Set These Bats Aflame

I have to say - Brisbane, you are doing a fine job in razing conventions to the ground, with some excellent doom-laden acts scorching the earth. Of course the leading contender (in my heavily biased opinion) is No Anchor. One you may not be aware of though is Golden Bats, Geordie from Dick Nasty/Teargas' solo project. He has two EPs available on Bandcamp (called I and II), and the plaintive yet evocative cover spells it all out for you. A skull spewing a skull spewing fire? A besaddled rat with some dude sleeping on its back? Its dark, heavy dirgey metal with a sense of humour. You've gotta love that!

Golden Bats - Wooden City

You can get I for free here, plus purchase II there too. Georgie has almost finished the third release and is ready to roll out the fourth - its an assembly line of destruction kids! There are tremblings that Golden Bats will be on an SM show further along in the year (maybe creating a nuclear winter...) but you MUST go see him play next Friday, May 4. He is the opening act at Alhambra Lounge, supporting Hope Drone, No Anchor and Heirs! Holy fucking shit! Take your ear plugs, forget your mind, and lose yourself in the beautiful horror...

Friday Cover Up - Heirs Apparant To The Never Land

Melbourne's innovative post-metallers Heirs put out an amazing couple of albums the past couple of years - I particularly loved Fowl for both its sounds and its vinyl ingenuity. They are prepping their third LP, and if their live sound is anything to go by this is hugely exciting news. They released a double A-side 7" a month or so ago called Hunter. Holding the back end was this sprawling cover of Sisters Of Mercy's 'Never Land'. And this is where I leave you this Friday, in a dark, desolate place that you may never return from - but I'm sure you won't be complaining...

Heirs - Never Land (Sisters Of Mercy cover)

Brendan Masala's Top Ten Albums of 2010!

This was ridiculously hard to do for a year where there were a lot of really good albums but not many great ones. Still, when I had done a lot of cross examinations and listened til my ears bled, I was left with some twenty albums that were still floating my boat. As Paul and I found common ground there, as a collective Paul and I have come up with a definitive top ten for tomorrow (with the only exception being our final entry - wont say much until tomorrow), so I'm showcasing a couple that may have slipped through the cracks. And from the above pic I guess you know where we are starting...

1. Mark McGuire, Living With Yourself

I only heard this a month ago, but have not been able to put it to bed. This is guitar collage by a consummate professional (1/3 of the inimitable Emeralds), but with an inherent personal narrative that is more emotive than almost anything you'll come across. Mindblowing.

2. Ceremony - Rohnert Park

This album upset a lot of the hardcore purists that had been swept up by the bloodlust that was Ceremony's initial propulsive drive. Yet its the melodic change of gear and emphasis on early twenties ennui that underpins this album - Ceremony may be in 'The Doldrums', exhibiting lo-fi stargazing with the best of em, but unlike the likes of Beach Fossils et al (many of which are great), these guys will still tear you a new arsehole.

3. Puffy Areolas - In The Army 1981

Puerile, nihilistic trash, screaming and buzzsawing their way through an obnoxious forty minutes that you can never get back, Puffy Areolas are unabashedly bashing their head repeatedly against a wall, whilst holding you in a headlock. And it may take a while, but rest assured you'll have a bloodied grin smeared across your face. A lot of bands (some even from the same Siltbreeze stable) tried for reckless wanton abandon, but none did it like Puffy Areolas.

4. Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts

This album is still up there for me even though it was on relentless rotation early in the year, and was an almost there contender for Sonic Masala's definitive top ten. In some ways I could alternate this album with Harlem's Hippies - both exuded that bright, snotty, scuzzy garage punk with pop sensibilities emblazoned across their chests. But I came to the Dalston trio's brand of sound first, therefore it wins the kudos here. Still incredibly addictive - pretty much my 2010 dance album, albeit drunken and inevitably staining the carpet with red wine and cigarette burns.

5. Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra - Kollaps Tradixionales

We all need a guilty pleasure... I know a lot of people hate Efrin Menuck's voice, and the G!YBE reunion certainly has overshadowed things, but Kollaps Tradixionales is here, not just because it is an impressive, audacious, sprawling, memsmeric listen, but because of their amazing live show in February at Electric Ballroom, and for the epic opening track 'There Is A Light'. And I like Ramirez's voice, so fuck you.

6. Heirs - Fowl

I wanted to put Helms Alee's Night Terror here, but seeing as it is a 2009 release, that cant be done. Instead I bring you Heirs, a hard post-metal outfit from Melbourne that managed on Fowl to squeeze every iota of emotion out of the blackest riffs this side of death metal without resorting to guttural growls, yelps and the gnashing of teeth - which is why I love this genre. Furthermore, it has balls. Big, big balls. They played the tiniest of venues in Camden this year and I saw a man spontaneously combust. FACT. (NB - facts may not be factual).

7. Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Rush To Relax

Another Aussie outfit, but one you might be more familiar with - ECSR's 3rd LP has been largely overlooked almost everywhere, which is a travesty. I know that the release of the first two albums (Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Primary Colours) only came here last year, but its a shame that this garage juggernaut missed the target. They are terse yet fun, brooding yet energetic, manic yet throwaway - and their simple chugging sonics coupled with lead Brendan Suppression's iconic Aussie bark/drawl makes for a unique and amazing sound. They have toured with Pissed Jeans of recent times - expect for more bite next time around.

8. Merchandise - (Strange Songs) In The Dark

Another band I only came to last month - the exact same day as Mark McGuire - this Florida act have put out an amazing EP and a bunch of demos and such (Gone Are The Silk Gardens Of Youth), but the album is something so much more. The loudest, most feedback riddled, brooding pop songs ever. One of the most breathtaking albums of 2010 in my opinion - underneath all that white noise and dissonance is abject beauty.

