Gimme Metal Program Director Brian Turner delivers the week's top 5 office buzz-worthy tracks.
Nite – "Edge of Night"
While the Bay Area's progressiveness in metal has been a solid no-brainer in recognition, the faction that's preserving classic elements these days is also ruling hard. Nite consists of Satan's Wrath and High Spirits members, and I love the evocation of some frozen black metal hiss and huddled vocal approach with some forthright NWOBHM-style gallop. Mark your calendars for their March 22 Gimme DJ takeover, it should be wild and wooly.
Converge – "Locust Rain"
Converge's "new" song is actually a remaster of their 1999 split with Agoraphobic Nosebleed, but still… it's Converge and it sounds better than ever. The new version has been dubbed The Poacher Diaries Redux and has been remixed by Kurt Ballou (Converge, High On Fire, etc.), with Alan Douches (Cannibal Corpse, Gatecreeper, etc.) handling the mastering.
Scorpions – "Seventh Sun"
What other band in the metal canon started out as a 60's prog/Krautrock outfit in Germany, slipped and slided through 80's MTV teflon spotlight and arena-slick Dieter Dirks production and still emerged from the hangover of that era to continue to create and tour with strength and precision? "Seventh Sun" embraces all the dark elements the band sought to underline from year one, with Klaus' vocals remaining as unfettered as they were in 1969, Rudolf as strident on guitar. as well. Melodicism and epicness intact, as is songcraft.
Tabahi – "Politricks"
Heavy and raw thrash from Pakistan! Tabahi step back into action after some years of laying low. Definitely influenced by obvious German thrash forebearers, snarling vocals step aside for some inspired/spiralling solos while the engine of the band drives relentlessly at breakneck speed. Thematically their voice is an echo from the down and dirty streets of Karachi: unrest, political hypocrisy all play heavily here. Good stuff.
Sarcasm – "Through The Crystal Portal"
Sweden's blackened death outfit Sarcasm reignited in 2015 after a dormancy that followed an early 90's reign in the underground, and "Through the Crystal Portal" blasts right out of the gate like the zombies spilling into the mall in 'Dawn of the Dead.' Infusing a good dose of melodicism, the sound for the most part remains frothingly rabid, doomy, cinematic, but unmistakably raw.
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