Municipal Waste – Electrified Brain (Nuclear Blast) [Zach Scott]
If nothing else, Municipal Waste is a party band. A fun band. They make music at that classic crossroads between hardcore and thrash, and in their career, spanning over 20 years, they’ve released some classic party metal albums – The Art Of Partying, Hazardous Mutation, and even late-career offerings like Slime And Punishment are all hard-hitting albums full of tunes to get unbelievably inebriated to. Electrified Brain, the band’s newest album, is no different. While you can tell they’re not as young as they used to be, this album still contains the same light-hearted hardcore influence mixed with relentless speed they became known for – albeit without the youthful vigour that makes their earlier albums so enticing.
Starting things off with a classic thrasher of a title track, Electrified Brain doesn’t take any time to get you into the swing of things - it’s straight into the fray with shredding guitar solos and a nice mix of groove and thrash riffs, although not quite hitting the same tempos as they used to. Tony Foresta’s vocals are as idiosyncratic as always – you can hear the age in his voice, but it doesn’t detract from the quality, and if anything it gives it a new dimension, showing that Municipal Waste may be older but they sure as hell aren’t changing.
The guitar duo of longtime member Ryan Waste and recent addition Nikropolis Poulos conjures some meaty riffage with the latter providing some face-melting solos all throughout the album. Drummer Dave Witte is on form as usual with his non-flashy but impressive style, and bassist Land Phil is a little understated but still provided a solid rhythmic foundation. The band’s style of mixing melodic riffs with dissonant thrashing riffs is on display here, although it does make the album stand out a little less when compared with their earlier output, as it doesn’t try anything outside the box.
Hardcore influence is on full display here as well, with some groovy two steps featuring throughout this record, such as in Last Crawl, which has a fantastically catchy chorus typical of the band’s style. If this album is nothing else, it’s a musical call to get wasted, an art that Foresta and co. have perfected over the years. The album does suffer from being too similar to their standard style and it will inevitably be compared unfavourably to those classic albums.
Starting things off with a classic thrasher of a title track, Electrified Brain doesn’t take any time to get you into the swing of things - it’s straight into the fray with shredding guitar solos and a nice mix of groove and thrash riffs, although not quite hitting the same tempos as they used to. Tony Foresta’s vocals are as idiosyncratic as always – you can hear the age in his voice, but it doesn’t detract from the quality, and if anything it gives it a new dimension, showing that Municipal Waste may be older but they sure as hell aren’t changing.
The guitar duo of longtime member Ryan Waste and recent addition Nikropolis Poulos conjures some meaty riffage with the latter providing some face-melting solos all throughout the album. Drummer Dave Witte is on form as usual with his non-flashy but impressive style, and bassist Land Phil is a little understated but still provided a solid rhythmic foundation. The band’s style of mixing melodic riffs with dissonant thrashing riffs is on display here, although it does make the album stand out a little less when compared with their earlier output, as it doesn’t try anything outside the box.
Hardcore influence is on full display here as well, with some groovy two steps featuring throughout this record, such as in Last Crawl, which has a fantastically catchy chorus typical of the band’s style. If this album is nothing else, it’s a musical call to get wasted, an art that Foresta and co. have perfected over the years. The album does suffer from being too similar to their standard style and it will inevitably be compared unfavourably to those classic albums.
However, Municipal Waste is one of those bands where you know exactly what you’ll get, and regardless of how old they are or how many albums they’ve released, you know they’ll deliver a solid album of party music - and that’s exactly what they’ve done with Electrified Brain. A very enjoyable listen, but unfortunately doesn’t hold much of a candle to albums like Hazardous Mutation or The Art Of Partying. 7/10
Suicide Silence – The Cleansing Ultimate Edition (Century Media) [Zach Scott]
Suicide Silence is universally regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history of deathcore, and The Cleansing is usually credited as being the reason for this. Released in 2007, during the halcyon days of MySpace deathcore, the album took the scene by storm, charting incredibly well for such an extreme album and making a lasting impression on the genre. The 15th anniversary edition presents these classic tracks, alongside live recordings of the album tracks and some instrumental rehearsal tapes which showcase the songwriting process that went behind the album.
The first thing to point out is that MySpace deathcore is a very dated style. It is normally incredibly easy to pinpoint what era of deathcore a band is from because there were many stylistic elements that were popular back then that haven’t aged particularly well, such as humourous song titles, egregious use of samples, and scene-influenced band names. The Cleansing, on the other hand, has aged incredibly well considering the time period it was released in.
