BankSlave

First track from Stephen Lee Clark and Jose Om's BankSlave project.

Monuments Collapse

I am really loving this SF band at the moment and their half of a split is free on bandcamp for a limited time. It's heavy and atmospheric with harsh vocals that sort of blend into the background. I could listen to Monuments Collapse all day.

Fanch's Albums of the Year

It's the end of year list that you didn't even want! Here are my top 10 albums of 2013. None of them are particularly out there or weird and most of them are kind of heavy. Maybe Kingo will chime in with his own list. First some albums that almost made it: Portugal. The Man - Evil Friends, Ohio Sky - This House is Old, People Like Us - A Nightmare, People Like Us - The Royals, Tomahawk - Oddfellows, Davenport Cabinet - Our Machine.

10.

                           Baklavaa -Spiral Cramps

This record is absolutely insane. These guys are a noisy breath of aggression from somewhere in Baltimore, MD.  Spiral Cramps is a quick burst of noise, clocking in at less than 25 minutes, that leaves the listener sort of wondering what the hell just happened. If I had to compare them to someone I'd probably say they're similar to Tera Melos. This album is pay what you want on Bandcamp or you can buy a physical copy for just $10.

9.

                          NIN - Hesitation Marks
I guess you might call this album a return to form for Trent Reznor's NIN. Maybe not, but it's the first NIN album I've enjoyed front to back since With Teeth. The album features Adrian Belew and Lindsay Buckingham so how could it not be awesome?

8.

          The Elephant In the Room - The Collective and The Individual

There's some bias here because I contributed to the Kickstarter for this album, before ever hearing a note. The record is produced by Casey Crescenzo of The Dear Hunter. This is a big sounding record with choruses of voices that borders on prog rock, Crescenzo's influence is definitely there. It says something though that this record made my list and The Dear Hunter's Migrant album did not. This is an excellent record that anyone with an affinity for rock music should enjoy. Track 2, Monsters, is the highlight of the album for me. 

7.

                                Sannhet - Known Flood

 I first heard Sannhet via NYC Taper and their recording of the Known Flood release show. Sannhet was opening for Deafheaven, a band you'll find further down. They're an instrumental band from Brooklyn NY. Experimental black post everything metal. Known Flood is and unrelenting blend of swirling guitars and thunderous drums. Check out the opening track Absecon Isle to get an idea of what Known Flood is all about.

6.

                 Oathbreaker - Eros/Anteros

This is an album I just discovered by trolling through the Deathwish records site looking for something to listen too. It's heavy X 1000. Somewhere between black metal and post-hardcore lives Belgium's Oathbreaker.This is your album if you need to run around and wreck stuff.

5.

                      I The Mighty - Satori

Probably my second most played album this summer. I the Mighty is a sort of prog/emo band similar to Coheed and Cambria. This album lived in my wife's car and accompanied us on many long car trips. It's a great record to sing a long with. It's got some heavy moments, some quiet moments. We also had the chance to see these guys live this fall. They only had a 5 song set, but they had tons of energy.

4.

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                       Coheed and Cambria - Afterman: Descension 

My favorite band, I've seen most of the songs on this album performed live. A much stronger effort than the first half of the Afterman record. Just go listen to Gravity's Union.

3.

                        Russian Circles - Memorial 
Another band I had the pleasure  to see live a few times over the course of the year. Another instrumental album. Russian Circles are just so good. This album could probably fit in any spot on the list, so I stuck it here. It might be the heaviest album on the list.

2.

                Touche Amore - ...Is Survived by
This album clocks in a at just under 30 minutes. It's like a punch to the gut. It's that post-hardcore emo stuff that I enjoy so much. This album is just plain good. “So write a song that everyone can sing along to/So when you’re gone you can live on, they won’t forget you.”

1.

              Deafheaven-Sunbather

Another album with ties to black metal. It's definitely not for everyone, but for me this is far and away the best record of 2013. It's totally captivating. From the beginning of Dream House to the ending of The Pecan Tree my jaw is on the floor. Between each of the album's four main tracks are some sound collage segues/ shorter acoustic pieces that bring perfect balance to the record. George Clarke's vocals are gut wrenching while Kerry McCoy's guitars dance between meandering shoegaze and black metal brutality. I will admit that having seen these guys live this year has only enhanced my opinion of this record. Listening to Sunbather is almost a process, it really needs to be absorbed as a whole. If you're willing to dive into some experimental black metal Sunbather is the place to start.

