It wouldn’t be accurate to think of Spiritual Beggars as the first Swedish heavy rock band, because Sweden has been turned on and tuned in since the beginning, but what guitarist Michael Amott’s post-Carcass outfit did was embrace a more modern stoner sound and help found the scene that would later grow into one of the world’s most vibrant and prolific. And what’s more, they rocked. There’s no discounting the earliest work of Spiritual Beggars in the ‘90s. In both quality and influence, 1994’s Spiritual Beggars, 1996’s Another Way to Shine and 1998’s Mantra III are essential documents for anyone looking to understand the growth of European stoner rock.

Spiritual Beggars’ latest offering, Return to Zero (InsideOut/Century Media) is notable before you even hit play because of (Per Wiberg’s moustache, but also) the departure of vocalist JB Christoffersson, who left the band on good terms to focus on his main project, the mighty Grand Magus. Replacing Christoffersson is Apollo Papathanasio of Greek power metallers Firewind – you may have heard the name because guitarist Gus G. is now playing with Ozzy Osbourne – and though Christoffersson’s work on 2002’s On Fire and 2005’s Demons is not to be duplicated, Papathanasio does an admirable job, proving he’s a soulful, versatile singer in his own right, able to match Amott’s riff and solo magic with a bluesy throat and powerful delivery, and ultimately a worthy successor to Christoffersson and original vocalist Christian “Spice” Sjöstrand.

Amott is no stranger to melody, being a principal figure in melodic death metal as guitarist for the massively successful Arch Enemy. On Return to Zero, his songwriting formula is potent as ever across highlight tracks like post-intro opener “Lost in Yesterday,” metal-loving anthem “We are Free” (which makes good and honest use of the central riff of Black Sabbath’s “Hole in the Sky,” topping it with canned crowd noise) and “The Chaos of Rebirth,” in which the rhythm section of Sharlee D’Angelo (bass; Mercyful Fate, Arch Enemy, etc.) and Ludwig Witt (drums; Firebird) pull off stops and turns that would have lesser bands crashing and probably breaking up before they figured them out. Of course, the guitars lead the way the majority of the time, but if Amott meets his match anywhere in Spiritual Beggars, it’s with keyboardist Per Wiberg – who, for the remainder of this review, shall be referred to, with love, as “Per Wiberg and His Magical Mystery Moustache.”

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I don’t know if it’s the same this time around because I’m way on the outs of the proverbial loop, but in 2008, when Chicago outfit Nachtmystium released their Century Media debut, Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1, the anticipation was rabid and the reaction was so saliva-laden it was comical. It occurred to me the other day I haven’t gotten the same kind of fever-pitch vibe surrounding the follow-up full-length, Addicts: Black Meddle Pt. 2, but I’m more than willing to allow that’s because, in the two years since the last album, I’ve almost entirely stopped paying attention. So the situation might be the same and I just don’t know about it. Hype doesn’t make a difference listening anyway.

As regards that (listening), Addicts is a curious case. While “High on Hate,” which follows a minute and a half of spell-it-out introduction, could easily fit into a black metal mold at least as established by the last album, much of Nachtmystium’s material on the second offering of their Century Media era finds itself pushing forcefully outside the lines of that genre. “Nightfall” begins with and maintains a spirit akin to Queens of the Stone Age’s “No One Knows,” and the insistent/incessant keyboard runs of “No Funeral” (provided by producer Sanford Parker) would also seem to place the track elsewhere categorically. Yet, throughout these songs and later genre-benders, the production maintained is thoroughly black metal, by which I mean lo-fi and almost purposefully underproduced. A headphone session reveals more psychedelic complexities of sound that regular speaker listening glosses over, and though I personally find it harder to listen to Addicts because of this, it can only be on purpose, since with the likes of Sanford Parker and Nachtmystium main man Blake Judd at the helm of the recording, it’s not as though either party doesn’t know what they’re doing.

Rather, I think it’s a case of Judd and whoever in the rotating cast of Nachtmystium players with whom he wrote these songs having simply outgrown the style in which they began – namely black metal. I’m sure if you were to ask Judd what he thinks of black metal, he’d say either that he doesn’t play it or that he doesn’t give a shit (and both may be true), but if genre concerns weren’t on his mind at least on some level, they wouldn’t be acknowledged in the album’s title at all, let alone in the fucking-with pun manner they are. So what we get is “black meddle,” reshaping a genre the band would probably be better off leaving behind altogether, at least in terms of production. Hell, if you want to compare labelmates, look at the Triptykon CD Century Media released earlier this year. Every nuance of that album was up front and clear, whereas with Addicts I feel like something’s trying to hide from me while I listen, as though Judd is embarrassed by his creativity and sans-box songwriting. Push that to the fore. I don’t give a shit if it’s kvlt. I want it to kick my ass, and if the corpsepaint needs to go for that to happen, so be it.

