HEAVY FRIENDS: Church of Misery - "Brother Bishop"

(Heavy Friends is the segment here on YPOIW where Robby talks about the latest and greatest in the worlds of underground metal and hardcore)



Church of Misery has been one of the most intriguing metal bands imported from Japan as far as I'm concerned. They are indebted to the traditional doom styles of Black Sabbath as well as newer, thicker variants of doom a la Electric Wizard; but most noteworthy of all to most people, this band is also indebted to basing every one of their pieces of music on the wicked deeds of a single serial killer. The first track to be dropped from their forthcoming LP Thy Kingdom Scum is dedicated to the antics of Gary Heidnik, who tortured and raped six women before he was sentenced to death in 1999.

While it's definitely cool that Church of Misery is keeping up with their unique, but often alienating concepts, the track itself is kind of middle of the road for the band. None of the riffs particularly stick out to me, and there's very little drive to this track until near the very end. I'm still very excited for Thy Kingdom Scum, due to be released May 27th in Europe through both Rise Above Records and June 11th in the US through Metal Blade Records, but I just hope the rest of the tracks pack a bit more punch than this one did. Check out the video for "Brother Bishop" below.



(All this talk of serial killers is creeping you out ain't it? Don't be afraid, take solace in following Robby on twitter @ClydeNut)

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TRACKS: Fuzz - "This Time I Got a Reason" & "Fuzz's Fourth Dream"

If you thought after releasing three stellar albums in 2012 (two of which making YPOIW's own list), if you thought garage rocker Ty Segall was going to give it a rest in 2013, you've already been proven wrong. After going hard last year Ty is back again with a project featuring himself on vocals and drums and his own Ty Segall Band member Charles Moothart on guitar duties. The project is called Fuzz, and a listen to the “This Time I Got A Reason” (b/w “Fuzz’s Fourth Dream”) single will show the project is very appropriately named.

This project has me very excited because judging by these jams, the low-end dominated, heavy, pulsating guitar sound of Slaughterhouse is very intact. But that isn't to say Fuzz is a retread of that songwriting style, because these tunes have a very different flavor; I'm getting a jammy, stoner rock vibe from this music, in fact it almost reminds me of Black Sabbath put through a grimier, garage-y lens. The tempos of these tracks are so well suited for the druggy atmosphere, and if this is the sound Fuzz will be playing with in future releases, I am very excited.

The single itself, released by Chicago label Trouble in Mind, is already sold out, but fear not! Stream the two tracks below and see for yourself what may potentially be Ty's next big project in 2013.





(Be sure to follow Robby on Twitter @ClydeNut for more musings on music)

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HEAVY FRIENDS: Taurus - "Life"

(HEAVY FRIENDS is the feature where Robby promotes and/or dissects music from up and coming acts in the metal world that he thinks is worth hearing.)

Taurus is a doom metal project out of Portland, Oregon which is a project led by Stevie Floyd of Dark Castle. Like that project, Taurus is a duo, with Floyd being joined by Ashley Spungin on drums. My interest in this project stemmed from not only Floyd's involvement in it, but also that they will be joining Agalloch for a few dates on their upcoming tour, one of which is the particular show I will be going to next month.

Taurus' debut full length, Life, is essentially a two-part song that adds up to a little over 32 minutes. If you listen to Dark Castle what you'll inevitably get is a collection of thick, rumbling doom metal crushers that will remind you of some of the best in the genre. Taurus is a much different project, because while I still consider it doom metal at the end of the day, the music being created here owes just as much to drone metal, psychedelic music, and even dark ambient in the beginning of the second part. The guitars don't assault you with their heaviness immediately, this is definitely a project that requires a good amount of patience. But with that patience comes great, great reward.

Stream the whole damn thing below and sacrifice yourself to the power of doom.


(Robby loves making cheesy references to doom. For more, follow him on Twitter @ClydeNut)

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TRACK: Baroness - "March to the Sea"

Baroness has dropped yet another fantastic track from their upcoming double album Yellow & Green. Like "Take My Bones Away", this new song "March to the Sea" was also played live for me when I saw the band in support for Meshuggah; but John Baizley's inaudible guitar pretty much meant I couldn't hear half the song. But thankfully we have a studio version to relish in.

The guitar melody in the beginning of the track starts it off on a pretty sunny note, which fits the uplifting, positive atmosphere surrounding this one. This is as sunny as the sunniest tracks off the new Torche album Harmonicraft. But don't think this band has sacrificed songsmanship, because the riffs and guitar leads are just as righteous as Baroness has ever sounded. Is the track as "heavy" as Baroness has ever been? No. Does it matter? No.

Check out this track via Pitchfork, and look out for Yellow & Green on July 17th on Relapse Records.

(If you want to hear Robby talk about more righteous music, check out his YouTube page.)

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TRACK: Baroness - "Take My Bones Away"

Savannah, Georgia's Baroness seem to be gaining more and more of a prominent role in the metal world with every given moment. In their earlier days alot of people gave them flack for being a "Mastodon ripoff", but their fans, including myself, knew they had a sound of their own, and thankfully the rest of the world is finally hopping on board. The band's work up to this point has been a potent and distinct meld of the worlds of sludge metal, stoner rock and progressive rock. As heavy and aggressive as their music could be, it never came across as brooding or misanthropic; rather, the band gave off more of a grand, righteous tone.

The band's third studio album, Yellow & Green has been largely anticipated for quite a while, and in the middle of this month we finally got a new track, "Take My Bones Away". I recognize that the band played this song when I saw them open up for Meshuggah at the beginning of this month; however throughout their set front man John Baizley's guitar was barely audible, and considering he plays the main riff, I didn't get the full experience of the song. But now that a studio recording is available I can hear it with clarity, and even if some fans are on the fence with it, I'm not; I love it.

The reason fans might be on the fence with this one is that the song is likely the most accessible thing they've released so far. The guitar tones have meat on them, but they're clearly less heavy than they were, and as far as Baizley's vocals go he is singing more than he is screaming, and the song has really catchy vocal melodies and an incredibly infectious hook. Even if maybe the hardcore metalhead inside of me is telling me that I shouldn't like it, I can't help but love it. I love it for the same reason I love bands like Torche, and I can even see this album beating Torche's latest, which I was a little lukewarm on.

Overall, not only am I liking this alot just as a change of direction for the band, I can see some readers of this site who aren't so much into metal digging on this. I'd even say that if you can only force yourself to listen to one metal record this year, let it be Yellow & Green.

Give the track a good hearty listen below, and be on the lookout for the new album on July 17th via Relapse Records. It's definitely one of my most anticipated releases, and one I will most certainly review


(If you like metal, or want to get into metal, Robby's your man. Check out his YouTube page for some older metal reviews and some new ones to come)

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