The Baby Killer's Top Picks ov 2010

Well folks, 2010 is rapidly drawing to a close, which means it's time to do the obligatory "best of" countdowns. However, it's difficult to label bands, albums and songs as the "best" of anything, because it all comes down to personal taste and the mood you're in. As such, I thought it would be more prudent to just compile a list of some of the releases that I particularly enjoyed this year, albums and EP's that I wouldn't necessarily put above everything else but were noteworthy and stood out. In essence I guess it's pretty much the same thing, but whatever. The compilation in question is as follows.

Defeated Sanity- Chapters of Repugnance

A lot of people might not think that slam could be tech, but those people haven't heard Germany's Defeated Sanity, and those people are missing out. Chock full of crushing riffs, spastic tempo and meter changes, jazzy drums and skull-caving slams, this album is a must-have for any brutal death fan. When it was first released, Willowtip Records marketed it as the single heaviest release of 2010, and after being subjected to the aural assault of songs like "Consumed By Repugnance", "Coerced Into Idolatry" and "Blissfully Exsanguinated", most people would be hard-pressed to disagree. The music is all over the place to be certain, but the members are all perfectly in sync with each other. Tech death naysayers may complain about the album's nonstop complexity, even going so far as to call it soulless and pretentious, but more often than not the people who say that are the elitist kvlt dumbasses who think Gorgoroth are the peak of musical prowess, so fuck them. As far as I'm concerned, Chapters of Repugnance is a landmark achievement, and not just for Defeated Sanity but for all death metal.

Circle of Dead Children- Psalm of the Grand Destroyer

After a brief hiatus, the underground deathgrind champions have returned with some of their best work to date. This album offers fifteen tracks of sheer insanity that easily stand up to CODC's earlier works, which is fitting since one of the songs is a re-recording of "Ursa Major", the opening track of their notorious first album Starving the Vultures. All of the elements the band is known for- grating guitar tones, spastic yet precise drumming, well-written abstract lyrical concepts, and vocalist Joe Horvath's ability to apparently do every vocal style known to man- are on display here, but never have they all come together so clearly and cleanly. Tracks like "Avatar of Innocence", "We Who Move with the Graven Worm" and "Refuse To Kill the Same Way Twice" will undoubtedly leave those with weak constitutions pulverized, deliriously asking if anyone got the plates on that truck. It's not for everyone, but if you can get past the grating atonality then Psalm of the Grand Destroyer will thoroughly satisfy your deathgrind appetite.

Misery Index- Heirs To Thievery

If you're looking for something to really get your head a-bangin', look no further than Misery Index's latest offering. Since this band is essentially the bastard child of Dying Fetus, it's fitting that every one of this album's eleven tracks are jam-packed with ferocious grooves that are guaranteed to get your head bobbing. For me, listening to songs like "The Carrion Call" and "The Illuminaught" is like eating potato chips- I can't do it just once, I have to keep doing it until I hate myself for it. Another highlight of Heirs To Thievery is its thought-provoking lyrics. Now, Misery Index has always had well-written anti-establishment lyrics, but I found them to be particularly pertinent to our generation on this album, most noticeably in the song "Plague of Objects", which calls out modern society's borderline parasitic dependence on the Internet (says the guy who regularly forgoes hanging out with his friends to write on a blog). Prime example: "Feeding online, absent of mind, a chorus of billions thrive", and "Troll and evade, lurk and persuade, the worst you'll find's an Error 404". Think about that the next time you're pwning n00bz or whatever the hell it is you gamers do, and go listen to this album while you're at it.

Woe of Tyrants- Threnody

Christian melodic death metal? I'd never heard of it either, but here we are, and wouldn't you know it, they're awesome. This is the third full length from this Ohio quintet, who wasted no time after last year's Kingdom of Might and expanded on their signature quality songwriting. This time around they've added a touch of keyboards to the mix, and not in a flashy, cheesy way a la Dragonforce, but rather as a simple and subtle way to compliment the guitar melodies, and it works beautifully. As with the last album, the music is powerful and has an almost triumphant feel to it, like the band made it through a long and arduous journey just before writing the songs. Maybe that's the religious overtones shining through, but whatever it is it gives the band a very unique sound that puts them at the head of the pack in their genre. Listen to the tasteful use of fret tapping in the song "Bloodsmear" and you'll see what I'm talking about. Mark my words, if Woe of Tyrants can keep this up, they're going places.

