MY TOP 10 RELEASES OF 2013

James/Horus here...everyone else is doing this so why don't I?

2013 was a fantastic year for metal releases, so many good ones that it was difficult to narrow it down. So here they are in (almost) no particular order, along with my 2 sentence reviews of each:

VOIVOD – Target Earth

Amazing and refreshing return from my all-time favorite band, full of creativity and soul. It instantly claimed a spot next to my favorite VOIVOD records.

GRAVE UPHEAVAL – Untitled

The murkiest and cavernousiest death metal record of all-time. Makes “Onward to Golgotha” sound like power metal.

INQUISITION – Obscure Verses For the Multiverse

The perfect culmination of form and a graceful step forwards for this Satanic duo. Glorious riffs from master craftsman Dagon.

BÖLZER – Aura

Insanely unique Swiss band, it’s rare to have a band burst forth with this much personality and style. To me they sound like old NEUROSIS playing atmospheric death metal.

CLOUD RAT – Moksha

Shoegaze grindcore, emo power-violence, whatever you call it I absolutely love this band and this record. The Neil Young cover chills me to the bone.

BEYOND – Fatal Power of Death

Excellent German death metal, hard hitting with a great atmosphere. This one grew on me big time and now it’s been playing on repeat for weeks.

DARKTHRONE – The Underground Resistance

These guys aren’t just paying homage to the great sounds of the 80’s…they are taking those styles and aesthetics and writing some truly great and well-crafted songs. My favorite is “Valkyrie”.

JESU – Everyday I Get Closer To the Light From Which I Came

If you like the previous JESU material this will not disappoint. The prolific Mr. Broadrick always delivers and this is some of his best material thus far.

MORTIFERA – Bleüu de Morte

A great new album from this French depressive/atmospheric black metal band. Slower tempos than previous releases but still totally raw and creative.

KNELT ROTE – Trespass

Pitch black terror! KNELT ROTE crafts a horrifying amalgamation of black/death metal and bestial grindcore into the most fearsome and intimidating release of the year.

MOONKNIGHT / MOLOCH Split 7" OUT NOW

RBR014 - Rising Beast proudly presents this split 7" release of depressive black metal. The ever-prolific MOLOCH from Ukraine delivers a new song titled "Die letzten Strahlen der Sonne verblassen in der Kalte der Apathie" that continues the great tradition of cold, raw and angular despair you have come to expect from the tortured artist Sergiy Fjordsson. MOONKNIGHT returns with "Night Creature", a bleak, depressive dirge which is the first new song since 2012's "Ligeia" and the first material to feature live drums courtesy of Andorkappen aka LORD TIME. Cover art on the MOONKNIGHT side courtesy of artist Johnny Ryan, MOLOCH cover art and overall layout by Sergiy Fjordsson.

Limited pressing of 250 copies on black vinyl. Heavy stock pro-printed folding covers with black inner sleeves. Released by Rising Beast Recordings. Labels and distros please get in touch for wholesale/trade.

www.risingbeast.bigcartel.com

THE BUNNY GAME Original Soundtrack Preview

Rising Beast Recordings presents THE BUNNY GAME Original Soundtrack, coming January 31st 2013 - RBR012 - THE BUNNY GAME is an indie horror film and the debut of writer/director Adam Rehmeier. This brilliant but controversial film has been banned in the UK but just saw a wide release on DVD and Blu-ray after premiering at numerous festivals and screenings around the world. The film stars Rodleen Getsic (who also co-wrote the film) as a down-and-out prostitute turning tricks in downtown LA. Her daily routine is depicted with an unflinching and unwavering starkness, a detached yet voyeuristic glimpse into a brutal form of existence. Despair turns into savagery and madness once she is picked up by a trucker (Jeff Renfro), who takes her captive and subjects her to series of increasingly bizarre forms of physical and emotional torture.

Rising Beast Recordings is proud to present the official soundtrack release of THE BUNNY GAME. This all-new auditory experience was arranged, edited and sequenced by director Adam Rehmeier just for this release. 60 minutes of music from the film, expanded and seamlessly blended for a sonic journey that is cinematic in scope. Score by Adam Rehmeier. Includes songs by HARASSOR and additional score by James Brown III.
Limited edition of 200 copies. Pro-duplicated cassettes with pro-printed folding j-card inserts.
www.risingbeast.bigcartel.com

UPDATE 12/04/2012

Greetings, just a quick summary of what's been going on lately...

The MONOMAKH cassettes have been a huge hit and we have blown through most of the 200 copies. A large chunk of these went out to many various distros around the globe. We anticipate it selling out here at the label shortly after the New Year. For those interested, Cale Schmidt (the mastermind behind MONOMAKH) has his main band ALTARS, who are currently recording their debut full-length album. They have also recently released a split cassette with HEAVING EARTH, which was released by Nihilistic Holocaust in France. We will be receiving a limited number of these and adding them to the distro soon.

The 3rd full length from my band HARASSOR titled "Night On My Side: The Bruno Sessions" is nearly sold-out on LP, but we still have some cassettes left. Meanwhile, we have been busy recording our next LP (title TBD) at Seahorse Sound Studios in Los Angeles. Basic tracking has been completed, overdubs and mixing remain. This looks to be a big step up for us production-wise, but also in song writing with a batch of new material. We are looking to hit the road spring 2013 in support of this new LP, to be released by Dais Records.

DARGAR is also finished with basic tracking of a large group of new songs, and just a few vocal overdubs remain. From these new recordings we will be putting together our side of a split LP with DEMONOLOGISTS on Whispering Eye, as well as another full-length (label TBD). The new material is a vast progression from the first album...

It's been quite awhile since the last MOONKNIGHT release "Ligeia", which is now sold-out...however we've been very busy with a collection of new material. Expect some announcements soon...

