Dreadnought - The Endless

While crafting a sound that leverages the heavy-hitting aspects of doom metal with the forward thinking nature of progressive metal is no easy task, Denver's Dreadnought has managed to accomplish this in rather impressive fashion over the past nine years and four albums. With that much material under their belt, I felt fairly certain of what to expect for their upcoming fifth album, The Endless. You know what they say about assumptions, though. Indeed, what an ass I was for thinking the band would try to re-hash already tried formulas for their latest venture. The Endless showcases Dreadnought in a different light; one that, while not totally unsurprising, leans more into the subdued and tranquil facets of the band's repertoire.

Durf's Weekly Workout # 13: April 16th, 2021

With spring here in Idaho in full bloom, the weather is starting to warm up and the yard work is starting to begin.  Outside of the difficulties in wrangling a toddler while trying to pull weeds, or finding energy to get some work done on a random Wednesday after a ten hour day, I really enjoy working in the yard.  It's incredibly rewarding to see the results of a day (or hour's, sometimes) work, and I can feel myself totally slipping into the Wranglers of a washed, mid-thirties dad who takes way too much pride in his yard because he's convinced himself it's a hobby since it's the only thing he has time to do on the weekends.  But I digress.

Naturally, 90% of my yardwork is done with headphones in, listening to either Tigers games or music.  This year, I'm going to add yardwork to commuting and working out as "Time When I Can Listen to New Music," but I'm not as confident in that sticking as much as it has with the other two.  For whatever reason, when I step out to mow the lawn or trim the hedges, there is a certain je nais se qua that I'm looking for in an album, and I have turned off the lawnmower to switch albums mid-mow, despite being certain that what I was listening to was what I wanted to hear.  It's weird, man.  And it's definitely albums, not bands; Khemmis' Hunted is probably my all-time favorite yardwork album, but none of their other albums have it.  Sunbather and Ordinary Corrupt Human Love have it; Roads to Judah and New Bermuda don't.  Metallica's first four albums have it in spades.  Kanye's The College Dropout is an amazing yardwork album; My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a much better album but doesn't hold up as well to the grind of the grass.  You get the idea.  Anyway, as I start mowing the lawn again, and looking for new music, maybe I'll find some new classic yardwork tunes to add to my rotation and then talk about them here.  Or maybe I won't, and I'll just listen to Ride the Lightning again and keep it to myself.  Try not to let the suspense bother you.  On to the workouts!

Paysage d'Hiver - Geister

Black metal in its purest form, which I associate with the Norwegian, second wave mold, is an area that I've never spent a ton of time deep-diving. I've listened enough to appreciate the contributions its had in metal's evolution, but aside from A Blaze in the Northern Sky, the rawness of this sub-genre's sound has never connected with me on the primal level you often hear it being touted for. That all changed for me when solo project Paysage d'Hiver emerged from obscurity last year with his release of Im Wald. Though one would understandably think an album with a two hour runtime would be a bit of slog, Im Wald managed to cultivate an aura that elevated it from "just" a black metal album into an all-encompassing journey. It made clear to me that Paysage d'Hiver's 20+ years worth of demos was something I had to dig into. I have yet to take that plunge, but the project's second full-length endeavor, Geister, is here to remind me of how that procrastination is, for lack of a better word, dumb.

Durf's Weekly Workout # 12: April 9th, 2021

It's April, which means baseball is back!  This is two-thirds a big deal for us at Brutalitopia, where a full 66.6% of us are huge baseball fans; Tom loves his Mets, I'm a diehard Tigers fan, and Mick is fully content to spend summer waiting for Bears season to start.  I'm always excited to watch as much baseball as possible, something that I'm sure I will not have to change or adjust at all this year despite my overwhelming sense of having absolutely no time for anything whatsoever.  Maybe I can convince work to pay me to stay home and watch baseball instead of, like, building things onsite.  A boy can dream.

