Cannibal Corpse - Hammer Smashed Face (Live)

Band: Cannibal Corpse
Song: Hammer Smashed Face
Show: Wacken Open Air (2007)
Genre: Death Metal
Language: Strong

I feel like it's important for me to return to some of my roots as we come to the end of regular postings here, so I did a deep dig in my old post list, and found that Cannibal Corpse was the 12th band I ever posted, and that was an album review.  I actually ended up posting the studio version of this song just 20 days after that.

As that was back in 2014 though, I feel I'm totally justified in sharing the song again, as it's highlighting the lice show that CC can bring.  Behold Corpsegrinder's gigantic neck, it's the stuff of legends.  He's also a huge World Of Warcraft fan, hence the Horde logo tattooed on his arm.

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A to Z 2k18: P is for Portal

Band:  Portal
Song:  Revault Of Volts
Album:  Ion (2018)
Genre:  Death Metal

As you may remember if you were reading when I posted Avatar, I'm a huge fan of bands with a theme.  The theme of Portal is to be incredible mysterious, with insanely complicated music.

I believe to date the identities of the members of Portal remains a mystery.  While it's known that the band has gone through some shifts in members (thanks to this nifty wiki graph), they've managed to keep the general information on the band fairly light.

I love them though, I feel like the whole thing is a borderline ironic passion project like what my band is, only they're way better than we are.

The whole mystery around them is really attractive to me though.  This album is so much better mixed than earlier stuff had been too, so you can hear what all the many layers of instruments are doing rather well.  The old stuff was hella muddy, but this stuff is really surprisingly clear.  Well, for what it is at least.

There's so much I feel like I get out of this music though, and I was super pumped to learn they were releasing a new album (this one) this year.  I've given it a couple listens and it's basically exactly what I was hoping and dreaming for.

Needs a music video on par with Curtain or Glumurphonel though, it is missing that.

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A to Z 2k18: N is for Nile

Band:  Nile
Song:  Lashed To The Slave Stick
Album:  Annihilation Of The Wicked (2005)
Genre:  Death Metal

Who here likes Egypt?  Cool, I have a band for you.

It's not often you find a band that's as lyrically theatrical as Nile while actually giving information.  If you listen to what these guys have to say, you'll actually get a load of Egyptian mythology thrown at you.  Most of that's because the primary writer, Karl Sanders, is a huge Egypt buff.

On top of that their songs are crushingly brutal.  I remember checking these guys out in the past and really not enjoying what they had to offer, but listening again I'm fully willing to believe I just picked up the wrong album.  I mean, I enjoy Death Metal a lot more now than I used to as well, but no biggie.

QUESTION!  What's been your favorite song I've posted so far this month / What band have you been most excited to get introduced to?

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Cannibal Corpse - Kill Or Become

Band:  Cannibal Corpse
Song:  Kill Or Become
Album:  A Skeletal Domain (2014)
Genre:  Death Metal
Language:  Strong

Have y'all seen Bright?  If you haven't, you really should.  It's such a fun movie.

One of my favorite funny moments they had though was when Jakoby turned on the radio and it played Cannibal Corpse's song Hammer Smashed Face.  At least I'm like, 99% sure that's the song they played, it sounded like the one held out "You".  I was tickled when I heard it.

Can't share that song with ya though, cause I already posted it.  The good news?  I'm here with another great tune from ol' CC, Kill Or Become.

Also I just saw they put out a new album, so I'm gonna have to look into that.

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Cavalera Conspiracy - Killing Inside

Band:  Cavalera Conspiracy
Song:  Killing Inside
Album:  Blunt Force Trauma (2011)
Genre:  Death Metal

I was watching a movie the other day called "The Devil's Candy".  It's a horror movie about a painter that loves Metal music.  I don't want to blow any of the plot, but I heavily recommend you watch it.  It's not only a decent horror flick, it's also a fun family struggles movie.  I loved that it managed to source out real bands too.  A lot of the time when movies need a metal soundtrack they hit up a really small time metal band.  This movie decided to pull out the stops and got some songs from a lot of bands I'd actually heard of before.  There was even a Metallica song in the credits.

The thing that made me actually look at what was in the soundtrack though was this song.  It was so stereotypically "Metal" that I just had to know what it was.  The song is a beautiful thing really.  Max Cavalera is the king of kinda dumb but still really heavy Metal tunes.  It's worth checking into.

But for real, the movie is fantastic thing, well worth the watch.

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New Release: Portal Ω Phreqs

Band:  Portal
Song:  Phreqs
Album:  Ion (2018)
Genre:  Death Metal

The Metal gods have decided to bless of yesterday on Thanksgiving by giving us a hot new single from Portal, experimental Extreme Metal band from Australia.

Portal was a band my dad and brother showed me a while ago because the singer is an interesting dude.  He wears like, a clock or a wizard hat whenever they play live, and as such fall right into my favorite category of band.  Bands with a gimmick.

