, reappears. True, the punk stuff showed up on Check Your Head but Ill Communication seems largely driven by punk rock. This would explain the jam band feel of the instrumental songs peppered throughout the album. Songs such as “Sabrosa” and “Futterman’s Rule” have a stoner-fog, spiritual punk quality that, musically speaking, is far more in line with Santana than anything with the dreaded emo label.

What’s the best Beastie Boys record? That’s a matter of debate; to be debated during internet-fuck-off time at work. Ill Communication gets my vote for the Beastie’s best. The record is powerful, timeless and a modern classic.

Beastie Boys – Ill Communication

EDIT: The Beastie Boys are a bunch of lame-os who took the link down. They now join the ranks of Landmine Marathon, Death, and Hatebreed as a bunch of sour-grape spoil sports.\\

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Yacopsae - Tanz, Grosny, Tanz...

2009-04-21T15:25:00.001-07:00

Yacopsae
Tanz, Grosny, Tanz...
Obscene Productions

by Jason from Deadthyme

Holy crap, Tanz, Grosny, Tanz... is some chaotic, insane, intense grindcore, man. Pure blasting mayhem, yet with a stop-on-a-dime tightness to the playing. I've had some past releases from Yacopsae (which evidently means 'Jakobs', because they didn't want a "silly, brutal name"), but they've really outdone themselves on this. One of the best modern grind albums I've ever heard, yet these guys are virtually unknown. Both Terrorizer and Decibel, two of my three favorite music magazines, did special grindcore issues and neither of them mentioned Yacopsae. It's a pity, really, because this is the shit.

Yacopsae - Tanz, Grosny, Tanz...

Jason Beck produces and DJs the Deadthyme counter-culture music show. Listen to Deadthyme from 2:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. every Monday morning on KPFT 90.1 fm in Houston (and online).

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Kottonmouth Kings – High Society

2009-04-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

Kottonmouth Kings
High Society
Suburban Noize/Capitol

The poster boys for the LA suburbs return to spread more bud-fueled mayhem and they brought most of the Suburban Noize family with them. Johnny Rictor joins D Loc and Brad Daddy X as the lead rappers. With those three as the core of the group, High Society is able to stay focused even with all the guest musicians. High Society produced the hit single “Peace not Greed” and what should have been a hit single “Day Dreamin’ Fazes.”

You’re going to love this album, even if you don’t normally listen to hip-hop. Besides, it’s 4/20. What else do you have to do today? Work? You need to keep it real with the Kings.

Kottonmouth Kings – High Society

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Kottonmouth Kings – Royal Highness

2009-04-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

Kottonmouth Kings
Royal Highness
Suburban Noize/Capitol

It’s 4/20 so that means Kottonmouth Kings and lots of ‘em. Did you ever see that movie Alpha Dog? This record is kind of like an audio interpretation of that movie’s Orange County lowlifes.

Royal Highness was the Kings’ first major label album and “Bump”, the album’s hit single, was featured on the Scream 2 soundtrack. Saint Dog is featured prominently on Royal Highness. These days, Saint Dog and his brother are a hip-hop duo on Suburban Noize. Listen carefully and you’ll hear remnants of Brad Daddy X’s pre-Kottonmouth Kings punk band the Humble Gods. This is the album for people who wish rap had more of a punk influence.

Kottonmouth Kings - Royal Highness

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Total Devastation – Total Devastation

2009-04-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

Total Devastation
Total Devastation
Arista

While the Nazis are out celebrating Hitler’s birthday, us freedom-loving, socialist-beating Americans can honor the true meaning of this day. No, not that. It’s April 20th, better known as 4/20! Let’s get budded and listen to Total Devastation.

Total Devastation is from the Mission District in San Francisco. Their self-titled debut LP is an underground legend not just in hip-hop, but in the High Times circles too. This is rap from the NWA/Wu Tang Clan/Beastie Boys school of rap. In other words, it’s actually musically interesting. The Total Devastation album is a bit sample-heavy, but it’s nothing when compared to today’s keyboard addicts. I hesitate to call Total Devastation influenced by reggae because they seem to specifically be fans of Peter Tosh and Bob Marley. That doesn’t count as a genre influence. I love NWA but I wouldn’t call myself a fan of rap. I don’t know. I suppose, ultimately, that’s for you to decide. In either case, this record rules.

Total Devastation – Total Devastation

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Insect Warfare – World Extermination

2009-04-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

Insect Warfare
World Extermination
625 Thrash

You fuckers want extremity? This is the most extreme album ever made. World Extermination is the best grind album ever made. Rahi is not here to take your shit and Beau will decapitate you with his guitar. Dobber (ex-Viral Load) plays all of the killer, death metal double-bass parts that the other guy couldn’t do or was unwilling to do.

No Funeral readers know that Insect Warfare is one of my favorite bands; up there with Metallica and Acid Bath. World Extermination is the perfect musical document, capturing the best thing to happen to Houston since Dead Horse and oil. Why aren’t you downloading this yet? You can read and click at the same time. Insect Warfare is the only band that is any fucking good, when you really get down to it. Evolved into Obliteration!

Insect Warfare – World Extermination

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Queens of the Stone Age – Queens of the Stone Age

2009-04-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age
Loose Groove

The mind-twisting, self-titled, first LP from the Queens of the Stone Age set the stage for what was to come later. For anyone who thought this was some cute rock band that played on Mad TV and SNL but was shocked at the Era Vulgaris album, this is where the weirdness started.

