Written By Kevin McSweeney
Welcome to Seven Deadly Songs, Metal Lair’s weekly feature where we shine a spotlight on seven of the best new albums and EPs to be released in the world of rock and metal between the 29th of September and the 5th of October, and the songs that have us most excited for them. If you like it heavy, you’ve come to the right place, and not just because the man writing this article is a big, fat lump. We hope you enjoy checking out our selections as much as we enjoyed choosing them. We hope also to inspire much banging of heads with devil horns held aloft. If nothing else, it’s a great way to burn some calories. Take note, Mr Writer!
Bloodred Hourglass – Chasing Shadows
We begin at the Finnish this week, as our first selection is from one of Finland’s finest (and that’s truly saying something.) The legendary Bloodred Hourglass have been gracing us with metal of the finest quality for nigh on twenty years now, and while this track has a title that is alarmingly close to those of songs by Shed Seven and Adele, it’s far more hard hitting than its nondescript nomenclature might suggest. Their sound is billed as a blend of melodic death metal and metalcore. They’re leaning decidedly towards the latter on this track, it has to be noted. Chasing Shadows is taken from their seventh full-length album, We Should Be Buried Like This – there’s a metalcore title if ever I heard one! The album is available from October 3rd via Out of Line Music. We suggest you get in line to get a copy.
Corruption – The Trail
Polish stoner metal, anyone? OK, how about the opening track of Corruption’s latest album, Tequila Songs & Desert Winds? It’s a strange album title, coming from a place where they’d be more accustomed to vodka and icy blizzards, but it’s their ninth album in a career that stretches back to the early 1990s, so they’ve earned the right not to be questioned by a muppet like me. Besides, this is a band who gave us album titles such as Pussyworld and Virgin’s Milk in the past, so all things considered, it’s not so strange after all. The album is available from October 3rd via Ossuary Records, and this track is a fine representative of it. We defy you not to bang your head to that massive intro riff! In fact, we defy you not to bang your head to any of it. It’s up there with Wiseblood-era Corrosion of Conformity, which is high praise indeed, and the chorus will be in your head for days.
Hooded Menace – Pale Masquerade
This little beauty comes courtesy of the Season of Mist record label, so you know automatically that it’s going to be awesome, and indeed it is! The fact that this band is from Finland is another indicator of awesomeness. That’s a nation with a proud legacy of producing consistently excellent heavy music, as we prove emphatically this week, and Hooded Menace are not letting the side down with their spectacularly-titled seventh full-length album, Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration, which comes out on October 3rd. (I’m from Ireland originally; I know a good lachrymose monument when I see one!) They offer a blisteringly heavy combination of death and doom metal with macabre lyrical content, though there’s a Duran Duran cover on the album to lighten the mood a little. You’ll be monumentally lachrymose yourself if you miss it.
Melt4 – Meltpolis
Melt four what? Are we talking about the toppings on a quattro formaggi pizza? Actually, we’ve got something even tastier than that for you, so long as you don’t mind your metal being on the melodic side. This old-school banger from the Japanese rockers has plenty of big riffs and bold harmonies with lashings of plinky-plonky piano for your delectation. It sounds like it ought to be on the soundtrack of a 1980’s slasher flick – Jason Takes Tokyo, perhaps. This is the title track from their forthcoming debut full-length album, which is due to be released independently on October 1st. They are unapologetically tuneful, and unapologetically retro, and we make no apologies for including them here. Go check ‘em out! Don’t make me reach for my hockey mask and machete!
Mørket – Dissosiaatio
We make our third trip to Finland this week to sample some black metal-infused crust punk courtesy of Helsinki’s Mørket, who release their third full-length album, Del III: Dödsångestens Fågelsång, via KHY Suomen Musiikki Oy on October 3rd. Dissosiaatio starts off slowly, with some deep and sultry spoken word vocals in the style of Rammstein, and it maintains a moderate pace for much of the song, but when the punk drops, it drops! And when the black metal kicks in, the pace goes to another level entirely. Like the aforementioned Rammstein, they perform in their own language, and make no apologies for it, and nor should they. All I can say is: thank goodness for copy and paste!
Struck a Nerve – Struck a Nerve
To the United Kingdom next, where we have the song Struck a Nerve by the band Struck a Nerve, which is the fourth single from the album called Struck a Nerve. I’m sure Alan Partridge would approve. It’s the debut album from the Norfolk thrashers, which is due to be released independently October 3rd. It’s all harsh vocals, as far as I’m aware, which is strange. You’d think a band from the city of Norwich would be singing like canaries. (Many people won’t get that joke. Those that do will not find it funny.) Anyway, musically, it’s pure Bay Area thrash. I direct you to an excellent article by my colleague Derek Gann about the origins of the Bay Area Thrash Metal Explosion. I direct you also to this excellent bit of thrash metal from an exciting young British band.
Tempered – Cold, Hard Ground
More British thrash metal? Oh, go on then! We end our list with a track from the debut album from Glaswegian thrashers Tempered. (I’ve been to Scotland a few times. It’s definitely cold and hard in Glasgow.) I love the way you can clearly hear Craig Hewett’s Scottish accent through his shouts and screams. Far too many British vocalists adopt American accents when they perform, so I find it refreshing. He reminds me of Wattie Buchan from The Exploited in that regard, particularly in their Beat The Bastards crossover thrash era. The album, titled Cruel and Unusual Punishment, is due to be released independently on October 3rd. It’s raw, uncompromising, and heavier than I would be on a diet of deep-fried pizza, butter tablet and tattie scones, and as we’ve already established, I’m heavy enough already. On that note, I’m off to the gym. See you next week!
