Cursed

Cursed is one of those bands that seem to haunt music long after their premature exit. They released some of the most visceral and sincere hardcore ever created. They managed to add a unique perspective and approach to an already bulbous scene that seemed all too content to just imitate rather that innovate. The music is dark and heavy and for most of you that listen, you'll more than likely be able to hear all of the bands that they undoubtedly influenced.

I
II
III: Architects of Troubled Sleep

Nesseria - Nesseria

Nesseria follow in the footsteps of bands like Celeste and Reka and build on the ever increasing trend of bands combining sludge, black metal and hardcore. Their sound is chaotic and still tight. They manage to project this horrible crippling mess forward and still maintain an ever flowing and functioning machine underneath it. Y'all need to buy this shit.

MOYL

My Distro! RELOCATION SWARM RECORDS!

Being a life-long music fan I've always held onto the dream of owning my own record store one day. A few friends and I are banding together to shine a light in the dark forests of Michigan and bring the lovin' spirit of DIY to the local metal and hardcore scene. Right now we've got a few of our used records up (our limit being 5 at a time since we're using the free version of bigcartel). If you want to see this go further, buy these records. They're cheap and they head out as fast as possible. All of the money helps us get a bigger selection. Feel free to contact me with what you'd like to see in the store as we're more than happy to try and oblige our fanbase. Have a band that needs someone to distro your shit? We're down for it. If this goes decently far I'd imagine something bigger coming of it (and yes, we plan on it) but that stays on the DL for now. Support local music. Keep it DIY.

THAR SHE BLOWS!

Coffins/Cianide Split

What can I say about these bands that hasn't already been said on here before? Coffins are nasty as fuck and Cianide are probably damn near perfect. Cianide's side of this split is absolutely fucking flawless. The doom-as-fuck fuzz bass that opens up their side is just a precursor to the full on death doom blitzkrieg that will slither its way out of your speakers. Coffins' side is pretty good but not what I would expect from one of their full-lengths.

DEATH THE BRUTAL WAY

Cianide - The Dying Truth

Riffs that crawl and crush like a fucking tank, massive production, perfect drum tone and some of the most savage and throat-rattling vocals around. These are all things that can be used to describe Cianide's sound on 'The Dying Truth' but I'd like to file it all down to one word: Gargantuan. This record is pretty much everything that I have ever wanted from an old school death doom band. It has it all! Punishingly slow guitars, ritualistic beats and the right mix of raw production and crisp atmospherics. The opener alone lends this album its legendary status; as it should be. That's not to say that the rest of the album isn't as awesome, it's quite the contrary actually. From the very first note to the ghastliness of the ending notes this album stands head and shoulders above its contemporaries.

CRUSH, KILL, DESTROY

For Fans of: Bolt Thrower, Rottrevore, Incantation, Father Befouled, Derketa

Lionize - Space Pope and the Glass Machine

Have you ever wondered to wander, to gander up at the sky and see something so outlandish as a spaced out reggae band eeking out doom-cobbled southern licks that permeate the star system with love and groove. With rockin' organ licks backed by hefty bass and guitar this album could be played instrumentally with still quite a bit of punch but throw in that rogue harmonica and those deep-fried vocals and you've got a damn good smoothie with equal parts Hawkwind, Clutch and old school ska music. Pop this one in to your ship's sound system, light a spliff and kick back for one hell of a smoked out ride.

SPACE POPE IS GUNNA STEAL YOUR SOUL

Dead Congregation

Dead Congregation has definitely come as a pleasant surprise for people who chase after death metal with a 'vintage' feel to it. Their sound is like a hectic combination of Covenant-era Morbid Angel and Golgothan Incantation. The pounding drums of war thrum throughout their material, lending that ever present war-like vibe to everything they do. The guitars are thick and doomy and have that perfect combination of fuzz, overdrive and reverb that puts together such an amazingly morbid and destitute atmosphere. This band is surely one that will please those of you who love death metal done the arcane way. Sadly folks looking for dumbed-down, primitive death metal won't find it here.

PUREFYING CONSECRATED GROUND EP

GRAVES OF THE ARCHANGLES

For Fans of: Morbid Angel, Incantation, Soul Devour, The Chasm

Martyrdöd - Sekt

'Sekt' has a very unique atmosphere and feel to it, automatically setting itself ahead of the heard of run-of-the-mill crust bands or even other bands in their blackened circle. The skeleton-like guitars shimmer and rattle with a cold ring, fully encompassing a dirty-as-fuck sound while still holding a frosty razor edge. The vocals rasp and crack with a deathly vibe, their spectral presence ebbing in and out of the record. Martyrdöd have quickly gained massive amounts of my respect for producing some of the most interesting and all around enjoyable crust music that I've ever heard. If you enjoyed 'In Extremis' then you should definitely give this one a go.

