Today Is the Day

An underground extreme-metal institution, Today Is the Day makes some of the most compellingly ugly music you could ever hope to hear. While pushing shock buttons is nothing new, bandleader Steve Austin has kept TITD at the cutting edge for almost 20 years, with a sound so harsh that bands trying to be disturbing will be playing catch-up for a long time. Austin's lyrics seethe with a vileness that uncomfortably blurs the distinction between art and real-life violence and insanity. It almost feels as if the listener is being physically encroached upon by the same malevolent anguish that appears to torment Austin. Some lyrics reference racial slurs, satanism, mean-spirited anal sex, child pornography, and an ongoing obsession with shooting people. Austin says whatever the hell he wants. He does a masterful job of pulling the listener into an overwhelmingly chaotic yet irresistible sonic whirlwind that evokes a sense of demons pounding and shrieking at your door. Live, the guy gives all — which you'll just have to witness before you can fully comprehend.