Holy shitfuck, these new Abominable Putridity songs KILL!

Damn, turns out Abominable Putridity have been keeping themselves busy lately. Sadly it would appear that Big Chocolate (aka Disfiguring the Goddess, aka Cameron Argon, aka awesome dude) is not their vocalist anymore, but that's okay, because his replacement is none other than the legendary Matti Way (ex-Disgore & Pathology). His vocals may not be as beefy and low as Vladimir's or Big Chocolate's, but he still has a very unique tone and clear enunciation, and his voice works perfectly with the new music, as you'll see in just a moment. And plus, the guy's a fucking underground legend, so the fact that he's in one of my favorite slam bands of all time is reason enough to get plenty excited. Now, on to the music. As I said, Abominable Putridity has been one of my favorite slam bands for some time now, and now they've only gotten better. They've always had great slams and ball-crushingly heavy grooves, but now they have something else working for them: riffs. That's always been their one setback- all slams all the time, barely any riffing going on at all. I mean they made it work, and no one complained about it, but now they've put out not just one, but TWO new songs, and I was floored by how many legit riffs they have going now. Which of course only serves to make the slams sound that much more powerful, because they're not diluted by the rest of the song. But don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself. This first one's called "Lack of Oxygen".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR1ajj4rgqw&feature=share

See what I mean? Tremolo picking, Euro blasts, beefy slams used in moderation to make the effect that much stronger, and then Matti Way's instantly recognizable gutturals. And that's not even the best one, this next one's even better. Check out "Remnants of the Tortured".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWKLN6boesU&feature=related

Oh God, so much awesome! So much win! Can't take it! According to this awesome site that I just found out about that you should totally check out called nocleansinging.com, the new album will be called The Anomalies of Artificial Origin, and if the rest of the album is as good as these two songs then this should be a shoe-in for the Best of the Year compilations, a compliment that so far has only been bestowed to Gorgasm's new album Orgy of Murder. Alright, that's enough fanboying for one article, you guys get the point by now. If you haven't already done it by now, be sure to add Abominable Putridity's last album In the End of Human Existence to your collection if you're looking for some top quality slam, available via Lacerated Enemy Records (don't worry, I've never heard of them either). Enjoy your Wednesday, folks.

-BK

Album Review: Short Bus Pile Up - Repulsive Display of Human Upholstery

For the love of all that is brutal this album is good. I had heard from a friend or two that is was one of the best releases of last year, and after listening through it multiple times I wouldn't say they were incorrect, because this is in fact a fantastic album. Hailing from Fredericksburg, VA, Short Bus Pile Up play a mix of brutal death metal and slam, and they blend the genres with shocking fluidity. One moment it'll sound like I'm listening to some new Cannibal Corpse, then the next minute I feel like I'm listening to Abominable Putridity. This isn't a bad thing, however, because as previously mentioned, the blending of the styles is very smooth and nothing ever feels tacked on.

Then there are the instruments, all of which do a great job for the most part. As is to be expected, the bass is nearly inaudible, but I'm pretty much used to that being the case with most heavy music. I would have really liked more of an emphasis on the bass, because if used correctly it can make a slam band sound much heavier than it would be without, but what can ya do? The guitars play brilliantly placed chromatic riffs that sound unbelievably heavy at points and never let up. The drums however are the prized jewel of the band. Some drum parts are ridiculously fast and intricate, like the blast beats in "Urethral Myaisis," while some parts are slow, yet brutal enough to keep the slams nice and heavy.

And the slams, oh the slams. I haven't heard a band that uses slams so intelligently since Abominable Putridity. It never feels like the songs revolve around them, but there are plenty to go around to keep you headbanging. It is easy to lose track of which song you're listening to however, which is my other problem with the album. A lot of the tracks sound eerily similar to each other on the surface, and unless one is listening very closely it's easy to get lost.

The two qualms I have with this album shouldn't be an invitation to ignore it however. Repulsive Display of Human Upholstery is an extremely solid release from an up-and-coming band that you need to keep an eye out for. Definitely one of the top releases of 2010.

8/10

Slam Spotlight Part 1

Greetings, friends. We all know that there is a huge gap between hardcore kids and metalheads, but in recent years I have discovered that there is one genre in particular that both sides can somewhat agree on, and it's not deathcore, but rather a little something known as slam. The phrase "simple but effective" is a picture-perfect definition of slam; the music itself is almost always based around a rather simplistic groove, focusing more on the sludgy, catchy beats of the songs than the actual riffs, but at the same time it is unrelentingly heavy, brutal and any other adjective you can think of to describe top notch death metal. Case in point: Moscow, Russia's Abominable Putridity. 

These guys are among the modern slam elite, setting the standard for pretty much the entire genre. Catchy, toe-tapping, head-bobbing beats that both dancers and headbangers can get into? Check. Shamelessly gory lyrics burped out with practically incomprehensible guttural vocals? Got it. I could go on for paragraphs on end talking about how awesome they are, but why don't you just check them out for yourself. From their 2007 release "In the End of Human Existence", The Baby Killer and Mosh Rebellion give you "Blindfold Surgery".


