To celebrate one of my music heroes, David Freel, becoming a fan of the Sonic Abyss on Facebook, this week’s WAV is from his band, and one of my 3 all-time favorite bands…Swell!

This is one of my 2 favorite songs of theirs and comes from Too Many Days Without Thinking, which is one of the 10 Most Truly Abysmal CD’s.  It’s called (I Know) The Trip and I hope you love it as much as I do.  Here’s to you, David!  And as always, enjoy Abysmally…

CLICK HERE TO BUY TOO MANY DAYS WITHOUT THINKING AND OTHER SWELL MUSIC THROUGH AMAZON.COM

2008 Roadrunner Records

Blown away.

I don’t know any other way to describe my reaction upon first hearing this disc.  After numerous listens, I only like it better.   This is exactly how I like this music to sound…cacophonous distorted noise honed down to an impossibly tight and rhythmic science.

Power grooves rule the day (which is just fine by me) starting with leadoff disgustipation and title cut Inflikted.    Hearing the Cavalera brothers reunited again just magnifies what an incredible driving force the two were behind Sepultura.  Honestly, I could see where this would have been a perfect follow-up to 1996’s groundbreaking Roots disc, bringing everything back to the basics and somehow making it better.

Which is just how I would describe this disc overall…back to the basics with even better songs and tighter grooves.  Sometimes it’s okay to just be the best at what you do and revel in your “thang.”   Cavalera Conspiracy, while whipping up some speed in places, slams down their “thang” (i.e. POWER groove) like no one else and I find myself entranced by the whole smear.

The aforementioned title track, Sanctuary, Bloodbrawl, Hex, Heart of Darkness, MustKill…honestly there’s not a weak track anywhere to be found.   There are some nice curveballs in there, as well, such as the gorgeous acoustic outro to Bloodbrawl.

The Cavalera Brothers have creativity, but beyond creativity you have to have heart for this kind of music to have any remote chance of working.   Environmental issues, unjust repression of people, the plight of Brazilian aboriginees…Max Cavalera always has substance behind his roar.

I put this one on repeat shuffle play for hours and it just doesn’t wear on me at all.   Arrangements are tidy, lead guitar work is stellar and the drums are just ridiculously tight.   Don’t look for anything groundbreaking here.   Max, Igor and Co. are stomping on the ground they broke 15 years ago, and everything I love about this kind of music is on this disc.

Which is just fine by me.   Gotta thank Dave at CD Warehouse in Lancaster, PA for introducing me to this gem.

Rating:  5 out of 5

CLICK HERE TO BUY INFLIKTED THROUGH AMAZON.COM

This week’s WAV comes courtesy of Britain’s Invasion.  I know absolutely nothing else about this band other than Dr. Chado posted this video on his Facebook wall Friday and I can’t get the song out of my head.  I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first, but after watching/listening to it about 20 times over the weekend I can’t deny I think it’s really cool.  A new kind of power trio…and girl knows she can sing.  Extra points for the guitarist’s Sleep t-shirt.  Rock on…and enjoy Abysmally…

Badlees have released their new disc, Love is Rain and The Sonic Abyss is ecstatic…click on the CD cover below to check it out for yourself on Badlees’ official site.    I haven’t heard the whole thing myself as of yet, but I can’t wait!  Cheers and welcome back Badlees!

First of all, I’ve always liked Dweezil Zappa and admired his reverence for his influences.   A fluent and stellar guitar player, he has continued to not only survive but thrive in his career despite the huge shadow of his genius father Frank (it’s true).

Today, Dweezil and brother Ahmet keep Frank Zappa’s music alive on the live circuit with a band that even includes some previous members of father Frank’s ensemble.  His musical journey through the 80’s and 90’s combined everything from hair-band influences to classical to Zappa-meets-They-Might-Be-Giants eclecticisms.

My first introduction to his music came in the late 80’s while on spring break in Fort Lauderdale, FL with my friends John, Rich, Lori and Michelle.  After getting sunburned the first day, we spent some time indoors the second day and there was some music video show (not MTV) playing.   I saw this video and Mantronix’ video for Simple Simon.   I haven’t seen this video since then, until discovering it on YouTube just yesterday…and I think it’s absolutely hilarious.   Really cool 80’s-style remake of his dad’s classic tune from the Weasels Ripped My Flesh album.

Click the pic below to watch and listen, and as always…enjoy Abysmally.

CLICK HERE to buy My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama and more music from the man they call Dweezil

This week’s WAV is from Texas’ own Toadies!  I was fortunate enough to see them open for Bush back in the 90’s when they were touring the Rubberneck CD…the CD this tune comes from. Great band and I highly recommend any of their 3 studio CD’s.

I know, I know…there’s no video for this song, but it’s cool, it rocks and it’s Toadies. Enjoy Abysmally…

CLICK HERE TO BUY RUBBERNECK AND OTHER TOADIES MUSIC THROUGH AMAZON.COM

1993 Mercury Records

I almost don’t know how to describe the music on this disc, which makes it a natural for the Sonic Abyss.   You’ll find elements of Ministry-style industrial sounds, glam, metal, dance, hair-band melodicisms (I just HAD to use that word), blues, acoustic, grunge, Zappa and flat-out rock.

