Shivas Nat – Gimme Your / Lovebug [2014; H42 Records]

The A-side of this single throws itself into some throwback psych rock with a heavy, almost biker rock, touch. Bass and the low-groan vocals dominate, with keyboards, the dirty electric guitar, and higher “Whoo whoo whoo!”s for balance as it neatly escalates into a howling release. The B-side brings some mod rock flavor, with a lazily cool attitude and laid-back bass groove accompanying the hard-ridden chorus. Very good stuff on both sides, channeling the influence of yesteryear without being too slavish in the emulation.

Here’s the alternate cover art.

And the cover art from the test pressings.

Woodrue – Gas Huffer [2014; self-released]

Originally issued as half of a split with Semtex, this ~15-minute track grinds along in a low-pitched sludge groove, with the punk influence mainly coming through in yells and pick-ups in the drum activity. Though it feels fairly aimless, the different sections of the song do manage some good shows of energy, and the gritty tones of the guitar and bass mesh well throughout the run. As a demonstration of the band’s long-form capabilities, it’s not especially inspiring, given how stapled-together much of it seems, but it does hint at more potential from their shorter stuff.

Open Tomb – Dead Weight [2014; Dry Cough Records]

Following up on their 2013 release, Servants of Slow, Open Tomb lead this album with the prior one’s closing track, “Blood and Flies”, letting slow bass, dirge-like drum speeds, groaning vocals, and background sobbing set the tone for the three-track LP. The second song, “Abandoned in a Pit” is the only entirely new track on the album, as the nineteen-minute-long closer, “Scraping Shit (From Beneath My Nails)” was originally done on OT’s 2012 Slower than Thou EP.

And, as their release titles say, Open Tomb do like to keep things slow, pulling out bass drones and riffs that go beyond gloom into tarry, oppressive atmospheres, bolstered by gurgling rasps from the vocalist. But as much miserable weight as they successfully build over the course of the songs, with even the guitar solos emerging as murky thrashings, it occasionally feels as though the band is just killing time and waiting out the reverb. Given that they haven’t released anything since this album, hopefully they’re taking a lengthy break to put more (tortured) life into their compositions for the comeback.

BØNGTHRØWER – Drenched In Death [2014; self-released]

Over the five tracks of this EP,
BØNGTHRØWER dig into a mixture of heavy thrash and fast-paced sludge, and while they stay fairly basic in the draws from each side, the beats and riffs come together well enough to compel some head-bobbing, if not outright banging. A blackened tinge to the vocals and guitar adds some extra nuance, but in general, it sticks the the thrash-thrash-thrash-breakdown-further thrash formula without straying too far from the dependability of a steady crashing. Enjoyable enough for what it is, but nothing outstanding.

Corroded Master – Digital Reality EP [self-released; 2014]

Opening with its title track, this EP jumps into 4/4 beats, gleaming synth tones, and harsh, electronically-processed vocals rasping out fairly goofy lyrics about dehumanization. The following songs, with martial/mechanical names like “A Show of Force” and “The Abyssal Machine”, follow similar formulations, with the vocals (which appear more often than not in a dreamy, almost Cure-like moan) receiving the widest degrees of variation. Though there’s good work put into the texturing, channel separation, and other production, the songs never really feel like much more than exercises in assembly, with little emotional or rhythmic pull to their loop arrangements (the dip into techno-metal with “The Abyssal Machine” being practically the only exception). Technically respectable, but unmemorable.

Coffin Torture – Coffin Cream [2014; self-released]

In this one-track single, Coffin Torture cover Cream’s “Tales of Brave Ulysses” in sludgy fashion, with grimy guitars, growling vocals, and thick bass joining heavy-crash drums while down-tuning the original song. Slowed and deepened as the tune is, there are little parts where the similarities become rather indistinct, but most of it goes well, especially once they hit the guitar solo. Nothing outstanding, but a quick bit of fun.

The Art of Amputation – Distorted Pop Song / Californian English [2014; Ruby Music]

The first song of this single moves through a sugar-glazed piece of pop, with drum-beats inflated to the point of sluggishness, caterwauling vocal indulgences, and down-mixed electric guitar crawling with spastic movements. Bursts of saxophone in the later parts play up the ‘80s homages, but they’re worked in smoothly, and in spite of some weird choices, it all comes together with a natural texturing. The AA-side lays down a bass-led piece of modern new wave, with multi-layered vocals competing with each other on the accentuation points and strong percussive pushes coming in on the chorus transitions. Though “Californian English” plays things straighter than the first song, it also lands its hooks more effectively, and it’s easy to understand why the band didn’t want to consign it to standard B-side-ism. A little off-putting with the posturing, but enjoyable on the whole.

Dune – Aurora Majesty [2014; Sea Of Corruption]

In Dvne’s last release as ‘Dune’ before officially making the ‘u’ a ‘v’, they offer up two tracks of fast-moving sludge metal. The first, “Into the Travellers’ Halls”, plays up the hard drum-work with growling yells and grimy guitar, building a big commotion that unfortunately doesn’t move too far from where it begins. “Of Blade and Carapace” kicks off with a clearer riff, and builds from a neat break into a multi-measure divergence that verges on prog. Not bad overall, but even with just two tracks, half of that is filler.

Acid Dream – The Acid Dream Embryo / Repeating Dreams of Killing Siddhartha [2014; Supernaut Records]

In this one-track single, Acid Dream go on a leisurely doom metal cruise,
lightly sprinkled with samples, pursuing one main riff through slight
permutations. The tone and production are well-suited to the
material, but the whole thing feels rather dull, without much sense
of inspiration or excitement from the band behind it. Decent enough
as background noise, but rather slim on content.