The Scrolls of Akhenaten: March 22nd, 2024

Welcome back to The Scrolls of Akhenaten, the weekly blog segment in which I recommend a bunch of albums in different sub-genres of metal and punk, as well as few non-metal releases that strike my fancy. This week I’ve got some absolute bangers up my sleeve that everyone who reads this should absolutely give a chance at the very least. If you like your music fast and hard as fuck (with perhaps the exception of our prog selection for this week) then this is the bundle of records for you! Read on and consider giving these records a shot.

Black

Spite – Bathe the Babe in Bats’ Blood
May 18th, 2022
Blackened Punk / Metalpunk
Hells Headbangers Records
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Standout Song: “Spider Biter”

I first became aware of Spiter through following the band’s guitarist and vocalist Richard Spider on Instagram, where he goes by the name Sexman Leather on account of his various leatherworking creations. I later saw the band perform live at Turbo Haus and holy shit did they knock my socks off. This power trio (which also features members of Devil Master) rip forth with the ferocious terror of a blackened assault that combines elements of black metal and thrash metal together with hardcore punk and speed metal to create an unstoppable sound that crushes all in its path. This album is absurdly fast, unrelenting, and violent in every aspect, from both the mesmerizing music to the bloody imagery present on the album cover. If you want badass music about vampires and castles that pulls no punches when it comes to speed then Bathe the Babe in Bats’ Blood (say that 10 times fast) is the record for you.

Death

Øbelisk – The Architecture of Suffering
July 30th, 2023
Death Metal / Sludge Metal / Grindcore
Independently Released
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Standout Song: “Maggot Christ”

Some of you are likely already very familiar with Øbelisk thanks to their tour in August of last year which landed them several shows across Newfoundland, including a date in Corner Brook and three dates in St. John’s. The band has been around since at least 2022 (though likely earlier), with The Architecture of Suffering being their first full length record, and boy does it fucking crush! Having seen these guys live a ridiculous number of times over the past couple of years I have become intimately familiar with these songs and they still hit just as hard now as they did when I first heard them. Like Spiter, Øbelisk is a power trio, and together they have composed a series of kickass songs that blend elements of death metal, sludge metal, and grindcore together to create a devastatingly heavy brand of concrete-heavy extreme metal that obliterates everything in its wake. Don’t sleep on Øbelisk.

Doom

Bison B.C. – Dark Ages
April 13th, 2010
Sludge Metal
Metal Blade Records
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Standout Song: “Stressed Elephant”

Taking things back to the past, I revisited this album from my youth recently and found that it still hits just as hard as it did way back then. Bison B.C. have released two albums in the intervening years since Dark Ages was initially released but this album just has something special about it that none of their other work really touched. It’s dark and brooding and even progressive at parts. Some of my favourite moments come when the band interject mournful synths into the otherwise purely metal instrumentals, making the whole piece sound like some sort of messed up funeral dirge. This record has a lot of variety and also feels like the perfect sonic representation of the kind of atmosphere that comes with living in cities in the great white north. It’s hard to describe exactly, but the vibe of Canadian urbanity is often expressed through the music of those who live in it in a way that bands from south of the border don’t quite tap into, and Bison is a great example of that.

Prog

Vulture Industries – Ghosts from the Past
June 16th, 2023
Avant-Garde / Progressive / Gothic Metal
Karisma Records
Bergen, Norway
Standout Song: “This Hell is Mine”

I’ve been aware of Vulture Industries for years but never really dove into their work until the release of this record. This album is what you get when you combine the expected black metal atmosphere of a band from Norway with a Gothic vocal affectation and aesthetic and a penchant to experiment with different sounds and melodies. Equal parts Opeth and ICS Vortex, as well as Devin Townsend and Unto Others, Vulture Industries have landed on a sound that is wholly unique within the world of progressive metal, and I’m completely and utterly addicted to it. I think this album in particular will probably appeal to fans of old school goth rock like The Sisters of Mercy or Siouxsie and the Banshees while also attracting fans of the more dark and atmospheric side of heavy metal, a la a band like Cellar Darling or perhaps even Paradise Lost. The influences here are too numerous to truly list, but if you like any of the bands mentioned above this record is worth checking out.

