Exclusive Video Premiere: Jucifer’s “Hiroshima” – Metalsucks.net

Man oh man, do we have an awesomely weird one for you today. To our delight, Jucifer asked us to premiere their new video, for the song “Hiroshima,” and we can pretty guarantee you that you haven’t seen a metal video like this before. It might be fun (or horrifying, we’re not really sure) to drop some acid before watching this clip. But if you don’t have acid, well, no worries — the images in this video will more than convey the feeling that you are tripping balls. Seriously, this is a strange, strange video, and we mean that as a very high (!) compliment.

Check out the David Hall-directed clip below! “Hiroshima” appears on Jucifer’s latest, Throned in Blood, which is out now on Nomadic Fortress/Relapse. The duo has a new album and a European tour planned, both slated for April.  In the meantime, they’ll celebrate their nineteenth year as a band and twelfth year of nonstop touring with dates across the midwest and east coast. You can get all their upcoming tour dates here. The band’s early four track EPNadir has recently been mastered for reissue by Scott Hull, and will see its first digital release via Grindcore Karaoke soon.

http://www.metalsucks.net/2011/10/24/exclusive-video-premiere-jucifers-hiroshima/

But wait! There’s more! Director David Hall — who also made the Maryland Deathfest movies, as well as videos for Today is the Day, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Sigh, Fuck the Facts, Hail of Bullets,and Woods of Ypres — is getting out of the of the music video business, and into… the VHS business??? Read more after the jump.

That’s right — while Hall is currently wrapping-up a batch of music videos for some really cool bands (including Brutal Truth, Rwake, Maruta, and the aforementioned Fuck the Facts), as well as one final MDF documentary, once those are done, he’s leaving the music video and movie business behind. Instead, he’ll be concentrating on “VHS albums.” And what are those, you ask? Hall explains:

“A VHS Album is basically an album output to a VHS tape, with an accompanying video track created specifically for the music. Each VHS release will be extremely limited, like 1 to 5 copies – and the visuals on each tape will differ slightly, so every VHS album will be one-of-a-kind.”

Which sounds potentially pretty interesting, no? And if you’re a fan of the bands Hall will be working with, you’ll have a real collector’s item on your hands.

Hall’s first VHS album will be Today is the Day’s totally killer Axis of Eden; Total Fucking Destruction’s Hater, USX Appalachia’s (U.S. Christmas) Salt the Wound, and Sulaco’s Build and Burn are also all on the docket. You can get more details from Hall’s official website.

TAGS: DAVID HALL, EDGAR LIVENGOOD, GAZELLE AMBER VALENTINE, JUCIFER,

Album Review: Sulaco ‘Build and Burn – Teufel’s Tomb

SULACO BUILD & BURN

GENRE: PROGRESSIVE TECHNICAL DEATH METAL FORMAT:VINYLTRACKS:7 LABEL:HANDSHAKE INC. YEAR:2011

While SULACO‘s full length debut, TEARING THROUGH THE ROOTS was a solid slab of technical death metal, the band’s follow-up, 2011′s BUILD & BURN takes the band’s sound to a whole new level of awesome. This time around the Erik Burke-fronted quartet fly through seven tracks of original progressive technical death metal, that’ll leave any prog/tech fan in a puddle of their own filth.

The material on BUILD & BURN feels like a logical progression from the band’s previous release. The album is filled with killer original songwriting, constant tempo changes, great melodies and is a refreshing breath of fresh air in an increasingly stagnant genre. The overwhelming majority of death metal bands who claim to be “progressive,” never really create anything new or unique, they seem content to just play slightly modified DEATH, CYNIC and ATHEIST songs, and pass them off as their own. Not SULACO though, Erik Burke and friends have made a concerted effort to create something completely original in the progressive metal genre.

The riffing is tight and technical, with plenty of odd time signatures, tempo changes, blazing leads, and is infectiously catchy. Erik Burke’s vocals are pretty solid on here as well, he doesn’t bother with a silly death metal grunt or growl, he just sticks with a more natural sounding wail. Not 80s thrash style, just a powerful howl with a Chuck Schuldiner-like vocal cadence (though completely different vocal delivery).

The bass lines compliment the guitars and the drumming has a lot of variety, it’s not like so many bands whose drummer just blasts so much when he steps away from the drum kit he twitches and shakes like an over caffeinated zombie. It’s clear Chris Golding has taken the time to learn how to play the drums, and wants to show off the skills he has and doesn’t rely on playing the same fucking relentless triggered blast and cymbal smash for an hour.

