Author Archives: Friar Wagner

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PSYCROPTIC, Initiation  (2010, Stomp)

The skull:
At first glance I was struck with a thought that I don’t believe has ever coursed through my gray matter before: “This snake is wearing cockrings!” But no, a closer look reveals that what I saw was simply a ringed door-knocker. Darn. The rest of the image is something we see often around here: a snake encircling a skull. This snake — unlike many other snake-centric entries in the Skullection — is not penetrating the eye and/or nose sockets of the bony noggin, but I’ll bet anything we’re just a few slithers away from a serious reptilian skull-fucking.

The music:
This was released as a CD/DVD, but the BDS bylaws drawn up by the Council in 1874 (or 2009, or something) state that a Friar need not review the DVD portion of a CD/DVD release. So, we have here a live album by Psycroptic, and not being one to get excited about live albums, this holds little appeal. I suppose most will feel the same, unless they are, of course, massive fans of Psycroptic. And those fans are out there, because these Aussies have been plying their brand of technical death metal since the early 2000s and have found a large following. This puts them not only well ahead of the current pack, but proves them to be spearheads in a death metal sub-genre that has become quite the unstoppable phenomena this last decade and a half. So, how is this live Psycroptic album? It’s a live Psycroptic album. The tunes vary not at all from their studio counterparts, save for a few subtle nuances. The performances are, of course, completely tight and ultra-finessed. But it feels redundant, and you wouldn’t be missing anything the studio albums don’t deliver, unless you love Jason Peppiatt’s stage banter. And why would you? It’s kinda funny when he asks the crowd, “Are you having fun out there?” While there is a degree of entertainment or fun with all of this, I’m not sure that’s ever what a death metal bands hopes to communicate. Fun? Really? I don’t know about you, but I want death metal to be thrilling, and dark, and otherworldly, and escapist, and heavy as fuck, but fun? Speaking of the vocalist, his delivery is generic, but that goes for so many bands of this type. You just have to accept that the John Tardys, David Vincents and LG Petrovs — ie. death metal vocalists with their own recognizable personalities — are a dying breed these days. So, hey, go for it if you’re a Psycroptic completist. Good luck to the band too, they’re quite excellent at what they do, but they don’t have that weirdness factor I want to hear in my tech-death. I’ll stick with Gigan…or early Atrocity.
— Friar Wagner

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BLACK RAINBOWS, Holy Moon  (2013, Heavy Psych Sounds)

The skull:
Could this be the skull world’s equivalent of “mooning”? I mean, they don’t have an ass to work with, so maybe a quick upthrust of the jaw is the way a skull would gesture his mischevious indolence? Perhaps this is what’s being depicted on the cover of the appropriately-titled Holy Moon. Skull-mooning cheered on by occult symbols that give him strength to be such a crazy man as this. It’s hardly as surprising and crass as a full-buttocks mooning, and a skull obviously also lacks a hand with which to do the old Italian chin flick, so just cut him some slack and pretend you’re shocked, okay?

The music:
We’ve had a lot of EPs come through the Skullection recently, and I guess it’s a fair indication that many bands don’t regard EPs with as much importance as their full-lengths. “Oh, that thing with two crappy new songs we left off the album and three shitty-sounding live tracks? I dunno…a skull is fine, I guess.” So, this Italian band play stoner rock/metal, and it’s telling that so many stoner bands choose a big dumb skull to represent their music. There isn’t much thought put into stoner music so why should they exhaust an ounce of precious ambition for the artwork? Black Rainbows have this sound down pat, that’s for sure, and that means it sounds a ton like Kyuss meets Sleep meets Clutch meets Fu Manchu. Good for them, and good for the fans who demand things that fit comfortably into the stoner template the way this does. But since there are a zillion other desert/psych/stoner bands that sound just like this, you’re not missing out on much if you miss out on Black Rainbows. You already know exactly what this EP sounds like without having heard a note. Trust us. Two bonus points for the cover of MC5’s “Black to Comm” — not because it’s an ass-jackingly amazing version, but because at least they didn’t bring yet another version of “Kick Out the Jams” into the world.
— Friar Wagner

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ORTHON, Transmigrate  (2011, self-released)

The skull:
This cover is chintzy enough, and then they voluntarily add the Parental Advisory banner to uglify things even further. The Chinese are fairly new to this whole underground extreme metal thing, so we can give Orthon some slack, and it’s not the junkiest Photoshop job we’ve seen here at Big Dumb Skulls. It’s in the Top 20 though. I suppose the flared redness behind the skull makes him look ghostly, like he just teleported here, or is teleporting outta Dodge — “transmigrating,” basically. Brilliant. Sort of. Not really.

The music:
Literally decades of listening to metal, like, the vast majority of my life, and this is the first day I’ve ever laid ears on a band from China. To my knowledge, anyway. I would expect it to sound derivative, and it does:  it’s somewhere between Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir with some regrettably shitty female vocals. It’s got the sweeping, theatrical drama of those bands, including the horribly triggered bass drums, and in its best moments recalls late-period Emperor, and sometimes you get a whiff of Arcturus. Some of the harsh vocals actually sound like the dude from Between the Buried and Me. Technically they’re all very good players, so credit where it’s due and for what it’s worth, but it’s still very clone-y, and those female vocals tear down music that is already iffy. Orthon is as appealing to this Friar as something like Old Man’s Child, which is to say it’s not appealing at all. But nice try.
— Friar Wagner

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CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, Corrosion of Conformity  (2012, Candlelight)

The skull:
You know a band is scrambling when they bring back a logo or mascot previously left behind in the name of forward evolution. So many bands eventually wander roads less traveled, dropping iconic imagery and the familiar musical style that gained them legendary status, only to return at some future points with more recognizable sounds and symbols. The return to safer environs rarely results in music that measures up to the good old days — it’s usually a case of too little, too late. The return of the classic Megadeth logo and mascot; the return of the classic My Dying Bride logo; the return of the classic Slayer logo; the return of the Destruction logo and skull; the return of the classic Anthrax logo; the return of the classic Celtic Frost logo (I’m not amongst the majority who think Monotheist is good); on and on. So often it just feels like a seductive sham, a pandering to gullible fans after some hurt feelings. What are we to think when Corrosion of Conformity bring back their horned skull? After many dormant years, this highly recognizable bad boy returns, but this time they have added more spikes, tentacle-ish things, an eye of Horus, a sword-like thing under the chin, and a curious and adorable chinchilla-looking creature for its forehead. It’s a great design, except for the chinchilla, and a reasonably acceptable update of the classic skull made famous by zillions of t-shirt wearing fans, bands and quite a few people who don’t even know what COC is but thought the shirt looked totally bad-ass.

The music:
According to this Friar, COC’s Blind is one of the best metal albums released in the ’90s. They were just getting good at a time when most of their older fan base were demanding a name change. And Blind is way better than good. While Animosity and Deliverance have their moments, nothing the band has released before or since has been worthy of Blind‘s majesty. Part of the the problem is this issue of perpetual stylistic crisis. COC never stay in one musical place for very long, yet they continue to try and zero in on what it is that they do exactly. It’s been an interesting run, even if they seem wayward most the time. If the return of the spiky skull symbol wasn’t enough, the band decided to self-title this one, so apparently it’s gonna be the defining COC album. Finally! But with so many stylistic shifts, what should definitive COC sound like? Apparently it sounds like this — an often uncomfortably ambling and sometimes impressively focused mesh of hardcore, Southern rock, sludge, doom, punk, stoner rock, noise rock and thrash. Where “Psychic Vampire” is wholly unappealing in its muddied, muddled thrash-meets-sludge slop, something like “Your Tomorrow” is appealing because it hones in on one direction — that being a Trouble/Black Sabbath-esque slab of smart, emotive doom. Many of the songs here feature impressive riffs or inventive vocal melodies, but also a few too many dead-end riffs and sequences. Reed Mullin is excellent throughout. He remains one of the most underrated and tastiest drummer in the genre(s) — one listen to “The Doom” confirms this. So, Corrosion of Conformity is a likable but hardly lovable hodgepodge, and probably the first one since Deliverance that’s worth more than a cursory glance.
— Friar Wagner

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PAGAPU, Seven Days of Storm (2011, Pentagram)

The skull:
This image would be creepy as fuck if it weren’t for one little detail. I mean, the mouth of the skull being bionically extended by devices that look unpickable locks and a big thick blade…and all that dripping blood. Not to mention those fearsome tusk-like protusions from each side of the head. All of it pretty wicked. But that half-circle thingy that the top of the head is inserted into doesn’t quite look like the brace or head-belt that is likely its technical function. It just looks like a cute paper nurse hat from some tiny third world country lucky enough to have just enough of a budget to supply their nurses with hats at all. Not very evil!

The music:
A collection of demo recordings and various other odds and sods from this hopelessly obscure Peruvian one-man band. Most of this was recorded between 2003 and 2005, but the vibe is of another, earlier time, like Italy, Czech Republic or Greece circa 1989, with a foggy delivery of primitive death metal and embryonic traces of the buzzy early ’90s black metal sound. Exactly the sort of thing that would have fit perfectly on Wild Rags Records back in the day. I found myself digging this, as I’m occasionally a sucker for nuttiness of this sort. It reminds of the earliest emantations and rawest recordings of Rotting Christ, Varathron, Masters Hammer, Profanatica, Absu, Incantation, Von and Goatlord. A reviewer on Metal Archives says of one of the demos “good music, very poor vocals,” yet my impression is about the exact opposite: the vocals are much more interesting than the sometimes hamfisted and/or dull music. But sometimes the music is engaging enough, as with the suffocating bleakness of “Wanka Attack.” Worthwile despite its flaws, but only if you’re into some of that crazy-raw Wild Rags stuff and some of the other aforementioned noisemakers. (I had hoped to use the “Pagapoo-poo” insult, but no, I like this enough to refrain.)
— Friar Wagner

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GIGANTOR, The Damage is Done!  (2009, self-released)

The skull:
Now this is what we’re talking about:  the very epitome of the Big Dumb Skull. It is big. It is dumb. It is a skull. Nothing fancy needed or wanted. Elaborate skulls — leave the hall!!! Making it even dumber, and therefore more attractive to the Council of the Elders of the Skull, the BDS on this album cover has no direct link to the title of the work. Although, if we use just a few extra brain cells this morning, we understand that a human head stripped of flesh and all other vestiges of life communicates the universal truth that, indeed, death is not pretty, death is final, and, yes indeed, the damage is done. There’s no coming back. Nicely played, Gigantor. You got what you wanted: entry into the Hall of Skulls. Welcome.

The music:
Well, here we go, more rehash thrash, this time from Indonesia, and really, it’s a fairly scrappy affair that should be fiercer and tighter for the sort of thing they’re going for. They’re obviously attempting a melding of early breakneck stuff like Exciter and Anthrax and the more technical, riff-tastic workouts of the Bay Area approach. The energy might be there and the intent laudable, but the vocalist is like a weak Joey Belladonna imitation with very little character or aggression. The riffs are by-the-numbers, and while some of the leads are admirably cutthroat, there’s very little of interest backing them up. Forgettable re-thrash. The damage was done years ago by bands much better than this, and Gigantor’s sound is not as huge and formidable as their name suggests. They wear Venom, Exodus and Hirax shirts. You’ve seen and heard it all before, but then maybe that’s the idea. Four songs long, including the superbly titled “Squinting Bitch.”
— Friar Wagner

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DARKRISE, Unbeliever  (2006, Deadsun)

The skull:
Mrs. Skull:  Good morning, sunshine!
Mr. Skull: Good morning, my love.
Mrs. Skull: Coffee?
Mr. Skull: Oh, yes, please! [pause] I hardly remember getting home last night. [longer pause] How long did I sleep?

Mrs. Skull does not answer. She’s busy in the kitchen adding strychnine to her husband’s morning pick-me-up, which will put-him-down real good. She’s had about enough of his cheatin’ ways and intends to wipe that stupid-ass smile off his face and extinguish that gleam in his eye once and for all.

The music:
I wasn’t able to find the music of this, Darkrise’s second album, and their various sites only expose the public to the latest two albums (2009’s Built and 2013’s Realeyes). Diligent detective work leads me to believe that Unbeliever probably doesn’t sound too far away from their later stuff, which bears resemblance to a cross between Misery Index, Deeds of Flesh and Vader, but in an even more modern context — it’s all blasting drums, semi-technical precision riffs and everything-pushed-to-the-red production. The only recognizable difference between newer Darkrise and older Darkrise, on paper at least, is that the song titles of Unbeliever are like a PG-13 Aborted: “Stomachal Restitution,” “Narcofellation,” “Orgasm in Blood,” that sort of thing. The vocals on these later albums are mostly garden variety death, with a few higher pitched ones, as when Napalm Death does the same. I saw one picture of the band where they’re wearing Napalm Death, Exodus and Behemoth shirts, and that’s about says it all, along with the other bands mentioned above. These Swiss dudes are 100% capable of delivering what they have set out to deliver but there isn’t a shred of originality or individuality in any of it, which will forever keep them in the shadow of those who came before and did it better. Only indiscriminate death metal fans need apply. And there must be a ton of you out there, because it’s like these sorts of bands are growing on trees.
— Friar Wagner

