2K7 in Review: Music, part 2

Here's another batch of songs that saw release in 2007. I'm sure you'll like something here. If not, you were probably looking for the Charles Bukowski Ate My Balls! page. Sorry. Maybe you'd make due with a review of Crispin Hellion Glover's new movie? I've been in the same room with him three times this year, you know.

1. The Go! Team, "The Wrath of Marcie" Proof of Youth (Sub Pop) - Although their songs are often interchangeable and their albums so far inconsistent, the excitingly named English sextet The Go! Team have a mighty unique approach to genre-bending. Their candy-colored, sunny day mash-up of '70s pop-funk, '80s party rap and '90s indie rock fills every corner of the listening space with something bright. This jammin' tune from their second LP is a good representative, reliably cutting through the winter blues by suggesting the childhood joy of jumpropes, skinned knees and melting Bomb Pops.

2. Mistress, "31.6.7 Drown It" The Glory Bitches of Doghead (FETO) - As vibrant and cute as Brighton's The Go! Team are, things get bleaker up north in Birmingham. Those sick motherfuckers known as Mistress have returned, presumably bloodied and muddied from drunken sewer brawls, with a stronger focus on the crusty, grindy part of their signature sound. But the quintet also traffics in hypnotically filthy sludge. At the end of their fourth album, they lay down this ear-punishing synthesis of doom and black metal, stripped of pretense and romance, stabbed through the guts and left to savor the savage static of studio sadism.

3. Amorphis, "Towards and Against" Silent Waters (Nuclear Blast) - On a magic carpet of psychedelic Scandinavian prog-pop-goth metal, the veteran Finns of Amorphis soar ahead on their second disc with versatile vocalist Tomi Joutsen, which also happens to be the second since they became comfortable with why fans like their older albums. Silent Waters doesn't better any of its predecessors, but it's a remarkably consistent and engrossing record all the same. I'm so glad they went back to Finnish folklore for lyrical inspiration, and I'm still thankful they brought back the death metal roars, heard here alongside Joutsen's mournful croon - the growls are simply crucial to the sonic diversity this band embodies at their best.

4. The Frantic, "Fast Girl" Audio & Murder (Sinister Muse/Empyrean) - These local teens are getting some play on the area's big alternative rock station, which you'd think would be a turn-off to me. However, there's nothing smarmy or maudlin or pretentious or remotely "emo" about their debut, an infectious blast of big suburban hooks that's over before you have a chance to get tired. In attitude and vibrancy, The Frantic is thankfully as different from the pop-punk arena stars that our geographic location has recently spawned as a band can be. Check out this incredibly fun tune, snotty and cruel like Screeching Weasel in their prime.

5. Skinny Puppy, "Dal" Mythmaker (Synthetic Symphony) - As happy as I was to hear that cult industrial act Skinny Puppy had reformed, as satisfied as I was by their live show after having painfully missed them back in high school, I was disappointed with their first return to the studio in 2004. It was certainly unique, progressive and political as expected, but the Canadian icons' updated IDM beats overwhelmed the creepy/dreamy atmospheres one wants from Skinny Puppy. I am pleased to report that Mythmaker is a lot more satisfying to the longtime fan, with a number of songs which, like the one at hand, integrate their classic theatrical spookshow tendencies and dense audio mix with their desire to keep pace with modern electronic experimentalists.

6. Gamma Ray, "From the Ashes" Land of the Free II (SPV) - Just as his former band Helloween brought unreasonable anticipation upon themselves by titling their last album Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy, Kai Hansen set up GR loyalists like myself to be underwhelmed by making this album a "sequel." Land of the Free is my FAVORITE album of the 1990s. It thoroughly resparked my interest in metal at a time it had waned, and its melody, energy and optimism literally saved my life at its absolute nadir. There was no way a part two could compare, even though, as heard in this song, Kai's busted out more speed than he has in recent years and ditched the increasingly stale sci-fi shtick for his old themes of community, sedition and liberation. No, it's not as good as the original, but Land II is the best Gamma Ray album in recent memory. If the aged Germans are gonna go through the motions, I'd prefer that they go through these motions.

7. Superchrist, "No Color" Headbanger (Professor Black) - I'd pegged Superchrist as a greasy, Motörhead-style punk metal band, but now that I've heard their latest work, I'm thinking more NWOBHM. Although no major flash or thrash is on display, there's something effortless about the trio's honest, old school, bad attitude metal which keeps it heartily engaging. As evidence of their craft, Headbanger was self-released by bassist, vocalist, journalist and fellow Gamma Ray junkie Chris Black with pro packaging and decent sound. Consequently, many of the songs (such as this Maiden-soaked, less-sleazy-than-usual burner) rock far more convincingly than much of the banal "true metal" crud the labels are pushing.

