I do some stupid shit sometimes. A couple weeks ago, while waiting in a dive bar for The Dwarves to annihilate northern Indiana, my esteemed colleague Jack Botos asked me if I’d heard the new Anthrax yet. “No,” I replied, “Why the fuck would I give a shit about Anthrax?” But that got me thinking about the venerable Thrashers and this then-still-upcoming album. This band hasn’t been on my new-release radar for almost two decades, and with good reason. Oh, sure, I liked 1993’s Sound of White Noise, and thought that Joey Belladonna’s vocal replacement, John Bush (Armored Saint), did a mostly excellent job. Hell, I even listen to some old Anthrax every once in a blue moon to remind me of my (much!) younger days. But as soon as I discovered that Dirtnap Darrell was contributing a couple guitar solos to Sound’s follow-up, 1995’s Stomp 442, I couldn’t even bring myself to give it a chance. Now, after two more new LPs, and an avalanche of live albums, DVDs, and “greatest hits” collections, Bush was wished the best of luck with his future endeavors, and Belladonna is back. His vocals are not as always annoying as I remember, which is great. But the music is far more “Groove Metal” than I can possibly tolerate. I’m also unclear about how anyone could write a song called “Judas Priest” that is in no way about the band, however in this case it’s for the best, since the track is generally terrible. That’s an accurate description for the entire album, as well. There are some passable moments, even some enjoyable ones, but they’re utterly overshadowed by the Butt Rock elements, and the Groove Metal riffs all over the place. Really, what else did I expect from Anthrax in 2011? I should have known better, but I guess that I just wanted to shoot up a little false hope.

For almost all of the first of these four songs, I thought that Despectus was one of the best Gothic Metal bands I had heard in a long time (not that I seek them out), and then Oksana Element switched from her beautiful clean singing voice and unleashed a surprising dose of raw Black/Death Metal vocals to close out the track. Holy hell! It’s amazing to me that anyone can be this good at two such disparate styles. The band keeps the sorrowful symphonic elements throughout the rest of the EP, expertly mixing them with more extreme riffs and drumming to match the perfectly raw vocals. It seems as if this combination of Gothic/Black/Death just could not work, but somehow this obscure Ukrainian band makes it natural and effortless, thanks to the outstanding songwriting and playing. And Human Vices is only their first release! Where can they go from this? Other than some minor flaws in the recording, the only complaint I can even find is that at 17 minutes, it’s over too fast and I want to hear more. I try my best to listen to new, unknown bands all the time, and a gem like Despectus is rare indeed. My mind is officially blown.

I’m sure that old timers such as myself are supposed to automatically like Seven Witches because of who’s in the band (primarily Helstar’s James Rivera, but also nomadic guitarist Jack “Frost” Dempsey, and Symphony X’s Mike LePond), but just like those aborted fetuses in my backyard, I wasn’t born yesterday, either. If I ever felt like listening to a band that wants to be Judas Priest, I’d just go ahead and listen to Judas Priest, and then not have to suffer through the occasional Groove Metal riffs embarrassingly found here. Or the annoyingly high-pitched, ear-stabbing Power Metal vocals (I think that I dimly remember James sounding better with Helstar untold years ago, but maybe he doesn’t try to imitate Rob Halford in that band). Or the repetition of both riffs and lyrics. The only thing I find interesting is LePond’s bass-work, and even then just when he’s showing off (I’m also a bassist), which has nothing to do with writing a good song. Oh, and sometimes there is a little (or more than a little) Dio worship, as well. I’ve never heard this band before now, in its decade-plus career, and I don’t feel as if I’ve missed anything. Call Upon the Wicked was mostly tedious to sit through the few times I spun it to write this review. These guys are all very skilled musicians, and if you want to hear some technically precise playing, here you go, although you may want to ignore the singing. There are okay moments on this album, but merely parts of songs: a few fleeting good ideas. Even the cover of Cream’s “White Room” is blighted by overly dramatic vocal shrieking. To annoy existing fans, the three live bonus tracks surprisingly sound like an audience bootleg. Seven Witches proves, yet again, that raw ability and endless practice is worth little without someone to hammer it into the shape of songs.

What a surprise to see that Lake of Tears still exists. I haven’t heard anything from these obscure Swedes since 1995’s Headstones album, which I recall as being a little Doomier than this LP, but I’m not sure that I’ve ever even thought of the band in all that time, so the reality and my memory might not perfectly line up. Over the last 16 years I’ve missed five full-length albums, and a handful of “greatest hits” collections, EPs, and so on. Listening to Illwill doesn’t instantly make me want to go track down all that, but it is interesting. Quite a bit of musical ground is covered, from the W.A.S.P.-like “U.N.S.A.N.E.,” to the occasional Type-O Negative tribute vocals and vibe in “Behind the Green Door,” to Thrashier tracks like “The Hating” (Sacred Reich comes to mind), and even the kinda Punky “Parasites.” “Out of Control” evokes Danzig, “House of the Setting Sun” is a Hard Rock “power ballad” (very light on the power). The more that I listen to this album, the more I wonder if each of these tracks isn’t supposed to be an homage to another band… And if so, then this collection of disparate styles might make a kind of sense. I’d be lying if I said that Illwill hasn’t grown on me with repeated spins. Maybe I will track down some of LoT’s back catalog, or one of the three “greatest hits” releases, and see if they’re always this eclectic.

