Halmos' Full-Length LP "Exist" Review

Between the Boston bombing and West, Texas explosion, we're living in rather tumultuous times. When things get chaotic, it's nice to have some consistency, some familiar things, and things that are comfortable. The strong and still growing doom metal scene in Atlanta is full of sounds to help you calm down, slow down, and chill out, and Halmos' new album is a definite example of this. Their new album Exist delivers a solid, consistent, and plenty heavy effort that builds and expands upon their first EP, Vicious Cycle (which was one of my first reviews.)
Since the EP was released, the former duo has expanded into a quartet, adding Melanie Maher on bass and Casey Yarbrough on guitar number two. Both new members partake in vocal duties as well, meaning that everybody in Halmos gets to have his or her say at some point.

The vocals on songs that were brought over from the Vicious Cycle EP still focus on guitarist Corey Briley's straightforward speak-shout style for a good bit. However, the explosion of variety in the vocal styles since the EP serves as a testament to how important interesting vocals are, and how they can add a lot of intrigue and even depth to a band's sound. The clean singing in tracks "Outcry" and "Datura" stand out to me, and sometimes can get stuck in my head for hours. They just fit their underlying groove so well, and contrast nicely with the spoken and rougher vocals. The rougher vocals feel stronger in this release as well, and add yet another vocal variety.

Beneath the vocals thrums the heart of a doom metal beast. What Vicious Cycle hinted at has been realized in the form of fully fleshed out riffs. These Georgians worship at the same riff-hewn altar as doom behemoths Sleep, Conan, Acid King, Electric Wizard, and Black Sabbath. Everything is drenched in fuzz and distortion afforded by the ridiculous amount of Orange amps these guys have. The addition of Melanie Maher's bass playing adds much needed low-end support, and Casey Yarborough injects a freshness and versatility that sets the tracks new for the LP apart. The pacing is good, and shifts to fit the context of each song; nothing feels overly fast or slow. I could see myself jamming Exist while cruising down the highway with the windows down on an 80° summer day, while pumping my fist in time with the anthemic stylings.

This picture of their amps alone should

tell you how rad this album is

All together, Halmos plays slow and heavy, with a lot of groove and a lot to say. In their interview with Sludgelord, Corey talks about how the album is broken down into 3 parts, based on the givens of existence. Tracks 1-3 are about "Meaninglessness and Existential Isolation", 4-6 touch on "Freedom and Its Attendant Responsibility", and 7-9 focus on "The Inevitability of Death." Substantial topics in doom and stoner metal? I guess it's more likely than you think. This only adds to the intrigue of the album, and elevates it to a thought-provoking level not normally associated with this sort of music.

Although it is still somewhat constrained by sticking to music that was created as a two-piece, Halmos' style has become much fuller, fleshed-out, and maybe even more fully realized on this album. The addition of the new vocals adds welcomed contrast to the original style, and the added bass and guitar give this record the thump that Halmos deserved. As I see it though, these guys and girl are on the upswing: this album is just an appetizer for what I think Halmos can do. If they're headed where I think they're headed, their next album will fucking blow doors down. Not that this album is a slouch by any means, it's a damn good stoner anthem worth your time and money. But Halmos, they're just getting started.
8.3/10

The biggest noticeable change is Travis Anderson's hair. What was once a pinhead afro has transformed into an intimidating yet glorious peacock's mane as fuzzy as their sound. Awesome.

To see for yourself, stream it here while you still can!

Up next, look for the regular allotment of show reviews, but especially look for some Black Tar Prophet reviews that have been way, way overdue.

Brother Ares' "Devourer of Worlds" debut EP review

I've been meaning to review this album for at least a month. Apologies to everyone involved, I've had a great many things on my plate this last month, from attending weddings to battling bouts of depression and bad sunburns. Without further ado, let's get to the EP!

The album opens with pounding percussion and feedbacking guitar. Another guitar comes in, and both begin to play around in antithesis of any parallel ideas. The guitars battle over top of the continuing plodding drums. The guitars meander and mosey, but never really reach a focal point. It's an interesting effect, but one that leaves me wondering what the point is.

