It seems like it’s a week of mystery on the album review front for Jonny B this week, with the bosses at ÜRHQ chucking him another completely off the wall album to review. This time it comes in the form of the latest EP from experimental electronic/post rock outfit Poisonous Birds, which is a pretty unique experience…
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People who know Jase W in person know he’s got a real bad habit of literally not shutting the fuck up about stuff that he’s passionate about, whether this is a TV series, anime – and especially music. So when a Swedish mate of his, who shall not be named, cornered him about Orbit Culture in the lead up to a gig at Manchester’s Rebellion venue he figured he may as well give them a look in. The gig itself was a pretty stacked lineup with Rivers of Nihil headlining, Black Crown Initiate, Møl, and Orbit Culture as the opening support act; so JW was right in there at doors ready to see what they had in store – and they absolutely blew his head off: their live sound is BIG. So when he got a prod from one of the editors saying “Fancy this?”, his response was nothing short of a hearty “Fuck yes I do…”
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Brazilian thrashers Scars are one of those bands who’ve been knocking around for ages, but rarely manage to get any official releases out. They formed back in 1991 but called it a day seven years later with no more than a split CD to their name. Since then, they’ve reformed twice; in 2004 and again in 2018. In all that time, they’ve only brought out one full length album – 2008’s ‘Devilgod Alliance’ – and with major success eluding them thus far, it sadly seems unlikely that ‘Predatory’ will change that.
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As you have guessed from the title, ‘Turned to Stone Chapter II’, this is the second of a series of collaborative split albums devised by RIpple Music to uniquely combine bands from the underground metal scene. The first chapter featured Italians Mr Bison and Spacetrucker, of St Louis, and this time we’re treated to another transatlantic pairing of underground metal bands. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, we have the psychedelic metallers Howling Giant who deliver a 20-minute epic for their side of the album. Then from the sleepy county of Somerset, we have the fuzzy grooves of Sergeant Thunderhoof with their 20-minute contribution to this epic piece of music.
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Groove metal’s a funny thing. It’s one of those genres that seems to be in the middle of a venn diagram of multiple other genres and straddles a mix of thrash, death, hardcore and in some cases djent. WoR are someone new to my ears and I’m always down with the idea of giving new music a punt because you never know when you might find a bit of a gem hidden amongst the swathes of new music that’s around now.
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