Now I'll be the first to admit that bands like this are not for everybody.  They function much more heavily in the noise category than most other metal bands, but I don't really mind that.

This new track for their album Ion (to be released on January 28th) sounds a little different than their usual style.  It's still chaotic though, just in a slightly different way.  I love how it sounds, I can't wait to see what the rest of the album turns into.

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Job For A Cowboy - Sun Of Nihility

Band:  Job For A Cowboy
Song:  Sun Of Nihility
Album:  Sun Eater (2014)
Genre:  Death Metal

Hey hey, let's have some fun with this fall down toward the Week of Evil, yeah?  Some good old Job For A Cowboy.

I'll be honest, a lot of what picked this song for me was the title, because nihilism and October and stuff.  But these guys are really nailed the Tech Death aspect of their sound, so it's not like they don't deserve attention.  Even though they were formative of the early Deathcore movement, they've hit their stride with this new era of their music.

Even if you don't like Metal you'll probably enjoy the intro of this song up till about the 1 minute mark, it's all light and clean.

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Interview with Johnny Crowder, vocalist of Dark Sermon and Prison

Band:  Dark Sermon
Song:  The Eyeless Needle
Album:  The Oracle
Genre:  Death Metal

Yo, so today is a fantastically special day.  We managed to snag an interview with one of my favorite vocalists, Johnny Crowder.

I'm crazy pumped to have had this happen, so I apologize about any formatting issues since this would be the first interview we've run on the blog before.

Noah: What were some reasons you originally decided to get into performing metal music?

Johnny: There is a level of honesty and transparency in aggressive music that you don’t see very
often in the outside world. I was very frustrated and confused as a child, and every time I
listened to heavy music, it felt like I was seen and heard. It felt like there were other people
out there that understood me, and I didn’t have to go through it alone.

N: Dark Sermon's live show was straight up fantastic. What were some of your main draws when planning what the show would look like?

J: Thank you! My focus usually centered around making it feel like more of an experience than a concert. Everyone goes to shows all the time, but when’s the last time you referred to a concert as an experience? I wanted fans to fully invest and just feel captivated and included. I wanted everyone in the room to feel like they bore witness to something unique and individual, like they were a part of something that no one else will ever get to see. Above all, I valued that personal connection.

N:  What was your reason for pouring so much passion into your shows and music?

J:  There’s really no other way to write or perform. If your heart’s not in it, art stinks to high heaven. It’s only when you’re showing your scars that anything artistic can inherit its true value.

N:  What would you say was your favorite tour you were on, and why? 

J:  This is such a tough question! I really enjoyed the Cattle Decapitation tour, as well as the Thy Art Is Murder run last year. There’s something about touring with bands that you listened to in grade school that reminds you of the value and efficacy of hard work and dedication. I love sharing the stage with older musicians that haven’t lost their onstage zeal.

N:  What was your favorite thing about performing in a band as theatrical as DS? 

J:  Being onstage was such a deep, spiritual, ephemeral, visceral feeling. It was so unlike the world around me. I could fully cast aside all of my inhibitions and allow my body move exactly as it was led. For a half hour, I let myself feel comfortable in my own skin. There’s really no other feeling like that, and I’m trying to carry that sentiment with me throughout my daily life now that we’re inactive.

N: Will that level of showmanship show itself in Prison's shows as well? 

J:  Prison is a much different band than Dark Sermon. The honesty meter is cranked up to 11. There’s a deeper, more liberal sense of connection with the audience that I couldn’t achieve through DS because so many people were too scared or put off by the candles and bones to come up to the front and spend time with me on a personal level.

As requested, here's The Eyeless Needle as our featured song of the day.  Enjoy guys, and thank you Johnny for such a solid bunch of answers.

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Dethklok - Crush The Industry

Band:  Dethklok
Song:  Crush The Industry
Album:  Dethalbum III
Genre:  Death Metal

Firstly, I'm really pissed that Adult Swim didn't allow another season of Metalocalypse to be made.  I freaking loved that show and all I get is the unfinished product that it ended up being.  Still good, but also not quite completed.

But hey, musically we got 3 great albums that showcased Brendon Small's rise from just kinda caring about what he was doing to actually getting good at it and knocking the performance out of the park.  Dethalbum III was a great example of his vocal work improving from the first one especially.

Good work Brendon.

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Dark Sermon - Starve

Band:  Dark Sermon
Song:  Starve
Album:  The Oracle
Genre:  Death Metal

So I wasn't planning on posting a Metal band today since tomorrow is my theme unveiling for the month and, spoiler alert, it's a hella harsh pile of Metal.  But I heard some bad news the other day so I kinda had to throw these guys out there.

Dark Sermon broke up.

I suppose it'd be dumb of me to be too saddened by this cause I only got to see them the one time, but I'm still hella bummed out by the whole thing.  The singer posted something explaining it that you can check out here, but it's not like it makes me less bummed, ya dig?