The drums transition nicely into the next song, "Hands like Salt". The guitar comes in softly, hintingly, and then gives you the overdrive that it makes you want. Excellent grooving riff at this point. Delightfully distilled doom. Then- hark! Are those screams I hear? The vocals come in nicely, albeit buried beneath the burly guitar tone. Then, back to the groove, and the drums become more elaborate. Man, that tone is great. More buried vocals! What I can hear is great, but dammit I wish I could hear them better. Everything falls away except for the guitar. Then Bam! Even more guitar crunch is added, and the drums explode back into the sound as well. Ooh! A tasty litle, almost acoustic-sounding guitar break, and then right back into the fury. Brazen drums, thundrous guitars, and screams. Love it. That riff. That fucking riff. As repetitive as it is, I don't think I could ever get tired of it. And now a delayed guitar foray? Dig it, though it does feel a tad overlong, until it echoes out. Very nicely done.

Song three, "Brother Ares" starts with a hi-hat, a little feedback, and then down comes the riffs. Heavy stuff. Then suddenly, the guitar is muted, and the drummer begins to scream! Almost a whisper at first, it grows until a full shout until the riffs return. These vocals are somewhat buried too. These guys must really worship the Riff; they surely don't let their vocals get in the way of it. Crush crush crush, and then everything stops. Wait, is this the next song? Nope, my mistake. The break here is enough to make you think otherwise, and the change in tone only adds to that notion. After the small silence, the guitars come in very softly and understated, almost deceptively, for after a few bars, down comes a slice of some quite crushing doom. And then back to the same riff as before, almost triumphantly, as though Brother Ares has laid his foe to waste, and his dirging battle march continues on. Delightfully droning outro here. Feedback is had, and drums are beat seemingly at random.

And then, it goes right into "Already Dead" without even a blink. The riffs here feel the most menacing out of any song, and the vocals too. Now everyone is screaming! This song is a powerhouse. And way too short! They definitely leave you hanging.

Overall, pretty damn good album. Great doom, good vocals, and great fucking riffs. My only complaint is that the first song feels too meandersome and unfocused. Otherwise, I'd highly recommend it if you're a fan of doom metal.
8.5 out of 10

Footnote: After comparing the version on their bandcamp, it appears the vocals aren't as buried as I thought. Either the CD sounds different, or my new headphones are to blame. You should buy the CD and then listen to their bandcamp below to see for yourself.

Brother Ares, Dead Channels, Nothing But Wolves, and Across Tundras at the Muse

Ah the Muse. With your subpar acoustics and stodgy sound guys, you were always one of my places to see shows with earplugs in tow. Sadly, the Muse is slated to close at the end of May, so this might have been my last show there. Sad faces all 'round.

Anyway, first up at this possibly final gig was my good friends Brother Ares.
Good show like always. It's been too long to remember too many specifics, but one glaring thing I do remember is that Gore's vocals definitely weren't high enough in the mix. I'll chalk that up to the stodgy sound guy. Otherwise, great show as usual.
8.something/10

Look for my review of their new self-titled EP soon! Til then, give it a go yourself and form your own opinion.



Next up was Dead Channels.
These guys are from New York, so I probably shouldn't be reviewing them since I review Nashville bands, but whatever. They made it all the way from NY to here, so I feel like they deserve a little feedback. These guys were pretty sweet. They're a little hard to pin down, but if I had to, I'd characterize their sound as somewhere between High on Fire and Primus, with a hefty dose of KEN Mode thrown in. The vocals were shouted, and the guitarist was excellent. The riffs were a bit staccato for my taste, but not enough to be as annoying as the breakdowns in most deathcore. They made it work. I hope these guys come back soon.
8.6/10

Oh hey, these guys have a bandcamp too!



Third up was Nothing But Wolves.
These guys are from NY as well, and the same goes for them. These guys were definitely full-on hardcore. The singer was energetic, and the bassist was lively and sang a bit. Also, I could swear that the guitarist was in Mastodon. I never got to ask him, so I guess that thought will just bug me forever. Regardless, these guys were fun. I can't say they were especially innovative, but damn they were fun. If I'd known the words to their songs, you bet your ass that I would have been up there, screaming the lyrics while forehead to forehead with the singer.
7.9/10

Like them here!

Last but certainly not least was Across Tundras.
These guys are moving up in the world! Last I heard, they were recording with Neurosis' label, Neurot Recordings. If that doesn't qualify a band as badass, then I'm not sure what does anymore. Anyway, these guys have been through a lineup change or two since I saw them in March of 2010 with Junius and a few others. Thankfully, this hasn't deterred their sound much - these guys rock as hard as ever. With a mix of Metal, Country, and everything in between, these guys are soothing, hypnotic, and invigorating all at once. Twang metal? I'm not sure how I feel about that moniker.

