THE DEVIL'S MONTH: October 2023
Every first Thursday we round up some of the finest releases of the previous month.
Two months more and we’ll have completed a full year of The Devil’s Months! Where does time go? Probably buried somewhere beneath a pile of awesome records. Not a bad place to be. Anyway, this month was as varied as ever, full of great releases of all kinds. Death metal, punk, goth, rock, industrial, pop, noise, what have you. The only problem, as ever, is narrowing it down to five. In a month or so, when the big albums of the year list starts to rear its ugly head, I predict hours of choice agony. Can’t wait!
So, without further ado, Mondo Negro and The Devil’s Mouth present our collective choices for October. What were yours?
Autopsy
Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts
(Peaceville Records)
I’ve never made it a secret as to what my favourite death metal band is, and it’s such a pleasure to see them aging so gracefully. Well, “gracefully” in the context of Autopsy, of course, which in a way means filthily and disgustingly. But it’s tasteful filth. These guys could have either retired and disappeared from public view or just keep doing any of the other stuff they do by now, that their place in the pantheon of death metal - or just metal tout court - would be assured. But it seems that they’re having too much goodamn fun for that. Seemingly revitalised ever since the wonderful Greg Wilkinson - a lovely guest on the podcast a few months ago, if you remember - joined their lineup (besides bass, he’s once again responsible for the recording, alongside Kowloon Walled City’s remarkable Scott Evans, and for the mix), here they are again with a new album, just over a year since the kickass ‘Morbidity Triumphant’ came out. With that sort of apparent rush, plus a tongue-in-cheek title that even sounds kinda generic, you could think this was a sort of Autopsy on autopilot, just churning out gore for bucks, but then as soon as you press play, this kicks in:
…and you’re obviously hooked once more. The putrid, engaging riffs, that stronger than ever Reifert growl-beyond-the-grave, the mad solo, the punked-up abandon of it all, it’s all prime Autopsy and it clicks into place within seconds. It’s a classic rager and it’s not even the best song on the album, though the main contenders for that title are fired off quickly too, respectively songs number two and four, which show the two more extremely disparate sides of the band in full force. On one hand, the full-speed-ahead crush of ‘Throatsaw’, a perfect example of a hardcore punk/death metal hybrid gathering the best of both worlds, and on the other, the creeping, crawling doom/death of ‘Well Of Entrails’, which sees Reifert spew pukey disgust all over the place over a stomping, horror soundtrack-like pile of black sludge. Which decides to do a little sprint halfway through, too, just for the hell of it. It’s early days, of course, but this just might age as one of their best records. Which is truly saying something.
The Candles Burning Blue
Pearls Given To The Swine
(Svart Records)
Yeah, this is a reissue from an album that came out in 2001 originally, but whatever, it counts. It’s not like the whole world got to hear The Candles Burning Blue back in the day anyway. A Finnish trio that had a short and elusive existence, with this their only full-length release originally printed on a run of 500 and never again reissued until now (first time on vinyl, too - thanks Svart!), but one which left behind a seriously deep footprint in this century’s goth/goth-related music (I might go so far as to say ‘Pearls Given To The Swine’ is the best post-2000 goth rock album), not to mention all kinds of legendary stories about their chaotic live shows. Led by the charismatic, unique vocals of a certain A (Hynninen), aka Sami Albert Hynninen, aka Albert Witchfinder, whom a year later would also enter into the realm of the immortals through Reverend Bizarre’s legendary debut ‘In The Rectory Of The Bizarre Reverend’, with guitarists C (Nieminen) and M (Välimäki) weaving obscure, unconventional melodies around him, The Candles Burning Blue mostly evoke some of the more creative and less conventional names that have always awkwardly fit the “goth” tag, like Bauhaus (whom, if you explore properly beyond the overplayed ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ or ‘She’s In Parties’, offer a whole world of riches that go beyond any genre limitation), above all, and Christian Death, but even those are mere references to what they do. As Svart’s typically on the nose press release considers, they “mixed in elements of experimentalism and art rock”, and even if “art rock” is one of those genres/descriptions that have always irked me somewhat, in this case it really is the perfect way to put it. Dramatic, catchy, surprisingly nasty and raw in places (those tales of unhinged violence at their shows do make sense), ‘Pearls Given To The Swine’ is a true “lost classic” that’s now been given a second lease of life and is just waiting for your discovery. The vinyl edition is frankly awesome and heavily recommended while it’s still available.