Queens of the Stone Age is a band of dangerous lunatics. Sobriety is an enemy of this band. Every member of Queens of the Stone Age was in Kyuss at one point or another. It’s as if Kyuss was too normal for them and they needed to stretch their wings. “Stretch their wings” is secret code for “travel with half of Columbia under the bus.”

Did you know that the Queens of the Stone Age LP was released on Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament’s late, not-so-great label Loose Groove? In spite of the unusual nature of this record, "If Only" coulda/woulda/shoulda been a massive radio hit; if only Clear Channel didn't own all the radio stations. This is a landmark album in the history of weirdo-core. Get it now.

Queens of the Stone Age - Queens of the Stone Age

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Coliseum – No Salvation

2009-04-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

Coliseum
No Salvation
Relapse

The crust-metal, Kentucky weirdoes in Coliseum make their Relapse debut with No Salvation. Before you start thinking Coliseum is a bunch of backwoods hicks like Brody’s Militia, these Kentucky weirdoes are veterans of the Louisville hardcore scene (ex-Black Cross, National Acrobat, etc…). These Southern, libertarian hardcore musicians are quite opinionated; as evidenced in their recent interview with Canada’s Hard Times webzine.

When compared to Coliseum’s early, Level Plane-era releases, No Salvation sounds polished. The record is polished enough to send the Maximum Rock and Roll faithful into fits, but it’s nothing to worry about. No Salvation is a raw-sounding, mostly analog recording without any Pro Tools monkey business. For the uninitiated, Coliseum plays crusty-punk-influenced metalcore in the vein of Trap Them and Cursed. No Salvation is recommended for fans of Cave In, -16- and everything in between.

Coliseum – No Salvation

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Skrew – Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame

2009-04-17T18:34:00.000-07:00

Skrew
Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame
Metal Blade

During the early 90s, Texas (particularly Austin and Houston) decided to whole-heartedly embrace industrial music. Like Ministry, who eventually moved to Austin and then El Paso, several thrash and hardcore bands added electronic elements and went industrial. The Skate-Nigs were one of these bands. Skrew was another. Skrew rose from the ashes of Corpus Christi thrashers Angkor Wat when Adam Grossman, Danny Lohner and Chris Ault went robo-crunch.

Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame, the first Skrew LP, was certainly a team effort. Phil Owens of the Skate-Nigs produced the album and contributed some guest vocals. Al Jourgensen and Rigor Mortis’ Mike Scaccia played guest solos. It’s obvious that a ton of hard work went into Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame and that everyone gave their best. The end result is an album that sounds like a cowboy version of Nine Inch Nails; which, I believe, was the point all along.

Skrew – Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame

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Terror – One with the Underdogs

2009-04-17T17:54:00.000-07:00

Terror
One with the Underdogs
Trustkill

Terror was a band in both turmoil and transition during the creation of One with the Underdogs. The entire record was written and arranged by vocalist Scott Vogel, drummer Nick Jett and guitarist Todd Jones, with Jones leaving the band immediately after. After the unprecedented success of Lowest of the Low, with new members in tow and a new deal with the Trustkill label, Terror set out to conquer the hardcore world once again.

In large part, Terror succeeded. One with the Underdogs is filled with bouncy, groove-laden rhythms and tight, deadly riffs. The record’s metal influence isn’t overpowering, but it’s there. My only knock on the album is the rah-rah nature of the lyrics. Am I listening to a hardcore record or am I getting fired up about the district finals against Conroe High? I suppose the whole positive-youth vibe is an extension of hardcore’s love affair with sing-along choruses and chants. In that one, specific way, it makes One with the Underdogs sound typical. Then again, after taking in the album as a finished product and after considering that Terror made a slamming record, the rah-rah B.S. can be easily overlooked.

Terror – One with the Underdogs

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Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Agorapocalypse

2009-04-17T17:46:00.000-07:00

Agoraphobic Nosebleed
Agorapocalypse
Relapse

Holy shit! Agoraphobic Nosebleed actually made a record! This isn’t another group of 50 or so 20-second-long songs. Agorapocalypse is a “record” record with actual songs, choruses, bridges, solos and the whole nine yards. This is new, but not totally unexpected after the Domestic Powerviolence split LP with Apt. 213. That material sounds similar to the new album.

Scott Hull is a musical genius. Agorapocalypse is the most advanced and complex of the ANb material. It’s simultaneously traditional and iconoclastic; not that Hull did this all by himself. Richard Johnson dropped some bass nonsense; as opposed to base nonsense, which is something else entirely. All of the ANb vocalists sound good on Agorapocalypse but J. Randall really brings it on this one. If you’re a No Funeral regular, I don’t even have to tell you how highly this is recommended.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Agorapocalypse

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Cross Stitched Eyes - Coranach

2009-04-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

Cross Stitched Eyes
Coranach
Alternative Tentacles

by Jason from Deadthyme

This is dark, metallic hardcore very close to Rudimentary Peni (mainly the Death Church-era Peni); however with influences ranging from death rock (bands like Samhain and even Joy Division, paticularly on Become Earth) to C.R.A.S.S. style anarcho-punk (like the schizophrenic sounding 'Suffer', as well as some of the tribal-rhythm sounding drums). This is the third Cross Stitched Eyes release, following 2 EPs, and it features eight songs from their past releases, plus six new songs, which are mixed together and blend seemlessly with one another.

