Riot Act
We are joined by very special guest Mr. Brady Deeprose for this deep dive into the seventh studio album by San Diego deathgrind wizards Cattle Decapitation. Considered by many to be the band’s best album, Steve, Remfry and Brady discuss the impact The Anthropocene Extinction had on extreme metal and the elements that contributed to this album’s influence on the genre since it’s release in 2015.
On this week’s Rioteers Review, the boys debate the relative merits and imperfections of the second album from El Paso progressive rock, dub, ambient, Latin, jazz-mashers The Mars Volta, 2005’s incredible Frances The Mute. Steve and Remfry discuss how such a complex, sprawling opus came to be just 20 months after the release of The Mars Volta’s first full-length album De-Loused in the Commatorium and the Miles Davis-inspired methods with which guitarist Omar Rodriguez Lopez went to create such a rich, beguiling sonic tapestry. They discuss where it sits in The Mars Volta pantheon and the mixed critical response that the album received at the time of its release.
Steve and Remfry sit down to discuss the seventh and final album by NY gothic doom merchants Type O Negative. Whilst the album had a decent critical reception, Dead Again is rarely given the credit it’s due, with most media attention focusing on the (admittedly brilliant) Bloody Kisses and October Rust. But Dead Again, whilst not perfect, contains some utterly definitive and fascinating insights into Type O Negative and more pertinently Pete Steele. Released three years before his untimely death, there is an irony surrounding the album in that it’s the most morbid record by a band practically obsessed with death. Paradoxically, it’s also Type O’s lightest album, containing many of the bands fastest, punkier cuts.
Shout out to Elliot Holt for providing us with our sixth Rioteers Review in the form of Frank Turner’s 4th full-length studio album England Keep My Bones. It was a record of transformation for Turner in a myriad of ways; he played his 1,000th show, headlined Wembley Arena and christened his band The Sleeping Souls all whilst promoting this album. It marks the point where a punk with an acoustic guitar from Winchester managed to infiltrate the mainstream and become inescapable, to the joy of some and the ire of others.
At the turn of the 21st century, Oasis were still riding high after the release of Definitely Maybe and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?. Even self-indulgent, bloated third album Be Here Now garnered mainly positive responses upon its release in 1997 and became the fastest-selling album in British chart history, shifting 424,000 copies on the first day of its release.
By the time the band’s fourth album, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants was released, critical appraisal had turned to sniping in an attempt to bring down a band who had simply become too big to fail … well, in the UK at least. Steve and Remfry discuss whether the album deserves the critical drubbing it received, the myth (often perpetuated by the Gallagher brothers themselves) that they were the biggest band in the world and the time Remfry was almost fired from The Independent for calling Liam Gallagher the c-word.
The ninth album from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds consisted of new and traditional murder ballads, songs that deal with crime or gruesome death. It seemed a very un-commercial move for an artist who had two years previous reached his commercial peak-to-date with 1994’s Let Love In and its accompanying singles Do You Love Me?, Loverman and Red Right Hand.
Despite its morbid nature (or maybe because of it) Murder Ballads attracted a number of guests including Shane MacGowan, PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue, a collaboration that probably remains the Nick Cave’s most famous collaboration to date. It even smashed his previous sales, achieving Gold certification (Let Love In attained silver) and set Cave up for what would debatably become the most celebrated (and best) part of his career.
The second Rioteers Review comes from the mind of Alasdhair McMillan, who we thank for being the first person to suggest an album and therefore unintentionally starting thing whole strand of Riot Act. Well done mate! Alasdhair gave Steve and Remfry ’22 A Million’ by modern folk manipulator Bon Iver. One of the guys is a big fan of Bon Iver, the other is… just confused by it all. Listen now to hear who’s who!
Go to patreon.com/riotactpodcast to contribute and make your own suggestions for Rioteers Review.
In the first ever in a new series, Steve and Remfry dive deep on an album suggested by the lovely people over on the Riot Act Patreon. This week’s pick – Manic Street Preachers’ 1993 sophomore effort ‘Gold Against The Soul’ – comes from Christopher Clayton, and it’s a fantastic suggestion seeing as the boys are a couple of 90s Brit rock enthusiasts!
If you would like to make your own suggestions for Rioteers Review, head over to patreon.com/riotactpodcast