LP Review: "Prophets From The Occultic Cosmos" by Excuse

Prophets From The Occultic Cosmos

Being the proud papa that I am, after skating lessons last night, the video of my daughter doing crossovers got spread around.

A friend of mine commented about how much more opportunity there is to play the sport of hockey nowadays compared to when we were children.

He was absolutely correct, but it's more than just hockey...or any other sport for that matter.

Humanity, much to the chagrin of many in the population, has leaped forward. We are capable of improving at dizzying speeds.

Take Excuse. They're a progressive thrash metal band from Finland.

Their debut album is nearly perfect. The musicianship is miles ahead of any thing Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, or even Megadeth did on their first couple of records, and this is a debut.

This record is akin to a goalie tossing a shutout in his first start in the NHL. The last goalie who did that was Jordan Binnington who won the Stanley Cup in the same season. So, no pressure, Excuse. I just expect you to continue making thrash metal masterpieces like this one.

RELEASE 8/2/19 BANDCAMP FACEBOOK 

LP Review: "Death's Threshold" by Shades of Deep Water

Death's Threshold

It's time for me to meet someone new.

Today's subject is a Funeral Doom Metal band from Finland. When I hear this sub-sub-genre, my first thought is of bands like Un and, to an extent, Ahab.

But these Finns couldn't be further away from those acts.

Their seventh release, Shades of Deep Water, begins with classical strings. Violins and the whatnot. Would this be a good time to point out that once violins were the purview of the drunks and the tavern players?

Probably  not.

Like others in the genre, Shades of Deep Water play slow and morose music. The addition of the strings makes for something that has no reeking of subgenre box checking, but genuine expression.

The other major difference is that our Finnish friends have a nearly instrumental record. It's easy to make someone sad when you're telling a sad story, but what if you don't have any words?

How do you do it then?

Shades of Deep Water has found a way. The entire album is depressing. The cover's depiction of the music within is apt. We are all walking into death's door. Many of us are headed down into the underworld.

This is about how you'd feel as you finished your walk.

RELEASE 7/25/19 BANDCAMP

Vinyloscopy with Lasse of As I May

As I May

On July 26th, Finnish Metal band, As I May, will be releasing their sophomore record on Rockshots Records.

You can check out My Own Creations via the singles on YOUTUBE.

They're a band that walks the line between metal and metalcore while still holding a melodic edge.

Lasse, guitars and vocals, of As I May took some time to answer our vinyl column. He might just be the first Finn to get in on our Vinyloscopy.

Before we to the records, go like As I May on FACEBOOK.

1. Listening to Black Sabbath's eponymous debut the night I got it blew me away. What's the album that sounds the best on vinyl compared to digital sources?

Vinyl Review: "All Tree" by Hexvessel

I can't give credit where credit is due, but I didn't create what I'm about to say.... The best thing about being  a metal fan is that we never really stop being newbies.

In a genre that's so gloriously underground, it's impossible to know even all of the big bands, much less the smaller ones.

Case in point, last year, a friend of mine asked me if I'd heard of Volbeat, because he hadn't.

In that vein, it's time to announce that today's review is my first vinyl review from Prophecy. They're, supposedly, a goodly sized Black Metal label. Honestly, this is the first radio for your fiend and humble narrator here with Prophecy.

It's like in all those ebbs and flows of metal. Sometimes the right stuff gets to your ears and sometimes, you just get Y&T.

Now, let's get to this record by Hexvessel.

Hometown Tales with Sam Huber

Sam Huber

The Hometown Tales have been really cool for me. Even though the vast majority of the respondents have been Americans, they've told us all about new places.

It's easy for people in other countries to forget just how large the United States is. Our nation is the same size as Europe.

You might recall my review on Sam Huber's latest vinyl release.... He's from Helsinki, Finland. Apart from the Black Metal bands and Hockey, I can't really say that I know too much about the Scandinavian nation.

Let's find out some more about it together.

1. St. Louis City is my hometown. I've lived here for most of my life in and around the city. Where are you from?

I’m from Helsinki, Finland. I’ve lived here for all of my life.

2.We have three things that don't really exist anywhere else: the slinger, the gooey butter cake, and toasted ravioli. Tell me about your hometown delicacy.

Video: "Fibonacci Sequence" by Neorhythm

My daughter turned 8 years old this weekend and my question for her was...what does the world look like to an 8 year old?

She looked at me like I was nuts, but clearly, there was some existential angst and dread going on in her STEM addled brain.

Well, for all the people out there with crushing existential dread or a desire to crunch numbers into oblivion, here's a thumper of a track that comes to us all the way from Finland, by the space metal friends in Neorhythm.

They've just released a new EP via BANDCAMP called Meteoric Thoughts. Click below to find out why.

