Because Swedes are The Law

I spotted this post on the posting of a new song by Swedish thrash act The Law on Blabbermouth and something made me click through to read more. The act provided an immediate reward through a laugh at the band's sense of humor - anyone who adopts the name Kristian "Anti-Kristian" Karlsson is all right by me - leading me, in turn, to open up their MySpace page to hear the new track in question and see whether or not The Law really is doing more than reinvent the wheel.

The lesson here, clearly, is to use funny nicknames if you're a thrash band, because then you'll get more attention.

In any case, I was ultimately glad I did, because unlike the material from their first album, which sounds like yet another take on Bonded by Blood, "Simplify" has some elements that make it stand out to my over-saturated ears, particularly in the guitar sound. Overall, I'm calling "Simplify" an unholy breeding between Goatwhore and Anthrax. I'll be interested to hear the rest when the album comes out.

Goatwhore at the Gramercy

Two days before my big move I decided to go check out the "Conquer and Curse" tour stopping off at the Gramercy. With Live Nation giving away $5 tix and my new found love of Goatwhore I couldn't refuse!

When I walk in Abysmal Dawn is playing. They had the same generic look and sound of so many old school death metal bands. We hopped into some seats in the back of the venue and watched them from afar. Snore.

I was looking forward to Daath. At first listen of their record I thought they were also a bit generic but Eric really enjoyed it. So I gave it more of a chance and got very into their playing. I always like technical music and their drummer is phenomenal and the riffs are nice and big. Sadly the drummer was sitting out the tour and was replaced by Goatwhore's drummer. He did an admirable job but it just wasn't the same as their styles are different and really showed the weaknesses in the songwriting. Daath also has mediocre stage presence so the set fell flat.

Worried that this whole night was a wash I start mingling with the contingency of local Metal bloggers who made up about 60% of the audience. But the whole night was worth it for the majesty of Goatwhore.

Now they were also marred by a last minute lineup issue. For some reason their bassist was sitting out the tour and all the bassists from the other bands learned a couple Goatwhore songs. Thankfully this did not, despite their frequent apologies, affect their stage show at all. They come off a lot less like a Celtic Frost clone live, even though the guitarist was sporting an old school Hellhammer shirt. Not that I have any problem with Celtic Frost clones, I think the world needs a lot more of them, but their stage presence and sound came off a lot closer to the New Orleans sludge of their other bands. A large chunk of the set was from their new record "Carving out the Eyes of God" which was a good thing. A killer set and I can't wait to see them again in September with Obituary, Krisiun and Berzerker.

Abigail Williams was the kind of Hot Topic sponsored Black Metal that is making the genre even more of a joke than it already is. The only consolation to me was that they don't seem to have an audience built and many people walked out on them. They do not deserve the dignity of a bad review.

All pix are of Goatwhore.........

Album Review: Goatwhore - Carving Out the Eyes of God

The first time I put on "Apocalyptic Havoc," the first track of Goatwhore's latest release, I felt something magical: that sonic kick in the head, sought by many, achieved by few, that denotes a truly heavy piece of music. The production on that track is a relentless pummeling of thrashy riffage that sits like a fat band choking the sonic spectrum, carrying rhythm section and Slayer-vintage guitar solos in its wake, while the dry crust of singer L. Ben Falgoust II's voice floats on the top like a dessicated leaf on a sea of blood. Even better, the effect is no one time wonder: junkie-like, I've returned to get additional fixes on a daily basis and continue to reap the reward of a Goatwhore-induced rush.

With a couple of breaks - the midtempo "Provoking the Ritual of Death" and the much slower, doom-laden "To Mourn and Forever Wander Through Forgotten Doorways" - the beating continues on through the album's remaining nine tracks, varying just enough to keep the ear interested without violating the basic layout of a slab of hard-hitting evil music. With such a consistently enjoyable result, I'm pegging Carving Out the Eyes of God as a likely inclusion on my year's best-of list.