Point of No Return - Havok - 2012

Jesse De Los Santos' bass is boiling. It's churning. And it drives the title track and intro to Havok's ultra-brief EP, Point of No Return. David Sanchez's vocals, particularly at the chorus, are desperate and ragged in all the best possible ways and this is thrash that sounds immediate and passionate. Great riffing, a shining solo from Reece Scruggs - what's not to like? It sounds a lot like Time is Up, after all. Enter then, "From the Cradle to the Grave," propelled by Pete Webber and literally studded with riffs. Good stuff. Almost as good as... Time is Up. This would feel like a leftover repository if it weren't for...

wait...

...oh, some covers of old-school thrash classics.

This feels like a leftover repository.

Point of No Return succeeds most in that it compels one to pull Sepultura's Arise back off the shelf along with Slayer's Reign in Blood (and shame on whoever, if anyone, let that one sit on the shelf at all). The straightforward interpretations of "Arise" and "Postmortem"/"Raining Blood" are more than competent. They're admirable. And entirely unnecessary. Havok's acknowledgement of their influences comes through clearly in their sound, rendering covers redundant. Even the artwork leaves me cold here. If I got this free at a show, I'd be stoked. For eight bucks through the mail, though, Point of No Return may provide the most compelling argument in a long time for abandoning the physical format and cherry-picking individual digital tracks.

10 of '11 - My Favorite Records from this Year

With the 2011 release schedule drying out as we head toward the Christmas holiday, I feel pretty safe compiling the compulsory Top Ten for the year. Going through the shelves, re-reading old reviews and, above all, re-listening, it was tough to narrow down to ten - which is a nice blessing for a time in which the music industry is over-reported as less than healthy. There's still plenty good to be had out there, some mass-produced and marketed by huge labels and some handed off for a five-dollar bill at a live show from a band member working a card table before and after they take the stage. So, without any further ado, the best ten records to enter my library since January first:

Exhumed • Goatwhore • Havok - November 1, 2011 - Alrosa Villa, Columbus, Ohio

First things first: I missed Exhumed. I hadn't planned to. A text from home close to eleven o'clock let me know one of my children was ill and sent me packing early. Parental responsibility vs. metal...it was a tough call but the right one. My wife's willingness to care for the kids solo on any given weeknight while I drive ninety minutes away for a metal show is one perk I do not want to endanger.

So, no Exhumed for me but, goddammit, what a hell of a show the rest of the bill was. This was my second trip to the Alrosa Villa and I am hooked. Good folks on staff, great crowd, "regulars" I already recognize and, I must point out, some of the most simultaneously loud and clear amplification I have ever experienced in a small venue. The volume, skull-splitting, never gave way to distortion of any sort and much appreciation is reserved for the folks who make that happen.

Kingsblood & Havok (oh, yeah, and Exhumed, too...)

Is Tuesday the new Friday? Just read Columbus-based purveyors of metallic excellence, Kingsblood, were added to the Exhumed/Goatwhore/Havok (and, apparently, no longer Cephalic Carnage) stop at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday, November 1. I think I need to be there. Praying for more than three songs this time and, Crom willing, merch. And, goddammit, I gotta see Havok.

November 8 is Priest in Cincinnati and as long as Halford doesn't lay the Harley down I have faith it may rock as well.

Havok 2011 Tour Dates - with Exhumed, Goatwhore & Cephalic Carnage

10/26 – Gallup, NM — The Juggernaut (no Goatwhore)
10/27 – Amarillo, TX — Sorority House (no Goatwhore)
10/28 – Oklahoma City, OK — The Conservatory
10/29 – St. Louis, MO — FuBar
10/30 – Chicago, IL — Reggies Rock Club
10/31 – Detroit, MI — I-Rock Nightclub
11/1 – Columbus, OH — Alrosa Villa
11/2 – Rochester, NY — Montage Music Hall
11/3 – Toronto, ON — Wreck Room
11/4 – Montreal, QC — Les Foufounes Electriques
11/5 – Trois-Rivieres, QC — Rock Café Le Stage
11/6 – Quebec City, QC — L’Agitee
11/8 – Worcester, MA — Palladium
11/9 – Brooklyn, NY — Europa
11/10 – Trenton, NJ — Championship
11/11 – Wilmington, DE — Mojo 13
11/12 – Baltimore, MD — Sonar
11/13 – Charlotte, NC — The Casbah at Tremont Music Hall
11/14 – Atlanta, GA — Masquerade
11/15 – Tampa, FL — Brass Mug
11/17 – New Orleans, LA — Siberia
11/18 – San Antonio, TX — Korova (as part of Goregrowler’s Ball w/ Suffocation)
11/20 – Flagstaff, AZ — Orpheum Theatre (no Goatwhore)

Been There, Heard That and Batting .500

Seems like a long time since last Monday. I ordered a load of new music by four artists I'd never heard and, now that everything's come in and been spun a few times, experienced some mixed results. Here's a quick rundown of where I landed with Miss May I, Volbeat, Skindred and Havok.

Just yesterday, I wrote up my opinion of what I now know is metalcore and, simultaneously, Miss May I. My caution erased by allegiance to those just a stone's throw from the front door, I blindly ordered both of the band's releases unheard and ended up with, basically, two copies of the same album, differentiated only by a slipcover and a shitty ballad. You can click back to yesterday's post to catch that synopsis but I've grown more bitter as twenty-four hours have passed. I realize Miss May I are off somewhere rocking much harder than I ever will and, from what I read, pleasing fans of their style a great deal but I cannot help but feel frustrated in the way a parent does at a child that isn't living up to its full potential. But, really, they are kids. They've got time.

Time Is Up - Havok - 2011

Last week I sent away for a stack of new metal, all of it from bands I had never heard, based solely upon write-ups in magazines and music blogs. A few records showed up late in the week and one has made such an immediate impression that I cannot get the word out quickly enough that Havok's Time Is Up is a must-buy, must-listen, must-share. Of course, reading up this week, those with the fingers on the pulse of the scene beneath the mainstream have been singing Havok's praises since before their formal debut from 2009, Burn. I never claimed to be on the cutting edge of music but am thrilled to be enjoying a band that is hopefully just out of the gate in what I imagine could be a long, fruitful career.

Sight Unseen (and Sound Unheard) - New CDs on the Way

I spend any cash I can spare on new music. I hate to drop a few bucks eating out, die a little inside at the thought of the price of a movie ticket and depend on the local library for most of my reading. That said, I always reserve a nice little stack of bills for a few magazines a month. UK imports Metal Hammer and Classic Rock are two consistent must-buys on my list. They're mainstream enough to be found on the shelves of any respectable newsstand, sensible enough to avoid political and social commentary, and each cover a wide variety of sub-genres with consistently high-quality writing (and each usually come with superb CDs compiling the newest sounds). Each is a pleasure to pore over cover to cover again and again and, within days of picking up a new issue, I have an all-new shopping list with which to burn through the rest of my dough. The May 2011 issue of Metal Hammer hit my bookstore this week and, combined with the previous month's copy still in my satchel from last week's travels, I just placed an order today - especially exciting as it's all new music from bands I have never heard a note from before: