The 2016 list

Here we go, you'll find below my selection of albums released in 2016, those I enjoyed the most and / or found the most interesting (as usual I will do later a specific list for grind). Aside the name you'll find the link to the review I wrote. Of course feel free the post comments or suggestions.

In alphabetical order :

Aluk Todolo - Voix   the review
                                    and the interview

Anaal Nathrakh - The Whole of the Law  the review 

Brainbombs - Souvenrirs   the review

Guillame Perret - Free  the review

Haikai No Ku - Temporary Infinity  the review

Howls of Ebb - Cursus Impasse : The Pendlomic Vows  the review

Khtoniiks cerviiks - SeroLogiikal Scars (Vertex of Dementiia) the review


Landskap - III  the review

Martyrdod - List  the review


Narcosatanicos - Body Cult  the review

Ruined Families - Education  the review


Seremonia -  Pahuuden äänet the review

Skaphe - Skáphe²  the review

Skullfuck - Day of the Black Sun  the review

Youth Code - Commitment to Complications  the review

Violent Frustration - Peace was Never an Option (2016)

Violent Frustration is a recent german death/grind band and they released at the start of the year a really good album called Peace was Never an Option (after two other releases in 2013 both also really good). Their logo is obviously an homage to Insect Warfare but don't think they're trying to be clones. Insect Warfare could be one of their influences, but their music also evokes Nasum or Napalm Death (elements of old school and modern grind, with a powerfull production and relentless intensity) but I'd say what makes them different is the old school death metal elements, reminding sometimes Bolt Thrower. Grind indeed but with added death metal heaviness, brutality and groove. This is an excellent album and it will find its place in my coming best grind of 2016 list.

The BC page.

Ragehammer - The Hammer Doctrine (2016)

Ok, this time something more primal and less sophisticated : the old-school black / speed metal of Ragehammer. The Hammer Doctrine is their first album and it is a really good one. With black metal vocals, blast beats and d-beats on the drums, speed / thrash riffing, with the bass loud in the mix, it evokes stuff like Impaled Nazarene, or maybe Venom. It's badass and very well done. If you're into this kind of old-school metal don't hesitate one second and go for it!

The Bandcamp page.

Guillaume Perret - Free (2016)

The cover of this album is a good description of it's content : the French saxophonist Guillaume Perret solo with his electrified saxophone and his effects pedals. The album is called Free, but don't expect something sounding like the usual free jazz. It is free from every jazz traditions and schools. You'll find elements evoking classical, swing, world and  klezmer (Perret, with his former band, recorded an album of John Zorn's Masada's cover belonging to the Book of angel series), but also electro, rock, and a bit of noise. This diversity makes the album a very surprising listen but it's main strenght, above the diversity, is the quality of the compositions with excellent melodies and groove. He really makes the sax sound powerfull and inspiring. I really recommend you listen to this great album even if you're not especially into jazz.

Guillaume Perret website.

Ruined Families - Education (2016)

Ruined Families is a hardcore / punk band from Greece that already have a few very good releases (Read HERE my review of the previous one, with the interview we did back then). Their style could be related to screamo, without the predictability and stereotypes that usually goes with screamo, but with the intensity it can have. Their new album, Education, maintain the same level of quality while their sound evolved a bit, with more diversity. Education contains some of their most fast-paced and aggressive songs, but also their most melodic moments, and both are very well done, so I'd say it's a successfull move. Another good point I already mentionned about their previous releases, is the good lyrics, adding a dimension to the music if you take the time to read it. Education is another excellent album from Ruined famillies. don't miss it.

Their BC page.

Martyrdöd - List (2016)

Martyrdöd is probably the best d-beat / crustpunk (or neo-crust, with its epic and melodic element) band around, at leats since the release of the Paranoia album (in 2012). After Elddop that left me slightly disappointed (although it's a good album actually, but I had high expectations) that are now back in full force with List (still with Southern Lord records), leaving no doubt about how strong they are. If you stay in the crust boundaries you'll have a really hard time doing a better album and I think it could compares to Paranoia. The songs are furious and vibrant with a mercilless pummeling but also lifted by some memorable riffing (with a folk / viking something in the melodies, even evoking bagpipes at times, something I'm not usually that much into but it really works on this album). Highly recommended!

The BC page.

Narcosatanicos - Body Cult (2016)

Two years after their excellent self-titled debut (read my review HERE) I'm really pleased to hear Narcosatanicos again on their new album called Body Cults. Sounds to me that heir sound and songwriting style evolved a bit, the loose noise psychedelic feel is less overwhelming and I'd say they gained in focus and heaviness wih also more melodies pushed forward, especially sax melodies that reminds at times King Crimson. Their noise rock less drowned into sludge proto-punk noise chaos and reaching more prog / doom territories. But in fact it's more a slight evolution than a radical change and if you liked the first album you will probably like this one as well. A slightly different beast but they kept the originality and quality on the same high. This time again they produced one of the most interesting album of the year. Highly recommended!