However, partway through their set, disaster struck: guitarist/vocalist Tanner's guitar amp went out. After a powerful and decidedly angry kick to it, the thing still didn't work, so they decided to cut their set short. Sadface. Despite the shortened set, these guys still kicked ass. I hope they play close to home once more soon!
8.6/10

I was fortunate enough to snag one of their 7" splits with Hellbender (accompanied with a sweet poster), so I may review that in the near future if I get a chance. Since I think I posted that with a different review, here's Across Tundras' latest full release, Sage:


At the time of my writing of this entry, this blog has made it to over 1000 hits! Thanks so much to all 20 of you who have visited the page 50 times, it means a lot to me. Hopefully I'm on my way to writing this thing for actual money someday!

A Quick, Rather Overdue Review of Kit Fistu, Brother Ares, Exorcism, Fenris, Intoxicated Male, and Witch Hex at the Muse

First off, I'd like to all apologize to my readers (yes, all ten of you) for how late this review is. Between sickness, school, skiing accidents, and other shenanigans, I've barely had time to think. But here it is, a quick n dirty review of Kit Fistu-Brother Ares-Exorcism-Fenris-Intoxicated Male-Witch Hex at the Muse on Feb 26th.

First: Intoxicated Male.

Post-tech-math-prog-grind-core from somewhere around here. Guitarist's fingers never stop moving. Screamer Elias is intense. Good, high energy show. 8.5/10ish

Stream their shit here!


2nd: Fenris!
Show is as good as ever. [Lead Singer] Chance is the man; he and Elias of Intoxicated Male are bros, yelling together into the mic often during Fenris' set. Chance talks about hating religion before one song. Good crunchy heavy shit throughout. 8/10

My memory gets a little hazy here so bear with me. I think the next band was Witch Hex:


When Exorcism and Brother Ares join forces, planets are shaken and demons cower. Crazy, droney, screamy improv jam set. Incredible.  9/10 DO IT AGAIN

Afterwards, Brother Ares and Exorcism each put on a show of their own. the Ares Bros were as solid as ever. I got to sit on the stage for their set! Awesome. Can't wait for their EP to get finished. Exorcism was fantastic as well. Sean got down from the stage and joined the crowd. Despite his normally mild-mannered nature, the guy is a madman when Exorcism gets going. He puts his whole body into the music. So energetic, so awesome. So glad I got to see a full set.
9/10ish for both.

Last was Kit Fistu.
I don't remember their show very well, unfortunately. I think it was pretty fun, but I don't remember any details. They sound pretty good on record though. Nice and crunchy. Can't remember/10
Check them out below!

THE LONG AWAITED HIMEN HOUSE FENRIS BROTHER ARES ASSNUKE DEX/FRIENDS EXORCISM INTERVIEWS SHOW REVIEWS PICTURES CLUSTERSHITFUCK

ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! After a long 11 days of being somewhere between busy and sick, I am finally posting this Himen House thing in one whole blog post! Alright!

Let's start with the interviews!

