Woody's Fistfull of Metal - Featuring Walken, Golem, The Beast of the Apocalypse, Domes of Silence, and Pelican

“All heavy metal sounds the same” sayeth the weak and timid. Those of us who love music know that is not true and those of us who love metal don’t care what others think. Here’s a roundup of 5 releases that were sent to me by Ripple boss Racer that no one in their right mind or left brain would say sound the same. Through the mist and the madness, we are bringing the message to you!

Bay area bangers Walken’s brand of metal has strong elements of the region’s thrash history but also plenty of death and power metal to reach most of the rattleheads out there. Apparently these guys have been around for 10 years but this is their first album (self titled). That probably explains why it’s so tight despite being recorded in 5 days. The songs are complex but not noodly and clock in at reasonable lengths. Vocals are hoarse and screamed from the guts with disgust for society.


http://www.myspace.com/walken

buy from Relapse

http://shop.relapse.com/store/product.aspx?ProductID=36670




Metal Mind Productions has been reissuing all kinds of cool metal lately (reviews of the Pissing Razors remasters coming soon, I promise!) and that includes Dreamweaver from German death dealers Golem. In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated being created entirely from inanimate matter. It’s funny when you do a google search for this band and all kinds of religious stuff comes up. The band probably thinks that’s hilarious and I do, too. Originally released in 2004 Dreamweaver will thrill fans of Carcass, Autopsy, etc. but those who enjoy black metal and grindcore should give this a blast on the stereo. The riffs are heavy and sputter all over the guitar neck while the drums blast beat like there’s no tomorrow and the vocals are pissed off.

http://www.myspace.com/alghanor

buy from Amazon Dreamweaver





If black metal is your bag, then The Beast Of The Apocalypse from the Netherlands will warm your nether regions. Their album A Voice From The Four Horns Of The Golden Altar is so raw and uncompromising it makes the first Bathory album sound like it was produced by Phil Spector. The screeching vocals are buried very low in the noisy mix and I have a feeling that with song titles like “The Key Of The Bottomless Pit” and “Twins Of Jesus” they are not exactly positive or conscientious. Be forewarned!

http://www.myspace.com/tbota

buy from Transcendental Creations

http://transcendentalcreations.com

On the opposite side of the scale of hardness is England’s Domes of Silence. Their new single Temple Of The Wasp is pretty straight forward stoner rock influenced metal. Slow n low guitar grooves with a stomping rhythm section brings to mind Clutch, Mountain and Fu Manchu. The info sheet that came with the single says that they use Matamp amplifiers. These loud muthers are difficult to tame in the studio so make sure you check these guys out live where I’m sure they pump them through enormous speaker cabinets.

http://www.myspace.com/domesofsilence

buy from itunes

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/temple-of-the-wasp/id339977510



Last but not least is What We All Come To Need, the latest from Chicago’s instrumentalists Pelican. They may not like being called a metal band and prefer silly terms like “post-metal” but too bad. They play loud through huge amps. That’s metal. They may not also like being called The Dixie Dregs of metal but that’s exactly what they are. This album includes vocals on the last song which makes this sort of like the Dregs Industry Standard album.

--Woody

http://www.myspace.com/pelican

buy from Amazon What We All Come to Need