Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Oct 22

THE LOUDER STUFF

BEHEMOTH – Opvs Contra Natvram
The high-quality and misspelled majestic death/black metal we’ve come to expect from Nergal and co. never disappoints. (8)

CLUTCH – Sunrise on Slaughter Beach
It’s Clutch. It’s groovy and it rocks. (8)

DROPKICK MURPHYS – This Machine Still Kills Fascists
With co-vocalist Al Barr sidelined for family reasons, the rest of the Murphys go acoustic and use unreleased Woody Guthrie lyrics for an album that sounds un-Murphys-like and very Murphys-like at the same time. (8)

FRAYLE – Skin & Sorrow
Pretty good gothic doom metal with female vocals that fortunately take a 4AD ethereal direction rather than the dreaded soprano route. (7)

GOGOL BORDELLO – Solidaritine
A new band with only Hutz and violinist Ryabtzev remaining from the classic line-up but you wouldn’t be able to tell – it’s a very energetic effort, their most punk rock record since “Gypsy Punks”. (8)

KINGS OF MERCIA – Kings Of Mercia
Following August’s A-Z album Jim Matheos also releases a non-Fates Warning melodic hard rock album with vocals by FM’s Steve Overland who brings a strong AOR flavor to the proceedings, sounding very much like Lou Gramm in places. Classy rhythm section (Joey Vera & Simon Phillips), great guitar tone, quality songwriting. (8)

THE MARS VOLTA – The Mars Volta
Does not sound like The Mars Volta at all – gone are the extreme prog-punk pyrotechnics of the past, this time around they go for Santana-influenced, almost-conventional rock. (7)

MELVINS – Bad Moon Rising
Like Forrest Gump said, Melvins albums are like a box of chocolates – you never know what you're gonna get. This one contains, among other things, a 14-minute exercise in downtuned sludge weirdness called “Mister Dog Is Totally Right”, two of their catchiest songs ever (“It Won’t Or It Might”, “Hammering”), and a guest appearance by Earth’s Dylan Carlson. (7)

SLIPKNOT – The End, So Far
Not afraid to expand their sound and experiment, this time around Slipknot often put melody above heaviness and step up as tunesmiths. It sounds nothing like Stone Sour, by the way. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF
    
AL-QASAR – Who Are We?
Paris-based band raises hell on strong debut album, with a little help from friends like Jello Biafra and Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo adding oomph to Middle Eastern-flavored psychedelic rock. (8)

DR. JOHN – Things Happen That Way
New Orleans tradition meets country on the great Mac’s posthumously released farewell album. (7)

THE GODFATHERS – Alpha Beta Gamma Delta
Remember these guys? They were playing real British rock ‘n’ roll in the late 80’s when no one else was doing it. New line-up with only vocalist Peter Coyne remaining, but a surprisingly good album – looks at “Birth, School, Work, Death”, or at least “More Songs About Love & Hate”, in the eye without being embarrassed. (8)

JESCA HOOP – Order Of Romance
Hoop likes to hide her deep and eclectic musicality behind a childlike playfulness. (7)

MAKAYA McCRAVEN - In These Times
Jazz drummer/producer creates a gorgeous piece of work, going beyond “pure jazz” to incorporate all kinds of black music elements into his style. (8)

BETH ORTON – Weather Alive
The Queen Mother of what we’ve come to call “folktronica” is back with a beautiful, haunting self-produced record. (8)

SUEDE – Autofiction
I haven’t paid any attention really to these guys since Bernard Butler left the band in ’94 but this is an excellent album, more post-punk than the glam-infused Britpop I remember. (8)