This will most likely be the last numbered “Good Intentions” series, as they’ll be more sporadic going forward, assuming I don’t fall into my old pattern of letting records sit on my desk for months on end. (We’ll see how that goes.) But I’ve made it through all the records that have been languishing up to this point, as everything in the corner of my desk is now new! So maybe once a month these columns of record reviews en masse will occur, but it’s back to bellyaching about the world for me starting next week.
Or maybe not. We’ll see how that goes as well.
The Accused The Curse Of Martha Splatterhead. Holy crap. Dangerous grindcore. Like you just got a mouthful of dirt after getting kicked in the head by its rockitude. I kind of want to build something in praise of how awesome this is. Keeper.
Wodensthrone Loss. Pagan black metal from dreary England. I actually had to scroll through this because the beginning is mostly atmospheric folk, the middle is rather asskicking epic black metal and the last two tracks meld together in a folk becoming doom folk kind of way. Intriguing. A keeper meriting further investigation.
Burnt By The Sun Heart Of Darkness. I think I mostly just had a fond memory of these guys being from New Jersey. As they are. They set this up as their final album, and it’s probably just as well. As competent as this grindy-hardcore (as opposed to grindcore), I feel these guys could do something better in a different direction, assuming they still want to make music. Such is Mango. Not keeping.
Iron Monkey Iron Monkey/Our Problem 2 CD reissue. It ain’t the finest of sludge, but it’ll still fuck up your sink something awful. Curious baseball-esque Earache logo on the first disc in the set. A keeper.
Black Anvil Time Insults The Mind. I suppose these guys had to distinguish themselves from Anvil by naming themselves Black Anvil, but have you seen an anvil of any other color than black? I didn’t think so. Anyway, this black metal record (boy I sure do hold onto a lot of black metal) is convincing, mostly due to the vocals which are damn familiar. Damn. Can’t think of what it reminds me of. Keeping.
Root The Temple In The Underworld reissue. Yet another Root reissue (the third in this series). I still recommend starting with The Book, but this is a better starting point than Hell Symphony. Quite the leap in fact. Keeper.
Memory Driven Relative Obscurity. Obscurity on I Hate records is not a relative thing—it’s a certainty. All joking aside, I feel there’s something I might like on this “grunge-doom” release, but the materials isn’t good enough to end up creating that genre, as much as I’d like it to. Not keeping.
Revocation Existence Is Futile. I wonder when this new breed of speed/death metal bands will realize that their silky leads sound like rip-offs of polka tunes sometimes. Actually, most of this does, except for the throaty screaming. Eh, whatever guys. Not a keeper.
Hypnosis The Synthetic Light Of Hope. French death metal with some electronica tinkling around it to little overall effect. To quote David Foley in Run Ronnie Run, “My initial reaction is ‘no,’ but I’m getting a yessy aftertaste.” Actually, scratch that. Let’s just make it a no.
Morrigu The Niobium Sky. “Dark Emotional Metal From Switzerland.” Okay, I hate to break it to you guys, but you just called yourselves emo. And actually, you kind of are. Sorry. Not a keeper.
Dying Fetus Descend Into Depravity. Fuckin’ a, Dying Fetus. Keeping, of course.
The Gates Of Slumber Hymns Of Blood And Thunder. I somewhat panned these guys’ last record as basically being a sloppy Candlemass, and I stand by that, but listening to this one, I have something of an itch to see them live to see if I’m wrong. In theory, I should like this, but for whatever reason, it doesn’t translate on CD. Maybe a donation.
Cathedral The Ethereal Mirror CD/DVD reissue with Statik Majik EP. Okay, why would you go to all this trouble to reissue and then include Statik Majik as an EP in a sleeve? Blech. And it doesn’t include “Midnight Mountain” on this version? Weird. Anyway, keeping, even if I’ll never watch the accompanying documentary.