Punk

Mulch – Nothing Grows Out of Dried Flowers
February 19th, 2024
Hardcore Punk / Noise Rock
Independently Released
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Standout Song: “Prudent Breakdown”

Yet another band coming to you from the city of Montreal is Mulch, a relatively new band who dropped their first EP a scant month ago. Nothing Grows Out of Dried Flowers is what you get when you put a guitarist and drummer who are approaching punk from a decidedly more eclectic side of the music world with a bassist who primarily plays hardcore and grindcore and a vocalist who has never been in a band before. This EP is absolutely brimming with energy and exudes a feeling of pissed off angst and vitriol, yet at the same time there is an experimental edge to it that I feel a lot of other Montreal punk bands don’t quite have. Parts of this record, from the off-kilter guitars to the tone of the bass, have a slight noise rock vibe to them, which at times reminds me more of bands like Lightning Bolt and Melt Banana, despite still being a hardcore punk band. Definitely an EP worth checking out for those with a flair for the experimental!

Thrash

Void – Horrors of Reality
February 1st, 2023
Thrash Metal
Independently Released
Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
Standout Song: “Feeding Frenzy”

Thrashing their way out of the bayou of Lafayette, Louisiana, Void are a relatively newer band, having been active since 2019, and Horrors of Reality is their first full length effort in that time frame. I first became aware of them through their campy and old school music video for the song “Voodoo”, which immediately drew me in through the visuals alone. It was a pleasant surprise then that the music was quality enough to bother checking out the full record, and I greatly enjoyed what I heard beyond the anachronistic cover art. These guys clearly love the thrash bands of yore and conjure a lot of comparisons to some of the greats, with Megadeth and Anthrax perhaps being the most obvious comparisons. The guitars absolutely rip and tear, the drums are punishing, and the compositions are creative. That’s saying something in a subgenre where most of the bands sound either like a low rent Metallica, Slayer, or Municipal Waste.

Trad

Significant Point – Into the Storm
February 7th, 2021
Speed Metal
Dying Victims Productions
Tokyo, Japan
Standout Song: “Heavy Attack”

I came across the Japanese speed metal quintet Significant Point through the NWOTHM Full Albums channel on YouTube and I am so glad I clicked on that video because good lord this thing fucking rips! Japanese metal bands have always had a flair for pomp and theatrics, and Significant Point is no different. While I can’t speak to what the band’s live performances look like, the music on this record is evidence enough of how much effort and skill these guys put into their craft. The drums are ridiculously fast, never taking a second to slow down. The guitars shred with unbelievable fury, and the vocals consist almost exclusively of high pitched falsetto wailing that carries across the music like the fighter jets depicted in the cover art. If ever there was music to engage in a dogfight with enemy aircraft to, this record would absolutely be it. It’s glorious and magnificent in every aspect, including the old school style of production that gives it all an air of authenticity.

Non-Metal

Mama’s Broke – Count the Wicked
June 1st, 2017
Celtic Folk / Americana
Independently Released
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Standout Song: “The Vein Braider”

Growing up in Newfoundland I admit that there was a certain resentment that I built up against folk music since it was all that I was exposed to as a youngin’ out around the bay. As an adult though I’ve cultivated more of an appreciation for folk, especially the Celtic kind, and Mama’s Broke may be the apex of what I’ve heard in this style from Atlantic Canada. First showed to me by one of my partners who hails from Nova Scotia, I immediately fell in love with their style of music that combines the traditional Celtic instrumentation with a degree of Americana influence. It’s obvious upon a first listen to this debut record from the duo that Lisa Maria and Amy Lou Keeler are absolute experts of their craft and their chosen instruments. Fiddles, banjos, mandolins abound on this masterpiece of the genre that only gets better with each subsequent listen.