Intestinal Alien Reflux- Illegal Aliens

Now what kind of Baby Killer list would this be if it didn't have at least one good slam band? This two man death machine got my attention with their 2008 full length Exogenocide, but this album is where they truly came into their own. The production is crystal clear, the riffs are killer, and the slams are brutal to say the least. What more could you want? These Lansing, Michigan brothers are seriously underrated and deserve much more widespread attention than they're given, but then again this is slam we're talking about, so that may be wishful thinking. In any case, Illegal Aliens is not only brutal, but also a bit of a step into new lyrical territory for the band. There is plenty of gore to go around with songs like "Gurgling Vaginal Discharge" and a re-recording of "Blood Semen Orgasm", as well as tongue-in-cheek humor (watch out, he's got his probe!), but the guys also seem to have taken a bit of a political stance on this record, particularly on the subject of drugs. Songs like "Republicant", "Demacraddict" and "Drugs On War" demonstrate a clear distaste for America's drug policies (not surprising, I'm pretty sure they're both total stoners), and while this doesn't really mean too much musically, it is nice to see a slam band thinking outside the box a little bit for a change. Good on ya, guys.

Decrepit Birth- Polarity

Speaking of drugs, let's talk about Decrepit Birth. The metal community eagerly awaited the release of their followup to 2008's Diminishing Between Worlds, and to say they exceeded expectations is a gross understatement. Polarity is everything that was good about both of the band's previous albums, from the melody and technicality of their last album to the straight up brutality of And Time Begins. Matt Sotelo's expertly-composed riffs, leads and harmonies sound just as amazing as ever, KC Howard managed to lay down some of his best drumming to date on the album before leaving the band, and Bill Robinson's unique growls tell stories of space, time and the ethereal that will make you look up at the sky and wonder. Of course we all know the reason why Decrepit Birth is so damn good is because they smoke shit that would kill us mere mortals on a daily basis, but hey, whatever gets the job done. And oddly enough this is one of my favorite albums to put on when I spark up, so it all works out nicely.

Cerebral Bore- Maniacal Miscreation

In case you guys haven't realized by now, I really, really, REALLY like Cerebral Bore. I was super excited to hear that they'd signed with Earache Records, but that was well after they'd put out this monster of an album. These Scotts are proof that you don't need to play solos to be one of the best tech death bands out there; all you need are killer riffs, greased-lightning drums and a smoking hot Dutch girl on vocals. Throw in a slam or two to keep things grounded and you're good to go. You can tell by listening to the music that this is a band that truly loves what they are doing, and now that they're signed to a respectable label they have the means to keep doing it. I'm expecting big things from you Cerebral Bore, big things!

Magrudergrind- Crusher

I have a specific reason for why Magrudergrind's new EP is the last entry on my year-end list, and it actually doesn't have much to do with the music itself. It's very good, don't get me wrong, but it's really nothing special, just your typical good grindcore, as we've come to expect from them. No, the reason Crusher makes the list is because Scion sponsored and endorsed it. Many people gave Magrudergrind a lot of grief for this, saying that they were selling out and what have you; after all, grindcore is pretty much as underground as it gets, so it's understandable that there would be a huge amount of hesitation when a major company showed interest in it. Luckily for us, Magrudergrind didn't sell out at all. The new EP is just as good as anything they've put out before, and rather than using the music as a gimmick to make more money, Scion gave Magrudergrind the means to potentially reach out to more people that they wouldn't have been able to reach without Scion's help. Basically, Crusher is worth mentioning because it's impressive to see such an extreme genre getting mainstream attention without softening up.

There was plenty more cool shit this year in metal, but it's late, so I think I'll leave it at that. Let us know your favorite releases from 2010 in the comments, and here's to another year of rebellion.