Cross Stitched Eyes features an ex-member of Zygote, the band who formed from the ashes of Amebix. However, the member who went on to form Cross Stitched Eyes was the only Zygote member who was not in Amebix. You can hear some remants of that bands sound in the jagged guitar lines and gruff vocals. Most of the music on Coranach is fairly simple, but seeped in atmosphere with a dreary production that I quite like (and is a nice contrast to all the bands who use Pro-Tools, which make every new metal band's guitars sound the same).

The Coranach LP, which comes with a CD of the album as well, is out on Alternative Tentacles records, who also just re-issued Amebix's first 3 EPs on CD. Label founder Jello Biafra says, "No one has done these styles this well in as long as I can remember, plus they add more!"

Jason Beck produces and DJs the Deadthyme counter-culture music show. Listen to Deadthyme from 2:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. every Monday morning on KPFT 90.1 fm in Houston (and online).

Editor's Note: Due to several technological factors converging at once, the Coranach LP isn't quite ready yet. I will notify everyone as soon as the corrected link is posted. In the meantime, please enjoy Cross Stitched Eyes first EP 1. Check back at the No Funeral Twitter page (which you should have joined already) for the Coranach link, when its posted.
- Brian No Funeral

Cross Stitched Eyes - 1

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Unholy Grave/Pretty Little Flower – split EP

2009-04-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

Unholy Grave/Pretty Little Flower
Split EP
Rescued from Life/Psycho Wolf

Somehow, a grindcore apocalypse got pressed onto 7” wax. Japanese, anti-terrorism grind-freaks Unholy Grave rage through five tracks of hyper-fast thrash grind. Houston grind maniacs Pretty Little Flower cover an Unholy Grave song and blast through three originals, mostly about rednecks and paranoia. This is an ultra-rare, early release by Psycho Wolf, so good luck finding a copy. I bought mine at an Insect Warfare show a million years ago. Terrorism really has Unholy Grave bummed out. Don’t they have bud in Japan? This is highly recommended for all grinders and thrashers.

Unholy Grave/ Pretty Little Flower – split EP

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Various Artists - Up the Dosage!

2009-04-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

Various Artists
Up the Dosage!
Wonderdrug

After three years of life as a zine and almost four months as an MP3 blog, this review marks the first appearance of the phrase various artists. It’s time to start posting some compilations, especially if there is some arching theme or motif to them. I’m toying/preparing a movie soundtrack theme week, but that won’t be for awhile. Yeah, I know record labels used to churn out those cheaply priced and assembled sampler CDs, but some of those companies actually put some effort into them.

Take Wonderdrug records for example. This Boston-based label worked almost exclusively with bands from New England. Up the Dosage! provides a snapshot of New England metal and hardcore in the late 1990s. The disc is filled mostly with tent-pole bands from the Boston scene (Reach the Sky, Miltown, Tree, etc…) and New England bands that had (or eventually would) rise to the level of national touring bands (Diecast, Blood for Blood, Scissorfight, etc…). Two of Boston’s craziest and unpredictable bands, Anal Cunt and Non Compos Mentis, make their presences known.

Most interesting of all is the appearance of a pre-Flip Records Staind. The band played “Spleen”, a song that would later appear on Dysfunction. This version of the song is pissed as fuck and kind of sounds like Hatebreed. It’s a far cry from the major-label monstrosity they became. Can you believe that Staind sold out and wussed out so fast for, of all people, Fred fucking Durst? This is a highly entertaining compilation CD and this unique interesting moment in rock history can be yours, right now.

Various Artists – Up the Dosage!

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Burnt by the Sun/Luddite Clone – split EP

2009-04-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

Burnt by the Sun/Luddite Clone
split EP
Ferret

This record features the all-star team of New Jersey metalcore. There are two now-legendary bands on this CD, splitting three songs each. Burnt by the Sun introduces themselves to the world with one of its greatest songs, “When Corporations Rule Your Mom.” It’s on now, as these ex-members of Human Remains and Time’s Up shred through “Blow Job City” and “There are Pictures of Me on the Internet.” Burnt by the Sun might be the single best metalcore band ever (we’ll see what Converge has to say about that) and this was just the beginning of something really special.

New Jersey’s Luddite Clone was apparently just too rad to live. The amazing The Arsonist and the Architect EP (coming soon) and these three songs were all the material that Luddite Clone produced. Speaking of produced, Luddite Clone’s side of this EP was produced by Ben Weinmen of the Dillinger Escape Plan. You know you need this.

Burnt by the Sun/Luddite Clone – split EP

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Botch – American Nervoso

2009-04-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

Botch
American Nervoso
Hydra Head

Botch started life in the mid-1990s as hardcore band with a desire to sound like Unbroken, as reflected in the band’s early material. With the American Nervoso LP, Botch superseded the definition of hardcore. There are no rules in this music, right? So no one will mind is a band from the Pacific Northwest combines the intensity of the Jesus Lizard and the intricacy of Rorschach with the fundamental rock-and-roll boogie of Black Flag? That’s right. Botch is from Seattle; a city that’s produced a diverse collection of bands beyond the scope of its grunge reputation.

