The Return of Iron Man
Posted in Reviews on May 29th, 2009 by H.P. Taskmaster
“Iron” Al Morris III is a doomer’s doomer; an original in of the congregation of The Riff. His band Iron Man, in the ranks of the original Hellhound Records greats, has seen ups, downs, further downs and expanses of time where the question, “Hey, what the hell ever happened to Iron Man?” wasn’t necessarily out of line. With just the self-released Submission EP to show for studio material (though there have been a host of live albums since 2006) in the time between 1999’s Generation Void (Brainticket) and today, Morris and Iron Man have been through lineup changes, periods of inactivity and damn near every other obstacle you can put in front of a band, remaining in spite of everything in the top names of traditional Maryland doom, which, to be fair, is a scene forgiving of intermittence among its own.
In 2009, Iron Man signed up with Pittsburgh’s Shadow Kingdom Records to release their new album, the aptly-titled I Have Returned. Anyone who knows the band knows they got their start chopping out live sets mostly comprised of Sabbath covers, but on I Have Returned, originality takes center stage, with vocalist Joe Donnelly (once an Ozzy impersonator) providing unique companionship for Morris‘ riffing. The rhythm section of bassist Louis Strachan and drummer Dex Dexter makes this an entirely new lineup surrounding the guitarist since Generation Void, but Iron Man more than meet the tightness required by the music, sounding cohesive and natural throughout the album’s 10 tracks.
Normally 
I don’t buy into the whole vinyl-sounds-better thing. I agree there’s something to the experience of purchasing a record and certainly the artwork is bigger, but in terms of the actual sound, while I’ll grant that analog and digital sound different, since most turntables run through a digital amplifier before they reach the speakers anyway and even if not, the disparity is negligible, usually I chalk it up to marketing bullshit or a reactionary hipster trend flying in the face of the rise of digital media. Take that, Apple.
Damn thing just came out on Tuesday and the Boston/Brooklyn trio are already giving it away for free. I’m talking about Bloodhorse’s first Translation Loss full-length, Horizoner, which follows up their impressive 2007 self-titled EP. The album is available in CD and 2LP form, with a fancy etching on the second vinyl disc for any hard core collectors out there. I’m listening to it for the first time now and so far so good. If you dig Torche, it might be a good way to spend some time.
An album on which everything right down to the artwork reeks of desolation and loneliness, the self-titled debut from Barcelona’s Lords of Bukkake (Odio Sonoro/Gaia Records) is the ideal companion for those evenings when, 
left to your own devices in a world of infinite possibilities, you choose to sit around in your underwear, drink by yourself and hate at a major league level. Full of visceral anger directed whichever way the speakers are facing, it is slicing and grating, painful, hurtful doom lashing out irredeemable remorse and churning violence. It is the kind of music that makes you feel like there are bugs crawling on you.
As last weekend’s New England adventures played out, I found myself Saturday afternoon in Providence, Rhode Island, tracing along the racks at Armageddon Shop. I’d never been there before, don’t know when I’ll get back, but found it on the 
The reputation of Swedish/Texan doom outfit Candlemass goes without saying. I know I’ve said it before, but bassist Leif Edling is in the top three great doom riff-writers, and his powers are as potent as ever on Candlemass‘ new album, Death Magic Doom (Nuclear Blast). I’ll spare the wax poetry and intellectualizing because the record has 
Having 
If you’ve ever heard a Minsk album, then you know the Chicago post-metal four-piece don’t do anything without it being packed tight. They slam more sounds into their songs than ever on their third full-length (second for Relapse), With Echoes in the Movement of Stone, offering a more varied take on the rich and darkly psychedelic crushing ambience that has become their signature sound over the course of these last several years and albums The Ritual Fires of Abandonment (2007) and Out of a Center Which is Neither Dead Nor Alive (2005).
shouting into his arsenal on songs like opener “Three Moons” and later cut “Crescent Mirror.” Timothy Mead’s keyboard work is also higher in the mix, lending a progressive dynamism to “The Shore of Transcendence,” which at 9:59 and with a plethora of mood and tempo changes, is practically an album in itself. Bassist/vocalist Sanford Parker, who has produced all three of Minsk’s LPs (as well as records for Pelican when they were good, Yakuza, Nachtmystium and half of the Windy City), outdoes himself in both performance and in capturing the nuances in these songs. The building of tension has never been more confidently accomplished by the band as it is here.
The remarkably prolific alter ego of 
Both of the albums, as well as the 12 other releases the band has issued since 2005, are available for free download on the Against Nature website, and physical pressings of each are limited to 90 copies that come with hand-made covers signed by guitarist/vocalist John Brenner in gorgeous designs that jpegs fail to do justice. Obviously this is not a band with high commercial aspirations. Rather, what shines through on Accumulus and Natural Blue is a genuine love for the creative process. Memorable riffs pervade cuts like “NOS” and “Normal Nihilists,” linking the two albums together, but Accumulus has a more progressive feel than its predecessor, which is emblematic of the drive and willingness to experiment fueling the band on in place of mainstream notoriety, fame or a large cash flow. They do it to do it. If they didn’t enjoy it, there would be no reason to continue.
They might look like they could use a sandwich or two, but Brooklyn trio Stats (formerly known as Stay Fucked) specialize in a dense, sludgy brand of technical instrumetal, like a less outwardly intense early Dillinger Escape Plan or what forgotten Minnesota tribe Figure of Merit pulled off so capably on their equally forgotten Vatic record, and so their indie garb is a kind of disguise from which the sonic nastiness emerges. Very sneaky, you thick-framed strategists.
so I’m keeping it — the three-song CD the band sent in for review came with little fanfare, no art, no track listing and no real explanation; just a black CDR, a short bio and an email address. Under normal circumstances (i.e., if they sucked), I probably would have put it in the pile to be eventually filed away, never to be heard again, but my curiosity was roused by the crashing noisy rhythms of the first track and I’ve gone back for multiple repeat listens since, each time hearing something new from Stats that I’d missed previously.
And that’s not just their first NYC show, it’s their first show ever, which just happens to be in NYC. If you missed it, Moth Eater 
Heavy on the noise, heavy on the proclamations, heavy on the vocals and just plain heavy, the self-released (through their Black Rabbit Rebellion imprint) third album from The Long and Short of It, Caw!: An Unkindness of Ravens follows a path of classic hardcore abrasiveness from its very first second, in which singer Ben Johnson (also of Hostile Comb-Over) — who spends much of his time so prominent in the mix that it’s hard to hear what’s going on behind him — demands to know, “Hey, are you receiving me?!”
