Recommendation-post II: Ume

Many have accused Doomlund of being an old fart when it comes to music. So to those individuals; shut the fuck up and read the following.

The Meat Puppets have embarked on a US tour after years of relative silence. Last night they played an excellent show at L.A.s El Rey Theatre on Wilshire, but what really got to me was the first warm-up act. A trio hailing from a little place we call Austin, Texas by the indie-lightful name of Ume.

Ume (Lauren, Eric and Jeff) take the stage with their very own brand of decadent, experimental artrock that smells of New York-posh, but with that unmistakable air of power poppish melody-worship that seems to thrive in the south. Watching them perform is an absolute delight as singer/guitarist Lauren Larson awkwardly tears up the stage, headbanging and flying around like a fifteen year-old on her first shroom-trip to a Sonic Youth record.

Musically the band’s sound is all over the place and yet weirdly consistent. There are remnants of the almighty, Sonic Youth, on one of their more accessible days, but at the same time Ume display a strong penchant for earpiercing melodies that’ll set up shop in your brain and leave you humming along for days. The frantic arrangements based on the magic yet simple combination of guitar, bass and drums are sublimely tied together by Larsons soothing voice and ornamentary guitar work wrought with a ton of crooked, off-beat tones and scale variations that seem to spit in the face of common music theory.

On songs like The Conductor, East of Hercules and the near epic Pendulum, Ume come to their right as a band that catapults the hyper-ordinary pop narrative of song writing onto a whole new level of weirdness. A place where shoe-gazing is met by an overwhelming urge to  dance around like a post-gen-x flower child in a magnificently succesful merging of early nineties angst-ridden noiserock and contemporary devil-may-care indie attitude, that is just downright addictive.

So if the Meat Puppets-circus is stopping by in a town near you, go steal 20 bucks from your mom’s purse for the tickets. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Ume released their first full-length album intitled “Urgent Sea” in 2005, but they’re currently promoting their new EP “Sunshower” which is absolutely awesome and available on iTunes and on Amazon. Doomlund says “A ok”, so go get it!

Ume

On a personal note all is well on planet Doomlund and I’m happy as the proverbial camper. See you dudes the fuck around.

Doomlund

The long-time-no-see + review post

Back again after a couple of totally chaotic months. I’ve been recording and gigging with my band FRANK SILVA and if you live in Copenhagen check us out on January 9 in Råhuset, Vesterbro. Also we’re close to the release of the LEATHERVEIN-record. Twelve tracks of fist-throwing, power-posing and soloinfused hardcore combined with the delights of NWOBHM and again, if you live in Copenhagen listen to LowCut Radio on sunday January 4, 6 p.m. for a sneak-preview.
On a personal note I’m finally back in my own appartment again, and just installed my stereo the other day which of course means home sweet home.

But enough about that.

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Review: A magnificently brutal debut
Artist: Dead Instrument
Title: Maksimal Destruktion
Label/distributor: Spild af Vinyl Recs.

Dead Instrument is a four piece Grind-outfit straight out of Copenhagen who used to play under the name Stalk of Death with the somewhat unfortunate acronym, S.O.D. This didn’t fly so the guys changed name and bass-player after having released a scruffy yet very promising demo a couple of years back.
On December 5 they introduced the most rescent outcome of their work together as a trio without bass - a full-length debut Lp intitled ‘Maksimal Destruktion’ (Maximum Destruction, ed.) – at a release-party at Copenhagens, Lades Kælder.

Front-man vocalist Jacob and guitarist Phillip

The release-show was the second time I saw Dead Instrument and what has overwhelmed me on both occations is the sheer intensity with which these guys light up a stage. Tons of people showed up – I didn’t even know that many people are into grind in this city – and the small stage at Lades was turned into a regular slaughterhouse-moshpit as front-man Jacob kept beating his own face in with the mic.

Musically ‘Maksimal Destruktion’ is fast as fuck grindcore in the vein of Discordance Axis and the likes. On tracks like Eyeless Wonder however, Dead Instrument turn down the BPM level and reveal a more heavy-set sound with sludgy riffs and sloppering drumbeats that make you think of kings of slow, Eyehategod.

Songs like Passive Target and the title-track Maksimal Destruktion are faster than anything I’ve heard from Denmark before and still no instrumental or vocal twist is lost in the chaos. The production is excellent and the engineering by Paw Koch pays minute attention to the details of every single sound-track without ever compromising the implicit brutality of the genre.

Maksimal Destruktion cover art by Jason Gardner

Dead Instrument’s demo was more of a chaos-grind project in my opinion (which may just have been due to the cheap production), but ‘Maksimal Destruktion’ really reveals these dudes as the extremely competent musicians they are. Whether it’s Emil’s amazing drumtracks, Philip’s insanely catchy almost rock n’ roll-like riffs or the vocal range of singer Jacob, Dead Instrument are impressive even if you don’t dig the genre (in which case you’re a complete tool anyway).

My advice is to get your hands on this sizzeling slab of vinyl a.s.a.p and remember to buy an extra copy for the kids as well. They might as well learn to appreciate radical stuff now, and that’s just what Dead Instrument brings to the party.

Check up on Dead Instrument here or here.

South of Heaven – 20 years of brutality

Heavy Metal is loud and stupid. So is Doomlund. A match made in heaven…

July 5 marks the twenty year anniversary of a metal classic – a little slab o’ vinyl we call “South of Heaven” by the foremost thrash metal outfit ever, Slayer.
South of Heaven was the fourth studio release by these giants of brutal tunes produced by Rick Rubin (associated with everyone from Danzig to Johnny Cash) who helped create Slayer’s landmark record, “Reign in Blood” two years prior. “South of Heaven” revealed another side of the band. A set of slower songs with a previously unheard attention to detail, both song and production-wise. The record wasn’t recieved very well by critics who held it up against it’s predecessor, “Reign in Blood” an instant classic of fast, relentless and hardcore-like thrash metal which to this day still holds it’s own.

Never the less “South of Heaven” is today considered a masterfull album of solid metal and a valid follow-up to an album impossible to top. Guitarist Kerry King has publicly stated that “South of Heaven” is his least favoured album, and blames it’s flaws on his own absence at the time (he had just married and moved to Phoenix). However “South of Heaven” is a stunning display of what Jeff Hanneman (second and more anonymous guitarist of the band) was capable of as main songwriter. Twenty years later songs like ‘Mandatory Suicide’ and the title-bearing ‘South of Heaven’ are still considered groundbreaking work in the world of metal.

Doomlund salutes ”South of Heaven” and Slayer who are scheduled to appear at this years Roskilde Festival in Denmark on July 6. So if you’re going, here’s a little tune to get you in the right headbanging, beer-guzzling and thrash-worshipping mood:

Slayer – Mandatory Suicide

On another note, I’ll be gone the next couple of months. I’m going to California in a week. A friend of mine said; “Oh, you’ve never been?” (I actually thought that refered to Paris??) “Well, you’ll love it! The climate and the general mentality… it’s just fabulous!”, and since I have always been partial to heat and cynicism I decided that it was time to visit la-la land.
I probably won’t post anything for a while, but then again who knows?… Actually, I won’t.

Yours, with flowers in his hair,
TD.