Fistula - Vermin Prolificus

I am not going to lie; this has instant replay value. It’s like a drug that pulls you back over and over again. That’s something when one of the tracks is 9 minutes long. I dare say that this is catchy Sludge, despite being on the heavier side of the spectrum. I wouldn’t say it’s the best Sludge I’ve ever heard but it is one of those that I could remember well. While most Sludge requires you to breath after one album or EP, because of the sheer enormity, this EP will get you to click play all over again. When the after effects of drugs aren’t that pretty but like all addictions but the idea of stopping isn’t that easy.


The album’s experience is similar to that thought too. You as the listener get immersed into something that feels like a person being forced into rehab, relapse and back again, but for some weird reason, you want to go back and re-immerse into that experience.


It’s like there’s a little alarm clock in your head reminding you when you need your next fix. Maybe Fistula managed to plant the idea in my head with the constant samples of a girl screaming “Drugs are more important than you” in which I assume was a reverse psychology therapy session that got reversed. The first sample in the EP encapsulates what Fistula wants to achieve. “Some metal rock groups extol the virtue of drugs and kids worship them.”

As soon as the sample kicks in, the sludgy guides the listener to the trip. The heavy bluesy chops come crashing in, with a wailing vocalist that rips his throats just enough to punch you but never starts to scratch your face with a high screech. None of the excessive distortion on the vocals like Electric Wizard; this is raw throat ripping screams that is ravaging your ear. The bass sits heavily on top, like a steamroller crushing all the materials to path a way. It does not shy away and that is how exactly thick, slow flowing Sludge should be. But slow Sludge isn’t just what the band is capable of.


At times, the track just burst into modern day Crust Punk madness when there is a need to bring out the jackhammer. At one point the band slows down to spread out the doom riffs, slowly digging into your head, like the agonizing pain of listening people confessing during rehab sessions. But then, our rehab patient just flips out, throws the tables around, flip the bird and let Hardcore Punk flow through the veins.


Then when the patient gets his mind calm down again, you know that there is still some form of anger as he mutters under his breath his resentment. That situation is exactly how the band feels as the band transition between tempos. You won’t hear high speed drumming here but the band keeps it well by transitioning between punk like drumming while keeping the pace up but willing to let the drummer just hit the snares and cymbals when the bass hits the heaviest notes.

One thing that needs to be commended is how the voice samples are used well here. While most bands that uses samples sound as if they add the samples as a last minute resort to fill up some time or even just to add random shock value to the track. The way Fistula does it is by using the samples to tell a story instead.


At one point, you have a doctor conversing with rehab patient and at another point in the same track, there is a commenter talking about the effects of drugs, combining them to a singular narrative. To add up, some of the samples are repeated at certain specific riffs, making it feel like the voice samples were meant to be pseudo choruses, emphasizing the message that samples carries. It’s like one of those taglines in a movie that gets repeated after time.

In general, this is one Sludge EP that has replay value. The riffs are enormous and their samples were not just thrown in at random intervals. Each sample has a purpose, like the dialogues in a film, while the bass is the heavy orchestra, electrified, haunting you in the background. By the end of the record, even you replay this thought in your head; “Dr Gale, the drugs are more important you.”


PS/ Special internet points if anyone could tell me where the samples are from. I have no idea where did they come from.

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/fistula666

Terence A. Anthony commutes between Kuala Lumpur and Kuching. Co-Founder of Aural Chaos. He also writes for Greater Malaysia and Opinions Unleashed.

Beginner's Guide on How to Interact with Non-Metalheads with "Transitional Bands"

transitional

tranˈzɪʃ(ə)n(ə)l,-ˈsɪʃ-/

relating to or characteristic of a process or period of transition.

As a Metal fan, I get pretty frustrated (and assume many others are) when our music gets misrepresented. We cringe when a band is tagged with the wrong subgenre. Of course Metallica isn't Death Metal they're Doom Metal. See what I did there? Unfortunately the way many respond to those claims are by unleashing hordes of keyboard vikings and attack them as if they just made the most racist comment in the history of the internet. Who can resist the Shakespearean nature of lines like;

you are so fucking stupid motherfucker slayer is one of the greatest thrash metal band and you motherfucker offended him. you better die motherfucker 

 And who else could not be charmed by the romantic poems like this;

eat shit for not liking black metal. I bet you listen to steel panther

No wonder Metalheads get misrepresented, these people never get the chance to be corrected. The worst part is that when new fans try to climb up the genre to something heavier (or for some, more extreme), they immediately get crushed by elitists, acting like Gollum.

