MetalJazz

We've seen you driving. Don't pretend you love Yuletide; vent that holiday hostility through metal.


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Imperial Triumphant, "An Evening With Imperial Triumphant: Live at the Slipper Room" (Century Media).
No other band sounds as much like this moment as NYC's Imperial Triumphant, and that means getting very, very dirty. This is the sound of things coming apart: machines out of control, volcanos erupting, storms in the skies, storms inside our heads. A live recording of material from IT's last two recordings was a smart way of reproducing the trio's turbulent atmosphere, with artful transitions, focused performances and no interference from the metaphorically deceased audience. Guitarist Zachary Ilya Ezrin clangs & twangs like a spaghetti-Western Terminator, well-schooled drummer Kenny Grohowski (John Zorn, Greg Osby, Rez Abbasi, KIlter) splatters all around a subliminal beat, and bassist Steve Blanco throws buckets of electronic noise across the stage. Can't say where the "Chinatown" trumpet comes from, but the inference of corruption rings clear. We find ourselves muttering along with Ezrin, up to our necks in sewage in some dank basement, and when the angels sing, we can't mistake the requiem for a halleluia. Watch the official video (loud) here. Read my Election Day ponderation on Imperial Triumphant here. IT plays the 1720 Club on March 1.



Hypocrisy, "Worship" (Nuclear Blast).
"What a beautiful day today. The sun is burning through our skin." Axman-vocalist-producer Peter Tägtgren shares environmental/corporate concerns with fellow Swede Greta Thunberg, alien paranoia with American thrashers Testament, and anti-vax sentiments (well, he lives in the woods) with Van Morrison -- maybe they should all form a band. But Tägtgren's been helming his own Hypocrisy for three decades, so just consider the thematic confusion part of his entertainment. And fine metal entertainment it is: tight gallop, slog and humpa drummed by the masterful Horgh and recorded with an ear for power, grandeur & detail . . . and no twiddly solos! Savor the twin-guitar dance of "Chemical Whore," the deadly punk churn of "Greedy Bastards," and the blind slog and heavenly choruses of "We're the Walking Dead," and let Tägtgren, instead of evil overlords, "control your thoughts." Hilarious album art, too, featuring Grays, an Aztec pyramid and spacecraft. "Worship" concludes with dual-guitar feedback, which is how the world will end and every metal album oughta.



Obscura, "A Valediction" (Nuclear Blast).
Schopenhauer-obsessed German technical deathsters Obscura celebrate 20 years of radness by growling auf wiedersehen to . . . the plague? Humanity? Their drummer? Fill in your own blank, but the band changes have not reduced leader Steffen Kummerer's thirst for shreddin' guitars and chopped-up rhythms. With a slight ear adjustment, Obscura's accelerated Eurofolk underpinnings even sound Xmasy if you can appreciate speedfreak sleigh rides and the opportunity to skin & gobble reindeer. Generic tendencies prove an assest in the frantic Priest/Megadeth instrumental "Orbital Elements II." Best track, with its skyrocket leads: the charging/chugging tour de force "In Unity." Best title: "Devoured Usurper." Obscura plays the 1720 Club on Feb. 5.