Eyehategod - Take As Needed For Pain

Eyehategod - Take As Needed For Pain (1993)


I have been very hesitant to 'review' this album as I would probably rate it as my all time favorite release. More than that though, there is not one part of this album that I find a flaw in, however being that this post marks the return of myself to regular internet-using I felt it an appropriate album to talk about on my brand new computer. TANFP is quoted by EHG to be all of their favorite EHG release and there is no guessing why, this album holds some of the most amazing de-tuned, blues and drug influenced hardcore/metal I have ever heard. Everything from the production to the vocals, the guitars, the drums, the bass and the whole 'behind the beat' feel of this album is utter sludge perfection. Sure there are parts that are quite alot more upbeat than what a sludge band would usually go to but that is part of the brilliance, EHG pushed what they themselves were doing to a whole new level and with that forced many other bands to do the same.

The musicianship on this album is one for the ages in its respective genre, two guitarists, playing as much feedback that can be wrangled in to the breaks in guitar playing, one singer screaming his ass off about everything in the world that pisses him off, one bluesy as fuck bassist keeping the riffs as heavy as possible, and Joey LaCaze, one of my favorite drummers laying ever so slightly behind the beat and keeping the pace for a melting pot of doom, stoner rock, blues, hardcore and metal feeling tracks on the right path (listen to Mystick Krewe of Clearlight, it showcases Joey LaCaze's ability to make everything blues sound amazing with the proper drum accompaniment). There are too many stand out tracks on this disc to name so just listen to the whole thing, you will not be disappointed if you have any sort of incling towards music in this vein. People will obviously have different views on a bands best release but for my favorite band, this is my favorite album. Everytime I play an instrument I play a riff or fill off this album pretty much first time everytime, the riffs are catchy, the blues hooks are insatiably groovy and the guitar tone makes my ears melt every listen.

Buy this album, it will make you a better person.

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So christmas is over and I got some awesome presents, ate some awesome food and hung out with my family which was really good too.

I now get to spend a week or two off work, go back for two days and then head to melbourne and adelaide with my friends from Dead Kings and drive/sell merch/dance and sleep with them. Im really looking forward to actually doing something interesting with my time off Uni and i think this 3 day melb/adelaide adventure will be awesome fun.

Slowburn is moving slow at the moment as we are inbetween bassists and Sean is going away for a little while which is lame, but its cool to have a rest. Also having this gap has given me the time to start yet another band with some friends that I'm really looking forward to showing to people. Im playing guitar in this band as well and im so stoked that the songs have turned out the way they have and the people that are in it are awesome friends aswell as musicians. Keep your ears and eyes open, weel be out there soon enough.

More soon, hopefully more regularly.

-aaron

Excuses

I dont have a computer of my own at present and it kills me. I wanted to update this often, and I have failed at this task. From christmas it will be easy, and will happen.

no one probably cares about the albums I post, but I like doing it.

Il update this asap, Im sure I will.

-aaron

Cryptopsy - None So Vile

Cryptopsy - None So Vile (1996)


Cryptopsy are a band that I have been really into for a couple years now and this is an album that I personally consider a death metal classic. However Cryptopsy is also a band that has disappointed a lot of people through various times in their career with strange musical direction changes. The most recent of these changes being the addition of their latest singer and new addition of a keyboard player on their latest album 'The Unspoken King' and adopting a less technical and more deathcore oriented sound, but lets not think about that and let it ruin an amazing album. 'None So Vile' was the release that put Cryptopsy on the map as a leading force in the 'brutal death metal' and 'technical death metal' genres, the combination of Lord Worm's gutteral vocals and Flo Mournier's immense speed and heavily technical drumming helped put this band into the ranks of bands like Suffocation and Gorguts in terms of technicality, while still keeping the groove in a death metal sense. This album has some of my favorite death metal riffs, drum beats and vocal lines, the drumming is the stand out thing for me and it heavily influenced the way I played death metal and still does influence the way I play drums as a whole. But you really can't go past the brutal and still groovy riffs on this album that I think is the main thing that has kept this album a favorite of mine for so long. Stand out tracks on this album for me are, 'Slit Your Guts', 'Graves of The Fathers', 'Benedictine Convulsions' and 'Orgiastic Disembowelment'.

I recommend this album for any fan of death metal, deathcore or just heavy music with wickedly catchy groove to it, and for people who want to be astounded by amazingly fast, technical and catchy drumming. I can not stress how good some of the riffs on this album are, it still shocks me and annoys me as I'm sure it does many others, that the band has turned from this groundbreaking and heavily influential ensemble into something that I would now consider boring and generic. However not every band can be good forever, and will probably release something boring throughout their career, lets just hope this low point for them ends soon and they can go back to being amazing at what they do best and write 'None So Vile' pt. 2.

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I had a pretty sweet weekend of dancing and hanging out with friends, it was awesome to relax and just enjoy my time off uni, which I'm trying to spend a lot of time doing this break. Ive been feeling pretty lame of late due to a few different reasons but mainly due to the fact that a very big loss I experienced not long ago is having its 2nd anniversary in a few days and its just one of those things that I never think about in a bad light until this time of year. It sucks but thats the way the world works.

Slowburn are trying a new bass player out tonight and I'm excited to see how it goes, to the same token I hate that one of my best friends is moving away and cant be in my band anymore as Pete is an amazing bass player and musician in general and it will be pretty weird working with someone else on the new songs which he helped write. I really hope that at some point later in life I get to work with him in a musical sense again, maybe play some jazz or something.

Brooke also alerted me to the fact that I make massively long and condensed blog posts, so Brooke I hope this one is just as long and just as astoundingly interesting as my previous posts. It was good seeing you on the weekend as well buddy!

More soon,

-aaron