Dollar Bin Discoveries: Spit Can-Spit Can

Knuckle Down Productions
2007

I'm not exactly sure if this is the sole release from Pennsylvania's Spit Can or what. Formerly known as Cyphilis, which, let's face it folks, isn't much better or worse of a name then Spit Can, this band was billed to me as a cross between Pantera, Clutch and Prong. That's about the extent of the (online) information that I was able to dig up when I first stumbled across this CD in a dollar bin. It's a fair enough assessment. Further online snooping  revealed that all of this material on this nine-track CD was previously available on earlier Cyphilis albums. Well, eight of them at least as the last track on this self-titled release, "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck", is a cover of Prong cover. You can usually tell a lot about a band by any/all particular tracks that they might choose to cover and with Spit Can we're talking prime-time Prong worship on about half of these numbers. Is that a bad thing? Well, if you love Prong (and I do!) then the answer is probably no. And this band, which has a guitarist who goes by the name of Germ(!), does Prong proud and then some! While the band's previous incarnation (Cyphilis) also reportedly dabbled with influences like Hatebreed and System Of A Down (in addition to the Prong, Clutch and Pantera elements!) here Germs (along with lead vocalist Nick D., bassist Deuce and drummer Feist) relies on a much more stream-lined and more defined sound. With that being the case and all the heavy riffs that come from Germ are of the post-Clutch variety. That means while there is some fierce hardcore/thrash converging in the background up-front it does bear a slight resemblance to the (thankfully just about dead and buried) nu metal movement. It's not enough to ruin your appetite or anything, but a few more well-rounded guitar solos would have gone a long way with this Penn.-based four-piece. All in all it was most certainly worth the dollar I spent and other then the fact that a few number's do tend to blur together this ended up being one of the better bargain bin CDs that I've acquired in some time!  

Masada-Hideous Rot 12" MLP

Blood Harvest
2013

Masada, who are a (currently) two-piece Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based act, was formed back in 2008 with their first demo, the well-received "Suffer Mental Decay", having been released in 2011. This five-track release combines the two tracks from said demo along with three new numbers. The band, which features in it's ranks Cazz "The Black Lourde of Crucifixion" Grant (Crucifier, ex-Grand Belial's Key), plays old-school death metal and, other then the oddity that is "Fluteotherapy" (featuring Clive Jones from 70's occult-rockers Black Widow and Agony Bag), this release is fairly standard in that regard. But standard can be good. Along with vocalist Cazz Grant (who also handles drums on the newer material) the "group" currently features guitarist/bassist Chris Milewski who first conceived of this band with "the intention of not only creating aggressive music, but also something that involved uniqueness and thought." To that end he did succeed...or at least to a point. While his take on classic death metal is cool and all having "Fluteotherapy" as the second track on this release really mucks with the flow. After you have already started off right with the newer track "Hideous Cerebral Pulp" (which, even at it's oddest, still crackles with the sincerest of older death metal's charm), you throw in this number that is just the sound of someone (seemingly) attempting to play flute with one hand while using the other hand for more, well, "personal" matters! Huh? You go from grizzly death metal to, uh-hum, flute porn! Why? It's one thing to be "experimental" and then it's another thing entirely to take a WIDE turn left out into the middle of nowhere! If you skipped that track then the rest of this EP would have a simple-enough flow to it to make this one really compelling for classic death metal fanatics. The thing is Chris' version of death metal is not just "old-school" (as seems to be the case with a ton of newer bands these days-look backwards for your future inspirations) in the sense of the music's actual construction. Rather from the way it's played to the way in which it was recorded this one sounds, smells and tastes like an OLD death metal recording. So why the weird throwaway track then? I have no idea. Back to this release though and I will have to say that while I personally like that it has a raw, unpolished, demo-like quality going for it (as it reminds me of my high-school tape trading days) a release like this (which shows it's wear and tear in the way in which it was produced) might end up turning more death metal fanatics off then turning them on. No pun intended. Somewhere down the road there is probably more of a balanced approach to be found as far as production goes so I wouldn't let that be too much of a turn off. I'd instead save the turn-off for weird flute porn, but that's just me. Anyway, it will be worth checking back in with this band in the future to see (or rather hear) what they might be able to make off a full-length recording. For now Masada has my attention, but maybe not for all the right reasons you would expect!

Sadgiqacea-False Prism

Candlelight Records
2013

Can a four-track release really be a full-length album? When you see that "True Darkness" is over 14 minutes long then I guess the answer is yes, a four-track release can be considered a full-length album! This four-track release is the work of  the two-man group Sadgiqacea. The band, which you would expect to reside somewhere south of hell but in reality reside in Philadelphia, play some of the most foul metal you could dare to imagine! Picture the blackest, most sludgiest, psychedelic doom noise act out there and then turn the whole thing upside down and inside out. That is the essence of Sadgiqacea who cut a nice and jagged path straight through your flesh and soul. Formed in 2010, with the ambient "False Prism" serving as their first full-length release, the group is made up of Evan Schaefer (vocals/guitar) and Fred Grabosky (vocals/drums). What about the bass guitar though? Sadgiqacea doesn't need it and (frankly speaking folks) it's not as though you're likely to miss out on it when this post-metal sludge-feast get's rolling along. When it comes to breaking down this nearly 40 minute-long avalanche of  blackened doom, which is most definitely a mood massacre waiting to happen, you're likely to find tiny pieces of poisoned metal that has been sharpened so it can deliver maximum carnage as only ambient material like this can. Some will likely call "False Prism" a divine work of post-metallic wonder while others would shutter at it's uneasy assault on the senses. I find that I'm falling somewhere in the middle of all of that, but the more I listen to this one (and I've been through the mirror with this one three times now) the more I feel inclined to embrace it's madness. It certainly grows on you with repeated listens folks. That's for sure.....