Get groovy with Gravesend, Maul, Turn Cold, and Tsuris
Written by Scott “Saved by the” Belzer | February 26th, 2024
At the beginning of Gravesend’s album Gowanus Death Stomp, there are roughly two minutes dedicated to nothing but amping you the hell up.
The album’s opener, “Deranged”, features flies buzzing, someone screaming threats about money, and a swelling dissonance that leads into the next track. And just in case the album opener didn’t put you on edge, “11414” spends another minute dishing out pummeling rhythms, caveman riffs, and blast beats. By the time Gravesend’s guitarist/vocalist/synth-er (known only as “A”) begins barraging you with lyrics about mass graves, death, and destruction, you should be ready to take on a freight train head-on. This doesn’t let up for the next 35 minutes, unless you count the disorienting, haunting interlude at the beginning of “Crown of Tar” or the shell-shocked outro “Enraged”. Choo-choo, baby.
The New York-based 20 Buck Spin stalwarts unleashed Gowanus Death Stomp late last year to some great fanfare. The brutality from this album is so palpable that even the illustrious Encyclopaedia Metallum can’t figure out how to classify Gravesend, instead just throwing “Black/Death Metal/Grindcore” onto the band’s page. It’s great to see folks out there confusing the hell out of people.
All you need to know is the band’s sound kicks ass. Your ass. My ass. Everyone’s ass. It’s as abrasive as a jar full of rusty nails. As hard as a pressure washer that only shoots metal sponges. And as savagely fun as running around a bonfire buck-naked. Ass. 20 Butt Spinkick is more like it.
Gravesend has been punishing listeners in the best possible way since 2020, with their first LP Methods of Human Disposal catching a lot of well-earned attention. Their 2021 EP, From the Gutter / To the Grave, showed that attention wasn’t at all misplaced, and Gowanus stands as another fully realized entry into the realm of rotting, grinding, and immense extremity.
And if it’s rotting, grinding, and immense extremity you find yourself craving, Fargo’s Maul should also draw you in like a moth to a flame. Another addition to 20 Buck Spin’s already-impressive roster, Maul delivers hard-hitting death metal the way Little Caesar’s delivers Hot-n-Ready pizzas: faster, tastier and so satisfying that you crave more.
I’ve never come across a band that sounds more like its name, except for maybe Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard. Maul first melted my face off (ouch) in 2022 with their full-length LP Seraphic Punishment. The album’s opener, “Of Human Frailty” immediately delivers knuckle-dragging riffs and guttural growls, luring you in with a relatively standard first verse… all before punching you in the face with wave after wave of breakdowns. Vocalist Garrett Alvarado demonstrates his range on each track, while bandmates Mike Griggs, Anthony Lamb, Robby Anderson, and Al Nikolas work in flawless tandem.
This smorgasbord of new-school-paying-homage-to-old-school death metal was one of my favorite albums of 2022, and like a lot of newer bands doing the same thing, Maul isn’t satisfied with repackaging a familiar sound for purists. They want to make it more interesting, offering elements of hardcore, punk, and other audio extremity you may not immediately think about. Maul gives you opportunities to two-step. There are breakdowns aplenty for karate kicking and headbanging. Shake your hips and dance around, you little freak. Feel like lettin’ loose in any way possible? I got great news: So does Maul.
Maul’s 2023 four-song EP, Desecration and Enchantment, picks up where their 2022 full-length left off, but adds much more atmosphere and patience. You can tell Maul are reveling in their sound more, enjoying the deep, dark, and dank crypts they’ve created with slower tempos, drawn-out song lengths, and more complex song structures. There’s a confident experimentation there you wish all bands would just go for. Can’t wait for the full-length.
Gravesend and Maul are laying waste to Atlanta on Wednesday, March 6 at Boggs Social & Supply. Atlanta heavy hitters Turn Cold and Tsuris will kick things off with a bang.
Turn Cold delivers thrashy crossover goodness guaranteed to warm your heart (despite the name). “Oh wow,” you’ll say to yourself. “That was a mighty good riff! Dearest me, was that a breakdown? Best hustle to the mosh pit for a rowdy-how!” Buy one of Turn Cold’s four EP/compilations. And then buy one of their logoed baseball bats. Y’know, for baseball. And crime. Live your life!
I’m going to go ahead and come clean: Tsuris is probably my favorite Atlanta band. These youngin’s have so much potential that it baffles me they haven’t been snatched up by a bigger label. They have a similar sound/approach to heavy music as Gravesend and Maul: don’t just throw the kitchen sink at your listener, also throw the kitchen table, the kitchen chairs, the dog, the cat, the children—whatever is close by. But they also do it with a clear sensibility for black metal (plot twist!). Their latest EP is already on my album-of-the-year list (it’s on February, but you get it). Go see Tsuris. Buy their merch. Put these kids through college. Help them drop out and become full-time musicians.
– Scott Belzer
Gravesend, Maul, Turn Cold, and Tsuris perform live in Atlanta on Wednesday, March 6th at Boggs Social & Supply. Tickets are on sale here.