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WeedeaterGod Luck and Good Speed

There’s something in the water down there in the South. For years, bands from that region have been mixing southern-boogie with the heaviest of metals (the music, not the shit on the periodic table). The results have been downright disgusting, depraved and quite enjoyable. Enter Weedeater. Fronted by sludge pioneer Dixie-Dave, of such scene luminaries Buzzov*en and Bongzilla, the band has been playing for years, pounding out live shows and albums of classic sludge brewed in the sweltering south. Heavy, heavy guitar and bass riffs comprise the majority of the songs on God Luck and Good Speed, though the departure in the acoustic folk song “Alone” breaks up the album nicely. The lyrics generally deal with isolation and anger and though on the whole are not particularly poetic, they serve the songs well. This album doesn’t re-write the sludge-metal book, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t rock like a motherfucker.

Weedeater will play July 6 at Mt. Tabor.

Richard PinhasMetatron

Hailing from France and best known for his music in 1970s experimental rock band Heldon, Richard Pinhas continues his career in electronic-based music with his latest album Metatron. Over two hours of droning, pulsing and hypnotic music make up this two-CD release, and overall it’s a fairly successful effort. The songs each have a glowing, fuzzy ambience that, while lacking a distinct structure, still manage to sound complete. This definitely isn’t rock music, though it occasionally flirts with straightforward percussion and arrangements. It is more an exploration of electronic layering and density, without the need to find a clear musical paradigm at the end. Metatron floats in a sea of obfuscation and sometimes that’s OK, even if it occasionally annoys more than it intrigues.

King Diamond

Give Me Your Soul… Please

Ugh… this is gross. King Diamond (of 1980s metallers Mercyful Fate) unpacks another horrid album of faux evilness and ball-less “power metal.” Some of the songs have catchy guitar parts, but that singing! How can anyone like Diamond’s crappy-ass falsetto? This album may or may not be a concept album about a little girl getting murdered. It isn’t really clear and it doesn’t really matter. Give Me Your Soul… is bad, cheesy music brought to you by the man who popularized “corpse-paint” and as such, the album has little redeeming musical value.

Baroness/UnpersonsA Great Sigh In a Flower Husk

Split albums are a mixed bag. Typically, only one of the bands is any good, and the extra space and time devoted to the sub-par band feels like a waste. Luckily, that isn’t the case with A Great Sigh In a Flower Husk. Both bands–Unpersons and Baroness–have unique and awesome takes on modern heavy music. Baroness opens up with two songs of epic doom-metal that is comparable to the early sounds of prog-metallers Mastodon. There’s melody there, but what’s great about Baroness is their all-out heaviness. It’s like Black Sabbath channeled through a southern-fried, psychedelic hillbilly rampage. Unpersons follow with four songs of heavy noise-rock. Angular guitar lines and… um… “diverse” vocals are featured prominently. This sounds appropriately damaged, in a good, Black Flag-ish way. Both bands are highly recommended.