Untimely Demise
City of Steel
Sonic Unyon Metal

City of Steel, the full-length debut from Saskatoon thrashers Untimely Demise, was self-released by the band last year, but has been given a killer re-release courtesy of Sonic Unyon Metal, so let’s pretend this dynamite piece of soul fucking metal is new and bask in its ripping glory like whores presenting themselves at the Goat’s altar, shall we? Untimely Demise’s complex, brutal, and demonizing approach to slashing your gut and watching your innards drop out into the snow is made all the more vile by Matt Cuthbertson’s venomous snarl, a foamy gush of putrid vocals that couldn’t sound more perfect if they were puking out of the festering mouth of a zombie German drill sergeant. Add to that an insane — and by that I mean plenty and crazy — amount of tempo destruction, bat shit solos, and melodic hooks, and City of Steel becomes seven tracks of heavy metal mastery that ought to be universally regarded by fans of Kreator, Death, et al. (hell, Children of Bodom fans take note of the title track’s chorus) as pure evil, speed dealin’ pandemonium. Most everyone will hate you for playing this, which is exactly why it rules so damn hard, and why you should play it loud all the time.

Listen to “Virtue in Death” from City of Steel!

Black Cobra
Invernal
Southern Lord

Invernal, the fourth full-length from Bay Area duo Black Cobra,  is every bit the cracked teeth, world swallowing, gaping Hell mouth I expected it to be, but the urgency and desire with which I have embraced its festering lips and drank in its putrid stench has surprised even me. The visceral battery of sludge Rafa Martinez (drums) and Jason Landrian (guitar and vocals) unleash sounds like Matt Pike taking a rusty-chained whipping from Kerry King and Tom Araya — and there’s only two of ‘em! Whether it’s Kurt Ballou’s production work or the band’s overwhelming desire to harness the force of charging thunder into suffocating black riffs, Invernal pounds out eight cuts of unrelenting rotten roll much braver, louder, and nastier than any Black Cobra album that’s come before. This here is proof that sludge doesn’t have to be prosaic, that it can attack you like a zombie ape and bite your fucking head off.

Listen to “Avalanche” from Invernal!

Well, there’s no problem. If you have a gun, shoot ‘em in the head. That’s a sure way to kill ‘em. If you don’t, get yourself a club or a torch. Beat ‘em or burn ‘em. They go up pretty easy.

It was George Romero’s 70th birthday on Wednesday, so the wife and I celebrated by watching Night of the Living Dead. The original 1968 version, of course. It’s strange how on his birthday we’re the ones who get such a nice present. Anyway, I really love watching old horror movies because, more than anything, they’re good for a laugh. We’re so used to trillion dollar budgets and CGI this and green-screen that nowadays that when we come across something archaic and raw like a movie from the 60s, it seems comical in comparison. And most times it is, but that’s really not the case with Night of the Living Dead.

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