Floodgate - Penalty
So this is what Kyle has been doing since the demise of Exhorder. I expected things to change gears out of this “Hard Alternative” style into something heavier, but it didn’t happen. At their best, Floodgate might be comparable to Kyuss, but they barely achieve that level for a combined total of 2 minutes on this nearly hour-long disc.
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Fleshless / Mastic Scum - split
Fleshless start things off with seven tracks of really intense Death Metal, with some Grind elements. They impressed me more for their musical ability and writing memorable songs than for their brutality, but they possess plenty of that, too. Mastic Scum also surprised me by starting their half off with a minute of crushing Death Sludge, but that gave way to an odd combination of Crust and Death Grind, but with more of a Punk influence than I was ready for. Their playing is also great, and the production allows the bass to be heard. They even cover Dead Kennedys (“A Child and His Lawnmower”).
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Fleshcrawl - Bloodsoul
Sometimes a really clear production will take the balls out of a Death Metal band. Not in this case, though. Bloodsoul sounds very clear, yet is immensely powerful, thanks to Peter Tagtgren (who lends a throat for the title track) and his Abyss studio. Although the songs are not the most memorable I’ve ever heard, they are certainly brutal, and this is a fine piece of work. They also do an outstanding cover of Demilich’s “Embalmed Beauty Sleep.”
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Fishbone - Chim Chim’s Badass Revenge
How the shit does one describe Fishbone? Thrash-Punk Ska-Funk? Damned if I know what to call ‘em, except The Nuttsactor 5, ‘cause we all cum from the Nuttsack. And don’t think that they’re jumping on some kinda Punk bandwagon - they’ve been at this for about a decade. Anyway, this is considerably more diverse and intense than their last effort, Give a Monkey a Brain… And He’ll Swear He’s the Center of the Universe. Clearly getting off such a major label as Columbia has allowed them more room to breathe. Every aspect of this LP is amazing: writing, playing, singing, experimentation - everything.
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The Fairlanes - Hi! We’re the Fairlanes
Ultra happy, completely useless, Pop-Punk beat-offs.
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Face to Face - Face to Face
High energy Poppy neuvo-Punk. Honestly, it’s not too bad, but it’s really nothing special.
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Eyehategod - Dopesick
Some bits of speed have been injected into this band’s normal Sludge-core, so this is not as consistently lethargic as their previous two albums. It’s really okay, but just not very inspirational.
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Expiration - Deviated
The most unique thing about this release is the size of the compact disc. It’s a 3-inch disc, which is a format I like, and my CD player likes it too, but yours might not. At any rate, the band offers up about 20 minutes of standard Death Metal, although it is certainly well-played and at times very intense.
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Evereve - Seasons
Imagine Cemetary with a little Therion and a shot of Dissection. Gothic Black Thrash, maybe. Only Evereve doesn’t really combine these styles so much as line them up. In any case, this is pretty good, however you want to describe it. I’ll bet that their next LP will either be perfection, or utter crap, depending on where they go from here.
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