The next release on Rising Beast will be THE BUNNY GAME Original Soundtrack cassette, which we expect to be available by end of January 2013. THE BUNNY GAME is an indie horror film and the debut of writer/director Adam Rehmeier. This brilliant but controversial film has been banned in the UK but just saw a wide release on DVD and Blu-ray after premiering at numerous festivals and screenings around the world. The film stars Rodleen Getsic (who also co-wrote the film) as a down-and-out prostitute turning tricks in downtown LA. Her daily routine is depicted with an unflinching and unwavering starkness, a detached yet voyeuristic glimpse into a brutal form of existence. Despair turns into savagery and madness once she is picked up by a trucker (Jeff Renfro), who takes her captive and subjects her to series of increasingly bizarre forms of physical and emotional torture.

For the official soundtrack release of THE BUNNY GAME, an all-new auditory experience was arranged, edited and sequenced by director Adam Rehmeier. It consists of 60 minutes of music from the film, expanded and seamlessly blended for a sonic journey that is cinematic in scope. Score by Adam Rehmeier and James Brown III, with songs by HARASSOR.

Lots more in the works, we are looking forward to 2013 and our future endeavors. The assaults will never end...

www.risingbeast.bigcartel.com

NEWS UPDATE

HARASSOR - new full-length "Night On My Side: The Bruno Sessions" LP and Cassette editions are in production. This batch of songs was produced and recorded fall 2010 by Bobb Bruno (BEST COAST) in his downtown LA studio, and mastered by Roskva from LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH. LP is limited to 300 copies on black vinyl, cassette limited to 200. Featuring some old songs and a bunch of new ones, this stands to be the best representation of HARASSOR thus far. Meanwhile, we've been busy working on new material for the next release, which we plan to start recording soon. We still have copies of the "Self-Titled" and "Hater of Man" cassettes, although they won't last much longer...

DARGAR - recording is well underway for a planned split with DEMONOLOGISTS (label and format TBD) as well as a new full-length on Rising Beast. The new material is different from the debut release...some of the harsh noise and chaotic elements remain but the sound has greatly evolved and expanded into funeral doom, death metal, shoegaze, post-punk and more...we are eager to reveal more about this exciting project...

MOONKNIGHT - "Ligeia" CD edition is nearly sold-out. Cassette edition just released on Universal Consciousness and is now available. New full-length "Valinor" has been in the works for some time, to be released on Chondritic Sound later this year. Basic tracks are recorded and awaiting vocals and final mix. The new material has more in common with "Toplov" than "Ligeia", with depressive black metal, straight up thrash songs, more shoegaze/post-punk, and even elements of death metal creeping in.

LORD FOUL - we still have copies of the CD and LP editions in stock, as well as t-shirts. Production is underway on the cassette replica version. I've had many people over the years ask about getting an original copy of the cassette demo from 1993. These are very scarce and hard to come by. So I decided to "re-create" the demo exactly as it was done before. Everything is done by hand, from dubbing the cassettes to applying the labels, photocopied covers, and hand-numbering each copy myself. Nothing "professional" about it! This is strictly limited to 50 copies, just for the die-hards! Coming very soon...

http://www.risingbeast.bigcartel.com/

MOONKNIGHT "Ligeia" Cover Art Revealed

Work has been completed on the forthcoming MOONKNIGHT release titled "Ligeia". We can now reveal the cover art and the brilliant dark surrealism of artist William David Pollard. More details to come...

REVIEW: TOXIC HOLOCAUST "Conjure and Command" (Relapse Records)

"Conjure and Command" is the fourth album from Portland, Oregon thrashers TOXIC HOLOCAUST. The release follows 2008's "An Overdose of Death..." and sees the band returning with a new look and a new logo (to the chagrin of some die-hard fans). But what to expect musically? Main man Joel Grind clearly has a love affair with 80's thrash metal, especially the blackened kind, like VENOM, SLAYER, KREATOR, and SODOM. Since 1999, each TOXIC HOLOCAUST release plays like a love letter to those bands, with Joel paying tribute with solid songwriting, chugging riff after chugging riff, and an evil, raspy growl. The band also tours relentlessly, and their DIY blue-collar work ethic has surely aided their ascension to prominence.
However, by their fourth album I admit I was hoping TOXIC HOLOCAUST would venture out creatively a bit more. "Conjure and Command" comes right out of the gate with opening track "Judgement Awaits You", a fast, galloping thrash anthem that could draw comparison to "Reign In Blood"-era SLAYER. From there, the band rips through song after song, varying tempos up occasionally ("Red Winter" and "I Am Disease") all the way through the closing track "Sound the Charge". This is a totally solid album, in fact in my opinion if you liked the last one ("An Overdose of Death...") you'll probably like this one too. It's just that by now I was hoping for a few new ideas here and there, as the band isn't really deviating from what they've established thus far. The other issue I have is the production. Each TOXIC HOLOCAUST album has been an "improvement" over the last in terms of sound quality, but to me this is detrimental to their recordings. For me, a large part of the charm on the debut album "Evil Never Dies" is the raw, evil production and filthy, reverb-effected vocals. It gives the music a dirty edge and a sinister atmosphere that I crave in my metal. I think you can put "Evil Never Dies" next to KREATOR's "Endless Pain" and they sound very close in sound, style, and production. So, to me the polished production takes away from that, with an album that's a little more sterile and a little more "safe".
In closing, this is a solid, well-crafted album of retro-thrash metal, sure to please die hard fans, but in my opinion I'd like to see TOXIC HOLOCAUST start to evolve and take a few risks with their sound, stepping off the beaten path and adding a little something new to the genre. 7.5/10