Andrew Nolan (Column of Heaven)
What are your top five albums that were released in 2011? (in order 1-5)
- Thantifaxath – 2011 tape
- Hexvessel – Dawnbearer LP
- Rot in Hell – As Pearls Before Swine LP
- Blut aus nord – 777 Sects LP
- Execration – Odes of the Occult LP
What band did you discover in 2011 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?
I discovered that Integrity are amazing again. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that Dwid found his fire again. Maybe I’m just late to the party though?
I ordered the Detonate VVorlds Plague 12” on a whim and was blown away by it (and the CD of recent stuff thrown in was a nice surprise).
There’s always this irritating “blah blah Melnick brothers is the only real Integrity” peanut gallery that starts crapping on whenever a new Integrity record comes out, and sure, I love those records too, but you can’t just look at Integrity as if it stopped existing in 1997.
Integrity is clearly Dwid’s vehicle and I look at it like there are different movements to it; not just “Melnicks good, everything else bad.” Whoever the new guy is writing all the music is has a really good grip on what makes Integrity Integrity; occasionally I felt that post-1997 line ups just treated it like some boring Victory records mosh garbage with guitar solos and missed the Septic Death and Japanese hardcore influences.
Black Heksen Rise and Let the Night Roar are as vital as anything from Season in the Size of Days
How will you remember 2011 (in terms of music)?
The year that bored ex-hardcore kids in the states started forming terrible Death in June clones thinking they were reinventing the wheel, and more importantly, the year I didn`t get to see Mortuary Drape
And before I forget, it was also the year that I saw Drop Dead play their best show in about 16 years of seeing them in various locations across the western hemisphere. Inspirational.
What can we look forward to from you in 2012?
- Mission from God 12" (SPHC)
- split 7" w/ Drainland (Feast of Tentacles/ Diseased Audio)
- Of Dogs and Wolves 7" (Hemlock 13)
- repress of Ecstatically Embracing all that we Habitually Suppress cassette on 12" (RSR)
What records are you looking forward to most in 2012?
Morrigan (UK) – demo/ whatever
Unholy Majesty – whatever they end up doing, the demo was great, one to keep an eye on
Purity Control – from Toronto, whatever they finally get around to recording, possibly a 7" on High Anxiety?
Anything Harald Mentor plays on. New Ride for Revenge sounds incredible, but I’m giving it my first lesson as I type this, so I can’t put it in the top five.
Condominium – their Warm Home 12" wasn't in my top five because there's too much filler, but the songs where they put the effort in are amazing, and live they were really good. Hoping for a solid full length with no pissing about on it
Whatever Drainland puts out, even though Jamie will preface anything he sends me with "I hate this"
I’m hoping SFN will finally bother to release something beyond the three demos (with largely the same songs on them) and one 7" they managed to shit out in the five years that I've known them
Pick Your Side 12”, the demo didn’t do much for me, but we played a show with them in October and they were absolutely incredible. One of the best bands I saw live this year
Third in the trilogy from Blut Aus Nord is highly anticipated also
What did you expect to be huge in 2011 which never made it?
I'm not sure, I think the internet has flattened everything out. It only takes two black metal bands to name drop Joy Division and Bauhaus and apparently there's a new wave of post-punk influenced black metal doing the rounds.
I predict that by 2013 heathen hardcore will be a legitimate thing though