Now, there are some people who will definitely not bulge and still make ignorant comments about how Metalheads are just potheads who never grew up. But like any form of bigotry, they would still stay bigots. The question is right now, how do you handle people who honestly want to know more about the subculture? Let's say somebody who already listens to Metalcore, or even Nu-Metal, and they want to know more or you want to recommend bands. It's stupid to suddenly shove them Anaal Nathrakh's "Between Shit and Piss We Are Born" and comprehend the madness behind it. Even the song title seems too extreme and might give them a heart attack. So this where you have to give them "transitional bands." These are bands that are heavier than usual but sort of accessible, to help them transition to heavier stuff. Now I'm not going to give traditional "Heavy Metal" bands like Sabbath, Priest, Maiden or Metallica since there's still possibility that they might stumble upon them in classic rock stations. These are tracks that they might come upon unless someone recommends them. Below are some recommendations:

1) At The Gates - Under A Serpent Sun

Why: Now this would seem like an obvious choice for some but here's the reasoning anyway. This track is fast, quick, catchy and is the basis of most modern Metalcore bands. It's something emo or Metalcore kids could easily latch too without being too alien. It may take time for them to get used of not having a breakdown during the bridge but by time there's a possibly they'll crave more for faster tracks and Thrash-ier riffs.

2) In Flames - Episode 666

Why: Well, simple the melody lines are just to get into but the riffs are crunchy enough to give them the "kicks." Most of In Flames is mid-paced anyway and this could give some variations to those don't something too fast.

3) Ludicra - In Fever

Why: This could be their first exposure to Black Metal, one of the more impenetrable subgenres due to their harshness, lofi aesthetics and elitist attitude. So instead of giving them Darkthrone's Transylvanian Hunger or Mayhem's Deathcrush, show them the "artsier" side of Black Metal. Another quality of this band is that the band has strong female figures and a charismatic female vocalist. At least you could dispel the stereotype that not all metal is chauvinistic and misogynist.  If they go down darker roads, that's just a positive but they just need a gateway.

4) Ulver - Capitel 1: I Troldskog Faren Vild

Why: Still too complex and heavy for them? How about something that's calming instead. This album practically inspired the whole Shoegaze and Post-Rock influenced bands in today's Black Metal. This track specifically has no shrieking vocals and could be a really calming track that even a non-Metalhead could enjoy. The folk influence could even crossover to some of your indie/hipster fans just like how it happened with the new gen of Shoegazers in Metal today. Just hope that they are able to open their minds to other tracks with the regular Black Metal vocals.

5) SubRosa - Borrowed Eyes, Borrowed Time

Why: This could be their introduction to Doom Metal. Accessible, catchy lyrics but with crushing guitar riffs. Probably the lightest between all of the recommendations here. Older and more traditional Doom Metal may come off as too cheesy for them, due to the 80s aesthetics. At least this kind of Doom is much more modern and more palatable for the modern ear.

Bonus:

(1) Listen to Agalloch's Pale Folklore though they might more likely to get into folk rock after listening to that instead.

(2) For your indie rock friends, listen to Vaura. It's a mix of Joy Division with Black Metal influences, from tremolos and blast beats. However, the band is barely Metal.

All in all, this might be easy listening to you, but you have to think from an outsider's context. Always remember, the rule of thumb is to not be an idiot shoving any of your precious metal CDs into their faces. Only give them these bands to them if they want to no matter how much you like those bands, or else it's like rape. No one likes rape. If you have any other tracks you may think is suitable (Enslaved? Opeth?), please do comment below.

PS/ Now I feel like a preacher teaching people how to convert. Ugghh.
PS2/ If you are not versed in metal, no Metallica is not Doom Metal, they're Thrash Metal.

Terence A. Anthony commutes between Kuala Lumpur and Kuching. Co-Founder of Aural Chaos. He also writes for Greater Malaysia and Opinions Unleashed.

Lord Mantis - Death Mask

When was the last time have you ever felt disturbed by a song? Not through psychology but through how grotesque is the subject matter. Music that was specifically designed and engineered to make you feel gross. Was it Butchered at Birth? Or the amazingly detailed, description in the vegan propaganda by way of Cattle Decapitation's Forced Gendered Reassignment?


Both takes "disturbing" to a different level. The idea was too push forward boundaries on what is acceptable in the realm of freedom of speech. In the words of Carcass's Jeff Walker in Sam Dunn's Metal Evolution;

"Dead corpse, dead corpse. Human or animal? What's the big deal?"

As time goes by, imitators go through the revolving door, trying to emulate these records. Some take gore to cartoon-ish levels that you can't help wonder if those bands are just parodies. It makes us wonder if the Metal scene has become too desensitized that any attempt to push buttons is futile. So what angle do bands go to after when gore, religion and even politics have been attacked?


Blackened Sludge monsters, Lord Mantis takes a different approach in stuffing it into your face. Knowing how the Metal scene has been masochist, male dominated and fueled by testosterone, the band decides to serve up an image of a tortured hermaphrodite instead. Though not the first band to do so, and they had previously used an amputated, gender switched Jesus Christ on a crucifix on their previous album before, the band was successful into making people feel disturbed.