UGH

For Fans Of: Trap Them, Nails, Iskra, Stormcrow, Skitsystem

Battle of Mice - A Day of Nights

This record is quite old at this point (at least by my standards) but I feel that so few people I know listen to it that it needs to be shared. Julie cements herself as the finest female vocalist (that I've ever heard) in metal music. Her crooning, sexy voice can turn from a quiet, sonic sex-object to a harsh attacker in the suffocating atmosphere produced by her backing band. Featuring the musicianship of Josh Graham of Neurosis fame, you know this much talent in one place has to be too good to be true. Well, unlike most projects of the 'superground' sub-label that turn out like shit, this album definitely finds its way to the top of my personal list of 'Best Albums of All Time'.

CREEP

Undergang - Indhentet af Døden

Undergang manage to cobble together a triceratops-headed killing machine out of Golgothan Incan riffs and the fuzzed out Scandi ripping of bands like Demigod and Entombed. With that bitch's brew of riffage you can bet that this collection of tunes is a total ripper right down to the awesome sampling at the beginning of the album and all the way until the elegantly placed acoustic passage. If you want death metal done the old way from a band with fresh and untainted potential then you need to get yo'self some Undergang.

CRUSH

The Chasm - Farseeing The Paranormal Abysm

'Farseeing The Paranormal Abysm' may be a mouthful but thankfully their music gets straight to the point. The guitar work doesn't feel the need to forsake technicality to maintain a raw feel, instead their clean-cutting leads slice and dice while the demonic basslines maintain an oppressively malevolent vibe to the music. The drums are top notch for their field, while you may not be wowed by his inventiveness you'll still probably fawn over his tight attack and precision. While The Chasm has an occult sound, their dark vibes come from the songwriting and riffs rather than recording through a shitty microphone and letting the lo-fi aspect of the music take precedent over actual musicianship. This is a truly well-put together release. With great pacing and strangely relieving segues you'll find yourself putting this on a lot.

GOAT

Ulcerate - The Destroyers of All

It's rare that innovation emerges from the cesspool of technical death metal, a genre with limitless potential that has lost itself in the technicality of the work instead of the dizzying fretwork that brought the forerunners of the genre to the forefront of music. Like wizards lost to the power of massively unstable spells, most cripple themselves in the wings before they even begin to fly. Ulcerate shoves any idea of technical death that you might've known so far down your fat little throat that you'll be shitting the rings on their many-fingered fist for weeks to come. Simultaneously atmospheric and rich in interesting songwriting, this record comes to life through the many multi-faceted parts that work together in some sick sonic-symbiotic relationship. The riffs drift from eerily dissonant to heavy and sluggishly savage. The drums are spot on, tight and most of all they AREN'T a blasturbation ritual.

BRAIN FUCK

For Fans Of: Gigan, Portal, Origin, Gorguts, Deathspell Omega

Complete Failure - Heal No Evil

'Heal No Evil' opens up on pure punk adrenaline as it comes out swinging with the violence knob cranked to 11. The fierce vocals ebb perfectly with the tumult of misanthropic riffs and throbbing drums. When things slow down though you'll hear more Today is the Day and Eyehategod influence than would be normal for a grind band BUT with their drummer hailing from the ranks of TitD and their sludge-roots running deep they can't seem to escape the need to sink back into lower/slower passages like their being dragged into a tar pit. Truly, if you like fast music that isn't afraid to bring it to a halt on occasion then this is something that you need to pick up.

CHOKE

For Fans Of: Gadget, Rotten Sound, Elitist, Pig Destroyer

Kaiju - Unwilling Sacrifices

'Unwilling Sacrifices' opens with an evil composition of savage drums, chanting and organs. This haunting bit of ambiance awakens this monster of an EP and tears straight into a Slayer-esque guitar freakout that tears down your defenses for the oncoming assault of pounding riffs and guttural vocals. The high point of this EP would definitely be "Firesloth" with it's slogging pace, eerie organ solo and banshee-esque guitars shrieking in the back ground. This little bit of monster worship goes a long way but sadly it's all too short. If you get like what you hear, you need to pick up their full-length along with their upcoming split with Druid Lord.