Durf's Weekly Workout # 11: April 2, 2021

You know, when March started and I found myself with a second kid and a scheduled vasectomy and a work schedule approaching 55 or more hours a week, I said to myself "You can do this."  And, shockingly, by and large I've managed to, in fact, do this.  I'm pretty proud of myself, except now is the part where I say that of all the things I thought would drop from these posts over the last month, the last one I expected was this little blurb up top.  I figured I'd always have something to say, always want to shoot my mouth off about something, but that hasn't been the case.  These entry paragraphs have, in fact, been the absolute hardest part of this whole endeavor, and I woke up at 2am three times this week because I had to be at work early and still wanted to lift.  It's crazy how that happens.  And so, in the vein of cutting myself some slack, I hereby declare the intro paragraph over, and the music paragraphs beginning.  Onward!

 

Durf's Weekly Workout # 10: March 26, 2021

I got my first Covid vaccine on Saturday.  My arm hurt for like a day after, and that was it.  I feel super lucky to have had access to it, and I highly recommend everyone get it when they get the chance.  It feels like for the first time in forever, we’re closer to the end of this thing than the beginning.  There’s still work to be done, and we aren’t out of the woods yet, but for the first time in a year, I can actually picture myself in a record store or at a concert, and that ain’t nothing.  On to the music!

 

Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon

In a genre of music that is anything but shy in making a concerted effort to clearly subdivide its variations, "experimental" isn't a term that you see thrown around too liberally. Sure there's "avant-garde," but to my knowledge genre-tagging something as "experimental metal" isn't really a thing. Whenever that or related topics come up, however, Genghis Tron is always a band that immediately sticks out in my mind. Between the programmed drums, the not so subtle synthesizer melodies and backdrops, the intense screams, and the spiraling guitar riffs, the output of the band from 2005-2008 encapsulated the frenetic and unpredictable energy one would associate with the likes of the Dillinger Escape Plan and turned it completely into its own brand; a brand so unique I still feel like I haven't heard anything completely like it before or since. Coming off of that hype some 13 odd years later, Dream Weapon marks the band's return with a bit of a personnel change and refinement of their sound. It may not be the kind of refinement old-school Genghis Tron purists may want to give credence to, but it does see the band tapping deeper into certain areas of their repertoire which end up producing lush soundscapes that in many ways are just as gratifying to hear as the older material.

 

Durf's Weekly Workout # 9: March 19th 2021

Well, the streak had to end sometime.  After eight consecutive weeks, I'm sure you were all so, so sad to open your computers or phones and see that there was no Durf's Weekly Workout last week.  I feel terrible for letting you all down, but on the other hand, after getting a vasectomy because two Durflings is plenty, I really wasn't in any shape to workout anyway.  Which is fascinating to me; I've never once thought about my balls while doing a bench press or deadlifting, but it turns out that exerting yourself can put some stress on your scrotum (if you're a dude), and so after getting the ol' Satan Worsnipping Doom, you gotta lay low for a bit.  And while I could have spent my time laying around with swollen balls listening to music and then writing about it, I instead landed on a steady diet of THC/CBD gummies and alternating college basketball with episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  I have no regrets.  But this week, I'm feeling good enough to (cautiously) resume my workouts, and get back to jamming tunes in the garage.

 

Durf's Weekly Workout # 8: March 5th, 2021

Well, it happened: the Durfling 2: Electric Boogaloo just couldn't wait any longer, so he came into the world on Monday night.  He and the Durfette are both doing great, everyone is home from the hospital adjusting to life with one another, and the OG Durfling is alternating between Tommy Boy-level excitement at having a brother, and Cain-level anger at his brother not being able to play with him yet.  It's a fun time.

As you can probably imagine, having a newborn is not exactly conducive to early morning workouts, so I was only able to hit the weights once this week.  Obviously family comes first, and I'm happy to help out and, you know, nurture my son at the expense of my workouts.  But it is an adjustment.  I've gotten so used to having my time in the mornings, to working out and listening to music, and while I know I'll get it back at some point... I'm going to miss it.  I'm 34 years old, and in those years I've learned that I'm a creature of habit, someone who likes doing the same things at the same time every day.  That's out the window for now.  Having a newborn is also not really conducive to having any sort of free time whatsoever, so I also didn't listen to five albums this week.  So I'll have to get by trying to work out when I can, and listen to new music when I can.  

