Gaupa – Fyr
If I had to elevator pitch Gaupa in five seconds I’d ask, “Have you ever wanted to hear Bjork front a stoner rock band?” Gaupa vocalist Emma Näslund isn’t doing an imitation, but her voice is similar enough to that of the former Sugarcubes singer/magical elf that it’s a handy reference point. (I swear, my daughter just asked, “Is this Bjork?”) On Gaupa’s new EP “Fyr,” Näslund’s bandmates conjure a pastoral vibe that lingers even when they’re playing their hardest and heaviest. Not that hard and heavy is the primary M.O. here; Gaupa are more psychedelic and exploratory. If Electric Wizard are doing drugs at a sketchy biker party, Gaupa are having a campfire drum circle out behind the mill on the cover of the first Black Sabbath album. And maybe doing drugs.
Obituary – Godly Beings CD boxed set
It's the first four Obituary albums with demo and live bonus tracks in one convenient box. What needs to be said about the towering influence of these Florida Men, who absorbed the early rumblings of Celtic Frost and Nasty Savage and helped codify them into what we know today as extreme metal? Unquestionable pioneers in the development of death metal vocal styles. The part in the title track of debut LP “Slowly We Rot” where John Tardy yells “GUITARRRRRRRRR!” right before a sick guitar solo? Put it in the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry of recordings that are considered to be culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States. Speaking of solos, James Murphy (Death, Disincarnate, Testament) is playing them all over second album “Cause of Death.” LP no. 3, “The End Complete,” got Obituary on MTV with the title track, and also includes the first hints of the sounds that would go on to make them an honorary hardcore band on the live circuit today. Of these four albums, “World Demise” is the most experimental, with even more hardcore influence, plus hints of industrial percussion and textures. “Godly Beings” isn’t just a primer on Obituary, it tells the story of the evolution of death metal through the microcosm of one band.
Thorns – Stigma Diabolicum
Snorre “Blackthorn” Ruch might be better known for his connection to Varg Vikernes’s murder of Mayhem guitarist Euronymous than for his contributions to music. A former member of Mayhem, Ruch formed Stigma Diabolicum in 1989 and changed its name to Thorns a couple of years later. A new collection bearing the band’s original name as its title collects the earliest, rawest, most ritualistic Thorns material. Made up of demos and rehearsal recordings under both band names, “Stigma Diabolicum” demonstrates that even in the early days of second-wave black metal, Ruch and crew (which included future Emperor drummer Bard Faust) were figuring out in real time how to incorporate noise and industrial rhythms into this music, with some eerie and unsettling results.
Azure Emote – Cryptic Aura
Azure Emote’s lineup includes both death metal veterans (founding guitarist Mike Hrubovcak of Monstrosity, mid-‘90s Death bassist Kelly Conlon) and members of bands like Total Fucking Destruction and Rumpelstiltskin Grinder that I associate with Relapse Records and a specific weird Philadelphia vibe. Hrubovcak plays keyboards, too, and they’re all over the preview tracks for “Cryptic Aura,” along with violin solos, adding an otherworldly BIGNESS to the already-beefy death metal that fans of Nile, Vital Remains, and Morbid Angel will revel in.
Amulance – Feel the Pain
That’s not a typo! The band is called “Amulance.” No “B.” Straight outta Aurora, Illinois, Amulance played an aggressive form of power metal heavily indebted to Iron Maiden. By their 1989 LP “Feel the Pain,” they had garnered some of the speed and grit of thrash. Vocalist Rik Baez is really going for it here, doing a credible Bruce Dickinson tribute while frequently hitting King Diamond-style falsettos and shrieks that remind me of Overkill’s Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth. Lyrically, “Feel the Pain” covers nearly all of the topics that were concerning metal at the time. You’ve got war and nuclear destruction (“Holocaust,” “Violent Victory”), occult stuff (“Witch’s Sin,” “Black Moon Rising”), politics and punk/metal unity (“Shark Attack”), and psychological themes (“Schizophrenia,” “Feel the Pain”).
—Anthony Bartkewicz