Friday, June 29, 2012

Summer Picks From The Munk Part 2

The summer of 2012 is quickly ramping up to be an epic release season for some of metals strongest acts. This post alone shows releases from 3 veteran groups that absolutely deserve your respect. Remember guys, there are no download links here, and nothing would make me happier than to have each one of you actually go out and purchase these sure to be awesome albums. I will try to stay on top of more new releases as they become available but for now, enjoy round 2...

Tell me in a comment which release are you guys most excited about and which releases I totally fucked up on and left out of my list.

Ensiferum- Unsung Heroes (8/27)
Spikefarm Records



Grave- Endless Procession of Souls (8/27)
Century Media



Autopsy- Born Undead DVD (8/28)
Peaceville

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Depravation- I:PRAEDICTVM (2012)

Depravation
I:PRAEDICTVM (2012)
Genre- Blackenedcore

Got an email from these German lads a few days ago. Its an odd demo for sure but I like the direction they are going in. The cassettes are hand numbered in human blood and limited to 50 copies, thats cool enough for me to support. And actually I had already downloaded this from The Living Doorway before I realized that this same demo was awaiting me in my email haha. Oh well, as always JGD sums it up much better than I ever could, so you can check out his post and excellent blog here.





Tuesday, June 19, 2012

So when is it ok to burn?


To all of my dear readers, record collectors, newbs and fellow bloggers I pose a serious question to you.. After the wait time is over, the captcha entered and the progress bar has completed, after the .RAR has been extracted or the .ZIP file has been unzipped and the MP4 has been converted.. When is it ok to take your download to the next level and burn your spoils onto a cheap CD-R, only to be scribbled on with a dried out sharpie and then stored, yet admired indefinitely?

On this topic I have some very conflicting views of my own.. As a diehard record collector and an advocate of death metal overall, I believe you should fully support a band if you enjoy their material. You can do so of course by purchasing the album when it's released, possibly with a tshirt/bundle as well and definitely trying attend their shows when possible. But when it is impossible to do the before mentioned, is it ever ok to download their material and burn it for yourself? To revisit at will and to treasure, to keep locked away in the vaults of your own record collection and claim it as, well.. yours?

Sometimes imports and long out of print releases can draw some pretty absurd asking prices, even on the used market. Shipping over sea's and paying in foreign currency can also turn off some collectors.  Sometimes the material is so old and rare that it has never even pressed onto a cd to begin with. I think that downloading and burning off a copy of some hand drawn paper labeled lo-fi cassette tape from a now defunct band from the early 90's is just fine AND in a way you're actually keeping that recording, band and its energy alive for future listeners to enjoy. Better yet, recently some amazing labels have been constantly remastering and reissuing old obscurities and releasing them at great prices. I commend them, and have been trying to collect as many as possible, but it's not always that simple.. Then there is of course the band that has never even released their material onto a physical format, but yet offers mp3's to anyone who will listen, free of charge. Now dont get me wrong, leaks of new releases are fun and are sometimes a great way to commit yourself to a new purchase or artist but where do you draw that line between sampling and well.. owning?

Now, I am personally guilty of owning a lot of burned CD's.. Many were shared by friends, artwork and all, some searched for and downloaded after losing or damaging the original copy and then there are some that were downloaded on a drunken whim and then out of pure greed and obsession burned onto a measly .17 cent CD-R. So again, the readers of my vomits, I ask you...

When, in your opinion, is it ok to burn something that you've downloaded?

Inbred- The Tomb (2011)


Inbred
The Tomb
2011
Metalcore / Deathcore

1. Gray Skies
2. Blood River
3. Venial Sin
4. Season Of The Fog
5. Uppsala
6. Delivering Chaos
7. I Confess
8. Nemesis II
9. Dark Light Of A Chiral Sun
10. Sanctuary Of The Hopeless
11. The Tomb


*band request, support em!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

An Extraterrestrial Death Metal Bonanza!

Ah, death metal is such a fascinating genre. Most bands tend to grab hold of a theme firmly by the throat and refuse to let go.. no matter how beaten and repetitive it ultimately gets. The recent "space" theme has been running rampant among some bands right now and thats cool with me. The noodle crazy acts like Wormed or The Contortionist are making waves by casting wicked spells upon their poor instruments and some bands have even focused in a little deeper on their own vision of what spacey death metal should be and wrote entire albums based on the visitors and inhabitants that may or may not be lurking in the dark and vast outer realms that exist in all corners of our massive and mysterious universe. So this post is dedicated to them. I, Munk, am absolutely obsessed with both the potential creatures of unknown origins as well as of course some kick ass death metal, so a post like this just seemed like a no brainer.


Xenomorph
Empyreal Regimes (1995)

Next to the 'grays' which believe me we will get into soon enough, there is no other ALIEN that has made more of an impact on pop culture than the Xenomorph. Yes, this band not only embraced this famously deadly creatures name but also its image for their sole album cover. Xenomorph formed in 1990 in Omaha Nebraska with members that would soon end up in Diabolical Possession, Angelcorpse and Immolation. They only released one demo before 'Empyreal Regimes' which is their only full length. Fans of quick, punishing old school death metal should dig the sound here, and I bet that even Sigourney Weaver owns a copy of this now rare piece of obscure death metal history ;)


Hypocrisy
The Arrival (2004)

Hypocrisy is a band that has gone through many musical evolutions through their many active years. In my opinion they've solidified themselves as the metal act most associated with aliens. I could have chosen any one of their ET and interdimensional themed albums to write about but I chose 'The Arrival' for a 2 reasons.. Number 1, this is the first Hypocrisy record I owned, so deal with it. And number 2, the cover is just simply bad ass and fits with my theme perfectly. Three grays venturing out of their craft ready to dissect and prod some unsuspecting humans.. or cattle, we're not really sure. Either way it is this imagry that ultimately drove me to this album. While venturing deeper into their vast catalogue of releases through the years I've learned that I definitely enjoy the earlier, more aggressive approach to death metal that they once had in the early 90's, but this record will always have a warm spot in my geeky heart.