Fenris and Jessie Mowery of quote: "Every Band Ever"
After moving to Jessie's room and shooting the shit about how awesome Dixie Dave and all of his bands are, we got down to "business".
Me: So tell me about your band, what you guys are all about.
Fenris' vocalist Chance: We've been a band for like a year now.
Guitarist Danny: We smoke weed and drink beer and ride bikes.
Bassist Deighton or Dee-dee (or a variation of that spelling): The story of our first show is pretty interesting.
Drummer Jimmy: Our first show was terrible...
Dee-Dee: Not really the show... (garbled)... but between our first and second show, we completely changed the lineup.
Chance: We didn't even have a band.
Dee-dee: The first show came down to the last week. Evan Galvarez was supposed to be the bassist of Fenris, right? It came down to the last week, and he lived in Hendersonville. They got robbed. And [the other band members] were like "Well Dee-Dee, Evan can't come, so we're just gonna teach you all the bass parts, and if it works out, you can be the bassist." And I was like "Sweet."
Chance: We had a fill-in drummer at our first show and Jimmy played guitar, and it was all on practice amps.
Dee-dee: We wrote at least half our setlist two nights before the gig. It came down to like three nights before the gig and we were like "We've got two songs, we need to make a few more." So yeah, it was pretty ridiculous, and it wasn't that great. But then, it got good.
Chance: The coolest thing about our first show was the Filler cover.
Dee-dee: And then we were like, we need a guitarist, Jimmy should be the drummer. How about Danny? He's a really good guitarist. And then we got Danny for our next show, and he's been with us ever since.
Jimmy: Yeah, they were like "See if this works" and I was like "Alright man."
Me: You guys rock hard. Influences?
Dee-dee:Brainwreck, I would say.
Dex and Friend's guitarist/vocalist Jessie: Yeah, Brainwreck. They're a band from here.
Chance: When I started a band, I started it because I saw them.
Jessie: They broke up September of last year. I think they were a band for almost three years. I played a lot of shows with them.
Chance: They were just fast and raw and heavy as fuck. Badass.
Jessie: Really awesome hardcore. Powerviolence. Whatever the fuck. But always really emotional sets. They didn't give a fuck, they were just playing to fucking do it, and have fun.
Chance: But musically we've been listening to a lot of post-hardcore. Saetia, Orchid, shit like that.

Unfortunately, I realized after the interview after this that the voice recording app I was using on my phone stopped recording at five minutes, so the above transcript is all I have verbatim from this interview. Which is really quite unfortunate, because after this part, we talked about the Nashville scene and how it has evolved, and Jessie Mowery waxed rather eloquently on the subject. I will make a new blog post once I am able to catch up with him and see if he remembers what he said on this night.

Brother Ares and Sean from Exorcism
After musing for two minutes about Unsane, beards and mustaches, makeup, and Carson Daly trying to be Dick Clark:
Me: So what are you guys all about? That's a good place to start, right?
Brother Ares' guitarist/vocalist Blake: Beards.
Brother Ares' drummer/vocalist Gore: I don't know what that means.
Me: : Maybe something easier. Influences!
Blake: The Body, Beast in the Field...
Gore: Melvins...
Blake: Earthless, Om. We totally cover Om in practice. And of course, by proxy, Sleep. And with all metal bands, it comes back to [Black] Sabbath, really. Any slow metal band to an extent.
Jessie pokes his head in here: Really any evil sounding metal band...
Blake: The tritone! The devil's chord!
Me (to Sean): How about you?
Exorcism's vocalist Sean: I guess basically shit like Swans, Big Black, the Jesus Lizard, Discharge, and Meanderthal. The Gun Club are a big one. Fuckin' love the Gun Club. Shit like Trial, Undertow. Just basically anything fuckin' heavy and visceral. Not even necessarily heavy, but just visceral. We all listen to a lot of shit. Patsy Cline.
Blake: We'd be all about that.
Gore: We actually want to start a powerviolence cover band called Johnny Gash.
Sean: Just a lot of different shit. If you limit yourself to one type of thing...
Gore: ...You're really fuckin' up.
Sean: Shit like that. Black metal stuff.
Norwegian music is discussed. Modern black metal is brought up. Arguments concerning Liturgy ensue.
Me: So you got your demo out, are you guys (Exorcism) at a standstill, what with the eviction and stuff?
Sean: Well I mean, this just happened a few days ago, the guys are staying at a motel right now, but we'll be alright. We'll figure something out. If the guys could drag themselves up from Murfreesboro they could practice at my house...
Me: So what do you think about the Nashville scene?
Sean: I'm just getting into it. I moved back here after living out West for a couple of years. There's so many fucking good bands. There's really good shit. I kind of feel like this area almost has its own sound. Everybody seems really restless, nobody wants to do the same thing. All these punk, metal, whatever bands. There's so many bands that feel that way and pull from whatever the fuck they want. It's really, really cool. I really like what's going on here. I've liked every band we've played with. It's really surprising. They're not going for anything specific, they're just going for what they want to hear and play.

While I wasn't able to talk much to Clay Cronic of Assnuke beyond talking about DRI and Melvins being influences at the time, I was able to catch up with him tonight and ask him if he wanted to talk about any other influences.
Assnuke's guitarist/singer Clay: "Poison Idea, Aus Rotten, we play a Battalion of Saints cover, and if I wanted to be that asshole I'd say the Germs, but that's a big stretch. Preston [the drummer] is into a lot more metal than I am. Needless to say, I listen to a lot of shit across the board, but as a punk band, it's hard not to sound completely musically autistic. At these days? We try to practice a lot, same old shit."

