MetalMatters: June 2019 – A Month Full of Long-Awaited Returns

I miss the prime days of Hydra Head, before it entered a period of decline. The label used to put out one great album after the next, just taking a peak at their activity during 1998-2000, Hydra Head produced records that would define mathcore, grind, and hardcore for years to come in the Discordance Axis’ The Inalienable Dreamer, Botch’s We Are the Romans and American Nervoso, as well as Cave In’s Beyond Hypothermia.

Nowadays, the label’s output is sparse but it still delivers as the recent Oxbow, Godflesh, and Endon albums suggest. This feeling of nostalgia is augmented when looking at the releases for this month. The label played a pivotal role in the rise of the post-metal scene during the ’00s, reshaping much of the extreme music landscape. During those days, Hydra Head thrived in its aesthetically diverse roster, reaching from the outer limits of grindcore in the likes of Agoraphobic Nosebleed and the forefront of noise with Merzbow, all the way to the experimental, off-kilter rock of Oxbow and the heretical black metal of Xasthur.

This month on a number of Hydra Head artists resurfaced, with Cave In and Pelican releasing works that were conceived and recorded under, at the very least, struggling times. The Austerity Program, one of the acts to fall, unfortunately, in a state of obscurity, also returned with one of its strongest works to date in Bible Songs. And of course former label head Aaron Turner, with his current sonic vehicle Sumac, revisits the free rock and improvisational world with Keiji Haino.

But of course, this is just one slice (even though significant) of this month’s releases. Carrying on their heavy metal journey Darkthrone unleash Old Star, a record containing a condensed dose of the best that ’80s extreme music could offer through way of Black Flag punkish tones and AC/DC rock ‘n’ roll attitude. On the death metal side, Fetid produce a truly horrifying ride with Steeping Corporeal Mass while Nucleus travels to the technical, bizarro sci-fi edge of the genre with Entity. On the black metal front, Panzerfaust returns with another occult offering, while Yellow Eyes continue their cataclysmic march through the discordant plains of the genre, channeling the spirits of the dissonant cohorts that overwhelmed the ’90s. These and a few more you will find in this month’s feature, so put on your headphones, dig in, and enjoy!

Heavy Metal Guitarist by The Digital Artist (CC0 Creative Commons / Pixabay)

Baroness – Gold & Grey (Abraxan Hymns)

There is not really a band that depicts the process of creative evolution better than Baroness. The Georgia act began its journey in the progressive sludge field of the ’00s with a sound adjacent to the early, heavier investigations of Mastodon and Kylesa. But when their debut record Red Album arrived, it became clear that beneath the heavy guitars and slow groove something else was afoot.

Through the years Baroness continued to dive under the surface of sludge and extreme metal, resulting in the exploratory work of Blue Record, but it was really Yellow & Green that fully realised the band’s concept. It was in that double record that Baroness found their sonic trajectory, an intersection between their heavy sludge past, the melodic capabilities of alternative heavy music, and their progressive tendencies. It was this vision that fueled the band to then unleash Purple, a record that focused even further on the melodic side of the band and explored a more sentimental dimension.

Four years after the release of Purple, Baroness return with another double record in Gold & Grey, and they produce something remarkable. Gold & Grey doesn’t necessarily act as a continuation of Purple, but rather as an overarching overview of Baroness’s journey so far. A track like “Seasons” sees the band stay true to their later phase, embracing the expressive shoegaze touch and its deep psychedelic sense, progressing through melodic notions before an assault propagated through blastbeats takes over. It is through these more forceful moments that Baroness display the extent of their angst, which leads to cathartic peaks.

“Borderlines” also re-awakens the proto days of the band through its razor-sharp heavy riffs and the subtle southern-inspired lead work that usually accompanied this. Yet, it’s the psychedelic touch that delivers some of the band’s most powerful moments, in the otherworldly “I’m Already Gone” with its unearthly bass line and groove, or the folk passages of the incredible “Tourniquet” with its dual vocal performance.

Gold & Grey highlights a known truth about Baroness and their take on creativity: rules are there to be bend, boundaries are there to be expanded. This is a band at its peak releasing another masterful entry in their flawless discography. – Spyros Stasis

The latest record of Cave In,
Final Transmission, comes with a bitter taste. During the songwriting process bassist/vocalist Caleb Scofield tragically passed away. At that stage Final Transmission was simply a collection of demos, but the band decided to fine-tune these recordings, mix and master the final tracks, and release them. There’s a strange dichotomy that occurs due to this decision with, on one hand, Final Transmission feeling incomplete, but the journey of Cave In feels like it has come to a pivotal point.

Taking into consideration everything that occurred during the songwriting process and production of this work, Cave In has managed to construct a formidable record, one that travels back to the most successful days of the band in
Jupiter. The combination of heavy guitars, extreme weight and groove with a melodic backbone, and an emotive quality makes the album striking. “Winter Window” follows down that path masterfully, while “Lanterna” features an even more abrasive and forceful progression.

The dreamy psychedelic touches of “Lunar Day” and “All Illusion” provide the final addition to Cave In’s musical collage. It is great rediscovering all the intricacies of Cave In, eight years after their previous record
White Silence came out, but it also comes at the realisation that this band, unfortunately, will never be the same. – Spyros Stasis

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Darkthrone – Old Star (Peaceville)

“More metal than ever.” Due to a glitch in my email client that line, attributed to Fenriz, was the only text in the promo email for Darkthrone’s new release. It’s a thought that’s (a) absolutely true and (b) really the only thing that needs to be said about Old Star. Having reached their 18th full-length, one of black metal’s second wave elders nowadays play metal – full stop. Their music comes in various shapes and forms, mischievously mixing heavy, doom, and punk on the same track.

Like their previous record, Arctic Thunder, Old Star glows with a jubilant, liberated, and often whimsical aura. Right from the start, Nocturno Culto and Fenriz dig deep into ’80s metal, referencing in equal measure original heavy tropes and proto black legends like Celtic Frost on “I Muffle Your Inner Choir”.

The only glimpses of old Darkthrone appear on the aggressive cut “Duke of Gloat”, while elsewhere, like on the closing “The Key Is Inside the Wall”, the duo seem more interested in worshipping Motörhead and AC/DC’s vision of hard rock. Regardless of style, Fenriz and Nocturno Culto once again prove how well-versed and comfortable they are in writing fun, rousing records. – Antonio Poscic

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Enablers – Zones (Exile On Mainstream / Lancashire and Somerset / Broken Clover)

When it comes to Enablers, talking about ‘progression’ is almost besides the point: their sound was near-perfect when they found it, and since 2004 all that has been left to do has been to whittle, trim, and tinker. And so it is with Zones, the band’s sixth full-length album and one that sees them continuing to skim effortlessly between subtle nuance and raw power. T heir jazz-dappled post-hardcore flaps lazily in the breeze one moment and hurtles down like a thunderbolt the next. Sparks fly, metal bends, and streamers unfurl.

Frontman Pete Simonelli keeps things centred, drawling his way through sorry tales dredged from after-hours bars and ill-advised stumbles through the wrong parts of town. Oxbow and Lungfish continue to serve as steady points of reference, both in terms of sonic palette and adherence to a craft that is odd, wonderful, and yet strangely unrecognised. Suffice it to say that if you have been listening to Enablers since their debut, you will not be disappointed in Zones. If this is the first time you’re listening to Enablers, well, you will not be disappointed either. – Alex Deller