One album. Twenty minutes. A hundred songs. Absolute fucking insanity.

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Is three albums in three years overkill? It doesn’t have to, but in Aborted’s case it just might be. Strychnine.213 follows hot on the heels of ‘07’s Slaughter and Apparatus, which itself came shortly after ‘06’s The Archaic Abattoir. The latter was a mighty fine romp into melodic death metal of the Carcass variety, and firmly ensconced Aborted at the top of their game. Ridiculously catchy riffs were underpinned by stellar leads that somehow retained a murky brutality thanks to Sven De Caluwe’s nasty growls, rasps and screams. Yet it’s ‘03’s Goremageddon that will always best represent these Danes, being something of a minor classic in its field.

On Strychnine.213, Aborted retain the core elements of their sound, but the results are nowhere near as memorable. Initial listens prove unrewarding, disappointingly yielding a dearth of truly standout moments. Aborted are noticeably trying to shift their emphasis from bludgeon to a more atmospheric, dare I say brooding attack. ‘Carrion’ does this rather well, as spoken words are bolstered by groove-laden riffs and searing lead-work. ‘A murmur in Decrepit Wits’ also utilises this approach well, as the time-honoured tradition of movie samples is reprised in a decidedly eerie bout of mid-paced riffery. The standard issue Aborted numbers fare rather less well, however, and they are evidently less memorable than their forbearers. Repeated listens yield some goodies, and the likes of ‘Ophidolatry’ is up there with some of their best, but at times Strychnine.213 comes over somewhat rushed. The great thing about Aborted has always been their propensity towards an instantly gratifying adrenaline rush, and the more nuanced approach icomes across a little out of character. A more thought out and planned attack for the future will no doubt have these fellows back in flying form, but at the moment they’re sounding a little like they’re on autopilot.

Official Aborted Website
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Official Century Media Website ]]> http://chiveta.wordpress.com/?p=446 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:35:09 +0000 chiveta http://chiveta.wordpress.com/?p=446 Tituluzinho sensacionalista, né? Na verdade os britânicos do Carcass estão convocando seus fãs para abastecer uma pasta de fotos no MySpace dedicada a isso. Para tal, os doentes de plantão admiradores deverão mandar seus retratos por e-mail; podendo ser a clássica pose fã+banda, seu carro com o adesivo dos caras, tatuagens relacionadas a eles, o nome deles escrito na virilha, sabe esse tipo de coisa que os mais doentes fanáticos se sujeitam?!

A ala brasileira de fiéis seguidores do death metal/grindcore dos britânicos pode comemorar: o Carcass confirmou uma apresentação em São Paulo, no Santana Hall (antiga casa de shows do pagodeiro Netinho, ex-Negritude Jr. e que engrossa a lista de canditados bizarros a vereador na capital paulista), no dia 09 de novembro. Então anotem nas suas agendas hmmmm com sangue e já mande uma foto pra eles -- provavelmente vão achar o máximo!

apesar do Photoshop Disasters, o Carcass mostra seu apoio à campanha de vacinação contra a rubéola

The earlier part of the album has a strong grindcore influence to it — I don't even know much about grindcore but I heard its influence even before I looked up other reviews that said it was there.  I will say that it's a style that I don't care much for, so coming so early in the album it was initially a bit of a shock for me, and it sort of pushed me away at first.  As I understand it (and I might not understand it very well), it's this grindcore sound that contributes to the album being a lot faster and more "brutal" than many other black metal albums.  Thankfully — for me at least — in the second half the group tones it down a bit, although even "toned down" it's still a lot harsher than any other metal album I own.

It's not like that first half is unlistenable or anything, though.  There are a lot of enjoyable bits in there, and the band doesn't confine themselves to just a single style.  Just in the vocals they've got screaming, growling, and some clean singing.  There are a lot of great riffs and some nice guitar solos.  My favorite of this first half is "Between Shit and Piss We Are Born", which has a cool chorus with clean vocals over an arpeggiated guitar part and frenetic (electronic, I believe) drumming.

