Steel Panther first came to the public attention with the single ‘Death To All But Metal’ in 2009. It’s still difficult to turn on Kerrang TV or Scuzz without coming across the track today, and it’s still difficult to understand why they bother playing it. Musically, it’s an outstanding modern example of glam metal, but at a rough estimate, 50% of the lyrics have been censored for the video version. Five years later, as third album All You Can Eat is unleashed, Steel Panther have not gained any lyrical subtlety. Neither have they lost any of their musical prowess.

A new musical direction is hinted at at the albums start, as Spanish guitars and flutes introduce opening track 'Pussywhipped'. It’s reminiscent of Metallica’s 'Nothing Else Matters'. It lasts all of a minute before we’re back to the spandex and spunk, vocalist Michael Starr bemoaning the loss of a friend to an overbearing love interest. ‘Party Like Tomorrow is the End Of The World’ follows. In that it’s a stonking example of a musical genre accompanied by massively dumb lyrics about puking and sex it’s not dissimilar to Katy Perry’s 'Last Friday Night', and as the least lyrically offensive track here, it’s no surprise it was chosen as first single.

There’s nothing else here that couldn’t be played on Kerrang without similar cuts to their breakthrough track. Among the more ‘touching’ lyrical works here, “There was so much spunk on your face, neither the boys nor I could see the tears” from ‘Bukkake Tears’, “It looks like a murder scene all over his dick” from 'She’s On The Rag'. The problem is you will need to watch where you find yourself singing these lines. Everything is so god damn catchy. Do not listen to this album last thing before leaving for work, as it’s unlikely your boss would appreciate you wondering out loud in song form whether it was Tommy Lee or Jessica Biel giving you a blowy through that hole in the wall.

It’s not just musically, remember, that Steel Panther are doing nothing new. 'B.V.S.' or Big Vagina Syndrome treads a similar path to pop-punk pioneers The Descendents 'No Fat Beaver' from over twenty years ago, and there’s nothing that the writers of South Park haven’t touched on a thousand times. All Steel Panther are doing is ripping the façade from glam and heavy metal, and presenting it for how it really is. Mötley Crüe, Guns N' Roses and their contemporaries may have sung beautiful love ballads, but read the wonderful Neil Strauss’ Crüe biography The Dirt and it becomes obvious that what Steel Panther are singing about it a much truer representation of how those bands lives were in the ‘80s.

It’s difficult to say whether this is an album to recommend or not. If you’re a fan of glam, and you’re not easily offended, you’ll love it. There’s not a duff track musically, 'The Burden Of Being Wonderful' is a massive string led power ballad that sounds particularly impressing. Lyrically some hit the funny bone more than others, but we’re all music fans here so that’s the most important thing. If you’re one of those people who’s glad spandex went out of style 30 years ago, or you think Frankie Boyle is the devil incarnate, please avoid All You Can Eat at every possible turn. If you did hear it, you might report it to the Daily Mail. Don’t try to ruin the fun for the rest of us.

I was passed along the Inventions’ self-titled début LP at a unique point in time on my musical listening trajectory. My interests in one genre or another tend to fluctuate in inscrutable patterns, generally with one or two genres drawing most of my attention for months at a time. As of writing this and listening to Inventions, I am slowly transitioning out of a phase in which my interests focused mainly on post-rock. Regardless, the allure of the Inventions LP was irrepressible. While it may sound like a contradiction, Inventions manages to be ambient and post-rock, while introducing an almost entirely new and vibrant standard to the mix.

The group is made up of two post-rock heavy hitters (if there were such a thing) Mark T. Smith of Explosions in the Sky and Eluvium’s Matthew Cooper. Longtime friends and label mates on Temporary Residence, the duo’s collaboration seemed written in the stars. Cooper’s music is characterized by sonic textures more than movements or instruments, thus the label “ambient.” Smith’s work in Explosions in the Sky is a single part of a puzzle that has become one of the best post-rock bands in recent memory.

It is no surprise, then, that their styles blend together with distinction and fluidity on ‘Inventions.’ Smith’s signature guitars shimmer over humming soundscapes that Cooper no doubt had a strong hand in. From the first song onwards the album washes over the listener, in the vein of Jonsi and Alex’s Riceboy Sleeps. This type of music is, on its exterior, simple and accessible, but beneath the surface there is an immersive, bustling world of activity.

