The most interesting releases of the week!
It’s been eight years since the release of You Will Never Be One Of Us, which is the second-longest gap between an album released by Nuclear Blast on August 30th 2024 and the album’s predecessor. Nails are one of the most venerated grindcore/powerviolence bands around, and they deserve all praise heading their way. Despite the gap, Nails picks up where they left off: with an industrial tinge on relentlessly fast and dense music. Not a band for subtlety.
The biggest issue with Nails has always been one of memory. Once their albums are finished I have difficulty recalling any particular riff or moment. While the band does a spectacular job with songwriting on the micro-level, the impression that they leave is far more one of emotion, as the harsh aggression and dark inhumanity just wash over you and overwhelm the senses. For fans of Nails this is a glorious return. For all others this is a chance to get into powerviolence through one of the best introductions in the genre.
Little Wars starts off with an echoing, bluesy riff on top of a sparse bass line. A drumroll beat joins some rhythm guitars before the vocals join the scene. Just when it seems like the opening track is going to explode into something larger, it instead collapses and ends early. The second song, “Times Gone Mad,” starts off with a nice organ issue before proceeding to a more typical psychedelic stoner rock sound complete with raspy, doubled vocals. Little Wars was released on Black Doomba Records.
Thunderbird Divine hits hard and slow. The band sounds best when they let their music stretch out, give each instrument room to breath, and let their tonality and expression rule the day. Luckily, this is what they spend much of the album doing. About halfway through “Times Gone Bad,” the song retreats into a simple bass line played at a slow 3 beats per note. Then the guitar joins in, soon to be playing alone as the bass drops out. This takes up significant time, and the shift back and forth from guitar to bass feels important. The bass soon re-enters the song, before the drums provide more structure and the guitar transitions to an impressive solo. This whole passage is based on that simple, spaced-out riff, and it works so well because the band are confident enough to take the time they need. Little Wars is a complete and relaxing album. It’s nice to hear blues played by people with the confidence and technique to pull off the simple stuff.
Excessive Guilt was released on Arising Empire Records. This is one of those albums that I thought was a little nifty thing to discover, only to discover that outside of my media bubble they’re far more popular than everything else I listened to this week combined. Oh well. They’re still good, and you should still listen to them if you want Silent Planet with a bit more bite, Converge with a bit more of a deathcore influence, or if you want to one-up someone else in a “finding ridiculous music” competition. When the vocals go into a triplet flow it sounds a bit like Deftones mixed with Duke Deuce in a deathcore competition.
thrown do one thing on Excessive Guilt, but oh boy do they do it well. This entire album feels like it lurches from breakdown to breakdown, with every passage a more intense twist on the previous moment. The songs are intense, focused, and sweaty. You’ve definitely heard this all before, but thrown gain their edge by eclipsing all their peers with utterly serious intensity. You can’t smile while listening to Excessive Guilt. But it’s a good time nonetheless.
Deceased are death metal legends, Fearless Undead Machines is one of the best death metal albums ever made without the words “technical” or “brutal” anywhere in the genre tag, and it’s bizarre how little attention this release is getting. Children of the Morgue, released on Hells Headbangers, was released 39 years into the band’s existence. After an unneccesary intro, Deceased give you the same thing they always have: interesting riffs that don’t quite fit into the elder death metal style, a guitar tone that makes full use of the genre’s dissonance, delightful choruses and drum fills, and a songwriting approach that wouldn’t fit any other 90s death metal group.
The biggest issue with Children of the Morgue is the run time. 55 minutes is a lot even when you like the music. While it’s worth it for a band like this, there could have been some more editing here, such as on the aforementioned intro or the third track which is somehow already an interlude. But it’s not like the album is filled with bland filler. The band writes good music and they seem to know it. While some tracks go on for quite a while and have fake endings, it always feels like there is value from the continuation. The solos in the second half of “Terrornaut” are a good example of this, even if it’s one of the shorter tracks. The song could have been half the length, and even a portion of the back-and-forth between the guitars and the vocals would have been indulgent. But Deceased make it work. Children of the Morgue is another enjoyable release from this band and why more people don’t adore this band is beyond me.