LP Review: "Rukous" by Goats of Doom

Rukous

Goats of Doom. Well, it's been a minute since I've had a new doom metal record punch me in the gut with its slowness and intelligible vocals.

Oh that tuned down vibrato.

Welp, that's not what this album by Goats of Doom is. Apparently, Goats of Doom has chosen a name intended to throw us all amiss and think they're something they're not.

But, the thing about that is, what is Goats of Doom? That's where things get a little bit confusing. During the first track, it would be easy to call them an atmospheric black metal band.

As the record spins, Goats of Doom show several more sides of their art. There are even times when I would have to call this Blackened Folk Metal, but the one place they never tread, doom metal. There's nothing doom about this record.

It is a great disc that crushes it from top to bottom. The changing of timbres and sub-genres keeps this whole album fresh and exciting.

Release 12/7/18 FACEBOOK BANDCAMP 

Interview with Home Style Surgery

Home Style Surgery

Let's be nice and honest shall we? In the United States, we don't really think about Finland. Say what you want, but unless you're watching Olympic Hockey, you know what I'm saying is true...and Teemu Selanne isn't playing on that team, you probably don't watch it.

The first time I realized Finland was a thing was from the Monty Python song of the same name. It's nothing personal, but Sweden and Norway get all of the attention if we're being honest.

That's probably because Sweden has their death metal scene, and do we have to say anything about Norway's own scene? The one that sparked an international sensation? For clarity's sake, we'll say it: it's Bobbysocks!, naturally.

So, let's take a trip across the Atlantic Ocean, head a bit north, cross the fjords, and learn more about Finland's finest thrash metal band, Home Style Surgery. Jussi Keränen took some time with us and here's what we shook out of him....

LP Review: "Solitude" by TOTALSELFHATRED

Solitude

Life is a series of contradictions that one must traverse in order to arrive.

Musically, my library is full of a vast array of opposites, but that's what keeps it interesting.

When not listening to records or the rare CD in the car, the dreaded iTunes shuffle is my method.

Because my playlists are simply the albums in my digital library all jumbled together, there are several amazing juxtapositions of music that pop through.

Sometimes the most brootal metal will be followed by Simon and Garfunkel. Bon Jovi serves the dessert to The Coup. When it comes to music, it's hard not to always head back to something Eddie Van Halen said...

LP Review: "Eight Coffin Nails" by Alghazanth

Eight Coffin Nails

It's time to get full on heavy metal hipster.

How's that you ask?

We're going to get down with several word long subgenres.

Everybody around here knows that this guy is a big fan of doom metal, stoner metal, pagan metal, ya know, all those different names for that would basically be Neo-Proto-Metal.

Or would it be Neo-First-Wave-of-British-Heavy-Metal?

I'm not certain that this particular wave has every been properly pigeonholed into an entirely pointless sub-sub-genre, but yeah, let's move forward.

Today's review features that Finland Band that everybody's been talking about, Alghazanth. They are a Finnish black metal band that's been circling the globe since 1995. Eight Coffin Nails is the first album since 2013's The Three Faced Pilgrim.

Video: "Poissa" by Vermilia

All the way from Finland, we have Vermilia.

They're a blackened pagan metal band peopled by a single woman. She's/they've just released their latest single.

It's brutally beautiful. It's black metal with a side of folk. In breakfast terms, If you're eating an omelette, the traditional elements are the side bacon you got for $2.

Be sure to get the single, available only on Bandcamp.

LP Review: "Deranged Pagan Sons" by Cardinals Folly

Deranged Pagan Sons

It's not like me to tell you how the sausage is made, right? Ok, seriously, that's pretty false.

As of this writing, the total solar eclipse is about to happen in St. Louis, MO.

Everything is wrapped around the fact that we are about to see something we have never personally seen in our lifetimes....well those of us who aren't too old.

So, please forgive me for being single minded today. Even the album cover is similar to the eclipse. Total blackness, a circle in the middle, and possible Satanic Possession.

Totally eclipse music right? What the eclipse represents is our willingness to experience something, that in many cases, has never been experienced.

LP Review: "Deceases" by Morbid Evils

Deceases

Under extreme duress, the human mind can slow down time.

When that happens to me, it's like Phillip J Fry on 100 cups of coffee. It's frankly one of my most endearing and useful psychological abnormalities.

Overly stressful situations do not tax me like they do others.

In my mind, I question where this particular ability came from. Was it from years of disassociation, a defense mechanism?

However, the most plausible explanation would be the teachings of Surak and The Time of Awakening on the planet Vulcan, as told by Star Trek.

We all know that Vulcans are logical beings rather than emotional, but it's not that they have no emotions, but they are able to master them. In times of crisis, my emotions are buried deep down so we can live to dissect them....

