Cerebral Ballzy - S/T

Hello Waveriders!

Lately, I have been really hard on music. By this I mean, it has been hard for me to find something I could listen to over and over and not get tired of it. It’s been a while since I have been excited about a traditional punk band. When I say traditional punk, I’m talking about old-school hardcore punk. Bands in the vain of Bad Brains, Black Flag, MDC, Suicidal Tendencies or Minor Threat. Bands that meant something and were not just making punk music to profit off it. The band that has me excited about punk again is the band Cerebral Ballzy. These guys are a total throwback to the in your face bands of the 80’s. Case in point: I work at a tattoo shop with a guy named Troy. This guy hate ALL NEW hardcore bands but he love Cerebral Ballzy. Troy’s a guy who grew up on hardcore, back when it was punks vs. skins and fights broke out at every show. For him to take interest in a new throwback style hardcore band says a lot.

I had a chance to see Cerebral Ballzy live a few weeks ago in Dallas. Talk about an energy filled performance, singer Honor Titus was all over the place. On stage jumping around, hanging off the wall and ceiling mounted speakers and even taking the show to the floor: pushing the crowd out of the way and walking across folding tables (and drunkenly toppling them over and falling to the ground). His stage presence was great. Another thing about his performance I loved was how before each song he would in a drunk slurred stooper  explain what each song was about before starting to play. Stating, “This song’s about pizza!” “This song’s about beer!”, “This song’s about puking!” or “This song’s about pizza, beer, puking and pizza!”. I was enthralled by the boys in Cerebral Ballzy to say the least. I had to pick up their debut Self Titled LP. Boy am I glad I did! Now on to the jams!!

The track “On The Run”, leads things off with a vengeance.  Think Bad Brains inspired ferocity. Not what the Bad Brains with H.R. are now but the intensity they had when they first started out in D.C. “They wanna restrain me, they wanna punish and torture me”, are the opening lyrics to a very powerful song. This is this centuries answer to Black Flag’s “Rise Above”.

My favorite track on this album is the song “Junky For Her”. This is basically a song about being enthralled with a girl and not being able to get enough of her. This is one of those songs that hits home, as being a “junky” for a girl is the only addiction I have ever had, well aside from my need for music.

Other standout track on this album are: “Sk8 All Day” (this song’s about skateboarding), “Cutting Class” (this song’s about school) and “Underage Drink Forever” (a bonus track about beer).

Cerebral Ballzy are one of the up and coming punk bands to be aware of. They have already garnered significant attention after being featured on Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” and having just gotten off a tour with Punk Icon, Keith Morris’ Off! And Justin Pearson’s Retox. Do yourself a favor and pick up Cerebral Ballzy’s debut LP and get your punk ass to a show.

Cerebral Ballzy goes good with: Bad Brains, Suicidal Tendencies, Black Flag, Fucked Up, Off!, Circle Jerks, Fear, Youth Brigade

-Cicatriz

Blackened Hardcore vs. Hardcored Black Metal: Is there a difference? What YOU need to know! - Featuring Dead in the Dirt's "Fear," Early Graves' "Goner" and Craft's "Void."

Did the headline work?

Did you read it and immediately think, without logically evaluating anything, "Holy Christ! Why the goddamn hell do I not know the crucial differences in these sub- sub- sub- sub-genres of metal?!?!" [Not sure why I'm making you sound like Hunter Thompson.]

Suh-weet. I'm awesome, brosef.  [I assumed you said "yes," or "Of course, Master."]

Just the fact that hardcore and black metal can both be present in a band means 2011 isn't all bad. Not like 1987, when the mere idea of punk and metal together meant a fight. Now with some bands you may as well not bother trying to give a genre.

That's very cool to me. That's "peace in the galaxy"/ tolerant-of-all enough to be on a Star Trek episode.

Anyhoo-- two hardcore punk acts with obvious black and sludge metal influences, today we have Dead in the Dirt and Early Graves, specifically their respective releases Fear and Goner, as well as Craft's Void, which to me is more black metal with hardcore features.

First, Fear. Chuggy, breakdown-ish sludgy, blastybeaty hardcore (with a very agile drummer-- he usually plays the blast beat or the d-beat, but can turn on a dime when the music needs that, more like a tech-death style drummer).

Ridiculously intense, it never relents, not for one goddamn second. It's like the most angry/ferocious features of hardcore, black metal and grindcore joined forces to become, Voltron-style, a super-aggro being possessing all of the strengths of its constituents but none of their weaknesses!

Guess that's really more like Blade, but... still.

Fear, song-wise, is definitely of the LOLA (like one, like all) category-- the entire work is essentially one long, detuned raging blackened hardcore-fest.  "Disease" encapsulated their sound best, I think, and even for these songs is brief (1:51).

Next, Goner-- the most obviously metal of the three here, still very very hardcore (d-beat, three-chord tunes), and very nearly as psychotically angry as Dead in the Dirt's work. "Rot" is my favorite, followed closely by "Wraiths," which opens with a lovely sludged-off riff. Unfortunately, Early Graves love to fill space with feedback, which gets old.

But enough about these acts for a minute-- let's talk about you. You look different. Have you done something with your hair? Lost weight? Been working out? Had some sort of major elective surgery? Joined a cult? Pregnant? You are glowing. Whoo, I tellya, if I were 20 years younger (older?) I'd be all over that.

Aaaaaaand we're back. Regarding Craft's Void, track three, "Come Resonance of Doom" is a lurching, sludgy blackened hardcore breakdown of a song, like Harley Flannigan was in Darkthone or, more accurately, like Mortuus singing for Discharge.

Tell me that doesn't sound wicked cool, yeah?

Track 4, "The Ground Surrenders" is straight out of the Disfear playbook-- until about halfway through, where there's black metal aplenty-- vocals, blast beats, and a choral section. It's a very cool blend of the two styles.

Void is growing on me the more I listen to it. It's probably the most enduring of the three, becuase it never manages to be predictable or boring. The former two aren't boring either, I don't mean that-- it's just that you'll always know what to expect with them.

--Horn