This is evidenced early on in the album by the second song, 'Flood Poems'. Smith’s guitars establish a clear presence first, then shift into reversed variations and reverb. Percussion, synths and pastoral vocals join in beneath the guitars as the song gradually builds. 'Flood Poems' is a track that is mostly driven by Smith’s guitar, while many of the other songs air on the side of Cooper’s signature ambient textures. However, the guitars fade in and disappear in a welcoming, warm fashion. The second half of the song introduces a new, more present guitar progression and deep, throaty background vocals. All of a sudden the song feels like a soundtrack to the sun rising over the Sahara desert.

The album’s second half begins with 'Peaceable Child', an example of another intriguing theme on the record. Smith and Cooper seem to be toying with variations on tempo and how they interact with each other, and the impact is grand. This occurs here as well as the next track, 'Sun Locations/Sun Coda'. At certain points in each track there are equally present elements of fast paced percussion or pulsating synths that are contrasted by the sprawling electronic textures otherwise present in the songs. It keeps the music more than interesting, and is a welcome variation on the ambient genre.

Inventions closes with the thematically consistent 'Psychic Automation'. It reintroduces nearly every musical theme explored on the album into a single, brief denouement. Electronic elements intertwine with guitars, piano, and the return of the throaty vocals from 'Flood Poems'.

It concludes and encapsulates the album in a proper manner, as if Cooper and Smith are saying, “We’ve revealed everything from this story, for now". Here’s to hoping this wonderful collaboration carries on to another chapter.

As far as concepts go, nothingness is a big one. Our world is so inescapably defined by stuff. Stuff you can see and experience. Stuff you can hear. Right out of the gate, then, the band Nothing has set up a pretty big challenge. It’s the kind of name that demands to be placed on something iconic. With Guilty of Everything, Nothing uses aesthetics to a degree that seems to hint that they’re going in a direction that pays off such big, bold moves.

Really, iconic is the key word here. With the single white flag on the album cover, calling to mind Wire’s quintessential Pink Flag, Nothing sets up an album that often references moments and bands in music history that definitely drum up a lot of hefty comparisons. It’s very easy within the first two tracks to think of Guilty of Everything as a throwback to the giants of 90s shoegaze. The heavy walls of riffs are tempered by dreamy, shimmering guitar textures and even in the midst of the loudest moments the vocals are astonishingly restrained and gentle. Songs like 'Dig' check a lot of boxes on the shoegaze/dream pop list of trademarks, but there is also an undeniably modern sound apparent in the track’s restless energy. While the band keeps the rhythm at mid-tempo, there is still a sort of whiplash effect in how it slams back and forth between angular clean tone post-punk passages and back into the heavy wash of its beefier moments. This is a band that can ride out a groove, but seems to lose interest at a point and often mixes it up in a way that is out of step with the tropes of earlier forbears of feedback-laden, distorted pop songs.

Nothing is definitely at their most engaging in tracks that buck these tropes altogether. The track 'Get Well' creates a welcome mid-album tone shift as it launches through the band’s most hook-reliant material. The song is anthemic and revels in its catchiness, standing out in an album that often relies on texture and atmosphere. There is still a tension between the over-driven guitars and caveman drum beat which are matched with Domenic Palermo’s vocals that continue to never rise above a near-whisper. This seems to highlight that Nothing is a band that is not afraid to make decisions, and those decisions create a unified aesthetic throughout the album that often engages on a cerebral level as well - sometimes more so than on an emotional one.

When the band seems in danger of perhaps thinking too much, though, the track 'B&E' bursts out from behind the curtain as the band at its least restrained. The song still maintains the mid-tempo pace and mournful melodies that keep it from feeling out of place, but it also sounds like the band is playing from a more unhinged, emotional place. The song, different from all the others, has a progression into the most menacing facet of Nothing’s sound - a true moment of strength and chaos that feels like a song that was not so much written by the band as it was discovered. It is the most exciting moment of the album, and it feels like a payoff earned by the song being couched in a collection of songs that often flirt with similar levels of energy but consciously back away at just the right moment. In this way, the music seems to coax and tease toward a satisfying, crashing-down conclusion.

The design of it all is quite visible throughout, as if you can tell where Nothing has edited themselves. A flash here and there where you expect the shriek of a guitar might instead be replaced with a sudden dive into gentle arpeggios. The voice continually refuses to be raised in moments when you want to hear it howl. It creates an environment that allows for movement and only shows the band’s full capabilities in sparse moments. It remains to be seen if the band will one day follow up with something equally calculated, or if the next time we hear Nothing we will hear a band that is confident to follow their music wherever it takes them.

