Upcoming gigs

This Thursday marks the start of an awesome run of shows over the next three weeks that will see Canberra well and truly rock its way into the silly season with all the volume we could ask for. See you there!

Thursday 28 November at ANU Bar
Kadavar, Blues Pills and Looking Glass

Saturday 30 November at Magpies City Club

I Exist (launching their new album, From Darkness), The Fighting League, Sumeru and Hygiene

Wednesday 4 December at the Basement

Guitar Wolf, Little Mac and the Monster Men and Bacon Cakes

Thursday 5 December at the Phoenix

Lecherous Gaze, Gentlemen and Hygiene

Wednesday 11 December at ANU Bar

Kylesa, Looking Glass and Rise of Avernus

Thursday 12 December at ANU Bar

Melvins, Helmet and guests

lxp

Whores - Clean

There is a lot to be said for music that gets straight to the point without fucking around. And that is exactly what Whores do on Clean (Brutal Panda).

The driving first riff of opener "Baby Bird" sets the tone from the outset. There are no long, self indulgent, meandering intros. No prolonged attempts to wring the life out of any of the songs. Just a dangerously infectious succession of heavy, straightforward, pissed off grooves set around breaks that would be miserable downers if the slightly-slower-than-comfortable rhythm section didn't plough through it all so steadily. The huge, rumbling bass and the pounding, meat-and-potatoes drums don't allow the songs, or the listener, to stray. And the way the hook-laden noise rock guitar lines carry the enormous groove immediately and consistently shines.

Christian Lembach's entertaining vocal performance is a real highlight. He snarls, drawls and barks out some great lines drenched in tongue-in-cheek bitterness. His yell tempts its breaking point, and the scratchiness in his voice gives the songs both pointed ferocity and comedy.

Whores are deeply rooted in the Melvins, Unsane and Helmet schools of rock, but they really build on those influences to great effect. The sarcastic swinging rhythm of "I Am Not a Goal Oriented Person", which later churns under a single chord breakdown, a la "In the Meantime", is a great example...and catchy as all hell. Pissed Jeans could be another reference point, but Whores incorporate much more sludge, and the fantastic production of this recording brings all that heaviness to the fore. It seems strange to write this, but the final track, "I Am an Amateur At Everything" almost sounds like the bastard child of Future of the Left and Bongzilla. And it really works.

But enough with the facile comparisons. The point is, if you like no-nonsense noise rock that's heavy on the sludge, then Whores have delivered what you need.

Listen to Clean here.

lxp

Riverfest 2013, Saturday 2 November @ Waterfront Hotel, Moruya

The Rumours

Dead

Cyberne

Cyberne

Clowns

Zeahorse

lxp

Unkle K's Bands of the Week

Due to my already stuffed ear copping a walloping at the Church of Misery show a month ago, I have not been listening to much music in the last few weeks. Here are a couple of things that have caught my attention.

Rort
I'm sure I've seen or heard this band before but if I have, it didn't leave the impression on me that this new track from their forthcoming LP has. This crushing grindy track leaves me highly keen to hear the full length. Another quality Melbourne act.
Bandcamp

Weekend Nachos

Most of you are probably familiar with Weekend Nachos. For those that are not, checking them out is a must. These two tracks from their forthcoming LP, Still, contain all the elements that make WN so good. Massive guitar sound, great variety between slow and fast. One of the very few bands that could make these old legs want to mosh like a crazy ape.

Bandcamp

Gig of the Week
Cyberne (Japan), Dead (Melbourne), The Reverend Jesse Custer and Machina Genova. Sunday 3 November, 5pm at Magpies City Club. $10 concession/$15 standard.

Also, Beer Day Out is not until Saturday 9 November, but tickets are selling fast, so get onto it: Facebook.

Video of the Week
The VeeBees - "Doin'er Up": YouTube

Playlist: Unkle K
1. Dragged into Sunlight - Widowmaker
2. Mother Brain - Straight to Business
3. Deep Purple - Burn
4. Scorpions - Animal Magnetism 
5. All Pigs Must Die - Nothing Violates this Nature 

Playlist: lxp
1. Earthless - From the Ages
2. SubRosa - More Constant than the Gods
3. Red Fang - Whales and Leeches
4. Great Falls - Accidents Grotesque
5. Woodwall - WoodEmpire

Unkle K

Unkle K's Bands of the Week

Not aware of any shows this week but I'm quite happy to live off memories of the awesome Church of Misery show I witnessed on Friday night in Sydney. Bloody fantastic. Cheers to Nathan for bringing them out from Japan.