8. Ozma, "Motorology 3:39" Pasadena (About a Girl) - When I got the previous album by geek pop specialists Ozma, I had no appreciation for it and actually sold it to a used CD shop, where an incredulous kid gladly took it off my hands. Now I wish I still had it to go back to, because four years later, the California quartet has reunited for one of the best pure pop records I've heard in ages. Little touches of emo and metally solos spice it up, as do some electronic embellishments as heard on this winsome number. Still, it's the breezy songwriting that sticks with you, and the choruses are uniformly catchy.

9. One Man Army and the Undead Quartet, "The Sun Never Shines" Error in Evolution (Nuclear Blast) - Johan Lindstrand, onetime vocalist of The Crown, returns with the second disc from his Swedish wrecking crew. The Quartet moves around a lot on this disc, from some blatant metalcore moves to vicious death/thrash, all with a classic sense of metal songwriting. In the midst of a trend of retro thrash that intentionally sounds straight out of 1986, Error manages to sound totally modern while integrating '80s vibes and amounts to a pretty fun little record. This somewhat complex tune starts at a melodic trudge before rocketing into a meaty thrashfest, and the chorus rules.

10. Deathspell Omega, "The Repellent Scars of Abandon and Election" Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum (Norma Evangelium Diaboli) - Despite its desire to shock, black metal is usually no more scary than its packaging, and most avant-garde black metal acts indulge in pure art school wankery compared to Deathspell Omega. The French/Finnish duo's approach to anti-Xtian metal manages to be intellectually provocative and psychotically feral at once. Their new disc (the Latin title means "By Divine Law - Go, You Cursed, Into the Eternal Fire") is a nightmare ride through extreme musical realms that seek to disturb, distort and disrupt, and succeeds on all fronts. I can't listen to this every day, as it might make me commit homicide, but must admit they've taken their elite art to another alarming level.

11. Fu Manchu, "We Must Obey" We Must Obey (Century Media) - I was never a big fan of what they call "desert rock" or, more correctly, "stoner rock," as it's primarily doom metal cleaned, lightened and boogified for radio rock audiences. Therefore, genre reps Fu Manchu have hovered just outside my radar since their third album, which I heard in college but wrote off as lightweight, although when I saw them a coupla years ago, they put on a pretty smoking show. In 2007, their debut for Century Media hits, and compared to the mainstream hard rock of today, they sound like geniuses. Opening the album, the title track is pure belligerent rawk that shits all over whatever gazillion-selling cock rock tripe Josh Homme farted out last week.

12. Candlemass, "Emperor of the Void" King of the Grey Islands (Nuclear Blast) - I mentioned doom metal back there. Here's one of the genre's legendary names, which bassist Leif Edling has lead through numerous incarnations over the decades. Losing classic vocalist Messiah Marcolin so soon after his glorious return in 2004, Edling made a smart move in drafting singer Robert Lowe of Texan legends Solitude Aeturnus. Similarly dramatic but with a completely different vocal style from Marcolin, Lowe is already beloved by doom faithful, and his emotive wail fits the band's bloodshot gloom like an icicle into an eye socket. Listen to the dark, heeeaaavy Swedish riff in the chorus of this song - this is why people love Candlemass.

13. múm, "Guilty Rocks" Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy (Fat Cat) - OK, let's keep it in Scandinavia but break from the hard stuff for a little Icelandic magic. Not as famous as their countrymates Sigur Rós, múm creates warm, fuzzy, melodic soundscapes of electronic and acoustic origins. Their latest disc comes after co-founding twin sisters Gyða and Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir departed, and Kristín's distinctive little-girl vocals are missed. However, it's a brighter and more structured album than 2004's Summer Make Good, presenting as always a bevy of unique, whimsical or eerie sounds but in service of accessible songs. The one at hand's got a melodica, horns, a wistful vocal and beats that sound like they're sampled from water droplets.

