CD Reviews

Ash Borer | Ash Borer

Flenser (2011)

By JANSSEN McCORMICK | July 12, 2011

3.5 Stars

Few creatures carry the apocalyptic and genocidal gravitas of the invasive Emerald Ash Borer, a beautiful metallic beetle about the size of a penny that will likely choke the life from billions of ash trees across North America over the next few decades. NorCal black-metal trio Ash Borer's debut full-length is as diminutive as their namesake (limited to a 150-cassette run) but no less destructive or striking as they hurtle through three tracks in 40 minutes. "In the Midst of Life, We Are in Death" seethes fury with the force of redwoods crashing into the ocean. All fed through a thick fog of tape hiss and reverb, it's eerily reminiscent of late Portland, Oregon, obscurantists Velvet Cacoon, although Ash Borer are far more dynamic in their shifting tempos and tendency to toy with melody. Never droning for more than two minutes at a time, the album builds to hyperspeed passages packed with wrenching guitar lines snaking in from the margins. Nowhere is this more apparent than closer "My Curse Was Raised in the Darkness Against a Doomsday Silence," which at nearly 20 minutes would have been a perfect EP on its own. Ash Borer's debut isn't just one of the best metal releases of 2011; it's a reminder that there are places extreme music can evolve beyond adolescent leather-and-spikes posturing and fests brought to you by Toyota.

Photos: Cold War Kids at House of Blues
Cold War Kids perform live at the House of Blues on March 22, 2011.
Coachella builds a sweaty buzz over three days in the California desert
Coachella builds a sweaty buzz over three days in the California desert
The Big Hurt: Faces refaced
Faces refaced, Spears speared, Hook hacked
Trans Am | What Day Is It Tonight? Trans Am Live, 1993 - 2008
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Various Artists | Panama! 3
If you purchase a copy of Soundway’s wonderful Panama! 3 — and you should — you get two things for the price of one. First, this is a carefully curated CD of “Calypso Panameño, Guajira Jazz & Cumbia Típica on the Isthmus 1960-75” that will keep you smiling — and perhaps dancing — for a healthy while.
The Big Hurt: Season's beatings
Taking advantage of your seasonal obligation to buy stuff for people, the music industry unleashes its annual torrent of giftable crap: holiday albums, greatest-hits packages, high-profile releases, deluxe reissues.
Rihanna | Rated R
Look, it’s not as if there were a song where she says, “Chris Brown, you chicken-shit motherfucker, your ass is gonna pay.”
The Rolling Stones | Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert
This live 1969 Madison Square Garden set was released at the band's peak, following Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed , preceding Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street , and recorded a week before the disaster at Altamont.
The Big Hurt: Lambert works it, 50 blows it, Moz ends it
ADAM LAMBERT 's spicy AMA performance continues to dominate entertainment headlines, weeks after it first scandalized the nation — but why does America care what a man does with another man in the secluded privacy of the American Music Awards?
Winter warmers
Sure, some bands take the easy route and have album releases through the summer, enticing you to shows with back-patio barbecues and all-night rooftop after-parties. In January? Not so much.
Beyond Dilla and Dipset
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Topics: CD Reviews , Music, nocal, extreme, More

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