Faith No More-Sol Invictus

Reclamation Records/Ipecac Recordings
2015


Ladies and gentlemen please give a warm welcome to "Sol Invictus"! It may have taken Mike Patton and crew some18 LONG years to accomplish, but it's finally here. Recorded and produced by Faith No More bassist Billy Gould, "Sol Invictus" (Latin for Unconquered Sun) is Faith No More's long-overdue seventh studio album and as a fellow fan of these creative San Francisco rockers yes, I do agree with you. It is about damn time! This is the long-awaited follow-up to "Album of the Year" and for life-long fans the (continuously) extended vacation between new Faith No More studio albums has been almost too much to bare! Nonetheless "Sol Invictus" is here and the saints be praised! With a total of ten tracks (incl. the two previously-released singles, "Motherfucker" and "Super Hero"), "Sol Invictus" is not only a strong release, but potentially one of 2015's best ROCK recordings! Notice I said "potentially" as there is (obviously) still a lot of 2015 left to live before the big ball drops on New Year's Eve. It's always possible that some artist or band will come from out of nowhere and release a absolute stone cold killer rock album the likes of which have never been heard before. It's possibly if not highly unlikely. Especially seeing as "Sol Invictus" is pound for pound one of the more rock-steady recordings out there. Other than maybe "From the Dead" there isn't a dub to be found here with the (easy does it) title track, "Sol Invictus", giving way to one good song ("Superhero") after another ("Sunny Side Up"). One would think that the steady line-up of Faith No More has a lot to do with that. Especially seeing as "Sol Invictus" is Faith No More's first album since 1992's "Angel Dust" to feature the same studio line-up from one album to the next! Besides Mike Patten (vocals) and Billy Gould (bass) that line-up includes Roddy Bottum (keyboards, vocals), Mike Bordin (drums), and Jon Hudson (guitar). On the band's new album these five musicians team-up in order to give the listener new Faith No More material to hold close to their heart and cherish. Other reviewers may not agree with my personal assessment, but the album's two singles, "Motherfucker" and "Superhero", are about as good as it gets! Especially the hard and heavy one-two punch rock that is "Motherfucker". While it's nowhere near a Faith No More standard, "Motherfucker" is Mike Patton at his wildest and I can't help but smile as he belts out the lines to this aggressive piece! Still, as much as I LOVE the album's first two singles they are not the only stand-out cuts to be found on "Sol Invictus". After the solid "Sunny Side Up" Faith No More fans are treated to the moody rocker "Separation Anxiety". Arguably one of the album's heavier moments, "Separation Anxiety" builds in intensity it becomes a harsh time bomb ready to blow! From there you get "Cone of Shame" and this "under cover" number is nothing if not "sick". Vibe-wise it's as dark as it's subject matter is. Whatever the case, "Cone of Shame" whips itself up into a frenzy until one can't help but feel completely spent! As one of the better songs on "Sol Invictus" it's (assuredly) not for the faint-hearted, but it helps make way for "Rise of the Fall" and "Black Friday". That first one recalls classic (as in early) Faith No More while the second one (which was interestingly enough the B-Said of "Motherfucker") is old and new Faith No More rocking out over a case of cold beer! With "Separation Anxiety" through "Black Friday" you essentially get a solid block of cool Faith No More numbers! As good as everyone is there is one musician that I was surprising impressed by. And that would be keyboardist Roddy Bottum! His work comes center stage on the opening title track as well as on "Sunny Side Up" and "Matador". But even when it's more subdued his piano playing is second to none. Whether he's dangling the ivory keys or adding interesting snyth notes to the mix one thing is for certain. The hands of Roddy Bottum are magical! Just like he did way back on "The Real Thing", Roddy adds a sense of style to this band and it would be almost impossible to ignore it! Naturally that takes nothing away from lead vocalist Mike Patton, Faith No More's long-time rhythm duo Mike Bordin & Billy Gould or guitarist Jon Hudson. All four are at the top of their game as usual. It's simply that Roddy Bottum is that little something extra that helps tilt this one towards the exceptional! In conclusion,
"Sol Invictus" is a great comeback for this San Fransisco rock band. It has "softer" moments like "Matador" (a killer cut BTW!) and "heavier" ones like "Separation Anxiety". It's always on and even when it isn't ("From The Dead") it's still better than just about anything you'll find in the rock section under the heading "new"! Please understand that no one is going to say "Sol Invictus" is Faith No More's finest hour. That would be a real stretch. Still, "Sol Invictus" is Faith No More making a album for Faith No More fans and doing a damn fine job of it!  For a band that hasn't released any new music in ages it's a great way to reintroduce yourself to fans of old while simultaneously coming out of the gates strong in order to add young fans into the family! "Sol Invictus" is a recommend addition to your Faith No More collection and a sure fire sign that there is still plenty of life left in these aging rockers!  