Frozen Planet....1969
Featuring our very own Lachlan from Looking Glass along with the Mother Mars brothers. Frozen Planet....1969 play improvisational spaced out jam rock. If you are familiar with any of the members' other bands you will know how talented these guys are and you will be all over this. For the uninitiated, highly recommended.
Bandcamp

Human Cull
Really digging the explosion of good bands out of the UK playing grindy stuff at the moment - Magpyes, Horsebastard, Corrupt Moral Altar. Add Human Cull to that list. Brutal, unforgiving, foot to the floor grind, not too polished like a lot of the newer grind acts these days.
Bandcamp

Seven Sisters of Sleep/Shaman's Owl
Both bands feature members of the underrated The Arm and Sword of a Bastard God, who released a killer split with Coffins back in 2007. They both play similar styles of sludgy doom, maybe not reaching the heights of ASBG for me yet, but still worth checking out.
Cvlt Nation

Video of the Week
Black Sabbath and the Birth of Heavy Metal - On The Road
Excellent video from Vice Magazine. Noisey teamed up with Marshall Headphones and Jesse Hughes of Eagles Of Death Metal notoriety to go on the road to hunt the spirit of Black Sabbath.
YouTube

Playlist: Unkle K
1. Joe Rogan Podcasts
2. Human Cull/Oblivionized - This Septic Isle
3. Slomatics - A Hocht
4. Seven Sisters of Sleep/Shaman's Owl - Split
5. Deep Purple - Shades of Deep Purple

Playlist: lxp
1. Bowcaster - S/T LP
2. Bl'ast! - Blood!
3. Royal Thunder - CVI
4. Agents of Abhorrence - Relief
5. Acid King - Busse Woods

Unkle K

Various artists 2

Some more of my sketchy live photos from the vault.
lxp

Akimbo, 2006

Witchcraft, 2010

Super Fun Happy Slide, 2008

Converge, 2006

Saint Vitus, 2013

ABC Weapons, 2008

Northless - World Keeps Sinking

Northless play a gargantuan, rhythmically confounding kind of sludge that is as enveloping as it is punishing and difficult. Their last full length, Clandestine Abuse was unbelievably heavy, but it didn't let you in easily, and for exactly that reason it was completely addictive. Their releases since then (a split with Lightbearer and the Valley of Lead 10") hinted at the band's evolution, but on their new record, World Keeps Sinking (Halo of Flies/Gilead Media), Northless have launched themselves on to a new plane altogether.

Everything that gave Northless their edge previously is still here, including the characteristic choked, mucous vocals and the teeth clenching, skull fracturing, hard won riffs. But there is a load of additional complexity and control, with a bit of quirk thrown into the mix.

This is the kind of record that needs repeated listens just to make sense of what the hell is going on. The songs are amazingly constructed and completely unpredictable. Titanic, destructive riffs unfold one after another, stuck tightly together by an absolute wrecking-ball of a rhythm section that morphs time and direction so effectively you don't even notice you've been transported to the next beating. Northless have nailed down the ability to forcibly drag their music along an erratic path of fury, misery, frustration, hatred, determination, false hope and...what's this? Dreamlike calm?

When the violence of "Communion" crumbles away to expose a gentle, breezy, clean, almost jazzy guitar finish, it allows the dust to begin to settle, and the full impact of everything Northless have done on this album sinks in. "Passage" picks up from there, providing a 15+ minute lesson in how to melt minds and faces at the same time. Possibly the album's standout track (at least that's my early impression), it exemplifies the whole approach Northless are taking to combining claustrophobic, suffocating heaviness with expansive, preconception-shattering songwriting.

World Keeps Sinking somehow manages to latch on to misanthropy and bathe it in a reflective, almost warm light. It's a fucking fantastic album, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Listen on Bandcamp. Visit Northless' website.

lxp

Unkle K's Bands of the Week

Rectal Hygenics
Dirty, punky noise rock from Chicago's wonderfully named Rectal Hygenics.
Bandcamp

Iron Heel

Doom from Vienna, Austria, which wanders into stoner territory at times. Luckily the riffs are huge. Vocals are great. I can hear bits of Rev. Bizarre.

Bandcamp

Throw Me in the Crater
Nasty, heavy-as-shit sludge from The Netherlands. This has a real dirty swagger, like Autopsy. Brings to mind the under appreciated Accept Death as well.

Bandcamp 

Gigs of the Week

Sick People (QLD), Sewercide (VIC), Eye Gouge, Hygeine and Coffin Birth
Wednesday 18th September, Magpies City Club

Facebook

Black Coffee (A.I.B.C EP launch), The Oily Boys, Eye Gouge, Hygiene and Beach Slut

Saturday 21 September, Magpies City Club

Facebook 

Playlist: Unkle K
1. Windhand - S/T
2. Kadavar - S/T
3. Thou - All
4. Shining - Black Jazz
5. AC/DC - Powerage 

Playlist: lxp
1. Vista Chino - Peace
2. Enabler - All Hail the Void
3. Rituals - S/T
4. Jungbluth - Part Ache
5. All Pigs Must Die - Nothing Violates this Nature

Unkle K