Thursday, April 21, 2016

Album Review-BeastMaker: Lusus Naturae






Lusus Naturae is the debut record from California Doom group Beastmaker and was released March 25th, 2016. I had heard of this band roughly a few months before this record came out through word of mouth. I decided to check out their You Must Sin EP which i found interesting but i was really curious how their debut record was going to sound. Well I have it here so lets give it a spin.

Track Rundown

1.Clouds in the sky- opening with an ominous church bell with some record scratching in the back and wham the band comes in with a thick classic doomy riff. This record right away i can tell has that vintage production similar to what I appreciated so much on Brimstone Covens new record. Trevor Church's vocals are really good and have almost and Uncle Acid feel to them but are alot more clear. the band overall is really tight and this opener is a pretty good grooving rock tune.

2.Eyes are watching-This song sounds like it came right off Pentagrams Repentless as the guitar tone is almost the exact same to my ears anyway. However, these guys give off a really dirty garage band vibe to me. The mellow bit in the middle i really like as it breaks up the formula a bit. I dig the soloing too on this record as it is not super far out there but it isnt too buried either. Pretty good song.

3.Arachne- This song has alot more of a straight forward feel to it and almost feels like it is off Sabbaths Vol. 4 record. I do really like the lyrics on this song they are pretty catchy. I love the bass especially in this song it is really audible. It speeds up a bit toward the end with a really good fuzzy solo thrown in for good measure.

4.Skin Crawler-This song has one of my favorite riffs on the whole record it has that tragic kind of feel to it. The Psychedelic interlude in the middle works pretty well also. The solo is also one of my favorites on the album as well it rips hard.

5.Find the stranger- Opening with a more ominous guitar, this song has a bit softer edge to it but still feels pretty heavy and borders on a vintage yet new more refined sound. There is still some heavy riffing in this song but it stays mostly in that sort of mellow range.

6.You Must Sin- this song made it to the record and it feels like it fits pretty well. It has almost a stoner rock kinda riff to it and is pretty catchy as well. The song overall is quite simple. A solid straight forward song.

7.Burnt Offering- Another more simple kind of droning doom song that feels a bit slow but still has a nice riff to it that I appreciate. The harmonizing guitar and bass fits really nice as well. I like the wahed out solo too it fits very well into this song.

8.Mask of Satan- I really like how heavy this song is starting out and has a pretty strong vintage sounding main riff that I can get behind as well. This actually is probably one of the most powerful songs on the record as well. The solo is another favorite as well.

9.It- this song has a sludgier pace to it and the guitars seem a bit less bassy as well it almost sounds like im listening to this song through a vintage radio. Its a song that fits very well with the rest of the record really.

10. Astral Corpse- A bit more of a chugging riff on this song and I really dig the chorus here as well it sounds really heavy.

11.Lusus Naturae- This song features my favorite vocal performance on the record and I really like the more atmospheric bit toward the middle as well. Good title track it rocks pretty hard.

12.The Strain- A pretty heavy doom riffed song closes out this record and is a pretty good closer for these guys. It follows alot of the same formula that the rest of the record has but the vocals are a bit higher and they just jam out until the end, Pretty killer.


Overall, I give this record a 7.8 out of 10. I enjoyed this album pretty well and I dig the styles these guys play. Alot of the record was very familiar to me in terms of the musical formula but these guys really belt it out and do so fairly well and they are a very tight group as well and I definitely recommend checking Beastmaker out on tour if you get a chance

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

MHX Radio-A Tribute















Roughly two years ago I stumbled upon an internet radio station that would change me forever. They were a Chicago based internet radio called Metal Head X-treme Radio. These guys played literally heavy metal from anywhere you could think of. My favorite shows that played through the week were Late Night Morning show which showcased a lot more classic metal and had some funny as hell segments as well, it was really a trip. A show that happened every evening was Mojo In The Evening with Steve McCarthy as the head dj who is a funny funny guy and his show was great he played everything under the sun as well. On Wednesdays you had the Doom Cellar which was my favorite show when I first started listening I would actually sneak off from work to listen in. you also had the Progressive Power Hour, the Cure for the Obscure and much more it was just a melting pot of so much stuff. Unfortunately recently they have gone of the air and it was sad to see them go. They are the reason I took to journalism as my major in college as well as introducing to me some fantastic bands like Bloody Hammers, Venomous Maximus, local boys Spillage and northern band Electric Revolution who are probably the two best bands on the scene for me right now among hundreds of others I would’ve never heard of if it wasn’t for these guys. I want to extend my thanks to Dozer, T Rex and Steve specifically for giving me a chance to become a part of the family. Rock On guys.