“Glasses smash full of champagne. It trickles down the drain/A treat for sewer rats. You're like a rat when you get high/People falling on the floor or running out the door. Lights in the night burning red and white/Shine on me so I can see out in the cold out on my own.” - The Ruts
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| Horns Up |
New Horizons
With a cover referencing ‘Blue Monday’ and Frank Herbert, London based Teeth of the Sea deliver their first club friendly record. Opener ‘Artemis’ is a hypnotic nod to Vangelis while ‘Get With the Program’ is an up tempo thumper with vocals with questioning, almost hectoring, vocals. ‘Butterfly House’ gives up an uplifting and pretty arpeggio line. A much more commercial proposition but it suits TOTS, plus there’s still plenty of menace in numbers like ‘Megafragma’. Two thumbs up.
The album can be streamed and purchased here.
False Fed – Let Them Eat Fake
Picking up where Amebix left off, guitarist Chris ‘Stig’ Miller and drummer Roy Mayorga are joined by Discharge/Broken Bones vocalist JJ Janick for a dark, epic and apocalyptic record. ‘The Tyrant Dies’ begins with a nod to Killing Joke before turning into an all-encompassing atmospheric monster of rage and anger. ‘The Big Sleep’ sounds like it could have been an outtake from Amebix’s ‘Sonic Mass’ and ‘The One Thing…’ is an uplifting, pastoral number offering hope. Amazing stuff.
The album can be streamed and purchased here.
Venera – s/t
An unusual collaboration between Korn guitarist James Shaffer and filmmaker/producer Chris Hunt, this LP blends the ethereal, the dissonant, the heavy and the rhythmic. Mainly instrumental, tracks like ‘Ochre’ (with vocals from HEALTH legend Jacob Duzsik) and ‘Swarm’ provide a haunting and moody soundtrack for the coming autumn. What’s refreshing here is that both Shaffer and Hunt never allow one particular mood to dominate, shifting between introspection and discordant.
The album can be streamed and purchased here.
Marthe – Further in Evil
Described in the press notes as a solo bedroom project for broken souls who can’t find piece, this is the debut record from Italian goth/crust musician Marzia under the Marthe banner. Operating in that murky swamp between crust punk and black metal but certainly leaning more towards the latter, songs like ‘Dead to You’ and ‘To Ruined Alters’ take the primitive, cavern sound of epic crust and the shrill, atonal vocals and guitar tone of black metal to create a moody headbanger of an LP.
The album can be streamed and purchased here.
Atomck – Towering Failures
Self-described “Eccentric and bitter scene veterans” from the UK who are “unpopular even for grindcore”, Atomck return with their first LP since 2017. Playing a sloppy, crustier version of grind may not win them plaudits for those who prefer a slicker sound but this is a killer record for those who love a crusty take. Song titles like ‘Butcher AC/DC’, ‘Robocop 2’ and ‘You Guys Drink a Lot’ further the madness and the results are invigorating. Killer guitar tone as well.
The album can be streamed and purchased here.
Dome Runner - Apocalypse. Pulse. Worship
These lads from Finland worship 90’s industrial metal. Everything from the logo to the sleeve, the guitar tone and the vocals are indebted to this period of music. And yet, this is no nostalgic retread as songs like ‘Subversion Shock’ and ‘Frustrator’ plummet the listener into submission through a punishing rhythm section and distorted, harsh vocals with layered screaming/yearning vocals for atmosphere. Fans of Godflesh, early Pitchshifter and Slab will find much to appreciate in here.
The album can be streamed and purchased here.
Golden Oldies
Arguably the peak of UFO’s recording career (as well as their time with Michael Schenker), this 1977 record has no fat on its bones. Right from opener ‘Too Hot to Handle’, Phil Mogg and co refine their hard rocking into something that could trouble the charts (such as the title track) without forgetting their early roots (covering Love’s timeless ‘Alone Again Or’). Closer ‘Love to Love’ is reportedly Iron Maiden legend Steve Harris’s favourite song of all time.
Toxic Holocaust - Chemistry of Consciousness
Once ludicrously described as the end result of Kerry King jamming with Minor Threat, Portland’s Toxic Holocaust have been consistently producing records that bands like Skeletonwitch would sell their organs for. ‘Awaken The Serpent’ doesn’t fuck about. Just straight in with riffage straight from the Sodom/Discharge book of “How to Thrash in 10 Easy Steps.” The distorted vocals betray the black metal influence, which gives them the edge over many of the (ahem) “nu thrashers.”
Melvins - Everybody Loves Sausages
Solemnly serious and perennial piss takers; the Melvins are the American equivalent to The Fall. A covers album from them should be a celebration of the weirder end of their record collections. And with a mixture of classic rock, 60’s garage, gay disco and punk ‘Everybody Loves Sausages’ adheres to this creed. Surprisingly, the songs are pretty much straight covers. ‘Female Trouble’ has a hint of Captain Beefheart but, otherwise, isn’t a million miles away from the original.
The Obsessed – Sacred
A pivotal influence (alongside Saint Vitus, Candlemass and Trouble) on the doom genre, The Obsessed have been going in some shape or form since the late 70’s. ‘Punk Crusher’ sports a riff that bears more than a passing resemblance to ‘Medicine’ by Monster Magnet but replaces the latter’s psych rock freak out with a thundering drum section and a very typical Wino solo. It’s clear that ‘Sacred’ is a highly enjoyable slab of doom played by people who know what they’re doing. Ace.
⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.
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