MOTÖRHEAD – Inferno

infernoIn 1991, Motörhead realeased the album ‘1916’, an album on which they sounded more alive than they had in years. The songs were sharper than their late 80s efforts and the band sounded like they’d regained a lot of their spark. There was a surprise too: the title track was a cello backed ballad, where Lemmy crooned about young men joining up to fight for king and country in the First World War. Nobody saw that coming…and they say you can’t teach old dogs new tricks.

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DIRE WOLF – Black Death EP

dire wolf epAs much as their choice of band name might suggest, Brisbane’s Dire Wolf probably don’t have much time for the Grateful Dead’s brand of Americana. Formed in 2011, the band’s chief goal was to become one of the city’s heaviest bands – and if they couldn’t claim such a feat previously, their 2015 EP release ‘Black Death’ must set them pretty close. In just under twelve minutes, the band lay down a brutal hardcore sound, uncompromising yet thrilling, in a manner that fuses influences from Dillinger Escape Plan with a whole lot more besides.

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MERCY BROWN – Mercy Brown

mercy brownMercy Brown’s debut album is a sledgehammer of a release. This Washington based band clearly aren’t keen to mess around; while not always the easiest of listens, this first full-length comes loaded with riffs the size of juggernauts, a production value so entrenched in bottom end that even the biggest riffs sound bigger still and their pneumatic rhythmic assault that’s like being repeatedly slapped in the mouth. They’re very much advocates of metal with a capital M and appear to have no time for the moulded and more mainstream bands that have so often filled the metal TV channels like Scuzz during the previous couple of years before this release.

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HERSCHER – Herscher

herscherHerscher are practicioners of a rather mean and lo-fi brand of doom metal, the kind that’s so intense that makes your average doom band sound like they’re gearing up to play a few Boney M covers and then bed down for a late night at about 7pm. On the bulk of this third release, this French trio are so frighteningly robust, it’s a genuine challenge to get through the near forty minute playing time in one hit. Depending on how much you love your doom and sludge, of course, this could turn out to a be a very positive thing.

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