Suicide Silence – The Cleansing Ultimate Edition (Century Media) [Zach Scott]
Suicide Silence is universally regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history of deathcore, and The Cleansing is usually credited as being the reason for this. Released in 2007, during the halcyon days of MySpace deathcore, the album took the scene by storm, charting incredibly well for such an extreme album and making a lasting impression on the genre. The 15th anniversary edition presents these classic tracks, alongside live recordings of the album tracks and some instrumental rehearsal tapes which showcase the songwriting process that went behind the album.
The first thing to point out is that MySpace deathcore is a very dated style. It is normally incredibly easy to pinpoint what era of deathcore a band is from because there were many stylistic elements that were popular back then that haven’t aged particularly well, such as humourous song titles, egregious use of samples, and scene-influenced band names. The Cleansing, on the other hand, has aged incredibly well considering the time period it was released in.
Songs like Unanswered, Bludgeoned To Death, and Destruction Of A Statue are still just as crushingly heavy as they were back in 2007, and the production is just as raw and gritty and it should be, contrasting from the often sterile production of modern deathcore. Mitch’s vocals may hold up less favourably when compared to the enormous gutturals of modern vocalists, but the frontman is no less iconic. There’s a reason The Cleansing hasn’t been forgotten in the annals of deathcore history, and despite the band’s less-than-stellar output since Mitch’s passing, the band is still cemented as something of a Mount Rushmore deathcore band.
Now, onto the new stuff. The Ultimate Edition comes with some great additional content in the form of bonus tracks, live versions of the album tracks, plus four instrumental rehearsal tapes. The three bonus tracks are great, not quite album material but it’s good to hear a song like Swarm get the full production treatment, and a brutal band like Suicide Silence covering Deftones’ Engine No. 9 is a great thought, and is executed pretty well.
Now, onto the new stuff. The Ultimate Edition comes with some great additional content in the form of bonus tracks, live versions of the album tracks, plus four instrumental rehearsal tapes. The three bonus tracks are great, not quite album material but it’s good to hear a song like Swarm get the full production treatment, and a brutal band like Suicide Silence covering Deftones’ Engine No. 9 is a great thought, and is executed pretty well.
The live recordings really showcase what the band was about. Tight and brutal, it shows that they really did translate well to a live setting, while also demonstrating why Mitch Lucker is seen as one of deathcore’s greatest frontmen – in an era where vocalists didn’t particularly pay much attention to the longevity of their vocals, Mitch was impressive live and also was very talented with his interaction with the audience. His calls for moshing and headbanging never go amiss, and his low gutturals were very impressive for 2007. The production on these live recordings matches the album well, maintaining the gritty sound while including ambient audience noises to capture the live feel as well as any recording can.
The instrumental rehearsal tapes are interesting to hear as they put the work of instrumentalists Mark Heylmun, Chris Garza, Mike Bodkins, and Alex Lopez on full display. Their work can often be underrated with an iconic frontman like Mitch, but the riffs and breakdowns wouldn’t be the same without such a strong instrumental squad. They don’t really have any replay value but they are interesting to hear the songs from a different perspective.
Overall, the album holds up very well in the modern era of deathcore, and the addition of the live tracks is great bonus content for the 15th year of an unforgettable and historic record. These live recordings are by far the best addition to this album, and give a new dimension to the songs. This celebration of The Cleansing’s 15th birthday is an ode to one of deathcore’s most important albums, as well as reminding fans just how and why this genre became what it is today. 9/10
Saor - Origins (Season Of Mist) [Matt Bladen]
Evoking windswept mountain vistas, the smell of roaring pyres and battles lost and won in the mists of history, Scottish atmospheric black/folk metal act Saor, the Gaelic band name for sole member Andy Marshall. Names as the pioneer of 'Caledonian Metal' Andy has been forging his own, undeniable path since 2013 drawing on the Olde English paganism of Winterfylleth but imbibing it with the traditional sounds of Scottish/Gaelic folk music. So as a fellow Celt I can certainly identify more with Saor, musically too I find Saor more appealing than his English brethren as Marshall doesn't unleash black metal tinged with folk influences but manages to merge the two into something that builds cinematic layers, resulting in music that is heavily inspired by the natural world and history but also features nods to power metal bands too.
Acolyte - Recovery Unplugged (Wild Thing Records/Blood Blast Distribution) [Matt Bladen]
Featuring three acoustic versions of tracks from newest Entropy and their Shades Of Black EP. Recovery is an exploration in making less noise than normal but carrying just as much impact as the full throttle prog metal these Aussies have been so associated with. Joining the band is an orchestra to add a sense of gravitas to tracks such as Resilience, where the wind and string instruments are used so well, it's atmospheric and romantic, creating visions of windswept vistas and ships heading out sea leaving their families behind.
