After putting together my top 20 albums of 2010, I rolled all of them into one giant playlist and hit shuffle. The result equaled some damn fine listening. While listening to the playlist, I remembered how my friend Isaac said it would have been nice to have samples for all the albums in my top 20 feature. I agreed with him, but it took me a hell of a long time to get that post online. So I wasn’t too excited about going back and updating it. Then I realized I didn’t have to. Why not just make a new podcast using tracks from my top 20 albums? So that’s pretty much exactly what I did.
There’s not much else to explain. I didn’t mess around with this for weeks or months. I literally got the idea one morning and finished it by the end of day. No fancy soundscapes, edits or underlying theme. Just a solid mix of 20 songs that you need to hear. Now get on this and don’t say I never do anything nice for you.
Measurements of Sound – Volume 06 Track Listing:
00:00:00 Blood Ceremony – “The Great God Pan”
00:07:28 Shooting Guns – “Public Taser”
00:12:20 In Solitude – “Demons”
00:19:03 Today Is The Day – “The Devil’s Blood”
00:24:50 Toxic Holocaust – “Nowhere to Run”
00:28:34 Liturgy – “Veins of God”
00:36:30 Tombs – “Path of Totality”
00:42:17 Mastodon – “Dry Bone Valley”
00:46:17 Junius – “A Universe Without Stars”
00:50:40 The Atlas Moth – “Gemini”
00:54:00 Altar of Plagues – “Neptune is Dead”
01:12:38 Batillus – “…And the World is as Night to Them”
01:21:21 KEN mode – “Never Was”
01:29:36 Goes Cube – “The Homes Of”
01:32:57 Subrosa – “House Carpenter”
01:40:59 Witch Mountain – “Wing of the Lord”
01:48:53 Hammers of Misfortune – “Staring (The 31st Floor)”
01:52:41 Vastum – “Re-Member”
01:57:46 Trap Them – “The Facts”
02:01:09 Machine Head – “Pearls Before the Swine”
Sun’s not even up and it’s already a very sad day for Canadian metal.
That was a tweet from Adrien Begrand and the first thing I read early this morning as I sat down with my breakfast. My jaw literally hit the floor as I read further and realized David Gold of Ontario’s Woods of Ypres had died. As the day went on I learned he had been struck by a vehicle near Barrie yesterday. He was 31 years old.
I’m constantly going on and on about how you need to hear a certain band or how I just heard something that blew me away. Over the past nine months the name Woods of Ypres has appeared again and again in my tweets and posts on this very site. I can’t describe what it is, but something about their music has connected with me in a huge way. Maybe it’s the raw emotion carried through David’s lyrics, maybe it’s how the band has masterfully covered so many genres over the course of their career. I don’t know. But what I do know is I literally have not stopped playing their music since discovering the band this past March. There is not a week that goes by that I haven’t immersed myself with their songs. Especially Woods IV: The Green Album, which I had been listening to the day David passed away.
I never had the chance to meet David or see Woods of Ypres live, which is something I was so looking forward to doing in 2012. I had the bad timing of only finding out about the band literally days after they played here last spring. When I spoke to David online he told me they would be back in the New Year once their new album was released. I’m sad that won’t happen for somewhat selfish reasons. Mainly I was really looking forward to seeing the band live. But I also wanted to make sure there was one more face in the crowd who truly appreciated their music when they came back again. The band worked hard for the loyal fan base they had and even if it only grew by one more, I wanted to make sure they knew it. I’m really sorry that didn’t happen.
Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light
Late this year the band finished recording Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light which was set for release in January. Today their label Earache tweeted the link to the promo download of the album. I now have something I couldn’t wait to hear a month early. But for all the wrong reasons. Expect a follow-up post once I have had a chance to fully digest the album.
I put together a short mix of a few of my favourite Woods of Ypres songs. Have a listen below and if you like what you hear, dig deeper and spread the word.
Shards of Love
Everything I Touch Turns to Gold (Then to Coal)
Falling Apart
Dirty Window of Opportunity (Can You Get Here in 10 Days)
Each December I make a big assed list and go through a big assed process to determine the top 20 albums of the past year. Friends are lost, my kids forget what I look like and spreadsheets are created with formulas that I don’t understand.