The conventional wisdom is that Botch’s We are the Romans LP is the band’s masterpiece. This may be true in the context of a forward-thinking math-metal record but, when the goal is to hear mind-warping metalcore, American Nervoso is the hate. This was a reputation-making release for Hydra Head Records. This album is a modern classic and this band is much-missed. You’re out of your mind if you don’t pick up American Nervoso.

Botch – American Nervoso

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Oceano - Depths

2009-04-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

Oceano
Depths
Earache

Earlier today, musical genius/Huntsville weirdo Shane Doyle dropped this off over at the compound. Listening to this album, I applied my consistent, if slightly illogical, method of evalutating this modern breed of metal band. The bands of this style that I hate are deathcore. The bands I like are doomy-nu-metal-grind. Oceano plays doomy-nu-metal-grind.

Many of these new bands play the (now) standard Slipknot-meets-Napalm Death, deathcore approach, but not on Depths. Oceano ignores the typical by playing a fascinating mix of Korn, Trap Them and Suffocation. Oceano does play some deathcore riffs. That's going to happen but Oceano, like Iwrestledabearonce, is not bound by the limits of the subgenre. Oceano is adding to this sound, not leeching from it like so many others do.

Oceano - Depths

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Coalesce – Give Them Rope

2009-04-13T22:53:00.000-07:00

Coalesce
Give Them Rope
Edison

Coalesce’s 1997 LP Give Them Rope, released on the uniquely-run Edison Recordings, stands as a testament of opposition. Coalesce opposed mostly everything but the band had a particular disdain for conformity (like that’s changed since they reunited, again). They were in a terrific mood during the process of writing, recording and releasing Give Them Rope. The abrasiveness of this album is like taking a cheese-grater to your junk.

Regular readers are probably aware that Coalesce is a No Funeral favorite. This band’s music not only deconstructs hardcore but it challenges the definition of what a song is. Coalesce plays as tight as any group of pseudo-intellectual, progressive musicians but they don’t forget that people came to the show to dance down. Name a band besides Coalesce that can create and destroy at the same. E-mail me when you can name one. In the meantime, you need Give Them Rope.

Coalesce – Give Them Rope

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Flux – Protoplasmic

2009-04-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

Flux
Protoplasmic
Relapse/Release

What can I say about this one? James Plotkin, the experimental guitarist of Old Lady Drivers/Khanate/Phantomsmasher notoriety, was the mastermind behind this thing. Flux is about as far removed from O.L.D. as possible. This is the sort of electro-pop I expect to hear in some Austin vintage clothing shop. I could also see this being played in a South Houston shooting gallery, a result of all other records being pawned for dope.

I ended up with Protoplasmic because it was packaged as a two-pack with a Slab! CD that I actually wanted. It's pretty good, but there's something about it I find unsettling. Now, I’m turning it over to you. The power is in your hands. Besides, someone out there has to like this, right?

Flux – Protoplasmic

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Cynic – Focus

2009-04-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

Cynic
Focus
Roadrunner

Cynic was the band that brought melody to Florida Death Metal and Focus is a landmark album. On Focus, Cynic brought progressive instrumentation into the death metal sound without sounding like a bunch of Berklee College of Music graduates. Focus inspired bands in the 90s, like Meshuggah, and modern bands, like The Faceless. In the history and evolution of metal, this album was a huge step forward.

Cynic even pulls off vocoder vocals, and I almost uniformly hate those. Focus is a very special record. In fact, it’s almost perfect. What’s wrong? Musically, nothing is wrong. Focus is recommended for all people, past, present or future. No, what’s wrong is that mild Dream Theater vibe found in everything Cynic has ever done. It’s a minor gripe, but that vibe produced rad photographs like this. The photoshopping was done, not by me and certainly not Cynic, but some awesome online angel with a killer sense of humor.

Cynic – Focus

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Dismember – Indecent & Obscene

2009-04-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

Dismember
Indecent & Obscene
Nuclear Blast

Here’s more death metal from the most metal country of Earth: Sweden! Dismember formed from the ashes of Carnage and, along side Entombed, is the marquee Swedish Death Metal band. Dismember is from Stockholm which, unlike Gothenburg, produces bands with a serious garage-rock feel. Imagine a lower-budget Motorhead obsessed with early Slayer LP and gore movies. This is an accurate description of the Dismember experience.

Like Entombed, Dismember features the buzz-saw guitar tone. If you dig modern bands that use this guitar tone, like Cursed and Trap Them, then you’re going to love Dismember. Lyrically, Indecent & Obscene deals with censorship and the aftermath of Dismember’s global battles with censorship following the release of the Pieces EP; plus the usual death metal topics. Drummer Fred Estby and bassist Richard Cabeza produce one of music’s most devastating rhythm sections while lead guitarist David Blomqvist causes major sensory damage with his playing.

Who am I kidding? You all stopped reading after the first sentence. Indecent & Obscene rules. This is Dismember’s best album. All hail Swedish Death Metal!

Dismember – Indecent & Obscene

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Fuck… I’m Dead – Bring on the Dead

2009-04-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

Fuck… I’m Dead
Bring on the Dead
Razorback

Fuck… I’m Dead, the greatest Australian import since Yahoo Serious, is also one of the world’s greatest grind bands. They may be from Australia but they play like they’re from Texas. Fuck… I’m Dead plays the same style of brutal, DIY grind as Insect Warfare and Pretty Little Flower.