The Bandcamp page.

James Leg - Blood on the Keys (2015)

John Wesley Myers was the keyboard / vocals half of The excellent Black Diamond Heavies. He's now playing a similar kind of music in solo as James Leg. His third album Blood on the Keys is maybe not as good as Below the Belt was, but still unique, very good  and enjoyable. The music is stripped down garage rock. stripped down to the point there's no guitars! and it does not even feel less rocking at all! Just drums, vocals, and rhodes piano. Rocking and doing it with a lot of groove, and also with a kind of Tom Waits boogie style, and some old school soul / rhythm & blues feel. He really avoids sounding like the others garage rock bands while keeping very pure the essence of raw rock music.

Chepang - Lathi Charge (2016)

Chepang is a newcomer on the grind scene, they are New Yorkers from Nepal and Lathi Charge is their first album (10 minutes of music but this is grindcore so we could say it's an album isn't it?). And it's a very good one. They include elements of old school grind but overall they are on the modern side of grind, with technical riffing a bit like Maruta, and they also have some Suffocation style death metal elements. This mix makes an original and fresh sounding result. Among the more interesting recent grind releases, and a new band I will follow with interest.  

Their BC page

Council Estate Electronics - Arktika (2016)

Council Estate Electronics is one of the project of Justin K. Broadrick, here in duo with Diarmuid Dalton. Their new album, Arktika, is the third one, and I think the best. The music is ambient electonics / industrial dub. While the first two were ok but a bit too ambient too my taste (let's say it, a bit boring actually), I think the new one is great : heavier, more rhythmic, which brings more diversity, and also the melodic elements, always subtle, are more presents, which also helps making the music more "multi-dimensionnal".  Arktika manage to sound at the same time quiet and slightly menacing. First half of the album is best but overall it's great stuff!

The Bandcamp page.

Gouge - Beyond Death (2015)

If you like old school death metal and thrash metal this one is not to be missed. Gouge is a Norwegian band playing some thrash / death that sounds like when thrash was turning into death metal. So it's between early death metal (like stuff from Paul Speckman for exemple) and early Slayer (Reign in Blood) or even early Sepultura as well. Fast, raw, death metal vocals, some blast beats and an aggressive thrash metal vibe. All that makes their album, Beyond Death, released last year on Hells Headbanger, a very enjoyable album, especially if you're fond of the early extreme metal era it evokes (I am!).


The Bandcamp page.

Beastwars - The Death of All Things (2016)

Beastwars, from New Zealand, is simply put the best you can find in "traditionnal meets modern" heavy metal. Their third album The Death of All Things, following two excellent ones, is another testimony of it. In their songs the epic feel and classic songwriting of old school heavy metal meets the heavier and rawer side of modern doom metal. And there's also elements that reminds the heavier and more rooted in heavy metal grunge bands (think Alice in Chains and Soundgarden). The music can appeal to a wide range of people and I really recommend it to everyone into heavy music.

The Bandcamp page.

Six-Score - Lebensräume (2016)

Ok, their grind / hc is not the most original (the Nasum influence is obvious) but they're good at writing powerfull modern grind songs. Six-Score, from Austria is doing that since 2009 and their new release, Lebensräume, is a very reliable and efficient album in that style, nothing more, but nothing less. I'd like to hear them live and maybe that's the most important thing a good grind album should do...

Their BC page.

S.B.S.M. - Joy / Rage (EP 2015)

S.B.S.M. is a band from Oakland, CA. They play an original kind of post-punk that sounds a bit like a combination of power electronics and no-wave. A lot of noise and screaming around some punk elements and spirit. The Joy / Rage EP is their latest release (in 2015) and is a very good and interesting listen. Far from easy listening but really enjoyable. Recommended stuff. 

The BC page.

Atomikylä - Keräily (2016)

Atomikylä is a side project of Oranssi Pazuzu singer associated with members of Dark Buddha Rising. No big surprise we find in Atomikylä elements from the music of these bands. We could describe their second album Keräily, released this year on Svart records, as some "dark psychedelic krautdoom" somewhere between the bands already mentionned and bands like Nibiru or Aluk Todolo. Keräily is three songs for 34 minutes.
The first song is the longest one, with the most aggressive part between some more trippy intro and outro. The second one is the more psychedelic, with some sax being a nice addition, the third song is more like the first but condensed, with the psychedelic elements more restrained in a normal rock song structure. I'm left with a slight feeling that they can do best, but it's already an interesting and enjoyable listen, a lot better than most of the millions doom bands existing nowadays.

The Bandcamp page.

