Decapitated – Blood Mantra

"Blood Mantra is the most heavy and mature album we ever did in our career" - Vogg 

Decapitated is a death metal band from Poland. Blood Mantra presents their sixth studio album. I really like their 2011 release, Carnival is Forever. For me, Decapitated produces non-bullshit metal, displayed by a structured average of 5 minutes long songs on the album. I especially appreciate the vocals on this release. Decapitated are signed on Nuclear Blast Records (with bands such as Meshuggah, All Shall Perish, Carcass, Exodus and Thy Art is Murder).

My experience of Blood Mantra is that it’s less tiring than other death metal records. The album is overall groovier with extreme metal elements and atmospheric parts. Live, these songs will be a treat. The album is 45 minutes spanned over 9 tracks. Krimh played drums on the previous record, but has been replaced along with the bassist. For me, Vogg remains the dominant force behind Decapitated.

Exiled in Flesh is the first song of the album, a 4 minute long song that closes with an ambient outro. The Blasphemous Psalm to the Dummy God Creation is the powerful single and being 2:30 long it is a no-nonsense metal song. Veins starts with a heavy intro, Rasta enables a powerful song with his diction on the vocals. 5 minutes end with “fuck the system” reiterated as a cap to one crazy, cool song.

Blood Mantra is the title track of the album, a fast and angry song with impressive drum patterns at the end. Nest’ intro contains erratic riffs. The precise arrangements of beats creates a lively song; ‘a fist-punching circle-pit song’. The ambient rhythms on Instinct blend well with the shredding leads. There are extreme metal-esque riffs on the song and an accomplished verse. There is also an impressive solo in the first half of the song.

Blindness is a somewhat melancholic song, but with powerful and dynamic vocals. Red Sun is a 3 minute long ambient, instrumental song. The vocals on Moth Defect only start 2:30 into the song, forming part of an extensive 6:21 composition. For me, Decapitated as band are the heralds to the Polish death metal scene.

John 5 – Careful with That Axe

I really enjoy the previous six studio releases from John 5. In my mind, he is the greatest contemporary solo guitar artist in metal with a vast musical repertoire. The 2008 release, Requiem is my favorite John 5 album. It contains an awesome blend of nylon strings, banjo effects, flamenco guitar and full-force thrashing. It remains an all-time favorite reference to great solo albums.

I think Careful with That Axe is a less broody album than some of the other releases. The album only covers 30:54 as a blitzkrieg of exhibitionist riffs. The album’s title and a song is reference to an actual person, Sidney Sloan who murdered his father with an axe in 1906. He struck his father several times in the head. At first he claimed ignorance and later were sent to a criminally insane institute. Years later he bragged he would do it again if he could.

We Need to Have a Talk about John starts with modern day news samples of axe killings, and others samples, including one from the movie Full Metal Jacket. It serves as a striking intro to tribute Sidney Sloan as a theme on the album.

This Is My Rifle is the second longest song on the album. It starts with samples of machine guns firing to a beat. The incredible solos are true to John 5’s style. The song, Flight of the Vulcan Kelly starts with an erratic intro, building and breaking with sweeps and impressive bass work. This song is definitely of the more experimental songs in John 5’s musical repertoire.

Jerry’s Breakdown has a country music, carnival-type theme to it; a hillbilly-esque song. The awesome riffs in the middle of the song confirm a happy tune with impressive builds to amazing solos. Villisca is a straight forward good rock and roll song. Portrait of Sidney Sloan has a broody, fast intro with a fitting horror movie feel to the song.

Jiffy Jam is happy country music type song with banjo and steel-string acoustic riffs throughout the 3 minutes. It is well thought out and almost cheery bar song. Six Hundred And Sixty Packers in Hell contain groovy riffs and fitting bass guitar work. John 5 displaying his ability to scream his guitar.

El Cucuy covers the flamenco guitar song. A classic build signifies being near the end of the album. The Dream Slayer is surprisingly the heaviest song on the album as the final song. With harsh guitar screams and pounding drums it serves as closure to an impressive musical exhibition.

John 5 Website

Boargazm - The Backoning

My first impression of Boargazm was that they are just another alternative metal act. Boargazm is a 4-piece band from Pretoria and I admit I am oblivious to decent metal from Pretoria and I do not think Boargazm is per se a metal band. The Slipknot-esque influence on most of the songs and the varying arrangements of a noise band, makes me purposefully steer away from bottling them into a genre. Whatever they are, their album is full of it and it starts with the very graphic album art.

