The Vice - White Teeth Rebellion

The Vice are a black n roll band out of Sweden, vicious, creepy and wonderfully over the top. This band are the sort of go for the throat titans who are hard to ignore and who seem to continually leap from peak to peak. This is a band who perfectly represent the magic of the genre, building on the promise of groups like Tribulation with a sound that is creepy, boundary pushing and always excited to find new ways forward and to evolve. White Teeth Rebellion is an impressive sophomore offering from a band full of potential.

What the band seem to do really well here is capturing a variety of emotions and slices of imagery .For instance the psychedelic weirdness of 'To Each His Own' is the perfect counterbalance to some of this bands more boisterous and swaggering moments. What it makes for is compelling listening from a band who can't help but to fascinate. They are clearly continually finding new visions and the delicious solos and melodic lines really help to elevate the band to a whole new level. White Teeth Rebellion is a fitting next step for these guys and the unique take on the genre is one that will keep me coming back.

So yes - The Vice aren't necessarily breaking too many rules, but their distinct brand of off kilter black n roll is definitely interesting. They are clearly very talented songwriters and the approach that they bring to the table with tracks like 'Antizeit' is a whole lot of fun. It leaves me curious to hear more and is an eager reminder of just what makes this band special. White Teeth Rebellion is one of a kind. It really demands multiple listens and will charm you with its diverse array of influences distilled into a single band.

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/TheViceOnline/

Shitfucker - Sex With Dead Body

With a band name and album title like this you certainly know what you're in for! Shitfucker are a hell of a lot of fun as they unleash vicious black and roll at the listener on their new record, Sex With Dead Body. This twisted offering loves to wriggle in the murk and celebrates the inherent insanity of this music. It's over the top and vile, a fitting look into the current state of affairs and a reminder that whatever happens we are all headed towards the same end. There's something refreshing about how crude it is.

There is something deliciously evil about Sex With Dead Body - I mean it makes sense given the title of the record. It's an album that is over the top and wonderfully twisted, they aren't trying to compromise for anyone. Instead Shitfucker revel in the murk, the twisted grime that clings on to their demented brand of black n roll. I've always loved this wonderfully vile American songwriting sentiment, that they are here to twist your face off and show you that underground music is here for your throat, regardless of what you might think. It's easy to get lost in the vile ululations here, after all it's exactly the sort of stuff that their label, Hell's Headbangers, puts out!

Sex With Dead Body is replete with a delectable sense of swagger too. The ministrations on a track like 'Leather Lady Lover' speaks to this sort of demented preacher aesthetic that the band has crafted for themselves. It makes for a really twisted listening experience, one that is only augmented with the usual fucked up horor movie samples. What's not to love? After all - we live in fucked up times, so why not dig into some fucked up music that is going to rag us to hell and back as we go screaming into the void?

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/Shitfucker-1596674157243984/

Martyrdod - Hexhammaren

Bloodthirsty, fast and over the top - Martyrdod has consistently been cracking skulls for years now. As we look at the release of their latest record, Hexhammaren later this week it becomes clear that these d-beat obsessed Swedes are onto something special. A record driven forward by the insane beat of a drum, Martyrdod seem to continually one up themselves on Hexhammaren, pushing for bold new heights. The crazed magic of Martyrdod seems to see the band scrapping for new heights and ripping out throats across the world.

The black and roll touches that counterbalance some of the crustier elements of Hexhammaren make for truly addictive listening. Uncompromising in its raw approach, it comes as no surprise that many of the solos are improvised. I say this not because I think that they are poorly composed, but rather because they have that fast and furious thrown together vibe that acts like Hellripper so frequently trade in. In fact I might even go so far as to say that Hexhammaren is in some ways sort of a crustier take on a band like Midnight. It's completely uncompromising in its dedication to keeping the magic of rock and roll alive.

There is something strangely nostalgic about Hexhammaren and Martyrdod as a whole. They are like the best band you ever saw play a house show. They remain fully committed to not just their DIY ethos but overall stripped back insanity on this record, but it is still perhaps their best yet. They use the rawness to their advantage, to devastate you with a veritable fire hose of crusty d beat magic. Elegantly put together despite its jagged visage, Hexhammaren is goign to keep you coming back time and time again.

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/martyrdod/

Midnight - Sweet Death And Ecstasy

Midnight has always been a band who defied expectations, who refused to play by the rules and who constantly crack skulls with their undeniable black n roll assault. This is the sort of band who revel in the murk, love to fuck with the listener and who have the same sort of glorious satanic triumph that makes bands like Destroyer 666 so amazing. Sweet Death And Ecstasy is these madmens latest offering and one that is almost impossible to find yourself turning away from. The bands strongest release yet, prepare your body for some twisted fucking riffage.

Kicking off with the epic Crushed By Demons, it is pretty immediately obvious that Midnight have started to adopt some more of their well deserved swagger. There is a certain blunt confidence that makes Sweet Death And Ecstasy such an exciting listen. Sure the band isn't breaking new ground musically, but the songwriting is incredibly well done and the execution shockingly precise. As much as you might want to deny the twisted majesty of this band it's hard to not want to drink from the goblet of gore that Midnight paint with their crazed solos and Motorhead-tastic riffage. It's a maggot filled creation to be sure, but that's half the appeal. 

Fusing the best of old and new, tossing in classic gore charm with modern sensibilities and counterbalancing that with what feels like atavistic production Sweet Death And Ecstasy is the album we always wished Midnight would put out. It's an album that careens left and right, goes for the throat and never forgets that the whole point of rock and roll is to piss on your idols. The crazed Ohioans have done it again and made Sweet Death And Ecstasy one of the most rip roaring records of the year. 

Find them on Bandcamp!

http://midnight-ohio.bandcamp.com

Inconcessus Lux Lucis - The Crowning Quietus

Sleeper black & roll hit of the year? I guess so. I wouldn't have expected I, Voidhanger to be the ones to put out a record that sounds quite as rip roaring as this one but then again part of what I love about that label is that you can never quite tell what to expect. There is a delightfully deranged madness to The Crowning Quietus as it rips forward with its rock and roll defenestrations of the mainstream, consistently reminding us that there is a lot more to this genre than scary auras and meditative soundscapes.

In many ways it seems only fitting that Mayhem tapped Inconcessus Lux Lucis to open for a few nights earlier this year. This is the sort of band who embody the promise of early era Mayhem and infuse it with their own brand of rock and roll excellence. It's rare these days to find a band that are able to fuse both sides of the style, and rarely with the aplomb and sense of bloodthirsty savagery with which Inconsessus Lux Lucis execute here. The Crowning Quietus is a monster of a record, an album that splits skulls and reminds us time and time again why we got involved in this genre in the first place.

After a long hard day you don't always want to sit down with a challenging record, sometimes it's fun to get something which just screams 'fuck the world' and cracks your skull open in a flurry of "Hail Satan's. Such is the case with this record and that's exactly why I find myself unable to stop spinning it. It's rare you find a raw black metal record that is truly an addictive listen, but something about Inconcessus Lux Lucis has me coming back time and time again - eager for the demented glory of a band who go for the throat.

Find them on Facebook! 
https://www.facebook.com/inconcessusluxlucis358/