The sad thing is it’s kind of pointless. I always know what single album made me all warm and fuzzy inside before I start down that path of complexity. So let’s not drag this out any longer and get down to business.
01. The Atlas Moth – An Ache for the Distance
If there is one album you need to hear from 2011, it’s An Ache for the Distance by the Atlas Moth.
The band covers a stunning range of styles on An Ache for the Distance – sludge, post rock, black metal, jazz, doom and psychedelic rock to name a few. But in no way does the album feel like a patched together mishmash of all those influences. Much like Faith No More did on 1992’s Angel Dust, the Atlas Moth has managed to channel the diverse personalities of each member into a single cohesive recording that made choosing it as album of the year a no brainer.
02. Tombs – Path of Totality
I have to admit that despite what I said above about it being clear what my top pick was, Tombs’Path of Totality could very easily have been sitting in that position; dark, atmospheric and utterly devastating. I can’t stop listening to this.
03. Goes Cube – In Tides and Drifts
As with 2009’s Another Day Has Passed, Goes Cube drop track after track of infectious post punk driven noise rock that demands repeated listens. Album highlights ”The Homes Of” and the three part “The Story Is The Story Begins”, “The Story Is The Story Goes” and “The Story Is The Story Ends” make a strong argument for nudging this In Tides and Drifts even higher on this list.
04. KEN mode – Venerable
I like noise rock. I really like noise rock with riffs that will rip your face off. Does that float your boat as well? Then point your face at Venerable by KEN mode. As your life coach, I am confident you will be pleased with the results.
05. Witch Mountain – South of Salem
I listened to this for the first time less than a week ago and it is number five on this list. Yeah – it’s that good. No small part of that is the addition of vocalist Uta Plotkin to the line-up. Witch Mountain was a lethal dose of doom before, but now with Uta’s powerful voice wailing over Rob Wrong’s riffs, the results are simply stunning. Get on this shit now.
06. Today is the Day – Pain is a Warning
With Pain is a Warning, Today is the Day is a fine tuned killing machine. Well, except when they slow things down for a couple of numbers (hey, even killing machines like a slow dance every now and then). Easily the most focused, direct and dare I say accessible album of the band’s catalogue. If you aren’t down with TITD main man Steve Austin already, this is the perfect place to get on board.
07. Junius – Reports from the Threshold of Death
Junius heavy up their post rock styles on Reports from the Threshold of Death, but the end result is far from brutal. So if you’re not grim, KVLT or don’t even like most of the noise I go on about here, this is the one you should check out. Your moms will even like this.
08. Altar of Plagues – Mammal
I was late getting in the game with Altar of Plagues previous long player White Tomb. But if I hadn`t slept on that, it easily could have toppled Axe to Fall by Converge as album of the year in 2009. Mammal may be rolling in at number eight, but it’s still the best black metal album you’re going to hear this year.
09. Blood Ceremony – Living With the Ancients
I have a problem with Blood Ceremony. They play retro styled doom, praise Satan, own a flute and got Sanford Parker to record Living With the Ancients. Don’t see any problems there? Actually, me neither. What I have a problem with is they haven’t gotten their Canadian asses out here to Halifax so I can lose my mind while they work their black magic live. My calendar is wide open in 2012. Just saying…
10. Batillus – Furnace
Batillus may be number 10 on this list. But they are actually number 20 when it comes to the order in which I finished writing all of these. So let’s just keep it simple: doom + sludge + industrial + atmospheric = Batillus. If your brain can handle that math, then you will like Furnace.
11. Subrosa – No Help for the Mighty Ones
Over at Show No Mercy’s year end list, Brandon Stosuy drops points of reference like “doom-pop” and “stoner-folk sludge” when writing about Subrosa’sNo Help for the Mighty Ones. Sounds good to me Brandon. So I`m gonna jack your styles and go with that too. No sense reinventing the wheel, right?