-BK

Show Review: Job For a Cowboy, Skeletonwitch, A Life Once Lost and Misery Index- December 17th in Philadelphia, PA

Last Friday, my good buddy and I made the trek up to the First Unitarian Church to catch the Philly stop on Job For a Cowboy's latest jaunt. Neither of us had ever been to the church before, but we had both seen JFAC in the past, so we were interested to see how everything would play out.

Trap Them was supposed to be the first band of the night, but they had to drop off the tour for reasons of their own, which was no skin off our noses. They're fairly lame anyway, and that just meant we got to see Misery Index that much sooner. While it seemed kind of unfair to have a band as accomplished and seasoned as MI play first, before all the younger bands, that didn't stop them from bringing the heavy. This marks the third time I've seen Misery Index, and thus the third time they've kicked their fair share of ass. When the grooves and blasts got going, they looked as furious as they sounded, plowing through songs like "The Carrion Call", "Traitors", "Conquistadores" and more with ease. A few people moshed, but for the most part the crowd stuck to the basic head banging and horn throwing. When they wrapped up, they invited anyone who was willing to help them break down their equipment, and this allowed yours truly to meet and chat with their drummer, one Adam Jarvis, who incidentally is a very nice fellow. Good on ya, sir.

Next up was A Life Once Lost, the one band on the bill that I knew would attract the dancers, and lo and behold I was right. I discreetly made my way to the back of the venue for these guys, and sure enough, as soon as the mandatory "What the fuck is up, we're A Life Once Lost, let's fucking do this shit" sounded, about three or four kids started hyping up by hopping around like kangaroos. As expected, their performance was energetic due to the relative simplicity of the music, and the only moshing that happened was the same handful of dancers doing their thing. However, no fights broke out, and as far as metalcore goes ALOL isn't that bad, plus they played the one song I knew/wanted to hear, so it wasn't that bad. I give them a solid six out of ten.

Alright, so now that we'd gotten the breakdowns out of our system, the next band on the bill was the complete opposite, brimming with solos and nostalgic thrash riffs. I had no sooner worked my way up to the front of the stage when Skeletonwitch started off with a bang, and I immediately got sucked into a small but dense and enthusiastic pit that just didn't seem to end. Needless to say, the crowd response for this band was extremely warm, and rightfully so. These guys are a perfect throwback to the glory days of metal, combining all the best elements of thrash and melodic black metal. It's all about beer, headbanging and Satan-worshipping for Skeletonwitch, and there was plenty of all three (which was ironic, seeing as the venue is literally a church basement). Good moshing, a few stage divers, shredding solos and enough windmilling hair to make anyone dizzy; these things are all in a day's work for Skeletonwitch. Bravo gentlemen, bravo.

Last but certainly not least, after taking their sweet time setting up and soundchecking, Job For a Cowboy dove headlong into their set and didn't look back once. Now I must admit, I don't listen to JFAC much on CD, but they are a whole different monster on stage. Despite a dismal performance at the 2008 Mayhem Festival, I have seen this band three times now, and they have since proven themselves to be one of the most commanding live bands I've seen in years. Although there were a number of hardcore kids present throughout their set, there wasn't a single flailing arm or spin kick, and the pits, stage dives and crowd surfing were nonstop. For whatever reason there was a fill-in for guitarist Bobby Thompson, and bassist Brent Riggs was completely absent. Fortunately this didn't really affect their sound or performance at all, although it was very difficult to hear Mr. Not-Bobby-Thompson's leads over everything else at times. Regardless, they powered through their set nicely, playing gems like "To Detonate and Exterminate", "Unfurling a Darkened Gospel", "Knee Deep", "Bearing the Serpent's Lamb", "Entombment of a Machine" (complete with everyone screaming like an idiot and loving it, including me), and closing with "Embedded". Incomplete lineup notwithstanding, it was a very solid, commendable performance. This particular tour is pretty much over and done with, but if you do get the opportunity in the future to see Job For a Cowboy I highly recommend you do so, I know I certainly will.