~ Akhenaten

Heavy NFLD Official Podcast Episode 059: October 2023 – Heavy Halloween IV

All songs belong to the original artists. Podcast recorded by Greg “Akhenaten” Ravengrave.

Tracklist:

1. Kaspam Cult – “Samhain”
2. Artach – “Hell on Halloween”
3. Mistwalker – “Eggs Upon Thy Windowpane”
4. Vertebraeker – “Bog Haunter”
5. Jim Jones and the Kool-Aid Jammers – “Trick r’ Treat”
   ~ News ~
6. The Beer Patrice – “Zombie Part I”
7. The Dead One B.C. – “Mutilated Samaritan”
8. Cemetery Hill – “Transylvanian Hangover”
9. Fucked to Death – “Graveyard Sex Ritual”
10. Kaspam Cult – “Black No. 1” [Type O Negative Cover]

~ Akhenaten

March 2023 in Review

And now it’s time for March 2023!

Biggest Stories
– Bar None Closes Its Doors
– Diner Drugs to Play The Deck and The Abbey on May 12th and 13th
– Grenadier Launch Official Website
– Fog Coffin Seeking New Bassist and Vocalist
– Laxidaisy Seeking New Drummer
– Stanley’s Pub Now Hosting Heavy Metal Karaoke Nights

New LPs Released
– 6000apez – January 12
– Category VI – Firecry
– Chris McGee – The Strange Ritual of the Golden-Faced Man

New EPs Released
– Canvas – Down Horrendous
– C.A.R.E. – Creating a Righteous Energy
– Chimp Apparatus – Sober
– The Crevice – 11th Hour / Valley of Flies
– Ninth Quarter – Below Knee
– Pouch Dweller – Goes to the Movies
– Winterhearth – Rape of Eden

New Singles Released
– Amer Ali – Face in the Clouds
– Elder Caius – Kailash, When It Rises
– Nerve Shack – Yellow Teeth

New Demos Released
– Wannabe Erudite – Remembered Demos

New Music Videos Released
– Category VI – “Valkyrie”
– Jaded Truth – “Riders”
– Nerve Shack – “Yellow Teeth”
– Precious Blood – “Bastard! Rejoice!” [Live]

Reviews
– Vertebraeker – Spinal Sword [by Akhenaten]

Album Announcements
– The Skeats – Untitled 4th LP
– Winterhearth – Rape of Eden

New Merch
– Smoke Signals Reveal New Patches

We also released episode 52 of the Heavy NFLD Official Podcast where we recapped all of the heavy music that was released during the RPM Challenge in 2023.

Albums Archived
– 6000apez – Waterkode and Friends [EP / Hardcore Punk]
– Artach – Hoarfrost [Single / Black Metal]
– Cemetery Hill – Such Lovely Wounds [LP / Goth Rock]
– Chimp Apparatus – Garfield [Single / Hardcore Punk]
– Choplicker – Rollercrisis [Demo / Progressive Metal]
– Choplicker – Smilebringer Bootcamp [Demo / Progressive Metal]
– Count Cromulent – Emergence [LP / Progressive Rock]
– Darren Soda – Five Hits from Hell [EP / Punk Rock]
– Darren Soda – The Dead of Winter [Demo / Punk Rock]
– Disposition – Dissent [LP / Nu Metal]
– Everose – Flourish [Single / Alternative Metal]
– Jim Jones and the Kool-Aid Jammers – Supercalifragilisticdruginducedpsychosis [Single / Surf Punk]
– Laxidaisy – A Ballad of Ships and Wolves [Single / Emo]
– Most Likely Forever and Decay – Without Me [Single / Nu Metal]
– Needle Crafts – Grad School Twitter [EP / Emo]
– Neko Suicide – Bound by Chains and Ripped in Half [LP / Harsh Noise]
– Nemophilist – Aurora [Single / Dark Ambient]
– Roach Smoking Buddies – Roach Smoking Christmas [EP / Powerviolence]
– Skreeched In – Skreeched In [EP / Hardcore]
– Swam – Swam [EP / Hardcore]
– This Day – Euphoric State [Single / Alternative Rock]
– Tunnel Vision – Tunnel Vision [EP / Hardcore]
– Wannabe Erudite – Educational Demos [Demo / Noise Rock]
– Yes, Officer – Pace Yourself [Single / Post Hardcore]
– Yes, Officer – Slow News Day [Single / Post Hardcore]