I’m actually very surprised that this album isn’t being released by Willowtip, Relapse or any other bigger label than Handshake Inc. If Willowtip had the chance to release this and turned it down, label head Jason Tipton needs a slap across the face. I’m talking southern gentleman style, like Jason just offended my girlfriend, but instead of challenging him to a duel with a white glove, I’d do it with with a cock smack across his neck while making direct eye contact. I don’t mean that to sound like an erotic act, it would be an act of animalistic dominance, and shaming him by forcing him to wear the purple mark of the cock welt for having not released this album, and instead choosing to release a bunch of boring hacks ripping off DEATH,CYNIC and ATHIEST and rehashing the same ideas over and over again. Of course if he wasn’t offered the chance to release this, I take it back and offer him a firm and hearty handshake and implore him to negotiate the CD release rights for this fantastic album as it completely humbles every prog/tech death album Willowtip has ever released. Not hatin’, just sayin’.

While I was disappointed with the most recent album featuring Erik Burke’s guitar work, BRUTAL TRUTH‘s END TIMES, he didn’t stay in my shitlist for long. SULACO‘s BUILD & BURN is easily the best progressive death metal album released in decades, maybe ever, and while you may think that praise might be undeserved, I can tell you that this album is so good that disliking it will cause your brain to explode in violent defiance. Fucking awesome!

ORDER ONLINE:
Handshake Inc (LP)
Amazon (LP)
Amazon (MP3)

THIS ALBUM IS…

MANDATORY! A MUST OWN RELEASE!

Review by TEUFEL

http://www.teufelstomb.com/reviews/sulaco-build-burn/#.TqSNlpm6HD4.twitter

Build And Burn, Grind Or Die: Embrace SULACO Now – American Aftermath

Sulaco are an insane grinding band from New York. I wouldn’t exactly call them a grindcore band. No, they are much more than that. Incorporating elements of death metal and progressive metal into their sound makes theirs unique. I have gotten countless e-mails about the band but for some reason I waiting until now to check them out. Holy shit. I was blown away by their extensive, unpredictable grind. And these aren’t your every day short, fast and brutal grind tracks. These tracks range from almost four minutes to six-and-a-half minutes. That’s a lot of fucking grind.

On the band’s Facebook page, they describe their sound by saying the band “integrates mesmerizing quirkiness into a devious songwriting regimen that is as spasmodically progressive as it is abrasively visceral.” and I think that pretty much says it all. If that isn’t enough to make you check this band out, maybe the fact that their album Build And Burnis currently available for pay-as-you-want right here! Get it! Grind!

~R. Gnarly//Dig It or Die.

http://americanaftermath.net/tag/handshake-inc/

 

Handshake Inc.’s David Hall Reveals Plans for VHS Albums, Billy Anderson Documentary

By Gregory Adams

Before launching the record label division of Handshake Inc., co-owner David Hall was primarily known for his video work for hard-edged outfits like Fuck the Facts and Agoraphobic Nosebleed. But while the vivid filmmaker still has a handful of projects in the works, Hall has announced that he’s stepping out of the short-form music video game.

“Between now and the new year, I’ll be completing new videos for Jucifer, Maruta, Rottenness, Ladder Devils, Vilipend, Rwake, Brutal Truth and Fuck the Facts, and when the last one is done that’s it — no more music videos for me,” Hall said in a statement. “I love music videos but the stand-alone music video is just not a format I’m interested in producing anymore.”

The artist will be switching his focus to what he calls the “VHS Album,” which will pair custom visuals and metal music on the old-school home video format.

“A VHS Album is basically an album output to a VHS tape, with an accompanying video track created specifically for the music,” he explained. “Each VHS release will be extremely limited, like one to five copies — and the visuals on each tape will differ slightly, so every VHS album will be one of a kind. The tapes will be like Marcel Duchamp’s 
’Readymades,’ but with a creamy centre — which is the film and music.”

First up will be a reimagining of Texas noise metal outfit Today Is the Day’s 2007 album Axis of Eden, which will be followed by audio-visual mash-ups for Total Fucking Destruction’s Hater, USX Appalachia’s Salt the Wound and Sulaco’s Build and Burn. Release dates have yet to be announced.

Hall is also working on a documentary about prolific music producer/engineer Billy Anderson, who has worked with Eyehategod, Mr. Bungle, Sleep, High on Fire, Neurosis and, uh, the Red House Painters, among countless others.

“This is going to be a proper, exhaustive documentary,” Hall said, adding that he and various crews have been gathering footage since May. “I’ve been listening to music Billy’s been a part of since I was 19 — his creative output is unparalleled, and I want to take the time necessary to make a film about him.”

