Navigation

Animosity, Ed Gein, and Bolt Thrower…

Animosity - EmpiresOnce again, I've been sitting on some of these discs from Black Market Activities and/or Metal Blade for quite awhile now, so it's about time I give 'em a nod. First up is Animosity with "Empires". This young band out of San Francisco has only been around for a couple of years, and I believe some of these kids are still teenagers, but after a rather mediocre debut on Tribunal Records, this sophomore full-length abandons most of their annoying metalcore trappings in favor of some brutal, breakdown-laden death metal. While it doesn't necessarily blow me away through and through, this is definitely a huge step forward, with a solid recording and tons of churning riffs that blend sludgy chord progressions with aptly technical death metal runs. And the generally short tracks of fewer than three minutes apiece tend to keep things moving along nicely. Also worth noting are the solid socio-political lyrics, which are certainly far stronger than the majority of what you'll get from either death metal or the brand of metalcore from which the band has grown out of. I'm certainly looking to see this band do some severe damage over time.

Animosity "Commoditism"
Animosity "Plutocracy"

You know the drill, if it's something that interests you, pick it up, don't be a leech:

@ The End Records






Ed Gein - Judas Goats & DieseleatersUnless my memory is failing me, which is entirely possible, I don't think I've heard anything from Ed Gein since their 2002 demo. Well, their long awaited debut full-length, "Judas Goats & Dieseleaters", sees the Syracuse, NY trio sticking to that same approach with 14 tracks of super caustic material that ranges from dissonant hyper speed grind to frantic bursts of metalcore, with tons of quick shifts and plenty of noisy layering—but not without losing all of its cohesion—so there are graspable elements, namely in the form of some wicked midpaced bashings (check out the scathing nastiness of "We're Drowning in It" below). They're certainly a busy sounding trio, so I wish the recording were a little crisper in terms of clarity, but the natural sense of warmth is in full effect and gets the job done by keeping things knit together. The pissed off lyrics also attack from a socio-political angle, though keeping things somewhat abstract in terms of not beating the listener over the head. Not too shabby...

Ed Gein "We're Drowning in It"
Ed Gein "Bastard"

Come on, there's actually a song called "Pee-Wee Herman/Paul Reubens", how can you lose? Grab that shit:

@ The End Records






Bolt Thrower - Honour Valor PrideAhhh, Bolt Thrower. What can be said about these UK legends that hasn't already been said? It's been four years since Benediction's Dave Ingram took over the vocal slot for "Honour Valor Pride", which was a decent enough record, but I eventually got rid of it—because let's face it: It's just not the same without Karl Willets, man. This classic act has been at it for damn near 20 fucking years, and "Those Once Loyal" delivers nine tracks in about 40 minutes of the band's patented brand of guitar melodies over chugging riffs and basic song structures—all dealing with war, war, and more war! The layout blows and the recording feels a little flat, there's not quite enough brightness to the vocal texture and the guitars need more of a churning crunch to really nail that classic "The IVth Crusade" type of sound, but from a songwriting standpoint this is precisely what anyone who has ever been a Bolt Thrower fan has come to expect. The band is still looking in a few different directions on occasion to keep things from sounding like a complete retread of the days of old, but Bolt Thrower has never been shy about refusing to change their sound, this is what they do best and they're proud of it, and so are their fans. Sign me up!

Bolt Thrower "Entrenched"
Bolt Thrower "Last Stand of Humanity"

Dig it? Then make the purchase, or shall a relentless hail of gunfire rain down upon your dwelling...

@ The End Records

And yo, post some god damn comments, people. Thousands of downloads a month and yet the ratio of comments to visitors is still like 1/300, if that? That's just pathetic. I don't care if you love it or hate it, I just like the feedback. It's nice to feel like I'm not spinning my wheels for nothing... thanks!

Comments

  1. Wow… those Animosity tracks were crushing.

    12.5.2005 | By Anonymous

  2. This recording does sound kinda flat, and, well, too clean.  Still, I like the songs a lot.

    12.5.2005 | By Anonymous

  3. ed gein is pretty good, but i thought their debut was better. still a solid album though.

    ever heard of a band called lethargy btw?