The Baconing is the follow up album to their first album The Aporkalypse. The 9 songs on The Baconing averages on 3:20 a song, which exposes a template of conceptual planning on the album. The drums that are recorded live on the album gives a raw dynamic to the songs.

The Intro is a mediocre 30 seconds wasted. Underverse follows as a lively song with groovy riffs. I assume the ‘underverse’ reference is from the Chronicles of Riddick. An underverse is a constellation of dark, new stars. The song that follows, Rebel Slave is my favourite song. With a lot of Slipknot influence, the pounding riffs and queer sludge sounds are unfortunately undermined by the escalating harmonic vocals on the chorus.

In Days of Yore carries the album with Slipknot-ish screams and sounds, ending with the guitars fading from left-to-right to give a nice effect. Of Mice and Men is another lively track, that starts with faint pig squeals. The instrumental track that follows, Breach starts with a weird intro and is an overall weird song. One could mistake it for an Evanescance track. The longest track on the album brings the momentum of the album to a near halt. There are ascending melodies that thickens the song a bit.

Star Overseer has chugging riffs, switching to wailing screams that powers the way to an erratic verse. The song contains a unique bass solo. Ideals of a Fool features Herman le Roux from Juggernaught, who provides weird blues hooks on the song. Ending the song with pig squeals.

Not gonna get us is a Tatu cover and can just rightly fuck off! It is silly to have it as track 9 on an 11 track record. It fucks with the composition of the album. There is a weird solo fused over the original hooks of the song. The best thing about this song is the fart and snot sounds at the end. Empire of Doom contains solid bass riffs and is an overall good song, I like the crashing vocals on the verse. Aftermath as an outro is utterly irrelevant.

Live, their stage presence occupies more space than four people tend to. I rate them as the type you want to have a braai with. At both shows that I saw them perform at, they held their own with the best punk and metal bands in the Western Cape. Live, Cicero Carstens accomplishes triplet slaps on the bass with ease. Jason Hinch playing drums, also performs for the Black Cat Bones and Chris Danger Thundervolt, the second guitarist plays bass for Dead Lucky, as well as the Black Cat Bones.

I am indifferent to the pig masks and the overall leitmotif of the aporkalypse. They have an amazing stage presence and are known for wild antics such as jumping higher than they should. I rate they will always be uncomfortably cramped on the metal stage at festivals; but would just be as ill-fitted on a main stage.

Their soundcloud

Corporation - Shadows of the Corporation

The past years I have been less vocal about punk, something I do not enjoy defending that much anymore. Shying away from the punk label, particularly after seeing the opening ceremony to the London Olympics where dolls bobbed their oversized heads to Pretty Vacant, commenting that they do not want cheap comments. I just wanted to call the punk attitude quits.

Most punk bands have transposed their style, appropriating a more sanitized image. The milieu is scattered with essentially rock bands, few bands playing heavy music that is not metal. The ethos and attitude of punk are transplanted to something very trendy or it is invisible. Crust Punk bands are only nostalgically referred to today.

Crack Rock is a positive pole to punk’s recent clean image. Dirty, vulgar and anti-capitalist, true Crack Rock bands are the dirtiest punk can offer. I think Corporation is a Crack Rock band, with a healthy lenience towards rock contained within its finer sounds. The album contains powerful chords with full-bodied, memorable songs. The 2009 album Return of the Corporation was an awesome album, high on my list of favorite punk albums.

Bank Korrupt opens the first 20 seconds with a weird intro that spill over to familiar riffs and heavy vocals. The song is about being bankrupt and the bank being bankrupt, with a long sample about debt. Quarter Life Crisis is a melodramatic and anxiety ridden song to have as a second song. Venom contains 4 vocal parts with 31 words between no vocals parts in 19 seconds.

I Hate the Radio’s intro is more than a minute long. The chorus is gang vocals of “I hate the radio” repeated 4 times embedded between two bi-vocal verses that serve as anthem. The song progresses to a weird reggae bridge with final chorus and outro. Fuck the radio, I fucking hate the radio. The radio is an advertising medium with no altruism that works tit for tat.

9 to 5 sings anti-work and anti-capitalist sentiments, such as “would you let your child self beat the shit out of you?” The lyrics reiterate the plea to not sell your soul for cash “9 to 5 are you even alive?”. Menstrual Envy is a very weird song. It is the longest song on the album, with a hypnotic and angry feel.

Jesus and Santa is a 180 degree change in mood to happy-clappy street punk. The songs’ carrying bass and trumpet sounds beautiful. It is skater music with attitude, unfortunately only 1:25 long. You Lose contains fast riffs and furious vocals. It sounds a lot like previous songs, such as Land of the Free. An anxious beat presses down on the vocals.