These guys straight up had the best live show I've ever seen.  They went full bore into the stage show that they did.  They burned sage bundles, set up an altar, and the singer had this skull (pictured above) that the mic fit in so it looked like  he was just screaming at a skull.  Then at some point he would grab the forehead of some person in the front row and shake 'em around a little during a grooving point of the music.  Instead of trying to impress the audience with their music, they first built an atmosphere in the room.  I was excited to see them the first time and, unlike a lot of bands I hear live, I didn't feel left out by not knowing any of their songs going in.

I'm bummed that I'm not gonna be able to see these guys again, but since the singer has a new project going on I'll have a chance to hear aspects of their sound again, so that'll be cool at least.

Good run guys.

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A to Z 2K17: T is for Triptykon

Band:  Triptykon
Song:  Tree Of Suffocating Souls
Album:  Melana Chasmata
Genre:  Gothic Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal

Released almost exactly 3 years ago, Melana Chasmata made some waves in the Metal community.  While I think his name is a little funny, frontman Tom G. Warrior really has a talent for throwing some really dark music together.

Honestly I had a really hard time picking today's song.  There was the absolutely stunningly beautiful video for Shatter, but I had posted it before.  Then there was Boleskine House which is eerily wonderful, especially when you get the female vocals harmonizing.

I decided to hit this song though, because it had a music video and Boleskine didn't.

Please enjoy this wonderfully dark song, is just nice music.

Side note, you know H R Giger, the mind behind the design of the alien in Alien?  He designed some of Tom G Warrior guitars and all of Triptykon's album covers.  Obviously he's dead now so I'm not sure who they'll go to for the next album's art, but we'll see if they can live up to the art of the rather deranged Giger's work.

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Carcass - Heartwork

Band:  Carcass
Genre:  Death Metal

Carcass are kinda like the granddaddies of Grindcore.  They only contributed to the genre with a couple of their albums though, and for the most part sat on one of the more prominent thrones in the Death Metal community.

Heartwork specifically was one of their strongest releases on that front.  This song, the title track (throwback to when I actually tried to make title track tuesday a weekly theme, eh?), reps the album pretty well.  The whole thing is just really enjoyable to listen to if you're a fan of the genre.

Carcass has a rather unique vocal style that, even if the music can't be immediately recognized, will out them for who they are.  Screaming riffs and that scrapping harsh voice, good times.

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Cannibal Corpse - High Velocity Impact Spatter

Band:  Cannibal Corpse
Genre:  Death Metal

I really do enjoy Cannibal Corpse, the music they play is just really enjoyable to me and I don't really know why.  The stories the songs tell are quick and brutal, the music is a pounding auditory attack, and it's a grand old time.

I dunno, I just love music that tells a story, even if the story is all just about viciously murdering loads of people.  A story is a story, ya know what I mean?

Yo, you know what would be dope?  A collaboration song between these guys and Carach Angren.  Two horror masters writing an album together.

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Dark Sermon - The Eyeless Needle

Band:  Dark Sermon
Genre:  Death Metal

When I first posted these guys a few months back I have to say I'm really mad.  I wasted my favorite song of the year on a post about how I had no clue what I was getting into with that freaking show.  Dark Sermon was one of the best live bands I've ever seen and I wasted Rat King talking about how it was the first song of theirs I'd heard yet.

I love that song so much, it honestly may be my favorite song I was introduced to this year.  I like to pretend I have a good amount of music I expose myself to over the course of the year and while some of it's really good, most of it ends up hitting the "Yeah, that's cool" pile of stuff that doesn't leave a mark.

This song though, it has a bass solo in it, which speaks to me obviously.  And the bit right before it?  The riff is just so freaking good.  I love this band so much, I can't wait till they put out some new material.  Or even better honestly, I can't wait to see them live again.  Hopefully soon.

Great band though with a solid attitude, give em a listen.

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Six Feet Under - TNT

Band:  Six Feet Under
Genre:  Death Metal

There's good covers and there bad covers, but them you get weird ones like this that are somehow both.

I love the music on this album, it's all really solid.  And the vocals?  Yo, Chris Barnes is an amazing vocalist.  Lyrically he's kinda trash, but vocally he's a beast.  Apparently he will smoke all your weed too, so look out.

But the combination of vocal work to the music in these covers can leave something to be desired.  It could be good, but the Death Metal vocals don't quite fit throughout the whole song.  I love the initiative in making a full album like this, it just could have been better.

Don't let that stop you from checking out the song though, it's still rather amusing.

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Cannabis Corpse - Where The Kind Lives

Band:  Cannabis Corpse
Genre:  Death Metal

So you know what's even better than Cannibal Corpse?  A marijuana themed cover band, that's what.

Ok, maybe not better, but you can't honestly tell me that these dudes aren't rather funny.  I mean really, it's a weed themed Metal band, what's not to love?

The video is rather humorous as well, and musically you can kinda see that they took musical cues from Hammer Smashed Face.  I really dig it as a joke, and even as a serious thing it's not like it's bad.  Honestly I love parody and satire though, so I guess these guys fall right into that one.

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