It’s unclear what the ETA of the as-yet-untitled music doc will be.

http://exclaim.ca/News/handshake_incs_david_hall_reveals_plans_for_vhs_albums_billy_anderson_documentary

Review: Surachai ‘To No Avail’ – To Eleven

REVIEW: SURACHAI – TO NO AVAIL

Filed under: Experimental, Metal, Noise | Tags: black metal, Handshake Inc. experimental black metal, Surachai, To No Avail

It’s a basic fact that you pretty much have me at the words “experimental black metal.” Or at the least, you’ve basically guaranteed a listen.

On a continuum between conventional black metal and the more extremely experimental stuff that I love, Surachai are occupying a comfortable middle ground. To No Avail is an album that could easily be enjoyed by fans of a band like Deathspell Omega who really aren’t into the whole experimental angle, but is equally engaging to the listeners who like going one step beyond into territory that’s outside the traditionally defined boundaries of the genre. Surachai are completely destructive and malevolent as any traditional black metal, which is rad; I love that stuff, but the part of me that loves experimental music was really fascinated by the brutal ambient parts. I’ve experienced a lot of evil noise, but To No Avail’s unabashedly digital approach is something unique. Regardless of where you are on the spectrum of extreme music, To No Avail is completely worth your time.

Available digitally or as a limited edition record from Handshake Inc.

- Jayson

http://toeleven.net/2011/10/18/review-surachai-to-no-avail/

Sulaco ‘Build and Burn” – Metal Music Archives

Genre: Progressive extreme metal

Tracklist

1. On the Fence
2. Build and Burn
3. Dingy Metropolis
4. Corridor
5. Make a Move
6. The Approach
7. It’s Over Johnny

What are genres for? They are there to be transgressed. At least, that is the answer that Sulaco’s “Build and Burn” release would give you. While firmly rooted in the universe of metal – well extreme metal – “Build and Burn” cannot really be placed in any of the traditional extreme metal genres.

I mean there are loads of blastbeats, to be sure, and other elements from grindcore, and the album is also rich in death metal aesthetics. On top of that you can add the tempos and and sound from thrash metal, the yelled vocals from hardcore, the mind-boggling time signatures from mathcore and the grooves and attitudes of sludge metal as well as the overall sideways approach to songwriting of progressive and technical music in general.

Thus each tune on the album is quite complex in structure and rich in impressions, as it bombards the listener with a flurry of different types of riffs, tempos and time signatures – indeed, the album is so full of quirks that a fan of progressive extreme music will absolutely love it, while fans of more mainstream music probably cannot even begin to fathom let alone appreciate the intricacies of this album. And what is really interesting is that the production itself is actually not very polished but has a raw and primitive aspect to it, which ensures that, while technical and experimental, “Build and Burn” retains the attitude and expressivity of extreme music.

Fans of extreme progressive and technical metal and also progressive sludge metal should definitely check out this gem of a record.

http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/sulaco–build-and-burn.aspx 

Review: Sulaco “Build and Burn” – Sea of Tranquility

Sulaco: Build and Burn Sometimes you come across a truly genre-defying band, and that is of course always both interesting and challenging. Sulaco is one such band, and their vinyl release Build and Burn is all over the map in terms of genre features, but what is interesting is that, while extremely eclectic, Sulaco stay within the boundaries of metal, drawing mainly on various types of extreme metal. Seasoned metal fans will recognize elements from death metal, grindcore, sludge metal and thrash metal among others, and every song is an onslaught of complex riffs and weird guitar figures (imagine the most quirky elements from Mastodon’s Blood Mountain multiplies such that they characterize the entire album). Fans of odd time signature especially have something to look forward to, as there are odd meters and weird figures galore on this release. Moreover, every track is so rich in riffs, passages, sections, and intra-metal genre transgressions as well as changes in time and tempo that the album can definitely be described as progressive, and it also borders on being avant-garde. The vocals are more in an angry hardcore punk vein and consist of yells and screams. Apart from the vocals, which I do not consider myself a big fan of, the musicianship is obviously impeccable across the board, and especially fans of technical gutiar playing and drumming will enjoy this album. Build and Burn is challenging and complex and fans of progressive extreme metal along the lines of Atheist and Pestilence as well as less death metal oriented acts like Mastodon will probably enjoy the madness packed into this release. Track listing: 1. On the Fence 2. Build and Burn 3. Dingy Metropolis 4. Corridor 5. Make a Move 6. The Approach 7. It’s Over Johnny http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=11642