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeQN1hd7A6k

And there you have it folks, slam in a nutshell. Stay tuned for more videos like this, and for my second installment of "Shit Hardcore Kids Wish They Could Play" sometime soon. Until then, stay brutal, not br00tal, and be good to each other.

Love,
Teh Bby Kllr

The Baby Killer's Take Part II: Brutal, not Br00tal

Below you'll find another well worded rant from writer the Baby Killer. It's not about hardcore dancing necessarily, but it's definitely worth a read. Think of this as part two in introducing him as a writer. I insist you read on.


It's cute how people listen to some silly mainstream band like Atreyu, In This Moment, Bring Me the Horizon or something to that effect and think just because they listen to bands that have distorted guitars that they're "brutal" and that they have some semblance of a clue what metal is. Now, I'm not usually an elitist by nature, I'm normally pretty carefree. It's your right as a person to like whatever you want to like, and I try not to deride people for liking something that I don't, but seriously, this shit's gotta fucking stop.

Less than a day after the Mayhem Festival came to town this past summer, I noticed an outpouring of stupid preppy bitches ranting on their Facey-Spaces about "fucking shit up in the pit at a Lamb of God show my friend took me to at the Tweeter Center". Don't kid yourself slut, you were there to see Atreyu or Korn or Rob Zombie. You're just trying to look tough for your friends because, for some inexplicable reason, metal is rising in popularity, and you're subconsciously trying to stick with the "in" crowd. You want a real metal show, with pits that make even me nervous, someone who regularly attends them and has received more than his fair share of lumps in the process? Try moshing for Cannibal Corpse and see if you make it out alive. You want real metal bands, not trendy, flash-in-the-pan bands that are only popular because Hot Topic jerks them off? Try going to some shitty bar in south central Bumblefuck to see the underground bands that bust their asses trying to get their name out, and are willing to play at midnight on a Tuesday to seven other people, because those seven people are the real fans. They're the people that go to shows because they genuinely love the music and want to support the bands in whatever small way they can, not because everyone else is going to be there and there are a couple bands playing that you like because you saw one of their videos on MTV2 or some shit. Try going to shows for bands like Short Bus Pile Up, Gutted Out, Lethean, Cerebral Bore, Jungle Rot or some other band that you've probably never heard of. The tickets are cheaper, the bands are exponentially more talented, and the whole experience is so much more gratifying, because you know that you're contributing to something far more intimate and special.

The underground is where you'll find the true talent, the bands that are doing what they're doing because they truly love to, and are putting their blood and sweat into it because it means that much more to them. In other words, as cliche as it might sound, don't pay attention to the mainstream bands and stick to the underground. Mainstream bands are a given, and more often than not they end up becoming stagnant, boring and watered down, because the labels and industry executives find out what the general public likes and stick to it until the next big trend (aka "cash cow") comes along. The underground, unknown bands will always be the ones who never compromise or falter, and the fans who support those bands and go to the shows at the bars, fire halls, Elks lodges, church basements, etc. will always be the truest of the true. In fact, metal itself should never have been allowed to become mainstream in the first place.

Metal has always been about rebellion, individuality and anti-establishment mentalities, so becoming mainstream contradicts and undermines everything that metal supposedly stands for. It feels great to know that you like something that few others do, but now all of a sudden every fourteen-year-old girl with black hair and boy problems is wearing a Slayer shirt even though they only know "Reign In Blood" because they played through it on Guitar Hero. Sure, "Funeral Thirst" was and still is a great song. Sure, Job For a Cowboy has some pretty cool songs, especially in their more recent albums. Hell, I even like a good breakdown once in a blue moon. However, the point is the popular has now become the norm in metal, and as a result the lesser-known but undeniably more talented bands that I listen to are now frowned upon by the same exact people that claim to love metal. If you love The Black Dahlia Murder and Job For a Cowboy and Whitechapel, what's wrong with Necrophagist, Suffocation or Cannibal Corpse? Those guys are direct influences to the mainstream acts, without them they wouldn't exist. If you're so hard up for deathcore and breakdowns, why not listen to bands that have a great groove but are still brutal as fuck, like Dying Fetus or Abominable Putridity? And if you love those stupid clean auto-tuned choruses so much, why not listen to bands with naturally gifted singers like Dimmu Borgir or System Divide? For Christ's sake, ICS Vortex sang opera before he got into metal, he doesn't need any vocal processors, he's already got a beautiful, powerful voice that sends shivers up my spine.

In closing, what I'm ultimately trying to get across is that if you want to feel special, go out of your way to check out the underdogs. Every single day, I feel empowered, because I listen to music that is there for me no matter what, music that tells me I can be as strong and powerful as I want, as long as I stand my ground and never surrender, and these posers are actively eroding it out from under me. You think you're metal? I'll see you in the pit at the shows for Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse, Skeletonwitch and/or Deicide. Keep an eye out for me, I'll be the one caving your skull in with my boot.


How do you guys feel? Agree with the Baby Killer? Disagree? I know I completely see where he's coming from, but I actually love Lamb of God pits (see http://moshrebellion.blogspot.com/2010/10/sick-breakdowns-to-mosh-to-pt1.html) and am a surprisingly big fan of Rob Zombie. Weigh in below...