HYLI Vol. LXI - Admiral Angry and Mortality Rate
Double Metal. Andy gives Drew some downtuned Sludge from California and Drew gives Andy some Hardcore from Canada.
Hello gang. It’s me, Patrick. I’m Almost Back. You can cue the John Wick 1 meme next week (Andy: we will not) My baby is getting bigger. She’s getting cuter. She’s getting more and more everything. She’s hitting a growth spurt which means she isn’t really sleeping at night and wants to eat every thirty minutes. Great fun. I love the little dork and like it more when she trolls me than I do when Andy trolls me. She barely fits in her newborn clothes anymore. She’ll be a month old by the time I return to the newsletter. I cannot believe it but I also can. Every day feels like a year and every week feels like a second. It’s wild.
Some music came out last week. Shall I review it here? Sure. Wednesday released my favorite album of the year week, Rat Saw God, which I would imagine will place well on my end-of-the-year list. It merges shoegaze, country and “punk” in a way that checks all my boxes. I love it. “Formula One” track of the year. “Bull Believer” coda of the year. “Turkey Vultures” lyrics of the year. Artwork of the year. It’s everything. Additionally, Ruston Kelly, who released one of my favorite albums in 2020 when no one was releasing music, released his follow-up and I do not like it as much. The singles SUCKED and while I like the album tracks more, I just cannot really imagine I’ll be listening to this album too much with the last one right there. Genres don’t matter, but I have a problem with him being positioned as “alt-country” or “americana” or whatever. These songs are just Howie Day songs sung by a dude from the South. It sounds like something you’d hear at Emo Nite in Columbia, SC. It doesn’t sound like Chris Stapleton, let alone anything harder than that. I like “Breakdown” and “Wicked Hands” probably the most but they sound like songs that would be on a Cartel album. It’s a fine album, just be honest lol. Jason Isbell also had a documentary come out on HBO directed by Sam Jones, who made an incredible Wilco doc about a decade ago. It documented Jason making his last record, 2020’s Reunions. While that might seem a little boring and not worthy of a doc, the interesting hook is that he makes music with his wife as a band member while also being a bit of a control freak and it led to interesting depictions of work/life balance and how to handle (or maybe how to not handle, more appropriately) spousal feelings when they relate to your own work product. It was interesting! That’s about it for me this week. My baby is cooing and grunting at the same time. It’s a supremely cute sound but it’s also a surefire indicator she’s brewing some mean shit over there, literally. Have a good week, see you next week, Hope You Like Whatever Andy and Drew are Cooking Up.
Admiral Angry - Buster
Andy: I love when you find a band so unique that it is hard to find apt comparisons. For example, Portishead. Just an all timer of a band and I don’t really think anyone comes close to matching their sound. For me, Admiral Angry is in a similar boat. While there are some similar bands (Black Sheep Wall, Primitive Man), they don’t come close to matching the pure aggression that Admiral Angry does. Buster might actually be the heaviest album I’ve ever heard. Ultra-low, ultra-slow sludge-core with immense intensity. The drums on this record are unrivaled. Just the perfect mix. Buster has so many “oh shit” moments for me: The drum solo at the end of “Android”, Chris Linblad shrieks at the end of “Bug Vomit”, the last two minutes of “Kill Yourself”... just amazing. Nihilistic, hateful, hopeless music.
Daniel Krauss, who created 99% of the bands music (including it's iconic artwork), tragically passed at 22 years old from Cystic Fibrosis. Kraus composed the music and lyrics while fully aware that his time on earth was limited due to his disease. The result is profoundly unsettling disdain towards life. Although there are occasional touches of black humor, the majority of the lyrics are bleak and depressing. In my opinion, the high shrieks add more than the typical low growls of the genre would.
Admiral Angry is one of a kind. I recommend this album to anyone who I think would find a small bit of enjoyment in it. Hope You Like It.