Taurus are a psychedelic dark doom, drone duo from Portland consisting of Stevie Floyd of Dark Castle and Ashley Spungin formerly of Purple Rhinestone Eagle. Together they have produced a spiritually godless cathartic audio masterpiece called No/Thing. With the help of producer/engine ear Billy Anderson, who also does the vocals on ‘Increase Aloneness’, its fair to say that No/Thing will take you on a nightmarish doom/drone audio roller coaster of a journey.

Paranoid screams and black mass rumblings will seep through you cranium delivering chilling avant doom/terrorscapes of suffering, agony and torment but where there is torment there is tranquility and No/Thing is a well balanced album exploring both aspects with each track blending together seamlessly. There is also the chance of having blood streaming from your eyeballs when wearing headphones, you have been warned!

If you are aware of Dark Castle, which you should be, then you will know the monstrous vocals Stevie can produce. 'No Thing Longing... Human Impermanence' is your first taste of his amazing vocal range.

There are also some hypnotic calm vocals that could be either Stevie or Ash, which just adds to this chilling heavy doomscape track that flows into the second track 'Lives long for Own', which is more of the pounding drums and death metal riffs, fast and relentless torment. There is no escape from this fleshy prison.

If you have not went mad yet then 'Set Forth on the Path of the Infinite' should bring back some balance with it calmer flow but not really, you are always going to get dragged back in by those hypnotic vocals and tribal drums. White Noise meets Hammer house of horror. I would love to know what the woman in the background is saying and yes I do like a ukulele.

Even though I enjoyed the tormented screams and dread of the album so far I was about to be blown away by 'Increase Aloneness'. This is the longest track on the album and by far the best, with guest vocals from Billy Anderson. The heavy riff and excellent drumming from Ash should appeal to most metal fans, myself included but deep down I’m a spacehead and any spacehead will enjoy the Hammond organ arrangement, synth and beautiful vocals on this track. We really are just dots.

'Receed' is the last track and the closest I have heard to the great band White Noise. More tribal drumming, synth, organ and evil demonic vocals of Wrest (Jef Whitehead) of Leviathan, making this a fitting end to an inspiring project by Taurus.

No/Thing is an insanely beautiful explosive piece of musical art that explores life and inevitable death, something that nobody can escape from so dry up those blood stained eyeballs and buy it.

Eastern Europe has always been a place of mystery and a lot of great acts that come from those dark and mysterious places. In fact most superstitions originated from Eastern Europe folklore and the fact that the weather is pretty brutal makes a perfect environment for a black metal band.

Thou Shell of Death's release Sepulchral Silence is their first full-length release. They have released an EP with Wedard back in 2011 and have toured all over Europe.

The first thing I can say about this album is its haunting sound. Thou Shell of Death captures a dark cold mysterious sound which echoes throughout the album. The vocals are reverb through the tracks and really complement the atmosphere.

While not the traditional blast beats and thrashing blasphemy that black metal bands tend to go for, Thou Shell of Death is more about soundscapes. The guitars are matched with symphonic keyboards and a slower grinding pace from the drums. The album is lined with long breaks of foreboding sound and quiet growling vocals.

Sepulchral Silence is a dark and enchanting album, a web of mystical enchanting hymns. The kind of album which brings the imagery of secret covens in the cold woods evoking ancient spirits. I like the atmosphere Thou Shell of Death captures in this album. As I sit in my house on a cold snowy day in Austin, Texas; listening to this album really complements the mood. I think most fans of the sub genre of atmospheric black metal will enjoy Sepulchral Silence. This is album isn't like some atmospheric black metal albums, where the keyboards are so overpowering they become cheesy. It has the perfect amount of haunting resonance that it compliments the harsh underlying blasts of the guitars and drums.

Hopefully this band tours in the United States. I am positive listening to this band live would bring the full effect of their epic sound to life.

I have a lot of reasons to thank/love ArcTanGent Festival for and the discovery of Peterborough’s finest being another one, they were not actually playing but had free CD samples at the merch store and the name was enough to intrigue me.

Having formed in 2008 Pet Slimmers of the Year (weird name, deal with it) and their brand of (predominantly) instrumental post-metal appear to be finally on the rise with their recent signing to Candlelight Records and with good reason too as debut album Fragments of Uniforms lives up to the promise shown on earlier EPs (which are free on bandcamp by the way).

