Malevolent Creation

This Month In Metal: Ion Dissonance, Cephalic Carnage, ex-Animosity

Listening to all of this insane music is making my summer even hotter, but it’s good practice, because eventually, Hell awaits!

Ion Dissonance: Cursed (Century Media)

Did you love Calculating Infinity? ADD got you down? Not nearly enough riffs on the last three albums you bought, combined? This Month In Metal is pleased to introduce you to Ion Dissonance‘s Cursed. With a heavy hardcore slant in both attitude and execution, Cursed whips right along, tosses you every which way, and then runs you down when you try to get your bearings. Trim off the last track’s eight minutes of weird alien noises and insane-dude rambling and you have a 40-minute scorcher that’s suitable for slam-dancing of all varieties.

Ion Dissonance: “You People Are Messed Up”
[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/02-You-People-Are-Messed-Up.mp3|titles=You People Are Messed Up]

This Month In Metal: Decrepit Birth, Aeon, Cardiac Arrest

Hail! This being my first column for ALARM Press, I thought I’d dip into some overlooked summer releases to get the blood flowing.

Decrepit Birth: Polarity (Nuclear Blast)

First up is the third album from California’s Decrepit Birth, Polarity. This album is a great example of the band’s name and the album’s title bringing to mind two completely different things. “Decrepit birth” sounds like a schlock-y gore-grind band, while “polarity” suggests spaced-out, progressive rock. Truth be told, it’s a bit of both.

Like Necrophagist before it, Decrepit Birth sticks to the old-school, growled, and slightly raspy styles of vocals in addition to its very complex, other-worldly music. This tactic is employed as a foundation: it doesn’t matter what Bill Robinson is growling about; it just matters that he does it consistently and with enough force to keep the album grounded throughout. With that being said, Robinson chooses his phrasing and placement of vocals well, allowing plenty of time for the rest of the band to do its thing, which really begins a minute and a half into Polarity, when there’s a Spanish-influenced guitar break out of nowhere.