    12.5.2005 | By Anonymous

  4. Thanks for the Bolt Thrower. I’ll leave a longer comment when I get a few minutes.

    12.5.2005 | By Ian Swider

  5. You big baby.

    12.5.2005 | By Ian Swider

  6. oh, and wasn’t “it’s a shame” ed gein’s debut album?

    12.5.2005 | By Anonymous

  7. “It’s a Shame That a Family Can Be Torn Apart By Something as Simple as a Pack of Wild Dogs” was an EP. I said “debut full-length”, not just “debut”.

    12.5.2005 | By Andrew Aversionline

  8. ah, alright then. sorry. still think the ep was better tho.

    12.5.2005 | By Anonymous

  9. anonymous is one picky motherfucker.
    Heh heh…fuckin’ M.O.D.

    12.5.2005 | By Ian Swider

  10. Was just listening to ‘Aren’t You Hungry’ the other day.

    12.5.2005 | By Ian Swider

  11. whoops.
    Been putting my fucking e-mail in the password slot.
    The internet can fuck my grandmother.

    12.5.2005 | By [email protected]

  12. i def love the ep over this album, im a sucker for samples, and especially samples of donnie motherfuckin’ darko? oh yep… i don’t care bout all the stupid mallrat hype that seemed to come after everyone noticed the movie existed months upon months after it was out. their are also two tracks on a robotic empire compilation called mutations.

    12.5.2005 | By Long lost and still forgotten

  13. If you ending your review site means lots of posts and mp3s in the form of a blog, I’m all for it. I really enjoy my weekly visits to check out new and old shit you’ve been listening to. Keep up the good work man.

    -Jesse
    KEN mode

    12.5.2005 | By Anonymous

  14. hehehe, Bolthrower…I’ve known Karl (Willetts) since 1984 (when he saved a friend of mine from being put inside a large fridgefreezer whilst on mushrooms)...he’s a funny man…
    Incidentally, he’s rejoined Boltthrower now (after many years raving and going to Northern Soul sall-nighters) - old habits die hard! hehehe…

    12.6.2005 | By Nik Napalm

  15. These Bolt Thrower mp3s are great, and I can’t tell why exactly.  I’m definately buying this cd

    12.6.2005 | By Wes

  16. That Animosity is brutal, much better sounding than their debut. I might actually purchase that one. And Bolt Thrower will forever be the gods of War Metal. (But “Northern Soul all-nighters”??? That’s insane!)

    12.6.2005 | By scott

  17. this is the most enjoyable bolt thrower album since ‘ivth crusade,’ my favorite. i disagree about the production—i can’t find any faults with it. and the songwriting is superb. (spot on about the sleeve design however.) it amazes me that a band that has been at it for two decades without any real change in their approach can write an album this good so far along. there are very few bands in the history of music that have remained this focused on a single vision for so long with only minor shifts in personnel. kudos!

    12.6.2005 | By Anonymous

  18. Some NEURAXIS trivia: Alex Erian played drums on all their work preceding Trilateral Progressions (a legendary drummer IMO). But when an injury prevented him from continuing with the drums, he built DESPISED ICON and took on the lead vocals position. He does the killerest guest/backing vocals on Trilateral Progressions too. I may well build a shrine dedicated to the worship of Alex. (I’ll put it next to my NEURAXIS shrine).

    12.6.2005 | By regan

  19. The new Ed Gein is so much better than the EP. I love the EP but the new stuff is so much thicker and creative. It has structure now and their actually creating songs. I still have to listen to the Bolt Thrower and for some reason I can’t really get into Animosity. They’re good but it doesn’t hold my attention.

    12.20.2005 | By Logan

  20. I love the Animosity record so much!!!  Top 5 of the year for me.  :)

    12.20.2005 | By Anonymous

  21. “I don’t care if you love it or hate it, I just like the feedback.”

    You’re a needy fuck.

    1.8.2006 | By Anonymous

@aversionline on Instagram