Pictures of Brother Ares coming soon. I invited my dumbass sweet and loving brother to come take pictures of the show, but there was an error in communication so he thought I only wanted pictures of one band. He showed up, took pics of Bros Ares, and left. He still hasn't sent me the pictures. I'm trying to get him to come and actually cover all of the next event.

And now it's the part everyone's been waiting for! The Reviews! Let's hope I remember enough of the show to review it.

First up was Fenris.
Sludge. Hardcore. Punk. Crust. Grindcore. If Fenris was a refrigerator, all of these labels would stick like magnets (and you can bet your ass that this Fenris-fridge would be stocked with nothing but beer). These guys could do slow, fast, and anything in between, with topics ranging from the serious (one song was about how Chance had lost a friend to prescription pill abuse) to the delightfully, blasphemously absurd (I'm fairly certain their last tune was a speedy grinder entitled "Skullfuck Moses"). Excellent show, full of passion and energy. Would watch again. 8.5/10

Next was my bros Brother Ares.
Don't be fooled by their lack of band members, this duo will rip your face off and make you beg for more. Their mighty beards alone should be reason for you to cower in both fear and awe. Their crunchy mixture of sludge and doom metal will leave you flattened, gasping for air as your lungs are unable to open beneath the crushing, glacier-paced sound. Despite needing to borrow a cymbal or two, Blake and Gore were in top form, their screams and shouts shaking the diminutive venue and annoying at least one neighbor. Just when I thought they couldn't get any better, they debuted a cosmolith of a song, with an extremely heavy almost minimalist riff, punctuated by a gorgeous noise-inspired mid-section and outro. After a few more songs and an outcry of "TUNE, ASSHOLE!", Blake switched to the totally brutal sparkly blue guitar for their traditional closing song, a cover of Black Flag's "My War". It was better than I remember. 9.2/10

Third on the bill was Assnuke.
This duo kicked off their playlist with a song about cigarettes, with an Addams Family-esque intro and clap(snap?)-along parts that quickly turned into a DRI-fueled thrashy hardcore moshfest. In fact, most of their songs sounded quite DRI-inspired, moreso than just their cover of DRI's "I Don't Need Society". Despite this slightly derivative sound, the band was a blast. I found myself head-banging along even joining in in making an itty bitty mosh pit with about five other guys. Their last song was a bit more robust, with a slower, almost more thoughtful pace, and Clay using a different vocal style. I hope these guys explore this direction in the future, what with variety being the spice of life and all that good bullshit. 7.9/10

Fiddlesticks was to be the next band on the bill, but the guitarist split. So at the last second, Dex (the drummer of Fiddlesticks) teamed up with fellow Himen house resident Jessie Mowery (veteran of countless Nashville bands, including the up and coming Nut Collector who has a split with Fenris) to become The Dex Experience Dex and Friends!
For being a rather rushed collaboration, I was extremely surprised and impressed by this pair. Dex jammed on drums while Jessie played very echoey, post-rock/metal/punk guitars and screamed at a level that was somewhere between hardcore punk and black metal. After one building jam, I craved more. Unfortunately, one jam was all they played. NEEDMOAR/10

The final act was Exorcism. I'd heard a lot about these guys in talking to Blake before the show, so I was excited. To my extreme mispleasure and disfortune, I was outside smoking a cigarette during most of their set, and made it in during the tail end of their heavy as fuck, doomy sludge tune. Their "last" song was a blaster of a hardcore song, with Sean waking the dead on vocals. After a brief pause, some premature gratitude, and a quick water break, the band reconvened and played a ruthless cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid". I was more than proud to join in with the handful of guys screaming the words into the fittingly tinted pink and gold microphone. It was an absolute blissful end to a heavy-hitting, exhausting night. And while I'd like to give these guys a numerical review, I feel that I need more data in order to make an apt judgment. 2.5 songs simply isn't enough. Needsmoreresearch/10

Should I get around to it, look for my review of the next show I attend, which looks to be Kit Fistu-Brother Ares-Exorcism-Fenris-Intoxicated Male-Witch Hex at The Muse on Feb 26. Should be a good time.