9. Sex Church - 6 Songs By...

These guys were all the rage in the middle months of 2010, then the hype seemed to die away. Shame really, cos Sex Church (not to be confused with another amazing band, Megachurch, who just miss the cut here) are producing some of the most exciting garage rock right now. When bands such as Tyvek and Sic Alps are all jostling each other for obvious reasons, Sex Church came along and quietly drank everyone under the table and slept with all their girlfriends. And they are from British Columbia. Shit.

10. Tjutjana - Tjutjana

The biggest surprise of the year I reckon, as this is actually a release sent to me by the band themselves. Hailing from Denver Colorado, Tjutjana are relentless in their pursuit of the Dark Side of psych rock. And whilst there were some great psych records out this year, Tjutjana brought forth a fresh, albeit disturbing, take, and blew away the competition.

I feel I've left out some other stellar releases too, so here's a few others that have gotten serious airplay this year.

Honourable mentions

The Austerity Program - Backsliders and Apostates Will Burn (my fave EP of year)
Forest Swords - Dagger Paths
The Black Angels - Phosphene Dream
Weekend - Sports
Besnard Lakes - ...Are The Roaring Night

PVT - Church With No Magic

And I better stop there before I get carried away!

Review - Heirs, Fowl

After their dangerously impressive LP of last year Alchera sunk some minor populated islands in Australasia due to its brooding, then punishing sonic squalls, I wasn't expecting to hear from Heirs again so soon - well, not until they had done their penance in the Underworld. But being the chronic hard workers that they inevitably are, they have just carved out Fowl, out today in Australia in CD format. It is as bruisingly brilliant as you would expect if you've had the pleasure to have heard them before - Alchera would have made my top 10 list of last year if I had heard it then (I only came across this album in March). With this release, Heirs have thrust themselves into the heavy instrumental scene as the New Guard, to join the ranks of veterans such as Isis and Pelican.

I would be remiss if I didnt mention that Fowl, whilst incessantly brutal, is an achingly beautiful affair, a result of the core songwriting duties baton being passed from drummer Damian Coward to guitarist Brent Stegeman. Anyone who is a fan of this genre will recognize this - who the structures of these songs, when done correctly, caresses rather than just bludgeons. Whilst 'Dust' spends over half its 8 minutes slowly building tension before breaking into a storm of noise that is pinioned by the incessant monotonal drumming (which is a compliment by the way) - a la later Godflesh - tracks such as 'Mother' and 'Drain' provide a one-two punch of perfectly orchestrated maelstroms of emotive white noise, closing the album in an immense and - aptly - draining fashion. They have not played rote Isis material here - they have maintained the dark ferocity that this genre expects - nay, demands - and by opening themselves to its cousins, post rock and industrial rock, and a noticeably darker slant on electronic programming, they have provided themselves with a wider sound palette, certain nuances, sound structures and electronic preamble, than many of their contemporaries - Red Sparowes, Mogwai and Trent Reznor are touchstones here, particularly at the tail end of the record...

Released by Denovali Records (home to Her Name Is Calla, worriedaboutsatan, September Malevolence, and Kodiak) Fowl is a behemoth of a record, a pugilistic triumph of the senses. Every member of Heirs is in the right place - its precise, its meticulous, its haunting, its ear-shattering. And regardless of what story its telling - the perverse nature of feeding on filth for entertainment, to sate our hunger, to gratify our sexual appetite, to facilitate our survival - the end result is that at the end of this ride, you will be bruised, battered - and enlightened.

Fowl is out now in Australia in CD form. The UK has to wait a few weeks til October 15th to get it, unless like me you sent away for it - but its better to pre-order here, so you can get vinyl versions - and there are three different packs - yellow/white vinyl (150pcs), yellow/black vinyl (150pcs), and good ol black (300pcs). The rest of the world will have to wait until November, so we have first dibs. Also (and this is great news), Heirs are touring Europe in October, starting off in the Netherlands on the 6th. They make their way to England, where they play not one but TWO shows in London - plus some random outer capital drops - here are the dates/venues:

14/10 - Green Park Tavern, Bath
15/10 - The Unicorn, London
16/10 - Harry's Bar, Stoke-on-Trent
17/10 - The Criterion, Leceister
18/10 - Dublin Castle, Camden

These are mental venues to see an act of this magnitude (AKA small seedy metal venues). I, for one, cannae wait.

Heirs - Dust
Heirs - Burrow

Heirs to the Dark Throne...

There is a reason I still have a MySpace account. One sole, solitary reason. And that is music. I follow bands, encourage them, listen to their new gear, meet like minded people. Actually, you can pretty much scratch that last part - other than occasional emails to bands about tours/albums/dress sense, I am incommunicado. Now this means that you have bands trying to become your friend that are utterly shit - hence the deliciousness of the deny button. But then there are the bands that like what you are into, and throw you a line, asking for you to listen to their music and see what you think...

And they are fucking good.

Netherlands's We Vs Death was one such band (for another day...), and today it is Heirs. A 5 piece from my homeland, these Melbourne, Australia residents (from a cluster of underground acts such as Whitehorse, Love...Like Electrocution, and Damn Arms) are a doom-laden post-rock affair that attempt to infuse elements of Red Sparowes, Mogwai, Mono, Swans and Whitehorse into a smelted black mess of dark and destructive...beauty? Sure, they can be destructive, but elements of their debut LP Alchera, such as The White Swell, does exactly that - swells up into a maelstrom of wall-of-sound elegance. However, it is the brute force stuff they are best at. You can download the album for free here - in the meantime, get a taste below. They are touring the UK in October, so we will keep you posted.

Heirs - Mandril