. . .
Historically speaking, there are two distinct versions of Southern Lord Records: the ambient, droned-out metal label of the late ’90s and the naughty aughts, and the newer hardcore-peddling label of the past few years. The two eras, it seems, have semi-independent fan bases. Nothing has turned Hatfield-McCoy yet, but it’s difficult to imagine those folks who looked to Greg Anderson for dreamy riffscapes going whole-hog for windmill-friendly mosh-fests such as Black Breath and Burning Love.
California’s Xibalba may widen the Venn Diagram’s center. Their 2012 album Hasta La Muerte sounds very much like a fictitious supergroup of death-and-doom musicians trying to write a minimal hardcore album. In truth the opposite happened: a bunch of guys who made a music video about throwing a block party recorded an old-school death metal album. The end result marries the unreasonable anger of a grind album and the seasick feeling of Morbid Angel’s “Where the Slime Live” or early Obituary. In fact, every aspect of the PR campaign surrounding Xibalba raises that comparison, from the full-page ad in Decibel to the Dan Seagrave artwork.
When I listen to Xibalba, though, more contemporary acts spring to mind. Gaza, Lord Mantis, and others are twisting hardcore and sludge together with an almost black metal level of misanthropy, and those thick stews of discontent are as modern as they are savage. Xibalba also dabble in that sound, although their take sacrifices subtlety for immediate impact. Aforementioned bands wallow in their misery; Xibalba use it as an excuse to break things, quite possibly in your apartment, while smoking a blunt.
Hasta La Muerte functions in simple terms—as a blunt instrument. They deliver lyrics about tough-guy fare—heartbreak, depression, being a Latino badass—in monotone barks. The guitar sounds thick, if a bit flat, and there is almost no melody to speak of.
Xibalba lives and dies by their drummer. He pushes and pulls the songs into protracted exercises in simulating impending disaster. The album’s centerpiece song both literally and figuratively, “The Flood,” showcases his command of drum tone and little else. The ghost of Southern Lord past really manifests during that song as well—it flows into the anemic roar of the title track and from there into the female vocal-tinged “Mala Mujer” in smooth fashion, like a single drawn-out tune separated into movements. In that sense, Hasta La Muerte functions as a running experience instead of a collection of individual songs.
At the end of the day, what I hear is an excellent sum of a few rather simple parts. Then again Southern Lord’s entire pedigree is built upon great art from rudimentary building blocks. In that sense, Hasta La Muerte might represent the archetypal Southern Lord release, in that it captures both eras of the label on a single disc. It’s not often I find myself recommending the top of any bell curve, but in this instance the median happens to be one hell of a sludgy, pissed-off hardcore record.
. . .
HEAR HASTA LA MUERTE
. . .
Xibalba – “Sentenced”
. . .
BUY HASTA LA MUERTE
. . .
this sounds like some ex-prisoner gangsta dude fronting Bolt Thrower after they all got short haircuts.
Add some basketball shorts, Air Max 90’s and a Supreme snapback, which I’m totally down with!
i approve of this record/band. it makes me wanna dance!
“…it’s difficult to imagine those folks who looked to Greg Anderson for dreamy riffscapes going whole-hog for windmill-friendly mosh-fests such as Black Breath and Burning Love.
California’s Xibalba may widen the Venn Diagram’s center even more.”
The second paragraph is stated as though it reinforces the prior paragraph, but the first is actually describing a ‘narrowing’ of the Venn Diagram’s center. What is your point here, exactly? Kind of switches gears for no reason.
Don’t get mad: normally writers have to PAY editors
This record was OK, listened twice and then never again. I give it 2.5 flying poops out of a possible 5 poop tosses.
The “even more” was not my doing. I was very aware of my tone and consistency.
Gah, fixed. That was my hammy fist gumming up the works. Some days the ol’ brain is on looser than others.
This article bypassed the subs’ desk, so don’t blame us!
You left out the middle part of Southern Lord’s evolution. I think it went doom/stoner/sludge, then black metal, then Entombed-influenced hardcore. Also, because you mentioned the full-page ad in Decibel, it reminded me of how infrequently that magazine covers /reviews Southern Lord releases. I’m assuming others have noticed this? It doesn’t bother me or anything, but it seems kind of strange.
Actually, didn’t Decibel recently profile Xibalba? Perhaps I am a dumbass.
As far as I’m aware there’s an ongoing beef between Decibel and Southern Lord.
http://twitpic.com/33c1d6
Albert / Greg beef
Yeah, the Decibel forum clan has been hounding the eds for details for like a year but so far it’s unclear exactly what happened.
That picture is hilarious, mostly because of the expression on Phil Anselmo’s face. “You put ME in the garbage, motherfucker?”
I had just assumed that the editorial board at Decibel isn’t jazzed about SL’s recent hardcore-centric direction, but a beef between the two makes more sense. Not going to lose sleep over it. Decibel is a good magazine, and SL has, at various points in its history, put out music I’ve liked (not so much nowadays, but that’s more a matter of personal taste than anything). Then again, maybe metal needs more gangsta rap-style feuds. Would be funny if Coverge’s new album were full of disses against Jay Randall.
No one really knows but the thing is I haven’t seen an SL band review or any SL ads in Decibel for at least 2 years.
Well, like I said, there’s a full page ad for Xibalba in the (now second newest) issue.