14. The Dillinger Escape Plan, "Nong Eye Gong" Ire Works (Relapse) - Another group of experimentalists who lost a founding member, The Dillinger Escape Plan's first recording without drummer Chris Pennie (who left for a better paycheck with Coheed & Cambria) finds the band more comfortable with the straightforward structures they tried out last time. Vocalist Greg Puciato pulls out his best Mike Patton on a number of reasonably-paced tunes, which are admittedly very infectious, and Stolen Babies drummer Gil Sharone is a suitably freaky replacement for Pennie. However, what one really wants from Dillinger is wide-eyed, vein-popping whirlwinds of insane math-grind. Ire Works has enough tunes like this one to break up the pleasanties.

15. Suspyre, "April in the Fall" A Great Divide (Nightmare) - For me to get into a progressive power metal band, I need good songwriting rather than a lot of flowery chops that you can't remember. I mean, memorability is crucial to good power metal. New Jersey's Suspyre deserves some attention pronto, because while these dudes can certainly play their asses off, they also keep your attention with solid hooks. In this regard, their second album is a big step up from their first self-released disc, which hopefully means they're going to get sharper. The crunchy verses of this infectious tune remind me of misaligned metalcore mongers Killswitch Engage, not something you'd expect from a band with clean vocals and so many insane deedly-doo solos.

16. Battles, "Snare Hangar" Mirrored (Warp) - Another supergroup featuring former Helmet drummer John Stanier, Battles has some similarities to Tomahawk (see #5 on the previous playlist) in their mix of electronic and traditional rock instruments, but this entity is lighter and loopier. The quartet seems to be cross-breeding indie rock, jamtronica, IDM, prog and jazz fusion. On their first full-length, guitarist Tyondai Braxton adds vocals to the previously instrumental band's arsenal, and while they sometimes verge on annoyance, Braxton's cartoony manipulations sound mighty cool mixed into short bursts of rubbery alien funk such as this.

17. Vital Remains, "Reborn... The Upheaval of Nihility" Icons of Evil (Century Media) - The main problem with Vital Remains' new disc is that it's far too similar to its predecessor to leave anything like the lasting impression Dechristianize did. If you didn't get enough of that disc's admittedly impressive marathons of brutal Satanical death tempered by baronial guitar harmony respites, here are some more. The band's lyrical fixation on comic book E-V-I-L is still completely ridiculous. But despite the diminishing returns, it's impossible to fault the performances on tunes like "Reborn," with everyone from guitarist/drummer (!) Dave Suzuki to unintentionally hilarious on-loan-from-Deicide growler Glen Benton sounding primed and pissed. Dig the acoustic flamenco flourishes about 3:20 in!

18. Wu-Tang Clan, "Get Them Out Ya Way Pa" 8 Diagrams (SRC) - Well, six years after Iron Flag and three years after Ol' Dirty Bastard passed away, we finally get another Wu-Tang Clan disc. Of course, all the infighting preceding its release taints it, alongside the absence of Dirt Dog's levity, but 8 Diagrams is an intriguingly stormy album on its own musical merits. RZA's typically stark production goes off in interesting tangents, yet as usual, it's the dark, brooding stuff that gives it that raw Wu-Tang flavor. The MCs sling some great rhymes, too, such as the deadly science Method Man, U-God and Masta Killa each bring to their verses on this hypnotic, guest-free track. Complete with the requisite kung fu samples, the album proves that Wu-Tang Clan still ain't nothin' to fuck with.

19. Ensiferum, "Deathbringer from the Sky" Victory Songs (Spinefarm) - The battling Finns of Ensiferum don't have the serious cultural pretentions found in much of the pagan metal scene, although that does pretty much make them just a bunch of grown men who are real into swords and ancient garb. With a Viking-ish theme probably more inspired by Manowar than Ásatrú, it was inevitable that they'd become more of a power metal band as time went on, and by record number three, that's about where they're at, although the folk and death metal influences are still very evident. Despite thinking of them as more of a "fun" band than some of their po-faced pagan peers, I don't mean to denigrate Ensiferum, and in fact commend them for continuing to turn in rousing sing-alongs like this.

20. Shroud of Bereavement, "A Rose for a Dying Muse" Alone Beside Her (Screaming Ferret) - We end this round with a magnificent dirge by an elegantly brutal act from New England who sound European as hell. Two keyboardists, male/female beauty-and-the-beast vocals, extra strings and film samples add to the dramatic heft, hanging like the garment that provides the band's name over alternately painful and pastoral symphonic doom/death. I have no idea why this veteran act isn't more widely known in the States, but surely that will soon become a thing of the past. This epic, written years ago by vocalist/gutarist Dan Robinson as a heartfelt elegy to a deceased friend, is a good indication of the band's ambitions, emotions and talents.