A band that favours creating atmosphere and intensity via cycled patterns and subtlety over using a sledgehammer as any outright heaviness is used sparingly for increased effectiveness to deliver a master class of the genre.

Essential for fans of Rosetta, Cult of Luna and the likes….

‘Arterias’ gets the ball rolling with mid paced “jangly” guitars and rumbling drums slowly gathering momentum and heaviness so much so that the eventual crashing introduction of power chords is a proper surprise, the introspective melodies continue throughout with an early highlight being ‘Gathering Half the Deep and Full of Voices” which uses this formula to build and build into a monstrous crescendo.

‘Tides’ is a surprisingly calm affair and also serves as an ideal warm up for slow burning but ultimately crushing ‘Mare Imbium’ while 'Churning of the Sea of Milk’ wastes no time by being straightforwardly heavy and is one of the few tracks to contain a vocals passage.

A mention to the superb production job done by Jonny Renshaw (Devil Sold His Soul) that ensures all the intricacies and developments ring out crystal clear.

The out and out highlight of the album is the lead single ‘Days Since I Disappeared’ which is achingly beautiful and has a memorable and effective music video to boot.

Desert Mountain Tribe like to make a noise. Over the course of the four tracks on this EP, they steadily build an unnerving knack of shaking your foundations and thrusting you straight into the eye of the vortex with their brazen mastering of music senses. In short, they are a noisy bunch who like to psych out. An even shorter note may be that they are damn good at what they do.

Not that you may think so on the surface of it. At first listen the DMT come at you like some long lost Kasabian wannabe, all cocksure with lad rock and ready to take on a new frontier. It's only on a serious few listens that you discover that actually, we may have something special here, thrust aside the ego and what are you left with. No nonsense rock and roll with a heavy debt to 60's West Coast psych.

'Take A Ride' fills in all the requisite spots for a no brainer ride into the desert territory of DMT. All peyote incense and dripping guitars, its a smouldering rock beast that belies the laddish vocals. It all twists on a simple chord change about a minute from the end which elevates the song above its humdrum beginnings and signals the start of something special.

That something special is the superb 'Coming Down' which is a lysergic thrill where the sun blistered guitar ekes out an existence on the very surface of your brain. It's impressive stuff and certainly lifts this band above the mediocre thousands who have tried this before. It's raw, powerful and immense and stinks of rock and roll.

The same can be said about 'Rolling' which trades it's guitar riffs like they are going out of fashion. Perhaps most interesting is that by this point the songs have become irrelevant as the feeling starts to seep all over you. A trick which you don't even notice happening but one that knocks you aside when you realise what is going on. DMT know how to make music to lose yourself into and what may seem simple on the outside is actually full of intriguing corners throughout.

This is a strong start for Desert Mountain Tribe and we wait with bated breath for their next release. Whether they have used up all their good songs for this EP remains to be seen but there is definitely potential here.

It's about time we had a kick ass rock and roll band in the UK who weren't afraid to psych out and just maybe DMT can be it. They stand out from their psych counterparts in that they refer back to a more classicist stance and this might just work for them. In the meantime...enjoy what we have, a mighty fine set of songs to relive 1969 all over again.

How would you describe the majesty of the Grand Canyon in Arizona to someone who has never been there? How could you ever articulate the wonder of seeing an aurora in the Arctic Circle? If you’ve ever tried to explain an amazing experience to someone and not known what to say, you will understand my conundrum as I try to put into words my feelings about Animals As Leaders' new release, The Joy of Motion. I’m incredibly excited for you to hear this album.

I’ve been a fan of Tosin Abasi since his days playing with PSI and Reflux in the early to mid-2000s. The first self-titled Animals As Leaders album was released by Prosthetic Records as a way to showcase Abasi’s talent, and it delivers on this goal. It also plays like a demo reel, jumping from solo to solo and riff to riff without much focus on songwriting or structure. The second Animals As Leaders release Weightless featured Abasi playing with fellow prog and jazz virtuoso Javier Reyes, both on eight-string guitars. The programmed drumming was dropped in favor of real, actual drums played by Animosity and Fleshwrought madman Navene Koperweis. Weightless is a milder album with a tinge of electronica flavor. On 2014’s The Joy of Motion Abasi returns to his metal roots, and Reyes and drummer Matt Garstka provide not only support but a voice of their own.

