November 2020: Top Picks - Corrupt Moral Altar, Killer Be Killed, Chaos Collective

As the weather over here gets even colder and the notes of Wham!'s 'Last Christmas' slowly fade into the foreground from the horizon, we can at least take solace in the fact that 2020 is almost over.

In the penultimate top picks of this year, we have an EP, an album and a compilation. Variety is the spice of life, as they say. Of the two non-compilations, both bands have members who are better known for playing - or at least touring - in better-known bands. Can you name them?

Corrupt Moral Altar - Patiently Waiting for Wonderful Things (sludge/grindcore) - APF Records

Intense, ugly, nasty grind from Liverpool, we've spent most of the year patiently waiting for this outrageously heavy EP. When they play fast, it's dizzying and brutal, and when they play at mid tempos, your face contorts. The contrast between both makes each disparate element even more effective - although there's plenty of good music out there that does one or the other, CMA use both devastatingly. There's even moments of post-rock, jazz drumming and melody (!) in the inventive 'Spirit Breaker'. 'Maximum Bastardry' is a personal favourite, with its hardcore-infused first act that screams out to be played in a sweaty venue... if only. A step up from all of their previous work, with a more focussed and refined effort than ever before, it proves that sometimes less is more. Your band wishes they could do this much in five songs.

Not convinced yet? Read Jack's full review here or my review for MMH Radio here

Killer Be Killed - Reluctant Hero (groove/heavy metal) - Roadrunner Records

Pretty much as soon as KBK released their debut album six years ago, fans were eager to find out if a follow-up would ever be offered, considering the band's 'supergroup' status. For all of its faults, 2020 has delivered the coveted sophomore Killer Be Killed record - and it's just as strong as the last one, allowing all three vocalists to synergise and shine individually, full of catchy hooks and big, fun, modern metal riffs. The album has enough variations in sound to stay interesting over its runtime, such as the punk-infused 'Filthy Vagabond', the brooding title track or the grandiose 'From a Crowded Wound'. It's nothing groundbreaking, and fans of the bandmembers' usual outfits will more likely be regularly rotating those other bands over this album in one year. Reluctant Hero is still a fun record, though, sounding like metal that is popular in 2020, a worthy chapter of the members' legacies. 

Chaos Collective - Rituals in Sound (stoner/punk/doom/hardcore/sludge/grunge) - The Swamp Records

I have to say as a disclaimer before you start reading that shouting out this compilation is partly a personal plug - but it's so good that you shouldn't be missing out on it anyway. The Swamp Records released a banger of a compilation a month ago, full of bands all over the world, with something for everyone if you like loud guitar music (why are you here if not?).

Haal open the compilation with their bluesy, punky vibe with vocals that evoke Lemmy Kilmister, before their fellow Singaporeans Protest dial up the aggression - whose vocalist Mazzi was instrumental in making the compilation possible. There's catchy punk rock in the Spanish language from Los Vencidos, and Gasalone y Los Torinos (Argentina) to contrast with snarling, pissed off, hardcore-infused ragers from London's My Latest Failure. A couple of sludgy groove metal tracks from H.E.L.L. provide the Chaos Collective's heaviest moments, again in Spanish. The language diversity really gives this collective a unifying, global feel - this kind of music is meant to bring us all together, right? 

This compilation also champions fuzzy, laid back, doomier acts such as Slaves & Bulldozers (from Berlin), whose infectious grungy and Tool influences are clear, or the tripped out jams of Highbernation and Taubnernaut from Canada and Ohio respectively. Puresonic Outcasts, two members of which made important contributions to the release, are also featured. Their punk-infused stoner metal fits the nature of the compilation's variety perfectly, and both of their songs have already been reviewed on this blog (Demonised Masses / Chasing Shadows). That only leaves Slump - my own band - both of our Sabbathy, stoner rock songs released in September are on the download, too.

You can get it here and we've got some physical copies on the way too (with a slightly condensed track listing). Overall, this is a great way of spending an hour and a half, there's a good mix of rock genres and bands are fascinatingly represented from all corners of the globe. I discovered a few bands myself - I particularly liked My Latest Failure, Slaves & Bulldozers and Haal but it seems unfair to single these out when every act on here is great. Especially Slump. Anyway, what a great way for musicians to come together this year. When's Part 2 due? 

MN