Welcome music lovers! While I love all things metal, I also enjoy plenty on the fringes of metal and some that are off the metal map. I have a few recent additions to my music library that I’ve meant but failed to share with you so here I am finally. Enjoy!
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Okay kids now sometimes, actually quite often, I need a break from all the brutal death metal, Satan conjuring black metal, heavy as elephant balls doom and the like mixing in all kinds of shit from old blues to pretty much whatever else I happen to like. While my personal collection of music is about 90% metal the rest can be very far from it. Over the last couple of months I’ve picked up a few non or alternative metal albums and a few have been sent to us so I thought I’d put them all together for a Non-Hump Day Metal Day post just to mix things up. There are a few others I’ve gotten recently but some I haven’t really given a full listen yet. Yeah, sometimes it can take me awhile to even get to my own purchases with all that gets sent to us. Hopefully you’re a little like me and you like stray away from metal sometimes. Here are some for you to stray away to…
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – Night Creeper
Released: September 4th 2015
Label: Rise Above Records
From: UK
Released: September 4th 2015
Label: Rise Above Records
From: UK
If you listened to my guest appearance on the MetalHeads Podcast then you heard some time ago that I’m a pretty big fan of Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats. I wrote a couple of articles about them back when I wrote some for Doommantia but I’ve never mentioned them much here on TDBS so it’s time I correct that severe tragedy. If you’re unfamiliar with UAaTD then you’re really missing out on perhaps the best psychedelic rock band in recent years. I first got into them with their last album Mind Control which is themed loosely around notorious cult leader Jim Jones of Jonestown fame (look it up kids) but really themed around cult mentality be it Jones or the just as notorious Charles Manson. In other words it was their subject matter that first caught my attention but the music is pretty fuckin’ good too! So when I saw they had a new album, The Night Creeper, coming out I didn’t need any enticing to pick it up. Night Creeper you could say is loosely themed around turn of the century Penny Dreadful stories and Jack the Ripper but gets darker and darker as the album progresses. I saw it described as a Penny Dreadful story remade as a film noir then remade as a Giallo film by the end. I can’t really think of a better way to describe it, to be honest, so when someone has said it better just quote ‘em and move on. UAaTD are like a 60s psychedelic rock band that traveled through a dark dimension to land in the 21st century. Their music is as groovy as anything (more usually) than anything that came out of the 60s and in most ways is more darkly themed than most death metal. I’ll just say this, if I ever have the pleasure of meeting the band and they offer me a glass of Kool-Aid there isn’t any way in fucking hell I’m drinking that shit! I will blast any of their albums proudly through my headphones at any given moment though.
4.5 out of 5 Zombies Are Trippin' Balls!
ForeverAtLast – Ghosts Again
Released: October 16th 2015
Label: Victory Records
From: Indianapolis, IN
Released: October 16th 2015
Label: Victory Records
From: Indianapolis, IN
I’ll be 100% honest here and say this isn’t my normal fare and if Victory Records hadn’t sent this to us I probably would have never heard it but I’m glad I did. This is a little more mainstream type of metal for fans of bands like Butcher Babies or In This Moment and I’ll say the same about this album as I would any of those, I like it just not for an entire album all at once. In other words I like to listen to a song or two off this one then I need something else and then I can come back to it. That’s no reflection on how good it is, it just isn’t my preferred taste for more than a song or two. However, if you’re a fan of the aforementioned bands you’ll probably love it. When I listen to just a song or two at a time, I love it. For me, it’s a lighter break from all the death and doom metal I listen to or in other words it’s like a breath of fresh air from time to time though my taste runs to the heavier stuff in general. So if you like a little radio metal from time to time or if you’re generally a fan of it rather than the heavier metal then this is a perfect album for you. ForeverAtLast are certainly talented so I can’t see how they won’t be commercially successful. Check it out when you need a break from the all the brutal fare we usually share with you here. If this is your type of music I’m sure you’d rate it higher than my personal taste will allow.
3 out of 5 Zombies Are Jammin' Out!
Dog Fashion Disco – Ad Nauseum
Released: October 2nd 2015
Label: Razor To Wrist Records
From: Baltimore, MD
Released: October 2nd 2015
Label: Razor To Wrist Records
From: Baltimore, MD
Dog Fashion Disco are reunited with a new album. I won’t lie and say I was always a DFD fan. I first became aware of Todd Smith’s post-DFD band, Polkadot Cadaver, and since I liked that I went back and began listening to DFD to find that Polkadot Cadaver really sounded just like DFD just some band members had changed. So if you’re new to DFD they’re a little difficult to explain. The term “experimental metal” can be applied to many bands and really tells you nothing at all. Think dark themed pop music or try to imagine pop music with metal lyrics like Cannibal Corpse songs played by a jazzy lounge act. Does that help? Oh well, I tried. I find DFD’s music to just be fun for the most part. In many ways they’re probably more similar to Faith No More than any other description I can come up with. I can say Todd Smith is a lyrical fucking genius making extremely dark themes comical. All I can say is I love it. I found Ad Nauseum to be very much like everything I’ve heard from DFD or PC in that some of the songs stick in my head like a motherfucker and some miss the mark. If you’ve been a DFD fan you’ll hear much that sounds familiar but is no less fun than it ever has been. If you’re new to DFD then check it out and if you find you like it then look into their back catalog and into Polkadot Cadaver. You can always thank me later.
