Gauze [Weekly Mixtape 59]

Jesu • The Bleak Picture • Holy Water • Super Pink Moon
Lazy Legs • BleakHeart • Vouna • Have A Nice Life • Anathema

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2012: The best albums from the year the world was supposed to end

 

Napalm Death - Utilitarian

Look back on any of my earlier year end lists, and you'll see that two words are a fixture: "Napalm" and "Death". This may simply be because, as my buddy Jay puts it, "those are my guys," but there's no arguing that Napalm have been on a hot streak since the career (and cred) resuscitating Enemy of the Music Business over a decade ago. Utilitarian, instead of trying to top the bare-knuckled fury of previous album Time Waits for No Slave, sees Napalm indulging their experimental side. John Zorn pops up to throw some hot shrieking sax on an already wild "Everyday Pox"; elsewhere, Barney and Mitch take turns imitating Michael Gira's spooky baritone. Strange off-time riffs abound, keeping listeners on their toes; and throughout, the band that coined the term "blastbeat" show all the young'uns how it's done. A quarter century since Scum was recorded, Napalm Death are still campaigning for musical destruction. These are "my guys" for a reason.
Listen to: Errors in the Signal, The Wolf I Feed, Fall On Their Swords, Everything in Mono

Glissando - The World Without Us

Strange but true: I was looking forward to the third album by these British ambient experimentalists almost as much as any death or black metal album. Anchored by Elly May Irving's ethereal vocals, and fleshed out by an accompaniment of strings and piano, The World Without Us is at once fragile and apocalyptic. Glissando have mastered the art of building their sombre melodies to oppressive heights. In a year of hurricanes and turmoil, this was the quiet eye of the storm. Armageddon never sounded so beautiful. [Also recommended: Richard Knox, the other half of Glissando, put out an excellent ambient neoclassical album called The Rustle of Stars]
Listen to: The Long Lost, Of Silence, Still (II)

Naglfar -Teras

How now, Naglfar? Whither wander thou? Never considered a worthy successor to Dissection, and somehow overtaken in popularity by Watain, despite having a better track record than both. And yet here you are on your sixth album, carrying on with your version of Svenske Svartmetal: Hook-driven; blistering; misanthropic. It's only fitting that the nailship of Ragnarok set sail in 2012, the year the world was supposed to end.
Listen to: Bring Out Your Dead, Invoc(h)ate, The Monolith

Kreator - Phantom Antichrist

It would be easy to misinterpret my contempt of thrash revival as a dismissal of the style itself. If I'm down on these new bands, it's because they've mastered the genre's cliches without capturing its excitement. The same can't be said of Kreator; since 2001, they've made everyone else who peddles the style seem increasingly redundant - and that includes most of the Big Four. With songs as fast and razor-sharp as the band's eighties heyday, Phantom Antichrist is balanced by melodic moments that recall the mighty Dark Tranquillity. As long as Mille is around to keep the flag of hate aloft, I'll never need another thrash band.
Listen to: Phantom Antichrist, Death to the World, Victory Will Come

Narbeleth - Diabolus Incarnatus 

This cult Cubano has delivered on the promise of the excellent Dark Primitive Cult demo, and then some. A throwback to the best of black metal's second wave, this is the coldest record I heard in 2012; and it's from a country that's never seen a spot of snow. A blaze in the Havana sky. Hail! [If you're not KVLT or hip enough to find the cassette tape, fear not: Lord Dakkar has given his consent for you to download it.]
Listen to: Walk Unholy Paths, Raw Hatred

Anathema - Weather Systems

I actually worried that the huge stylistic departure Anathema made on their previous album We're Here Because We're Here would cause such an uproar from fans that it might lead to the band breaking up; instead, it's given them a second life. Weather Systems expands on the onetime gothic doom metal kings' newfound love for soaring, shamelessly pop melodies. Boosted by the mellifluous singing of Lee Helen Douglass, it's more nuanced and textured than its oft-bouncy predecessor. If it seems like it starts to sag near the end, it may be because sustaining the emotional intensity of the album's first half would be nearly impossible; but taken individually, each of Weather Systems nine tracks are perfect. Another stage in the evolution of British metal's most amorphous band.
Listen to: Untouchable Part One, Part Two, The Gathering of Clouds, The Beginning and the End

Abnormality - Contaminating The Hive Mind

Taking the best bits of Cryptopsy, Suffocation, Origin and Cannibal Corpse, Contaminating the Hive Mind is merciless in its blistering assault, whilst being mindblowingly technical. This smokes every other death metal album released this year (and that includes a few of the names mentioned earlier). Abnormality have definitely made a case for their inclusion in the genre's elite. Fast, precise, unrelenting: This is death metal the way it should be.

