Welcome to Part 19 of our list of the year’s most infectious extreme metal songs. In each installment, I’ve been posting at least two songs that made the cut. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. To see the selections that preceded the three I’m announcing today, click here.
We’re winding down. We’re nearing the end of this list. I’m thinking we’ll stop with Part 21. Or maybe Part 22. I’m still wrestling with my mind over how to finish. It’s like wrestling with a puddle of mercury.
All I’m really sure about are the three songs I’m adding to the list today. They’re all Exceptions to the NCS Rule, but they bring the power of the riff something fierce. They rock so hard they’ll break your dick, even if you don’t have a dick. So I’m going with them even though they rely mainly on clean vocals.
MOKOMA
I heard about this Finnish band last November via a recommendation from NCS supporter jeimssi, who nominated the song “Kuollut, Kuolleempi, Kuollein” for this list. The song comes from the band’s 2012 album 180 Astetta — which turns out to be Mokoma’s ninth album. They’re apparently quite popular in Finland, though less well known outside the borders, perhaps because they sing in Finnish.
But the fuckin’ thrash riffs in this song speak a universal language and they’ll get you moving — from the opening seconds straight through to the end. The chorus in particular is a massive headbang trigger. I also really dig the Finnish vocals. I’m glad they’re not in English, even though I can’t understand a word.
“KUOLLUT, KUOLLEEMPI, KUOLLEN”
[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/08-Kuollut-Kuolleempi-Kuollein.mp3|titles=Mokoma – Kuollut-Kuolleempi-Kuollein]
MAMMOTH MAMMOTH
I first came across Australia’s Mammoth Mammoth last May when they released a video for the title track to their third album Hell’s Likely (featured here). Subsequently, Napalm Records picked up the album and gave it a worldwide release in November. Prior to the album drop, the band released a second video for the song “GO”. It’s a cool video, which you can see here, and the song is very fuckin’ cool, too.
It’s an infectious injection of riff heroin. It’s an anthem to letting go, with a must-sing-along chorus and a sweet psychedelic solo. You could argue that the song isn’t really “extreme metal”, but I’m putting it on the list anyway because the song puts a smile on my face every time I hear it.
“GO”
[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/MammothMammoth02_GO.mp3|titles=Mammoth Mammoth – GO]
ORANGE GOBLIN
This long-running UK band were one of my introductions to stoner metal, a genre that I’ve found increasingly appealing in recent years. Their 2012 album is entitled A Eulogy For the Damned, and almost a year has passed since Candlelight Records released it. The first song I heard from the album (via an official video) was “Red Tide Rising”, and it has lost none of its magnetic attraction with the passage of time.
The song is a titanic motherfucker of a headbanging romp, with hooky melodies rising and falling, evil lyrics addressing the rise of Cthulhu, and instrumentation that does its level best to break necks. All those who worship at the church of the riff, come forth and lend your ears to this:
“RED TIDE RISING”
[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/01.-Red-Tide-Rising.mp3|titles=Orange Goblin – Red Tide Rising]