I thought I’d give you the best lines from the PR sheets sent with the albums on the reviews page this time, the words in inverted commas are not mine, but I get pages of this stuff every week so I am sharing. This is what they say. So we start with the brilliant Bell Barrow ‘combining the influence of noise, power electronics, free jazz psychedelia, and avantgarde blackmetal’ Mamalarky who use the ‘tension between anguish and resilience, between performed aloofness and brutal honesty, drives the music, imbues it with a compelling intensity.’ Within Destruction with an ‘expertly balanced blend of the melodic grandeur of metalcore and the dense heaviness of deathcore, intertwined with vast electronic textures and anime influences.’ The Birthday Massacre who give us ‘a hypnotic blend of eerie, ethereal melodies and heavy, driving riffs.’ Face Yourself and ‘brutal unrelenting deathcore’. King Kraken’s Heavy Metal featuring ‘thick riffs, blazing leads and some towering anthemic vocals’. ‘the raw and unfiltered incarnation of’ Melvins and a Cheery Red Compilation which does exactly what the description says Motor City Is Burning – A Michigan Anthology 1965-1972. Have a read and listen below, then let me know what you disagree with.
Bell Barrow – CoreCore Pulp
Saccharine Underground
At just over an hour and a quarter long Bell Barrow have created a kind of grand opus of electronic chaos. Swerving from sounds that feel like they were made for non organic life to some weird kind of binary notation translated for arachnids this is so far out of anyone’s comfort zone that it becomes almost effortless listening. It’s jazz for trees, industrial music for grass. Metal twisted and torn throwing sparks high into the air and then wandering lost in underground chambers filled to bursting with luminous fungi. It’s the strangest ride I’ve been on so far this year and I really really like it.
Mamalarky – Hex Key
Epitaph Records
This is bright, shiny indie. Girly poppy punk and just the right side of odd to keep me interested. It’s not anything new, just something for the kids to dance to and love. Clear and high vocals in turns sad then frothy and then sexy, it’s just a good record. That’s all you need sometimes.
Within Destruction – Animetal
Sumerian Records
Absolute nonstarter of a nu-metal record that is everything anyone who digs Linkin Park and Limp Biscuit have been waiting for, an anime obsessed bunch of nutters who like, big big big massive guitars, mixing desks, gravely voices and high pitched ones over the top and big thumping almost hip hop beats driving it all forward, I am not their target audience.
The Birthday Massacre – Pathways
Metropolis Records
Another epic, rousing industrial tinged Goth metal album with a female vocalist. Which is pretty damned good. They do the loud, quiet, loud thing well, they do the gothy swirly synths and great emotional vocal all really well too and except for the borefest of the pop rock epic ‘wish’ it’s a great record.
Face Yourself – Martyr
Sumerian Records
The music is electronically messed with word hardcore with a female singer who is one step away from a bloody throat. It’s huge and demonic in its scope. It feels like hatred drives it forwards and a power courses through it, whether just held back or right there smashing you in the face. Nasty and emotional, worth a listen.
King Kraken – March of the Gods
The first music I loved was Heavy Metal and I was lucky enough to grow into a teenager watching a bunch of the New wave of British Heavy Metal across the Midlands. King Kraken have taken the sound of that era of bands and made it their own, it’s a simple thing to listen to, there’s space to let the sound grow, it’s a hard sound, heroic and majestic and it’s absolutely classic Heavy Metal. A great album, get your air guitar out of the wardrobe and get down.
Melvins – Thunderball
Ipecac
This is a Melvins 1983 release featuring Buzz and their original drummer Mike Dillard. It’s a different lineup and they say that they are the raw and unfiltered sound of the Melvins. Now Buzz’s voice is as weirded out and masterful as ever and the addition of electronic sounds adds to the flavour but there’s something missing. It just feels a bit odd for the sake of it, a bit hurried and rushed. It’s not their best
Various Artists – Motor City Is Burning: A Michigan Anthology 1965–1972
Cherry Red
Four hours of music celebrating the vibrant, wildly eclectic Michigan music scene in the late 60s/early 70s. Any compilation that starts with ? and the Mysterons 96 tears and follows on with grooves like the garage, pop and psych leading you the Stooges and MC5 not to mention Alice Cooper is a treasure and that’s before you get to the funk and soul nuggets on the last disc, this is pretty much perfect. Buy it.
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Bell Barrow s on Bandcamp.
Mamalarky’s website is mamalarky.com, they are also on Facebook and Instagram.
Within Destruction’s website is sadboikroo.com, they are also on Facebook and Instagram.
The Birthday Massacre’s website is thebirthdaymassacre.com, they are also on Instagram and Facebook.
Face Yourself’s website is fyourselfband.com, they are also on Instagram and Facebook.
King Kraken’s website is kingkraken.co.uk, they are also on Facebook and Instagram
Melvins wesite is themelvins.net they also have a Facebook page.
All words by Adrian Bloxham.
