The Time of Monsters [Weekly Mixtape 168]

Refusal | Cytotoxin | Whitechapel | GraveMass
Blood Monolith | Clactonian | Foetorem
Desekryptor | Undecayed | Imperishable
Ancestor Of Kaos | Inhuman Nature | Cocaine Culture
Impaled | Ophiolatry | Cryptopsy

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Top Ten Canadian Metal Albums

In honour of Canada Day, here is a list of the best metal albums from our friends in the Great White North. [It's aboot time, eh.]

Bandcamp Picks - Cryptopsy, Lost Soul, Gorod, A Loathing Requiem

Since the Unspoken King debacle, Cryptopsy have learned what their fans want - namely unrelenting speed, gurgling vocals and a bass that sounds like it's being hit with a hammer; and their new crowdfunded EP The Book of Suffering- Tome 1 delivers all that and more. Short and sweet, but flawless in its execution, it seems the band are indeed back to doing what they do best. [$3.99]


Lost Soul's last release was in 2009, but it's clear that the time away was spent thinking. Their eclectic new album Atlantis: The New Beginning expands the band's established sound, with a renewed emphasis on streamlined arrangements over blistering speed, and employing some very Ihsahn like choral singing and hits of groove. After years of dreary revival and regurgitation, it seems death metal bands are ready to take chances and expand the boundaries again - and Lost Soul, a band that always did, will be there meet them. [€10]

Despite its title, there's very little recycled about the new album by tech-death gurus Gorod. A Maze of Recycled Creed expands the band's hyperactive style into new areas of expertise, burning up the fretboards and showing they're not afraid to get funky along the way. Pimp walking brutality. [€7.99]



The project of one Malcolm Pugh, A Loathing Requiem will put all other one-man bands on notice. Acolytes Eternal is a work of considerable thought and spectacular musicianship, that fans of Neuraxis and Beyond Creation will love, aided by a stellar production. This blows away most "real" bands. [$8]

Mixtape 23 - Cryptopsy

Here is the 23rd installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Matt McGachy of Canadian death metal legends Cryptopsy.

Full of Hell & The Body @ABC No Rio; Cryptopsy & Disgorge @ Nihil Gallery 5.16.2015

The last time I was in ABC No Rio was 13 years ago; there was a hole in the floor near the back of the performance space roughly the size of the average foot. Stare at it for a few seconds and it would spell out "L-A-W-S-U-I-T". Luckily, it's been fixed in the intervening years. Also new: Separate cans for trash and recyclables, showing that anarchy and organized waste management are not mutually exclusive...except in Malaysia, where I've been told that having recycling bins in Rumah Api will not work. Clearly it works for ABC No Rio; are New York punks that different?

Bandcamp Picks: The Gathering, Cryptopsy, Murder Construct, Beastplague

The Gathering have returned with Disclosure, which is self-released under their own Psychonaut Records. Don't expect the witchy doom metal of their early years; this is much, much better. Emotive and spacey, it's closer to shoegaze/post-rock than anything remotely metal. But even if you're one of those who wrote the band off when Anneke left (myself included), Disclosure is still their best work in almost a decade. The purchased package includes the video for the song "Heroes for Ghosts."

Usually a self-titled album signals an intention to re-invent, a defining statement, or a return to form. In the case of the new self-released, self-titled album by Cryptopsy, it's an indication that there are no keyboards or clean singing (the reason why so many fans spurned their previous effort, The Unspoken King). It's not quite a return to the berkerker fury of Whisper Supremacy, and a little "djenty" for my tastes, but I respect this band's continued desire to grow and push their boundaries.


Murder Construct is the main gig for grindcore journeyman Leon Del Muerte, who served time in both Exhumed and Impaled during their best years; however Results bears little resemblance to the Carcass/Dismember worship that those bands traffic in. Instead, what we have here is an album of thinking man's grind that doesn't skimp on the blasting and has only occasional appearances of Travis Ryan's clean singing. My only complaint is the production, which is washed out and reduces the guitars to a wall of noise. With the level of talent on hand, I'd actually appreciate hearing them clearly.


Hat tip to my buddy Lucas Lee for letting me know about Beastplague, a three-piece from Florida playing Assück/Insect Warfare-style death/grind. These guys are so new, they only played their first show last month, but don't let that fool you; these are six songs (and a goofy intro) of very accomplished rage. So good, it's hard to believe they're giving it away for free.


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