The album opens with the monstrously heavy ‘Ka$cade’. The Meshuggah-esque djent riffs and offbeat timing tell you that Animals As Leaders are going to take you on a ride. The second track ‘Lippincott’ is all over the map. It starts with a smooth guitar lead and what sounds like a backing bass line, but isn’t. Both Abasi and Reyes play eight-string guitars on The Joy of Motion but they tune down so slow and play with such proficiency that you think there’s a bass there the whole time. Periphery’s Adam Getgood does make an appearance on the bass guitar at times, and Misha Mansoor returns for production duties and plays some seven-string guitar. The connection between Animals As Leaders and Periphery can be heard throughout.

The album progresses with ‘Air Chrysalis’, a smooth and jazzy piece that transitions to a prog jam about halfway through. The modern jazz influence continues on the opening of ‘Another Year’. This is one my favorites riffs on the album. I find myself humming it randomly throughout the day and it always makes me smile. ‘Physical Education’ is a chunky, choppy affair with some sweet harmonies. Garstka rides the china cymbal and oh boy does it make you bob your head. ‘Tooth and Claw’ throws you back into the heavy djent riffing but gives you a breather at about the 2:35 mark, followed by some retro 8-bit programming at 3:05. The whole album is perfectly balanced with these moments of intensity followed by quieter lulls that gently massage your ears so they are ready for the next bit of oddly timed technical prowess.

‘Crescent’ features some of Abasi’s signature slap technique, which conjures comparisons to Victor Wooten in its speed and precision. ‘The Future That Awaited Me’ opens with a dreamscape of layered sound and carries you away to a fantasy world that is edged by shadow. ‘Para Mexer’ has a bit of Spanish guitar flavor and a distortion-free breakdown in the middle. It then drifts quietly off into a misty red-orange sunset. Abasi shows off some more finger-flying slap on ‘The Woven Web’. The second to last track ‘Mind = Spun’ does that very thing, laying down the heaviness, some slides, wicked djent riffs and pounding drums. In fact, all of the songs are perfectly titled to reflect the feelings they are trying to convey. It’s a smart way to assist listeners as they journey through this instrumental work without lyrics or vocals. The record ends with ‘Nephele’, a perfect mixture of the sounds and styles that are represented on the whole recording.

I’m not going to say that The Joy of Motion is as grand an experience as taking in the Grand Canyon or an aurora, but I certainly cannot say that it isn’t on par with those moments. The raw ability and technical skill Abasi always displayed has finally been coupled with excellent songwriting and solid production to create a record that is truly an experience you have to have for yourself. The Joy of Motion is what I always wanted Animals As Leaders to be: breathtaking skill combined with beautiful, heavy songwriting to create soundscapes you can lose yourself in.

I recently reviewed Tellusian’s 7” EP Scania, which left me very impressed and ready to hear their full-length release Collision. First a brief recap. Tellusian is a Swedish band and they are based in the city of Malmö. The band consists of Erik on drums, Henrik on vocals, Robert on bass and John on guitar. The two tracks on Scania impressed me as this band doesn’t play just straight forward heavy sludge metal, they actually incorporate a lot of grind elements, making their sound very interesting and captivating.

Collision has now been released and continues nicely where the Scania EP finished, with 10 tracks full of blistering sludge metal. The grindcore elements are still there, with furious blast beats slapping you around the face, but there is also an extra layer of progressiveness on Collision. Combined with the heavy riffing these guys are onto a complete winner here as far as I am concerned.

The 10 tracks on offer here are some of the most dynamic pieces of music I’ve heard from a relatively unknown band. There are so many smaller bands out there that manage to reach a very high level and standard with their music and people really need to hear these bands. Tellusian is one such band. For a 4-piece, with actually only one guitarist, this band displays a high level of technicality and the tempos changes continuously throughout.

But as said, what adds to Collision compared to the Scania EP is the progressive metal sound. Listen to the short but forceful opening track 'Rivalry', or the bass line in ‘Terminal’, or the progressive start of the final minute of the title track ‘Collision’ before the album finishes in some amazing chaotic sludge frenzy. It is really well-done and performed in superior quality. Listen to this record and you’ll soon find yourself singing along to the catchy melodic chorus in ‘Idiotens Dilemma’. And if you’re interested in a good piece of air drumming then you can prepare yourself to an intense listening session as your arms and legs won’t stop spastically swinging all over the place. At least that’s what happened to me!

All in all, this is a very technical band, with an amazing display in riffage and they deserve to be taken on par with the likes of Mastodon.

