“Guitar seems so fucking loud. People walking on the crowd. Diving off the P.A. stacks. Breaking ankles, necks and backs. Then the circle begins In the thrashing pit/Fists are flying/People getting hit/Tooth chippers left and right/Skinheads in another fight/Banging heads and broken jaws Because there are no laws/ In the pit!” - D.R.I
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| Horns up |
New Horizons
Butthole Surfers – After the Astronaut
Although some songs on here form the basis of 2001’s poor ‘Weird Revolution’, this record should have predated it. ‘After the Astronaut’ actually sounds like it was a fun album to make and still has high-quality production values and just enough weirdness to tempt back those fans who switched off thanks to ‘Electriclarryland’ and their bullshit lawsuit with Touch and Go.
The album can be streamed and purchased
Mau Maus – The Battle Scars of Human Debris
The cult UK hardcore band return with their first album in five years. Now sporting Nick Wynch (Unholy Alliance, English Dogs) on guitar, the end result is a ferociously angry record that updates the UK82 sound for the 21st century. Songs like ‘Genocide’, ‘Memento Mori’ and ‘Poppy Day’ will get moshpits going in no time.
The album can be streamed and purchased here.
Deafkids – Cicatrizes Do Futuro
Sao Palo’s Deafkids remain one of the most esoteric, forward-thinking acts of today. Focusing on rhythm as opposed to riffing, we get a suitable follow up to 2019’s ‘Metaprogramação’. Tracks like ‘Cicatrizes’ and ‘Possessao Coletiva’ are the aural equivalent of being trapped in a crumbling mental hospital: danger lurks everywhere but it’s well worth the risk.
The album can be streamed and purchased here.
Maquina – Body Transmission
Two years on from their last LP, Portugal’s Maquina return with another record that takes the drive of krautrock and the mechanical rhythms of industrial rock but have turned up the volume on the guitar amp. It takes a while to get used to but songs like ‘collapsing’ groove like a bastard while the likes of ‘bizarro’ is the sort of track that HEALTH should be making.
The album can be streamed and purchased here.
Golden Oldies
Pete Sandoval sounds surprisingly good for someone who couldn’t play on Morbid Angel’s disastrous “Illud Divinum Insanus” because of back trouble. Musically, it’s certainly a lot more brutal than ‘Darker Days Ahead.’ Tracks like ‘Flesh to Dust’ and ‘Evolving Era’ are particular stand outs for drumming and guitar work.
Vektor – Outer Isolation
It’s clear that the group worship Voivod (note the sci-fi influenced artwork and a logo that borders on plagiarism), but that’s no bad thing, is it? The well-timed melodic break on ‘Venus Project’ is strong evidence that they know exactly what they’re doing and there’s enough punch throughout the LP to make you realise that Vektor stand on their own.
Orange Goblin – A Eulogy for the Damned
On this record, Orange Goblin left the stoner tag behind them and began to aim to elevate themselves to rock elders status. While it didn’t quite succeed, this is still a riff packed album, with a thick sound and bass and guitar locking impressively. Opener ‘Red Tide Rising’ is a surprisingly full and pulsating track while ‘The Filthy And The Few’ has an 80s cock rock drive.
Laibach – Spectre
The 2008 financial crisis, European austerity crisis and reemergence of Russia as a provocative state inspired Laibach no end. Although not an album where you can pick stand out tracks, as they don’t jump out at the listener the way they should. Taken as an album, it’s an exciting and dark electro/industrial piece that urges us to take up arms and join the state of NSK.
⏩ 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 and is the author of A Vortex of Securocrats and “dethrone god”.
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