Cannabis Corpse - Tube of the Resinated

Ah the side project. Next to reforming older bands eager to cash in on a revival of their particular style, 10 years after it failed the first time, possibly the most easy to deride form of band. Side projects are usually an excuse for musicians in our more favourite bands to create music that is totally different from their main band, using other influences in their musical cauldron and can produce very strange and poor results. But not this one. Featuring Landphil from Municipal Waste, awesome retro-thrashers from Virgina that have properly kickstarted an old school thrash revival, not the metalcore one that Trivium can lay claim to, Cannabis Corpse wear their two main influences very much in their name alone. Weed and Cannibal Corpse might be an interesting combination, and I'm sure many a metalhead can back me up that it works. But musically, these boys have absolutely nailed their Cannibal Corpse impression. Its a fantastic album, one that the Corpse boys themselves would have been proud of, but of course with hilarious parody song titles (see Gallery of Stupid High and Addicted to Hash in a Tin as my personal favourites) and lyrics based on getting high and weed monsters instead of brutal forms of murder and perversion. Its brilliantly tongue in cheek and fantastically well written, and is another example that old school death metal is still alive and essential. Powerfully refreshing in the modern deathcore climate, the only problem is that they've left their deathly forefathers quite a task in creating a follow up as ball busting as this. But knowing the Corpse, they will.

Bloodbath - Unblessing the Purity

Oh welcome back to the full force of Mikael Akerfeldt's death metal growl! As much as I love the winding paths of Opeth's magnificent progressive death metal, I always wanted that inhuman growl, almost like a hurricane wind on its longer roars, to last longer. Luckily Bloodbath can provide me with this! Put together in the early 00s as a side project for Akerfeldt to create a properly old school death metal band, they released two awesome albums then split, as Opeth was to become Mikael's main focus. Any death metal fan worth his salt has at least one of Nightmares Made Flesh or Resurrection Through Carnage. So it was great news to hear that they are back and Akerfeldt is back too. This four track EP is hopefully only a taste of what to come, but it comes across more as force fed rather than a delicate sampling. Blasting the Virginborn comes hurtling out of the gates like a tidal wave of awesome riffs and roars, a thunderous drumming performance only adds power and Akerfeldt's voice displays a more malevolent side to his Opeth work. The other 3 tracks are of a similar quality, with Weak Aside highlighted by an awesome solo and Mouth of Empty Praise ending with a choral flourish to really ensure that you don't forget it. An excellent release, if a little short, but hopefully it will leave enough anticipation for a new studio album, apparently released in October. I can't wait...

Deicide - Till Death Do Us Part

Ah Deicide, a true metal legend. That word can be thrown around a lot these days and have lost its proper meaning, and I will admit I use it a lot for no real reason, but with Deicide it is very apt. Anyone who knows death metal knows about Glen Benton's antics as the cross-branding, Satanic warlord overseeing his band's particular brand of ultra-blasphemous death metal from their awesome beginnings with their self titled debut up to this new disc. Deicide the record was a landmark for ferocity, unbridled religious hatred and birthed a genre star. And yes, they suffered a mid period slump where we began to wonder where the Deicide we all knew and loved had disappeared to. But with the removal of the Hoffman brothers and more than adequate replacement guitarists, Deicide have been reborn. The Stench of Redemption (2006) was one of the most threatening and brutal death metal records I've ever, and I became hooked on it for a number of months. Even now I will still claim Homage for Satan as one of my favourite tracks of that year without a doubt. But to the new record, can the new-look Deicide deliver again or was Stench just a glowing one off? Well the band have not disappointed. Till Death Do Us Part is awesome. Simply awe-inspiring death metal that shows that the masters still can outdo their young pretenders when they put their mind to it. Its as if they thought to themselves, well Stench was good, so lets double it. Its faster, its harder, its devastatingly heavy in parts and yet retains the grace melodic edge that Ralph Santolla's work as guitarist in Iced Earth and others undoubtedly stamped on the previous album. That gave Stench that dash of the unexpected that made it such a modern classic, and here it comes into play once again, Santolla pealing off fluid solos left and right that allows new Deicide not to be the classic blasting machine it always has been but a more measured, complicated animal. The epic, brooding instrumental opener The Beginning of the End is an unexpected highlight, as most intros of such ilk tend to be almost unnecessary, and tracks such as the title track and Horror in the Halls of Stone show that Deicide are as essential now as they were when they first tore Jesus a new one all the way back in 1990.