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From the day it was announced that acclaimed guitarist/vocalist Tom Gabriel Warrior was leaving Swiss black metal innovators Celtic Frost following their fucking awesome reunion album Monotheist, it was clear that whatever he did next was going to be a tricky proposition. After all, this isn’t the first time Celtic Frost broke up, and considering it took them about half a decade to get Monotheist together, was it really such a surprise to see the band come apart? The upside was that when Triptykon, Warrior’s new band, was revealed, he more or less said his plan was to make it sound like Celtic Frost, and to that end, he was taking the parts he was going to use for songs on the next Celtic Frost record and turn it into Triptykon’s first album, Eparistera Daimones.

Century Media, to whom Monotheist was also licensed for release back in 2006 (time does fly), sent over some mp3s of Eparistera Daimones for review, but I knew that, as with Monotheist, if I wanted to really get a sense of what this album was about, I needed the real deal. So I bought it. Whether or not that makes me morally superior to anyone who by now has downloaded this blackened metallic beast is a debate for another time (but we all know it does); the point is that, with the expository liner notes, with H.R. Giger’s explicit cover art — covered in the CD packaging by a strategically placed promo sticker – with the production info, with the lyrics, I feel like it’s possible to get a more fully realized notion of what Eparistera Daimones is trying to accomplish. In a word, that is “iconoclasm.”

How else to explain the vicious turns, unexpected twists and occasionally unleashed, unhinged aggression of Triptykon’s debut? Clearly this is an album that, while knowing of the expectations pinned on it and the revitalized reputation it’s going to be responsible for upholding, doesn’t give a shit and is going to do what it’s going to do. Joining Warrior on the release are drummer Norman Lonhard, bassist Vanja Slajh, numerous guests, and former Celtic Frost live guitarist V. Santura, whose modern black metal vocals contrast with Warrior’s own to great effect on early cuts “Goetia,” “Abyess Within My Soul” and blistering centerpiece “A Thousand Lies.” If there’s one single factor that separates Triptykon from Celtic Frost (the absence of Martin Eric Ain being obvious to the point of not really needing to be said), it’s Santura’s contributions. Plus, as a co-producer with Warrior, his affect on the overall sound of Eparistera Daimones is even broader, and judging from the outcome, it’s much to the album’s benefit.

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The reason this is a Buried Treasure and not a review or something — aside from album’s having been already reviewed — is that I just finally got around to buying a physical copy last night at Vintage Vinyl. I was there for the Crippled Black Phoenix, The Resurrectionists/Night Raider box and figured since opening track “As Horizons End” has been in my head for a couple days, I’d grab the 2009 Paradise Lost release as well. Maybe there was some subliminal connection because both bands are British. In any case, I had some store credit to burn.

Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us is not an album I’ve consistently gone back to, but for some reason, I recently clicked open the folder of promo mp3s from which the review was written and gave it another shot. It’s still formulaic, but as I stood with the copy of it in my hands and debated taking it to the register, I realized formulaic was exactly what I wanted. There’s no question there’s some filler toward the record’s back half — I know that now even more than the first time around — but that’s what I wanted. A metal album. Something I could put on and not think about. A couple catchy choruses, some decent guitar work, and done. Mind-boggling complexity is wonderful, but sometimes you just want to relax.

I felt way back in August and still feel “As Horizons End” is the strongest cut on the record. It’s the one that led me back to Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us, and a good portion of motivation for any subsequent listens will be to hear that one song. But what follows it, at least for the next four songs until you get past the title track, isn’t half bad either. I doubt the purchase will instill in me a wholesale new affection for the album, but hey, at least I know it’s on the shelf should I decide to pay it another visit half a year from now.

Peer pressure, I guess. Assassins Part I had some pretty good songs, including “Your True Enemy,” the chorus of which is still stuck in my head regularly (up to and including most of the day yesterday), so yeah, Chicago black metallers Nachtmystium make the cut. What the hell. Can’t be Kyuss clones all the time. Actually, it probably could. There’s enough of them out there.

Anyhoosier, Century Media via the PR wire has info on Assassins Part II. Looks to be a star-studded affair:

This vicious, uncompromising group, led by mastermind Blake Judd are currently recording with Sanford Parker (Minsk) at Volume Studios. They have also enlisted the talents of Wrest (Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice, Twilight) to record all drum tracks, as well as Will Lindsay (Wolves in the Throne Room, Middian) on bass for the much anticipated Assassins Part II, which was hailed by Decibel as “One of the 25 most anticipated albums of 2010.”

Nachtmystium kicks off their 2010 touring cycle by joining up with German thrash legends Kreator so head over to www.myspace.com/nachtmystium to view their complete touring itinerary.

Judd further describes his excitement over this upcoming album: “Our love for post rock and industrial (à la Ministry, Killing Joke, etc.) is even more present this time around. We’re hoping to make a record that will continue to push extreme music into uncharted territories. We hope to see you all soon.”