For Fans of: Druid Lord, Acid Witch, Blood Freak, Revolting, Beyond Hell

Dead In The Dirt - Vold

Dead In The Dirt are yet another band emerging from the grinding sludge pond of existence. Frighteningly jarring tempo changed take you from head-spinning speeds to devastating slowness while the guitars writhe and scream in agony over clanky crust bass and d-beat drums that slam out the heaviness with raunchy intensity.

UGH

Bands Michigan Venues Need To Book!

Bullpig - Misanthropic Doom
An Ignorant End - Deathgrind
Hedorah (hohoho) - Soul Grinding Sludge Metal
Dagon - Melodic Death Metal
Nurse Ratched - Grind
Mountain Goat - Smoked Out Doom
Cavalcade - Head Fuck
Genocya - Blackened Thrash
Wastelander - Crust
Drinkhorn - Black Metal
Summu Nura - Black Metal
Total Hipster Crusher - Grind
Beast In The Field - Stoner Doom from Prehistoric Golgotha
Supercontinent [Scare these fuckers out of retirement!] - Melodic Sludge
Not Ok - Skramz
Grizzlies - 'Ardcore
Live To Kill (If you can get a hold of them) - Crust
Sunlight Ascending - Instrumental Rock
Daniel Ryan - Ambient/Drone/Experimental
Acid Witch - Acid Drenched Stoner Death
Luxurious Chaos - Pure Misanthropic Christian Death Camp Theme Music shat straight from the bowels of Baal. A coven of incestuous orgy hounds screaming for Satan!

Martyrdöd - In Extremis

Oddly enough I came across this band through my girlfriend and as soon as the record started my mind was trapped. The frigid spearhead of black metal tinged with the filthy weight of crust. Basically they sound an awful lot like a pissed of yeti with dreads, matted hair and shitstains all over himself. This is how Darkthrone's new albums SHOULD sound.

PVNK AZ FVCK

For Fans of: Darkthrone, Iskra, His Hero Is Gone, Celeste

All Pigs Must Die - S/T

Contains members of Converge, Bloodhorse, ex-The Red Chord and The Hope Conspiracy. No bullshit. Just a microcosmic shitstorm of fuzzed riffs that sound like an amalgamation of Entombed and Converge. Punk sensibility and style with the power and riff-wielding prowess of a metal band. It's a shame that this is the only thing that they have out because it's addictive as fuck (I've had it on loop for at LEAST an hour now).

CRUSH COPS

For Fans Of: Black Breath, Nails, Mammoth Grinder, Converge

March 22nd @ Blondies: Gigan w/ Nurse Ratched and Hedorah

ALL AGES SHOW!

This is definitely one of the more exciting metal gigs to ever hit Detroit and I'm really lucky that my band (Hedorah) gets to participate. If you live in D-town and love heavy music you NEEEED to be there

The Great White North: A Guide To Good Venues in Michigan

Whether you manage bands around here or just want a good place to book for your band, this is a comprehensive guide of all of the venues that I've had a lengthy experience with.

The Factory in Rochester (RIP) - Great small venue, amazing people working the joint and a truly remarkable place to play when it was still around.

The Static Age in Romeo (Soon to RIP) - While there may be a negative stigma attached to this place due to it being a safe-haven for deathcore weenies and tuff guy hxc it has its charm. The Static is definitely a huge part of the local canon where I'm from and to be honest I wouldn't have it any other way. The dudes that ran/run this place had their hearts in the right place and that's all that matters. Be sure to catch their last round of shows this February.

The Hayloft in Mt. Clemens - This place fucking sucks the fat one. Their sound engineers are amateurish at best and couldn't get a clear sound out of their massive sound system if they had stuck to factory presets. Let's not mention their inability to put together a decent bill to save their life. Having a pop-punk band playing before a tech death band is moronic. Avoid this place UNLESS you're booking a show with a bunch of other bands that you know.

The Shelter in Detroit- Awesome experience. Great sound dudes. If you get a chance to play here, do it.

The District in Lake Orion - Fuck 'em. Easily one of the worst venues in the entire state. Run by Christy bastards who won't book you unless you have Pro-Shot promo pics and a professionally produced demo to give them. On the odd chance that they DON'T ask for that be prepared to "rock out" with the likes of Jesus is My Buddy and Christ Died For My Skinny Jeans.

Oade's Hidden Camel in Lansing- Awesome place to book if you're serious about playing with REAL metal bands or heavy hittin' rockers. Definitely a treat to play here.