Wormrot - Voices (2016)

After a five years stop the Singaporean grind trio is back, as strong as ever. With their new album Voices, Wormrot is just starting again where they left as if nothing happened (which is definitely not a bad thing!). The solid old school grind foundations they displayed so well, with a lot of efficiency and creativity, on their first two albums are still there, intact. But they also are following the experiments they tried on their last release, the Noise EP. So you'll find in Vocies more song structures and guitar parts that are unusual in grind. The fast and technical but melodic elements added in the guitar parts reminds a bit Gridlink, but the overall result is different since Wormrot does not have their "as fast as possible all the time" attack. Probably even more than on their previous releases there's a great diversity in the album, staying in grind boundaries, with all its intensity, but enriching it. Wormrot return is a resounding success and Voices will very likely be the best grind album this year.

The BC page.

Burning Tree - North Hex (2015)

Burning Tree is the free jazz project of a norwegian duo (Dag Erik Knedal Andersen on drums and Dag Stiberg on sax) that is also doing noise music. And Burning Tree is sure not "lounge" or "cool" jazz, but neither too minimalistic nor too complex. North Hex was released last year on Utech records again after the excellent "Lammergyer" in 2013. The sax is providing a kind of melody, a screaming and relentless one but a kind of melodic line anyway. The drumming is also on the relentlessly intense side of free jazz. North Hex is just one track but a nearly ten minute one and is a very good piece of the wildest and fastest free jazz you can have.

The Bandcamp page.

Anaal Nathrakh - The Whole Of The Law (2016)

The Whole Of The Law is the new Anaal Nathrakh album and they keep on being one of the best extreme metal band, no other is able like them to have this level of over the top agression and be so "catchy" at the same time. their mix of black / grind beats, techno / breakcore beats (yes!) black metal and heavy metal (clean singing included) is one few can dare trying but they master it to perfection and once again it's a great success, in the vein of previous album Desiderata.

Awesome.

The Bandcamp page.

Escuela - Non Serviam (2016)

Escuela is a trio from Ithaca (New York), Non Serviam is their first album, on cassette and digital download. What they play is some powerviolence / grind that manages to sound more intense than most Pv / Grind bands. Maybe the trio formula, with the absence of bass guitar helps the music sound very simple and focused and helps the good riffs, vocals and drumming enter your mind (does not sound messy like powerviolence does sometimes). Anyway this is very cool stuff. An excellent debut album.

The BC page.

A Field In England (Ben Wheatley, 2013)

A Field In England is a very special movie. Ben wheatley its director is known for doing things different but this one is really unique. The name of the movie couln't be more accurate, all is happening in a field, in England. The action take space during the English Civil war in the 17th century, a few deserters meets in a field. Two characters are alchemist / astrologe and one is trying to use the other to find a treasure in the field. But there's also mushrooms in that fields. Magic, mystery, mushrooms, no wonder things derive into deep psychedelia... helped by the folk / post-rock / psych score. We could say the movie sit in an unexpected place between Monthy Pythons (the funny / absurd diologues) and Aguirre. Very surprising and cool stuff. I really recommend you try it.

Also recommended is the music by Teeth of the Sea inspired by the movie : https://rocketrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/a-field-in-england-re-imagined.

Bicikl - Chertamy y Ryazamy (2016)

I love finding obscure music, by complete chance (here on my Bandcamp wanderings), and that it's very special, mysterious, and great. The Chertamy y Ryazamy tape by Bicikl is such music. It's been released this summer by Iowa's noise label The Centipede Farm. Here is their description of the project :

"BICIKL was formed in Belgrade, Serbia in 2008 by two Lithuanian immigrants, Harbor Tévas and Vyrash Karunos, with the idea to promote old Lithuanian pagan values. They would invite anybody willing to play to join them at their weekly gatherings in Vyrash's living room, where they would spend time together, talk, drink tea or rakija, watch films and improvise music. Every rite was recorded, adding up to over 100 hours of original material.

The collective soon grew to include more than 10 members, and in 2009 they started performing live rites that were a mixture of primitive theater, pagan rituals and modern eclectic music played on traditional ethnic instruments in combination with modern electronic gadgets. The line-up changed from performance to performance, based on principles of free improvisation where everyone is welcome and no one is necessary." 

The main element of the is traditionnal Balkan music, but witht he electronic / noise elements and the improvisationnal form it evokes noise / krautrock / free-jazz as well. Surprising and great music with a strong atmosphere.

Highly recommended!

The Bandcamp page.

Youth Code - Commitment to Complications (2016)

Youth Code is a young duo (Ryan George and Sara Taylor) from LA that manages to remind strongly EBM / industrial from the 90' while breathing fresh air into it with elements from punk / hardcore. Without guitars. Just synths and beats (Ryan George) and singing / screaming (Sara Taylor) but with a very live feel (they are touring a lot and you can hear it). The beats makes you wanna dance and pogo at the same time. The vocals are excellent, most of the time hardcore screaming with some more melodic parts as well. The overall result is really dynamic and vibrant. Commitment to Complications, released this year is their third release (after a demo and a first album, both really good).

Their website.