Once again Heavy Psych Sounds Records come up trumps with what is the best doom album this reviewer has ever heard. High praise indeed, and in a year of bands like Conan, Monolord, Bast and Pilgrim you may add The Wisdoom lot to the pile. They're not your average doom metal band though. Far from it, this lot throw in a hefty dose of space rock/psych in as well. Here are four tracks of consummate power that will rip your mind out.

Casting song titles aside, what we get are four simple songs called 'Alpha', 'Theta', 'Delta' and 'Oneiron'. You can forget about any semblance to a song structure too, these songs represent a journey. A journey of the mind.

'Alpha' starts off all slow and grinding as it builds up in motion. Taking up a monotonous riff, the drums play out in the back creating a maelstrom of noise which is simply mindblowing. Five and a half minutes later we get the vocals and it's not growly stuff but rather more spaced out Monolord style. It works an absolute treat and adds a whole new level to this band.

We could go on and on about how good this opening track is and it is a long one. The hint of Black Sabbath with the tolling guitar sends shivers down the spine before you get thrust out into space as the riffs grind up and the vocals soar. It's pretty impressive stuff.

'Theta' brings down the pace a bit as we head into colossal doom riffs which are pure nod inducing. This is the start of a song which steadily gets more spaced out as the reverb kicks in and the guitar solos its way out of existence. It's slow, measured and haunting and brings a level of depth unseen in a lot of doom bands. This is all before the disembodied voice comes in. Good luck with keeping your mind at this point!

The Wisdoom go even further out with 'Delta', which is a thirteen minute epic which threatens to fall apart under its sheer madness. By now, all semblance of reality has left the building as the band spread their wings and jump straight into that cosmic black hole for a full blown freak out.

Audacious and the centrepiece of the album, it's a sumptuous piece of work. All this downbeat doom suddenly takes a turn for the up as final track 'Oneiron' finds some sort of pop sensibility and actually sounds a bit jolly. It's the sound of coming back to life, bursting through those dark clouds and seeing sunshine. It's a brilliant end to a brilliant album.

You need The Wisdoom in your life. Hypothalamus is an album which you find yourself returning to over and over again. Maybe it's the sheer variety and audaciousness of the band or just that they are so damn good. What is for sure is the Heavy Psych Sounds Records has yet another winner on their hands. An essential purchase for any self respecting music fan, this album is just brilliant.

Multi-talented electronic drone composer The Haxan Cloak joins The Body for I Shall Die Here, adding menacing dynamics to the band’s already intensely doom-laden avant metal. In many ways, this is simultaneously an apt and curious collaboration. Bobby Krlic aka The Haxan Cloak has spoken of not having any darkness in his personality whatsoever – despite his flair for creating such terrorscapes as last year’s Excavation – whereas The Body cultivate a determinedly furious and desolate view of the world, humanity in general and their music as a reaction against it. Guitarist Chip King has said in an interview that, "I believe that things for humanity will be much worse before they will get better, if that is even a possibility. The idea of a bleak future, with or without people, is the predominant vision of our work; the idea of what is left behind after we have finished... if there is anything left behind." The cover art for I Shall Die Here shows a shadow-covered Earth about to be engulfed in total darkness.

One aspect of the appropriateness of The Body’s name becomes apparent on the album with the sheer physical force of almost every sound. You can feel it invading. Your lungs get scared, your elbows are terrified and your earlobes run away and hide in a cupboard. This is due in no small part to Krlic’s influence. Talking about his appreciation of the physical properties of sound, he has explained, "I started getting speaker cones and taking them apart and I would place different materials on top, like water or jelly or plastic or metal, and I would see the effects that different frequencies have on those materials.” The effect of I Shall Die Here on a lump of jelly would, I reckon, be similar to that when Venkman and Egon scream at the bowl of mood-slime in Ghostbusters II. The Haxan Cloak’s production allied to The Body’s already mean-as-hell aural attack increases the intensity exponentially. Compared to All the Waters of the Earth Shall Turn to Blood, for instance, the guitar and drums are massive.

Highpoints are plentiful. Opening song ‘To Carry the Seeds of Death Within Me’ begins with heavily treated vocal noises, channelling a demon trapped inside a Commodore 64 cassette terminal. ‘Alone All The Way’ builds to an unbearably intense crescendo and vapourises into nothing, leaving a trace of an echo of a scream. ‘Hail To Thee, Everlasting Pain’ breaks down into a brilliantly sinister piece of electro-doom. Electronics are integral to the album, and not just as an interlude between bouts of bludgeoning heaviness – the purely electronic passages carry as much claustrophobic dread and doomed-out headfuckery as the guitar-driven sections. The only part of the album that flags is ‘The Night Knows No Dawn’: a promisingly ominous guitar figure progresses but never truly threatens. Some unsettling static noise, which at one point I was convinced was coming from outside my headphones, adds atmosphere but ultimately doesn’t save the song from being the least successful on the album.