Last Calls’ brass section qualifies the song with jazz-ish elements inserted with rocking guitars. An organ builds to full-on fast and happy skater music. The song is about fucking up songs while drinking till last call and passing out. A cheesy 10 second guitar solo is followed by a solid 10 second bass solo. Consider this my Resignation starts with a very fast intro with clean 90’s type punk vocals. It is a classic punk song that ends the album, probably the most archetype punk song on the album.

The album leaflet states the album was recorded in basements. With 10 songs that span over 28 minutes, it did not take long for me to familiarize myself with the structures of the album. I predict a quick decline in listening of this album and I soon started skipping Quarter Life Crisis and Menstrual Envy. I don’t rate this album as impressive as Return of the Corporation was on the first couple of listens. Nonetheless, this is one of the best punk albums this year.

Authenticity: 8/10 Overall: 7/10

Bandcamp

Soreption - Engineering the Void

1. Reveal the Unseen
2. The Nature of Blight
3. Breaking the Great Narcissist
4. A Speech to Survival
5. Utopia
6. Monumental Burden
7. I Am You
8. Engineering the Void

Swedish technical death metal is not a familiar and comfortable genre for me, and the genre itself is limiting to explain why I like this particular album. With a logo that is decipherable and the album cover that is relatively mellow, I like it because it's contemporary. Established in late 2005, this contemporary band trump a lot of tech death forerunners (I dare not veer to compare Necrophagist [to avoid a fear-of-life dilemma]).

Engineering the Void is the album that have captivated me most in 2014 so far. Presenting technical precision with a groovy feel embedded in dynamic composition. Ample sweeps on the guitar, with some awesome slapped bass, insanely fast guitar riffs and technical double-bass drumming. The vocals are audible with a high level of production. 8 tracks being just enough to captivate me by not being too long with ambient, undecipherable samples and fillers that usually just gets in the way in the genre. The surprisingly audible vocals breaks my face, whilst retaining that tech death feel.

The power from technical precision is sustained throughout the album. Engineering the Void comprises of 8 very complete songs. Full-bodied songs that is usually lacking for me in technical death metal. In essence Engineering the Void veer from any excessive bullshit.

The second half of Breaking the Great Narcissist contains a morbid synth that progress into an awesome melody, quickly shattered by double-bass drumming and thunderous vocals. A very weird synth fill in Monumental Burden builds to seemingly endless sweeping on the guitars. The title track Engineering The Void present a guest vocal appearance from Trevor Strnad (The Black Dahlia Murder), and together they sound very angry.

Soreption released Deterioration of Minds in 2010 and Illuminate the Excessive EP in 2007. I rate Engineering the Void a 8/10, mostly for presenting a very pragmatic album.

Dead Lucky - Sons of Lazarus

Western Cape punk bands are in short supply, restricted by a default elitist or naive mentality towards punk music. Although Dead Lucky themselves claim a dirty rock outfit, they do carry the ethos of punk, disjoined from its conventional attributes by incorporating catchy rock riffs and Lemmy-esque vocals.

Sons of Lazarus deliver a Gospel of authentic music, with accessible rock elements that grind to the bone. The album presents a variety of interesting licks and memorable lyrics, enabled by a tremendous effort on production. The twelve songs that span over 47 minutes affirm an LP worth the wait.

Kyle’s shouts/screams/highs and lows embedded with fair portions of elegance and fury makes him a fierce frontman. Jean’s jackhammer drum-blasts etch awesome grooves across the tunes. The guitar-front is consistent in delivering catchy riffs, the rhythm and lead complimenting each other. Sons of Lazarus and Sin City start with an “o my fuck it’s this song” bass intro, continuing with a varied and dominant bass range across the album.

The first song is a self-titled ‘fuck you’ type anthem. Following with a prophetic feel on the vocals, King of the Underworld resonates with evil through a brilliant chorus and a sweet and short solo that empowers Kyle’s demonic vocal capability. The single Prowler steers far from the punk-mark with catchy rock riffs. It is a radio-friendly song, even being 5 minutes long (*hint hint corporate cocksuckers). Fat bass lines walk the crafty drum work into a classic rock feel, leaning towards ‘rock’ rather than ‘punk rock’. 

Live Fast, Die Last slows the tempo, enabling a crass feel that adds variety to the album. Speeding off again in fast tempo, Our Prayer begins with a catchy guitar intro, followed by the drums drilling down and Kyle’s powerhouse vocals layered with style. The clean guitar intro to Favourite Kind of Woman soon spirals with rowdy riffs and wild snare-beats. Sin City continues the dirty feel that will make those of faint heart wash their hands. The crashing cymbals give a driving platform for the vocals.