Bring on the Dead was recorded with a drum machine but this was due to the limited number of drummers available in Eastern Australia. They play with a drummer live and now have a drummer in the band. I bring this up because the drums are not programmed in the Agoraphobic Nosebleed style of impossibility. Bring on the Dead is a great grind album in league with Scum and World Extermination. This is recommended for everyone.

Fuck… I’m Dead – Bring on the Dead

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Impaled – Choice Cuts

2009-04-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

Impaled
Choice Cuts
Deathvomit/Necropolis

Bay Area degenerates Impaled are one of the best gore-grind bands. With Carcass as the single biggest inspiration in the gore-grind subgenre, it’s easy to see how bands end up becoming poor-quality copies of Carcass. Impaled avoids this trap by not sucking (which, apparently, is a lot to ask) and by adding enough West Coast grind violence to make things interesting.

Choice Cuts is a collection of vinyl rarities from Impaled’s early years. Featured on the CD are two separate two-song demos, the “From Here to Colostomy” EP, Impaled’s side of the split 7” with Engorged and Carcass and Impetigo covers. The sound quality on the different EPs is consistent throughout. To top things off, the cover art was created by bassist Ross Sewage and guitarist Sean McGrath. Choice Cuts is mandatory for fans of all things blood-soaked.

Impaled – Choice Cuts

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Maylene and the Sons of Disaster – II

2009-04-13T18:29:00.000-07:00

Maylene and the Sons of Disaster
II
Ferret

Maylene and the Sons of Disaster is the Southern Rock-influenced metalcore band formed by original Underoath vocalist Dallas Taylor. The band’s second album II is a solid album, if slightly overproduced. I can’t not notice the slickness of the record and I’m honestly trying to do so. The Southern rock thing seems forced. The band is going out of its way to show you how much it boogies. At least they know what the hell Southern Rock actually is, unlike Every Time I Die.

The three guitar attack used by Maylene and the Sons of Disaster is key to the band’s sound. The playing of these guys is unnecessarily muddied by the studio tricks. I know that it sound like I’m ragging on Maylene and the Sons of Disaster but that not the case. I really enjoy II. It’s just that I want to hear a great record from these guys instead of a good one.

Maylene and the Sons of Disaster - II

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The End – Within Dividia

2009-04-13T17:28:00.000-07:00

The End
Within Dividia
Relapse

The End is a hyper-technical metalcore band from Ontario. The band is frequently and undeservedly lumped into the category of early 2000s, East Coast metalcore. There is so much more going on with The End. Yes, the obvious comparison is the Dillinger Escape Plan and there’s a ton of Botch in their sound but this band is not blindly following, nor regurgitating, any trends.

Within Dividia is a concept album about a haunted mansion. As stated before, I don’t fear concept albums and usually enjoy those that are meaningful and well-planned. Musically, Within Dividia has Rorschach-style, discordant hardcore played at blinding speed with unpredictable twists and turns. You actually have to sit down and pay attention to this one. I encourage you to track down a copy of this CD/LP because you really need the artwork and lyrics to truly enjoy the experience. The End put a lot of time and energy into Within Dividia and you, the listener, are rewarded for their hard work. Highly recommended.

The End – Within Dividia

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Wurdulak – Ceremony in Flames

2009-04-13T17:04:00.001-07:00

Wurdulak
Ceremony in Flames
Baphomet/Housecore

Wurdulak is (was?) a blackened death metal side-project band featuring members of Necrophagia, Immortal, Mayhem and Bloodthorn. Ceremony in Flames has an old-school feel to it. Wurdulak’s black metal side is influenced by Mayhem (duh) and Bathory. The band’s death metal influence is the sloppy, down-tuned, late-80s sound of bands like Autopsy, Pungent Stench and Impetigo. “Cauterizing the Wounds of Christ” is the best example of two older sounds combining together to make a killer song.

Phil Anselmo has a connection to Wurdulak, aside from his friendship with vocalist Killjoy. Ceremony in Flames was one of the early releases from Anselmo’s Housecore label. Also, Bard Faust from Emperor wrote the lyrics to “Containment of Inferno.” As you can imagine, this record was tremendously hyped when it was released. Wurdulak never turned into the modern Bathory or any of that junk, but Ceremony in Flames is a solid album.

Wurdulak – Ceremony in Flames

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Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Frozen Corpse Stuffed with Dope

2009-04-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

Agoraphobic Nosebleed
Frozen Corpse Stuffed with Dope
Relapse

At the time, it seemed like Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s second LP was never going to come out. Their first album, Honky Reduction, came out in 1998 and this one was promised to surface in 2000. Frozen Corpse Stuffed with Dope didn’t show up until almost three years later, but it was certainly worth the wait.