It will be fascinating to see if The Body consider further collaborations as a way to explore their core philosophy even deeper, as say, Sunn O))) have done, given that their manifesto for I Shall Die Here was to create a “wholly experimental album”. RVNG Intl., who release the album, say, “I Shall Die Here sonically serrates the remains of metal’s already unidentifiable corpse”, as good a description as any of The Body’s powers of experimental surgery. Their relentless intensity and refusal to adhere to genre conventions suggest they’re not quite ready for the funeral yet.

10 years is a long time, much can happen or change, both in music and in broader terms.

When 65daysofstatic went on a recording binge in 2003 The Fall Of Math was the result. Written against a backdrop of a post 9/11 world, and our Government joining America to go to war, unsurprisingly against most of the nation's wishes and fuelling much anger, resentment and frustration. Fast forward ten years and The Fall of Math sees it's anniversary release on deluxe CD and Vinyl (for the first time). The propaganda machine that spewed fear, and caused so much mistrust, continues to stick it's nose in all over, so perhaps some things don't change that much at all. Ten years and we still can't trust politicians as far as (we'd love) to throw them.

Back then The Fall of Math was a mould breaking album. 65dos' sensational début is now a highlight in both their own output and also most genres they cut across. Last year however they probably topped it with the incredible Wild Light and in those intervening ten years 65dos have amassed a loyal following and probably improved greatly in their recording and production techniques. However The Fall of Math is a snapshot of brilliance, recorded in four days after day jobs and running late into the night.

So, ten years on where do 65daysofstatic stand in the current musical climate? They must be rolling in cash with all the critically acclaimed releases, tours and diverse projects including soundtrack work, right? Not likely, despite those points being valid, truth is even for an established band like 65dos if you're in it for the cash, disappointment comes in spades. Those ten years have seen physical sales of music decrease further, high street shops and local independent retail ravaged by the economic climate. A generation has emerged of entitlement that scoffs at the suggestion music is to be paid for.

Which is why there is cause to celebrate with this release. Celebrate the fact that 65dos are still in existence while many others have fallen victim to the often unsustainable cost of being a band. Celebrate that 10 years after releasing a defining and hugely influential album they are capable of bettering it. Celebrate that some bands feel passionately about creating music and connecting with audiences live so much that sacrifices are made. Celebrate that hopefully there will be many more years of 65dos continuing to evolve and push boundaries. And mostly celebrate the brilliance of The Fall of Math .

I had various ideas about how to cover the re-issue for the site; my memories of first hearing The Fall of Math, a standard track by track review, that sort of thing. However the former wasn't very interesting to anyone else, and the latter has & will be done many times.

Hopefully I have conveyed just how (not just to me) important an album this is, and that you should buy it. There are many who might not have heard it yet, and those who have tattered and worn original copies. Either way, it's a great opportunity to own something brilliant. The mindset of "owning" physical copies was described perfectly in my recent interview with Paul. Even if the idea of purchasing music is alien to you, download inferior files for free (I'd still prefer you didn't), but spread the word and go to the shows/buy merch.

Whatever it takes, so we can maybe look forward to 65daysofstatic playing the 20th anniversary of FOM and not wondering why another band has bitten the dust while the bland mainstream spews out more mundane rubbish.

For long term fans, there's a bonus disc featuring the 'Hole' EP and b-sides. Even the vinyl comes with a cd as well. It's a time to celebrate the anniversary, but also a chance to reflect on what we often take for granted. That doing this shit for bands can be a struggle, hopefully though it's a struggle with more positives than negatives. As fans we also have problems with living costs increasing continually. Buying music and going to shows can become almost a luxury. Although when the effort is made on both sides, the intensity of the connection between band and audience can be priceless.

The Fall of Math is available through Monotreme Records and 65dos embark on a tour playing select FOM shows and touring Wild Light. See dates on their website here.

The Oath is the brain child of Swedish guitarist Linnea Olsson and German vocalist Johanna Sadonis (line up completed by Simon Bouteloup on bass and Andrew Prestidge on drums) who met by chance in Berlin 2012.

What with the defacto Rise Above records hype and very VERY stylised promo pics of the female members I was more than expecting to slate this for being all image and no substance.

