Sixsixsix Music: Sunday Bloody Sunday

As my label (Sixsixsix Music) grows, so does my workload. So from now on, this blog will be updated every Sunday

My label has been very busy the past week. The new Wolves of Avalon album, Boudicca’s Last Stand was released last Monday. I’m pleased to say almost every single review has been very positive (just one minor blip so far, a 6 out of 10 from someone who just didn’t get the band) and we’ve had a stupid amount of attention for the band. So I’m very pleased with that.

Also this week, the new Skiddaw cds arrived (earlier than expected) so they are available now

I’ve just created a Big Cartel store, so you can buy everything online here:

http://sixsixsixmusic.bigcartel.com/

And finally, I’m going to be doing cassettes from September. I know, how retro of me. But to fair, it’s how I started in the 90s and after talking to a couple of people about whether to start it up again, I’m going for it.

Everything will be very DIY as getting professional duplication in this country is stupidly expensive. So I’ll be making everything myself on exactly the same tapes that the duplicators use, but for half the price. First two releases will be the Skiddaw EP, which I’m hoping to have a special limited edition, plus a standard version. Also the HaatE album, As The Moon Painted Her Grief. Again, a limited edition version is planned.

Ok, now it’s review time:

I’m going to kick things off this week in India and the Black Metal band, Solar Deity

Through The Hallways Of Narak is off of the bands latest release, Devil Worship. And for me, it doesn’t get much better than this. A huge 11 minute epic of Traditional Black Metal that I instantly fell in love with.

You can view that video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHgvTjY5TwE as unfortunately it wouldn't embed itself in this page

I’m making my way through the bands back catalogue and although (some of) the sound is slightly rawer than on Devil Worship, it’s good to see the improvements they’ve made with each release. And it’s interesting to see that they deliberately alter their style with each EP, to try and cover as many of the genres different aspects as possible.

The depressive single, Snowless is another highlight, as is the ferocious Circling The Moon from the Darkness Of Being EP, which you can view below

Solar Deity are a very interesting band with an excellent back catalogue to feast upon

http://www.solardeityindia.com/

Boddicker - Crime Upheaval

Boddicker, are named after Clarence Boddicker, the arch villain from Robocop. And boy are they fucking heavy.

I can’t listen to bands like Discharge as I find their music completely overwhelming, mainly as it feels like a constant wall of noise battering at my senses. Well Boddicker, shit, they’re even heavier.

At first I felt like I was trying to escape from a vat of treacle whilst the sides of the vat were being bombarded by a plethora of sledgehammers. In-fucking-tense.

But surprisingly, especially to me, I got into this after a few songs and my foot was soon tapping along like crazy.

You can describe this how you want. It’s a punked up wall of Death Metal, encased in a thick layer of crusty grind. Unbelievably intense, yet with just a glimmer of melody, albeit melody covered in a layer of shit.
http://boddicker13.bandcamp.com/

Most of the review material I’ve received this week has been of the heavy as hell variety. And with Mexican outfit The Meatfuckers, I was expecting more of the same.

With an album title like Porn Again, I was preparing myself for another battering of Grind, but received something a little less harsh instead.

The Meatfuckers fall between so many musical styles. This isn’t fast enough or intense enough for Grind. So it’s more like Thrash than anything else. But the vocals are more of a tortured rasp than a death-like growl. And then there’s the guitar hero, sublime flowing guitar solos. Where did they come from?

The Meatfuckers mix up their influences into one big melting pot and the end result is infinitely more accessible than their name or the album title would suggest. And while it’s a reasonably easy listen, there’s not much here to make you go wow. It’s a solid release, but missing a few moments of brilliance to take it to the next level. In saying that, I don’t have a single negative about the album either. It just needs a bit more oomph.

http://www.themeatfuckers.com/

As a Cornishman growing up in the far end of the country, it was hard to find certain LP’s back in the 80s. Where I grew up, the Metal scene was almost zero.

So it was nice to find a small label just a few miles from where I grew up. Although Pervasive Records are not what you’d call a typical label, with every release seemingly as extreme as possible.

Wisdom Without Worship, it would be fair to say, know no limits. These guys take everything to the edge of sanity. Even their more quiet moments feel like the worst nightmare you could ever imagine. So tread carefully if you’re brave enough to check them out.

https://www.facebook.com/WisdomWithoutWorship

The dark ambient tones of Sandgrain Universe are very much to my liking. It’s mainly sparse arrangements which shift slowly, building up the intensity, with a constant feeling of someone about to attack you. This would have been a perfect soundtrack to the original Doom game, or for Resident Evil 4. Both creepy games that I played to death.

Pay the label a visit here: http://www.pervasiverecords.co.uk/

Frozen Shield are a Viking/Folk Metal band from Barcelona. If you visit their Facebook page, you can see that the band certainly look the part, adorned with war paint and furs. Thankfully they have the sound to match the look too.

Frozen Shield have a very fluid sound. While the music flirts with a mix of styles, drummer Ivan Bosch keeps it all together as a cohesive force with a very solid display.

Best song for me is Green Beards, which should come as no surprise, considering that my own beard reaches my chest. It ups the folk element and is a fun “dance around a fire whilst pissed” kind of tune. It’s vaguely reminiscent of what Korpiklaani are best at, but without sounding like them in the slightest.

This 3 tracker is a nice introduction to Frozen Shield. It will be interesting to see how they evolve from here. Personally, I think they need to up the intensity as the only downside for me is that they sound a little “too nice” at times.

http://frozenshield.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Frozen-Shield/181959558487352?fref=photo

Bucking the trend of the previous review completely, we have Uburen from Norway. These guys are out for blood and they are a Viking Metal band that are as aggressive as it gets. There are no subtleties to be found in their music, no fancy sing-alongs. This is pure violence.

Once you past the fact that this is unrelenting, it’s actually a rewarding listen. I was going to say a pleasant listen, but that was obviously going to be the wrong choice of words. The duelling vocals enhance the feeling of war and the atmospherics are used very sparingly, but the melodies are always there, albeit in a harsher setting than you’re probably used to.

I’m not going to say that Uburen are unique, but I’ve not heard many bands that sound anything like this. As a three piece, they’re the Viking equivalent of when the classic Lemmy/Fast Eddie/Philthy Phil line-up of Motorhead 1^st appeared 35 odd years ago. At the time, they were the most extreme band I’d ever heard and Uburen have the same effect on me, in terms of bands of their ilk from Scandinavia.

If you’re bored of the same old shit, grab this for something completely different, and dare I say it… unique.