~ Akhenaten

Heavy NFLD Official Podcast Episode 052: March 2023 – The RPM Re-Cap MMXXIII

Welcome to the 52nd episode of the Heavy NFLD Official Podcast. On this episode we re-cap all the heavy music released for the RPM Challenge in the year of 2023!

All songs belong to the original artists. Podcast recorded by Greg “Akhenaten” Ravengrave.

Tracklist:

01. The Crevice – “Valley of Flies”
02. Pouch Dweller – “Laserblast’s Last Stand”
03. Chris McGee – “Sudden Shock”
04. Cemetery Hill – “Doomed Generation”
05. Ninth Quarter – “Crustborne”
~News Break~
06. Elder Caius – “Kailash, When It Rises”
07. Count Cromulent – “Thunder Reigns”
08. Wannabe Erudite – “Pester”
09. Canvas – “Permanent Holiday”
10. Personal Space Invaders – “Solid Ground”

~ Akhenaten

Metal Maniacs: Criss Rogers

For this week’s installment of Metal Maniacs we have Criss Rogers! Criss is a former member of the groove / death metal band Sludgefist, a member of the new band The Mill, and is also a solo artist who performs under the name CR. Read on to discover his list of ten albums that influenced and inspired his musical journey!

Hey, what’s up everybody? CR here, giving y’all a rundown on the ten records that shaped my musical journey. I take great pride in having my list published amongst those of local titans of metal and punk, and it’s good to represent the West Coast in this thing, not just Town. Also, big thanks to Mr. Ravengrave himself for the opportunity to pay it forward to all the legends that have inspired me over the years. Also, I tried not to retroactively curate the list to make myself seem cooler than I actually was. And so, without further ado, I give you… the candy lineup:

Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York

This is ground zero for my guitar playing. Nirvana was the biggest band in the world, and this album proved that you could take the raw power of a punk trio and distill it through organic acoustic arrangements to create something that felt intimate and truly special. When I was 12, I started taking guitar lessons (R.I.P. Tommy Murphy) and learned every song from this album (my first experience tuning a guitar to E-flat – a practice I still adopt to this day) and would strum and scream along with Kurt “the whole night through” for years.  Absolute classic performance, start to finish.

Favourite Tracks:
“Oh Me”
“About a Girl”
“Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”
“Polly”

Carcass – Surgical Steel

Don’t call it a comeback! But seriously, this is one of the greatest comeback records ever, by a criminally underrated band that has innovated, influenced, evolved and survived for decades. Packed with more gut-churning riffs, whiplash speed and buttery, fluid guitar solos than most bands can muster over a career, guitarist Bill Steer (the handsomest man in all of metal), bassist / vocalist Jeff Walker (the ugliest man in all of metal) and company offered up something brutal, beautiful and triumphant with Surgical Steel. 1994’s Heartwork may be the genre-defining fan favourite, but Surgical Steel is a massive return to form: the undisputed kings of melodic grindcore once again ascending their gore-covered throne.