Drew: Hell yeah, Andy went deep into the bag for this one. I’d never heard of this band before and it makes sense. In 2009, I think I was really into the indie-rock vibe of the time and if I was listening to any heavy music it was most likely Converge or Every Time I Die. I didn’t really get into stupid heavy sludge stuff till a few years later. Anyways, Buster by Admiral Angry fucking whips, man. Primitive Man was the first thing that came to mind for me but what I really like about this record is that it’s hard to compare it to bands of that era or even bands of today - it’s a pretty unique record (Andy: See, I told y’all). And I immediately knew this was going to be incredibly my shit before I even hit play. Song titles like “Sex With A Stranger,” “Kill Yourself,” and “Bug Vomit”? Yes, please. The entire middle of the record being an insane run of 6+ minute epics. Yes, please. And then when I finally hit play, the sludginess of it all collapsed on me. But what makes “Sex With A Stranger” such a perfect opener is that halfway through it completely flips the stage. Those hi-hat cymbal crashes? Oh baby. And then that sludgy riff transitions into a focused missile of a killer riff. What the fuck man. The record amps the insanity as it goes on. I think “Kill Yourself” is my favorite track because it essentially sounds like a Korn song but mucked up to 1000%.
I picked up the aforementioned bleakness and black humor of the lyrics immediately and didn’t think too much about it because that’s kind of what this genre is about. It wasn’t till after when I did some more research did I realize the record is cognizant of Daniel Krauss’ Cystic Fibrosis diagnosis. Man, fuck. What a tragedy. Probably makes sense why Admiral Angry never reached my radar - this fucking disease, man. It makes sense that the band’s final release was 30 minute track that’s just fucking brutal. Thanks Andy for putting this band on my radar - what a punishing, electric record from a band taken too soon. Better to burn bright than not at all, though.
Mortality Rate - Sleep Deprivation
Drew: Mortality Rate is one of those bands I always foolishly forget about and then remember how much they fucking rip once my dumb brain works again. Sleep Deprivation is a combo of two Mortality Rate releases - side A contains songs from the original 2016 Sleep Deprivation EP while side B contains songs from their 2017 ass beating split release with Texas’ Judiciary. Something about Canada hardcore just hits different, ya know. And Mortality Rate was first put on my radar sometime in 2020 thanks to Jess Nyx’ vocal contributions to the Acacia Strain’s “The Lucid Dream” (which appeared on their 2020 album Slow Decay)(Andy: I knew I had heard her somewhere else). Her intensity perfectly matched Vincent Bennet’s low growl and I immediately needed to find out more. It’s when I found a pre-order for the Sleep Deprivation reissue from Isolation Records. It’s 20 minutes of fiery intensity with Nyx’ voice being the star. “Sandman” is the pit hit while the Judiciary featuring “Veins” showcases how fucking heavy the band can really get. Mortality Rate has been kind of under the radar since - they did release two killer tracks last August (“Rosemary” and “Salt Water” - check them out immediately) so I’m hoping a new release will happen sometimes in 2023. But yeah, Mortality Rate whips, they show up, fucking kill it, and then bounce. All killer no filler.
Andy: Good stuff man. Great stuff. I love music. I only knew a handful of Mortality Rate songs so I was stoked to jump into this. This thing is a total banger, full of heavy riffs and intense vocals. Eleven songs, 20 minutes, bing-bang-boom done. Leaves you satisfied but wanting more.
Jessica Nyx is so good at this man. Reminds me a lot of Dying Wish Vocalist Emma Boster (Yes, they’re both women but it is a closer similarity than just that). The riffs here are so good. “Sandman”, “Climate Change”, and “Lucid” are standouts to me, but honestly I’m not sure there is a weak song here. I guess this is a re-release with some new songs? Good shit. I say this a lot in this newsletter, but I bet this band would be an absolute blast to see live. I just feel like that level of band in metal/hardcore/punk or whatever have such genuine, fun shows. Throw down in a pit without the fear of getting your teeth kicked in if you fall over. A true pit experience.
I love this type of hardcore but always wish they’d take it one small step heavier at times. Give me one million more records like this. Short, fast, angry albums. Just perfect music stuffs. I Loved It.