With "Waiting for the Barbarians" the album's second half begins, starting with an awesome riff that sounds a lot more like the little black metal that I've heard.  Also in this second half we begin to hear a strong almost "industrial" sound, gradually building up until the end of the album.  On "The Yellow King" there's a part where most of the guitars stop and the drumming slows and what sounds like movie samples of a man screaming in agony start to play.  "The Necrogeddon" also has some samples and bursts of noise, but the sound really reaches its peak on the album's final track, "Regression to the Mean", which alternates between sections of a synthesized sound that's like a mixture of wind and some gigantic machine bent on crushing all in its path and sections of super-heavy, almost march-like guitar playing backed with a synthetic chorus part.  A lot of the time when metal bands try to play with synths it turns out really tacky-sounding, but Anaal Nathrakh make it work on this track.

Perhaps Eschaton was not the best way for me to progress from the atmospheric sound of black metal to the brutal sound, but hey, I never progress in the best way when it comes to exploring music.  Sure, parts of it were a bit harsh for my wimpy, ambient-loving ears, but I can't deny that this was a lot of fun to listen to.

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At 38 minutes and 52 seconds, being 12 songs long, one could not call this a long album by any stretch of the imagination (granted, it still beats punk and grindcore albums in length). The thing is, this album doesn't need to feel longer. It has so much going on within it, 39 minutes is plenty.

First off, I want to discuss that this is another one of those "theme albums" that you have heard so much about. I must admit, I have a soft spot for theme albums, but I am always quite skeptical. Most theme albums turn out to be boing, cheesy, cliche, etc. There are but few theme albums that turn out great [Leviathan by Mastodon is a shining example of this, themed after Moby Dick]. Into Eternity's newest album really is none of these. It is tough to think of a metal album as a theme album if it's theme is death, disease, etc. as this album's theme is supposed to be. Quoting an interview with blabbermouth.net, "The incurable Tragedy was inspired by the deaths of [Tim] Roth's two best friends, brothers who succumbed to cancer within two months of one another." While I am not trying to take away anything from the fact that this indeed is a theme album, it would really not be too far-fetched to say that this deals with pretty normal subject matter for the genre they are in.

The second thing to address, and easily the most noticeable, is the incredible musicianship on this album. As always, Into Eternity delivers on all fronts as far as performance goes. All those long years (about 11 years now) of constant touring has really paid off in this department for the band. Each performance only gets better. Roth's guitar work is above and beyond, and the vocals, as always, are enormous. Arguably the best vocals in the business are found in Into Eternity's music (check out Stu Block's wail, and tell me it doesn't blow you away - you won't, unless you're lying of course). The new addition to the overwhelming musicianship are the interludes found on this album that were in very short supply on previous efforts, these interludes being the "Incurable Tragedy" series. THese are very ballad-like songs that follow the same general melody, then the weepy guitar chimes in, followed by the big vocals. These interludes are the emotion that this album needs to keep the "theme" in tact. Overall, the instrumentation is over the top and out of control in most cases. They tug on the reigns here and there just a little to keep the whole thing from just plain running away from them.

The biggest weakness of this album is quite easily it's lack of originality. As I have discussed in previous reviews, this can be a double-edged sword. It helps some bands while it hurts others [sellout v. classic, losing fame v. evolving/improving]. In this case, it hurts the album a little bit, because the sound that Into Eternity has always had is not very cohesive, and changed pace quite often, with the pieces of each song jutting out. Trying to put together anything with this band is like having only square blocks to put into only round holes. Because they have so many influences, and play in so many styles, it gets to be a little much at times, and the dramatic and fast switch of styles and sound certainly adds to the fact. I happen to enjoy what it is they do, but it is a point in which deserves heavy criticism and notice. It is very much a love/hate point of discussion.

