Split Cranium

Split Cranium - Split Cranium (2012)

Split Cranium will do as their name suggests; split your cranium open and pour melting hot Finnish stoner rock mixed with American crust punk down into where your brain should be located.

And personally, I'm fine with that.

Split Cranium features Aaron Turner formerly of Isis (along with Old Man Gloom, Lotus Eater, Mamiffer, etc.), Jukka Kröger, Samae Koskinen of Steel Mammoth, and Jussi Lehtisalo of Steel Mammoth, Circle and Pharaoh Overlord. This self title is one of the last releases by Hydra Head Records, founded by Aaron Turner, after the label called it quits on new releases back in September. Hydra Head Records is not officially dead yet and are still selling all of the material and merchandise they have to pay of debts and such.

It's really a shame to see such an influential and all around important record label have to close its doors... :....(

Highlights: "Little Brother", "Blossoms for Boils", "Spectres to Rust", "Black Binding Plague", and "Yellow Mountain".



Also: Check out Split Cranium's official sky mask. Perfect for this cold cold weather we've been having!

I hate it when my left eye is cold, too.

They should make official hard hats while they're at it.

Get it?

Hydra Head Records
Bandcamp
Last.fm

Pelican Post Motel

Just thought I'd mention that I'm not dead and also mention how interesting the new Pelican album is.

The new Pelican album is pretty interesting. There. I said it.

Pelican - Ataraxia/Taraxis (2012)

But seriously, this new EP by the Windy City post metal militia, Pelican, is equally a new experience for them as it is for us. With the album's conception in multiply different studios and times as well as new sounds in the body of their work like laid back instrumentation and even acoustic guitar (not a first, however*), Pelican created a fresh little album for us while experimenting with new ways of working and making music for themselves. For that I thank them. Post metal, post rock or instrumental music can be a very daunting thing at times - especially today when there is a thousand different ( and I use that word loosely) bands that can play a heavy riff over and over again without a singer anywhere insight - so, yeah, it's always nice to hear something new and interesting from such a band that could just pull out days and days of sludgy, walls of sound, metal. There's nothing wrong with that but it's even better that they challenged themselves to try new things (that totally don't suck) and progress. The use off acoustic instruments and taking a step back from the heaviness may have been done in previous works of theirs before but it is still very interesting to hear it as a much more focused element than just a slight interlude of album break. The boys in Pelican are definitely doing nothing but good as a band right now and I look forward to hearing what they have for us next. 

*Other acoustic oriented Pelican tracks I can of right now would be, "Wind With Hands" from City of Echoes (2007), the untitled track from Fire In Our throats Will Beckon the Thaw (2005), and the untitled track from Australasia (2003) which is one of my favorite Pelican tracks as well as one of my favorite songs featuring the majestic singing saw. All these tracks are really damn good and probably the reason I find this EP more interesting the must of Pelican's last album.

PS: This mug will hopefully be posting a MONDAY XXXXX soon and it will be read as XXXXX x2 or something stupid like that as I missed it this week and owe it to myself and all of the internet world to get it out there and with much more as it's the big five-o and such. I had sort of the ability to squeeze a Monday post out this Monday but honestly I don't have a lot of material right now and it wouldn't feel right. Sometimes squeezing and not feeling right just means you are doing it wrong...

Also, this blog is a whole year old. Yeah! so much for a big post, whatever. Next year will have to do. here's to being a year old! OOH-RAH!

PSS: Pelican Post Motel is a motel in Bradenton Beach, Florida. It's rated 2 stars on Kayak.com.

Official site
Bandcamp (Track 3, "Lathe Biosas" is free)
Last.fm

Botch - An Anthology Of Dead Ends

An Anthology Of Dead Ends is the last studio recording from everyone's favorite metalcore pioneers, Botch. These guys may have ended but not only did they go on to more projects, the Botch sound itself went on to cause a chain reaction of other mathcore or metalcore "legends" (love 'em or hate 'em... Botch did that). 

You can definitely hear a much more polished sound from this beautiful EP right here. Rather than showing how mature this band may have become, it keeps you up at night wishing there was more Botch after this...

Botch - An Anthology Of Dead Ends (2002)

This EP also features one of my favorite songs of all time "Afghamistam" a Slint-like tune that incorporates slow moving guitars with spoken word leading to some driving drums, a piano w/ strings break and a wave goodbye to the rest of the album. I wouldn't call it a departure from their sound though because Botch had the song "Swimming the Channel vs. Driving the Chunnel" on We Are The Romans that was also slower and featured subdued vox than the usual heavy and aggressive tone that these guys brought to the metal table. Botch understood that being loud and angry is not all that a band needs and should have to offer. 

That's also the reason I'm not afraid to say that Afghamistam is my favorite Botch song even though it goes against all that you hear in their previous works. If a band can kick your ass by being fast and noisy and then slow it down and be spooky mellow and still kick your ass then you know your listening to some talented individuals. 

I've heard some rumors to why all the song titles are countries with the N's changed to M's but I am not certain as to what the true meaning is. So I'm not going to bother saying the rumors.  

You'll take the ride to leave this town

along that yellow line

you'll find the life on the outside

Last.fm

Hydra Head Records (blog)

Myspace

Pelican - Australasia (2003)

Pelican's first full-length, Australasia is a must have for anyone into post (whatever) or just really killer heavy shredding adjective stuff. Every song sends you on an out-of-control-riff-raff adventure. It's sludgy, and it's not super polished, and did I mention it's straight from the gut heavy post metal. It also includes singing saw on the more laid back Untitled track!

Pelican - Australasia (2003)

Drought has got to be one of the most un-Godly riff heavy songs I know (and I mean that in the best terms!) It's also the most standable song featuring splash cymbals. If you got yourself a big game/race/exam coming up or a really lame office meeting, inject this into your bloodstream put this on and let it PUMP YOU UP!

Similar acts/sounds: Tusk, Russian Circles, Rosetta, Isis, Year Of No Light, Neurosis, Omega Massif etc...

Last.fm
Hydra Head Records