Favourite Tracks:
“Captive Bolt Pistol”
“Thrasher’s Abbatoir”
“The Granulating Dark Satanic Mills”
“The Master Butcher’s Apron”

Danzig – Danzig II: Lucifuge

The best album from my favourite singer. I love everything Danzig’s ever done: Misfits, Samhain, his Black Aria classical albums, the works. But for my money, Lucifuge is his finest moment. Every song has a different sound with that ever-present theme of Danzig’s patented brand of darkness and iconic Elvis-meets-Jim Morrison crooning threaded throughout. From the rip-roaring opener “Long Way Back From Hell” to the Howlin’ Wolf-esque acoustic braggin’ blues of “I’m the One” to the torch song ballad “Blood & Tears”, this is a record I still put on at least once a month and never grow bored with it.

Favourite Tracks:
“Tired of Being Alive”
“Snakes of Christ”
“Killer Wolf”
“Her Black Wings”

NOFX – Punk in Drublic

Despite what Ring of Honor, WWE or AEW fans would attest, for kids of my generation the real Summer of Punk was 1994, with bands like Green Day, The Offspring and Rancid (dude, I was so tempted to put Dookie, Smash and …And Out Come The Wolves on this list) all making major mainstream strides to connect lame suburban kids (like me) with punk rock. NOFX were the first “real” punk band I discovered on my own, picking up this CD at random and within 15 seconds of “Linoleum”, I was already down the rabbit hole. Fat Mike’s songwriting and bass playing (another criminally underrated talent) are stellar, Smelly’s drums are like an impeccable clockwork jackhammer, and the guitar playing of El Hefe and Erik Melvin continue to influence me to this day, a fact I barely managed to stammer out, totally startstruck, when I met Melvin in 2015. Also major thanks to this record for introducing me to the incomparable Kim Shattuck of the Muffs who does the unforgettable guest vocals on “Lori Myers”.

Favourite Tracks:
“Dig”
“Lori Myers”
“Reeko”
“Fleas”
“Jeff Don’t Wear Birkenstocks”
“Punk Guy”

Type O Negative – October Rust

My absolute favourite album by my absolute favourite band. Type O Negative – specifically bassist / vocalist / songwriter Peter Steele – speak to me as no other artist does. Combining the heaviest of Sabbath-inspired metal with the psychedelic pop of late-era Beatles and Lush, Gothic atmosphere of The Cure (damn, I should’ve included them on this list too…) with an ultra-black deadpan sense of humour, it feels like Type O’s music was written for me. This record is particularly awesome, with hits like “Love You To Death”, “My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend” and “Cinnamon Girl”.  Also: “Be My Druidess” features THE HUGEST BASS TONE OF ALL TIME. Seriously b’ys, it’s like a dump truck going through a nitroglycerin plant.

Favourite Tracks:
“Be My Druidess”
“Wolf Moon”
“Burnt Flowers Fallen”
“Die With You”

Misfits – Famous Monsters

I know, I know. How DARE I include a Graves-era Misfits record on a list with Danzig? Because I go where eagles dare (and I ain’t no goddamn son of a bitch), and this record is simply awesome. Look, I know that today Michale Graves is a Proud Boy P.O.S. and should be ridiculed and shunned from civilized society for his tone-deaf idiocy. But that doesn’t make his performance on this record 20+ years ago any less amazing (even though my wife pointed out he sounds just like Stephen Page from Barenaked Ladies and now I can’t unhear it – thanks, D!). Doyle’s guitar has never sounded so massive and menacing, and this has some of the best singalong choruses of the entire Misfits catalog (“Dust to Dust”, “Die Monster Die” and “Fiend Club” immediately spring to mind). I was born in ’81, so the real Misfits were pretty much done by the time I came around. This record came out when I was 17, and it felt like my Misfits, a phenomenon that I got to enjoy in real time. At this point, I do need to mention the best tune on the record, the 50’s-esque ballad “Saturday Night”, a favourite in my house and a tune my wife and I finally got to dance to – thanks to Danielle Trouble & the Dinosaurs – the last time we were in St. John’s.