Saturday Single: Faith No More-"Motherfucker"

Reclamation Recordings
2014

"Motherfucker" is a single from everyone's favorite rap rock band Faith No More. Serving as the first single from the band's upcoming/as yet untitled(?) new album (one which bassist Billy Gould says should be released this April), "Motherfucker" has a run-time of three minutes and thirty three seconds and it is the first new studio recorded material to be had from these San Francisco natives since 1997's "Album of the Year"! Produced by band member/multi-talented individual Billy Gould himself this vulgar new single was first released on vinyl on Record Store Day's Black Friday (November 28, 2014) before it saw a digital release on December 5, 2014. No strangers to controversy (read up on the video for "Epic" to see what really bothered people back in the day!) and most certainly not ones to settled for one particular style (see the strange differences between 1989's "The Real Thing" and 1992's "Angel Dust") "Motherfucker" is beyond rude and totally reckless. In other words it's prime-time/Grad A Faith No More! "Motherfucker," which is a song about accountability according to skilled keyboardist Roddy Bottum, almost feels as if it could have kicked off the post-"The Real Thing" Faith No More instead of what emerged thanks to "Angel Dust". Kicking up lots of political dust while it drags itself along by its stubby arms on a landmine-riddled dirt road, "Motherfucker" is all at once creepy/weird and (in somewhat typical Faith No More fashion) grandiose! This new single is a kindred spirit to Radiohead's "Creep" and Beck's "Loser" while it also feels as if it could be doom only without all the long, drawn-out passages. Harrowing images of Jello Biafra flash by as Mike Patton is at his absolute best here! As he confidently spits out this track's title over and over again one can't help but draw a parallel line between the one-time Dead Kenndys frontman and Mike Patton as they are both cut from the same anti-establishment piece of clothing and they both march to the beat of their own drummers (which in Mike's case would be the amazing Mike Bordin!). While it's way too early to wager a guess as to whether or not Faith No More's new album will have been worth the long wait at least this new single offers some slight hope that the band will return to their actual rock roots instead of the wall to wall craziness that has defined some of their later work. Well, there is that and then there are comments made by Billy Gould that the new album will feature blues rock material as well as numbers influenced by the likes of The Cramps, Link Wray and Siouxsie and the Banshees. All of which sounds rather lovely on paper so we shall see!

Serpent Crown-Serpent Crown

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions
2013 

Serpent Crown  is a power trio that hails from the mean streets of San Francisco. OK, San Fransisco probably doesn't have mean streets, but you do have to wonder about that when you're faced with the hardcore-tinged, doom-drenched, punk thrash that is Serpent Crown. Formed in 2008, and featuring the mad skills of guitarist/vocalist Dara Santhai (who is frighteningly forceful in her vocal delivery!), Serpent Crown first released a 3-track demo in 2009 (Black Cobra drummer Rafa Martinez not only recorded the demo for the group, but he also played bass on it!) before hitting everyone smack dab in the face (at full-force no less!) with this 6-track release! As it's only a little over 1 month old (it was released back at the start of last month) it's just now picking up steam and should continue to thanks to word of mouth and reviews like this. For the time being it's good to be on the inside track as I can totally picture Serpent Crown making waves with this dead-serious slab of abusive thrash metal. If nothing else, and for some ungodly reason this band doesn't break out like they rightly should, at least there's comfort to be had in the knowledge that this EP is in your hands and blaring in your ears! With that said let's turn back around and look at the meat of the matter. The multi-talented Dara Santhai (who has also had stints fronting the groups Ravana and Santhai) was born in Manila and, besides kicking ass as a front-woman, she has a background in the fine arts. That's rather impressive all around. That's especially true when you consider that without question it's her skills on both the mic and guitar that are the main focus of Serpent Crown as well as it's chief selling point. It's not that the rest of Serpent Crown, who are listed below, are incapable of holding their own as they are much more then a talented bunch of musicians. It's simply that Dara is what you notice first and what you notice most often. She's the highlight of this EP which conjures up images of everyone/everything from the Bay Area thrash scene of old (as well as 80's thrash metal in general) to miscellaneous acts like Carnivore, Prong, Cycle Sluts From Hell, Gwar, S.O.D./M.O.D., The Crumbsuckers (their first LP), Excel, Pro-Pain, Eyehategod, The Melvins, The Plasmatics and early Cryptic Slaughter. So, while female-fronted heavy metal outfits are cropping up like weeds these days, which is good for those of us who appreciate fine-crafted heavy metal, but bad when you consider that some of these new acts come across as more of quirky novelty then a legit band, it's rare to find one that channels everything from old-school punk and hardcore to Bay Area thrash and comes whipping across the landscape like a gale force wind! This self-titled debut EP, which features drummer Will Carroll (Death Angel, Warning S.F., Old Grandad, Cutthroats 9, Scarecrow, Warfare D.C., Vicious Rumors and Machine Head), offers the listener first-rate metal without sacrificing any of it's raw appeal. Bassist Dave Dinsmore (formerly of Bl'ast, LAB, Che and Unida) rounds out the party here and his heavy-handed playing only adds to suffocating feeling that Serpent Crown invokes. While the band has seen some shake ups since the release of this EP (drummer Will Carroll had to leave due to his commitment as the touring drummer for  Death Angel) they still plan to hit the road in support of this 6-track EP of extreme brutality. Future shows will first feature the skills of drummer Mike Jochimsen (Apocryphon) so fans should have no reason to worry a out catching this group live and in blood-red color! That is to say that one would have to assume that in a live setting Serpent Crown  just slays everything in it's path given how uncharacteristically dark and deranged this EP is! If there's one downside I can picture some people having with this group and this EP it's that everything comes across as fuzzed-out and blurry. In that way Serpent Crown almost invokes the spirits of  thousands of stoner rock/doom rock bands. Whether it's the production that stands to blame or that's just how Serpent Crown rolls who can say. Since it only adds to the overall appeal of the EP for me it's not something that I would dock points for, but on the other hand I could imagine some folks turning up their noses at this EP because it's too "raw". That comes down to personal preference I suppose, but I still strongly recommend this 6-track release to those of you that love street metal as well as all things crossover.

 www.facebook.com/SerpentCrown
serpentcrown.bandcamp.com