Gasmask Terrör - Chape de Plomb (2015)

Gasmask Terrör immediately sounds sharper and better than the usual D-beat punk, like it's more focused and more real. Also their more rocking side, pushing their music somewhere between Discharge and Zeke helps breathing some life and diversity in their songs. Their switch from singing in english to singing in french (they are from Bordeaux) is also very convincing I think, it's one element that makes it sounds more "real", more genuine. Their latest album Chape de Plomb, released last year, their third one (with also some Ep's since their start in 2004) is my favourite recent D-beat album, very enjoyable stuff.

Their BC page.

Seremonia - Pahuuden äänet (2016)

Among the psychedelic rock bands inspired by the 70' Seremonia is easily one of the best and one of the most original. Pahuuden äänet their new album, following the excellent Kristalliarkki (read my review HERE and the interview THERE) is another proof. You have the now usual sabbathian flavour but also some proto-punk driven by some MC5 like flame. But also 13th Floor Elevators like psychedelic weirdness and, more obscure, some vintage scandinavian prog / psych' / folk / fusion jazz influences. Add the female vocals in Finnish, top notch and inspired songwriting and musicianship and you have a very special and tasty mix. One you won't find anywhere else. Maybe after Kristalliarkki some surprise effect is lost but the quality remains. I'd say maybe on this one the trip is getting darker and has fewer free / prog rock experimentating. Go for it anyway!

The Soundcloud page.

Skáphe - Skáphe² (2016)

Skáphe² is the second album of Skáphe, a band founded in 2014 by Alex Poole from Philadelphia (USA) who also plays in Krieg. D.G. from Iceland who sings also in Mispyrming joined as vocalist since 2015. As expected with these guys Skáphe delivers black metal of the highest quality. It reminds a bit Deathspell Omega in that it dares into a songwriting leaving classical BM territory, Skáphe using it to create great nightmarish and darkly chaotic atmospheres. Blut Aus Nord also comes to mind for the dissonant guitar riffing. But the execution is more brutal and savage (although played with precision). This is in my opinion (and many people agree) one of the best black metal album released this year.

The Bandcamp page. 

Badbadnotgood & Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul (2015)

Some hip-hop for a change. But of the classiest kind. Ghostface Killah holding the mic. with GZA he's probably the only one from The Wu Tang Clan to deliver everytime, without wrong moves. As usual he shows here, but without vulgar showing-off, how good he is as a MC. Badbadnotgood, an instrumental trio (drums, stand-up bass and guitar, a bit of strings here and there) of young guys is writing / playing the music, in a jazzy/ soul vein with a hip-hop beat. Mostly slow and smooth with enough groove and leaving all the space needed for Ghostface to do his thing. The music's faithfull to the Ghostface Killah universe, focused on his most classy and soulfull side. One of the few hip-hop album I enjoyed these last years (last Ghostface solo album, 36 seasons is good as well, but I think I prefer this one, with a more constant quality).

The Soundcloud page.

Brainbombs - Souvenirs (2016)

Yes Brainbombs are back with another album called Souvenirs, the seventh (if I'm not msitaken) in thirty years. Of course you'll find again the same formula, but since they're the only one to play it this is ok. And some songs on Souvenirs will probably stay among their best ones (I think of Darker shade of pain especially). So you'll have some noise rock with some Stoogian / Hendrixian riffing in repetitive mode (usually one riff each song, but those riffs are great) and with a bleak atmosphere. The vocals is still a guy with a swedish accent (they are swedish) telling some horrible things. But nevermind. And there's their usual moaning trumpet, really a great addition to their sound. If you like Brainbombs you'll like this one two, if you don't know them this one will be a good start. Don't fail to check it, really good stuff.

Coffin Birth / Shitgrinder split (ep/10'' 2016)

This Australian grind split is mostly interesting because it's the newer Coffin Birth release. The grind/crust proposed on the Shitgrinder side is ok and would compare favourably with many crust related releases, but after Coffin Birth it's like it's a bit flat. On the Coffin Birth side you'll have the pleasure to find that the quality is the same than on Necrotic liquefaction or Cult of the Technocrat, that is, the best grindcore / deathgrind you can find at the moment. Seven tracks, all killers no fillers. Great stuff!!

The Bandcamp page. 

Author & Punisher - Melk En Honing (2015)

What is always mentioned about Author & Punisher (or Tristan Shone) is the fact that the music is made largely with machines of its own creation, but that should not shadow that the music is really good. Of course it is literally industrial and noise music, but also we could say it's doom, because of the heaviness and slow pace (not because of sabbathian riffs, Author & Punisher is all about noise, not riffs). It could reminds NIN (when NIN was really good), especially for the ability to melt melodies into a brutal and bleak industrial metal music. Melk En Honing, released last year on Housecore Records, see the return to the use  of instruments, but the machines and the modified voice largely dominates. This is its sixth album, and as usual a bit different than the others while keeping the level of excellency high. On this one I'd say the focus shifted slightly from noise experimentation to songwriting which is more diverse and complex.

The Bandcamp page.

