Death metal bands are a dime a dozen so it’s always good to find one that really catches your ear and while I can’t quite put my finger on exactly what it is that makes Greece’s Murder Made God so enticing, but the two songs that they’ve released in support of their upcoming album Irreverence seem to push all the right brutal buttons.
Despite forming little more than two years ago, Melbourne slammers Whoretopsy have wasted little time in making a name for themselves within the burgeoning Australian brutal music scene, their horrifically absurdist and grotesquely humerous brand of death metal even landing them a slot alongside Cannibal Corpse at the 2012 Bang-Cock Deathfest.
As they now gear up to support Dying Fetus in a few weeks time before heading back to Asia in support of Obituary, the band have just released the first track from their forthcoming sophomore album, as well as an accompanying lyric video produced by Blixa Productions. Entitled ‘Nature’s Pocket’, the song is a cautionary tale to all of you out there who wile away your work days looking lustfully at your co-workers, wondering what sexual deviance lies hidden beneath the veneer of mundane office attire, and secretly hoping for a chance to one day live out your fucked up fantasies.
Dying Fetus are one of those bands that just knows how to rock their balls off, and yours as well. They’re one of the last great trios out there, and while they’re not nearly as famous as some of the others, they’re definitely one of the bigger death metal bands. Everyone around these parts seems to really enjoy their music, and their last record Reign Supreme was referred to by most all of us as a great death metal/technical record. Now the band has decided to make another music video for a song on the record, and they chose ‘Second Skin’. Honestly, not a song I would’ve thought they would choose but hey, I guess that’s why I’m not the one making those decisions. The video goes back and forth from live band performances to a storyline about a serial killer, and in true death metal fashion, gets up close and personal. You can watch the video now on Youtube. If you haven’t already, head out and get Reign Supreme, out on Relapse Records, and prepare for some heavy, technical death metal.
-SS
Caricature is the batshit insane brainchild of one Joseph Spiller, formerly of Too Late The Hero, The Binary Code, and System Divide, and is easily the best band you’ve never heard of up until right this very moment. Joe took some time out of his busy schedule yesterday to talk to me a little bit about the record, the history of the band, and as the title of the entire article says, give you the track ‘Saviors II’ off of the new record, The Sound Of One Man’s World Collapsing.
Hell yeah! Spiller manages to write music that certainly sounds familiar enough that we know where he’s coming from, but keeps his distance to the point where the Caricature sound is easily definable. Bonus points for the counteraction of all the heaviness going on with the clean vocal lines, especially when it’s so easy to simply scream and blast over all that. Just to reference other Caricature works so you know where this song is coming from in a sense, check out the Birth by Sleep EP on their Bandcamp to get a better feel for how this song fits in with the rest.
Aside from the song, we had gotten around to talking about the history of Caricature, which has held some big names (and still does!). Though it might seem trivial, the next record is a concept based heavily off of Joe’s history under the Caricature moniker:
I love a good diverse tour billing. It’s always good to see a show that changes things up not only so that bands can play in front of some new people that wouldn’t have normally seen one of their sets, but so fans can get a glimpse at what other areas of the metal spectrum they’ve been missing out on. Not only that, if you’re open minded, you’re never bored. That’s what made this year’s Summer Slaughter tour so excellent. Every band was different!
With that in mind, the latest big tour to be announced for 2013 is Hatebreed’s headlining tour, which features Shadows Fall, Dying Fetus, and The Contortionist. There’s a little something for everyone into the more extreme music genres! Despite the variety, there’s a universal moshability going on throughout the night. Expect stoked crowds everywhere.
Here are the dates:
Jan 26 – Flint, MI – Machine Shop
Jan 27 – Joilet, IL – Mojoes
Jan 28 – Omaha, NE – Sokol Auditorium
Jan 30 – Grand Junction, CO – Mesa Theater
Jan 31 – Flagstaff, AZ – Orpheum Theater
Feb 1 – Los Angeles, CA – Roxy
Feb 2 – Chico, CA – Senator Theater
Feb 3 – Reno, NV – Knitting Factory
Feb 5 – Colorado Springs, CO – Black Sheep
Feb 6 – Wichita, KS – Cotillion
Feb 7 – Sauget, IL – Pop’s
Feb 8 – Lexington, KY – Busters
Feb 9 – Nashville, TN – Marathon Music Works
Feb 11 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Revolution
Feb 12 – Jacksonville, FL – Freebird Live
Feb 13 – Jacksonville, NC – Hooligans
Feb 14 – West Springfield, VA – Empire
Feb 15 – Allentown, PA – Crocodile Rock
Feb 16 – Syracuse, NY – Westcott Theater
Feb 17 – Amityville, NY – Revolution
Hello, Lexington! I may finally end up seeing The Contortionist live, which is something I’ve been dying to do since Exoplanet dropped. Their set will likely be very short, though. I’ve never been a fan of Hatebreed (tough guy hardcore ain’t my thing), but I’m sure they’ll still rock an impressive live show. At the very least I’ll get to leave early, so I ain’t even mad.
