Corrosion Of Conformity - Corrosion Of Conformity (2012)

After the unfinished tour in support of the fabulous "In The Arms Of God, until about late 2009, COC remained, in a state of unofficial hiatus, mostly due to Pepper's growing role in Down, and their heavy touring schedule. That has to be the main reason, tempting Woody and Mike to reform the original, hardcore-era's line-up around the same time. In the beginning, it was just a couple of gigs -- same as the temporary reform of the "Blind"-era -- but later it became more serious as Down transformed from just a sideproject to Philip's main band. And so now comes in 2012, seven years after the release of "In The Arms Of God", something which I must admit to be simply unbearable for every fan as it's been for me, a selftitled release featuring the same hardcore line-up, though the record itself is anything but punk rock. With Woody as the main composer, the sound of "Corrosion Of Conformity" drifts from"Wiseblood" to "Blind", and has a general tendency to delve below the metallic tempo of the two records, not to move in a southern rock direction, like "Albatross", but to explore the slow-motion, free rock of post-84 Black Flag, Saint Vitus.

Poison Idea - Darby Crash Rides Again: The Early Years (2012)

29 tracks; 54 minutes of raw demos, outtakes, and live material from the godfathers of hardcore punk; Poison Idea, is what you'll hear on Southern Lord's recently released "Darby Crash Rides Again". Reissued with maximum understanding of the sounds, the sound of each cymbal, each note, and each snare has been separately mastered and re-produced. Fucking beautiful.

Hank Williams III - Ghost To A Ghost / Gutter Town (2011)

Hank III did a gutsy job putting out three records in one year. And except for the double album "Ghost To A Ghost / Gutter Town", that is itself quite a radical record, almost none of 'em follow the footpaths of III's earlier records, not even that of the Assjack moniker. "Attention Deficit Domination" was manifestly doom metal, and "3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin", a record that was way too bizarre, even for the psychobilly enclave (and a damn good one, too). At first, "Ghost To A Ghost / Gutter Town" seems to be that main outlaw country record III's been releasing every two years, for the past ten years; and so it is, but that is for the most part only. Both discs (especially disc two) find III experimenting with many different voices, interludes, and even field recordings in vein of Melvins' notorious "Prick". In short, the record sounds neither contemporary -- from a technical point of view -- nor straight-forward in the way the songs have been arranged, performed, and produced.

Premonition 13 - 13 (2011)

You certainly know Wino. As a matter of fact, if that is not true, then my guess is you've come to the wrong place. Scott "Wino" Weinrich is the godfather of doom, period. After teasing just about everybody -- except maybe not the queen, and the fucktards in the Grammy -- with the release of the Shrinebuilder record, two years ago; Wino's been involved a new project, named Premonition 13. Their first release "13" is a 9-song journey running over 43 minutes. It's not quite as ominous as its title suggests, and it's a record with one foot in the rock, and the other, in the spirit; a kind of psychedelia bled in Wino's sonic realm only. As loose as it gets, the tunes wander, expand, and burn slowly, like fire from the skies. It's as though the "Punctuated Equilibrium" record is being re-imagined thru the spacier ground of "Divine Propaganda"; it's not free jazz but it sounds wild and melancholy enough. The future of the band is rather blurry, for the moment being, given the recording of the next Saint Vitus record has already begun, but who cares about the future? Let's simply (or not) delve into the past, observe the present, and come back to the present; thinking of the whole thing, as a premonition.

Sourvein - Black Fangs (2011)

Sourvein, one of the most obscure pioneers of sludge in the late 90's, are back with one hell of a record this year. Entitled "Black Fangs", Sourvein's latest release is over 43 minutes of cutting, grievous riffage, screamage, and blastage. Lyrically, Sourvein have been more or less this pseudo-horror freaks, who tell their stories the mythical way; utilizing as many symbols as possible, where the point between the symbol, the metaphor, and the reality, begins to get signally lost, and obscured. Manifesting near-perfect production work, the vocals on "Black Fangs" are extremely violent, pain-ridden and it seems they're coming from bleeding throats of a multitude of dying vampires -- they fit the whole atmosphere just fine, as the artwork does. The guitars, on the other hand, sound like the howlings of a wounded wolf, kind of half-Vitus, half-EHG, cyberpunk kind of sonic futurism. Though about the bass and drums, listening to "Emerald Vulture", in retrospect, I could say I would have appreciated it if those were done the old way -- the huge, crushing way. One last word, and I despise last words: "Black Fangs" is easily one of the finest sludge metal records of the past decade, if not the best.

Iron Witch - Single Malt (2011)

Diseased, hateful, and demented. Those are the proper adjectives to describe the piece of sonic filth that is "Single Malt". At first, the name of Iron Witch would recall one of Iron Monkey. Yet, if there's one band that has had a huge influence on the sound of Iron Witch, that would be Eyehategod. People are familiar with old-school death metal, but there's hardly anything tagged as old-school sludge metal; even though almost all the music labeled sludge metal today is merely post-metal, and such term would be necessary for categorizing bands like Fistula, Wizard's Beard, Brainoil; and now, Iron Witch.

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Eyehategod - 10 Years Of Abuse (And Still Broke) (2001)

It may not be a studio album but EHG's "10 Years Of Abuse (And Still Broke)" has some points to it that heavily force me to write an article about it. First -- the level of dirtiness and the overall unpolished sound of the record that is nearly insane, making Darkthrone records from the 90's sound like U2. And secondly, the live atmosphere, that has been captured simply, the best. This is the metal equivalent to Swans' "Public Castration Is A Good Idea". A record to give to your grandsons and daughters during Christmas.