CVLT Nation’s Top 6
D-Beat Albums 2013

6. DEAF KIDS “I am the Sickness”

Unholy horns of everything awesome! Have you ever heard a record that has all of your brain cells spazzing out like a motherfucker head banging themselves against your skull and stage diving out of your ears? This happens to me every time I put on the new DEAF KIDS from Brazil, who happen to be one 20-year-old dude named Douglas. These eight new aggro tunes are for their new limited edition tape “I am the Sickness” that is coming out on Boue Records (ORDER HERE)! If you follow CVLT Nation, you know that the last DEAF KIDS record, their 6 Heretic Anthems For The Deaf EP, ended up on our last year’s Top Albums of the Year list, and I’m thinking this year they will repeat it! Damn, once I heard the the intro to “Christianity Standards,” I knew Douglas had done it again – this track knocks your teeth out once the drums kick in. DEAF KIDS are an ultra extreme mix of everything I dig, and I could blast this band all day long without getting bored. Imagine if Lemmy fathered Discharge, who went on to have a hellspawn named Darkthrone – this would come sort of close to the rawness of DEAF KIDS. Douglas is a genius in my book, because he knows how to lace all of his compositions with a blackened punk voodoo groove that creates electricity…Full CVLT Nation Review HERE!

5. HESSIAN: Mánégarmr

When I listen to Mánégarmr, the latest from Belgium’s Hessian, I get pulled in by the guitars.  Ostensibly a hardcore group, their playing nonetheless crosses the line into thrash, doom, and occasionally even grind, all thanks to those aforementioned guitars.  They have a tone you’d feel uncomfortable living next door to, that you’d watch from closed blinds, convinced it has a darker secret.  It buzzes, screeches, whines, scrapes, slashes, and even, on very rare occasions, sounds like a guitar.

Mánégarmr is full of all those things that other recent releases on Southern Lord possess: incomprehensible growls, blast-beat drums, bottom-basement production, awesome cover art, lyrics like “SWALLOWING NAILS.”  But it’s that vicious guitar work that sets it apart, moving from full-bodied chords to blackened needling and back again, even throwing in an awesome solo or two for the true metal crowd, like on stand-out “Hollow Eyes.”

The album also maintains an impressive sense of flow, ignoring the crust and grind tradition of 9 or 10 blisteringly fast, one minute songs followed by a penultimate, agonizingly slow closer, in favor of compressing that whole progression into single songs, and sticking the slowest tune, “Father of Light,” right in the middle of the album, chasing it with the ambient “Vãmãcarã.”  Possibly most impressive is “Mother of Light,” which begins on a painfully steady jackhammer rhythm, not all that different from living across the street from a work site, before transitioning into a swirling miasma of shrieks and ghostly industrial guitars, as much Swans as Oathbreaker…Full CVLT Nation Review HERE!

4. DEATHRITE: Into Extinction

Germany’s Deathrite are an imposing presence in every way. Just look at the horror dripping from their logo and the image of Death dominating the cover of Into Extinction. However, superficial elements aside, Deathrite have their devastating music in check and Into Extinction is one of 2013’s dirtiest and darkest hardcore records of the year.

With crust and d-beat firmly in tow, these Germans know exactly what their MO is on the half hour long LP. There’s simply no messing about, these are face ripping sonic dirges that waste no time in living up to their name – bringing extinction.

That said, Deathrite may be all about the pummelling dark abyss but they never lose track of the “song” as believe it or not, there are even riffs on the LP that you could call catchy and memorable. For all their barbarisms, Deathrite are still good songwriters.

First track, ‘Forsaken Tombs’ makes this clear straight away with a searing guitar and drum combo that, while aided by a slick production, is cavernous and savage. The riffs are dripping with a flavour of Swedish crust, an obvious but still powerful influence, but sound totally invigorated here…Full CVLT Nation Review HERE!

