‘Burn In Hell’ is even better, and the moment where its cocksure rock & roll strut abruptly breaks into an untamed grindcore assault is easily the album’s most thrilling and confrontational moment. Tracks like ‘OJ Kush’ fare much better, bringing back the same hard rock influences that ran throughout 2011’s Pain Is A Warning in a playful manner, with huge doomy riffs stuttering into an awkward yet infectious groove, kind of like listening to a really scratched Master Of Reality CD.
Elsewhere however, tracks like ‘Mercy’ and ‘Mexico’ feel oddly stodgy and unimaginative, with disinterested vocals and riffs approaching dreary local stoner rock band territory rather than the head-spinning, gut-punching horror you’d expect from Today Is The Day. Again, this has mixed results on the likes of ‘Attacked By An Angel’ and the gleefully sleazy apocalyptic anthem ‘You’re All Gonna Die’, his voice sounds incredibly expressive and somehow simultaneously vulnerable and terrifying. He also seems to be singing a lot more on this record as opposed to deploying his usual bloodcurdling howl. Sometimes this really works, as on the opening title track, which kicks off with that immediately recognisable, suffocatingly smoggy guitar tone before patiently building into a genuinely disorientating wall of sound as Austin unleashes his neuroses and general hatred for mankind in a far more reserved and sinister manner than usual. The album is notably less ferocious than previous outings, with a palpably weary, dejected tone throughout. As ever though, No Good To Anyone seems to revel in confounding expectations, but it’s not always successful. Expectations were running high for this eleventh full-length, especially after their last, 2014’s Animal Mother was such a powerful, well-realised and intense summary of everything that has made Austin’s unique fusion of noise rock, sludge metal, grindcore and harsh noise so good over the past 28 years. Unsettling times call for unsettling music, and it doesn’t get much more unsettling than Steve Austin’s Today Is The Day. So if you’re currently holed up at home in quarantine, what better way to keep the old cabin fever at bay than diving into another month-load of metallic marvels? Scrub up those hands and let’s dive in… I haven’t even had a chance to collect my thoughts on new opuses from Mondo Generator, Khost and Insect Ark either, after grappling with some of the particularly intense records below (not to mention listening to Spectral Lore and Mare Cognitum’s mammoth two-hour long split several times). As always, there’s just too much to cover in this little column I’ve already reviewed the swaggerin’, horror themed death & roll of Video Nasties’ debut Dominion and US death-grinders Wvrm’s Colony Collapse elsewhere so haven’t written about them again here, but they’re both well worth checking out. Until it does, you’ll be pleased to hear that recorded music is still just doing fine, with the year’s release schedule starting to ramp up dramatically after a slow start. It’s worth remembering that there are thousands of artists, booking agents, promoters, festival organisers, stagehands, roadies, sound and lighting technicians and more currently fearing for the worst as they watch their livelihoods getting put on lockdown right before their very eyes, powerless to do anything about it – so if you’re in a position where you can afford to take the loss of your ticket cost instead of clamouring for your refund, it could a tremendous boon for the people struggling on the other end, and be the difference between returning to a gig-filled world or not once this has all blown over.
Well, it’s certainly beginning to feel that way at least, with the COVID-19 virus wreaking havoc across the globe, and the music industry taking a particularly nasty hit as tours are getting cancelled left, right and centre for safety concerns. Welcome to another edition of Columnicus Metallicus, coming to you live and direct this month from the end of the world.
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