Sea Bastard - Self-titled

Featuring a member of drone kings Sabazius, I expected this album to be a solid exercise in floorshaking ultradoom. But as much as it delivers on that, what's truly impressive is the songwriting. Writing ten minute songs that stick with you after they're over is a hell of an achievement. Whereas most sludge/doom is monotonous and self-satisfied, Sea Bastard have the gift of The Riff, that precious element that divides great bands from the rest. Doom album of the year.

Troglodyte - Don't Go in the Woods

Origin made a science out of crossbreeding technical hooks with unrelenting blast, and it sounds like their Kansas City neighbours Troglodyte took careful notes. This sophomore album is a half hour of blasting death metal that's as catchy as it is furious. While I was slow in embracing their strange Bigfoot fixation, even a curmudgeon like me can't stop himself from wanting to headbang and throw shit around every time this comes on. Book me on the Discovery Channel: I believe in Sasquatch death metal.

 

Macaroni - A Gift for Corpse

Originality is often overlooked and underrated in the current metal landscape; whereas most death metal bands seem content to merely rehash Morbid Angel and Suffocation riffs, Macaroni (one of Thailand's oldest death metal bands) have embarked on their own path, full of unexpected turns and strange digressions. A unique and accomplished vision that fans of Immolation and Gorguts would be wise to seek out.
Listen to: A Gift for Corpse album preview (unfortunately, my attempts to find songs from this album online proved to be fruitless; take my word, though, it's pretty awesome).

 

I come old friend from hell tonight

2012 saw a flurry of new albums from many of my favourite bands, and I greeted each like the return of an old friend. Testament's Dark Roots of the Earth was an immensely enjoyable album that fell just short of being a classic. Terrorizer's Hordes of Zombies didn't impress many critics, but it fueled many a cab ride to my jiujitsu class. As an exercise in pure distilled rage, it couldn't be beat. Orange Goblin's Eulogy for the Damned would have been the soundtrack to all my nights of drinking with the brahs, if I drank or had brahs. Cannibal Corpse released Torture, a Cannibal Corpse album that made Cannibal Corpse fans happy, this one included. Cryptopsy redeemed themselves in the eyes of fans and critics with their self-titled album, whilst still maintaining their legacy as a band that strives to keep death metal fresh and original. Headhunter D.C. are as no-frills as Brazilian death metal gets; they may not make it to any best of lists, but they did write my favourite new anthem: Hail the metal of death!

Dreams of Consciousness was voted the best metal blog of 2012 by the editors of Dreams of Consciousness metal blog. See for yourself.

The Ten in 2010

Dark Tranquillity - We Are The Void
It's no secret that Dark Tranquillity have a weakness for synthpop, and their latest album skews in that direction more often than not, leading to accusations that they've lost their balls. Prone as I am to resentment, I've taken criticism of modern Dark Tranquillity to heart. I have to say, though, of all the stuff I've heard this year, nothing has stuck with me as much or as well. Void is at times shamelessly commercial, proving that metal can be melodic and catchy, while still being intelligent and heavy. But DT also throw the listener for a loop with 2 songs of blackened doom ("Iridium" and "Arkangelisk") that are as bleak and epic as anything that Satyricon have written. And of course there's that title track, a neckwrecking 4 minutes that rivals the best of Character in sheer thrashing power. For a band with an already stellar discography, We Are The Void is a fine addition, and one that I'm confident will still hold up in 5 years.


Unleashed - As Yggdrassil Trembles
"VIKING DEATH METAL!" Johnny Hedlund informs us, and there's no arguing with him, since Unleashed 2010 give Amon Amarth a run for their money as Valhalla's house band. As Yggdrassil Trembles completely changed my perception of Unleashed; as I've written about previously, they were previously the Swedish death metal band that mattered least to me, and who I characterized as an also ran that paled in comparison to the rest of the Stockholm scene. Well, I've since reversed my position, because this album simply SMOKES; brutal, concise, and ending with a fantastic cover of Death's "Evil Dead," it puts the recent albums by Dismember and Grave to shame. It's rare that a single album forces you to reassess a band's entire catalog, but that's what AYT has forced me to do. The best part is I'm still only halfway through.


Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit
Even platitudes from hipster-centric Pitchfork and Stereogum couldn't shame me away from this album. Though Agalloch's new post-rock inclinations are jarring at first, eventually they make perfect sense. Featuring Amber Asylum/Giant Squid/Grayceon cellist Jackie Perez Gratz (who knows a thing or two about mutating strains of metal), Marrow of the Spirit takes USBM from tremolo guitars and blastbeats into the realm where single notes ring the loudest. If you ever wondered what the Red Sparrowes would sound like crossed with Opeth, wonder no further.


Keep of Kalessin - Reptillian
In a year that featured solid albums by both Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir, the title of "best symphonic black metal album" belongs to the Keep. What these guys lack in costumes and a video budget, they more than make up in their songwriting prowess and stellar musicianship. And balls, huge, dragon-sized balls: witness their bid to take the song "Dragontower" to the top of the European pop competition Eurovision: They made it as far as the Semi-finals. For a black metal band that spends their time writing songs instead of gussying around in silly costumes, that's huge, and "Dragontower" isn't even the best part of the album.


Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini
In contrast to the sometimes directionless Vertebrae, Axioma Ethica Odini is fantastically direct, and possibly the best Enslaved album since Isa. Axioma is the sound of black metal in 2010, of Vikings embracing a new kind of epic, of prog without the wanking connotations, and of space rock without the lazy stoner vibe. If I ever get chosen to defend the Rylan Star League from the Ko-Dar armada, I can only hope that this album is playing as I take on the mother ship. I'm not sure where Odin fits in to all this, but no doubt the All-Father is listening to Enslaved as he puffs on his pipe and rides through the sky.


Kataklysm - Heaven's Venom
Some bands reinvent, while others merely retool, and there's no doubt that Kataklysm belong to the Bolt Thrower school of "just like the last one, but with different songs." These French-Canadians sometimes come off like a death metal Hatebreed, alternating between chunky moshpit-baiting riffs and blasting melodic death sections. It can get a little samey, and the band seem aware of this, as Heaven's Venom shows them taking slow shuffling steps towards maturity, especially on the epic "Suicide River. In a year sadly bereft of blasting death metal, Kataklysm fill that particular cup for me nicely.


All Out War - Into the Killing Fields
This album is on my top ten because, unlike any other album I heard this year, I was compelled to get up and dance in my kitchen when I first heard it. That, my friends, is sway. Though I rarely listen to hardcore anymore, this album fired me up and took me back to my early 20's when the words "metal + core" had only the pleasant connotations of dogpiles and circle pits. Gloriously pissed off, thugged out, and wielding Slayer riffs like machetes, All Out War are the soundtrack to a bar brawl post-apocalypse.


Killing Joke - Absolute Dissent
While not as earthshaking as their 2002 self-titled album (featuring closet metalhead Dave Grohl), Absolute Dissent is still a modern post-punk masterpiece. Killing Joke are perhaps the only band capable of veering from metal to reggae to synthpop while still retaining their heaviness. Among the albums many gems is "The Raven King," a touching, appropriately bass-driven 7 minute tribute to their recently deceased four-stringer Paul Raven. The pied pipers of industrial malaise, Killing Joke have crafted the perfect soundtrack to dancing into the darkness.


Evocation - Apocalyptic
The wheel keeps turning, and as the gritty overdriven sound of Stockholm death metal comes back into style, there will be an inevitable hankering for the particular brand of searing melodicism that flooded out of Gothenberg in the mid-90s. Enter Evocation, who have stripped down their songcraft till nothing remains but catchy hooks that dig through your ears into your skull and won't let go. Though these days I prefer my death metal rawer and more blasting, Evocation took me back to my late teens when the likes of Sacrilege, Ebony Tears, and Ceremonial Oath were dominating my cd player. Though I'm intensely critical of revivalism, Apocalyptic won me over by being a death metal album from Gothenberg that reminded me why, 13 years ago, that used to be my favourite type.



Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here
No album has confounded my expectations this year like Anathema's We're Here Because We're Here. In the 8 years that they've been gone, Anathema have taken their love for Pink Floyd from their doom metal mantle and lovingly wrapped it around a piano-centric pop dress form that can be described as Coldplay-esque. That's right, Coldplay. At times, it gets gratingly Disney, but goddamn it, when it works (as on the luscious opening track "Thin Air") it's disarmingly moving. And more often than not, it does work. Before you run screaming in the other direction yelling "sell-out," spare a thought for poor Anathema; in this year of progged-out post-black, it should be remembered that these guys were one of the first extreme metal bands to take the chance and stride over those spaced out waters, almost 17 years ago. Though their current relationship to metal can be described as tangential at best, it's still an album I'm glad Anathema were at long last able to finish. Hopefully, it won't be the album that finishes Anathema.