Exclusive Interview - Jamie Saint Merat (Ulcerate)

Crafting their unique, dissonant brand for nearly 20 years, Ulcerate should be considered a crucial member of extreme death metal's vanguard. Weaving melody throughout a chaotic blend of cavernous growls, spastic guitars, and dizzying drum-work is a monumental task, but one that the band's latest release, Stare Into Death and Be Still, accomplishes flawlessly. I was fortunate enough to be able to talk to drummer Jamie Saint Merat about the new album, his personal influences, and reflections on the band's history. I understand that this type of death metal doesn't resonate with everyone, but I cannot emphasize enough how, at the very least, this is a drummer who's among the best in his craft and one that you'll want to follow.

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.

Ulcerate - Shrines of Paralysis

 Unwavering and brutal; this is the brand of dissonant death metal that New Zealand's Ulcerate has been putting out since their inception. Yet, these descriptors always seem to fall short of fully portraying the devastating nature of the band's sound. The Destroyers of All, the band's 2011 release, set an amazingly high bar, but with Shrines of Paralysis, Ulcerate's death metal chops - along with their dialed in songwriting sensibilities - culminate into what could quite possibly be their most complete offering to date.

Mick's Top 15 Albums of 2013

2013 has been one heck of a year for all of us...mainly because we relaunched Brutalitopia earlier in the spring and are now back in full force with a renewed sense of purpose. Thanks to everyone who's made that possible by supporting us in their respective ways.

And now time for everyone's favorite time of year...the end of it. Check out what albums I thought were awesome enough to recognize after the break!

Ulcerate - Vermis

Even as a metal fan, I typically prefer to be ear-wooed than ear-fucked.  Let me explain.  I’d rather be caressed gently by the shoegaze melodies of Alcest than get into a fist fight with Slayer.  I’d rather take a pensive walk through a Pacific forest with Agalloch than be tormented by Anaal Nathrakh.  I’d rather make goofy jokes about the devil with Ghost than worry about Watain actually sacrificing me to said-Devil.  That said, sometimes there are exceptions.  Sometimes I just want to plug in my headphones, drop the needle on a record, and get ear-fucked, HARD, non-stop for forty-five minutes, until I’m ear-screaming in ecstasy and ear-begging for more.  Not just any heavy album is up for such a marathon of ear-fucking, but Ulcerate’s new tech death masterpiece Vermis not only lives up to the challenge, but it made me ear-cum.  Six times.