Andromophus Rexalia
Cosmic Collison Into The Fifth Dimension (2010)

This album is a twisted look into the potentially evil side of visitors from another world. Filled with ominous and bizarre samples, inhuman vocals and blisteringly fast drum and guitar work. This is technical death metal from another planet overseasoned with a heavy hand of brutal grindcore. I chose this album for obvious reasons, it seems like the grays from the before mentioned Hypocrisy album cover have found their next subject. He appears to be a business man trapped in some sort of a tractor beam and it is inevitable that he will soon end up on the craft seen at the very top of the albums cover. note that a priest is also held captive but I think the visitors infact have another fate in mind for this poor servant of the cloth. The music displayed here makes the listener feel as if he is that priest, injured both physically and mentally, pinned down against his will, and soon subject to an absolute beating.


Devouring Doom
Them (2010)

Devouring Doom is a 2 man experimental death metal project from Barcelona Spain. I havent been able to read the lyrics or even hold an actual copy of this demo but my buddy over at DeathMetalInvasion posted this a while back and sums it up much better than I can...

"Devouring Doom makes us think about the universe and the beings that possible live in it. It also talks about the destiny of humanity and how humans are destroying the Earth. Devouring Doom takes you deep in the human's soul and reflects us the worst humanity sins. In that way, we are doomed to oblivion."

Sounds pretty deep to me, you can check out this free release here.


Rings Of Saturn
Embryonic Anomaly (2010)

If there is one band on this list that may actually be from another planet it would be Rings Of Saturn without a doubt. These kids play an unbelievably punishing technical style of death metal that is definitely not native to this Earth. The lyrical content is ripe with that of alien invasions, various themes pertaining to outer space and the coming destruction of our planet at the hands of another species. And shit, the cover art is fucking cool too, focusing more on the interbreeding and genetically altering aspects of these alledged space dwellers. Looks like the shit is about to hit the fan if/when these things start breaking out of their little test tubes and begin the hunt for some extraterrestrial bloodfeast all their own...


Annunaki
Throne of the Annunaki (2007)

Our jouney ends with a very special and more recent find for me. Not only is this band from New Jersey but they happen to call themselves Annunaki! To those unfamiliar with this term, the story of the Annunaki is as follows.. They were an alleged race of star people who came to the planet Earth from the planet Niburu about 450,000 years ago after colonizing the planet Mars as well. The Annunaki stood 7-9 feet tall and brought great knowledge to the ancient Sumerians of astronomy and architecture among other subjects. it is said that they also mined the planet for gold, one of the most rare metals in the solar system. It was believed that the gold was a key component in shielding their crafts from the intense heat created by entering the atmopshere. These so called "gods", sound like a bunch of cool ass dudes who I'd love to drink Niburuian beers with and spin a few death metal records. Annunaki play a brash version of blackened death metal with heavy thrash overtones. Pretty bad ass stuff and very deserving of such an awesome name.


Thanks (as always) for reading my vomits. And if I overlooked any bands or albums that might have fit in with this post please alert me to my failures.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Summer Picks From The Munk Part 1

Alright guys, the sticky humidity and raunchy heat of the New Jersey summer is just about lurching upon me, soon my wretched one bedroom apartment will reak of yesterdays rotting garbage as the sun cooks and penetrates through my scummy thick walled brick building. Here I bring to you some sort of an oasis, a quick list of a couple of sick, not to be missed, summer releases that are guaranteed to slay your stereos until the demons of the fall indeed do arive. So grab a beer, turn up the A/C, scrape up some coin and preorder these sure to be gems. Remember, this is merely a fraction of all the great music being released this summer. I will try to post new lists as more cover artwork becomes available. And sorry,there are absolutely no download links here boys, as nothing would make me more happy than to have all of you grimy fucks go out and actually purchase these releases. As I know I will be...

Tell me in a comment which release are you guys most excited about and which releases I totally fucked up on and left out of my list.

Dying Fetus- Reign Supreme (6/19)
Relapse Records



Nile- At The Gate Of Sethu (6/29)
Nuclear Blast Records



The Contortionist- Intrinsic (7/17)
Good Fight Music



King of Asgard- ...To North (7/31)
Metal Blade Records



Evoken- Atra Mors (7/31)
Profound Lore

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Horrizon- Time For Revenge (2012)


Horrizon
Time For Revenge (2012)
Genre- Melodic Viking Death Metal

Hey guys, sorry for the extra long hiatus. The last 3+ months have been absolutely fucking awful. But at least the worst now seems to be behind me and it's time that I start moving forward with life. Fear not, I've been listening to a shit load of great music and I have lots to share. No promises on any kind of posting schedule or anything but please bare with me and check in often. 

Horrizon is a new act out of Germany and they straight up kicked my ass with their debut release 'Time For Revenge'. A solid offering of frozen melodic death metal fare and punishing, whimsical viking work ethic. Ok no bullshit, this band sounds a lot like Dethklok, and please dont take that the wrong way fanboys, that is an outright compliment right there. I've been in love with this album for about 2 weeks now and I'm pretty sure it has already solidified its spot in my top 10 of 2012. 

Link courtesy of Call of the Ancestors

Also, leave some fucking comments or something so I know you're all still out there and ready for more of my tediously typed and opinionated vomits.