3. OCCULTIST: Death Sigils

Richmond’s Occultist has changed a bit since their last release, Hell by Our Hands. The one difference is they have gotten heavier. It is quite a noticeable difference as they jam pack their new album, Death Sigils, with such unrelenting anger that gives very little room to breathe, and, with this death-grip around the throat, Occultist proceeds to sonically assault the listener while conjuring up all kinds of evil.

The first track off the album, “Iron Distort”, is a pulverizing track, and one of the heaviest to exist. Breakneck speed coupled with sheer brutality leads to a raw, punishing sound. Right from the get-go, Occultist buries the hatchet and opens the Gates of Hell, ushering out demonic fury with deep in-the-pocket drumming and fuzzy bass. The track takes no prisoners; it is a hybrid of thrash and blackened crust that pushes the pace. Right from the opening seconds the listener is thrust into the menacing world Occultist has created, and this world never lets go.

“Devils Breath” is definitive doom metal. As a complete 180 from the opener, Occultist brings out a slower elegy that chugs along and seems to conjure the devil with crafty, loud guitarwork and ritual-like drumming. All instruments are deep and punching; the vocals themselves blend with the instruments and switch between raspy, throat ripping warcries to lower, more gutteral vocals – there couldn’t be a more perfect union. Towards the end, the track breaks into a frenzy, ushering in a timely solo, finally closing out with the same kind of drumming, signaling the end of their attack on the eardrums…Full CVLT Nation review HERE!

2. ALL PIGS MUST DIE: Nothing Violates This Nature

All Pigs Must Die are at it again. Their follow up to the revered God is War, Nothing Violates This Nature is a continuation of the already heavy, already destructive tendencies of APMD. Heralded as a supergroup, APMD pushes the envelope of what is heavy, and explores the deepest reaches of pure, unadulterated decimation.

“Chaos Arise” – a blitzkrieg that aurally assaults the listener, opens up Nothing Violates This Nature. Seriously heavy riffing by Adam Wentworth encapsulates the atmosphere of pure bleakness — Ben Koller’s drumming is unrelentingly crushing, and the deep barking by Kevin Baker sets the mood straight away. It is a bludgeon over the head with a blunt instrument; APMD shows their strength from the opening note. It is difficult to pinpoint, exactly, how something so heavy could exist; perhaps it is the fastidious approach to instrumentalization that APMD employs. Perhaps it’s the water in Massachusetts. What-ever it may be, “Chaos Arise” is an opening track that completely destroys all in its wake. It is something to truly revel in; APMD has such a unique style that it is almost impossible to resist the urge to thrash around the room.

The first single from the album, “Silencer”, is demonstrably heavy. Picking up where “Chaos Arise” left off, APMD segues into “Silencer” perfectly. Blending together a style of crust and blackened hardcore, the track grooves along, pushing the pace at every step, a sound made from the ashes of bands Discharge and Entombed. This style of hardcore works so well for APMD; all tracks sound extremely clean through waves and waves of distortion. “Primitive Fear”, a constant sludge assault, breaks the convention of the two opening tracks. Having this sludge influence, APMD grooves to a repeating breakdown, using these deep, metallic guitars to assault slowly. “Of Suffering” is another track that follows the same pattern; these sludgy, dark tones wash over, painting the bleakest picture. There is all kinds of imagery in the music, something dark and full of suffering; drenched in the mire of the river Cocytus, and steeped in the deepest reaches of the nether. APMD can play assaulting, break-neck blackened hardcore, but these tracks that showcase this kind of sludge are not only breaks from the action, but rather their own entities that exist to give the whole album a full, experienced sound…Full CVLT Nation review HERE!

1. KROMOSOM: Nuclear Reich (Distort Reality, LP)

Total aural terrorism on this band’s second 12″. White sheets of guitar mayhem, gutteral howling but there are distinct songs here and it’s not all indecipherable noise, either. “Culture Degeneration” is an anthemic stomper that intersperses blinding speed with a singalong chorus and is that a No Future Records guitar lick I hear at the start of “Media Control”? In the main, though, these songs are delivered in full-destruction mode, as Yeap howls and shrieks will all the rage he can muster. Best experienced live but this will still get the blood boiling. Review via Suburban Voice