My first, and only prior, exposure to this French Black Metal cult was the whored out domestic version of The Work Which Transforms God. It was their 4th full-length, and the oddly numbered 777-Sect(s), is their 8th. I found this release to be a continuance of where I left off, despite a three album gap, not to mention two EPs and two splits. I may even like this more, but that’s not my focus. Blut Aus Nord’s Industrial take on Black Metal is the cynosure. At times it can be disconcerting, almost to the point of annoyance, while at others composed brilliantly. The first track, “Epitome I,” is the perfect instance. It opens with a dizzying repetitious riff which sounds like the physical feeling of spinning in a circle until you fall down then starting over again. The audio nausea ends abruptly, during the last two minutes, being replaced by eerie electronica. “Epitome IV” has an early Skinny Puppy feel right down to Vindsval’s vocals. There is an undeniable Godflesh influence in the bass and drums throughout all the songs, although it’s not a machine. The most befitting comparison for the mechanical sound achieved by drummer W.D. Feld is what Stephen Priestly accomplished for Treponem Pal’s Aggravation. That is just another shining example of their mad genius. When I’m in the mood for a pleasantly horrifying, yet unsettled listening experience Blut Aus Nord is the North Star.

This is what happens when highly talented musicians work to make music as complicated as possible. In fact, I didn’t know that anyone in Sweden even wanted to make Death Metal this technical. Holy fuck, it’s dizzying! These guys must practice 18 hours a day. And when everything completely comes into focus, as it often does, this is untouchable. But, of course sometimes complexity for complexity’s sake results in labyrinthine riffs so intricate that they end up impenetrable or just weird (unfortunately this infects bits of the very first song on the album, where the band seems determined to prove themselves at every moment). For fuck’s sake, my fret-hand fingers are cramping up just listening to these mind-mangling melodies. And it’s not at all just the riffs. The drumming is phenomenal, and Stefan Lundgren’s vocals are impeccable in their controlled rawness. At first, I wasn’t sold on the bass-work, because it’s too hard to detect, but after a few spins and intense concentration, it can be heard, and just check out the last song, “Procession Through Flesh,” especially starting at about 1:50. For those worthless shit-stains out there who listen to music not for enjoyment, but to point out microscopic mistakes in the playing or to claim that you’re a more proficient musician, I dare you to listen to this LP. I fucking double-dare you. You won’t find any supposed flaws of that sort here. I might take issue with the mix (although the recording is otherwise excellent), or even the monstrous complexity itself, but the execution of the music is utterly perfect. Admittedly, these songs are too difficult to really be memorable (except maybe for “Dream Vessel”), but other than “Ceremonial March,” which is essentially Ambient (and a weird disconnect in more or less the middle of the album), and a few riffs so twisted that they make no sense to anyone other than the band and possibly Steve Vai, Inundate is absolutely mesmerizing while its playing. Consider Sectu’s technical ability to be a 10, no question.

Upon first seeing this mentioned in some unknown “coming soon” list, I initially thought that it was the decade-long-awaited new album from the German Black Metal horde Isegrim. No such luck, of course, but Izegrim-with-a-“z” turned out to be a pleasant enough surprise, delivering decidedly Thrashy Death Metal -Deathrash, if you will. I think that every review I’ve seen of this LP, since first listening to it, compares this to newer Arch Enemy, and the similarities are clear right down to the chick singer’s raspy Death-lite vocals, but Izegrim really isn’t in the same league. The occasional bad riff brings the enjoyment down a little, but for the most part everything about Code of Consequences is good, sometimes even very good. But never amazing, never awesome. There have been some lineup changes over the years, with this being Marloes’ first of the band’s three full-length albums on vocals and bass, and I like what I’ve heard enough to be curious about how they sounded previously. If female-fronted Metal bands get you hard (or wet!), and Arch Enemy is your fave, then maybe you’ll dig this Dutch derivative.

This Canadian Black Metal band can be a little light on the Metal at times, with a significant percentage of Cognoscenti being despondent atmosphere and acoustic guitars. After going the entire first song without, the drums finally kick in a little over a minute into the second track, and are typically kept at a lethargic pace throughout the LP, although there are occasional bursts of speed and aggression. Clearly Fidei Defensor is more interested in creating depressing, melancholy moods than anything else, and one could make the argument that the harsh, esophagus-disintegrating vocals are the most Black Metal thing about these songs. And that’s cool with me. The incorporation of some Doom (check out the beginning of the title track!) and Dark Ambient elements (all over the place) really gives these presumably (I can’t understand a word of the lyrics) blasphemous Canucks an interesting sound. Cognoscenti is a solid debut, and it’s my understanding that it was recorded in 2008 and shelved until now, so hopefully new material is on the way, because it will be interesting to hear how the songwriting has progressed.

The last time I saw a 2-song demo CD was for Colonize the Rotting in 2009. I’m surprised that labels, or as in this case, the band, feel compelled to release something with so little on it. Let’s face it folks, this format is a weak version of the Wild Rags’ CD5s from the mid ’90s. Speaking of that notorious company, Avoidant probably would’ve called that label home had this been released 15 years ago. However, this is 2011 and with all the social media avenues available for bands to release songs, it’s outdated. Believe me when I say that I’m not an advocate for either Facebook or Myspace, but this band has pages for both so it isn’t necessary to pay to have a CD pressed. My advice for these Peruvian youngsters is either wait until you have more material or figure out how to upload your two songs. I’m done pontificating… for the moment anyway. The first track, “A Catalyst for Destruction,” opens with a decent blast beat then it becomes evident quickly that Eye-solated Breed is unremarkable Death Metal circa 1995. A poorly produced, sub-par version of Deicide’s Serpents of the Light mixed with Nembrionic Hammerdeath. It’s not bad, just dated, kinda like the format they chose.