Creepers

Creepers are Shiv Mehra and Daniel Tracy, currently touring members of Deafheaven, try their hand at 70's prog rock with a little bit of black metal influence. Invisible Oranges is streaming their debut EP right here. 

Check it out. Also, go see Deafheaven if you can because they are amazing.

Curse - The Interview

http://cursebaltimore.com/

On a rainy day at the end of June I had the extreme pleasure to take part in, experience, be blown away by San Francisco's Deafheaven as they toured for their brilliant new record Sunbather. This isn't about them though. This isn't about their awesome opening act Marriages either. This is about the band I didn't even know was on the bill. I was only expecting two bands for my $12, but when we got there I saw that a band from Baltimore called Curse would be opening the show. They were an unexpected surprise. The two of them came out , just drums and keyboards, and ripped through a set that was heavier than I thought possible for just drums and keyboards. Metal minus guitars. Logan was kind enough to talk to me for a few minutes later in the evening and even sign their CD for me. Also, they played a show in a cave. That's about as metal as you can get. I asked Logan and Jane a few questions and here's what they had to say:

You can listen to their record while you read!



The Drawer: How did you guys meet and how long have you been playing in bands?
 
Jane: Baltimore is such a close knit scene, we just knew each other from putting on and playing shows. Logan and I started dating in the fall of 2011, and started playing music together soon after. Both of us have been in bands since our early teens, so for me, that’s more than half my life now.

The Drawer: So, how long have you guys been playing together?


Jane: We’ve been playing together since November 2011. We wanted to see how it worked if we played music together, so we rented a lodge in Rhode Island--no running water, tons of animal heads everywhere, the whole bit--brought up all our instruments, and wrote our first song, which was a good thing, because I’d already booked us on a fest in Miami in February. We spent the next few months in high gear-we booked
a tour to Miami and back and had a demo and, you know, songs and a set, by the time we left.


The Drawer: What's the song writing process like for Curse, or maybe the better question would be what instrument do you write most of you stuff on?

J: We usually start with a sequence-both electronic drums and synthesizers. Sometimes I start this and sometimes Logan starts this, but Logan more often than me. Then Logan writes his synth and drum parts, and then we work of the bass line on the Juno, and then we do vocals last. The bones really start on the computer though.



The Drawer: What are some of your favorite local acts?

Jane: There’s a lot of great bands in Baltimore! There’s an awesome atmospheric black metal band called Barbelith that are really heavy but super ethereal. There’s also this bizarre and amazing band called Baklavaa that are sort of an updated emo violence band--sort of like Usurp Synapse or Jerome’s Dream if the songs were long and went a lot of weird places.

The Drawer: How is the heavy music scene in Baltimore, and do you feel like you fit in, do you want to fit in?

J: Baltimore has a very vibrant weird music scene, and I think we benefit from that. Some scenes seem to have a lot of trouble with heavy music that doesn’t follow a specific formula, but Baltimore’s used to seeing people try out new ideas and new configurations. It’s great to be part of a scene like that. Sometimes, a scene means a lot of samey things, or people just imitating one or two bands, and that happens a little here, but mostly Baltimore is full of interesting musicians trying interesting things. It’s a magnet for musicians, because it’s cheap, there’s a lot of places to play and community support, and it’s close to other bigger cities if you want to tour.


The Drawer: What kind of press, if any are you getting down there?

J: We have one major alternative weekly, the Citypaper, and they’ve been really good to us from the start and have been really nice about covering the things we do. One of the writers picked up our demo from the True Vine (one of our favorite Baltimore record stores) when we’d only been a band for about 2 months, and they’ve covered most of what we do ever since.


The Drawer: When I saw you guys opening for Marriages and Deafheaven I was pretty surprised at how heavy just drums and a keyboard could sound. How did you guys decided to perform as a two piece? Have you considered bringing in someone to play guitar for the live shows?
 
Jane: Being a two piece is just an easy way to do a band. Just having 2 people means it's easy to have the same goals, coordinate schedules, etc, but you still have a collaborator to bounce ideas off of and inspire you and do half the work and pay for half the van repairs and so on. 

As far as adding a guitar player live, we like making something really heavy without guitars. We really believe in, you know, making it new, and playing metal with no guitars means you're already different from most bands.


The Drawer: Where did you come up with the idea to screen print your logo on sort of thrift store clothes? That's a pretty cool idea.