Because of this style, it is really tough to create a very cohesive album with your less-than-cohesive songs. Think of it in the way that grindcore is. Grindcore is typically all songs built section by section, with no real chorus or repeated sections, just stacking riffs and breakdowns end to end until it is a series of stuff that the band thinks sounds good. In a less extreme way, that is what Into Eternity's sound is like. Because of this, the first couple of listens are sort of tough until you get used to what is going on, but then it quickly grows on you. The first instance in which I heard Into Eternity, I simply had no words to describe what I had just experience, none good nor bad - I was utterly speechless and confounded, sonically and aurally assaulted. THe more I listened, though, the more I love it.

All in all, the album is great at what it is good at, and awful at what it is not good at - typical over-the-top album style.

Track picks: "Diagnosis Terminal" and "Prelude to Woe"

Overall Score, first listen: 5/10 devil horns
Overall Score, second listen: 7.5/10 Devil horns

I suggest you give it a listen just to experience the pure sonic power and diversity that this album brings to the table. Overall, it's nothing spectacular, no matter how much I love it (and for the record, I REALLY love this album after my fifth listen through).

Disfrútenlo:

This show was my first time seeing Cryptopsy. Flo killed it. I think they were touring for the ...And Then You Will Beg album.

Along with Unsane and Helmet, Today Is The Day represent one of the few active acts associated with AmRep.  While they never had a hit like "Unsung" or "Scrape", they were still able to find their audience and tour/record new music, even after AmRep fell apart.

They formed in the early 90s in Nashville, Tennessee and debuted with self-released EP called "How To Win Friends And Influence People" in 1992, which attracted attention of AmRep. They were signed to label in February of 1993 and released "Supernova" later that year. The following year they released "Willpower", followed by "Clusterfuck" EP with labelmates Chokebore and Guzzard.  Their self-titled album released in March of '96 became their final record for AmRep.

In 1997, they signed to metal label Relapse Records, which released "Temple Of The Morning Star" (1997), "In The Eyes Of God" (1999), "Sadness Will Prevail" (2002), and "Kiss The Pig" (2003), as well as compilation called "Live Till You Die" (2000). "Kiss The Pig" was the last record that they did for Relapse, while "Axis Of Eden" (2007) came out on band leader Steve Austin own label Supernova Records.

Musically, they post-AmRep sound shifted in more metallic direction (not surprising, given the fact that they were signed to Relapse), but they never abandoned trademark quirkiness - compilation album "Live Till You Die" included cover versions of songs by Bad Company, Chris Isaac and The Beatles, while double album "Sadness Will Prevail" is mixing noise/ambient and heavy metal in equal proportions.

Associated Bands - Mastodon, Aurora Borealis, Blotted Science, Divine Empire, Hate Eternal, Malevolent Creation, Nile, Esoteric, Circle Of Dead Children, Lethargy, Taipan

Fun Facts

- TTID are well known for their use of samples from movies, songs and commercials. Snippets of dialogue from movies "Rebel Without A Cause", "Paradise Lost", "Carrie", "The Last Temptation of Christ", "The Illustrated Man", "Memento", "Rosemary's Baby" (among many others) can be heard on their records.

- Former members Brann Dailor and Bill Kelliher went on to play with Mastodon

- Steve Austin is not related in any way to WWF figher Steve "Stone Cold" Austin

- Steve owns "Austin Enterprise" studio in Nashville, TN and he also runs his own label Supernova Records. Some of Supernova acts include TTID side project Taipan, Defcon 4 and Roanoke.

- TTID portrayed a christian rock band in black comedy "Duck! A Carbine High School Massacre" (1999)

Discography:

How To Win Friends And Influence People EP (1992)

I Bent Scared 7" (1993)

Supernova (1993)

Willpower (1994)

In These Black Days Volume 3 (Split With Coalesce) 7" (1997)

Temple Of The Morning Star (1997)

In The Eyes Of God (1999)

Live Till You Die (2000)

Sadness Will Prevail (2002)

Kiss The Pig (2003)

Zodiac Dreaming (Split With 16) Mini-CD (2001)

Descent (Split With Metatron) (2001)

Axis Of Eden (2007)

Descent

This Machine Kills Fascists

Spotting A Unicorn

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and a little bonus for you kids, cause hey it's Friday!

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