HPGD Labelmates Oshiego and Throatplunger

Oshiego 'The Great Architect Of Nothing'

   This band comes from Singapore by way of the Horror Pain Gore Death Productions label that has turned us on to so many outstanding (if obscure) acts. 'The Great Architect Of Nothing' features some very intriguing cover art. It's nothing elaborate or beautiful, but the concept of the cover alone generates curiosity.

    The HPGD press release describes the release as "Eight soul shattering original tracks of groovy, neck-breaking riffs, bonecrushing subsonic bass and primal, warlike exteme percussion ..." and that's pretty spot-on. I'd add that there's a sprinkling of hardcore punk inspiration in there also. The Death Metal tag works, but maybe it's a tad restricting here. I find myself thinking that a lot lately though - whenever a band exceeds the generic expectations that a given description puts in my mind. At the same time, I wouldn't really know what else to call it (Extreme metal doesn't need any more adjectives either).

    Oshiego has an aggression that is very well-crafted.

Throatplunger 'Cumplete Discography'

    I found the Throatplunger CD to be perhaps the single most annoying collection of songs that I have ever gave a listen. The introductory movie samples are the main culprit, they are pointless and overdone.

South of the Earth

Iron Man 'South of the Earth'

    Iron Man are one of those bands that have been around for awhile that I haven't ever really gotten into all that much. They had a CD out several years ago that I listened to a few times but it failed to make much of an impression. The band had a good sound but the songs just weren't all that good. That's been my opinion of the overwelming majority of rock and metal acts for the longest time now. It's got to be a tremendous task to write something that sounds more original than it does derivative.

    Guitarist Alfred Morris III is the driving force behind the band, it's very much his baby. And what an exceptional guitarist he is, his sound is precise, soulful, and scorching. 'Screaming Mad' Dee Calhoun has a powerful throat and makes for a competent frontman. The overall sound on 'South of the Earth' is far too groovy to call this a Doom Metal release. Much credit can be given to the rhythm section, Louis Strachan on bass and Jason Waldmann on the drums.

    For the sake of comparison, I'd have to look to the groundbreaking Kyuss release 'Blues for the Red Sun'. That's very apparant on track three 'A Whore in Confession' and remains throughout the entire CD. I'd not label these guys as Kyuss rip-offs or anything like that, but the likeness is a consistency. Kyuss were one of my all-time favorite bands, so the comparison is more complimentary than anything else. (It's not a matter of my listening to Iron Man and thinking "Hey, they lifted that part from Freedom Run ...")

    The lyrical content is very much Doom Metal with familiar Christian/Catholic and Lovecraft subject matter. That's all well and good here, but those things can become tedious after awhile. Especially when the music is equally uninspired, which is not the case here. (Perhaps someone should redo a classic Sabbath number and rechristen it 'A Tired Road' to properly and effectively address the problem.)

    I like 'South of the Earth' enough to recommend it to any Kyuss and Black Sabbath fans out there. It's a pretty solid release with 'A Whore In Confession' being one of those ageless classics. The title track is monumental as well.

This one time at band camp

** One time when I was 10 or 12 maybe, I was outta town and visiting family and friends. One of the neighborhood kids was being a little sh*t, I thought, and drinking chocolate milk. I haven't the faintest idea why I thought he was a little sh*t, but surely he was being one. He went inside his house and left his drink on the porch. I seized the moment and put a handful of mud in his glass of chocolate milk. I'm literally dying here right now as I think of the look on his face when he took a big gulp. **

Not exactly sure what made me think of that, but for whatever reason, I did. It was quite a hoot.

The Distortion Field

Trouble 'The Distortion Field'

    Trouble is a band that hasn't crossed my mind in quite awhile. Certainly they're a notable band that I liked 'way back when'. They had their own sound, they stood out. They never were a favorite by any means, but when I read about there being a new CD out I was immediately interested. Moreso upon learning that vocal duties were being handled by former Exhorder vocalist Kyle Thomas.

    Exhorder was another notable band, 'The Law' spent a good deal of time in my cassette deck. They were pretty solid, never really a favorite either, but did hold my attention for a time. I never really bought into the whole Pantera rivalry though. They weren't anywhere close to being as good of a band as Pantera.

    Kyle Thomas has a much more powerful voice than long time Trouble vocalist Eric Wagner. Wagner may be the more distinct of the two, but his vocal stylings are among those qualities with no room for middle ground. You either love it or hate it with Wagner on the mic. That's not to say that Thomas isn't a tad reminiscant of him occassionally here either, he just doesn't have that same annoying quality which embodies Wagner's voice. I'm actually surprised that Thomas has been so far from being on the music radar (so far as I'm aware of. And really that's the only thing that counts on this here blog site.) with his set of pipes.

    Guitarists Bruce Franklin and Rick Wartell remain in the band. Trouble has always had a pretty badass guitar sound. The sound of Doom, if you will. The guitars perhaps sound better than ever. The band is really good, but many of the songs just aren't very memorable from the first listen. I really dig "Sucker", "One Life", and "Have I Told You", but I almost wish that they would have done a cover also because I know they'd really nail it. That said, I do recommend 'The Distortion Field' pretty highly. It has that 'Play it again, Sam' quality that a lot of classic albums possess.