Mac's Bar in Lansing- Need I say more? There's a reason that this place has such a great reputation among Lansing musicians.

The Blackened Moon in Lansing- Really awesome small venue for all of you REALLY heavy bands out there looking to play to an open minded audience.

The Magic Stick in Detroit - Absolutely legendary. The dudes here will help any metal band worth their stuff open for a band with a like-minded audience. Probably the BEST venue in the state. Did I mention the pizzeria and bowling? Yeah that's right; bowling, pizza and metal.




REMINDER: This is a guide that should be considered by hardworking metal/rock/anything else bands. If you're in some HxC tuff guy band you should stick to where you're playing so you don't fuck up any more of Michigan's lovely hidden gems.

Suma - Let The Churches Burn

Suma has big guns behind the solemn cover that adorns the album. Slow-rolling thunder that swims and writhes in a scaly fuzz-covered skin; this behemoth treads softly when it needs to and turns into a full on stampede when the time is right. With guitars reminiscent of Unearthly Trance you know those riffs have gotta be heavier than a black hole filled with fat chicks.

For fans of: Unearthly Trance, Eagle Twin and SATAN [Beelzebub our Lord and Master, keeper of secret knowledge and defiler of unbaptized children]

JAYSUS!

Maybeshewill

Maybeshewill probably produces some of the most visceral and captivating sounds produced by modern musicians. Their sounds envelope and bring to light the aspects of being human, the flaws and joy of humanity and the beautiful simplicity of simply 'being'. Sure there's commentary on the music industry and the current state of things but at the heart of it all lies the simple desire to create 'good' music. The ultimate DIY band. If you haven't listened to them yet, do yourself a huge favor.

Japanese Spy Transcript

Not For Want of Trying

Sing The Word Hope in Four-Part Harmony

Face Down In Shit - Shit Bloody Shit [200th Post!]

To add to the seemingly endless stream of sludge that pours from the this blog I've decided that it's about time I posted some Face Down In Shit. This album opens with a surprisingly soft and beautiful intro that leads into some good rockin' while slowly building up to a doomed-out thrash attack. Who would've thought that sludge could even get to these speeds? Like sharks with jetpacks, these riffs fly hot out of the gate hungry for danks and sluts the likes of which you've never seen. With bleak song titles you'd be hard pressed to find things about this album that don't seem to drip with a sense of triumph over the shitfight of an existence we share.

GET HIGH
FUCK SHIT UP

For Fans of: Seven Sisters of Sleep, The Fucking Wrath, Barn Burner and Dopefight

THANK YOU to all of the people that have supported and shared this blog over the time that it's been up. It means a lot to me to see that there are people out there who still crave new music as much as I do. Through this blog I've met a lot of great people in music and hopefully that will continue for as long as this goes on. For those of you that have always wandered back here and scampered back off into cyberspace, this one's for you. Stay positive. Stay smart. Stay high. Stay alive.

Dot[.] - Life's A Bitch

Dot[.] does sludge right. They capture that feeling of pure hatred for mankind. Riff after riff reigns down like hellfire from above leaving only scorched landscape in its wake. ULTRA fuzzed out production digs a subsonic hole beneath your listening post just to shake your fucking brain until you die of an aneurysm. For those of you familiar with the feeling of waking up dopesick, covered in puke and cigarette ashes will dig this record above all else. This is an anthem to the burn outs and losers; a flag to sway for all time above the drugged out masses. Those japs may be hoarding Monster Hunter Frontier for themselves but at least they export shit like this.

I WANT TO DIE

Elitist - Elitist

Maddeningly chaotic and noisy hardcore with bits of sludge and grind thrown in. A torrent of razor-sharp guitars rip through you like ginsu knives slathered in nanobots. Slower sections chug along with a serpentine groove. If you like your shit quick and to the point then this is for you.

NO ONE LEFT ALIVE

For fans of: Nails, Gaza, Bone Dance, Mammoth Grinder and The Secret

Derketa - Goddess of Death

There ain't nothin' sexier than a girl that can get down with some good ol' fashioned death doom thunder. After laying dormant for years on end and finally emerging earlier this year for their first show EVER the girls are back in town. This release is a compilation of demos, EPs and rehearsals and sadly it's the only material a lot of us have had for over a decade. But fear not! New material is on the way! Cataclysmically evil guitar tone oozes over chunky drums and raspy vocals. An absolute essential.

TEMPT FATE