Favourite Tracks:
“Saturday Night”
“Forbidden Zone”
“Living Hell”
“Scream”
“Them!”

Pantera – Vulgar Display of Power

Dimebag Darrell was my hero. A righteous dude of the highest order, full of the most love, most positivity and most balls in all of metal – or “heavy shit” as Darrell would put it. A fearless explorer and innovator, a monster riffer, and in my book the greatest lead guitarist the world has ever seen (GETCHER PULL!). Vulgar is my favourite Pantera album and it sounds like a greatest hits collection just listing the tracks in order – “Mouth For War”, “A New Level”, “Walk”, “Fucking Hostile”, “This Love”, and that’s just the first five songs! Gotta give it up for Dime’s brother Vinnie Paul on the skins, the ever-underrated Rex Brown on bass and of course, the meanest mug in metal, Phil Anselmo, who’s in rare form here both vocally and lyrically (“Rise” and “No Good” are so timely they could have been written in 2020).  Without question, one of the best metal records of the ‘90s. Fight me.

Favourite Tracks:
“Mouth for War”
“Regular People (Conceit)”
“Rise”
“Fucking Hostile”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland

Hendrix’s final record was his peak. He came on like a comet; an overnight sensation and his music and style influenced everything that came after. It’s no coincidence that my first electric guitar was a Strat (although, that may have more to do with Wayne’s World than Hendrix…). This was Jimi at his most focused and concise – “All Along The Watchtower”, “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” and “Crosstown Traffic” – and also his most chaotic and experimental: the bad-trip soundscape of “…And The Gods Made Love”, the ethereal “1983 – A Merman I Should Turn To Be” and of course the ultra-dank extended “Voodoo Child” jam. A moody, bluesy, trippy, satisfying blaze of glory.

Favourite Tracks:
“Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”
“Little Miss Strange”
“House Burning Down”
“Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)”

Nine Inch Nails – Broken

This record demonstrated Trent Reznor’s uncanny ability to blend heavier-than-heavy layers of guitars with breakneck electronic beats to culminate in an album that still today seethes with fury, self-loathing and heartbreak. To those of us steeped in NIN lore, Broken is the in-between of what came before – 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine – and what was to come: 1994’s masterpiece The Downward Spiral. A dark and necessary step in Nine Inch Nails’ evolution from frivolous Goth-dance to anthems of a tortured soul. P.S. I lost my virginity to this record, and you never forget your first.

Favourite Tracks:
“Gave Up”
“Last”
“Physical”
“Wish”

Alkaline Trio – Good Mourning

Full Disclosure: by 2003 I had all but given up on punk rock, metal and music in general. My mental health was at an all-time low. I was heavily medicated and in continuous therapy. I was bland, boring and middle-of-the-road. As a result, most of the music I was writing and listening to was also bland, boring and middle-of-the-road. Until I read a year-end roundup in Rolling Stone that listed Good Mourning by Alkaline Trio as one of the top picks of the year. On a whim, I got the record (bought for me in Toronto by the legendary Gary Graham) and I was taken aback: here were these three little Satanic punk kids making some of the coolest, catchiest tunes I’d heard in years. The opening track “This Could Be Love” could not be more apropos as I became an instant die-hard and remain so to this day. Equal parts melodic and melancholic with dark and sometimes hilarious lyricism, Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano double-handedly restored my faith in music and myself with this album. Within weeks I began writing meaningful songs again, quit the pharmaceuticals, shook off the victim blanket, and the joy and passion returned to my life.  I owe the Alkaline Trio everything from that moment forward.  

Favourite Tracks:
“Fatally Yours”
“Blue in the Face”
“Emma”
“This Could Be Yours”

Honourable Mentions:

Doughboys – Crush
Tori Amos – Boys For Pele
Dimmu Borgir – In Sorte Diaboli
GWAR – Ragnarok
Portishead – Dummy
Ramones – Ramones

~ Written by Criss Rogers
~ Edited by Akhenaten