And I don’t think a single SL band made it into their 100 Best Metal Albums of the Decade issue. As picky as I am about drone, there are a few entries into the genre on that label that were very good/influential. Seems kind of petty to not include them in because of some inter-squabble.
Pseudonymous, you’re referring to Randall’s thinly-veiled rip on Jake Bannon’s heartbreak lyrics in that Metalsucks interview a while back, right? That shit cracked me up. Like, dude, wasn’t JR Hayes in your band for a while there?
(Interview in question: http://www.metalsucks.net/2010/10/27/agoraphobic-nosebleeds-j-randall-vaporizes-the-music-industry/)
I fucking love that interview. J Randall is an inspiration to us all.
No, but, I just looked that interview up and your right that it’s hilarious. Reminds me of old interviews with King Buzzo where he would say all kinds of things to bait /antagonize people. I’m assuming you mean this quote in particular:
“That said — I can’t stand all this phony psycho bitchkiller shit that’s out there. If you come across something in our lyrics that seems to lean that way, it’s just me making satire of the emo-tormented, hurt pussy vocals these bands just love to indulge. I mean, describing a break-up with a girl like it’s the fuckin’ apocalypse… ‘You were my heaven ablaze… blah, blah, blah, bullshit, bullshit, waste of time, bullshit’… is weak. These same broken-hearted bands write about MURDERING women all the time and never get called out as a misogynist because it’s written all faggy and shit, but because I’m a white dude and use the word ‘bitch’ — it’s over”
I was thinking more of the diss on Kurt Ballou (and, now that I think about it, on Southern Lord) on the last “song” on the Agoraphobic Nosebleed XMas flexi. Here are the lyrics in question:
Doomed labels all w/the wolverine blues
Shepherd their flock of sheep
To God City to be forever “Entombed”
By lord, savior, producer, douche
Fuck Kurt Ballou
Bring your sound down to clowntown
Do you hear what I hear?
Your sound is now his sound
You’re paying for the name
Anyway, Jay Randall obviously likes to stir shit up, but that’s the whole point of Agoraphobic Nosebleed, right? (And at least part of the point of sister band Pig Destroyer, who crib their logo font from ANSWER Me! fer chrissakes)
I did mean that quote in particular; “you were my heaven ablaze” is from “Fault and Fracture” off Jane Doe. And I totally forgot about that track from the flexi-disc! BRING YOUR SOUND DOWN TO CLOWN TOWN, hahaha.
On second thought, it makes sense that he’d rip on Converge (despite having done a split with them) and, by implication, Pig Destroyer (despite working with Scott and formerly working with JR). He comes within a hairsbreadth of shit-talking Rich Johnson in that same interview.
That was one of the most fun I’ve ever had with an email interview.
Goddamnit. Mind wandered mid-comment. I meant to say that that was some of the most fun I’ve ever had with an interview.
There is only one real Xibalba…and this band isn’t it.
FUCKING THANK YOU. No one else is acknowledging the true Xibalba. Fuck this band. If you don’t know how to use Google to prevent ripping off another band’s name, you don’t deserve to make a record.
These guys are too tough for google. Their set at Power of the Riff was hilarious and great. Lots of ape-walking around the stage and pointed fingers. The tough practically bubbled out of their pores. It’s made more complicated when people say “the Mexican Xibalba” since all of these dudes are latino (I think one is actually Mexican, to boot).
Well, if nothing else…maybe people will get into the real/other one by mistake while searching for these guys. Ha!
Oh, this would probably help:
http://www.xibalbaitzaes.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Xibalba-Itzaes/157265007630480
Last time Xibalba was in the US, was in Chicago in 2008, with Strikemaster from Mexico City. It was a killer show! They were supposed to play Chaos In Tejas 1 or 2 years ago but they cancelled.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T12Wj3ApiAA
I once bought a CD by a band named Hammerbox because I was in a record store in an altered state of consciousness and thought I was buying a Hammerhead CD. The Hammerbox CD sucked–I maybe listened to it twice just to justify the purchase. Anyway, sometimes in life you get what you deserve.
To clarify, the record store wasn’t in a altered state of consciousness. I was. But I was a kid, so I’m going to give myself a pass.
I walked in a long gone record store with an altered state of consciousness before…after I left my clothes reeked of patchouli.
Ha! I bought a bunch of Alice Cooper LPs at a headshop one time, and they _still_ smell like patchouli.
Going to make it a opint to check out the other Xibalba now. The only thing I know about them is that I made their recipe from _Hellbent for Cooking_, and it took me almost a week to eat it all. It was like the world’s biggest tamale. And no, I didn’t bury it in the ground to cook it like the instructions suggested, because that would have been nuts.
Back to the subject of two bands having the same name…Pentagram (USA) and Pentagram (Chile) both rule hard!
Middian rules hard as well but fuck that false Midian in Wisconsin!
I was once under the influence of booze and thought I was buying a new, strangely thrashy looking Witchrist CD. Turns out it was Witchaven, who are very thrashy. Not my worst purchase, but it sure wasn’t Witchrist.
It would be funny if somebody was super high and they thought they bought a Chelsea Wolfe ticket and got a Chelsea Handler ticket instead.
I just saw Chelsea Wolfe open for Russian Circles a couple of weeks ago, and i kind of wish I had been super high.
I take personal responsibility for hijacking this thread and diverting it from its original subject. Fun discussion though.
first time i heard this band I realized that the dude at SL is really not afraid to share his guilty pleasures. this band sucks.
Who put the mid-90’s Victory records release on the wrong speed?