Sonic Poison - Harsh Demonstration (2016)

Sonic Poison is a new band from Finland which released a cool cassette (with Caligari records) called Harsh Demonstration, with which they offer a refreshing take on old school grind/death. And that's indeed a harsh demonstration, very raw stuff, I really  enjoyed this short (7 tracks, less than 10 minutes of music) blast of grind in a Repulsion vein, and any grindfreak will probably do the same. Highly recommended!

The BC page.

Bardo Pond - Acid Guru Pond (2016)

Bardo Pond has now more than fifteen years and more than ten albums behind them, and they explored a wide variety of rock / psychedelic kind of music, from doom to grunge to noise to space rock. Acid Guru Pond as its title suggest is clearly a more psychedelic / space rock oriented album. Trippy guitars a bit of female vocals, slow paced drumming, flute, something that is probably a trumpet, a touch of noise / drone elements  orchestrated in five long tracks with the sophistication the band is used to. Sounds a bit like music from Mike Vest (yes this is really trippy / stoned stuff!), but with the typical Bardo Pound elements and style. The slow and repetitive elements is combined with a diversity of sound and a songwriting that gives each song it's own flavour (or colours since each song has the name of a colour). Quality stuff as usual from Bardo Pond.

The Bandcamp page.

movie review : The Witch (2015)

Last time I reviewed a movie on Blasting days was more than four years ago (the excellent Balada Triste de Trompeta, read the review HERE). Also I usually review only things that I really like (got no time for the rest...). But the reason I'm reviewing this one is because it got me angry. Let me explain...
The Witch is not so bad, the main idea is good (and that's why the bad part makes it disapointing and frustrating) : the movie takes places in the seventeeth century New England, the characters are a deeply religious family that leave behind them the "corruption" of their town and goes into exile and isolation on a farm close to a dark forest. The movie does a quite good job in showing the struggle of the familly against the hardships that accumulates against them and their struggles to keep firm their faith and beliefs that are tested by the worsening of their situation and by their confrontation to what they fear might be witchcraft. These trials also loosen the ties beetween the family members and the role of each character in the family is also put to test. This, with a gloomy atmosphere and a growing feel of paranoia, is the successfull part of the movie, with some quite good acting, more subtle than the scenario. The characters marked by religious fanaticism are not showed as one sided and appears human. Even without sharing their beliefs the spectators cares about the characters. The dialogues in old english partly taken from texts of the time are also a good point. These elements would have made a good movie. What wastes for a large part the movie is that witchcraft is not just something that the characters suspects and fears, something in their ideology and psychology that alter their relations. No in The Witch witchcraft is a real thing, there's real witches and Satan for real. I'm not against withcraft and supernatural things in a movie, the problem is not that, the problem is that it is showed in the most simplistic, crude and caricatural way. Witchcraft and evil are depicted in a way that is as bigotted as the characters are. And while the movie manages to show the complexity in its characters, it fails completely to do so about witchcraft and even about the christian point of view about witchcraft. In the Witch witchcraft is what is is in the crudest puritanical christian ideology (same as in other religion by the way). What is evil is women and the flesh. Women fall into temptation and are led by Satan into human sacrifices, blahblah. the withches showed in the movie are just grotesque, and simplisticaly one sided, and not even frightening. I'm not complaining it's giving witchcraft a bad name, I don't care about witchcraft as, like religion, it exists only as ideology, existing only as long as it shapes the psychology and social relations of people bevieving in it (or taking profit from it...). Problem is that the christian war against "witchcraft" was in a large part a war against people being different and questionning the traditionnal social roles and hierarchies, and of course the power of the church itself. So showing witchcraft in the way the church depicts it is like renacting the christian fight against anyone questionning traditionnal hierarchies (male domination, the church, etc.).
A movie released in 2015 about witches that fails to question the puritanical religious take on witchcraft (and beyond that on women, traditionnal family, sex, etc.) is just completely wrong.
If you just edit the film and remove the few scenes with witches and "real" witchcraft you have a good movie, that's why it's a pity these scenes of "real (and caricatural) witchcraft" are just wasting the whole movie in such a way. What a shame...

After seeing the movie I read a few interviews of the director of the movie, Robert Eggers, his views on witches are not as simplistic as the movie could suggest and I suppose his purpose was not siding with the puritan christian ideology. But still the scenes of "real witchcraft", completely in line with the traditionnal ideology, are just clumsy and the movie would be a lot better without it...
Maybe you could say the absurdity of the kind of satan worshipping witchcraft showed and the absurdity of the beliefs of the characters are in itself a critique of this traditionnal point of view. Well... I maintain that removing these scenes would have made a far more subtler and convincing take on the subject.

Naive Sense - Art Failures (2015)

On this album called Art Failures, released last year by Naive Sense you have some really good hardcore. Hardcore that can't really be associated with a specific kind of hardcore : it is fast and angry (12 songs in less than 20 minutes), with a frenetic feel of urgency running through the album, but there's also melodic elements here and there (but never sounding "emo"). More diverse and original than most hardcore albums, without really experimenting. I'm bored by most hardcore albums, but I enjoy this one. Recommended stuff!
(I saw thay are about to release an EP later this month, should be good as well...).