Job for a Cowboy - Genesis

Now this is an album I've been meaning to get round to for a while. JFAC are best known as a Myspace phenomenon, with umpteen thousand friends and a sickeningly young average age. But this impressive following, youth and admitted technical ability has left them derided as a metal flash in the pan that couldn't possibly have the longevity of older death metal bands who did it the old tape trading, touring way. Now the whole merit of Myspace debate is one I care not to get involved in, as I see both sides of the argument having valid points. Yes it allows any old group of kids with the Internet, some instruments, and the spare time to crack out any old guff but it is also key in the creation and spread of new music, regardless of the genre. The debate will rage on, but as long as music can be spread this way, there's always going to be great finds. Back to the album, there's nothing particularly offensive about it, it has its moments of impressive beatdowns, excellent guitar play and some crushing chugging sections, especially in the opening 'Bearer of the Serpent's Lamb' and 'Martyrdom Unsealed', but such high points are tempered by two completely throwaway instrumental parts that must have seemed important to include because they were a bit 'different', calmer and more eerie. Unfortunately it breaks up the flow and would have been better cast down on the cutting room floor. JFAC are certainly a competent band, there's no doubting the musical ability or the enthusiasm for the product, but its a shame that its not a great product. Job for a Cowboy have some good ideas and there's plenty of potential here for improvement, the players are adept but you can find better modern death metal in the hands of All Shall Perish and Dead Beyond Buried. One for the curious and general listener of death metal, but nothing too captivating for the hardened death-head.

Gorgoroth - Under the Sign of Hell

I finally managed to pick myself up a Gorgoroth album recently, after being only able to listen to a promo version of their last release, Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam. I went for Under the Sign of Hell, their 1997 tour de force featuring the first full vocal performance of then vocalist Pest. ...Hell is a icy cold blast of grim, Norwegian black metal, drenched in that unmistakable northern atmosphere that so many black metal albums from such luminaries possess. It's an intense album, with a tracklist that includes some of the more cherished Gorgoroth tracks. Their name, incidentally, comes from a dead plateau of evil from Mordor in Lord of the Rings, and you can just imagine this blast flowing over a desolate and melancholic place. The mix is powerful and earthy but only adds to the rough ferocity of tracks like Profetens Åpenbaring and Revelation of Doom. Pest's vocal performance is strong and raw, his vocals tearing out over the thunder of Infernus' riffs, although it would not match current vocalist Gaahl for pure vehemence and malevolence on later albums. A fantastic black metal blast, which would stand tall over its successors Destroyer and Twilight of the Idols and probably only be better by the devastating explosion of hate-fuelled metal found on Ad Majorem..., if you love your black metal, you should already own this. If you wanna get into it, there are certainly worse places to start. A milestone for one band still keeping the controversy in black metal. Blast on.

Vicious Art - Pick Up This Sick Child

Well, this could have gone very wrong couldn't it? A 'supergroup' of sorts, Swedish death and black metal stalwarts from such metal icons as Entombed, Dark Funeral and Grave, come together to put out a 'proper' old school Swedish death metal album. You can almost hear the critics rampaging to the front of the pit, ready to storm the stage and yell 'nay' to this idea. Well hold on a second, because this is rather special. The Entombed/Grave sound comes through straight away, and Vicious Art put most of their effort into writing solid death metal tunes that are straightforward in their structure and yet supremely brutal. The black metal fury of Dark Funeral is also thrown into the mix, and creates a death/black hybrid that creates a solid foundation for the album. Tombstone Grind, the album opener, is an absolute stormer of a track and it goes to show that if you want top quality death metal, you can always rely on the old guard. You don't necessarily need to go to the new deathcore squadrons for proper heaviness. Pick Up This Sick Child is a great slab of old school death metal that doesn't require too much brainpower, only neck power to properly bang your head to. Sick or not, you should definitely pick this bad boy up if you like your death brutal, straightforward and classic.

