Criaturas - Arañas En El Corazon (2011)

Artist: Criaturas
Album: Arañas En El Corazon
Release: 2011
Label: Lengua Armada Discos

Tracklist: 
1. Arañas En El Carazon
2. Mentiras
3. Paranoide
4. Sombras Ocultas


Members of Deskonocidos bring us four great hardcore tunes, steeped in dark post-punk with obvious metal influences as well. This 7" is catchy, with wailing female vocals, and melodic riffs lurking behind noisy drums. To be frank, I think this release would have been better with just a bit less guitar noodling, but my tolerance for this particular metal-derived habit is low to begin with, so take this with a grain of salt. Otherwise this is a fantastic release, which is no surprise considering the band's connection with Deskonocidos, and the fact that Lengua Armada Discos is run by Limp Wrist frontman Martin Sorrondeguy. See for yourself:


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Death Evocation - s/t EP (2011)

Artist: Death Evocation
Album: s/t EP
Release: 2011
Label: Quality Control HQ


Tracklist:
1. Relentless
2. Isolation
3. Weight


Its my birthday today, and a damn good birthday it is. I've been scraping the bowels of the internet for a week trying to find this release, as my physical is currently somewhere in the hands of the USPS, and I finally uncovered it. This EP strays some from other posts I've made on this blog, but I think you'll find it warranted. Part stoner jam, part metal, part crust, Death Evocation's self-titled  consists of three dark hardcore anthems guaranteed to satisfy any and all headbanging fixations.

The highlight of the release is no doubt 'Relentless,' demonstrating both the acute ability to write capturing riffs in the vein of Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard, Sleep, etc., and deliver them with a fierceness atypical of usual stoner-metal fare. 'Relentless' is by no means a standalone however, as 'Isolation' and 'Weight' have their own merits, delivering further crust/metal intensity, and a more classic take on stoner-metal respectively. Unfortunately for the masses, Quality Control HQ has been sold out of these for a while, so keep an eye out as they're not easy to come by.


Follow the smoke to a riff filled land:



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Amebix - No Sanctuary EP (1984)

Artist: Amebix
Album: No Sanctuary EP
Release: 1984
Label: Spiderleg Recordings


Tracklist: 
1. Battery Humans
2. Control
3. Progress
4. No Sanctuary
5. The Church is For Sinners
6. Sunshine Ward
7. Moscow Madness: No Gods Part II


My roommate is really into raw black metal, the kind that could just as easily be identified as crust. Its been ever-present in the house for a couple years now, hes turned me on to some great bands, and this new appreciation for the lo-fi black metal/crust sound got me hooked on this EP all the much more. Amebix are just as much Discharge as they are Joy Division, and at times distinctly seem to me an obvious pre-cursor to black metal. "Sunshine Ward" (below) exemplifies this, but crusty guitars and great bass lines are to be found abound on this release.



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