Video: "Detroit Blues" by Jarkka Rissanen & Sons of the Desert

Every so often I get to tell you about a musician who's toiled for decades in relative obscurity. Today we're talking about Jarkka Rissanen.

Rissanen has been playing slide guitar for over forty years in his native Finland. Their new record, Hybird Soul,  will be released on May 26th on Humu Records.

In the meantime, check out their first single Detroit Blues. After you do that, make sure not to say anything to them about IKEA on Facebook, because they're Finnish and not Swedish.

LP Review: "Among The Ruins" by Altar of Betelgeuze

Among The Ruins

Years ago after the fall of terrestrial radio, we're talking the mid to late Nineties, it became very hard to find out about new acts. As someone who worked in retail at the time and years after that, spending money wasn't something I had a whole lot of to go buy albums by bands I'd never heard of.

One band name that was bandied about frequently was Fear Factory. Their name was basically everywhere, but again, it's not like there was all this cash in my checking account to go spend on their record.

When they were on the Ozzfest bill, I was elated because their music would finally reach my ears. Remember, this was before YouTube, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, and all the other streaming services. After hours of patiently waiting to hear their dulcet tones, their music did less than move me. As someone who cares little for vocals, as long as they're inoffensive, their singer was what put me off.

LP Review: "III" by Herem

III

As someone who's overly literal, the idea of words being used outside of their definitions is something that's often hard for me to understand.

In order to make up for this deficiency, I study etymology as best that I can. It's often hard to understand and explain a colloquialism to my daughter without knowing where it came from.

Think about the, now fairly antiquated phrase, letting the cat out of the bag. There was a scam where people tried to sell a cat in a bag as a suckling pig, but opening the sack, the cat would be let out of the bag, ergo, hidden facts would be revealed. (NOTE: Snopes rejects this...but it's a cool story.)

Now, another term is fast talker. Why do people "talk fast?" Obviously the phrase doesn't literally mean one who's speaking quickly, but one who's speaking deceptively.

EP Review: "Cult Leader" by Zombie Rodeo

Cult Leader

Many years ago, I had to walk all the way to my friend's house. He lived good mile and a half from me. On that walk, your friend would pass many houses containing folks who did not enjoy my company.

This was not a fun proposition.

This was during the second half of high school. After a good time was had by us doing terribly nerdy things like playing Dungeons & Dragons, or talking about playing D&D, it was time for me to begin my circuitous route home.

My pal owned a car, but did not have a driver's license, so it seemed a zero sum game that this car was sitting in the driveway, but he asked me if I'd be able to stay longer if he were able to give me a ride home rather than my walking. My family was quite strict and old fashioned. Dinner was on the table at 5pm daily....

LP Review: "Remnants of Expansion" by Krypts

Remnants of Expansion

When I was younger, sadly to say, during a certain part of my career, it wasn't uncommon for my breaks to be a little bit longer than they were approved to be.

As an usher at the local hockey arena, perhaps going the long way around to the break room or to relieve the next person.

These trips were not intended to go off into will directions. Where I was going was clearly defined, perhaps though, taking awhile longer to arrive at my destination wasn't necessarily the worst thing the would that I could do right?

Certainly it wasn't anything that was anything relating to professionally responsible, but it's not like this was a career and it was my first job. Like most of my co-workers, I was living out a dual existence while performing that job. Hockey fan and Kiel Center Partners LP Employee.

LP Review: "Agonia" by Shadecrown

Agonia

First impressions are just worst thing in the world if you're anything like me.

Case in point, my daughter and I were headed home from school when she asked about handshakes.

"Daddy, why do people shake hands?"

Truth be told, I did not recall the reason why we did that, but after a hockey game that same week, our friend told us about checking for hidden daggers.

Handshakes are anxiety inducing for me...because it's a feat of strength, and what does it matter if this guy can crush my fingers? Seriously, who wants their fingers crushed and how's this supposed to mean that he's good at business?

Customs are stupid, but anyway, let's all shake hands with Shadecrown.

LP Review: "Brothers In Farms" by Steve'n'Seagulls

Brothers in Farms

Remember that time your wore your KISS tie to Christmas dinner with your entire extended family?

Man, your family was looking at you, thinking, damn Nik, you're 20 years old and can't even dress properly for this occasion.

The only support you're getting is from your stoner cousins who think it's awesome that you're letting your freak flag fly isn't really helping your situation.

Your mother always complained about you not dressing up for these things, so you decided to wear a tie, the only tie you owned and look what happened.

Geez. You just can't do any thing right. Well, that was me, and let me say that I miss the family members from that day who no longer walk among us. Our family was big, strange, and varied. My mother and I were the Town Mouse contingent.