Mors Verum – Canvas (Transcending Obscurity Records) [Mark Young]
And, just like the White Rabbit, I’m late with this review. I thought I had more time and suddenly its March.
With apologies to Mors Verum, and to those fine folks at Transcending Obscurity (have you seen their website?) for being late Canvas is another one of those ‘where have you got these from’ scenarios that they seem so good at doing. And as EP’s go, this is a corker. It’s a unique take on what makes Death Metal essential, taking the core of that music and passing it through their filter that sees each song veer from progressive dissonance through to atmospheric. It’s knows what it needed to be, but its executed in a style that remains true to them.
The most important question is: Is it heavy?
Oh yes. Sonically, its as dense as it comes but it doesn’t stop the songs from having that feeling of speed. Bloodied Teeth is as good an opening blast as it comes. It opens fire on you from the moment it starts, bringing all of those disparate themes together and then hammering them into form, which manages to be brutal and possess an approach to melody that is sometimes lacking elsewhere. And then they drop the 7 minute assault and battery exercise that is Your Apocalypse.
The early engages are basic until they change things – there is this wonderful off pattern drum and melodic guitar line that is just spot on. Like Bloodied Teeth, it remembers that it the key to its success is ensuring that the songs satisfy your metal needs first (it does) and then brings you accoutrement with some fiendish lead breaks that I didn’t expect. They can’t go long without bringing more melody into the piece, just check out the final minute and half for how this should sound, in fact just how an exemplar example should sound. Because its this.
Once we get onto Serenade, there’s a feeling that we have moved beyond the norm (not that they were close with the first two) with a choked-out rhythm that still manages to be heavy and still groove. And speaking of heavy grooves, the title track Canvas comes in and stakes its claim as to song of the EP. Its another 7minute masterwork, one that goes down a different path than Your Apocalypse. The end effect is still the same, it’s a journey that keeps you engaged and doesn’t let go. Heavy, riffed out but without going down traditional routes. Just top class.
They bring things to a close with Mortal, bringing that discord back, at least until its run its course here. The way it changes tack, from one approach to another whilst making it seem completely seamless is class and shows that at the moment they have total clarity in how their music should sound. My only regret is that I only got onto this now, but you should seek this out immediately. 9/10
Utopia Development Corporation – Industrial Area Swimming Centre (Kill Flamingo [Spike]
There is a certain kind of British melancholy that can only be found in the repurposed ruins of a mid-century dream. Utopia Development Corporation have captured this perfectly with their latest EP, Industrial Area Swimming Centre. It’s a title that evokes the smell of chlorine in a concrete box, a testament to the failed promises of urban planning, and the music contained within is every bit as stark, rhythmic, and delightfully cynical as the name suggests.
The EP moves with a mechanical, almost bureaucratic precision. It opens with Rinse, a track that establishes a cold, motorik pulse that feels like a factory line finally stuttering to life. It doesn’t ask for your attention; it demands it through sheer, repetitive persistence. This leads seamlessly into Repeat, which, true to its name, doubles down on the rhythmic friction, creating a claustrophobic environment that mirrors the monotony of the modern workplace.
Where the record truly finds its voice, however, is in the sharp, social-realist wit of Art Deco Tesco. It’s a title that could have been plucked straight from a Mclusky B-side, and the song lives up to the billing. It’s a biting look at the gentrification of the mundane, delivered over a jagged guitar line that sounds like it’s being played on a serrated edge. The “Utopia” here is clearly ironical, a corporate branding exercise for a world that’s increasingly grey.
Dance, Demons, Dance offers a brief, frantic shift in energy. It’s the heart-attack pulse of the record, a moment where the industrial discipline cracks and reveals a more chaotic, desperate core. It’s an aggressive jolt that prevents the EP from becoming too sedate in its own gloom, providing a visceral counterweight to the more atmospheric stretches.
The finale, No Factories, brings the concept to a brooding, inevitable close. It’s a study in absence, a sonic landscape of what’s left when the industry moves out and only the “Swimming Centre” remains. The production is deliberately lean, allowing the grit of the rhythm section to carry the weight. It’s a grey-afternoon-in-the-suburbs sound; honest, unpolished, and entirely necessary.