Jane: It just seemed like a way to expand the appeal of the things we make. It makes the merch more interactive, because you get to dig through this big suitcase of clothes and you come up with something one of a kind, that no one else has. It also means hopefully there is something for everyone, or at least a chance to include more people than those who like medium through XL black shirts. Or, maybe you don’t like band shirts at all, but you’re cool with band leggings. I screen all our shirts myself in the basement, and making some wacky ones makes it less monotonous. Plus, the shirts are cheap, and they’re fun to shop for!


The Drawer: Do you have a way of describing how Curse sounds? It's certainly heavy, but there are also sort of dancey parts thrown in there on the keyboard.

J: We’ve both been in heavy and weird bands for a long time, but also listen to a lot of pop music, as well as a lot of less poppy electronic music. This band is sort of a combination of those interests. People have called us coldwave doom, which I thought was pretty accurate.


The Drawer: You have a limited CD-R album out now that's also available on digitally on bandcamp. I think the art/packaging and homemade aspect of your CD-R is great. How do you feel about physical media vs digital? Personally I like to have something tangible.

J: I think both are valuable. I love having a beautiful object I can hold in my hands, and I love searching through record stores for something rare or special. However, I think it’s a wonderful thing that we live in a world with this other, easier option, and a format that’s so easy to share. I grew up finding out about music through zines and record stores and shows, and I think that’s a valuable, but I grew up in a big city with lots of opportunities to find out about music. It seems like everything is so much more democratic now. A kid who grows up in a tiny isolated town, or doesn’t have any disposable income for the record store has access to a lot more music than they used to.


The Drawer: What has influenced what you guys are doing, and what stuff are you listening to now?

J: I’ve been in heavy bands since I was 14, and the main thing that’s influenced me has probably been the other people I’ve played with, and other bands those bands have toured with, and things like that.Lately, I’ve been listening to Master, We Perish by the Body, the Portland band Fist Fite, my friend Andy pointed me towards this amazing Norwegian black metal band Kvist, and I’m having sort of a PJ Harvey moment, and lots of pop music from your David Guettas to your Taylor Swifts.



The Drawer: What the best show you've ever played?
 
J: We’ve played a lot of really good shows and really bad shows, but Ithink one of the all time weirdest I’ve ever played was last year in Rapid City. I texted a friend of mine a few days before we were planning on taking a day off there and asked her if she still had her vintage store, and if she wanted to hang out. She wrote me back with, “Yeah, I still have the store, I own a cave now, and we can go in it,and if you wanna get lunch I would totally be free to do that!” When I asked her to back up and explain what the hell she meant by “I own a cave and we can go in it” she simply informed me that she has shows in the cave too, and we should play there. Of course, I said yes, and she sent me the address - on Nameless Cave Road. I still had no idea what she meant when she said she owned a cave. When we got to Nameless Cave Road, there were billboards for a now defunct attraction called Crystal Cave. Turns out she had bought a tourist trap: an 1100 foot long cave covered with quartz crystals, plus a gift shop, petrified garden, and some teepees. She’s in the process of building a house above it. The cave itself is incredible: It has a ton of rooms, and 2little waterfalls, and a human skull in it, which Natasha nonchalantly explained had belonged to an explorer who died in there. We played in the gift shop at the mouth of the cave. It was totally awesome.

The Drawer: What did you think of Deafheaven?

Jane: I loved their set, and they were really nice guys. A lot of times you play with a bigger band like that and they don’t watch your set and they don’t talk to you, which I’m not offended by, it’s just normal. They were really outgoing and introduced themselves right away and watched our set and answered all sorts of dumb questions from us and generally were just shockingly nice.


The Drawer: If you could play with anyone, anyone, in a dream tour, who would it be? 

J: We have tickets to see Ke$ha in August. It’d be ideal if we could finish out the tour with her.


There you have it. Curse are currently putting together a fall tour and hope to have a new record ready to go by then. If you get a chance check these guys out. You can get their record right here.

You can also find their demo on bandcamp as a Name Your Own Price download.

I'd suggest shelling out the cash for a copy of their cd-r if you like what you hear. The art is extremely well done, printed on a heavy silver and black cardstock and there's a lyric sheet/poster included.

Sunbather

This album is incredibly good. I'm not going to review it because everyone everywhere is writing better reviews than I possibly could. Go buy it. Deafheaven - Sunbather. NPR has it listen in their top 15 albums of the year so far.

http://deafheavens.bandcamp.com/album/sunbather

Deafheaven

I love this band.

Deafheaven

Man, I like this band.