All in all this one is definitely going down in the books as a good show. From making new friends, watching said new friends get really drunk and proceed to buy and don Skeletonwitch booty shorts, laughing about throwing change into the pit for A Life Once Lost just to see what would happen, meeting various members of Misery Index, Skeletonwitch and Job For a Cowboy, and giving JFAC drummer Jon "The Charn" Rice money as a donation for weed (I made him very happy), I think it's safe to say we had a blast, and I can't wait for the next one.

-The Baby Killer

Quickie Semi-Recent Show Reviews: Despised Icon, Misery Index, and Revocation

Better late than never. I figure I'll go through all the shows I've recently been to and do quick reviews of them, because, well why the hell not? This show, however, has a particularly interesting anecdote attached that you guys might find interesting.

So, it's September 11 of this year, and Despised Icon are currently on their last tour ever with Misery Index, Revocation, The Judas Syndrome, and Everything's Ruined. The show was at Club Europa in Brooklyn. Being a huge fan Despised Icon's latest album, Day of Mourning, I knew I had to check them out at last once before they broke up. I also knew that while Despised Icon played insanely talented Deathcore, this show was bound to attract lots hardcore kids looking for an excuse to fight their insecurities at not being able to maintain a healthy relationship by wailing their limbs like a confused chimpanzee. Suffice to say, I did not have high hopes for good pits.

I ended up missing The Judas Syndrome and Everything's Ruined, which was no big deal since I wasn't going for either of those bands. I ended up catching Revocation in the middle of their set, and they fucking killed. These guys can shred like few other bands out their can. I remember picking up Empire of the Obscene and not really digging it, but seeing them live changed my thoughts on them completely. Check out the following song "Dismember the Dictator" to see what I mean (also, that bass tone is killer). Seriously check these guys out whenever you can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmg3jr7Bhfo

Up next was Misery Index, a band I just could never get into. Their music has always been "so-so" to my ears, but I have to give props for whoever was doing their sound that night, cause their tone was fucking killer. Being that their sound was so fucking good, I really enjoyed their performance, at least for the first half of it.

Here's what happened. I had been standing on the edge of the pit, obviously not going in because of the copious hardcore kids. At one point one of them decides it would be a good idea to jump into the crowd around the pit and punch the people watching the show. Yes, this guy was punching the crow. Absolutely pathetic. Club Europa is a small venue too, so there really was nowhere to go. Eventually he gets around to my area of the pit and ends up jumping on my friends shoulder. While he's strattling my friend he ends up knocking me right in the face.

Fuck that.

So I pushed the guy and chased him to the other side of the venue. I was fucking furious and screaming shit at him, I can't remember what. I was literally blind with anger. So as I'm poised up against him, criticizing his polo shirt and flat brimmed hat, ready to start a fight I would surely lose, I suddenly realize I am being pushed. Next thing I know there is a wall of people between and literally ten hardcore kids trying to kick my ass. I kept screaming shit, but eventually decided to leave me alone. The people around me told me to "calm down", that "there's too many of them," and "it's not worth it."

As it turns out these hardcore dancers have "pit crews," a term they like to use for gangs. I chased down one person in their crew, and ended up having to face the rest of them. That is absolutely pathetic. If anyone has any more information on what exactly these crews or unions do, the names of a few of them, or any sort of information, please email moshrebellion@yahoo.com, because I would love to learn more. This was the event that gave me the most inspiration to start this sight, and I will never forget it.

Anyways, the rest of Misery Index was spoiled for me, as I had a ridiculous headache that lasted throughout the night. Hell, I couldn't get into Despised Icon cause my head fucking hurt so much, but I could tell they were puttin on a good show by the reaction of the crowd.

Towards the end of the show the dancers started chanting "please don't go," and I couldn't disagree with them more. Yes, Despised Icon is a great band and I will miss them putting out new music, but I can't wait for them to leave the scene. Hopefully many other less-talented deathcore bands will follow suit and realize that the time for their scene is coming to an end.

Overall, music was great, crowd was awful. Anyone else go to this show, or any other stops on their tour? If so, what did you think?