Have you ever had a dream where you’re lounging about in your living room with a few good friends and a few good beers, only to hear a commanding knock on your front door? You peel yourself from the seat and on your way to answer you wonder who it could be, you only invited a few from Celtic Studies, this was supposed to be low-key and casual, a real red plaid affair. Before you know it the door starts pounding, the panel splintering with each violent smack, and then it swings agape. The blood stiffens in your veins and an ancient terror surfaces on your horripilated skin. It’s Lars Ulrich from Metallica. He’s come to kill your buzz.
It may be somewhat stale news now, but if you haven’t heard, ex-Metallica producer Steve Thompson has opened up about why there’s no bass on Metallica’s …And Justice For All, and of course, as if you really need wheedling, it’s Lars Ulrich’s fault. Thompson detailed how Ulrich basically instructed him to mix out the bass from each track, despite the fact that then bassist Jason Newstead had apparently “killed it”.
As if you needed any more reasons to hold a grudge against him. Fear not though, The Hefty Fog is here to dish the sonic dirt on some bands you should be listening to right now, and I’m almost certain that none of their drummers are mingy scoundrels from Denmark.
World Narcosis
Iceland’s World Narcosis have all the temper of their Grindcore and Powerviolence peers, but without the folded arms and decayed urban landscape photoshoots. Taking everything that constitutes as fast and abrasive , stripping them down to their bare arses, and running them naked through a mine field, World Narcosis’ second offering, out May 2015, should be anticipated by anyone with a mind for the Grind.
Nightbreed
Coming from a more traditional Thrash Metal background, Greece’s Nightbreed claim to fill the void of “bands who can play fast and don’t descend into War Metal territory”. While there’s actually a huge wealth of bands that tick that very same box, it can’t be denied that Nightbreed offer up some of the most authentic sounding old school Thrash Metal there is.
Decline of the I
Having just released their second full-length last February, Decline of the I are Black Metal cubists, cropping and re-arranging the numerous sounds and tones that have been synonymous with the genre and creating something wholly state-of-the-art without stretching it so out of shape that its spirit is lost in the production, as so many avant-garde bands tend to do.
No Spill Blood
Whether you’re a fan of Metal or simply attracted to anything that lives on the heavier side of town, if No Spill Blood weren’t already a part of your vocabulary, their latest release will see to it that they are. Coming off like a rock n’ roll space opera, No Spill Blood’s Heavy Electricity, released on the March 10, is yet another huge reason to keep your eyes and ears on the hammering Dublin scene that’s already spewed forth intense releases from the likes of Wild Rocket and Hands Up Who Wants To Die in the last 12 months.
No Spill Blood headline the Thin Air’s second birthday at Dublin’s Twisted Pepper on Saturday, May 2.
