Fun Fact

Just in case you didn't realize it, Monstrosity played before 80,000 people as a headliner in Columbia once. Monstrosity is one of my all time favorite bands, but seriously - 80,000 people? Point being : RAISE THE FUCKING GOAT SKULL.

Buckshot Facelift - "The Trainwreck Sessions" Cassette

"The Trainwreck Sessions" is a tape Buckshot Facelift put out earlier this year. Side B has prank calls I made to Sal. Download it for free HERE.

Damn, ma, I see you out here

Click the picture to see me pour beer on Sal and hear some of the new album.

What did you do this weekend?

Because Dan Olivencia was kicking it with Harley Flanagan, doggie. It's still the fuckin' Age of Quarrel out there.

And just in case you were inclined to believe the hype, peep this article I found that sheds a little light on Harleys side of the recent Cro-mags beef. If I ever kicked Dan out of a band or replaced him on bass in a band, I'd start watching my back right about now. I was just kidding that time I said Old Boar was over, doggy, for real. It's all love. Don't even sweat it, we could rehearse tonight.

You didn't know?

Buckshot Facelift

How to sound smart when you're drunk

A lot of people hate on my boy but 

HE DID THAT, THOUGH.

Deicide Claymation? WTF?

Am I the only person who didn't know about this? I still respect the shit out of Deicide. This is hilarious, the song's great and least they didn't record  "Radikult". Deicide made a cartoon of themselves and Morbid Angel became a real life cartoon.

Flawless Victory

Front if you want, but this is shit is dead on, rock solid METAL. RESPECT.

Sarsekim - "Fathom the Spheres" (2009)

Sarsekim from Australia do a really interesting take on middle of the road Death crossed with some old European sounding passages, never over thrashing or teching out too far, but keeping a nice, professional balance between classic oldschool Florida style Death Metal and deep, melodic flourishes of progressive guitar fusion. The vocals are a little deeper and more brutal than the traditional high pitch Schuldiner rasp that a lot of Death influenced bands go for, which never appealed very much to me anyway (All respect to Chuck though, R.I.P.).This is a very interesting record that grew on me after a few listens, and what I like is that it satisfies my need for exotic arrangements, rhythms and melodies without ever leaving Death Metal in the background. From what I recall, this album was self financed and released for free, but the website is now down so I have no official link. A bunch of other blogs have it so if you have a computer and Internet you'll probably be able to figure something out.This might be another one to give a second listen to if you're still bummed by the new piece of garbage Morbid Angel album.

New Finnish heat in the game, shit is real...

Apocryfal, from Finland, manage to take the traditional Finnish approach to Death Metal - doomy, guttural and distant, and filter it through an updated sense of brutality and rage that, at times, sounds more like 1993 Suffocation than 1993 Amorphis. They do not stop to groove very much at all, and opt to blast and barrage their way through most of the 3 songs, pausing only occasionally for bleak nods to melodicism and trudging double bassy parts that have more in common with marching through snow than stomping out mosh pits. The release itself is produced very well and has better sound than some full length albums. Highly recommended, ladies and gentlemen. Light a cigar to this one.
Apocryfal on Death Metal Invasion

Code Hendershaw! (Scattered Remnants Cover)

Morbid Crucifixion is a one man project from Israel that claims to be influenced specifically by the Indonesian guttural slam Death Metal scene and Satan. As if that doesn't make him ridiculously Kult and obscure enough, he has recorded what is, to my knowledge, the first official Scattered Remnants cover song - "Profanation of Christ", which, with its dramatic "Fuck your god" breakdown, obviously takes on a whole new tone having originally been written in New England and now being performed in Israel, of all places. This immediately caught my attention when perusing DeathMetalInvasion.com recently for new bands, as I am a long time Scattered Remnants devotee - almost as long as I've even been into Death Metal at all. I was not disappointed - for one man using a drum machine, he did an impressive job capturing the song in a lo fi guttural context. Opting to replace some of Jay Hendershaws legendary murder shrieks with cricket croaks and inhales was an interesting idea, as were the subtle changes in certain rhythms that updated the song from 90s stoicism to early 2000s slam and grind. The solo was classy - just enough to put an original signature on it without changing anything too big.  Right at the end, he even gives you some of those previously mentioned murder shrieks to show that low end creak vocals are, as always, a choice and not a last resort. My only question is - why did it take 15 years and some guy in Israel to do a Scattered Remnants cover? Check it out for yourself, you can download all his releases for free:
MorbidCrucifixion.com