Arsis - We are the Nightmare

Arsis have released quite a death/thrash beast here. Newly moved to Nuclear Blast, it shows a band invigorated and ready to jump out there and take up the mantel of thrash for the 21st century. Singer James Malone's vocals possess that vitriolic bark that matches up with the awesome riffing he and Ryan Knight throw out all over this record. It drips with musical quality, solos fly from left and right and the technicality of some of the riffs is most impressive. However therein lies a problem with this album, the technicality. Of course, fretboard wankery is all the rage these days ever since Dragonforce appeared with their 3000 notes-per-second 'extreme power metal' and unfortunately it has moved into other genres. Its not necessarily a bad thing, as the title track and Servants to the Night show with wonderful ability, but the ironically titled Progressive Entrapment throws lots of ideas at you without coming up with a particularly coherent result. Myself being a fan of a myriad of technical metal found it an impressive listen but only after a few runs through it. Its not for a casual metal fan, its work can feel a bit overpowering and certain tracks lack that 'easy to headbang to' section that appeals to the mainstream metal public. Overall though, its solid enough, an enjoyable thrash through 10 tracks of melodic death with many bursts of technicality for the fretboard watchers in us out there, but some may find it a bit too messy. Maybe a bit less on the notes-per-second, and more on a streamlining of their attack for their next album and these guys could definitely put together an excellent work.

Thank You Trent Reznor

I have been a big fan of Nine Inch Nails for a number of years now, not just for the rock club floor filling stomp of Closer or Head Like a Hole but more for Reznor's less accessible works, like The Wretched or Me, I'm Not. Of course, NIN's appeal is obvious; a somewhat dark and twisted outlook on life married to an undeniable pop sensibility and the ability to write some damn fine pieces of music has lead to critical acclaim for Trent Reznor. But after the release of Year Zero, an excellent concept album about the collapse of a dystopian future, I was worried that we would have to wait another year or so for new NIN material, especially since I'd just begun to collect the EPs, remix albums and extensive back catalogue, and since I'd been lucky enough to unwittingly choose the 2nd show of his double header in Glasgow, where they played the less popular but arguably better material such as Heresy, Burn, Eraser and Help Me I Am In Hell.

And yet, Reznor will never let down his fans, more of the viral marketing that I found so appealing about Year Zero crept in and we have two new albums worth of material from Reznor this year alone, Ghosts I-IV and The Slip. Both originally offered as free digital downloads for fans, Ghosts has been released on a double CD format and vinyl, and soon The Slip will see the same release. Ghosts was recorded in a 10 week period in 2007 after the end of NIN's record deal, and was critically acclaimed for the way it was released: no advertising, no promotion, and released in such a format where anyone can remix and re-interpret the songs as long as they don't use it for commercial value. The Slip was preempted by a new song being released through the official NIN site, with a comment in the mp3 details saying May 5th. Subsequently, the album was released in a fully free downloadable form on Monday, and it is excellent. Makes you wonder why bands can take years between records when Reznor can create two full albums in little over 8 months. Admittedly Ghosts is all instrumental but that is arguably how NIN's music can be best appreciated. We know that Trent's lyrics of anguish and self destruction made him a poster boy for disaffection but his attention to detail in his music is second to none. Instrumentally, you can pick up subtle nuances in his work, sounds that you would never notice under vocals, moods, atmospheres, that affect songs in a way you can't understand, but in a way you know is good.

So thank you Trent Reznor, I appreciate all that you have ever done for rock and industrial, and I hope this new found productivity continues and you keep making music the way you do, because in this day of identikit metal bands, it's good to have a true maverick and genius among our ranks. Meet your master indeed...