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Surprise! NEUROSIS Streams New Album With SUMAC's AARON TURNER On Vocals

https://metalinjection.net/av/full-album-stream/surprise-neurosis-streams-new-album-with-sumacs-aaron-turner-on-vocals

#NEUROSIS #SUMAC #Surprise #StreamsNewAlbumWith #album #newalbum #streaming #MetalInjection #metal #music

English is fairly adequate for basic communication, but it falls short for niche communities. In the same way that skiers repurpose “powder” or “carve” and gamers repurpose “own” or “sweaty,” metal fans break and contort language to suit our needs. We talk about “filthy” guitar tones and “razor sharp” riffs, discuss “cavernous” production and “suffocating” weight, and use violent imagery—bleeding ears, caved in skulls—to denote quality. So when I read phrases like “slow, painful march,” “soporific1 dirge,” and “empty decades between chords” on the promo sheet for debut Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, I thought Cattle Hammer was just employing a little dialectical variance, speaking the lingo. Joke’s on me, though. They weren’t.

Based in Birmingham, UK, Cattle Hammer was formed by vocalist/guitarist Duncan Wilkins (Fukpig, Mistress) in 2023. He’s joined by I Cartwright on drums, J Wyles on guitar, and D Von Donovan on bass. Together, they mix a caustic brew of drone, doom, and sludge, but each track on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out has its own identity. “Gloomsower” leans stony, and Wilkins oscillates between deep roars and strangled croaks reminiscent of Weedeater. “Rotting” features short tremolos, although they don’t do much besides check the “blackened” box on the PR sheet. The ambient, noise-tinged intro to “Watchmen, Alone” caught my attention, but repetition of the vocal sample stunts its ability to build tension. Similarly, “Body Puzzle” ends on some interesting synths, but it’s a tough sell so late in the album. If you can’t tell, I’m really reaching for positives here, but there’s not a one that isn’t ultimately a disappointment.

Dark Thoughts With Lights Out by Cattle Hammer

Every time I thought Cattle Hammer might do something interesting or better texturize Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, they shrank from the occasion. The early lead guitar in “Gloomsower” is a bright change of pace amidst thick, doomy passages, but instead of playing a countermelody or variation on the theme or literally anything else, it just plays the same fucking riff in a higher register. This same-riff-different-instrument/key tactic is fairly common (“Rotting,” “Watchmen, Alone”). Organ (“Watchmen, Alone,” “Body Puzzle”) and piano (“Rotting”) make appearances, but fail to deliver anything justifying their inclusion. Static and feedback crop up frequently, but in Cattle Hammer’s hands, they are merely unpleasant and banal. While I was intrigued by the first sample2 and always appreciate Sheri Moon Zombie,3 Cattle Hammer’s sample usage is ham-fisted and melodramatic. Each of these ornaments gave me hope that I might soon feel something besides boredom and frustration, but invariably, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out dashed my hopes and shuffled on.

What astounds me most on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is how avoidable many of these blunders seem. Percussion is a little lackluster, and the instruments seem a bit compressed in the mix, leaving the vocals too far in front. These aren’t deal breakers, but playing fewer riffs—I’m being generous, calling them that—in 45 minutes than I have fingers is. Structuring the front half of a song to sound like a narrative climax with no build-up or release is (“Watchmen, Alone,” “Body Puzzle”). Rhythmic density rivaling the emptiness of space is. Ambient, feedback-laden outros enough to compile an EP is. This album is ostensibly meant to convey misery and suffering, but devoid of creativity or artistic abstraction, it misses the mark that acts like Primitive Man, The Body, or Sumac hit so well. It’s as if Cattle Hammer has crafted some misguided meta experience, in which the act of listening to the music imparts the misery normally communicated through the music itself.

If there’s one thing Cattle Hammer truly excels at, it’s squandering potential. Every criticism in this review is a place where I saw an opportunity for Dark Thoughts with Lights Out to get better, only for it to stay the course. What’s even more frustrating is that, if any one of these problems weren’t a problem, it could have at least partially salvaged the album. Amidst deeply uninteresting riffs played slow enough for inter-note naps, song constructions that fail to launch, underutilized instrumentation, an impressive lack of variation, repetition ad nauseum, and a totally unjustified runtime, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out isn’t simply unremarkable or uninteresting; it’s a literal chore to listen through. Based on the promo sheet, maybe that’s the point, but whether Cattle Hammer achieved their goal is irrelevant.4 Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is a bad album.

Rating: 1.0/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Road to Masochist
Websites: Bandcamp | Ampwall | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: February 6th, 2026

Branches of dried sumac flower spikes in the winter

#photo #photography #bloomscrolling #flowers #sumac #plants #winter

Sumac Fruits in the courtyard in the ILR school (years ago I used to get lost whenever I went in there!)

#photo #photography #sumac #plants #bloomscrolling #winter #red #ilr #cornell #bloomscrolling

Sumac (USA), Convulsing (VIC)

Crowbar, Tuesday, February 3 at 07:00 PM GMT+10

Renowned US experimental metal trio SUMAC will make their long-awaited Australian debut in February 2026.

Melbourne’s own Convulsing will join SUMAC on all Australian dates bringing their visceral, boundary-pushing sound to the stage as the perfect counterpart to SUMAC’s crushing intensity.

TICKETS

https://brisbane.askapunk.au/event/sumac-usa-convulsing-vic

Wild Rice with Cranberries and Hazelnuts

By Susan Belsinger

"This tasty recipe was inspired by a similar dish on the White Earth Wild Rice website. You can use whatever dried fruits or nuts that you have on hand. Only use the stock if the pan is dry-the rice should be moist, separate grains-though not soggy with liquid. Add the nuts last as they will get soggy and not remain crisp if they sit in the rice for too long.

Serves 8 as a side, 4 as a main course.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped (generous 1 cup)
1 large or 2 smaller stalks celery, finely chopped (generous 1/2 cup)
2 large cloves garlic, minced
Handful fresh sage leaves, cut into chiffonade (generous tablespoon)
1/2 cup dried cranberries, rough chopped
4 cups cooked White Earth Wild Rice, drained of excess liquid (follow directions on package)
About 1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground sumac
About 1 cup vegetable or mushroom stock
Freshly ground black pepper
Generous 1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts, chopped
Generous tablespoon fresh snipped chives

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and saute for about 5 minutes; add the garlic and cover for 2 minutes. Add the sage and cranberries and cook for another minute or two.

Stir in the wild rice, salt, sumac, and 1/2 cup stock; if the rice is wet, you may not need the stock. Cover the skillet and cook over low heat until the rice is heated through. Taste for salt and adjust if need be and season lightly with black pepper. Toss in half of the nuts and chives and reserve the other half for garnish. Serve hot garnished with reserved nuts and snipped chives."

Source: https://www.finegardening.com/article/wild-rice-with-cranberries-and-hazelnuts

Original recipe that this was based on:
https://realwildrice.com/wild-rice-with-cranberries-and-pecans/

#SolarPunkSunday #WildRiceRecipes #HazelnutRecipes #Sumac #Sage #VeganRecipes

Sumac trees along the edge of my lawn the Deer have been rubbing...

#Sumac #DeerRub #WhiteTailedDeer