I am happy to report that this definitely isn't the case as a swaggering heavy metal RIFF kick starts ‘All Must Die’ in blazing fashion matched by the strong and soulful clean vocals, underpinned with the bouncing and rumbling rhythm section crafting a sublime hook laden song of retro occult ambiance.

'Silk Road' carries on this vibe and what becomes noticeable is how they have injected a barrel load of genuine personality and charisma ensuring that this is merely no copy cat by the numbers outfit. Also helped by the production which  is crystal clear and the modern production job (i.e. they do not use that Black Sabbath guitar tone).

‘Night Child’ switches up the formula with its high energy glam rock stomp as does the doom laden ballad 'Leaving Together’. ‘Black Rainbow’ kicks back in uptempo energetic heavy metal and contains a brilliant chorus as does 'Silver and Dust'.

However what stops this being amazing is how the last three tracks seem to lose focus and drift away killing momentum. So it's not inventive in anyway or going to change the world, but does contain a few gems worthy of your attention.

If we didn’t already have enough filthy blackened sludge in the world already, Grey Widow throws their share in the mix as well with their album I, which was released November last year. This band from Brighton in the South of England does all the talking through their music and based on the straight forward album title (I), and all track titles having the Roman numerals I-VII, I don’t think there’s a message underlying this heavy wall of sound, other than to melt your fucking face.

This is pure filthy low end sludge, with a huge blackened doom touch thrown in as well. Parts of it remind me of Bast’s latest release Spectres, though Grey Widow handles less black metal and more heavy death doom. The low end is so beautifully produced that it actually induced shivers in my back. In fact, the whole mix is done very well with the vocals (I assume there’s more than one singer) and the drums sitting very nicely in the wall of low end sludge filth.

So, we’re dealing with 8 tracks here, all quite long as well with the shortest track ‘V’ clocking in just over 5 minutes. What I really love about this release is of course the crushing low end of the guitars and bass, but this band throws in the right amount of tempo changes, as we can hear in ‘II’ and ‘VII’. This makes it not just a long album of slow grinding songs; it actually makes it a very interesting release as well.

All 8 tracks are of outstanding quality, but track ‘IV’ is the tip of the iceberg, bringing all elements this band has to offer together in 7 minutes and 17 seconds of amazing heaviness. This track starts with an impressive chaotic grindcore-like blackened death intro and very quickly starts grinding down with slower heavy riffs. Towards the end of the track there is an amazing breakdown that takes me right back to the time I was listening to tons of hardcore/metal bands throwing windmills around in the mosh pit. For the fans of slow crushing death doom then especially tracks ‘VI’ and the final track ‘VIII’ should be good starting points, but the whole album should be a winner for you.

This is heavy, filthy blackened sludge played with a huge hardcore/punk heart. For fans of Corrupt Moral Altar, Iron Witch, Bast, Primitive Man, Opium Lord and Coltsblood.

Taken straight from the dog’s mouth....

"If you ever wanted to find out what it would sound like if Slayer got into a fight with Flogging Molly on stage, after which they decide to patch things up with a bottle of vodka."

I’ll give you a moment to digest that statement.

...

...

Now unfortunately it will not match up to whatever crazy concoction you have in your head especially when the 'intro" is pure carnival accordion music.

What it actually is when 'D'r Zjwarte Hond va Krapoe' kicks things off properly is charmingly chaotic folk metal in the vein of Korpiklaani and there Finnish ilk, with a large side order of Celtic punk rock to boot and bloody brilliant it is too!

So yes welcome to the wonderful world of Chain of Dogs who hail from that well known folk metal hotspot of Holland, having formed and split up once already between 2005 and 2010, they have chosen 2014 to reform and present Burning Bridges In A World Of Death - De Ep's en nog get mieë, which is a compilation of EPs and demo tracks from that era.

Which explains the reason for the somewhat schizophrenic nature of proceedings as some tracks veer towards folk metal, some towards Celtic punk, most are fast, some are slow, some are sung in English and some not (I'm assuming Dutch).

And yes being folk influenced those instruments make themselves known amongst the metallic RIFFAGE with mandolins, violins and whistles all deployed affectively.

There are many brilliant moments but the certified highlight of this collection is the anthemic 'DeathWorld' with its heavier Celtic punk leanings, hyperspeed mandolin playing and multi vocal approach with fantastical lyrics creating brilliant imagery.

Pro Tip: best enjoyed swinging a flagon of mead!