The instrumental rehearsal tapes are interesting to hear as they put the work of instrumentalists Mark Heylmun, Chris Garza, Mike Bodkins, and Alex Lopez on full display. Their work can often be underrated with an iconic frontman like Mitch, but the riffs and breakdowns wouldn’t be the same without such a strong instrumental squad. They don’t really have any replay value but they are interesting to hear the songs from a different perspective.
Overall, the album holds up very well in the modern era of deathcore, and the addition of the live tracks is great bonus content for the 15th year of an unforgettable and historic record. These live recordings are by far the best addition to this album, and give a new dimension to the songs. This celebration of The Cleansing’s 15th birthday is an ode to one of deathcore’s most important albums, as well as reminding fans just how and why this genre became what it is today. 9/10
Saor - Origins (Season Of Mist) [Matt Bladen]
Evoking windswept mountain vistas, the smell of roaring pyres and battles lost and won in the mists of history, Scottish atmospheric black/folk metal act Saor, the Gaelic band name for sole member Andy Marshall. Names as the pioneer of 'Caledonian Metal' Andy has been forging his own, undeniable path since 2013 drawing on the Olde English paganism of Winterfylleth but imbibing it with the traditional sounds of Scottish/Gaelic folk music. So as a fellow Celt I can certainly identify more with Saor, musically too I find Saor more appealing than his English brethren as Marshall doesn't unleash black metal tinged with folk influences but manages to merge the two into something that builds cinematic layers, resulting in music that is heavily inspired by the natural world and history but also features nods to power metal bands too.
The jig in the middles of Fallen, that segues into the best use of pipes I've heard, is something that a band such as Grave Digger would give their right arm to be able to accomplish properly. Origins is the fifth album by Saor, the first on seminal extreme metal label Season Of Mist, as such it relays much more heavily on the blistering black metal influences than the previous record. The Ancient Ones, going full Nordic BM, session drummer Dylan Watson, showing his mettle here, there's a much more guitar orientated sound to Origins, perhaps taking cues from the title and bringing the band back to its foundations of black metal. While the cinematic, atmospheres are still there in every one of the six songs here, it's the guitar playing that often takes center stage, the classic/power metal influences I mentioned earlier conformed by Andy in interviews regarding the album.
Vocally as well the guttural growls have shifted into black metal shrieks, as Sophie Marshall adds some ethereal backing vocals. Origins' lyrical content deals with the Picts a race that come from in the post-Roman world of Late Antiquity/Middle Ages, who lived in the North/East of Scotland, Andy wanting to pay homage with pagan/tribal styled music, as most of the Celtic countries at that time had yet to fall under the grasp of Christianity. Marshall uses traditional instruments such as the Carnyx horn on Call Of The Carnyx, though it's Aurora that feels like it could come straight from a movie screen the horns and pipes building into a fantastic solo, it's the longest track on the record but the one that will have you hitting repeat.
At just 6 songs the pacing is just right the two longer offerings on the middle of the album with two shorter ones either side, Beyond The Wall recalibrates you after Aurora with pagan black metal that is stripped back and violent. Ending with the beautiful title track Origins is the most accomplished and inspiring Saor album to date. 9/10
Acolyte - Recovery Unplugged (Wild Thing Records/Blood Blast Distribution) [Matt Bladen]
Featuring three acoustic versions of tracks from newest Entropy and their Shades Of Black EP. Recovery is an exploration in making less noise than normal but carrying just as much impact as the full throttle prog metal these Aussies have been so associated with. Joining the band is an orchestra to add a sense of gravitas to tracks such as Resilience, where the wind and string instruments are used so well, it's atmospheric and romantic, creating visions of windswept vistas and ships heading out sea leaving their families behind.
Following this is title track which is practically a piano instrumental, moody, evocative and stirring, I do still prefer the two with vocals but there's no doubting the power of the band musically with the orchestra just adding that little bit extra. Space And Time closes out this special little EP, with flourishes of Fleetwood Mac and the UK prog/folk scene of bands such as Mostly Autumn, the passionate vocals and musical ensemble in a beautiful in unison.
Recovery is the sort of EP I always enjoy when a band are between albums, it's something out of the ordinary and often sets the tone for their next record. It will very interesting to me how they use the style off Recovery on their next album. For now though this is exciting break from the heavy. 7/10