Malokarpatan
Vertumnus Caesar
(Invictus Productions)
Look, Malokarpatan are just adorable. The capes, the frilly shirts, the poses, the impenetrable Slovakian lyrics and titles (unless you’re Slovakian, of course - if so, welcome! Let us know you’re here in the comments!), how they don’t seem to take any of those things too seriously, the oblique take on the most classic metal that ends up sounding like nothing else… As usual, uncle Fenriz was right on the nose when he first excitedly recommended them on Radio Fenriz a few years ago, leading to a worldwide discovery by the underground - they even played Roadburn! - and a healthy following to these days. Fortunately, they haven’t rested on their laurels, and ‘Vertumnus Caesar’ is arguably their best album to date. Veering towards a more traditional, melodic approach, more Iron Maiden than Mercyful Fate or Venom to put it bluntly, but still maintaining that tongue-in-cheek grandeur and theatrical drama - not to mention the expressive gruff vocals -, this simply sounds like a celebration of the best that classic heavy metal has to offer, from start to end. Hey, if you don’t feel anything when that intro riff to ‘Vovnútri Chlácholivého Útočišta Kunstkamru’ kicks in, and the subsequent hoof-stomping ride they take you on at 0:22, either check your pulse or just hand in your heavy metal membership card.
Myrkur
Spine
(Relapse Records)
So hey, black metal seems to have survived the terrible menace posed by one single woman making music inspired by it, after all, and better yet, that one woman has, through her talent, transcended any kind of stale genre association and keeps morphing her music from album to album. After the long cycle provided by the extraordinary folk renditions of ‘Folkesange’, with some soundtrack work along the way, Amalie Bruun reinvents her Myrkur alter-ego again on ‘Spine’, which in a way feels like a culmination of everything she has done so far jumbled together with a few glimpses into the future. ‘Like Humans’ is the instant catchy hit, an esoteric sort of Kari Rueslåtten-meets-alt-Madonna number which will captivate you whether you want it or not. All through it, though discreet, a dense metallic rumble gives it a solid foundation (check out that blastbeat-underwater that kicks in at 3:46!), a constant throughout the record. No matter how much tracks veer off into pastures of every colour - it’s telling that the rollercoaster song which follows, ‘Mothlite’, goes from synthwave to nordic folk to wild soling and right back to synthwave again -, perhaps surprisingly, it’s the basic building blocks of metal that seem to act as a kind of anchor that holds everything in place. Which is not saying ‘Spine’ is a metal album, far from it. Though you’d be hard pressed to come up with a comfortable genre descriptor for it, too, and in fact therein lies its biggest appeal. It’s a Myrkur album, no more, no less, where Amalie shows the dazzling depth of her songwriting toolbox more than ever before.
Problem Patterns
Blouse Club
(Alcopop! Records)
The simple description for Problem Patterns already gives you a good hint of how ‘Blouse Club’ sounds and the impact it can have on you. A Belfast-based DIY feminist queerpunk quartet, already praised by icons such as Kathleen Hanna and Henry Rollins, already having tread the boards with people like Le Tigre, Bob Vylan or Fight Like Apes - there, those are the basics, and I’m sure you’ve already made a decision whether to give them a shot or not, but bear in mind that doesn’t tell you about their incendiary, pull no punches intensity, nor the way their songs are drenched in catchy hooks but simultaneously always close to veering off the rails, a palpable sense of chaos that brings other hellraising acts such as Cocaine Piss, Melt-Banana or even Melvins to mind often. Even better, you’ll have to think and perhaps re-evaluate yourself while listening, as lyrically these four remarkable women, Alanah, Bethany, Bev and Ciara, just like pretty much every other woman in this fucking broken world, have shit to get off their chest. Devastating opener ‘Y.A.W.’ sets the tone, and when she yells “she shouldn’t have to be your girlfriend / she shouldn’t have to be your lover / a woman’s worth should not come down / to how much you wanna fuck her”, alluding to the nauseating “but what if it was your girlfriend/sister/mother/whatever” discourse usually employed to try to scrape some shards of empathy in any given bad situation with women who are none of those things, you will damn well sit up and take notice. Throughout the album, from the fucking Tories and their dismantlement of the NHS to homophobic slurs, Problem Patterns shoot in many directions, always hitting the bullseye without it ever clashing or detracting from the boundless excitiment of the music - in fact, the serious messages add to the sense of purpose and meaning of the songs and turn ‘Blouse Club’ into much more than just a simple great album - it’s a great album that matters.