6. Children of God: We Set Fire To The Sky
You know you’re listening to something special when there is that inexplicable feeling washing over you and there aren’t quite the words coming to mind to describe it. Children of God have crafted one such record. They’ve always been a band with a special something inside them, which was exhibited on earlier releases but this new LP, We Set Fire To The Sky, is a whole other beast.
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The Orange County hardcore/sludge band’s newest aural offering, and their first full-length, is one of the most relentlessly intense records of 2013 so far and likely to be for the rest of the year. This intensity is mirrored by some changes in the band themselves, particularly in the fact that they have chosen to release the record entirely on their own, and according to the band they really tried to push the limits for this one…Full CVLT Nation Review HERE!
5. HOAX: HOAX
Strung out clouds of distortion permeate the record and give it a filthy, Hellhammeresque, quality that I’ve yet to hear from the world of punk. From the violent phlegm filled coughs and industrial churning of the intro, listeners are given fair warning to the no frills and ugly sound of Hoax.
Not only are the guitars messy and scratchy, they’re also a devastating half of an equation that’s fleshed out in a thick and burly bass that gives the perfect low end to match. The guitars sizzle and snap through 12 tracks of grizzled hardcore that tends to sit in a trot and give way to thudding drums, raspy vocals, and of course the aforementioned guitars.
What carries the record isn’t simply a matter of production, but the charm it shares with the knuckle duster songwriting and the complete adoration of punk and metal’s shared lineage. “Drive” pounds along, with a very 90′s mosh section until it ends in a slow motion Celtic Frost-like stomp…Full CVLT Nation Review HERE!
4. FULL OF HELL: Rudiments of Mutilation
“Rudiments of Mutilation,” the second full-length by sound warriors Full of Hell, is as threatening as music gets. Following the face-bending “Roots of Earth are Consuming my Home” and a smattering of fantastic splits, “Rudiments” represents the band’s style in full, unapologetic form. The sludge oozes with caustic immediacy. The grind churns above, thundering at a calamitous pace. Voices of near every frequency rise and fall, forming a damned chorus enslaved by the album’s bleak drone. Full of Hell offer nothing tender, only coarse lessons on how far the boundaries of musical discomfort can be pushed.
While one would think “Rudiments of Mutilation” was a quickie when considering its twenty-minute run time, this record fucks with your ears, drags them through the dirt and subjects them to all manner of agony, rage and paranoia. It is nothing short of enjoyable. “Dichotomy” pierces your skull from the get go, that signature broken frequency used by so many peers but made a weapon here. Roars echo from beneath, a booming, forlorn mantra establishing a tone that would call a David Lynch film kin. “Vessel Deserted” manifests as a punk neckbreaker, only to morph into a barren soundscape that fluctuates from freneticism to corporeal loathing. “Throbbing Lung Fiber” allows no trespassers beyond its virulent arsenal, melding its missile silos with zero flaw into the menacing warheads of “Indigence and Guilt.”…Full CVLT Nation Review HERE!
3. OATHBREAKER: Eros|Anteros
Oathbreaker’s second full-length, Eros|Anteros, is one of the year’s best hardcore releases, while easily being the most unique. Eros|Anteros claps a meaner thunder than 2011′s Mælstrøm, while upholding that album’s dedication to blending blunt force and intangible elegance. Ten tracks careen from calamity to calm, guarded to vulnerable. Oathbreaker dances on chaos’s edge, reeling in their rage with sharp melody.
Introduction, “(Beeltenis),” fortifies itself with an atmospheric wall that only lightly samples what is to come. “No Rest for the Weary” wastes no time in rising from the fluttering ashes left by “(Beeltenis).” The speed is breakneck but counterbalanced by swirling beauty. “Upheaval” ricochets from beginning to end, triumphantly mounted on punk-soaked riding beats that seize briefly into grim blast beats. “As I Look Into the Abyss” is a spry piece of metallic hardcore, straight from the Converge playbook. Any similarity is brushed aside when the climactic sounds reverberate deep within your chest cavity. “The Abyss Looks Into Me” is, for lack of a better word, quieter, but is also an achingly monumental exercise in emotional torture. “The Abyss Looks Into Me” gasps for air at its midsection as gentle vocals pour over the listener before descending into maddening pain once more…Full CVLT Nation Review HERE!
2. BAPTISTS: Bushcraft
Vancouver based Baptists first came to our attention with a self-titled 7” in 2011, after having formed in 2010. The quartet soon hit the road and toured constantly whilst getting down to the dirty business of their all-important debut. February finally sees the release of new Baptists material – via Southern Lord – and Bushcraft is a disgustingly rendered half hour or so of true punk infused hardcore.
Loud and intense passages of rage fill this record, but at no point do Baptists lose control of their message of forward motion. “Think Tank Breed” roils in deep agony and eternal fire whilst “Bullets” seizes the throat with an iron grip and doesn’t let go. This wrath continues throughout Bushcraft and despite it’s fairly short running time, more anger is packed into these eleven tracks than you would ever think possible. Doomed out landscapes filter into “Still Melt,” the track taking on ever more fury as it quickly progresses towards a deadly finality and ultimate destruction…Full CVLT Nation Review HERE!
1. NAILS: Abandon All Life
It’s been nearly three years since Nails released their first record Unsilent Death and ringed us all by the neck and kicked us in the mouth while we were down on the ground. Time flies when you’re having fun, eh?
But the truth is Nails aren’t fun. Unsilent Death wasn’t fun and neither is its follow-up Abandon All Life. Nails are aggression and red-eyed fury incarnate. This was proven with the 15 minutes of ruinous hardcore that was Unsilent Death. Its vitriol and fury seeming unparalleled but how were they going to match it? Could they match it? The answer is an emphatic yes and a fist in the face for thinking otherwise.
With a little more of a metallic edge in its step, Abandon All Life makes its MO perfectly clear at the get-go with ‘In Exodus’, a roaring thrashing number with piercing guitars and earth shaking double kick drums that’ll tear houses down. Meanwhile, ‘God’s Cold Hands’ is a ruthless beast soaked in misanthropy and is evidence of the band stepping up their game greatly amongst peers like Trap Them…Full CVLT Nation Review HERE!
The post CVLT Nation Top 6
Hardcore Albums of 2013 appeared first on CVLT Nation.