4 out of 5 Zombies Love Quirky Fun Experimentation!
Quaoar – Dreamers. Dreaming
Released: January 15th 2015
Label: Independent
From: Bilbao, Spain
Released: January 15th 2015
Label: Independent
From: Bilbao, Spain
Looking for some pretty straight-forward rock ‘n’ roll in the vein of early era Alice In Chains or Stone Temple Pilots? Then look no further than Quaoar (which is the name for an asteroid roughly the size of Pluto in the Kuiper belt). Quaoar sound very much like a hard rock band straight out of the early 90s which endears them to me since I graduated from high school in ’91. If you’re a fan, like I am, of Badmotorfinger from Soundgarden then Dreamers. Dreaming will be right up your alley if you replace Chris Cornell with Scott Weiland (pre-drug problems). In other words this album is pretty damn awesome. A huge thanks to the band for sending this one directly to us since I wouldn’t have been likely to come across it otherwise. If you’re a kid of the grunge era like myself or if you’re younger but enjoy that era then this is a perfect album for you. This is a perfect album for blasting up loud cruising down the highway on a nice sunny day. And hey, I live in Arizona now… that’s every fucking day! Sorry my northern family and friends but I do really love it here!
4 out of 5 Zombies Are Rockin' Out!
Psychostick – IV: Revenge of the Vengeance
Released: November 4th 2015
Label: Independent
From: Chicago, IL
Released: November 4th 2015
Label: Independent
From: Chicago, IL
If you have yet to hear of Psychostick then you obviously don’t like Boobs, Beer and just plain fun. I mean come on they have a song called fucking Beer and another called Because Boobs! How can you not love that? My personal favorite is Girl Directions but that just may get supplanted by Bruce Campbell. Yup, Psychostick wrote an ode to a favorite in the Scribbler Mansion… Groovy Bruce! If you’re a total stick in the mud who doesn’t like to smile, laugh or have fun then maybe you don’t like Psychostick and if that’s the case well… Fuck Off! Psychostick take nothing seriously which is something we all need from time to time. Sure it’s schlocky but it’s metal schlocky. Not sold? How about a parody of classic Heart song Magic Man about 8 bit Nintendo’s Megaman? Not sold? Man, you really do have a large stick wedged firmly up your arse. Well while you’re at the proctologist getting that stick removed (I’m assuming surgically) the rest of us will be drinking a few brews (maybe tokin’ a little green) and laughing our asses off with Psychostick!
5 out of 5 Because Zombies like to have fun too Prick!
Puscifer – Money Shot
Released: October 30th 2015
Label: Puscifer Entertainment
From: All over the US
Released: October 30th 2015
Label: Puscifer Entertainment
From: All over the US
Okay so this one should be pretty obvious if you’ve paid attention to any of my MJK worshipping at any opportunity I’m given. I love Tool, I love A Perfect Circle and I thoroughly enjoy Puscifer. Puscifer is probably the most hit and miss MJK project but really it should be since their songs can range from everything from techno to country and just about everything in between. Puscifer songs that I love may be the ones you hate and vice versa but that’s kind of the nature of the beast. I got Money Shot as soon as it came out so I’ve been spinning it for a couple of weeks now. Grand Canyon (above) is pretty damn amazing but I think I actually like the album’s second track, Agostina, even better. Then there’s MJK’s lyrical prowess on The Remedy which is about that asshole troll we all love so well, “You speak, like someone who’s never been, smacked in the fucking mouth. That’s okay, we have The Remedy.” (I saw right after I posted this that Loudwire just posted the exclusive premiere video for The Remedey so check that out!) Now we all know people like that, I can personally say too damn many. There’s another track that endears this album to me personally but the reason is one I’ll keep to myself. If you’ve liked Puscifer’s previous albums then I’d say you’ll like this one. I think their last, Conditions of My Parole, is still my overall favorite but this new one is still growing on me so maybe ask me in a few months. I love MJK’s song writing so whether it’s Puscifer or that new Tool album that probably won’t come out until I hit retirement (No, I’m not fucking there yet smartasses!) I really can’t get enough of it. Call me biased I really don’t care, MJK is a fucking genius artist in my eyes and you can disagree if you’d like. Puscifer isn’t for everyone but I thoroughly enjoy them but then I have been called weird a few (hundred) times.
4.5 out of 5 Zombies F'in Love It!
It generally takes me a little while to build up enough off the beaten path bands to put together but whenever I have four or five I’ll be sure to share them with you. Yes, I listen to all of the above amidst all the brutal death metal, doom and everything else I share with you here on TDBS so you can see I earn my “weird” label at times. Hey, I’m just me and I’m being honest rather than the guy who blasts Cannibal Corpse when his friends are around only to run home and slap on his Madonna collection. I don’t get the point of that. Like what you like and fuck anyone who tells you different. If it sounds good to you listen to it and tell others about it so they can maybe enjoy it too. Your friends will always love music you hate and vice versa but without that we’re all just clones and that sounds like a pretty boring world to live in to me. Hopefully you found something in there to extend your music collection with and if not we’ll try again another time. Feind Out!!
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What do you think music lovers? Do you have a recent non-metal or alternative favorite? What are you listening to? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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