It's now time for our 181st monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, as we're taking a look at a band whose only public footprint so far is via the album in question, namely local hardcore punk solo project Choking On Appendages' debut EP "Macabre"! A brand new addition to our band links (I haven't talked about them in a normal post yet because there isn't a lot to say that wouldn't fit the album review), C.O.A. is a new project from Agnosticism frontman, Vanity First/Hails guitarist, and Apocalypse Afterparty bassist Mikhal Muto, with no other musicians credited. He independently released "Macabre" on May 30th on their Bandcamp page, and it can also be heard in a single video upload via Mikhal's personal YouTube channel. On the former, you can buy this album on mp3 for $3, but it can be streamed for free on both platforms. With six tracks running for just eight minutes, let's begin this quick album review!
"Macabre" leads off with its title track, which runs for just 50 seconds, and there's one shorter song than that on here! This is more or less an intro track to the second song, leading directly into it if played back to back, and it's primarily a noise recording with isolated piano keys, harsh background noise, and ominous narration (if Mikhal got that from a movie or show, I couldn't place it). I'd have just smushed this into the start of "Life Altering Drug" and called it a 2:19-long song, but that's just me. As for "Life Altering Drug", it has proper vocals by Mikhal, and very evocative ones at that which are very reminiscent of gory horror-influenced death metal. Musically, Choking On Appendages are basically what would happen if Mikhal was the full frontman of one of his bands, but ramped up the speed and aggression a lot, and while this is accurately described as hardcore punk, he did includes some backing death metal growling, foreshadowing a song to come.
This song paints a ferocious picture with strong vocal versatility, and while it is very short, it never lets up, so if you like crossover thrash, speed metal, and violent lyrics, you should take to this! Third on the EP is "When Violence Sets In (The Culling)", which paints more vivid imagery about death and "the body tree" in its short 78 seconds-long runtime. Vocally, Mikhal seems to be taking some Ha!ls inspiration here, and while not as in your face and aggressive as the preceding track, it gets the job done with passion! The cymbals are a little overdone, and it ends super abruptly too. Not an improvement for my musical tastes but subgenre fans won't be thrown off! Fourth on "Macabre" is "Safe Room", which is the only track on offer to exceed 2 minutes in length. With lyrical themes about vengeance and the death penalty, this song takes us further into death metal territory, with growled lead vocals and screamed backing vocals.
Given the short song lengths and one-man nature, this feels the most like something that could have been released via Blood Shed Productions, with a more death metal-inspired structure, breakdowns, and more impassioned, anguished screaming that doesn't really call to mind the hardcore punk stylings earlier on the EP. Mikhal's versatility (especially for his age) is on solid display here! I just wish the song didn't end so abruptly. The penultimate song is "Psyche Ward" (sic), which seems to be about experiences in a psychiatric ward while having severe delusions. During its sub 2-minute runtime, we return to crossover thrash territory, if with very intense screaming and lyrics, where it really sounds as if Mikhal is speaking from experience! The overall musicianship adds to this ripper, but again, it ends before I expected it to. Not an abrupt end, just a fade out when the song seemed like it had more life to give than it did.
"Macabre" ends with "Lights Out", a very brief 36 seconds-long track which is basically the companion to the opening title track, with the same voice announcing "Lights out, everybody!" while ominous music plays and fades out. Unlike on the track named "Macabre", this doesn't directly run into the adjacent one, but it doesn't really serve a purpose beyond signing off.
So, how do I grade Choking On Appendages' debut EP? Definitely the heaviest original music that Mikhal Muto has put out so far, and while it's a brief listen, it's a shame that he came around when he did, as he'd have fit Blood Shed Productions like a glove with this material, especially "Safe Room"! While the closest spiritually to Hails of his other active bands, C.O.A. definitely skew heavier and more intense, both musically and lyrically, with Mikhal showing some serious versatility that fans of his other local projects may not expect, especially given how he is only the lead singer of Agnosticism, an acoustic act. These fast and vividly painted songs will please hardcore punk and extreme metal fans, but they are mostly very short, and given how there's only four full songs here, it's a shame that abrupt and sudden song endings are so common. Also, when you only have 8 minutes of music here, it doesn't seem like a huge ask to record more songs.
I don't know if Mikhal has more plans in mind for Choking On Appendages given how busy he already is with full bands (remember, their only social media presence is this album), but if he takes this further, there's nowhere to go bu up given his age and existing talent levels, so if you like blistering hardcore punk with a dash of death metal & lyrics to match, see what he's cooking up with this project! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review (our third straight of one of Mikhal's projects, incidentally), but we'll deviate from him for next month, when we look at local hard rock quintet HeadFirst's debut EP "Head Trauma"! Watch for that in August, and for weekend concert previews on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment