Tag Archives: aliens

Meek Is Murder – Onward/Into the Sun EP

Posted on by

Meek-Is-Murder-Onward-EP-cover

When a band describes themselves as “music for troubled weirdos”, it’s pretty safe to assume we don’t have the next incarnation of Mötley Crüe on our hands. Brooklyn-based trio Meek is Murder look like they would be happier engaging in a mammoth World of Warcraft session then doing blow with hookers on the Sunset Strip but that’s not to say the music they make won’t get one hell of a party started, for new double EP release Onward/Into the Sun (Rising Pulse) is one of the most exciting things you’ll hear all year.

Known for their blink and you’ll miss it song lengths seemingly tailor made for the ADHD brigade, Meek is Murder play a raucous style of mathcore that will have fans of early Botch and Converge foaming at the mouth with wide-eyed delight. It’s no surprise that the band has previously worked with producer extraordinaire Kurt Ballou, for his influence is all over the brief tracks that comprise first EP Onward, from the lurching dissonance of ‘Foreword’ to the manic violence of ‘Downward’ which features some seriously heavy drumming and a devastating false ending that will have circle pits erupting in any sweaty basement it is dropped live.

a2869507478_10

The other EP in this release Into the Sun actually came out in 2012 so the re-issue here is a welcome one to those who missed out the first time. A tribute to classic 80s sci-fi flicks Aliens and Back to the Future, this effort is a tad more emotive and plays around with slower tempos than Onward, but is still madder than a box of frogs as the hyperactive ‘Doctor Emmett Brown (Endless in Our Fleeting)’ demonstrates.

This kind of hardcore works best in short, sharp snippets and Meek is Murder have clearly done their homework. At only fifteen minutes in length but with more going on than it’s possible to mention, Onward/Into the Sun shows a band bursting with ideas and incapable of sitting still.

 

8.0/10

Meek Is Murder on Facebook

 

JAMES CONWAY


Ingested – The Architect of Extinction

Posted on by

10533276_10152478621382155_6182578347092090414_o

Ever since they emerged onto the UK death metal scene back in 2006 like a hungry chest-burster from the Alien films, Manchester’s Ingested have been the band to turn to for straight-up brutality. After early flirtations with deathcore on debut album Surpassing the Boundaries of Human Suffering and the slightly weak follow-up The Surreption, the band seem to have nailed a truly killer sound on third full-length The Architect of Extinction (all Siege of Amida Records).

Opening tracks ‘The Divine Right of Kings’ and ‘Narcissistic Apathy’ are both finely tuned monstrosities that are solely interested in repeatedly smashing you over the head with a selection of vicious, pacy riffs and clattering blasts of percussion. The main influence here is strictly the new school of death metal with an appreciation of Aborted and Whitechapel evident in the songwriting. This is further demonstrated by the barely restrained fury of ‘Endless Despondency’ which utilises every trick in the book to get heads banging and roundhouse kicks flying in equal measure.

While this ‘more is more’ approach is undeniably a forceful one, there is always the danger that this method can render proceedings dull as atmosphere and nuance gets sacrificed for the sake of bludgeon. Thankfully Ingested avoid falling into this trap by varying things up a bit such as on the moody ‘I, Despoiler’ and post-metal flavoured instrumental ‘Penance’ which provides an interesting sidestep into more leftfield territory. However, the searing heaviness returns with a vengeance on later tracks such as ‘Extinction Event’ which really allows powerhouse drummer Lyn Jeffs to show off his chops.

For those seeking an instant way to blow away their New Years hangovers, Ingested are the perfect tonic. They’re the equivalent of a kebab shop stabbing; horrible, shocking and over before you know it and The Architect of Extinction is as vicious as anything else out on the street right now.

 

7.5/10

Ingested on Facebook

 

JAMES CONWAY


Heavy Metal Movies – by Mike “Beardo” McPadden

Posted on by

 

HMM-052113

 

 

Heavy Metal Movies (Bazillion Points), written by Mike “Beardo” McPadden is a project the likes of which any metal geek-movie geek fusion would be proud to have accomplished in their lives; proof that they have indeed seen more movies than you, and can tell you how headbangingly awesome each is in their own way. Indeed, this titanic titanium tome does indeed show, rather than tell the sheer amount of neck-snapping cinematography observed by one man needed to even dare a book of this lethal thickness. From A to Z, it’s an outpouring of movie mayhem and magick from teenage stoner boners to Nordic loners; rockumentaries and mockumentaries; canon appearances by the metal gods on screen and on record; from swords to spaceships, and from monsters to Manson (Editor’s note: both Charles and Marilyn), this book packs it all in, dating from the silent era Nosferatu (1922) to the modern Hollywood bombast of The Hobbit (2012) and a whole hell of a lot of stuff in between that inspired distortion, patched denim, leather, and poor hygiene worldwide. 

Continue reading →