Gimme Metal Program Director Brian Turner delivers the week's top 5 office buzz-worthy tracks.
CULT OF LILITH – Purple Tide
Out of Iceland, Cult of Lilith engages in some serious genre-blur that includes elements of baroque and classical yet stamp down any fluff or pomp with completely levelling/raw destructo riffs and a throttling rhythm section. Just when you decipher "Purple Tide" all of a sudden there's like a Booker T organ breakdown and then it does another 180. Amazing to think someone could gravitate to both Cattle Decapitation and flamenco, but this unit does it. 'Mara' is out September 4th on Metal Blade, and a guest special ensues on Gimme on September 14th (should be interesting to say the least!)
GELD – Gedankenfleisch/Forces At Work
Besides being the homeland to some aberrant cross-polinated wildlife, Australia's extreme music as of late has distilled the basic boiling pot of hateful HC and metal into one brew, and Geld out of Melbourne have extracted a fine beverage from that. Equal parts Vom, Void, and Vertigo Records circa 1971, the psych/prog/HC/metal mix is vicious and surreal at times. One of these guys was also in one of my fave Oz heavies Whitehorse.
EXPANDER – Megacorp
Dystopian to say the least, Austin's Expander reflect society's stamp-down by mechanized violence, hard-at-nails riffage whipping around robotic industrial rhythms and echoplexed vocal oppression. They've also got a Gimme special on the way September 11th. Dig into their new 'Neuropunk Boostergang' full length due August 21.
SUMAC – The Iron Chair
Aaron Turner continues to be a busy man, even during quarantine. With two Old Man Gloom records just out, we get blessed with another SUMAC release this fall 'May You Be Held'. And the first emission here continues to work their magic: expansive, blackened atmospheres punctuated with stuttering guitar, silence, giving way to heaving walls of noise and frayed electricity.
POSSESSED – Evil Warriors
We drag out this classic to remind everyone of Possessed’s debut ‘Seven Churches’. When it hit the scene in 1985 it not only only opened the gates for death metal (singer Jeff Becerra coined the term itself in ‘83) but weighed in with profound impact on legions of forward-thinking musicians for decades to follow. Recorded during the band’s high school spring break (!), it's one of the most relentless, maniacal metal records of the 1980’s — and still appears c on countless publications’ ‘Essentials To Own’ lists. Available again via Gimme’s NEW Gimme Metal Vinyl Club subscription series, fans now again have the opportunity to once again own host this master work on exclusive red wax to boot (plus: collectible Gimme Metal pin)! And to further celebrate, Jeff himself takes us on a tour of his record parlor with an exclusive DJ session, and will be in the live chat August 17th.
Gimme Metal is the premier online radio station for metal fans around the world. It’s the first 24/7 metal music focused community where listeners can tune in to hear world class DJs like Dave Mustaine, Randy Blythe, Johan Hegg, Danny Lilker, Jessica Pimentel, Brian Posehn and many more play the sounds that you just don't hear anywhere else. Check it out for free at GimmeMetal.com. Also available for iOS and Android. Be sure to browse their store for killer selections.
