Article By: Nick Rattlehead ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
Our first exposure to Missiles of October was the song “No Brain No Headache” from their sophomore album ‘Better Days’. This band brings something a bit different to the doom or sludge metal arena, with a breath of fresh punk air tossed out from their box of noise.
Missiles of October is from Brussels, Belgium and formed in early 2012, with Lionel Beyet on vocals / bass ([P.U.T], ex-Monster Eaters), Bob Seytor on drums (Contingent, Rotyes, ex-Walpurgis), Mathias Salas on guitar / vocals (Rotyes, Frau Blucher and The Drunken Horses, ex-Galvanize).
Released in October 2016, via P.O.G.O. Records (which, since 1993, happens to be run by Lionel Beyet), ‘Better Days’ is a fast grooving mixture of very punk-infused sludge. With driving fuzzed-out guitar riffs and melodies accompanied by great hard bass lines, some intense drum smashings, and gnarled, whiskey-soaked vocals laid over the top of it, you have yourself one hell of a fun time.
This latest release is a gritty, hard, bludgeoning album, at times can be straight on noise rock, then switches up with a definite grunge groove to it. It’s not a common melding of sound typically found within ‘standard’ doom, punk, or sludge. They are enthusiastically stomping across every genre and grabbing whatever they want along the way.
Missiles of October‘s latest experiment is definitely worth a listen… or three. It works. It works quite nicely, in fact. You’re wanting to break chairs with one song, then sit right on top of that destroyed pile of furniture to contemplate life with the next tune.
If you’re a fan of Unsane, Les Thugs, Jesus Lizard, Helmet, Black Flag, Unwound, and the like, then ‘Better Days’ will be a pleasant surprise. To add to the surprise, as of this review the release is currently available as a ‘Name Your Price’ (NYP) download on their Bandcamp page.
Their release preceding ‘Better Days’, entitled ‘Don’t Panic’, had a bit less diversity, but is nonetheless a great album. ‘Better Days’ takes it further into a somewhat alternate path in combining a range of music styles. Whether you’re more a fan of punk, noise, heavy rock, or metal, Better Days includes elements that can be appreciated by most.
CD available at:
POGO RECORDS (France – 075)
EBUS MUSIC (Germany – EM074/QR006-CD)
BONOBO STOMP (France-012)
VINYL LP available at:
FORBIDDEN PLACE RECORDS (USA)
WHAT’S FOR BREAKFAST (USA – 018)