This week's recommended new releases (06/24/14):
[Click on band name for samples and more info]
[Click on band name for samples and more info]
 Cemetery Lust - Orgies of Abomination (Hells Headbangers) Rule #1 on The Blog of Doom: If you have a song entitled “Cum on the Cross”, you get a mention in the weekly recommendations column. Not a bad record, by the way. The Portland quartet serves up some basic blackened thrash with raw production and ridiculous lyrics on their second album. |  Corrosion of Conformity - IX (Candlelight) I’ve shied away from C.O.C. over the years, mainly because I’m just not a fan of flaccid, forced southern rock. I‘ve listened to the mid-90’s albums Deliverance and Wiseblood, but they never did much for me. That being said, I found plenty to like on IX, the band’s 9th album. Now a power trio, C.O.C. shies away from much of the redneck bullshit that they tended towards in the 90’s and instead hammer out doom and stoner metal in equal doses and even throw in a little of the hardcore crossover from the band’s early days. Mike Dean’s bass lines are the standout here, but the guitar riffs deserve high praise as well. The vocals are better than anything that I heard on the aforementioned 90’s busts, so that’s a bonus. I doubt this release is enough to convince me to explore the back catalogue, but it’s the best release of the week and one of the more interesting metal albums so far this year. |
 Electric Taurus/ Prehistoric Pigs - Split (Go Down) I usually stay away from split releases in this column because 9 times out of 10, one band is great and the other is a sack of shit. In this case though, you’re getting over a half hour of killer stoner metal and doom from two of Europe’s top up-and-comers. Irish trio Electric Taurus handles the doom end of the bargain with a 16 minute track that borders on Electric Wizard territory, and that’s a good thing. Italy’s Prehistoric Pigs follow that up with 2 long instrumental stoner metal anthems that are equal parts trippy and heavy. |  Hrizg - Individualism (Moribund) My standards for a solid black metal release are pretty simple: create a chilling atmosphere, keep the vocals out of the cartoonish range, and ease up on the goddamn blast beats once in a while. The Spanish guy who makes up the entirety of the band Hrizg sticks to those basics on his third full length album and delivers a pretty damn good black metal album in the process. |
 Mournful Congregation - Concrescence Of The Sophia (20 Buck Spin) This is technically an EP with only two songs, but it runs over 30 minutes, so it makes the cut. These Australian doomsters have been around for over 20 years, but they don’t release a lot of music so we’ll take what we can get. On Concrescence of the Sophia, the doom is as slow as possible but the overlaying guitar melodies and solos are absolutely brilliant. Rather than just crush the listener’s skull for a half hour, these dudes lay off when necessary and add a touch of elegance and class to a genre that’s lacking in those areas, for better or worse. It might take a certain mood to get into this record, but it’s definitely worth a listen. |
Editor's Note: This is a particularly busy week for new releases, so I'm dividing the weekly column into two days. Stay tuned for more killer metal tomorrow! - JO
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