Trends and scenes come and go with metronomic regularity like the waxing and waning of the moon – one minute the light side, in full view of the world and worshipped from afar, the next out of sight and ignored along with the inhabitants that dwell there. And thus the procession of shallow *cores or death/black/hardcore crossovers becomes a footnote in the history of metal only to be resurrected in 20 or 30 years as the new big thing.

As the bright face of the Death Metal and Trad revivals seem to be waning, the new school are already lined up to take it’s place in the hearts and minds of the kids. So what will come next, and will it really go nuclear and become the next HUGE thing (like NWOBHM, Thrash, Grunge, Emo)?

There seems to be emerging 2 real growth areas under the metal banner that could make the transition to mainstream: Doom/Stoner and Grindcore. On the surface, these two genres couldn’t be more different – slow, monolithic, gloomy, subdued against fast, frenetic, angry, complex – but there are similarities, if not so much musically. The denizens of these genres are generally un-metal (in the traditional sense) and are neither flamboyant or posturing (unlike much of the current crop of trendies) displaying more Alt-like characteristics. There’s no clear fashion other than jeans+t-shirt+tats. They both descend from a very clear ancestor (Black Sabbath and Napalm Death respectively) and have a old school DIY ethic.

The key here is that both genres are opposed to the brash and showy incumbent scenes and have a very ‘anti’ feel about them – they are primed for insurrection. Both genres are enjoying an upsurge in popularity and visibility (witness High on Fire ransacking the US albums chart) which could see them hit a critical mass to swells them into the mainstream. Finally, both genres are offensive/parent baiting enough to have teenagers the world over slathering with delight. The effect this may have on the scene and culture is a subject for another post, but there’s a conversation happening here on the subject to whet your appetite.

And the players in these surging genres? Here are a few, that are indicative rather than representative.

Grindcore

Landmine Marathon

Fuck the Facts

Rotten Sound

Doom/Stoner

Electric Wizard

Dozer

Church of Misery

I don’t often act on (or in many cases listen to) unsolicited review requests that arrive via Myspace mail, but the one I received from Fuck the Facts caught my eye. Firstly, they actually bothered to personalise the message, secondly they offered to give out their tracks to anyone who would review (or in any way promote) them, and thirdly they mentioned that they were self releasing. I get countless grammatically dubious mails via Myspace (not to mention the ones via direct email, blog comments, etc.) that say something like “nice profile, hows trix check us out if you get a sec , if not that’s cool” (that’s a real one from a band who shall not be named) and expect me to bother spending time listening to, and reviewing their band when they can’t be bothered to even formally introduce themselves!

By chance I also saw Cosmo Lee’s review on Invisible Oranges so I decided to check them out. The music is an amusing mix of early Dillinger Escape Plan (minus the jazz/spazz) with elements of black and death metal (most notably Morbid Angel) which could broadly be described as Grindcore. A must for fans of Ted Maul and their ilk. It’s short, violent and to the point. Excellent stuff.

What’s more interesting is the way they are releasing it. They’re doing a limited run of  500 copies of the EP on vinyl, the packaging of which is hand made. Anyone who orders it gets a code to go download the the MP3′s for free. This is enterprising and very forward thinking and anyone who’s spent any time reading my overly impassioned musings on self releasing will know that I approve. It also has a real personal touch that will make the hard copies very collectable. The download mechanism is handled by a site called Bandcamp, which is totally new to me. You can stream your music and offer both free and paid downloads (including an option to off ‘pay what you want’) and well as generally promote your band. It’s an interesting service and one that I’m going to write a bit more about – watch this space.

So go give Fuck the Facts a leg up, because this this sort of behaviour should be rewarded!

What I spent my hard earned cash on recently.

Completely failing to do the honourable thing, Alice in Chains released the controversial comeback-after-loosing-a-key-member album and managed not to offend everyone, in fact, anyone. Black Gives Way to Blue is nothing short of stunning. Dark, brooding, sludgy but with lashings of gorgeous melody and soaring vocal harmonies that evoke the spirit of Layne Stayley without kicking his corpse. William Duval does an impressive job of stepping into giant, baggage laden shoes and even manages to shine in places. However, Cantrell with his devastating riffs and sound defining harmonies is the star here…and perhaps he always was?

Megadeth never went away. Some (including me) wish they had. Mustain may have reinvented my Megadeth’s sound many a time, but he’s never managed to come close to capturing the magic of the first 5 albums (and most specifically Rust in Peace). Endgame is no exception. It maybe a tour de force of modern thrash, but it’s not hard to stand out from that particular crowd, and Endgame fails to really excite or challenge. Comparisons with Death Magnetic are beside the point (I happen to think that Metallica’s is the better album, as untrendy as that my be to admit), Megadeth are hiding their lack of creativity behind an (admittedly dazzling) array of technical expertise. Entertaining but not essential.

Ever wanted to un-hear an album so that you could fall in love with it all over again? This is what I felt about Baroness’s Red Album. Since no technology has been invented to enable this (other than perhaps a carefully applied cricket bat to the head) my only hope was that their follow-up The Blue Record would have the same affect on me. Sadly, I was disappointed. Despite the fact that Baroness are still at the top of their game, The Blue Album just doesn’t pack the same punch as its predecessor. All the ingredients are still there, but the exhilarating instrumental flourishes that really define their sound manifest as more traditional prog meandering. Although I’m still in this for the long haul the romance just isn’t there anymore.

I picked up on Every Time I Die with their last record The Big Dirty. I was charmed by their lyrical satire and swaggering grooves. Expeditions into their previous works failed to excite me in the same way. So I wasn’t particularly pleased on discovering that their new album New Junk Aesthetic was a return to the older, more hardcore sound. They obviously lost their bottle. Unadventurous and uninteresting.

Om’s groovy repetition and monotonous chanting generally either sends you to sleep or into a nirvana like transcendental plain. I generally just find it soothing. God is Good is no great departure in terms of overall intent, however the sound has taken on a cinematic feel perhaps making it more accessible to the masses. This is nice, but it actually detracts from the minimalist, hypnotic groove that really defines their sound. That said, I quite like the eastern flavourings in their own right, but I think it will leave most Om fans feeling like they only got half an album.

I’m not sure what to say about the new Pelican album What We All Come to Need. More of the same as the last album. Unchallenging but pleasant enough.

Grind Madness at the BBC documents the legendary Peel Sessions with Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror, Bolt Thrower et al. It’s a tonne of fun and has some great packaging. As a historical document it is nigh-on genre defining. Utterly recommended for all fans of extreme music.

Black metal, grindcore, industrial black metal, death metal? Make up your mind boys for gods sake!

Too cool for corpse paint

Anaal Nathrakh generally sound mostly black metal, although don’t suffer that terrible corpse paint affliction that most black metal children do. This song is actually a little frightening, but extremely enjoyable never the less. With a foot firmly in the grind camp, there’s also an air of Rammstein here, and not a whole lot of black metal at all.

Warning, this will make your ears bleed!

http://www.last.fm/music/Anaal+Nathrakh/_/The+Final+Absolution