Durf's Weekly Workout # 5: February 12, 2021

Something that I've been asked at least once is how do I manage to work out most every day during the week.  I'm a concrete forms carpenter, and it's a job that can be more than a little physically demanding, an eight to ten hour workout in its own right.  Then there's a family, dogs, chores and work to do around the house... life really seems exhausting when you write it all down.  So what's my secret, what heretofore undiscovered methods do I utilize to keep myself motivated, energized, and ready for the day?

 

Durf's Weekly Workout # 3: January 29, 2021

Now that we're three weeks into this little endeavor, it's time to talk about routine.  Routine is critical to working out in a few ways, primarily because doing the same exercises weekly will help results show up more noticeably, and also because sticking to a routine makes it easier to stick to your plan and keep it up.  So yeah, routines are important.  Just as important, however, is shaking up your routine to ensure it doesn't become a rut.  I try and shift and modify my workouts every three months or so in order to keep things fresh and challenging, and whenever I'm preparing for this and trying to decide what I should do, I always have the same thought: What if I started running?

 

Durf's Weekly Workout # 2 : January 22, 2021

 Well holy cow, Durf's Weekly Workout is back for Week 2!  I'm just as surprised as you, honestly; I sort of figured I'd be excited about this for like two days and then go back to pretending I never thought it up as a way to feel less guilty about abandoning it.  But for now I'm still here, lifting and listening and passing insights on to you.  This week was a little rough; the Durfette has a head cold, so sleep was compromised and motivation waned.  I certainly don't want to complain, because I can't imagine being pregnant and dealing with all that goes on with that and then being sick on top of that, but maaaaybe the gap between being pregnant and dealing with a pregnant woman is sma... (Ed. Note: Durf is trending toward dangerous territory, so to protect him from himself I've put this Editor's Note over his probably-correct-but-incredibly-stupid-to-vocalize thoughts on being the partner of a pregnant women.  Brutalitopia values its writers' safety, because there are only three of them and they don't write that much anyway, so we have to keep them safe. *listens* Ok, I think he's finished.)..ou know?  But sleep or no sleep, I'm committed dammit; I made the lifts and listened to the tunes, so now all that's left is to recap!  Onward!

 

Durf's Weekly Workout # 1 : January 15, 2021

Ah, the dawning of another year.  A new beginning, a chance to really get your life together this time, a fresh start.  And you know what that means, don't you?  Why yes, it's another Brutalitopia attempt at a weekly article, something that will pop up at the same time, each week!  I know, I'm just as surprised as you are!  Much like New Year's Resolutions, it is my hope that I will stick with this column, as it fulfills my two personal goals for the year; much like New Year's Resolutions, it will surprise no one if we never speak of this column again after January.

I enjoy working out in the mornings before my family wakes up/I go to work.  There's something about getting a good sweat in before the day actually gets started that appeals to me, and it's also my time.  I have a wife, a toddler, and a baby due in a couple months, and while I love them all to death, I need time to be by myself.  So my alarm goes off at 3:15, I slug down a quick cup of coffee, and then it's out to the garage for an hour to an hour and a half of me time.  If I keep this up, maybe I'll go into my actual workouts, but for now, let's get to why this belongs on a metal blog.

 

Lamb of God - Lamb of God

Long-running Richmond collective Lamb of God return with their 8th album proper and their first major lineup change to date as they are now without founding drummer Chris Adler. As the metal scene started to pick back up in the United States in the early '00s, Lamb of God emerged as one of the most important bands in what some have considered to be the NWOAHM (New Wave of American Heavy Metal) alongside contemporaries like Shadows Fall and Unearth, but as time has moved forward Lamb of God are still extremely relevant in comparison to the latter two. In 2020, Lamb of God is likely as popular as ever and fans have eagerly awaited another volume to their 20 year career.