The BC page.

CBN / Satanic Abortion - Cold Bloodied Satanist split (2016)

This split is not for the faint-hearted. This cassette called Cold Bloodied Satanist released by Out-of-Body records features two bands (well, two "one man band" more precisely I think) from Omaha, Nebraska.
On the first side CBN offers one long track of sinister noise with creepy synths. Very dark, but quiet compared to what comes next. But the two goes well together I'd say, it's complementary.
Satanic Abortion plays some raw black metal / noisegrind mayhem. Crazy stuff, the black metal element is very low-fi, raw and primitive and played with a loose grind attack and the noise / samples only adds to the chaos and aggression.
Combining black metal, grind and noise should indeed sound very intensely extreme and Satanic Abortion did a good job in achieving that.

The Bandcamp page.

Skullshitter / Blasting days : a two way interview

I'm very pleased to post this. I really dig Skullshitter's music, they managed to bring some inventivity and impredictebilty in grind / death while keeping the sound and spirit of grindcore and old school detah metal with a very genuine and old school feel. 

You can read my review of their album with the link to stream it HERE.

Also i liked the enthousiasm they brought when I asked them if they would do an interview. they wanted to do more than just the usual questions sent, answers sent, then posted. Instead we did it with a few back and forth and they sent not only answers to my questions but also questions for me to answer, making it a two way interview. I think this way we produced something more interesting. You we'll also see that they took care to give detailed answers that are not the usual interview clichés. Also it's good when it's not just one guy in the band answering, here the three of them, Sean, Ryan and Rob, did it. 

I really thanks them for doing it and I'm pleased to share it with you. Read it just below (en purple it's me, in blue it's Skullshitter) : 

The Blasting days to Skullshitter part :

­How did you start the band, did you have a clear idea of what the music would be or what it more something like « let’s form a band together and see what will comes of it » ?

Sean: Ryan and I were working the overnight shift together at a hotel and became friends. We talked a lot about music and had mutual interest in starting a band.  We approached Rob about it and he was down. Ryan and I had a general idea what we wanted to do, but Robert had a very clear idea. We came to him wanting to play fast, he said, great, let’s do grindcore: Terrorizer and Repulsion. Pretty soon after that it became clear that we were all on the same page about mixing in proto death metal influences. 

Ryan: I grew up in the 80’s listening to punk rock, so that era of grindcore connected with me quickly because it's basically metal and punk together, from the same era as all the bands I listening to as a kid. 

 

­what about the making if of the album Transmission : command ? the name of the album and songs the use of samples and the cover artwork give a a feel of unity to the whole, do you think so, is there a kind of « concept » of some themes running through the album ?

Rob and Sean: During the writing the process, the concept came together, along with the song Warship. The idea is that when we come together, we can communicate psychically and sonically, and we want to project that successfully onto our listeners. We tend to use some hallucinogens and we crafted the album to be shaped like a drug experience. The art came from the Warship idea, which could be interpreted as worship as well. Galactic tits because even in the psychedelic cosmos tits and ass rule. 

­more specifically what about the cover artwork, did you ask the artist for « skullspaceships with tentacles floating in a fog of boobs and asses » ? or was it more « listen to the music, read the lyrics and draw what it inspires you » ? Anyway I think its weidness really represent the adventurous feel of the underground, and it’s a good thing to have sometimes something different than the usual gore or pictures in black and white.

Rob: we approached Needles (@darthneedles on instagram, accomplished tattoo artist currently at Sacred Tattoo and is a licensed Lucas Arts illustrator) with concept and specific element we wanted: skulls, the ship, cyber organisms, tits. Who better to do a psychedelic cosmic warship?

­I read somewhere that one of you is a saxophone player, what about using sax in some songs? I think someone like John Zorn for example showed it can be great in an extreme / underground metal context. 

Sean: Yea, Ryan plays sax and we are open to using the sax. It just hasn’t happened yet.

Ryan and I are both huge Zorn fans and Masada has a pretty direct influence on Skullshitter, but we are conscious to not let the music end up sounding like jazz. If we wanted to be a jazz band, we’d start a jazz band. But there are some riffs that we looked to Masada for inspiration, such as in “Go Into The Woods…” and “Infinity Extinction.” We make creative decisions primarily based on immediate emotional response, and using a sax hasn’t totally felt like the right thing yet. If / when it does, then we will. 

 

­what about your new release, Feral laws, was your approach different for this one ?

Sean: Yes, the approach to Feral Laws was very different. Transmission: Command took  a long period of time to both write, and to record. When we finished with that I immediately pushed that our next piece should shorter and simpler. A palate cleanser for ourselves. We worked with a different friend to record and went totally digital (where TC was totally analog). I took to writing and led the charge for getting it done as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality. We’re so happy with how  Feral Laws came together. I think we are able to explore some different ideas while maintaining our Skullshitter sound, and take on some simpler tasks while keeping it interesting. “Unpure” is a great example. That song is the most minimal song we’ve ever done, but has been getting extreme reactions.