Frozen Corpse Stuffed with Dope is classic drug-addled, 1000 mph, crack-smoke, drum-machine grind. Three vocalists (Richard Johnson, J Randall, Carl Shultz) provide the appropriate amount of lyrical carnage while grind-guitar genius Scott Hull (with Johnson on bass) causes permanent hearing damage and rectal trauma. ANb covers Nuclear Assault and invites a half-dozen other like-minded musicians/weirdoes to contribute to the mayhem. Frozen Corpse Stuffed with Dope, in spite of being a total audio headfuck, is recommended for everyone. Google the lyrics to the song “Fuckmaker” and tell me those aren’t the best lyrics ever. Check out this hate.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Frozen Corpse Stuffed with Dope

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Slab! – Descension

2009-04-13T15:25:00.000-07:00

Slab!
Descension
Relapse/Release

You love Godflesh and so do I. If you don’t love Godflesh, you probably meant to click here. Now then, for as much as we all love Godflesh, Justin Broadrick loves Slab! Descension is one of the first appearances of that down-tuned, apocalyptic bass tone that Godflesh made famous. After listen to Descension, it’s abundantly clear how much of an influence Slab! was on Godflesh.

Slab! was a group of veteran musicians from England’s dance/techno scene who strived to create more musically ambitious electronic music. The result was what we now refer to as industrial music. Slab! combined dance loops and programmed drums with the afore-mentioned bass tone, David Gahan-style vocals and feedback-laden guitars.

Originally released on Ink Records in 1987, Descension was and still is a touchstone industrial album. We’d be here all day if I listed all of the bands and artists influenced by Slab! In fact, two of Slab!’s more enthusiastic fans, Relapse Records founders Matt Jacobson and Bill Yurkiewicz, coordinated the reissue of this classic LP. Speaking of which, go to the Relapse website and order a copy of this CD, if you dig it. They're selling them super-cheap. In addition to the Descension LP, this CD features the “People Pie”/”Railroad” single as bonus tracks. This is highly recommended for all fans of electronic music.

Slab! – Descension

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Every Time I Die – Gutter Phenomenon

2009-04-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

Every Time I Die
Gutter Phenomenon
Ferret

Every Time I Die started life in Buffalo as a scene band. Beginning with the Hot Damn! album, the band’s sound began to evolve past mosh riffs. On 2005’s Gutter Phenomenon, Every Time I Die is a bizarre amalgamation of Botch, the Eagles of Death Metal, Unbroken and Thin Lizzy. Yeah, it’s weird. As far as Every Time I Die’s oft-touted Southern Rock influence, I don’t hear it. Some of the heavier moments from the Murder City Devils are present, but nothing that sounds like the Allman Bros. or Lynard Skynard.

Every Time I Die is no band of trendy, pretender chumps. The rhythm section and the rhythms of the songs are all steeped in an infectious boogie reminiscent of Black Flag and Kyuss. The breakdowns on the album are given plenty of breathing room and they sound more like something Drowningman would play as opposed to anything modern.

Speaking of old Hydra Head bands, Every Time I Die reminds me of Cave In; not is sound but in spirit. Nothing on Gutter Phenomenon sounds forced or, even worse, “false.” If nothing else, Every Time I Die has an interesting take on metalcore. I enjoyed it immensely.

Every Time I Die – Gutter Phenomenon

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Nuclear Death – Bride of Insect/Carrion for Worm

2009-04-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

Nuclear Death
Bride of Insect/Carrion for Worm
Extremist

When I listen to Nuclear Death, I hear grind or at least grind tendencies. I think what I’m actually hearing is the bands who count Nuclear Death as an influence. Nuclear Death itself plays grimy, filthy death metal in the vein of Autopsy and Impetigo but played just a hair faster. This is one of the rare 80s death metal bands that had a female singer, Lori Bravo. Bravo did not play the role Sean Yseult did in White Zombie. In addition to singing, Bravo played bass and was the chief lyricist.

The two LPs that comprise this CD were originally released on the much-maligned Wild Rags Records. For those that don’t know, Wild Rags was the shadiest record label ever. Richard C, owner of Wild Rags, pulled every scam you can think of and then he invented a few. Anyway, of the two LPs, Bride of Insect sounds the most like a grind record but Carrion for Worm is the more extreme album. Lyrically, Lori Bravo goes in some weird directions on Carrion for Worm. You can’t go wrong with either and you get them both anyway. Highly recommended.

Nuclear Death – Bride of Insect/Carrion for Worm

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Pig Destroyer – Painter of Dead Girls

2009-04-12T13:39:00.000-07:00

Pig Destroyer
Painter of Dead Girls
Robotic Empire

Here’s an Easter present for the No Funeral faithful: more Pig Destroyer. Painter of Dead Girls is another collection of vinyl rarities. This CD features Pig Destroyer’s side of the split EP with Gob, the band’s picture disc 7” EP and an unreleased cover version of “In the Meantime” by Helmet. They also do covers of The Dwarves and The Stooges, but both were previously available on wax.

Nothing on Painter of Dead Girls sounds drastically different from the band’s latest releases. It was while recording these 7”s that the Pig Destroyer sound emerged. You’re going to want this one. Those EPs have disappeared into the abyss called eBay (I have the S/T picture disc). By the way, did you know that Jon Kortland, currently in Iron Lung, was a member of Gob? This was the good Gob, not the one that toured with that MTV chick April Levine.

Pig Destroyer – Painter of Dead Girls

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Jesus Fucking Christ - 2006 Demo

2009-04-12T08:43:00.000-07:00

Jesus Fucking Christ
2006 Demo

I've been going through files and straightening up lately. During this cleaning process, I found two reviews that have never been posted online. They slipped through the cracks somehow. Here's the second of the two: Jesus Fucking Christ. This review originally appeared in No Funeral #1. -BNF

Hailing from the bay area is punk rock super group Jesus Fucking Christ. To get this out of the way, the band is Larry from The Rickets, Jamie from Pitch Black and Dave from Neurosis. That said, Jesus Fucking Christ sounds nothing like those bands.

