I don't know how many metal fans populate this blog (I don't know about Mr. Trend, but you aren't going to read much about it from Erik), but I've never been able to shake the bug. Last year some time, I was checking the website for Neurot Recordings, run by Neurosis, one of my all time favorite metal bands. The site is always very generous about giving downloadable, full-song, samples of their other artists and they'd just put up two songs from some band called Made Out Of Babies. How could I pass up the chance to hear a band with such a visceral name? I discovered one of my favorite new bands in some time; a Brooklyn-based punk outfit with a singer named Julie Christmas, who sings with an intensity I've rarely witnessed from anybody, the kind of voice that kicks you in the gut then kisses you on the cheek. She rants like David Yow (Jesus Lizard), but she can actually sing. I listened to Trophy, their first album, until my brains bled, and finally was able to hear some new material featuring Ms. Christmas' silky sounds. Two albums came my way recently, each of which gave me a little taste of extra MOOB, plus a new aspect of the group.

The first is a 3-Way split EP called Triad, featuring Made Out Of Babies, Red Sparowes, and a conglomeration of these two bands called Battle of Mice, who will be releasing a full-length in the Fall. Red Sparowes plays the sound that is prevalent on Neurot Recordings: atmospheric, complex, and slow metal. They serve very well as the bread of this paranoid and maniacal sandwich. Made Out Of Babies has clearly grown as a band and Julie's sublime growl has focused. Battle of Mice takes the best of both worlds; the complicated soundscapes combine with creepy and joyously violent vocals making something that is strangely both hard and soft at once.

The second is We Reach: The Music of the Melvins. Generally speaking, tribute albums make me want to vomit. The Melvins, however, are one of the most influential rock bands of the last 20 years and have released that same number of albums since 1986 that have laid the way for grunge, doom, and just about any experimental metal genre since. I was impressed with the lineup of bands on this compilation (Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Dillinger Escape Plan, Made Out Of Babies, etc.) so I picked it up, and its very mixed. When the bands don't neccessarily have the Melvins' sound, the songs are different and inventive versions of songs I like. When the bands do have that sound which is, unfortunately, most of the time, the covers come off like stupid versions of songs that I'd rather hear performed by The Melvins.

One excellent album, one not so great but, all in all, a very metal June.