With a swaying melody, Women of the Night illustrate a dirty and eager story that only good punk rock can tell – a win recipe for fun. End of the Day is an easy listen that contrasts the album with a very slow tune, expected from a veteran dirty-blues outfit.  Slow Dance with the Devil has a grungy feel; the slow tempo makes it a hypnotic song.

Immortals end the album, confirming fair accreditation of a ‘poes-cool’ LP. To my liking, 7 Sins would have been a nice bonus track, a raw golden oldie definitive of Dead Lucky. It is the song to which I usually lose my chill with pretentious, pious believers and am gladly thrown out of a venue, because FUCK YOU if you cannot hear the music.

Download the album

Follow them on Facebook

Photos accredited to Michael Ellis - Snapkamera

Half Price - Programmed to Party

Half Price is a great South African drunkpunk band with an accomplished track record of amusing live sets. Twelve years down the line, their fifth studio album Programmed to Party still carry the sarcastic leitmotif of music made for people that love to party. The 5 track EP presents a quarter hour of cheerful tunes. 

The band consists of uber-friendly dudes that always seem to have fun without succumbing to the sausage-machine music-industry’s norms and values. The DFG (Dirty Fucking German) plays bass with a sex offender’s passion, hailing from the sheep-herding town of Mariental. In 2008, Mawk were added on guitar (I might have been at his debut gig). Kyle, the drummer adds a solid backbone to the music, a poster boy for what a serious and talented drummer should be. I truly admire his technical capacity to play for a metal band as well, Bulletscript – flawlessly being able to differentiate between two rather different playing styles. Homo Pete is an enigmatic front-man that plays with conviction, together they are a well-rehearsed unit that each has a mind for music.

They started in 2001 and have released three full-length albums, and their first EP, the 2003 Bush, Bin Laden & My Mom’s Nought. My favorite album is their 2004, Taking Life Seriously. They then released Banned, apt for their situation at the time. The Monotony of Monogamy was released in 2010 and it is truly an amazing album for me – Oh My God... 

   

Programmed to Party is the opening track to the EP. Fast street punk beat, with a different, yet awesome feel to the vocals. To the end, there is a sample of people partying, escalating to an anthem, where the coherency between the vocals, guitars and bass are a joy to listen to. Familiar type harmonies on the vocals and interesting bass slides make for a very good opening song.

Still Playing Punk is a fast song, with the opening verse "Well, it’s been 10 long years and we’re still having fun." The second verse progress further with impressive bass that flows between persistent harmonies on the vocals, qualifying this as an anthem. The song reminds me of Conspiracy of One (The Offspring). The song ends with an aggressive vocal surge and a nice clean finish.

Mighty Black Lung is a lyrical acknowledgement of the addictive joy that is nicotine. The bass carries a cynical tune that makes for a good punk song. A long sample of the harmful effects of smoking, wedged between 3 different vocals make for a very interesting structures between the bass and vocals.

Iron Lion Zion is a very good Bob Marley Cover. Doubling the song in pace and adding punk elements to it, makes it an awesome circle-pit song. It is nice to have this cover on record, adding to Half Price’s impressive music repertoire. It’s “Rastafari, fucking reggae music Mon!” 

Roddy & Zecois exposes the difference in vocals on the EP. It is a good party song with a colorful story behind the song. After only a couple of listens, I find myself singing “Roddy, Roddy, did you fuck her?” Laughing spontaneously at “At least my dick is bigger than Kyle’s”

I have been fortunate enough to witness Half Price live a number of times, afterwards blissfully reminiscing at their tendency to play live naked. Ever since I witnessed a show in 2005 in my hometown in Namibia, I was astounded at how flawless they are at executing interesting music, while having immense fun. In 2008 I had the sincere pleasure of chilling with Pete post a gig in Stellenbosch, sharing perspectives on music. They are a fun-loving band that has mutual respect for good music as well as always being ready for a party. For a while now I've been hooked by their personas and I will always remain a fan of the band.

Homo Pete and your honorable Cesspiel

With 5 songs, including a Bob Marley cover and numerous samples, it is very much an EP. Yet, definitely a significant release in South African punk. Embarking on a tour around Germany in August and having toured Europe twice before makes Half Price the archetype of a good Western Cape DIY punk band.

Message them on Facebook for an EP by post

Punk Identities in Post-Apartheid South Africa (Sociology thesis PDF that references Half Price 19 times)