Jesus Fucking Christ play classic bay area punk with elements of northwest hardcore, specifically Poison Idea and The Accused. They keep it simple without being boring, which is a feat most bands can’t pull off.

The five-song CD (available from the band for $2 [not anymore -ed.]) eschews any modern elements or trends, instead choosing take it back to a time when punk rock was music for outsiders. Jesus Fucking Christ are ugly, raw, and jaded.

They are also very talented. With their musical skills honed over the years in their other bands, the 2006 Demo sounds classic without sounding dated. From the blistering “Deadly Levitation” to the rocking “Intromental”, Jesus Fucking Christ are a breath of fresh air to everyone who’s sick of all the cookie-cutter crap clogging the shelves for your favorite record store. Do yourself a favor and pick up this CD.

Jesus Fucking Christ - 2006 Demo

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Will to Live - Tested and True

2009-04-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

Will to Live
Tested and True
Spook City

I've been going through files and straightening up lately. During this cleaning process, I found two reviews that have never been posted online. They slipped through the cracks somehow. Here's the first of the two: Will to Live. This review originally appeared in No Funeral #1. -BNF

Houston’s long-time hardcore heroes Will to Live deliver the goods with their Spook City debut Tested and True. Since 1998, Will to Live has spread its message of unity and loyalty across the country through neck-breaking, pit-inducing hardcore. The new record continues to open minds and melt faces while keeping that old-school spirit alive.

The most notable thing about this album is its production. The recording and mixing are very slick and each instrument and the vocals are individually audible on every song. Upon subsequent listening sessions, I found this polished production to be an asset rather than a detriment.

Too often, a record is hastily recorded so that a band will have a release available. Even worse is when a band, in an effort to be more underground than everyone else, intentionally produces a muffled effort.

Tested and True is the sort of hardcore record that would appeal to more moderate metal and punk listeners. I’m sure this wasn’t the bands intent. However, through their desire to make the best record they could, Will to Live has reaped an unexpected benefit.

Regardless of how it sounds, there need to be songs worth listening to, right? Don’t worry. Will to Live brings it. They play classic NYHC style hardcore mixed with mid-90s neo-thrash. Think Judge and Sepultura. With Scott from Terror and Ray from Full Blown Chaos on guest vocals, Rob to Live delivers pit-friendly anthems that encourage the disgruntled youth to stick it out through the hard times and stay true to themselves.

Fortunately, Will to Live doesn’t fall into the trap of playing breakdown after breakdown that befalls so many bands these days (looking at you Bury Your Dead). Tested and True features a classic sound that doesn’t sound old or modern hardcore that rises above the fads.

Will to Live - Tested and True

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Skinless – Foreshadowing Our Demise

2009-04-12T07:50:00.000-07:00

Skinless
Foreshadowing Our Demise
Relapse

Skinless plays brutal death metal but with several abnormalities. Like Suffocation before them, Skinless incorporates hardcore breakdowns and tons of mosh riffs into its music. Like Mortician before them, Skinless uses a movie sample to kick-start almost every song. Unlike Mortician, Skinless isn’t limited to just horror movies. Skinless uses movie and TV samples in the same way as artists like White Zombie and Skrew. Listen for the WWE’s Vince McMahon to kick off “The Optimist.”

Although they stick with many of the genre’s conventions, Skinless is an imaginative and highly enjoyable death metal band. Maniac vocalist Sherwood Webber was still in the band at this point and performed lead vocals on this album. If you’ve been reading No Funeral since the format change (1Jan09-present), then you will love Foreshadowing Our Demise. A strange combination of traditionalism (not nostalgia) and experimentation produced the single best metal album ever released on Relapse.

Skinless – Foreshadowing Our Demise

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Clutch – Live at the Googolplex

2009-04-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

Clutch
Live at the Googolplex
Megaforce

Live at the Googolplex is one of many live albums by Clutch. On this one, the 15 songs are choice tracks from four separate shows (Chicago, Kansas City, Montreal, Columbus, OH) during the band’s 2002/03 tours. I’ve seen Clutch live many, many times and Live at the Googolplex damn near bottles the energy this band can generate on stage. All of the songs are high quality recordings and the set list could be considered Clutch’s greatest hits. I love Clutch. You love Clutch. More to come from this awesome band.

Clutch – Live at the Googolplex

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Candiria – The Process of Self-Development

2009-04-12T07:10:00.000-07:00

Candiria
The Process of Self-Development
MIA

Candiria became the band that we all know and love on The Process of Self-Development. This is the record where Candiria started playing around with jazz, rap and prog-rock. That love affair hasn’t stopped, especially since they’ve reunited. Christian from Ill Nino and Jamie from Hatebreed do guest vocals on “Mathematics” and “Work in Progress” respectively.

For as heavy as this album is and for all of its diversity of influences, The Process of Self-Development barely dips its toe into the metal pool. Like Rage Against the Machine before them, Candiria goes out its way to make sure that everyone knows no samples or triggers were used on this album. I appreciate the sentiment but I don’t think that people need to act like Luddites. Do what works for you.

