Written by Scott Belzer | June 10th, 2024
Let me ask you a serious question.
Have you ever been birthed out of a demon’s .. crotch.. area..? Blissfully or agonizingly flown around in a circle with other naked folks? Swam in a neverending tide of torture and despair? Only to be eaten by the same hypothetical demon once it decides you’re expendable?
Like most normal folks, you’ve probably answered: “NO, SCOTT! HOW CRUEL!”. But upon listening to NECROT’s latest release, 2024’s Lifeless Birth, you may have second thoughts. Just read these lyrics and gaze into the abyss of the mesmerizing album cover.
“You have been lured into a cage / and you won’t escape if you play their game / Mind oppression serves the power / as a way to keep you silent / Through deceit they gain compliance / You will think as they desire / Bow your head and fall in line / Fuck, produce and then you die. “ (From “Cut the Cord”)
“The more they take, the more they want / They use your fears to gain control / Why believe when greedy masters / say they care is someone suffers?” (From “Superior”)
Are you getting it yet? Is it clicking? Do you understand the not-so-subtle metaphor? We’re birthed by and feeding the system, man!
Necrot’s latest onslaught of riffs, growls, and grooves is yet another addition to the band’s stellar catalog of ‘90s death metal worship (complimentary). Since this Oakland three-piece has been at it since 2011 (remember 2011?), it’s guaranteed to scratch any itch that demands the hallmarks of old-school death metal. You get stomp-worthy mid-tempo tunes. You get clever breakdowns. You get slow, epic builds. You get growls, dude, so many damn growls. OUGH!
With Necrot, fortunately, you get all of these things as crafted by masters – masters who also happen to work in such stalwarts as Vastum, Stormkeep, Mortuous, and Vorlust no less. Being their latest, Lifeless Birth sees the band at their most well-produced and melodic. If you’re trying to see what the Necraze (ayooo) is all about, you could do worse than Lifeless Birth as an entry point. The fact that this beast of an album speaks to the *sheer torture* of the modern age is just the cherry on top. *chef’s kiss*
Speaking of beasts of albums, BAT released their own howler from hell this year titled Under the Crooked Claw. And if you’re familiar with BAT, you already know it’s faster than hell, rude, crude, and .. fun? While Necrot seems to lament being birthed by, serving, and feeding the beast, BAT seems to revel in it and deem the idea a source of liberation. Check these lyrics out:
“The demon within / Forcing your hand / Trapped in a cell / Taking command / The power beginsPurging your / Raging in torment / The nightmare unfolds…”
Delivered in sin /From hatred and wrath / Summoning evil / Accepting the path / Famine and war / Plaguing the earth / Rejecting religion / Demanding rebirth” (From “Rite for Exorcism”)
Of course, BAT being BAT (playful, tongue in cheek), there’s a good chance these lyrics are only there to conjure playful aesthetics while listening. With songs about marauding barren wastelands on motorcycles, wolves declaring revenge, and straight-up streetbanging (I don’t know what streetbanging is, but you’re more than welcome to decipher the song “Streetbanger”) only strengthens such a hunch.
Pictured: NOT BAT, but what BAT sounds like. Just picture the BAT on a motorcycle. Streetbangin’.
That shouldn’t suggest the music is in anyways lacking. BAT occupies that center part of a Venn diagram comprised of heavy metal, speed metal, and thrash metal. Call it black n’ roll, blackened thrash, or blackened chicken quesadilla, BAT spews the same invigorating vibes as Midnight, Venom, Bewitcher, and Municipal Waste (who non-coincidentally share members with BAT). This band is here for a good time, not a long time, and the album’s 35-minute runtime over 13 tracks hammers that point home. These antagonizing anthems will make you want to cut the sleeves off ALL of your t-shirts (yes, even the vintage whatever band tee from whatever 90s tour that smells like urine, Cheetohs, and cookies, somehow). You’ll stomp around with a menacing grin and hop on the closest Harley Davidson you can find before ramming it through a brick wall. There’s enough riffage and BPM to fill at least a dozen albums in this 35-minute banger, and that’s being modest. BAT is good shit, man – sorry, good guano. Check it out now. Then check it out again. You have time.
And while we’re talking about good guano, let’s talk about STREET TOMBS. The Santa Fe death metal quartet released their first full-length, Reclusive Decay, last year. They’ve caught the attention of plenty of critics, and one spin on this bad boy will make you wonder how this homage to old-school death metal has stayed under the radar for so long. It’s brutal enough to make you wanna Rock Bottom your refrigerator while also being groovy and catchy enough to get those hips a-swingin’ and heads a-bangin’.
Pictured: Me and my best gal getting hep to Street Tombs! They’re swell!
In just six tracks, Street Tombs puts so much proficiency and sensibility on display that you’d swear these guys have been dishing out bangers for decades. There’s even a hint of death doom in Street’ Tombs’ savagery, with longer track times (each hovering around 5 minutes), more realized melodies, more jarring twists and turns, and longer, better crafted builds.
What separates Street Tombs from the pack is their attention to detail. While the band will certainly sweep you up into wave after wave of bombarding rhythms – each listen has me involuntarily bobbing or swinging my head around, even at the grocery store – it’s the nonstop guitar work going on inside the guitar work that will really blow your mind (see: “Devour” and “Rising Torment”). Riffs on riffs on riffs! What a concept!
Let me ask you more questions. Don’t worry, they won’t involve any demon’s.. crotch.. area.
What if you could have a band that includes elements from all of these bands – speed, riffs, atmosphere, groove— but also adds punk rock d-beat raw aggression? What if I told you, you could get it right here in Atlanta? Would you riot – or would you ask me the name of the band?
NITEHOWLER is that band, my friends.
This trio from right here, in the good ol’ G-A, has been blazing trails in and around the city and taken no prisoners. Their chaotic blend of d-beat blackened speed punk (?) has a lot in common with the Bewitcher, Midnight, and BAT sound, but amps it up to 11. It reminds me of the band Spiter, but with a much rawer edge that I’m obviously having a hard time describing. In any case, it’s fast, it’s loud, it’s raw, and it’s streetbangin’ (ya like that, huh?!). Get. Into. It.
-Scott Belzer
NECROT, BAT, STREET TOMBS, and NITEHOWLER are set to decimate Boggs Social & Supply on Thursday, June 20. Buy tickets here.