Top Tuesday 27.05.14: Australian grindcore and classic black metal

So I once had this plan to make Top Tuesdays a regular thing. The idea was to not be too clever, but to simply talk about what’s been on high rotation this week.

After checking when I did the last one (because it was totally going to be a regular thing) I found that it was… uh… just over a year ago. So I should really be more consistent.

ALTERNATIVE AND UNDERGROUND MUSIC THIS WEEK

It sounds odd, but I have not enjoyed this week’s Top Tuesday releases very much. Most of this week’s the items on high rotation this week are the latest ‘discoveries’ from a secondhand metal collection I bought in June 2013 (‘novelties’ may be a more appropriate term). A labour of love, every week I’ve managed to get through a handful of albums from the original 200-CD lot, give or take a few. At last count I’ve whittled it down to the last 70.

Now I’m rather keen to get through this lot before the end of the year. Hence the high rotation of tracks which I may not be all that into. After all, every true music nerd knows that to really understand an album, you have to give it a proper listen to see if it grows on you. Of course, it could be a grudge listen maybe, but it’s still a proper listen. Because how else can I complain I didn’t get my money’s worth?

Here is what has received particular attention this week.

Very, Very Dead & Gory: A Veritable Paragon Of Wholesome Family Entertainment

The name is the best part about this band. And by “best part” I mean this outfit has a funny name. And. Well, uhm… yeah.

Very, Very Dead & Gory was a Melbourne-based outfit playing generic, thinly produced Aussie dickhead grind core. I mean that in the best possible sense. I couldn’t understand any lyrics on A Veritable Paragon Of Wholesome Family Entertainment but I’m going to assume that if one could, the prose would be masterfully hilarious. I’d like to imagine that the guys recording this had a blast, just dicking around, drinking (most likely) and making bad music. The music on this album is so dumb it’s fun. Indeed, check out the shamelessly sampled Burroughs Asshole (sic), a spoken word sequence ripped from Naked Lunch about a man whose asshole began to talk.

The closing track, Let The Grass Grow, is a 12+ minute epic — of which 8 minutes consist entirely of a recording of a lawnmower in action.

No doubt it was a brutal lawnmower.

 Very, Very Dead & Gory: A Veritable Paragon Of Wholesome Family Entertainment.

Alas, the band name and album title are the best parts.

Emperor / Enslaved: Hordanes Land

If you know your black metal then you’ll know why this split album is historically significant. Two of black metal’s most important acts made their ‘proper’ debut on this release.
Both Emperor and Enslaved started out on this record by playing that atrociously-produced, fuzzed out, shrieking, dangerous new music that became known as black metal (ok ultra kvlt smartarse, yes, it’s technically second-generation black metal — and if you can point that out, you’ve presumably also written to Metal Archives and asked them to remove your band listing because someone on the internet got a hold of one of your 50 hand-signed goat skin cassette pressings and uploaded the details on the internet).

Where was I? On Hordanes Land, both Emperor and Enslaved tried their hands at daring experimentation, though it’s often hard to hear it properly because of album’s toilet-grade production.

Despite the ostensibily subversive nature of black metal, paradoxically, black metal is also legendary for being so insular. Not in this case though: Emperor sow the seeds of what would become super-dense guitar fuzz and keyboard production (although the songs are essentially demo tracks); and Enslaved just do some straight out weird sounds and arrangements.

It’s not surprise that both Emperor and Enslaved eventually became black metal bands that took on densely produced, weird, progressive music as a trademark sound — the latest Enslaved album  RIITIIR and Emperor main-dude Ihsahn’s solo work being perfect examples.

Also, can I just say that I am in possession of the *cough* original Candlelight Records pressing?

Emperor / Enslaved: Hordanes Land.

When less was better.

Suiciety: Deeper Vision

Generic, weak vaguely-thrash-inspired hardcore, with some vague, equally generic metal bits.

I’ve given it three listens and it just doesn’t do it for me. There are a couple of ok riffs and decent choruses but otherwise that’s it — I just couldn’t find anything memorable here.

They’re from Melbourne, so that’s a plus, but this just isn’t my cup of tea.

As I said at the start of the piece, you have to give it a proper listen to see if it grows on you. After all, how else can I complain I didn’t get my money’s worth?

Suiciety: Deeper Vision.

Aussie hardcore that just didn't do it for me.