12. Hammers of Misfortune – 17th Street
Lots have been said about 17th Street’s retro metal styles and Joe Hutton’s set of pipes. But what sold me on this album was that it pretty much sounds like Ludicra minus the black metal. Seeing as Ludicra went tits up this year and Hammers of Misfortune are led by former Ludicra member John Cobbett, I guess all is not lost after all.
13. Mastodon – The Hunter
Did you hear the version of the Hunter with Bruce Dickenson singing on it? What? That never happened? Well if it did, then it would have been bad news for numbers 12 to 1 on this list. But apparently it didn’t. So for now I guess Mastodon can sit nice and comfortable at number 13.
14. Trap Them – Darker Handcraft
Remember the time Converge got on top of Entombed’s shoulders and challenged Black Flag and Disfear to a chicken fight? No? Well neither does Trap Them. What’s that got to do with a chicken fight? Nothing. I just thought it sounded like a cool idea and the resulting carnage would sound like Darker Handcraft.
15. Liturgy – Aesthetica
Liturgy tends to only have one mode, which consists of repetitive, relentless riffing and blasting. Sometimes that hurts my head. But most of the time, I find it quite refreshing. I have no idea which of those two categories this falls under for you. But whatever – just listen to it Aesthetica anyway.
16. Machine Head – Unto the Locust
I was stoked when Machine Head nailed it two times in a row with Through the Ashes of Empires and the Blackening. But I was doubtful they would be able to do it again when they dropped Unto the Locust. Boy was I wrong. You know how we all go on about the classic Metallica trilogy now? Give these three albums a few years and we’ll be blowing the same smoke up Rob Flynn’s ass.
17. Vastum – Carnal Law
I read Swedish Death Metal and Choosing Death, but I’m far from a certified expert when it comes to the genre. But even a newbie like me can see that Vastum know a thing or two about crafting crusty, thick and infectious death metal. If you like crusty, thick and infectious death metal, then you already have this album. If you don’t like crusty, thick and infectious death metal, then email me and I’ll try my best to help with directions to the blog you were actually looking for.
18. In Solitude – The World.The Flesh.The Devil
Much like Blood Ceremony, In Solitude is here to spread the word of our dark overlord. However these Swedes have chosen to skip the Jethro Tull styles of my Canadian comrades and worship at the altar of Mercyful Fate instead. I’m fine with that. Are they evil? Why yes, they are.
19. Shooting Guns – Born To Deal In Magic: 1952-1976
Black Sabbath got knocked up by Hawkwind? The baby lives in Canada and goes by the name Shooting Guns? They make tripped out, catchy, synth infused instrumental music? I’m on it.
20. Toxic Holocaust – Conjure and Command
Conjure and Command may not have gotten Toxic Holocaust quite as much praise as 2008’s An Overdose of Death, but it’s the preferred choice around these parts. Please remove my name from the “Casual Fan” file.
Good thing no one comes to this website. Otherwise people might have noticed that it’s been almost a year since my last podcast. That’s okay though. I strive for quality around here, not quantity.
I have actually been working on this instalment off and on for about the last eight months. It started out at with a rough playlist that included tracks from Justice, Death From Above 1979 and Dillinger Escape Plan. Only the latter made it to the final cut. But all of them acted as a springboard for what you have here today.
There are still some riffs to be found. But there are also lots of beats, bass, noise and even some dubbed out Sabbath. And yes, the first track is supposed to sound like that.