Elder - Omens

Elder is one of those bands that, if you ask a dozen people do describe their sound, will bring you a dozen potentially different answers built around the same few buzz words: "Psychedelic."  "Stoner."  "Prog."  "Rock."  "Metal."  Part of that has to do with how the band has tweaked and changed their sound over nine releases spanning fourteen years; perhaps more instrumental to those varied answers is the way they continue to incorporate where they've been with where they're going.  Each Elder album weaves and swirls in ways that are at once unexpected and comfortably familiar.  Omens, the band's fifth full-length album which drops this Friday, continues that trend with glorious aplomb.

Trivium - What the Dead Men Say

I will forever long for the feeling of hearing Ascendancy for the first time again as much any other metal fan whose "gateway years" coincided with the metalcore boom of the early-mid 2000s, but what has kept me a Trivium fan for the long haul is how their sound has continued to evolve with each album. Ember to Inferno through Shogun saw the band flex their heavier, thrash-laden muscles while more accessible hooks and melodies were explored during the In Waves through Silence in the Snow years. While my preferences lean more towards the former rather than the latter, the release of 2017's The Sin and the Sentence was a watershed moment not only for the band but also for me fully realizing that the best version of Trivium is when all these elements, and their extremes, come together. What the Dead Men Say, the band's ninth full-length album, continues where The Sin and the Sentence left off; offering a slew of heavy hitting, dexterous guitar riffs accompanied by captivating drum-work, heavy screams, and lush vocal melodies.

Ulcerate - Stare Into Death and Be Still

They've been around long enough that it's easy to take them for granted, but New Zealand's Ulcerate is truly in a league of their own. Ever since their debut in the early 2000s, the band has been an ever-evolving force in crafting a brand of death metal that is, to be succinct, extreme. The beauty of the band's extremity, however, is that it can be appreciated and digested in different ways. Whether you're searching for unrelentingly varied barrages of drums and guitars or a dissonance carrying a palpable bleakness equally serene as it is somber, there's something here for a wide variety of death metal fans. The band's sixth album, Stare Into Death and Be Still, not only carries on with this formula but presents it in the most impressive way since 2011's seminal The Destroyers of All.

Izthmi - The Arrows of Our Ways

I'll forever be a sucker for atmospheric black metal. The genre is certainly saturated, but the tried and true formula of juxtaposing the harshness of black metal with moments of serene ambiance usually allows for something engaging to emerge. The Arrows of Our Ways, the full-length debut from Seattle's Izthmi, not only engages in this way but also offers its own refreshing take that piecemeals elements from other genres into its stylistic palette. It's a very concise effort; one whose elements have enough room to seamlessly interlock with each other while never meandering. For each moment of calm, Izthmi will in turn pack a mean punch.

Eternal Storm - Come the Tide

"Nuance" wouldn't be the first term to come to mind if you were asked to describe death metal. "Attitude" or "grit" would probably be more common knee-jerk reactions. But in the case of the full length debut from Spain's Eternal Storm, one starts to evaluate death metal more as a craft rather than just an adrenaline-fueled juggernaut. The amalgam that is Come the Tide breathes new life into the genre by absorbing several other styles into the death metal framework, coalescing into a simultaneously heavy and moving listening experience.

Russian Circles - Blood Year

At this point, there are certain things one would expect from a new Russian Circles album upon its release. The three-headed monster that is the the thick bass tone of Brian Cook, Mike Sullivan's crunchy guitar riffs, and the continued underrated brilliance of Dave Turncrantz's drumwork is a beast that has continued to stand the test of time. This tried and true formula, while evident throughout their career, has allowed the band plenty of room to move within its parameters. Each album has carved its own niche that stands alone to anything that came before or would come after. With the newest entry in their discography, Blood Year, the band takes a straightforward approach in terms of delivery; one that is more morosely heavy than blissful but still continues to push their sound in a logical (and welcome) direction.