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BLOOD ERECTION, Unceasing Bleeding  (2011, Casket Music)

The skull:
This band is named after a curious medical condition usually suffered only by sexual psychopaths, in which the sight of enormous amounts of blood produces an extraordinarily stiff and long-lasting erection. In the picture on the cover of Unceasing Bleeding, we see one particularly extreme case of blood erection, wherein the entire body became engorged, eventually stiffened then swelled until it all exploded in one ungodly, sanguine mess. We see only the skull here, underneath the pathologist’s plastic, as there was nothing left to salvage of the erection itself, or the rest of the body for that matter.

The music:
Unfortunately, the music of Greece’s Blood Erection isn’t even close to conjuring the gloriously gory imagery the band name and album cover have led us to firmly believe in. We get that they believe their music totally depicts such insanity, but you’d have to be a gullible metal novice to buy into this stuff. At best, Blood Erection sounds like an adequate knock-off of one of the more forgettable Cannibal Corpse albums. If words like “adequate,” “knock-off” and “forgettable Cannibal Corpse albums” describe the kind of death metal that makes you so hard your pecker could burst, this is your favorite new band! The rest of you move along…nothing to see, or hear, here.
— Friar Wagner

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PLAGUE WIDOW, Plague Widow  (2012, Buriedinhell)

The skull:
Very “Darkthrone” in aesthetic, this cover pushes two buttons that, for this Friar, separate a killer skull cover from a dumb skull cover. I have a particular fascination with skulls that have an entanglement of roots underneath them, a fascination I didn’t even know I had until starting this ridiculous project. But there it is. Those roots are beautiful, seeming a “dust to dust” sort of commentary — “back to the earth from whence we came,” that sort of thing. The other button-pushing bit of coolness is the black rust dripping down the skull’s face, especially the streaks under the right eye which look like black tears. I’m totally into that too. (This blog is one of deep personal discovery for some of us!) With the geometical patterns framing the background and lending a cosmic sort of vibe, and that awesome if generic logo that’s nearly un-readable (but easy work for us logo codebreakers), you’ve got a cover that’s not big or dumb yet worthy of entrance into the hallowed Skullection.

The music:
“I don’t go in for this kind of grindcore meets black metal stuff,” an alternate-world, metal-loving Ron Swanson might have said. It’s a big deal in some corners, but it often comes off totally sterile and insincere. And totally fucking boring. Sacramento’s Plague Widow, however, are for real, and this nine-song, 15-minute EP wipes the floor of lesser hipster bands trying to do this same thing. Think about Insect Warfare playing Marduk covers, maybe. Plague Widow does everything right — the recording is powerful, punchy and crisp, their playing abilities are on the level of, say, Brutal Truth, and the multi-level approach reveals a mastery of everything from Disrupt-ish old school grind to blast-attack death metal to the dissonant string-scraping of a more technical black metal band. It’s all dark as hell, an imposing sound that cannot really be criticized, because the band achieves what they’re setting out to do, and they do it with total authority. They’re a very young band, too, so I suppose their tiny discography (this EP and a split) will grow immensely over the years. Ultimately, this is just plain impressive, whenever you’re in the mood for this kind of tormented calamity.
— Friar Wagner

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POISONBLACK, A Dead Heavy Day (2008, Century Media)

The skull:
Cool! A skull! Looks like it’s flying off a skycraper and streaming blood before it hits the ground. Rad! Best album cover ever!

The music:
Gothic metal! Neat! It’s even better than the final Sentenced album! This kicks! I downloaded it for free twice! I’m really into goth lately, I have these black beads and this really thick black eyeliner. Kids at school think I’m a freak, but I still play soccer and I’m running for student council this year. Can we go to Sonic for lunch? That place is total goth.

— Friar Wagner’s 13-year-old niece Matilda