Strange that this disc didn’t find a wider audience given that it came out smack-dab in the middle of a time when alternative rock was struggling to find an identity and darn near anything unknown qualified as “alternative.”  I saw them at the Varsity Theatre in Baton Rouge, LA on the tour for this album back in the 90’s.  Can’t remember for the life of me who they opened for, but I remember them being very very good live and I was floored at how indifferent the crowd seemed to be.

So many elements within the music of the same band (much less on one CD) make this one hard to classify.   It definitely rocks, kicking off with the industrial come metal sounds of Prepare Yourself! and going directly into the grunge meets glam jam of Segue.

The disc would sound like a band in search of an identity if the whole thing didn’t sound so dead-on deliberate.  No, I think this was a band in love with music who saw no reason these influences couldn’t come together and live in harmony.   The pulsing, funky and danceable Do You Need Some? then follows suit with heavy guitars and a tight dance groove to the fore.  Some tasty wah guitar in there, too.

Mixed in with the electronicisms (yeah…I don’t even know if it’s a real word) of the aforementioned tunes is the totally-steeped-in-rock-but-still-futuristic sounding Daisy Chain, which on one hand sticks out but on the other hand totally fits.   From there, we go right into perhaps my fave riff and song on this disc, I Am.   Again, totally tight and totally deliberate, while 40 Days sounds like it must have been a blast to play live.

Violent Dream has one of coolest and most menacing keyboard sounds to cross these ear drums and was the song that originally drew me into this CD.  Guitars are biting, heavy and tight and not even the Europe-cheesy keyboards (sorry…it makes me cringe a little) at the end of the choruses can ruin it.    And finally, there’s It’s What I Want, which really defies description in its upbeat catchiness and (I believe deliberate) campiness.   Super cool bass line on this one and Zappa-esque eclecticisms galore.

Don’t know what else to say except buy this sucker online, where you can find it for stupid-low prices.  I paid full-price for mine back in 1993 and I ain’t complaining.

Rating:  4.5 out of 5

To celebrate Stick guitarist Mike Tobin’s recent visit to The Sonic Abyss (thanks bro…you’re always welcome here!), this week’s WAV comes from Lawrence, Kansas’ own Stick with “No Groovy.”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find an actual video for this song, but hey…it still rocks and it’s a nice way to kick off your week! I hope you enjoy it…Abysmally, of course. Cheers!

2003 Hollywood Records

This disc still sounds fresh 6 years after its initial release.   No small feat for any CD, and I can’t believe I didn’t give it more of a chance back then (whatwith my obsession with opening track “All We Know”).

“All We Know” is just an incredible song to open the album with, Greek bouzouki sound stylings showing their influence right off the bat.  The guitar sound is heavy and very nu-metal sounding, while the overall sense of style and dynamic on the CD is much more diverse.

The aforementioned Greek bouzouki influences are all over this disc not just in the instrumentation in places but in the overall effect on melody.    Though they sound nothing like Sepultura, the Greek influence here is prevalent much the same way the Brazilian influence was on Sepultura’s seminal Roots album.

“All We Know” is almost a “10 Most Truly Abysmal” song for me.   Just a dynamic breath of fresh air and it should have been their first single.  “Someday” and “Dead Generation” are both good songs but they’re not singles, though they were released as such.  Why “Even Though It’s Over” wasn’t released as a single, I’ll never know.  I can’t get that song (especially the chorus) out of my head.

“You Can’t Look Away” is another stellar track that once again shows a band in uncanny command of dynamics in their music (an amazing track, really), while “Media” is a fast and aggressive blast of energy.   Extra kudos to lead throat Mike Love  for some killer diversity in his singing style.

So often with younger bands, dynamics sound forced rather than letting them happen naturally.  With Sloth, it sounds natural and closing track “Billygoat” is a great example of their command of both dynamics and melody.   Lyrics at times venture too close to trite for my taste, but thankfully never totally give in.   Probably just a matter of personal taste.

A decidedly grey mood, this disc triumphs due to a prevalence of silver linings…and you’ve just got to admire their work ethic.  I mean, they got their recording deal because they followed the Warped Tour in their van with their equipment and played for people in the parking lot before the actual Warped show started.

They wanted it…and you can hear it in their music.   Will someone please tell me what ever happened to these guys?  It just ain’t fair.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

CLICK HERE TO BUY SLOTH’S DEAD GENERATION CD THROUGH AMAZON.COM

Being a sucker for good power-pop, I always loved this band. Very very short lived, but man they had some great songs. Saw them on the Spilt Milk tour at the Varsity in Baton Rouge back in the day and they were a great live band. From San Francisco, CA (retroactively)…it’s Jellyfish! Enjoy Abysmally…

Click Here to watch and listen to Jellyfish – New Mistake.