Sometimes you do an interview and it goes off without a hitch. The questions are cool, the artist is responsive, there’s a decent rapport, everything is cordial and friendly.

…And sometimes you stick your foot so far in your mouth that you actually bend over backwards from the force of it and shove your head right up your ass, where it seems to have been the whole time anyway.

My recent phone interview with Fu Manchu guitarist/vocalist Scott Hill was one of the latter. Everything was going fine, really good in fact, until I brought the conversation to a screeching halt by confusing Fu Manchu drummer Scott Reeder with the former Kyuss bassist of the same name. “Uh, I think you got the wrong Scott Reeder,” Hill said. What a fucking trainwreck.

I’ve cut it out of the Q&A after the jump, mostly out of embarrassment, but I felt it would be dishonest (though infinitely more professional) not to bring it up, since it has stained the interview in my mind and I’m unable to think of the one without the other. Obviously Scott Hill will survive, and I have plenty of experience being a god damned idiot, so I will as well, but man, that sure did suck. The worst part was I knew it wasn’t the same dude.

Fu Manchu‘s latest album, Signs of Infinite Power is available now on Century Media. Please enjoy the interview. I wish I could.

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[NOTE: There's a full review to come, of course, but I got the record today, listened to it once, and thought I'd spew out some quick notes. Hence "Whathaveyou" and not "Reviews." Take it for what it's worth.]

I seem to be on a kick lately of records with orange and yellow covers. Wonder why that is (looks at site header and scratches head).

This is definitely the Fu. Sounds just like ‘em. Maybe a little more metal than We Must Obey, still Cali hardcore too, and still fuzzy and catchy as all hell. Hard to believe they’ve been doing this for 19 years.

These guys kind of hit their stride with California Crossing and never really stopped. Tried to get commercial with Start the Machine, and that wasn’t very good, but are back on track. Drums on this sound heavy. Big snare, big toms.

Might pass on a couple songs, but like the last record, some memorable winners too. “Bionic Astronautics,” “Webfoot Witch Hat,” “Eyes x 10.” Don’t really care about “Gargantuan March,” but even that has a decent riff.

Heard much worse from these guys. Album could be a big time grower.

By that I mean it sounds just like Fu Manchu, and after their last album, the underrated 2007 release We Must Obey, that’s not a bad thing. Yes, we all know their tried their hand at watered-down commerciality with 2004′s Start the Machine (around the valley we call it The Debacle in Calacle — that’s not true), but the Fu are back doing what they’re best at: pure fuzz-driven Californian stoner rock. Their new record, Signs of Infinite Power, comes out Oct. 20 on Century Media, and the good people over at Noisecreep (namely Amy Sciarretto, whom I adore) have posted the preview track “Bionic Astronautics” for all the world to click over and stream. You probably won’t be surprised, but if the choice is new Fu Manchu or new 99 percent of other bands in the world, I’ll take Fu Manchu every time.

Looks like California‘s foremost purveyors of distortion — on the cusp of 20 years as a band — have a new record coming up. According to the story on Blabbermouth, Fu Manchu will release Signs of Infinite Power on Oct. 20 in the US. If it’s anything like their last record, 2007′s We Must Obey, then I’ll take it. Bring on the fuzz. Here’s the story:

Californian rockers Fu Manchu will release their tenth studio album, Signs of Infinite Power, on October 19 in Europe and one day later in the US via Century Media Records.

Commented guitarist/vocalist Scott Hill: [The new CD] turned out very fuzzy and heavy!!! A few faster, tweaked songs are in there as well.”

He added, “2010 will be Fu Manchu‘s 20th year of being a band. We have some very special releases and shows planned for that.”

It?s a well-known fact that when Paradise Lost are heavy, life is just better. As the most commercially successful of the original Peaceville Three — the other two being My Dying Bride and Anathema — who came up in the UK and boldly changed the landscape of the metal underground with releases like 1991?s Gothic and 1992?s Shades of God, Paradise Lost have amassed a loyal following setting them apart from almost any other band. They?re gothic, but they?re death metal, they?re melodic, but their heaviness is unquestionable. For a while there they were even a disco band. On their new release, Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us (Century Media), it?s abundantly clear they?re over that one.

If there are any resonant trademarks that have existed throughout the many phases and faces of Paradise Lost, they are result of the consistency of the players, who apart from new drummer Adrian Erlandsson (ex-At the Gates, The Haunted, Cradle of Filth, etc.) are the same today as they were in 1988. Happy to say the riffing of Gregor Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy brings serious metallic weight to tracks like opener ?As Horizons End? and the start-stop cadence of ?The Rise of Denial.? Erlandsson also turns in a remarkable performance on the latter, tapping his ride cymbal to lend the song an accent that blends well with Stephen Edmondson?s subtle bass work.

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