Sweatin' the Small Stuff, Part I: Best EPs, Splits, Comps, and Demos of 2012

After my favorite full lengths of the year, here are my favorite EPs, demos, comps, and splits of 2012. Split into two parts, this is part one numbers 20-11.


20. 

Cold Cave - A Little Death to Laugh

Three songs, last a throw away, middle one okay, first track the catchiest thing this year. Seriously. Listen here







19.

Graf Orlock - L.A.

What I can I say? Cinema grind nerds Graf Orlock tackle one of the  90's best films (Heat) and make an EP about it and the sociological side of the city its set in. Graf Orlock's more Tom Sizemore and DeNiro than the rest, but it's not all THAT crazy.





18. 

Adversarial / Antediluvian - Initiated in Impiety as Mysteries

Two titans of modern-retro-heavier-than-fuck-Incantationcore death metal, what more could you want? This one's grown on me for sure, ignore the pompous titles and enjoy the crushing and sometimes truly bizarre stuff they come up with.





17.

Closet Case - It Doesn't Get Better

Old school hardcore; something I know very little about. But Closet Case don't belong in this century  the need to be wearing old flannel shirts and living in bumble-fuck middle america in the 90's to sound this pissed. A promising demo. And man, what a cover. Listen here






16. 

Teitanblood - Woven Black Arteries

So Purging Tongues came out last year and I made a big stink about it  even though I had no clue what it sounded like.  Now they've re-released that track with another and put it on this CD for us dolts to buy. "Purging Tongues" is cool, a bit too muddy for my liking, but whatever. I'm really going by the new track which is good, a bit more normal except one thing : the toms are twice as high as everything else. Who the fuck mixed this thing? It's like making a guitarist's A string twice as loud as every other string, instrument, or  singer. It's pretty fucking annoying. Rabble. I still like this though. duuur. Listen here



15.

Spewtilator - Inhale Awaits

Fuck Sleep. They might have an awesome 13 hour album about potheads trapped in the desert, but Atlanta's now defunct Spewtilator were the kind of potheads that would eat all your food, fuck your house up then bail as your parents come home. Inhale Awaits is fun and much trashier then previous efforts. And dude, "Into the Crypt of Rays!?" C'mon. P//S Review



14.

Slave -Demo 2012

This is what you hear when you're waiting in line at the DMV thinking of driving a F-350 through the line and  ripping the place apart. Solid PV from these upstarts in Alabama. Despise You cover makes it about 73% 3000% better.






13.

Moloch / Closure - Split

Representing the UK, Moloch's scummy sludge pairs well with Closure's pitch black power violence. Dismal and pissed, both bands were made for each other. P//S Review

Listen here




12.

Protestant / Suffering Mind - Split

Suffering Mind aka the best straight up grind band out there, brings out the grindier side of Milwaukee hardcore ragers Protestant with this super short and rough 6". Truly DIY, truly awesome. P//S Review






11.

Faith Addiction - Order From Chaos

I can't tell if they sound more like a death metal band trying to play power violence, or a power violence band trying to play death metal. But, either way this short EP is heavy, viscous and hits like a haymaker. Excited for more from them. Listen here





Top 10 eps, splits, demos, and comps to come soon.

autumn

Heartsick? Forlorn? A tad depressed? Autumn and Winter will do that to you.

I've always felt lows around this time of year and it's not much different circa 2012. Music's always been a strong sense of relief and fascination for me, and I don't know where the logic lays in listening to sad music while you're down, but it's what a lot of us do.


Perhaps there's no better soundtrack than Jesu's brand of gloomy drone/doom/shoegaze hybrid, most perfectly distributed by their first full length Jesu.  Right in tow there's The Angelic Process, a former couple that took My Bloody Valentine's whirling layers of melancholy to new levels with crushing vats of guitars and some of the most otherworldly vocals.




A touch of despair and animosity goes a long way with Leviathan's brand of black metal most perfectly encapsulated in The Blind Wound. While going by a different name, Leviathan main man Jef Whitehead, produced possibly my favorite album of all time under the moniker Lurker of Chalice. Combining all kinds of genres, the self-titled LP is a powerful murk of neo-folk, black metal, and ambiance. The sample, coming from the Sylvia Plath biopic, shouldn't turn you off, no matter how angsty it might sound, this track is really overwhelming.



Alongside Justin K. Broadrick, no one's done as good a job as forging a musical path based around their own depression than Wesley Eisold of  Dark Wave/Synth Pop outfit Cold Cave. Cold Cave's first album's title says it all; Love Comes Close.




Swans made their name through their harsh beginnings and ever-changing sound, but I came to enjoy them through this simple acoustic track that does more for me than nearly any other track.




A bit on the cheesy side, Roy Orbison holds a special place for me as he was a favorite of my mom. His croon has gone nearly unmatched and a track like "No One Will Ever Know " is unbeatable.



Undeniably most of these acts are frowns, but every so often they surprise us with glimpses of joy, hope, or just something positive sounding. This is what pushes them beyond simple angst.