 

­"The beast" is your longer recorded songs and it’s a great one, I like it’s old school vibe and sinister groove, did you wanted from the start to try something longer and slower or the song just ended that way ?

Sean: We wanted it that way, as I was listening to Coffins more for  Feral Laws I wanted to  do a Coffins styled song. I wrote the main riff and brought it to Rob, who immediately  jumped on it and said something along the lines of ‘I’m going to write a pop song with that’ and he wrote out the rest of the drum parts. Then we wrote the other two parts of the song around his drum parts and that was that. 

 

­Can you choose a song you especially like in Transmission : command and one in Feral laws and comment on why it is special to you, how it was written and about the lyrics?

Sean: For Feral Laws, the special song to me is definitely “Sacrifice of Shared Experience.” Musically, this is mostly a riff that Ryan had written a long time ago and we could never make it work in a song. We ended up using it on   Transmission: Command on “F.P.O.S,” but in a very truncated, short way. One day I palm muted the riff and it was just like “Oh, of course, that’s how we use it.” It felt good to flush it out and see it fully  realized. Lyrically, I wrote about how people have trouble entering communities. Looking at the music scene as an example, people come to shows and don’t talk to each other, or make new friends. Instead they take a picture or a video on their smart phone and put that up on social media, and it appears like they are a part of something. But they miss the opportunity to truly connect with a person, a group of people, a community.  

Ryan: Some background on Escape from War (note the lyrics in this song are a small part of a larger body of lyrics that are used in different songs from the future.) Escape from War is a disruptive title.  One should think that to be heroic is to not seek escape but to stand and fight.  This is also true, but in this case we are looking in bigger cycles, fighting many times until the war is finished.  This also is what means to escape the war. Let me explain. In early times the only form of communication was to fight. In time before words there was only movement even sound is a form or disruption to stasis, disrupting the air, water.  The fluid in your ear is beat like a drum head.  After the invention of language, fighting continued to be the main form of communication between different bodies of people. Different tribes communicate through fighting for lack of a transferable language. 

 

Over time, peoples advanced the science for fighting in the interest of surviving each other. In the east particularly, the art of war was linked to the science of the unknown, or the spiritual world.  They began to decode the language of the natural world by changing the frequency of the body, specifically the mind at first, to the frequency of different areas of nature.  They did this though diligent practices of meditation, altering the thought apparatus to tune itself away from the human area where language controls thought, allowing the vessel to empty, and then tune to the individual frequencies of nature.  These people were taught directly by nature in this way.  The Universe master teacher. 

The human world at this time has no escape from war and currently the only final law on earth is death.  Scientists learning under the teaching of the universe often were generals and warriors out of function and necessity.  To better themselves in the art of survival – the goal of every living thing – they applied their learning to warcraft.  Through these developments fighting styles in the east disciplined their bodies to become like nature, to move like nature.  To become superior in areas of fighting, warriors trained themselves to become like apex predators, the commanders of different areas of the ecos such as tigers, panthers or eagles.   Also they imitated the sun moon stars and elements such as fire, water or wind.   They practiced moving their bodies in diligent repetition sequences until they could move in the nature frequencies they learned from.  As religious people repeat prayers to become more like their gods, these warrior disciples practiced these sequences like prayers to become more like the aspects of nature they wished to imitate. In this way, they became superior fighters and survived like the apex predators. Surviving even like the windstorm that destroys a city.  The city is gone, but the wind continues to exist.

 

The art of war has continued to advance past the area I describe into many different formats, which I will not get into. Escape from War is the name of a shaolin set of movements designed to train thebody and the mind to move and think quickly enough to escape the war.  The goal of all war is to end the war.  This can be accomplished through superiority in war craft or by eliminating conflict.  The ultimate superiority in war is to preclude all war. 

This is one of the many paths on the cycle that evolves out of the world of war and into the next chapter. We have yet to ascend this cycle as a planet, but we must continue elevate and evolve as that is the final universal law of all living beings in this planet. This is what this song means.  It describes this practice of learning the universal technologies that elevate the frequency of the human to allow entry into strata outside of the age of quarrel.  

only to be actualized in painful and diligent

repetition prayer sequence link step to brake manacle 

physical ritual builds spiritual weaponry

physical ritual builds spiritual weaponry

 

­Since the release of Feral laws have you written new songs, do you have a general idea about what will be the next release, will it have a concept like Transmission : Command ?

SEAN: We have started writing and we do have ideas…. But as the ideas aren't fully formed yet it wouldn't be right to try to talk through them. We are looking at a couple older songs and we may re­record some. We are looking at our favorite riffs that we’ve written and trying to reimagine them. We are all looking at death metal. 

 

­Do you think of something sound / interesting about Skullshitter that is never mentionned in reviews or interviews?