What's best about the band attacking our senses is that they managed to question us, whether did we feel disturbed due to the violence demonstrated or the fact that the Metal scene still fears the exploration of sexuality in the scene.


They force you to ponder how violence has been done upon the transgender community and how Metal, despite being a case for misfits, haven't been the best scene for transgenders to mingle around.


Even women, despite how legitimate their taste are, has to make themselves more legitimate and have proof themselves, before hanging out with the boys. At that point, you realize that Metal isn't the escape from an oppressive force that we pretend to have, but an extension of a patriarchal society, extending their arms, to lock the doors to our "exclusive" club.

More family friendly-art so that you can buy the album as a Christmas gift for your 12 year old niece! 
(Make sure she doesn't google the album title.)

But this isn't a review on Jef Whitehead's art and the political critique that the band wishes him to espouse, nor is this an essay in a Gender Studies class. So the question now that might be ringing in the reader's head is that, whether the music corresponds to how disturbing is the material presented. Lord Mantis's music, throughout the years, shows the transition of disturbing imagery in Metal like the paragraph above. When they started off, the band's debut sounded cartoon-ish and almost into Municipal Waste like territory. Given, that they still play Sludge but the music shows that the band is still growing up. Their second album, Pervertor has a more matured sounding tone, but still looking for an actual sound to latch themselves onto. To be fair, that is how most experimental bands work. This album of theirs is a few notches of Pervertor by giving us the heaviest, Sludge riffs the band has ever written and with Black Metal shrieks that sounds like the screams of a man, narrating your death, while him being tortured at the same time.


The guitars come crushing in, by repeating those huge Sludgy riffs and are able to use monotony to their advantage. The best way to explain this concoction is to imagine a band playing Brutal Death Metal without using the elements of such. The tracks are slow, brooding and uses the thickest of all distortion applicable to a Sludge breakdown and play it like a slam riff. The fast brutal parts, normally associated with Death Metal, now is replaced and comes in the form of the faster Hardcore Punk influenced Sludge, with drums that blast like a Black Metal record.


While heavily influenced by Black Metal, especially it's more perverted forms, the band utilizes riffs off the e-string rather than tremolos that is normally used in the Scandinavian form. Tracks like Possession Prayer, uses the drums in a tribal state, that almost reflects the track title. The drums goes into a form of frantic and the vocals goes into frenzy territory that reminds me of the scarier moments of Anaal Nathrakh.


The stand out track for me would be Negative Birth, that probably has the most Black Metal influence in comparison. In fact, for most of the song is on a full on blast that could easily remind you of the gnarlier moments of Gorgoroth but the bass carries on the Sludge influence. While at breaks from the Black Metal fury the guitars were carrying the band was not afraid to pull off Sludge riffs, without compromising the song. Later on the album, the band goes into Doom Metal territory, as if showing off the range that the band has.


The last track Three Crosses though entertaining, seems to be a huge change in tone where the music becomes more and more melodic. In fact, I would say this crosses into Doom/Black category. Even the vocals here seem to be on a higher register, highlighting the Blackened atmosphere, well treading into Deppressive territory at times, crossed with guitar leads that could very well be on a Jesu track. In fact, I was half waiting for clean vocals to come in.

Judging from most broke Sludge bands, they probably live there too.

Despite how much I enjoy the album, there are several things that I don't get from the album. The track "You Will Gag For Your Fix" seems like a misplaced interlude that does not correspond with the rest of the album.


In fact, it could have been shorter, and just been slapped with Negative Birth to create one track. The build up felt like it was leading to something, only to face a dead end. The track doesn't even try to flow into Negative Birth. Another thing that perplexed me was the "robot voice" vocals in Coil. But that didn't get to me long, it was surprising me at first because I didn't expect it but I got used to it at the 2nd listen.

To sum it all up, the band takes Sludge into a different territory, by bursting into Black Metal when appropriate, as if trying to make a statement against the Shoegaze influenced Post-Black Metal bands that has been popular in the past few years.


It's as if Lord Mantis is trying to tell the rest of the world, there are many other ways to do the melodramatic build up that the Post-Rock bands have been trying to do. Sludge could be one of it, rather than creating half baked hybrids of Godspeed! You Black Emperor.


If the Post-Black Metal bands were using Post Rock in building up scenes of drama, then Lord Mantis is using Sludge to build up towards the horrific scenes in torture porn.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lordmantisofficial

Bandcamp: http://profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/death-mask

Terence A. Anthony commutes between Kuala Lumpur and Kuching. Co-Founder of Aural Chaos. He also writes for Greater Malaysia and Opinions Unleashed.