Utopia Development Corporation have documented a specific kind of architectural malaise on this EP. It’s a sophisticated, often uncomfortable listen that uses the language of industrial noise to talk about very human frustrations. If you like your music with a side of sharp-tongued social commentary and a pulse that won’t quit, this is a development worth investing in. 8/10
Necrosexual – Road To Rubble (Black Metal Archives) [Spike]
There is a specific, grimy intersection in the metal underground where the leather-clad theatrics of the 80s sunset strip collide with the blackened vitriol of the early thrash scene. It’s a place where the booze is cheap, the gear is cranked, and the frontman probably has a collection of vintage horror comics in the back of a rain-slicked muscle car. Philadelphia’s Necrosexual have been the resident mayors of this particular district since 2011, and their latest full-length, Road To Rubble, is their most focused attempt yet at bottling that specific “intoxicating elixir” of horror punk and high-velocity metal.
Musically, the “thrash” tag is well-earned. Tracks like The Brimstone Brothel, a frantic tale of cannibalism in an old west bordello rely on a relentless, blast-beat driven momentum that recalls the early, unpolished days of Venom and Celtic Frost. Nick Roskow and Anthony ‘Vigo’ Gabriele provide a dual-guitar attack that is heavy on “divebombs” and scything lead work, particularly on the burlesque-horror of Kiss The Knife. It’s a competent, high-energy engine that keeps the record moving at a heart-attack pace.
However, the real talking point here is the vocal delivery of The Necrosexual himself. While the music leans into the darkness of the metal mindset, the screams possess a distinct, melodic rasp that feels surprisingly reminiscent of Mötley Crüe-era sleaze. It’s an interesting juxtaposition; you have these blackened, aggressive riffs being capped off by a vocal style that wouldn’t feel out of place on a glam-metal anthem. It ties back to the band’s name and their “horror-punk” leanings, adding a layer of 80s rock swagger to a genre that usually takes itself a bit more seriously.
The record finds its real core on the title track, All Roads Lead To Rubble, and the gothic drama of Nocturnal Ignition. These are the tracks where the band allows the “wasteland warrior” vibe to take over, shifting between moonlight-and-dust atmospheric stretches and muscular, “dirty punk” sleaze. It’s here that the Plasmatics influence really shows through, a defiant, “road to ruin” energy that refuses to settle into a standard thrash-metal blueprint.
By the time the “bloodthirsty dominatrix” of Hard Leather Woman finishes the job, the experience is complete. Is it a masterpiece? Perhaps not. While the musicianship is top-tier and the production is clinical, the sheer campiness of the persona occasionally clashes with the “bestial” intent of the riffs. But as a piece of irreverent, high-octane horror-thrash? It’s a hell of a ride. For those who like their thrash with a side of leather, grease, and a very specific kind of 80s sleaze, Road To Rubble is a fun, bloodstained detour. 7/10
Horseman – No Surrender In Dark Days (Recordjet) [Mark Young]
There are times when you are faced with the realisation that no matter how many times you listen to a song or a band; you will never get onboard with them. For me, Horseman are such a band with their latest full length release No Surrender In Dark Days. Its not that they aren’t heavy, it’s just that there’s a missing piece in their sound which I just cannot get past. I appreciate that I’m also late with this review (and offer apologies accordingly) which probably doesn’t help either, but it doesn’t alter my feelings toward it.
Its all very ‘hard’, Dark Days and its acoustic introduction pointing towards an Americana of sorts that gradually plays out into No Surrender and its almost immediate lift off. It’s the very definition of what you would want an album to start with. The velocity is there; the vocals are savage and its replete with all the riffs you can eat. So far so good, and on its heels is Time To Defend which basically does the same thing. What comes through these early moments is hints of Arch Enemy (no bad thing) but its not exciting me. They don’t trigger a visceral feeling from me, its simply aye, they are ok but its not essential to me.
Its on Shards And Lies that a response Is finally produced. Its one of those kind of sung into full throated roar sort of affairs which seemed to be everywhere a while ago. On here there is a real struggle with the cleaner sections, they don’t sound right especially when the roars are on point. It just doesn’t sit right at all. I don’t want to sit here and complain about it so its on to Codeine Cowboy which is a lot like Arch Enemy in its initial build.
Again, its fine but the damage has been done. Its no different than No Surrender containing a lot of the same beats. There’s nothing wrong with it, its simply onto the next one which happens to be an instrumental so its onto Banish The Fake, which doesn’t have anything different about it apart from a ripping solo. It’s got to the point that you can more or less guess how the songs will play out but what that doesn’t show is the commitment to them shown by the band themselves. You cannot say that it is half-hearted in any way, the way they approach the material is always full on.
Kissing Dirt starts out with a lead that scorches and we settle into standard territory, another variation on the material presented already. It runs a course that we have passed along already, with no surprises. Again, I have to stress that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with this music, its just there, doing its thing and racing from point A to point B without a backwards glance and ultimately that is the thing for me. It wants to run as quickly as possible it doesn’t stop to breathe. 6/10
