It's your lucky week – a second helping of some good old dankness! As awesome as this special, early edition of dank may be, it's also an incredibly tough one. While we are here to celebrate a brand new, absolutely crushing album entry into the annals of slam, we are also gathering to say goodbye to an old friend – a friend who, in his very own way, has helped shaped this sub-genre of brutality that we all love so dearly.
As you are likely aware, two weeks ago not only saw the tragic passing of slam legend Bill Tolley (drummer extraordinaire of Internal Bleeding), it also turned out to be doubly-tragic with the passing of Martin Funderud that very same day.
This was a man whose contributions to the world of slam were staggering. Of course, best known as the front-man for the incredibly influential Kraanium, Martin was also involved in many, many projects, including Congenital Malformation, Psychosomatic Self-Mutilation, Dragging Entrails, Fermented Masturbation – to name but a few.
As I sat thinking about the fragility of life, I realized that there exists an odd disconnect between what we all know as our every day living, breathing reality, when compared to that of the completely over-the-top, exaggerated world that is the reality of slam metal.
We all live in both worlds on a day to day basis. One of these worlds is permeated in death – both visually and thematically – just a constant barrage of gore, murder, torture, and god knows what other unspeakable acts. We allow ourselves to be absorbed into this world without any real fear or consequence. We can also escape it at any moment by just turning off the music and shutting that shit down.
The other reality – though, just as brutal and disgusting – is one that we can't as easily escape. One look at the day's news can propel us into a world that is as equally brutal as the most disgusting slam cover art. Sometimes, the two worlds collide, and death becomes the reality. I mean, yes, death happens. It will come for all of us. There is no escaping it. Some people might say slam desensitizes us to death, but those people are wrong. We are never prepared for it and, when it happens, we are all affected.
At the end of the day, in death comes life – just as Martin exits earthly confines for Planet Slam – located deep within interstellar space – new life is born. In this case, that life is presented in the form of Norwegian/Czech three-slam Diphenychlorosarine and their brand spanking new album, dropping on May 10th. In fact, this is the very same band that saw Martin lending his brutally twisted vocalizations (featured on the song "LVL3 Infection) from their debut EP, The Level 6 Purge.
So, not to be complete downers, we are incredibly stoked to bring you the world premiere of the new Diphen album (in its entirety), entitled Post Apocalyptic Human Annihilation (made possible, once again, by our good friends over at Slam Worldwide). At a whopping 55-mins in length, this is HANDS DOWN the best slam offering in 2017 thus far. Too good. The guys had this to say of this album…
"This album is dedicated to the loving memory of our fallen brother, legendary slam musician Martin Funderud. May he rest in peace."
Head to the official Rotten Music bandcamp page to pre-order your copy now!