Candiria – The Process of Self-Development

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The Black Dahlia Murder – Unhallowed

2009-04-12T06:28:00.000-07:00

The Black Dahlia Murder
Unhallowed
Metal Blade

I’m going to start Unhallowed’s review by talking about Miasma. Of the three Black Dahlia Murder LPs, Miasma is my favorite yet it hasn’t performed as I expected. I’ve seen them live twice and, each time, there were damn near 1000 folks there screaming there name and dancing down specifically to the Black Dahlia Murder. This enthusiasm is not crossing over into the online realm. I did have the thought that, maybe, most of this blog’s readers may already have downloaded/bought/shoplifted/whatever-ed Miasma.

So, we’re doing this again. Even though Unhallowed is my least favorite of the three Black Dahlia Murder LPs, it’s still better than everything else out there. I want to see if you respond to this album in the same manner that you responded to what I think is the superior record. We’ll do Nocturnal next month so, for now, please enjoy Unhallowed.

The Black Dahlia Murder - Unhallowed

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Napalm Death/Coalesce – In Tongues We Speak

2009-04-12T06:01:00.000-07:00

Napalm Death/Coalesce
In Tongues We Speak
Earache

This is one of the all-time great split EPs. In Tongues We Speak features two songs from each band; not nearly enough. Grindcore world champion Napalm Death plays “Food Chains” and a demo version of “Upward and Uninterested.” Those kings of Midwest weirdness Coalesce play “A Safe Place” and “Harvest of Maturity.” If those song titles sound familiar, it’s because both songs are also on the 002 A Safe Place 10”. Here’s your Easter present: two of the best bands ever on one disc.

Napalm Death/Coalesce – In Tongues We Speak

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A Perfect Murder – Strength Through Vengeance

2009-04-12T05:41:00.000-07:00

A Perfect Murder
Strength Through Vengeance
Victory

Canada’s best Pantera cover band returns to waste everyone's time by molesting Dimebag’s riffs. I don’t remember why I bought this but I remember paying full price for it. The song “Body and Blood” is pretty cool but the rest of this album is a total waste of time. Well, it's not a total waste of time. Lead guitarist Carl Bouchard has serious skills, so that's a bright spot. Another is the song "Time Changes Nothing." It doesn't sounds like Pantera and it's the best song on the record.

Still, you've got to ask, why would you want to listen to a second-rate version of Far Beyond Driven when you could listen to the real thing? You can file Strength Through Vengeance under the category of “not terrible but wholly unoriginal.” If you feel it necessary, then go ahead and drink a maple-tooth grin with A Perfect Murder while they show you their Vulgar Display of Hockey.

A Perfect Murder – Strength Through Vengeance

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25 Ta Life – Strength Through Unity: The Spirit Remains

2009-04-12T05:20:00.000-07:00

25 Ta Life
Strength Through Unity: The Spirit Remains
Triple Crown

25 Ta Life is sort of like watching American Idol: once you get past the embarrassment, it’s mildly entertaining. Calling 25 Ta Life average is very polite, if not entirely true. It’s not the best music but the real crime is the wholesale plagiarism of every hardcore band on the East Coast. There’s not one modicum of originality in Rick Healy’s body and his band can barely play. However, Strength Through Unity isn’t a total disaster. “Loyal to the Grave” is the sort of Slayer-influenced metalcore that Walls of Jericho would play a few short years later.

Not too long ago, I read a rumor that Rick Healy is going to front a reunited One Life Crew. I really hope that this is true, but for a reason. When they play Houston, I can videotape it and win the $10,000 from America’s Funniest Home Videos. Remember America, this was my idea first!

25 Ta Life – Strength Through Unity: The Spirit Remains

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Meshuggah – Nothing

2009-04-12T05:08:00.000-07:00

Meshuggah
Nothing
Nuclear Blast

Meshuggah has become stranger and stranger ever since the release of the 1995 landmark album Destroy, Erase, Improve. Somewhere between then and 2002, when Nothing was released, the band stopped sounding like Pantera but everyone else started sounding like Meshuggah. In an effort to stay ahead of its imitators, Meshuggah keeps getting weirder with every album.

Since they are one of the most respected bands in metal, the audience keeps faithfully bobbing and weaving along side Meshuggah. Not since early Metallica has the metal public placed this much faith in a band. I know that I’m having trouble describing exactly why Nothing rules so much. I do know that Meshuggah keeps getting weirder without disappointment and that lesser bands keep ripping them off. They are doing something right.

Meshuggah – Nothing

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D.R.I. – Full Speed Ahead

2009-04-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

D.R.I.
Full Speed Ahead
Rotten

D.R.I.’s later albums aren’t given the same reverence as the band’s early work, and that’s a shame. The metal/punk public wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss albums like 1995’s Full Speed Ahead if it wasn’t so too-cool-for-school. Fortunately, tunnel vision such as this doesn’t affect the open-minded.

It may not be as fast like Dealing With It but Full Speed Ahead still has D.R.I.’s patented brand of raging thrash. Lyrically, Kurt Brecht is as sharp as ever, tackling the issues of life and death. Brecht even covers the ill-fated Donner Party on "They Don't Care." The album does have some Pantera-sounding riffs but these are not employed in some sort of cheap gimmick or tactic. D.R.I. has had a serious metal influence for years. Again, it may not be as punk as the earlier material but Full Speed Ahead is another solid album in the D.R.I. catalog.

D.R.I. – Full Speed Ahead

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