- JR
Band drama is often highly amusing and so very sweet. Case in point: Cattle Decapitation (above) have dropped off their current tour with Six Feet Under after Chris Barnes allegedly sucker punched Travis Ryan (center left). What!?
Here’s the skinny, collected via The PRP:
Travis Ryan:
“Chris Barnes is a fucking hack. I’ve personally passed on at least five Six Feet tours over the last 8 or so years because he pulls so much nonsense on the support bands because his ego is astronomical. We’re leaving the Chris Barnes Show tour today. Go to the Chris Barnes show and buy some of their merch. They need it desperately.”
“He couldn’t handle the fact that we were destroying him nightly on merch and talked shit about us on stage last night. I went to confront him about that and he sucker punched me as I was talking. He immediately RAN out the door and fled to his bus like he does every night when the two fans that are left for their show are trying to get him to sign something.”
“We’re leaving because we have no interest in bringing more people to the chris barnes show. There was no “fight”. He punched me, RAN away and a few people saw it. I just walked out told his tour manager the deal, wrapped up the merch and left.”
“Just don’t go to the show and please get the word out. Cattle Decapitation is not doing this tour as we no longer wish to bring people to his show. Cuz its HIS show. More than enough people have drilled that fact into us.”
“Here’s how chris barnes works: punches. Runs. Does the Rocky dance like he’s a badass on his tour bus he’s about to not fuckin afford.”
Chris Barnes:
“If you eat tofu you’ll get you’re ass kicked in a fight. #knocked out”
“Bottom line if you break into someone’s back stage start calling them names and get in someone’s face what do u think will happen?
Oh and Btw it WAS NOT a sucker punch. I didn’t even throw a punch.”
If what Travis says is true (and it has been known that Chris Barnes is less than pleasant to deal with on a certain front — the tofu remark makes that evident enough), then this is something absolutely ridiculous to him to be fighting over. There are two sides to every story obviously, but either way I’m sure whatever happened didn’t need to result in someone getting punched. The whole thing just reeks of immaturity, though I’m on the side of Cattle Decap out of principle.
So if you want to see Cattle Decapitation, you’re gonna have to wait until later this month when they hit the road with Dying Fetus and Cerebral Bore. Dates after the jump!
The first impression you get of Reading when you visit is that it is essentially ‘miniature London’ — people surge in every direction at once in rush hour and you’re lucky to get a step to yourself on an escalator. The bustling high street was completed by combinations of pub, Subway and Poundland in a random order and after a good half an hour spent searching for it, it was unsurprising to find the Sub89 nestled cosily above the latter. Alas, my ‘country bumpkin’ was showing but with a whole evening of brutal death metal ahead there wasn’t much room for complaining and my luck would continue, in the form of a broken till when it came time for me to buy my round of drinks.
So with a belly full of free alcohol, we went straight into Scottish brutalisers Cerebral Bore. Ruthless riffs and sickening slams were the name of the game and after run-throughs of tracks like ‘The Bald Cadaver‘ and ‘Maniacal Miscreation‘, it was hard not to be completely mesmerized by the organised carnage taking place on stage. Guitarist Paul McGuire, clad in his traditional Devourment t-shirt, violated every nook and cranny of the fret board and vocalist Som commanded the crowd effortlessly. Cerebral Bore put on a hell of a show, marred only slightly by the standard twat at the back shouting ‘Get your tit’s out!’ after the first track. Yeah buddy, we get it. You haven’t seen a breast since you’ve been old enough to suckle on one. Get the fuck over it.
[viaNo Clean Singing]
- DL
This week’s been a tasty week for new releases (sorry about the This Week In Heavy hiatus!), and this has definitely been the case for death metal in particular. Both Gojira and Dying Fetus have albums coming out this week, and you can stream them both online before you decide on dropping the cash.
First up, Gojira’s latest record L’enfant Sauvage is streaming over at this Australian website called The Music. Some rumblings around the internet have been calling this some of Gojira’s best work to date. I’m still trying to get into this record, so the jury’s out as far as I’m concerned on that front, but it is undoubtedly the Gojira we all know and love! Consistent, yet a step forward for the band. That’s out now on Roadrunner Records.
When you’re done with Gojira, Metalsucks has the stream for Dying Fetus’ new record Reign Supreme. I’ve had the record for a while now, and I still can’t make heads or tails of it for a review, and I mean that in the best way possible. It’s great death metal with a multifaceted approach pulling from all over the genre’s spectrum — grind, brutal, tech, groove — it has it all! Go check it out, available now via Relapse Records.
- JR
I’ve been saying that 2012 is the year of death metal, and the trend of stellar and high profile death metal releases just continues to leave me stoked. One of the most anticipated releases on the calendar right now is Dying Fetus‘ Reign Supreme. I was never really a huge Dying Fetus fan before, but I’m really liking how their forthcoming album is starting to shape up. Revolver is streaming a new track called ‘Second Skin’ and it has everything you could really ask for from the group. These tech grooves are delicious. Check out the track below:
Reign Supreme is due out June 19th on Relapse Records. If you’re as interested as you should be, the album is currently available for pre-order here.
- JR