SEAN: Sure, our focus on education and experience. We want to educate people. This is a multi­part mission. We know we aren't lecturing people. We must connect with people and so we do our part by coming together and fusing our energies to become one unit. We try to forge a connection with the audience to become part of our of performance. From there that audience member, if they feel it can research us, learn more about us, hopefully they will talk to us in person. We are not a porno­grind band. We are not a gore­grind band. We love women. We love life. We seek to experience the world and beyond. What is experience if not education? Knowledge is power and every new experience is coveted and studied until it can be translated into our work. We hope to engage with and inspire others to continue learning, through music, language, actions, books, the Internet, combat, friendship, through LIFE. 

 

­Do you think that the DIY way of action could be a global alternative or do you see it more as a practical way of growing for an underground band?

  

RK: I think the world’s technological advances are making everything more DIY.  Everyone has a computer, you have have your own home recording studio for quite cheap.  Everyone can make music and art or whatever and get it on out into the world through the internet.  

­Which evolutions would you like to see happening in the underground scene?

RK:  MORE ROCK AND ROLL SPIRIT 

­What are your favourite french bands? (I'm french so that explains the question!)

SEAN: I really enjoy Aluk Todolo. I find there music to be enjoyable in many ways, I commonly listen to them as background music but I also find them thoroughly engaging with big pay offs for their long themes. I also really liked that band Amesoeurs, mainly for the female sing songs. My favorite songs from them were the straight rock / pop songs. She has a beautiful voice and the songs had a great feel to them, even when somber in mood. Like some of the great Madonna songs from the 80’s like ‘Live to Tell.’

­Which other bands from your area would you recommend?

SEAN: Our scene in Brooklyn is wide and varied. It reminds of that early grindcore documentary that featured Bolt Thrower and Godflesh, two bands that you wouldn’t think to put in a grindcore doc, but they were all the people banding together around a similar spirit and scene. We like Indignation (d­beat made up of some of the guys from Nomad, one of our all time favorite d­beat bands), Trenchgrinder, Belus, Krallice, Geryon and Anicon (who are putting riffs back into black metal) and Hasj (who are really pushing how psychedelic heavy music can be). For non local bands, we’ve got to talk about how incredible Necrot is, as much as possible. For grindcore, when we were on tour we played with a band called Sewage Grinder from Cincinnati that are really spot on. Total rock and roll spirit.  

The Skullshitter to Blasting days part :

Here are the questions Skullshitter asked me (Dennis, the guy doing Blasting days), my answers, and their reactions to my answers (in bold it’s Skullshitter the rest is me) : 

-What prompted you to start Blasting Days? Do you have a goal for the website?

 

I started Blasting days in january 2012 after the metal radio show I was doing then stopped (because of tensions between me and the guy I was doing it with). Blasting days was a way to keep on sharing the music I like, because I like doing it and also I’m pleased to give back, in a way, what the music bring me. I liked doing radio shows by I wanted to try something else, with which I would be more independant. Never had a specific goal for the website, I’ll keep doing it as long as I like doing it and have enough time for it. And if bands I review / interview benefits from it, and people enjoy discovering music they like through it, then all the better. 

Thank you for doing this, we appreciate it. We encourage you to set some goals though. It’ll feel good. 

 

-How did you find out about Skullshitter? How did you find out about John Zorn?

 

I found out about Skullshitter through the Nerve Altar Bandcamp page, I visit it from time to time because I often like the music they release. I found out about John Zorn something like ten years ago, through an interview in a jazz magazine I think (I was discovering jazz at the time, I still listen to free jazz and be bop on a regular basis), I like his more metal related music like Naked City or Painkiller but I also listened to Masada a lot and I also like some other music he’s doing, or releasing through his label Tzadik.  

SEAN: Nice, I found out about John Zorn from my childhood local music store, called Wild Rufus, the owner, Byron, talked to me about jazz and basically forced me to buy a lot of Zorn. He would order the Masada CDs in from Japan specifically for me. It was awesome and I am eternally grateful.  

 

-What is the music scene like where you live? Do you have access to see music easily?

 

I live in Montpellier, a medium sized city in the south of France, we have a few good local bands, like Verdun, Ofo am or Mudweiser, although not a lot doing death or grind. But we have a few small places, like The Secret place or The Black sheep to name a couple, where many good bands are playing.  

Fuck yea, if we get to France next year, we’ll hit you up. 

-Can you describe to us what the experience of listening to Skullshitter is for you?

I often listen to music, even extreme music, while doing something else, and the music is often there but as background music. But Skullshitter is not music I listen while doing something else. There’s enough intensity and imprevisibility in your songs to really grab my attention and keep it. I can really get into it. A lot of grind / death metal music is quite standardised and highly predictable and fe w albums can keep my attention throughout. But one thing I like with your music is that there’s always something interesting happening, while keeping the raw straightforward aggression and speed of grind / death that I like.  

THANK YOU.