Today Is the Day - Sadness Will Prevail (2002)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Today Is the Day - Willpower (1994)
Today Is the Day - Today Is the Day (1996)

Sadness Will Prevail is the harshest, most ambitious TITD record by a comfortable margin. A two-disc masterpiece of punishing, metal-leaning noise rock and sludge, interspersed with disturbing sound experiments, and climaxing with a 20-plus-minute instrumental voyage into total paranoid psychosis titled "Never Answer the Phone". Not the most obscure selection, but I've had a particularly anxiety-ridden day and the only way out is through intensely negative music.

Track listing:
   -Disc One-
1. Maggots and Riots
2. Criminal
3. Distortion of Nature
4. Crooked
5. Butterflies
6. Unearthed
7. The Descent
8. Death Requiem
9. Christianized Magick
10. Voice of Reason: Vicious Barker
11. Face After the Shot
12. The Ivory of Self-Hate
13. The Nailing
14. Mistake
15. Invincible
16. Aurora
17. Sadness Will Prevail
  -Disc Two-
1. Myriad
2. Spaceship
3. Flowers Made of Flesh
4. Your Life Is Over
5. Control the Media
6. Vivicide
7. Miasma
8. Times of Pain
9. Breadwinner
10. Friend
11. Never Answer the Phone
12. I Live to See You Smile
13. Sadness Will Prevail Theme

At night I wrap myself in pain
And I'll never see again

Pain Teens -
Pain Teens (1988)

Gasp - Drome Triler
of Puzzle Zoo People (1998)

Today Is the Day - Willpower (1994)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Today Is the Day - Today Is the Day (1996)

Pro-tip: There is no such thing as the "best" Today Is the Day record. The way I see it, Willpower, Temple of the Morning Star, In the Eyes of God, and Sadness Will Prevail are all equally qualified for the title. But right now, I'm feeling Willpower the hardest, and I can at least say with minimal doubt that it's the best of their three Am Rep records. Math-y rhythms, thick, dissonant guitars, deranged leads, and a hallucinatory but razor-sharp and crushing overall feel, punctuated by the powerful, borderline terrifying vocals of supposedly very nice psychopath Steve Austin. Also, listen for "Simple Touch", a very rare moment of beauty in an extremely harsh body of work.

Track listing:
1. Will Power
2. My First Knife
3. Nothing to Lose
4. Golden Calf
5. Sidewinder
6. Many Happy Returns
7. Simple Touch
8. Promised Land
9. Amazing Grace
10. Execution Style

You are the angel and the fist

If you like this, you might like:

Therapy? - Babyteeth (1991) +
Pleasure Death (1992)

Fudge Tunnel -
Hate Songs in E Minor (1991)

Today Is the Day - Today Is the Day (1996)

Today Is the Day, an ever-changing cast of musicians rotating around central member Steve Austin, is one of the most truly vicious, singular musical entities of our time. Their third album, Today Is the Day was their first to feature keyboards, a development that helped them to find the dense, disorienting, hallucinatory atmosphere that has accompanied their punishing, math-y, sludge-y noise metal ever since. Be warned: it gets really fucking psychotic towards the end. I get the feeling that if Austin hadn't started Today Is the Day, he would have been a prolific serial killer.

Track listing:
1. Kai Piranha
2. Marked
3. Bugs Death March
4. A Man of Science
5. Realization
6. Black Iron Prison
7. Mountain People
8. Ripped Off
9. The Tragedy
10. She Is in Fear of Death
11. I Love My Woman
12. Dot Matrix
13. Hands and Knees
14. Pipe Dream Zero

This is my life
I can't be changed
You can't win