Measurements of Sound – Volume 05 Track Listing:
00:00:00 Kid 606 Vs. NWA – “Straight Outta’ Compton”
00:02:46 Nine Inch Nails – “My Violent Heart (Pirate Robot Midget)”
00:05:19 Genghis Tron – “Asleep on the Forest Floor”
00:09:24 The Endless Blockade – “Angra Mainyu”
00:11:37 Dillinger Escape Plan – “Dead as History”
00:16:58 Mr. Oizo – “Inside the Kidney Machine”
00:21:48 Buck 65 – “Drawing Curtains”
00:25:36 Roots Manuva – “Feel Da Panic”
00:29:33 DJ Vadim – “Your Revolution”
00:34:45 Snares – “Electric Funeral”
00:39:49 The Bug – “Freak Freak”
00:44:36 Glen Brown – “Version 78 Style (When The Three Mines Clash)”
00:49:10 These Arms Are Snakes – “Gadget Arms”
00:57:19 Refused – “Refused Party Program”
00:59:57 Acid Tiger – “Death Wave”
01:09:17 Fuck Buttons – “Bright Tomorrow”
01:16:40 Download – “Glassblower”
01:19:37 Body – “Empty Hearth”
01:23:59 Queens of the Stone Age – “Spiders and Vinesgroms”
I was wandering around the internets a few days ago and lucked into a pile of Dax Riggs bootlegs. I’ve got some live stuff already, but what got me excited about these is a bunch of the songs are unreleased demos. Most of which I haven’t heard before. Have a listen to “Wherever Forever Is” from Electric Comoland below.
Opeth just dropped their new album Heritage and to celebrate they got all Timothy Leary on us made a video for “The Devil’s Orchard”. Or at least that’s what the end results seems to indicate.
It remains to be seen if any chemicals were ingested during the making of the video, but no matter what, it’s pretty stunning. Kind of reminds me of “Pretty Noose” by Soundgarden, but with a storyline. A confusing storyline, but a storyline nonetheless.
So I have a good news/bad news story involving Krallice. The good news is that they have released a new EP Orphan of Sickness and it’s free. The bad news it’s a result of them loosing a friend – Brendan Majewski of Brooklyn’s Orphan.
As a tribute to Brendan, Krallice has recorded covers of three Orphan songs and bundled them up as this free EP. Have a listen to “Boat Driver” below or just get to the goods and download the whole EP.
I’m usually pretty good at discovering new music. But every once and a while something really great will fly under the radar. Eventually I wise up and regret taking so long to get on board. But sometimes my late arrival can be a blessing in disguise. Specifically when the band I just discovered has an extensive back catalogue waiting for me to devour.
This is exactly what happened to me this past spring with Ontario’s Woods of Ypres. After reading a review of Woods IV: The Green Album, I got myself a copy and have been obsessed with the album ever since. Seriously – I can`t stop listening to it. Obviously I was pretty stoked to find out the band had an EP and two other full lengths waiting for me to get my mitts on.
I listen to plenty of black metal and doom, both of which you will clearly hear in Woods of Ypres’ songs. Yet they somehow manage to pull from these and other genres in ways that feel familiar and foreign all at once. You may recognize the sombreness of Type of Negative by times, or even a little Acid Bath infused sludge surfacing on a track like “Suicide Cargo Load (Drag That Weight)”. Both of which are pluses in my book. However, they also draw from other styles of music that are far from heavy rotation in my house and turn them into songs that I can`t stop playing. Consider my horizons expanded.
Limited Edition Home 7″
Just when I thought I had tracked down everything the band had released to date, I was pleasantly surprised to find out the well was not dry. Two tracks – “Falling Apart” and “You Were the Light” were released as a 7” titled Home last year.
Both are available to download on Woods of Ypres’ Bandcamp page for a dollar each and there are still copies of the actual 7” available – which is green and beer colored clear vinyl and limited to 500. The artwork for the 7” was done by Fursy Teyssier, whose work you will be familiar with if you saw my top 10 album covers of 2010. Specifically he did the art for Écailles De Lune by Alcest and .neon by Lantlôs.
Want your own copy? Info on how to order the Home 7”, along with some more details on the making of it can be found here.
So here we are, halfway into 2011 and Kylesa‘s Spiral Shadow is still in heavy rotation in my house, car, iPod or pretty much any device capable of playing audio. What doesn’t seem like such a complex listen at first, just keeps growing on me and revealing new layers yet to be discovered.
The band didn’t completely reinvent themselves or suddenly come into their own. They just improved on what they already did well and added some subtle new flourishes. Nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes that’s all it takes.
If you haven’t checked out Spiral Shadow yet, you would be hard pressed to make better use of your time and money. Support good music.
