Exclusive Reviews

Accept
Stalingrad
Nuclear Blast
Street: 04.10
Accept = Judas Priest + Saxon + Motorhead + Dio
It doesn't get much more heavy metal than Germany's Accept. Turning heads with new vocalist Mark Tornilo of TT Quick on 2010's Blood of Nations album, Accept have been hacking away at the comeback tree. Stalingrad feels a great deal like part two to Blood of Nations with an identical production sound (probably because Andy Sneap turned the production knobs once again) and similar songwriting. Ripping album opener “Hung Drawn and Quartered” is a blazing example, containing the same finesse and power of the 2010 record that caused heads to turn towards Accept once again. The fist pumping metal continues throughout the album—see “Hellfire,” Revolution” and “Against the World”—until the power ballad “Twist of Fate” turns the tempo down but the album goes out with a bang on the epic closer “The Galley.” Initially, the record didn't hit me as hard as Blood of Nations, but repeated listening (otherwise known as patience) pays off. Guitarist Wolf Hoffman is in nice shredding form—generally you can skip straight to the great guitar solos on any given song. The end of “Flash Bang Time” howls like hell. If you liked what Accept did on Blood of Nations, you'll have no problem enjoying Stalingrad. –Bryer Wharton

Catheter
Southwest Doom Violence
Selfmadegod
Street: 05.01
Catheter = Phobia + Repulsion + Dismember + Terrorizer (old)
Knowing full well the extreme displeasure of having a tube rammed up my dick (not all catheters are used for that purpose), a catheter is an unpleasant thing. Like the name suggests, this Denver, Colo. grind three-piece is all about the not-so-pleasant things in sonic form. Southwest Doom Violence is the bands third full-length record which in the world of grind—which typically consists of a lot of splits, EPs and other fun releases doesn't mean this trio is green at all. What Southwest Doom Violence does offer is a new, nasty guitar tone in the realm of old school death metal of the Swedish, crusty persuasion. If you've actually heard what the band has done before this new records production mainly in that guitar tone might initially throw you off. The nasty guitar tone almost washed the entire record out for me with initial listens, but as my ears adjusted to the nastiness of it (reminiscent of how the last Rotten Sound album played out) you notice the bass ugliness, especially if you have a good subwoofer. The drumming is some of Catheter's most intense yet in terms of its speed and how hard the drummer is pounding on his kit. As the title suggests, Doom Violence slows the chaos in momentary lapses to create something really interesting and grind-deviatingly great. –Bryer Wharton

Nails / Skin Like Iron
Split 7”
Self-Released
Street: 01.21
Nails = Black Breath + Dead in the Dirt
Skin Like Iron = Masakari + Oathbreaker
I’ll be honest: my interest in this 7” only existed initially because of Nails’ involvement. However, Skin Like Iron’s fast, hard and surprisingly melodic style of hardcore complements Nails’ sound really well, and this split serves as a great introduction to the band. Both Skin Like Iron and Nails both ride the resurgent wave of crusty, dark hardcore (I guess you could call it “Holy Terror,” but that reminds me of the shitty Frank Miller comic). Skin Like Iron have a driving energy and the vocals have a really cool raspy quality, melding the crusty style with some good old fashioned punk rock structure. Also, it’s worth noting that the Skin Like Iron songs are on the A-side, probably so neurotic record dorks like me listen to them before the tracks from Nails on the B-side. Nails’ first song, “Annihilation,” clocks in at nearly three minutes, which is positively epic for them. It has the super-fast parts that’ll give you whiplash a slow, weighty part in the middle, and holy fuck, it even has gang vocals—it’s worth the price of admission all by itself. The 25 seconds of “Cry Wolf” ends the split with a blast of intensity, but honestly I would rather just listen to “Annihilation” over and over. I never get tired of stuff like this, and Nails never disappoints—just remember to listen to the A-Side too. –Ricky Vigil

Pelican
Ataraxia/Taraxis
Southern Lord
Street: 04.17
Pelican = Red Sparowes + Caspian + Russian Circles
The latest release from this long-running post-rock/post-metal/post-instrumental/post-whatever quartet is a creative offering in a genre that often seems stagnant. Clocking in at just 17 minutes, Pelican makes the most of their time rather than lingering on the building and breaking that so many instrumental bands tend to focus on. “Ataraxia” opens the EP with a sound reminiscent of an airplane engine, humming over sinister, plodding bass notes and delicate synth lines, acoustic guitar. The pair of tracks that follows, “Lathe Biosas” and “Parsite Colony,” display the driving, intense style of instrumental rock that Pelican have become known for. The band is not focused on atmosphere so much as they are on energy, and the two tracks in the middle of this EP are among the best they’ve ever recorded. “Taraxis” closes things out with a sparser sound as the acoustic guitar featured on “Ataraxia” returns over minimal drums until some wailing guitars join the proceedings near the song’s end. The real highlights of this EP are the pair of title tracks—it’s always good to see an established band trying new things—and the songs in the middle anchor it all together for a satisfying package. –Ricky Vigil